Catherine: Love is Over?

by _No_One_Remains_


The Torture Chamber

Night 3, Torture Chamber- Floor One

Armor leaped to his feet as the eerie cold settled over him again. The neighing of horses echoed around him, and loud metallic banging filled his ears. In the distance from where he stood was another large door, and it opened slightly to allow light to guide the stallions in the dark void. Stepping toward the door in sync with the unremarkable stallions, Armor considered just what might be thrown at him in tonight’s nightmare.

With a touch to the door, he was once more placed at the bottom of a tower of blocks. Taking in his environment, he noticed a lot of medieval torture devices scattered off in the background. There were crucifixes, wooden horses, guillotines, sarcophagi filled with spikes, and other grotesque and horrifying devices dotting the walls of the tower.

“Not this shit again! Guess I just gotta climb…” Armor climbed up a single level of blocks, feeling tired and worn out. Without any sleep for the past two days, the fatigue was beginning to take its toll.

The PWBM’s voice called to him, “If you don’t climb, you’re finished. We’ll be waiting for you up top.”

Armor looked all around but found not a single pony in sight. He shook his confusion off and chalked the voice up to stress. He quickly shoved a block a few steps to the side and climbed up it to the next two levels. On the far end of this new level, he noticed a white pillow similar to the one from the first night floating in midair. Darting across the row of blocks and touching the pillow, it disappeared in a flash of blue light.

Just as the pillow disappeared, a loud metallic bang echoed underneath Armor. Without a chance to react, spikes lunged out from within the block and impaled him in an excruciatingly painful manner. With a drowned-out groan, Armor’s muscles loosened and his heart stopped beating. Blood spewed from the holes and painted the blocks around him, and blood poured from his now-agape mouth. In a flash of red light, his body disappeared.

“I thought you were better than that, Armor. Perhaps I should tone it down for you?” The mysterious voice called to him.

Armor’s eyes darted open and he found himself standing back in the black void. This time, there was no door. In front of him, a light blue ball lifted into the air and took the shape of the pillow he had just touched. “Wh-what happened? Where am I?!” he called to the voice in the darkness.

“You died. The spike trap put a quick end to your crusade. But, since you retrieved one of my mystic pillows, I’ll gladly let you try again. You now have two pillows you can risk losing, if you want to. I should tell you that the spikes on the traps break off a second after being released. You could try triggering the trap and quickly walking away. I mean, you have one extra pillow to test with.” In a flash of red light, Armor found himself back at the bottom of the tower, everything exactly as it had been before he started climbing.

Regaining his bearings, he quickly followed the same actions he had before his death. This time, however, he quickly leaped on top of the trap and snatched the pillow before darting off of it. The spikes popped out and snapped off, falling into the void below. They were rendered harmless to him. He smiled and nodded his head. He now had two pillows and knew how to handle the traps.

Armor noticed similar-looking blocks as his eyes examined the tower above him. With a loud rumble, the falling rows of blocks returned him to the present situation. He pulled the spike trap to form a step up to the next level of blocks. With a smirk, he noticed an entire staircase of spike traps leading up a dozen levels higher. He clapped his hooves in respect of the clever creator of this hellish architecture before darting up the stairs as fast as his legs would carry him.

Upon reaching the top of the staircase of traps, Armor noticed that the entire row he found himself on—save for his current block—were all traps. He wondered for a moment how he could be expected to survive pulling any of the wall blocks to form a staircase when the spikes would just impale him immediately. He called out into the empty tower, “Hey Mr. Voice, mind giving me a hoof here?”

The voice promptly called back, “The coolest thing about those spike traps is that so long as you aren’t standing on them when they activate, you can go ahead and walk across them. Even if the spikes haven’t broken off, you can still use them as steps. Maybe that will work here?” With a laugh, the voice went away again.

Armor thought for just a second about his next course of action. Nodding to himself, Armor darted across the row of blocks until he reached the last trap, turned on a dime, and darted back across through the still-standing spikes. None of the spikes touched him as he ran through them, which led him to question this realm’s logic even more. Without thinking too hard about the subject, Armor quickly began pulling blocks from the wall to build a staircase up to the next few levels.

As he reached the top of this staircase, the bell began to ring. Looking up, Armor found himself less than five steps below the rope that would take him to the landing. Pulling a few more blocks out and using the technique taught to him the previous night about sliding along the edges, Armor formed a staircase that led him right up to the golden block. With a loud cheer, he leaped up and locked his hooves on the rope, causing another golden staircase to fall and lead to the landing.

