//------------------------------//
// Chapter Fifteen 
// Story: Speak Now Or... 
// by The Tyrannical 
//------------------------------//

	Shamrock sat on the couch in the room opposite Earth Tone, who managed to find a way to angrily pace in his cluttered home. The other end of the couch sat numerous boxes filled with brushes and art tools. At his hooves sat a wide mass of crumpled and torn papers strewn everywhere, and hanging above his head was a gaudy art piece made of paint canisters.

Shamrock silently wondered if Earth Tone ever threw anything away.

"Scandalous! Treasonous! You mean to tell me this entire debacle today was a farce? Enforced by the Royal Guards themselves!?" Earth Tone's shouts stretched in the darkness of his unlit house.

That wasn't exactly what Shamrock had said. He only gave mention that the guards were not telling the full truth, not that they were actively participating in these events. But hey, Earth Tone was giving  his undivided attention now. The fool could interpret Shamrock's words any way he wanted, just as long as it pulled Shamrock closer to his goal. 

"How could they let such a monster roam the city? Why would they let it go free!? What could they possibly gain from—"

Now that Shamrock thought about it, what was his end goal? The green stallion spaced out while Earth Tone ranted. Did he really want to go through with this mad plan? Inciting an uproar against the guards for the truth was noble in its own right, but Shamrock wouldn't fool himself by making that his reason. 

"—doesn't explain how a single entity might elude the trained forces of the Empire! It's just too much to believe that—"

No, Shamrock knew what he wanted was justice. Or revenge. It didn't matter what it was called, he was fighting back against this unfair world now. If the world was going to give him lemons, he'd put them into the trash and grow some strawberries instead.

Or something.

"—and the last time they did this, it led to the infamous cucumber incident! Those Bovine nearly declared war right there because of—!" 

But with all that in mind, what would his 'revenge' even be, exactly? Getting the monster thrown in a deep dark dungeon? No, he already knew that wouldn't be what he wanted to satiate his lust for comeuppance. He needed to personally deliver to this monster that sense of 'Go to Tartarus. I win and you lose. Nobody wrongs me.' But how would he do that? He still had no clue.

"—and then she left me! As though it's some kind of crime against nature to create my art from empty wine bottles and necromancy!"

It occurred to Shamrock that he probably should have been listening. "Earth. I've realized something."

Snapping out of his own world, Earth Tone directed his attention to Shamrock with curious eyes. "Do tell?" 

"Besides what I've heard from the grapevine, I don't actually know what this monster looks like." Shamrock adjusted himself, brushing against the scattered supplies in the room. "You were there when I was assaulted. What did it look like, exactly? It's been described only as a 'deformed minotaur.' What does that mean?"

Earth Tone paused, and lost himself in thought, attempting to remember the image of the horrifying beast. "Well, it has a body like a minotaur, with its chest, bipedal nature, and limbs, but that's about where the similarities end," he recalled. "The creature's legs were much longer, contributing to about half its height, and they bent in a way I'm certain I've never seen before."

"Strange legs, then. What else?" 

"The creature's head is also... unique. Its face was an ugly mockery of a monkeys, and had distinctly dark hair on the top of its head. Oh! And sharp teeth like that of a wolf! It made a point to snarl at us!"

Shamrock nodded, "An ugly biped. Right."

"But that's not all. The hair on its head? The creature was completely hairless otherwise, as far as I could tell."

Shamrock balked at that. "What? Then... does it...?"

Earth Tone read his mind, "The thing wore a layer of clothing that covered its entire being, save for its upper limbs," Earth Tone shuddered. "This pale skinned creature had claws! Why else would it need those if not for shredding it's prey?"

Shamrock would remember all of that for when the time came. Now, he decided, was time to act. "So we both know how dangerous this creature is, and that something needs to be done about it. But this creature is being kept a secret. Earth, we have to do something about this. Every moment this... thing lurks unknown is a threat to the entire Crystal Empire!"

Earth Tone's eyes widened slightly. "Now? Are you certain of this, Shamrock?" 

How like Earth Tone. Balking at any notion of actual action, Shamrock internally criticized before speaking, "This thing could actually be related to Sombra, for all we know. We have to tell the others! They won't listen to me alone, but you are liked and well-known around the Empire. Earth Tone, I need your help to spread the truth. Please."

"What is to be gained from such an idea?" Earth Tone questioned. "Why would we do this?"

"You mean besides the fact that the lives of all the citizens are at risk? I think the more important question is 'how could it hurt?'" 

Earth Tone looked away, suddenly finding the mess on his living room floor much more interesting to gaze at. Earth Tone reconsidered every foreseeable consequence, every possible action again and again, debating with himself if he would help practically start a riot.

Shamrock didn't worry about his decision. In truth, he had the wishy-washy artist right where he wanted him. Shamrock knew that there was no way Earth Tone would refuse.

And when his beliefs were confirmed with the word "Alright," Shamrock couldn't help but smirk.


XXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXX


You know when you're strolling completely alone for hours not having any idea where you're going in a dark maze and you're constantly on the verge of death, it allows for you to ask yourself a lot of dumb questions.

Like 'why am I still walking?' 

I'd been down here for countless hours. I had every reason to believe I was going to die. The cave behind me collapsed and trapped me, my "superpower" was slowly draining my life away, and I couldn't see for shit. 

