Read this story and all of its chapters in paragraph format with better editing, here: http://www.fimfiction.net/story/129684/the-trials This version of the story is heavily unedited. ---------- >"And what does Speck's shield do?" Gloomie asked, walking alongside Mosina while staring at Speck at the front of the group. >"I guess you can say it controls physics," Mosina answered, eliciting a furrowed brow from Gloomie. "You know, force. Gravity." >Gloomie whistled. "Wow. That's kinda powerful, don'tcha think?" >"It tires me out quite a bit," Speck called back. >"Yeah. When I use Wind Ruler, I feel like my breath is leaving me," Mosina agreed. >"And I pretty much blacked out when that big... monster slammed its hand against me." Speck passed a smile to Echo. "It's thanks to Echo, here, that I kept up." >Echo returned a modest smirk and blushed. >"Still, it's nice to know that we have ponies with super-powers in the group," Gloomie joked before letting letting out a throaty laugh. >"Hey, guys, look!" Speck suddenly exclaimed, causing the rest of them to look forward. >The group had walked into a fairly spacey room, and interestingly enough, the floor was tiled with smooth cobblestone. >From their entrance, two large exit tunnels faced them at each opposite corner of the room. >Standing at the dead centre of the room was the stone statue of the pony with the crossbow. "Hey, that's the same statue as was one Night and I found early on," Echo pointed out, walking towards it. >"Echo, wait," Night Watch warned, earning a curious glance from Speck. "This... doesn't seem right." >"What's wrong, Night?" Speck asked. >Echo had turned around and listened for Night Watch's answer. >"Doesn't this seem ominous to you?" "I... don't understand," Echo droned, her gaze hardening in confusion. "I think this entire cave network is ominous." >"Look up." --- >All of the ponies craned their neck to look upwards at the tall ceiling. >Humungous stalactites and large cracks caked the ceiling, as though it looked like it could fall apart at any moment. >Night Watch shifted uneasily in her spot. "We should pick a path, quick. We might only get to pick one." >The rest of the group looked at her like she were a ghost. >For some reason, decisions seemed hard to make. >Echo swallowed. "Okay... let's just get out of here--" >The light from all of their light crystals suddenly blacked out. >In an instant, the group was left in complete darkness, as though something had been pulled out of their eyes. >Speck let out a whimper, and Gloomie, Mosina and Echo let out startled gasps. >That's when a distinct sound could be heard forming up, as though it were inside their heads. >Wailing. >Gloomie hopped in her spot, panicking. "Wh-what's happening!?" >"The light crystals! Why aren't they working?!" Mosina cried. "Guys! Use sound!" Echo ordered, her voice reverberating around them against the stone walls and floor. >She began to click her tongue, the sound sending waves across the room. >In a strange, sightless image, Echo could vaguely make out the ponies around her, the wailing still loudening. >It sounded as though it were not interfering with her clicks. >Speck had her shield at the ready, Mosina fumbled with her spear, Gloomie squirmed uncomfortably and Night Watch stood solidly still. >Soon, the girls processed Echo's suggestion and listened to her clicks, painting an image of the room with their hearing. --- >Finally, as it had before their last encounter, the wailing noise ceased. >The ponies were bathed in silence, save for the rhythmic clicking from Echo. >"What... what's happening..." Gloomie whispered. >"Shadow ponies," Mosina muttered next to her. >All of their ears were perked up, listening intently to anything that might disturb the room around them. >Gloome spoke up again. "Maybe we should--" >A high pitched scream pierced through her words. >Through the blackness, Echo could make out even darker strands of shadows snaking along the floor and walls. >Despite her clicks, she could not make them out in her mind, until they coalesced into a single, corporeal body of a pony. >Then a second, and a third. >Her eyes widened as her clicks bounced off of their forms, allowing her to 'see' them clearer than she could with her eyes, before. >It was as though they were surrounded by a dark, evil aura, and their body matter seemed to vibrate and shift constantly, if subtly. >The wailing continued, but the bat ponies had already drawn their weapons at the ready, facing the monstrosities. >"Not this time!" Speck screamed, charging straight at the snarling figures. "Aaah!" >"Speck!" Mosina cried, running after her. >Night Watch, Gloomie and Echo charged after them, weapons ready. >That was, until a fourth form appeared behind them. >Echo didn't have to turn her