The heavy weight of magic hung in the air as I stared at the empty place where Twilight had once been. I stood frozen, the world around me becoming mute as a swirl of emotions quickly built up force from within me. However, before I completely lost the reins of my own sanity, Golden Quill called out to me.
"Azure! What's wrong? What happened to Twilight?" I turned to stare at him, all of my frustration and worry now having found an unfortunate target.
"I...don't...know," I said, my voice trembling between each word. My hooves shook in a barely contained rage as Golden Quill watched me with wide eyes.
"Hello there!"
I turned to face the shimmering image of a violet mare, her mane concealed with a brown cloak. She floated in front of the rune covered door and was studying us carefully, a strangely creepy smile upon her face.
Golden Quill, who of the two of us was the only one of sound mind in that moment, spoke up, "Um, hello, who might you be?"
The strange illusion giggled at him. "I'm Clover, and I'm going to be overseeing your tortu...I mean your testing," she said.
Golden Quill opened his mouth to speak, but I cut him off, "Where is Twilight!" I bellowed at her.
The image flinched at the sudden noise, rubbing a hoof against her ear. "Ow, not so loud please, that's not conducive to proper testing procedures. As for the Alicorn, she is currently being held in our knowledge extraction room." Clover looked from Golden Quill to me, before pulling out a small quill and paper. "Setting the testing parameters for one earth pony and one unicorn, now please follow me if you would."
"We shall begin testing momentarily, but I need to ask a few questions to start off, so please bare with me," she said studiously. However, she might have changed her mind about asking those specific questions when I smashed the wall behind her into assortment of pieces.
"You're going to take us to Twilight right now, or Luna help me, I'll tear this whole place to the ground," I growled under my breath. Clover took it all in stride though, gliding into the air and giggling in that manic way that prickled the hairs on the back of my neck.
"Such enthusiasm, I haven't had a testing subject in some time, so at least you're full of vigor! As for the alicorn, you're welcome to search for her yourself, but be sure you don't get lost along the way!" Clover flew backwards past the now broken doorway, and then out of immediate sight.
I finally got a good look into the next room, which was actually rather plain. A dark circular room with two open passages, leading off in different directions, as well as a large ornate door that was directly in front of us. I stepped over the remains of my destruction, Golden Quill following wordlessly behind me, and then walked up to examine the door. When both of us neared the center of the room, I felt a hum beneath me, and look down to see a light flash from a faded magical circle beneath us. I felt a strange aura of magic creep up my hooves, and then over my back and mane. I felt an odd sensation that I couldn't quite place and before I could identify it, Golden Quill gave voice to my thoughts.
"What was that!?" Golden Quill squeaked. In answer to his question, the sound of magic signaled the phasing of a figure through the door in front of us, revealing Clover as she bobbed up and down, still wearing that creepy smile.
"That was our patented magical containment enchantment or MCE for short. It stops magical energy for leaving or entering your body, thereby preventing spell casting entirely. It's required anytime a unicorn is participating in our death ch... I mean testing facilities!" she chirped in that strange giggly voice. "Please proceed to the end of each of the corridors and procure the keys at either side. When you're done, simply return here for the final test, after which, cake shall be served.
"Cake?" both myself and Golden Quill asked in unison.
"Yes, cake!" she answered, "now please continue as directed so that the testing may begin." And with that, she floated upwards and disappeared into the stone ceiling. The room suddenly felt very empty as the dust settled from the rubble caused by my rampage.
"So what now?" Golden Quill asked, looking from one dark path to another.
"Just pick a path and let's go," I growled at him.
"Hey, you don't have to be a sour puss with me, Azure, I'm on your side remember?"
"Ugh sorry, Golden, I'm just worried about Twilight," I said, my head slumping a bit.
"Then let's get going, the sooner we finish this test, the better. Also, I was starting to get hungry, and she did say something about cake!"
"Ugh, I've got some food in my pack, and as for the cake, she probably wasn't telling the truth," I said, before stopping to open my saddle bag.