But the cave wasn't even my biggest problem. I still had to contend with the fact that I was likely nowhere even remotely near Earth. I had landed in a civilization where I managed to piss off the damn aliens. Oh yeah, and guess what NASA! Intelligent life exists! Surprise, mankind is not alone in the universe! Too bad they're probably bloodthirsty, judging by the bones of some poor sop I defiled down here. This life-changing info is going to die with me on this world. 

By all rights, I could already be considered dead. So why keep walking? 

Well for one, I'd been doing the "my situation is hopeless, waaaah, poor me" routine where I did nothing but mope all day and quite frankly I was tired of it. I'll die trying, thank you very much. 

And who knew? Maybe I'd actually get out of this and everything would be fine. Maybe I'd get lucky.


XXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXX


I set my pint down on the bar, looking out at the relatively empty bar. "Remind me again when we had to be there?"

"Pretty sure Brian said the movie started at seven thirty," Trevor answered next to me.

A pause sat between us before another important question came to my mind, "What time is it now?"

Trevor lifted his sleeve to check his watch, "seven-oh-seven." 

"So you're telling me we have to drive to the theatre that's, like, half an hour away before the movie starts in twenty minutes."

Trevor stared blankly into the universe, carefully strategizing his next words, "I mean, do you really need to see the previews?"

"Jesus Trevor, what are we still doing here!? Brian and Neil are gonna let us have it, we should've been there already! Come on."

"Wa-wa-wait. Hold on," Trevor pleaded before lifting the rest of his pint to his mouth, and chugged away at his Samuel Adams. Not ten seconds passed before his glass and mustache sported only a couple spots of foam as evidence there even was a drink in the first place. "Alright, let's roll. Don't worry, Brian told me about a shortcut."

That sentence did nothing but cause me worry. "We're never going to make it in time," I realistically stated.

"Don't worry, Andy. Maybe we'll get lucky, right?"

And what a shortcut it was. I especially liked the part when he made me illegally drive across a school yard. That ordeal saved us probably a minute of driving time. Maybe two. Some luck.

We hurried inside the movie theater, finding only Brian at the snack bar getting himself some popcorn. Neil was nowhere in sight.

I made ourselves known. He responded by giving us the most exaggerated bow you can imagine. "You both grace us with your presence! How generous of you two to take some time out of your busy schedule to meet with us!"

Smart-ass. 

"Speaking of 'us', where's Neil?" Trevor questioned.

"Stewing in anger watching the previews right now. Come on, he's saving our seats."

Still showing previews? Then maybe I had time to address an issue that just came up. "You two go on ahead, I gotta go to the bathroom."

"Christ alive," Brian reached into his coat pocket, tearing out a small square of paper and handing it to me. "Alright, here's your ticket. You better hurry if you don't want to miss any plot."

I mumble under my breath some annoyed thoughts while we all temporarily part ways. I had forgotten what sticklers Neil and Brian were when it came to movies. Really, I didn't care as much as they did about seeing this movie. I hadn't even heard of this one before it came out and they've done nothing but talk about wanting to see it since. Not even sure what the film was about; something to do with Mel Gibson? 

I made my way to the men's room where my bladder was swiftly emptied. Afterwards, I drench my hands in cold water for a couple seconds and wipe them off on my pant legs before almost jogging out of the bathroom.

And nearly running chest-first into a rather short woman right outside and around the corner.

In the confusion of me trying to awkwardly twist my body around her to avoid a collision and sputtering out a swear, I fell on my ass, hurting my tailbone on the hard, linoleum floor. In turn, the short girl let out a shriek of surprise, and I guess the lid of her soda came loose as well. Point is, the soda practically exploded in her hand. 

It. Went. Everywhere. 

The drops on my face were easily wiped away, and thankfully my shirt was protected by my now-drenched fleece jacket. My jeans on the other hand now looked as though I never made it to the bathroom in the first place. 

The stranger was worse off, I'd say. Unlike me, she didn't have a coat on to protect her shirt from the torrent of soda, and her pants were in the same condition as mine. Not to mention her probably-really-expensive purse. 

She was really cute too. God damn it.

For the brief moment of shock afterwards, we both stood there and looked at each other, drenched in silence and soda. What a sight this must've been for all other people in the vicinity. 

I attempted to say something first, "I-I'm... didn't see—! Uh... I was just... s-so..." Emphasis on 'attempted.'

Whilst I stammered hopelessly, I could see the shock on her face slowly giving way to something else. I could only discern that she was about to erupt with fury.

Trying to stifle her wrath before a bad situation was made worse, I staggered to my feet and tried to force out an apology, "I-I'm so s-sor— UHPH!" I didn't get very far before I slipped on an ice cube and fell back down to the floor at her feet. 

I hissed in pain before I looked back up at her, and I braced myself for the worst.

'The worst' came in the form of silent laughter. You know the kind where you're laughing so hard that not a single noise comes out of your mouth? Yeah, she was currently doing that.

Wasn't expecting that. "I, uh, are you alright?" I said standing up again, this time very carefully. 

She replied by inhaling deeply, and laughing some more. Audibly this time. She lurched over and swiveled on her bent legs. "I-! I ca-hah! Y-you—! A-HA-hahaha!" Her words were entirely suffocated by her guffaws.

I wasn't entirely sure what to do. "We, uh, we should probably get some paper towels or something." I mentioned, scanning the lobby for napkins and finding them at the nearby snack bar. "There's some over ther—UHFUCK!" As god intended, I slipped yet again on another errant ice cube. I think our beverages are filled with way too much ice these days, if you ask me.

Her silent laughter returned. I looked back to see that she couldn't take it anymore, as she had doubled over and fallen to the floor. 

