The gaunt tree remained ominously tall, stooped against the arching crystal wall. A single stone was still within the left depression of the stretched branch, low, nearly touching the sable floor.
Upon the parallel double doors opening came Corvo and the ponies. Celestia and Luna bore weary eyes—especially Celestia, who had to stay up the entire night for research purposes. The other ponies walked slower than the princesses. They remained in behind to watch.
"Corvo, are you ready to place the three stones we have collected?" said Celestia.
"Yes," said Corvo. "As the land brightens, we shall see what other effects these stones will have." He took a moment to scan the round room. The air was encompassed in a large, black presence; and only a single red torch shone dimly to his right. There were many other torches about the high pillars, but they were all hidden in shadows. "It appears to be unusually dark here."
"A bit, yes," said Luna dryly.
Corvo rose his left hand, his blurred mark glowed, and a thin, red, electrical line blinked from the lone torch to the several other unlit torches. Small flickers of fire appeared one after the other, expanding the light in the room—and then all the torches were red and their heads moving flames.
Corvo, however, lowered to his knees and exhaled loudly. He clutched his marked hand in his grasp, draping it over his coat. The ponies' eyes all grew wide as they approached him.
"Get yourself up, Corvo. What just happened there?" said Celestia, placing a hoof to his shoulder.
Corvo rose. "My heart nearly stopped," he said bitterly. "I do not understand! Why would I obtain a new power if it becomes fatal shortly after me acquiring it? This has no logic!" He thought for a moment, his figure now a crooked man. "It does not matter now; we have been receiving no explanations in the past, so why now?"
The ponies all stepped back, tilting their heads in worriment at Corvo's grief.
"Please calm down," said Luna. "Explain what just happened to you."
Corvo rose his left hand again, showing it to the ponies. "This is beyond me at this point," said Corvo quietly, his voice deep and depressed. He shook his head and straightened his back. "Ah, it is only a side-effect, I would believe."
"A side-effect?" said Twilight. "To what?"
"I am not sure," said Corvo. "Please, I am frustrated as I am hastened. Allow me to place the stones."
The ponies all looked towards one another, each raising their eyebrows in absolute confusion—all save for Celestia. Her and Corvo's eyes connected, knowing exactly what the other was thinking. She was the only one who knew Corvo was losing his powers, and he only thought telling the other ponies would unnecessarily delay time.
The rest remained quiet and still as Corvo rose the three stones to his chest, about his arms. He wandered to the tree; but as he drew closer, his vision lapped with the oak's black shadows. His peripheral vision grew dark and his ears silent. He stopped once to blink heavily, look back, and keep on forth.
"Do you think anything special will happen, Tia?" said Luna, leaning close to her sister.
"I cannot be sure," said Celestia. "Whatever may happen, let us hope it will be convenient."
Corvo listened to their quick words, muffled as they seemed to him. He had been thinking: will placing more stones bore upon him a unique effect, much like his manipulation of fire from the last? Would it even matter as his powers diminished?
What can I truly expect? thought Corvo. Why am I so... contrived to place these stones? Will something happen? Better question: will something not happen?
Corvo immediately found himself becoming angered with his own thoughts. He huffed and quickened his pace, stopping in front of the tree. He took one stone, drawing it closer to a second depression, hovering it over the opening. Without hesitation he placed the stone. This time, there was no force shot through his arm. He did not feel resistance, nor did his mind focus on the stone itself.
He did not notice when he finished placing the third stone, for he did, and the room became three times as bright as the last. His pupils vibrated; his jaw slightly loosed as he looked back to the ponies.
The tension in the room was thick. They all muttered not a single word for a lasting minute as Corvo returned to the ponies.
"Did anything unusual happen—most preferably, to you?" said Celestia.
"No, nothing has affected me," said Corvo. What is happening at the moment? I cannot understand a fraction of it! I did not feel a new power come into my mark, nor did I feel anything.
"I am beyond confused, Tia and Corvo," said Luna, exhaling sharply through her nose. "Corvo did not acquire power like the last time he placed the initial stone. Could anypony explain this?"
"Stop attempting to explain events at this point," said Corvo, looking very hard at her. "All logic has been distorted and altered these past few months. All I can suggest is this: we will continue to search for the last three remaining stones. If we discover the odd reasons addressing this, or not, it will not matter."
"How can it not matter?" said Luna. "Our entire goal is to descry these reasons. What will be the point of saving Equestria without knowing all the mysteries?"
Corvo breathed out in tranquility. "Very well!" he cried. "We will continue to search for the stones, and we will search for the reasons. 'Ominous' is what is most common right now, and I predict it will continue to be so for a while. If you are so determined to investigate these cases, Luna, then be my guest. I will help you if I can, but that shall be my last priority."
"I see," said Luna. "I thank you for the help, I guess."
