• Published 11th Feb 2016
  • 5,333 Views, 84 Comments

Flame of Disparity - Cinders of War



Sunset Shimmer awakens in a cold and distant land, with no recollection of how she got there. With ravenous beasts and blood-thirsty mobs after the flame that she carries, Sunset will need all her wits to survive this deadly night.

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Chapter 11: Road of Penance

Sunset Shimmer found Twilight still standing by the stones as she got her bearings. She had appeared at the bonfire in Fyrlon after interacting with the Keep of Glass’ final bonfire. It had been a strange disorienting warp, but now at least she was back in a safe place. A place where she actually had friends.

“Welcome back, Young Flame,” Twilight greeted as Sunset approached her. “You have journeyed far and return with one Flame of Death. Not many are capable of such a task. Well done.”

“I had plenty of help, Twilight.” Sunset wiped off the grime that had accumulated on her forehead. “Wouldn’t have been able to make it if not for some of them.”

“Like me for one, huh?” Pinkie Pie suddenly popped up from behind one of the boulders, in the flesh.

“Pinkie! You’re here!” Sunset was surprised to see her for a moment, but then ran over to give her a hug. “It’s good to see you.”

“Good to see you too, best friend!” Pinkie hugged back with more force, lifting Sunset off the ground. “I sense you have the flame of Drawgren, Spear of Fire.”

“That’s right. I do.” Sunset searched her satchel for it. At first, she couldn’t find it inside, but once she lifted her hand, the blue flame materialized on her open palm, flickering with an icy glow. “What do I do with it?”

Twilight pointed to the closest of the four boulders. “You may place it here, Young Flame.”

Sunset did as she was told, setting the Flame of Death down in an indent in the first boulder. The flame grew to fit the space, now burning freely in the boulder.

“Good. Three more and the way back will be opened to you, Young Flame.” Twilight nodded at the flame. “No one has ever gotten even one before.”

“Not even Pinkie?” Sunset pointed a thumb at the pink girl, who was in the process of biting a stick. “She’s really strong.”

The poofy haired girl did a somersault, then shrugged. “I’ve never tried. I just go around to other places. Easy!”

“I sure could use your help. Would you like to come with me to the next place? Like, in person?”

“Hmm… I could, but it won’t be so fun, would it? When I can just blast through everything?” Pinkie grinned.

“No, what? I don’t care if it’s fun or not. I just want to go home.”

“Oh, sure. Then I’ll come!” She turned to the lavender-skinned firekeeper. “Where to, Twilight?”

Twilight smiled and looked out back towards the mountains Sunset had come from when she exited the Thieves’ Passage. “In that direction you’ll find an old door. Past it is the Road of Penance, which will eventually lead you to the High Cathedral, where Doland, Light of the Sky, resides. Take heed, Sunset Shimmer. This will be no easy task.”

“Then again, what is?” Sunset sighed. “I guess we better get going then. Come, Pinkie.”

With Pinkie Pie trotting along after her, Sunset steeled herself and set off for the second Flame of Death. Twilight waved to them as they headed off, looking for the door she told them about.


“So, uh, Pinkie. You ever been down this way before?”

“Mm, nope!” Pinkie answered happily as they stopped before the metal door near the Thieves’ Passage exit. “I’ve really only explored the other side. I didn’t think this door could actually open. I have been down to the Underisle of Fire though. Scary place, that.”

“Where is that? Sounds dangerous. Uh, more dangerous.” Sunset put one hand on the door and ran her fingers along it.

“Deep underground. You know where the path splits in the Catacombs? You go down instead of up.”

“Oh. Great.” Sunset frowned and pushed at the door, slowly opening it. “More underground, huh?”

“Well, that’ll be for later!” Pinkie helped her push. “For now, towards the High Cathedral we go!”

With their combined effort, the door was opened easily enough, revealing a dirt road leading away into a foggy environment. There were a few trees with strange yellow leaves, spread about sparsely. On the sides, Sunset could make out human shapes, but they weren’t moving.

Walking closer, Sunset almost threw up. They were humans, but their skin was charred and melted, each body tied to a wooden pole coming out of the ground.

“Gross!” Sunset stuck out her tongue and took a step back.

“I suppose that’s the penance here.” Pinkie skipped along, digging through her hair for her curved sword. “Penance for what? I dunno!”

Eventually, the foggy road led them both to a fork, with one path still going straight, and another curving to the right. Both led deeper into the fog, and Sunset couldn’t tell where she had to go.

