//------------------------------// // Episode 12 - Sapphire Star // Story: My Little Pony Realization // by Slendy //------------------------------// Act III - Dark Within [Vault of the Abomination | Shattered Throne] There was a tension in the air so thick my sword could cut through and still not reach the end. This was an unknown territory with no plausible way out other than to win or to die. We were the only ones that had any inkling to the truth hidden through the rift that we now traversed, the colors drowned in darkness with a hint of white, the sensation of my body tugged through a confined space evident with each second I fell further and further into the darkness below my hooves. Even for me, this was an odd mixture of anticipation and anxiety. We were soon spat out of the rift, landing in a heap on the floor with Rain and Skye crashing atop me as I groaned, eyeing the surroundings that finally took shape around us. We stood beyond the edge of an elegant, white archway, the room laid out before was stretching higher than I could visibly see, the pristine walls stretched with pillars and amethyst decore fixed into the middle of their segmented faces. The floor was also white with amethyst rock decorating the outer edges of two flights of stairs to our left and right, both leading around a catwalk that looped the whole arena. Purplish-pink lightning from lanterns and fixed lights in the ground offering us clarity. To the far back the wall was completely obliterated, floating masses of rock, pillar, and debris slowly rotating in a loss of gravity, spilling out into the blackness beyond, that same infected substances, seeping into the marble, breaking it apart like a parasite. Through the shrouded darkness, under flashes of distant, white lightning was something beyond the crumbled remains of steps forged from the debris. A large throne cobbled together from the rock, an empty throne. "There's no turning back now," Rain murmured, helping Skye up as we drew our weapons. "But where's the boss?" "Give it a minute," Skye replied, motioning with his blade. Then his eyes widened while my fur stood on end. "Everyone get ready!" I joined Skye alongside Rain, and Seraph at the frontline, Klaw standing behind us with his team. "This is no time to become hesitant!" Our grips on our weapons became taut, "We must defeat this boss!" I heard spells beginning to channel and pop in the rear, my body becoming lighter yet durable and stronger as icons lined my status bars. "Survive and win, my comrades!" "YEAH!!!" The world rumbled with a low growl, loose rock and debris rolling across the floor while I stared expectantly at the throne, every flash of stray bolts painting a brief image of the forsaken throne. One more flash, and a massive claw sunk its talons into the base. I almost jumped at the snarl, seeing the black figure rise from the corruption and over the throne, slithering through the void and into the tower. Bracing myself, the light revealed the creature entirely. The monster was as tall as a truck carrying cargo, it had the face of a wolf with the body of a strong, black-scaled wyvern, thick, muscly arms with wings clawing at the ground with crystal-white talons, the wing bone lined with four spikes each, the fifth tipping both off. These same crystals jutted from its chin and along its lower jaw, some sprouting below the ponty ears and atop its scalp. Curved teeth bear as it snarled back at us, stalking slowly from the dark. It had a large, thick tail edged with crystal-spines, one jutting from the end of the tail like a broadsword, the appendage flicking around to shear across the floor with a painful scream as it sharpened the blade, raising it as it roared with ferocity. When the head lowered, its scarlet eyes glowered with hatred, jaw twitching with a growl. <<>> Not so much as a warning before all of us separated from a massive cone-shaped blast of crystal air. The shockwave smashing into the back wall as we took to the open space surrounded by the catwalk. It fired another, hot-blue funnel of crystals, twisting its body the moment we lunged for an attack, spinning its body around once to push us aside, then the eyes focused on Skye, bringing its left arm down for a swooping strike, then it followed with the right, slamming both claws into the ground to uproot stone and keep Rain from flying down to attack. Even as our weapons tore into its scales, it barely flinched, spinning right back around to loom over us. Locking to Riot who stood with Klaw it charged with its maw wide, stampeding over my buckler and Seraph's thrust, her rapier bouncing. Kranon brought a claw down on the duo, Riot taking the hit with both shields as his body strained under the force, then the tail swiped around, slashing him across the side and into Klaw's arm as he threw him away in time to parry another slant from Kranon's tail, wedging the tail into the ground as it struggled to pry it. This was our chance! Throwing my weight with I pierced the right shoulder alongside Skye's four-point slash of cyan as it mingled Klaw's flames and Seraph's scarlet prods. Kranon roared, throwing us back as it