"What? You mean that somepony would lie about cake?" Golden Quill protested, his stomach speaking up as he spoke. I shrugged at him, before tossing him a bag of mixed nuts and hay, before closing up the pouch I took it from.
"Who knows? We just need to be careful because I don't think she was kidding about that magic earlier," I said as we started walking again.
"Mmm" Golden Quill said between a mouth full of food. After he cleared his mouth of the remaining morsels he spoke, "Let's test it, just to be sure." I stopped and turned to watch him cross his eyes in focus. He strained for a few moments, his head arching up and his muscles tensing. But after all the struggling, all he managed was a tiny spark off the tip of his horn. He stood there panting, before shaking his head in defeat.
"Guess she telling the truth on that account, but now we really need to be careful, because I can't feel any magic around me, even though it should be plentiful," I said before turning back around.
I've never felt any magic around me anyway, so I wouldn't have noticed regardless," Golden Quill said. "What's that feel like?"
"Hmm? Oh, it's pretty hard to describe, but if I had to put it into words..." I looked up at the ceiling as I thought of how best to detail it to him. "I'd say it feels like trotting underneath grand weeping willow and all the draping leaves brushing against you. I feel as if I'm wading through the life force of nature, and for a brief moment, I'm deeply connected with it."
"That's deep, Azure,"
"Thanks, Golden Quill, I try."
Our hooves stopped in unison and when I looked back, I saw Golden Quill smirking at me. I returned the smirk with my own silly grin, and we both laughed as I turned back to continue forward. The stanch hallways were only lit sparingly with magical torches placed high on the walls, thus creating a spotlight effect as we walked.
"So what kind of test do you think she has planned for us?" Golden Quill asked.
"Probably something insanely dangerous, or dangerously insane," I called back to him. "Well, it looks like we're about to find out."
The hallway of smooth rock opened up into a large rectangular room. The walls on either side were completely smooth and the room itself was devoid of anything interesting, except of course, the giant chalkboard upon a raised wooden stage on the opposite end. As we approached the center of the room, Clover rose from the ground, still sporting that strange grin.
"Hiya, welcome to your first punishm..I mean testing area," she said, without any change in her tone of voice. We both simply gazed up at her, awaiting an explanation. "Just solve this one puzzle before the time runs out and you pass!" Clover waved a hoof, after which a large stone fell behind us, sealing us in. "Oh, and if you run out of time, you'll be crushed into pony pancakes!" Golden Quill glanced nervously over at me, his eyebrow twitching slightly.
"A pony pancake?" You're serious, aren't you." I said, already expecting the answer that came.
Clover nodded rapidly. "Uh-huh, You have to correctly answer one question, using the chalkboard here to show your work, or you'll be squashed in ten seconds flat!"
"Show our work..." Golden Quill murmured, before looking up at the chalkboard, "is it a math problem?"
"Correct!" Clover spun in a circle, twirling through the air as she giggled. "Once I've finished explaining the question, you'll have ten seconds before the walls close in to reduce you all to zero!"
The color drained from Golden Quill's face as I stared up at Clover, "I swear when we find Twilight, I'm going to find a way to trap you inside a jar and then shake said jar every five seconds—for the rest of my natural life." Clover edged away from me slightly, her eyeballs shrinking as her horn glowed.
"Here's your writing tool"—a white piece of chalk appeared and set itself on the board—"you've also been allowed your telekinesis for this test." Golden Quill stepped up, his horn glowing to retrieve the chalk, and then took a deep breath.
"I'm ready," he said.
I released a sigh as I stepped up beside him and spoke quietly to him, "Are you up for this, Golden?" The pony turned to gazed up at the large green chalkboard, before a small smile touched his lip and he nodded.
Turning back to the levitating Clover, he took a confident step forward, a small glimmer in his eye, and then said, "Bring...it...on!"