"Putting side-thoughts aside, let us look at our map!" said Celestia as suddenly as she dared. Twilight and her friends decided to back out and wait outside, for they knew they would not be of much help. Celestia, Luna, and Corvo all grouped together as Celestia hovered the map for them. But to the princesses, Corvo seemed to change back to his tall and straight form, rather than the crooked back he bore before.
Celestia threw that sight aside and began. "The magical traces should not be a worry. With our knowledge of them, all we need to figure out are the narrowed-down locations. Of unique places there are—"
"Please, I need not waste time," said Corvo. "I already know where to go to find the stones."
"Excuse me?" said Luna, trying to look calm. "You already know where all the stones are?"
"Yes!" said Corvo with confidence. He lowered his brow, deep in thought. "Well, no," he said again, disappointment in his voice. "There are three stones remaining, yet I only know where two of them are. We should head right now!"
"Did you think we would not have any questions?" said Celestia sternly, looking hard at him. "When did you figure this out? Now?"
"He will need an explanation for this," said Luna. "Are you implying that you have been withholding important information?"
"By your definition, yes," answered Corvo.
"Then why did you not tell us of this earlier?" said Luna again, much more aggravated.
"It would hold our fellowship back—time-wise, that is," said Corvo. His voice was deep and methodical. "I would have to see where our progress would lead when hunting down one stone at a time."
"How ludicrous!" huffed Luna. "He probably doesn't even know. We will need legitimate proof if you know where the next two stones are located."
"And you will get it!" continued Corvo. "Remember when you first showed me your map back in the castle in Canterlot? I will assume you remember. Upon first sight I analysed it—which took a good deal of my time—and came up with my own, err, proven ideas. Would you like to know them?"
"Why ask us when you can be certain we would want to hear them?" said Celestia impatiently.
"I just wanted to make sure," said Corvo. He rested a palm to his head and tapped his finger. "When I said that each stone would be in a unique place, I was correct. We were lucky upon the discovery of the third and fourth; however, I knew two things: that most of these 'unique' locations would be cancelled out via document sightings I have read before, and—" He brought back the silence and stared coldly at Celestia. He smiled for a moment, then frowned again. "The second thing is this: you did not tell me the truth about these magical traces—the two of you."
Heavy shadows stretched to Luna and Celestia. The two lowered their heads, their eyes darkened, and they each stared suspiciously at Corvo. Finally, Celestia rose her head and said: "Whatever do you mean?"
Corvo sighed. "You know and I know that you did not tell the truth about the magical traces," he said. "Most of what you said was true, but when you said that well over two-hundred were discovered, I could tell that that was a lie. There was only ever the exact number in which I saw on the map; and with that knowledge, it can greatly affect how I look at this."
Luna remained quiet and still. Celestia stood tall and eyed him with a lingering calmness. "Corvo," she began, "whatever are you going on about?"
"All mountains were searched in Equestria save for Foal Mountain at the time. Every city had a zero-percent rate of a stone being there due to some locations being too close to cities... and other reasons I managed to look into. Each forest was connected to a mountain. Deserts and ice-themed places were also eliminated. Most small details—all of which were combinations of these types—were things you all missed. Fortunate for you, I caught on to it." He breathed in quickly before continuing. "Since there were the only few dozen you found, that means most magical traces could be true or lead close to stones. I quickly eliminated sub-varied locations and narrowed it out of the sky due to, well, physical limitations. The fifth stone would be in a cave, found in a tundra of stone. The cave does not get ruled out for the tundra remains." He pointed towards the map. "It is in west-north of the Galloping Gorge. The sixth stone should be in Neighagra Falls." He hovered a finger over a large waterfall, east of Canterlot.
How? thought Celestia. "I am sorry," she said. Corvo noticed the breaks in her voice and her worried tone. "I will explain this after you answer my question: how did you know my sister lied when she said that over two-hundred traces were discovered?"
"I imagine you told her to say that," said Corvo.
"Yes, it was my idea," said Celestia, slightly cross. "I must know, though, how did you figure it out. Did you eavesdrop on a conversation we had? Did you quickly deduce it was impossible due to other things we had said?—and if that's the case, I will need an explanation for that; for I was sure I would not leave behind any clues for you to catch. Or did you simply read classified scrolls somepony may have wandered about?"
Corvo chuckled long but quietly to himself. "How did I know?" he said. He walked closer to the princesses. Luna was slightly annoyed with his foresight, and Celestia looked hard at him. "I knew because, when she said it, her pupils dilated. Her breathing increased. She rapidly looked to her left two times; and that was an inconsistency with a pattern I had noticed, off by something of a second. Sometimes, observation is the only thing you need to solve instances like these."
Luna remained still and wide-eyed; her annoyance was replaced with dissatisfaction. Celestia tilted her head to one side and drew a deep breath. "I will tell you why we withheld information like that," she said, sounding close to ashamed.
"No need!" said Corvo. "Reasons for not trusting me is what I predict. Since I consider our situation even, there is no more use for me to be here. The ponies and I shall head to Galloping Gorge. And please let us recover all of the stones from now on. It would be best for the journey and its documentation. We shall discuss this at a later time." Without caring for their stares he headed out for the door.
