//------------------------------//
// In the Garden of Eden (7) 
// Story: Tales from the Equestrian Others- The Fallen Angel of Ponyville 
// by Scarlet Raven Thorn 
//------------------------------//

Three monsters stalked through the Everfree woods.
The one leading the group was reptilian in origin. Its long tail swished behind it as it walked, and- being covered in tusk-like spikes- forced the other two to keep pace at its side. Large heavily armored wings too big for its body with ragged torn membranes sprouted from its back, along with a series of ebony sharp spikes that begun at its head. Twin antelope horns sprung from the back of its skull, along with blemishes of different colored gems that grew from odd angles all over its slender and elongated frame.
While the second was smaller in comparison, it made up for it with protracted visible teeth. Atop its skinny rotting carcass lie a pair of mangled angel wings, which dragged against the ground and stirred up dirt. Bone protrusions sprouted from its rib cage, as if the bones had been broken and forcibly stuck through its skin. And a broad scythe-like bone decorated the tip of its whip tail. Scraps of white fur hung from its body, swaying in the wind as it walked on.
The third was of a much larger stature than the other two, a grand hulking beast of crystals sporting wickedly sharp tusks and a hyena-like mane. Covered in a natural battle armor of spikes and stone, accompanied with eight tendrils of pink flesh that took root at the boils covering its back, made it quite the frightening foe. Despite its eyes being obscured by chunks of malformed flesh, it turned its head to the other monsters.
"Of many miles we have traveled to our destination, of it is there any indication?" The disguised zebra mare asked.
"We're close." Sound-Off revealed with the nod of her head. "It shouldn't be long now."
There was the sudden cracking sound of branches. The trio's pace faltered, but per Zecora's instructions did not stop moving. 
A Vanished, the transformed Lily Lace, crept out of the forest. In her jaws dangled two unconscious and bloody unicorns. The first was a magenta unicorn mare with a two-toned purple mane. Strips of flesh hung from her body; one large slab on her leg fell to the forest floor. Half of her face had been mauled off, blood trickled slowly but steadily from the attached skin of her exposed skull.  The second was a pink unicorn mare with a two-toned yellow mane. Her neck was broken and yet her chest rose and fell, although raggedly.
Recognizing the ponies as her neighbor and Black Dawn's foalsitter Amethyst Star, and the other as the Canterlot mare Sunshine Smiles, respectively; Scarlet involuntarily gasped.
Lily Lace took quick notice of the gasp, and growled. She galloped in front of the disguised travelers, forcing them to a halt. The Vanished brought herself muzzle to muzzle with a tense Scarlet, and sniffed deeply. The smell of rotting flesh coming from the monster's breath and body was almost unbearable, but the pegasus forced herself to remain still. After what felt like forever but was in reality only seconds, Lily withdrew herself from the mare's face and continued onward. When the three failed to move, she turned to them with a rumbling growl.
The two mares and dragoness looked at each other before following after the Vanished at a fair distance. Eventually, she led them to a cavern and slipped in through the narrow entrance. The opening itself was inconspicuous. Close to the ground and hidden by a veil of overgrown weeds. If a pony had been passing by, they would've had to glance at it from the corner of their eyes in order to see the entrance. Only after waiting until the echo of Lily Lace's hoofsteps faded away did the three speak, but in hushed tones.
"By Luna's blessed moon!" Scarlet Thorn squeaked, letting out a rush of air.
"I admit that was frighteningly close, I thought for sure trouble was to arose." Zecora also sighed in relief. "Although it appears we now have two more to save, the situation has gone from desperate to grave."
"So what do we do? Do we," Sound-Off gulped. "follow it down?"
"It doesn't look like we have a choice." Scarlet stated, starting towards the cavern.
She was stopped by a malformed hoof. "Are you sure that for this battle you are prepared? I worry that my fears will come true for your injuries are not fully repaired."
"Don't worry about me, worry about yourself instead." The pegasus remarked, shrugging off Zecora's hoof. Nopony was going to get hurt under her watch. Especially not because they were protecting her.
Zecora frowned, but then turned her head to the entrance. "Then let us carry on with our heroics, I do hope neither of you are claustrophobic."
The zebra mare led their charge, having had much experience navigating through catacombs. The tunnel was cramped and quickly growing darker the further they strayed from Celestia's beacon of warmth and hope. As the passage steadily grew steeper, it became harder and harder to keep their balance the deeper they went.
"Sound-Off my dear, could you project a light here?" Zecora whispered.
The dragoness nodded her head. "I can do better. I can create a sentinel flame."
"I thought you didn't know any other spells, or on lies do you dwell?" Zecora said with a shake of her head.
"No, no. It isn't a spell. It's just something dragons can make." Sound-Off explained, falling onto her haunches. "Watch."
She blew a stream of fire into her claws. Still releasing flame from her mouth, she began to shape it into a sphere. A moment later she cut off her fire breath and gently tapped the burning ball upwards. It floated above their heads like a miniature sun, illuminating the area within a close proximity to the trio.
"Oh yeah, that's not suspicious in the slightest." Scarlet hissed out.
"Would you rather walk blind?" Sound-Off growled.
"I already almost died once today, I'd rather not tempt death again!" The pegasus retorted.
"And whose fault was that? You're the one that chose to go solo!" The reptile spat.
"I was trying to save your life!"
"What? You think I can't handle myself?"
"You know what? I do! You are a baby dragon!"
"Excuse me?! Are you forgetting who saved your sorry flank?! Don't degrade me down to that level! I'm not completely helpless!"
"I'm sorry, I don't understand baby talk. Here, maybe this will translate to you better. Goo-goo gah-gah."
"Why you ungrateful bit-"
"Enough!" Zecora stepped in, fearing that they would be overheard. "You think you are so tough! Put your pettiness aside! Scarlet you must learn to humble your pride!"
"Ha!" Sound-Off sharply laughed, pointing a claw at the embarrassed pegasus.
Zecora swung around. "And you, emotions you must learn to master if it is my tutelage you are after!"
"Ha!" Scarlet snickered.
"Agents my plot-hole," The zebra finally snapped, crashing their heads together. "you two are acting like foals! Now if you are done, there is still our goal to be won."
"Fine, I'll be the better dragon. I apologize." Sound-Off said, crossing her arms.
"No, I apologize to you." Scarlet offered.
"What? You can't apologize to me after I've apologized to you!"
"I'm admitting my fault. Putting down my pride, just like Zecora said."
"No you're not! You're trying to make yourself look better than me!"
