The black door of the garden opened, permitting Fluttershy and Rarity to enter into the castle, both of them with a relaxed expression on their muzzles. The unicorn mare had a crystalline flower tangled in her mane, chirping happily. Behind them, the black panther that was Zira moved in, while on her back laid Jaco, his body mauled and shredded by the rat's bites.
"Return to your friends you two. I'll see if I can find the master and ask him about you." Purred the panther, before passing them and starting to run through the dark corridor, disappearing from sight in a few seconds.
"Well, she was nice…" said softly Fluttershy, while taking a couple of steps over the carpet. "After what happened to Pinkie and Rainbow, I was scared that everyone here was scary and dangerous, like the male one…" she murmured, walking down the corridor.
"Well, at least we know that Miss Sasha and Miss Zira are quite an enjoyable company. We should let the others meet her. At least they can distract themselves a little."
"Well…maybe… but shouldn't we try to search for the princess?" asked timidly the pegasus, studying her unicorn friend through her pink mane.
"I'm worried for the princess, like everyone else. But I also understand that trying to wander around aimlessly, or slamming our heads into books as Twilight is doing won't be of any help." Stated Rarity, the flower in her mane purring softly while biting the mare's ear gently with its petals. "I think we should trust Noxfero." She added, shrugging. "He knows this place better than us, and if he says he knows what to do, I trust him. And I also think that going around hurting ourselves, like Pinkie and Rainbow did, is just making him feel even worse. Especially Pinkie."
The yellow pegasus let out a little giggle, before stopping in front of the black door of the room. Rarity's horn lit up, pushing open the heavy metallic frame, and they both entered in the room. First thing they noticed was that Sasha was again with them. She was sitting on the bed beside Pinkie, trying to interest the flat-maned mare in a big heavy book that she was holding. The second thing they noticed was that neither Twilight nor Applejack were in the room.
"There you are, you two. I was starting to get worried!" exclaimed Rainbow Dash, rushing to her friends side and dragging them inside the room. "It's over an hour!"
"I'm sorry Rainbow…" immediately apologized Fluttershy, bowing her head. "We just went out to the garden, and we met Jaco, who showed us around, and then we saw all these beautiful flowers, and then there was a place with a whole bunch of cute creatures and…" began Fluttershy, showering the other pegasus with an accurate description of what they had seen. Rarity smiled and trotted towards the bed.
"Hello Pinkie dear. How are your wounds doing?" she asked softly. The pink mare moved her head a little, waving her flat mane and giving a quick glance at the unicorn, before lowering again her sight.
"They sting." She answered in a raspy voice, without looking at the unicorn.
"Don't worry Pinkie, I'm sure that you'll be ok in a jiffy!" said Rarity, trying to cheer up her friend. Seeing the lack of reaction, she redirected her attention towards the woman at Pinkie's side. "Where are the others?"
"Your purple friend was looking for some peculiar books, so I sent her back to the library. My ass is actually too sore to move around freely." Groaned the vampire, passing a hand over her backside. "Well, I should be thankfull that master didn't do anything really bad, I think…" she added, muttering. "Anyway, the path is quite stright from here to the library, so I assumed she could do that easily. The orange one insisted on escorting her."
"Oh my… is there any danger?" asked Rarity, her body tensing.
"Not really, if they don't stray." Shrugged the woman. "And I don't see why they should."
-oOo-
"Twi, Ah don't remember this being the way back to the room." Grunted Applejack, as the unicorn in front of her continued to descend down a set of narrow and dark stairs.
"We aren't returning to the room." Whispered Twilight in a rush, lighting up her horn. "If we want to save the princess, we'll have to find all the possible information here, before trying anything. And since we are short on time, I think that research in the field might be better than reading a whole bunch of books."
Applejack rolled her eyes. That wasn't reassuring her the slightest.
She could actually understand Twilight's determination: the unicorn sometimes became really obsessed with things. And now the princess was involved, so her reaction wasn't unexpected.
"Twilight, Ah think we should do what that gal told us and return to the room. Ah don't think that we'll find anything wandering around in Nox's castle."
"I have already seen that there isn't any book that says how to go around safely in this place, so I deduced that they must have some sort of hoofbook! We should find one, so we'll be able to avoid getting hurt."