spun, drawing a claw toward me. "Switch!" I raised my buckler, setting off to counter the swipe as Rain flew by, carving two horizontal lines through the scales, the force knocking Kranon back and into the broadside of an ax and greatsword, both erupting with a cross of flames. Shaking its head it leapt away, the crystals on its knuckles expanding before it locked itself to the floor, thrusting forward to unleash a ring of shattered crystals, my shield blocked one while one slashed Klaw, coating his armor in a shiny mask that stalled his movement. I and Skye took the vanguard, my blade blazing red while his drew with an icy-white contrail. "!" "!" The combined elemental slashes tore waves of fire and ice through Kranon as he stumbled, Genesis carving a red stroke through its jaw while I switched without needing to say as Skye zipped past, thrusting forward with a crash of lightning, followed by myself propelling back to carve my blade through the head with , stunning the boss momentarily, yet it merely shook off the debuff and leapt back. "ROOOOAAARR!!" With a single howl, the crystal spikes grew and a red contrail followed its eyes and the veins in its forearms and wings glowed ominously, the first health bar was finally gone. I couldn't get a word in before leaping to Skye, raising my buckler with both hooves as it lunged in a flash, barreling through us as its claws swiped the ground where Bombard's team stood, a wall of rock cutting off their magical attacks while they retreated to the catwalk, the tail slicing one of the pillars in half in an attempt to catch them. Recovering from that blow I drank a health pot to bring me back to green, Skye doing the same as the others drew Kranon's aggro. "Okay, we need a plan here other than, 'hit it 'till it dies', your thoughts?" I could use any suggestion at this point Skye rubbed his muzzle, eyeing his sword. "Elemental attacks seem to be effective, and constantly switching out traps it in a stun-loop," His gaze met mine determinedly. "We can exploit that." I chuffed, "Tch, using cheese methods to win... sure, I can get behind that," We gotta get that thing stationary first, and I might know-how. "Rain, fall back!" I commanded, galloping into the fray as another ring of crystals was split from its hide, narrowly grazing my cheek as I slid to the ground "On it!" She flew away as it swiped the air twice with its claws, conjuring a large aura of crystals around its body, dispersing them to ensnare most of our heavy-hitters while it focused back on the three of us. "What's the plan!?" She was still smiling, guess that optimism is good for something "Simple, get that thing close to that pillar," I pointed to the far left, near the throne. "Get it to attack the pillar, we'll handle the rest so the rest can recover in--" We immediately evaded a chin slam, then the tail slicing across my buckler while Kranon howled in my face. "Hurry!" She gave a salute and flew away while I rolled under its right arm, the tail thrusting down toward Skye who kept his distance, hacking away at the large limbs as I threw myself forward, parrying a chomp of the face with a strike. Kranon flew back, bending its upper body down, forcing us to dive as it charged, ripping up the floor with every stomp as Rain performed a backflip off the pillar, fanning her wings wide to evade the hulking mass of anger. "It's down!" Rain cried out, the others finally deciding to join back in the fight as we charged forward, the pillar collapsing atop the recovering Kranon, burying it under the debris Much like Agater our attacks were conjured in a furious flurry of strikes and spectral strobes of hardlight that tore and hacked away at the boss' health, unlike the first boss, he held four bars of health, and the second was only now starting to wither down into the red. Time for a new skill. Hopping back as Kranon slowly recovered from the knockout, my hoof lifted high in a stream of amber tipped with maroon. To my right, Silver drew himself high into the air, both daggers drawn behind his back in moonlight silver. His attack was that of a silver infinity marking etched into the monster's skin, the resulting effect was a small icon cast upon us, a small image of the moon as my attack power rose significantly. Grinning, I threw Genesis in a set of five slashes tracing a star shape, and a final thrust to the center of Kranon's chest as it spun around. Forcing it to fly high and land on the other end of the arena, bellowing with an earth-shattering roar, the crystals now a deep shade of red. "Two down, keep this up, everybody!" Klaw encouraged while he brought his left-hand high. "!" A blue flame was extinguished in his claws, adding another layer to our buffs, this time, a blue flame flickered above our heads, and gradually, the damage myself and the others received was slowly patched up. Klaw took the lead with Silver by his side, the duo dodging a torrent of crystals while the tail swiped down, locking with Klaw's edge while Silver slipped under the spiny tail, carving gashes across the length of the meaty tail, his movements almost unnatural for a pony Kranon smashed both fists