"Oh by my goddess." Zecora put a hoof to her forehead before facing the arguing pair. "Please just make solace!"
Scarlet and Sound-Off looked at each other wearily, but after a glare from Zecora the two shook claw and hoof.
"Good, now let us make haste. With your foalishness time did we waste." The zebra continued down the tunnel. "No use would it be to be so bitter as an unripe oran-AAAAAAAAH!"
The zebra mare suddenly fell into a large pit, her screams quickly fading away.
"Zecora!" The dragoness and pegasus shouted together.
"Oh what do we do?! What do we do?!" Sound-Off began shuffling around as much as the tunnel would allow her.
"We go after her!" Scarlet stated.
"Okay, okay." Sound-Off forced herself to take a deep breath. "We jump on three. One! Two! Three!"
Neither of the two had moved.
"I thought we were jumping on three!" Scarlet exclaimed.
"You didn't jump either!" The reptile ridiculed.
"Fine, I'll count this time." The pegasus said. "Ready? One. Two. Three!"
Again, there wasn't the slightest bit of movement from either.
"What happened?! You were supposed to jump!" Sound-Off reminded.
"Well you didn't!" Scarlet pointed out.
"I have an idea." The dragoness spoke up. "Let's count together."
"Okay, together." Scarlet agreed.
"One. Two. Three!"
The mare jumped into the trench, but Sound-Off stood her ground.
"I'm sorry!" She called out.
"Sound-Off you spineless wall lizaaard! Buuuuck yooooou!" The pegasus mare cursed, slipping into the darkness.
Meanwhile, at the top of the cliff, Sound-Off began to pace. "I can do this. I can do this."
She looked down into the darkness. And then she remembered her wings; the reptile turned to the face them. Even while in the appearance of a Vanished, she was still herself underneath the illusion.
"Oh, yeah. Wings." Sound-Off said with a roll of her eyes. And then she realized that she simply could've flown the mare down, but had instead let her jump to her possible death. "Oh buck! Scarlet, Zecora, I'm coming!"
The dragoness jumped into the air over the pit, and extended her wings out. And then her wings failed her and she plummeted into the darkness below.

...

Scarlet Thorn groaned as she awoke. 
Her entire body ached, but luckily that's all it was. An ache. The pegasus pushed herself up, glancing towards where she had fallen from. She couldn't find the pit, it was too dark; but she guessed by her lack of injury that it hadn't been as much of a fall as she first thought. She coughed. There was an overwhelming odor in the air, it was the worst smell she had ever had the displeasure of knowing in her entire life. And she had changed hundreds of diapers. But she figured since this was the Vanished's lair, combined with the mildew smell of the oubliette itself, that the smell was reflecting the cavern's occupant. Doing her best not to vomit, she started to look around.
Taking in her surroundings, the pegasus began to look for her comrades. But she couldn't see a hoof's length in front of her muzzle. Not wanting to think about what might lie in the darkness surrounding her, the mare steeled her nerves and reached out for her scythe. Luckily, it hadn't fallen far and the mare was able to find it easily. Unluckily, the bitter cold stung at her face and alerted her to the missing presence of her mask. A faint glimmering purple light suddenly caught her eye.
"Sound-Off's sentinel flame!" She realized, beginning to trot as fast as she could over to the welcomed beacon.
She suddenly tripped.
The ground below her had given way to a steep decline. Scarlet picked herself back up. Not only would she have to be careful to not lose her balance on a hill she couldn't see, but the ground itself was mushy with mud. She continued marching hoof deep through the muck, occasionally crunching through gravel and stepping on rocks. Eventually, after much struggle and longer than she would've liked, she made it over to her dragon friend and her waning sentinel flame. There was barely enough light for her to see Sound-Off, but from what she saw the dragon didn't appear to be injured thanks to her hard scales. But what had been damaged, beyond repair to the pegasus's dismay, was Sound-Off's mask.
"Sound-Off! Sound-Off! Sound-Off!" Scarlet urged, shaking the unconscious reptile. When the dragoness failed to respond the mare's heart froze and she immediately feared the worst. She checked her friend's pulse and her fears were confirmed. The mare let out a hiccuping cry. "Oh Sound-Off!"
The mare draped herself over the cold body of her friend and began to weep, which turned into a wail. Scarlet sprang to her hooves and suddenly lashed out in anger at the darkness around her. Swinging her scythe at the invisible demons she began to scream out, "You can't have her! You hear me?! You can't bucking have her!"
Scarlet let out a wrathful cry. Breathing wildly she trotted out into the miasma, and found herself sloshing around in water. Soon enough she was out of the light's range and drowning in the darkness. It felt as if the gloom was bearing down upon her, suffocating her like a constrictor does a mouse. It made her already frozen coat stand on end. But the pain in her heart was greater than her fear, and the guilt of having fought Sound-Off before her death weighed heaviest on the mare's shoulders.
"Show yourself!" She screamed. "You hear me?! I'm not afraid to fight you!"
There was a sudden scuttling sound from the direction of Sound-Off's body. The pegasus roared and galloped over to her friend, completely disregarding the pain flaring in her injured leg. But as she was running, Sound-Off's flame wavered and finally went out.
"NO!" Scarlet screamed. "NO! NO! NO!"
She arrived at what she approximated was the location of her friend's corpse. Throwing herself into the foul smelling sludge, she desperately began feeling around for the reptile. Her hooves found only mud. The mare's breathing turned eradicated, and she began to stomp and buck in the slush until she finally collapsed.
Something slimy firmly grabbed her fetlock. Scarlet didn't care. She wanted to die. But then her thoughts suddenly turned to her son. No. No she did not want to die. She wanted to live. For Black Dawn. For Cobra Strike. For Princess Luna. For Sound-Off. The pegasus tightened her grip on her scythe, swinging it around to meet her foe.
"Whoa!" A familiar voice called out from the darkness. "What in Tartarus?! It's me, it's me!"
"Sound-Off!" Scarlet Thorn cried out, dropping her scythe and lunging forward to catch the dragoness in a tackling hug that knocked them into the water. "You're alive!"
"Yeah. I'm- uh- pretty sure that I am." Sound-Off groaned out as the pegasus mare squeezed her.
"But you were- Your pulse was- You were cold and you had no pulse!" Scarlet stuttered out.
"Well yeah. It's like thirty degrees down here in case you haven't noticed. Plus, us dragons are naturally cold. We are cold-blooded. And you wouldn't have been able to find my pulse underneath my scales." Sound-Off explained, and then grunted when the mare tightened her hug. "Scarlet, too much!"
