A Bad Day to Fish

by FlashKenshin77

31 - Battle in the Haunted Castle

Michael sighed, finally making his way back to Fluttershy’s cottage. Wonder what that was all about… He opened the door, looking for the yellow pegasus. He found her asleep on the sofa, Angel snuggled up underneath her wing. He smiled, shutting the door behind him and went to the sofa, grabbing the throw she had draped over it and covered her, kissing her cheek before he sat down in the chair, head in hooves.
The door flew open. “Michael, Fluttershy, with me, NOW!” Martin yelled.
The pegasi jumped as Fluttershy latched onto the ceiling. They looked at him as Mike ran over and caught her as she fell. “Martin what the hell?”
He was silent, walking inside, picking them up and rushed back towards town. “No time to explain, all I know is we gotta meet AJ at the library.”
It was silent as Martin carried the two pegasi. “You know we can walk or fly right?” Martin ignored the pegasus and Mike sighed. “Will you at least tell me what’s going on?”
“I don’t know, AJ told me to go get you two and then head to the library.”
“Wait, why? What’s wrong?”
They stopped, Martin putting them down right outside the library. “I don’t know.”
The door to the library was wide open, AJ and Twilight’s voices loud and at hyperspeed. The three walked into the library nervously, all the girls were there, watching AJ and Twilight. Spike munched on gems, sitting on the couch as Martin walked up to AJ. “We’re here AJ.”
“Good.” She turned to look at the human. “Before ya came back, Vandir told us ‘bout those tin cans yer trying to go get and Dash went off to try and find it herself.” She looked at the assembled ponies. “And she still ain’t back. Now usually that ain’t a problem… but Martin said that those tin cans’ll attack any non-human they see.”
There was a moment of shocked silence as everypony figured out what that meant. Mike sped out of the library, launching into the night sky before anypony could stop him.
“What was she thinking!? No one can find the castle without breaking the Fallanassi.” Martin stuttered, dumbstruck.
“What’s the Fallanassi?” Twilight asked.
“It’s an ancient spell used to erect a magical barrier, supposedly no one is able to break it, unless the Grandmaster wills it.”
“But if Dash stumbled upon it, even accidently, would it hold?” Twilight asked the human. “Remember, she’s an Element of Harmony, she’s stronger against magical barriers. And if Dash does break it, would those ‘suits’ activate?”
“As long as she doesn’t go inside the castle. There’s about two hundred suits inside and another five thousand underneath. You might have heard the legend of the Iron Army?”
They all shook their head as AJ sighed. “Apparently ya don’t know Dash.”
Martin scratched his head. “But if she leaves the castle, they’ll stop attacking her.”
“I don't think she knows that.” Twilight looked around, her horn glowing as saddlebags appeared next to her, filling with supplies. “Where is the castle?”
He hesitated. “I-it’s not far from Ponyville, it’s easy to spot once the Fallassani’s down.”
“Ok.” She looked at the girls. “Alright, Martin’s gonna lead us there, we’ll get Dash and get out.” She looked at him. “Right?”
He shook his head. “I need to get something from there first.”
“What?”
He sighed. “My armor is broken, useless. I need to find a new set there.”
She paused, thinking. “Ok, we get there, get Dash, Martin gets his armor, then we get out.”
“You have to leave without me, I have… other business to attend to there.”
Twilight went to argue before AJ stopped her with a glare. They stared at each other, almost as if they were conversing inside their heads. Finally Twilight sighed. “Fine, but we’ll give you thirty minutes and if you’re not out by then, we’re coming back for you.”
Martin frowned and shook his head. “Whatever, we shouldn’t be wasting time!”
The girls nodded. “Well, lead the way!” They said as he took a deep breath and ran outside. The girls followed as they delved into the Everfree Forest. As they entered the Forest, a slow mist oozed around them, building into a thick fog.
Martin paused, darkness entrapping them under the canopy and fog. “Oh no…”
“What?” Twilight asked, her horn the only source of light.