"Oh for—!" I growled in frustration.

"St-stop! I c- I can't—!" she squeaked. "I-hym gonna pee-hee-hee!"

Ew, lady.

Ignoring the gross comment, I went and snagged a handful of napkins and then some, dabbing a wad of them uselessly against my clothes before walking back over to the hysterical girl. Not as many heads in the passing crowd were turned now, but there were still a few people looking at the girl like she was crazy. 

Me included. "If you're about done with your hysterics, I've got a bunch of napkins here for ya," I said plainly, throwing a few manners out the window. 

Much to my joy, her laughs became more reserved, until they devolved into nice little giggles. "Sorry, I- heh- I couldn't help myself," she said, wiping her eyes.

I offered a hand to her, and lifted her to her feet with ease when she took it. "Yeah, well, I'm really sorry I made you spill your drink. I hope you're alright." 

"Oh, I'm fine! Don't worry about me," she took a wad of the napkins from me, dabbing her pants with them. "I'd say it was worth every penny." 

Finally, I got a good look at her. Turns out, she wasn't very short at all. My mistake. Her shoulder-length brown hair was a bit messy, I could only assume from rolling on the floor. Her face was not long, barely maintaining an oval shape. Her wide nose wasn't nearly as large as mine. Thin brows arched above her olive eyes which stared back at me with amusement, and her cherry lips were curled into a gleeful smile. 

I realized more and more how cute she actually was.

"Well, at least let me buy you another soda."

"You don't have to do that." 

"No, no, I feel bad still and I... uh..." My sentence drifted away from me as I scanned the rest of her hourglass figure, and noticed a glaring issue she may have overlooked. "Uh, your... I mean... Your shirt, uh..."

"What?" Her smile fell. She looked down at her pale shirt, and noticed the same thing I did. Drenched in soda, the piece of clothing had become much more see-through, giving a great view of her bra to anyone that dared glance. "Oh, hell." she covered herself with an arm.

"Yeah..." I remarked. Doing my best to awkwardly stare anywhere else except at her, I took off my fleece jacket "Here. You can, uh... you can take this." I offered. 

I don't know what her expression was like, since I apparently found the snack bar more interesting to look at, but she took it after a brief moment with a quiet "Thanks."

I heard a zipper, and a couple seconds passed before she quipped "You can look back again, hero-guy." 

So I did. As expected, the fleece jacket was oversized for her. It extended to cover halfway to her knees, and only the tips of her fingers poked out of the sleeves. 

"Well, it's better than nothing. It's not like I'm not already covered in soda anyways," she said, gesturing to the soaked spot on the coat. "Thanks again. Really saved me from an embarrassing night out."

Even though I caused it in the first place. "Yeah, no problem," I replied, my heart rate slowing back down. "Sorry, I uh... Sorry. About this whole thing."

She pulled up the sleeves, bunching them up above her elbows. "Seriously, don't worry about it. Accidents happen and all that, right?"

There was a pregnant pause. I searched my head desperately for something to say to her, but my tongue twisted and my breath caught when she made eye contact with me and smiled again. Damn it all, she kept getting cuter by the second.

I was extremely under-prepared for this. 

Whilst I failed at choosing a conversation starter, she took the initiative to yelp "Oh f- I'm supposed to meet my friend in the theater!"

Huh. What a coincidence. "No kidding? I'm actually supposed to be doing the same," I told her before mumbling to myself, "They're gonna give me an earful..."

"Look I-I have to go before the movie starts, but I don't want to steal your coat so..." she reached into her purse, pulling out a basic plastic pen before taking a leftover napkin and putting the pen to it. "Call me sometime, alright? So I can give back your hoodie." 

I took the napkin she offered, and was taken aback at the digits I saw. I just got her number. All according to plan? "Yeah. Yeah, definitely!" I returned her smile with big, goofy grin.

She turned away to rush to her theater before adding at the last moment, "I'll see you later... uh... I never got your name?" 

It took me a second to answer. Still reeling, y'know? "Oh! It's Andy."

She chuckled, "I'll see you later, Andy. Gotta go!"

She hurried away, and I stood there dumbfounded. I kept looking at the piece of paper to confirm that just really happened. Only after several seconds of staring and confirming that the digits didn't magically vanish could I confirm that, no, I was not dreaming.

And beneath the numbers, she had written her name in soft, swanky handwriting.

I immediately put the number into my cell phone, just to make sure that if I lost the note I wouldn't be completely screwed. Even then, I still stored her number safely away in my wallet. No way was I going to screw up this opportunity.

Despite my soaked pants and lack of fleece jacket, I set off to my designated theater in the happiest mood possible, and pondering over how lucky I was...

...and nearly slipped to the floor yet again. I was fortunate enough to catch myself this time. "Mother FUCKER!" I kicked the offending ice cube in righteous revenge. I could see the theater staff staring at me with a mix of holding in laughter and disappointment. Fuck them. Maybe they should get carpeted floors like a normal fucking movie theater.

Just my luck, I guess, I thought to myself before storming off to my designated theater.


XXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXX


Yeah. Maybe I'd get lucky.

That's what I kept telling myself, but in reality I firmly believed that these were my final moments. Walking normally was getting very hard again, my muscles all still ached, and I was getting a bit dizzy and light-headed as well. 

It never occurred to me before how I've met all of my friends right after a disaster took place. I met Neil and Brian by crashing into their car, I was stabbed before I met Trevor, and I met the love of my life after a soda explosion united us. 

It made me wonder who I was going to make friends with in my disastrous situation right now. Jesus? God? They better be damn worth it.

