“So, Gwynevere thought that by havin’ you with Seath, she’d be usherin’ in some new age of acceptance for all the folk and creatures that inhabit Lordran?” Applejack queried while staring up in awe at Priscilla. The crossbreed looked to Seath who was trying to distract himself with tuning his catalyst.
“T’was Gwynevere’s desire to see that all were not bound by their subservience to the gods. Flawed did she judge the Great Lord’s caste system, and erroneous did she deem the gods’ actions in segregating all who were beneath their status.” The white dragon replied while shaking his head at such naïve notions. Applejack was confused.
“Well… far be it fer me to comment on how other kingdoms are run, but that sounds like a pretty noble intent…” The farmer’s ears wilted in realization. “Which Ah’m guessin’ is why this Gwyndolin guy didn’t take too kindly to it?”
Priscilla’s hands tightened around her scythe.
“Those who exist as a cross between races are considered below even the lowliest of peasants. To see one embraced to the bosom of the gods… my mother’s intents were noble indeed, equine, however, they were matched only by her error in applying them.” The crossbreed replied. Applejack noted how speaking ill of those who had brought her into being seemed to cause Priscilla pain, yet she did so anyway, as if feeling such needed to be confirmed regardless of how horrid it sounded.
“So… um, forgive mah askin’ this, but why would he then have you taken from yer folks and hidden away, rather than… well… the alternative that seems to be favored here?” The orange mare continued, trying to phrase her question as delicately as possible. Priscilla sighed somberly.
“Aid me in defeating Gwyndolin, and thou shalt have thine answers.” The crossbreed looked to Seath. “All of thee.”
Applejack nodded with a rough cough as she followed the party back to the elevator.
“Ah didn’t get too personal there, did Ah, Twi? Jest wantin’ to make sure what Ah’m gettin’ myself into.” The farm pony whispered as she trotted by her alicorn friend.
“It’s fine, Applejack. Honestly, I’m keen to know the same, more so if it clears up any of the mystery of Seath and the others being sent to Equestria.” Twilight replied. “The question is, where the heck are we meant to look? With the lady who was originally at this bonfire gone, we’re running a bit low on leads.”
Seath cast a light orb and raised it high into the rafters of the darkened chamber.
“Vast is Anor Londo in size, greater than any other province of Lordran… but far from that which she was charged to protect a firekeeper would stray not.” The dragon mused. “Gwyndolin’s domain lies close by. T’were it not, his servant would not have rushed to her master’s aid.”
“Indeed. If I may speak for a moment, your grace?”
Seath and the party turned to one of the channelers guarding the perimeter.
“When you charged us to scout Anor Londo and monitor the activity of the gods, we witnessed several souls coming and going from what appeared to be a level far below Gwyn’s keep. Of note was that never were any souls of a status below that of a knight or a similar warrior of virtue. Despite being so close to the peasant sector, this area does not appear to be for the use of servants or other low class workers.”
The six eyed sorcerer pointed his trident at a space hidden in the shadows, far, far below the keep where the party had just come from. Seath stroked his chin ponderously.
“A domain hidden from all, where only those who swear their lives to the sword would dare to tread. Such would suit the preferences of the Dark Sun…”
Applejack crept to the chamber’s exit and looked down to the void that threatened to swallow all the buildings of Anor Londo. Her knees trembled at how long of a descent would be required to reach where the channeler was indicating.
“Right, and… uh… what’s the safest way fer getting’ down there? Ah’m noticing a severe lack of stairs and ladders around this place… and only three of us have wings…”Applejack looked among the group. “Ah mean, not that Ah’m scared or anythin’, but if jumpin’ is truly the only option, maybe Fluttershy here had a point about askin’ Rarity fer some parachutes.”
Beside her the butterscotch pegasus blushed in embarrassment. Twilight smiled softly at her friend’s concern.
“I don’t know if we need to resort to that just yet. Let me check something first.”
The alicorn descended from the chamber down to where the elevator sat waiting.
“Going on the height of the building, I’m guessing we’re on the top floor, meaning this can’t go any higher.” Twilight grabbed the elevator’s handle in her magic. “But we haven’t seen how far down it can go.”
Applejack, Spike, Fluttershy, the Chosen Undead, and Priscilla got on, along with as many of the channelers there was room for.
