//------------------------------//
// Chapter 6: Terror 
// Story: Disgaea: A Promise Mared 
// by Tyrant Chaos 
//------------------------------//


Chapter 6: Terror




Valvatorez stared back at Celestia and her subjects, completely oblivious to the destruction being wrought behind him, with a confident smirk countering their disbelieving stares "so what do ya say Twilight! Think 'Equestria's greatest heroes' can handle a wooden dummy of me?" he innocently goaded. 

The ponies remained dumbstruck as another portion of someponies house was scattered across the dirt road and a mares shriek could be heard in the distance. Another moment passed until one of them snapped out of their stupor "Valvatorez, I cannot let you do this." Celestia objected, donning her rulers presence "What happened to your promise to not bring harm to anypony in Ponyville." 

"I am well aware of the promises I've made Celestia," he said in a calm and even tone "and should they be in any mortal danger, Rascal here..." he reached over, grabbing the parka-wearing demon in question, much to his surprise "will be able to finish the job."

"M-me?" Emizel squeaked.

"You CAN light wood on fire can't you?"

"Oh, right..."

"But Valvatorez, if Emizel can handle this then why not let him?" Twilight asked as a vegetable stand was cleaved in two with its product splattering all over the surrounding area "I mean, that would be the most efficient way to end this...wouldn't it?"

"Because this is a test for you, Twilight." Valvatorez retorted, focusing his stern gaze on the confused look of the young princess "If you and your friends cannot handle a cheap knockoff of me created by Sombra then how will you be of ANY help when we inevitably face him?" 

While she didn't want to admit it, Valvatorez had a point. In the past King Sombra was able to hold his own against Princesses Celestia and Luna, his mere presence nearly brought The Crystal Empire to ruin, and if Spike wasn't with her when she looked for the Crystal Heart he would have! This could still count as an indirect confrontation since they weren't fighting Sombra himself but an 'indirect confrontation' nearly cost her, her friends, and the ponies of The Crystal Empire their lives. And that was before who-knows-what happened in the Netherworld. For all she knew, he was even stronger than before! 

She was scared. Scared of putting her friends in danger. Scared they would not be able to handle it. And scared they would get hurt, or worse. But the look Valvatorez was giving her showed that he would not take no for an answer, and that scared her even more. In her mind there were two options; either fight accursed figure and risk her friends safety or deny Valvatorez with everything she had and let them sort this out on their own. In her heart however, she knew what she had to say...she just didn't want to.

But somepony beat her to it "ahh let it go Twilight! We'll just kick that twig's flank and show how awesome we are. Nothing we haven't done before." Rainbow Dash said, nonchalantly waving a hoof before bolting past the group and towards the not-Valvatorez.

"Rainbow! Wait!" Twilight yelled to late. Before the rainbow colored blur faded from her sight, her friend had already landed a punch to the back of its head and was circling around for another attack. Seeing this she let out a small breath and mustered up all the courage she could and turned toward her friends "looks like we don't have a choice now, let's go everypony!" she said in a tone mixed with irritation and regret as she took to the air and led the charge with her remaining friends.

Meanwhile Rainbow Dash closed in for another strike to the face, but now that the possessed statue was focused on her it was able to clumsily dodge her dive, making her stomp the ground instead. Undeterred by her miss, she pivoted around and once again rushed at it in a rainbow colored blur. Only instead of another head on assault that the dummy predicted, if his air-cutting slash was any sign, Rainbow veered to the side and started circling it at blinding speeds, surrounding it in a rainbow tornado. The statue stared blankly at the wall of rainbows in surrounding it as the purple fire continued to seep out of the its sockets, trying to track the pegasus causing it. Slowly, like it was getting ready to swat a fly, it raised the jagged sword above its head while never taking its gaze off of one specific spot of the tornado. And in one swift motion he brought the greatsword down, cleaving apart the tornado and sundering the ground beneath the strike.

"Woah!" Rainbow Dash yelled mere centimeters from the blade currently stuck in the ground, her eyes wide and her hooves dug into the ground from the sudden stop she had to do in order to keep her head. The statue however wasn't done with its attack as the side of the still buried sword connected with Rainbow Dash's chest, sending her and any dirt holding it back high into the air.

"Rainbow!" Twilight yelled, watching her friend fly away from the statue in a rainbow streak surrounded by dirt and debris. She turned her attention back to the dummy that hurt her friend, unaware that Fluttershy had broken off and had already caught their friend. The fear from earlier had been quashed by anger as she launched a blazing beam of magic directly towards its face, charring the wood where her attack connected. She continued her volley, leaving more burns on the arms, chest, and even the sword itself as the statue began to deflect or dodge the beams.

This gave Applejack enough time to close the distance between her and the statue and plant her front hooves firmly into the ground. Noticing too late the pony right under it, the statue brought its sword between it and the mare turning around with her hind legs already primed for a powerful kick and braced for the impending blow. With a resounding crack, Applejacks buck had managed to split apart the statue's gnarled weapon. With a confident smirk she turned her head to see the damage she caused. and from the corner of her eye, she watched the large half of the blade threatening to fall off should the pressure she and the statue were putting on it dissipated, something she was more than happy to oblige. The smirk turned to shock as before her eyes purple bubbles and black tendrils leaked out of the destroyed weapon, tying together the broken halves and re-sealing the crack. "What in tarnation?" was all she could whisper as she watched the burned away wood slowly regenerate, leaving only the blackened marks where the wounds once were. Knowing that she was now at a disadvantage, Applejack sprung off the repaired weapon, avoiding the retaliatory strike from the statue, and landing a safe distance away from it. "Twi, that thing's fixin itself with magic!" she warned her friend.