into the earth, throwing the duo back before lunging high into the air to crash back down, releasing a wave of shattered fragments to catch a few of us off guard, myself wiggling about to dispel the glassy debuff as I almost froze, the left arm driving into the dirt beside my cheek as I narrowly performed a one-hoof stand and leapt to the side, my buckler unable to hold back all the damage that came from its tail swipe. *Shiing-Crack* "Watch it!" I actually hesitated, I can't really recall how long it's been since that's fallen over me. This time, however, Skye had locked his Silver Grove with the tail, sparks of blue flashing while the two battled for dominance. Then he flashed me a stupid grin. "Try not to lose too badly, least not yet, alright?" "I..." I wanted to retort but there's nothing I could say, other than to murmur under my breath. "...Thank you..." Shaking off my stupidity I threw my shield forward. "!" The blast threw the tail back while Kranon swiped once as we evaded, swinging its body forward and around, the tail slashing the area behind us. I threw Genesis forward with a crimson glow, followed by Skye's silvery-white once more Starting with four flaming slashes to the face I held the four strike back for Kranon's talons to tear against its frame, the ring of metal disorientating the beast, "Switch!" Skye did the same, with the second wave of ice that froze mid-swing following the edge of the blade, Kranon was stun-locked "Switch!" I ran by Skye, thrusting forward for my own arctic counter against the crystal beast, breaking several of the crystals, causing a large chunk of the third bar to disappear. "That's it's weak point, tch, now it makes sense." "Hey, guys, give me a couple of seconds, keep him busy!" I retreated for once, allowing the others to take on the large blast of crystals as it shaved my flank but ultimately missed as I threw open my menu, flicking through my equipment and my assorted weapons The others were having a hard time evading those crystal aura bursts of Kranon's, most of them were locked and forced to take serious blows if not for Bombard's team supporting them with minor healing and buffs, but this couldn't last forever with cooldowns. Finally, my eyes lit up and I added the item to my equipment, discarding the menu while rolling under a crystal discharge. "I'm ready-!" Rain blocked a claw swipe barely, throwing the arm down while slashing an 'X' through Kranon's lower jaw. "-Switch!" She flew back, slapping her hoof off mine, Kranon's blazing eyes snapped to mine, tail snapped back to batter Klaw and Axel away only for Riot to take the blow with both his shields, his health nearing the red. "Time to put you down you ugly mother fu--" "ROOOAAARR!!" What a charmer this one. Kranon smashed his left paw through the earth, dislodging three large rocks that I slipped between, rolling under his other claw with my shield reconfiguring with a flash of glass, the kite shield flashed onto my forehoof, its black face with a blue trim contrasting my outfit in the best way, the rugged face lighting up with a powerful, forest-green tint "Isn't that shield-!" "No way...!" "Gwyn's shield?" For you, Sir Knight, "!" Last, I shoved the shield into his throat, striking with enough force to topple the great beast onto its back under an emerald ring of hardlight, the legs thrashing with a wail as fangs littered the floor in front of me "Now's our chance, you guys!" Riot roared, hooves turning bronze while Axel and Klaw followed close behind him. I slid back from the force but didn't let up, drawing Genesis toward the exposed underbelly of the monster alongside the rest, a tail of magical bolts striking from afar with some applying healing to us once again. Who would have thought this shield packed the perfect punch against the Vault Boss Turning to the rising tail above Seraph I threw myself in front of her, the face of the shield cracking against the large crystals, splintering the mineral with explosive force, Kranon's form falling back into a tumble as the third bar was destroyed. Amongst the chaos, I managed a genuine smile. "Guess we did get to fight together on the frontlines, Sir Knight." My eyes and frown hardened. "Back-up, here comes-" Kranon slammed its fists down, dispersing more crystals as it lunged toward the throne behind me, the bolts within the abyss lighting up the throne, some striking Kranon as his form unleashed a massive wave of energy with a roar, the ground splitting with three small walls of crystal. The great abomination had transformed with its final phase, no longer onyx, instead, white scales smothered the majority of its black visage, the crystals completely filled with white light and a hint of scarlet, along its spine white tufts of fur-lined the vertebrae. Again, no warning was issued as it flew high into the air, crashing down in the center to unleashed an expanding ring of crystals that shattered upon reaching the height of a pony, timing this correctly a number of us managed to roll through, my eyes widened as I drew the Bedrock shield high, deflecting a devastating claw that conjured a small arc of crystals behind