Wings of Bravery

by Fabella

Chapter IX: Worlds Apart

As the small portal closes in the background with the eyes of the ghostly mare staring into it, Derpy shakes herself off in a dog-like manner and with a slight look of disgust, removes the remaining strands of spider webs from her wings and form. Carrot looks around at the barren place that she and her friend was led into which evokes the feeling of Daring-do within her. Bringing back the memory of the novels with vividness.

The hall is larger than that of the room from which they first entered, with large, cracked columns lining the interior. Chandeliers bounded to the icy ceiling that dare not envelope anything below it, laid neatly within a line though some were broken, cracked or like one at a distance, swung as it's bearings were no longer supported as they should. The walls laid covered in engraved murals and artwork that depicted scenes of fighting and discord. The young pale mare's white orbs glossed over the walls as she tried to take in as much of the scenery as possible. Her mind occupied with the detail.

The ghostly mare sighed once the portal had fully closed in on itself and looked at the two young ponies that stood some distance in front of her. Finally stumbling upon the urge to approach them, she calmed herself and went.

"My, my, my, it is not everyday that one receives visitors here in these lands."

Her smooth and gentle voice caught immediately the attention of the two mares who countenances instantly changed from one of wary to a calming joy but quickly changed back over to one of a mixture of curiostiy and wonder when their eyes caught firmly the physique of the pony that stood before them. A sight they did not catch before as their minds were clouded with only the intention of escape.

Derpy slowly approached the mare while looking at her from head to hoof and Carrot followed not to far behind.

"Derpy..." Carrot spoke lowly. Knowing how blunt her friend could be.

"Y-your body..."

The mare tilted her head faintly to the right and smiled knowing clearly what was evoking her.

Derpy's eyes quickly glossed over the mare's thick and half thin bony figure that seemed to be rotting away as she looked. Outside of her ghostly mane and tail and dangling chains, the surface of her body looked as though a butcher had yet not finished its job. The right side of her form was nothing but bone and dangling flesh that had long since either dried or been eaten away. Long having lost it's color while her rib cage had no dermis to keep it hidden. The inside of it, which should have harbored the systems of life, instead laid empty and as barren as the place that the ponies stood in.

Her other half however, seemingly brimmed with life, even though it bordered on the look of a famine individual, it laid claimed to a beauty that once was but sadly, is never to be seen again.

"It looks oddly similar to those undead skeletons that chased us down here."

"Undead...skeletons you say?"

"Yeah. Their the ones that forced us to flee down here. Though, unlike you, they had nearly no flesh on their bones!"

"Your the only one so far that's as close to living as we saw lately." Carrot chimed in.

"I would not be surprised if you knew exactly where you laid as of now. The closest to living you may ever find here would be the undead. As for you two however, it worries me that you two have settled foot here however."

"Why is that miss?" Carrot questioned.

The mare breathed a sigh and looked into the eyes of both of them. Her bearing now having that of worry.

"First before one shall continue any conversation or explanation, it is only of utmost politeness that I have both of your names. What are they my little pon-"

"It's Derpy! Derpy Hooves!" the grey pegasus gave her a cheesy and uppity smile despite her interruption.

"Derpy!"

"What?"

"She wasn't even done talking yet!"

"Oh...sorry." Derpy blushed.

A smile couldn't help but sprawl itself across the mares face as she beheld the young mare's playful mood.

"Sorry about that hehe..."

"Oh it is alright my dear. What about yours?"

"Carrot. Carrot Top."

"Lovely names."

"Now what about yours! Come on! We told you ours now you gotta tell us yours!" Derpy smiled as she pointed a hoof towards her.

"Well then excuse me. I know better than to merely dismiss myself. My name is Pruina, Pruina Albus."

A silence befell the two mares.

"What? Is there something wrong?"

"That's..."

"A weird name." Carrot blinked.

"Carrot!"

"What? It is?"

Derpy couldn't help but chuckle.

Carrot realized her mistake and a shocked expression over came her features. "Oh I'm sorry! I didn't-!"

Pruina gave a laugh. "It is alright! It seems you two may have more in common then you both even realize. Assuming you two are friends, well, friends sometimes take after one another if they've known one another a long time."

Derpy gave a snort and Carrot gave a furrowed look of annoyance to that of her friend.

"Now, with formalities out of the way, I am desperate to know where you are from."

"Equestria." Carrot answered. "Located right above the continent Africanis."

"Equestria...a name all to familiar."

"Where you from there?"

"No, I am from someplace before. Far to the north. I do wonder if it is still around...do tell, how did you end up here?"