"Regeneration through dark arts, not bad." Fenrich commented from the sidelines as he, Celestia, and the other demons watched with bated breath as the battle unfold. While Celestia was beside herself with worry, the demons were simply enjoying seeing teamwork used in a battle, an uncommon practice in the Netherworld. Plus every blow the ponies took made Fenrich a little happier on the inside for some reason. It was because of this that he reached for one of the snacks the prinnies brought and offered it to His Lord before he decided to help himself "Popcorn, My Lord?"

"No thank you." Valvatorez answered, dismissing the bucket of popcorn with a wave of his hand "The kernels always seem to get stuck between my teeth."

"I'll have some." Emizel said, holding out his hand.

"I don't recall asking you, whelp." Fenrich scolded, completely toning out the Death's cursing and complaining as he grabbed a handful of kernels and emptied them into his mouth. Immediately after the handful of popcorn entered his mouth he spat out the half chewed kernels and wiped away anything still left "Ugh...needs more salt..."








Twilight continued firing magical blasts during the openings Applejack and Rainbow Dash provided, leaving more charred parts to be stitched together again by the dark regeneration. Even Rarity was able to hit it with a beam of magic but being neither as strong as nor as specialized as Twilight all she could hope to do was try and bore a hole through it, only to have what progress she made be repaired seconds later. The only exception was when the wooden statue blocked the incoming beam with its left hand, tearing off four of the fingers in the process. And between Twilight's blasts, Applejack's bucks, and Rainbow Dash's dive bombs, the remains of the four fingers slowly floated back to the damage limb, reconnecting with the main body during a break in their attacks.

'Wait...why didn't it just regrow the fingers? It would have been a lot easier...right?' Twilight thought, remembering the seemingly failed attack. As her mind followed that train of thought her lips slowly began to curl upwards "Girls!" she called out, earning her friends attention and disengaging them from the fake Valvatorez "I have a plan." at this the curious looks they were all giving her changed to the same confident smile Twilight wore. In a matter of seconds the five former element-bearers grouped up around Twilight with Applejack and Rainbow Dash in front of her, blocking her from the golem's line of sight. Rarity and Pinkie stood by Twilights sides while Fluttershy stood in the back. "I'm going to create an opening. When I give the signal Pinkie, Applejack, try and knock of its limbs. Rarity and Fluttershy, grab any parts that falls of it and keep it from rejoining the main body. Rainbow? If you see a chance, hit it hard and fast." 

"Question!" one of the five ponies asked, even raising their hoof, but to Twilight's surprise it was Rainbow Dash. The battle loving mare looked back at her with an inquisitive glance "Does it matter where?" she innocently asked.

"Nope." she replied with a sly grin.

And in that moment the innocence disappeared from her face and in its place was a wicked grin of a pony ready to unleash havoc "perfect." Rainbow said, reveling in the answer she was given. The second later she was already halfway between Twilight and the dummy, specifically the dummy's head. The fake Valvatorez barely had a second more to prepare for the speeding pegasus intent on flying through its face but in that second it was able to twist its body out of Rainbow's flight path, sustaining only a grazing blow, and arced its warped sword into it instead. The exchange did not end in the statue's favor however as, in exchange for some long strands of multi-colored hair being caught on the blade, none of which were red, the 'grazing blow' Rainbow Dash had managed to land was powerful enough to twist its head past the shoulders, tearing apart some of the fibers of wood at the neck. The dummy's head twisted back to the front of its body as the neck repaired itself. With its latest repairs done the dummy focused its attention on the now flying pegasus, its back now facing the rest of the group.

An opportunity two earth ponies took advantage of.

While the doll was distracted Applejack delivered a pair of swift kicks to the back of the knees and Pinkie Pie, with a loud battlecry, brought her hoof down on the back of the fakes head. The combined blows brought the fake fully to the ground while the two earth ponies put some distance between them and it. A good thing too, as once the fake was back on its feet it turned towards the two and started assaulting them with a flurry of slashes. Each swing was carefully dodged by the two ponies with Applejack holding her stetson with one hoof and Pinkie making small jumps and slides out of the blades path. Every time the fake focused on one of the earth ponies the other took the opportunity to land more hits, causing his attention to shift once again. 

Because of this it had no idea its body was now emanating a soft violet aura.

Twilight carefully channeled her magic into the fake Valvatorez waiting for the best moment to unleash her spell. That moment happened when both sides relented in their attacks and instead engaged in a staredown with one side smirking at the other. In the next instant the dummy's body was engulfed by flames. Twilight and the rest of the onlookers watched at the wooden construct flailed its arms about in a vain attempt to put out the fire consuming its body faster than the dark magic coursing through it could repair. Igniting a wooden statue that was bigger than the average pony took more time and magic than lighting a candle but seeing that her attack was so effective made Twilight smile a little. 

Deciding enough was enough, the fake Valvatorez stopped moving and began glowing in a black aura. In one swift motion the aura bust out of its body, immediately blowing away the fire and sending dark ripples through the air, buffeting everyone present with the dark aura. With the fires extinguished the fake Valvatorez stood limply as its body slowly regenerated from the attack, its burning eyes were fixed solely on the young alicorn responsible for charring most of its body. Her wings were flared, her horn was glowing and she looked ready to go another round. But what struck the dummy, as odd was she still had the same confident expression on her face.

