After we escaped the cave with Mara and made it back to the village where we finally able to relax. The prince explained the rest of the situation to the others and apologized to them, but they were very understanding. I kept Mara under my control for a while, but it was sapping away too much energy to keep her under control, and I was becoming restless. The chief was able to help though. He placed a seal of hibernation on her, and it knocked her right out. After that I was able to dispel the chains which returned some of my energy to me. He said that as long as the seal stays on her she'll be in a deep coma like sleep. We thanked the chief and then asked him to remove the whirl portal by the city, which he agreed to do. Now the only thing left to do was return to Equestria with the good news, but after spending so much time with this, I couldn't help but feel a little disappointed. I, twilight and thunder never did find the next portal, and we still don't know where it is.
I didn't say anything, but it wasn't much longer before the chief called me into his sanctuary again. It was the next day and we were all rested up and well fed. When I walked into the chief's sanctuary the scent of incense hit me again with a strong door which was calming and mildly pleasant. The candles burned the same and the room was just as silent as ever. It was kinda nice being back in here just to sit and think. I walked over to the chief and sat right beside him for the third and possibly final time. I took in a deep breath and let it all out as I closed my eyes and relaxed. It wasn't long before the chief let out a large sigh and then opened his eyes to look at me. He closed his eyes again and went back to facing the altar in front of us.
"Something is bothering you? Is it not?" He asked.
"Yes, there is something bothering me." I said.
"You have completed your quest, thanks to you this country, perhaps, the world even is safe, the prince is unharmed, and all your friends are alive... What is it that bothers you?"
"You know as well as I that I'm not from this world." I said.
"So is it that you wish to go back home?" He asked.
"As much as I do want to go back, I can't... Not yet." I said. "The real reason I'm in this world is because I'm following a trail of inter dimensional portals. I thought that by coming here I would be able to find the next one, but it doesn't seem that way...and now I don't know where to look anymore... I'm lost."
"Ah, the feeling of being lost in life is truly a terrifying and unsavory feeling." Said the chief. "I've been down the same road along with many others... But if you're feeling lost, all you need is directions, and you can't get directions by yourself... You'll need help... And I think I can help." He said.
"How so?" I asked. "Do you know where the portal might be?"
"I may know of its existence." He said. "In the mines, which path did you take?" Asked the chief.
"The left and right paths, I took the right. But the others took the left; I don't believe they went all the way down it though since it leads to the deep mines. Is that where the portal is?" I asked.
"Now... But you didn't go down the middle path." He said.
"No... We didn't, is it there?" I asked.
"There is something there, weather it is a portal or not is a mystery even to me." He said, "But down that path. At the very base of the mountain, was a shrine. We unearthed it years ago. Miners broke through into a cave with a temple in the very center. On top of the temple was a great red gem that floated on the top, at the bottom, inside of it was a large room with a gate made of stone and diamond. We tried taking the gem, but it didn't go well, it only stood there and hummed with a glow, it had no reflection and it was not clear, it was like it wasn't even there. But I feel that it may have some affect on you. I do not know if it's true or not, but this could be the portal you are looking for, and I pray for you that it is."
"I hope it is too..." I said. "Given this news, I'd like to leave as soon as possible... I'm growing eager to end my quest and return home."
"I won't stop you, so take your friends and leave, if this temple is not what you want it to be, and then you are welcome to whatever resources we have." He said.
"I have a good feeling that this temple you found is just what was looking for." I said getting up and walking to the door out of the sanctuary. I looked back and then opened the door. I walked out of the room and made my way through the great hall. My friends were already at the table not too far from entrance eating food and laughing. I walked over and twilight noticed me. She smiled and waved but I just glared back. The look on my face unsettled her and her smile faded. I made my way over and stopped by her side, and next to thunder.
"Crimson... What is it? Is something bothering you?" She asked.
"We're leaving." I said in a stern voice.
"What? Leaving... Why?!" She asked.
"Where are we going?" Asked thunder.
"I know where the next portal is... It's back in the caves..." I said.
"I-it is?!" Exclaimed twilight. I just nodded my head in agreement. "Are we going to go now?"