“A road diverged in the yellow wood…” Pinkie rubbed her chin and squinted her eyes. “Which way do you think we should go, best friend?”

“Straight means we continue following the path,” Sunset replied after a while. “So how about we go straight?”

“Okie dokey!” Pinkie went ahead. “It’s a shame we can’t travel both.”

“I mean, we could, but one of us is bound to hit and dead end.” Sunset scratched the back of her head. “But I think it’ll be safer if we stick together.”

“Mhm!”

Sunset followed behind the pink girl as she skipped along down the fog. She had to run to catch up with Pinkie a few times, but then after the next few skips in her step, the girl suddenly disappeared, completely invisible in the fog.

“Uh, Pinkie?” Sunset called out, but there was no answer. “Pinkie!”

Still nothing. Sunset stopped in her tracks. Everything was quiet. Too quiet. There were no animals in the trees, no sound but her own voice and breath. Plus, the burnt bodies hanging on the poles didn’t help in calming her nerves.

Walking on ahead, Sunset eventually saw someone moving in the fog ahead, though it was a little hard to tell who it was.

“Pinkie, is that you?”

To answer her question, the shape turned and began what looked like shambling towards her.

“Definitely not a Pinkie Pie.” Sunset retrieved her steam sword from her side.

Out of the fog, a spindly, charred being shambled toward her, a splintered shield on its left arm and a rusty sword in its right.

“Oh, no, no you don’t,” Sunset said, aiming her sword and pressing the button. A jet of steam engulfed the monstrosity, but as it cleared, it didn’t seem to have done much damage. In fact, the creature shambled a bit faster, letting out a chilling moan.

It swung the rusty sword and Sunset sidestepped, and the sword scraped along the ground, sending up a plume of sparks. She was about to counterattack when out of the corner of her eye, she saw something falling from the sky.

Sunset Shimmer dived out of the way just as the object impacted the ground, crushing the monster and kicking up a cloud of dust.

Sunset coughed, waving her arm to clear the air. As the dust settled, Sunset could see that the object that had come falling down was a massive greatsword, dark grey in colour.

“What?” Sunset looked up, trying to see where the sword could have fallen from. There was nothing but fog and a muddled, grey cloudy sky.

She approached the greatsword slowly, trying to see if it held any clues about where to go. But suddenly, the greatsword drew itself from the ground with a sinister scraping sound, as if there were an invisible giant holding it. Then it slowly, ponderously, turned to face Sunset.

“Oh you have got to be kidding me-” Sunset blurted out as the greatsword swung down at her. It missed, but kicked up a flurry of debris and dirt. Wham!

Sunset was at a loss for what to do. At least the charred monster from before had a body to cut; where was she ever supposed to start with this flying greatsword?

She dodged a swing at her head, then shot a blast of steam at the greatsword. It didn’t hurt it, but in the steam she could see the outline of something huge, with an elongated head and two pairs of horns.

The air behind the sword bellowed, and the blade swung down with a vertical slice that Sunset barely managed to avoid. The sword embedded itself into the ground and Sunset took the chance to gather her wits and take a couple of steps away. This turned into a jog, then a flat out run as she sprinted away from the invisible creature and its weapon. She soon lost it in the fog, but as Sunset looked around, she realized something.

“I’m lost.”


“Pinkie! Pinkie, where are you!” Sunset called out, but no sound came back to her besides the echoes of her voice and the dirt crunching underneath her feet.

She felt as though she had already been wandering around for more than five hours, but without a watch, she couldn’t exactly tell. Things were just going great.

On the way, she had encountered two more of the living charred-skin humans, but they were slow and wobbly, making them very easy to dispatch, though Sunset found her steam attack from her sword didn’t affect them much, like the first burnt figure she encountered. Slashing them, however, worked pretty well.

Up ahead, Sunset made another left turn at a divide in the road, already giving up on which direction to proceed down. She was lost anyway.

This is just great, isn’t it? What else could possibly go wrong?

Just then, there was a shrill laughter, followed by the neigh of a horse and the thundering of hooves. Sunset jumped, but when she looked around, she saw nothing approaching her, though she could still hear it. Somewhere on the road, someone was likely riding a horse.

“And laughing maniacally,” Sunset added.

When she determined nothing was, at the moment, coming after her, she proceeded on, hoping to at least find something that would point her in the right direction.

Walking to one of the trees with yellow leaves, Sunset flipped her sword around and carved an ‘S’ into its trunk. That way, if she was indeed going around the same place, now she would know.

