> Anima Mea Tenebre
>  by Nixus
> --------------------------------------------------------------------------

> Dark Horizons
> --------------------------------------------------------------------------

	The sun hung high in the sky above Canterlot as ponies below went about their daily lives. Stores had their doors wide open in the summer heat and their best displays were in the front windows, hoping desperately to draw a customer or two. Ponies of all shapes and sizes trotted about the cobblestone streets, some stopping to gaze at windows, some arguing with a food stall owner about the price of their items, and the occasional one with a shopping bag. Many had chosen to stay home on this muggy day, keeping to themselves in the cooled interiors of their own homes.

The Princess of the Sun observed all of this from her perch in the castle, carefully keeping watch over the citizens as they did their business. Carved granite and marble blocks made up the castle in which she resided, creating a thick maze of rooms and halls that served as the seat of her power. Had any of the ponies decided to look up they may have seen her, watching them with a caring smile and a loving disposition. Yet beneath the facade was something different; something that was completely uncharacteristic of the Princess.

Anxiety.

It was not a feeling she experienced often and it felt as though an entire cloud of butterflies resided in her stomach, fluttering around in her body like an incessant pest she couldn’t swat away. It made her horn and wings ache and prevented her from finding any relief in the happiness of her subjects. Nearly a week ago she had delivered a package, a small tome of great importance, directly to her prized student, Twilight Sparkle. Since then, she had heard nothing from the studious unicorn. A week of silence had done nothing to soothe the Alicorn’s frayed nerves, and she was beginning to feel as though her motherly affections had blinded her to the fact her student may not have been ready for the task ahead of her. There were many spells of untold power within that tome, spells that had not seen the light of day for over a millennium, and for good reason.

Perhaps she was merely overthinking this. Twilight had managed to progress with surprising speed under her tutelage and the unicorn had a great aptitude for learning. Nearly every accomplishment the unicorn had was a testament to that fact. Twilight was capable, and had proven time and time again that she could power through even the most dangerous challenges. That lone thought gave Celestia a tiny supplement of reassurance as she left the balcony and the humidity of the fine summer day.

She decided that she would resign herself to the cooled chambers of her throne room to think on it. The thought of the pleasant temperature almost made Celestia quicken her pace into a gallop. Yet she resigned herself to a brisk trot, keeping up her royal appearance. To simply run to her royal throne like an excitable filly would have had her advisors in a collective fit. Though the mere thought of the posh and uptight group so bent out of shape over such an action almost made her want to do it even more. However, there would be another time to upset the bunch; she had much to think about now.

A slight sigh of relief came out of the Princess as she entered her throne room. Her musings had made the walk through the stuffy halls pass by quickly and for that, she was thankful. The giant shadow of the mountain covering the area and the ventilation provided by the windows of the room provided the inner chambers with a pleasant coolness. Celestia’s wings ruffled slightly as she let the relief of the cool air wash over her. She approached her throne, taking care as she ascended the steps to the cushioned golden chair. There were no guards stationed by her at the moment, she had seen them relieved of duty so that they might escape the heat of the day. A part of her wished to dunk her head in the small pools that flowed at the sides of her throne, the clear glimmering water beckoning her with promises of relief.

She ignored the calling of the water, promising to herself that she would take a refreshing dip in the falls later. A few beads of sweat were still present on her coat despite the coolness of the room, giving it a sheen while she busied her mind with thoughts of her student. Her worry came back only to have its growth stunted as the voice of her sister filled the room.

“Is something on your mind, dear sister?” Luna asked as she came into view. Like her sister, the Princess of the Night was also an Alicorn. Her dark blue coat matched the colours of her wings and horn and her cutie mark designated her as the one true ruler of the night. Her ethereal mane fluttered in a non-present breeze, glittering with miniature star clusters and slightly framing her concerned face as she spoke. “It is not often you seek solace on your throne.”

“I didn’t expect you to be up, Luna,” Celestia said as she beckoned Luna to come closer. “You usually sleep the day away.”

“We called out to thou while thou were trotting by,” Luna explained. “You never answered back or even heeded us when we called a second time. We assumed that you may have had something on your mind. Is there something that is wrong?”

“I am fine, Luna, simply concerned for my student.” Celestia sighed as she hung her head. “I know that she is ready but I still feel reservations about her progression. Sleep has eluded me ever since I gave her the journal.” She rested her head on the back of the chair. “Do you think I should have waited a little longer?”

“If anything, dear sister,” Luna began as she ascended the stairs and embraced her sister. “We think Twilight Sparkle was ready for this step even before she journeyed to the Crystal Empire. Despite our reservations, she has been ready for this role for a while.”

“Do you really believe so, Lulu?” Celestia asked. “Even with all my failures?”

“Sister, Sunset Shimmer was not your fault,” Luna began attempting to assuage Celestia’s worries. “From what you have told us, the fault lies with her inability to adhere to your wishes. Her lack of respect and selfish desire was no fault of thyself.” She paused for a moment, attempting to find the right words. These subjects were a sore spot for Celestia and it was Luna’s last desire to see her sister reduced to a sobbing wreck. “Even our own fall to the darkness was not thy fault. Thou have nothing to feel ashamed of.”

“I know, Luna,” Celestia said as she tenderly embraced her sister. The blue Alicorn reciprocated the feeling, hugging Celestia in return. Their tender moment however was interrupted as Celestia spoke a few words that Luna had often attempted purge from her mind. “But the events of that night were my fault. That is my one true shame and no amount of kind words will tell me otherwise. Even now I often dream it, about... about them.”

“As do we, sister,” Luna murmured as memories long suppressed found their way into her mind again. Every now and then even she would wake in the middle of her dreams as visions of the past made themselves present in her head. A few tears began to well in her eyes as emotion cracked in her voice. “I still wish that I could have said goodbye to them. It is our fault they had to do make that sacrifice.”

“Luna...” Celestia murmured as her own eyes began to water. She stoked the younger Alicorn’s back as she began to cry. It had been a millennium for Celestia, but for Luna the images were still fresh and her wounded heart had yet to mend. “Both knew what they had sworn to do. I simply wished they could have found a different...” Celestia hesitated as she choked back her own sob. “They never blamed you for anything. Even in the end, they knew it was just the darkness controlling you. Despite what it cost, They said they would gladly pay the price again.” She brought her sisters face up to hers with a hoof and wiped away the tears staining her face. “He told me that just before it happened.”

Luna said nothing as she buried her face in her sister’s coat. The irony was palpable to Celestia; her younger sister had sought to console her elder but now she was the one who had to be consoled. Minutes passed by as the two remained like that, simply reassuring the other in the face of terrible memories shared only between them. As much as Celestia wished she could change the past, she knew there was nothing she could have done to prevent that fateful night from occurring. Both would have to live with the guilt of that night so long ago.

“At least we do not have to fear it happening again,” Luna said as she left the comfort of Celestia’s chest. “The spell is safe, locked away and even so, nopony could possibly decipher it.”

A cold sense of dread filled Celestia’s chest as she realised what Luna was referring to. Her eyes widened to the size of saucers, pupils shrinking to pinpricks at the thought. Not since Discord's first escape had she felt this unique sense of dread fill her chest. Luna herself looked on in confusion as her sister bolted to the window from which Ponyville could be seen. 

The small town seemed peaceful at the moment to her, yet she knew that despite its outward appearance, the town was a hub for strange activities ever since Twilight Sparkle had taken residence there.

“Is there something wrong, sister?” Luna asked as she brought her hoof to Celestia’s shoulder. The look of despair on her sister’s face did nothing to render Luna’s fears unfounded. “Tell us, why dost thou look as though a ghost has appeared.”

“Luna...” Celestia whispered as she kept her head turned towards Ponyville. “That spell is still in the journal.”

“What?” Luna asked as her hoof recoiled. She took a step back as she regarded her sister with widened eyes. “Why did thy not remove it and keep it hidden away? Dost thou even comprehend what this could mean for Equestria? Twilight may be a capable Unicorn, more capable than even Starswirl, but that spell could end her! Starswirl only used it twice and the mental drain alone almost killed him!” A dread silence filled the chamber as Luna gathered herself. 

Terrible memories filled her head, images of destruction and darkness mixed with the screams of dying voices circled her conscious. “What’s worse, we have no idea what she could possibly summon with aid of the Elements…” Luna murmured as she too turned her gaze back to the town.  “They may have told us little about from whence they came, but even I have seen that their world is much darker than that of our own. You’ve seen what they were capable of! Equestria can ill afford another event of such magnitude!”

“I KNOW THAT LUNA!” Celestia shouted in her Royal Canterlot Voice. The very castle seemed to shake as her voice boomed and rocked the stone pillars. Luna herself recoiled, nearly blown off her hooves by the sheer force of her sisters voice. It took Celestia a moment to realize what she had done, her hoof covering her mouth in shame. It was not often she was anxious about anything and it was even less often that she raised her voice. “I-I am sorry sister...” Celestia managed to stammer as she backed up before turning away in shame. “I must rectify this before anything happens. He may have said that others would come in time, but Equestria is not ready for their presence. I fear that if they should make their existence known, we may see our peaceful land experience an untold cruelty in which it is simply not capable of handling.”

“If it was he who told you this...” Luna began, but trailed off as her sister turned back to her with an expression that boasted her resolve. She almost seemed to dare Luna to speak her mind, her face boarding on tyrannical absolutism. Yet, Luna found her strength and confidence and decided that it was best that she present her argument before it was too late. “If it was he who told thou of their coming, whoever they may be... Then should we not allow this to happen? He never led us astray before. Perhaps this was meant to happen and perhaps Twilight was meant to herald their arrival?”

“I do not know, Luna,” Celestia said as she looked at the sky. Despite the fact that there were no Pegasi in the air, the clouds seemed to darken with an unknown energy as they moved towards Ponyville on their own volition. A small shiver ran across Celestia’s spine as a familiar sense filled her mind. “If what you say is true then we will soon find out. There is a storm approaching Equestria, a darkness not unlike the one we faced a millennium ago, Luna. If we weather it out, then our land will forever be changed. If not, and we fail to stop this, then I fear that we will not have a land to call home.”

Luna nodded grimly as she saw the clouds in the sky darken. “Then let us hope that the Elements, as well as whoever crosses the bridge, are ready to face it.”
	
> Crossing the Bridge
> --------------------------------------------------------------------------

	A small candle flickered as the aged man flipped another page of the reports sitting on his desk. Stroking his beard, he looked down at the four pictures of his personal students smiling as he read over their progress.  A small buzz came from one of the crystals that sat on his desk just as a small knock at the wooden door brought his attention from the reports. He slowly rose from his chair, pressing the lone button on the box that held the crystal as he did so.

“Yes?”

“Sir I’ve brought them as you asked,” the voice said through the communication crystal as the door opened and four young faces appeared in the doorway. 

“Come in.”

“You called for us sir?” a voice came as the student walked in followed by his three classmates. The voice belonged to Dante, who stood at the front of the group. His mouth was set in a line as his crimson coloured eyes stared at the man in front of him. The flickering light danced off his pale skin and white hair giving him the appearance of a spirit while the pair of horns that stuck out from his head gave testament to his Diablon heritage. Wrapped around his neck was an old and tattered scarf that matched the colour of his eyes and contrasted with the blue and white colours of his school uniform. His attention however fell onto the shorter student who stood beside him. 

“What happened to you Coppa?

“A bit of an incident in the alchemy labs sir,” the dwarf said as he rubbed the back of his head with his hand. Patches of singed fur dotted his arms and a fine layer of black soot darkned his otherwise lightish brown fur. His reddish hair was no better off either, smoking at the ends or burnt black where whatever fireball he had managed to conjure up had burnt him. He noticed that the goggles on Coppa's head were charred beyond repair, but had probably been the only thing that saved the student's eyesight.

“Always getting yourself into a new mess…” Feinman sighed to himself as he sat back down. The dwarf gave a pitiable whine as Feinman simply shook his head in disappointment. “I assume I’ll be getting the damage reports later. How bad was it this time?”

“It wasn’t my fault,” Coppa tried to argue before he was silenced by a wave of Feinman’s hand. The elderly principle rubbed the bridge of his nose as he dreaded the estimate’s the school repair crews were writing up. Coppa’s lazy attitude and penchant pranks and sarcasm were starting to wear thin on Feinman’s nerves. 

“We were trying to transmute metals into other forms,” the soft voice of the elf standing beside Coppa said. The boy’s emerald eyes glittered in the soft light of the room and his long blonde hair was slightly disheveled, but was far from the mess that was Coppa’s hair. He bore a semi-annoyed expression at his companion, likely due to being dragged on whatever scheme Coppa had brewed up. “Coppa, thought  it would be  funny to add water to Caesium,” Moe explained with mock enthusiasm. “He managed to blow up half the lab this time.

“Well maybe if someone had explained to me the fact that the stuff was explosive, I wouldn’t have done that!”

“Well maybe if you actually used half a braincell, you would have thought differently! But oh no, you just had to go ahead and dump a full bottle of the stuff into a filled sink.” Moe threw his hands up as he let out an exasperated groan. “Now we’re all in here because of something stupid you did.”

“Moe, please let me explain before you jump to a conclusion,” Feinman said as he sat back in his chair. Coppa’s shoulders relaxed as he let out a sigh of relief while Moe stood still, visibly shaking as he tried to calm himself down and keep himself from throttling the dwarf. Feinman almost pitied the elf. The two may have been friends, but even friendship could only withstand so much bickering.

“I’ve asked for you four because I have received reports of an unknown magical surge in a nearby labyrinth. This is an unprecedented form of energy and we need to locate the source generating it as soon as humanly possible.”Feinman explained as he let his body relax. While normally this would be a job for the security forces. I feel I can trust my four personal students to go and investigate this anomaly.” He paused as his knuckles tapped along the tabletop. “For this task, I want Dante to lead you four and i shall leave Sam acting as the second in command.” He turned to the fourth figure whom had been standing at attention for the entire time. “Sam are you up to the task?”

Sam’s ears twitched as his name was called, he silently nodded as his tail swayed back and forth. Feinman only smiled at the grey haired Felpier who crossed his arms. Sam was the quiet one of the group and Feinman had often found him sitting alone in silence during the break between classes. Whether Sam was silent by accident or choice Feinman was unsure, no one had ever heard the boy speak and it seemed he preferred it that way. Coppa and Moe followed his example and gave their own nods of approval, much to the satisfaction of their teacher.

“Good, you three go back and prepare for the task, I wish to speak to Dante privately.”

“Yes sir,” Coppa and Moe said in unison while Sam bowed and followed them out the door closing it behind them. Feinman waited a minute before turning to back to the lone student. 

“You can relax Dante, I only wish to talk.” 

“Sorry sir.”

“Please stop calling me sir. I’m no longer a knight.”

“I apologise, it’s a force of habit.”

“Of course Dante. It’s fine,” Feinman said with a wave of his hand. He stared at the report in front of him before taking a breath. “The others instructors have told me you've been avoiding the other students." He paused as he narrowed his eyes. "Is this about the accident?”

Feinman watched as Dante’s expression grew somber and his mouth was set into a grim line. "I don’t want to hurt anybody else and I can't risk losing control again. You saw what I became that day.”

“Dante it’s been five months, what happened wasn’t your fault. Not even I could have done anything.”

“Which is why I need to gain control over my powers. I can’t let it happen again. Besides, the other students are afraid of my kind, so why should I care about making friends with them? I have the others already.”

“It’s been years since the Red Queen was defeated Dante. You are nothing like those Diablons, you have the capacity to change others opinions about your kind, but alienating yourself is not going to help anybody get over their fears.”

“I know, but you know that I prefer a smaller crowd."

“When I took you in all those years ago, I did it because I saw great potential in you,” Feinman said solemnly. “You’re like a son to me Dante. I’ve watched you grow from an energetic young boy to a intelligent young man. You’ve progressed far beyond what even I could have taught you.” Feinman took a few steps forward and embraced his adopted child tenderly. Dante returned the gesture but there was the subtle hint of hesitation, as though he was unacustomed to such a gesture. Feinman didn’t care, he was simply tired of watching Dante wallow in self doubt. “I’m proud of you Dante. It hurts me to see you do this to yourself, I will no longer simply stand by as you beat yourself over something out of your control.”

Dante was the first to break the embrace, a look of apprehension on his face. “I’ve always been thankful sir, You’ve given me more than I could ever ask for. Without you, I wouldn’t have had any of these opportunities.” The boys face hardened as he looked at Feinman defiantly. “But this is something I have to deal with. Only I can do this.”

Feinman sighed, knowing there was no point in arguing any further. “All right, but you and I shall continue this when you get back. Also I have a gift for you.”

“A gift?” Dante said confused. Feinman only smiled as he directed the teenager’s attention to the long object wrapped with a piece of cloth leaning on his bookshelf. “Thank you, but what is the occasion?”

“Consider it something of a passing on of an heirloom ,” Feinman said as he saw the confused expression on his student. “I thought is was about time we got you a new set of tools for your assignments.”

Beneath the cloth was a staff and a sword. The staff, which Feinman had specifically ordered, was crafted out of a combination of magically enhanced metals. It was slightly taller than Dante and was topped with what seemed to be an oversized spearhead. A simplistic piece that that Feinman thought suited the studious Diablon perfectly. He watched as Dante set the staff aside and drew the sword from its sheath. Unlike the staff, the sword was made of almost pure white steel that gleamed in the candlelight. In the centre of the guard sat a small sun with a clear, gleaming crystal. A sweet sound reverberated in the air as Dante twirled the blade that seemed to cut the very air itself. With a soft sound, the blade slid back into its scabbard as Dante admired the golden filigree that lined the handle. 

“A wonderful piece, is it not? I used that blade when I was your age,” Feinman said as he smiled at Dante’s expression. He looked at the sword as a multitude of memories trickled through his mind. Pushing thoughts of the past aside, he rose and slowly walked towards the door. “You’ll have all the time to admire them later; we shouldn’t keep your classmates waiting.”

“Okay,” Dante replied as he strode through the door with the rewrapped gifts in his hand. Feinman watched as his student walked down the hallway with a look of worry as he closed the door and sighed. He looked at the reports for what seemed like the thousandth time,silently praying for his students safety. 

*****

“Twilight, are you sure this is gonna work?” the small purple dragon asked as he looked past the stack of books at the lavender unicorn who was scanning the pages of a book lying in front of her. A small frown lined her muzzle as she tried to make sense of the ancient words. “For all we know, nobody knows this spell exists!”

“Spike, think about what could be done if I can decipher this spell,” Twilight said as she looked at the small dragon with tired eyes. She looked back down to the black book in front of her. Turning the page, she groaned as she came upon even more ink-spattered pages filled with charts and diagrams. She had spent the entire week going through Starswirl the Bearded’s journal after discovering the beginning of a complicated teleport. Unfortunately, the pages detailing the rest of the spell either had fallen out or were unreadable. She had managed to salvage what little information was left, but most had been written down in ancient equish and needed to be deciphered.

For an entire week, Twilight had forsaken sleep and ate very little as she poured over the ancient pages with her magic. Her unwashed mane had become a rat’s nest, and she knew that she probably smelled worse than the lowest pits of tartarus. She was also fairly sure she had lost a fair amount of weight due to her pursuits. Such was the price she paid for being one of the most neurotic unicorns in existence. 

She had received the book in the mail from Celestia and had devoted most her time to learning everything she could from the old tome. What had caught her interest were the last two spells. She had gone over the note written by Celestia about the final spell several times but had been sidetracked by a few pages that had fallen out of the book. They depicted some sort of teleportation spell that could be used on other items or ponies besides the caster. A week of testing had seen her exhaust all possible avenues of approach as well as herself without any results. She had come close, but her magic would give out before she could complete it. It was perhaps one of the more frustrating things she had ever experienced, ranking close in her opinion, to her inability to understand how her friend Pinkie Pie’s seemingly unnatural method of prediction.

She stamped her hoof on the ground and let loose a small bit of magic from her horn in frustration, causing the book to flip over to another diagram. Perhaps it was simply luck or a sign from whatever omniscient being watched over her world, but as her little tantrum ended she noticed another page had fallen loose from the journal.  Twilight gasped as she recognised the Elements of Harmony surrounding what appeared to be a large circle, crossed with various lines each leading to smaller circle in which one of the elements sat.  Her frown melted away into a large smile as she turned to her assistant who had just gone into the kitchen after stacking the remaining books. 

“Spike can you go get the elements while I go get the others?”

“Why?” 

“I’ll explain everything when I get back,” Twilight said as she galloped past the stacks of books sending them flying all over the floor. 

“Oh come on!” Spike shouted as he returned to the entrance to find his work undone. Grumbling he started picking up the scattered literature as he cast a small glance to the book that held the magical items.

“Oh! Could you also run a bath too? I smell like a wet manticore!

*****

Dante scanned the dark passageway as he raised his new staff above his head. Muttering an incantation, a small orb of light shone from the head of his staff illuminating the dark passageway. They had been following the wispy trails of the magenta magic for the past hour. They had to stop a few times when the trail went dead only to reappear a few moments later. They had encountered relatively few monsters on the way down, only the occasional thunder bat or nasal digger actually dared to try to attack them. Feeling a light tap on his shoulder Dante turned to see Moe who turned away, blinded by the light.

“Dante can you please turn that down just a bit?” Moe said as he shielded his eyes. He lowered his hand as Dante slowed the amount of magic flowing into the staff causing the light to die down a bit.

“Sorry, I’m not exactly used to this staff yet.”

“You’ve totally got to let me take a look at that sword when we get back,” Coppa said excitedly as he looked at the weapon hanging from Dante’s side. If there was one thing Dante knew, it was never let the dwarf near anything that looked remotely expensive or contained a large amount of precious metal. “I can’t believe Feinman gave you his sword!”

Dante looked at his classmates in the dim light as he turned to face them. Sam was positioned at the rear with his katana in hand. The slender curved blade glinted in the light as Sam readjusted his grip on the black handle. The blade suited the silent Felpier who scanned the passage with his dark eyes while his tail flicked whenever he caught an unfamiliar noise. 

In front of Sam was Coppa, who had rested his giant axe over his shoulder to relieve some of the weight of the weapon from his tired muscles. His massive hand dwarfed the long handle as he walked slowly, avoiding the snaking trails of the strange magic as though they were poison. 

Finally, Dante’s gaze rested on Moe who was busy testing the strength of his bowstring. Moe had constructed the small bow in their alchemy class the year before after a series of failed attempts that nearly destroyed the schools wood supply. It was painted in a mix of rich green and earth colours matching the elf’s emerald eyes. Moe had been using it since then, perfecting his skills until he could accurately hit a target at almost five hundred paces. 

Somehow, the presence of his classmates assuaged some of the tension that Dante had felt when they had first picked up the trail. Something didn’t feel right to him, he couldn’t place his finger on it, but this magic seemed distinctly alien. It was almost as if it were coming from some rift, leaking and saturating the catacombs of the labyrinth. 

A sudden movement in the corner of his eye caused Dante to spin around and cut all magic that  was flowing to his staff, casting the passageway into darkness. The trails of magic seemed to grow brighter as he did this, casting a dim glow as they expanded in size. They hugged the cracks and crevices of the ancient walls, twisting and turning in the passage and forming a sort of arcane web. It continued like this for nearly  half a mile, filling the hall with its arcane glow. that was until it suddenly ended, running straight into a layered wall. The four students stared at each other in confusion as their trail and hopes suddenly went cold. 

Not one to give up easily, Coppa stepped forward with a confident stride and pressed one of his ears to the wall. He felt the stone, finger teasing each and every crack before he gave the wall a hard knock with a furred digit. A hollow sound echoed in the wall and Coppa stepped back quietly. “It’s a false wall.” He said turning to his friends. Moe rolled his eyes while Dante examined the surrounding walls for a switch or stone out of place. Sam sat back as he scanned the passage behind them. 

“I would never have guessed,” Moe deadpanned. The elf stepped forward and took out a torch striking it against the wall. The torch flickered at first before the end burst into flames. “I don’t suppose there’s a switch around here.”

“It’ll be nearby.” Dante said as Coppa stood there with his arms crossed.

“Guys I can handle this.” Coppa said, only for the two to ignore him as they searched. Grumbling, he turned to the wall and knocked on it again before pulling a pair of metal boots from his bag. 

“I can’t find anything.” Moe said as he examined the crevices in the ancient walls. “Dante, have you found anything?”

“No, whoever built this hid the switch really well,” Dante replied before giving a small sigh as he stood up. “This is going to take some-“

A sudden crash and the sound of smashing rock broke the calm and silent atmosphere, cutting Dante off. All three classmates turned around with weapons drawn to see Coppa standing in the ruins of the wall dusting off his iron boots. He flashed them a grin as he pulled them off and deposited them back in his bag.

“Told you I had it covered,” he said as he jumped over the pile of rubble. “C’mon, times a wastin.”

“Doesn’t he ever think before he does something stupid?” Dante said as he stepped over the rocks. Moe shrugged as he climbed over a boulder followed by Sam. 

“He wouldn’t be Coppa if he did,” Moe said with a small laugh. Dante smiled while Sam remained silent. They followed the trail until they found Coppa crouching by a small opening. Peering through it, the four of them gasped as they saw where the trailing magic ended.

The trails wound into a giant cavern held up by massive spears of stone. Each of the walls were honeycombed with massive caves, all facing towards the centre of the cavern where a massive stone pedestal had been erected. The trails of magic were concentrated in the centre of the monument and were surrounded by four figures who were busy chanting as the magic swirled in front of them. With a slow movement, one of the figures produced an orb and three small stones, then placed them underneath the swirling trails of magenta. The magic trails immediately clung to the orb as if it were a magnet before funneling into the stones. The vortex shrank in size until it reappeared inside the floating orb still forcing the magic into the strange items.

“Do you think we should maybe stop them?” Coppa said as he moved forward but was held back by Sam who pointed at one of the caverns where a hunched figure was busy eating a mess of mashed flesh. “Or maybe not. What should we do?”

“We go back to the academy and alert the security forces. This is their job not ours.” Dante replied as he peered over the edge. The spell that the four figures were using seemed to be drawing on an outside source of magic.  Whatever they were doing, it would require a massive amount of time and effort. Just enough time for the everyone to alert Feinman and the security teams that were housed back in Particus. Sam and Moe both nodded and moved back towards the passage entrance. Dante gave Coppa a little nudge to start following, but the Dwarf pointed back towards the figures. Dante looked to where the furred finger was pointing to see two bodies tied to one of the pillars guarded by two horned monsters. 

“We’ve got to help them,” Coppa said as he moved to jump down to the floor below. Dante grabbed the dwarf by the collar and spun him around. Coppa gave Dante an annoyed look. “You can’t tell me that you’re just going to let them be sacrifices for some demonic ritual.”

“We don’t know if that’s what it is.”

“Don’t be an idiot! Look at them. Black robes, strange magic, weird curvy knife thing.” Dante peered past the angry dwarf to see that one of the figures had indeed pulled a strange knife and was moving slowly to the struggling captives. “This entire setup practically screams weird demonic magic.”

Dante looked back and saw Sam and Moe waiting for his plan. He looked back to the scene below them and sighed. There was no doubting it, this was some sort of dark ritual. Silently, he wighed his options as he listened to the chanting grow in volume.  If they turned back now, the two prisoners would surely die and it would possibly bolster the speed at which the spell was being conjured. If they intervened, there was the likely possibility that they would be slaughtered by whatever creatures the four hooded figures had summoned to guard them. Dante rubbed the bridge of his nose as he stood up and looked at each of his friends. Surely their combined skills would be more than enough?

“Fine, we go down and grab the two and then get out of there.” 

“And the four others?” Moe asked as he stepped forward.

“Don’t attack them if you don’t have to. We don’t know what they’re capable of.”

“Okay,” Coppa and Moe said in unison while Sam nodded his head. Dante nodded back to them and took a step off the ledge, dropping down to the floor below, quickly followed by everyone else.
***** 

“Twilight, I know you needed us, but this is cutting into my napping time!” Rainbow Dash complained as she fidgeted inside the circle drawn around her. 

“It will only take a moment Rainbow!” Twilight said from her own circle. She looked towards each of her friends as they patiently waited. The circle had grown to cover almost the entire floor of the library. Lines of chalk went in every single direction crossing and circling the floor in ancient patterns as Twilight finished tracing the spell circle. Taking their positions as Twilight indicated them, each of the mares took up the space in their respective circles with the familiar gold necklaces of the Elements of Harmony sitting around their necks. Twilight closed her eyes and felt the crown on her head start to vibrate as her magic coursed through it and small lines of magic moved and wisped towards the five other elements. A gasp came from each of the mares as Twilight attached strings of magic between each of the circles, causing their individual areas to glow brightly.

“Oh, lookie lookie!” Pinkie’s voice exclaimed as she bounced inside the circle. “They’re all glowy now!”

“Oh my,” Fluttershy whispered as she took a step back. Fear was evident in her eyes as the arcane runes began to glow brighter and brighter by the second. “Are you sure this is going to work?”

“Calm down Fluttershy, I’m sure Twilight knows what she’s doing!” Rainbow Dash said as she fluffed her wings. A look of impatient determination was plastered on her face, signaling that she was getting more and more interested in the spell by the second. “Besides, when has Twilight ever gotten us into a situation where we were in any real danger?”

“Sugarcube? Do you really want us to answer that?” Applejack questioned as she held her trademark stetson on her head. Wind was beginning to pick up as the spell gained power. Books flipped over and dust began to scatter in the magically guided breeze, blowing around in the fashion of a miniature tornado. Twilight gulped as she tried to ignore the growing howl of the wind. She cracked an eye and regarded the five faces of her best friends as they looked on in both fascination and nervousness. 

“Twilight dear, I think something is happening!” rarity chimed prompting Twilight to look. she opened one of her eyes to see that the lines of the of the outer circles had begun to glow. The connecting lines followed suit soon after,  beginning to slowly turn blue and emitting a faint glow as they neared the centre of the massive chalk circle. Closer and closer the trail of magic grew to the centre of the room, glowing ever more bright as it did so. A faint smell of burning ozone and the air began to turn staticky, causing the fur of her coat to stand on end.   The six covered their eyes as the light grew more intense, blinding them before ending in a sudden flash. Slowly moving her hoof away from her face, Twilight gasped as she saw what was now occupying the centre of the library.. 

An orb floated in the centre of the room, glowing as it drew energy from the six elements. Every few moments it would switch colours to mirror one of the six. From the top of the orb, a large tendril of energy seemed to float off into the sky before it straightened as if something were pulling on it. Twilight gazed into the arcane energy swirling before her as more tendrils began to appear each attaching to the elements. A small glow enveloped the tendrils, causing tiny and almost invisible lines to begin appearing, leaching something from the six ponies. 

Something is wrong… Twilight thought as it became increasingly difficult to remain standing. The crown was beginning to feel as it weighed a ton, forcing her to strain her neck as she attempted to keep her head high. 

She felt another tug as more energy was siphoned from her body towards the orb. Gravity seemed to root each of the mares to the floor as they struggled to remain upright. Her friends were doing no better than she was. Fluttershy was on the ground shaking as a pink tendril moved from her necklace and began to draw energy from her body. Pinkie’s hair had lost its poof and drooped as her legs shook. Applejack and Rarity panted as the tendrils sapped their energy causing them to collapse on the floor. Rainbow Dash attempted to try and flap her wings in an effort to break out of the circle but was rooted down as the magic wrapped itself around her.

“Is this supposed to be happening?” Rainbow dash yelled as a wind grew, sending even more pages and books flying. The screams of Fluttershy echoed as the magic raged and spun out of control. Twilight attempted to 

“I don’t know!” Twilight gasped as she fell to the ground. She tried to cut off the flow of magic, but an invisible force seemed to keep her from stopping the spell as it drained her friends. “I can’t stop it!” She screamed out in pain as pain flared throughout her body. “Someone help!”

******

Dante’s ears picked up a cry as he cut down another demon. He avoided the spray of its blackened blood as he cast a bolt of electricity that dropped another one as it tried to stab Moe with a rusty sword. He scanned the area for Sam and Coppa as a demon fell in front of him with two arrows sprouting from its chest. 

He found Sam fending off a group of the humanoid demons who lunged at him with broken spears and old swords. With a flick of his katana, Sam decapitated the first as he dodged the clumsy spear thrust.  A few more stumbled forward with their weapons raised but were quickly dispatched by Sam’s fluid movements. Few could match Sam when it came to his speed and dexterity. The felpier had spent years training and the growing pile of bodies that surrounded him reflected the mastery of his physical condition.

A roar broke Dante’s attention and he turned to see a group of the weak demons soar through the air. Coppa stood amidst a sea of black as he swung his giant axe viciously. It passed through the skinny demons as it completed its arc, throwing severed body parts in all directions. Coppa panted as he eyed the rest of the group that was cautiously approaching him. They stopped as he emitted a harsh growl and dashed at them with his axe raised. Unlike Sam, Coppa was naturally gifted when it came to strength but would often lose himself in the heat of battle. He was never as fast as Sam or Moe, but made up for it in brute strength. His usually calm and joking demeanor was replaced with something more animalistic as his axe smashed into another unfortunate enemy. 

“Dante, watch out!” Moe shouted as he drew his bowstring back. Dante barely had any time to duck as the arrow sailed through the air before coming to rest in a nearby demon’s head. Dante took a breath as he looked towards Moe who drew his long knives and cut down another dreg. Every movement seemed expertly coordinated and deadly as the massive amount of low class demons were whittled down by each swipe of his blade or shot from his bow. Dante felt relieved to have such powerful companions as he drew on his own magical reserves and unleashed a wall of flame, incinerating the last of the summoned demons. 

“It matters not if you destroy our servant’s child!” The deep voice of the lead figure resounded as he stepped down from the pedestal. “However, you and your companions have impressed me, and for that I offer you a chance to leave this place alive.”

“With those weaklings your friend threw at us, I don’t think we’ll need the offer,” Coppa said as he pointed to the second figure standing at the stairs.

“How dare you insult my creations!” The figure shouted as the hood fell away to reveal the head of a white haired elf. “Dagon, keep to your rituals if you wish, I am going to end them!”

“Fine Ravenn, just be quick about it!” Dagon said as he removed his own hood to reveal an aged Diablon with lank purple hair that fell across his face. Dante backed up as a sudden chill crept up his spine as Dagon waved his hand. A sudden blast of magic sent the four flying in different directions as a large magic circle opened up in the middle of the cavern. A large bulbous hand grasped at the sides of the circle as the monster within pulled itself out. Coppa swore as he saw the monster rise to its full height.

“A Bullywug! This is just goddamn perfect!” 

Dante readied a bolt of electricity as the Bullywug croaked and raised one of the cleavers in its bulbous hands. The monster was at least thirteen feet tall and covered in pitted green skin that oozed a slimy substance, poisoning the ground below it. Its small, beady eyes darted around as it stared at the four students. Its large tongue shot out of its mouth and sped towards Moe who darted out of the way as the tongue wrapped around the pillar behind him. The Bullywug croaked as it constricted its tongue and crushed the massive stone pillar. 

Dante felt an invisible hand grab him and found himself flying through the air towards the pedestal. He stopped just before he hit the ground and felt the invisible force release him as he dropped to the ground. His attempt to stand was halted as Dagon pressed a foot onto his back. Dante struggled as Dagon pinned him to the ground. He felt a hand grab his neck and felt himself lifted as he was turned to face Dagon. 

“Interesting, you have a peculiar magical force in you,” Dagon said as he looked at the struggling student choking in his hand. Dante’s vision began to darken as his lungs screamed for air that was blocked by Dagon’s iron grip. “Yet you suppress your true power. Why is that? Is it because of your friends?” 

Dante was turned around as he was forced to look at the scene below. “Or is it because you fear your true nature as a child of the underworld?”His classmates were busy frantically avoiding the gargantuan monster’s clumsy strikes. The Bullywug’s loose skin was covered with a multitude of small cuts that oozed black blood. Coppa barely avoided a blow as he rolled out of the path of the monster’s blade. Moe was busy unleashing a flurry of arrows that bounced of the monster’s back while Sam attempted to hamstring one of the pudgy legs. “Why do you refuse to let your inner desires take over? Perhaps a look into your head might reveal the answer.”

Dante found the ground rush to meet him as the iron grip left his neck. He gasped for air as he picked his sword up and swung it behind him. Dagon easily avoided the blow and twisted Dante’s arm behind him. He cried out in pain as one of Dagon’s fingers, coated in a deep purple miasma, made contact with his head. Dante’s legs weakened as he felt every fibre of his being revealed to his opponent. His greatest triumphs, fears, and regrets were all laid bare as Dagon accessed the deepest recesses of his mind. Dagon smiled as he attempted to breach the final barrier separating him from Dante’s darkest memory.

“NO!” Dante shouted as his last mental barrier broke and he felt a strange power surge from within his core. The connection was interrupted as a black aura seemed to explode from nowhere, sending Dagon flying back. The two other figures that had been standing idly were thrown back as black tendrils slammed into them. Dante felt his consciousness fade as the tendrils snaked across the orb, crushing it as they tried to access the built up energy. A large flash blinded him as he felt his limp body being pulled towards the vortex of energy escaping from the broken orb as a searing pain came from his chest. He heard shouts of anger and fear come from his friends, closely followed by their cries for help as he finally lost consciousness.

“Sleep my puppet, soon all will be right again,” a voice cackled in the depths of his mind as the darkness washed over him. “Our ascension awaits us.”
	
> First Impressions
> --------------------------------------------------------------------------

	“Twilight? Are you okay?”

Twilight groaned as she opened her eyes, only to see the worried expression of her assistant. Every inch of her body screamed for her to lie back down as she slowly rose from the floor. She felt Spike’s arms wrap around her neck as he pressed his face into her coat. She smiled as she attempted to reassure him. Her gaze moved from the small dragon to the state of her library as the events of the night before caught up to her.

The library looked as though a hurricane had run through it. Books and paper were scattered everywhere, torn pages littered the ground, smudging the remains of the chalk circle. She looked back to her assistant as he broke away and gave her a smile while wiping his eyes.

“I thought I lost you guys. None of you were breathing after the spell finished.”

“Where are the others Spike?” Twilight asked as she scanned the room for her friends. None of them were present as Spike sat down on a pile of loose books. Twilight rubbed her head with a hoof as her mind went over the events of the previous night. She looked outside to see that night had fallen again. 

Something had gone wrong in the middle of the spell. Twilight remembered the giant orb and the glowing tendrils that had nearly drained her and her friends of nearly everything. Spike had been there before she passed out, but had been thrown back as the orb exploded in a flash of brilliant light. A few walls had scorch marks from where the tendrils had lashed out, and majority of the shelves were damaged from the magical shockwave. A sudden movement caught Twilight’s eye, making her turn to see a figure shift on the couch behind her. Twilight’s eyes widened as the figure turned to face her. Twilight stared at Spike with a look of utter disbelief. A groan made her turn her attention back to the figure that had risen from the couch. It was holding its head in its hands, trying to clear its vision. 


*****


Dante’s expression matched Twilights as he locked eyes with the pony in front of him. Twilight could’nt help but stare into his deep crimson eyes as they bore into her with a worried expression. His hand slowly reached out and brushed the soft fur of her cheek as she came close to him. A strange tingling sensation shot down her spine as the fingers grazed her skin. She gazed at him as his eyes became frightened as he started to edge away. 

“This can’t be real,” Dante said as he backed away from the unicorn. He looked at his hand as he tried to make sense of his surroundings. Twilight could quite literally hear the rapid beat of his heart as he took in both her and Spike. He stared in disbelief as he tried pinching himself. “What happened to me?”

Confusion overtook Twilight as she turned to Spike. A sudden crashing noise came from Dante as he made a dash for the door, knocking over a few pieces of upright furniture. He winched as a jagged piece of wood caught his arm and drew a thin line of blood before he burst through the door. 

“Wait! Come back!” Twilight yelled as she chased after him. Dante saw the purple mare chase him and increased his speed as he clutched his bloody arm. He ran through the surprisingly empty streets as he tried to evade the purple mare chasing after him. He jumped over a crate and spun around as he summoned a small portion of his magic to his palm. With a quick chant he condensed the air in front of his palm and sent it hurtling towards Twilight.

Sweet Celestia, what kind of magic is that? Twilight thought as she ducked under the ball of air. The spell smashed into a building, completely obliterating the wall. Twilight stood in awe of the destructive force as she looked a Dante. “I need to stop him.”

Dante had severely underestimated his condition as he gasped for air. Such a simple spell would have normally been an easy feat for him, but recent events had taken their toll on him. He fell back as more of the horse creatures came out of the pastel coloured building and stared at him. “Stay away from me!”

He summoned the last of his strength as he felt a familiar heat engulf his hand. He opened his eyes to see the ponies staring at his arm, which had been engulfed in bright red flames. All had looks of fear as he backed away with his hand raised. The purple one that had been chasing him stood in front of the crowd as a magenta aura surrounded her horn. Dante felt himself rise off the ground as he was encased in a similar coloured aura. He struggled as he floated, extinguishing the flames that had begun to sputter as his magic reserves ran dry.  He felt a wave of exhaustion overtake him as he dropped to the ground. 

Twilight cautiously approached Dante as she lowered her horn in case he tried to use his magic again. A sudden scream made her turn her head towards the familiar shape of the Carousel Boutique as a shadowy figure jumped through a window and stopped in front of Dante. A smile crossed Dante’s face as he looked at the familiar golden haired elf standing in front of him.

“It’s good to see you Moe,” Dante said as the elf picked him up. Twilight was about to call out to them to but was interrupted when the elf threw down a small pellet. Smoke billowed out from the device, enshrouding the two. She coughed as she used her magic to clear the thick grey smoke, only to find the two creatures gone. She searched frantically as a snow-white mare ran out of  the boutique. 

“Twilight! What in the world were those things?!” Rarity said as she approached the frantic purple unicorn.

“Did you see the one with horns?! He was on fire!” Pinkie said as she popped out of nowhere, causing everyone to jump back. Twilight looked at her friends with the same look of confusion and shook her head. Pinkie was bouncing up and down excitedly as she looked around for the two aliens. “Your friend looked really funny too! I’ll go find them and then we can all have a giant party!”

“Pinkie, I think a party is the last thing they need,” Twilight said causing the party mare to stop bouncing and look at her with a puppy dog eyes. Twilight sighed as she scanned the area looking for any sign of the two figures. “They’re frightened. I think we brought them here last night.”

“Speaking of last night,” Rarity said as she tried to fix her mane. She looked at the crowd of ponies that had begun to disperse before continuing. “What exactly happened? I don’t remember much of it.”

“I can answer that!” Spike said as he caught up to the three mares. He wheezed for a bit as he tried to regain some of his breath. After a minute, he looked at the three confused mares before speaking. “It happened after you all passed out.”


*****


Spike ran towards the stairs as he heard the girls screams for help. His foot missed the first step causing the dragon to tumble down the stairs.  Regaining his footing on the floor, Spike ducked as an expanded copy of Applecare 101 flew past his head. He gasped as he saw the gigantic orb spinning in the centre of the room as hundreds of tendrils smashed holes into the walls and destroyed furniture. 

He dashed towards Twilight as he saw her struggle to rise from the ground. The element of magic had fallen from her head and looked as though it was beginning to bend under an immense pressure. His hand instinctively went to grab the mare but collided with an invisible force, and he was thrown back by a magical backlash. He ran back to Twilight and began to pound on the invisible force field as he watched her faint. His eyes turned to the other five mares as each lost consciousness. Tears began to well in his eyes as he helplessly watched the tendrils suck the life out of those he loved. His eyes moved towards the growing orb as it began to spin even faster.

To his amazement, the orb suddenly stopped as each of the tendrils fell limp. It began to twist, swell, and crack, before exploding in a flash of brilliant white light. Spike Shielded his eyes as the light blinded him. A number of smaller beams of light shot past him, passing through the door and windows, disappearing into the night. As the lights dimmed, Spike lowered his hand, and saw a figure crouching in the middle of the circle. 

The figure had a mess of white hair that covered the majority of its pale face. A dark black eye shone from beneath the white as the figure stretched and scratched the horns that protruded forward from the sides of its head. A yawn escaped its lips as it looked at the room with a smile of amusement, and then tucked away a staff and a golden sword. Its gaze rested on Spike and the unconscious mare lying beside him. Its smile grew even larger and more sinister as it approached. Spike felt a chill go along the length of his spine as he stood between the figure and Twilight. Dark tendrils extended from its sleeves as it raised a bandage hand towards Spike. He waited for a darkness to take hold as he closed his eyes, but felt one of the figures fingers press on his forehead. 

Spike couldn’t describe the strange feeling as the figure’s presence filled his head. It felt wrong, as though somebody was invading the very sanctity of his mind and peering into his very soul. The feeling lasted only a moment before Spike felt the presence leave his mind. He looked up to see that the figure had placed a finger encased in a black aura to its throat. The area where the finger touched turned black as the air hummed with unnatural energy that sent chills through Spike’s scales. A moment later, the aura surrounding the finger was gone and the figure cleared its throat as it knelt in front of Spike.

“I am assuming you’re the only one here capable of speech at the moment,” the voice of the figure said. It sounded as though two people were talking in unison. It echoed through the room as Spike stared dumbstruck only nodding as he stared into the deep blackness of the figures eyes. “Good, it looks like the spell was successful. However I can’t say the same for the state of your companions.”

Spike swallowed the knot in his throat before he spoke. ““What do you mean? Will they be okay?”

“Frankly, no. The spell took too much out of them. It won’t be long before they cease living altogether.”

“Please, you have to help them!” Spike cried as he hugged the still form of Twilight. “I need you to help them.”

“I may be able to assist in their recovery, but I require a favour in return.”

“Anything! Please you need to help them. You can have my hidden stash of crystals!”

Spike ran back up the stairs and came back with a basket of gems that he dumped on the floor in front of the figure. He separated them into small piles and presented them to the figure who looked at them with a bored expression. Spike moved through each pile with lightning speed before coming to the bottom of the last pile where he found a small black crystal. He remembered this as one of the strange black crystals he had picked up near the gate of the Crystal Empire when they were heading back to Ponyville. Twilight had taken it in order to study the residual magic she thought was contained within. She hadn't found much in terms of information, but she had explicitly told him not to touch it. If he recalled correctly, it was one of the few remaining crystals Sombra had created, which was why she had kept it locked. She would have been furious with him if she ever found out, but Spike didn't care so long as Twilight was back to normal. Tentatively he grabbed it and held it towards the strange, shadowy thing before him.

The figure picked the crystal from Spike’s hands and examined it with keen look. He clenched his fist around the crystal for a moment and then dropped it as he stood up. Spike looked down to see that the inky blackness had disappeared, leaving behind a crystal as clear as glass. Spike looked up to see that the figure had lined up the bodies of all of the the mares except for Twilight, and had extended his hands towards them.

Spike watched as the tendrils extended from the folds of the figure’s robe and carefully encircled the five mares. With a strange chant, Spike watched as ghostly purple flames engulfed his friends. The tendrils evaporated as the flames collapsed inwards, leaving behind a strange and acrid smell. Nothing remained were the bodies of the five had been. Only small scorch marks in the shape of their outlines. The figure gave a sigh as he turned his attention to the lavender mare who had ceased breathing. Spike stood in front of her, quavering as he stared directly at the figure.

“What did you do to them?” 

“I have given them their energy back and sent them to their respective nests. They will wake up in their homes fully healed and able to continue with their lives.”

“So what about Twilight?”

“I will examine your friend in due time, but this is where the second part of the deal comes into play. I hold the lives of your friends in my hands, so you best listen to my instructions.”

Spike nodded furiously as he stepped away from Twilight’s body. The figure knelt down and put a hand on the unicorn as he repeated the chant from before. Purple fire erupted from the figure’s hand as he grasped the unicorn’s horn. He held onto Twilight for a minute, then slowly withdrew. As the hand came away, Spike breathed in relief as Twilight drew a breath before turning back to the figure. 

“Within the next few days, three of my current host’s companions will arrive in this town. This is inevitability. We will need assistance in returning to our homeland which only your friends can provide. However, I fear that we were not the only ones brought here. Until this problem is remedied, we will stay here in this town. In the meantime, you will take care of our needs until such a solution is found. Understood?” 

Spike nodded as the figure got up and sat on a nearby couch. Another yawn came from the figure as he looked at Spike with a smug expression. Suddenly, dark trails seemed to evaporate as the dark robes were replaced by a different set of clothes. The bandages disintegrated from the figure’s hands as he examined his arms. A small smile played on his lips as he leaned back.

“It seems that I must go back to my cage for a bit, but remember this tiny dragon. I will always be watching, and if my host is not taken care of, I will take back that which I have given.”

“Who are you?” Spike asked as he stood up, no longer intimidated by the weakened state of the figure. “Who else came with you?”

“My name and who I am is not of importance right now. Everything will be revealed in time, but for now, we must both rest. I am sure that my host will fill you in on recent events once he has recovered from his initial shock. Goodbye for now.”

With those final words, the blackness in the figures eyes changed to a deep red before they rolled back into his head. The figure collapsed on the couch, unconscious.


	*****


“So we summoned a group of dangerous aliens to Equestria,” Twilight said as she looked at Spike. She groaned as she rubbed her forehead. Not only had she mistakenly summoned a group of unknown aliens to Equestria, one was capable of using destructive magic she had never seen before. She could only imagine what the others were capable of doing. “Princess Celestia is going to kill me!”

“Now Twilight, I’m sure that if we explain what happened, she’ll be able to help us.” Rarity said as she followed Twilight back to the library. Pinkie bounced beside them whistling a tune, obviously undeterred from the previous night’s near death experience. “Besides, I really need to apologize to that one who was in my shop. I acted rather hastily and without proper judgment. I do hope he accepts my apology for throwing my scissors at him.”

“I think it would be best if we all got some sleep before we look for them,” Twilight said as she let out a sigh. She opened the door to her library and was greeted by the sight of a now, slightly cleaner, mess on the main floor. A few pieces of furniture were still overturned, and the majority of her books needed repairs, but that would be a problem for another day. “I’ll send a letter to the Princess tomorrow and we’ll all gather here to go looking. I’m sure Fluttershy, Applejack and Rainbow will need an explanation as well.”

“Then can we throw a party?” Pinkie asked as she bounced rapidly. Twilight rolled her eyes as she stepped inside the library. She nodded to the pink mare who squealed with excitement before running back to Sugarcube Corner. “This is gonna be the bestest most supertastic party ever!”

“Well then I guess we shall see you then tomorrow,” Rarity said as she turned away and headed back to her shop. “Good night Twilight.”

“Good night Rarity,” Twilight replied as she closed the door. Twilight took a reassuring breath before she levitated a scroll and her quill and began to write. The letter took her only a minute to finish and explained everything from what had happened to exactly the individual measure of degrees of each angle of the intersecting lines. Rolling the paper up, she turned to give it to Spike who breathed a jet of green flame over the paper. As the smoke exited her window, Twilight went upstairs hoping to salvage what was left of the cold night.


*****


Dante grimaced as Moe bandaged the cut on his arm. With a twist, Moe tightened the piece of cloth over the reddened skin. The bleeding had been stopped, but without any medicine or alcohol, it ran the risk of infection. Dante estimated that he unless they could find a healer soon, they would have to make contact with the pony creatures that had chased him last night. Dante scanned the room as Moe sat between a stack of boxes. 

They had taken refuge in an old building in the centre of the town. From the size of the building, Dante could tell that this was more than likely the town hall. They had gotten in through an open window and locked themselves in a musty storage room to rest for the night while they tried to figure out a plan of action. A sudden realisation came over Dante as he looked at his friend.

“Hey Moe?”

“Yeah Dante?” Moe replied as he brushed back some of his long hair and looked at his friend’s worried expression.

“What happened? We were fighting those four and then the next thing I know, I’m in library with some purple horse thing staring at me.”

“Well, we were fighting the Bullywug, then there was a bright flash. The next thing I know, some sort of vortex opened up and sucked us all in. I woke up in some sort of fashion place and almost got stabbed by some flying scissors. The next thing happens is I see you surrounded by horses, so I come and get you.”

“Were Coppa and Sam with you?”

“No. I thought that maybe you’d know where they were.”

“Well, this situation has gone off to a great start. This is starting to look like one of those bad novels that Sarah writes.”

“I don’t think Sarah ever wrote one that involved small horses, Dante. Most of that girl’s books were bad slasher plots,” Moe said as they both remembered the shy green haired student librarian. “We’ll look for them in the morning and be back at Particus before you know it. Besides, it’s not like this situation could get any weirder.”

Dante was about to protest until he saw a flash of mint green dart from the window. He stared at the window waiting for whatever creature to reappear but shook his head as he noticed that Moe had fallen asleep. Dante leaned back as he felt the day’s events take their toll on his exhausted frame. The comforting hold of sleep came easily to the Diablon as his eyelids sagged and he shifted his body into a more comfortable position. 

“I just hope that the others are ok.”


*****


Sam trudged through the bushes, mentally cursing as he made his way past the thick brambles in the pitch black. The stubborn bushes grabbed at his clothes, causing him to contemplate using his sword to cut through them. Deciding against using his weapon in such a manner, he pulled his leg out of the bush causing him to tumble backwards. Instead of falling flat on his back, he skillfully used the momentum to roll back onto his feet before exhaling. 

The sound of a breaking branch pulled him from his passive stance. His hand rested at the hilt of his katana as he scanned the brush for any sign of company. His ears strained to hear any other sound before picking up on a low feral growl behind him. Turning around, his gaze centred on a particular glow coming from the brush. His eyes narrowed as he found the source of the glow.

A pair of glowing green eyes burned in the darkness of the forest, watching as the Felpier drew his sword. Sam felt a wave a calm pass over him as he prepared to defend himself. Suddenly, more green eyes stared at him as he found himself completely surrounded by the glowing orbs. The clearing was filled with the sound of wolves snarling as Sam turned to face the first creature that stepped out of the thick foliage.

He stared at the creature in front of him trying to discern what it was. Its body was made of various pieces of wood shaped in the form of a large wolf. Glowing green eyes stared intently at Sam, who took a step back as more of the creature’s brethren emerged from the bushes. Putrid green breath flowed through the splintered teeth as the monster’s leaf like tongue grazed one its fangs. The lead monster raised its head and emitted a deafening howl. The other monsters followed suit, causing the howl to become a deafening symphony of deadly intent. Sam raised his sword as the first wolf launched itself at him.

Sam ducked under the beast and quickly slashed at it with his sword. The blade caught the wolf just below its throat and tore a deep gash along the beast’s side. A whine came from the beast as it collapsed to the ground. Sam looked down to see a line of amber run down his blade as he readied himself against the rest of the pack. Drool lined the mouths of the beasts as they disregarded the cries of their injured companion. They readied to attack, but were caught off guard when Sam rushed to strike first.

He sped forward and angled his sword towards the first wolf. He felt a slight resistance as the blade entered the opened maw and sheared the wooden head in half. Sap spurted onto Sam as the top portion of the wolfs head flew up into the air. Another swipe of his word cut the next beast through the midsection severing it in half. Sam felt the surge of adrenaline as the wolves backed away from him. Two wolves launched themselves at different angle towards Sam as he regained his breath. His sword caught the first one as it lunged for his throat but was dragged down by the weight as Sam tried to remove it from the body. He felt a burning sensation as the wolf’s claws raked his side, leaving a tear in his uniform. He placed his hand on the wound and felt a wet spot as his blood seeped from the claw mark. His mind raced as the wolves looked at him with hunger in their eyes. 

Felpiers were known for their speed and agility, but neither would help his current situation. His energy fading quickly as the bleeding intensified with each passing moment. His vision swam as the green orbs grew closer and closer, waiting for the moment when he would be too weak to retaliate. One dove for his arm and pinned it as he tried to stab at his attacker. Another grasped his leg and pulled on him, causing him to fall to the ground. He looked up as the pack leader loomed over him, its fetid breath stung his nostrils as it reared back to deliver the final blow. Sam closed his eyes as he waited for the end to come. 

Instead, a loud roar caused his eyes to shoot open. He looked to see that the wolves had begun to slink away as a large shadow loomed over him. He turned to see the large yellow body of a lion as it reared its head and released another bellowing roar. The wolves backed off of Sam who got to his feet, swaying as feebly attempted to lift his sword. The taste of iron filled his mouth while his vision blurred. He fell backwards as the monster lowered itself and a blob of yellow and pink made its way towards him. Two large blue orb on the same field of yellow filled his vision as the darkness began to swallow his consciousness.

So this is the face of the angel of death. Sam thought as his consciousness faded. We meet at last


*****


Sam opened his eyes as he woke with a start, a hiss escaped mouth as pain flared in his side where he had been clawed. As his hand felt the area, he noticed that his midsection had been covered in white bandages slightly soiled by his sweat. He felt a pounding on his leg as he rose from the small bed. A small rabbit who was busy thumping his foot on Sam’s lap as narrowed his eyes at the wounded warrior. Seeing that Sam was fully awake, the rabbit hopped down from the bed and scurried out of the room. 

Sam looked around the room as he heard the sounds of someone talking downstairs. The room was lightly furnished and had a comforting warmth to it. A rather low ceiling hung above him as he stumbled over to the window. From his vantage point, he could see the countless number of birdhouses and animal burrows that littered the area. A small grunt of pain escaped from his lips as he slowly left the window and found his weapon leaning against the nightstand. His shirt was draped over a chair, a few patches sewn over the old tears. He quickly clothed himself before a noise made him spin while drawing his blade. His eyes widened as he saw the creature cowering before him as he pointed the blade at its throat. Slowly, he withdrew the blade as he regarded the strange creature before him. 

A butter yellow pony  with a large pink mane cowered in the corner of the room. It used its long pink mane as a sort of curtain blocking Sam from viewing its face  A movement caught his eyes and he stared incredulously at the wings that graced the pony’s side. He marveled at their structure as he sheathed his sword and took a step away. Suddenly, the pain in his side flared again, causing him to drop to his knees with a gasp. To his surprise, the fear that had been so dominating in the pony’s eyes was replaced with concern as it dashed to his side and propped him against the bed. Sam felt the soft fur of her as his arm  was positioned over its small body. The pony said something causing Sam’s ears to twitch as he tried to comprehend her words. Nothing the pony said made any sense to him. There were a few words that he could understand like “town” and “twilight,” but the rest was a mix of strange neighs and squeaks. 

With a final check of his bandages, the pony that Sam assumed to be female, led him down the stairs. Passing the large crowd of woodland creatures, he felt the pony push him forward with a gentle nudge of her head. She spoke again while pointing towards the door with her forelimb. Sam did as he was told without complaint. The pony’s voices felt oddly comforting. It possessed a motherly tone that put Sam’s mind on ease as he opened the door.

The sun blinded him as he ducked under the doorway. Adjusting to the brightness, he found himself listening to the sounds birds singing. He smiled as the calm and cool breeze of the morning washed over him and ruffled the fur on his ears and tail. A glance at  the yellow mare showed her pointing towards a path that led to a town off in the distance. Nodding he slowly followed his saviour as she began to trot towards the town. Even though he didn’t feel any hostility from this creature, he still kept a steady hand next to his blade.


*****


Dante looked out the window and felt his heart drop as he saw the crowd of ponies gathered in front of the town hall. Moe was muttering a few curses under his breath as he peered out of the windows. 

“What do we do?” Moe asked as he tightened his grip around his bow. Dante had left his weapons back in the Library and felt lost without the weight of the sword and staff in his hands. He looked out the window to see the same unicorn step out from the crowd next to a mint green one who pointed to the window before clapping happily. Without the cover of darkness, he could see the shape of the pony more clearly as she looked towards his position. 

Her mane was a dark shade of purple with a lighter streak running down its length. On her back leg was a peculiar symbol of a purple star that drew Dante’s eye. He saw that all the ponies had images gracing their bodies and silently wondered what such a thing could mean. He shook his head and cast aside his wandering thoughts as the purple mare levitated a large megaphone in front of her.

“Please come out, we only want to talk!” 

“What’s she saying?” Moe asked as he looked out the window. Dante gave him a confused look before he looked back at the shifting crowd.

“She says they want to talk,” he replied as he scanned the rooftops. Ponies with wings seemed to be patrolling the roof tops, preventing the two from making an escape. “Can’t you understand them?”

“No, I only get a few words here and there but most of it’s a different language. I wish I had one of Coppa’s speaking stones.”

“It would certainly make things easier,” Dante said as he noticed a pair of figures coming towards the crowd. His heart froze when he saw the shape of Sam walking down the street. He grasped Moe and turned him to face directly at the approaching felpier. “At least we know where Sam is.”

Their joy was interrupted as the crowd surged around Sam who had placed a hand on his sword as though one of them might charge at him. Dante and Moe readied themselves as they slowly opened the windows as the attention was turned towards Sam. A sudden flash of light blinded them as a large pony descended from the sky in a blaze of white light. Dante stared in awe as the tall pony stepped forward, spreading out her large wings. The crown that topped her shifting ethereal mane told him all he needed to know about the pony’s status. Even from this distance, he could feel the power emanating from the monarch as she regarded the purple mare. 


*****


Twilight gulped nervously as she bowed to the princess who regarded her with a warm expression. As she rose, her gaze shifted to the creature that Fluttershy had brought into Ponyville. Its feline ears had flattened as it readied itself to draw its sword. The fur on its tail stood on end as it cautiously regarded the massive crowd. Its face was a mix of fear, confusion, and pain as Celestia slowly approached it. Twilight glanced at the creatures midsection as she noticed the bandages slightly hidden by its clothes.

“Princess, be careful,” Twilight said as she looked at the frightened Fluttershy. Celestia looked at her student before she lowered her head and pointed her long horn towards the creature as a golden glow surrounded it. The creature started to draw its blade as it regarded the Princess. It yelped as the golden aura surrounded the sword and removed it from the hand on its grip. 

“Twilight, all will be fine. We mustn’t overreact,” Celestia said as she examined the blade while simultaneously lifting the creature in the air. “I will talk to them so that they don’t misread our intent-”

The princess was cut off as a wall of flames cut them off from the rest of the crowd. Twilight turned to see the two other creatures drop down from the town hall. The horned one had one arm completely engulfed in flame as it looked at the princess with a furrowed brow. The other one was crouching and was pointing its drawn bow at the princess as it regarded the situation. 

“Let him go!” Dante said as he flames on his arms intensified. Twilight looked at the princess who nodded and released her hold on the sword and creature. It landed on its feet before vaulting over Twilight to grab its sword, removing it from its sheath as it landed with a graceful flourish. Dante just stared at the frightened ponies as the flames on his arm began to fade. “I don’t know what you want with us, but we just want to go home.”

Celestia slowly approached the three as they lowered their weapons. The tension seemed to ease as she smiled at the three and bowed her head. The wall of flames died out as Dante ceased the flow of magic coming out of his arm and motioned for Sam and Moe to put away their weapons. Sam sheathed his sword while Moe placed his bow on the ground. The three lowered themselves as Celestia stood in front of them with her wings extended in an authoritative, yet welcoming manner. Small tendrils of yellow light escaped from her horn grazing the bowed heads of the three. Sam and Moe gasped as the energy attached itself to them. The crowd watched as their bodies took in the magic while Dante remained as he was. Celestia took a step back as she regarded the three before she decided to address their concerns.

“Do not worry, I have merely granted you the ability to speak and understand our language,” Celestia said as she bowed to them. They returned the gesture in kind as multiple sighs of relief escaped their bodies. “My name is Princess Celestia, allow me to be the first to welcome you to the land of Equestria. You must have many questions.”

“Yes we do Princess, but we were hoping to find our friend first,” Moe said as he bowed to the Princess, “we seem to have lost him recently.”

“There are more of you?”

“Yes, we are a party of four,” Dante said as he bowed also while ignoring a gasp from the pink mare nearby. Celestia smiled at the formality of the three. Her smile turned to a frown as she felt a sudden danger approaching the town. “His name is Coppa. He’s not that tall and is covered in brown fur. We were hoping to find him before he got himself into trouble.”

A sudden roar broke the calm as dozens of heads turned to see a brown blur flying through the air and come crashing down into a house. Screams came from the crowd as the giant form of the Bullywug stepped into sight, knocking over carts and signposts as it unleashed a hungry croak.

“It seems he’s found us,” Dante said as they readied themselves while Coppa removed himself from the wreckage of a house. “We’ll handle this! Please tell everyone to get out of here.”


*****


Coppa’s day had gone from good to bad, and now to even worse as he saw his friends and the Bullywug facing off. He pushed a large piece of wall off his body as he grasped the handle of his axe. He jumped down from the wreckage and ran up to his friends as they prepared to face the gargantuan creature.

“I hope that filly is okay,” he said to himself as he took his position beside his friends. The bullywug croaked as its tongue shot out and crashed into the town hall, causing the second tier to sway precariously. He looked at the serious expressions of his friends as the tongue snapped back towards the humanoid amphibian. “Well, it looks like the whole gang is back.”

“Coppa, why is it that wherever we bring you, something tries to kill us?” Moe asked as he shot an arrow that sunk into the pock marked flesh of the Bullywug. “Where the hell have you been anyway?”

“It’s a funny story actually. I’ll tell you it while we finish this guy off,” Coppa replied as he charged the monster. Out of the corner of his eye, he saw a familiar brown pony and a rainbow coloured streak. A purple unicorn appeared from thin air with Dante’s sword and staff in a Magenta coloured aura before tossing them to the waiting Diablon. He grinned as he dashed forward, raising his axe before he swung it down towards the Bullywugs bloated belly. “Looks like I missed out on introductions.”
	
> Fight and Flight
> --------------------------------------------------------------------------

	Coppa woke as the first rays of sunshine broke through the tree line. He turned himself over so he could stare at the sky as his head began to pound. He looked around to see that he was surrounded by an orchard of apple trees. He looked to his side to see his axe embedded into soft ground. He grasped the weapon and with a soft tug, pulled it out of the ground. Shaking the last bits of dirt from the blade, he scanned his surroundings looking for any signs of his classmates. He groaned when he realised he was alone and began to rack his mind for reassurance while staring at the sky.

“Ok, I can do this, I’ve woken up in stranger places than this!” he said to himself as he looked at the trees. He let out a breath as his stomach growled and looked at the red fruit hanging from the branches. “First thing first, time to eat.”

He slung his axe onto his back as he climbed the tree. Grabbing a low hanging branch, Coppa propelled himself onto the tree limb with minimal effort. It bent slightly under his weight as he edged closer to one of the ripe apples. Grabbing the fruit, he gently plucked the red orb from the branch. He inspected the apple for any worms or bruises before polishing it on his shirt. Satisfied with its condition, he bit into the fruit with a loud crunch as his teeth punctured the skin of the apple. 

An explosion of delicious taste filled his mouth as a line of juice dribbled down the side of his chin. With a few more bites, the apple was gone and replaced with a core that Coppa chucked over his shoulder. He wiped his mouth and gave a satisfied burp as he turned to reach for another apple. A sudden shaking of the tree made him pause as he looked down to see a horse bucking a tree with its hind legs, causing the apples to rain down from the branches.

What in the hell? Coppa thought to himself as he peered through the branches that hid him.

An orange coloured pony was busy collecting the fallen apples while a younger yellow pony helped her. Coppa chuckled as he saw the Stetson that graced the orange one’s head and the three red apples that looked like they were painted on her flank. The younger one only had a large pink bow and a bare flank. The orange one was busy talking to the yellow one, but Coppa couldn’t understand a single word they were saying.

Coppa opened up his bag and rummaged through it as he watched the two ponies. He stared intently as he watched the orange one rear and buck the tree with a crack. He made a mental note of every movement as he watched the orange pony repeat the motions a few more times. He looked down as he felt the cool stone in the depths of his bag, and withdrew a blue stone.

“Always knew this would come in handy,” Coppa said as he popped the small blue stone covered in various runes into his mouth. He smiled sadly as he felt the stone warm as its magic started to take hold. “Thanks dad.”

“An’ that’s how ya buck a tree Applebloom!” the orange pony said with a smile as she panted slightly. The yellow filly nodded her head as her sister sat down. “Now you try.”

“Okay sis!” Applebloom exclaimed as she trotted to the tree. Coppa smiled at the excited filly as he watched from the tree. Applebloom reminded him of his own sister. She had the same happy expression and determination that Coppa had always seen on Ferra’s face. He watched as Applebloom reared her hind legs and gave a light kick. 

The tree slightly shuddered as the yellow hooves made contact with the bark but no apples came down. The yellow filly gave her sister a sad look that nearly caused Coppa’s heart to seize as he saw her large eyes. “Nothin happened Applejack. Ah’ll never get it right!”

Coppa chuckled as he heard the name. He silently crept from the branch and jumped onto a nearby tree still loaded with apples. A rainbow blur caught his eye as a cyan pegasus landed in front of Applejack. Coppa looked at the rainbow maned mare as he bit into another apple.

“AJ, we need to get to Ponyville quick! Twilight said she needs us!” 

“Hold on there Rainbow Dash!” Applejack said as she patted the anxious mare on the back. Rainbow took a breath as she regained her composure. “Ah’m teaching Applebloom here how to buck trees. What do ya need?”

“It’s about the spell from last night!” Rainbow said as she noticed the yellow filly staring at them curiously. Coppa’s ears twitched as he heard the mention of a spell. He saw Applejack’s expression turn from confusion to a grim realisation. The orange mare turned to her sister with a sad expression.

“Applebloom, ah need ya to go on back to the farm.” Applebloom’s ears flattened as the sad expression came back to her young face. “Please, ah’ll be back soon and we can get back to buckin then.”

“Okay sis.” 

Coppa watched as Applejack and Rainbow Dash sped down towards a path in the orchard. He started to move so that he could follow them, but was stopped when he heard the filly sniffle. He watched as Applebloom stared at the ground and held back a tear before she turned towards the tree Coppa was hiding in. A look of determination filled her face as she ran full speed and kicked the tree causing it to shake. When the branches settled, she opened her eyes to see that none of the apples had fallen. She sighed as she turned to go back towards the farm.

“Ah guess ah’ll never be as good as AJ,” she said as she absentmindedly dug up some soil. A snap caused her ears to swivel as an apple hit her square on the head. She rubbed the sore spot as she looked at her feet and saw an apple lying on its side. Her expression turned to delight as she happily bounced in place. “Ah did it! I got mah first apple.”

Coppa grinned as he watched the filly bounce in place. Sure it wasn’t anything large, but he couldn’t stand by and let the filly’s day be ruined. Suddenly another idea came to him as the pictures of the way Applejack had hit the tree surfaced in his mind. He grinned as he lowered himself to a smaller branch.

“You did good kid. It was a nice hit, but you still need work.”

Applebloom froze as the voice came from the tree. She stared at the tree with a look of disbelief as she backed away. “Did ya’ll just talk?!”

Coppa couldn’t help but laugh at the face of the filly as he hung under the branch, exposing his upper body as his legs hooked around the branch. Blood rushed to his head as the filly stared at him. He lost his balance when Applebloom bucked him in the face, sending his head swinging back. He cried out in pain as he dropped from the tree and fell to the ground.

“Ow,” he said as he rubbed his nose as the filly backed away from him. A faint taste of iron filled his mouth as he spat a glob of red onto the ground. He chuckled as his nose stopped stinging. “If a hoof to the face is your way of saying hello, then it’s nice to meet you too.”

Applebloom stared incredulously at him as she looked back to the apple by her forehoof. “You dropped this for me? Why would a diamond dog do that?”

Coppa grinned as he scratched one of his ears before he gave a confused look. “I only helped; it was mostly you who did it. Wait, what’s a diamond dog?” 

“Well ain’t that what ya are?”

“No kid, I’m a dwarf.”

“What’s a dwarf? Who are you? An ahm a filly!”

“Names Coppa, nice to meet you,” he replied as he extended a hand. The filly cautiously placed her hoof in his palm and shook the furred hand slightly. A smile came to her face as he stood up. She came to about the middle of Coppa’s thigh and stared in awe as he cracked his neck. “You got a good pair of legs kid. I’m surprised you didn’t dent my skull with them cannons.”

Applebloom giggled as she instinctively flexed a leg. Coppa motioned her to come closer as he knocked on the tree. She approached him without hesitation as she watched him kick out with a leg and land a blow on the trunk. A few apples fell from the tree as she stared at Coppa.

“Here’s a tip ‘bloom,” Coppa said as he knelt beside her. He pointed to the area where he kicked. “When you buck the thing, snap your leg out like this.”

He took her leg and extended it until it touched the tree. Applebloom looked at him but Coppa gave a nod. Summoning her strength she lashed out at the tree and heard a loud crack. She waited a moment before a few apples dropped from the branches. She gave an excited squee as she wrapped her forehooves around Coppa’s waist in a hug. He laughed at the filly hanging from his waist as he picked up another apple and took a bite out of it. A sudden sound turned both of their attentions to the side as Applebloom let go of the dwarf.

“What was that?” Applebloom asked as she started to head towards the noise. “It sounded like a big frog.”

Coppa’s eyes widened as he grabbed Applebloom and threw her out of the way as a long pink tongue smashed into him, sending him flying into a tree. He groaned as the filly screamed when the large body of the Bullywug emerged from the trees. It croaked as it saw its target and sent its tongue arching at the prone dwarf. Coppa used his arms to propel himself out of the way as the tongue smashed into the ground. He noticed the empty hands of the Bullywug and guessed that the creature had lost its blades when they were sucked into the vortex. He saw Applebloom cowering by the tree with a look of horror on her face as Coppa swung his axe and cut deep into the monsters leg.

“Applebloom! Run!” Coppa shouted as he was launched back towards the trees by the monster’s leg. The filly didn’t need a second command as she bolted towards the nearby house as fast as she could. Coppa watched as she disappeared before he looked back at the croaking Bullywug.  “All right ugly! Let’s dance!”

*****

“And then I got it to chase me here!” Coppa said as he jumped over the swinging arm of the Bullywug. “I mean, what are the chances I’d lead it to a populated place!”

“Coppa, as much as we want to hear your stupid story of how you lead a giant monster into a town,” Moe yelled as he shot a few more arrows into the thick flesh while Dante and Sam distracted the beast with magic and a flurry of sword swipes, “now is definitely not the time!”

“Fine! Then I’ll just finish this!” Coppa said as he jumped up onto a balcony from his spot on top of a pile of crates. He readied his axe as he leaped off the platform and onto the Bullywugs fat neck. He raised his axe and slammed the blade down into the thick flesh. The monster gave a gurgled cry as it fell to the ground with Coppa latched onto its folds. “Are you happy now?”

Twilight looked at the newcomer as he argued with Moe in perfect Equish. Unlike his companions who were mostly furless, Coppa was covered in light brown fur with a mane of spike red fur on his head. Around his forehead sat a pair of goggles that stood out from the rest of his blood stained clothing. In fact, the majority of his body was covered in the monster’s black blood as he wiped them on his pants. He wore the same sort of clothes as the other three, a simple blue and white shirt with green pants. He gave a grunt of annoyance as he turned to the waiting mares and gave them a bow.

“The name is Coppa ma’am,” he said as he rose he took a look back at the motionless body of the Bullywug. “Sorry about the mess.”

“What the hay happened here!” two new voices spoke in unison as they joined the group. Rainbow Dash looked at the monster and the four visitors. “Who are you? What is that?”

Dante gave let out a breath of exhasperation as the air was filled with a million questions before raising his hands. The mares quieted as he leaned on his staff. Each of the four put away their weapons as they turned away from the Bullywug. “I know you have many questions, but now is not the time. Could we possibly do this after we dispose of the Bullywug?”

“Yes. I believe that would be the best idea right now.” Celestia said as she stared at the four students. She hadn’t seen an a fight like that for the past thousand years. She paused as the sad memories flooded back before she addressed the four. “How do you intend to dispose of the body?”

“Well first, we got to move it out of the town before it poisons the ground,” Coppa said as he continued to wipe the blood off his arms. “Then we burn the body. I’m sure you ponies don’t want to smell that so that’s a second reason.”

“Trust us, it’s not a pleasant job,” Moe said as Sam nodded in agreement. Twilight and the other mares all looked in horror at the monster who had begun to shake. Fluttershy let out a small sob as she watched the body twitch in pain, her kind heart even going out to the repulsive creature.

“I don’t mean to be rude, but is it supposed to be doing that?” Rarity said as she gave a toss of her mane and pointed at the Bullywug. The four turned and just as a croak escaped from the now rising monster. Blood spurted from the axe still lodged in its neck as its mouth opened and the tongue shot out. 

Watch out!” Dante shouted as he pushed the curious mares away from them with a gust of wind. The tongue wrapped around the four and pulled them into the monsters waiting mouth. Twilight and her friends watched in horror as the monster swallowed the four whole. It gave a happy burp as the lump in its throat travelled down before it turned its hungry eyes on the surrounding ponies.

"Oh no..."
	
> Indigestion and Introductions
> --------------------------------------------------------------------------

	Twilight stood rigid as the Bullywug patted its stomach in contentment. Its beady eyes locked onto the purple mare who shot a beam of magic at the monster as the shock subsided. The magic left a small scorch mark on the pallid green flesh doing nothing but bringing out an angry cry. The Bullywug swung one of its meaty arms leaving a great gouge in the street and sending the mare skidding away. A shadow  was cast over her as the monster’s huge form loomed overhead. She could hear the shouts and screams of her friends as her vision cleared and she saw a large hand descend toward her. She closed her eyes and waited for the slimy hand to grasp her but felt nothing as a pained sound came from the monster who fell onto its back.

The shocked bystanders watched as an area of the Bullywugs stomach moved in different directions. They all gasped and recoiled as a blade protruded from within the flesh followed by a spurt of steaming blood as both Coppa and Moe clawed their way out from the fresh opening. They gasped for air as they were covered by a stream of blood and entrails. A few ponies came out of their homes and stared at the dead Bullywug and the breathless warriors. The silence was broken as Coppa spat out some black blood before vomiting.

“Oh my god!” The furred head shook as he lost the apples he had that morning. “Somebody get me some water, I got some in my mouth!

“I think we’re going to need a shower.” Moe said as he fell back in the puddle of blood. He smiled as Coppa gave him a look of annoyance as he finished spitting the last bit of vomit from his mouth. “Wait where’s Dante and Sam?”

As if in response the smell of burning flesh started to waft through the air as a part of the Bullywug’s chest started to expand. A second passed before the bulging mound collapsed inward before exploding outwards. Black blood and bloody meat rained down from the sky as the other two breathed heavily. 

“I guess that’s another reason why you should chew your food huh?” Coppa said as he finished retching. Moe simply laughed as he wiped the blood from his eyes. The Bullywug’s body hissed and crackled as it was engulfed by magical fire filling the air with the smell of burning meat. The puddles of blood hissed as they evaporated. After a few minutes, nothing remained other than the stink and a large scorched outline where the monster’s body had been. 

*****

Dante waited as the ponies dressed in nurse outfits inspected his body while he sat on a hospital bed while Moe leaned back in a chair at the side of the room. They had just finished inspecting Coppa who had a sling around one arm and were in the process of sterilizing Sam’s wounds as the measured, and took notes of their physiology. A pony dressed in a doctors outfit entered the room reviewing the notes he had taken when he had questioned Dante about their internal organs and skeletal structure.

“Well it seems that you all are fine to go,” the Doctor said as he levitated the clipboard away. Dante gave a relieved breath as he put on his cleaned uniform. It had taken at least three washes to get rid of the blood staining their clothes and another eight to get the rancid smell of rotted meat out. He buttoned his shirt up just as the Princess and the six mares entered the room. 

“I’m glad to see you all are alright,” Celestia said as she looked at the four in the sterile white hospital room. The mares hesitated as the four got up  and approached the but were ushered closer as Celestia pushed them with her wing. She noticed the sling around Coppa’s arm and gave a concerned look as he shuffled under her gaze. ‘What happened to you arm?”

“I dislocated it during the fight. It’ll be fine in a few seconds” He said as he approached Moe. The elf gave a nod as the princess and the mares watched as Moe gripped Coppa’s shoulder while Sam held back his other arm. A sudden popping noise caused them all to cringe as Coppa swore in pain. After a moment, he undid the sling and tested the arm by swinging it back and forth.  “Okay all better now! Sorry about that.”

“It’s fine but allow me to say that it is a pleasure to meet you four.” Celestia said as she rose from her seat. “As you know I am Princess Celestia, I rule this land alongside my sister Princess Luna. Beside me are the bearers of the Elements of Harmony. Please introduce yourselves girls.”

“I am Twilight Sparkle.” The purple unicorn said as she pointed her hoof at her chest. “Element of Magic. I am the Princess’s personal student and caretaker of the Ponyville library.”

“My name is Rarity, Element of Generosity” The white unicorn said as she dramatically waved her hoof and stepped forward. “Premier fashionista and owner of Carousel Boutique. The place where everything is unique, chic et magnifique!

“Looks like this one is perfect for you Moe!” Coppa said with a laugh as the elf slapped the back of his head. Coppa rubbed the area as he glared at Moe while the mares giggled slightly. “All right shutting up now.”

“Mah names Applejack, Element of Honesty.” Applejack said as she gave each of the four a wary eye. “Ah live on Sweet Apple Acres with mah family.” 

“Ooo me! I’m Pinkie Pie! I make people laugh which is why I’m laughter!” Pinkie explained as she hopped up and down. She suddenly pressed her face close to Dante’s As she began to spew out words while throwing confetti in the air. “Ithrowsuperfantasticparies. Thatmeansi’vegottothrowyoueachagiant WELCOME TO EQUESTRIA PARTY!”

The four each looked at each other with confused expressions as they processed Pinkie’s words. Coppa opened his mouth first as the Moe rubbed his skull.”Is she okay?”

“That’s just Pinkie being Pinkie,” the cyan pegasus said as she crossed her forehooves. “The names Rainbow Dash! Element of Loyalty, future Wonderbolt and fastest flyer in Equestria!”

“A pleasure.” Moe said as he looked at each of them noticing that there was a missing pony from the lineup. “Weren’t there six of you?”

“Under the table.” Coppa said as he pointed at the yellow pegasus hiding under the small table. Her pink mane was blocking her face as she cowered from the four. She let out a small eep as Rainbow Dash moved the table.

“This is Fluttershy.” Rainbow said as she gestured at the shaking yellow mare. “She’s the Element of Kindness and can be really shy if you can’t already tell.”

“It’s nice to meet you all,” Dante said as he cracked his back. A few pops sounded as he crossed his legs. “You probably have a lot of questions but we were just wondering exactly how we were transported here.”

“I shall explain that.” Celestia said as Twilight solemnly pawed at the floor. “I sent Twilight a book of rather complicated spells that belonged to one of our most powerful wizards. It seems that one of these spells that connected our worlds and drew you here.”

“That explains the weird magic trails,” Coppa said as he rose from his cushion. “How long till we can go back?”

“I am unsure if you can return to your realm at all,” Celestia said as she looked at her student. “The spell is unfinished and very dangerous. It depleted the energy of the elements and severely hurt my student and her friends.”

“They seem to be doing fine right now.” Coppa said as he scanned the bodies of the mares. Dante also noted the absence of any strain on their faces. Each seemed fine to his wandering eye.

“That’s because Dante healed us with his magic.” Twilight replied as she looked at each of them. Her expression became confused as she noticed the other three looking at her with looks of mock amusement. “What’s so funny?”

“Sorry it’s just that what you said is impossible.” Dante replied. “I’m a wizard, I can’t heal anything, that’s what a cleric is for.”

“What do you mean?” Twilight asked as her ears cocked forward. “But Spike said you healed us.”

“Where we come from there are two types of paths you can take in the academy. Magic and non-magic and from those are a whole selection of class types.”

“What classes are you guys?” Rainbow Dash asked as she rested on the ground with her head in her hooves. 

“I’m a warrior,” Coppa said as he pounded his chest. “I’m a front line type who just hits things with weapons until they drop.”

“I’m a ranger,” Moe stated as he showed them his bow. “I offer support by using psychic powers and my bow and arrows. I can also fight with my knives but I prefer long range combat.”

“So Coppa’s a warrior, Moe’s a ranger and you’re a wizard.” Twilight said as she pointed her hoof at Dante. “What are you Sam?”

Sam merely looked at Twilight before glancing at his friends as he sat motionless. His mouth didn’t move an inch as the mares waited for him to speak. A full minute of silence passed before Coppa coughed into his hand.

“You guys aren’t going to get much out of him.” Coppa said with a dismissive wave. “Sam can’t speak. He’s been mute since we first met him. He’ll write something down but your pretty much limited to yes and no questions.”

“So what is his funny class?” Pinkie Pie said as she bounced in place. “Is it something silly?”

“No Pinkie, he’s a samurai. Far from a silly class,” Moe said as the pink mare who tried to poke Sam’s ears. Sam sat still as he ignored the feeling of the Pinking stroking his ear. “He’s like a warrior but he’s faster and can use black magic like a wizard.”

“What’s black magic?” Twilight said as a scroll levitated in front of her. Dante glared at Coppa who gave him a sheepish grin. “Is it something bad?”

“Twilight why don’t you ask them that tomorrow.” Celestia said as she looked back to Dante with a concerned expression. “In the meantime why don’t we discuss the matter of where these four will be staying. Also I have a favour to ask of you four.” 

“What is it Princess?” Dante asked as she stepped closer to the four and levitated their weapons in the air. Dante gave a silent nod as he understood the issue the Princess was about to address.

“Equestria is a peaceful land and many of my little ponies are unused to seeing weapons. I would ask that for the duration of your stay to keep your weapons safely hidden. I would also like to make sure that any other items that would pose a danger be shown so that I am aware of them.”

“Yes Princess we understand.” Moe said as each of the students grabbed the small bags. He cast a glance as the mare’s looked at him curiously. You may want to take a step back.”

With a tug on the drawstring, four piles of weapons, armour and various trinkets poured out of the small bags. The piles continued to grow as the clang of metal and glass filled the room. Finally emptied the stunned Princess looked at the massive collection of items that towered over the mares. “Well it seems that it would be best if you each kept your bags on your person instead. I will need you to make a promise to abide by these rules. I do hope that you won’t jeopardize the safety and health of my subjects.”

“We can do that,” Coppa said as he shovelled his pile back into his bag. “What sort of promise? A blood oath or something?”

“No a simple pinkie promise will do.”

“What’s a pinkie promise?”

Twilight spoke up as she cast a glance to the pink mare. “It’s one of the most powerful pacts we ponies have. Just make sure you don’t break it or you’ll have to deal with Pinkie.”

“So how does it go?” Coppa asked as Pinkie stepped forward.

"Cross my heart, hope to fly, stick a cupcake in my eye." Pinkie recited as she shoved her hoof into her eye. Coppa gave a snort as he watched the promise unfold cringing when Pinkie Pie shoved her hoof in her eye.

“You’re not serious are you?” 

“Just do it Coppa.” Dante said as he made the motions. Sam and Moe followed suit and gently pressed their finger to their eyes. Coppa sighed as he recited the words before accidentally sticking his finger in his eye.

“Okay so what about a place to stay?”

“Well I only have one room for guests,” Twilight said as she pointed to hersled. “But maybe you could ask the others.”

“Well it’s settled then!” Coppa said as he got up his eye still watering from his finger’s assault. “Dante stays at the library while we go find a house to rent.”

“Why am I being left at the library?” 

“Because you’re the leader and something in that library might help us out.”

“Dante please hit me, I think Coppa is actually making sense for once.” Moe said sarcastically. Coppa flashed a grin as all eyes fell on him. 

“There may be a problem with your idea Coppa.” Celestia said halting the dwarf’s enthusiam. “Renting a piece of real estate requires funds and a proof of citezenship. I doubt your world uses Bits for currency.”

“No, does your bank have an exchange rate by any chance?” Coppa asked as he drew out a large gold coin. He Celestia examined the piece as she took the coin from his outstretched hand. “I’m sure there’s something we could work out.”

“How many of these gold pieces does each of you have?”

“All together, about four thousand if we include what we found before the incident.” Dante said as he did the mental math. “What would that get us?”

“The current value of gold is around eight hundred bits per ounce. Assuming that this is pure gold and weighs an ounce. This amount would bring you to the total sum of three hundred and twenty million bits.”

“Well then it seems like a trip to the bank is in order.” Coppa said as he clapped his hands together, intending to march out the door, no doubt to the bank. He stopped as Celestia raised her hoof.

“This is where the problem lies. That amount of bits does not exist and would take an enormous amount of time to fabricate. I doubt we could even process a reduced amount at the moment. However, I would suggest only exchanging a few pieces  at the moment. Anymore than that could have serious repercussions on the economy of Ponyville. Until we can accommodate the wealth you brought, I suggest that you stay close to the elements for now.”

“Well Dante could stay with me. If it’s okay with the others Moe can stay with Rarity, Sam with Fluttershy and Coppa can go to Sweet Apple Acres with Applejack.” Twilight said as she stepped forward. "If that isn't a problem with the others?"

"Heavens no," Rarity said as she trotted next to Moe. The elf gave her a quizzical look as she scanned him with bright eyes. "Having such a elegant looking visitor in my own abode could provide an untapped source of inspiration! I mean look at them! Never have I seen such diversity in fashion. My goodness, even their uniforms look absolutely dashing. I must say, Moe, if I didn't see you in action dear, I would have thought you to have been a fellow fashion buff! You have such an elegant poise, your mane is practically perfect, and you have such a feminine face!"

"Ha! Gaaaayyyy!" Coppa said before Moe cuffed him upside the head. 

"Thanks I guess..." Moe replied unsure of how to properly deal with her praise. Coppa simply struggled to keep his laugh contained, a few snickers escaping at the expense of his friends embarrassment.

"What about you Fluttershy?" Twilight asked as the pegasus let out a small 'eep' of surprise. "Are you okay with having Sam live with you for a bit?"

"Well... U-umm," Fluttershy mumbled as she tried to avoid eye contact with the Felpier. Sam kept quiet, remaining still like an intimidating statue and making it even harder for Fluttershy to form a coherent sentence. "I-I guess i-it would be okay...
Sam only nodded, showing he was on board with the idea. He kept a hand on his side, trying his hardest to make it seem like his wound wasn't paining him at all. Dante flicked his head to the side, gesturing to Sam to sit down and rest while the others made arrangements. He obeyed hesitantly, taking his place on one of the beds.

Applejack coughed into a hoof as the room became silent.“Umm gals?” Applejack said as she tried to catch Twilight’s attention. The unicorn turned to Applejack who had a slight frown lining her muzzle. “Can ah talk to all of ya’ll outside fer a minute?”

“Sure Applejack.” Twilight said as they followed the mare outside the room. Celestia excused herself from the room stating that she was needed back in Canterlot and prompting goodbyes from the mares and four students. Twilight closed the door behind her as Applejack turned towards her. “Ah don’t know if we should trust these folk.”

“Applejack what’s the matter? I didn't take you for the suspicious type,” Rainbow said as her head cocked to the side indicating her confusion. Applejack let out a groan as her five friends all stared at her in confusion. “They seem pretty cool to me.”

“It’s just when ah saw that Coppa fella fighting that monster. He looked like he was having a mighty good time swinging his axe around against that thing." She said in a low voice. "Ah may be the only one who feels this way, but ah can’t trust something that likes hurting others let alone something as strange as these four.”

“Applejack I’m sure that if you get to know them they’ll turn out to be nicer than you can imagine.” Twilight replied as Applejack took of her stetson and gave a huff of annoyance while smoothing out a few stands of her mane.

“You ain’t the one who has to deal with a psycho diamond dog lookalike.” Applejack snapped back causing Twilight to flinch. The mare frowned as she sighed, realizing her mistake. “Ah’m sorry Twilight ah'm just dealing with a lot. Having to deal with all of this ain't helping much either.”

“It'll be ok Applejack, we just need to keep an open mind,” Twilight said with a reassuring smile. Applejack gave an unsure nod as she placed her stetson back on her head. “I mean you could ask Coppa to do small chores on the farm in turn for you letting him stay.”

“Ah don’t know Twilight Ah’ve got the feeling that they’re hiding something.”

*****

“This has got to be the biggest load of crap ever,” Coppa complained as he lay back in his hospital bed. The mares had yet to return leaving the four to their thoughts while a nurse had come in with a few trays of food. There was a moment of silence as each of them looked at what could only be described as pulped grass. It took a minute for them to explain their dietary differences, mainly in regards to their consumption of meat and the mare to realize what they mean't. It then took half of a second for Coppa to grab the frightened nurse as she screamed bloody murder. A few choice words and a few reassurances from them all -mainly Coppa promising he wouldn't eat her-  allowed them calm the nurse down so that she quit screaming. She had then promptly took the trays back and returned hesitantly with a few decent looking salads and iron supplements for them all. The four hadn’t complained and had finished the meal within a few minutes before reconvening and took stock of their situation. 

“So what’s our course of action?” Moe said as he placed his tray on a nearby desk. The three looked towards Dante who was rubbing the bridge of his nose as he came up with a plan. “It doesn’t appear as though we can just get up and leave.”

“We don’t have many options,” Dante said as he got up from the hospital bed and started to pace. “I say we just follow the emergency procedures from the school handbook.”

“Right, what were those again?” Coppa asked his eyes darting from Sam to Moe when both shook their heads. Dante gave a groan as he grabbed his own bag and started to rummage through it. His eyes widened as he started to dump the contents out. Many things poured out of the small bag but there was no book in sight. Coppa cleared his throat as Dante groaned once more. “These ponies seem pretty cool so I’m sure we don’t need to be too cautious.”

“Coppa those rules were put in there for a reason. Sure these pony things are harmless but the same doesn’t apply to us. We can’t afford to get too comfortable, so that means keep any other interactions to a minimum.”

“I’m fairly sure it’s a little late for that Dante,” Moe said as helped Dante pick up the few loose items scattered on the ground. “We basically just showcased our abilities to the entire town over the course of the past day and a half.”

“So what do you propose? Take the princesses offer and just live here?”

“That isn’t a bad idea, we would have shelter and would be in the same area if anything happened. It would also allow us to figure out what to do next and maybe learn about the land. They also never told us what these elements of harmony were. Those things might be important if we want to get home.”

“So I guess we should take our chances and split up.” Coppa said as he jumped of his bed. “Pass the time and soon enough we’ll be home.”

“First things first, we should probably get a little more acquainted with our caretakers.” Moe said as the six mares re-entered the room. The cheerful air around them had seemed to be slightly dampened as looked at the four. Moe coughed into his sleeve as he regarded them with a slightly forced smile. “We were just talking about you six. We were hoping to learn more about the kind mares who are looking after us.”

*******

Coppa whistled to himself as he followed Applejack down the path. In truth, he didn’t need the mare to lead him to the farm. The smell of fertilizer and pigs in the air had told him the direction of the farm long before they had neared the area. Applejack hadn’t said a word as they traveled down the path. He knew the reason for her silence and didn’t blame her at all for not trusting him. 

He was a stranger in a foreign land that hadn’t seen much conflict in thousands of years much less an actual war. Recent events hadn’t done much to improve first impressions and he was sure that Applejack had a few apprehensions in regards to him.

Why couldn't I have gone with Pinkie or Rainbow? He thought as he kicked a loose stone. He chuckled a bit as he thought as he remembered Twilight’s reasoning. Right, my stuff isn’t exactly infant friendly and I can’t walk on clouds. Looks like I drew the short stick this time.

“Applejack ah was wondering were ya’ll were!” An elderly voice exclaimed breaking Coppa out of his musings. “Who’s that ya got there.

Coppa looked up to see an elderly lime green mare in a rocking chair with a orange polka dot shawl around her old shoulders. She had a steaming pie for a cutie mark and her tail was done up in a bun that reminded Coppa of a cafeteria lady’s hair. Beside her sat a large red stallion with half an apple for a cutie mark. A yoke sat next to him as he stared at Coppa while swishing the wheat stalk in his mouth.

“Granny, Big Mac this here is-”

“Coppa!” A familiar voice caused his ears to twitch as a yellow and pink blur shot out of the old house. Coppa was bowled over as Applebloom rocketed into his stomach knocking the breath out of him. He patted the head of the filly as she hugged him tightly. He cast a glance to the confused faces of the apple family. 

“Applebloom how do ya know Coppa?” Applejack said as she frowned. “He only came here today.”

“He watched us buck apples today!” Applebloom said excitedly as she let go of Coppa who sighed as his internal organs weren’t currently being crushed. Applejack’s eyes widened as she heard her sister continue. “He even helped me buck mah first apple.”

“That’s amazin Applebloom,” Granny said with smile as she saw the happy face of her granddaughter. She gave Coppa a welcoming smile as he got up and dusted himself off. “Pleasure ta meet ya Coppa ain’t that right Big Mac.”

“Eeyup” the red stallion said with a nod of his head.

“The honour's mine Miss Smith.” Coppa said extending his hand. The elder mare grasped it with a surprisingly firm grip and shook it.

“Just call me Granny boy.” She said with a chuckle. “Ah’m assuming you need a place to stay?”

“Anything is fine but I’ll probably just sleep in a tree or something for tonight.”

“Nonsense, a young feller like you needs a good nights sleep. We’ll find ya something by tomorrow. Applejack can help ya find someplace ta sleep tonight.”

“Thanks Granny.”

“Now we best be off ta bed we got a lotta work ta do tomorrow.”

“Good night Granny.” Coppa said with a smile as he nodded to the other two apples. “Big Mac and Applebloom.”

“Good night Coppa!” Applebloom said as she went inside followed by Big Mac and Granny.

“You got a great family here Applejack.” Coppa smiled as he watched the family walk away. He turned to Applejack and saw her looking down at the grown. Her stetson blocked most of her face but Coppa could see the small line of a scowl on her muzzle. “Is something wrong Applejack?”

A brown forehoof connected with his jaw sending him sprawling to the ground. He groaned as he felt his jaw pop out of place. He saw Applejack walk over to him with anger flashing in her eyes as she spat on the ground. “Stay out of mah family’s problems. This farm doesn’t need any more trouble.”

Applejack paused as she watched Coppa put his jaw back into the correct angle and massage the stinging muscles. She stormed off as the dwarf sat up and cracked his neck with a hand. The door slam shut as she left him sitting alone in the dirt. Coppa got up and rubbed the last bits of pain from his jaw. He chuckled as he got up and opened the barn door. “Heh another fine mess you got yourself into Coppa. You managed to piss off the one looking after you already.” Walking past the sleeping animals he collapsed in a pile of hay and looked at the stars through a window. He chuckled one last time as a final thought drifted through his head. 

Then again, she is kinda cute for a horse when she wasn’t pissed off.
	
> The Morning After
> --------------------------------------------------------------------------

	“You have no one to blame but yourself. After all, it was you who killed them...”

Dante woke with a start as he breathed hard. He rubbed his eyes as he got up from his sweat soaked pillow. He looked at his wrist where he saw the familiar sight of the magic dampener hanging from it. He had put it on the day before. It served the dual purpose of limiting the amount of power Dante could use and, known only to himself, reducing the severity of the nightmares that had been plaguing him for months.

He sighed as he pushed the dark memories from his head. He got up and put on the outfit that Rarity had provided the day before. As he looked at himself in the mirror, he noticed a dark spot that had formed just a little left of where his heart was.  It looked as though it had been burned into his skin but on closer inspection, he noticed the thin veins creeping from the affliction. It pulsed and grew slightly larger with each beat as though it was feeding off his blood. He ran his hand over it and felt a chill go down his spine as his nails grazed the area. The black mark felt cold in contrast to the rest of his body as he gently prodded at it.

Did the Bullywug infect me?

Bullywug blood was notorious for causing strange ailments. Symptoms could range from temporary blindness to violent seizures. He quickly peered into his bag before withdrawing a small vial of green liquid. Popping off the cork, he steeled himself as the foul tasting contents burned their way down his throat. He looked at the spot to see that it had stopped pulsating, but otherwise appeared unhindered by the antidote’s effects.

“Strange,” Dante muttered to himself as he put his arms through the sleeves. He made a mental note to find a healer in town to examine the strange mark. He inspected the rest of his body and was relieved to find nothing else growing on him. He stretched as he unleashed a yawn before exiting the room. He was greeted by the scent of pancakes cooking as he regarded the damage from the previous day.

Various pieces of furniture had been destroyed and were still scattered around the main floor. Torn pages and books were mixed into the mess while the walls bore a few scorch marks. He grimaced as he picked up a book only to have it disintegrate in his hand. He found one book on the history of Equestria, the slightly blackened pages held firm under the heavier cover which had taken most of the damage. Silently he sat down with the book and began to read. Starting first with the founding of the nation and the three tribes, and continuing until he reached the story of the fall of the Lunar Princess and her banishment. He was interrupted by the sound of Twilight entering the room. He closed the book and turned to see her with a plate of pancakes and juice balanced on her back. “Good morning Twilight.”

“Oh, I didn’t know you were awake,” Twilight said as she levitated the food onto the table. She noticed the book in front of him and gave him an inquisitive stare. “What are you reading?”

“It’s the history of Equestria,” Dante replied as he flipped  through the pages. He stopped at the diagram of the elements before pushing the book back towards Twilight. “It mentions the Elements of Harmony a few times but never goes into detail. Do you have any other books on the subject?”

“Yes I do,” Twilight answered as she got up from her cushion. She knew exactly what book would help Dante, the only problem was that she would have to find it first. She went over to one of the bookshelves where she began to rummage through it, not noticing the weakened state of the bookshelf. Her hoof sorted through a few titles before coming to the exact book she needed. “Here it is! The Elements of Harmony: A Reference Guide.”

“Twilight, the bookcase!” Dante shouted as he ran towards the stunned mare. The bookshelf gave a creak as it began to fall towards Twilight. Dante summoned a quick burst of wind and propelled himself forward as he grabbed Twilight and used one hand to hold up the bookshelf.

Twilight found herself pressed closely to Dante’s chest with an arm wrapped around the small of her back. She felt Dante edge away from the bookcase with his arm still wrapped around her. He fell back as he let go of the bookcase falling to the floor on his back. Twilight’s mind flashed to some of the cheesy romance novels that Rarity had lent her as her arms clung to Dante’s body.  She was on top of him, staring directly into his eyes as he breathed heavily. She pressed herself deeper onto his body as she felt the safety of his arms release her. A warm feeling made itself apparent in her chest as she looked at the Dante’s worried expression as he checked her for any injuries. A sudden creak sounded as the door opened and a group of figures entered the library.

“I’m telling you Moe, I think she’s got something against me!” Coppa’s voice rang out as he complained. Moe gave a sigh as he stopped before looking down at Dante and Twilight, causing Coppa to walk into his back. “Hey why’d you—Oh wow Dante, you work quickly I see.”

The comment caused both Dante and Twilight to blush as they separated and got up from the floor. Coppa stood there with his hands on his sides sporting a wide grin, while Moe stood silently with a small amused smile. Twilight fidgeted with the book in her hooves as she tried to avoid their gazes.

“I hope you don’t mind if we borrow our friend for a moment?” Moe asked as he sat down on a couch. “Or if you want, we could come back in an hour or so.”

“Its fine, what did you need?” Dante mumbled as he got up. He brushed a few bits of dust from the book case off his shirt as he glared at his friends. “I’m assuming this is important?”

“Yeah, Rainbow said she was going to show us the town and all the sights!” Coppa exclaimed as he went towards the door. “Sam’s gonna join us later though. He was in the middle of something when we found him in the forest.”

“I might as well see what Ponyville has to offer,” Dante said as he began to head towards the door. He turned to Twilight with an apologetic look  as he closed it behind him. Twilight sighed as she levitated the bookshelf back in place before looking at the book on the floor. A thin wave of heat rose to the mares face as she placed the book on a nearby table before the door burst open causing her to jump with a yelp.

“By the way, Pinkie said she needed you for something,” Coppa announced as he poked his head through the door. Twilight tried desperately to slow her heartbeat as she breathed heavily. “Didn‘t say what it was about though. Also, could please tell her to stop popping out of nowhere? It’s getting kinda freaky.”

The door closed before Twilight could respond. She gave a huff as she heard the sounds of Spike waking up. She sat back down at the table and played with her food as the image of Dante holding her caused her to blush again.

*****

“So did you find anything interesting?” Moe asked Dante as Rainbow Dash spoke to Sam and Coppa. She had spent the last few hours dragging the four students around Ponyville and its landmarks. They had stopped at every major spot from the Library, where Dash had gone on a long-winded speech about the greatness of the “Daring Doo” series, to the hospital where they had all guessed Rainbow had spent many nights in.

“I found out a bit about the country’s history and the roles of the princesses,” Dante replied as he recalled what he had read. “The princesses apparently have the power to raise and lower the sun at will. Also, the three types of ponies all came from different tribes.”

“Anything else on the princesses or the elements?”

“I didn’t find much on the elements, and anything concerning the early rule of the Princesses seems pretty vague. Almost like it was heavily edited.”

“Strange, we’ll have to ask if we ever get to see Princess Celestia again.” Moe said as a sudden cough came from behind them. They both turned their heads to see Rainbow Dash giving them an annoyed look. “Sorry Rainbow, what was that?”

“I was asking if there was any other things you wanted to check out?” Dash asked as she rolled her eyes. “You guys need to stop spacing out. We’re almost done with the tour.”

“Yeah is there any place where we can get a drink?” Coppa asked as he looked around at the ponies giving them odd glances. Dante’s heart slowed as he heard the question. “Y’know, like alcohol and stuff?”

Please say no for the love of all that is holy.

“There is actually.” Rainbow smiled as she looked at Coppa. Dante swore under his breath as Coppa’s grin seemed to grow to immense sizes. He could have sworn that the dwarf also let loose some sort of low rumbling noise that sounded like a squee. “We have a winery that Berry Punch runs. She makes all the wine in Ponyville plus some other drinks.”

“Does she anything less fruity? You know, like beer?”

“What’s that?” replied a confused Rainbow who landed next to Coppa. Her head cocked to the side as Coppa rummaged through his own bag before withdrawing two glass bottles. Dante had to seriously resist questioning why he had brought those along with him. Coppa was never one to think rationally. He a always preferred  instinct over careful consideration. The alcohol in his bag, Dante assumed, was more than likely just a home made batch Coppa was going to test after they had finished their task. they watched as Coppa popped the cap off of one with his finger and presented it to the rainbow mare. She gave it a sniff before taking it in her hoof and taking a sip of the bitter beer. She coughed as she swallowed the amber coloured liquid before a smile graced her face. “Wow that’s awesome!”

"Were those even twist offs?" Moe asked cautiously as Coppa grinned at Rainbow's reaction. 

"Nope," Coppa said calmly, obviously proud of his work. "I take it you like it?"

"Yeah!" Rainbow laughed before downing the bottle. "Berry definetly needs this stuff! I'd sure as tartarus buy it!"

Oh god, not her too. Dante facepalmed as Rainbow downed the rest of the bottle and lead them to a house where a light purple earth pony was busy staggering around. The pony waved drunkenly as she saw Rainbow Dash approach only to lose her balance. Coppa grabbed the mare before she could hit the ground. She giggled to herself as Coppa helped her to her hooves. 

“Well, hiya Rainbow *hic*!” Berry said as she stumbled a bit and knocked into Coppa, who had let go of the mare. “Who are these stallions? They look kinda funny, except you, you’re really soft.”

“Umm, thanks I guess?” Coppa said, blushing as the mare began to stroke his ears. Rainbow snickered as Dante had an amused look on his face. Berry started to nuzzle herself against Coppa’s cheek as she wrapped her hooves around his neck. Coppa turned red as he tried to escape the mare’s firm grasp. “Umm Berry was it? Can you let me go now?”

“*Hic* I just love soft things,” Berry slurred as she sat down with a half-lidded expression. Dante glanced to her side to see a number of wine bottles littering the ground. He continued to watch Berry stroke Coppa’s fur as she ignored his request. “Are you those stallions who saved the town yesterday?”

“Yes that would be us,” Moe answered as he gently kept Berry from trying to undress Coppa. The dwarf’s tail twitched in annoyance as he dusted off his pants. Dante tried to stifle a laugh as Coppa glared at him. “Coppa just wanted to ask you a few questions about your inventory.”

“What do ya want to know?” Berry punch asked as Coppa began to withdraw a second bottle of beer from his bag. He gave the bottle to Berry whose expression changed from drunken to a straight face in a flash. She gave a sniff of the contents before taking a sip of the alcohol. “Hmm... Main ingredients are malted barley, water, hops and yeast. Alcohol content, sitting at around fourteen percent but is dependent on the ingredients. Process to create requires heating, boiling, and mashing of the mixture. What do you call this drink?” She asked as the group stared at her, wide eyed at her seemingly coherent deduction.

“Beer, I was just wondering if you have anything like it.”

Berry giggled and swayed.“Nope, just cider, but I’m all out of that right now.”

“Okay, maybe another time then.” Coppa said as he waved goodbye. The mare giggled happily and waved as the four left. Rainbow gave them directions to Sugarcube Corner, saying that she need to discuss something with Berry. Dante cast a glance at Coppa and the dwarf met his gaze. He let out a defeated sigh as Dante smiled when he turned the corner to the giant bakery. “All right, what are you going to say?”

“Oh, nothing. Just who’s the one that’s working fast with the locals again?.”
Dante could hear Sam and Moe snicker as Coppa’s ears flattened against his head. He let out a grunt as they opened the door to the bakery. They were greeted with a pitch-black room that was deathly quiet.

“Are you sure this is the right place?” Moe inquired as he tried to find the light switch.

“Yeah. Something seems off,” Coppa added as he edged his way back towards the door. He jumped as the door slammed shut behind them. A sudden flash and stream of confetti caused the four to fall back as a massive crowd of ponies appeared from nowhere.

“SURPRISE!!!” They all shouted in unison as the four scrambled to get up from the pile.

“I can definitely get used to this,” Coppa said with a smile as the ponies all laughed. Dante let out a sigh but felt the corners of his mouth form a smile as he looked at the happy face of Twilight. Coppa laughed as a few ponies helped him up. “You guys are in for one wild night.”

******

“Have any of you seen Dante?” Twilight asked as she navigated the crowd of ponies dancing in the middle of the room. Moe was talking to Rose, Lily and Daisy as they stared in awe while ignoring an annoyed Rarity. Coppa was in the middle of the party right next to Lyra and Berry punch as they tried to match him in a game of shots. Sam had disappeared but Twilight found him sitting next to Fluttershy who was busy trying to make herself as small and inconspicuous as possible in his presence. None knew where Dante had gone and had suggested the other.

“Maybe he needed a breather,” Twilight said as she tried scanning the crowd again. Her gaze was blocked by a wall of pink as Pinkie shoved her face into Twilight’s. “Uhh, hi Pinkie.”

Pinkie only bounced up and down, her hooves making a small 'sproing' noise whenever she did so. “Who are you looking for? Is it Dante? Coppa was saying something about you two becoming special someponies. Does this mean I can throw another party now? A 'yay Twilight has a Crush Party'?  Oh please say yes! It would be just so superific if you did!”

“Pinkie, I don't know what Coppa told you but he’s just a friend!” Twilight said annoyed as she felt a blush creep on her face. Pinkie just continued bouncing with a large smile and only making Twilight feel a little more embarrassed than she already was.Twilight took a breath and calmed herself before she spoke up again. “I’m just wondering where he went.”

“He went outside!” Pinkie said as she stopped bouncing and pointed a hoof at the door. Sure enough, Twilight could see a part of Dante as he stood next to the doorway. The Diablon was busy staring into space as he swirled the drink in his hand. He had an indifferent expression as he watched the ponies come and go from the party exchanging hellos and goodbyes to those who stopped. Twilight‘s mood fell a bit as she thought back to when she had first arrived in Ponyville. Pinkie in the meantime had bounced back to the dance floor and was egging on a teetering Lyra while Coppa and Berry Punch sat back unfazed.

“I’ll just go have a talk with him,” Twilight murmured to herself, cringing when Lyra fell to the floor unconscious. She levitated a glass of punch and took a sip before heading towards the door while the others made sure the fallen pony was unhurt.

“Undefeated!” Coppa shouted while a few ponies around him cheered. Twilight only caught the collective sigh from both Moe and Rarity as they watched Coppa stand on the table while doing a small jig with Berry Punch.

****

Dante took a sip from his glass as he looked at the night sky. He sighed as he heard the noises of the ponies and his friends enjoying the party. Staring into the night sky, he leaned against the wall of the bakery and watched as a star shot across the sky. He had never been one for parties, but the beat of the electronic music had started to catch his attention. He drummed his finger on the wall behind him as he began to quietly hum to himself.

His mind drifted off as he began to go over the few things had managed to learn from Equestria’s history. His focus however, was on the six elements. They were a source of great power and had been used to defeat anything that threatened Equestria. Powerful enough to defeat the god of chaos and banish one of the two diarchs. His thoughts ended as a sharp pain lanced through his head followed by a dark voice.

But will that petty power stop me? Will they be enough to save this land?

Dante’s eyes widened as he recognized the voice from his nightmares. He slowed his breathing as he tried to regain his composure. More pain came as he tried to suppress the voice as though it was resisting his attempts. A moan of pain escaped from his lips as he clutched his head. A final push ended the pain just as the voice intensified.
How long will you be able to suppress me Dante? How long until it happens again? You can try but you’ll never wash the guilt away.

No I won’t free you again! I can stop it this time! I won’t let you hurt anyone else!

Deny me all you want, I shall be the one in control. You four will be these ponies’ downfall.

“Are you alright Dante?” Twilight asked with worry in her voice. Dante cringed as he saw her poke her head out of the doorway. His head throbbed slightly as he sat down on a crate.

“Yes, I’m fine Twilight,” Dante lied as the voice died down. He hid his shaking hands behind him as he took a deep breath. The cool night air felt cold against his brow as the mare gave him a worried look. He looked around as his hands finished shaking before he tried to divert attention away from himself. “Beautiful night isn’t it?”

Twilight kept her eyes on the Diablon for few lingering seconds before turning towards the night sky. She turned back to him as she exited the doorway and took a seat next to him. He eyed her cautiously as his nerves righted themselves. He flexed his fingers a few times before he sent a small stream of magic to his hand.

Twilight gasped as the air hissed and popped while small red flames danced in Dante’s palm. She stared as the flames grew more intense and slowly began to engulf the outstretched limb. No signs of any sort of strain were visible on his face as the flame flickered. As suddenly as it began, the flames extinguished themselves as Dante balled his hands. He looked towards Twilight who was still staring at his hand. “How did you do that?”

“The flames?”

“Yes, I wanted to ask about the magic in your world. More specifically, the magic you use.”

Dante sighed as he flexed his hands again. They both watched as instead of a flame, a small ball of electricity formed in his palm. Twilight stared in amazement as he did the same motions a few more time changing the form and element of magic in his palm. “Might as well get it over with. What do you want to know?”

“Everything,” Twilight said, barely containing a squeal of excitement as she watched Dante stretch his arm. The flames ignited once again and he held the flame towards Twilight. She looked at it uncertainly before she tried touching it with her hoof. Instead of a burning sensation, she felt a pleasant warmth as the flame left Dante’s grasp and rested on her hoof. She stared at the flickering flame as it changed colour every few moments. She watched as Dante drew a circle in the dirt with a short line in the middle of the circle. Four smaller circles were placed at various points on the circle while two were placed at the opposite ends of the centred line. “How do you use magic?”

“Wizards like me draw our magic from these elements and the reserves of magic or mana that we are born with.”  

“Your kind has elements too?”

“Sort of. In my world, there are six natural elements that all magic draws from. They are fire, water, electricity, and earth,” Dante said as he pointed at each individual circle. He then pointed at the last two in the centre. “These two represent light and dark.”

“Why are they in the centre though?” Twilight asked as she regarded the flame in her hoof. She turned her head towards Dante who was still staring at the diagram. “What makes them different?”

“Each element has its strengths and weaknesses. The wheel represents these,” Dante said as he pointed at the first circle. “Water may be strong against fire, but it is weak to electric attacks. In this case light magic is both weak and strong against dark magic. No other element really affects them that much.”

“So you can control all these elements?” Twilight asked. She let out a surprised squeak as the flames in her hoof suddenly sputtered and died out. She rubbed the spot as the warmth of the magic faded.

“Most of them,” Dante replied as he erased the diagram. He sat back down as he took a final swig from his cup. He set down the cup as he cracked his knuckles. “I can control the four outer elements but light magic isn’t my specialty. That type of magic is mainly used by other classes, like clerics.”

“What about this one?” Twilight said pointing at the final element. She saw Dante’s expression grow pained as her hoof pointed at the element of darkness. She retracted her hoof and gently placed it on his shoulder while giving him a concerned look. “Are you okay?”

“I’d rather not talk about that one Twilight,” Dante said as he erased the drawing. Twilight wanted to push the subject but stopped herself as she saw the beginning of tears start to build up in his eyes. Dante noticed her staring and quickly wiped his eyes. “Sorry, wind got something in my eye. Anything else you want to ask?”

“Just one last thing,” Twilight said as she scooted closer to him. Dante readied himself for whatever he thought the intelligent mare might have about his magic or world. “Can I touch your horns?”

Dante looked at her confused for few seconds, attempting register her request. “What?” Dante said as he stared at Twilight who shuffled uncomfortably. Her question seemed innocent, but the rather abrupt change of direction in the conversation caused him to do a double take. 

“Can I ask why?”

Twilight was silent for a moment before her mouth opened. “I was curious about their purpose.” She pointed towards her own horn while Dante watched as a magenta aura surrounded it. “I thought maybe they were like unicorn horns. I wanted to test my hypothesis if that’s okay with you.”

“I guess it can’t hurt to try,” Dante said as he lowered his head towards Twilight. He watched as the purple hoof slowly made its way before grazing the side of his left horn. A shiver ran down his spine as the hoof found its way along the length of the horn before resting at the tip. As much as he hated to admit it, Diablon horns were extremely sensitive. They acted as a sensor, locating sources of magic that were abundant back home. He didn’t really understand why he was letting the purple unicorn inspect them. It just seemed like he could trust her, he didn't know why but it confused him to no end.

“Not as sharp as I expected,” Twilight muttered as her horn began to glow. Dante’s eyes widened as the words brought back a bittersweet memory. He felt a warmth well in his eyes as images he had long fought to suppress flashed in his head. For a moment, Twilight’s mane changed colour to a bright red as the rest of her body became more human. Twilight felt the feeling of his horns slipping from her hooves as he pulled away. She tilted her head just as Dante finished wiping his face with his sleeve. “Dante, what’s wrong?”

The mare reminds you of her? Good, then you know what to expect.

“Nothing,” Dante said as he rose from his seat and left the mare outside. Twilight wanted to protest but her mind told her to not press the issue. She had been able to assess the personalities of their new guests over the past few hours, but out of the four arrivals, Dante proved to be the most difficult to assess. In truth, there was something dark about him that sent shivers up her spine. An unknown factor that made him more dangerous than the others, yet seemed to weigh him down. Deciding that she didn't want to push away a new friend for the sake of answers, she made a note to investigate the matters further,  but first, she had a party to help keep control of. 

When she reentered the bakery, she was relieved to see that everything was going smoothly. The ponies, while still cautious of the four, had begun to warm up to their guests. Her mind became more optimistic as she saw the four becoming more comfortable as well, mainly the furry one who was currently laughing and singing with a few others. But it seemed as though a certain farmpony had other plans. Twilight felt her optimism drop as she saw Applejack trot towards Coppa with a scowl and a barrel of hard cider on her back.

This can't be good.
****

“Pardon?” Coppa stood still with an amused grin as he regarded the sour looking pony in front of him. The entire room had gone silent as the tension steadily rose. His furred ear flicked as he caught the soft whispers of a few onlookers. To his surprise, even Pinkie had stopped bouncing and wore a concerned expression. He sighed as he decided to play dumb as he regarded the second barrel of cider that brought in by Big Mac. “You wanna run that by me again?”

“Ya heard me!” Applejack scowled as her voice rose. She tapped a hoof against the barrel marked with at least six large black X’s. “I challenge ya to a drinkin contest! If ah win, ya leave the farm.”

“Coppa, think this through,” Moe said as he tried to defuse the situation. Coppa just stood there calmly as his gaze shifted from Applejack to the barrels. He chuckled as he thought about how ridiculous the situation looked. He had faced down dragons, giants and all sorts of other monsters that would make these ponies wet themselves.

“Sorry but I refuse,” Coppa said as he got up from his chair. He could clearly hear the sighs of relief coming from his friends. A small smile formed on his face as Dante and Sam nodded in respect at his decision. He flashed a grin at Moe who seemed to be the most relieved at his decision while he gloated silently internally. "I got better things to do."

Suck it Moe, you’re not the only one who can be “Mature.” Now only to find the bathroom and drain the dragon.

“Yer just a bucking coward!” Applejack swore as Coppa stopped in his tracks. He was about to disregard the comment until the mare opened her mouth again. “A no-good bucking mangy, cowardly mutt!”

Coppa felt something snap in his mind as well as a vein pop in his head as he turned around. Fuck maturity! This bitch is so going down! Coppa thought as he sat back down, a frown replacing his confident smirk. He grabbed two mugs from a different table and them slammed down while he staring directly into the mare's eyes with so much intensity, the farmpony actually flinched. His neck cracked as he rotated his head. He cracked each knuckle as he poured the cider into both mugs before handing the orange mare one. Applejack was taken back as she watched him down his first mug  without difficulty before slamming it down, denting the table in the process. He spat on the ground as he cleared his throat. “Alright then," He snarled audibly, receiving a few gasps of fear and a few ponies visibly backing away from the pair. "Your turn.”
	
> Kindred Spirits
> --------------------------------------------------------------------------

“Ok, why am I the one carrying her?!” Coppa asked as he adjusted the unconscious farmpony that was drooling on his back. Applejack’s stetson rested on his head as he trudged through the cool night air. Big Mac and Moe walked beside him, neither answering his question. Coppa panted as he stopped and gently laid Applejack down. “She is a lot heavier than she looks.”

“We wouldn’t be doing this if you hadn’t decided to drink her under the table,” Moe said as Coppa caught his breath. Rolling his eyes, Coppa adjusted the hat on his head as he hoisted Applejack over his shoulder.  Moe sighed one last time before he began to chew out the dwarf. “Did you really have to go that far?”

“She started it, I finished it,” Coppa replied with a smug expression.

“By chugging a whole barrel of cider? What is wrong with you? I mean sure the showmanship was great but you made her faint!”

“The stuff is practically water! No offense Big Mac.”

“None taken,” the stallion said as the stalk in his mouth swished in the air. His half lidded eyes were slightly angry, but to Coppa’s relief it was mostly directed at the orange mare on his back. “Ah’m sorry about AJ.  She had a bit ta drink before the party and was in a real sour mood. She was jus takin her stress out on ya.”

“I don’t want to interrupt, but this is as far as I can follow you guys,” Moe said as they stopped one more time. “Rarity wants me to help her out with the store tomorrow.”

“Wow, we’ve been here for two days and you’re already whipped!” Coppa laughed, causing Aj to groan in her sleep. Moe gave Coppa a slight cuff to the back of the head, causing himto stumble a bit. “Hey! I’m just joking!”

“I know, but it’s still fun to hit you,” Moe said as he turned away, waving goodbye to the two. “See you tomorrow, try to get along with Applejack in the meantime.”

