//------------------------------//
// Tunnels n' Shit Arc - The Last 
// Story: What It Means 
// by Dustchu 
//------------------------------//




Avros




The exit to Avros lay in sight, after what felt like hours of wandering down darkened paths until I found a bridge leading across a chasm which then led into a small outer district built into the walls and surrounding the exit up ahead, which had partially collapsed due to some natural disaster, or maybe it was where the siege had taken place when the city had fallen? I wasn't sure, but it made as much sense as anything.

After crossing the bridge, I saw a few of the buildings were still intact, but others had been rebuilt with wood and stone to a degree. Did some people survive the attack and come back to rebuild?

I wondered if there were survivors.

I felt something ache in my shoulder and I rolled it to try and loosen it up or at least alleviate the ache, and as I did something went right through the sleeve of my shirt and just barely grazed my underarm. It impacted the wooden table behind me with a thunk, an arrow?

"Whoah!" I shouted and quickly jumped behind one of the stone buildings as another arrow hit the ground where I had just been. "Don't shoot! I'm friendly!" I hoped that maybe that would cause them to stop.

I didn't hear anything, nor did I sense anything, not that I could in the abandoned city. I was a magicless pawn in a grand game of chess I had no control over.

I peaked around the corner and into the rest of the small neighborhood district, and I saw more of these buildings were in a poor state, but... oddly enough, I swore I saw some faint light from one of the buildings further ahead, and curiosity had grabbed a hold of me. I stowed my blade to conceal the light and opted instead for the dagger, and once the shadows surrounded me, I carefully crept through the narrow alleyways to cross unseen by the archer, wherever they were hiding.

I moved as quietly as I could and kept my eyes peeled in the shadows, thankfully freed from the hold of the Nightmare. I didn't feel quite as terrified of being snuck up on by some nasty monster.

After creeping behind some of the houses, I heard something scurrying inside of one, or maybe someone.

Survivors?

One of the windows beckoned to me and I crouched below it, knife out and steadying my breathing. I channeled my inner stealth archer—sans the bow—and listened.

I heard the slightest shuffling inside the building and a hushed whisper.

"Someone is here."

I froze. Either this was a survivor, or they were outsiders, whatever the case, I had to play this safe.

"Caribou?" Another asked as I crept up further.

"No, too stealthy. Prince Dvalinn's thugs aren't known for being sneaky."

"Another of the princes?"

"No, doesn't smell like them... smells like something else."

They can smell me?!

That was unexpected, I wasn't sure if they could smell exactly where I was. I was concerned. Hopefully, they couldn't tell where I was, if so, I was already caught and possibly done for. So far though, no one had made any moves to come out here and stop me from creeping past the houses.

I wonder who these ponies were?

I kept moving until I wound up in a narrower alleyway full of empty crates and barrels before I came across the end, and once there I spotted a bonfire, something I had missed earlier due to the buildings and makeshift walls covering its presence. I saw a few bat ponies surrounding the flame, all adorned in a combination of leather armor and what looked like old guard armor. A few wielded spears and halberds, some had swords, and a few were archers.

They didn't look like your typical denizens either.

I let out a small breath as the fire crackled and popped from burning wood, and I kept an ear out for any conversation.

"-hat fire from earlier, what do you think it was?" Spoke one, glancing at their comrade.

The second took a moment to respond. "No idea, it could have been anything; a fire magic user, or even a drake."

A third balked. "Do you really believe a dragon could have made its way in from the western entrance?"

The first chuckled, saying, "the Nightmare would have corrupted it somehow."

"Even still, we can't deny the possibility." The second replied.

Another hummed. "Maybe the Nightmare is gone at last?"

"Impossible." The first replied again, shaking her head.

The third scoffed. "You feel it too, do you not?"

The first shook her head. "I don't feel anything."

Quickly standing, the third exclaimed, "exactly! The Nightmare's wretched hold is gone, I don't feel as I had before."

The second paused to examine the area. "She is right about that, the air... something is different about it."