Scarlet released the dragoness. "S- sorry. I'm just so happy that you're alive."
"Yeah, me too. Hey, do you know how far we fell?" Sound-Off asked.
"I don't think it was too long, but I landed on a hill so I wouldn't know." Scarlet answered.
"I'm guessing from the lack of rhymes that Zecora isn't with you." Sound-Off noted.
"It's too dark to see. I had to follow your flame to find you." Scarlet said.
"Oh, give me a moment." Sound-Off blew out a small stream of fire, and began to form it into a flame sentinel that was larger than the last. Not long after they had a large sphere of fire that floated high above their heads illuminating a large portion of the cavern.
The first thing Scarlet noticed was that they were standing in a shallow lake of red, and absolutely drenched. The second was her friend's horrified gaze.
The dragoness's lips began to quiver, and her pupils were nothing more than pinpricks. "Sc- Sc- Scarlet."
"Sound-Off? Sound-Off what's wrong?" She asked.
The dragoness weakly pointed behind the mare.
Scarlet turned around, and her legs went weak. The 'hill' that had cushioned her fall and that she had awoken upon, while indeed being a hill, was a colossal pile of corpses. And not just ponies. She recognized pieces of gryphons, changelings, minotaurs, creatures of the Everfree, and many others she couldn't name. A knot of twisted limbs, splayed out organs, and rotting flesh. The dead eyes seemed to stare accusingly at her. As if asking, "Why didn't you save us? How could you let this happen?"
She looked down at her hooves, at the liquid she was knee deep in while Sound-Off practically had to swim through. Blood. It was blood. Not water. Blood. The blood of all those creatures she had failed. Those whose bones had crunched underneath her hoof under the assumption that it had been gravel. Those whose skulls she had mistaken for rocks. Those whose flesh she had thrown herself upon. 
Scarlet vomited.
A sudden approaching sloshing demanded their attention. The mare and dragoness turned to find something approaching them from the darkness. Sound-Off readied her fire, and Scarlet her blade.
Zecora appeared out of the darkness. As soon as the zebra mare saw them she began to gallop towards them.
Sound-Off relaxed, but her pegasus companion failed to do so. "Scarlet? What's wrong? Scarlet it's Zecora!"
"We don't know that." Scarlet stated, her serious composure unchanging. "Look. She's not wearing her mask. She could have been possessed by an Eidolon."
"What?! Are you sure?!" Sound-Off asked, taking an involuntary step back.
"No. But better safe than sorry" The mare admitted before shouting, "STOP!"
The galloping zebra skidded to a halt, a confused look on her face.
If it was Zecora in front of them, she spoke out, "My friends what is wrong? Why do you hold out a blade against me when I have been searching for you for so long?"
"Tell us something only Zecora would know!" Scarlet demanded.
"Yeah!" The dragoness awkwardly called out from behind the pony.
"You have ten seconds to answer." Scarlet growled. "Ten. Nine. Eight."
"Wait, wait! Allow me an answer to state!" Zecora pleaded. "Of your injuries I did heal, and to you my secrets I did reveal! I told you of how assassin's training I did under go, then the name Agent Hydra upon me did Luna bestow! But not long after I fell into this pit, where in darkness I had to use my wit! Not knowing where for you to look, a risky gamble I took! Then when I heard your yelling, I traced it back to this dwelling!"
Scarlet narrowed her eyes, and then lowered her scythe with a smirk. "Sorry about that Zecora. I needed to make sure you hadn't been possessed."
"Of this I can promise is not the case, but still be weary for we are in the lair of Lily Lace." The zebra warned, trotting over to them.
"Don't move another muscle!" Sound-Off suddenly shouted. Zecora stopped and Sound-Off continued. "How come you're not concerned about the bodies behind us?"
"As an assassin in my life much carnage I have seen, starting at when I watched my own tribe mates be slaughtered when I was a teen. In Zebrafrica such horrendous acts are not uncommon, so I am use to seeing corpses long since forgotten." Zecora answered.
"Eh, good enough for me." The dragoness said.
"Nice catch." Scarlet Thorn whispered.
Sound-Off beamed with pride.
"Come my friends and I will show you of what I have learned, I believe it will be of much concern. In these catacombs do the Vanished thrive, I fear that we have stumbled upon their hive." Zecora stated.
"A hive?!" Sound-Off exclaimed. "You mean we're completely surrounded and outnumbered here?!"
"How can you be sure?! Did you see other Vanished?!" Scarlet demanded.
"Indeed along my path I saw many monsters, who luckily did not see that I am an impostor. Although they have proven to be quite frightening, it would appear that their minds lack enlightening." Zecora explained. "They are as intelligent as mere beasts, but luckily near the entrance here there are the least. Deeper into the darkness do they lurk, but still stay vigilant through the murk. Without a doubt monsters we shall happen upon, but if we are careful their attention will not be drawn."
"But what about our masks?" Sound-Off asked. "Won't we get noticed? 
"Of these masks I have no more, my own is the last of the score." Zecora stated. "But it would appear that in shadows even the Vanished cannot see, of this I do decree. With sense of hearing and sense of smell they must command, but covered in blood we have the upper hand."
"So in a sense, we have the advantage." Scarlet realized, and then she turned to Sound-Off. "Is it possible for you to use your tracking spell in reverse, making it so our location could be traced?"
"I- I guess so." The dragoness answered, still in shock.
"Would it be possible for you to send a letter to Princess Luna? One that would alert her of our location?" The pegasus inquired.
"Y- yeah!" Sound-Off stuttered out, catching on. Then she frowned. "But I don't have any paper or a quill. Zecora?"
Zecora shook her head. "Those items I didn't think to bring, I did not think we would be faced with such troublesome things."
"Damn it. What are we supposed to do?" Scarlet muttered. She glanced around for something they could write with, and her eyes came to stop on the heap of corpses. The pegasus gulped, but she knew what she had to do.
"Scarlet, what are you doing?" Sound-Off asked, watching the mare trot over to the base of the hill.
"Please don't ask." Scarlet pleaded, steadying her stomach for the sin she was about to commit.
"Scarlet?" Sound-Off asked again, sounding much more unsure.
Searching for a corpse that wasn't absolutely saturated with gore, the mare eventually came to find a fellow pegasus. Closing her eyes, Scarlet lifted her scythe high above her head. "Luna forgive me."
"Scarlet what are you doing?!" The dragoness yelled.
