Zen Gale
>> Shadow of the Night
>> kwr2k13
>> RemareShadows
>> Ukaih

Little Horn looked at the creature with the Element of Honesty in its clutches, "How did you get the Element of Honesty from Applejack? Which one of us would be able to be honest enough to wear it?"

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The eyes looked to Rage. "You're right, little one. Actually, that dark fellow gave me this to guard. He said my reward would be the unfortunate souls who came to get it.
And I'm a she." A guttural growl came from the dark cave, and with it, a monster. It was as large as a manticore, towering over the foals.
At first you could only see the head: it was the head of a pony, with dagger like teeth. But below the head, the similarities ended. It's body was furry, with lionlike paws, sharp claws on each toe. On it's back, two enormous wings rested.

Marie paled. 'Sphinx.' She tried to scream "Get out of there Scarlet!" But all that came out was a hoarse whisper.

"Usually I kill whoever is foolish enough to come in my cave, but for you, I'll make an exception."
The sphinx crooned sweetly, grinning.

"Did you not see the bones?"
She pointed a claw at the white bones piled up near the entrance, gleaming in the light. Some still had hard red material on it.

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Rage backed away, nervous.

2963254 ((I had said before, this takes place after the beginning of season four. Twilight said herself that the Kivuli stole the Elements from the tree of harmony.))

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Scarlet looked up at the large creature with her own glowing red eyes. So, this is what my dad was called. This is what they compared to him? She thought to herself as the creature pointed back towards the entrance. The sight of the large white bones did rise a slight tremor or fear within her, but she was used to acting by now, and did a fairly good job of not letting it show.

"I guess I didn't, so what's this exception you're willing to make?" Scarlet asked from where she hovered. In the dark of the cave, the shadows of her magic were practically invisible in the darkness.

2963471 "As I said, I usually kill whoever comes into my cave instantly. But for you, I'll make an exception. The thing is, I love riddles. Tell them all the time. But dead bodies can't answer my riddles. So, I'll make you a deal. Answer my riddle correctly," The sphinx gestured to the Element of Honesty, "and I'll give you the Jewel. If you answer incorrectly," she flashed a sharp-toothed smile, "You die. And I get to have you for lunch."

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"Hehe, it's just like a story," Scarlet said with a chuckle as her magic continued it's work. "Let's hear your riddle then, and if 'I' get it wrong, then you can eat 'me'," Scarlet 'said' with a grin. There's was a barely noticeable darker spot in the shadows off to the side.

2963649 "Very well." The Sphinx smiled at Scarlet. "Remember, no lying now, or else I kill your friends one by one."

Marie, on the ground below, was shivering with fright.

"*ahem* I am always there. Ponies always trust me and not my opposite. But I am made of my opposite. What am I?"

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Scarlet paused for a while. One of her hooves going under her chin as she tried to think of the answer. There were words that rushed to her mind, but they kept being shot down.

"The truth? The truth is always there even when hidden, and ponies always trust it, but not it's opposite which are lies. And it's an old saying that the truth is built upon lies," Scarlet finally answered.

2964517 Silence. Then, the sphinx slowly....... Smiled. "Correct. Too bad I was always a sore loser. " With that, she pounced.

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Rage's eyes narrowed to slits. He turned crimson, and he started shrieking.

But it wasn't the sound of a colt.

It was like a thousand bass trumpets playing at once... No, just a blood curdling, ear-splitting shriek.

Rage got on his hind legs, breathing so heavily as he started... To change appearance.

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Scarlet let out something of an 'eep' as the sphinx pounced, but as the large claws came in contact with the filly, there was little more than a 'poof' as it vanished. Then it reformed, and the look it held was one of malice, twisted in a unpony-like grin that did reach all the way to just under her ears, fully revealing the rows of pointed teeth inside. "And too bad for you, I read too many books," Scarlet's voice echoed out from the visage, but it's mouth didn't move.

Soon, the light from the end of the tunnel disappeared as the shadows of the cave solidified and rose off the ground trapping just her and the sphinx in the cave. The only light was around the filly and the sphinx for a short time, but that changed as 3 additional copies of the filly appeared. As they spoke, all their mouths moved, but the sound seemed to come from everywhere at once. "So how about we try my game now? The one where I'll ask a riddle and you'll give me the element. If you answer it right, then I'll leave and you'll never see me again, otherwise we'll see what happens" Scarlet's voice continued.