"Ah don't think this is a good idea…" stated Applejack, trying to stop the unicorn. "Ah think that this place is dangerous in any event, and no hoofbook will help us. Noxy said he would fix this. Ah think that trying to do things on our own will just make it harder for him."
"Are you saying that we just shouldn't care?" Hissed back Twilight, turning and looking angrily at her. The orange mare met her eyes, frowning a little.
"Ah would never say something like that. Ah'm saying that risking hetting hurt ourselves will not help anyone." Stated back the earth pony, stomping her hoof on the ground. "You have seen what's happened to Pinkie and Dash, just because they wanted a little fun. You remember what took the princess, right?" she asked, stepping towards her purple friend. "Sugarcube, Ah want to save the princess too. The others do. Hay, even Noxfero wants that. But we have to be carefull."
The purple mare's face seemed to melt, as her angry frown changed in a sadder expression. Applejack was surprised by the sudden change, but then just leaned forwards and slipped a leg around her friend's neck and pulled her closer.
"Ah know that you're feeling worried. But the princess wouldn't want you to go around without knowing where to go, ending in hurt yourself." she whispered, stroking Twilight's mane.
"I know! But just… laying here, without doing anything… it just drives me insane!" said Twilight, biting her lip.
"Doing nothing actually implies doing something." purred a soft voice above the two mares. They both moved their eyes up, startled, and focused on a fat cat, perched over a carved protuberance in the black wall. His black and scarled striped fur was shining slightly, reflecting the light of the candlesticks hanging from the ceiling, which also made his big smile full of sharp teeth glow.
"But that would imply also that something and nothing are the same thing, and that's against the rules of reality. And you know that what implies?" asked the cat, focusing his eyes on the two mares. His eyes were both red, but Applejack noted that they were transitioning to a blue color.
"What…?" she asked cautiously, staring at the cat. For all she knew, that seemingly innocent cat could transform into a three headed monster any second.
"That all the reality and order is just a thin cover upon the real essence of existence: pure, indominable chaos." Purred the cat, tilting his head and waving slowly his furry tail. Then he stepped up and walked forwards, leaving the protuberance and walking trought the air. "And that Mephisto knows well." Added the cat purring, before vanishing, leaving his smile hanging in the air for a couple of seconds.
"Well that was… strange…" muttered Applejack. "This place is full of madness." She grunted, before returning her attention to Twilight. "Come on, let's head back."
"Ok…" murmured the unicorn, rubbing one of her eyes. "Do you remember the way…?"
"Ah thought you were the one with the good memory!"
-oOo-
"I think we are lost." Commented the unicorn, as she looked at how the walls around them were turning from smooth black stone to metallic plates. Applejack nodded, examining the various air ducts, pipes and tubes that passed throught the ceiling. A lot of fancy stuff, from her point of view, but after all she was no egghead, so maybe all those things served some purpose.
"Ah don't know why, but Ah think you are right, Twi." She muttered, as they passed a series of metallic doors. "Ain't this the place we passed when Noxfero dragged us in our rooms?"
"You are right! We're probably in the dungeons!" exclaimed the suddenly excited unicorn. "I remember that that scarecrow, Pumpkinhead, works here. Maybe we can ask him how the portal is going." She said, before start to trot. Applejack wasn't sure that the strange scarecrow would appreciate the visit, but anyway Twilight was already on her way. The orange mare sighed, and followed her friend.
-oOo-
Pumpkinhead glared carefully at the shimmering bar of golden material he was grasping with a long tongs. He carefully moved towards a titanium box, walking slowly, scared of letting his grasp loosen on the tongs. He had to be careful…
"Hello Mr. Pumpkinhead!" chirped a voice behind him. The scarecrow gasped and almost let the pin fall on the ground. He regained his grasp and turned towards the interrupters: the purple unicorn that had made his master angry as soon as he had returned through the portal, and the orange one with the stetson.
"What are you two doing here? I said to the master that you have to stay away from my lab." He stated, returning his attention on his task. The look on Twilight's face was slightly hurt, but the mare didn't leave. The orange one was a few feet away, looking with fascination at a transparent tube full of orange goo that ran along the wall.
"We were on our way back from the library…"
"You are quite far away from the library."
"We got lost." Finished the mare, slightly annoyed. "What is that thing?" she asked then, pointing a hoof towards the shimmering bar that the scarecrow was carrying.
