//------------------------------// // LXVI - Trials And Tribulations // Story: Mortal Coil // by Reeve //------------------------------// With the sun gradually getting higher into the sky, while we slowly drifted closer, the Isle of Serenity became much clearer and we could begin to make out the land features. The western side of the island we could see, was mainly covered in thick forests, while beyond that, was a mountain range that stretched almost the whole length of the island. Somewhere amidst it all, was a temple that was currently out of sight. Once we were all woken up and standing on the pier, we began wondering aloud where the boat was that King Crow had mentioned, since we couldn’t see anything sailing from the island. As if we had specifically summoned it by talking about it, the water directly by the pier began bubbling and churning violently, as something began rising up from the depths. It was a large row boat; it looked like it had been submerged for decades and yet somehow managed to stay together even after all six of us were all inside it. Of course magic was the obvious explanation, particularly when we found there were no oars, right before the boat began moving itself away from the pier, towards the Isle. “So once we get there, are we gonna be… greeted by anypony?” Rainbow asked, peering off towards the oncoming shore. “Doesn’t look promising,” I replied, looking through my spyglass at the apparently deserted pier we were approaching. “Then how will we know where to go?” Fluttershy asked in a concerned voice. “It shouldn’t be too hard to navigate this island ah reckon,” Applejack assured her. “Besides, it can’t be too hard to find a temple.” “Maybe finding the temple is the first trial,” Twilight suggested. “I guess whoever lives here would want ponies to prove themselves before meeting with them face to face. Let’s face it, anypony could have made it this far.” “Yeah, anypony who could cast a really complicated magic spell that teleports six ponies across an entire country in the space of a couple hours,” Rainbow agreed sarcastically. “This is going to be so much fun!” Pinkie declared, trotting on the spot and making the boat rock slightly. “Even I’ve never been on this island, at least… I don’t remember if I ever have. One thing I’m certain of, is that I haven’t been here with you girls, that makes this trip way more fun than my last one!” “The last trip you were certain never happened a second ago?” Twilight commented. “That’s the one!” Pinkie confirmed, nodding her head rapidly. As the boat began to pull up to the pier, Rainbow took to the skies, flying inland and heading upwards, stopping at a certain point to scan the area. We were all hopping off the boat, onto the wooden pier when she returned to report in. “I don’t see any buildings on this side of the mountain,” she told us. “There seems to be some clear land to the south, but mostly it’s just forest between here and the mountain.” “Could the temple be on the other side?” Fluttershy asked. “If so, how will we get to it? We can’t all fly, and it looks very steep.” Indeed the mountain peaks did have an absurdly steep gradient, I was about to open my mouth and offer the idea of going south and trying to get around the mountain instead, when I felt the strangest urge to look inside my satchel. I opened up my bag and looked through it, I wasn’t carrying an awful lot, and I was sure there was nothing there that shouldn’t have been there, but then my folded map caught my eye for some reason. The same urge to open my bag struck me again, this time pushing me to take out the map; I did so and unfolded it in front of me. It was a very detailed map; it showed mountain ranges and patches of forests as well as all the major rivers of Panchea; however the Isle of Serenity off to the southeast, while fairly accurate in its shape and size, was left completely blank. Needless to say, that while sailors could get an idea of the shape of the island, they couldn’t have known what it was like on the Isle itself to accurately map it out. However, as I stared at the map, the blank island began to fill itself in, as if a phantom pen was quickly drawing in the missing details right before my very eyes, complete with a large black dot on the eastern side of the mountain. “Girls!” I exclaimed. “Take a look at this!” I held my map out to them and they all looked in excitedly. I waited eagerly for them to comment and express their amazement, but as I watched and waited, their excitement faded and turned to confusion. “Ah don’t get it Rare,” Applejack said at last. “What are we supposed to be lookin’ at exactly?” “Uh, the island of course,” I replied, tapping the point on the map frantically. “It was blank a moment ago, and then it just filled in all these details on its own!” “Um, Rarity…” Rainbow began, sharing a worried glance with Twilight. “The island is still blank.” “What? No it isn’t,” I insisted, taking the map back and looking at it to be sure. “There’s the forest, there’s the mountain, and just beyond that is this hilly section where the temple is. It’s all right there, how are you not seeing it?” “Wow, and everypony said I would be the first one to go crazy,” Pinkie commented. “I’m not crazy!” I responded haughtily. “Okay, okay,” Twilight said, raising her hooves defensively. “Girls, I think we need to consider the possibility that this is part of our trials. Rarity says the map is filled in, we should trust her, perhaps this is the Isle’s way of saying she’s supposed to lead us.” “I guess that would make sense,” Fluttershy agreed. “Yeah, sorry Rarity,” Applejack apologised. “We didn’t mean to get you worked up like that.” “It’s fine,” I assured them, before shooting a quick glare at Pinkie Pie. “If I really am the only one who can read the map… it looks like there’s a path here, and it goes right through the mountain.” “A pass?” Twilight questioned. “Or maybe caves, either way, do you think it’s the best way to go?” “I haven’t much to go on,” I admitted. “But it seems like a pretty good start.” “Well you’ll have to keep us right,” Rainbow commented. “Because I’m not seeing anything that resembles a path.” I pulled out my compass and got myself oriented, the trail on the map didn’t appear too hard to follow, there were some twist and bends when it came to the forest, but I’m sure those were there for a good reason. Taking the lead, I started along a relatively straight path from the pier to the edge of the forest, the others walking in single file behind me, with Pinkie Pie bouncing at the rear. “Keep your eyes open girls,” Applejack reminded us. “No tellin’ what we might find on this island.” “It looks peaceful enough,” Fluttershy commented, smiling sweetly at some rabbits hopping around the open field. “It also looks surprisingly ordinary,” Twilight added, a hint of disappointment in her voice. “I always expected there to be really exotic plants and animals here, but it looks… normal.” “Don’t worry Twi,” Pinkie replied. “I think normal is boring too.” “I’m not saying it’s boring…” Twilight tried to protest. “It is pretty boring,” Rainbow interrupted. “Glad you said it first Twilight.” “Yes Twilight,” I agreed, playing along while trying to suppress the urge to giggle. “Thank you for taking one for the team.” “That was… nice,” Fluttershy said at last, at which point we all lost it. “Ha, ha, very amusing,” Twilight muttered with a deadpan expression while the rest of us laughed. “Lighten up a little,” Applejack said, poking her in the ribs. “We’re only messing with you, you know that.” “Well, if you can’t laugh at yourself…” Twilight admitted, allowing a small smile at her own expense. “But we really should keep focused, we still don’t know what to expect.” We continued on in silence for some time, reaching the edge of the forest where we stopped for a quick rest while I checked the map to make sure we were on still on track. Once we were prepared, I stepped beneath the canopy and began navigating the unusually dense forest. It was quite clear that ponies rarely, if ever came through this way, there was nothing to even hint at a path. It was only the map that kept us right, leading us down the clearest and most easily traversable route. We had all become deathly silent as we journeyed through, our ears perked up, listening out for the slightest sound, and our eyes scanning the thicket for the smallest movements. We did hear the occasional rustle of leaves or the calling of birds, but nothing that struck us as out of the ordinary… nothing, until we were a short ways into the forest and began to hear the sound of panting. I raised