"Corvo, please stay back minute," said Celestia. Corvo ceased his gait to look back, and she walked closer to him. "This was all my doing. I told Luna to say that lie to know how you thought. Like you just stated, I never trusted you, and I—"
"And you still do not," said he.
Celestia slowly nodded her head. "Yes, yes, that's it," she continued. "Well, my distrust towards you is rather small. We truly need your help, and nothing I'm saying right now could be more true."
Corvo swallowed hard, looking down to the floor, then about to needlessly examine the room, then back to Celestia. "I withheld information from you, not because I want to seem untrustworthy, but more reasonably, only for I caught Luna's lie. And it was not to get even. I simply wanted to see how the two of you would take it after revealing my knowledge of all the real magical traces." He then smiled again. "And I wanted to test my observational skills. It has been a rather long time since I have put it to use."
As Corvo laughed, Celestia smiled, too. Luna still kept listening in on their conversation, but without a single word.
"I will go now," said Corvo. Unexpectedly he hugged the princess in front of him. Celestia was nearly taken aback. She just awkwardly stood still. Corvo then walked to Luna and hugged her, too. Unlike her sister, Luna lifted a hoof and hugged him back, nodding slow and quietly. "Goodbye," he said again; and then he was off, much quicker than necessary.
"W-what an i-impossibility," stammered Luna. "He figured it out just by looking! We should not underestimate him again."
"And we won't," assured Celestia. "But based on our previous chess game, I just had to see how things would play out. He will help Equestria, but I'm not sure if he will help us."
* * *
"After nearly a full day of waiting, we're finally off to recover the fifth stone," said Twilight, letting out a long-held breath.
"And we have checked all of our supplies. Good thing!" said Rainbow Dash, flying by to her friends' sides.
"We may not know how long this journey shall take, so please remain scarce with food!" cried Corvo from afar. All the ponies walked in a single file, heading down the forest north of the Unicorn Range; and he was in front of the line, furthest away. "And make sure you all remain together! We would not want anyone here to get lost! Come along!" He beckoned.
Corvo and the ponies eventually reached an entrance to the forest: it was an arch leading into a gloomy tunnel made by multiple tall crooked trees leant together. The path itself was rather narrow with many ropes of vine tangled to their sides; and every once in a while a vine would fall loosely from a tree and onto the company. Looking as far as he could Corvo could only make out the dimness of a small light. He looked behind him, seeing six ponies following.
Now the path opened up as they made their way further into the forest. The trees to their sides became straighter and the leaves darker. Corvo and the ponies all made their way out of a break in a forest wall. They traversed into a larger part of the wood: the trees were greater and taller, and they formed a very wide path ahead into several other breaks in the green wall.
"Wait up, everypony!" yelled Twilight, quickly trotting to Corvo's side. They each halted, looking towards her. "Look." She pointed down the stretched path. Amid the formed trees a small field of visually gaudy flowers lay. Their stems were tall and thin, and the petals were withered and bore bright colors of yellow and white.
"Yes, I see," said Corvo, raising an eyebrow. "I see we will soon be amid many flowers. Is there a problem?"
Twilight rolled her eyes. "Yes!" she scoffed. "I've read about these. The flowers you see are called Unexplained Opium. They are extremely poisonous!"
"I must interject for a moment," said Rarity, "but if I do recall my learning of Equestria's flora and where it is most common, the western parts of Equestria do not have poisonous flowers."
"But I recognize these," said Twilight, sounding more nervous than before. "Unexplained Opium flowers are a rare type of plant, usually only found in southern tropical forests. I know these shouldn't be here, which is why I'm all the more confused."
"Well, if yah say these flowers are dangerous, then Ah'm with you," said Applejack.
Her friends all nodded, save for Pinkie Pie, who was playing tic-tac-toe by herself in the dirt.
Corvo, however, was deep in thought, concentrating on the bright flowers before him. "What are the effects these Unexplained Opium flowers can cause? As for the name, I would also like to know why it is named so."
"Unexplained Opium are flowers of extreme toxicity," said Twilight. "They may not look it, but just a little contact with them, for just a second, has an effect to clog the blood flow to your heart. Scientists belief that there are microscopic viruses inside the colorful petals; and upon contact the poison, or so we call it, travels at high speeds. It only ever goes to a pony's heart. Essentially the killing blow takes anywhere from thirty minutes to one hour. Why is it called Unexplained Opium? Well, it causes uncertain death due to unknown reasons as of now—we can only speculate and give out hypotheses. The 'Opium' part is because these flowers were discovered by Rule Opium, a pony from ancient history."
"That is very helpful," said Corvo. He looked to the yellow and white flowers, and his skin turned pale. "We could have died just now for the placement of these flowers; and they are not supposed to even be here by what you have told me."