The blade suddenly plunged into the cadaver's flesh, slicing cleanly through the other side. With a series of gagging croaks the pegasus pulled the mutilated corpse over to her. Tears leaked from her eyes as she repeatedly whispered, "I'm sorry, I'm sorry."
When she had finished, the pony had carved out a a good sized portion of the carcass's lilac hide. Scarlet then tore free a mangled primary feather from the mutilated pegasus's disfigured wing. She walked over to Sound-Off, and wordlessly held the patch of fur out to her.
The reptile shakily reached for the slab of meat, freezing when it touched her claws.
Of course being a dragon she had eaten meat before, but that was cooked beforehoof. And she had never actually asked where it had come from, it wasn't something she wanted to know. Most of Ponyville's residents thought she was disgusting for it, including the other residential dragon Spike. Only her own patriarch Gallant and the other patrons of Ponyville's newly opened omnivore restaurant were sympathetic. To this day Sound-Off couldn't look a cow in the eyes without feeling an incredible amount of shame and guilt, and even a little bit of hunger. But she couldn't help it. She was a dragon. And being female she craved meat especially.
But this, this was different. This wasn't fish, pork, chicken, lamb, or even cow. This was pony flesh. She had been raised by a pony, the only parent that she had ever known. Sound-Off began to hyperventilate.
A steady hoof reached out to the reptile, keeping a calming presence on her shoulder. Zecora looked down at the little one with a kind yet sad smile. "I am all too aware of the feelings you endear, but know that your friends are here."
The dragoness's breathing slowly went from ragged to deep, and then to an even pace as she closed her eyes and steadied her mind. "Okay."
With a deep inhale she held out the fleshy chunk in front of her, as far as her arm would allow, and breathed out a bloom of fire that quickly spread over the skin. The fur began to rapidly tan, the heat melting away at fat and rotted meat. Soon the fire flickered away, leaving just a piece of jagged hardened leather behind.
"Here." Scarlet rasped in a hoarse voice. She handed the reptile the makeshift quill.
Sound-Off took the crimson stained feather. Dipping it in the blood around her waist, she began to write.


Dear Princess Luna,
Agent Scorpio, Agent Hydra, and I have made an alarming discovery. Within the Everfree forest lies a Vanished hive.
I am sending this letter to you with a draconian tracking spell meant to alert you of our present whereabouts. Will send more information as soon as we're in a safe location. Please respond soon.


She paused, glancing at her friends who were distracted with their own thoughts. And then hastily added,


If we don't return tell Gallant that he was the best father I could've asked for. And tell Black Dawn that his mother loves him very much.
Sincerely,
Agent Capricorn. Agent Scorpio. Agent Hydra.


The dragoness then deeply inhaled, exhaling with a plume of purple flame. The glittering faintly lavender tinted smoke traversed over the mountain of bodies, and up the hole that they had fallen through.
"Let's go." Sound-Off unemotionally stated. If she felt this bad, she could only hope to imagine how awful her pegasus companion must've felt.
Agent Scorpio was cruel, yes. But she was only heartless towards her enemies. For her fellow ponies and other innocents, she would give her life. There was a great difference between the scorpion and the mare, one defined by a trail of blood. But what they both shared was the desire to protect others from harm.
The mare in question didn't say anything. She was dealing with her own demons right now.
Zecora suddenly cleared her throat. "The path ahead is quite grisly, a fact I know for my light did show although dimly." The zebra mare pulled a glowing crystal out from underneath her cloak. "Of many of these Luminous Gems did I bring, but of brightness it is not king. Still it will draw less attention than your fire, which I would put out unless being noticed is what you desire."
The zebra handed each of them their own Luminous shards, which they slipped over their heads. 
"I'll be right back." Sound-Off stated, unfurling her wings.
Zecora stopped her. "In these chambers your wings will fail, the walls that you see for magic acts like a jail. Your fire works only because it is linked to an outside source, at least that is my guess of course."
"This must be where Queen Chrysalis's throne originated from." Scarlet mentioned, slightly fascinated with the aspect. "No magic works here. Your wings must not work because that magic is your own, but your fire breath is tied in with Gallant's own magic. Sort of like a battery."
"If it's like a battery how much energy do you think I have left?" The dragoness asked in concern.
"From what you took for the two fire orbs plus the tracking spell, to save your magic would do you well." Zecora warned. "But about that flame in the sky, how do you plan to say good-bye?"
Sound-Off thought for a moment, and then decided, "Well if I had an arrow I could just shoot it down."
"My friend say no more, I have with me what you are looking for." Zecora pulled out from somewhere within her cloak a crossbow. "As you can tell from the straps it is meant for earth pony use, but in this situation it will work I deduce."
The dragoness took the crossbow from the zebra, and pointed it at her sentinel flame. "Sorry, but you've got to go." 
She let the bolt loose with a squeeze of the trigger. It flew straight and true, hitting its mark and plunging the cavern into total darkness excluding the dim twinkling glow from the Luminous Gems around their necks.
"Great shot!" Scarlet commended, giving the dragon a pat on the back.
"Of your skill I am impressed, to have you wanting to be my apprentice I am blessed." Zecora remarked.
"Hehe, thanks." Sound-Off blushed in pride. She had actually been learning how to use a crossbow from Agent Sagittarius.
"Now let us be on our way, before in the darkness we become prey." Zecora said, putting on her mask with a flash of dark fire. "To me you should still keep near, it will help with their unknowing of you here."
The reunited trio began to trek onward, flanking the disguised zebra as she led them deeper into the catacombs. 

***

Celestia and Luna were sipping tea on the royal balcony. Ever since Starlight Glimmer had switched their cutiemarks and shown them just how hard the other worked, the two royal sisters had grown closer than ever.
"Say Lulu," Celestia began, taking a bite of her cake. "where has that lovely and charming apprentice of yours run off to?"
"Gallant Aurora? Training more than likely." Luna answered.
"Well I suppose everypony is different. Twilight had her books, Gallant has his swords." The solar princess chuckled. "Reminds me of how we were in our youth. Do you remember those days?"
"I remember," Luna snickered. "that you couldn't wield a blade if your life had depended on it."
"And I remember," Celestia chuckled. "a little filly who couldn't sit through more than a single paragraph of reading."
Luna shoved a chunk of cake into her mouth, finishing her plate. Speaking through a mouthful of pastry, she said, "It was boring Tia. Who cares about the long lost civilization of Ponyland? What a silly name for a country to have, it's no wonder they disappeared."