“I shall follow behind. Summon the rest of our forces, wherever they may be, and fall back to the archives. T’is imperative mine own domain is as fortified as can be with all due haste.” Seath ordered to the remainder of his sorcerers.
“As you command, your grace.” The channelers bowed and departed back up the stairs.
With a deep breath, Twilight began to turn the elevator handle, rotating it round and round as the platform dropped into the shadows below. Several of the channelers cast their own light orbs, as what little visibility there’d been above was stolen away by the encroaching darkness. Further and further the elevator descended, passing one empty level after another. The lack of life and light soon became suffocating as the bottom seemed never to come, leaving the party in the limbo of an apparently endless descent.
“Hey… uh… Twi? Need some help there?” Applejack asked nervously. “Ah mean, you don’t look like yer struggling, but… heh… you know Ah’m handy with pushin’ things, so…”
Twilight cracked her eyes open, not remembering when she shut them. She paused upon seeing the increasing tension etching itself upon her friends’ features.
“Hey, sure Applejack. If it’ll speed up the ride, then feel free.” The alicorn replied, putting on a brave smile.
“Heh… thanks. Sorry, this place is jest playin’ with mah nerves a bit. Need somethin’ to distract me.” The farm pony sighed as she grabbed the handle with her teeth and began pushing it with gusto.
“Trust me, you’re not the only one.” Twilight sighed as she pushed alongside the orange mare. Out of the corner of her eye, she looked to her pegasus friend, noticing how she was frantically pulling at her mane and the hood of her robes, as if trying to hide herself inside her clothing from the encroaching darkness. “Fluttershy, are you okay?”
The pegasus gave a sharp swallow and a nod.
“F-Fi-Fine. Just a little nervous.” She said morosely. “Just need a moment to… to… collect myself. Tell myself everything is fine…”
The elevator gave a sharp lurch. Fluttershy quickly scooted herself as close to the center of the platform as she could get… right into a pair of arms clad in leonine fur and avian scales.
“How about a handsome, fluffy draconequus to help with that? That usually never fails to chase away the jitters.” Discord smirked as Fluttershy looked up at him. “At the very least, it’ll give you something else other than this boring void of blackness to focus on.”
Fluttershy’s shivering stilled as she felt the warmth of the chaos god against her body, giving her cause to take a deep breath and nuzzle into his chest.
“I’m just worried about what lies ahead. Like I always am, at anything and everything.” Fluttershy whimpered. “Sorry, I know I’m a complete scaredy cat.”
Discord arched the eyebrow over his larger eye.
“Nonsense Flutters, you don’t have whiskers, your tail is far too bushy, and your ears are completely the wrong shape for a feline.” He smirked. “Mind you, I’d love to fix that, but again… someone around here would probably complain.”
He glared at Twilight and Applejack, but both were far too fixated on operating the elevator to respond.
“At any rate, regardless of how lacking in bravery you believe yourself to be, you’re still here going through with it anyway, aren’t you? Just like you stared down Sif, then ran off after her, even though I can’t imagine going through that weird forest alone was at all pleasant.” He replied. Fluttershy looked up at the draconequus, seeing him staring at her with a quiet expectation that she acknowledge his point. The pegasus reached for her saddlebags and felt the smooth roundness of the ring Alvina had given her.
“Well… yes, that is true…” Fluttershy replied.
“Wise art they who exercise caution when faced with that which is unknown. T’is not cowardice to fear for thine life when unto peril thou is forced to march.” Priscilla gently intoned as the elevator as last came to a juddering stop. “Beyond here, I am as blind as thee. Never have I dared to dream what may lie in the dominion of the Dark Sun.”
The crossbreed rose and took a deep breath as the channelers cast their light upon a deserted walkway.
“Few have. T’is how Gwyndolin would wish it, no doubt.” Seath commented. Discord stepped up beside him and looked around the dark void.
“Well, at the very least, you’d think a god would want to exercise a bit more feng shui. This place is as dull as the years I spent trapped in stone!” The chaos god snapped his tail and a row of quaint black iron gas lamps rose up on either side of the walkway, flickering into life to make the environment a little less foreboding.