He looked at the fog. “She must’ve broken the barrier, the fog is the a defense mechanism.”
The girls gasped as Twilight grabbed his arm. “Then we don’t have time to lose, don’t forget Michael is inside too!”

=

The fog was thick, not even Twilight’s strongest illumination spell strong enough to pierce through it. Time seemed to slow down inside it, no one knowing how long they’ve been running for. Finally, Martin stopped. “We’re here...”
They all stopped behind him, the fog gradually fading away to reveal a hidden castle. The huge entrance had two rusted iron doors, taller than most trees in the forest. Four spiraling towers reached high into the sky, most of it overtaken by nature. The outer walls were crumbled, the remains of the bricks laying where they fell millennia ago. The remains of two flags above the doors waved lazily in the wind.
Martin walked towards the doors as the others gaped in silence. “How did we miss this place, it’s not that far from Princess Luna’s old castle…” Twilight said, staring at the ancient structure.
“As long as the Fallanassi is in place, this place doesn’t exist.” Two different sets of hoofprints lead into the castle, faintly seen in the darkness and mud. He kneeled down, pushing some of the foliage away. “They were here..” He said, quickly getting up and wiping his hands on his pants, pushed open the doors.
The doors screeched, the hinges not wanting to listen. They relented, revealing a small overgrown courtyard, the remains of a stone fountain nestled in the middle. It had a stone path, mostly hidden by grass and weeds that led straight into the castle. They hesitated for a moment.
“We need to hurry…” Twilight said, gulping as she took a step inside.
Martin nodded, rushing inside to fight against the castle’s wooden doors. The doors eventually gave, revealing nothing but pitch blackness. He looked around as torches lining the walls exploded into life. Paintings hung on the wall, the former Grandmasters watching as he gulped, grabbing a torch. The girls were right behind him, a bet hesitantly.
“W-where do we go?” Fluttershy asked, looking terrified.
He led the way, pointing to the far end, some of the torches still lit. “They were here, Apollo told me everything about the castle. The torches only ignite when someone enters the room.”
It was silent in the castle, nothing alive as it creaked with age. The air was stale, having been stagnant in the room. He looked at the paintings and noticed small podiums in between them. He paused and walked closer to them. He bent down and saw the footprints leaving the podiums, the dust clear. He blinked, realizing that the podiums should be home to the metal soldiers. “The suits of armor are active..”
“What? How?”
He gulped. “Dash or Michael must’ve walked down here.” He got back up and looked at the corridor.
Loud bangs and clangs of metal suddenly ended the silence, sounding like it was right down the hallway. “Oh no…” Fluttershy squeaked as everyone quickly backed up.
Several of the torches extinguished, plunging it in darkness. Metal clacked against the stone floor as the outline of two meter suit walked towards them. With every step, more torches went out, the shadows making it taller than it already was. There was a scratch of metal as the suit pulled out its long sword out of its scabbard, holding it in both of its gauntlets. The visor creaked as its gaze laid on the girls.
“What is that?” Twilight asked as they grouped together.
It took a step closer, the ground shaking with every step. “That’s one of the castle’s guardians…” Martin said, pulling out his sword.
“What… what do we do?”
He gulped, his hands starting to get sweaty. “You can’t do anything against it… neither can I. No matter what we do, it’ll just rebuild itself. But I can buy you some time, it won’t attack me…”
“But what do we do?” Twilight asked, her horn glowing.
“You run past it. They might be deadly but they’re not very fast.”
Pinkie looked at it. “But maybe they just need a party or two…”
“I don’t think it’d want a party…”
It raised the sword high, the tip scraping along the ceiling. Martin’s eyes widened and he kicked the suit’s knee. The metal found no purchase on the stone floor and fell over, the lower part of its leg flying off.
“Where would we run too?” Twilight asked.
Martin pointed down the opposite corridor. “Take a torch and go!”