Celestia rolled her eyes. "That doesn't mean we shouldn't honor and respect our ancestors who did escape, and eventually formed the three grand nations under their descendants Princess Platinum, Chancellor Puddinghead, and Commander Hurricane. Without them Equestria wouldn't exist."
"Meh." Luna grunted, bored already.
"Anyways, would you like another piece of cake Lulu?" Celestia asked her blue-furred sister, offering a chocolate coated slice of vanilla goodness to the smaller alicorn in an aura of yellow-gold magic.
"I will indeed take thine offer for a slice of cavity inducing pastry." Luna answered, floating her empty plate over to the  older white alicorn in an aura of her own purplish-blue magic. "You know Tia, in over thousand years that pallet of yours hath not changed."
"What?" Celestia let out a good-natured scoff as she placed the cake slice on Luna's plate. "Am I not allowed to enjoy myself? I think as royalty I deserve ten minutes a day to spoil myself."
"Careful sister." Luna warned. "You're beginning to sound like Blueblood. Where is thy nephew of ours anyways? I don't think I've seen him since last year's Grand Galloping Gala, and I don't recall him being at Twilight's coronation."
"Well," Celestia began, sipping her tea. "I thought that he was lacking a little lesson in friendship. After he utterly failed the lesson Twilight and her friends were willing to give him those three galas ago, I decided that perhaps he'd like to try his hoof at diplomacy."
"Diplomacy?" Luna blinked. "Which government branch hath you put him in charge of? And how is it that Equestria is still standing?"
"Oh? I didn't send him to our government." The taller alicorn calmly clarified. "I thought he may have gotten bored of Equestria, so I placed him in foreign affairs."
"Really? Which country did you send him to?" Luna inquired.
"Gryphonia." Celestia answered.
Luna spat out her tea. "YOU SENT HIM WHERE?!"
"Don't worry sister. He is under the protection of the Equestrian government for forty moons." Celestia assured.
"And exactly how long ago did you send him?" Luna asked, unconvinced.
"Oh about," Celestia's eyes rolled up in thought, she took another long sip from her teacup. "forty moons ago as of today. I'll have to renew his protection. I suppose that I'll have to get around to it before the day is over, eventually."
"Sister," Luna was about to say something else when a letter suddenly materialized in front of her with a puff of purple flame. The heavy slab of leather dropped onto the table below with a whump.
This time Celestia spit out her tea. "What the buck Luna?! I told you we don't use leather anymore!"
"Oh, I, um, I've- Oh look, it's time for me to go wash thine royal mane. Silly me." Luna excused herself, picking up the leather in her magic.
"Luna get back here!" Celestia demanded.
"I can't ignore thy mane washing sister, hygiene is important after all." Luna called back as she quickly walked away.
"We are not done talking about this!" Celestia yelled after her. "Do you understand me?! And that mane better be clean when we do!"
"Of course, we shall discuss thy matter later!" Luna promised.
As soon as she was out of the solar princess's view Luna broke from a trot to a gallop, heading straight for her royal chambers. She barreled past one of their servants, knocking the poor pony to the ground.
"Hey!" The maid called out.
"My apologies loyal subject " Luna called back.
A few minutes later the lunar princess locked herself in her room. She began to go over Sound-Off's letter, her eyes widening in fear and worry. She quickly cast a detection spell over the parchment, but couldn't find the tracking spell the dragoness had placed on it. She tried again with a larger detection spell meant for revealing traps, but there was no telekinetic ping. Holding back a panic she tried once more, casting the spell at an even larger radius. Nothing. There was nothing. Her friends and agents were in trouble, and there was nothing she could do without at least first knowing their location. Why was her spell failing?
Luna went over the letter again and discovered why. The spell was cast by draconian magic. Her alicorn magic couldn't properly link to it. Despite all her years of living, the lunar princess knew next to nothing about draconian magic. And without at least a faint understanding of its rules, there was nothing she could do to activate Sound-Off's spell. But there was somepony who could. Agent Leo.
The alicorn rushed over to her desk drawer, dumping its contents over the floor. She scurried to pickup a freshly torn parchment, a trampled quill, and a spilling ink bottle. Leaving the rest of the mess on the floor, she hastily scribbled out a request for Agent Leo to translate the draconian spell, and- using the Manifesto copy spell Starlight had sent to her in one of their frequently exchanged letters- copied the leather Sound-Off had sent her. Then she channeled her magic into her horn and sent the letter on its way. But Agent Leo was with Agent Gemini on a mission across the sea in Cengoyle, dealing with a group of dragons not under Ember's reign. There was no telling how long it would be until she received a response.
She sent out a telepathic call to her personal protegee, summoning him to her side. While Celestia had to write out letters to Twilight, Luna was a master of mindscape magic because of her ability to dream-walk and thus was able to communicate telepathically. But this ability only applied to those who were willing to link their minds with her own, and the strain it placed on the alicorn's body was nothing less then excruciating. It required a constant feeding of her magic to keep the spell active for each pony connected to her; missing a thousand years of experience didn't make it any easier either. As such Luna had only linked her mind with two ponies, Gallant and her own sister Celestia.
There was a loud but polite knocking, and the blue alicorn realized that her apprentice must've teleported himself to her door. She quickly cast a soundproofing spell over the room and trot over to alert him of the situation. If anypony other than Agent Leo could decipher the spell, it was her magically-gifted Gallant.

***

Zecora continued to lead Sound-Off and Scarlet Thorn through the labyrinth of tunnels, having marked her path with small etchings made by her dagger into the stone walls. Luckily their path had remained clear with only a close few encounters; every once in a while they had stumbled across a Vanished, which they only happened to cross paths with from a distance and the monster would trot onward without so much as even a waning glance in their direction.
Every few yards they came across another corpse fastened to the cavern by boil encrusted black roots sprouting out of their eye sockets and growing from their barrels. Some were nothing more than crumbling bone, but it appeared that the deeper they went the fresher the dead. At this point, they had reached bodies that were half decomposed. 
Their dead flesh was alive with maggots, enough of them to cause their skin to dance as they ate away at the rotting innards. They squirmed visibly from inside of the portions of the cadavers that had been eaten hollow, a pile of yellow wriggling bodies scrambling over each other in a race to see which would get back into the flesh the fastest. A heap of maggots swarmed in the empty eye sockets of a corpse hanging close to Scarlet, dropping in a steady stream to the ground below.
The pegasus mare retched, but nothing came up.
