//------------------------------// // Into the Dungeon // Story: Chained Beast Of the Dungeon // by armid //------------------------------// The guards held formation, their charged horns aiming at the massive metal door. A loud banging could be heard from the other side and with each followed the flinging of bolts from the hinges. Once, twice, every couple of seconds another loud bang would echo through the hallway. From the group of unicorn guards, a robed red stallion stepped forward. He levitated a silver key, but before sliding it into the keyhole, he glanced back at the guards.  A shivering guard spoke up. “S-should we really do this, sir? Won't he just get tired, e-eventually?” “No.” The red stallion shook his head. “The beast must be put in its place, otherwise it will find the courage to finally break open that door.”  Three more bangs came right after one another, louder and more furious than before. The front line took a step back, terror crawling up their spines and their legs trembling.  “On my mark!” The red stallion shouted as he slit the silver key into the keyhole. The door immediately slammed open as the beast let out a blood-chilling scream.  “NOW!”  All the unicorns shot their beams at once. The blinding blast of magical energy illuminated the pitch-black room beyond the threshold. The beast’s tortured screams echoed through the halls and the guards closed their eyes, none daring to look at the horror ahead. But the red stallion faced it with his eyes wide open. The beams pierced the beast's flesh, vaporising it, only for it to regenerate right before their eyes. “Know your place, you monstrous abomination!” The red stallion joined the rest and blasted the beast. After pushing the twitching mass of misshapen flesh back into its cell, the red stallion closed the door and locked it once again.  Sweat dripped from every guard’s face. Their breaths were still labored when suddenly another guard dashed towards them from down the hall. "Prisoners on the loose!" He shouted. "Prisoners on the loose!"  Without hesitation, the red stallion turned back to the exhausted guards. “Count the prisoners! Find those that are missing. They couldn't have gone far.” The guards galloped away without another word, the red stallion turning back to the giant door.  “And you better save these rampages for later. I have big plans for you.”  The young hooded mare knocked three times on the door, patiently waiting for a response.  “Come in.” A voice from within responded after a few seconds, the door magically inching open.  The snow-white coated mare stepped inside, searching for the resident of the room, wondering where her mentor was. Until she turned upwardsand found him floating above her head.  “Welcome, Clover.” Star Swirl said as he floated away towards his bookshelves. “Need something?” “Hello, master.” Clover followed her floating mentor around the room. “Have you heard of what happened last night?” “Hmmm, I don’t believe so.” Star Swirl rubbed his beard with a hoof and dipped a quill in the ink he was levitating with him. “There has been a breakout attempt in the dungeon.” Star Swirl stopped and clip-clopped down a flight of seemingly invisible stairs to the floor “What was the outcome?” “The council reports that they have captured every prisoner.” “Then there is nothing to worry about.” Star Swirl scanned over his notes to see where he left off.  Clover shook her head and stepped forward. “I’ve realised there has been a pattern in the reports of these breakouts. I was hoping that you’d have more informa—” “Do not worry about the duties of the council, Clover. They know what they are doing.”  Clover frowned. “But there seems to be something that the Council is hiding from the princess. And it seems even you, a member of the council, wasn't notified of these breakouts, master.” “Clover!” Star Swirl turned back to face his young pupil. “I don’t have time for your conspiracy theories. I am never informed of what problems they can manage. They know I do not take kindly to my time being wasted.  If you have nothing else to ask, you may leave. I’m on the verge of a discovery.” He frowned deeply and pointed his hoof to the door. Clover nodded, her ears dropped, and she trotted back the way she came. “Yes, master.” Before Clover could push the door open with her hoof, Star Swirl called her. “Wait.”  Turning back to her master, he asked: “How has your replication spell practice been?”  “I believe I have got it down pretty well now.” Clover nodded.  Star Swirl levitated a book from the top shelf of his room. “Show me.” He commanded as he trotted closer to his pupil.  Clover took the book in her magic. After a glance at the dark leather cover, she took a deep breath and cast the spell. Dim, white light whirred around the levitated book and consumed it for a brief moment, only to disappear soon after with two books dropping to the floor.  