A Rather Large Adventure

by BradyBunch

Chapter Eighty-two: Mount Nevermore

Rarity was not far behind the alicorns. She always kept them barely visible in the distance. Rarity didn’t bother keeping track of how long she did this. It didn’t matter. She needed to get them back. But how? She was one pony, not even the best at fighting, and she was going up against four alicorns.

Rarity found it hard to remind herself that she was the one with the advantage here. They had no idea they were being followed, and they had no reason to anticipate an attack. Rarity’s job was to time the future attack perfectly and make herself prepared to face them.

Part of that job involved making herself hard to spot. Rarity inferred that meant bundling up her mane and getting dirty. Of course, she was apprehensive of such things, but the longer she tracked her friends, the more she began to not care. Tan dust had formed a thin coat on top of her skin, and she regarded the shade as normal. Her mane was stiff and oily, but Rarity didn’t feel it unless she absently ran a hoof through it. Not until she rubbed her arm and noticed that the spot she had rubbed looked more ivory-white than the rest of her did this even cross her mind.

Not even her filthy state, but rather, the implication of her apathy towards something she once treasured, gave her pause. As soon as she realized that, she had to halt and stow herself behind another boulder, taking deep breaths. It was nigh impossible, what she had to do.

For this to succeed, Rarity needed to discard her worldly attachments. Beauty could be found in the strangest of places, but Rarity first needed to detach herself from beauty to appreciate it.

But she took so much pride in it! Rarity found herself blinking back tears. Beauty was inseparable from her identity. Who was Rarity if not beautiful? Rarity couldn’t imagine herself as anything else.

But an overriding force within her made her teeth clench as she steeled herself. How many others had given up everything? Would Rarity throw their sacrifices away just to cling to her beauty and do nothing?

Never. Rarity whispered the word. Never.

That was a vital lesson. It seemed counterintuitive, but Rarity, who for so long had been generous and caring, needed to learn how to not care. Not care about her appearance, not care about her worldly values, and most of all, not care about what she had to do to bring about light.

Being principled wasn’t enough if it meant defeat. If her principles didn’t bring about success, it wasn’t a principle. It was suicide that would look nice on a gravestone.

But her principles made her better than her villains! What would be left of her if she threw them away? Rarity needed to keep caring. The world would be full of light if she was more caring. Perhaps she could resolve the conflict and no one had to get hurt.

Rarity drove the offending thought away and slammed her hoof on the ground. What was the matter with her? Didn’t she want to win? She couldn’t just win because she was correct. She needed to actually do something. No more screaming and running.

She would have to hunt. She would have to rescue. She would have to kill. If not, the world would be sent to an early judgement.

Rarity, already short on breath, heaved. Her throat burned. Everything seemed to conspire against her, even the land itself.

Another Rarity, a Rarity a month earlier, would have broken down and cried. But not her. The world was a tragedy. The foalnapping of her friends, however, was an outrage.

So Rarity did not cry, even though her throat was constricted. Rarity got mad.

She groaned through clenched teeth and struck the earth with a hoof. Her Element shone like a twinkling star, and beneath her hoof came a rumble. There emerged from the soil a glittering blue sapphire, no bigger than Gummy the alligator.

Rarity’s magic covered the uneven clump, and Rarity’s hoof clenched as her horn pulsed.

The clump of crystal flattened out as if made of honey. Then it stretched into a sharp cross.

Rarity’s eyes narrowed.

---

Brimstone knew it when he saw it. He didn’t need Goldie to tell him where to go anymore, and sure enough, Goldie was demure as soon as it had appeared in the distance.

Mount Nevermore was a mile-high slab of steep black stone; a proud monument in an otherwise empty landscape. Its top was exposed, pouring out smoke that colored the surrounding skies black, and the sun could not penetrate its thick blanket. Everything beneath the cloud was in an eternal shade, and the only light came from the fire the mountain produced.

It was alone in the desert except for two other mountains to either side, half as high and jagged, contrasting the smooth slope of Nevermore. These three mountains were surrounded by a moat of bubbling lava, and that in turn was surrounded by a small embankment of rock that they had to climb over.

It was everything. Landmark. Volcano. Fortress. Temple.

Home.

It made Brimstone tremble in the legs every time his eyes laid on its majesty. It meant so much to him and the other alicorns.

To access the mountain, he had to go through a pass carved up the mound of the volcanic embankment. Trying to access the mountain by air would result in suffocation. They reached this pass presently. Their long journey was almost at an end.

Goldie went first up the pass. He was colored as his name suggested, and his small mane was dull red, almost maroon. His gait was nervous and shuffling. He was followed by Brimstone himself--bold, pitch black, and firm in his strides. His eyes were a brilliant yellow, and his white mane was thin and braided.

Behind him were the two squabblers, Warcane and Spindlestick. Warcane was the color of blood, with thin lips and a perpetually creased face. She was bald, though some dirty pores remained around her horn. Finally, Spindlestick was knobbly-thin and the color of bleached bone. His teeth stuck out at odd angles, and he was a mouth-breather. His mane was mud-brown and had the same consistency. Both of these clashing personalities were in the middle of an argument.

“Spindlestick,” Warcane barked. “Give me the stallion. I want him.”

“ ‘snot yours,” Spindlestick replied. “I got him first.”

“You will give him to me,” Warcane lowly warned, “or you will find just how far your insides can stretch.”

“Brimstone!” Spindlestick cried.

The burly alicorn made a deep grumble. “You will have him, Warcane. But have patience.”

“I can do whatever I want!” Warcane asserted, whirling on him. “This is my stallion, and I will have him now!”

Brimstone’s hoof gripped Warcane’s horn and bent it towards the ground. Warcane shrieked briefly and scrabbled at the hoof.

“This is my mare,” Brimstone reminded her. “And I can do whatever I want. Get the picture?”

“Give him to me!” Warcane screamed.

“It’ll cost you your horn,” Brimstone told her. “Which is more valuable?”

Warcane trembled in his grip.

“I know how much you love your magic,” Brimstone told her. “It’s why you came here in the first place. What were you, an earth pony, if I remember correctly? Solaris gave you a gift. I can take it away. Get the picture?”

