text: [Themes: fantasy, grimdark]
  
  You slump down, defeated. Fighting back isn't going to help your predicament; you might as well accept it as painlessly as possible. You hear the cackle of your captors, a sound akin to the laughter-like call of Hyneas from the Zebra lands.
  
  Suddenly, you feel something grab your back legs. Filthy, ragged claws rake the flesh just above your fetlocks as a Vargur, eyes alight with malice and hunger, pulls you towards him.
  
  "Come to me, mule," he snarls, "I'm sure just a taste won't hurt you...much!"
  
  Instinctively, your horn flares up with an aura of silver telekinetic energy, but it quickly fizzles out; the cold iron bars prevent any magic, especially offensive magic, from being used by anyone inside the cage.
  
  As you prepare for the worst, suddenly, you feel the pulling stop. The Vargur is still holding your legs, but he is frozen in place, an aura of dark blue magic surrounding him. You glance around, and realise this has happened to every Vargur around you; as such, the cart is no longer being pulled. If you strain your ears, you swear you can hear a soft, beautiful song mingled with the mournful howl of the wind.
  
  "Someone's far from home," comes a soft, female voice. You look to your right, and see a single, pink unicorn standing there, in the darkness. Her mane is black with a few pink stripes in odd places, and it is perfectly straight, dropping down towards the floor. As is common in Unicorns, though by no means ubiquitous, the aura is the same colour as her eyes; dark blue.
  
  "I'm guessing the Vargur slave mines aren't your chosen holiday destination?" She says, in the manner of one discussing the weather, "They certainly wouldn't be mine. Not exactly the most charming of places, but I've seen many that are worse."
  
  "Can you get me out of here?" You plead.
  
  "Oh, you mean break you out of this rusty thing? Of course I can," she says.
  
  "And what do you want in return?"
  
  "Oh, just a small thing," she says, brightly, "I'll need you to do something simple; buy me something very specific. I'll provide you with all the necessary money, of course, but after that, consider your debt paid."
  
  What do you do?
  
  > accept the deal
  You desperately accept. The unicorn nods, and with a flash of light, the she vanishes. The Vargur holding you is freed, and for a moment you think he is about to eat you, but you look closer and see a huge gash surrounded by a dark blue glow, all the way down his chest. He collapses, and falls to the floor, yelping and screaming, unsuccessfully trying to stem the tide gushing from his body...
  
  Your surroundings disappear. You reappear in an empty City square, surrounded by tall, dark buidings. You're at the Capital of the Old Unicorn Lands; where you always wanted to be.
  
  It began as a whispered legend when you were a foal; the largest structure on the planet that was the envy and desire even of the very Sun and the Moon. You never quite believed it, so to see it here is breathtaking to say the least.
  
  "Well, with that unpleaseantness out of the way," says the melodious voice of your Mysterious Saviour, "It's about time I introduced myself; my name is Eris Gleam."
  
  "Well," you say, carefully, "I'm grateful that you rescued me-"
  
  "Ah, well that brings us to your part of our arrangement," interrupts Eris. She produces a sack of gold coins, out of thin air, "Take these, and go into the Alchemy Shop named "Potions and Powders". There you must ask for "Item number 87"-you will find the gold I gave you is quite enough to cover it, and I've even provided a little extra just for you, as thanks for your help. I can't get it myself; my powers far exceed anyone elses, and they scare the other unicorns. They call me a "Witch", and if I ever went near them they'd probably tie me up and sell me."
  
  You take the gold pouch, and she smiles.
  
  "Go on now," she says. Her smile does not vanish, but her voice suddenly takes on a chillier tone, "Oh, and please don't think about running away with the money when I'm not looking. I would hate it I had to teleport you back to where you came from...".
  
  You tentatively enter the shop. The shelves are stacked high with ancient artefacts; a skull with glowing green eyes stares down at you, following your every action. Potions bubble and froth, some of them making sounds that resemble soft cries for help. You speed up just a bit, and get to the counter in the centre of the room.
  
  An old, wizened grey unicorn alchemist sits on the counter, seemingly asleep, but wakes up the moment you get near him.
  
  "What do you want?" he ask, with a bored tone.
  
  "I was told to order "Item 87", " You say, and toss the pouch to the alchemist. He looks intrigued, and counts out 20 coins, before returning a single gold coin to you.
  
  "This way," he says, taking keys from under his desk.
  
  He leads you down a corridor to a massive, metal door at the end. He inserts a great black key into the lock, and opens it with a creak. He levitates a glass box containing two vials of powers. One vial contains a powder white as snow; the other, as black as volcanic ash.
  
