//------------------------------//
// June 1st (Hollow Shades) 
// Story: Equestria Legends Online 
// by Shadowflame 
//------------------------------//

	Hollow Shades, the most mysterious little town in all of ELO, is where this chapter begins. This town, surrounded by a massive forest, is one of the most secluded in the whole game. The trees hide much more than most players realize, but what hides even more secrets is the town’s dungeon: The Forbidden Crypt of Hollow Shades.

Late in the night, the full moon shone high above the land, only pale moonlight illuminating through a small window of the crypt. A single player peered through the tiny opening, cringing as he saw that the time had passed quicker than he had expected. It would be tougher for him and his team to escape the crypt and return to the safety of Hollow Shades.

Sighing, the player turned back to his two companions, just barely able to make out their outlines in the darkness, “Well, I guess now would be a good time to say that I TOLD YOU SO!”

One of his team mates replied haughtily, “What? How was I supposed to know taking down that last gremlin would take so long? After all, you went along with it, Rogue, so you can’t complain!”

The leader of the team, Rogue, glanced back through the tiny window, “Whatever, Sting.” He glanced at the last member of his team, “Hey, Lector, you mind providing some light? You’re the only unicorn here after all.”

“Oh, sorry.” Lector replied. Suddenly a white light shined from his horn, revealing a maroon unicorn stallion with a diamond tipped staff on his back.

The light spread outward, and the light illuminated the area where Sting stood. Sting was a yellow Pegasus that wore a bayonet over his shoulder, and he stood glaring in Rogues direction.

Finally, the light from Lector’s horn lit up where he stood, allowing him to see his own black fur and grey mane. Out of the corner of his eye, he could see the hilt of his broad sword, sheathed on his back. He only used a single broad sword, because it was easier to hold in his mouth in fights. Having only one weapon was a small disadvantage an earth pony like himself had, but his strength in levels made up for that.

Rogue turned to his team mates, “Okay, it looks like we have two options. We can either wait here in the crypt and fight off any monsters that come, or we can risk running through the forest back to town, even though it’s night time and the forest is probably full of monsters by now.”

Sting sighed, “I don’t see much point in that. In either case, we’ll have to fight a few monsters anyways. I say that we should try to make a break for it back to town.”

“Hm… But what if we’re overwhelmed by the monsters out there?” Rogue asked, “We’ve seen them at night. They spawn in packs, and if you run into one of those hordes, you’re basically done for.”

“Um guys?”

Sting glanced towards Lector, “What is it?”

Lector was looking at the wall just behind them, nervously pointing at something, “Um… We could try going through there to pass the time.”

Rogue turned to look, only for a look of astonishment to cross his features. As did Sting’s.

All three of the players looked towards the wall, which had been a wall before when they last checked. In front of them stood a massive set of wooden double doors, just as tall as the ceiling above them.

Sting gasped, “Is that… A boss door?”

Rogues expression was much the same, “We’ve found a boss room.”

The three of them stood in silence, just staring at the massive doors in front of him.

Rogue finally spoke, “We need to get back to town and tell everyone about this.”

“But first,” Sting said as he took a step towards the doors, “We should see what the boss looks like.”

“Wait, what?!” Lector looked at Sting as if he were crazy.

Sting placed a hoof on one of the doors, “Think about it. We’ll return anyway, but it’d be better to see what we’re up against before we actually come back here with everyone.”

Rogue frowned, “Hm… I don’t know-“

But Sting was already pushing the doors open, allowing himself in. As he entered, Rogue and Lector quickly followed after him, all of three of their weapons drawn.

Rogued hissed at Sting, “What do you think you’re doing? Don’t you remember how the last two bosses in this game broke out of their rooms, AFTER their doors were opened?”

Sting narrowed his eyes back at Rogue, “Hey, after we see the boss, we’ll hurry back through the door and close it behind us, alright?” He glanced ahead, finding that the room before them was pitch black.

“Hey, Lector, you mind lighting this place up a bit more?”

In response, Lector’s horn flared, and a flash of light pierced the darkness ahead. With the room lit, the three players could see the boss room in its entirety. It was a simple square room, made from brick and stone. But other than the walls and floors, the whole room was empty.

Rogue frowned to himself, “That’s strange, where’s the boss?”

Suddenly, a cold breeze swept between the three of them, chilling them down to the bone. Lector could feel his teeth begin to chatter, “Wh-where did that come from?”