me, this repeated again with the left, forcing my back to a temporary wall. I flashed the monster with escaping between the legs as it thrashed around, the tail slicing through the earth, only for it to be parried by Rain and Axel's combined attack. Kranon snarled, flicking its arms high as small crystals began to form, a strong blast of white soon froze the pair in place, thankfully, the boss did it again, missing all of us bar Riot who shoved the others back in time. Twisting its head to Klaw, it charged with an overhead slam of its tail, performing a spin that conjured a long line of crystals upon landing, Klaw's timed vertical slash shattering the crystals above him. He turned, conjuring a crystal to batter against Kranon's glistening scales. A massive crash from above struck Kranon's forehead, Axel taking a long slash to his right foreleg as a result of the shattered crystals splitting. He fell back, Kranon nearly crushing him if not for the sudden ten thrusts of hardlight piercing the monster's hide, Seraph running to aid Axel to the back while Silver took his place, drawing his daggers as he took flight alongside Rain, both evading a wall of crystal and boulders from the left arm, the body of the beast swung up and over mine and Skye's attacks as we pivoted, my shield drawn to clobber our way through a narrow wall of minerals. Kranon threw its tail forward, slicing a wave between us as I drove my way through, freeing the air for Skye's skill to conjure behind me. "!" Mine and his intersected across the muzzle, shattering more crystals as the health dropped into the red thanks to the others breaking the crystals lining the rest of the tail, even as the sword-like blade continued to carve into their health and armor. Kranon howled, throwing us back while he took flight above us all, maw wide with millions of specks like motes of light gathering around his jaws. "Crap, it's going for a wipe!" "Riot, remember the Mini-Boss in the Bear Forest!?" I blinked at Skye's sudden reminder of an event I hadn't seen. The redhead blinked, then his sharp smile grew, running to the front while the fragments of crystals were pulled from the ground. Skye then tugged at my hoof. "Let's finish this guy off, together!" Whatever he was planning... I'd certainly give it a try "Heh, not much else we can do," This was it, do-or-die. Cracking my neck I sheaved my sword and broke into a sprint alongside the black swordsman. There wasn't time to argue who deserved the reward at the end, nothing else could matter if we died, and I'll be damned if I let this world kill me just yet! From the darkness of the spire above crystals started to materialize and collide with the floor, forcing us to sway to our flanks. Above, a flash of blue passed over me as Rain and Silver tore across the sky, shattering the crystals while Axel bucked a boulder to intercept another from Skye's path, himself hopping over a fallen mineral while Seraph took care of the smaller debris with lightning-fast cuts. Bolts of magic sparkled high above, keeping any more particles from joining at Kranon's massive frame. Just inches from us, the air was pulled before Riot's twin shields, his eyes lighting up at our approach. "Come Ooon!!" Flipping over a wall of crystals we landed against the square frames, the force of the blast chipping at our health as we were ultimately sent skyward, my hooves bashing into debris along the way while Genesis was brought close to my cheek, turning blood-red alongside the complimenting yellow across Silver Grove beside me. "!!" Our twin thrust pierced through the windup of energy crackling across Kranon, striking at his chest with a devastating flurry of red and yellow, but our attacks weren't going to be enough to defeat him. We were going to lose our momentum so I poured everything I had into the attack while focusing on my buckler the second a hot wave of air threw us back, our skills dying out under the chilling light consuming the Shattered Throne. "Come on, everyone with range attack pile on!" Someone called, I didn't know who, but there wasn't a chance they're attacks could reach his chest at this height among all this debris. Steeling my nerves I threw my buckler forward with both hooves, catching Skye's back hooves, much to his surprise "Not a chance!" I thundered, casting across my shield to Skye, his right forehoof glazed with gold. "We're finishing this!" He added defiantly, the ring of air propelling his body faster than mine while I smiled, others gawked and looked on with wonder as this brilliant sapphire star tore through the Vault Warrior's chest with a blinding flurry of golden-blue slashes, a single, pinpoint thrust through the chest tearing his form through the other side of the abomination, the crystals dispersing in a massive nova of silver over his head while he fell back to his hooves with an impressive landing behind the shining boss, the scales returning to black, then a shimmering blue *SHATTER* My landing wasn't as glamorous but I found my footing on all fours again, still facing the fragmented remains of the infamous boss that was thought to be impossible to reach, yet, within