Age of Kings

by A bag of plums

92 - Fear Itself

The next tunnel was straightforward quite literally. It was a rather flat tunnel with more carved soldiers standing at the sides, their weapons pointed down, just like the ones outside. Emerald Edge and her group had been undisturbed since leaving the room of the second trial.

The remaining ghuls didn’t follow them across the chasm, whether it was because the platform had fallen, or this was a place even they didn’t dare to venture. Emerald only thought of the latter as soon as she set foot in the next area. This cavern was larger than the first, with a short slope that led down into what looked like black smoke. They couldn’t see any walls ahead, just unending darkness that seemed to go on forever. Something about this room made Emerald’s senses go on high alert, but she couldn’t figure out what it was; she didn’t even get this feeling when she was fending off the ghuls.

“The third challenge…” Sombra sniffed at the air, then narrowed his eyes. “Yjb An Tanjaraf… Only the fearless may overcome, is the clue my father taught me.”

“Pshh, what’s there to overcome?” Spectrum folded her arms. “I am not afraid.”

“It does not seem so simple.” Sombra kept his eyes on the dark. “Surely you must feel there is something wrong with this… place.”

“Nothing we cannot overcome as friends, yes?” Parisa Pie jumped about them.

“I-I do hope so…” Streak looked a lot less confident.

“Let us get it over with and see what this trial has for us.” Emerald saw no point in simply standing here. It was better to get it over with quickly and get to the next test. Posey depended on them.

The former pegasus descended the slope and inched into the dark smoke, first checking how deep it was. She didn’t want to just walk up to it and fall into a pit below. Thankfully, as she set her left foot down, her greaves clanked against solid rock and she brought the rest of herself along; the smoke only came up to her waist, though it smelled absolutely dreadful. It was as though someone had left cabbages out in the sun for too many a day and the pests had come to consume it.

Poor cabbage.

“Tis safe. Come down.” Emerald waved to her group and continued on, taking her steps carefully. She hadn’t descended straight into a pit, but that didn’t mean there would eventually be one.

This cavern was dark. Almost too dark, and as they left the safety of the glowing mushroom trail behind, it began getting harder and harder to see what was ahead. The ceiling above had small clusters of mushrooms every few feet, only slightly illuminating their surroundings, but it was better than complete darkness at least.

“Woo!” Parisa hopped about in the smoke, throwing it up into the air as she swiped her hands across the area. “I wonder if you can make a sandman out of this smoke!”

“Parisa, cease your disturbance, ” Sombra called to her from behind Emerald.

“Righty-o, your majest-” The dancer’s voice suddenly cut off.

“Parisa?” Emerald watched the darkness ahead, but it was as though the girl had never run past her. There was nothing else moving in the smoke.

“I could've sworn I just saw her there…” Sombra pointed.

Emerald followed his finger, but she saw nothing more. The only thing that was moving was the smoke beneath their feet. Perhaps her worries were true and there were pits below them waiting to ensnare the unwary. That meant Parisa needed their help.

“Parisa, where are you?” Emerald called into the dark, but she received no answer. “Could she have knocked herself out?”

No answer came and she turned. Sombra, Spectrum and Streak were also no longer behind her.

What in Equestria is going on here?

Then movement caught her attention to her right. Emerald swung her head in that direction just in time to see something clad in dark steel armor march off. Something about the figure was wrong. It was almost like someone walking on all fours.

Fearing it might be a ghul, Emerald drew her sword and proceeded cautiously.

The figure now seemed to be standing there, its back facing her, but its bulk was big and almost familiar. And then it turned around and Emerald almost fell back in terror. It was Sombra. Not this human Sombra, but it was the shadowy usurper of the Crystal Empire. Clad in his dark armor and cloak, Sombra held a head on one hoof and smiled evilly at her. Emerald knew that head. It was the head of her best friend, Light Speckle, her horn still sparking magic at the tip and red began to form in her eyes.

“YOU!” She ran straight for him, her sword already drawn back to strike.

The pony leapt back and away from her, then charged, his horn tilted towards her chest. Emerald dodged, but at the very last second, Sombra turned into pure shadow and vanished from sight.

“Where are you!” Emerald yelled and spun in circles as his laughter echoed across the cavern.