The three of them glanced warily around at the room, the cold and darkness around them starting the make them feel frightened. Sting suddenly gasped as he looked towards the ceiling, “Up there!”

His team mates glanced upwards to see a large cloud of black smoke, draped against the ceiling.

Rogue gasped, “Is that the boss?”

But before anyone could answer, the black cloud shot downwards at them, like a jet stream. Rogue’s eyes widened as he realized the boss was going after him. An instant before he reacted, the cloud nailed Rogue, causing his body to rack himself with pain. It was almost like a blade was cutting through his insides, or even... his own soul.

Sting and Lector watched helplessly as the dark cloud whirled itself around their team leader, covering him in so much blackness that they could not see him inside the cloud. But, they could hear his screams of agony as the cloud compressed itself down on him.

Suddenly, Rogue’s screams dwindled down into nothing except ragged breaths, and the cloud was absorbed into Rogue's skin, leaving him standing there, his eyes closed.

Sting felt his voice shake, “Rogue?”

Rogue’s eyes flew open, revealing two black orbs where his eyes had been before, both as black as night. In one swift motion, Rogue drew his broadsword and took a step towards Sting and Lector, his face devoid of any emotion.

Lector shouted at him, “Rogue, what are you doing?”

But Rogue didn’t seem to have heard him, as he stepped closer to sting. Quicker than a flash, Rogue sprung forward at Sting, taking a swipe with his broadsword that could have decapitated anyone. Luckily, Lector had grabbed Sting from behind and pulled him just barely out of range.

Sting was breathing hard, having been attacked by his best friend, “Oh, God! He’s been possessed. Rogue, don’t do this!”

Rogue, or whatever he had become, didn’t reply. He only raised his sword in his mouth for another strike.

Sting quickly aimed his bayonet at his dark eyed friend, “Sorry about this.” Pulling the trigger, he fired. The shot hit Rogue in the leg, which normally would have disabled that limb. But Rogue continued to walk forward, stepping on the leg where he had been shot, just as if it were completely fine. He hadn’t been slowed, and it didn’t look like there was any way to stop him.

Sting’s and Lector’s eyes were wide in fear, “No, Rogue. Please! We’re your friends!”

But to no avail.

That night ended for them, with their screams ringing out of the crypt, the song of their deaths, and at the hands (hooves) of their friend. They fought hard, but they couldn’t survive, for who would be able to fight against a demon hiding behind the face of their friend.


_______________________________________________________________________________________________


Shadowflame


I stood looking over the railing of our airship, Westfalia, watching the land below fly by as we sailed across the skies. My cloak flapped in the gentle breeze, though the straps holding my weapons kept the majority of it against my back. The view was great from where I stood, with a cool breeze blowing a few clouds along, a mostly clear, blue sky up above, and a green canopy of trees right below, making the whole scene incredibly peaceful.

I smiled a bit, glancing sideways, “So, how do you like flying on the ship?”

Frostlight returned the smile, “Oh, it’s great. But I’ve been on an airship before, remember?”

“Oh, right.” I smiled sheepishly, “I remember. Your team was there when we raided the Haters’ Guild.” I flashed a quick grin at her, “But, that was early in the morning, wasn’t it? I don’t think any of us were awake enough to really appreciate the view.”

Frost giggled, “Yeah, everyone was tired, me included.”

We both shared a small laugh before looking back at the scene around us. Glancing at the rest of the ship, I could see the deck was dotted with more players, either peering over the edge or doing something else in the center. Although, half of the players I could see weren’t even part of my group.

It had only been early that morning that Jupiter received word that the next boss had been discovered. He hadn’t said anything about the boss, other than the location it was found in: Hollow Shades.

After quickly gathering up an available majority of the guild, Jupiter sent us off to Hollow Shades, with his only instructions were to talk to the admin of the town and receive orders from him.

Other than my group that consisted of Teams Equitum, Calvary, and Vortex, two other teams came onto the airship with us, Team Grover and Team Whiplash, Frostlight’s team.

I looked back towards Frostlight, who had begun looking over the edge of the airship again. Unlike the first time I met her, she had all of her equipment on her. She wore a white leather tunic for armor, and arm guards of the same material. A silver bow hung around her body, and a quiver of arrows hung at her side by a belt.

“Don’t you think it’s kind of strange?” Frostlight asked.

“What?”

“You know, how we all were sent to Hollow Shades in such a hurry? We don’t know what the boss is going to be yet. Isn’t that strange?”