Warcane nodded, and Brimstone waited a second before releasing her. As she massaged her scalp, Brimstone pointed at her. “What kind of pony are you if you can’t handle not getting what you want immediately?”

Spindlestick snickered loudly and stuck out his tongue triumphantly.

Brimstone whirled on him immediately. “You are the most sickly, irredeemable, spineless coward I have ever had the displeasure of meeting. Forget becoming an alicorn, I’m surprised you can even cast a shadow. I could snap you in half with a sneeze, got it?”

Spindlestick, quickly humbled, nodded vicariously. His mane flopped as he did so.

“I don’t want to hear another word from you two until I return to High Priest Ajax,” Brimstone ordered. “He’s got enough to deal with as the new High Priest without you two, so I want you both out of sight and out of mind. If you can’t do it yourself, I will do it for you. Get the hint?”

They both nodded, afraid to speak.

Brimstone, satisfied, turned around and ruffled Goldie’s mane, pushing him. “You’re the only sensible one here, Goldie.”

His ears perked up. There was a clatter from the rocks up ahead. Thinking quickly, he levitated the mighty sword across Goldie’s back and brought it to his side.

“Sir?” Goldie asked, his eyes traveling from Brimstone to the rocks. A few pebbles were dislodging even as he spoke.

“It might be nothing,” Brimstone murmured, advancing. His eyes were locked on the source of the movement. “But we might have been followed.”

“I thought we got everypony,” Goldie mumbled, shrinking into his shoulders.

“Maybe,” Brimstone absently murmured, not paying attention to him. His eyes darted this way and that, and Brimstone thought he saw movement wherever he looked away. The sword beside him spun like a compass wherever he looked.

A rock tumbled across the ground by his hoof, and Brimstone jolted, swinging the mighty blade down to crash into it. Rock blew up into his face from the miniature detonation.

He heard Spindlestick snicker again. Brimstone ignored it.

He also heard a tinkle in his ears, like the ignition of a magic horn. Where was it coming from?

As he strained his ears and kept his eyes peeled, a few pebbles levitated off the ground in front of him. The magic was tinged blue.

Brimstone examined it. That was an unusual color in the Dragonlands. Who could it be?

And then came a horrid squish. Spindlestick erupted into cries of pain.

Brimstone whirled around. Emerging from Spindlestick’s torso was the stained tip of a brilliant blue blade. There was a newcomer to their little party holding the blade upright in his back, and she was coated in transparent white crystal from hoof to neck. Warcane, though not even ten feet away, wasn’t interfering. She was just watching in morbid fascination.

“Rarity!” came the synchronized cry of all the prisoners.

Goldie ducked to the ground, trembling with indecision. Spindlestick shrieked and knelt from the wound. His magic cut off, and Noble Blade dropped with a thud onto the black rock. He scooted away from the alicorns as Rarity pulled on the sword lodged in his side to make Spindlestick rise once more.

Rarity swiftly pulled the blade out and leveled it against his knobbly, protruding throat. Every inch of him was trembling as blood leaked out of his chest and down his pale leg. They were both standing upright, but Rarity had an easier time of it because her crystal armor supported her.

Brimstone pursed his lips. “Let me guess. This is the part where you hold him hostage and demand to release your friends.”

The mysterious Rarity paused to think. Spindlestick was still trembling, and a thin line of red existed on his throat where the sword was.

It didn’t take long for Rarity to respond. “No, actually.” She adjusted the bleeding alicorn. “I know ponies like you. You’d easily discard someone as disposable as him.” She put her lips to his ear. “Hear that? Your life is meaningless to them!”

Spindlestick’s wild eyes locked with Brimstone’s. “No! No, i-it isn’t! Tell her, Brim! I-I’m important! I’m in the herd!”

Brimstone, however, shook his head in amusement. “Clever girl. So what are you going to do about it?”

Spindlestick froze. “Wh-what? Brim! Brim, I matter! Right? I matter!”

But Brimstone bowed his head to avoid looking him in the eye.

“See?” Rarity whispered. “You dedicated your life for them.”

“Brim…” Spindlestick breathed, his lips flapping up and down as his face squeezed in despair. “Please…”

Brimstone, though, sighed. How would he argue with her? “I wish I could say the lass was wrong.”

“I don’t,” Warcane smugly admitted.

“No…” Spindlestick choked. Tears welled up, and his throat was blocked in fear and pain. “No! No, Brim! I love you! You and her and Goldie! I love you!”

Brimstone’s eyes narrowed in response. Warcane never stopped giving her sick smile. “We’ll find someone else,” Warcane told him.

Now the tears ran freely. “I thought…” was all he managed to stammer out before he gave loud hiccups mingled with his sobbing.

Rarity hoisted him up once more amidst his blubbering. “I didn’t come here to make deals with devil-worshippers. I came here to rescue my friends.”

Spindlestick’s feeble crying was cut short as Rarity jerked her hoof across his throat. The blue crystal was stained red with his blood. He slumped to the ground and did not move. Rarity did not give his body a second glance.

Rarity held the sword up, and her dirty, straightened purple mane blew behind her ears. “Fight me.”

Brimstone and Warcane did nothing. There was only a tense silence between them.

“Fight me!” Rarity screamed, swishing the sword and flinging blood. “And curse heaven as you die! You are nothing! You’re abominations to ponykind, locked away in your little basement! What can you do that I fear? I could kill you all, alicorn or not!”

Brimstone turned to Warcane. “She’s got spirit. She’d be a fine addition.”

“A shame she’ll be dead,” Warcane lamented, grinning wide.

“Don’t,” Brimstone ordered, throwing a hoof out. “We need to secure the prisoners first.”

“I think not,” Warcane spat. “You’re done keeping me locked up. I’m fighting this child now, and I’ll win!”

And Warcane hurled herself at Rarity, horn glowing bright orange.

Rarity swiped, but Warcane disappeared as the sword passed through her afterimage. She reappeared with a swish above Rarity, and fired with all her strength.

The crystal armor encasing Rarity glowed white as Rarity was thrown back with a tumble. Rarity wasted no time getting back up and charging up her own horn.

“Ooh, I’m scared,” Warcane mocked. “Gonna put on a pretty light show for us?”

