//------------------------------// // Chapter 3 - A Dark Passage // Story: Through the Fire and Flames // by Rhodesm96 //------------------------------// Canterlot It was beginning to get dark when Jason returned to the castle. Celestia had been kind enough to allow him to stay there, and he had been allocated a room on the first floor. As he trudged up the stairs to his room, he made a mental note to remember the layout of the palace so that he could find his way around by himself. At the moment, he had to be lead around by a guard. Granted, he probably would have been accompanied by a guard anyway, as he was still an alien entity at the moment, but it was still embarrassing to have to ask for directions to his own room. He waved off the guard as he arrived, walking into his living space and onto the balcony that lay at its edge. Sighing, he took out his packet of cigarettes and popped one in his mouth, lighting it. He was about to reach into his pocket for his lighter when he stopped, confused. He looked down at the already lit cigarette in his mouth, then at the pocket where his lighter was stashed, and finally to his hand. A small flame burned at the end of his finger. He focused more on his finger, and the flame grew in size. He poured yet more energy into his fire, and it became a veritable fireball in his palm. Laughing, he tossed the burning orb from hand to hand. As he examined it, he became aware of a strong heat coming from his neck. Pulling his T-shirt down and dispelling the fireball, he saw a black mark at the base of his neck in the shape of the amulet he'd gotten from the old homeless man. It felt hot to his touch. He conjured up another ball of flame, and it began to glow white hot. So, I can control fire now I guess. He thought to himself. Sweet. Taking a puff from his cigarette, he walked over to his bathroom. As he entered he looked in his mirror, seeing that his normally red hair had turned ashen grey. He stared at his reflection for a few seconds, before eventually laughing it off as more weirdness to add to today's tally. Is it bad I'm thinking of this as normal now? He thought to himself as he looked over his reflection. He shrugged, and started playing with fire again. Looking back up, he saw his hair had returned to its normal red colour. He dispelled the fireball, and it turned grey again. He stayed like that for about a minute, flicking his fire on and off and watching his hair alternate between red and grey. Eventually, though, he got bored of this and turned to his bed. He lay down on his back, feeling the plushness of the bed beneath him begin to lull him to sleep. He didn't even bother to take off his clothes as he let sleep consume him. Hollow Shades Luke warily followed the pony he had saved. They walked through a dark forest, the smell of pine trees hanging unpleasantly in the air. Ebony, as he had learned the pony was called, cantered at a quick pace through the dense wood, navigating her way through the trees with practised ease. Luke, however, tripped over what he assumed to be every root that stuck up from the ground. It was hard enough to see in the dark of the night, but the thick blanket of fog that hung over the ground didn't help matters. I hate this forest. Luke thought to himself. Be patient, you are nearly there And then there's this asshole. Luke thought to himself. He hadn't noticed the voice at first, echoing in the back of his mind. When he first heard it, he had mistaken it for his own thoughts. But when it began to respond to him, he'd realised it was something else entirely. It still hadn't introduced itself, saying only that it was lost, and looking for a way home. It had been helpful, at least, as without it he would have never discovered his powers. At the moment, though, its whispering was becoming somewhat annoying. His mood was only fouled further after having to walk through the dark, foggy forest for what must have been at least an hour by his reckoning. It has only been fifteen minutes. Luke groaned and facepalmed. Ebony looked back at him curiously, unaware of the conversation taking place inside his head. He glared at her, and she turned away. Look, mate, He thought. or whatever I'm supposed to call you, anyway. You know you still haven't told me what your name is yet, by the way? You will learn my name when I deem it necessary. Luke groaned internally. Fine, whatever. Anyway, how do you know how far it is? Have you been here before? He replied. I have. ...You going to elaborate on that? Luke thought. No. Luke sighed in annoyance. Whatever, then. Can you just be quite for a bit, yeah? If you're not going to say anything helpful, don't say anything at all. He paused, waiting for a response. Thank you. He thought, when none came. "We're here." Ebony said from in front of him. Luke looked up to see an imposing cliff face before him. There was a ravine running along the bottom of it, and directly across the ravine from where he stood a large gate was embedded into the cliff face. It was sunken into the cliff itself, so that it would be invisible from above. He had to admire the design of it. "Hey guys! It's me, Ebony! Open up!" Ebony called to the gate. "What's the password?" Came a voice from the other side of the gate. "Uuuh... I forgot." Ebony said. "We can't let you in without the password. You could be a spy for all we know." "Oh, come on!" Ebony said, frustrated. "Just let me in!" "Okay, sure." Said the voice again. Ebony beamed. "Just as soon as you tell us the password." Her face fell. The password is "Nightfall." And how the hell would you know? Luke thought. That is not important Luke sighed irritably, turning to face the gate. "Nightfall!" He said. "Alright, that's it! Lower the gate, guys." "Oh yeah, that's it... Wait, how did you know that?" Ebony asked. Luke shrugged evasively. "Just a guess." He said. Slowly, the gate began to lower towards them, accompanied by the sound of grinding chains. It fell onto the ground before them with a loud thump, its edge resting on the near side of the ravine. Out onto the gate came a lightly armoured pegasus pony, holding a spear under one wing. Upon seeing Luke, it stopped, and aimed the spear at him. "What in Tartarus are you?" He said. Ebony stepped between them. "Easy, Nightshade." She said. "I ran into some of Celestia's guards and he saved me, so try not to disembowel him, okay?" "Uh... Hi." Luke said, waving. "I think you'd best come with us, then." Said Nightshade. "Saving the life of a member of our group deserves a reward, I'd say." Luke perked up at the word reward. "Alright then." He said, grinning. "Take me to your leader." I've always wanted to say that! He added in his head. ...Quite Past the gate, a cave opened up into the cliffside. After following the cave for some time, they emerged into a large chamber which was filled with ponies, all wearing the same dark coloured light armour. As Luke walked through their ranks, they all stopped what they were doing to look at him. Whispers followed his path through the crowd, wondering what he was and where he came from. Eventually, they arrived at a large stone platform that was slightly raised up from the ground. Upon it stood a huge statue made of black stone, of a rearing pony. Unlike the ones he had seen so far, Luke noticed that it had both wings and a horn. Standing before it was a wizened old pony. Slowly, he turned to face Luke and regarded him with a cold stare. "Welcome, creature" He said, solemnly, "To the Cult of The Nightmare."