2706192 "Imposter?!" The Rho apparently have excellent hearing. The Agent pauses and shakes his head to collect himself. "We do not have time for this nonsense.You may come with me willingly and bring your friend, or come unwillingly and leave her behind. It is your choice, but you must come with me." He is acting strange. Either he isn't who he claims to be, or something must really have the Rho unsettled.

2706041 Gold is relieved to find that the tunnel widens to a much more comfortable size, but doesn't last long before he finds himself at the end. It opens up to the larger, natural tunnel, which goes for a few more paces before opening up to what appears to be a very large cave chamber. Gold can hear the steady sound of water dripping coming from it. However... it appears to be walled off by some sort of web-like barrier, made from the same changeling material. The material itself is not transparent and are thick. However, there are gaps in the webbing, some of which look big enough for Gold to fit through.

2706321 Willow leaps out of the tub and puts himself between the two. "If she doesn't want to go, she isn't going. That being said..." she looks back at the Pyro, "if you want to go, I'll be right there with you."

2706321 Curious about the web and the cavern beyond, Gold pushed his way through one of the large holes in the barrier in order to observe what lay beyond it. He went slowly and carefully in case the barrier was up as some kind of warning for what lies ahead. He didn't want to fall into a chasm or get swept away by an underground river.

2706321 2706337
"Something is diffently going on here," Willow growled igniting her horn and wishing they weren't so trapped, "The Rho don't get emotional and this thing seems pretty dead set at getting me to walk through this portal of his."

2706414 "Willow... if you ask me, I say we go. We can take whatever's on the other side..."

2706414 The figure stares for a moment before lowering his head in... shame...? "You are correct. We are not supposed to get... emotional, in any way. I apologize."
2706337
There is a sudden flash of light, and the two mares find themselves in a white chamber with six Rho figures, one of which they recognize as the Librarian. There is a metal dome on a platform in the middle of the room. All the figures look at them. The Agent stands next to them.

2706360 The chamber is very large and very dark. The dripping continues...
Drip...

Drip...

He thinks he sees a shape in the center of the cave, but he can't be sure, not from where he's standing. Looking around, with his headlamp, he can see several stalagmites and stalactites. The walls look to be eroded away, and have empty pockets of what might have been cooling lava, or something of the sort. To Gold's left, he thinks he sees part of the wall that had collapsed, forming a large pile of stones. Behind where the stone was is more eroded stone, with water trickling down it. To his right, the area is very flat and level.

2706583 Gold avoids the area with the loose rock. He knew better than anyone how devastating a cave in can be, and messing with an eroded wall was just asking for it. So he stuck to the flat ground. He thought he saw something strange in the center of the cavern, so he tried to angle his light in order to catch a better look at it without getting too close.

2706583 2706494
Willow immediately drops into a combat stance eyeing the gathered Rho warily, especially the agent.

2706583
2706711 "Willow... we might want to humor them... don't know if we can fight all of this..."

2706635 In the center of the chamber, Gold can see it-- a massive stalactite hanging down from the ceiling. He can see a water droplet, glinting from his headlamp beam, slowly forming at its tip, and falling downward, straight into a perfectly circular rippling pool of water.
Drip...
The pool is clear, yet deep, and fades into darkness fairly quickly below. Its edges are clean, and very smooth on the inside rim. The ripples start to vanish...
Drip...
Another drop from the stalactite, and the pool ripples once more.

2706711 "She was hesitant to come with me," the Agent explains. The Librarian nods and looks at the Willows.
"Please forgive the abduction," he says coolly, "but this is an important matter."
2706828

2707098 Hmm, just a pool, best to avoid it though. You never can tell how deep they are... or what could be in it. He decided to turn around and go back to the main chamber. This time he would wait for Alternate to return before proceeding any farther.

2705882 Backup sighs. "Because I hate her." His voice was as cold as ice.

2707098 2706828
"Obviously," Willow snorted pressing herself closer to her marefriend, it still felt odd to even think that, no focus Willow. "You show up and tell me that the god of madness has died, refuse to explain how or give me any visual proof, and begin to behave oddly. Who wouldn't expect some kind of trick, especially with that bastard involved.

2707985 2706828 The Librarian holds a hand out toward the dome and looks at the two. "What you are about to see may be... confusing. When you look at it... do not strain your eyes too much. No amount of blinking, squinting or focusing will make it any clearer. Understand...?"