“No promises,” Coppa said as he waved back. When Moe was out of sight, Coppa dropped Applejack before sitting against a tree. He faced Big Mac as he placed the hat on Applejack’s head. “You were saying?”

“The farm ain’t doing well an we all jus been so stressed,” Big Mac said as he pawed at the ground. Coppa leaned back as Big Mac tried to find the right words. “Don’t hold it against AJ. She’s been feeling tha pressure more than any of us. Money’s been tight cause of a bad harvest.” Big Mac’s face fell as he shook is head back and forth. “If things go on like this, we might have ta sell tha farm to pay off the loans.”

“So the reason Applejack hates me is because the farm isn’t doing well?” Coppa said as he stared at the sleeping orange mare. “Doesn’t that logic seem a little flawed?”

“It’s not just that, she’s angry about Applebloom and ya.”

“She feels like she’s being replaced by me,” Coppa said knocking the back of his head against the tree. He groaned as he realised his mistake. “I taught her sister in her place and now she’s holding it against me. Well, at least I know why she wants me gone.”

“If it’s any consolation to ya,” Big Mac said as he got up and motioned towards Applejack. Coppa followed his example and placed the mare on the stallion’s back as they continued onwards to the farm, “ah don’t think you’re that bad of a guy.”

“Thanks Mac, but I don’t swing that way.”

"Ah don't mean it that way," the bulky stallion said. "Ah just don't see any reason to dislike you. That's all I meant." 

“Relax Mac, I’m only joking,” Coppa said as he calmed the large stallion. He patted Mac’s neck as the stallion’s breathing slowed. “How about we swap stories so the walk goes by faster? Sound good to you?”

“Eeyup.”

“You know,everyone keeps telling me you’re usually so quiet. Seems Booze does loosen the tongue after all.”

“Eeyup.”

****

“And that was the second time my uncle got crabs,” Coppa said as he concluded his story. Big Mac nearly fell over laughing, tears streaming down his eyes as they reached the farm. Coppa shifted a bit causing the mare on his back to sway with each step.

Both made their way to Applejack’s room where Coppa laid the mare down and slowly drew the blankets over her. As his hand retracted, a pair of orange hooves grabbed them and pulled him down onto the bed. Coppa stifled a gasp as Applejack’s forelimbs wrapped themselves around his waist. Big Mac tried to pry Coppa out of his sister’s grasp without waking her. Both froze as they heard the mare mumble in her sleep.

“Pa...”  Applejack muttered as a tear rolled down the side of her face. Coppa saw Big Mac take a step back as a frown lined his face. He felt the arms loosen from around his waist and wriggled his way out of the bed as the red stallion left the room. He hesitated for a moment before he knelt by Applejack’s bed and wiped the tear off her cheek, pausing only to stare at her in the moonlight. He left the room and found Big Mac sitting out in the hallway staring off into space.. 

“You okay Mac?”

“Eeyup, jus some bad memories.”

“Are your parents...?” Coppa started but clamped his mouth shut as Big Mac slowly nodded his head. Coppa’s ears flattened as he placed his hand firmly on the stallion’s shoulder. Mac smiled as Coppa gave him a reassuring pat to the back. “Sorry, I didn’t know.”

It’s fine,” Big Mac said as he yawned. He rubbed his eye as he got up and made his way to his own room. “Ah’m heading to bed, ah’ll see ya tomorrow.”

“Night Big Mac,” Coppa said as he started down the stairs before deciding to grab something from the refrigerator. His thoughts drifted to Applejack as he grabbed an entire apple pie that was hidden behind a container of orange juice. 

Sure, she hadn’t exactly been as welcoming as the other ponies, but he had expected that. He was an unwelcome guest in her world and she was treating him as such. Yet he couldn’t really bring himself to dislike her all that much. With each new thing he heard about the Element of Honesty, his respect for her grew a bit larger. 

He reflected on the state of the farm as he swallowed the last piece of pie whole, wiping his mouth just as there was a knock on the door. Putting the pie tray away, he opened the screen door to find a brown envelope sitting on the porch. Picking it up, he used his nail to open the package and slowly read the contents. A frown lined his face as he crumpled the envelope and cast it aside.  

“Something on your mind boy?” Granny Smith’s voice echoed, surprising Coppa as she came out onto the porch. She took a seat on her rocking chair as Coppa handed her a letter. She put on a pair of glasses as her eyes scanned the note. “A week’s deadline hmm? Filthy’s ain’t giving us much breathing room.”

“Let me help,” Coppa said solemnly as he sat on the porch step. “I know Applejack doesn’t trust me, but I can’t stand by and watch your family struggle like this.”

“Yer just like Crop Duster,” Granny Smith said with a slight chuckle, causing Coppa to look at her in confusion. “Always getting involved in things that don’t concern ya none.”

“Who’s Crop Duster?”

“Follow me and Ah’ll show ya.” 

Coppa got up and followed the matriarch as she went into the living room and pulled a large red book from the shelf. She handed it to the dwarf who flipped through the pages until he saw a picture of two ponies with a younger version of Big Mac and Applejack. Applejack wore her trademark stetson as she stood on the back of a yellow-coated stallion with a shock of red for a mane. Beside them was a heavily pregnant red mare, her golden mane was tied into a long braid and her gaze was cast on younger Big Mac who was nuzzling her affectionately. 

“These are their parents?” Coppa asked as he stared at the picture. “How far along was she when this was taken?”

“Ambrosia had Applebloom a week after this was taken,” Granny said as she flipped the page. The new picture showed Applejack holding a newborn Applebloom. The newborn filly was wrapped in a bright pink swaddling cloth while Applejack held her and stared at her new sister. Coppa couldn’t help but smile at the innocence of the two as he closed the book. It was exactly like the first time he held his own sister in his arms. It seemed like everything about the Apples reminded him of his own family. 

Maybe that’s why I like it here.

“When did it happen?”

“A month after Applebloom was born,” Granny Smith said as she took the book from Coppa’s hands. His hands went to the necklace around his neck as he listened to Granny speak. His ears drooped as he thought of how unfair it was to the youngest filly to grow up without parents of her own. “Ambrosia was feeling a little weak. She had caught rot lung an was never able ta recover. It made it hard fer her to breath or do any work. All she could do was sit in bed an waste away to nothing. Crop Duster passed soon after. Worked himself to hard and collapsed in the field one day.”

“AJ’s been taking on the responsibility ever since?” Coppa asked as he let go of his necklace. He felt a warmth on his leg and looked down to see the Apple’s pet dog rubbing against it. He patted her head while focusing his attention on the elderly mare. “She’s tougher than I thought.”

“No, AJ’s jus been good at bottlin up her feelings,” Granny said as a sad tone came over her voice. “She tries her hardest but ah think this is more than any of us can handle.”

“Who do you owe money to?” Coppa asked as he got up from the couch. Granny Smith looked at him with slight confusion in her wizened eyes.  “Big Mac. He said you guys took out a loan and were having trouble with it.”

“Filthy Rich, he was a dear and lent us some bits to pay fer repairs to tha farm,” Granny said as she patted Winona who had curled up to her on the couch, “but the harvest didn’t go so well an we fell behind on tha payments. If worse comes ta worse we’ll hafta sell the farm.”

“No you won’t, because I won’t let that happen. I can pay for it.”

“Why do ya want to help us boy? You don’t owe us nothing an as much as ah hate ta admit it, AJ don’t really deserve yer sympathy with the way she treats ya.”

“AJ may not deserve it, but I’m not about to let your family go through what I had to,” Coppa said as he undid the chain around his neck. He passed it to Granny Smith who looked at it before opening the small pendant. Her eyes gave him an understanding look as she closed the lid and went to give it back to Coppa. To her surprise he refused it, pushing her outstretched hoof back to her. “Regardless of her pride, I’m helping either way.”

“What’s yer story boy?” 

“It’s not that interesting,” Coppa said as he turned away and walked towards the door. As he reached the doorframe, his head turned slightly as he spoke once more. “I’m just a kid who knows your pain and made some bad decisions. I figure this is the best way to make up for my mistakes. If you want to know more ask Moe, he's better at storytelling than I am.”

The mare watched as the dwarf left the house and disappeared into the barn. She looked back down to the pendant in her hoof as many questions swirled in her head about the contents. Her attention however, was turned as the sound of creaking steps alerted her to the presence of her youngest granddaughter descending them. 

“Applebloom, what in tarnation are ya doing up so late?” the elder mare chided. The small filly gave out a yawn as she went down the stairs and took a seat next to her grandmother. “How long have ya been up?”

“I woke up when Coppa an Big Mac came in,” Applebloom said as she nestled herself against the mare’s green body. Granny Smith gently stroked the filly’s rose coloured mane as Applebloom’s lay there. “What did Coppa mean?”

“Ah don’t know sugercube, but we’re gonna need all the help we can get.”
	
> The Price of Apples
> --------------------------------------------------------------------------


Four days had passed since the night of the party and tensions were still running high. Applejack had remained silent towards Coppa, preferring to focus on her own work. Any attempts he had made to help had usually ended in an argument between the two. The one time he had succeeded was when Granny Smith  had forced Applejack to work their market stand.  However, that had ended quickly when Coppa found himself in a familiar sterile white room with a doctor in front of him. A bone white stallion with a bright yellow mane stood in front of him, dressed in a doctor’s coat. In his hoof was a large syringe, which he handed to the waiting elf who was prepared to restrain Coppa should anything happen.

“I’ll leave you two alone for now,” The doctor said as he left the hospital room. Coppa shivered as he saw the large needle that graced the stallion’s flank. He had always hated needles, and the one in Moe’s hand did nothing to relieve his agitation. Just as Moe began to prepare the spot on his arm, Coppa noticed the numerous heads of both patients and nursing staff watching them.

“Can I help you?” Coppa asked with slight annoyance in his voice. They reacted as he expected, quickly disappearing from sight. Coppa sighed as the wet swab soaked the fur on his arm. He turned his head toward Moe as the elf removed the cap on the needle. He cringed as he saw the large medical tool before he spoke. “Why are we doing this again?”

“It’s part of the agreement with the Princess,” Moe said as he prepared the needle. Coppa cringed once more as he waited for the needle to prick his arm. He continued to listen to Moe as the elf watched him shuffle. “They take a bit of blood and study your biology. Simple as that!”  A small grin played on Moe’s lips as he watched Coppa’s face grow pale. “Oh come on, it’s just a bit of blood. It’s not like they’re harvesting your organs.”

“I came here because you said you needed me,” Coppa said with crossed arms and glaring at Moe. After a moment, he gave his right arm back to the elf who readied the needle while Coppa complained. "Not to be some science experime- AHH!" He gave a small yelp of pain as the tip entered the vein. He watched as a steady stream of red entered the needle before Moe withdrew the sample. “There, all done. Want a band-aid?”

“Couldn’t you have been a little gentler?”

“Aww did the mean elf take the wittle babies blood and wittle baby-,” Moe teased as Coppa’s hand flew up and smacked him across the head. “Ow!”

“You’re an ass, you know that?”

“You can leave anytime you want,” Moe said as he nursed the side of his head. He placed the vial of blood on a nearby table as he began to take his own blood. As much as Coppa wanted to jam the needle into Moe’s arm, he instead turned and left the elf to his own devices. Just as he exited the doorway Moe’s voice called after him. “Oh right, I’ll be by the farm later. Rarity made some clothes for us.”

“When the hell did she get my measurements?” Coppa asked as he tilted his head. Moe gave a slight shrug as he swabbed his arm. Coppa let out a sigh as he left the elf muttering to himself. “Like Dante said, the more I learn about these ponies, the less I understand.”

"You realize that was Pinke Pie he was talking about right?

"Don't care!" He shouted back as he exited the hospital, Coppa made his way along the streets of Ponyville. A cool breeze ruffled his fur as he rounded the corner, stopping to take in the scents of the market. He gingerly rubbed his arm as he pondered ways to get back at his friend.However, his train of thought was interrupted as he heard a familiar filly's voice.

“What do ya reckon they’re doin?” Applebloom asked as Coppa found her and two other fillies peering through a window, balancing precariously on a crate. On her left was a white unicorn filly with a curled pink and purple mane that bounced with every movement of her head. On the opposite side was an orange pegasus with a wild purple mane that reminded him of Rainbow Dash. He remembered Apple Bloom speaking somewhat about her two friends as he walked towards them.  Their eyes were trained on something behind the window out of Coppa’s view.

“I dunno, it looks like they’re wrestling,” the orange filly replied as she cocked her head. “I think the stallion’s winning!”
I think that’s Scooter if I remember right. Coppa thought to himself as he tried to figure out their names. So that would make the other... Sweaty bell? No that can’t be right. Scootaloo and Sweetie Belle that’s it!

“Who do you think it is?” Sweetie squeaked as she pressed her face closer to the window. “It’s so dark in there.”

“What are you doing Applebloom?” Coppa said as he nudged the box causing the three to fall to the ground. They looked up at him, two faces slightly afraid while the third held a sheepish grin.

“We heard these strange noises an thought that it may help with our cutie marks!” Applebloom said enthusiastically. Coppa groaned as he remembered the filly explaining the importance of their marks, and their attempts at gaining one. He wasn’t sure how the filly and her friends weren’t in body casts, but like in the case of Pinkie Pie, choose not to ask. “Can ya tell us what they’re doing?”

“Sure, just step back a bit,” Coppa said as he neared the window and peered inside. His head recoiled as he burst into laughter. Wiping a tear from his eye he turned to the three who looked at him confused. “Bloom, they aren’t wrestling. Those two are having se-“ Coppa cut himself off as he realized the age of the three. What do I say? Okay how did Dad explain this?

“What are they doing?”  The unicorn filly asked. “Is it some sort of adult game?”

“Well uhh..”

“Can we play it?”

They’ll find out about this soon enough. Wait, do ponies have sex ed? Why the hell am I being so awkward about this?

“See when two ponies love each other very much,” Coppa began slowly as the fillies leaned in closer. The next few words came out so fast Coppa was sure he matched Pinkie in incoherence. “The stallion sticks hisprivatesinsiderher.”
“Really? That’s weird,” Scootaloo said as she looked back towards her friends. “Isn’t cider for drinking?”

“What if they don’t like cider?” Sweetie Belle asked. Coppa racked his brain as he tried to find a way out of this conversation. He scratched at his arms before the quiet farm filly sudden jumped up.

“Oh, Ah have a new idea fer a crusade!” Applebloom shouted as she landed on her hooves. Coppa gave her a confused look as she turned to her two friends. “Let’s go see if we can get our Cutie Marks in cider selling!”

“Yea you guys go do that! I’ll be at the stand with Applejack,” Coppa said as he quickly rounded the corner. He peered back to see that the three crusaders had shot off leaving only a trail of dust. He sighed as he went to the front door of the house. A few knocks later and the door opened to reveal a familiar large red stallion. He was sweating slightly and Coppa could even smell the pheromones coming off Big Mac’s body. “You owe me big time Mac.”

“What do ya mean?” Big Mac said as a bead of sweat trailed down his face. A maroon mare walked behind him towards what Coppa assumed was her kitchen. A content expression dominated her face as her half lidded eyes focused on the next room. Her pink bubblegum mane was in disarray with a large number of stray hairs sticking up. Coppa smirked as Big Mac shuffled nervously. “This ain’t what it looks like.”

“You should probably close the curtains next time,” Coppa said as he leaned in and pointed to the nearby room. He saw Big Mac’s eyes go wide as saucers. Coppa’s hand patted him on the back as he tried to reassure the stallion. “Your sister and her friends got a glimpse but I dealt with them.”

“Oh Celestia, AJ’s gonna kill me,” Big Mac said as he began to panic.

“Big Mac,”

“Ah’ll hafta explain to Granny!”

“Big Mac!”

“What am ah gonna do!”

“BIG MAC!”

The stallion stopped pacing as Coppa lowered his voice. The dwarf waited for the red pony to breathe before talking again. “Don’t worry, it was an honest mistake. Just close the blinds next time. I’m going back to the stand,” Coppa added as he pinched his nose. “Just take a shower before you leave, ok?”

“Ah’ll see ya there,” Big Mac said as he closed the door. Coppa nodded and turned around and made his way to the centre of the market area. The scent of fresh baked goods mixed assailed his nose as he passed Sugarcube Corner. He gave a wave to Pinkie Pie who was busy balancing a tray of cupcakes on her back. She tossed him one and refused any payment before he could speak a word. He made short work of the treat just as he entered the market square.

A few stalls lined the square, each selling a variety of wares. From flowers to cheap jewelry, each had ponies behind them trying to earn their living. Coppa smiled at the sight of so many ponies just going about their business. No monsters posed any major threat and they never had to worry about a labyrinth opening up beneath them. Twilight had been amazed when they explained the concept of monster filled dungeons randomly popping out of nowhere. However, that was never a problem here. As much as he hated to admit it, Equestria had grown on him. The same could be said for the rest of his friends.

Each had spent an increasingly large amount of time apart. Sam rarely left Fluttershy’s cottage, Moe and Rarity had become fast friends and Dante and Twilight spent the past few days learning about each other. He hoped that maybe by the week’s end, he and AJ could settle their differences. His train of thought however, was derailed as he heard the familiar mares voice rise over the noise of the crowd.

“What do ya mean ah owe ya interest Filthy?” Applejack all but screamed the words as Coppa edged closer to her stand. In front of her were three stallions each looking at her with amused expressions. The largest, who Coppa assumed was Filthy Rich, was a brown stallion with three bags decorated with dollar signs gracing his flank. His slicked back mane and tie pointed him out as some sort of business type. The stench of cologne played havoc on Coppa’s nose as he got closer.

“It’s quite simple Ms. Applejack. Any educated pony should know that when you borrow enough money, interest is also applied,” one of the lankier pistachio coloured unicorn stallions replied. From what Coppa could see, the other two were obviously twins. Their outfits were a pair of blue and white vests. Two straw hats sat upon their red and white manes while two black bowties were tied snugly around their necks. The only difference was that the one who was speaking lacked the pompous moustache of his brother. “Isn’t that right Flam?”

“Absolutely so Flim,” Flam said with a flourish of his hoof. Coppa restrained his urge to go and strangle the trio as he continued to watch. His blood seemed to boil with every degrading word shot at Applejack. Even she didn’t deserve to be treated like she a country bumpkin. However, all that was forgotten when the other stallion opened his mouth again. “Then again what can you expect from a rube of such shady heritage.”

“I’d stop there before you make another mistake,” Coppa said. The two unicorns spun around, eyes shrinking as they stared at him. Coppa expected as much, cracking his knuckles he casually made his way behind the stand. He stared at Filthy Rich as the stallion regarded him. Coppa smirked as the stallion remained calm and collected even as the dwarf spoke. “I assume you’re here to collect your money?”

“No, I’m just here to remind Ms. Applejack as to the interest accumulated,” Filthy began as his attention turned to the scowling mare. Coppa looked between the two as his hand reached for the bag tied to his side. His ears kept listening to the businesspony’s deep voice as he shuffled the contents of his bag. “I was simply saying that she has accumulated interest due to late payments.”

“How can ah hope to pay if ah can’t afford even tha interest,” Applejack complained before she raised her hoof at the two unicorns. “It was ya’ll who put him up to this!”

“Now Applejack, my associates are simply here because I required them,” Filthy said as his gaze remained locked with Coppa. Flim and Flam were still wary of the dwarf and only approached as Filthy said their names. “As you know, you have only two days to pay back your loan. In the event that you cannot find the funding, the brothers here have expressed their interest in buying your property. They have already given an advanced payment that more than covers your loan,” Filthy continued as he tried to remember the amount. He gave up after a moment and simply asked the moustachioed unicorn. 

“How much was it again Flam?”

“Seventy thousand bits, Good sir!” Flam said, his tongue rolling his R’s in an almost sing song way.

“Yes that was it,” Filthy said turning back to Coppa and Applejack. However, his gaze was locked onto the sack that Coppa had dropped onto the stand.  “What is this?”

“Coppa, what’re ya doing?” Applejack said, her scowl intensifying as she spat the words.

“Oh I know this song and dance very well,” Coppa said. He ignored Applejack as he pushed the bag forward. A few golden coins rolled out o the bag and sat in front of the stallion. Coppa pointed at the two brothers as he emptied the bag. “Those two put it through your head to buy the farm from the apples. Your accumulated interest bullshit was just to see if you could squeeze the same amount out of Applejack.” Coppa said as he drew a nail across the tabletop of the stand, leaving a rather noticeable claw mark. “Isn’t that right?”

“This amount is hardly seventy thousand bits,” Filthy said as he inspected the coins. Flim and Flam smiled evilly as Coppa just stood still. Filthy tossed the coin back to Coppa as he turned to walk away. “Don’t think that you can do anything with just that much.”

“You’re right on one aspect Filthy,” Coppa said, his confidence still strong. “This is hardly the amount those two paid you. This total amounts to let’s see... One hundred... Two hundred... about three hundred thousand bits.” The amount caused all three stallions to stop dead in their tracks. Flim and Flam began to sweat nervously as Filthy stood rigid. “Does that satisfy your criteria?”

“I will discuss this with my advisor!” Filthy said as a greedy smile broke on his muzzle. Both the brothers and Coppa knew that he had just won. Coppa watched them silently seethe with anger as they followed a now galloping Filthy Rich.

“Well that’s over with,” Coppa said as he collected the loose coins. He went to hand the bag to Applejack, but found her missing from his side. His eyes darted around before spotting her storming off out of the square. He ran after her as he tied the end of the bag off. The coins jingled as he skidded to a halt in front of the mare. “Aren’t you forgetting something?” He asked as he presented the bag to her.

What he didn’t expect was an orange hoof to knock his hand aside. The bag flew through the air and land with a loud thump on the ground. Hundreds of coins spilled out and gleamed in the light of Celestia's sun.

“What the hay do ya think yer doing!” Applejack yelled. This was certainly not the reaction he was expecting. He opened his mouth to retort but was cut off as Applejack continued to yell. “Ah don’t need yer help!”
Coppa felt his anger rise as his own voice rose. “Oh, so you obviously had enough to buy your farm back!”

“That’s not the point!” Applejack yelled back “We Apples have gotten through everything on our own. We don’t need you fighting our battles fer us.”

“You mean you don’t,” Coppa retorted causing Applejack to flinch. “Your brother and Grandmother seemed fine with the idea of me helping out. What’s stopping you?” he asked as he pressed his face closer to Applejack’s. Their noses pressed against each other as their eyes locked in anger. “The only one dragging your family down is you.”

“Ah never needed help before an ah don’t need it now!” Applejack screamed, drawing a few stares from other ponies. “Ah can save the farm on mah own.”

“Just like the time you tried to take over your brothers job and nearly died of exhaustion?”

“That farm is mah Pa’s legacy! Ah don’t need some outsider getting in mah families business.”

“Your pride is what’s destroying your Dad’s legacy! What would he think if he knew you were letting your pride cause your family to suffer!”

“Don’t talk to me about what mah Pa would think,” Applejack spat. Her scowling face lowered as her voice rose again. “Ah bet yer Pa was just like you! Just an idiot like you! Why don’t you take yer money and just buck off!”

“Fine!” Coppa snarled causing Applejack to look up. Confusion was evident on her face as she stared at him. Instead of anger, Coppa’s features were dominated by sadness. A pained whine seemed to escape his lips with every breath. Even his voice sounded hurt as walked away. “But get this straight.” He pulled Applejack close to his face as he stared into her now frightened eyes. “I’m not doing this for you. I’m doing it for your family so they won’t have to know what losing everything is like!”

“What’re ya talking about?”

“I know very well what it’s like to struggle AJ. Trust me when I say that. So maybe you should take a note and learn to accept a helping hand.” His voice lowered as he continued to speak. His eyes glistened as he looked at her once more. “Not everyone who needs it is given one.”

With that, he let Applejack go before storming back towards the square. The mare felt a pain in her chest as she watched the dwarf go. She didn’t understand what he meant but, she saw it in his eyes just before he left. It wasn’t the look of someone who had lost a pet or their favourite toy.

It was the look of someone who had watched as their life was torn apart in front of them.

Suddenly, she felt the anger in her heart lift as tears of shame fell down the side of her face. She got up unsteadily just as a voice called out to her. She looked to see a white unicorn galloping towards her, curled indigo mane bouncing.

“AJ darling, what happened?” Rarity said as she reached the shaking mare. Behind her was Moe who was busy carrying a pile of clothes meant for Coppa. “Come on darling, let’s get you back to the farm. Where did Coppa run off to?”

“Ah don’t know,” Applejack said as her voice quavered. A sob racked her body as she fell to the ground. Rarity looked at Moe who gave her a concerned look. “We were fighting then I said something about his Pa and he just lost it.”

“I’d expect him to,” Moe said solemnly as he helped Applejack up. Both her and Rarity looked at the elf who let out a small sigh. “Applejack, has Coppa ever spoke about his family before? More specifically his father?”

“No, why?”

“Of course. Why do you do this Coppa?” Moe sighed again. His voice grew even more pained as he spoke again. 

“Applejack, Coppa’s father has been dead for eight years. Hell, to Coppa, his dad was a hero. I don’t know what you said but I doubt Coppa is any mood for forgiveness.”

“What happened?”

“I’ll tell you when we get to the farm,” Moe said as he picked up the pile of clothes. “Until then, we can only wait till Coppa calms down.”

vvvvv

“So what do we do now brother?” Flim asked as the two unicorns approached a large bar near the outskirts of Ponyville. “That thing has ruined months of planning!”

“Don’t worry brother,” Flam said as he knocked on the door. A slide on the heavy oak door slid open to reveal a pair of dark red eyes. They regarded the brothers before the slide shut. Flim gave his brother a confused look before the elder brother reassured him. “Money isn’t the only way to convince other ponies.”

“What do you two want?” A gruff voice asked as the door swung open. A large black earth pony stood in the doorway. His short purple mane swayed in the wind as he stood tall over the brothers. From the angle Flim stood, he could make out the large hammer that was the ponies cutie mark. “This is a private establishment.”

“Ahh Ironside, it’s been far too long,” Flam said as he neared the stallion. “I was just dropping by to see if you could help us with a small predicament. Maybe cash in a small favor.”

“What do you want Flam?”

“We need your help to convince a mare to part ways with her property. There will be a large sum of bits in it for you and your boys.”

“When and where?”

“Tomorrow at Sweet Apple Acres.”

“The Apple family? Still holding onto that grudge?” Ironside laughed as he turned away. “Forget about it.”

“How does twenty thousand bits sound?”

“Sounds like a deal,” Ironside said as he went back into the bar. Just before the door closed he spoke out once more. “I’ll warn you though, some of the boys haven’t seen a mare in ages since we got out. They may be a tad rougher than you’d like.”

“We don’t mind,” Flam said as the door slammed shut. He turned to his brother who held a faltering mask of confidence. Flam patted his younger brother on the shoulder as he stroked his moustache. “See brother, when money fails it’s often necessary to bring in some muscle.”

“You’re sure this will work Flam?” Flim asked as he stared at his brother. Something seemed off, Flam’s bright green eyes seemed darker than usual, almost malicious. Flim brushed it off as they left the bar behind.

“Positive, Don’t worry brother! Soon we’ll be back on top and richer than ever!” Flam laughed as he trotted off, his brother following close behind.
	
> Truth and Reconciliation 
> --------------------------------------------------------------------------


“You screwed up AJ,” Moe said blatantly as he leaned forward on the table. Applejack lowered her head as she felt the feeling of guilt welling in her chest. To say that Applejack felt guilty was an understatement. She felt absolutely horrible as she was reminded of how she treated her guest. Big Mac had even gone so far as to chew her out in the minute he heard what had happened. Worst of all, Applebloom was refusing to even acknowledge her. Granny Smith had been the only one not to say anything the entire time, but the look of disappointment never escaped Applejack’s eye. Her period of reflection was interrupted as Rarity’s voice spoke out.

“Applejack, as much as I don’t want to take sides, Moe is right,” Rarity said as she looked towards the elf who was busy scanning the room. She turned her head back to the farm mare as she frowned. “I expected something like this from Rainbow Dash, but not you.”

“Ah know,” Applejack said as she placed her hat on the table. Her eyes were slightly puffy and were highlighted by the tear stains below them. She never lifted her head as the sound of another pair of hooves alerted the three to a new presence. A hoof gently patted her back making Applejack turn to see her grandmother’s comforting smile. Applejack nodded as she turned back to Moe with a determined expression. “Ah’m gonna make this right again.”

“Hold on there sugercube,” Granny started as she gestured to Moe. The elf had shifted positions and was leaning back in his chair. “Ah think we should listen to Coppa’s friend here.”

“Thank you Ms. Smith,” Moe said as he nodded. However, his gaze became hard as he looked back to Applejack. “Before I say anything, can I ask each of you a question?”

Three sets of heads nodded, prompting the elf to continue.

“Have any of you ever heard something similar to this? ‘Those who hide behind the largest smiles or the greatest comedies oft carry the deepest wounds.’”

“No,” both Rarity and Applejack said in unison. Granny said nothing and only stared at the object she had in her hands."What does that mean?"

“It’s something from our philosophy books. It’s rather self explanatory,” Moe said as he crossed his arms. “It describes a sort of person who hides their own pain underneath a facade of happiness.”

“But why would they do such a thing?” Rarity asked oblivious to the deeper meaning. Moe sighed as Applejack pondered the situation. The realisation dawned on her as she remembered the elf’s words. Just as she opened her mouth her grandmother beat her to the punch.

“Does it hafta do with the boy’s father?” Granny said as she dropped a small gold chain onto the table. At the end of the necklace was an opened pendant. A picture was folded in the inside of one piece while the other remained empty. Applejack and Rarity stared at the pendant while Moe locked eyes with the elderly mare.

“Where did you get this?” Moe said, his voice filled with suspicion. He gently tugged on the picture until it came out. He gazed at the folded piece before sliding to the middle of the table. His gaze returned to Granny Smith as she sighed.

“Coppa gave it to me ta hold onta,” Granny said as she put a pair of glasses on. She unfolded the picture carefully before passing it to Applejack. “Is there a story ta go wit this?”

“That’s his family,” Moe’s voice reached Applejack’s ears as she gazed at the photo. Four figures stood in front of a shack, all of them dwarves. Coppa stood at the front holding a sleeping baby towards the camera while what she assumed were his parents looked on. The young dwarf’s face held a smile that threatened to split his head in two. However, Applejack’s gaze was drawn to the larger male dwarf. “The big one is his father, Clay. Probably the most respectable dwarf you’d ever meet.”

He was larger than anything she had ever seen. His barrel like chest was a mound of thick corded muscle that showed through his shirt. His arms were the same, two large furred appendages that looked like they could crush boulders with ease. His facial fur was grown out and framed his confident smile while his eyes stared directly at the camera. He held a large pickaxe in one meaty fist while the other was in the process of ruffling his son’s hair. His own hair was combed back and fell past one shoulder where it was tied in a small braid.

Beside him was what could only be Coppa’s mother. She looked the polar opposite to her husband. Her face was that of a mother’s, soft eyes that seemed to exude warmth and love. Her face was lined with the content smile that amplified her motherly presence. Her hair was tied in the back while a few pieces framed her face. She was smaller than her husband but Applejack could see the faint trace of muscles underneath her plain looking dress. Applejack felt her mouth open as she broke the suffocating silence with her one thought.

“They look so happy.”

“That’s because they were,” Moe said as he stared at the picture. “Clay could make anyone’s day brighter with just a few songs,” He tapped the image of Clay with his finger as he continued speaking.  “He’s seen as one of the greatest dwarves to have lived in the Iron Mountain.”

“He sang?” Rarity asked as she stared at Clay’s image. “Was he any good?”

“One of the best,” Moe said, a tinge of sadness to his voice. “He could make people laugh, cry, or feel any other emotion he wanted. People came from all over our world to hear him.”

“Then why did they live in that shack?” Rarity said as she examined the house behind them. “Surely he could have made enough bits to live fashionably?”

“That was his charm,” Moe said as he refolded the picture and placed it back in the locket. “He never asked for anything. He just wanted to make peoples’ days brighter. They lived in that shack because that’s what they liked.”

“So how did he make money darling?

“Mined like any other dwarf.  He always took the dangerous jobs so others didn’t have to.”

“Sounds like he was one of a kind,” Granny said as she leaned back in her chair. “You said he wasone of the best? So what happened?”

“Coppa and I had been friends for about a year, Clay was teaching both of us about music,” Moe started as he cast his gaze to the floor. “We wanted to see what his dad did in the mines so we snuck in.” A frown lined his face as he paused for a minute. “We got as far as the lower mines before Clay caught us.”

“He musta been less than happy ta see you,” Applejack said with a sad laugh. Moe returned the laugh and smiled. He nodded before continuing his story.

“He was in the middle of chewing us out when there was an explosion. It was pretty common in those mines but the next thing we knew, the entire area began collapsing around us.” Moe coughed a bit into his arm. He wiped his eyes as the three mares stared at him with sad expressions. He felt Rarity’s hooves embrace him as he shuddered. “I managed to get out but Clay and Coppa were trapped in the collapse. When they dug Coppa out three days later they found Clay crushed under a boulder. It caught him just above the waist. It wasn't immediate, and Clay bled out after a full day.”

“The poor dear,” Granny Smith said. Applejack managed to choke back a sob. Applejack felt the tears begin to well in her eyes as the full weight of her words hit her. She never felt the hooves of her grandmother and friend embrace her in her misery.

“That’s not where it ends though,” Moe said with a cough. Two pairs of eyes shot up and stared at him. Their shocked expressions were matched only by their glistening eyes. Granny just sat in silence listening to each and every word. “At least not for Coppa.”

“How much more could he have gone through?” Applejack said as her voice quavered. Her tears were now spilling over, leaving fresh stains on her coat. She remembered the dwarf’s words and wondered just what kind of life he had to go through at such a young age.  

“When his father died their savings dried up quickly, his family struggled under the pressure. Sometimes they couldn’t even afford to even feed themselves.”

“What about their friends?” Rarity questioned as she dabbed a few tears from her eyes. “Surely they must of helped Coppa and his family?”

“They did, but it was never enough. They were all miners so they could only spare so much from what little they got,” Moe replied solemnly. “Coppa knew that if things continued the way they were going, they’d starve to death. So one day he just disappeared. Went missing a few weeks after the accident, climbed out through the window of his room. Everyone thought he had gone back to the mine, but they never found him there. Days past and eventually most of them gave up and got back to their jobs. They figured he didn't want to be found, and they let him go. His frown grew a little more as he breathed in and then sighed. "But they found him again a month later, in an alley ditch nearly dead from exhaustion and hunger. They said he looked like a stick, all bones and skin and that the fleas couldn't even get anything from him. When they asked why he did it, he said that he thought that if he wasn’t there, his mother could feed his sister and herself.” Moe turned to Applejack who was barely containing her emotions. “All he wanted was to help so you wouldn’t need to see your family suffer like his did. That's just who he is. An idiot who'd toss himself in front of anything if it mean't helping someone else, not even caring if he got hurt.”

That had been the final straw for Applejack. without so much as a word, she bolted from the dining room and out the front door leaving the others behind. Her hooves pounded on the soft ground as she kept moving forward. Rows upon rows of apple trees passed by until her body collapsed onto the soft grass. A few minutes passed by as she let her misery and sorrow flow out. Violent sobs racked her body  while her tears sparkled in the light of Luna’s moon. After the final sob passed, Applejack weakly sat up only for her breath to catch in her throat.

In the middle of the clearing sat two headstones, wreathed in flowers that shot up around the stone markers. She made a tentative step forward only to stop when she noticed the figure sitting behind them. Even the shadows cast in the light of the moon couldn’t hide the dwarf as he sat there inspecting the plain grave markers. Applejack’s ears cocked forward as the dwarf’s voice was carried down to her by the wind. 

"Crop Duster and Ambrosia, together forever..." Coppa's voice echoed as he read the headstones. "You two should be proud, you got some great kids..." he added before he sat down by the graves and sighed. Applejack's head tilted as a throaty hum resonated from the dwarf, just before he began to sing.

Though she couldn't understand any of the lyrics, there was one clear emotion she felt come from it. Sadness, that was the only feeling Applejack could find to describe the song. Coppa’s deep voice only enhanced the chill that ran through her spine. Each syllable striking a deep chord as she felt like a pair of hooves were squeezing her heart. Her ears strained forward as the wind brought the song to her. Coppa plucked a few notes that were caught and distorted by the gentle breeze that had begun to pick up. Coppa paused, letting the wind howl as he fixed the strings on his guitar. As if on command, the wind quieted no longer distorting any of the lyrics. He gave a tentative strum on one of the strings before restarting the rhythm.  

Coppa’s voice echoed as the last words left his lips. Applejack sat there amazed as she watched the dwarf rise from his position. He kneeled before the graves and whispered something inaudible. He patted her father’s headstone before walking past the graves and off into the night. She desperately wanted to run after him and apologize, but something held her to the spot. She shook her head violently, this was her chance! She needed to take this opportunity to apologize. Yet when she lifted her head the dwarf was nowhere in sight.

She scanned the horizon but found nothing. The orchard blocked any possible sign of Coppa, leaving Applejack alone with her parents. Dejected, she gazed at the two headstones before heading back to the house. A heavy sigh escaped her as she blinked away the last tears.

“Something on your mind?” Coppa’s voice said causing her to spin around. He was perched on a tree branch. His hard gaze was fixed on Applejack who pawed at the ground nervously. She opened her mouth to speak but was interrupted as Coppa spoke again. “If you’re here to apologize, don’t bother.”

“Ah know about it,” Applejack said ignoring Coppa’s statement. She looked back up to see the dwarf’s gaze harden even further as his tail gave an annoyed flick. “Ah know about yer father.”

“So you know about it, do you want an award?” Coppa replied, his voice dripping with venom. Applejack bit her lower lip nervously as she watched him drop down. His expression was unreadable as he approached her. “Why should you care? He’s dead and I’ll be out of here soon enough. Isn’t that what you wanted?”

“No,” Applejack said under her breath. Coppa’s large ears twitched as he regard her.

“What did you say?”

“Ah said no!” Applejack screamed. Coppa was taken aback by the pure volume of her words. His expression hardened again as he regained his composure. Applejack stared back at him, her face full of newfound determination. “Ah don't want you to go. That’s not what ah want.”

“Then what did you want? Why come here?”

“Ah don’t know. I just guess  that ah wanted ta apologize proper like. So Ah’m gonna say it an yer gonna listen!” Applejack exclaimed. Coppa’s mouth twitched as it slowly turned into an amused smile. Applejack summoned her breath as she began. “Ah’m sorry. Ah didn’t take the time ta get to know ya properly. I let mah pride get in the way, an ah misjudged yer intentions fer pity. Ah don’t know if ah deserve it, but ah want to start over.” She held her words as the tension in the air started to dissipate. “Ah’m sorry about what ah said an ah hope ya can forgive me fer actin stupid.”

Coppa was silent for a minute as he regarded the farmpony standing in front of him. Slowly , he scratched behind his ear and chuckled a bit before speaking.

“Applejack, you have got to be one of the most stubborn ponies I have ever met. You’re impolite, hard headed, and just a general pain in the ass. You’ve done nothing but treat me like shit ever since I got here.” Applejack’s heart tightened in sorrow as she heard the beginnings of his rejection. “In all honesty I should have just called it quits then, but I hoped you might change. I stayed because I felt a connection to this farm. I should reject you right now because of all that you’ve done but…” Coppa trailed as Appleack’s head perked up. He smiled as he purposely dragged his feet. “I guess I can forgive you this once.”

“Thank you!” Applejack shouted as she bowled Coppa over. She wrapped her forelegs around his neck tightly. She pressed herself into his chest as tears of happiness left her eyes. “Ya won’t regret it.”

“Um Applejack…” Coppa said weakly as his hands started to struggle against her. She heard a few weak gasps. “I..can’t…breathe.”

“Sorry!” Applejack said as she let go. A faint blush crossed her face as Coppa struggled for breath. He smiled at her before wiping away some of the tear stains underneath her eye. Her head pulled back as she felt his fingers rub against her fur. “What’re ya doing?”

“Tears don’t suit you,” Coppa said as he sat on the ground. “You’re a lot cuter when your smiling, you know that?”

“T-Thanks… Ah guess,” Applejack stuttered as Coppa flashed her a grin. She felt another blush heat her face. Yet she couldn't help but smile at his words, happy that she had regained his friendship. “Do ya want ta head back to the farm?”

“Will I have to sleep in the barn again?” Coppa chuckled as he got up. Applejack shook her head as she offered him a hoof.

“Only if ya don't sing another song,” Applejack said as they exited the clearing. Coppa’s face turned red at the request. He stuttered as she looked at him confused. “What? That last one was really good.”

“I don’t really like to sing that much,” Coppa said looking down. Applejack giggled at his flustered face before nudging him with her hoof. “Promise you won’t judge.”

“Ah Pinkie swear,” Applejack said as she made the motions. Coppa smiled before nodding. “Now let’s hear that song.”

“Sure,’ Coppa said as he suddenly picked Applejack up. She squeaked as she clung to his back while Coppa put on her hat. He shrugged as she gave him a questioning look. “What, I do what I want."

“Jus hurry up already,” Applejack said rolling her eyes. She let out a yawn as she nuzzled the soft fur on Coppa’s neck. She felt her eyes grow heavy as Coppa began to hum. She couldn’t help but feel safe and happy as she clung tightly to her friend’s back, revelling in the added warmth of his fur. A small albeit content smile etched itself on her face as she pressed closer and buried herself in his fur. 

Coppa took a breath as she did this. His legs burned slightly from the added weight of Applejack, but he kept up his stumbling pace. He spared a small glance and found the mare sleeping peacefully on his back, her golden mane spread out like a cloak of gold threads. From his point of view, it was almost dazzling the way the moon's light reflected off her hair. He couldn't help but stifle a confused chuckle as he returned his gaze to the farm, a warm feeling burning in his chest.

"What the hell am I getting so happy for?"
	
> The Final Exchange
> --------------------------------------------------------------------------

	The smell of scented oils permeated the air as the three ponies sat in silence. Applejack shuffled in the massage table as she felt the soft touch of the spa ponies hooves start to press into her back. A light moan escaped her lips as she felt the knots in her back start to unwind. She raised her head slightly to see the faces of Rarity and Fluttershy staring at her with concern. Both knew the source of her worries, yet only Rarity spoke while Fluttershy merely soaked in a bath silently.

“Relax Applejack, I’m sure Coppa is on his way to Filthy Rich’s mansion as we speak,” Rarity stated as Applejack fidgeted while an employee massaged her aching shoulders. Fluttershy merely stayed quiet as she watched the two converse. She and Rarity had managed to convince the wound up farmpony to come with them. The only problem was that Applejack’s nerves were preventing her from enjoying herself to the full extent. Her trepidation was starting to rub off on Fluttershy, who was trying to avoid being dragged into the conversation. She gave a squeak of fear as Rarity turned her gaze towards her, seeking some form of assistance. “Isn’t that right Fluttershy?”
…

“Rarity, ah know he’ll do it,” Applejack interjected as her head came up from the embrace of the massage table. She shook her head before speaking again. “Ah’m just nervous, ya know?”

“There’s nothing to be nervous about dear,” Rarity replied with a gentle smile. She gave her mane a flip before trotting over to her country friend. Applejack scoffed at the gesture but found her own mouth forming a slight smile. Her head slowly found its way back to the plush folds of the table as Rarity continued, “From the conversations that Moe and I have had, Coppa is a very reliable in these situations.”

“Ah’m sure that ain’t the only thing you two have been doing,” Applejack said with a smile as she heard Rarity gasp. She pressed on with her teasing while stepping it up a notch. “Yer lookin a tad tired. How was he Rarity?”

“Whatever could you be insinuating Applejack?”

“Ya know what ah mean! You’ve been all googly eyed fer that gut since he showed up.”

“I have not!” Rarity said. Applejack could feel the heat radiating from the mares face as she felt her friend edge closer. She also could have sworn she heard a quiet giggle from Fluttershy before Rarity tried to correct her. “We are nothing but friends!”

“Friends with benefits maybe?”

“For your sake, I hope Coppa has finished up his business before I do something I’ll regret.”

“Ahm sure you will Rares,” Applejack said just as the door swung open to reveal a large black earth pony. All three mares looked at the new arrival as the stallion politely cleared his throat. He gave a polite bow before attempting to speak before Applejack cut him off. “Is there something we can help ya with?”

“Yes, my associates and I are looking for you Ms. Applejack,” he stated, his low rumbling voice echoing throughout the room. Applejack narrowed her eyes as the earth pony stared at her. She felt a strange sense of dread as he approached her. “We would like to discuss a few things alone if you don’t mind.”

“What about?”

“My employers wish to change your mind about your farm.”

“Ain’t happening buddy,” Applejack retorted as she rose from the massage table. She trotted up close to the stallion so that they were almost touching muzzles. “Ah’m getting ma farm back no matter what.”

“I was afraid you’d say that.” The stallion sighed as he tapped his hoof on the spa’s floor. A number of other stallions, most of them earth ponies like their boss, entered the room. Applejack swallowed as the boss took another step forward, a frown on his muzzle as he spoke. “I would suggest you change your mind before we are forced to change it for you.”

Coppa, you better be on yer way back. Ah need ya here now.

*****

“Shit, shit, shit!” Coppa swore as he bolted into the town square past a mob of ponies. His mind raced as he rounded a corner looking frantically for any sign of what could be called a mansion. He took a ragged breath as he leaned against a wall, his chest heaving as he spoke to himself. “I really need to work on my cardio.” He paused for a moment, catching his breath while trying to remember the address Applejack had given him that morning. “This is so stupid! All these houses look the same! Where the hell is it!”

“Watch out Coppa!” a familiar fillie’s voice shouted from behind him. He turned his head slightly before a trio of orange, yellow and white blobs smashed into him. Coppa felt himself float in the air for a moment before leaving a large skid mark on the street with his face. He groaned as he felt the crusaders get off his back while repeatedly apologizing. He silenced them with a wave of his hand before attempting to stem the flow of blood leaking from his nose. A sudden gasp from the fillies made him look up to see them staring at him. It was when Scootaloo spoke up did he realize his predicament.

“Look girls, he’s bleeding!” she said while her friends made a beeline for Coppa. “We need to help him!”

'Oh please no!' Coppa thought as he watched them pull out a box with a large red cross on it from nowhere. He cursed silently as he heard them utter the five words he did not want to hear.

“CUTIE MARK CRUSADERS FIRST AID!” they cheered in unison before pouncing on Coppa. Within seconds, he found his entire body messily wrapped in numerous strips of gauze while band aids plastered his face. Each layer of wrapping served only to restrict his movement as the dwarf was wrapped up like a Christmas present.

‘Well this couldn’t get any worse,’ Coppa thought as he tried to escape from the iron cage of medical supplies pinning his limbs. He managed to sit up by some miracle only to see Sweetie Belle prepping something that looked awfully similar to a defibrillator. “God, why do you hate me so much? Do you have to prove me wrong every time?”

“Girls is that really necessary?” an older voice chided in a motherly tone, causing the fillies to stop dead in their tracks. Coppa looked into the distance to see a young mare, just slightly older than Applejack, giving the three fillies a disapproving look. The maroon coloured mare seemed familiar, but at the moment Coppa was more concerned with escaping the intentions of the crusaders. “This is rather excessive…even for you three.”

Just as fast as they had been put on, the bandages disappeared. They were heaped into a pile just as his saviour shooed off the three fillies. Coppa rubbed his limbs, coaxing the blood flow back into his numb appendages. Looking up he examined the concerned expression on the mare’s muzzle.

“I’m sorry about those three. I turn my head for one second and thy run off from the rest of the class.” The mare said as she helped Coppa to his feet. Noticing his confused gaze, she polity extended a hoof. “My name is Cheerilee, teacher at the Ponyville schoolhouse. Applebloom has told me a lot about you.”

“Have we met before?” Coppa asked as he rubbed his temple trying to discern why the mare was so familiar. With a snap of his fingers he let out a sudden gasp. “You’re that mare that was with Big Mac the other day!” He smiled playfully as he placed the final pieces together. “I didn’t recognise you at first. I knew I saw you somewhere.”

“Umm… yes I guess that’s me,” Cheerilee said as a blush crossed her muzzle. Coppa took a step back, cursing himself for his sudden outburst. His ears splayed back as Cheerilee’s embarrassment seemed to grow with each passing second. “I’m sorry, but can you keep it a secret.”

“What?”

“Big Mac and I,” Cheerilee responded as she looked away. “We’ve actually been together for some time and were hoping to keep it a surprise. It was my idea really.”

“Sure thing Cheerilee, I won’t tell a soul,” Coppa responded thankful that the awkward air was gone. Cheerilee smiled and began to head back to her class, but was stopped when Coppa cleared his throat. “While you’re here. Can you point me to where Filthy Rich lives?”

“Oh it’s just around the corner! House at the end of the street.”

“Really… That close by?” Coppa said with a sigh as he waved goodbye to the school teacher. He rounded the corner only to see the massive mansion towering at the end of the street. A relieved smile crossed his face as he walked towards the residence. He stopped just before the gates and rung the bell. A minute passed by while he occupied himself by examining the gates leading to the mansion.

“Compensating for something Filthy?” Coppa said quietly to himself as he stared at the massive iron gates. A large golden representation of the businesspony’s cutiemark adorned the wrought iron bars, threatening to bring the entire gate down with its massive weight. A sudden creaking of the hinges caused him to straighten up as the gates slowly opened inwards. He caught sight of Filthy Rich as the pony came out to meet him at the gates.

‘Weird… would’ve thought we’d do this inside?’ Coppa thought as he watched the stallion approach alone. Coppa’s eyes narrowed as the hackles on his neck raised slightly. His hand balled into a fist as he took a step forward. Another pervasive thought crossed his mind as the two neared each other. ‘Probably nothing. Let’s just get this over with.’

“Shall we get down to business?” Filthy’s deep voice grated on Coppa’s nerves as he gestured to the bag hanging at Coppa’s side. Coppa’s mouth formed a slight scowl as he couldn’t shake the sense of dread. He gently tugged at the drawstrings holding his pouch before tossing it to Filthy Rich. The stallion simply eyed the pouch before gently picking it up and producing a piece of paper from the inside of his collar. No words were spoken as Coppa took the paper, slowly he began to go over the writing signifying the ownership had returned to the Apples. With a nod he tucked it into his shirt pocket as he turned to leave until Filthy Rich cleared his throat.

“Anything else you’d like Filthy?” Coppa said with an annoyed tone. Filthy Rich’s eyes narrowed at the informal use of his name, but remained largely passive. Coppa ignored the glare as he let more of his impatience show. “I have places to go and a farm to help out.”

“I was simply wondering why you care so much about the state of their farm.” Filthy said as he turned away. Coppa stood rigid as he detected a slight tone of distaste coming from the stallion’s mouth. “What I mean to say is, why do you care so much about a family with such questionable history.”

“What are you talking about?” Coppa spat as he felt his hand clench into a fist as he watched Filthy Rich turn with a smug smile. He slowly flexed his fingers as he waited for Filthy to make the biggest mistake of his life.

“There have been rumors flying around my close associates about the Apples. They've told me time and time again that I should refrain from dealing with their kind."

"Their kind?"

"Their zap apple jam has been a staple of my business and has been something which my family has enjoyed since my great grandfather. As much as I try to be amicable to them, I cannot simply overlook these growing rumors. Ponyville might be a tolerable community, but even we have morals. I have no doubt that everyponies perception would change if they really knew the truth about the Apple Family."

"If you know what's good for you Filthy, I suggest you stop before I do something I'd regret," Coppa said as he managed to keep his growing anger leashed. "As much as it would give me 

Well there’s always been a rumor that the family is far closer than they let on,” Filthy said, not noticing Coppa approaching. “It wouldn’t be surprising if the youngest apple was the product of her older sis-” Filthy managed to add before being cut off by Coppa’s hand around his throat. A low snarl escaped from Coppa’s mouth as his hackles rose before he tossed Filthy like a ragdoll. He watched the stallion scramble to his hooves, his well-oiled mane now a mess. Coppa gave no mind as the stallion began to shout at him. He simply regained his composure before popping his neck.

“Do you even know what are you doing? You just assaulted me! I can have you arrested for this!” Filthy yelled between coughs. Coppa gave him no mind as he crossed the distance between them in an instant. He grabbed Filthy roughly by the collar, lifting him once again into the air before slamming him down in the ground. His hand moved  from the now torn collar to the stallion’s mouth, stifling any calls for help.

“Go ahead then Filthy. It might not take them half an hour like I did, but it's still going to take them at least five minutes for them to get here. You know what that means Filthy? C'mon tell me!” Coppa said ignoring the muffled cry of the stallion beneath him. He tightened his grip, eliciting another muffled scream from his captive as his nails dug into flesh and fur. "I guess I'll have to explain it then. It means that it'll take the police five minutes to get from their place to here. So that means-" He cracked his knuckles as he placed his fist in front of Filthy's face. "I have exactly five minutes to beat you so bad, your prissy little bitch of a daughter Apple Bloom Told me about, will feel this." He waited for the stallion to say something but watched as Filthy turned blue in the face. Realizing that he didn't really want to be charged with murder in such a innocent land, Coppa decided to simply end the conversation there. 

“"You want to know something Filthy? I hate you business types, always going around and showing off just how much you have. It's people like you who make others miserable. I've dealt with you kind for most of my life, watching greedy little shits " He added before releasing his hold on Filthy. "Maybe the Apples don’t have money or a fancy mansion like yours, but at least they have a shred of decency unlike your pompous ass. Maybe before you listen to those fucking rumors, you should take the time to get to know them rather than view them as a goddamn cash cow! Now get lost before I wear you like a shoe!" The stallion scrambled up and away from the dwarf shouting nonsensical threats before stumbling over his own hooves. Coppa simply sighed before noticing a cyan blur rocketing right at him.

“What now?” Coppa mumbled under his breath as he prepared to catch the form of Rainbow Dash as she rocketed towards him.

*****

Applejack landed in a heap as she was thrown out of the spa. Her stetson landed next to her as the stallions exited the spa. She managed to lift her head just as the bosses hoof came down and punched her face. A gasp came from a few bystanders who were quickly scared off by the larger members of the group.

“Anybody who doesn’t want their teeth bucked in scram now!” one stallion bellowed.

Her vision swam as her head reeled from the force of the blow. The taste of iron and dirt filled her mouth, causing her to gag. She felt a tug on her mane and yelled in pain as the stallion yanked it upShe lashed out and felt her hoof smash into the stallion’s cheek. The suddenness of the attack caused him to release his grip on the farmpony, giving her just enough time to rise to her hooves.

“Is that all ya got!” Applejack shouted at the stallion as he regained his composure. She lashed out again, but her hoof was caught by a second stallion who forced her to the ground. Her struggles did nothing to deter her attacker as he leaned in close to her ear.

“I like a mare with a fight in her,” the stallion whispered. He leaned in and nibbled on it. Applejack laid still as she felt the stallions teeth on her fur. A lone tear escaped her eye as she blinked, only listening to the stallion continue. “After this is over, you and I are gonna be the best of friends.”

“Get offa me!” Applejack said with renewed vigour. She tensed all of her muscles before throwing her head backwards with a surge of adrenaline following. A fresh wave a pain combined with a cry from the stallion told her of the success of the attack. She rose to her hooves, legs shaking, as the shout of the stallion continued.

“The bitsh brokth ma nosthe!” he cried, his speech impaired by the massive amount of blood pouring from his face. His thrashing subsided with a swift kick from Applejack, knocking him out cold. She glared at the other stallions as they moved in towards her. She noticed that Rarity and Fluttershy still hadn’t left the spa, a sense of worry also passed over her as she counted two stallions missing also missing. No doubt they were inside tormenting her friends, but at the moment Applejack could do nothing.

Five stallions stood in front of her, two unicorns and three earth ponies. Some brandished metal pipes in their hooves while others carried small, crude blades. The boss carried nothing save for a pair of brass hoofknuckles which he simply slid on. The air grew thick with tension as they simply stared at her, daring her to make the first move. Applejack felt every muscle in her body tighten as no one moved. The effects of the adrenaline were beginning to wear off, causing her to feel a fresh sense of exhaustion as she struggled to remain standing.

“Ironside, what is taking so long! It’s only one mare!” a voice shouted, grabbing Applejack’s attention. She sneered when the forms of Flim and Flam presented themselves. Yet she couldn’t help but notice the worried expression that was plastered over Flim’s face as his head hung low. She also spotted something peculiar about the appearance of Flam as he approached.

His coat seemed at least four shades darker than usual. His moustache and mane had turned from a moderate red and white to an almost blackish red and dull greyish white. His eyes were bloodshot and focused angrily on the lead stallion as he stormed over. There was something extremely wrong with the stallion; anypony with half a brain could have seen it.

“We paid you to beat her to a pulp and you’re letting her beat you?!” Flam practically screamed at Ironside. Applejack took a step back, eyes widening at the display as Flam continued to scream insults. She noticed Flim looking dejectedly at her much to her confusion. The stream of insults however, stopped as the sound of yelling and screaming came from above.

“Oh craaaaaap!” she heard a distinctly male voice scream as the two crashed into the ground. A cloud of smoke exploded outward, engulfing the street. When the dust settled the five stallions, save for Flim and Flam, were all unconscious and sprawled throughout the street. A groan came from a nearby wall where Coppa lay face down. Rainbow Dash sat next to him, eyes spinning as she fell over dizzily. A small chuckle came from Coppa who had picked himself up.

“So much for the badass entrance,” Coppa said as he helped Rainbow up. He gave a shake of his head, sending loose pieces of plaster and dirt flying from his fur. He took a look around the wreckage before his eyes rested on Applejack. He nodded to Rainbow who promptly ran inside the spa. He half walked, half ran to Applejack and carefully inspected her body when he noticed the nasty bruise on her face. His smile quickly became a frown as he picked up her Stetson and placed it back on her head. “Don’t worry, I’ll take it from here. Rainbow'll get the other two.”

Applejack nodded silently as she felt weariness begin to sap her strength. Her vision began to blur until she could hardly see in front of her. Slowly her eyelids fell shut, sending her exhausted mind and body into the soft embrace of sleep.

*****

Applejack awoke with a start as she heard something heavy fall. With a few breaths, she felt her heart slow as she scanned her surroundings. Slowly, as her vision came back to her, she realized that she was in the hospital. The faint smell of rubbing alcohol permeated the air, causing her nose to wrinkle as she scanned the room.

“Oh it seems you’re awake now,” a soft voice said, causing Applejack to turn her head. Nurse Redheart stood in the doorway, a cart with a single tray in front of her. Applejack nodded silently as Nurse Redheart gave her a small smile. “You’re friend was really adamant about us looking after you first.” She shook her head giggling slightly as she trotted next to Applejack. “Gave the doctors quite the headache.”

Applejack joined in, giggling as the image of fighting the doctors flashed through her head. She frowned as she noticed the peculiar absence of her family. In fact, the entire room was empty save for her and Redheart.

“Where did everypony go?” Applejack questioned as she shifted in her cot slightly. Redheart helped her up, aiding Applejack’s sore muscles support her.

“Oh, visiting hours are over, but they were just trying to calm Coppa down. He’s been on edge ever since he got here. Your Grandmother is still here though.” The Nurse frowned as Applejack tried to get out of bed. “You should really lie down. We still need to check you for any internal injuries.”

“Ah’m fine,” Applejack said confidently. Her muscles might have ached slightly, but she didn’t feel any worse for wear. A few bruises were still visible, but she ignored those as she moved towards the door. “Can ah go see mah friend?”

“Down the hall to the left. I don’t see any problem with it, but we still need to check you after.”

“That’s fine by me,” Applejack said as she pushed the door open. Her eyes travelled down the empty hallway before she saw her grandmother. She ran over to the elder mare, much to Redheart’s annoyance and gave her a hug. Granny Smith returned the warm embrace as she checked over Applejack with a concerned expression.

“What are ya doin out of bed little missy,” she chided as Applejack let go of her. Applejack looked guiltily at the floor waiting for a lecture. Instead, Granny Smith’s face broke into a smile as she patted Applejack’s back reassuringly. “Ah’m glad yer alright.”

“How’s Coppa doin?” Applejack asked as Granny Smith beckoned for her to follow. Applejack got up and walked close behind as they proceeded to the other wing of the hospital. They passed by one room where Applejack spared a glance and gasped.

A number of stallions were lying in hospital beds. Their bodies were covered in full-blown body casts. A few had their encased limbs elevated into the air by a few wires. However, one stallion stuck out by the wisps of facial hair that poked out from the nose holes of his head cast. Flam groaned as, what Applejack could imagine were unimaginable amounts of pain coursed through him.

“He put Flam and them stallions in them casts fer hitting you, left Flim alone though,” Granny added but reassured her horrified granddaughter. Applejack took a step back as she looked away from the sorry state of her attackers. “They’ll fine, but they’re gonna have to answer fer what they did.”

“How’s Coppa?” Applejack asked, desperate to know about Coppa’s condition. Granny smiled sadly as she continued down the hall at a slow pace. Applejack’s worry grew with each passing moment until she could hear the sounds of yelling and screaming. A few orderlies rushed passed them prompting Granny to chuckle.

“Flam got a lucky hit on him with a pipe,” Granny Smith said as they neared the end of the hallway. The shouts and sounds of struggle grew louder but were still too muffled to make out anything intelligible. Granny frowned as she recounted the full extent of Coppa’s injuries. “He has a concussion and is gonna need ten or twelve stitches.”

“You’re not getting anywhere near me with that thing!” Applejack heard Coppa yell as the door was opened. She had to stifle a laugh at the scene in front of her.

The entire room was in chaos, instruments and bed sheets thrown everywhere in the scuffle. Coppa was on top of the bed holding an orderly in a headlock. His foot was in the clutches of a second Orderly who was trying desperately to hold on. In front of them was a doctor with a large needle of clear liquid. Both sides were shouting, Coppa using less than colourful language to declare his intent to remain as far away from the doctor.

“What the hay is goin’ on in here?” Applejack shouted loudly, drawing all eyes to her. Her face set into an expression of seriousness as the dwarf growled and tightened his grip “Let go of him Coppa!”

Reluctantly, he loosened his grip on the stallion’s head while his foot was released. Both sides released a collective sigh as Coppa let out a whine of defeat. Grumbling, he sat down on the bed as Applejack approached and the orderlies left. She hesitated slightly as she began to see the full extent of his wound.

A large gash ran along the right side of his forehead, caked with dried blood. Angry red flesh stood outwards. She could see tiny flecks of bone where the pipe had obviously connected to his skull. The wound could be stitched up but only if Coppa was put under. However, with how things were going, that would prove difficult.  

“They aren’t coming near me with that thing!” Coppa said pointing to the needle. Applejack rolled her eyes as she approached him. He backed away slightly as she placed her hooves on his shoulders. He gave a pathetic whine as she stared at him menacingly, like a puppy caught chewing on the furniture. “I don’t like needles...”

“Ya take a pipe to the head but can’t handle a tiny needle?” Applejack said incredulously as Coppa’s face flushed in embarrassment. “Come on Coppa... ya can do it.”

She gestured for the doctor to come forward as Coppa slowly let his arm extend. The doctor quickly swabbed the area before inserting the needle. She felt Coppa’s hand tighten around her hoof as the anaesthesia left the syringe. A few seconds later, the syringe was pulled out.

“See, was that so bad?” Applejack said causing Granny to chuckle a bit. His ears perked up in surprise as Applejack leaned down and kissed the injection sight. Her face burned slightly from the gesture but she managed to keep a straight face. “There ya go! All better.”

“Umm, not trying to sound ungrateful or anything, but what was that?”

“Granny always gave us a kiss on any place that hurt. It made us feel better an I thought you might appreciate it.” She saw his face tinged slightly red, matching her own flushed expression. Suddenly, his face broke out into a stupid smile as the drugs took hold. “Ya feelin ok Coppa?”

“A little,” he said swooning a bit before he turned gestured to his mouth. Applejack’s brow knitted in confusion as he giggled like a schoolfilly. “My mouth hurts a bit too, could I get another?”

“Not on yer life,” Applejack said laughing, still blushing while Coppa fell back into the hospital bed. He joined in, laughing as his eyelids drooped slightly. 

“Ah well, I can always steal one later!” He winked at her causing her to backup as Granny cackled. Moments later, he passed out leaving the blushing mare to her grandmother.

“Good night Coppa,” she said smiling as she was ushered out by the orderlies so the doctor could get to work. She spared a glance at his sleeping face before the door was closed on them. “Ah’m gonna make this up to ya. Ah promise that.”
> The Silent One
> --------------------------------------------------------------------------


Sam sucked in a breath as his fingers gripped the hilt of his sword. The slight breeze cooled the sweat of his neck as Celestia’s sun burned brightly in the sky overhead. His feline ears twitched as he watched his opponent ready his weapon. Every movement was noted, even the small insignificant moves never escaped his gaze. The way his opponent carried his weapon, the stance he used, even the insignificant twitch of the elf’s ear was noted and analyzed. His training had allowed him to block out any outside influence yet he couldn’t help but catch small pieces of conversation from the bystanders watching him.

“What are they doing? If you uhh.. don’t mind me asking.”

“Just wait and see,”

“It’s awfully hot out today. My mane is going to get all frazzled. Why haven’t they started yet?”

“He’s waiting for an opening,”

“But Moe hasn’t done anything yet!”

“That’s the point...”

Sam’s face remained calm as he waited. His body and mind preparing for the opportune moment to strike before his opponent could react.  Seconds passed while Sam remained still, slowly he watched as Moe’s hand went towards his quiver. His body shot forward as two arrows were knocked and drawn. Sam’s advance never faltered as the twang of the bowstring sent the two sharpened missiles towards him. Sam’s hands remained glued to his sword and sheath as he ducked under the attack. One arrow grazed his cheek leaving a small shallow cut while the other sailed harmlessly overhead.

Ignoring the stinging pain, Sam launched himself from his crouch towards the waiting elf. Time slowed as he watched Moe go through the motions and launch another slew of arrows towards the airborne Felpier. None reached him as he twisted in the air, each missile missing him by a hair’s breadth. He sunk to the ground as he landed on the balls of his feet, his side facing Moe. Spinning towards his opponent, he unsheathed his sword and seamlessly followed through slashing at the Elf’s exposed throat.

His blade however, passed through the air instead of the soft flesh and taught muscles of Moe’s neck. The elf instead had leaned back at the last moment, only a faint scratch where the tip of the blade had touched. A thin rivulet of blood crept from scratch but fazed neither side. Another arrow buried itself in the ground next to Sam’s foot before Moe switched to his twin long knives. Sam dodged the first swipe Moe aimed at him while blocking the next attack with the back of his sword.

Though the attack was nothing in hindsight, Sam could still feel the vibrations as his arm as Moe pressed forward. Taking a defensive stance, Sam repeated his previous action.  Expertly dodging the first blow, he blocked the second attack before reversing the grip on his sword. Pushing forward with his weight in the blade, a few sparks flew as the katana slid across the knife’s edge. His attack however was stopped halfway when Moe’s foot shot forward and caught Sam in the stomach, knocking him back a few steps.

Coughing as his solar plexus rearranged itself, Sam blinked back tears to see that Moe had once again brought out his short bow with an arrow nocked and drawn. His concern was focused more on the five other arrows floating behind the elf held aloft by his magic. Sam took a shallow breath as he gripped his sword in one hand. Placing his free hand on the ground in a three point stance, Sam shot off like a rocket, twisting just in time to avoid the first two arrows. He saw the elf leading his advance as he closed in, waiting for the perfect opportunity to loose one of his remaining three reserve arrows. He waited, continuing on his path until he was in the perfect position.

Four...

As he had predicted, the final three arrows were thrown psychically towards him. Just as it seemed inevitable that they would hit, Sam dug his heel into the soft ground. His advance halted, the three projectiles sailed past him as he pivoted and aimed straight for Moe. The elf’s eyes locked with Sam’s own as Moe searched anxiously for an opening before the felpier closed the distance.

One left… Persist on attack. Do not wait, no victory can come from hesitation.

A gasp could be heard as the final arrow was let loose. Sam estimated that he was no less than five feet from the waiting elf as he launched himself in the air. Time slowed as the glinting steel end came close to his face. Yet the end never came as Sam’s sword flashed through the air and split the arrow in half. Splinters sprayed out as Sam’s sword finished its path before he spun around. He watched Moe’s eyes widen as Sam’s katana hovered just a few slight inches from his face. The tension in the air was thick before Sam removed his blade from Moe’s neck before sheathing it and bowing.

“Another win for you,” Moe said with a smile as he returned the gesture. Quickly, he began to collect his arrows from the ground as their audience came close. Sam shrugged as he too bent down to help with the cleanup. He heard Moe let out a small groan as the elf noticed the blood stain on the white of his uniform. “If I didn’t know any better, I’d say you were trying to kill me. You’re always so focused during these little training sessions.

Sam nodded silently as rested his hand on his sword. The sound of crunching leaves and labored breathing alerted the pair to the ponies approaching them. He turned to see Coppa accompanied by Rarity, Fluttershy and Rainbow Dash galloped toward the pair.

“That was so awesome!” she said excitedly pressing her hooves to her cheeks. Both looked at her with confusion as her voice seemed to rise an octave. She cleared her throat as she  attempted to salvage what remained of her cool exterior. “I mean it’s not as cool as my Sonic Rainboom, but it was still pretty cool.”

“Real smooth Dash,” Coppa said with a roll of his eyes as he approached. The dwarf still wore the bandage around his head, even after even though the doctors had suggested he let the wound breathe. He only chose to keep it because it in his own words it, “made him look badass.”

“I must say it did become fairly exciting towards the end,” Rarity chimed in as she inspected her houseguest. A small frown lined her features as she noticed the small bloodstain and the trickle of red coming from his neck. “Darling you’re bleeding! This is terrible! We must get you back to the boutique so I can patch you up.”

“I doubt that’s what you really want to do…” Coppa said prompting a small snort from Rainbow Dash who bumped her hoof with his fist. Rarity gave an indignant huff as Moe unstrung his bow. Coppa gave him a toothy smirk as the elf rolled his eyes prompting a retort from the dwarf. “What? I don’t hear you complaining.”

“I’m fine Rarity. It’s nothing really,” Moe said casually. He turned to Coppa who was whispering into Rainbow Dash’s ear, both giggling like little fillies. Moe gave an irritated huff while Rarity rolled her eyes. Sam noted the malicious grin that crept on the elf’s face as he sat back. “Shouldn’t you be wearing the cone the doctors gave you? We wouldn’t want you scratching your stitches.”

Sam just stepped back as Coppa’s smile left his face. The doctors, concerned due to his canine appearance, had recommended that Coppa use a protective collar. The request had been harmless, but it had still caused the Dwarf to go on a half hour long rant of why he’d rather fight a bear than wear a so called ‘cone of shame’. The doctors had backed off after that incident, but the joke had been running on for the past few days.  

He watched them as Coppa argued with Moe and playfully swung at him. He barely even noticed Fluttershy as she made her way to his side. He looked down as she tentatively nudged his hand with her hoof.

“Umm... your cheek is bleeding Sam...” she said hesitantly, trying to avoid his gaze. Sam touched the area and felt the familiar combination of both wet and dried blood. He drew his hand back, fingertips stained red. He quickly wiped his hand off on his pants before sheathing his blade. He then proceeded to wipe the rest of the offending liquid off his cheek. He gave a nod of thanks to Fluttershy who simply shielded away from his gesture.  

“How did the training go?” Dante said as he suddenly appeared with Twilight at his side. Sam remained calm, only giving a slight glance towards Dante while Fluttershy let out an audible “Eep.” Sam said nothing, only pointing towards Moe and Coppa who were still arguing. Dante let a thin smile grow on his face as he pulled a thin vial from his pocket. He handed it to Sam whose eyes stared at it with curiosity and hesitance.

“...?”

“It was pulled from Flam today,” Dante said as Sam handed him the vial. “It’s nothing that the doctors have ever seen.”

“...”

“If I had to take a guess, I think this is from our world,” Dante said as he looked at Sam. “It seems vulnerable to our magic and prefers to feed off unicorn magic.”

“It’s basically like some form of magic draining liquid,” Twilight added with a smile while jotting notes on a scroll of paper. Sam only nodded before he began to notice the liquid bubbling violently. Twilight noticed it as well, and drew closer to examine it.  “Hmm, it wasn’t doing this a minute ago.”

“What are you talking about?” Dante said before he noticed it too. His eyes grew wide before he tossed the vial away.
“Everyone get away!” He shouted just as the sound of cracking glass filled the air. “Get away now!”
The vial burst apart as it sailed through the air. Glass pieces turned into dust as the black liquid exploded from its tiny prison. The strange liquid fell to the ground with a splattering wet noise. It remained on the ground, unmoving, before bubbling again as if the heat from the sun was boiling it. It twisted and expanded before taking a form vaguely resembling a human.  

It had no describable facial features and appeared as neither male nor female. Its thin arms hung limp in the air, a large black blade on the left appendage while a set of wicked claws adorned the right. Its lithe body swayed as it stood on two needle like legs. Oily droplets fell from its extremities, dampening the grass with whatever substance made up the being.
It shot from its position with surprising speed, crossing the distance between the two parties in a matter of seconds. Coppa and Moe, caught by surprise, were thrown across the field as the monster blew past them. It jumped over Rainbow Dash and Rarity as it made a beeline for Twilight and Fluttershy. Sam wasted no time as he shot straight towards the aggressor.  

Sam crossed the threshold and quickly ducked under the first attack. The monster’s blade shot towards Sam’s feet, but struck the loamy earth as Sam leaned to the right. The monster raised its claw to strike, only to find its claw missing.
Black oil dripped from Sam’s sword as he watched the clawed appendage fall from the monster’s wrist.  An unearthly scream came from the monster’s head as its claw melted into a black puddle. The liquid bubbled for a moment before crawling back to the monster’s body. The group watched in horror as the monster’s hand grew back, wriggling as it grew out of the exposed wrist.

“Sam, it’s weak to magic!” Dante shouted as Sam slashed again severing a leg from the creature’s body. Concentrating, he summoned up his magic, a bolt of lightning shooting from his hand and striking the creature in the chest.  The creature unleashed another cry of pain as it doubled over, its chest bearing a large scorch mark. Dante turned to Sam who once again stepped forward to attack. “Regular attacks won’t harm it!”

We’ll see if it can regenerate itself without a head... Sam thought to himself as his sword sliced through the other leg. The creature fell back screaming as it landed on the stumps that had been its legs. Sam ignored the creature’s strange cries as his face remained stony. Slowly, he lifted his sword, the blade glinting in the sun. With a breath, he slammed the blade down towards the exposed neck. He heard the gasps of his friends and the ponies as his blade passed through black substance like a hot knife through snow. The he decapitated body convulsed and bubbled as the head rolled away. It arched back suddenly, its arms thrashing violently as it melted, slowly reverting a puddle of black oil.

“Well that works too I guess,” Dante said as he approached Sam. Sam only nodded as he breathed deeply. He shook his sword clear of the substance coating it and slowly slid it back into its scabbard. Dante motioned to the puddle as it spread out slowly. “I’ll need your help with burning this,” he said as he summoned his flames. Sam hesitated as Dante waited, confusion evident on his face as Sam stayed in place. “Sam? Is there something wrong?”

“Dante, it’s moving again!” Twilight shouted. The two turned just in time to see a half-formed torso and blade burst from the puddle. Sam felt himself being thrown to the side as Dante pushed him and shoved his hand and staff into the liquid form. A light shone from the murky depths of the creature’s chest as it started to expand before exploding in a large ball of flame.  Sam felt an intense heat wash over him as the flames threw him and Dante back.

“Oh my goodness... are they alright?” Fluttershy whimpered as she and Twilight ran towards their still forms. Tears came to her eyes as she looked at Sam, who laid there not breathing. She tenderly rubbed a hoof on his back, trying to coax him into breathing again. While they had yet to talk to each other, she still felt a unique bond with him. He had an air about him that put her at ease. He seemed so strong and dependable, like Rainbow Dash minus the massive ego. Yet he still maintained a distance from the mare and would disappear for a few hours every day without as much as a note.

She breathed a sigh of relief as she felt Sam start to cough and suck in air. He slowly rose to his knees, his breath returning to him as the two of them checked his body for any more injuries.  He was covered in scorch marks, yet his body was whole and intact. A few of the bandages had loosened from around his midriff, but were tightened back as Fluttershy tended to him. Sam gave her a silent nod of thanks as he rose to his feet with a small grunt of pain, as his wound throbbed slightly.

“Sam, are you sure you’re alright?” Dante said as he examined the burn mark that was left on the ground. Sam gave him a questioning look as everyone looked at Dante flabbergasted. The explosion had done more damage to Dante’s body than that of Sam’s.Burns and bruises covered his body and the majority of his clothes were in tatters. He looked at himself before letting out a sigh. “You’re probably right, we can talk about this another time.” He knelt down, turning his head towards Fluttershy, speaking softly as to not intimidate the mare. “Can you make sure he doesn’t push himself too hard? Sam has a tendency to do that.”

“O-okay I can do that... I mean if Sam is okay with that?” She pulled back, not meeting Dante’s gaze. Sam simply rolled his eyes, his mouth set in a faint line as he began to walk away from the field, limping slightly as Fluttershy followed close behind. Dante watched as the two headed toward the Everfree forest. He felt something crawl over his feet and heard it slither into the bushes, but his focus was cemented on Sam.

“Why did he look so concerned...” he asked to himself. He started to feel the gravity of his wounds as each movement irritated his burned flesh. “Sam never hesitates...”
	
> The Heart Of The Warrior
> --------------------------------------------------------------------------


Sam, the path we walk is one of discipline and mastery. A samurai cannot be considered such until he has learned all he can about both himself and the path he walks. You, my grandson, have exceeded where your brothers and sisters have struggled. You are one of the shining examples of our clan. Soon enough, we will move on from the physical aspects of your training and learn of the mental aspects of the path of fire.

I cannot tell you what to expect, you must continue to exert the utmost discipline in your future studies. One slip of the mind, one hesitation in the sword stroke will only lead you to death’s door. Your vow of silence can only take you so far in your pursuit. It takes more than sacrificing your voice to attain your goals.

To achieve them you must ask yourself a fundamental question. What does it truly mean to be a Samurai? What can come from devoting yourself utterly to a set of moral principles? What form of fulfillment can come from seeking both, a stillness of your mind, and mastery in the way of the sword?

What can you possibly do if you cannot answer these questions? Whom can you possibly hope to serve if you begin to doubt yourself? But I have trust in you. I know you will not disappoint me for I have seen what you are capable of and where your limits lie.

Sam shifted his hand on the pommel of his katana as he continued to walk forward. His hand gently caressed every groove of the hilt as the words played through his mind. The sun’s afternoon rays were still beating down strong, the heat baking the dirt road as Sam and Fluttershy kept walking. Loose pieces of dirt turned to dust under their feet as the pair made their way to the cottage. Sam could feel a new layer of sweat begin to form on his neck as the air became noticeably dryer.

“Umm Sam?” the timid voice of Fluttershy called out, causing Sam to glance down at the pegasus. Fluttershy let out a small squeak of surprise as Sam stared at her. He kept his gaze on her as she tentatively met his gaze. He nodded towards her, prompting her to speak. “It’s just... umm...  you seemed k-kind of concerned about something earlier. If you want, we could talk about it...”

Sam stared at her for a moment as her words registered in his head. He closed his eyes and shook his head as he turned away from Fluttershy. The pegasus let out a small, disappointed sigh as she followed after him. Her mind raced to think of ways she could use to get Sam to open up to her. As shy as she was, she did in fact wish to know more about her silent guest.  She knew next to nothing about Sam apart from what little Dante had told her during their initial meeting. Yet every time she tried to work up the courage to speak to him, Sam would remain silent.

“Sam, can I ask you something?” she asked, struggling to keep a straight face. Sam stopped again as he glanced at her over his shoulder. Fluttershy began to take a step back but swallowed her fear at the last minute and looked at him confidently.

Ok, just ask him what’s wrong! You can do it!

“What would you like for dinner tonight?”

There was a awkward silence as Fluttershy’s heart sank in her chest. She mentally kicked herself as she let out a whimper. She lowered her head as tears of embarrassment threatened to spill over. However, the scratching of pencil on paper ended her melancholy as she looked up to see Sam with a notepad in hand. His pencil moved across the page before coming to a rest as he turned the note pad around.

I appreciate your concern Fluttershy, but I do not want to burden you. My problems are my own and I will deal with them in time. 

“Oh... umm I’m not sure but I can check when we get home,” she replied with a smile, not knowing how he managed to figure out her intent. Sam in turn, gave her a nod as he kept writing. Fluttershy titled her head as she watched Sam. “Sam, why is it that you never speak?” She lowered her head as Sam glanced at her before adding something to his note. “If you don’t mind explaining...”

I choose not to speak out of personal preference. It was part of my training and I have never really broken out of the habit. It also helps when you live in a country where no one ever says what they mean. Being silent means you can simply express yourself in other ways that are much more effective.

“But isn’t it frustrating not being able to ever really say what you want?”

It can be at times, but when you have gone without a voice for six years, you become used to it.

“You’ve been silent for six years?” Fluttershy asked amazed. She pressed on with a small measure of added confidence as she voiced her next question. “If you don’t mind me asking, when did you start?”
I was thirteen at the time. It was my own choice.

“Oh, you’re the same age as me!” Fluttershy said with more volume than intended. Her excitement was beginning to show as she trotted next to him. “How old are all of you?”

I am the eldest at nineteen, the others are all eighteen. If it isn’t too much to ask, how old are you six. I’m having trouble differentiating the age groups of ponies. You all seem to be around the same age.

“Oh no, I’m the oldest. Fluttershy said digging a trench with her hoof. She looked around cautiously as she leaned close to Sam and whispered. “Pinkie and Rainbow are the youngest of us and the others are all just a year younger than me.”
Thank you for the clarification Fluttershy. 

I didn’t mean any disrespect to you or your friends.

“Oh it’s perfectly fine with me Sam,” she said with a giggle. Sam looked at her quizzically before she explained. “Rarity is the only one who’s concerned with her age. But, umm... she’s very mature for her age.”

Sam nodded, his face bearing the faintest ghost of a smile. Fluttershy noticed his expression and let out another small giggle. Her smile turned to a thoughtful frown as she saw Sam stare off into space once again. “Sam? Can I ask you one more thing?”

I do not see a problem with it. I do enjoy a good conversation every now and then.

“Well, why is it that you never talked to me before? Do you not like me? I mean... if I bother you I can leave you alone...” Her voice turned into a barely audible whisper as she hid behind her mane. She felt a tap on her shoulder causing her to let out a small “eep” in surprise. She felt Sam’s hand pat her head a few times before she peered beyond the pink veil of her hair.

Sam was bowing down to her, hands placed firmly on the ground as his head hovered below her. She dug a trench with her hoof as she waited for Sam to rise. A few tense moments passed before either of them moved. Sam remained on his knees as his hands went for his notebook.

I never meant to offend you... He wrote as his eyes glanced towards Fluttershy. Please command me as you wish. As a samurai, it is my duty to serve. I will do my utmost to help.

“Oh, I could never do that,” Fluttershy said as she patted his head with a smile. Sam gave her a saddened look as he cast his gaze downwards. Fluttershy withdrew her hoof as Sam began scribbling on the page again. “Sam, what’s wrong?”

If I cannot be of assistance to you, then may I ask your permission of you to end my life? Someone as useless as me deserves such a fate. Fluttershy gasped as her eyes scanned the page. She took a step back as Sam looked at her with pleading eyes. Her head shook from side to side.

“W-what? No, no you can't!” she shouted closing her eyes. She kept shaking her head as a few tears welled in her eyes. Her wings flared out, her voice rose as she stared at Sam. The Felpier inched back, something compelling him to stay and listen to Fluttershy as her eyes bore into him “Why would you want to ask me that? What did I do to make you want that?”

If a samurai is of no use to the one they consider their master, then the most honourable thing to do is end their lives. That way they can avoid any further shame they might bring to their lords name.

“But that’s not right! You shouldn’t do that because of someone else, it isn’t right!” Fluttershy panted heavily from her outburst while Sam stared at her in confusion.. The tears stained her cheek as she rose over Sam. Her voice was wispy as she put a hoof on Sam’s head. “I won’t let you do anything like that. If you try... well then I’ll have to use the stare.”

Sam’s face grew even more confused as Fluttershy began to stare at him even more intently. Suddenly he felt his muscles tense and the back of his neck began to prickle. His hands grabbed at the ground, digging shallow furrows in the heated dirt. The muscles in his legs seemed to move despite what his mind told his body. He tried averting his eyes from the pegasus’ gaze, but his eyes simply remained locked with her own.

She let her gaze soften, causing Sam to fall to his knees and stare at her wide-eyed. How could the pony, who he suspected was frightened by her own shadow, possess such a power? A cold sweat broke out on his skin as Fluttershy gave him the most disarming smile she possessed. He felt his heart beat a mile a minute as she brought her face closer to his own.

“Now will you tell me what is bothering you?” she asked as her shy exterior returned. “Maybe after dinner... if you’re ok with that?” Sam nodded, causing her to smile gratefully as she began to walk off. A moment passed as Sam looked at his still shaking hands, wondering what kind of power he had just been subjected to.

What is she?

*****

“I’m sorry that your dinner was late Angel, but I’ll make up for it with a nice big salad. Doesn’t that sound good?” Fluttershy said as the rabbit before her stared with an expression of anger. It tapped the wooden floor with its foot impatiently. Fluttershy placed a bowl full of cabbage and sliced carrots in front of her animal friend. The rabbit looked at her with an unimpressed gaze as it pointed towards the salad in front of it. “But Angel, if you eat too much you’ll get a stomach ache.”

To her surprise, the rabbit moved to the side revealing a small crystal the size of its body. Fluttershy tilted her head as the crystal was waved in front of her. She gasped as Angel slicked he ears back and made a few sword like motions in the air.

“Angel, you took that from Sam’s things?” she asked in confusion. Angel nodded and gestured toward the carrot that lay on the countertop before pointing back at the crystal. Fluttershy frowned as she attempted to take the crystal, only for Angel to hop away. “Angel, you shouldn’t have taken that!”

Her cries of protest went unheeded as the rabbit bounded up the stairs of her cottage and into her guest’s room. Fluttershy stopped as the door was closed on her before she could catch him. She knocked lightly on the door as she called to her pet. Not getting any response, she slowly opened the door and entered the guest room.

She scanned the room, noting how little had been changed since Sam had taken residence in her cottage. A few scrolls had been hung on the walls, their meanings and symbols completely alien to Fluttershy. The bed had been stripped bare of everything, both the mattress and the blankets had been moved to the centre of the room. A few wooden swords were leaning against the wall, their polished forms reflecting the setting sun as it shone through the window.

She found Angel sitting on the top of the desk in the corner of the room, flipping through a book. Sam’s schoolbag sat next to the rabbit, a few pictures and scrolls were strewn around Angel who peered thoughtfully at the book. Angel looked up from the pages and gestured for Fluttershy to look at the book with him.

“We shouldn’t be looking through his things Angel!” Fluttershy said loudly as she looked at the pages anyway. A few photos in the pages showed a number of people all lined up. They were all clothed in strange looking dresses. A few carried swords similar to the one Sam had while others had studded clubs or wicked looking curved spears. All wore the same serious expression as they stared at the camera. Fluttershy closed the book as the sudden realisation dawned on her.

“Angel, where is Sam?”

The rabbit shrugged its shoulders as it pointed towards the forest.  Fluttershy followed the rabbit’s paw as it directed her to a small path. Fluttershy gulped as she saw the footprints leading into the forest. She hesitantly turned to Angel who had gone back to perusing the photos.

“He went into the Everfree forest?” she asked as she began to worry. Her mind flashed to the earlier incident as she ran down the stairs startling many of her animals. “Please don’t do it Sam.”

*****

The sound of the nearby stream echoed throughout the clearing as Sam sat still. The water flowed freely to his left as it emptied out into a river a hundred feet away from the clearing. Walls of bushes encircled the area, ending only at the giant tree standing before him. Its twisted roots had been dug up by some storm long ago and had been taken over by creeping vines and bushels of flowers. Only a few days ago, a family of deer inhabited the hollow. However, due to circumstances beyond Sam’s understanding, they had vacated quickly. In the meantime, he had converted the area for his own purposes.

Sam exhaled calmly as he examined the board in front of him. The setting sun glinted through the many sharpened nails that had been pushed through the thick wood.  

Slowly he placed his hands on the points, placing more and more pressure on them as his body began to lift. Balancing himself as his hands held him aloft, Sam slowly got into position. His hands ached as the needles pressed into his palms. In an almost excruciating amount of time, Sam managed to raise himself in a handstand over the sharpened nails. He felt a small wet patch form on his hand as one of the points entered his skin.

Ignoring the pain, he slowly lowered himself, breathing slowly as the nails came closer to his face. He closed his eyes as he repeated the motions, his muscles acting on instinct as they set to complete the exercise. Fifty times, he lowered and raised himself, his face coming close to being impaled on the board near the end of his set. Gently he lowered his legs before using the momentum to hop off the board. He looked at his hands noting the small beads of blood where the points had pierced. He wiped his hand off on his pants as he stretched his aching muscles. He approached the tree where the last part of his daily routine lay.

Kneeling before the shrine he had built over the past few days, Sam drew an incense sticks from his pocket. Using a match hidden in the small shrine, he lit the stick before placing it in the shrine. It was not anything spectacular, a small box, almost in the shape of a bird house served as his portable shrine. The three walls were painted a light shade of blue, complementing the gold coloured roof. Small trails of smoke wafted from the stick of incense, splitting into two trails as it wreathed the shrine.

Sam let out a small hum as he entered his trance like state. His eyes glazed over as his consciousness searched through his mind. To the outside eye, Sam would have looked as though he had entered into a coma. Every muscle in his body went limp; the only sign of him being alive was the steady rhythm of his breathing.

It was an ancient tradition of his clan, meant to strengthen the spirit and calm the mind. To Sam it felt as though a foreign force were gently stroking his very spirit. He felt exposed as he searched through the depths of his consciousness. He sped past memories and past lessons taught. Years flowed by and yet, for all the soul searching he still could not find what he was looking for.

A sigh of disappointment escaped his lips as he extended his arm. Straining, he concentrated on the centre of his extended palm. A vein bulged in his arm as he flexed his hand. He felt the energy around him moving, twisting in a sense, and swirling as he attempted to manipulate them. For a split second he felt it, the feeling of control as the magic became visible. It coalesced in his hand, swirling as he strained to maintain its shape. His eyes narrowed in concentration as the faintest hints of the element within started to form.

I can see it.... After all this time, I can finally see it! I can see my magic!

His excitement turned to fear as the ball began to contort violently. It twisted and shook as the magic within became increasingly unstable. Sam grasped his hand as pain shot through his arm, his nerves screaming as the magic lashed out. He doubled over, trying desperately to regain control. He gasped as what felt like a giant weight began to crush his arm.

No please, not now! I just need to see it! He mentally screamed. He felt his concentration slip as his natural instinct took over. Slowly the ball lost its shape, the magic unravelling, disappearing from sight. Sam struggled with every fibre of his being, trying his hardest to reform it. To place each strand of magic within himself back into his palm.

The strain finally took the last ounce of strength he had, his weakened muscles giving out and sending him crashing to the dirt. He felt the hot tears of disappointment run down his cheeks as his had dug into the ground. His breathing became wracked with sobs as he began to cry his frustration out. Any hope of preserving his cool exterior was washed away as he let the defeat was over him.

So close... He thought as he hung his head. He looked at his hand covered in dirt as the tingling feeling left him. With a shout of anguish, he slammed his first into the ground. He poured his feelings out as he howled into the earth. His tears mixed with the dirt as they fell between his hands. He held his head in his hands as his body shook and convulsed. I've failed them... It wasn’t supposed to be like this. I wasn’t supposed to be this weak... He looked forwards to see his sword still placed before the shrine, its black scabbard reflecting the light. Maybe I can save what little honour I have left...

“Sam?” He turned his head to see Fluttershy standing in the clearing. Her face was a mix of confusion and sadness as she regarded him lying prostrate before her. She hesitantly walked over, her hooves turning up the soft earth as she approached him. Sam looked up to see her face turn into a kind smile as she pulled him into her embrace. He tried pushing her away, but his arms could not manage to move the pony half his size. Giving up, he buried his face in her shoulder as he let the tears of pain and sadness flow freely.

“I understand now...” Fluttershy trailed off as she rubbed Sam’s back with her hoof. Her pink mane enveloped him as they stayed there in each other’s embrace. “Your feelings, your fear... I understand why, Sam.” She gripped him tighter as he sobbed again, wrapping her wings around his body. “They said you were good at magic but... no matter how hard you tried, you can’t do it. It just won’t listen to you.”

They sat there, Fluttershy comforting him for what felt like eons. It was only when Sam was out of tears that they separated. The frustration and anger had ebbed away, completely leaving him with a deep-rooted melancholy. He could have cared less about the dark grey clouds rolling over the Everfree. It was as if every last emotion had been sucked out of him, leaving only a hollow shell. He turned over; his eyes, no longer blinded by Fluttershy’s soft fur, stared out into the darkening skies. He could see the forms of the pegasi flying and pushing the clouds as they directed the oncoming storm. He felt the first droplets of rain just as Fluttershy spoke, her voice filled with her own emotion while she looked towards the sky.

“We should go back, it’s going to rain.” Sam nodded, slowly making his way to his feet and allowing Fluttershy to stand. Fluttershy began to trot towards the edge of the clearing before she noticed Sam was not moving. “Is something wrong?”
Sam’s mouth creased for a moment before his whole body seemed to relax. Fluttershy shivered as the rain intensified. It came down hard, blowing completely through the canopy over her head. Sam simply stood there, letting the rain soak him to the bone. It was an odd feeling, but it put him at peace. There was something cleansing about the droplets crashing against his skin.

Everything seemed to wash away. All the disappointment, the sadness and even anger towards himself seemed to melt away like a sugar cube in water. It was strangely comforting, putting him at ease even in his worst moods. Yet he could not stay there forever, his concern turned to Fluttershy who had begun to sniffle as the wind picked up. Slowly he followed her back to the cottage, taking time to appreciate the sound of the rain.

It took them slightly over five minutes before they reached the outskirts of Fluttershy’s cottage. By this time, the rain had intensified even more and the slight wind had become a howling gale. Tree branches whipped around, threatening to take off Sam’s head as the two ran.Closing in on the cottage, Sam quickened his pace. He burst through the door with Fluttershy close behind as the wind followed them.

With a hard shove, he attempted to shut the door behind them. The wind seemed to howl even louder as the door slowly closed shut. Pressing his shoulder to the door, he pushed forward silencing the wind and rain. He took a breath, latching the door shut against the pounding wind. His brief moment of peace was shattered when he heard Fluttershy let out a scream. Rushing to the living room, he saw the cause of the mare’s terror and felt his heart stop.

Sitting in the corner, snarling, was a Timberwolf pup. The beast was slightly larger than a cat, curled up in the corner it snarled at any of the animals that approached. Glass was sprinkled all around it, most likely from the broken window across the room. Sam could see small pieces embedded in the wolf’s hide, sticking out like small, clear thorns. Yet what drew his eye was the large gash along the wolf’s wooden side.

It’s injured... He thought as he examined the wound from his position. The gash was clearly infected. The bark around it was blackened and dripping with what Sam assumed was the vegetative version of pus. His hand slowly pulled out his weapon, the metallic hiss causing the wolf to let out a low growl. Best put down the injured wolf before it attempted to hurt anything. His advance was halted at the last moment as Fluttershy took a step forward. What is she doing?

“It’s okay,” Fluttershy whispered as she slowly approached the wolf. Sam could see the slight hesitation in her body and movements. It was clear to him that she was not used to dealing with this sort of beast. The Timberwolf let out another snarl, the branches on its back rising as the mare closed in. “It’s okay, there’s nothing to fear.”

The wolf seemed to calm as Fluttershy’s soothing voice took its effect. It whimpered a bit as it presented its wounded to the mare. Fluttershy smiled and moved closer, albeit slowly as to not frighten the wounded creature. Sam stared incredulously as he watched the wolf manage to reach out and lick Fluttershy’s cheek. The long wooden tongue ruffled the mare’s fur causing her to giggle. Sam let out a relieved sigh as he watched the exchange, his hand relaxing on the sword’s grip.

She really does possess an amazing amount of kindness. Even for something she's obviously afraid of. Maybe... she will understand.

“See? Nothing to fear...” Fluttershy said while her brow creased as she examined the wound. Using her wing, she beckoned Sam closer as her hooves busied themselves. The wolf growled as he approached, his presence obviously agitating it. She looked at him with pleading eyes as he removed his weapon, placing it carefully on the ground. She turned back to the timberwolf and ran a hoof along the creatures head. It let out a pathetic whimper as Sam approached. “He just wants to help. He’s not going to hurt you.”

Sam switched his gaze from Fluttershy to the animal, the beast’s eyes narrowing at him. Slowly, he lowered himself while extending his hand forward. The wolf sniffed it for a moment before letting out an angry growl and biting down on his finger. Wooden teeth left splinters as the pup latched on. Sam bit back a breath as the pup kept biting, not daring to let go while Fluttershy held her breath in fear . 

The pain was like fire, it coursed through him, begging him to cry out and draw back his hand. Yet his hand stayed despite the feeling of tiny wooden stakes digging into his finger. He remained there, allowing the Timberwolf to continue biting into his finger.

Moments felt like hours before the tiny pup let go of his hand. Its head fell back, ears flattening as tiny red beads welled from the small holes in Sam’s finger. It whimpered slightly before giving the wound a tiny lick. Fluttershy let out a sigh as she saw the tension dissipate. Quietly, she rose to get a medical kit only to stop and watch as the pup climbed slowly into Sam’s lap. She let out a quiet giggle as Sam began to rub the pup’s rough exterior, his hand scratching behind the branches that posed as its ears.

Sam stared silently as Fluttershy exited the room, waiting for her to leave. He quickly took off his damp shirt and laid it out on the floor. Gently, he placed the pup on the makeshift mat. Once again he ran a hand over the pup as it shivered, attempting to sooth its pain. The animal was beyond saving, he knew that much. The wound on its side was in no way treatable, even if they managed to clean it out. Gently he swaddled the pup in his shirt, taking care not to injure it any further.

Even if she cannot save you, at least you will not pass on alone in the cold. He thought. His mind began drawing blanks as time ran thin. Moments passed as the animal’s breathing became softer and softer... until at last its chest fell, never rising again. He bowed his head in respect before getting up and making his way towards Fluttershy. He spared a glance at the pup before he left, his eyes closing as he imagined the mare’s inevitable despair.

He found her in the bathroom, her hooves grabbing a number of medical supplies. As he reached out to gain her attention, he hesitated upon seeing her determined smile. It nearly broke his heart to know that he was going to shatter whatever hope she had of saving the animal, but he knew better than to delay it.

Fluttershy turned suddenly, running into Sam and dropping all the supplies held in her hooves. “Oh, sorry Sam. I just needed to hurry and...” she said before trailing off as she noticed his saddened expression. Her voice began to crack as tears welled in her eyes. “No no no no no.”

Sam barely managed to catch her, her wings flapping uselessly as he held her. She struggled against his grip, begging him to let her go. Her struggles weakened as the minutes passed. Soon, she was nothing more than a sobbing wreck. He stroked her mane as the floodgates broke forth. Her tears fell freely, soaking Sam’s chest and her own fur as she cried her heart out. He could only pat her back as she rode out wave after wave of despair.

“It’s not fair,” she sniffled as she shook herself out of his grip. She kept her head low as she made her way back to the still form of the pup. She collapsed in front of it, shuddering as she cried even harder. She felt Sam’s hand rest on her shoulder, her head turned to regard Sam with puffy bloodshot eyes. “Was everything I did meaningless...”

Sam searched for his notebook, looking everywhere for it. He found it near the door, tossed in a heap with his shoes. He pulled the pad of paper, slightly damp from the rain out and began to write. He stopped halfway as a he watched Fluttershy cover the rest of the pup’s body with his shirt. He finished the note before bending down and embracing the mare.

No, you made the last few moments of its life comfortable. You may not have saved a life, but you gave it a comfortable death. One surrounded by affection and care. It may not be able to speak to you but I think it would have thanked you for that.

She turned around, hooves wrapping around his waist. Sam could almost laugh bitterly at the irony. Here he was in the exact same situation, comforting the mare by having her cry on his shoulder. He almost began to cry as well, not just for the life lost but also for the pain she was going through. Yet he held his own sorrow back, knowing this was her moment to grieve.

“This isn’t the first time...” muttered Fluttershy in Sam’s arms. She slowly pulled herself away and looked towards the thunderstorm that was raging outside. “Most of my animal friends grow old and die... but when they die under my care... when I can’t save them…” She wiped her eyes as she lowered her head. “I wonder if I’m just a failure at what I do...”

Sam stared at her, his expression almost enraged. He grabbed the mare’s shoulders and forced her to look at him. His mouth contorted into a scowl as he prepared himself for the worse. He closed his eyes, breathed hard.

And spoke.

“Don’t say that.” His voice was barely a whisper. “Don’t you ever say something like that, Fluttershy. You are not a failure. I have seen the way you treat these animals and they love you for all that you have done for them. The only failure here...” He breathed as he looked away. He surprised himself as well as Fluttershy who stared at him with a mix of fear and astonishment. He had not heard his own voice in over six years. It sounded so icy and cold, as though each word held no emotion. Regardless of his tone and voice he persisted. “The only failure here is me.”

“Sam, your voice...”

“I’ve tried for the last six years to find myself. Countless times, I stumbled and failed in my pursuit. I never gave up then, but as time passed on, I felt that my attempt was hopeless. I gave up on magic; I gave up on a part of what makes me who I am. I stopped speaking out of shame at what I couldn't do. I hid myself away hoping that my family’s eyes would find someone else to praise and acknowledge. All I knew was that I failed them and myself. Because of that shame, I know that I will never succeed in finding someone who will accept me as their guardian. Fluttershy, take it from me, you are no failure.”

He sighed, knowing what he had just done. Yet, he felt relieved, as if a great burden had lifted itself from his shoulders. He saw Fluttershy, still too shocked to say anything, fall to her haunches in disbelief. He could hardly believe it himself, six years of silence broken to console a mare in despair. Was it worth it? He hadn’t decided at the moment, the entire rant was a spur of the moment. He saw animals poke their heads out, curious as to where the new voice originated from.

“Thank you...” he heard Fluttershy say in a hushed voice. He looked at her curiously, not noticing the ghost of a smile on her face as she trotted next to him. Again, she hugged him, not out of grief but of genuine thanks. He returned the gesture just as she whispered into his ear. “Sam, anypony would be glad to have you as their friend or protector. Magic or not, you aren't a failure." She buried her head into the crook of his neck as she whispered again. "Thank you.”

He sat there and watch as she  pulled away and disappeared from sight, retreating toward her room. He sat there alone, the body next to him his only companion. The other animals had fled, either to their homes or to upstairs toward Fluttershy’s chamber. He rose slowly, gathering himself for the next task at hand.

One he had the unfortunate experience of doing many times.

*****

Sam stood at the front of the small grave he had filled in. The packed ground soaked up the rain as the wind began to die down. A small wooden cross was stabbed into the ground above the grave; a temporary marker until a more permanent solution could be found. Sam let a tired breath escape from his body. Resting against the small shovel he had borrowed from the cottage’s shed, he cast his eyes downward.

He felt the rain run freely across his skin again, yet this time he felt no solace in the storm. His eyes were focused more on the grave. He felt angry, like a fire was burning in the pit of his stomach. Something had killed this pup and was most likely still out in the forest. Whatever it was, Sam wanted to find it and put it down for good.

He drew his sword, watching as the rain gathered on the sharpened steel. He closed his eyes as a flash of lightning arced overhead, followed closely by the boom of thunder. Though there was no wind and he felt a chill run down his body.

Though I have broken my vow, I shall take on two new ones. Fluttershy, no matter what the cost is, I resolve to protect against that which threatens this place or you. Though you may not wish it, I shall commit body and soul to my task. Though I lack in skill, I shall strike down your enemies with deadly effect, showing no mercy to those who claim themselves as your foe. I will be both your sword and shield for you to command. That is my vow for now and until I no longer draw breath.

He unclenched his free hand, not taking notice of the rapidly dissipating hoar frost that covered it. He flourished his sword, removing any droplets of water before sheathing it. His mind flashed to whatever hunter lay out in the forest, eyes narrowing as a final cold dark thought escaped his lips.  

“I’m going to kill you. For both her sake and my own satisfaction, you are going to lie dead at my feet.”
> Frozen Fears
> --------------------------------------------------------------------------

	Sam had fought hundreds of enemies and  had always come out victorious. He could split a log in half with a swing of his sword and not even break a sweat. He held a few trophies in track and field for his skills as well as two sword championships back at the academy. He was the heir apparent for his clan and expected to master all aspects of life.  Yet next to magic, he found himself partaking in the second thing most that was almost impossible for him.

Cooking.

The smell of it permeated the air as Sam set about working in the cottage’s small kitchen. A few tiny chopped up pieces of fish and vegetables fried in the pan as he tended to the steaming rice. He was initially surprised to see that Fluttershy possessed a large quantity of fish in her icebox. However, he realised later, that much of it was meant for the carnivorous animals under her care. He had never actually cooked much in his life. His repertoire of dishes ranged from steamed rice to slightly less steamed rice.

Yet, here he was trying his best to cook up his favourite dish. A small amount of sweat dampened his forehead as he concentrated on not burning the thin sheet of egg in a third pan. He was surprised that he had not managed to destroy the meal or anything else for that matter. Out of the four, he was the second last person to ever be put on cooking duty for extended assignments. The worst cook out of them was Coppa who, in one night, had managed to create a strawberry flavored cake, while attempting to grill burgers.  Needless to say, there was a reason why Moe was on permanent cooking duty
.
Transferring both the rice and vegetables onto the egg sheet, he quickly used a knife to fold the entire dish up.  Though it looked like a half-baked eggroll, it was as close as he had ever gotten.  He managed to place it onto a plate before setting the meal to cool. He searched high and low in Fluttershy’s pantry, pushing past bags of feed before finding what he needed
.
Grabbing the bottle, he placed it in front of the meal just as Fluttershy came into the kitchen. She was in a much better state than what he had expected. The mare had been stricken over the pup’s death the previous night, yet she was there giving him a happy smile. He tried his best to smile back a he pushed the warm breakfast in front of her. She looked at it in confusion for a few seconds before turning to Sam.

It’s omelette rice. My mother always cooked it when I was depressed about something. I thought maybe you’d like to try it? In spite of recent events.

Sam, why are you writing in your book again?” Fluttershy asked. He froze for a second, considering her question. He shrugged his shoulders and put his book down as he sat at the table.

“I don’t know,” Sam said unsure. He had no idea of why he was reverting to his old ways. He had nothing to fear in conversing with the Pegasus mare, but something was holding him back. It confused him greatly, like a puzzle that was refusing to be solved. He had shown her a side of him that he would have preferred remained hidden and she had not pushed him away. So why was it now that he was having reservations about speaking? Did he not trust her? No, it was something more than that. Sighing, he pinched the bridge of his nose. “I guess it frightens me...”

“You’re scared of your voice?” Fluttershy stated confused. Sam shook his head casting his eyes downwards at the table. 

“Why are you afraid?”

“I’m afraid of what others will think of me...” Sam whispered as Fluttershy took her first bite of his meal. He never saw her face contort slightly as the first taste of the rice hit her tongue. He rapped his knuckles on the table as his feline ears drooped slightly. “I’m worried their outlook will change if I open up to them.”

Fluttershy smiled as she pushed her plate forward. Sam watched as she trotted up to him and placed a hoof on his shoulder. Sam gave a halfhearted smile in return as he got up from the table and began to clean the pans he had dirtied. Fluttershy managed to swallow down the rest of the meal thanks to the ketchup Sam had placed on the table. She grabbed her plate in her mouth, careful not to let any remnants of the meal fall on the floor and trotted to him. She let the dish fall into the sink before turning to Sam.

“I was like that too...” She murmured causing Sam to look at her. “It was back when we needed to create a hurricane. I was afraid of being humiliated by performing badly as a flyer in front of everyone else.” She gave a weak flap of her wings, showing off the small amount of muscle. She looked back up at him with a determined gaze. “ We all needed to have 10 wingpower but all I could do zero point five. I thought I would never get better but I kept trying. I trained with my animal friends for days, trying my best.”

“So you managed to get ten before the big day?”

Fluttershy averted her gaze and scratched at the floor with her hoof. Sam tilted his head as she hid behind her mane. She whispered something inaudible that sounded like a no but he wasn’t sure. Shrugging he grabbed her plate and began to wash it. He looked at her as she attempted to push pass her embarrassment. “I think I know how this ends though.”

“Y-you do?”

“Yes, even though you weren’t able to reach your intended goal, you kept trying. Whether or not you succeeded did not matter. You proved yourself to your friends and gained a new appreciation for yourself.”  He patted her head as he looked outside at the clear sky and the shining sun. “What you are trying to tell me is that I should try regardless of my feelings. I must seize the day and open myself up to others.  Even if I cannot do something right in one area, it doesn’t hurt to try and try again. If you try hard enough eventually you will come out on top.”

Fluttershy’s ears perked up as he finished. She nodded slightly as he put away the last of the dishes on a drying rack. She spared a glance at the clock and promptly gasped as the hands read just past nine thirty. “Oh my goodness!”

“What?” Sam asked slightly alarmed by the mare’s sudden change in demeanor. “Is there something wrong?”

“I need to feel the animals,” She said hurrying to the pantry. Sam watched as she dug around in the various bags of animal feed. He chuckled slightly over how flustered she got over her animals. He stepped into the doorway watching as she measured out various amounts of feed and vegetables.  As Fluttershy came forward he carefully took hold of the bags. In an instant, she watched as Sam disappeared then reappeared at one trough. He did this four more times, startling the mare when he suddenly reappeared in front of her.  Her jaw dropped as she looked out the open door to see every bowl and trough filled with food. “Oh my goodness...”

She regained her composure before gesturing to the troughs. Sam looked back and shrugged as he sat back down at the table. A few beads of sweat graced his forehead while his breathing strained slightly. Fluttershy looked at him concerned as he chuckled slightly.

“Tired from just two slash runs... I’ve been slacking off.”

“A slash run?”

“It’s a technique used by Samurai. It triples a warrior’s speed for a slight duration but is very strenuous. I can only do four before I need to rest. The greatest samurai however, can do upwards of six.”

“Really?”

“Yes, I’m hoping to reach at least five before I reach my peak.  Without magic I’ve been able to focus more on that.”

“Does it still bother you?”

Sam tilted his head back and looked at the ceiling, inspecting each groove and notch in wood. He closed his eyes as last night’s event ran through his mind. Was it still bothering him? Deep inside he still felt conflicted. He could summon the magic around him but it was a matter of directing it.  Before the previous night, the idea would have bothered him to no end. Now it only seemed like a minor problem. The disappointment was still there, but the shame and sadness was gone. He knew it was only because of the mare in front of him.

“No. No, it is not a problem anymore. Thank you for asking.”

“Oh that’s good.” She breathed a sigh of relief before noticing the now empty pantry. Sam followed her gaze. “Oh my... I better go and pick up some more food...” She murmured before going and retrieving her bit bag from its spot in the cupboards. Sam got up and followed her closely attaching his bag and sword to his belt before taking his place at the door.

Fluttershy hurried towards the door thanking Sam as she went outside. They both breathed in the fresh air as the sun’s rays warmed their skin. Fluttershy took the time to greet and bid each of her animals a good morning while Sam followed suit. A few animals shied away from the cold tone of his voice but were reassured by a kind word from their caretaker. The moment when they had instantly attacked him searching for scraps even managed to bring a genuine smile to his face.

It was tranquil, like a scene out of the ink paintings his mother loved. There was so much here he was unsure of. Why was he brought here? Did someone like him, who was built to take life, deserve to even set foot near it? Yet despite it all, Fluttershy had taken him in, given him shelter and comforted him in his weakest moment. He wasn’t sure if he could ever repay her in his lifetime, but he would do his best to try.

“Sam are you ready to go?” Fluttershy’s voice broke him out of his contemplated state as she waited for him. He hurried over, his bag swinging wildly as he loped towards her. The majority of the walk from that point was spent in a hushed silence. Sam kept his eyes trained on the forest edge, ears swivelling at the slightest noise. He kept his hand at the ready, clamped tight on the hilt of his weapon. He could not shake the feeling that something was watching them intently.

Fluttershy in the meantime kept humming a tune as the town began to come into view. Every now and then, she would break the silence and tell Sam about the different animals that lived in the forest. Sam tried his best to pay attention but his focus was on whatever was following them.

The loosened dirt turned hard and packed as they neared the outskirts of the town. The sun had begun its afternoon rise, shining brightly through the clear sky. Yet Sam kept his gaze on the forest as they neared the town’s outskirts. He heard a rustle in the bushes and caught the faint glimmer of some creature before it disappeared into the undergrowth. He felt a chill run down his spine as he waited for something to happen. He could see Fluttershy waving to something and he could hear the faint noise of someone calling his name.

“SAM!!!” Coppa’s voice rang out next to his ear almost scaring him out of his skin. The fur on his tail frazzled as he stepped back slightly. His surprised expression was replaced by a look of annoyance as Coppa and Moe stood in front of them. The dwarf wore an amused grin while Moe simply stood there, palm glued to his forehead.

“Coppa you nearly gave him a heart attack,” Moe stated flatly. Sam kept quiet as his heart slowed, he silently cursed as he straightened out. Moe stepped over as Coppa let the grin devolve into an honest smile. “Are you okay Sam?”

He opened his mouth to reply, but a sudden fear struck him as he tried to form the words. I’m afraid of what others will think of me... The thought resonated in his mind as he shut his mouth and simply nodded. Moe and Coppa gave him a confused stare before they turned towards Fluttershy. Sam lowered his head saddened by the failed opportunity as well as the look on her face.

“We were hoping to run into you guys!” Coppa said loudly as he scratched his head. Sam walked in the front of the group as they walked into the marketplace. Ponies were just beginning to set up their wares. Vendors had their fresh produce waiting in the sun as the first wave of customers began to trickle into the square. Sam could see Applejack and Big Mac setting up their stall, the element of honesty looking slightly peeved that they were no doubt missing a member. Nevertheless, Coppa continued to ramble on. “Dante said he wants to see you two. Something about how we’re all adjusting and coping.” He shrugged his shoulders as Sam continued to walk forward. Fluttershy kept in stride with Coppa and Moe, waiting for the right time to speak as Coppa finished. “You know, the basic stuff.”

“Oh Sam and I are doing just fine!” Fluttershy said with more enthusiasm than anyone expected. The three looked at her causing her to shrink back slightly. “Sam and I have been talking about a few things. He’s been really helpful around the cottage. Right Sam?”

Sam nodded, and felt a strange sense of pride in the mare’s words. Coppa stared at Fluttershy while Moe looked towards Sam. He tensed as Coppa began to burst out laughing, gritting his teeth as Coppa fell to ground and began rolling fitfully. Moe kicked him slightly prompting a slight cry of pain from the Dwarf who picked himself up.

“I’m sorry,” Coppa said wiping a tear from his eye. Sam let his fist relax as Moe hit Coppa over the head for good measure. The dwarf instantly stiffened, clutching his wounded head. “Ok I’m sorry! It’s just that we all know Sam never speaks. I mean why would he start now?” He gestured towards Sam who glared at him. Fluttershy sat there, taking sudden interest in the ground to avoid speaking. “What? I’m just saying the truth! He’s never spoken to us and we’re his friends.”

“Yes, well despite whether or not Sam spoke,” Moe said while still mainting his annoyance towards Coppa. “Dante wants to see you two-”

A sudden shout drew all their heads towards the centre stall. Sam’s eyes caught a lone figure running from the stall, a large bag of bits in its mouth, galloping straight towards them. Sam could have sworn the stallion was taking his job way too literally. He wore a black and white striped shirt along with a bandit mask tide around his head. Before any of them could react, the stallion slammed into the group and directly into Fluttershy. She cried out as she fell hard into the ground. The stallion wasted no time before he grabbed her bag and took off.

“Are you ok?” Sam heard Coppa ask as he helped Fluttershy to her hooves. She nodded, small tears in her eyes. Sam felt a fiery anger light up in his chest as he turned his head around. He caught sight of the stallion just as he turned around a corner.

“Stay here I’m going after him. Take Fluttershy to the library.”

“What?” Coppa looked at Moe before Sam bolted off. Fluttershy’s mouth set in a faint smile as Sam bounded after the stallion. Moe ‘s face reflected his shock  while Coppa stumbled over his words. “Did he just... He just-”

“I can’t believe it...” Moe said shocked. They both looked at Fluttershy who simply nodded, giggling at their expense.

*****

Sam’s boots pounded against the cobblestone as he finally neared the stallion. His breath was starting to become ragged as he narrowly dodged cross-eyed Pegasus and her unicorn filly crossing the road. He cursed as the thief turned into an alley, disappearing from sight.

The thief had noticed Sam soon after he had given chase. A few other ponies had joined in the hunt for the thief, but had fallen behind when the stallion began using the alleys in his escape. Sam had managed to stay on the stallion’s tail, using his natural agility but was beginning to feel his muscles tire. Either he ended this now or he was never going to be able to catch up.

Instead of turning the corner, Sam propelled himself forward. His legs coiled like springs before launching him upwards towards a balcony. His hands grabbed onto the railing and quickly pulled himself up using the momentum. He somersaulted onto the roof of the building, exhaling and rolling forward as his feet touched the tiled roof. He balanced precariously as he ran across the roof beam and jumped over to the next house. A few tiles slipped off as he landed, nearly causing him to slip off the roof.

He caught sight of the thief just as he righted himself. A cloud of dust blew out as Sam raced towards him. His eyes locked on his prey, narrowing as his speed increased further. He ground his teeth as his legs burned fiercely. It felt like the sheer speed at which he was going was threatening to tear every fiber of his body to pieces. He persisted, biting his lip hard enough to draw blood as the length of the roof began to end. He had one shot for this to work and his window was beginning to close rapidly. He gripped his swords hilt just as his body became a blur.

Just one more...

His body passed over the edge of the roof as he vaulted towards the thief. He floated in the air before he angled himself at the thief.   He prepped himself, concentrating on his target. He flew forward, shooting towards the ground at a speed that would rival that of Rainbow Dash. He let go of his sword hilt as he crashed into the stallion.

To Sam’s shock, the thief dissipated under him. He found himself on his back, in a puddle of oily liquid. Sam watched as the puddle shifted and boiled, oozing away towards the outside of the town. Even the liquid which was covering him managed to slide off like  glove. His head took a moment to wrap around what happened before it finally clicked.

That thing... It’s still alive! He thought as he scrambled to his feet. Without hesitating he ripped his sword out of its scabbard before taking off after it. How had that thing survived? His mind raced to think up of any probable reason. Had Dante not burned the rest of it? Was it just a sliver of the greater piece? Or did another one spawn from a different source? Either way he pressed on, disappearing into the forest.  Deep down, he knew that he should have gone back and gotten help but he could regret that later.

He kept running, making his way closer and closer to the cottage. For some reason it was leading him back to that place. But why would it do that? Nothing about this creature made sense. Then it dawned on him.

The Timberwolf...

It was only a hunch but it was the only one that made sense. The creature had attacked the pup and had somehow implanted its essence into it. Now it was simply returning to its source, luring Sam to it in an attempt to pick the group apart one by one. If he could get to the source before it did he could cut it off, maybe even kill it without magic. Either way he needed to get to the grove before it did.

He just hoped he could reach it before anything else was hurt...

*****

“Fluttershy! You’re here!” Twilight exclaimed as she noticed Fluttershy, Moe, and Coppa enter the library. The entire library was filled with discarded piles of books. A few remained open in the centre of the room with piles of notes resting next to them. Dante was situated in the centre, his white hair in a mess and bags lining his eyes. He was busy scribbling notes down in his book as he compared various books to Starswirl’s journal in front of him. His red irises were less pronounced now, blending in with his bloodshot eyes. Nevertheless, he glanced up and gave the three a tired nod.

“Where’s Sam? He said yawning. Coppa and Moe looked at Dante with excitement as he played with the bandages on his arms. He flipped a page on the book as he kept his attention on the three. “I thought I asked him to come too?”

“Dante you’re never gonna believe this!” Coppa said accidentally knocking a pile of books over. They all heard a familiar drake groan upstairs as volumes clattered on the floor. A dead silence followed as Coppa waited for Dante to reply. Fluttershy sat down next to Twilight as Dante continued to not answer. “Come on man! Try and guess!”

“Did Berry Punch let you have free reign over cellars and bed?” Dante said with a smirk causing Moe to laugh. Coppa blushed in embarrassment as Dante prodded further. “Did you find out just how much she loved soft things?”
“I’m not interested in her!” Coppa retorted, his face flushed as he regained himself. “No Sam actually spoke!”
Now it was Dante’s turn to look surprised. He dropped his book as hsi head turned towards Fluttershy. She let out an ‘eep’ as she hid behind her mane when Dante approached. “Fluttershy is this true?”

“Y-yes...” She whimpered suddenly anxious and feeling vulnerable without Sam around. “He spoke after I found out he couldn’t use magic-“ She gasped, cutting herself off as she realised her mistake. All three looked at her as if she had said something impossible. “oh no... I shouldn’t have said...”

“That’s impossible...” Dante said as he scratched his chin. A furrowed line ran across his forehead as he began to pace. He mumbled incoherently as the rest watched perplexed. Fluttershy secretly wished she could hide herself under the mountains of books. She regretted having spilled his secret, something which he had confided solely to her. Now she feared that he’d hate her for it and resume not speaking ever again. She didn’t know why but the thought of that pained her more than she thought possible.

“I need my bag...” Dante muttered as he ran to his room. The sound of crashing materials, breaking glass and the occasional curse could be heard coming from the teenager. He came back out a minute later, a book grasped firmly in his hand. “Sam’s enrolment papers,” he added as he sat down and began to flip through them. He stopped at one of the early pages and scanned the words written on it.

“Why do you need those?” Twilight asked as she trotted next to Dante and peered over his shoulder. He said nothing, his eyes trained solely on the words written down. Moe instead was the first to offer an explanation.

“As students of Particus Academy, we all have specific files which tell the teachers exactly what our abilities are. You can’t get in until your given an evaluation and your student file is completed and registered,” Moe explained as he looked over Dante’s shoulder. “If Sam isn’t able to do magic then he should never have been allowed into the academy.”

“Here it is...” Dante said as his eyes focused on one block of text. “Samuel Higen Moritsugu. Magical capability score... wait that can’t be right.” He flipped through the pages searching frantically for something. “Where is it?”

“What is it?” Coppa asked approaching, his voice going low for a moment.

Dante put the report down as he came upon a single signature. He groaned as he rubbed his face, distress evident. “It said his magic was never tested.”

