//------------------------------//
// The Fall 
// Story: Twilight Sparkle's Anguish 
// by Trailblazer Rocker 
//------------------------------//

    On the other side of the door, the seven ponies saw the looming castle that was Steel Sword's lair. They stood on a flat ebony surface that seemed to resemble cobblestones, which led to the castle.All around them was the familiar cracking purple bolts, swirls of black, purple and blood red, and strange scribbled shapes that appeared, spun around, and disappeared with no rhyme or reason. All of them looked around to view the scenery they were seeing, in awe and bewilderment.
"Are, we in the Sario Hole?" wondered Rarity.
"Merlow said that we were going into the Sario Hole," said Pinkie Pie. "And it SUUUUUUURE looks like it."
"This place... It feels so surreal..." Trailblazer said as he looked around. "Then again, this very place we stand in has the power to destroy entire planets... I can also feel some sort of power emanating from all around us, and another power coming from inside the castle." Then, he looked bewildered. "That can't be Steel Sword himself, can it?"
"It had better not be," responded Twilight. She looked around with the others, then at the towering castle before them. "Anyways, we should get going. We're running out of time."
"Yeah, and don't die either," said Trailblazer. "And not 'just because'."
"Huh? What so you mean?"
"Back at Lake Oxpow, when I got a look at that tablet, all the heroes that took care of the Sario Hole before us had to be alive. If any of them perished, the bond between them was broken, and then they wouldn't have been able to close the hole."
Twilight thought for a moment. "I thought I saw that on that carving too."
"All right, now. We watch out for each other, keep each other safe, protect each other, and we'll be just fine." He pulled out one of the Sacred Stars tucked away in his saddle bag. "When we reach this Steel Sword guy, we pull these out, and put a stop to that Sinister Star." He put it back in the bag.
"All right. Y'all ready for this?" AppleJack asked.
"Yeah, let's do it," said Trailblazer.
"I'm in!" Rainbow Dash said.
The others were saying "Yes" as well, with Twilight delaying her answer. Fluttershy remained silent.
"Fluttershy?"
"Fine, I'm good," she finally answered.
"All right then. Let's roll."
All of then made their way to the giant double doors and entered. What they saw was a foyer with no doors on the ground floor. Rather, there were stairs on both sides of the foyer that led to the second floor, which led to a door.
As Rainbow Dash got ahead of the rest of them, she flew her way up to the door and opened it. Beyond that door was a hallway with no signs of danger.
"Come on, now. Don't keep me waiting!" she said.
"Can't you see that the rest of us don't have wings?" asked Trailblazer. They caught up to her and got ready to move on. "Still, I REALLY wish I was a pegasus, or a unicorn at least..."
"Yeah, wings are awesome," replied Rainbow Dash, smirking.
Trailblazer grimaced in response.
"Me first!" Pinkie Pie said, hopping. She trotted across the floor, but then, a set of spikes arranged in a square rose from the center of the floor she was just about to walk over. She got surprised, jumped backwards, and started to fall on her back. Trailblazer jumped on his hind legs and caught Pinkie with his forelegs. He, too, was a bit shocked. The spikes stayed in place, then slowly retracted back into the floor.
"This hallway is a deathtrap..." said Fluttershy.
"I still don't think it's a problem for us fliers." Rainbow Dash flew up to the low ceiling, but yet another square set of spikes shot out from it. She immediately jerked back to the floor once that happened.
"Jeez! What is WITH this room?!"
Trailblazer put Pinkie Pie down and carefully walked up to the spot where the first set of spikes shot out from.
"What are you doin'??" shouted AppleJack.
He ignored her and got near the area that the spikes shot up from. They came straight out of the ground. Then, he stepped back, and the spikes retracted back into the floor. Trailblazer then walked to the right side of the room, and inched himself forward. Another set of spikes erupted from the floor. He then stepped back again, and the spikes sunk back in.
"I'm beginning to see how this room works now..." he walked up to the left side of the hallway and slowly stepped forward.
"Trailblazer, no!" Twilight shouted.
He walked up to the space beyond where the previous spikes shot up from. Slowly, he braced himself for any spikes, but none came. He then put his hoof down on the floor where a patch of spikes was anticipated, but none came. He walked across the small area, all without any spikes erupting from the floor.