“That’s better. Now we just need a little color…”
Discord snapped his tail again, and the light from the lamps began alternating between green, blue, red, orange, pink, purple, and so on, washing the stone flooring in a nightly rainbow.
“Lovely… now maybe something to give it a hint of pizaz…”
Buckets of various flowers and toxic plants appeared, hanging from the gas lamps.
“Perfect, and now the place looks so much more lively and inviting. Doesn’t feel like we’re entering a lifeless tomb anymore.” He smiled. Seath narrowed his eyes as features of the surrounding buildings came into focus as the light splashed over them. He took the lead, peering into the distance as the archway to a somber and mostly blank chamber slowly became visible.
“Amusing art thine jestful ways… but in error thou dost speak.” The dragon replied in perplexity. “T’is indeed a tomb we stride towards… the tomb built for the Great Lord and his line!”
Stepping to the front, the Chosen Undead looked up at the imposing architecture, its lack of decoration in comparison to the now decorated walkway only making it seem that much more alien and hostile.
“The king of the gods had a mausoleum made? For what purpose would an immortal need such a place?” She queried.
Seath sighed morosely.
“T’was Nito’s recommendation that this place be built, if not for the purpose of being graced with the deceased souls of lords, then as a seat for him and his kind in Anor Londo. What haste did Gwyn and the gods make in casting him and all his kind down to the catacombs when at last this place was complete.” The dragon snorted in grim amusement. “Thus, now here it stands, another testament to the apathy of our divine lords, a standing monument to their misguided segregation of all they saw as beneath them…”
SCHING!
Seath paused as something glimmered in the darkness of the tomb, then he roared as the glimmer zipped out to bury itself in his skin.
“And for your sinister intent, it is where you all shall suffer for your sins!”
Beside Seath, the Chosen Undead whipped around and brought Artorias’ shield to her guard in record time. The unseen assailant sought just as quickly to prove their superior marksmanship by arching another blade majestically over the top of the enchanted shield to bury itself in the visor of the undead’s helmet.
“Aurelia!” Twilight cried as the Chosen Undead collapsed, blood flowing from around the dagger sticking out of her helmet. She made to run forward, only to find a sudden hail of arrows raining down onto the walkway before her. Instinctively, the alicorn threw up a barrier as more projectiles shot of the darkness, arrows and daggers ricocheting off her magical wall as the tomb’s entrance was suddenly alight with an unwelcoming familiar blue aura.
The Blades of the Darkmoon poured out onto the walkway, parting like the sea to reveal the Lady of the Darkling stepping through their ranks.
“What a fool am I to have prayed that my words would be heeded. How abysmal that you all made it this far, despite our efforts to make you see the light!” She scowled while raising her estoc for battle.
Seath raised a wall of crystal and tended to the sword sticking out of his belly as the Blades continued to try and take him down with their attacks. Around him, the channelers rushed to form a defensive perimeter, dancing their way through the hail of arrows to charge up their spells.
“You should have stayed in your dungeon, beast! Never darkened our city with your menace!” The Lady seethed as she ordered her troops to focus on the channelers.
“This darkness is of thine own doing, not mine. The gods abandoned their people and with them took the light. What thou hast stood guard over is naught but the illusions of thine master!” Seath replied back in tranquil rage. The Lady gestured for her bowmen to shut Seath up with a few arrows through the neck. He glowered and destroyed the next hail of bolts with his crystal breath.
“Too true. From what Ah’m hearin’, there’ve been a lotta lies bein’ spun here, and that ain’t no way to run a kingdom.” Applejack commented. “Especially if it leads to thinkin’ that THIS is an acceptable way of greeting visitors!”
The brass armored female looked down at her, seemingly judging Applejack with quiet disgust behind the visor of her helmet.
“As one from a land that is not ours, you are scarcely in any position to denigrate what you do not, and could never, understand.” She muttered. Applejack glared and took a step forward as a challenge. The Lady thrust her estoc at her in warning. “I warn you, approach no closer! You have already stained your souls with too much blood and sin by allying with this abomination!”
Behind her father, Priscilla felt her body chill with anger.
“Thou art a fine one to speak of abomination, a husk that doth conceal her ugliness beneath a golden shell, and serve a soul long since lost to his own misery and treachery!” She shot back. Seath turned in surprise, then promptly grabbed his daughter and shoved her down as a fresh hail of arrows turned their attention towards perforating her in as many places as possible.