Rarity fired a steady laser, which Warcane deftly avoided by dropping to the ground and sprinting. Rarity’s laser moved to track her, but Warcane just pressed herself to the ground, then pounced to the left and flew back up again before hurling in a spiral at Rarity again.

As her horn made contact, it pulsed with a fresh wave of magic, and the armor shattered. Rarity quickly gripped the horn that was now inches away from impaling her. Her sapphire sword clattered to the ground as she and Warcane rolled away.

Meanwhile, Noble Blade and Brimstone locked eyes. Noble’s sword was still inside Brimstone’s magic aura.

“Goldie,” Brimstone ordered, not looking away. “Take Pinkie for me.”

Goldie hesitantly obeyed, covering Pinkie in another layer of bubble. Brimstone cut off his magic and he was now free of her burden, now resting on Goldie, as everything usually did sooner or later. It was one thing he liked about the runt. He was dependable.

“I know what you must be thinking,” Brimstone murmured to Noble. “You hate us and we’re your enemy.”

“Oh. I guess you’d assume that,” Noble replied, starting to circle him. “But no.”

“Are you sure? Your friend over there was very vocal about it,” Brimstone remarked.

“Well, she’s right,” Noble said. “You are my enemy. But I don’t hate you. Was your last High Wizard Cookie Cutter?”

Brimstone’s eyes widened. “You killed him,” he breathed.

“Yes,” Noble admitted, toneless. “We did.”

Brimstone’s mouth turned into a snarl, which was the most emotion he had shown thus far. “You really are devils.”

“If that’s how you see us,” Noble allowed him. “But I understand why he was led into this path. I understand why you’re the way you are. You lacked something in your life, so you turned to Solaris for an answer. What was it? Did you lose somepony? Did you not know what your Cutie Mark meant? Maybe you wanted more than you were given.”

“It was my parents,” Brimstone answered. “Those bastards hated me. Said they didn’t want me.” Brimstone’s face twisted into primitive disgust. “So what will you do? Preach the good word of Faust to redeem me and expect me to sing the song of harmony?”

“I said I understand you,” Noble corrected, and a shadow came over his eyes. “That doesn’t mean I’ll have mercy. You know the words I would speak already, but you just won’t care. I suppose that makes you a child of hell.”

Brimstone sniffed. “Better them than my real parents. Faust would have me forgive them. But I can’t. The Children of Solaris don’t know Faust, and neither do you.”

Noble’s deep blue eyes narrowed in the shadow. “I followed you into your own land,” Noble told him, igniting his horn. “I have no conditions. You have sought to destroy us, and we’ve only defended ourselves. Now you will have to defend something. Blood for blood, and life for life, until you are destroyed from the face of the earth!”

Brimstone bellowed, echoed by the thunderous blast from his horn. It struck the hasty dome Noble had erected around himself and blew it apart. Noble stumbled from the force, but stood firm and fired back.

At the same time, Rarity had scrambled away from Warcane and was igniting her horn once more. Warcane’s magic, though, enveloped Rarity and picked her up. With a cruel laugh, she tossed Rarity across the length of the embankment, and she crashed and tumbled to a stop atop the sharp black rocks. Warcane flapped into the air and began to rain down laser fire, screeching laughs after her.

Rarity scrambled away while igniting her horn. Her magic levitated the sapphire sword off the ground and made it soar over to her. It soon got to work deflecting laser blasts that got too close for comfort.

Brimstone felt the ground tremble under his hooves, even as a torrent of flame poured from his horn after Noble Blade. Two eruptions came from the embankment near Rarity, and two somethings flew into the air. From the corner of his eye, they looked shiny and colorful. He was too busy focused on the fight in front of him, though, that he didn’t pay close attention.

Rarity’s magic was covering two massive clumps of jewel, which was an amethyst and emerald. Any magic that hit them ricocheted off and hit the embankment in explosions. With a twist of Rarity’s mind, however, the jewels took on a new shape. They first melted, then squashed and stretched into long crosses that slowly began to orbit Rarity telepathically. By the time their transformation was complete, Rarity was telepathically holding a green, blue, and purple sword in front of her, ready to strike.

Warcane continued her barrage of lasers. But the colored swords met each one and deflected them into the ground. Explosions ruptured all around Rarity. She was encased in a whirling sphere of green, blue, and purple that none of Warcane’s attacks could penetrate.

Warcane stopped her rapid-fire lasers, grunted in irritation, and built up a ball of orange energy on the tip of her blood-red horn. With a concussive eruption, the energy fired in a steady laser stream.

Rarity managed to catch the orange laser on the flat of her blue blade. The glows from the opposite colors flashing on either side of her face made her look truly devilish, and Rarity’s eyes were barely open to see what she would do next.

Warcane gleefully swiveled the destructive laser around, but the blue sword kept up wherever it went. Then the blade bent up. The laser rose up and shot past Warcane’s ear. She cringed; that had been too close. But there came another clang as one of Rarity’s swords intercepted the ricocheted laser behind her-

Warcane swiveled her head and cut off the magic just in time to see the twice-deflected laser blast singe past her snout. Then came a third and final clang as Rarity’s final blade soared up and batted the laser back once more at Warcane, and this time Warcane could not evade. It struck her in her red chest, and she hurtled to the earth and impacted like a meteor.

Brimstone had seen this out of the corner of his eye. He and Noble Blade had been in the middle of a fierce exchange of magical blasts and spells, keeping one from helping the other. Spells impacted against shields, rattling whoever was inside. Neither one could move without getting exposed.

But even as this was happening, there was another battle between them. The blue sword, encased in both Brimstone’s and Noble’s aura, was levitating between them, and it was pointing and slowly dragging to Noble Blade. In the insignificant seconds between magic blasts, one would try to wrestle control of the sword. It would list one way or another, and it didn’t seem like it would deescalate anytime soon.

---

Warcane, lying on her back, wearily looked up. Rarity was approaching, colored swords orbiting her. There was something off about her, though. To Warcane, it seemed like even in this desolate, dreary land, under the shadow of a volcano, Rarity’s pearly-white coat shone like a star. Her violet mane, though unstyled and dirty, was still tucked away in straight locks and was as rich as pressed wine. The three colors encircling her only emphasized her coloration instead of distracting from it.