Of course, I thought about home. I thought about seeing the sun again. Earth's sun. I wanted so dearly to be able to walk down the length of the beach again with my dad. I relished the thought of being able to just lay down in my place, falling asleep on my couch. I wanted so dearly to be able to tell all of my friends and family how much they mean to me. Trevor's been by my side through thin and thick, Brian inadvertently saved me from my life of boring solitude, I may butt heads with Neil, but I notice how he looks out for me. 

And then there's Janice. She laughs with me all the time, she always picks me up when I'm down, she teaches me new things every single day, I can't possibly describe how much she does for me. 

...What have I ever done for her? Provide comic relief? Muscles? I did my best never to do wrong by her but beyond that... what did I specifically bring to our relationship?

I thought for countless minutes as I trudged on in the heavy silence of the caves, never finding the solid answer I wanted. 

What more did I offer to her than a ring and my love? I had to give more, but what more could I offer? 

My voice, raspy and quiet as it was, still reverberated in the dank atmosphere, "Maybe... Janice deserves better."

I was pretty sure I had passed a few more remains of those ponies down here. Just fate's casual reminder of what was going to happen to me sooner than I'd like. 

I was still walking.


XXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXX


Resting her head uncomfortably against the wall, Amethyst licked her lips. "I'm getting a bit thirsty."

"That makes two of us." Glass Pond's stomach also growled for good measure. 

"Pond?"

"Yes?"

"What are we going to do?"

Pond sighed, "I honestly don't know, Amethyst. We have to come up with something soon."

"Do you think anypony would realize we're missing eventually? Maybe they'd come looking for us."

Glass slouched and shook his head. "My regulars will just think my bar is closed for the day and not give it a second thought. I think it would be best if we didn't rely on that hope."

"How about the lock on the door? Can we fiddle with it in any way?" 

Glass Pond looked over the strange pad on the door that bore no handle or keyhole, shaking and striking at it with his back legs. The barrier held fast.

"Here, let's both do it at the same time," Amethyst lined herself up with the metal door next to Pond. "On three. One... two... three!" Their combined buck was enough to jostle the gate, but still it remained closed and unbroken. The two ponies did it several more times, coming to a stop when they realized their attempts were not powerful enough to overcome the obstacle. 

"Total Tartarus. The gate's locked tight with a spell. Nothing we do will open it," Glass swore. "If only one of us were a unicorn."

Amethyst and Glass Pond rubbed their aching hind legs for a short while after. The unsuccessful escape attempt hurt more than either cared to admit.

Amethyst, still brainstorming, examined the iron bar closest to the rock wall. "Maybe we could chip away at this wall to make an opening large enough to squeeze through?"

"With what? Our hooves? We'd bruise and bloody our legs to pulps even more."

"Well..." Amethyst scanned the cramped space of the cell, picking up a random stone no bigger than her own eye. "How about this?"

Glass Pond deadpanned. "Somehow I don't think this will work, but lets give it a chance anyways." The rock found its way to Pond's hoof, and he proceeded to bash it against the jagged rock wall next to the metal bar. He scratched and scraped against the unforgiving stone, hoping with each thrust that the wall would start crumbling. 

Instead, the rock in his grip eventually split upon impact, and their hearts did the same. 

"No good," Glass conceded. "Any other ideas?"

Amethyst Glory stared at nothing in particular, rolling her tongue in her mouth. "We could talk about our feelings some more."

Glass sat down and drooped with a sigh. "Amethyst, I... I don't think we are going to make it out of this one," he moped. "When the golems eventually come for us, they'll probably—"

"Lets-!" Amethyst interrupted. "Lets not think about that right now, alright?"

They let the quiet of the caverns wash over them. They both knew what would transpire. They were unruly prisoners, and they knew what the golems did to such slaves.

Amethysts ears perked up. "Wait a second... the golems! When they come for us, that is when we strike!" her voice echoed. "We'll let them make our escape for us!"

The impulse of obvious intrigue on Glass' face betrayed his will to stay incredulous. "How are we going to do that? You know as well as I do that the golems paralyze the prisoners before they open the cell door as a precaution."

"Yes, but what if the golems didn't think they had to?" she implied. "What if they think we're already dead?"

Glass mulled it over for a few seconds, his mind switching back and forth from doubtful to hopeful. "That will never work."

"It could! I remember my previous times in a cell, I saw what they did with those poor souls that had already... expired," she grimaced. "I saw many of those bodies removed from their prisons, and I don't recall a single golem using the stun spell in advance!"

Glass Ponds eyes frantically looked around, his mouth bobbing up and down. 

"Think about it, Pond. Have you ever seen a golem try to stun a corpse?"

His silence was all the confirmation she needed, and she beamed in excitement until Glass spoke up, "Say you're right about this, Glory. Say that the Golem doesn't see through our ruse and stun us on principle. Say that we manage not to get taken by it and rush out the door," Glass hypothesized. "What then? We're still trapped down here, and we'll have a hundred of these monsters chasing us down. We'll simply end up right back here when, not 'if,' they catch us." 

"Well..." Amethyst scrunched her face. "To prevent another chase and capture, we would have to be covert. So if we were to escape, we would need to defeat the golem that opens the door so it couldn't make too big of a racket. Then, we can sneak back to the surface and kindly request that the guards get off of their flanks and do something about the monsters that live down here still!"

"That's a nice idea, but..." Glass couldn't help but notice Amethyst's scowl at his words. "How would we do that?"