"Yes... We should head out as soon as possible." I said.
"Are you still going to bring me with you?" Asked snowbelle on the other end on the table.
"I suppose..." I said.
"Actually... Crimson, snowbelle." Said Runestar. "I was just about to make a trip back to our home world... If you wish, snowbelle, I can bring you there..." He said.
"Can you really just do that?" Asked snowbelle.
"Of course... How do you believe I came here in the first place?" He said.
"Master, you're returning home now?" Asked the mare next to him in the robes.
"Yes my student, I am... So I leave the tower in the care of you and your brother... I know you two will see it well." He said.
"Thank you master!" They both said in unison.
"I won't be leaving just yet... But I can bring snowbelle with me. I know the king wishes her to go to your world, but you have other business to deal with first...don't you?"
"Yes... It might be better if she didn't come with us." I said looking over to her for a second.
"I understand..." Said snowbelle. "Alright... I'll go with Runestar."
"Then should we get going too?" Asked twilight.
"We should... It would be better if we got back on track as soon as possible." I said.
"Right...let's go!" Said thunder excitedly, so we went. The others followed us and we soon made our way back to the caves. We opened them up and made our way back inside. The cave system had been cleared of kryll now so it was safe. We brought torches with us for light and started to make our way down the familiar path, this time I was the one who took lead and guided the others down the cave. It wasn't too long before we came across the crossroads again and I lead everypony straight forward just as the chief said. We moved through the tunnels and caves lined with gold and gems. The middle tunnel seemed to drill onward forever, but it wasn't too much longer before a bright blue light shone at the end of the cave. It was like a small beacon of hope. We rushed towards it charging towards the light.
It grew brighter and brighter until it enveloped us and blinded us. Once the light faded from our eyes the cavern before us became visible. In front of us was a large staircase that went downward towards the ground of a huge open cavern. The cavern was big enough to fit the entirety of Canterlot castle inside of it with room to spare. The ground and the walls were lined with jagged blue crystals which illuminated a bright blue light with lit up the cave. Aside from the crystals were huge stocks of diamond, large crystals of pure diamond jetted from the ground. Spending a single minute in here collecting resources could set a stallion for life. In the very center of everything, past a winding path from the staircase in front of us and across the rock plane with crystals sticking out of the ground was a temple. It was very similar to the first one we went to. Floating above the temple was a large red crystal which spun gently and floated above the temple. There was a large white glowing crystal above it which was set differently than the other ones. It shone a beam of light straight into the red crystal which refracted the light and shot several beams of red light which glided through the air as the crystal gently spun.
"Wow..."said Merideth in awe.
"This place has been without time." Said Rena looking around.
"This is definitely the place we're looking for." Said thunder.
"Let's go..." I said making my way down the stairs. The others followed and we began making our way down the stairs. There were tons of steps and the staircase was huge. It took us a minute or so just to get halfway down. We kept pushing on and it wasn't too long before I took the first steps onto the ground of the cavern. There was a clear path to the temple which had a large opening in front of it which must have been the entrance. Before getting there, however, there were several archways oddly spaced out along the path. We walked up to the first one and I stopped. There were jagged crystals all around the sides of it and around the temple, meaning that the only way into the temple is to go through the archways... I could smell a trap already.
"What are you waiting for...? Let's go." Said Merideth. I just kept looking at the archway and glared at it. At the very top, past all the symbols and etchings, was an eye shape. It was open and the pupil glowed faint red, like the crystal floating above the temple. I looked towards the ground and found a rock lying on the path. I picked it up and held it in my hoof, and then I tossed it towards the entrance of the first archway. The rock passed through the air flawlessly until it reached the archway. Once it passed between the arch bolts of red lightning shot out from the sides at the rock and then the rock turned to ash and scattered on the ground. The get settled and everything was like before, except now there's one less rock in this world.
"I don't think we can just saunter through." I said looking back.
"Well what do we do now?" Asked scarlet.
"There must be some way." Said twilight.
"I think it's some kind of puzzle." Said snowbelle.
"How so?" I asked.
"Well. The beams of red light that are coming from that huge crystal floating up there might disable the gates if the light is beamed at the eyes on top of them." She said.