Armor was greeted with cheers from a small group of stallions that sat casually on the landing by the staircase. PWBM greeted him with a sincere voice, “Good to see you haven’t lost your skill!”

PWBN cheered, “It’s great to see you alive again! I mean, it sucks that you’re here, but still.” He slapped Armor on the back with a happy hoof.

PWRT sighed, “How much more of this do we have to take? I don’t think I can survive another night of running from that…thing…”

“What thing?” Armor asked, uncertain of what PWRT meant.

PWBM shook his head and sighed, “That monster. It chased us last night. I’ve been talking to other ponies, and it seems the monster is different for everypony. The monster that chased me resembled my current courtesan, a fashion designer from Ponyville…” PWRT’s eyes darted open at the mention of the town.

“You’re dating a pony from Ponyville? But that’s where I’m from!” PWRT’s heart started racing. Suddenly, these strange ponies were beginning to learn about each other, and they were becoming less anonymous.

Armor placed a hoof on his muzzle and thought for a second. PWBN sighed, “I’m a Canterlot guard. The monster last night took the form of my marefriend…” Armor couldn’t help but feel he recognized both the necklace and the voice from somewhere.

PWRT laughed at PWBM, “I come from Ponyville, so I might actually know your monster. I own a small business there. My monster…was my own wife. And for good reason I suppose, after what I did…” His voice trailed off as he told them about his monster.

Armor scratched his mane and sighed, “I can’t help but feel like we know each other. These stories seem…familiar. Anyway, my monster was my marefriend…probably because I cheated on her with some new mare in town. Oh yeah, and I’m a Canterlot guard.” Armor chuckled as the other three shared silent nods of agreement.

PWBM laughed, “Based on the way you climb these towers, I would assume you are among the higher-ranked guardsmen. Could you, in fact, be a captain?” The other two stallions gave Armor a reassuring nod.

Just as Armor was about to say something, another stallion walked over to the group. He had a large hazel yoke strapped around his neck. He said in a thick country accent, “I ain’t wantin’ to disturb y’all, but I heard ya saying something ‘bout Ponyville. Ya see that’s where I’m from. I came to Canterlot for some show with my little sis, and now here I am.” The stallion took a seat beside PWBM.

PWRT clapped his hooves and laughed, “Well, small hell after all, huh? So, we’ve got two Ponyville ponies and a stallion dating a third, and two Canterlot guards. How’d a city pony end up dating a mare from Ponyville, if you don’t mind me asking, blue ‘stache?”

PWBM scoffed at the nickname. He then answered, “I think her name is Rarity, or some such nonsense. Not that it matters much. After all, it’s all a relationship of position. She designs clothes, I cash in on them, and then I’ll be done.” The other four stallions shot him disappointed glares.

PWHY tapped the ground with a hoof and asked, “Now how can ya bring yourself to do somethin’ so mean to a lady as nice as Rarity, Mr. ‘Stache?”

Something in Armor’s head clicked, and he exclaimed, “I know who we are now!” The sudden nature of his outburst made the other four, as well as the unmarked, stallions lurch to the side in fright.

PWBN gasped, “What the hell is wrong with you?! You scared the shit outta us!”

Armor clapped his hooves and laughed, “I get it now! It all makes sense! We’ve started having these dreams where we’re completely anonymous to the ponies around us, but we can’t remember the dreams when we wake up. To everypony else, there’s nothing special about the others. But we all have things that set us apart from the other ponies…” He leaped to his hooves and let out a loud laugh.

PWHY cocked his head to the side and asked, “Uh, you mind makin’ things a little clearer? That don’t seem like a big deal. We already knew that.” The others nodded in agreement.

Armor gave the four of them a smug grin and cheered, “If you want to hear more about my special epiphany, you’re going to have to live to the next floor. I’ll be waiting, Rain!” PWBN gasped as he heard the word escape Armor’s mouth.

The guard captain stomped off into the confessional and plopped down on the bench. The voice laughed, “You seem way too happy to be here, Armor. Maybe you should realize that you’re not going to reach the top floor and just let yourself die.”

Armor scoffed, “No fucking way, man. Ask me the question and let me climb. I’ve got stories to tell. But can I ask you something first?”

“Of course you can. You’ve been nice enough to answer my questions. I’ll answer one of yours, if you want.”

“Why are we all in here? Rain, me, all of us…why are we here?”