two months of backbreaking labor, I could only stare up in awe as the body was sent back to the void. [CONGRATULATIONS!!] |||||||||||><||||||||||| Despite losing out on the last drop, everyone let out a chorus of cheers to the heavens, a large rift tearing open before the throne as an indication of where to leave. While I inspected Genesis I simply dashed away the tabs and the fact I bumped up another two levels, I even received two purple-tier armor pieces exclusive to this Vault, sweet. A few feet ahead of me, Skye looked to be doing the same. "Good work." "Nice job." We paused, blinking at one another before I let out a small snicker alongside his laugh, reaching a hoof forward as we strolled back to the others. In the light of the remains of Kranon, our hooves bumped to one another [Quest Complete!] -The Shattered Throne- The mistake of the past has been corrected, but dark forces continue to linger across the world, this is but an infected scar but it's a start. [✔] Enter Vault of the Abomination [✔] Reach the Shattered Throne [✔] Defeat the Vault Warrior [Rewards] 10000 EXP | 7500 Bits | Shattered Crystals X5 | Ascendant Shard X5 "Artorias, Skye~!" Rain waved her hooves to us, stars sparkling in those eyes of hers. "That. Was. So Coool!!" She squealed in my face, even as my hoof patted her back down to earth "Told ya, I'm awesome, duh." She'll get it someday. Praise to where its worth, she timed a number of her attacks really well Seraph shrugged, shaking her head. "You two are far too coordinated if I'm honest, kinda jealous." She was still smiling, more than likely grateful the battle was over My grin started to show, rubbing my nose. "Tch, not a bad finish for the first Vault if I do say so myself," A glow resonated from me while the praise kept on rollin'. "Hail to the Queen." Skye looked a little flustered, patting Rain's shoulder. "I-Its fine, you did amazingly too, both of you," His hoof then waved to Axel and the rest, Bombard and his team kept to themselves for the moment. "Hey, nice work in the fight!" "Yeah, you too, man!" Riot grinned, bumping his hoof "Congrats on the LA, quite the stunt you three pulled," Axel smirked. I just grinned, gushing at the attention while Skye rubbed the back of his head nervously and Riot put his hooves around us both. All was well, or until something darkened the amethyst light, shifting it to an almost crimson hue "Congratulations on your victory," My eyes froze on the visible throne, the rift shifted aside to view the being sat on its rugged surface, body forever unstable. Malware's eye widened at our silent fear. "I apologize, my... vocabulary was malfunctioning the last time we met," He stood up, appearing before us with his arms behind his back. "I mean no harm, rather, I am impressed by your commitment to my world." Then his eyes locked to Skye, himself biting his tongue while fixing a sharp frown. "...my Creator's kin," His eye narrowed. "Interesting, though the role you play is... undetermined at the moment, I shall find one for you soon, perhaps 'Knight' or 'Fighter'..." What the hell is he talking about, however, guess that confirms the rumors, this dork's the son of that bastard who created this game. With a flick of his hand, a new item appeared before us, more specifically, for Skye. "Your Last Attack Bonus, Relic of Gaia, you will need that if you survive." Finally, I had enough and spoke up. "Mind clarifying somethin' for me!?" His eye wandered down to me. "What's this all about? The hell do you get out of watching a bunch of brainless idiots throw themselves to the slaughter without so much as a simple strand of logic or commonsense?" I quickly put my hoof up, nodding. "Mind you, that can be entertaining but once you see someone literally light themselves on fire and dive headfirst into a Timberwolf cave there's not much that passes for surprising." That was the dumbest thing I've ever seen, I hold no sympathy for that idiot My question looked to puzzle Malware, clearly analyzing my words rather constructively and with interest. Then, he put his hand forward to the sky, even as he started to fade to static and code. "The 'What' of my intentions? I already told you, I wish to control the fate of a world under my design, this... Shattered Throne, all of you, it is all I want," As his head slowly faded to nothing, he added. "It is a shame that it may come to an end." I think the rest kinda tuned out in my head, atleast what the rest were discussing about the sudden appearance of terrible programming. After two months the first real step toward the end of MLPR had been made, it was risky and someone lost their life because of it. I don't what's waiting in the future, or just how Malware intends to play this game, but one thing's certain, There is no way I'm losing to this world. [Vault of the Abomination] When we stepped through the rift, our eyes met the lush and vibrant world around us from the edge of a cliff that overlooked the spire. It was over now, we had obtained the first 'Relic' of four and lived to tell about it, most of us anyway. "Hey, Artorias, you comin'?" Blinking from my lost gaze toward the