"I would rather not get my hopes up, but... if it is true-"

It seems like I was right, maybe these ponies are the descendants of the survivors of Avros? The hold of the Nightmare must not have reached this far into the city, being so close to natural light must have had an effect on keeping the Nightmare away, thus allowing this section to survive in relative peace. It would explain a little, but I wasn't sure, I wanted to find answers, but getting out of Avros was my first priority.

I tried creeping my way out, heading along the outskirts, but I felt the cold nip of steel against the back of my neck.

"I'll only allow you enough time to drop the knife. If you do no-"

I dropped the dagger and kept my hands high.

Caught red-handed.

"-Good boy." Came the voice again. "Stand, slowly."

I followed the mare's orders and slowly stood as the group from the bonfire looked my way, and I noticed all of them drawing their weapons.

"What do we got here? One of the Prince's thugs?" The halberd-wielding mare questioned as she came over, leading the others.

I kept my hands up. "I'm no ally of any prince, I assure you." Must have been that prince the others mentioned a few minutes ago in the other house, Dooflin or something.

I was hardly paying attention, my ADHD go brrr.

"Who are you? State your name and purpose, or be slain."

"Easy," I told her and felt the tip of the sword dig into my flesh slightly. I grumbled, but followed her orders. "My name is Dee, I'm a human adventurer. I got chased here and separated from my party by some monsters before I fell down here, I'm trying to find my way out... that's all, I mean no harm to any of you."

I got a better look at the mares surrounding m now, all of them were tall bat pony mares decked out in a mixture of hobbled-together leather armor and old guard armor bearing a symbol I could hardly make out. If I had to guess, it was old Avros guard armor they had repurposed for their own means. The weapons as well were foreign to me, but they looked well-kept despite the squalor they lived in.

"An adventurer down here? You must be foolish." The one behind me spoke. "Do you not know of the legend of the Ruins of Avros? The monstrous Nightmare that makes its home down here? The Khorclings even?"

I had forgotten completely about the latter. "Part of being an adventurer is taking risks, ain't it?" I chanced a look behind me to see a much taller mare in heavier armor, even sporting a horned helm. "Besides, we were chased this way, I didn't have much of a choice but to end up down here... plus I didn't run into a single Khorcling the entire time, so."

The mare grunted and took her sword away as the others kept their weapons out, I was surrounded, and even if I tried grabbing my sword, I would be killed before anything. "How have you made it this far? The Nightmare would have consumed you before even reaching the first plaza."

I guess they don't know, but why would they? They knew about the cleansing inferno, but that's about it, not who used it. Were they friendly enough to not kill me if I told them? What would I gain from telling them I did that? They didn't seem to be corrupted by the Nightmare as Luna had been in the show, they just looked like they were trying to survive in the ruins.

"I..." I choked on my words, I was genuinely nervous about how to explain this. "I used my sword?"

Silence, as expected.

"Your... sword?" One of them asked and all eyes dropped to look at the blade attached to my belt.

"That tiny thing?"

"You must be joking."

I felt a hand touch my side before sliding down to grab onto the hilt, and I shivered. "You cannot be serious about this bei-"

The sword was pulled from the sheath and its brilliant light freed, nearly blinding the mares who backed away in surprise. I heard gasps and 'Ooh's' of surprise from them all.

"A m-magical sword?"

"Is that an enchanted Avrosian blade?"

"That's-"

"-the goddess Celestia's magic... but how?"

I kept my hands up as the tallest mare held the sword up, before leaning down to look at me. She huffed and I felt her eyes on me, and her menacing form loom over me. "Where did you get this sword?"

"It's uh... it's a long story..."

"Did someone say story?!"

I heard a young voice cry before a herd of stampeding hooves sounded to the far right, and I saw a gaggle of foals rounding the corner, dressed in ragged clothing and wearing bright smiles on their faces. It wasn't long before they crowded the guards and eyed me with intrigue, and then the sword, which had drawn their attention even more so.