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The Sphinx's eyes widened in surprise. "You are much more powerful than I thought. I accept."
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The four images grinned simultaneously, and all four mouths moved but the sound continued to come from all around. "Only one color but not one size, Can tell truths but also lies, Present in sun but not in rain, Can cause grief but feels no pain. What are we?" They asked as the darkness continued to shift around them all.

2968074 The Sphinx purred. "Clever. Is it..Shadows?"

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"It is as we are, and one in the same, now we'll take the element and end this game," The 4 figures chanted at the same time. The solidified darkness then melted away, along with the 4 fillies, until there was but a single Scarlet hovering in the air holding out her hoof and a smile on her face.

"It's a shame though, dads no good at riddles and he's no fun to play against. But I said I'd leave and never bother you again if you got it right," she said from where she hovered.

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Then, out of nowhere, a seven-foot seven-inch tall... Thing slammed into the Sphinx.

It was Rage... But he was very different. The only thing that resembled him that the creature had was its face and skin color.

It had hands and feet instead of hooves. It had muscles so big that even a professional wrestler would cry for his mother. To top it off, that skin could deflect bullets.

(Rage's real form:)

(Yeah, Rage is a female turned male)

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Scarlet was speechless at the sight of the changed Rage rushing the Sphinx. Luckily, her reactions were still pretty good, and soon there was an orb of condensed shadow around the his form. While outside it would appear as just a simple black ball, inside was a different story.

An illusionary world surrounded Rage's body, playing off his senses to not only remove his sense of space, but change what he perceived with sight, smell, and sound. Inside that orb, it would appear to Rage that he was in a simple clearing. Sunlight streaming in through a break in the canopy of trees, warming the light green grass. A small brook ran by, cutting a segment of the clearing off, but none-the-less adding to the tranquility of the scene. Sitting within this scene was a visage of Scarlet, looking rather peaceful, as she regarded Rage. "Why'd you do that?" she asked, her voice carrying a slight echo to it.

While this illusion would hopefully distract Rage for a while, (and it will move with him to keep him in the center) Scarlet turned her attention back to the sphinx. "Well, back to what I was saying. It's a shame that you guessed it so quickly, it might have been fun to come back some time and exchange more riddles, but as is, I'm bound by what we agreed to so I'll just take the element and be on my way."

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Rage couldn't make a coherent sound. All he did make were incoherent grumbles, shrieks, and roars. He couldn't speak in this form at all... What was he?

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"Rage, you need to calm down. Why don't you follow me, we can walk and talk," the Scarlet visage said as she got up and began to hover closer. As she passed over the brook that had previously separated the two, the scenery changed. The forest bending and reshaping as she walked, creating a new path for them to go down, or well up, as the trees changed and reshaped themselves to create a ramp upwards.

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Rage didn't stop making noises. He kept uttering the same incoherent sounds, unable to formulate real words.

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As the Scarlet visage led the transformed Rage along the path, she continued to talk even though she couldn't accurately respond. "I don't know what you're saying Rage, but thanks for rushing in to be the brave knight. But not every monster needs to be vanquished you know? I mean I'm what could be considered a monster and yet I'm trying to help you and the others. You don't want to fight me do you?"

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More incoherent responses. That was apparently all he was capable of in this form.

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"Can you change back? I think I'd like to get at least one answer that I understand," Scarlet said with a wince as she kept leading the two through the constructing forest path.

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Rage shook his head. Only he knew the only way to revert from this stage was to kill what angered him.

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The figure shook it's head with a couple tsk's. "Well, have fun explaining what'g going on to the others," the shade said as it faded away, leaving Rage alone on the reformed forest canopy path. Then with a resounding crack just like glass, the scenery had a spiderweb of fractures racing through it before it completely shattered. The orb itself seemed to melt away, releasing Rage outside the tunnel and among the others.

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The Sphinx smiled. She had fun with this game. Handing over the Element, she nodded. "Goodbye."
===============
Outside, Marie was shivering with fright. What happened? Why did the cave go dark? And Rage?
When the two came out of the cave, Marie smiled, joyous that her friends were unharmed.
Then she caught sight of Rage, and the welcoming words died in her mouth. That was Rage? What had happened to him? Why did he look like that? "R-Rage?"

