A Rather Large Adventure

by BradyBunch

Chapter Fifty-two: Courage

Twilight Sparkle led the way into the bowels of the earth. Her violet light was joined from behind with blue ones from Rarity and Noble Blade. Their pace was faster, and harried. They all knew that Firestorm's fate was uncertain.

“Hey, Nobley Bladey!” Pinkie blurted out of nowhere. “Do you know what?”

“What?” Noble asked, having not heard the question the first time.

“Do you know what?” Pinkie repeated.

Noble raised an eyebrow, faintly seen in the soft, cool light. “What?” he asked, to prompt Pinkie to answer.

“Do you know what?”

“What?” he asked, confused by now.

“Do you know what?”

“What?!” he exploded exasperatedly.

“Do you know-”

“No, I don't know what. I don't know what what is because you haven't told me what what is.”

“Weelll,” she slowly said. “I think that Firestorm is gonna turn out all right. Of course he’s going to survive alone, in the dark, in a small, cramped space, with no contact from his friends! He'll be fine!”

“Sometimes I wonder if you even hear yourself talk, Pinkie,” Rainbow sourly said. Rainbow's mood had deteriorated steadily ever since they had begun to descend, and it was evident in her demeanor.

“We should have more faith in him,” Starlight urged. “He's a warrior, isn't he?”

“A warrior with claustrophobia and no backup,” Applejack added, but under her breath.

The cavernous passage began to open up above them. Their blue and violet lights began to thin out if they directed them upwards. The walls were smooth and carved by hoof. However, there were also pockmarks punctuating long white scratch marks. The air began to warm up, and the smells of mildew and guano were joined by rotten eggs and burnt rock.

Rarity was gagging quietly. “Such a horrendous smell! It's such a good thing I salvaged some Eau de Toilette.” She managed to bring out some perfume from her saddlebag and began to liberally spray it around herself.

“Girls?” Noble whispered. “Now might be a good time to bring out those weapons we brought from the Noxxa camp.”

“Is there something down there we should be afraid of?” Fluttershy whispered frightfully.

“Better safe than dead,” Freedom Fighter said before Noble could say anything to reassure her. He carefully dislodged the twin staves from his hips, attached them together, and slung it across his back to be used at a moment's notice.

The other girls all paused a moment to take out the crude black weapons. They had lain forgotten at the bottom of their packs for the entire journey so far, and they had grown rusty near the tips and had crumbs in the curves. After they had armed themselves, they set out in the passage again.

When the ground began to be smoother and flatten out, the passage widened even more and turned to the left before ending abruptly. The Nine Souls all gathered on the edge of the passage, shining their lights, beholding the sight below them, which robbed them of speech or coherent thought.

The passage ended half a hundred feet above the bottom of a cavernous room. Below them, barely seen in the pressing darkness, was the cracked and crumbling floor, and across the room was a sheer black wall of rock.

---

Firestorm took several more deep breaths as he tried to examine the path ahead. The walls seemed to be getting narrower; the ceiling was dropping lower and lower. At first, he could tilt his head upward without any issue. After several minutes of walking, he couldn't bend his neck up without scraping his nose on the rocky ceiling. Then, he felt the top of the tunnel pressing on top of his head.

It’s so unfair to be stuck in the bowels of the earth. How ironic is it that I would be the most scared one? The Element of Courage, buried deep in the earth, is only accessible by a pony whose greatest fear is being crushed together.

Firestorm crouched now and began to trudge his way deeper into the narrow passage. After only three minutes, his knees began to cramp and his thighs began to burn. The top of the ceiling was scraping along his skull and flattening his ears.

Now his claustrophobia was kicking in. The walls seemed to move on their own, swirling and contorting inward. Firestorm took short, panicked breaths and squeezed in his shoulders.

His muscles were cramping up, making pain shoot in his joints. His breathing was even more rapid and made his chest hurt with every intake. The walls above and to the sides were less than an inch away from his skin.

Get me out of here! Firestorm gasped in his mind. I can't do this! I can't! I can't!

Firestorm took another step forward anyway. The rock was scraping against his skin now.

Why am I still going? he wondered absently. I thought I agreed this was impossible.

He took another step. He was obliged to stoop even lower in the passage until he was on his knees.

I've got something special waiting for ya if you come back with that element!

Firestorm reflected on the words of his girlfriend as he squeezed another step forward.

I have to do this, he resolved in his mind. If only for that special surprise.

He imagined Rainbow Dash as he wiggled into the shrinking crack and cramped his wings even more. He pictured her lying on her back. Her rainbow mane was around her shoulders and dripping across her forehead. She was grinning and beckoning with a hoof behind her head.

Firestorm pressed himself a bit more forcefully into the thinning crack as desire burned within him. It was becoming very, very hard to press deeper, though, as he tried to wiggle deeper inside.

Finally, a defeated Firestorm wriggled his way back out step by step, stumped at what he needed to do.

Should I go back? he wondered. I did what I could. This is impossible to fit into.

An incredibly inappropriate joke came to mind, but he discarded it, thinking seriously.

I can't go back without that Element, he eventually decided. Rainbow won't give me a prize if I don't. He then remembered something else, and he flippantly shrugged. Oh yeah, and the fate of the world. Or something. Besides, I need to say I actually did everything I could, not just call it a day when I reach the end. I have weapons for a reason. He slowly looked down at his hooves, then sat back and pointed them at the entry.

Having both of his hooves facing forward, the dark orange pegasus twisted his hooves in just the right way to activate his dragon-flame-throwers.

With a whine and a click, two jets of flame shot out and melted through the rock to either side of him. Firestorm then directed the streams of flame to the rock in front of him. The sudden light in the passage was so blinding, Firestorm had trouble adjusting his eyesight at first.

After a little while, Firestorm drew one of his swords, ignited the flame on the steel blade, and, blinking hard, began to hack his way into the rocky cavern like a jungle explorer through the verdant canopy. Any ordinary blade would have shattered on the rocks, but Firestorm's swords were far from simply made. The sword’s strokes quickly shaved off the rock squeezing the passage closed.

Imagination can do anything, Firestorm reflected in amusement, keeping the picture of Rainbow Dash in his head.

After lopping off many pieces and leaving a trail of burnt rubble in his wake, Firestorm came to a thin film of rock wall. After cutting a hole in it, he pushed the hole out and stepped--and almost fell.

Beneath him was a deep shaft descending into infinite blackness. The only light came from his sword and from a thin ray of light streaming from just above his head. Firestorm examined the shaft with trepidation, then looked up at the dying sunlight entering through a crack above him.