The answer came when a prismatic blur crashed through the fake's neck, which easily gave after being turned mostly into charcoal, and sent the severed wooden head high into the air. Rainbow Dash then circled around and caught the charred lifeless wooden head in her hooves. She then hovered high in the air over the still standing dummy tossing the wooden head into the air and catching it like a ball "Hey! Looking for something? Cuz I got it right here!" she shouted down to the construct which now only had a sickly green flame coming out of what remained of the neck. Yet despite no longer having ears the construct could still hear as in response to Rainbow Dash's taunt it turned to face her, (presumably) looking up into the sky where she was ready to leap after her and its stolen head.

It never got the chance as a loud "now!" echoed throughout the plaza, and another limb was forcibly removed. From behind, Applejack had loosed a strong buck comparable to the one that split the warped Hero's Blade to the back of the right elbow, the arm currently holding said twisted weapon.

Pinkie followed up with a karate chop aimed at the opposite leg, even screaming "Hiiiyah!" as she flew through the air and brought her hoof down. The attack was as if a blackbelt had done the deed as the pink pony's hoof cleaved through the left thigh, sundering the leg completely and forcing the main body to the ground.

"That's our cue, Fluttershy." Rarity said before using her magic to grab the severed arm and move it closer to her. likewise, Fluttershy quickly grabbed the leg that had come off and, with it still squirming in her hooves flew into the air away from the fallen construct. both limbs were trying to worm their way out of their respective predicaments but to the ponies credit Rarity's magic was holding and while Fluttershy was apologizing constantly, she too was keeping her body part in check. 

Above everyone else, Rainbow Dash watched the scene unfold as she continued to play with her head-shaped hoofball. She watched as Twilight's magic enveloped the other two torn off body parts along with the main body struggling in vain to stand. Seeing everything happening and nothing trying to hurt them, Rainbow Dash turned to the spectating demons and felt it was appropriate to calmly announce their victory.

"Hah! How's that you spiky haired bat! Are we awesome, or are. We. AWESOME!" she said raising the wooden head above her as if it were a trophy.

Valvatorez on the other hand continued to stand there with his eyes closed, his arms crossed, and his words quiet.








Celestia watched Rainbow Dash's display and while she wouldn't be as exuberant about it as she would, Celestia had to admit this looked like a decisive win. In another moment her former student would reduce the arm and leg to ash. and without a means to stand, let alone fight, the doll Sombra sent could only lay there and wait to be put to the torch. With that in mind she looked over to the three demons who had been watching with her "I believe they've proven themselves more than capable of handling anything Sombra could throw at them, wouldn't you say Valvatorez?" 

"That remains to be seen." Valvatorez responded, only opening one of his eyes a sliver "The battle's not over yet."








Applejack stood over the crumpled enemy watching as her friends cheered to their win, with Rainbow and Pinkie being the most boisterous. Rarity, Fluttershy, and Twilight were still carrying out their part of the plan but if the heat she felt from the dummy's main body was any indication then it would not be much longer until it was disposed of. Smiling, she closed her eyes and adjusted her stetson waiting for the wave of warmth that signaled the wood bursting into flames. Everything went according to plan. 

So why was she feeling a chill run up her spine? 

When she opened her eyes her heart nearly stopped as the mannequin was beginning to glow in a black, clearly magical aura that was snuffing out Twilight's. Instinctively out of concern she looked over to her friend, now struggling against the unseen influence wresting control of the doll from her. 

But following her instincts was a mistake. 

The moment Applejack turned away, the mannequin dug its remaining hand into the ground and in one swift motion spin kicked Applejack into the wall of a building nearly stopping her heart, this time literally, as she slumped to the ground barely conscious. In the five seconds everypony was still in shock, the mannequin pulled its arm out of the ground and lunged toward Applejack with its one good leg and pinned her against the wall by the neck, leaning all of its weight against her to not only remain standing but to also either choke, crush, or outright kill the trapped mare. "Applejack!" Twilight screamed, completely forgetting about the spell she was so close to finishing. 

Another mistake. 

With the lavender aura no longer covering the removed limbs, they began radiating more dark energy, forming wispy tethers with the main body. Fluttershy tried holding onto the leg, but the appendage suddenly grew spikes all over it, stabbing her all over her front hooves and chest. Now free the leg flew back to the main body and seamlessly reattached itself, allowing the construct to stand normally again.  

"No..." Twilight muttered, still in shock at how everything was falling apart. She watched as the head Rainbow Dash was holding grew spikes, which were not enough to make her let go. The black lightning that coursed out of it moments later on the other hoof was, and the head was reattached moments later with the pegasus formerly holding it plummeting to the ground with blackened fur "No!". Another scream was heard as a marshmallow-white unicorn fell to the ground, the same black electricity sparking around her charred horn as the last appendage and the weapon it was holding reattached itself. Now staring blankly at the barely conscious Applejack with the same purple mist coming out of its eyes, the mannequin extended its sword arm out to where it was level with its captives neck.

And swung horizontally "NOOO!"

As the blade tore through the building on its path to Applejack, a red sigil appeared below the mannequin and from the sigil a large gout of flame erupted high into the air, swirling around in a controlled pillar. The inferno continued as the main body of the construct snapped and crackled in the midst of being reduced to ashes. When the blazing tornado finally did subside that was all that was left of the mannequin...ashes. Ashes and a black lustrous sphere vaguely hidden in the pile.

