//------------------------------// // Into Yonder Darkness // Story: Gears in the Void // by Lab //------------------------------// Until that night, none of us had ever seen a diamond dog’s mouth gummed up with marshmallow. The heat of the impromptu bonfire was immense, forcing us to retreat up the road but not far enough to be stuck outside the firelight. It was mostly marshy around the crossroads—not enough to summon images of a swamp, but it was not a place you walked—or slipped during a storm—into without getting wet and muddy. A small distance from the rest of the group, Shok sat in a timeout issued by Pinkie. She'd used a “doghouse” pun twenty-three times, wringing every last drop of amusement out of the word and all but ensuring none would be inclined to use it. A pun assault of that magnitude was a war crime in some cultures. Sleep was hard to find—the adrenaline from the skirmish worked better than intravenous coffee, yet what goes up must come down. Not even Dash fell asleep before me. —— I’d only been in a dream-forest for a moment before Luna's projection popped in and stumbled through me in a spectacularly failed hug attempt. She drew herself to full height and affixed me with an impassive look. However, she wasn’t able to hide her embarrassment. "Sterling Gears, it is good to see you are well. There was much worry over your sudden disappearance earlier. What of the others?" Princess Luna struggled not to join our chuckling. "They're fine. Nobody was injured, although we did kinda… burn down an inn." Despite my mumbling, she frowned. "It wasn’t my fault." Luna sighed and her frown inverted. "What are my sister and I going to do with you? I suppose it is good fortune your nearest neighbors are protected by a large layer of stone and earth." "Oh ho ho. Did Lulu just take a potshot?" Dave laughed as he sat on a mossy trunk. "I demanded you did not call me by that name, David." She turned back to me and said, "My insult was in jest, and I apologize if I have offended you." "Sheesh, Luna. Relax." I rolled my eyes at her and stopped my hoof halfway to patting her side. No sense in such a gesture when my touch would travel through her. "Now, I don't know how much longer I'll be asleep, so how about we just hang out until you need to lower the moon." "I believe this 'hanging out' includes the having of fun, correct?" Dave and I shared a glance when she expressed the air quotes with her wingtips. It was a herculean feat to not bust a gut, but we managed to clench our mouths tight and nod. —— Oatmeal: the blandest of hearty breakfasts. That was the case as a human, at least—as a pony, they still weren't anything special, but the mush had a little flavor before I’d dipped into Pinkie's sugar and spice supply. Seven ponies complacently ate their food while the diamond dogs carefully foraged underground for gemmy sustenance, careful to not allow too much darkness to build up in the temporary tunnels. With a grunt, I forced down a larger than recommended mouthful of oatmeal and spoke to ease off some of the tension. "Told Luna about the attack and the fire." I quickly realized that probably wouldn’t make anybody feel better. "You did what?!" Twilight's hold on her bowl vanished, dumping the remaining half into the dirt. "Do you want us to get banished or jailed?" "Or thrown in prison in the place you get banished to?" Fluttershy covered her snout as she impersonated—imponyated?—a tomato, but it was too late to stop her loud snort from causing everypony else to burst into laughter. "I take it that's along the same lines as exploding twice?" Dave stared longingly at my oatmeal, almost missing my faint nod. Twilight harrumphed but failed to hide her amusement. "I guess my idea was a bit much. How did you tell Princess Luna anyway?" "We were hanging out. We're like this." I raised a hoof before my eyes and frowned at the lack of fingers to cross. "Sorry, forgot that gesture doesn't mean much around here. I mean, we're buddies. She was bored and wanted something to do." "But she's Princess Luna. Shouldn't there be, I dunno, princessy stuff she has to do?" Dash asked disbelievingly. "Dash has a point. I find it highly unlikely she was capable of sparing any time outside her royal duties." "Do any of you know anypony who's been to Night Court?" A few shrugs and murmured refusals answered me. "Hence, bored Luna." "I think I can get ponies to show up, but I'll need more rubber chickens…" Pinkie mumbled to herself. It was curious, but that way lies madness. Before too much longer, breakfast was over, and we were forced back into the carts, speeding down the road with the welcome addition of various cushions under our rears. It would be to not need a half hour to shake off the soreness from sitting on bare wood for so long. Applejack opted to stay in my cart this time, and she tried to say something several times but gave up before making a sound. Why couldn’t she just leave me alone? A slowly growing, oppressive aura smothered any conversation in its infancy. The plains still looked the same, but something in the air was draining the very soul of the place. It was brittle, like a masterpiece that crumbled to dust the moment it was touched. The cushions did nothing to make us more comfortable here. When a familiar