  "Now," says the alchemist, "The order instructions say that anyone who purchases this must inhale one of these two powders."
  
  "W-what?" you ask. You never agreed to inhaling stange dust!
  
  "I didn't write the rules," explains the alchemist, "But the order clearly states that, if you want it, you have to take one or the other. Don't know why, don't care, but do you want the box or not?"
  
  You gulp. You don't want to take these strange substances,which are very likely illegal, but you don't want to go back to the Vargur jail cell either. You take a closer look at the vials; the black one is labelled "Ashes of the future", and the white is labelled "Sugar of the past". Which do you take?
  
  > Ashes of the future
  You point to the black dust, and the alchemist offers it to you. You uncork the vial and place as small a sample as you can on your hoof, before placing the hoof under your snout and inhaling the meagre substance.
  
  For a moment, nothing feels different. Then, the world starts shaking, and you look down to realise it's not the world, but your legs. You collapse onto the floor, and hear the alchemist laugh. Your vision is filled with darkness, and your eyes begin to roll back...
  
  You are in the fields that the Vargur dragged you across in their cart. You take a hoofstep forward, and the ground and grass begins to ripple, and if you had disturbed a still pool. The ripple becomes a wave, and the whole hill lurches forward. You look into the sky; it is filled with whales, one of them suddenly turning into a bowl of flowers, before hitting the ground and smashing.The pot oozes with blood as the flowers wilt and die.
  
  A low, deep, vibrating sound fills the air. At first, you think it may be a growl, but you quickly realise it is a chuckle...
  
  The alchemist's shop comes back into view. Your head is still on the floor, in a pool of your own saliva and sweat, and you're still trembling. You wait a few minutes, before getting back on your more or less stable legs.
  
  The alchemist grins.
  
  "Well, looks like the box is yours!" he says, handing it to you, then trots back to his desk.
  
  You realise you have one gold coin left, and that this is likely the only shop open. Do you wish to buy something or leave the shop?
  
  As you make your decision, you look around, and see the options you have for one gold coin:
  
  -A Bezor of the Glatisunt- taking this stone will cure you of any toxin or illness.
  
  -One dose of 'Essence of the River' - this potion will allow you to calm even the most savage of beasts
  
  > buy nothing
  You trust nothing of this place, and charge out of the door without even a goodbye.
  
  Eris is waiting for you, a look of concern on your face.
  
  "Are you alright?" she asks, "Did something happen?" and you tell her of what happened.
  
  When you finish your story, she looks aghast, and you feel her magic caress away the saliva on your face.
  
  "What an awful thing to do!" she gasps, "He wanted to see the effects of the dust, so he tested it on you, and as if that wasn't enough, he actually told you that he wouldn't let you buy it otherwise? I would never have asked you to do this had I known! Those visions can drive folk to madness...do you want to talk about it? If you tell me what you saw, I might be able to help."
  
  You explain the vision, and Eris' face morphs from sympathetic to terrified.
  
  "The dust acts as a warning," says Eris, "A warning of things to come. What you saw was my greatest terror...the Unravelling is coming."
  
  "The Unravelling?" you ask, but Eris is no longer looking at you. She mutters somthing under her breath, to the tune of a nursery rhyme:
  
  "Do not seek the edges of the world, for fragile is its binding,
  
  But if you grab hold of it and pull, you shall see reality unwinding."
  
  "What does it mean?" You ask.
  
  "The universe is set up with rules," explains Eris, "There's a reason why, for example, we don't randomly float into the sky, or why you can't havea square circle. These rules can't be broken, and so the world functions as it should. The Unravelling, however, changes that. It is said that something or someone will cause an event that will suspend all known laws of reality, and the universe will be plunged into a state worse than non-existence; a world where nothing can be known for certain, and where reality is reduced to a meaningless sea of nonsense."
  
  "How can you stop it?" you ask, the blood thunders through your chest and the sound seems loud as a thunderstorm in the silent City night.
  
  Eris looks at you, sadly.
  
  "I know of a way," she says, "But I can't do it alone."
  
  "What do you mean?" You ask, "You have powers greater than anyone I've ever met, greater than anything I've even thought possible."
  
  Eris smiles sadly.
  
  "Oh, I'm not that special," she says, but she still sounds happy at your statement, "And power isn't the answer to everything. If I tried out my plan, many of the unicorns involved would likely try to kill me, and I would be forced to defend myself. And there's nothing in this world I would want to do less than hurt other Ponies. No, if I am to do this, I would need the help of another unicorn, brave and kind. You no longer owe me anything, so you are free to do as you will." She looks down at the ground, and her bottom lip wobbles a little, "It was nice to have met you," she sounds unusally subdued and quiet, "Well, goodbye, my friend." And she turns to go.
  