Applejack sat against the wall of the building breathing heavily, the remains of a wooden arm still loosely attached to her neck. Brushing the limb away with a hoof she looked above her to the wooden blade stuck in the buildings wall, charred black where the fire severed it from the body and with a slight red spot where the blade met the wall. With her left hoof she checked her neck to find an incision the rough size of the bloodstain on the sword, cutting deep into the muscle. When she saw her hoof covered in blood her breathing intensified, her vision started to blur, and she was feeling very nauseous. Not wanting to make a mess she focused on the pile of ash in front of her "th, that was...a little to close. Thanks Twi..." Applejack wheezed, not bothering to look at her friend. Instead opting to regain her breath and keep pressure on her neck wound. If she had looked though she would have seen the shocked...no...broken expression on her face and in her features.

"That...wasn't me..."

Mechanically, Twilight slowly scanned the area to try and find who conjured the conflagration. Rainbow, Rarity, and Applejack were still down, Fluttershy was gingerly holding her front hooves close to her chest, and Pinkie was staring at the demons with her mouth agape. The demons on the other hoof had changed, one more than the others. In his hand was a staff almost as long as his body, still faintly glowing red from the fire spell. At its end was a crimson crystal sphere with two dark grey bat wings sticking out of it. The staff's wielder stood motionless as the residual magic dispersed, rustling his green parka and making the cold flame on the end of his hood flicker and writhe. When it finally registered to Twilight what had happened, the energy she didn't know she still had drained out of her and she collapsed onto her haunches and stared blankly at the ground before her.

'Emizel was forced to intervene...'

'Applejack was going to die...'

'We...we failed...' 

The sound of clapping forced Twilight out of her stupor, a slow patronizing clap that could only be made by one demon "well, that was entertaining." Fenrich commented with a wry smile. He, Valvatorez, and the others were approaching Twilight while Celestia used her magic to heal Rainbow Dash's, Rarity's and Fluttershy's more grievous wounds "Too bad you didn't win though. You almost had him too." Fenrich added with a tone that truly said he was slightly disappointed at the outcome. 

"Now now Fenrich, be nice. They did alright...all things considered..." Valvatorez defended, the last part not loud enough for anyone else to hear "They tried using brute force at first, and when that didn't work they changed tactics to exploiting weaknesses, something that I alluded to before they started fighting. All in all, they did what any demon would normally do during a first encounter." 

"But keep in mind, My Lord, they still would have suffered casualties had the whelp not intervened. On top of that the coward over there hardly did anything at all, and was still injured." Fenrich countered, making an off-handed gesture to Fluttershy.

"Perhaps, but our battles were not without flaws either. Remember Minotrose?" Valvatorez said with a hint of disgust in his voice. Fenrich too was repulsed at that demon's name. The fact that he made a fool out of the two of him and nearly pumped him full of silver bullets didn't help matters either. "What they lack in raw power they make up for in teamwork, and with a bit of experience even that can be fixed. As for Fluttershy..." Valvatorez chuckled, watching the mare in question and her friends Pinkie Pie and Rarity gather next to Twilight "I have a hunch there's more to these ponies than meets the eye." he said to Fenrich with a hint of finality before looking down to Twilight, adopting a stern smirk "Well Twilight, considering your opponent had the strength of a mid-boss level demon you and your friends did better than I expected."

The expression on Twilight's face was slowly turning from the heart-stopping shock to pure confusion at Valvatorez's words. But before she could ask anything about what he said a familiar rainbow blur with a bit of crimson and black mixed in zoomed by and into the face of the unsuspecting vampire "hey! Why'd you let shrimpy but in? We could've won back there!" Rainbow Dash snarled, face to muzzle with the Prinny instructor. 

Valvatorez kept his calm demeanor and gently pushed the livid pegasus away from his face, getting his white glove bloody in the process "Oh I don't doubt that," he said in a calm tone before adding the weight of a planet to his words "but had the battle continued another second Applejack would have died." the words struck the ponies gathered there worse than a lance through the heart and all they could do is sit there as Valvatorez continued his verbal assault. Even Rainbow Dash was on the ground, her wings refusing to flap after hearing those words, or because of the puncture wounds. " Had rascal not intervened you would be spending the rest of the day burying your friend or...whatever it is you do with your dead." as he said this, Valvatorez watched the tears form in each of their eyes. He even saw Pinkie's mane deflate and somehow begin straightening itself out. Knowing his point has been made, Valvatorez loosened his expression, becoming more comforting "In fact, I think she's taking the experience rather hard." he added somberly, looking over to Applejack who had remained hunched against the broken wall, the majority of her face obscured by her stetson "Get up Applejack! There is still a lot of work to be done before you can take a break!" Valvatorez ordered, tired of seeing the pitiful sight of the strong earth pony broken by a measly near-death experience. So when she remained quiet Valvatorez couldn't help but be a little curious "Applejack?" he repeated, still getting no response from the mare. Usually by now there would be something, a hollow response of his name, a grunt of some sort signifying they were listening, even simple eye contact! But so far...nothing. Now curiosity had taken over as he began taking steps toward the unresponsive mare, fully examining everything about her for an answer to why she was ignoring him.

Twilight too was curious as to why Applejack was still sitting there in her state of torpor as were the rest of her friends. Lowering her head for a better view, Twilight carefully approached her friend, warily eying her for anything suspicious, with Valvatorez a few paces in front of her and the rest of her friends a few behind. She could tell Applejack was still breathing from the short but swift beat of her chest. There was thankfully no new sources of blood other than her neck injury and even that was just a trickle. Slowly Applejack's face came into view and Immediately she knew what was wrong "Everypony! Get back!" Twilight yelled as she removed Applejack's hat to reveal her eyes. They weren't her natural green eyes but Twilight remembered seeing them before, in the Crystal Empire.