forest flanked the road, Twilight asked if we could slow down to make the tracking easier. The tension in the air was so thick you could cut it with a knife, spread it on metaphorical bread, and have a very disappointing meal. "Stop up here, we'll need to walk through the woods the rest of the way." It was doubtful this was the exact spot my romp through the forest had ended, but the ghost of my past self still traipsed across the path, disappearing into the woods for a moment before returning to the road. The dirt was smooth and undisturbed, as if nothing had ever set hoof, foot, or paw on it, and even the evidence of my passing had been washed away. Rarity daintily dropped out of the wagon and blanched at her surroundings. "I don't suppose there's a path we can take to our destination?" "Nope. Looks like we're gonna do some hiking." Applejack grinned and started after Twilight, who was already nosing around beyond the treeline. When you spend your time singing and getting used to a new body and world, a long walk flies by in no time at all. During that trip, it was just trees, trees, and more trees with the occasional tree on the side. To occupy myself, I counted the number of times somebody in our party stumbled over something underhoof. "It's so quiet," said Fluttershy. Her completely understandable volume was a testament to how complete the silence really was. "Where have all the animals gone?" Forty-nine. "I don't think they cared much as long as it was away from here." Fifty. I tripped over a root and faceplanted. Fifty-one. “I hope they’re okay. A few endangered species live in this area, including a species of spider with fewer than a dozen still alive.” That spider had it coming. "Are we there yet?" Pinkie whined as she bounced unimpeded through the underbrush. "Actually, yes." The trees thinned, and we found ourselves staring up a giant hill dotted with rocks and boulders of all sizes. The path I’d carved with my face was almost visible if I squinted hard enough. Twilight cast a few minor spells before snorting in frustration. "Sterling, it seems you were correct about the disturbance being underground. A twenty-seven degree incline in that direction should lead us right to it." She scratched a small “x” into the ground, all but pulling out a ruller and measuring to make sure both lines were the same length. Twilight said my name twice more before I realized why she was trying to get my attention. I turned back to the diamond dogs. "You three know what that means. Balsa, you're on point, and be careful… especially you, Shok." "Said I was sorry." "And if Soft wasn't impersonating disco, you could apologize to him too." The ground was eager to part before their paws, and they disappeared below the earth with a small spray of soil as they worked in tandem. With a small grin, I dove into the tunnel and promptly lost my footing on a patch of loose dirt. Fifty-two. "Do be more careful, Sterling." Rarity sighed as she dusted me off. There was still an apologetic glimmer in her eyes, but whatever Western Agate had said to her last night stymied the guilt. I'd definitely have to find a way to repay him for putting an end to that. It was odd she kept attempting to apologize to me, though. Twilight and Rarity lit the way while we followed after the diamond dogs and their bobbing lanterns. Freshly disturbed dirt surrounded us, and the tunnel lead downwards at an angle just steep enough to discourage galloping. Earth has a particular smell to it. Depending on soil composition and whatnot, it differs from place to place, but they all have a similar aroma tying them together. The dirt we tread upon didn’t smell like it should have. If anything, it smelled lifeless. Not dead, just lacking in everything that could give it character. It was just like the plains. They stayed ahead of us as they worked, easily matching our pace. Balsa plowed through the ground like it was made of vanilla pudding while Shok and West further directed any soil pushed their way. With this effective system, it wasn't long before Balsa barked something unintelligible and the trio halted to allow us a chance to catch up. "Something wrong?" It was difficult to keep balanced on the incline as my pace increased. "Balsa says there's a large cavern up ahead." West stood straight and cracked his aching back with a soft grunt. "I am sorry about that display. Can't quite dig as well as I used to. Anyway, when she says large cavern, she means large cavern." "How big we talking?" "Make home look tiny." Balsa snorted as she swiped through the last wall of dirt, our assortment of lights disappearing into the ravenous abyss beyond. We hadn't broken in level with the cavern floor, but there was only a short slope that thankfully levelled off before our light reached its limit. The air was staler than most knock knock jokes, and not a single one of us passed our fortitude saves to avoid wincing at an odor more ancient than a fossilized retirement home. In the far distance—further testament to the truly impressive size of the cavern—a swarm of glimmers beckoned, like moonlight on a rippling pond. "Hello!" Pinkie shouted, smiling as her echo returned. "How are you?" "Shh!" A sky blue hoof jammed itself into her mouth. "Don't let them to know we're