//------------------------------// // Chapter 36: A Walk Through The Darkness // Story: The Tale Of A Lost Wolf // by Solaris Night //------------------------------// Sharp pain shot through Charming's head, which woke him up. Slowly he opened his eyes and he was met with darkness which was only slightly illuminated by a few lanterns. He tried to move, but he was unable to do so. Turning his head he saw he chained to a sturdy chair. Immediatelly he remembered what happened last night and he began to struggle. Seeing it futile he tried to use his magic. He focused the energy into his horn, but he felt that something blocked it. Again and again he tried, but all of his attempts were in vain. "Hehehehe." His ears suddenly perked when he heard the distant giggling. "Hello?" he called out into the darkness. "Is somepony there?" He continued to listen for any kind of noise. His breathing was fast and shallow and his eyes darted from one corner of the room he was in to the other. Because he was restarined he had a limited field of vision and he had to rely on his other senses instead. All of a sudden something grabbed his shoulder and he screamed. Quickly turning his head his eyes fell onto the familiar face of the maid mare he met at the hotel. This tmie however she looked way worse. Her clothes and mane were dirty and she had several bruises on her body. Her clearly out of breath and her eyes were bloodshot. "Y-you're..." Charming trailed off as he continued to look over the mare. "Your highness?" the mare said in astonishment. "What are you doing here?" "I could ask you the same." the prince answered, as he narrowed his eyes. "All I know is that I was knocked out and then dragged out of my hotel room to this place. And the last thing I remember was your face." he said the last part with a cold tone. The mare's eyes widened and she began to vigorously shake her head. "No, no, no. That was not me." she quickly said. "I've been trapped here for a week now." "By who?" asked Charming. The mare hesitated to answer, before she leaned closer to his ear and whispered. "Changelings." It was prince's turn to be wide eyed. "Changelings?" he repeated, to which the mare nodded. "We need to get out of here fast. Can you undo the chains or at least see what is constricting my magic?" The mare quickly began to pull on the chains, but it was futile. "They're too strong." she gasped. She then stood up and looked at the stallion's horn. "It seems there is some sort of ring around your horn. Do I take it off?" "Tell me exactly what it looks like." Charming instructed. The maid took a closer look at the ring before turning back to the prince. "It rather large and black with a red gem in the middle." "Military grade? How the hell did changelings get their..." he mumbled. "Should I remove it?" the maid mare asked tentatively. "No, don't bother. These are the rings that the Royal Guards use. They are specifically made so they can't be removed by anypony else than the one who put it on." Charming explained and began to formulate another plan. His thoughts were interrupted when he heard a loud bang, followed by a set of hoofsteps. The prince perked his ears to listen where they came from. As he continued to listen he noted that they were slowly approaching their cell. "Quick, hide!" he ordered the mare, but she didn't move. Instead her eyes were locked onto the doors that were hidden in the darkness. "Didn't you hear me? I said hide your-!" He didn't get to finish his warning when the sound of a key being inserted in the keyhole echoed throught the room. With a slow twist the key turned and the door opened. A small amount of light made it's way from the hall, just enough to obscure the two figures. Slowly they advanced into the room and Charming noted that one of them was in a wheelchair, being pushed by the other. "Oi, what the Tartarus do you think you're doing?" one of the figures said loudly. "Run!" the prince shouted and began to struggle. "Run or they will get you!" His struggling was halted when he saw the mare slowly standing up and walking toward the two newcomers. "Aww, nothing much. Just thought I'd have a little fun with him, that's all." she cooed. Charming watched in shock and terror as the mare slowly walked towards the two figures. Around midway she was engulfed in green fire and once she emerged her appearance changed. "Chrysalis." the prince gasped. "That's Queen Chrysalis." she corrected him. The two figures began to approach as well and once they were close enough Charming could distinguish them more. The figure in the wheelchair was slouched and covered in a robe that hid it's face and body, the other one on the other hand... "You!" the prince exclaimed as he stared at the stallion in disbelief. "You should be dead!" "Heh, I always hear so much about this Lady Death." Bullseye chuckled. "But she seems to evade me. I guess I really have bad luck with mares." "Sure. It's just bad luck." Chrysalis