Valvatorez was about to step back as well but a glimmer beneath the ashes caught his eye first. Kneeling down to grab it the object suddenly started bubbling with purple and green magic, bathing Valvatorez's face in the ominous glow. Moments later the whites of his eyes started glowing bright green and his expression changed to pure and utter shock.

Twilight flew over to Valvatorez trying to shake him out of the waking nightmare he was experiencing, but to no avail. Changing her focus, she looked at the object hidden in the ash. Half-buried beneath it and obscured by the bubbles of black, green and purple was a crystal sphere nearly identical to the one at the end of Emizel's staff except for two things. The first was that there were no bat wings attached to the crystal in front of her, and the second was that it was pitch black. On instinct Twilight gathered what energy she could and fired it all in one powerful magic blast at the blackened crystal, shattering it completely and dispelling its enchantment.

The effects were instantaneous, the green glow in Valvatorez's and Applejack's eyes vanished and their pupils returned to normal "huff...huff...wha-, what happened?" Valvatorez gasped, tightly clenching his chest as he tried to calm down. 

"That crystal was cursed. King Sombra must've put an enchantment on it." Twilight answered, still staring at the remains of the crystal and the black smoke coming from it. When the smoke dissipated completely she turned her walked over to her friend and put a hoof on her shoulder "Applejack, are you ok? What did it show you?" Twilight asked in a soothing motherly tone.

Applejack though was still shaken, so much so in fact that she had removed her hoof from her neck wound enough to let blood run down her side "ah think...ah think ah need a little time before ah talk about it sugarcube." she gasped, her stare boring into the ground.

"Oh, I see." Twilight sighed, slightly dejected at her friends words. She couldn't blame her, not after what she and Spike experienced, but it still left her with an uncomfortable feeling in her chest. Shaking away the feeling she turned to the other one afflicted by the curse "What about you Valvatorez?"

Valvatorez had covered himself with his cape, hiding most of his face with it. Slowly and with a notable quiver in his words he spoke "it was terrible. Demons willingly subjugated by the humans, even you Fenrich. Hades lifeless and destroyed." he paused for a moment to catch his breath and let the words sink in, not for the ponies but for the demons, both of which wore similar shocked expressions. Ever so slightly he moved his cape away from his face, revealing the pained grimace and teary eyes he had been trying to hide up to this point "But that wasn't the worst of it. No...the truly terrifying part was...was..." he gagged as the words refused to leave his throat, he covered his mouth to make sure nothing came up and moved the same hand over his eyes to brace for the pain that would inevitably come as he yelled out words he thought he would never say: "Sardines were fished to extinction!"

"That's horrible!" Pinkie Pie screamed, being the only one there taking his plight seriously. everyone else simply looked at him with either a deadpan stare or a confused glance but they were all thinking the same thing 'Really? That's what he's afraid of most?'. Pinkie on the other hand embraced Valvatorez in a hug and gently patted his back "There there Valzy...it was just a bad dream, sardines are still swimming around all over Equestria."

"Thank you Pinkie, that was something I needed to hear." Valvatorez replied, wrapping one of his arms around her to return the hug.

Fenrich let out a sigh as he pinched the bridge of his nose, tired of seeing the scene before him and of the implications from the battle moments before. With a sense of finality and loud enough for everyone there to hear Fenrich said behind gritted teeth "I think we should return to the castle..."








Fenrich eyed the cork board in front of him with equal parts concentration and disgust. Ten minutes ago he and the rest of the group had made their way back to the room Celestia made her entrance in. The pegasi fastened to her chariot were still standing there even, despite all the noise the battle must have caused. Whether it was the knowledge they were outclassed or blind obedience Fenrich didn't care, the project in front of him demanded his full attention, even though he didn't want to give it.  

"That one goes there." he commanded, pointing to a specific part of a map pinned to the board, one that had in big bold letters the words 'Whitetail Woods' labeling it. 

"Aye aye dood!"

"And place that one there." pointing this time to an unmarked section at the top of the map. 

"On it dood!"

While Fenrich worked on the cork board Twilight and the other ponies were laying on the opposite side of the room with Celestia checking each of their wounds and administering any first-aid that was necessary. Fluttershy offered to help but Celestia insisted she rested to not reopen her wounds. The spikes she was impaled with had left slivers throughout her body, slivers that were charged with dark magic that prevented the wounds from healing completely. Celestia had to use her magic to close the wounds and dissipate the splinters of magic infecting them while her body broke down the physical counterpart. In the end they compromised and Fluttershy was allowed to help treat Rainbow Dash's wounds so long as she was careful.

Speaking of Rainbow Dash, her wounds were easily the worst of everypony there. While Fluttershy's coat was not her usual buttery tan color, Rainbow's was crimson all over with charred spots across her body and wings, and that was just what she looked like on the outside! On top of worse impalement wounds than Fluttershy the burns from where the lightning arced across her body wracked her with intense pain every time she tried to move. Celestia made sure that everypony was truly not in danger of dying before following Fenrich back to the castle (and quite possibly incinerating a certain lying vampire shortly thereafter) but seeing Rainbow's condition still made her worry. But  with some help from her wounded assistant, Celestia had been able to stitch together and bandage most of the holes caused by the spikes. Fluttershy meanwhile was tending to the burns with surprising grace despite being perforated herself and trying to not open her own wounds. The bandages, provided by Twilight, glowed a faint blue against the burned skin as the enchantments soothed the areas with a cooling breeze and carefully adjusted themselves to fit snugly in order to not hinder movement.