"Oh! this one has some spunk!" said Clover before she smiled broadly. "Very well, here is your first test: What amount of energy would the average pegasi spend to achieve the speed required to shatter the light spectrum?"
I blinked slowly, the wheels inside my brain creaking as I tried to process the request. I have no issue with spell theory or advanced energy applications, but flight mechanics?
"Do I look like a feather-brain to you?" I said in annoyance to Clover.
However, at the same time, Golden Quill spoke up, "Alright, I think I've got it!"
"What?" I spun around to see him burning into the board with a furiously moving piece of chalk.
"Ten," Spoke Clover behind us, signaling the countdown.
Golden Quill's scratching upon the board sped up rapidly as he spoke under his breath, "Angle, force of gravity, wind resistance.."
"Nine," called the ever giggly mare. Drops of water trickled off of Golden Quill's chin as he continued to click his writing tool against the wall.
"Account of the the conversions of units and the mass of the pony," Golden Quill muttered. Golden Quill scratched across the board, so focused on the problem that he didn't seem to notice Clover's counting. "That would be a drag, and this here would account for initial speed plus acceleration."
"Five!" Clover said gleefully, doing a loop in the air.
"Golden, I'll try to buy us a few extra seconds, but you need to hurry," I said to him. He gave only the slightest nods as I turned and ran towards the outer wall.
"Three," I heard Clover call as I ran beneath her. "Two," she said as I stepped next to the wall. "One."
Readying myself, I pushed a hoof back and tried to settle any magic still within me into my muscles. I tensed up as the walls started to push towards me. With my hoofs raised, I pounded them against the wall with as much force as I could muster. They stopped for a moment, creaking as I huffed, and then slowly began moving again—pushing me with it. I kept pushing as hard as I could, only to have dirt start to pile up behind my hooves. As I neared the stage, I heard Golden Quill drop the chalk and quickly turn around.
"Done!" he shouted across the ever shrinking room. The walls immediately stopped moving as Clover floated over to inspect his work.
"Let's see," she said, floating up and over to the chalkboard. I let myself fall backwards with a sigh, my world view becoming inverted as I gazed down at Golden Quill's scribbling.
"With a velocity of 1635.31 meters per second, and an acceleration of at least 109 meters per second squared, the energy required to achieve and maintain the speed would be at least nine thousand and twenty-five mega-joules." Clover twirled around giggling, before she stopped to stare at Golden Quill, "That's absolutely correct! No pony pancake this time!" She floated away from us as the walls moved outwards and the entrance way was cleared once again. "Good luck in the next test!" is all she said before she phased back into a wall.
Golden Quill fell onto his stomach with a plop, his head dangling over the edge of the stage as he gazed down at me. He tried and failed to suppress a chuckle as he levitated a small golden key down to me.
"What exactly are you doing, Azure?"
"Pondering the meaning of life and our existence, and also possibly how to kill a magical ghost." I said, rolling my eyes at him, which felt weird as the blood continued to pool behind my eyes.
"Well, think while we walk, I don't want to stay here any longer than necessary."
I rolled back onto my hooves and placed the key into my saddlebag. "A sentiment I completely understand."
And with that we left the chamber the way we came, heading back down the same sparsely lit hallway. My mind was oddly blank as we moved in silence, before I finally thought of something to ask.
"Hey Golden, I didn't know you were that well versed in the intricacies of pegasi flight, what's that all about?" I heard Golden Quill stumble a bit as he heard the question, but he answered after only a moments pause.
"I, um, used to watch the clouds and weather ponies a lot when I was little. I would sit for hours and admire how they worked the sky, so after a while, I started to study the dynamics of weather in my spare time." Golden Quill grew quiet for a spell as we walked, but then he continued, "I always used to think of what it would be like to fly up there with them, but well, you know..."
I glanced back to see him looking down at his side. We stopped walking for a moment, and then when he turned back at me, I could see an odd look in his face.
"No wings?' I said, knowing I was stating the obvious.
"No wings." He parroted in a sad tone.