The sound of hooves and laughter thundered behind her again, but this time, three of the burnt humans shambled into view, each one holding a rusted sword, their arms swinging from side to side as they approached her.

“Why don’t you all just leave me alone? I’m just looking for my friend.” Sunset readied herself.

She cut down the first hollow, as she had taken to call them, since they were just like humans without anything inside. The second one raised its sword to strike at her, but Sunset rolled away and cut out at the third hollow’s feet, knocking him down onto a knee before kicking it in the face and impaling the second one in the chest. If anything counted, at least these enemies were easy enough to deal with. The enemies over at the Keep of Glass had been such a pain.

After finishing off the downed hollow, Sunset walked on, thinking to herself just what a bother this Road of Penance was. As of now, she still had no idea why it was called that, besides the bodies that had been hung up on poles. Then she thought of it. Perhaps if these burnt humans had been given their penance, then there was a penance giver out there, perhaps even looking for her right now.

Sunset shivered and forced herself to continue. She needed to find Pinkie and get out of her right now.

Walking alone along the foggy road, Sunset got some time to think to herself. All this killing of monsters and hollows and anything had really gotten just so easy now. These hollows were just burnt humans that were somehow still alive. She wasn’t just killing skeletons or even mirror people now. These were once people. She didn’t want murdering people to become a norm. If it really would carry over when she returned to her world, what was she going to do then? Would she become a killer if something didn’t go her way? What would her friends think?

“No. You can’t think like that, Sunset. You can’t.” She shook her head. She would let go. That’s right. All the death here, she would simply leave it in this world and move on after that. She could do it. She had to. “You won’t become a killer, Sunset. Believe in yourself. I’m sure your friends will trust in you too.”

Ah, Pain… Or some say, Painr, do you see their punishment?

Sunset stopped, looking around. That voice had come out of nowhere, and it sounded close.

No. They shall no longer roam about in their evil. They shall never. No one can stop you. No one will ever stop your nightmare.

Then there was the laughter again and Sunset heard a horse gallop off, their sounds slowly fading away.

Sunset ran ahead, looking around the path as it began to widen out into a more circular area, with dirt mounds on the side. Right in the middle was a familiar looking greatsword, wedged into the ground.

“Oh no,” was all Sunset could say before it suddenly rose from the ground, spinning once before pointing directly at her. “Not you again.”

Sunset couldn’t see her enemy, but she guessed she could likely still hurt it. It was worth a try.

Waiting, she put one foot behind herself and watched the greatsword as it spun its way towards her, swishing from left to right, before suddenly rising and stabbing down. Sunset rolled to the side and slashed at thin air, unfortunately, hitting nothing. She was forced to her feet again as the sword cut in a wide arc, missing her head just by an inch, which then twisted to the other side and cut again. Sunset tried to block it, but the force of the blow rattled her bones and sent her floating in the air for a second before landing a good distance away from the floating blade.

The greatsword lifted high above and came slamming down, and Sunset rolled the left to avoid being crushed beneath. The one advantage that she had was that she was more agile than this invisible creature and its weapon, but there didn’t seem to be much consolation at the moment.

Sunset retreated backward, and the floating greatsword followed. Sunset continued to back away, onto one of the side roads when she heard something on the fog from the right. It was a deep, rhythmic tapping, as though someone were clapping two coconuts together in the distance. She didn’t have much time to ponder this as the greatsword and its invisible wielder closed in on her. Sunset ducked a swipe for her head, jumped over a low horizontal sweep, but she was tiring. If that thing managed to get in even one hit, she would probably die, or be crippled too badly to continue the fight.

Sunset’s face grew grim as she backed up against a mound. She dared not turn her back on the floating greatsword to see if she could climb to higher ground. The invisible monster swung at her and she dodged, but not quickly enough to avoid a strike at her leg. Something cracked in Sunset’s ankle and she went down, hissing in pain.

The monster seemed to sense that victory was near, as the greatsword raised itself up high for the killing blow. Sunset knew that if she didn’t do something, that greatsword would be the last thing she ever saw.

And then she was hit by a whirlwind, and the sound of thundering hooves filled her ears. There was a nasty crunch as the invisible monster and its greatsword were trampled beneath the hooves of two of the biggest horses she had ever seen. They galloped past, trailing orange flames and ashes in their wake. They pulled an equally impressive chariot, but Sunset was unable to get a close look at the driver. All she could see were tongues of flame and a set of gauntleted hands holding the reins.