"That makes sense actually." I said. "The only problem is... How do we redirect the light?" I asked stopping to think and ponder.
"Can we fly over it?" Asked one of the Templars that came with Merideth.
"Let's see." I said looking across the ground for another rock. I spotted one similar to the last and picked it up. I tossed the rock over the gate and it soared overhead. I threw it up high and it made it passed the gate without problem...at first. Suddenly the crystal on top of the temple rapidly realigned itself and all of the beams of light pointed at the rock in the air, and within a split second a blast of red energy fired from the crystal and hit the rock which caused it to burst into ash and scatter again.
"Well shit..." Said thunder.
"That complicates things." I said.
"I thought you said that some of the Minotaurs tried to take the gem." Said twilight.
"The chief told me that... He also mentioned that it didn't go well, I guess this is what he means by 'didn't go well'." I said.
"Hey, look." Said scarlet pointing at the gate. We all looked over to see that the top had started to glow slightly and red glowing letters started to carve themselves into the gate. Once they were done I read aloud what the gate said.
"Follow the unseen path." I said reading the words. I thought for a second and stood there.
"Follow the unseen path?" Said twilight repeating the phrase.
"Where's the unseen path?" Asked thunder.
"Wait... I think I get it." I said. "But... Just going on a hunch might get me killed, but now that I think about it, I'm sure of it." I said looking between the phrase and the picture of an eye.
"What is it?" Asked scarlet.
"I think we have to walk through with our eyes closed." I said stepping forward.
"That's crazy..." Said Merideth.
"I'm going to try it." I said. I took a few steps forward and stood right in front of the gate. I took a deep breath and closed my eyes. I was a bit anxious, but I took a few steps forwards then stopped for a second, then I took a few more. Suddenly then there was a red light, and I thought I was finished, but then I heard twilight say something.
"Crimson... It worked." Said twilight excitedly. I suddenly opened my eyes and looked back to see I had passed through the gate successfully. One of the beams of light from the floating crystal shone down on the symbol of an eye on top of the gate and words etched into the gate again.
"Gate closed..." Said thunder. "That must mean its safe." He said. He took a few steps forward and reluctantly he passed through the gate with ease now. He smiled and gestured the others to follow. The others passed through and they all made it through without any problems. We began to walk down the path again with the second gate in sight. I walked the group forward and we stopped before the next gate. This one, instead of a symbol of an eye had a music note on it which glowed red. There was a loud hum that emitted from the temple and then it faded away. It wasn't long before words started to appear on the top of this gate too.
"What does it read?" Asked scarlet. I waited a second for the words to appear then I read them aloud.
"Listen carefully... And find the key which is the oddest." I said.
"The key which is the oddest?" Asked twilight. Suddenly four pillars of crystal rose up from the ground in front of the gate. One green, one red, one blue, and the other yellow. They rose up at about chest height and then stopped. I walked forward and stood before the four stones.
"I don't get this one." Said scarlet. "There all completely different, which one is the oddest?"
"Maybe it's green, since it isn't a primary color." Said thunder.
"Are you sure...?"I asked.
"That's the only thing I can think of." He said. I couldn't go on just that so I looked back to the gate. There was a picture of a musical note, and it said to listen carefully. I put two and two together and suddenly I realized it. I think I figured it out now. I picked my hoof up and placed it on one of the gems. As I touched the blue gem it glowed brightly and then rang with a beautiful note which hummed through the caverns with a crystalline sound. I lifted my hoof off the gem and it stopped glowing and humming.
"Just as I thought." I said. "Listen carefully... Find the oddest key; it's not talking about an actual key, but..."
"A musical one..." Said twilight finishing the sentence.
"That's pretty smart." Said snowbelle. I smiled and went back to the notes in front of me. I placed my hoof on the first one which was green. It hummed with a low hum and glowed brightly. The next one, red, hummed with a high note that rang through the cave, the blue one rang with the same low note as before and the yellow one rang higher than the red but not much higher, it was hard to figure out now, they all sounded reasonably fair.
"Well... They all sound pretty." Said thunder... "But which one is the right key?"