I nodded, “Yeah. It is strange. We almost have double the number of players on this ship than when my group headed off to fight the Cloudsdale boss.” I remembered back to when Jupiter gathered everyone together, “Now that I think about it, Jupiter wasn’t quite himself… It was like he was afraid of something. I think it might’ve been something he heard from Hollow Shades.”

“Is that bad?” Frostlight asked.

I hesitated, “Well, Jupiter doesn’t get scared that easily, and when he is, he doesn’t show it. Whatever he heard from Hollow Shades must be a doozy if Jupiter was scared this badly…”

A moment silence passed between us as our minds began to drift. What was waiting for us over there?

I shook my head, “But since we’re on our way there, we shouldn’t be getting scared, too. If it has anything to do with the boss, then we’ll hear it when we get there.”

I gave Frostlight a smile, “But until then, we should find something to do before we get there. I don’t want to stand around doing nothing this whole ride.”

Frost smiled, “Yeah, that’d be great. What do you want to do?”

I paused for a second, peering over the edge of the airship. But then, an idea came to me. I gave Frostlight a sly grin, “So, when you said you’d like to fly someday, you meant in the air on just wings, right?”

She nodded, “Yeah… Why?”

I only grinned at her.


_______________________________________________________________________________________________


"Um, Shadow? I-I don't think we should do this."

"Oh, it'll be fine. I won't do anything too crazy. Just hang on and enjoy the ride."

"But I... That's a really long drop if I fall off."

I only smiled mischievously at Frostlight as her hooves clutched around my neck. I had taken off my weapons, and she was sitting on my back, my cloak providing a makeshift saddle. Her eyes were wide in anxiety as she peered towards the edge of the airship.

"Just hang on and enjoy. I promise I won't do any loops. This'll only be a short glide, alright?" I said, trying to calm her uneasiness. But Frost only seemed mildly convinced.

"I still don't think we should do this. H-have you flown other players on your back before?"

"Nope, first time." I replied quickly.

"What?!" 

"Okay, Let's go!" I flared my wings beneath my cloak, and within a flash I was in the air outside of the airship. All the while, Frostlight screamed as she held a death grip on my neck,

"Shadow! This isn't a good idea! I'm gonna fall!"

I laughed, though my neck was starting to hurt from her hooves around it. I was starting to feel a bit lightheaded since breathing was harder when a terrified mare is strangling it.

"Come on, settle down!" I gagged, "I didn't bring you up here to choke me."

My shouting seemed to get her to calm down somewhat, though her grip still strong enough to keep her on my back. At least it didn't restrict my breathing anymore. But I noticed that she was silent now.

I glanced over my shoulder at her.

What shock or surprise that had been there slowly began to disappear as Frostlight calmed down. She looked around from atop my back, a look of wary awe on her face. But as she began to adjust to the flight, a smile slowly crept to her face.

I could only imagine what she was feeling, but I assumed it was like my first time flying with these wings. The cool rush of wind whipping through your mane, the amazing view from above, the smell of fresh, high altitude air, and the general feeling of being on top of the world. The whole sensation itself could tell why it was so amazing to fly. That's what I wanted her to experience, even if she didn't have wings of her own.

I smiled as Frost breathed in amazement. Tilting my wings, I circled us around into a loop around the airship.

Below us, a crowd from our group had gathered on deck. A few players, more specifically Frostlight's team mates and Swift Vapor from the helm, proceeded to laugh their heads off. Frost's scream might've been the cause of that. Meanwhile, I could see Cloud and Cross on deck, giving me sly grins and a few thumbs up (Even though Cloud was the only one with thumbs, I still got the gesture).

I raised my hoof over my mouth as we passed the ship's bow, mimicking an airline speakerphone, "Attention passengers, this is your captain speaking. If you look to your right we have a gathering crowd of onlookers. One fun fact about these creatures: If you wave at them, they will wave back."

Frostlight giggled from my back, as she then proceeded to wave to our group as they watched. Ironically enough, they did wave back, making Frost laugh even harder, "It looks like you were right."

We both laughed together, both from the joke and the feeling of flying. I flapped my wings and flew us towards the back of the ship, out of sight from the rest of the group.

I shouted back to Frostlight, "How are you enjoying the flight?"

She smiled back, "This is awesome!"

I grinned in satisfaction and flapped my wings a bit more as I decided to take her for another loop around the ship. We both looked at the ship in delight as I quickly flew us around it. But as we circled around the stern of the ship, I noticed something.

