Chapter 28

A World of Darkness

The adventurers stood together in a large library. Shelves full of books formed neat corridors of potential knowledge that Twin Star desperately wanted to explore, but the rest of the group was less enthusiastic about remaining in the room. Reyna suggested, "We need to get back upstairs and finish this before the riot lets up. Who's with me?"

Flute R'Shye was still shaking off the pain in her side as she answered, "I don't think we have too much magic yet and a few of us are hurt. Maybe, uh, we should take a rest."

The muffled sound of something crashing came from above the ceiling and caught everyone by surprise. Pin Kay pulled out her guitar, saying, "We don't have time to rest, but I have a song that can help with our injuries. Listen!" She then started playing on her instrument and a warm feeling formed around Reyna's wing, Flute's side and Pin's face.

"Oi," Robin Hoof thought aloud, "I know that song," and then he started to sing, "Carry on, carry on. The chanting has begun. A hymn of fame and glory forever and ride on, ride on. In union we are strong. A symphony of freedom and glory."

Twin Star and Flute felt something new. A surge of power flew through their bodies, making the sorceress's horn shine for a moment. The bards continued their music in background as the others carried on their conversation.

"Did any of y'all see a way back up?" Jack asked. He frowned when the others all shook their heads and posed another question, "Any of you think you can break open the ceiling?"

Reyna held her head high and told her friend, "The big guys and I already took care of that. Why? You got any more rope?"

Jack shook his head as he answered, "Nope. Sorry. We ran out of rope back in the mines. Remember?" He then asked, "Anypony else have another idea?"

"We are strangers in a strange land," Robin Hoof sang a little louder, "We are born as renegades and show the world what they should see" The feelings around everyone else changed suddenly, "When we are standing at the crossroads, revolution is our way..."

Beopony shook his head. "Can you keep it down a little," he complained, "Some of us are trying to think."

The thief didn't seem to listen as he continued, "We're breaking down the walls of hate!"

Without warning, there was a great crashing noise from the far end of the library. There was now a hole the size of a small house on the farthest wall and though dust and ruin obscured their vision, the party could see something moving. It was big, furry, white and had brilliant red eyes. With its arrival came to voice of a familiar adversary as Faust could be heard laughing madly from somewhere behind the creature.

"Oh... blimey," Robin Hoof stopped singing just as Pin stopped strumming on her guitar. He cleared his throat before saying, "The song should have restored some of your spells, ladies. Oh, and enjoy the extra Horse Points while they last because if that's what I think it is then we are going to be limping away from this fight if we're lucky enough to actually survive."

The creature in the debris emerged from the cloud of dust. It was muscular and had claws like kitchen knives with teeth to match. It looked almost like a diamond dog, but far more feral. Around its neck was a chain that led to something still obscured by the dust cloud behind it.

Flute gasped when she recognized the beast, "A white wolf? I thought those were only legends!"

The monster let out a howl, forcing the entire party to the floor, covering their ears. Beopony, Robin Hoof and Horsecules were the first to get back to their feet and their knight started shouting commands, "Robin, Horscules, with me against the monster! Lady Styles, take your friends and run. This is not a fight for you."

Styles got up. "There's no way I'm letting you face that alone," she protested, "We can help!"

Reyna agreed, "Yeah! There's no way you're leaving me out of this fight! Bring it on!" The barbarian then started running at the monster, full-tilt. When she got close, the beast let out a mighty roar that sent the barbarian flying backwards through the doors on the other side of the room.

Twin Star's jaw dropped as she watched her friend go soaring over her head. "Maybe we should go," she said, "Let the more experienced warriors take care of this."

"Should that monster even be in this dungeon?"

A Capella was staring daggers at Roller. The author asked in a low, threatening voice, "Who's running this campaign? You or me?"

"You are," The singer answered, "and I understand you're upset about something, but aren't you the one who said to leave our personal problem off the table when we were foals? That creature shouldn't even be here."

The author growled his answer, "You don't like it, superstar? The door is right behind you."

A Capella spent another moment glaring at the gray stallion across the table. No one dared breathe due to the tension. Finally, the singer picked up his dice and said...

"Since when am I the type to just let you win, CR?"