"Seriously!" yelled Pinkie from the back of the line. "What's taking so long!"
"We'll be going soon," said Rainbow Dash, half weary and half alert. "We just need to figure out how to get around these killer flowers."
"Oh, and Corvo, there is one more unexplainable thing about these Opium flowers," said Twilight. "Due to tests scientists have done on"— she leaned in close to whisper so Fluttershy would not hear —"on animals, the more petals that touch you, even entering your system, will take longer to kill. On a ninety-ninety-percent accurate scale, each hour or so gets doubled her petal."
"My, what an eerie flower," opined Corvo.
"Yes, it is!" said Twilight in an exaggerated frightened voice. "There is an easy way to get across, fortunately," she continued, wandering to the side, near the tree-walls. She gripped one of the many loose vines with her magic and pulled hard. It restrained and seemingly hardened as she tried to pull it down. "Judging from the angle of which these vines lean, their weight, and the force they can take, they should be able to bring us across."
"You... can't be serious," said Rainbow Dash. "That's crazy!"
"Rainbow Dash, Fluttershy, and I will fly across this wide path," continued Twilight, ignoring her nervous friend. "Rarity, Applejack, Pinkie Pie, and Corvo must swing to the other side."
Rarity chuckled nervously, laying a hoof to her side. "Twilight, darling," she started, "while I trust your opinion—and seeing as how you have not let us down this far—this is a ludicrous idea!"
"Well, do you have a better one?" asked Twilight.
"I agree that this is a ludicrous idea," said Corvo. "Twilight, can you not just teleport us all to the other side? I would assume you to be powerful enough."
"Um... y-yes, I can... I guess," said Twilight, embarrassed and blushing. Gee, Twilight, why didn't you think of that?
"Wow! That was easy," Rainbow added.
"Alright then, everypony—since Corvo had a much better and rather obvious idea—gather up." They all drew closer to her and she lit her horn; and in an instant flash they all appeared on the other side of the path, facing a break in the forest wall.
"Now let us be off!" said Corvo. "We are nigh to the tundra. The stone must be close by."
"Of course," said Twilight, following him with a low head.
* * *
The tundra they had reached was vast and flat, with very few depressions and cuts into the stone floor below. Looking back they saw a thin hedge of withered green—the previous wood. The sun's figure wavered in the sky, boiling the rocky field into what felt like a red desert. Corvo and the ponies walked for many hours, noticing only the rise in jagged hills and deep craters about them. As night came a chill wind washed over them. On the verge of sight, a small mountain stuck from the brim of the horizon of the tundra. It curved sideways, forming into a steep hill, and into an entrance to a deep and fell cave.
By the time the fellowship got to the opening in the stone it was well-nigh to full night. Twilight searched through her saddlebag, looking for any useful tools when one would be inside a cave.
"Twilight," called Corvo, "this open break looks to be eerie. Is there anything I should know?"
"Err, not that I am aware of," said Twilight, slightly bewildered. "We should all stick together, obviously. Anything could happen at this point."
"Half a minute, if you mind," said Corvo. He picked up a small rock, rough from end to end, and hurled it as far as he could into the cave door. Many seconds later a sonorous echo of a rock ricocheting from stone surfaces shot out of the opening and into the night sky.
Corvo tightened his jaw and bent low, resting a fist upon his mouth. The ponies all spun their eyes in dizziness, shaking their blurry vision and drawing closer to him.
"It cannot be," said Corvo.
"What cannot—" said Twilight.
"The sound!" said Corvo, interrupting her. "That quantity of volume is physically impossible due to a size-and-speed ratio according with—" he coughed; but did not continue, for he noticed the strain on all of their faces, especially Twilight's.
"Well, we shouldn't wait here forever," said Fluttershy. "It's getting really dark, and these strange happenings could cause anything to come out of anywhere."
"Yes, be frightened," said Corvo, deep and clear. Fluttershy immediately fell to the ground, moving away from the cave entrance.
"That's not gonna help!" huffed Rainbow Dash. She then looked to her friends. "Being scared never helps anypony. We have to be brave no matter what."
"Do not try to encourage if it will do little to save you," said Corvo again, reaching into his linen bag. "Be frightened when you can. Fear, while unpleasant, will save your life, especially in impromptu situations." He eyed the ponies, his black hair lolling over his grey eyes. They all flinched from his cold stare. "I am scared to walk low underground, here at this moment, so I encourage you this: if one here were to get separated from our group, be as frightened as you can. Do not try to be brave." Before the ponies could reply Corvo had already lit his own torch and wandered down the dark break.
"Hey, wait up!" said Twilight, approaching the entrance to look beyond. It was nearly pitch-black, for they could not see aught but the dim light of Corvo's torch.
"Come!" his voice called. "There is a rather steep dike. Not too far through. Come along now!"
Twilight licked her lips and lit her horn, and jumped into the cave, with her friends following close by. The lavender light stretched black shadows from crooked stone pillars, as pools of darkness diminished fore and aft to their sights. They trotted forward until they reached Corvo, and he was leaning down on a knee, pointing his torch down to where the dike lead.