"Wait... If we're talking about musical notes, then it's not limited to those four, crimson, touch two of them at the same time." Said scarlet.
"You right..." I said. I placed my hooves on the blue key and the yellow key and they both created a green glow together and hummed with the same sound as the green key. I let go and nothing happened. I placed my hooves on the red and blue key and they hummed a majestic sound and glowed with a purple hue. Then I tried red and yellow which glowed orange and admitted a radiant high pitched sound.
"Crimson... I've got it!" Said scarlet.
"What is it?" I asked.
"Red and green... Do red and green. They're opposite colors..." She said eagerly. Thinking about it, she was right. I placed my hooves on green and red to which they created a horrible black color and emitted a horrible off key note which hurt my ears. I took my hooves off and then the temple rang out like the crystals and a beam of red light emitted from the floating red gem and struck the musical note on the top of the gate. Then the words 'gate closed' appeared on the gate and we smiled.
"Nice thinking scarlet." I said smiling.
"That one was tough..." Said thunder.
"I think we can expect them to get harder as we go along." Said snowbelle.
"Then we better start making our way to the next one." I said walking forward and passing through the gate. The others agreed and followed and we all passed through the gate and continued down the path. We began to make our way down to the third gate along the way. This one was a bit further than the others, and it took a few minutes to walk down the path and reach it. Once we got there we stopped and looked at the gate. The crystal above the temple hummed the same strange sound it did the others times and the gate started to light up. From here we could see past this gate and it was a straight path towards the temple with only three others gates blocking the way making for a total of six gates in all. We looked up to this one and the symbol on this one was a nose, it was a snout of a pony, if I had to guess this one probably has to do with scent. Then words started to appear on the top of the gate and were soon visible.
"Follow your nose to the sweet scent of victory?" Said twilight reading the text.
"Probably a puzzle where we have to use our noses." Said scarlet. Suddenly from the diamond crystals beside I us, roots started to sprout from them, many beautiful crystalline roots sprouted from the crystals and started to grow like plant life. Soon buds started to appear and then they sprouted fruit, small tiny berries. There hundreds of berries all varying in color and scattered about. Then a stone sign arose from the ground with text on it. I walked over and looked at what it had to say.
"Only those who have tasted of the victory fruit may pass unharmed... Be wary... All other of the fruit are forbidden." I said reading the sign.
"So... We pick the right fruit and eat it... All right... Which one is the right one?" Asked thunder.
"We can probably assume that the others are poisonous or something." Said Merideth.
"Most likely." I added. It wasn't long before the air became thick with varying scents of sweet, sour, salty, bitter, every scent I could muster, it was a bit overpowering but it wasn't that bad. I looked back at the others and I noticed that ergo and Rena was on the floor covering their snouts with their hooves. "Ergo, Rena... What's wrong?" I asked.
"The fruits of this cave burn me snout." Said Rena.
"Vampires have a good sense of smell... All of these scents are too overpowering, it's too much." Said ergo whose eyes were watering.
"Hurry... Before they pass out or worse." Said twilight.
"Alright, but which fruit are we looking for?" Asked snowbelle.
"The sign says to follow our noses to the sweet scent of victory, and the fruit is called the victory fruit, so it must smell sweet. Find something that smells sweet." I said. We quickly went off and started looking through all of the fruits which were mostly just grape like clusters of fruit, each cluster a varying color. I walked up to a cluster of red fruit and gave it a sniff, but it smelled spicy and was very off putting, much so that my eyes began to water slightly. I smelled the green ones next to them and they smelled like chemicals, it was also very off putting and slightly disturbing. We went around sniffing the scents of the fruits but there were so many. I looked back to see Rena and ergo still writhing on the ground covering their noses tearing up and whining.
"Hey... Over here..." Sad snowbelle. I snapped my head over to where snowbelle was and bolted over there with the others. "These yellow ones..." She said. "They're the sweetest thing I've ever smelled." She added picking them from the bush and holding them up to me. I put my nose to them and inhaled the aurora which was abrasively sweet.
