Chp. 4 - Venator
The abyss was dark, consuming us in a matter of seconds, and all we could do was scream. The wind flew past me as the purple lights ceased their descent into the abyss below.
Without a moment to lose, I poured all my concentration into Quick Attack, latching onto the flightless Yui as my paws slid across a fragment of what remained of the top floor. I jumped to another section of rock, hopping from it to my left, using the rock's rotation to leap to another piece. Diving over the platform my feet slid along the black walls of the gorge, the actual bottom of the pit coming into view. With a final leap of faith, my right paw latched itself around a narrow strip of rubble, swinging us around and into a narrow corridor, avoiding the collision with the debris with a sharp tumble onto the ground.
We were still alive! And my feet were on fire!
"Ugh... why is it always a trap, why can't ponies just build a nice, comfortable entrance from time-to-time?" Yui whined, laying atop me with her muzzle brushed up against my snout
"Thus, we may never know," The world seemed to spin for a moment, purple lighting on dark walls greeted me. Taking a moment to relax I blinked at the one-winged mare. "You good?"
Yui blinked, then immediately pushed herself off of me while trying to avoid looking at me. Must have realized who she landed on. "I-I'm fine, t-thank you, Zen."
Saluting jokingly I stretched. "Not. A. Problem." Sauntering over to Yui, I recreated my aura ball to light our feet, the purple torches that were surprisingly lit gave us a clear sight of our route. "This place looks straight out of a fantasy dungeon."
"Not a pony has set foot in this place in centuries, yet it looks completely untouched... guess we have that doorway to thank," Yui murmured, pulling out her journal. I sat closer to her, illuminating the pages. "This tower supposedly houses some of the archives from Grogar's rein, but no tale ever spoke of a place like this, must have never been found..."
"Or the ponies that did never came out..." Again, I received a jab to the side. "Ehehehe, sorry, force of habit."
This archive of Grogar's hardly looks to have received visitors. The darkened chambers of these hallowed halls stretched ahead of us, I could sense it, an aura of abandonment and sorrow. It felt more like a cold, derelict tomb than an archive. I would have led the way if not for a wing stopping me. Turning my head, I saw Yui pull out my own medical supplies.
My brow raised curiously. "Uh, what are you doing?"
"Your paw," She pointed out the thin cut along my palm since the Barroth-Duster didn't cover the inside of my paw I guess using that debris to swing us around actually cut my skin. Yui sat closer to me, holding out my paw
"Suprised you know how to do this?" I broke the silence, seeing her smile softly while focusing on rubbing the ground-up Butterfly Weed roots into my cut, myself wincing at the stinging sensation
"Good thing I had an excellent teacher." She replied, myself squirming a little timidly while I watched the eager treasure hunter apply the bandage tightly. "There! All better."
My smile came back. "I appreciate it, shall we?" With an agreeable nod, the two of us delved into the darkness. Without really thinking I just thought to her. "I'm quite fortunate to have met you."
I saw her jolt a little with her head turned to me. "Really? Why's that?"
With a shrug, I gave a smirk. "'Cause, I'd never had so much fun exploring before, that's all."
While I couldn't see it, her voice reflected her kindness. "Yeah, ditto."
I laughed a little. "No, Lucario."
Our venture into the forgotten catacombs led to two main paths, but the right is a dead end. The left was a twisted trail leading downwards and soon we found ourselves among a hallway filled with rooms. We rummaged the remains of murky rooms, finding only basic equipment for potion brewing, some old books detailing some useful mixtures that I decided to steal for myself, had many good recipes. Of course, I couldn't read them, it had pictures I can read pictures, though I did find a flask of phosphorous, very useful.
Each step into this dark labyrinth of an archive echoed, low hums of the earth followed by ambient dripping and the scurry of smaller animals continued to play the melody between us. Finally, we made it what was likely the final room. Black-Iron caged a stairway, the torches had gone out a long ago. The stairway was broken, rusted metal lay bear on the many steps.
"Wonder what lurks in the dark below...?" I murmured in Poke-speak as to not freak Yui out. She shared a nervous look with me, but her resolved kicked in, pulling her hood tightly before pushing the metal gate open
Once inside, she used me as a step to light the torches on our right, giving us a clear view of the passage below. There was only a large pair of stone doors, braces of iron held shut while I lit the final torch. Strange writing is all over it, somehow untouched by time and the elements.
"It says..." Yui's voice trailed off, an echo behind us making me jump. She gulped down her courage. "...'Finish what I started'..."
"I have a feeling that isn't paint..." I gulped, grabbing the handle with Yui, with some effort, we heard the moan of hinges as the door was pulled back, revealing a well-illuminated arena ahead. "Wonder what the test was?"
"Much as I don't want to find out, we've come this far already." Yui lamented and guided me inside, a chill ran its way over me, and I swore something watched us
Inside, the grand chamber of this dark citadel had widened. A ribcage of metal and stone looped the outside of the room, facing dark, jagged walls infused to the earth, vines snaked down from above, all while leaving a large, resonating crystal alone, acting as a perpetual light source, the icy glow gave me no warmth though, bathing us in a chilling blue light, the shadows curved wickedly like thorns. In the very center, a large, checkered floor remained, statues of armored ponies dotting the stage.