Everypony else's injuries were minor by comparison, in fact Pinkie somehow made it through all of this without a scratch. Rarity's magic would be less coordinated for a while but there would be no permanent damage or scars on her horn, to the fashionista's great relief. Applejack, despite being subjected to Sombra's illusion and nearly loosing her head, was physically fine. The cut on her neck went through the skin and part of the muscle but was stopped before it could tear through anything vital. Mentally on the other hoof was another matter. Whatever she saw in the illusion and nearly losing her head moments before that had reduced the typically strong-willed friend to a lethargic mare sulking behind her hat.  

Twilight was pulled from her observations when she heard the prinnies collapse to the floor "there, now that everything's ready I think it's time to begin." she heard Fenrich say. He then pulled out the metal device he was fiddling with yesterday and clearing his throat loudly got everyone's attention. 

Everyone gathered around Fenrich, either curious or tired of what the werewolf was about to say. Valvatorez and Emizel stood to the side with Valvatorez clearly mulling something over in his head if his crossed arms or closed eyes were any indication. Taking His Lord's silence as consent to begin, Fenrich raised the metal box into the air so that every pony there could see it "This is what's called a Netherworld Energy Scanner. It is commonly used by field commanders in the Netherworld for military operations and manhunts due to it's ability to thoroughly evaluate a nearby demon's fighting potential as well as track specific energy sources over a wide distance." he stated. He decided to leave out the part that this specific model was out of date or that he had made preparations to steal the latest prototype before they hit shelves next month. With the technical introductions out of the way he then shifted focus to the corkboard he had been working on "Now then, as you can see this is a map of...ugh...Ponyville as well as the surrounding areas. I've taken the liberty to mark everywhere the radar had detected a source of fear energy." he continued, only breaking his composure when he spat out the town's name. Across the map were pins scattered all over the map with the notable exception of seven being in the center where the town was portrayed "Tell me, how many of you can do basic math?"

"Very funny," Rainbow Dash deadpanned, countering snark with snark. With Celestia's help she floated carefully towards the map for a better look and was returned to her cushion after a minute "there's fifteen dots on the map, so?"

Fenrich slowly clapped his hands as his uninterested eyes scanned the crystal architecture "congratulations, you can do addition. Now...what about subtraction?" he said tersely, earning dirty looks from not only Rainbow Dash but a few of her friends as well  "And before you start protesting I can assure you that, Including Sombra and the whelp, there should only be eight demons in Equestria." 

"So that leaves seven sources unaccounted for." Twilight answered now pondering possible reasons for the additional sources on the radar "Does that mean King Sombra found a way to bring demons here from the Netherworld?"

"While that's not an impossible feat, I have a more plausible explanation." Fenrich stated, pulling something out of his pocket and showing his audience. The item turned out to be a small black shard of a jewel yet its mere presence made every pony there tense up "This is a shard of the crystal found inside the Valvatorez statue. I can tell you right now that it originated from our Netherworld, and yet for some reason this shard is radiating fear energy, albeit diluted by a foreign magic." he explained to the locals, hoping that would be enough of an explanation. unfortunately for him none of the ponies looked satisfied with what he said, in fact Twilight specifically looked ready to pounce on him and grill him for more information. With a long sigh Fenrich relented "Fear energy is emitted by any sentient form of life such as humans, or in this case ponies, that is then sent to the Netherworld as a kind sustenance. It is not produced by inanimate objects like rocks or clothing." he summarized, not bothering to go into too much detail to try and keep these ponies quiet. And with the exception of Celestia and Twilight who continued to look at him with caution and inquiry respectively, they seemed to be satisfied with the info. As for the other two...sucks for them he was moving on "It is most likely the same nightmare inducing curse that was on this crystal that is now causing our scanner to react."

"Are you saying there are more of these crystals scattered around Ponyville?" Celestia questioned while the other ponies let that selfsame question rattle around in their brains, and the implications that came with them.  

"That's right." Fenrich evenly answered "And as you can see from the map there are readings encircling the town. On top of that, the energy readings have not deteriorated since we returned to the castle meaning they're not going away if you were to try and wait them out. It's because of the fear energy emanating from them and the curse bound to them that I decided to name these 'Terror Crystals'."

"T-Terror Crystals? T-that makes them sound t-t-terrifying..." Fluttershy mumbled from behind Celestia.

"That's kind of the point." Fenrich sighed, rubbing the bridge of his nose. While his patience for these ponies had all but dried up, he accepted that these sad creatures were out of their league. He still couldn't care less about the ponies themselves but the information they might have could prove useful, he could assassinate them later after they were done with Sombra. Feeling better at that idea he straightened up and moved his hand to over his chest "Anything that can affect My Lord, who will one day be the symbol of fear itself throughout the Netherworld and human world must be taken seriously. Also it should deter any would-be heroes of this land from going after them, and cause more work for us in their inevitable rescue." he said with deadly seriousness "The name serves as a reminder that we must not underestimate Sombra, who ruled using the selfsame fear and illusions against his own subjects." 

"Ah gotta say, that seems like a pretty good name for 'em." Applejack added despondently, staring at her reflection in the crystalline ground and keeping her legs close "Ah don't ever want to see that happen ever again."

