Silas Epista

by Maneiac


Granite Podium Arc: Finale [Rewritten]

        “Rex,” I spat, my eyes narrowing as the sound of rushing air filled my ears like a mighty whistle. The humongous diamond dog alpha wasted no time in shoving Dennis away from himself and I, the minotaur giving a grunt of minor pain from the punch Rex used as the deterrent.

        This, however, gave me enough leeway to send a strong knee right into the diamond dog’s groin, getting a yelp when the hard body part connected with a dull whumping sound. One headbutt later, and I was free of Rex’s grip of death. Snapping my wings open to stop the plummet, I quickly circled back around and dove for Dennis.

        But, I knew what was going to happen, and so did the minotaur. Judging by our velocities, I would succeed in catching up to him - sure - but not before he went kersplat. Smiling sadly at me, Dennis gave me a thumbs up, before closing his eyes.

        Widening my own in shock and terror, I had a decision to make. “Just keep going! You can catch him!” That was my positive side, the side that always wanted me to think about the glass being half full. “He’s accepted his fate, and wants to spare you; the key, the one who’s going to get his baby sister out of this hellhole. Don’t disappoint him!”

        The voices were ravaging my thought process like a defenseless woman at night in an alley. Pain shot through my core being as I opened my eyes again, letting a couple hot tears out, before snapping my wings open and halting my descent. A minor wince accompanied the action, but that pain paled palpably in comparison to the creaking in my heart as I watched the minotaur continue his plummet of certain demise.

        “DENISSSSSSSSSS~!!!”

I closed my eyes as simultaneous, mind-offending, loud thuds echoed out after Donna’s scream of ultimate agony. Tightening my claws into fists that shook with pent-up anger, I snarled to myself, knowing full well that I was showcasing my teeth. Choked sobs, flapping wings, and spite-filled inhales were the only sounds that came from my person. I dared not open my eyes and gaze upon the sight of what my failure wrought... my mind and heart wouldn’t allow it.

        “I fucked up... I fucked up soooo bad.... FUCK,” I yelled, throwing my arms down. I had lifted them up slowly when I started speaking, but that didn’t last very long at all. Opening my eyes, my ears swiveled in two directions at once: one was up top, where Donna’s wailing sobs were piercing the air, while the other one was focusing in on the murmurs of the slaves down below. Shaking my head profusely, I saw fit to flap myself back up to my congregation, and sit on the edge of the ramp, curling my fingers under it to keep my balance.

        The heaviest sigh of depression left my mouth at that time, my eyes locked on the immobile forms of the two hulking males that just went kersplat. Many slaves gathered around the craters, making me shake my head slowly. “I... really failed him. Just when he had his sister so lovingly held.... what if it happens to someone else!?” Widening my eyes and gripping my head, the surging pain of a severe headache wormed its way into existence. This throbbing made my skull feel like a bell tower, and if it didn’t stop, my head was going to crack faster than a falling egg. 

        “What if someone else dies!? What if... what if it’s Sunset next...?” I clenched my eyes, hoping that this added pressure would subside the present amount. Shaking enveloped my form, and my breath became heavy and burdened; the pressure moved down from my head into my chest, crushing the lungs just below the surface of scales. “This tightness.... a vice... what is this feeling!?”

        “That’s obvious,” a familiar voice replied, “it’s fear.”

        Snapping my eyes open, I saw nothing but an empty expanse of black before my vision; a wall of deep and writhing abyss that seemed to hiss lowly, somehow threatening me. Instantly, I was on my feet with a sharp inhale, utterly surprised by this - although familiar - change in scenery. “My Station of Awakening...?”

Spinning on my heels quickly made me register who was speaking earlier, and this draconian matched my appearance to a tee. It was definitely Silas Epista; that smug look could give him away anywhere, even among a hundred clones.

Silas kept that smug look on, his claws in his pockets as he angled his head up at me. It wasn’t a greeting, but rather, a way of promoting a sense of being looked down upon. He was trying to indicate without words that I was lower than him in some fashion. “You are uncertain of your ability to keep those worthless lives outside this Station safe. This uncertainty happened to be all I needed to drag your consciousness back here.”

I narrowed my eyes in severe displeasure. “Asshole! I don’t know if you noticed, but everyone’s in fucking danger out there! If you don’t stop this shit now, we might end up like-” I stopped myself short, casting my gaze away. The feeling from before returned in full force, making me wince. “It even hurts to say his name... the poor bastard...”

“Your conviction runs as shallow as this facade of care you put on, Richards.” Silas raised a claw up to his eyes for inspection, using a sharp nail on a finger to clean what I could only assume to be dirt from underneath it. Still, his remark earned him an angered snarl. “Think about it; this pain you’re feeling is the result of ridding yourself of your apathy, of wanting to feel again.”

“I know that, jackass.” Stomping my foot with massive amounts of authority. “The pain hurts, which is a given, but it’s a needed pain; it lets me know if I’m living for real or not! Stop trying to persuade me to take up the path of emotionlessness again! It won’t work!”

“You’re certain of that?” His eyebrow rose, the draconian’s interest piqued. “Then explain to me why you’re here again, if that’s the case.” Both his claws came out of his pockets, resting on his hips as he grinned wider, a sadistic sparkle in his eyes. “Surely you have an answer to sate my curiosity, Justin Richards... or... are you simply clinging to this new sense of emotion simply for a love interest?”

Two pistols were aimed at Silas in no time flat, my eyes narrowing greatly. “... You have no more than three seconds to stop fucking around. I don’t know what you did to the darkness around my Station, but something tells me passing through there won’t be safe for my mental stability.”

Silas, however, tilted his head back and barked out a laugh. “Come now, Richards! Do you honestly think I buy this courageous act you’re trying to advocate? Spare me this tasteless bravado, and surrender. You’ve no idea on the prowess of the Master of the Hearth.”