"This should not be all that deep," he said. And he quickly jumped forth, vanishing from sight as half of the ponies shrieked quietly. "Do not worry; for there will be no injuries if you jump down," his voice reassured from below.
The ponies took a minute to breath—for this was all too claustrophobic and alarming for them—and then they slid down to where he was.
"We should not stop moving," said Corvo, walking rather quickly.
"Why's that?" said Rainbow Dash.
"We do not need to, but I would imagine it to do more harm than good if we stopped for too long."
* * *
After half an hour of walking within narrow hallways, squeezing through their bent turns and deep depressions, Twilight asked Corvo: "Hey, I've been meaning to ask this: how do you know if there's a stone in such a dark underground place? If the first was found in a cave, and we were sure that each stone would be in a unique place, why another cave?"
"Very interesting question," whispered Corvo. "I explained it all to Celestia when I last saw her—more or less, that is. It would be best if you asked her when we have returned."
Twilight raised a curious eyebrow. She felt as if he ended his speech much too early for a proper response. "Um, okay... I guess," she said.
"Twilight, are you sure there is nothing you would know of these caves?" asked Corvo, cautiously moving his feet as not to trip.
"Well, most ponies who study this stuff would know that Diamond Dogs live in caves like these," said Twilight.
"Oh, please, those idiotic creatures!" huffed Rarity. "They can't even tell left from right! We would outsmart them if we could, and they are so much more harmless than they would appear to be."
"Don't underestimate them too much, Rarity," said Twilight, half worried and half matter-of-factly. "The ones we encountered all that time ago were very single-minded and physically weak compared to the others we know that exist. I wouldn't go searching for Diamond Dogs in these parts."
"I shall keep both descriptions in mind," said Corvo. "Anyway, I predict that this next stone should be somewhere round a large area. We are most likely close by now."
"Whatever!" yawned Rainbow Dash. "Finding this stone should be a piece of cake. And Diamond Dogs wouldn't even be a problem anymore."
"Rainbow Dash, could yah be any less egotistical in dire situations?" said Applejack coldly.
"Seriously? What's your problem with speaking the truth, Applejack," said Rainbow Dash.
"What truth!" said Applejack again.
"Could you two not argue when we're searching for artifacts to save Equestria?" said Rarity.
"We're not arguing!" said both Rainbow Dash and Applejack simultaneously.
"Girls, quit talking so loud," said Twilight hotly, slightly slowing down her gait.
To Corvo, the ponies' voices all fell to a blur of rapid chatter. Without minding he held the torch high in the air, narrowing his eyes to look forth. At this point they had lost all sense of the stone walls at their sides, and continued to follow the red light.
As time went by, however, Corvo unnoticeably lost the sound of the ponies' voices, for he was too concentrated on the endless path ahead. He was only able to know they were gone when he felt Twilight's magical light withdraw from his peripheral vision. He stopped, sweating while holding his breath, and turned back.
Why do they have to be gone now? he thought. "Ponies!" he cried, wavering the torch in front of him. "Answer back! Are you there?" Without realizing it Corvo sat there for nearly a minute, with nothing but utter silence. I should have never been so focused. Now we are separated. Still, it should not be a problem for long. It would be a poor decision to head back—for that would just lead to pointless back-tracking—so I should head forward. He resumed his walking, every now and again calling to the ponies.
"Corvo!" cried a very faint voice after many times of him calling.
"Ah, Twilight, it sounds to be you!" yelled Corvo. "Unfortunately we have been separated. Talk and I will come to you!"
"Corvo, we managed to find the fifth stone! Hurry back!" cried Twilight's blurry voice from afar.
"Excellent!" Corvo kept walking to the direction of the voice. "We will regroup and find an exit!"
Right when Corvo let out a long-held breath, he nearly took in another one, for he bumped into to an invisible wall—well, it was invisible to him, for he was in the darkness.
"Twilight, do you remain!" said Corvo. He followed the arching wall with one hand, holding the torch in the other, and still kept seeking her voice.
"Corvo!" Twilight's voice called out again, but much more faint, barely audible.
The assassin reached the end of his guiding wall where it cornered into nothingness, leading to his right. Corvo turned there and walked quickly, holding the torch in front of his eyes.
"Twilight!" he called.
But instead of getting a response—and he got none after a minute of waiting—the sound of rushing wind came. It built up next to him; and in a very thin huff the noise blew upon his torch. Instantly the red flame he bore vanished into smoke. His entire field of view was now black, so black that he could not tell if his eyes were open or closed.
Corvo's face turned pale and he began to sweat more. He dropped his ashen torch to the floor below and cried out: "Ponies! Are any of you there!" After many minutes of no response he began to walk again.