He could leave. The free, cool, open air was just five feet above him through a thin layer of dirt. He could almost feel it blowing through his mane.

Wait a second, he remembered. This is a temptation. He examined the space above him, lighted by the stream of orange light from the crack above.

Firestorm took a deep breath to steady himself, then began to glide down the narrow passage into the bowels of the earth. Even though he knew it was a temptation, his desire to leave the cramped confines of the shaft was undiminished. It made his stomach ache in longing to see the inviting warm light above, and to reject it for a cold, clammy, cramped cavern.

After flapping in place a little way down, he sliced a rock away from the edge with his sword, caught it, and tossed it up the passage into the stream of light.

Nothing whatsoever happened. The rock just flew into the air, bisected the stream of light, fell down again, and bounced on the top of Firestorm's head before falling into infinite blackness.

Firestorm, miffed, rubbed his head as he slowly followed the rock's descent. As he fluttered down, he reluctantly reflected on his fate. Darkness enveloped him once again as he prepared for his next trial.

---

The nine ponies and baby dragon had all descended to the basalt floor beneath thanks to the flight abilities of Rainbow Dash and the powerful magic of Twilight, Starlight, and Noble Blade. In the sparse light provided by the ponies, each of them was staring up and around them in awe.

The area was in the shape of a ring. The domed ceiling vaulted a hundred feet above them, supported by four shiny black pillars. The mouth of a cave in the opposite wall was over fifteen meters tall and had stalactites and stalagmites at the entrance, giving it the appearance of some fanged beast gaping its rotting maw open.

As they all collected themselves together in the center of the room, they all felt a rush of air from the mouth of the open cave. A guttural roar rumbled forth like stomach movements from beneath the monstrous mouth.

Noble Blade instantly took center stage. Moving ahead of the other girls, he rose on two legs, attaching his shield to his left arm, and clutched his sword tightly in his right. “Freedom.” His voice was level but tight. “Stay back. Protect the girls.”

Starlight and Twilight flanked him, pulsing their horns in surges of magical energy. Knowing their prowess in battle, Noble did not rebuke their presence.

The rest of the girls lifted their ugly black weapons in front of them and tried to keep them steady.

Boom.

The faint tremor in the earth shook their hooves and traveled to their chests, rattling their hearts and shaking their resolve.

Boom.

The tremble repeated itself, but it sounded closer and louder.

Boom.

Something moved in the back of the caving maw.

Boom.

Noble Blade's sword trembled in his sweaty, rock-hard grip. The tall, dark shape moved closer to the clouds of light in the main chamber.

Boom.

A muddy-brown, taloned foot stepped out of the cave. Its other foot raised itself up and crushed the ground beneath it, bringing more of his body into the open.

Boom.

Each footstep brought the menacing creature into the main chamber. It was easily fifty feet high, and twenty feet wide in the torso. It was powerfully muscled in the legs and wrists, but it showed signs of emaciation in its thin skin around the ribcage and the collarbone. It had two bent legs with taloned feet, two bent arms with clawed fingers the size of logs, and a large, fanged mouth dripping saliva, in a large head with pointed ears, narrow eyes, and a thick forehead. It was a mottled brown color and reeked of rotten eggs and old flesh.

Rarity reached to the side, pulled a long, flat rock from the side, and collapsed onto the makeshift fainting couch. Pinkie Pie's knees locked together. With no Noble Blade to cling to, Fluttershy quivered so hard that Spike, frozen stiff, could see her body vibrating. Applejack took her frayed hat off her head in shock. Rainbow Dash uncharacteristically took a step backward in apprehension. Even Freedom Fighter seemed wary of the beast fifteen times taller than he.

Whatever Noble Blade's reservations, he seemed to swallow them as he took an awkward step forward. His blue sword shone like a beacon in the chamber.

The mottled brown creature finally took notice of the blue light moving in front of him and turned his glaring eyes down on the knight protector.

“Little ponies look tasty,” he boomed in broken Ponish. “Rolk think ponies foolish.”

Noble Blade halted. He gazed up at the awful creature with confusion and shock on his exposed face.

The creature scratched his ear with a sharp-clawed finger in confusion. “Hmm. Rolk thought we speak same language.” He parted his lips, revealing teeth like spearheads. “Is little pony scared?”

Noble Blade reversed his sword and planted the tip in the broken stone floor. He trembled on his hind legs, so he used the sword to steady himself. “Who art thou?”

“Who am I?” the creature bellowed with a spray of spittle. “Who you? Star Swirl not here! Where he?” He pounded the floor with a closed fist, on an arm so long it dragged on the ground. “I eat his head! I put him into fire! I crunch his bones! Where he?!”

Twilight, stricken with fear, tried next. “St-star Swirl?”

The name drew the monster's glaring attention to the purple alicorn.

“He sent us to, ah... meet you,” she explained, sweating down her forehead as she feigned a smile.

The monster puffed a breath out of two pony-sized nostrils. That seemed to placate him. “He did say that.” He put a sharp finger to his lips. “Ten ponies come to me.” He squinted at the ten assembled creatures, looking at the terrified Spike shrewdly. “One of you does not look like pony.” He let out a growl of bargaining. “But more or less the same.”

“Will you help us? We're both on the same side.”

The creature shook his ponderous head in seeming amusement. “Ha! Ha! Ha! Same side! I not on any side. I am the One In Stasis. The Rolk.” Having said this, he seemed satisfied in his answer.

“How do you know Star Swirl?”

The Rolk breathed through his mouth twice before answering. “He took me. Put me under earth to protect Thragya. He left. And he cursed me!”

“Thragya?” Rarity whispered.

The Rolk evidently heard her. “The stone. The jewel.”

Everyone knew what he was describing.

“H-how did he curse th...thou?--I mean, thee?” Noble asked, addressing him as evenly as he could.

The Rolk stooped lower and bent his head over Noble Blade.

“I cannot perish,” he growled in five well-defined syllables.

The ponies were all listening intently.

After a pause, the Rolk continued. “Centuries gone. I count year by year. My stomach empty. Once, all things were food. Now I eat rocks and mold.” He growled something unintelligible and spat a bolt of orange fire out of his mouth, melting a portion of the floor into glowing ore.

Everypony gasped or stumbled back upon seeing this.

The Rolk balled his fists and pushed them against the floor in anger. “I not need food, I not need water, I not need sun. Even flesh grow back.” He straightened his knees marginally, which increased his height. “I trapped here! Thousand years. Protect Thragya, left to suffer.” He made a derisive noise.