"Whoooooa!"

"Tell us a story!"

I could almost hear the tallest mare behind me roll her eyes before sheathing the sword back on my person, turning me around, and then swiftly picking me up. I felt like a child being held up by their parent, and for a brief moment, dommy mommy ran through my mind.

"Hurt anyone, and I'll eat you alive." She told me.

I looked into her deep blue eyes. "Y-yes ma'am." Once I was set down, the mare looked to several other mares and gestured for them to follow her, before I knew it, they had vanished across the bridge into the shadows... into the city of Avros.





After I was let go and allowed to move somewhat freely around the area, I found myself near the bonfire and surrounded by the foals who eagerly awaited a story. I had somehow gotten roped into being a storyteller, but better than being strung up and possibly beaten to death, or eaten alive by the monster of a mare who was with some others at the moment, leaving me alone with the others.

I had sat down in a chair, graciously given to me by one of the mares, and I had told my story to the group.

It was nerve-wracking as I didn't fancy myself a storyteller in the vocal sense, I was more of a writer than a speaker, but regardless, I took the time to tell my story to the group of eager foals and curious adults who had slowly come out of hiding. A lot of them were injured and covered in bandages, others were able and eager as well.

I bit back the fear and did my best to finish my story.

I told them how I ended up in a desert town to the far west and fought off caribou, which had immediately caught their attention, and how I worked alongside another adventurer, Daring Do, to keep them at bay while we escaped with rare items. I neglected to mention the keys on purpose as I didn't know where these ponies stood, but considering they hated the Caribou, they probably wouldn't stop me or take it away.

I then told them of the cute pony girl I had met, Sakura, and Blade Dancer—the mention of her name got some looks, curious—before we made our way east to Jainko and continued to fight off more Caribou. I remember the ones I had killed, I remember everything I had done since first coming to this land what felt like years ago when it was only a couple of months or so. I honestly forgot, but it had been a while.

The story continued as I made it to the forest with the girls, only for us to be split up by a bunch of undead monsters which the ponies down here hadn't known about. I suppose the Rotten hadn't made it down here due to the Nightmare, which had consumed everything else save for the bones and spirits. I told them of how I wandered aimlessly through the darkness before being discovered by a spirit.

That aroused some interest from a few of the souls here who got closer to listen to more of the details, and it was then I noticed the crowd had grown substantially.

My words had drawn quite the crowd.

"-once I had made it to the market plaza just across that bridge, I came face to face with a monstrous creature, one born of bone and shadow." I explained, reaching the end of my story. It was time I told them about the fight I had with the Nightmare-infused Bone Giant, I was still having trouble believing I had actually taken that thing out. "It stood heads high above even the biggest pony here, with claws and fangs as sharp as swords."

Wide eyes and open mouths greeted me. I had told them of the other fights I was in and that alone grabbed their attention, the fights were more interesting than the adventure I guess, even in another world kids love violence and monsters.

"A-across the bridge?"

"So what did you do? Did you run?"

"Is it going to come after us!?"

I swear I felt angry adult eyes on me now, and I held up a hand to silence the foals. They held their tongues as I reached into my pocket and produced that broken piece of the orb I had stabbed. I held it up for them to see, the blackened glass-like surface reflected the fire's light and I smiled upon seeing all eyes on it.

"The mighty beast was powered by the Nightmare itself, an unholy fuel that gave it unnatural life. In the center of the creature sat an orb of darkness, its heart." I looked at the shard. "It was a hard-fought battle, but I was victorious in the end, I severed the connection to its heart and shattered it, setting not only the beast but the entirety of the Nightmare ablaze-" I tucked the glass away and reached for my sword, unclasping it from my belt. I noticed a few place hands on their weapons, grips tightening, and I slowed my actions until the scabbard came off. I held the sword up, gripped the handle, and finished, "-with this weapon."

I gently pulled it from the scabbard, allowing just a hint of its golden glow to be shown to the people around me, lighting up the area briefly.