"It looks like this hallway has a little trick to it," said Trailblazer. "From what I've deduced, there's a fixed path we have to take, and if we wander off of it, we'll get shish-kebabbed."
Twilight Sparkle swallowed, then slowly followed Trailblazer's path. Just like before, no spikes came from the part of the floor he just walked over. "Huh!" she said, astonished.
"All right then, sugarcube," AppleJack said, with a hint of a warning tone of voice. "Be careful now."
As the other five followed the path single-file, Trailblazer walked towards the end of the hallway cautiously. He stayed in the center for a little bit until another set of spikes shot up from the floor. He turned to the right, got to the right side of the hall, and then continued forward. A moment later of walking, the next set of spikes rose from the floor. He started to walk around them, but then another set sprang up on the adjacent side. When he got to the left side, he stepped forward, and reached the door to the next room.
"That wasn't so hard," said Trailblazer softly.
He opened the door that led to the next door and entered. The others followed him in. Ahead was another long corridor. AppleJack threw a rock across the floor to test it, but nothing happened.
"I don't think there's any gimmicks in here..." she said.
Rainbow Dash flew to the next door, opened it, and went through it.
"Dash, hold up!" said Trailblazer.
The door that they just came through opened. Rainbow Dash came in from it. She looked around, and the other six looked back at her, all of them confused.
"Wha...? But I just, went through THAT door, how am I BEHIND you guys?" she asked.
Trailblazer went through it himself, and he too, ended up coming through the previous door, just like Rainbow Dash did.
"Ohh-kaaayyyy, this is strange..." he commented.
"How are we supposed to get through this room?" asked Rarity. "The thought of being stuck here is... Well, unsettling..."
Twilight looked up at the ceiling. Above them was a ledge that spanned the width of the hallway they were in.
"Do you think we could find anything up here?" she thought. "I don't know, but it beats winding up here all the time."
"I'll go take a look," said Fluttershy. She flew up to the upper ledge to see a shorter door than the ones they ran into so far, then flew back down. "There's a door here. I think it's the one we NEED to get through."
"Oh, this castle had better not be a maze..." said Trailblazer.
"I hear you. I end up getting lost in those things..." said Rarity.
"We'll get through. We got through the Tenebres Temple and back just fine, remember?" Twilight Sparkle said.
"Well, yeah, we did."
"Anyways, let's get up on that ledge. That door up there has got to lead somewhere else other than back here."
Rainbow Dash and Fluttershy carried them all up to the ledge above them. Once they all got back on, they found themselves on the opposite side, only to see that they were on an upper ledge, with a floor below them. It looked just like the same room they came from.
"What the f-" thought Trailblazer. "Didn't we just get out of this room?!"
"Yeah, I thought so too," said Twilight. "Unless..."
"Yes...?" wondered Rarity.
"This IS a different room, and these guys are trying to trick us into thinking that we're back in the same room."
"Well, Ah guess there's no harm in checkin' it all out..." AppleJack commented.
Twilight teleported down to the lower floor and went through the door that they would've had to go through in the last room. For a few seconds, she did not return, but she came back.
"This door goes through!" she said.
"Oh. Good." Trailblazer lept down to the floor below them and met her in front of the door. The rest of the ponies met them back there too. "Now then..." He went through the door, and saw a wider, yet much longer hallway than the ones that they have already went through. A large flight of stairs was before them, and they began to climb up them. Pinkie Pie hopped up the flight, and Rainbow Dash and Fluttershy flew up them, all at the same pace of the other four. When they were near the top, they saw another set of double doors.
"Jeez, is this whole castle made up of double doors?" asked Rainbow Dash.
"Sure seems like it," said Rarity. "What terrible decor, I must say. Black exterior and interior, constant double doors... Disgusting."
Trailblazer and AppleJack shot a skeptical look at her while she wasn't looking, then at each other, and chuckled for a little bit.
"What," Rarity barked.
"Nuthin'," said AppleJack, trying to hide her grin.
Once they all reached the double doors, Twilight walked in and began to look around.