my hoof to signal for the others to stop, once they did, I listened very carefully, the panting was coming from somewhere up ahead, just out of sight. As I moved forward, taking every step one at a time so as not to make any noise that might give away our position, I could hear it more clearly, it sounded… pained. I wondered if maybe there was another pony just ahead, someone who was injured and needing our help. I glanced back at the others, they seemed to have reached the same conclusion based on the sounds, when I received a couple nods of encouragement, I stood up straight and stepped around the corner into a small clearing… and my jaw dropped. “No way…” I breathed in disbelief. “Oh my…” Fluttershy murmured. “It can’t be!” Applejack exclaimed. “Who’s this guy?” Rainbow asked in bewilderment. “Blueblood!” Twilight cried out in a mixture of shock and fury. Duke Blueblood sat crouched in the centre of the clearing, he was still wearing the impressive tailored suit he had been in the night we captured him, although now it was badly torn and stained with dirt and dried blood. His mane looked sticky with sweat and was hanging more limply than usual, his face was gaunt and sunken, he looked to be trying to suppress the agony he felt. His forelegs were clutching his belly, doing little to stem the steady flow of blood, seeping from a deep wound. “T… Twilight?” he stammered weakly, looking up at us as if unsure we were really there. Twilight didn’t reply, she looked too shocked to be able to form a sentence. Rainbow Dash took advantage of her silence to ask her question again. “Seriously girls, who is this guy?” she repeated. “It’s Duke Blueblood,” I replied softly as I narrowed my eyes at him. “We told you about him, the one who led the Solar Empire.” “This is him?!” Rainbow exclaimed, now sounding angry herself. “I was hoping we’d run into him after what you told me!” “P… please…” he attempted in a shaky tone. “Please… help m… me…” “Help you?!” Applejack repeated in an indignant voice. “After what you did at Fort Mule, you think you deserve our help?!” “I’m… I’m s… sorry…” he uttered, wincing at the pain. “Not mention how you nearly got me killed,” I added bitterly. “What are you even doing here?!” Twilight snapped before he could say anything more. “This island is forbidden!” “And where are those ponies you abducted?!” Pinkie demanded. “My friend was among them,” I added. “Where are they, and what have you done to them?!” “T… they’re dead…” he admitted, raising his bloody hooves from his stomach to clutch the sides of his head. “Oh lord… they’re all dead!” I felt my heart stop and I stumbled back slightly, Pinkie Pie catching me and holding me up. “They’re…” I began in a barely audible tone. “I’m sorry…” he muttered again, sounding like he was about to start crying. “You’re sorry?!” Twilight bellowed, staring back at him with unbridled fury. “Girls, he doesn’t look too good…” Fluttershy said quietly. “You think saying sorry will make up for the things you’ve done?!” Twilight went on, Fluttershy going unheard. “Come on girls,” Applejack muttered, resting a comforting hoof on my shoulder. “Let’s go on, leave him to his fate.” “But Applejack…” Fluttershy tried to say again. “Oh no!” Rainbow jumped in. “We’re not about to leave this guy on his own, we can’t trust that injury to finish him off.” “Rainbow is right,” Pinkie agreed. “If we leave now, he might patch himself up and go on to hurt other ponies, we need to put a stop to him now.” “I’d suggest just taking him prisoner,” Twilight muttered darkly. “But he already escaped once, and that was from a team of armed guards who had nothing else to be doing. We wouldn’t be able to keep a watch on him and get to the temple.” “We have to end this,” I finished coldly. “No… p… please…” Blueblood tried to beg. “I want to m… make amends, to make things r… right.” “I’ll do it,” Twilight said, drawing her sceptre and moving slowly forward. “It was my mission after all…” “No!” Fluttershy screamed out, flying between Twilight and Blueblood. Twilight froze on the spot, still half way through drawing her sceptre, looking back at Fluttershy with confusion. “We can’t kill him,” she said firmly, spreading her forelegs wide. “Fluttershy, what do you mean?” Twilight asked. “Have you forgotten what he’s done? Didn’t you hear what he just admitted to?” “Yes, he has done terrible things,” Fluttershy stated calmly. “But right now, he’s nothing more than an injured pony who is no longer capable of committing any more evil, we can’t kill him.” “But what are you suggesting?” Applejack asked. “That we stop what we’re doing to help him and take care of him?” “I am,” she replied simply. “He’s our enemy Fluttershy,” Rainbow pointed out. “Do you think he’d treat you any better if the tables were turned?” “Maybe not, but then the tables aren’t turned, are they?” Fluttershy countered. “Right now we’re the ones in control, we could kill him now that he’s weak and wounded and begging for forgiveness, and prove that we’re just as capable of evil as he is… or we could be the better ponies. We could help him, give him a chance to prove he’s sorry for what he did and face justice. We should show even our enemies, when possible, a little compassion.” There was a long moment of silence as we all digested what Fluttershy had just said, she didn’t move from her spot, but nor did Twilight lower her weapon. “You’re right,” I murmured, just loud enough for the others to hear me. Slowly, one by one, the others all voiced their agreement, their bodies visibly relaxing as the aggression left them. Finally, Twilight put her sceptre away and gave a firm nod to Fluttershy, who only then lowered her hooves. “Alright Fluttershy,” Twilight said calmly. “We’ll show him compassion.” And the moment the words left her mouth, Blueblood seemed to smile, before his whole body began to shine with a bright white light. As we watched in shock, we saw his form melt away, breaking up into thousands of tiny specks of light, which floated up into the sky where they sparkled before disappearing from sight. Soon we were left standing on our own in the small clearing, no evidence that Blueblood had ever really been there. “But… how?” Twilight uttered, looking back and forth between the spot where Blueblood had been and up in the sky. “I… I have no idea,” Fluttershy admitted. “Do you think…” I began, an idea springing to mind. “That was one of the trials?” “That’s a good thought,” Rainbow agreed. “Either that or we let Blueblood slip through our hooves.” “I think you might be right there,” Twilight added before looking back to Fluttershy. “And I think we passed it… thanks to you.” “Me?” Fluttershy uttered in disbelief, turning bright red as we all smiled at her. “I didn’t think it was any kind of trial.” “That was probably intentional Sugarcube,” Applejack pointed out. “Aw, my little Fluttershy is so special!” Pinkie Pie exclaimed, pulling Fluttershy into a tight hug. “She passes exams without even knowing she’s sitting them!” “Shall we carry on?” I asked, smirking at the display before looking to the others. “Yeah,” Rainbow replied. “I kinda want to see what they’ll throw at us next.” The others all nodded, while Fluttershy just flopped to the ground when Pinkie Pie released her. I quickly consulted the map and figured out where we were, that trial had taken us a little off the path, but it wasn’t hard to find again. Once we were on the move again, we fell silent once more, keeping our ears open for any indication that we might be approaching another trial. We hoped the next one we’d recognise as a trial from the start, as opposed to once it was over. However, as we continued to walk, the high we all felt following Fluttershy’s success began to dwindle gradually. We were now deep in the forest, or at least… we had to have been, we seemed to be walking for so long. I stopped several times so we could get our bearings, every time however, I was convinced we were getting further from the path laid out for us, despite my constant vigilance and checking of the map. I would have asked Rainbow Dash to fly up and get a bird’s eye view for us, but the canopy was so thick with tangled branches that it was impossible for her to get out without finding a less dense area… besides, she was lagging behind a little, she looked tired. “Are we stopping?” Applejack asked when I sat myself down on a large rock, I grunted in response. “Good!” She slouched off out of sight, I wondered briefly why she sounded so tense with me, but I found I didn’t care that much. If Applejack had a problem with me, I wasn’t about to go chasing after her, she