I saw more eyes widen at the sight, the foals looked on in shock as they looked at the blade, some even scooting closer to get a better look despite how blinding the light could be.

"That's so cool!"

"So you're the one!"

I'm the one?

"He must have been the one responsible for the fire!"

I smiled and put my sword back onto my belt. "I stabbed at the heart of the beast. To be truthful, I wasn't expecting anything to happen other than its death, you could imagine how surprised I was when the beast caught flame and spread throughout the city, eliminating the Nightmare's presence."

"The Nightmare is gone?"

"Impossible, nothing can slay the Nightmare."

"Nothing is right," A louder voice spoke among the murmurs, and I realized it was an older mare who was hiding in the crowd. She stepped forward after everyone parted ways, allowing her the floor. "Nothing can destroy such a dark force, except for magic belonging to one supreme being." She stepped forward past the bonfire and approached me. Her frail stature was a swift wind away from falling apart, yet the blazing inferno in her eyes told another story, one of resolve and determination. "That is no simple blade, is it?"

I looked down at the sword. I knew it was a gift from Celestia to Nightfall, obviously enchanted with some kind of ancient magic to make it glow, of course. The runes weren't for show. But the flame had to have been a part of it, some powerful magic that I unleashed when I made contact with that creature's heart, killing it and setting everything on fire. I'm glad no one was hurt, but... yeah, it was no normal blade.

"It isn't, no. It's an enchanted blade given to me by someone," I answered her, thinking back to the hidden room of Nightfall. "He told me it was a gift from Princess Celestia-"

The mare stepped back. "I was right. It was the magic of Celestia!"

I felt my hand twitch. "Is that a bad thing?"

"Anything enchanted by the might of Celestia was destroyed millennia ago by the forces of the dark lord Ori! Where did you find such a weapon!?"

A younger mare approached the older one and gently placed a hand on her shoulder. "Grandmother, calm yourself."

"Well, as I said, ma'am, it was given to me," I told her. Was this sword that big a deal?

The older mare had to sit down after a few words from who I assumed to be her granddaughter, eventually sitting down on a box someone had brought out. Once she was seated, her eyes glared at me and then at my sword. "Only pure harmony magic can hurt something as dreadful as the Nightmare."

"I'm sorry to ask again, but... is that bad?" I gestured to the cavern, as well as the rest of the city across the bridge, which seemed less  foreboding  than it did before. "The magic that came from this sword hurt the creature, hence the shard I showed you."

"You truly defeated the Nightmare, then?"

"I... suppose I did. I'm sure you saw the flame from here, didn't you? It spread-"

"-Throughout all of Avros, the city is cleansed." I heard a familiar voice speak, followed by approaching footfalls.

Looking behind where the bridge was, I saw the tall armored mare had returned alongside her cohorts, all carrying bags and one even wheeling a cart covered in a tarp. The tall one had stepped forward and into the center of the bonfire, and looked at each and every one of the ponies there.

"The Nightmare is no more." The mare spoke and tossed something into the flame, a tattered flag bearing that same symbol I had seen plastered inside of the home of Nightfall, I had a feeling it had something to do with both Ori and that prince. "The city has been freed from its influence."

"How do you know?" Someone asked her.

"We encountered no creatures, no darkness, even the presence of the Nightmare itself is nowhere to be found." I felt her eyes on me now. Fierce, cold, but... something else was there. "The Nightmare's hold is gone."

"Who are you to wield such a blade?"

I shrugged. I didn't really know the answer to that. Nightfall just gave it to me cause he didn't want me to die. Did he know that I'd be capable of taking out the Nightmare? Did he know his sword could even hurt it? If so, maybe that's why he gave it to me, I had no idea, truthfully.

"I'm just an adventurer as I said earlier," I told them and offered the best smile I could. "I was given this blade to aid in my escape from this city, and I ran across that monster. I fought it off, and I killed it, I had no idea that this tiny little blade could have done something like that." I reached into my pocket to pull out the shard again, and I gazed at it for the longest time. "This is the only thing left of it, and all you have to go on is my word, but... I killed it, and apparently, that alone was enough to take out the Nightmare and loosen its hold on the city."