It was enough to make Warcane pause. She looked extremely frustrated about something, even as she got to her hooves. “Even posturing with a weapon, you still try to look beautiful,” Warcane derivatively noted.

“You think this is me trying?” Rarity asked as the blades hovered in place. “I just am who I am.”

“Look at you,” Warcane sneered. “I know mares like you. All prideful and stuck-up and hoity-toity, trying to be beautiful to appease your stallion masters. You’re the worst breed of animal out there!”

“Perhaps you’ve never heard of me,” Rarity replied, her anger growing. “I am the Element of Generosity. I have given away more than you will ever take for yourself. And I do not fear you, because mares like you are no more than the dust at my hooves!”

Warcane let out an animalistic snarl and clenched at where her mane would be, shaking with fury. “You’re everything that’s wrong with the world!” Warcane shrieked. “You’re just as evil as the rest of them, and you can’t even see it! Everypony cares about standards! But there should be no standards! Everypony is beautiful--except for those that try to be! I spit at your laws!” She spat and continued to rant, more spittle flying from her mouth. “You’re not any better than me! We’re all equal! We’re all the same! You and I are--gah! I know the truth, and you--you’re nothing, you puppet! Never sell yourself out to meet their standards, Rarity!"

"Finally, something you and I agree on!" Rarity yelled. "But there's a difference between you and me. I set my own standards. You couldn't even compete with the world's! So you made yourself as hideous as possible to show you rejected it! You cared so much about the world that you lost it!"

“I DON’T CARE ABOUT WHAT THE WORLD THINKS!” Warcane bellowed, throwing her arms to the side.

“I don’t care about the world either! So why am I still beautiful and you aren’t?”

Warcane screamed like a wounded animal and landed with enough force to tremble the earth. “I WILL RIP YOUR HEART OUT, YOU SLAVE!” she shrieked, growing hoarse near the end. With a puff of her wings, she shot like an arrow at Rarity.

“I think I know why,” Rarity said, answering her own question. Her swords buzzed as they spun.

Warcane was slashed across the cheek, arm, and chest, and she spun as she was thrown back onto the rock.

“Because I have standards!” Rarity answered, levitating the swords up once more to strike. “And you have none!”

Warcane, lying prostrate on the ground, groaned out, “I know…” Her head slowly lifted up to regard Rarity, and incredibly, she was grinning. “Which is why…” Her horn ignited. “I win!”

Rarity was lifted up. Startled, she tried to attack with her swords once more, but Warcane slammed her into the rock and dragged her face-down in a circle around her. The swords clattered to the earth.

When Rarity raised her head at the end, red gashes had opened on her forehead and cheeks, dirty with speckles of rock. Rarity screamed and fired a thin laser stream, but Warcane evaded easily enough and rammed into her. They tumbled to the ground once more.

“I could have overpowered you easily,” Warcane seethed, holding her hooves down and grinning at Rarity’s anguished expression. Her teeth had been artificially sharpened to a point. “I haven’t let go of Applejack all this time, remember? I just like doing things personally. Guess that earth pony disposition never really went away.”

Her mouth lunged for Rarity’s neck and began to gnaw. Skin was punctured and blood began to flow. Rarity screamed and wiggled, but Warcane was latched on like a leech.

The only thing that came to mind was to lunge her head at Warcane’s scalp. Her horn scraped across her exposed head and made her bleed, and Warcane pulled back instinctually. Blood was oozing out, only slightly darker than her coat color.

Warcane hissed from the pain, but did not relinquish a hoof to examine her wound. So a thin stream came down her eye and ran on the side of her snout. “You’re tough,” she noted. “A fallen angel from Canterlot, like Solaris fell from heaven. I think I changed my mind. You could be on our side if you wanted.”

“Not if it means looking like you,” Rarity retorted, and spat in her face.

Warcane flinched, but licked the spittle off her lips. “Mmm… You know, I’d even consider letting you into our little herd. You just took care of our most annoying member, so a spot’s open.”

“I would rather die,” Rarity breathed, face contorted into one of utmost loathing.

“I can arrange that,” Warcane hissed back, giving another toothy smile. “But first, I want to know what I’d be missing out on!”

---

The struggle over the sword--no, the Element--was as futile as ever. Brimstone tugged and fired at the proper intervals, but he still could not get Noble to relinquish his own efforts. It obviously meant a lot to him.

Both had been going for quite a while with little variation in their attacks. But only one had the resilience and perseverance of an alicorn, and when Brimstone saw Noble stumble after one particularly violent struggle, going a full second without activating his horn for offense or defense, he decided that was the moment.

He lunged. Noble was still reeling, and he couldn’t prevent himself from being knocked down. Brimstone ended up with his hoof on his pale blue chest. Noble’s own sword was hovering above his head, ready to strike down and end him.

“Blood for blood,” Brimstone murmured, and coughed from the effort to speak. Noble had given as good as he had got. “I never thought it would be so easy to defeat an Element bearer.”

“So why hesitate?” Noble wheezed.

Brimstone paused. Why? There was something keeping him from ending his life. Some reason, somewhere.

It came as a whisper as his chest squeezed. Almost like it came from his own thoughts. Noble Blade was still of use to him.

And strangely, it made sense. After all, if he killed Noble Blade here, Applejack and Pinkie would refuse to answer their questions. If he wanted them to reveal where the other Element bearers were, and when they were coming, he would need Noble alive so he could threaten him with death unless Pinkie and Applejack spilled the beans. Besides, the Elements were only good as a complete set. What if they needed to use the Elements to awaken Solaris?

Brimstone wanted context and the benefit of the doubt. He wasn’t going to make a choice he would later regret.

And it wasn’t a choice at all. They needed to secure their prisoners! And if they wanted Noble and Rarity alive as leverage over Applejack and Pinkie, it’d be better to lure them into Nevermore and trap them!

“Disengage!” Brimstone ordered, and leveled Noble’s sword in his magic. “Fall back to the mountain!”

“But Brim!” Warcane protested, on top of Rarity. “We’re winning!”

“FALL BACK!” he bellowed with all the fury of his soul, tearing at his throat.