coming." "They'll find out sooner or later. Covert ops isn't our thing." Finding purchase on the stone was difficult. "Face-first to victory!" Each hooffall was a thunderous affair masking the growls of ancient entities roused from eternal slumbersl. Thankfully, Pinkie Pie only needed to be told once to put her cymbals away. Our little bubble of light moved with us to reveal the occasional stalagmite or other interesting formation, and the tunnel we had entered from soon disappeared into the fluid darkness. "Obvious trap is obvious?" We worked our way towards the faint sparkles spotted earlier, but they stayed the same distance away no matter how far we walked. I couldn't help but feel a pang of fright. Would I stop being so scared of the dark after it was over? I would have liked to go back to fearing reasonable things like plutonium dragons and unspeakably awful, indescribable horrors. And Nurse Redheart. A faint shape appeared in the darkness, possessing a distinctly different color than the surrounding stone. It was still too early to make out any details, but we didn't have to wait long before a monstrous talon breached our little sanctuary, rousing several gasps of fright completely reasonable surprise. Surprisingly, Fluttershy didn't squeal in fear, but upon looking back, it turned out she'd frozen and toppled to the side like a fainting goat. "This is a dragon's cave!" said somepony behind me as I inspected a faded, black talon easily three times my size. Vague shapes in the dark told me it was one of four on a claw large enough to cover an entire building. "Sterling! Get away from there, you'll wake it up!" "That'd be a little difficult." There was no need to be quiet as I pointed at the barely visible sliver of yellowed bone holding the claw in place. "This thing is long dead." Twilight joined in on my examination. "Hmm. How do you suppose it died? What could kill a dragon of this size?" She shuddered. If it was some insidious creature that felled this gargantuan, I didn't want to meet it either. "I'll send up a flare." The lavender missile soared upwards and burst into a dazzling array of light that slowly drifted back down. The massive dragon's right foreleg was what we'd stumbled across, and the redwood-sized bones connected to a rib cage large enough to comfortably fit a small village. To our left hid the dragon’s rear, shrouded by distance, and at the very end of the serpentine neck in the other direction, a gigantic pile of rock sat where its head should have been. It was further proof that gravity can be a bitch. "Ouch." Rainbow Dash shared my assessment. "I'll say. We need to find what we came here for. We can divvy up the loot later." It would totally be a dick move to just call dibs… but I can't say the temptation was absent. "Right, a dragon cave should contain its hoard. It should be right over there." Greedy excitement shone on my face, but come on, big dragon means big treasure pile. If the dragon’s dead, it’s officially lootable. You could almost hear dreams shattering as the glorious hoard turned out to be a few scattered gems and coins. It was like the dragon tried to convince its mother it ate enough by spreading the meal around. Either that or this was the worst dragon ever. "Pinkie, put away the trombone." I received a disappointed "aww" for my troubles. "At least it shouldn't be as much math to divide diddly squat." "Look on the bright side: it can't distract us as much now." At least five deadpan looks shot in Twilight’s direction. "R-Right. Let's keep going." It felt strange walking through the remains, but we wanted to take the scenic route even less. The occasional piece of treasure came into view, looking every bit as ancient as the bones that once guarded them. Twilight judged it would have taken several centuries for the incredibly rot-resistant dragonflesh to completely decay, and even longer for the bones to yellow so much. However, she was at a loss when asked what happened to all the treasure. “It looks like something was carved into the floor long ago.” Twilight ran her hoof over a faint furrow, slowly tracing its contour. “Do you think it has anything to do with the dragon?” “Wouldn’t doubt it. What’s it say?” I followed the markings to the edge of the light, but they continued far beyond a safe distance. “It’s too faint. We would need to come back with the appropriate tools.” We were glad to lose sight of the bones and the unease they left in our guts. Fluttershy was most relieved at leaving the dragon's remains behind, but she definitely felt guilty about it. When she locked up in fear was so adorable, it was hard not to bring it up. The diamond dogs really didn't show much unease over the whole thing. If anything, they were just disappointed there were only enough gems to pass as a fancy meal. The lack of discernible features made it hard to tell if we were getting anywhere. If it weren’t for Twilight’s tracking spell, we’d be hopelessly lost. Even so, it was doubtful we’d find the way back out just as easy. Suddenly, our light shrank as the darkness ahead lunged toward us. We jumped back, and half of us yelped in surprise. I'd already aimed a blasting rod, the situation’s oddity all that kept me from firing. The light hadn't distorted—we’d run into a wall