"I don't know! Maybe we push it into one of the many pit cells in this dungeon, or maybe we bait it into a trap and lock him into our cell here! Or maybe we find a huge boulder to drop on it, I don't know Pond! But what I do know is that we need to do something, or else we die! I don't see you coming up with anything!" she pointed an accusing hoof.

"I am just—!" Glass stopped himself, and took a deep breath before responding in a more calm manner, "I am just trying to make sure we get out of this alive. We risk a lot on this plan of yours, Amethyst, and we only get one shot at it. We need to be thorough."

"Okay, okay," Amethyst breathed manually. "Y-you're right. I'm sorry, I'm just stressed."

Glass nodded. "I'm sorry too. I haven't exactly been contributing much."

"Alright, so when the golem opens the door, how abou—"

"Wait, shh!" Glory whispered. "Do you hear that?"

Glass listened, and grimaced when he heard what she was talking about. Echoing in the caves not far from them, where the noises of a monster. The tell-tale sounds of a golem. 

"They're coming!" she barely sounded. "Play dead! When I give the signal, get up and run for it!"

He lowered his volume in turn, "Wait! What do we do if we get out!?" 

"Let's try to trap the golem in one of the cells," she responded on the fly.

"But... but how are we—"

"Glass, we'll be alright. We'll figure it out." She stared into his eyes with a fierce determination. "Just lie down and play dead!"

The steps grew in volume. Glass knew he had no time to argue anymore. It was do or die.

Amethyst flopped to her side, facing away from the cell door, and Glass Pond reluctantly did the same. His heart rate increased, and he did his best to stifle his breathing. 

He heard the golem storm into the room.


XXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXX


These tunnels were just getting straight up ridiculous now.

The floor of the path I was following was more uneven than ever before. Constantly i found myself rising and descending over rocky hills, and tripping all too often on the jutting rocks. A new hazard I had to be on the lookout for came in the form of crevasses. Small tears in the ground that I couldn't see until my leg was already half buried within the ground. Lifting myself out of them wasted more energy I desperately needed, each time getting harder and more painful. These damned cracks were the devil, I hated them so much.

So I went to a snails pace, each step scoping out the rock ahead, making sure there were no hazards I'd run into.

The light of my phone, the only saving grace I had, was out of battery power. Earlier it had shut off automatically right when I was in the middle of investigating some strange marks in the dust on the floor. The indents in the dust and rock were unnatural, like some cargo was being dragged around by a giant gem thing. Also unatural about this area of the caves were the strange shapes cut merely a foot into the walls. As though someone had cut themselves a large stone slab in the shape of a triangle or demented trapezoid. 

That gave me some hesitation to continue, but what was I gonna do, go back?

Besides, given that I was following the same path against my will, I honestly hoped I'd run into another one of those oversized jewels soon enough. I was dying for energy here.

Also, this area of the caves? Not a straight line at all. The path twisted to the left and right, forced me to climb steep inclines and have a bumpy slide down some hills. The biggest joke was that any other path that split off from the cave was impossible to traverse. Some resembled giant pits that I could barely see into, and others were giant holes in the middle of the ceiling. Considering my last experience with such a ceiling hole, I did my best to hug the farthest wall and scuttle away from them quickly and quietly.

Also infuriating about this area was that I could see the occasional small gem monster clinging to the ceiling and skittering away. Since they were way too high out of reach, I could only assume these things now knew not to let me touch them. 

Fucking things. 

Right now however, I was in the middle of making a very important decision. There was finally another split off in the cave, one where I had the choice to go down either tunnel.  I could either continue on straight, or divert my course to the right. There was no bullshit REI rock climb I would have to do, no leap of faith into a hell pit, the path even looked smoother that way.

Before I made my choice, I heard the faint sound of someone's voice in the caves straight ahead. It actually sounded as though they were shouting, they were just much further down the way.

A shrill, short scream followed. A very familiar sounding scream.

"Wait a minute... I recognize that voice!" 

I reconsidered my choices. On one hand, those two ponies I had seen hours earlier in the caves were probably still alive and kicking, and I hadn't inadvertently gotten them killed. Yay. Go me. Bonus: They also likely knew these caves better than me. I could go recruit them and they could show me the way out of here!

On the other hand, they were about to die again by the sound of that scream. They also hated my guts, so I wasn't keen on getting more rocks thrown at me if I went to help. But if they died, my chances of getting out of here dropped, and I would have to bear the guilt of leaving them to their demise again.

Well gee. What to do?

I thought for only a moment. I was to bet they were under attack by another one of those crystal monsters, so it's not like that would be a hard fight if I did go to help. The benefits of going to their rescue were much too enticing for me to resist.

I limped down the path in front of me in a hurry. 


XXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXX


Their plan had failed almost immediately. 

As soon as the gate had opened, Amethyst gave the signal, and she charged for the open gate.  Amethyst barely managed to get through the door before an arm of white rocks swung at her. She ducked on instinct, the blow of the golem brushing against her mane.

It was with this specific golem that they had misjudged. When the ponies expected a golem to open the gates, they had thought it would've been one of the many average, malformed golems that patrolled the area, as they had always done during Sombra's reign.

Instead, the golem that surfaced was a Warden. A special kind of golem different from the others. Essentially, that meant it was smarter, faster, and on most ocassions, bigger. 

Pond and Glory had the misfortune of encountering a very big one.

Pond, for his part, failed to keep up. Whereas Glory was out of the cell immediately, Glass Pond stumbled to gain solid footing and his nerve. He balked for one moment before deciding to risk it all and charge out. Unfortunately for him, the golem was wise to his advances and swept Pond up in its crushing grasp. 

