//------------------------------//
// Chapter 72: Wits End gets new friends that won’t abandon him to the Gate of Truth 
// Story: Caverns & Cutie Marks 
// by TheColtTrio 
//------------------------------//

	“Is this really necessary?”
Sol Eater chuckled, covering her mouth with the back of a hoof. “Why, my little princess. Of course it is necessary.”
Wits End, once again in his raven-maned, androgynous form, was wearing his most unamused expression. Once again, he was in the dress set up by Rarity earlier, but this time somehow… worse—not “worse” as in bad, but “worse” as in more intense.
The layers of the dress, which had been of a nice—if somewhat cheap—materials, had been transformed into fine silks, precious metals, and sparkling gemstones. The floral headdress had been replaced by a tiara, similar to the one that the Lady of the Sun wore. A thin layer of makeup now lay on his face, giving him a more defined feminine appearance.
“Just don’t tell anypony else about this,” Wits grumbled. “‘Cause if anypony hears about what happened here, I swear on my former pretty floral bonnet I will end you.” He ignored the chuckling alicorn, looking at his reflection in a recently added mirror. “I gotta say, magical mirrors, makeup, and… well, I can’t think of a way to say clothing that starts with ‘m’, but it’s all quite impressive. Not to mention the whole, ya’know, inducing transformation without my say so. If only there was a word that started with ‘m’ that had to do with controlling ponies...”
“I am not known by many names for nothing, little one,” Sol Eater said. The silver-clad mare’s horn glowed with a wispy silver light. “My powers are great and many.”
As he watched, Wits End’s reflection became enveloped in the silver light. Before his eyes, his appearance shifted, becoming softer and rounder. “Wha-” The raven-maned pony froze, eyes widening at the higher-pitched voice. “Did you just- Wait.” Wits turned away, pulling the hem of the dress away slightly and glancing underneath “I… um…”
Sol Eater’s smile widened. “How do you feel, my little princess?”
‘I, uh…” Wits End let the hem of the dress go, staring blankly at the confused mare staring back. “Man, I feel like a woman.”
“If it makes you uncomfortable, I can-”
“No, no. Hang on. This could be fun.” Wits straightened his her dress, taking a seat in the center of the cage. “So, if you don’t mind me asking, what’s the Lady of Sunlight doing in a deep dark cave far below the surface of the earth?” She brushed a lock of raven hair away from her face. “Shouldn’t you be up where they walk, up where they run, up where they stay all day in the… well, you know.”
Sol Eater’s horn glowed again, summoning ivory thrones beneath them. “Indeed, I should be on the surface. Truly, my rightful place is with the sun in the sky. However…” For the first time, an expression other than bemusement crossed the alicorn’s face. “I was cast out. Banished by my sister to the dark and cold of the underground.”
Sounds familiar, Wits End thought.
“Now I simply wish to return to the light of the surface and reclaim my rightful place,” Sol Eater continued, her face falling back into it usual expression. “It is as simple as that.”
“And what would that place be?” Wits asked. “It wouldn’t happen to be Supreme Tyrannical Ruler of the Entire World, would it?” She chuckled, before realising that the larger mare wasn’t joining in. “It… it’s not, is it?”
The alicorn’s smile widened—far wider than any ordinary smile on any ordinary pony. “Nothing so threatening, my little pony, but an apt description nonetheless. The ordinary, simple ponies of the surface may have forgotten how it feels to have a true goddess guiding them, but they will remember it soon enough.”
Wits End swallowed hard. “So then, the zombies from before. Those really are your doing?”
“My children?” Sol Eater shrugged, her lips parting to reveal tightly packed teeth like needles. “The sun shines too brightly for some, but they can still be of use to their goddess after they burn.” She leaned in toward the mint-colored mare. “As can those simply warmed by its rays. Chosen by its guiding sunlight.”
“Wha-” Wits was cut off by a sudden thought. He focused his attention inward, calling up the list of his known moves. There was Alter Self, which was marked as currently in use; Imitate Skill, which said there were no nearby targets; and Learning, which included a number of available spells: Oaken Shield from Taxi the Timberwolf, Poison Sting from the Giant Scorpion, Lightning Bolt from Twilight Sparkle…
And Guiding Sunlight from Sol Eater.
“What did you do to me?” Wits asked, biting back the tremor in his voice. Panic started to rise. He couldn’t change back, or change at all. Even his combat skills were locked off from him. “What did you do!?”
