//------------------------------// // Chapter 18: Underisle of Fire - Part I // Story: Flame of Disparity // by Cinders of War //------------------------------// The dark tunnel at the end of the cavern eventually ended out into a much larger cavern, and when Sunset said larger, she really meant it. This cavern was likely as large as the entirety of the Darkstone Crags from earlier and looking up now, Sunset could see parts of the cliffs she had traversed to get here. This place was the lake of lava she could see from the crags and it was incredibly hot. “What a place…” Applejack attempted to remove her hat to fan herself, but then realized once again that it wasn’t there. “Dagnabbit, that scoundrel stealin’ my hat!” Sunset Shimmer wiped an arm across her forehead, only to recoil when her gauntlet scorched at her skin. “Gah, it’s so hot…” she groaned. It wasn’t helping that she had armor on. Before the two of them was a sea of lava, along with what looked like an old decrepit path, curving across to some buildings that still stood within the lake on many small islands. Bits of the path had broken off, dropping off to the lava below. “This one looks like it’s gonna be a great time, ain’t it?” Applejack asked and then blew up at her fringe. “Yeah… Well, I only see one way forward. How about that?” “Well, if it’ll lead us to Rarity and my hat, then let’s get to it!” Applejack was first to step on the rocky path. A short flight of steps led up to the snaking walkway through the lava, which became almost unbearably hot once they walked out over the lava itself. More than once, parts of the path crumbled away into the molten rock, forcing the two questors to pick their path carefully. It was not long before they encountered their first enemy. A towering humanoid monster blocked the way forward. It had some kind of huge animal’s skull on its head, and it held two massive black metal cleavers. Its crimson eyes glared out of the skull, hot and burning with hate. Sunset gulped, reminding herself of her parched throat as she did so. “What do you think, Applejack? Can we take him?” “Ah ain’t never seen such a beast before…” Applejack said slowly. “He’s got more reach than either of us. Won’t be easy, ‘specially with all this lava everywhere.” “What about fire?” Sunset suggested. She held out her pyromancy flame. “Maybe we can kill it before it gets too close.” The other girl snorted. “Ya really think a monster down here would be weak to fire?” Sunset shrugged. “Worth a try, isn’t it?” “Ah mean, sure, go ahead. Why not.” She took Dragonslayer out. “Burn the monster that lives in a burnin’ lava place.” The demon seemed to notice Sunset and Applejack, its head swiveling to look at them, but not making a move to attack. “Maybe it won’t bother us.” “Maybe it’s just watchin’ to see which of us to eat first.” “Well, what do you want to do, then?” Sunset waved at her friend. “Look.” Applejack pointed ahead. The curving path ahead led straight to the beast. “Unless ya can swim in lava, the only way is through that son of a gun.” “Great…” Sunset eyed the beast’s cleavers. They were large, almost as large as her whole body. On such a narrow walkway, this wasn’t going to be an easy fight. “Maybe we can...” Applejack began, taking one step in the monster’s direction. There was an instant change in stance. The demon raised its cleavers, and bellowed a roar to the ceiling. Then it glared straight at Sunset and Applejack, and charged. “Get back!” Applejack began running for the start, where the pathway started. Sunset got her legs into position and before the monster could bring its cleaver down at her head, she was already up in the air, appearing where she had thrown her sword. She plummeted down for a plunging attack, but the demon reacted faster than Sunset could have imagined, bringing up its left hand blade to guard from her strike. Sparks flew as the two weapons clashed. Applejack’s Dragonslayer swept at the monster’s feet, but the demon stepped out of range and smashed at the orange girl with its right hand cleaver. Applejack was barely able to avoid it, and the strike gouged a deep trench in the ground. Sunset hit the ground in a crouch and swiped at the monster’s leg. However, this did very little damage, barely drawing any blood at all. The demon roared, spinning around once and bludgeoning Sunset with its long tail. Sunset went flying, landing in a heap on the very edge of the path, almost rolling into the lava. Sunset lay there for a few seconds, seeing stars before she could properly re-orient herself. Then she shook the stars from her eyes and got back up, readying her sword. Applejack darted left and right, surprisingly agile for one wielding such a large weapon. However, Sunset knew that it was only a matter of time before the demon got in a lucky strike. After all, Applejack needed to be lucky every time. The demon only needed to be lucky once. Applejack did a flip as a cleaver bisected the spot she had just been occupying. “Sunset!” she shouted as the demon advanced on her. “Ah wouldn’t object to a few suggestions!” The girl looked