Star Swirl levitated the two books and skimmed through their pages. The pages shuffled rapidly, filling the room of the great wizard with the sound of flipping pieces of paper. “Well done.” Star Swirl said. “They’re identical in every way possible.”  A bright smile formed on Clover’s face. “Thank yo—” But before she could finish, her mentor had already turned back to his notes. The young mare realised it was time to leave the great wizard alone and attend to her other duties. Her head dropped down in disappointment.   Clover left the wizard’s tower and embraced the unexpected cold weather outside. The breeze made the young mare shiver for a second. “It’s usually not cold at this time of the year.” She thought to herself, but didn’t give it any more consideration. Shaking the thoughts from her head, she trotted towards the castle.  The townsfolk were attending their stalls and stores, young unicorns were playing around the town square, and the guards patrolled around the shops as usual. Except, there were more guards around than usual. “Perhaps there is more truth to the rumours than Star Swirl believes.” Clover mused as she continued her path. She passed the shops and houses of the main square, greeting those she saw on the way but not engaging in conversation as she had to be somewhere important. “THIEF! THIEF!” A shopkeeper shouted, grabbing the attention of everypony in the town square, including Clover. A hooded figure was dashing away with an apple in their mouth, slipping through the crowd as the council guards set off after them. As the thief glanced back at the guards chasing them, they galloped directly into Clover, sending both of them to the ground.  When Clover opened her eyes again, the guards had caught up. But something more interesting gravitated her eyes. The thief that just hit her. With his hood removed, he was revealed to be an earth pony stallion.  A crowd gathered around them, circling and whispering to one another.  “An earth pony, in here?”  “Must be a spy”  “Would make sense that those earth dwellers sent a spy with no supply to sustain himself, the fools.”  A council guard zapped the brown earth pony with their magic. The earth pony let out a grunt and collapsed onto the ground as he was trying to stand up.   “A pesky earth pony thief.” The council guard said as she stepped on the stolen apple. “Nothing to worry about! ” She shouted at the crowd, silencing them. “We’ll put this thief in the dungeons for the rest of his life.” The crowd cantered and cursed at the earth pony. Clover, however, remained silent. Observing.  “NO!”  The earth pony attempted to crawl away as the guards approached him. “NOT THERE AGAIN! I WAS JUST HUNGRY! PLEASE, I WANT TO GO HOME!”  Clover’s eyes widened. But it seemed the rest of the crowd hadn’t noticed what she noticed.  A council guard planted a hoof in the earth pony’s face before he could say anything else. “Shut your mouth!”  A couple of bloody teeth were spat from the earth pony’s mouth onto the ground. But that didn’t stop the earth pony’s pleading.  “H-help. P-ple-ease. I’m innocent. N-not the dun—.” It was then that the guard planted another hoof in his face.  “I said SHUT UP!” Both guards levitated him and started trotting towards the castle. Meanwhile, the crowd tapped their hooves on the ground and cheered as the thief was brought to justice. Everypony, except Clover, who was staring at the dizzy eyes of the earth pony as the guards took him away. To be thrown in the dungeons for the rest of their lives, only for a single bite of an apple. Was this truly justice? The guards stood tall next to the princess’ throne, the monarch herself sitting atop it with her hoof under her chin. Letting out a yawn, Princess Platinum levitated her sceptre around.  “Princess?”  Princess Platinum flinched at the voice and lost her concentration, dropping her sceptre onto one of her guard’s heads, the unfortunate guard dropping to the ground. The princess leaned forward to check on him, but there wasn’t much she could do. “What is it?” She frowned and turned her attention to the guard standing in front of her throne.  The guard gulped before responding. “Clover the Clever wishes to see you, your highness.”  “Oh.” The frown and anger faded away from the princess’ face. “Tell her to come in.”  “Right away, your highness.” The guard bowed briefly before trotting away.  Princess Platinum leaned over again to check up on her guard. It seemed like he was still passed out. She looked around before levitating her sceptre back to her side, covering her tracks. “He’ll be fine.” She told herself. Within seconds, Clover trotted towards her majesty and bowed down.  “What is it you wish to speak with me about, Clover, my clever advisor.” Princess Platinum inquired.  Clover raised her hooded head, revealing her white face and green mane. “Your highness, our negotiations with the other tribes have been met with difficulties. They are requesting for their prisoners here to be freed and are questioning our system of government. Considering that the leaders of the other tribes are always present in these negotiations, they are starting to lose their trust in us due to your absence.” Princess Platinum rolled her eyes, disinterested in the matter, turning to examine her reflection in the purple orb of her sceptre.  “I suggest that you attend the next meeting in a couple of days to reassure other tribes of our reputa—” “WHAT?” Princess Platinum jumped down from her throne, striding up to her advisor. “Why should I waste my time with those wild pegasi and the unmannered earth ponies? I have much more important duties to partake in.” She adjusted her bejewelled crown on top of her mane and continued. “And who would go on such a long trip? It’s exhausting.” The princess turned away and trotted back to her throne.  Clover thought to herself for a few seconds. Princess Platinum's presence was essential to the next meeting of the tribes, and she had to convince her somehow. “Then, you are admitting you are weak?” Clover hid her face under her cloak and grinned.  “WHAT?” Princess Platinum was on the last step to her throne when she heard this and immediately turned back, frowning at her most loyal advisor. She almost commanded her guard to arrest Clover for daring to say such a thing.  “I think I forgot to mention, the other tribes believe you are too scared and weak to show up to ordinary meetings such as these. We assured them our princess is not such, and that you are the bravest and the most intelligent leader that has ever ruled.” Princess Platinum’s frown slowly gave its place to a proud smile.   “But…” Clover paused, making sure she still had her Majesty’s attention.  “But?” “Too bad you can not attend the next meeting to let those uncultured ponies realise your great leadership.” Clover said “It truly is a shame.” Princess Platinum rubbed her chin, wondering how the other tribes would admire her when they saw her. “They’ll be amazed by my negotiating skills; they wouldn’t dare to speak up.” She thought to herself.  “Wait!” She said, after which, clearing her throat: “I, Princess Platinum, will attend the next tribe meetings to address these issues personally and demonstrate my speaking and negotiation skills to help the ambassadors learn something.”  “It will be an honour to have you with our ambassadors, your highness.” Clovers smiled and bowed down once more.  Just then, a guard entered the throne room and bowed down. “Your highness.” “Speak up.” Princess Platinum commanded as she sat back on her throne.  “Head Counsellor Crimson Light is here, as you requested.”  “Tell him to come in.” The guard bowed once more and trotted away to the door.  This seemed like it was Clover's best chance to bring up her findings about the dungeon keeping of the council, as both the head counselor and the princess herself were present.  Moments later, a red stallion in robes trotted inside and bowed before his princess.  “Your highness.” Said the old, bearded stallion. Clover stepped aside, letting the old counsellor and the princess discuss matters without her presence being noticeable.  “Report of today's activities, counsellor.” Commanded Princess Platinum. Crimson Light took out a list from his robe and began. “The moon was lowered, and the sun was raised successfully. Peace was kept throughout the city, with no crime taking place. And we have found exceptional talents in a couple of younglings of the academy that hopefully may graduate to be a part of the council in the future.”  The princess smiled at the news and clapped her hooves together. “Great. That is all great. You may now leave, counsellor.”  “WAIT!”  Both the princess and the head counsellor turned their heads to the young hooded mare stepping out of the shadow in the corner of the room.  “Clover!” Princess Platinum's eyes widened. “You’re still here?” Clover bowed before her princess once again. “My apologies, your highness, but there are things I would like to address, now that the head counsellor is here with us.” Crimson Light raised an eyebrow and looked Clover up and down. “You’re Star Swirl’s pupil, aren’t you?” Clover turned back at the red stallion who stared into her eyes judgingly. “Yes.” “Hmph.”  “What is it that you wish to discuss, Clover?” Princess Platinum asked as she held onto her sceptre with her hoof.  