"Radioactive material." Answered Pumpkinhead, curving his carved mouth in a smirk when he saw the face of the mare. "But it's extremely diluted."
"So…so it's safe…?"
"Yes, it's safe." He grunted, than gave another look at the couple of mares. "You two didn't have any intention of having kids in your lifetime, right?"
The mares blinked in confusion, as the scarecrow chuckled and put the shining bar inside the titanium box, before sealing it.
"So, what can I do for you two?" he asked, taking off his goggles and turning his carved face towards the mares. Twilight still had to decide whether a talking pumpkin was creepy or extremely funny.
"We… I wanted to see how were you doing with the portal." Muttered the unicorn, as Applejack moved her attention to a series of glass jars containing different samples of plants.
"Working on it. The worst part, of course, is replacing the internal energy system with something else, and also finding a new source of energy." Muttered the scarecrow. He actually had placed the repairs of the portal at the bottom of his to-do list, but at least he had already made a checkup on the rest of the machine.
"And… do you think it'll be long?" asked the unicorn, rubbing a hoof on the ground. "You know, since Nox will help us save our princess, we should leave as soon as possible to not make him worry." She said, giving a little smile. This time even Applejack turned her head towards her friend, smiling: apparently she was finally getting it.
"I'll do what I can. I'm just a human, after all. Dead, but still human." Grumbled the scarecrow. "But the point now is just repairing the machine. If the goal is a quick passage, just a little bit of master's power will be sufficien." He commented, before opening another door and entering another room. Twilight quickly followed him, while Applejack strayed a little, examining the titanium box.
Fancy stuff.
And the next room was the same for her: a series of tubes running along the ceiling, cables scattered over the ground, and a series of tables filled with chemicals. The scarecrow was moving between them, closely followed by the unicorn.
"Don't you have anything better to do?" he finally snapped, when the unicorn innocently raised on her hindlegs, to continue to watch him as he mixed a couple of substances. "Like do something with your friends? This is important stuff."
"But I like to see! This is interesting!" whined slightly the unicorn.
"I highly doubt your equine brain can understand what am I doing."
"Well, why don't you test it?" growled the mare, frowning. if there was one thing she wouldn't accept, it was being called stupid.
The earth pony mare smirked, as the unicorn and the scarecrow began to chatter about science. She sighed, while continuing to look around. She felt a little out of place, but all in all, she was happy that Twilight had finally calmed her mind. Applejack tapped her head and continued to snoop around, looking at all the scientific stuff scattered around.
As she leaned up to look at a little pumping heart immersed in a jar full of pink liquid, she felt a sudden chill run down her spine. She turned her head, trying to find the origin of that feeling: she get a quick glimpse of a tall and slim humanoid figure in a black suit, motionless behind the semi closed door, before it disappeared in a blink.
-oOo-
"So?" asked Junior, waving slightly his feet slightly above his bed. The tall faceless creature tilted its head a little, before his voice sounded in the room.
"The orange one and the purple one are in the laboratories. Apparently they found a way to keep Pumpkinhead occupied. The white one and the yellowish one are in your father's room, being entartained by Sasha, as well as the cyan one."
"The pink one?" asked the little devil, emitting an involuntary little growl.
"She is in the room as well, listening to Sasha. Cuddling with your father." Stated bluntly the Slenderman. Junior's eyes widened in surprise.
"Excuse me? Cuddling?"
"He was petting her mane while holding her. I assume that enters in the definition."
"Ok, that's it!" growled the little devil, jumping to the ground. "That's fucking unbelievable! How is this even possible?! They are fucking horses! And they do not even belong here! So why in the name of Cthulhu, does he prefer them to me!?" nearly shouted the little devil, punching the black wall, causing a crack. The Slenderman didn't answer. "I try to always do my best to please him and he just ignores me!"
"Maybe… you are just doing something in a field he's not interested in the moment…" finally muttered the faceless creature. "Maybe you should try doing something about these creatures…"
"Hell no, they have something that shakes the chaotic half of my DNA." Hissed the iny devil, before he scratched his chin, frowning even more. "Dad said Mephisto captured one of those creatures, right?" he finally asked. The creature slowly nodded.
"Then, this is easy." Stated the little devil, moving towards the only window of the room, giving a glance to the scarlet sky, as six black tentacles darted out from his back, waving slowly in the air. "We just have to rescue that pathetic pony."