"This has to be it." I said. I grabbed them from her and plucked one of the small fruits off. "I'll test it, just to be sure..." I said. I looked at the fruit and then placed it in my mouth. I chewed it and when it broke the juices spilled out and covered my mouth. The taste was unlike anything, it was like eating every fruit out there all in one small berry. I gulped and swallowed it down. I waited for a second but nothing seemed to happen.
"I think I worked." Said scarlet.
"Try passing through the gate..." Said twilight. I looked over to the gate and started walking over that way handing twilight the fruits. I made my way to the gate and stood in front of it. I placed one hoof through and nothing happened, then I jumped through, and made it through just fine. "It worked!" Exclaimed twilight. It wasn't long before the others including Rena and ergo ate the fruit too and smiled at the flavor. Then they all passed through and we walked away from there. The second I passed through the gate the scent of that place went away so once Rena and ergo passed by they let go of their noses and let out a relieved sigh. We started making our way to the next gate while Rena and ergo whipped the tears from their eyes and took deep breaths of fresh air.
"At least that's one more gate." I said just as a beam of light fired from the crystal on top of the temple and hit the gate we just passed through. The temple hummed once more and settled. We started to make our way to the fourth gate which wasn't much further. It didn't take us long to reach the fourth gate which had a picture of a mouth on it. This one's probably something with talking, or taste maybe... I don't know. We stopped at the gate and stood there as letters started to appear on the top of it. I looked at them and once they were clear I read them. "I'm brighter than the brightest light and darker than the deepest shadow. I'm always above your head watching. I wrap the world in like a warm blanket."
"Is it some kind of riddle?" Asked twilight.
"Seems like it." I said.
"Hmm... I don't think I get this one." Said scarlet.
"What can be dark and light at the same time?" I asked.
"I think I might know it." Said one of the guards.
"Really?" Asked Merideth.
"I believe so." He said.
"I guess then, you just have to say the answer aloud." I said. "Go for it."
"Alright..." He said stepping forward towards the gate. He stood his ground and took a deep breath. "THE SUN!" He exclaimed towards the gate. Everything seemed to grow still and nothing happened. "Was I right?" He asked. Suddenly the temple let out a hum, but it want like the others, this was an off key uhm then the crystal lit up and fired a beam of red light right towards the Templar. The blast hit the Templar and he immediately exploded into chunks of meat and blood, and armor which scattered everywhere and covered all of us.
"FUCK..." Shouted one of the guards.
"Jesus Christ..." I murmured to myself.
"Oh my god..." Said Merideth. We were all covered in blood now, and horrified. Rena and ergo didn't seem to mind as much as the rest of us, they were just surprised it happened. I started to while myself off like the others, but Rena just licked the blood off her.
"We can't afford to get the answer wrong." Said twilight.
"Yeah... So... Let's think about this first." I said. I stood there and finished whipping all of the blood that I could off of me and everypony started to settle down now. I kept running the riddle through my head over and over again trying to think of something. Always above us, light and dark...wraps the world... Like... A warm...blanket. I said to myself as the gears and cogs in my head started to twist and connect. I think... It's the sky. It's bright during the morning, dark at night, and it covers the whole world.
"Crimson? Are you okay, you seem really tranced out." Said twilight walking over. I ignored her because I was putting the pieces together in my head.
"THE SKY!" I shouted out.
" No crimson wait..." Said twilight worried that I would be wrong, but I was sure of it. It wasn't long before the crystal on top of the temple fired a beam, but at the gate instead of me and the sound from before emitted from the temple. The text on the gate vanished and new text appeared that said Gate Closed. I read it in my head and smiled, I was just lucky that I wasn't wrong by some chance.
"Nice thinking." Said Merideth. "Let's go on." She said leading the way through the gate. We followed through and safely passed through the gate. We journeyed a small ways down the path again and came up on the fifth gate. The picture on this one was of a hoof. There was also text on the top of it which I then read aloud.
"Often times, the truth hurts..." I read aloud from the top of the gate.
"I don't like the sound of this one." Said twilight. Suddenly one of the crystals of our left receded into the ground revealing a small compartment which held a box. The box was made of crystal, but the contents were unknown. I walked over to the box and lifted up the lid to see what was inside. Inside of the box was a dagger, the blade was serpentine and made of diamond, the hilt was gold.