horizon, I turned to Rain, herself watching the others head down the hillside and back to the path leading to the Teleport Rune Nodding, I ushered her on with my hoof. "What, waiting for my permission? Go, I gotta finish up something." Rolling her eyes humorous she flew away, leaving me and one other by the cliff. "God, if feels like I'm babysitting her sometimes." "You act more like siblings if I'm honest," Skye wasn't helping with that look. "She's like the charismatic little sister compared to your more... erm." I was giving him a neutral look "Oh no, continue, I'm waiting." I crossed my hooves as I sat down, seeing him sweat nervously "...Well, aside from your narcissism, you're looking out for her like an older sibling -- t-that's just what Seraph told me, I swear!" Even if that were half of a truth, it was... odd, hearing this. Snorting, I looked toward the moon dipping in the sky. "You shouldn't label me as anything good," I muttered almost callously "Huh?" His brow quirked as I chuckled "Moving on seems our buddy Mal's figured out who you are, Calum." I grinned as he jolted at the use of his real name, seeing him rub his mane and look away to the stars. "Hehe, yeah, I know you, who doesn't, am I right?" "Yeah, you got me there," He breathed, shaking his head. "Thought I'd try to get away from being known as Ryder's Son but I guess not," This didn't seem to phase him as his smile hadn't faltered. "It's fine though." "Here's my question, Malware, what is he?" If the one with the name wasn't going to cough up an answer perhaps my ally in black can shed some light Skye for his part shrugged, unable to provide me so much as a hint. "No clue, some people blame me for what's happened by association but the truth is my Dad never worked on anything called 'Malware', there was an old A.I software but it was deleted during development stages," His hooves flip-flopped. "There's alot that's been discarded or locked up so there's no tellin' what Malware came from, sorry." My response was to groan angrily and throw my head back, "Dammit, Ryder!!" I roared to the sky, then huffed. "Sorry, but I am seriously going to kick your old man in the balls once this game's over." That actually got a pretty good laugh out of Skye, it even made me smile a little "Hahaha, s-sure, go right ahead," He put his hooves. "I've learned my lesson not to mess with the great, 'Red Warrior Artorias'," He joked, and while I appreciate the fact he's learning the true terror of Artorias, my eyes faced the moon expectantly "Merry." My chest tightened, and my head started to scream for the audacity He stared at me, trying to piece together what I said despite the simplicity of it. No, maybe it was the weight behind the word itself? I can't possibly tell which side is right. "What?" Turning to look at him eye-to-eye I repeated my words, "Merry... t-that's my name," It happened again, I lost that confidence and boisterous tone to my voice, left with a soft, shallow tune. "Since I know yours, only fair you know mine, so, yeah, t-that's it..." This was getting a little embarrassing. I shook my head, grumbling as I slapped my forehead. "Grah, why am I of all people getting so... weird about it? It's me!" Why did I tell him to begin with? What kind of flimsy excuse was that!? "Merry," I stopped mentally berating myself as he repeated my name. He was standing, holding out his hoof to me. "Sorry, guess I should've introduced myself first given the situation," He was clearly enjoying this, probably seeing my once impregnable armor chip. "It's good to finally meet you, Merry." "I-" My face felt a little hotter as he said that, and with his stupid smile no less... ugh, me and my big mouth. Slowly, my hoof reached for his, feeling him lift me up with ease while I fiddled with my words. "Ditto, C-Calum." "See, isn't that better-" His little high-note of having me fumble around ended as I drew him closer, eyeing him sharply "Tell a soul of this and I will run my sword through your throat, crystal?" His muzzle and mine crinkled against one another as I ensured he took my words seriously "T-transparent!" He zipped back with a hoof raised while moving almost robotically. "This is a secret between friends! Yes! Absolutely!" Good, "Hehehahaha! Well, glad we have that ironed out, 'Black Swordsman'," I teased, turning to look over my head at his expression, it wasn't one I could fundamentally identify, it looked like awe but... different. "So, you gonna stand catching flies all night, or are we going to go get wasted!" I cheered. "Booze here I come! Drinks on the hero of the day, of course!" I winked back, seeing him deflate "How's that fair? You did like half the work too?" He pressed the issue with a hoof to my cheek. "You should pay just as much!" "Tisk-Tisk, is that any way to treat a lady?" I hummed with a horrible impression of a posh accent, seeing his face explode "You're about as lady-like as a Molotov Cocktail!" That just made my laughter rise in volume. "Stop laughing, you know I'm right!" "I am the Queen of Flaming Whisky!" This was non-negotiable as we hurried back to the Teleport Rune in the dead of night To Be Continued...