could come find me when she was ready to grow up. I unfolded the map and placed it on my lap, setting out my compass as well. I started trying to figure out where we were, or how far off the mark I had managed to land us this time! As I stared at the map however, it was as if the entire image was becoming blurry. I rubbed my eyes and checked again, it looked as clear as it always did, so I continued on. This time however, as I looked at the small island off the corner of the mainland, I was sure it looked different. Was the forest always that shape? Surely the mountains didn’t take up that much space, and that lake, it was always there… wasn’t it? I groaned, wishing I could show the others and ask their opinion, but they couldn’t see the island anyway… a lot of help they were! While I tried to focus on the map, I found my eyes drifting more and more to my compass. After a while of making no progress, I picked up the compass and stared at it, thinking about my family back in Equestria. They probably thought I was dead by now, and who could blame them? I had been in Panchea for sixty-five days now, add another three weeks for the trip on the Siren. All that time I had never sent them a letter, even just a postcard to let them know I was alive and well, some daughter I was. Even if I had sent them a letter, I was hardly alive and well, they would have just freaked out if they knew all the terrible things I'd gotten involved in. And terrible really was the word for it, how many ponies had I seen die since I began my journey? How many of them had I killed? And after all of it, were we really any closer to bringing an end to it all, to achieving some kind of peace? That idea seemed laughable, and I probably would have laughed if I could bring myself to do so. As it was, all I could do was sit hunched on the rock with a cold scowl on my face. What were we even doing on that island? What kind of magic, fix all solution did we really expect to find? Maybe Maverick was right, maybe I should have stayed in Pivot… maybe I should never have gotten involved in the Rebellion… maybe I should never have left Equestria… maybe I should never have survived what happened in Cragsburg. I suddenly felt very cold at that point, remembering how I had died, remembering that feeling of relief as the pain came to an end… but then I came back, thanks to Twilight and her stupid stone. I was thrown right back into the world, back into the pain and the suffering, all so I could continue making mistakes and providing nothing to the ponies who I was supposed to care about. Why did I even try to go on? As I looked up, I could see the others, Rainbow lying flat on her stomach, Applejack sitting against a tree, Fluttershy off in the distance, sitting on the ground with her back to us all, and Twilight who was pacing about slowly, practically dragging her hooves. They all looked miserable, and it was all my fault… everything was my fault. I curled up tighter as the feeling of cold intensified; I was a burden on them, just like I was a burden on my family. It seemed all I was destined to do was fail everyone I thought I cared about… and it was so cold. “That’s enough!” a voice shouted. I glanced up, although I found I didn’t care an awful lot about who it was who had yelled or what they meant by it. When I looked ahead I saw Pinkie Pie standing between us all, staring at a point somewhere just over my shoulder, she looked livid. I briefly wondered why I hadn’t noticed her there before, but then I realised it must have been because I was such a poor excuse for a friend. “You can’t affect me,” she went on to say, I still wasn’t sure what she was talking about. “And I won’t let you have my friends either!” Pinkie trotted over to me, grabbing me roughly by the shoulder and shaking me. “Rarity!” she began loudly, trying to get me to look up at her. “You’ve got to snap out of it!” I found I didn’t want to meet her gaze; I didn’t want to subject myself to her disappointment. “Rarity, this isn’t you thinking,” Pinkie went on to say. “That voice in your head, it’s not yours!” For a moment, it felt like I was taking an interest in what she was saying, but then I felt myself getting yanked back down into the cold… that felt strange. “It’s trying to make you doubt yourself,” she told me. “It’s feeding off your despair; you have to put a stop to it.” “I…” I began, suddenly finding myself wanting to look up. “I’m not sure I can.” “You can!” she insisted. “The Rarity I know wouldn’t give up, none of you girls would. Here, come with me.” I felt myself get picked up, sometimes I forgot how strong Pinkie was. She carried me off to a seemingly random point, before plopping me back on the ground, as she did, I briefly noticed something dark flitting about behind me. Pinkie left for a moment to gather up the others, bringing their limp bodies back and dropping them down beside me, so we were all huddled closely together. “All of you listen,” she began in a loud and clear voice. “There’s a Wither standing right behind you, it’s filling your head with negative thoughts, trying to make you doubt yourselves so it can feed off your despair.” “A… Wither?” Twilight repeated slowly, sounding like a small part of her knew what Pinkie was talking about. “Yes!” Pinkie said clapping her hooves. “I know it’s hard, I know you’re probably all feeling like you don’t matter, but you need to shake yourself and get rid of those silly thoughts.” I tried to give my body a shake, but finding that I still didn’t have the enthusiasm for something like that. “What’s the point?” Applejack muttered in a tired voice. “It doesn’t matter…” Fluttershy murmured. “It does matter!” Pinkie cut in. “You matter! All five of you matter… to me, but I’m willing to bet I’m not the only one. Applejack, I’ve met your family, I’ve seen your home. You want to go back to them, don’t you?” “Ah… yeah…” Applejack began in a confused tone. “Of course ah do, more than anything.” “Then think about them!” Pinkie said quickly. “Don’t think about how you’re letting them down or anything else ridiculous. Think about how they make you happy, and how you’ve made them happy in return.” Applejack nodded, slowly at first, but I could see some life returning into her as she picked up speed. “All of you need to do the same,” Pinkie went on. “Think about those you care about, your friends, your family… think about each other! Think about how much you care for them, and how much you know they care for you. Think about how everything we’ve done has been for them, that voice in your head will try to tell you otherwise, but you have to believe in yourself. You have believe and stay true to your beliefs.” “You’re right Pinkie Pie,” Applejack said suddenly in a much firmer voice as she began rising to her hooves. “Good Applejack!” Pinkie cried excitedly. “Now Fluttershy, think about the Bask, think about the sisters who raised you and grew up with you. I’ve been there myself; I know how much it must mean to you.” “It means everything to me,” Fluttershy insisted, injecting some strength into her voice as she started standing up. “That’s the spirit Shy!” Pinkie declared. “Rainbow Dash, I find it hard that you could doubt yourself. The fastest pegasus that ever lived! The mare who stopped the unstoppable Iron Sights! You have a whole city riding on your back; do you really think they would have followed you so readily if they didn’t believe in you?” “You know what Pinkie?” Rainbow began as she stood up with the others, confidence building in her voice. “I am awesome!” “I never said awesome, but yay anyway!” Pinkie quickly replied before moving onto me. “Now don’t you try to say for even second that you want to give up. You’re the one who’s led us since the very beginning, through thick and thin, through the fun times and the difficult times. We’ve believed in you, now you have to believe in yourself!” I could hear that voice in my head, telling me her words were empty, that she was only saying it all to get me moving because they were all tired of waiting, but the thing was… I didn’t believe it. I had been the one to bring them all together, I had been the one to lead us into one adventure after another, and I don’t regret any of it. Yes it had been difficult, yes it sometimes felt like we weren’t making a difference, but the truth was we had accomplished so much working together, and I was proud to have been a part of that. My friends had believed in me, just as I had believed in them. Pinkie Pie was right, I needed to stand up and start believing in myself again! Pinkie beamed at me as I pulled myself up to her