Sol Eater laughed aloud; a sound beautiful and terrible to behold. “I claimed what is mine, my princess. After all,” she appeared inside of the cage next to Wits End, cupping a forehoof under the smaller mare’s chin, “a queen should have a consort, should she not? Worry not, little one. With you beside me, I shall bring the surface under my rightful rule.”
Wits End shuddered; her body unable to pull away from the silvery alicorn. “As if,” she growled. “I’ve got friends in these low places. When they get here, your royal rump is royally screwed.”
The alicorn chuckled, slipping through the bars of the cage as if they were nothing. “You are not the only one with powerful friends, my little pony. You have met Wayward Sun, yes? No-pony can match him on the field of battle.” She chuckled again, the light fading around her until only a sharp-toothed smile remained in sight. “I’m afraid your friends will have no choice. They will join me, whole or burned through. And you shall aid me.”
Wits End sat in the darkness, lit only by the torches along the walls. For the first time, the mint-colored unicorn was worried.
For the first time, they might lose.


* * *


“Big fancy door,” Purple Heart muttered, staring up at the metal entrance, “and not a save point in sight. I’m making a bug complaint for when we next see Discord.”
“You could just add it to the massive list of complaints you already have,” Light Patch suggested.
“Or that,” the purple earth pony agreed. He looked over his shoulder at the six mares. “At the very least, this is a miniboss. We should be cautious.”
“No arguments here,” Twilight said. “What do you think is on the other side of that door?”
“I’m sticking with what I called earlier,” Light Patch said, looking around. “As for specifics, I’m thinking a giant beetle that has a shockwave attack and possibly eye lasers. And we don’t even have the Tri-Rocking Lawnchair.” He devolved into mutterings about bipedal ants with lasers and zombie bugs.
“Ahm’ betting it’s gonna be some kind of stone golem or something,” Applejack said while studying the door.
“Maybe it’s a boss party, where we’re gonna have to fight every boss we’ve fought to this point!” Pinkie said as she bounced in front of the door to try and get a look through its keyholes. The rest of the ponies all jerked and stared at the pink mare.
“NOPE,” Purple Heart stated vehemently. “Nope, nope, nope, nope. No carping way.”
“Please don’t give Discord any ideas, Pinkie,” Twilight pleaded.
“I concur,” Rarity said, her face a mask of terror. “All of our previous enemies in the same room? It does not seem like a fun thing.”
“I’ll have you mares know that the boss rush is a long standing and classic of action RPGs and shmups everywhere,” Light Patch chimed in. “Also, it’s rarely all at once. Usually it’s a one at a time thing… well, the good ones are, anyway.”
“Never experienced a boss rush before,” Purple Heart mused, head cocked to one side. “I think… Enlighten me, Light: have I ever experienced a boss rush before?” The grey pegasus gave his friend stink eye.
“How am I supposed to know that? What games have you played? Gradius? Or what about Shovel Knight?” Light Patch paused to think for a few moments. “Well, the time we summoned all of the hardcore bosses from Terraria in a row could count. You might have had one in Castle Crashers… Undertale kind of has one.”
“Huh,” Purple Heart grunted. “Guess I have.”
Rarity rolled her eyes at the two colts. “As interesting as all of that might be, we’re never really going to know what lies beyond the doors until we open them.”
“Rarity is right. We can guess about what is behind those doors until we’re all blue in the face.” Twilight was interrupted by a cough from Rainbow Dash, “or bluer. Anyway, until we open those doors, we won’t know. So let's open them,” she finished as she walked up to the doors and pushed to open them.
“To the point. I like it,” Purple Heart mused as the doors swung slowly open to reveal cathedral sized cavern. The eight ponies moved into the chamber, gazing about at the gargantuan size. Torches flickered in brackets along the walls and on columns pockmarking the downward slope of the floor. Seats and stairs had been carved into the rough stone, giving the impression that the chamber was used for large scale events, most likely arena battles as there was a large flat area at the bottom ringed by high walls to protect the occupants from any wayward attacks. 
On a dais in the center of the arena’s floor was a solitary pony standing with their back to the group. As the group of adventurers walked down the steps towards the center, Purple Heart grumbled.
“I’m getting serious Dressrosa vibes from this,” he muttered, eyeing the surrounding walls for any escape routes. “I wonder if fruit is involved.”
“Pardon?” Applejack asked. “What has fruit got ta do with dress roses?”
“Spiky thorns?” Pinkie Pie offered.
Rarity sniffed. “Why would dresses have thorns? The roses I use have none.”
Purple Barbarian grumbled under his breath. “They aren’t like Drax. They can’t catch metaphors or references like my friends and I can.”