I didn't know what this meant for me, or for the survivors here, hopefully, this was a good thing. I failed to see how this would have any sort of negative repercussions.

"What did you bring?"

"Yeah, what's in that cart?"

Just like that, storytime was over, and the foals had moved on to the group of armored mares behind me. As they drew the attention of the others, the tallest mare walked over to me.

"Come with me, I desire to speak with you."

She didn't give me much of a choice either, not with those piercing eyes of hers...





After we left the group behind, the mare walked me through the district, giving me a good idea of how bad off they were. This was a refugee encampment at best, with little in the way of supplies, or any basic necessities. The mare led me along until we reached a long bridge near what I assumed to be the exit to Avros and this district. I noted the location of old guardhouses, rebuilt from rubble and stone, with makeshift fortifications along the bridge guarded by more mares in light scavenged armor, all armed with longswords, shortswords, halberds, axes, whatever they could find or get their hands on.

"You guys aren't armed with much," I commented as we continued on before making a stop at a guardhouse at the exit to the bridge. "Are you guys the descendants of whoever survived the invasion so long ago?"

The mare reached up to grab her helmet and took it off, showing me her face at long last. A triple-braided mane fell from atop her head as she turned to look at me. Her face was scarred in places, with a particularly long slash going from the top of her forehead across her snout down to her neck.

"We are all that remains of Avros and its people." She told me as she placed her helmet underneath her arm and looked out at the district. "As you've guessed, we were wiped out by the Caribou millennia ago, the few who survived that damned massacre hid in places only we bat ponies knew about. When the fires subsided and the caribou left, we set out to rebuild... but it was pointless, all had been lost."

That was an understatement, from what Nightfall had told me, this was the last city to fall. "I heard somewhere... that this was the last Thestral city to fall, does that mean-"

She looked away from me.

If Nightfall was correct, and these are the last bat ponies, the last thestrals, then...

Ori committed genocide against the thestrals... dear god.

I turned and looked at the bridge leading out of the city, the makeshift fortifications, and the like. They could very well be the only bat ponies still alive in this world. I never even knew such a thing could have happened. I felt sick to my stomach.

"Tell me, what is your name?"

I looked over at her. She was still staring out at the city.

"Dee, that's my name."

"A strange name."

"Oh trust me, I know." I chuckled. "May I ask yours?"

She looked down at the helmet for a little bit, either to admire the marks on it or to remember something, I wasn't sure. She lifted it back up to her head and slid it on before speaking, "Bloodletter, is what you will refer to me as."

"Bloodletter? It's a pleasure." I smiled. "I know it's not really my place to ask, but... are your people okay? There isn't much here in the way of supplies, and it seems like you guys don't get a lot of traffic from other places. Is it because of the Nightmare's presence?"

"It matters not." She told me and turned to face me. "We'll make do. With the Nightmare gone, we'll be able to rebuild Avros stronger than ever before. For that, I thank you again."

"I don't want thanks, honestly," I told her and smiled still. "I just want the ponies here to be okay."

"We will survive."

I believed her, but still, I felt bad for whatever reason. Call it my bleeding heart, but it seemed wrong of me to just go and not do anything to try and help them. But what could I even do? I was just one guy, a human, with no magic, and no connections anywhere.

I was powerless.

"I wish I could do something," I told her and adjusted my pack before looking out at the bridge. "For what its worth, Bloodletter, I hope you and the other survivors can rebuild this city into something grand. Good luck." I shot her a smile and proceeded to walk across the bridge, heading for the exit that lay up ahead guarded by several bat ponies.

Bloodletter said nothing to me as I left, and I just assumed that was it.

Avros survived in some minor capacity, but... will they be able to rebuild?

I didn't know, I could only hope that in time they would.