A torch quickly hovered near them and they took off running, hopping over the struggling suit of armor. It tried to swing its weapon but couldn’t get enough force behind it, all the ponies easily dodging it. The torch got dimmer and dimmer before finally disappearing down a corner. Martin stared at the suit, who finally stood back proudly on its feet. The two stared at each other in silence, both swords held in defense.
“I order you to bring me to Apollo’s grave.” Martin demanded.
The suit stared at him, cocking its head before drawing its sword and putting it back in the sheath. It turned around, heading down a different turn than the girls took. Martin followed right behind it as it led him outside. He paused, looking at the looming tower in front of him as the suit opened the door, waiting for the human to catch up.
The girls ran blindly down the corridors, several suits of armor chasing them. They frantically looked around, opening every door in their search for the missing pegasi.
“Where do we go?” AJ asked.
“No idea, keep running!” Twilight said, blasting another suit in the knee, taking it down along with his friend.

=

Michael carried Dash, both covered in cuts, scratches and dirt. He paused and thought he heard somepony yell. “Come on Dash, we gotta get outta here.”
She grunted in pain. “Who builds things like those.” She asked, limping with him.
“My crazy people.” They shuffled along, not a suit of armor around. “I guess Apollo didn’t program them to accept ponies…” He panted. Suddenly a mace crashed into the floor right behind them. They flinched, a suit right behind them. “Nope!” He said, launching both of them into the air and glided down the corridor. “We gotta get out of here before more show up.” He said, looking at the fork in the halls. “Which way?”
To the left lead upstairs into blackness and what sounded like more suits heading this way. The right led to downstairs, nothing there either but more darkness. He gulped, looking at Dash as she looked exhausted.
“Well… this is gonna hurt…” He said, grabbing her tightly before launching them downstairs, his wings trying to slow their descent. It didn’t work as he landed awkwardly and flipped, landing on his back. Dash quickly picked him up and they limped even slower down a small corner. They reached the end, only to realize it was a dead end. The suits had caught up, their clanks only a few feet behind them. A single door sat hidden in the shadows.
Mike ran full speed at the door, busting it wide open as Dash followed suit. He quickly shut it, submerging them into darkness as a faint torch burst into life. It was a storage room, barrels and boxes lining the walls.
Dash groaned and wiped her forehead, looking around. “Where are we?”
“Some sort of store room.” He sighed, leaning against the door.
For a moment it was silent, the suits searching the hallway outside. They paused outside the room, the pegasi looking at the door before the door shook, the armored guards bashing at it. As they watched the door give way to the constant beating, a small gust of wind stirred up the dust on the floor. Mike turned, scanning the floor.
“Wait, did you feel that?” He walked up to a large barrel. It seemed as if the wind was coming from underneath it. He pushed against it, the barrel holding its ground.
“Yeah, yeah I did.” She said, helping me push against the barrel.
It finally gave way, slowly moving over. It rolled away and underneath it hid a trapdoor. It was made of old wood, holes poking through. They looked at it as the door gave way, the suits marching in.
“Where do you think it leads?” Mike asked.
Dash flung it open. “Don’t care, rather find out then stay here!” She yelled pushing him through before following right behind.
The trapdoor led to a small tunnel, running off into the darkness. Two guards followed them as the tunnel sloped down, going deeper and deeper into the ground.
“Can you see?” Mike whispered.
She shook her head. “Nope but we only got one option here…” She said, looking back to try and see the guards.
As they continued deeper down the tunnel, Mike tried to think of a way out of it. “Do you trust me?” He asked.
“What? Michael, now isn’t the time for that!”
“What, I don’t even... no, Luna gave me the ability to blend into the shadows.”
She looked at him. “And why didn’t you say this before?”
“I’m not sure if it’ll work against these things.”
“Only one way to find out.”
He nodded, stopping as they leaned against the wall. He grabbed her hoof tightly as he slowed his breath, closing his eyes as he felt the wisps of the shadows swirl around him. Any light in the tunnel turned away from them as they seemingly became one with the wall.