“Blowback, Precision,” I barked with a snarl, hearing my guns hum to life. “Those gauntlets from earlier aren’t going to do shit once there’s a slug round nestled between those smug eyes of yours!”

He sighed then, sweeping his mane back with a claw. “You bore me, Richards. I told you already; the Hearth’s Fire is a versatile, unpredictable weapon of ultimate destruction... it’s meant to destroy everything, regardless of relation to the owner.” Both his arms slowly stretched out, his smile increasing to near-manic proportions. “There are four types of the Hearth’s Fire, Richards: mine deals with the many manifestations and applications of courage and willpower; to be as boundless as the sky the birds occupy.”

My body tensed up then, the focus in my eyes amplifying and dulling one after the other. “Explain yourself, Silas. I’m not attacking until I know what you’re blathering about.”

At that, the larger draconian sat down and crossed his legs. “Pure Sky, Crimson Atonement, Rotting Heart, and Thunderstruck; these are the four forms of the godly boon known as the Hearth’s Fire, passed down from the draconic god, Garyx, completely by accident.” A claw came up to spin some of his mane into a curl. “Do. You. Un-der-stand~?”  

“Don’t patronize me, Silas Epista! Explain your variation, and then undo what you did to the abyss!”

Silas yawned then, laying down in a completely relaxed manner. “Pure Sky represents a free canvas; an expanse of perpetual potential on par with the amount of ingenuity the user has at manifesting and molding the Hearth’s Fire. It is the most basic form, and the easiest to handle.” He lifted a finger in the air, manifesting a sizeable dark-blue flame just above the tip. “Are you following so far?”

I gave a grunt as my response.

“Its power is not grand, but it retains its anti-magic capabilities.” That flame turned into a blazing dagger, which he began to balance on the tip of his finger. “The Pure Sky Variant is the first step on mastering this power, and you were given a lucky enough hand when placed in my body to utilize it.”

Staring at the dagger intently for a bit, my pistols slowly started to come down. Against my better judgement, the atmosphere of my Station was way too calming to remain on edge. “I thought controlling the Hearth’s Fire would be impossible for me?”

“You’re a disgusting, waste-of-life human. Your entire race thrives on violence and holding power over others; subjugation is your form of currency, not some monetary method.” Silas gave a chuckle afterwards, flicking his dagger into the air where it vanished in a dark-blue fizzle. “A barbaric instinct such as that will have a great deal of trouble learning the easygoing power that is the Pure Sky Variant. You must become as water, not headstrong like a mountain.”

“It’s a good thing this braggart loves running his mouth. I’m getting a shit ton of information out of him.” Nodding my head deftly, I holstered my guns and then scratched the side of my face in annoyance. “Playing around with this guy is bad news bears... other members of the Four Dragons might be hiding around here.”

“The human brain is quite the delicate thing; so fragile in nature, yet your kind never considers their words before uttering them. With such erratic mental stability, one would think your race to be of a pacifistic disposition, but that’s irony for you.” Doing a backspring onto his feet with a grunt, Silas stood back up to his full height and started a stretching routine. “I digress, however; no use in carving a kicked dead horse. Are you planning to monopolize on the information I gave you?”

“I’m thinking a slug to the head would do well in ridding me of an annoyance.” Sighing deeply, I knew going through with my threat would be very difficult. “Just let me out of here. The only ones needing to die today are slaver guards and alpha brothers.”

“True, true.” Silas placed his claws on his hips, tilting his head up again. “Richards, we really must congregate and converse over a spot of tea one of these days. Is there any chance you’ll be free this Saturday?”

Just.... just fix the abyss already.” Releasing a heavy sigh, I placed a claw over my face and shook my head slowly in annoyance. “Am I asking too much of The Great and Powerful Silas?” I made sure that sarcasm oozed from every syllable of that moniker.

“It has to stabilize, Richards. I didn’t do anything to the abyss, but it’s no doubt been acting hostile towards the denizens in this Pantheon-forsaken space of subconsciousness you call a Station,” he sassed. “Still, it does promote quite the potent air of comfort. But there’s a question that’s been bugging me to ask.”

Sighing deeply, I gave him a look that spoke of my oversaturating annoyance. “Hurry it up with the questions.”

Nodding his assent, Silas pulled a deck of cards from his pocket, idly flicking them into the darkness around the Station of Awakening. “Why darkness? Why abyss? As you’ve deducted by now, everything in this plane of subconsciousness exemplifies a later event down the road; even a face or foe you will most likely meet, or a role you will play.”

“What do you mean by “Why darkness or abyss”, mate? It’s just the way the Stations of Awakening are set up. We’ve all got our-” I stopped myself, my eyes widening in realization. “... We’ve all got our inner darkness....” My head turned away of its own volition, my mind moving a mile a minute. “Then that means; that means the Four Dragons aren’t my darkness.”

“Correct. We are merely here as representations of the four emotions you just so happen to not accept.” Giving a chuckle, Silas manifested a throne of his Hearth’s Fire, sitting down and crossing his legs in a sophisticated manner. His head was then leaned onto a fist in a bored demeanor, those smug eyes of his staring me down. “In the meantime - on a more related note - you are pretty much stuck here with me. I have no intention of fighting you, for it will not yield any fruit that favors us.”

“Us?”

Silas shifted his body a bit. “Yes, Richards... us. Is there anything else you need of me, outside of helping you escape this place, that is?”

“No...” I sighed out, turning my back to him and sitting down. “Just... give me some silence. I’ll be heading out soon, anyway.”

Wergal, at that point in time, decided to give up on the notion of helping Silas snap out of whatever funk he entered. The drake was now laying down on the ramp next to Sunset, who subconsciously started to hug the alien. “What are they, connected by the grey matter?” The diamond dog beta crossed his arms, staring down at the couple with a dismissive snort.

