The remainder of the day passed by and the others and I planned for what we would do next. I argued that some of them should head back, the Minotaurs even offered them transportation back to the city, but they all refused. The day went by and soon night had come. Rokk and Gord showed us around and helped us to gather supplies before the night settled and we headed back to the grand hall to sleep. We returned there together and they gave us a place to eat and sleep. We ate pretty damn well that night before turning into bed. Rokk lead us to the room where we would be sleeping but once all the others entered the room he closed the door and stopped me.
"Sorry crimson, but the chief wishes to speak with you." Said Rokk.
"Uhm, okay..." I said. Rokk pointed me over to the huge door where I went the last time and started to walk over. I made my way past the pit and beyond the huge stone throne and walked up to the door. I pushed it open and the. Walked into the sanctuary room. I used my magic to close the door behind me and everything was silent. The room still smelt of incense and the candles all around still burned brightly. The chief sat there in a meditating pose in front of the altar. I walked over and sat down beside him and stayed quiet until he spoke first. He took in a deep breath and then let out a heavy sigh.
"Are you prepared for tomorrow?" He asked.
"Yes, we are." I said.
"I feel that you have a better understanding of the dangers that are going to be down in the mines... I'm sure that you do." He said.
"I do understand what is happening, but because of some certain circumstances it can't tell you."
"That's what the prince said."
"Is that the only thing you wanted to talk to me about?" I asked.
"No..." He said. "I'm sorry to add to your troubles, but I must ask something of you." He said.
"What is it?" I asked. He took another deep breath and was quiet for a moment. Everything became silent, the. He let out his breath and opened his eyes and turned towards me.
"Traveler... You... Aren't from this world... Are you?" He said.
"H-how... How do you know this?" I asked.
"The energy that flows through your body is not the same as the energy that flows through this world." Said the chief. "But, it is very reminiscent of a friend that I know." He said. "I believe she may be from your own world... And I would ask, that when your quest is over, and you have returned to your world... Please, bring this to her." He said holding out an amulet. It was an emerald amulet in the shape of a leaf. It was wrapped in gold with a golden chain with other, smaller emerald leaves around the chain.
"What is it?" I asked holding my hoof out. He let go of the amulet and dropped it into my hoof.
"It is an Aluris charm." He said.
"An Aluris charm?" I asked.
"Go ahead, wear it, you can wear it if you wish. In fact I advise that you should, it could provide great usefulness in your travels until you return it to my friend." He said. I decided to do as he asked and put the necklace around my neck. The second the emerald leaf touched my chest it seemed to sink into my skin, the chain disappeared and I sat there with an emerald leaf embedded into my chest. "Just as I thought..." He said.
"W-what happened?" I asked.
"The amulet has chosen you because you are indeed from the plane of its origin. The one who brought me the amulet wore it the same way. And she is the only one now who can take it off you."
"So, now I don't really have a choice." I said.
"If you should choose not to bring it back then I guess I cannot stop you, but I know you will do the right thing. "He said.
"So, only your friend can take this off now?" I asked.
"Yes. To find her, should not be difficult." He said. "She is the head shaman in a tribe located in Equestria. Your Equestria... In the red rock mountains."
"So... What does this do?" I asked.
"It's a magical charm. It wards off evil, heals the body, and can channel life and energy between any two mediums." He said.
"What's does that mean?" I asked.
"You won't be able to now... But soon once the amulet has been one with you for a while. You should be able to see the ebb and flow of the world energy, even your own. You can then control the flow of energy, and direct it anywhere and in any way you want." He said.
"So, I can use this to heal myself and others." I said.
"Not only that, but you can take the life energy from one thing, and use it for other purposes. But taking the life energy from something isn't so easy, the stronger something is, the more tightly energy clings to that thing. Taking energy from a flower is far easier than taking energy from a pony or any other creature." He said. "The amulet also will heal you by absorbing energy on its own and breathing it into you, healing even the most fatal of wounds."
"That's amazing." I said looking down at the amulet now embedded in my chest. "Don't worry... I'll bring this back to your friend, I cannot promise when, but I will have it brought to her somehow." I said.
"Thank you... I knew that counting on you would be a wise choice." He said. "Now you should go... Get some rest, tomorrow you and your party of friends must depart. "He said.
"Alright... I will." I said getting up from the shrine room floor and walking towards the door. I walked out of the room and made my way across the grand hall. I soon found myself in front of the door the others went through, I opened it up and walked into the huge room with bedrolls scattering the ground. All of them were pretty much occupied accept for one at the end. I walked over to it and laid down in it. Most of the others looked like they were asleep, but I could sense that some were faking it. I laid down in the bedroll and slowly started to drift asleep like the others. It wasn't long until I was completely asleep and dreaming. The night seemed to pass by quickly and soon enough I woke up in a strangely familiar way. I opened my eyes to see another face looking back at me. It was Rena, ascent she was asleep. Her snout was pressed right up against mine and her eyes were level with mine. Seeing her there surprised me slightly and my eyes shrunk back into my head a little.
I pulled my head back to get a little bit of space and realized that she was clinging onto me, but I did manage to put some space between our faces. It wasn't long after that I noticed I was once again, literally covered in mares once again, twilight this time laid on top of me, and scarlet clung to my back and laid her head on my neck. What is up with these three? Why are they suddenly clinging to me? Scarlet is holding onto me like we've been apart for years even though I've been with her the entire time. I know twilight well enough to know that she's a little shy and wouldn't just laid down right on top of me like that. And Rena... Well, beats me, she's a mystery in and of herself... So I can't really tell, but she always acts strange. This could be her trying to take me for herself. Suddenly I saw Rena's eyes slowly open and then look at me as she let out a cute little yawn and then looked at me.
"Oh, good after night crimson, my other." She said. Her other...? What does that mean? Before I could ask her anything she moved her face close to mine. Next she did something that I thought was rather...no, very strange. She brought her face closer to mine and then stuck her tongue out. She licked my nose and the. Smiled. "Your flesh is exceptionally sweet today..." She said. I just kinda stared at her with a look of embarrassment, confusion, and horror. I'm not going to lie, that was mildly disturbing.