Something grabbed at her legs and she swung her sword, cutting off a hoof, which rolled into the darkness.

“You will pay, Sombra!” Emerald spat, but then she realized it wasn’t Sombra who tapped her. It was a dying Crystal Flare, his neck bent in three parts and now he had a missing hoof to boot. “F-Flare?”

The pegasus looked up at her, his eyes hollowed and empty, revealing only a dark void within them. “You left us, Emerald… You left us all to die… Now you have come back… to finish the job.”

“No, no! I thought you were…” Emerald bent down to help him, but he suddenly screamed an unearthly scream, causing her to fall back.

“You abandoned us! Now you wish to kill us!”

Her head now below the smoke, Emerald couldn’t see anything and the smell of rotten cabbages filled her nostrils. Hooves emerged from the shadows and grabbed for her. She thrashed about, trying to get them off, but somehow, they held fast.

The faces of her friends thought long dead appeared before her, their eyes empty like Flare, and together, they screamed and Emerald shut her eyes and did the same.

---

“I’m not afraid of anything,” Spectrum Song repeated to herself as she tried to find her way through this cave.

She didn’t know where everyone else had gone, but she figured she could find them on the way to the end. She heard Emerald screaming earlier, but when she ran in the direction of the voice, she couldn’t find her.

“Em? Em, where are you?”

Spectrum began to sweat. Was there some kind of invisible monster down here that was going to eat them in the dark? Was that why Emerald was nowhere to be found?

“Spectrum Songgg…”

The squire froze on the spot. Had something called her name? She was sure something called her name, but it didn’t sound like anyone she knew. She recalled the tales of the djinn from what she heard at Masyaf. They were here in this place, guardians of some dark power. Her thoughts ventured back to their travels through the Coltcasus Mountains, where visions of darkness infected their minds, making her think of some deep evil just waiting for them to awaken it from its slumber.

A scream echoed around her and she whipped around, taking a few steps away and holding her shortsword up. It was Streak’s voice.

“Streak? Streak! Where are you!” she called out, but she received no answer.

His screams sounded as though he was in great pain and each one sent shivers down Spectrum’s spine and made all her hair stand. She didn’t know what was happening to him, but it was then and there she acknowledged she did have one fear. She was afraid of losing her friend. She had to find him. She had to save him.

Running on deeper into the smoke and shadows, Spectrum looked around wildly, trying to find any signs of her fellow squire. All she continued to hear were his screams somewhere in the dark.

And then when she thought she would never see him again, a hand suddenly reached out from the darkness before her. Streak’s hand. It grabbed the side of her vest and pulled her closer, allowing her to see his face. His rotting and maggot-infested face.

“Spectrum, you let me die!” he yelled in her face.

Spectrum screamed something that she would definitely not have said in the company of her friends and flailed about. She fell over and dropped her weapon, scrambling back to her feet and spitting out another oath.

She was alone once again. Finding her weapon in the smoke, she eventually picked up her shortsword and held it as if it were an anchor in a storm and wished for a light.

“That couldn’t have been Streak. No. He wasn’t… he is not dead. Tis a trick of the dark. Yes, I am not afraid,” the squire told herself. “I shall find him. I’ll find Em, I’ll find the others. Yes. I’ll save the day here.”

Pushing herself on, Spectrum continued into the darkness, hoping to find a way out before something like that happened again.

---

Guard Streak wasn’t the bravest of squires, and he himself knew that. Every sound in the deafening void around him put him further and further on the edge of his breaking point, but somehow, he managed to keep himself moving through the dark. It bared down upon him almost like a hundred stones, making it harder and harder to walk as time passed.

Something about this place made his skin crawl. He didn’t yet know what it was exactly, but it was something that didn’t make him feel alone as he walked along by himself. He felt that it was as though he was being watched, but he still saw nothing out there but darkness.

The squire kept low and tried to make as little noise as possible. He would not ever regret coming on this quest, not if it meant saving his home, but right now he was feeling a little regretful that he had not stayed outside with Jewel Pin and the others. This was terror on a level that no battlefield or monster could have prepared him for.

It was something different. Something… almost evil in here.

Something wisped past his legs below and he froze. He looked down, but the smoke was just too thick to see through. Was something down there with him just waiting for him to make a wrong move? Streak didn’t know what to do as he surveyed the smokey terrain. He couldn’t see anything ahead and he didn’t know where whatever had touched him was.