Diamond took that moment to grasp Wergal’s paw. “Do you think they’re about to kick the bucket together? We’ve seen some unicorns kill themselves this way... just... using telekinetic energy to destroy their brains.” A long silence lasted between the group as they looked at the two motionless bodies beneath them.

“You don’t have time to worry about those two, I’m afraid.” Wergal and Diamond both spun around just before Donna screamed, the former glaring and gnashing his teeth at the forms of both Dreggen and Otto. “This cow and this foal looks to be of greater import than two comatose wastes of life,” Otto concluded, snickering at the headlock his brother had Donna in.

Wergal dropped Diamond’s paw, growling at the both of them. “I don’t know where the bedrock-laiden fuck you two came from, but if you don’t let Donna and the kid go, I’m sending you back in pieces.” Diamond snarled after her mate stopped threatening the brothers.

Dreggen shrugged. “Fine, we’ll let her go.” A quick shove to Donna’s back had the cow-woman give a squeak. She then flew towards Wergal, who caught her in a hugging embrace. “... Of course, this is all for a price.”

Diamond released a horrified cry as Dreggen promptly tossed the foal off the ramp’s edge with a flick of his wrist. “I don’t quite appreciate how you’ve all turned my lovely slaving operation into a fine mess, and I’ll be sure to take the comeuppance you’re deserving of by force.” Brushing his paws clean of the filth accumulated from holding the foal, he sent a death glare at Diamond. “... Fucking scum. The whole lot of you don’t even deserve to lick the bottom of my feet... honestly...”

Wergal stepped forward, drawing his daggers with a crescendoing growl. “You sick motherfucker! This has been a long time coming...” Spinning the kris daggers expertly, he continued his walk towards Dreggen.

“Do you honestly expect this to go in your favor, Everwinter?” Crossing his arms, Dreggen raised his eyebrow with a yawn. “But you are more than welcome to try and kill me, Wergal. Another example never hurt anyone.”

Sunset Shimmer was back in that plane of darkness, staring at a simple blue and black flame pony in front of her. Its features were spot on with her own, and it was sitting on its haunches like she was. “... Let’s get down to business, then.”

Walking towards her flame clone, Sunset closed her eyes and allowed the inferno pony to seep into her being.

I wasn’t feeling this anymore. Opening my eyes from the nap I was having to pass the time, it was quickly deduced that now would be the perfect time to survey the area. Doing so, my eyes quickly allowed me to come to the conclusion that I was finally alone in the Station of Awakening.
Sighing deeply in relief, I stood up and dusted myself off. “How do I get the fuck out of here?” Looking at the abyss in front of me, my eyes narrowed themselves in suspicion of the roiling black wall. “... Silas said it seemed more violent, and it most certainly does. It’s not exactly emanating the best feeling, either.”

Walking forwards, I reached out a claw and hesitantly... oh so hesitantly slowly, placed it on the roiling black wall of shadow. The first thing I noticed was a surprisingly welcoming breeze and the absence of heat itself. It felt like I was touching a curtain made from a spring breeze; too welcoming to b-

“FUCK!” Clenching my eyes shut, I gave a shocked and severely pained scream as what felt like millions of daggers sucked my arm into the wall. They then stabbed into it, and my legs quivered with a slight buckle thrown in when it felt as though something was being sucked out of me. It hurt me in ways far beyond words and expressions; it felt as if my very soul and being were getting shredded apart.

I don’t know how long I was screaming, but I know it went on for a while. At the end of the experience, my eyes were cloudy, and I was having trouble breathing. I felt abnormally weak, and each round of breathing felt like there was a flaming mountain in my neck. Collapsing was the only possible option left.

“What.... what the fuck just happened?” Groaning in massive amounts of pain, I realized then that my arm was slowly being pulled in further, making my face start to sink into the muck as well. I was too worn out - too far spent - to even think about offering resistance at the moment. Everything was a fiery pit of pain; every action - mundane or not - was intense agony. “... Am I... Am I dying?”

Wergal and Diamond were on their last legs. Contrary to what they had believed, the tag-team duo of Dreggen and Otto was too good for them. Diamond could never land a kick against the small diamond dog, and Wergal just couldn’t seem to hit Dreggen for some strange reason. Donna, however, was too busy dragging both Sunset and Silas down the ramp and towards the other slaves down below.

Diamond was panting heavily by now, her breaths heavy with exhaustion as she put her back up against Wergal’s. “... Can we honestly win against them like this?” Her left eye was shut, blood pouring from it as she hissed in pain. “... The little bastard took my eye out. He had a hidden slingshot in his hat.”

Wergal grunted, baring his teeth at his opponent in front of him. “... Dreggen’s dodging everything like it’s nothing. I set him up for so many feints, but he just dodges them all! How do you fight someone like that?”

Otto sighed, his head angled down so the top of his top-hat would be leveled at Diamond’s forehead. “You don’t, Otto’s afraid. You see, the Alpha Brothers work well in group synergy, covering each others faults to a tee. Simply fighting us two on two was a deathwish from the beginning.”

Wergal blinked at those words, and the next thing he knew, Dreggen was hitting him in the chest with a seismic palm, likely breaking a rib or two and sending him careening into Diamond’s back. She on her part, let out a surprised yelp, partly from Wergal’s new proximity and partly on  finding a large amount of iron in her arm, courtesy of Otto’s hidden hat slingshot.

From their new position on the ground, Diamond and Wergal both found the time to string a plethora of curses from their mouths; to the delight of both Dreggen and Otto.

“Otto told you, yes~,” The smaller alpha asked in sadistic joy, walking up to Diamond’s form with a smug grin on his face. “Otto told you that your fates were sealed. Otto’s cunning mixed with brother Dreggen’s speed will always lead to our respective victory.” Dirt was kicked into Diamond’s face, who tried snapping at the tater-tot of a diamond dog in front of her in anger.