“Well, to be fair, they don’t have the same cultural background as we do,” Light Patch noted. “And I am getting some serious Solaris IV Colosseum arena myself. In any case, it looks like we’re expected.” Light Patch spoke loud enough to get the attention of the group while he pointed at the center of the arena and the figure occupying it. “Shall we go say hello?”
“Sounds good to me!” Pinkie said as she bounced ahead.
“Is it me, or does he look familiar?” Rainbow asked after they’d gotten closer.
“Don’t ask me,” Purple Heart sighed. “I don’t know what the carp you six have been through lately.”
“He does seem familiar,” Twilight agreed. “Maybe we met him before leaving Gallopilli.”
“No, it’s Wayward Sun!” Rarity realized. “Remember the pony we met on the road to Ade? He said he worked for the Lady of the Sun!”
“Do you think maybe she’s the one behind all this?” Fluttershy asked meekly.
“Perhaps,” Applejack hummed. “Why don’t we ask him?”
“Hey there!” Pinkie Pie called, leaping down into the arena proper. “Have we ever seen you before?”
The figure turned their head, the torchlight glinting off of the great helm. The blazing sun emblazoned on his otherwise white tabard seemed to glow with its own light in an homage to the symbol it represented. “Oh!” Wayward Sun turned fully to face the party of ponies. “Hello there, my jolly cooperators!” He nodded, the light reflecting from the longsword at his side. “I’m glad to see you all alive.”
“We’re fairly happy to still be alive,” Twilight replied, “especially considering that the town above seems to be empty one moment, then swarming with zombies the next. Though our party was split as we entered this area, I don’t suppose you’ve seen a mint green unicorn with a pinto pattern have you?”
“Ah, you seek your friend!” Wayward took a few steps to one side, revealing a doorway on the other side of the arena, similar to the one the ponies had come through. “Worry not! He is unharmed and in good hooves. The Lady of Sunlight has taken a… special interest in your young stallion.” He paused, hoosing his next words with care. “Twould be better if you saw your party as being eight fine adventurers now rather than nine, I think.”
Purple Heart’s eyes narrowed as he scrutinized the colt. “Seems like we’ll have to make our way through you to get to our friend,” he growled, “and I have every intention of doing so with extreme force if necessary.”
“What he said, but with more spittle and proper Orkish,” Light Patch added, nodding his head towards Purple Heart.
Wayward Sun shook his head. “Now, that is a shame among shames.” A moment of silence passed as the armored stallion took his position on the center of the dais again. “You’ve done well. Indeed, you all have. You’ve strong hooves, strong faith, and most importantly, strong hearts.” The torchlight danced around the shadow of his helmet’s eyeslit. “I am in awe, really. Yes, yes.” Another pause. “I don’t suppose… What do you think? Why not join me as a warrior of the Sun?” He held out an outstretched forehoof. “Righteous knights! Guardians of all that is good, in the name of the Lady of Sunlight!”
“Um, why don’t you join us instead?” Fluttershy meekly asked, “You seem like a nice stallion, and, well, I don’t know what happened to the ponies in the town above, but I’m wondering if they are the zombies. I’m sure we could be good friends.”
“She’s right; there isn’t any need for us to fight. You could just step aside and let us rescue our friend,” Light Patch chimed in.
“I’m afraid that is not an option,” Wayward replied. “I have served the Lady of the Sun since her arrival. I’m not about to betray my duty to her now.”
“I guess we have no other choice,” Twilight stated, eyes narrowing at the armor clad colt. “We have to get Wits back, okay Fluttershy?”
The yellow pegasus nodded in resignation, saddened that violence was the only course of action.
“Let’s make this quick,” Purple Heart said. “We have a princess to save.”
Wayward Sun sighed. “A shame…” The sword at his side was surrounded by a sliver light, like the rays of a sun shrouded by an eclipse as it flew into the air at his side; met by his greatshield on his other side. “If stubborn beasts you be, I have no choice!” The shadow of his eyeslit burst with golden light, illuminating the room brighter than the torchlight. “A warrior of the Sun will not just sit and take it!” 
Pinkie Pie leapt forward, hoof raised to strike a blow to the Sun Warrior’s helm. The rest of the group tensed, waiting for the coming battle.
“Boop Attack!” the pink mare cried, driving her hoof against the iron helm. Instantly, the armored colt crumpled to the stone floor in apparent unconsciousness.
“What?” Rainbow Dash said looking between Pinkie who was staring at her hoof and the stallion on the floor. She flinched when the sound of a warhammer being thrown to the ground came from behind her.