Warcane cringed at his tone, but promptly obeyed. She flapped off Rarity and began to ascend, taking Applejack with her like a balloon. Behind him, Goldie sheepishly rose into the air as well.

As he flapped into the air, Brimstone immediately counted himself lucky he had given Pinkie to Goldie; he wasn’t sure he could both fly and hold onto her. His very horn felt like it was bleeding. Noble Blade had been merciless.

He spared a glance at him, growing ever smaller as he flew. He and Rarity stood out against the dark embankment, but he could still barely see the look on Noble’s face. It was one of curiosity.

---

Neither unicorn was at enough strength to fire upon the retreating alicorns. And even if they were, they would have shot back anyway. So Rarity and Noble just watched as their two friends disappeared with their captors into the fumes surrounding the mountain in front of them.

Both unicorns were breathing hard, with shuddering gasps. The ground beneath them swayed, and every so often, one of their legs would straighten to keep them from stumbling.

“I’ll kill her,” Rarity eventually breathed.

Noble regarded her. “Warcane?”

“Who else do you think was the mare in their posse?” Rarity snapped. “It was hard to tell that, though, I admit. She’s a devil, not a lady, and she’ll burn in both this life and the next.”

Noble blinked in concern. “What happened?”

Rarity gave a defeated scream and stamped on the volcanic rock. “She revels in her sins, Noble! There’s not an ounce of shame in her. And not a trace of mercy either.”

“Then we will not give it to her,” Noble said. “One thing I learned from Black Fang is… it’s better for the wicked to die than for righteousness to perish. We know what we fight for is right. There’s no shame in protecting it.”

“Especially if they aren’t even ponies at all,” Rarity darkly murmured. “They were animals that happened to look like us.”

Noble wisely didn’t say anything in response. Instead, he squinted into the distance. “They had the advantage.”

“They want us to follow them into the mountain,” Rarity observed.

“It’s a trap,” Noble completed. “And they want us alive.”

“What for?” Rarity asked.

“Beats me,” Noble admitted. “I don’t think it ultimately matters as long as we fail to deliver, though.”

“What are you suggesting?” Rarity asked, looking suspicious.

“We play along. Spring their trap. They likely know that we know it’s a trap, but they’ll count on our arrogance and devotion to duty to play along and triumph nonetheless.”

“And we will, won’t we?”

“Oh, of course. We just have to make it look like we won’t, and then do it regardless.”

“What if they know that we know they know... we know... it’s a trap?” Rarity asked, making sure the sentence was correct. Upon seeing Noble’s face in response, however, she sighed. “Never mind.”

“We can do anything, Rarity. We have Faust.”

“But you don’t have your Element,” Rarity pointed out.

“Then that’s the first order of business.” Noble Blade began to navigate down the slope of the embankment. “Let’s just make it down here for starters.”

After a pause, Rarity followed.

---

The trip was mostly quiet. It was hard to hear anything a pony would say over the roaring wind anyway. As the dragon carried them to Mount Nevermore, Fluttershy felt her excitement at meeting Reginald again melt away, and it was replaced by a sinking feeling of dread.

She hadn’t prepared for any of what happened on her journey, but this felt like the culmination of her resolution. Here, if she did not push, she would break. What would be in store? How much would she give? And what would be left of her once it was all over?

She felt so utterly alone. Tempest, Firestorm, and Starlight had a much better connection between the three of them than with her. Fluttershy could have been so much better with Rainbow, or Rarity, or Noble Blade. She felt like the odd one out.

The reminder came in force: of course she was needed! She was the fourth wheel, after all, and she had tamed this wild dragon. But even with the conditioning that having friends gave her, Fluttershy was dubious about her ability to make a difference. It was just ingrained into her brain. For all her life, she had mostly been a quivering, doe-eyed hindrance. What could Fluttershy do that another couldn’t?

To pass the time and get her mind off those dark thoughts, she stared into the cracks between the dragon’s scales and imagined them as canyon walls. If nothing else, it avoided her gaze drifting over the edge and staring all the way down to the distant ground below. It made her freeze up the few times it had happened on their flight.

But not even several minutes later, her stomach floated as the dragon dipped, and she clung to one of his protruding spines and let out a short scream as he descended. Looking ahead, she saw why. A plume of smoke was blacking out the sun and the sky from a monolithic volcano in the distance.

Fluttershy didn’t need anypony to tell her what it was. Her stomach sank once again.

Reginald flew closer and closer, and Fluttershy’s anxiety heightened as the volcano grew. What if the cultists spotted him and shot them down?

But a part of Fluttershy reasoned that since Reginald had been anxious of the mountain himself, he would only take them so far as it was safe. She needed to trust Reggie the same way he had trusted them.

Several yards before an embankment surrounding a lava lake that encircled the volcano, Reggie finally landed and squished to the ground. Fluttershy slid off first and hit the soil. It was crumbly and black and stained her hooves the same color. She heard the impacts of Firestorm, Tempest, and Starlight hitting the ground as well, and she turned to the dragon. Reginald was as demure as ever, quivering under the shadow of Mount Nevermore.

“Thank you so much for your help,” Fluttershy said, and she didn’t have to fake her generosity. “We couldn’t have gotten here without you.”

Reggie’s head squished into his body and nodded.

“Five-star flight,” Firestorm complimented him. “Did you have any little bags of peanuts?”

Reggie shook his head no.

“Four stars,” Firestorm immediately said.

Reggie looked downcast.

“He’s being mean,” Fluttershy gently jabbed. “You were wonderful, Reggie.”

“Yeah, we’re lucky we found you,” Starlight added.

Reggie perked up, smiling quietly.

“Do you know where the Dragon Lord would be staying?” Tempest asked all of a sudden.

Reginald took a moment before responding. “I... went to his throne a few times…”

“Perfect,” Tempest said. “We have another task for you. Could you go to the throne and tell whoever’s available that the Elements of Harmony are at Mount Nevermore?”

“Especially if other ponies like us are there,” Firestorm added. “We need to mobilize and converge on the mountain.”

Reggie nodded faintly. “O-okay. I’ll see what I can do.”

“Go quickly,” Starlight urged. “I don’t know how much time we’ll have.”