Noble Blade looked up into his narrow-set eyes, blacker than midnight and beady like a marble. “You... seem to possess... an unhealthy amount of intelligence.”

The Rolk surprisingly nodded, albeit in annoyance. “He cursed me with speech and called it blessing. Who I talk to down here?”

“He makes a good point,” Pinkie conceded out of the corner of her mouth. “I’d go loopy with nopony to talk to for forever.”

“That’s you talking,” Freedom Fighter remarked. “Just talk to yourself. I’m the best friend Freedom Fighter’s ever had.”

“What’d you say?” Freedom Fighter asked himself.

“Nothing.”

“Can we see... Thragya?” Starlight cautiously asked.

“No,” the Rolk refused. “Thragya mine.”

“B-but Star Swirl sent us, didn't he?” Fluttershy meeped shyly. “If w-we are the chosen ones... then wouldn't it make sense... for us to...see it?” She retreated back a step. “If it's okay with you?”

The Rolk sniffed in distaste. Maybe it was the talent of Fluttershy to tame wild beasts, or maybe he simply saw the logic in her words. But he reluctantly drew an ivory claw to his swollen wrist. Slicing it deep across his flesh, he then took two surprisingly delicate claws and pinched inside the wound. Blood flooded out in spurts, ran down his arm, and pooled on the ground as he slowly drew out an orange gem the size of a pony’s head. It was pinched tightly between the strong claws like he was holding a small bead.

As soon as the gem was out of his flesh, the wound began to steam and reseal itself like it was being sewn back together. Sparks flew from his flesh as it re-mended, and soon the deep wound was completely healed.

Freedom Fighter looked down at his left arm and flexed the hidden mechanical appendage. “What I wouldn’t give for that kind of power,” he reflected. "What more I have to give..."

“You see Thragya now,” the Rolk said simply. The flame-colored gem sparkled in luminous wealth. It was stained with quickly-evaporating blood, adding a ruby color to the fiery orange hue. “It precious. Only beauty in this place. It warm to me.”

“Warm?” Noble Blade asked mildly.

“Cave is cold,” he offered by way of mild explanation. “Thragya like fire in body. Make me happy.”

“I thought you hated this job?” Rainbow Dash spoke up.

The Rolk inclined his head, giving an irate glare at the cyan pegasus. “Stupid rainbow thing,” he muttered. “Only Thragya make me happy. Cave is black and cold without Thragya.” The Rolk held up the jewel to the faint light in the chamber and examined it with a zealous eye. After a while, he spoke again. “Star Swirl trap me. But at least gave something beautiful for company.”

The almost tender way the Rolk spoke about his sole source of beauty made the girls feel a pang of sympathy for the creature. The Rolk was even smiling--or at least, almost, since his lip structure prevented grinning. When the Rolk ignored the rest of the girls and rolled the stone between his thumb and pointer finger, the girls began to lose some of the fear they originally had.

When he was done admiring it, he gently held it in a massive palm and squeezed it lovingly. Twilight half-expected it to crush to glittering dust in the Rolk’s hand. But instead, he simply punctured a hole in his other palm with a sharp claw and pushed the jewel into the center of his palm by clapping his massive hands together.

Blood dripped from between his palms, but steam also arose from the crack between his hands. When he took his hands apart again, the jewel was back in his body.

“Well, that’s what Star Swirl sent us here to do,” Twilight calmly told him, keeping her own fright down. “Now you don’t have to be alone. Your job is done. We can get you out.”

The Rolk looked questioningly at her. “What you mean? You come to take Thragya?”

“Yes,” Starlight said, not seeing the silent hoof slashes Twilight was giving her to the side. “It’s a stone that will save Equestria.”

“No!” the Rolk bellowed. “Thragya mine! It only thing of beauty in this place. Small ponies not take it from me!”

“That was loaned to you!” Rarity objected. “It was never meant for you to keep.”

“Thragya mine,” the Rolk insisted angrily, taking a ponderous step forward.

Rarity was clearly out of options. Looking wildly to the side, she finally settled on a backup plan, and she used a shaking hoof to push aside a strand of her mane.

“Oh, o-of course,” she said, in a much higher voice than she would have otherwise used. “Such a fabulous gem would have to be trusted with such a...fantastical creature like yourself!”

The Rolk looked impatient.

“I can tell just by looking at you that Star Swirl gave you great honor, to protect such a jewel as that one. You, sir, are one of a kind in all of Equestria!”

The Rolk looked bemused.

Rarity adjusted her mane and spilled it around her shoulders. “Now, regarding that precious gem you have. It seems to me that you would look positively ravishing with it if I crafted an ensemble for you myself!” Rarity, hiding her flushed cheeks with a hoof, used another one to draw a picture in the air. “The tailored slacks would look especially well on you, I must say. I think I can get a suit right if I make the arm length waayy longer.” After an uncertain chuckle, she put his face in a frame with her hooves. “Now, I think I can craft a special carnation to put in that suit. And we could use Thragya for the center of the flower. After all, we want it to be dazzling. So why not take that ever-important gem and give it to us, so that we may borrow it for a time until your ensemble is finished?”

The Rolk looked confused.

Noticing it not working, she reluctantly tried another technique. Spinning an end of her mane, she lowered her eyelashes coquettishly. “And it's all for free, darling. For you, of course.” She let out her best fake-giggle, which was an octave or so lower than usual.

The Rolk let out a snarl through his mouth.

Rarity blinked, then timidly offered, “I could add in some... cologne?”

“I not taste pony in thousand years,” the Rolk growled, slowly raising his hands. “You tender. You sizzle and crunch in fire. You fill my belly.”

He shot his hand forward to grab Rarity.

Spike immediately jumped in front of Rarity. Tugging the yellow glowing staff from Freedom Fighter's back, he instinctively jabbed the end of the long weapon into the Rolk's palm.

The Rolk roared and drew his hand back.

“Hands! Off! My! Rarity!” he bellowed at the creature. The staff was clenched in one hand so tightly it was smoking his flesh.

“Hands off my staff!” Freedom Fighter retorted, snatching the staff back, but somewhat in awe of the young dragon.

The Rolk's burned puncture was already healing, however, and he was now infused with a monster's rage. He swept his other hand at the assembly of ponies, causing the group to scatter, and when he came up empty he roared in rage and pounded the floor. Great cracks spidered out from the craters his fists made.

“If you wanted a weapon you could have just asked!” Freedom Fighter cried, then drew two long knives from his underbelly and hurled them at Spike.