"Uhm... Rena?" I asked. "Why are you sleeping next to me? And why did you like me just then?"
"I could not fight the magnetism of my heart... I let it pull me to you." She said.
"Alright... But why did you lick me?" I asked.
"I've been hungering for your sweet taste..." She said with a lustful smile. "Let me taste you." She said growing closer like she was going to kiss me. She pressed her lips right against mine and gave me a deep kiss. I felt a chill run over my body and everything soon became very sensitive. She moved her lips away from my mouth and then closer to my neck as she opened her mouth wider revealing her fangs. She was inches from biting my neck until something pulled her.
"Oh no you don't..." Said a voice below me. I looked down to see that it was twilight who had pulled Rena down. Rena hissed at twilight but twilight used I her magic to close Rena's mouth and push her away. "Once was enough..." She said.
"Uh... Twilight." I said. "Uhm... Thank you."
"You know crimson .you could have shown more self control nod just gotten away from her." Scolded twilight.
"How was I supposed to do that with you laying I top of me and scarlet right behind me?" I asked.
"Huh?" She said surprised looking at where she was and where scarlet was. "Speaking of which... Why did I wake up I top of you?"
"What! You don't know?" I asked surprisingly.
"No..." She said. "My bed is over there, it's not far... But still," she said pointing at a bed over to the side. Suddenly I felt something shift against my back and before I knew it scarlet had placed her hooves on my chest and used me to pull herself up out of her sleep. She rubbed her eyes and looked around. Then she looked down and saw me and twilight, and Rena.
"Hey... What are you guys doing in my bed?" She asked.
"THIS IS MY BED!" I exclaimed. "What are you doing in MY BED?!"
"Huh... I don't know." She said. "What AM I doing in your beds."?
"Let me guess... Rena, you don't know what you were doing in my bed either?" I said.
"Not true, my hooves carried me here under my own power." She said. "The scent of your blood cradled me to sleep."
"Great..." I said sarcastically.
"As for the white fox, and the second angel, I don't know what it is they wish of you in bed... But I have some thoughts." She said smiling and blushing causing the others to blush as well.
"What's going in here?" Asked a voice close by. The next thing I saw was the night commander walk over here.
"Ugh... Will you please be quiet, it's still early." Said a voice from behind scarlet. We all looked back to see that snowbelle, still in her armor, was sleeping soundly right behind scarlet, in fact she was clinging to scarlet. "Huh? Wait... What am I doing over here?" She asked looking around. "W-who's bed am I in?" She asked.
"Uhm... I think this is crimsons bed." Said Merideth.
"IT IS! What are you all doing here?" I asked.
"I came over to see what was with all the noise." Said Merideth.
"I don't know really." Said snowbelle. "My bed is all the way on the other side of the room. Why am I here? This is very strange?"
"Crimson... What kind of game is this?" Asked Merideth looking down at me.
"What?! You think I did this?" I asked hurt by the accusation
"Well... You could have easily brought all these mares over here in their sleep." Said Merideth.
"Well... What about you. How come you didn't wake up beside me? Or that fire wizard over there? Huh?" I asked.
"I don't know... Maybe you don't like us?" She asked.
"I really can't believe you would think I did this... After all I've done for you." I said.
"Hey, I know crimson wouldn't do this... Besides he's married... Which is the whole reason why we've taken this dangerous trip." Said twilight in my defense. "I don't know what I'm doing here, and honestly I don't care... Nopony got hurt, and nothing happened... Everything's fine." She said.
"Twilight..." I said lightly surprised that she jumped to my defense so quickly.
"Now c'mon... We have somewhere to be." She said looking back at me and smiling. I smiled back and we all continued with the day. We got everypony up and forgot all about this morning, Rena's kiss still left me somewhat dizzy because of the numbing agent in a Malkavians kiss, but it wore off quickly. We all got ready for the day and everypony prepared themselves. I was asked numerous times about the amulet imbedded in my chest and I told them the entire story to which twilight just put her hoof to her face. Once we were all set and ready Rokk came in and invited us to breakfast before we went on our journey. It was a good idea to get some food in before we head out, so we accepted, and ended up having a hug breakfast here in the grand hall. Even the chief was there eating and drinking with the others. The chief laughed and talked with the others, but he was always the most levelheaded one at the table. For the sake of the mission we skipped out on the wine and just had snowberry juice instead which was surprisingly sweet.
We ate breakfast together, and everypony seemed to have forgotten what happened this morning, but I am still a bit curious as to why none of them remember finding their way into my bed last night. I kept my mind on it while we ate but I couldn't really think of a reason. I suppose they may have been sleep walking and made their way to my be, but it find that highly improbable. Other than that they might be lying because they're embarrassed, but why lie about it. They didn't even seem to be lying, it looked like they genuinely didn't know why they were in bed with me, and I sure as hell know I didn't do it.
The breakfast buffet that the Minotaurs had laid out was huge. There were tons of things like pancakes, pastries and meat... Lots of meat. Just seeing a roasted steak was driving me wild, but it would be weird if I were to have some, being a pony and all. It doesn't matter though, there were plenty of other things here that could appease my appetite. After a while we finally finished our meal and started to head out. We didn't really know where to go, but the chief assigned Gord to show us the way to the mine's entrance. We started getting ready and soon we headed out of the door and out into the town. It was rather cold today, but it wasn't as bad as the cold I'm use to. We made our way through the town and soon we came up on a large door built into the side of the mountain. We walked up and looked at it, but it wasn't too special, just a wooden door with iron struts running along it.
"This is the entrance to the caves, here... Take this." Said Gord handing me something. It looked like a map.
"Are these the maps of the mine?" I asked.
"They are, they should help, as long as somepony knows how to read them." He said. He opened them up and handed me the map. There was a point in the tunnel system that was circled in red paint. "This is the spot where we dug into the caves, we haven't gone further since, be sure not to get lost in those caves." He said.
"We'll be sure not to." I said. Gord walked over to the door and pulled it open. It was very heavy and took a second or so to pull open, but when it did he walked over and handed us all torches.
"These should give you some good light." He said. "There are other torches inside, but they've all been extinguished." He said. "You could relight them so that you don't get lost." Gord said leaning over and whispering to me.