Reginald’s face was alive with concern. He turned to Fluttershy for guidance.

“We can handle things from here,” Fluttershy assured him. “Thank you for taking us this far. But please, help us destroy this place once and for all. Tell them they need to come.”

Reggie, after a moment, nodded. “I’ll do it.”

“Yay!” she whispered, hugging the tip of his snout. “I’m so happy to see you again, you know that?”

Reggie made a wet sound in his throat. “Me too.”

Fluttershy broke away from the hug and tapped him on the nose. “You go on, now. We’re all counting on you.”

Raggie spent just a few more seconds looking at her. His gaze lingered on the others after her. Then his long neck turned away as his wings flapped up. He pushed off the ground, rose into the air, and began to fly westward.

“He’s a good creature,” Firestorm commented as he dimmed in the distance. “I wish he didn’t have to get involved.”

“That’s the responsibility of good creatures, Firestorm,” Tempest reminded him. “Victory can’t happen any other way.”

“Let’s go,” Starlight urged, curling a hoof. “He’s giving us a chance to succeed.”

Firestorm mussed his dirtied tri-colored mane and followed. Tempest let out a long exhale, then came behind him as well, leaving Fluttershy standing there staring off where Reginald had left. Once she could no longer see his speck, she turned around and trotted to catch up with them.

The embankment wasn’t a challenge to climb over. Once they crossed it, they came to the edge of the lava river. It bubbled and stretched like molasses in the trench cut around the mountain. This close to the fire, it was hot enough to crisp the edges of Fluttershy’s messy mane.

“How are we going to do this?” Firestorm proposed. “I could try and stop the lava flow in its tracks and let you walk on dry ground. I’m sure I can control fire to some extent-”

“Or we could just fly,” Tempest said.

“Or that,” Firestorm acknowledged. “I just... wanted to see if I could do something cool.”

“You’re already cool,” Fluttershy assured him, touching his shoulder. “You don’t need to prove it to us.”

“This isn’t about you guys,” Firestorm told Fluttershy. “Look, I… want to know if I’m not selling myself short. Nothing you say will make a difference.”

“You think that’s going to stop her?” Tempest remarked. “Nothing you say will make a difference.”

Firestorm sighed. “Fine. Let’s just fly.”

Fluttershy, true to Tempest’s words, didn’t stop worrying about him. He had grown progressively short-tempered and reclusive ever since the start of their journey. Where was the pony who wanted to make everypony smile? Where was the stallion who wanted to have fun, whose every word was enough to make somepony laugh?

The sullen Firestorm carried Tempest across the river. Starlight used her magic to float across, and Fluttershy glided over. Once they were together again, they headed for the looming tower of stone, ascending into the dark heavens forever.

The four of them spread out, trying to search for an entrance. Fluttershy put her hooves on the black slope of Mount Nevermore, looking straight up. It seemed to stretch without end, meshing seamlessly into the dark clouds spewing out of its open mouth. A rumble seemed to emanate beneath her hooves from the active volcano.

Trembling imperceptibly, Fluttershy tried to get her mind back to the job at hoof. But her muscles felt sore from her overwhelming fear. She was so insignificant and small. Fluttershy wanted to do nothing more than curl into a ball. Under a blanket. Preferably, Noble would be there as well. They’d be in bed, and it’d be warm in the early morning.

Fluttershy paused her search for a moment to expound on the fantasy. Perhaps thinking about the details would be enough to take her mind off her fear.

It’d be 8:00 AM, when their bodies would be heavy from sleep. Her pet birds would be chattering outside the window, where the soft morning sun would filter through the dusty glass. The blankets would be thick but puffy, and the mattress firm but giving way easily. She’d be curled up as the little spoon to him, his arm over her shoulder, twirling her mane. She’d hear his little huffs of breath against her neck, ‘cause he’d still be dozing, the sleepyhead! He’d smell like sweat and steel, and the spice of what they ate last night for dinner. Fluttershy wouldn’t be able to move, but she wouldn’t want to, either. It’d be warm and soft, and safe and sweet. Nothing could be better.

Then her hoof slipped as some igneous rock gave way, and Fluttershy tumbled out of her green-tinged fantasy into the bleak, black reality she was now in. It was hot, but blistering hot from liquid fire. Everything was rough and rocky, and the opening she was looking for would plunge her into the heart of this living Tartarus. Fluttershy swung her head from side to side in desperation, breathing hard. Every breath was contaminated, and the air was blasted with smoky poison. Everything was designed to hurt and destroy.

Fluttershy felt betrayed by the fantasies she had. It hurt more now that it was once there, but ripped away. Was this a cruel trap by Solaris to destroy her hope? Because it was working. Fluttershy didn’t want to hope for something better anymore. It would only seem more unlikely to happen.

“I found something!” Starlight Glimmer’s voice rang out. “Come on!”

Fluttershy, for an instant, considered what would happen if she chose not to go. She wouldn’t have to enter.

But she had gotten this far already. How much further could she push herself into hell? And what awaited her beyond that hell?

So, despite her inward protests, she trotted, weighed down by despair, to her friends.

As she predicted, Fluttershy was the last one to arrive. Firestorm and Tempest were milling around while Starlight was indicating a smooth spot on the slope.

“There’s a tunnel behind two feet of rock right here,” Starlight reported. “If we were to cut through, we could emerge from the wall. There should be nopony around right now. Firestorm, if you would...”

Firestorm’s hoof went across his back, drew a sword, and ignited it into brilliant flame. Trotting over, he raised the sword and plunged it into the rock face, down to the hilt. He began to drag it in a circle big enough for them to fit through, and wherever the sword went, it left a trail of glowing orange.

Tempest knocked Fluttershy on the shoulder, and Fluttershy almost stumbled. “You good?” Tempest wondered.

Fluttershy couldn’t say anything. She just nodded, staring at the ground.

Tempest made a disapproving hum. “I thought Element bearers were more honest than that,” she whispered to her.

Fluttershy couldn’t respond to that. Not in any way that mattered.

“Pull yourself together,” Tempest urged. “Don’t you want to live? That’s the only way you’ll get to see your beloved.”

Fluttershy’s eyes briefly met Tempest’s, then flickered away again.