Dreggen strode forward with his claws in his pockets, looking down at the two diamond dogs on the ground. “It’s a pity you worthless Everwinter scum have seen it better to side with some would-be revolutionaries. This operation was built on the greatest mind the diamond dogs have ever seen, and the most ruthless sadist to ever wear a tux,” Dreggen said, straightening his tie. “That being said, you should have known from the beginning that a large number of you would perish in this foolhardy attempt at freedom.”

Wergal grunted. He wasn’t done fighting, not by a longshot; however, his body was teetering on the edge of something. He didn’t know what it was, but every single hair; every single fiber of his being wanted him to tear Dreggen apart. “This bloodlust... it isn’t normal.... it’s not just Dreggen I want to see ripped apart. I want... I want everyone dead...”

The beta could see it; a mountain range of corpses lined up just for him, with two bleeding skulls in his paws that were soon crushed into dust. He could smell the cadavers, taste the suffering they had right before they perished... and for some reason that sickened him to no end... he loved it. He was smiling down at the bodies under his feet, regardless of what race they were.

It was then that Wergal felt a fierce stinging sensation on his back, jolting him out of the gruesome images that he was enjoying so much. Widening his eyes, he looked up at Dreggen with a happy face, one that was on severe levels of creepy.

“... What are you so jovial about, mutt?” Dreggen frowned down at Wergal, kicking him square in the muzzle. The alpha relished the sound of cracking teeth and bone from the connection, earning himself a whimper from the beta that was on the wrong end of that foot... a foot that was soon placed on top of his head and grinding into it with the heel. “You’re about to die, so I guess being happy is allowed; a whole life’s worth of pain and the pain in the future you won’t be able to experience suddenly disappearing? Hell, I’d be overjoyed as well under the right circumstances.”

Wergal took that moment to let out a pained cackle, before shooting up and grabbing a hold of Dreggen’s legs. The move caused Dreggen to lose his balance and fall back, letting Wergal jump into the air while still holding his legs. By doing this, Dreggen’s head and neck were now on a ferocious collision course with a jagged part of the ramp, the alpha dog’s eyes wide in surprise.

“... I bided my time, Dreggen....” Wergal laughed as the jagged spike of hard rock impaled the diamond dog through the head, leaving the body twitching and the rock formation covered in bits of the dog’s brain. It didn’t stay that way for long, because Wergal was all too eagerly tearing into the rock with his mouth, devouring it hungrily as gore dripped from his mouth. His venomous red eyes sharpened, clouding over even more as he started tearing the clothes off Dreggen’s dead body, aching to get at the flesh beneath.

When at last he settled upon it, Wergal wasted no time in all but diving into Dreggen’s chest cavity; tearing flesh from bone, cartilage from muscle, his face becoming a sick painting of intense hunger and a desire for consumption with every bite he took. Every swing of his paw brought more of the flesh into his mouth, made his eyes cloudier; a sort of high look going for his facial features as he continued his feasting.

Otto was - in a word or less - vomiting. His eyes were hastily torn away from the graphic scene of watching his brother be devoured, the gore splattering everywhere as Wergal flung gore this way and that without a care in the world. Wet splats filled the air, the grey wall to their left becoming increasingly red. “... What the.... w-w-w-what just happened!?” The smaller dog fell into a fit of coughing, before catching sight of Wergal snapping his head up after the cry he made seemed to register.

Trembling greatly, Otto began backing up, just as Diamond started to rise from her position on the ground. Looking at her with wide eyes, he could see the killer intent in them as well.

“When you destroyed my clan and assimilated its members into the ranks of your slaves, you left my mate to fend for himself against bastard Skaven cultists. Since then...” Her uninjured arm raised itself, the paw attached to it pointing at Wergal as his head snapped back down to continue his ravenous consumption of Dreggen. “... He’s hungered for the flesh of his own kind the most, and the flesh of other sapient beings.” Walking forward while the smaller diamond dog scooted backwards using his stubby arms, Diamond closed the distance quickly.

“Get back! Stay away from Otto!”

Her foot stomped down on his chest, pinning him in place while cracking the stone underneath his small body. The tiny pug coughed up copious amounts of blood with a whimper, his eyes squinting shut as he started to cry and wail.

Diamond looked down on him, her face devoid of emotion. “For the past five years, I was forced to service your disease-ridden beasts of guards. I’ve been thrown in The Rough simply because I was desirable.” Her foot began to twist in turn, the tiny dog’s bones creaking under the supernatural force. “I was whored out; passed around and ultimately used to everyone’s desire. There were days when sitting down was out of the question, days where I nearly slipped in puddles of my own blood.”

Otto was furiously scratching and hitting the foot sinking further and further into his chest, trying to hastily remove it with all his strength.

“This runs deeper than any well, and thicker than dough.” Showing the first glimpse of emotion Diamond snarled in anger, her foot teetering on the edge of breaking into Otto’s chest cavity. “I was broken, battered, abused, used, raped, tortured... for what? For gems? For your satisfaction? For this kingdom of dirt?”

Otto looked up at her... then smirked as his tiny body began to shut down on him. “... W-w-w-why not... a-all of it?”

Diamond narrowed her eyes. Keeping her foot down, she launched the other towards Otto’s chin. On connecting, the tiny dog’s head was punted clean off its shoulders and catapulted into the wall all the way across the chamber where it splattered like rotten watermelon dropped from an adequate-enough height.

Spitting a mixture of hatred and saliva onto the headless body, Diamond shoved it over the edge with a sneer. “Disgusting filth... that was for my kids.”

        
Sunset Shimmer groused, blowing a snort from her mouth as her eyes fluttered open. “Gahhh... my aching everything...” Struggling to grab some semblance of stable footing, the unicorn slowly climbed to her hooves and shook her head of some lingering cobwebs from her seemingly-long nap.

        Giving a much needed survey of her surroundings, she was surprised to find herself on the bottom level of the chamber, and far away from the last place she was. Her eyes flickered up to the tunnel, making out two distinct figures currently having their way with the alpha brothers. A sigh left her nostrils as she registered Diamond’s way of beheading the small alpha, her face completely stoic.
        