"I understand completely, Golden Quill, as you well know." I said as I started us back on our journey. Golden Quill said nothing as we moved, but I couldn't just let it drop that easily. "The things you said to me, Golden Quill, those years ago, made me rather upset." My voice didn't sound angry, but simply cold instead. "I think I had dreams of cutting off your horn and then mounting it on a plaque to display in my room."
"Ouch," Golden Quill said as I heard a hoof knock against bone. "But you're right, Azure, I'm terribly sorry for what I did back then, it was wrong of me."
"Well, I'd be lying if I said that I haven't noticed your change in attitude recently, even if it was because that I saved your life." The sound of our hoof-steps echoed down the hallway as a small smile touched my face. "I guess you just did the same for me back there, so honestly, thank you, Golden Quill." The sudden removal of echoing steps behind me made me stop and turn around to face Golden Quill once again.
"Um, you're welcome, Azure, and thanks for rescuing me from the mist. So, as far as I'm concerned you're two to my one." he said, his lips curling up in a little smirk.
"Two to what now?" I asked incredulously.
"You've saved my life twice and I've saved yours once, so you've got a one point lead on me." he claimed with a straight face. A few moments passed, and I could have sworn I heard a cricket chirp. Then, all at once, we burst into laughter for the second time in an hour. We almost fell over as we each held our ribs with a hoof.
"You're something else, Goldy, I mean, really!" I choked as I regained both my composure and a full lung of air.
"Right back at you, Blue" Golden Quill said with an earnest smile.
I shook my head at him, a big dumb grin upon my face as we moved ever closer towards an uncertain fate. Soon we had passed the initial entrance, and as we did so, I noticed that the damage I had done to the entrance had been repaired.
"Quick work I must say," Golden Quill remarked, having had a similar line of thought at that moment. I murmured in agreement as we passed down the opposite hallway, which looked annoyingly similar to the one we had just left. Only the occasional magical light was present as we made our way towards what I was positive to be another messed up trial of sorts.
"So, Golden, there's been something I've wanted to ask you." I said, keeping my voice level.
"What's up, Azure?"
I took a breath and tried to prepare myself for a sudden reaction as I spoke, "What did you see in the mist?"
His response was slightly stuttering, but at least it wasn't panic stricken, "I, uh, would really rather not talk about it."
"Was it that bad?" I asked, concern evident in my voice.
"It was like slowly having the very life pulled from you, a little at a time, until there was nothing left but to slowly wilt away." he said, his voice cracking a bit as he spoke.
I remained quiet for a bit, but eventually asked, "Are you going to be alright?"
"Yeah, I'm just gonna try not to think about it, okay?'
"Got it." I replied. "Ah, well, let's see what she has planned for us this time."
The room we had just entered was rather spacious, and this time sported intricate magical symbols across the outer rim of a circular room. In the center was the ever-smiling Clover, who was watching us approach with tangible excitement.
"Please come to the center so that we may begin the next test!" she squeaked. I rolled my eyes as we proceeded past the magical runes and stopped directly in front of her.
"What now?" Golden Quill asked. Clover simply waved a hoof in the air and then the runes glowed with magic. Green sparks burst into the air around them as stone figures arose from each one. Each was in the form of a different creature, some dragons, some ponies and some were beasts I didn't recognize. However, despite the variety of each one, they all were roughly the same size, and as the last one finished rising up, Clover opened her mouth to explain.
"This room was designed to test your speed, physical strength and endurance. Simply destroy all twenty stone creatures within the allotted time of twenty seconds to retrieve the key. Also"—she waved her hoof, and then a stone slid down against the entrance way—"You're not allowed to leave until you do."
"Of course not," I said with a groan.
"Good luck!" she said, and then promptly sunk into the ground. A rattling could be heard above me, and I looked up to see a large golden shape lowered from a gap in the ceiling. After it came to rest about six meters above us, I could see a clock-like mechanism behind a pane of crystal. However, instead of the typical twelve markings, this one had twenty symbols around its edges.