With nothing else to go on, Tempest fell silent too.

Finally, after Firestorm failed to connect the circle and exasperatedly made a diagonal slash through the ends to connect them, Starlight coated it with her magic and slid the plug out. As soon as the opening was exposed, it sent a rush of air out that hit them and made them stagger. It was somehow even hotter than it was outside. And it carried the smell of metal, smoke, and blood.

Fluttershy’s legs were sent quivering all over again. Her heartbeat slammed against her flesh. She wouldn’t last in there!

“Well then,” Firestorm said, gesturing with his weapon. “In we go.”

He clambered in first. Tempest gave Fluttershy a little nudge, and she found herself slowly walking, dragging her hooves, into the temple. There was very little emotion behind it. Fluttershy just needed to make sure it happened.

Tempest was right behind her. The last one to enter was Starlight. As she fell in with the others, her magic activated once more. The cut rock levitated into the air and slowly slid its way back into place, like a peg into its proper hole. The dim light outside became thinner and thinner lines as the plug slid back in, and finally, with a crack, the last of the light died out, and the four little ponies were plunged into darkness.

---

It only lasted for a brief second before Firestorm’s sword snapped to life once more, painting them all orange from the flickering light.

“Keep it down!” Tempest hissed, pushing his sword arm down. “We need to let our eyes adjust. If anypony sees you with a flaming sword, we’re caught for sure!”

“Sorry,” Firestorm grouchily said before defusing his sword and sliding it back into its sheath. “Just trying to help.”

Once more, darkness prevailed over them all. Fluttershy blinked hard and focused on something nearby to help her eyes adjust quicker. Firestorm’s dark orange coat seemed to do the trick.

“We need to move,” Starlight whispered. “This temple is occupied. We need a place to hide.”

They all began to move as one body. Fluttershy suddenly had to rely on her senses of hearing and touch to keep up. Starlight was behind her, and Tempest in front, and Firestorm to the side, but Fluttershy felt like she had to keep up anyway. Her steps were small and hesitant.

There was a soft crimson haze to the darkness. The sound her hooves made sounded like she was on a metal catwalk. Clink, clink, clink. Her eyes drifted to the walls. There was a gentle red lantern spaced out every now and then. She passed one. Then, twenty seconds later, another. The walls were lined with steel plating, bolted into the rock. The hall was hexagonal, and no more than a few feet wide.

They were going up. It was a gradual rise. Fluttershy’s heart was working overtime, but the heightened adrenaline was useless without something to do, and she found herself trembling with anticipation.

The hallway eventually ended and opened up into a chamber that made her heart jolt. The others gave soft gasps as well.

The entire volcano was hollow, like a pitted peach. The chamber was like the cave of the Rolk under Maretania, only impossibly bigger, stretching up as far as the eye could see. It was chiseled out by hoof.

Dominating the open space was a tremendous metal cylinder embedded in the middle of the huge chamber, which was at least as wide as the radius of the cave. The cylinder stretched up as far as the eye could see. It was like a tree from ancient legends; complete with both roots, in the form of small, thin pipes connecting it at the base to the ground far below; and branches, as catwalks, buttresses, and bigger pipes extended out from upper levels into the walls of the cave.

But the Tree (Fluttershy decided to call it that) wasn’t the only piece of machinery inside. Whirring, steaming, whistling, and creaking metal contraptions were operating everywhere--on the walls, on the ground, and even on the Tree. They were all attended to by moving figures, which were too small to see. The fires of industry blazed amidst the squeaking of wheels and the clanking of hammers. Everything was in a red haze, but Fluttershy couldn’t see where the light came from.

The other ponies drank in the sight. It was terrifying to behold. The back of Fluttershy’s joints grew weaker the longer she looked at it.

“All right,” Firestorm whispered darkly, stepping out of the tunnel mouth and onto a metal platform in front of them. Ten hollow metal barrels were in a pyramid in the corner. “We’re destroying it.”

“Hold on!” Starlight urged him, throwing out a hoof. “Only after I find my Element.”

“Yeah, it’d be a bit hard if this place is falling apart,” Tempest observed.

Firestorm let out an exhale through his nose. “Then I’ll help you find it, Starlight. Tempest, Fluttershy, we need a diversion.”

“This isn’t still because you want to prove yourself?” Tempest shrewdly asked.

“Of course not,” Firestorm was quick to say. “I just want this to be over with.”

“We all do,” Fluttershy spoke up. Some more than others.

“But I’m the best at fighting,” Firestorm protested. “That isn’t an opinion; it’s just the truth. If Starlight wants the best chance at getting safely to that Element, I’m your guy.”

Starlight’s eyes couldn’t meet Firestorm’s. Fluttershy had a sneaking suspicion grab hold of her.

“You need to stay with Fluttershy,” Tempest disagreed. “You’re the best chance of protecting her. I’ll go with Starlight instead.”

“Wait a minute!” Firestorm protested.

“What?” Tempest dared, fixing him with a look as cold and hard as stone. “Spit it out.”

Firestorm didn’t. Instead, he stared back.

“Don’t be so eager to destroy, Firestorm,” Starlight advised warily. “We need to be composed right now.”

“Why shouldn’t I hold back right now?” Firestorm almost shouted. He hissed in surprise and lowered his tone as he gestured over his shoulder, growing more angry the more he talked. “These ponies don’t deserve that from me. Why shouldn’t I be so eager to destroy this evil?”

“We just want you to have patience,” Starlight assured him. “And trust us to carry it out. Tempest, I’d love to have you along.”

“But-” Firestorm started, but his ears perked up. “Into the tunnel!”

He shot in and hid close to the ground, and the others followed except for Fluttershy, who only registered what had happened after it was over. Suddenly fearful, she instead dove into one of the hollow barrels in the corner.

It was cramped and dirty inside the barrel. But it was big enough to hide her entire frame. She didn’t dare look up as she heard the flapping of wings.

Three sets of hooves alighted upon the metal platform with clinks. If there was any indication they had even seen her, none of them did anything about it.

“I’m tired,” one of them complained, sounding prepubescent. “And I didn’t even do anything all day.”

“It’s this stupid heat,” another one said, decidedly female. “Makes you drowsy.”