“What? Who conducted the tests then?” Moe said as he picked up the report. His own face fell when he saw the familiar signature written at the bottom of the page. He passed the book over to Coppa who took it quickly. “Why would he do that?” Moe questioned before noticing Coppa shaking the report. “What are you doing?”

“There’s something wedged between in the spine...” Coppa replied as he shook it violently. As if on cue, a small red crystal plopped onto the ground. It was one of the smallest gems any of them had ever seen. A multifaceted ruby with edges covered in what looked to be like some sort of metal. Fluttershy picked it up and gasped as it began to glow, projecting an image of an elderly man in the middle of the air.

“Hey look it’s the principle!” Coppa said enthusiastically. “It must be a message crystal. Old magic but pretty cool.”

“What do we do with it?” Twilight asked poking at the holographic image. It warped around her hoof, distorting the image. “Wow...” She added as she stared in amazement

“Ask it a question Fluttershy” Dante said quietly as he stared at the image. “It’ll only accept commands from you since you opened it.”

“Oh! Uh umm could you please play?” She asked nervously. “If that’s okay with you...”

Playing message... The recording said in a static monotone. Suddenly the image of Feinman began moving, as if he were just recording the message for the first time. They watched as he took a seat in a chair, eyes trained at them. He coughed into his hand before his voice became apparent. Hello, I am Principle Feinman. If you have accessed this message, than the issue of Samuel’s magic or lack of in this case has become apparent. It is true, I falsified the records pertaining to his grades in magical classes. My reasons for doing so are my own, but are in the absolute best interests of Sam.

Before we start though, I must warn you this. Sam does in fact posses a substantial quantity of magical ability. It is the nature of his magic that poses difficulty to him harnessing it. I had hoped to remedy this issue before Sam went out into the world of adventuring but I assume events have dictated otherwise. It is pertinent that you realize this. Sam’s magic is dangerous and if left unchecked, it poses an extreme risk to both him and those around him.

*****

Sam reached the clearing, panting and sweating as he scanned the area. Nothing moved, as though any twitch could break the dread silence. Had he made it in time? The grave looked undisturbed, no signs that anything had dug in or out of it. As much as he wanted to relax, there was still the fragment to deal with. Turning around, he froze in place as his fears were confirmed.

In front of him stood what once was a timberwolf pup but now... now it was something entirely else.

Black sludge dripped from every crack and pit in the pup’s body. Two streams poured from its eyes, now hollow and without their usual glow. It poured from the pup’s wounded side like mock blood. He took a step back as the pup trudged towards him each step staining the ground with liquid. It was disconcerting how the creature was using the body as a puppet, mocking life as it imitated every natural function of the pup.

He raised his sword waiting for the first strike. Yet the pup stopped halfway, simply standing there in the centre of the clearing. Sam waited, unsure as to what the creature was doing. It stood still, not even twitching as the moments passed.
Then suddenly it began coughing, hacking up great globs of black. It shuddered as it began to fall apart. Black goo and sticks clattering to the ground like blood and bone. Disbelief overcame Sam as the creature seemingly died in front of him. Maybe it had taken too much power to possess the body and its energy had simply run out.

Sam kept his grip on his sword as he approached the pile of wood. He nudged it with his foot, testing to see if it was still alive. The pile fell apart, giving way to his prodding. He sighed as his muscles relaxed, giving way as a feeling of fatigue took root. Then he felt something underneath him.

The ground rumbled and began to split beneath his feet. Sam jumped back as the ground crumbled away into a pit of inky blackness. More and more dirt fell away, leaving a hole the size of a fully grown elephant in the ground. The trembling gave way to silence while Sam stood there perplexed.

There must have been an expansive network of cave running under the forest. An old stench of rotting leaves and wood came from the hole as he approached. He was unsure of what he expected to happen. Maybe the creature had sensed the cave below and had wanted him to fall to his death. Maybe it was just a freak occurrence. Either way, Sam knew he would need to tell Dante and the others. There was something coming from the cave that reeked of familiarity.

That feeling turned to dread as Sam found himself flying through the air as a gigantic fist burst out of the hole. He stayed airborne for a few seconds before he landed in some bog nearby, sinking as his body hit the water. He righted himself and began to swim through the murky water towards the surface.  Yet as he tried to move his limbs, he found them immobile, trapped in growing pieces of ice. He stared in horror as the water around him began to freeze solid, trapping him in the dark depths of the bog. A giant shadow came into view, looming over the freezing bog as Sam began to sink to the bottom of the bog.
> Unlocking the Power Within 
> --------------------------------------------------------------------------

	“What do you mean incalculable damage?” Dante hissed, anger evident in his voice. Fluttershy backed away from the crystal cowering as he grabbed it off the floor. “Why were we not told about this?”

I chose him for the team knowing full well the risks involved, The image flickered as Feinman shifted in his seat. He was not smiling, only looking forwards with a mask of calm confidence. Fluttershy could see, countless years of knowledge in the man’s eyes. There was no doubt in his posture, he seemed absolutely sure in his plan. However, the reasoning behind my decision lies not in the present but rather in the past. More specifically, it was when I first came to understand his peculiar ability.

“Explain...” Dante growled. Fluttershy and Twilight gaped at his sudden change in behaviour. Something had switched in him, a sudden anger creeping in his voice. The normally calm and collected leader of the four was barely containing his frustration. Had it been the real man behind the holographic projection both mares had no doubt Dante would have lost it. Even Coppa and Moe seemed taken aback from this sudden change in behaviour and had resigned themselves to silence.

“Dante I’m sure it will explain,” Twilight said as she approached him. Dante sighed as her hoof made contact with his shoulder. His entire frame visibly relaxed as Feinman coughed into his hand. “Now where were we...”

“Probably the part where principle Feinman was going to explain his concerns,” Moe interjected as he sat down. Coppa followed suit while Fluttershy and Twilight remained on their hooves. Dante in the meantime was flicking his gaze between the report and the image. Moe gestured towards Fluttershy who squeaked in surprise. “Fluttershy could you get it to talk?”

“Oh umm yes,,,” She said quietly as she approached the wavering image. “Could you tell us what is wrong with Sam’s magic. If it’s okay with you of course.”

If you wish to know about his ability then I will have to explain his heritage and the nature of his power. Is that what you would like?

“Yes please...”

Very well,  Feinman said as he leaned back in his chair. Sam is the progeny of one of the oldest Felpier clans. The Moritsugu clan is a family with long roots dating back to the founding of the country. Their presence in any sort of conflict has been a deciding factor in who will come out the victor or the victim. No other clans have come close in matching their sheer ferocity and deadly skill. To put it simply, they are masters in all that they pursue.


“But what about Sam?” Fluttershy questioned. Her head tilted to the side as her anxiety grew. She wanted to know exactly how she could help Sam and how his ability could affect them all. “What is wrong with him?”

Sam’s family consists of both his parents as well as four siblings. His mother was Clan leader Tanaba’s second wife, a western woman by the name of lady Evelyn. The marriage was seen as controversial due to his mother’s heritage. This is due to the fact that Eastern Felpier’s generally do not associate with those from the west due to ancient feuds. Nevertheless, Sam was the firstborn son from that union. As the firstborn, he was expected to inherit the entire estate in the event of his father’s death. At the same time, Sam was also expected to master all aspects of the clan’s lifestyle. I learned that from the age of seven and onward, his life was centered on simply learning how to be the next great warlord of his clan.

“A warlord?” Fluttershy’s shocked tone was matched by Twilight’s own surprise as she rose to her hooves. Each of the students looked at the two mares as if their surprise were the strangest things they had heard.

“It’s not surprising,” Coppa said waving his hands in mock exasperation. “The Felpiers are probably one of the more conflict oriented races besides the Drakes.”

“How can you act like this isn’t a big deal? Equestria hasn’t had any major conflict since its creation.” Twilight demanded stamping her hoof on the floor. “Now we find out that one of you is a warlord in training. What else are you hiding from us?”

“Sam may or may not be  partially evil if that really matters to you...” Coppa murmured as he backed away from Twilight. The unicorn’s mane began to frazzle and looked as though it was beginning to smoke. Coppa raised his hands as Twilight began to march towards him. “It’s not that uncommon where we come from!”

“How can you say that?!” Fluttershy shouted with more force than necessary, blowing over Coppa and Moe. She covered her mouth in surprise as she whispered apologies for her actions. Once she regained herself, she repeated her question, this time with much less force. “Why would you call him that?”

“Coppa is telling the truth, Sam’s affinity was leaning towards evil. He was more in the category of neutral evil,” Dante said in a cold tone. Fluttershy and Twilight moved towards him as he turned the report towards them. His finger went to one of the symbols and circled the one located under Sam’s name. “Being evil doesn’t necessarily mean that they’re inherently destructive. Certain classes require your affinity to lean towards one of the three. In Sam’s case, a Samurai can be either good or evil.”

“What do you mean he was evil?” Twilight asked as she  levitated a scroll in front of her. Dante let out a groan, obviously irritated that the conversation was stagnating on Sam’s affinity. “Did you reform him somehow?”

“No, it only happens if you request it specifically. Some magicians are able to modify your affinity through hypnosis,” Dante explained pointing towards Feinman. “It’s not perfect but the majority of their thought process is redirected.”

“Are there any drawbacks?” Twilight asked in a slightly anxious tone. Dante nodded his tired eyes glancing at the page.

“Not everything can be changed. Some aspects of the previous affinity will still be present. I can only assume that Sam still has moments where he reverts to his old self.”

“Why would he do that though?” Fluttershy directed her question to the image rather than Dante. She hoped that the topic may have been covered and could shed some light on just what was wrong with Sam. “Why would he change himself?”

The nature of Sam’s ability directly correlates to both his affinity and his magic. There is a theory that the nature of magic is not something that is governed by will and wisdom but rather by one's emotions.

“Pascal’s theory of emotion,” Dante said quietly. He rubbed his temple with a free hand and groaned in frustration. “The theory that the nature of one’s magic is fluid and subject to change based on the emotions of the wielder. The example he used was comparing the heat coming of a Wizards fire spell in direct comparison to the wizard’s state of mind. The more frustrated the wizard grew, the more violent the flames became.”

“So it’s like Unicorn magic,” Twilight added excitedly. “The more emotion the pony puts into it’s spell, the more powerful it becomes.”

“Only in this case there is an added danger.”

“What’s that?”

“Magic in our world is unpredictable. Use too much and you risk killing yourself from exhaustion. Store too much within yourself and you risk overloading your body. In this case, if the wielders emotions become too conflicted, then the magic may attack them.”

“Then why are we waiting! We need to go help Sam!” Twilight said only to be silenced by Dante. He nodded towards Coppa and Moe who got up and left the building silently. They closed the door behind them leaving the three alone.

“We still haven’t figured out what Sam’s ability is.” Dante replied calmly. “Coppa and Moe will head over to where they last saw him. Unless Sam’s life is at risk, we need to take our approach carefully.”

Fluttershy nodded but felt the need to protest. Sam was in danger and for once in her life she felt like she needed to put herself in danger to help him. There was no fear in her mind, only a sense that Sam needed all the care she could give him. “What type of magic does Sam have though?”

Sam’s magic is something that many scholars have struggled to understand throughout the years. Unlike regular magic users, he cannot cast spells but is instead surrounded by a thin veil of magic. He is limited to a small sphere of influence near his body where his magic can directly touch. This ability is scientifically known as Etheric Projection. However, in more recent times, the ability has been referred to as Magical Aura.

The sudden sound of books toppling over resounded as Dante rose to his feet. Quickly he grabbed his staff before bolting out the door. Fluttershy and Twilight stared in shock at his sudden actions only snapping out of it when Dante reappeared in the doorway.

“We need to find Sam now!”

*****

Sam felt small warmth in his chest as he drifted to the depths of the bog. His arms and legs remained immobile as the ice locked them in position. He was drifting in and out of consciousness, barely staying awake as the cold sapped his strength. Past memories flashed in his mind, snapshots of an earlier time. One familiar one seemed to repeat itself, echoing in his mind as he sunk. An image of his father and him sitting alone in front of a spring, watching as the pink petals of a cherry flew off in the wind. It was the night just before he decided to stop speaking a night he would never forget.

“Sam, you mustn't blame yourself for this inability. Sometimes we are given hurdles that are designed to test our spirits. You just need to persevere and find your own path.”

“Father, I’ve tried everything. No matter what I do I can’t harness the power that you and grandfather possessed. If I don’t have the skill then how can I lead the clan?”

“So is that what you are worried about? Your lack of power?”

“Our ancestors were able to control the everything from here to Howler Lake. They couldn’t have done that if they were not powerful. I want to be like them, I want to have the same power they did.”

“Samuel, that was during a time of great unrest. If you wish to be like them then all you will find in the end is disappointment. Do you remember what your grandfather asked when you started your studies?”

“What does it truly mean to be a Samurai? What can come from devoting yourself utterly to a set of moral principles? What form of fulfillment can come from seeking both, a stillness of your mind, and mastery in the way of the sword?” Sam repeated as if the conversation had happened the previous night. He had yet to find a clear answer to that question. He had spent much of his time trying to figure out something that would qualify as correct response. 

“That’s correct, have you figured out an answer yet?”

“No...” Sam replied as he looked on as a petal landed in the spring sending ripples throughout. “Nothing has come to mind yet."s

“I never expected you to have an answer. It is a rhetorical question after all.”

“So grandfather was just wasting my time?”

“No, he does such things for a reason. It’s more of a lesson designed to promote certain ideas within your mind. He did the same to me when I was your age. He’ll ask you again when you see him the next time. He doesn’t expect an answer but I’m sure you’ll give one anyways.”

“What does it have to do with my problem though?”

“Ask yourself this then: What is power?”

“That’s simple, power is what separates the strong from the weak.”

“An archaic view but it is partially correct. What I meant was what it is and where does it come from? What is the source of power? Is it the strength of your muscles, the speed of your reflexes? Does it have to do with the reaches of your knowledge or the depth of your wisdom?”

“Maybe it is all of those things but why are you asking me this?”

Because my son, you do have power. More than many of the creatures that inhabit this world. However...”

“What is it Father?”

Tanaba’s features grew dark as the last of the petals fell into the pool. A heavy sigh escaped from his lips as he looked towards his son. “You said that you wished to have power like me? Forget that dream Sam, find a reason other than conforming to the ancestors of our clan. It will make you realize why power is useless.”

“What do you mean?”

“I was young like you, full of naive hopes and dreams. I desired to be the best. I wanted to impress my own father and gain the respect of our clan. I grew powerful like you said, but in turn I grew foolish. I felt as though no one could touch me, let alone try to oppose me.”

“It took only a moment. A single moment for me to understand what a fool I had been. A second of absence... and in turn a treasure I held dearly was taken from me. I found out then that power meant nothing. For what reason did I need strength, speed or knowledge if I could not use it defend my beliefs or those closest to me? I asked myself a number of questions that day. Questions that changed me just as it will change you once you find yourself in the same position.”

“What is that father?”

“Why did I need power if I had no reason to pursue it? Where was I when my power was needed most? Where was I when she needed me the most? Power is useless without a goal for it to be directed towards. Simply wishing for power will get you nothing; you need a reason to become powerful. Only then will you find what you are looking for.”

“How will I know then? How can I know what is destined of me? What I need to protect or strive for?”

“Your heart will guide you. Your mind can be clouded by doubt but it is your heart that will lead on the right path. Protecting something that you hold close to your heart is the only reason we Samurai exist. Follow that and you will unlock your full potential someday. Until then all you can do is wait.”

The memory drifted off as Sam’s mind filled with regret. He had not found a reason yet. Yet something inside him had awakened and like a raging beast, was now threatening to end his very life. He didn’t understand what his power was, only that something had triggered it. But what? What reason did his mind and body have to suddenly produce this power? His mind drifted to the previous night and the promise he had made himself.

Was it that? Was his desire to protect the mare that had treated him, housed him, and even fed him causing his powers to activate? It seemed like the proper motivation, his desire to emulate his father’s word had finally given way to a new power. If he could have laughed at the irony then the whole world would have known it. Yet his jaw was trapped shut, the water around his mouth freezing ever so slowly.

He was going to die. He knew that much. Slowly freezing to death or suffocating as the ice grew past his face. Yet he no longer paid much attention to what was going to happen to him as he thought about his short period of friendship with Fluttershy. How in such a short time he realized how much he enjoyed simply talking with her, even being near her. But why?  Why… why did the thought of her face when she would hear the news of his demise was the hurt so much? The simple look of devastation when they would pull his corpse out of bog and the tears she would shed over him.  

No...

He was not going to let that happen. Not while he was still able to think freely. He struggled violently, using every ounce of strength to fight the icy bonds restraining him. His muscles tensed and contracted as he flexed them. He could feel the ice resisting his efforts but with each attempt, cracks began to appear on the surface.

Slowly he could feel the ice at his joints give way, allowing him to move his arms. The ice around his knees soon gave way afterwards, allowing him to move his joints. Running out of time, he could feel his lungs scream at him for air as he began awkwardly swimming to the surface.  The ice resisted his efforts at first but his persistence paid off as he slowly approached the surface.

Just as his head was about break out of the surface a shadow overcame the bog. Sam didn’t pause as the same large hand burst through the water and grabbed him. He was ripped out of the bog and tossed aside like a rag-doll, slamming into a tree. The impact was softened by the ice around his chest, which shattered like glass as he fell to the ground. The ice that cemented his mouth shut flaked away allowing him to take in his first gasps of air. Cool air filled his lungs, replacing the traces of water that he was heaving out of his body. A few trace amounts of frost were still present on his clothes. However, his main concern was turned to what stood before him.

A large stone statue stood in front of him, slightly covered by the slime creature. It had to have been at least twice his size as it stood on its two human like legs. Moss and plants grew from the cracks in its ancient stony armour. The slime creature was covering its head, tendrils wrapping around the statues broken joints and operating it like a living being. Its left hand held a large round shield, emblazoned with the same sun motif that sat in the middle of its chest. A large straight sword that was nearly as wide as him was held in its right moss covered gauntlet. 

The horrible sound of rocks scraping against each other filled the air as the possessed statue moved forward. It raised its sword, preparing to strike as its gait quickened. Sam quickly cartwheeled out of the way as the sword bit into the ground. The large blade crushed the tree, causing dirt and splinters to explode everywhere as it crashed into the ground.

Sam went for his sword, but held back at the last moment. The steel of his blade would do nothing against the solid stone body. He needed to break the body, smash it to pieces, and contain the creature animating it. He ducked under another swing from the monster, backpedaling as the blade cleaved through another tree.

Sweat broke out on his forehead, mixing with the dampness left behind from the bog water. He watched with cold fear as the statue turned its head, lifeless stone eyes seemingly staring straight through him. It ran towards him again, levelling its sword to stab through him. The blade passed through the air with a whine as it came close. Sam lowered himself at the last moment, coiling his legs as he collected himself. He had no idea what he was doing but something told him go on, press forward and end this.

He jumped at the last second, vaulting over the tip of the blade as it pierced through the tree. He landed, rolling on the flat of the blade as it trapped itself in the wood. He quickly got to his feet, running along the length of the blade before jumping onto the statue’s body.He clung tightly to the moss, using it and the cracks as handholds to clamber up the huge body. He pulled himself up higher, taking care to avoid the liquid as it hissed and attempted to strike him. One tendril managed to wrap around his arm, squeezing it painfully. He tried to rip his limb away from it but the tendril only squeezed harder drawing a pained snarl from Sam.

His pain turned to fury as he struggled against it. Much to his confusion, the slimy being screamed as ice slowly crept along it. Sam quickly ripped his arm away from it, shattering the frozen tendril before climbing up onto the statues shoulder.

Without hesitating, he ripped out his sword and shoved it into the slime coating the head of the statue. The blade sunk all the way to the hilt before reaching the stone surface underneath the coating.  Sam focused his anger, cursing as the statue tried to shake him off. Ice formed faster than he thought possible growing out from the blade and encasing the head. Another scream resounded from the creature this time, of frustration as it ripped the sword from the tree and shook Sam off.

Sam rolled over the ground, sword falling from his hand as he hit the packed earth. He grabbed his sword, just in time to flip out of the way as the blade came crashing down where he was. The statue reversed the direction of the swing at the last moment, attempting a backhand swipe at Sam. He jumped over the attack, the blade almost catching his tail. He righted himself just in time to see the shield of the statue come towards him.

His entire body exploded in pain as the ancient stone shield smashed into his side. He flew backwards into the air landing on the ground gasping in agony. The attack had probably crushed some of his ribs, he was sure of that. Every breath literally felt like a fire burning in his chest. Small droplets of red fell from a gash in his forehead, collecting in a small crimson pool beneath him. His sword was deeply embedded in a tree, too deep for him to pull out in time. The taste of iron filled his mouth as he coughed up blood.  Everything felt cold again, like all heat was being sucked away from him. Frost coated the ground as Sam got to his knees, desperate to get away. A thought came to mind as he backed away, stumbling away from the advancing statue. A small hope that help may be on its way.

"I won't go out this way...” He groaned weakly as he fell on to his back. He stared helplessly as the statue approached slowly, dropping its shield in favor of using both hands for the sword. It pointed it downwards hovering over Sam as it reared back before the blade began its descent. Sam caught a glint of steel flying through the air just as his life flashed before his eyes once more.
	
> Ice and Shadow
> --------------------------------------------------------------------------

	“What’s the problem with Sam’s magic being Etheric?” Twilight shouted as she galloped next to Dante who was running full tilt through the forest. Moe, Coppa, and Fluttershy were following close behind, dodging branches and roots as they caught up. “Is it dangerous?”

“Do you remember what we said about Pascal’s theory?” Dante asked as he jumped over a root. He held his staff tightly as his eyes scanned for any sign of Sam. Twilight thought for a moment before she recalled the exact words Dante had mentioned.

“It’s the theory that the nature of one’s magic is fluid and subject to change based on the emotions of the wielder.” Twilight recalled quickly. She looked back at Fluttershy who was panting heavily as her wings flapped faster than anyone had ever seen. She was obviously concerned for Sam, but Twilight had only seen her put this much effort into flying on two separate occasions. She wondered what exactly was going through the kindly pegasi's mind.

“Correct, but there is something that wasn’t mentioned, “Dante added as he passed by her. “Remember what I said about the danger?”

“Using too much magic poses the risk of killing yourself due to exhaustion. So does that mean that Sam is running that risk?”

“Yes, but it’s the fact that his magic type is etheric. That by itself just opens up a whole new set of problems...”

“Why?”

“When a magic user loses control of their magic or runs out. Any residual magic may start to turn on them. It also doesn’t help that Sam doesn’t have a catalyst for his magic.”

“A catalyst?”

“Magic users use certain items to help channel magic. They’re usually made out of a magically reactive metal called Magnetite. We can cast magic without them but it requires substantially more effort.” Twilight’s eyes looked down towards his staff as he continued explaining. “Aura magic doesn’t respond to external catalysts. It uses the body as an alternatice, surrounding the user like a second skin. This puts an incredible amount of strain on the body.”

“But what does being evil have to do with any of it?”

“Magic and affinity have strange relationship. Certain elements change depending on the affinity of the wielder. Certain elements go well with others. Light and earth are seen as compatible with good, neutral goes with lightning and fire while water and dark respond differently to evil. With Sam being evil, water or darkness may be easier for him to use.”

“How do you know all this?”

“Magic is my specialty. You should know that by now!” He replied with a smirk. Twilight felt her cheeks light up in embarrassment. She resumed looking forward, eyes searching for anything out of the ordinary. Suddenly she could hear Coppa and Moe shouting.

“Over there!” Moe yelled as he pulled his bow out and gestured to a clearing. They all followed it and saw Sam lying on the ground bloodied and battered. A sword hovered over him, held up by a stony hand of a statue. Fluttershy and Twilight heard Dante curse before yelling at Coppa.

“Stop it now!”

“On it!” Coppa answered as he cocked his arm back. With a heave, he tossed his axe forward towards the statue. The blunt end of spinning blade connected with the statues head with an audible crack. The statue shook, stumbling to the side as the five ran to Sam. Dante slid forward grasping Sam’s arm. Ignoring his cry of pain, Dante brought Sam up to his feet and hobbled away while Coppa and Moe distracted the statue. Dante laid Sam down as Fluttershy and Twilight galloped towards them.

“Can do something to see his condition?” Dante asked Twilight as he saw the statues foot nearly crush Coppa. Twilight’s horn glowed as Sam’s body became enveloped in a soft light. Sam clenched his eyes shut as another groan of pain overcame him. Fluttershy held a hand in her hooves as he coughed up another glob of blood. Twilight’s face hardened.

“Three cracked ribs and slight internal bleeding.” Fluttershy tightened her grip on Sam’s hand. Dante picked up his staff, grimacing as he took a second look at Sam. Sam went to sit up but his attempt was stopped as Twilight used her magic to keep him still. “Stay down. You’re going to hurt yourself if you move too much.”

“Take him back to Ponyville,” Dante said as he turned away and started off towards Moe and Sam. Sam’s ears flattened as Dante called out a second time urging them to go. “Hurry! We’ll take it from here.”

“Guys watch out!” Coppa shouted as the statue leaped up, launching itself towards them. An unearthly scream filled the air as it slammed into the ground ahead of them. Fluttershy whimpered but threw herself over Sam as the statue reared it’s fist back. She closed her eyes, clinging to Sam a little tighter as the hand flew through the air.

Her eyes clenched shut for a few moments waiting for the end to come. Yet, nothing happened, there was no pain or anything. She opened her eyes by just a fraction before realising she was being held up. Sam had one arm closed tightly around her, pressing her against his chest. A few pained wheezes came from him as he stood there. His other arm, slowly turning blue as ice and frost accumulated on it, was pressed against the statures arm.

A large chunk of ice ran from the limb to the ground, locking it in place. The statue struggled but found its limb locked in place as the ice grew steadily. Fluttershy’s eyes widened as Sam let go of the limb, ice and frost breaking off his arm. His enraged gaze was directed towards the creature as the liquid attacked at the ice.

“I will not allow you to touch her,” He growled menacingly with a hint of pain in his voice. With a quick movement his fist came back and struck the frozen limb. The force of the blow amazed Fluttershy, who felt the vibrations travel from Sam into her. Yet even more astonishing was how the stony limb broke into hundreds of pieces. Already weakened from the intense cold, it shattered violently and sprayed chunks throughout the clearing. The beast screamed again as a part of it came off with the arm. It stumbled back, falling on its back, giving the ponies and students enough time to regroup.

“Well that was certainly one way to show off Sam!” Coppa said in an astonished tone. Sam’s ears flattened as he struggled to remain standing. His arm shook and was beginning to turn white and waxy. Everyone looked at him with concern as his deadened limb hung uselessly by his side.  

“What’s happening to his arm?” Fluttershy quaked as she tried prodding it with a hoof. Nothing happened as the limb swayed uselessly, the fingers moved a slight fraction but nowhere near as much as they used to. Fluttershy turned to Dante who had a horrified look on his face. “What’s wrong with Sam?”

“His magic is going against him...” Dante said quickly as the statue regained itself. His eyes narrowed as he struggled to think of a solution to their predicament. He turned to Sam who was barely standing, wheezing as a fresh feeling of pain burned in his chest. “If we don’t stop his aura then we may not be able to save his arm.”

“Dante I’m staying...” Sam interjected. All eyes turned as his voice echoed out. He took a step forward and nearly fell as his legs buckled. Moe leaned in, propping Sam against his side as the Felpier looked towards the statue. “I have an idea... a good one really. I can still help finish this thing..” He tried moving his arm, grunting as it took twice the effort to lift the weakened limb. “That monster is weak to ice. We can’t hope to kill it without my magic.”

“But Sam, what about your arm?” Moe said, concern for his friend and teammate evident. “If you do this, you might never be able to use it again.” Sam shuddered as the realisation came over him. Without his stronger arm, his career as a warrior was practically finished. He would never be able to wield a sword properly again. “Is it really worth losing everything you trained for?”

Sam paused, unsure for a moment. He could beat this thing, but it undoubtedly result in major damage to his body. If he left it to his friends, who knew what sort of harm might come to them. His gaze went downwards, toward the one figure he had promised to help. Fluttershy stared at him, eyes filled to the brim with concern and something else. Something he could not recognise, yet for some odd reason, filled his heart with happiness.

Protecting something that you hold close to your heart is the only reason we Samurai exist.

The words echoed in his head as he came to an answer. He nodded his head, prompting Dante’s face to drop in defeat. He sighed before rummaging through his bag and drawing a vial out of his coat. “This’ll dull the pain...” Sam took the vial and gulped down the contents. A rejuvenating feeling overcame him, filling him with energy and renewed vigour. Much to his suprise, Dante unclasped the sword at his side and gave it to Sam. He took the blade, sliding it out of  the scabbard and nodded to Dante in thanks.  He took a step forward, stopping only as Fluttershy grabbed his pant leg.

“You don’t have to do this...” She whimpered causing Sam’s chest to ache. He kneeled down slowly so that he was just about level with the mare. He  then drew her in, embracing her and giving her just enough time to return the gesture before he broke away.

His careful steps quickly became rapid movements as he broke into a run. He focused on the statue just as it rose from the ground. Ice began to encase his feet, turning the soles of his boots into frictionless skates. He had maybe thirty or more seconds before whatever potion Dante gave him wore off. He would need to time each strike carefully, hitting each mark precisely and thoroughly. He felt the energy run to his arm again, slowly causing the air around it to chill.

He used his ice covered boots like skates, propelling himself forward. Lashing out, the blade rang as contacted the black substance. Ice slowly formed from the gash left behind, causing it crumble away. A second strike, followed closely by a third and fourth, caused even more to flake off into frozen dust.  He jumped up, propelling himself to the side as he flipped over a frantic strike. He jumped again, thrusting quickly at the head and chest of the statue.

Rather than falling, Sam managed to redirect the flow of his magic towards his feet. The moisture in the air quickly solidified, providing a base for him to jump from. Sam launched himself forward, scraping the blade alongside its chest. He hit the ground, plunging the blade into the earth with ease. The ground froze around him, encasing the stone feet behind him in thick ice. A shadow grew over him as the statue brought its palm down on the space where he was. Sam moved back as the hand crushed the ground, throwing giant clods of earth towards him. He spun in circles, avoiding the dirt and plunged the blade down again. More ice traveled along the ground, sprouting like flowers as it crept up the stone arm.

The creature let out a scream of frustration as it pulled and tugged against the icy prison. The ice resisted its efforts, staying solid as the creature slowly froze. Ice grew along ‘its body, encasing it like a second skin. Sam felt his entire body tingle, all feeling in his limbs evaporating as his body heat plummeted. He fell to one knee as his strength left him. His right arm began to turn a sickly shade of blue as the veins on the inside constricted and frostbite took hold. He cut off his concentration as the vial’s contents wore off. The ice began to crack and split away, taking large chunks of stone with it.

The remaining sludge fell away, landing with a wet thump on the ground as the statue disintegrated. Sam managed to stumble over to it, using the sword as a sort of crutch. It lept at Sam, spikes hardening on its front aiming to skewer him. Sam however leaped into the air, using the whatever was left of his strength. Soaring overhead, He positioned himself so that he was directly facing it.  The creature let out a feral snarl as Sam leveled Dante’s sword. As his momentum ended, Sam fell to the ground quickly, impaling the creature straight through into the ground. It gurgled and hissed as the last remaining traces of magic stuck on the blade froze it solid. With a large snapping sound, the creature burst into tiny shards, evaporating with ice as the magic ceased flowing.  

Sam let out a sigh as he fell forward; the hard earth felt surprisingly soft as he passed out. He barely even heard the voices of his friends as they ran to him. A small smile of content graced his face as he finally let the exhaustion take over. The last image he saw was that of Fluttershy’s face as she gazed at him with tears of worry and relief.

******

Dagon smiled as the image of the four began to flicker from the blackened flames held aloft in his hands. His dark red eyes narrowed as he chuckled to himself. He stared off into the dark space of the cave as he traced a clawed finger along the chairs stone arm. A shrill sound was released as the metal scraped along the polished stone. His concentration was broken as a cacophony of screams and pleading filled the carved halls of the cave.  He turned his head, a young face replacing the aged one that had dominated his features weeks earlier. His blackened irises searched for the source before finally locking onto a figure in the distance.

“It would seem your creation has failed, Ravan,” He said in a disinterested tone. The dark skinned elf shot him a glare as he rose from the body he was attending to. A young griffon laid there bound to the jagged floor, crying as he pleaded for death. His stomach was pried open, organs and bones lying around him in gory piles. His wings were in bloody tatters, nailed into the floor to keep them from flapping about as Ravan ripped out the Griffon’s stomach. Dagon cast a bored glance at the whimpering creature before Ravan let out a sigh of frustration. 

“My puppets can only do so much on their own, Dagon,” He replied running his tongue over his hand. He casually lapped away at the lifeblood dripping from his fingers while his eyes went half lidded in ecstasy. “Maybe if you had shared more of your new found powers with the rest of us, then we wouldn’t be having this problem. ”

“These powers are not meant to be used for your sick fetishes,” Dagon snapped back, his now long hair swaying in the darkness. A tendril crept out from his robes twisting around his hand in an agitated fashion. “There is much more to them than simple manipulation of the soul.” He whispered as he stroked the tendril. His eyes stayed on the dark elf, watching closely as he bent over the griffon and slowly cut out its heart eliciting another scream from it. The griffon’s eyes rolled back into its head as his body convulsed in its death throes. Dagon dismissed the dying creature as he poised his next question. 

“How are the stones faring?”

“They still require a vessel but these creatures are providing enough nourishment to stabilize them. We will be able to open up a gate soon enough, but it will take some time.”

“Good... We will need to establish a stronghold,” Dagon stated as he got up from his self created throne. He walked over to the Griffon’s lifeless body, dark tendrils snaking out from underneath his robe. They tore into the body, ripping it to pieces and consuming it entirely. The tendrils shivered in delight as they retracted. He turned to Ravan who had finished cleaning his sticky fingers, lips smacking as he gulped down the last drop of blood. “This creature’s kingdom will suffice. Take your creations and do what you do best.”

“What of the inhabitants? What do you desire of them?”

“I do not care what sick plans you have. Take the stones with you and see to their nourishment.”

“And the vessel?”

“Mileena and Shishiro will return shortly.” Dagon stated clacking two armored fingers together. “Your worries are nothing save for unfounded. They may be young, but they are not stupid. They have yet to fail me.”

A sudden flash lit up the cave, illuminating the numerous crowds of demons and dregs skulking around in the crevices of the cave, feasting on the remains of Ravan's previous experiments. They screeched and spat, hiding as the light was replaced by a swirling vortex. Two figures stepped out, one carrying a bound individual who was shoved roughly to the ground in front of Dagon.  The captive  let out a muffled shout, struggling even as a boot was placed on his back to hold him down. The two removed their hoods to reveal two young individuals. One was a female Drake known to Dagon and Ravan as Mileena. Her eyes were brilliant amber, a small glint of malicious intelligence twinkling in them. Her long blue hair was tied in a ponytail that reached all the way past the draconic wings sprouting from the back of her cloak. Two small but similar wings graced the side of her head, hidden only by the bangs of blue that framed her elegant face.

She had approached Dagon, insistent on learning the darker aspects of life to satiate her desires. She had given no other reason save for a name of an individual from her past. Dagon had never inquired further, simply preferring to acquire her incredibly strength and sadistic personality. Something only counteracted by the bloodthirsty ways of the young boy standing beside her.

Dagon glanced at Shishiro, a young human male who possessed the qualities of a great, albeit merciless samurai. A red headband ran across his forehead, holding back his dirty brown hair. His dark chocolate eyes looked bored as he kept the captive still beneath his boot heel. Dagon didn’t need an explanation for Shishiro’s motivation. He had the look of a man out for revenge, intent on slaying any who stood in the way of his goal.

Mileena was the first to speak, curtsying to Dagon. He waved off the gesture, taking a seat in his chair. She did the same to Ravan who simply ignored her, much to her discontent. “We managed to bring the Erdgeist back, although our entourage was killed in the process.”

Dagon sighed as he rubbed the bridge of his nose. Demons could be replaced easily. They never really died in theory, only returning to whatever level of hell they came from until they could leave again. The problem however, was the difficulty in bringing them into this world. Some force or another made it difficult to open up any sort of waypoint into the depths of the  underworld. Until they could set up the gate they would have to make do with the forces at their disposal. Dagon’s eyes flashed towards Shishiro who visibly flinched. “What of the fairy?”

“That idiot cleric managed to find safety with some bug creatures. We were unable to get close enough to capture him.” Shishiro stated angrily. “Their leader managed to capture him before we could get close enough. The badlands were practically swarming with those things.”

“The Erdgeist will have to do...” Dagon said quietly as he stared at the figure. He turned his head to Ravan who looked at him with a hungry glint in his eye. “Ravan, take him with you, but do not harm him in any way. This is one captive we cannot afford to break.”

“What of us?” Mileena and Shishiro asked in synch. Dagon looked at them with a small grin as he gestured for them to follow him.

“Prepare our forces to march. We are going to pay those interlopers a visit, ” Dagon said not looking behind him. Had he even glimpsed back, he would have seen Mileena’s face go into a state of heated arousal while Shishiro only possessed a mask of hatred. “I believe you two were able to recognise two of them.”

“Oh yes... I simply cannot wait to see my little toy again...” Mileena trailed off, licking her lips in anticipation. Dagon smiled at the perverse tone she had begun to devolve into. “I wonder how he is doing? I would simply hate it for him to forget the times we shared."

“I just want to cut him to pieces,” Shishiro stated bluntly. “I don’t care if he has nine lives or one. I just want him dead!”

“All in due time you two,” Dagon said as his own thoughts swirled in his head. An image of a young white haired Diablon popped into his mind. Dante looked just as he had when they had first fought. He looked down to see the tendrils of darkness wrap around his skin, sinking in and slowly demonizing his body. The boy had an incredible gift, a gift he had unintentionally shared with Dagon. Something lay within the boy, something that Dagon now needed desperately.

Who are you child? What sort of contracts have you created to deserve this power?
	
> The Matchmaker
> --------------------------------------------------------------------------


The hospital seemed to be eerily quiet as the group sat still in the waiting room. Moe shifted his eyes to Coppa who was sleeping in the corner, a long strand of drool hanging from his mouth. Dante was speaking to Twilight and the doctors about something, most likely the nature of Sam’s affliction. They had barely made it to the hospital before the blueish hue of Sam’s arm had spread to the majority of his chest. It had been three hours since he had been rushed to the intensive care unit of the hospital. There hadn’t been any word of his condition yet and they had all begun to fear the worst, especially Fluttershy.

Moe looked to the mare who sat on the cushioned bench beside him. She was anxiously tapping her hooves together while glancing between the clock and the door. A few beads of sweat rolled down her forehead as Moe caught a slight whimper coming from her mouth. Moe inched closer to her and placed his hand reassuringly on her back. She looked up at him, eyes slightly misted while her bottom lip quivered slightly.

“You must be terribly worried,” Moe asked. Fluttershy nodded, quaking slightly as she kept glancing at the clock. Moe smiled and let his head rest against the white wall behind them. “It’s ok though, you can relax. Sam will be fine.”

“Really?” Fluttershy asked in a hushed voice. Moe nodded and stopped stroking her back. “How do you know?”

“He’s is stronger than you might think. Probably the strongest of us all,” Moe started as he closed his eyes. “No matter what odds we faced. No matter how bleak the outcome is? Sam was the first to volunteer. Always wearing the same look of determination and always pressing forward. What he did today was no different.” Moe sighed as sat up, stretching his tired muscles. “He found a reason to fight and used it as motivation to continue fighting. He may not fully recover from this, but I doubt he regrets a single moment of it all.”

“Why though?” Fluttershy asked with even more concern than before. “Why would he do that?”

“I think his reason may have to do with someone he feels is important to his life,” Moe said through a smile. It took a few seconds for the realisation to dawn on her face, but Fluttershy suddenly blushed and hid slightly behind her mane. Moe chuckled at the gesture and patted Fluttershy’s head. “You’ve impacted his life and he’s grateful for it. Though I think his feelings towards you have grown as well. He truly does care for you.”

“Are you sure?”

“Almost certain. I could see the look in his eye as he was holding you. I can also see it in your eyes right now.” Fluttershy squeaked as she tried to hide her increasingly red face. Yet, she couldn’t do anything as Moe gently cupped her chin and made her look back up to him. “You shouldn’t hide from your feelings Fluttershy. If he makes you happy for whatever reason, you should follow your instincts. It’s better to have loved than to always wonder what might have happened if you had.”

“Are you sure he feels the same way?”

“Of course he does. He may be silent and distant, but it does not mean he’s incapable of feeling emotion. I think it will just take him time to realize his own feelings.  What you can do in the meantime is decide on where you want it to head.” Moe looked towards the door as Nurse Redheart passed through it with a look of relief. “Come on, it looks like there’s some good news.”

“Ok,” Fluttershy said with a bright smile. All six of them gathered around the nurse who hesitantly motioned for them to be quiet.

“I have good news and bad news concerning Sam,” she said as the group collectively held their breath. “The good news is that Sam is stable at the moment. He’s resting and will be under our care for the next few days.”
“What’s the bad news Nurse?” Twilight asked as she chewed her bottom lip slightly.

“The bad news...” Redheart started as her face turned slightly darker. “There was extensive damage to his nerves and muscles. Sam will be able to use his arm, but never to the extent that it used to be. Many of the nerve endings were destroyed in the limb. Sam will most likely never be able to feel anything with that arm ever again.”

“So he just won’t notice anything with his right arm?” Coppa asked. Nurse Redheart nodded as everyone lowered their heads. It may not have been the greatest news to them, but it was something. Sam would have trouble with his arm but he would still be able to fight. Of course, there would be added risk but it was a small miracle nothing more had been damaged.
“Can we see him?” Dante asked. “Is he awake right now?”

“No, we put him under for treatment. He will wake up soon, but the doctors recommended that a close friend be by when he does wake up.”

“Of course...” Dante said quietly. He glanced at Coppa and Moe as a heavy silence hung in the air. “Which one of us should be there?”

“I actually think it would be better if Fluttershy were there for him instead,” Moe said as everyone looked towards the mare. She nodded slightly as a her smile seemed to brighten even more at the thought. “She is the Element of Kindness after all. Not to mention she’s already patched Sam up once.”

“Are you sure?” Dante asked, directing his attention to the elf. Moe nodded as Coppa did the same. Dante looked at Fluttershy who was still smiling. “Well then Fluttershy, it looks like you’ll be taking care of Sam once again. I’m sure he’ll be fine under your care.”

“Thank you,” Fluttershy said as they all began to file out of the hospital. Moe spared a glance back to her, flashing a thumbs up just in time before the doors closed.

“Well, not much we can do now,” Coppa stated as they stood outside the hospital. All of them nodded their heads as they pondered what to do next. However, Coppa seemed inclined to be the first to answer. “I think we should get back home before the others wonder where we are. I never actually told Applejack where I was.” He scratched the back of his head nervously as if he were expecting the mare to come out and attack him for being gone.

“I agree,” Moe said with a hint of urgency. He hadn’t expected to be gone for so long and he still had a number of errands to finish. “I need to go get some things from the market for Rarity.”

“Someone’s being whipped,” Coppa said with a sly grin. Moe shot him a glance of irritation causing Coppa to chuckle. Dante only rolled his eyes at the exchange as he glanced at the unicorn beside him.

“You two do whatever you want,” he said casually. “I need to head back to the library and look up a few things. Something felt odd about that thing.”

“Are we talking about the fact that a giant human statue appeared and nearly killed Sam?” Coppa said sarcastically. “Unless that’s a daily occurrence here, I would suspect it was slightly strange.”

“I never heard of any statues or monuments like that though...” Twilight said as she put a hoof to her chin in thought. “There might be something in the history section in the library.”

“Well you can do that and I’ll go do my errands,” Moe said to Dante and Twilight. A small canine whine made him look back to Coppa. The dwarf had his ears pinned back and a large puppy eyes. A soft high pitched whine came from the dwarf as he gave an exaggerated frown. “You can come too Coppa,” Moe added with a defeated sigh. As Twilight laughed at the display, Dante merely smiled as they walked away towards the library.  

“Yes! My puppy face always works!” Coppa exclaimed as he pumped his fist in the air.

“If we weren’t best friends I’d have hit you already. Oh wait...” he said just before he smacked Coppa over the head. “There we go!”

“Whatever man, let’s just get this stuff  over with,” Coppa said as he started off towards the market. “I want avoid shovelling pig crap for as long as possible.”

*****
“Why does she need this many rolls of fabric?” Coppa said as he struggled to carry the heavy stack in his arms. The two of them were currently standing in the midst of Ponyville’s only fabric shop. Seemingly endless mountains of material and samples surrounded them as Moe picked up another.  “I mean come on, thirty rolls? It’s not like there’s gonna be a shortage of blue silk or any of this other crap anytime soon.”

“It’s what she wanted, so that’s what we needed to pick up,” Moe replied as he scanned the note Rarity had given him that morning. A variety of fabrics and the amount needed were scribbled down in Rarity’s haste. It had taken them almost ten minutes to make sense of any of the writing, but they had eventually figured it out. By the time the sun had begun to set, most of the items had been checked off and deposited into Coppa’s arms. Moe tucked away the note as he memorised the last roll she needed. He chuckled as Coppa groaned under the weight. “Besides, weren’t you the one who wanted to do this rather than your chores at the farm?”

“I would’ve gone back if I knew we were picking up crap for your girlfriend!” Coppa shot back as he waddled to the counter and deposited the stack of fabric in front of the cashier. She set about counting the rolls while Moe tucked a roll of crimson fabric under his arm, allowing him to search for the bits Rarity had given him that morning. Coppa stared at him confused, fully expecting some sort of retort for his statement. “Did you even hear what I said?”

“Have a nice day,” Moe said to the cashier as the mare put away the coins in the register. He turned to Coppa with a neutral expression further confusing the Dwarf. “I heard what you said and I’m ignoring it,” he replied as he picked up some of the fabric and motioned Coppa to the remainder. “You and I both know you’re just doing it to get a rise out of me. Besides, I’m better when it comes to dating advice, not actual dating.”

“Sorry man, but come on, at least throw yourself out there!” Coppa said as he followed Moe. Moe rolled his eyes and blew a strand of his hair out of his face. “So what if your last relationship was a little rocky. I doubt Rarity is anything like that last one!”

“Coppa, you’re my best friend, but I’m asking you to stop bringing that subject up,” Moe said through a grimace. He could barely see above the items in his arms and doubted that Coppa could do so either.  He barely escaped colliding with one pony as he concentrated on balancing the uppermost rolls. “Why are you so adamant about me and Rarity getting together?”

“Why were you so pushy when it came to getting Fluttershy and Sam together back in the hospital?” Coppa said jokingly. Moe stopped for a moment trying to figure out just how the Dwarf had figured him out so easily. “You’re very obvious when you try to do it, you know.” Coppa smiled as the mockery dripped in his voice. “Having Fluttershy next to him as he recovers? What stupid romance novel did you pull that one from?”

“What’s your point?”

“Stop trying to help other people’s relationships and look for your own,” Coppa said dropping into a serious tone. Moe sighed as he realised where the conversation was beginning to head. “Rarity might be prissy, but even I can see that you two share more in common than anything. Don’t use the “we have to go back to our own world” card either,” he added as Moe could see the roof of Carousel Boutique come into view. “Even if the spell works, who says we have to go back? No offense to our world, but I kinda like not having to deal with Labyrinths and monsters every day.”

“Coppa, I can appreciate the effort but you know how I am when it comes to dating,” Moe replied in an equally serious tone. “I do like Rarity, but my track record with relationships isn’t exactly the best.”

“Don’t sell yourself short man,” Coppa said enthusiastically. Moe shook his head sadly as Coppa pressed the subject further. “Just give it a shot. If it fails, at least you can say that it wasn’t meant to be. Isn't that what you always say?”

“I’ll think about it,” Moe said as they reached the boutique. “But in the meantime, can you please stop making those damn girlfriend jokes?”

“No promises man,” Coppa replied with a laugh. He maintained his smile as Moe dumped his share on top of the pile in his arms. Moe kept his face neutral as he stepped towards the door. However, he was unable to hide a small idiotic smile from forming on his face.

“Whatever,” Moe said as he went to open the door. Unfortunately for him, the door swung open as he reached to grab it. He felt the wood smash into his face and felt himself fall back as a purple and green blur ran out of the boutique. He hit the ground with a hard ‘thump’ and groaned as he clutched his nose.

“Spike come back!” he heard the telltale voice of Rarity shout. He clutched his face as blood trickled from his nose. He wasn’t sure if his brain had been rattled, but he could see and hear little birds circling his head.

“Oh this is dreadful! Just absolutely dreadful!” she cried as Coppa helped Moe up. The elf shook his head, clearing his vision, before trying to staunch the flow of red from his nose.

“What happened?” Moe asked as he groaned in pain. Coppa caught him as he stumbled slightly forward.

“Well for one, you took a door to the face,” Coppa replied holding Moe up. Gently he directed him into a sitting position with his back against the boutique’s wall. “But I doubt that’s what you’re concerned about.”

“Obviously...”

“Well I think Rarity can help us out with that,” Coppa replied as he gestured to the fashionista. Rarity shuffled over to the two, her normally styled mane was now beginning to frazzle. Moe in the meantime was fighting just to contain the urge to pass out. “Wanna tell us what happened?” Coppa asked as he brought his arm back.

“Well...” She cringed as Coppa slapped Moe across the face. Moe groaned from the slap, but found his senses back to normal. He rose to his feet just in time to hear her explanation. “Spike came over today to help me with my orders as usual. He was such a sweetheart and a gentledrake, but he seemed different today...”

“Long story short, he was planning to tell his feelings,” Coppa said with a blank stare as Moe just groaned. “He told you and you said you wanted to remain friends.”

“That’s exactly what happened I’m afraid,” she said with a hint of melancholy. It took a few seconds, but her expression changed to one of confusion. “How did you know he had feelings for me?”

Moe and Coppa tried to suppress a collective snicker at the question. How could anyone not know of Spike’s crush? Even though they hadn’t been living in Ponyville for long, it was one of the first things they had noticed. If someone didn’t notice the fact that Spike was all but worshiping the ground Rarity walked on, they were either blind or extremely ignorant. Her rejection probably crushed the small dragon’s heart.

“I’ll go find him,” Moe offered as he began to walk after the dragon’s trail. He looked back to Coppa and Rarity and gave them a simple smile as he began to jog down the street. “Some man to dragon talk will be good for him!”
“Shouldn’t we go after him?” Rarity asked as she lost sight of Moe as he turned a corner. Desperation was filling her mind as she restrained herself from running after Moe. It was her fault that this had happened, and as a mare of class she should fix it herself.

“No, Moe can handle it,” Coppa said as he went to pick the pile of fabric he had dropped on the dusty ground. On any other occasion Rarity would have chastised him for dirtying good material. However, now was simply not the time.

“Are you sure?”

“Of course he can, he’s got a gift when it comes to this sort of stuff,” Coppa managed to say as he opened the door with his foot. “It’s why he’s always been the matchmaker. He can practically tell you whether or not a relationship will work out by glancing at a couple.”
“Really now? How does he do it?”

“Hell if I know. Maybe you should ask him yourself over dinner or something?” he asked in an attempt to bait the mare. “Besides, I think he might be interested in you.” He added with a teasing glance.

“Really now?” Rarity questioned with a small giggle. Coppa nodded, knowing he had her in his grasp. “Maybe I will then after all of this is cleared up. That wouldn’t be cruel of me in regards to Spike would it?”

“You’re a free mare Rarity,” Coppa said as he deposited the rolls of fabric on the boutiques richly decorated countertop. “What you do is up to you. Shouldn’t matter to anypony else what you do. But if you take him out, I’m sure you’ll both have a grand ol’ time!”

“You do have a point darling,” Rarity said as she trotted towards the stairs. “I’ll ask him when he gets back.” She raised a hoof to her mouth as she suddenly gasped and rushed up the stairs. “Outfits! I should prepare outfits just in case!”

Hook, line and sinker! Coppa thought as he left the boutique. He could almost see the look on Moe’s face when the question popped up. He grinned evilly as he muttered to himself, “You’re not the only one who can play cupid Moe.”
	
> Date Night
> --------------------------------------------------------------------------

	All was seemingly quiet in Ponyville as Moe scanned the streets for any sign of the baby dragon. The stalls were being vacated; the shopkeepers packing up and eager to be getting home as the sun began its descent. The trail had gone cold nearly five minutes after Moe had begun tracking him. He was beginning to wonder if the dragon had simply disappeared off the face of the earth.

“Where could he be?” Moe asked himself as let out a frustrated growl. He was running out of time. He knew Spike wasn’t one to run away from home, but if the sun set then it would be even harder for Moe to find him. A groan escaped him as he realised how small his window of opportunity was becoming.

“How can it be so hard to find the only dragon in Ponyville?” he complained aloud, kicking a loose pebble on the street and sending it flying into a familiar cat.

Opalescence hissed as the nut sized pebble caught her in the rump. She fell gracelessly, tumbling from her perch on top of a stand into a heap of garbage. Moe chuckled at the cat’s misfortune as he stepped over to the cat and picked her out of the trash. “Sorry about that Opal. I guess I’ll have to watch my aim when I kick things from now on.”

His chuckle grew even louder as the cat crossed its forepaws and turned its head in an indignant fashion. He set her down on the ground and attempted to brush some of the debris still lodged in the cat’s fur. The cat hissed, claws extending as she batted at Moe’s hand. Moe rolled his eyes at the cat’s obvious temper tantrum before he simply grabbed her.
Opal let out a annoyed yowl as Moe picked her up. He struggled to keep his grip as she wriggled and contorted her body. The air began to fill with the sounds of her protests and Moe was beginning to fear the attention it might cause.

“Come on Opal, I said I was sorry,” Moe said as the cat’s claws dug into the leather of his gloves. He sighed as he let the cat go and watched as it dropped to the ground on all fours. With a small ‘hmph’, the cat turned its head again, obviously displeased with him. He tried extending his hand again, only retracting it as the spoiled cat hissed at him. Moe gave a mock frown as he realized what he had to do, and got to one knee to bring his face close to the cat. It was a risky gamble, but it was better to face the wrath of the cat now than later. “Opal...” He whispered with a slight tune, causing her to look at him. “If I give you a few scratches, will you see it in your kind heart to forgive me?”

The cat paused, unsure of what he meant. Moe brought his hand above the cat’s head and waited for Opalesence to give him the go ahead. The cat narrowed its eyes, slightly extending its body towards his hand in cautious anticipation. Moe’s fingers met the cat’s fur and he went about scratching the top of the cat’s head. Opal tensed up, but then let out a purr of content as she leaned farther up.

“See, Opal? That’s the benefit of hands,” Moe said calmly. “Hooves can’t get those little itchy spots, can they?” His hands went from her head and traveled to the base of her chin. Opal let out a hearty purr as her eyes went half lidded. “You’ve lived such a hard life haven’t you?” The cat meowed in agreement, pressing against his hand. “Eh Opal? You’ve never been pampered like this before?”

The cat purred in agreement, rubbing against his shin. Moe ran his hand over the persian’s arching back, taking care not to apply too much pressure. He chuckled as he picked a few seeds from her tail and flicked them away.

“What’re you doing here though? I thought you never left the Boutique.”

“OPAL!” he heard a shrill voice cry followed by two others. He sighed, knowing full well who they belonged to. A new smile crept along his face as he patted the cat’s head.

“You run off now little princess,” he said as he stood up. “I’ll distract them. Just try to clean up before you head back. I doubt you want them giving you a bath.”

The cat nodded before shooting off into an alleyway. Moe turned in time to see three familiar fillies trotting down the street looking around frantically. Sweetie Bell was at the forefront of the trio with a small outfit draped over her back that appeared as though it had gone through a whirlwind of razors. Applebloom and Scootaloo were close behind, each covered in a multitude of scratches, no doubt caused by whatever venture they had pursued.

“So is there a reason you three are searching for Opalescence?” Moe said as he approached them. “Please tell me it’s not because you three are looking for your cutiemarks again.”

The silence in the air was the only answer Moe needed as he shook his head. Of course that’s why, you idiot! He shouted at himself mentally. What else do these three do besides obsess iver those things?

“Moving on...” Moe said quietly. “Have you guys seen Spike?”

You really think they’re gonna know where he went off too? If we can’t find him, then what are the chances they’re going-

“Yeah, he ran into us down that way!” Scootaloo exclaimed as she pointed her hoof behind her.

I stand corrected...

“He wanted to know if he could use our clubhouse for a bit,” Sweetie Belle said as she tossed the ruined outfit into an alley, obviously attempting to hide the evidence of her crime. Moe chuckled at the display as he relaxed, the tension easing out of his body with the knowledge of Spike’s location.

“He seemed kind of sad though...” she added, her voice filling with concern. Both Applebloom and Scootaloo nodded in agreement, their worry turning towards Spike. All three were obviously concerned about the tiny dragon. “Do you know why, Moe?”

“Well...” Moe hesitated as he attempted to formulate a condensed and easy to understand sentence. After a minute of both struggling to do so as well as avoiding the widening eyes of the three fillies. Something about the three together seemed to overpower him. It was as if the their innocent expressions were forcing him to speak. He was just thankful he had never made any promises to keep Spike’s crush a secret. “I don’t know if you three know, but Spike has a crush on Rarity.”

“Well, Duhhh!” Scootaloo said rolling her eyes, while Applebloom giggled. Moe, however, was more concerned the rigidness that took Sweetie Belle as she kicked at the ground. Scootaloo, however, wasn’t finished speaking. “I mean come on! It so obvious!”

“Ah gotta agree with Scootaloo,” Appleboom giggled. “Spike ain’t the most subtle about who he likes. Ain’t that right, Sweetie?”

“Well... uh yeah... I guess?” she replied quietly. Moe chuckled under his breath as he watched the three. They all had affection for Spike, a little more so on the friendship side of things, but it was possible that those feelings would change with time. His smile never faded as he remembered when his perception of girls had changed soon after he had entered his pre-teen years. He wondered how long it would be before these three would take the next step. However, to him it looked like Sweetie Belle was the going to be the first one to do so, probably because of Rarity and her books. He debated internally. It was certainly plausible, but Moe didn’t have the time to venture further. The only problem now was what to do with the three crusaders in front of him. He couldn’t just leave them out with the sun about to set. He sighed as he knew what his only option was.

“You should come with me, it’s almost night, and I’d feel better if I knew where you three were.” He waited silently for them to shout their trademark slogan... yet, no sound came from them. He waited a few seconds more but the silence still persisted. A quick frown passed over his face as he stared at them. “Well, aren’t you going to do it?”

“Do what?” the three asked in unison.

“You know, the whole Crusader shout?”

“Why?” Scootaloo asked, confused by the seemingly random question. “It’s not like we’ll get our cutiemarkes from just helping Spike.”

“Umm… Moving on...” Moe, said in an attempt to hasten the search and defuse the awkwardness of his previous inquiry. “I need you to show me where Spike is. I’ll explain on the way.”

*****

The entire walk to the Crusaders clubhouse was surprisingly quick. The moon had barely begun to peek out over the horizon by the time Moe and the Crusaders reached the tree house. No doubt, Luna was working her wonders with her magic this night as far as Moe could tell. Had he not been so pressed to find Spike, he would have stopped and admired the scenic beauty of the night.

Though he had not met her yet, Moe could tell that Luna had an artist’s touch when it came to her domain. He had never seen the moon’s light so vividly shine through the branches, nor watched as the fireflies seemed to dance in the air. He could not help but understand why Luna had grown jealous millennia ago. It would have been maddening knowing that despite all the effort put into it, no one might have taken the time to appreciate just how the stars shone on the dark canvas of the night sky.

To think that one pony is in charge of all of this…

“Moe?”

“Hmm,” Moe looked down to see Sweetie Belle trotting briskly beside him. Applebloom and Scootaloo were already at the base of the tree that the clubhouse sat on, waiting patiently for him and Sweetie Belle to catch up. He could see some light glowing from tree house window, emanating from between the cracks between the drawn curtains. “It looks like he’s still inside.”

“Do think he’s all right?” Sweetie Belle asked quietly. There it was again, the tinge of concern mixed with something else he couldn’t quite place his finger on.

“I don’t know Sweetie,” Moe replied. He knew exactly what Spike was going through. Rejection was never an easy thing to deal with, especially in Spike’s case. Even if Moe didn’t know the full details or extent of Spike’s crush, having them reject you was world shattering. “He’s liked Rarity for a long time. It’s only natural that he’d be hurt.”

“I don’t understand why though.”

“What do you mean?”

“Rarity’s only ever used him. She only ever appreciates the help he gives her.” Sweetie Belle said, a depressed tone overtaking her voice. “He’s always giving her presents, but she never pays any attention to him.”

“You’re saying she doesn’t appreciate him?”

“No, she likes him,” Sweetie Belle said casting her gaze to the ground. “She just doesn’t see him as anything else than her ‘precious little spikey wikey.” Her face seemed lined with a number of emotions and it only took Moe a second to deduce the reason as she continued ranting. “He never looks at anypony else, it’s always ‘Rarity this’ or ‘Rarity that’.”

“Love is a weird thing Sweetie,” Moe said calmly. “It makes us do things we normally wouldn’t do. It makes us blind to what’s right in front of us.” Moe placed a little bit of emphasis on the last part. He hoped Sweetie Belle might have taken the hint, but her disappointed expression told him otherwise. “Spike isn’t an exception. He goes out of his way for Rarity because he thinks that’s the only way he can get her to like him. What he doesn’t realise,” Moe patted Sweetie’s head and gave her a reassuring smile, “is that there are more ponies out there who like him just as much.”

{Sweetie did a double take.} “Wait! What do you mean?” Sweetie Belle asked confused. Moe chuckled at the sight of her as he reached the clubhouse.

“You’ll understand in a few years.” he said as he walked up the steps to the tree house. He turned slightly, half-facing the three fillies. “I’ll go talk some sense into Spike, you three wait here.”

“Okay,” Scootaloo said with disinterested wave of her hoof. As Moe closed the door, both her and Applebloom turned to the unicorn. “What was that all about?”

“What do you mean?”

“What did you and Moe talk about?” Scootaloo clarified. Sweetie Belle looked at the two uneasily, then shrugged her shoulders in response, causing Scootaloo to groan. The three stood still in silence for a moment as if they could sense they were forgetting something. “Wait a second...”

“WE FORGOT ABOUT OPAL!”

******

Moe cringed as he heard the muffled shout of the three through the cracks of the door. Judging by their absence when he peered out, they had obviously forgotten about what he told them less than five seconds ago. He sighed in defeat, knowing that the three were too far out for him to catch. Either way, he assumed that they were going after the cat that had no doubt gone home.

“Rarity...”

Moe turned as the Spike’s voice turned into a whisper. The drake was sat facing the far corner of the clubhouse, arms wrapped around his legs in an upright foetal position. Small trails of liquid sadness seemed to trail down the dragon’s cheeks, rolling from his slightly red eyes. Moe had never seen anything so broken. It was as if someone had taken all the life out of the dragon and the Spike in front of him was only a husk of what once was.

Tentatively, Moe reached towards the dragon. “Spike?” he murmured quietly. The dragon turned his head, eyes slowly meeting Moe’s. The dragon said nothing, keeping silent as Moe sat down facing the Dragon’s back. He let the baby dragon collect himself for minute, waiting patiently as he wiped his eyes. “You okay?”

“Yea,” Spike said, weakly turning around. Once he was facing Moe, he regarded him with an almost quizzical expression. “What happened to you?”

“Huh, what do you mean?” Moe patted himself down attempting to find out what was obviously different about his appearance. To his relief, nothing appeared out of order; a few fresh stains on his otherwise semi-clean uniform jacket said differently.

“What happened to your face?” Spike said with a slight grin. Moe paused for a second unsure of what Spike was referring to. After about a minute of him rubbing his face, the dragon finally revealed the source of humor. “You’ve got this weird red mark on your forehead,” he stated pointing to his own face. “It makes you look kind of dumb.”

“I wonder what it is,” Moe said as they both chuckled. He searched around the clubhouse for a few seconds trying to find something to reflect his appearance. By chance, he was able to find a shiny scrap of metal left over from what he could imagine was the CMC’s previous escapade. However, when he looked into the reflective surface, he was barely able to repress a snort. A number of small rings surrounded a central dot in the middle of his forehead, almost in a perfect replica of a target. He tried to remember what could have left such an imprint. Fortunately, he only had to recall what had happened earlier. “Looks like you got me good with that door when you bolted from Rarity’s.”

“Right...” Spike said as his smirk died and he reverted back to its depressed tone. “Sorry about that...”

Moe cursed under his breath as he watched the dragon start to withdraw. He sat down, rubbing his hand over the mark on his head as an awkward silence hung over the two. “Listen Spike, about Rarity...”

“I don’t understand,” Spike interrupted with a moan. Moe bit back his words as he gave the dragon space to vent. “I’ve always liked Rarity, but why doesn’t she like me back?”

“There’s no real answer for that Spike,” Moe said in a flat tone. “You can’t force someone to like you. It takes time and work.”

“But I have been working at it,” Spike complained. Moe’s face remained neutral as Spike blew a puff of smoke out of his nose.” I’ve been helping her ever since Twilight and I came to Ponyville!”

“Spike, it doesn’t work that way,” Moe said, calmly hoping his words would reach the dragon. He inched closer, trying his best to ease into the dragon’s space. “Sometimes, no matter how hard you try, it just won’t work out. It’s more complicated than you think.”

“But why?” Spike sniffed before he rubbed his nose with the back of his hand. Moe sighed as he positioned himself next to Spike. “Is it because I’m a dragon?”

“No, I don’t think it’s that Spike,” Moe said gently. He wasn’t sure what Rarity’s reasoning was, but he definitely knew she wouldn’t be so shallow as to reject him based solely on his species. “I think the age difference is just too great. You’ll always be a child in her eyes.” Both of them let out a small sigh as Moe paused in between sentences. “Her little ‘Spikey-Wikey.’”

“I always hated that nickname,” Spike said in a low tone. He closed his eyes as a few more tears ran from them. Moe could tell Spike was trying his best to put up a front for him, but his resolve was crumbling faster than he could manage. “I thought she was perfect, like a princess, and I would be her knight in shining scales.” The disappointment and uncertainty hit its peak as Spike held his head in his hands. “Now I don’t know what to think.”

“That’s the difference between a crush and true love,” Moe said in a blank tone. “When you love someone, you accept them for who they are. You care for them despite every little thing they do that annoys you.” Memories came flooding back as he spoke, both images of the past and the feeling of pain flashed through his mind. “A crush just emphasizes the qualities you like. It doesn’t show you what they might be like on the inside.”

“I don’t think I can see any other mare like I did Rarity though,” Spike replied. “She was everything I ever wanted. There’s no one else like her.”

“Tastes change Spike,” Moe said with a smile. Spike looked at him, a confused look crossing his face as Moe continued. “You can’t let one bad experience keep you from seeking out somepony who makes you happy. You have to move past it, let go of it and keep searching. Sure rejections and breakups suck, but they’re a natural part of dating. A few mouldy biscuits doesn’t mean the package is garbage.” He gave a pat on Spike’s shoulder. “You’ll find someone eventually.”

“That’s a weird analogy Moe,” Spike chuckled as he wiped his eye. His voice became concerned as he got up and dusted himself off. “Do you really think there might be somepony out there for me?”

“I can assure you of it Spike,” Moe said confidently. He then leaned in close and whispered into Spike’s ear. “If I remember correctly, Rarity does have a sister.”

“You mean Sweetie Belle?” Spike said in disbelief. “But she’s just a filly! She’s nothing like Rarity.”

“And you’re a baby dragon,” Moe replied. A look of realisation crossed Spike’s face. “While her personality isn’t at all like Rarity’s, I can tell you that she is going to be quite the looker when she becomes a mare.” Moe grinned as Spike’s face started to knit in concentration as they both imagined an older Sweetie Belle. “You didn’t hear this from me, but I think she’s starting to see you differently.” Moe leaned back, laughing quietly as Spike began to blush. “Just food for thought.”

“I think I need to go home and think about this,” Spike said, still trying to process the information. “Man this stuff is tiring.”

“Tell me about it.” Moe yawned as both he and Spike got up and left the clubhouse. “Come on, let’s get you home.

*****

Moe sighed in relief as he neared the boutique. The hunt for Spike had taken up most of the evening and now the moon had taken over the sky, overshadowing what was left of the day. All in all, Moe felt pretty good despite the events of the day. Sam was fine despite being cooped up in the hospital for the next week or so. He had gotten most of the shopping done and even helped Spike with his mare troubles, promising to meet up with Spike if he ever needed help. The relief faded quickly as he thought about what he had said to the small dragon.

You can’t let one bad experience keep you from seeking out somepony who makes you happy. You have to move past it, let go of it and keep searching.

The thought persisted in his mind as he reached the door. Did he of all people really believe that? He, who had given up ever finding someone to direct his affections towards. He, who had simply resigned himself to giving others advice while he stood in the shadows. A small frown lined his face as he grabbed the knob. What right did he have to give anyone advice like that when even he himself didn’t listen to it?

I am such a hypocrite. His mind told him as he entered the Boutique. It was true; there was no other excuse he could use. He had to move on or else he’d never truly be happy. A slight pain burned in his chest, prompting him to graze the spot lightly. I can’t let it affect me anymore...

“Moe? Darling, is that you?” Rarity’s voice called from upstairs. For some odd reason it was strangely comforting and set his addled nerves at ease. He took a breath before calling back to her.

“Hey Rarity, it’s me.” He took a few steps up the stairs, hands gripping the railing gently. The boutique seemed strangely dark considering the time of night. No lights were on and Moe couldn’t help but feel a sense of foreboding as he reached the top of the stairs. He stopped as he noticed the door to the unicorn’s room was shut tight. “Rarity, are you ok in there?” he asked in a hushed whisper.

“Oh Moe! It is you!” she replied almost happily through the door. Moe sighed in relief as he realised she was alright. “I’ve left you something in your room. Can you go and try it on?”

“Uh sure.” Obviously she had made some sort of outfit for him to try on. This was in fact a clothing shop he was living in. But what did she leave for him? “What is it exactly?”

“Just try it on dear,” Rarity replied. “I’m sure you’ll look fabulous in it!”

“I wonder what it is?” Moe asked himself out loud, walking to the guest room which had been furnished for him. A brown package, tied up with a thin white cord, had been deposited the extravagant bed Rarity had forced Moe to accept. As he undid the cord, he sucked in a breath as the contents were revealed.

Beneath the brown paper was a suit unlike anything he had ever seen. Made of black silk with seemingly invisible streaks of silver stitching in the borders, the suit seemed to pop out as Moe held it up. He could not help but admire just how the jacket seemed to stand out against the light. A black vest and a white shirt with a silken dark red tie accompanied the blazer, providing a nice addition to the ensemble. It was masterfully crafted, unique in almost every way.

Quickly, he shed his school uniform and placed it at the foot of his bed. Standing in only his boxers, he hesitated before grabbing the black pants and putting them on. He shuddered as feeling of the soft silk brushed against his leg. The pants fit him perfectly, not terribly tight, but not loose enough that they would fall off of him. He moved his legs in small circles, slowly letting them grow larger to see the range of movement they provided. He went for the undershirt next, putting his arms through the sleeves, but stopped as the door to his room opened.

He almost had to stop his jaw from dropping at the sight of her. A beautiful black dress adorned her body. Its slim fit accentuating every curve of her body. A split parted near her hind legs, drawing Moe’s eye to end where it covered her cutie mark. Her normally curled mane had been straightened and combed slightly over her left eye, like a violet curtain drawn to the left side of her face and held in place by a rose.

“Well how does it f-” Rarity stopped as she saw Moe half-naked. Under any normal circumstances, she would have averted her eyes, embarrassed as though she had just accidentally barged in on a changing customer. Yet she could not tear her eyes away from him. It wasn’t the fact that the undershirt clung to his chest, highlighting the toned muscles of his body. No, that was something that would thankfully be burned into her mind forever. A physique unlike anything she had seen, moulded by what could have only been an intense regimen of training. It was the horrific scar burned into his right pectoral that caught her attention, a dragon rising from a fiery inferno of reddened skin.

She had seen a few burn wounds in her time as a fashionista, the odd client who wished to keep eyes off a scar from past accidents. The only difference with this burn mark was the obvious fact it was a deliberate modification, like an extreme form of a tattoo one burned into their skin.  She could hardly imagine how much pain such a process might have caused and what might have possessed him to do it. Fortunately for her, Moe didn’t seem to notice her gaze as he buttoned up the shirt.

“Are you feeling alright, Rarity?” Moe questioned. As he put on the jacket, Rarity couldn’t help but admire her work, taking in how well the suit seemed to fit him. However, the ability to knot his tie was beginning to test Moe’s patience. It was not long before Rarity simply decided to waltz over and take matters into her own hooves. Moe gave no resistance as she took the tie in her magic, only offering an embarrassed smile. “I’ve never been fond of ties...”

“It can be rather tricky,” Rarity replied as her magic weaved the tie into a half-windsor. It took only a minute, but Rarity couldn’t help but smile as she tightened the tie. “There we are,” she whispered as she took in the complete outfit on Moe. “I must say, you look rather dashing.”

“And you look quite beautiful in that dress,” Moe complemented with honest enthusiasm. Rarity blushed at the compliment. Moe only continued to stand idly by, taking the chance to drink in the sight in front of him while adding his own thought. “This suit must have taken forever to make.”

“Oh no dear,” Rarity reassured him with a wave of her hoof. “It only took a few minutes to fashion this pair.”

“You continue to amaze me each and every day, Ms. Rarity,” Moe said with a bow. Rarity giggled at the display as Moe placed on hand on his hip. “So, what is the occasion?”

“Nothing special,” Rarity replied. “Just a little dinner between two good friends.”

“Did Coppa have anything to do with this?” Moe questioned with an enthused smile. Rarity only gave a slight nod of her head, affirming an answer he already knew. “I guess I’ll have to thank him for this.” He gave the one last check to his suit, adjusting the lappels properly and giving Rarity a slight nod. “Shall we go then? You may have to lead the way. I’m not familiar with the restaurant scene around here.”

“Of course,” Rarity said as she stepped out of the room. “Let’s be off.”

*****

“So tell me something, Moe,” Rarity said as she finished off the last of her salad. The night was going surprisingly well and Moe had never felt as relaxed as he did now. She had taken him to some ‘Prench’ restaurant named Le Paradis. A comfortable place, it sported a small interior and the patio where they were seated. A few small candles illuminated the table, casting light on their meals. He couldn’t help but admire the way Rarity’s eyes seemed to drink in the light as she spoke. 

“What did you and Spike talk about?”

Moe paused, taking a break from the spiced stuffed peppers on his plate. His brow creased as he thought about it. “Not much was actually said. I told him to take rejection in stride. Look hard enough and eventually you’ll find somepony.”

He chose to leave his comment about Sweetie in the dark. Better to keep that part a secret and deal with it when the time came. No doubt Rarity wouldn’t appreciate him trying to set up her sister with the dragon. That was a conflict he would prefer not to enter.

“I still feel terrible about the whole ordeal,” Rarity said solemnly, casting her gaze at her salad. Moe slowly moved his hand onto her hoof, causing her to look up with saddened eyes.

“These kinds of things happen, Rarity,” Moe said calmly, not moving his hand from her hoof. “The best thing you can do is to simply reaffirm your friendship and move on.”

“I suppose so.” Uncertainty tinged her voice as the regret in her heart elevated slightly. Moe gave her a reassuring smile, which made her heart flutter slightly. She couldn’t help but lean slightly closer in order to gaze deeper into the green pools which were his eyes. Moe seemed to mimic her actions, his body leaning closer onto the table.

“Madame, would you care for more wine?” The fake french accent of their waiter interrupted the moment, causing Rarity to freeze. Moe seemed to back up as the moment spoiled. They both looked down at their empty wine glasses, glaring at them like a pair of naughty children. Rarity nodded, and let the waiter fill her glass while Moe declined the offer.

“I think I’ll stick with water, thank you.” He took a sip of water instead as the waiter nodded. Rarity took a sip of her wine as the waiter left to attend the other tables. Her face seemed to wrinkle as the liquid touched her tongue. Moe let out a chuckle as he saw her face. “Is the wine that bad?”

“The flavour could use a little work,” Rarity stated bluntly as she gestured for Moe to try it. The elf declined with a shake of his head. “What’s wrong Moe? Do you not like wine?”

He shook his head giving her a grin. “No, I like wine, I just have no taste when it comes to alcohol.”

“What do you mean?”

“I literally cannot taste alcohol,” Moe said as Rarity stared at him like he had grown a second head. Moe pointed to his mouth as he continued. “It comes from my father’s side of the family.”

“Your father? What is he like if you don’t mind me inquiring?”

“That’s a difficult thing to say,” Moe said jokingly. He pondered the question for a moment, searching for an appropriate title to describe his father. “I guess you could say he is rather eccentric.”

“How so?”

“He just is,” Moe said bluntly as he set his water down. “What else can you expect from a man who likes to be referred to as...” Moe paused as he gathered his breath, recounting the exact title. “Professor of the Mystical Arts department at Particus Academy: Doctor Theophrastus Phillipus Bombastis Van Honenheim.”

“I must say, that is quite the mouthful,” Rarity giggled as Moe grinned. Then the idea popped into her head. “Forgive me for asking, but I’d assume by his personality that your name is equally as long?”

“Mozart,” Moe said quieter than anything Fluttershy could possibly manage. Yet the quiet atmosphere of the restaurant allowed her to hear it quite clearly. “I’d rather not say the entire thing. But yes, you’d be correct in assuming that it is rather long winded.” It was then that Rarity noticed something catching his eye causing him to chuckle.

“What is it Moe?” Rarity inquired as she looked inside. Moe wiped his face before replying.

“That pair right there,” Moe said gesturing to a couple sitting at a table. A stallion dressed in an ill fitting top hat and suit jacket was leaning over the table and giving the mare across from him a quick peck on the lips. She gave Moe a questioning look as his face fell. “You don’t see it”

“They seem perfectly normal Moe. The stallion’s suit may be a little loose but he and his mare seem to be enjoying themselves. He might even take her home at this rate.”

“I never said they weren’t,” Moe said calmly as he took a sip of water. He put the glass on the table as he rested his chin on his hands. “But I think you’re overlooking his ‘date’?”

Rarity’s head snapped around locking her gaze on the couple again. It took her less than ten seconds to realise what he meant. It was nearly invisible, disguised by the ‘mare’s’ slender body, but a dress could only hide so much.

“Oh my...” she whispered as she saw the slight bulge of an adam’s apple accompanied by the rise of the other differentiating feature that separated male’s from female’s. Rarity struggled to keep her composure as a snort of laughter escaped her. Moe in the meantime only let out the slightest of laughs as he finished the last of his meal and called for a waiter. Throwing the appropriate amount of bits on the table, as well as a nice tip for the waiter, he got up from the table.

“Shall I escort the lady home?” Moe asked politely, extending his hand. Rarity took it and followed his brisk pace outside. When they had cleared the vicinity of the restaurant, the two burst out laughing like there was no tomorrow. Rarity was leaning against Moe, snorting as she imagined the Stallion’s reaction when he figured out his date’s gender. She looked up to see Moe staring at her, tears of laughter in his own eyes.

Something clicked in their minds as they stared into each other’s eyes. Rarity couldn’t help but crane her neck upward, tilting her head to the side. She closed her eyes as Moe followed suit, allowing her to stand on her hind legs and rest against his chest. She could hear her heart pounding in her chest as well as Moe’s own as their breath began to mingle. Then, when they were only a few inches apart, ready to meet in the light of the night, a voice cried out in joy.

“I LOVE EVERYTHING ABOUT HER! HER SMILE, HER LAUGH, HER LIPS, EVEN HER ADAM’S APP...”

A prompt scream followed by the sound of a body hitting the pavement echoed throughout the night, dashing the serenity of the scene. Rarity and Moe stood still, their faces coloured a deep crimson as their second intimate moment was ruined. Rarity dropped from her position clearing her throat as the two avoided looking at each other like a pair of embarrassed children.

“Well, that was certainly a nice evening don’t you think?” Moe said as he cleared his throat. Rarity nodded, a small but excited grin plastered on her face. The two seemed to make quick progress heading to the boutique, remaining quiet along the way. Upon reaching the doorway, Moe paused and cast a furtive glance to Rarity. “Uhh, if you aren’t busy sometime soon...” His nervousness betrayed his intention as he blurted out the rest of his sentence. “Maybe you’d like to do this again sometime?”

“I’d love nothing else,” Rarity said as she leaned up and gave Moe a quick peck on the cheek. Moe stood there stunned as Rarity gave him a playful wink. She trotted up the stairs, hurrying towards her room as Moe was left at the front of the house. He might have heard something akin to a fan girl squeal come from Rarity’s room, but in all honesty, he could have cared less in his cationic state. Eventually, he managed to regain a hold of his senses as his pulse slowed. He jumped in the air, fists held high in a victory pose before entering the boutique and closing the door gently.

She said yes! This is perfect, he thought as he went up the stairs and plopped onto his bed, not bothering to remove his suit. He sighed, closing his eyes as his head rested on the pillow. I doubt anything could ruin this for me.
	
	
> The Hangover Pt.1
> --------------------------------------------------------------------------


“I. Am. NEVER. Drinking. Again!”

To say Moe felt like absolute hell was putting it lightly. His entire head felt like it had just been put through a paint mixer. It pounded as he remained lying face down on the bed, spread out in what was possibly the most undignified pose he had ever been in. One arm hung limply off the bed, fingers brushing the cheap hotel carpet. The other was draped over the mountain of blankets deposited next to him. His mouth tasted and felt as if some small animal had used it as a toilet and then died in it. Every muscle in his body hurt, but no more than the faint pain in his lower regions. It was as if something heavy had been dropped on it multiple times without mercy.

With a groan, he swung his legs over the side of the bed and stood up. Well, he would have stood up if his left knee hadn’t buckled from the weight at the last second. Falling to the floor, he let out a pained moan as he buried his face in the carpet. He slowly rose to his knees, grimacing as the movements caused him even more pain. As his vision cleared, he became aware of the sheer volume of empty bottles and cans that were deposited around the room. Every piece of furniture was flipped either upside down or in shambles.

“Oh my god...” He held his head in his hands as he moaned into his palms. With the utmost care, he made his way to the bathroom. Avoiding hitting any of the scattered containers, he flicked on the lights. He gasped as his dishevelled appearance was fully reflected in the mirror. Bruises and cuts lined the entirety of his chest. His hair was absolute chaos, the long blond strands all tangled and knotted from whatever activities he had done last night.

The second thing he noticed was the distinct lack of clothes on his body. The only articles of clothing that was actually on his body was his left sock and the tie sitting loosely around his neck. His mind began to panic as he took a breath and leaned on the bathroom counter. A haze of events ran through his mind, most of them blurs and unclear.

What did I do last night? He thought as he turned on the tap. He splashed a few handfuls of cold water on his face. He shuddered as the droplets of water fell off and collected in the clogged sink under him. Coppa always said he’d try to remember the earliest point of the night when he got blackout drunk. So where did I start out?

A moment passed before he was able to remember the general location of the city he was in at the moment. Oh right...  we went to Manehatten.


******


The day started out like any other with Moe being the first to wake from the confines of his warm bed. It took him only a few minutes to hop out of bed and get dressed in some brown khakis and a grey shirt. It was more casual than anything he would have normally worn, but he was still riding off the high from the previous night. He still bore the same stupid grin from the last night as he made his way down the stairs and to the kitchen, recalling each moment of the date.

It had been a wondrous occasion, almost perfect in his opinion.  He might have been getting a tad excited about a single date, but it only kept replaying in his mind. The dinner, the clothes, and even the feeling of their breath mingling before they were interrupted. It just kept repeating like an endless loop, keeping him from noticing the sounds of hoofsteps on the stairs.

“My my, up early as always,” Rarity said, causing Moe to turn around. “Isn’t it usually the duty of the host to provide for her guests?”

“I know, but as a close friend, I thought perhaps it would have been a pleasant change from the usual routine,” he said in a cheerful tone as he turned around, grabbed a pan from a nearby rack, and placed it on the stove before turning back to Rarity. “Besides, I think I should reward my lovely host for her hospitality. Is there any particular breakfast item you prefer?”

“Perhaps something simple to start off the morning,” Rarity mused as she made her way to the cupboards on the opposite side of the kitchen, humming along the way. Moe waited quietly, taking in the soft sound of the mare’s voice while she rummaged through her pantry. She came back with a few items levitating in the air, surrounded by her magic. “How about some Prench Toast?”

Moe chuckled and began the meal, continuing to talk with Rarity. “I’d assume that’s the equestrian version of French Toast?” He wasted no time in turning on the stove and beginning to crack and beat the eggs. His attention became divided between the actual preparation of the food and the fact that Rarity had trotted up and was leaning into him. He smiled, looking down towards the pony who simply hummed as she began to assist him. “I thought I explained that I was doing this for you?”

“Oh, you did,” Rarity chimed with a giggle. “But I think that I’ll supervise your progress, just to make sure we get everything right.” She gave him a smirk before running her tail up his leg. “Someone has to make sure we’re free of any distractions~”

Her singsong tone, mixed with the feeling of her silken tail running along his leg sent every nerve of his body on fire. He visibly tensed, a few hairs standing on end as she leaned into his side. “First, we need to actually prepare the toast itself. Can you coat it in the egg?” she asked as she began to prepare the stove using her magic. Various knobs twisted and turned, enveloped in a soft teal aura, setting the flames alight. A pan floated over the stovetop and was set over the flame, a small dollop of butter soon followed and began to melt as it heated up.

Moe took up his own station and carefully coated the toast in the beaten egg. With a flick of his wrists, he managed to get rid of the excess egg. Finishing that, he brought them over to Rarity who merely watched them sizzle before turning them over. Moe had to admit, there was something about the two of them cooking together that made the minutes fly by. Soon enough, their combined efforts resulted in a mound of toast piled high on two separate plates.

“My, it seems we certainly outdid ourselves,” Rarity chimed as she sat down at the table. Moe simply nodded as he took his own seat. Both took up their utensils as they prepared to begin their breakfast, with Rarity taking the liberty to start off the meal. “Well dear, Bon Appetit!”

Knock Knock Knock

Their brief respite was disturbed as the sound of a hoof making contact with the door replacing the morning calm. Moe leaned back to see a vague shape through the drawn curtain covering the door. He pushed his chair back, gesturing for Rarity to keep eating before he made his way to the front door of the Boutique. When he opened the door, he looked down to see a gray Pegasus mare that looked at him with just as much curiosity and confusion in her googly eyes.

“Umm... How can I help you?” Moe asked as he let the door open a little wider. His voice seemed to break the mare out of her trance, as she began to re-adjust the mailmare hat sitting on her head.

“Mail for Rarity!” she stated politely and with a cheerful demeanour. She rummaged through her saddlebags and pulled out a small envelope with a seal depicting three crowns. Yet Moe’s attention was still on the mare as he took the envelope. He was not sure why, but he knew the mare was looking at him; it was just that neither of her eyes were looking directly at him. Instead, as he moved slightly, one eye would follow him while the other would move slightly towards the opposite side. The mare did not seem to notice this but fidgeted slightly as a puzzled Moe kept staring. “What are you looking at?”

“Oh, sorry, I was just looking at your eyes,” Moe stammered as he broke eye contact. The mare sighed slightly and looked away. Moe swallowed nervously as he realised he had touched an unspoken nerve in the mare. “I’m sorry, that was rude of me.” He extended a hand and gave the mare a smile, which seemed to break her out of her funk. “I’m Moe, by the way.”

“I’m Ditzy Doo!” the Mare said as she saluted instead of shaking Moe’s hand. He chuckled at the gesture and put the envelope away in his pocket. The mare’s mood seemed to darken as she spoke again, her walleyes misting over slightly. “Some call me Derpy though...

“Why would they name you that?” Moe asked, his smile replaced with a frown. “Seems a little rude of them.”

Then again… Derpy and Ditzy are rather similar in meaning. 

“They say it's  because my eyes are weird and I keep messing things up...”

“What? Why? I find your eyes fascinating,” Moe said as he patted Ditzy’s head. The mare’s eyes lit up at his words and the grin that formed  threatened to split her face in half.

“Thank you,” Ditzy said as she lunged forward and wrapped Moe in a hug. Caught off guard, he couldn’t do anything except stumble back and crash to the floor with Ditzy on top of him, forelegs wrapped tightly around his midriff. The mare looked at him, a sheepish grin on her face and a small blush accompanying it. “Oops, I just don’t know what went wrong!”

“It’s all good,” Moe said as they both got up. Ditzy trotted towards the door and gave Moe a small wave before shooting off into the sky. Unfortunately for the house, she crashed through the roof causing Moe to cringe visibly as wood and paint flew everywhere.

“What was that?” Moe heard Rarity shriek as he stood there gazing at the damage. Rarity’s eyes widened as she came to front and her mouth dropped as she saw the damage. Her voice began to stutter as she levitated a reclining chair next to her. “T-this is terrible!”

“She certainly did a number to the porch,” Moe muttered in disbelief. In the distance, he could see the shape of Ditzy struggling to maintain a straight course in the air. Moe then remembered the mail in his pocket. “You’ve got mail by the way,” he said, pulling the envelope from his pocket and handing it to Rarity, attempting to redirect her attention from the wreckage. 

“The roof though…” Rarity murmured as her gaze remained locked on the damage. “This is just horrible. How will I manage to fix this?”

“The letter says it’s from somepony named Fancy Pants,” Moe countered as he waved the letter towards Rarity again. He handled the letter with care, inspecting the high grade paper and the intricate wax seal that closed the letter. “From the looks of the envelope, this pony must be pretty important.”

“Give me that letter,” Rarity ordered as her horn lit up. “I MUST read it now.”

The fashionista firmly grasped the letter with her magic, enveloping it in a light teal aura. It escaped Moe’s hand and opened up as Rarity rested on her fainting sofa (as Moe had come to call it). The unicorn mumbled to herself as Moe assessed the damage, separating what pieces of wood could be salvaged from those too broken to be of any use. Many had been broken or reduced to splinters by Ditzy’s hard head, and maybe three out of ten planks could be used for something other than the roof. Moe sighed before his peaceful state of mind was shattered by a resounding shriek from Rarity.

His head snapped towards her, the sudden speed of his action almost giving him whiplash. His body followed suit as he crossed the distance to her. The Unicorn was spread out on the sofa, one foreleg across her forehead and the other one hanging limply off the piece of furniture. The letter had fluttered to the ground as Moe reached the sofa. He let out a breath he hadn’t known that he was holding as he checked Rarity. A soft breathing told him that she was fine and her pulse had begun to return to normal. Carefully, he picked up the letter and began to read the rather neat hoofwriting.

My dearest friend Rarity,

It is with great joy that I request your assistance in a matter of utmost importance. Fleur has practically begged me (not that it was necessary) to invite you to our little gathering. We both agree that you are one of the most capable ponies in all of Equestria in regards to this. We don’t wish to spoil the surprise, however we do feel that you can keep this confidential.

Tomorrow evening, Fleur and I will be hosting our engagement party and would be elated if you could be present. We do not require any dresses, but simply wish for our good friend and rising star in the fashion world to attend. I have already enclosed train tickets for you and your assistant to come. However, certain limitations restrict how many of your friends can be accommodated.

We patiently wait with earnest hope that you will be able to attend.

Sincerely, your friends,

Fancy Pants and Fleur De Lis

Moe chuckled as he folded the letter back into the envelope. He gently grasped the two tickets, sliding them back into the envelope. He put the envelope on a stand before he stretched and smiled.

Looks like I have some packing to do for her...


******


Ponyville Train Station was just as busy as Moe expected. Ponies bustled on every inch of the platform, carrying luggage in carts and reading the paper as they waited for their trains. Some were obviously returning from vacations, their travel bags bursting with souvenir’s and gifts, whereas others were impatiently waiting to begin theirs. There were fillies and colts playing in the midsts of the crowds, ducking and dodging others as they played their games in the forest of adults. For a town that never seemed to be in a hurry, the train station almost seemed like it didn’t belong there.

“Y'know, up until now, I didn’t know Ponyville even had a train station,” Coppa said as he dropped the last of Rarity’s travel bags. Most of the girls, with the addition of Spike and Coppa, had come to the station with Rarity and Moe, the only exception was that of Fluttershy who had decided to stay at the hospital to watch over Sam for just a little while longer.

Moe grinned at the thought of his little match up going so well, yet his revelry was short lived as his mind recounted the day’s events. His thoughts centered on the tiny dragon he had given advice. Yes, he had helped break the child out of his depression before it even started, but his actions afterwards were contradictory to say the least. Helping a child get over rejection by their long time crush, only to immediately go on a date with said crush, and nearly kiss her?

Talk about kicking someone when they’re down...

So what did that make him? On one hand, he wanted to just call it a freak line of coincidences; something that he couldn’t help but follow along with, yet both he and Spike would know that this was a complete lie. He had the power to not go on that date, not eat dinner with her, not attempt to kiss her underneath the moonlight, and most definitely to not schedule another date in the future. Yet he did all of that without as much as a second thought. On the other hand, he could just explain it to Spike bluntly. Sure, the dragon would most definitely be angry with him, probably hit him once or twice, but it was better than lying.

For a moment, he looked around in a search of the immediate area for the tiny dragon. He found Spike sitting on one of the platform’s benches while everyone kept to their conversations as they waited for the train conductor’s call. He didn’t seem happy or sad, rather a content impassiveness mixed with boredom was plastered across his face.  Only when Moe sat himself down next to the dragon did Spike do anything.

“Hey Spike, you okay?” Moe asked as Spike remained silent. Moe took a breath as he leaned back in the chair, playing with his fingers nervously. Sure, Spike wasn’t exactly threatening to say the least, Moe just wanted to find the right words to express himself. Yet with each passing second, the dragon began to look at him with more annoyance than anything else. With a little trepidation in his voice, Moe decided he might as well take the plunge. “Can I ask you something?”

“Yeah, go ahead. But if you’re going to ask me if I’m going with Rarity, I’m not,” Spike said as he watched Moe fiddle with his thumbs. “Why don’t you go?”

“Well I, wait... What?” Moe questioned the dragon’s choice as he sat up. The dragon looked at him with a sort of look that read along the lines of ‘are you kidding me?’. Moe however, maintained his confusion at the dragon’s passive dismissal of going along with Rarity to Manehatten. “Why not?”

“Well I think it would be kind of awkward,” Spike explained in a passive tone. “I was also thinking about what you said last night as well. If I go with Rarity to Manehatten, I’ll just end up back where I started. Besides I think that being friends with her is good enough.  I just need to take a break from mares for a bit and consider  my options.”

“Wow Spike... I don’t know what to say.”

“It’s okay Moe, besides, I think that you should go. Manehatten is more for adults anyways.”

“What you just said was pretty adult like in my opinion Spike.” Moe’s grin seemed to infect Spike and he turned away, a faint redness in his cheeks. Moe chuckled at the sight of the flustered dragon. Perhaps he had misread the situation, Spike seemed to be completely reasonable and perhaps he would take the news in stride. “I also wanted to ask you something Spike. Last night, I went out for dinner with Rarity.”

Spike said nothing, simply watching as Moe explained what had happened after they had separated. The dragon’s face betrayed nothing as Moe described in detail everything from the suit to the dinner. He remained like that as Moe explained how he and Rarity had nearly kissed and his hopes that perhaps he and Rarity might be able to go on a future date. Moe had to admit, Spike had an incredible poker face and even the elf who prided himself on being able to read the mood, found himself dumbfounded as he tried to read the dragon.

“So you two are pretty close now, huh?” Spike asked, his tone wrenching on Moe’s already guilty conscience.

“Listen Spike, I know what I did wasn’t the smartest move,” Moe began slowly. “I could have said no to the entire thing, but I didn’t. I was just... so caught up in the moment. It wasn’t like me not to consider how you might have felt. I’ve always been the one to make others happy; to give them advice like I did last night. I guess I just want to apologise to you Spike.

“What for? It sounds like you and Rarity had a great time.”

“B-but I went behind your back... Went on a date with Rarity almost immediately after she rejected you,” Moe stammered. His confusion was heightened as Spike simply nodded and placed a claw on his shoulder. “Doesn’t that seem, I dunno... a little sleazy?”

“You don’t need to beat yourself up over it Moe,” Spike said calmly. “Did Rarity have fun at least?” Moe nodded much to Spike’s satisfaction. “Then you shouldn’t be worried. If Rarity had a good time, then I’m okay with it.”

“Seriously?”

“Yeah,” Spike said with a smile, “Besides, you two seem like you’d be happy if you guys became a couple.”

“You’re one of a kind, Spike,” Moe said as he held out a fist. “So we’re cool?”

Spike bumped his own claw against Moe’s outstretched fist. “Yeah. Besides, guys need to stick together! Who else is going to be my wingman when I finally start cruising for chicks!”

“Don’t get cocky, Casanova,” Moe laughed at the dragon’s enthusiasm. The dragon joined him as the whistle signalling the train deafened the entirety of the platform. “Looks like it’s time for me to get a move on. Thanks again Spike.” He said as they began to make their way to the train.

“It’s nothing Moe,” Spike said calmly before his happy eyes turned hard. “There is one thing though...”

“What would that be?” Moe asked, completely unnerved by the dragon’s stare.

“Hurt Rarity in any way, and I burn you to a crisp. Are we clear?”

“Crystal,” Moe said backing up. His heart was beating a mile a minute at this point. His mind raced at the thought. Spike didn’t seem all that threatening, but looks definitely could be deceiving. Either way, Moe wasn’t going to tango with a dragon; fully-grown or baby.

“All aboard!”

“Well it looks like you should get going,” Spike said as the conductor repeated himself. Moe nodded and followed the baby dragon, trying to imagine how destructive the he could be. His own world had dragons as well, ancient beasts that thrived on destruction and pandemonium. Unlike the ones in Holdeah, Spike was an intelligent dragon, a significantly more dangerous trait. However, Spike seemed to be in good spirits, or at least trusted Moe enough to make good on his hopes. He even waved goodbye along with everyone else on the platform as the train whistled and began to chug along the tracks.

“Goodbye!” they all called as they continued to wave. Moe smiled and waved back along with Rarity through the open window as the platform began to shrink. When it was gone from sight, Moe pulled his arm from the window and followed Rarity as she made her way to their seats.   

“Please take your seats everypony, we will be arriving in Manehatten in a few hours.” The conductor called as he checked the passengers and their tickets. “Please have your tickets ready to be checked!”

Taking his own seat, Moe attempted to find a comfortable position. However, it proved to be rather difficult due to his anatomy. Eventually, he managed to find himself in a semi-comfortable position that didn’t place too much pressure on his spine. The rocking of the train and the rhythmic pounding of the machine soon caused his eyelids to become heavy. Rather than fight it, he allowed himself to drift off into a dreamless sleep.


*****


He wasn’t sure how long he had slept for, but Moe was suddenly awoken by the high pitched whine of the train’s whistle. He yawned as he stretched his limbs, mentally cringing as his joints cracked back into place after remaining stationary for so long. A slight pain in his neck told him that his body hadn’t appreciated the posture he had chosen for his nap. He attempted to shift his weight, hoping that he might find a better position. A few minutes of shifting yielded nothing and he soon became increasingly bored as the silence of the train car stagnated.

Forsaking any hopes to make himself comfortable again, he attempted to pass the time by staring out the window of the train. Great rolling hills and fields of green moved past the train as it rolled along the tracks, appearing through the window like a moving picture. Every now and then, sections of the plains were replaced with a sprawling farm or small town that Moe had yet to see on Equestria’s map.  

“Beautiful, isn’t it?” Rarity said as she joined him in admiring the landscape. “It’s almost like a perfect picture.”

“It’s quite something,” Moe agreed with a nod of his head. “Hey Rarity, can I ask you a question?”

“What’s on your mind dear?” Rarity asked as she continued to gaze out the window.

“It’s about Spike...” Moe said, watching Rarity’s ears pin back at the mention of the Dragon’s name. “I told him about last night.”

“How did he take it? Is he angry with me?” Rarity began to shake as she could only imagine the heartbreak such a revelation might have caused the dragon. Despite what Moe had told her during their dinner, she still felt terrible. “Please tell me that my little Spikey-Wikey hasn’t come to hate me!”

“What? No, he’s not angry at all,” Moe said quickly, much to her relief. “He’s actually taken it quite well. He told me that as long as you were happy, he was happy. He actually told me to come with you because he thought it was for the best.”

“Oh thank Celestia,” Rarity sighed, calming herself down. A soft smile took hold of her mouth, complimenting the gentle look in her. “Spike has always been such a gentledrake. He’s unfailingly generous and very helpful when he wanted to be or when you needed him.” Rarity added before he voice grew low. “I almost didn’t believe it when he had his greed episode.”

“What do you mean?”

“Dragons are usually greedy creatures. As Twilight explained, they grow larger and more violent as they begin to hoard objects. Spike nearly destroyed half of Ponyville during his little episode.”

Hurt Rarity in any way, and I burn you to a crisp

The tone of the unicorn told Moe that she was not lying. The memory obviously didn’t help calm Moe’s nerves either. He felt the palms of his hands grow clammy and felt the Goosebumps start to rise on the back of his neck. A faint shiver ran through him as he tried to imagine just how large Spike had grown. If they grew larger with greed, what was to say they could not change due to other emotions, possibly anger? Moe made a mental note to schedule a visit to the Golden Oaks Library to brush up on the subject. That thought was interrupted as a loud crashing resounded in the air, shocking every passenger, and causing many panicked looks and shouts.

Moe rose as his ears picked up the direction of the noise. His acute sense of hearing was one of the many traits he was thankful for in these sorts of situations. It had assisted him countless times in the past, allowing him to pick up sounds that his friends wouldn’t have heard normally. Coppa had once proclaimed that Moe once had been able to ‘hear a fly fart from at least six feet away’. It was a crass boast, usual of his best friend, but not far off in all honesty. This time though, he didn’t need an acute sense of hearing to locate this noise. It had come from the baggage compartment, near the end of the passenger car he was in. He listened closely, hoping that it was just some luggage that had fallen free of its restraints. The following moments proved him otherwise as his ears picked up a new sound. Whatever it was, it was alive, trapped in the baggage car.

More importantly, it sounded incredibly aggravated.

Without so much as a word, he got up from his seat and made his way towards the source of the noise. He chose to ignore the fearful stares of the ponies on the car as he strode forward, intent on finding out just what managed to get in, or on the train. Without any hesitation he entered the car, shut the door behind him, and locked it, effectively trapping him in the car with whatever was in there.

Carefully, he stepped over a number of suitcases that had fallen. He took care with each step, trying not to tread on the clothes and possessions of the other passengers. It took more time for him to traverse over the fallen baggage, but he was thankful for that. Doing so would give him time to locate whatever this thing was, and the piles would give him enough cover to sneak up on the thing. As he approached closer the source of the noise, he took up a perch on top of one of the baggage piles. There he remained motionless as he waited for the creature to appear.

His patience was rewarded when a growling black figure emerged from an adjacent pile on all fours.

Without so much as a noise, Moe leapt in the air. Then, with as much grace as a charging rhino, he crashed into the creature, slamming both of them into the ground. Although he was winded from the fall, Moe spared no time in wrapping one arm around the creature’s neck and driving its face into the floor. He maintained his hold as the thing bucked and struggled, desperate to drive him off.

“Same team! Same team!” The creature shouted, struggling to breathe as Moe’s arms loosened slightly. “Moe, It’s me!

“Coppa?” Moe was definitely confused now. Coppa had been on the platform when they had left, Moe had seen that much. He couldn’t have chased the train, his legs were way to short and there was no reason to.  There was absolutely no conceivable way for the dwarf to be on the train or in the baggage car.

Either way, Moe wanted to know.

 “How did you get here?”

“Two words: Pinkie Pie,” Coppa retorted as he rubbed his neck. He was completely covered in clothes that were too small for his frame. To Moe, it looked as though he had just jogged through a clothing tornado. “She said that you were going to need help with something,” He added as he pulled off a pair of rather racy underwear that was hanging off his ear. Looking at the article for a moment, he tossed them aside as his embarrassment became evident on his face. “She kept spouting something about twitchy tongue or tail. I dunno what it was but one second I was going back to the farm, the next second I end up underneath a bunch of panties and crap.”

“How does that even make sense?” Moe asked. Coppa opened his mouth to explain but Moe beat him to it, realising how rhetorical the question was. “Never mind, it’s just Pinkie being Pinkie. We don’t need to repeat what the others already told us.”

“I’d also like to not have a headache if that’s an option.” Coppa sighed as he removed the last article of clothing. Moe nodded in agreement just before the sound of the train coming to a stop filled their ears. “Looks like we’re here.”

“Seems so.” Moe sighed in exasperation as he got up and smoothed out his pants. “Come on, let’s go,” he said as he began to walk toward the door. “We can deal with this later. Rarity and I need to meet with Fancy Pants."

“Really? Fancy Pants?”

“Shut up,” Moe said more annoyed at Coppa’s continued chuckling than anything else. The two made their way out of the baggage car and entered the passenger car just as the ponies began exiting the train. The two became part of the great current of bodies exiting the train, unable to move against the tide. Soon enough, they managed to escape the press of ponies and found themselves on the train platform, flustered, but in one piece. Now their next plan of action was to locate Rarity.

“Moe, we’re over here!” Rarity managed to say as she attempted to project herself over the crowds. A unicorn couple stood next to her, staring directly at him with looks of curiosity. The lone stallion, which Moe assumed was Fancy Pants, was dressed in the upper portions of a tuxedo and stood slightly taller than Rarity. As Moe drew closer, he could make out the three crowns that made up the pony’s cutie mark. His blue mane was combed in flowing waves and his similarly coloured eyes. The mare beside Fancy, Fleur De Lis if Moe remembered correctly, was equally as tall, and in his opinion, a rather stunning pony. She practically exuded elegance; her white coat and long pinkish mane were pristine as could be. Her light purple eyes were enhanced by just a visible trace of pink eye shadow. Her own flank was graced by three Fleurs-de-lis, which Moe assumed to be the origin of her name.

As they drew even closer, Rarity’s face turned to one of confusion as she noticed Coppa’s presence next to Moe. Before she could say anything, Moe interjected with the explanation Coppa had supplied. Rarity’s frown turned into a knowing smile as she simply nodded her head and quietly giggled. “Pinkie has always had a flair for the dramatic.” She turned to Fancy Pants and Fleur who were continuing their examination of Moe and Coppa. Fleur politely coughed into a hoof causing Fancy to direct his attention back to Rarity. “I am terribly sorry if this puts a dent in your plans. It seems my friend Pinkie Pie has caused Coppa to become stranded.”

“It’s quite alright Rarity,” Fancy said with enthusiasm as he turned to Coppa and Moe. “I am sure we can accommodate an extra addition somehow.” The stallion extended a hoof to Moe and smiled as he greeted himself. “I am Fancy Pants and this is my lovely fiancé, Fleur De Lis.”

“A pleasure to meet you both,” Moe replied as he shook Fancy Pant’s hoof. He offered a small bow to Fleur who took it with grace and offered her own in return. “I am Moe, and this is my good friend, Coppa.”

“Best friend,” The dwarf corrected. He shook Fancy’s hoof and bowed to Fleur as well. “Sorry to intrude on this occasion Mr. Pants. It wasn’t my intention to be a pain in your necks, I’ll try and keep a low profile and stay out of your way.”

“It is no issue at all Coppa,” Fancy said as he adjusted his monocle. “For now, we should depart back to my abode. There we can discuss an important issue that needs resolving.”

“We leave ourselves in your capable hooves Fancy,” Rarity said as he gestured towards the main road leading from the platform. The ponies moved on their way with Moe and Coppa following close behind.

“Hey Moe?” Coppa asked as they maintained a slight distance behind the three unicorns.

“Yeah?”

“Fancy Pants doesn’t wear pants.”

“You’re such an idiot...” Moe said as Coppa chuckled at his own joke. Despite the fact that he had originally wanted it just to be a trip between Rarity and himself, Moe felt a sense of comfort in the fact his best friend was there with him. This’ll should be a great time either way.

He had no way of realizing just how wrong he was…
> The Hangover Pt. 2
> --------------------------------------------------------------------------


“So tell me, Moe, how did you meet Rarity?” Fancy asked as the group made their way down the streets of Manehatten. Their group had splintered off into pairs with the exception of Coppa, who was trailing behind as he took in the sights of the city. Moe couldn’t blame him either, Manehatten was one of the largest places either of them had seen, dwarfing even the largest settlements back home. Rarity, on the other hand, was acting as if there was no difference between the large city and Ponyville, and was leading the pack alongside Fleur.

“It’s not really that interesting in all honesty,” Moe spoke as he watched the posh ponies go about their daily lives. Many were simply walking about, feigning interest in the items that lined the store windows or hailing the many carriages that were travelling along the streets. A select few actually stopped and regarded both Coppa and Moe, taking interest in watching the two alien beings simply walk down the street as though it were nothing. Whispers of concern and fear could be heard, emanating from the more conservative looking ponies. The younger generations held no such reserve, simply choosing to gawk and stare in fascination.

“I sincerely doubt that, my friend,” Fancy responded as the group turned the corner. Moe began to wonder just how far into the city they had walked. It seemed as though they were passing the same few buildings every few minutes. Nothing was unique about this place other than the shops; it was simply to conformed for his tastes. Coppa seemed to be on edge as well, grating his teeth as the upper crust voices practically assaulted his ears.

“What makes you say that, Fancy?” Moe asked, perplexed by the stallion’s vague statement.

“The two of you seem like quite the adventuring types. Well traveled and well versed in the ways of the vagabond,” Fancy replied casually as Coppa joined up with them. “A pair of friends, simply seeking out lost treasure and exploring the depths of their world. Now you’ve found yourself in a new land, with new friends and companions. It is quite interesting, almost like something out of a fiction novel. I’d love to hear about some of the challenges you’ve faced.”

“You might be disappointed, Fancy,” Coppa commented as he tried his best to ignore the stares of the surrounding crowd. Fancy, on the other hand, was surprisingly calm, his expression giving no indication that he was paying attention to the gawking citizens.

“Whatever do you mean?”

“We haven’t really gone on any grand adventures, more like small errands.” Coppa gestured to his uniform, prompting a confused glance from Fancy. “Where we’re from, the two of us are just students. We study the basics of adventuring and are tested on it in class. If you get good enough grades, you might get a chance to go into the higher-level labyrinths, but most classes just stick to the testing grounds underneath the campus.” Coppa sighed as he scratched the back of his hea. “Any ‘quests’ we do go on are usually just requests from villages to find something stupid or to get rid of pests. We might have gotten a few more interesting tasks, but that was only because we were selected by the principle to be his personal students.”

“Interesting, a school for the purposes of becoming an adventurer,” Fancy said with a calm enthusiasm. “Yet, it seems as though you both have stumbled upon a far greater adventure than the occasional pest control request.”

“You can say that again,” Coppa added with a grin. “Never thought I’d come across a land of talking horses with a flair for butt tattoos.” He stretched his arms as he regarded the three crowns that comprised the stallions cutie mark. “By the way, what’s yours supposed to be for?”

“Oh, this?” Fancy asked. “It’s a reflection of my delegation skills. I received this after attending a diplomatic mission with my father in Saddle Arabia. I assisted with establishing better trade relations and impressed the Sheik so much that he gave me a token of appreciation. Lo and behold, I returned to Equestria with a royal gift for myself and what destiny had in store for me.”

Moe cocked his eyebrow as he clued in on what the stallions job might be. “So you work as a diplomat?” He asked as they rounded another corner and came to a stop in front of a large mansion. Moe gazed in amazement along with Coppa at the building. Coppa even let out a small whistle, clearly impressed by the magnitude of the building, although Moe could sense a certain bitterness in his friends expression as they stared at the large marble exterior of the estate. . Fleur and Rarity had already gone inside, leaving the three males to their conversation.

Fancy in turn gave a slight nod of acknowledgement. “Yes, I work in the political sector, traveling and ensuring that Equestria is on good terms with all of its neighbours,” he explained while he opened the gate to his summer home. “It is quite the interesting life, but I feel that it is the right time for me to take a small break. I was also planning on taking the next step in my relationship with Fleur while on this sabbatical. I figured it was about time.”

“Marriage is quite different from a break,” Moe said as he stepped into the building and examined the interior. The rooms were richly decorated and covered in all manner of exquisite items -most likely gifts from past trips in Fancy’s line of work- giving the interior a sort of atmosphere befitting a pony of his status. “Though I figure you and Fleur have been together for a while.”

“Indeed we have, almost eight years to be exact,” Fancy said as he gazed at some of the pictures hanging from the wall. All of them depicted the two ponies next to some monument or palace of some sort, both bearing smiles of satisfaction and content happiness in the company of each other. One had them dancing on a leaning tower; another of them depicted them eating dinner with ponies which had bat like wings rather than regular avian wings; and a final one had them sailing on what was most likely their personal yacht. Fancy let out a content sigh as he examined each of them. “The best eight years of my life. However, there are still more memories we have yet to make.”

“I’m sure you’ll both be very happy,” Moe assured him before noticing something peculiar hanging on the opposite wall, covered by a white sheet. Curiosity overcame him as he made his way over to it. “Fancy? What is this?”

“Oh, that? That is the gift I mentioned when I got my mark. The sheet is so that the colours do not fade. It is a rather exquisite piece.” He gripped the sheet with his magic and gently pulled it off. “It is one of the few Saddle Arabian horseshoes still in existence."

The item in question was a single piece of thin black wood, curled inwards in the shape of an elongated C. It was wrapped in the centre, covered in a small amount of deep rose coloured fabric. Two small eyes were painted on the carved diamond shaped pieces of wood on both sides, located on the inside of the circle. The actual nature of the item was revealed to him as he noticed the small thin cord tied to one of the ends of the wood.

“Looks like a bent piece of wood to me,” Coppa stated, uninterested in the particular piece. “What’s it supposed to be anyway? Some sort of instrument?”

“It’s a reflex bow,” Moe answered as he stared at the piece. He attempted to imagine the weapon in his head, bending the wood in his mind and shaping it into its strung form. Both Fancy and Coppa watched with piqued curiosity as Moe examined the artisanship. He pointed at the small, almost invisible notches in the ends of the piece. “It’s made with curled arms which turn away from the archer throughout the length of the bow. When you unstring it, the entire length of the bow curves forward, away form the archer, so and that’s how you get the ‘C’ shape.”

“You must have quite the interest in archery if you could recognise that, Moe,” Fancy commented as he placed the sheet back over the case. “I, myself, never realised what it was until a few years ago, even though I still do not know much about it. The Saddle Arabians were very secretive about why they chose this shape,” he added as he regarded Moe with hopeful enthusiasm. “Does your homeland use these sorts of designs?"

“Not really I’m afraid, I’ve only ever used recurve or longbow bows,” he said, wishing that he had brought his weapon with him to show Fancy. Unfortunately, he had left it back in Ponyville, stashed in his room away from the designer’s curious sister who was thankfully staying at her parents’ house for the next few days. Still, he didn’t really have a reason to pack it. In reality, he had not brought much along on this trip. After all, they were staying in a densely populated city for one night; why would he need a weapon and a full suitcase of clothes?  Still, he could at least offer Fancy some of his knowledge about this particular kind of bow. “Reflex are great since they have high draw weight and a long draw length. But they aren’t very popular because the bows have a tendency to unstring themselves, and I’d rather not have to deal with that when I need a weapon. Still, the quality of these pieces is always astounding.”

 “Indeed they are! The Saddle Arabians made these as ceremonial pieces, for rituals in ancient times,” Fancy said as Moe stepped away from the artifact. “But that’s as much as I know about this item. Is there anything else you’d like to know about any of the others? I may be a tad rusty, but I still can tell you a few things about each of these pieces.”

“What’s this thing?” Coppa asked as he pressed his face to the glass of another case. “It looks like it’s some sort of carpet.”

“Ah, that is one of my favorite pieces!” Fancy exclaimed as he trotted towards the display case. Moe followed the stallion, taking interest in what had drawn his friend’s attention. As he came close to the display case, he cocked his head slightly as he regarded the piece. “Care to take a guess at what this is?” Fancy asked Moe, eyes full of exuberance.

Moe took a few more seconds as he examined the artefact, taking in every minor detail of the piece. It was a piece of torn fabric, only slightly longer than Moe’s extended arm. All sides, save for the bottom of the fabric, were torn, as though the piece had been hastily cut from the main body. What wasn’t destroyed was covered in careful stitch work swirled and parted in a combination of colour and detail, forming a rather detailed picture. It depicted a number of strange looking ponies standing around what looked to be a large mountain. Each was dressed in a primitive looking set of armour and carried a spear and shield. What interested Moe was the fact that while they were obviously ponies, they possessed wings not unlike those of bats rather than regular pegasi wings.

“I have no Idea. What is this thing?” Moe asked as he turned to Fancy. “Better yet, what are those? I’ve never seen a pony like that yet.”

“This, my friends, is a piece of Thestral history which I managed to purchase at an auction for quite a small price. In all honesty, I think I was the only one who had an inkling of what it was,” Fancy explained as he drew closer. “This piece, also known as The Crimareian Tapestry is one of the first instances of recorded storytelling. It was created in the ancient Thestral kingdom of Crimareia, almost a full eighty years before Nightmare Moon’s attempted coup.”

“What’s a Thestral?” Both Moe and Coppa asked at the same time.

“It’s the actual term for what we now call a Bat Pony,” Fancy answered. “They are exclusive protectors of Princess Luna and form the entirety of her Night Guard. Their land is quite marvelous really, built within the mountainous range of Tramplemania. Crimareia used to spread throughout the entire area around those mountains, but became part of Equestria through a strategic alliance brought about by one of Luna’s personal guards.”

“So what’s the story on this part supposed to be?” Coppa asked quizzically. While he may have been the curious sort, Moe knew Coppa had no real interest in the background information Fancy had just provided. He was always disinterested in history and Moe doubted that he really cared all that much about any of the ancient relics Fancy had on display. Dante, however, would have loved to hear about this, and would have spent days examining any records had he not been so busy trying to find their way home.

“Well it may not be the complete tapestry, but this particular scene detailed the slaying of a dragon which had plagued the kingdom. Apparently, Luna had sent one of her guards to negotiate a treaty with the Thestrals. When the stallion arrived, the king was reluctant at first, but eventually agreed on one condition: the guard would have to slay the dragon.”

“Well I’m guessing he did? Luna wouldn’t have her guards if he had been eaten.”

“Correct. He did indeed slay the dragon,” Fancy said, prompting a look of smug satisfaction from Coppa. “He was able to scale the mountain and fought the dragon to a standstill. According to Nightshade the younger, who was the Thestral who accompanied him to the summit of the mountain. The guard fought so ferociously, that a storm thundered every time he landed a blow. Eventually, he managed to defeat the dragon, and in doing so gain the respect of the Thestrals. They even gave him the title of Dragonslayer for his valour and bravery.”

“Impressive,” Moe said in awe, “But what happened to the rest of the Tapestry?”

“There isn’t a definite answer to that,” Fancy replied. “As far as any historian can tell, it simply disappeared after Princess Luna was banished. Even the Thestrals have no idea where it went. All that remains is this small fragment. A real pity, they said that the complete tapestry was over fifty hooves long.”

“Knowledge and art is usually the next thing to suffer after the people in times of conflict,” Moe uttered sadly. It was the bitter truth, even in their own world; much of the past was still unknown, lost to time and conflict between the races. While they did have some information regarding recent events, ancient history had suffered the greatest damage. Even more depressing was the fact they had so little information left that wasn’t oral, that no scholar could manage to write a decent history book. Much of the knowledge they did have - if there was any, Moe wasn’t sure- was either incomplete or offered only a small glimpse of the past. 

Fancy nodded solemnly in agreement. “It certainly seems that way.” A stuffy silence filled the room as none of the occupants realised they had anything left to say. Slowly, the awkwardness of the situation rose, prompting Coppa to cough into his arm in an attempt to start a different conversation.

“Well I think that’s enough history for now,” Coppa said loudly. “Maybe we should change the topic?” He added as he stared directly at Fancy Pants. “I think it’s time we discussed why we are here. Fancy, you are getting married soon, right?”

“You are indeed correct, but it’s going to be a small ceremony between Fleur’s family as well as my own. This engagement party is simply a formal event to catch up with our friends.”

“Rriiiight...” Coppa said unimpressed, while Moe waited to hear his friend’s idea. Something about the tone of Coppa’s voice made Moe wary. He was well acquainted with the dwarf’s penchant for stupid ideas, but something about this particular situation made Moe extremely worried.

“So when’s your stag party?”

There it was.

“What, may I ask, is a stag party?”

“Coppa, can you not do this? There’s a reason you’re banned from having parties in the dorm houses,” Moe said in a menacing tone. “You remember what happened the last time you tried to do something like this. The common room on the second floor still has the scorch marks.”

“You know, a stag party! It’s a different way of saying a bachelor party!” Coppa said as he ignored Moe’s warning. He was dead set on this, Moe could see it in his eye. Once Coppa got the idea in his head for a party of this sort, he was always dead set on it. In his mind, this wasn’t going to be a Pinkiesque party. There weren’t going to be any streamers or games that the bouncy pony had brought to their welcome party. No, this was going to be a full blown smorgasbord of Coppa style binge drinking and would end up with them dealing with a few bruises the next day. Moe had to stop this before it started, or else Fancy Pants would be in for a world of hurt.

“Coppa I’m not going to...” he trailed off as he realised both Coppa and Fancy were gone, probably sneaking out while he was suffering through the shellshock of past incidents. “Dammit! Every single time!” He let out a breath of frustration knowing that by now it would be too late to reverse Coppa’s decision. If his best friend was anything, it was that he was the most stubborn, bull-headed, thick skulled person he knew.

Then again...

Moe could probably control the damage Coppa might cause. If he could act as a babysitter, then perhaps he could steer Coppa’s rambunctious actions away from any sort of possible problem. This was his best course of action, a true win-win situation. Coppa would get his party, and Moe would be able to make sure they could at least avoid a night in a Manehatten jail cell.

The thought left him with a bit of hope and allowed him to relax. Now all he could do was to wait for the coming storm.

“Moe, wait here, I’ve gotta go find Fleur!” Coppa shouted as he ran past him. “Also, get your wallet ready!”

“Cue the countdown...”


*****


“What did we do after that?” Moe asked himself as he struggled to recall the night’s events. Everything seemed to be in a haze, a disordered mishmash of partial memories. It was curious, he hadn’t intended to get intoxicated that night, yet here he was with a terrible hangover and almost no memories of what he did or where he was. “What the hell happened last night?”

Perhaps it was fate, or simply bad luck, but a knocking at the door drew his attention. He struggled to make it to the doorway, his mind and body still reeling from whatever he had done the previous night. Every limb felt heavy and uncoordinated, causing him to stumble toward the door. Pressing himself against it, he peered in through the spy hole and sighed in relief as the worried face of Coppa appeared on the other side.