of familiar blacker-than-black that swallowed everything touching it. Yet, no voidlings stepped out of the shadows, and no voices wormed their way into my nervously swivelling ears. Bad guys didn’t just run out of minions before you blew up the secret lair. "This is what we're looking for." Twilight eventually broke the silence as she retrieved a headband thingy, commonly referred to as the Element of Magic, from her bags. Placing the gold tiara encrusted with a sparkling amethyst upon her head, she turned to her friends. "Ready girls?" "Ready!" My inner brony madly squeed over the opportunity to witness the Rainbow Cannon of Doom in action, almost drowning out some very decent advice from Dave. "Maybe you shouldn't stand in the way of what's pretty much a pony superweapon." As the six mares floated into the humming air, Dave couldn't help but frown. "Shouldn't we know what we're blasting? Is it too late to stop them?" Their eyes answered Dave's question by opening to show the blazing light barely contained within. My awe sent my voice running for the hills, and I could only stare as the prismatic ribbon roared into the air, highlighting the abyssal blister that was our target. It stuck out of the cave wall like a tumor, making no effort to pretend it belonged. It made no move to defend itself. In fact, Gummy was less passive than whatever this was. If a rainbow seething with arcane energies screamed towards me, intent on petrifying or cleansing me from existence, I wouldn’t have been nearly as calm, and there would have been a lot of panicked thrashing. Energy washed over us as it harmony met darkness, and a deafening blast shook dust from the distant ceiling. The Mane Six floated back to the ground, except for Rainbow Dash, who didn’t let the lack of an open sky stop her from flying. All of us stared in shock at the black orb. They didn’t make a scratch on it. "It didn't work," Twilight murmured. "I-I felt it. It was like they couldn't see it." Luna had warned me about this, but seeing it still sent me reeling. The Elements of Harmony, the very thing that gets pulled out when somepony mentions the big guns, had failed. However, Princess Luna believed I was the key to success. My hopes weren't that high, but Plan B still needed to take its chance. "Twilight, mix up half the stock into nitroglycerin. Don't forget to keep it cool." She continued staring in shock at our enemy. Her friends shared similar 'well, shit' levels. The sound of my hoof stomping on the ground echoed defiantly through the air. "Twilight!" "Maybe we did it wrong. We need to try again!" "Twi, you know we did it exactly how needed to." Applejack sighed as she pleadingly looked up to me like I had all the answers. "I don't know what Sterling wants to try, but maybe we're trying to use a hammer to dig a ditch, and she has the right tool." She grimaced, unable to stomach the taste of lying to herself. "R-Right." I calmed myself with a few deep breaths. "Right. My plan is simple. Blow it to Tartarus." "I like this plan." Dash grinned—it was nowhere near the cocky grin she normally sported, but at least she wasn't faking. While Twilight wordlessly mixed the chemicals together, I took one of the glowing gems out of the bag and inspected it for cracks. "What did you do to that poor gem?" Rarity winced at the sight of the modified crystal. "Just trust her, Miss Rarity." West gently smiled. Surprisingly, Rarity smiled back and visibly calmed. "I never explained it to you guys? Well, you remember that blast in the library a few days ago?" Most nodded, Pinkie cheered, and Twilight flinched. "This is like that, but bigger and better. There's some speculation in there about this thing's weaknesses, but honestly, I'm just going to blow it up." "I really like this plan." Dash stomped in approval. She paled as her magenta eyes caught the chemicals her friend was stirring together. "We're going to need to back up a bit, aren't we?" I just smiled. "Beta? Can I throw fire? Promise won't burn down cave." If only diamond dogs made that “squee” noise ponies were so good at. On second thought, that would have been creepy. "You guys can try whatever you want. I'm not going to stop you." The sentence wasn't half over before a flaming bottle soared through the air and vanished into the inky depths. "I think it needs to break open first, try again but throw it at the ground right before it." "Last one." Shok slunk off to the side where he sat on a rock, put his head on his paws, and pouted. Something pushed against them as they tried stabbing it with torches. It looked like it wasn’t just going to sit there and take it. Either way, I had something special in store for it. Eventually, Twilight produced a few large flasks filled with nitroglycerin. She wished me luck before retreating with the others, leaving the diamond dogs to provide light while I worked. They watched silently as I delicately wrapped the gem and flasks into a bundle, placing it as close as I dared to the barrier. "Now what?" Balsa asked, looking between me and the explosive. "Oh yeah. Oi, Twilight! I need you to set this off!" In retrospect, making a second trigger would have been a fantastic idea, if not obvious. You know what they say about hindsight—it makes you feel like facehoofing. It