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. ---------- >After some careful contemplation, Echo decides to take the right path towards the sound of crackling fire. >The idea of drowning in a cave is a bit too unsettling to her. >Steeling herself, she begins her trek, making note of a tall stalagmite sitting at the entrance of the other path in case she comes back. >No time to rest, she must advance. >The echoes of the cracking of fire loudens as she approaches, until she is finally able to see an orange light in the distance. >The sight is almost surreal, as though she were walking on a lightened platform approaching another, with a wide area of blacky nothingness inbetween. >She feels as though she could leap off of her platform and fall into the darkness. >After another several minutes of walking, the distant light becomes close enough to Echo that she could make out the details in the surrounding rocks. >It looks dim, as though she was only peering into a distant corner of the lightened room whose fire is at its core. >An unsettling feeling overcomes her, however, when she realizes that there are no other sounds than her own and the distant fire. >It could be a trap. >The surrounding, cave-like walls begin to give in to a more formal hallway structure. >As the entrance to the room reaches just outside of her grasp, the walls, ceiling and floor around her seem to have been artificially made. >Strange, unreadable symbols line the walls, and the ceiling has a swirly, cloud-like carving that covers the entire surface. >Finally, Echo crests the entrance of the room and peers inside. >She gasps. --- >The rectangular room followed the same style as the hallway which she came from, sporting strange symbols and patterns on every surface. >However, leaning against the walls rested dozens of stone sarcophaguses. >All of them seem uniformly carved, bearing similar symbols and patterns to those on the walls and ceiling. >They towered over Echo, almost touching the ceiling itself. >Whatever's inside of these are definitely not ponies. >At the center of the room lies the light source: a haphazard pile of burning wood, as though it were a make-shift campfire. >Echo makes a few reluctant steps into the room towards the fire, unsure of what to expect. >The wood in the fire seemed only half-burnt, meaning that it was probably ignited fairly recently. >She unsheathes her sword, preparing for the worst. >Her heart begins to race as the silence drags on, even though she tells herself not to be eager for what could happen. >Still without a response, she slowly resumes inching her way towards the fire, minding every step in case of a trap. >The room poses no obvious threat to her, despite the maze of sarcophaguses. >However, the fire begs her gaze and she offers it, locking her eyes onto the lively spectacle. >She fails to see the magenta eyes open, to her left. --- >With but a faint whirl of wind, the head of a sharp spear thrusts out and towards Echo. >Thankfully, her hearing blessed her and her anxiousness fed her reflexes, allowing her to dodge the thrust easily. >Without hesitating, she slices her sword upwards at the spear, hoping to deter her attacker from pulling it in to thrust again. >The being, hidden in the shadows between several sarcophaguses, gives out a feminine grunt as they try to balance their spear. >Echo takes the opportunity to grab at the exposed spear with her front hooves, but the attacker succeeds in reeling in their weapon out of Echo's reach. >In a dark, grey blur, the attacker pounces out of the shadows and tackles Echo, pushing her against a sarcophagus. >Before Echo can react, she gets pushed again, toppling the heavy stone sarcophagus to the ground. >She slices towards the attacker with her sword, but meets air. >A dark figure flies up from underneath her muzzle, knocking the sword out of her mouth's grasp. >Her head ringing, Echo desperately flails her hooves forward, hoping to knock them away. >However, she gets pounced on and quickly wrestled to the ground with ease. >She feels the weight of the attacker on top of her, pinning her to the ground with powerful limbs. >Despite all of her efforts, she cannot get loose, but she doesn't give up and struggles against her attacker with clenched eyes. >That is, until a pair of wet lips presses against hers, and a tongue forces its way into her mouth. >A familliar taste. --- >Echo's eyes shoot open and meet a pair of magenta, slitted eyes. >The "attacker" pulls away from the sloppy kiss, giving a half-lidded, toothy smile. >With distinguishable fangs. >"Hey, Echo." "Pfft... Haah...!" >Feeling the grip on her lips loosen, Echo pushes the bat pony off and wipes her lips. >A deep, cat-like giggle rings in Echo's ears. "Nngh... Night Watch!" >"Hey there, beautiful." >Echo sticks her tongue out and wipes it with her hooves. "Pah! You almost killed me!" >"No, I didn't." >Echo stands up on all of her hooves, her dark purple wings spread wide. "You almost stabbed me!" >"I missed on purpose," Night Watch teased, giving her a wink. >Her voice was deep, and very alluring. "Guh... Why!" >"Well, I didn't want to really stab you--" "No! I mean... why didn't you just come out of the shadows? You nearly gave me a heart attack." >"'Cause it's fun? You're hot when you're all riled up, like that." "This is why I don't like sparring with you. Pah." >Echo spit into a fire, hopefully getting more of Night Watch's saliva out from her mouth. >"Heh... that's what they all say." --- >The two bat ponies sat by the fire, taking several moments to rest. >Echo uses that time to calm down her adrenaline. "So... have you seen any of the others?" >Night Watch, who's leaning against the fallen sarcophagus, takes a deep breath. >"No, you're the first. I haven't really been through much to get here, though, aside from my starting room." >She wore a hardened leather suit that covered most of her body except her face. >Many pockets, pouches and straps lined her chest and leggings. "Huh. Well, I almost got killed by a giant spider-thing, but made it out in one piece." >"Interesting. I came across a fork a little ways down that way," she said while pointing to an entrance to the room. >"I thought I heard wind down the other way. It sounded creepy, so I went this way instead." >"Found this room. There was a chest with weird things inside of it. I decided to just burn the chest." >Echo stared into the fire, taking in a deep breath. "I came across a fork, too. It sounded like there was water down the path I didn't take." >Night Watch eyed the glowing crystal on Echo's left shoulder. >"You got a cool, glowing crystal? All I got was a weird square prism, thing." >She pulled out a wooden object from one of her saddlebags. "Neat. I got one, too, except it's a triangular prism." >Echo pulled hers out of her saddlebag and compared it to Night Watch's. >"They look similar. Maybe they're both used for something in these tunnels." --- >After several more minutes of rest, the fire finally died down and the two of them were left in the light of Echo's crystal. >They stood up, ready to go down the tunnels once more. So, that's chapter 3, and we come to our next decision: Should the duo go to Night Watch's unexplored path, that held sounds of wind? Or to Echo's, which had the sounds of water?