While the heap of shining rocks held Glass Pond in its grip, he squirmed and beat ineffectively against the rocks that clutched him, while the golems two other limbs fired concentrated bursts of stunning magic at Amethyst Glory. The escapee ran alongside the perimeter of the room and continued to move and turn on impulse to dodge the paralyzing spells.

The light of the magic flashed in the large dungeon, lighting up the room, blinding the two ponies, and casting looming shadows before it all faded to darkness again within mere seconds. Then, the process would repeat itself for every bolt that Amethyst dodged by the skin of her teeth. The shaken mare knew she could not keep this up for much longer. She herself was but a stones throw away from the entrance, but she refused to leave without Glass Pond. 

Pond knew, seeing how she dance away from the large entryway each time. From the clutch of the golem, Pond managed to yell at her, "Amethyst! Run for the exit and get to the surface! Save yourself"

Another missed beam stopped her in her tracks, the Warden golem attempting to predict where she was going. "No!" 

"You have to! You can get help!"

Amethyst wanted to argue, but between struggling to find the words and running for dear life, she was too preoccupied.

"Put away your pride and use your common sense for once! Just go!" Glass ordered from the clutches of the Warden.

"But—"

"NOW!"

Her eyes welled up. Blinking away tears, she defied what she stood for and ran for the dungeon exit.

She chanced one last look back at the Warden as she ran out, seeing it throw Glass Pond violently back into the cell. 

Knowing she was next, she galloped as fast as her hooves would allow down the tunnel away from the creature...

...and ploughed face-first into the legs of another, sending both it and her to the cold, hard ground. 


XXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXX


Motherfucker that hurt! What the hell hit me!?

I sat back up from the floor, rubbing the side of my head that impacted on the rocky floor. I'm thankful the floor I had landed on wasn't spikier, but the solid headache I now suffered was no joke.

Then, as well as I could, I got a look at my assailant. Just as I had predicted earlier, it was the screaming pony from before, looking as frantic and shaken as ever. Hooray, they were still alive!

Her eyes widened at the sight of me. "M-ml! Mlg blf! Mlg mld!"

Guess it was too much to hope that she'd miraculously learned English by now. "Nope, still don't understand you," I responded in turn. For a moment, I wondered where the other one had gotten off to. "Where are you going in such a hur—"

I didn't finish the sentence. From around the corner, the largest jewel-thing yet floated into our view. 

I think I figured out what happened to this pony's partner.

This thing, its center alone as wide as a couch, was similar to the floating star that I encountered when I went spelunking earlier. Similar in the sense that it was floating, sleeker than the other jewel guards, and sported the pure white color. It was different in that it was much larger, and instead of the smaller white pebbles rotating around in orbit, it sported three sleek, beefy arms of diamond perfectly spaced around it, and each arm ended in with four dangerous looking claws. The thing roared its heavy thunking noise as its ambient, alabaster glow lit up my surroundings.

If I didn't think it was about to try to kill me, I'd have honestly thought it looked cool as hell.

The arm closest to us opened its fingers, and its palm charged with unpleasant lightning before it released the energy towards the pony. 

Impressively, the pony in front of me managed to get out of the line of fire, and the shot of magic collided with the floor before fading away like nothing happened. But with a yelp, she stumbled back down and hit the ground hard yet again just as I noticed the floating white behemoth was aiming another shot at her from a different arm. For her part, she seemed to realize she was fucked right then.

I saw my opportunity. So I sprung to action, and hastened to shield her body with my own. She yelped and struggled against me in surprise for but a moment, then I felt the energy strike of the monster smash against my back.

And it felt. So. Good. After struggling a to get decent surge of energy and having to run on fumes for hours, and then suddenly having all the power I needed course through my very being in seconds? I probably could've climaxed right there.

I stood tall and proud, guffawing in excitement and releasing the little horse I had saved. "Finally!"

"D-dszg?" she spoke. The poor pony seemed to be at a loss.

I turned away from the confused horse, gesturing for her to stay back, and faced the heavily-armed monster. "Hey, handjobber! C'mere!" I threw my hoodie aside, tossing it onto the pony. I saw her fumble with it in confusion in the corner of my eye. "I'm gonna beat you with your own third arm."

The caves boomed the white rocks call, and I charged the floating mass.

My first and only plan was to jump up and grab at the jewel monster's arm, giving it the hug of death that would turn it to that fragile, black state. As I leaped, though, the white mass levitated upwards to get out of my reach. I hadn't noticed that the large diameter of the tunnel allowed for it to do such a thing. Fortunately, it hadn't entirely escaped my clutches, as I now hung in the air, clutching at its arm. Already, I could feel its power flowing through me, and I could see the arm turning gray.

But it was short-lived. The damned horror realized what was happening all too soon, and swung me around with it in a rapid spin. Admittedly I thought this fight would be a cakewalk, so I had let my guard down. My grip loosened, and I was flung to the corner of the tunnel.

I learned right then that I was still able to feel the pain of being smacked against the rock, which meant I hadn't absorbed enough power. Sure enough when I brushed myself off, I saw the grayed arm slowly regain its pure-white glow, and the floating pile of diamonds beeped at me again. 

Seems like I just pissed it off. 

Even better, now it was floating too high to where I couldn't reach and touch it. Swell.

"Well what are you gonna do, idiot? I can take anything you can throw at me!" I mocked. 