level, completely ignoring the voice in the back of my head that was still trying to make me doubt myself. I returned the smile of all my other friends before giving Pinkie a confident nod; she returned it and moved onto the final member of our group. “Twilight…” she said in a quiet voice as she crouched down to look her in the eye. “I’ve known you for a long time now, I don’t know if you really hate me or if there’s some small part of you that might like me… but when I say that there is nothing you could do to let down your friends, your brother… or your mother, I am telling you the truth, as your friend.” Twilight continued to avert her gaze from Pinkie for a moment, until finally she glanced up at her with slightly wet eyes, a small smile forming. “Thank you…” she began in a slightly cracked voice, before smirking properly. “Discord.” Pinkie simply grinned wider at that, offering out her hoof and helping to Twilight up to her hooves. With us all standing together, Pinkie looked past my head to something standing just behind us. “What’s the matter?” she mocked. “Are you confused why it didn’t work?” I turned around to see the Wither for myself, finding myself staring at a dizzyingly tall figure, draped entirely in black robes that seemed to melt into the darkness around it. Its body had no visible features or appendages, there wasn’t even a face to speak of, although I got the impression it was staring back at us none the less. “It’s because we have each other,” she went on to say, pulling us all into a big group hug. “So long as we’re together, you’ll never overcome our conviction.” There was a moment of silence as the Wither watched us, I wondered if maybe we would have to fight it, but then the creature lit up just as Blueblood had. We all gawked in surprise; we had been so distracted by the effects of the Wither, that we had completely forgotten about the trials. Like Blueblood, the Wither dissipated, its scattered pieces floating up into the sky where they flashed briefly before vanishing. “Well that was convenient,” Pinkie said. “Those things are a pain in the ass to kill.” “So that was the second trial?” Rainbow queried. “Nice one Pinkie, you totally nailed it!” “Ah think you did more than pass the trial,” Applejack argued. “You really saved us,” Fluttershy finished. “Aw, it’s okay girls,” Pinkie insisted, tightening the group hug slightly. “Since it wasn’t a real Wither, I guess it wasn’t actually feeding off you.” “No, but the doubts we had felt real enough,” I pointed out. “Really, thank you Pinkie Pie.” “Well, that’s two trials down,” Twilight reminded us in a cheery voice. “Nothing like I would have expected… not nearly as easy.” “We’ll get through it Sugarcube,” Applejack assured her. “But how about we get movin’? We must nearly be at the end of this forest.” I separated myself from the group and walked back over to the rock where my map and compass still sat. When I looked down at them, I was pleased to see that the map was exactly as I remember it when the island first filled in. After a couple minutes, while I reoriented myself and tried to gauge where exactly we were, I was satisfied that we weren’t far off the trail laid out on the map. More than that, it appeared we were indeed drawing close to the edge of the forest. We got walking again, this time keeping up a little small talk to avoid falling into any kind of magic induced despairs a second time. As the trees began to clear, we could make out patches of sky through the canopy, as well as occasionally glimpses of the mountain peaks in the distance. It wasn’t long before we were stepping out of the forest completely, finding ourselves in the open once more, on a short stretch of grassland that sloped upwards to the base of the mountain. We kept moving, although Rainbow Dash quickly darted ahead and returned with news that there was a cave entrance some way ahead of us. As we got higher and the grass began to thin beneath our hooves, replaced by dry earth and stone, we began to make out the cave opening. It was a large, gaping mouth, the inside of which appeared completely black. What little we could see, showed stalactites hanging form the roof of the cave, giving the impression of the mountain having teeth as well as a mouth. We slowed our approach, wary of something jumping out at us from the darkness inside. “Let’s take it slow girls,” Twilight warned. “We’ve been taken by surprise twice now, let’s not make it a… a…” “Hat trick,” Rainbow finished for her. “Shouldn’t be surprised you don’t know sports terms.” “Yes, well,” Twilight muttered uncomfortably. “I’m more of a… what you might call…” “Egghead,” Rainbow finished once more. “That’s fine; I pegged you as one anyway. Here, I’ll scout ahead, make sure there’s nothing waiting to ambush us.” “Rainbow,” I called after her, even as she was flying towards the cave entrance. “I don’t think that’s a good idea.” “It’ll be fine,” she assured me, not looking where she was going as she glanced back at me. “What’s the worst that could…” Then, out of nowhere, a massive stone hand swung through the air and connected with Rainbow Dash. Like a rolled up newspaper connecting with a fly, Rainbow was batted out of the air by the force behind the slap, and sent spiralling to the earth, crashing violently. “Rainbow!” we all cried out. Fluttershy was the first to speed forward, not even stopping to see what it was that had attacked Rainbow Dash in the first place. The rest of us saw it however, we saw the rest of the arm materialise out of thin air, followed by the torso and the rest of the limbs. The colossal stone golem appeared before the cave entrance, as if it had been there the whole time, but hiding like a chameleon, although it was more likely to have been under some cloaking spell. We watched as it pulled back its left fist before punching down at Fluttershy, we screamed out to her, warning her, but the attack came in too quickly. Fluttershy froze right before the giant’s fist came down on her, but it never connected as a purple shield appeared between them. The force of the punch was so great, that it broke right through the shield like it was glass. I heard Twilight cry out in pain before collapsing to the ground; however it had slowed the golem down just enough for Fluttershy to dart out from under it. Fluttershy reached Rainbow and landed beside her, Applejack and I made to run forward as well, but I felt Pinkie’s hoof grab hold of me, and before I knew it the pair of us were standing in front of the fallen Rainbow Dash. Applejack was caught hold of by Twilight, who teleported them both over to where we were. The golem was turning slowly to face us while we all drew our weapons, with the exception of Fluttershy. “How’s she lookin’?” Applejack asked as she took a defensive stance, claymore at the ready. “Oh no… oh no…” Fluttershy was saying in a panicked voice, that didn’t encourage us any. “Rainbow!” I called out, not taking my eyes off the golem which was now slowly approaching. “Please speak to us!” There was a low, guttural noise from Rainbow Dash as she attempted to speak. It sounded horribly strained, and I had no doubt that she had broken many bones. “We need to get out of here!” Fluttershy told us in a terrified voice. “I agree,” Twilight stated. “This might be a trial, but we can’t leave Rainbow like this.” “Okay Dokey,” Pinkie said, spinning her daggers around her hooves, even though they would be nothing more than cocktail sticks to the approaching golem. “Twilight, teleport Fluttershy and Rainbow Dash back to the forest, we’ll keep it busy.” “Alright,” Twilight agreed as she lit up her horn and grabbed hold of Fluttershy and Rainbow. Just then, the golem swung its arm up, but rather than moving to attack, it simply held it out straight before opening its hand. Placed in the golem’s stone palm, was a red, kite shaped crystal, and as it was revealed, it flashed with light and I heard Twilight cry out behind us. My head snapped back to see Twilight’s horn sprouting numerous pustule like crystals over it. I only had time to mentally curse before the golem crouched down and leapt into the air, rising before rapidly descending upon where we all stood clustered together. Instinct for self-preservation kicked in, and I sprinted right before diving out of the way. I caught glimpses of the others doing the same thing, and saw Pinkie appear out of thin air some way ahead of me, clutching Fluttershy. I saw them, saw them both looking wildly around themselves to search for Rainbow Dash who had not travelled with them, then I looked back as a feeling of terror rose within me. I