at the pyromancy flame in her hand and then decided against it. Instead, she threw her sword again, aiming for the monster’s head. It stuck into its skull as it tried to slash at Applejack again, knocking its head up as Sunset teleported to her weapon, pushing it deeper into its head. The demon bellowed and tried to slice her in two, but missed as Applejack leapt high, cutting down against its right thigh with a thunderous strike. The monster staggered, tried to right itself, but the wound on its leg proved too much to recover from. The demon roared, then toppled over sideways off the walkway and into the lava. Sunset barely managed to throw her sword back to the path as the demon splashed down into the molten rock, flailing and roaring all the while. Soon it was engulfed in magma, leaving only a cleaver sticking out to mark its passing. “Phew,” Applejack said, peering at the spot where the demon had sunken. “That was a little too close for comfort.” “We got lucky,” Sunset grimaced. She would have given anything right then for a nice cold glass of lemonade. “ I hope there aren’t more of those things down here.” “Only one way to find out,” Applejack smiled sardonically and pointed her chin to the path. “And alright, Ah guess they don’t mix well with fire, Sunset. That pyromancy flame o’ yours might come in handy, after all.” Warily, the pair set off down the path. It was not long before they came into a half-sunken cluster of buildings. There did not seem to be any enemies nearby, so Sunset and Applejack had the idea to split up and search the settlement for anything of use. Sunset entered one of the stone buildings. Parts of the ceiling had caved in, and the walls were cracked and covered in soot. It was a crumbling ruin that had been abandoned many years ago. With the lava lighting her way, Sunset crept through the structure. It was only when she reached the very back that she found something. Under a chunk of broken roof, there was a dead hollow. It had been crushed to death by the weight of the stone, and Sunset immediately looked up to see if anything else might come down on her. The hollow was clutching a bag, which Sunset took an interest in. Pulling the bag out from the hollow’s dead fingers, she peered inside and beheld a collection of small cylindrical jars, each one filled with an odd blue liquid. There were eight jars in total. Sunset had no idea what they were, but she took them with her anyway. Perhaps Applejack would know what these blue jars contained. Making her way back to the middle of the settlement, Sunset found Applejack sitting on a semi-collapsed bench, looking at something shiny in her hands. “Hey, AJ,” Sunset greeted. “Did you find anything?” “Just some old coins,” Applejack said, showing Sunset a handful of gold and silver discs. “How about you?” “Just these jars,” Sunset showed Applejack the bag. The orange girl’s eyes went wide. “Sunset… do you know what these are?” “Uh, no?” Applejack took out a jar and held it up to examine. “Sunset, these are blue elixirs! Really rare, they are.” “Oh,” Sunset said, scratching her arm. “What do they do?” “Well, ya drink one...” Applejack held up an elixir and opened the lid, smelling it. “And ya turn invisible! It’s a mystery how they’re made, but they used to sell for huge prices back home.” “Wow. These will help.” Sunset pulled one from the pouch and watched the blue liquid swirl inside as she shook it. “Less chance of us falling into that lava fighting demons too.” “They don’t last forever,”Applejack informed Sunset. “Only about five minutes. They’re really popular with thieves though. Ya can probably imagine why.” Sunset nodded. The blue elixir might be the key to getting through this section with as few fights as possible. “Weird how there isn’t a bonfire here,” Applejack mused. “Ah woulda thought that a safe spot like this would be perfect for one.” “I wish there was a bonfire,” Sunset agreed. “But there isn’t one. Let’s get moving; maybe there’s one up ahead.” The duo shouldered their respective packs and went off down the other way out of the settlement. It was easy going, as the path sloped ever downwards, though it was hot as ever with the streams of lava that flowed around them. Here and there they would find dead hollows, but no living enemies until there came a fork in the road. A towering knight clad in black armor stood at the crossroads, bearing a massive halberd. The knight was at least three heads taller than Sunset, and the halberd was taller than the knight itself. She stopped and motioned for Applejack to stay low. “What do you think?” Sunset whispered. “Reckon we can take him?” “Ah don’t like our chances,” Applejack eyed the black knight warily. “He’s got the height and reach advantage on us.” “Time to pop an elixir, maybe?” Applejack nodded. “Afore we do though, which way should we go? Left or right?” Applejack scratched her chin as both girls looked to the two paths. The left one seemed to lead on towards the center of the cavern, snaking and spiraling over to a few more buildings, while the right one led to a series of what looked like