“Seriously!” Light Patch shouted, “A nose beep? You go down to a nose beep. All of the hype, all of the build up and the narrative and mechanical tension and he goes down to a non-critical nose beep?! Poor show Discord, poor show!” He shouted in displeasure at the ceiling before turning to address the rest of the group. “I’m gonna go check for traps and/or loot. Let me know when we’re moving on or if you want me to heal him to try this mini-boss thing again.” He stomped away, muttering about music boxes and nose beeps.
The mares looked after the fuming pegasus in surprise.
“Well,” Applejack sighed, “Ah didn’t see that comin’.”
“Light takes his boss battles pretty seriously,” Purple Heart said. “The only thing topping this disappointment is Earthworm Jim eating a fish.”
“No, that was hilarious. It fit the style and tone of the game to a ‘T’...  Also, this place has really good acoustics,” the pegasus shouted from the back wall.
“Boss battles aside,” Rainbow Dash grunted, “that was kinda disappointing. Considering the previous bosses we’ve fought.”
“Yes,” Twilight agreed. “Those times, at least one of the colts were knocked unconscious.” She looked at Purple Heart, grinning cheekily. “I think it was your turn. Wits and Light have already gone through the gauntlet.”
“Mini-boss,” the Purple Barbarian retorted, rifling through Wayward Sun’s belongings. “Doesn’t count. And didn’t my near-death experience at the hooves of Grim Hammer fulfil that?”
“Nope,” Pinkie chirped.
“Great,” Purple Heart grumbled, pocketing the few bits Wayward had in his pockets. “That aside, I’m a little concerned by how short this battle was. It seemed almost nonexistent.”
“What do you mean?” Rarity inquired.
“We just traipsed our way through a number of puzzles,” Purple Heart explained. “Unusually simple puzzles I might add. And we just one-shotted a boss. Sure, a lower level one, but still a boss. I have some concerns.”
“Maybe he was super weak,” Pinkie Pie offered. “Not enough cupcakes.”
“Technically, we’re in the third scenario of this campaign,” Purple Heart pointed out. “Shouldn’t we be having some troubles right about now?”
“You do have a point though,” Twilight hummed. “Light? Find anything interesting?”
Light Patch looked up from where he was and quickly glided back to the group, the worry on his face evident. “This place is full of traps, hidden entrances, and all sorts of stuff. Discord clearly had a huge fight planned for this area.” He paused and looked at Twilight and Purple Heart. “So the question is; why did he truncate the battle like this?” He punctuated with a wave at Wayward Sun. “Why is he rushing?”
Purple Heart groaned, rubbing his face with a hoof. “I’d like to think he’s gotten tired of our shenanigans,” he mumbled. “But I doubt it’s that. He clearly wants to wrap this up as quickly as possible.”
“But why?” Fluttershy asked. “He could just say ‘game over’.”
“Yeah,” Applejack agreed. “He could end it right now if he liked.”
“But why doesn’t he?” Twilight asked.
“Maybe he hasn’t thought of it,” Pinkie Pie suggested.
Purple Heart opened his mouth to reply but paused, brow furrowed as he thought. Then he blanched, eyes wide with fear and realization.
“Or he can’t,” he whispered.
Light Patch sighed and then shook his head. “Look, standing around won’t do us a lot of good, or getting us closer to being done. Let's go find and save Wits End, and then we can worry about why Discord is forcing us to speed run.”
Purple Heart shook himself, though his eyes still glinted with a small trace of fear. “Yeah,” he agreed. “We’ve got to find Wits quickly. Let’s find a way out and move on.”


* * *


Bael lips curved in a small, satisfied smirk as he slowly walked into the conference chamber beneath Just Duty’s fairly nice, yet moderate estate. A round table sat in the center of the chamber, illuminated by a lamp hanging from the ceiling above. The grey being’s smirk widened into a full blown face splitting grin when he noticed his two constituents waiting for him.
“Greetings,” he called, waving a hand languidly at Holdfast and Just Duty. “How goes your personal operations and ventures? Successfully, I hope?”
“The artifact was found, but then lost shortly afterwards,” Just Duty stated shortly.
“Awww,” Bael moaned, his tone obviously insincere. “Bloody shame that. No worries though. I’ll need the artifact’s magical residue for a little plan of mine.” He turned to face the white unicorn, plopping the satchel he was carrying on the table. “And what of you, Master Holdfast?”
Holdfast smiled. “Significantly more successful.” He glanced at Just Duty. “I have fulfilled what I promised at the beginning of this venture. The factories are running at full capacity, and the Baron’s little village is on its way to becoming a proper township.” He frowned. “Although, I would be able to act much faster if your guards didn’t insist on slowing things down. This is the third time in a week I’ve had to personally step in because of some nosy upstart.”
