Ponies of Grimrock

by Homage


All is Revealed, More or Less

Chapter 11: All is Revealed, More or Less

As the four prisoners descended the stairs, it quickly became apparent that the evil presence Twilight had felt earlier was not unwarranted. The walls this far down were made of solid iron. Rusty-looking chains adorned the walls here, some of which were shackled to the bleached skeletons of ponies and a few other unrecognizable species, adorned with tatters of moldy cloth.

“Looks like we jumped to conclusions, Twi,” Big McIntosh said. “This is a prison after all.”

Twilight thought about this for a second. Everything they had seen so far had contradicted the idea of a prison. It made no sense to booby-trap a prison, and even less to use life crystals to channel the power of soul energy.

“I wouldn't be so sure,” Twilight countered. Suddenly, it hit her. “A temple. This place is a temple.”

“A temple of doom?” Spike asked, eyes wide.

“I was afraid to bring it up earlier, but that statue we saw...” Twilight trailed off. A flashback of the image of the statue blazed before her eyes. The base of the statue had been adorned with tiny figurines and strange symbols carved into the floor below. “Asponeous,” was all she muttered.

Big Mac, Spike, and Iron Will all stared at Twilight, unsure what to say. Finally, Iron Will spoke up. “And that is...?”

Twilight gulped. “According to legend, Asponeous was the leader of a terrible cult known only as 'The Followers of the Demon', which disappeared without a trace over a thousand years ago. Obsessed with dark magic, he sought out for nothing less than total control over the forces of life and death. He and his cult stopped at nothing to achieve this power. Equine sacrifice, necromancy, and blood rituals were some of the methods he used in his search for the power. Rumor had it that he died and his followers split. It was assumed they died out, but it seems to me like they continued his work after his death. I would guess that the zombies we've seen are their work. The legend spoke of servants which were brought from the dead. The runes cut into their flanks must have been part of a ritual for reanimation. In addition, the life crystals around here would match with their more recent accomplishments, since the legends don't mention them at all. I would postulate that the skeletons chained to the walls are actually victims brought here against their will. Their agony and ebbing life force would have been used as a source of energy for the sorcery performed here.”

Twilight inspected one of the sets of bones. Sure enough, there was strange writing and runes carved into them, though much more intricate, and covering the entire skeleton. “This was done while the victims were still alive,” she stated grimly. The blackened stains surrounding the skeletons seemed to flash crimson for a moment as their identity as ages-old blood became clear.

Screams bellowed from somewhere ahead. They sounded equine. Someone might still be alive down here. They raced ahead, passing more and more bodies chained to the wall, not even seeing how they became less and less decomposed the further they went. The stench of death assaulted them, but they could not ignore the yells and pleas for mercy.

As they rushed onward, hooded silhouettes became visible ahead, illuminated by Twilight's horn light. There were two of them, hunched over a screaming, bloodied figure. One of them was carving into the poor creature's body with a long, shiny dagger. Spike was the first to attack, hurling a knife toward the armed monster. However, it struck a shield bubble that flashed for a moment as it deflected the projectile with a loud BZZZRT!! Both of the monsters stood and turned to face the party. Their faces were nothing more than a hideous mass of tentacles with glowing, yellow eyes. The unarmed one raised a leg and sent a bolt of lightning from its hoof, which struck Spike square in the chest, dazing him.

“They have magic! Bring their shields down with concentrated blows!” Twilight ordered, hurling a fireball. It struck the approaching creatures, but their shields protected them from the blows. They dodged right to avoid an icy blast. Iron Will had to grab the stunned Spike in his huge hand to help him avoid the freezing magic. They retaliated with a charging attack, with a powerful headbutt from Big McIntosh and an overhead chop from Iron Will. The beasts' shields broke with a KRAK!

“Now! They're vulnerable!” Twilight cried, hurling a fireball to cook the creatures. Spike shook off his disorientation and planted a knife straight in the smoldering eye of one of them, piercing its skull and killing it instantly. Its corpse crumbled to dust before it hit the floor.

Big McIntosh delivered a fierce uppercut to the other, snapping its neck. It slumped to the floor with its head bent back at a nauseating angle, before vaporizing as well.

“Uggghhh, thank you...” the bleeding pony muttered.

“Hold still, I have some medicine for you,” Twilight said, quickly mixing up a reddish potion from a crushed tar root and levitating the vial to the dimunutive, cloaked stallion.

Recognizing the concoction as a healing poultice, the tan-coated stranger immediately gulped it down. His wounds rapidly started to close and he found the strength to stand up, revealing his dark brown eyes. “So, you found my note?” he asked with a smile.

“Root Rum?” Twilight stammered, stunned.


After introductions were exchanged, Root Rum revealed that he had only been in the dungeon for a few days longer than the rest of the party. He claimed to be imprisoned for treason, although he asserted strongly that he was being coerced by dark magic. He wouldn't elaborate further.

However, he proved to be an extremely capable guide due to his uncanny knowledge of the dungeon and soon just became another one of the party, albeit one able to move at twice the speed of the others due to being unchained.

“Not my philosophy, but I'm not your size,” Iron Will commented. “No offense.”

Spike felt pretty ashamed to have been killed by a snail.

“It's the powerful magic in the walls of Mt. Grimrock. It's had unpredictable results on the local wildlife, resulting in some dangerous mutations and aggressive tendencies in normally harmless creatures,” Root Rum postulated. “It would be why the followers of Asponeous built this place.”

Twilight's eyes shot open, “Are you an expert on magic?”

Root Rum chuckled. “Well, I don't want to brag, but I could explain my theory in greater detail if you'd like.”

Twilight nodded fervently.

“Well, the spiritual eddies mentioned by Gwonam the Wise in his book, Incredibly Complicated and Difficult Magic Theories for Eggheads, are being directed by those Crystals of Life that have been strategically placed to concentrate the forces. But I think the entire mountain is acting like an antenna, with the crystals only used for fine corrections to the field–

“Oh! Of course! It all makes sense now!” Twilight interjected, facehoofing. “Gwonam was able to change the fields with his own crystals, but he wasn't able to redirect them by more than five microns! But Fowling the Monotonous theorized that a series of crystals arranged carefully could form what he called a “Fowlday Cage”, which would be able to trap and even contain high-wavelength magical energy! But the scale of something like that would have to–

“It's just like that movie with the skyscraper and the giant pony made out of rubber!” Spike loudly blurted.

The conversation stopped for a moment. Root Rum raised an eyebrow at him before turning back to Twilight to continue their arcanobabble.

“Eggheads...” Iron Will muttered, facepalming.

“Eyup,” agreed Big McIntosh.

They didn't encounter any more monsters for a good amount of time, save for a few snails. The few lever and pressure plate puzzles they found were no match for the power of two eggheads. Spike found himself hoping they would encounter the dungeon boss or something soon, because he was getting a headache from the incessant nerd talk.

Spike got his wish when the last iron door opened.