wasn't long before Twilight blinked over, startling all four of us. "I suppose you need me to overload the gem?" "Yep, just fill it until it cracks, it should cascade from there and give us enough time to take cover with the others." The bundle was our hope for the future, and looking at it filled me with joy. It was like a child to me... oh wow, I'm a terrible parent—new metaphor please. This was my creation, my ideas made physical—I instinctively knew its strengths, its weaknesses, and most importantly, its capabilities. "We might need a shield too." It was time for the moment of truth. Twilight prepared to give the ruby its final push, while the rest of us hunkered in the lowest patch of ground we could find. Nobody else but me saluted the gem’s noble sacrifice. "Alright, here we go!" "You already said that." "I was there for what the first gem did to my library, so excuse me if I'm a little nervous." "Sheesh, Twilight, no need to snap." She glared angrily, a scathing look Rarity mirrored. "I did not mean to say that out loud. So… take your time." A flash of light and the appearance of a protective dome signalled Twilight's return to the group, where she promptly told us to get our heads down. Sharp protests pierced the darkness like an arrow, and we all tensed in preparation for the upcoming blast. I was in no way disappointed. While the earlier detonation had been a brilliant blue, these flames were a blindingly bright crimson. In a mere instant, the blast expanded to its full size and washed over our shield. A second blast closely followed the first as the nitroglycerin realized it should be exploding instead of twiddling its thumbs. A resonating boom climbed over the deafening roar, and the cavern shook with the mighty force unleashed upon it. Screams too faint to identify came from behind me, drowned out by my laughter until the ruby flames winked out and the echoes ceased. "Who needs finesse." Waving a hoof at the settling dust while loose stones rained from above, I chuckled. "When you can have fun?" The looks on their faces sent me into another laughing fit, one Pinkie promptly joined in on. "That. Was. Awesome!" Dash flew a tight loop and squeed. Catching herself, she coughed into her hoof and awkwardly smiled. Playfully nudging the boisterous pegasus in the side, Applejack smirked. "I reckon that could give your rainboom a run for its money when it comes to barn clearing." "As if!" She huffed as she took another glance around. "Well, even if it does do more damage, the Sonic Rainboom is still way cooler." "Oh, Rarity, you don't look so well." Fluttershy's gentle voice called our attention to the swaying unicorn, whose face was more green than white. "It's nothing. It must be all this stale air." "Actually, Rarity, I think it might have to deal with an over-saturation of magic released by the explosion. The air is practically dripping with energy, and you aren't used to dealing with large amounts of it like I am. No offense." "None taken. Darling, most unicorns aren't used to this much." Rarity beamed as Twilight acted bashful at the comment. "If she's having trouble now, what will it be like for her when she gets closer to where it went off?" Dave thoughtfully observed as he tapped his chin. "Western Agate, do you mind keeping Rarity company again? It might get worse if she gets any closer." It always felt dirty to relay Dave's advice. We both knew his limitations, but it just didn't feel right to get all the credit. "That's actually a good idea." For some reason, she made it sound like that was a rare occurrence. "Let's go see if you need to set up another one of those explosives, Sterling." "Gears has another one waiting?" Rainbow asked and zipped to the edge of the light. "Let's go set it up already." "Rainbow Dash, these are very delicate materials I'm using. Utmost care—pfft, hahaha I can't even say that much with a straight face. Let's just hope I did something to it." Fluttershy and Applejack opted to stay behind and help West keep an eye on Rarity. As dramatic as she can be, she looked genuinely ill. Kudos to her for keeping all that oatmeal down though. Had I essentially made a dirty bomb that only affected unicorns? The thought sent a shudder through me as it brought back memories of some attempts to contain the infection. A sizable crater tinted the same scarlet as the blast awaited us. The crater was perfectly smooth, like it had been sanded by a master craftspony. Destruction was spread beyond the depression, of course, but it was nowhere near as satisfying as it was this close to the origin. It looked like mixing magic and nitroglycerin was a good idea after all. "It worked?" Several voices—mine included—said in unison. "We might want to save the celebration for later. Gears missed a spot." Rainbow Dash squinted at the distant end of the crater. Sure enough, a doorway-sized oval of black remained on the cave wall. Its predecessor had been an unsightly bulge, but this was just an unsightly spot, like somebody had slapped a portable hole onto the stone. It sat there stubbornly, its edges roiling as we cautiously approached. "I expected more of a fight, but you really did a number on it." Dash grinned as she punched my shoulder. "You think you even need more of that nitrogremlin