"That might help a lot." I said grabbing the torch from him and using my magic to light all the torches simultaneously. We walked up over to the doorway and looked back at the others. Merideth said that she should take the lead and I didn't argue. I let her take the lead with her three remaining Templars and we made our way into the caves. Once we were all in the doors closed behind us and we were stuck inside now, there was no turning back. Merideth looked around with her torch and then we walked on forward. We began moving forward and soon I noticed the others had passed a torch on the wall. As we moved by it I walked over, separate from the group and held my torch up to it. The torch on the wall caught fire and illuminated the cave with a bright glow. The torches on the walls of the cave are strangely brighter than the ones were carrying. We kept marching forward and it wasn't long until the next torch came into view, at the edge of the light. I walked over to the torch and lit it with my own. By now the others had noticed and once I rejoined the group twilight walked over to my side.
"Why are you listing up the torches?" She asked.
"Gord said it might be a good idea so we can track where we've been." I answered.
"That's smart thinking." Said twilight.
"Hey crimson, what is it that we're looking for exactly?" Asked thunder walking over to me and twilight.
"I'm not entirely sure... Something evil looking." I said. "I'm sure we'll know it when we see it won't we."
"Most likely, that's how all of our endeavors turn out." Added twilight.
"I don't know about you two, but when all is said and done, I'm going on a vacation, figure I might actually start my life, you know, find somepony, just like you crimson... Hopefully my life won't be as crazy as yours, but fun nonetheless."
"Glad to be such a bright and shining example for you to follow." I said.
"I never said anything about being an example." Added thunder making us snicker and chuckle a bit. We chuckled a bit until Merideth shushed us from upfront she signaled for us all to stop and so we did and the mood quickly changed.
"Everypony be still... Listen." She said making us stop.
"What is it?" Asked one of the guards by her side.
"I don't know." She replied.
"Crimson... You feel that, don't you." Said Runestar looking back at me. I was just now getting a chill down my back and my senses were picking up something straight ahead, but it was dark, and hard to see. I looked over to see a torch hanging on the wall next to us, I walked over to it and held my torch up to it and it caught fire and lit up the cave. The light pushed back the darkness ahead, but revealed nothing but a crossroads. The cave split up ahead into three branching paths. As the light pushed back the darkness I felt the presence around us slowly fade, but it was still there waiting and watching us from the shadows.
"Could it be a shadow demon master?" Asked the fire Mage to Runestar.
"Possibly..." Said Runestar.
"I believe that whatever creature exists in here. It is harmed by light." Said the ice Mage.
"Very perceptive, that much is true, yes the creature is harmed by light."
"What are you talking about Runestar?" Asked Merideth.
"There's something in the shadows isn't there." Said twilight.
"Yes, it's watching us." Added Runestar.
"I sense shadow spirits..." Said ergo speaking up.
"Yes, I've felt their touch too, evil souls now bound in shadow and hatred... Their cold eyes cut through my skin... I have no doubt that they are here, and there, and everywhere the light doesn't touch." Said Rena.
"Shadow spirits..." Said Runestar. "Now that you mention it... Yes, I suppose they are shadow spirits.
"Where we come from we call them kryll." Said ergo. "They swim through the shadows like fish in water." She said looking back into the darkness. Now that I knew something was there, even though I couldn't see it, I could feel it there. There was a loud clicking sound that came from the shadows. It sounded like a swarm of them was there. Rena walked forward ahead of the group and held her torch in her hoof. She pulled back and chucked the torch down the large cave. As the torch rocketed through the air it passed over and before they could flee we saw strange creatures get caught in the lights glow. They were small flying creatures with little glowing eyes. They looked kinda like fish with wings, but they were covered in black sludge and they clicked and hissed at the light as they swarmed back into the darkness, there were thousands of them. From the light it was like they weren't there though, but they were definitely there.
"The darkness has now become death..." Said Rena.
"This is more severe than we thought." Said ergo. "There's thousands of them, if were caught without any kind of light then they won't hesitate to rip us apart until were just piles of meat and bones." She spoke differently, suggesting that she had switched personalities again , becoming Erva once more.
"Ah yes, this is quite the predicament..." Said Runestar. "But I think that we shouldn't have to worry, I know that if worse comes to worse our good friend crimson will... Well, light the way... So to speak." He said giving me a smile.
"Don't worry... We'll be fine." I said. "If we keep things well lit then we should be safe." I moved forward and back into the group and looked over at the three way intersection in the caves. "The only trouble now is to decide which way to go... I personally think that splitting up is not an option, but I'll leave it up to the knight commander."
"Well..." Said Merideth walking forward with her torch. "I agree that if we split up then the chances of our survival decrease... So we stay together, no matter what. We'll light the torches along the way so that we know where we've been.
"Crimson, why don't you just check the map." Said twilight.
"Yeah, that might help, but I don't really know how to read cave maps." I said. "I can give it a try I suppose." I grabbed the map and walked forward ahead of everyone and scanned out the three possible routes. I looked between them and at the map, but it wasn't of much use, the map was just a combination of winding lines of various color, there was a key to help, but it was written in a different language, Minotaur or something. I couldn't figure it out to save my life. I was about to speak up until there was a rumbling sound that echoed through the cave.
"What's that?" Asked snowbelle. The rumbling continued until the unexpected happened. Suddenly something burst through the wall of the cave and took out a torch with it creating a barrier of darkness between me and the others. Soon the kryll swarmed in between and were now visible. They created a shield of some kind and swarmed through the air at great speeds. It's like they were the darkness itself. The large beast that had broken through the wall looked like some kind of worm with shards of crystal-like metal jetting out of its back as it inched along. The kryll swarmed and everything seemed rather calm now, except for the wall of death in front of me. The kryll didn't seem to be bothering the giant worm as it went on its merry way and started to bore a hole in the other end of the cave and crawl in.
"Crimson, are you okay?" Asked twilight.
"Yeah,I'm fine... What was that thing?" I asked.
"An iron hide earth worm... Very common in caves, completely harmless, and they often pass through like that." Said Runestar.