Clover took a deep breath and began. “There have been numerous rumours that some prisoners managed to escape in the dungeon’s riot last night. Is that true, Head Counsellor Crimson Light?” Crimson Light’s eyes narrowed as he frowned. “No. We recaptured all the prisoners before they could sneak out. We counted them all and every single one is currently in their cell. And I find it quite insulting that you believe some baseless rumours and dare to accuse me and the council of such irresponsibility.”  Clover stepped back as Crimson Light towered above her. But she swallowed her fear and continued.  “Counsellor, based on my research, there have been rumours about at least one breakout every month, at the same time, the amount of guards in the city has doubled. May I as—”  “AS I SAID.” Crimson Light cut Clover off. “These rumours are nothing but baseless conspiracy theories made up by those who oppose our princess and our nation, the other tribes. And who are you to dare question me in such a manner, filly?” Crimson Light eyes were boiling with anger as he raised his voice, echoing in the throne room.  “COUNSELLOR!” Princess Platinum warned, grabbing Crimson Light’s attention. “Clover may not be a part of the council, but she is still my most trusted advisor. You will not speak to her in such a manner.” “Hmph. Apologies, your honour. However, I wouldn’t put much faith in what a weakling proposes.” The old counsellor stepped back and let Clover have more space. “I can assure you that neither did a prisoner escape, nor are any of those rumours true. The reason as to why the guards are sometimes doubled around the town is due to us realising the pegasi are up to shady activities within our sky domain. The council is only doing what we must to keep our nation safe.”  Even though the counsellor’s words sounded convincing at first to Clover, she remembered what she had witnessed earlier, in the town square. She was certain. One prisoner had escaped.  “The—”  “ENOUGH.” Princess Platinum stood up from her throne. “Now that this matter is resolved, you may leave, counsellor.”  But Clover wasn’t finished. “Bu—” “CLOVER!” Princess Platinum shook her head at Clover, signifying that she had heard enough.  Crimson Light bowed one last time and trotted out of the room.  “Clover?” The princess called again.  “Yes, your highness?”  “I do not want to hear of these speculations again. The council has proven itself to my bloodline countless times. I trust them as much as I trust you. Do you understand?”  Clover wanted to speak up again. Perhaps if she could tell her what she saw and— no. She had lost her chance. “Yes, your highness.”  “Good. Oh, and since you’re still here.” Princess Platinum stepped down from her throne and stood next to Clover. “I had a dream last night about… something. Argh, I can’t quite put my hoof on it. Can you use your memory seeing spell so I can know what it was?”  Clover rubbed her chin and wondered. “You don’t recall the dream yourself?” “Not quite… clear? I know there's a thing, but I can't recall what.”  Clover pondered for a second. The spell required the host to recall the memory somewhat clearly for it to be seen. Not to mention, she wasn’t certain whether dreams or such counted as one's memories or not.  “I… doubt I can, your highness. That’s not really how the spell works.” “Hurry up, Clover. I know you can do it. At least try it. It’s been on my mind the whole day.”  Clover looked away under her hood. “As you wish, your highness.”  Princess Platinum sat down and closed her eyes as Clover took off her hood to let out her dizzy green mane. Her horn glowed with a bright light as she cast the spell silently. “Shine bright and illuminate the night to find. In the past, the memories of this mind.”  Clover’s horn touched the princess' forehead, focused on finding the dream in the vast, endless sea of the princess' mind. Through massive waves of memory and strong winds of feelings, she sailed the boat of her spell until she found what she sought.  Clover stepped back and shook her head to make the slight headache fade away.  Princess Platinum opened her eyes, noticing Clover was no longer channelling the spell. “So, did it work? Did you see anything?” She leaped in front of Clover with haste.  “Ah!” Clover almost jumped when she saw her princess right in her face the moment she opened her eyes. “I-I-I... Well- well, I saw… something.” She said as she lowered her hood again.  “But what?” Princess raised an eyebrow, tilting her head to the side.  “I-I don’t know… All I know is that there were pink clouds and… something. I can’t quite recall.”  “I do remember the pink clouds too, but I wanted to remember what that thing was.” The princess sighed and shook her head. “I suppose if I sleep on it, it will come to me.”  “Perhaps, your highness.”  