The Usurper King of Equestria

by UsurperBronyZant

In Which the Search Continues

Okay. So. Recap.

Rhyssa, the rogue changeling infiltrator, was now awake and reluctantly helping. Lilium, my diclonius companion, and I were still doing pretty fine.

We were in a temple on the border of the Everfree and the Badlands, and were searching for a unicorn named Desert Gem, who was apparently either unconscious or in stasis or in some other bad way in the center of the temple. We had to get in there and get her out before who-knows-what happened to her. So what we had to do now was find the way there.

Our immediate surroundings reminded me of Metroid Prime somewhat, though it had been discovered that there were undertones of Twilight Princess here as well, so it was a bit tricky to know what we'd find where. I'd already picked up Wind magic, which I assumed was equivalent to the gale boomerang, but given that a lot of this area looked like the Chozo Ruins, I was fairly sure I'd need something more to get through it.

Then again, Samus needed so much firepower because she was alone; I wasn't. I had a changeling infiltrator and a pony that could probably cut through just about anything. So this would likely be a whole new adventure.

But, as for this moment, the question was...

"Which way do we go?"

It was Lilium who'd spoken up, in that soft voice of hers. And it was what we were all thinking.

We certainly seemed to be in some sort of large plaza. If I recalled correctly, there would be several doors leading to other parts of the temple, some of which would be sealed off. A few of those we probably wouldn't need to go through yet.

As I looked around the plaza, I spotted something familiar. A stairway leading to a crumpled bridge. A section of it had fallen to the walkway below. Time had certainly not been kind to this place. I just hoped the floor wouldn't give way under us. Again...

"This way," I said as I led my two companions to the stairs. Things were starting to seem more familiar, slowly but surely.

We climbed up the stairs and found ourselves atop a balcony that overlooked pretty much the whole plaza and showed us just how sorry a state it was all in. I was now even more surprised the place hadn't yet crumbled to dust. Whoever had built and designed the place must have known what they were doing.

When we got to the top of the stairs, we found ourselves greeted with a familiar pest: War Wasps. We dealt with them quickly and efficiently by stunning them and then picking them off, and hurried into the nearest door, which was past their nests on a balcony across a crumbled bridge, before more of the oversized bees could come out of the hives. Getting stung by one of those could spell death, and we didn't want any of that.

We then found ourselves in a rather dark room that was illuminated only by what appeared to be a couple of fireflies on steroids. With the scant light that was available, I was able to make out that most of the room was filled with that nasty green water we'd seen a while back. We'd have to watch our step. To make things even better, opposite the room from us was what appeared to be the remains of a fountain. Somehow it was still operational; every few seconds or so it'd spew a jet of that gross green gunge to the ceiling. So that would be another thing to watch out for.

This just got better and better...

"Be careful," I said to my companions. "Don't want to take a dip in this particular pool. Doesn't look too refreshing to me." Lilium and Rhyssa gave quiet nods in return as they just looked at the sickly liquid with wide eyes.

We slowly and carefully made our way through the chamber, avoiding the water that looked (and likely was) rather toxic as well as the bugs that you could almost get burned by if you so much as looked at them, and soon found ourselves in a narrow pass. It was made of walls that appeared to be made of worn sandstone and had some withered vines hanging overhead. From the entrance to this hallway, I could swear I saw something strange hanging from one of the wires, but disregarded it.

As I took a step forward, I heard a rather loud, yet breif shriek, and before I knew it there was a green, for want of a better word, thing flying right at me, leaving an emerald streak in its wake.

I reacted instantly, firing a barrage of dark magic, which took the beast out in a few hits, but unluckily for me, the abomination had friends. Unfortunately for it, so did I, and with Lilium and Rhyssa at my side, the remaining creatures (Shriekbats most likely) were quickly slain. With them taken care of, we continued through the hall, only to find the door blocked by a circular metal plate with three red lines equidistant from one another.

"Well, this is a problem," I said, half to myself and half to my companions. "Rhyssa," I said to the changeling in question. "You wouldn't happen to know a spell that fires an explosive projectile, would you? I haven't gotten to that bit yet."

"Luckily for you, I do," came the reply. "Stand back."

Lilium and I obeyed Rhyssa's commands and stood a few feet behind her. She began charging up her horn, which glowed with an intense green light. After a few seconds, she pointed her horn at the door and released the charge in the form of an emerald fireball, which exploded on impact with the metal plate, causing it to fragment spectacularly.

I gave a nod of approval and even a slight bit of applause; Lilium did the former. Rhyssa didn't even acknowledge our praise as we went through the door. Must've been a cultural thing. Or at least, that was my guess.

We left the hallway and emerged into what surely must have once been a spectacular sight. Even in this devastated shadow of its former self, it was still awe-inspiring in its own way.

The massive chamber was dominated by a massive tree that seemed to be mutated in some way. In some places, one could see vein-like patches on its bark, and the leaves all looked withered. In some places, the branches touched the walls of the chamber, some even running parallel to the ground. On these branches, rudimentary bridges had been constructed with fallen tree limbs and vines. On the tree itself, one could see what looked like entryways that had been almost naturally formed. All in all, it made for a very bizarre spectacle, especially with the likely lethal water below it. Only the occasional circular panel stuck up from it, making a harsh path at best.

Lilium and I were wide-eyed at the scene, of course, but Rhyssa was the most surprised. Her jaw was practically on the floor, and her eyes were the size of dinner plates. "You okay there?" I asked her.

"Th-this..." she began. "This is the ruins of a hive."

Author's Note:

STILL NOT DEAD YET!

Hey, a five-month wait period is half of what it was for the last chapter. So that's something I guess.

Also, sorry if this one came out a bit weird. It was very hard to write. Props to Sornos for helping me write it as well as helping me plan out some other stuff that will come in the future.

Comments

[Sornos]

Thanks cool take on my idea

[UsurperBronyZant]

7956659 glad you like!

[Sornos]

How is the next chapter coming do you think it will be ready soon?

[UsurperBronyZant]

8054541 Dealing with some IRL stuff. Probably gonna be a while. Sorry

[Sornos]

Its okay take you're time I was just wandering I hope you're wrong and can update soon though.