"Hold on crimson." Said snowbelle throwing her torch my way. It flew through the air at the kryll but they swarmed out of its way and it passed through the wall of kryll and landed next to me, ultimately doing nothing.
"Don't worry, I'll carry my torch over." Said one of the Templars who unsheathed his sword. He started to step forward and brought his light closer and closer to the barrier of darkness. As he got closer the kryll seemed to hiss and click and soon the wall of darkness thinned out until it was gone and the last kryll flew back off into the shadows near me as fast as possible. "There we go... That was a close one." he said. Suddenly one of the kryll broke out the shadows and struck the guard. It latched onto him and bore its teeth through his armor. "What the hell!" He shouted dropping his torch and clutching the kryll. It held on tightly and seemed to burn up in the light until it died and its grip loosened.
"That's not like them..." Said ergo. "Rena?"
"Their will is not their own, they are but puppets, but who has the strings?" She asked. Suddenly another kryll came out but instead of the guard it went right for the torch. It hit the torch and covered the flame with its body. It didn't last long before disintegrating into dust from the light. But it was long enough to smother the fire, and now that poor guard was caught in the darkness. Suddenly all the kryll returned and swarmed the guard. Through the shadow haze blood spurt violently from all directions and covered the walls in red. The only thing that could be heard what a short scream, after that the only sounds were blood spilling on the ground, bones snapping and crunching, and flesh being torn and ripped. I watched as one of the kryll flew off from the swarm and hit the ceiling of the cave. Surprisingly to everypony the kryll exploded upon impact and caused a cluster of rocks to fall from the ceiling. The others backed up and avoided the rocks.
Suddenly several more rushed out and bombarded the ceiling causing explosions upon impact. They were trying to cave us in, more specifically... Me. I looked over to the others and they knew what was happening. Suddenly large amounts of rock fell from the ceiling. The cave would have collapsed had Runestar not acted quickly. He banged his staff on the ground and it began to glow and white runes circled around it. Suddenly all the rocks stopped falling and floated there.
"Run... Go... I can't hold it forever." He said. I quickly rushed forward into the darkness but before the kryll could get me I focused all my energy to my body and began to radiate a brilliant light from the markings of my body and as well from my armor and eyes. The light lit up the whole cave and the kryll who didn't escape it burned up into ash. I stood there and twilight and the others began to make it through. Twilight, Rena, ergo, snowbelle, Merideth, thunder, and scarlet made it through. Next came the other two Templars and then the two mages. We were all across, except for Runestar who held the caves up.
"Hurry master..." Said the male wizard.
"Sorry my students... But this I where I end my journey here, be sure to see it through safely." He said with a smile.
"Master NO!" Shouted the female Mage as runestars magic faded and the rocks collapsed in front of us. Once the rocks had collapsed and settled everything grew quiet. We stood there now with only a few torches left glowing. The way back was completely cut off now. I could still sense runestars energy from the other side, so he wasn't dead, and I knew that the other two mages could feel it and they smiled.
"What do we do now?" Asked the ice Mage.
"Well... Now we keep going forward." I said. "We need to be more careful, we don't want anything else to go wrong."
"Agreed, but once again... Which passage do we take?" Asked Merideth looking back to the intersection.
"Left... We should go left."I said.
"Are you sure?" Asked scarlet.
"Positive, I figured it out by watching that worm." I said. "It came from the left and seemed went right, it was in a hurry and didn't even bother to check its surroundings. Usually creatures like that are curious, but this one wasn't which makes me think that it was running from something." I said. "I could be wrong, but that's just my assumption." I said.
"Sounds good to me." Said snowbelle.
"Same here." Added thunder.
"Alright then, left it is." Said Merideth leading us on. We started making our way to the left path when suddenly a chill went down all of our spines at the same moment and a certain uneasiness filled the air. The silence was broken when a laughter filled the cave and echoed off the walls. It was sadistic sounding, and more over it was a mare's laughter. The voice sounded deep and young and was rather smooth and soothing. The laughter picked up and the voice filled the cavern.
"Oh my little ponies..." Said the voice talking softly and slowly. "Come then to your mother of the night. I know why you are here...crimson." She said my name just before laughing again.
"Crimson... What's going on?" Asked twilight. I didn't answer but just glared into the darkness.
"I know that you're here for me... So I'll offer you this, I'll... LET, you find me." She said laughing again. "You're on the right track my little ones, follow the left path, then go right, then left twice, and there should be a door behind a gem of great beauty... That... Is my lair." She said, her voice fading through the cavern and echoing off the walls.
"But you crimson... I want you to take the right passage." said the voice. She began to laugh again and I just glared up into the darkness. "Take the right passage, this I command, or your friends will all die here... The choice, is yours..." She said. She laughed again and her voice slowly faded away until everything was silent.
"Crimson... What was that?" Asked twilight.
"There are a few details of this that I haven't mentioned to anypony." I said.
"You mean to say that you've been keeping secrets about this... Well?" Asked Merideth sounding rather angry.
"Yes... I have, but Runestar instructed me not to tell anypony... And for good reasons too. Look, once this is all said and done then I'll tell you all, but now isn't the time... I think we have to do as she says." I said.
"You can't be serious." Said scarlet.
"Look, it's obvious that she has control over these kryll things, and we saw how they dove into the light after one of the Templars, she could do that again, and if they get rid of our light source then were all dead. Even if I were to glow as bright as I could she would still send them through to us. Plus she probably has other things at her disposal... I don't want any of you getting hurt... Don't worry, twilight you know me better than most of the ponies here... You and thunder know that I'm not going to die on you." I said smiling. She gave me a concerned look and sighed.
"I... Suppose you're right." Said twilight. "We'll take the left passage, you take right..."
"Don't worry twi... It'll be fine." I said giving her a smile. She was
Reluctant to smile back, but she did. I turned and walked the other way and made my way down to the right path and the others followed the left path. I kept my armor glowing brightly so that I didn't have to carry a torch with me. Soon the light from the others faded past the corner and I was all by myself. I made my way down through the tunnels and everything was eerily silent. The only sound was the ringing of my glow and the sound of my hooves on the ground. I didn't feel completely alone though, I could still sense the kryll flying around in the shadows and watching me.