looked around just in time to see the golem collide with the earth, both fists directed downwards. I never got a chance to see if any of my friends had been left under him, but I stared in horror anyway, my heart beating like a drum in my chest. Fluttershy screamed out behind me, a horrible choking sob, I also heard Twilight shouting something from the opposite side of the golem. As the great cloud of dust began to settle and clear, I could once again make out the golem, standing in a crouched pose with both fists still planted towards the ground. The earth around its feet was completely shattered and cratered from the impact of the golem, and as the last of the cloud shifted from my sight, I was able to make out the forms of my friends who hadn’t run away. Rainbow Dash lay there, looking up weakly at Applejack who stood defiantly on her hind legs, her claymore forgotten she reached out with her forelegs and was locked in an intense struggle with the golem’s fists. She looked incredibly battered, like she might break at any given second, but the fact that she was able to stand there and not only withstand the golem’s attack, but was matching it with her own was astounding. I stared in awe at the struggle, Applejack gritting her teeth as her legs trembled against the force, while the Golem looked down at her, as passive and stalwart as ever. “Ah’m… not… movin’!” Applejack announced between heavy breaths. “Ah don’t… care… if it… gets me… killed! Ah’m not… gonna… move.” I could hear Rainbow croak something from beneath Applejack’s protective frame. The golem simply applied a little extra pressure, I could see Applejack’s face become even more strained, but still she didn’t buckle. “Hah…” she uttered in an almost laugh, forcing herself to smirk up at the golem. “Not… happenin’… buddy. You… ain’t… breakin’… mah… resolve!” And in that moment, my own legs stopped shaking, I forced my breathing to calm down and for my heart rate to slow. I had run, I had saved myself without sparing a single thought for my friends. It wasn’t really something to be ashamed of, but Applejack had managed to silence her own screaming instinct and stayed by Rainbow Dash’s side, even as we all ran for cover. Even now she wasn’t giving up, no matter what force she was met with, she wasn’t going to give up. Just seeing her display, I could feel my own resolve strengthening, and before I knew it, I was rushing forward to Applejack’s side, and I wasn’t the only one. We were all there as quickly as we could cross the distance, joining Applejack beneath the golem’s fists and reached up to apply our own pressure. With all five of us pushing back, Applejack’s struggle began to lessen; I could even feel the golem being forced back ever so slightly. Then behind us, Rainbow Dash shifted, forcing herself back onto her hooves despite the incredible amount of pain she must have been in. She held herself up, shaking even more than Applejack had been when she was on her own, but she still managed to bring up one hoof next to the rest of ours. The act seemed to be enough, the golem retracting its fists, leaving us all to teeter slightly on our hind legs before dropping back onto all four. The golem stood up straight, making no attempt to fight us anymore. We all watched warily as it looked down at us with red, almost curious eyes, not letting our guard down for even a second. Then, like the others it shone brightly, its body shattering into thousands of tiny, shimmering pieces which ascended up and out of sight. This time however, as it disappeared, I felt the whole ground beneath us tremble and shift, as the earth it had disturbed reassembled itself to the way it was before the golem had landed on it. I glanced over at Rainbow Dash in time to see her body repairing itself, blood vanishing, cuts closing up and bones realigning. Applejack too looked to be renewed with energy, and Twilight’s horn shed the crystal growths. It really was as if the fight had never happened, the only evidence being our memories of the situation. There was a period of silence, brought to an end when Rainbow gave Applejack a light punch on the shoulder. “Uh… thanks,” she uttered pathetically, not meeting Applejack’s eyes. “Eh, don’t mention it Dash,” Applejack replied equally awkwardly. I looked over to Twilight, Pinkie and Fluttershy who all looked exactly as I felt; before we could help it, all four of us were rolling on the ground laughing. After we were told to stop laughing, carried on laughing, were joined in by Rainbow and Applejack anyway, we finally stopped and took a moment to relax. We had reached the mountains, completed three trials and were at least half way to the temple according to the map. “That last one… really hurt,” Rainbow pointed out. “Like, I know it wasn’t real, but it seriously felt real.” “I wonder how many more there are,” Fluttershy thought aloud. “And if we’ll be expected to do more when we reach the temple.” “Well, so far one of us has solved each of the trials,” Pinkie reminded her. “Maybe we’ll all get one trial, so that would make six!” “What about the map though?” Applejack asked. “And Twilight teleportin’ us all from Pivot, were those trials or weren’t they?” “I guess we’ll just keep moving forward,” I suggested. “We’ll get to the temple and they can answer all our questions.” “It is exciting,” Twilight said. “Just through those caves is the fabled temple, to think we’re so close and then we’ll finally get to learn the truth about this place.” “Well then let’s go!” Pinkie exclaimed. “We aren’t gonna get there unless we keep on walking!” We didn’t need to consult the map this time before heading off, considering the only path was through the cave and into the mountains. As such, I put my compass and map away for a bit. Once we entered the cave, Twilight took the lead, lighting her horn as well as her sceptre, which she hovered behind her in the middle of the group. I took up the rear with my weaker light, but I also had my lantern out which, like Twilight’s sceptre, I was able to levitate further out. The cave tunnel remained relatively featureless, just a wide, rocky corridor winding through the mountain. Occasionally we would enter into a larger cavern or notice other diverging pathways, we’d stop at these points and refer to the compass to give us the best indication of which way would lead us out the other side. Nothing happened for a long time, Pinkie was telling us a story about how she once cloned herself using a cave pool, a thought which we all found deeply unsettling, when I felt a slight tremor beneath my hooves. I came to a stop, but the others kept walking, Pinkie still talking away. I frowned, wondering if I had imagined it, but then it happened again, much more definite this time. I also heard the sound of distant cracking, and still the others walked on ahead of me, apparently oblivious to it. “Hey girls!” I called after them. They all stopped walking, looking around in surprise, clearly unaware that I had stopped walking. “Do you feel that?” I asked in a wary tone as I started approaching them. “Feel what?” Twilight asked, sharing a confused glance with the others. “That…” I began, only to feel another tremble. “That shaking! Right there, didn’t you feel it?” Once again they exchanged bewildered looks, I shook my head, telling myself it was just something intended to get to me, perhaps another trial. I continued making my way forward, but then I heard a deafening rumble again as the ground began falling apart beneath my hooves. I heard my friends cry out and I tried to run towards them, but it was too late, the ground swallowed me whole and I fell down into a dark chasm. The speck of light from above grew fainter and fainter until it was extinguished altogether, and I was left completely alone in darkness. “Twilight!” I called out. “Pinkie! Fluttershy! Applejack! Rainbow! Can any of you hear me?!” I received no answer, I had no idea how far down I had fallen, or even how I had managed to avoid breaking my legs doing so, but for some reason that question quickly vacated my mind. I lit my horn, finding myself in a tiny, cramped cavern. Looking around, I couldn’t see my lantern anywhere, I must have dropped it before I fell and it was still somewhere up with the others. As I thought about my missing lantern, I became faintly aware of how light I was. Looking down, I was horrified to see that my sword and knives were all missing too. How was that possible? Had I dropped them too? Had they been pulled off by some falling rubble? It seemed so unlikely, I always kept them well strapped to my belt, but they were nowhere to