My smile faded as something caught my eye, down by the rudder of the ship. It was something small, poking out from beneath the underside of the ship. But as i looked at it closer, it was a dark blue hoof.

I frowned, I wonder who that could be...

But my attention was turned from the curious blue hoof to my wings. They were starting to ache, since I've never carried someone else on my back before.

I shouted back, "Hey, Frostlight! I'm gonna land. My wings are st-" I stopped mid sentence. I realized if I told her that if I said my wings were getting sore, she might get the wrong idea. She'd probably think I was only sore because of her weight. And then she'd yell at me for calling her fat, even if I didn't. Nothing is worse than when a girl thinks you've called her fat. And it's definitely not a good idea if it's from the girl you have a crush on.

I stammered as I caught myself, "I- um, I have to do something else. So I'll drop you back off onto the ship."

Frostlight blinked in surprise, "Oh, okay."

A breath of relief escaped me, as if I had just dodged a bullet.

Soon, we came around the back of the ship and I lighted down on the deck. I stooped down a bit so Frostlight could get off of my back easily.

Frostlight hopped off of my back, beaming, "Thanks for the ride."

I smiled back, "You're welcome." I flared my wings again, "I'll see you later."

"Okay, bye."

I flapped a few times and I was in the air again.


_______________________________________________________________________________________________


I flew back to where I had seen that strange random blue hoof, the one that had been sticking out from beneath the ship by the rudder. I glided down beneath the ship, towards the rudder. But as I approached, I saw the blue hoof again, still hanging out in mid air like before.

I flew closer and, to my surprise, found that beside the rudder of the ship, a small ledge protruded out beneath the ship's belly. And the owner of the hoof was sitting on the ledge: Darkened5ky.

I flew to the edge, lighting down on it. Sky flinched in shock as he saw me land, probably because he wasn't expecting me to find him.

I glanced around at the overhang we were in, "So, this is where you've hidden every time we travel on this ship."

Sky shrugged as he leaned back against the wooden boards of the ship, "Not really hiding. I just come down here because I like the view."

I sat down next to him, "How do you even get down here while we're still this high in the air?"

Without looking, Sky knocked a hoof on a board beside him. Instantly the board was pushed inwards, swinging on a set of hinges to reveal that it was a trapdoor. "It's a maintenance hole, so anyone can repair the rudder while flying if needed. It leads out here from the engine room."

I nodded in understanding, "Okay. No wonder nobody can find you when we're travelling."

Sky smirked, "Yeah, it was only by luck that I found it."

We both paused, glancing out at the scene before us. There was a forest below, but the trees were moving away from us as the ship sailed forward.

"So, I saw you and Frostlight flying." Sky said.

"Oh, really?"

"Yeah. But after all this time, I never got to ask. What's it like to fly?"

I blinked in surprise, "Um... Well, it's great. It's the best feeling in the world." I raised an eyebrow, "Are you asking because you want to fly too?"

Sky seemed a bit surprised, "Yeah, how'd you guess?"

"Well, that's what Frostlight asked when she said she wanted to fly." I gave him a smirk, "You want try a ride on my back, too?"

Sky narrowed his eyes in bemusement, "Um, how 'bout no."

I chuckled, "I figured."

Another pause.

Sky spoke again, "So, flying is really that good?"

I nodded.

"Hm, I figured it'd be." Sky muttered, "Kind of makes me envious."

I shook my head, "Trust me when I say you shouldn't be envious of me. At least you don't have players challenging you to duel them three times a week over a pair of wings."

Sky opened his mouth to protest, but then snapped it shut as his eyes spotted something on the ground below, "Hey, looks like we're here."

I peered over the ledge. Blinking a bit in surprise, I saw a town below us, right in the middle of the forest. "Hollow Shades."

The entire town below reminded me of what a small, European town, with stone roads, and houses much like the ones in Ponyville, though they were mostly made of stone than wood. Not to mention the fact that, since the entire town was completely surrounded by forest, all of the buildings stood packed closely together. Everywhere I looked, the gray stones of the roads, the buildings, and just random rocks on the ground lined the town, making them the most prominent feature of Hollow Shades. It almost reminded me of Ponyville, where pink was a very common color across the town.

I squinted my eyes down at the town, taking in some other details. Wherever there wasn't any stones on the ground, rich, deep green grass grew, making the town almost fit in with the forest surrounding it. On the roads, I could make out the figures of a few players going about with their day to day lives, as well as a random NPC here and there. But only the players stopped on the street, taking a glance up towards the giant airship above them.