"It looks like just a big empty room..." she said. She looked at the single door at the other end of the room, and noticed a dotted orange line near it which spanned the width of the whole room. She looked behind herself and noticed the same dotted line, a few yards away from the door they just came through. "You see these lines near here and the other door?" she asked all of them.
"Yeah, but, what about it?" Trailblazer wondered.
"Well, let's find out then!" Pinkie shouted.
"Let's not, okay?"
"What? Can't you stick around to play?" a voice said to them.
"That voice!" said Rainbow Dash, alert like the others. "Red Rover!"
Just as Dash predicted, Red Rover fell down from above and landed with a thud in the center of the room.
"Oh, God, you again?!" said Trailblazer. "You just don't know when to give up, do you?"
"Maybe I don't, but I'm not going to sit around as you waltz around Steel Sword's castle!" he shouted.
"You do realize that you're just going to get beat again, right?" said Trailblazer softly.
"I'm going to stop you here! I don't care what it takes!" Rover said.
"History repeats itself," Trailblazer whispered. It became apparent that Rover was just hearing himself shout at them.
"Bring it on, ya trouble maker!" AppleJack shouted at Red Rover as she took a step forward.
"AppleJack?" Trailblazer said. "Are you sure you know what you're doing?"
"Oh, darn right Ah do!" she responded.
"Well, I don't want to see you get hurt..."
"Oh please! Ah've seen you beat this boy like a rented mule. Ah can take this guy one-on-one."
"If that's what you want then..." Trailblazer stepped back and motioned the rest to do the same.
"C'mon, 'blazer," said Rainbow Dash, ready to reassure him. "AppleJack can beat this guy with a hoof tied behind her back. You shouldn't have to worry about her!"
"Well, I'm sure she can. It's just that... I don't want to see her get hurt. At all."
"Ah'll be fine, sugarcubes. Don' worry 'bout me!"
"What, your boyfriend is all concerned! I'm impressed! You've managed to make a friend, Trailblazer!" mocked Red Rover.
"I don't have to take that from a weaking and a coward like you," Trailblazer jeered back.
This enraged Rover. "Why don't you come over here and say that to my face, tough guy!"
"Okay!" Trailblazer ran at Rover, and Rover backed away and covered his head with his front hooves, lowering himself to the floor as he did so. "I don't have to take that from a weaking and a coward like you." He then trotted back to the group.
"Gah, enough already!" Red Rover charged at AppleJack and swung at her, attempting to punch her in the face, but she ducked, got back up once his hoof was retrieved, and slugged him back. He retaliated by decking her, which left her lying on her back. Rover quickly got up to her and tried to stomp her, but AppleJack reacted faster. She caught Rover's hoof that just about stomped her on her underside, and pushed it out of the way. Red Rover then tried jumping on her, but she rolled over and out of the way. She got back on her feet, and kicked him at his side. He fell on his side from the blow, and AppleJack stepped back, waiting for him to get back up.
"Come on!" AppleJack yelled. "You want us not to pass, now show me how badly ya want us stopped!"
Red Rover realized that she was using his own words against him, and got back up, quickly shaking his head. He looked at the cowpony, scowling, and then charged at her. She got out of the way at the last moment, bucked, and kicked him again. He stumbled backwards and recovered, then ran at her again. He swung his foreleg at her again, trying to land a punch, but AppleJack avoided the attack. Rover tried to kick her, but ended up missing. AppleJack got on his left side, swung at his face, and then reared up to kick him once more. Her attack connected, and he fell on his side once again.
"Yeeeeeeeee-HAWWW!" taunted AppleJack, rampant once she knocked him down. "How ya like them apples NOW? MMM!"
Red Rover was irate. His expression looked manic and angry. He picked up speed to ram AppleJack yet another time, but she ended up dodging once more. He quickly turned around, and charged her again. She had a very small window of opportunity to evade the next charge, but managed to do so. Red Rover turned around again, and grabbed her. AppleJack tried to get out of his grip, but Rover got up on his hind legs, and threw her towards a wall. She landed near it and rolled around from her momentum until stopping half a foot from the wall. She got back up and saw Rover, charging at her and trying to bash her into the wall. AppleJack dove to her right, making Rover crash into the wall instead of sandwiching her into it. She took this opportunity and punched him on his nose. Red Rover stumbled backwards and clutched his muzzle.