head to hear it coalesce. "Gah... I'll hold this one off!" she cried, skidding to a halt on the tiled floor and turning towards it. >Night Watch gave a knowing nod before throwing herself into the fray. --- >"I'm getting really tired of your shit!" she yelled, running up to one of the shadow ponies and swinging her spear at it. >With both of its arm-blades, it parried the golden spear with ease until Night Watch quickly retracted it to make another quick jab. >The shadow pony was too slow. >It let out a loud shriek as the blade sliced into the right of its jaw. >Golden sparks flared out from the contact, bathing the room in a brief, golden flash. >Bathed in darkness again, Night Watch let out a few clicks to gather her bearings. >Before she could pull away, however, the shadow pony knocked the spear out of her hooves before pouncing on her. >She gave a blind kick to its indistinguishable body, luckily knocking it to her side. >Honing in on her spear, she leaped at it and grabbed it into her forelimbs, pouncing back towards the creature. >She flew through the air and flared her wings out, her spear in front of her. >The unlucky shadow pony tried to knock away her spear before it met its body, but she had too much momentum. >"Graah!" Night Watch snarled as her spear pierced straight through its chest, golden sparks igniting inside of its body. >It wailed loudly in pain as she twisted the shaft, causing more gold sparks to spark outwards, >However, with a sudden surge of strength, it forced its body forwards, digging the spear even deeper. >Helplessly, Night Watch tried to pull her spear out, only for the shadow pony to climb down her own spear at her. >When it got close enough, it let out a scream at her before reeling back its arm-blades to mince her... >...Only for the arms to get lopped off in another burst of golden sparks and fall to the floor. >Gloomie strafed past the shadow pony through the air, her hoof-claws held in front of her. >"Thanks for the boost, Speck!" she called back to the heavily armoured pony, who had her shield held in front of her. >Another shadow pony was hot on her trail, its arm-blades slicing through the air at her. --- >"W-warn me next time!" Speck cried, turning to fend off the third of the shadow ponies. >Grateful for the assist, Night Watch turned back to the screaming shadow pony in front of her. >"Fuck..." She tugged her spear sideways, causing it to slowly rip through the shadowy flesh. "You!" >The whole left side of the shadow pony burst open with an explosion of gold light, almost blinding Night Watch. >It immediately ceased screaming, toppling over onto the floor. >As it hit the ground, its body shattered into the smoky strands of shadow before retreating from the room. >Her eyes still open, Night Watch noticed that the room seemed a little brighter, the light crystal on her chest giving off a faint light. >"Hey, I can sort of see, now!" Gloomie called out from her side of the room, still being chased by a shadow pony. >"Gloomie, watch out!" Mosina cried, running towards her. She swung the Wind Ruler at the chasing shadow pony. "Hah!" >A strong gust of wind forced the shadow pony to stop. >With another strong swing of her pole-arm, she sent a powerful wave of air at it, sending it flying backwards. >Gloomie came up beside her. "Think you can launch me at it?" >Mosina blinked. "Er... yeah. Flare out your wings..." >Gloomie did as instructed, and Mosina lightly swirled the Wind ruler. >"Here goes...!" >She swung it in a horizontal arc over Gloomie, and a rolling wind immediately took over. >With her wings flared out and the wind pushing from behind, Gloomie pushed off of the floor. >As soon as she was airborn, she felt the wind guide herself through the air, and pick up speed. >Straight ahead of her was the recovering form of the shadow pony. --- >"I don't know who you are..." Gloomie muttered under her breath as she quickly approached it. "But you're... uh, ugly!" >With her golden hoof-claws in front of her, she smashed straight into the shadow pony. >Her claws immediately dug into the front of its neck, the gashes in its flesh glowing yellow from the contact. >It wailed before quickly spinning in its spot, sending its arm-blades in a vertical swing at her. >Nimbly, Gloomie hopped over them and landed on the other side of the shadow pony. >"Raugh!" she snarled, strafing towards it. She twirled her body, her deadly claws spinning through the air. >They connected and gouged into the shadow pony's flesh, clipping off one of its arm-blades from the base in the process. >Desperately, the shadow pony swung again with its only arm-blade, but she dodged expertly again. >She ducked and slid underneath, coming up to the belly of the shadow pony. >With her hoof-claws at the ready, she jabbed