roots jutting out of the rock wall. “Doesn’t look mighty safe to be standin’ on plants in a fiery place.” Applejack pointed a finger out. “Ah say we go left.” Sunset nodded her agreement. The two girls each took an elixir and drank it. Sunset grimaced at the taste; it was slightly slimy and tasted of iron and copper. However, once she had downed the bottle, she felt much lighter. She looked at her hands. They were quickly becoming transparent. “Now, remember,” Applejack’s voice came from where she had just been crouching. “We might be invisible, but they can still hear us. So let’s be quiet, okay?” Sunset nodded again, but then realized that Applejack couldn’t see her. “Got it,” she confirmed. “Maybe we should, uh, hold hands or something. So we don’t lose each other.” Sunset felt around with her own invisible hand, until she felt Applejack’s arm. The two had a bit of a fumble, trying to find each others’ hands, but after a few moments, they were ready. “Okay, let’s go.” Padding along as quietly as humanly possible, the two approached the black knight. It continued to stand there, motionless. So far, so good. Sunset thought. As Applejack steered them toward the left path, Sunset found herself holding her breath. The black knight did not seem to notice them, but it was only once they were a ways down the left path that Sunset was able to breathe again. “Whew!” Applejack’s voice said. “That worked pretty well.” “Yeah,” Sunset agreed. “How long did you say these elixirs lasted for?” “‘Bout five minutes. Should be wearin’ off soon.” Sunset kept a hold of her friend’s hand and peered ahead. There were more rivers of magma, but also a winding path leading down to a larger island in the molten rock. And a little further on was a sizeable castle, half sunken in the lava. “I reckon we went the right way,” Sunset said. “Hey, look! A bonfire!” “About time!” Applejack exclaimed. Just by the entryway to the castle, the path widened out into an almost square ground, where a bonfire had been left. With such a welcoming sight ahead, Sunset almost couldn’t control her legs as she ran to the safety of the bonfire. It was already lit, so all she had to do was sit by it and enjoy its warmth and rejuvenation. “Aaaah, I’ll never get tired of this feeling…” She smiled. Applejack sat down by her and stretched her legs out. “Don’t needa tell me.” Sunset took this chance to look ahead. The castle’s insides were in ruins, with pillars and debris scattered across the place. Parts of the floor had broken, falling into the lava, while some old banners still hung round, each of them having a little insignia of a crown with tree roots sprouting out from under it. To her surprise, three of the demons they had encountered earlier lay dead inside the castle, one of their skulls having been cracked in two. “Looks like someone might’ve been here recently…” Sunset mused. “What do you think all this is, anyway? Looks like people used to live here. Maybe even a kingdom, seeing as there’s a castle.” “Probably the hollows.” Applejack leaned back. “They came from the Cataclysm Hollows anyway. That’s just somewhere under this place. You’re huntin’ Sisha, ain’t ya? She’s a hollow, at least, she used to be. She went mad after findin’ that flame o’ hers. Went all McBurney on the place. At least, that’s how the story goes and why there’s lava all over here.” “Don’t they all…” Sunset sighed. Everything in this world was wrong. Drawgren and Doland had been corrupted too. Whatever this Abyss was, if Sunset could get to it and destroy it, perhaps even this world could know peace. “So AJ, your family, are they… here too?” Sunset decided to strike up a conversation to see what else she could learn about her treasure hunting friend. “Big Mac? Apple Bloom? Even Granny Smith?” “Why they’re all back in Mareah.” Then she looked to the lava and frowned. “Except Big Mac. He left five years ago to come here. He… didn’t make it home.” “He… He’s dead?” Sunset said quietly. Applejack snorted. “Ah wish. Mac’s turned into a Darkwraith. One o’ them red phantoms. Now they say he wanders this land, lookin’ for flames to steal. Woulda been better for all if he had just died.” The orange girl clenched her fist around her axe. “Ah told you Ah came here lookin’ for treasure, but that’s only half the truth. Ah’m also here to find Big Mac and make sure he can’t hurt anyone else. Feels like Ah’ve been lookin’ forever.” Sunset sighed and leaned back on her hands. It seemed every denizen of this world was looking for something. Herself included. And so many had come before her, all to fall into darkness, like Big Mac, or to turn home disappointed, like Sandalwood. I have to do better. Sunset thought to herself, clenching her fist. She would find a way out of this nightmarish place, and hopefully spread a little light on the other inhabitants of the world. Applejack toyed with her cape and looked at Sunset. “So ya say Ah was one o’ your friends back where you’re from? How’s that even work anyway. Like, a completely different world?” “Beats me, AJ. I still don’t even know why I woke up here.” Sunset looked