“Moe? You in here?” Coppa asked, about to knock another time before Moe opened the door slightly. “Dude you look like hell,” he added as he walked in and looked at the destruction.

 “Apparently that also applies to our room. We are so not getting that security deposit back.” He turned around, but stopped dead in his tracks as he cocked an eyebrow. “Freeballing it are we?”

“What did we do last night?” Moe asked, apparently not hearing the snide remark. His mind was racing a mile a minute again and wasn’t allowing him to focus on much else. “I can’t remember anything...”

“That’s great dude, but could you put on some pants?” Coppa asked with little enthusiasm as he pointed to Moe’s lower half. “I’d be more than happy to discuss the best night of our lives without having to get an eyeful of your junk.” A tiny smirk played on his lips as Moe began to catch onto what he was saying. “Aww, it’s hiding now.”

Moe blushed as he realised he was standing in front of his best friend completely naked. Flushed with embarrassment, he somehow managed to stumble towards the other room and only fell twice on his way there. His mood soured even more as he passed through the bedroom and heard Coppa shout to him again between bouts of laughter. “It’s a good thing you have so many other talents to attract women with!”

“Shut up!” Moe shouted back as he searched frantically for some clothes. The tips of his ears burned red as he searched for his pants, but only came upon a few candy wrappers and his other sock, which was extremely crusty and smelled terrible for some odd reason. Forsaking the notion that he’d find any of his clothes in the partially destroyed bedroom, he ripped a blanket off the bed.

“What the?” he asked to himself as a white hoof became partially exposed by his action. Hesitantly, he poked the hoof with a finger as he tried to recall any of the ponies he had met that had a white coat. “Rarity?” he asked quietly, hoping to god that the mare was in fact underneath those blankets.

“Mmm...” A soft feminine voice cooed back, which prompted Moe to let out another sigh of relief, grateful he hadn’t accidentally brought some strange mare into his bed. For now he just wanted to assume that they had merely passed out on the bed, nothing more.

“Sorry, just go back to sleep,” Moe whispered as he wrapped the blanket around his shoulders in a mock cloak that covered him from neck to toe. Carefully, he stepped away from the sleeping mare and back into the main room. There he was greeted by Coppa who was busy eating what looked like an old piece of cardboard covered in cheese that he had just pulled from the rooms mini fridge. The smell coming from the fridge in the corner of the room was somewhere between rotten eggs and rancid meat and was making it hard for Moe not to start throwing up. “What the hell is that?”

“Cold pizza, found it in the fridge -mmmph, man this is good- over there. It looked like it was edible. Smells like crap though, but I’m past that,” Coppa said between chews of whatever substance was in the bag. He paused in mid chew as he looked at the disgusted elf who sat down in one of the few unbroken chairs. “You okay, buddy?”

“No, I am in so much pain right now,” Moe groaned as he pressed himself deeper into the chair. “How about you?”

“Meh, I’ve been through worse,” He pointed to spot on the floor which Moe had overlooked. A few blankets and what looked to be a pile of bowling pins surrounded a clear area in the shape of a body. “Last time we’re playing dwarf toss though.” He chuckled as he crushed the paper bag and tossed it over his shoulder. 

“At least it went better than some of our previous parties.” He grinned as he stared off into space. “Do you remember that one time when I drank too much and I showed up at our room’s front door, trying to unlock it with a trout?” Moe nodded as he recalled the night as well. Hell, he was the one who had to clean the fish guts off the door. “What the hell was I doing with a trout?” Coppa added, still reminiscing about that one night.

He then breathed in, his face turning giddy as he stretched his arms. “Man, I haven’t done anything like that in a while. At least I didn’t break any of my teeth this time.”

“Sure, great for you. But that doesn’t answer my question. What did we do last night?” Moe asked, dreading any possible answer that had his rough dwarf friend this excited. “Better question, where are we and how did I end up like this?”

“How much do you remember?”

“We got to Manehatten and met Fancy Pants and Fleur. We were going off to their summer home to meet some other ponies.” Moe groaned as he looked at the loose tie sitting around his neck. “Why is it that I look like I was forced to be a male stripper?”

“Funny story about that,” Coppa said through a chuckle before he was silenced by Moe’s glare. “Sorry, I’ll get back to telling you what happened.”

“Please do... Every minute just makes me think I’ve screwed myself over more and more.”

“Yea I guess that’s a good way to put it...”

“What the hell is that supposed to mean?” Moe asked with venom dripping from his voice.

“Well... trust me when I say it was pretty memorable. You pretty much brought the house down there at the club,” Coppa said as he leaned back on his arms. “Fancy was completely tanked about an hour in. We sent him home, and then you got really wasted.” He took a second and watched as Moe struggled to put it all together. “You don’t remember any of that?”

Moe gave a weary sigh while he tried to piece together whatever he had done. He groaned as some of the earlier memories filled his head, giving him a slightly clear picture. “Not really, I only get flashes here and there...”

“Well, first of all, Fleur was totally on board with the idea,” Coppa commented as though the fact somehow made Moe’s situation any better. “So I guess we should start with when I came back.”

*****

“I said no.”

 “C’mon Moe, Why not?” Coppa pleaded as he got on his knees and shook his open palms. “You don’t expect Fancy to pay for all of this by himself. That would be a terrible thing to do...”

“Why don’t you pay for it then?” Moe shot back, his arms crossed in defiance. They had been going at this for nearly ten minutes while Fleur, Rarity, and two other ponies Moe had yet to greet had just been content with watching them argue. “This was your idea, so maybe you should front the money for it.”

“I would if I could, but unfortunately, I blew it all saving a friend’s farm!” Coppa retorted. He smiled as Moe faltered, realising that if anything, the elf would lose a lot more face in front of this crowd if he didn’t agree to finance this party expedition. “So, it looks like you’re the patron of this night. So let’s not bitch about it and just have fun!”

“Props to that!” one of the two guests shouted, much to the chagrin of her companion. Coppa grinned and bumped his fist with her outstretched hoof. “C’mon man, it’ll be awesome!”

“Right, who are you again?” Moe asked as he looked at the two mares quizzically. The pair was the epitome of opposites. One the one side was a white unicorn mare with a musical note for a cutie mark and a ridiculously spiked two toned blue mane and tail. A pair of purple sunglasses sat on her head, blocking Moe from ascertaining the actual colour of her eyes. Opposite to her was a greyish mare sporting a well kempt black mane, a light pink bowtie, and a purple treble clef for her own cutie mark.

“Dude, they were at our welcome party. Do you seriously not recognise them?” Coppa asked, not taking Moe’s confusion seriously. Moe shook his head, still not entirely sure who the two were. “Well the white one is Vinyl Scratch, also known as DJ Pon-3.” He gestured to the white unicorn mare before turning to her friend. “This is her marefriend Octavia, a cellist for the Canterlot Orchestra.”

“A pleasure to make your acquaintance once again,” Octavia said as she gave a small curtsy to Moe. He returned the gesture with a small bow.

“Likewise. I apologise for not remembering you two.”

“Now that we all know each other, why don’t we head to my gig? It’s not far from here either!” Vinyl said, obviously excited at the prospect. Moe chuckled as he began to compare Vinyl’s attitude with that of his own best friend. The white mare noticed his gaze linger on her a little too long and smirked. “Like what you see?” she asked with a sultry tone before giving his face a little whip with her tail. He heard a notable gasp come from Rarity as he stood there, taken aback from the gesture.

“Vinyl!” Octavia said as she stood in front of a rather offended looking Rarity. “You’ve known him for less than ten minutes and you're already playing games?”

“Oh come on, it was just a joke.” The DJ smirked at the flustered elf. “No harm done right?”

“S-sure...”

“See, it’s all good! Now come on, let’s get to the club!”

I am so going to regret this...

*****

“I can’t believe we are doing this,” Moe grumbled as he sat in one of the many booths of the nightclub. Vinyl hadn’t joked when she said that the club would be completely packed by the time they got there. There was barely enough standing room on the floors, and anypony who wanted to walk somewhere had to force their way through the massive crowd just to move a few feet. Moe had resigned himself to the booth early on and was simply content with watching as the ponies in the crowd danced intimately to the beat of the music.

From his perch in the booth, he could see the rest of the group next to the stage, near the speakers that blasted music with such intensity that it felt like his head was being hit repeatedly with a hammer. Apparently, he was the only one who found this sensation uncomfortable as every patron in the club was currently dancing as if their lives depended on it. He could even see Coppa down both drinks in his hands before tossing the plastic cups aside before getting passed around as a dance partner for a few tipsy mares.

Looking upwards, beyond the plight of his friend, he caught sight of the DJ and Rarity dancing on the stage. Vinyl Scratch was doing more headbanging than dancing, but Rarity was swaying her hips side to side as the music played. With the strobe lights flashing, the entire scene before him was turned into more of a frame-by-frame sort of effect. He smiled inwardly as he found that even Fancy Pants and his Fiancée were dancing and losing themselves to the beat.

“It’s quite something, isn’t it?” he heard Octavia say over the deafening noise of the club. He turned his head to see that Octavia had appeared on the other side of the booth. Her own appearance was slightly messier than when she had started out, and Moe could see the sheen of sweat that was reflected by the waving lights up above. “I admit, I’m not a fan of these events, but I can’t help but find myself dancing away. How about you? I haven’t seen you out there yet.”

“I’ve had bad experiences that resulted from being in places like this,” Moe muttered as he played with the empty glass in front of him. He watched as the ice in the bottom of the cup swirled and clinked together as he debated whether he should just leave at that point. “I think I might go, this isn’t really my sort of place.”

“I was like that once, but Vinyl eventually got me to let loose and I found I actually enjoyed these places on occasion,” she explained as she put a hoof on Moe’s shoulder. “I say that you should at least give it a shot.”

“You think?” Moe asked as he watched the mare give him an encouraging nod. He thought about it for a moment, weighing the pros and cons before he rolled up his sleeves and put on a confident smile. “You know what? Yeah, I think I will enjoy myself for once. It’s not like I have her to worry about anymore.” He felt his heart race as he stood up. Though it seemed fate had other plans as the music faded to a halt before he could do anything. “Or I can simply continue sitting here and wait this whole thing out.”

“Don’t worry, it’s only the intermission, they’ll be playing again soon enough,” Octavia said as she sipped from her own drink. Moe nodded, sitting back down as he watched the DJ hop down from the stage and push her way through the throng of adoring fans, Coppa and Fancy following close behind her. “How are you feeling Fancy? Are you enjoying yourself?”

“I must say, this has possibly been one of the most entertaining nights of my life,” Fancy said before he nearly fell over. “Though I think I may have overdrank a slight amount. I feel rather woozy.”

“If you want, I can escort you home,” Moe offered, but Fancy merely waved him off. “Are you sure Fancy?”

“I am absolutely sure; I don’t want to ruin the fun for my friends just because I had one too many drinks. You stay here and enjoy yourself; I can walk myself home. It shouldn’t be a problem for me.”

“Fancy, I don’t think you’re in any shape to walk home,” Moe said trying to stand up, only to be pushed back into his chair by Fancy’s hoof. “At least get a carriage home!”

“Fine, but I have one request. Moe, as one stallion to another, stay here. I want you to make sure that Fleur has the best night of her life and that everypony else has fun.” Fancy’s voice was firm and Moe nodded silently as he stepped back. “Good, Rarity and Fleur have gone to the restroom to freshen up, I in the meantime hope to see you all tomorrow. Hopefully we shall all be in one piece by then,” the stallion said before he trotted off and left the group to their booth.

Coppa shouted as he sat down, almost knocking the table over while doing so. “Man that was some awesome stuff, Vinyl! Never heard anything like it ever in my life!” Vinyl laughed at his comment and gave him a friendly punch in the shoulder. In his inebriated state, that simple punch caused Coppa to fall over onto Moe’s lap. “Heeeeeyyy buddy, s-how are you doin?” He said as he gave Moe a goofy smile.

“What have you been drinking, and how much is it going to cost me?” Moe asked as Coppa burped loudly. Moe nearly gagged as the smell of alcohol and bad breath was launched directly into his face. “Oh my god Coppa, what crawled down there and died. It smells like dead fish!”

“Just like between your mom’s legs,” Coppa slurred as he sat up unsteadily. He looked at Moe with an intended expression of distaste, but only managed to give him a blank stare. “Whys ain’t you out there? You shuld be out rippin’ ‘er!”

“Yea, Moe, come on, come ‘an shake it with us!” Vinyl shouted before she called out for a mare with a tray of empty glasses. The DJ leaned in close and whispered something into the mare’s ears. The server nodded and grinned as she left the four and headed straight for the bar. Vinyl giggled as she watched Moe stare at her. “You’re going to love these, and no, you can’t back out from them.”

Before Moe could ask what she meant, the server returned with four small glasses of neon multi-coloured shots that glowed with surprising intensity. Vinyl levitated them to each of the four shots and placed them in front of each of them. Moe hesitantly picked up the glass, gave it a sniff, and nearly recoiled as even the air around the glass became saturated with alcohol.

“The hell is this?” Moe asked as his heart began to beat faster. Vinyl chuckled as she held up her shot and watched as the drink shifted colours in the light.

“Liquid happiness, it’ll get you in the partying mood, I guarantee it!” Vinyl boasted as she held out her glass. “Don’t be a filly. Just let it happen and drink it!”

“Cheers!” Coppa shouted as he gripped his glass in his mouth and tilted his head back. Moe watched the dwarf’s face turn red, then yellow, then green as the shot travelled down his gullet. Moe watched as the dwarf’s fur turned the other colours of the rainbow before returning to its regular shade of brown. He spat the glass out before slamming his hands on the table. “Woaaaahhhh! Damn that’s good!”

“Bottoms up!” Vinyl said as she and Octavia both followed suit and downed their drinks. Moe watched as their coats changed shades before settling back to their regular shades. Octavia looked as though she were barely holding on after that while Vinyl was bouncing up and down in her seat. “Come on! Drink it! Drink it! Drink it! She clamoured before turning to the crowd and placing her hooves to her mouth. “HEY EVERYPONY COME AND GIVE HIM A HOOF! YOU ALL KNOW THE WORDS!”

Nearly four hundred stallions and mares all cheered before they began to chant. 

“DRINK IT! DRINK IT! DRINK IT!”

Moe swallowed nervously as the voices grew louder and louder. His hands shook as he raised the shot to his lips. With a quick flick he brought his head back and grimaced as the liquid flowed through his mouth and down the back of his throat. He gagged a little, surprised by the fact that despite all odds, there was something he could actually feel as it hit his tongue. It actually burned when it travelled down his gullet.

He could actually taste the alcohol.

“TASTE THE RAINBOW, MOTHERBUCKER!” Vinyl and the crowd shouted as Moe watched his skin alternate colours. It felt as though his skin were covered in tiny little ants, just creeping and crawling as his body processed what was happening. Not hesitating, now in the face of the crowd, he flipped the shot glass over and slammed in on the table. He stood up proud and raised a fist, causing the crowd to go wild as they shouted praise to him. When the revelry was over, he took his seat again and leaned back in his chair. He turned his head and gave Vinyl a weak smile before he suddenly let out a loud belch.

“So spicy...” he managed to say as Coppa clapped him on the back. He barely suppressed an ‘ulp’ before he clapped his hand over his mouth.

“Oh yea, it’s one of those things you can only get here in Manehatten.” Vinyl chuckled as she tipped her glass back in hopes of seeing if there was anything she had missed. “You good now? Think you can finally handle the crowd?”

“I can handle anything you throw at me,” Moe boasted as the alcohol began to addle his mind. A nice little warm feeling had begun to burn in the pit of his chest, calming his hesitation and making him feel a little more open minded. ”The real question is...” He trailed off as he leaned over the table and closed in so that his mouth was hovering just a few inches from her ear. He could see her ear twitch as his breath tickled her fur while he whispered into it. He grinned evilly as he put on an erotic tone to his words. “Do you think you can handle me?”

“Well, we can certainly find out when I get back on stage,” Vinyl said with a sultry tone as she lifted her sunglasses and gave him a half-lidded stare. “Although, I was wondering something myself. How good are you at dancing?”


******


“Wait, so I was drunk off of that one shot?” Moe asked in disbelief. Coppa only chuckled as he pulled a small piece of paper out of his pocket and handed it to Moe. Moe took and, carefully holding it in his shaking hands, glanced at it. From the hasty scribbling, it was obvious that it was Coppa’s drunk writing, but besides the fact it was still entirely legible. Moe’s stomach churned as he read off the list of ingredients. “Half ounce of both cranberry and orange juice, half ounce of premium Stalliongrad vodka, half ounce of Clear Feather Liquor from Cloudsdale, two ounces of Applejack Daniels. Mix with a diluted Rainbow juice and then serve. Total alcohol content: More than a human liver can handle... ”

“Yup, that Rainbow juice pretty much enhances the stopping power. Going to have to get some of that later,” Coppa said as he took the list out of Moe’s hands. “That shot plus the straight vodkas you kept ordering at the club pretty much wrecked you.”

“Vodka? All I had was water,” Moe said quietly. “That shot was the only alcohol I had that night.”

“You realise they use ‘water’ as a slang term for Vodka sometimes right?” Coppa explained, much to Moe’s chagrin. “From the receipts I found in my pants, what you actually ordered was at least four straight cups of vodka. All of which you drank in under an hour. I’m pretty sure that’d put a dent in anybody.”

“Did Rarity see me like that?” Moe asked as he clutched his head in anguish. “Please tell me I didn’t do anything incredibly stupid!”

“Ok, then I won’t tell you,” Coppa explained before he saw Moe’s disheartened expression. “But yeah, you did something kind of ridiculous. Rarity was there to experience it firsthand too...”

“Oh god, I can’t deal with this right now,” Moe groaned as he stood up unsteadily. “Out of anything that could have happened, this is possibly the worst possible thing I can imagine!”

“Well, why don’t you get dressed first and then we can deal with this,” Coppa hesitated as his nose picked up a scent which made his skin crawl. He pinched his nose almost immediately as his eyes began to water. “On second thought, maybe you should shower first.”

“I think that’s a good idea,” Moe said as he left Coppa and carefully made his way to the bathroom. As he closed the door behind him, he let the blanket fall from his shoulders, exposing himself to the drafty room. Before he stepped into the shower, he cleared the floor of the tub free from any empty containers. “Colt light, banana rum... Irn Bru? Wow, we went all out last night...” he murmured as he tossed the cans and bottles aside and stepped into the shower.

With a twist of the shower knob, a jet of warm water erupted from the shower tap. Moe sighed in relief as the refreshing feeling of water splashed across his skin. He let his head rest against the wall as he hummed to himself and let the stream wash over his head. “This day couldn’t get any worse...” he mumbled as he banged his head against the shower wall, only to immediately regret it a few seconds later as his headache increased twofold.

The next few minutes after that fateful comment sought to prove him wrong, as the door to the bathroom opened without him hearing, and a sudden feeling of arms wrapped around his waist caused him to peer down. Sure enough, two white hooves were currently wrapped around his midriff and he could hear the heavy pants coming from the mare behind him as she clung to him tightly.  He could even feel the distinctive prod of a horn pressing lightly into his back.

“Hey there, I see you’re finally up. Did you have a good sleep?” Moe chuckled nervously as he felt the hooves cling to his body a little tighter while the mare gave him a satisfied ‘mmhmm.’ He shivered as the pair of hooves moved slightly down towards his groin, inching down bit by bit. “Woah, Umm Rarity… what are you doing?”

“Oh I know what I am doing,” the voice said as Moe’s heart almost stopped in its tracks. He felt the mystery mare’s breath tickle his ear as she whispered into it. “Now that I’ve got you to myself right now, why don’t we finish off where we left last night?”

“You’re not Rarity are you?”

“Baby, after last night’s fun, and boy, let me tell you, it was amazing...” The mare giggled as her hoofs found their mark and caused Moe to tense up in shock. “Rarity is going to wish she was me~”

Oh GODam-

TO BE CONTINUED
	
> The Hangover part 2.5: From Her Perspective 
> --------------------------------------------------------------------------

	“So tell me Rarity, how did you come across him?” Fleur chimed as she examined her appearance in the restroom mirror. The fashionista's ears perked up as the supermodel let out an amused giggle. “I’m simply dying to know how you encountered such a ... err... what was he again?”

“I'm sorry Fleur, I didn’t hear you. What were you talking about?” Rarity asked as she did her best to hear Fleur over the loud music that shook the thin walls. The thumping bass of Vinyl’s set was made even louder by the fact it was trapped within the small restroom. Rarity was pretty much forced to stand shoulder to shoulder with Fleur just to hear her.

“I was asking about your acquaintance. How did you two meet?” Fleur asked. “Was it through a mutual acquaintance, or did you two just happen to run into each other?”

“A small variation of the latter,” Rarity said as she turned on the tap with her magic and ran her hooves underneath the warm water. “He dropped into the Boutique over late at night a month ago . It was rather frightening for both of us if I do say; I thought my poor little shop was going to be plundered by some brigand. He on the other hand, simply had no idea where he was.”

“How did he manage to get into the Boutique? Do you not lock your doors at night?”

“As I said, he simply dropped into the Boutique,” Rarity replied as she used her magic to dry her hooves. “Though I may have overreacted un petit peu...” Her face cracked with a slightly embarrassed smile at the thought of nearly spearing Moe with a pair of scissors that night.

“Oh? Overreacted in what way?” Fleur asked, prodding further, her thirst for gossip overtaking her train of thought. “Whaterver it was, It must have been quite a feat to scare of something so exotic and dangerous.” She added a slight emphasis on the two words but strangely enough, Rarity realised it was far from a concerned tone. It seemed as though the thought filled her with excitement

“Fleur, Moe is far from dangerous. Exotic? Yes, in a sense. But he would never hurt anypony,” Rarity explained. “He is a perfect gentlestall- er man... and has helped me greatly over the past month. He's been such a great assistance to my work recently, and he has helped my friends as well. Not only did he manage to reconcile Applejack and Coppa’s friendship, he was also able to assist Spike with a particular issue only a day ago. In all honesty, he's such a perfect companion. He's kind, caring, polite, considerate, diligent...”

“Incredibly attractive?” Fleur said with a coy smile.

“Oh you have no iiiideaaa,” Rarity moaned aloud, forgetting that they weren’t the only ones in the bathroom. Her entire coat took on a very noticeable shade of pink as she realised what she had just said. “Fleur! Now is not the time for jokes.”

“I wasn’t joking Rarity,” Fleur giggled. Rarity was still a bright shade of pink as flashes of her walking in on Moe flashed in her mind, despite her desire to suppress them. “Any experienced talent scout could tell that your friend is good looking,” Fleur added as she stroked her chin with a hoof in contemplation. “If he worked on it, I’m certain he could be a male model. However, on a personal note, I think short hair would suit him better. But that’s beside the point.” She tilted her head slightly as she pondered her next question. “Though I am wondering, with you two –and I hope I am correct in assuming he is staying at your home- living together, how far have you two progressed?”

“Fleur, that is incredibly inappropriate!” Rarity said as the pink shade turned to a dark scarlet. “High society mares like us shouldn’t be discussing subjects as uncouth as this.”

“Au contraire mon amie,” Fleur said as she leaned in close to Rarity’s ear. “What do you think we talk about when we have a ladies night out? Mares aren’t all that different from stallions, we just aren’t as vocal about it. I can’t begin tell you how many times I’ve compared encounters with some of the other girls.” A quiet exhilarated giggle escaped from the model as her own cheeks flushed slightly. Rarity couldn’t believe how depraved the conversation had become. Here was the Fleur de Lis, somepony who was revered as one of the most beautiful and proper mares in all of the fashion world, giggling like an excitable little filly. Inside her own mind, Rarity was debating whether she should simply give in to Fleur’s inquiry. Her conscious told her to just leave the subject, but that small perverse part of her mind simply wouldn’t allow it. Fleur’s playful stare wasn’t helping either.

“So?" Fleur asked with a sparkle in her eyes. "Exactly how far have you two gotten?”

“Fleur!”

“Once a dirty minded mare, always a dirty minded mare,” said a voice from behind the two. Both of them turned to see Octavia standing behind them. “Tell me Fleur, do you still peep on stallions in the shower as well?” Octavia questioned, her face barely holding back an enthused grin.

“No, now I am into something... much darker,” Fleur said with an evil smile that made Rarity and Octavia take a step back.

“Right...” Octavia replied a little unnerved by Fleur’s comment. She cleared her throat as she turned to Rarity while Fleur continued to giggle. “I just came by to check on you two and to let you know that Fancy decided to head home.”

“Fancy, Fancy, Fancy, always the cute little lightweight,” Fleur smiled as she went back to examining her appearance. “What about our other guests? Is Vinyl entertaining Rarity’s coltfriend and his friend?”

“Fleur, he isn’t my coltfriend!”

“She’s doing what she does best and the other two are on the dance floor as we speak. However, it may have taken a little more work to convince Moe to join us. He seemed rather... apprehensive, at least when I talked to him.” Octavia thought for a second before adding: “He did say something about having a bad experience before, though I am not sure what he meant by it.”

Several thoughts filled Rarity’s mind, the most prominent being the topic of a particular scarred piece of flesh. Her mind went back to the thoughts of when she had seen it on Moe. Had that small brand been the result of some accident? Or was it some deliberate form of self scarring? She wasn’t sure at that moment, but something told her that there was more to it than met the eye. Either way, she had more questions now that Octavia had brought it up.

“I’m not sure either,” Rarity added, “It seems there is much he hasn’t told me.”

“Come now, Rarity, everyone has secrets. Perhaps he simply wants to make a good impression? I’m sure Moe simply doesn’t want to discuss his past mishaps because he’s frightened that you might view him differently.” Fleur said in an assuring tone as she placed a hoof on Rarity’s shoulder.

“I suppose that might be true,” Rarity said, “Though, he’s been rather open about everything else. But he should know that I wouldn’t judge him because of one simple mishap in the past. If anything, I would hope he’d tell me what was bothering him.”

“Well I’m sure you can ask him later,” Fleur added with a smile. “For now, we should get back to the others. We wouldn’t want to miss out on the rest of the night.”

“Of course Fleur,” Rarity said as she opened the door and trotted out with Fleur and Octavia in tow. Interestingly enough, the club had gone silent and all the lights, save for the black lights, had been shut off. An atmosphere of nervous anticipation could be felt throughout the crowd as they stood there in the darkness. “Is this part of the set?” Rarity asked as she turned towards Octavia.
“I’m not sure,” Octavia replied, “Vinyl never said anything about this.”

“Maybe there was a problem with the electricity?” Fleur said, uncertain as the crowd began to murmur impatiently.

Octavia shook her head. “No, if there was the all of the lights would be out. This has to be something Vinyl cooked up last minute.”

“Well I just hope she knows what she’s doing. These ponies seem to be getting a little anxious for her to start again,” Rarity said as a random mare bumped into her. The entire crowd seemed to getting restless as they shuffled and knocked into each other. Rarity had to take a step back as two ponies began pushing at each other to get closer to the stage. It didn’t take a genius to figure out that if Vinyl didn’t play something in the next few minutes, it wouldn’t take much for a full scale brawl to occur.

“There you guys are!” Coppa exclaimed as he came into view holding two bottles in his hand. It took him a few moments to reach the three mare as he pushed himself through the crowd. He nearly knocked over a few ponies before he managed to reach Rarity. “You guys are just in time for the final set!”

“Coppa what’s going on?” Rarity asked as he simply grinned. “Where is Moe?”

Coppa laughed in response after he took a large gulp from one bottle. “You’re going to find out in a few seconds.”

Rarity stared at him in confusion, ready to ask him to clarify what he meant before a soft yet seductive voice filtered out of the speakers. “Hey there Manehatten. Are you ponies ready for a show?”

The three mares turned towards the stage where a soft glow began to emanate from the built in stage lights. Two figures stood on the stage, shrouded by the fog that floated from the rafters. The effect, however cheap it was, did its job well; completely obscuring the two and making them appear as indistinguishable blobs. Rarity practically had to squint just to pick out one standing behind the turntable on stage. She had a good idea of who that pony might be, but she was still trying to identify the other one.

The crowd roared to life in response to the beat of the music beginning to pick up again, and the fog began to part. Rarity couldn’t believe her eyes as the fog made way for the two figures. Vinyl stood on her back legs with her forelimbs on the turntables, her signature sunglasses missing for once, and revealing her red eyes glowing in the darkened stage. She was completely covered in swirling patterns of neon coloured paint that were emphasized by the black light. Her shock remained firmly in place as the fog made way for the next figure.

Rarity had to blink twice as she stared, mouth open in disbelief as Moe stood tall centre stage. He was still dressed in his school uniform, but trails of glowing colour were painted in a tribal style all over his face and neck. The crowd welcomed the newcomer as grinned and pulled a small device out of his pocket. He raised it high over his head as the microphone that was pinned to his shirt picked up his voice.

“Are you ponies ready to kick it up a notch!?” he shouted, his eyes half lidded and a large smile plastered across his face. The ponies in the crowd all shouted in agreement while Moe locked eyes with Vinyl. “I think that’s a yes!” He shouted to The DJ

“Then let’s drop the bass!” Vinyl shouted back as her hoof made contact with one of the many glowing buttons on her turntable. A loud boom of bass filled the entire building, shaking walls and ponies to the core while Moe pressed the button sitting in his hand.

With a loud ‘BANG,’ hundreds of paint packages that were placed strategically over the crowd exploded and showered the crowd with the same neon paint that covered the two on the stage. Rarity had to take a step back as the music blared to life and the multitude of bright colours from the paint and light assaulted her senses. Normally, she would have been aghast at the thought of her mane and coat covered in anything, but she was just too shocked at the moment to form a sentence.

“Vinyl never said anything about this!” Octavia, now covered in a mix of pink and blue paint, shouted.

“That’s because she set this up when we got here!” A now rainbow coloured Coppa said as he chugged the entire contents of the bottle in his hands"

“What is Moe doing up there?”

“Vinyl thought he looked a little down awhile ago,” Coppa explained loudly before he finished off  the other bottle and let it drop to the floor. He wiped his mouth, smearing the paint on his face into something that resembled a large red smile that went with the white paint on his face and the black areas around his eyes. “She decided to get him to loosen up and let him in on her surprise. You should be watching this by the way, I’ve never seen him this out of it before!” Coppa added as he pointed back to the stage.

Rarity followed his finger as she peered back on the stage. A number of distinctly female screams could be heard as she caught sight of Moe. The elf had undone the top buttons of his shirt, revealing the bare skin down to his midsection. His necktie sat loose around his neck, swaying as he danced to the beat. Rarity couldn’t help but stare as she watched him dance. Every single movement was graceful and smooth. The added bonus, and it seemed that almost every mare in the room agreed, was that he looked downright sexy as he did so. Even Octavia and Fleur couldn’t help but gawk at the display as the strobe lights made the entire dance into a picture show.

They all watched as Moe swayed back and forth and seemingly gazed right through each mare, peeking through the golden hair that partially covered his face. A soft yet inviting grin sat on his face as he winked to no one in particular, but everypony in the club seemed to think it was for them. Rarity scanned the other mares -and even a few more liberal stallions- who were practically screaming at him to continue undoing the buttons of his shirt. Much to her chagrin, she saw as each watched him with awe, amusement and desire. She felt a raw feeling of jealousy as the mares called for him to continue removing his shirt, all while whistling and practically screaming at him to do so.

A few even tossed bits at him as if to add incentive.

With the ponies in the crowd roaring in approval, Moe continued to strip down. Much to her surprise, he seemed to relish in attention. His little show had gotten everyone's blood pumping and their screams only seemed to push him to show off more and more of his body to the crowd. He worked at his shirt, and for what seemed like an eternity, it eventually it fell from his shoulders. Rarity had to pin her ears back as the screams of approval nearly shattered her eardrums. Rarity had to step back as the paint covered wings of the pegasus mare in front of her shout out and nearly hit her in the face. 

“Enjoy it while you can ladies! Just remember, you guys can look, but you can’t touch! ” Rarity heard Vinyl say as she started the final song of the night. Then as if to add to the entire spectacle, she left the turntable and made her way quickly over to Moe. The elf greeted her by letting her stand up against him on her back legs. Rarity felt her cheeks grow hot with jealousy as she watched the both of them dance together, the DJ giving Moe a flirting gesture as she wiggled her flank for him. The crowd kept cheering on in approval as the scene got more intimate, with Vinyl grinding herself against Moe’s lower section. 

“Oh this is too good,” Coppa said as he watched in anticipation as the song reached its climax. Rarity felt her heart hammer as Vinyl turned and locked her gaze with Moe. The elf returned the gesture and the entire crowd held their breath as they watched the two inch closer and closer together. Coppa however, held no such reserve and decided to goad them on. “ Come on Moe! Why don’t you go in for the kill you pussy!”

“No, no, no…” Rarity murmured to herself as the beat began to pick up for the final climax.

As the song reached its final leg, Rarity’s mind nearly shattered. She watched as Vinyl practically grabbed the back of Moe’s head and pressed her mouth to his. The DJ even going so far as to show that they were also using their tongues. Their bodies kept dancing as Vinyl wrapped her legs around his head and Moe returned the kiss. The mare responded by wrapping her tail around his midsection and him in close to her. Rarity merely stood there in silence as everyone around her: Coppa and everypony else went insane and cheered. She even caught Fleur whistling at the entire scene. As the stage lights finally dimmed slightly and the music ended with a loud bang, the two fell to the floor where they broke their passionate kiss.

“Thanks for coming out Manehatten!” Vinyl called out, still straddling Moe beneath her. “You’ve all been an awesome crowd. Why don’t we give a hand to my friend here for making this night the best ever!” 

Everyone in the crowd cheered as the DJ bowed to her fans, except for the lone fashionista who was too busy trying to leave the scene. Anger, hurt, betrayal, sadness, and a small sprinkling of pure unadulterated rage all swelled in her chest as she pushed her way past the crowd. She didn’t even hear Coppa or any of her friends call out to her as she ran off. All she wanted was to get out of that place and away from the crowd. If it wasn’t for her pride, she would have stormed the stage or attacked somepony. 

Only when she finally managed to get out of the club did she act on her emotions. Alone in the desolate street, Rarity shuddered as she trudged home alone. A few tears leaked from her eyes, causing the neon paint in her fur to smear and run. She felt defeated, hollow, and empty all at the same time. What made it worse was that she didn’t even have a shoulder to cry one, let alone a pillow to muffle her screams of frustration.

She almost wanted to laugh at herself. The irony of the night was just that comical to her. She had been blinded again, too ignorant to see the true face of her guest or the game he had set up. She had been too infatuated to see him for what he really was. The gentle and kind friend she had seen him as and appreciate was nothing more than a charade, a mask to hide his true face. He was no gentlestallion, he was a fraud; a cheat, plain and simple. He was nothing more than another Blueblood she had nearly fallen for. He would have only used her and discarded her when he was done.

“Why...” She sobbed as she trudged onwards back to the mansion. It was a good question in her mind. Something she had asked herself after the Gala incident. “Why must it always be like this?” Her heart panged as the thought of Moe’s actions simply kept replaying in her mind.

It took her nearly an hour to get back to the mansion at her slow pace. When she finally managed to get to the guest room, she fell flat on the bed and wrapped herself up in the covers. She didn’t even care that the paint in her fur was rubbing off into the sheets at that point, she only wanted to be alone. A depressed sigh escaped her as she felt her eyelids flutter before finally closing. 

“I thought you were different…” Was all she said before she finally succumbed to sleep.
	
> The Hangover Part 3: Between a Rock and A Hard Place
> --------------------------------------------------------------------------

	There were a multitude of choice words swirling throughout Moe’s mind as he was forced against the bathroom door. It was also at that same moment, while he was pinned under a white unicorn who was rather busy shoving her tongue down his throat, that each and every memory of the night before decided to finally become clear.

Mainly in regards to the intimate moments shared with the DJ last night.

Did I seriously... and with, Vinyl Scratch?

“What’s wrong, baby?" the DJ asked, looking at him seductively as she stopped kissing him only to give his cheek a teasing lick. “Still tuckered out from all the fun last night? I know I am.” She gave a little wiggle of her flank with the statement as though to add to Moe’s despair. “I can still feel the burn too~”

I think I’m going to throw up...” He thought while his stomach churned. It wasn’t helping that Vinyl’s wiggling rear was pressing right against it, but it was becoming increasingly difficult to not upchuck what little was left in his stomach as Vinyl decided to assault his mouth one last time.

Panicking, he gave a cursory glance to the door and then reached for it quickly. Grasping it, he managed to wrench it to the side and felt the wooden door at his back give way. Without any support, he fell back and the weight of the mare vanished as she fell over him onto the floor of the bedroom.

Vinyl gave let out a huff of indignation as she rolled onto her stomach just in time to see Moe scramble out of the room. A playful grin formed on her face as she got to her hooves and followed him out the door. “Oh, so you want to play hard to get?”

If there was something Vinyl loved more than her job, it was this. There was just something about the thrill of playful revenge that just rubbed her in all the right ways. It was her thing, her one guilty pleasure besides the obscene amounts of partying she did on a daily basis. It made her heart beat faster, her breathing quicken and just opened up a more primal side of her that she loved.  She was going to catch him and pay him back in full for all the teasing he had put her through the night before.

She caught sight of him again as she entered the hallway and her horn flared to life. A reddish aura surrounded Moe’s foot and she pulled it out from under him. He fell hard and rolled onto his back before he tried to crawl away from her. Her eyes seemed to glow slightly in the dark hallway as she gave him an amused stare and kept him in place with her magic.

“Got you,” she said teasingly as she ran a hoof along his chest. “I am going to have so much fun getting you back for everything last night.”

He tried his best to resist, but found himself unable to move as Vinyl used her body weight and magic to subdue him. His breathing quickened as the combination of her hooves touching his bare skin, as well as her playful nips to his ears and neck, set his nerves alight with a pleasurable fire.  He shut his eyes and a moan escaped his lips as his body reacted to her ministrations. The feeling was electric, but very unwelcome, considering that Coppa was standing right next to them, staring in shock with his mouth open in disbelief.

“Help... me...” Moe shuddered as Vinyl kept nipping at his neck. He turned towards Coppa who appeared to be frozen by the scene in front of him. Moe looked at him, eyes pleading for some form of assistance, but his friend never moved. Instead, Coppa gave Moe a thumbs-up while he continued to watch with glee. Usually, Coppa wouldn’t hesitate to aid him with any problem, but it seemed he was just enjoying Moe’s torment. If he would have been able to do so, Moe would have shouted at him to stop dicking around, but Vinyl’s tenacity was making it extremely hard for him.

Though that was not the only thing that was hard at the moment.

Knowing that Coppa wasn’t going to be any help and that he was undoubtedly going to be further molested by Vinyl, Moe began to get desperate. He struggled against the magic that held his body down and felt it give way slightly. He looked up to see the aura surrounding Vinyl’s horn flickering as she continued her work. Without any other viable options, he shot his hand out at it.

Vinyl gasped and her back arched as Moe’s hand wrapped around her horn. Every nerve throughout her body danced with electricity when his fingers grazed the ridges of the protrusion. Her eyes rolled backwards into her head and every hair on her body stood straight. With what sounded like a cry of ecstasy, she fell unconscious, but managed to pull Moe overtop of her in the process of falling.

With the problem of the white mare now solved, Moe let out a sigh of relief. His shaking hands managed to pry the mare’s legs off him, thus freeing his lower body and allowing him to stand up. He turned towards Coppa, ready to give the dwarf the verbal thrashing that was brewing in his mind. Yet, what came from his mouth was more of a strangled yelp as a second –and rather angry by what he could tell- figure stood in the doorway.

“Oh good, I see you’ve been enjoying yourself.” Rarity’s voice dripped with enough poison and malice that Moe was certain he could feel himself growing smaller. Even Coppa shrunk back as Rarity took a few mindful steps forward. “Then again, I doubt this compares to last night’s fun?”

“R-Rarity, look, I can explain...” Moe stammered, backing away from her. If looks could kill, he was certain that he would be six feet in the ground faster than Coppa could say his own name. However, it seemed that neither of them were going to get that small mercy as the debris around Rarity began to quake.

“Oh you don’t need to explain anything, Mozart,” Rarity said while Moe cringed at disdain in her voice. “I know exactly what happened.”

Smoke seemingly began rise from Rarity’s ears, causing him to quake with fear. Her eyes were practically coals, boring through him with such intensity that he nearly soiled himself right then. The same choice words from earlier revolved throughout his head, mixing in with every possible thought and prayer he could come up with. This was not any normal rage Moe was about to be subject to. This was the anger that poets could only hope to personify; the rage that one might find on the battlefield or when two nemeses meet; a fury was sweeping through the unicorn, shaking her to her very core.

In short, Rarity seemed to be pretty pissed.

“Listen, Rarity. This isn’t what it looks like. It’s all just a big misunderstanding...” The fear in his voice was becoming more and more apparent as he continued to back away from Rarity. His skin had grown extremely pale, serving as a way to make his already wide eyes even larger. Even his heartbeat could be heard audibly as it hammered like a steady drum in his chest.

“Oh I think this is exactly what it looks like,” Rarity snapped, pressing her hoof against Moe’s chest. He felt his back press against the stained wall. “In fact, I know exactly what happened. If you recall, I was there.”

“Rarity, please let me explain,” Moe pleaded. His chest began to ache from the pressure Rarity was placing on it. If he didn’t manage to move her hoof within the next five seconds, he was pretty sure at least one of his ribs would break. “Look, this is all just a big misunderstanding.”

Rarity seemingly ignored his words as she removed her hoof and let Moe sink to the ground. “There isn’t anything to misunderstand,” she replied with a sneer. “I know your type all too well and I am not going to allow myself to be another tally on your list. I thought you might have been different, but you’ve shown me that you’re just another playcolt trying to worm his way into a new mare's bed each night. I'm sick of being the mare that all males see as a trophy. I didn't come here to get my heart broken, and I certainly did not come here just watch you leave me in the dirt! I don’t ever want to see your face again! I don’t even want to breathe the same air as you! So take your sweet little words, your false promises, and get out of my life!”	
Those words burned Moe more than he would have liked to admit. Each syllable she uttered stung like a pin driven into his skin. In the back of his mind he wished she would have just slapped him and had been done with it there. Yet it seemed she was all too ready to comply with his unspoken wish as her hoof came down and he felt the sharp sting as it connected with his cheek.  He held his hand to his face, the pain beginning to set in. Through the blur in his vision, he could see Rarity look at him with misty eyes as she spoke.

“Goodbye, Moe. I hope we never meet again...”

*****

“Holy crap, they serve meat at this place?” Coppa said as he looked over the menu in his hands. Moe gave a small grunt of annoyance in response while holding his head in his hands. His cheek still stung despite it being nearly an hour since Rarity struck him. It wasn’t so much a physical pain as it was more the emotional toll that was sucking the life out of him. The entire encounter had left him drained and all he wanted was to find some gutter or hole in the ground in which he could lay down and die. However, it wouldn’t have been a far cry to say that the diner they sat in wasn’t a terrible substitute.

Moe could probably name over a few hundred reasons why he didn’t want to be there, minus the factor of his current mood and Rarity’s words. It was the little issues that bugged him, such as the smell of burnt toast or the overly cheerful, albeit hurried attitude of the server who stood there, waiting for them to place their orders. Yet, Moe had to give her his respects. It wasn’t often he met another who was able to put up with his friend's indecisiveness.

“Of course we do,” the mare’s voice piped up as she took Moe’s menu, taking the hint that he wasn’t going to have anything. “With the amount of griffon’s coming and going through here, we try our best to cater to their tastes. We’d be turning away business if we didn’t!”

“I think I have a new favourite food stop,” Coppa said, putting the menu down. “I’ll take a number eight then.”

“Uh, Sugah?” the waitress said uncertainly as she glanced at the both of them. “That’s a group platter... It’s meant for at least six griffons.”

“He knows,” Moe said after taking a sip of the black coffee set out in front of him. Coppa looked at the mare expectantly. Moe gave a weak smile at his friend’s enthusiasm. “You should also stick around when he gets it. It’ll probably only take him two minutes to finish it.”

The waitress nodded as she took Coppa’s menu with her teeth. “I’ll be back with that in a minute.”
Coppa gave her a toothy grin that, rather than letting the mare know her efforts were appreciated, seemed only to scare the mare into moving faster. Coppa gave a low chuckle while he watched her practically shoot off back towards the kitchen. Now alone, he turned back to Moe who still had his head in his hands and was looking even more depressed than ever. Coppa gave a small grunt before taking the mug of coffee from in front of him and began draining it.

“Come on, man, it’s not that bad,” he said as he placed the cup on the table and gave it a spin. Moe watched the cup rotate a few times before ultimately ending up on its side. He didn’t hardly move save for a subtle twitch of his eye as his gaze traveled upwards. The muscles in his jaw tensed as his head left the palms of his hands, allowing him to stare Coppa straight in the eye.  The dwarf pinched his nose and let out a sigh at the sad state of his friend. “Dude, you’re even making me depressed about this. You pissed off one mare; so what? There are literally thousands more out there. You gotta start looking at the silver linings. I mean the gender ratio is pretty much entirely in your favour!”

“You don’t get it, do you?” Moe shot back, setting the cup back on the table. “You honestly have no idea what my problem is right now.”

“You’re pissed that Rarity basically told you to drop dead and die? I’d think that would be kind of apparent,” Coppa replied with hardly anything but a bored tone to his voice. Moe knew that Coppa was one for being blunt, but he was in no mood for this right now. He was only a second away from snapping back at him until a voice from behind froze him in place.

“So is that what happened after I passed out?”

Moe scowled as Vinyl sat down next to Coppa. The white DJ had her glasses perched on her nose and a small smirk that was aimed at him. Her seemingly cool demeanour in the aftermath of this situation only served to further infuriate him. But he did his best to ignore her presence while Vinyl seemed insistent on talking to him.

“Oh come on dude, you gotta cheer up. Not like it’s the end of the world,” she said as she placed a hoof on his hand. Moe grunted at the gesture and pushed her hoof away. Vinyl’s smirk was replaced by a confused frown and her hoof retracted. “Jeez, who took a dump in your cereal?”

“Do you really have to ask?” Moe asked. “How can you be so calm about this? Last I checked, you and Octavia were together. Shouldn’t you be worrying about the fact you cheated on your marefriend?”

“Nope,” she replied with an amused smirk. “I don’t think she’ll have a problem with this.” 

Moe and Coppa both shot her a look of confusion as they watched her shiver giddily. Something was definitely off with the situation but Moe had no inclination at the moment to find out what it was exactly.

“I can’t believe this,” he groaned as he placed his head back in his hands. “Why is it that I’m always at the centre of these things?”

“Way to sound like an angsty girl,” Coppa commented with a grin. “Perhaps you just make it too easy? You fall for terrible women and you always see the shitty parts of these situations. I mean come on, what kind of dude complains about a drunken hook-up?”

“Especially one involving a famous DJ, such as myself,” Vinyl added with a laugh. “Face it; you just don’t want to admit that you had an awesome time last night.” She leaned over the table, just close enough so that her words would only reach him. “The seven hundred bit noise complaint we got because of it certainly stands as evidence.”

Moe almost wanted to scream at the two to shut up. He was almost at the breaking point and he was seriously contemplating punching Coppa in the mouth. At that same moment, the waitress returned with Coppa’s platter, effectively cancelling that plan, and Moe watched him dig in to the sliced meats like a rabid animal. Hundreds of thoughts filled his head as he watched his friend stuff his face. Who were they to assume he actually enjoyed the previous night? They, as well as him, were partially to blame for this situation. They took him to that club, they pushed him into drinking too much, and it was Vinyl who managed to take advantage of him.

“Neither of you understand,” Moe said as he glowered at the both of them. “You don’t realise why I’m pissed off.”

Coppa took a few seconds to finish chewing before he swallowed the cold cuts in his mouth. “I think I’ve already stated it once. Rarity dumped your ass and told you off.” Vinyl nodded in agreement to the statement, but Moe could tell that she was beginning to feel some form of regret. Her posture had become a little less relaxed and now she was beginning to look at him with a sort of empathy. Coppa wasn’t as perceptive and didn’t take into account how his words were beginning to affect his friend. “She’s just some mare, dude. It’s not like you can’t find another in the meantime.”

That was it. “She isn’t just some mare, Coppa!” Moe shouted and stood up, drawing the attention of every living creature in the diner. Both Coppa and Vinyl froze, surprise and fear in their eyes as they watched Moe shake angrily. “She was more than just some mare to me. She was the first to actually treat me like a person. She cared for me not just because I was her friend, but because she actually liked me for who I am. And guess what? Now I’ve lost that one chance at a normal relationship because of the both of you!”

Moe breathed for a second as he grabbed Coppa’s shirt and leaned in close. He could visibly see the dwarf’s fur shift each time he exhaled. A cold sweat that had even begun to form and was dampening Coppa’s brow as he sat still, frozen in shock. “This was the first time I could even be around a female and actually manage to maintain eye contact for more than a minute. She didn’t frighten me like all the other women you’ve tried to set me up with, and you know why? I’ll tell you why! It was because she actually gave me the chance to be myself.” He let go of Coppa’s shirt and watched as he swallowed nervously. “She never ever judged me and she has never made me feel inadequate while I lived with her. She never played with my emotions, she never forced me to do anything she wanted, she didn’t treat me like some toy that she could abuse. Best of all, she didn’t decide to MUTILATE ME!”

The entire room was silent as Moe finished. He stood there, panting as if he had just run the entire length of a football field four times. His heart hammered in his chest as his teeth ground together. His chest hurt, but next to the deep physical pain from the scar, there was something else that burned within him. He wasn’t sure what it was, but he felt a twinge of regret well up as his words registered in his mind.

“Wait, is that where that scar came from?” Vinyl asked as she snapped out of her shock. Moe bit his lip as Coppa glanced at the both of them.

“What scar?” he asked, his head shooting between Moe and Vinyl.

“It’s nothing,” Moe repsonded, attempting to divert Coppa’s attention. If there was one thing he didn’t want, it was Coppa finding out about that.

“Like hell it isn’t,” Coppa said grabbing Moe’s shirt and forcefully pulling him in close. “Tell me what happened. Now.”

“Coppa, it’s none of your business,” Moe replied as he tried to wrestle Coppa’s hand away from him. The meaty fist never budged as Coppa remained firm with his grip. Moe felt his friend’s other hand unfasten a few of the buttons on his shirt before he exposed the right side of Moe’s chest. He could hear the dwarf’s growl of frustration upon examining the burned skin. The red dragon still appeared inflamed and angry and Moe shut his eyes as a small ache passed through him. Then, Coppa let go of him and allowed him to sit back down. Silence continued to reign over the diner as neither of the two even looked at each other or said a word.

That silence only lasted a short minute before Coppa uttered a few words that Moe did not want to hear. “Was it her?”

Moe bit his lip again as he stared at the table in front of him. He kept silent while Coppa repeated himself.

“Moe, did she do that to you?”

“Yes...”

The sound of crackling wood and breaking dishes filled the air as Coppa’s fist slammed straight through the table, splitting it in two. Vinyl yelped and Moe sat back as they avoided splinters of wood and flying cutlery. The remains of the party platter catapulted through the air, finding a nice and cosy spot on the side of the wall and on the ceiling. 

Coppa stood on top of the wreckage, blood oozing from the splinters that were embedded in his hand.“That goddamn bitch...” he cursed under his breath.

“Umm, not wanting to sound rude,” Vinyl started as she regained her composure and fixed her glasses, “but does anyone want to fill me in on what’s going on?”

“An old flame of his; a real life psycho,” Coppa replied, picking the splinters from his knuckles. He cast them to the side before turning his head to Vinyl. “That’s all we’re gonna say about her.”

“Right,” Vinyl said, unsure of whether or not she wanted to press the subject. Glancing at the downcast expression that Moe had, she decided that it would be best not to broach the subject. She might have been an assertive mare, but even she knew where to draw the line. “Should I leave you two alone? I get the feeling that this is something you guys need to talk about in private.”

“That’s probably a good idea,” Moe said, prompting the mare to step back and leave without a word. She merely looked back before exiting the diner, leaving the two of them to them shelves. As Moe buttoned up his shirt, Coppa gestured for their frightened waitress to come over. The mare cautiously approached the two and the air became incredibly awkward as she stood off to the side. Moe did his best to try to appear non-threatening, but Coppa’s actions had made that impossible. “Can we get the bill please?” he said before looking at the remains on the table. “...and maybe the repair bill as well.”

*****
The walk towards Fancy’s mansion was quiet as the two walked side by side. Neither of them were willing to break the silence that had followed them since they had left the diner. Moe could feel the anger seeping from Coppa and out of the corner of his eye, he could see him grating his teeth. Guilt and regret gnawed at his belly like a hungry parasite and he felt almost compelled to break the awkward atmosphere.

“Why did you not tell me?”

Moe sighed as he stopped and turned to see the dwarf rubbing his bandaged hand. There was anger and hurt in Coppa’s brown eyes. His ears had dropped from their normal upright position and it seemed that the entire situation was beginning to weigh heavily on his mind. Moe could hardly look at his disappointed face, but did his best to try to meet Coppa’s eyes.

“There wasn’t anything you could have done,” Moe reassured him. “It happened just before she disappeared. Plus, you know that she would have ground you into a paste. You were also afraid of her,” he added with a smirk.

“Why is it you have a thing for women that are not only strong, but are completely psychotic?” Coppa asked, a joking smile replacing the frown on his face. “Do you not like normal girls?”

“Last I checked, Rarity was normal.”

“She’s also a pony, so that doesn’t really count. Not to mention, she nearly stabbed you with a pair of scissors the first night we got here.”

“Touche, but she’s the closest I’ve ever had to someone who likes me for who I am. I was nothing but a trophy for my first girlfriend; my second wanted me to change my entire outlook; there was the few who decided to cheat and lie; the last just-”

“Turned out to be an utter freak?” Coppa interjected with a grin. Moe nodded and cleaned up against the front of one shop. Coppa gave a small huff of annoyance while scratching his head. “You’re in love with her, aren’t you?”

“I don’t know...” Moe murmured quietly. What was Rarity too him? There was obviously the physical attraction he felt to her; as strange as that sounded since she was a pony after all. He had never really been one to judge on the topic of appearances, but he couldn’t help but admit she was beautiful. Then there was her personality. A month spent with the mare had opened his eyes to almost everything about her character. She was completely devoted to her art and willing to put everything she had into her work, though she was also prone to taking simple mishaps and over exaggerating their consequences. 

He couldn’t recall how many times she had used her fainting couch for something as small as tarnished silverware. Despite her other flaws like her thirst to ascend the steps of society, Moe didn’t really mind them. In all actuality, he actually liked her character flaws as well. Sighing, he shook his head before speaking. “It’s hard to describe, you know?”

“And the fact that she’s a pony doesn’t offset anything at all?” Coppa asked, keeping up with the tone of the conversation.

“It doesn’t have any bearing. I still think I’d have feelings for her regardless of her species.”

“Well I guess it’s settled then,” Coppa said, striding past Moe. “I’ll help fix this mess, and you can have your girlfriend. Consider it repayment for helping me out with Applejack.”

“Thanks, Coppa,” Moe replied. He smiled, knowing that while Coppa may have been the root cause for the majority of his problems, he could always count on him to help pick up the pieces. The dwarf gave him a nod in return before let out a hearty chuckle. “Something funny?”

“Just it seems that we’re all screwed up in one way or another,” Coppa explained with a shrug. “It’s funny in a really weird way. Sam was all broken up since he couldn’t use magic and that he failed everyone; my dad died and I had a few issues concerning that; now we find out your last girlfriend decided to implant her initials into your chest. Seems like each of us is broken in one way or the other and it’s like that’s one of the main things that is becoming common here. Really, I’m surprised we haven’t turned out to be a bunch of angsty guys who moan about everything.”

"That’s not a bad point," Moe confided. It took him a moment to think about his words. Coppa did make a good case. Each of them had some form of traumatic experience that defined them. But it seemed a strange occurrence to him that these sole facts were a major common factor. But it still left one question in Moe's mind.

"What do you think Dante might have wrong with him? We don’t know what he’s gone through. I don't expect him to be the odd man out."

Coppa shivered much to his surprise. It wasn't often he showed any hesitance to a particular subject.

"I don't think we really want to find out. I can't imagine what it would take to mess with that guy's head."

"You're probably right," Moe agreed. It was probably for the best that they not approach the subject; for both side's sakes. Then, as his mind wandered and contemplated, a thought struck him. He half turned towards Coppa. "If we're all broken in a way, then what do you think might be the problem with the next student to join our team?"

Coppa took a second to think. He scratched his chin in contemplation before he began to grin. "I'm kinda debating between a cripple or a pair of twins who don’t know they’re twins. It’s cliche, I know, but I’m not sure there’s much else that would fit in with us."

Moe shrugged in response before turning forward. At the same time, his eyes caught sight of two ponies running full tilt towards them. Upon closer inspection, he saw that the two were actually Fleur and Octavia. As they came closer, his instincts made it apparent that they  both had a strange air around them. Both wore worried expressions and it seemed neither had taken the time to properly groom themselves from his point of view. “Is something wrong? You two look like you’ve been all over the city.”

“That’s exactly … what we … have been doing!” Octavia panted as she struggled to fix her bowtie. Moe turned his head to Fleur who seemed to be having difficulty regaining her breath. Given their appearances, there wasn’t much doubt in his mind about Octavia’s statement. The one thing that puzzled him was why they were running around. Fleur was a model in all aspects; there weren’t exactly many reasons for her to be sprinting around.

“What happened?” he asked while giving them a moment to catch their breaths. The two mares sucked in as much air as their lungs could handle while they waited. Moe regretted not being able to help more, but there wasn’t exactly much else he could do at that point. It wasn’t as though he could simply read their minds to discern the problem. He might have dabbled slightly in Psychic magic to assist his bowshots, but mind reading was way above his skill level.

“It’s Fancy. He never returned home last night,” Fleur said as she sucked in one final mouthful of air. “We have no idea where he could be.”

Moe shivered and had to restrain himself from screaming the loudest ‘I told you so' to the sky. Instead, he chewed the inside of his mouth to set it back until his regular calm manifested itself once more. “Do you have any leads?” 

He breathed in relief when the mares both nodded. At least they had somewhere to start. “Then let’s start there.”
> The Hangover Finale: Clarity
> --------------------------------------------------------------------------

	The sun had reached its apex as the group of four traveled the streets on their quest to find Fancy Pants. They didn't have much to go on save for the word of the stallion whose carriage Fancy had taken. He had apparently hired the carriage only to stop a few minutes later before running off into the night. From that sole fact, Moe had been able to deduce that there was only one location that would have been open at the time he disappeared.

A bar run exclusively by griffons, for griffons. Not exactly the best place for them considering that the driver had said that Griffons tended to be rather hostile and slightly xenophobic.

It wasn't a long ways off from where they had stood either, maybe a ten minutes at most, but Moe had found himself talking to Octavia to pass the time. It wasn't exactly an awkward conversation to his surprise either. The mare seemed unfazed by the revelations about his encounters the previous night. Then again, she had been present to witness it. However, in his mind, he still felt the need to explain what had happened. Even if that meant going into detail about the exact results of his little show. Though what he  did fail to notice, was the peculiar blush on both Octavia and Fleur's faces upon doing so.

"So that's what you think happened?" Octavia asked with what seemed like relief. Moe nodded and both mares seemed to hold their tongues as he made his case.

"I really just wanted to apologize for my actions last night. It wasn't my intention to sleep with your marefriend, or to even do any of that last night. I didn't even want to sleep with her! Not that I’m saying she’s unattractive or anything, but because… well I wasn’t exactly…” He hung his head, realising he was practically repeating himself and getting nowhere. “ Look, Octavia, things just got really out of control last night..."

"If it's any consolation," Octavia replied as she looked at Moe, "the fault is ours. We pressured you into that situation despite your discomfort. I am sorry about that and I will having a word with Vinyl later concerning what happened. But yes, I agree, things did spiral out of control." 

Moe cocked an eyebrow at her words. "So you aren't angry at me for any of this."

Octavia merely smiled back, but Moe could detect a subtle hint of disappointment in her tone. "When you've known Vinyl for as long as I have, you begin to expect these recurring incidents. I can’t tell you how many times she’s kissed another mare or stallion, or the nights she flirted with others."

"So this isn't the first time, is it?"

"No, she’s never slept with anyone before, but this situation is rather unique in a sense," she added with an awkward giggle and blush. Moe felt slightly pensive towards the mare’s words. However, before he could ask what she meant, Coppa decided to speak up.

“We're here, ladies!” he shouted, causing the group to skid to a halt. Moe looked up and surveyed the bar in question. In fact, he could hardly miss it since it stuck out like a sore thumb.

It was a rather dilapidated two story house, dwarfed on either side by massive skyscrapers. Its exterior consisted of four identical walls connected by concrete posts, and it looked like they had been constructed without any prior planning or concern. The front side was graced by a heavy wooden door and was situated next to a large cracked green and red stained glass window. The paint on the outside had all but disappeared, leaving the wooden slats to the mercy of the elements. The entire building was capped off by a slightly slanted roof that had lost a majority of its shingles. Moe was unsure if the sad state of the place was due to the owner’s lack of care or incompetence. His only concern at this point was to find Fancy and somehow get the hell out of there before any trouble stirred up.

“You two stay here,” he told the mares. Both nodded and kept quiet, obviously not wanting to step foot in the building. Moe couldn’t blame either of them really. In truth, he also felt rather conflicted about stepping foot in the building, but managed to push the thoughts aside. This bar seemed like the rough sort of place that would be bound to play host to the degenerates that any sane citizen would do well to avoid. He could only imagine what sort of situation they were going to get themselves in if they said the wrong thing. 

Or, to be more exact, when Coppa said the wrong thing.

“We’ll go in, ask if the bartender saw Fancy, and get out. Sound like a plan?” he asked. Coppa gave a grunt of acknowledgement that did nothing to soothe Moe’s anxiety. He grabbed his friends shoulder and turned him around so that he was facing him. “We don’t want to start a brawl. So just act polite and don’t piss anyone off.”

Coppa brushed his hand off passively, all while attempting to reassure Moe. “Relax, man, you know I prefer to talk things out. I’ve always been a people person!”

Moe deadpanned at his friend's enthusiasm. “Your version of ‘talk things out’ is to punch them in the face so they can’t argue back. That isn’t how it’s going to work out this time. I’ll be doing the talking, and you just stand behind me.”

Coppa gave a huff of disappointment and murmured a quick “you’re no fun”. He pouted for the rest of the way until they reached the door. What took them only seconds to accomplish felt like hours in Moe's mind. He was half-tempted to turn back there and slink off like a dog with its tail between its legs. But he remained firm and went to grab the handle so he could open the door.

And he would have successfully done so had Coppa not decided to practically blast the door off with his foot.

Nearly a dozen griffons looked up and turned towards the two, forsaking their afternoon drinks to glare. Moe saw some flex their claws as Coppa strode into the bar with gusto. None of them looked happy that their afternoon drinks had been interrupted by the boisterous Dwarf. However, that did not seem to matter to Coppa who climbed a table, knocking almost everything down to the floor in one huge mess.

"Alright, listen up!" he proclaimed loudly as if his presence had not been acknowledged already. "Which one of you feathered assholes has my friend? Give him up before I start cracking skulls!"

There was only silence that answered the question, followed closely by the hard slap of Moe's palm as it met his forehead.

"Coppa, you fucking retard!"

It took only a moment of sheer unfiltered silence before all hell broke loose in the bar.

*****

"Do you think they've found him yet?" Fleur asked Octavia as she bit her lip nervously. It had been nearly a full ten minutes since she had watched the two of them enter the bar. While she desperately wanted to find her Fiancé, Fleur was not willing to enter a place like that. It was not due to her concerns about social class; it was more along the lines of safety concerns. It wouldn't have taken much for any pony to overpower her or Octavia, regardless of their ethnic profile. But she wanted to help and be of any type of aid. Unfortunately, she knew she would be nothing but a liability in this situation. In the meantime, she figured that the best thing to do was wait patiently alongside Octavia.

“I’m sure they’ll be out soon with good news,” Octavia replied, attempting to assuage Fleur’s concerns. Like the model, she had her concerns, but there was an extra layer to hers. She knew Fleur was thinking about it too, but the model was far better at hiding her emotions, a skill Octavia had yet to master. Her look of unease was about as obvious as the moon in the night sky, and it was no surprise that Fleur became aware of this rather quickly.

“Do you think he remembers what he did?” Fleur asked with a slight giggle. “It was quite the event last night.”

“He said he had only bits and pieces. All he seems to really recall is the beginning of the night and what happened afterwards; nothing more than that.”

“Then I say we keep quiet. He’s already miserable as is.”

“You’re probably right,” Octavia muttered in response. “Vinyl already told me about the bill for last night when she passed us. I’ll be setting my budget back for another two months because of this.”

A sudden crash caused both their heads to snap back towards the bar. Bits of shattered glass littered the street, glittering in the sun like shards of gemstones. An unconscious brown griffon with a splotch of white on his breast was lying on his back with his wings spread out wide. His eyes had rolled into the back of his head and his mouth was slightly agape, showing of the newly formed  cracks in his beak that most likely caused by the chair that had followed him through the window. They could hear the shouts and curses of the patrons inside as what sounded like a full scale war rock the building.

A second griffon followed the first and landed with a hard ‘thump’ in front of the two. Octavia took a step back as the griffon struggled to get up. When he finally managed to get to his feet, she saw him cast a glance back at the bar before shooting off into the sky, a flurry of feathers following him. Another shout bellowed out from the building and they watched as Coppa climbed out of the window while Moe shot from the door, a passed out Fancy Pants on his back. And before either mare could so much as blink, Coppa had them scooped up and onto his shoulders while Moe took the lead. That was when they saw that a group of nearly fifteen Griffons followed closely, chasing after the two as they fled the scene.

“What happened in there?” Octavia shouted before narrowly avoiding being winded when Coppa jumped over a pothole. Her mind tried to process the situation but the combination of panic, as well as the fact they were being pursued by an angry mob, made it difficult to think. Much to her relief, she saw that Fancy Pants was unharmed, only missing his trademark monocle, suit jacket, and anything that may have been valuable.

“Apparently Griffons don’t take kindly to being called ‘feathered assholes’,” Moe stated as he looked back. Even though they were weighed down by the ponies they carried, Moe and Coppa were making headway as the mob was faltering behind, impeded by its own size. A couple of twists and turns found them clear from the mob's line of sight.

“Hey, I said I was a people person. I never said anything about being a griffon person!” Coppa shot back with a grin. “Besides, the plan was boring. Should I also mention that we still got Fancy out of there?”

“But did you really need to start a fight?” Octavia asked in panic. “Couldn’t you have... you know… just asked where he was?”

“I did,” Moe replied as they turned. “Coppa was too busy putting a griffon’s head through a table to do it himself. I found him passed out in the bathroom of the bar.” They stopped and hid inside an alley way, taking position behind a dumpster and waiting as the sounds of the mob came closer. The group watched as their pursuers ran completely past the alley, shouting curses as their momentum kept them from seeing the five. Moe sighed in relief as the shouts died down and left the hiding spot. He glared at Coppa as he put the mares down. “I am going to kill you one of these days."

Coppa snorted while he brushed himself off. “Yea, yea, keep telling yourself that. If I was gone, then who’d look after your sorry ass?”

“Whatever, let’s just get back to the mansion and get this over with.”   

“Actually, if I may interrupt you two. The mansion is just on the other side of this block. We passed the road while we were running,” Fleur stated as she dusted herself off and made sure that her coat was in order. Moe looked at her incredulously before realising that she was right. A quick look at the street sign as they exited the alley revealed that they were situated on the street parallel to the mansion. And while it may have been rather convenient, Moe was not about to complain. In addition to that, it seemed as though the excitement had jostled Fancy enough that the stallion slowly awoke.

“Hmm? Where are we?” he mumbled as his eyes squinted and took in the surrounding area. “And why am I currently on your back, Moe?” he asked as he noticed he was still situated on Moe.

“Fancy dear, you’re alright!” Fleur said as she wrapped her hooves around Fancy Pants once he had clambered off of Moe. The stallion gave her a confused stare, but nevertheless accepted the gesture and embraced his mare. As they separated, Fleur gave him a peck on the lips, but cringed as she no doubt caught the smell of alcohol still lingering on him. “Perhaps a cleaning is in order?” she added as she drew away.

Fancy sniffed himself in response before realising that he indeed smelled rather horrid. “I couldn’t agree more. Though perhaps we should hurry back home. The guests are due to arrive later this afternoon, aren’t they?"

“You’re absolutely right!” Fleur agreed without so much as a second thought. Though Moe was never never one to underestimate others, he never imagined Fleur would have been able to pick up both Coppa and himself with her magic. He also never thought that one could simply walk an entire block in what seemed like half a heartbeat. Yet she did both, confounding and impressing the two of them with her display. Even stranger, both Octavia and Fancy managed to keep pace with her.

The aura around them ceased to exist when she finally dropped them off upon reaching the front door. By the time they had all entered, Fleur had gone off to her room to freshen up and prepare herself for the party. Fancy and Octavia had followed suit, leaving Moe and Coppa in the front foyer. With nothing to do except wait, Moe decided to contemplate confronting Rarity in the hopes that she might forgive him.

That notion only seemed to leave him with a terrible feeling in his stomach. There was no conceivable way in his mind that he could explain his actions. Using peer pressure only made it seem like he was pushing the blame to others. Arguing his state of inebriation would only serve to strengthen her argument and did little to defend him. He even thought that he should simply state she was overreacting to the situation, but that would do him little good. It honestly seemed to him that there was no way for him to earn her good graces again.

“I see you’ve finally arrived back. Getting ready to pursue a new trophy tonight?”

The chilling voice of the mare in question sent a nervous shudder down Moe’s spine. He looked forward to see her standing in the doorway to the main sitting room, casting a look of annoyance his way. Her sapphire blue eyes seemed like ice as they bore through him with a controlled glare. He felt tiny in the face of her anger, like an ant that was about to be crushed beneath a bootheel. Nervously, he swallowed as a million different scenarios played out in his head. Many of them involved him being rejected in one way or another and there was even one that involved him being thrown through the window by Rarity’s magic. However, he decided that it was high time to, as Coppa’s favorite comedian would say, ‘get ‘er done’ and at least try and open up a conversation.

“Rarity, I need to explain something.”

“Didn’t I already say that there was nothing to explain this morning?” she retorted, eyes staring daggers at him. “Or did you just choose to ignore my words?”

“Rarity, I-”

“No, Moe, I am not going to discuss this any further.”

“Then how about I explain something?” Coppa said, taking a step forward toward her. Rarity eyed him suspiciously before turning to look back on Moe. A firm line was in place on her muzzle that quickly turned into a frown of disgust.

“And what makes you think that I’ll even acknowledge what you have to say? This matter has already been resolved and there isn’t anything else to discuss.”

“Yea, I know,” Coppa replied. “But that doesn’t mean I’m going to stand at the sidelines and watch it end like this." His words took a more forceful turn as he approached her. Rarity unconsciously backed away, moving further and further into the sitting room. Coppa looked back and mouthed a ‘wait a few’ before he closed the door, sealing himself and Rarity in the sitting room.

Coppa locked the door behind him and then silently walked to one of the large chairs before plopping down in it. Rarity watched with a mindful eye while the dwarf stretched and made himself comfortable. Patiently, she waited for him to say something, but it seemed that he was as dead set on trying to find the perfect spot in the chair. As the seconds ticked by, she found herself getting increasingly frustrated to the point where she picked up a pillow with her magic and tossed it to him.

“What is it you want?” Rarity demanded as Coppa slid the pillow behind his lower back and sighed happily. “You aren’t going to get me to reconcile with him.”

Coppa leaned back in the chair, mimicking a stereotypical villain when he laced his fingers together and placed them on his lap. “No I’m not going to do anything. I’m just going to tell you to stop being a stubborn bitch and listen to him for a change.”

Rarity was taken aback by his words. An intense fury welled inside her as her cheeks flushed and she took up a defensive stance. “Well I never! What right do you have to call me that?”

“I have every right because it’s the truth!” Coppa snapped back. “Not once did you even take a second to think about Moe’s situation. Hell, did you even consider how he feels about this situation?"

“I fail to see why I should care! If he’s miserable, then he has no one else but himself to blame.”

“That’s what he’s been doing ever since you told him off. He’s been depressed and it’s only because we had to get Fancy that he hasn’t been able to think about it.” Coppa groaned and held his head in his hands. “I know what he’s like, and for him to be this affected by you is something to point out. You have no idea what you are to him, and I’ve never seen him this broken over a woman before as he is right now with you. Rarity, I… I really do think he’s in love with you right now.”

She took a surprised breath as Coppa’s confession registered in her mind. Her throat went dry as her her mouth tried to form words, only for them to die on her tongue. She was skeptical if anything, and a part of her simply wanted to dismiss the notion as a lie so that she might give him a second chance. However, a wave of comfortable warmth began to set in her chest. Her mind seemed to be processing multiple trains of thought at the same time. Could Coppa really be telling the truth? Did Moe really feel that way about her? Was she simply overreacting like a jealous filly?

Perhaps there was validity to his feelings? In retrospect, it had seemed like Moe was honestly regretful about the whole situation. He was obviously trying his hardest to work his way back to her, but she had simply brushed him off. As she thought about it, her heart began to flutter slightly. Her eyes acted on their own accord and she found herself taking a quick glance at the door before turning back Coppa. Now a  part of her wanted to laugh while her heart began to beat uncontrollably. Maybe it wasn’t to late to reconcile after all. 

She quickly swallowed and chewed on her lip as she sought to recompose herself. She sat up straight and levelled her eyes with Coppa’s. She took a quick second to re-organise her chaotic thought process before she felt ready to answer back. “You know as well as I do how he acted last night. If he really felt that way, then he wouldn’t have acted as he did.”

“Last night was my fault, Rarity,” Coppa admitted, guilt overcoming his features. “Moe is no playboy and he’d never act that way normally. It’s because I got him drunk that he got on that stage; I thought it was funny at the time and it was a way for him to loosen up. I didn’t think there’d be this much fallout because of that.”

Rarity began to falter with that notion. Her anger at Moe was beginning to dissipate and formed into an emotional confusion. She would have accepted Coppa’s reasoning right there, but the lingering emotional toll was still fresh in her mind. Her trust in him had been damaged, and while she knew how foolish others got when they overdrank, she simply couldn’t find it in herself to give in.   “Well that’s very admirable of you, but that still doesn’t excuse his actions,” she stated while Coppa groaned in disappointment.

“Rarity, there’s something you need to know about Moe,” Coppa began. “I love the guy like a brother and he’s always been there for me, even in the worst times. He’s never given up on me and I’ll always be there for him. It’s because he’s always been the guy that is polite and always puts the needs of others above himself.” He sucked in a breath as Rarity noticed his hands become shaky with what seemed to be apprehension. “He’s the kind of guy that others just love to take advantage of, and it’s left him broken."

Rarity was confused now. Broken? What in Tartarus did Coppa mean? Moe had seemed completely fine to her. Not once had he ever acted like anything had affected him to such an emotional degree. His attitude was always optimistic, bright and cheerful, though prone to bouts of sarcasm when it came to the dwarf in front of her. It never seemed as though he had suffered a day in his life. If anything, he was perfectly fine in her mind. Then, much like facing an oncoming train, it hit her.

“Are you implying he was..."

"I couldn’t tell you Rarity, and I doubt he will. Though you might wanna ask yourself something. Why else would he be afraid of opening himself up to women but manage to fall for you?” he asked, taking note of her reaction. “He’s never been lucky with any woman he’s met. Most either left him broken hearted or cheated on him in broad daylight. But out of all of them, his last girlfriend was the worst. That’s another thing I wish I could have helped him avoid."

The shaky hands seemed to return as Coppa audibly ground his teeth. It was obvious that this topic was affecting him just as it was beginning to affect herself. She was on the edge of her seat as she listened to each and every word. Her own mind was beginning to fill with rage once more, but was directed at this unknown being. Her hooves were latched to the cushioned arms of the chair she sat on, kneading the soft material as she tried to remain calm.

“She was the kind of girl who seemed normal enough, but when you saw how she acted around him, you just knew something was up. She had reputation as a real man eater too. When she found Moe, she completely dominated him and there wasn’t anything I could do about it. If you tried to get between them, she’d play these mind games that could practically destroy you. But it wasn’t like she was weak or anything either, it just seemed like she enjoyed bending others to do what she said.”

“What did she do to Moe?” Rarity asked. Her voice had taken that icy tone once again, as though she was now interrogating Coppa. She knew the answer wasn’t going to be pleasant, but something inside goaded her on. She didn’t just want to know, she had to know. The mere thought of what sort of horrors this past relation had done on Moe’s psyche filled her with the same unbridled anger which had been present that morning.

“What didn’t she do to him…” Coppa sighed. “Moe was practically a zombie after a month with her. Anything she told him to do, he did without thinking. If she wanted something, she got it and it didn’t matter if Moe was affected in any way. I joked about him being her slave and that he was completely whipped. Turned out that I wasn’t too far from the truth.”

Rarity hung her head in shame as her feelings did a complete somersault. “ I didn’t know… I-I can’t even imagine what that must have been like.”

“It wasn’t pretty. She ran off when people found out she was physically abusing him, but it seems she decided to literally leave her mark on him before leaving. I don’t know where she is now, but I’m just thankful that she’s gone. It took a couple of months before he began to trust others again, and honestly, I should have known that entire experience would have put a damper on him wanting to date again. But I guess that should show you how much you’ve affected him. He fell for you even though he was left scarred by the others he thought he loved.”

Coppa rose from his chair, and gave a small pitying look to the door. Rarity swallowed as she rubbed away the mist that had begun to accumulate in her eyes. Though she was unsure of how it would play out, she knew what had to be done. “Coppa,” she began, drawing his attention to her. “I’d like to talk to him now. Could you please tell Moe to come and see me?”

*****

Moe had almost worn a thorough trench in the floor as he paced outside of the room. Questions, concerns, doubts, and excuses plagued him while he walked the same circuit around the room for the hundredth time. It had only been a few minutes since he had been locked out, but that seemed like hours ago. In that time his entire being was in turmoil. His head told him that this situation was unsalvageable, yet his his heart told him that there was still a chance.

The sheer gravity of the day’s events was also beginning to affect him as well. Running around and escaping a mob of angry griffons was even more tiring than he had thought. The fatigue was beginning to make his thoughts even more confusing and a wave of nausea was beginning to cause his stomach to churn again. He shook his head as though the action would help clear his head. Instead, he just felt worse and the anxiety within him only seemed to intensify. He sat down on a nearby chair and slowly breathed in and out, taking only a moment to wet his lips as he waited.

“You look like you’re about to have a panic attack,” a voice remarked as the sound of hooves on the stone floor echoed in the room. Moe looked up to see Vinyl standing before him with her glasses perched on her forehead just below her horn. Her confident smirk was absent from her face. Instead, she had a look of grim concern about her. “You make up with Rarity yet?”

Moe shook his head. “No, Coppa’s in there with her. I can only imagine what they’re talking about. But I’m prepared for the worst.”

Vinyl pursed her lips together as though she were thinking about something. She slowly placed herself beside him, sitting on the floor and leaning her head against the chair’s arm. Moe’s body acted on its own, and he found his hand drifting toward Vinyl before it was placed on her head. She softly cooed in approval as his hand scratched her behind the ears and massaged her scalp. She let out a series of ‘mmm’s’ and ‘ahh’s’ as his fingers did their work.

The action gave Moe comfort as well; the feeling of the mare’s soft mane running between his fingers did wonders to quiet the storm in his head. He watched her with a small smile as one of her hind legs kicked the air; much like a dog’s did when their owners scratched that perfect spot. It was adorable and hilarious in its own way and Moe tittered as Vinyl let out a cute noise of complaint when he withdrew his hand.

“Hey Moe?”

“Yes, Vinyl?”

The mare shuffled in place as she seemed to fight to find the right words to say to him. Damn, this is a lot harder than I thought, she thought to herself. The expectant look Moe was giving her was also proving to be a distraction as she hunted for words.

"I... I wanted to say sorry for all of this...” she managed to say as she chewed her lip. Her guilt decided to manifest itself in the form of misty eyes as she poured out to him. It wouldn’t have taken much for her to cry, slightly because of all she put him through; not that either of them wanted her to. Still, she felt that since it seemed like this was the proper time to do so, she was going to apologise. “I know that this is all my fault and I regret it, but when you live in the moment, you can lose yourself to it. If I knew that Rarity meant that much to you before, I would have held back and not done all of this. I know it isn’t not much to go by, but I am sorry about all of this.”

“It’s okay, Vinyl,” Moe assured her, “everything’s always clearer in hindsight. It wasn’t just you who caused this. I’m to blame just as much as you or Coppa. But we all had fun for a while so I guess that can be considered the silver lining.” He outstretched his hand, allowing Vinyl to grasp it with her hoof. “So are we even then?”

“Yea,” Vinyl agreed before pulling Moe into a hug. Moe grinned, happy that at least the two of them had that understanding. It was a relief to Vinyl as well, seeing that she was able to call him a friend now. Though, since it seemed like they were getting everything off their chests, she might as well tell the whole truth. “But ya know, if things don’t work out with Rarity and you’re available, Octavia and I wouldn’t mind you living with us. But if that happens, I think it’d be fair that I get first dibs. Getting you to myself for a bit would certainly beats having to share again.”

Moe drew back, eyes wide and heart hammering in his chest. “W-what?” he said as his voice reached a pitch that would put Sweetie Belle’s to shame.

“Come on Moe, a girl doesn’t kiss and tell,” Vinyl giggled as she turned away and began to trot off. A mischievous smile played on her face as she gave him a flick on the nose with her tail. “I’ll be seeing you around, Moe. Gotta discuss with the others how we’re gonna split this fine from last night.” She laughed loudly as she watched Moe’s face turn pale. “How do you think we should do it? Three ways maybe?” Vinyl asked. “Fleur only really watched, but I think Octy should float most of it. She was certainly the loudest out of the three of us after all~” 

This situation is rather unique in a sense…

That single statement finally made sense now and almost shattered Moe’s mind. Everything was starting to come full circle now. The subtle blush and the slightly awkward tension coming from the mares when he talked to them.  Now the the memories of the intimate moments were beginning to get slightly more crowded. 

“Oh sweet mother of god...” Moe moaned as the mare disappeared up the stairs. His entire body sunk into the chair as his brain nearly shut down. At the same time, a soft clicking noise came from the door beside him. He looked over to see Coppa stepping through and then nodding toward him.

“She wants to talk to you.”

Moe sighed and pulled himself from the chair. There wasn’t any even an exchange of words between them when he passed Coppa. No ‘good luck’ or 'go get her' came from the dwarf, only silence.  To Moe, this was only a sign of something worse to come. He dreaded to think what was said or had been alluded to that made Coppa this way. But when he entered the room and shut the door behind him, the silence became even more foreboding.

Rarity didn't do so much as look at him when he entered the room. Instead, she kept her eyes focused on the window to her side, watching the first of the rather early arrivals appear from their gaudy carriages. The light seemed to focus on her as she did this, giving her an ethereal sort of glow Moe never knew existed, yet seemed to make her even more beautiful in his mind. 

God, he was beginning to act like Spike.

But he dismissed those thoughts almost immediately. This was not a time to appreciate the mare's appearance. Singing her praises and flattery would get him nowhere. This was his moment to make peace with her.

"Listen, Rarity, I know that you don't care what I have to say, but I'm truly sorry for what I did. I can go on and on about how I was too drunk to think, or how Vinyl forced my hand, but we both know that those are just excuses. All I really want is to just go back to the way things were before all this drama. I-I just want my friend back, Rarity." 

The way those words left him almost made it sound like he was begging her. But his apology was as heartfelt as anything she had ever heard. He was just as regretful as Coppa had led her to believe, and she knew she couldn't hate him anymore. So with a quick breath, she left the chair and quietly made her way to him.

"I don't know if it can ever be the same again, Moe," she said as he became crestfallen. "You hurt me, Moe. You showed me a wonderful night, only to betray my trust on a whim. How can I expect you to be my friend, let alone give you the possibility of something deeper, if I have to concern myself that you might go behind my back?"

"There's no possibility for us then?"

"No, there isn't. There's just too much to deal with presently. I think that perhaps the best course of action would be to part ways. I just need some time to think that is…"

The words cut through him like a saw. He was practically on the verge of collapsing to his knees at that moment. His mind had been right, there wasn't any hope for reconciliation. Once again fate had been successful in ruining all his chances. Slowly, he turned away, accepting the fact. It took him a minute to slowly make his way to the door, and just as he was about to turn the knob, Rarity's voice stopped him.

His head shot around so that he could see her, but his body was still turned towards the door; a rather uncomfortable position. "Excuse me for being rude, sir, but are you by any chance attending the party tonight?" 

"I wasn't exactly planning on it, given the circumstances," he replied, confused by her words. "I thought you said you needed to think about things?

"And I have, I decided that maybe we should start over again and get to know the real us," she said with an honest smile. "My name is Rarity and I have a slight predicament. See, I was invited to this party on such a short notice that I wasn't able to arrange a date to accompany me. Seeing as you look like the sociable sort, I was hoping that you might know someone who is free. After all, it would be unthinkable that any mare should go to such an event by themselves."

Moe would have had to be completely dense to not pick up on her words. It seemed that 'time to ourselves' meant a small period of a few minutes to think about it. A broad smile replaced the defeat on his face while giving her a slight bow. "A pleasure to meet you Miss Rarity. Unfortunately, I don’t think I can be of service to you there, Madame, my connections are not as broad as you suspected. If it is any consolation, perhaps I may accompany you to the party? I too lack a companion of my own tonight."

"A shame," she replied. Slowly she extended a hoof to Moe. "Nevertheless, I would be delighted for you to be my companion for tonight."

"The pleasure is all mine," he said as he gave her hoof a light kiss. Rarity giggled when the action was repeated a few more times before letting go. The mare curtsied in return, but managed to act quickly, giving Moe a light peck on the cheek. With that one small action, Moe's heart nearly exploded. The two of them looked at each other as they pressed their foreheads together. Moe stroked her cheek with a single finger and drawing a sigh from her.

"Well now that it's a settled, and we've thought about it," she said as the two of them parted and basked in the sunlight coming in through the window together, "I have a question for you Moe. If it isn't an inconvenience."

"I'll do my best to answer."

"May I know the name of the last harpy who hurt you?" she asked. Moe dropped all signs of happiness at the question, going stiff as a board. Rarity bit her tongue, cursing herself for ruining his mood. "I'm sorry, that was a terrible question to ask. Coppa told me about her, but never gave a name. I hope you'll forgive me."

"No, no it's okay. Just a little out of the blue," he replied. His breath wavered slightly as he wetted his lips. "Why did you want to know?" he asked with bated breath.

"So that if I ever meet her, I won't have to give her the pleasure of a greeting before I tell her how I'll enjoy clawing her throat out."

Moe smiled while being slightly taken back by the ferocity of her words. Hopefully it would be the last time he'd even think of the name. But he was all too happy to give her what she desired. Those words told him that he was at least an important part of her life now. 

"Mileena," he said quietly. "Her name was Mileena. But I doubt you’ll ever get the chance to meet her.”

“Well that is some fine news then,” she replied before trotting forward and beckoning him to follow with her tail. “Come along then, Moe, we must be getting ready for the party~”

Moe smiled and followed her, the great feeling of peace settling in his chest. Thank god this is over, he thought to himself. Perhaps now I can finally move on from her.

*****

He’s thinking of me...

Red fire enveloped the pendant, flames dancing and flickering as they surrounded the piece of  jewelry, running through the many crevices of its brightly polished exterior. Smoke and ash followed the flames as they dissipated any remnants of the dirt and dust that accumulated over the past few days. As another gout of flame blasted the pendant, it began to take on a bright reddish hue, sucking up the heat as though it were eating the flames as they hit it. The black dragon in the centre glowed intensely before it began to cool and return to its regular colour.

The female drake smirked as she grasped the palm size trinket between her thumb and her index finger. Carefully, she unclasped the chain that held it and watched as the dragon in its centre finally became cool enough to touch. She then sighed as she gripped it tightly and felt the heat of the metal pass through her glove and warm her hand. Had she been anything but a drake, the heat and pain of the metal would have been unbearable. Instead, the trinket simple felt like a warm coal in her palm as she kept tightening her grip until it left an imprint in her glove. 

“Even now he’s still thinking of me,” she stated to herself while brushing a strand of her ultramarine hair from her face. Her face broke into a malicious smirk as her finger traced the pendant nestled in her hand. “The pet still thinks of its master even after all this time.”

“Your obsession with the elf would normally be concerning," Shishiro stated neutrally as he seemed to emerge from the shadows. He still wore the same cloak from the days before, but she could see the glint of metal and armour beneath its folds. She managed to suppress a scowled as the human mocked her while keeping a seemingly uninterested attitude at the same time. "Though seeing how you treat prisoners, it's not surprising you'd be obsessed with the one that got away." 

"That could be said about you as well," she retorted, small jets of flame coming from her mouth and nose. The comment seemed to have the intended effect as he started to glare at her. There was no friendliness between the two, only a common purpose and she was fairly sure that, had Dagon not forbidden it, Shishiro would have likely found himself dead on the ground long ago. "What is it you want? Or are you simply trying to waste my time?"

"Dagon told me to let you know that we will reach the town within the next two days." The young man's mocking glare only intensified as he saw the dragon around her neck. “Don't worry, you'll have your toy soon enough."

"That is good news. Tell Dagon that I'm thankful for the information. I'll be back at the camp before tonight."

"Very well then," he replied just as a soft moan of pain came from behind Mileena. He cocked his head and caught a glimpse of a figure huddled in the corner of the clearing. A green pony slowly crawled into view, using only its front hooves to drag the tangled mess of its hind limbs. Tears leaked from its fear filled eyes as it struggled to escape. Shishiro almost felt a pang of pity for the thing. It was certainly unfortunate that it was caught by Mileena of all people.

He smiled before retreating back into the shadows and she watched as the blackness grasped him, almost appearing to try and swallow him whole. It started with his legs and slowly made its way upwards, covering him until only his disembodied voice remained. "Hurry on home quickly, I'm sure Dagon would hate to lose his favourite sadist in such a large forest."

"Go to hell," she spat as the shadows finally took him. She wished that she could strike him with her sword at that moment and listen to his screams as he slowly bleed out, but the fear of inciting Dagon's wrath proved to be an effective deterrent, even in his absence. That didn’t mean she couldn’t imagine it though. That dream faded as the moment passed, giving way to a new though that caused Mileena's mouth to salivate and her mind to drift. Two days never seemed so far away. She longed for him, her body aching to see him as though she were in withdrawal. She wanted to hear him moan in pleasure and scream in pain. He would be her’s once more, and she would be damned if he was going to escape her once again.

She smiled, sighing in content as her finger touched the pendant around her neck. A small blush came to her cheeks at the mere thought of the new pleasures she would subject him to. Her body began to heat up with the thought and her confident smirk turned into a sadistic grin. She turned to face the wounded creature and tucked the pendant beneath her shirt. The scraping noise of a dagger leaving its metal sheath must have sounded like such an awful sound to its ears as they flattened against its head, but to her, it only sounded like sweet music. 

She was going to have to cut her time short, but such was the price in this case. If she went through with her usual game, then that two days of travel would be extended into four, maybe five. Either way, the taste of iron filled her mouth and she felt her pulse quicken as placed the tip of her dagger under the pony’s chin. “Don’t worry, I’ll make this quick. You get that one small mercy,” she whispered before she drove the metal blade through the soft flesh and into its skull. A soft gurgling noise came from the rigid pony’s throat before she ripped the dagger out sideways, nearly taking off half the pony’s face in the process. It collapsed and gave an involuntary twitch of its useless back leg in the midst of its death throes. The green grass beneath it turned crimson and Mileena licked her teeth as she turned away. Two days never seemed so far away to her, but the wait was well worth the reward.

“Soon we’ll be back together, I promise you that.” She licked the bloody blade, savouring the taste of warm iron on her tongue. The body would have made for a good snack, but her hunger was for something else entirely. The animals could have the carcass, she had better things to prepare for.  

“Don’t worry my pet, you’ll get to see how much I’ve missed you…”
> Another Day, Another Problem
> --------------------------------------------------------------------------


Silence reigned through the library as Twilight and Dante worked in sync with each other. The morning light filtered in through the windows, illuminating the room while they bent over their task. Neither spoke as each dragged their sticks of chalk along the floor of the building. Lines of concentration stretched across their foreheads as each stroke was made carefully and precisely. With a final stroke, the two stood up and regarded their handiwork from the edge of the library.

Almost two hours of work had gone into revising the spell circle. Large intricate chalk drawings accompanied various runes written in both old Equish and the language of Dante's home. Appearance wise, the circle had remained largely the same as the one Twilight had first used. Only a few runes had been replaced and just two sections of the inner circle were redrawn to redirect the spell’s outcome. An additional circle had been drawn as well, encompassing the original and filled in with much smaller runes and symbols. The new circle had become much larger than the original one, though, and instead of covering the centre of the library, it managed to reach even to the far wall. The elements had been placed within the same six circles in the inner most part as well, their bearers were absent for the obvious safety reasons and neither Dante nor Twilight wanted to risk the other's safety with their plan.

In fact, none of the others were even aware that any progress with the spell had been made. Dante had kept quiet about it, presumably to avoid distractions. Ever since Sam had been hospitalised, Twilight had watched him practically work non-stop on Starswirl’s spell. It was by no means as bad as when Twilight had spent the entirety of a week by herself working on the spell. In fact, she was, in a way, happy about working with Dantel. It had given her hope that maybe she would learn something from, or about, her guest. 

However, much to her frustration, it seemed the peculiar white haired student was particularly adept in dodging all of her questions. All of her friends had managed, in one way or another, to learn something about the others. In her case, questions about his past or anything about him were met with silence or excuses. In total, save for his name, race, and occupation, she knew next to nothing about him.

The thought saddened her as she watched him double check the circle. Numerous reports on the subject of friendship and lessons learned over her time in ponyville hadn't prepared her for this. Did he not trust her? She had done next to everything to establish some sort of bond, yet it seemed as though her efforts hadn't amounted to anything. Then the thought hit her: What if he didn't want to be her friend?

That can't be true... Can it? She thought to herself. There had been a few times she could recall a spark of friendliness between them. His current focus, on the other hand, was telling her otherwise. She knew that Dante wanted to go home more than anything, but it seemed as if there was an ulterior motivation. His companions had integrated without too many problems, but Dante was almost dead set on returning home without so much as a thought.

"Are you ready, Twilight?" 

Her musing halted as she looked up, noticing Dante had finished his inspection and had grabbed his staff.

"Oh, yes, I'm ready. Just lost in thought," she said, excusing herself. She marvelled at the circle, impressed by how much more complex the entire thing had become. "Do you think it will work?"

"Hopefully, I'd rather not imagine what happens when a spell like this backfires. I doubt it's pleasant."

"How do you know if the elements will even work without the girls?" she asked. Dante had not divulged many of the details, but had only told her the general gist of the task. "They usually don't work without their bearers."

"There's residual magic left over from the last time they were used. It seems as though the backlash you experienced trapped it in the elements themselves. It's not much, but it should work for now."

"But how'd you notice it?"

Dante shrugged after picking up the Element of Magic. The artifact looked small in his hands as he pointed to the jewel form of Twilight’s cutie mark. “The elements act the same way as staffs do in our world. They’re powerful tools in theory, but they require a wielder's innate power to be used.” He placed the crown on the ground before he backed up and out of the circle. “Simply put, the elements are conduits which funnel and direct your inner power. Without your power, they’re just pieces of jewelry that look pretty.”

Twilight nodded at the statement. She knew how the elements worked, but had never thought of them as simply extensions of her own power. She had always thought that they had just embodied the elements. She never thought that maybe the elements drew the power from the ponies linked to their respective attributes. However, Dante had still failed to explain the issue. “So how did you manage to find this residual energy?”

He pointed to the pair of horns that sprouted from his head. “These are more than just an ethnic trait, Twilight. They’re sensitive to magical frequencies.  I use them to help detect natural wells of magic and alert me, subconsciously, to distortions around me.”

“So you can find magic with just your horns?” Twilight asked, astounded by the information. Unconsciously, she touched own horn and began to wonder about how similar their appendages were. “Can they act as conduits as well? You know, like unicorn horns?” 

“Not without implants,” he replied. “Though I doubt many would do that because of how sensitive their horns are. Some of my kind won’t even allow others to touch their horns unless it’s their wives or husbands.”

“Really? Why would that be?”

“As I said before, they’re physically sensitive,” he said calmly, but avoided eye contact with the mare. “Our horns are somewhat of an erogenous zone as well…”

“Oh…” Twilight’s face blushed at the thought. She felt slightly embarrassed asking such about such an inappropriate matter. She wasn’t going to say it, but unicorn horns, including her own, were also considered as such. She had only heard the information in the anatomy books back at Canterlot. She had been too confused to believe such facts, but overhearing a few more ‘social’ mares talk about it had convinced her of the fact. The one other memory returned to her: the party where she had touched Dante’s horn. “Oh!” she spluttered, eyes shrinking as she hid her crimson face. “Maybe we should… um… get back to the matter at hand?"

“Sure,” he said. He pointed a figure towards the other side of the circle. Twilight quickly trotted to the area, taking position just behind the outer ring. Dante took position on the opposite side, kneeling and placed his hands on the lines of chalk. “Ok, what we are going to do is simple. I’m going to funnel magic into the circle while you do the same to the Elements. The Element of Magic should activate the others after you give it a bit of a start. I’ll connect the ley lines here to the elements and hopefully everything will go without a problem.”

“I’m ready when you are!”

"Ok, start it off slow," he cautioned. She lowered her head and let her mind clear. A thin, snake like tendril grew from her horn and drifted towards the elements. It tensed and straightened as it connected to the first element, forming a clear line between her horn and the artifact. She cracked open an eye to see the similar veiny wisps of magical aura were also snaking outwards to the remaining five, forming a web of magical lines.

The circle had begun to take on the familiar blue glow, and Twilight looked to see Dante's hands glow with a similar light. Lines of blue stretched all the way from his palms, circling down the staff before it transferred into the chalk drawing. Slowly, the outer circle became filled with light as the symbols lit up. Lines grew from the circle and attached to the elements, tethering themselves to the ground.

"It's working!" Twilight exclaimed, watching the second tier of the circle take on a lighter shade of blue. A rattling came from the house as the spell seemed to shake the tree to its very roots. Books fell and pages flew as the air seemed to suck into the centre of the room. Energy crackled as multi-coloured strands of light came from the elements and centred in the middle of the spell circle. 

Dante grunted, feeling the pressure beginning to set in as he increased his magical output. “Twilight, put more energy into the elements! If we don’t maintain a balance then we risk it backfiring!”

“Ok!” she replied quickly, putting more focus into her horn. The magenta line thickened and beads of sweat appeared on her forehead. A slight pain nagged at the back of her head as the feeling of fatigue set in. Dante looked no better than she did. It seemed as though maintaining the flow into the circle was more effort than either had thought. 

At the same time, the energy of the elements coalesced and circled each other. Rapidly they spun, the lights brightening until it was almost too much for the eye to bear. Twilight had to look away as the flash exploded outward. The two of them were thrown backwards by the sheer force of the blast, blown away like leaves in the wind. Dante crashed against the wall while Twilight was thrown onto her couch, severing their bonds with the circle. Neither moved as the energy went wild and whipped around, sending even more books and paper to the ground. 

Eventually the energy died down and faded into nothingness. The elements, no longer held up by Twilight’s magic, clattered to the floor noisily. Twilight groaned and sat up, the pain in her head blossoming into a full on headache. It honestly felt like someone had violently shaken her head after pouring broken glass into her skull.

"Damn it!" Dante cursed, causing Twilight to wince. He was visibly shaking and his hands were clenched tightly enough that she could see his knuckles whiten. 

"What happened?" she asked while she place a hoof to her aching temple. "It seemed like it was working."

Dante gave a disappointed sigh as he regarded the blackened floor. "I don't know, but I assume the energy in the elements wasn't as potent as I thought. The initial opening must have exhausted the reserve."

"How long do you think it will take before we can try again?"

Dante scratched his head as he contemplated the time. "Too long," he sighed, "It could be anywhere from another month to three. I'd also have to refine the outer rim we added."

"I see..." 

In truth, Twilight had mixed feelings about this. Dante was obviously disappointed at the prospect of being stuck in Equestria, and she sympathized with him. On the other hoof, this meant more time for her to learn about him.

It was a win-win scenario in her mind.

"Well in that case, I guess we should try again another time,” she said. “If you want to come with me, I have a few errands to run. It’ll help pass the time.”

Dante gave a shake of his head. “No, I’m fine. I’ll stick around here and see if I can’t pinpoint what went wrong. I’ll also try cleaning up this mess.”

“Are you sure?” she asked, slightly disheartened by the rejection. 

Dante nodded. "I need to figure it out or we might be stuck here forever. And that's something neither of us want."

Would that be so bad? Twilight thought. She knew it was a selfish idea, but seeing a giant toad destroy part of a house had ingrained itself in her mind. What could be so bad about Equestria that he'd want to go back to a place in which things like that lived?

With a sigh she turned to face the door. Maybe she was right after all. Maybe there was no getting through to him. 

She pushed those thoughts aside and left the library. She had a new idea. If it worked she'd know more about him without even having to bother him. She might not be able to get anything out of him, but that didn't mean she couldn't learn through his friends.

But where to begin? she thought. Rarity was out in Canterlot. The mare hadn't exactly given a strict itinerary, but she was due back today. That left one option.

With a quick step, she pivoted and began her trip to the hospital, unaware of the two ruby red eyes watching her through the library window.

*****

Ponyville Hospital was quieter than usual as Twilight trotted through the hall. Butterflies flitted about in her stomach with each step that brought her closer to Sam's room. Asking Sam about his teammate wasn't so much a problem that caused her to be nervous, it just seemed like she was going behind Dante's back. 

Reaching the door, Twilight pushed the thought behind her. This was a necessity; information she needed to know. She knew that his friends might be reluctant to give up personal facts, but it never hurt to ask. Yet when she opened the door, she struggled to suppress the 'aww' at the sight in front of her.

Sam and Fluttershy were asleep, wrapped up in each other's arms. It was almost as though the two were a couple sharing the same bed. The pegasus' head only peaked above the covers, but Twilight could make out the content smile on her face. Sam was also doing the same and allowing her to press into him, while his arm was wrapped protectively around her. To Twilight, it was a rather cute scene, despite breaking about a dozen hospital regulations. She almost wished she had a camera so she could take a picture for fun, as well as to tease her friend. Yet, she decided to simply watch them for a moment.

"Well I guess I'll just leave them for now," Twilight giggled to herself as she turned to tiptoe out the room. “They seem rather comfortable. I’ll just ask him when-”

"I'm awake..."

Twilight froze and with a sheepish grin, turned around. Sam was still laying down, but had an eye open and an ear cocked toward Twilight. His face was still stuck in its usual neutral expression, but Twilight could see he was relaxing slightly. It also seemed as though he was healing quickly, despite being injured a few short days ago.

"Did I wake you?" she asked, stepping away from the door. 

Sam shook his head. "No, I've been awake for the past few hours. I heard you coming down the hall. You are not as quiet as you think you are."

"Sorry about that," Twilight apologized before giggling. "Though it seems that Fluttershy made sure you weren't lonely."

Sam blushed at the remark as he looked down at Fluttershy. A gentle smile played across his features as he ran a hand through her mane. Twilight quietly 'squeed' at the sight as Fluttershy murmured something before snuggling up against his side.

"She hasn't left my side since I was brought here," Sam said quietly, the ridges of his cheeks flushing slightly. "She wouldn't go, even when I told her it was fine. But she seems to be insistent. I’m beginning to think this was somebody's idea of a joke."

Twilight smiled in return. "She cares about you, Sam. She won't leave until she knows you'll be fine on your own." She motioned towards the sleeping mare. "This is just her way of looking after you."

Sam looked at her, confused as though he were trying to solve an intricate puzzle. "I am thankful for it as well, but it confuses me. She's done much for me and I don't know how I can ever return the favor."

"If she were awake, I think Fluttershy would be perfectly happy knowing that you're ok."

Sam nodded as he returned to stroking Fluttershy's mane. "It's strange. Being around her... It makes me feel content. It makes me feel as though everything I've done before I came to this place was superficial." He looked towards Twilight with a new light in his eye. "It's hard to describe, Twilight Sparkle. I just want to thank her for everything. For my voice, my magic, for believing in me when I couldn't believe in myself. I treasure it all, and I'll always feel that way. Yet I can't seem to find the right words no matter how hard I try..."

Twilight almost failed to suppress a knowing laugh. She may not have been the most sociable of ponies, but she could see what was happening. Oh, if only Cadence were here.

"Admitting how you feel is never easy. But I'm sure she'd appreciate it either way. Just tell her when you feel the time is right," she explained.

"I'll keep that in mind," Sam said as he sat up. "But I am wondering why you might be here. From your stance, I assume you wanted to ask me questions rather than talk about my persona nurse?"

"Oh, right..." She took a seat on a nearby stool and absentmindedly clopped her hooves together, nervously pondering her question. "It's about Dante..."

Sam's eyes seemed to narrow as he stared at Twilight. The gentle aspect was now gone from his gaze, replaced by a cold stare that made her shiver. She knew she shouldn't have asked, but she didn't expect such a cold reaction. 

"I just wanted to know a bit about him," she stated, avoiding all eye contact. "We've learned so much about you and the others, but Dante hadn't said anything at all. Every time I try to talk to him, he just avoids the subject. I'm beginning to think he doesn't even consider me a friend."

"Silence does not mean he lacks trust, but perhaps he wishes to withhold his past," Sam stated calmly. "But your desire to know more has brought you here to ask me for my knowledge. Does that seem like an honorable action?"

Twilight's head perked up, and she looked at Sam guiltily. “I just wanted to know more about him…” she murmured. “I know I shouldn’t be going behind his back, but what else can I do? I’ve given him every reason to trust me!”

“Twilight, I cannot help you,” Sam said. Twilight hung her head low. She knew she shouldn’t have asked, but the frustration was unbearable. It was like trying decipher a complex spell where the answer was in a book which was glued shut. She couldn’t force it open unless she was ready to do irreparable damage.

“I’m sorry too… I shouldn’t have asked.”

“Do not be, I would have helped you. I would have told all that you needed to know or wanted to know. But I cannot provide information I don’t have.”

Twilight was definitely confused now. She looked at Sam quizzically with a slight cock of her head. “What do you mean?”

“I know little of Dante, and even less about what his life was like before the group was formed. Everything about him is a mystery. He has always remained silent about who he is and was, never saying so much as a word. I know of nothing that you haven’t already uncovered.”

“How is that possible? I would have thought that you would know each other,” Twilight said. “Aren’t you all friends?”

“We are Dante’s allies, and while he may consider us friends, he has never acted in any manner to learn about others. Not once in the five months we’ve known each other has he ever allowed himself to grow close. Even at Particus, he was never seen in the company of anyone else. He never asks about other's lives, and in turn, tells others nothing about himself."

“I don’t understand… what would make you think that?” she asked. The entire situation was unfathomable to her. Sure, Dante seemed rather cold, but the same could have been said for Sam when he had first arrived. But to not even so much as consider the others as his friends was just plain heartless. If she had been in the same position, she was totally certain that she would have at least gotten to know her teammates.

Sam shook his head. “I could not tell you. But the only thing I know is that he suffers from a great pain…”

“A pain?” Twilight asked. “Do you mean like what Coppa and you went through? Did something happen to him that is making him blame himself?”

“Again, I cannot say for sure…" Sam muttered. “But what he has suffered is something far worse than what either Coppa or I have gone through. And while we may overcome the sense of loss, Dante will most likely never be able to pull himself from his hidden despair.”

“How can you be sure? How do you know all of this if you don’t even know what he’s gone through?”

Sam pointed towards his eyes. “It’s in his eyes.”

Twilight blinked at the statement. “His eyes?”

“Yes, his eyes,” he explained. “They look alive, but clouded by the presence of death. Hollow and empty. He has seen the kind of horrors and experienced the sort of loss we cannot even fathom. He may be like Coppa, blaming himself for a situation entirely out of control, but Coppa was able to move past his trauma through false smiles and jokes. Dante, however, cannot do that, and he is always haunted by the fact.” Sam’s gaze became hard again. “For the first month that we worked together, I heard him whisper in his sleep, saying names only known to him...”

“Wait, are you saying that Dante has nightmares about this?” Twilight questioned. “Are you sure it was something from his past? I mean... everyone has bad dreams, he could have just been having a regular nightmare.”

Sam merely snorted at her statement. “These nightmares are the ones of a person who is ashamed of what they have done. They see many things and it makes them unafraid of death. Instead, it pushes them to seek for it. They then close themselves off in pursuit of it.”

“That’s insane! He wouldn’t do that!” Twilight shouted, not recalling the fact that Fluttershy was sleeping. The pegasus mumbled and Sam gently fixed the sheet covering her. Twilight bit back an apology but took a few breaths as she sought to calm her rattled nerves. “I… I think I… I think I’m going to need to rethink this situation.” She turned towards the door but looked back before leaving. “Thank you, Sam, I’m sorry I disturbed you…”

“It is no fault of yours,” he said as he nestled back into his bed. Fluttershy let out an inaudible whisper and cozied herself up against him again. He closed his eyes, but kept his head facing Twilight. “Though sometimes secrets are kept for a reason. You should always bear that in mind.”

Twilight nodded and turned out the door. She had come seeking answers, but had only left with more questions. What sort of event would push a being to the limits that Sam had described? Why would Dante close himself off from his friends? And these were just the tip of the metaphorical iceberg. But deep down in her mind, something nagged at her. 

“Who are you, Dante?”

*****

Dante sighed as he put the last book away on the shelf. Long and painstaking work had rendered the Library back to its normal state. Stretching as he finished up, he sucked in a breath of relief as he closed the blinds and turned to view the scorched wood that currently made up the library floor. 

The air seemed to become increasingly heavy as darkness replaced all the light and Dante’s skin prickled in response. He crossed the room, stepping over the faded chalk lines until he reached the other side, stopping at the small desk with Starswirl's journal on top of it. He gently opened the book and flipped through the pages until he reached the end. He gently traced the circle, contemplating the result of his test. Various new formulas and symbols came to his mind but were erased almost immediately. None of them would work, let alone even redirect the spell. The thought angered him, and he growled as he slammed the book shut and leaned on the table.

“I know you overloaded the spell. I could feel it when you shut down the elements,” he said loudly to no one in particular. “Why? Why would you want to stay here? This place doesn’t serve any purpose to you.”

She’s beginning to suspect you…

Dante twitched as the voice echoed around the library. The air grew cold and he felt a new presence reveal itself in the library. He half turned his head to see a figure clad in purple robes standing behind him. The hood had been drawn up, covering the apparition's face in darkness, but Dante could still make out a pair of red eyes glowing from within the darkness. 

“Answer the question!” Dante yelled. “You and I both knew that the spell would have worked, but you forced it to overload. Why? Doesn’t your plan require us to be back home?”

Your work would have failed either way, just as you did in the past. Did you really think this time would be any different? That you might save yourself if you found your way home?

“Don’t insult me. I will get us back home and I will find a way to destroy you,” he retorted, spitting at the figure's feet. “I can promise you that.”

And how do you propose to do that? The figure stretched out his right arm, revealing a skeletal hand as the fringe of its robe moved back. A black aura wrapped around the bony white appendage and Dante felt his legs quaver as well as his chest tighten. He gasped as it became increasingly hard to breath. He felt something akin to an invisible hand squeeze his lungs and block his airway.  You disappoint me, I had thought you were supposed to be intelligent. You cannot even resist my shadow, and you propose to try and destroy me?You know as well as anyone that you cannot stop fear just as you cannot avoid your true purpose in life. 

With those words, the black aura dissipated and the invisible hand’s presence disappeared. Dante coughed as he leaned on the table for support. His breath came back to him in ragged gasps as the invisible force let go of his body. Struggling, he managed to stand back up straight, albeit with a slight shake in his step. “I'm not listening to another one of your lies. There is no way I will ever use that power after what happened. You can try and force me, but I will fight you no matter what.”

The figure seemed to chuckle at his resolve and began to approach him. It grinned, revealing the white rows of sharp and jagged teeth. Dante backed away slightly as it approached and grabbed him by the throat. His hands worked with a panicked quickness as he was brought close to the spirit's face, but they simply passed through the skeletal arm as though it were mist.

“Do not fool yourself, Dante,” it said as he choked and struggled. “We were born for a greater purpose than that of mere existence. You cannot fight what you are, no matter hard you resist. There will come a time when you will will be forced to accept what is to come. And when that time arrives, you will be forced to accept your position or I will happily destroy you and take our inheritance.”

The spirit then let go of Dante’s throat, allowing him to drop to the floor. An instant later, the spirit vanished, leaving only the sound of it's voice.

“You can't fight destiny. Even if you do manage to return, the ascension is still guaranteed. The question will be who is the one to obtain it.” 

"You can do whatever you want," Dante growled as he got to his knees. His eyes were filled with defiance as his hand erupted into flame. The spirit paused for a moment, almost surprised by the action, giving him enough time to send the spell forward. “I’ll still destroy you, one way or another.”

"So defiant..." the spirit chuckled as he raised his hand. The ball of flame crashed against it and flared to life, engulfing the hand. "But so foolish..." 

He quenched the spell with a flick of his hand, as though he were shaking off excess water. The flames died quickly and left the hand without any visible marks. Dante grit his teeth in frustration as the spirit backed away, his jagged teeth still set in a semi-serious grin. It slowly vanished, fading away into smoke as it spoke.

"I should remind you of something as well.” It laughed before a giant pair of fog like wings flared outwards, causing Dante’s eyes to shrink as visions of everyone he had met in Ponyville flashed in his mind. “The others are involved in this too. So should you act out again, I won't hesitate to show these mortals the full extent of how cruel you can be."

A sharp pain followed the incredible force as the smoke coiled and stabbed into Dante’s chest. It blew him back, sending him careening into the wall. He gasped as he felt the wind drive out from his lungs, leaving him heaving after he hit the ground with a loud ‘thud’. 

A small groan came from him as he stood up unsteadily. His entire body had gone numb and his knees nearly gave out from his own weight. Images of the six mares covered in blood flashed before his eyes. They all looked like corpses; their eyes clouded and their lips parted in an eternal moan as though they were still in pain. Ponyville was even burning in the background, cascading light onto the mounds of pony corpses strewn throughout the streets. Yet, even though it was only an image created to terrify him, Dante could taste, smell, and even feel the blood in the air.

No one can stop death...

He bit his lip and hissed at the pain as his teeth broke the skin, A slight tang of iron filled his mouth and the images cleared out as his mind focused on his self inflicted wound. The mares and the burning town faded into nothingness, leaving him in the library again. He breathed in relief and wiped the liquid that had dribbled out onto his chin with the back of his hand. He sighed slightly as he looked to see the back of his hand covered in black. A frown crossed his face and he quickly wiped the offending sight away on his pant leg.

It's only a matter of time...

"Damn it!" Dante said as he smashed his fist against the wooden table. The force probably hurt him more than the table, but his anger dulled the pain.

“Well, well, such a temper on this one,” a new voice exclaimed. “I guess Celestia was right after all. We really do have some strange guests living in Equestria.”

Dante’s head snapped around as his body did a complete circle. His eyes darted from one spot to another, trying to find the source. His search came out empty handed, even after circling the library two times. Not one thing was out of place on the ground level if he didn’t count the books blown around by the spell earlier. That left only one option.

Up.

Slowly he raised his head and looked towards the ceiling. When he locked eyes with the being floating above him, Dante had to suppress a shout of surprise. The creature itself simply smiled at the shocked boy and gave him a little wave.

“Hello.”

****

“Do you think she’s alright?”

“I’m not sure, but its been a while since she started.”

“Do you think we should… Y’know? Ask what’s wrong?”

“I don’t think it’ll do much. She doesn’t even seem to notice us.”

“Why does this have to be so hard?” Twilight muttered to herself. “I can’t just go up and say ‘Hey, would it be fine if you could tell me about yourself’ or 'Sam said you have issues; wanna tell me about those?' Yeah, because that would go over really well.”

Had Twilight taken the time to really think about it, she probably would have realised that she was starting to look as though she had lost her mind. She had been circling the same plot of land in front of the hospital for nearly forty minutes, slowly wearing the ground down until her ankles were at street level. Stray hairs were beginning to pop up from her mane and there was the subtle beginning of a twitch in her eye.

“I think she’s losing it…”

“Maybe I should just ask him, maybe the thirty-third time will work?” Twilight said as a pair of shadows began to grow closer. “But what if he just ignores me again?”

“Twilight are you ok? You’ve been talking to yourself for a while now.”

Twilight turned her head slightly and saw that Coppa and Moe were standing behind her. Both were watching her with apprehension. Neither seemed as though they wanted to move any closer to the mare and Twilight only understood this when she saw her reflection in a window. She quickly fixed her mane and made herself presentable. 

“I’m fine, I’m just thinking about a few things…” she said as she faced them. “Just trying to wrap my head around a few things.”

Coppa snorted, drawing the attention of both Moe and Twilight. “It’s Dante isn’t it?”

Twilight was taken aback. She didn’t want to say it, but Coppa had never been the one she had expected to be able to read people. He was crude and foul mouthed, and regrettably, she hadn’t thought much of the dwarf in terms of intelligence. She had just assumed he was the meathead sort; someone who was there when strength was needed. However, it seemed she had been mistaken after all. Each of the four were intelligent in their own right, Coppa was just more prone to using violence.

“Y-yes... It is,” she said as she rubbed her leg nervously. “I’m just trying to figure some things out about him.”

“Pfft, good luck with that!” Coppa laughed, causing Twilight to blush in embarrassment. “trying to figure that guy out is like hitting your head against a brick wall and expecting it to fall. There’s no possible way it’ll happen, you’d just be wasting your time and brain cells. The guy might talk, but he’ll never say anything about himself!”

“I’ve already figured that much out,” Twilight retorted. “I’m just tired of not knowing anything about somepony who has lived with me for a month.”

“Well I think I could help,” Moe said, interrupting the shouting match that was brewing. “It was only a few rumors though.”

“Really?” Twilight asked, ears perked up and her previous frustration completely replaced by hope. “What were they about?”

Moe sighed as he tapped his temple. “It was just that he and a bunch of other students were involved in a bad accident. I tried looking it up in his student folder, but I couldn’t find much.”

“It didn’t mention anything at all?”

“No, most of it was blacked out and specific parts were censored,” he replied, crushing any hope that her investigation would turn something up. Moe frowned and gave her a reassuring pat on the back. “Sorry if that isn’t what you wanted to hear.”

“It’s fine, Sam already prepared me for it,” she said as she began to head toward the library. “I think I’ll just head back home for now.”

“Well we’ll come with you, we need to talk to him anyways,” Moe said. “Maybe we can get him to talk in the meantime? Coppa’s pretty good with rope, if you didn’t know.” 

“Fucking right I am!”

Twilight laughed alongside them as they traveled towards her home. “By the way, where’s Rarity?” she asked. 

“She’s back in the Boutique,” Moe replied. “The entire trip took a lot out of us all.”

Coppa scoffed, but Twilight could see him grinning and giving Moe an evil look. “I’m pretty sure that only applies to you.”

Twilight giggled as Moe’s face flushed and he quickly jabbed Coppa in the arm. One thing she had learned about the two was that even though they were practically opposites, they were still the best of friends. Whatever had happened on the trip had only seemed to strengthen that. She only wished she could have something like that with her own houseguest. 

But her wishes were going to have to wait as a fireball seemingly erupted from the library’s window. Twilight and the other two stood in shock as another four followed the first, bursting from the other openings of the treehouse. As she came closer she could hear voices shouting at each other and the occasional girlish scream. 

The front door of the library burst open as a long serpentine body flew out and nearly took Twilight off of her hooves. An arc of lightning followed it, catching the thing by the tail as it sought to escape. She watched as it remained in the air for a second, comically twisting as electricity enveloped it. When it fell to the ground, Twilight’s eyes widened as she recognised the mismatched body that belonged to a certain spirit. 

“Discord?” 

“Oh thank Celestia’s mighty beard, Twilight. You have to help me!” the Draconequus said as he hugged her forehooves. Coppa and Moe backed up, confused by the strangeness of the spirit of chaos’ form. Discord whimpered as a loud crash came from the library. “Oh no, he’s coming for me!”

“Who are you talking about Discord?” she asked as her horn lit up. He snaked his way behind her and slightly pushed her so that she blocked the path between him and whatever was in the library.

“He’s a maniac! A maniac I tell you!” Discord screamed and pleaded. “A complete psychopath!” he added just before noticing that the hair at the end of his tail was on fire. He quickly snapped his fingers, summoning a pink cloud that quenched the fire with a torrent of chocolate milk. He then brought the charred hair and waved it in front of Twilight’s nose. “See what he’s done to me? He’ll burn the rest of my hair off if you don’t stop him!”

“What are you going on about, Discord?” she asked. Discord only whimpered and further hid himself behind her tail.

Just as she turned her head away, the door of the library swung open. A young stallion trotted out, uneasily walking forward as he glared at the spirit behind Twilight. A bleach white mane topped the stallion’s head, matching the short tail that sprouted from his hind quarters. His pale smoke grey coat bristled at the fringes, complimenting his glowing red eyes. Twilight had to take a step back, gasping at the realisation of who the stallion was after seeing the twin horns that sprouted from the sides of his head. However, it was Coppa who was the first to speak in light of his shock.

“Oh my god, Dante’s a pony...”
	
> Breakdown
> --------------------------------------------------------------------------

        “Dante’s a pony now?”
       
        Twilight could hardly believe what was she saw in front of her. It didn’t help any that the sheer absurdity of the situation was almost mind numbing. The pony in front of her was most definitely Dante; she could comprehend that much. The dual horns on his head, mixed with his currently seething red eyes, was a dead giveaway. If it wasn't that fact that tipped her off, then it was the magical fire that he had been shooting around nearly ten minutes ago. The part that was difficult to understand was what had caused such a transformation to occur in the first place.
        
        The best thing she could do, in hopes that her mind didn’t shut down from shock, was to keep herself calm and collected. "Discord..." she began calmly, turning her head slowly and switching her focus away from Dante who was being poked and prodded by his furred companion.” What are you even doing here and would you like to tell me what made you turnDante into a pony? ?"
        
         The mismatched spirit gave a small yawn as he floated in the air, defying all concepts of gravity to the astonishment of Coppa and Moe. "Well I was minding my own business-"

        "I highly doubt that," Twilight interrupted, unimpressed by the look of feigned innocence Discord was putting on. It was highly unlikely that he would just appear unexpectedly for no reason. No, if she knew Discord, then this was part of a bigger scheme. Dante's transformation was part of something bigger. What it was, she couldn't say. Yet she knew that whatever he had planned was as elaborate as it was random. On the other hand, she could be overreacting to the situation. Then again, Discord did have a knack for strange pranks and tricks as well.