And then just as suddenly as it had appeared, the chariot and the horses were gone, swallowed up by the fog.

“Well, that worked out again…” Sunset tried to stand, but she couldn’t. Digging out an estus flask, Sunset downed the slightly orange-flavoured drink and felt her foot begin to feel good again.

“Thank Celestia for estus flasks,” Sunset said, stowing the empty green bottle in her satchel.

She stood up, looking around. In the fight with the invisible monster, she had lost her bearings and was now unsure of just where she was. There were two paths here, one on either end, but the problem was, Sunset forgot which path she had come from.

In the distance, a faint voice could be heard. Sunset’s ears pricked up as she strained to hear it.

Very good!

Sunset shrugged. She may as well follow the voice and see where it led. On the way, she encountered two more hollows wielding spears, but once again, they were too weak to worry about, so Sunset got past them easily enough.

Ahead, the path split into three this time, but the ‘Very good!’s were still leading her, so she chose the middle path, one that looked overgrown with foliage and littered with debris. This was clearly the road not taken, at least, until today.

Sunset continued to follow the muffled voice, but along the way, she encountered an armored hollow. This one had a sword and shield, and walked much better than the weak ones she had fought along the way.

Waiting for it to get close, Sunset rolled under its first swing, cutting out at its legs as she passed it. The hollow didn’t fall from the wounds, but turned and slashed at her instead. Sunset felt its blade connect with her back, but thankfully, her chainmail held strong against it. Sunset spun around and cut outwards, but the hollow had raised its shield and blocked her strike. Sunset didn’t give up. She pressed the attack, slashing left and right, trying to get around the shield or to at least tire it out so she could deliver the finishing blow.

This hollow was in better condition than the others. But Sunset had an idea. Though the hollow kept its shield up, Sunset kicked out with her right leg, the force of her kick knocking the shield wide and staggering the hollow. Sunset finished it with an expertly timed thrust to the heart and watched as it slid onto the ground, dead.

“That took long enough.” Sunset wiped a hand across her forehead. Just then, another ‘Very good!’ could be heard, coming from somewhere behind her.

The girl proceeded on, keeping her eyes opened for more hollows. The enemies here were fewer in number, but Sunset wasn’t complaining. Easier and fewer enemies made her feel better.

Very good!”

It was much closer now. Now that she was feeling a little more confident, she began to wonder: why was someone repeatedly saying ‘Very good’, and why was she walking blindly into it?

The path to the voice led her down another two split roads, then down a small slope, before evening back out a few meters ahead, flanked again by dirt mounds on the side, high enough to block the tree trunks on the sides, allowing Sunset to only see the top of the yellow trees.

And then just a few more steps, Sunset heard another echo of the voice, but this time, it was really close. And then she saw her. Pinkie Pie stood in the distance, tossing a round shape up. It dropped on the floor and broke, releasing a ‘Very Good’ into the air.

“Pinkie, there you are!” Sunset ran to her friend, who was equally as happy to see her, grinning from ear to ear. “I was so worried!”

“Me too! I thought perhaps those dead guys would’ve gotten you! But then I thought, nah, they’re too easy. I’m sure Sunset could deal with them. And yep! Sunset could deal with them!”

“That I did, Pinkie. I did encounter something weird though. Well, two weird things. An invisible monster with a sword and a flaming chariot.”

“Oh, I saw the chariot!” Pinkie pointed down the road. “It went this way. See the tracks? Maybe it’s the boss or something?”

“You don’t know anything about it?”

Pinkie shook her head happily. “Nope! Come on. Let’s find out!”

She grabbed Sunset’s hand and skipped along, pushing quickly through the fog. It was times like this, Sunset was very glad to have a friend with her. It made her feel safer and less afraid of what waited for her behind the fog. It also gave Sunset a fierce determination. She was going to make it out of here, and she was going to return to her friends.

At the end of the road, the path split into two directions, left and right. Pinkie looked like she was about to choose right, but then the laughing came again, followed by the sound of hoofsteps and neighing.

Ah, Pain… or some say Painr…” the voice echoed around them. “Do you see their punishment? Vengeance is upon them. Nicolash, Head of the Charge, performs his duty for you.

And then through the fog, Sunset could see the flames of the horses ride closer. Those massive horses that had trampled the invisible monster earlier. And then the chariot pushed through the fog, coming into view. Atop it, stood a man. The man was dressed in a black coat, wearing a pair of silver gauntlets and greaves, but what made Sunset’s skin crawl was his head. Instead of a regular head, the man’s was but a skull, set on fire, with two orange glows where his eyes should be.