        “... By Faust, I need a shower.” Shaking her head slowly, Sunset looked away from the ramp and around her current vicinity. She saw her boyfriend currently passed out, which she raised her eyebrow at. “... Did some dog get the best of him?”

        Donna cleared her throat at that point in time, drawing the inquisitive eyes of Sunset to her own. “Um, he kinda just passed out. One moment he was sitting on the ramp’s edge and the next was... well... he just fell back, seemingly unconscious.”

        Sunset took this news with pursed lips, looking more annoyed than worried. “So he was knocked unconscious by himself? That’s rather disappointing... yet another thing I’ll have to fix.” Sighing, her eyes turned back to look at Silas with a brief titter. “We’re in danger, and he’s taking a nap. He is definitely a hero.” Sarcasm practically dripped out of each syllable.

        The minotaur cow behind the unicorn walked off at that point in time, her lip quivering as she neared the two places of impact. “At least you have someone...”

        A golden rocket launched from the ground, impacting on Silas’s chin in a deafening explosion. “Get up, lazy bones,” Sunset barked, her eyes only narrowing when her boyfriend didn’t react to the slap. However, her hoof hurt enough to warrant a couple of shakes from it. “... Is your face made of boulders? Bah.”

        Sunset saw it then; a grimace that signaled the awakening of her boyfriend. Not only was it a grimace, but the body of her love started to grow bit by bit. The muscles expanded before her very eyes, entering a new threshold on how strong she previously thought Silas to be. His frame creaked and moaned, stretching out in order to welcome inches and about two feet to his already impressive height.

        “... What in Faust’s good name?” She backed up, not really knowing how to digest these changes happening to her boyfriend’s body. “Silas, what in the world is going on with you? Are you well?” A hoof was lifted up to cover her mouth, her eyes lowering themselves into a suspicious stare.

        Eyes fluttering, Silas finally left his realm of unconsciousness and sat up with a groan. Rubbing his head, the draconian locked pained eyes with Sunset. “... Did you catch the plate number of that semi that hit me?”

        “... I won’t even dignify that rubbish with a response.”

        “Yup, still here.” Stretching, Silas stood up and looked around. “Is everyone alright, or are there still some mutts that need to be put down?” His eyes widened as he stumbled forwards, nearly falling on his face. “... What!? When did I get so big!?”

        Sunset raised her eyebrow, a smile working its way across her features. “I was under the assumption that you were always needlessly big. Was this not the status quo?”

        A playful frown was what she received for her quip. “If you got time to make jokes, you got time to brief me on what’s happened so far.” Cracking his back, Silas started a round of snickering. “Or are you going to insist on me remaining somewhat useless to this whole revolution?”

        Sighing powerfully, Sunset started a walk towards the ramp. “Come with me and see for yourself, deary.”

        Silas blinked, his face heating up to be a deep purple of excitement as the tips of his ears started to work on becoming the same color. “No, it couldn’t have been... did... did she jiggle it?” Rubbing the back of his head, the draconian followed after his girlfriend with a very quiet chuckle. “Guess she wants me to do something with that flank afterwards... not against that in the slightest.”

        “My head is up more, Silas dear.”

        Stumbling a bit in embarrassment, Silas coughed into his claw, and walked behind in her in silence. It stayed this way for about two seconds, before his eyes locked onto something of intrigue in the distance. “Hey Sunny, one sec?” Before she could even turn around to answer, Silas was to her left a good distance away.

        Blinking in surprise, Sunset spent her boyfriend’s time away thinking about how the hell he moved that far in such a short time.

        As I neared my sword’s handle, I began to wonder about how it came to be here. Many thoughts passed by in my mind, before I settled on the most logical conclusion. “Wergal must have had it. He’s the only one who knew where my shit was located.”

        Reaching the handle among the slaves, I pulled on it, just to hear a squelching sound. Raising my eyebrow, I frowned and pulled harder. It was coming along slowly, but at the rate this was going, my dick was going to shrivel up and fall off before I removed Zaelstrom.

        Giving a very loud grunt, I placed both claws on the white handle and yanked hard. So hard, as a matter of fact, that I surprised myself with how much strength I used. Not only did Zaelstrom pop free, completely coated in a type of liquid silver, but a nicely-sized chunk of earth followed it as well. As I tried to digest this new sight, the silver substance began to elongate and elongate; reshaping the dirt into the same silvery substance, and then into some sort of long-ass stick with an ax-

        My eyes widened as the last of the silver finally molded itself, and then turned white. In my claw was now a hulking, large, wide-bladed war axe. The whole thing was white, and gleamed very brightly, almost making me wince at it. “Why the hell... my sword just turned into an axe!”

        Waving my arm around a bit to test its weight, my jaw nearly hit the floor when I discovered it’s very lightweight attribute. Smiling widely as a few test swings were taken, I realized that most of the weight was up towards the top; said top’s blades being symmetrical and in the shape of a dragon’s spiked head with the blades cut into jagged wing patterns.

        “Now this... this is a weapon....” Placing its end on the ground, I quickly figured out that it was damn-near the same height I was. “... A weapon that’s big as shit, too. There’s gotta be a way to make this smaller than what it i-”

        A sound that reminded me of a canister being sucked up the air vac at a bank drive thru sounded out, my axe losing its bladed top and shortening itself into a short baton; not a baton a correctional officer would use, but more like one a track star would pass off to the next runner. Blinking rapidly at this strange transition, I slipped the baton under my belt... just to discover that my pistols were gone.

“What the fuck? Where did they go?” Doing a quick turn to survey the area, my eyes didn’t settle upon anything remotely close to a pistol once. I did, however, notice an incredibly thick silver substance drip off my face. Frowning at that, a claw went up to investigate the strange drippage.