"What is this place...?" I asked, observing the statues carefully, their almost mannequins-like presence gave me chills. "Guh, I hate mannequins..."
Yui, on the other hand, was fascinated by them, taking in their positions and muttering incoherent nonsense that I had to tune out for a moment, my arms crossed. Suddenly, her eyes lit up, waving a hoof at the statues. "Zen, don't you get it? This is the test!"
"How so?" I motioned inquisitively. She pushed me off the stage, then pointed with her wing to the back of the room. "Huh?" The final doorway was dead ahead, but only opened high enough for an infant to squeeze through
Her eyes sparkled. "This chamber is the final puzzle, a giant game of chess!" While she was thrilled by this, I had my head tilted
"I don't know how to play chess, work away." I sat back, but Yui frowned, pointed a hoof at a pillar next to us, again, with chicken scratch written in crimson. "Why is it always warning in someone's internal life-juice? They kind-of need that."
Again, we grimaced and Yui translated. "'I lost. Tried again. Lost. More and more, I lost more and more, mind is fuzzy, always itchy, like gravel on fur'" She took a moment, then sighed heavily, that look in her eyes... I regret wanting to know now. "...'Everything is lucid, everypony dust, my bones... are so... itchy'... Luna's Mercy...!"
"So if we lose this game we lose our sanity... and ourselves," I had to voice it. "What the hell kind-of joker made this asylum?"
I'd tell Yui not to proceed with the game, but given our lack of exits, I doubt I could scale the chasm out of here with both of us, in the end, we had to move forward. With an anxious nod, Yui stepped forward, observing the game that was already in motion for years, whoever it was that started this game, we'd be the ones to finish it. Once more, I left this in her capable hooves. If she lost... well, it was a good run I guess...
The unseen Player moved a black statue, a Rook, by three spaces, the last one to stand. The stone abraded the checkered floor, coming to face us. Yui pondered for a moment, clearly debating her first move carefully. She had to call out her move to advance a piece, and I was left biting my nails with each win and loss of another piece when one was claimed the statue shattered.
In a short time, Yui now had both the Player's Bishops, seven of its Pawns, one Knight, one of the Player's Rooks and now she was close to taking out the King. The Player proved itself an expert of the game, even before we had shown up; having gotten rid of six of Yui's Pawns, both her Rooks, the Queen, and both Bishops.
In short; Yui was losing, clearly, the person that wrote the message tried their damn best to win, but it ultimately led to this.
However, Yui's poker face was still invisible to read, and that glare she wore was far from giving in. I may not understand chess, but the keyword in my mind was, she 'WAS' losing.
Yui tapped her wing to her chin, clearly enthralled in the game. With a command she removed the final Black Pawn with her Knight, the pony raised its sword between its teeth, then drove the blade in a downward thrust, dust showered the stage.
The Player proceeded to advance with its Queen, Yui followed quickly with another white piece to clear the final Black Knight. Again, Yui advanced a piece to stare down another. I didn't understand it all, but that move, it claimed the Black Queen, she had very little remaining of her forces but from her gratified smile, she had done it by a hair.
With a bow of her wing, Yui clicked her tongue, "Checkmate." The prominent 'T' resulted in the King falling apart, completely cornered with the minimum number of pieces she had left, "I-I actually did it! Hahaha!"
"Oh thank God you're awesome!" I praised, hugging her thankfully for another shot at living. Of course, she returned it warmly before we inspected the damage. "Don't think the catacombs insurance is gonna cover this..."
That made her giggle. "True, especially after we claim the treasure beyond that doorway, I can feel the riches from here!" Her cute squeal was only deflated by the fact the passage to the final door was narrow and looked as though I'd just about squeeze through with this spike poking out of my chest. Tapping my leg Yui skipped ahead. "Come on, no time to waste groveling in a dark room!"
At her first step, my aura was overloaded by a new wave of emotions, it nearly shook me down to my knees, the world was a crawl with red wisps as malice and death hung in the air. My eyes shot wide, and I barely had the time to react at all. "Get down!" I yanked Yui behind one of the chess pieces, my paw over her muzzle while I held her close
My heart sank into my stomach, while Yui sat uncomfortably close to me I didn't care, from out the corner of the old statue, the red glare traced across the stage, eyes like pins scoured the ominous room. Black scales, black fur, and nightmarish red eyes moved with grace over the stage. Its feral appearance had us shaking while edging around the statue to hide, moving with as close to silent as possible.
It was enraged too, those traces of crimson danced with the eyes. I held my breath, hearing the tail rattled above us as it looped its most powerful weapon around the equine stone. I could even see the razor thorns within the bushy tail. Nargacuga had tracked us.