From his chariot, fog seemed to spew out. It looked like it was emitting it all around the place, the source of the fog.

He cackled again, then pointed at Sunset and Pinkie. “No. You shall no longer roam about in your evil. No one can catch us. No one can stop us now!

With a flick of his reins, the horses neighed and thundered down the left road, leaving a trail of fire in their wake.

“Come on, let’s get him!” Pinkie tried to drag Sunset, but the girl stopped in her tracks.

“Why?” she asked. “Can’t we just find the exit?”

“Did you see his chariot? If we destroy it, then the fog will disappear! Simple! Come on!”

Making the fog disappear? That sounded like a good idea. Like that, perhaps she would be able to see where they could go.

“Let’s go, then.” Sunset nodded.

They followed the dirt road, listening out for Nicolash’s eerie laughter and the thundering of his horses’ hooves, turning on split roads where his voice was louder.

They caught sight of him a few times, sometimes just waiting there, unmoving, but as they got close, he would laugh and start up again, disappearing into the fog like a ghost.

The next time they found him again, Sunset tried blasting a jet of steam towards him, but he moved off too quickly and the steam hit thin air.

“More like fat air,” Pinkie snickered. “Maybe we should split up. I’ll go around.”

“Split up? I took so long to find you just now.”

Pinkie held up her round carving. “It’s okay! I have this. I’ll just use it so you can find me later! So I’ll go down the other path. Try and cut him off. See ya soon, Sunset!”

And the pink haired girl disappeared in a puff of smoke, already on the move.

Sunset continued on after Nicolash, listening for him again as she made a left turn on the road. It was useless. She couldn’t catch up to him with that chariot of his. She needed another method to stop him.

“Maybe if I heap some of this dirt into a speed bump or something…” Sunset mused. Then she shook her head. That would take too long. “Or how about I cut down a tree for a barricade?” But she doubted she would be strong enough to haul an entire tree onto the road on her own.

“Think, Sunset. Think. What would Twilight do?” Well, that was easy. Stand around and talk about Flames.

As Sunset paced around, her foot connected with something with a clank. She looked down; it was a metal rod that at some point had been a halberd, but the top of the weapon was broken. She picked it up, weighing the heavy rod in her hand. Suddenly, a picture came to mind. It was one of those internet memes that Heavy Wind of the baseball team was so fond of. It had been of a man riding a bicycle. One by one, all the pieces fell into place. All she needed now, was Nicolash. Though, she was going to have to catch up to him to use it.

“Alright. Just gotta lead you right to Pinkie then.”

Sunset ran on again, following the sounds of the chariot and Nicolash’s laughter.

Eventually, she heard a screech of the chariot wheels and the sudden stop of hooves, before she could see a fiery glow approaching her through the fog.

Pinkie must have startled him. And now he was coming back her way.

Sunset readied herself, gripping the broken rod hard. And then the two horses came into view, their shapes taking up nearly the entire pathway, fire trailing from their bodies.

Sunset spotted the cackling Nicolash atop his chariot, pointing an armored finger at her.

The chariot thundered and thundered closer, but Sunset stood her ground, waiting for the right moment. Then before the horses could trample over her, the girl ducked to the side, just narrowly avoiding their front hooves. The fire coming from them was hot, forcing Sunset a few steps away.

And then as the chariot passed, Sunset jammed the rod through one of the wheel’s holes, lodging it against the chariot’s body.

Everything happened so fast. The wheel spun just for another split second, then stopped, the entire frame shaking as the horses kept moving, now dragging one wheel into the dirt road. The axle under the body splintered and broke off with a loud crack, sending the chariot flying up as the shaft split off, allowing the horses to continue on without their master, who was now rolling on the floor with his chariot’s debris, spinning a few times as the momentum threw him far.

“Gotcha.” Sunset took out her steam sword and approached the fallen figure.

“Ohoo…” Nicolash spat dirt from his mouth. “A hunter is a hunter, even in a dream…”

“So this is a dream, huh?” Sunset asked. “Tell me, how do I get out?”

The skeleton laughed and turned to her. “You already know the answer to that. That is why you are coming in this direction, yes? But alas, not too fast. You still have a way to go.”

Pinkie emerged from the fog behind them, humming to herself and skipping over, a twig in her poofy pink hair. “Sunset, you got him! Nice work! And that’s the power of friendship! How do you like that, Mr. Nicolash?”