"Ow, dammit!" he yelled. "Why is it always the nose?!"
AppleJack reared up and kicked him right at his neck, then at his head. Red Rover kept on stumbling backwards at the blows, and AppleJack kept on whaling on him. Rover finally got towards the middle of the room, and fainted, moaning and groaning in pain.
"Oh, shut up," taunted AppleJack, with a smirk on her face.
"AppleJack!" Trailblazer called out. "Damn!"
The other five started to cheer for AppleJack along with Trailblazer.
"Well played!" Rarity announced.
"THAT'S how it's done right!" praised Twilight Sparkle.
"There you GO!" Trailblazer walked up to AppleJack and put a hoof over her shoulder. "THAT'S my girl!"
AppleJack couldn't help but laugh. "Oh, stop!"
"No, really, way to put it all out there!"
The seven ponies got back to business and ready to move on, but Red Rover got back on his feet. He held his head and wobbled a little bit, with his eyes shut tight and his teeth grit, groaning. He then quickly shook his head and regained his focus, and looked at the group.
"This, sucks. Big time," he said, resentfully. "Well, I guess I have to let you pass..." A smirk grew on his face, looked towards the ceiling, and then stomped on the floor twice with both of his forelegs. The seven ponies looked up towards it, and saw that the ceiling started to fall apart.
"Let's see if you can pass if these rocks will let you!" Red Rover shouted. "You just walked into your very..." Suddenly, a four-sided star-shaped flash of light covered him, and he disappeared into thin air.
"What, what?? What's going on?!" Pinkie Pie looked around, confused as the rest of them.
A chunk of the ceiling fell on Rainbow Dash. It crashed on top of her, and she let out a painful yelp. A couple more landed on her spread out wings.
"Rainbow Dash!" Twilight gasped. She took the rocks off using her magic, and Rainbow Dash got back up.
"I... I think I got paralyzed!" she yelled, a bit frightened. "I can't use my wings!!" Her fear turned into panic as she looked at her wings, which now only hung limply at her sides. She could not tuck them back in.
"Ah, crap. This isn't any good!" Trailblazer said as he looked at Dash's status. He looked back up at the ceiling, now seeing as giant boulders started to fall from the ceiling. "Oh, S---! Hurry! MOVE!" he warned.
AppleJack got Rainbow Dash to lie on her back as she carried her to the door on the other end of the collapsing room. Dash held on as the seven began to sprint to the next door. A boulder the size of a two-story house landed right in front of Pinkie Pie and Rarity. They were shocked, and jumped backwards to the door that all of them came from. At this point, the other five were already on the opposite side of the room.
"Wait, where's Pinkie and Rarity?!" Twilight asked.
"What are they doing on the other side of the room!?" Trailblazer shouted.
Just then, the floor between the orange dotted lines collapsed, resembling a large trapdoor. More and more boulders fell down, but neither of them could get across.
"Fluttershy! Get over there and bring those two back here!" demanded Trailblazer.
"WHAT?!" she asked.
"Just do it!"
Without thinking, Fluttershy flew over to the other side, nearly getting crushed by a falling rock. She tried to pick them both up by carrying them by her front legs on both sides, but they were too heavy to handle. Fluttershy struggled to carry them across the gap, but then, the entire span of the ceiling started to collapse. Panic gripped her, she screamed, and dropped both Pinkie Pie and Rarity.
"What are you doing!?" yelled Trailblazer.
All of them could hear Pinkie and Rarity screaming for help as they fell down the gap, which both became fainter as they fell. Fluttershy dove into the door on the opposite side where the other four were, and got into the other room. The door was slammed shut just before the entire ceiling caved in. They could hear the rocks tumbling and crashing into each other from the other side. After 15 seconds, the noise died down.
"Pinkie Pie! Rarity!" shouted Twilight. She walked up to the door that they just came from, and tried to open it, but it wouldn't budge.
"Nothing...!" she shivered. "I can't go back in!"
Trailblazer looked shocked. Then, he grew angered, and leered at Fluttershy.
"Oh, my, God, I cannot even express how mad I am at you right now!"