The voice cheered, “Because, Armor, somepony wants you to be here. Somepony thinks you deserve to die in this hell. Each night you survive, you make him a little bit madder. I’m surprised you’ve noticed the connection between these stallions and the ones back in your world. After all, it took Vincent the whole seven days to figure it out, and even then he was still in the dark. Of course, the other sheep understood exactly who he was by the time it ended…” It started to trail off at the end.

“What are you talking about? Who is Vincent? And what sheep?” The guard captain was completely in the dark on this topic.

The voice focused, “Oh, I’m sorry. I must have been ranting about the last man with potential to become legend. At any rate, that’s not important to you, Armor. Okay, here’s the question for tonight: Have you ever gotten a bloody nose from being too excited? Yes or no?” The usual two ropes fell beside Armor, and he looked back and forth. He’d established that the left hoof was always the more positive answer and right hoof was the negative one.

He reached up and yanked the ‘yes’ rope. He chuckled, “Once or twice. Cadence really doesn’t know how sexy she is…” His mind drifted off thinking about his lover before the voice snapped him back to his current situation.

“Yes, she is quite a looker, even when she’s in demon form. Yes, but you still haven’t seen her, have you? That comes later. I’ll be taking you to the next floor in a moment. I just have to wonder what Cadence will do when she learns you’ve been cheating on her.”

“She’ll kill me, hooves down. That’s why I have to break it off with Catherine tomorrow, before she finds out.” Armor slapped a hoof to the bench, apparently signaling the confessional to launch into the air.


Night 3, Torture Chamber- Floor Two

It did. It lifted him up high above the landing where the other stallions sat and waited for the time they would have to do the same. The mysterious force shoved him from the booth and fell back to the landing below to pick up the next possibly-unlucky stallion. This new portion of the tower was almost identical to the previous one, letting Armor know that he was still trapped in the hellish nightmare.

There were no monsters following him yet, so he knew this wasn’t the end of the nightmare. He laughed to himself as he climbed the first few steps up. Before he made it anywhere up the tower, he was confronted by rows upon rows of spike traps. He knew he would need to be both quick on his feet and clever to surpass this treacherous climb. He started his work moving blocks and activating the safer of the traps.

He came to a point about halfway up the tower that puzzled him completely. Hanging over the edge on the far end was a single block, which supported an entire column of blocks by itself. He knew that if he wanted to climb up he would need to maneuver the block to let him pull out others and form steps. The only problem was that if he moved the block in either direction, the entire column would fall.

Taking a chance, he pulled the block back one step and tried to use it as a means of pulling out other blocks. As he climbed up the block, the column it supported fell into the abyss, rendering him one column shy of having enough room to climb up.

Armor cursed himself, “Dammit! That was a dumbass mistake! What do I do now…?” He scratched his mane with an angry hoof.

The voice laughed at him, “You must be joking, right? That was a rookie mistake, Armor. Maybe I should leave you stuck like that…”

He called back, “Are you saying you can do something about this?”

“No, but you can. Take this, my lost little pony.” A small circular object fell onto the block beside Armor in a flash of purple light.

The stallion picked it up and looked it over in confusion. “What is it?” he asked.

“I’m not going to condemn a stallion to death for a stupid mistake. If you do something stupid and get stuck, push the button on that stopwatch and it’ll undo your last move. You can push it ten times at once. That means that the last ten blocks you moved and anything that happened during that time will be reset, even you.” With an echoing laugh, the voice faded away.

Armor pushed the button on the watch and lurched backwards a step. He was a bit disoriented by the rapid movement, but he found that the block he pulled and the fallen column had both returned to their original spots. He stopped to think about his next move. He decided to start from the other end of the row and build up from there.

His new starting point served well in helping form a staircase up. Before long, the bell began taking its toll. Within minutes, he was pulling the rope and climbing the golden stairs to the next landing. He found that he was alone on the landing, the only stallion to arrive so far. He took a seat on the pew closest to the stairs and waited for the others to arrive.

The voice decided to have a conversation with him. It cheered, “You made such quick work of that floor that I think you may be a god yourself.”

Armor scoffed, “No need for flattery, Mr. Voice. I’d be more than happy to answer a question and head on up to climb more, but I’ve got some friends on their way.” He waved a hoof dismissively.

“No flattery, Armor. Just the truth. I think you have potential, just like Vincent. In fact, that’s the only reason I helped you last night with the energy drink. You are accepting of this fate, despite knowing what awaits failure. I wish you the best while you climb. I think your friends are coming soon, so I’ll be waiting for you in the confessional.” The voice faded away as the sound of hooves on the marble landing approached the pews.