I kept making my way through the cave, but there didn't seem to be anything here though, just a boring old cave. All the minerals had been mined out of the walls of the cave, and the rocks were bare. It was obvious. The places where they had been digging because of the touch texture off the caves, and there would be large pockets in the walls indicating that there must have been veins of minerals there. As I made my way deeper into the cave the walls started to gleam and shimmer more and more as flecks of gold and iron became visible, and the walls soon ran with veins of minerals, mostly gold, even precious gems like ruby and emerald. Soon another chill ran down my back and laughter echoed through the cave once again.
"You're almost there crimson... Just a little... Further." She laughed again and her voice rebounded along the walls.
"What's your name?" I asked aloud into the darkness making her laugh harder.
"You already know what my name is." Said the voice.
"So it's true... The prince was right."
"Yes... He was right, he's here actually... My beloved prince, were together at last, and we're going to rule this world together."
"So this is where the prince has been hiding."
"I wouldn't call it hiding..." She said laughing again. Her voice echoed through the caves and faded away. I kept walking and making my way through the caves. As I started walking it began to feel an overwhelming darkness presence. Soon a door became visible through the light. I walked over to it and stopped to look at it. The door was large and looked like it wasn't built in, but unearthed instead. It was a huge metal door that didn't look like it would be pushed open easily. Luckily the door decided to open on its own and started to push open. The door split in half and opened up on both sides. Large chains run from the ceiling to the ground and large gears churned and pulled the chain to open the door. The door opened up and then stopped and everything went silent again.
I walked forward and walked right past the door. I looked around and noticed that past the door was just a small bit of ground before a pit into the ground. I walked to the edge and took a look down the pit. It was deeper than I thought it would be. It was dark up top, but looking down I saw large spikes of crystal that glowed brightly and jet out of the walls. The pit seemed to drop endlessly, but there was a light at the very end of it. There weren't any stairs or anything that seemed like a way down, the only way to get down there would be to jump down. I suppose that this would probably kill almost anypony, but then again, these wings on my back aren't just for show.
"Oh crimson... Down here." She said laughing. The voice was now clearly coming from down the pit. I looked down and I could feel waves of dark and evil energy emitting from the pit. I decided that I need to get down there, so I took one step forward and fell down into the pit. I plummeted down the pit and the wind brushed past my face and made my eyes start to water. The spikes of crystals lit up the way, and I had to pivot and turn just so that I don't crash into any of them. After a while down the bottom became visible and I extended my wings to start regulating my speed. I started to slow down just as I approached the ground. I flipped my wings and started to brake and slowdown. It wasn't long till I was merely hovering above the ground. I fluttered my wings and gently touched down onto the ground. I pulled my wings back to my side and looked around at the pit I had just fallen in. It was much bigger down there than the actual pit was. It seems to be some kind of... Chamber, like a bedroom or something.
The walls and ceiling had purple crystals emitting purple, low intensity light. There were all kinds of things down here. Black carpeting on the ground. There was a decoration in the corner which was a large crystal floating off the ground with smaller crystals floating around it. I looked to the other side and saw that there was a bed, a neatly made bed at that. It was supported up by those purple crystals and had black sheets with floral designs and purple etchings stitched into the pillows and sheets. It was one of those big beds with curtains over the top of it for privacy, but they were open and nopony was there. I looked around some more and there were several wooden doors built into the walls. There was a small ornate table standing up on the ground not far from me with a black clay tea set.
"Welcome crimson... To my home." Said a voice. I looked back to see that there was a staircase leading up to a balcony with a door on it. The door opened up and a tall figure walked out. The doors closed and a mare walked out from the room. She must be Mara. I looked at her and studied her figure. She had black fur with purple hair with black stripes through it. Her mane was long and silky and she wore a smile on her face. She had fangs and deep purple eyes. Her cutie mark was a white skull made of fire. She was wearing lingerie clothes. Purple Silk panties strapped to silk knee socks. She casually made her way down the stairs. She had furry bat like ears with bat wings that she fluttered briefly before pulling them back to her side.
"You must be Mara..." I said.
"Yes, that is my name." She said smiling. "You must know all about me, it's a pleasure crimson... I've been watching you, but I don't know much about you." She laughed and smiled at me as she made her way off the stairs and walked over to a couch which stood over a black carpet. She sat down and smiled. "When you. Suddenly snapped into existence I was a bit taken back, somepony of you caliber, and power, and... Status." She said smiling.
"Where am I?" I asked.
"My chambers... Where I've dwelled for the last thousand years." She said.
"You look a bit too young to be a thousand years old." I said.
"You flatter me..." She said smiling. "I suppose, but with great power comes longevity. When I was banished I came here and sealed myself away from time and space, not to age or be touched by time. I awoke only a few years ago. In the time I was sealed away I collected knowledge of the world, and watched from bellow."
"If you sent me here to my chambers... Then where are my friends?" I asked.
"I sent them on a short trip back to the surface." She said.
"Why?" I asked.
"Because it's you I want crimson... I want your power... With it my dreams can finally be realized." She said.
"You're going to awaken the Titan!" I said.
"Of course, if I channel your power through myself then I'll be able to not only summon the Titan, but channel control his power." She said. "I thought that my one love, prince moon would have enough power... But he is weak now, he's not the stallion I once loved, his heart has grown soft."
"That's right... You only knew him when he was angry and full of hate towards his brother... How unfortunate." I said.
"That pony is the one I loved... But solar destroyed chin long ago." She said.
"Where is the prince now?" I asked. "What have you done to him?"
"He's here..." She said. "I thought about killing him... But alas." She said feigning on the couch. "Even his face is still reminiscent of the pony I once loved, so I could not bring myself to do him harm. So I just kept him locked up." She said. "I thought my plans would be ruined when I learned that I can't use his power... But then I was looking at that girl you have been with.
"You must mean scarlet." If said.
"Yes, what a promising young lass, so full of potential and raw power... But then you came along crimson." She said. "I didn't even have to lead you to this place, you've done a wonderful job of seeking me out on your own." She said. "Crimson... Give me your power, and I shall bring a new world order to this planet, I'll make a place for those who are misunderstood."