The guards slowed, the two lost on their scent. They looked around as a guard stared right at them for a moment. It was deathly quiet, the two ponies struggling not to breath as the guards looked around. One stepped forward, a gauntlet raised to grab Michael before it stopped, dropping its hand. It turned, along with the other one and continued deeper down. They stayed like that for a few more minutes before Michael let his breath out, blowing the shadows away.
“That was close…”
“Too close.” She sighed. “Where do we go now?”
“Wanna go back? Since they think we went down the tunnel, they wouldn’t think we’d be stupid enough to go back inside.”
She nodded and the two tried to retrace their trails. After a good ten minutes, she stopped. “We didn’t run this long, where’s the exit?” She asked, confused.
He paused, trying to catch his breath. “This can’t be a neverending tunnel, we just have to keep going.”
She nodded and they began to run, trying to get to the end. Eventually, a faint blue light came at what they assumed was the end of the tunnel. “Do you see that!?”
“Yeah…” He grinned. “Wanna race for it?”
She looked at him for a moment before a smirk appeared on her face. “Of course.” Before he could register what she said, she had taken off, a blue blur in the dark.
He stared at her and rushed after her. “Oh real fair!”
The light grew bright as they approached till they stood in the entrance of a large circular room. There were no windows or furniture, just a big empty room. The light cast most of the room in darkness, the corners hidden. In the center rested the light, a blue crystal, resting in the hands of a human skeleton wearing a black robe. Eight other skeletons sat next to it in a semicircle, their faces hidden by the cowls of the robes.
“What the hell is this place?” Michael asked as they hesitantly stepped inside. He stared at the crystal.
“I… I uh, don’t know.” Dash said, her voice unsure.
He walked up to the crystal in a daze as Dash stayed by the opening. He glanced at the skeletons for poking one in the shin with a hoof. Nothing happened, no noise, no movement.
Dash slowly walked towards the skeleton in the middle, holding the crystal.
Mike unfurled his wings and hovered knee level with the humans. “Well only one way to know…” He said, touching the crystal.
The crystal instantly reacted, the light inside going at a fever pace. A wave of pure blue energy shot out, encasing the room and disappearing into the tunnel. Electricity sparked around the crystal as the room changed, the cracks in the walls slowly disappearing, the spider webs and dust gone. And with another wave of energy, Dash was suddenly gone as well.
“D-dash?” He looked around frantically. “DASH!?” He yelled louder.
The light finally dimmed before fading away. “We have awaited you… Michael.” A deep raspy voice said.
The air left Mike’s body as he dropped to the fall. “What?” He squeaked, looking for the owner of the voice.
The skeletons were no longer just bones, having regained skin and hair. Their faces remained hidden by the hoods. The one holding the crystal glanced up, the crystal illuminating his face. He had a long grey beard and dark blue eyes.
He stared at the opposing nine figures, his mouth wide open. “Wha…”
“Michael, Human of the third kind, listen closely to what we have to tell you.” They said in unison.
“Err… a-alright…”
“Do not worry about your friend, she is safe.”
He sighed. “Good, but where did she go?”
“No where, she does not exist yet.”
He stared at them dumbstruck. “What?”
They looked at each other before looking at the pegasus. “You’ve been transported back in time. It is three thousand years before Celestia takes the throne. We have brought you here so you may stop the terror that awaits Equestria… if you do nothing.”
“Wait… if I do nothing? What do you mean?”
“Martin, human of the second kind, he is searching for a very specific kind of armor.” The crystal bearer paused. “Armor so strong nothing can harm the wearer. No magic or weapon in this plane of existence…” His blue eyes pierced Michael. “But it is dangerous.”
“How?”
“It is what we call an Element of Disharmony.”
“Element of Disharmony?”
“Fear, famine, greed, corruption, death, and war. Each capable of creating untold amounts of chaos.”