PWHY greeted the already-sitting stallion with a chuckle, “Ya sure didn’t waste no time gettin’ up here, did ya? You’re one fast fella, Mr. Mark.”

Armor looked at the stallion incredulously and asked, “What do you mean by ‘Mr. Mark’?”

The country stallion answered, “Well shucks, the ponies here ain’t got but one feature, so I figured I oughta call ‘em by what I see. You ain’t got nothin’ but a purple shield on your flank, so I figure I’ll call ya Cutie Mark.”

Armor laughed, “So my feature’s my cutie mark? That should be a dead giveaway who I am… Okay, Mr. Yoke, how is it you managed to get up here before anypony else on your first night?” He tapped the pew, signaling for PWHY to sit beside him.

PWHY chuckled, “I’m a work pony, Mr. Mark. I’m used to doin’ physical work, so this climbing ain’t nothing for me. I ain’t even broke a sweat yet.”

“Well aren’t you special, Mr. Yoke?” PWRT slapped a hoof on his back and laughed.

PWBN plopped down on the pew beside PWHY and asked, “So Mr. Mark, what was this epiphany you mentioned before?”

Armor laughed, “Let’s wait for Mr. ‘Stache to show up. That way I don’t have to repeat myself.”

“Don’t restrain yourself on my behalf, Mr. Mark. Go right ahead and tell the story.” PWBM walked up behind the group and leaped over the pew.

PWBN sighed, “I’m ready to hear this epiphany. Especially since you called me by my name earlier. What’s the deal with that?” He leaned back as far as he could in the pew and let out a tired groan.

Armor took a deep breath and thought about how to tell his story. “So, I knew when I first met you that you were familiar. You’re Rain Crasher, aren’t you?” PWBN nodded and Armor continued, “Yeah, the voice and necklace gave it away. When you told me about your marefriend giving you the necklace this morning, I knew you were Rain.” Armor turned toward PWBM and scoffed, “And you, you’re Fancypants. That scumbag stallion from the bar…”

PWBM scoffed, “Scumbag, eh? Excuse me, Mr. Mark, but we all have crimes. Mine just so happens to be using mares for personal gain. I’m sure we wouldn’t be here if we all didn’t have crimes.”

PWRT sighed, “Yeah, I think I get it now. If ‘Stache is Fancypants and Necklace is Rain, then you must be Armor…”

Armor nodded his head and chuckled, “That’s right, Mr. Rich. I’m Shining Armor, captain of the Royal Guard. But I don’t think I’ve met you yet, Mr. Yoke. Mind telling me your name?”

PWHY scoffed, “Name’s Big Macintosh, Mr. Armor. Pleasure to meet ya, I guess. Wish it was on better terms, though.”

Fancypants stamped a hoof on the back of the pew, “So, we’re all real ponies. What’s the point of this? It doesn’t change anything. No matter who we are out there, we’re nothing in here. We have to continue climbing to survive and see the daylight.”

Mr. Rich chuckled, “But is it really worth it? We’re just going to end up here again tomorrow night. Maybe if we just die, then we can be free..."

Rain slapped Mr. Rich hard in the face. He shouted, “Don’t you ever say that again, got it? There’s no way we can let ourselves die in here, not like this. We have to keep fighting whatever the hell is chasing us.”

Fancypants laughed, “Easier said than done, Mr. Rain. You see, my current concubine is a very angry demon in these dreams. If it hadn’t been for that bell last night, her sewing needle would have completely eviscerated me. Rarity is quite the expert at designing and putting together clothes, and as such her weapon of choice is the dressmaker’s ultimate tool…” He shuddered at the thought of being impaled by a large needle.

Armor sighed, “Yes well, Princess Cadence isn’t the nicest demon either. That giant knife…was scary.”

Mr. Rich began to speak, but his voice cracked horribly. His eyes quickly filled with tears. Taking a moment to compose himself, he spoke slowly, “My...My demon is my…d-daughter… Sh-she chased me up the tower shouting profanities at me and cursing my title as her father… Do you have any clue how s-sickening it is to be called a useless piece of shit by your own daughter? Even if she isn’t r-real, it still hits me deep in the heart…” He cradled his head in his hooves, trying to hold back the urge to burst into a fit of sobs.