"Like hell... You plan on using the Titan to rule the world and destroy everything, I can't let that happen, even if this isn't my world I won't let you do this... If you want my power... Then you'll have to fight me for it." I said gathering as much energy as I could and focusing it into armor and my scythe. I grasped my scythe in my wings and started glowing brightly with my armor on. I waited and Mara just smiled and laughed at me.
"Don't be silly..." She said. "You have the element of light, I cannot win, and your power far exceeds my own, despite what others believe, I cannot leave this chamber, I was banished here... These crystals on the wall are like poison to me, they sap away dark energy, and I haven't been able to accumulate enough to overpower them... It's sad, I've been reduced to only simple tricks." She said. "If I were to try and fight you, you would kill me with ease. She laughed again and laid on her back on the couch.
"Then...why did you bring me down here?" I asked somewhat surprised.
"Because...I want your power...and I have my own ways of getting it." She said smiling. She got off the couch and started walking over to me. She had a lusty smile on her face as she started walking over to me. "I know one of your weaknesses, I've been watching you, and I saw you and that scarlet girl in that cave...and I must say... I'm impressed." She said smiling and walking up close to me.
"You stay back!" I said as tendrils of light jetted out of my back and pointed at Mara.
"Now now, crimson dearest... You should behave." She said getting closer. "You wouldn't want anything to happen to your friends now would you?" I asked.
"You said that they were on their way to the surface." I said.
"Another lie... The path I told them doesn't exist, the left path that they took leads into the deep mines, where they'll probably be lost for days, months even... And there's still the matter of my little babies swarming around in the darkness." She said. "The only reason they aren't dead yet is because I'm holding them back." She said.
"And what if I were to kill you and break their control?" I asked as she walked up right in front of me and looked up at me.
"Then they would indeed be out of my control, and seeing such fresh meat they would attack without second thought. You see I don't tell them to attack, I simply tell them NOT, to attack." She said.
"What do you want from me?" I asked,
"Your power... And I know of a very... Pleasurable way of getting it." She said smiling.
"So you plan on having sex with me and sucking the power out of my body." I said.
"My, how lewd, even if that is the case, these no need to be so blunt about something so sacred and beautiful." She said. "You already are starting to make me fall for you." She said.
"Wait...what!?" I exclaimed.
"I find power to be very attractive... And you have lots of power... More than I or anybody else could ever need, but you use it for pointless purposes like saving lives, if somepony is meant to die, then why stop it?"
"Because I can." I said.
"Is that how you go through life?" She asked walking around me and sticking close. "Do you just do whatever you want, simply because you can? Well if so then you and I have more in common than I thought." She said snickering to herself.
"You and I aren't alike at all." I said.
"But we use the same means to reach different ends... All it comes down to is morals really." She said. "I'd rather rule over this world with an iron hoof, and you want to stop me... And we'll both do whatever it is we can to insure our victory, and the others defeat... So it all comes down to who has the better plan... Who wants it more... And crimson..." She said snaking up to my side and whispering in my ear. "I've wanted this for a thousand plus years..." She said suddenly bursting into a cloud of blackness and then reappearing on the bed not far from me. "You have no idea how badly I want this... Revenge is a powerful thing crimson, it can lead even the most pure hearted ponies to become vile and wretched beings bent on finding that revenge they seek so desperately." She laughed and smiled laying on the bed. "It's like a drug, addicting, and it warps your mind until you sacrifice everything you know and love just to settle the score...case really."
"I I know what it's like." I said. "I haven't lead the most glamorous life, I know what it's like to lose control and hurt others, and I'd like to think that one day I'll be able to atone for my sins. Weather that day be today. Or tomorrow, in a thousand years or even if I can never clear my conscious fully, I'll give meaning to my life, and I intend to let my miracles outweigh my sins."
"My my, such noble words from a noble stallion... But can you live up to them?" She asked.
"I'd like to think that's what I'm doing now, this world I'm in isn't even my own." I said. "Yet I've stopped to help and here I am... Here to stop you from destroying everything."
"If you're so noble, then let me ask you this question." She said smiling and sitting up on the bed. "Your friends are in danger, I'm going to kill them. However, they won't be harmed, and I promise they will not, if you join me in this bed." She said smiling and laying on her side as her hair spilled over the sheets and she used her tail to cover her flank. "But you know that joining me in this bed men's that you would have doomed the world to destruction. I'll sap the energy from you and resurrect the Titan, and once that is done I'll destroy you and everything in this world to get my revenge... So what will you do noble hero. Kill me... And you lose your friends. Lay with me... And you die, and everything is destroyed, even your friends." She said... "So what will it be?"
This is a tough situation. If I don't do what she says then she will kill the others and I know that she will, they have no chance of fending off all the kryll, and they haven't escaped the cave. If I lay with her though, then she'll sap my power and resurrect the Titan and then kill me not long after along with my friends. If she kills me, I can still be revived since my soul is immortal, but I won't revive in time, by the time that I come back everything will be destroyed, I haven't come this far just to lose everything, there has to be a way. I refuse to believe that it's going to end like this... Wait! I have an idea. I looked at her and she just smiled. I started focusing all my energy and pulling it toward my core. A black cloud of mist and shadows burst from the ground and surrounded me cutting me out of sight, then I used the power I gained from the changeling queen to change my body. I started to shape myself into the form of nightmare moon, this world's version though, the male one.
I grew taller and black armor began to cover my body. My hair turned into a waving cloud of stars and shadows as my fur turned a deep midnight blue and my eyes turned green and resembled a snakes. My tongue became forked and my teeth sharpened into fangs. My cutie mark changed and soon I took on the appearance of prince moon in his nightmare form. My wings became dark and assumed the shape of bat wings. Once my body was done changing I flexed my wings out dispelling all of the black fog around me and showed off my new body to Mara who took one look at me and froze. Her heart must have stopped because she began to turn pale and somewhat frightened. And then she just smiled and laughed,
"Nice try warrior... While it did scare me a bit, that isn't going to work." She said. "I know that it's still you."