“And that is enough from you, crossbreed!” The Lady glowered. “By the grace of the Dark Sun, we extend to you this one last warning: turn back, and return to the fetid shadows from which you came. Never has the tomb of the Great Lord been tarnished by the feet of the unworthy, and if you seek to trespass, the Blades of the Darkmoon shall strike you down, as they have all foes of the gods!”
The channelers frantically worked to repel the invading blue phantoms, but their efforts accomplished little beyond how their last battle in the hall of art had gone. There were a finite number of them, and an inexhaustible number of Blades, and without Nito to give the latter pause, the battle quickly became a massacre.
At the very least, seeing more of his faithful sorcerers being decimated in their dozens was enough to provoke Seath’s rage, to the extent he smashed down his own barrier and began spewing crystal all over the encroaching phantoms. The Lady duly rolled out of the way and let forth a tired sigh.
“Very well, so be it. Expunging fools like you is part of my charge!” The brass armored lady coldly replied as she coated her blade in some manner of inky black magic. “The equine and crossbreed are cattle, butcher them as such. Seath is mine!”
The Blades of the Darkmoon made to finish the party off, with the Lady of the Darkling leading the charge as she trampled over the fallen bodies of the channelers.
It was only when several geysers of lava suddenly burst forth out of the ground behind her that she had cause to stop.
“No.” The Chosen Undead stated plainly, having recovered from the impromptu dagger in her face. “The lies end here!”
The Lady of the Darkling quickly rolled out of the way as more lava erupted from beneath her feet. Her minions weren’t so lucky. Many blue phantoms fled and leaped off the landing to their deaths as their bodies were showered with the glowing hot magma.
“I’ll handle this. Just do what you have to do with Gwyndolin!” The Chosen Undead ordered. Seath looked down at the warrior, seeing her staring up at him with urging, despite the gleaming blade sticking out of her helmet’s grill.
“Seath, come on! Before they have a chance to regroup.” Twilight cried. The white dragon nodded at the undead and duly followed his student into the building. The Chosen Undead let her pyromancy spell die down to give her friends passage. Then, as the Lady of the Darkling rose to try and pursue them, she cast it again. The brass armored warrior growled demonically as her path was again blocked by searing lava jets.
“Well, this indeed is tragic.” She said seethingly, while turning to look at the undead. “Seath I long accepted was forever lost, but you? With all the potential I saw in you at our first meeting, I truly hoped one day to fight by your side! Yet instead you choose to squander the revelation gifted to you from the gods by allying with the traitor??”
The Chosen Undead extinguished her flaming hand and grabbed for her chaos blade.
“The revelation I received came from no god, only the illusion of one, and it’s purpose, as I’ve now discovered, was solely to make me sacrifice myself in order to perpetuate a lie. To maintain the deception that the gods’ glory still shines over Lordran.” The Chosen Undead drove off her opponent as she charged at her, then grabbed the Lady’s parrying dagger and ripped it out of her face. “My parents lied to me all my life about my destiny, those of the Great Lord’s knights lied to me about my value, Frampt lied to me about why I was summoned from the Asylum, and now I see the gods themselves have lied about their intent for me! Seath thus far is the only soul in over 300 years who’s presented me with anything resembling the truth, and as horrid and tragic as it is, I will gladly take it over this dream of denial you seek to take refuge in.”
The Lady of the Darkling snarled behind her faceplate as she stepped back and thrust her estoc at the undead.
“That monster is the worst of all traitors! He destroyed his own kind, he destroyed millions with his experiments, and now you seek to help him destroy us too?” She demanded. The Chosen Undead parried her blade and hurled a fireball at her. She growled and dropped to dodge the projectile.
“He seeks to make the gods answer for their deception, and for all to at last know the truth of how they’ve lead us astray.” The Chosen Undead narrowed her eyes as her opponent rose and cast another miracle upon her blade. “I likewise seek answers to why I was chosen to embark upon a quest that serves no apparent benefit, not to mention the other mysteries I’ve encountered during my travels!”
The two warriors crossed blades a third time and drove each other around the walkway, their battle highlighted in the rotating colors of Discord’s gas lamps.