"Applejack..." Twilight whispered. She still hadn't told her what she had seen but it was obvious Sombra didn't hold back in frightening her. Deep down inside her she felt as if a fire had been lit, and it wouldn't go out until Sombra paid for everything he did. 

"There is another reason." Fenrich added, waiting until everyone's attention was on him before continuing. He then held out his hand with his palm facing upright. In the middle of his palm was the Terror Crystal fragment he had procured "It will serve to temper our resolve. To show your long-dead king that true demons are above his petty tricks and will strike TRUE fear into him when these crystals of his are ground to dust." he said, his voice having the force of a tornado as he clenched his fist onto the crystal shard and, by summoning forth his own power, crushed it out of existence. 

Everyone looked at the werewolf steward in awe, none of them knowing exactly what to say in response to his speech. "Did...did Fenrich just say something encouraging? I'm not dreaming am I?" Emizel finally asked to no one in particular.

"Dream or no rascal, Fenrich does have a point." Valvatorez replied from behind his gloved hand. while his face was partially hidden the fire in his voice made his intent deathly clear "Sombra caught me off guard with that little curse of his. I must eat more sardines and strengthen my fortitude before our rematch. I won't let this happen again."

"Well put My Lord." Fenrich praised "There is however one more concern. The Terror Crystals are masking Sombra's fear energy through false-positives and none of them are remaining static, specifically this reading right here." Fenrich then pointed to the marker at the highest point of the map "Unlike the others, which have moved in seemingly random directions, this one has been constantly moving northward-"

"To Canterlot!" Applejack interrupted.

"Or the Crystal Empire." added Twilight "We can't let King Sombra reach either of those places. If what I understand about fear energy is correct then the panic he could cause would make him stronger than ever, not to mention he would once again have his old seat of power back and the vast quantity of crystal he could corrupt."

"I agree...if that is indeed Sombra."

While Emizel and Valvatorez had looks of understanding and annoyance respectively the injured ponies stared at the werewolf clearly not getting it. "Uh...what do ya mean if?" Applejack warily asked.

"Ooh, Ooh, I know! You mean it's not Sombra but really Sombra from a parallel world who's not a bad pony! Or is it really Sombra's long long looooong lost grandson! OR, is it that they're ALL Sombra clones and all we have to do to get rid of them is hit'em really really hard!"

...

'...Maybe I did throw her too hard this morning...' Fenrich noted as he and the rest of Pinkie's friends looked at her with dumbfounded looks and sweat drops. Clearing his throat, Fenrich continued speaking, very slowly so the ponies would understand "I mean it is most likely a distraction to lure away a certain white alicorn." at this point he stopped coddling the servant ponies and turned specifically to the ruler herself "By now he knows we're hunting him and that you know he's here as well. So, instead of plotting his victory, he's making a mad dash for his enemy's capital? Does that really sound like the feared king of a thousand years ago to you?"

"No..." Celestia muttered. Silently, Twilight had her doubts as well. The tyrannical king who nearly conquered the Crystal Empire just by setting a hoof in it wouldn't leave his return up to chance, not without a failsafe or three. Unsure of what the right decision was Celestia asked "Then what would you suggest we do?" 

"Play along."

The silence in that room was deafening as everypony stared at him wide-eyed and mouths threatening to hit the floor while Valvatorez slipped Emizel a one thousand HL bill. 

Bravely, Rarity crept closer to the werewolf "excuse me Mr. Fenrich but you want us to fall for King Sombra's ruse?" she asked in a dignified tone, though to Fenrich's trained ears he could hear the panic she was trying to hide.

"Yeah, why would we do that again?" Rainbow Dash interjected from her cushion. Her voice was just as aggravating as it was the first time he heard it, even more so now that she was covered in bandages.

"Not we, just Celestia." Fenrich clarified "Regardless of whether that is Sombra or a Terror Crystal construct, whatever's causing that reading will still cause problems wherever it goes. Something you wouldn't want your little ponies to experience, right Princess? This way he'll think everything is going according to plan...right up until he steps into our trap." he added, his words becoming more malicious the more he spoke. His expression changed to fit his tone when he withdrew his hands into his pants pockets and a dark smile crept onto his face "After all, a puppet is easier to control when they think they're the one pulling the strings." this one sentence made all of the ponies, Celestia included, shiver. The twisted glee Fenrich emitted when he said that all but showed he had done something similar many times before, and reveled in it each time "This will also let you make preparations for when he does actually show up, and trust me; he will." Fenrich continued, the dark intent gone from his features but the haughtiness remaining. Inside was a different story as the sinister smile remained 'it will also keep you out of our hair as we tear this place apart searching for him.' he thought as he calmly asked Celestia something "The worst case scenario is that this reading is actually Sombra so you will have to hold him off until we can arrive. You can face him alone, can't you?"

"Yes. I faced King Sombra before as has my sister Luna, and I know enough about Netherworld demons from Hugo to not underestimate them." Celestia stated confidently "Whatever dark magic Sombra has used on the Terror Crystals or whatever tricks he's learned in the Netherworld will not affect me in the slightest. I can assure you of that."

"Good, meanwhile we will focus on flushing him out of whatever hole he's hiding in." Fenrich added. With a smirk he then turned away from the group and looked outside to the forests surrounding the town "With any luck he'll be nothing more than a paper tiger and we'll be back in the Netherworld by tomorrow night."

"And more realistically?" 