        Either way, Twilight wasn't sure what to make of the situation. It also didn't help that Coppa's giggles were making it hard to think. The Dwarf was incessantly poking Dante, who looked none too pleased to be in that situation. It seemed that he was the only one who was taking the event in stride, using it as a source of childish amusement. She only wondered how long it would take before Dante snapped back. Moe, on the other hand, had taken a step back and was watching the entire scene unfold in front of him. He was most likely waiting for the same thing she was expecting.
        
        "Coppa, I think Dante would appreciate it if you stopped," Twilight finally said, not wanting to see how far Coppa would push him
        
        "But he makes noises!" Coppa exclaimed, poking him with renewed purpose. 'Besides, this is just too funny!" he added with a laugh.

        Twilight rolled her eyes at the observation. Tiny squeaks, much like the sound of a chew toy being squeezed, seemed to come from the stallion's body as Coppa's continued poking him. Now Twilight could see the annoyance that Dante was desperately keeping under wraps. Small veins began to surface along his temple and soon enough, Dante's anger exploded outwards. A quick forehoof to Coppa's chin sent him flying backwards and reduced him to a mumbling mess. Moe sighed as he walked over, irritation in his voice as he began to chastise his slightly disorientated friend. Twilight ignored the exchange and trotted toward Dante. She took a seat behind him, silently watching him brood at his situation. She could tell almost immediately that he was incredibly infuriated about this. Anger seemed to radiate off him like heat from a furnace, and she could even feel her skin prickle from the feeling.

“Oh my, I think you broke him, ” Discord said, shocked at the sudden display of violence. His surprise didn’t last long and before any of them knew it, he was laughing as the dwarf began to mumble nonsense..
        
        "A-are you going to be okay?" she managed to say, only to flinch when Dante turned her way. His eyes, which had been calm pools of crimson only a few hours beforehand, were practically glowing red with anger.
     
        "No, no I am not okay," he replied, digging a trench in the ground with the tip of his hoof. He turned his attention to Discord who appeared to be lazily swimming through the air. "Turn me back now."
      
        Discord stopped his breaststroke and slowly sunk through the air until he was hovering slightly above the ground. He gave Dante a smug look while tilting the dual horned stallion's chin with his birdlike hand. "Aww, is somepony a little grumpy because they look a little different?" he joked, his tone taking that on the sound of concerned parent. A baby blue bonnet appeared on Dante's head with two holes for his horns. Had the situation not been so bizarre, Twilight would have giggled as a bib appeared around his neck and a pacifier was forced into his mouth. She actually did titter slightly, but the situation turned serious as Dante surrounded himself with flames and incinerated the offending items.
      
        "Enough!" he shouted while the flames died down. The ash from the bonnet and bib wisped away in the wind, surrounding him as he grabbed Discord by his beard. The Draconequus yelped in pain as his face was pulled down rather violently. To Twilight, Dante's coat seemed to darken, turning the smoky grey fur a shade blacker. His entire body was bristling from head to tail while he growled at Discord. "I am going to give you five seconds, just five seconds to tell me why you did this, or I will personally show you that a burnt tail is the least of your concerns."
        
        "Humph, who knew the normally reserved leader could have such a temper!" Discord exclaimed as his chin hairs rearranged themselves. "It was only a harmless little prank. No need to get your new tail in a twist."
        
        "Five..."Dante said and Twilight could see flames circle Dante's hooves again. Yet, something was off about them. Instead of feeling any heat, all Twilight felt was a cold sensation in the air. Then she noticed something odd about the flames around Dante's feet. Instead of the red and yellow that any open flame would usually be colored, the flames had taken on a hue of purple and black. Discord didn't seem to notice or hear the countdown, or the fire for that fact, and only kept blabbering on.
        
        “Sure, I could have made you into an alicorn, a Pegasus, or an earth pony, but I believed you would have been better suited to be a unicorn.” Discord explained before he held up his tail. “In retrospect, I probably should have seen this coming.”
        
        “Four…”
        
        “Then again, the look on your face when you grew hooves was absolutely priceless.”
        
        “Three…”
        
        “You wouldn’t actually hurt me over something as small as this?” Discords said, fear beginning to creep into his voice. The flames around Dante had grown to about knee height and were taking on brilliant shades of purple as Dante fanned them with magic. Discord looked towards Twilight as though he was expecting her to jump to his rescue. Twilight made no move to do so, only remaining transfixed by the sight of the dazzling flames that Dante was summoning. There was something about them that fascinated her. They were beautiful, dazzling, and rather eye catching. The spell was obviously extremely deadly and she could feel excess energy pouring out from them. However, that wasn’t what fascinated her. It was far from it; something entirely different from the sheer power or beauty of the flames captivated her.
        
        It was the sheer sense of dread and fear she felt seeping from the flames that froze her to the spot.
        
        Dante growled before a small whip of flame tore through the ground “Don’t test me Discord. I am in no mood to play games.”
        
        Twilight took a breath and stepped in between the two of them. “Enough,” she said forcefully, giving them each a hard stare. Discord gulped and stood down, but Dante remained firm and kept the flames raging. “Dante, stop. He’ll change you back,” she promised before she turned to the draconequus. “Turn him back. Now.”
        
        Discord chuckled weakly as he scratched the back of his head with a paw. “I would love to, but I can’t.”
        
        “Can’t or won’t?”
         
        “If you don’t believe me, then believe a demonstration would be more insightful,” he said with a snap of his fingers. Dante was enveloped in a bright light that exploded outward with an audible ‘pop’. However, instead of a normal bipedal Dante, the pony form remained. “Do you see what I mean?”
       
        “Why can’t you turn him back?” Twilight asked as Dante struggled with the temporary blindness from the spell. “You did this; you should be able to reverse it!”
      
        “Putting it simply,” Discord began,” he’s too different from what I’m used to, and it seems that the spell is a little more permanent than what I had expected.” He raised a claw and cleared his throat in an effort to silence Moe and Twilight before they could say anything. “Don’t worry though, he’ll change back sooner or later; granted he may have a taste for hay for a bit afterwards.” He then yelped as a column of flames passed by his face, singeing a portion of his eyebrow off.
        
        “Dante!” Twilight yelled. She turned to face him but faltered as the flames grew more violent. Deep down she feared that Dante was going to try to immolate the entire area, and it seemed that she wasn't too far off, judging by Dante's intense state of anger. She was also afraid that there wasn't anything she could do to stop him.
        
        It was Moe that saved her, and possibly every building within a twenty foot radius. "Dante, calm down and breathe. Getting worked up over this is not helping anybody."

        Dante seemed to heed Moe's words and Twilight watched as he relaxed his posture. The flames flickered, turning back from the deep purple to a soft orange before dying out. She breathed in relief, satisfied she wouldn't be playing damage control that day.
       
        Dante, on the other hand, seemed to still be quite anxious about his predicament. Rightly so if Twilight was going to voice her opinion.
        
        "How am I going to do that?" he snapped. "I am a pony now for god's sake." He raised his hooves, shaking them as though he were trying to prove the point of his transformation again.
        
        "He said it's only temporary," Moe countered. "You just need to wait a bit and you'll be back to normal."
    
         “Moe," he began calmly, "he is the embodiment of chaos and disorder. Are you actually going to trust his word on this?"
        
        Discord only seemed to scoff at Dante's words, hiding his snout behind a paw as he laughed. "That's rich coming from the boy turned pony who was talking to the voices in his head for a full ten minutes. Who was it you were going to destroy again, hmm?"
     
        Confusion overtook Twilight and she looked towards Dante. Voices? She thought as Sam's words rang in her head. Perhaps this was what he was speaking about after all.
        
        "Shut up Discord!" Dante yelled. For a moment, much to Twilight's astonishment, his eyes flashed into an inky black before quickly reverting to their original red. "Don't try to change the subject. How do you expect me to work on getting us home when I have to worry about changing species and possibly ruining our only chance at returning?"
        
        "Perhaps your friends don't want to go home?" Discord said as though he were giving a lecture to a child. "Did you think to ask them? Last I saw, your pointy-eared friend was doing well for himself. I think the furred one was also thinking about staying here."
        
        Quick as lightning, Dante's head swept toward Moe. The elf was no longer looking towards him. Instead, he was busying himself by staring at the ground while trying to hide a blush.
        
        "What is he talking about?" Dante asked with more force than was needed. "Moe, tell me you aren't actually considering staying."
        
        "I don't see what's forcing us to go," he replied with no hesitance his voice. "I actually like it here. We don't have to worry about much and we have enough to live comfortably. Besides, we could even build a big enough house with what we have, and I'm sure we could get whatever else we could possible need."
        
        Dante seemed almost shocked by Moe's casual statement. "You have got to be joking. We cannot stay here Moe."
        
        Twilight wasn't sure what hurt more. The fact that Dante was so eager to get home, or that he seemingly didn't care enough to even consider staying. The fact that he was also forgetting her presence as he continued to argue his point didn't make it any better. In fact, she was almost at her limit in terms of Dante's behaviour. Yet it seemed that she wasn't going to get that liberty.
        
        "Moe we don't belong here," he said in an almost pleading tone. "It would never work out..."
        
        Now it seemed like it was Moe's turn to be angry. He stood up, now slightly taller thanks to the height difference provided by the transformation, and advanced on Dante.
        
        "Don't give me those excuses," he retorted, jabbing a finger accusingly at Dante. "You're the only one who hates it here. Sam, Coppa, and I have at least given this place a chance. We made friends here. Good, honest, and kind friends who care about us and love us for who we are." Moe breathed as his voice quieted. "But why should you care? You never give anyone that chance. You never let anyone know what you’re thinking and you chase away anyone who tries. Maybe I'm giving the guy who comes from a race of perpetual loners too much credit."
        
        Both Twilight and Discord gasped, more in an exaggerated sense on Discord's part, as Moe's statement settled in the atmosphere. Dante took only a second before his astounded look gave way to fury. This had become more than just about going home, this was the culmination of five months tension between all of them.
        
        "You have no idea what I've done..." he growled. "We should not even be here."
        
        "Please stop you two," Twilight said. She needed to stop this. The exchanges, Dante's transformation, Moe's tirade, they were doing nothing but threatening to divide the group. "You two are supposed to be friends."
        
        "I think that word might be absent from his vocabulary, Twilight," Moe scoffed as he crossed his arms. "Dante doesn't even know the meaning of it."
        
        "We are going home one way or another," Dante said as he glared at Moe. "I was put in charge and this is not up for negotiation."
        
        "Oh, I didn't realize this was a dictatorship," Moe snapped back. "You never had a problem with us making our own decisions before, what's changed now?"
        
        "I-"
        
         "Is it the fact that you can't stand the idea of a new student taking your spot as Feinman's favourite? Or is it because you're afraid of the fact that maybe for once in your life, you don't have control over something?"
        
        Dante took a moment to recollect himself. "Don't talk as if you understand my situation. You don't know anything about me."
        
        "That's exactly it; none of us know anything about you. We don't know a single damn thing!" Moe said with more force than Twilight thought might have been necessary. "You know all about us but we know nothing about you." He pointed to Twilight who gulped as Dante turned his gaze on her. "Twilight's been asking about you all day and we couldn't give her anything. Why is that? What have you done that is possibly so bad, that you have to shut out anybody who actually cares about you?"
        
        For once in their brief stay, Twilight watched as Dante had nothing to say. No words of intellect, no reassurances filled with confidence, just nothing. Moe had pretty much hit the head of every issue and all Dante could do was stand in silence. 
      
        "We... I... Don't... deserve this," he said, his words failing him. Then he turned and shot off, galloping unsteadily down the street.
        
        Moe sighed as they watched Dante disappear. "It had to be said..."
        
        "I guess I was mistaken this time," Discord pouted as he attempted to fix his eyebrow. "I'll need to talk to Celestia about who she lets in. At least the last one she brought over had a sense of humour."
       
        Both Moe and Twilight looked towards Discord. "What are you talking about?" they asked at the same time.
       
        Discord tittered in attempt to be mysterious. "Oh, nothing you need to concern your pretty little heads with." He snapped his fingers and began to crumble into dirt. "But if you really want to know a little more, then I suggest you look at what your guest picked up a few days ago. Could be rather helpful!"
        
        "Discord, wait!" Moe shouted. The Draconequus raised an eyebrow as Moe walked to him. He cupped his hand around Discords ear and whispered something to the spirit. Discord's face lit up like a Hearths Warming Eve tree. Moe grinned as well and with a snap of Discord's finger, Coppa's body became enveloped in light. “He is going to be so angry when he wakes up.”
        
        Twilight turned away as the sound of balloons expanding filled the air. She didn't have time to concern herself with whatever it was Discord was doing now, she had bigger things to worry about. If Discord were right, then there'd be answers to her questions within the tree house.
        
        She just hoped that what she was about to do wouldn't bite her in the flank later on.
        
        
        
*****

        
        
        A good four-minute jog had placed Dante as far away as he needed to be from Moe and the others. When he finally did stop, he found himself within Ponyville's market square. It was mostly quiet with the exception of a few stalls that were experiencing a rush at that moment. Surprisingly, he only managed to catch two or three ponies staring at his horns, which meant the rest could care less or they were much more discreet about it. Either way, Dante still felt discomfort at being so exposed in his new form.
        
        Unfortunately, his discomfort didn't stop the sound of a rather loud and extended gasp coming from behind him. He barely had time to blink before a wall of pink was pressed up against his muzzle accompanied by the smell of what might have been bubblegum and cake. A pair of hooves grasped his own and began shaking them at record speeds.
        
        "Hi," a voice which could have only belonged to the town's resident party planner said. "I'm Pinkie Pie, and you have got to be new here. Y'see I've never seen you before and if I've never seen you before that means you're new, 'cause I know everypony, and I mean everypony in Ponyville!"
        
        Dante rolled his eyes as the jittery ball of pink practically vibrated in place. Then she stopped suddenly and pressed her face into his. "But if you're new, that means you haven't met anyone yet, and if you haven't met anyone yet, then you must not have any friends, and if you don't have any friends then you must be lonely." she said, blathering on despite Dante attempting to tune her out.  "But I know someone you might like! Even better, he has two horns like you! He might be a little mopey sometimes but I'm sure you get along so well! His name is Dante and he lives with-"
        
        "Pinkie, I am Dante..." he said, pushing past her. When the mare wouldn't move he gave her an exasperated look. "Pinkie, move out of the way."
        
        He watched as she tilted head but remained firm by planting her rump on the ground. "Wait, you're a pony now! This is so superfantabulously great! Now we can have a party for you."
        
        Dante shook his head before he went around her. "No Pinkie, I don't want a party. I just want to be left alone right now."
        
        "Why? Did something bad happen? Why don't you tell everypony? We're all your friends and we can make you smile again.”
        
        Friends? Don't make me laugh. You don't deserve that pleasure, the harsh voice rang in his head. Dante cringed as he placed a hoof to his temple and grunted in pain. Monsters like us have no use for them.
        
         "No! Why can’t you just shut up and stop talking to me!" Dante shouted. "I don't need this! I just want to be left alone! I don't need you telling me what to do anymore!"
        
        "B-but I thought we were friends..." Pinkie said as her bottom lip quivered. Tears had begun to form at the edges of her eyes and her mane showed signs of flattening out. Dante looked away guiltily. He hadn’t meant to hurt her, but his outburst had done the trick.
        
        “I… I’m sorry, Pinkie,” Dante said, leaving the mare to shed her tears alone. He didn’t look back as he took off. He ran past house after house before he eventually reached the outskirts of the everfree. Rage boiled within him, mixing with a sense of dread and futility that were beginning to bubble over. Moe’s words rang through his head, stoking the intense fury within him. Had he looked down, he would have also seen that dark wisps were beginning to form around him, and that a tiny ball of black was beginning to take shape between his two horns. It grew with each passing second, becoming bigger and bigger as the voices in his head became louder and louder.
        
        It’s all yours…
 
        “No…” he squeezed his eyes shut as he grabbed his head
        
        Yours to toy with…
 
        “Be quiet…”
        
        You’re nothing but a monster. Born to kill and destroy that which is in front of you...
        
        “I won’t allow it!”
        
        Release it and let me take away all your pain…  Give in to what we really are-- 
        
        “Shut up!” he finally screamed. The dark ball condensed before returning to its original size and shooting a single thin beam towards the everfree. It seemingly passed through the front rows of trees, reaching out nearly thirty feet into the forest. With a twist of his head, the beam moved to the side, phasing through the trees as though it didn’t exist at all. Eventually, the black sphere and beam petered out. A moment passed before the sound of splitting wood hit Dante’s ears and he watched as a sizable chunk of the forest in front of him fell down, the trees disintegrating into ash before they even hit the ground.  Dante only stood there, panting and staring at the square he had created in the forest. He ground his teeth slightly before he turned around and came face to face with a grey mare sporting a purple mane with white streaks.

        “My, my, I've never seen something like that before!”
        
        
        *****
        
        Twilight sighed as she rummaged through Dante’s bag. All manner of things rested on the large desk within his room. Strange looking artefacts to books written in languages native only to her guest lined the top of it, even spilling onto the floor below. Twilight groaned as she pulled her hoof out of the bag, coming out with nothing but another hoofful of what looked to be scrap pieces of paper decorated with arcane symbols. Deep down, she knew it wasn’t right to go through Dante’s things, but she was growing desperate. The enigma that was her guest was frustrating as it was confusing, and his belonging were shedding about as much light as a snuffed out candle.
        
        A sudden shout of surprise, followed by the sounds of Coppa screaming words like “What did you do to me?” and “Why do I sound like my sister?” caught her attention and made her giggle slightly before she turned back to her work. A second shout, most likely Moe’s, announced the end of the scuffle before Coppa finally wailed in defeat.
        
        “He has to have something in here,” she told herself as she placed her hoof back into what seemed like the endless void inside Dante’s bag. She was going to have to ask what sort of magic the bag was enchanted with, because it seemed as though all the things that were inside it must have added to at least a hundred times Dante’s own weight. However, she would have to catalogue those questions into the back of her mind. At that moment she had to control herself and work as quickly as possible to find what she needed. “Aha! Here it is,” she celebrated as her hoof brushed up against something hard. Upon pulling the item out, her smile widened and she carefully blew off a bit of dirt from her treasure.
        
        Discord had said to take a closer look at what Dante had picked up those few days ago. The only thing Twilight could have remembered that fit the context of the statement was the stone golem. It seemed that Discord was right and that Dante had picked up a piece after it had been destroyed. Carefully, Twilight levitated the piece in front of her with her magic, examining and taking mental notes of every feature. It seemed like an ordinary piece of stone at first, but to Twilight’s surprise, she found herself looking at a symbol etched into the surface. It was almost invisible, faded from time and weather, but it was still there for her to see.
        
        A shining sun, much like that of her wise and royal teacher’s cutiemark.
        
        Twilight gasped and the piece of stone hit the ground as she backed away. Her mind could hardly comprehend the ramifications of the revelation. Even so, a million questions without any possible answers swirled throughout her head. Most prominent of them however, were two very specific ones. Why would Princess Celestia’s cutiemark be on that statue? Better yet, why would Celestia’s cutiemark be on a humanesque statue that had nearly killed Sam?
        
        Her train of thought however, was broken by a rapt knocking at the door. “Oh, shoot,” she chided herself before quickly stuffing everything back into Dante’s bag. She levitated as much as she could handle, stuffing it into Dante’s bag in hopes he wouldn’t notice anything amiss. In her haste and panic, a single book dropped to the floor before she could jam it into his pack. It bounced and opened up, revealing scribbles and drawings in Dante’s own writing. She knew it was his hand that had written in the book because she had seen him transcribing notes and had taken note of his style of writing.
        
        Curiosity overtook her desire to rush downstairs to answer the door, and she approached the book almost in a cautious manner. Quickly, she deduced that the book was some sort of journal from the few words she could actually understand. Things like the words study, magic and the name Feinman regularly popped up. Yet there were other words she could understand that confused her as she flipped the pages. Words like orphanage, darkness, voices in my head, and the continued reference to demons puzzled her. Eventually, her continued skimming of the journal yielded something other than cryptic messages.
        
        A tiny slip of paper, no bigger than the bottom of her hoof, fell from between the pages. On it were the faces of Dante and a strange female covered in armor that had him in a headlock. Long crimson hair, much like the colour of Dante’s eyes, flowed down from her head and reached past her shoulders in the form of a large ponytail. Two braids framed her face as she seemed to mock the one caught in the crook of her arm, but the look on Dante’s face made it seem as though he was enjoying slightly, albeit reluctantly.
        
        Who is this? Twilight thought as she flipped the picture over. A quick gasp made her lose concentration and the picture fluttered to the ground. Tiny, almost indistinguishable dots, of red formed a random pattern around a huge stain of red on the back of the picture. The smell and taste of iron punctuated the air and Twilight took a step back before the sound of laboured breathing caused her to turn around.
     
        Her eyes widened as she caught sight of the figure behind her, shivering like a leaf. Dante sat there, human once again, resting on his knees and staring at the ground with a pained expression. Blood covered him from head to toe, coating him in a slick, wet shroud of ruby red. A small knife was clutched tight in his hand and Twilight could see to her horror, the thick and jagged line that ran across Dante’s neck that it had caused. She watched as Dante retched, bending over and heaving as more red flowed out onto the floor in a thick puddle. A cry of pain came from him and Twilight stood frozen as a choked sob came from him.
        
        "Dante? What happened? Why are you back to normal already?" she asked, extending a hoof to touch him. It passed through him, causing his image to ripple like water. She quickly brought it back and saw the illusion restore itself.
        
        “Why? Why won’t you just let me do this?” His tone was ragged and Twilight watched as he tightened his grip around the knife. With an almost inhumane lack of care, he aimed the knife at his chest. She closed her eyes as the blade flashed forward, but her ears still caught the pained and frenzied grunts along with the sound of liquid splashing on the ground. Twilight’s scream died in her throat as Dante looked at the ground with a pitiable expression. “Why are you doing this to me? I shouldn't even be alive!"
        
        This can’t be real. This can’t be real! Twilight mentally screamed, shutting her eyes and placing her hooves over her ears. Even then, she could make out the sounds of a second voice.
        
        “You won’t escape so easily, nature has made sure of that” the voice said, causing Twilight to crack open one eye. A second figure, shrouded in black mist had Dante by the shoulder with a skeletal hand. The blood on the ground and boy then began to turn a dark shade of black. The boy struggled, feebly stabbing and slashing the arm with the knife, but to no visible effect. “Do not worry, you will meet your end soon enough, but only when we have attained our inheritance. When I have what I need and the world falls to ashes beneath our feet, then you will get my permission to die. But until then, you, and those around you will suffer just like they did.”
        
        The spirit then looked up and Twilight locked eyes with the skeletal face beneath the torn and beaten hood. Glowing eyes of red met hers and she could see the mocking grin made up jagged and cracked teeth. Misty breath bled through the cracks and Twilight became very aware that this had become more than just some illusion. No, the thing wasn’t staring at the space she was standing on by coincidence. It was staring directly at her, boring into her soul with glowing red eyes.
        
        


        
        “Just like your world will, Twilight Sparkle…” was the last she heard before she collapsed to the ground, her consciousness fading into nothing but darkness.



> Origins pt. 1
> --------------------------------------------------------------------------

	"So why don't you tell me about yourself?" The mare asked as she sat comfortably in her chair and sipped her tea. Dante, on the other hand, felt incredibly awkward as he attempted to emulate the sitting position of the mare in front of him. Walking to the café had been a long process in itself. Actually, when he thought about it, stumbling after her would have been a better description. Still, trying to figure out how to sit in a chair was proving to be slightly problematic. He just couldn't find a proper position in which to balance his body out.

The strange mare seemed to enjoy the show as well, if Dante could tell by her suppressed giggles. He had even managed to draw the attention of every other pony at the café, only adding tohis embarrassment. On the other hand, their comments did reflect the fact that his physical differences weren't being focused on.

"I've never seen him in town before..."

"He's kinda cute! Weird horns, but take a look at that flank."

"Do you think he's single?"

"The mare beside him is either his mom or he's just her trophy stud. My bet's on him being a trophy. If they're related then I can see where he gets it from."

"We seem to be drawing the eyes of the crowd," she commented, giving a disarming smile to Dante. He raised an eyebrow as he examined the stranger a little more closely. She seemed to take note of his stare and put a hoof to her mouth as she turned away. "Oh, stop it; you're going to make this old mare blush. Giving a married mare those bedroom eyes, how could you be so bold?"

He practically balked at the statement. His face heated up to the point where he firmly believed he was on fire. His reaction seemed to have the desired effect on the mare who tittered at his reaction. "I knew I was right, you do look rather cute when you're embarrassed. Oh if only I was a few years younger and single."

"Is there a point to you dragging me here?" Dante asked as he covered his muzzle with a hoof. The lack of support caused by the action offset his balance and threatened to ruin his precarious seating. When he finally managed to right himself he gave his face a little time to cool off before he tried speaking again. "And who are you?"

"Well it does seem that my little filly likes the straightforward and serious type. You certainly do act like her father used to." The mare sighed. "I can't even begin to tell you how long it took me before he even began to lighten up. I swear, all stallions are being raised far too strictly."

"Daughter?" Dante questioned. A few seconds passed before his eyes widened. He knew that the mare in front of him looked familiar, but he hadn't been able to place it. Then, when it clicked in his mind, the similarities between the other mare in his mind and the one in front of him made sense. All it took was him changing a few colours before he had a name. "You're Twilight Sparkle's mother?"

She let out a small chuckle before extending out a hoof. "Twilight Velvet is my name, but please, just call me Velvet. My full name just makes me feel old," she said. "Well, older than I already am."

"A pleasure... I guess?" Dante replied as he shook her hoof. If anything, he had to disagree with her statement. Had Twilight been sitting there, he might have mistaken them for sisters. Other than her coat and the natural streaks in her hair, she didn't have a single grey hair in her head. "I could have sworn you weren’t any older than Twilight."

Velvet grinned devilishly just as Dante groaned and covered his mouth. "Oh, aren’t you just a charmer. Or do you have an attraction to the older mares?" She patted one of Dante's hooves, softly rubbing the limb. The shock brought about from the action caused every hair on Dante to stand at attention. "Naughty colt."

Dante's hoof retracted so quickly that even Rainbow Dash would have been impressed. "Anyway!" he said, attempting to shift the direction of the conversation. "What brought you here?"

"Oh you know, just a mother being concerned when she finds out her daughter is secretly harbouring a stallion. Therefore, I felt that the right thing to do was to pay a visit to my dear daughter, and get a sense of the one who's sleeping under her roof."

"Which begs the question of how did you know I was the one living with her?" he asked. He had a strange feeling about Velvet. There was something about the mare that made him wary of her. She had a peculiar look to her eye that gave him the impression that she was analyzing him more than she let on. 

She gave him the same disarming smile and brushed a lock of her mane away. "Celestia told me that her guest had a few noticeable features. Not many unicorns walk around sporting a pair of horns rather than just one. I also thought she was joking when she said you had access to some rather destructive spells. Yet it seems the everfree would like to prove me wrong."

Dante grimaced at the reminder of his little outburst. He hadn't meant to do that, and he definitely hadn't meant for another to see it. "I'm sorry you had to see that. Today has been rather rough for me."

Velvet only nodded as she began tending to her tea again. Leaving it alone had allowed it to grow cold and she grimaced before setting the drink to the side. "We all have terrible days once in a while. You just need to look on the bright side of things."

"If only I could..."

"Pardon?" Velvet cocked her head as Dante realised he had been mumbling. She sighed and rested her head on hoof. "First I find you yelling to the air and now you're talking to yourself. Is that tiny pony on your shoulder just that loud?"

"No, I just tend to brood over things. I'm currently in the middle of a disagreement with my partners. We have different views on what we should do."

Velvet only watched, her welcoming gaze only further enticed Dante to start ranting. It was the same feeling as earlier, as though she was enticing him to keep talking. So that was what he did, he spoke at length and took his time as he did so. Every reason, every personal feeling, every problem he had with their extended stay was laid bare. By the time he finished, he was practically lightheaded from the sudden relief he felt. The great weight had lifted from his shoulders and he began to reflect on his actions.

His mind traced back to the argument and what Moe had said. Yes, he realised that he was letting certain obligations take precedence over pressing matters, but his reasoning still stood. They did not belong here and their continued presence was nothing but an added danger. In just a month, they had brought a bullywug into town and partially destroyed a few buildings. Coppa had rescued the apple family farm but in exchange for putting ten ponies in the hospital, all he got was a concussion and the loss of most of his gold. Sam had managed to find his voice and innate abilities. However, that had only managed to put him in the hospital for the foreseeable future. He didn't care for what Moe had gone through at that point though. In his current mood, the elf could go jump off a cliff.

I shouldn't have expected anything less from a race of perpetual loners...

"Who did he think he was to come to that conclusion? He hadn't done the things I had. He never had to experience what it was like growing without any privileges. I've struggled since I was born. I've had to live with the fact that I may never have complete control of myself. I've had to live with the knowledge that I can't ever experience the things he gets to experience every day." Dante almost wanted to laugh at his own rant. Instead, he focused on breathing as he gripped the table. "He thinks that this place is a paradise where we can just forget everything. He doesn't realise that it's never that simple. You cannot be an idealist in this situation, it's just not an option. The longer we stay here, the more we upset the natural order of things here."

"So you think that your only option is to leave?"

Dante took a breath before he locked his eyes to Velvet's. "It is the only option."

"Well that is disappointing. I doubt Twilight feels that way though. You seem to have grown on her. You and your friends are all that she's been writing about lately."

Dante's ears perked at the words. "Really?" He had no idea that Twilight had done such a thing. He had seen the discarded and half finished copies of paper lying in Twilight's home every now and then, but he had never actually stopped to read them. It actually began to make him wonder what she thought of him. 

Velvet seemed to notice his absentminded stare and gave him a tender hoof. "Don't worry, she hasn't said anything bad about you."

That's a relief," he said before a sudden banging interrupted the follow up questions in his mind. Both looked over to see Coppa in the doorway, heaving and panting. Dante cocked an eyebrow as he began to notice that certain features had appeared while others had vanished. Coppa's features had softened and rounded and he seemed to be sporting two new, and very apparent, additions on his chest. 

Maybe her was a more apt description...

Despite having an idea of what happened, he still needed to question the situation. "What happened to you?"

 Coppa groaned. "That asshole Moe thought he'd play a joke on me while I was out. But this..." He grabbed the two orbs that had grown from her chest. "These are not jokes! This is far from a joke! I have tits now because of him, and I'm hating the fact that I have some added free space in my pants right now."

"I take it that this is Coppa then," Velvet questioned. She turned towards him, watching and examining him with a narrowed eye. "Twilight did say you were a little crass, though she never told me that you were a girl."

Coppa turned from the mare to Dante. "Who the hell is that?" he asked while pointing his thumb at Velvet.

"This is Twilight's mother, Twilight Velvet." 

"Oh, then she should probably hear this too."

"What happened?"

Coppa's gaze hardned and he stopped playing with his breasts. "We don't know what happened. I was beating the crap out of Moe when a group of ponies showed up. They said they were related to Twilight, so I pointed them to the library. Next thing I know, they're screaming for help." He seemed uneasy as he explained, clutching at his arm and avoiding any eye contact. “They found Twilight on the floor, unconscious. We don't know what happened. All we found was a bunch of your stuff lying around. She was holding some picture of you and a human girl, and muttering some name over and over again."


The colour in Dante's face seemed to drain faster than water in a bucket with no bottom. He scrambled from his seat and slammed through the door, almost taking it off its hinges, before running towards the library. Coppa looked towards Velvet who had begun to pale in the face.

"This isn't good..."


*****


Where am I?

 The feeling of weightlessness felt odd as Twilight floated along in the pitch black void she had woken up in. For as far as the eye could see, there was nothing. There were no trees, no houses, no ponies in the endless expanse of the void. Not even a piece of grass grew on the ground beneath her.

'Am I dead?' she thought. Had the mere sight of that thing killed her? Did her heart simply stop out of fear and shock? She couldn't tell, not as the threads of comfort seemed to wrap themselves around her. They pulled at her mind, urging her to close her eyes and rest. They told her to sleep and forget about her troubles, to put aside all that bothered her and simply give way to peace and contentment. For a moment she almost gave into them and allowed herself to drift off. Her eyes fluttered before the sound of a child laughing brought her back to the world.

"Hello?” she called, eyes scanning the area. At first she saw nothing, only the endless expanse of blackness. Yet, as she peered into the distance, she eventually began to see a change in the landscape. Something along the lines of a bright wall of white light travelled towards her, changing the darkness into bright skies and cobblestone streets lined with brick houses. The scene was empty at first, but soon began to fill with people as Twilight trotted down the street. None of them paid her any attention, most likely because this was only a vision as she hypothesized. Her assumption was proven right as a Dwarf practically phased through her in order to pursue a fruit stand. 

Despite the fact that this all seemed to be a vision, Twilight found herself enthralled at the opportunity before her. Before her very own eyes was a mass of people of races known to her through Coppa, Sam, and Moe. Additionally, there were those that were new to her. Men and women, as designated by what she had gleaned from the four, all had features that differentiated themselves from another. It ranged from feathered wings to adults only slightly larger than the children that played in the street. Even so, Twilight took it all in and made a mental library of notes as she watched them go through their activities. The enthralment soon turned to confusion as Twilight pondered her situation.

"Where am I?" she asked herself. "What is going on?"

A lone voice answered her. "You are seeing that which you desired." 

A slight tingle ran across her back as though an electric current went through her. The voice itself was calming but eerie at the same time. It sounded as though two voices spoke in unison, meshing in a perfect and synchronized tone. Twilight looked around, searching for its source. She found it in the form of person covered in flowing dark violet robes that reached to their feet. He held a simple wooden staff in his hand and beneath the cowl of that robe, Twilight saw the ends of two horns and eyes of red and black. The being’s face was relatively hidden by the cowl, but Twilight could make out his features from where she stood. He had a youthful and handsome face, framed by white hair with black ends. His horns stuck out, and were longer than what she imagined as he pulled back his hood. He resembled Dante slightly, but there was a different air around him, one that reminded her of the Canterlot nobility. 

Yet, it was his eyes that drew her attention. The dark red on black was eerie to her, and yet there was something else to it. Beneath the pleasant and youthful tint his eyes, there was intelligence that Twilight had only seen in her mentor. 

"Who are you?" she asked. "And where am I?"

He gave a polite bow, a small and neutral look on his face. "My name is of no importance at this moment, I am simply the guide within this realm. As for this location, you are currently in Saint Mara's town square."

"Why am I here though?" she asked. 

"You desired to learn of the source of the melancholy within Dante's heart. This vision is your answer."

Twilight cocked her head. She looked towards the crowd and searched for the familiar face of her friend. "So this is a memory of his?" 

"That it is," he replied just before a sudden clamour brought Twilight's head back towards a crowd that had begun to gather. A few mocking voices and the sound of a child crying could be heard from where she stood. She turned her head back to her ghostly guide who shook his head while he glowered. "And so it begins..."

Twilight felt her heart hammer as a small child was pushed to the front of the crowd. He landed roughly as he slammed into the wall of a fountain, bring a sharp cry of pain from him. He shivered in pain, his body quakeing through the thin clothes he wore and the red piece of cloth wrapped around his head. A small book was pressed tightly against his chest while three drunk and brutish looking men exited the crowd, surrounding him. 

The biggest of the three picked up the child, his hand grasping the cloth and the child's white hair. Twilight cringed as the action brought out another sharp shout of pain that was followed closely by panicked sobbing. To her horror, not a single person in the crowd moved a muscle to help the child. They all looked at the scene with passive indifference and only a few seemed to be unnerved by the display. A gargantuan feeling of revulsion welled in her stomach, increasing with each instance or abuse hurled at the boy. She turned to her guide and saw that his hands were clutching his staff so tightly that the wood beneath his whitened knuckles was splintering. Still, he maintained enough composure to remain where he was despite the action.

“Why isn’t anyone helping him?” she asked, every emotion in her body telling her to go help the child. Yet, she knew that it would do nothing. She couldn’t even touch any of the people here, let alone attempt to save a child when her spells were as likely to pass through the three men as her hoof was. She waited for a response, but the strange being standing to her side only remained silent as he watched the exchange. Barely suppressed rage flickered through his eyes, but it seemed that he knew just as well as she did that any attempt was futile. All she could do was watch whatever it was that was being shown to her.

 "This world is not as benevolent as yours. Not many would come to another's aid unless they are of the same blood. In the present situation as you are seeing, even fewer would choose to go against those they perceive as stronger for the sake of a parentless child." He gestured towards the child with a wave of a hand. "Then there is the situation we see now. I will tell you now, what is to come in the next moments, as well as what you will see later, will be hard on your conscious. Do not think you are the only one who would shut their eyes to this."

"What do you m--"

 "You're gonna regret ruining my shirt, kid!" the largest of the three spoke, his voice becoming suddenly clear to her. She looked at the offending article and saw that whatever was spilled on him had left a large black spot. The silken piece of clothing was obviously ruined, and had she been there, Twilight would have no doubt that Rarity would have torn at her mane at the sight. 

Yet a soiled shirt was no reason to attack a child. Whoever these people might have been, they could obviously afford a replacement or several hundred. The three, whether they were related or not -she couldn't tell since they were all ugly and pig nosed- were all dressed in a similar fashion of bright shirts with golden suns sewn into them. From her perspective, it gave them the appearance of glorified peacocks, but still proved effective in flaunting whatever wealth or status they had. 

The sound of a boot meeting a stomach, followed by a gasp for air brought her back to the scene at hand. The two other thugs cackled as the child groaned and clutched his midsection. The book he had been clutching was gone, taken by the leader who held it as though it were a piece of trash.

"A beginner’s guide to magic?" he scoffed as he looked over the cover. He glanced at the boy who was still retching and attempting to catch his breath. "I'm surprised. Why would a dirty little brat like you steal such a common book? You probably couldn't do the simplest of spells within this book, let alone read any of the words."

"I-I didn't steal it..." the boy groaned. Twilight cringed as his response was met by a boot to the back.

One of the richly dressed thugs sneered as he the child struggled beneath him. "Who said you could talk back to us? Don't you know who this is?" He pointed at the man who only continued to look at the book with feigned interest. "You're looking at three members from the Holy Order of the Sun. You better show some respect and compensate Eric for his shirt."

The one identified as Eric only gave a small snort of amusement as the crowd began to murmur. His pig nose wrinkled as he refocused back on the boy held down by his two friends. Calmly, he opened up the book and stepped forward. "Don't be stupid, he couldn't afford to compensate me for this. But I think a punishment is in order for him." He held the book out, opening it so that the pages faced forward. "Is this your book?"

"Yes. I got it after helping the book lady with her delivery. Please just give it back to me, I worked hard for it..."

The boy's sniffling as he pleaded for the book only seemed to amuse Eric. He flipped the book so that pages faced him and took a few between his thumb and finger. He looked at to his friends who both grinned and held their literal prisoner so that he could watch. 

"Sorry, but I can't do that. After all, in the natural order of things, one must know what loss is if they wish to learn anything," Eric replied plainly before he ripped a few pages out from the spine. Twilight gasped as the boy struggled and yelled while more and more pages were ripped from the book. They fluttered in the wind and flew off into the crowd. The yelling soon reduced to pained sobs as a now empty book cover fell to the ground. Eric ignored them as he knelt down and grasped the boy’s cloth head wrap.

He grinned as the boy’s teary eyes looked back at him. "You see kid, that's how I do business. You break something of mine, and I do the same to something of yours." he said before his grip tightened around the red fabric. "Now one small book isn't going to compensate for much, so I'll take this instead. I'm sure I can make a handkerchief or something out of it."

"No, please..." the boy said, struggling against his grip. "It's mine and the sisters said I can't take it off."

"Too bad, kid," Eric replied as he pulled the cloth. It unraveled fairly easily and seemed to be much longer than any of them anticipated. When it did come off, Twilight saw every person in the crowd turn white as a sheet alongside the three who backed off.

A quiet but panicked murmur went through the crowd as the stared at the child. Mentally, Twilight hit herself for not recognizing who the boy might have been. She should have recognized the pale skin or the red eyes of Dante. Even the cloth on his head, which now served presently as a tattered scarf, should have alerted her to the fact. Yet she had been too caught up in events to realise it. It only took the revelation that the boy had a set of small horns growing in the sides of his head to make her aware that she was looking at Dante as a child. 

"Well well, what do we have here," Eric said, dropping the cloth after comprising himself. He stared coldly at Dante who was trying to cover his horns in an attempt to hide himself. "I thought you might have just been an albino, but it looks like you're just one of those freaks. No wonder you hid behind a rag."

"Please just give it back..." Dante said as he nervously scanned the entire crowd. Twilight followed his gaze and saw the crowd had begun to advance and some were now brandishing tools like weapons. Even the three in front of him were reaching for the hammers which hung at their belts and looked poised to do their worst while the crowd began to shout.

"He's a devil child!"

"He'll bring destruction to the town."

"He should be put down like a dog!"

Twilight couldn't believe what she was beginning to hear. As though a switch had been flipped, the crowd had devolved into nothing but a mob out for blood. Some managed to find sticks and stones and held them out as though they were weapons, approaching Dante as he backed himself up against a fountain. Her feelings boiled over in that moment and despite the futility, she fired off a beam of magic that only passed through the front off the crowd. Then, to her amazement, the crowd stopped as Dante pointed a stick he had found at the base of the fountain towards the crowd. The three men looked at Dante before breaking out into laughter at the sight.

“You think a stick is going to save you? How pathetic,” Eric said as he and his men pulled a large headed hammer from his belt and raised it above his head. At the same time, Twilight heard Dante murmur something quietly as he continued to hold the stick forward. She craned her head, but a loud and a disturbingly familiar voice spoke out.

Do it, burn them to cinders!

A bright light grew from the end of the stick before it expanded outwards. A large column of flames burst forward, spewing out like fire from a dragon. It blew forward and briefly covered one of Eric’s thugs who fell to the ground screaming as his entire front side was burned. Eric was luckier, and only found his left arm completely burnt as he managed to avoid most of the flame. The flame itself continued on consuming everything in its path, scorching the ground pitch black and making the air itself sizzle. Screams and shouts of panic followed as the crowd practically threw themselves out of the way of the flames. 

Almost everywhere she looked, Twilight saw flames spreading and engulfing anything they touched. The fire spread from roof to roof, eating up the straw like substance before moving onto the wooden walls. It raged despite everything the townspeople threw at it, resisting everything from magical water spells some shot at it to the dirt and blankets that some used to try and smother it. During it all, Twilight shrunk back as she watched the sheer magnitude of it turn the sky a bright orange. 

“He burned Stuart. Somebody help him!” the other thug shouted above the roar of flames as a house went alight while Eric stood clutching his arm. His call was disregarded as the crowd ran around in an attempt to put out the flames. Realising this, he and Eric directed a frozen bystander to take the wounded man away while they advanced on the child. They both raised their improvised weapons and Twilight shut her eyes when Dante covered his head as Eric spoke. “You’re gonna regret this, you little monster. I’ll bash your skull in!”

Yet before either could ready themselves to throw their stones, the sound of a bone breaking was nearly made inaudible by chaos around Twilight and those present. A man, completely covered in a dirty brown cloak, stood behind the now prone thug who was clutching his arm. The hood was drawn up, but Twilight could see the start of a greying beard poking out from beneath it. Shiny plates of metal were partially hidden beneath the cloak, reflecting the bright glow of the firestorm around them. Twilight wondered just how the man wasn’t feeling the effect of the heat around them as he stood, towering above all of them.

“My arm!” the thug cried as he shuddered in pain. “The bastard broke my arm!”

“What the hell are you doing?” Eric demanded as he faced the man. He narrowed his eyes as he clutched his stone, keeping his eye on Dante but addressing the newest threat. “Are you defending that little monster?”

The man seemingly chuckled as he advanced. “Monster? All I see is a frightened child being tormented and defending himself from the likes of you.”

“Do you not see the sun on my shirt? I am part of the Holy Order of the Sun and it is my duty to rid the world of any demonic taint. That includes this child!

The statement brought another chuckle out of the man, prompting Eric to growl slightly. “The Order of the Sun is it? So I take it you’ll be using your position as a holy man to not only justify frightening a child, but to attempt to execute him as well? My, how much more cowardly can one get?”

“Don’t play coy with me, I’m dealing with the cause of this whole situation. Now I think that you should go back to wherever you came from old man, and let me kill this demon. I have the power of the Order behind me and I can deal with a heretic like you.”

“If you are going to deal with the root of the problem, then take a look at yourself. If anyone is to blame, it would be you. You pushed this child to go the lengths he did," the man said as he strode past Eric and knelt in front of Dante. “Are you alright, child?”

“I didn’t mean for this to happen…” Dante sobbed as he clutched at his shaking arm. The man placed a reassuring hand on his shoulder and gently smiled. Dante only continued to sob as he went from clutching his arms to his head. “Someone told me to do it. To burn those men so that they would go away. I didn’t mean to burn the town or hurt anyone.”

“It is alright child, it was only an accident,” the man said as a house caved in to the intense fires. Both Dante and Twilight winced at the deafening noise, but kept an eye on the man. He had risen and was offering Dante his hand. “Come with me, I can take you away from here before these people come after you again. I can also teach you more than you could ever hope to learn from a book.”

“But what about the sisters and the orphanage?”

“Do not worry, I was there a few minutes ago,” he said with a little chuckle. “You see, Dante, I’ve been looking for you for a while now. I heard about your talents from one of the sisters, and I’ve come to help you. From what I see here, you have a lot of raw potential and I wish to help you refine that. To do that though, I will need to take you away from here. As you can see now, not many appreciate you for who you really are, but we will change that in time.” He kept his hand out as Dante seemed unsure of the offer. Twilight watched as Eric made no move to do anything, only remaining still as he watched the exchange with barely suppressed fury. The man however, seemed not to mind as Dante seemingly made his decision and reached for the man’s hand. “So you will come with me then? Don’t worry about your things, we can get you new clothes soon enough.”

Dante nodded and cautiously stood up and hid behind the man as they went to go past Eric. A few villagers had joined with him and were looking at the two of them warily. All had weapons, and Eric seemed to have been given a rather long knife by one of them. They stood in the way of the two and Twilight believed she saw them ready themselves to pounce on the man to get to Dante. To both her and the group’s surprise, the man reached into his cloak and withdrew the same silvery sword she had seen Dante carry only days ago. This left her with little doubt as to who the man was, but she had to see for herself just to be sure. 

“Holy Order or not, I would suggest you move,” the man said, brandishing the sword in one hand while directing Dante further behind him. When none of them made way, the man simply sighed and closed his eyes. “I may be slightly older than most of you, but I can cut through each and every one here as easily as carving a cake. I would also suggest that you don’t test my patience and allow the two of us to leave.”

One of the more confident villagers seemed unfazed by his words and spoke against him. “That demon spawn burnt our homes and you expect us to let you leave with him?”

“If I remember correctly, only moments ago, you all were threatening to kill this poor boy. I am fairly sure that under any laws, whether they are of the church or courts, his actions can be considered self defence. I doubt the fact that he is a Diablon would have any consequence as to that fact,” he said, not lowering his sword an inch. Twilight held her breath, only to relax as doubt began to grow among the crowd. The man certainly gave off an intimidating presence, and she had no doubt he could make good on his promise. She might have not been able to see his physical assets, but something told her that he was far more able than any elder she had met. “So unless you wish to see the rest of your town burn to the ground, I suggest you leave us to our travels while you deal with the fire. One of you should have the proper mental faculties to realise the importance of a town over a single boy.”

“This isn’t over, boy. You will pay for this one day. I swear it,” Eric said as he limped off. The crowd quickly moved and went back to dealing with the fires. When they all left, Dante tugged on the man’s sleeve, making him turn to face the boy.

“What is it, child?” the man asked. “We should be be going before they decide to try anything else.”

“I know, but who are you?” Dante asked cautiously. 

“I, my boy, am a simple knight and soon to be teacher,” the man said drawing back his hood to reveal medium length brown hair with streaks of grey that matched his beard. Soft brown eyes watched Dante with amusement. “My name, however, is Alec Feinman, and I'll be taking care of you from now on."

With those final words, the vision began to fade, turning fuzzy before giving way to darkness once again. Twilight turned to her guide with almost a thousand questions she wanted to ask. The only problem was she had no idea where to start off. However, it seemed her guide had other plans and began to walk away.

"Wait," she called out while running up to his side. "Where are you going?"

"We have much to see and little time to see it," he said flatly. "The threads of fate are beginning to bring you closer to your first test. We have only seen the beginning, and there is much more you will need to witness before you are prepared. Follow me and you will soon learn the truth and be all the more ready to face what is to come. Now come, we must not waste any time.


*****


A suffocating air hung over the main room of the library as Dante, Moe, Coppa and Velvet sat in silence. None of them had said a word since they had all gathered to check on Twilight, and not even Dante understood what had happened. Hours had passed and night had come upon the town, but Twilight was no better than when Dante had first seen her. She had been white as a sheet, tossing and turning in her bed as she spoke unintelligibly. A pony from the hospital had been called to the library to check up on her out of fear that moving Twilight might make things worse. The diagnosis the doctor had given them was no relief either. There was no term for what Twilight was going through, and a scan of her revealed little other than fluctuating levels of brain activity. As far as they could tell, Twilight was perfectly fine. The only difference however, was that any attempt to wake her had been futile. 

Dante looked towards Velvet who was staring worriedly at the stairs leading up to Twilight’s room. A pang of pity filled Dante’s mind as he shifted his attention to the items that were placed in the centre of the room. He frowned at the sight of both the journal he hadn’t written in for months, and a picture he wished had remained hidden. If anything, there were obviously going to be questions about the nature of the picture, questions he was not prepared to deal with presently or in the near future. 

He then turned to the fragment from the statue. Regarding it coldly, he traced it over with his eyes while silently contemplating his multiple theories on its nature. Each one was as grand as the last, but none seemed to fit exactly right. He couldn’t comprehend the nature of the statue, and nothing seemed to make sense concerning it. Where did it come from? There was no possible way it could have come through a portal like the one they had gone through. That was fact because there was no statue nearby when they had been taken away. The notion meant that there was only one other plausible origin, which was both sound but completely insane at the same time. 

Yet, out of everything that was on the floor, the fragment was the only possible thing he could think of that may have done this to Twilight. Everything else, while dangerous in their own regard, could do everything except put a pony as powerful as Twilight into a coma. Yet simply staring at the fragment was not going to do anything or get him any closer to revealing its secrets. To do that, he needed to go back to the beginning and work from there. With that idea in mind, he rose and trotted over to the edge of the room. He picked up Twilight’s saddle bags and managed to put them on with only a minor struggle. He then placed the fragment into them, much to the curiosity of the others around him before heading to the door.

“Where are you going?” he heard Moe ask. Not even stopping to answer, he continued to head toward the door before Moe decided to be a little more forceful with his words. “Where do you think you're going with that?”

“There’s something about this thing that made Twilight like that,” he said without even looking back. His hoof rested on the door, a patient gesture which silently hinted to the others that he was only a step away from simply leaving. “I’m figuring out what it is.”

“So you’re going alone?”

“I may as well. It would certainly fit the bill of a racially inclined loner,” Dante said before he pushed the door open. Had he even taken a moment to look back, he would have seen the slight presence of shame on Moe’s face and the beginning of an attempt to apologise. But he didn’t look back, he only kept walking forward toward the everfree with the full moon lighting his way. He knew what he had to do and he was going to figure out the nature of the fragment one way or another.

Yet something told him that there was more to this than he originally thought.
	
	
> Origins Pt.2
> --------------------------------------------------------------------------

	The night air sent a bitter chill up Dante’s spine as he trudged along the street on his way to the Everfree forest. He was beginning to notice the drop in temperature, even with the fur coat provided in his pony form. Though he knew that the weather teams were responsible for the changing of seasons, Dante could still tell when the subtle shifts of the seasons were beginning. Years on the road had sharpened his senses and being a pony seemed to reinforce them even moreso. It was a useful skill, one that aided travelers who needed to plan their routes without the fear of either being caught in the seasonal blizzards and storms back home.

There were other indicators he could have used as well. The shift in the color of the leaves, slowly morphing from deep greens to vibrant reds, golds, and yellows of autumn. There was the way that the animals scurried and prepared for the coming change even without the aid of the Equestria's citizens. Even the air seemed to follow the change, showing Dante that while the land was magical and dependent on the ponies, there was still a natural order of things. Yet it also served as a reminder to him. The subtle shifts showed him the one fact he did not want to be reminded of. The winter months were approaching.

"We've spent too much time here," he chided himself as he continued walking. The thought was enough to get his mind into overdrive, questioning just how long they had been in Equestria. He wasn't even sure if the land followed the same time patterns as his own. The thoughts frightened him. What seemed like just a short time here might have been an eternity back home. Alternatively, the opposite may have applied as well, with time being much faster in Equestria. Either way, he did not want to leave it to chance. Regardless of how the others felt, he needed to get home.

For all their sakes...

A sharp crunch of stone behind him alerted his senses to another presence. When he turned around, he caught Velvet approaching from behind. Her face had lost all cheer, giving way to a stony look of determination. In Dante's eyes, she looked like a mare on a warpath. However, it didn't take a genius to figure out her goal or where she was heading.

She even beat him for the first word. "I'm coming with you, like it or not. Something hurt my filly, and I want to know what. So you'll either bring me along, or I'll whip it out of you." She pointed to her horn with her hoof and glared at him. "If My daughter is any example, then you know just how strong I could be. So I would suggest leading the way."

Dante nodded in silent agreement as he stepped out of the mare's way. It was a universal law no matter the land or creature. If something harmed or threatened another's young, then that unlucky soul was going to have to deal with an incredibly angry matriarch. Coincidentally, Velvet practically embodied that and more at the present moment.

"Then let's go," she said as she led the way to the everfree, obviously ascertaining the direction Dante was heading by observation and intuition. Unsurprisingly, she also seemed pretty impatient as she turned to Dante and said, "Get moving!"

A half-amused sigh came from Dante as he reflected on the sudden reversal of roles. "As you say, brave and glorious Velvet."


*****


Fascination and awe completely overtook Twilight as another vision ended, leaving her and her guide alone in the vast void once more. They had cycled through almost eight years of Dante's life in what seemed like only minutes. Every major event, every discovery, every lesson, all was laid bare, presented to her with sprinkled commentary from her shadowy guide. Together, they watched Dante grow from a young boy, inexperienced with the methods of magic, into the powerful magician he was today all under his master’s tutelage.

It all seemed to be natural to him as Twilight saw him train in front of her, weaving elemental magic in a fluid dance with his staff as his only partner. Clods of earth and stone sprung from the ground, shooting forward straight through three wooden targets and into the sand pit behind them. As the pieces fell to the ground, four more targets sprung up, only to be decapitated at the same time by four condensed spheres of water. Before she could even blink, the spheres disappeared and were replaced by lightning arcing from Dante's fingers. The remainder of the headless targets then blackened as the spell was aimed towards them. Then, as if to add flair to the display, he finished with by seemingly pushing out a massive circle of fire that scorched the targets and the ground around him.

The display of power, combined with her complete awe of the entire scene, left her practically breathless. While she had witnessed a few examples of his abilities, she never could have imagined that Dante possessed such finesse.

"Incredible..." she breathed as Dante fell onto his back with an exhausted smile. "It was absolutely incredible!"

"Years of devotion to the understanding and practical use of combat magic refined his talent. It is only natural that his ability would grow in tandem," her guide said, resting on his staff while continuing to watch Dante with a smile. There was pride in his eyes for some reason and, Twilight could barely suppress her desire to giggle. He on the other hand, seemed too preoccupied with looking at Dante. "He has always been quite the prodigy."

Twilight lost a bit of control and let out a small giggle. "You sound like my family, always saying how proud they were of me.”
“Do I now?” he asked, raising an eyebrow before he too began laughing. “Perhaps you are right though. I do sound much like a father boasting about his child’s accomplishments.”

A small content sigh left him as the image shifted once again. Twilight had gotten used to the shifts, even if they still made her feel a little queasy. It was much like teleporting someone without telling them first. It made her feel weightless and not in control of her own body, as though she were merely floating through the air once more. Her guide seemed not to be too affected by it though, and a part of her, still thinking of the comment made only moments ago, wondered just who or what this person was.
He also seemed to notice her curiosity with surprising quickness. “You have questions?” he asked, stopping in the middle of the hallway that built itself around them, piece by piece. Twilight pondered a moment before she decided that it was in her best interests to know a little more about him. It may have been a little late at this point, but the image of that thing she saw  before she had lost consciousness was still on her mind. For all she knew, he could be it in disguise.

"I have so many, it's hard to know where to start."

He placed a hand on Twilight's shoulder, giving her a little measure of reassurance. "Collect your thoughts and begin with the matter most pressing. We have a few minutes before the end begins."

She took a breath and did as he said, collecting her thoughts and arranging them. "Where am I, how did I get here, why did you really being me here, and who are you?"

The stranger looked unfazed by the questions and simply stood there without the slightest hint of emotion on his face. A few moments passed by and Twilight began to wonder if he was stalling for time. She began to get into a defensive posture when the thought occurred to her that maybe this ghost like being was the thing that had been harassing Dante.

He seemed to notice this and gave her a half-hearted smile. "There is no need to be on guard, I do not intend to harm you."

"How can I trust you? For all I know, you’re just that thing but with a different face. Now answer my questions."

All pretenses of friendliness left his face, replaced by a cold and stony mask. His eyes seemed to grow a little colder, becoming expressionless and blank. Perhaps she had overstepped her boundaries with her comment. A gradual sensation of guilt began to eat at her conscious while he spoke.

"I brought you here to warn you of what's to come," he said. "You are in the void Twilight Sparkle, a liminal space which serves as both a home and a prison to the millions of souls that reside here. I brought you here through Dante's journal, pulling your conscious from the physical realm while I showed you the truth. In essence, I have separated your spiritual and corporeal bodies respectively."

"T-that’s impossible," she stuttered as she backed away. Fear began to creep on her like vines growing over a wall, ensnaring her and causing her to fumble her words. “To split a conscious from its body isn’t feasible. There isn’t any way, magical or not, to take someone’s soul from their body for any amount of time. Not even Starswirl the Bearded or the Princesses would be capable of it. Even if they could, that would cause damage beyond anyone's ability to repair.”

“You think far too narrowly Twilight Sparkle. There are those with magic more powerful than that of even your Princesses. I am not limited to the magic that is restricted to your world, and I could learn more than even your rulers in a fraction of the time it took them to reach their peak. Matters such as separating a soul from its body are but a simple parlor trick to me."

"Who are you?" she demanded, doing her best to stand her ground.

He sighed dejectedly and slowly ran a hand through his hair, unknowingly revealing a large scar that ran along the side if his head. "I am but a shadow of the past, one who lives in this place where I can only watch and relive the sins of my past. And while not directly involved, I am in every way a part of that which has befallen Dante..." He took a short breath as he trailed off, looking towards the image of Dante reading a book as he walked along a hallway that built itself with each step he took. "... And that which is soon to come."

"I don't follow your meaning," she said, her attention not leaving her guide. "How could you be involved in any way if you've spent so long in here? That reasoning doesn't make any sense."

"I could not tell you without putting you and Dante at risk," he replied without emotion. "There are some secrets that are better left hidden. Even Princess Celestia would agree to that."

"What does the Princess have to do with this?"

"Nothing at all, it is just a minor fact. One does not live and rule for an entire millennia without harbouring some secrets or regrets," he answered before something seemed to catch his attention. "It seems we are near to the final stretch of what needs to be seen."

"Oh, well that's go--"

"Well if it isn't the school's resident egghead with his nose in a new book!"

Twilight looked up to see Dante walk into the same young female that she had seen in the picture. Her crimson red hair fell down to her lower back and she stood above a fallen Dante who was rubbing his face after having run into her. A small mischievous grin sat on her face as she placed a hand on her side.

"That's the girl I saw before I passed out. The one in the picture," Twilight said, pointing her hooves at the girl.

Her guide nodded. "Her name was Ersa. It was her that ultimately gave Dante a small measure of joy for a brief while. Though not before she proved to be a source of harassment for a time."

"Tell me horn-boy, because I can't tell with what I've seen. Do you have some sort of sick thing for books? Or is it 'cause you're too much of a nerd that you can't pull your face from them?" the image of Ersa questioned mockingly. The younger Dante sighed irritably. Grabbing his book and rubbing his nose, he walked past her with a scowl.

"I'd rather be reading these then end up an idiotic gorilla like you," Dante shot back. Twilight would have thought that barb would have been enough, but Dante seemed keen in adding further insult to injury while Ersa grew red. "Tell me, when was the last time you read a book that wasn't made up of only childish pictures?"

Twilight and her guide both watched the exchange between the two grow more heated by the second. Where Ersa would take to verbal attacks, Dante would strike back with well thought out retorts. Both kept their emotions limited to a degree, but the argument was growing more heated by the second.

Twilight almost had to remind herself that this was Dante she was viewing. She had never seen him show any emotion to this degree unless she counted the recent happenings. To see him act like this was an entirely different experience altogether. It fascinated her to no end, but the argument proved to be a little more than taxing on her patience.

"How long are they going to stand around and insult each other?"

Her guide looked to the wall clock that hung in the hallway and groaned slightly. "We still have at least a half hour of this. Shall I attempt to fast forward this particular encounter?"

"Please do..."


*****


"ACHOOO!"

"Bless you," Velvet said on cue. Dante wrinkled his snout in an attempt to halt the lingering need to sneeze again. A few seconds passed before the tickle inside his nostril ebbed away. Velvet seemingly smiled as Dante's nose twitched. "Seems someone is talking about you behind your back."

Dante shook his head. "I think it's something in this forest."

"Could be that as well, but that isn't going to slow down the brave Dante on his trip to the mysterious Everfree is it?" she teased, prompting Dante to roll his eyes.

"I'm beginning to wonder how you and Twilight are related." he said passively. "It almost seems like you're the wild teenage while she's the serious mother figure. I would even go so far as to think that you're doing this on purpose."

"A mare can live a little, can't she? It isn't often I can just leave Canterlot and let my mane down. Besides, if it's the young motherly look you want, I can do that too~"

"And that confirms my suspicions," Dante moaned as he trudged past a laughing Velvet. He wore his own unintentional smile that had grown without his knowing. "Come on Velvet, we need to keep going."

"I have to wonder," Velvet began as they continued down the trail, "do you know where you're going? We seem to just be going in circles.

Dante grimaced. They had been walking for well over three hours searching for any signs of the area where the stone giant lay broken. Yet for all their searching, they found little of any remains. Searching for a giant statue was a lot easier when it was tearing a path through the woods. Instead, he had to rely on subconscious memory in order to figure out just where they were going.
"I really have no idea," he admitted. "When we ran out to help Sam, I wasn't able to make any markers or find any landmarks. The only thing I do know is that we left it in pieces and that there was a lake in the area."

"Well at least that certainly narrows things down a bit," Velvet said as her horn ignited. Dante cocked an eyebrow, curious as to what Velvet intended to do. To his surprise, a small wisp of magic ebbed out and attached itself to the twin ends of his horns.

"Velvet? What is this?

"Shh, I'm trying to concentrate," she said with a furrowed brow. "This spell is very finicky, so I need you to be still and quiet. If you don't, I can't say what will happen. I've only used it once before."

He rolled his eyes and smirked. "I've only known you for a few hours, but now I see where Twilight gets her compulsion to try out spells without thinking ahead of time."

"Am I going to have to cast a spell that makes you quiet?"

"No ma'am," Dante said jokingly. His smirk faltered slightly and he quickly returned to his usual neutral gaze. He was getting far too friendly with this mare. Being friendly led to openness, which in turn led to friendships or even deeper feelings. Such things would only come back to bite him in the end.

He learnt that the hard way and he had no desire to go through it another time...

“I have it,” Velvet stated as a secondary line of magic that grew from her horn and snaked out into the bushes. Slowly it grew thick and eventually, after a while, it snapped off from her horn. When it hit the ground, it slowly sunk into the earth and began to glow with a soft light. Dante nodded approvingly of the lit path in front of them. Velvet in turn, took charge and began walking alongside the line. “Come along now, we’re wasting time just standing here.”

Dante nodded silently and followed here. In truth, he was now extremely thankful that Velvet had decided to head out alongside him. Without the pathway spell, he might have traversed the everfree for even longer. He could have guessed that intuition and gut feeling would only lead him so far, but even then there was no way to ensure that he actually found what he was looking for. In fact, they were able to traverse the everfree with relative ease thanks to it avoiding the obstacles that would have normally hindered their progress.

“I haven’t been entirely truthful with you, Dante,” she spoke suddenly, catching him off guard. “There was another reason I came to ponyville. One besides coming to see Twilight and simply visiting for a few days. I also came to inspect you as well.”
Dante cocked his head to the side, confused by her explanation. “I know, you told me this when we first met. You said you wanted to get a measure of who was staying with Twilight.” He frowned slightly, his brow furrowing in thought. “That was only a little while ago.”

“That’s not it exactly,” she admitted. Dante’s ears perked up and he went silent as Velvet rubbed her foreleg. The mare was nervous, he knew that, but he was more interested in what she had to say. Perhaps there was more to the Sparkle family than he actually knew. Though he could only listen and figure out what exactly it was Velvet was looking at in regards to him. “I have been looking at you because of what I’ve heard about you from both Twilight and the Princess. In truth, I came here, watched you, talked to you, and tagged along all for the purposes of trying to understand you. It was something that the Princess asked of me.”

"So you're here to spy on me for the Princesses.” His tone took on a defensive edge and he hoped that Velvet took the hint on his disposition towards the subject. Though she hadn’t begun to even speak about the specifics of her little ‘mission’, he had a feeling where it was going. If it came to that, he would make sure that Velvet would know that she was treading on thin ice, even if she had helped him. He knew it may have seemed harsh from an outside perspective, but having someone attempt to study him and uncover his thought process, or the reasons for it, was something he could not abide by.

“No of course not!” she said. “It’s just that with what Twilight has told us, there is obviously something more to you than. Celestia even said that she saw it when you first met. She only wants to know-”

“If I’m a danger to the kingdom, or if I intend to cause any disturbances despite the fact I had told her we wouldn’t,” he interrupted, glaring at Velvet. “I know how this goes. It isn’t the first time I’ve been judged because of who or what I am, Velvet. If she wants me gone, tell her I’m gladly working on it and I’ll be out of her hair soon enough.”

“No, that isn’t it either,” she stated a little more forcefully. In fact, to Dante’s surprise, she seemed to be using a sort of tone that reminded him of a mother scolding a child. “If you would listen for a second, I will tell you why Celestia had me come down here.” She let out a huff of annoyance before running a hoof through her hair, smoothing over a few messy strands that had popped out. “I swear, talking to the younger generations is like talking to a brick wall.”

“If it isn’t to spy on me and to get rid of me, then what is it?.”

“They’re concerned about you, Dante. Can’t you see that?” she said, placing a hoof on his shoulder. “In her letters, Twilight always seems to talk about you, but it’s always the same thing each time. Either it’s, “he seems far too preoccupied with returning home, or he distances himself from any sort of connection”. She even wrote that when she attempted to talk to you and learn about you, you simply brushed her off. Not even Twilight was this reclusive when she was Celestia’s student.”

"I'm not Twilight, and I don't need your concern," Dante said with enough hostility to make Velvet cringe. "Now let's get on with this. The sooner we get this over with, the sooner we can help Twilight so she can help me get the spell ready."

"What was it that traumatized you? What caused such a young colt to become so guarded against the world?"

"Traumatized?"

"Reclusive behaviour, constantly on guard, avoidance of anything which reminds you of a certain issue, emotional numbness. All of these are signs you've experienced something traumatic." Her hoof prodded his chest, slightly above his heart before moving and cupping his chin. She forced him to look her in the eye as she examined him. "You fear emotional attachment, so you wish to leave Ponyville before you truly feel anything for Twilight and her friends." Her eyes narrowed and the grin that had once been there had become only a determined line. "So what was it that changed the mind of Dante?"

He practically smacked her hoof away as he recoiled. "Don't Velvet, I am not doing this. It doesn’t matter anymore."
"Honey, I have a doctorate in psychiatric medicine. I can help you with this. If it didn’t matter to you, then you wouldn’t be thinking about it or beating yourself up over it."

“No Velvet, we both know how this will go; you will tell me that what happened was not my fault, and that I should put it behind me, while I will continue to think myself unworthy of being friends with anyone. Trying to convince me otherwise is pointless. I know what I caused and I know that it was completely my fault."

"Why do you blame yourself? No one should live with this much guilt."
"Because I could have prevented it, I could have saved them all. Instead, I got cocky and they suffered for it. It is that plain and simple."

"Who are 'they'?"

He clapped a hoof over his mouth, cursing the brief rant he had just gone on. He had already fallen into that sense of comfort with Velvet; something he couldn't allow. It made him lose his edge, his only barrier between exposure and safety. He couldn't afford to keep talking. If he did, he knew things would never be the same.

"Forget it," he muttered, storming off. Velvet followed him in tow as they used the lines to navigate further into the forest. It soon became arduous with the foliage growing thicker and thicker as they marched further in. Eventually, Dante was forced to cast a few spells and he utilized the water in the ground to form a few whips. It proved effective as they practically tore through the bushes and left a path behind them.

By the time they reached the hole, the sun had begun to rise, casting a few rays of sunshine into the clearing and turning the sky into a brilliant shade of red and orange. It illuminated the area, showing the remnants of trees, the fur roughed created by giant stone feet, and the massive hole that gaped in the ground.

"Sweet Celestia, what could have caused this?" Velvet murmured beneath her breath. Dante's gaze hardened and he stared at the darkened tunnel within the hole.

Something about it didn't sit well with him.

"It was a giant statue animated by an intelligent ooze creature." He pointed into the tunnel. The action caused Velvet to swallow nervously as she glanced at it. "It came from in there. So if we want to figure out its origin, we go in there."

With that, and before Velvet could even react, he jumped into the hole and was swallowed by the darkness.
	
	
> Origins Pt. 3
> --------------------------------------------------------------------------

	"And once you have built up enough magic pressure, you can release the spell with enough force to blow through almost anything!"

Twilight watched with fascination as the instructor gestured to a series of metal plates at the side of the classroom. She wasn't large by any means, but the pair of white wings in her back gave her a larger profile. Twilight recalled from an brief mention by Dante in one of the few cases he actually answered,  that those like the teachers race were called Celestian's: the angelic counterparts to Dante's own race. Her blue eyes scanned the room filled with students, almost as bright as her curly blonde hair. They seemed to shine even brighter when a line hand shot up. "Yes?"

Dante rose from his seat and stood tall as the rest of the class stared at him. He didn't seem to mind and ignored their judgemental eyes. "Ms. Pahne, would there not also be danger in doing that? If you contain that much power for that long, wouldn't it run the risk of destabilizing or causing a backlash if you were attacked?"

An almost inconceivably huge smile grew on Ms. Pahne's face at Dante's question. "Yes Dante, that is correct. The accumulation of magic within a single point poses an inherent risk. Should you be attacked or your concentration be disrupted, the magic flow will be disrupted. In this case, you could cause your staff to destroy itself from the sheer pressure. It is also possible that the magic would try to return to the body in one giant mass. Should this occur, you will most likely die from the sensory overload."

She then smiled in an attempt to defuse the tension in the air from that statement. "But do not worry, this is why you are here. We will be covering proper concentration later in this year. Now if you-"

The chime of the class bell and the following chatter of the class drowned her out. All of the students practically bull rushed the door in an effort to get out of the classroom. They ignored the teacher as she called out to them, focusing solely on whatever was outside. Twilight followed them through the door and watched as they crowded around a small stand with numerous glowing buttons. She watched as the crystal in its centre displayed a series of numbers when the students pressed the individual buttons. Some jumped for joy after reading their numbers while others took on expressions of disbelief or looked as though they were going to cry. One by one, each took their turn at the station and read their reports until the line eventually reached Dante.

“Okay, let’s see how I did,” he whispered under his breath. Twilight watched as his shaky hands typed on the keyboard. He held his breath as the display popped up and his eyes quickly scanned over the entire chart. His mouth slowly curled into a smile before bursting out into an elated grin. “Ninety-three percent! That would mean…” he mumbled a few numbers as he began to count on his fingers. “That would mean I’m in the classes' top three!”

Twilight laughed as she watched Dante pump a fist while being congratulated by one of the few classmates that hadn’t been staring at him with suspicion. Others ignored him, too concerned with their own scores. Then there was the one who sought to harass him.

"Not bad, loser!" Ersa shouted loudly as she wrapped an arm around his neck. Dante's grin turned to a frown as he struggled to move. "A ninety-three? Who are you trying to impress, nerd?"

He managed to pry her arm from around his neck. "Oh really? Then why don't we see how much better you did!"

A few button taps revealed a new screen and one more brought the image to display on the entire wall. The final score was obscured though, blocked from Twilight’s vision by the mass of students. She and her guide watched as Ersa’s face quickly became as red as her hair. As she looked away many of the other students began to murmur while others laughed quietly. That laughter became louder as more and more students joined in, prompting Ersa to hang her head in embarrassment. Twilight only cringed as she managed to catch a glimpse of the score on the wall.

A low of only twenty-two…

"Wow, did she actually try to fail?"

"I didn't think anyone could score that low..."

"What an idiot!"

Twilight shook her head at the sight, recalling a few bullies she had seen back in school. She didn't like bullies herself, but fighting them with their own methods wasn't an option she agreed with either. “Was he always this vindictive?” Twilight asked when she turned towards the guide. “This makes Dante seem like kind of an flankhole.”

He shook his head. “One can only be pushed so far until they finally lash back.”

“But still, don’t you think he may have gone a little far with publicly embarrassing her?”

“It’s not my place to judge, but does he seem to be enjoying his victory to you?”

Twilight looked back to Dante and quickly understood the meaning of his message. The triumphant grin she had expected to be on Dante’s face was instead a frown of shame. There was obviously little to be proud of in the situation and it was only made worse when Ersa ran from the crowd in tears.

The sight of her crying from what he had done pushed him to try and follow her. He obviously knew he had gone too far and he looked determined to try and fix his mistake. The vision in turn, followed him as he ran after her, weaving through the halls and past groups of other students rudely standing in the middle of the halls chatting. They only halted him momentarily, but it was enough that he lost sight of Ersa.

Twilight continued to watch as he groaned in disappointment. He kept searching throughout the school, checking empty classrooms, hallways, corners, and stairwells, to no avail. Ersa had evaded him and Dante could only feel the shame well up within him. The entire scene was beginning to really take its toll on him as Twilight saw. While she never had done anything close to this, she couldn’t help but contemplate how far he was going to go for this.

Then the sound of hushed sobs allowed him to get back on the trail. He turned around and faced the opening to the last unchecked stairwell. Both he and Twilight peered around to see the girl sitting on the stairs, crying into her hands.

She looked up and back at him as he approached. "What do you want?" she hissed with narrowed eyes. "Come to finish were you left off?"

"Well... I-"

"Spit it out!"

"I wanted to say I'm sorry. I wasn't thinking and I was just tired of you bullying me," he explained with a slight insecurity in his voice. Twilight couldn't blame him for his hesitance, Ersa cut an imposing figure when she was angry.

"So embarrassing me and making everyone think I'm some sort of retard was your way of getting back at me?" she shouted back at him, fresh angry tears in her eyes. She even went so far as to grab him by the shirt and lift him up. "A stupid 'I'm sorry' isn't gonna cut it. My reputation is ruined because of you."

"Then let me help you," he replied forcefully, trying to tear her hands off of him. "I can teach you what you need to know. Maybe that way I can make it up to you. Does that sound good?”

“Why would you want to help me?”

“Maybe I feel genuinely sorry for what I did?” he said, exasperation rife in his voice. “Maybe I think you could actually do better with my help, and that there’s more to the person than someone who likes picking on me? How does that sound?”

“You think you can help me?” she asked, still obviously unsure of his sudden offer of goodwill. "Why should I trust you?"

"Do you really have any other options? I'm third in class rankings, I doubt you’ll get a chance to have someone else teach you that has my grades. Then again, how many have ever offered you to do so before?"

"Fair point," she said with a shrug before she dropped him suddenly. Dante fell roughly onto the ground and Twilight cringed as he groaned. He tenderly rubbed his back which had taken the brunt of the fall. Ersa in the meantime had extended her hand and helped Dante back to his feet. “Fine, but I have one condition.” She grinned before slapping Dante on the back and knocking him onto his front. “We are going to have to work on making you a bit stronger. I can’t be seen with someone who can’t keep up with me physically.”

Twilight listened to her guide chuckle at the exchange. She tilted her head and watched as he turned to her. It felt as though he were looking into her very soul and weighing her constantly.

"She is much like your friend, Rainbow Dash, isn't she?" he asked. "So brash and overconfident."

Twilight grew confused at his suggestion. "How do you know Rainbow Dash?"

"I know much about you and your friends, Twilight." His reply was short, but she was able to pick out the amusement in his voice. "What Dante sees, I also see. What he feels, I feel. What he learns, I build upon. There is little he does without me knowing."

"So you spy on him?"

"In a sense yes, and also no. I merely observe his actions. My motives are simply in the hopes that he chooses the right path in life, nothing more. I have been doing this since the day he first opened his eyes. He does not know of my presence, but I am always there with him."

"But why?" Twilight asked. "Why do you need to survey him constantly?"

"Because it is something I owe him, and the world."

"Then if you've seen this before, what happens next?”

He simply smiled and with a tap of his staff, Twilight watched as dozens of floating images arranged themselves along a starry pathway. Each depicted a moment in Dante’s life that he had shared with Ersa. It started out as she thought it would have, with Dante attempting to teach Ersa and the girl unable to grasp the lesson. She cringed as the girl then tossed the table in her frustration. It then shifted to the reverse with Ersa tossing Dante over her shoulder as she trained him roughly.

"The beginning of their friendship may have started on rough ground, but their animosity for each other eventually disappeared," the guide said with amusement as Dante was tossed around again. Images kept coming and going as the two of them continued down the path, showing what seemed like the same image on repeat. To Twilight it only seemed like Dante was trying to frustrate her with his teaching and she was simply returning the favour each time she beat him during their spars. But while it looked bad, Dante seemed to take no mind. In fact, the two seemed content when they were together.

One image stood out to here amongst the rest. It showed Ersa and Dante resting at the base of a large tree, taking shelter in the shade. Ersa picked at the grass restlessly while Dante had his nose in book, looking content while scanning the pages. Twilight could even make out the hushed noises of the two while she watched.

"Hey, Dante?" Ersa said as she flipped onto her back. "Can I ask you something?"

Dante closed his book and looked down at Ersa who shifted so that her head was in his lap. "Go ahead, I'm listening."

"What do you see yourself doing after all this?"

"You mean after school?"

"Yeah, what do you want to do after you're done here? Adventurer? Dungeon archaeologist?  	Monster Zoologist?"

“Zoologist?” Dante chuckled as he looked at his book before turning to Ersa once more. "I’ll tell you, but you’re going to have to promise not to laugh."

Ersa nodded as she rested her hands on her stomach and closed her eyes. Dante sighed as he placed his book to the side, taking a moment to rub his eyes. "After all of this is done, I want to be a teacher."

A teacher? Twilight thought to herself until a feeling in her chest gave her pause. She smiled slightly as she imagined Dante at the head of a classroom of children. The thought also made her feel guilty. This was one of Dante’s hopes and dreams. It was something he would have shared with her if he wanted to. Yet she was there either way and if it weighed on her mind too heavily, she could always talk to him about it another time.

A small snort came from Ersa and Dante frowned as she smiled. She got up from his lap and looked to him with a small grin. "Out of every job these schools can give you, you want to be a teacher?"

“What’s wrong with that? You think I’m suited to something else?”

“With your talents, I’m pretty sure you could do almost anything.” Ersa replied. “But being a teacher does seem to suit you pretty well. I don’t think I could handle it though. I’d probably end up hitting a student.”

“It’s always something I’ve wanted to do, ever since Principle Feinman took me along with him. I don’t know what it is, but I always wanted to follow in his footsteps. If I did that, then I could change other kids’ lives like the way he changed mine.”

Ersa’s amused grin turned to a sincere smile as she cupped his cheek in one of her hands. “I think he’d like that. I also think that it suits you perfectly Dante,” she added with a laugh. “Besides, it takes a good teacher to get through to someone like me.”

“That I can agree with,” he replied before Ersa slugged him in the shoulder. “Oww! Ok, ok, I’m sorry!” He cowered as Ersa gave him another few hits for good measure. “You know, it was mostly you who did most of the work. I’m pretty sure you could have done it even without my help.”

“But it wouldn’t have been as fun as it was with you around.” She wrapped an arm around his neck and brought him in close to the point where their cheeks were touching. “I’m kinda glad I took you up on your offer. You honestly did help out a lot.”

"No problem," Dante said, smiling at her. "What about you? What do you want to do?"

"Dunno," she said with a frown. "I've thought about it, but nothing's appealed to me. Have any suggestions?"

"You could always be my assistant," he said calmly avoiding eye contact with her. There seemed to be a small tinge of red to his cheeks, which Ersa noticed. She grinned and playfully nudged his ribs with an elbow. 

"Hmm, Professor Dante's assistant?" she mused. "Helping you out with any idiot student, helping you keep track of everything, helping you grade tests, and having to do whatever you say." Her face flushed slightly with the last part and Twilight could tell there was a subtle change in the tone of her voice. "You know, if anybody else asked me, I'd say no. But you're pretty much the only exception."

"Happy to be that single soul who has to put up with you." 

"You're the only one who can keep up with me, Dante. I wouldn't want to be hanging out with anyone else, if you get what I'm saying?

“So does this mean we’re finally friends, Ersa?” Dante asked as they rested against each other. Ersa just nodded and smiled, snuggling in closer to Dante who let her do as she pleased without any complaint. The image of the two sat there for a short while before it began to fade out. Though it lingered long enough to let Twilight see Ersa tentatively rub the tip of Dante’s horn. Dante practically jolted at the touch, shying away from  Ersa who was busy feeling the tips of her fingers.

“Hmm, your horns are a lot like you, you know? Not as sharp as I expected.” she laughed just as the image faded into nothing.

"So they became best friends in the end," he said as she passed an image of the two eating and going over the same textbook. It became apparent that both were progressing well in the other’s field. Ersa was quickly grasping whatever Dante was teaching her, and Dante was even proving to be more of a challenge in their matches. They also began to hang around each other more in between studying and training, often trading jabs or lazing around the school grounds. She even saw the image in which the picture she had found was taken, and she felt a strange feeling arise as the two laughed and made faces at the camera.

"That they did, Twilight Sparkle," the guide said as they approached the end of the starry pathway. He stopped in front of one of the last images that showed Dante waiting patiently as he scanned the class listings again. He smiled as he saw his rank had remained the same since the last image. Then he gestured for Ersa to approach the terminal. She gulped nervously and pressed a few buttons while Twilight kept an ear perked towards her guide. "No, their efforts forged their friendship, but..." The two watched as Ersa's face lit up at the sight of a seventy-eight before she jumped on Dante. She wrapped her arms around him and hugged him tight while crying in joy. When she broke away from him, Twilight's breath halted as Ersa stared into his eyes nervously before closing the distance and bringing her lips to his. When she broke away, there was a moment of silence as Dante stood there dazed and she held her hands to her chest nervously as she went crimson. Then he smiled, cupped her cheek gently with his hand, and returned the favour in full. "...that friendship gave way to something more."
> Origins Pt. 4
> --------------------------------------------------------------------------

	
Twilight Velvet always considered herself a practical and levelheaded mare. One had to be when dealing with the kind of rambunctious children that grew into the roles of Princess Celestia's student and the Captain of the Royal Guard. She had raised them, going through the trials and tribulations that entailed the duties of parenthood. In that time, she had thought that perhaps she had seen the extremes that children and young ponies would go through. After all, what other mother could say their own daughter had turned her into a potted plant? Certainly not one she had ever met.
         
Yet it seemed life was ready to challenge her resolve once again. It had devised a test so utterly incomprehensible that she had to pause upon coming face to face with it, and normally, upon being confronted with a giant hole, in both the physical and metaphorical sense, one should take their time to account for of every feature. It was a simple concept of self-preservation; no one would be stupid enough to simply jump in without at least taking note of the depth. But Dante had done none of that.
         
Instead, Dante had thrown himself into the pit...
         
Oh my sweet Celestia, he just killed himself! She thought frantically. She hadn't taken him for one to charge in headlong without second thought, he was too smart for that. Yet he had done so anyways. It was unthinkable --defying every notion of rationality in her mind. But what hit the hardest was that she had watched it happen and that there was so much she could have done about it. There hadn't been any signs when she thought on it though; there was hardly an indication he would have done something like this.
 
"Velvet!"
 
Fantastic... now she could hear him in her head as that accusing ghost. She was going to have to live with the fact a pony had thrown themselves to their death in front of her. More importantly, she was going to have to explain this with the princess. Even worse, her poor filly would be crushed by the fact her charge had killed himself while she was comatose.
 
"Velvet!"
 
Why did the voice have to sound so real? The situation was already as terrible as it could be without him howling her name from the other side. It was almost as though he were at the bottom of the pit trying to contact her.
 
...
 
"Dante?" she shouted, her voice echoing in the darkness of the hole. "Are you alive down there?" She paused for a second as something registered in her mind. "How in the name of Tartarus did you survive that fall?"
 
"The hole isn't that deep; I only had to ride the wall for a few seconds before I touched the ground." His response brought out a sigh of relief from Velvet. Still, her heart was just beginning to go from the heavy beat to a steady thrum. "Can you manage to get down somehow?"
 
"Hold on for a moment," she called back. Concentrating, she heard the telltale sound of her magic activating before she felt herself lift off the ground. She panted slightly as the strain of lifting her entire body made itself known incredibly quickly. Self-levitation spells weren't exactly common among unicorns and there was little reason for any to learn such a spell unless they were married to a pegasus. Still, she knew that she shouldn't have been this tired so quickly. "I'm getting too old for things like this..."
 
Gently, she floated down past years of piled dirt and sediment. As she did so, her eyes scanned the walls of the hole, taking note of every deposit and every layer of soil. She had dabbled in geology during her time as a student, fantasizing about finding caches of gemstones that would make any mare weak in the legs. Unfortunately, motherhood had put an end to that lofty goal, but left her with skills that could quickly identify a few odd things about stratification of the earth in this hole.
 
"That isn't natural," she said as her hooves met solid ground. She looked around, taking account of the scratches in the walls and floor. A large tunnel extended to their right, remaining firm despite not being supported by any beams or natural formations. It was a wonder that it hadn't collapsed in on itself. Then again, that meant there was a chance it would do so while they were there.
 
She scooped up a portion of the ground and inspected it with her eyes and magic. There wasn't much odd about the clod of earth in her hooves. In fact, it was just a regular lump of dirt. There was only one thing that stood out to her.
 
"There was an earthquake here," she said, dropping dirt on the ground. "It happened a very long time ago, but there are still trace differences in the soil." There was only one thing that didn't make sense. "But there are no foreign samples in it, which doesn't make sense. An earthquake would have mixed up the sediment layers and covered this place entirely. That could only mean..."
 
"This tunnel isn't natural," Dante concluded for her. She looked towards him, curiosity forming at the origin of his deduction. Dante only motioned towards the tunnel. Surely enough when she looked, a cobblestone pathway caught her interest. She opened her mouth to say something, but Dante was quicker to express his opinion. "Some sort of magic was at work here when this place sank into the ground. The road was slightly affected, but if this was an actual earthquake, the stones would be scattered."
 
"So what should we do?"
 
He turned to her with that same look on his face when he had first picked up the stone in the library. It was more determined than anything, but Velvet could see a glimmer of confidence and excitement in them. Dante was just raring to go. "We follow it and see where it leads. Then when we're done, we head back to town."
 
"Simple as that?"
 
"Simple as that."

*****

Watching Dante's life unfold in front of her reminded Twilight of the sort of plays that touted the concept of drama as though it were a currency, though nothing could compare to what she was viewing. Fighting and argument all seemed to be commonplace within the relationship between Ersa and Dante. There was no in-between either. Conflict between the two was either due to some little thing or a major event that usually set them off. But it wasn't always constant bickering and arguing, there was plenty of good to go with the bad. In fact, some of the best and closest moments between the two were almost immediately after a major fight.
 
The entire situation was merely a learning experience for the two - a constant test to see how firm their bond would remain despite their differences. Sure, the instances of fights made it difficult for them, but that wasn't the point. As far as Twilight could see, the two loved each other dearly. There was none of the typical high school silly names or the grafting of hips between the two. Their relationship was more adult than anything. They gave as much time to the other as themselves. But even so, they were always there for each other in the best and worst of times.
 
Yet while she was viewing what had to be the most extreme relationship between the two, she was beginning to feel something else build within her as well. She had seen how well the hotheaded Ersa and the collected Dante got along and their trust in each other. It reminded her that while she always had her friends, she had nothing close to what she was seeing in front of her. She knew that she could always trust the others, but she had never seen or experienced the same degree as the two in the vision shared. It only managed to reveal what she felt.
 
She was lonely. But it wasn't just a subtle feeling either; it was a full-blown desire for a companion to share everything with.
 
The hand of the guide touched her gently on the shoulder. It was a light touch, and while his hand was deathly cold, there was a warm and comforting feeling that arose from the action. He smiled sadly, and she could tell from his odd and pained eyes that he was dreading what was to come.
 
"It is almost over..." he said, his multitude of voices all reverberating lowly in a synchronized choir. Twilight nodded and followed him, leaving the image of the two together to fade into nothing.
 
To her surprise, there was no new image that appeared in front of them. Instead, upon her guide stopping and tapping the ground with his staff, a small doorway appeared. Stepping inside, her hooves disturbed what seemed like a deep dust, and stumbled among things lying in the doorway whose shapes she could not make out at first. The chamber was lit by a wide shaft high in back wall; it slanted upwards and, far above, a small square patch of blue sky could be seen coming from some artificial source. The light fell directly on a table in the middle of the room: a single square block, about two feet high that held a series of four small metal claws, only one of which held a black oval stone. Behind it, were an additional four thrones obscured by the darkness.
 
While waiting for him to explain the significance of the room, she watched her companion pass by her, appearing as though he were floating towards the altar like table, before he picked up the orb closest to them. “This is the key and final part to the day that Dante’s fate was irrevocably changed,” he said, holding the orb towards her. “It is, and will forever be, his most guarded and darkest secret.” He paused, looking down at the object in his hand in an almost hesitant manner. “But before you take it, I also offer you a different choice. One in which you abandon the path you are currently treading so that you may save your home from what is to befall those who have come into your land. You have already seen enough to come to a conclusion of what is to come.”
 
“What will happen to them if I take your offer?” Twilight asked, afraid of the answer, but kept her determination. “And what if I choose to go and help Dante anyways? I could just go against what you think will happen.”
 
“What I am giving you is a choice to avoid collateral damage, Twilight Sparkle,” he replied, narrowing his gaze. “The cost of your choice will still be the sacrifice of four souls, there is no changing that. But the nature of your decision will ultimately determine how many will perish in the process.”
 
“And there is no other way?”
 	 
“No, Twilight Sparkle, this is how destiny plays its hand. There are just some paths that cannot be changed, not by gods, not by despots, and not by those who perceive themselves as heralds of light. And even if you had the ability to not choose, the flow of reality will decide for you and leave you with the ashes of the fallen and the consequences of what your choice might have been. It is impossible for you to decide otherwise; Dante will either perish by your hoof, or through other means.”
 
“No.”
 
The response was simple, but so forceful that it even surprised Twilight. It seemed the very same for the shadowy guide, who looked oddly perplexed by her answer. Then, almost as if her body was forming a conscious of its own, she stood tall and looked towards him. “I have done things and seen things which in any case would be considered impossible. My friends and I have stopped every single threat to Equestria. We banished Nightmare Moon, we reasoned with a dragon, beat a changeling invasion, and we even reformed a god of chaos. But you have the sheer audacity to tell me that I have to decide between my new friends and my home, that I have to betray their trust and live with the fact that I was the one who ultimately decided to put them on the chopping block.” Her hoof rose up, almost as if to strike him, but rested in a manner where it appeared she was simply pointing at him accusingly. “I won’t accept either of them then, I am going to watch whatever is on this thing, and I am going to do my best to help Dante, Sam, Moe, and Coppa overcome whatever it is you or whoever else have planned for them. You say that Gods, Despots, and Heralds can’t change destiny. well good! I’m none of those. I am Twilight Sparkle, the bearer of the Element of Magic, and the best friend of five incredible ponies, a dragon, and four friends from another world. And I know that if they were here, they would agree with me and would help me to find a way to save everypony, no matter the cost!”
 
He stared at her, silent, but amused from what she could tell by his face. His eyes still hadn’t warmed to her, but she could see his entire body relax slightly. “So that is your decision then? To fight against a cycle which even a god could not stop and to deny those who desire their release?”
 
“It is, so you can either take it or leave it! Impossible is nothing but a word that one uses to feel better when they’ve given up.”
 
“Very well then, I will let you do as you wish,” he said, handing her the orb. She couldn't tell if he was impressed by her resolve, or disappointed. It mattered little, she made her choice and he was going to have to live with it. "You remind me of someone I knew long ago, Twilight Sparkle." He had a small smile on his face, but it looked bleaker than the one he had shown earlier. "He was a friend who would never stop until his dreams were realised, no matter who he had to face. He saw me not as the facade I had made, but for who I was. Perhaps, like him, you can fulfill your boasts and do what others failed to accomplish. I can only hope that those you surround yourselves with have the same constitution and ideals that you yourself posses. If not, I pray for your soul."
 
He then tapped the orb with a whitened finger and after a moment, the entire gem began to glow. At first, it only brightened slightly before it began to produce a faint humming noise. Then, as she held on to it, the humming turned into a loud roar like that of fast moving train. As it did that, the images of everything she had seen until that moment replayed in her head. But there were other images, ones in which she hadn't viewed and didn't even seem to be about Dante. Instead, flashes of burning homes, people of Dante's race running from armoured warriors, and a child crying and bleeding while stones were being thrown at him by a large crowd all appeared in her mind.  
 
Death, destruction, and unfiltered fear all emanated from within the stone, slowly leaking out like a foul and invisible gas. It was terrifying to behold and she felt her heart hammer in her chest as she held onto it. It was then that quiet, almost inaudible, whispers seemed to resonate from the stone as smoke began leak from it. There were too many to hear clearly, each speaking at the same time in a jumbled mess. Then, without any indication, the stone erupted in a purple light that blinded Twilight to the world.
 
*****
 
Time seemed convoluted within the tunnel as Dante and Velvet roamed the underground passage. How long had they been searching? An hour? A few minutes? He couldn't tell anymore, they had been underground for too long. The only thing he did know was that the sun had risen and a new day had begun, the small spears of sunlight poking through the dirt ceiling overhead revealed that.
 
Yet their progress through the tunnel did not reflect well upon however much time they spent down there. If he was to guess, they had hardly scratched a dent in the lengths of tunnels. It was truly labyrinthine in all regards. Foolishly, he had thought that perhaps there would only be one tunnel that the cobblestone path revealed to him. Instead, the path had run out and left them to fend for themselves. Since then, their progress largely consisted of running into splitting tunnels and dead ends.
 
"Does this never end?" he muttered to himself. He knew his complaint was a useless gesture, but it still helped slightly. Of course, he knew that other tunnels or dead ends would form over the course of time, but it was beginning to seem like these were forming to throw them off.
 
Then again, he might just be paranoid. The labyrinths back home tended to do that to an explorer.
 
Still, determination drove him on with Velvet following in step. The mare herself had been rather quiet since they entered the tunnel and he had only a few inclinations as to why. Maybe it was her motherly instincts or her experience as a psychologist -he couldn't tell which- drove her to try and open him up. Either way, she was going to have to fight for every inch she got into his psyche. But at the same time, he had the unshakable feeling that someone else was gaining territory were Velvet was stalling. That thought alone unnerved him greatly.
 
"Dante?" Velvet's voice brought him from his musings and he looked over to the mare who had situated herself at the other side of the tunnel. She had a wry smile upon her face as she coolly cleared her throat. "I believe we are lost again."
 
"It would seem so," he uttered with a nod of his head. "I don't suppose your spell would work here would it?"
 
She shook her head.  "Not unless you've seen whatever it is we are looking for. Even if you did, I doubt we'd get very far. After all, there is still the chance that it’s underneath a pile of dirt at this moment."
 
Dante smacked a hoof to his forehead. He should have realised that by now. They'd already come across so many caved in tunnels, but he hadn't once thought that perhaps their final destination was also cut off. What was this? Amateur hour? Why couldn't he have realised that centuries underground tended to alter natural and unnatural tunnel formations in the absence of professional care?
 
"What do you think Velvet?" he asked as he began to massage his forehead. "Do you have any suggestions?"
 
"Besides turn around and go home? Not really," she replied scratching the ground with a hoof. "We've been down here for a while, and there isn't much here besides dirt and rocks. So unless you have something that has a memory of this place, I suggest we pack up."
 
"A memory of this place..." Dante muttered to himself. He sat still, in a contemplative manner before his ears snapped to attention. Quickly, he unclasped his borrowed saddlebags and rummaged through them. He did that for a moment before simply dumping the bag onto the ground. "There it is!"
 
Velvet tilted her head as Dante brought out the stone with the sun mark on it. She gave him a quizzical look as he inspected it, much like a child would inspect a toy. He rotated it, examined it, scratched at it, and even smelled it in an attempt to find whatever it was he was looking for. She wasn’t quite sure what part of her statement had set him off, but it seemed to get the gears in his head moving. It was only after he found a bit of black goop and scraped it off the stone did he turn back to her.
 
“Can you possibly find something from this?” He presented the tiny smudge to her and she took it carefully into her own hoof. What was he expecting to find with this? She was practically sure that he was smart enough to know that she needed something with the capacity to think for itself. Yet he had given her a black smudge and was expecting a miracle to happen. Sighing to herself, she reluctantly decided to ignite her magic and play on his hopes even though she knew that--
 
What in Tartarus...
 
The same soft light grew from the black sludge and connected to her horn. It circled the sludge, which had begun to bubble, and steam, evaporating into the air as her magic drained it. Eventually the light snaked from it and travelled along the wall, twisting and turning alongside the semi-natural formation. It was then that the liquid completely disappeared from the depression in her hoof with a sound much like that of a steaming kettle.
 
When the spell finished, the string of light popped from her horn and sunk into the ground as it had done so hours ago. At the same time, Velvet looked at Dante who was standing up and smirking like he had just guessed the winning lottery numbers. "Dante?" she began calmly. "What was that liquid you just gave me?"
 
"Remember what I said about the ooze? Well that’s what I gave you. It’s also the thing that put my friend into the hospital. I figured that because it had awareness, forward planning, and the desire for self preservation, then having the capacity to remember a location or the path to the specific area wouldn't be much of a stretch," he said casually. He then saw the worry etched on her face and did his best to assuage her concern. "Don't worry, it's harmless at the moment. If it hadn't died from the shock of thawing out and being separated from the main body, it wouldn't have had the ability or strength to attack you. I wouldn't endanger you like that."
 
Despite his persuasion, Velvet still bit her lip nervously and wiped her hoof on the ground out of habit. "Right..." she began hesitantly. "I was just surprised is all."
 
Dante just silently nodded at the statement before he began walking. He looked to be invigorated by the change of fortune; almost like gaining a second wind by the news alone. At the same time, Velvet could not fathom the sudden changes in his behaviours at this point. Her expertise and practice of psychology had seen her deal with many instances of mental conditions, but Dante was odd. It was like a lottery filled with random symptoms and it confused her. She could tell he had post traumatic scarring, yet it wasn't specifically just that. It was something indescribable that would have required a thorough examination of nearly every condition she knew. All in all, there was really only one designation she could give him; one she used rarely for obvious and professional reasons.
 
Dante was seriously messed up.
 
Not exactly her best diagnosis, but nobody could judge her for it at the moment. It should have really been obvious with all the repeating indicators, both from Twilight’s letters and her experience, but he was exceptionally good at hiding anything that hinted something absolute. It also begged the question of how he became so estranged -- another thing he was adept at hiding away. She sighed in exasperation at the reminder and turned to a new bittersweet thought: even while comatose, her daughter probably could learn more about him than she could presently.
 
Still... the thoughts, while certainly depressing and agonizingly jabbing every motherly instinct she had, managed to pass the time well. She used the idea of 'motherly instincts' loosely; a sort of crutch phrase in this situation to define her jumbled emotions to somepony who was young enough to be her own child. She knew Dante probably had his own parental figures, but she had every right to be concerned as well.
 
"Do you mind if I ask you something?" she asked. When no answer came from Dante, she wasn't sure whether it was a 'yes' or 'no', but decided to continue on.
 
For investigative purposes of course!
 
"What was growing up like for you?" she asked tentatively and while looking at everything except him. "Were there any issues you had in your childhood?"
 
"If you're asking if I had a rough time growing up, yea, I did," he said without even turning to her. The flat tone even did its job in expressing that he was merely gracing here with partial answers. "Between having to hide my race through my formative years, and the uproar it caused when who I was became known. I would say there are definitely kids who had it easier than I did."
 
"But surely something was done about it? Was there no authority figure to help you?"
 
"Growing up as an orphan in a place where the adults in charge of my care tended to avoid me doesn't leave many options for those I could confide in," he said. "And before you ask, yes, I had friends. Well, one friend out of an orphanage of fifty, and I'm not sure where he is, but I doubt I will be seeing him again anytime soon..."
 
The tone in his voice suggested more, but that was normal; there was always more when it came to him. "So you had no role models or any adult influence? No mother or father figure?"
 
"I wasn't picked up by anybody until the age of eight. Then the man who sort of adopted me, Principle, and ex-knight, Eric Feinman, took me in and taught me all I know right now. I spent my pre-teens traveling and learning from him until I was enrolled in his school. He's my only role model and is the closest thing I have to a father figure."
 
"So you really respect him then?" Good, he was opening up. Her plan seemed to be taking root and working its way past Dante's defences. It was nefarious, getting him to divulge the less fondly remembered aspects of his youth, but it worked wonders.
 
Dante in the meantime snorted. "Respect him? Of course I do, I owe him my life. He saved me and what sort of gratitude would I be giving him if I didn't hold him in high regard? He's one of the few humans who aren't the typical racists I've encountered."
 
"And who would the others be?"
 
"Two people: my orphan friend, and Er-" he stopped suddenly, turning and glaring at her. While he might have been slower to catch on this time, he was much sharper than any other patient. He was also a lot more intimidating, it seemed, as he circled her, staring death and backing her down the tunnel. "I told you before Velvet, I don't need your help or pity!" He roared loud enough for her knees to shake. "Stop trying to dig into things because you think it will help me somehow. It won't Velvet, and it never will."
 
There was an unshakable fear running through Velvet at that point. Dante was quite literally projecting himself and his feelings onto her. Not only that, it seemed to have other effects on him as well. She would have classified these physical reactions like bristled fur and defensive orientations as normal, except for the fact that she had never seen anything remotely like what was going on in front of her.
 
His entire body was bristling and she watched as it turned darker and darker with each passing moment. His horns seemed to elongate slightly, and the whites of his eyes appeared to darken by the second. His magic even circled around him in a sort of dark purple mist that felt oddly cold. But what caught her eye wasn't the fact he was physically changing alongside his emotions, it was something else entirely.
 
His shadow was changing, morphing into hunched figure with long wing like appendages.
 
"Now why don't we talk about this Dante," she said, swallowing nervously as his shadow grew larger. More detailed features were forming, and she could just make out the presence of its knife like teeth.
 
"There are reasons why I keep to myself, Velvet," he snapped. Velvet didn't need to dig deeper to know what he meant since she had an inkling of what it might have been now. Dante in the other hand, was only just beginning. "I’ve done things, terrible things, and I've hurt people in ways you can't imagine. I'm dangerous, a monster even, and no amount of psychological healing is going to change that. I've lived with that fact for a while now, and I refuse to put anymore lives at risk because of it."
 
"Holding onto ideas like that isn't good for you, Dante. How many times will you have to be told that? How long is it going to take for you to realise that there is always a way to overcome your fears, and that accepting others help isn't putting them at risk?"
 
"In this case it is, Velvet," he replied solemnly, his fur beginning to return to its regular color. "Why do you keep pressing me, even though you know I have no desire to tell you? Why are you so damn insistent?"
 
At that point, Velvet moved forward and wrapped her hooves around him. She felt him freeze and attempt to shy away, but she only held him tighter. Then she felt him shake before leaning into her. She nuzzled him, paying no mind to the wet spot forming on her neck as she held him. "Please just tell me, Dante. I can't stand to see anyone destroy themselves over something they had no control over. Please, just let it out."
 
"You sound just like Feinman," Dante chuckled sadly, shaking his head. "I'm going to regret this, I know it."
 
"Just start when you're ready," she replied softly. "I'm here for you. I can help you"

"I know you want too, Velvet..." his voice was gravelly and choked with emotion, the most apparent was relief and grief. He took a breath, but never moved away from her. Never moving from the security of her presence.        “...but I don't think there's much help for what I did, Velvet. Plus, we all keep secrets, mine are just more scarring than yours, Twilight's, or even Celestia..." He trailed off as his eyes widened at something behind her.  When she followed his gaze, she felt her own mouth open in shock at what she saw.

        “How is this even possible?” Velvet said aloud. Dante remained silent, still muted by shock as he walked into the large cavern entrance and picked up the end of a large piece of cloth. Upon closing in with him, she saw that it wasn’t just a cloth, but a flag emblazoned with the old symbol of the Equestrian kingdom: Two Alicorns circling a sun and a crescent moon. When she looked back up from the fallen flag, her breath stopped once again from the sheer awe the ancient sight instilled in her, even making her forget about the answers she wanted from Dante.
         
        It was a village. An entire village. Preserved for an eternity within an earthen prison by some magical means and littered with broken, armoured husks of two legged creatures surrounding a central platform which lacked its stone giant. The scattered remains seemed to intrigue Dante who cantered just out of arm’s reach from a fallen skeleton with a sword sticking in the ground through the rusted armour surrounding its ribcage.
         
        "It all makes sense now..." Dante growled as he stepped forward and picked up a helmeted skull. "I think that Celestia has a few questions to answer.”
 
*****
 
Twilight sat on her haunches, quivering as Dante stood alone in the midst of absolute pandemonium. Behind him, St. Mara burned bright alongside any unlucky soul still trapped there. The screaming still rang in her ears and she could barely look anywhere without seeing the torn up remains of the fanatics which had assaulted the students while Dante had been tortured repeatedly to Eric and his gangs delight.
 
That was when it all went wrong for them, or that is what the priests closest to Dante would have thought had an invisible force not ground them into paste within a blink of an eye. The others weren't so lucky, and Twilight had watched as Dante stood up while priests began dropping like flies, either with massive holes in them or scattered in the wind after being reduced to nothing but red mist.
 
In the end, all that remained was Dante, screaming into the air with blackened tears falling from his face as the burning buildings around him turned the night sky orange. In his arms was the body of Ersa, limp and unresponsive in his arms, staring out blankly at the illuminated sky. He kept attempting to wake her, yelling at her to get up and shaking her violently. But she would not rise now, or ever again; the hole in her chest where her heart had been made sure of that. 

Of a group of fifteen, only Dante was still whole and standing. The rest were scattered around like disposed dolls among the ruins. What used to be happy faces had been reduced to expressions of pain and terror. Their last moments had not been kind and Twilight had witnessed every action as it happened slowly.
 
The following moments were filled with more screams of pain, loss, and grief coming from him than Twilight would have ever wanted to hear. She sat down, motionless as the scene ended with the silhouette of Dante staring blankly at the flames that consumed the town for a second time. This time though, there was no one to put out the flames as they consumed buildings and bodies.
 
"So Twilight Sparkle," the guide said as he walked through the image. "You have seen a fraction of what he is. Shall you still stand by him now? Or will you restore the balance and end him before he truly awakens? You do not have much time left; the cycle will begin anew in the coming seasons."
         
        Twilight said nothing; she had no words to say after seeing that. Now she could understand Dante entirely and she regretted it immediately. At the same time, somehow she had expected something dark in his past. She just had no idea how bad he had it.
        
        “What can I do?” she said solemnly. “I can’t hurt him, that would go against everything I stand for. Yet, like you said, if I don’t do anything, then everyone else will be hurt or worse. So what can I do?”
        
        “I am old, Twilight Sparkle," he responded quietly. “You cannot guess how old by simply looking at me. I have seen much, and I have done much more in my lifetime. Some of these memories bring pride while others bring me disgust.” He turned to the stone inside the cradle of his hand, looking down on it. “Do you know what experience is? It is when you have handled something to the extent that the shine wears off. Experience is when you begin to see how relentlessly predictable people are, how each generation follows the same pattern they claim to be breaking away from. I know this because I have lived many years and seen every instance of this.” He placed the stone away on the pedestal and he lowered himself onto one knee. “I cannot say for certain how you should approach this, but this is a new world in which I have no experience to offer you. It is a paradise compared to where I once lived. You must do everything in your power to help save it. It will not be easy, but the answer, and the course of action you must take, will reveal themselves soon. That is all I can say for you.”
         
        As he finished, a ringing reverberated throughout the void, loud and high-pitched. It stung her ears and she could see him look around frantically, as if he were searching for something.
         
        "A disturbance?" he uttered in shock. He grabbed her and pressed his cold palms to either side if her head. "Listen to me closely. You must decide Twilight. Sacrifice Dante, or risk unleashing him. The very fate of both our worlds now hang in the balance. You have seen what he has caused and how he suffers. Condemn him or free him, you must decide. Your choice in these hours will determine much and you will be one of the key pieces in how this new era will appear."
         
        He frowned as he let her go, standing still as everything warped around the two of them. Twilight then began to lift off the ground and felt the familiar sensation of weightlessness and being pulled away by an unseen force as everything shifted around her. As her surroundings twisted and faded, she  heard him call to her one last time.
         
        "Good luck Twilight Sparkle, may fortune ever be in your favour. I pray that the gods have mercy and allow you to succeed where I failed."
         
        After that, he disappeared along with the rest of the void.
         
        *****
         
        She gasped as her head shot off of her pillow. Her breath came back to her in ragged gasps as her heart beat in her chest wildly. She raised a hoof to the centre of her body and took a deep breath and held it. Counting to five, she exhaled before repeating the breathing exercise a few more times.
         
        After she regained her composure, she slowly got out of bed. Her movements were sluggish and she felt rather weak after the whole ordeal. She proceed to try though, and she sighed in satisfaction as she stood on shaky legs.
         
        The smell of burning wood then caught her attention. It was obviously wood that was burning at the moment -- she could tell by the smell. She only hoped it wasn't Spike trying to impress somebody with his magic breath. The last time he tried, Celestia had questioned Twilight why a table had landed in her throne room.
         
        A new thought occurred to her after telling herself Spike was smarter than that: how long had she been out? Surely it hadn't been long... the entire experience had only felt like a few minutes at most. Even still, she trotted over to the window, but paused as she felt heat when her hoof neared the drawn curtains.
         
        "That's strange..." she murmured to herself as she drew the curtain away. Her voice died in her throat immediately upon seeing the sight before her. She backed away, turning and bolting through her door. Unfortunately, her weakened legs gave out on her and she tumbled down the stairs, landing just in front of the library door. Not wasting a moment, she struggled to her hooves with a groan before opening the door and immediately stood in shock as a nearby building stood burning in the night.
        
That was when she heard a shrill shriek before the library wall burst in and sent her world into chaos.
	
	
> Pureblood
> --------------------------------------------------------------------------

	Gravity released its hold on Twilight as she lifted off the ground when the wall next to her exploded inwards. The trip through the air itself was cut short as she crashed against a bookshelf and tumbled to the ground. A shrill squawk resounded in the room as a blackish blob filled the corner of Twilight's dazed view. She rose from the ground, attempting to back away, but her weakened legs would not move no matter how hard she tried.
 
Even as her vision was clouded by stars, she could make out the sounds of heavy panting and grunting as the thing that destroyed her wall came close. She felt something connect to her head and the blow hit hard enough that her legs buckled. It threw a second punch at her, but she managed to dodge the second blow and heard the sound of the wood floor where she had been splinter and crack. She winced as pieces of the wooden floor were launched at her, some of the tiny and sharp splinters embedding themselves in her legs and haunch. She hissed in pain, but remained standing as she kept her focus.

Not taking the time to let whatever was attacking her get a second chance, Twilight readied herself. A bright beam of purple energy shot out from her horn and hit the centre of the thing in front of her, dazing it. Her clearing vision allowed her to see it hold a taloned hand to where her beam had landed. Undaunted, she kept up the pressure, launching beam after beam into what she assumed was its chest. The monster was obviously caught by surprise and had not expected her to fight back, given how her barrage had thrown it backwards. In the short time that her offensive had granted her, she managed to get a view of the thing.
 
The monster in her home was large, too large to be anything natural. Its appearance was odd, and more than frightening to her. Heavily muscled arms with taloned claws and scrawny bird like legs, all covered in leathery brown skin, lashed out on both sides of the monsters as it struggled to move its massive bulk. She yelped in fright as a sudden gout of flame burst from its mouth. It then caught one side of the library and used its strength to pull itself up off of its back. Twilight gaped as the beady white eyes in the vulture like head glared at her. The monster gave another deep cry as it lifted its arm to crush her.
 
Twilight dodged the gorilla like arm as it destroyed the large table in the centre of the room. She backed away, jumping as it used both arms to sweep the wreckage away to get to her. She launched another flurry of short purple beams at the monster's face in hopes that it might be distracted enough for her to escape. The monster blocked her attack, raising an arm to cover its eyes and beak while beginning to charge at her. Its spindly legs scrabbled at the floor before it employed its front arms to help push itself forward. Twilight barely had enough time to jump out of the way as the momentum propelled the massive monster through the wall and out onto the street. It continued to rush forward until it crashed into the burning building across from the library, caving in the wall and bringing the entire building down on it.
 
Twilight took no time in trying to escape the area. In her mind, there wasn't any way that thing would have survived a two-story house falling on it. Yet the possibility that it might have, beyond all odds, lived, pushed her to leave even faster. She needed answers as to what exactly was going on.
 
She scanned the area and saw that it was deserted. There were a few fresh dark red stains on the ground, smeared by whatever monster had dragged its victim away. Seeing those made her entire body feel sick, and she barely suppressed the urge to gag as she turned away. Faintly, she could hear the panicked shouts and calls over the roar of the flames and her own nausea. It wasn't a great sign as the nature of the voices meant there might be danger, but while there was a risk, the noises meant that there were others still in the town. If she could get to them, there was the chance that she could organise some sort of group to halt the fire’s progress or search for others while they awaited, outside intervention.
 
She barely made it two steps before she was nearly crushed by a large slab of building and heard the monster's roar once again. Wheeling around, she saw it clear the rubble as it glared at her with hatred in its eyes. It reared on its legs, gnashing its fang lined beak and pounding on its chest menacingly. It swept the boulder-sized pieces of rubble around it towards Twilight as it tried to crush her. As they soared through the air and ricocheted off the ground, Twilight summoned a barrier to protect herself from the hailstorm of building. Stone, wood, and glass all smashed and broke against her defensive spell, none making so much as a dent.
 
A sudden and great weight upon the barrier threatened to disrupt the spell entirely. Twilight looked up and saw her opponent smash its hands into her barrier for a second time. The force was enough to rattle the barrier and Twilight had to brace herself as the aftershock rang in the base of her horn and in her brain. The feeling of it causing her to stagger and the barrier to barrier to loosen slightly. It was not much, but the lapse in consistency of her barrier was something even the monster was able to take advantage of.
 
Seeing that it had an opportunity, it kept up its assault, pounding on the barrier with both fists. Straining under the weight, Twilight broke out into a sweat as a small, noticeable chip in her barrier had appeared. She was nearing her limit and if she didn't get any help, she wouldn't be able to defend herself. The chip grew into a crack with another hammering blow, stretching to be just longer than the length of her foreleg. Time slowed as the adrenaline coursed through her veins, letting her watch as the crack multiplied into smaller breaks, forming a dangerous spider web.
 
The next blow broke the barrier completely. Shards of magic burst out in a dazzling light, scattering over the ground like glass before disappearing into nothing. Twilight recoiled from the shock, falling to her knees and panting as the strain of holding the barrier started to take hold. She had never used it in a combat situation before and now had an even greater respect for her brother’s work on the day of his wedding. She had no idea just how strenuous maintaining a combat barrier really was. Now, when it was finally too late, did she realise that perhaps she should have devoted a little more time to self-defence spells.
 
She shuddered as she tried to stand. Her legs felt like jelly and resisted every attempt to move as the monster siezed her. She wheezed as it gripped her tightly. Lifting her up, she came face to face with it as it opened its beak to expose the rows of razor like fangs in its maw. A putrid smell of decay wafted out and Twilight could see bits and pieces of meat and bone stuck in its teeth; some bones too small to be fully-grown and some pieces of flesh that were fresher than the rest. She tried to use her magic to hit the beast as it brought her closer to its mouth, but the strain proved too much and her magic fizzled out.
 
Her spirits fell as she realised that her end was upon her. It was like one of those fantasy books her brother had read when they were younger. The heroes in those were more likely to be eaten by dragons or meet their end at the hands of some trick than to rescue the damsel in distress. Now she was the hero and she was going to be eaten by a monstrous creature rather than a dragon. She only hoped her friends had made it out and that the end would be quick and painless. Then she closed her eyes and heard the jaws snap shut.
 
A moment passed and Twilight felt nothing except a wetness on her fur. The monsters grip on her slackened for a moment and she felt gravity take her as she wriggled out of its hand. With her weakened legs, she landed on the ground and fell to her side, letting out an audible 'oof’. Looking up, she saw the monster still looming over her, staring at her with its beady eyes, yet there was something off. The powerful muscles were slack and its beady eyes had glazed over. It gave a low groan of pain with its bloody beak and teetered back and forth unsteadily. Twilight managed to roll slightly as it fell forward and exposed who had snuffed out its life.
 
There, standing on its back, was Coppa with his axe buried in its spine. He grinned at her as he hopped down and helped her up. "Glad to see sleeping beauty is up and moving," he said, giving her a quick inspection. "May have been a little bit of a rude awakening, but at least you're up. How're you feeling?"
 
“I’m ok, just really exhausted,” she replied, panting as she attempted to stand up. “What’s going on? How long was I unconscious?” She looked down at the two lumps on Coppa’s chest before looking back at him. “What happened to you?”
 
“You’ve been out for two days, Ponyville has been under attack for roughly half an hour, and we’re evacuating the town as we speak. I came back to get you because we weren’t sure when, or even if you were going to wake up,” he explained, jumping onto the monster’s back and tugged at the weapon. It remained firm, embedded all the way to the head of the ax. A few more tugs with both hands brought the bloody blade out, spraying him slightly with blackish red gore. He wiped his face off with the back of his hand and shouldered his weapon. “Oh, and thanks to Discord, I’ve been a chick for those past two days as well. So everything is peachy right now."
 
Twilight nodded and allowed Coppa to help her to her hooves. When she had a firm footing, she took a tentative step forward and eventually was able to walk at a decent pace. Confident that she could keep up, she nodded to Coppa and the two of them took off down the street.
 
"So what happened before Ponyville was attacked?" Twilight asked as she kept close to Coppa. Despite the rush of adrenaline and appearing calm and collected, Twilight was terrified. Nearly being eaten was something that was going to haunt her for a long time.
 
"Dante went to investigate what put you under. He entered the forest yesterday night with this crazy notion that the piece of statue had caused it. Haven't seen him since he left, but I wish we had him here," he said hesitantly. She could see it in him too. He was as nervous as she was, perhaps even more. His eyes would flick back and forth, scanning not only the path in front of him, but the skyline and the rooftops as well. "By the way, your mom went with him. Nice lady, definitely like you."
 
"My mother's here?!" Twilight practically shouted as she skidded to a halt. At the same time, a shadow passed overhead and Twilight looked up as a furred monkey like creature with a pig nose and leathery bat wings shot towards them from the sky. "Coppa, look out!" she yelled as she dove to the ground. He didn't follow her example though and stood there.
 
Twilight was ready to shout again as the creature was nearly on them, but Coppa was surprisingly quick. He turned his torso slightly, and planted his feet firmly as he swung his axe. The creature, seeing the Dwarf's movements, attempted to stop, but fell prey to its own momentum and gravity. The axe followed the motion of Coppa's arm and passed through the air in a deadly arc. Flesh and muscle parted and the loud snap of bone filled the air as the axe cleaved the thing in half. Blood sprayed out in bursts from the two halves as they fell to the ground, coating the walls of a nearby house in large blasts of black.
 
Coppa pumped his fist in the air and wiped his nose with a thumb as he laughed. "He isn’t going to be up anytime soon!”
 
Twilight stood back, slightly disturbed by Coppa's glee after having killed a living creature. She then chided herself, realizing her pacifist attitude was preventing her from seeing the bigger picture. These monsters had attacked Ponyville; they had killed innocent ponies. They had spilled blood, and had Coppa not done anything about it, she would have been part of the body count. She was filled with disgust at the notion, but it was better that these things did die than for them to harm anypony else.
 
"What are these things?" she asked as she stepped around the carcass. Coppa prodded it with his foot before turning it over. Its vacant gaze and frozen snarl made it intimidating, even in death, but that was rendered moot as Coppa kicked it into a nearby fire.
 
"Looks like your typical demon. This one was most likely an imp," he said with a sigh while watching the corpse burn and smoke. "Nasty buggers. I don't know much other than what our textbooks say." The imp's legs followed its torso into the fire, filling the sky with the stench of burnt meat. "They're born from a soul corrupted by dark emotions. This one here was small, not powerful or old, but still dangerous. Over time, and if they get real lucky, they'll find someone stupid or insane enough to serve and feed off their emotions. Eventually, they'll just take the poor idiot's soul and grow bigger and stronger, like the thing that tried to make a snack outta you."
 
"What are they doing here then?"
 
Coppa shrugged. "Hell if I know. I don't exactly stop to ask what they want before I chop 'em in half. You can try asking them, but you won't be getting anything useful out of them."
 
"Where are the others then?" she asked as a hissing sound like a leaky balloon came from the carcass. “Please tell me you at least have a plan!”
 
“Not really…” Coppa admitted. Twilight stared at him incredulously while he rubbed the back of his head and grinned sheepishly.  “Dante’s always been the one with the plan. I’ve just been running on what Moe can come up with right now.”
 
“And what is that?”
 