Removing my paw, Yui exhaled silently. "Don't speak, we need to move, now," My thoughts projected, Yui looked from Nargacuga, who was sniffing a statue, then to the doorway. "That's our best bet, it could probably tear those doors down if we tried to close them." Our only option was to press to the heart of this archive
I sighed, frozen to the wall, "Yui, do you trust me?" I needed to know, while the tail moved, I shifted away from the edge, seeing the glare snap our way, a low snarl escaped Nargacuga as it stalked toward our statue
To my terror, Yui moved to face me, hidden under her hood, I saw her right eye stare back at me with complete confidence, she took me seriously. "I'd trust you with my life." That was a little much and made me feel odd, but a good answer
I pulled her around the statue, carefully lifting her as I narrowly broke past Nargacuga's tail and behind the White Knight. The second I did, Nargacuga's tail whipped forward, demolishing the statue we previously sat behind
It hissed, seeing as we moved on and continued its search, brushing aside the rubble to inspect it. We let out our restrained breaths, then I moved to set Yui under me, my back just hidden behind the Knight's form. With a toothy grin, I carefully procured an Aura Sphere and tossed it against one of the many supports of the chamber, the 'whoosh' and 'bang' reverberated, the Swift Wyvern roared, lunging at the pillar to inspect it, snarling at the dust.
"Go, run," I whispered/yelled for the Bat-Pony, she booked it for the narrow passage, making it off the stage and toward the small space between it and the entry. the Wyvern noticed and whipped its tail around, the spines thankfully missed and sunk clean into stone, while I grabbed my hatchet and tossed it toward the monster. "Yeet!"
It winced, having met an ax-head to the temple, its head colliding with the ground for a moment, now its attention focused solely on me. With a warcry, I ran to avoid a spinning lunge of its bladed-wing, which divided the Knight in-two. Gulping I focused on my legs. "Quick Attack!" My body went into overdrive, leaping far above the tail that swung round like a mace. Stuck, my feet pressed to the crystal, breaking down at blinding velocity with my right arm folded. "Metal Claw!"
The stage broke apart, the force crashed against Nargacuga's skull tremendously. My surprise morphed painfully, eyes snapped open, a cold sensation ran over my right forearm, tossing me against a pillar with a strained yelp. I-It dodged!?
Nargacuga howled again, diving backward with a flick of that tail, I winced and rolled away, spikes snapped sharply across the stone, followed by a slam of that tail to push me off the stage. Rolling with the tumble I dug my claws into dirt, then lunged myself, meeting the Wyvern halfway, maw wide with sickle claws poised. I only have two moves that could work... one of them I doubt I could use and might end up hurting me... the other will only work one time!
Those claws were drawing closer, and my time was short, I had to go all out, whatever it takes to keep her safe, to live! With a growl, I leered back at the Wyvern. "Close... Combat!!" My bloodied forearm hummed with sharp, glassy, crimson light, blinding Nargacuga as my fist connected with its jaw, with a satisfying 'crrrack' the unbreakable wave of energy passed through me, launching the Wyvern across the chamber and into the remaining statues
I winced, feeling as though my muscles just tore from the impact, I plummeted to the floor, a wave of blue light leaked from my body, my defense and special defense were down. Gritting my teeth I limped as fast as I could toward the narrow corridor, seeing the faint sight of a hoof waving on the other end.
"Come on, Zen, hurry!" Desperation laced her voice, and I cried out as I threw myself into the gap, a curved moon carving above my head as I squeezed my way through, hearing the roars and scratching close behind me, cause the walls to tremble against my fur.
My body scrambled to the end, seeing the light of day piercing through with the shadow of a hoof. "I got you!"
I didn't hesitate to take her hoof.
To Be Continued...
Stats
Page generated in 0.034 seconds
Total duration
972 users online
382,855 hits today, 2,314,256 yesterday
FIMFiction
My Little Pony: Friendship is Magic Fanfiction
Designed and coded by knighty & Xaquseg - © 2011-2024
Follow & Support Us
Support us
SubStar
Chat!
Discord
Follow us
Twitter
MLP: Friendship is Magic® - © 2024 Hasbro Inc.®
Fimfiction is in no way affiliated with or endorsed by Hasbro Inc.®
Nice dude this is cool.
10198609
Thanks, glad you liked it!
:3 more please
Inb4 Scholar's Mate.
Uuuuh...
That means she lost.
Chess isn't about getting all of the pieces off the board, chess is about getting the king into a position where it can be 100% taken next turn. Hence check and checkmate. Check meaning the king is in danger, checkmate meaning the king has no escape. You can win/lose a game of chess within the first five moves using the fools move, a set of moves that puts the king into checkmate pretty much instantly if played correctly.
Point is, chess isn't checkers.
10420271
I’m no expert, and I have only ever played chess a handful of times, hence why none of the positions were described. Oh well 😐
10420448
Hrm, okay so using what brain cells I have all I have to do is replace Queen and King in that context. Okay, I’ll just quickly iron that out
So... a human turned lucario winds up in a forest in Equestria where he has to survive for months alone before meeting a native who lost the ability to fly who he saves before traveling with her and falling into ancient ruins.
If it weren't for the fact that this was posted before Fire and Steel I'd wonder if I inspired this
Now I have to finish reading this, if only to see how similarly we think.
Man, that thing sure is persistent! Go pick on an easier target! 😂