The thickest of it was actually dripping down the left side, closer to the left back-end of my left eye. “... The Fester? Okay, what the hell is happening?” No answer came as I continued to drip, and it wasn’t like I was dying from it... at least, it didn’t feel that way. Dismissing it as nothing, I continued on my way after dropping my holsters to the ground. “It’s not like my pistols can be used by anyone else. That’s advanced technology that only seemed to work with my Hearth’s Fire.” 

In no time at all, I was next to Sunset. Now, I towered over the beautiful unicorn pony. “She’s still sexy as hell, even though she’s practically caked with dirt and grime. She probably wants a shower so bad.” Giving a quiet snicker at that, followed by blushing at a naughty image of me and her involved in said shower together, I cleared my throat behind a fist.

“Ready to go, baby?”

“Indeed I am. You have a habit of taking your sweet time.”

“Well,” I chuckled, “slow and steady wins the race, but the early bird gets the worm. It’ll be better for us to take action now.”

“Follow me then, Silas.” Sunset gave me yet another concealed jiggle of her flanks before heading up the ramp, making my blush increase more. Sighing heavily,  I followed after her slowly, still being able to keep up with her as I placed my claws in my pant pockets. “.... What do you dream about, darling?”

I blinked at that, putting on a stoic face as she turned her head around and up to look at me questioningly. With her face skewed in such a manner, I thought I did something bad and was looking into the eyes of a sour detective. “My dreams are troubled, sometimes. To simply call them nightmares would not be enough credit.”

“So I’m guessing having to relive such traumatizing night terrors is not on your to do list?”

“Not particularly, no.”

“Then we shall drop this topic for now. Besides,” Sunset said, stopping behind Diamond and Wergal; the latter wiping his mouth and giving a large belch as he stood up from his meal. When Sunset took notice of what his meal was, her face was less than approving, and actively showed her repulsion. “... It seems we’ve arrived.”

Sighing in  similar repulsion, I looked down at the mess before my eyes. “... Well shit, Wergal; you got what you want, it seems.”

“That and so much more, Silas.” Wergal pulled a large golden key out of his right pocket, grinning at everyone he could. “This is the key to the Alpha Vault. I say we clean it out.” Twirling said key with the circular hole in its bottom, Wergal proceeded to leave us in favor of walking down the tunnel I was tackled out of earlier.

Blinking at his chipper attitude despite him being covered from head to toe in gore, Diamond, Sunset and myself all looked at each other strangely. I gave a shrug first, then motioned for them follow along as my steps soon had me at Wergal’s back despite him having a lead on us. “I must have grew pretty damn big. Strangely enough, these caves aren’t too bad height-wise here. Guess Otto kept majority of the minotaurs.”

We walked for what seemed like forever, until Wergal brought us into a sizeable room that seemed to spiral upwards with nicely-crafted marble steps. Raising an eyebrow at the sudden change of building material, I continued to follow Wergal up the staircase with a slow pace that still kept me in front of everyone else behind me. There was practically no space in this staircase for me, causing a slight feeling of claustrophobia.

As my shoulders grated along the walls, it took us about a minute of stair climbing to finally come face to face with another room. This one had a set of painted red, double wooden doors with a big-ass padlock on it. My eyes locked onto the keyhole instantly as Wergal made his way forward, shoved the key inside, and twisted until the lock popped open.

“Welcome to the Alpha Vault. Anything shining will be here for your finding.” Snickering at his own rhyme, he pushed open the doors. My eyes instantly widened as piles and piles of gems, gold, and other such expensive things were stacked high. Everything and anything with some type of shimmer or gleam was in here, and all it took was about twenty candelabras to keep his place nicely lit.

There was no choice. I had to let out an impressed whistle as I entered the room. “Look at all this damn loot! We could really be set for life off of all these gems!” Rubbing my claws together with a snicker, I neared the closest pile and inspected myself in a reflective gold coin.  “How much would all this fetch, guys?”

Diamond scoffed, crossing her arms and looking at me. I could tell she was doing this because of another reflection in a coin close to the one that my face was occupying. “All of this is going to the slaves that survived the revolution. It will be a good pick-me-up because most of these people have been missing for three years or more. Getting back to their families doesn’t come cheap, Silas Epista.”

“We’re gonna have to divvy all this out, ain’t we,” I asked while sighing.

“That’s the plan, yes. Do you have a problem with it?” A tapping foot let me know that Diamond was ready to possible cave my skull in with something if I answered wrong.

“A small one, but it’s too small to mention.” Turning my head to look at her, I gave a brief nod. Standing back up, my claws came down to fluff the pants of dirt. “So how are we going to do this?”

“Wergal’s gonna go get the slaves and bring them up here. We’re gonna bag some loot up for them; bigger bags for families with children, or for people that need to go overseas. Smaller bags for those native to this country, or for those that wish to just stay here.” Diamond began pacing after saying that, making me raise my eyebrow. “Don’t get me wrong, we will be taking a nice amount of the riches in here for our own.”

“Huh, alright then. Guess I can roll with that line of thinking.” I looked at Sunset, who raised her eyebrow at me in askance. The shrug I gave her made the unicorn roll her eyes and go back to idly looking at all the loot. Snickering at the response she gave, I went back to admiring the loot piles myself. “What are we gonna use to bag the loot?”

“Hmmm,” Diamond hummed in thought. “Well, if the slaves come with clothes on their backs, they’re gonna have to make one more sacrifice. For the slaves that don’t have shirts or pants or whatever else, they’ll have to mold something out of some mud, or find a chest in here.”

I blinked. “... Surprisingly well thought out, Diamond. A natural leader, you are.”

I frowned at that. “Hey now, watch it. Are you forgetting that I’m your ride out of here?” Tapping my foot, my eyebrow was slowly raised in annoyance. “Of course, you can keep patronizing me if you wish; it’s not like that’ll give me cause to leave your furry-ass here, right?”

