//------------------------------//
// Chapter 17 - Brute 
// Story: 10 Days, 3 Adventures - Part 1 - "In Dreams They Came" 
// by TP Night 
//------------------------------//

After walking for a while, They all saw the tower. It was still far away,
but at least now it was within eyesight.

“What you think, girls? ‘nother half hour at this pace?” Applejack said,
looking toward it.

“Yeah, something like that.” Twilight agreed.

“Well, if we fly we can make it in half that time.” Luna pointed out.

“I told you, I’m not trying these wings. And you’re not wasting
your magic on helping me. We’ll continue on hoof.” Applejack said.

“Very well.” Luna said. “I understand your reluctance to use the wings,
so we will continue like this.”

“Hold up...” Twilight said, looking around. “Looks like the fog is returning.
I guess this dark part of the Dreamscape changes as well.”

“Ah yes, now that you mention it, I too see the fog approaching.
It seems slower here though...” Luna said, looking to her left.

She extended her wings and the others grabbed them, just like before.
The fog slowly approached, and eventually covered the area completely.
Like Luna had suspected, it was slower on this side, and lingered for almost
five minutes this time before slowly fading away.

“Now let’s see.. What’s different?” Applejack said and started examining 
the area around them. “The grass is gone. Only sand and rocks now.
Mostly red and orange.”

Twilight looked at the ground. “Probably rich in copper and iron.”

“Indeed. Also, beware of whatever those are.” Luna said and pointed at 
some black vines sticking up from the ground.

“They look kinda like the roots that appeared in Ponyville a couple
of years ago, those things Discord planted in the past, remember?”
Applejack said. “but a bit thinner though, more like actual vines instead
of thick roots. And the thorns look sharper on these ones.”

“Yeah, and.. oh..” Twilight said, looking at some of the vines.

“What?” Applejack asked.

“Some of these move.” Twilight said and pointed at a few of the vines,
crawling in snakelike motions.

“Lovely... We better keep our distance.” Applejack said.

They all took a few steps away and proceeded on their path, safely avoiding
the black vines. Twilight looked in the direction of the tower.

“Oh, thats just fantastic...” She said in a clearly sarcastic and slightly
annoyed tone. “Look...”

Luna and Applejack looked, seeing that the tower, though remaining in the
same location, had risen up as the ground beneath it had grown into a
mountain instead of a flat surface. There was a narrow road leading up to
the castle, and on each side there was a waterfall - or rather, a lavafall.
Around the mountain, a lake of molten lava had formed, and pillars of fire shot up from it every few minutes.

“That... that’s just fantastic, like you said...” Applejack sighed.
“But at least there’s a road, so I still won’t need flying.”

“WATCH OUT!” Luna shouted, and pushed Applejack sideways with a 
blast of magic. The next second the ground burst where Applejack had stood,
and a pillar of steam shot out from the ground, several meters tall.

Applejack quickly got back on her hoofs. “Thanks, Luna..”

“No problem. And from now on, we’ll need to keep our eyes on the ground.
Apparently, there are pockets of steam underneath the ground.”

“So basically it’s a minefield.” Applejack said.

“Well, I suppose you could call it that, yes.” Luna replied. “Watch your
steps, and if you see or feel even the smallest crack or tremble,
quickly move away. Steam like this is hot and pressurized enough to cause
severe burn damage. I do not recommend it.”

They carefully navigated the ‘minefield’, taking each step careful and slow.

After a few minutes they made it to a large area covered entirely in sand.

“Okay, we’re safe from those steam holes now.” Luna said,
using a spell to scan the ground around them.
“From here on it’s just sand and stone, no more steam pockets.”

They kept walking, but as the came closer to the mountain,
another Nightling approached. It was running toward them fast,
with it’s head tilted down like a charging bull. As it came closer,
they noticed it was bigger than the ones they’d encountered earlier.

“The normal Nightlings look like regular ponies, but that one reminds me
more of that bodybuilder...Bulk Biceps, was it?” Twilight said.