be seen on the cave floor around me. As I looked about for them, I started to feel a slight chill in the air, and heard the distant sound of breathing. Stopping my search, I looked up, was it perhaps one of my friends? Had they fallen down too and were now lying injured somewhere? I started walking in the direction I had heard the breathing, all while calling out my friends’ names, however my voice sounded faint and distant, even to myself. As I walked, the stone beneath my hooves turned to hardened earth, and the darkness around me began to lighten. So gradually that it turned from pitch black to pearly white without me even noticing a change. I walked through the forest and the fog, searching for my friends. I could still hear the breathing, but for some reason, just focusing on it made me feel cold and for my heart to start racing. I could see the trees around me, twisted and gnarled, yet no matter how far I walked they always seemed to look the same, as if I was running in circles or merely on the spot. I broke into a full gallop, now trying to get as far away from the breathing. I wasn’t sure why, but something about it no longer seemed friendly or inviting. As I ran, it became much more apparent that I wasn’t going anywhere. My head began to spin as I took in the same trees over and over again, and soon I was stumbling over my own legs, tripping myself up as they grew weak. I collapsed to the ground hard, from there I felt the weakness slowly spreading up my legs into my chest, tightening it and making it difficult to breathe. I knew this feeling, I had been here before, but how could I be here again now?! I was with my friends moments ago… or had it been hours? Maybe even days, and what was it we were doing? Where had we been? I heard the long rattling breath from behind me; I rolled over and stared up in horror at the spectral being floating towards me, reaching out for me with its long skeletal hands from beneath the wispy sheets hanging over it. The Wight was drawing closer and closer, sucking in through the single dark hole in its face that was its mouth. I tried kicking away, tried to pull and drag myself across the ground, anything to put some distance between me and it. But it was no use, my limbs barely responded to my commands, and I was only able to move centimetres at a time. The Wight reached me, descending upon me, reaching out to take hold of me with its twitching, groping hands. I felt its bony hands wrap around my throat, twisting my head up to look at it. As I did, I saw the pale sheets split apart, revealing what lay beneath. Beneath the sheets was a stallion wearing a crown of laurels, grinning sadistically as he began sawing my horn off. I screamed and flailed about against the two laughing ponies who held me in place, but all of my struggling and fighting amounting to naught as I heard the grinding noise of the saw, and felt the excruciating pain when it reached the nerves within. It felt like my head was filling with blood, everything was spinning; the whole world appeared to be on fast forward. I felt the two ponies dragging me away, throwing me down flights of stairs. They dragged me to a chamber, where I was forced to watch as they set fire to the mutilated corpses of my friends. I cried and begged even though it was beyond too late to save them. They laughed the whole time before I was spun around, suddenly strapped to a chair, while before me were three ponies I knew very well, each being held by a pair of ponies dressed in forest green robes and stone like armour. “Mother?!” I exclaimed. “Father?! Sweetie Belle?!” They looked miserable as they stared back at me, bruised and beaten. Sweetie Belle especially looked to be in a terrible state, my mind began filling with horrible images of what they could have done to her. “Rarity…” she said weakly. “Please… don’t let them hurt me anymore.” I wanted to reply, to lie to her and tell her it would be okay, but my words were sucked right out of my mouth by the Wight who hovered behind me, drinking my very life-force until I didn’t even need straps to remain immobile. Then Terra appeared once more, the saw still in his hooves, still wet with my blood. He started with my father first, I sobbed even as he tried to stay strong for his girls and failed miserably. Then he went over to my mother, I sobbed more as she didn’t hold back her screams of agony. Finally he came to my sister, and looked me square in the eye, grinning wickedly as he held the saw in place. “Please…” I begged in a barely audible whisper. I felt nothing inside of me, I felt as if my very soul had been stolen and devoured by the Wight, while my heart had been torn into shreds by Terra and the Children of the Earth. Terra only smiled wider as he prepared to start sawing… then he exploded into wisps of smoke as a cyan hoof in silver armour punched through him. Rainbow glared at the spot where he had been, before hurrying over to me and dropping down to my side. “Rarity!” she exclaimed. “Rarity, this isn’t real, you have to wake up!” “Please, save my sister!” I begged her, ignoring her words. “Save my parents! Please don’t let them suffer anymore.” “Your family isn’t here Rarity!” Rainbow yelled. “Your family is safe in Equestria, this is all just an illusion created from your fears!” “But…” I began, looking past Rainbow Dash to where my sister was being horribly violated. “No!” Rainbow snapped, pulling my gaze back to her. “It’s not real! The only way you’re going to get out of this, is if you accept that this is all in your head.” “Even if it was,” I moaned, tears still streaking down my face. “What if it…” “What if it happens for real?” Rainbow finished, before slapping me hard across the face. “Get it together Rarity! Would you ever allow that to happen to your family?!” She jabbed her hoof out at my family as the three of them were thrown onto the same pyre as my friends. “No, of course not!” I insisted. “Exactly,” Rainbow hissed. “Your fears will never come true, because you will never let them.” I took a shuddering breath as her words echoes in my head, she was absolutely right. I would never allow this to happen to the ponies I cared about so long as I was alive, I saved Fluttershy from it, I could damn well save everypony else. There was nothing to be afraid of… not as long as I had my friends; they were my source of courage. All around me, the sounds of screams stuttered out, while the terrible visions faded into nothing. Soon it was just Rainbow Dash and I standing in a vast nothing, a set of four shining doorways dotted randomly about, waiting for us. “Come on,” Rainbow said, making for the closest door. “I might need your help with the rest.” I nodded firmly before trotting after her, we both passed through the door at the same time. For a moment everything was bright, and I was forced to clench my eyes shut against the glare. When I opened them again, I found myself standing in a neat courtyard at an unforgettable location. We both stood at the Bask, however, where I remembered everything being pristine and beautiful, it now lay in ruins. Towers were collapsed, whole buildings had been raised to the ground, and there was fire everywhere, deep and crimson. We could hear wailing echoing from some way ahead, and we both galloped towards it. We rounded a corner and saw Fluttershy kneeling in a spacious area, the destruction visible from all angles. Her whole body was wracked with sobs, five charred corpses were scattered before her. While they were burnt beyond recognition, I could easily guess who they were. Just ahead of Fluttershy, perched on the nearest building and coiled around the very tower she had taken Applejack and I up, was a dragon. It was huge in size, perhaps even bigger than Spike had been while under the magical influence, its scales were as black as night and it spewed jets of crimson fire all around Fluttershy’s home. We hurried forward, dropping to our knees beside her where I quickly began shaking her to get her attention. “Fluttershy, it’s us,” I told her. She looked up at me and then Rainbow Dash, looking confused by our presence. “But… you’re… you’re d… dead,” she stammered, unable to control her crying. “I saw that awful dragon kill you!” “It wasn’t us,” Rainbow told her gently, perhaps knowing to take it easier with Fluttershy. “This is all just imaginary, it’s your fears brought to life.” “None of it is real,” I reaffirmed. “Once you accept that, we can wake up and be together again properly.” “But this could happen!” she insisted. “You already died once, how long before it happens again? Or for you to die Rainbow? Or