rolled her eyes. "It has nothing to do with the fact that you're absolutely horrid when it comes to mares." "Oh yeah?" he shot her a challenging look. "You didn't seem to complain when you were brought here by the Big M. Thanks to me you too were ignored by Misstress Death." "I didn't have much choice did I?" she argued back. "I wouldn't have you be food for my hiv even if you were the last stallion on Equis! And stop calling darling by your stupid nicknames. It is disrespectful to him." "I'll call him however I see fit." he countered and flipped her the bird. They were now so close their snouts touched and they glared at each other with pure hatred. "Enough!" a ragged voice spoke. The two immediatelly backed off from each other and switched their gazes to the stallion in the chair. "Yes darling." Chrysalis said with a slight bow. "Whatever you say boss." Satisfied with their response the stallion slightly lifted his head so he could look at the prince. "Take me closer to him." Chrysalis quickly took the handles of the wheelchair and pushed him to the captive stallion. As they got closer Charming could see more and more of the stallion's face and what he saw almost made him throw up. His face and possibly his body looked like it was stricked with a deadly plague. Whatever was left of his mane was either gray or white and his fur as well was no longer the bright blue color it once was and instead it was dull. His entire face looked like it would peel off at any given moment and his eyes were almost completely milky white. Once they were close enough the stallion lifted his shaking hand and stopped the queen. He looked Charming straight in his eyes and gave him a toothless smile. "Prince Charming Hearts." he said in his ragged voice. "I hope you are satisfied with your accomodations?" "Who are you? Where am I? Why did you-" his questioning was halted when the stallion pressed a bony finger onto his lips. "Shhh, shhh. I'm sure you have many questions and if you'll give me some quiet I'll be more than happy to explain everything." The prince looked at him tentaively, but he let him continue nonetheless. "Excellent." "I guess I should start by introducing myself. It is only appropriate." He placed a hand onto his chest, before he spoke. "I am known by many names, but the one that you and everypony shall soon know is Mastermind." He lifted his hand into the air. "And we are currently located somewhere not even the princesses can get to." "Why would you bring me here?" Instead of getting an answer he was slapped by the Changeling Queen. "Didn't he tell you to hold your tounge worm?" she scowled. "Easy there Chrysalis, we don't want to damage him now do we?" Mastermind scolded the mare. "Of course, forgive me darling." the mare apologised. "But she is right though." the stallion said as he looked back to the prince. "Just be quiet and I'll tell you everything you want to know." Charming simply glared at him. "Good, now where were we? Ah yes. The reason why you're here." "I believe you've already met my associate Bullseye." he pointed towards the stallion that stood near the entrance. "I sent him to retrieve something of value for me and you, oh so, stubbornly refused to give it to him. Because of that the relic is now stored in one of Equestria's most secured vaults." the stallion stated and shook his head. "Before it would've been easy to just simply snag the relic, but now it would be much more difficult. Not impossible, just difficult. And the theft would most certainly gain te attention of both princesses. And that is something I most certainly do not want. And that brings us to you. With your help we will obtain our goal with ease." "I would never help the likes of you." Charming spat. "And what in the name of Celestia would you want so badly from the cargo that we transported? All of it was either useless or without value." Mastermind began to wheeze, before he laughed out loud. "You really have no idea what was in your possession do you?" He stopped his laughter and looked at the prince with a serious look. "What I want is something called the Eye of Inferno." Charming began tried to remember exactly which relic he was talking about. "That one?" he asked in disbelief. "But that thing is absolutley worthless. It has no magical properties or anything. It's just a rock with gibbersih written on it." "Oh you foolish boy." Mastermind said, placing his hand onto the prince's cheek and giving him a couple of light slaps. "That thing will allow me to obtain power from Tartarus itself. Allowing me to conquer all of Equestria. Nay, the whole Equis." He removed his hand and watched Charming's face contort in fright. He chuckled at his distress. "As for you not wanting to help. You don't have a choice. Soon, with your help we'll bring down all of those who stood in my way." With a wave of his hand Chrysalis again grabbed the handles of the wheelchair and the two slowly walked over to the