2707976 "Really...?" His voice is full of doubt, and is almost a laugh.

2708474 "Yeah. I do."

2708474 "Just show us."

2708474 2710049
Willow leaned against her marefriend and took a deep breath, "Just go ahead, I've dealt with dead bodies plenty of times before and I doubt this ass could do anything to surprise me anymore."

2710204 2710049 The Librarian and Agent exchange glances. Then, the Librarian waves his hand in an arch over the dome, and it slowly starts to open in the same direction.
They were right. Neither Willows knew what the hell they were looking at. Their eyes were immediately assaulted with a blurred dark image, almost like beneath the dome was pitch black darkness, even though the rest of the room was lit up brightly. A shape appears in their vision, like a big, purple blindspot in the shape of a square. The blurriness fades away, and the object is gone! Wait, no, it's still there... And it is most definitely a body. It's of a stallion—a very tall stallion—with an M for a cutie mark and a shimmering black mane and tail. His mouth is in the form of a toothy grin... Upside down. His expression is one of fear– no, wait, he is smiling. And laughing... No... He's not. He is terrified. In pain. His eyes emit a bright white light– no. The light dissipates. His eyes are... Hollow. He is naked, and his edges seem to seep into the background.
Suddenly, his whole body goes black, and there are more purple squares. The black fades away, and the body seems to be out of focus. The body disappears again. Or maybe it didn't. Is there anything even there...?

2711243 2710049
That grin, that mark. Willow began to tremble violently sinking to her belly and scootching away from the supposed body. She knew it, he wasn't dead. He was simply playing dead. Trying to trick her and others into coming close. Trying to drive them into madness. "Why would you bring him here?" Willow whimpered seeing the 'body' smile and laugh, "He doesn't look dead to me." Willow nearly breaks down into tears when the 'body' vanishes.

2708513 "Why is that...?"

2711507 "She threatened my sister, race, and least importantly, myself. She has no care for others, only using them to further her own selfish goals and then throwing them aside when she's done. She says she wants to be friends with ponies, then goes and does the thing that they hate the most. She's the worst kind of pony." His voice was a flat monotone.

2711366 Willow wraps her hooves around the mare comfortingly, looking at the body. "How do you know that he's dead, Agent?"

2711679 "...You are wrong. She cares for the others. For the vampire... For Gold... For your sister... Even for you. She immediately regretted what she said, and es deeply worried when she heard you had left, thinking you may have gone for good. She is a good soul inside, Sub Backup. You have to learn to see that... And give her another chance. She has been through a lot, after all... Like you." He lowers his head a little. "Only she remembers everything."

2711951 "Yeah, well. I doubt that most of that is true, you might just be lying for some unfathomable reason. And the only reason I removed my memories was because I was a threat to my sister and the others."

2711366 2711716 "Because... he barely even exists anymore." The Agent places a slender hand on Pyro's head, and her vision goes gray. Her emotions are immediately drained-- her mind is clear. She looks at the body. It is dead. She can see it clearly. He is in pain... terrified. his once glowing, almost gaseous eyes are gone-- hollowed out with blackened sockets. His body has even begun to decay-- his face is significantly more bony than how she remembered him, and his backbone and ribcage are visible through his cold skin. Whatever you saw, she hears the Agent say, was a flash of the past. A memory. Those will fade quickly. He is dead... and soon his body will be lost forever. He removes his hand and she returns to normal.

2711990 "It is true. And you know it is true. Think for a moment. Really think. Like an intelligence should."

2713800 Backup thinks deeply for a moment, "...While you may be telling the truth, doesn't change what she did in the past." Backup lets out a sad laugh. "It's funny. I was just starting to not completely hate her, maybe even give her a chance before she threatened to murder my species."

2713800 2711716
Willow shook her head shaking off the fog that had clouded her mind gazing at the hollow shell of her former tormenter. "How did this happen? How does a god die? He had power over life and death-." Willow's eyes widened and she pushed herself deeper into her marefriend's embrace. trembling. He brought me back from the dead dozens of times, could he do the same to himself?

2714183 "She misinterpreted and overreacted. She only wanted to protect the others. She was most likely exaggerating. Not to mention Alternate was able to talk her back into her senses."