Spike caught both of the shiny weapons in midair and waved one of them in acknowledgment.

Twilight fired a blast of purple magic into the Rolk's belly. The monster howled in rage and lunged for her, but Twilight took to the air and began to fly like a circling jet around the monster, peppering him with little blasts of magic.

“Stay with me,” Noble advised Spike, sidestepping next to him. “We'll take him down.”

“Can he be taken down?” Applejack yelled to him, sprinting around the Rolk to trap him from behind. The wound in the Rolk's belly was already steaming as it regenerated.

“Let's, ah, worry about that later!” Noble called back to the orange farmer.

The Rolk opened his jaws ever wider, and his mouth turned red from a glow inside.

“SCATTER!” Noble screamed, holding up his shield.

The Rolk fired a stream of red-hot fire out of his mouth, and the battle properly began.

---

The darkness was suffocating. The absence of noise was deafening. Firestorm's breathing was shallow and hoarse. His muscles were cramped and sore.

When he had reached the bottom of the shaft, he found himself in another long, shallow corridor, but much more square and smooth. It was as if it was carved out with tools or molded like wet clay. Having nowhere else to go, he went into the small passageway.

He was now holding the fiery sword in a wing for light and warmth as he plunged deeper into the bowels of the earth. The flickering light made him blink hard as he advanced inwards.

It was bad enough to be trapped deep beneath the earth. It was somehow even worse to advance deeper knowing that an option was open to fleeing. His head pounded with the possibility of retreat, but every time his head pulsed with the thought, he forced it back down. He was woozy; his insides were churning. He felt like his head was in a vise grip, and his throat felt blocked.

Finally, he stumbled, dropped his sword, and collapsed on the cold stone floor, trying to bring his senses back to reality through cold shock. The sword extinguished itself, leaving him in sudden and suffocating darkness.

Panic was settling in, even in his woozy, unresponsive mind. His breathing became slower and slower as his consciousness hovered between reality and dreams.

After an indeterminate amount of time, a faint light appeared in front of him, and Firestorm weakly picked his head up.

“Stormy?”

Firestorm's mind was in much sharper focus now. “Rainbow? Rainbow!” he almost screamed in relief. He struggled to his hooves.

Sure enough, in a cloud of light in front of him, the prismatic pegasus was wreathed in the colors of her mane as she quickly galloped to him.

“Oh my gosh! You're finally here! I've been searching for you for ages!” Rainbow quickly gestured ahead of her. “I've found the way out! Come on, follow me!”

“Follow you?” he asked, picking up his fallen sword and sheathing it. “Wait, how'd you find me?”

“Twilight's freaky magic! Duh! Come on, let's go! Follow me!”

Firestorm tried to follow her and wrap a hoof around her body in relief, but Rainbow pulled away. “What are you doing?”

The orange pegasus blinked. “Um, giving you a hug? Oh, I know! You want a kiss instead!”

“Not right now!” Rainbow refused, moving away from her boyfriend's grip. “There's no time for kissing! Let's go!”

Firestorm was confused. The Rainbow he knew would never refuse a kiss from him. Despite impulse telling him to flee with her to safety, something was off about her that he couldn't put his hoof on. “Are you in danger?” he asked, reaching forward to caress her mane.

Rainbow pulled away again before he could touch her. “I'm fine! Just follow me, okay?”

By now a suspicion was forming in Firestorm's head. “Who are you?”

The pegasus looked at him like he was dumb. “I'm Rainbow Dash! Come on, don't play the fool here.”

“Can I shake your hoof?”

Rainbow looked uncomfortable.

“Come on,” Firestorm said, with a gleam in his eye. “What's so wrong with shaking my hoof? Are you scared?”

The pegasus scowled reluctantly, but extended her hoof and put it in Firestorm's grip. There was nothing Firestorm could feel. It was as if he had shaken thin air itself.

The gorgeous rainbow pegasus suddenly grinned a hideously obscene smile. “You didn't fall for me. Good.”

Firestorm felt a thrill of fear shoot through his nerves.

“Now, it's not like I've got time to waste on you,” Rainbow Dash said darkly. Her voice had dropped in tone. Black streams of liquid began to drip from her forehead and mane, discoloring her blue face and making her colorful mane stick to her skin. Her skull began to squish inward and sag on her shoulders. “But I can't have you advancing into that corridor, can I?”

Firestorm’s heart leaped into his throat and almost fainted in terror as Rainbow Dash began to melt and drip black blood from every pore on her body, turning her into a blackened, soggy, and filthy version of herself. It was almost like watching the juice being squeezed out of a fruit.

“Who are you?!” he asked, but his voice was so hoarse and high that he could only mouth the question.

Rainbow Dash smiled, but her grin had no teeth and reached her ears, showing nothing in her mouth. Black liquid oozed from her mouth and ran down her chin, splattering on the ground.

“I...am...Solaris…” she said, but it was not a female talking. No female could convey the utter harshness in his deep, dark voice. “Your...Eternal...Father.”

What remained of Rainbow Dash collapsed before his eyes into a floating, hideously formed mass of obscene, jumbled shapes. A cloud of darkness seeped from the center of the mass, clouding his vision.

“You shall never possess the greatness you deserve, mewling worm! I shall hinder you every step of the way! I hate you, my son, and I always will! You mean nothing to me!”

The voice was now Rainbow Dash's, but mixed with a malevolent, deep undertone that made his skin prickle and his stomach clench. Darkness gathered around the two of them as the shining light disappeared.

“Now face my wrath, and perish in the knowledge that you meant nothing to the world!”

Thin tendrils of thorny Plundervines spurted from cracks in the stone floor and coiled around his legs. The thin Plundervines were braided and strong, and the green thorns were three inches long. They slowly pulled the struggling pegasus to the ground, tightening around his legs like so many pythons.

“It’s useless!” the disjointed voice shouted, and it was so loud that it rumbled the world and made Firestorm quiver in fear. “Equus shall fall, and your traitorous brothers and sisters shall fall to my hordes! They will flood the earth with your blood and feast on your red, rotting CORPSES!”

Firestorm was leaking tears now from the sensory overload. Pain came from his ears and from his insides, as well as the thorns pinning him to the ground, digging into his flesh and tightening his blood flow.

“HELP!” he cried, wiggling furiously. “SOMEONE, PLEASE, HEL-”

“NO!” the demonic voice bellowed to him, and the black vines quickly twisted up his torso and wrapped around his mouth, gagging his breathing. Blood dripped from all over his face from the thorns. “NO HELP SHALL COME TO YOU, LITTLE PONY! NOW PERISH, AND ROT IN THE DEPTHS OF TARTARUS!”