Suddenly, my view was obstructed as a gray face poked up out from beneath the bottom of the ship, only a few inches from my face.

"Shadow!"

"What the crap!?" I recoiled quickly in surprise, falling back on my rump against the back of the ship.

Sky chuckled sarcastically, "Graceful as ever."

"Shut up." I retorted. Looking back up, I turned to the mare who had startled me, who was hovering in midair with her wings. Her white mane and tail blowing slightly in the breeze, as well as the green scarf around her neck. She didn't have any weapons on her, but I knew she had plenty of knives hidden beneath her clothes, and she could draw them quicker than a guy with a sword.

I groaned, "Comet, did you really have to surprise me like that?"

Comet only smirked mischievously, "I wasn't trying to scare you. Though it could be taken comically if you'd like."

Sky grinned, "It could be. It made me laugh."

"That was funny, Sky!" Comet laughed, though a bit too loudly. Sky and I groaned inwardly, and we both knew each other had as well.

Though everyone was glad that Comet had joined our group, like everyone else, she had her own little perks. One of which was she was sort of awkward in social situations. Heck, even more awkward than me. There were the few times she had tried telling us jokes, but they ended in a horrible car crash of words as Comet botched the punch line. But she'd laugh at the joke, and her laugh would always be the same, loud. Awkward and loud.

But no one really cared about it. Comet was just another person like us, and her unique personality definitely added to the whole spirit of the group. Not to mention that Comet was one of the most intense fighters I've ever met... Well, besides Sky and Soul, but she was still insane when it came to fighting in close combat.

Comet stopped her laughing abruptly, clearing her throat, "Shadow, I'm came looking for you because Swift wanted to tell you we were landing soon."

I nodded, "Alright. Tell Swift to take us down to town. Sky and I will be up on deck in a little while."

Comet nodded and propelled herself upwards and out of sight, towards the deck of the ship.

I stood up, glancing towards Sky, "Let's get up on deck."

Sky stood up as well, and proceeded to enter the airship through the maintenance hole without a word.... But as he went, I couldn't help but feel something was wrong. He seemed... I don't know, more tense. Or would stressed be the word for it? Either way, he was definitely more silent than he usually is.


_______________________________________________________________________________________________


Soon, Westfalia had landed, and our entire group departed into the streets of Hollow Shades, armed and ready to go.

But as we walked the streets, all of us could feel something... supernatural, per say. The stones of the town seemed grayer up close than what I saw from the air, the grass looked darker, and the sky, almost as gray as the town's buildings when it had been a bright, sunny blue just ten minutes ago.

I could hear Violet breath in wonder, "Isn't that strange? The whole town seems, I don't know, darker than I expected."

"I know what you mean." Lexus replied, "Even with my good eyes, the town looked brighter from the sky. Maybe that's just some video game physics."

"Yeah," Dylan piped up, "This gray sky reminds me of my old Ocarina of Time game, just after the shadow temple was opened. Maybe this is almost the same, like it has to do with finding the boss."

Neon nodded in recognition, staying close to Lexus' side, "Maybe. But is it just me, or does something seem wrong to you guys?"

"That would be because of the boss' door opening." A voice answered ahead of us.

I glanced forward, finding the source of the voice to be coming from a single player in the street before us. He was a light green, pegasus stallion. I couldn't see his mane, because his whole body was covered in a big, pink frog suit, but I did see a pink tail sticking out from his suit... And when I say frog suit, I don't mean a diver's suit and gear. I literally mean, the guy was wearing a big, cloth outfit, resembling a ponified version of a sleeper, decorated to look like a giant, pink frog. And though I was suppressing a chuckle or two from the outfit, I felt my grin widen as I looked at his player ID: Fro. This guy was literally a frog man... I mean, frog pony. Whatever!

Fro cleared his throat, "Since you landed in that huge airship, I assume you're the reinforcements Jupiter sent from the Knights of Harmony. Right?"

I nodded, "Yes. I'm Shadowflame, and I'm the leader of the Elements of Harmony."

"Good. And just in the nick of time, too." The frog pony pointed a hoof to himself, "My name is Fro, and I'm the admin for Hollow Shades."

Fro cleared his throat, "Now, I would chat a bit longer, but we need to get going right away. The sooner we clean up this mess, the sooner the danger will pass."

Everyone only stared at him in confusion, either because of his appearance or his serious turn towards what business needed to be done.

"What danger?" Eclipse asked.