  You think of the vision you saw in the shop. Of how the world will descend into nonsense if you don't help. Then, almost outside your own volition, you hear your voice say
  
  "I'll do it."
  
  She turns around looks at you, both surprised and proud.
  
  "You'll help me?" she says, galloping towards you and beaming, "That's wonderful!" She rumages around in her bag, and pulls out a small, grey gem that reflects you and Eris, but nothing else.
  
  "Do you know what this is?" she asks.
  
  > No
  "This," Eris explains, "Is what is known as a 'Keystone of Reality', or more technically a "Quantized Time Crystal". After much searching of ancient libraries and museums, I managed to aquire it. It has the ability to remain in a perfect and repeating state, and when fully powered, it will be powerful enough to reverse any magic or even damage done to the laws of the universe."
  
  "And how does one power it?" You ask.
  
  "That's the problem," admits Eris, "There's only one known way to power it; a pathway through the Snow and Ice of the Northern Mountains is watched over by a set of guardians. Approaching the areas these guardians live, then talking with anyone who lives there, will allow you to power the Keystone, for the Keystone is powered by virtue, and the guardians are some of the most virtuous beings around. I'd do it myself, but they would recognise my power immediately and I fear they might kill me, merely because they think that no being should be this magically attuned."
  
  "Alright," you say, "I'll do it."
  
  "I'll teleport you when you're ready," says Eris, with a warm smile.
  
  > Ready...
  Just as Eris is about to cast her spell, there is a movement in the corner of your vision.
  
  "Spare change?" A ragged unicorn, with clothing barely more than rags, hobbles up to you. His horn is bent, and he can barely use the tiny amount of magic he has left to hold up the cup he is holding.
  
  "Leave us," says Eris, quietly. The unicorn pays no heed, and trots up to you.
  
  "Please, I have kids, the Wars left me a cripple..."
  
  "I don't have anything-" you begin, but the Unicorn doesn't back down.
  
  "You have!" he cries, "You have!" He is mere centimeters away from your face. Suddenly, he stops, and collapses to the floor. He begins trembling, his eyes shut, tears streaming down his face. You look closely and see his head encased in a dark blue glow. Eris' magic.
  
  "Now," she says, her voice trembling, "Begone. Or I will do inflict upon you things that will make the visions you see right now look like paradise in comparison." The Unicorn backs away into the darkness, whimpering. You look at Eris' face, an see a strange glint in her eye. But you suddenly realise that must have been the light of the full moon, for when you take a closer look, you see her look truly distraught.
  
  "I hate myself, sometimes," she says, bitterly, "But we can't allow ourselves to be slowed down right now. And," her voice quietens, "I was worried you were in danger." Suddenly, her horn glows , and both of you are enveloped by a blue flash.
  
  The City vanishes, and is replaced by a freezing cold mountain path. Snow blankets the ground and flakes fall through the air. You shiver at the intense temperature. Suddenly, the pink and black mane of Eris pops into view, and she is wearing a huge, thick coat.
  
  "Sorry," she says, "Should have given you something to keep warm, huh?"
  
  A dark blue aura surrounds you, and it is like you have been suddenly placed into a warm bath. A warm jacket, lined with the softest velvet, appears on you, and with that, Eris removes her magic.
  
  "Better?"
  
  You nod, gratefully.
  
  "Walk with me until we reach the first Cave," says Eris, "I think we have time for a short conversation."
  
  You may ask Eris about a single topic. What do you ask?
  
  > ask her nothing
  After a long walk, you reach the path leading towards first cave.
  
  "You must go forward alone," Eris says, "Don't worry; I'll teleport to the end, and I'll be waiting for you. I have every confidence that you will succeed." She disappears in a flash.
  
  You continue up the path, but you find it difficult to see anything through the snow. You carry on forwards, hoping that you did not miss the path. The warmth of your coat certainly helps with the blizzard, though your face and hooves are extremely cold. Using a tiny bit of your magic, you keep them warm; it feels as if a candle is being held near your face. Hypothetically, you could try and use magic to keep yourself much warmer, but using your magic on living things is always more difficult than on inanimate objects; keeping yourself even somewhat warm for more than a few seconds without losing your powers altogether would be a task even the highest level Unicorns would struggle with, though they might be able to pull off. You are most certainly not the highest level Unicorn.
  
  Soon, you see a cave up ahead. The cave lies on the other side of a wide gap, and at the bottom, an icy-blue river.
  
  In the cave, you see a dark brown Unicorn stallion, apparently awaiting your arrival. You need to find a way across to continue going on the path.
  
