"Periculum subire certamen esse et permanere viribus," Cres read off the arch.
It looked like nothing more than a decrepit old archway. We passed through as if it were nothing, but once we were through, I realized what it signified.
Three trials must be completed. We just began the first.
Flames rose to form a ring, cutting us off from the arch we just passed through and even the pillar that we were heading for. The ground in the center appeared to be growing, as if a large bubble was making it's way up through the dirt. The bubble burst, revealing several mysterious creatures.
They were pony-like, except they also appeared to be part insect. They were all black, having insect-like blue eyes. They had very large fangs. All four of each of their hooves appeared to be covered with holes that went straight through. They had horns, so they were apparently capable of some type of magic. They also had torn insect wings in the place of regular wings.
One of them came up to me, looking curiously at me. It appeared to be very skilled at magic, for it transformed into a regular mare. It may not be very good, for the mare had an appearance that one most likely wouldn't find in a place like this. She had a mint green coat, with a blue mane and tail. Her golden eyes reminded me of a certain pony, as did her peppermint cutie mark.
The creature had transformed into me!
I backed away out of fear, and the doppelganger put on a sly smile and advanced. It lunged at me, but it was knocked askew by Ace. The unexpected blow caused it's transformation to fade away. Stella put up a magic barrier to keep all the creatures at bay.
"Princess," Ace said, "can you use your magic to make us glow?"
"Yeah, I think so," Stella replied. "Why?"
"Because these... things... can only copy so much. Did you notice that the clone of Pepper didn't have any bracelets?"
"Right, and so with my magic, we can identify who's with us and who's not."
"Exactly, Princess. So can you do it?"
"I'd have to... break the barrier," Stella said while struggling to maintain her barrier against the creatures. "Everypony get in close."
We did as she said. Stella released her magic to focus on lighting us up. There was a wave of light blue, followed by a soft glow of the same color emanating from each of us. We each had a light blue aura surrounding us. Stella's barrier shattered, and the battle was on.
Nighthawk and Stella jumped right into the fray. Cres and I backed off to the side, with Ace right in front of us. He had his wings spread so as to keep us covered.
Stella, as a unicorn, had little trouble in combat. She was somewhat off to the side, using her magic to pick up one creature and use it as a weapon against others that attempted to go near her.
Nighthawk was putting his skills as a Lunar Guard to great use. I don't know where it came from, but Nighthawk was clearly wielding a sword. He was slicing through these creatures like they were nothing.
These strange creatures. Whenever they took a fatal hit, they broke apart into little black squares. Most of these squares just dissipated, but always one from each creature remained floating around the field aimlessly.
The creatures kept reappearing exponentially. Nighthawk was barely challenged, but Stella was beginning to run low on magic. She collapsed, exhausted and drained of magic.
"Princess!" Ace yelled out, but it was too late. The creatures that she was trying to take out brought her into the hole at the center of the ring.
"Aish!" Nighthawk called out, the sword in his mouth slurring his speech. With his hooves, he unsheathed another sword and threw it towards us. It stuck in the ground in front of Ace, who picked it up and ran in to assist Nighthawk. For a pony who had never used a sword before, Ace was doing a decent job keeping the creatures at bay. It helped that he could near-perfectly mimic some of Nighthawk's simpler techniques, even adding his own unique twists to some of them.
The number of creatures slowly decreased, meaning we must be nearing the end soon. Eventually, it was down to just one. Nighthawk simply cut through it to, hopefully, end the trial. The square that lingered, along with the rest of them from the other fallen creatures, began to move erratically towards a central point above the center. The hole in the center patched itself with a mysterious orange force field. The aura that Stella put around each of us also began to fade away, indicating that she was beyond recovery.
The black squares combined into what appeared to be a portal. From the portal, more black squares shot out onto the force field. They took the form of what appeared to be a larger version of the creatures. After the cascade of these squares ended, the portal disappeared, and the form changed to a similar color.
Rather than the blue insect-like eyes, it had more pony-like eyes that were red. It also had a short dark green mane, as well as a tail of the same shade. It was much larger than any of us, even larger than Princess Luna. It had even more holes around it's hooves, as well as several on it's oversized horn.
"You dare trespass on our land, and eradicate our people?" The creature called out.
"Who are you?" Ace asked.
"I am Metamorphus, King of the Changelings. And you," he looked around to all of us as his horn started to glow red, "shall pay for your actions." The beam hit Ace directly, sending him flying away from Metamorphus. He hit the ground unconscious, his sword sliding to a stop next to his limp body. The large Changeling laughed as I ran to Ace.
I ran over to make sure he was alright. His wing was slightly misshapen, and his chest was charred. I looked back up to see Nighthawk deflecting every shot Metamorphus threw at him. One shot managed to skim off Nighthawk's sword and burn through the backside of his armor. I finally caught a glimpse of Nighthawk's cutie mark, a yin-yang.
After a few more unsuccessful shots, Metamorphus took notice of Cres, who was too scared to move at all. I realized what he was going to a split second before he did it. He sent a burst of magic directly towards Cres. It would have been a direct hit were it not for the fact that I jumped in front of it before it hit her. It hit my wing instead, making it shoot out in pain. A large scar remained where the magic hit me, and I was unable to fly.