“What were you thinking, doing nothing?” the final voice said, deep and baritone. “We’re supposed to be getting everything ready for the ceremony!”

“That’s not my job,” the prepubescent protested. “It’s for the slaves to worry about.”

“You need to make sure it gets done, ” the baritone ordered. “Your dad just came in with two new ones, so I don’t want any excuses.”

“Wasn’t there a commotion earlier?” the female wondered. “I literally heard a few, like, booms and explosions outside. Did they give him trouble?”

“I’m sure Brimstone had it under control,” the baritone assured her.

“I don’t know,” the prepubescent said. “I don’t think these prisoners are going to be used for maintenance. Dad talked to me earlier and he told me a secret.”

After a second, the baritone irritably said, “Well? Aren’t you going to say it?”

“Bedrock literally just wants the attention,” the female drawled. “Well, he’s got it. Now we all think he’s an idiot.”

“I’m not!” Bedrock immediately protested.

“Yeah, I’m sure,” the baritone said. “Whatever it is, I’m sure it can wait. Take three of those barrels to resupply the refinery station, would you?”

“Why can’t you get one of the dragons to do it?”

“Because you’re here right now, because you need the experience, and because I’ll pummel you if you don’t.”

Bedrock huffed, but ignited his horn. Fluttershy heard two hollow barrels rise off the ground to either side. Then she felt her own barrel float up as well.

Startled, Fluttershy’s arms shot out to either side of the barrel for stability. Her wild eyes looked out of the open end. She couldn’t leave! Not now!

As she heard the beat of Bedrock’s wings flapping away, Fluttershy trailed behind him. Fluttershy could do nothing. She was a bug in a jar. Her heart pounded as hard as ever, and she was on the verge of hyperventilating.

Fluttershy wanted to call out for help. But she knew that for now, there was nothing her friends could do.

---

As Fluttershy was carried away in the barrel, Firestorm’s silent fury reached entirely new levels. It was absolutely unacceptable!

The stallion and mare, both dark-skinned alicorns, turned to each other once Bedrock was gone. “Now that he’s gone…” the stallion implied.

“Feel free,” the mare allowed with a smug grin.

He took her hoof and led her into the corridor leading out. He then pinned her against the side of the metal wall and leaned in to give her a very intense kiss. Both their eyes were closed. And they had no reason to suspect that there were other ponies in the hall.

Only three feet behind them both was Firestorm, rising from the dark floor like a spirit. He practically tore out a sword from across his back. Firestorm lunged.

Both alicorns opened their eyes in shock as they became impaled on the same blade. It slid through their upper chests, barely resisted by their bones.

Firestorm narrowed his eyes. “No.”

He pushed it further in at a new angle and ignited the blade. Fire coursed up the blade and into their chests, mingling with their dripping blood. Expiring sighs came from both of them as they toppled over, sliding off the blade and hitting the metal hallway with clanks. They looked like they were sleeping on top of each other, if it weren’t for the burned holes in their chests and the pools of blood growing beneath them.

Firestorm allowed the sword to burn a little more to clean it from residue. “Glad Fluttershy wasn’t around to see that,” he noted darkly.

Starlight was staring at the dead alicorn bodies, a hoof to her mouth and her other front hoof trembling. Tempest, however, simply said, “This changes things.”

“No kidding,” Firestorm replied. He looked over his shoulder into the red cavern. “I could still catch up to Fluttershy.”

“You’d expose yourself,” Tempest refused. “And you and Fluttershy would both die unless you destroyed the entire cavern. You don’t want that to happen, do you?”

“No,” Firestorm admitted quietly.

“I’ll take Starlight to the Element,” Tempest said. “You try and find out who else that Brimstone guy captured. There’s only one kind of prisoner that could cause them trouble. Other Element Bearers are in here!”

Firestorm nodded quickly. “Where would they be?”

“I don’t think they’d throw them directly into here,” Tempest rationalized, her eyes scanning the cavern. “I think they’d have a process to get them ready for service. Especially Element Bearers. They’d probably have something special in mind. Where could they keep prisoners?”

“They could be in one of the other two mountains!” Firestorm realized.

“Start there,” Tempest encouraged. “Leave Fluttershy for the moment. She’s strong. She can handle herself. If you free the other Element Bearers, you can save everypony.” She reached into her armor and pulled out Rainbow Dash’s Element. “I kinda wanted to see if this would amplify my lightning,” she admitted. “But Rainbow needs it more. Give it to her if you see her.”

Firestorm took it and clasped it around his neck, right above his own Element. After securing it, he looked up. “So… assuming we don’t see each other again…”

“Don’t act like that,” Tempest told her.

“I just wanted to say sorry.” His gaze fell to the floor. “For breaking your nose the first time we met.”

“No, no, that’s understandable,” Tempest was quick to say.

“I didn’t know how much we’d need to be together since then,” Firestorm said. “And… look. You’re a good pony. You don’t deserve to be involved in any of this. None of you guys do. I want you to live. I’d do anything. So… good luck. I hope you’ll keep her safe.”

“Why are you saying this?” Tempest asked, although judging from her body language, she already knew the answer. Firestorm decided to answer anyway.

“Because I’m not sure what’ll happen. If either of us decide to give ourselves up entirely, I’d want us to remember each other.”

“You can remember it when we’re sitting around a table together in Ponyville,” Tempest said. “But… thanks. I’ve never been told that before. Feels weird”

“Friendship is magic,” Firestorm said, shrugging. “You’ll get used to it.”

Silence fell between them. Starlight and Tempest regarded Firestorm one last time, absorbing his image.

“Goodbye,” Firestorm murmured. “I’ll… meet you when we’re done.”

He spread his wings, bent his knees, turned his head around one last time, then looked ahead and shot into the dark tunnel, leaving Starlight and Tempest Shadow on the edge of the cavern, two steps away from hell.

Author's Note:

and finally, with a crack, the last of the light died out, and the four little ponies were plunged into darkness.

"Gee, it's kinda dark," Fluttershy whispered.

"Did ya bring a light?" Tempest asked.

Fluttershy turned her head around. "No."

"Well, maybe an alicorn will lend us his!" Firestorm suggested. "If we persuade him."