into the fire, trying to picture Canterlot High School, all bright and cheery. “I was hanging out with you and… and Rainbow Dash, before waking up here…” “Rainbow Dash, eh?” Applejack nodded and pulled a cloth from her pack to wipe at her axe. “She’s a good fighter. Haven’t seen her in a while.” Sunset sighed deeply and steeled herself, not wanting to break down here. “She’s… not around anymore, Applejack.” “Oh…” The cowgirl rubbed at her head. “Sorry to hear. It’s a real shame.” “Yeah… I need to get back, AJ. I need to get the Flames of Death and bring them back to the Throne of the Fallen Hearth. Only then, I can find my way back. I owe it to her to not fail now.” “Gee, sounds like a tough road ahead, but ya know what?” Applejack raised Dragonslayer to the air. “Ah’ll make sure Ah get ya as far as Ah can.” “Thanks, AJ, that means a lot.” Sunset gave her a hug and smiled. It was nice to have friends around, even here. “Alright, I think we’ve sat here long enough. We should get moving. Sisha awaits.” Standing, Sunset readied her star sword as they began to move on and away from the safety of the bonfire. She didn’t know what to expect in this run down castle over lava, but she had a feeling it wasn’t going to be anything remotely easy. The two girls carefully walked across the ruins, avoiding holes and keeping an eye out for more enemies. The demons with the big swords lay dead around the foyer, but there was no telling what had killed them. Perhaps it was something worse. A staircase led up on the left and right sides of the room, where a second floor could be seen. Sunset and Applejack decided to take the left path, finding a large door which, unfortunately, was locked. “Thinkin’ the way through is through that door.” Applejack smashed her fist against the rusty door. “There must be a key or somethin’ around here.” “Well…” Sunset looked around. The second floor led out to two open corridors around the room, where a row of doors could be seen on the sides. “There’s lots of places to look.” “Maybe we should split up. It’ll certainly cover more time.” Applejack used her axe to point to the left path. “Ah’ll go check out that side. How about ya take the right one?” “Okay,” Sunset agreed. “Just… don’t try to fight anything that’s out of your league, okay?” “O’ course. Ah’ll do my best to watch out. Ah’ll holler for ya if Ah need your help.” She tried to tip her hat to Sunset, but once again, it wasn’t on her head. “Dagnabbit! Rarity!” Sunset watched her stomp off towards the left corridor before going her own way. Part of the walkway had collapsed and Sunset had to throw her sword to the other side to get past it. The first door she tried was stuck shut, unable to be opened. She eventually gave up and went to the next one, which was already open, but leading to a pile of debris which Sunset couldn’t get past. “Well…” She looked over to the last two doors in her corridor. Hopefully the key to the big doors would be in one of those. She made her way over to the next one, but as she threw the door open, she heard a shriek, followed by a sound of an explosion from inside. Past the door, a corridor led down a narrow walkway, turning to the right at the end of it. More banners hung from the ceiling here, covering a majority of the stone walls. Sunset went along, keeping her eyes peeled, but wanting to see where that shriek had come from. It had sounded quite familiar, but it was too hard to tell who it was just from a single shriek. “Unhand me, foul beast!” Now for sure she knew that had been Rarity. Quickening her pace, Sunset ran down the hall, excited to meet another friend here, but at the same time, hoping she would make it in time. By the sound of it, Rarity was in trouble. The hallway at the end led down a flight of steps into an open air courtyard, which dipped off into lava. And there Rarity was, held in the clutches of a giant monster resembling an ox of sorts. In its other hand was a colossal axe, big enough to crush Sunset under it in one swipe. Still running at the monster, Sunset gathered the flames in her left hand and hurled an exploding fireball at it. The flames splashed across the monster’s back and it turned around, Rarity seemingly forgotten in its fist. “Sunset!” Rarity exclaimed. “Fancy meeting you-!” Rarity was cut off as the monster holding her hurled her at Sunset, who was too surprised to get out of the way. The spellcaster struck Sunset right in the chest, sending them both tumbling across the floor. “Oohh…” Rarity groaned as she rolled off Sunset’s breastplate. “That armor of yours is hard.” “That’s the idea…” Sunset coughed, a little winded by the collision. “You alright, Rarity?” “For now, yes, just- Watch out!” Rarity suddenly shrieked, scampering back just as the demon’s axe came smashing down at them hard enough to crack the floor with an awful grinding noise. Sunset scrambled out of reach, readying her pyromancy flame and her star sword. Rarity held out her staff, blue magic gathering around its tip. The demon looked at the two with visible contempt in its eyes. Then it roared, and the fight was on.