Fro paused for a moment before turning around, "You'll need to see something first, all of you. I'll explain on the way there." He began trotting off down the stone road, with our group of 17 players following closely behind in order to hear Fro speak.

Fro spoke out loud to our group, "The boss was located inside Hollow Shades' primary dungeon, known to us as the Forbidden Crypt. It was discovered late last night by a small team of three players. From what I've heard, they had stayed inside the dungeon for longer than they'd planned. Thus, they decided it was better to stay the night inside the crypt, rather than risk their lives in the dark forest in the middle of the night. You all can probably guess why."

I nodded. Everyone knew that more monsters spawned during the night, and they were much stronger than those in the daytime. But a fact that not everyone knew about was that the strength of the monsters in the dungeons weakened somewhat in the night, but trying to get to them from the outside would be still difficult because of night monsters.

Fro continued, "The three players stumbled across the boss room that night. They said the door had randomly appeared to them, even when they were relatively close to the dungeon's exit. They decided to check inside the boss room to gather intel on this new boss, but when they went in, they got more than they expected."

"What do you mean?" I asked.

Fro shook his head. To my surprise, there were specks of tears in his eyes, just barely coming over his bottom eye lids. "The boss... It..."  He grimaced, "Let's just say only one of the three players survived that night."

Siren, who happened to be walking near the front of our group, noticed a few tears come from Fro's eyes. The kindness side of her instantly kicked in, and she moved in closer to the admin in an effort to comfort him, "What's wrong Fro? Did you know those players well?"

Fro nodded, trying to blink off the tears, "Yes... They were my friends, back from the human world. Since I was an admin of this game, it was only natural they wanted to play what I had helped to create. I had invited them to play with me. But now... It feels like I had invited them to die..."

A small, but still growing, air of sympathy seemed to encompass our group. We all knew what it felt like to lose a friend, and unfortunately, we knew the pain well.

Quickly wiping his eyes, Fro let out a small chuckle, "Look at me, rambling on. That's probably why Jupiter had assigned me to character design while making this game instead of NPC Dialogue." In a moment, he had recomposed himself, "Anyways, there is somebody you'll need to see before you go into the boss room. He'll be able to tell you what the boss looks like and what it can do."

"Who is it?"

Fro didn't even look us in the eyes, "One of my remaining friends, the one that had survived last night."


_______________________________________________________________________________________________


Fro had brought us to a small inn, one used commonly as a meeting place for all of the Hollow Shades players. We all stood in the main floor, in the middle of a big feast hall. We all had formed a semi circle, surrounding Fro and one other pony. He was a black earth pony, with a gray mane, his ID reading: Rogue.

Rogue sat on a stool, hunched over with his head in his front hooves, a wide eyed look on his face. His mane was ragged, as if he had only woke up with bedhead, and bags were clearly visible underneath his eyes.

Fro, seeing that our group was fully assembled, turned to Rogue and tapped a hoof on his shoulder, "Rogue? We need to talk to you."

Rogue's head jolted up from Fro's touch, eyes widening even more at the sight of him and the rest of our group, as if he didn't even notice we'd entered the room. With his attention on us, I could see Rogue's shoulders shaking. His pupils were so small, it made his eyes almost seem like bloodshot, white spheres. If his entire appearance wasn't proof that this boss we were up against wasn't something to reckon with, I didn't know what was. This guy looked as if he had lived a horror film, and with his bad luck, lived to tell the tale.

Rogue's voice, only a little more than a hoarse whisper, began coming from his barely moving mouth, "Wh-who a-a-are th-they?"

Fro placed an arm around Rogue's shoulder, "It's alright. They're the Elements of Harmony. They'll be able to defeat the boss in the crypt, but first you need to tell us what happened last night."

Rogue's eyes widened even farther, so much that blood veins protruded around his eye sockets, just from the mere memory. He let out a whimper, squirming on his stool, "Th-the boss. It c-c-can't be defeated! No one can do it!" He stopped thrashing about on his seat, only to curl his legs closer to his body with his arms, shaking even more.

Fro sighed, "He's been like this ever since he came back to town last night. I don't know exactly what the boss did to him, but he's almost gone completely insane. It was difficult to get him to calm down enough to tell us the bare minimum of what happened. But all I've been able to coax out of him was what the boss looked like. From what he's said, the boss first looked like some kind of black cloud, with a cold wind around it. But then, it changed its form into a giant in a black cloak, carrying a giant scythe."