A voice came from behind the creature. It was Faust giving on simple order, "Sic 'em, boy!" The party heard the sound of metal links breaking and the white wolf jumped free from its chain leash and directly at Robin Hoof.

Robin Hoof was far too agile for such a direct attack to work. He stepped sideways and twisted his body so the monster's claws hit nothing but the stone floor. Then it was the thief's turn, so he took a deep breath, dodged another swing of the beast's claws and told the others, "This is why I took some levels in Bard," before letting loose a deafening shout right in his enemy's face.

The monster stumbled back holding its ears as the other more experienced adventurers took positions on its flank. Beopony said to the rest of the party, "You six should take Oliver and get out of here. Find Faust and beat him while we keep his monster busy. That Concussive Cacophony spell doesn't last long."

Jack nodded and ordered the others, "Let's go! He should be just on the other side of the rubble!"

Oliver lead the group around the beast, but failed to spot a beam of searing energy flying out of the dust cloud ahead of him. The rebel fell to his knees in pain and shock and had to be helped to his hooves by Flute. "I'm fine," he said through clenched teeth, "You go after the spell caster. I'd only slow you down."

The other six agreed and carried on without him. When they reached the other side of the room, they could not find their captor, only a broken chain and a set of hoof prints in the dust. Reyna took the lead, commanding the others, "Follow me! We can catch him!"

The monster shook off its headache and lunged at the pony who deafened it. Robin didn't manage to doge this time and took a nasty blow to that sent him reeling. When the stallion came to his senses, he ran between the beast's legs, dodging another slash as he did so, and positioned himself behind it.

Beopony knew this old strategy and he would be lying if he said he didn't like it. While his ally dove between the white wolf's legs, he moved in front of the monster and gave it a swift kick in the shins. The beast simply growled in response just before the knight shouted, "Yeah, I just kicked you! What are you going to do about it?"

Horsecules knew his part in this all too well. He stayed exactly where he was and waited for the opportune moment as Oliver took Beopony's original position. Now the beast was surrounded and the trap could be sprung.

Reyna ran through a corridor she recognized and Faust's prison, following his trail the whole way. The others tried their best to keep up with her up the stairs and through the burning halls, but smoke made it hard to see. Soon, the members of the group had lost track of each other and each stood alone in the burning palace.

Twin Star struggled to find a way through and soon came to a large, circular chamber. In the middle of the room was a huge telescope and she could tell from her studies that this was some kind of observatory. The young mare gazed through the lens and gasped, "There's no way that's what I think it is."

A chillingly familiar voice behind her assured, "Oh, don't worry. It is."

Robin Hoof hopped onto the white wolf's back and smacked it on either side of the head between his front hooves. The monster roared, thrashed and threw the thief into a nearby bookshelf. Bruised, but still not unconscious, Robin Hoof scoffed, "Is that the best you can do? This is hardly a 'rocks fall and the game ends' scenario."

The monster reached for the heaviest object it could find and threw it at the thief. Unfortunately, that happened to be Horscules. Both the thief and the barbarian were now stuck in a pile of books and broken wooden shelves, unable to act.

Beopony charged the beast but was knocked aside with a swing of the monster's claws. The knight wound up in the bookshelf as well and could only watch helplessly as Oliver met a similar fate on the other side of the library. "How many attacks does this thing get in one round?" Beopony asked, but his friends only shrugged in response.

Twin Star pulled herself away from the telescope and saw Faust standing next to her. She stepped back and let loose a bolt of lightning from her horn only for the sorcerer to duck under it. As her spell scorched a spot on the wall, Twin Star shouted, "Do you know what constellation that is? What are you doing?"

Faust answered in his usual, cocky tone, "Pleiades. The Seven Sisters. I know a lot about that constellation and what it means. It appeared over Atlantis as that city sank beneath the waves and it shows itself now as another empire is about to fall."

He reared up and a beam of brilliant energy shot from his horn. Twin Star rolled out of the way, but still felt an intense heat on the side of her face nearest to the spell. For a brief moment, she caught a glimpse of her enemy's face and the sight of it filled her with fear.

A/N: Carry On is another Freedom Call song. This fic is coming to a close very soon and to be honest, I'm almost sad to be done with it. Be sure to stay tuned, everypony.