exit. Before they left they stopped by Bullseye. "Please prepare him for the ceremony, would you?" Mastermind asked him. "With absolute pleasure!" the stallion replied, before he closed the door and sealed himself inside with the prince. "Where to next darling?" Chrysalis asked with a cutesy voice as the two traversed a long hallway. "First we go see how our little dark mage is doing, then. Afterward I'd like to visit our two subjects to see how they're doing." Mastermind answered in a weak tone. "As you wish darling." It took them a couple of minutes until they reached another room. The metal doors opened and they entered. In the middle of the room sat the robed mare, her eyes were closed and she seemed to be meditating. "How are you doing?" the stallion asked. All of a sudden shadow tentacles shot from inside the robe and lunged themselves at the two. Chrysalis immediatelly stepped in front and created a magical shield. The limbs crashed into and ceased their movement. "Be careful you wench!" the queen hissed. "You almost harmed your master!" The mare slowly opened her eyes and she stared at the two. One of her eyes was the regular aqua green color, while the other completely green with red irises. The horn around her neck shone in dark purple and green light, humming in a soft tone, almost like it was whispering. "It's alright Chrysalis." Mastermind calmed the changeling mare. "I'm sure she didn't mean to." His horn glowed in a weak light and he moved the wheelchair closer to the robed mare. "Did you my little mage?" The mare continued to stare at the stallion as he continued to approach her. After a couple of seconds she blinked and both of her eyes were back to normal. "M-master?" she mumbled. Her face immediatelly turend to one of regret. "I-I am so sorry master, I didn't mean to-" Her apology was stopped when the stallion placed one of his hands on her shoulders. "It is alright young one. I know you didn't." He turned his gaze towards the walls of the room, observing the numerous inscriptions on them. Most of them were utter gibberish while others resembled equations and poems. If anyone saw the room they'd think it came straight from an asylum. "How are you feeling? Are the voices still bothering you?" he consoled her, while rubbing her shoulder. "Yes." she answered and stood up. "But thanks to your guidance I've been able to tune them out and I now have much better control over my magic." "Good, good. I'm happy to hear that." the stallion said gladly. Their tender moment was interrupted when a hole in space opened up and inside walked Rafel, several Changelings and an armored figure. "Master." Rafel said in a hissy tone. "The drake has returned." he said with a bow of his head. "With good news I suppose." Mastermind said in a slightly disdained tone. He looked at the armored dragon with a judgemental glare. "Cool it boss, I got what you sent me to get." the drake said and pulled out a stone the size of a hand, with weird inscriptions on them. "Plus a little something for the weirdo." He snapped his fingers and the couple of changelings dropped rather large bags onto the floor. One of them opened up and out fell a bloody arm. "Excellent work." Mastermind praised him. "It looks like you'll have plenty of guinea pigs my little mage. I hope you'll soon get the hang of other 'properties' of your magic." The mare however didn't pay him much attention, as she walked up to the dragon purple smoke cascading from her eyes. "What did you call me you overgrown lizard?" she asked with a venomous tone. "Oh I'm sorry I didn't know you were deaf as well. I said you're a weirdo. I mean you keep hearing voices that aren't there and every night you add a new picture to your creepy little gallery." the drake snorted. Both of them got ready to go at it, but were stopped when Mastermind raised his hand. "That's enough!" he shouted, making both of them stop. "Both of you are acting like children. We are all on the same side here with the same goal." "Speak for yourself. All I want is the treasures you promised me and payback. I don't care about your stupid conquest at all." the drake rebuted. "And you shall get them. But be patient." He waved his hand and Chrysalis once again began to push him. "You leave her alone, she needs to practice with the loot you brought, and you put the Eye of Inferno with the others." "Whatever." the dragon scoffed and walked out. The queen and stallion followed him suit, onwards to their next destination. As they walked Mastermind lifted his hand and they stopped. "What is it darling?" Chrysalis asked. "This is not where the two-" "Since we're already here, let's see how the research on the metal golems is going." Mastermind explained. The mare nodded and the two entered another room. This one was filled to the brim with highly advanced research equipment, the kind you'd see in cartoons and sci-fi movies. They went over to one of the scientists that were scattered