Big Macintosh placed a hoof gently on Mr. Rich’s back and sighed, “That’s pretty tough, Mr. Rich. I can’t imagine Diamond Tiara actin’ in such a way. So I gotta ask ya, why d’you think your demon’s your daughter?”

“Because she’s right!” He screamed, unable to hold back the boiling shame. He continued, “I’m a useless piece of shit! I have a wonderful wife and a beautiful daughter, and I fucking betrayed them with some random stranger! That…that new pony in town seduced me, and I let myself fall for her! Now I can’t stop thinking about her when I should be worrying about the wife back home! Dammit, what kind of father am I?! What kind of example is this for Diamond?!”

Big Macintosh had to hold back his own tears. He had known Mr. Rich for years, but he’d never seen the stallion in such a fragile state. He sighed, “Mr. Rich, now that ain’t true. You’re a great dad to your daughter. And you’re a wonderful family man. Ya just had a moment of weakness, and everypony has one of them every now and then. Ya can’t beat yourself up so much over one mistake. Have ya tried talkin’ to your wife about it?”

Mr. Rich sobbed, “Of course not…I can’t bring myself to do it. I mean, it wasn’t just once, Big Mac. I slept with the damn mare again last night! While Diamond was asleep in the other room, for crying out loud! I…I don’t know why. I don’t remember what we did. All I know is that neither of them knows… But Diamond, she’s everything to me. Just the possibility that she would hate me makes me want to throw in the towel…”

Fancypants bopped the crying stallion hard on the back of the head and scoffed, “Get it together, Mr. Rich! What would Ms. Diamond think if she saw you breaking down like this?”

Armor sighed, “Look, Mr. Rich, your daughter will never hate you. You’re her father, she can’t hate you. But you have to break it off with the new mare and apologize to your wife. If you do that, maybe everything will go back to normal for you.”

Rain laughed, “You say it like it’s simple, Captain. You think he hasn’t thought about that before?”

Mr. Rich chuckled, “Of course I have. But I can’t do it. I want to love my wife and daughter and be there for them, but that mare is just so…irresistible that I can’t help myself around her…”

Big Macintosh’s eyes opened wide as something in his head clicked. He leaped to his hooves and gasped, “Mr. Rich, you said she was the new mare in Ponyville, right? But that can’t be right, ‘cause I was with her last night. If I was with her, then there ain’t no way you was.”

Mr. Rich looked at Big Macintosh as if he were dumb. “What the hell are you talking about? Of course I was with her! Do you think I imagined it?”

Big Mac stamped a hoof and scoffed, “There ain’t no way you was with Catherine! Me and her was in the barn tryin’ not to wake my sisters up!”

Armor butted in, “Did you just say ‘Catherine’? What’d she look like?”

Mr. Rich shoved a hoof in Armor’s face and shouted, “That’s not possible! We were in bed together last night! I remember because I was terrified Diamond would hear us!”

Armor butted in again, “Would you tell me what she-?”

Both Big Macintosh and Mr. Rich shouted at him, “Shut the fuck up!”

Rain gripped Big Macintosh’s shoulder with a hoof and pulled him closer. He groaned, “Nopony speaks to the Captain like that, Big Mac.”

Big Mac shook the guard off and scoffed, “This ain’t none of your concern, Mr. Rain. This is between me an’ Filthy Rich.”

Fancypants laughed, “All of you are acting like little fillies! Maybe you ought to settle down and take a little filly nap?”

Armor screamed, “I don’t like your tone, Fancypants! And quite frankly, I don’t like you! These guys have their problems, but they’re nowhere near as disgusting as you!”

Fancypants shoved a hoof in Armor’s face and snarled, “Why don’t you quit talking and do something about it?!”

The five of them were going at it. They were each, for some reason or another, at one another’s throats, threatening to burst into a fight in an instant. Threats, insults, and cold guilt trips were shared by each one of them. It wasn’t until the landing began to shake violently that they all were snapped back to the reality that they were still trapped in the nightmare.

The mysterious voice laughed hysterically, “You should all be proud of yourselves! Because of your petty squabbles, you’re all about to fall to your deaths along with the landing that you believe to be safe. There’s no way all five of you can enter the confessional, answer the question, and get to the tower before the landing falls.”

Big Mac, Mr. Rich, Fancypants, and Rain all glared directly at Armor. They all shut up immediately and thought about how horrible they had just behaved. With a loud grunt, Big Mac bucked Armor hard in the side, sending him flying into the booth on the far edge of the landing. The red curtain drew itself across the door and Armor squirmed to pry it back open.