“If Seath is the only one willing to face the shadows that our gods wish to hide behind the veil of their light, then perhaps you should be asking yourself what sort of false fantasy is this you wish to live in, where traitors speak honestly, and the divine lie to everyone?” The Chosen Undead asked plainly. The Lady reeled back, her weapon clanking in her tensing grip.
“You blasphemer… You blasphemer!” She cried while swing her estoc madly at the undead. “Your crimes against the Darkmoon shall haunt you forever in the torture of your never ending undeath!”
The Chosen Undead deflected swing after swing as she stepped back across the walkway.
“We shall see…” She said deftly.
***
Inside Gwyn’s tomb, the fighting was a little less fierce, mostly because the confined interiors made it harder for the Blades to not get jammed up while pressing their advantage, while the party, being made up of fewer numbers, were able to navigate the chamber, and the opposition, with greater ease.
“Twilight! On yer left!”
The alicorn turned from where she was driving a phantom dressed in bulky plate armor back with her sorcery to see one in leather armor leaping at her with its sword aimed at her neck. A black arrow zipped through the air, brushing through the tip of her mane to nail the Blade, who looked down to see that it was the one to be skewered instead of its target.
“There’s one behind ya too!”
Checking that the downed phantom was too busy trying to remove the shaft sticking out of its gut, Twilight whipped around to face an opponent decked out in full ninja gear and brandishing a hammer. It too was made to regret bothering her by another black arrow.
“Eeep! Heh, thanks, Applejack!” She shuddered as the orange pony ran over while notching a fresh shot into her bow.
“Not a problem… strangely.” Applejack turned to the plate armored phantom her friend had originally been fighting, seeing it had recovered from being pelted with soul spears and was moving in to attack. Applejack held her bow in a horizontal position, then drew the arrow and let it loose with her teeth. The armored Blade stumbled back again as the bolt hit it in the space between its chest plate and shoulder pauldron.
“Weird. From when Big Mac and Ah did archery practice on the farm, Ah know this ain’t how yer supposed to handle a bow.” The orange mare mused as her opponent ripped the arrow out of its arm. She quickly notched another and shot it through the knee. “Yet, with the way this particular one is designed, mah accuracy actually seems better than when Ah try shooting the correct way.”
Twilight looked at the fallen phantom, allowing herself to expel the breath she’d been holding upon seeing its leg was too injured for it to get back up.
“At this point, I’d say let’s just be glad you’re able to make good use of it…” The alicorn swallowed at the other two phantoms rose and made to attack again. “And hope you can keep doing so until we’re past this rabble!”
Applejack snorted as hammer and sword descended upon her. She bounded out of the way, then notched two more arrows and gave her enemies something new to worry about.
“No sweat, Twi. True, Ah wish these arrows were doing a bit more than just annoying these ruffians, but Ah got plenty of reserves. Feel like Ah could keep this up for days!” Applejack looked to the ring/bracelet on her leg, the enchanted green Cloranthy flower on it filling her with a sense of endless stamina flowing through every fiber of her being.
“Really hope Miss Aurelia will let me keep you when this is over. It’ll be invaluable having you during harvest time!” The farmer mused as she notched another arrow and continued fighting back the phantoms.
“Fluttershy, how are you doing back there?” Twilight asked. From where she was standing nervously in the midst of the melee, the pegasus winced as another phantom charged at her swinging a greataxe. It paused upon feeling its foot splash into a puddle that had mysteriously appeared on the floor, then screamed as the rest of its body fell into the suddenly very deep water. Fluttershy placed a hoof to her mouth as there came the sounds of a body getting the tar beaten out of it, whereupon the puddle solidified into the body of Discord.
“She’s fine. Perfect bait to lure all these lovely blue ghosty goos into my clutches.” The chaos god smirked as two more Darkmoon Blades turned their attention to him. He smiled and clapped his hands as if summoning them to battle, whereupon two giant versions of his lion paw and eagle talon erupted from the floor and repeated the clap, sandwiching the phantoms into ethereal paste. “Ahhh, it’s like when I slowly conquered my way across Canterlot all over again! Makes me want to shed a tear at the nostalgia!”
Discord sniffed and wiped a big glistening tear drop from his eye, which he then flicked at another phantom like a missile and laughed uproariously as it exploded upon impact, sending another Blade to kingdom come.