Even though Clover couldn’t help her princess answer the question that was bothering her, she managed to find an answer to whether her spell could see dreams or not. She wished to share this find with her mentor, but it was rather late. Not to mention, Star Swirl didn’t wish to be disturbed.   Clover started trotting towards the castle gates to return home, as she had completed her duties for the day, had read her daily book in the morning, and had addressed the matte— No, she had not. Clover stopped and pondered the thief she saw earlier that day. Could it be that she was wrong? Could it be that she was overthinking these rumours? Should she have left these thoughts and buried them? No. She was sure. She was certain that something wasn’t lining up, and she had to get to the bottom of it.  “What’s the news, Armored Hoof? Are all the prisoners recaptured?” A mare asked.  Clover halted in place and stuck herself to the corner of the wall, listening to the conversation taking place on the other side.  “Shhh! Quiet! You want to get us into trouble?” A stallion’s voice responded.  Clover carefully peeked around the corner and saw two council guards talking to one another. She quickly stepped back and swivelled her ears to listen carefully. Even though they had started to talk quietly, she could still make out what they were saying. “C’mon. Nopony is around.”  “If you say so. But I don’t know. I’m positive a few of the prisoners that managed to break out last night were pegasi. I doubt we caught those.” “I saw Polished Helmet bring in a couple of pegasi though.”  Clover’s eyes widened. “Huh, I guess we did catch them.”  “So, what are you up to tonight?” The mare whispered.  “I should be keeping watch on the dungeon entrance. What about you, Swift Shot?” “Well… I’m off tonight, and I was hoping that you’d have some spare time to share.” The mare’s tone changed from friendly to something more than friendly. After a pause, the stallion responded. “What do you mean?” “Oh, you know what I mean.”  “Look, I-I should be going to my po—” “Shhh.” The mare’s voice cut him off softly. “It’ll be quick. Nopony will notice.”  “Look, I woul—” The stallion's voice was cut off, so Clover couldn’t make out what happened.  “How about now?” The mare giggled.  Soon after, Clover heard the sound of hoof steps heading away from her. Peeking around the corner, she saw them both trotting away. And on the stallion's flank, she saw a silver keychain dangling.  A thought crossed her mind. If nopony was going to help her find out what was going on in the dungeon, she simply had to do it herself. So Clover followed the two guards in hopes of finding an opportunity to fetch the key. After a few minutes of Clover silently stalking the guards, the mare dragged herself and the stallion to a door and opened it. They both stepped in, giggling in the dead of night. Clover stepped closer and realised the door was only half-closed. From the small peep-hole she had, she saw the armor of the guards drop on the floor alongside the keychain. Ignoring the erotic sounds coming from inside, Clover levitated the keychain, slowly dragging it out from under the clothing and armor plates, right out the half-closed door. Desperate to get away and head to the dungeons, Clover turned around but halted soon after.  “What if they notice the keys missing?” She asked herself. Rubbing her chin and pondering the situation for a second, an idea came to her mind. She levitated the keys in front of her and lit up her horn. Dim light enveloped the keys and consumed them for a brief moment. Soon after, Clover was levitating two sets of keys.  She silently trotted back to the door and put back one set of keys. From what she could hear, it sounded as if the guards were going to take a bit longer than they had previously agreed on.  Without any more stumbling blocks, Clover trotted to the dungeon’s entrance on the first floor of the castle. As she expected, the guard was not in front of the giant wooden door. They were busy doing something else.  The door was four times Clover’s size. Two torches hung beside it, granting a weak light, and on the left side was a massive keyhole.  Clover looked around, making sure nopony was nearby, before taking out the keychain from her cloak. There were various keys hanging from the ring that looked rather identical, but one of them stood out, being significantly larger than the rest. She put it in the keyhole and twisted it. After hearing a clank, she took the key out and pulled the door open. The door’s rusted hinges ground and squeaked before it revealed a staircase descending into absolute darkness.  Clover’s fur stood still as she gazed into the abyss at the end of the staircase. She shook it off and, with a deep breath, took the first step. The cold wind whispered around her ears. She already wanted to go back. There was a reason only the council was allowed to go down there, right? She should have just gone back to her room and— No. This wasn’t the time to back out. This was her chance to find out what was down there. She wouldn’t get such an opportunity every day.  