Now that her magic was sealed, Luna had thankfully gotten rid of all but one of the shadows. The straggler seemed to be a remnant of the Labyrinth's magic, but as long as she ignored it, then it ignored her as well. Why she would subconsciously summon shadows to taunt and tease her, she had no idea, but at least by preventing her from using magic, Jareth had kind of done Luna a favor.
Twists and turns everywhere, and yet the castle never seemed to get any closer. Perhaps this was another magic that Luna would not understand. Or maybe it was just because the way the Labyrinth worked was not something that you could simply pick up a book and read about in Equestria. Luna considered penning the inevitable tome herself when-
“GWAR!” The roar sounded from just around the corner. With a shout that loud, Luna wondered why Jareth didn't punish his own subjects for shouting like that.
Luna cautiously turned her head around the corner, trying to get a glimpse of the mighty creature that made the sound. Much to her surprise, the creature was not large at all. In fact, it was about half of Luna's height. Its shape was much like a mixture between an ape and a dragon, but it had no wings. The monster's tail was adorned tastefully with spikes that lined up the creature's spine, although you'd barely notice them through all of its fur. It wasn't so much hairy as it was fuzzy, rather reminiscent of carpet, a muddy-brown colored carpet.
Luna tried to think with herself, what was the best way to calm a brutish creature? But then she remembered, in this land, the brutish are the most gentile, and the most insignificant are the most dangerous. Perhaps it was just cranky, she hoped.
“Excuse Us,” Luna said, trying to be gentle while dodging the creature's flailing arms. “Excuse Us, but why art thou crying?”
The creature sniveled for a moment, and looked at Luna curiously. “Us?” it asked.
Luna was still not used to modern language, but she supposed it would be confusing. Once the creature spoke, it did sound vaguely like a child.
“I meant to say 'excuse me.'” With a calmed sigh, she continued, “But now, why are you crying?”
By then, the creature had stopped its ferocious sobs, but it knew it had to answer. “Chryssa is lost.”
“Chryssa?” Luna asked. The creature pointed to itself. “Oh, YOU are Chryssa.” Luna desperately wanted to help the poor creature. “Where do you live?”
“Chryssa lives in big city by castle.” PERFECT!
“Well, Chryssa, it just so happens that w-I am going to the castle,” Luna said, slightly triumphantly. “Why don't you come with me? I'm sure we'll find your home together.”
“Okay,” Chryssa said. The creature wiped her face with her paw, and stood up to follow Luna like a little duckling. Luna couldn't help but to smile a little. It warmed her heart to know that she was helping someone who needed it.
This time, when Luna turned the corner, the castle appeared to be straight ahead, of course, not without a few twists and turns on the way.