"Are we almost there?" Sound-Off asked, pressing herself against Scarlet's blood-matted fur and as far from the maggot-eaten corpses as possible.
"Not much further will we have to venture, we have almost reached the sought for indenture. I know that in these tunnels you must feel discomfort, but I promise not much longer you will have to suffer." Zecora answered. "For now just keep quiet, so that we may avoid causing a riot."
The dragoness shut her mouth.
They continued on in silence down the tunnels for a while, none daring to even breathe loudly. The strung-up carcasses on the walls now had eyes, blank mirrors which followed their every move. Maggots slid out from underneath the deflating orbs; it was almost as if the corpses were weeping for the trio.
Zecora suddenly stopped and pointed at a misshapen cavity radiating with a dark purple light in the cavern's surface. Motioning for her comrades to slowly follow, the zebra dragged herself towards the entrance.
The two crept up behind her, practically riding her rump. Peeking out from behind the faux Vanished, the two glanced into the cavern chamber which was illuminated by clusters of black crystals.
From within the relatively small hollow lie Lily Lace. She was on her belly, and cradling in her hooves a still very much unconscious Sunshine Smiles. She opened her mouth, but instead of guzzling down the unicorn's flesh the Vanished began to gingerly lick the mare's body. Running her tongue along Sunshine's split open back, Lily began to clean the wound. The gesture was almost lovingly done.
At the Vanished's side huddled Amethyst Star. The mare appeared to be carefully groomed, her coat free from muck. The visible portion of her skull had been licked clean of blood, and the strips of flesh that had been hanging from her body were missing. Her chest rose and fell evenly, as if she had fallen asleep peacefully in her own bed.
It felt like forever for Lily to finish grooming her cousin. But when she did she angled the mare's head up and expelled her stomach's contents into the unicorn's mouth; chunks of half digested meat and Discord knows what else were forced into Sunshine's gullet. The Vanished finished with a gagging cry, like a cat hacking up a hairball. Then she gently picked up the two mares in her mouth, and exited the chamber. 
Zecora quickly pushed Sound-Off and Scarlet against the wall behind her, shielding them with her hulking form. The pegasus was unfortunately pressed against a corpse. She forced herself not to scream as maggots fell onto her back, sliding down to her rear and more than likely getting caught in her knotted and blood-clumped tail.
Scarlet wasn't here. She was with Cobra Strike. Lying in their comfortable cloud bed, cuddled up against his chest with his wing around her and reading her favorite book. Definitely not in a nightmarish underground cavern with live maggots caught in her tail. What sane pony would be doing that?
Lily growled lowly as she approached Zecora, tensing as she observed the disguised mare. The zebra did the only thing she could think of, she growled back. Releasing the most ferocious and unpony-like snarl she could manage, Zecora let out  a roar. The Vanished's ears actually folded back in surprise and fear. Lily wearily slid away from the zebra, eyes never leaving the assassin until she had faded away into the darkness.
Finally Scarlet couldn't take it anymore and leapt out from behind Zecora. She began to writhe around, attempting to shake the worms from her body. Sound-Off rushed to her aid, blowing a flame that engulfed the mare. The fire left the pony untouched, but torched the maggots from her fur and tail.
"Thank. You." The pegasus panted as the flames sputtered out.
"Yeah, no problem." Sound-Off agreed, wanting to envelop her own body in a cleansing flame but choosing instead to reserve her fire.
"What an interesting means  for one to take a bath, but now we should continue down the path. We must follow Lily Lace, before she disappears without a trace." Zecora stated, beginning down the tunnel.
Scarlet followed after, and Sound-Off subsequently pursued behind. 
Soon they reached a fork in the cavern shaft. The dragoness walked over to the tunnel on the left. As she drew closer her light revealed a thirteen-foot tall wall of corpses jammed almost up to the ceiling, leaving only a narrow opening atop only four-feet in diameter and three-feet height-wise. The dragoness quickly backed away in horror.
"Sound-Off, what is-" Scarlet trot up into the light and gagged. "By Luna's blessed moon!"
Steadying herself, the pegasus shakily walked over to the tunnel on the right. It was large enough for the trio to walk side by side in, with plenty of space to spare. And better yet her eyes could spot no corpses along the walls or floor, only good old fashioned stone.
"We should take the right one!" Sound-Off suggested, and the pegasus nodded her head in agreement.
"Of that I must disagree, the safer path is never what it appears to be." Zecora walked over to the right tunnel, pulling out a bottle of swirling green potion from her pack. She then chucked the bottle into the tunnel, where it could be heard shattering. A moment later there was a heavy thud as something hit the ground. The zebra then threw a Luminous Gem in after, revealing a dead Vanished foaming wildly from the mouth that had fallen from the ceiling. "As you can see we have just escaped a violent battle, it is of our best interest to take the road less traveled."
The two stared at the zebra in shock, until Scarlet recollected herself. "What exactly did you throw at it?"
"Contained in that vial was a deadly gas, an airborne poison of the highest class. However with me I only brought two, now I am left with one after showing you." The zebra took off her mask and slipped it into her bag before trotting over to the left tunnel. "I know this path is not what you yearn, so I will take the first turn."
Zecora nimbly bounded up the corpse wall, using outstretched limbs like steps to get to the top. As she crawled into the tunnel she motioned for her companions to follow.
Scarlet and Sound-Off looked at each other.
"Fine." The dragoness grumbled.
She followed after the zebra, pulling herself from one flesh branch to the next. A piece of meat in her claw begun to suddenly come loose little past halfway to the top, and when the rotting skin slipped from the bone the reptile plummeted with it. She was caught before she could fall.
Scarlet smiled from underneath her friend, having turned the flat side of her scythe into a make-shift platform. Sound-Off smiled back in gratitude and relief before finishing her climb. Being small enough to turn around in the tunnel, the dragoness extended out a claw to the pony and helped pull her up.
For the next fifteen minutes or so the trio continued through the passage, crawling over the carcasses. It was worse than uncomfortable, and the smell of decay was overpowering. But they didn't have the luxury to rest. The dead flesh was already sinking downward from the abuse of their weight. It didn't help that they were forced to move slowly to avoid scratching themselves on broken bones that stuck up from the carcasses on top.
Scarlet's bad leg suddenly slipped into the rotting sludge.
With a grunt she tried to kick herself forward, only to find that she couldn't move. Choking back her panic, she cried out in alarm, "Sound-Off! Zecora! I'm stuck!"