Fenrich's smirk faltered as Twilight spoke up, seemingly calling his bluff. He was starting to hate this one as well, not because she was a naïve idiot like the rest of them but because there might actually be a shred of competence in her, or she was paranoid. The calm unwavering gaze she was giving him however made him suspect it was the former. Relenting, Fenrich sighed "this is going to be a battle of attrition. One of these marks here is definitely Sombra. But as much as I would like to, we can't go after all of the signals at once."

"What!? why not!?" Rainbow Dash demanded, flaring her bandaged wings.

Twilight walked over to her friend and placed a hoof on her back, drawing her attention and calming her down slightly "think about it Rainbow, even if we add our numbers with Valvatorez's there are still only five here who have experienced Sombra's fear illusion, making them immune to it." she calmly answered. 

"Immune, darling?"

"That's right. When me and Spike searched for the Crystal Heart I was caught in an illusion of my worst nightmare at the time. After Spike shook me out of it, he was caught in the illusion when I was standing right beside him." Twilight explained as her cheeks became rosy from the memory "I don't think it was the wooden door I was hiding behind at the time that protected me, especially since I was still staring at it." she added sheepishly, taking a huge interest in the floor beside her hooves for a moment before regaining her momentum "So it must either be knowing about it or experiencing it that causes the immunity."

"I'm inclined to believe it is the latter, knowing about something terrifying and facing it are two entirely different things." Valvatorez interjected and all the demons present nodded. His time as a Tyrant was a prime example of this. There were not many demons who didn't know him, countless others tried to face him, but less then ten actually survived such encounters sane. "So...including me there are five who have both the knowledge and experience of what a Terror Crystal is capable of."

"And of those five, only two of them can fight, one of them well." Fenrich said, earning glares from the princesses and Rainbow Dash, glares he returned with his own that practically screamed 'try me'. With only Twilight conceding, Fenrich decided to beat them to the punch and answer the question one of them (his money was on the obnoxious pegasus) would inevitably ask "If we divided into teams and each went after one of the Terror Crystal signals, that would still leave two crystals at least without anyone immune to the curse AND incompetent teams to pursue them, and that's not even considering the possibility that a group meets Sombra. With no one left to protect the town, Sombra would be able to strike unopposed with the remaining crystals. Conversely if we only focus on defending the town then Sombra will be free to ravage the rest of Equestria as he pleases. Long story short, it would be a bloodbath any way you try and cut it."

Bloodbath. That singular word silenced the defiant gazes from Celestia and Rainbow Dash and made the mood of the room very somber. It then became obvious to Valvatorez that, despite being regarded as heroes, Twilight and her friends had never failed or lost a comrade before. Whether it was because of some miracle or Equestria being in little danger to begin with was irrelevant. The apparent truth was that before today none of them had seen death's door, none of them had experienced a real war, none of them has had to kill. It was surreal for him to be in a world so unlike the Human World, where the inhabitants lived in peace and  harmony instead of conservatively through fear. But now this peacefulness had become a liability, a liability Sombra would definitely take advantage of. "So, what do we do now?" Valvatorez heard Twilight ask. And as much as he would like to say something in response he wasn't sure what.

"Umm...I have an idea," Emizel spoke up from underneath his parka "what if small but capable groups of demons and ponies went out to destroy Terror Crystals one-by-one while the rest focused on training the others. This way we can have others become immune to the fear curse and become stronger without leaving the town unprotected."

Everyone looked toward Emizel who was trying to hide his red face in the fur of his hood. His suggestion seemed simple enough and both Valvatorez was technically an instructor so to the ponies it seemed entirely possible. In fact some of them thought the simple barbaric idea was exactly something a demon would come up with but sometimes a simple solution was the best solution. Besides, they could argue they were facing a demon themselves. But before anypony could speak up slow clapping echoed throughout the room "why, that's an excellent idea whelp!" Fenrich exclaimed, causing everyone, Emizel included, to look at him in utter surprise. The young demon's expression soured when he noticed the sinister smile and the general lack of sincerity in his eyes "Of course, to properly train them we're going to need more equipment and connections that we just don't have access to right now."

"Okay I see where this is going..." Emizel sighed, pulling out a cell-phone from his sweater pocket "yes, the Abbadon will be willing to procure weapons and armor from the Netherworld. I even have Rosenqueen on speed-dial." he deadpanned before, in one last act of defiance, he stomped his foot down and firmly pointed squarely at Fenrich's chest "However! You guys have to pay for it okay! I am not going to be spending Corrupternment money on your screw up."

"That's fine...so long as you cover shipping."

"...Fine..."

With a firm handshake the two demons ended negotiations. Emizel walked to the edge of the room to make some phone calls while Fenrich looked towards the alicorn currently tending to the group "Celestia, how long until their injuries are fully healed?"

"They will be fully healed by tomorrow, but I will have to stay with them until then." Celestia replied while changing Rainbow's bloodied bandages.

"That's fine." Fenrich said. According to his calculations the northbound reading wouldn't reach Canterlot for another three days, plenty of time to take it out. With their release date set he then turned toward His Lord and, with his hand over his chest, knelt down before him "My Lord, forgive me for not asking sooner but do you have any objections to our current course of action?"

"None Fenrich, so long as either you or I are with them during their training. As Prinny Instructors it is our duty to make sure it goes off without a hitch."

"Thank you for your understanding. All is for My Lord." he replied sincerely. With the technical matters taken care of and His Lords blessing he rose up once more, ideas and regiments for their 'training' already coalescing in his head. "Now then as for you six..." Fenrich said, looking at them from the corner of his eye with a sadistic grin plastered on his face "enjoy the peace and quiet while you can. Tomorrow you wake up in hell."