With a little tug, Gloomie fit the white leather hood-cap over her head.
"And that's it. This is all incredibly comfy." She twisted her body and stretched out her legs, feeling her new leather armour morph itself around her body.
"Mmf..." purred a voice from behind her.
"Night Watch."
"White really shows your curves more," the ogling mare said, flashing a toothy grin at Gloomie who turned around.
"I'm walking last in line from now on," Gloomie retorted, frowning.
"I call being in the middle," Mosina edged in.
Night Watch chuckled. "No fun. You guys are no fun."
Mosina took a deep breath. "You all ready to move on?" She cast a glance to Gloomie in paricular.
"Heck, yeah! I feel energized now, even after those darts." Gloomie practically hopped in place, her body movements notably silent. "Geez, I feel like I could run for miles in this thing!"
"Ah, about those darts..." Night Watch interrupted, her brows lowering into a serious expression. She pointed to the sunken stone tile in the middle of the room that had triggered the trap. "Take a look at that pressure plate."
"Huh." Curiously, Mosina walked over to it with a surprisingly giddy Gloomie in tow. Upon seeing the carved, laughing face on the stone plate, her eyes widened. "...Disturbing."
"What is that?" Gloomie asked, finally standing still and dipping her head to examine the carving.
"It's the same face that was carved onto the wooden keys we used to get to the giant spiders," Mosina answered, adjusting her spectacles.
Gloomie pursed her lips. "Well that's dumb." Mosina looked to her with a questioning glance. "If all the trap plates are labelled with this, then we know what not to touch."
"Hey, we fell for it the first time. This place might have more tricks up its sleeves," Night Watch pointed out.
"Night Watch is right. We should be wary, regardless," Mosina agreed. "That being said, we should get a move on."
Night Watch grinned then rolled her eyes. "Fine. Which way should we go?"
Mosina twisted her head to look at each entrance of the room, until her eyes settled on the purple powder she had sprinkled onto the floor.
"I said we should go right, so let's go that way," she said, pointing towards the entrance to the right of the purple powder.
"Alright."
Night Watch began walking towards the dark passageway, her light crystal feeding into the hallway as she crested the door frame. Mosina followed after her with Gloomie trailing behind, the three of them barely able to fit through the hallway single-file.
"Watch where you guys step," Mosina warned, her eyes scanning the walls, floor and ceiling all around her.
"Hey, I'm first. If anything, I'll die first," Night Watch chuckled, earning a disgruntled sigh from Mosina.
Several minutes into their uncomfortable walk between the rough, stone walls, faint sounds of skittering on rock could be heard ahead.
"Hmm..." Night Watch's ears perked up as she stopped in her tracks, intent to listen to the noise.
"What is it, Night?" Mosina whispered from behind, arching her neck and trying to peek over Night Watch's silver helmet. Nothing but darkness met them several feet down the corridor.
Night Watch spoke slowly. "Sounds like... small creatures. Claws. Lots of 'em."
Gloomie audibly shuffled behind them. "I hate claws."
"But you're wearing claws," Mosina said, glancing behind her and perking up an eyebrow.
"Yeah, but when they're on other creatures... ugh." Gloomie shook her head.
"Let's move, but quietly. I bet we're up for something up ahead," Night Watch urged, beginning to walk again. Mosina followed, and Gloomie took a moment to compose herself before moving.
Soon enough, they found themselves in a room not unlike the first they had encountered. The skittering was loudest, and it could be heard coming from all corners of the room. Water was puddled on the floor, and the sound of rushing water could be heard beyond the opposite entrance.
Mosina and Gloomie took their spots beside Night Watch, who had frozen in place.
"What's going—eew!" Gloomie yelped, almost walking into a giant, slimy egg almost the size of her.
Ugly blue eggs dotted with black spots filled the entire room. They lay in clusters and their shells were leathery, covered with slime.
Night Watch slowly drew her spear, and Mosina did the same. Around the cluster of eggs in front of them, a group of lizard-like creatures with long claws were huddled in a group. Their eyeless heads featured long mouths with dozens of long, curved teeth.
"Not these guys again..." Gloomie whined. Cracking her neck, she stepped forward. "I've got a bone to pick."
She lifted up her front hooves and stomped on the ground, the white claws of her hoof-blades ejecting with a loud ring of metal.
Mosina stepped forward, towards her. "Wait. They haven't noticed—"
"Yaaah!" Gloomie cried, immediately launching herself forward at the reptilian creatures with her claws pointed forward. Several of the creatures turned her way, only for their faces to be sliced into four sections by her sharp blades.
Two slumped to the floor immediately, followed by another two who were cleanly cut in half through their midsections. Finally, the rest responded, letting out gurgling cries and throwing their own bony claws at the white-clad bat pony.
"Not a chance!" she yelled, blocking a blow from one creature with her right hoof-blades. She flicked her hoof and the blades sliced right through the creature's claws, following up with another jab from her other hoof. In a flurry of cuts, the creature was diced into pieces, followed by one next to it. A head was torn off, and then were the limbs of another. Blueish blood covered the tiles beneath the dancing Gloomie, diluting with the puddles of water.