Fluttershy did everyone the service of looking sick at Discord’s bloodlust, only holding her tongue since the Chaos God was doing a fine job of keeping the neverending mass of enemies occupied. Behind her, even Seath had to nod in awe at how much carnage one single being could wreck.
“A fine aid art thine skills, but foolish is their application. As long as the flames burn and Gwyndolin’s influence holds, the Blades will not falter in their servitude! This battle accomplishes naught besides exhausting our own numbers.” The great dragon commented, just as Priscilla’s scythe descended beside him to cut a phantom down in its tracks.
“Not entirely. Never did I idle the years spent in the sanctuary of Ariamis’ Painted World. Velka’s servants taught me much of their occult secrets, seeing to it that, t’were I ever to return to the domain of the gods’, I could serve as ally and judicator to those who fought against the sinful.” The crossbreed flexed her hand and sighed as three additional phantoms charged her. Seath moved to defend his daughter, but she beat him to the punch by blowing a cloud of sparkling blue fairy dust onto the Blades. They in turn halted as the dust descended on them, writhing and thrashing as it apparently damaged them like toxic vapor, till at last they all collapsed in a dead heap and vanished into nothingness.
“An abomination I may be, but many art the advantages my heritage nevertheless lends.” Priscilla stated confidently as she swung her scythe to cut down more of the blades, not caring how each kill seemed to hurt her as much as it did her opponents. Seath felt his soul burn with a very strange essence of both pride and fear at how much of a chip off the block his daughter was revealing herself to be.
“Bold and fearless thou art, but mine own recklessness I sense in thee, too.” He commented as Priscilla turned to a line of archers that had set up along the far wall of the chamber. She turned herself invisible and attempted to approach them, even as arrows began tearing across the air, several of them finding their marks as they lodged in the crossbreed’s unseen body. Seath promptly bellowed a great wall of crystal between the archers and his daughter, then dove to tackle her out of harm’s way as a second volley of arrows chipped away at his defense.
“Thine desire to see the end of the Dark Sun is justified, but ne’er will I permit thee to sacrifice thyself just as we hath at last been reunited!” He shouted while holding Priscilla to the ground. The crossbreed looked up in shock, then in apparent disbelief that the same monster whom most of Lordran had grown to loathe would show such concern for her, of all beings. She winced as Seath’s hands pressed to one of the arrow wounds, and shuddered as reality again descended upon her.
“I… forgive me, father… mine own hatred for they that deemed we both must suffer is…”
Seath nodded morbidly as he released Priscilla.
“Overwhelming. Yea, t’is a sensation I hath known for far too long… till at last one soul sought to finally provide a light, and cast aside the darkness from mine eyes.” He said while looking back at where Twilight was blasting phantoms left and right with her sorcery. He thought to lend aid to her as well, only for Discord to suddenly pop up and give him a fright.
“Awww, are we bonding over a mutual desire to make someone pay for how they slighted you? Why didn’t you just say so?”
Discord hugged both dragon and crossbreed and teleported them beyond the battle to an alcove tucked away between several statues of Gwyn and his family, an alcove containing a very ominous fog gate.
“Figured this had to have some significance, what with everyone literally dying to keep us from it. Why don’t you do what you need to do, while I vent my own frustrations on all these lovely souls?” The draconequus summoned his construction hat and snapped his tail. A giant pile of bricks materialised behind him and he proceeded to construct them into a second wall, cutting the Darkmoon Blades off from that which they’d valiantly tried to protect.
“Now don’t be shy, you lot. I’m still rather incensed I didn’t get to show Tirek what I thought of his betrayal, and how he preyed upon my own weakness. Would relish finally getting that out of my system. There’s also a few choice words I’ve wanted to say to a certain Tree Hugger that I respectfully have kept to myself out of respect for my beloved Fluttershy.”
The aforementioned pegasus poofed into being besides Seath, as did Spike, Twilight, and Applejack.
“Now that it’s just me and you lot, I’m sure you’ll be more than happy to let me vent!” Discord’s dark laughter echoed from beyond the brick wall, followed by the sounds of a mass slaughter ensuing as he unleashed his full might on the phantoms. Fluttershy looked terrified at what she was hearing, though not on account of what manner of horror that was being wrecked on the party’s enemies.