"Hang on!" Sound-off crawled over to her and grabbed ahold of her fore-hoof.
Digging her heels into the flesh of the dead, she tried to pull the mare free. But her claws were slippery from rot and gore, and she fell back onto her rump.
"Sound-Off, please!" Scarlet begged, feeling her body being sucked slowly downward by the oozing corpses and the weight of her splint.
"Quickly, grab on to my tail! I will help assure that you do not fail!" Zecora ordered.
The dragoness obeyed, grabbing firmly onto the zebra mare's short tail and keeping one claw secured around the pegasus's hoof.
Zecora began to drag herself forwards, straining herself from the great increase in weight. Still, the zebra puffed onward.
"It's working!" Sound-Off exclaimed, slowly but surely pulling Scarlet free.
A weak bone suddenly snapped underneath the pegasus, ripping the reptile's claw from her hoof and ultimately causing her to completely slip into the pile of death.
She opened her mouth in surprise, but before she could get out more then a squeak the decayed flesh of the carcasses slid into her mouth.
The taste was beyond awful. But there was nothing the mare could do about the rancid meat sliding down her throat, but to clamp her mouth shut. Her Luminose Gem illuminated the corpses surrounding her in horrid detail. She found herself face to face with a decayed pony, its eyeless sockets glaring at her and its mouth screaming. From its broken horn she could tell it had once been a unicorn, and all of its skin had rotted away leaving behind just a red husk. She was drowning in a sea of death.
"I've got you!"
Scarlet suddenly felt a sudden yank at her mane, followed by a burning pain on her scalp as the hair was jerked almost from her head. She was whisked out of the corpse pile a moment later.
"I cannot see! Is she free?" Zecora asked.
"Yeah, I have her." Sound-Off answered, letting out a sigh of relief.
The trembling pegasus collapsed onto her sour belly, unwilling to move anymore. To describe the bitter and acrid taste in her mouth and the feelings she was experiencing, there were no words.
Hearing the mare' s rapidly intensifying breathing, the dragoness reached out to her.
"I- I- I- Ev- everywhere- It- it was in my- my mou- mouth." Scarlet barely managed to stutter out.
"It's okay, it's okay." Sound-Off soothed, shaking just as much as her friend but putting on a false bravado for her sake.
"Come, we have almost reached the exit. I can see the end of this cesspit." Zecora called back.
"You heard her, let's go." Sound-Off tugged on the mare's hoof.
Scarlet didn't move.
"We need to keep going." The dragoness gently urged.
There was still no signs of movement from the pegasus other than her incessant shivering.
"Come on!" Sound-Off yanked on her fore-leg, attempting to drag her forward. "Just! Move!"
Finally the walls Agent Scorpio had built around her crumbled and crashed.
The mare begun to break down then and there, her mind having had enough. She began to laugh like mad, her sanity hanging by a thread.
Why was this happening to her? What had she done to deserve this- this hell? She was a good pony. No, it was Luna's fault. The damnable princess had done this to her. Luna had made the pony into her slave. Carelessly tossing her agents' lives about while she sat there eating chocolate truffles from her throne. When's the last time the princess had actually helped? Definitely not when Discord returned. Not when Chrysalis had almost taken over Canterlot. Not when Sombra returned and threatened her country. Not when Tirek almost destroyed Equestria as they knew it. No. Luna hadn't been there at all. And here Scarlet, Sound-Off, and Zecora were- caught in some Faust-forsaken hellhole- and yet there still was no help from Luna. She hadn't even bothered to send them back a single lousy word.
"Scarlet! Scarlet!" Sound-Off cried out in alarm, shaking the mare.
"It's all a lie!" Scarlet Thorn suddenly yelled out. "It's all just an excuse for Luna to keep her pretty little hooves free of blood! Do you even know all the things I've had to do?! Do you even know what I have lost?! All those Vanished I've killed, they were once ponies too! Luna could have saved them! She could have done something about Grim Noise from the beginning! She could have saved her! She's an all powerful alicorn who can control the very moon and stars above, and yet she can't save one measly little life?! She's a coward! A worthless coward!"
The pegasus's voice echoed throughout the tunnel, carrying down into the caverns depths.
"She is being too loud, and had broken our shroud!" Zecora shouted as the tunnel began to shake.
From behind them a Vanished heaved itself into the entrance, snarling rapidly. Like a snake it slid into the corpse filled passageway, quickly clawing after them.
"SCARLET WE NEED TO MOVE, NOW!" Sound-Off cried out, desperately tugging at the pony.
"Why?! So Princess Luna can toy around with us some more?!" Scarlet bitterly yelled.
"SCARLET WE ARE GOING TO DIE!" Sound-Off screamed into the mare's ear. "YOU'RE GOING TO DIE! IF YOU WON'T MOVE FOR LUNA THEN DO IT FOR YOUR FAMILY!"
That snapped the pegasus's mind into the right place. "Wh- what am I doing?! Go! Go!"
"Glad to have you back!" The dragoness yelled, spinning around and quickly crawling over the bodies.
The Vanished surged after them, quickly gaining ground.
"HURRY!" Zecora shouted. "PUSH YOURSELF THROUGH THE SLURRY!"
The trio scrambled forward, pushing on as fast as they could through the tunnel. Zecora was the first to jump out to the other side, and Sound-Off followed not long after. Scarlet could see her friends' lights at the end of the passage, and had almost made it when she felt a sharp sting atop her flank.
The Vanished had grabbed ahold of her tail, and was beginning to drag her back.
The mare kicked out at the monster's claw with all her might, hearing the satisfying crunch of bone- but losing a chunk of her tail in the process- she freed herself from the squealing Vanished.
Scarlet fell to the ground outside of the tunnel, landing on her bloodied belly- which had been scratched by sharp bones- causing the pain in her ribs to flare.
"BACK, BACK I SAY! THIS MARE WILL LIVE TO SEE ANOTHER DAY!" Zecora roared, throwing an orange potion into the tunnel.
There was a moment of silence before the ground shook from the powerful, but small, explosion.
The tunnel began to crumble in on itself, trapping the Vanished behind a lair of rocks.
"Was that a bomb?!" Sound-Off exclaimed. "You're carrying bombs too?!"
The zebra gave her a surprisingly malicious smile. "Poison, blades, and bombs; using these I have no qualms. But better to use them to save my friend, who else would've met a gruesome end. Scarlet my dear are you alright? You gave us both quite the fright."
"F- fine." Scarlet grunted as she forced herself onto her hooves. "A little worse for the wear, but I don't think anything is broken."