Metamorphus' attempt to hurt Cres seemed to cause Nighthawk to snap. Something in his eyes said he was going to kill anypony and everypony he could find. The first pony to cross his line of sight was King Metamorphus. Nighthawk stomped, which caused a shockwave that shattered his armor. With his sword still in his mouth, he disappeared. Several gashes that appeared along Metamorphus' body told me that Nighthawk was going too fast to be seen, and using it to his advantage.
Metamorphus, unsure of where Nighthawk would attempt to land a fatal blow due to his sporadic movement, put up a barrier just in time. Nighthawk appeared right in front of Metamorphus' face, the barrier all that stood between Nighthawk's sword and Metamorphus' neck. Metamorphus smiled as he realized it was his turn to strike.
His smile disappeared as a loud crack echoed within his barrier. The point where Nighthawk's sword was touching began to crack from the stress it was withholding. The crack spread farther and farther until it finally met itself at the back of the barrier. With a loud sound similar to glass breaking, the barrier shattered. Metamorphus was unable to retaliate before the sword pierced his neck.
"You..." the Changeling King started, but he was unable to finish before the severity of the injury took it's toll. Nighthawk pulled the sword from his neck. Metamorphus stumbled a little before falling, lifeless, onto the forcefield he never left. The force field disappeared, as did the ring of fire, and the Changeling King's lifeless body fell into his people's nest.
Nighthawk looked back at me and Cres. He walked over to us, casually cleaning his sword on the grass as he went. When he reached us, he raised the sword, murder still visible in his eyes. I looked away, putting my face into the ground, hoping that it would somehow save me.
There was the sound of a sword hitting the ground. I looked up to see that Nighthawk was no longer in front of us, but was instead pinned to the ground by Ace.
"Stop, Nighthawk!" Ace yelled. "We've defeated all the enemies. We can move on."
"Get off of me," Nighthawk said quietly, kicking Ace off. He picked up the sword and raised it again.
"You swore to protect us," Ace said, causing Nighthawk to stop. "And now you're going to turn back and kill us, kill Pepper and Crescent."
The murder in Nighthawk's eyes faded as he realized what he was about to do. He slowly lowered his head and sheathed his sword. They both disappeared when the sword clicked in the sheath. "You're right," he said. He knelt down beside us before continuing, "I'm sorry."
Ace grabbed the sword that Nighthawk had loaned him and returned it. Nighthawk did the same thing with that sword. I stood up, helping Cres up as well.
"Pepper, your wing!" Ace exclaimed.
"As long as Cres is okay, I'm not worried about it." I said.
"What happened?"
"She jumped in front of Crescent to protect her from Metamorphus' attack," Nighthawk explained.
"He attacked Crescent? Is that why you suddenly went murder crazy?"
"Yes," Nighthawk said as he looked down.
"Then why would you turn around and try to kill her yourself?"
"Stop arguing," I interrupted. "We've already lost Stella, and the last thing we need is to start fighting among ourselves. The trial's complete, so let's get to the pillar and continue." I indicated the pillar, which now had an opening in it.
Cres made it to the pillar first. There was something written on a sign by the entrance.
"Recitare Hoc reserare deinde iudicium," Cres read. A flash from within the pillar revealed more engravings within. Cres stepped in to read them. "Ego ipse ut tributum ad Epochust."
None of us expected the center of the pillar to fall. It landed right on Cres, crushing her and not leaving a trace. I stood there, shocked at what I had just witnessed. I couldn't believe it actually happened. Blood seeping from under the center confirmed that it actually happened.
Cres is dead.
I sat there, staring at the blood. I didn't even look away when there was a flash to my right. I silently mourned the loss of Cres as her blood continued dripping through the crack. I thought about what had happened. We lost two during the first trial alone. If these trials get progressively harder, or even if they're just as difficult, then there's no way we would make it to the Epochust.
"We need to continue," somepony said from right beside me. The sudden voice reminded me that Ace and Nighthawk were still next to me. Ace was right, we needed to continue, regardless of who we've lost.
There was a path leading directly to the next pillar. Ace started along the path. I followed reluctantly, not wanting to leave the site. Nighthawk didn't move, tears falling from his face. Ace went back to him.
"We need to move on, Nighthawk," Ace said. "Crescent it gone, and we can't bring her back by sitting around."
"We also can't bring her back by continuing," Nighthawk replied.
"We can, actually." Nighthawk seemed to perk up at hearing this. "Do you know what we're going for?"
"I recall Princess Luna saying this was the Temple of the Epochust."
"Right. And do you know what the Epochust is?" Nighthawk shook his head. "It's an object that allows those who reach it to manipulate time. If, no, when we make it to the Temple, we can get the Epochust and turn back time to before Crescent, or rather Stella even, died."
Nighthawk got up and started down the path, towards the archway signalling the start of the next trial. "Then what are we waiting for?" he asked rhetorically. "Let's go."