The Diamond monstrosity was already rising higher to the ceiling while I was speaking, and as soon as the last word left my mouth, I noticed its hands light up with some blue swirling magic that was more serene than the usual crackling yellow they all did. I had never seen such sorcery before, so I was given pause right there, wondering if I could take what it was about to fire at me.

Then the diamond monster pounded the ceiling with all three arms at once, and swift blue ethereal slices cut a shape into the ceiling above me. I watched then as a chunk of the ceiling came loose, and allowed gravity to do the rest. 

"...Except that." So that was why those cave walls I saw earlier were all cut up in weird shapes.

I leaped to the side, getting out of the way before I became a pancake. Boy, I was doing a lot of action dodges today and every one of them hurt. If I got out of this, I was going to have some PTSD triggered anytime I made a long jump.

A quick glance at my surroundings showed that the pony was long gone, much to my dismay. I needed that damn pony to show me the way out, but it bolted. All because I was too preoccupied with Hover-Hands, here. I'd have to try and track her down after I took care of this thing.

Speaking of, I looked back up at my opponent. It had already slammed that soft blue spell into the ceiling to cut larger chunks above me. This thing did not waste any time.

I got up and continued to make a mad dash around the expansive cavern, swearing and tripping over every obstacle along the way. Boulders fell from above trailing behind each step I made. In the corner of my eye I could see the the Knuckle-dragger itself holding something in its claws, and still hovering too high and out of my reach. I wondered briefly how I was going to be able to beat him if I couldn't touch him.

I noticed the rocks stopped falling when I heard the crashes behind me cease. My relief was only temporary though, as a large stone then launched past me and crumbled against the floor. I looked again to my adversary, realizing he had thrown a rock at me himself and already had another in one hand.

"No thanks, someone's already thrown a rock at me today. I didn't enjo— EEIGH!" My snark was thoroughly interrupted as the ballistic stone missed my head by inches. "Cockbite!"

It reached to the highest part of the wall, pulling out another threateningly large and pointy stone. A third time, it chucked the thing straight at me.

My dodgeball skills failed me at that moment. I screwed up my footing, and the boulder clipped my left shoulder while I yelped. It didn't hurt nearly as much as it should've, thanks to the fix I had initially gotten from the Di-arm-ond, but it did hurt. Thankfully I wasn't sporting a broken arm now. I don't think even my magical powers could heal such a thing.

Okay asshole. Two can play at that game, I thought, clutching my shoulder and rising from the knee I was forced to take. As soon as the golem reached back to the wall for more ammunition, I turned my attention to the ballistic that had clipped me. It had landed a few meters to my side, still in one relatively large piece. Perfect.

Ignoring the aching pain that lingered within my shoulder, I hugged the rock, and lifted as fast as I could. If I were relying purely on my own strength, I probably could have never lifted this thing. Thanks to my superpowers, though, the large erratic was lighter than it should have been.

Oh fuck, it's about to throw more, I noted mentally, bracing myself. Wasting no more time, I lifted the over-sized pebble over my head, and lobbed it back towards the monster as it did the same to me.

Both of our shots found their mark. I was clobbered right in the gut and sent sent sprawling on my back, and the abomination made noises as it reeled back from the direct hit and fell in altitude.

I wheezed, and pushed myself to get up. I think I spent the last of my powers enduring that last blow, but I could worry about the pain later. The heavy hitter had lowered to reachable range, and this was my chance to strike.

So I forced myself onto my feet, and charged.


XXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXX


Amethyst stumbled back into the dungeon, still unbelieving of the events that had just transpired.

She heard a rumble back through the entryway, cringing in fear of the powers that were clashing just outside. She wanted to run away, but decided that she needed to retrieve someone else first.

"Pond!" she called out, running to the cell she had seen him get tossed into. "Pond are you alright!?"

He groaned in pain, "Amethyst? What are you—"

"I am not leaving you behind!" she said, slamming against the bars that kept him in. "I refuse to think solely of myself anymore!"

Another crash was heard outside, and their ears folded at the sound. 

"What's happening out there!?" Glass asked.

"The monster showed up! Not the Warden, but the one we were chasing originally!" she hurriedly explained. "It's fighting the golem right now!"

"What? Why!?"

"I don't know! Pond, it... it saved me."

Glass blinked. "Huh!?"

The caves rumbled with another crash, and a shout was heard. "I'll explain later! We have to get this door open!"

"The— uh! The Warden locked it again!" Glass tripped over his words.

Amethyst cursed the smooth surface of metal that served as the magical locking mechanism. She scanned the floors of the dungeon for something. Anything to bash against the metal bars.

"Amethyst, there's nothing you can d—"

"Do not tell me to leave, Pond! Either we both get out of here or neither of us do!" She cut him off, examining her surroundings some more before something caught her eye. "Stay here!"

Glass deadpanned, "...Okay." 

She galloped off to another prison further along the wall as another shout was heard from outside, followed by the trademarked noise of the golems. The cell she galloped to was busted. Never mind the door of the cell that was off its hinges, but most of the iron bars were loosened and fallen to the floor as well. Amethyst took one of the bars in her mouth and scurried back to Glass's cell while the battle raged on outside.

"Stand clear!" She ordered before attempting to wedge the bar between the cell door and the rest of the gate. More than one attempt was needed. It was no crowbar, but the end of the metal bar was spiked at the top for some odd reason.

She struggled to pry open the door. She pushed and pushed and gave it her all, but still it was not enough. The magic on the door was too much to overcome.