any one of our friends?” “Fluttershy, everypony dies,” Rainbow pointed out. “It’s not nice, and it’s rarely easy, but it’s a simple fact that one day we’re all going to go.” “It might be tomorrow while fighting,” I told her. “Or it might be years from now when we’re old and grey, we’ll never know.” “But when the time does come,” Rainbow continued. “We’ll wish we had spent the time between now and then really living, instead of existing in fear of something we had no power to stop.” “Damn that was profound,” I whispered over Fluttershy's head at Rainbow, who gave me a little wink. “You’re… you’re right,” Fluttershy said, wiping her eyes. “I can’t… I can’t be afraid of the inevitable; I just need to enjoy it while it’s here.” “That’s the spirit girl!” Rainbow said, patting her on the back as the Bask melted away and the sounds of the dragon’s roars were cut out. Again we were left hanging in nothing, only the ethereal doors lighting the way for us, although now there was one less. “Come on Fluttershy,” I said to her, taking her by the hoof. “We need to go help the others too.” She nodded and followed us through the next door. This time when I opened my eyes and the light had faded, we were standing in a forest at night. Fluttershy let out a small squeak, and I followed her gaze directly above our heads to see a huge, full moon hanging directly over our heads, only it was blood read. Like Fluttershy’s crying, we could hear the muttering of somepony nearby, and we began walking towards it. As we made our way through the tree, I began to notice that they weren’t just any trees, they were apple tree, long dead admittedly, but I knew who’s fears we had entered this time. We came around the corner, into a clearing where Applejack sat, rocking back and forth, clutching her head and muttering to herself. The clearing was covered in blood, it looked like a wild animal had come through and ripped a pony apart. As that thought entered my head, I found it very hard to get out again, and I wondered what it was Applejack was imagining. As we drew closer, I could make out what she was repeating, it was simply ‘they’re gone’, over and over again. We reached Applejack, and Rainbow Dash was about to speak when we heard a piercing howl in the distance. “Um… Applejack,” she said after it had stopped. “Applejack, it’s us, we’re here to get you out of here.” Applejack glanced up at us, like Fluttershy and I, whatever she had seen had driven her to tears. “You’re not real,” she muttered back. “You can’t be real; none of this can be real.” “Well you’re right about the second part,” Rainbow agreed. “This is all just a manifestation of your fears,” I told her. “But we’re real,” Fluttershy assured her. “We’ve come to get you out of here.” “You should just run while you can,” Applejack said, shrugging off Fluttershy’s hoof. “If that monster wants me, then ah don’t want you girls here when he comes. Better for you to run… leave me to mah fate.” “We’re not leaving you to anything!” Rainbow snapped. “You don’t get to shelter me from a stone giant and then tell me to run and leave you anywhere!” “What is this monster anyway?” I asked, although a second howl narrowed down the possibilities. “He’s… it’s nothin’,” Applejack insisted, not meeting my gaze. “And ah’m not takin’ no for an answer, you girls can still get away, but me… It’s already taken the rest, Mac, Bloom… they’re all gone, ah’m all that’s left.” “Applejack, if I have to punch you, I will!” Rainbow shouted at her. “It’s true, she will,” I added, remembering the sting on my cheek. “You’re like… one of the most badass ponies I know, who isn’t me!” Rainbow continued, putting her face right up into Applejack’s. “Do you expect me to believe for a second that there is any monster in this whole world that you wouldn’t be able to slaughter, if it ever tried to harm your family?!” “Ah…” Applejack began but Rainbow wasn’t done shouting yet. “Whatever that thing out there is, that’s your business,” she stated. “But if it ever does come sniffin’ up to your house, looking to run off with your sister, are you just gonna stand by and let it?!” “Hay no!” Applejack shouted back, jumping to her hooves until she was Rainbow’s level. “Then what are you so afraid of?!” Rainbow demanded, shoving Applejack back. “Are you afraid that you’re not strong enough? Are you afraid that you won’t be fast enough? Because you can be damn sure you’re strong enough, and if you aren’t fast enough… well, that’s what you have me for.” Applejack was breathing heavily, I wondered how Rainbow’s pep talk would affect her, but when she gave a hard grin and a stiff nod, I knew it had paid off. “You’re right Rainbow,” she said before turning from us to face the forest, tilting her head slightly to the blood moon. “You hear that you furry sack of shit?! You just try comin’ back; ah’ll be waitin’ for you when you do!” With that, the world melted away for the third time, and for the third time we were left stranded in blackness, this time with a choice of two doors as our destination. Applejack looked about in confusion; I quickly filled her in on what was going on. Once she was clear, Rainbow picked a door and led the way. As we stepped through this one, we found ourselves in what seemed at first to be an unfamiliar environment, but the more I thought about it, the more I realised I had been here before. It was Canterlot Castle, and we were standing inside a long hall, lined with stained glass windows depicting various events in Equestrian history. It didn’t take long to find Twilight Sparkle; she was in the very room we spawned in, kneeling before Princess Celestia who was staring down at her with utter contempt. I made to move forward, but found that my body was almost completely paralysed, I was able to turn my head and see that the others were having the same problem, and not one of them could understand why either. I turned my attention back to Twilight and Celestia, wondering if maybe we had to wait until a certain point. “To think that you hid this from me,” she was saying, her voice filled with disgust. “I used to have such high hopes for you, but to know that you actively conspired with my greatest enemy is unforgivable!” “Please Princess!” Twilight begged. “It’s not like that, Discord is…” “Discord is a monster!” Celestia bellowed, her whole figure exploding into fiery fury. “Have I not taught you as much since the day I took you in?! Is this what you think of me, the one who had given you so much? That you would disregard my teachings so readily.” “No, please…” Twilight tried to say again. “Perhaps you would prefer to live alongside the monster,” Celestia suggested coldly. “I think there’s plenty of room in that wretched creature’s cell for you too.” “No!” Twilight exclaimed, throwing herself forward to latch onto Celestia’s leg. “I love you! I love you so much, you mean everything to me! You’re like a mother to me; you’ve always been like a mother since the day you took me in.” “Get off me!” Celestia spat, flinging Twilight off her leg and sending her sliding across the floor. “How incredibly dense of you, to think that somepony as pathetic as you could ever be a daughter to somepony like me! You are nothing to me!” Twilight was openly sobbing now; behind her, a tall stallion appeared, wearing some very impressive purple armour. He reached out and grabbed hold of Twilight roughly, when she saw him, there was a flash of hope. “Shining armour!” she exclaimed. “Big brother, please don’t let her do this!” “Silence traitor!” he snapped, slapping her hard across the face before echoing Celestia’s final words. “You are nothing to me!” With that, he began dragging the weeping Twilight back across the hall towards us. “No more!” Rainbow Dash bellowed before bursting forward. I too felt my body released from the strange hold on it, and was able to run forward to Twilight’s aid. I saw Rainbow Dash punch through Shining Armour just as she had done with Terra in my nightmare, with him out of the way, all four of us were able to surround Twilight and crouch down to take hold of her. “It’s okay Twilight,” Fluttershy soothed. “It’s not real, none of it is real.” “She… she hates me,” Twilight said in a trembling voice. “She said I was nothing to her, my own mo…” Twilight broke into a fresh wave of tears and I held her close along with Fluttershy, I gave Rainbow a little nod indicating that I would take care of this one. “Twilight, you know this isn’t real, right?” I began. “Princess Celestia would never say those things. I don’t believe for a second that she would treat you so harshly just for associating with Pinkie