Before long, the numbers thinned until not one creature was left standing. Standing on top of the pile of bloodied corpses was Gloomie, letting out deep breaths. Upon seeing the stupefied and grossed out expressions of Night Watch and Mosina, she gave out a cheeky smile.
"Heh... I might have over-done it."
"Nyeh..." Mosina said, her face slightly greener than usual. "The smell... oh dear."
Night Watch gave a grin. "You must be crazy in be—"
A thin object flew past her, cutting her off and missing her head by mere inches. Without hesitating, Night Watch ducked and urged the others to do so.
"Get down!" she screamed.
Mosina followed, and Gloomie hopped off of the pile of bodies next to them, following suit.
"Is it another trap?!" Mosina said, her eyes wide, scanning the blue room around them.
"I don't know..." Night Watch muttered. A clicking noise echoed down from the empty hallway at the far side of the room from them. "Dodge!"
The three bat ponies rolled in different directions, and a single crossbow bolt struck where Night Watch had just been.
"Get behind something!" Mosina cried, standing up and stepping towards the dark exit.
Gloomie ducked behind a pillar and Night Watch hid behind a giant egg, crouching low.
"That's no trap," Mosina muttered under her breath, holding the Wind Ruler firm.
Silence stretched for seconds that felt like hours, until another telltale click pierced it.
"Raah!" She dodged to the right and swung her spear horisontally, a small gust of wind throwing itself in front of her. A crossbow bolt had flown itself into the path, the wind knocking it aside.
Another click sounded that came much quicker than the last, and Mosina dodged again with a swing of her Umbra spear. Another gust of wind knocked an oncoming bolt away.
"Mosina!" Gloomie called from behind her pillar. "Keep it busy!"
Mosina shot her a knowing glance and nodded, dodging another bolt.
Immediately, Gloomie charged forward from behind the pillar, galloping with all her might. In less than a second, she had made it to the other side of the room and pinned herself against the wall adjacent to the hallway. After another click followed by a bolt shooting out from the passage, Gloomie leaped out and stormed down the hallway with her claws ready.
However, she was met with total darkness, the light from her crystal failing to light up her surroundings. She glanced down, only to see it still shining—the darkness seemed too thick for it to penetrate.
Another click—sounding much closer to her—sounded, and she dodged. A bolt flew past her, missing her by only a scant few inches of air.
"Graah!" Blindly, she lunged forward with her claws, only to meet nothing. She continued her charge, until she was met with a pair of green slitted eyes that pierced through the darkness. "H-huh—"
The eyes disappeared to the sound of a loud bang, and the darkness seemed to recede itself from around her. Whatever was just in front of her had disappeared into thin air.
She turned back to the room, only to hear the clanging of metal weapons.
"Dammit...”
Gloomie charged back into the room, only to see a shadowy figure locked in a fight with Night Watch. A purple hoof-blade with a single long, curved blade clashed against the gold of Night Watch's spear. Space seemed to bend around the hooded pony, and the darkness that had filled the hallway seemed to follow them. Similar to the shadow ponies, long, snaking strands of blackness waved around its body.
Mosina came from behind the figure with a calculated jab from her spear. However, right before her spear met them, it teleported away with another loud bang, the darkness dissipating. Above Night Watch, the pony re-materialized and flew down at her with its blade outstretched.
"Hrk!" Night Watch grunted, parrying the blade and following up with a jab, hoping to use the pony's momentum to fall into the spear. But before the pony met the blade, they disappeared again, another loud bang ringing the room.
Gloomie heard them reappear behind her, and she didn't hesitate to swing her claws at them. Her white right claws met the purple blade, bright white and purple sparks exploding out from the contact. She threw her left claws, only for them to be expertly parried again. Despite only having one blade, the pony met her jab-for-jab.
A gust of wind overtook the pair and Mosina leaped in, swinging her spear at the hooded pony. They let out a stallion-esque grunt as they parried the spear, the two Umbra weapons meeting in a display of purple sparks.
Gloomie tried to intervene, but her face was met with the other outstretched hoof of the pony. Attached to his leg was a hoof-crossbow, and it was loaded.
"Gaah!" Gloomie cried, throwing her right hoof in front of her. Her blade made contact with the wooden stock of the crossbow, knocking it aside and shattering it down the middle. The pony immediately retreated their arm and spun his body before clutching the weapon. He desperately back-stepped from the quickly advancing Gloomie and Mosina.
"Nngh..." the pony growled, seeming like he was going to teleport again.
"Oh no, you don't!" Night Watch yelled from the side, colliding with his figure and tackling him into the ground, pinning him with her hooves. Through his black aura, she looked straight into his green eyes. "Aux! What are you doing?!"
He let out a grunt in response. Mosina and Gloomie came up to their sides, warily staring at the wrestling ponies.
"You almost killed us!" Night Watch screamed, only to receive more pained grunts. She pulled his hood off, and a messy black mane popped out. Gloomie's eyes widened and Mosina let out a gasp.
Black veins spread from his eye sockets and covered most of his grey furred face.
Night Watch stared dumbfounded, loosening her grip on him.
The possessed Aux pushed her off and stepped back from the trio, giving them angry glares. However, instead of continuing the fight, he turned away and disappeared from the room in a loud bang.