The landing shook even worse and suddenly detached from the chapel. It fell slowly downward as the confessional remained stationary. Armor’s voice could be heard calling to the four stallions that were falling to their deaths.

The voice laughed, “Sorry Armor, but your friends are going to die now. Congratulations on falling into the disparaging pleasures of petty quarrels and allowing them to waste their time.”

“Let me out of this damn thing! I’m not going to let them die! Not like this!” Armor screamed, thrashing his hooves at the red curtain.

“Okay then. I guess this is tonight’s question. Are you really willing to commit suicide if it means you might be able to save those four stallions? Yes or no?” The voice became serious all of a sudden and let the two ropes fall.

Without a second’s hesitation, Armor pulled the ‘yes’ rope and said, “Of course I am! Those guys are the only ones who know what I’m going through! I’ll never make it out without their help! Let me out!”

“If you really want to try, go ahead. I won’t hold you back. Don’t think you’re getting out of fighting your demon, though.”


Night 2, Torture Chamber- Final Floor

The curtain pulled back and a force shoved Armor from the booth. He held himself tight together so as to fall faster and catch up with the landing below him. Suddenly, he found himself suspended in midair, the torture devices around the area growing more vivid and real. The landing rose up into view and stopped just a few yards below him. The other four stallions were unconscious on the landing, the shock of the fall causing them to pass out.

Suddenly, a loud roar echoed out from below the landing. A large hoof suddenly appeared between him and the landing, obstructing his view of the helpless ponies. A head took shape and connected to the hoof. There were five faces on the head, all with different structures and expressions. Angry, Happy, Sad, Guilty, and Pleased.

The Sad face cried out, “Why do you hate me so much, Armor? Did I do something to hurt you?”

Armor floated lazily in the air, unsure of what was going on. He mumbled to himself, “What the hell is that thing?”

The Angry face screamed, “You don’t remember me, Armor?! You are a horrible pony!”

Armor tried to lower himself closer to the head, but he was stuck in place. The landing below him didn’t move one bit. The four stallions on it began to float off of it and into the air. Armor asked, “Hey Mr. Voice, what’s going on here?”

The voice laughed, “I’ve never done this before. You are a special man, Armor. Are you prepared to try a new kind of puzzle? If you win, I’ll send all of you back to your world for the day. This is the Face of Conflict. It’s a killer, don’t die!”

In the blink of an eye, Armor found the head not three inches away from him. His four friends each flew into the open mouth of one particular head. Fancypants flew into the Angry mouth. Big Mac entered the Pleased mouth. Mr. Rich entered the Sad mouth. Rain entered the Happy mouth. The head moved closer to Armor with the opened Guilty mouth. It swallowed him whole.

Armor’s eyes opened in a dimly lit chamber resembling the Canterlot Castle throne room. Four paintings hung on the walls of the room, each depicting a different of the four stallions he had tried to save. At the front of the chamber was a large, jumbled up picture. Armor approached the picture and started messing with it. He quickly found out that it was a sliding puzzle with a single missing piece, like those you would find in a toy store. He began sliding the pieces this way and that, trying to figure out what the picture was meant to display.

He soon noticed a few pieces that gave it away. There was a piece reminiscent of his cutie mark: a shield with a large star in front of it and three small stars above it. Another piece resembled his face and mane. He was soon subconsciously piecing the puzzle together, wondering just what would happen when it was fully assembled.

Before long he had the puzzle put together. He happily slid the last piece into place to finish the picture of himself. Just as he did, everything around him melted away. In a flash of black light, Armor found himself at the bottom of a large tower of blocks. Below him, the Face of Conflict floated lazily below him. It barely moved, and the few times it did, it was following him up the tower.

The entire time he climbed the tower, never certain of what had happened to bring him back to the blocks, the faces never attacked. All they did was scream things at him in different emotions. He focused past the annoying whining and crying of the faces and pushed blocks to and fro. In less than ten minutes, he found himself at the door at the top of the tower.

With a tired hoof, Armor shoved the door open and let the nightmare around him dissolve into nothing. As he was engulfed in the bright white light he heard the mysterious voice laugh, “You did well, Armor. I’ll keep my end of the deal. No matter what Thomas wants, you and the other four will live to tell the tale tomorrow night.”

Before he was able to question the significance of the name ‘Thomas’, the nightmare evaporated under him, and he was lost in the black void once more…

“Defeat never comes to any man until he admits it.” --Josephus Daniels