It was like he was wandering by an endless abyss of absolute nothingness; and only that abyss now existed in the world. He walked for many more minutes, often hitting hard walls and being forced to turn to his left or right. He had done this so often that he could have sworn his gait was circulating.
I am glad they have found yet another stone, but I am now lost with no sight, he thought grimly. But his inner voice froze as he heard a loud hissing sound; and a horrible swallowing noise came after. That was not normal. There must be a way out of this cave—logically according to... wait, I wonder if I am nigh to the upper ground.
"Oi, oi! You there! Yesss... you!" said a very thin voice.
Corvo stood aghast and turned his sight all over, seeing nothing but black. Slowly he hovered his hand over to the handle of the folding sword. "Yes!" he called back. "Who speaks?"
"Oi, oi! We demands to see it sufffer. Yes! Sufffer!" said the voice again, much deeper and twisted.
This is what sounds like fatal devilry, thought Corvo. No, I truly must escape now. But before he could continue his walk forth, a sudden force tore through his face, bashing his jaw painfully upwards. He slid on his back, feeling the dirt over his coat, and stopped.
Corvo groaned, then sprang to his feet and drew his sword. "Explain who you are, foul voice!" he cried. "You cannot expect to engage in combat with me and have it end with you being victorious. Stand down!"
"Ah! Yesss, it is dangerous. It wants to fight usss. Oi! Oi! It will not leave. Oi!" The thin sounds appeared close, too close for Corvo to properly react. He swung his sword, yet hit nothing; and out of nowhere three lines of solid mass scratched his back as hard as it could.
Corvo launched himself forth, ignoring the stinging in his backside. He quickly began to back-step while crouched. I have no other choice at this point, he thought quickly, already hearing the hissing and swallowing drawing closer. Corvo lit his mark—his left hand dimly burned green and turquoise. He activated his Dark Vision, and his field of view became extremely vague. Corvo could not make out a single rock, nor the mass of the walls. His peripherals became a washed blurriness, then his vision snapped back to blackness. A heavy weight crushed his shoulders and his heart was shocked. He dropped to the floor and began to breath heavily.
"Oi! Oi! Now, yesss? Now!" said the voice. It hit Corvo again; but once he hit the floor, it clawed him twice more.
The assassin, feeling very dazed and pale, backed away as fast as he dared, with his sword still clutched to his hand. "Tell me who you are!" he cried in a thick voice. "I demand it for this violence!"
"Yesss! Oi, yesss. We are Diamond Dogs!" The voice then switched to a deeper tone. "No, say to it not who we are. No!" The voice then became thin and twisted again. "But it will die anyway. Yesss? Yesss. Oi!"
"You are Diamond Dogs from these underground parts?" said Corvo. "This is where you live?"
He felt rough jabs to his chest and knees, and fell groaning in sudden pain.
"Yesss. That is it! Oi! We kill all who comesss. Oi!"
"And you—" said Corvo, slowing rising from the ground. "And you wish to die, Diamond Dogs from the underground?"
"It comes from afar with the ponies. We sssaw it. Oi! Pony princess, eh? Yesss!" The hissing then said, much more quickly: "Now it will die for it! Oi!"
"I will not explain what is happening then. You are like that of the other monster I encountered in the White Tail Wood. Horrible thing! Tried to kill me! Now you attempt to." Corvo breathed hard and ran fast, away from the voices. "The ponies must be gone if they have not responded by now. I must keep running before these beasts catch me."
But it was too late again. A claw slashed over his neck, and many more punching forces hit his torso and face. Corvo fell, shaking all over, feeling a wetness slide down his palms and out of his mouth; and his body became cold.
"W-what e-evil," stammered Corvo, picking himself up again. Time froze about him as he shut his eyes and began to think heavily. Injury to left side of neck, above middle point there of left Common Artery; four to the back, spinal condition is rather weak, functioning at twenty-five percent of slower movement; bruises to right cheek, both palms—deeper in the right; legs are weak, Soleus is the poorest functioning muscle aside from my left Gastrocnemius muscle. Bleeding rate at current time: twenty milliliters per seven seconds. Increase in time-to-quantity ratio: times one-point-five per minute. That leaves me with: seven minutes and forty-five seconds of consciousness starting in the next twelve seconds from now.
"Oi! Oi! We will kill it, yesss! Ah!"
"I ask you to stop!" His voice was now low and pleading. "If I cannot defend myself in such a state, then it would be best for me to leave and never return."
"No! No! Oi! It will sufffer. Die! Die!" And then another force hit Corvo square in the chest. He coughed violently, sliding on his back, and did not get back up. He remained looking up with shaking eyes.
"Corvo!" cried Twilight's long sought-after voice.
Corvo rose his back from the cold ground, but his legs could hardly move. "I am here!" he cried back desperately. Another claw shot to his ear, and his head rang as he fell back down again.
"Corvo, we're coming to—" Her voice wavered back and forth. One second Corvo could hear it and the next he couldn't, and again. "It should take at most an hour to find you if we keep up this pace! Stay there!"