"That's all and well..." I said in my real voice since I cannot mimic the princes, as I haven't ever seen him. "I'm going to lay with you... But in this form." I said staring at her, that's what I was really planning. I knew she was too smart to know that it was me, but I plan on making her feel pressured, then when she is mentally unstable I'll reach out my soul to hers and put her under my control. She has too strong of a will right now for me to do that, but if I ran get her to become stressed or even distracted then I can control her.
"No... Change back!" She demanded getting somewhat furious.
"I'm afraid now that I've changed I can return to my original form for a month... That's the sacrifice for this." I said. "By that time my friends will have either already died or have escaped, which means you'll have no leverage against me, and I'll kill you... So you have no choice but to sleep with me in this form now." I said walking over to the bed. I'm going to regret doing this, probably for the rest of my life... But it is in order to save the others. I walked over and soon was at the end of the bed. I crawled on and crawled right on top of Mara who looked me in the eye with fear.
"What are you doing... Get off!" She demanded. "If you don't stop then I'll kill your friends." She said putting me in a tough spot, but I pushed on through and prayed that my next plan would be a success.
"Then I'll have to kill you." I said in a relaxed voice bringing my face closer to her and then suddenly planting a kiss on her lips. She froze up as I penetrated her mouth with my tongue and held her close to me. Her now frozen body became limp and I pulled away from her and she looked me right in the eyes with rosy cheeks. She tried to say something, but she just stuttered before she could actually say anything. I waited to see if she would say something, but then she just lunged at me and kissed me right in the lips, which caught me by surprise. This time she kissed me with passion. She wrapped herself around me and held me close and I held her back. Her body was warm, and she was going into heat now. I could feel her start to sweat as she used her magic to take of the lingerie clothing she wore revealing herself. I didn't want this to go any further so I focused my magic through my body and into her and I saw that she had become mentally weak.
I kept her close and focused all my magic out of my body and into her. Suddenly ghostly chains broke up from under the bed and gently wrapped themselves around Mara and clung in tight, yet she didn't even notice. They wrapped around her hooves, one for each hoof, some wrapped around her body, and one more wrapped itself around her neck and it formed a spiritual collar. Once the collar was there the chains stopped popping up and she suddenly froze. I pulled myself away from her and saw that her eyes had gone dark and dull now, she was completely under my control. I rolled off the bed and left her there. I focused my energy again and changed back into myself. A burst of light formed around me as I regained my original form. I looked over to Mara and smiled, then I tried wiping her saliva out of my mouth and off my lips. I spit on the ground one and walked over to her.
"Mara... Stay there." I commanded. She was silent for a second, then replied.
"Yes...m-master." She said in a sullen monotone voice. I left her there and she stayed right there, just laying on the bed and looking off into the distance. I looked around and saw that there was a rounded corner on the other end of the room. I walked over there and started making my way down the room. I rounded the corner and there was a door standing there. I walked up and pushed it open to reveal the room on the other side. Once I looked in I saw that it was some kind of prison block with multiple cages in it. There were only three and they were against the wall facing me, in the middle one lay a pony whose image wasn't too far from the one I had taken earlier. I walked over to the cage and banged on the metal with my hoof and the body, which laid on the ground remained still, but a voice spoke up.
"What do you want you vile witch?" Asked the pony to which I just laughed. The sound of my voice took him by surprise and he quickly looked over his shoulder to see me and his eyes shrunk in his head.
"You must be the Prince..." I said. "Prince Moon correct?" I asked smiling at him. He got up and walked over seeming somewhat awestruck. "You've got a brother back home that misses you... How about we head on back?" I asked.
"Y-you... Who are you, where is Mara?" He asked.
"My name is crimson blast, I came here with a small party of friends by request of the prince... Your brother, along the way the party got a bit bigger, then it was just me, but I've found you now, and we should get going..." I said. I used my magic to summon a blade of light from the ground and used it to cut the iron bars into pieces.
"That magic, you remind me of somepony." He said.
"Scarlet blaze I assume... We have a lot in common, kind of like brother and sister." I said.
"Are you indeed siblings?" He asked walking out of the cage.
"No... Not exactly, it's actually a bit more complicated than you think." I said. "But I'm sure your brother can explain it all to you, you must be tired, and hungry... Can you move on your own well enough?" I asked.
"Yes... I'm fine, she hasn't done anything but torment me with her stories of how I've become weak." He said. We walked out into the main room and we soon were in sight of the bed Mara laid on, she was still there bound in the ghostly chains which protruded from the ground and wrapped around her. "Wait, don't move... She's there... Quickly, we have to destroy her." He said.
"No... We can't do that." I said.
"W-why not?" Asked the prince.
"Well... There are a few outstanding reasons. First of all, there's a swarm of kryll up in the mines, along with my friends. The only reason my friends aren't dead is because Mara has control of the kryll and has ordered them not to attack." I said.
"Oh... So if she dies... So do your friends." He said as we walked over. "What are those chains she's wearing?" He asked.
"That brings me to the second reason." I said. "Those are spirit bindings, I cast them on her when she was distracted and mentally weak, now she's under my control, she can't hurt anypony anymore. It's over now." I said letting out a deep sigh.
"Just, exactly who are you?" Asked the prince as we walked over to Mara who laid on the bed with soulless eyes.
"I'm a lot of things, but above all I like to think of myself as a peacekeeper, I maintain the balance between good and evil."
"If you maintain the balance. Then isn't destroying all the evil not a good thing." Said the prince.
"You see, evil ultimately outweighs the good. Ponies like Mara have too much evil in them. That's what drives them to hurt others, the balance of evil and good is thrown off when somepony has too much evil in them that it affects others." I said. "Everypony has evil in them, and that's perfectly fine, even the most godly of saints have desires, which makes them equal." I said. "In the end it all comes down to a question of morality, there is no set weight on good or evil, but my job, as a keeper of peace and balance, is to make sure that everyone survives in the end."
"That's a very interesting job..." Said the prince.
"It's more like a way of life."
"So where do we go now?" Asked the prince.
"Well... Now we go up." I said looking up at the huge gaping hole above us, which is the pit that I had filled down.
"I know I said that I could move on my own, but I don't think I have the energy to fly up that high." I said.