“We’ve been trying to keep the way safe for all the others, so we’ve been distracting anything that isn’t a pony and drawing them to us. So far it’s been working out ok. All of the town got pretty organised quickly and they’ve been evacuating out to either AJ’s farm or the everfree. These demons and monsters seem pretty focused on the town and they’ve been ignoring anything on the outskirts. As long as we keep them occupied, Moe thinks that we can get everyone out safely,” he explained as he peered around the corner of one house. He remained there, peeking out and shooting back in for a few moments whenever something moved or made noise. Eventually, he signalled that the way was clear and they kept running. “But we’ve still got a few problems. Sam is still in the hospital, and Moe and I still need to get a few more ponies out of town. We’re stretching our limits without Dante here and we aren’t going to be able to hold out much longer. Not to mention you really need to tell AJ and them to back off and get out of town.”
 
“Wait, the others are still here?” Twilight asked, kicking up dirt and stones as she skidded to a halt. "Why haven't they left yet? Don't they know how dangerous it is right now?"
 
"You think we didn't mention that fact?” Coppa spat at her. “Your friends said that they weren’t going to leave while you were still here. We had Spike send a letter to Celestia before we made him go to Sweet Apple Acres, but it’s going to take them time to get here. Fluttershy ran into the hospital to get Sam, but the others are with Moe. If we don’t get back to them, then I can’t say how long Moe can defend them while trying to distract these things.”

“Then we need to get going!” Twilight said as she redoubled her pace and passed Coppa. The Dwarf nodded and immediately took on after her.
 
*****
 
Moe rolled to his feet, nocking an arrow, raising his bow, and firing it in one fluid motion. The projectile found its mark in the chest of a spider like creature which stumbled before falling flat in its face, never to rise again. No time to celebrate, he readied another arrow just as another demon with pincers for hands jumped down on him from the roof. It snapped its crab like claws at him, trying to cut him in half. He dodged the first strike and as he attempted to ready himself for the monster to follow up, the thing spat a giant glob of green goo from its tentacled mouth that encased his foot. It solidified, cementing his foot in place as the creature smacked the bow out of his hand.
 
Instincts kicking in, he grabbed for the knife at his belt and tore it from its sheath. He thrust it at the demon, hoping to get the blade between the chinks in its reddish exoskeleton. The blade hit the armour, but bounced off the chitin, leaving only a small scratch. He winced as his arm vibrated from the impact. The demon snarled at him, a fin extending on the top of its head, and smashed the blade out if his hand, breaking it into small shards.
 
Recoiling from the blow and with his foot stuck, Moe fell into the ground with the demon looming over him. It grasped him around his waist with its pincer and slowly began to crush his midsection. Moe gasped in pain as his ribs strained beneath the force of the pincer and he struggled wildly to escape. Howling laughter rang in his ears as a group of imps perched on the rooftops on the other side of the hospitals front. They jeered and shouted in their foul language and Moe felt something fracture as the pincer squeezed harder. Tears stung his eyes as his struggling began to weaken, much to the monsters satisfaction. It loosened its hold on him for a slight second, preparing to deliver the final blow, and--
 
A rainbow streak slammed into it, sending it careening off him and into a nearby cart. Moe quickly gasped for breath and reached for his bow. Grasping it, he managed to get to his knees and draw a pair of arrows. He drew the bowstring and quickly aimed at the wreckage of the cart. He watched as the crab demon rose from the broken wood, then let go of the string as it screamed at him.
 
That scream ended as the two arrows buried themselves in its eye sockets, piercing the brain. It sank to its knees with a gurgle and Moe listened as the imps exuded their disappointment in full force. He kept a ready hand on his bow in case one of them had the thought to try anything, but he turned slightly to the approaching ponies and the cyan pegasus that had landed.
 
"Thanks for the help," he said with a wheeze. His ribs felt like they were on fire and he wondered just how long he could keep things up. "Did you find anyone else?"
 
Rainbow Dash shook her head. "We got 'em all with the last flyby. There are more of these things coming though. He saw them moving in from the other side of town. They won't hit Sweet Apple Acres, but they'll be here real soon." She looked around while Rarity and the other girls hung back. "Where's Coppa and why aren't these things coming after us? They're just sitting there and it's kind of creepy."
 
Moe looked up to see the same imps that had spectated his last kill still perched on the roofs like crows. More had joined the ranks, simply sitting there, leering and watching the group like hawks. They made no movements, only observing those below them. Moe made a move to get up and investigate it, but stopped and clutched his side as pain shot through him.
 
"Darling, are you alright?" Rarity asked as she bounded to him. The girls followed her example, with Applejack, Rainbow Dash and Pinkie Pie standing guard. Rarity and Fluttershy fretted over his wounds, trying to keep him still while freeing his foot and thinking of what to do. Rarity even went so far as to nuzzle and physically support him while she offered some reassurance. "You mustn't push yourself too hard. We need to leave and get you help. You've done more than enough now."
 
"Yeah!" Rainbow Dash added with enthusiasm. "Let us handle these guys! We're gonna show them what happens when you mess with a Pony’s home! I'll fly circles around these guys!"
 
"Ah couldn't agree more, sugarcube," Applejack said with a stomp of her hoof. "This is our town. We've got a duty to deal with them varmints." Applejack turned her head to Moe and smiled at him. "No offense either, Moe. You ain't exactly in fightin' shape anymore."
 
"This isn't some brawl, girls," he snapped at her before the effort and pain made him think twice about raising his voice. "These things will try to kill you if you fight them. Unless you plan to actually get your hooves bloody and smash their skulls in, I have to hold this place. I can manage till Coppa gets back with Twilight."
 
"You won't have too," Coppa stated as Moe saw his friend and Twilight run to where they were. Moe let out a sigh of relief as Coppa stopped in front of him. Twilight was likewise occupied as her friends took turns hugging her and keeping watch. "God, Moe, I leave you alone for a bit and you end up looking like hammered shit. Can't you ever handle yourself?"
 
"You sure took your time," Moe shot back. "You missed the fun though. I got about fifteen of these things after you left. The only reason I stopped is because I need to conserve my arrows."
 
"Whatever helps you sleep at night," he replied before looking back at Twilight. "I got sleeping beauty like you asked. Had to help Twilight get rid of a nasty guest though."
 
"I'm sure it wasn't anything you couldn't handle." Moe gestured for Fluttershy who wasted no time in coming to his side. "Fluttershy, can you go get Sam? We're leaving this place before any more of those things show up. We won’t move from here while you’re in there, but you need to act quickly. Hopefully Dante is on his way too."
 
"Ok, I’ll go find him," she said with a nod of agreement. She took off, hurrying into the hospital without a second thought. Moe got to his feet with the help of Coppa and drew an arrow from his quiver. He scanned the rooftops once more, checking for the imps again.
 
"What are they doing?" he whispered to Coppa as they took defensive postures. Twilight and her friends formed up behind the two, arranging themselves in a semicircle so they could watch every angle. The air staled and Moe resisted the urge to gag as the smoke from the burning buildings built up in the windless night and threatened to choke him. "Why are they just waiting there?"
 
Coppa shrugged, his axe glinting as he adjusted his grip. "Who knows? There's no sign of anybody controlling them and there are too many for even a strong summoner. But this is getting really weird. These things don't strike me as the planning types, or even being slightly smart." His eyes narrowed as a few of the imps parted and flapped to new perches and vantage points. "It's almost as if they're waiting for someone to give them the order."
 
"The dog is still as observant as ever," a feminine voice mocked. Twilight and her friends watched as both Moe and Coppa went rigid.While they couldn’t understand whatever it was the voice had said, those two did. Coppa's ears splayed back and he growled audibly. His entire coat looked on edge and he looked ready to burst as his pupils shrank and his gaze hardened. They had never seen him like this and it was surprising, but what caught their attention was Moe.
 
He had fallen down into his knees and was looking at the ground in disbelief. His skin had turned extremely pale and he was quivering while sweating bullets. His hands clutched his head and he shook it violently. He whispered to himself, saying a whole manner of incomprehensible things which none of them could make out. This seemed only to aggravate Coppa, who yelled in frustration.
 
"Where are you, you bitch!" He cursed as he smashed his axe into the ground. "Come out so I can pay you back in full for what you did. I swear to god, if I get my hands on you, Mileena, then the last thing you'll ever see is my axe going for your neck!"
 
"As much as I love the sentiment, Coppa, you idiots always forget one thing.” A bright light appeared behind Coppa, and down from it dropped a tall, confident looking woman in scaled. She possessed blue hair, golden slitted eyes and a pair of miniature draconic wings. Before he could react, she grabbed his arm and drove her elbow into his back. "If you say you're going to kill someone, don't spout nonsense and let your guard down. Just kill them outright."
 
Coppa gasped in pain and dropped to the ground as if every muscle in his body had given out. The strange woman he had called Mileena brushed a lock of her midnight blue hair behind her ear before she turned to Moe. Twilight and her friends stood still as statues, shocked at the sudden collapse of the two. An elated grin formed on her face and the wings on both her back and her head flitted slightly. "Oh there you are, still as handsome as I remembered," she said contently.
 
"Nonononononono," Moe babbled incoherently as he backed away, tears of fear rolling down his face. "I don't want to go back to that! I don't want this! Someone get her away!"
 
"You have no idea how long I have been searching for you," she said as she approached him. "They drove us apart and I had thought I lost you forever. Now we've been reunited like two lost lovers, to be together from now until death." She grabbed him by the shirt and hoisted him up so that her face was level with his. Moe's struggling weakened as he stared into Mileena's golden eyes, only a whimpering coming from his throat.
 
"Oh, how I've missed you, my little pet," she said before she locked her lips with his. Moe's eyes widened and there was a telltale gasp in something close to the effect of surprise and realization that came from Rarity.
 
The noise caught Mileena's attention and she looked over to the ponies. Rarity had broken away from the group and was marching towards the two of them, her face a mask of determination. She stopped just in front of Mileena, who still held the shaking elf in her arms, and cleared her throat. "Ma'am, may I ask if your name really is Mileena?"
 
The draconic woman looked at the pony with confusion before turning to Moe. "What is she saying? I know you can understand these things. Tell me what she said."
 
"She wants to know your name..." Moe replied with little enthusiasm. He turned to Rarity and shook his head. "Rarity, please... Just run..."
 
A hard shot to the stomach from Mileena winded Moe and caused Rarity to cringe. Mileena scowled at him disapprovingly and looked back toward Rarity. A small smile then played in her lips, curving them slightly. "Yes, I am Mileena, and he is my property. Now please leave us alone, there is a lot of catching up I have to do with my pet."
 
Rarity shook her head slightly and ignited her magic. A teal glow surrounded Mileena's ears and Rarity coughed into her hoof politely. "Can you understand me now, Mileena? I do hope this translation spell I use on foreign customers works on you," she asked before the satisfaction of Mileena's surprised face could set in. "Good, it seems you can. My name is Rarity, and yes, I know who you are and of your relationship to Moe. However, I have been tasked to look after the poor dear and in the short time we have known each other, I have come to care for him greatly." She tossed her mane slightly and rather haughtily before continuing on. "As such, he has divulged a great amount of detail concerning your relationship with him. I know about you, I know about the scar you gave him, and I can see how truly terrified he his. With such facts known, I cannot, as a lady of principle and his host, allow you to take him again."
 
Mileena snorted before she narrowed her eyes. "You can try to stop me, pony, but fancy words aren't going to keep me from reclaiming what’s mine!”
 
"Well that is disappointing then. How about I put it plain and simple." Rarity cleared her throat before her horn glowed and a teal aura surrounded Mileena. "Back off bitch, he's mine!" Rarity said as she ripped Mileena away from Moe and tossed her away like a rag doll. Mileena tumbled through the air and crashed into the second story of a nearby home. She fell to her hands and feet, but rose to her full height, unfazed by Rarity's magical sucker punch. She opened her mouth to say something, but the words never came out as a pony sized concrete block surrounded in Rarity's magic, smashed into her, and sent her through both sides of the house, leaving only a giant hole.
 
"Well, that was rather fulfilling," Rarity said nonchalantly as she blew her breath upwards to dispel the smoke rising from her horn. She dusted Moe off and gently enveloped him in her magic as he hyperventilated. "It's alright darling, she's gone for now. I've dealt with her and you are safe."
 
"You think you can take him away from me!" Mileena roared as she burst out of the house, sword and shield in hand. Her eyes were ablaze with fury and they could all see flames flicker from between her pointed teeth. "I don't care what Dagon wants anymore. Shishiro, kill the Felpier while I destroy these things. Nothing is to be left standing, do you understand!" She looked back to Rarity. "I’m going to smash you to pieces!"
 
*****
 
Fluttershy panted as she flew up the steps to the second floor of the hospital’s east wing, her wings flapping vigorously before she landed in the main hallway. She gulped audibly as she looked down the hallway as the lights flickered on and off, starving for electricity and alternating between illuminating the hallway and casting it into darkness. She gave a frightened whine, every fibre of her mind telling her to just turn back and avoid the scary looking hallway. A part of her told her to stay though, to push past her fear and to continue on. She was not going to leave her friend in the hospital while those strange creatures were out there. Swallowing her fear, she forced herself onwards, intent on finding Sam.
 
Her heart hammered as she quickly navigated the hallway, stepping around the bits of broken glass and abandoned equipment. The rooms were all empty as the staff of the hospital had prepared and moved all of them and the equipment needed for their care while they all stayed at  Sweet Apple Acres. Sam was the only one they were forced to leave behind, unconscious after they had prepared him for one last treatment to his ribs and spine. According to the doctors, he was due to wake up soon. She only hoped that she could reach him in time so he wouldn’t be too confused by the situation.
 
A loud crash came from down the hallway, surprising Fluttershy, causing her to yelp and hide behind a large piece of equipment. She looked over it to see a young man with brown hair searching through the rooms. He was dressed in a dark black cloak that covered his body, but didn't obscure the two glinting blades in his gloved hands. She held a hoof to her mouth and did her best to try and stifle her whimper of fright as the person stopped in front of Sam's room and smiled.
 
"I've finally found you," she heard him say as she followed him and hid just outside the door. When she looked in after he had entered, she caught him standing over the bed, staring at Sam. The lump under the blankets was proof enough that he was still asleep. He had tucked his head and the rest of his body underneath the blankets so that there was nothing but an outline. This seemed to please the stranger, as he then sheathed one of his blades. "You sleep well for a murderer..." he whispered as he took his other sword and held it over Sam's form.
 
"Sleep forever, and may you burn in hell!" he added before plunging the blade into the bed. The steel parted the thin blankets and the hospital mattress, going all the way through to the floor. Feathers flew as he pulled the sword out and plunged it back in, savagely stabbing the bed. When he finally stopped, his eyes widened at the sight before him. Fluttershy, who had wanted to but was unable to scream, noticed it as well.
 
There was not an ounce of blood on the bed. Not a single speck.
 
It was quite literally impossible for Fluttershy to understand. There should have been blood, a lot of it, if Sam had been stabbed with the blade. She had seen—not that she really wanted to — him bleed before, both when he was in the hospital, and when he was cut or hurt in any way. If he wasn't bleeding then that meant—
 
"Where are you?" the young man shouted as he ripped the sheet off the bed, exposing a pile of destroyed pillows. "Come out and face me, coward! Fight me like a real warrior!"
 
"I find your words ironic, considering you were intent on killing your foe while you assumed he slept. Then again, an irrational mind is prone to making mistakes and irrational decisions." Sam's voice echoed throughout the room, masking his location. "I was able to hear your steps as you stormed through the building. Either you are overconfident in your poorly developed skills, or you are both reckless and an idiot."
 
"We'll see if you're saying that when my blades are in your guts," he snarled back, drawing his other sword. "I thought those of the ruling clan were supposed to fight honourably? Aren't you bringing shame to your name if you don't face me?"
 
Fluttershy heard a hiss of annoyance come from the corner of the room. She looked over to see Sam standing still, his body obscured in the darkness. "Trying to bait me with my own honour is pointless, and if we are talking about honour, you are the greater offender. Attempting to murder your opponent while they slept. Demanding they fight you while unarmed. Insulting them to incite anger so that they might make a rash decision. Not only are you without a shred of honour or dignity, I refuse to believe you are anything more than a child living a deluded fantasy."
 
The retort only incited the stranger’s fury and he flipped the bed in anger. “A deluded fantasy? No, I remember it well, a dark night in a poor town whose name nobody remembers. A father and his two young sons, immigrants in a new land who wished to change their lives.” His head lowered and Fluttershy could see hot and angry tears forming in his eyes. “The change they wanted was crushed when the prodigal son destroyed it. I was left for dead when that prodigy cut me down alongside my family, killing my father and crippling my brother without as much as a shred of emotion on his face. Tell me, do you remember that as well? Do you remember my face? Do you remember the name Shishiro?”
 
The tension in the room was broken as a glass fell and shattered on the floor. Fluttershy stood frozen in the doorway and tried to slink back into the hallway, but bumped into more equipment. Sam’s eyes widened and he jumped in front of her. Despite not having a weapon, Fluttershy saw frost forming on his hand.
 
“Sam, don’t…” she whispered quietly, tugging on his pant leg. “You’re going to hurt yourself.”
 
“Fluttershy, I need you to run. He’s dangerous and I won’t be able to protect you without a weapon.”
 
“But—”
 
“Go. Now.” he said before he activated his slash run. His body rushed forward, taking Shishiro by surprise and bowling him forward and crashing them into the wall. Both of Shishiro’s swords clattered to the ground as Sam brought him down. He delivered a straight punch to his face before Shishiro threw him off. Sam grabbed the shorter of the two swords and rolled to his feet. A sharp ring of steel hitting steel rang out as the two locked swords.
 
“And who is that?” Shirshiro sneered, breathing hard enough to fog the blade of his sword. “Don’t tell me you have some kind of connection to that creature. Does she know about you too? Does she know that she associates with a bloodthirsty murderer?”
 
“Leave her out of this, she is not a part of our fight,” Sam snapped back, ears flat and tail bristling. The two of them broke away from each other and Sam slashed at Shishiro. Their blades sparked as they connected and grinded before the two pulled them away. “This fight is our own. If you so much as touch her, I will make you suffer for it.”
 
“Actually, the opposite applies here. She is as much a part of this now as you or I. If she is with you, then I plan on reaping that weakness,” he replied, grinning savagely at Fluttershy. “I’ll rip her away from you just as you did to my family. I will make sure you know that everything I do is because of what you have done.”
 
Sam only roared out in anger and locked blades with Shirshiro again. He hesitated slightly and felt Shirshiro push back with greater force. He gritted his teeth and, sparing a glance at Fluttershy before planting his feet and pushing forward, forced Shishiro back. He let out another grunt and both moved forward toward the large pane glass window of the room. With a great crash, they broke through the glass of the second story and Sam felt gravity take him.
 
Fluttershy watched as both hit the ground and cried out as she saw Sam land on a sword awkwardly, causing it to bite into his forearm and stay. Blood poured out over the blade, leaking out onto the ground as he yelled out in pain. She saw Shishiro get up and grab his own blade, intent on finishing off Sam. Her instincts kicking in she took off, heading straight for him. She leveled her front hooves and felt a shock as they smashed into his side. Shishiro’s body gave way to the force and he was thrown back away from Sam.
 
“Don’t move,” she commanded as she took a spot next to Sam. She let him pull the blade out of his arm, not paying any mind to it as she went to work. She tore away a strip of cloth from the hospital clothes he was wearing and began to tie it around his wound. The blue of the cloth quickly turned red before it did its job in stopping the bleeding and covering the wound.
 
When she looked up, she saw that Coppa and Moe were in no better shape than Sam and that her friends were facing off against a blue haired girl with a dragon's wings and tail. She was fighting against Rarity and Twilight who were stalling her by shooting bolts of magic and flinging pieces of stone at her. The others were harassing the monsters perched on the roofs; Pinkie pie even managing to catch one with a confetti and pie shot from her party cannon.
 
“I’ll destroy you all!” she heard Mileena yell as Shishiro moved beside her. Both glared at the group andmthe demons on the roofs  began to take flight. They hovered over them with hands encased in magical fire. "I want them dead. Spare the elf, kill the rest."
 
"Stand down, Mileena. They are not yours to command," a powerful voice boomed. Every head turned to see a new figure cloaked in black walk down the street. On either side of him was a muscled pair of bipedal winged demons armed with cruel looking blades and larger than even the monster that attacked Twilight. He drew his hood back to reveal purple hair that reached his shoulders and framed a youthful face. "Their loyalty is to me, and for the next few moments I will need them alive."
 
"It looks like we know who's still in charge now," Coppa said, standing on shaky legs. "Looks like they replaced the old Dagon guy we fought before."
 
"Oh no, I am very much still in charge," Dagon said. "As for my appearance, the gift your friend has hidden away saw to that." He scanned the ponies and the three students, frowning. "Where is Dante? He still has something which I need."
 
Twilight stepped forward. "He isn't here."
 
Dagon sighed and rubbed the bridge of his nose. "Well that is a disappointment. I was hoping that he would be here. It would have been exceptionally easier to get what I needed." He gestured to the imps and to his pair of allies. "Do what Mileena says: kill the creatures, spare the elf and give the head of the Felpier to Shishiro."
 
"Well this is going to suck hard. Sorry about your future plans Moe," Coppa said as he grabbed his axe. Before he could react, his body began to glow. When that glow faded, he looked around confused, feeling his chest before his eyes brightened and he stuffed his hand down his pants. He began laughing and retracted his hand. "Ok, it's gonna suck a little less now for me. At least I have my personal stuff back."
 
Mileena chuckled while everyone around Coppa just shook their heads. "An idiot even in the face of death. I will enjoy this."
 
The demons all took flight and filled the air with screeching before they descended. The group readied themselves, preparing for their final stand. The three students were prepared for this, but their concern was for the ponies behind them. Each of them only wished that they could have said a few last words to the ones they had stayed with.
 
Multiple streaks of lightning shot out amongst the ranks of imps and demons. Electricity danced between their bodies, stiffening limbs and frying brains. Each shouted before they exploded, popping like balloons. Limbs and flesh rained down on the surprised onlookers and Twilight spotted a pair of ponies entering the courtyard.
 
"Mom! Dante!" she yelled as she hugged her mother, receiving a hug in return She then did the same with Dante only for him to brush it off. While it was a sweet gesture and he appreciated it, Dante only stared at Dagon with anger. He stepped forward, horns crackling with energy.
 
"Tonight's just been full of dramatic entrances hasn't it?" Coppa joked as he smirked. "Way to make an entrance though Dante! Best one yet!"
 
"Glad to see you, Dante," Dagon greeted, turning to him. He smirked as he looked over Dante's pony form. "Attempting to blend in with the natives?" 

"Don't even start, Dagon," Dante demanded. "Why are you here and why have you done this?"
 
"Well firstly, I came to thank you for your gift." He unbuttoned his shirt to expose his chest. A black mark like that of a spider web had discoloured the pale skin of the right side of his chest. Dante grimaced and placed a hoof to his own chest. He had largely pushed the memory of his own black mark to the back of his mind. He hadn't been able to discern what it was, but it hadn't affected him in any way, so he had decided to focus on what was more important. Now he understood and it appeared Dagon knew as well. "Secondly, I came to take the rest of what you won't accept."
 
"You have no idea what you are dealing with. You couldn't control it if you tried."
 
"On the contrary," Dagon said mockingly. Black tendrils appeared around him, sprouting from his back and shoulders. Dante stared, wide-eyed at the sight in front of him. "I am in complete control."

This mortal has talent… the haunting voice said in the back of Dante’s mind. Interesting...
 
"How... How are you doing this?" Dante demanded, ignoring the voice. “Why is it obeying you?
 
"Because I embrace it. I am one with the darkness, Dante. Something which you have failed to become."
 
A tendril snapped out, cracking like a whip. Velvet pulled Twilight down, ducking beneath it by a hair's breadth. It struck Dante who was too shocked to move, opening a gash on his cheek. Dante recoiled and jumped back, horns wreathed in a fire spell that launched towards Dagon. The flames burnt hot, but the tendrils formed a wall between their wielder and the spell. Dagon chuckled at the attempt until he saw the blood from Dante's wound leak onto the ground.
 
"I don't believe it," he said as everyone looked at the droplets of black. A few murmurs came from both sides and Twilight gulped as she saw Dante's eyes darken momentarily. Dagon, however, bore an excited face. "One with the blood of the first generations, and in a body so young! It is almost inconceivable; they were supposed to have died out a millenia ago. Yet it makes so much sense." He stroked one of the tendrils with a gauntleted hand while watching Dante. "You never took this power or committed yourself to a contract for it. It has always been there; mixed in your blood from the start."

“What are you talking about?” Dante spat, wiping his cheek with his hoof. He took a step forward, but his breathing suddenly became erratic and everyone watched as a glow surrounded his body. His forelegs slowly morphed into hands as his body became human again. When the glow faded away, Dante stood as his normal Diablon self again.

"You have the legacy of our ancestors running through your veins, child. You embody that which was thought to be a myth and you have the power to show for it hiding within you.” Dagon explained with malevolent enthusiasm. You are unlike any other of our kind, embodying the origins of our race and the height of our power. You are not merely a Diablon, Dante.”

“Then what am I?”

Dagon smirked and pointed at the black spatters on the ground. His tendrils shot out and wrapped themselves around Dante's arms and legs before pulling him to Dagon.

“You are pureblooded."
> Unchained
> --------------------------------------------------------------------------

        The shutters of the royal bedroom of the Changeling's hive rattled as a large gust of wind passed the earthy walls of the large spire. A stray wind managed to get passed the black wooden shutters, prying through a crack between two blinds, and stirring the humid, pheromone filled air within the room. It passed by a single pair of insect like wings, agitating the membrane and causing them to flit slightly as the form they were connected to groaned in annoyance. 

As his eyes began opening slightly, revealing the dark blue irises beneath them, the figure frowned as sleep crept away from him. The white and green antennae that served as his ears twitched, catching the steady thrum of the worker castes still flying about in the core of the hive. That soft hum of thousands of individual wingbeats that reverberated even to the top where he stood now. The sound of progress made within the revitalized kingdom -thanks to his own efforts- made him smile and he groggily pulled off the covers and made his way to the window, guided by a glowing moss whose name he could not remember.

He opened the shutters, allowing the cool winds that swept the desert to enter the room and circulate the stale air. He enjoyed the feeling of it as it ruffled his shaggy green bed head and washed over his bare skin. The coat of sweat from the night of passion he had shared with the shifting form in the bed cooled, and he shivered in delight at the feeling. He heard the covers shift and a long soft yawn follow before the changeling queen left her soft bed.

"And what has you up at this hour, Izzy?" Chrysalis asked tiredly. Izzy smiled and ran a hand through the dark cerulean mane. Pulling a lock of hair to his face, he inhaled through his nose and took in the sweet scent. Chrysalis tittered slighty before she pushed him away playfully. "It better be worth waking a tired changeling queen who you crippled with a limp."

"Just getting a breath of fresh air, my queen. Thinking of the past and what's in store for the future," he said quietly as he ran a finger along her chin. Chrysalis chuckled and playfully nipped at his fingers. Izzy smiled and lifted Chrysalis' chin, enjoying the feeling of her black chitin on his finger. He leaned forward and kissed her gently on the lips for a moment, bringing a content sigh from the changeling. "As much as I love the smell of our efforts, I can only enjoy it for so long. Besides, why revel in the scent when I can see how stunning you look while you sleep?"

"Your affection is sweet, but give me too much and you will find yourself a consort to a rounder queen," she joked, purring as she nuzzled his cheek. "Then again, knowing your appetite, I doubt that would hinder you. She rubbed her stomach and grinned. "I can't remember the last time I felt so full. You really are the miracle worker you claim to be."

"There are few mares who can keep up with me. Even fewer can satisfy me," he replied as he ran a finger along her spine and breathed into her ear. Chrysalis shivered in anticipation, licking her lips as his wonderful hands caressed her. "I could probably go another round if you aren't sated to your heart’s content. The morning is still so far away."

Chrysalis broke away from him and hovered to her bed. She smiled, inviting him back to the warm sheets. There were none that she trusted enough to open herself as she was doing tonight. Only Izzy had been able to secure that right. "My desires are fulfilled for tonight, Izzy. Right now, I only wish to fall asleep in the arms of the so called 'fairy' who has resurrected my lands, who has wormed his way into my life and worked his way under my covers.” She nipped at one of his ears playfully and he grinned ecstatically as she began to kiss his skin tenderly. “But perhaps you could indulge one of my requests for my next meal?”

“And what would that be?”

“Last night you were unhinged. You were like some desperate, howling timberwolf. You frightened me...“ Her her voice quavered and she looked at him nervously. The smile he had faded and he went forward, an apology on his lips until Chrysalis put her hoof up, commanding him to stay where he was. That nervous appearance melted away as the corners of her lips tilted up, bringing her mouth into a smile. “...Do it again.“

“As you wish, Cara Mia.“ Izzy bowed extravagantly and received a quiet snort from Chrysalis. He took flight, his whitish wings with their green fringes humming as they lifted him from the ground. Chrysalis' own wing twitched slightly as she watched the bare form of her lover float closer to her. She drank in his features and allowed him to close the gap as they joined lips again. She felt the same intoxicating cocktail of lust, attraction and love fill her as he held her head with his hand. She almost lamented when he broke away from her, but her own need to breath and the look on his face silenced her mind's protest.

"What’s the matter? You look a little pale.." she said, her hoof cupping his cheek. Izzy breathed hard, a mix of fear and trepidation in each breath drawn and released. Sweat had begun to collect at his brow and he held her other hoof to his heart. She could feel his heart beat quickly, thrumming like a stampede of younglings heading for the nursing pools. For as long as she could recall during his stay, she had never seen him like this and it concerned her greatly. "What is causing this?"

"I am unsure," he replied. "It felt as though a great darkness was making it's way to this land, infecting it with fear, hatred and sorrow. It seeks only destruction and something is trying to free it."

"Izzy, perhaps you were just imagining this," she lied, masking her own concern. She had begun to feel the emotions boiling in the air, fouling it with their stench, turning her stomach with their presence. She placed her forehead to his own, taking care with her jagged horn, and allowed a small trickle of calm emotion to flow into him. He sighed in relief and gingerly tapped her nose. She kissed his forehead before her body took it's place in her bed. "Come back to bed, we have much to do tomorrow. I need my consort to be rested if the kingdom is to grow."

"Of course, my queen," he replied, falling next to her. He took her in his arms and she snuggled in close to him. Minutes passed by and he listened as sleep took Chrysalis slowly, His own racing mind kept him awake, making him stare out the open window and at the full moon in the sky. A weak smile formed on his face and he closed his eyes. "I hope you two are safe," he whispered to the glowing orb. "We have much to catch up on since we last saw each other all those years ago; so many tales to share with one another, just like we used to. Equestria has changed so much since I was last here and I bet you have as well." He looked at his back as his wings furled up so that he wouldn’t crush them as he slept. “Then again, I could say the same for myself.”

*****

"What the hell is he talking about?" Coppa shouted as he shoved an imp away. His axe swung out and the flat of the weapon smashed the demon into the ground, shattering every bone to dust. "What's a 'pureblood'?"

"How should we know?" Rainbow Dash retorted as she rammed into another monster. The fat creature with a dog's head barked out in surprise, its wings snapping out in an attempt to gain air as it fell to the ground. The effort came too late and it smacked into the stones below in a messy heap. It twitched slightly before Sam planted his sword into it.

"Focus on what's in front of you. There will be time for questions and answers afterwards," he pulled the katana out with his unharmed left arm and turned to Coppa. "Figure out how to get Moe back on his feet. I don't care what it takes. Hit him, yell at him, do whatever, but we need his bow before we can help Dante out."

"Got it," Coppa shouted before Sam caught the glint of a blade in the corner of his eye. Sam flipped backwards and saw Shishiro's glare as he landed on his feet. His irritation was evident and Sam had enough confidence that even with his weaker hand, he could still overcome his opponent. The boy was telegraphing almost every attack he made, making the same mistakes over and over again.

"This has been drawn out too long, Shishiro," he muttered as he loosened his grip on his weapon. "It is still far too early for you to even imagine defeating me, and I won't hesitate to finish you off either. You threatened Fluttershy and me and for that, I will show you no mercy." He hesitated slightly, glancing back at the yellow pegasus as she tended to Moe. A renewed sense of drive pushed him on, but upon looking at the kind hearted mare he had shared many precious moments with, he decided to try something else. "But this does not have to end in bloodshed. Is your desire for vengeance really worth devoting everything to? Do you think your loved ones would want this? To see their blood lose himself to such a rabid emotion?"

Shishiro all but laughed at his attempt to defuse the situation. "You might have a few skills with the sword, Sam, but you lack in persuasion. My family is practically dead; there isn't anyone to judge me now. So I'd suggest you prepare yourself before I end you and your little horse!” 

Sam sighed in exasperation and levelled his sword. "Then you leave me no choice." His body vanished, kicking up dirt and dust. His friends watched as the blue of his body passed Shishiro and halted just behind him, his eyes hardened and his face frighteningly lacking in emotion. "I'll be the one to finish this war before it begins."

Shock and awe controlled Shishiro's face as he watched a torrent of blood spray out from the cut across his chest. He dropped to a knee as he shouted in pain. Every head turned and the fighting ceased as the saw him clutch his chest and writhe violently. Twice he attempted to stand up, only to fall down as the pain proved too much. Despite that, he still managed to use what little strength he had to grab his weapon and use it to keep himself up. His face contorted with fear as Sam stood in front of him with his sword in hand, eyes cold and blood dripping from the tip of the blade and his own fingertips. 

Sam regarded him coldly, his mind and body ready for what he was to do next. For a moment he caught Fluttershy, and the other ponies who weren't busy defending themselves watching him. He hesitated as each of their faces were filled with the same expression of fright as his arm reared back to deliver the final strike. Their faces, mixed with the budding realization of what he had done and what he was going to do, filled him with shame. At the same time, his old way of thinking willed him to continue on, to kill and be done with the wounded threat in front of him. It made sense to him and it would put an end to things before they caused any more damage. That train of thought was quashed by the same feeling he had when he first attempted to reason with Shishiro. Perhaps it was time to show mercy and kindness rather than simply swinging his weapon.

That momentary lapse in resolve was all that was needed for a black tendril to strike out at Sam and another to wrap around Shishiro. “This is far from over,” Shishiro growled as Sam dodged the first tendril. It then pulled him away and placed him just behind Dagon, leaving Sam alone in the middle of the courtyard. Without anyway to get at Shishiro, Sam resigned himself from the battle and ran back towards the group surrounding Moe. Despite his wound being located on the nerve damaged arm, he still hissed in pain as it began to throb and burn. It seemed his racially heightened adrenaline could only dull the severity of the wound for so long. He only hoped that the others would be able to snap Moe out of his daze soon.

*****

Coppa had taken Sam’s advice literally and was doing everything short of murdering the almost vegetative Moe. When that didn't work, Fluttershy and Pinkie Pie did their best to try and coax him out of it. Their efforts fell flat and Moe remained unresponsive to any outside influence. 

"For god's sakes, Moe, get yourself together!" Coppa yelled and resumed shaking him. "I know Mileena put you through hell, I get it. That doesn't mean you can just curl up and wait for her to screw you again. Now just get up and help us out."

"I can't, go against her wishes... mistress will punish her property if it misbehaves..." Moe muttered pitifully. "I don't want to be punished. I don't want her to hurt me or play with my mind again."

"This is getting nowhere," Coppa groaned and rubbed his nose. He glanced around, trying to find anything to use on Moe. He spotted Applejack who motioned for him to take the guard position where he had been. Coppa nodded back and picked up his axe before he stood on guard ahead of them. 

"He won't respond to anything," Fluttershy murmured in concern. "I've never seen anything like this at all. Scrapes and cuts are things I can help with, but I'm not sure what to do." Her eyes began well up with tears until Pinkie Pie rushed over and hugged her.

"It's okay, Fluttershy," she said while stroking the pegasus' mane. "It's not your fault. You did everything you could so far, and that's super enough. "

Applejack’s own hoof patted Fluttershy reassuringly. "Ah think Moe’s hurt more in the head. Whatever that girl did in the past is what caused this. Ah’m thinkin seeing her again only made it worse. It’s gonna take somethin’ else to jolt him back ta fightin’ shape. Ah think Ah can do that, but one of ya needs ta grab his bow."

"Okie dokie lokie," Pinkie said before zipping off. Applejack ignored the clamour of the fight as she grabbed and dragged Moe to a nearby wall by his shirt. 

"Moe, yer gonna listin ta me, consarnit: we need you right now. Ah know that you have a history with Mileena girl, but you need to get those thoughts out of yer head. Without you, there's ain't much chance for us to get out of this alive," Applejack said forcefully as she pressed Moe against the wall. "I know that you're scared for some reason or another, heck, I am too, but standing by is just giving yerself to her. Yer only gonna find yourself back in the position you were trying to escape."

"What's the point..." Moe stated. "I was sucked into another world and she still found me. I can't escape her and there's no way I can fight back." Moe's shaking hands were almost vibrating as he hyperventilated. “Even if I fight now and we get away, she’ll just keep coming after me and I’ll always know that she’s just a step behind. Why delay the inevitable?”

“What about Rares? Are ya are just going to give up on her and us when yer needed?

“What…” 

“Look at her," she said. Moe looked behind the farm pony to see Rarity still giving her all against Mileena. She was rapidly pressing Mileena back, but the rocks she was using as her weapons were slowly breaking apart, piece by piece. He hadn't seen her fighting at first, but he saw Applejack's point. "She's putting her life on the line for ya, Moe. Rarity cares enough for you that she's defendib' ya so that you ain’t gonna have ta run again. But she can't do it by herself. She needs you just like you need her. Without yer help, she can’t win."

"S-she's fighting her... for me..."

Applejack nodded and felt something brush against his hand. Pinkie Pie stood at his side, Moe's bow in her mouth. She dropped it into his hand and he gave it to Moe. "Ya know what you gotta do. Don’t waste any time."

"I know," he replied as he took an arrow out of his quiver and drew it back. "I just hope I don't regret this afterwards. I really don't want to go back to living like a slave."

Whether Applejack replied or not, Moe couldn't say. There was simply too much noise for him to concentrate, so he had shut it all out. After that, he felt the increase in his other senses while time slowed to a snails pace. His vision sharpened and he saw Rarity's rocks crumble to dust after a savage hit from the back end of Mileena's weapon. His sense of taste caught the salty flavour of sweat in the air. He could even feel the individual lengths of the fibres that made up his bowstring as he drew them and let them loose in a fluid motion. Then he smelt an iron like scent as the arrow punctured through Mileena's shoulder.

"No going back now..." he whispered to himself as he shakily pulled another arrow out and aimed it at Mileena. "Then again, a little revenge does feel rather nice."

*****

If there was such a word to describe the sheer volume that Mileena's cry reached, it was probably ear shattering. Dante kept his relief in check at the reappearance of Moe. It was too early to grow confident while he remained trapped. That didn't mean he couldn't use the reversal in his favor.

"It looks like your allies are being pushed back, Dagon," he said as Mileena ripped the arrow out of her shoulder. Dark red flowed from the wound as she tossed it aside and to the ground. A deep, animalistic snarl told them that the shock of Moe’s attack, and the fact that Moe had been the one to attack her, had driven Mileena into a frenzy. He heard Dagon sigh and he caught a black tendril snake out and wrap around Mileena’s midsection. She struggled, kicking and screaming as he pulled her back violently. 

“They still have their uses for now,” he replied as the tendrils around his two followers emitted a faint aura and the two fell into a comatose like state. When the two were complacent, the same effect took hold in the shadowy limb binding him. "Now to deal with your power," Dagon said, turning back to Dante. The strange sensation proved effective and he felt its effects. His muscles slackened, the energy and strength ebbing away and leaving his limbs limp. His eyelids grew heavy, slowly attempting to close regardless of his struggling. He was falling deeper into Dagon's clutches, like a fly caught in a trap, and Dagon would have what he wanted.

I can't let him... he thought and redoubled his efforts. There was a momentary lapse in the magic, and Dante readied himself as he subtly pushed against it with his own magic. The struggle was only momentary and Dante made every effort not to be conspicuous as he worked against it. It was like unravelling a piece of cloth, picking it apart thread by thread. It wasn’t a complex process as many would have believed, but it was difficult not to simply alert Dagon as he did it.  Slowly, the effect of the spell lessened until Dante had full control again. He charged his own spell, one that he had promised not to use ever again, and the only one that would would work well without the help of his staff.

A strange tingle encompassed his hand as he regretfully turned his emotions. Rage, hatred, guilt, despair, betrayal, and every dark thought and emotion he could draw upon swirled in his head. His eyes darkened, the whites turning black while his irises went from their bright red to a sullen crimson. When he no longer had any feeling in his hand, he released his hold on the magic.

A purple blast rent the tendrils apart, turning each piece to dust as they hit the ground. A dark, violet aura surrounded Dante's hand, growing around his arm as a luminescent symbol comprised of strange symbols and letters and long lines ending in tapered points. It reached from the palm of his hand, stretching the length of his arm where it ended abruptly. 

"Well that was new," Coppa said as Dante landed and skidded to a stop. He clenched his fist, feebly attempting to hide the glowing magic circle on his palm.  He caught the others staring at the glowing image before it finally faded and disappeared from his skin. Out of each of them, only Twilight was the one he noticed with an expression of fear rather than that of awe. It was almost as if she understood the same implications of this particular spell as he did.

While Dagon appeared stunned by the display, his eager smile returned shortly after. "So even though you refuse to accept the power, you still draw on your pure blooded abilities. That's rather hypocritical of you, Dante," he said as the tendrils reformed and slithered on the ground around him. “This power does have a mind of its own, my boy. You can’t keep it cooped up inside your body or you’ll simply make it restless.” His grin then grew into a malicious smile as he crossed his arms. “Why else do you think it escaped and made you destroy St. Mara?”

Seeing the shock ripple throughout the group and Dante’s anger, he continued on. “A town of nearly six thousand, reduced to nothing but rubble and ash; lives extinguished like candlelights; a great disturbance in the flow of the world where those thousands of voices cried out in terror and were silenced in droves.” He shrugged and pushed away one of the tendrils as it hovered next to his face. “But that is not surprising for a pureblood. After all, there were tales of them decimating armies twice that size in only a heartbeat, a town and some students are nothing compared to-”

A black beam shot out from Dante’s hand, startling both Dagon and causing the tendrils to screech. His friends backed away and Twilight watched with concern as the blackness that coloured his eyes slowly grew, threatening to consume his blood red irises. Liquid black beaded at the corners of his eyes, a mockery of tears as he held his hand towards Dagon.

“Shut up,” he growled as another black lance of magic shot out. It passed by Dagon, a hairs breadth from the side of his head, and punched a hole the size of a manticore through the house behind him. Rarity gasped, Fluttershy let out a mewl of fear, and the rest stood in shock at the destructive display. "I have no idea what a 'pureblood' is or why you think this is a gift. This power is nothing but a curse that I'll break eventually. But I'd rather be the one to contain it than let you wield it."

"You mean you really have no idea?" Dagon questioned with amusement. "I would have thought you would have some knowledge of our race's history or why others despise us. Now I see that you are simply uneducated in the true miracle you represent. It seems I shall have to enlighten you then."

The tendrils surrounding him fanned out and collected around the limp forms of Shishiro and Mileena. They appeared to inspect the two before they stabbed into their respective wounds. The two of them both opened their mouths in silent screams, but neither moved an inch. Slowly their wounds closed and Dagon let out a small sigh.

"I learned of these beings while searching ancient ruins near one of the Great Lakes, uncovering old scrolls and accounts," he began. "The purebloods were the first generation of our kind, bred from a union of pure demons and humans to fight against the hordes of the underworld and the old gods. They were unmatched in magical ability and able to utilize the demonic influence that coursed in their blackened veins. They made gains where others couldn't, and it is because of them that the world is no longer a place ruled by the underworld, but a balanced area between them."

"So why am I so special?" Dante snapped. "What makes me different than any other 'purebloods' out there?"

"You're unique because the pureblood legacy was thought to be gone. Their lineage was either destroyed or was diluted as more unions were made between their ranks. The human blood clouded each successive generation, robbing them of their powers. Eventually, their descendants became what we are now: mere shadows compared to our predecessors." Dagon raised his hand, commanding the black limbs to raise Mileena and Shishiro to their feet with their wounds fully healed. "Now comes the time to take that power and elevate myself to their level."

"We're outmatched here, Dante. The odds in this fight are not in our favor anymore," Sam said, placing a hand on Dante's shoulder. He flinched as Dante glared at him with his strange eyes. They softened slightly and he nodded. They both turned to run and just before Dante could even step forward, a large glyph appeared beneath the two of them.

"Run if you must, you won't get far," Dagon said as he snapped his finger. "It is time for your judgement."

Dante's eyes shot open and his mouth formed a silent 'no' just as he felt a indescribably painful burning sensation begin in his chest, bringing him to his knees. Then a scream of immense and extraordinary pain ripped from his throat as every nerve in his body was set alight.

*****

Dante's cries of pain were almost too much to bear for Twilight. He dropped to his knees, hands covering his eyes, as his breathing turned into gasps. She heard Coppa and Moe clamouring as they turned back and ran to Dante. Confusion was all over their faces as they tried to reach him, only to be pushed back by a wall of light. 

"What's happening?" Coppa shouted. He glared at Dagon and hefted his axe as if he were going to throw it. "What did you do to him?"

"Don't act cute," Dagon said mockingly. "I can't very well take the rest of his power without first rousing it."

"Coppa, Moe, Sam! You need to get out of there," Twilight shouted, turning all heads to her and her approach. "You can't do anything right now, we need to leave before he loses control!"

"Like hell we will!" Coppa yelled, raising his axe high above his head and bringing it down on the glyph. The blade of the axe struck the light wall and a peculiar grinding sound came from the weapon as sparks jumped into the air. The grind was then replaced by the sound of metal snapping as the blade of Coppa's axe broke. Coppa jumped back, avoiding the metal shards that buried themselves into the ground, and inspected the remains of the first blade of his double headed axe. "Well I'm out of ideas." He cursed as he flipped the weapon around, bringing the other blade around. "What do we do?"

"I don't know," Sam said. "But we can't just run off without him."

"D-do w-w-what she s-says. L-leave me," Dante gasped, hands falling from his face. Twilight's ears caught the sounds of surprise from the others at the now pure black that his eyes had become. There was still a red glow coming from within the sockets, but the trails of liquid black coming from his eyes diminished the luminescent light. The strange markings had returned, staining his skin with a permanent red tattoo. "Run away as far as you caannn... I c-can't hold him back... He'll kill you all."

His gasps of terror and pain returned, forcing him to the ground. Two mounds of skin pushed upwards like moles digging their way up through the topsoil. When the mounds ruptured, spraying gore and bringing forth an inhuman scream from Dante, two large wings made entirely of bone with small scraps of flesh and sinew hanging between them flared out. His final cry of pain slowly turned to insane laughter as his voice changed pitch.

No, Twilight screamed in her head. Dark arcs of lightning rained down from the sky, matching the colour of the wisps of violet flames and magic swirling around Dante. The same magical circles that were on his hands appeared on the ground, overlapping and spreading farther than the glyph that contained him. The Guide's words echoed in her head, pounding throughout her mind like a hammer on a nail. No this can’t be happening…

“And the final tether has snapped, he has truly awakened,” Dagon said eagerly. “In only a few moments I will be more powerful than ever.”

"What is this?" Sam demanded. “What have you done to him?”

“Nothing he hasn’t already experienced before. The spell restricts his magic, hinders its flow, and severely incapacitates anything remotely demonic.” Dagon laughed. “I am merely bringing his true self out. Now he is free to rain down catastrophe like a god. I’ll kill him before things get too out of hand. Reckless, yes, but it’s the only way I can wear out a pureblood.”

“That won’t work…” Twilight disheartened statement cut Dagon off. She watched as the possessed Dante floated above the ground, held up by some mystical means. The glyph beneath him flickered, like a candle reaching its end, before it began to crack and split. Twilight backed away, her horn ignited as she tried to pull the others away from it. “He’s too powerful! We need to run.”

“Fools…”

The glyph, and its invisible barrier that surrounded Dante, burst apart as he sent out a shockwave of dark energy, sending the pieces outwards to fade into nothingness. He stood tall as Dagon was cowed slightly. His shirt was in tatters, revealing the tattoo consisting of swirling chains and cruel looking hooks centred around his heart. An arrogant smirk that exuded confidence and disdain for anything else.

"You really thought that such a sad excuse for a seal would hold me?" he mocked with tone that sounded raspy and hard in the ears. For Twilight, his voice was simply wrong. The tone, the pitch, everything felt wrong and unnatural about it. It sent shivers along her spine as he spoke. It grated in her head, worming its way through her ears. "Your spell might as well have been a conjuror's prop. Your are such a sad little worm."

Dagon appeared slightly unnerved, but still kept up his confident smile. "Of course it will. Why else would I take such pains to master this power of yours and summon up this force to contain you." The tendrils around all straightened out, pointing at Dante like deadly spears. Some of the surviving imps ignited their own spells and the two burly demons that had stood on guard levelled their weapons. "All I have to do is kill you now before your full power awakens."

The attack was simultaneous. Tendrils, spells, and blades all struck Dante at the same time. They tore at him, rending his flesh and filling him full of holes. Spaces opened up in his chest and limbs, sending gore everywhere. The sheer brutality of the attack was horrific and both Rarity and Fluttershy fainted at the sight of it. Eventually the attack ceased, leaving the battered and motionless remains on the street. Twilight saw Dagon grin and gesture to the two hulking figures to bring Dante's body to him. As they bent to pick him up, a roaring laughter echoed from somewhere unseen. 

"As I said," the disembodied laughing voice continued, "even if I am still far from ready to remain in control of this body right now, it will still take much more than what you posses to even remotely permanently damage this physical form." A horrifying squelching noise came from where Dante was, and all saw the two giant demons back away with holes in their chests, and stumps where their necks had once been. The two disintegrated and the remaining dust surrounded Dante's body as it he rose up, still filled with holes that exposed the mangled flesh within. "I applaud your tenacity though, and even find it slightly impressive that you managed to control that tiny sliver of my power you managed to take." Despite missing part of his head, the thing controlling Dante managed to come up with a unnerving grin. "But that is all it is. Alongside these laughable inbreds you call demons, you have nothing but a mere sliver of my power; not even a full hundredth of what Belial, the last of Acharon's line, is capable of."

For the first time, Dagon's face drained of all blood. His once confident face dissolved as he backed away. . "A-Acharon? That can't be...  That line started and ended with the black king. He had no heirs, no others carried his blood. There is no way you can be part of that lineage."

"That is where you are wrong, foolish mortal. Allow me to show you the evidence that proves otherwise," the being that had identified itself as Belial replied, snapping his fingers. A number of groans came from the corpses of the imps and the two larger demons. They began to rise, one by one, taking formation behind him, their features and eyes devoid of any sign of life. "As with my predecessor, both the living and the dead submit to my will." Another snap of his fingers brought a number of lights from within the Everfree. They landed within the area taking the form of human and ponies covered in ancient looking armour. "Even the ghosts of the long forgotten know my power and beckon my call. I control their very souls! Now, I ask you..." He pointed to Dagon and there was a large crackle as energy danced around him. "Do you still doubt my claim?"

Dagon never replied, instead began drawing the tendrils to himself. At first Twilight thought he was going to fight, but he simply wrapped them around his unconscious followers. He used them to control Mileena as though she were a puppet and the tendrils were the strings. A portal opened, flashing brightly as it hovered in the air. Dagon threw his two underlings and forced any imp that was close enough into the portal. When he had managed that, he went for the opening just as Belial raised a glowing hand. 

"Your impertinence is rather offending, and I would personally see to your culling. However, I have a role for you to play, one important for what is to come." A small projectile launched from his hand and buried itself in Dagon's back. The force of it pushed him forward through the portal, causing it to close as well as cutting off Dagon's surprised shout. When the portal faded, Belial turned himself around and looked towards the sky. "Now into the next act as our audience arrives."

Twilight followed his gaze, only to gasp at the sight. Hundreds upon hundreds of Royal Pegasus Guards flapped their wings, flying straight towards them. Each of them was dressed in the golden armour of their position and held their spears at the ready. There was even a division of the Night Guard, dressed in the purple and blue armour and bearing Luna’s crest. At the forefront were the royal sisters, dressed in elaborate armour of shining plate and etched with swirling patterns. On Celestia’s head was a simple circlet of gold in contrast to the open faced helmet that adorned Luna. Neither Celestia or Luna had a weapon, but the sheer presence of them was both breathtaking and intimidating as they landed, kicking up dust and and rocks. Coppa even gave a surprised whistle at the sight.

"Quite the show of military power for a land that preaches unity and tolerance," Belial said as he raised an arm. There was a shrill noise before Dante's staff appeared in his hand and his sword in the other. A robe of vibrant Tyrian purple with a rich red inlay materialized around him, covering the markings on his body. It flowed down to his feet and he adjusted the cuff of one sleeve before facing off with the Princesses. "But your effort is unneeded. I have already repelled the threat with the forces I could find. Perhaps you or your sister recognize them. They recognize you."

If Celestia was affected by the remark, she did not show it. Instead, it was Luna who lost her composure as some of the ghostly apparitions unfurled their banners to reveal tattered Equestrian flags. "You vile knave! Thou dare desecrate the souls of the dead and spout such accusations against we royal sisters!" She stamped her hoof upon the ground, summoning lightning and ushering her guards to level their weapons at him. "Release thy hold upon them, unweave thy spells, and surrender thyself to our custody!"

“You are not exactly in a position to be asking such things, Princess of the night," Belial replied, vanishing in a puff of smoke before reappearing in front of Luna, grabbing her by the back of the head. "I could kill you in mere moments, even as I am right now. I could make your heart stop, or crush it entirely with only a thought." He snapped his fingers and a human spirit stepped forward. It reformed into a new figure, one dressed in a chest plate with decorative abdominals, an armoured skirt and a pair of greaves. His stony face was framed by his hair that fell neatly into place as he removed his helmet. To Twilight's surprise, she heard Celestia hold her breath while a strained 'no' came from Luna. "I know of every desire and fear you have, and how to use them against you."

"Stop tormenting my sister. Release these spirits and let them rest," Celestia said, stepping up to Belial. Her normally calm and motherly attitude was instead replaced by a stern and commanding presence. "We are grateful that you chose to repel those who threatened our subjects. However, we still require you to submit yourself to our custody. As terrible as it sounds, I do not trust you. But even so, I do not wish for it to come to blows. If you do not, then you leave us with little choice but to consider you a threat to our subjects.” 

"My my, you've followed his example to the letter if these spirits' memories are to be believed," Belial said. He waved his magic encased hand through the air, causing the spirits to return to the Everfree and the reanimated corpses to fall to the ground. He stepped forward and placed a hand to his chest. The other summoned Twilight's bag from beside her and he levitated it upside down. A skull encased by a rusted helmet dropped from the bag, clattering as it bounced before settling on the ground.

"Very well then," he replied, dropping the staff and holding his arms out in front of him. "I submit myself to your custody. I have no intention of resisting, nor do I feel the need to cause any destruction to your kingdom or its subjects. You may take me back to your palace where I shall await your inquiries and offer my intentions with bated breath."

"I am glad you see reason," Celestia replied, fanning her wings out. “This land is not one where conflict is a regular occurrence. Compromise is a much better solution in my view. I would never command my little ponies into a situation in which their lives would be threatened. Nor would I ever wish to cause any reckless damage to the lands we call home by any means. That is not who I am, and you have my thanks for choosing a peaceful alternative."

"You are welcome. However, do not count yourself so lucky yet, Princess," Belial chided as manacles were clasped around his wrists. He glanced back at the Twilight and her battered friends looked at the skull with shock and disbelief. "Your long held secret is uncovered. Now there must be answers for your past sins. Let us hope you possess the strength to tell them the whole truth rather than blinding their eyes."

"This was your plan then? To force my hoof and reveal my secrets? You’ve gone through much trouble for so little."

"Far from it," Belial replied, a solitary black tear dripping from his chin and splattering on the ground. "Ask your most faithful student. She knows that this cycle has only just begun."
> Revelations
> --------------------------------------------------------------------------

	How did it come to this?

No one spoke a word; the events of the previous night had taken any possibility of conversation and dashed them to bits. Now, as Twilight and the group had found, there was no easy way of addressing the gravity of the situation. It was not as if none of them wanted to ignore it, they simply had no idea how to start the inevitable discussion.

She didn’t know how to comprehend this entire situation. Equestria had seen its share of chaotic things in the time she and her friends had assumed ownership of the Elements. They had pressed on through everything the world had thrown at them. From Nightmare Moon to the invasion of Canterlot, they had weathered it all and Ponyville had always bounced back. Yet, compared to what had occurred, all of those seemed like nothing. In all honesty, those times may have been a little chaotic, but they had been peaceful.

Now she wasn’t sure what to describe the former night’s events. Even now the memories were fresh in her mind. The monsters they had faced, the sheer amount of destruction that outclassed even the parasprite infestation that had wrecked her town, and the new feelings of remorse and disgust they all brought back. It made her want to curl up and cry from the sheer shock of it all. Never had she experienced anything like it. Never had she realised that the sudden onset of destruction, death and violence was something that Dante and his friends had become accustomed to in their own world.

She wasn’t the only one affected though, that much was apparent by her friends. Each of them were in varying states of disbelief. Applejack and Rarity were both staring out the window, gazing at the few remaining trails of smoke rising in the distance signaling that the fires in Ponyville were being contained. Moe was with them, sitting with his back to the wall as one of the castle physicians examined his torso and began casting magic around the affected area. Rainbow Dash and Fluttershy were in a corner, the latter being comforted by her athletic friend. Twilight felt a pang of sympathy for Fluttershy; the entire event had weighed on all of them, but the gentle pegasus seemed almost catatonic. Most concerning however, was the fact that the forever energetic and bubbly Pinkie Pie, who everyone would have expected to have been trying to cheer up the depressing mood, was simply standing still as a statue.

“God damnit!” Coppa shouted, bringing all eyes on him. He had been pacing in place the entire time, growling with every inch of hair on his body standing on end. Just now he was leaning on a desk gripping the edge with enough force that his nails had begun to gouge out lines in the wood. “I can’t take this waiting anymore!”

“Coppa, calm down,” Sam said coldly as he rose from the cushion he was sitting on. His wounded arm was bandaged to the elbow, covering up the stitches in his forearm. “Now is the time to collect ourselves and figure out what to do next.”

“Clam down? How the hell do you expect me to do that?” Coppa demanded. “Ponyville nearly burned to the ground; Ponies have died; someone who neither Moe nor I had wanted to see again is here in Equestria, looking to play her sick fantasies with him again; and if it wasn’t for whatever the hell possessed Dante, we would all be dead! Hell, we don’t even know if that thing is on our side!” He pointed a finger accusingly at Sam. “They kicked down our front door and handed our asses to us on a plate, and you want me to CALM DOWN?”

“Coppa this isn’t what-”

“What we should be doing?” Coppa interrupted. “Our team leader is currently in a cell, and we aren’t much better off ourselves. Being restricted to this room ain’t what I would reckon is a sign of trust from the Princesses.”

“Perhaps not,” Celestia said, making her presence known as she walked into the room. She looked at Coppa like a mother scolding a disobedient child. “You must look at this situation from my perspective, Coppa. My citizens were attacked, some lost their lives, many more lost their homes. I am grateful for all of your work in helping defend Ponyville, but until we have come to a conclusion about this terrible situation, you are restricted to the castle grounds and must remain under my watch. Is that understood?”

Sam and Moe nodded slightly, but Coppa said nothing and made no move that showed any acceptance. In fact, it seemed to Twilight and her friends that he was ignoring the Princess, much to their shock. “And what about Dante?”

“He is being detained until I can be certain of his condition. The thing calling itself Belial that has taken over him is unlike anything I have seen in all my years. He may have defended you during the attack on Ponyville, but there is much darkness about him. I believe that he did save you for his own purposes.”

Twilight twitched at the mention of Belial. The image of those black eyes, the strange markings on his arm, the bone wings, and the tendrils that had decimated the imps during the attack were still on her mind. Besides that image, there was still the memory of her other worldly encounter that persisted in her mind. She only wondered what Belial actually wanted and what sort of connection there was between the two things.

Her mouth spoke her thoughts before she even realised it. “Have you spoken with him yet?” 

Celestia looked more surprised than anything by her student’s sudden question. A smile soon returned to the gentle ruler’s mouth and she looked fondly on her student with the usual warmth Twilight had known Celestia for. “I haven’t spoken with him at the moment, but that is part of the reason I have come before you all.” She turned to the rest of the group and her face resumed its serious demeanor. “I wanted you to come with me when I begin questioning him. I realise it may seem strange, but I believe that the only way Belial will speak is if he has an audience with all of you.”

“So you’re asking us to be there so you get the answers you want?” Coppa asked almost indignantly. He sighed and rubbed the back of his head almost as though the question annoyed him. Then, however, he broke out into a wide grin. “Ah, why the hell not?" His contagious grin slowly began to affect the others in the room as he continued. "If we’re there we might also be able to knock some sense into Dante!”

“I can’t complain about that,” Moe said as he slowly got up from his bed and took up the space next to Coppa. Soon enough Sam joined them and they left the room, leaving only Twilight and her friends with her teacher.

"Twilight... Everypony..." Celestia began after making sure they were alone. "I must ask of you something. Something you all may not like."

"What is it, Princess?" immediately responded Twilight. She noted the grimnes in the princess' eye and felt her heart sink as her beloved mentor spoke.

"If at any point it becomes obvious that Dante is lost, we must use the elements of harmony to seal him like you did with Discord before he can threaten us."


*****


Gathering in the wide hall of the throne room, everyone there held their breaths as the rattle of chains and a number of footsteps could be heard through the tall double doors. Tension was rife in the room and the group of three had barely any time to formally introduce themselves to Princess Luna, who sat beside Celestia on the raised platform. Each and every one of them held their breath as soon as the steps stopped. There was a quiet creak as the doors opened, and Twilight heard Coppa, Moe, and Sam all catch their breath as the procession entered the room.

Nearly ten guards of both the Night and Day Guard stood around the lone figure dressed in chains. Four held poles which connected to the chains around the possessed Dante’s wrists and neck. The bone wings on Dante’s back had disappeared and his robes appeared in tatters as though he had been in the dungeons for years. Yet the knowing, evil smirk had not faded as he lifted his gaze from the floor and looked at all of them with the same black and red eyes as before. Twilight’s heart sank. Belial was still present and in control.

“Your Majesty,” the lead Solar Guard said. The pegasus stepped forward, bowed and looked to his Princess with a grim but proud bearing. “We have brought the prisoner as requested.”

“Thank you, Sergeant,” Celestia replied. “How has he fared? Has he given you much trouble?”

A bark of laughter came from Belial and the angry eyes of the guards were all drawn to him. “I am standing right here, Princess,” he said mockingly. “You do not need to dispense the formalities since you seem rather keen to be done away with this business.” Every guard seemed just about ready for Belial to make the wrong move. Twilight and the others noticed how on edge they all seemed. Belial, however, did not seem to notice, or even care. Twilight suspected it was more of the latter. “Then again, how long has it been since you’ve had a prisoner? i’d assume it has been centuries judging by the dust and the current state of those guards who-”

"Be quiet!” The Night guard at the front hissed. "If it wasn't against the laws, I would have put you into the ground for what you did to Roadblock and Swift Leaf!"

"Crescent!" The Pegasus sergeant shouted, causing his guards to stand at attention and the wily bay mate to flinch. "You're in the presence of the Princesses. Contain yourself."

"But Stormcloud-" she quieted down as he glared at her again. Then, salvaging what little professionalism she had left, she bowed to the princesses. "I am sorry Princess Celestia and Princess Luna. Forgive my outburst; I am coping with the fact that two friends are now in the infirmary."

"All is forgiven, Commander Crescent," Princess Celestia said with a smile. "As for your friends, I am sorry to hear that. What has happened to them?"

"We had placed them in the dungeons to watch after the prisoner," Stormcloud began while Crescent went silent. It was obvious to everyone that had she described the events, another outburst was going to follow. "They had only been guarding him for three hours before they were checked on. When we found them, they were unresponsive and hysterical. It took three of my guard to restrain Corporal Roadblock when he turned violent. We had to take them and restrain them while the medics figured out what was wrong."

"Do you have any suspicions as to what caused this?"

The Pegasus commander pointed a hoof to Belial. "He hasn’t admitted to doing anything, but we are sure it was him. As to what it was... all we know is that  Swift Leaf is currently catatonic and Roadblock required sedation to keep him calm as a result."

Both of the royal sisters looked to the chained Diablon. There was no sign on his face that said he was going to argue his point. In fact, he looked absolutely calm in the face of the two most powerful beings, all while restrained by the magical restraints. He made no movements, only keeping his head straight so that he was staring directly at Celestia. To Twilight, it was almost like he was completely content with the fact he was shackled and bound. 

Maybe Dante is resisting him... She thought to herself. It would have made sense, Dante did seem to have the power under control when he was conscious. It was only when he suffered great shock or was in danger that it turned the other way Or maybe Belial was only able to stay in control for short periods. Either way, Twilight nursed the thought and remained quiet as Luna spoke for the first time.

"Tell us, dost thou deny the accusation levelled against thyself? An assault on our guard is a grave offence, but it's punishment is even graver. This combined with thy threats against we Princesses would have earned thou a punishment most severe a thousand years ago."

Belial only laughed at the lunar Princess’s statement. "You mistake my meaning then, Princess. Those were not threats, but promises had you continued being a nuisance." He smiled and his laugh devolved into a chuckle. "As for your insinuation of capital punishment. Your sister knows as well as you that not once have you ever executed a subject no matter their crime. Sentencing me for simply utilizing their fears as nourishment is beyond cruel, not to mention rank with the stench of racism."

"Is that what you did then?" Celestia questioned. "You've fed off the fear of others without-”

“Spare me the lecture, your highness. I know what I do and I am conscious of its effects,” Belial interrupted. “Yes, I use the fear of others as a means of gaining energy and as a source of amusement. I can also sense exactly what fears inhabit every mind. For example, Commander Crescent.” He pointed towards the batmare and every pair of eyes in the room followed until they all rested on her. “she has a particular amalgamation of fears which are both pleasantly satisfying and amusing. Do not let her previous display sway your opinion, she is merely making up for what little bravery is still left in her.” His sigh of satisfaction was both alarming and odd when combined with the grin on his face. “How else is one to justify the fear of losing their post they love so much due to being nearly four months pregnant.”

“What?” Sergeant Stormcloud said above the gasps over their subordinates. Everyone turned to him all in shock and disbelief. 

“Ah yes, Stormcloud,” Belial said. “That was another fear of hers. Revealing the fact that she had gotten pregnant to the one she had been having an affair with. It’s amazing that you guards don’t have a set of rules in place forbidding fraternisation.”

“When were you going to tell me…” Stormcloud said, his voice possessing an accusing edge. Twilight felt a twinge of pity for the guardmare. Nopony deserved to be put on the spot in this manner. 

“Maybe it was after deciding whether or not she was going to keep it,” Belial interjected. There was another gasp and Crescent hung her head even lower as Stormcloud glared at her. 

“Sergeant Stormcloud, Commander Crescent, perhaps you two should discuss this outside of the hall. You have my leave to take the day off and sort through your issue, my sister and I can manage for now,” Celestia said softly. Both officers bowed to the Princess and Crescent was the first to leave, no doubt in order to collect herself. Stormcloud lingered a moment before deciding to follow her. “Give her your support, Sergeant. This has been weighing on her and she will need your care rather than your accusations. Now go see to her.”

“Thank you, Princess. I will talk to her, and we will see what shall happen.”

“Good luck, Sergeant,” Celestia said. Her gaze turned stony towards Belial and it seemed as though her patience had run out. “I do not know what you are planning, or why you decided to submit yourself to my custody. What I wish to know is who and what you are as well as what you want.”

“That is an easy answer to give,” Belial replied. “I am Belial and I am a part of Dante which has taken form in order to follow the legacy of our father Acharon, the Black King.”

“And who is Acharon? The reports I gathered from previous interrogations makes mention of that name and that of the purebloods.” 

“To tell you that is to go back to infancy of our world, when forces known as the Old Ones battled the creations of the gods: the first races created. Every race save for those of the Celestian’s and Diablon’s took up arms in a unified force. Their efforts however, proved futile and they were pushed back time and time again. The army of demons and other creatures proved to be overwhelming for them, and all seemed lost. So, in desperation, the humans, in their infinite wisdom, devised a plan to create a new breed of weapons out of their own kind.”

Belial seemed to take pleasure in the shock that passed over the faces of Moe, Sam, and Coppa. “The first experiment was the interbreeding with those of holy descent. The unification of angel blood and that of human’s produced mortal offspring with the power of the heavens. These became known as the Celestian’s. The idea had been that their holy powers would prove effective against the demons and allow the main forces to push forwards. They hadn't counted on the notion that simply banishing demons did not mean killing. So when they failed, a splinter group decided to go against taboo and captured a number of the Old One’s forces. They took the blood and mixed it into their own, hoping to fight fire with fire. You can guess what the product of that union was.”

“Diablons…” Twilight heard Moe whisper. Belial appeared to have heard the quiet words. The room seemed to have darkened slightly and Twilight felt a sharp pain in her head. Images flared in those moments, scenes of many monsters more horrendous than the ones from the past night. They fought against people in armour, but fell back as waves of fire and stone erupted from beneath them. Lightning arced from the sky, illuminating the ash that drowned out the sun, sometimes striking an unlucky soul in the melee below. All of this was controlled by a small group upon a ridge, illuminated by the occasional flash or patch of fire as they joined the battle. It cast light upon their faces, showing the modifications to their bodies that their powers had granted them.

“Yes but these Diablons were known as the Purebloods. Mortals which had retained the powers of demons, but restrained in a human body with only a few enhancements to their appearance. Using their new powers and mastery of the arcane, they pushed the tide back with their abilities and were instrumental in finishing the war. In return, they only asked for lands and to be left in peace. Years passed, and the demonic influence became diluted in their veins, but the stigma of their heritage resulted in them being hunted down like animals.” 

“But why would they go against them? That doesn’t make any sense,” Twilight said with approved murmurs from her friends.

There was another image. It was like the battlefield from before with houses and the landscape in flames, but the landscape was littered with unarmed men, women, and children while ragged bands of armed people sifted through the remains. Occasionally they would find a survivor, but the images blurred out before the end came.

“Because of the fear that they could not control the power the Purebloods possessed or the their will. So if they could not control their weapon, then they would eliminate the perceived threat before it began. So the Diablons reward for bringing about the peace of the world was being slaughtered by those they had saved. But out of the ashes of the initial genocide came Acharon who laid waste to all that opposed him. He was the most powerful Pureblood the world had ever seen and commanded a host of others like him. He left nothing but destruction in his wake and slaughtered any idiotic mortal who thought they could stand before him. To those who faced him, he was like a god."

Then there was chaos as a lone figure with wings in black armour stepped out of the smoke while the group in front of him was torn apart by a pack of ape like monsters. Soon the landscape changed and this time the figures wielding their magical powers appeared even more monstrous and unhinged. Nothing was standing in their way, but the group appeared smaller and the figure of Acharon soon vanished with his hoard. When Twilight blinked again, the images were gone and she was back in the throne room.

“Well obviously he did a  real shitty job since there are still the other races,” Coppa shouted, pointing a finger at Belial. “I don’t care about any history lesson you’re giving. How can you be a part of Dante? You’re nothing but a demon who’s possessing him. And like I care about this Acharon guy. I’ve never heard of him so he can’t be that important.”

“If you are comparing me to those creatures, you are sorely mistaken. If you consider those things to be powerful, then I must be a demi-god amongst them,” he said, shooting a glance at Coppa. The Dwarf’s hair stood on end and he tensed up, uttering a deep growl. “Just as a coin has two sides, so does Dante. There is the weak version you are so accustomed to and then there is myself, the true embodiment of what we are. In fact, you could even compare me to Princess Luna.” 

“If you two are the same person,” Twilight started, “then why are you tormenting him and making him miserable? What can you possibly get out of that?”

“To break him and his will. That is how I can be the one in control.”

“What…” 

“You can't break a man the way you break a dog or a horse,” Belial started. “The harder you beat a man, the taller he stands. To break Dante's will, to break his spirit, I will break his mind. He has this idea that he can resist this power, that he can simply avoid it. It's absurd. It's an anaesthetic; he needs that in order to deny that he is what he is. I must destroy that idea. Show him what sort of being we can be, and then show them that deep down he relishes this power. I’ll become his personal monster in the end and when he fears me, I become stronger; I become better. If he loses himself to the power, if he succumbs to my will, then he can become what he truly is and we can unite and fulfil the destiny envisioned for us.”

“You’re insane!” Moe shouted. “There’s no way that Dante would succumb to you. We all know what he’s like. You are never going to win.”

“That’s where you’re wrong, elf. I have been chipping away at his will since he could first put together a thought. Everyday I get closer and closer to attaining control and he fades.”

“I’ve heard enough,” Coppa said and ran forward. He vaulted over the few guards who went to stop him and broke into a sprint. As he neared Belial he cocked his arm back and threw his fist forward at Dante’s face. “If Dante isn’t coming out on his own, then I’ll beat you till he does.”

A sharp ringing noise erupted as Coppa’s fist seemingly connected with Belial’s face. Yet the lack of follow-up to the punch told every soul in that room that something had gone wrong. Coppa’s fist hadn’t actually touched Belial’s face as he had planned. Instead, it hovered in the air, straining against some invisible force that resisted the blow. Coppa groaned and strained until he was forced back and thrown across the room with the guards that surrounded Belial. 

“Let us put all our cards on the table then,” Belial said as the shackles around his wrists rusted and crumbled into dust. “I am the last of the firstborn, I have the power to kill every single one of you in this room with the same amount of effort it would take to squash a bug.” His hand passed over the iron collar and he tore it off his neck with little difficulty. As he did so, a portion of Dante’s face tore away like dried parchment, revealing Belial’s true face beneath it. “I will free the imprisoned souls that followed Acharon from the timeless void, and we will wage a new crusade upon the descendants that had sought to destroy us. And Equestria shall play host to this; a staging point for the conclusion of what my predecessor had never finished.”

“Then this is where your dream ends,” Celestia interrupted with a stamp of her hoof. Igniting her horn, six objects behind her throne were encased in the glow of her magic and Twilight looked on grimly as the Elements of Harmony floated towards them. Quickly, they were fastened around their bearer's necks and each of them stepped forward hesitantly. Twilight felt a pit in her stomach form as she saw the confusion on the faces of their new friends.

Moe was the one to turn to Celestia first. “What are you doing?”

”She’s going to end the problem before it can grow,” Belial answered. He looked at Celestia mockingly, his red eyes glowing knowingly. The pit in Twilight’s stomach grew more intense as those evil eyes gazed at her and her friends. There was something eerie about it, something she couldn’t shake from her mind. “Judge, jury, and executioner, you’ve taken it upon yourself just like in your early days. That period you’ve tried to forget so long ago, when every decision you made brought devastation and a greater evil.” He gestured with an accusing finger. “Come then, use your shears and nip this bud.”

“We only do this for the safety of our citizens. We mean no ill will to you, Dante, but this must be done," Celestia said. There was little emotion in her voice, only cold authority in the words. Then she called for her prized student. "Twilight... Do it."

Twilight had to force herself to even think about activating the magic in the jewelled crown on her head. She peered to her side at Moe and the sheer confusion and betrayal written on his face was almost too much to look at. When she brought herself to it, the familiar power of the elements coursed through her. She felt herself lift off the ground and saw her friends do the same. None of them were happy that events had gone this way, but none had a choice as their eyes glowed brightly. 

Out of the corner of her eye she could see that Belial hadn't moved or appeared concerned. "I'm not like Discord, Sombra, or your sister, Celestia. I came prepared," she heard him say. "Let us see what you do when your only weapon fails you."

There was a twinge of pain in Twilight's head as the Elements' power surged forth towards Belial. The rainbow beam hit Belial with a loud screech and an explosion. Not a soul moved as the walls and supports groaned from the force. Twilight spared a look at Celestia who remained stone faced in the face of the hostile action she had taken. It made her wonder just how far Celestia would go for Equestria and how resolved the Princess actually was.

Obviously it was not resolved enough when Celestia balked at the site of Belial still standing. He was no worse for wear as he brushed debris from his robe. A few guards tried to rush him, hoping that he was at least disorientated but found themselves frozen in place. Belial snapped his fingers and all of them fell to the ground. Dark energy moved past their forms, wrapping around them before shooting towards the elements themselves. 

Twilight and her friends all cried out as the malevolent energy reached them. Separate strands reached out and encircled Sam and the others, pinning them to the floor. All strength in her body seemed to fade as it touched her. She fell to the ground, the feeling of exhaustion overcoming her and causing her mind to teeter on the brink of unconsciousness. In the haze she could make out Belial turning to smoke and appearing in front of Celestia. The Pureblood grabbed both Princesses by their necklaces and lifted them up without any issue. Both struggled wildly as they tried desperately to get away. Belial’s grip held firm and he cocked an arm back before he flung Princess Luna backwards, sending her crashing into the golden throne and toppling it over. With his hand now free, he placed a fingertip to Celestia’s temple, and a black smudge matted the perfect white of Celestia’s coat. Twilight cringed as Celestia’s eyes went wide and a pained whine escaped from the Princess.

"What you had pondered came to pass the night we came through to your world, Princess,” Belial said flatly. A small wisp came from Fluttershy who shivered as her eyes slowly fell shut. A soft pink orb grew and floated towards Belial who extended a free hand to it. Sam’s eyes widened and he thrashed as the blackness holding him grew to cover his mouth. “Your precious student and her friends died that night. The power and drain of the spell ripped their minds and souls to tatters in a matter of minutes. Fortunately I was able to sew the remains together once more.” He gazed at the pink ball within his hands. “So soft and gentle; much like its owner. Full of life and energy for the world. Her very existence is condensed in this small thing. It almost makes me curious to see what would happen if I were to scratch it. What do you think would happen, Princess?”

The orb flittered away from him and returned to Fluttershy. “Out of every soul on this world, there is none with more fear than you, Princess. Unable to save a kingdom or its subjects, forced to banish their own flesh and blood when they were poisoned by your shadow, defeated by a walking, talking bug. What is more pitiful than a failure such as yourself? You were once able to use the elements of harmony; you were a force beyond measure! And yet you did nothing with it. Your rule is nothing but a sequence of events where you have made the same mistakes over and over again; falling into the same trap each and every time.” Belial said mockingly. “Your kingdom is founded on nothing but lies. It is a corpse rotting slowly from within while maggots writhe in its belly. It was built with the toil of heroes, and now it is inhabited by frightened weaklings to whom the glories of those times are forgotten legends. So witness it all once more. Every mistake, every tragedy, every blunder you’ve made.  Ask yourself how many times have you come to a situation where you have not pushed the burden to someone else? Now it is time to banish the illusions you have surrounded yourself with and face the sins of your past.”  

It is time to act, Twilight...

As Celestia writhed in Belial’s grip, Twilight found herself regaining some semblance of her strength. The voice was familiar, but she was too exhausted to inquire as to where she had heard it before. The spell holding her seemed to loosen a little. It was as though somepony was pulling at it to give her space to escape. She seized the chance. Unsteadily she rose, huffing as the strain wore away at her legs. She felt a guiding hand of something as she ignited her horn. A bright beam of purple mixed with some unfamiliar energy that wove within it, tingeing it black, shot out and hit Belial in the back, between the shoulders. The Pureblood gasped, a smoking crater in his back where the beam had hit him dripped with his black blood as he lost his grip and dropped Celestia to the ground. He staggered slightly before he turned to smoke again and materialized in front of Twilight.

His hand grabbed her and she could feel his nails dig into her neck. “Ah, Twilight Sparkle, I nearly forgot about you. How careless of me.” There was the slight undertone of pain in his voice and it slowly dawned on Twilight that she accomplished something that Dagon had failed at the other night. Somehow, she had managed to wound Belial. Blood dripped onto the floor, filling the crevices between the marble. “You’ve become a problem of which I am unsure of how to deal with. If I kill you, I deprive myself of a crucial part to my plan, and that of a potential powerful ally. If I do not, you could be quite the thorn in my side.”

His hand released her and Twilight fell to the ground. “I’ll give you an option, little pony. I can teach you many things. I’ve seen how adaptive you can be. Like the dark magic you used at Sombra’s castle. You saw Celestia use it once, and you flawlessly recreated it with little effort.” His hand flashed with ethereal fire which he held close to her face. “I could teach you many new things. Spells the like this world has never seen.” His face grew taught and expressionless as he knelt on one knee. “You have already tasted the void, I know that much. And I can feel the presence of that traitor, Beleth, on you. What did he tell you? That I needed to be stopped? He was nothing but a fool and a traitor to his king and fellow generals. I on the other hand will not fall to the same tricks. There will be a time when I come before you again and you may give me your answer. For now, Dante and I will be going our separate ways.”

With that, he stepped away and Twilight felt his presence fade. She looked up and saw his body wreathed in blackness. Portions of his body that were obviously Belial’s were fading away and his cloak began to disintegrate to ash. Before long, his grin faded along with the rest of him and Belial’s black eyes soon returned to Dante’s red. With a sigh, Dante fell to the ground as he was released. 

There was a tense moment where no soul in the chamber dared move. Then, in a flurry of movement, the guards set on Dante again and held his body down. They looked to Celestia who had risen from the floor and was tending to her sister. She gave a nod and they took him away, dragging him through the large doors and out of sight. When the entrance closed, Celestia sighed in relief as her sister began to wake up. She turned to Twilight and her friends while the three others all stared at her with a mix of emotions. Celestia stepped down from her throne and slowly made her way to the door.


“Everypony, I would ask of you all to give me a moment of privacy. There is much I need to reflect upon at the moment. Separate rooms can be arranged for you if you wish.” She looked to Sam, Coppa, and Moe, who all moved past her without a word of thanks. Coppa left last, but spared an angered glance to the Princess before he went through the large double doors and slammed it behind him. Celestia sighed once more and turned to Twilight. “I am sorry this happened Twilight. Perhaps it is best you and your friends get some rest. I will call for you later.”

Twilight nodded. “Thank you, Princess Celestia.”

*****

Twilight groaned in relief as she found her old room in the castle prepared for her. She was exhausted and even as she gave out hugs and polite goodbyes to her friends, all she wanted to do was sleep. Gracelessly she collapsed face first into the soft mound of blankets and pillows. She yawned and stretched herself out, a smile creeping on her face for the first time that day. Mentally, she would’ve thought that the events of that day would be circling in her mind. Normally her obsession might have kept her up, but she was just too tired to deal with it.

Sleep, as it seemed, was far off. No matter what she did or how she twisted and turned, she just couldn’t find a way to settle in. Groaning, she covered her head with a pillow, thinking there might have been some noise in the otherwise quiet room keeping her awake. She kicked off her blankets but found it to be too cold without and too hot when they were on. She settled for a halfway approach she finally became comfortable with. Yet still, sleep eluded her.

“Why can’t I just relax?” she groaned as she stared in the ceiling. She laughed soon after, a quiet but nervous sound showing how rattled she really was. “What is wrong with me? Look at me… asking the ceiling for answers. Like that is going to get me anywhere...”

Strangely enough, the ceiling did answer back. “Even the smartest being is no match for the natural reaction to the stresses of conflict.”

A small ‘wha...’ was all that Twilight managed to say before she followed the source of the voice to the other side of the room. Sitting on a chair, leaning back with his staff resting on the wall behind him, was the guide from her vision. Twilight stared at him for a moment before backing up and nearly falling out of her bed. 

“What are you doing here?” she asked as she managed to regain some sense of balance with her sheets wrapped around her. 

“I've come on my own accord,” he replied. “There has been a change, an unexpected one at that. I also see that you unconsciously held back when I assisted you in attacking Belial. I take it then that you've made your choice through your actions?”

“I wasn't going to purposely injure my friend, and I’m not about to end his life because of some prophecy you had either,” she shot back. The guide looked at her curiously before he let out a dissatisfied breath. A sudden thought struck Twilightand she quickly latched onto it. “Belial spoke of you as well. He said you were called Beleth and that you betrayed his father, Acharon.”

“That is a name I have not been called in a very long time,” he said, smiling weakly. “Yes, I am who Belial says I am. I am Beleth the Traitor and he who sundered Acharon’s will. I do not deny it. I betrayed my own leader, my friends, and the very ideals we all stood for.”

“But why?”

“It is a convoluted and lengthy story, one that neither of us have the time for.”

“Then why don’t you give me a summary,” Twilight said curtly. “Belial spoke of the Purebloods, but he wasn’t there if I guess correctly. What better way to learn about the situation I’m in than to get its history from someone who was a part of the reason this began?"

Beleth chuckled quietly as he adjusted his posture. “Never have I met a more inquisitive being than you." He leaned forward and clasped his hands together. "Very well then, Twilight Sparkle, I shall tell you. Get comfortable and listen closely  for this is what I know of Acharon.”
	
	
	
> History Unfolded
> --------------------------------------------------------------------------

“Are you ready Twilight?” Beleth asked. He had shifted from his spot on the chair across from her to on the edge of her bed. His arms were relaxed and his hands clasped together on his lap. His eyes were closed as he formed the words in his head and readied them for Twilight to soak in. He smiled inwardly. How long had it been since his mind had drifted to the past? Time in the void was convoluted; a series of crossroads overlapping with each other. Past, present, and future often mingled together and it had been easy to reflect on history when he could separate the threads of time. He did not have that luxury now. All he could muster was his own memory, as dreaded as it was.
 
Perhaps it is time after all. He thought as he looked at the attentive Unicorn beside him. Twilight had taken to lying down on the bed and shifting her pillows so that she was propped up. He knew exactly why she had done this and he couldn’t help but chuckle at her habit. It reminded her of the times she would do this as a filly so she could read her books without straining her neck. Now it had become a response for whenever she needed to feel at ease in stressful situations. It wasn’t the most proper way to lounge while listening and conversing with another, but Beleth had told her to get comfortable. He didn’t mind it either, truth be told. 

We all have our own rituals. He thought with a smile.
 
Aware that she was still waiting on him, he coughed into his hand. He mulled over his words before he began after a moment when she just watched him intently. “Not many know much about Acharon. I'm only able to say this much because I am one of the few who was privy to his inner circle. What I can tell you about his origins is that he was young and idealistic. Actually, In many ways, he was like you."
 
He paused for a moment as a foul taste made itself known in his mouth. "Acharon was a second generation Pureblood, born after the war. He was by all means a pacifist, and stressed the importance that, while our people were made for war, our powers and abilities could be used to foster the advancement of society. He believed that by deliberation we could create equality between all races and gain acceptance. His ideas were popular and he was charismatic. He became popular and grew a following of all races. We built a community, created lives, and for a time, there was a point when we believed he had actually achieved his vision and that it was a dream that could be realised."
 
"So what changed?" Twilight asked aloud. "Why did he become so twisted that he abandoned his dream? Belial said it was the other races that acted out because they didn’t trust the Purebloods to contain their powers."
 
"It was as Belial had told you; there was a fear that the Purebloods would take over or succumb to their tainted blood. Kingdoms nearby took the gathering of Acharon and his people as a sign of hostility. They believed he was going to amass an army of fanatics with which he would raid them," Beleth stated, a somber tone in his voice. "Every man, woman and child was cut down as their homes burnt to the ground. Years of peaceful expansion were reduced to nothing in a matter of hours. When they had finished, there was little left other than the stench of destruction. They had no idea what they had sown for themselves; no clue as to what sort of enemy they had created."
 
"But you said everyone died in that raid. No one can come back from the dead, there’s no power in the scope of magic that can possibly do that! There must have been some other power in play. Re-animation to that degree is just not possible." She bit her tongue immediately after recalling the previous night. “Though from what I saw Belial do, that was at least true for Equestria. Apparently that's not the case for Dante's home."
 
"No, you are right, no one can come back from death. Instead there is a period in which they can be revived. Acharon lost that chance in the absence of a healer, but he survived as one can exist in a realm between the two. I believe an appropriate title would be 'banished from death'. The reason for this is his demonic heritage which is affected by emotions just as magic is. When Acharon saw that not only had his dream been shattered, but his 'family' slaughtered because of it. Thus he fell victim to exactly what had been feared. Fueled by his last moments of despair, anguish, hatred and desire for vengeance, his power warped his very soul." He paused, wringing his clammy hands together. "He transcended in a way, becoming something more than mortal. He gained new powers in this state and transformed the remains of his followers into his own army. Eventually he came across others like himself, betrayed and forsaken, left to their own personal hells. He made these individuals into his generals and gave them portions of his own power, turning them into other ascended beings. From that point, he envisioned building a new home for his followers. This one however, was without room for those who would not agree to his will."
 
"So what does this have to do with Belial?" Twilight asked. "Obviously they were stopped if races like Felpiers, Dwarfs, and Elves still exist. Belial can't gather an army like Acharon's here in Equestria, no one would follow him. His plan hardly makes sense,” A sudden realization dawned on her before her head snapped towards Beleth. “His plan is something different altogether.”
 
"Belial's desire is simple: he wishes for power. His intention is to live up to his father's legacy of destruction. Acharon grew to great power, but he disappeared before his conquest was complete. His empire was sealed away piece by piece, and Belial wishes to put it all together again. He will stop at nothing in his pursuit, and I only have a fraction of an idea as to how he will accomplish this. What I do know is that he hopes to pick up where Acharon left using what little remains. If he ascends, he will make Equestria his staging grounds and purge both it and our own, but he has no plans to create the kingdom Acharon had envisioned. His only aim is to destroy everything.”
 
“Then we need to stop him!” Twilight said with conviction. She stood up from her bed and stopped in front of Beleth. She was absolutely frightened by what had transpired, but deep within herself, she could feel something well up. It started as a small ball that had been growing as Beleth had spoken. Gradually it had transformed and now she felt her fear fade. “But the question is how can we stop him?”
 
Disbelief crossed Beleth’s face. He had expected the unicorn in front of him to be absolutely paralysed with fear, not come up to him demanding what her next step should be. Slowly, he smiled at Twilight as he placed his hand on her head, gingerly pushing a strand of her mane from out of her face. He felt relief within himself knowing she had this level of conviction. “There is a cloud growing in the north Twilight. One of suffering and despair. I have no doubt that Belial will be there as well, ready to dip his hand into the pot. That is where you must put a stop to his plans. You and your friends must go with Dante and his allies."
 
“I will,” Twilight said confidently. “Also, Beleth, may I tell you something?”
 
“Of course,” he replied politely. Twilight smiled at his openness. There was something she liked about Beleth, a certain quality and familiarity about him that she enjoyed. She didn’t trust him completely, but his general demeanour made it hard not to like him.
 
“I think I can understand why Acharon became what he did,” she said sadly. “I may not agree with it, but to go through all that suffering... I doubt anyone would be forgiving. I don't want to dwell on it, but if I lost my friends and Ponyville like Acharon did...I'm not sure if I'd be all that different."
 
Beleth cupped her cheek with warmth and affection. "There is truth in that, Twilight. Many lose their way in the face of tragedy. Good souls fall and darkness takes hold as disillusion blinds them. Many find the truth later on, but only when the damage is done.” He sighed and Twilight watched as the corners of his mouth tightened. “But that is Acharon’s story, Twilight Sparkle. One of a soul lost in tragedy.”
 
Twilight kept silent as she got up and wrapped her forelegs around Belial. He seemed surprised by the sudden action, but soon leaned into her. They remained there for a moment before Twilight felt herself being lifted into the air, a purple aura surrounding her. Belial moved his hand, commanding his magic to set her down and tucked the blanket around her. When she made a move to protest, he shushed her and set his hand on her forehead. Her eyes grew heavy and soon she fell into the most relaxed sleep. 

“Sleep for now, Twilight,” he commanded softly, retracting his hand. A small point of light shone on Twilight’s forehead momentarily before disappearing. Beleth stepped away as his body began to fade. His last words echoed in the room as he finally vanished. “Enjoy these last few hours of peace. For when you wake, the path ahead will be one dark step in your bright future.”


*****


Sam leaned back into the side of the window frame as he watched the moon light up the dark sky. One leg dangled out over the frame, hanging over the cliff face that Canterlot was built on. He had secluded himself after everyone had dispersed from the Royal hall. He was not as emotionally despondent as Moe was, and he definitely was not about to go on a path of destruction like Coppa had gone on. He could not blame them though, as he was angered as well. 

Celestia’s action against Dante, despite Belial’s presence, felt like nothing short of a betrayal. Coppa had practically ranted for hours, finding new and inventive ways of cursing ‘that backstabbing solar bitch’. Watching him yell and stomp so loudly that even the stones in his room shook had been quite the sight. Yet he had a point. They had trusted Celestia, and in return she had gone behind them and made the plan with Fluttershy and her friends to do whatever it was the elements did to Dante.

Fluttershy…

The name brought an odd assortment of feelings to play in his conscious. He wasn’t sure how to describe it, but despite his anger at the situation, he was more concerned with the yellow pegasus. When Belial had literally stolen her soul from her body, he had felt nothing but unbridled rage. He had struggled and cursed when the black bindings had held him down, and felt the utter hopelessness of despair when Belial had teased Celestia by nearly scratching the surface of that pink orb. He rubbed his face and moaned into his hand at the guilt the memory brought. He wanted to forget it, to just move on with his thoughts.Yet he could not stop replaying it in his mind.

Then there had been the time Shishiro had threatened her. His mood darkened with the thought of the name. Sam knew exactly who he had been and he was surprised by the fact the human had come. That had given way to rage when Fluttershy had come into danger.

He felt a sting in his forearm and looked down to see his hand clenched into a fist. A small dot of red grew in the field of white that covered his wound. It reminded him of his uncharacteristic bout of rashness that had made him throw himself and Shishiro out of a window. Now his emotions had reopened his wound slightly.

“What is wrong with me?” he murmured as he rubbed his eyes. There were only a few reasons as to why she dominated his thoughts and save for one, none made any sense. It was laughable, almost to stupid in his mind. He wanted to dismiss it, but the more he thought on it, the more it became clear. 

“Sam?” the quiet voice of the mare in question brought him to his senses and he looked to see her enter the room. He covered the spot on his arm with his hand and left the window. “I hope I’m not bothering you. Is it alright if I come in?”

“I am here, what do you need?” he said with a little more force than he had intended. Her face paled slightly before he quickly apologised. “I am sorry, Fluttershy, I didn’t mean to sound angry. I am just having some personal issues. Is there something wrong?”

"N-no, I just wanted to see how you were doing..." Her tone and voice made her effort to mask her apprehension rather pointless. There was something obviously troubling her. “How is your arm?”

"I am fine, it is nothing to worry about," he assured. Fluttershy continued on despite his assurance and looked at the hand which was covering the bloodstain. Sam bit his tongue as he showed her the spot and he heard her give him a motherly ‘tsk tsk’ of disapproval. He let her unwrap his bandages, and sat unflinching as she examined it. The flesh around the cut was red and the careful stitching was still in place. In one area nearest to his wrist, there was a small trickle of blood leaking from between the stitches. Fluttershy took to a small rag and a roll of bandages the doctors had left on a nearby table and began cleaning it. It took less than a minute, but when Fluttershy finished Sam’s bandage was rewrapped and there was not a spot of blood on it.

“There, much better,” she whispered and gave the spot a quick kiss before leaning on Sam’s shoulder. He straightened out a bit and felt his face heat up slightly. He felt Fluttershy shift nervously and stare at him. "Can I ask you something?"

"What is it?"

"That person in the hospital knew you. Was what he said true?"

"Yes, I know who he was. Shishiro is someone I encountered before I joined the team," he replied dejectedly. He wasn't sure how the mare would take this information, but he was not one to withhold facts. "What he spoke of was also true for the most part."

"So you..."

"You're too important to me to lie to. I did do it. I took his family and loved ones away, but that was before I was who I am now. I was more brutal and quick to go to blows. I killed his father and brother and now it's caused this..." He moved himself so that he faced her and got on his knees. He grasped one of her hooves and held it tightly, afraid that if he let it go then it might not come back. "I didn't intend for this to happen. I regret what I've done; I really do. I just don-"

He never finished his sentence as Fluttershy pressed a hoof to his lips. She moved her hoof and sighed deeply as she pressed her forehead to his. "It's ok Sam, I know. The Sam I know is kind, not the one that person was talking about. You aren't like that anymore and whatever you did before doesn't matter to me. What matters is that you've changed."

The pegasus smiled as she nestled into him. Being so close gave her an odd feeling. It wasn’t unpleasant in the least, quite the opposite in fact. Her heart pounded in her ears as she felt the warmth of him and the soft material of his clothes as they rubbed against her skin and coat. She feared she was being too forward in her actions, but at the same time she was just following her instinct; much like her mouth said the words that came from both her heart and her mind.

"You're kind, thoughtful and brave. You aren't someone who'll hurt others without reason. When I am with you I just feel so safe, and I know you'll protect me like you said back in the hospital. You're important to me too, and I don't ever want you to think anything you say will change that."

Sam's mouth twitched before growing to a joyous smile. The fluttering of his heart quickened and he almost felt like he could fly. He wrapped his arms around the pegasus and brought her close, stifling the 'eep' of surprise. "When Belial trapped us, my only thought was about you. If anything had happened to you, I would never have forgiven myself," he murmured, small lines of tears forming at the corners of his eyes. "I'll always be there for you. Not because you've helped me find myself, but because I care about you as more than just a friend."

His breath hitched, and his heart pounded in his chest as the seconds passed by. He could scarcely believe he had said those words even as they registered in his head. Fluttershy was likewise stunned. Her eyes had become saucers and there was an apparent blush on her face. 

Then there was a split second when the two of them inched closer and closer until he felt the soft feeling of lips grazing his own. He had never kissed anyone like this before and the feeling set a fire in his chest, demanding it be fed more and more. Passion flared as he pulled her closer and she obliged by wrapping her forelegs around his neck and deepening the kiss. Both closed their eyes as they savored the moment. He felt the softness of her fur against his hand and his mind felt truly at ease. He didn’t want the feeling to end, and from the amount of effort and passion Fluttershy was putting into the kiss, neither did she.

The need for air broke them apart, red faced and smiling. The two of them stared affectionately into each other’s eyes before Fluttershy leaned forward and pecked him on the nose. He did the same and the both of them touched foreheads as they caught their breath. His heart was pumping faster than he even thought possible.  “I’m glad I came to this world.”

Fluttershy giggled quietly as she blushed more and quickly pecked him on the lips.“I am too,” she replied with a content sigh. A soft tapping came from the door and Sam let out a disappointed groan. Fluttershy smiled and pecked Sam on the lips one more time before she approached the door. Behind it was one of the castles guards, standing tall and poised as he spoke.

"The Princess requires the elements and their guests in the throne room. The others have already been summoned. Please follow me."


*****


Everyone had been arranged by the time Sam and Fluttershy arrived in the Throne hall. A still fuming Dwarf stood on one side with his elven friend, arms crossed and teeth slightly showing. On the other side were Twilight and her friends, standing in a line and conversing in hushed tones. Their ears may not have heard what they were saying, but the occasional glances at the regal white alicorn standing in front of the steps of her throne told Sam and Fluttershy that Celestia was at the centre of their discussion. The only ones absent were Dante and Luna. 

Sparing a glance at each other, Sam and Fluttershy parted and took their places with their respective groups. Rarity made room for the timid pegasus and soon was recounting everything they had spoken if to her as quickly as she could. Fluttershy kept quiet and Sam took the free space beside Coppa.

Celestia stepped forward, ushering the room into silence. She appeared hesitant, but there was a peculiar force in her voice. "It is time to discuss why I have called you all here and to explain myself.”

“Oh well now we get some answers! Here I was, thinking we were about to be put on the chopping block next,” Coppa growled, not attempting to mask any of the scorn in his voice. The bluntness of his statement shocked everyone silent. Even Celestia was taken back by the outright hostility he was giving off.

“I assure you, I-”

“You what?” Coppa interrupted. “You thought it’d be ok to go behind our backs? Keep some crucial details from us regarding our friend? Didn’t let us in on you grand scheme? Decided not to tell us you were potentially going to kill that thing possessing Dante, and as an added bonus, Dante too?” He pointed his finger accusingly at her, fur bristling as he growled audibly. “Why should we listen to anything you say?”

“I did not plan anything concerning betraying you or your friends, Coppa,” Celestia said, her voice frank and forceful. “Yes, I did withhold my intentions, but there was little hope you could negotiate a being like that to withdraw from your friend. Nor would you have allowed me to do anything if I did tell you. The only option left was to either seal him, or destroy the host completely. Which one the Elements would have done, I am not sure.”

“You expect us to think that was your only option?” Coppa replied. “You honestly expect us to believe that you, an all powerful Princess who can control the sun, couldn’t have done anything?”

“Coppa, you saw Belial take both the Princesses down in a matter of seconds,” Moe said, placing a hand on Coppa’s shoulder. It seemed the action was more to restrain the dwarf than it was to reassure him. “As much as I hate to admit it, Celestia may have been right. Dante is our friend, but was their any real hope of us beating that thing?”

“That doesn’t mean she can just decide on her own whether or not to kill something!”

“Then look at it from her perspective,” a voice called out from behind them all, strong and familiar. Every head turned to to see the doors opened and two figures approaching. The Princess of the night strode confidently forward alongside the young horned man who was using his staff as a support as he walked forward. Dark lines ran under his eyes, a further display of the tired body that stood on unsteady legs. 

"Dante, you're okay!" Twilight said loudly as everyone crowded him. There was a barrage of relieved hugs and Dante took them all in stride in spite of his exhaustion. 

"I'm a little tired, but I'm ok. I’m glad you’re all safe," he replied before turning to Coppa. His smile turned serious and he placed a hand on the Dwarf’s shoulder. Coppa tensed, but Dante only lightly tapped him on the head with his staff. "I know you're angry, but use your head, Coppa. Celestia's responsible for all of Equestria; they're her beloved subjects and they’re like a family to her. You'd do the what she did if your mother or sister were in danger."

Coppa deflated as he thought about it. He spared a glance at the somber Celestia and sighed. "You're right, I'm sorry."

"I know you are. You're a good friend and I know you were only trying to do what was best. Just don't blame Celestia for what any of us would do. Not even she needs to suffer a Dwarf with a grudge. God knows what you would've done."

Coppa gave a good chuckle at that. When he finished, he scratched his nose with slight embarrassment before nodding at nothing in particular. He turned away from Dante and matched towards Celestia. The Alicorn gave him a warm smile as he stood before her, extending his hand. "Sorry Celestia, I don't think well when I get stressed out. Acting on instinct and emotion kind of happens a lot."

"Apology accepted, Coppa," Celestia replied. "I do not blame you for how you acted either."

"So we're good?"

"We're good, Coppa."

"Wow, Coppa is actually letting something go. I've seen everything now," Moe joked as his best friend glared at him and raised a single middle digit to the elf. Everyone laughed at their antics and even Dante cracked a smile as the atmosphere lightened for the first time.

“Yes, though I think it is time for Celestia to explain to us why she brought us all here,” Dante said. He did not want to kill the mood, but there was a growing unease within him. He knew exactly what Celestia was going to show them. He had found that village and Belial had forced the past which had been so buried to come to light once more. Celestia knew it as well and she looked almost as though she were half-dreading, half-relieved that whatever it was was being shared with her closest companions. 

Dante respected that she was not shying away from this revelation and in return he was given an approving nod by Celestia. It seemed as though she was thankful he had gotten things back to point. “Dante is right, it is time this comes to light."

Her horn ignited and the room was filled with the sound of stone scraping upon stone. The giant throne became encased in the golden glow of her magic and began to slide to the side. Over a hundred pounds of decorated wood, gold, and velvet slid to the side to reveal a square hole about seven feet wide. Everyone gasped as Celestia then levitated two large gilded chests from within the hole. They hovered in the air, reflecting the light off their polished bronze exteriors before Celestia placed them down before her.

"We cannot believe it..." Luna uttered as she approached the chests. She placed a hoof on a circular piece on the front of one of the chests. She rubbed the piece and let centuries of dust fall to the ground before a sun sigil revealed itself. Luna sucked in a breath as she let her hoof drop from the chest. "Sister, their chests..."

"Yes, Luna, these are all that's left."

"Princess, what are these chests?" Twilight asked, taking to the side of her mentor. She examined the other chest, taking note of the small chains of letters and swirling decoration that covered it. "The writing is in ancient Equestrian, but some of these words and designs are unlike anything I've ever seen."

The Princess stared at her student with pride. "Very astute Twilight," she began. "Tell me, what do you and your friends know of our country's history? More specifically, the major events of Equestria's founding as a kingdom and its expansion?"

"You're talking about the three tribes and Discord. Of course we all know about the three tribes," she said. "The three tribes originally were never on friendly terms. They argued and bickered over almost everything even though they relied on each other. The Unicorns controlled the day and night cycles, the Pegasi controlled the weather, and the Earth Ponies were the sole agricultural producers."

"They came to Equestria in order to find a new place to live and thrive, but even then they couldn't get along. None of the tribes wanted anything to do with each other." Rainbow Dash added. "Come on Princess, this is grade school history!"

Fluttershy nodded in agreement before she recounted what she knew. "Their fighting eventually brought the Windigos to Equestria. When the country was nearly frozen, the three aids to the leaders united and got rid of them before they made Equestria. Everything was peaceful until Discord began terrorizing the citizens."

"Then you and Princess Luna used the Elements of Harmony and sealed the old Discord away and there was a gigantic party with streamers and cake and confetti and punch and cake!" Pinkie Pie shouted as a blast of confetti quite literally shot outwards from behind her, coating the wall and the three forms of Sam, Moe, and Coppa in a bright cloud of coloured paper and streamers.

Rarity rolled her eyes at Pinkie’s antics before she spoke up. "From that point on, it was mostly a period of peace and prosperity. There were a few incidents like the Crystal Empire, but both you and Princess Luna dealt with them as best you could."

"Then Luna stirred up a mighty big ol' mess when she turned to Nightmare Moon. Ya sealed her away and ruled by your lonesome till she came back." Applejack looked to the lunar princess apologetically. "No offense to you, Princess Luna."

The Princess of the Night bowed her head, but her serious face remained. It was surprising to see her display so little emotion even when confronted by her low point. "None is taken, dear Applejack."

"Everything you have said is correct," Celestia announced, smiling proudly for a moment. Her happiness faded, giving way to her more serious face. "The founding of Equestria was indeed a product of the three tribes coming together, but the citizens were still divided by their roots. Many times the kingdom almost collapsed in on itself because the ponies in the government couldn't agree on the simplest matters. To make matters worse, Discord was terrorizing Equestria and putting more strain on it. For a time, it seemed that our kingdom was going to fail under the weight of these crises. So in response, a small group of ponies united and searched for a solution."

Celestia ignited her horn and a small bronze key, decorated with a sun wheel at the end shot out from a space in the base of her throne. She took the key and slid it into the slot of one of the chests. There was the sound metal groaning as the lock's ancient pieces moved and opened. Celestia refrained from opening the chest, continuing her explanation instead. 

"The small group, including Luna and myself, repeatedly came to dead ends and we were unable to craft a solution in regards to both the situation of the Kingdom and Discord. For a time we lost hope, but a series of freak events involving the Elements of Harmony led us to an individual who assisted us. It was they who aided us, risking life and limb, so that my sister and I could achieve our destinies. This individual, and soon enough their village, were a compelling force within Equestria. They were dear friends and loyal to a fault."

"I don't understand," Twilight interjected. She knew the history of Equestria through and through.To be told that she had only seen a partial picture shook the academic part of her very being. "We've always been taught that the early years of Equestria's existence were peaceful and stable. If this is the truth, then who was this individual and what were they? Were they Minotaurs, Griffons... or maybe..."

There was a long pause when Celestia did not speak. Twilight couldn't have known, but both Celestia and Luna were wavering. They had come so far, but neither was willing to answer her. The revelation may have been to much; an error of judgement brought about by stress and years of regret. Each princess was relieving a thousand years of memories, recounting the rollercoaster of emotion that made up their past. It was surprising that despite the evidence that had been dug up, despite the very evidence which had been shown that previous night, no one had connected the dots. That was until the realization dawned on the very mind which had uncovered it all.

"Humans... You brought humans into this world..."

“What..." Twilight trailed off in confusion. Dante stepped forward and approached the chests. He cautiously touched the one that had been unlocked with a consenting nod from Celestia. With a great effort, he pushed the heavy lid open and let it fall back. Slowly he reached in, grasping the large circular bundle within before he placed it on the grounds and rolled it open. Twilight gasped as the bundle became a tapestry as it opened up and revealed the carefully woven images sewn into it. 

Gasps of surprise and awe filled the room as the tapestry was crowded around. It was amazingly detailed, coloured thread weaving together a continuous story over the long tapestry that reached nearly half way across the throne room. Twilight could hardly concentrate on the images over the sound of Rarity gushing over the exquisite hoofstiching and the others clamouring in excitement. Twilight kept quiet as she scanned the part of the tapestry from where she stood. Ponies and figures which were no doubt humans fought together, armoured and bearing weapons of all sorts as they braced in the face of a mass of monstrous creatures. Pegasi flew overhead, battling the monsters who had likewise taken to the air. She saw the Princesses at the head of the army, but Twilight’s eyes were drawn to the duo in the centre defending themselves against a monster that had a human torso but the body of a horse. Even the simplistic depiction of the two had a certain aura to it, radiating a subtle hint of courage and power.

"The first decades of our countries were not as they were written. They were dark times and we required as much help as we could take," Celestia said, levitating another package from the chest. It floated over to Dante who unwrapped it to find an ink stained book filled with yellowed pages. Dante and Twilight examined it, but refrained from opening it. "They were there throughout the early years. At every major event from Discord to the Luna's banishment, they were ready to give their lives and would take no place other than the vanguard when facing our enemies."

"And these two," Twilight pointed at the two humans in the middle. "Who were they?"

"They were Alaric and Yoren," Luna answered as she carefully levitated a dull steel cuirass from the other chest. It was scratched and pitted, no doubt it had served its wearer well, but the Princess’s expression betrayed the warrior’s fate. Luna looked at the piece of armour sadly and set it back in the chest. "They were our knights and our closest friends. Stories would paint their actions as heroic and there was no length they wouldn't go to fulfil an oath. They loved Equestria like it was their homeland and fought tooth and nail for its safety." She smiled weakly and a small blush warmed her cheeks as memories came back to her. "The Thestrals even commissioned their own tapestry of the tasks Yoren did to secure their loyalty."

Coppa's ears perked up at her words and he leaned out from the press of bodies crowding the tapestry. "You mean like the one Fancy Pants has in his house? Some piece about  the folk tale with the dragonslayer? Looked pretty cool for what was left of it."

Luna stared at the Dwarf with noticeable surprise. She obviously had questions forming, but she just couldn't put them into words. Not waiting for the response, Coppa shrugged before going back to examining the far end with everyone else. No doubt she would inquire further into the subject later.

"I have another question to ask. Before the attack, I found a village beneath the Everfree forest when I was inspecting the area where Sam encountered the statue with Twilight's mother, Twilight Velvet. The mare you sent to evaluate me," Dante said, a slight sharpness at the mention of Twilight's mother. Celestia and Luna shared a glance at each other and focused on Dante, ears cocked in anticipation. "A battle started there before whatever ruined the village occurred. I only saw a small number of remains, but its obvious there were other factors to their deaths. I only want to know one thing: what caused the destruction of the humans?"

Luna’s ears folded at the question, and Celestia sighed. The two reactions told Twilight and the others present who had turned their attention to the two rulers. Dante did have a similar idea of what may have caused the destruction, but hearing it come from either one of them would have been enough for his tastes. There was a reason the tribe had been decimated and their memory forgotten, but the only ones with the knowledge were the two Princesses before him.

“It was during the Nightmare Moon incident," Celestia replied somberly. "Nightmare Moon's coup divided those loyal to the two of us. While I fought against Nightmare moon, the humans divided between our forces. When I sealed away Luna, the entire population had destroyed itself in the fighting. Alaric, Yoren, and all of the village was reduced to nothing."

“And with their destruction, their remains were erased from the face of the land." Dante said, sharing the grim tone. Surprisingly, Celestia shook her head with a slight smile and both Dante and Twilight raised an eyebrow. 

"The humans may have been destroyed during that fateful night, but their presence is not entirely gone. Their influence is still hidden within the traditions and their bloodlines live on in some families even today. Events like the summer sun celebration have roots in their culture and we have them to thank for the establishment of positions such as the one your brother once held, my dear student. These are things which are much more difficult to do away with." 

While Twilight still tried to digest the information, Dante nodded, apparently pleased with the answer. “So then I take it that there is some sort of connection then. Somehow our situation is much like before.”

Celestia nodded. “The Elements showed us and assisted us in bringing Humans to Equestria in order to help defend it. Despite the fact that it may have seemed like this situation was accidental, I had the idea that you're coming to Equestria was much more complex then that. In fact, when I cast the translation spell the first time I met you all, I took the liberty of examining the signatures of magic radiating from your body. Much like in the case of Alaric and Yoren, you four are somehow linked to a respective Element of Harmony. I am not exactly sure how closely connected you are, but this has led me to believe that Elements brought you here for some purpose.”

“That would explain why we landed where we did,” Coppa stated, “but did they really have to dump me off in a tree? Everyone else got a softer landing than I did.”

Moe shook his head with a sigh of irritation while Sam held back from countering with his time in the forest. The elf drummed a finger on his chin before he spoke. “Coppa’s right, it would explain why we all ended up with each element’s bearer. But what purpose would we really serve here? So far, all we’ve done is create even more problems and now a group of psychotics here.”

“One of which is Moe’s pissed of Ex-girlfriend,” Coppa added. Moe shot a glare at him, causing Coppa to chuckle weakly before he quieted. 

“Regardless of who was brought over, Moe is right,” Dante cut the two of them off motioning for the two to be quiet. “There wasn’t any situation in Equestria that required the same solutions as a thousand years ago.”

“That was my thought exactly for the longest while after you all arrived,” Celestia stated and began to pace back and forth. “‘Why would the Elements bring over those who were connected to them when there was no need for them?’ For days Luna and I pondered what the Elements had in store. However, thinking on it now and with all that has happened, I’ve come to understand the situation.” She stopped pacing and leaned down to face Dante. “The Elements did not bring you here to assist in solving an issue that plagued Equestria. They brought you here because there was an imbalance within those who were connected to them. They desire to fix this problem, and I believe you four were brought here to facilitate this.” She smiled at Dante and placed a hoof on his shoulder. “You’ll be rid of Belial soon enough.”

Dante stood there stunned beyond belief. It was absurd, but at the same time it wasn’t. A way to escape. He had always dreamed of being freed from Belial’s influence. Now he had found a possible way to do just that. If it were true and he pursued this, he knew he would not be alone. He wouldn’t even need to ask; the others had decided the minute Celestia had told them. With all that had happened, this would just be another strange event to add to the list. 

For the first time he could remember, Dante laughed and cried in joy. A feeling of overwhelming euphoria swelled within him and for minutes on end he felt like his heart was jumping in circles. He doubled over and fell to his knees as the tear flowed from his eyes and fell to the ground, staining the floor with moisture. Soon enough he became lightheaded and his body eventually forced him to stop his emotional outpour and take in huge gulps of air. Twilight saw genuine and unadulterated glee on his face as he wiped his eyes and got to his feet.

Twilight watched all this occur before her eyes and she still didn't believe what she was seeing. Gone was Dante who had always had a grim feeling about him. Now someone entirely new was in front of her. He stood taller than before and a fresh spark in his eye revealed the spirit of confidence that hadn’t dwelled within him when he first arrived in Equestria.

"What do we need to do?" Dante asked. Celestia tapped her hoof on the stone tiles of the room and the double doors at the end began to open. A thin gryphon with feathers as white as fresh snow strode through them alongside his armoured retinue. He stood tall and proud, but the air of uncertainty was all around him. His pale red eyes betrayed a hint of exhaustion and it seemed as though whoever these new arrivals were, they had either just arrived or they were facing a huge crisis. Either way, their arrival had to have had some importance to what Celestia was about to say.

The griffon came to a halt just a few feet from Dante and his team and the white one at the head seemed to size all four of them up. A small crease tinged the edges of his eyes as he narrowed his gaze. There was a tense moment between the two before Celestia stepped between them.

“Allow me to introduce Prince Frostfeather, heir to the Griffon Kingdoms.” She turned towards the young Griffon and he seemed to relax slightly in her presence. “Your highness, these are the individuals I told you about. They should be able to help you with your country’s particular crisis."

Frostfeather held his paw out. "A pleasure to meet you."

"Likewise," Dante replied, shaking his paw. He had seen many Griffons before back home, but the one in front of him seemed much friendlier and more intelligent than what he knew; far more intelligent as well. "I assume our destination lies back in your Kingdom. Something involving strange monsters in your capital?"

Perplexed, the Prince nodded. "It started with citizens disappearing all over the kingdom along with those sent to find them. Scores went missing over the course of a few days, numbering close to sixty of all ages. After a period we gave up hope of ever finding them until a strange individual arrived in my father's court." Disgust made itself apparent on the young Griffons face. "His appearance was odd, but my father allowed him into our hall. He spoke with honeyed words and told my father, King Ironwing, he could bring our missing citizens back. Desperation forced my father to give him consideration and the offer of a reward with their return. When he did, the missing were under his control and accompanied by a force of monsters that seized control of the capital.”

“The Prince originally asked for full military support from Equestria. However, because of the nature of the situation and the issues stemming from the aftermath on the attack on Ponyville, the Equestrian cabinet decided to withhold military support for the time being. Though it goes against our wishes, we cannot supercede the cabinet’s wishes without causing a major political scandal that would hamper aid,” Celestia explained quickly. “As you are neither citizens or members of our military, we hoped you would take on the task. A smaller group would be less detectable and we’ve agreed that it is the better choice considering your abilities,” she added. “What do you four say?”

“Someone who can summon monsters. Sounds like that Ravenn guy,” Coppa concluded. “He’s the one who was in charge of that Bullymong that tore through Ponyville. I’ve been itching to try going toe to toe with him. If he’s in the Griffon Kingdoms, then it would explain why he never showed the other night.”

Moe stepped forward as well. “I second that. We brought Dagon and the rest to this world, it should be our prerogative to fix what we caused.”

Dante nodded and looked to Sam. “And what’s your opinion on this?”

“I…” Sam hesitated as he spoke. To leave was to put himself in harms way and face the possibility he may not come back. Normally, he would have shared in the eagerness his team felt, but he felt conflicted in the face of his recent confession. Deep down, he knew what he needed to do though. “I will come along too.”

“Then you will help us?” Frostfeather asked, almost pleadingly. Dante and his companions nodded and the prince sighed in relief. It appeared as though the great weight that had rested on his shoulders was lifted slightly. “Perfect, then we will take our leave as soon as possible. If there is anything you need, we will do our best to obtain it.”

“We will be heading back to Ponyville to get our things ready, pick us up from there,” Dante added. The prince gave an affirmative wave and turned with his entourage to leave the hall. Dante glanced to his side and caught Twilight and her friends staring at him. A moment passed before he simply opened his mouth and spoke. “No. You are not coming with us.”

A collective ‘but’ was silenced by his hand and a stern look. “You are the bearers of the Elements of Harmony. Despite what you think, this situation is more dangerous than anything you faced before. We can’t afford to be distracted by having to protect you, and Equestria is at risk if any of you are hurt.” 

“You can’t be serious!” Rainbow Dash shouted. “You’re just going to leave us behind?”

“That’s exactly what we are doing and it’s the end of this discussion. You six are staying here.”

“B-but…” Her face went through a series of emotions as she stuttered, ranging from disbelief and shock before finally setting on anger.. “Fine then, flankhole! See if we care!” the brash pegasus shouted before she stormed off. Pinkie Pie and Applejack ran after her, calling for her to calm down while Twilight, Fluttershy, and Rarity stayed behind. Fluttershy and Rarity both went to Sam and Moe, offering them a few kind words and a respective kiss on the cheek before they excused themselves. Blushes tinted their faces while Coppa began to poke fun at them, earning him two sharp punches to his arm. Dante paid them no attention, choosing to focus on the mare in front of him.

“Umm… I’ll see you at the library then?” she said, stutteringly slightly. “I doubt you’ll need me to tell you to stay safe when you do leave though. It’ll be odd without an alien in my house, hoarding all my books.”

Dante chuckled. “Don’t worry about it, I’m not leaving yet. There’s at least one more night of seeing what the Golden Oaks Library has to offer when I’m not focused on getting myself home.”

“Care if I join you?”

Dante smiled at the offer and began to walk forward. “Come on then, daylight is burning, Twilight.”

With that the two of them left with Sam and Coppa behind them. Moe stayed behind, a single question plaguing his thoughts as the stream of events calmed down. He just wanted to clarify something and then he’d be gone for whatever surprise it was Rarity had in store for him. A slight giddy smile formed on his face, but he kept his excitement under control and put on a serious face. Carefully, he approached Celestia who took notice of him and beckoned for him to speak.

“Sorry to bother you Princess, I only have a question to ask. I’m interested in what you said earlier when you spoke of the humans. What did you mean by legacies and bloodlines?”

“It is exactly as it is means. Coexistence between the two races resulted in quite the number of interspecies pairings. As a result their legacy lives on in their family lines today.” She cocked her head as though she were confused, but the ghost of a smile told a different story. “Why do you ask?”

“Uh… no specific reason, Princess,” Moe replied as he paled more and more by the second. “Thank you for explaining it to me,” he added before his voice turned to a whisper.

 “Looks like I have a DJ to call…” 




> No One Left Behind
> --------------------------------------------------------------------------

If there was one thing Twilight wanted after Dante and his friends had left Ponyville with Prince Frostfeather and the last twenty Griffons that hadn’t been captured, it was a little piece and quiet to collect her thoughts and get back to her normal routine. Seeing their alien friends off to the Griffon homelands had gone off without so much as a hiccup, something she was incredibly grateful for.

Most of Ponyville had actually turned out for out the event and everypony had said their fond farewells and wishes for a safe trip before they left. Fluttershy and Rarity had been a little reluctant to stop fussing over Sam and a rather sore looking Moe, but they had let them onto the Griffon Airship without much argument. Applejack and her siblings all had shown up and each of them gave Coppa a few things for his journey, the largest of which was the packed bags Granny Smith had given to him with only the ambiguous statement of their contents, calling them “somethin to give you a bit of pep in yer step”. Nopony really knew what she had put in those bags, not even Coppa since Granny had made him swear up and down not to look yet, but he had thanked her profusely even as she nearly suffocated him with a sweater she had made. As for Dante, Twilight had given him nearly thirty books out of the many they had discussed the night before. He had taken them all, putting them in that strange void of a bag he carried with him, and gave her a hug before wishing her well and setting off with the rest of them.

After that bit of excitement had died down, she and the girls had met the Princesses in the library to discuss what had happened. What had ensued was probably the worst one sided argument between the hot headed member of her circle of friends and that of the composed Princesses. It had ended with Rainbow Dash nursing her ego and the Princesses leaving to pay their respects and arrange for proper burials for their fallen friends in that sunken cave under the Everfree. After that, Twilight had thought she would have gotten a bit of time in which she could organise herself and follow what Beleth had told her back in the castle. Being told they were not to go after Dante was probably the biggest obstacle in her way, not counting the absence of a way to catch up to them. Had she gotten a small window of peace and quiet, maybe she would have come up with something. 