More jabs hit Corvo's side. He slid on the floor, crawling away before bumping into a large rock. He rested there, looking to where the voice was coming from. Quick steps slapped out of hearing, directly towards Twilight's voice. "It will sufffer!" was all he heard. Corvo was pained all over, depressed, and was now having trouble breathing. He knew the Diamond Dogs would now follow her voice, and he would not survive beyond ten minutes, let alone an hour.
"Twilight!" he cried. "Go! Leave me be! You cannot save me, nor can you save yourself if you remain here."
He heard a distant mumbling, then: "No way! You're coming with us! Hang in there!"
"Just go... please!" he cried back, trying to sound angered. "You cannot save me, and you will die! Now!
"Corvo..." the voice was much closer, almost behind him. "We're not just going to leave you. Come on!"
The quickened sounds of the Diamond Dogs drew closer. Corvo thought hard, then said: "I am not true to my word, Twilight! I am nothing more than a mere fake!"
"What's that supposed to mean?" said Twilight. Her voice felt as if she were right next to him, yet walls of stone separated them.
"I said I am nothing more than a fake—a deceiver." He then said in a very calm voice: "I was never there to help you. I only wanted to study you ponies for my own purposes. There is nothing you can now do for me."
"Corvo... please, that's not true." Her voice now very broken. "We will all escape from here... come on!"
"No," Corvo whispered loudly. "I am done for, I am afraid. You should not worry for me, for I am the causes to your problems at this point." He felt his heart slow down, and he grunted in silent pain. "It is because of me that these events are happening. I only caused them myself so I had something to do. I never cared for you ponies."
"...Corvo?"
"Just leave. Run away. I never cared for anything of Equestria. Please leave me, you pathetic, worthless pony!"
To Corvo, Twilight sounded like she were about to cry. She sniffed and said: "Come on, girls!" before running away, and many more hoof-steps followed.
Corvo closed his eyes, thought for what he thought would be his last moment, and laid there. Many more minutes went by of blurred rumblings from afar; but then he sprang to his feet. His back nearly killed him from pain, but he endured it.
"Diamond Dogs!" he yelled as loud as he could. Few seconds of silence went by, then they all cried back.
"It is still alive, yesss! Oi! We will come! It will sufffer and die! All in these caves will!" Each sentence that Corvo caught was of a different tone. He heard many more rumbling sounds and swallowing after—deep pitch and thin pitch.
"You will be annihilated!" he cried in loud anger. "All of you. I swear it to my soul!"
"And what will happen, eh? What! It cannot do anything!" There were many different tones of laughter that came afterwards.
"If you know the princess, Princess Celestia, you will know that she resides in Canterlot."
"Canterlot! Yesss, of course. Oi!"
"From there it will be brought only death upon you. An army of armored ponies and bright magic. This entire cave shall be vaporized into absolute nothingness. You hear!"
"No! Oi! No! It cannot do that. Oi! It will neverrr." The voices hovered over Corvo, breathing upon him.
"Is that what you have come to think?" he asked.
"Yesss! You will not leave for any of the foul ponies to know. Oi!"
Corvo laughed. "What stupidity you all have. If I do not return they will know. And even if not, I have informed them to come to this cave—all of them!"
The next he heard were angered growls. "Oi! It will sufffer, yes? It shall not accomplish!"
"Oh, but I will. Blinding magic of ruin shall be upon you. My death will end your lives and burn you all. Royal guards will be the last thing your miserable eyes shall ever have the pleasure of seeing. This I solemnly swear!"
"No! No! It cannot! No!" The voices were much more frightened than before.
"Leave and return not; and if you do, it shall be only fear and ruin and death of burning magical fire which you will feel in the final instance of your lives!"
"No! No! No! No! Leave us be, yesss! Oi! No!"
Corvo could feel the life drain from his limbs and body. He breathed out heavily, ignoring the burning in his heart, and cried out: "I, Corvo Attano, command you to begone!"
Many high-pitched and low-pitched screams of terror clamored about the abyss, and then permanent silence struck inside those caves. Corvo tried to smile in victory, but he could not, for he found his consciousness fade away. His body was loose, like it was floating in a never-ending void of space. His eyes turned white as his mind vanished from the living world.
* * *
"Gah!" Corvo awoke with an ear-piercing scream. He took in air so fast he felt ready to vomit, yet he could not feel any sensation. His face was pale white, cold sweat ran all over him. His eyes wandered about, seeing only black. Corvo attempted to move, realizing there was no sense of mass anywhere; but then his feet fall upon a floor. "What has happened?" he asked, too frightened to move any further.
A sound of horrible static answered back, contorting and twisting his ears. He screamed and slammed his knees down, but felt only an instance of wind.
"You are dead, Corvo," said a methodical and grim voice. Corvo looked up; and what he saw was The Outsider: a great tall man, crossing his arms, frowning upon him.
"Outsider?" said Corvo.