"Me and my friend Derpy discovered a book. It told of a door that appears randomly and so we sought it out. I was reluctant however..." she gritted through her teeth. Catching an eye to Derpy.

"She ended up going anyway obviously and, well, we found the door! After searching the sisters ancient castle there It was!" Derpy told.

"And so you ended up here?"

"Not exactly. We ended up in what seemed to be a huge abandoned city-ruin. We ended up here after being chased by those undead skeletons Derpy mentioned."

"We found a small cave like thing, ran into that and some stairs and nasty looking spiders and here we are. In front of you who helped us."

"I see. It sounds as though it has taken a toll on both of you."

"You have no idea." they both said simultaneously as they rolled their eyes.

"Those undead skeletons and giant spiders are guardians of this place. They keep watch over those in which reside here and those that try to proceed."

"...what?"

"It is of utmost importance that you both do not stay any longer. You all should have turned back after encoutering those undead skeletons. To pursue any further no matter your curiosity would be to ignore the warnings."

"And we did! Only for the way out, the door, to have vanished! Poof! Nothing was there when we turned back!" Derpy exclaimed.

"The book we checked out said that the door vanishes with the setting of the sun but it was hard for us to know since the skies were nothing but a continuous grey color. Nor did we think we actually left Equestria."

"You have since far left behind Equestria or dare I say the world itself. Where did you think it would rake you?"

"Just another place within Equestria or the world or something! What are we in another realm?"

Pruina merely gave her a serious look.

"Don't say..."

"The longer you stay here the more trouble it would only cause."

"What are you saying?"

"This place is far from Equestria or any place you know deeply about. This I am afraid is something you know only as mythos."

"And that is?"

"Hel."

Carrot chuckled out a wary laugh. "Ha...haha...your not serious right? Like hell? Hell where the devil lives?"

"Perhaps I should clarify. This is only one part of hell. Tartarus, the Abyss and many others of the varied locations between here. The longer you stay here as a living soul, the more your body will decay until you both are trapped here. This realm is no place for the living which is why it is of urgency that you both remove yourselves."

"We-we'll turn into you? Them?"

"As in them your meaning the undead skeletons that you said were chasing you both then yes."

"This is just great, this is just great! How in the world are we to get out of here?"

"Perhaps there's some way out. Maybe we just need to continue looking! Perhaps we can-"

Carrot snapped her neck around with eyebrows furrowed. "We don't need to do any more looking around! That's exactly what got us in this trouble in the first place!"

"Don't try to blame all of this on me! You act as though I know all of the details!"

"I told you it was a dumb idea to begin with! That it wasn't safe!"

"My little ponies..."

The two mares faced each other with eyebrows staged and forward. Hooves pointing at one another in blame as they found fault.

"Even if I did convince you, you still had every right and option to say no. No pony asked for you to follow me into the forest nor arrive there!"

"You think that I was just going to leave a stupid pony like you to wander off by herself?"

"Young mares..."

The words stung hard into the pegasus's heart. "And a carrot pickin' pony like you could have stayed behind and played in the dirt all day but you didn't! If I was dumb for going into the forest to search for the door then your even dumber for following me!"

"As if one could ever be as dumb as-"

"Foals!"

The two mares stopped instantly as the ghostly mare positioned herself in between the two bickering ponies. Her face showing one of a motherly agitation and disapproval.

"Bickering will not get us anywhere but a waste of necessary time." she looked Carrot up and down. "Especially among friends. If you two are to get out of here perhaps there is one way."

The mare walked forward. Stopping some distance from in front of the two mares and in the middle of the hall.

"If you want to know that way, then I will be more than happy to show you if you follow. I cannot guarantee it will be a way out definitively but it is worth the attempt."

The mares simply looked at her with an unsure expression.

Pruina raised an eyebrow. "If you care to follow."

The two looked at one another with an expression of resentment.

Carrot moved her eyes away from Derpy and trotted over to Pruina but when she saw that her friend followed close behind she moved past Pruina and continued forward.

"Young pony..."

"Its foraward isnt it? Its just a straight path."

Pruina looked up to the ceiling and back down to Carrot who continued to move forward. "If I was you I would push aside my anger. You know not what lies ahead."

Before Carrot could wait to respond, the ceiling gave way to the object it held. A small shudder of the grand was felt as a quake shook the interior of the room from the colliding chandelier. Missing Carrot by mere inches.

Carrot turned to look at Pruina who stood next to her friend with raised eyes. Pruina walked towards Carrot along with her friend who gave her a 'thats what you get face'.

"Perhaps it is time to be wise little one." Pruina stated as she walked past.

Carrot gave a sigh as she hung her head down low and followed after solemnly.