Unfortunately, her fuming friend of a pegasus had ruined that by crashing into Twilight’s living room and re-opening the covered hole from two nights before.

So here she was, with her friends, half listening to the Element of Loyalty as she vented.

“Oh, you can’t go with us because you’re the Elements of Harmony! You’d just get in the way! We don’t want you to get hurt! Well buck you flankhole, I never even wanted to go on some stupid adventure to the Griffon Kingdoms and fight monsters.” Her tirade was becoming almost too much to bear for some of her friends. Some appeared as exasperated as Twilight was while others, namel Pinkie Pie and Applejack, looked ready to burst out laughing as Rainbow Dash’s rant became a series of noises and jumbled words which made no sense. If Twilight recalled correctly, Dash was soon going to pass the anger stage in the process of accepting the situation. Soon she’d be a little depressed about being left behind, but then she’d go on to accepting her situation and moving on.

“You know what? We should just go on our own adventure and fight monsters without them! And when they complain about being left behind, I’ll just say, ‘oh, you’re just gonna drag us down and we don’t want you to get hurt!”

Or she could just decide to stay in the anger phase for a little while longer…

Twilight had began to contemplate getting up and leaving; Dash probably wouldn’t even notice. That process of thought ended when she saw Rarity. Whether she realised it or not,  the pegasus’ continued indignant behaviour only seemed to push Rarity over the edge. “That’s enough Rainbow Dash, you’re embarrassing yourself and you should realise that by now! They went off without us for good reasons. I, for the life in me, can not understand why you must throw such a hissy fit over being not included in one little event. We are a main part of Equestria’s safety, why do you not see that?”

“So you’re fine with letting your coltfriend run off into the Griffon Kingdoms while he leaves you behind?”

“Of course not!” Rarity snapped back. “I do not like my situation any more than you do, and I would gladly jump at the first opportunity to go with them. Unlike you however, I can put aside my personal feelings about this and accept my position in the situation.”

Twilight only got to five before Rainbow Dash turned her attention to the white unicorn and unloaded on her. Whether or not Rarity had hoped to silence her brash friend with her statement or if she was acting on emotion, Twilight couldn’t tell, but the only thing that had come about was the new verbal onslaught that was taking place in her drafty living room. She could almost feel her mind becoming numb with each passing moment the two continued. It was almost a relief when there was a knock on the door.

Taking her chance, Twilight got up and moved away from the shouting match. It wasn’t as though she wanted them to continue yelling at each other, but there really wasn’t anything she could have done. She didn’t feel as though there was anything she could say to calm them at this moment. She sighed to herself, a feeling of uselessness plaguing her more than that of annoyance. That evaporated quickly as she opened the door and saw the mare who had been standing behind it.

“Mom?” 

“Sweetie! How’re you doing?” Twilight Velvet exclaimed as she hugged her daughter. “I hope I’m not interrupting anything important.”

“Mom? What’re you doing here?” Twilight asked, still trying to process the sudden appearance of her mother. 

Velvet beamed as she nuzzled her daughter affectionately. “Is there some reason why your mother shouldn’t be concerned about her little filly?” She gave an exaggerated pout when she broke away. “Whatever happened the little filly who was practically glued to my side and always wanted me to tuck her in with Ms. Smartypants?”

“Mom…” Twilight deadpanned at her mother’s theatrical display. As much as she loved the mare, Twilight Velvet had both her moments of seriousness and those when she could thoroughly embarrass her children. This moment, however, was interrupted as the argument inside grew loud enough to reach the door. Twilight Velvet gave her daughter a questioning glance before Twilight sighed. “There was a little bit of a mixed reception when Dante and his friends left. I don’t think you want to get involved in that.”

Velvet waved her hoof. “Nonsense, I know how to deal with this. All it needs is a mother’s touch,” she said as she dropped her playful demeanor. “Now please let me inside so she can administer a bit of tough love.”

Without a word, Twilight stood aside and let Velvet into the library. The mare passed her with a small whisper of thanks and went into the living room. Rarity and Rainbow Dash were still arguing, but now Applejack had entered the fray while Pinkie Pie and Fluttershy desperately tried to calm them down in their own respective ways. None of them even spared a glance at Twilight and her mother as they entered.

“That is quite enough!” Velvet shouted. Though it wasn’t the loudest voice in the room, it had the incredible effect of silencing everypony there. The sheer authority it carried made every mare in that room lower their heads and fold their ears back instinctively. Immediately, Velvet turned to the three mares in the centre of the room. “You three, on your rumps. Now.”

Rarity, Rainbow Dash, and Applejack quickly sat themselves down on the floor and gulped as Velvet seemingly towered over them. “I am disappointed in all three of you mares. A screaming match is not how we solve our problems. If you three were my foals and a few years younger, I’d have you each nursing a sore flank and sent to your rooms to think about how foolish you were acting,” she added. “Now every one of you is going to listen to what I have to say. No ifs, ands, or buts.”

Twilight winced at the words. She had never actually experienced such a punishment, but any thoughts of rebellion when she was young had been done away with when her brother had suffered a particularly specific punishment for sneaking out of the house. Shining armor had never said what Twilight Velvet had made him do, but he was behaving like a polite colt who did what his parents asked without a second thought.

“I don’t have to listen to you. I’m an adult!” Rainbow Dash retorted. Her moment of rebelliousness ended immediately as Velvet turned her menacing glare upon the blue pegasus. All confidence in her voice faded with her defiance, and the rest of them watched as she shrunk slightly. “Y-you’re not my mom…”

“No, I am not your mother. Nor will I ever be. But you are not the first bratty foal I’ve met and you certainly won’t be the last. I don’t know how long it took your mother to bring you into this world, but I sure as tartarus can reform you into a polite and courteous mare who respects those more experienced than them. Do you understand me, Ms. Rainbow Dash?”

“Y-y-yes m-ma’am…”

In the instant of compliance, Velvet dropped her authoritative face for that of a warm smile. “Good, now that I have all your attention, I am incredibly surprised to see that you’re all still here and not chasing after your friends. Why is that?”

“They told us to stay here and Celestia agreed with them. Now we’re stuck here and missing out on the coolest adventure ever,” Dash answered dejectedly before she began stamping the ground in frustration. “It’s not fair at all!”

“So why don’t you do something about it?”

Everypony stared at Velvet as though she had grown a second head. “Because both Dante and the Princesses said to stay here since the Elements of Harmony are too important to risk going to the Griffon Kingdom,” Twilight explained while everypony else let their silence speak for them. It hardly seemed to faze Velvet, whom had taken a spot on the living room couch and was occupying herself with a book.

“I don’t often care to repeat myself, but I’m going to ask again: What is stopping you from ignoring the both of them? Princess Celestia may be your teacher, Twilight, but she can’t dictate what you do. Besides, it is not as though she would punish you harshly for doing what you thought was right and assisting in containing a neighboring country’s turmoil from spilling over the border,” Velvet said as she closed the book and levitated it towards a shelf with her magic. “Listen you six, I am going to be going into the kitchen to fetch some tea for myself and to ask Spike if he would like some as well. It may take me a little while since I have no idea where Twilight keeps her tea leaves, and I often get distracted by thinking of how much I’d love to house-sit this library, but I am sure I can manage.” She lifted a hoof as Twilight went to speak and shushed the unicorn. “My air balloon is also in the field near the school, unattended and ready to leave at a moment’s notice.” She gave them all a knowing smirk as she left the couch and stopped just outside the kitchen doorway. “But while I am getting my tea ready, don’t any of you think of leaving and going after your friends!”

Velvet hummed to herself as she left the six of them bewildered and glancing at each other. “So she wants us to leave, take her balloon, and go to the Griffon Kingdom?” Twilight asked to approving nods. She shrugged her shoulders and heard a muffled laugh come from within the kitchen just before she turned to the door. “Well then girls, I think it’s time to see if an Equestrian hot air balloon can catch up with a Griffon Airship.”

“No argument here,” Rainbow Dash said, pumping her legs. Her excitement quickly turned to puzzlement as each of the non-pegasus ponies all turned their attention on her. “Uh, what’s going on?”

Rarity held a hoof to her mouth, chortling as Dash swallowed nervously. “Why dear, you won’t be riding in the balloon, you’re going to be the one pushing us along.”


*****


At nearly a thousand feet in the air, the personal airship of Prince Frostfeather cut through the sky as its three propellers pushed it forward towards the lands of the Griffons. It was a masterful creation of wood and metal, held aloft by the lattice work of rope that connected the gondola to the series of gas bags which were contained within a larger balloon. There was no doubt that the aptly named Skyrender was the epitome of Griffon ingenuity and craftsmanship. Even the gondola was comfortable and spacious with its many rooms, each with their own hammock, storage chest, desk, and pellet heater. However, the image of the grand ship was marred only by the deep gouges and scorch marks that littered the entirety of the Skyrender’s body, ruining the once lustrous coat of vibrant red paint that had adorned the gondola. So grave was the damage that they had been forced to stop three times in the past few hours, due to engine failure and issues with the gas bags. A simple half day’s journey had almost tripled since they had left.

Dante watched from his desk as some of the crew members of the ship flew past, connected to the gunwales of the gondola by sturdy rope, and made hasty repairs to the body of the ship, nailing new sheets of metal and wood wherever they were needed. The constant sound of hammering rang clearly even the room he had taken for the journey. By this point in the trip, it had just become background noise as he gingerly read through the thousand year old tome he had been allowed to borrow from the Princess on the promise he’d care for it with his life. A promise he fully intended to keep if he wanted to avoid the wrath of Celestia.

He closed the book just as there was knock on the door before it creaked open. Turning, Dante found Prince Frostfeather standing in the entrance way. He looked exactly as he had when they had first met, but the air of vulnerability was still present. "May I come in?" he asked quietly. Even his voice had lost its false edge from their first meeting, replaced by slight insecurity. The tray he was holding trembled so much that the two cups and teapot on it danced dangerously close to the edge, making Dante wonder just how many times they had almost fallen before the Prince had arrived in his cabin.

"Of course," Dante replied and offered his chair to the Griffon. He had not seen a single trace of the Prince since they had left Ponyville. Whether he had deliberately avoided him or was just too busy to sit down with his passengers, Dante didn’t know. The Prince set the tray down on the desk and carefully poured its contents into the two cups. Tentatively, he offered Dante a steaming cup and with a murmur of thanks, he took it and inhaled the sweet scent that wafted from the greenish liquid in the simple cup. One eyebrow arched as he switched between looking at the Prince and his cup. “I’ve never seen anything like this before.”

“It’s Moutainroot tea. Brewed from a plant near the castle grounds,” Frostfeather said with a weak chuckle before he sipped from his cup. Dante followed suit and took a tentative sip, only to find himself pleasantly surprised with its slightly bitter taste. He heard the Prince chuckle before he raised his own cup to his mouth. “My mother and I grew it in our garden, though my father was none too pleased when he found out. He said that the heir shouldn’t have a hobby for females and that I should be training my sword arm. I found that growing things helped me relax more than hitting a stuffed bag.”

“That’s a shame on his part, you have quite the talent for this,” Dante replied, sharing a quiet laugh with him. He quickly blew on the liquid before he took another sip and placed the cup on his desk. “I realise the situation and judging by our descent, I can assume we’re nearly at the outskirts of your home. Though it isn’t how close we are to your home that has been bothering you, is it? There’s something more to it from what I can tell. I don't use it often, but one of the skills my race has is knowing the emotional states of those around us."

The Griffon Prince took a final sip of his tea before he set his cup down and fiddled with his claws. “I could have stayed… its what my father would have don- did. I could have fought alongside him and maybe I would have made a difference in the end.” A wry look settled on his face, twisting it with shame. “Instead I ran, escaped with my guards and hid like a coward. I don’t deserve to be an heir and I am an utter failure as a Griffon.”

Dante was a little more curt in his response than he would have liked, but a situation like this needed to be resolved quickly. “No. You’re just not seeing the bigger picture.”

“What else is there to see?!” Frostfeather moaned. “My kingdom is in turmoil and all I did was run off with my tail between my legs. What sort of leader abandons their people when they needed me?"

Dante sighed and rubbed his temple. "I don't know much about Griffon culture, but I see what you did in a different way entirely and I am sure others will agree with me."

"How do you see it then?"

"You are a figurehead, the heir to the throne and the future leader of every Griffon in your kingdom. That is who you are and that is how it will stay," Dante said calmly. “You did escape from the Kingdom after Ravenn attacked, but you did not go into hiding. Most importantly, you did not abandon your people.” He took a moment and watched as the Prince took in his words. Dante felt oddly proud of himself. Many times he had been in this situation and Principle Feinman had reassured him. Now it was him giving the pep talks. “You did what any intelligent leader would do. Had you fallen with your father and people, there would have been no hope for your kingdom. Instead, you went directly to another kingdom you knew would make an effort to help you. Now you have given your people and your kingdom a chance to escape and recuperate.”

“I never…” The Prince trailed off, slightly dumbfounded. Dante retrieved his cup and began sipping his drink while keeping an eye on Frostfeather. It took a minute of the griffin muttering to himself before he found the strength to state anything. “Dante, I must ask something of you. It concerns my people.”

Dante nodded. “Go ahead, your highness.”

“Ravenn used my people as a way to get into the Kingdom. He has them under his control by some means. I don’t know how, but I know he will use them as a first line of defence,” Frostfeather said. “If it comes down to it, and we have to fight any of the citizens he’s possessed, there is one thing I must ask: please-”

Dante held his hand up and stopped Frostfeather from continuing. “I realise your feelings and the subject was on my mind since we left Ponyville.” The smirk was gone from his face, replaced by the cold and serious look he had that made each of his friends respect him as the leader of their team. The fact his eyes seemed to glow slightly when ever he put on the display also helped win a few previous arguments. It seemed to work on Frostfeather as well since he had more than just the complete attention of the griffon, but a small measure of awe as well. “I can’t promise you that there will not be any casualties; situations like these are never that forgiving. Rather, I can only promise you that we will try.”

The Prince sighed with a weak smile and nodded. “Thank you. As long as you and your friends try, then I will be content with that." There was a slight tone in his voice and Dange felt the shift from doubt into a slight sense of mirth. "You are quite different than from what the Princess told of. Much more assured than-"

"A depressed magician with a chip on his shoulder and a demon in his soul? It was a bit of a recent development," Dante interrupted much to the Prince's amusement. The two shared a chuckle and allowed their conversation to settle on a happy moment. 

There was a sudden lurch in the ship and Dante stood up to see that the clouds around them had started to rise. The land beneath them began to become more detailed with each passing minute and Dante held his breath as he saw the expanse of the territory held by the Griffons. “Beautiful isn’t it?” Frostfeather asked. 

Dante nodded. Though it was only a small area outside the capital, Dante could not help himself from being impressed by the landscape. Vast tracts of forest surrounded a small range of mountains. Small meadows broke the sea of conifers, presenting small dots and squares of light green in which Dante assumed they'd be landing on. 

In the distance, among the mountains, was the Griffon capital, Reiksadler. Though it was too far to see much detail, Dante could still make out the city built into the mountains. It reminded him of Canterlot slightly, but with unpainted, rough stone in the place of vibrant colours. It was large and gothic in appearance, invoking a sense of power and brilliance. Vast tracts of the mountain’s side had been carved out, forming a network of buildings and platforms topped with raised spires and buttresses. He had read that the view tricked the eyes into believing on the face of the fortress was simply carved into the mountain. In truth, they had been cut from out of a much larger section. Such was the determination of the architects of the kingdom that had remade the very face of the mountain into their home. 

Yet, the mountain hadn't been able to contain the growing population it seemed. On the slopes near the fortress was the growing sea of houses and streets spilling over the round defensive wall that separated the city from the forest around it. A band of individual plots of farmland added to the buffer between the two areas, creating a gap nearly a mile wide around the mountain. Dante may not have known much about warfare, but he could tell that there was enough protection and resources to make any attack on the city very difficult and bloody. It was little wonder Ravenn had used the citizens to get into the city rather than assaulting it entirely. 

He felt a tap on his shoulder and he heard Frostfeather clear his throat. "We should be landing in a few minutes. We'll be setting up camp after everything is accounted for and then we can discuss what our course of action will be." He made his way to the door and looked back for a moment. “I’ll see you after everything is finished. In the meantime, perhaps it is best if we all rested before we begin.”

“Of course,” Dante said. The Prince closed the door behind him leaving Dante in the small cabin alone. He poured himself another cup of the tea and drained the cup in one draught. As comforting as the liquid was, it did little to help the pit forming in his stomach. He sighed and gazed at the mountain fortress one last time before it was lost from view. There was something odd about the place. It almost seemed as though there was a force calling out to him. It seemed familiar, almost like a tiny whisper niggling at the back of his mind and wrenching at his heart. 

Shaking his head, he tried to banish the thought and succeeded in reducing it to an afterthought. Now wasn't the time for him to be distracted. There was too much at stake and he needed a clear head. He had no doubt he'd come across whatever it was, but he would deal with it then. His primary goal was to make sure they all made it to the fortress.

He massaged his temple as he laid down in his hammock. A quick rest would do him wonders for stress and it was unlikely he was going to get much sleep tonight. A smile curled his lips and his red eyes closed as his thoughts drifted back to the quiet night of laughter and calm as he and a purple unicorn read through half of the Golden Oaks Library. 

That smile turned to a frown as he found himself longing for that quiet night and the happiness it brought. A part of him wondered if Twilight had listened to him and stayed in Ponyville. It would have been like her, and he knew she was too intelligent to act rashly. Another part of him however, as small as it was, wondered if it was possible that she’d break her cardinal rule of following Celestia and come after them. 

“What are you doing now?” he whispered to the window , a feeling of hope in his chest. He shook the latter thought from his mind. It was a crazy idea and dangerous. There was no chance she’d follow him, least of all go behind her beloved mentor. It saddened him, but he was glad he knew her well enough to guess what she would do. 

With a heavy heart, he closed the blind to the window and began to gather his things. Even if she had decided to follow them, a balloon would have been too slow and teleportation wouldn’t have worked when there were five others who wanted to come. She would have needed to tie the fastest pegasi in the world to a balloon if they wanted to catch them. There was simply no way she could have thought of all that.

Had he taken the time to look one last time and had the blinds not covered the window, Dante may have seen a seen an odd, almost balloon shaped object in the sky descend from the clouds.



> We're in for One Wild Night
> --------------------------------------------------------------------------

"Are you sure we're headin in the right direction, sugarcube?" Applejack called out over the roar of the wind as their balloon strained against the speed of the two pegasi attached to the basket by ropes. Twilight looked to the flapping map her mother had hidden with food and blankets and blinked as a small gust of wind caused her to tear up. She set behind the safety of one of the baskets walls and went back to charting their course. 

"We're nearly there, Applejack." She pointed to the red line that went from Ponyville to Rieksadler, connecting the two in a slightly straight path, and followed it from the last point she had marked. They had been lucky so far. The path her mother had chosen and the addition of a Pegasus who knew her way around wind currents made for an easy trip. They had already crossed a considerable distance, but they were running out of time. They were perhaps a few miles away from the outer edges of the Griffon capital. The knowledge of that would have been reassurance enough for Twilight had the dual issue of the setting sun and the slowing of their pace not caught her attention. 

Their speed settled into a slight drift as the ropes connecting Rainbow Dash and Fluttershy slackened and the two of them landed in the balloon's basket. They heaved and spluttered as their mouths tried to fill twit lungs.

"Can't go on anymoooorre..." Rainbow gasped before she slid onto the baskets bottom like a ice cube melting in the heat. "So tired..." She said while Fluttershy followed her friends lead and collapsed onto her side. Guilt filled Twilight as she watched her friends twitch and heave with exhaustion. Even the act of speaking was difficult to do without wheezing. 

"Now I remember why I hate endurance flying..." Rainbow gasped. "Are we nearly there? I'm beat!" 

"Almost, Rainbow. You and Fluttershy did great," Twilight said as she patted her friends side. A small grin lit up her face and the others all looked over the edge of the basket to see the mountain fortress. It was illuminated by the light of the setting sun, giving the stone exterior a warm red glow as the yellow disc slipped beyond the horizon. "We just need to land now."

She quickly enveloped a handle held up by a simple rope and pulled down. There was a slight jolt as the vent of the balloon opened and started their descent. Twilight licked her lips in anticipation as the basket slowly returned to the earth. She alternated between the controls, trying her best to steer the balloon into a clear patch of land. 

"Easy now, easy..." She murmured to herself as she alternated between opening the heat valve and the vent. It had been some time since she had operated a balloon and she silently admitted that she had gotten rusty in how to properly control a balloon. She was actually quite surprised she had been able to do this well on muscle memory alone. That did not mean she was not going to reteach herself when she got home. 

To her relief, the balloon didn't resist her efforts and the basket touched down gently on the grass of the glade. Pinkie Pie and Rarity were the first out of the basket, stretching their limbs and feeling the welcome texture of earth on under their hooves. They began to pull some of the necessities Twilight Velvet had packed from the balloon. Twilight and Applejack set about tucking the deflated balloon away while the two Pegasi in the basket slowly recovered. 

"Where do ya reckon they camped, Twilight?" Applejack said through a mouthful of Fabric and rope. "I don't think we got a lot of time before they pack up an' leave, sugarcube."

Twilight looked up from her work, her brow creasing in thought. The flight there had been the easy part. Now was the hard part. She had accounted for everything till now, but the issue was that she had little idea what to do next. Without any knowledge of where their friends were located, there was not much she could have even done. Her other issue was the two pegasi recovering in the balloon's basket. Their condition was her fault entirely and the result was that they would have to slow down their search or wait untill they recovered.

Deep in thought, she sat on her rump and contemplated her next move. There were only a few options left available to them. Searching immediately was unacceptable because she was not going to abandon her friends as they recovered. Waiting until they recovered would have worked in any other case if it had been any other time than the dead of night. By the time Rainbow and Fluttershy recovered, Dante and his team would have probably moved on towards the capital. 

She groaned in frustration as the situation stagnated in her mind. This was what she got for getting too eager and not creating a list of objectives. They had relied on her mothers forethought and charity, thinking it was going to lead them straight to where the needed to go when it was only meant to get them to their starting point.

Are you losing hope already?

Twilight's head shot up to the surprise of her friends."Did any of you say anything?" She asked quickly. A moment of drawn out silence told her that she had either imagined a voice, or her friends were playing a poorly timed prank. "I swear someone said something..."

"Twilight, none of us said a word just now," Rarity said with concern. "Are you feeling alright? Perhaps you're feeling a bit stressed or tired. You tend to hear things when you aren’t feeling the best.”

The effect between exhaustion and an actual presence is much different than what your friend thinks, Twilight. Though we do not have the time to discuss the semantics of exhaustion and the delusion of perceived voices. You have a destination and have little time to spare. Your farm friend is correct, they will not be held up for long and are preparing to move tomorrow. 

"Hey, girls, I'm just going to be gone for a minute or two," Twilight said. "Just wait here, I'll be back soon with a plan."

"We'll be right here, Twilight," Pinkie Pie said cheerfully. "We won't move an inch! Not one inchy inch inch! We'll be right here just how you left us! Pinkie Promise!"

After a quick roll of the eyes, Twilight turned and quickly headed towards the bushes to her left. Pushing past foliage and avoiding the large, tightly clumped branches, she searched for a space out of earshot from the balloon. She came across a suitable clearing under a large tree and patiently waited for a few moments before there was a gust of wind and the sound of energy crackling in the air. 

Turning her head, she caught the shuffle of a figure in the dim light of the night. Purple robes covered him from shoulder to his feet, swaying slightly in the wind. A ghostly pale face framed by the familiar white hair with black fringes became clear as he stepped forward. A genuine smile broke out on the Pureblood's face as he saw Twilight wave at him. 

"It is good to see you again, Twilight," Beleth said. "Though I wish our meetings fell under better circumstances."

"It's great to see you too, Beleth," Twilight said enthusiastically. She went so far as to go up and embrace the shocked apparition, but he returned the gesture soon enough. “I don’t know if I should be frightened or relieved that you can talk telepathically.”

“I use the skill sparingly. I have always been one to converse face to face rather than skulking about in the shadows. That is my simple preference.”

“I’m glad it is, Beleth,” Twilight replied as she broke away. “Though I find it pretty suspicious that you always seem to pop up out of the blue. If I didn’t know better, i’d say you’ve been following me for a lot longer then from when I opened Dante’s journal.”

“I won’t comment on that, Twilight,” he said without looking at her. “Besides, do you really want to know how I can follow the course of events you and your friends experience and how I am able to speak to your mind?”

“Twilight laughed nervously. “You make a good point.”

“Indeed," he chuckled slightly. A moment passed, allowing for the mood to settle back into a semi serious one. "But proceeding back to the point, I can tell that your mind has reached an impasse. What is the issue if I may ask?”

Twilight sighed in disappointment. "I don't know what to do, Beleth. I think I'm way over my head," She confessed to him. "I never even came up with a checklist. I always come up with plan or a solution! It's not like me to suddenly break habit..."

"Looking before leaping is a common mistake many choose, but it is not necessarily an error. You chose to come to this place becauseyou knew it was not right to be idle. I believe that speaks highly if your character."

“Thank you, Beleth,” she replied with a rather sombre tone. “But what good is that if I have no idea where to go next? We rushed out here with no preparation and now everyone expects me to know what to do or where to go.”

“Such are the burdens of those who lead,” Beleth said quietly. He sat down on the grass and crossed his legs while he leaned his back against a tree. “If you do not have a plan, then make one. Use your mind and think of a solution. You have methods to find Dante and the others, but you must first unlock them.” his eyes twinkled with some secret but betrayed nothing that she could have used. All she could do was listen to him. “You can comprehend what I am saying, right?”

“I think so…”

Beleth shook his head at her uncertainty. “Twilight, your emotions and your mind betray you. You have no idea what I speak of. Think of what Celestia has told you; what she discussed. Therein lies your answer.”

Twilight said nothing. She racked her brain, thinking back to the day before. There was the argument between Coppa, Dante’s recovery, and the revelation of the hidden aspects of Equestria’s ancient history. From her plan to her admittance of the human presence in their country, there was so much information she needed to tackle. Ignoring the first minutes and the useless verbal argument devoid of information, Twilight felt she was getting closer to what Beleth had spoken about. It may have been the pureblood’s own hand guiding her as well, she couldn’t tell. There was so little she actually knew, but she didn’t doubt his ability when it came to magic. 

Suddenly it became clear to her. “A link! She said there was a link between them and the Elements of Harmony!” she shouted gleefully. “Its so clear now. Magic can be traced back to those who cast it. The same goes for any living thing that came into contact with a magical source. If they are linked to the Elements of Harmony, and to us by extension, that means we can track them using a magic tracing spell!”

Beleth clapped as she calmed down and gave her an approving nod. “Very good. Very good indeed," he said, his eyes glittering with a slight twinkle of amusement. "There is always a way to beat significant odds, it only requires a bit of ingenuity and thought."

"Thank you," Twilight said. "This means so much to me, Beleth."

"Think nothing of it," he replied. Twilight thought for a moment, a question forming as the gears of her mind turned. She went to speak, but Beleth's staff took on an unnatural glow. The Pureblood gazed at his staff sadly and picked up the aged wooden relic. "It looks like I must return to the void." He shifted and rose to his feet, grunting slightly as he lifted his staff. There was a shift in the wind before black smoke rose from beneath Beleth's robes as he walked towards the brush away from Twilight. "I shall see you again soon."

"Beleth wait," Twilight shouted knowing her chance was fading. "I need to know something; just one thing. How did you know about what Celestia said?"

A wry smile crossed his face as he stopped and turned his head enough for her to see it. White teeth shone beneath now translucent lips. His image had turned into that of a grinning skull as the outer layers of his flesh disappeared. What was left was his skeleton, held together by little more than air, grinning at her. Then his lower jaw began to move in a way that sent shivers down her spine as a raspy voice em enacted from his mouth without the help of a tongue or vocal chords.

"You should know better than to ask, Twilight." He uttered loudly, but without any hint of malice. "Think of a conclusion to this then. Who ever said my spiritual links were ever limited to residing in Dante? What stops me from residing in other living beings?"

Then his remains vanished with the smoke, leaving his words hanging in the air. They echoed loudly in Twilight's ears and she found herself short of breath for a reason she couldn't explain. She felt strange, uncomfortable more than anything. She needed to leave, escape from the heavy atmosphere left in Beleth's wake.

She took off running, back towards the balloon and her friends voices as they called for her. It wasn't a threat she told herself, the tone in Beleth's voice was only frank and to the point. Yet, for the life of her, she knew that there was far more to him than just his position and his desire to aid them in banishing Belial. He had his reasonings and his own agenda, she just couldn’t place her hoof on what it was.

And like he had said, she couldn’t say if she really wanted to find out what he wanted and who he was.


*****


"Ok, the spell itself is really simple. I just need to set it up before I explain what we will need to do," Twilight announced as her friends , including the now recovered Rainbow Dash and Fluttershy, surrounded her. She ignited her horn and concentrated. All around her the others gasped. With her eyes shut, she couldn't see what the spell was doing, but she could feel its effects. 

There was a slight pull as her magic engulfed Applejack, wrapping around the farmpony and glowing. A small strand grew from the aura and moved towards the forest in a serpentine fashion. It floated lazily to the ground and disappeared as Applejack floated back to the ground where she stood wobbling, but no worse for wear. Save for the light trail of magic that floated outwards from her barrel, she looked pretty normal. Twilight smiled with satisfaction as she inspected the spell’s effects.

"Everything looks fine to me," she said as she plucked at the string of magic till it grew taught. "This will lead us straight to them. We just need to follow the trail."

Due to the nature of it, a magical tracer was a simple affair for practically any unicorn who had basic knowledge in spell craft. Using it required just the lingering magical presence which typically lasted anywhere from a few days to months depending on the complexity and a spell's power. It was far easier when there was a link connecting the caster and the item or being that was on the other end of the link. It was a continuous flow and was not subject to any degradation which may have hindered the tracer. 

In her case, utilizing the link that connected two living beings to the same magical artifact was slightly trickier. With the absence of the elements, she'd need to match up two separate links. It required more concentration on the basis that it was like cutting a thread in three and connecting the end pieces together. In essence, she'd need to find the parts of her string that matched the element of magic and then follow the strand that connected Dante to it. 

The only issue she could see would be Dante's own magical skill. It wouldn't take much for him to realise he or his friends were being traced. A sudden spike in magical energy would be noticeable for one who'd been studying it and though he wasn't well acquainted with it, she had to assume he'd be able to spot the spell. The same went for Moe and Sam. They may not have focused explicitly on magic, but she needed to account for the fact that both of them were able to utilize it. With three out of four possibilities eliminated, only Coppa remained.

Twilight grit her teeth slightly and dodged a branch and followed Applejack and the trail as they walked deeper into the forest. She had nothing against him and she'd never bad mouth any of her friends. However, when it came to him he was by all purposes, a complete meathead with little magical knowledge. 

Too engrossed in her thoughts, she hardly noticed Applejack stop until her face was pressed against her orange friends rear end. Her attempt to question why they had stopped was quashed when her eyes followed the direction Applejack’s hoof pointed. Twilight leaned on the tips of her hoofs and glanced over the hedgerow. Beyond the wall of vegetation and in the centre of a covered clearing a small camp was set up, illuminated by a few campfires. Griffons sat around each of the roaring flames, conversing amongst themselves with weak and weary voices. Each was dressed in the same armor Twilight had seen, but their proud and stoic image had been tarnished by nervous paranoia from the way they shook at even the slightest noise.

“Where do you think they camped, Twilight?” Fluttershy asked quietly. “I don’t see Sam or any of them yet.”

Twilight scanned what she could see and couldn’t find a single living thing other than the Griffons. “I don’t know, I can’t see them either,” she said. “The spell I used only gives us the general area of where they are. Since this looks like the camp, they should be around here somewhere. We just need to circle the camp and then we'll find them. I say we split up and meet at the other side." She pointed to Rainbow Dash, Pinkie Pie, and Rarity. "You girls take the right side and we'll take the left."

They nodded and they slunk away from the bush. Twilight gathered Applejack and Fluttershy and silently urged them to follow her as she pressed her barrel to the ground and set off crawling beneath the bushes. Sticking to the foliage, they skirted along the flanks of the camp as they kept themselves hidden from sight. Inch by inch they moved along the outskirts, hiding beneath the branches and crawling on their stomachs. Out of the corner of her eyes she could see a few griffons positioned on the perimeter of the camp. They scanned the edges of the forest around them, hands on their spears and looking as though they were daring something to come out from the forest. It would take little more than a mouse's squeak to set them off.

A loud crunch broke the tense quiet and Twilight's head snapped around to see Applejack look at her apologetically as she lifted her hoof off a broken branch. Twilight's mind went into overdrive as the terror that set into her mind made the next few seconds of silence feel like hours. That feeling of terror became realised as the following squawk of alarm brought a shiver along Twilight's spine. 

In a matter of moments nearly every griffon had assembled, weapons in hand and in formation. They assembled in a wall of metal and claws as six of them tried to slink back further into the brush. It did little to help with the large interweaving branches that created an impenetrable wall that trapped them in place.

Making themselves as small as possible, the three of them tried to hide beneath the leaves rather than risk being spotted moving to the side. Their breaths held, they only waited as the guards marched in step with their armour clanking with each footfall. Their approach was methodical and they were in front of the forest's edge within seconds, scanning the darkness and overlooking Twilight, Applejack, and Fluttershy.

A soft whimper caught Twilight's ear and get head snapped to the side to see Fluttershy begin to break down in tears. It wasn't overly loud, barely more than a whisper, but it was enough to catch one guards attention. A spear tip passed through the bushes and sliced right into the ground about an inch from Fluttershy’s nose. The timid pegasus looked about ready to faint as the glinting spearhead rose and slammed down again, this time a little farther away from her body. Twilight had no time feel relieved as tow spears slammed down in front of her and Applejack. 

Twilight winced as the spearhead grazed her foreleg, drawing a small trickle of blood. She kept the gasp of pain to herself and pulled her legs closer to her body, trying her best to make herself as small as possible. Her mind calculated the few avenues of escape that she could use as the sharp point lifted from the ground and hovered directly above her. Run? Reveal themselves? Just shout out? Her mind screamed at her to run, to scream, but her body remained frozen in place and her mouth was clamped shut and dry. They refused to budge even as the sharp end began its descent, threatening to pierce through her body.

“I’m pretty sure the bush is dead!” a gruff, but familiar voice shouted impatiently above the snapping sound of branches. Twilight recognised it as Coppa’s and felt a wave of relief as she saw the spear in front of her retract. Her head inched forward and she peered through the hole left behind to see him walking up to the griffons, a sour look on his face and with his axe resting on his shoulder.

“What the hell are you idiots doing?” he asked. He unshouldered his axe and let the head of it fall to the ground before he leaned on the upright handle. When none of the griffons answered, he singled one out by pointing at him. “You there, what’s going on?”

The griffon he singled out appeared to be the youngest of them all. He was pushed forward by his companions and shot them a glare of anger before he faced Coppa. The dwarf’s gaze was intense enough to cause the griffon to shake. “Sir, we were investigating a noise we heard in the bushes there.” 

He pointed towards the area where Twilight, Applejack, and Fluttershy hid. They ducked down as Coppa walked over and examined the bush. "So you decided to murder a bush... because of a noise?" He asked, feeling through the leaves and broken branches. "Does that not seem a little over excessive? Why not check the bush instead of stabbing the hell out of it?"

"We don't want to take chances. You haven't seen the sort of things that monster brought here. You don't know what they're able to do to us," The Griffon said shakily. "There are dangerous creatures living in this forest now."

A look at his fellow guards revealed that they would've said the same. Twilight felt a pang of pity for them that overwhelmed the sting of the cut on her foreleg. She then saw Coppa sigh and rub the bridge of his nose before he made his way to the bush they were in.

"So the noise came from in it, right?" Coppa asked. When the cluster of guards nodded Coppa waved at them to step back. With a grunt, he lifted his axe and swung it in a low arc. The blade of the weapon passed through the bush, and the strength behind allowed it to cut through the bush like a hot knife cutting through butter. Foliage scattered all around area and Twilight had to wait while here beating heart recovered from the deadly swing that had missed here by half a hoof length.

"Now that the problem's been dealt with, you should all get some sleep. We're moving in tomorrow and we can't stop to deal with every bush that aggressively rustles at you," he said, shooing them off. The guards filed out and returned to the camp, happy to return to the safety of their tents and campfires. Coppa muttered to himself as they left and shouldered his axe again. "It just keeps getting worse, doesn't it? The ships engines blew out and now this. I'll need a drink by the time we head out..."

With a final glance at the bushes he walked away, allowing the three mares to breathe a collective sigh of relief. They got up from the ground, their heads poking through the brush, and moved to the side. Coppa did not head directly back into the camp, but stayed to the side and walked slowly as though he were making the last rounds of the watch. His slow walk made it easy for them to tail him and they took advantage of his almost unaware state of mind. 

Even then, they kept themselves quiet out of fear that he might catch any odd sounds. When they finally came to the area where the four students were, Twilight noticed that it was quite close to where they had originally started. The only thing that had kept it hidden was the large storage pile of boxes that were placed in front of the two tents that Coppa was walking to. The tents looked to be standard Griffon design, with a round eggshell shape and made up of a brown material that looked like treated cloth. In front of them was a set of four chairs placed around a fire pit and a box that had been repurposed into a table with a length of wood. A bit of food and a few tin bowls were still on the table and three felt their stomachs rumble as the became aware of how hungry they were.

As they got closer, Twilight was able to make out the rest of the group that sat around the warm fire. Sam was busy sharpening his sword with a flat stone, running it at an angle along the sides with smooth and fluid motions. Beside him was Moe who was busy testing his bow string and organizing his equipment. The two of them barely looked up from what they were doing, but they welcomed Coppa back with a silent nod. Coppa nodded back and put his axe on the ground before he let himself fall back into his chair. Once seated, he stretched and let out an audible yawn that could be heard from where the three mares hid. 


*****


When Coppa finished stretching out on the chair, he lazed back and watched as Sam and Moe finished with their weapons. As much as he hated any sort of preparation, he knew he’d be in a tough spot if his things ever gave out in a fight. As such, he had taken the liberty of dealing with his entire prep list on the ship in order to curb his boredom. Now, while the others were busy dealing with their things, he could just relax the night away.

"So what did you manage to find out?" Moe said as he put his bow down and inspected one of his long knives. The metal glinted in the fire until he slid it back into its sheath before looking over the other. "Any idea of how we're going to get into the city?"

"Well the guards are pretty useless, but they do know how to keep their plans simple." He replied. "We're going in the morning, using an old path that basically goes up the mountainside and beside the wall. Used to be an escape path for the royals, but it wasn't used. From there we just sneak into the castle from the sewers, find Ravenn, deal with him, free the citizens, and then hope that with Ravenn out of the picture, his monsters go with him."

Moe and Sam both stopped their tasks and gave Coppa a long, confused stare. "That's it?" Moe asked, "We go in and hope for the best? No reports on what is in there; no layouts; just a plan a two year old could come up with..."

"Well it's not like I came up with this," Coppa complained. He looked over to Sam who was staring into the fire. "Back me up here, Sam."

"It is a rather terrible plan," Sam said with little emotion. Coppa's groan turned to an exasperated sigh and he sat back in his chair. 

"It's the one that the Prince came up with, so it's the one we follow," Dante said as he left his tent, carrying the leather bound journal in the other. He took the final chair and flipped to a page before he began to read. "It may not be the best plan, but it's not the worst we've ever dealt with. Just remember to focus and don't get sloppy; we all have friends back home we want to see again."

"Speaking of home," Coppa started as they watched him reach for something in his bag. His hand withdrew from the bag, bringing a small cask with three red X's with it. He popped the stopper off with a swipe of his thumb and smelled the contents, leaving a large grin on his face. "Yep, definitely smells like it. It's got Granny's touch to it, that's for sure. Should make for a good time."

Moe was the only one who seemed to care enough to inquire as to what Coppa had in his hand. Dante and Sam didn’t question it, not that they would have been surprised when they saw what was painted on the side. “Coppa, please tell me that’s not what I think it is...”

"Just a bit of Granny’s private reserve that she gave me before we left. I say we cut loose before the everything goes down tomorrow. This is pretty much just camping, and a part of that is having a drink or two. What do you guys say?" Coppa asked as he shook the cask a little. The other three looked at him warily before Moe hung his head in defeat and picked up four cups from the table rather than feeling the need to argue. Quietly he passed them out but Coppa stuck his hand up and shook the cask. "No need. I got my cup right here."

"You're a pig Coppa," Moe said before he sat down. Coppa chuckled as he poured a bit of the golden liquid into each cup. As the golden liquid trickled into the cups, it almost appeared as though small arcs of electricity danced around the stream. Moe raised an eyebrow, questions and protests forming, but he kept them quiet. "This is going to be a terrible experience."

"Be sure to thank Granny for that,” Coppa said with joy as he took a sip. His face scrunched up as the alcohol ran over his tongue and down his throat. He coughed slightly and set the cask to the side. “Man, this stuff has to be at least four hundred and seventy proof.”

Moe looked at his cup with hesitance. “There’s no such thing as four hundred and seventy proof alcohol, Coppa. That’s pretty much enough to strip paint off a wall.”

Coppa didn’t reply but watched intently as Moe brought the cup to his lips and tilted it back. His eyes shot wide the moment the liquid touched his tongue and he sprayed it out and into the fire. Within a few seconds, the small campfire erupted into a roaring blaze for a few heartbeats. It died down immediately, leaving the night to be filled by Moe’s rapid continued coughing.

“So, Sam. I’ve been meaning to ask you a question about something.” Coppa said, turning to the samurai. “Two days ago, when we were in the throne room, you had this look on your face that really made me curious. Now it doesn't take too much to put the pieces together when I knew Fluttershy went to get you." Coppa thumbed his nose and grinned as he could see Sam's face pale. "So my question then, what happened that night?"

Sam's facade immediately shattered like a glass being struck by a sledgehammer. His face turned a bright crimson as he suddenly began to take an extreme interest in his cup while muttering incoherently. The reaction was the exact same within the bush as Fluttershy tried to avoid her friends eyes and hide her flushed face. On two fronts, wide, knowing grins formed on both Coppa's and Rainbow Dash's faces. 

"We...we just talked," Sam said quietly. Twilight could see Fluttershy shift as she watched the exchange. Sam tensed and played with his fingers before he spoke under his breath. "Her and I... We… we talked about how we felt about each other."

Coppa scoffed into his drink and grinned. "Oh this is good. I knew something was up, but I just thought you two bumped uglies before you showed up,” he said after taking a swig from the cask. He coughed a bit, but it did little to quiet him. “This however is much nicer! So what do you think of Fluttershy then?”

Sam laced his fingers together and set them down on his lap. Deep in thought, he closed his eyes and a content smile came across his face, highlighted by the light of the fire. His tail twitched back and forth as his thoughts meandered to the image of the mare in question.

“She is important to me, and I would do anything for her. She deserves at least that much. She’s kind, thoughtful, and I couldn’t ask for someone— no, somepony, better than her. If I hadn’t have come here, I may never have found a reason to speak or the reason I could even use aura magic. She has helped me become who I was supposed to be. That is why I fell for her, and that’s why she is so important to me. Not because of any magical link, but for the reason that I’d do anything for her and she would do the same.”

Had he seen her, Sam would have noticed Fluttershy blushing and with a smile that could have melted the frostiest hearts. There was little doubt to be found in Sam’s voice and even less in the smile he had as he thought of her. 

“So two out of the four of us have gone for the women of this world eh?” Coppa mused. He got up and started patting the retching elf on the back, trying to coax him back to normal. “Moe I expected. He is absolutely in love with Rarity and I had that feeling he’d go for her at the start.” He managed to get Moe to suck in a few breaths and the elf managed to give him a small, wheezy sound of thanks. “I doubt he’d need to tell Rarity that; I’m sure she’s already figured that out.”

Sam nodded and gave his full cup to the Dwarf, not wanting to end up like Moe who sat smiling as he recovered. Coppa took it and downed it with one gulp before he belched loudly. “What about you then, Coppa?” Sam asked as Coppa wiped his mouth with his arm.

“Huh? What are you even talking about?”

“You’re interested in our relationships with Fluttershy and Rarity, but what do you think of Applejack? You’ve lived with her family for this long so you obviously must enjoy her company to some degree. Not to mention while you two started out with nothing but dislike, you still took the time to save their family barn and you were nearly brained by a pipe when you defended her. There isn’t any possible way you can say that she doesn’t hold a place in your mind.”


Coppa put down the cask, keeping it away from the fire, and scratched his chin while he hummed in thought. A new grin formed on his face and picked up the cask, taking a large gulp of the alcohol. “Her family is good in my books, but she's a pain in my ass."


*****


"That no good son of mule," Applejack hissed through gritted teeth. It took both Rarity and Twilight's magic, as well as Rainbow Dash holding her to keep the Earth Pony from bursting from the bush and strangling the Dwarf. 

"Stop it, Applejack. You're going to let them know we're here." Rarity whispered. "Just calm down, I'm sure he's only joking around. You know what he's like and how crass he can be."

Applejack loosened up and took a deep breath before blowing out and repeating the process a few times. When she appeared to have calmed down, the three let go and allowed her to stand on her own. “Maybe yer right, Rarity. Coppa’s a bit of a mule at heart. I’m sure he doesn’t mean anything by it. We’ve been gettin’ along like two peas in a pod these past few months.”

“She’s annoying as hell, stubborn, an absolute slave driver, quick to judge, and argumentative. Trying to negotiate anything with her is pretty much like trying to break a brick wall with your face. I swear to god, if she had that place to herself, she'd run herself into the ground before a single person could tell her to take a break. Plus her way of speaking is just odd. 'Hey ah'm Applejack, howdy, howdy, howdy!"

"Ah'm gonna kill him..."

"But... Y'know there are the positives. She may be all those things, but that's her and I like it that way," he said sheepishly. "We didn't have the best start, but she's grown on me. She's stubborn because she's devoted to that farm and wants to prove to the world that she can handle whatever it gives her. I may not like her like you and Moe, but I have a hell of a lot of respect for her and get family because of what they've gone through. They're like a second family, and I'd treat them as if they were my own." He rubbed the spot on his forehead where the pipe had connected with his head. "You'd take a pipe to the head or a hit to the wallet for your family."

Applejack pouted and raised her quivering hoof from the trench it had dug. “Well shoot, maybe I am quick to judge,"  she said with a pout. She pulled away from the group and sat back against a tree. 

“I think you’re fine AJ. Coppa may have been a little blunt, but that’s him you know? I’m more surprised by what Sam said…” Rainbow murmured. “For a guy who hardly spoke a word, wow… that was… just wow! It was really sappy, but you’ve got a great guy, Flutters.” 

"It's ok, Applejack," Twilight said as she made her way to Applejack and placed a reassuring hoof on her friend's shoulder. While she had been given the benefit of the doubt when she had met the farmpony, she knew that sometimes her friend had her moments. "He likes you for who you are. That's all that matters. We just need to figure out a way to-"

"Twilight, come listen," Rarity whispered, aware that Twilight was busy, but too engrossed in eavesdropping to notice why. Twilight moved back reluctantly and slightly annoyed, giving the white unicorn a questioning look. Rarity pointed towards the four and noticed the focus had shifted to a surprised looking Dante. "They're talking about you now!"

Twilight's mind went from mildly annoyed to inquisitive before Rarity could say another word. She had always thought about what Dante had thought about her, but he had never given any clear indication. Did he see them as friends? Did he see here as more? Or was she just somepony he knew and nothing more? There had been no way to tell before, but with Dante's changed outlook, perhaps she could finally get some answers. She only needed to listen closely.

From behind the bushes she could make out the others voices clearly, but Dante's came in hushed and infrequently. With a desire to obtain the truth in her mind, Twilight looked around for some way to get herself closer to the four of them. She spotted an overhanging branch that jutted out a good length from the forage. There were enough leaves to provide a spot to hide and the branch looked sturdy enough to hold her while giving her a closer spot to listen from. 

With a grunt, she jumped up and wrapped her forelegs over the knotted branch. Muscles straining, she managed to pull herself upwards and onto it. Despite the protests of her friends, she moved forward and tried her best to keep herself hidden. The branch swayed slightly under her weight, but it stayed steady and didn’t move enough to be noticeable. Quickly, she inched forward until she reached the end of her perch. She wasn’t incredibly far out from the bush, perhaps the length of a pony or two, yet she could hear a lot more from her new spot. 

In front of her she could see Dante being harassed again. His look of utter annoyance as Coppa poked at him relentlessly. He swiped at the dwarf's hand, knocking it away, and returned to the leather bound journal he was reading. It did little to cease Coppa's efforts and he went from poking to staring intently at Dante while downing the cask. It seemed to work as Dante closed the book and began to rub bridge of his nose. 

“This is ridiculous, Coppa…”

"You're gonna answer the question one way or another,” Coppa said, tossing the now empty cask to the side and swaying unsteadily as he let out a large belch. “We all said what they think about the ponies they live with. Now I don’t want to hear the usual stuff you say, just give us a clear answer. Before you'd just be a silent and closed off, but you've been more open than ever. So what is Twilight to you? A friend, or do you got a thing for her?”

“Coppa, He doesn’t have to say anything if he doesn’t want,” Moe said. “You can’t force him to talk about something he doesn’t want to.”

“It’s ok, Moe. Let him do what he wants,” Dante replied calmly, “He’s drunk and what goes on here will stay between us and in the confines of the camp.”

“Yea, it isn’t like anyone cares enough to listen in on us,” Coppa added with a laugh. “Don’t be paranoid. I doubt any of the girls back home would be insane enough to follow us all the way here.”

Twilight had to hold her breath and stifle a snort of amusement. Maybe she was crazy, but then again, this felt felt right to her. She knew that she could have attributed this to the supposed connection she and the others had to their friends, though she was beginning to think her mother was right. It wasn’t the connection that Celestia spoke of. What drew her to do this was her morals. She was not going to let them put their safety at risk while she stood back.

She readjusted herself so that she got a little more comfort from the hard bark of the branch. Behind her there was a small measure of rustling; more than likely from one of her friends climbing up. The branch seemed sturdy enough for two so she paid little attention to it and kept herself focused on the four below her. 

"Come on then, join the circle and tell us," Coppa said to Dante. The Diablon skirted closer to the fire and warmed his hands. He rubbed them together and sat a little straighter as Coppa snorted impatiently. "Any day now."

"I'm getting there, just let me think." Dante shot back.

Coppa stamped his foot impatiently and drummed his finger on his wooden chair. “You don't need to think about this sort of stuff. Just do what we all did and say what comes to mind. That's way better than rehearsing some speech you thought up in two minutes. Keeps you more honest too."

"Fine, I'll take your word for it, she's more or less..." He trailed off, leaving everyone waiting. His eyes squinted as he looked directly at the tree Twilight had hidden herself in. The others watched him impatiently before Coppa gave a fake cough into his hand.

"You gonna continue with what you were saying, or just leave us-"

Dante shoved a hand into Coppa's face and silenced the Dwarf. "Quiet, I'm trying to think."

Oh come on... Twilight groaned in her mind. She nearly had a heart attack when Dante seemed to look directly at her. Behind her she could hear the quiet sounds of somepony on the branch and their shallow breaths as they came closer. She motioned for them to quiet down and hide as she pressed herself against the branch. 

"Twilight is an interesting pony, and I know that I have a lot to be thankful for because of her," Dante said quietly. "I didn't give her an easy time when we first came here, but she stood by me regardless. Not many would've put up with how I was outside of this team."

Coppa laughed as he propped himself against the chair. "You've got my axe to back you up."

"And my bow," Moe added, gripping the tool of his trade..

"And my blade," Sam finished. The three of them smiled and raised their weapons slightly while Dante returned with raising his staff to them. 

"I'm lucky to have friends who will put up with my issues and who trust me like you three do."

"You're damn right!" Coppa barked loudly. "Now let's cut the chit chat, I want that answer."

Dante nodded and closed his eyes. "She is a dear friend, and I'm happy to have gotten to know her. I may not have known her as long as you all, but I trust her to the same degree."

Twilight rested her head against the branch with a strange, but welcome feeling of satisfaction. Knowing that Dante considered her a close friend was perhaps the most welcome notion that she was all too keen on accepting. 

"Twilight..." Came a voice from below. She peered to the side and looked to see the other girls waving their hoofs and pointing to something, but she couldn't discern what it was. She waved back to them, trying her best to tell them to settle down. Her hoof faltered a bit as her mind registered an anomaly in the situation. She was sure that there was somepony behind her; she could feel their presence behind her and her the sight noise of something on the bark of the branch. She could even feel their short, shallow breaths on her neck as they got uncomfortably close. However none of this made sense when she looked to her friends.

All five of them… 

Heart hammering in her chest and with the horrified looks of her friends both motivating and holding her back, she peered over her shoulder. She barely caught a glimpse of the creature that hovered over her before its teeth and claws flashed in the light of the spell she shot into its thin chest. The thing let out a shrill shriek as it slammed into her and sent them careening into the ground. 

The force of the impact drove the air out of Twilight and she rolled to the side, gasping for breath. She could see the monster get up and leer at her with its three luminescent green eyes. It looked oddly insect like, with a body much like that of an ant, but with a leathery brown hide and a long, muscular neck that ended in an angular head with a flat crest on it. Supporting this strange creature were six limbs with long, sickle like claws that began at their joints. These seemed to give it enough mobility to quickly get to its feet and throw itself at her while its jaws separated into four fang lined mandibles.

Its attack was halted by the bolt of lightning that sent it into a nearby tree. The creature let out another sharp shriek as the attack left a smoking crater in its chest that turned the surrounding skin black and charred. It let out a pained wheeze as Twilight watched it struggle to rise in its daze. Its front left leg had been reduced to nothing but a smoking stump from the blast, leaving it to stumble as it attempted to compensate and adjust its balance. 

Another bolt of lightning cracked above her and arced towards the monster. This time, the monster ducked forward, using the absence of its limb to purposely put itself off balance. Behind it, the tree exploded into the air and showered the camp with sharp needles of wood. She raised a hoof and winced as the hot pieces of wood pelted her, some finding purchase in her skin while others grazed her or bounced off harmlessly. Behind her she heard someone, most likely Coppa in art because of the slurred speech, curse out loud. 

When the rain of hot splinters let up, Twilight watched as the creature gave them an angry screech and scurried off into the brush. Behind her, Dante breathed heavily as the entire camp scrambled over the sudden attack. Electricity still danced around the head of his staff, ready for the next monster to show itself. It cut out abruptly as Dante knelt down beside Twilight and began to check her over. 

"Dante, I'm-" 

The Diablon shushed her as he examined her leg. "It's ok, it's going to be fine," he said as he found a few splinters along her leg. Around them the griffons assembled in a defensive line. "I knew you were nearby; I felt your magic. You can explain why later, first we need to know if the others are here too."

Twilight nodded and pointed Dante to the spot they had hidden. One by one, the other girls exited the bush and quickly crowding both her and Dante. They pushed and fussed as Dante quickly took his chance and pulled the larger splinters from her foreleg. Twilight winced as the sharp barbs were removed, but was thankful as Dante cleaned her wound. Her leg was bound to hurt for a while, but Dante pulled a flask with a red liquid from his bag and uncapped it. It smelled like caramel mixed together with a bit of lemon and moved like molasses as Dante poured a small amount on the small holes in her skin and rubbed it in before tying a bandage over it.

"Thank you," Twilight said and stood up as her leg numbed slightly. She flexed her limb and looked at the bandage curiously. "What is that stuff?"

“Healing potion,” Dante replied.  “This stuff has saved our lives more than you can imagine. It’ll close the punctures and clean them. You can remove the bandage in the morning.It should be done by that time.”

“Ok,” Twilight replied. Dante let go of her hoof and stood up just as the Griffons all stood at attention. Coming from within the camp and flanked by his entourage, was a visibly agitated Frostfeather. His feathers were disheveled and the bags under his eyes complimented the exhausted air around him. He still presented himself well despite that, choosing to cover himself with a purple silk night robe that was tied around his waist by a red sash. He approached the group and stared at the ponies questioningly before the smouldering stump caught his eye. 

“What happened here?” he asked calmly, but with force to his voice. 

"We were attacked," Dante replied. "My guess is that whatever it was had been stalking us. It found Twilight, startled her, and she caused it to reveal itself. I'm not sure if this means Ravenn knows we're here, but it's likely."

"I see..." Frostfeather replied.  "I take it that you took the creature down?"

"Wounded it, but it shouldn't get too far. For now we should reinforce the camp, maybe bring the perimeter of it closer in and reduce the risk of the sentries being pulled into the forest. That way we can organise and better protect ourselves since we won't be getting much sleep tonight."

Frostfeather nodded. "I'll discuss it with my captain. I don't doubt that they'd suggest the same thing with our lack of manpower at the moment." The griffon prince then looked pat Dante and raised an eyebrow. "It looks like you're missing a member of your party. Did you tell him to go after the creature?"

Almost every head turned to where Frostfeather was looking. Between Moe and Sam, where Coppa had stood, was now an empty space. Dante’s head darted between his two confused friends as their eyes collectively widened. Dante’s groan could be heard almost from the other side of the camp as he noticed the footprints running from between the two and leading to destroyed bushes near the smoldering trunk. 



*****


“I swear to god, you better not let me find you!” Coppa yelled as he pulled a large piece of wood from his arm with his teeth.

The smell of burnt flesh was in the air and Coppa could hear whatever the creature was clicking as it hid in the trees. A red haze had come over his eyes and adrenaline filled his body. His anger, fuelled by the sore spots peppered along his hands and chest and alcohol, pushed him onwards. A feral sort of feeling had taken over him and pushed him to pursue the creature in a deadly game of cat and mouse.

A game he had every intention of winning.

“Don’t worry, I’ll make it quick!” A young tree fell to the side as his axe smashed through it. He snarled as it stuck itself into the earth, forming a small crater. He grunted as he pulled the blade out and shouldered it. “Where are you?”

“Papa?”

Coppa spun around at the voice, axe trailing behind him as his instinct drove him to swing at the new arrival. The thirst for blood made him relish the confused and panicked look that would no doubt come when he chopped the creature in half. He had given himself fully to predatory instinct and he was drunk on the feeling. He didn’t even care about the lecture his friends were going to give him when he got back. All he wanted to do was finish off his prey.

“Papa? Mama?… where are you?”

The red haze in his eyes lifted almost immediately as a small griffon child came into view and he struggled to stop the momentum of his swing. The sudden halt of adrenaline and madness had exhausted him and it was all he could do as he adjusted his arms and let the swing carry him. That minor movement proved to be enough as the blade missed the child’s head by a few inches. It did manage to chop off the small bit of downy feathers that stuck up from the child’s head. 

Knowing the danger was past, Coppa let himself relax and felt the axe leave his hands. The axe flew backwards and fell to the ground, kicking up dirt and mud. Coppa fell to the ground, head swimming and out of breath. His muscles failed him and he could only manage to barely stay on one knee. He fought the urge to pass out as a new panic swelled as the situation dawned on him. If he just exhausted himself, how was he going to be able to protect himself, let alone a child?

“Kid, it isn’t safe here. We need to leave,” he said, struggling to rise.

“Where’s Papa and Mama? He said he’d find Papa,” The child cried as he wrapped his arms around Coppa’s neck. “He said he’d let me see them if I helped.”

Confusion began to enter Coppa’s mind as he patted the child's back. His eyes darted around them, searching for his axe and the creature he had pursued. “Who are you talking about, kid?” Coppa said. “What do you mean?”

“He said he’d find them,” the child repeated and hugged Coppa tightly. “He said if I helped him find the dog, he’d show me where they were!”

“Wait, wha- agggh!” Coppa screamed when a vicious stabbing pain blossomed in his neck, right next to his spine. He whirled, pushing the child away who was now shaking and clutching a long thin needle, and slapped a hand to the spot where a wetness had begun to form. “What was thaaa-” He swooned as his vision became blurry and his body failed him. 

“That, dwarf, was a cocktail of sedatives and anesthetics designed specifically for you,” a voice said as Coppa’s head hit the ground. He tried to turn to see who it was, but the muscles in his neck had locked up and he remained with his head turned the sobbing child. More bodies shambled out of the brush, a mix of creatures and almost lifeless looking griffons that swayed in the night. He could feel a hand brush along the back of his neck, poking and prodding around the wound. “Yes, it should be mixed in well enough by now. Let us get you back to the castle, there is much left to do and much left to learn.”

Had he been able to say anything, Coppa would have yelled and screamed in hopes that anyone would have been able to hear him. Instead, he suffered and watched as the child who had stabbed him was surrounded by two similar looking, older griffons. They picked him up by the scruff of his neck and followed the trenches created by Coppa’s heels. He spotted the naive happiness on the young griffons face with a silent sadness. The child’s joy was replaced by fear as their glassy eyes stared at him. Coppa only wished that he could delude himself that the tragic screams of despair and loss that the child uttered would fade from his memory.
	
	
	
> Shriekers
> --------------------------------------------------------------------------

Sweat fell off Twilight's brow, running in small rivulets down the back of her neck and dripping from her chin with each step along the mountain path. Her dogged breaths gave her little respite as she trudged on, muscles burning with effort and making her wonder just how close they were to failing entirely. They had been climbing and since the morning, ascending over the craggy rocks and the broken shale of the mountain for hours. They had made their way through the forest and the beginning of the mountain pass in the early morning, following Prince Frostfeather and the guards who were familiar with the old route. The dawn had not given them much cover in terms of light, but Dante had suggested it when Twilight had given a description of the monster that had attacked him.

Since that night, Dante and the others had been on edge, constantly looking over their shoulders and scanning the ledges all around them. That had subsided as the sun had risen, but there was still the occasional glance over the shoulder. Every now and then there were whispers between them, hushed and worried but laced with hints of something close to disgust. Whatever that monster was, it seemed that it had a reputation among them.

Though that was only one of the two major issues present as they ascended the mountain. The other was the lack of presence from the fourth member from Dante's team. Coppa's disappearance was taking its toll on not only his team, but on the Griffons who were already on the verge of collapsing, and on her and her friends.
She peered over her shoulder and watched as her friends trudged behind her, making up the end of the group. They looked as tired and exhausted as she did, with the majority of them looking ready to collapse. Even the two physically gifted mares appeared to be on their last legs, only able to drive themselves forward on through sheer determination.

"Twilight," she turned as Dante called her. He stood to the side of the path, balancing on the unsteady and cracked shale of the mountain. He looked as exhausted as she was with the sweat giving his skin a nice sheen. He had his mouth and nose covered by his scarf to protect against the wind and dust that kicked up every so often, but he pulled it down as she approached him. "How are you and the others doing?"

Normally, Twilight would have been touched by the concern for her and her friends, but she was too exhausted to even reply. Instead, she collapsed on her side and marvelled at how comfortable a piece of slate could be even if it poked at her ribs with its jagged ends.

"That answers that," Dante chuckled as he sat down. The column ahead had begun to slow down and it looked as though someone had called for them to rest. He sat down next to her and patted her side reassuringly as she breathed deeply. "It'll be ok, just focus on breathing."

"Why did I agree to this?" Twilight moaned before she fell back to panting like a dog in the hot sun. She managed to get on her stomach and rest her head on the ground as the midday sun warmed the rocks around her while the mountainous breeze felt cool against her skin and fur. She found the feeling of Dante's hand to be rather pleasant and hummed a bit as he rubbed her side.

"You brought this on yourself," Dante joked, wiping away a strand of hair that was on Twilight’s face. She could not help but chuckle at the gesture as she adjusted her head and laid in his lap. It was a surprisingly bold move she thought in hindsight, but his leg was comfortable and he did not seem to mind as he rested a hand on the back of her head. “I’m still happy you decided to follow us.”

Twilight turned her head toward Dante and met his smile with one of her own. “You’re not angry at us? We completely ignored you and now we’re slowing you down. I thought you’d be at least a little angry.”

“I’m happy, but I wouldn’t say I’m not a little disappointed in you six. We told you to stay put, but you decided to come anyways. There is just not much we can do about this now. It’s too dangerous for you to go back to your balloon. It’s unfortunate, but not entirely unpleasant,” Dante said calmly. Twilight’s smile grew and she sighed contently as Dante moved to stroke her ear. “What you should be concerned with is the fact you didn’t just go behind my back, but you went behind Princess Celestia’s too.”

Twilight’s eyes shot open as a chill went down her spine. The knowledge had been pushed aside to the depths of her mind, but the fear was all too present now. There was no end to the possibilities of what sort of punishments Celestia could have come up with, and Twilight could not decide on which was more appropriate for her practically treasonous decision. "She's going to banish me to the moon..."

Her worries drew a chuckle from Dante and she looked at him with annoyance. "You're worrying too much," he said lightly. "I don't think Celestia is going to go that far. She'll be disappointed and she's going to give you a lecture, but I think she'll be more relieved that you're not hurt." He adjusted his scarf a little and Twilight saw the uneasy expression on his face mixing with his nervous laugh. "On the other hand, she'll probably banish me to the moon after your mother finishes destroying me if I let anything happen to you."

"So it looks like both of us have a banishment to look forward to when we get back," Twilight said, chuckling. Dante laughed with her, but his was an uneasy one and she noticed how his eyes continuously glanced at the ridge they needed to pass before they entered the capital. The air around him seemed to become thick and heavy, and she noted the strange presence of magic around him that's was both familiar and alien at the same time. "Is something wrong, Dante? You seem worried."

“It’s nothing, Twilight,” Dante said quietly. “Just thinking on some things…”

“Is this about Coppa?”

“No… Coppa can handle himself,” Dante murmured. “This isn’t the first time one of us has gotten lost, not to mention we have plans for what we should do if one of us gets separated. We’ll probably find him somewhere just outside the city limits waiting for us if he’s smart.” He let out a soft sigh and leaned back. "I have faith in him."

“Then something what else is bothering you?”

Dante shrugged, but the troubled expression remained. “It might sound strange, but I’m having an odd feeling about the city…”

Twilight nodded. “I know what you mean, Dante. I’ve never done anything like this, but it’s the same sensation I got whenever the girls and I had to save Equestria.” Her hoof made her way to her stomach and she pressed down to feel the slight fluttering within her. “It feels like hundreds of little butterflies just flying around inside of you, just enhancing that nervous feeling in your mind.”

Dante looked down as his own hand pressed against his stomach. “In a way it is, Twilight. I am nervous and that feeling is overwhelmingly present inside my stomach. But I don't ever remember a time where a feeling of familiarity came with that,” he muttered before standing up. Twilight went to ask about his meaning, but looked up with him to see a dusty brown Griffon flying towards them. He landed a small ways off and walked the last part of the distance in an attempt to regain his breath.

The soldier quickly saluted, pounding a fist against his breastplate and holding it over his heart; a typical salute to those of non-griffon heritage who were respected or honoured guests if Twilight recalled from the cultural books she had read long ago in Canterlot Castle. He dipped his head to both of them to hide the final deep breath he swallowed before he stated his message. "Sir, officer Murkclaw reporting. I am to let you know that our scouts have seen a group of creatures ahead of us. They only number about ten, but the Prince and his advisors wish to know your thoughts on what we should do."

"Tell them I'll be there soon," Dante told Murkclaw while he offered the griffon a canteen of water from his bag. Murkclaw took it gratefully and greedily drained it. He wiped the small remains off his beak before he handed it back and unfurled his wings to take off back towards his superiors. Dante turned back and extended his hand for Twilight. "Are you coming with me? I'll need you to identify these things so I can help deal with them."

"Sure, I'll be up there in a minute," she replied. "I'm just going to let the other girls know and then I'll come. Don't worry about me getting lost. I found you one time; I'll be more than able to find you again."

Her response drew a laugh from the Diablon as he wrapped his face with his scarf and departed with a wave. In turn, she looked back and beckoned for her friends into following her. When she turned back around and set off after Dante she watched him as he climbed upwards, a strange happiness in the memory of how at ease and open he was. Of course she was happy they had grown just a little closer.

She was so caught up in her thoughts, she hardly noticed the shadowy figure watching her and her friends from its perch in a high outcropping overlooking the path.


*****


Dante's mood darkened as he crouched next to Moe and Sam behind a low wall. The path had led them to what could only be described as a naturally formed arena of sorts. The area was flat and nearly uniform save for the occasional boulder and oddly shaped pillar. High, curved faces of stone surrounded the area on either side, creating an oval shaped formation that was separated into four quarters by naturally formed spaces that had opened over the years and grown with the natural shift of the earth’s crust.

A quick glance along the walls revealed numerous holes that were all-natural in appearance, but had the distinct signs of refuse that told him something had taken up living there at one point. Had the situation been different, he would have taken his time to examine the area. It certainly seemed this place could have served some function hundreds of years ago, perhaps as an arena or a ritual area at the very least. In his mind, he could almost imagine both scenarios and he made a mental note to at least attempt a return trip if they were successful in liberating the Griffon capital. If they weren’t then the area’s secrets would be hidden just a little while longer.

The thought brought his spirits down slightly. He looked to the side and directly to the spot next to Moe where the missing member of their group should have been. He hated this situation completely. He should never had let Coppa run off, or drink that much. Multiple examples had given him enough experience to know how combative the dwarf was when alcohol was involved and now they were paying the price. He should have seen Coppa’s brash attitude coming from a mile away. Now the team was paying the price.

"Dante, look over there," Moe said from his hiding spot behind a small broken column. His bow was at the ready with an arrow nocked and held in place between the fingers of his bow hand. "They're on the left of the column directly ahead."

Dante peered over the edge of the rock, following Moe's instruction. A shiver went down his spine as he saw what had attacked them the previous night. He could hear them clamouring and the occasional high-pitched screech as two large figures swiped at each other. He had thought he recognized that sound, but he desperately hoped we had been wrong then. Now the sight of chitinous carapace and the sound of screeching confirmed his worst fears.

Shriekers.

Dante swallowed nervously as he scanned the holes again. Named after their unique, piercing screech, Shriekers were apex hunters and were fiercely territorial. They were strong, fast, and were unparalleled infiltrators, making them an adventurers worst nightmare. Possessing infrared vision, it was almost impossible to hide from a pack of them. A victim's best bet was either to make peace with their gods, or to somehow fend off against a monster that was able to bite through stone. It was no wonder that the Griffons were afraid for their lives. One of the first lessons every adventure was taught at Particus was that if you were near a hive and came across a Shrieker -even a solitary one in the rare event that it became separated from its hive- you turned the other way and you ran as fast as you could. A small group of the monsters could wipe out and gorge themselves on a small village in a matter of minutes, and leave nothing except bloody smears and empty buildings.

When Dante looked to Moe and Sam, he was not surprised to see them as pale as he was. A good number of their classmates had their careers ended by these things, and those that had lost a limb had considered it a miracle. In those cases, they had stumbled into packs just like these. Now the bigger question was sitting on Dante’s mind: How were they supposed to get past these two?

“It had to be Shriekers,” Moe whispered his complaint, wary not to attract the attention of the monsters. It was only by chance that the two beasts were too busy fighting each other to notice them. However, their behaviour struck the group as a little off. “Dante, is it me or does something seem weird about these ones?”

Dante nodded. Shriekers were biologically divided into three different castes, much like any insect hive. He could see by their size and shape that the two Shriekers were part of the drone caste. They resembled an abnormal small human that had been crossed with a spider, crawling on what appeared to be arms and legs with four extra insect like appendages from their back. Their skin was night black just like the eight eyes that were set around their heads, just above their split jaws. Though deadly in their own way, they lacked the inherent danger and many of the natural weapons of the elite warrior caste. However, he had never seen or heard of infighting between workers. Of all the three castes, workers were perhaps the most docile. To see such random acts of aggression could mean only one thing.

"They're being controlled," Dante said. He could feel the magic emanating from them. It enveloped the two like a thick and heavy blanket, and the sheer power behind it seemed overwhelming even from where he stood. Strangely enough, there was also that familiar feeling that seemed to mix in with the magic around them. A sudden thought struck him and he turned to Moe and Sam. "We need to take them down. I need to see what Ravenn did to them."

Moe stared at his friend as though he just grew a second head. "Dante, just to clarify before you make us do this: do you want us to die? Because this is how you get someone killed."

Dante shook his head and looked back. "We need to do this quickly and quietly. If we don't then we are all dead." Behind them, he could see the Griffons and Twilight's group coming closer with every second. "Do you think you could make a shot from here Moe?"

"Give me a second, I'll need to range this," Moe said before his voice dropped to a whisper. A stream of calculations spewed from his mouth as he flexed hand. When he finished, he nodded quickly to Dante. "I can do it. Left one or right?"

"Left. I'll take the right one and Sam will finish what's left," Dante answered. He looked behind them again, gauging how much time they had left before the others arrived to alert the two drones. "We need to do this quickly. If those two spot all of us, we're going to be dealing with the entire hive."

Moe nocked an arrow in his bow and drew the string back slightly while Sam unsheathed his katana. “Ready,” Moe said quietly. Dante nodded and waited another moment as he harnessed his magic, directing it towards his staff. The cool metal warmed, giving his hands a pleasant heat source to hold while the tips of his staff crackled with lightning.

Subconsciously, he already had a second spell waiting as he signalled to Moe and Sam. The Felpier launched himself over the rock they had been hiding begin while Dante and Moe let their volley fly. The two Drones turned towards then, but they barely had time to voice their surprise as the attack hit them.

If they had the capacity to think, Dante would have assumed the drones would have regretted their lack of awareness. At the very least, they may felt a sliver of anger at the irony of their situation, having been ambushed despite being an apex predator. Though he doubted the drone he had struck head on with his spell was able to form such a thought as it exploded like balloon from the ferocity of his magic.

The other drone may have counted itself somewhat fortunate as Moe's arrow sunk itself into its shoulder. It cried out in pain regardless and Dante could hear Moe curse the slight mistake as he drew a second shot. The opportunity had just gotten extremely dangerous and Moe knew it. Even as blood ran down the drone's arm and the shock of the attack wore on, it would not be enough to stop the monster from calling for aid.

Sam quickly closed the distance, spurred on to finish the job. He swung down, aiming his blade for the drone’s neck. He managed only a shallow cut on the arm of the drone as it managed to roll away from him. Sam gave it little time to escape as he followed through with a second slash while it attempted to land on its feet. His mark made itself present when the drone stopped, giving him a clear shot at its centre. His blade whistled as it cut through air and both Dante and held their breaths in anticipation when the drone raised the legs on its back to block the blow.

It's over Dante thought, watching the blow come down. The drone's legs would only provide a small amount of resistance to Sam's weapon. Its exoskeleton would prove no match to a sharp sword and he watched with a macabre relief as the first leg parted from its body, sailing through the air.

A sudden and horrible scraping noise shattered his thoughts of relief as Sam's strike halted immediately as it touched the second limb. Shocked, the three of them watched the leg slowly start to grow glassy and jagged, before becoming completely crystallized. The effect slowly traveled downwards, encasing the monster's entire head and chest, leaving only its left arm and lower half bare. Sam attempted to pull his sword away, but struggled as the drone used its now crystalline arm and held onto it.

"Get away from it, Sam!" Dante yelled as his mind struggled to figure out what was going on. Panic began to set in as he quickly threw out another spell. Lightning crackled from his staff and it blazed out towards the drone, striking it directly in the side. The force of the blast managed to throw the creature off, allowing Sam to wrest his sword away from it, but it seemed to shrug off the blow.

The drone let out an angry screech as it recognized the greater threat and launched itself at Dante. Crystalline legs launched it high into the air and it extended its claws towards Dante as it went in for the kill. Dante snarled back as he dropped his staff and drew his sword, swinging at the drone with as much strength as he could put into the blow. He recognized the futility of his situation, but desperation drove him to try anything he could to keep himself alive.

The blow caught the drone in the crook of its neck and the force behind the swing sent it off to the side. The drone smashed into a column, kicking up dust as the rock collapsed on it. Dante seized his chance and grabbed his staff while he backed away. Sam and Moe retreated to his side, panting as they looked to Dante with uncertainty.

"Ok so magic and weapons... not working much," Moe said, "what do we do?"

"Why didn't Frostfeather tell us about this?" Sam growled as the drone managed to throw off a stone. It was still partially trapped beneath the rubble, but the pile of stone was not going to hold it forever.

"This looks like a desperation move," Dante answered. They had gotten lucky so far, he admitted. It seemed the drone had faith that it could take all three of them on with the help of its ability. He only wondered how long that would go before it called for reinforcements. "We backed it into a corner and now it's throwing all it has at us, which apparently includes this." Another stone flew off the drone towards the three and they ducked as it missed them by inches. "It isn't going to be long before it calls for the others. We need to find a way to strip those crystals off of it."

"And what do you propose we do to do that?" Moe asked. "Magic and weapons don't work on it. Those crystals are resistant to anything we have."

Dante shook his head. “I don’t know. I can’t think of anything other than trying to smash those things off it, but without Coppa here I doubt we can do that on our own.” He quickly glanced behind them and saw the front of the group just about to crest the hill. “There has to be something-”

He was interrupted as the drone threw off the last of the stones and freed itself. It leapt from the pile and spared through the air, landing in front of the three. It swept a leg at Sam, catching him beneath the jaw with a blow that sent him sprawling out on the ground. Dante had only a moment as he blocked the follow up strike with his staff. Moe was not as lucky as the limb caught him in the crook of his neck. Stunned, he fell to the dirt and groaned as his bow fell from his limp fingers.

Dante lashed out and managed to catch the drone's leg between the prongs of his staff. He swung his other arm back and gripped the sword tight as he brought it down on the leg. The blade rang out as it smashed into the crystal, but failed to bite any further. He swore out in surprise before jumping back as the drone swiped at him again before lunging forward.

The attack was weak, but quick, and Dante hissed as its claws tore the reinforced fabric of his uniform, slicing the skin of his chest. Despite the searing pain of his wound, he took advantage of the opening the drone gave him. He twisted slightly and countered with his own strike, catching the drone on its exposed side.

His blade dug through the drone’s insect like flesh and produced a spray of gore that spattered him. He used the momentum of the attack and rolled himself to his feet, quickly going to rub the offending liquid from his sight. He knew he was giving the monster a chance to strike back, but his choices were either to risk the one opening or to fight blinded. He spun back to face the drone, though he saw it lying still on the ground, unmoving as his vision cleared.  

A resounding cheer reached his ears, originating from the griffons and ponies that had crested the hill. He looked up and saw one pony break off from the group and race towards him. The next thing he knew, a wall of purple fur blinded him, and he felt two arms wrap around his neck. An exhausted smile found its way to his lips, but it was replaced by a slight grimace as pressure began to build on his wounded chest.

"Oh no, Dante! I'm so sorry!" Twilight exclaimed as she backed away. Dante gingerly examined his chest and looked at the still bleeding wounds. They weren't life threatening or very deep, but they still hurt and he was going to have to act to keep them from being infected. Twilight seemed to notice his concern and levitated his bag towards herself. "I'll help you," she said as she rummaged through the vast depths of the magically altered bag. She withdrew the healing potion from it and presented it to Dante who took it with a murmur of thanks. "How bad is it?"

Dante managed to pull his shirt off with only a small amount of pain. He looked down, frowning as he popped the cork off the potion. "It's just a flesh wound; my shirt suffered the worst out of that fight. Though I think Sam and Moe may need more help than I do," he added, watching as the two in question rise with pained groans. He dabbed some of the mixture onto the cuts and waited as the potion helped close the wounds. Twilight watched with fascination, but kept her eyes on Dante to make sure he wasn't lying about his situation.

"I'm glad you're all ok," Twilight replied. Content that Dante was actually out of danger. "For a minute I didn't think any of you would make it."

Dante shook his head. "Trust me, I thought the same. Drones are dangerous, but don't usually prove to be that difficult."

"Drones? Is that monster is related to what attacked us last night?"

"Yes and no. The thing that attacked us was probably a warrior, just a different version." He raised a hand as Twilight went to ask about what he meant. "I'll explain later. We can't stay here, it's not safe, and I doubt we can risk another fight with any caste that's lurking around."

"Ok," Twilight said. "I'll go back and tell the others. Will you be able to..."

She trailed off as a shadow covered them and both she and Dante stared in horror as the drone rose on its hind legs. It let out a bellowing scream as it threw itself at Twilight and Dante, claws extended and aiming for them.

Dante could hear the shouts of concern that came from Moe and Sam mixing with panicked screams and cries coming from the other ponies as momentum brought the drone's claws closer to them. On instinct, Dante dropped the glass bottle and let the potion shatter on the ground as he covered the mare with his body. If he was going to die, he was going to at least give Twilight a window to be saved. With that sliver of hope in mind, he braced himself, waiting for the burning pain and the endless dark that would follow.

The sounds of flesh tearing and of a wet splatter hitting the ground filled his ears, but there was no pain. Instead, he found himself still breathing, still clutching Twilight close to him, and the fading pain of the wound on his chest. Slowly his eyes opened to see Twilight's stunned look. His confusion mounted as he followed her eyes and he looked down.

Directly at the twitching drone impaled on the large black tendril that had sprung from his shadow.

Dante let go of Twilight and fell back in shock. The tendril froze, slowly disappearing into dust while he scrambled away. He scrambled away to grab his sword but froze at his reflection and the two black and red eyes that stared back at him.

"How?" he asked himself, entirely aware of the answer. There was no cheering anymore. Only an uncomfortable silence remained, punctuated by the confused murmurs of a few griffons.

Then the shrieks came; a cry of alarm and of rage that froze his heart.

The blackness that had swallowed his eyes reverted to its original white and he hurriedly gripped his sword. He rose to his feet, turning to their group as the Prince's forces flowed towards them in a panic. He saw Twilight standing rigid in shock, her eyes darting from him to the corpse and back.

"Twilight," his voice seemed to break her trance and she met his eyes. He could see the look of relief on her face as she saw his eyes had returned to normal. He fought the sudden swell of shame in his chest before he grabbed her. "We need to get everyone out of here. Do you have any sort of spells that will amplify my voice?"

She nodded, quickly casting the spell on Dante. He felt a strange tingle in his throat and when it subsided, he quickly turned to the griffons.

"Everyone into the pass! Every one of these things will be here soon!"


*****


The clinking of chains and the smell of rancid meat woke Coppa up to a world of pain without comparison. His head hurt, his body hurt, practically everything hurt. His vision was spinning and blurred to the point he couldn’t see anything around him. What he knew was, judging from the clinking of chains and the lack of feeling in his arms, was that his hands were bound above him. A quick glance around the cell when his vision cleared, gave him a clear picture of the room.

The cell was small and just barely wide enough for him to stretch his arms out from his sides if he was able to. Its walls and floor were aged and cracked, and he could tell the entire room hadn’t been used in years by the smell of rust. Only the chains seemed new and a few tugs at them revealed that it would take a lot more strength than even he was capable to pull them from the wall. Without them Coppa had no doubt he could have managed to get past the bars with a good hit.   

“Well shit,” he grunted, trying to pull his arms forward. The thick, iron chains strained against his effort as he put more effort into seeing how reduced his range of motion had become. At most, he could bring his arms to eye level and when he got to his feet, he could manage to almost touch his sides. “Well at least I can say that isn’t the worst place I’ve ever woken up in,” he said to himself, dropping back down to the ground.

A jolt of pain shot up from where his tail was and Coppa gasped in pain as he jumped to his feet. His hands clutched at his lower back, his shock turned to panic, and confusion arose as the furred extremity was nowhere to be found. A dwarf's tail was point of pride in their race. They were used as a means of expression and many customs involved the touching of the tail as a means of trust. Now all that remained of his was a scabbed and bleeding stump.

"What the fu-"

"Ah, the young dwarf finally wakes," a chilling voice cut him off as the door scraped along the floor on rusted hinges. Coppa looked up, anger rising and causing the corners of his sight to tinge red. He let out a harsh growl as Ravenn entered the cell, dressed in a robe with a blood-caked surgeon's apron. "I should apologise about the hastily done procedure on your ears and tail, but alas I am more of a doctor and less of a veterinarian. Docking a dog is not something I've done before."

Coppa's confusion at the statement have way to fury as he touched the side of his head. At the same time, Ravenn produced a small circular mirror and allowed Coppa examine his reflection. His ears were in the same state as his tail. They had been shortened completely. Only the base and a bit of the outer portion remained. Now they resembled small triangles with rounded bases that barely poked out of his hair.

"You son of a bitch," Coppa yelled, lunging at the elf. The chains stopped him just inches short of Ravenn’s face. “You’re lucky you got these chains on me when I was passed out. If they weren’t I would’ve taken a larger chunk outta you.”

Ravenn sighed and shook his head in disapproval. “I thought that as a warrior you would see the tactical benefit in this operation. With no tail and shortened ears, you are now a harder target to catch in a conflict. I may not have been able to do it professionally, but I did put in as much effort as I could. After all, I did the procedure and read up on your race’s barbaric history as a means of thanking you for helping me, despite my aversion to your kind.”

“Oh, so my doctor is a racist then. That’s just dandy,” Coppa spat, voice dripping with sarcasm. “And what are you even talking about? How the hell have I ever helped you? I wouldn’t piss on you even if you were on fire.”

“My my, what language you have. We'll work on that later though,” Ravenn sneered. Coppa moved back, allowing his chains to slacken as a plan formed in his head. With caution, he carefully wound the chains around wrist as Ravenn spoke. "I suppose I should give you a reason, as to why I wish to thank you. Therefore, I will put in words even you can understand. You were correct the last time we faced each other."

"Correct about what?"

"My specimens and their quality," Ravenn replied casually. "I admit that I had gotten defensive after you mocked my work, but I have always put an ostentatious amount of pride in what I do. My research on the use of mind controlling parasites has always been criticized, and my peers even labelled me as inhumane for the advances I have made in my field! Yet I've progressed and made more developments than they could hope for, and they still have the gall to try and discredit me!"

Coppa stared at the elf summoner incredulously. "Wow... You really can't take any criticism can you? Like this isn't even a small progression; you're literally going from zero to one hundred instantly."

"My research and experimentation have allowed for advances in the control of monsters that could not even be fathomed ten years ago. Using mind worm larvae has even marginally successful on the many races. It would allow for adventuring parties to continue fighting even after they had perished or suffered injury if a summoner is present."

"So you're not controlling anyone... Just the worms you've implanted in their brains? You'd keep their bodies going even after they lose consciousness or die."

"Yes, you understand it perfectly! I am creating an entirely new breed of creature that summoners can control without needing a ritual. This is my life’s work!" Ravenn shouted joyously. "But you showed me that my work is far from finished. When you tore through all those specimens months ago, you showed how largely ineffective they were. While I was initially angered that my work had been destroyed, I saw your point and reflected on it. Those failures were lethargic and could hardly make a difference in a critical situation. Was it the batch of subjects I had used? Were the larvae not responding to my commands? I did not know, thus my work needed further experimentation."

Coppa kept quiet, clenching his fists and kept wrapping the chains around his arms. Every word Ravenn said made him almost physically sick. Mind worms practically sucked the control from a person, leaving them to be used by the insect. The victim was the worm’s puppet and Ravenn was the one instructing them on which strings to pull. All he wanted was to make the elf stop talking. Just a little bit to go, and then he'll shut up. Gotta stay calm.

Still he felt his control slipping. It was the same feeling he had experienced the night before. The red tinging his sight; the urge to fight; the desire to simply destroy what was in front of him.

"My second point of thanks was merely bringing me to this world. Had you and your friends not interfered, then my research would be years behind where it currently stands." Ravenn continued. His focus was on himself and a small stone he was currently holding in his hand. “Lastly, my final thanks deals with what you unveiled the previous night. The abilities of these two stones were easy to unlock using the chaos of my take over, but the final one never seemed to react as well as its compatriots. Your sudden entrance however, revealed what was needed was just -”

Coppa’s plan had been to fool Ravenn into think his chains had been tighter than they were. It was a gamble, and a terrible one at that. A quick glance would have seen right through it. Ravenn on the other hand, was too busy orating to even notice that he had stepped far too close to Coppa.

With fast hands and surprising savagery, Coppa whipped his arms around so that his cupped hands smacked directly on Ravenn’s ears. The elf staggered, and Coppa took hold of his head, wrapping his fingers and digging them into Ravenn’s scalp. He threw Ravenn forward with a yell and smashed his face into the wall. The sickening crack of cartilage filled his ears, but in his state, the noise was like sweetest music. He repeated the process again and again, spattering blood and cracking bone. When he was done, he let the body fall to the ground, limp as a ragdoll.

His anger sated, Coppa breathed heavily as the rush faded. He looked at his hands, the fur stained with a reddish tinge that gave them a rusty appearance. A sense of sickness rose in his throat at the violent scene, but he quickly swallowed it. His intent hadn’t been to go this far, only to knock Ravenn out. Instead, he had either killed the elf or turned him into a vegetable.

Needing to rid himself of the grim thought, he knelt down and wiped them off on Ravenn’s apron before he rooted through its pockets. If there was any chance that there was key somewhere in Ravenn’s clothes, Coppa was going to take it. He’d been lucky so far, perhaps that streak would continue.

His finger brushed against something small and metallic, bringing a grin to his face. He wished he could have rubbed the fact in Moe’s face, recounting the many times his friend had downplayed his belief in sheer luck. Without his friends present, he resigned himself to quickly escaping. Having found the key, he only needed to find the keyholes in the cuffs around his wrists before he could leave.

“As expected, anger and violent emotion seems to feed it power. General proximity to the stone causes major increases in aggression and willingness to utilise lethal force. More caution is advised when standing in close proximity to test subjects,” Ravenn said, hacking up blood. Coppa watched with horror as Ravenn wiped the blood from his face, acting as though his nose had only been bloodied. “Now to move onto the next phase of experimentation.”

With gore mostly gone from his face, Coppa could see the sickly green pallor that Ravenn’s skin had taken on. His face was still a mess of torn muscle and cracked bone, but as the moments passed, it twisted and reshaped itself. Muscle and skin shifted, crawling as the bones formed back together, restoring Ravenn’s face back to normal.

“Surprised by your own actions?” he asked, turning to Coppa and flashing his newly reconstructed teeth. He snapped his fingers and two Griffons entered the room. Their emotionless eyes were clouded white, a side effect of the worms within their brain, but their sight was unaffected by the parasite. “There are so many things these artifacts can show you about your true nature, and so much power to gain from them.”

With another snap of his fingers, one griffon produced an open box that held a jagged, ruby red stone shaped like a spearhead. Small veins stretched over the stones surface, coloured like molten magma. They glowed rhythmically, and the effect gave the stone an almost eerie appearance like that of a beating heart.

"Magnificent isn't it?" Ravenn whispered into Coppa's ear. The dwarf stood transfixed, unable to turn away from the stone. Invisible claws seemed to hold his head towards the stone, and he could feel something within his mind begin to stir. He stifled the small growl that built in his throat, but Ravenn seemed to notice the effect of the artifact. "Let it happen, dwarf. Let its power deep into you; show me what secrets it holds. It seems to favor you. Now show me why"

The sound of Ravenn's voice gave Coppa the extra motivation to resist the influence of the stone. Its glow faded and the pulsing slowed until it stopped completely. Coppa let himself fall down, the mental exhaustion taking its toll on his body. From the corner of his eye, he could see Ravenn look at the stone with disappointment.

"You said this thing feeds of anger? Guess it doesn't work if I'm not pissed," Coppa spat. "You underestimated just how stubborn I can be if I don't want to do something. I won't give you the satisfaction of being your emotional guinea pig."

"How unfortunate, I had hoped you'd be more cooperative. Are you sure you really desire to make things difficult?"

"Well that depends, can you go fuck yourself?"

Ravenn sighed and shook his head in disappointment.” I see," He turned to one of the enslaved griffons. "Bring the child and a worm from the latest batch."

"Child? What are you talking about?" Coppa demanded as the Griffon left. The eleven summoner picked up the stone and carefully held it in his hands while Coppa strained against his chains. "Ravenn answer me!"

"It's quite simple really. You are type of person who will take the fall for another. So I shall circumvent the hours of obviously ineffective physical persuasion and use your benevolence to my benefit." Ravenn answered. "Now let me ask you two questions. First, in my experiments I found that there is a forty percent chance that the operation of implanting one of the worms in these creatures’ heads will be successful. That is a sixty percent chance that an adult griffon will not survive the initial operation and twenty percent that those affected by the operation will suffer from a debilitating defect caused by the worms themselves. What do you think a juvenile's chances of success are?"

"You sadistic piece of shit! I'm going to rip you apart!"

"Second question." Ravenn smiled as the stone began to glow once more, cascading the room in ethereal red light. "I'm wondering what will break first: the child, or you?"


*****


Izzy stared at the night sky from the comfort of his bedroll as the moon made its way over the Saddle Arabian desert. The night was cold and the small fire built from a few dead sticks that had been scattered around the oasis he had camped in did little to improve his mood. Under normal circumstances, he would have enjoyed this time alone, reminiscing about days past. Yet his mind had focused on the darker aspects of his experiences.

How he wished to think of anything but those dark days. He had never been one to sour his moods, but there was little else he could do to find a new subject to think on. He was alone, camping by himself in some godforsaken piece of desert with only a faint idea of where he was headed and no clue as to what lay in store for him.

With a weary sigh, he rose from his bedroll. Grabbing a pot from his bag, he beat his wings and floated over to the edge of the oasis. A quick spot of tea would help calm his mind. It would keep him alert and provide something to do while he rested; a lesson that had been drilled into him many years ago and from teacher he remembered fondly.

The thought itself was already lifting his mood, accompanied by the trace scent of lilac. His smile was reflected in the still pool in front of him, and he took a moment to study the youthful face that housed his old mind. “If only one could see just who we really are beyond the face we present. How many would believe my story?”

“If that was the case then our history would be radically altered.”

Izzy did not turn around to face the voice. Instead, he knelt down and filled his pot with water. “I was not expecting company on this night,” he said. Slowly, he made his way back to the campfire while attempting to keep the pot from spilling over. “Would you care for some tea, stranger? I was just preparing some.” His smile never faltered even as he looked up to see a Diablon with scarlet and black eyes, cloaked in dark robes, looking back at him. “Perhaps we can talk while you rest your feet?”

“Isaiah, you must hurry to Equestria,” Beleth said. “Time conspires against you. Your allies are soon to be in danger.”

“What do you mean? How do you know my name?” Izzy asked before a sudden realisation overcame him. “Martin! Is Martin alive? What danger is he in?” he asked. He dropped his pot, spilling the water into the sand. The water was greedily sucked up by the sand while Izzy stopped in front of the diablon. “Is he alright? Please... answer me!”

Beleth looked down on the panicked fairy with sadness. “The first seal has broken. The Shepherd of Fire once again finds breath from his new host.”
 



> Into the Deep
> --------------------------------------------------------------------------


Reiksadler had decayed in the days since Frostfeather had last seen it. What had been a bustling city had grown eerily quiet as he ran alongside his companions. The streets, once bustling with citizens and stalls containing all sorts of goods, were empty and devoid of any life. Wood and assortments of refuse littered the street alongside the tell tale signs of struggle that had gripped the city in the violent upheaval. Claw marks, discarded weapons and armor, and even the occasional batch of bones and feathers all reminded him of the chaos that had gripped the streets. Now he could only take in the aftermath of what had happened to his city with increasing despair. What had been the healthy body of Reiksadler had been deprived of the thousands that had made up its lifeblood. Now all that remained was the skeletal husk that it had become.

Where did they all go? he thought. Reiksadler was home to just over ten thousand. There was no possible or conceivable way that the city would be this empty. Moving that many individuals would take an incredible amount of effort; more than Ravenn and the monsters under his could ever hope to manage. They had they element of surprise, but Frostfeather doubted that they could have managed against the survivors if they had all banded together. He did recall that Ravenn had kept some citizens underneath his control, but even a Griffon knew there were limits to magic. 

Still, despite the anger the thought of the elf brought, the vast emptiness of the city filled him with sadness. Seeing his great city like this was devastating. He had failed his people, failed to protect them and now this was the price his kingdom had paid for his decision. Every moment of deathly quiet instead of the laughter, banter, and occasional fist fight over something inconsequential was a testament to his  shortcoming as a leader. He would hardly blame any historian if they referred to him as a coward.

He stopped walking as his claw landed on something soft on the ground. He spared a glance down, and quickly freed the item from the ground so heit. The group had put a large amount of distance between themselves and the Shriekers when Dante and Twilight blocked the entrance to the arena's other tunnel by collapsing the mouth of the passage. The Diablon had guessed it would take anything pursuing them a few extra minutes to climb arena's walls and follow them into the city. It wasn't much, but any distance away from the creatures was greatly appreciated. He had no desire to confront a swarm of those things no matter if they instilled fear in even Celestia's guests.

His focus shifted to the item he had picked up. He had little desire to continue thinking of their pursuers and decided to turn his attention to other matters. The limp form of a tiny doll, caked in dirt sat in his hand. It was a child's doll, dressed up like a guard with tiny bits of armour made out of burlap and a little twig in place of a sword. He smiled as he looked at the toy, seeing the love of a parent that went into each stitch. It was a representation of Lord Alexandros Steelbeak, a mythic hero who challenged a minotaur chieftain to single combat in order to avoid a battle that would have resulted in huge losses for both sides. Instead of allowing his comrades to perish, Steelbeak had drawn up terms that he would fight the Minotaur leader and the winner's side would be victorious. The minotaur leader accepted, prideful that he was stronger, but he could not keep up with the Griffon leader and found himself on the ground with Steelbeak's sword at his throat. In time, the tale had come to symbolize Griffon bravery and to always stand firm; something he lacked.

 A movement in his peripheral vision made him turn. Dante stood to his side with the purple unicorn, Twilight Sparkle. Both looked at him and the doll which he stuffed between the breastplate he wore and the protective padded shirt underneath it. He may have never been the superstitious type, but his mind couldn’t help but think that perhaps he would gain some confidence from having it on him. 

"Prince Frostfeather," Dante began. Frostfeather would have corrected him as he had back on the airship, had his mind not been elsewhere. The scene only minutes before was still on his mind. He had heard from Celestia about the certain abilities Dante possessed, as well as the damage which they could inflict. Seeing those abilities in person however was much more impressive, though knowing he had no control over how they acted or who they targeted made Frostfeather hesitate to celebrate the fact Dante was on his side. Even then, he could not fully count on that with the apparent alternate personality housed in his companion's mind.

The last issue however, did not bother Frostfeather all that much to his surprise. This 'Belial' was manipulative and had could decimate almost anything. He had complete control over the powers, which Dante had only inadvertently used and still did not understand. Knowing that should have made a difference, but he did not see that in Dante. He was an honourable individual, one that Frostfeather had been able to voice his concerns with. Rarely did tyrants and despots give their ears to the concerns of others, and they were even less known to sit down for tea when doing so. Dante, in his mind, was as far from his other half as possible and was perhaps the closest thing Frostfeather could call a friend.

It also seemed the unicorn beside him was acting as an anchoring point for Dante’s powers. Frostfeather had heard of Twilight Sparkle before, but he had not met the unicorn until the day he first walked the halls of the Canterlot. It surprised him that such an innocent looking unicorn could have accomplished the feats he had her she had participated in, but she was one of the fabled Elements of Harmony. He remembered how his father had laughed at first, then had grown awed by the pupil of Celestia. “Such a mare is worthy of respect,” he had said, “One day she’ll probably end up rescuing us from some problem or other.” Frostfeather had never taken his father’s boasts of foresight seriously, usually attributing their accuracy as luck, but now the tables had turned it seemed. In the end, his father had been right.

His mind snapped back from his musing when he realised he had ignored Dante entirely. Both were still staring at him, waiting for the answer to the question he had forgotten entirely about. The Prince shifted a bit as he recomposed his mind.

"I apologise, I was lost in thought for a moment," he said. "What were you asking?"

"We need to keep moving," Dante answered. "You said that there was an alternate way into the fortress from the city. Where is it?"

"The Fortress was built with a number of secret passages with which my family could use to escape if the city ever fell. It was a contingency plan that would allow us to escape and gather forces before using the same way to re-enter the city and take it from within," Frostfeather replied, using what his parents had taught him as a child. He still faintly recalled the directions they had used to escape. "We need to go into the sewers and follow the tunnels directly to the fortress. It'll let us out in the Great Hall which we will presumably find Ravenn in."

Dante nodded, clearly agreeing with the plan. "Is there a specific sewer tunnel we need to find, or can we use any of them?"

"There are specific tunnels that connect directly to the fortress. The closest one is just past the market, near the wall. It can fit us all in it, but we'll need to enter it one at a time."

Dante nodded. "Ok, show us the way. We still have a bit of breathing room between us and any Shriekers. As long as we aren’t spotted, we should be able to hide for the most part."

“Follow me then,” Frostfeather said as he turned and began to cautiously make his way towards the place he had used for his escape. His memory served him well, guiding him and the small contingent behind him along the streets, through alleys, and over the occasional pile of rubble. Every so often they would need to scatter, hiding out of sight when the occasional monster patrolling the rooftops was spotted. Then they'd regroup, repeating the process of moving slowly and hoping nothing spotted them as they made the agonizingly slow journey towards the market square.

The lack of cover within the square made Frostfeather hesitate and look back uncertainly. There were stalls still standing, but were too few and far between to offer anything substantial. It would be far too slow to send the entire group through the square one at a time and simply rushing through it would get them spotted. Neither choice offered much in their favour, but this was just another instance of choosing between two terrible choices.

He turned back towards Dante, planning on discussing what they should do, but his eyes caught sight of the rooftops off in the distance. Like a massive infestation of ants, Shriekers of all sizes swarmed over buildings, jumping from roof to roof while uttering their piercing cries as they searched the streets. Dante followed Frostfeather's gaze and caught sight of the oncoming hoard. "We need to move! Now!" He shouted, drawing all attention to himself.

With the choice selected for them, the group filed in behind Frostfeather. "Follow me!Guards take flight and watch for any monsters ahead!" He cried as they began to run. The griffons all unfurled their wings and took to the air, but remained under the cover of the buildings as they flew across the market with their prince at the forefront. Dante and his companions followed close behind. A moment into their flight, the clamouring sound of a dozen bodies and screeching told them all that their movement had caught the sweeping eyes of the host behind them. Though their sight was more suited to the dark of the night, it mattered little when they could make out the movements of such a large group. 

With piercing cries, they began to take chase after the griffons. Their powerful legs carried them from roof to roof with powerful leaps. Claws raked stone as the distance shrunk at a rapid pace. Hungry eyes and razor sharp teeth flashed as all that separated them from their prey was a few hundred yards. For them, the hunt had begun and though their animalistic minds could not form thoughts, they were ready to show why they were apex predators during both in both the night and the day.

The mass of screeching monsters split into three parts with the middle sections giving chase as the ones in the sides split off and raced ahead. The first monsters to launch themselves aimed for the griffons, leaping into the air before crashing into the flying warriors like carapaced covered boulders. Feathers exploded and blood sprayed from both sides as claws and weapons bit into flesh. Most of the monsters were pierced by readied weapons of the Griffons, their speed and momentum too much for them to control as they flew into the mass of fliers. Some avoided the weapons, scoring hits of their own. One Griffon was dragged to the ground as Shrieker warrior pierced him through the shoulder. His scream of pain was quickly quieted as the Shrieker bit into his neck and savagely twisted it to the side. 

Frostfeather cursed as he stabbed a Drone through the chest. The monster’s body shuddered as he twisted his blade and gravity assisted it in sliding off to crash into the street below. He did not even have time to break as a second and third Shrieker tossed themselves at him, baring their teeth in preparation to sample his flesh. He ducked the first one, letting it the creature’s claws pass harmlessly overhead before he brought his sword up and countered with a slash to its face. It cried out in pain as it fell to the ground, but Frostfeather had already turned to the second one, dispatching it with a deep cut to its neck. 

Years of forced practice within the sparring halls at the command of his father made itself known as Frostfeather expertly ducked, weaved, and dodged blows while returning with strikes that penetrated the hardened carapace of the monsters. Though the kingdom hadn’t been in a major conflict for centuries, his father had pushed for mandatory service and training out of respect for tradition. It was another thing he would have to thank his father for as he blocked an incoming strike. 

He spared a glance around him, using the moment to take in his surroundings and to fight off any hint of tunnel vision. The fight was not going well. The onslaught had slowed them down and with every passing minute increased the severity of the situation. More of his guards were beginning to show wounds sustained in the fight, slowly being worn down as the fight went on. The majority of the monsters were hanging back, content to circle the outskirts of the fight while the over eager ones threw themselves onto the blades of the Griffons. However, the mass of monsters still had not completely circled them, leaving just a glimmer of hope for the group to reach the sewers.

Frostfeather gathered himself, summoning up his voice despite his exhaustion.“Keep pressing forward! If we stop moving here and allow them to circle use then they win! Push them back and continue on towards the sewers. Not one step back!” 

A loud cry of agreement came from the Griffons around him. Under them, he could see Dante and his companions fighting and pushing the monsters back with spells, arrows, and blades. Even some of the ponies had joined the battle. Rarity and Twilight were both using their magic to defend the flanks, blasting any monster that dared come to close. The two earth ponies, Applejack and Pinkie Pie, were bucking and lashing out with powerful kicks, though Pinkie Pie was bouncing around more than fighting. As for the pegasi, only Rainbow Dash was actively defending herself, zig zagging while ramming and lobbing stones at the monsters. It was Fluttershy who was the only one not fighting. Rooted to the spot, terrified and hyperventilating as the chaos went on around, she shivered and sobbed while her friends tried to keep her safe. 

Frostfeather cursed under his breath, she was not going to move while the fighting was going on around her. With a screech, he flapped his wings and propelled himself towards her. His blade chopped through a Shrieker that was scurrying towards her, loping its arm off and leaving it screaming in the street. He didn’t look back to see the monster get torn to shreds by its hungry brethren, but scooped up the pegasus in one arm while doing his best to deal with the weight of her. In the corner of his eye, he could almost see Sam give him a respectful nod and a silent ‘thank you’ as he flew off with her. 

“Dante! Our window is almost gone. We need to get to the sewers now!” Frostfreather screamed. He couldn’t hear what Dante said, but he felt a heat behind him that caused him to ascend faster. His wings beat furiously and he smelled a few of his feathers burn as he barely escaped the wall of flame that Dante had cast. It filled the road towards the sewer grate, scorching the walls of the houses as it burned all it touched. The Shriekers that had jumped in to block their path were consumed by the fire, the walls they had jumped down from were absent of any handholds ensuring they were trapped. There was no escaping the magical flame that burst from Dante’s hand and staff, and nothing was left but ash and black scorch marks.

Seizing their opportunity, Frostfeather and his griffons surged forward and reached the cover. Using his spear, one of the guards jammed the blade into the opening and pushed down on the handle. Slowly, the cover moved, allowing for two other Griffons to grab and keep the hinged circular cover open. With their path open, the guards began to drop through the hole, tucking their wings to their bodies and jumping into the dark underbelly of the city. Frostfeather practically tossed Fluttershy into the sewers, not giving her time to hesitate or say anything before Dante and his companions rounded the corner, Shriekers at their heels.

The ponies reached the sewers first, dropping into sewers without a word. Dante and his companions lagged behind, with the wizard buying his compatriots time with another firewall as they escorted a wounded griffon towards the sewers. The Shriekers were growing even bolder as they came closer, appearing to realise their prey were about to escape. there was a certain desperation to their attacks. A few had taken on the crystal forms and were using the added protection to brave the fire. 

A sudden high pitched whistle filled the air and the griffon being aided by Moe and Sam was forced into the ground with  a number of small crystal spikes sprouting from between his wings. Sam and Moe cried out in alarm, jumping back as more spikes pierced into the ground. Above them, Shriekers had taken to the roofs and Frostfeather watched in horror as they seemingly retched up these spikes before spitting them at those still above ground. One stray projectile found it's mark in Moe’s arm, causing the elf to stumble. Frostfeather feared the next volley of spikes would end him, but to his surprise, Sam became a blur just as he grabbed Moe’s arm.

The next thing he knew, Moe was being deposited into the sewer, his wound beginning to pump red from his body. He then clumsily dropped into the hole as Sam’s body blurred again before he reappeared next to Dante, his sword slashing through one monster that had flanked the wizard. The Shriekers in that time had begun to focus on their next target: Frostfeather and the guards holding the sewer cover.

Spikes penetrated the ground all around them, some even spearing through the thick metal of the cover. The guards fumbled slightly, but managed to keep the cover up despite the new weight added on. Frostfeather helped them, and grabbed an edge while Sam blurred back with Dante in tow. The two of them jumped into the sewers with one of the guards following them. Frostfeather turned his head to the Griffon beside him. “On my signal, I’ll jump in and keep the cover open. You go through first, Is that understood?”

“Yes, my Prince,” The guard grunted. He looked to Frostfeather and the Prince quickly gave him a nod to go in. The guard seemed to hesitate at first but came up behind. "Sorry for this," he said before he pushed him. 

Frostfeather squawked in surprise but was able to catch a rung at the last moment. His arm twisted awkwardly but he kept his grip as he went to voice his distaste. "What do you think you're doing? Get -" 

His voice died in his throat as he saw the red patch that had blossomed on the guards side around a large crystal spike. The wound was deep, definitely life threatening. The guard wouldn't have made it another few minutes. It was evident the guard knew it too as he let go of the cover. "Long live the royal family..."

"No!” Frostfeather screamed as the guard pulled away. Rage bubbled within his chest and mind, clouding his vision. He hadn’t even realised he had begun to climb back out until a pale hand grabbed his back leg and pulled him back down. With no support to keep it open, the cover slammed back down, cutting the Shriekers off. They scratched at it frantically, crying out in frustration while Frostfeather was pulled down, lashing and yelling, into the dark underbelly of his city.

*****
In the heart of Reiksadler’s keep, deep within its core, something stirred. It had been awoken from its slumber abruptly by means it could not comprehend, which had left it weakened. It struggled, confused by its new surroundings. In a mental sense, the abrupt awakening had taken its toll also. It could not remember anything, it’s name, what or where it was, how long it had slept for. All of it was muddled mess within the being’s mind. All it could recall was the image of its master, his red piercing eyes, and the oath sworn to him before he had slumbered.

Now it had awoken, too early it seemed. It’s body ached and strained, not accustomed to his presence. It felt cramped, almost as though it was sharing a space meant for one with another. It was shorter too, and much weaker it seemed. Every movement was clumsy, each step like that of a newborn. Slowly it grew accustomed to basic movements and though it was still groggy from being awoken too quickly, it could feel a sliver of its power begin to course through its veins, and with it the rage that had lain dormant for centuries.

The air was different here, it could tell that much, much purer. There was no smoke or ash choking the life out of nature as it permeated the air. Yet there was the faint hint of blood, both fresh and old. Behind that, it could feel the raw emotion of anger, despair, and the desire for vengeance. It fed on it, stoking the fire within itself until there was a soft orange glow that emanated from within its body, filtering out of the cracks in its skin while the heat rose in its stone cell. The chains around its wrists bubbled as they turned red, before they slid off, pooling onto the floor below. A battle had just ended, it knew that. The fact was present within this empty city and the presence of souls freshly released from their mortal shells. 

The being grinned, it’s iron jaw creaking as it did so. It may have been more of a beast than it’s regular self, but there were two specific souls it recognized: one a part of it desired to rip into pieces, and the soul of the one it was bound to. It would find them and deal with each in turn. As it stood now, the being’s mind desired escape and to feed the hunger that gnawed at its belly. Its desire for freedom compelled it to swing one arm back before its iron clad fist slammed against the stone in front of it, reducing it to rubble. 

With its exit in front of it, the ancient being stepped over the dust and rocks that were once the wall. It could hear the clatter of approaching footsteps of something approaching. Whatever it was, the ancient soul welcomed the chance to test its abilities once more, and to satiate both the hunger in its stomach as well as its desire for battle. There would be no mercy, there was never even the thought of it in the soul’s current primal state. With one swipe against the wall with its metal claws, the ancient mind goaded his opponent to come to him with a shower of sparks. 

Then it unleashed a battle cry that shook the very mountain that contained it before its claws cut through flesh.

*****

The dark underbelly of his city was not a place Frostfeather had expected to return to, even as he crashed into the smelling rivers of filth. He struggled against the vice like grip screaming as he attempted to grab at his sword. “Let go of me!” He cried just as he was picked out of the water and forced against the wall with his arm twisted behind his back. He tried to force his wings out, but a great weight shifted and he fell to the hard stone platform with a knee in his back.

“Frostfeather, calm down,” a voice ordered and suddenly the prince found himself incredibly weary. His muscles relaxed and he let himself be brought up to his knees. It was Dante who was holding his arms. He bled slightly from small cuts to his face and arms, no doubt a product of the prince's struggling. Still he held on until he was fully sure the madness had deserted Frostfeather. "Can you stand? We need you to show us the way into the castle."

"Yes I think I can," the Griffon replied weakly. All the self doubt had come back and replaced the confidence and strength that had filled him in the streets. "I'm sorry Dante, I'm not sure what came over me. All I wanted to do was go back to the fight. If I had gotten back out, those monsters would have been able to get into the sewer. I nearly killed us all."

"It's not your fault," Dante replied.

Frostfeather looked at him incredulously. "It was my fault. I nearly lost myself in all the fighting. I would've kept fighting until my last breath."

Dante shook his head. "Close your eyes."

"What, why?"

"Just do it," he said. "Close your eyes and relax. I'm going to show you something."

Hesitantly, Frostfeather complied. He closed his eyes, allowing his mind to settle. He did not try to focus on the monsters in his city, or the situation. Instead he kept his mind occupied by pacing his breathing. Then he felt something thick and heavy in the air that made him gasp.

"You feel it don't you?" Dante asked.

"Yes... It's unbelievable..." Frostfeather replied. "Hatred, bloodlust, ruthlessness, it's hanging in the air like a cloud. I've heard stories of warriors who've lost their minds in the heat of a fight, but it's like those emotions have become real. Even now I can feel my adrenaline rising."

"Yes, that's why you wanted to keep fighting. It showed up just before we got into the sewers and it's only getting stronger from what I can tell."

"Where did it come from?"

Dante's mood seemed to darken with the question. "The fortress. It came from there from what I can tell. Whatever is projecting this is powerful from what I can tell."

"What do you mean 'whatever is projecting this'? You don't know? Isn't Ravenn the only one in this city capable of using magic?"

To Frostfeather's surprise, Dante hesitated to answer him. He looked almost fearful of the answer himself. "Ravenn is a summoner. He can't project something like this. Magic is controlled by emotions but to project an emotional aura that affects others isn't something he, or even I can do. It's far outside the skill ranges that can be taught. This is something you're born with." He took a breath as he appeared to get to try and regain some semblance of composure. "Only one sort of being can do it and to be able to cover an entire city with their aura means they would have to incredibly powerful."

It was only then that Frostfeather realised the entire group was watching them, ears trained on their conversation. His guards were
obviously shaken but their exhaustion overpowered their ability to display their fear. Dante's companions were likewise showing blank faces, but were busying themselves attending to their own wounds. Frostfeather watched as Moe braved himself, biting into his leather belt as Sam doused his arm with a pungent liquid before wrapping a cloth around the protruding spike and gripping it.

Frostfeather turned just as Moe's muffled scream rang out. Battlefield operations were rarely kind and even though he was still inexperienced to the world of violence, he knew that much. He only prayed that the wound didn't become infected from the sewers. 

"So what is this thing that Ravenn has summoned?" He asked quietly. "Can we even hope to do anything against it?"

Dante seemed to ponder the question for a moment. "Ravenn is somehow controlling a demon. From what I can tell it's only a minor one. Something we-"

At that moment the sewers seemed to quake as something shook the ground around them. At first Frostfeather thought it was a tremor, but the roar that echoed in the sewer proved him wrong. The sheer volume of it was overwhelming and he watched his guards jump to their feet, locking their shields together with weapons at the ready. They still shook despite their disciplined actions. It would only take another fight before their spirits broke.

"I think you're going to need to rally them soon," Dante said. "That thing is still far off, and we can probably avoid it. Even better is if we can catch Ravenn before we meet it. Then we can force it back without needing to fight. In the meantime, I need you to make sure your people are ready to face whatever we might come across."

Any normal commander would have been incensed at Dante's manner of addressing him, but Frostfeather was still a typical leader and this situation was beyond normal. Added with Dante's expertise on the subject, he could let it slide. If it hadn't been for him, the mission would have surely failed.

"Of course," Frostfeather said quietly. He turned and singled out one of his guards. "Murkclaw! I need your assistance for a minute."

The young Griffon straightened up and quickly came to his Prince, stopping only to bow to him. "Sir!" He stayed bent until Frostfeather chided him to stand up. "What can I assist with?" He asked, taking off his helmet and letting his downy brown feathers spring up in a ridiculous mohawk. 

“I need you to organise the rest of the guards, our task isn’t over yet,” The guard visibly deflated with the news, but Frostfeather pressed on. “I won’t ask any of you to do what I wouldn’t, but I need you to collect the names of whoever has not made it. I personally want to make sure their families know about their sacrifice. Also, I want you to know that I will not allow anyone else to fall while I am still in command. Understood?”

The tone of his voice seemed to resonate with Murkclaw. The young soldier perked up almost instantaneously and nodded. He saluted and ran off. Frostfeather sighed and began to collect himself. "I better tell the others as well and get them ready." He stopped as he heard Dante chuckle. "Is something funny?" 

"No, just noticing the fact you don't have a shred of self doubt. You've changed a lot since our conversation in the ship." 

Frostfeather chuckled as well. "I guess a situation like this requires a change of character." 

"Perhaps so," Dante agreed. He got to his feet, dusting off his clothes. Frostfeather followed his lead and grabbed his things. Dante studied the tunnel while the Prince found his sword and slid it into its scabbard. "We need to keep going. What's our next move?"

"We keep going down this sewer tunnel until we hit the first split in the system. There will be a few more until we come across a basin. From there, we will be able to reach the citadel from a maintenance tunnel."

Dante nodded. "Good, we'll leave in a few minutes. Think you can up your men's spirits in that time?" 

"I think that'll be enough time. Just tell us when we need to leave."

"Alright," Dante replied. Frostfeather nodded and turned away, leaving the magician alone. Dante watched the Prince walk away, barely noticing the brown earth mare that came up to his side. She gave him a once over, paying particular attention to his face. Dante blew out a frustrated breath as he sat against the wall. “I forgot how exhausting situations like this can be.”

Applejack gave him a sympathetic smile as she also sat next to him. The cold stone wasn't particularly comfortable on her haunches, but she didn't think they'd be like this for very long. “Ah can hardly imagine sugarcube.” She waited a few moments before she let her face drop into a neutral expression. “Why’d ya lie to him?”

“What?”

“The Prince,” Applejack stated. “Ah ain’t dumb. Y’all talked for a few minutes, but in the meantime you lied straight to his face. Ya got this feeling around you that just screams that ya went ahead and told a lie. So what was it?”

Dante smiled weakly. “If I had told him the truth about the demon, though I can hardly call what I’m sensing any regular demon, he would have lost all hope. I couldn’t do that to him, not right now.”

“Ah guess that is a good enough reason when ya put it like that,” Applejack agreed. “But this thing, what’re we dealing with?”

With a shake of his head and grimace, Dante answered her question without a word. She didn’t press for details because she knew that whatever Dante was thinking, it was not good at all. It scared her to realise that someone like Dante, who until now had been usually so calm, collected, and reserved when she had dealt with him, was beginning to show fear for this thing that he had never seen. Twilight had told her that Dante could sense magic in passing, but never even realised it may have had effects on Dante himself. It made her worry even more when she considered what she had originally come to ask him about. "Do you think Coppa is still alright?"

Dante avoided the question by picking up his staff and rising to his feet. Elsewhere Frostfeather had finished with his individual promises while recording names alongside Murkclaw. Dante grimaced and moved forward, leaving Applejack with the echo of his voice. "We need to keep moving."


*****
Twilight huffed as the contingent followed her and Rarity. Being the only ones who could use illumination spells, they had been placed in the front to light the path ahead. While she was appreciative of being able to do something during this mission, she couldn’t shake the anxious feeling as they descended even further into the bowels of the city. With each step, the walls around the grew closer, constricting around them as they traveled nearer to the fortress. At the same time, the smell of the foulness coursing through the sewers had become increasingly potent, enough to make her gag and her eyes water. 

That gas that held that rank stink was also the reason she and Rarity were up front. Years upon years of waste had turned to a slurry that released potent amounts of flammable gas. Had they lit a torch or used a fire spell, then the entire network of sewers would have gone up in flames. The griffons had relayed the fact during their brief break, they had to navigate this entire section unable to see anything past their shoulders while also avoiding the noxious gas clouds that could knock them out within seconds. It amazed her to think that anyone had been able to find their way through without the aid of a light source.

Looking behind her, Twilight took the chance to take in the state of her friends. The griffons were exhausted but seemed uplifted by the presence of their prince. His individual speeches had seemed to have a good effect on their morale, and they moved with a renewed sense of purpose. As for the others, they too appeared ragged, but still held onto their grim determination. The other element bearers were the only ones who seemed to have been truly out of their league, with even Pinkie Pie bearing a wary expression. However it was Fluttershy who concerned her the most. The timid pegasus had broken down repeatedly, needing the entire group to stop and help her. It wasn't until Sam had her focus on helping the wounded, that she was able to continue. Since then, she had been checking on everyone, looking at and bandaging anything worse than a scrape.

“Twilight!”

She heard the voice scream her name before there was a sharp tug on her tail. The force holding onto her tail, mixed with her momentum caused her head to snap forward. Now in the light, she could see that her next step would have led her over the edge of the walkway and into the faster flowing portion of the sewer. Had she fallen, she would have been sucked under and dashed against the bottom.

"Are you ok?" Dante asked as he let go of her tail. In the light of her magic, he looked like a pale ghost with ruby coloured eyes. Twilight nodded, heart pounding from the spike in adrenaline. "Good, sorry about grabbing your tail, it was the first thing I could get a hold of."

"It's fine, better than falling into that" she replied. Her tail throbbed slightly from the rough treatment and would probably be sore for a little while. However, it was a better alternative to almost drowning. "Thank you for not letting me fall."

"You're welcome," he said. "How're you holding up though?"

"Fine for the most part," Twilight replied. In truth, she wanted to state how terrified she was, how she had wanted to curl up in a ball with her hooves over head, and the fact she was going to have nightmares from the culmination of everything that had happened since she had cast that spell. She was keeping herself in check at this point, but at any time she figured she was going to break down. "How're the others?" She asked, trying to change her train of thought.

"I can't say for the griffons, but the others are fine. Only Moe has a major wound, but it's been taken care of. A few splinters of that crystal may still in his arm, but those can be dealt with when we have the tools." he replied quickly. His face then twisted slightly before he stepped back, eyes wide. "Oh my god.."