“They are concerned. The allowances I’ve given you are unprecedented,” Just Duty replied. “I will have a talk with them now that I’ve returned. Be glad they are good enough to prevent your issue from being bandits.”
“So things are going well then,” Bael said cheerfully. “Perfect. Now to tell you how I intend to dethrone this god-like being ruling over us.” He reached into the satchel and pulled out a long object wrapped in cloth. A few twirls later and the cloth was pooled on the table, revealing a long sword of high quality. A soft green sheen emanated off the blade. Bael set the weapon on the table and moved it closer to the two stallions, allowing them to get a better look.
The snow-white stallion raised an eyebrow. “An enchanted sword? I’ve never heard of a weapon such as this.”
“It does appear to be a fine blade but I highly doubt a simple enchantment is enough to kill a god,” Just Duty mused, studying the blade.
“Kill?” Bael asked, glowing eyes widening in surprise. “Oh no. No, no, no. This can’t kill a god. It’ll just make him feel very weak. The enchantment on this blade saps magic. However, it’s only suited for sapping low level magical creatures like unicorns at the moment. But, if the enchantment was to have enough power...” He trailed off, looking at the pair expectantly, waiting for them to put the pieces together.
“Then it could steal the power from a stronger being, and with enough even a god’s power could be ripped away,” Just Duty said in realization. “But then the question is ‘where do we get this power from’?”
“Why, the remaining power from that destroyed artifact you found, of course,” Bael replied. “But that sword won’t be enough. We’ll need to find a way to bind him to this realm.”
Holdfast leaned back in an attempt to be more comfortable. “‘Find’?” He repeated. “Do you mean to say you don’t have such a plan yet?”
The bipedal being shrugged. “I have an idea that might work,” he amended. “However, I wanted to propose the thought to you two first.” He pulled a sheaf of papers from his satchel and slid them across the table to the two stallions. “It should interest Just Duty more as it concerns his subjects and land.”
“Concerns them how? I’m warning you right now, daemon. If you have injured or killed any of my ponies, you will be destroyed,” the noble bit out as he glared at Bael.
“Whoa, whoa!” Bael waved off. “This plan won’t cause any physical or mental harm to your subjects. It just requires their inherent magic they are born with. Not even enough to exhaust them. The worse they’ll feel would be a minor headache, maybe not even that. I’m not in the business of enacting damage of a collateral nature. You have no need to worry about your subjects’ safety.”
Just Duty snorted before letting his glare fade. “Then what is needed of them and the land?”
Holdfast leafed through the papers. “These are maps,” he muttered. “Maps of this town, in fact… But I don’t recognize these circles. Do you plan to build walls around the entire town?”
Bael snorted in amusement. “Walls,” he chortled. “Nope. This-” he tapped the circle, “-is a seal. It’ll bind the god-being to this realm and keep them from returning to his overworld view.”
“You know this for certain?” Holdfast narrowed his eyes. “There aren’t many stories of such a plan that I know of, and none of them end well. You plan to make a god angry and put him right in our lap. What keeps him from smiting us, or whatever it is he does?” He smirked. “Maybe putting the paladin in front?”
“We just need him in one place long enough to hit him with the sword,” Bael explained, gesturing to the weapon. “The magic the god-being possesses will loop itself to power the circle. The combined inherent magic of Just Duty’s subjects are a way to jumpstart the circle’s effects. Once his power is drained sufficiently so that he poses no problem, we can continue with our ventures.”
Just Duty looked again at the sword before studying the papers. After a few minutes of silence, he sighed and looked up at Bael. “It is disheartening, even as an ex-paladin, for me to hear how easy you’re making it sound to usurp a god.”
“Perhaps it is that simple,” Holdfast mused. “After all, if I were a god, I would want to discourage anypony from attempting to dethrone me.What better way to do that than to spread tales only of the failures?” He leaned forward, tapping the table. “So we need the remains of the artifact. Then what?”
“Then we throw the switch on the circle,” Bael said. “It’ll draw the god-being to the center and hold him there for a short amount of time so that one of us can hit him with the enchanted sapping sword augmented by the magical residue of a powerful artifact. Once he’s weak enough, we hit him, typically in a pattern of three total hits. Then they’ll be just as powerful as an average sorceror.”
Just Duty’s eyebrows scrunched up in curiosity. “I will gather the bits of the artifact that embedded themselves in my old armor. But, before I go, what do you mean by ‘typically in a pattern of three hits’?”