"Well, let's just test it out!" called Golden Quill as he trotted up to a figure of a unicorn pony. He looked it up and down, before turning to give it a hard buck. It crumpled into pieces after a second buck and then, as he turned to look at me cheerfully, the clock starting ticking.
"Go!" we yelled in unison. I ran straight at a wicked looking statue of a dragon, its fanged bared threateningly. I made short work of it, before rotating on one hoof and then springing over to the next one. As I leaped from one statue to another, I caught a glimpse of Golden Quill furiously bucking a centaur into pieces, a strangely happy smile spread across his face. One by one, the stone structures crumpled into pieces, and after my seventh victim, I heard a ringing from the center, and turned to see the clock vibrating. Both me and Golden Quill moved towards it, seeing the hands on the odd clock moving to point towards the first symbol in its clockwise rotation. The sound of swirling magic around us demanded our attention as we turned to see each of the crumpled stone figures reforming before our eyes.
"Too slow, I guess." I said as Golden Quill nodded in agreement.
"We need to be faster this time, and not waste a second," I called out to him, as both of us walked forward towards a pair of griffons. "Ready? Three...two...one, attack!" In unison, we bucked hard into each of the enemies before us, and then turned towards our next targets without a second of hesitation. One after another, the statues fell with a clatter of stone across the floor, the dust from each one slowly transforming us into moving statues ourselves. After I had pulverized eight statues I heard the clock ring once again, and I turned to see the five empty statues on the other side start to reform as I approached the middle with Golden Quill. We were both panting a bit as we glanced around at the magical energies once again resetting our progress.
"I don't think we're going to be able to do this, Azure, even as strong as you are," he said after he caught his breath.
"Without drawing in magic, I'm not much stronger than your average earth pony," I said sheepishly.
"And you still can't do any of that now, can you?" he asked, though he already knew my answer. I shook my head at him, thinking hard about possible solutions to the problem at hoof. I couldn't draw any energy into my body, nor could Golden Quill help me in this situation, but maybe there was another way.
My eyes widened when an obvious fact struck me in the face like a shadow-form bat-pony. The answer was quite simple in retrospect, but I hadn't never attempted it, so it wasn't that surprising that I hadn't initially thought of it.
"I've got it, Golden, but I'll need to ask you a favor," I said grimacing a little.
"I'm not going to like this, am I?" he said, shaking his head in resignation.
"It's going to hurt me more than you, but no, it's not going to be comfortable. I need you to bend your head down and keep still for a moment."
"Okay..." He bent his neck, his gaze locked on the floor, "What exactly are you goin..."
Wham! I hit the center of my hoof against the top of his horn, blood spurting out from my hoof. I flinched back in pain as Golden Quill staggered away from the impact.
"Ow!" he said, rubbing his horn tenderly with a hoof, "What did you do that for?" His annoyed smirk disappeared as he watched the red liquid trickle from my hoof. "Azure?"
"Hold on a sec, Golden, I need to get this done quickly," I said as I dragged my hoof across the stone. I moved steadily around us in a circle, and upon completing the outside, turned inwards to begin the more complex runes that would be needed. "Almost done," I said, gritting my teeth a little from the pain. I moved up and down, forming the final anchor rune in the center, before I stopped to rest a moment. "There, that should do it." Golden Quill walked around, examining my work while being careful not to smudge any of the blood lines.
"So, what's this going to do?" he asked as I pulled a roll of bandages out of my pack. He moved over to help me wrap my hoof, and then cut the cloth with his teeth before tying it securely in place.
"This is a runic circle of force, set to send a wave of magic outwards in a set distance," I said, gesturing at the odd zebra runes.
"But...where is the magic going to come from?" Golden Quill asked uncertainly.
I smiled broadly at him, before I gestured downwards with a hoof. "The grand flow of the world is literally right beneath us, and I plan on tapping into it!"
"Um, isn't that dangerous or something?' Golden Quill asked hesitantly.