Pie, and I definitely don’t believe that she would see you as anything less than a daughter. I believe she sees you just as you see her, there’s no way she could have raised you, looked after you and taught you all these years, and let you stay with her if she didn’t care for you, your brother too. “They would never abandon you no matter what you do in life,” I went on. “It’s exactly like you told me when we ran into each other in Port Mule all that time ago. If your family loves you, then they’ll understand and accept you no matter what mistakes you seem to have made, although in your case I’d say you’ve committed no mistakes whatsoever. Your mother and brother are no more likely to abandon you than we would, and we never will.” Twilight sniffed before looking up at me, smiling slightly. “You’re right Rarity,” she replied in a muffled voice. “Thank you.” Canterlot Castle dissolved, and once more we were standing in nothing as I helped Twilight to her hooves. She looked about at us all, a look of confusion crossing her face. “Pinkie Pie?” she questioned. Rainbow pointed past Twilight to the next and final door. “She’s the last one,” she stated. “I’m not looking forward to this one,” I admitted as we started walking towards the door. “Why?” Applejack asked. “Because whatever can scare Discord, must be pretty terrifying,” I replied in a tense voice, right before we stepped into the light. The place we emerged in was entirely unfamiliar to all of us, and I was thankful for that. The moment we arrived, I wanted nothing more than to get out again. It was a nightmarish place we found ourselves in, floating in another endless abyss, only this one was made of dark clouds with a sickly green light seeping through the gaps, which went on for all eternity. The world we found ourselves in was filled with chains, pulled taught and going off in all manner of directions, so it felt like we were descending into a haunting, metallic spider web. But it wasn’t the chains or the clouds that got to us, it wasn’t even the flashes of what appeared to be lightning, that cleaved the world in two for the briefest of moments, or the way the entire universe seemed to sputter and shimmer in and out of existence, it was the screams. There were dozens of them… hundreds of them… thousands… millions… the number only increased the longer we listened. There were infinite souls, all screaming in unending, unparalleled horror and agony, but one scream was closer than all the rest. We could see Pinkie Pie, at some points she was a mere speck in the distance, other moments she flickered right up in front of us. Five chains held her in place, four holding her spread eagle, meat hooks at the ends, driven into each of the legs. The fifth and final chain was driven right through her torso and travelled out the other side. As we watched, she contorted and writhed, her body occasionally flashing from a pony to a bizarre serpentine creature with mismatched limbs. Only for a brief second however before snapping back, never long enough to make out any details. “I’m sorry!” she was screaming. “I’m so sorry, please; I can’t take this anymore! Just tell me why! Why did I do it?! What possible reason could have been worth all this?!” “Pinkie Pie!” Twilight exclaimed, trying to hurry towards her, but only being able to swim slowly through the heavy air. “Please…” Pinkie moaned. “I’ve tried to make things right… I’ve tried to be better… what more do you want from me?! What more will it take before you realise I’m not the spirit I once was?!” After an agonisingly long time, we managed to get close enough that we were able to grab hold of Pinkie and stop her blinking around the world. “Pinkie Pie!” Rainbow Dash called out to her. “No!” Pinkie screamed, twisting her head away from us. “No more! Please no more!” “Pinkie this isn’t real!” Rainbow shouted at her. “Of course it’s not!” Pinkie snapped back, almost incoherent in her emotional ramblings. “Nothing here is! Every second lasts eons, and every new eon is filled with more torment than the last!” “But we’re real,” I told her. “Your friends are here for real, here to take you away.” “It doesn’t matter,” Pinkie cried. “This is my fate, I can’t escape it. Death would be better than this, but there is no death in Tartarus, only never-ending suffering.” “It’s not your fate Pinkie,” Rainbow tried to tell her. “We won’t let this happen to you.” “You won’t,” Pinkie repeated before turning to Twilight. “But she will!” “What?” Twilight uttered, looking in horror at Pinkie. “Why did you do it Twilight?!” Pinkie demanded, as tears streamed down her face. “You knew Celestia would send me back here, why did you hand me over to her?!” “I… I didn’t!” Twilight stammered in a panic. “I wouldn’t!” Pinkie didn’t reply, just began twisting her head about as she clenched her mouth shut and let out a muffled scream. “Pinkie, listen to me!” Twilight shouted, grabbing Pinkie’s head. “I will never give you over to Celestia! I don’t care who you are or who you were, you’re my friend now, and even if I have to defy Celestia to protect you, then so be it!” Pinkie stopped screaming and was now staring at Twilight in disbelief, her eyes wide and her mouth agape. “And I mean that,” Twilight finished in an assertive voice. “You can’t stop her…” Pinkie breathed. “You can’t fight her if she fights back.” “Not alone she can’t,” Rainbow jumped in. “But we’ll all stand together, even against the Princess herself, we will never allow you to be sent back here.” Pinkie stared for a moment before swallowing and giving a small nod, finally managing a weak smile. When Tartarus disappeared around us, I was very glad to see it go, It may only have been a dream, but it was doubtlessly the most nightmarish one I had ever experienced. This time we didn’t reappear in endless darkness, but rather we found ourselves sitting on the cave floor, all huddled together. Rainbow Dash was the first to sit up, her eyes immediately focusing on something standing on the opposite side of the cavern we lay in. “You see!” she exclaimed victoriously as she got to her hooves. “It doesn’t matter what you show us, we’ll always be able to overcome it.” I sat up myself, while the others did the same, looking to the end of the cavern where the cave exit was, allowing copious amounts of natural light to spill in. Standing just before the exit however, was a gangly figure comprised of old sack and stick limbs, a literal scarecrow, complete with a nightmarish grin stitched into the bag that made its head. “Even if you make one of us scared,” Rainbow went on. “The rest of us will be there to show them that there’s nothing to be afraid of. As long as we have each other, our valour will be unbreakable!” The scarecrow stood still for a few seconds, before giving a slow, single nod and lighting up. As it split apart, the shining pieces drifted out the cave mouth and disappeared from view as they were lost in the daylight awaiting us. We were all left in a long, tense silence; it was finally broken when Pinkie Pie spoke up, in a voice that was unusually quiet and uncertain. “Um… Twilight,” she began. “Did you really mean… what you said back there?” Twilight looked back at her, and for a brief moment I was worried she had only said it to encourage Pinkie without really meaning it, but then she gave Pinkie a warm smile. “Yes Pinkie Pie,” she confirmed. “After everything we’ve been through, I’m happy to call you my friend.” It was a lovely, heart-warming moment for us all, especially when Pinkie pulled Twilight into a hug and Twilight returned it without hesitation. With everypony once again chatting amiably, I walked over to where my lantern had dropped and picked it up, hooking it back onto my belt since we were now at the end of the cave and wouldn’t need it. I looked up at the cave exit and simply stood staring at it, as I did, the chatter slowly died around me, and one by one my friends came and stood by my side, following my gaze. “So this is it?” Fluttershy asked, voicing everypony’s thoughts. “Seems so,” Applejack replied. I turned my head to the left and looked down the line; smiling at all my friends and having them smile back. “Let’s go then,” I said simply. We all walked together in unison, marching up the slight incline to the wide opening, all six of us stepping out of the dark and having to shield ourselves from the sudden intensity in light. Once my eyes had adjusted, I took a final breath, bracing myself for what we were about to see, and I lowered the hoof I had risen to shield my eyes… and I looked out across a sea of corpses, and a temple that lay in ruins.