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Rage looked around, sniffing the air. The only way he could return to normal was if something died by his own hands.

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Scarlet flew out of the cave moments after receiving the element, pausing only to wave and call out her own goodbye to the sphinx. Once outside, she held up the element like a trophy. "One down and 5 to go!" she called out happily while flying down to rejoin the others. Though as she got closer, the nervousness that had been carefully hidden by herself and illusions came in very clear. "Let's move on though, I don't want to push the luck of a deal too much farther," Scarlet said hastily, already beginning to move away from the cave and the terrors that lied within.

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Marie let out a relieved breath. "Phew."
They all started onto the path out of the Everfree, but then, a cute bug, in the shape of a ball, with big green eyes buzzed onto the path. "Aww, how c-cute!" She gazed at the adorable insect. The bug buzzed around her, but then saw the mandolin on her back. And it bit down on it! "Ah! My mandolin! "
Marie cried.

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Rage grabbed the bug and crushed it, making a sound almost like that of laughter.

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Suddenly Zakroon jumped up hagiwng returned from Zecora's hut to gather some supplies. He seeing the parasprite. Quickly pulled out a greenish yellow powder and threw a wad unto the parasprite. The parasprite suddenly burst into dust. Zakroon collected the dust for he knew a powerful alchemic sequence that used some powdered parapsrite.

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2972942 (.......Let's just say Rage crushed it and then Zakroon then threw the stuff onto it, making it turn to dust.)

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2972984 ((Saddlebag? The Parasprite was trying to eat Marie's mandolin, but Rage grabbed it, then killed it.))

2973012 ((Oh I misread I thought it said bag! Also you can't crush a parasprite, it would only speed up the process of splitting))

Little Horn saw that her friends had retrieved the Element of Honesty. "Great job, every pony! Now we need to find Laughter, generosity, Kindness, Loyalty, and my personal favorite, Magic!"

2973046 ((I know, Rage just needed something to kill..))

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Marie held her mandolin close. "T-thanks guys." Then she noticed something. "R-rage, are you okay?" ((That's your cue!))

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Rage just stared, and he slowly began to revert to normal. The fingers went back into his hand, the toes into his feet, which solidified and started to become hooves.

Evedawalrus>> Shadow of the Night>> kwr2k13>>2961496>>2956393

Little Horn went over to Marie and gave her a side hug. "Okay, so, now that we have one of the Elements of Harmony, which one is next on our list? Magic? Kindness? Generosity? Loyalty? Or Laughter?"

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Marie looked at the map. The next closest one was Loyalty, which shined bright in Apple Loosa.

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(I think Rage fits Loyalty.)

For some reason, Rage felt some sort of spark, a connection of sorts. He wanted it. No, he needed it.

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Peering over Marie's shoulder, Scarlet stole a glance at the map and blanched at the sight. "All the way to Apple loosa?! That's so far," she practically whined. "I mean I'm all for adventure, but that's going to be a really long walk..." She added dejectedly.

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"We have to get that!" Rage said suddenly, his fear replaced with steely determination.

Evedawalrus>> Shadow of the Night>> kwr2k13>>2961496>>2956393

OOC: I think Magic would be Little Horn's element, since she's a unicorn and all.

IC: Little Horn looked over at the map, "Can't we just take the train to Appleoosa? And, we might run into buffalo there. I think they are peaceful. Maybe if we meet up with some buffalo, we can ask them to help us?"

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Zakroon noted the long distance and sighed. It was time to get Siekta. Zakroon motioned for the group to follow him as he ran deep into the forest.

kwr2k13
>> Evedawalrus
>> Shadow of the Night
>> Zen Gale
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Little Horn watched as the male zebra galloped off deeper in the forest. 'Wait up! You cannot abandon a bunch of fillies and colts in the Everfree!" She sighed, "Should we follow the zebra or try to make our way to Appleoosa? I think it's to the south. Do you have the map to Equestria?"

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"But there's no adults to drive the train," Scarlet replied as she followed Zakroon.

Ukaih>> kwr2k13>> Shadow of the Night>> Evedawalrus>>2961496

Little Horn nodded, "So, let me get this straight; we get all the Elements of harmony, and use them to bring back every pony, including our friends, families, the Princesses, as well as Apple Bloom, Sweetie Belle, and Scootaloo?"