across the room. "Good day." Mastermind greeted. The stallion yelped and jumped away from the two. He quickly dropped to the floor and began to shake. "G-g-good d-day to y-you too s-sir." he stuttered. "That's master to you." Chrysalis hissed and placed her hoof onto his back pushing him into the ground. "How many times do I have to tell you that." "You seem rather violent today Chrissy. Is it that time of the month?" the stallion pondered. "Oh no. It's just that I don't like it when maggots like these don't show you the proper respect you desreve, that is all." She then glared back at the scientist beneath her and scoweled. "They should be thankful that we're keeping them alive." "That's only because they have some use to us. If they didn't then..." he trailed off as he began to chuckle. Soon he stopped his musing and looked at the stallion too. "Tell me, how is your reverse engineering of the golems going?" The stallion remained on the floor, too afraid to even lift his head. "I-I'm sorry si-, I mean master, but whoever built these was a true genius. By the rate we are going with we would be finished in about a decade." He cahnced a glance at his captor and saw he was glaring at him. "I-I am truly sorry!" Mastermind began to massage one of his temples. "I see." he sighed. "Then I guess we have no choice." He waved his hand and the mare backed away from the scientist and pushed her master out the room. "Why didn't you kill him for his incompetence?" she asked curiously. "Like I said, we need his kind. They are critical to our plans and we are too far into it to start killing them all for petty things like these." the stallion explained. "If you say so, then it must be correct." the queen mused. "Now what? Those golems were supposed to play a major part in your scheme?" "Don't worry. I already know what must be done." They turned a corner and began to approach a rather more regal door. "If our guys can't do it, then it's better to seek out the master. That way even the product isn't half assed." Chrysalis leaned forward and planted a kiss onto his cheek. "Did I ever say how much I love that cunning mind of yours?" "Every day." he chuckled. As the two approached the door, the two chageling guards opened them up for them. The room was large and most of it was coverd in plans and schematics. In one corner there was a bed while the rest had work benches and different wardrobes filled with runes and potions. But at the back stood two tall vats and they approached the one on the left. "Ahhh, I see it's going very nicely." Mastermind mused as he observed a dark mist like glob swim in the middle of the vat. "Do you know how much and energy I put into resurrecting her? All of those bits and pieces that were left of her in that castle, to transform them int what you see before you'" "It really is wonderful." Chrysalis said and put a hand on the vat. All of a sudden the glob lunged itself towards her hand, but it was stopped by the glass. The mare quickly retracted her hand and warily watched it. "She seems to be rather hostile." "And that's exactly how I want it to be. Now for the other one." he said and the two turned towards the other vat. "It seems his recovery is at it's end." "I still don't see what use you would have from him." Chrysalis said tentatively. "From what I can tell he seems more like a burden." "Are you saying that just because he resembels that wolf guy that defeated you when you attacked Canterlot?" he asked with a grin. "Partially." she scoffed. "He doesn't seem that strong. Where did you even find him?" "In Badlands several months ago. The poor lad was on the verge of death if I didn't help him." "Why did you help him anyway?" she contineud to ask. "He caught my attention. He was something I never saw before, and if he is anything like this wolf you keep telling me about he might be valueable asset." he explained, his eyes reflecting the light from the vat. "Still, how do you know he'll even side with us? He could be a goody two shoes, like him." "I doubt that." he scoffed. "I had his mind be read. We didn't learn much, but from what we got I know he'll help us." A grin stretched across his face. "He is a soldier through and through. He is skilled in what he does and he will do anything if the price is right." "A mercenary in short." Chrysalis stated bluntly. "So now the question is, what do you have to offer him?" "Beside the fact that saved his life? Plenty." He turned away from Chrysalis and used his magic to push himself towards one of his benches. "Trust me Chrysalis. He is going to be a very valueable asset to our plans. Now leave and prepare everything for the ceremony." "As you wish darling." She turned around and walked out of the room. Mastermind looked over the items that were in front of him and smiled. "A 'very' valueable asset indeed." he said and lifted up a helmet. "Phantom." He pressed a button and the helmet lighted up, displaying a skull on it's surface.