Clover lit her horn, closed the door, and continued trotting down the staircase. For a long time, all she could hear was the sound of her heart beating. The absolute silence was driving her crazy, and the stairs didn’t seem to end.  “What if I get caught?” Clover wondered. “What will the Princess think? What will my master think? Will they throw me in here?”  “Stop it, Clover.” She reasoned with herself. “You can’t get caught. Focus on what you’re trying to do here.” To her surprise, there were no more stairs, but a dark-bricked hallway, lit up by torches on the walls and many cells on each side. This was it. She was here.  Clover turned her light off and stepped forward, looking into the cells.  She saw some earth ponies and pegasi, all sleeping. There were no beds; all of them were lying down on the cold floor. As she was looking at each cell, she recognised one of the prisoners. A brown coloured earth pony, lying on the floor. Was it the same pony she saw today?  Clover stepped closer and lit her horn to better see into the dark cell. Hitting the brown earth pony, the light revealed various scars and bruises on his back. His face bore the signs of a brutal beating with all the blood splattered on it.  Clover gasped and took a step back. She couldn’t stare at the earth pony’s state any longer.  “Who are you?”  Clover jumped. She searched everywhere her eyes could see in her magical light. No guards.  “You’re not a guard. What are you doing here?” A yellow pegasus stepped out of the shadows in the cell across from her.  Clover calmed down a little. “Please be quiet,” she whispered and looked around for possible guards patrolling.  The yellow pegasus tilted her head in confusion. “You’re not a prisoner, at least not that I know of.”  “I’m not a prisoner,” Clover whispered and stepped closer. “I'm just looking around.”  A grin formed on the pegasus’ face. “So you’re trespassing, huh?” “Shhh!” Clover raised her hoof. “Please.” “Tell you what. You open my cell, and I won’t start shouting.”  Clover’s eyes widened. “What?”  “You have five seconds to decide. Five.”  Clover’s heart started beating louder than ever and her mouth became dry.  “Four.” The pegasus stepped back and continued. “Three.”  Freeing a probably dangerous prisoner was an absolute no. But did she have any other choice?  “Look, can we talk abo—” “Two.”  Dread overtook her whole body. She had to make a decision.  “On—” “Fine.” Clover cut the pegasus off.  The yellow pegasus stepped closer to the bars and grabbed them. “That’a girl. Now bust me ou—”  “Shout.” The pegasus’s eyes widened in shock. “What?” “I said: shout. I’m not busting you out.” The pegasus frowned but tried to hide her anger and play cool. “So, I guess you’re gonna join the party.” She took a deep breath and made sure to exaggerate her gesture as much as possible.  “Before you shout,” Clover took out the keyring from under her cloak, “remember that I’m your only chance of getting out of here. If you alert the guards, and they catch me, we both lose.”  The pegasus stopped, and this time didn’t hold her frown back.  “Here’s a deal,” Clover whispered, bringing the keyring closer to the bars, “I’ll ask you some questions, and if you answer me honestly, I’ll consider letting you out?”  The pegasus followed the silver keys levitating in front of her with her eyes. She tried to grab them by sticking her hoof out, but Clover pulled the keys back just in time.  “Agh, why should I even trust you?” The pegasus scoffed. “You’re just another one of them. A unicorn.”  Clover stayed silent for a moment, pondering a response.  “You don’t have to. But, I don’t have a reason to trust you either.”  The pegasus looked back at her cell. “Fine, what do you want?”  Clover stepped back and pointed her hoof at the brown pony in the cell across. “What happened to him?”  “What happens to everypony here once in a while: Torture.”  “Because you attempted to escape?”  “That’s one reason, but mostly, they do it for fun or to make sure we stay in our place. And that's not even that bad if you ask me.”  “What do you mean?” Clover turned back to the pegasus and raised her eyebrow.  The pegasus looked down, let go of her cell’s bars, and showed Clover her left side.  Clover held her mouth to deafen the sound of her gasp at the sight of the clumped-up tissue on the side.  “W-where i—” “My wing?” the pegasus asked sarcastically. “Your kind cut it off!” “I-I’m sorry,”  “Yeah, shut up.”  Clover looked down. She didn’t know what to say. How could the council do such a thing? How could anypony do this? She tried to wonder how it must have felt, but she soon shook the thought out of her head.  “He managed to escape last night.” The pegasus said, dragging Clover out of her thoughts. “But just like always, they caught him. They caught everypony. And taught them a lesson to never try breaking out again.”  Clover wasn’t sure if she should be celebrating the fact that her suspicion about the previous outbreaks was true, or to be grieving about how these prisoners were treated.   “S-so, there has been other breakou—”  “HEY, WHO’S THERE?” A guard shouted from the staircase.  Without any hesitation, Clover began to run in the opposite direction.  “Hey!” The pegasus shouted. “YOU LITTLE BITCH! DON’T LEAVE ME HERE! WE HAD A DEAL!”  “PRISONER ON THE LOOSE! PRISONER ON THE LOOSE!” The guard shouted before running after Clover. His voice echoed through the dungeon walls, bouncing around and alerting the rest of the guards.  Clover didn’t look back, dousing her horn so the guards couldn’t follow her as easily. But where should she go? She was in a dungeon. There was only one way out, and she was running in the exact opposite direction. Suddenly, she had to make a turn. Left, or right. After glancing at each hallway and seeing two more guards appear out of the right hallway, she ran left.  As her breaths got more rapid, magical blasts began to be shot in her direction. After seeing one miss right in front of her, she ducked the second shot. She got to a cross-road. Another guard showed up at the end of the middle path and shot a blast at her. Clover stepped left and dodged the shot. The sound of trotting was getting close behind her, and just when she was a few steps down the left path, another guard stepped out of the turn. Clover ground her hooves on the cold bricks of the dungeon and turned the other way. *Fzz* One of the shots hit right behind her tail. If it continued like this, she was never going to lose them. Not here.  Suddenly, her eyes caught sight of the torches on the walls, and an idea sprang into her mind. Using her magic, Clover blew the torches out and let the darkness devour the hallway. She couldn’t see, but she wasn’t the one shooting magical bolts.  “Don’t lose him!” A shout came from behind as one of the guards lit her horn up to be the guide for the others. The constant firing of magical blasts didn’t stop, but they weren’t hitting anywhere near Clover.  Clover hit a wall full speed and took a second to recover. She ran left once again and didn’t stop. She ran as fast as she could and then *bam.* Another wall. Clover lit up her horn for a second to find her path, but what she saw under the green light of her horn shook her body in terror.  A big metal door and nowhere to go. A dead end. She turned back to run the other way, but it was too late. She could already see the guard’s light reaching the turn she made.  Clover closed her eyes and caught her breath. There was only one way out of this situation.  The guards separated into both pathways. Three went right and two ran left full speed. The guards had their horns lit up to take down the prisoner they thought escaped, but they reached the big iron door and… Nothing.  “I swear I saw him run this way.” One of the guards said as they inspected the iron door.  “Yeah, sure, I forgot you had dark-vision.”  “Shut up. I saw him with the light from my shot.”  “Whatever you say, but I’m going to help the others.”  “Hey, Blue Glaze, wait. Just give me a se—”  “NO. I’m not listening to your bullshit, Blunt Spear. Besides, don’t you know? This is HIS cell.” The blue stallion guard said as he pointed his hoof at the iron door. “I would rather be anywhere but here.” He said and ran back.   Blunt Spear, however, stayed, narrowing his eyes and scanning around the dead end. But there was nothing. Or at least nothing he could see under the light of his horn.  “You coming?” A shout came from the distance. Blunt Spear shook his head and trotted back. “I’m coming.”  After a few seconds, once Clover could no longer hear their footsteps nearby, she let out her breath and reappeared in front of the iron door. She was thankful that the guards left since she didn’t know for how much longer she could hold her breath.  “Invisibility cloak, you once again proved why you are my favorite thing in the world,” Clover said to herself in between her breaths.  She stood up and lit her horn. Under her green light, she could see the big iron door, but nothing else, no torches, no other cells. Only a lone door at the end of a hall. Clover stepped closer and inspected the door carefully. A very tiny diamond-shaped keyhole came to her notice. She stepped back and glanced up at the door. “Is this a cell?” She wondered. “Why is it isolated? Why a giant metal door? And most importantly: ”What is being kept in there?”