At the word 'scythe', Rogue suddenly stood up, knocking the stool he sat on to the ground. He screamed bloody murder, covering his ears with his front hooves in panic, "No! I won't let you do this! NO, let go of me, DEMON!" He dropped to the ground, legs buckling as tears began running from his eyes, "I- I won't let you kill my other friends! You- you made me kill Sting and Lector! They were my friends, and you killed them with my hooves! Get out of me!"

Suddenly, Rogue's legs gave out from under him, and dropped to the floor, curled up as tears rolled from his eyes to the wooden floorboards. He sobbed to himself, getting more silent with every gasping breath, "Sting... Lector... I've been... possessed. run...."

Fro, dropping closer to the ground to hold onto his friend, sighed quietly, "So,... That's what happened."

"He was possessed?" Sky asked, quickly pulling together some sense from Fro's sudden outburst.

"By a demon?" Swift added.

Fro's brow furrowed as he thought, "From what I know, we can guess that when Rogue's team entered the boss room, he was possessed by this demon boss. And the boss, using Rogue as a puppet, killed Lector and Sting, and then let Rogue go... But I have no idea why it would let Rogue survive if it had possessed him. But then again, Rogue just barely made it back to town with almost no sanity left."

Fro frowned, "But besides that, there are two things that worry me."

"I assume it has something to do with the fact that this boss is a demon, doesn't it?" Sky inquired. Fro stopped for a moment to look at Sky, surprise on his face, before nodding in confirmation.

Soul gave Sky a curious look, "What do you know about demons, Sky?"

"Well, for one thing, Fro said it was first in the shape of a dark cloud, the most common form for a demon. Second of all, demons have access to evil, dark magic. The gray sky and the faint darkness on the town is most likely due to the demon boss' powers. I assume that this only hasn't happened before because the boss door was not opened, and the demon wasn't released."

"And one other thing," Fro added, "Since you flew here, you probably didn't notice this. But in the forest outside of town, our players have told us that the monsters out there were just as strong as the ones that spawn at night, if not stronger. And one other difference with the monsters now is their eyes; They've become black."

Sky nodded, "That seems about right. Anything acting under a demon's influence will have the same effect, with their eyes going black. It's a common thing in stories with demons or daemons in them." Everyone stared at Sky in silence, not sure whether we were supposed to be impressed or frightened by his open book knowledge of demons.

Siren raised an eyebrow at the blue stallion, "How do you know all of this?"

Sky only shrugged, "I was always an insomniac, even back in the real world. So sometimes I've stayed up writing or learning about these things. I had to do something with all of that time."

"Anyways," Fro interjected, "All of you could probably handle the monsters outside just fine. But none of the Hollow Shades players could survive very long in fights against them. And if we can't fight, we can't train and level up as quickly. And then we'll be easy pickings if the monsters get even stronger."

"But since it's part of the demon's influence, if we defeat the boss then the monsters should return to normal, right?" Swift asked.

Sky nodded in reply, "Yeah, they should. But that's only if this demon's curse is temporary. If we defeat the boss, and this change is actually permanent, then the monsters will only get stronger when we retrieve the next element."

"But that's why I need your group to defeat the boss as soon as possible." Fro replied, "Either way, the monsters will grow stronger upon killing that demon, but it's our only chance of killing this demon. Besides, you need the next element anyway."

I took a step forward, "We were already planning on fighting the boss. It was why we came here, so we're not leaving until we do." I glanced towards my group, "But how do you think we should go about fighting this boss. It's clear that it's unlike anything we've fought before."

Fro nodded, "Yes, it is. So, that is why I'm sending in your group alone."

Everyone was somewhat startled by the statement. We had expected that the Hollow Shades players would fight with us. Strength in numbers, after all.

"Why do you want us to go alone?" Cross asked.

Cloud, who sat on Cross' back, added, "Wouldn't it be better if everyone came along and took out the boss?"

Fro shook his head, "That might've been the case with boss battles in the past. But as Shadowflame said, this is unlike anything you've fought before. It's a demon that can possess a player's body, and fight using their own abilities. The reason that I'm not sending any of our players is for one thing: If the demon possessed any of you, and my players had to fight back, they'd be easily cut down to size because of the fact that we are all so much weaker than your group."

"I guess you're right." I replied, "After all, we have to let as many players survive from this battle as possible. It'll only be logical if our group is the only one, since we're almost equally matched in strength."