Firestorm's vision was blocked by two Plundervines that wrapped around his head. Another vine spiraled around his neck and began to squeeze. Prostrate, unmoving, and slowly dying, Firestorm began to black out.

“SAY GOODBYE TO THIS FILTHY WORLD, CHILD OF FAUST!” the booming demon roared, and rocks tumbled from the sides of the cavern. One large one struck him in the small of his back, sending a shooting pain up his spine.

But one thing seemed to resonate to Firestorm. The name of Faust.

Helpless, blind, and broken, Firestorm cried out in his mind to the one being who could help him.

Oh, Faust in heaven! Help me! I need that Element! Save me! SAVE ME!

The very instant he cried out with his thoughts, the tightening vines disappeared from his body like the snap of a finger. The darkness clouding his surroundings vanished. The menacing aura from the evil who had almost killed him was gone.

It was too eerie, how peaceful it all seemed to him.

Firestorm quivered with fright on the ground for a moment more, then opened his eyes and gasped.

He was no longer in a narrow passageway, but instead in a large spherical room made of complete, white crystal. There was no way in or out of the circular room--no passages, holes, or doorways existed in the unbroken surface of the crystal room.

In the exact center of the room was a raised stone dais. Atop it was a blindingly white tree giving off flickering white flames from its trunk, branches, and leaves. The light reflected off the glittering walls of the crystalline room and spread in spidering imprints of light on the flat stone floor.

Firestorm blinked tears from his eyes and slowly, weakly, stood up. His knees were trembling. Blood trails existed all over his face from where the thorns had bitten. He gaped at the tree of fire in wondering awe.

Firestorm. Come to me.

The soft, beautiful voice commanding Firestorm had emanated from the white, fiery tree. It was as if the words hadn't even been spoken, but merely placed inside his head and given volume. The orange pegasus gulped and ran a hoof through his fiery mane before taking a hesitant step forward.

My son, why do you hesitate?

Firestorm licked his bloody lips. “Who...are you?” he shakily asked.

The white tree pulsed with warmth, and tall tongues of flame reached for the egg-point ceiling above.

I go by many names, but you know me as Faust.

Firestorm took a few more trembling steps to the dais, gently sloped so that he could climb it easily. Firestorm half-drew a sword and asked, “What about that…demon...in that passage? How'd I get here--who are you, really?”

Solaris desired to have you, my son, so he could sift you like dry wheat. But you had more courage than he expected.

“Courage?” he shakily asked, moving more to the dais and gently stepping up. His head was wandering and observing the beautiful curved walls. “I was weak! I keeled over quickly! Heck, if it wasn’t for you, I'd have died!”

If you know that, then you know who I truly am.

Firestorm paused, then nodded in acknowledgment. “I stand in the presence of Faust,” he whispered.

You were courageous to go forth into the darkness, when it is what you fear the most. You were courageous to continue for your mission when offered a chance to abort. And it took you a great deal of courage to call for help when you were beaten. Most ponies are lifted up in the pride of their hearts, but you possess great strength and humility, my son. Your cry for help will never go unheeded.

Firestorm was now at the top of the dais, staring into the depths of the tree. The flame danced and shone like a searchlight, but it didn't hurt Firestorm to stare. There wasn't even any heat radiating from the tree. On the contrary, he felt healed by just being around the tree and listening to the angelic voice of the Goddess.

You are courageous and resolute, my son, far beyond most other mortals. This is why I have appointed you to be the mortal bearer of the Element of Courage. Seek it in the flower at your hooves.

Firestorm looked down and saw a cone-shaped flower bud at his hooves. The flower was connected to the root of the glowing white tree. He kneeled down and, with trembling hooves, began to peel away the outer layers of the flower.

Once the layers of the flower were peeled all the way back, a large white ball of incandescent light floated from the center of the flower.

The angelic voice spoke: This is your inheritance, my son. Bear it well.

The ball then moved to his chest and began to glow brightly. Firestorm felt a vibration go through his body that made him go limp as a powerful kind of magic lifted him into the air, swirling streams of light around his body.

When he was settled back on the ground, Firestorm opened his eyes and felt something heavy lying on his chest.

Looking down, he saw what it was. A necklace of gold hung on his black-armored body. Embedded in the center was an orange jewel cut into the shape of an X. The same shape as his Cutie Mark.

Is this it…. It is!

He felt it with a hoof. The jewel was warm to the touch, like it had a life of its own. He felt a surge of power flow into his body upon touching it.

Firestorm had acquired the Element of Courage.

The voice spoke softly again: Go, Firestorm. Your friends are in danger.

Firestorm looked at the burning tree. “What?”

A creature called the Rolk was sent here by my servant Star Swirl to act as a decoy for any intruders. Even the Rolk himself does not know that the jewel he calls Thragya is a mere fake. Your friends are locked in battle with him over a mere jewel.

“Guess I gotta get to them!” Firestorm cried. He then looked around the confines of the room and noticed there was no entry or exit. Tapping his hoof awkwardly, he slowly said, “Could you help me out?”

I put you in here. I can certainly take you out again.

“Wait, wait, wait, where even are we? Beneath the surface, I mean?”

Faust seemed to giggle a little. Then she said: Does that really matter?

Firestorm conceded the point by nodding in defeat. “Just take me to my friends.”

And with the twinkling of an eye, Firestorm vanished.

---

The Rolk swept his arms on the walls of the chamber, sending a spray of rocks and rubble over a large area. Freedom Fighter, Pinkie Pie, and Rarity scattered.

The room had become chaos ten minutes ago. The Rolk was large and couldn't move very efficiently, but he was one of their most difficult foes yet. The fact that he was regenerative and could breathe fire made him exceptionally tough to get close enough and do significant damage.

Twilight and Rainbow Dash were flying above his head, trying to grab his attention, but the Rolk was more focused on those at his feet. Applejack was trying to entangle his feet with a length of rope, Starlight was slicing off pieces of flesh with precise laser cuts, Spike was digging both of his knives into the bone of his heels, and Freedom Fighter, protecting Fluttershy, Rarity, and Pinkie Pie, was shooting bolts of yellow power from afar into his gut.

But Noble Blade was the main offense. He was both mobile and strong, not to mention armored. His sword was enveloped in a blue aura, and it was whizzing all around his body as the Rolk would periodically reach for him, then pull back once Noble sliced off his fingers. Right now, however, Noble Blade was running alongside the creature, trying to keep the Rolk's focus on him.