“You can try all you like… but you cannot stop the nightmare.” The skeleton stood up and adjusted his jaw. “The nightmare swirls and churns… unending.”

“Oh yeah?” Pinkie pulled her curved sword from her hair. “We’ll see! Chaaaaaarge!”

Both girls ran at Nicolash, who created fireballs in his hands, chucking at them one at a time. Sunset slid under the first one, then rolled to avoid the second, while Pinkie easily hopped her way towards him, dodging each one without any effort. Nicolash laughed and drew out a spiked chain that burst into flames as he swung it over his burning skull. The chain flew at Sunset, but missed by a fraction of an inch.

Pinkie brought out a water balloon and threw it at Nicolash. It splashed all over his skull and put out the flames for a second, then the orange tongues were back in full force.

“You’ll pay for that…” Nicolash growled. “I am the spirit of vengeance!”

“I thought you were Head of the Charge?” Pinkie slashed at him with her sword, which he managed to block with a swipe of his chain. “You said so yourself.”

“I am many things. The greatest apprentice of the sorcerer, Higrun, I am Master of the Flames, Host of the Nightmare, Driver of Anger. I have done many things. I have even stolen the Decla-”

“Yeah, yeah,” Sunset grunted and jumped over the chain. She was now close enough to strike, and Nicolash’s back was against one of the mounds on the side. There was nowhere he could retreat to. Her finger found the button on her sword and pressed it, sending a jet of steam into Nicolash’s face.

“Ahhh, not the bees!” Nicolash howled, dropping the chain and clawing at his skull with both hands. “They’re in my eyes! Arrrggghh!”

This guy’s a looney.

“Just kidding!” The skeleton laughed and stood back up, grabbing Sunset’s face with his hand and pushing her against the wall. “You cannot stop me. I am the Master of Flames! I cannot get burnt. Do you want to see how you get burnt?”

Fire began to spread from his gauntlet, the fingertips burning into Sunset’s skin with a hiss. She screamed out in pain and tried to dislodge him.

“Man, you’re really a lot of things.” A swordtip speared through Nicolash’s chest and he let go of Sunset, allowing her to retreat back, clutching at her face, before drinking down an estus flask. Pinkie pulled her sword from him and slashed him across the front. “You don’t hurt my best friend! She pulled another water balloon and threw it at him as he fell to the ground, dousing his fire.

“Arrhgh!” Nicolash rolled away and stood back up. “You cannot defeat me! I am a vampire!”

Both Pinkie and Sunset blinked.

“R-Really?” Sunset asked skeptically. “Because you look more like a flaming skeleton man than a vampire.”

“Gee, you call yourself a lot of things, but you’re no vampire.” Pinkie roared and cut down, separating his torso horizontally. “See? You’re all made of bones.”

“The nightmare shall never end! You shall never prevail!” he yelled as Sunset approached him, her sword ready for the final blow. “I am Nicolash! Head of the Charge! Kidnapper of Presid- AAAAHHHHH!” he screeched as Sunset drove her sword through his skull.

Nicolash’s body began to flake and soon dissolved in a flash of white. All around them, the pieces of the chariot began to fade as well, and with that, the fog.

“Glad that’s over with.” Sunset exhaled and stowed her blade.

Sunset could see down the dirt path now. Just ahead was a massive building, rectangular in shape and housing many windows, all of them with bars on the outside. The entrance was a large archway with torches on the sides; the place was almost beckoning to Sunset. She knew that was their next destination.

“I wonder just how many people actually find this building if Nicolash was still fogging up the whole place.” Pinkie Pie stuffed her weapon back into her hair. “Well, that’s all fun and games, Sunset, but I need to get going! I promised Maud I’d watch her rock farm tonight.”

“Maud’s here too?”

“Of course! Why wouldn’t she be? But thanks for the fun, Sunset! If you need me, you know where to find me! Byeeee!” And Pinkie skipped off back down the way they had come from.

“But… I don’t know where to find you…”

Sunset looked in the distance and she could even see the entrance to the Road of Penance from here. It was actually a rather small place, but the fog made it seem otherwise.

Sighing that she’ll have to go it alone again, she turned back to the building and began walking down the road not taken. And that, had made all the difference.

Author's Note:

Achievement unlocked:
Nicolash, Head of the Charge - You have defeated Nicolash, Head of the Charge.

Sorry that it's been so long. I've been real busy with work, so I haven't been able to get this up. I hope the wait is worth it! Cheers!

Picture of Nicolash, Head of the Charge here.