"What's in the box?" Asked snowbelle.
"A...dagger." I said. And there's writing on the box too I noticed as I looked into the box. "There's something written in here." I said. I cleared my throat and read what was in the box. "The gate of clairvoyance, the gate of perception, gate of decision, the gate of wisdom, and now you face the gate of determination. You cannot pass, without shedding blood."
"I thought so." Said scarlet. I looked back at the rest of them and then looked down at the knife in my hoof.
"It says to pass, we need to carve an X across our chests." I said reading the very last bit in the box. I looked at the knife in my hoof one last time and gripped it tight. I placed the tip of the blade at the top of my chest and dragged it across my chest. I cringed from the pain, then put the knife to the other spot. I dragged it across and finished the X. The Cuts started to bleed and blood dripped down my chest, and it hurt pretty badly.
"Are you alright?" Asked scarlet.
"It stings... The blade must be enchanted to inflict pain." I said. "And... I think that in order to pass, you guys are going to have to do it too." I said pointing the blade at the others. Twilight just swallowed hard and walked up and placed her hoof on the blade.
"I-I'll go next." She said taking the blade from my hoof. She slowly brought the blade up to her chest and rested it right under her shoulder and slowly started to drag it across her chest. She cringed in pain and her face started to tighten up, but she stayed persistent and finished one of the lines. She quickly brought the knife to the others side of her chest and started dragging it across too, she was trying her best not to scream, but her eyes started to tear up a bit. She finished the X and dropped the blade as she too fell to the ground and clutched her chest and started groaning in pain. I dropped down with her to comfort her.
"Don't worry Twi, it's all over now, its fine... I'm proud of you." I said. I really was, that took some guts, and it isn't even a deep cut, but the blade is enchanted to cause pain. She's very strong for having gotten through that. It actually isn't until just now that I've started to realize just how far she's really come since the first time I met her years ago.
"I guess I'll go next." Said thunder walking over and picking up the blade. "I figure this is going to hurt more than it should." He said bringing the blade up to his shoulder. He started to glide the blade across and his face tightened up as well, he was able to bear it a little better than twilight, but he was in pain too. He finished one stroke and then stopped to breath. He gently brought the blade up to his other shoulder and dragged it across. He cringed and his face tightened up once more and his eyes started to water a bit. Once he finished the X he let out a sigh of relief and moaned in pain as he dropped the knife. "Sonofabitch that fucking stings." He said clutching his chest in pain.
"So...who's next?" Asked scarlet.
"I...don't think the rest of you should do it." I said. "I actually think that this should be where we part ways."
"Don't be so rash." Said scarlet walking over and picking up the knife. "You helped us all out, so it's the least we can do to help." She dragged the knife across her chest twice, almost screaming in pain a she did so. She dropped the knife and let out a sigh. The next one to pick it up was Rena. She sliced the knife across her chest like it was noponies business, so did Rena. And the rest did it too, soon we had all cut ourselves across the chest. I smiled at them knowing they would stick by me and we all stood up and made our way through the gate. We were able to pass through the gate without incident and the temple ahead let out a hum just like before and a bolt of light hit the gate and the symbol on top started to glow. There was only one more gate left. The cuts across our chests weren't very deep, so they weren't a problem really, in fact, even twilights wound had already stopped bleeding by now.
We started to make our way down the path to the sixth and final gate. It was right at the very entrance of the temple and we could see into the temple. There was a large stone archway sitting inside the temple with red rune carved into it like the chief said. Now that I think about it, in order to see this archway you would have had to get this far already. So that means somebody else has already gotten here, but whom... And what stopped them from going all the way in. I asked myself those questions before twilight pointed out the gate. I redirected my attention to the gate and looked up at it. The symbol on top of this one was a brain, and words started to carve themselves into the stone top of the gate. Once the words had appeared and were glowing bright red a read them aloud for the others to hear.
"When the gates of truth close, the guardian awakens. Only he can deem others worthy of access to the temple. Those who are unworthy shall now pass through this gate." I said reading the text on the gate.