“What he thought of Tree Hugger? And Tirek?” Fluttershy closed her eyes in sorrow. “All the afternoon tea times and fireside chats we’ve shared, and he never told me any of this? I… I mean, I’d have listened if he had something he wanted to get off his chest!”
Applejack swallowed heavily as she listened to what sounded like wet meat being cut with a chainsaw.
“As weird as this sounds, Ah think he respects you too much fer that, Flutters. Would explain why he don’t want us to see him going crazy like this.” The farmer mused, while backing away from the brick wall. Twilight coughed nauseously and turned to the fog gate.
“Well, given the symbol on the ground, the candles, and the fact that Priscilla was behind a gate like this one, I’d say it’s no question that this is where we need to go. Come on, let’s just finish this!” She sighed while pushing through the mist. Beyond it, Twilight found herself standing in a long and dark hallway, lined with pillars on either side. Pale moonlight fell weakly upon the stone flooring, making the interior feel even colder and more suffocating than the darkness outside had.
“Well, ain’t this a warm and cheery place.” Applejack huffed as she stepped in behind her. “And Ah thought the castle of the Two Sisters was gloomy looking!”
Fluttershy and Spike carefully entered the hall next, looking around in tense confusion at how it appeared to be as empty and lifeless as the rest of Anor Londo.
“Uh... Hello?” The yellow pegasus called out, shivering when all she heard in reply was her own distorted echo.
“Uh… okay, that’s… weird.” Spike slowly turned himself around, scanning every inch of his surroundings. “I don’t get it, everyone tries to stop us from reaching this spot, and there’s no one here?”
That seemed to get more of a reaction, as indicated when the far end of the hallway suddenly exploded in a flurry of blinding white light.
“First thou offendeth the Godmother, and now thou see fit to trample upon the Tomb of the Great Lord…”
Everyone shielded their eyes as the light rushed towards them, sparks raining down onto the floor as it was swallowed up by the white brilliance.
“Poor was thine judgement to travel with he who hath betrayed all.”
The sparks bled into Twilight’s vision, searing their way into her mind. She stumbled backwards, finding herself hitting something that was too solid, and too warm to be the fog gate she and her friends had just forded through.
“Poorer still was thine decision to deceive all with thine illusions, and disgrace thyself with treachery!” Seath glowered from overhead. Twilight frantically rubbed her eyes and shook her head, trying to get the world to come back into focus as her teacher curled a protective tentacle around her.
“The veil of thine secrecy falls, Dark Sun. No more can thou hide in the shadows from the sins thou hast committed.” Seath stared defiantly into the approaching supernova. “Reveal thyself, and let the bitterness of past transgressions between us at last be settled!”
The light abruptly went out, allowing the ponies to at last recover their vision. At least, they hoped they had. Looking down the hallway, Twilight and co swore they could see it stretching further and further into the distance, becoming an endless passage of pillars and shadows, where anything could lurk in wait. It was from this seeming path to eternal darkness that a new abomination emerged.
Dressed in a flowing white silk robe, it was anyone’s guess whether the entity was human, alien, or something in between. Atop its slender torso, the mouth and chin of a pale androgynous face sat poised below some manner of elaborate golden headdress, a regal crown and mask fashioned with seven gleaming spines that evoked the brilliance of the sun. Behind this, a mane of pure, snow white hair fell down to the shoulders of a fancy gold and white patterned chasuble, suggesting the being’s attire held religious significance, as well as monarchial. Under the silken cover, two thin arms clad in white elbow length gloves clutched a shining golden staff, holding it securely under a strange pair of very feminine looking assets riding high on the creature’s chest. From there down, the physical features only got weirder. Under the folds of a flowing white waist cloth, a multitude of black scaled serpents spilled out across the floor, hissing viciously at the party as they coiled protectively around the body of the entity, not as an act of guardianship, but because they seemed to be attached to the aforementioned, apparently serving as its means of locomotion.
“Behold the corruption of thine influence, and the deliverer of thine retribution! I am the Dark Sun, Gwyndolin!” The half-human, half snake creature announced as it rose upon its serpentine legs and charged its staff for an attack. “Let the atonement for thy felonies commenceth!”