and jabbed upwards, her claws eating away at the flesh ery quickly. >Each strike sent more sparks outwards, the golden metal burning the shadows. >Finally, it stopped wailing, Gloomie having done enough damage to its body. >Immediately, the shadow pony began to melt into the air, its body almost nearly sawed in half. >"Yeah! That's how you do it!" Gloomie exclaimed, pushing herself up and punching into the air. >The room brightened a little further, another shadow pony having been defeated. >At the other side of the room, Speck expertly blocked another blow from her shadow pony. >She effortlessly blocked every attack from it, and it seemed to only anger. >"Give up already!" she cried, only for the shadow pony to scream in rage. >Relentlessly, it swung its arm-blades, each strike deflecting off of the Keel Regalia in a purple flash. >"Alright, that's it!" Speck warned, suddenly pushing herself fowards. >Helplessly, the shadow pony tried to block with its blades, but her shield smashed straight into it. --- >Like a freight train, she sent it backwards, slamming into the wall behind it, hard. >Ominously, the ceiling shook, but none of the ponies in the room noticed. >The shadow pony leaped up and reluctantly faced Speck again, her shield proving difficult to bypass. >Mosina came up from the side, her pole-arm pointed forwards. >"Haah!" she cried, a gust of wind announcing her presence. >The force caused the shadow pony to stumble, unable to block the Umbra spear. >It pierced straight into its side, indigo sparks erupting from the wound. >Before it could respond, however, Speck came up from the front and slammed her shield into it again. >She hit like a hammer, snapping its head backwards. >Without even stepping back to ensure that the shadow pony was defeated, however, Gloomie came in from above like a missile. >"Yaah!" she cried, her hoof claws slamming into the shadow pony's neck. >Almost immediately, the shadow pony dispersed in a small explosion of shadowy strands. >The final shadow pony in the room was locked in an intense blade fight with Echo and Night Watch. >They flanked each side, fencing with each of its arm blades individually. >Each swing rung through the air, and each blade that collided gave off a loud clang. "Nngh, Night! let's face it from the front, together!" Echo called, blocking a slice from the long shadow blade. >"Alright!" Night Watch answered, blocking a swing towards her. >She hopped to the front of the shadow pony, meeting Echo who had strafed her way. >Two shadow blades lunged forward, only to be blocked by a golden sword and spear. >They returned an attack, only to be parried. --- >Echo stepped forward and slashed fiercely, the shadow pony using both blades to block her. >Taking the opportunity, Night Watch thrust her spear between the blades straight at the shadow pony's neck. >It slid one of its shadow blades down Echo's sword to block the spear, only to nick it. >The spear cut through the side of the shadow pony's neck, and it let out a painful scream. "Grr... no match for us, now!" Night Watch growled, jabbing again. >This time, she pierced into the shadow pony's mouth, thankfully silencing the screams. >That's when Echo and Night Watch felt wind from behind them, only to see the Gloomie-torpedo sail past them and straight at the shadow pony. >"Wooo!" >For the third time during the fight, Gloomie slammed into her target with her claws visciously held out. >As she sailed past the shadow pony, three large, golden cuts were lined across its face. >It weakened, allowing Night Watch and Echo to get their blades loose. "Aaah!" >In one synchronized swing, they sliced the shadow pony's neck. >It crumbled, the corporeal flesh failing to hold together. >The mangled body of the shadow pony fell, melting into nothingness before it hit the floor. "Guh... that's the last of them...?" Echo asked through her heavy panting. >She looked down to her light crystal, thankful that it was shining brightly again. >"What's... that sound?" Night Watch whispered, almost to herself. >The wailing had finally stopped, but a different sound replaced it. >Gloomie touched down beside her, seeming no worse for wear, and Speck and Mosina ran up to them, panting. >The sound gradually got louder, and the bat ponies curiously looked around them to see where the source was. >However, it was through their hooves when they realized that the room was shaking. --- >As one, they looked up at the ceiling. >The cracks had largened. "Get--" >A loud bang rung out, and the rocky ceiling collapsed. >Giant rocks and stalactites fell, threatening to crush the ponies underneath. "Aaah!" >"Oh, geeze!" >"Run!" >"Fuck!" "To the tunnels!" Echo cried through the noise. >Taking the suggestion, each of the bat ponies ran for one of the entrances.