"A guardian... What guardian?" Asked scarlet. Suddenly the ground started to shake and the earth under my hooves began to crack and shift causing us all to quickly move back out of the way. Soon a creature made of diamonds and gems started to sprout from the ground. A large claw made of diamond broke forth from the ground and clutched the earth. The claw began to pull up the rest of the body under the ground until more of the creature became visible. It was some kind of large skeletal creature made of diamond, it was very human in physique with other small details. It kept rising from the ground, it's rib cage and bones made of diamond gleamed and glowed in the mildly lit cave. It's skull, covered by a black cloth had two red rubies for eyes and his teeth were razor sharp and jagged. He was draped in a black cloak and soon he stood before us as the ground healed underneath him. Large wing bones sprout out from his back and were also covered in black cloth. The spines on each of his vertebrate stabbed through the cloth on his back and gleamed in the light. He was hunched over and carried a crystal scythe. It was like the diamond version of death.
"I think that's the guardian." Said twilight.
"Those who wish to enter... I beckon, come let me see your face." He said pointing towards our group as a whole. We all remained still until twilight swallowed hard and walked forth. I wanted to stop her, but I couldn't. All I could do was prepare myself to defend her if he attacked her. I kept on my guard and she walked forward towards the guardian. The great crystal being looked at her and then leaned over bringing his large skull only a foot away from twilight and he peered into her eyes and face. I could tell that twilight was nervous since she was sweating, but she remained still and gave him a stern look. "I see trouble in your eyes, dark and twisting shadows. Your past haunts you... But your future beckons you to forget. The path in front of you is infinitely bright... There is nothing short of potential...you...may pass." He said, just then twilight let out a sigh of relief and started walking through the gate. She had to pass under the large creature to get through the gate, but she made it through without fail and smiled as she looked back at us from the other side.
"Alright... I guess I'll go next." Said thunder. He walked forward and stood before the large beast as the beast brought his skull close to thunder and glared at him. The guardian was silent for a moment but then spoke up.
"I see... Confliction." He said I he then leaned closer and proceeded to take a whiff of thunder. "And I smell confusion... There is hope yet though, your past is diluted, and a puddle next to the pond of your future...you...may pass." He said. Thunder smiled and then passed through the gate to join twilight. I looked back at the others and smiled.
"This is where we part ways." I said.
"Are you sure?" Asked scarlet.
"Yes I'm sure... There's no need for the rest of you to go any further..." I said smiling.
"We'll miss you crimson." Said scarlet.
"Don't worry... Once all is said and done, I might come and visit some day... Who knows?"
"Please do." Said Merideth.
"Path ought we might not only be countries, nor maybe even worlds apart... We can still be friends." Said scarlet making me smile. I watched Rena walked up to me and give me a smile.
"Look, crimson... Below us, the shadows." She said looking at me. I looked down to see that we were casting two shadows on the ground below us. Two silhouettes of me and Rena. And as I looked closely I could see the shadows of chains that connected the two of us, even though they weren't there. Seeing them made me feel a bit nostalgic and I smiled.
"I guess our paths aren't done crossing yet." I said.
"Not yet, and perhaps ever... Only Father Time has the answer." She said.
"Thank you crimson." Said Merideth walking forward and smiling. "For everything... I didn't think I would be saying goodbye like this, but that's the life that I live I suppose... It's been fun, please come back some day." She said smiling.
"I will." I said smiling. I turned around to face the creature before me and my expression changed from happy to serious. I walked forward and stood before the large guardian who leaned down and peered into my eyes. I glared back at him with a very serious expression and he glared back harder. Then suddenly he leaned away and started to laugh. I was a bit confused but kept my expression.
"This is... Very interesting." He said as his laughter died down not long after. He looked down at me. "I see your past, and I find it funny... But your future..." He started to laugh again. "Heroism, honor, and fortune litter the never ending path of your future. But hardship lies off the road always. It may be a fortunate road, but even the greatest of roads have their dangers...you may pass." He said glaring at me with a smile. I smiled back confidently and walked through the gate to join twilight and thunder. I looked back through the gate at the others and they all smiled and waved at us.
"Are they not coming?" Asked twilight.