***
Elsewhere, Celestia slowly opened her eyes, beckoned back to wakefulness by the heat and light of the bonfire. Slowly she rose from her prone position, finding herself in a place far different from Twilight’s back yard.
“It worked? I’m here?” She cracked her neck and stretched her wings. Immediately she regretted the latter upon feeling several sharp protrusions poke her skin from above.
“Ow! Well, I’m somewhere, at least. Somewhere different.” She looked up to see the roof of what appeared to be a dark and rather cramped cave, with tree roots twisting their way through the loose soil around her.
“This is a start, if nothing else.” She turned to the bonfire, casting her magic upon it to see if she could detect anything, perhaps some means of tapping into the same power that her court mages had made use of to see where in Lordran she’d ended up… assuming, of course, this was Lordran.
Unfortunately, and rather annoyingly, all the solar princess got back was the expected sensations of heat and light. Whatever unearthly properties were contained within the flames, they weren’t about to reveal themselves to her.
“Hmph, alright, let’s try finding out where we are the old fashioned way.” Celestia lit up her horn and surveyed her surroundings. The cavern seemed to stretch on for several feet, twisting and turning towards an unknown destination. Carefully, Celestia forded her way through it, ducking and stepping around the mess of roots. Presently, she sighted what appeared to be sunlight filtering in from up ahead, heralding the promise of an exit.
“Okay, so far so good.” The princess smiled as she picked up her pace, only to stop when she reached what was clearly the mouth of the cave, and found it filled with a dense wall of white fog. Celestia cocked a confused eyebrow, then carefully extended a hoof into the mirth. She encountered nothing but deep, dense, and rather cold feeling vapor.
Taking a deep breath, Celestia bowed her head and pushed through the fog, her skin tingling inside her armor as she braved the cold, and then found herself suddenly beset by warmth again as her hooves splashed down into something deep and wet.
Celestia looked up, finding herself now standing in the midst of a glimmering lake under the brilliant sun. She turned back around and cocked her whole head upon seeing the fog was still there behind her.
“How strange… but if it means I’m no longer in Equestria, then so much the better.” She mused while surveying the terrain. The lake seemed to be surrounded by high rising banks, and beyond them, a very dense forest. Clearly, traversing this place on hoof wasn’t going to get her far, so Celestia spread her wings again and prepared to take to the air. Maybe she could get a better sense of her bearings from a higher vantage point.
Or maybe she would attract the attention of someone who would politely let her know that such practices were frowned upon around these parts. Severely so, at that.
The solar princess had barely made it a few inches off the ground before a shadow descended upon her and pounded her back into the water. Her coat bristled with the diffusion of what she swore was some manner of electrical discharge, making her thrash and stumble as she frantically tried to get back on her hooves. Whatever had attacked her landed in the lake with a tremendous splash, announcing its presence with a very leonine sounding roar.
Shaking off the electric shock, Celestia faced her assailant and felt her mind ground to a halt. Before her stood a being that she swore was some kind of overgrown manticore, similar to the ones that resided in the Everfree Forest, but far, far larger. It was also an almost uniform shade of white, with two pairs of wings, and a very grand set of horns arching majestically from its feline features.
“Well… you’re a strangely familiar face. Not what I’d expect to see, if I in fact am where I’d hoped to be…” Celestia intoned, stepping back as the chimera reared its head and spewed crackling bolts of lightning from its mouth. “Then again, considering the manticores back home can’t do that, maybe I am where I’d hoped to be.”
The chimera charged her, and she nimbly carried herself out of range with her wings. It swiped viciously at the alicorn with its claws, but she simply raised her barrier and listened to it roar in frustration as its attacks bounced off the magical shield. Finally, it leaped back several feet, spread all four of its wings and swept them towards Celestia, generating a wave of water and wind that she also managed to dodge.
“They can’t do that either… hmmm, what is this strange realm I’ve been transported to?”
The chimera scoffed at her question. It spun around and let its scorpion tail have a go at goring the princess with its razor sharp stinger.
“I’m not going to get any answers here without a fight, am I?” Celestia sighed as she bobbed and weaved around the stabbing tail. “Very well then, you bring this on yourself! I’ve got the lives of every pony in my kingdom riding on my shoulders, and I’m not about to let a beast with poor manners stand in my way of finding out who’s terrorizing them!”