Diamond offered a snicker while rolling her eyes, heading for the doors herself. “Yeah, right. We’ll be back with the slaves. In the meantime, keep watch and don’t take anything.” And with that, she went through the doors after snorting a bit.

I gave a huff at her, not really in amusement, but more along the lines of even more annoyance. “Well, I guess she’s earned the right to be so chipper. Poor girl’s finally free of her shackles...”  There wasn’t a way to stop myself from wincing at a particular thought. “... However, where one pair of shackles is broken, another pair is forged. I gotta talk to Donna after all this.”

“Silas? Can you hear me? Silas Epista!”

I gave a nice cry of surprise and pain as Sunset slammed her hoof down on my pinky toe. Glaring down at her, a grunt worked its way out of my throat as she returned the gesture with similar facial features. “What is it, Sunny?”

“I was calling you for the past minute or so! Get your head out of the clouds!”

Sighing deeply, I nodded and sat down, crossing my legs as I looked my girlfriend in her eyes. My action was rewarded by a roiling feeling around my stomach, but I dismissed it as not eating today. “Sorry, sorry.”

Sitting back on her haunches, Sunset’s glare softened until her features became normal again. “I wanted to ask you a question that’s been bugging me for a while. I expect you to listen to the best of your capabilities, because I won’t be letting it out again.”

“Hmm? This is rather new for her... she’s also become a bit more arrogant and bossy. Not that I’m complain-” I blinked as her glare returned, offering a sheepish smile. I could feel my eyes twitching, knowing that there’s a fuck-up with my name on it here. “... Uh... I didn’t do it again, right?”

“.... We will converse later, Silas. Count on that,” she hissed, making me wince a bit as her body was then raised and turned in order to walk off.

Scratching the back of my head while looking down at the ground in disappointment of myself, I decided to wait in silence until Wergal and Diamond came back with the slaves so we could hurry up and get this stuff divvied out appropriately.

“There’s no way possible it’s daytime, still. We’ve been in here forever!” Whining to myself mentally, I watched as the last ten slaves came forward. To be honest, I’ve never seen such a huge number of people gathered in one place before. “Well, at least they’re on their way to becoming normal citizens again...”

My head turned from the new position I took up against a wall. I currently had my arms crossed, and a foot resting flat on the wall while the other remained on the ground. This new vantage point let it dawn on me on just how much the slaves took from the Alpha Vault.

“... Guys... there’s like nothing for us here,” I spoke out into the almost-empty Vault, watching as Diamond turned her head to look at me with a frown; one that I happily returned. “It was a good thing to do and all, but judging by how they all took the gold rather than the gems, I’m starting to think we’re gonna leave out of her holding the shitty end of the short stick.”

“Silas, shut up,” Diamond responded curtly. “There’s still plenty of gems here.” She picked up a rectangularly-cut emerald and tossed it at me, making me raise an eyebrow as I caught it from below as it fell in the air at the end of its arch. “Something tells me you become a bit of a grouch when you’re hungry. Munch on that.”

My eyebrow did not go down. “I’m not putting a rock in my mouth. What kind of idiot do you take me for?”

“Dragons eat gems? Hello? Equis to dragon?” Diamond looked at me then like I had grown a separate head.

A short growl left my mouth in response. “This bitch is getting on my nerves. However... if what she said actually holds some amount of merit...” I didn’t move my eyes off hers as the gem was lifted up to my mouth. Opening my maw a little, the smallest bite ever thought possible was taken out of the emerald’s corner. It didn’t take long for my eyes to widen in large surprise. “... Apples? Are you fucking kidding me?”

I blinked at Diamond.

“What?”

“It tastes like apples?”

“Yeah? It’s an emerald. It tastes like that for most gem eaters.”

“...It’s a rock.”

“... Did you hit your head too hard while you passed out, Silas?”

My eye twitched of its own volition as my brain struggled to keep up with this new development. “... I don’t know whether to be severely perturbed that this a thing, or to be more shocked at how I’m eating a precious stone like it’s a Now or Later.” I popped said emerald into my maw without a second thought, chewing it down into an apple-tasting mash that was absolutely delicious even with all my bellyaching from before.

Diamond raised her eyebrow. “... A Now and Later? The hell are you on about this time, Si-” She stopped herself, placing a paw on her face in exasperation. “Y’know what? Nevermind. We have a modest pile of gems and gold here; enough to last us for a long time as we.... wait...” Diamond looked at me with a face of askance at that moment. “... What’s our plan now?”

“Well, Sunset and I were gonna get out of here and head for Canterlot. I have big business to discuss with one of the princesses there.” Crossing my arms, I gave her what felt like my twentieth raised eyebrow. “Of course, Wergal and yourself are welcomed to do whatever you wish.”

“And what about Milk,” Diamond asked, lifting an index finger very minutely to point at the minotaur woman currently brooding in a corner of the Alpha Vault. Her tattered dress hangs low enough for me not to get blasted with the sight of her ass. “She’s torn up about Dennis... of course she would be. It wasn’t even three hours ago when it happened.” Sighing deeply, I decided to press off the wall and make my way over to her.

On my route to her position, I turned my head to a quiet “Psst!” that rung out to my left. Sunset was there, smiling softly at me. Stopping, my eyebrow climbed up in askance to what she wanted exactly. For my troubles, she rewarded me with a shoo-shoo motion of her hoof.

Rolling my eyes, I continued to take nice and even steps till I was just a couple steps shy of being right behind her. “... Hey... I know I’m probably the las-”

Get the fuck away from me.”

I blinked a bit. “... She hates me. I could have saved her brother from death, but I was too scared of dying myself. Donna has every right to hate me now... her brother won’t be coming back to her, and I’m the reason for it.” Shaking my head with a sigh, I strode back to my position against the wall. Sunset and I had silent warfare with our facial expressions and body parts as she tried to persuade me to go back over. Of course, I denied her with each time she tried to get me to do it.