When the huge Nightling came charging, they all jumped aside,
dodging it. 

“Yeah, Bulk’s his name. And yeah, this one really does look more like him.”
Applejack said.

The Nightling kept running after he passed them, but made a U-turn
and came back charging again, this time aiming more directly at Luna.

Luna leaped up and hovered a few hooflenghts above ground,
as the changeling ran past beneath her. Once again in kept running for
a little bit, turned back, and this time aimed at Twilight.
She too leaped up and hovered.

The large Nightling made another turn, and charged toward Applejack.

“Applejack, you have to use your wings!” Twilight shouted to her.

“Nope!” Applejack responded. “I have another idea!”

“Something dangerous, reckless and crazy, I assume?” Twilight said.

“That’s the only way I do things!” Applejack shouted, with a confident smirk 
on her face. When the large Nightling came back charging she leaped up, 
but not as high as Luna and Twilight. She only used the wings as a ‘catapult’
to make the leap softer and more fluid, but instead of hovering she timed
the leap in such way that she landed on top of the charging Nightling.

She grabbed it around the neck with her hoofs and held on.

The Nightling barely noticed her at first, but when he did he stopped
dead in his tracks, and instead of running he started trying to throw her
off from his back.

“YEEHAAAAAW! COME ON, you can do worse than this, can’t you?!”
Applejack shouted from atop the Nightlings back. “Just like the rodeo!”
She added.

Twilight and Luna watched for a few moments, stunned.

“We need to help her!” Twilight said when she regained focus.

“Agreed, but how?” Luna asked.

“Applejack! Can you hold on a few more moments while we use a
summoning spell?” Twilight asked.

“No problem, just make it something strong. This guy’s not gonna fall
from just a couple of stabs, we’ll need more! He’s a tough one!”

“I know, just hold on!” Twilight said, and her horn started glowing.
“Luna! I’m gonna summon a chain to hold him! You summon
something to kill it with!”

Luna nodded and her horn started glowing too. Meanwhile, Applejack kept
holding on to the Nightlings neck, getting tossed around but never letting go.
She almost lost her grip a couple of times, but only almost.

“It’s getting difficult to hold this guy, hurry up with your magic!”
Applejack shouted.

“Almost done, just a few more seconds!” Twilight shouted back.

A few seconds later just as promised, several large glowing chains
appeared from nowhere, moving like snakes and surrounding the large
Nightling. Applejack let go and leaped away from it as the chains tightened
around it, holding it in place. It struggled and tried to break free,
but it was pointless. Nonetheless, it kept trying.

Meanwhile, Luna had summoned a whole row of ‘Ballistae’ - medieval weapons,
Large mounted crossbows that fires whole spears.

“This should be enough...” She panted with some exhaustion.

“Yeah, I’d say that’s enough.” Twilight said. 

The seven ballistae fired all at once, piercing the Nightling with spears.
From the holes, its gaseous inside started leaking.
It still struggled, but as the gas gradually dispersed, its movements
calmed as well, and soon it was completely still. When all the gas had leaked
out, the translucent skin faded away like a ghost, and the glowing chains
fell to the ground. Both the chains and the ballistas faded away too a few
moments later.

“How about a few minutes rest before we move on?” Twilight suggested.

Applejack sat down on the red ground. “Sounds good to me, my whole
body feels exhausted.. Been a while since I had a rodeo like that.”
She smirked a bit. “I know it was serious, and dangerous, but I gotta admit...
it actually was a bit fun too.”

“What was that thing? Some kind of larger Nightling?”

“Indeed.. Me and the Nightmare sometimes considered making
several different types of the nightlings...our two main ideas were ‘Regulars’ and ‘Brutes’.
This one must have been one of those brutes.”

“Anyway, we defeated it.” Applejack said with a victorious smile.

“We did indeed, but I’m afraid this might not have been the only one.
And I also do not know which other types Nightmare Moon
has created, if any.”

The trio rested for a few more minutes, and then decided to get going.
They were close now. Very close.