He gulped.

Just what was he going to do now? He was a squire. A knight-in-training. Knights had to be tough, valiant and fearless. He needed those qualities, but right now, he was beginning to think if he was even ready to be a knight.

Something thudded into his leg again and he jumped up with a shriek and swung his sword around as he ran. Streak didn’t know where he was going and without warning, he collided into a solid wall of rock and his vision went black.

---

“Yjb An Tanjaraf…” Sombra breathed.

The clue his father had told him about this trial was that only the fearless would overcome this.

Was he in any way fearless?

Sombra wanted to say yes, but everyone was afraid of something, and he was no different. But right now, he knew that was the key to winning this. He had to be fearless before the djinn. He had to prove himself worthy of his father’s legacy.

Whatever fears he had, this was where he had to leave them behind. The djinn could have them.

There was a light skittering ahead, like something was crawling around on tiny spindly legs on the cave floor. Sombra didn’t quite know what to expect, but he kept his scimitar drawn and his eyes peeled.

“Sombraaa…” Voices erupted around him, slow and rough, like something being dragged across the sands.

The skittering sounds returned and Sombra fought the urge to just run. He had to face this. He had to pass the test.

The prince shut his eyes and he breathed. Seeing nothing, he instead pictured his father, going back to a memory fifteen years ago, to the day his father taught him how to ride a horse.

“Do not fear the horse, my son. Fear is only a natural response to anything that you think may pose a danger. It keeps you alive on the battlefield, but you must first control it as you will learn to control your horse.”

The darkness had never quite set well with Sombra. Perhaps it was the sense of the unknown lurking behind the curtain of darkness, or perhaps it was the helplessness he felt before it. He had hoped for more time to prepare himself before facing it, but circumstances had pulled that moment to him now. If he wanted the strength to defend his home and all of Saddle Arabia from that Canterlot king, then he had to prove he had what it takes here.

Taking slow breaths, Sombra’s breath returned to a more controlled state and he began walking, eyes still closed. The darkness was frightening and mysterious, but soon, he too would be.

“Father?”

Another memory from his youth sprang up.

“How are you so brave? Aren’t you afraid?”

He remembered this. It was a moment following a rival king’s attempt to assassinate King Aldilu. The assassin had almost made it to the throne before the guards had cut him down. Still, he had managed to wound Sombra’s father in the leg, an injury that had taken over a month to heal.

“Of course I was afraid,” Aldilu had told Sombra later that night at dinner. “But courage isn’t the absence of fear, my son. Courage means to keep on going and taking action, even if you are afraid. In fact, the only time a man can truly be courageous, is when he is also fearful.”

And so with that memory, Sombra resolved to make it. For Masyaf. For his people. For his father. Even if he was afraid.

---

Parisa Pie skipped around in the shadowy cave, still not finding any pathways leading out of this smokey area. She had lost sight of everyone almost as soon as they had descended into the smoke and she could hear some odd noises coming from her left and right, but she didn’t know what they were.

“Oh well, just keep looking, Parisa!”

She waltzed along the dark cavern, not knowing where to go, but she figured if she kept going in a straight line, she’d find the exit and possibly Prince Sombra and her new friends.

Still, the whole place around her was giving her bad feelings. Taking off one of her many waist scarves, she tied it around her mouth and nose.

Almost immediately, her head cleared and she was able to see things a little more clearly around her. There were cobwebs and strings of dust strung up all around, using the statuary as anchor points. The wind that was blowing in from the entrance, however faint, was causing it to ripple and wave as if it were alive.

“Oh, so it’s just a trick!” Parisa deduced. “Good one!”

And yet there was something else here, too. Something that she could not attribute to simple visual illusions and mind games.

Around her feet, there were wisps of dark smoke that writhed around across the floor like serpents.

“No need to be afraid of any of this,” the girl said happily. “Just smile on, Parisa.”

A ghostly rush swept past her, but still she maintained her smile under her scarf. She didn’t know what was causing these odd feelings, but perhaps it was the smell or maybe it was some kind of hallucinating smoke. Once she covered her mouth, it certainly made it a lot better to go about.