I shrugged at him, while failing to suppress a grin, "Probably."
The sound of a face hoof echoed through the chamber before he asked, "Where should I stand?" I gestured to a clear space next to me, and then looked over my design as he took his place. "So how are you going to activate the circle without a magical trigger?" Golden Quill asked.
"The blood is infused with magic already, all I have left to do is"—I brushed some leftover blood against the floor—"to complete the last rune."
The circle hummed to life, the room suddenly turning violet with an upsurge of light. The humming increased in volume as the runes on the floor brightened until it was hard to keep my eyes open. Then, after it had reached the required magical input, a strong wave of force erupted from the edges of the circle, a barely visible grey wall of magic that rushed towards all the statues simultaneously. With the shattering sound of stone, all the figures turned to rubble before the wave of energy. The clatter of stone upon the ground reminded me of a rush of hail on a ice cold day back in Canterlot.
"Well, that was something," Golden Quill said as he brushed the dust from his coat. The circle faded beneath my hooves, the magic spent, before a small pedestal rose from the ground. I walked over to it, securing the second key from a small groove on the side.
"Let's go, Golden Quill, I'm rather worried about Twilight, even though I know she can take care of herself," I said, walking towards the now unblocked exit way.
"I hope she's alright, who knows what horrible things she's being forced to do..." Golden Quill trailed off as I looked back at him over my shoulder, an annoyed glare on my face. "Right, let's not think about it," he said, getting the message.
We trotted at a brisk pace back towards the main entrance, and for a moment, I actually felt pretty good about our chances. However, as we returned to the locked door, keys in hoof, I felt a strange sensation in the bottom of my stomach.
"Keep alert, Golden Quill, I'm not sure what she'll have planned for us up ahead." He nodded to me as we inserted the keys into their slots and turned them with a solid click. A set of tumblers rolled into place and then a mechanism was released to allow the doors to smoothly open towards us. A wave of heat rushed out past my hooves as we stepped forward to descend a flight of marble steps. Small torches slowly flickered to life as our hooves clicked upon the ground, and before long, I could make out a strange glow at the bottom of the staircase.
"Is it just me, or is it getting hot in here?" Golden Quill asked.
"Actually, for once, I can say it is actually getting hotter, rather than just making a joke about it," I quipped back at him.
The steady increase in heat caused my fur to dry out, the air itself becoming ever less humid. As our hooves touched down upon burnt rock, the full intensity of what awaited us was revealed. Before us was a chasm that spanned the entire room, save for a small platform on the opposite side. Floating in mid-air across the void were small flat rocks, alight with magical runes. However, what really drew my attention was the massive amount of red-hot lava that rose and fell many meters below us.
"Wow!' said Golden Quill, his eyes widening at the sheer scale of our surroundings.
"A very astute observation," I agreed with complete sincerity.
"Welcome to your final test, my little ponies!" Clover floated up from somewhere below the floating platforms, her hooves spread wide before us.
"She can't be serious, right, Azure?" he said as he approached the edge cautiously, before peering down into the inferno.
"I wouldn't put anything past her at this point, Golden Quill." Then, looking up at the floating mare, I raised my voice to say, "So what's this test about?"
"This is the agility and reflex course. Simply jump from platform to platform in order to reach the room on the opposite side of the gorge," she said in a tone of voice suggesting such a task was completely ordinary.
"Anything else we should know?" I called up to her, failing to keep the sarcasm from creeping into my voice.
"Uhhh, nope!" she said with a giggle as she floated towards the exit on the far side. "Good luck!" she called, though I still didn't know if she meant it.
"Well, now what?" Golden Quill asked, taking a few steps away from the edge. I didn't answer him right away, my eyes following the platforms as they floated above the gorge. The platforms seemed to orbit around an invisible center point as they moved around in a circular pattern. I could see the ideal areas of where to jump from one to the other without much effort, so this task was doable at least.