stuff?" "Nitroglycerin." Twilight tiredly placed her hoof over her face. "Overkill is saferkill… That one needs some work." Just one more bomb, and we could go home. "Alright, let's finish this." We patiently watched while Twilight mixed the materials in the flasks, hoofing each one to me as they filled. "I still think it's a bit much. This chump doesn't look so tough anymore." "Rainbow Dash, do not taunt Cthulu." Really, how could anybody be dense enough to not know this. "Huh? How do you know it's called that?" "It's not. Point is don't mock something that might be way more powerful than you. You're tempting fate." “Sterling, you're being unreasonable, but both of you need to quit it so I can concentrate on properly mixing this." One last vial was filled and levitated to me, where it was tucked into the bundle with the others. "I think we're in the clear. What could it do to stop us now?" That last statement was the straw that broke the fate camel's back. The surface of the stain boiled violently. We backed away slowly, but not before placing the bomb as close to the wall as possible. Before anypony could say "It's probably nothing" the shadowy depths surged forth, enveloping me, and the others’ screams told me Twilight had also been grabbed. With its quarry captured, it returned to its previous state of stillness on the wall. —— "You just had to go and say it, Twilight." Whatever the blob of ink did, my body was going to be sore for days. "Where are we?" The alicorn stared around us in wonderment. Wherever we were, it didn't have any walls, floor or ceiling. It had less substance than the Dreamscape, and we were standing in it somehow. The surroundings swirled chaotically, sometimes producing random splotches or patterns, and other times resorting to geometric figures. The colors bled together just as much, but they had a dulled appearance to them, like looking through sunglasses. Granted, I was still wearing my goggles, but they didn't have any tint to them. Even stranger, the place had a dynamic odor to it as well, switching from repulsive to fragrant in the blink of an eye. If there was a way to taste this strange realm, that sense would have probably acted similarly. A low muttering reached my ears, which flicked every which way trying to discern the proper direction. It was a voice with no presence. It was nothing like a voice in my head, which still had some sort of feel to it. It felt like recognizing a word I’d just read. It would be more accurate to say nothing spoke—it was just there. The voice was in an alien language—if it was even a language at all—and it wasn't just one line vying for my attention. Hundreds if not thousands surrounded me, and it took a conscious effort to tune it out. Worst of all, there was something nauseatingly familiar about this whole place. I looked at Twilight, who looked like she felt the same discomfort. "We need to get out of here, now!" Dave gulped, nervously looking around for an exit while his composure crumbled like a stale piece of wheat bread. Sweat poured down his brow in rivulets, and he was visibly shaking. "You!" Twilight shouted, pointing her hoof straight at him. With a growl she lowered her head and charged a spell. "I remember you from that one strange dream. Are you behind this?" “You can see me?” "You can see him?" "Of course I can see him! Do you know this creature, Sterling?" She stood back up, keeping her stony glare and charged spell. "Twilight, this is Dave." Seeing Twilight in shock never got old. "My imaginary friend, chum, buddy, pal, or whatever you want to call him." "Not quite." A voice stood out from its brethren, growing from a part of the ambiance to a full-fledged speaker. It kept the same strange feeling, but could not be simply tuned out. "Go ahead and blast that one," I whispered to her. "You can attack in vain." A dark splotch separated itself from the mass of colors, pulsing slowly. "But I can taste your curiosity." With each pulse it grew in size, rising up from nothing. "Especially you, the one named Princess Twilight Sparkle. The choice is yours: fight something you cannot hope to comprehend, or sate your curiosity with a being unbound by the laws of realities." "Kid, can't you feel it? This place is almost just like the Void. W-We need to find a way out. Hell, make one if you need to, but do it fast." "You will find such a task impossible." No trace of emotion could be found in its words. It spoke, we heard. "This is my domain, and I control every aspect of it. It is my will alone that keeps the Void, as you call it, from destroying your minds. Now, ask and I shall answer." "Why are you so eager?" Twilight asked skeptically. "Yeah, you're being a little forward. How about you drop us off at home and we'll arrange a Q&A later." I think I’ll name you Grue. "You are mistaken, Broken One. The three of you will not leave. Neither will your allies when their vigilance inevitably falters. What you call eagerness is not something I can feel. I do not feel. I am. That is all." The blackened figure writhed in front of us, unable to keep the same shape for more than a second or two. No sound came from Twilight’s hoof when she stomped it. "But why?" "The more information you possess, the more filling it will be when I consume you."