"That's fine..." I said. "Mara, come here." I demanded as Mara then rolled of the bed onto her hooves and shambled over to us. The ghostly chains around her phased through the ground but kept tightly wrapped around her. She shambled over and stood still right next to me. "I can get us up there. Just hold on." I said focusing all of my energy into my hooves and moving it through the ground. Suddenly a circle broke into the ground around us and a great pillar of earth shot up from the ground and carried us up with it. I carried us all the way to the very top of the pit where I stopped the rock pillar at the edge of the overhang by the pit. We walked off and walked out of the large iron door as the pillar then shot back down below. I ordered Mara to follow and she did as we walked through the cave system with my armor and wings glowing brightly to lead the way and keep the kryll at bay.
"Crimson!...crimson!" I heard a voice shouting in the darkness. Then a sudden glow started to appear in the very distance around a corner.
"Who's that?" Asked the prince.
"Oh, that would be my friends, but what are they doing here?" I wondered, then once I thought about it I just smiled and kept making my way down the cave. Suddenly there was another voice that called out.
"Hey... Look that light."
"It must be him... Hurry." Said another familiar voice. Soon the light grew brighter and it wasn't long until my entire group of friends had rounded the corner to see me and the others. The first face I saw was twilight who rushed over with a smile on her face. The others made their way over too and suddenly we were surrounded,
"Crimson ,you're alright... But, who are these two?" Asked twilight.
"You might know this pony as the prince." I said gesturing to him.
"The prince!" Exclaimed Merideth and she dropped to her knee with the two mages and the remaining two Templars.
"Moon? Is that you?" Asked scarlet.
"S-scarlet? What are you doing here?" Stuttered the prince.
"Uh, solar asked me to come... With uh, these others. You probably don't know these two, but uh, this is twilight sparkle, thunder rush. And crimson blast... Do they remind you of anypony?" She asked gesturing to us. She stood next to me and the princes eyes glanced between the four of us. Suddenly his eyes widened and it was obvious that he figured it out.
"What the? What's going on here... You two look just the same, and this one looks just like moonlight? You even have the same cutie marks? How is that even possible?"
"It's a long story... Seriously." Said scarlet.
"You know what... I don't really care right now, I'm tired and hungry and I haven't seen the sun in over three months, can we please leave this godforsaken cave and maybe get some food?" He asked.
"Sounds like a plan to me." I said.
"So are we just going to completely ignore the mare with the lingerie and chains?" Asked thunder walking over to Mara.
"Oh, that's Mara... She's the one who's behind this." I said causing everypony y to jump back a little. I just chuckled slightly at them and walked over to her. "I can't explain the lingerie, but the chains are my doing, she's been put under my control now, so it's all going to fine now... When I found her she was in a pit at the end of this cave where she had been sealed away. The crystals growing down there have been sapping her power away for a thousand years, so she can't hurt us.".
"Is this what you haven't told us about?" Asked twilight.
"Yeah, I didn't tell you because it was a bit of a touchy situation, and she is extremely dangerous, if I hadn't bound her to my will she may have stolen my power and used it to resurrect a great shadow Titan which would have destroyed everything." I said. "Oops... Did I say too much?" I said looking at the prince who just sighed.
"No... It's about time they knew. But I should be the one to tell them the nitty gritty details." He said "...But can we please leave?"
"Yeah, let's go." Said scarlet smiling and walking up to the prince. He smiled at her and we started to make our way back to the entrance of the cave. We started making our way through and it wasn't long until we came back to the crossroads in the caves. We walked over to the exit of the cave, but them we were breezed by the huge wall of stone and rock that the kryll made to block us out. I had forgotten about that part.
"The exits still blocked." Said ergo.
"I can see that..." I said. "I suppose clearing this wouldn't be too hard, but I'm feeling drained... Binding some ponies soul to my will takes a lot of energy and a constant state of focus." I said. "I think I used the last of my available energy trying to get the three of us out of that pit... If I waste any more the bond might break."
"So what now?" Asked twilight.
"Blasting our way through might make things worse." Said Merideth. "It could cause an even greater cave in, and I don't think any of us know any good earth magic."
"I know some, but I wouldn't be able to clear something like this." Said scarlet. We stood there contemplating when suddenly I could hear something coming from the other side of the cave in. We all heard it and looked forward wondering what it was. I walked over and listened carefully and I could barely make out a faint voice. It sounded like someone was chanting something on the other side. Suddenly a green glow began to shine through the cracks of the rocks and there was a rumbling sound. I stepped back and suddenly all the rocks rose from the ground and began piling back into the ceiling, like the cave in was reversing itself. Once the rocks had diminished I could see a figure on the other side. It was the Minotaur chief holding a totem like staff with both hands in the air. He was emitting a green aura and veins of green energy stretched through the ground and shone under the rocks as the cave ceiling seemed to miraculously heal itself. Once the cave in was gone we could see two others with him. I distinctively knew them as Rokk of Gord. Seeing them made me smile. The chief put his staff back to the ground and smiled when he saw us.
"Chief Roothorn?" Said the prince. "Is that you?"
"It would seem that your mission has gone well crimson." Said the chief.
"We heard the cave in from the village and came in to see if you needed help. We tried mining it out, but when that didn't work the chief said he would help... Good to know you aren't dead yet." Said Rokk.
"I knew you'd be able to do it." Added Gord.
"Finally, were done." Said the prince.
"I think a bit of rest and relaxation is in order." I said smiling...
-Authors Note: hey guys, hope you like this chapter, i know there wasn't really a huge boss fight at the very end, but you know, it doesn't always end that way. and before you guys think that ive been slaking off and just didn't write a boss fight, if i decided to take the easy way out, just letting you know that if you think that... you're wrong. it was never supposed to end with a boss fight, i think all the crazy stuff that's been going on well enough makes up for that, but if you guys dont like it... well... too bad, suck it up and deal. anyway, this dimension is soon going to pass and next chapter crimson and the others make the jump into the next world, which is going to be the human world. i dont have a set plan for this world, so im just going to wing it and have fun with it. im glad you guys enjoy the story, and keep checking for when i update next.
-Stay Shady~