Glass stepped forward to mention something, "Maybe if you—"

"Blf dlm'g vhxzkv nv gsrh grnv!" 

The Warden zoomed into the dungeon room, flailing around haphazardly. The other monster was gripped onto one of its three arms yet again, only this time the thing had managed to get all four limbs wrapped around it. 

"What in Tartarus!?" Glass Pond exclaimed. "What is it doing!?"

Amethyst watched in horror as the Warden golem grabbed the biped by the leg, and peeled him off its arm. Hanging by its leg, the Warden sent the minotaur look-alike hurdling towards an open cell across the room, and it impacted heavily onto the floor inside. 

"Lddd..." it moaned in its defeated state, somehow managing to rise to its feet. The Warden acted swiftly, magically closing the door to the cell before the biped could escape. "Svb! Ml!" it realized, noticing that the gate was now locked.

Its job done, the Warden turned back to Amethyst, who stood stupefied with the iron bar in her grasp. It slowly sunk in for Amethyst. The Warden had won. Her plan had failed.

They were all doomed now.

The Warden was only just starting to charge that familiar yellow lighting in its fists when the sound of bending metal screamed in the hollow caves.  

All attention turned back towards the new prisoner, whom had just torn the gate off of its hinges and freed itself.

"R'n mlg wlmv drgs blf!" it yelled.

The Warden sounded its noise, and floated away from the ponies to finish its fight with the monster.

"It just did that!?" Amethyst questioned. "How is it so strong!?"

Glass Pond watched on from his prison, eyes wide. The monster had just broken the locking spell on the gate in mere seconds. No only that, but the door to the cell was now a bent mess on the floor across the way.

He had an idea. "Amethyst! You have to help it defeat the Warden!"

"What? Me!?"

"I'm stuck in here. You're the only one who can!"

"Why? How!?" she shrieked.

"I- I don't know! But the thing seems confident that it can win. And honestly if it saved you as you say, then it isn't a foe as we originally thought!" Glass explained. "Think about it! It might even be able to free me! It could help us get out of here!"

They both watched as the escapee shouted and tossed a small pebble at the Warden, whom hovered high out of reach. 

"Are you sure?" 

"I think so, yes!" Glass answered. "Something has to be done about the Warden before it calls for more golems anyways!"

"How can I possibly help?" Amethyst looked around the dungeon once again. There was no weapons she could use, nothing she could use to her advantage in here. "I'm not strong enough to hurt the Warden!"

The two ponies watched again in astonishment as the creature lifted a boulder bigger than they were, and heaved it in the Wardens direction. Of which, it missed.

"No, but that thing definitely is! Just give it things to throw!" Glass Pond brainstormed. 

Amethyst looked to the iron bar she once used as a crowbar. "Got it! I'll be back, Pond!" she nodded to him before setting off.

"Glory, wait! Remember, don't touch the bipedal one! It can still suck the life out of you!" Pond advised, pressing his face against the bars of his cell.

"I'll be careful!" she assured before heading back to the broken enclosure she found the iron bar.

Off she set, to aid the creature she was trying to defeat merely hours ago. Amethyst pondered how her day could possibly become any more crazy. 

"Please let us get out of this alive!" she prayed to noone in particular.


XXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXX


Poppy burst through the front door back into the hospital, her replacement lagging behind and entering moments later.

"I can't thank you enough for filling in for me, Silver!" Poppy shouted back to her cohort, retrieving her things and shoving them into her saddlebags. "I know it's a silly thing to worry about, but I wouldn't be able to forgive myself if another pony needed my help while I was out!"

Nurse Silver Vein yawned. "What are you going out for, anyways? I haven't seen you this distraught in a long while," she observed through glazed eyes.

"Another patient left the premises when I specifically told him not to. He could hurt himself, but I won't let that happen!"

"A runaway," she remarked, her voice still level and slow. "So what else did he do to upset you? What's this really about?"

Poppy paused, briefly wondering if she should tell Vein what happened before shaking her head and outright confessing, "He lied to me."

"Oh." Vein knew all too well what that entailed.

"He's a confused individual," Poppy continued, adjusting the straps on her bags. "I can't help but feel he's going to get himself into trouble!"

Vein rolled her eyes, "Typical P'. Always the mother,"

Poppy paid the comment no mind. "Alright, I'm taking off then. Thank you so much for this, Silver!" Poppy thanked with a toothy grin, wrapping Silver Vein in a bear hug. "I can always count on you!"

"It's nothing, P'. Really, I owe you this much," she replied, only half reciprocating her hug. 

Poppy was out the Infirmary's front door, and Silver Vein ventured to her favorite chair in the building. 

Vein honestly thought Poppy, bless her saintly heart, worried too much. The Crystal Empire's local infirmary didn't see much action, so Poppy probably could've stepped out for hours and returned to see that nothing had happened at all. 

Silver Vein found her place, sat down and reached into her own saddlebags. She had a book she needed to finish.


XXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXX


From a heavy sleep, she slowly returned to reality. 

Cadance's eyelids barely cracked before she released the loudest of yawns. "Wha time is..." she mumbled, rubbing her eyes.

She wrestled with her willpower to sit up from the bed, but the warm, soft mattress satisfied her with comfort beyond comfort, and her silky thin sheets entangled her beneath her blanket. 

"Just..." she closed her eyes and yawned once again before turning on her side. "Jus a lil' longer..."

She faded back into slumber.

And in the farthest corner of the Crystal Empire, in a bed of vibrant, rapidly-growing flowers, another individual continued to lay dormant in unwitting solidarity.