  "Jump across the gap!" He cries, "Don't worry, I'll use my magic to catch you! Just jump!"
  
  What do you do?
  
  > Don't jump
  You don't trust the stallion to keep his word.
  
  "Who exactly are you?" You ask, "What are you doing here?"
  
  The unicorn smiles.
  
  "Why, I am the "Guardian of Truth" of course! Which mean I truly guard whatever treasure you have come seeking, whether it be gold or jewels!"
  
  You raise an eyebrow. You aren't convinced this slippery Unicorn is the Guardian of The Truth. In fact, you heavily suspect that what remains the real Guardian Of Truth is several hundred metres below you...
  
  What do you do?
  
  > tell him that you came here in order to power a gem and save the world
  The stallion stops for a moment.
  
  "You told the truth?" Asks the stallion, "You're taking a huge risk, especially since you know you can't trust me."
  
  "Just because you're not trustworthy doesn't mean I should follow your example," you retort, "Look where that has helped you end up; stuck in a Cave."
  
  The stallion pauses for a moment.
  
  "Why should I bother to help you?" he says, doubtfully, "I'll just end up stuck here forever, either way."
  
  "If you killed the Guardian of Truth, maybe the role passes down on to you," you say, "Lying doesn't seem to have helped you out, maybe telling the truth will "break the curse" and free you."
  
  "Seems unlikely..." says the stallion,
  
  "Might as well try?" you plead, "No time like the present!"
  
  Silence.
  
  "Alright," he says, "Don't follow me up here, there's no way back. If you go back the way you came and turn left, you'll find yourself back on the path. And one last word of advice; don't be a fool, like I was. If a strange figure offers you a sack of gold coins and gemstones to do something stupid, like murder a powerful unicorn, you'd best just ignore them and carry on with your life. Look where I ended up."
  
  You aren't sure whether you believe him, but you give him the benefit of the doubt. You don't really have any other choice.
  
  After you have left, a rumbling sounds from above the cave entrance. A boulder tumbles down, and is caught in mid-air by a magic, light blue aura. The brown stallion places the boulder over the gap, and tentatively trots across, free at last. What a strange, yet fortunate ,coincidence...
  
  > continue across the path
  You double back and find another path across a stone bridge to the next part of the mountain.
  
  You are in a high-altitude pine forest, and you hear a strange groaning noise. You approach the source of the noise, and see three unicorn mares ; a purple mare with a dark red mane, a russet mare with a blonde mane and a white mare with a purple mane . The purple mare holds a huge, white beast on the end of a chain. It is an ape-like, bipedal creature known as a 'Yeti' and Its mouth is filled with blood, and you catch a glimpse of a unicorn horn sticking out of its teeth. There is a black cauldron in front of it, filled with a dark fluid, and you can see hooves and other body parts floating inside. You shudder.
  
  "Brrr," says the Purple Mare, "I know you like it here, but it isn't half c-cold."
  
  "Now, don't be ungrateful," scolds the White Mare, I must say, it may be a bit cold, but this was an absolutely wonderful place to live. That girl from the Coven really knew how to find the best places; we have our own pet Beast, completely under our control, and a steady supply of adventurers to use for, well, just about anything we like."
  
  "Now Fido," coos the purple mare, "You've had your monthly "lost adventurer", so be a good Yeti and fetch us some more black pudding." The Yeti grumbles in protest, and the mare smiles with a wicked grin.
  
  "Disobey me, will you?"
  
  "Use the eye spell!" screeches the russet unicorn with delight, "The one that makes him think his eyes are exploding while his skull is on fire!"
  
  "Make sure it lasts for, oooh, 73 rels," says the white mare, "That's long enough for him to get a full blast of it."
  
  A beam of light erupts from the purple mare's horn, and the Yeti collapses on the floor, writhing in agony and clutching his eyes, screaming so loudly that his roars echo across the mountains.
  
  The white mare looks on, revolted.
  
  "What a truly pathetic sight," she says, then turns to her purple sister, "Make the beast suffer some more."
  
  The russet unicorn begins laughing, maniacally and uncontrollably.
  
  At last, the purple mare relents, and the Yeti sadly drags himself to a cave nearby.
  
  What do you do?
  
  > free the beast and let him escape his master
  Once the creature is in the cave, you sneak past the cruel mare and follow the Yeti. Before it knows it, you have used your magic to unhook the restraints and set the creature free. The Yeti looks wide eyed at you, then rushes deep into the cave.
  
  You step out into the copse, and the purple mare stands before you.
  
  "You let my pet out," she says, " Get out of my way and let me get him back."
  
  "You can't kill me," you say, "Nor trap me. You're not powerful enough."
  