I could see a few players in our group grimace a bit. Lexus was one of them, "Not really, Shadow. If either you or Sky were possessed, we'd all be in the fight of our lives. You two are the strongest players in ELO, although that doesn't include Jupiter."

Sky begrudgingly nodded, "Yeah, Shadow, they're right. Against either me or you, they won't be able to take us down very easily."

"True..." I replied, "But both of us can still be affected by status effects. More specifically, paralysis." I turned towards the rest of my group, "Alright, here's the plan. We all go in at the same time. It won't matter who gets possessed first, so long as anyone who can inflict paralysis can do so quickly. Whoever gets possessed must be paralyzed, and once the demon realizes it can't move, it'll retreat out of their body, probably to find another host. When that happens, keep a paralysis potion on hand to give to whoever the demon leaves. Hopefully we can catch a few chops in on the demon as it moves between hosts, but th-"

Suddenly, the doors to the inn burst open. Everyone glanced towards the doors to see a player running through, panting hard with a wide eyed look in his eyes, "Fro! Fro! We've got a problem!"

"What is it?" Fro asked.

"The monsters from the forest are trying to bust their way into the city!"

"WHAT?!"

"Follow me! I don't have time to explain."


_______________________________________________________________________________________________


We all rushed out to the edge of the city, led by Fro and this other player. But when we got there, we were all shocked by what we saw.

Just inside the threshold of the trees, outside of the barrier that repels the monsters from the town, stood a mass horde of every kind of creature. There were minotaurs, griffons, wolves, skeletons, zombies, ghouls, will-o-wisps, and even manticores, all surrounding the outer edge of Hollow Shades. All of them seemed to seath with black aura, and their eyes were all black globes in their skulls.

All of the monsters were hammering away at a barrier, the one the game had put in to keep the towns and cities of ELO safe from monsters. Each of their blows would rebound off of the invisible barrier, causing it to shimmer like a force field. But worse yet, in some places, the barrier looked almost like glass, cracked from the constant onslaught of attacks.

The player that had fetched us gasped, "See, Fro? If we don't do something quick, then they'll break through. Then the town will no longer be safe!"

Fro only nodded, absently staring at the monsters as if he couldn't believe what he was seeing, "But... I didn't think they'd even come near the town. We can't fight them like this. We'd be demolished instantly." He quickly turned towards me, "Shadow, take your group and head for the Forbidden Crypt. The only way to stop these monsters is if you all defeat the boss, but even then..." He shook his head, glancing towards the pony who had fetched us, "Raoul, you know where the boss door is. Take this group there and come straight back here, alright?"

The player, Raoul, nodded, but behind me, Soul was the first to protest, "Whoa, hey dude! Will you guys be alright just staying here?"

Fro nodded, giving us a look that screamed with determination, "We'll be fine. This is our town, and we'll protect it if the monsters break through. But you need to hurry, because we won't be able to hold these monsters off for long."

We didn't need much more incentive to leave. We all turned tail and ran towards the opposite edge of town, with Raoul in front leading the way to the forbidden crypt. But as we ran, I silently hoped the rest of the Hollow Shades players would be alright, even if the monsters did break through the barrier.


_______________________________________________________________________________________________


Soon, we stood before a familiar sight for all of us. A set of double doors, wooden and engraved with symbols. It was the boss door.

We all stared at it with narrowed eyes, as if it were an old enemy coming back to haunt us. Our weapons drawn and in hoof, we were ready to go in.

I glanced towards the pony who led us here, "Alright, Raoul. We'll take it from here. Get back to town and help the others."

Raoul nodded and galloped back towards the entrance of the crypt.

Meanwhile, Siren sighed as she looked at the door, "It seems like it was only a few days ago that we fought the last boss. I thought we'd get at least a month worth's of a break before we fought something like this again."

Cross smirked at her from the side, "What, you anxious to almost get eaten by a giant bird again?"

She glared daggers back at the blue unicorn, "I thought we weren't gonna talk about that anymore."

"Enough." Sky commanded, gritting his teeth. From his look, he was apparently on edge about something. Though I guessed it probably had something to do with the demon on the other side of that boss door. Sky lifted his swords towards the doors, "Come on, let's do this."

I nodded and walked up to the door, touching it with a hoof. Like the other boss doors, this one opened from the slightest touch. The double doors swung ajar, allowing our whole group to pass through into the boss' lair.

But, as we entered through the door, cautious as we anticipated the boss' first attack from nowhere....

...

...

But there was one problem...

The giant, square room, made from stone and bricks...

...

...

...

..

...

It was empty...