“So you're saying he’s going to control the opposites of the Elements of Harmony?"
“No, the armor is the Element of War. Whomever wears the armor will slowly become one wit it until only death can separate them.”
Michael’s brain was in overdrive. “So you become the armor? But why would you do that?”
“The armor grants near invincibility, a gift many would gladly accept. But the armor slowly corrupts the thoughts of the wearer, making him seek only war and destruction. Even the most noblest will succumb to the armor’s taint.”
He held a hoof to his head. “And Martin thinks the end justifies the means… is there any way around it?”
"No, he will wear and use the armor. Without it, this war is lost. He will realize what awaits him and no matter what. He. Will. DIE.”
“Like hell he will!” Mike jumped and floated right into the bearded man’s face. “There has to be a way around it! There’s always a really bad alternative!”
“No, the flow of time will not change.”
“Well if that’s the case, then how did I go back three thousand years?”
“We brought you here because we had to, all this had to happen.”
“I’m not going to let that happen you know, even if I’m killed in the process.”
“You won’t die, we saw what will happen.”
“Well good thing I don’t believe in lousy oracles.” He smacked his two forehooves together. “So are you done spouting nonsense? The future is always in motion, things change that not even you can perceive!”
“If the future would always change, how could we know you’d come here? How do you think we knew when to change the tunnel?”
“That may have happened but I know for a fact that destinies can change.”
“You talk about things you do not understand. Trying to prevent the future will lead ito to be true.”
“Not if I do something not even you think I’m capable of.”
“We will see, we know the flow of time. Nothing will make it change.”
“You forget how persistent humans can be.”
“We are humans, of the first kind.”
“But yet none remain while the ‘second’ and ‘third’ do, go figure. For all your power of seeing the flow of time, couldn’t even see the end of your own.”
“We know that we all shall die but we all accepted that we won’t change it. Because we can’t.”
“So you’ve just given up?! Humans are known for their tenacity, their determination, their will to never give up. I lost an eye and was turned into a pony, but I fought through it and look at me now, I can see through both eyes and fly. You’re not humans, at least any more. You’re a shell of whomever you were before. Your egos block you from seeing anything.”
They glared at him in silence. “We stopped fighting and began learning, seeing what will happen makes you want to change. But we all realized no matter how hard we tried, nothing helped.”
“So you gave up anyway? I’m sorry to say I was actually afraid of you.” He accepted their staring contest. “I see nothing but a bunch of washed up has beens. You couldn’t save anything!”
“Go ahead Michael, try and save your friend. You will realize as well, it won’t help.”
“I will and prove you wrong. Just send me back.”
The old man holding the crystal moved towards Michael, lifting the crystal above his head. He glared at the pegasus before whispering in some ancient language. The crystal responded in kind, the same pulsing blue aura shooting out. The room began to change back, the wear and tear of age returning. Rainbow Dash appeared in the same spot she was.
Mike gasped as the pulsing stopped, the crystal going dormant once again, the room back in darkness. Dash grabbed his hoof and dragged him out of the room. “What was that?! T-that thing shot out some weird energy!”
“It sent me back in time and I talked to the founders.” He said breathlessly, his mind and body exhausted.
She looked at him, confused. “What do you mean? You never left…”
“Long story, look we need to find the others.”
She nodded and carried him along, retracing their steps before they found the trapdoor, no suits anywhere. She lifted it up carefully and peeked in the room. She flew up after a few moments. “Clear.” She said, pulling him up.
They looked around. “You go find the others and get the hell out, I’ll go find Martin. I might have an idea where he is.” She paused, looking like she wanted to argue. “Look, you're faster than I am. You can swoop in and you know how to get out, I need to go get my friend.”
She sighed. “Okay, just be careful you knucklehead.” She said, her wings flapping once before she shot off.
He watched her disappear and sighed. “Thanks Dash… take care of Flutters…” He whispered, running towards the graveyard.