"I am happy to hear that there is no reason to fret, but our journey is not over yet. With that explosion foes we have alerted, no longer shall we find our path deserted." The zebra versed, starting down the passage depths. "My theory will not need proving, the three of us should get moving."
"Can you walk?" Sound-Off asked her white-coated friend.
"Y- yeah." The pegasus groaned, although every step that she took shot a jolt of pain through her body. Nonetheless, she managed to catch up to the zebra. "Let's go Sound-Off. Zecora, put on you mask. It would be for the best if we continued to hide behind you."
Zecora nodded her head, reaching into her bag for her mask. But then her eyebrows furrowed in concern. "I am afraid that there has been a complication, from crawling in tunnels my mask is suffering from deformation."
The zebra pulled out her mask. There was a long jagged crack in the leather surface, and the mask had begun to split down the middle. She put the ugly visage back in her bag with a sullen look.
"What are we going to do?" Sound-Off asked. "Without our masks we're completely vulnerable! The only reason we've even made this far was because they thought you were another monster!"
"We're not completely vulnerable." Scarlet piped, wincing slightly. "Zecora has all of her weapons. And I have my scythe."
"Fine then. You're not vulnerable, but look at me! I can't fly and I only have a limited amount of firepower!" The dragoness stated.
"Of this you are being senseless, you are not completely defenseless." Zecora pointed at the crossbow strapped to the reptile's arm. "If more bolts you need just ask, I have brought plenty to last."
Sound-Off fumbled to catch the sack the striped assassin tossed at her. But once she had, she opened the bag and swiftly loaded the crossbow before tying the drawstring sack around her shoulders.
"Thanks."
The three continued in silence, forming an arrowhead as they walked. A protective formation in which they were able to guard each other's backs. The sudden thundering of heavy hoof falls came thudding from within the darkness ahead of them. Zecora dove into a group of large stalagmites, and her companions were quick to follow suit. They hid their lights, seeing only by the dark light of the cavern's crystal growths.
Five Vanished came galloping out of the darkness. They were all of different sizes and statures, the only thing in common being their slender builds and drawn out bodies. The Vanished leading the charge, resembling more so a gryphon because of the ebony feathers sprouting from its neck upward and its savage looking hooked beak, stopped. It smelled the air around it, sensing that something was off. The other monsters behind it pawed at the ground, as if unsure what to do. Finally the lead Vanished let out a series of disfigured squawking, to which the other four Vanished responded with deep-throated clickings.
The four split into pairs; the first two took the path Zecora, Sound-Off, and Scarlet had come from, while the other team galloped off into a narrow tunnel opposing the hidden agents. Their leader chose to stay behind. It growled lowly from its throat, slowly inspecting the dank passageway. Sound-Off covered her snout with her claws as the Vanished walked over to where they were hiding, sticking its head directly over the crouched down trio.
It took in a deep sniff of the air again. Then with a few popping sounds from its gullet, the Vanished gradually backed away. Like a gecko it scurried up the cavern wall, its belly pressed against the stone and its legs angled up like a spider's. It slithered into an opening on the ceiling, barb-tipped tail disappearing into the darkness.
A few minutes later the two mares and dragoness crawled out from behind the cramped space between the wall and their hiding place.
"Was- was that a gryphon?!" Sound-Off asked in alarm.
"I think so, at least, that's what it looked like. I've never seen one like that before." Scarlet admitted. "So its not just ponies that can be possessed by Eidolon."
"This is quite the concern, a fact Princess Luna must learn. If Grim Noise can corrupt others than the likes of me and you, what other creatures could join his ranks too?"  Zecora wondered aloud. "It would be in our best interest not to find out, let us continue before they return from their scout."
"Let's just hope they're not in a rush." Sound-Off prayed, scampering after the zebra. "But what were they doing? It almost seemed as if that one was their leader and was giving them orders."
"Communicating." Scarlet answered. "At least that's what it looked like. It was primitive, yes, but even without vocals we now know that they can network even perhaps from long distances by listening for each other's echoes."
Sure enough, from the darkness cam a plethora of different pitched clicks and squeals. Then came a confirmation cackling from the tunnel above.
"Let's get going, the danger is quickly growing." Zecora stated, picking her pace up from a trot to a canter.
Scarlet hobbled after the assassin, doing her best to keep up but still lagging some distance behind. It was in times like this that she really wished she could fly. Sound-Off was having the same thought. She wasn't used to running for so long and her muscles were starting to burn, especially after being hunched down into such an uncomfortable position, and her stubby legs made her even slower.
Luckily for the trio, their route was free from anymore Vanished other than the occasion clicking or screech echoing from the depths. But as a rather unlucky turn of events, the sounds were coming from all around them now. Once a cry had come from extraordinarily close by, forcing the agents to change course and take a turn down another narrow tunnel. Said tunnel was a one-shot trip forward, but was much more difficult to navigate in than the one they had been in previously thanks to the the same blistered roots as before. But these roots were much bigger, and grew out in thick spirals from the ceiling and both sides. At one point they had to crawl underneath a particularly large one. 
The tunnel began to widen out as they reached its end. They slowed down to a trot as they reached the passage's limits, preparing themselves just in case an enemy stepped into their path.
Zecora almost ended up falling as she reached the tunnel's edge, which was a straight trip down into the pit below. Scarlet managed to grab a hold of the mare's tail before that could happen, throwing her scythe into the earthy ground to counterbalance the weight.
The zebra scrambled back. "To you Scarlet I do owe my gratitude, I nearly died because of my careless attitude."
"Consider it payment for you saving mine." The pegasus responded.
"Hey," Sound-Off spoke up, pointing downward. "what's that at the bottom?"
Scarlet and Zecora trot over to the cliff, careful to keep a small distance between them and the edge.
At the base of the pit was a large glowing structure growing upwards, giving off a blaze of purple light. Its branches shot outward at strange angles, almost in a claw-like way. Its trunk was elongated and twisted as the Vanished, while breaking through the purple crystals lie the origin of the black roots.
There was no doubt about it. It was a tree.
The two mares' fur stood on end. Something about the tree felt so, wrong. In fact it didn't feel like a tree at all. Trees were supposed to offer comfort. Shade from the sun, shelter from the rain, a pile of leaves to play in when the autumn came into full swing. This tree didn't offer any of that. It held about it an ominous and dark presence, radiating with malevolence. It felt, chaotic.
	If there could be a Tree of Harmony, why couldn't there be a Tree of Chaos?