"Just take your time, Golden Quill, and try not to look down," I said as I stepped towards the edge of the cliff. The swirling lava beneath me churned as I did exactly what I just told Golden Quill not to do. It popped and bubbled, perhaps hungry for a blue pony appetizer. I took a deep breath and focused on the outermost platform. Maintaining my composure, I waited before it was almost in front of me, and then bolted for it. I jumped less than a meter from the edge into the air, and then skidded across the smooth stone. It was only about 4 meters across and was pretty slick, so I had almost fallen off the other side.
"You're crazy, Azure, you know that right?!" shouted Golden Quill from behind me. I turned to face him, the platform already moving me away from him, a silly grin spreading across my face.
"Come on, Goldy, get that plot of yours over here!" I called back to him. He scowled at me before slowly moving towards the same spot I had jumped from. I quickly turned my attention to the next platform moving towards me, as I needed to open this one up for Golden Quill. I bent my knees and waited, my breath catching in the bottom of my throat. I jumped and landed squarely in the center of the next moving platform. After steadying myself, I turned to watch Golden Quill attempting his own leap of faith as he ran, then leaped into the air. Of course, he landed on his belly, his chin scratching against the stone as he did so. Still though, he made it without major problems. When he stood up, his hooves shaking unsteadily, he managed to flash me a wide smile.
"That's how you do it!" I yelled as I turned to leap onto another platform. Carefully, but now with a higher degree of confidence, I bounded from one floating rock to another. Each time I landed I stopped to observe Golden Quill's progress. He had only fallen slightly behind, only a mere two jumps behind me.
"I didn't think unicorns were normally this physically fit!" I yelled out after he finished another landing.
Golden Quill stood up, panting a bit as he checked his balance, "You're not the only pony allowed to surprise others, Azure," he said with a chuckle.
"Touche."
We continued this for a while, stopping every now and then to take a break. The heat rising from below only served to slow our recuperation as we rested between jumps. Still, I was actually having a bit of fun as I made leaps above what surely would be a lethal fall. I watched Golden Quill jump, his eyes lighting up with joy at each successful progression through the deadly chamber. Eventually we started laughing as we gleefully jumped from platform to platform, our voices echoing out into the blazing chamber.
"Almost there!' I called back to Golden Quill as I watched him make each jump with increasing ease. We hopped, skipped and jumped again and again until we were only a few platforms from the edge. I crouched, once again ready to make the leap across the hot void, but looked back at Golden before I did so. "You would have made a good pegasus, Goldy!"
Golden Quill just smiled at me, his cheery attitude reaching all the way to his eyes. I laughed and turned around, checked the position of the next platform, and then jumped.
And then I slipped.
My hoof slid across the smooth curved edge, falling forward into the dead space, followed by the rest of my body. I tumbled head over hoof towards a churning pool of red death, my stomach pulling into a tight pretzel knot as I heard the fading voice of a panicked Golden pony above me. The rushing heat made me flinch, my eyes closing as my present mind froze and instead decided to go over everything that had ever happened to me.
"Luna help me, I've been an ass to a lot of ponies," I muttered to myself, the heat growing unbearably hot. With the small amount of mental control left, I opened my eyes to meet my fate. I smiled at death, as if it were a friend I'd only ever seen from afar, but was jerked out of the trance as my legs were separated from their sockets.
I howled in pain, my body twisting as I was lifted up and out of the inferno. Looking up, I saw the underbelly of a golden pony, his hooves tightly interlocked with mine. As I was once again stared upside-down at the unicorn I'd started to think of as a friend, my brain started to catch up. However, before I could start asking any questions, my back connected with solid ground as we landed upon a large solid surface.
I rolled onto my hooves and at the same time, snapped my legs back into place. I gritted my teeth in pain, my world spinning from the intensity of the process. Then I looked up only to find something entirely different to deal with.
Before me stood Golden Quill, his face distorted by a cascade of different emotions. And protruding from his side were a pair of blue luminous bug-like wings.
I groaned outwardly. "Luna, buck me to the moon."