The Outsider pulled on the tie of his suit in discomfort, then waved his arm. "Do not be worried to see me, Corvo, for I am not real," he said. "It is hard to think when your body lies nigh to death due to low volume of blood. Pity, is it not?"
"Not real?" Corvo questioned. "Dear lord, I lost consciousness. What can I"— but he froze upon seeing Celestia in front of him, appearing to be cross. "Celestia?"
"It's hard to try and live when you have literal seconds before your death," she said. There was a red gleam in her eyes. "And even more difficult when you found out your brain cannot process physicality. So... how will you live?"
"I-I-I do—I do not kn-know," he stammered. Celestia slapped him with a hoof, shifting his head downwards. He looked back up, too horrified to be angered. "Please, what can I do at this time?"
"Think harder," she said, slapping his face yet again. "Blood loss. Trauma. Add it up."
"I cannot," said Corvo, feeling very weakened. He looked forth, only to see no one was there. "Celestia!" he cried. "No... no! I must live. I cannot have my will of life wrested from me in such an untimely manner. Dear Lord, what can there be for me!"
To what Corvo felt, nearly all of his blood dropped from his body; and he fell onto the black floor; and he remained there like a dead thing.
"Human anatomy," he whispered to himself. "Two seconds of here left. I will die without forcing myself to live." His jaws weakened, and he could feel tears wash over his shaky eyes. The assassin strained his arms, forcing himself up. "It will not be a good thing to die, I would say."
"Corvo! Corvo. Corvo! Corvo," spat many voices at once, some loud and some normal.
"Think! Deduce your living condition," said Celestia, appearing in front of him once again.
"Impossible!" cried Corvo. "You do not exist. My mind is gone. I will be dead in the next second."
"But we are here to help you," said Celestia, Luna, and all of the other ponies as they each appeared about him. Celestia, looking very wary towards him, continued. "Do not constrain your will so easily. Breathe slowly. Blood pressure in vulnerable areas should be forced in its opposite direction via gravity."
"This is all the invention of my consciousness," said he; "however, I cannot allow myself to die. I could use any of the help. Three-tenth of a second remaining."
"Think logically!" cried Luna, before they all vanished from his sights.
Corvo screamed and fell back to the black floor. His breath left him as his eyes shook violently, blurred, and then he was gone.
* * *
Up rose Corvo, rapidly shifted his head all about him. Looking to his left were Celestia and Luna, and to his right was Twilight.
"Thank goodness you've recovered this quickly," said Celestia. "You were lucky that I was there in time to find you."
"Celestia?" said Corvo, too surprised to ask anything else. "You are here. Therefore I am alive!"
"Good thing, too," she said. "Sorry I never mentioned this, but I eventually decided to follow your fellowship in search of the fifth stone."
"I... I see," said he, nearly reluctant to do so. Corvo then thought back to when he was still alive in the cave. He let out a deep breath, looked over to Twilight, and said: "Twilight, while this is all very sudden and bewildering, I must apologize for what I said back in those caves."
"It's okay," she said in a softened voice. "You only said that to save us—I realized—and I appreciate that." This time it was she that hugged him. Corvo couldn't help but smile and return the hug. "Thank you," Twilight continued, "for being there. If you need me I'll be with my friends, everypony." She smiled and walked out to a nearby door and into a hallway.
"That was fairly quick," whispered Corvo. He looked to Celestia.
"You nearly died due to blood loss," said Luna all too quickly for Corvo to talk first. "It was... painstakingly difficult at the start. But we succeeded."
Celestia furrowed her brow, looking concerned. "Corvo?" she said. "I understand you were nearly killed, but your face is very pale, and you appear to be sweating a lot—and that is after such a rapid recovery. Is everything o"— But she could not finish her sentence. Even though she experienced this before, she was still taken aback when Corvo leaned in and hugged her, laughing and almost crying.
"Thank you dearly!" he said, pulling back. "If I were to tell the people back in my world that I was saved by a pony three times, they would think me as a mad man. I simply must stop passing out for you to bring me to a bed."
"Yes, quite," added Luna. "Anyway, if you're wondering—and I'm sure you are—we are in the Crystal Empire. It was much quicker to come here than Canterlot, and more productive, too."
"Wonderful!" said Corvo, hopping out of his bed. He grabbed the coat at his side, donned it, and looked about. "I can now place the fifth stone since we are here. It would be best for our work."
"Corvo," said Celestia, looking at him with soft eyes, "I personally recommend you to recover a bit more first. You are incredibly weak at the moment."
"Weak but capable," said Corvo. He then sighed long but quietly and said: "But I shall take your word." He began to head for a stairway leading upwards, but stopped to look cryptically at Celestia. "You said you followed me and the ponies. What made you want to do that?"
"It was mostly my idea," said Luna. "Making certain of things can never hurt you."
"And because I looked ahead," added Celestia.
"Thank goodness!" laughed Corvo, waving goodbye and heading for his room.