  "Oh, but that's where you're wrong; I can kill you, quite easily" she says, and you are unsure as to whether she is bluffing or not "But first, I will make you suffer like you have never suffered before, and then you will die. So what's it to be?"
  
  You can hear the laughter of the blonde unicorn; she's looking forward to you resisting.
  
  > stand in her way, saving the Yeti
  You refuse to move, and you watch as she casts a familiar beam of light at you.
  
  Lighting courses through your veins. Every neuron, every pain receptor you have burns hotter than the hottest flame. You feel your flesh boiling and bubbling away, and the sound of scratching on a chalkboard fills your years. A force squeezes the air out of you; you gasp for air but every gasp causes the pain to get worse, and the constrictuin to get tighter. Yet you still remain there, standing in the mare's way.
  
  At last, you hear the mare scream in frustration, and the pain subsides. She gallops away, futily chasing the Yeti, and you get up. You are perfectly intact; no burns or scratches on you. You begin to laugh the joyous laugh only those who have been relieved of a great burden know.
  
  > travel to the next cave
  On your way to the next cave, through the screaming snow, you think you can hear a sound. You listen closely, and it's there. A sobbing foal. You gallop on forwards, and see a tiny pink filly, lying in the snow. She looks up and sees you; she has severe hypotherimia, and she will not last more than a few more seconds at best. Only your magic can keep her alive, but to do that, you'll have to be right next to her, and she is so far gone that, at this point, you would have to sacrifice so much magic that you're not entirely sure you will ever be able to use your abilities again.
  
  "P-p-please d-d-don't come closer" she gasps, "S-stay there, let me die..."
  
  You see she is carrying nothing more than a box of matches, and she is sitting next to a pile of burned out matches. What do you do?
  
  > leave the filly alone, and let her freeze
  Not your problem. You ignore the little filly, and continue on your way. As you pass her, she goes blue and breathes her last, shuddering breath.
  
  > Onwards
  You travel forwards. At last, you reach a strange place filled with plants and bushes, lianas and fungi. In front of you is a cave, but the cave is covered in strange, plant-like tendrils. The tendrils have wrapped themselves around something.
  
  You look closely, and see the tendrils wrapped around the base a mostly snapped off, pale Unicorn horn. That horn is attached to a skull, lying in a pile of bones. The tendrils are wrapped around the skeleton; perhaps they crushed him to death? Right next to the pile of bones lies a note, which you stoop down to read.
  
  "My final day," it reads ,"I have spent so long trying to work out a way through this cave, and complete my pilgrimage. I had heard stories about the plants that grow here, how they are impassable. Not because they're physically strong; they are exceptionally easy to cut. But no one has ever passed them, because once they're caught, no one ever wants to. It is said that the lianas can take whatever thought you hold the most powerfully and twist it into a thought so wonderful that no one will want to escape. Then, the tendrils eat you; suck out your blood and your marrow. I thought I could trick it, think a thought that could never be made happy; the day my horn was lost. As the vines snared around me, I tried to remember the day I lost my horn. How the other Unicorns laughed at me, mocked me, made me feel worthless. That was the day that ruined my life, and the reason I left the company of others forever and hoped to find answers here. Yet the vines were too clever even for me. The memory of me losing my horn was brought back, but instead of mocking me, the other Unicorns sympathised with me. They told me that losing my horn didn't make me worth any less, and they even all got together to buy me a hat that would disguise the loss of my horn. And Midnight, the pretty mare I had been too shy to talk to, spoke to me and told me how she always had really liked me. I know, deep down, none of this is real, and I have just about the presence of mind to keep writing, but now I realise, the peace I was searching for was right here, all along, in a warm, loving embrace, which grows tighter every moment"
  
  You stop looking at the note. You feel nauseous, but you need to get into the cave. How will you get past when no other Unicorn could? Maybe the thought this Unicorn had wasn't quite sad enough, and an even worse thought will get you through. Perhaps the tendrils will be tricked by a happy thought; the last thing the vines would expect would be for you to make it easy for them. Or maybe you should try to fill your mind with loads of random, funny thoughts for you to laugh at; maybe that would confuse the creature? Would keeping your mind entirely clear work, or would it still find a way to get you?
  
  > think sad thought
  You think of the time your village was destroyed and burned down. But as the lianas curl around you, you look around. The village is still burning, but your friends and family are all fine. They escaped the Vargar, and they crowd around, all so happy to be alive. You decide to wait here, just for a few moments; basking in the happiness of this memory for only a few second can't be THAT dangerous, can it? But those few seconds in your mind were hours in the real world, and soon enough, you slip into oblivion...