After the Rolk had swept the rock wall into rubble, he picked up a handful of the stones and leaned back.

Noble recognized his action instantly. “To the walls!” he commanded loudly, holding his shield in front of him while facing the creature.

The ponies obeyed quickly as the Rolk hurled the pebbles with his catapult-like arm. The shrieking missiles struck Noble Blade's upraised shield, clanging cacophonously like a broken bell, while the rest sailed past his head and struck the opposite wall, exploding into shards and flying in every direction.

When the onslaught ended, Noble Blade emerged from behind the shield, roared, and pulsed his horn with a flow of magic.

The blue sword floating near his head suddenly flew like an arrow through the air and sank itself to the hilt between the Rolk's beady eyes. While the Rolk howled and pounded the ground in anguish, Noble charged, holding his shield in front of him.

When he was close enough, Noble Blade nimbly leaped from the ground atop the Rolk's gnarled fist and began to sprint up the length of his arm. The Rolk furiously swiped at him with his other arm, which Noble leaped on top of next. Sprinting as fast as he could, Noble Blade reached the Rolk's shoulder, jumped to his ear, and climbed on top of his sagging and rotting scalp to the top of his head, fifty feet above the ground.

Noble Blade reached out with his arm while pulsing his horn, and the magic sword whizzed to his hoof. Reversing the blade, he sank it into the creature's brain with a spray of blood.

The Rolk collapsed face first, bringing Noble down with him. As he impacted the floor, Noble's cape jumped and slowly settled on his back, and the force of his fall shook rubble from the ceiling.

Noble, now covered in blood, drew the sword from the creature's skull, making droplets fling away from the now-red sword. “Stay,” he commanded the Rolk firmly.

The other ponies quickly gathered around Noble Blade when he slid off his massive head to the ground. “That. Was. Cool,” Pinkie Pie summed up in awe.

Noble Blade shook some blood off his body in distaste. “Oh, this is disgusting,” he muttered, sounding strained. Then he raised his voice. “I would have preferred to have talked with him more,” he lamented, turning to face the dead monster. “I didn't want to kill him.”

“I know,” Fluttershy whispered in response, sensing who the statement was directed to. “Don't think on it.”

Noble looked surprised. He knew that Fluttershy valued the life of any living creature above all else. So why did she have leniency in Noble Blade killing an intelligent creature?

“He was going to hurt us all,” Fluttershy offered as a way to explain, but her voice was downtrodden. “And we need to save Equestria. If you hadn't...done it...we would all be dead.”

Noble Blade nodded gravely.

A rumble came from the creature as it twitched.

“Behind you!” Spike cried, motioning forward.

Noble half turned, but the Rolk's colossal fist had already squeezed around him and was lifting him up. A crunch of metal came from his armor, and he roared in pain and flailed his legs.

The Rolk stood up slowly, dripping blood from the holes in his head, and was eyeing him with unbridled rage. “Stupid little pony,” he rumbled. “Rolk win.” He tightened his grip even more.

Noble Blade had dropped his sword, but he still had his magic. That said, he was not focused on using it when he was being crushed in his own armor. He struggled the best he could, but the Rolk held strong.

“Noble!” Spike cried, sinking both of Freedom Fighter's knives into the Rolk's foot desperately. He hacked for only a little bit before the Rolk negligently kicked the dragon away, and Spike went tumbling.

“Oh! Little pony in armor! Ha! Ha! Ha!” He drew a claw near to Noble's dull grey breastplate. “Shame. Rolk need to peel you out before eating you.”

The Rolk sank his sharp claw into Noble's breastplate and began to easily tear through his armor like a can opener. Noble began to scream as the claw opened his skin as well. Blood began to stain the outside of his armor and run down the Rolk's fist.

“That...does it!”

Fluttershy flapped up and sped into the Rolk's face with a furious expression, and the Rolk actually looked up curiously as she began to talk with outrage. “Listen here, mister! I cannot allow you to do this! You can act all scary, and mean, and you can hurt me all you like, but nopony--” Fluttershy stared the titanic monster down with a fiery gaze. “--And I mean nopony-- puts their big, grabby claws on Noble Blade!”

She screamed in anger once more, drew her fist back, and punched the Rolk in the nose.

The Rolk didn't even flinch. He simply flicked his claw, and Fluttershy flew back and collided with the wall, slumping to the ground and bleeding from her back.

“Shy!” Rainbow cried in alarm, speeding to her limp body.

The Rolk tried again to peel Noble Blade out of his armor, but eventually gave up and threw him into his open mouth.

“No!” Twilight cried, igniting her horn. The jaws of the Rolk were covered with a lavender aura of glittering magic, stopping them from crunching down on Noble, who was resting on the Rolk's tongue.

Starlight took initiative next by levitating Noble out of the Rolk's mouth and settling him down. Applejack threw the length of rope up and around the lower jaw, and held both ends tightly, keeping his mouth open. With both Twilight and Applejack keeping his maw open, Freedom Fighter drew back his bow of pure energy, aimed at the roof of his mouth, and fired.

A colossal explosion erupted from his mouth, tearing apart his jaw muscles and making what was left of his mouth go limp. Spike rushed around to his heels and, with two heavy strikes, severed the Achilles tendon. The Rolk collapsed onto one knee.

Rainbow Dash tore herself away from the unconscious body of Fluttershy and picked up two long, curved Noxxa swords, fallen in the chaos. “Hey, buddy!” she screamed at him, injured and steaming from his wounds. “Think twice about hurting my friends!”

And she sped at him, points angled inward for maximum impact.

The Rolk drew his head up all of a sudden and snapped Rainbow Dash out of the air. His jaw muscles had already healed, but not his teeth and gums, so Rainbow was suddenly halfway trapped between his jaws, which were trying furiously to crush Rainbow in half.

To make matters worse, the Rolk swept all of the assembled ponies aside with a wide circle of his arm, throwing them to every corner of the room. He then reached behind him, picked up a struggling Spike with two of his other claws, and took out Rainbow from between his teeth with his other hand.

“Rolk eat you whole!” he roared with a spray of spittle. He opened his mouth wide and threw both bodies into his gaping mouth.

Or at least, that's what he intended to do.

What ended up happening was a sudden bright flash of light illuminating the room as a shining ball, streaming divine white flame, appeared and caught both Spike and Rainbow Dash in midair. The comet settled both of them to the floor and rose up to stare down the Rolk, who was covering his face from the blinding light.