“Parisa…”

“Yes?” she replied the weird voices around her, but she didn’t get an answer. “Oh well.”

“Fearrrr…”

“No thank you!”

It wasn’t like fear was something she lacked. It was more of something her mother had taught her when she was younger.

“In the face of fear, Parisa,” she had said. “Just put a smile on your face and take it on. Then you will realize there is nothing to fear.”

Parisa marched on and before her, a wispy shape began to take form, its arms stretched out like it was trying to grab her. Instead of running from it, Parisa kept going ahead and simply smiled and waved at it. As it still reached for her, the dancer just walked right through it and the shape dissipated like it hadn’t even been there.

“Alsayha! Just like mother taught!”

In the dim glow of the glowing mushrooms above, she spotted someone walking ahead. It wasn’t like all the wispy forms she’d seen so far, so she headed towards it. When she got closer, Parisa noticed it was Prince Sombra and she charged at him, almost getting run through with his scimitar as he turned to face her.

“Parisa?” He looked shocked. “Is it really you?”

“In the flesh, your majesty!” She grinned. “There is nothing to fear here but our own minds.”

“Spoken truly, dancer.” The prince sheathed his weapon. “We only see what we fear should we let it affect us.”

“And affect us it will not!” Parisa explained her thoughts on the smoke and the hallucinations and sensations it brought. Sombra nodded, understanding, and accepted one of Parisa’s scarves to tie around his face.

“Eamal mumtaz, Parisa.” He clapped her on the shoulder. “Now we should find the Canterlotians before leaving here.”

“I think I know where to go.”

Sombra looked around the dark cavern. “How can you be so sure?”

Parisa shrugged. “Just a hunch. Follow me!”

Spectrum Song was the next they found in the dark, swinging her sword wildly at nothing. They had to be careful when approaching her, but Parisa managed to calm her down with her smile.

“Smiles always work!” she told Spectrum. “No need to be afraid now!”

“Oh, what, you thought I was afraid?” Spectrum pulled her tunic up over her mouth and nose and laughed. “I-I wasn’t afraid. I was just… defending myself.”

Eventually, they came across the actual side of the cavern, and they used the wall as a reference of where they were headed. Guard Streak was the next person they found, or more accurately, they accidentally bumped into him. He was lying unconscious by one corner of the wall with a rather large lump on his head with blood trickling down his face.

Spectrum was quick to get him up and by the looks of it, she had been rather worried about him. Parisa giggled. It was a nice change of atmosphere when he came to and Spectrum pulled him into a big hug. Parisa decided to give them all a hug before they moved on.

All that was left was finding Emerald Edge and they heard her long before they found her. She was sitting in the smoke, her hands over her ears and she was screaming at the top of her voice.

“Em! Em!” Spectrum shook her. “Stop, we’re all here!”

“They were… my friends were he-here…” Emerald stood and gazed at Sombra. “You killed them. Because of you, now they blame me. It’s all on you!”

“Here we go again…” Sombra rolled his eyes. “Will you stop this.”

Emerald frowned at him, tears glistening in her eyes. “I just saw them. I saw all of them. Do you know what that’s like? To have your world taken from you in a mere instant?”

“You know that I know that very well. It is why we are here in the first place.” Sombra waited for Emerald to answer, but she did not. “I am sorry for what happened to you. But I have had no part in it. Please, let us continue. There is much we can still do for my people. You can still save them.”

Parisa watched them stare at each other for a while, and realized some kind of silent talk was going on between them. She didn’t know what it was, but perhaps it was what her mother had told her about warriors understanding each other just by locking eyes. Some kind of exchange of understanding.

She led her friends out of the smokey area and near the end, the mushrooms began to appear below again, this time leading up a slope where the smoke did not touch. They found relief in leaving the oppressing darkness, but they were also relieved to know the third trial was over. They had passed it.

But then Parisa thought about what the fourth would hold. If the third already had such an impact on her friends and the prince, just what would the final test entail?

“Guess we’ll find out!” Parisa said and smiled, the others looking at her and wondering just who she was talking to.

---

Comments

[Marcthelightspark2004]

“Guess we’ll find out!” Parisa said and smiled, the others looking at her and wondering just who she was talking to.

Yep. She's Pinkie's great great grandma

[MoonlightRift]

Advice that will go down the Pie family for generations