By the time we got done trying to rip each other a new one silently, Wergal and Diamond had succeeded in bringing a large black chest into the room. They started packing it full of gems and gold, before the male of the duo cleared his throat. “If we’re all done here, I’d like to discuss what we plan on doing.”

“Sunset and I are getting on our ship and leaving for Canterlot, that’s what,” I spoke up sharply. “If you wanna come with, you can. If you don’t, then that’s your business. Just make sure tha-”

“Wait.”

That voice caused me to turn my head with a raised eyebrow. Donna was now standing up at her full height, looking at me with fierce eyes. “... I want to tag along with you two, Silas. Don’t ask me why, either... just know it’s what I want to do.”

“What’s up with that? God above, this is gonna be hectic...” All I could do was nod my assent to the clearly peeved minotaur woman. “Alright, Donna, you can come with us. It’s not like we don’t have a room for you.”

Wergal began to shovel gems and gold out of the large-sized chest, until half was gone. “You guys can take the chest; Diamond and I’ll find someplace else to store our riches.”

Nodding once, I looked up at the ceiling. “How far up do we need to go in order to finally leave this place?”

Diamond’s voice filled the air first. “This mountain is small. I think it’s 43 meters at most. The peak is right above us, so flying out of here shouldn’t be too hard.” Wergal’s voice came next as he pointed at the doors.

“Just follow the steps up to the top. You’ll be on the peak in about two minutes.”

Nodding once, I looked at Sunset, who nodded back at me while levitating and shutting the chest. “Thanks for all your help, guys. Seriously... this has been just one giant nightmare, and I can’t wait to take a deep breath of fresh air.”

“I just want to take a Faust-damned shower. Can we hurry this up,” Sunset asked sharply, her tone dripping with annoyance. It was enough to cause me mild discomfort, and to get my gears turning as my body moved towards the door.

“Don’t walk too fast, you two.” Donna’s cloven hooves filled the air with their dull walking as she followed after. “I might possibly be the slowest of you both... and make sure we get back to Stonehaven; I want to spend some time in my hometown before we set off on some grand adventure.”

“How long we talkin’, Donna?” I looked over my shoulder, raising my eyebrow.

“Two weeks, tops.”

“I don’t hear a problem with it, Silas. That’s not a long time at all.”

        Nodding my head at Sunset, I gave a shrug afterwards and started to move up the steps at a slightly faster pace. A small breeze was beginning to caress my face, letting me know that the peak was just up ahead. “Siri? You still there, gorgeous?”

        “I’ll stay here, by the way; y’know, just in case you want to forget I exist again?”
    
Rolling my eyes, I gave a dismissive snort as I came to a stop in front of a set of black doors. “Why didn’t you contact me earlier?”

        “Dude, I can’t locate your exact coordinates inside a freaking mountain. The last conversation we had, it wa s a fluke. I managed to connect us from a hotspot you found.”

        Opening the doors with an annoyed grunt, I came out onto a plateau made of black stone and a breathtaking view of the large forest surrounding us. The sun was shining brightly, causing me to raise a claw in order to shade myself a bit. “Is that right? Huh, talk about a lucky coincedence. And what about now; can you get a beat on my location?”

        Siri giggled. “Did you forget who you’re talking to? Judgement’s already en route to your location.”

        “Thanks, Siri... don’t know where I’d be without you, to be honest.”

        “Probably a lifeless cadaver floating among the stars forever more.”

        “Dammit, Siri.” Shaking my head with another sigh, I resigned myself to enjoying the cool breeze and scenery before me.

        A giggle caused me to flick a glance to my right. Sunset came up and sat down, taking a deep inhale of the fresh, piney air. “... How I’ve missed this. These next two weeks are going to be very special, Silas.”

        I blinked at her. “Special? How?”
        
“The surprise will be... a mutual feeling.” A smug smile broke out over her face as she winked at me, making me give a cough of embarrassment. “I’m sure you’ll be positively thrilled, just like I will.”

        “... Oh God... she means to...”

        “Huh... never thought you had it in you, Champ.”

        “Shut up, Siri. What happens between Sunset and I, stays between Sunset and I. I don’t want to hear another thing about our relationship come out of your mouth. Am I making myself perfectly clear?” At the end of my mental rant, there was complete silence. A thought passed in my head that I went too far at first, right before her voice came back to life again.

“Uh... um... eh....” A sigh came next. “... Sorry, Champ. Judgement’s coming up on your position now.... uh... yeah, sorry.”

Closing my eyes in a little bit of regret, I decided not to answer as the dull hum of Judgement started to fill the air. “This is gonna be so interesting... or bad. Please don’t let it be the latter, Io.... I also pray that the rest of my days - with Sunset - will be filled with happiness. I at least want that... if nothing else.”

If I was wearing a crucifix, I would have lifted it up and kissed it at that time. Still, I didn’t let the lack of that trinket prevent me from mimicking the motions. At the same time, Judgement was floating down and opening its doorway. The stairs shot out and jutted into the plateau.

The next thing that filled the air was Donna’s gasps of surprise and intrigue. Sunset and I gave a couple chuckles at that, before making our way up the steps with a practiced ease. Since I was the one tailing my girlfriend, I turned my head to look at Donna as she remained the deer in headlights from the sight of my ship.

“... The unexplained awaits, Dominika Lehigh.” I outstretched my claw with a warm smile. “And not just the unexplained: comfort, acceptance, and love... all is included inside Judgement’s doors. Will you follow me into these things?”

Donna blinked at me a couple of time, slowly raised a hand to her mouth, winced, and started to tear up as she took my claw with her other hand. “Y-y-yes....” Without further ado, she began to cry and follow me into Judgement’s command deck.

“... I can fix this... I can make her feel again. It’ll be simple; one step at a time, one inch every day. And... the result will be satisfying; not just to me, but for her.”