The rest of the Ten Souls blinked in shock and tried to stare at the hovering comet, which had a strange shape to it. Rainbow Dash and Spike both were petrified by the brightness and by the knowledge that the comet had saved them both.

The Rolk stumbled back in shock. “White fire! White fire! White fire!”

“Oh, my dude!” the comet exploded with a familiar voice. “Brah, you look like an uuuuugly freakin’ RAT!”

Rainbow Dash’s heart leaped in her chest with joy upon hearing that voice. “S-stormy?” she asked, staring at the comet in disbelief.

The comet’s brightness dialed down a bit, and all could see who it was.

It was Firestorm.

He was wreathed in divine white fire, emanating and pulsing from a strange spot on the front of his chest. His mane was flowing behind him, and his eyes were glowing white in power.

“Oh, my stars and garters,” Rarity breathed, holding a hoof to her chest.

“Well, Ah'll be,” Applejack murmured softly.

“You...look…” Rainbow Dash started. She then threw up her hooves whilst rising in the air. “...so...AWESOME!”

Firestorm's flame pulsed a little brighter like the blush of a cheek. “D'aww, thanks, Dashie! Now! Errebody! Where's Thragagagagyaywhateveryoucallit?”

Starlight, who was just staring at him, shook her head blankly. “It's, um...in his body!”

“Where in his body?” the Firestorm comet clarified as the Rolk began to rise again and crush a boulder into pebbles with a giant fist.

“Inside his palm!” Starlight replied. The Rolk leaned his long arm back as he prepared to fire the pebbles.

“Okie-dokie-lok--shoot!” Firestorm was cut off by the Rolk firing his payload like a trebuchet. Stones whizzed at the ball of light like bullets.

Firestorm's countermeasure was a steady stream of white-hot fire erupting from the spot on his chest, incinerating every last one of the pebbles as they came near. The fire shot forth like water from a hose and pretty much blew away most of the Rolk's face to boot.

Firestorm reached across his back and drew both of his swords, and the aura of fire they had was much longer than the swords themselves. He sped forward and looped around the Rolk's outstretched arm, slicing the arm into nine evenly-sized chunks all the way to the shoulder. The stream of fire looked like a coil of rope before disappearing entirely, and the steaming chunks of flesh fell to the ground.

Firestorm then sped and looped around the rest of the Rolk’s body, inflicting cuts with bright flashes of fire. Sprays of blood flew out and flesh was flung into remote corners of the underground room. In the space of thirty seconds, the Rolk was little more than a heaping pile of steaming flesh.

Firestorm settled to the ground, sheathed one sword, and galloped to the mass of flesh that was the Rolk's palm. Slashing the palm open, a blood-covered jewel bigger than Firestorm's head tumbled out onto the stone floor.

“What are you doing?” Twilight hesitantly asked. “That’s the stone he was protecting…”

He nodded. “Yup. We don't need it.”

“So wait…” Applejack said slowly, staring at his chest. “Does that mean…that you...”

“Yup.” He held up the bright spot on his chest which was dying down in brightness. “One down, three to go.”

When the light died down, everyone could see it. An orange jewel cut in the shape of an X gleamed on a golden necklace around his neck.

“Oh, my,” Rarity admired, looking between the necklace and his tri-colored mane. “Whoever knew gold went so well with your coloration?”

“I likey,” Rainbow playfully commented, tapping him on the chest. “You got some ice on your chest now, huh, handsome?”

Firestorm was grinning like an idiot. “I don't need ice to make me cool, Dashie.” He tousled her mane, and she let out a distinct but uncharacteristic giggle.

“Oh, my gosh,” Twilight breathed in a high alto. “I can't believe this! It actually is another Element of Harmony! Ooohhh~!” She let out a little squeal and began to stamp her hooves excitedly. “This is so great! Before, the idea was just an idea, but now--! Now we have the real thing for itself! Aaahhh!”

Freedom Fighter was grinning under his cowl. “That's adorable, Twilight.”

The lavender mare didn't care. On the contrary, she held Freedom Fighter by the shoulders and began to speak quickly. “Don't you get it? You're going to get one too! And Noble, and Starlight--it's just too much! Oh, my gosh! Oh!” She released him and began to ramble aimlessly in a circle.

Freedom Fighter felt his shoulder with his hoof absently. He gazed at Twilight speaking furiously to herself, then looked down and smiled shyly.

The rest of the ponies had managed to congregate near the fallen Knight Protector. Noble Blade was lying face up, semi-conscious, in his bloodstained, torn armor. When he saw Firestorm come trotting over, still weary from the divine power he had been infused with, Noble stared at him, then smiled and laid his head back with a sigh.

Firestorm hailed him with a salute. “Hey, Noble.”

Noble eyed him with a glance. “Hey, Storm.”

Firestorm looked over the long gash in his friend's armor and the long laceration beneath. “That hurt.”

“Yep. ‘Tis painful.” He grimaced and squirmed in his crushed armor a little more. “Is Fluttershy all right?”

“Um…” Pinkie Pie glanced at the yellow heap at the base of the wall which Applejack was reviving. “She's no worse off than you are.”

“Oh!” he quickly said, struggling up. “Oh, that isn't good!” A jagged edge in his breastplate made him stop rising and settle back down reluctantly.

“Hold on now, sugar cube!” Applejack called to Noble. “Ah think Ah got ‘er now!”

“Ummm…” Fluttershy mumbled as she awoke in pain. “Wha...what happened? Is the Rolk...gone?...”

“Fluttershy!” Noble exclaimed in relief, crawling painfully to his girlfriend. “Are you all right? Are you hurt?”

“Noble!” Fluttershy called back. She weakly stood up and slowly limped to his side. “You're hurt! I'm so sorry for you!” she worriedly cooed, looking over the twisted shell of armor he was encased in. “Is there a way I can help?”

“Get me out of this,” he groaned. “I can't stay like this. I need to breathe!”

Fluttershy nodded, tossed her mane over her shoulder, and set to work.

“Not here,” Noble moaned. He coughed hard. “In the Rolk's cave. Right here is not the best.”

Fluttershy looked around the room properly and saw the steaming carnage of the chunks of flesh that comprised the Rolk, lying in pools of blood that turned the rocks black. She paled, swayed back and forth, and almost collapsed had Rarity not caught her from behind. Rarity dutifully slung the injured Fluttershy on her shoulders, and used her magic to levitate Noble Blade into the cave.

There arose a rumble from the center of the room, drawing everypony's attention. The mass of flesh that had once been the Rolk was now beginning to stir.

“Oh, come on!” Twilight groaned. “What does it take to kill this guy?”