2714508 "It's okay, Willow... it's okay..."

2714867 "Maybe so, but what about when we bring them here? She might have misinterpreted it now, but what about when there's no room for misunderstanding?" He sighs again. "I don't want to hate her, I really don't. But I just can't not hate her. She was threatening genocide."

2714508 "A god?!" The Agent scoffs somewhat. If the Rho weren't so devoted to being stoic, they would've burst out into laughter.
"This puppet had no more power than we do. Clarification: no more power than one of us. And he did not have control over life and death... only the illusion of such a power. No one has that power. Not without consequences, anyway." The Librarian looks down at the body, which has returned to its strange visual distortions.
"She wants to know how this happened," he says darkly.
2714942

2714961 He looks up into the sky and hums. "Maybe there will be room for change..." He looks back at Sub. "After all, look how far you've all come after only a few days."

2715142 Everyone has the ability to change, Subby. But it's a matter of wanting to. And I doubt that Pyro is ever going to change. Me and her are always going to be at each others throats, and one day, one of us will crush the others throat. "I wouldn't know. I only know how far I've come." Backup sighs AGAIN. "What's the real reason you're here? Gonna pull another monster out of my head? Do some more freaky shit to me? Take me back to the Rubies? What?" Well my happy mood sure got ruined quick

2715142
Willow nodded now substantially more terrified of the creatures around her. If each was as strong as Maxwell, who had made strong argument for being a god, not to mention she'd recently discovered that they were creatures of emotion as well. She suddenly felt far less safe and far more threatened by the individuals surrounding her and Willow. She did her best to try and hide this new found fear and knew she probably wasn't doing a good job of it.

2715863 Willow tightens her hold on the other mare, genuinely worried for their safety. "Yeah... how did that happen to him?"

2716021 2715863 "It was a weapon. One of the deadliest in existence. It kills instantly-- beyond saving-- beyond regeneration-- beyond cloning... beyond salvage. Technically, he's only half-here. The rest of him... is gone. And soon all of him will be, too."

2716174 "What weapon is that?"

2716174
"And more importantly, who used it?"

2716261 2716798 There is silence for a moment. "The weapon..." The Agent pauses for an eerily long time. "...Harnesses our technology, and is... of our design... but we have not used it in... decades. It was considered 'unnecessarily destructive,' and was contained under heavy security."
"As for the wielder..." the Librarian interjects, also pausing... "...we do not know."

2719369 2716261
"Why do I get the feeling you didn't just bring me here to see a dead body," Willow muttered still keeping a close eye on the 'body'. They might believe Maxwell dead and to be only of there level, but she'd had enough experience with the monster to know he was often at his most dangerous when he was being underestimated.

2722114 They do not answer. Willow swears she sees one of the figures fidget slightly.
"...We do have some questions regarding... him."
2716261

2732738 2716261
Willow felt her voice crack as she tried to push herself further into the mare at her side. She looked worriedly at the body of the god that had tormented her for months if not years of her life. "What do you need to know?"

2732769 Willow leans her head down. "I'm right here." she whispers, wrapping one of her wings around the mare.

2732769 "Was he... affiliated with anyone... as far as you know...?"
2733008

2733022
Willow shakes her head thankful.

2733030 "Are you sure?" the Agent chimes in. "Is it still possible he was working with-- or for-- someone...?"

2733111
"I never saw him with anything but the monsters he conjured," Willow whimpered. She was thankful for Willow's company as she briefly remembered several of her more painful moments on the island.

2733421 "This is very important," the Librarian says calmly. "Was there anything-- anything at all-- when he spoke, what he did, anything-- that could possibly imply he was dealing with someone-- or something-- else? Anything?"
2733008

2733870
"No," Willow screamed, "When he felt like taunting me it was always for falling into his traps, being no match for his power, that I'd never escape his island, that his monsters enjoyed tearing me apart." Willow collapses to the floor sobbing and curling up on herself as she remembers pain, fear, and death inflicted upon her day after day according to the rules of monster's game.
2733008

2734407 Willow pulls her up wrapping her up in her wings and arms. "Shh... shh... It's okay, Willow. We're away from him now... he's never going to hurt you again... I'm here, love... I'm here..."

2734407 "He is dead! You are safe! But you must help us, or we may be facing a greater enemy!"
2734458