"No... But they said goodbye, and they'll miss us." I said. "You know, we should come back to this world and visit sometime." I said.
"Ugh... Crimson ,you make too many friends in places too far away." Said twilight.
"I can't help it... Sorry." I said smiling guiltily. Twilight just giggled and smiled.
"Don't worry about it... But we need to be going now." She said. "We'll definitely come back and visit, don't worry." She said smiling. I smiled back at her and we looked towards the gate. Up above the ceiling of the temple was a red crystal that stuck out of the roof. It wasn't long until it started to glow bright red and fired a beam down at the archway in the very center of the temple. The archway started to glow vibrantly and sparks shot off at the walls and a red mist began to spill out from the sides of it. Soon bolts of red energy fired In between the archway and red energy started to leak out of the inner sides. Soon there was a bright red flash and once we looked back the archway had become a portal. I had a grand feeling in my gut that this is what we're looking for... But I also had a deep and foreboding feeling too. The portal swirled with red energy and hummed a deep melodic tune.
"Well... Let's not waste time." Said thunder nervously. I walked over to the portal and stood before it. The energy seemed to pull itself towards me, like the portal was trying to pull me into it. I swallowed all of my feelings of doubt and fear and steeled my nerves. I closed my eyes and leapt into the portal. Suddenly I found myself caught in a raging red vortex. I felt time and space shifting around me and my body began to ache and burn. I felt like I was being torn apart and I could help but scream out in pain. The red swirling spun all around me glowing and twisting, red as blood. It hurled me deeper and deeper until everything was black and the pain started to fade away. I was unconscious now, I could feel it. Everything was dark, there were no dreams, it was only me. Suddenly sensation came back to my body, but I felt odd. It was a strange and familiar feeling, but I couldn't quite put my hoof on it. Suddenly the first thing that I sensed was the sound of an alarm.
Then I woke up, there was an alarm buzzing around me, but that was all. I grunted and moaned as I tried to pick myself up, but I felt awkward and couldn't do it. I opened my eyes to see I was in some kind of room. The ground was hard, and cold... It was made of steel. I tried picking myself up again but I couldn't and fell back down. I rolled my body over and lay on my back. I felt strange, and my head hurt. I tried picking myself up again but when I looked back down to see my body I froze, and everything stopped suddenly. Instead of hooves... I had hands now...hands! I had legs, and arms, and a chest... I was still wearing my armor from the other world... But it fit my body now...I-I... I'm human! This can be possible. I quickly looked up around the room to see what was happening and I saw two other bodies on the ground. One of them I recognized to be thunder, he looked just like he did when I knew him years and years ago. He was ass naked, but lying on his stomach luckily. And the other body, it was twilight. It had to be, her purple hair with pink and dark blue stripe. He body was thin and curved with a tattoo of her cutie mar on either side of her hip. He was naked too and lay on her back completely unconscious.
I was too mortified by the fact that I was human again to think about her being naked. I looked around the room some more and noticed the flashing red light on the wall. Seeing it just made me remember that an alarm was being sounded right now. I didn't even notice it with everything that's running through my head now. I turned again and froze in horror at what I saw. Against the end of the room, was a machine. It had large wires running up to it and was made of metal and steel. It was a large loop with segments that had strange runic carvings on it. The machine was off... But I knew... I knew what it was. That machine right there... Was project dream machine. I stared at it in horror thinking that it was impossible for us to have come through it knowing that it had melted down when I went through it. Seeing all of these things, thinking about where I am... All of those thoughts rushing through my head started to make me feel dizzy and I felt weak. Everything went black as I fainted and fell to the ground, and the sound of the alarm slowly faded away. As my eyes started to close I saw one last thing as I fell on my back.
The black silhouette of a man standing above me...
-Authors Note: there you go, it finally happened, they made it through into the human world. ITS ABOUT GOD DAMN TIME! the story is nearing its epic conclusion, so dont expect the human universe to last as long as the other ones did. there isn't much else left to say, but if you have any questions or comments post them in the reviews section or PM me directly. i hope you guys liked this chapter and ive already begun working on the next one. i'll see you all in the next chapter.
-Stay Shady~