“Come on, hit him with your swords again,” Freedom Fighter urged.

“I just hit him with the mostest fastest blades in the history of Equestria!” Firestorm protested. “What's it gotta take to-” As if an idea struck him, he glanced to the orange gem lying near his hooves.

The mass of bloody flesh rose on a half-formed leg, and his neck slowly twisted upright with several sickening crick-crack-cricks. His face was beginning to reform into some semblance of his proper frame.

“Foolish little ponies!” the Rolk roared with his half-formed mouth. “Rolk always win!”

Firestorm scooped up Thragya and held a quivering sword tip to it. “What's the point of winning,” he said for the Rolk to hear, “if you can't have this?”

The Rolk gasped in absolute shock and fell forward in desperation, shaking the cavern. “NO! Pony not kill Thragya! Pony stupid! What you do?!”

“Let us live,” Firestorm patiently said, “and we'll give you Thragya. You aren't that stupid, right, that you know you're in a situation you can't win?”

The Roll quivered with fear. “No! Please, not kill Thragya! Rolk not kill you in return! Please!”

“If I give you this,” Firestorm demanded, “you'll let us live?”

“Yes! Yes! Give Thragya now!”

Firestorm glared at him suspiciously, then threw the jewel to the Rolk.

He caught the gem between two claws and eyed it greedily. Then he looked at the ponies assembled below him.

“Ponies really are stupid.”

He gaped his maw open wide. Red flame began to build up in his throat.

Rarity emerged from the cave, igniting her horn. Noble Blade's chromium sword levitated hear her head. “A beast like you doesn't deserve Thragya's beauty!” she cried to him.

And with a pulse of her horn, the powerful sword sailed through the air like an arrow and pierced Thragya like an egg.

The jewel exploded into dozens of shards, releasing a yellow mist that quickly evaporated.

The Rolk's fiery throat cut off as abruptly as if it had been doused with water. He screamed in loss, staring at the shards in his palm.

“No! NO! NO!” He began to quickly piece them back together, but his fingers were too big. His body began to sag on his bones. “THRAGYA!” Blood rushed afresh from his wounds, but they were no longer smoking or healing.

He began to vibrate like a blurry picture. Orange power began to glow out of his eyes and mouth as he simply stood stock-still.

“...Everyone!” Freedom Fighter roared to everyone. “TO THE CAVE! HE'S GONNA BLOW!”

The ponies all rushed for the Rolk's cave, taking all they could with them. The mass of flesh that was once the Rolk began to harden into a clay-like substance.

Then he exploded.

The force of it rocked the cavern and easily blew apart the four stone pillars holding the roof up. Rubble tumbled from the ceiling and shattered upon impact with the ground, and boulders became dislodged and crumbled to dust, making the cavern rumble like an earthquake.

All ten ponies and the baby dragon managed to make it safely inside the relative safety of the Rolk's cave before boulders rained down on the entrance, blocking the path outward. The entire domed ceiling in the cavern lurched downward a notch, making even more rubble dislodge. The noise was deafening; the danger was everywhere.

Finally, the entire entrance to the main cavern was blocked off by a veritable avalanche of black boulders. Outside, the room collapsed even more, filling up the main cavern with rubble.

The Ten Souls all panted and wheezed in exhaustion, trapped in overwhelming darkness. The danger was now at least unaffecting them.

“That was you, right?” Noble Blade asked Rarity.

Rarity turned to look at the wounded warrior lying on an upraised slab of rock, and nodded reluctantly.

“That's...amazing,” he said blankly. “I'm proud of you.”

Rarity's reluctance melted away like the frost on a warm day. She simply smiled and sat down quietly.

“From bad to worse,” Freedom Fighter was saying. “Now how are we going to get out? The entire cavern out there is buried in rubble, so we can't just lift the rocks away.”

“We could…” Starlight started. “We could…” She paced in a circle twice before coming to an idea. “We could tunnel out another way.”

“This is solid rock.” Freedom Fighter banged his mechanical hoof on the basalt wall. “Ain't nothing gonna go through this.”

“That's not true,” Firestorm objected. “I bet if I use this baby like a laser, it'll work just fine.” He tapped the Element of Courage around his neck.

“You can do that?” Twilight asked.

“The Elements have individual power too, right?”

“Well sure, but...What if that power only comes when you express that Element you represent?”

Firestorm's face fell after a moment of reflection.

“It's how the human girls used their powers,” Twilight pointed out. “The rules might apply here too.”

“That's too bad,” Firestorm muttered, tapping the orange X on his chest. A small piece of paper dislodged from the necklace and fluttered to the floor. “Because I really wanted to-Hey wait a minute.” He picked up the piece of paper. “This came from the back of the Element.”

“What does it say?”

Firestorm squinted at the paper with deep intent. Then he looked up. “It says, “If you're reading this, you're too close.””

“Other side,” Noble prompted painfully from the slab of rock.

Firestorm flipped the paper scrap over and squinted again. He looked at the two words written there, then blinked in confusion.

“What's it say?” Twilight wondered.

Firestorm showed her the paper. “What's Mount Aris?”

Comments

[FanficReader920]

Hippogriff time!!!!

[A Man Undercover]

It took me a few days to finish reading this chapter, but at long last, I have finally finished!

This was definitely worth the read. I loved the visualization put into it all, how everything was played out, etc.! The additions of Solaris, Faust, and the Rolk were a definite nice touch.

I can’t wait to read th next chapter!

By the way, if this were a tv show, who do you think would be the perfect voice performers to play Solaris, Faust, and the Rolk?

[BradyBunch]

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I have no idea who'd play who. But a soft, motherly voice would play Faust, a harsh, demented roar would play Solaris, and a simplistic, deep growl would play the Rolk.

[Jade Dawn]

“I not taste pony in thousand years,” the Rolk growled, slowly raising his hands. “You look tender. I put you in fire. You sizzle and crunch in fire. You fill my belly.”

I'm such a terrible person.

I read that line and immediately think of marshmallows.

On a side note, I'm really liking the Biblical allusions you're putting into this story. The Burning Tree idea was great.

[Jade Dawn]

“What does it say?”

Firestorm squinted at the paper with deep intent. Then he looked up. “It says, “If you're reading this, you're too close.””

“Other side,” Noble prompted painfully from the slab of rock.

More VeggieTales references!

[BradyBunch]

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Man! The Marshmallow intent totally wasn't there, but now I can't unsee it!

And yeah, I'm totally making a lot of scriptural allusions. I'm just like that.

[Jade Dawn]

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