"What's wrong?" Twilight asked. Worried, she called the rest of the group to stop. The ponies and Dante's team, hearing her, rushed to their side. Dante had begun break out in a cold sweat, shaking as he stepped back. "Dante what's going on?!"

"Frostfeather, how far are we from the split and basin?" Dante demanded, turning suddenly to the surprised Prince.

"We're almost on top of it; maybe fifty paces from where we are now? But I don't understand, what is happening and why are you acting-"

Dante bolted before any of them could react, racing down the corridor without heeding his friends shouts of concern. Not even a glance was spared in their direction as he disappeared into the shadows like a wraith, leaving the entire group staring at each other dumbfounded.

"Follow him!" San and Moe both said, already running with their weapons drawn. Their command shocked the griffons to their senses and they too followed. Twilight struggled to keep ahead of them, still trying to light the way. 

Their hasty steps and heavy breaths echoed out through the tunnel, mixing with an occasional curse or squawk of panic. They kept together closely, hugging the wall until the group reached the split in the tunnels, stopping as they attempted to figure out which Dante had gone through. 

"To the right!" One voice shouted. Within the tunnel she could make out the soft noise of Dante's steps. The noise was quickly drowned out as the group followed suit and rushed through the tunnel, funnelling through the turns and walls that gradually began to shrink in size. 

"He's heading towards the basin!"

At least we're still going in the right direction... Twilight thought as she panted. She could make out a dim light ahead, an odd soft and blue shine that gave the slick walls an ethereal shine. In the middle of it was Dante's form, black and shadowy against the brightness. The contrast between darkness and light from where she was, hid the interior of the basin from sight, but she imagined Dante could see it. He had stopped running, standing still and rigid as he looked into the room. As they came closer, they saw that he had become white as a sheet and then it became apparent to them just why the normally composed leader was in shock.

Throughout the basin, all head together by pulsing veins of flesh, were egg clusters that glowed a sickly blue. There were thousands of them, pulsing, shifting, threatening to break open at the slightest touch. Strange larvae crawled around on the ground, in various forms of development. Some were dead, unable to survive in the quagmire of filth, and their remains were being feasted on by their stronger brethren.

Twilight felt her stomach twist in both fear and revulsion as she watched one of the egg pods burst open in a shower of opaque fluid, and a small, white, larvae fall into the basin with a splash. It writhed and cried out, only to settle down and begin to slink towards a group feasting on what appeared to be an animal deposited in the smelling waters, drawn by their thrashing. 

With the bile rising in her stomach, she turned her attention away from the primal display. Her efforts did not help the growing sense of horror as she began to follow the blue veined umbilical cords that congregated on the far side of the basin. It was then she realised why Dante had been truly been stunned silent. 

The veins that traveled from the pods quickly crystallized as the closer they became to the central spire of glowing crystal. Yet what drew her attention was the body half encased in the stalagmite and the message it had scratched into the wall.

THeir Evil is uNleAshEd
	
	
	
> Cancer in the Veins
> --------------------------------------------------------------------------

	"Oh my god..." Moe whispered as they all surveyed the room. Shock was present all throughout the group as the hundreds of egg clusters writhed and shifted before them. Each had at least ten body sized globes, all filled with opaque fluid and the shadow of the shrieker larvae shifting inside the mottled brown skin. If any of them had to estimate, there had to have been over ten thousand eggs, each filled with a larvae that would inevitably grow into one of those monstrous creatures.

"He's been growing them in our sewers..." Frostfeather murmured in shock. “There must be a whole army of them in here.” 

“Not counting the weaker ones or the ones that hatched, there must be nearly a thousand growing here,” Moe said, holding a hand to his mouth. Whether it was to hide his shock or to mask his face from the foul stench that emanated from the disgusting sight before him was unclear. His action was mirrored by the others for very much the same reasons. There was a collective and dead silence until Moe was able to even choke out his words. “God, Ravenn has a small hive growing in these sewers. This is insane…”

“It doesn’t make sense,” Dante added. All eyes trained on him as he dropped down from the ledge and into the filthy water. The disgusting slurry splashed around him before settling at his shins. He waded over to one of the egg clusters, avoiding clumps of sewage and the remnants of things none of them wanted to think of. Dante didn't seem to care too much as he approached a cluster and leaned in to inspect it. Carefully he poked and prodded it, using his staff to inspect the sacks before moving downwards and snagging the cord that connected it to the crystal spire. 

Twilight and the rest watched, their eyes glued to him by a disgusted fascination. Curiosity soon drove Sam, Moe, and the ponies to follow him into the murky waters. The Griffons stayed where they where, their training subconsciously telling them to hold back in case anything should make it's presence known. 

"Moe, I need a knife," Dante asked. Moe nodded and drew the blade he had fastened to his belt. He had replaced his regular pair with one he had picked up from the airship's armoury. A long thin bladed piece about the length of his arm that curved into a tapered point. It was a flexible blade that was well suited to slipping between plates of armour. Even better was the fact it was equally suited for punching through the chitin of Shriekers.

In the case of the egg sacs, the blade passed through the thick skin like it was paper.liquid spurted out, making everyone duck as the sac drained. Dante waited a minute, letting the sac empty itself before he shoved his hand into it. There was a wet squelch as he gripped the larvae inside before removing it in one swift move. The infant Shrieker wriggled only slightly before it settled still, unable to last outside of it's developing cluster. It was about the size of Dante’s fist, far smaller than the size of even the smallest larvae crawling in the murk. Their was a collective groan of disgust from the group as he began to poke it with the knife.

“Dante should we not check on the guy in the crystal?” Moe asked. A few pairs of eyes traveled to the far side of the basin and rested on the limp arm still visible. “There might be something there.” 

Dante shook his head and went back to testing the larvae in his hand. “He won't be going anywhere and it's too late for him. We’ll check on him in a few minutes.” 

He then turned to Frostfeather and his group. “How long has it been since Ravenn took over, Frostfeather?” Dante asked as he suddenly dropped the larvae into the water. It's white body plopped in and sank beneath the surface with a wet smack. “And how many days has it been since you reached Canterlot and right now?

“Five or six days, since he appeared before my father. It's only been a few days since we arrived here from Canterlot.” Frostfeather replied. Dante seemed to ponder his words, murmuring numbers and short sentences as he began to drain another sac. He inspected the larvae that came from that sac before doing the same to a third. Each time he punctured the egg and drew out the larvae he seemed to grow more and more puzzled, as though there was some factor he was missing.

“What is it, Dante?” Twilight asked.

“None of this makes sense,” he mumbled while handing the blade to Moe. “All of these eggs are in their second or third growth stages. They've either just been fertilized or are still developing.”

“What does that mean then?” 

“Shrieker eggs take at least a month from fertilization to develop a larvae that can survive outside of the egg clusters. Stage two is when the chitin begins to harden and stage three is when they're almost ready to escape their eggs. Those two stages alone take a week each to complete.

“Then there's this. The Creep has only just begun to grow on the wall.” He stepped back and walked over to the wall. His hand reached out, softly running over the blocks of masonry before travelling towards the ground. Just breaking the surface of the water was the same fleshy substance that made up the egg clusters. As he did so, Twilight gradually became aware that her hooves were not touching stone, but something much softer. “It doesn't make sense though…” 

“The Creep, what's that?” Rainbow Dash asked. The pegasus was hovering just above the water's surface, looking at it with morbid curiosity. Her ability to avoid having to step into the murk had drawn the envy of a few of her friends, namely one fashionista who had impressed everyone by keeping quiet about the fact they were in a sewer. When the Pegasus finally did decide to land, there was an instant shiver that envelope her. “Oh sweet Celestia, that is so gross…”

“Trust me, it's not a pleasant thing to see either. The Creep is a substance that Shriekers use to build their hives. It nourishes their larvae and basically terraforms the area around it. Think of it like a cancer growing in the veins of the city,” Moe answered for Dante. “But if there are hundreds of mature Shriekers, that doesn't explain why it's so contained. If he grew them somewhere else then there'd be a huge patch of it above ground. Yet we haven't seen it, which defies basic behaviour for Shriekers…”

“And what's basic behaviour for them?” Rarity asked.

Dante stood up, hand clutching something in his hands. “Find a location, build, breed, consume, move on, repeat.” He then motioned for them to move closer as he presented what was in his hands. A tiny form, thin and almost translucent lay still in his hands. It was like a worm, but twice as long and just as wide as one of the ponies tail hairs with a head shaped like a cone. “This is how he's controlling them. He’s been implanting mind worms into them.”

A dozen questions burned throughout the group but the shape of the worm and it's name answered a few of the more general ones. Using a parasite as a medium to control something was ingenious. Using them to loosely organize and control the Shriekers was ingenious. Out of the entire group, Twilight was the only one who was beginning to see the bigger picture and methods Ravenn had employed. He was letting them roam free, acting on natural impulse, but was controlling them through the worms in order to maintain their population and avoid any escaping. It was a perfect way to organize them without having to be weighed down by controlling something larger. Added with the knowledge that physical beings were much easier to control than ones actually summoned through magic, as Dante had told her offhandedly, Ravenn had effectively gained control of a huge army of monsters that required minimal strain to control. There was still one question that burned in her mind.

“You said the timeline’s don't match up, didn't you? Is it possible that Ravenn could be using some sort of magic to speed up the development of these eggs?” She asked. “Is it possible that there would be such magic?”

“Not any magic that I've heard of,” Dante replied with a shake of his head. Sam and Moe followed suit when he looked to them, both lacking any answers. Dante seemed to ponder it for a few moments before turning to Twilight again. “Either it's an ancient spell or Ravenn’s discovered a new category. In both cases, we’ll have to confront him in order to see what it is.”

“So what now then?” Fluttershy asked meekly. “A lot of us are hurt and exhausted. We need to take a break.”

“That's not an option right now,” Dante replied sternly. In the corner of his eye he saw Moe move his injured limb out if sight. He mouthed a silent I'm fine to Dante. The potion they had administered to his arm had closed the wound, but the muscles beneath the skin would need time to heal. For the time being, Moe would probably be restricted to his knives. He wasn't sure about the griffons but his present company only bore minimal scratches and bruises. He at least hoped none had any wounds which would slow them down. “The more time we take means the more time we give the Shriekers to find us. It also lessens the chance we have to stop casualties. As much as I want to make sure everyone is rested and ready, we don't have the time.” He turned and pointed to the crystal spire. “As it stands, our priority is that spire.”

Twilight was the first to step up. “What do you need us to do?” 

*****

Frostfeather watched as Dante and both unicorns moved among the rows of egg sacs. They were too far to hear what was being said among them, but he had no doubt that Dante was uncovering answers as he had dissected the eggs. Truth be told, he almost enjoyed watching Dante cut them out. It meant one less monster that could grow into a threat, and one step closer into ridding the city of them once and for all. It was a morbid train of thought, but having seen what those monsters could accomplish, he didn’t really care. He could hazard a guess that if he had asked the men beside him, they would’ve agreed as well.

“What do you think they’re saying?” He heard one guard ask. His vision flicked to the side, catching two guards stealing the occasional glance at the group below. 

“Keep your ears open,” he said to his guards. “I don’t want anything catching us by surprise. You hear or see anything that vaguely resembles a bug, alert everyone. Scream, shout, I don’t care, just make sure we all know by the time you throw the first blow.”

“Yes, your highness,” they all said in unison. Fear mingled with excitement, making Frostfeather’s heart begin to beat at a quick and steady pace. He was alert and ready for the worst, as were his men. Above ground they were at a disadvantage, but below they could pose a greater challenge in the form of interlocking shields bristling with short stabbing swords and spears. An insane part of him dared even a single Shrieker to try them, but the rational and curious part of his mind told him he needed to assess and inform himself.

“I’m going to find out what’s going on,” he told Murkclaw. “I’ll be back in a few minutes.”

With a small leap he dropped over the side. On instinct his wings unfurled and slowed him slightly as his paws broke through the waters surface. He ignored the disgusting feeling beneath him as best he could, but even as he walked forward it made his feathers bristle. Beyond the mass of creeping alien flesh, his feet would kick a sunken bone or a scrap of refuse. Whatever was beneath the murk, he did not know whether it was of his race or of some unlucky animal. He did not intend to find out, but he let it stoke the burning fire in his chest. 

The group of ponies and outsiders turned to him as he approached, but murmured even as he stopped in front of them. “What have you found out?” He asked plainly.

It was Sam who spoke up, Dante's second in command. Frostfeather hadn't had the chance to get to know him as he had with Dante, but he recognized the type of person the Felpier was. Cold, calculated, and one of few words. ‘A perfect second’ his father would claim. They were capable leaders, but were more at home under someone else's command. Sam however, was more dangerous than any sergeant he had seen and he was glad the man was on their side after seeing his abilities in the streets above.it give him a healthy respect for each of them - their dedication and skill was unlike anything he had seen. He had no doubt even the most seasoned of his father's soldiers would be impressed.

“Raven is mass producing larvae, using magic to speed up their development. Whether that's how he created his initial group or if they were grown naturally is beyond us.” He explained. Frostfeather listened patiently, a part of him did not really see what use this knowledge was, but he assumed whatever Dante was doing at the crystal spire was a part of it. Still, he kept his mind opened to Sam’s words. “He's also using mind worms to control them.”

That piece of knowledge caught Frostfeather's attention. “Mind worms?”

Sam’s expression remained passive even as he answered Frostfeather's inquiry. “They're insects from our world. Usually found in tainted waters or swamps. They travel to the brain and take over motor functions. You're basically trapped in your own body. It is not a pleasant experience from what I know.”

Frostfeather’s feathers bristled. It made sense to him now. The memories flashed in his head of Ravenn’s smug look as Griffons of all ages entered his father’s hall, eyes blank and bodies unsteady as they shuffled. Their minds had been intact, filled with fear as Ravenn forced them to attack against their will. And to be cut down by us… His knees became weak while his stomach twisted. 

Abruptly he walked past the group, heading straight forward to the spire. Dante and the two ponies were crouched in front of it, the two unicorns scanning the crystal with two magic while the spell caster inspected the writing and the arm that protruded from the spire. As he drew closer he could make out the slight details of the poor soul who had been given up to the crystals. 

The arm itself was not from a griffon, but was like that of Dante. Pale with skin almost like that of porcelain, pitted with cracks and veins that glowed the same unearthly cyan of the spire. Though his species was unable to use magic like the ponies, Frostfeather could feel the power coming from the strange construct. Strangest of all, something about it caused it to appear almost alive. The light around it pulsed rapidly, like a heart under stress. It unsettled him, and he unconsciously took a step away from it.

“What is this thing?” He muttered.

Dante looked up from the arm, his face betraying no hint of emotion. “From what I can tell, this was an Erdgeist,” he said before he realised Frostfeather had no idea what he was talking about. “They’re another race from our home world, but they’re fairly unique in a biological sense.” he pointed towards the arm, tracing the cracks. “Their bodies are not fully organic, but are like living dolls.The reason behind this is that an Erdgeist’s actual body resides in another plane of existence entirely; a side effect of being descended from earth spirits. As a result, if they want to manifest in the physical world, they require a vessel. Hence, the form we have here.”

“I meant the spire.”

“I have no idea, only that Ravenn has been able to channel the magical energy in it to the larvae. I'm assuming that's why warriors and workers have non-natural abilities to produce those crystals.”

When he finished, Dante beckoned for Frostfeather to come closer and the prince reluctantly did so. Squatting near the body, Dante motioned for him to touch the arm. At first he hesitated, but with a look of support from the Diablon he brushed the arm slightly. Much like Dante had said, the Erdgeist’s skin was like a doll. It's skin had the same colouration as Sam and Moe, but the feeling was like touching polished marble that had the properties of living flesh. The uniqueness of it all left him stumbling for words. His imagination of what the world the three of them had come from was like had overtaken his initial anger. However, his focus remained the same.

“You and I will need to talk privately after all of this,” he said. Dante nodded with little objection. His eyes then turned to the arm. “As for this body, if there's a way to get it out, I'll see to it that it's given a proper burial.”

“The notion is appreciated,” Dante replied. Out of the corner of his eye he noticed Twilight’s face scrunch up in confusion. “Is something wrong, Twilight?”

“It's the crystal, we don't know how, but it's taking in and distributing energy,” Twilight replied. Beside her, Rarity stood but with a slightly more exhausted look around her. Dante stared at the mare curiously before he noticed the thin line of magical energy that was connected between Rarity and the spire.

It's borrowing energy. He could tell the process by just sight alone. The barely visible line would light up one way before traveling back, albeit with slightly less energy. Unlike the Erdgeist it had drained quickly as he had found, it seemed the crystal was being careful about nourishing itself with Rarity’s magic. Perhaps it’s seeing if it can sustain on Equestrian magic?

“Another piece of your home?” Frostfeather asked. Dante nodded but wasn't as sure. Everything he had come across since their arrival resembled pieces of his homeworld, but there was something strange about it. A part of his mind thought back to even before they had stepped foot in this land. Alaric and his tribe? The idea made sense, but the fundamental flaw was that if this had been brought back a thousand years, Frostfeather would have a slight idea of what the crystal was. Regardless of it's origin however, he needed to get Rarity away from it.

“Both of you,” he said with calm in his voice. There was no use in frightening them at this point. Better to do things naturally. “I need you two to step away from the spire. We’ll be moving on to the fortress.”

Twilight and Rarity nodded and turned to Frostfeather. The Griffon signalled the rest of the group with a wave and they all began a slow trickle out of the basin towards a tunnel. Dante and the griffon Prince oversaw the movement from their position on the basement, keeping a wary eye on the egg clusters and the tunnels they had entered from. 

As the group passed by the crystal, Moe stopped in front of the spire, curiously inspecting it before he raised a hand to touch the surface. Dante watched closely, a strange feeling in his stomach telling him to stop and observe. Unbeknownst to him, Twilight watched the two her eyes watching the two of them. An odd quality had taken to the air. Nothing moved; even the larvae which had been in constant motion laid unusually still.

The two of them held their breath for a moment as Moe’s hand made contact. The same thin lines of magic connected with the palm of his hand, causing the entire spire to glow a bright blue. Dante and Twilight held their breaths, eyes watchin lg as they stood transfixed by the sight. 

They're absence had been noticed and soon the entire group had circled back, only to watch as the mysterious light enveloped Moe’s arm. It seemed to gradually move up his limb, enveloping his body while creating spots that glowed from beneath Moe’s bandages, appearing like little stars on a dirty white background. At the same time the crystal darkened and shifted as it began to shrink, falling away from the wall and ceiling. The cords that connected the spire to the egg sacs shattered into dust and it seemed to Dante that the backlash of the event was killing both the Creep and the visibly deflating egg sacs now that they had been cut off. 

Curiosity drove both Dante and Twilight even further as Moe let out a moan. Dante began to feel uneasy as she watched blue lines etch themselves in Moe’s arm. She looked back and forth between the unmoving Dante and Moe who had begun to shake. The spire had reduced to merely a fraction of it’s size in mere minutes and only seemed to grow smaller by the second. It’s crystal exterior had begun to pull away from it's prisoner, revealing just what it had done to the poor soul.

“Sweet Celestia…” She heard Rainbow Dash curse as the Erdgeist was exposed. Emaciated was a polite term for what had happened to the body in the event any had been able to speak. The artificial skin was drawn over the bones that made up the frame, tightly like that of a piece of leather head to dry between two vices. The entirety of the skin had been turned into pale mosaic, crisscrossed by the same veins that had just begun to crystallize. Every thin line zigzaged in a random pattern, but all converged in a single point just over the Erdgeist heart where there was now a large hole. From Twilight’s perspective, she would have assumed that the crystal had been implanted into the Erdgeist’s skin and had slowly taken over his body, consuming him as it grew. Ravenn had also ensured his captive would stay and slowly succumb to his fate while his body was used to alter the Shriekers by chaining his legs and waist to the wall. With so much stress on his body from the parasitic crystal, it wouldn’t have mattered if his arms were unbound.

“His name was Martin…” She heard Moe say. Upon looking at the elf she could see the sweat plastered on his skin and the frightened look in his eyes. His breathing was hoarse and ragged, as though he had run a thousand miles, but it was his eyes that haunted Twilight. Blank, white eyes stared back at them, as though whatever he had done had cost him his sight. It was only after a few heartbeats that his irises returned, coloured the same bright cyan as the crystals before returning to their natural green. 

“Moe, what was that?” she asked as she trotted towards him. “How did you know his name?”

The elf looked at her, still slightly confused as he came down from the experience. “I don't know how to explain it other than the spire spoke to me.”

“It spoke to you?”

“Yes…” He replied. “I could hear a voice and I saw things. It showed me what Ravenn had been doing, how he'd been collecting and experimenting on the Shriekers. He's also gained powers through some sort of artefact similar to the spire. I'm not sure what he’s gained but he is more powerful now.”

“It’s entirely possible that a piece of Martin’s soul still remained in the crystal, perhaps that is why you could see these things,” Dante added. “Do you know where the rest of the population is being held?”

Moe nodded. “They’re in the dungeons, but a majority have been subjected to the parasites. If we can defeat Ravenn however, they should be free of the parasites control. He was able to use the artefact to enhance his power, this means that he is directly connected to them all. The same goes for the Shriekers, but if Ravenn is defeated and their Queen is taken out, the shock should kill them all.”

“Cut off the head and the body dies,” Frostfeather interjected. “Seems we have a course of action. We’ll find Ravenn and then rescue the populace. Then we mop up the rest of those monsters.”

“That works for me as well,” Dante agreed before returning his attention to Moe. “Was there anything else that you could get from the spire? Did you manage to find out if Coppa is here and what shape he is in?”

“No,” Moe replied with a depressed shake of his head. “Martin passed a few days ago. He wouldn’t have seen Coppa either. I’m sorry Dante…” 

“No, you did the best you could. Who knows what side effects this crystal could cause. It’s not something we need to risk again.”

“There was this though,” Moe added opening his hand. Sitting in his palm was a small shard of the spire, shaped into a small,  round gem. It shined with its own internal glow, but the air around it still radiated with the same amount as it had in its larger form. Twilight watched as Dante instinctively reached for it, but hesitated at the final moment. His hands shook slightly before he picked it up, only for the crystal to crumble into dust that fell back and reformed in Moe’s palm. Dante tried grasping it again, but the moment the crystal left Moe’s hand, it crumbled away. 

“It looks like you will have to hold onto it for now,” Dante stated. Moe held the crystal with uncertainty in his eyes, but placed it into his pocket. Twilight could tell there was something about the crystal that bothered him. Perhaps he wasn’t revealing the true scope of what he had seen when he had touched the crystal. The other, more plausible explanation was the body that had been host to the crystal. Dante seemed to notice this too and offered a reassuring hand on Moe’s shoulder. “Don’t worry, once we finish here, we can lock up the crystal back in Ponyville. I won’t let what happened to Martin, happen to you. Now let’s head out. The sooner we finish here, the sooner we can sever the link between you and that crystal.”

“Alright, let’s go then,” Moe replied with a renewed sense of confidence. He followed the rest of the group into the next tunnel, alongside Sam and the ponies. Dante watched them go on ahead, his eyes glues to where Moe’s bandage had come loose to reveal a now completely healed arm. The familiar feeling surrounding the crystal concerned him, but his mind was not sure how to process it. At first glance, it wasn’t pulling any energy away from Moe, but it seemed as though it had begun a sort of symbiotic connection with his body. There was more to the crystal than he knew, but at this moment it appeared to be safe enough. He only hoped, his assumption was right 

“Dante?” 

Twilight’s words broke the Diablon out of his trance, and he realised he had yet to move a step towards the exit. For a moment he scanned his surroundings and joined both Frostfeather and Twilight at the mouth of the exit. “Sorry, I was thinking about something,” He told them as he reached them. A sudden idea came over him and he clenched his fist as his magic began to pour into a spell. “Frostfeather, were there any traces of gas or anything in the water that would have exploded if we had lit a torch?”

The Griffon Prince pondered the question for a moment before nodding. “There was a bit of gas in the air. A few pockets throughout the room. The water, may have a few combustible properties too. This basin was connected to the entirety of the castle so it was safe to assume some of the chemicals our alchemists use in their experiments have been deposited into here. Surely a few of those may react to an open flame. Why do you ask?”

Now Twilight stepped up with a concerned expression. “Dante what are you thinking?”

“If Ravenn is connected to every mind worm, then he feels a fraction of what the worms and their hosts feel. It’s one of the fundamental flaws of being a summoner. You’re subjected to a magical backlash that can devastate you. This will just make things easier in the long run.” He answered just as flames covered his hand. “Plus, we won’t have to worry about these ones afterwards.” The flames grew brighter and more violent as he approached the mouth of the exit. “You may want to step back for this.”

“What about the body?”

“It’s an impromptu pyre. I’m sure he’d appreciate it more than allowing his body to decay in a sewer.” 

Twilight nodded solemnly and stepped back as Dante raised his hand and staff. Her eyes closed shut as a bright orange blast blinded her and rocked the foundations of the tunnel. Turning her head, she blinked and let her eyes readjust. While her eyes gradually became focused on the wall, she did her best to try and block out the sounds and smell of burning meat. This did not sit well with her, nor did Dante’s passive attitude agree with what she thought. Still, she kept herself quite ith the knowledge that Dante’s quick and brutal decision had probably saved many more lives in the end. All she could do was to watch with dread as Dante and Frostfeather’s shadows merged and formed a single winged being in the light of the flames that engulfed and consumed the dying creatures within the basin.
	
	
	
> Return of the King
> --------------------------------------------------------------------------


“My King, Do you hear that?” 

Claudius Irontalon, first of his name, regent of the lands of the Griffon kingdom and its territories, looked up from the spot by his feet for the first time in days since he had been deposited like a sack of grain in the corner of his own dungeon. The feeling should have been humiliating, his ancestors would have cursed him for his ineptitude, but he was beyond feeling sorry himself. He had come to terms with his situation the moment his own people, controlled by some black magic from an outlander, had forcefully removed him.

He grimaced slightly at the thought, the mere thought made his blood boil. The cowardly magic weaver had played his hand well, banking on the shock to catch his guards unaware. Yet it would have mattered little even if they had been prepared, he would not have let any of his subjects come to harm. Though criticism had been thrown at him for many harsh decisions and laws he had made, Irontalon had never flinched. He held a love and respect for his people to a degree only matched by monarchs of Equestria. That was the sole reason he had hesitated to give the order to fight his own. 

It was also that choice that had led to many more deaths. He could still remember the screams and sounds of battle from within his own city as a horde of insect-like beasts had descended on his people. Every single scream of pain had been a wound to his heart, and each became another reason he would not give in to despair. 

Then there was his son, his one and only child. So quiet and reserved, Irontalon couldn't have helped but wonder how his child was. Was he safe in Equestria, gathering support and forces to march on Reiksadler? Or had he perished in the chaos, cut down before he had reached his ship? The king picked at the dirtied remains of his royal finery, a habit he had kept ever since he was a child. The purple fabric lined with gold thread had begun to fray at the edges with some parts showing worn holes that exposed his pepper coloured feathers that covered the corded muscle beneath them. It proved a good distraction for mere moments before he began to concern himself again . His son, for all his intellect, had never shown himself to be a warrior or a leader of troops. If he had been able to find any skill in those regards within the past few days, Irontalon would be thoroughly impressed with whoever managed to convince the boy.

“My king?” The griffon whispered quietly again. This time, Irontalon shot him a glare. While he may have lost his youthful appearance, the king was still had an intimidating presence that he prides himself on. It was one of the many ways he was able to get things done when the occasional noble thought themselves above their station.

“What is it?” He growled, his voice carrying through the large cell that held more than thirty of his court in it. Many hadn't heard the low thrum of their king's voice in days and turned their heads in shock to see their sovereign stand up to his natural towering height. 

The griffon cowered slightly in front of him, taken back by the sudden presence the king emitted. Irontalon huffed in annoyance at the display. While he did respect his fellow race, he held onto their prejudice against any form of weakness. “Well boy, what is it?” He asked again, this time with more force.

“A noise, your majesty. It sounded like an explosion.”

Good, finally found his voice. Irontalon thought, glad he wouldn't have to repeat himself a third time. “An explosion?” 

“Yes, your majesty. Just listen closely.” The griffon replied. Irontalon closed his eyes and stayed still as he listened for any hint of noise. Silence greeted him, but his slightly sharpened senses caught the feeling of dust falling from the ceiling and settling on the delicate feathers on his head. Then there was a sound, a low rumble he could barely hear that accompanied another small amount of dust falling from the ceiling.

“What do you think it is?” the griffon asked him. Irontalon grit his teeth slightly, his concentration was harder to maintain with the exhaustion and stress his time in the dungeon had placed on him. He waved his hand, calling for the griffin to be quiet. He slowly approached the wall and pressed the side of his head to the cup his hands formed against the wall.

At first, there was nothing, only a long pause punctuated by the slight noise of his breath and the beat of his heart. Stupid bird, there was no noise. It had just been a tremor, not an explosion. Irontalon was well acquainted with them, having dealt with the past costs and complaints. Being built on a fault line tended to result in sometimes frequent shaking of the earth. 

As he began to pull away from the wall, there was another noise. Not a rumble or quake, but a small distinct noise that had like been able to travel through a hole in the ancient mortar that barely held the stones together. Despite how quiet it was, it was enough to draw him back, searching for the source. He followed the mortar till he came upon a small hole that allowed him to hear the noises on the other side. 

The shuffle of feet caught his attention, coupled with the hushed whispers that he couldn't quite make out. He knew there was an adjacent cell to the one he was in now, but he hadn't recalled any of his people being placed in that section of the dungeon. Ravenn had made the Griffons under his control march their king through the dungeon last as a final act of humiliation. In that time, Irontalon had taken every chance to see where his people had been deposited.

He pressed his ear as a slight whine penetrated the air. It's high pitch made his headache, but his curiosity forced him to continue listening. Something was going on beyond this wall and he was unsure if he was going to enjoy finding out what it was. His patience however, had become incredibly short since his confinement. Now he was simply reaching his wits end. 

“Whatever you're doing, hurry up with it!” He said, slamming his fist into the wall. He was fairly sure he heard something crack. Yet any pain his hand should have felt was blocked out as he noticed the growing warmth of the stones. He drew back his claw, clutching his now throbbing wrist as the stones took on an orange hue. The acrid smell of smoke punctuated the air as whatever was living on the wall cooked. Ancient mortar bubbled and leaked from the cracks of the walls, pouring over the side in a viscous slop. A few of the weakened stones gave way, sliding out as their foundation melted away. 

He stepped back as more stones began to slide out and fall to the ground, stretching his arm outwards to silently tell the other griffons in the cell to keep back. His silent instruction was followed closely by his fellow captives who stood up and gathered near their king. Wings were stretched and hackles raised as they prepared for whatever it was on the other side of the wall.

Patiently, they waited with an impending sense of dread as the orange glow of hot stone subsided and was replaced with the sound of a blunt force smashing against the wall. Now without the support of the mortar holding the stones together, the stones gave way almost instantly with a cloud of smoke and dust being kicked up from the cells floor. The captured Griffons shielded their eyes as the cloud obscured the new hole in their cell. 

To his surprise, a group of ponies emerged from the smoke, striding forward like colourful phantoms. It was led by a purple unicorn with a lavender starburst surrounded by three smaller white stars for a cutie mark. She regarded to Griffons with slight surprise until her eyes landed on Irontalon who was furiously trying recall why this particular unicorn seemed familiar. “King Irontalon?”

The question took him by surprise as did the surprising softness of her voice. He stood straight, attempting to regain some notion of regality before he addressed her. His voice, on the other hand, was slow off the start, coming out in a squawk that reminded him of the pre-pubescent child whose voice had begun to crack. “Yes?!”

“Father!” A familiar voice echoed in the cell before the unicorn had a chance to respond and before the griffon king was crushed in a powerful embrace.

*****

Twilight smiled as Irontalon returned his son’s embrace after his surprise had left him. He enveloped the younger Griffon with his powerful arms, squeezing him tightly. All around them, Frostfeather’s routine greeted or embraced faces they recognized, celebrating with quiet relief as they realized they had not been too late to save their friends. 

The king separated from his son, regarding him with fatherly pride and a hint of curiosity as though he hardly recognized his boy. Twilight could hardly blame him after all that had happened. Frostfeather certainly carried himself differently than when she had first seen him. No doubt his own father could feel it as well just by glancing at his son.

“My son has grown into a man it seems,” he said quietly, looking at the disheveled state of his son. Frostfeather's gave an exhausted smile as he nodded slightly. 

“I've brought help,” he replied before his mood fell. He ushered for Murkclaw who gave the prince a folded piece of paper which Frostfeather handed to his father. “But I lost a number of my own guards along the way. I've had a list of their names kept so I can inform their families.”

Irontalon regarded the names quietly. “I knew many of these griffons since they were young. All good soldiers and loyal to the core. You've learnt a hard lesson about leadership, my son,” he said, giving the list back to Frostfeather. “Remember this, sometimes we need to make decisions which will put others and ourselves in danger. Don't forget these sacrifices, learn from them and remember them always.” When his son nodded and collected the list Irontalon clapped him on the shoulder with an approving smile. “Now tell me about the assistance the Equestrians are giving? How many soldiers are they sending? A legion? Two perhaps? Or will their whole army come to our aid? Tartarus help that coward if the full might of our neighbours crashes on him! Those ponies may be small they’re a fierce lot.”

Twilight cringed as Frostfeather visibly paled in the face of his father’s overly optimistic view. Had he really been counting a speedy mobilization of their entire army? Twilight knew that the King had sole control of his forces, but Equestria’s system was different. The Princesses had made that much clear when they had told Frostfeather and sent Dante’s team instead. 

“Their army isn't coming, father…” Frostfeather said dejectedly, his newfound confidence wavering and threatening to return him to his old indecisive self. Irontalon’s smile fell and despair soon wrote itself clearly along his face. “Their government is currently mobilizing as best they can, but they couldn't promise any immediate response. Both Princess Celestial and Princess Luna were regretful about it, but they sent a number of trusted and skilled warriors who aren't bound by Equestrian laws.”

“Mercenaries then?” Irontalon looked towards Twilight and her friends who had just started to climb through the hole in the wall. 

“Then how many did you bring?”

“Ten in total, but one has gone missing…” 

“No doubt they've run off knowing the hopelessness of the situation…” The King said dejectedly. “Perhaps I had put too much faith in our neighbours.”

Twilight was both thankful and worried for the Prince’s statement. While the image and respect Irontalon had of the Princesses had no doubt taken a blow, it would've been even worse had the number been reduced. On the other side, there was now going to be an expectation that Twilight and her friends were going to have placed on them. She had been operating in luck and magic up until this point, not any actual combat skill. She had never studied the Griffon monarchy, but knowing their propensity for martial skill and their large standing army she had no doubt Irontalon could tell the difference between an actual warrior and her.

Her fears almost came to a head as Irontalon seemed to inspect her and her friends, possibly noting the lack of any arms or armour. “Well who has Celestia sent me?” He asked, directing both the question and his steely gaze at Twilight. When Twilight hesitated, his frustration appeared to boil over. “None of you have ever seen combat, so what use are you?”

“That would be Twilight Sparkle you are talking to. The bearer of the Element of Magic and head of the Elements of Harmony, personal student of Princess Celestia,” Dante said as he, Moe, and Sam appeared out of the opening like spectres. His eyes seemed to glow in the dim light as he stared down the king. “I would give more respect to the ones who personally defeated both Nightmare Moon and the god of Chaos himself. If that does not please you, she and her companions have also managed to hold their own as we came into your city.”

The king seemed on edge as the three of them calmly descended the rubble, watching them with a wary eye and readied fists. Twilight gulped as the other griffons in the cell beside Frostfeather and his guards seemed to ready themselves for a fight.

“Father! Stop this!” Frostfeather interjected as he stood between Dante and his father. “These are our allies! They're here to assist us.”

“Are you so sure? They have the same stench as the one who reduced our capital to the state it is now! They could be cavorting with him, infiltrating the Equestrian monarchy!”

“That's a lie!” Twilight yelled as she stepped forward. Fury burned hot like a coal in her chest, the ember stoked by outrage. 

“Twilight!” She heard Dante call her and felt his hand on her shoulder. There was a moment before the hot ember in her chest cooled, leaving her deflated. Dante didn't seem angered by her actions, but there was concern written on his face. “The King has every right to be suspicious. Just keep yourself calm, there's some spell affecting all of us right now, that includes the King. We can not afford to cause any issues.”

“Sorry…” Twilight replied as she backed off. Her outburst had not helped their cause any further. Instead, the King and his fellow prisoners looked even more on edge. If she had kept going a fight would have surely broken out in the cell. With the prisoners outnumbering them, it would have gone very poorly for their group.

“King Irontalon, I realize you and your people have suffered much, but we share the same enemy,” Dante said calmly. For added effect he placed his staff on the ground. “Celestia regrets that she could not send more aid, but the nature of Equestria's government is not as quick as your own. That being said, my friends and I do possess the skills to help you take back your city.”

Irontalon still stared at Dante uncertainly but it seemed that Dante’s move had the desired effect. Dante himself was still standing tall and facing the king, no hint of wavering showing itself. 

“There's more to you than meets the eye isn't there?” Irontalon said with a slight hint of disdain. “I hate unknowns, but I have no choice. If my son and those guards made it this far with you, then perhaps the day is not lost. Do you have a plan?”

“Yes but first we will need to deal with the cell door.” He strode forward after picking his staff from the floor and stopped in front of the door. It's iron bars were thick, about the size of his wrist but Dante hovered his hand over the square block that housed the lock. It began to glow red, heating up as Dante’s magic coursed through its metal frame and softened the iron. He drew back after the metal had begun to glow a bright yellow and motioned for Twilight.

A blast of magic was all it took for the door to be forced open in a shower of sparks. The lock itself had disintegrated, leaving the door to swing open on shaky hinges. Moe and Sam wasted no time in crossing the threshold, ensuring the hallway was clear for them. 

Dante turned back and motioned for everyone in the cell to leave. “Hurry and get everyone out of their cells. When that's done get out of the city, we’ll take care of Ravenn.”

“I’m coming with you,” Irontalon stated flatly. “This is my keep and I will be there when it's taken back.”

“Very well then,” Dante responded. “Prince Frostfeather, have a few of your men direct the escape. Please tell them to get out of the city and wait until tomorrow before coming near. If we are able to finish Ravenn earlier then I will signal that it is safe.”

The Prince looked at Dante strangely, obviously confused by his sudden choice to refer to him by title, but to any who had been with the pair until this point knew exactly what Dante was doing. It was a matter of respect, plain and simple. Griffons were a traditional sort and the royal family was at the height their society. Referring to one another on a first name basis would mean Dante considered himself their equal and he did not need another reason for the king to distrust him any further. There would be time to put things in order later, but now was time for them to deal with Ravenn.

“Understood, but I am also coming with you,” Frostfeather replied before turning to his men. “You heard him, free the civilians and leave the city. Murkclaw you are in charge of the effort, congratulations on your promotion.”

The young soldier saluted the Prince before barking orders and organizing those around him. Griffons filed out of the cell and the rhythmic sound of grunting and metal clashing on metal began as they worked on every cell door. No doubt the sheer amount of noise would attract some attention but Dante doubted they'd be able to stop hundreds of angered Griffons. All they needed to do was find the first exit and the escape would be well under way. It was dangerous and likely to result in some casualties, but there was no time for an alternate plan. The escape tunnels were ablaze and Ravenn would be alert to their presence. The final confrontation was happening soon whether or not they were ready.

“Dante! We found something!”

Sam’s voice practically boomed in the tunnels, loud and filled with dread. Whatever he had found it was not good. Inside his own mind, Dante had a profound sense of fear as he left the cell, leaving the King and Prince alone, and ran down the hallway with twilight and her friends on his trail.

*****

Magic hung in the air as nine pairs of eyes stared at the ruins of a small cell and the mangled corpses that littered the hallway in front of it. The front door of the cell was embedded in the opposite wall, blown off by enough brute force that it would've been impossible to remove it without tearing the wall down. Claw marks decorated the walls around it, highlighted by smears of gore that had dried and caked the wall. 

It was a sight from hell and Dante could only imagine what kind of creature had done this. The claw marks were not those of any Shrieker, and Dante doubted any of them possessed the strength to tear through solid stone. The magic in the air and the faint smell of ash that hung in the air, combined with the destruction in front of him could have only come from one source.

The Demon was here…

“What did you find in the cell?” He asked, turning to Moe and Sam. Dread was plainly written on both their faces and Moe shook his head. 

“There was a lot of blood and fur,” Moe said, voice holding back his emotion. There was fury and sadness in his words, but he was doing his best to hold back from lashing out. “Coppa was here… They tortured him…”

“Is he… in there?”

“No,” Sam replied quietly. “The body is gone. The amount of blood though... “ He looked down, but a sideward glance told Dante he was avoiding the anguished faces of the ponies. The three of them knew there was the possibility of losing a friend during a mission, but that knowledge did little to soothe the pain when it did actually happen. Coppa was their friend, the brash part of their group and the one who always acted as the foundation of their strength. 

“Let me through,” Dante said. Both Moe and Sam parted and he stepped through the ruined doorway. Unlike the hallway the cell was not as damaged, but the stain of red on the ground and on the wall where the remains of what looked like melted chains bore testament to a different sort of violence. Droplets of hardened iron littered the floor and Dante attempted to pick one up. It resisted for a moment but with a quick blast of heat, gave way to his efforts.

Like the hallway, the metal teardrop reeked with concentrated magic. It's outer shell shined in the light of the torches that illuminated the hallway, only partially blemished and distorted by Dante's efforts. “Coppa, what did they do to you…” Dante whispered to himself as he let the droplet fall. His stomach tightened and he had to work against growing need to retch. He couldn't stay here any longer. He couldn't stomach another minute.

As he left, he noticed that both Irontalon and Frostfeather had joined the group. Frostfeather had a reserved look of curiosity about what was going on, but he was holding his tongue and thankfully so. One misspoken word would be devastating. Irontalon though seemed to understand, no doubt having lost a few friends in his lifetime to whatever dangers roamed the expanses of his kingdoms. He gave a solemn nod to Dante and held a claw over his heart, muttering something Dante couldn't hear before approaching.

“I'm sorry about your friend,” he whispered. “We will avenge him, I promise you that.”

“Thank you, your highness,” Dante replied quietly, letting out a breath he hadn't realized he had been holding. His shoulders felt heavy, but a fire burnt in his heart. The rage he had been resisting from the demon’s influence he now accepted, allowing it to fuel him partially. He could sense that his friends were doing the same unconsciously as they stared at him with anger in their eyes. Even the ponies had a strange and almost enraged look to them. A primal urge began to swell within his mind, but he was able to keep it in check with one thought.

Ravenn I will destroy you.

“Let us go then,” Irontalon said, standing tall. “Ravenn will be in the throne hall. That arrogant bastard decided to place himself in my throne and rubbed the fact in my face. No doubt he’s up there now waiting for us.”

“Then why don't we show him how it feels to be deposed,” Moe said as he flexed his bow and checked his stock of arrows. “I'm going to put one right through him.”

“Good,” the King replied. “The exit for the dungeon is near an armory. We’ll stock up before we go to the throne room. We can also provide a big enough distraction for the others to escape.”

*****
The flight from the dungeon to the armory took only minutes and it took them even less time to raid the entirety of the large armory that outfitted the entirety of the keeps guards. What had been an ostentatiously large room, filled with rows upon rows of all types of weapons and ammunitions, now contained a scattered mess as Dante, the Griffon royalty, and the ponies rifled through it. Outside were the remains of a few Shriekers which had been unfortunate enough to be caught unaware by the group. They had been dispatched quickly and with enough noise to draw a few others which met a similar fate.

“Take whatever you need, we will not have a second chance,” Irontalon said. He now wore a set of plate armour that barely contained his muscular frame. At his waist was a broad-bladed longsword that glinted in the light and was accompanied by a short parrying dagger that he had picked from on of the racks. 

Dante and his companions had followed suit, donning whatever pieces of armour they could find in favour of the superior protection that was offered over their own ruined items. Though there was little in common in terms of physical aspects between griffons, ponies, and humanoids, they were still able to find such pieces as bracers and greaves. Moe had even replenished his arrows, adjusting for the slightly different dimensions of the kingdoms ammunition. 

Dante scanned the room as everyone made their final preparations and he spotted Twilight standing by the door, watching the halls for any movement. Sitting on a crate beside her was Sam who was busy tending to his blade, passing a whetstone over it to hone its edge. There wasn't really a need for it, but their schooling had drilled in the fact that if there was time to be idle then there was time to ensure a weapon was serviceable. Dante instinctively looked to the blade at his side and pulled it from its scabbard. Principal Feinman’s blade seemed to be in excellent condition and Dante had no doubt it could get the job done. He ran a fingertip along the keen edge with enough pressure to feel the blades sharpness. 

Satisfied with his inspection, Dante twirled the sword with a twist of his wrist before sheathing it again. Though he enjoyed spell weaving, he knew there would be a need for blades soon. He was not as proficient as any warrior but he was skilled enough to know that there was more to a melee than simply “sticking your opponent with the pointy end” as Feinman had told him. Still, he wished he had spent more time practicing his postures. 

I’ll need to commit more time to training when we return to Equestria. We need to keep ourselves ready, can't spend all our time interacting with the locals. He thought as he approached Sam and Twilight. The Felpier gave him an acknowledging nod before he gave his sword one last stroke with the whetstone. Dante returned the nod before taking the empty spot next to Twilight.

“Are you ready for this?” He asked her quietly while glancing back and eyeing everyone in the room. They were nearly finished with their respective tasks and soon they'd be facing their first major opponent. Truth be told, though he was determined to see the task completed, there was still the small knot of fear in his stomach. 

“Sort of,” Twilight replied. He could see the tension in her shoulders, the ever present sign that she'd either run or freeze. Though there was always the small chance she’d stand and fight; the ponies always had a knack for surprising him. He couldn't help but think back to the first time he had gone on a mission.

Anyone who says they're not afraid before a fight is either a liar or stupid Feinman had told him when he had confided in his mentor.

“Dante?” Twilight’s voice had dropped to a whisper, alerting him and causing him to instinctively scan the otherwise empty halls. Nothing seemed out of order, though his guard was back up from its brief respite. He raised his brows to Twilight who was now resting her haunches on the stone floor. She didn't return or answer, but idly played with her hooves. He gave her a minute as everyone finished with their personal tasks and readied themselves. Twilight sighed and revealed her troubled state as she rose to her hooves. “Do you think we’ll be ok after all this?”

Dante, for the first time since he had landed in this kingdom, found himself lost for words. “I don't know, Twilight,” he said quietly. “It's never certain when it comes to fighting. Though I'm confident we can manage this without getting too banged up.”

“That's not what I meant…”

“What do you mean then?”

Twilight seemed to hesitate with her reply for just a fraction of a second. When she did open her mouth to explain, the rattle of armor and weapons stopped her. Dante looked back and was greeted by the entire group, armed and at the ready. He heard Twilight sigh, but she was already through the door before he could inquire further. The others followed behind her, filing out of the room quickly. He took a position in the rearguard alongside Moe.

The gothic style halls were massive as they carefully travelled deeper into the keep. Made from the very stone of the mountain, the halls measured almost twenty feet across and perhaps twice that on height and were completely covered by various pieces of art and tapestries depicting the kingdom in all its glory. Dante could assume from the dimensions that the size was to allow for both foot and air traffic. No doubt the extra room was to intimidate any visitors. Hundreds of servants and guards could travel through this hall, either flying or walking and probably never touch each other unless they intended to. If the Griffon's could carve a fortress from a mountain, what else were they capable of.

The only possible danger were the statues that lined the walkways in memory of the Griffon’s leaders and heroes. They were of various sizes, no doubt indicative of their life's achievements. Some were the size of a regular griffon while others were twice that. A wayward flap of the wings or misplaced attention would send them crashing into their raised weapons. A part of him wondered if there had been any cases of an accident. One statue’s spear looked as sharp as a real weapon, but it appeared so large that anything skewered by it would seem like a fly pierced by a dagger. 

Turning from the statues, Dante kept a steady gaze as he searched for any signs of life. The first indicator came soon after had refocused his attention in the form of a few, mournful moans that stopped the whole group in its tracks. Ahead, standing in the hallway were three griffon, two adults, and a child. Their bodies swayed back and forth unsteadily and they made no move as the group came close.

Dante felt a chill make its way down his spine as the three made another series of low guttural moans. The sound of them was like the death throes of a mortally wounded animal. Their eyes were even worse, soft, soulless, and milky white. They looked blind, but Dante could feel their gaze upon him. It unsettled him to the point he had to turn away from their vacant stares before he lost all nerve. 

“God, what has he done to my people,” Irontalon moaned as he approached the three. None of them moved even as he began to touch them with his claws. They simply stared out at the hallway, beaks open and slack as Irontalon let out a cry of anguish. “What has he done?!”

“This the product of the mind worms, Ravenn has complete control over them,” Dante answered. A supportive hand went out and gently touched the King's shoulder. “We will free them. I promise you that, but we need to keep moving.”

He examined the infected family, trying his best to not show any sign he was unsettled by their appearance. They watched him with their soulless, unblinking eyes and Dante grimaced slightly. The synapse that connected the Shriekers to Ravenn no doubt allowed him to see or sense what they saw. It was an educated guess, but it was the best he had. Ravenn was watching them, and Dante knew it.

“Come on then, Ravenn. Let's finish this,” he said with force. If, in the off chance he was mistaken, then one of two things was going to occur. The first was he would simply look like a fool and the three infected would do nothing, or they were going to attack. Dante sincerely hoped it would be the former that occurred in that case. Cutting down citizens down in front of their own King was not an idea Dante was to fond of.

He was caught by surprise as the trio stiffened and a hoarse ‘follow’ escaped their mouths. They turned and shambled quickly forward before ascending a giant staircase. As they disappeared from sight, Dante have a wave of his hand and the group moved forward cautiously. As they turned the corner to the stairwell, that was when we overcame them.

The stairway to the throne room was massive and well decorated with pennants and woven pieces that bore the personal sigils of each past King. They flapped and shifted, moving as the holes built into the roof of the citadel allowed for the smoke of the four brightly burning, chariot sized braziers to filter out with fresh air. 

Between the braziers, holding thick chains that held the fire covered balls like flails aloft, were two massive stone colossai ascending the stairs. Both stood tall, towering over the stairway and peering down on visitors with stony scowls. Their wings shot up from behind them and formed the arches that supported the massive weight of the rock above them. The group, save for the griffon King and his son, stared in awe and took in the workmanship. The sheer amount of detail was ever present, from faded scratches on their armor to each individual feather whether it was perfect or not. They stood like perfect guardians, awaiting and judging all who passed through the gateway to the king’s throne.

Behind them was the gate itself. A massive door of iron studs and solid wood, it stood as tall as the hall itself. It was almost incomprehensible to Dante the size of the trees used in their construction and how thick they must have been. Pocked with arrow slits and man sized iron studs, the gate represented the ultimate testament to griffon stubbornness and resilience. Even if the enemy has taken the majority of the citadel, the throne room was another fortress built within it that they would struggle to take.

The sight was marred by the presence of a contingent of infected guards that stood at attention along the stairwell like a mocking welcoming procession. They did not sway like the three that had disappeared into thin air, but held themselves straight with their own white eyes locked forward and mouths shut. Around them scurried a small number of both Shrieker Warriors and workers. They crawled over the walls like spiders, chattering at the group as they proceeded up the stairs and eyeing them hungrily. Claws swiped at the air, mimicking some form of attempt to goad an attack. 

“Don't provoke them,” Dante whispered just as one worker jumped from the shoulder of the colossus and screeched at them, gnashing its mandibles at a frightened Fluttershy. Sam stepped between them, hand on his sword and flashed a glare that sent the monster running back up the colossus. Fluttershy murmured a quiet word of thanks to him which Sam returned with a pleased smile.

The sound of chains rattling and metal grinding greeted them just as the ascended the last step. A large split appeared in the centre of the gate as it began to move inwards. With each passing moment, light filtered into the dark recesses of the throne room, revealing it to the world.

The throne room itself was much like the one back in Canterlot in construction. A double row of columns divided it into three sections, with the middle leading directly to the throne. Aesthetically, grey stone was used in place of white marble and the stained windows were replaced with clear glass that allowed the light of the setting sun to pour through, highlighting the destruction with its red hue.The wreckage of the night Ravenn took over had not moved since that fateful night. Scraps of clothing, damaged armor, weapons, and the spattered pools of blood covered the area. Broken and battered stone lay everywhere, making it seem as if the throne room had been sacked like the city below it. Yet all the valuables remained, scattered around the room, including the throne. 

The throne itself was a solid piece of iron, carefully forged and beaten into the form of a highbacked chair with little decoration added to it. Wide and squat, it was an ugly thing covered by a number of exotic pelts and furs that acted as cushions. It was placed on a central dais made of black stone that raised it a few feet above the ground so that all eyes would be forced to look up to the leader of the Griffon empire. 

The seat of the King had seen better days. Cracked and broken, the imposing form of the dais was damaged and seemed to be barely holding itself under the weight of the throne. There were scratches all over it, a combination of griffon and Shrieker claw marks that told Dante the king beside him had not been captured without a fight. The faint bloodstains surrounding it were too much for one or two of the monsters. Only the throne seemed untouched and unchanged. The only aberration it bore was the form of a lone elf who sat on it bent forward.

Ravenn’s appearance was almost like that of a corpse. His head hung forward, silver hair splayed out and covering his face. He barely moved, saved for the small shifts that accompanied his laboured breathing. He wore a simple set of pants, dirtied and ruined with tears along the legs. In contrast, colourful raiment of red and gold, no doubt the king’s, covered his shoulders but left his arms and a part of his bare chest exposed. Thin, greyish skin had grown taught, stretched over wasted and atrophying muscle, giving him an almost skeletal appearance.

“Careful,” Dante whispered as they crossed the threshold into the throne room. Eyes adjusting to the dim light, he scanned the room, trying to spot anything hiding in the shadows. His words fell on deaf ears as Irontalon strode past him and pointed his bald at Ravenn.

“I hope you've prayed to your gods and made your last confessions before you meet them,” he shouted. “My kingdom is no longer your plaything anymore!”

Ravenn shifted slightly as Irontalon’s voice settled. “So we finally meet again,” he said, his head rising. His eyes had gone bloodshot and looked half mad as his pupils darted around with every background noise. A thin trickle of hardening blood ran directly from his nose to his chin, lazily dripping on the green stone held around his neck by silver wire. He looked half mad, whether it was from the mental whiplash that had been inflicted on him or some other reason, Dante was unsure. Yet beneath that veil of insanity, there was still the hint of intelligence that came with his words. “Finally seeing members of my own world is such a welcome change of pace. Being the only individual capable of speaking loses its luster so quickly I found.”

Moe stood forward, arrow knocked but undrawn. “The pleasure is all yours, you piece of shit,” Moe said with surprising harshness. He had switched to the language of their world and his words resonated with shrill twinge to them. “I wouldn't get too comfortable sitting up there either.”

Ravenn frowned as he turned to Moe. “I would've hoped that a member of my own race would have had more couth and eloquence. I suppose that is too much to ask considering the company you keep,” without thinking he cracked one of his knuckles with his thumb. The popping made him pause and a thin smile played out on his lips. “Then again, I did manage to teach him a small amount of manners when addressing his superiors.”

Moe's hands tensed around his bow and the string had begun to bite into his fingertips as he began to pull at it. “What have you done to him…”

Ravenn cocked his head to the side and his necklace swayed as wide as his malicious smile. “It's as I said, your friend was loud, rude, and a complete ingrate. I gave him the gift of my medical expertise and he rebuked me to my face!” The summoner threw a hand in frustration while he began pace. “He said I was nothing but a ‘maniac’ and a ‘soft skinned prick who’s ego was a result of my…” Ravenn caught himself before he ended the sentence and coughed into his hand. “Regardless, I broke him out of that habit. He was much more respectful after I was finished. Though I suspect he’ll never be able to swing a weapon or even use a spoon ever again,” his smile returned and Ravenn licked his lips as he savoured his words. “Not after what I did to his fingers and hands.”

Dante’s swirled, mind filling with images he did not want to see. Around him, those who did not understand Ravenn stared in confusion then in horror as Moe and Sam begrudgingly gave them a watered down explanation. The concept of torture was foreign to them, but now they were being told what Ravenn had implied with his words. For some, the horror had turned to resolve and anger. Sam had raised his sword slightly, feet on the cusp of throwing him forward before Dante stopped him with a wave of his hand.

“Don't, he's trying to provoke us,” Dante said quietly. Sam slowly lowered the point of his blade and scowled. Moe had yet the loosen his grip on his bow and visible blue lines had begun to re-appear alongside his left arm and around his eyes. “Moe, stop. There's something not right. Put away your weapon,” when Moe made no movement, Dante’s voice went into a low growl. “Put it away, now. He wants you to attack him and when you do we are all dead.”

It was the truth, Ravenn was unguarded but they were not in a position to take advantage of that. If Moe scored a hit and it killed Ravenn, the monsters and mind worms would die with him. If he missed, or if Ravenn wasn't killed instantaneously, then they would be torn apart by the monsters and infected in the stairwell. Not counting Ravenn, they were outnumbered thirty to nine. They would be able to take on a few, maybe even find a slim chance to escape, but there was no way that they would all survive the skirmish if Moe failed his shot.

The bowstring slowly returned to its original position as Moe reluctantly agreed. “Fine…” he said. The look in Moe’s eyes told Dante he knew his leader was right but he was not happy about it. Dante breathed a sigh of relief at his friends acceptance, now his mind raced at how to deal with Ravenn.

The train of thought derailed almost as soon as Applejack stomped forward, eyes hardened and mouth set in a grim line. “Ah’m gonna give you to the count of five to bring mah friend back or yer gonna be feeling mah hooves going upside yer head!” She yelled, filling the room with her southern drawl. Ravenn stared at her incredulously just as she began counting down numbers. “Five!”

“My god, is that horse threatening me?” Ravenn said,his voice cracking as he began to laugh hysterically. The stone beneath Applejack’s foot cracked and she practically growled the word “four” while Ravenn collected himself. “I apologize but it's ridiculous to me. What exactly is she saying? I don't have a grip on the local language.”

“She said give us Coppa back or she's going to beat you within an inch of your life,” Moe retorted. “I wouldn't laugh either, given the chance, I'd make sure you went down screaming. So you may want to give her what she wants.”

Ravenn seemed to consider it before he frowned. A tense few seconds passed until he nodded his head. “Very well then,” he said before his eyes brightened with a malicious tint that reminded Dante of someone all too familiar. “I'll give him back to you all,” he added quietly before his lips curled. “It's as I said though, he and I had our differences and I resolved them through my own means. Then he graciously decided participate in one of my endeavours to make a more efficient warrior. Regardless however, I shall give you him.”

No… Dante thought as Ravenn’s grin cracked into a toothy white smile. Sadism radiated from it and Dante had to struggle to calm the dark feeling twisting his stomach. He had seen the same depravity radiate from another skeletal face before his town had burned. The same mocking gaze staring at him when the darkness overtook his mind and body. Chills wracked his body and his feet  He then watched as Ravenn’s foot pushed something out from beside the throne. 

It was a piece of heavy brown cloth, wrapped tightly and stained dark with wetness. With surprising deftness, Ravenn sent it flying across the room where it landed with a wet slap and began to roll towards Applejack. The added weight created by the sodden edges forced it to unravel. By the time it reached Applejack the contents were revealed to the world.

“Or at least a few pieces of him,” Ravenn announced as he began to laugh maniacally.

Dante had to hold back from vomiting as he stared at the package. A pair of canine ears and a tail, covered in bushy brown fur with reddish tinges at the tips that contrasted the dark ooze that had begun congeal at the bases. Before them all was pieces of Coppa’s body and the message none had wanted to believe was true.

Coppa is dead…

The realization swept through the entire team like a wave. Disbelief turned to sadness while tears appeared and welled in their eyes. A friend, a family member, the continued strength that supported them all was now gone. Pure fury swept through Dante and he ignored the acute pain in his shoulders were new growths would explode outward if he did not gain control. His emotions were in turmoil, but there was one other who had just been pushed after teetering on the edge.

Moe let out a practically inhuman scream that shocked Dante. The sound was human but punctuated by what sounded like broken crystal scratching against one annoy her. The sheer force actually shattered the surrounding glass and sent Ravenn back a few steps. With almost inhuman amount of speed he redrew the arrow and sent it flying towards Ravenn. It soared lazily in the air for a few moments before the point took Ravenn straight in the throat. The summoner looked down at the shaft of wood sticking out from his neck with almost a curious look of surprise before his legs began to give out, bring him down to one knee as he began to wheeze and gurgle.

Dante took the short second after he realized that Moe’s shot was not the instant kill they needed, but the elf’s own decision. He signalled Sam who sprinted forward before Dante unleashed his own spell. The resulting fireball slammed into Ravenn, sending him into the throne and bringing a half garbled scream from him as he desperately attempted to bat away the fire that caught in his hair. His weak efforts ended quickly as Sam launched himself forward and brought his sword down on Ravenn. The blade caught the elf between his neck and shoulder and sliced down, separating bone and tissue with ease before Sam pulled his sword away. The cut didn't bisect the summoner but Ravenn fell back, still gurgling as his eyes clouded over and blood pumped from the cut that stretched from his shoulder to his ribs. 

Moe sank to his knees, breathing hard as sobs racked his body. Dante sighed and let his body relax as he watched Sam come back to the team. His grip loosened on his staff and he felt the drain of his magic start to ebb as the magical energies began to restore themselves. “It’s finally over…” He murmured to himself. He hadn't expected the window to present itself in such a way but he was relieved that it was over. 

Turning he had expected to see the Griffons shaking their heads, minds free of the parasites within them, and the Shriekers in various states of shock before they ripped into one another. Instead, the Griffons still retained the milky eyes and rigidness of the infection. The monsters themselves were not in shock but moving toward the threshold of the door, chattering and hissing at the team, waiting to be unleashed. Confusion overtook Dante as he stepped backwards and his arm became covered by a weak flame.

“H-How?” He stammered while sweat beaded down the back of his neck. Ravenn was dead, his hypothesis should have worked in some capacity. The sounds of fear once again began to spread throughout the room as the others realized what was fundamentally wrong. Sam had pushed his way to the front, sword in hand and flanked by the two unicorns whose horns were alight. They looked at him with uncertainty, eyes pleading for some explanation that Dante would never be able to give. Had he been wrong? Was Ravenn the hive mind’s centre, or was there another?

The harsh gurgling noise that slightly resembles laughter erupted behind them and all eyes snapped back to the throne. Ravenn's chest expanded and contracted with each noise as he slowly sat up. The necklace around his neck rattled as the stone seemed to jump about on its own. The wound in his chest had begun to close, stopping the flow of blood from his body and turning the stream into a dribble as skin stitched itself together. The ruined face that had partially melted was now healed, new muscle and skin replacing the area that had burnt to the bone.

Ravenn wheezed as his hand came to the arrow in his throat. “D...did you r-really think that was the END?” He asked, managing to pull the broadheaded arrow from his body just as he ended his question. The resulting hole quickly disappeared and with it, the necklace ceased rattling. He regarded them with a piercing eye and a bemused smirk as he shrugged the ruined raiment from his shoulders. “You seemed confused, my friends. It must be overwhelming to think you were that close to victory.”

“How are you still standing?” Moe yelled, springing to his feet. The fury was gone from his eyes, and his steadfast composure had been replaced with an uncontrollable shaking that mirrors everyone else.

“I have harnessed the powers of old and gained knowledge of ancient and forgotten magic,” Ravenn announced with outstretched arms. His lank frame soon began to bulge as muscles expanded and knitted themselves together. By the time his body was finished its metamorphism, Ravenn had the look and muscle mass like that of an ogre. “Its power allows me to change the physical property of any biological organism, and I am able to repair any form of damage to my physical being whether it's lost extremities to my own internal organs.” The muscles soon shrank and Ravenn returned to his original lankness. “With this artifact I am functionally invincible!”

Dante wanted to shout in protest but the facts were stacked against him. He had just witnessed Ravenn come straight back from the dead after being shot, burned, and almost cut in half. Whether Ravenn's words were true or not Dante had no idea. The magic radiating from the necklace was overwhelming. It circled around Ravenn, mixing with his own magic which branched out like a spider web in all directions to those under his power. One stretched directly above Ravenn, leading into the shadowy recesses of the ceiling.

Ravenn seemed to notice Dante’s gaze and chuckled. “Ah yes, I almost forgot. Being a fellow spellweaver you deduced the nature of my connection to those under my control and the effect it has when one of them are killed,” He gave a snap of his fingers and the Shriekers outside began to chatter in a deafening cacophony. Large globules of spittle fell lazily from the dark recesses of the ceiling, splattering in large pools over the floor. There was the sound of bone grinding on stone, coupled with dust falling from the very rooftop as a shadowy form began to move down the wall. In the light of the torches two large bony spurs appeared as they slid down the wall, grinding against the stonework and slowly revealing the massive form connected to them.

Dante sucked in a breath as his entire body seized at the sight of the Shrieker Queen. Even at a glance he could tell there was something unnatural about it. Queens were often three times the size of a warrior, but this one had to be at least triple that. Crystal grew on any edge Dante could see, and there were open sores all over its body that mirrored that of Raven. It’s massive bulk took up the majority of the room, muscles twisting as the monster lowered itself onto the ground. Eight arachnid legs coiled as they finally touched the floor. Attached to them was a massive swollen abdomen and chest that boasted a set of powerful arms ending in two large three fingered claws. Each long curved nail matched the razor sharp rows of teeth that lined it's double set of mandibles. 

It watched them with a number of hungry yellow eyes, jaws chattering before it became completely focused on Dante. Growths of crystal surrounding its crest and dotting the spikes that ran down its spine seemed to darken from their natural blue, becoming a dark red as it began the utter a high pitched whine. Ravenn shushed it, stepping forward and placing a hand on its greyish green hide and gave it an endearing look as he rubbed its exterior.

“Isn't she marvellous?” He asked. More saliva dripped from the Queens jaws as it kept its focus on the diablon in front of it. “It took me months to mould her egg, casting the necessary spells without the help of any outside source. With the artifacts help, what would've taken me years to complete took only minutes. She is now faster, stronger, and bigger than any of her contemporaries. No longer is she a Queen by any standard. No, she is an Empress worthy of fear and admiration; and she is mine.”

“You're insane…” Moe shouted back before he was silenced by Ravenn’s Empress snapping her head toward the elf. The crystals on her spine faded from red to a fiery yellow. The Shriekers behind them began to chatter again, scuttling to and from the doors threshold, barely restrained by the mental leashes Ravenn had placed on them. 

“Your dwarf said the same thing,” Ravenn replied. “But that was before I tore his chest open.” The retort further silenced Moe who paled as his defiance was replaced with disgust. Ravenn moved on and returned to Dante. “You are the one I have issue with however. She and I both know you were the one to light the fire in the sewers. You killed my creations and her children.”

A snap of his fingers and the crystals and eyes of the Empress dimmed back to red. “She may be smart, but unfortunately she will never have a voice to speak the depths of her rage towards you. I on the other hand can,” he let his hand fall from the Shriekers bulk and raised his other hand with his first three fingers pressed against each other. “I can say to you for certain, Dante, that you cannot imagine how much she will enjoy listening to you die.”

The Empress launched itself forward  just as Ravenn snapped his fingers one last time. Its speed was incredible, crossing the hall with both claws raised before they were brought down on the team. Dante skidded to the side, head on a swivel as he confirmed the others had escaped unharmed. He fired up another spell and threw his hand and staff outwards. Lightning crackled in an arc between them before it shot out and slammed into the monster’s carapace. The Empress seemed to stagger, but there was no grunt of pain or signal that the spell had any effect. 

Dante’s eyes widened as the crystals on the Empresses back suddenly began to crackle with energy. Electricity arced between spines before the Shrieker Empress screamed and sent it towards him. With a quick roll, he dodged the attack and landed behind a pillar. The smell of ozone filled the air and Damte grit his teeth as he ceased the flow of magic. 

With a quick glance he looked out from his cover. Moe, Twilight, and Rarity were firing at the creature while Sam and those without ranged measures had their weapons ready. Arrows and magic slammed into the monster, but bounced off harmlessly without leaving so much as a scratch. Fluttershy and Rainbow Dash flew around the Empress’ head, trying their best  to distract it and make the focus on them so that Dante could reposition. They were given less than a cursory glance as a claw was raised and aimed at the pillar he was behind.

Dante ducked as the stone pillar was reduced to rubble by the claw. Pieces flew out and he twisted in midair to avoid being decapitated by a piece of stonework the size of his fist. It's only targeting me he thought as he landed and leaped to his feet. “Everyone!” He shouted as he dropped to avoid another swipe. He grunted as the air above nearly pulled him off the ground. “It’s only going for me. Fall back! We can't do anything right now!”

“What’ll you do?” He heard Rainbow Dash yell from above. “It'll tear you apart!”

“I'll figure it out, just g-” he was cut off as a sudden pressure knocked him off his feet and drove the air out of his lungs. Pain exploded in his side while stars danced in his visions. A faint scream registered in his ears, but the voice was jarred by the ringing that filled his mind. 

Any breath that had remained after the Empress had knocked him skyward with her forearm left him as he collided with the ground. The taste of copper filled his mouth, blood mixing with spit as he gasped for air. With panicked eyes looked himself over before he noticed his arm had become dislocated. His mind willed himself to move, to stand up and run, but his body was slow to respond.

“Dante!” He heard Twilight scream as green claws slammed onto the ground on either side of him. His red eyes widened as the Empress looked at him hungrily. Globules of spittle dropped from the opened mandibles, leaving the conical teeth that would tear him to pieces glistening in the torch light. Before he could react or try to summon up the strength to cast a spell, the mutated Queen’s head was already descending towards him.

Dante slowly managed to close his eyes even as his impending death rocketed toward him. He would be consumed in front of his friends, ripped apart and ground between a monster's jaws. He had half expected the world to slow down in some sort of sick display where he could agonize over his last moments, but nothing of the sort came. Instead, there was a whistle and the loud sound of flesh tearing accompanied by the splatter of blood. 

Opening one eye, he found himself covered in ichor that was not his own. Above him, the monstrous being had stopped, neck pinned together by the sharpened length of stone that had been one of the statues spears. Dante stared in amazement as the Empress let out a gurgle before attempting to move once again. In response, two more spears flew out from behind Dante and pierced the monster’s chest and sent it reeling back. The Empress let out a shrill, gurgling cry as it managed to stay upright. It's neck flexed and squirmed before the stone broke under the stress of the struggle. 

From behind a cacophony of wails erupted, silencing Ravenn’s own cry of pain as he doubled over with his hands clutching his head. Warriors and workers screamed as they scurried and surrounded their mortally wounded mother. The Empress’ eyes had dimmed alongside the crystal ridges, fading as its last breaths rattled from her. On shaky legs, it weakly managed another two steps forward before a fourth and final stone weapon pierced the monster's heart with a spray of blood. With a gigantic sigh she collapsed to the side, crushing a few unlucky warriors to shocked to move out of the way. 

A tense silence filled the air as every living soul stared at the Empress’ corpse in shock. The seemingly invincible monster had been slain in less than a minute, taken down after their own attacks had hardly scratched its hide. Dante himself struggled to process what had even happened, his own ragged breathing becoming strained as he managed to sit himself up. Ravenn was still on the ground, head in hands as the ravages of his magic wreaked havoc on the synapses in his mind and ensured he would be incapacitated for at least another few minutes. 

With no obvious threat in sight, Dante slowly turned his head while his friends scrambled to his side. The back of his neck prickled as a menacing aura flowed from the stairwell into the throne room like a thick miasma. Magic and raw emotion radiated through the invisible cloud, an obvious sign of whatever demon Ravenn had summoned. The following steps and the steady breathing that reminded him of a bellowing forge only served to add to the fact. It grew with each passing second and Dante and his friends watched as the infected guards ran up the stairs and stopped to kneel in a line with their spears outwards. Despite the effects of the parasites in their brains, they shook like leaves as the bellowing breaths came close.

“So you weren't a complete failure after all,” Ravenn shouted. He had gotten back to his feet, blood seeping from his eyes and mouth. At his words the tense breathing stopped and the hallway went silent until there was there was an audible crack. Dante watched as a form soared up from the lower part of the giant stairwell and landed on the extended entranceway to the throne room. A cloud of heavy dust erupted from the floor as stone broke beneath the force of the impact, obscuring the being save for a pair of eyes and veins that glowed through the opaque screen. When the dust settled, The collective heart of the group, torn by the knowledge of their friend, was ripped apart even further as the dust settled.

Coppa was not dead, but what stood in his place and his body was not the friend they had shared their laughter, memories, and tears alongside. Instead, a twisted and perverted version now stood in front of them. 

Coppa’s eyes now glowed and radiated with power that matched the colour of the veins that barely contained the sheer power stored within them. They crisscrossed over dense muscles that had been altered by the demonic energy to the point they strained against his furred skin. On his arms, the fur itself had turned an ashy shade of black that ended abruptly  at his shoulders. Metal gauntlets had replaced his hands, ending in pointed claws heated to a glowing red. They appeared as though they had been put on their friend before being nailed in at the wrists. Those new additions matched the metal piece that had likewise replaced Coppa’s lower jaw, giving him a permanent look of a monster in the midst of snarling. 

At the centre of it all, located and embedded in Coppa’s chest, surrounded by tensed muscles was a glowing red crystal that pulsed in a mocking display of a heartbeat. Uneven metal surrounded it, half hardened and half molten by the intense heat now originating within Coppa’s own body. Small droplets fell from the protruding piece, dripping onto the ground where they began to cool and solidify slightly. In Dante’s mind the droplets finally made sense, but where a single question had been answered, thousands more sprung to mind and were only slightly suppressed by the fear that screamed at him to run. 

Coppa did not move and his eyes barely seemed to register the faces of his friends and allies. Instead they stared past them at Ravenn who met his gaze with equal parts of rage and disgust. The summoner raised his own hand and a pale energy surrounded it. Coppa remained standing even as a similar energy surrounded his head, but he refused to move an inch. A vein popped on his forehead before the magic faltered and extinguished. Ravenn huffed in exhaustion before he screamed. 

“Kill him!”

The Warriors roared in response as their magical tethers commanded them to heed their master's word. While most clambered over the body of their matriarch, one had gained headway against the pack and jumped with its claws outstretched and teeth bared. 

Coppa watched the warrior hurtle towards him with a passive eye before he caught the monster by the throat with one gauntleted hand. The creature gasped and struggled, taking the Dwarfs arm with its claws as his choked. Droplets of glowing metal welled from cut skin before Coppa turned the Shrieker and slammed its face into the ground. There was an audible crunch as the monster’s exoskeleton cracked, but it's continuing struggle revealed the life still within its body. That ended quickly as Coppa’s other hand grabbed its inspectors head and tore it from its body as easy as picking an apple from a branch.

While the fallen monster's kin faltered at the sight of their fallen brother, they continued with their charge as the infected griffons joined the rush. Coppa stood up, blood dripping from the head in his hand before he tossed it casually to the side. He raised both his now glowing and smoking hands as he readied himself, muscles tensing and mouth opening slightly as a bass filled roar shook the entirety of the keep.



In the next few seconds, the world was filled with nothing but the spray of red and the smell of hot copper.
	
	
	
> The Summoner Falls
> --------------------------------------------------------------------------

	Celestia watched the glimmering pool conjured by her magic, her face set in a blank stare with only a minor twitch that showed her fear. Reflected on the pool’s surface was her view over her faithful students shoulder, giving her a glimpse of everything Twilight had seen so far. It was an old spell, designed by a crotchety old mare that constantly fretted over her children and wanted to ensure no harm came to them. When Celestia had found out about the mare’s spell she had commended her efforts and maternal love, but she still chided the mare on her behaviour. A mother could love and constantly seek to protect her goals from danger, but constantly hovering over them would damage their trust in her and deny them the independence they required to grow. 


It hadn't been an easy decision to cast the spell on her star pupil, and she knew Twilight would be hard pressed to forgive her if she found out about this breach of her privacy, but Celestia’s mind had been made and her rationale for doing so had taken hold. Twilight and her friends had disobeyed her wishes to remain in Ponyville, driven to help their friends. It was an admirable trait, but one that had led to a foolish and rash decision. Though the elements were still in Equestria, their bearers were equally important. They were one of the few ancient lines of defence left for Equestria besides herself.


Her other motivation had been her love for them. She had watched the six grow, mature, and learn over the course of the time they had discovered their roles. That was not to say she did not love all her subjects, but the six stood out. Each of them were like her own children, the source of countless moments of joy, pride and frustration. She wanted to protect them, to teleport leagues away with her personal guard and collect her beloved ones, and ensure they were safe. It was not just because of their importance to Equestria as a whole, but because in her own selfish mind she could not stand the idea of letting them get hurt.


It was that same selfish desire to coddle them that had pushed her to keep watch on their behalf from the day the four students from another world had joined them. While she trusted that they did not actively mean to cause damage to her kingdom, Celestia had the experience of history on her end to know such an event brought out a host of its own problems to be dealt with. She had seen it happen as well, recalling the first and second attacks on Ponyville which were still being dealt with. The amount of requests from the medics society were overwhelming, constantly requesting more doctors to assist with the internal scars to her ponies minds while others dealt with the visible wounds they suffered.


Now she saw its effects on the Griffon Kingdom, through Twilight’s eyes. The suffering that these beings could inflict was immense regardless of their intentions. She knew it to be foolish to assume such efforts were beyond anything capable of thought on her world, she had fought and defeated the likes of Sombra and Tirek who had wanted to enslave her people. It only seemed the propensity for violence was more inherent in the forms of the bipeds, and in such an extreme case could change them physically.


The demons they dealt with were one of the most intense forms of corruption since her sister had fallen to darkness all those centuries ago. A single being, once full of life and love, transformed into a being of such unimaginable violence that its dark presence could be felt through her spell. She had enjoyed Coppa's Company, his boisterous and infectious laugh, his ability to remain steadfast in his beliefs despite overwhelming odds, and the loyalty he shared with his friends. now that was all gone, replaced by malevolence.


“Oh sweet child, what have they done to you?” She whispered to herself before her mouth set in a firm line. She knew what had to happen, she only hoped it wouldn't be too late before her preparations were complete.


*****


Twilight watched in abject fear as Coppa tore through his attackers, his claws rending and tearing with a fluid savagery. Tearing her eyes from the horrid sight and focusing on the task at hand, she drew out her magic around Dante and levitated him to the group just as half a Shrieker landed where he was. She tried her best to be gentle, but the combination of her rattled nerves and adrenaline increased the difficulty of attempting to move her injured friend. Dante in turn bore the brunt of the rough ride as he was deposited next to her.


“Thanks,” he mumbled as he tried to stand. Twilight offered him a shoulder and he took it without complaint, rising on his weakened legs. “Prince, is that entryway our only exit?”


Frostfeather nodded. “It is. The throne room was designed to buy time if the citadel was ever breached.” He gestured towards the gateway where the now demon Coppa had grabbed a griffon’s spear and impaled the unlucky soldier with it. “The only exit is through that or out of the windows. It was created for those with wings in mind.”


Twilight heard Dante curse under his breath. “Ok, keep to the sides. Avoid engaging Coppa, he’s focused on Ravenn and I doubtwe can reach him as he is.” He gestured to the corner of the room just as Coppa roared once more. “Just stay out of the way and if the chance presents itself, run. There's no way we can face either of them right now.”


As if to prove his point, the remaining soldiers and shriekers were thrown back into the throne room, falling to the ground with a thunderous crash. Coppa followed them, stalking through the door, his gaze never leaving Ravenn. The elf watched him, mouth set in a line as he willed two soldiers and a Shrieker to their feet. With a gesture of his hands the minions silently broke into a run, coming at Coppa in three directions with spears and claws aimed at his chest. 


The demonic Dwarf seemed to accept the challenge as he charged to meet them. He ducked a spear thrust and planted a foot, spinning to rake his claws across the Griffon’s back. Blood gouted from the unlucky soldier as he fell, the mist of red barely missing Coppa as he pivoted again and brought his gauntleted hand down on the Shrieker, crushing the beasts head and spine. As it rolled back, a spear found purchase and its blade sliced across Coppa’s shoulder. He roared in pain while the griffon poised for another strike, aiming the spear at his exposed back. The pointed tip disappeared as it reached Coppa’s back, it's bladed end replaced by a smouldering tip of wood. The Griffon stared at his weapon, white eyes bulging as it dropped the spear and began to reach for the sword at its side. The blade only began to leave the sheathe before its owner fell to their knees, shuddering as their heart pumped blood into the air through their neck.


Twilight heard Fluttershy and her friends gasp in horror as Coppa then tossed the limp Griffon to the side. Bile rose in her throat and she resisted the twisting of her stomach. Beside her, Irontalon gripped his sword in a shaky claw while his son watched in fear as Ravenn sent the remaining Shriekers and guards to their deaths. “He will slaughter our people,” Irontalon hissed. “He needs to be stopped!”


Oh no… Twilight’s mind races just as Dante and Frostfeather opened their own mouths to protest. She went to activate her own magic to grasp the Griffon king, but he had already begun to move before she could begin the spell.


Dante’s plea and Frostfeather’s cry of concern died in his throat as the king launched himself toward Coppa, wings unfurling and flapping as he raised his sword. A thunderous war cry bellowed from his beak. Coppa’s eyes blazed as his gaze was brought on the group and his mouth morphed into a snarl. He raised his fist, the metal turning from a coal black into a cherry red, as the king folded his wings and dove for him.


“Coppa don't!” Dante yelled out. The dwarf hesitated for a moment, gaze flicking from his attacker to Dante and Twilight. His eyes widened for the briefest moments before a renewed yell tore them from his friends and back to the king of the Griffons.


“Die!”


The sword passed through Coppa’s guard, avoiding the cooling gauntlets as its tip threatened to pierce the stone set in his chest. Coppa gave a strangled cry as he twisted his body, grabbing the king by the wrist and wrenching it to the side. The sword sailed past his chest as Coppa threw his weight to the side and planted his foot. With a grunt he pulled the king forward before he tossed the monarch at a nearby column. 



Irontalon cried out in pain as his body slammed and wrapped around the pillar with a sickening crunch. He stayed upright that for a few moments before gravity took hold and pulled him down, allowing him to tumble to the groundin a broken heap. Frostfeather was the first to react, launching himself toward his father. To Twilight’s surprise he passed right by Coppa who looked at him with disinterest. Instead, he returned his hateful gaze towards Ravenn who now stood by the Empress’ corpse. 


Twilight let Dante down gently and motioned for Fluttershy and Rainbow Dash to stand with him. The Diablon grunted in discomfort, looking at her with worried eyes but reluctantly nodded. He reached in his bag and withdrew a red potion and some bandages which he gave to her with his good arm. Quickly, she and Sam ran to the fallen king, passing Coppa who ignored them as he stepped towards Ravenn. Twilight skidded to a halt behind Frostfeather as he rolled his father onto his back. Irontalon’s wings twisted in unnatural angles and the arm that Coppa had clutched had lost all feather’s leaving only burnt and cracked flesh that oozed blood. She was thankful the king was not conscious to see the extent of his injuries, as the sight would have sent even the hardiest of individuals into shock.


“He’s still breathing!” Frostfeather exclaimed as he raised his head from his father’s breast. Twilight let out a sigh of relief and handed the potion to the prince who poured the liquid onto his father’s arms and some down his throat. The potion seeped into the wound, working its way into the king’s blood while Twilight focused on setting a barrier around them. 


“Fluttershy!” Twilight called out and the yellow pegasus poked her head out from behind Sam. Twilight gestured for her to come, only to receive a shake of her friend’s head. A more frantic wave caught Sam’s attention and he quickly grasped his companion, whispering a short apology before running her to the barrier. Twilight let her magic drop for a moment as she pointed towards the king. “Can you stabilize him?”

Fluttershy looked at the monarch uncertainly, chewing on her bottom lip. Twilight could see she was scared, as they all were, but seeing the injured king had started something in her mind. She gingerly pressed her hoof to Irontalon’s neck, her brow furrowing as she checked his pulse “I’ve never helped a Griffon before. The closest animal I’ve ever nursed back to health was an eagle…”


“That's close enough,” Twilight replied as she handed the bandages to Fluttershy. “Please. Just do what you can.”


The pegasus nodded and set about tending to Irontalon, directing Frostfeather to help her remove his armor while Sam and Twilight watched Coppa stop a short distance from Ravenn. The elf still had a smile on his face despite the destruction of his bodyguard. To her, his face resembled someone picking out a choice piece of fruit from a cart, eyes glimmering as they found something that suited their tastes. The methodical way he examined the dwarf, drinking in his features and the power radiating from him told her all she needed to know. In Ravenn’s eyes Coppa was an experiment that had provided an interesting result. Now he was contemplating how far he could push the limits of the breakthrough that stood in front of him.


Ravenn hummed as he placed a finger to his lips. “For one hell bent on killing me earlier, you are showing remarkable restraint right now. Does a part of you still possess rational thought amidst the magic coursing through you? If that is the case then perhaps you do remember the power of my own stone and how futile it is to try and do so.” His smiled broadened as he touched the green stone, gliding a fingernail over its surface. “Though you have me curious. You slaughter my minions but this group? Rather than destroy them, you've left alone to their own devices save for that incident just now. You have the power to do so and even from here I can see the fact that the creature you struck will be hard pressed to recover. So what is stopping you from tearing me apart? A misguided sense of honour? Refusal to attack an enemy you believed to be defeated? What is it?”


Coppa continued to snarl and growl while Ravenn seemed to wait for an answer. Occasionally Coppa would twitch, his eyelid shaking or a hitch in his breathing, but no words. When Ravenn realized an answer would not come, he simply sighed. “Well then, I thought you still had some vocal capacity. Nevertheless, it seems as though I was far too hasty to order your culling. Seeing the effects of implanting the stone has proven quite entertaining and has given me an idea.”


Ravenn gripped the stone around his neck, fingers curling around its exterior. For a moment there was nothing then the stone began to flow, filling his fist with a green light. His free arm blackened and shrivelled, shrinking as bones began to push against the dead skin and muscle. With a sharp tearing noise, the ends of the new bones erupted from the skin and exposed their syringe like forms. Coppa took a step back, his hackles raised as Ravenn held the bony mass up. “You remember this don't you? The things I can do with these.” He smiled as he licked his lips. “Good, then let's see how much power these artifacts truly have.”


He pulled back his arm before stabbing the bones into the Empress’ body. The chitin surrounding the bone spikes fell away, exposing the writing mass of flesh that pulsated around the bone spikes. Ravenn let out a pained groan as the bones drained the Empress’ essence into him. 


Twilight felt a cold chill run down her spine as the elf’s skin took on the same dull green that graced the Shriekers. Magic swelled within him, leaking out of every pore as his muscles grew and enlarged erratically. It gave him a lopsided appearance as one arm became far larger than the other which had become more like a spiked mace made of flesh and bone spurs. From his back, two mantis like claws erupted and hung over his shoulders, their sharp ends pointing towards Coppa as Ravenn regarded him with his now deformed face.


“Come then,” he uttered through his twisted teeth, his crazed eyes glimmering. The jewel around his neck had become embedded into his skin and glowed a bright green as he launched himself in the air towards Coppa. “Let us see what these new powers can do!”


Coppa responded, taking to the air with a yell. The two slammed into each other with a thunderous crash, claws and teeth ripping into one another as they fell to the ground. Coppa scratched and clawed at Ravenn, ripping deep gouges in the Elf’s altered body. Blood spilled freely, splattering onto Coppa and the tiled floor as his jaw closed around Ravenn’s shoulder and ripped it apart with a sharp tearing noise. Ravenn cried in pain before the the spiked arms on his back stabbed down, the edges piercing through Coppa’s leg and lower back, drawing a cry of pain from the Dwarf. With a shove of his free hand, Ravenn separated himself from Coppa and tossed him back into the air.


Twilight watched as Coppa twisted in midair and angled himself towards a column. One claw caught the pillar, the metal talons of the gauntlet heating and creating a handhold where there was none. With a twist of his arm, Coppa orientated and braced himself against the column while he drove his other claw into the stone exterior as easily as a knife through butter. Twilight could see molten metal drip from his leg while the hole solidified as flesh and fur returned. Raven was healing as well, the caw and burn marks disappearing as muscle knit itself back together. 



She cringed as Coppa launched himself back towards Ravenn with his claws outstretched. A talon soared towards him and Coppa let it glide across his shoulder, opening a long jagged cut to his back before his claw separated it from Ravenn’s back. The dwarf tucked into a roll as he hit the ground and jumped to his feet as his claw swung around and smashed into Ravenn with a viscous backhand. The elf snarled as his ribs gave way beneath the gauntlet and he returned with an overhead swing. 



Coppa raised a fist and caught the bony club in his fist. His fingers curled around it, breaking some of the spikes as repeated the same movement he had used on the king and heaved the massive bulk over his shoulder and slammed Ravenn into the ground. The stonework beneath him gave way, forming a crater as Coppa let him go and slammed the heel of his foot into Ravenn’s mouth. Teeth and bone cracked beneath it and Twilight watched as Coppa’s thigh flexed while he ground his foot into the elf’s face before a fist wrapped around his ankle and threw Coppa off. 



Coppa landed in a crouch and kicked off as Ravenn jumped to his feet and did the same. Again they threw themselves at each other and Coppa ducked a swing from Ravenn’s bone studded arm meant to take off his head before delivering an earth shattering blow that sent the elf back into the wall. Ravenn had only time to cough up blood before Coppa appeared, his fist drilling into his opponents face. More red sprayed into the air as Coppa continued his onslaught, roaring as he kept smashing his fists into Ravenn with wild abandoned. 


Twilight retched in her mouth and swallowed the bitter bile as she maintained her barrier against falling stonework created by the shock of Coppa’s blows. It wasn’t an easy prospect as her mind struggled to concentrate. The intensity and sheer brutality of the fight in front of her had stunned her, and her tired mind was beginning to overload as her natural stimulants wore off. This fight was a concept foreign to her. She had seen guards spar and practice dueling during her time in Canterlot, watched Dante and his team fight against monsters with coordination and precise efforts, and been in her own fights many times. Yet each of those examples had shared a common aspect in that there was skill and planning that went into every move. This fight had none of that. There were no techniques or combat styles, no practiced defenses or expert parries, only the savage strikes and struggles as they swiped at one another. This was not a practiced match or contained battle, this was two animals in a death struggle, lunging and biting whenever they could without relenting.


Yet even a death struggle would have ended quicker than what she was seeing. As each blow landed, she could see Ravenn’s body heal between strikes. The muscles and bone would put themselves back together as Coppa exhausted himself. Then as he cocked his fist back, Ravenn’s ribs exploded outwards and forced Coppa away.


The dwarf grunted as he stepped back, the wounds sealing slowly as he breathed heavily. Twilight could see the difference between the two almost immediately as she watch Coppa sag to a knee. The veins on his body had begun to darken, losing the intense glow that had matched his vicious fury. She looked towards Dante who was staring at Coppa with apparent anguish, as he too came to the same conclusion. Coppa’s own magical presence was fighting against whatever had taken over his body, struggling to keep some part of himself alive. It was the opposite of Ravenn, a practiced magic user, who drew the power to supplement his own. He could twist it and limit the force in ways Coppa could not, ensuring the toll on his body was barely noticeable. 


“Is that all you have? How disappointing...” Ravenn said as he got to his feet. The remaining talon on his back shot out, stabbing into bodies of both shriekers and griffons as he passed them. The corpses shrivelled and withered, reduced to dust as they were absorbed into his body. “Perhaps you are just not angry enough.” The muscles tightened as Ravenn grew another few inches wide and his hand shifted into a grotesque claw. The talon that had been cut off by Coppa grew back and waved around before it too began draining corpses. “If that is how it is then listen closely, you poor excuse for an intelligent creature. You cannot stop me. I will subject every single creature on this continent to the same fate as my thralls. I will possess an unlimited source of research subjects on which to test this stone upon, and I will start with your friends after I harvest what I can from your body. I may even start off with those horses and see how far I can alter them. After them it will be your two friends and then i’ll move onto you devil born friend, Dante.”


Twilight could see Coppa go rigid, his body going straight as an arrow as Ravenn stopped speaking. His arms fell limply to the ground with an audible clang. On both knees and with his head hanging forward, he looked like he was in the midst of praying while Ravenn strode towards him. She caught a slight movement of his mouth, the metal jaw shifting as he appeared to say something under his breath. A sharp cry caught her attention and with a turn of her head, she saw Dante clutch his head.


“Coppa, don't do it,” he cried. “Don't give in to it!”


*****


It hurt. Everything hurt. His body, his mind, his entire being radiated pain beyond his wildest imagination as he hung suspended in a void on a metal slab with his hands locked in placed. Something had been placed on his head, forcing him to breathe through his nose as it closed his mouth shut. Fatigue ran rampant through him, and a relentless force kept throwing itself at his mind, attacking and pressuring his defenses.



The area surrounding him was pitch black, devoid of light or any anomaly that would have disturbed the flat plane of inky darkness. Yet he could see himself perfectly clear, his fur the only colour in the oppressive environment. How long he had been there, he was not sure. Time seemed to crawl to a halt since he had passed out in his cell and awoken in this new area.


At the memory of the cell he felt a shortness of breath and a burning sensation in his chest. One hand broke free from its restraint with surprising ease and he cried out in shock as his fingertips came into contact with nothing but a large pocket of air where his sternum should have been. He quickly looked downwards as his eyes registered that despite missing a portion of his bare chest, he saw nothing of his internal organs. Instead his fingers passed through the blackness and as they did so panic and adrenaline began to spike in his brain. He felt his heart begin to hammer in time with his rapid breathing.



Coppa felt his stomach twist and the sense of panic urged him to struggle against his remaining restraint. He hammered his fist into it, buckling the restrain before another blow broke it in half. Without it holding him, he fell from the metal slab onto the solid black surface of the void. Without a second thought he began to rip at the offending item on his head. His fingers grasped at it, feeling the warm metal around his head for any gaps or latches. 



Freedom came in the form of nail driven through two hoops in the side of the mask. With a press of his thumb, the nail slid out and the mask fell into two parts at Coppa’s knees. As he coughed and sucked in air he looked it over through tear filled eyes. The mask stared back at him, a metal skull grinning as though it found his panic amusing. He swatted it away and let it clatter to the side as he took in a few more breaths in an attempt to calm his nerves.



“Is anyone out there?!” He yelled between breathes, his voice echoing into the darkness. A hushed whisper of garbled words answered him as multiple voices reached his ear. Their words buzzed around in his head like angry wasps and Coppa clapped his hands over his ears as another ache surfaced in his head.



Defeated…



Hero…



Acharon...


“Stop it,” he yelled out before the soft voices began to shriek.


Save… Them…


Betrayal…


Father dead...



“Shut up!”



Fool…



Execut...tion…



The pit



“Stop it, please,” he repeated. His head throbbed in agony, forcing him into a fetal position as hundreds of angry voices screamed incoherent words at him. He begged and pleaded, promising any task or request he could possibly think of to quiet them. When he closed his eyes images flashed in and out, showing him battlefields and scenes of slaughter he didn't recognize. They were all accompanied by a long figure with dark wings dressed in black robes that hid his face and body. The sight of the battlefield and the bodies of both demon and mortals were appalling, but upon looking on the figure, a seductive calm washed over him.


“You will be my warmaster, my agent of fury. With you at my side, our enemies will cower before us as we scour the earth.”


The words washed over him like a wave of relief, reducing the voices back to hushed whispers. Coppa should have been terrified, but a sense of familiarity turned the rejection on his tongue to nothingness as he let it invade his mind. The figure then began to fade as he found his eyes being gently coaxed open. Standing before him was Ravenn, sporting the same sadistic smile and egotistical glint in his eyes. 


Coppa felt something pull at him, it was like the rage the night he had been captured and in the cells of the prison Ravenn had placed him in. The blinding anger that compelled him to violence. There was a rationality to this, a space for a consciousness to direct it, a reasoning within that enticed him to harness the feeling. Something that wanted him to sink into it and use it for his own means. It guided his body for him as he crawled to the mask and picked it up. He tried to resist the temptation but his will was quashed as his fingers touched the smooth surface.



Touch it… Feel the power...


His eyes became transfixed on the mask as it began to glow, taking in an invisible heat source that made it glow as though it were freshly pulled from a forge. The metal, now coloured as bright as the sun, did not burn him and he felt no actual heat come from the mask. Instead it was cold in his palms, sending a pleasant tingle down his spine as it bubbled and melted in his hand. The liquid remains spilled from between his fingers and in its place remained a ruby red crystal in the shape of a spear. 


With shaky hands he shifted it and placed it in front of the void in his chest. The stone pulsed and vibrated in his hand as though it knew what was to come. It was eager, he could feel it through some connection and he could almost hear it scream in frustration.


Come little one… Let us free… We will make him pay...


With a grunt and a quick prayer he brought the point into the void. The icy chill exploded throughout his body as the tip sunk into the blackness, it's sharpened edges cutting through the darkness as though it were flesh. The chill was then replaced with a surge of heat and energy that made Coppa scream allowed in agon as his nerves were pushed to their absolute limit. He felt something touch his fingers and in the corner of his eyes he could see hundreds of hands made of thick magma sprouting  from the ground and wrapping themselves around him. 



The calm remained even throughout the pain, a sense of serenity within the agony as his body and mind were ripped and reformed endlessly. He looked back towards Ravenn and found the robed figure in his place. There was a smile on the figures face that was warm and welcoming.



“Are you ready?”


Coppa nodded and from behind came two massive iron arms that grabbed and lifted him by his shoulders. Coppa’s head snapped back to find a giant metal golem looming over him, the same skeletal mask watching him with flaming eyes. It seemed half finished with pieces of its body missing or half melted, slowly forming to fill the holes. In the centre of its chest, revealing itself as its metal exterior parted to show the flaming void within, was the same spear head shaped stone. The golem groaned, its malformed jaw muttering intelligible words before it placed Coppa within itself. The flames licked at the Dwarf who looked at the robed figure whose smile had yet to falter



“I pity the next soul who becomes the target of your ire, Aedus.”



The calm of his mind shattered and Coppa’s final act as a mortal was to  scream as for one final instant he understood the depth of the mistake he had made.



*****



The veins had returned in full, bright orange showing against the black fur on his arms. Ravenn seemed not to notice it as his arm outstretched towards Coppa. Around the two, small pebbles and stones began to shake and wobble away as though some unseen force was pushing against them. Ravenn seemed to finally notice the strange happenings around him and paused for a moment as he turned his head. The air filled with a sharp hum as everything became bathed in a crimson light. Then, as fast as it had come, the noise stopped, replaced by the wet, sharp tearing of metal cutting through flesh. 



Ravenn’s head jerked back to Coppa and his eyes saw the smouldering broken stump where Coppa had ripped off his arm. A strangled cry came from his mouth as he stumbled backwards on one foot. Another flash of the claw and another stump appeared below Ravenn’s knee, spouting dark blood in great gouts. With only one leg to stand on, Ravenn kept his pace as he hopped backwards while his arm and leg began to twist and grow against the cauterized wounds. One of his talons searched frantically for a body and then stabbed into the remains of a griffon’s lion like arm before it consumed it. Ravenn’s arm then sprouted anew, mimicking the shape of a lions foreleg. A second later his thigh began to write before it too regrew into a new limb.



Ravenn stumbled backwards too his feet as he retreated from Coppa. The new leg was shorter than his former limb, giving his steps backwards a lopsided gait as his face betrayed the fear he was trying to hide at the sight in front of him. 



“What are you?” He demanded. Twilight realized the conflicting presences surrounding Coppa had melded, forming a single entity that had calmed as it pulsed. 



Coppa’s mouth opened with a creak as the metal jaw moved. He tilted his head, watching Ravenn with The same disinterest as one staring at a bug. “We... are… Rage. I-I I am…”



 Its head jerked to the side as if it had been struck in the face, a slight twitch accompanying it before it glowered at him. “I AM AEDUS.”



Out of everything she had watched Coppa do in his new form, the simple act of speaking three words terrified her the most. The thing had taken Coppa’s voice and added a deep bass to it. The sound of the broken sentence echoing from its mouth were only one part of the reason she was frightening. The thing residing within their friend was intelligent, not a simple minded corruption she had assumed at first glance. 



“Whoever you are, you are dead,” Ravenn growled as his face twisted with anger. “This artifact has made invincible, nothing you can do will kill me.”



“Perfect…” It chucked.



With a roar Coppa sprinted towards Ravenn. The elf raised his club like arms to strike Coppa down. The demonic dwarf swayed aside, bring his claws down and slashing bloody ribbons across Ravenn’s ribs. Ravenn roared as crimson washed down his side and he turned to face Coppa.



Before he could recover the dwarf struck again, claws tearing through Ravenn’s midsection and spilling his innards onto the stone floor. Ravenn looked down in shock as he fell to his knees. The claws flexed and Twilight watched as Ravenn weakly raised an arm to defend himself.



The thing in Coppa spared the elf summoner no mercy as he ripped at him faster than the stone could repair the damage. The floor became awash in blood and meat as Ravenn flopped on the ground, half cauterized stumps dumping red around him. The dwarf then straddled the elf’s body, one claw squeezing Ravenn’s head while the other gripped at the stone embedded in his chest.



“This is not yours…” Coppa growled as tips of his claws dug into Ravenn’s chest. Ravenn’s eyes widened and his remaining hand curled into a fist and began striking Coppa’s face. The gauntlet squeezing his head began to glow and Ravenn screamed as his face blistered and cracked, but his fist continued to pound into Coppa’s face. The punches served only to antagonize the demon, like a fly smacking into his face. He growled but did not remove his hands. Instead, as Ravenn’s fist closed in, he turned his head and opened his jaws.



There was a horrible squelching noise as bone and flesh broke between razor sharp fangs. Raven screamed as he looked the ruined and fingerless remains of his lion’s paw. Coppa spat them out, the furred fingers landing near the remains of his ears and tail. At the same time, the gauntlets found purchase and stone came loose from the body that had desperately clung to it.



Ravenn gasped as he shook before he seized. His body seemed to deflate as the source of its power was removed, the greenish skin going gray as his remain flesh quivered and convulsed in his death throes. The sight made Coppa roar in triumph as he threw the stone backwards towards Twilight where it bounced off her shield. With both hands he picked up the still convulsing body and raised it above him before bringing Ravenn’s back onto his knee with a sickening crack.



The elf jerked one final time and the demon looked down on the elf with disgust. With a final breath, the body sagged and went limp at his feet. The demon pushed it aside with a foot before he cast his gaze on the group. The glowering eyes scanned them and he took a step forward with one gauntlet outstretched.



“He is hear. A part of him,” the demon said before his hands shot up to his skull. “Incomplete… Enemy… Stop this…” He muttered in pain. The lines along his body flashed erratically, pulsing like an irregular heartbeat as the aura around him swirled and darkened. “Enemy… friend… Enemy… Destroy… Save… Stop…”



“Coppa!” Twilight heard Dante yell out. Flaming eyes shot up, meeting Dante’s own pleading crimson ones. “I know you're in there. Fight it!”



“He is here… a piece of him...” It whispered before it began to shriek. “No! Stop it. I won't!”



Moe’s own voice joined in. “We need you, don't let that thing control you. Think of everyone back home! Think of your mom, of Ferra! What about Ponyville? The Apples are waiting for you!”



“He’s right partner!” Applejack chimed in as she put on a stoic face. “Yer an Apple whether you like it or not. An’ a Apple doesn't let anyone control em! So quit stalling and get your fanny back he-”



“BE SILENT!” The demon roared before he kept off his feet towards Applejack. He landed in front of the pomy and one hand grabbed her by the shoulder and forced her down. A claw hovered above her face, the tips inches from her face which remained brave in spite of the danger.



“Come on, partner. I know ya got it in you,” she said aloud. The demon growled through its teeth in frustration as its hand refused to move. There was a look of recognition in its eyes, a small part of their Dwarven friend still there. It flickered briefly and they almost breathed a sigh of relief until a loud crackling of energy made it wink out of existence.



Coppa roared and jumped off Applejack as a light filled the room with the brightness of the sun. Chains grew from magic circles surrounding Coppa, wrapping themselves around his body with lengths of polished steel and pinning him to the ground on one knee. He screamed in protest, pulling at his bindings with hate fuelled vigor. The chains responded in kind, tightening and weighting themselves until they would move no longer.



From the light emerged Celestia dressed in segmented armor that covered her from the base of her legs to just beneath her chin. It glittered in the fading light of her teleportation spell, giving the alicorn of the sun an almost heavenly look with her wings outstretched. In one hoof was a spear that glittered and shone along its gold plated hilt. A blade sprouted from the end, topping a sunshaped guard with two feet of polished steel. Behind her was a retinue of thirty palace guards, their golden armor gleaming brightly as they stood at attention in a square six abreast and five ponies deep with their spears at the ready. None seemed to falter at the sight of the chained demon, their stoic faces remaining calm and collected as they stopped behind their leader in unison.



Never before had Twilight seen her mentor dressed in her armor. She knew it existed and many older books had shown the Princess of the sun in her full battle regalia, but none had managed to capture the sheer awe Celestia exuded with it on. She seemed untouchable, like a white and gold statue that shone with a blinding brilliance. It was a welcome sight to see her beckon them all behind her, eyes filled with a motherly warmth as she silently promised to see to their wounds. Twilight swallowed as she took in the sight of her mentor and her bodyguards, soaking in the awe that they exuded. She had heard legend of events long past where Celestia had gone out and defended her nation, but they had all shown a Princess who used her wit and magical might to ensure the prosperity and safety of her people. These had been the tales of Equestria’s history that Twilight knew and the ones that she and any other child had been told as they were put to bed. Never before had there ever been a mention of the Princess possessing a full war panoply. It made Twilight wonder, questioning if that had been another memory forgotten along with the presence of humanity in Equestria.



She watched with a careful eye, drinking in the sight as Celestia stepped forward and lowered her spear towards possessed Coppa who quieted as the demon seemed to recognise the source of the spell that restrained it. For a few moments they examined each other, carefully taking in every feature and probing for a weakness. Had it been anyone other than her mentor Twilight would have expected them to strike at the restrained demon. Celestia was above that and it showed as she lifted her spear and spoke.


“I am Celestia, Princess of the Sun and diarch of the Equestrian Nation. You are in possession of one of my charges and I demand you release him back into my care,” she said loudly with a tone of authority foreign to Twilight. “Failure to do so will see you restrained until another way is found to do so. With or without your compliance.”



The words were simple and straight to the point. Comply or an alternate, and probably intrusive, method would be used instead. Had it been any other species, they would have submitted there to the Alicorn in her glimmering battle regalia, but this was a demon Celestia was speaking to. A creature of dark emotions that sought control wherever it could get it. 



“Not strong… incomplete…memories scattered,” it whispered as it relaxed. She could see it look at the chains restraining it, and for a moment another flash of recognition, before it began to scream and roar as it managed to rise to its feet against the weight of the taught chains. “I will not be imprisoned again! He is here! I will find him! I will fulfill my duty!”



“Demon, I command you to let my charge go,” Celestia said, her voice devoid of any warmth, leaving it with an icy edge. “He is not yours. Vacate his body and return to where you came or I will subdue you.”



The demon spat as the chains flexed against him. “You have no power over me. The boy gave himself willingly. His rage is now mine as are his mind and body. Ours is a righteous fury!”



“Vacate and disperse,” Celestia repeated. She lowered her spear until its blade pointed at Coppa. The tip glowed as magic coursed through it. “I will not ask you again.”



“The anger… his anger, it clouds me,” It spoke as the chains around him creaked and strained against Coppa’s altered body. The red miasmatic aura returned and the body swelled slightly, muscles tightening as it pushed against the chains. With a violent jerk of its arms, the demon shattered the chains around it as its aura created a crater beneath its feet. “I will find him! I will find Acharon!”



A lance of light fired from the tip of Celestia’s spear and struck Coppa directly in his chest. The Demon screamed in pain as it was flung back by the force of the spell into the wall. As the beam continued to lance into the possessed body, pressing it against the wall, the Demon brought up a gauntleted hand in front of the beam. With a roar of defiance the other gauntlet was raised and came crashing down into the wall that held it with devastating blow. Ancient masonry cracked and exploded into pieces and without the support, the beam pushed the demon through the exposed hole. The action was sudden and Celestia let out a surprised whinny as she cut the magic flow to her staff off. The beam of light died down, but the effect was already transparent. The demon flew through the air and twisted its body as it fell to the city below. With a triumphant cry it descended to the ground like a screaming red comet.



Gathering by the hole, Twilight and her friends saw only a cloud of dust bloom on the streets below and the demon’s glowing form jumping from building to building. It passed over the rooftops, vaulting along rooftops until it reached the perimeter wall of the city. There it stopped for a moment, a silhouette against the setting sun, before it roared a final time and disappeared over the side with a mighty leap. 



Gone from view, Twilight went rigid as she heard her mentor bark an order to her contingent. Wings flapped and five Pegasus guards shot through the opening after the demon. They rose high in the sky, wings flapping as they ascended higher. A few broke off from the main body, banking away to search a wider area. Twilight knew this formation, the squadron would locate and track Coppa, sending messages back regarding his movements. From there it was only a matter of time before they would move to intercept him.



“Twilight,” a soft voice brought her around and white wings embraced her, pulling her to Celestia's barrel. The golden armor had a pleasant warmth to it and Twilight relaxed as her mentor nuzzled the top of her head. “I am so glad you're unharmed. I feared I wouldn't be here in time.”



Twilight relaxed in her mentors grasp and felt tears of relief spill from her eyes. The weight and exhaustion of the past few hours finally settled on her and she found herself sobbing like a small filly. Thedanger, the sights and sounds, all of it overwhelmed her as the mental barrier she had unconsciously erected broke in that moment of peace. Celestia let her pupil vent out her emotions, relishing the notion that her prized student was safe. With one wing still wrapped around the purple unicorn the other gestured to the other Elements of Harmony to join them. They stumbled towards her and she scooped up all of them into her embrace like a mother bird with her young.



Though she wanted to close her eyes and relish in the presence of her ponies, one wary eye was kept on the three individuals that had begun to move towards the exit. She watched as they looked back for a moment, three expressionless faces staring at her and the girls, before they turned and quietly left the room to lick their wounds. She should have stopped them, questioned them about what had happened, but the time was not right. They had been battered and beaten, and any further pressure would break them. For now she would let them rest and heal. When the next chance presented itself she would deal with them.



With that in mind she tightened her wings around her ponies and silently whispered her condolences to them. They all pressed further into her, soaking up the warmth radiating from her. Safe and secure, she beckoned her retuinue and they dispersed quickly in a professional fashion. Some stopped and assisted the fallen king and his son, helping them to the monarch’s bedroom while some went to fetch a doctor. Soon it was only her and the element bearers left in an old destroyed throne room. The fighting had finished and now it would be time to rebuild and celebrate. The journey for the griffons would be hard, but she knew it would be completed eventually, she would ensure it. For now however, she would dote on her favoured ponies. Closing her eyes at last, she only just missed the robed figure and sad smile that slowly began to disappear into the shadows.
	
> A Phyrric Victory
> --------------------------------------------------------------------------


Dante sighed as he looked down on Reiksadler through the window of his room in the citadel before he sat on his bed. The area was spartan, the finery having been taken down and used for whatever way it could add to the rebuilding efforts of the city. Sheets had been converted to bandages, wooden furniture pulled apart for wood and nails, and even the rugs had been taken to be used as bedding for those in the houses that had been converted into makeshift medical stations. In those walls the wounded during the escape from the citadel mixed with the sick citizens who had survived in the wilderness around their citadel. Processing all of them was slow and arduous, resulting in what could only be described as refugee camp in the main square of the city.

It was a bittersweet sight to him and no doubt the populace as well. To the outside eye the city was whole and relatively unmarred, its citizenry slightly worse for wear, but physically there was only a moderate amount of destruction. A few houses would need to be torn down here and there, but for the most part the damage was superficial. Reiksadler’s body was as solid as it had been weeks before the infestation of Shriekers, it’s people working hard to repair what was broken and to root out and purge whatever traces of infection were left. Meanwhile the population had to wait until they were given the permission to access their own homes.

It was a small relief in his mind, only overshadowed by a larger concern. Any competent leader would obviously focus some attention on rebuilding efforts, but the main concern were the wounds invisible to the eye. Griffons had been tortured, their minds violated, and enslaved. Even as the medical teams fought to heal the wounded it seemed that for each one they saved there was another already too far gone. The results were smouldering areas beyond the wall where mass funeral pyres had been erected and subsequently consumed by flame, scattering the ashes to the wind in a ceremony compliant with Griffon traditions. Dante had attended each and every one as they happened, placing himself on the outskirts with spells that cloaked him in shadow. For hours he watched the pyres blaze through the night while trying to avoid notice out of respect. The populace had needed time to mourn as a group without a foreigner intruding.

That had been a few days ago and since then he had confined himself to his room to think and reflect. Occasionally he would write a note or two, jotting his thoughts as they came to him. More often than not, that very note would then end up in the pile that had begun to accumulate on either side of his bed as the desk in his room had been taken to be used a hospital bed. He did not mind in the slightest, instead using a broken piece of board over his lap as a writing surface. He was no healer, but his mind could at least be used to help in whatever way he could manage. Though that was during the short periods he could actually focus.

Like the populace dealing with the demons plaguing their memory, Dante was dealing with the very real one that had taken residence within his friend. The image had embedded itself deep in his mind and he imagined the creature in the corner of his eye, a malicious maw of glowing iron sneering at him through his friends face. The thought unnerved him, sending shudders down his body. Even worse, there was the lingering feeling of a strange familiarity that he experienced as he looked back in the encounter with the demon that had called itself Aedus.

A sudden pang in his chest brought him out of his melancholy and he released a pained breath as he looked down at his writing. The careful notes had grown frantic before letters evolved into the rictus grin inhabiting his mind. Without a second thought Dante ripped the page from the notebook and held it up. Staring at it brought a feeling of annoyance that manifested in a scowl. Smoke wafted from between his fingers as a black hole grew from under them. With a thought the paper exploded into flames and folded in on itself as the air became smokey.

He allowed the ash to fall to the floor, the flames extinguishing themselves without any more fuel to feed them. With a small effort he rose and opened the window, letting fresh air flood in and replenish the smoke filled bed chamber. At the same time a knock on the door sounded and was followed by a purple unicorn peering in looking puzzled as she scanned the room.

“Was something burning in here?” She asked quietly as she closed the door behind her. 

“Just doing some practice. I wasn't watching and a stray flame hit a piece of paper,” he lied before he quickly switched the subject. As much as he trusted her, there was no reason to place too much burden on his unicorn companion. “Was there something you needed?”

Twilight’s ears perked and she quickly focused herself back on him. “I haven't seen you in a few days and I was beginning to get worried. Have you just been cooped up in here?”

“No, I've gone out a few times. I met with Sam and Moe yesterday.” He lied quietly then winced as Twilight’s eyebrow raised.”

“Really?” She said. “I saw them both and neither of them said they saw you since…” she trailed off as she frowned deeply. “Have you been out at all?”

“Yes.” Came his curt reply. Not a total lie, but he did not want to delve into his mental state right then and there.

“You haven't just been cooped up in here? For the past few days?”

“No.” Another half truth if he considered bathroom breaks. Even then, his mind had continuously worked itself into an exhausted state.

“Have you eaten at all?” 

Dante, at that moment, became acutely aware of the lingering pain within his stomach. A quick glance to the end of his bed revealed a bowl of stale porridge accompanied by rotting fruit that had been growing all sorts of indistinguishable and inedible life forms. Twilight followed his gaze and raised an eye as she saw it. She raised a hoof before he could even attempt to explain, silencing him with her gaze.

“We’re going to get lunch,” She said sternly. “One day out of your room won’t hurt. Now follow me.”

For the first time in the past few days, Dante felt a smile creep onto his face. Twilight had come off as a little commanding, but for some reason he did not mind. Rather he welcomed it. 

“Lead the way,” he replied.

*****

They ate lunch in the garden on the citadel’s roof, sequestered away at a table in the shade of a lone pear tree. A few handfuls of teas leaves pulled from the garden, cheese, and bread were all they had managed to sneak from the drained stores of the citadel, but to the famished boy and unicorn they tasted like heaven. Eating in peace was a luxury given all that had happened, but Dante found his mind clear as they switched from eating cheese sandwiches, drinking tea, and bantering without a care in the world. Moments like these, sipping tea and eating small snacks in the comfortable shade, seemed to fade the reality of their situation to nothingness as they enjoyed each other's company.

Twilight sighed contently as she sipped her tea, enjoying the warmth that spread throughout her as the taste and fragrance pervaded her senses. Dante watched her, his own smile masked as he sipped his own cup. It was the same tea the prince had served him on the airship and he savored the slightly bitter mountainroot leaves as it invaded his mouth. The drink brought on memories and Dante began to wonder about the Prince who had introduced him to it. 

He carefully set his cup down and gazed over the table at his friend who caught his concerned eye. Dante struggled internally for a few moments and crossed his hands on his lap, but with a quick breath he summoned the words to speak. “I'd rather not kill the mood right now, but I need to ask. Actually, I can't hide from it in my room anymore. How have things been with everyone since we lost…” he trailed off and gritted his teeth. He knew it would be a painful topic, but he didn't realize it would hurt as much as when he first lost control. “I need to know how everyone is.”

Twilight watched him curiously, her smile gone and replaced by a frown. “It's been hard,” she stated quietly. “The girls are devastated, most of all Applejack. It's like losing another family member. We just aren't sure how to process it though.”

“That makes all of us,” Dante sighed as he ran a hand through his hair. He get a headache come on and his fingers went to rub beneath his horns. “What of Sam and Moe? I can't imagine they're too happy with me shutting myself in.”

“They weren't, Moe was angry. He wouldn't calm down until he just exhausted himself. He doesn't say much though now unless it's to Rarity. Even then, it's not much.” She floated the teapot to her cup and began to refill it before she seemed to lose her appetite and gently set it down. “Sam said he understood, he wasn't happy either, but he said he knew you would try and figure it out on your own. I did see him today, he was the one who asked me to check on you. He said you should know…”

Curious of her hesitation Dante prodded. “What's happened? What's going on?”

Twilight shifted uncomfortably in her chair as Dante’s sense of panic began to set in. The purple unicorn was almost never at a loss for words and the sheer fact she seemed intent on searching for something to avoid the topic compounded his fear. When she finally did open her mouth to speak, she was interrupted by the soothing maternal voice of her mentor.

“Twilight, it’s fine. I will inform Dante of the proceedings of the last few days,” Celestia said as Dante turned to see her emerge from the gates that formed the entrance to the garden. She turned to Dante with a mixed expression of delight and seriousness that furrowed her brow. “Dante it is good to see you are in good health. I had visited your room but it seems that Twilight beat me to the occasion.”

“It is good to see you, Princess,” Dante replied with slight trepidation. “I wish it was under better circumstances however. It really does seem we are a cause for nothing but issues this land needs to deal with.”

His words seemed to ease her mind, but the seriousness edge in her voice didn't fade. “You have nothing to worry about Dante, we’ve encountered many issues throughout history but we’ve prospered regardless. I am certain this is another instance of that,” she replied confidently. “However, we must deal with what is currently in front of us and there is no easy way to state this, but that Irontalon is currently bedridden due to his injuries. The physician's report says that his lower spine is damaged and the bones of his wings were fractured far too extensively. As of now, they have determined he will never fly again and will be lucky if he can walk unassisted.”

His heart froze at the news. The king was one of the last bastions of strength for the Griffons. Unable to fly and possibly paralyzed, the news would shatter what little strength the people still had. He slumped in his chair, mind racing as a multitude of scenarios ran through his mind. The nation would survive, but the news of Reiksadler and the King could cause issues to spring up. He did not know the King personally, but he knew anyone who had a sliver of power had enemies willing to take advantage of such a weakness. A rebellion could spring up, dividing the nation and putting even more pressure on the capital.

Dante sucked in a breath as he tried to assess the situation in his mind. They'd done it again, created issues where there were supposed to be none. If only we weren't here… none of this would have happened. It's our fault. He thought solemnly. 

Your ability to blame yourself is almost as your magic, Dante. Do you not think you're being a tad overdramatic? I know what happened and it is not only your fault. He heard Celestia’s voice in his mind and looked to see the aura surrounding her horn. The telepathic spell was there, he could feel it's distinct presence, but Celestia had cleverly masked its use with by pouring herself a cup of tea with a separate thought. 

Dante straightened and put on his passive face as he and Celestia locked eyes. It is the truth of the matter though. Our presence here has put you and the rest of this world in danger. We can't afford to continue with the risk.

Then what will you do? She countered, a stern tinge added to the voice of her thoughts. Gather every foreign element and banish them?

If that is what it takes…

“Selfish,” Celestia said as she stared at him with narrowed eyes. Her retort brought him out of his haze and he sat still, his crimson eyes returning her stare with defiance. Unconvinced by his silent retort, she continued speaking. “Despite every good deed or aspect your presence has brought, you're so narrow minded that you would tear it all down at the slightest hint of trouble. You are unbelievably selfish, Dante.”

Confused by the sudden change in atmosphere, Twilight spoke up and turned to the Princess. “What do you mean, Princess? Dante hasn’t even said a word? Why would he be selfish?”

Dante ignored Twilight for the moment. His blood had begun to flare, brought to boil by the Princess who would accuse him. What reason did she have to disagree? The ponies last encounter with humanity and it's kind had resulted in wars. She had said so herself that day with the tapestry. Had a thousand years of peace dulled her sensibility, or was she deliberately naive to believe that the presence of the races of his world and the demons could not cause another incident?

“Princess, with all respect, you've seen what has happened to this city. You've seen what Coppa became and what he can do. There's no other solution and I don't understand why you can't see that. This chaos will spread of something isn't fixed!”

“What do you mean?” Twilight asked, ears flattened as she switched between the two of them. “What are you talking about? What chaos?”

“Go on then, Dante. Tell her,” Celestia said, her heated words probing Dante. He looked at Twilight, soaking in her frightened face and felt a pain in his chest as he did so. She didn't deserve this, but it needed to be done. Celestia however, seemed to think differently. “Tell her then, tell her about your plan. I am not about to let my own pupil be misled by someone she trusts completely.”

“Do not use her against me, Celestia,” Dante snapped, his hand slamming against the table. His mind was in a haze and he knew it, but the feeling of unleashing all his pent up fear and frustration felt too good to pass up. “I would have thought you'd agree with me. That this was something that needed to be dealt with!”

“Dante!” Twilight practically screamed his name and his head snapped towards her. “I am here too. What are you both talking about and what does she mean by being selfish? Am I not your friend, do I not get a chance to hear what has been eating at you?”

Dante was at a loss for words. His heart wanted to tell her, yet he knew the knowledge would hurt her beyond belief and it was something he couldn't bring himself to do. She was his friend and he cared for her beyond any possible measure, but that same affection was the reason why he couldn't bring himself to tell her how he would ultimately betray her friendship.

“He is still holding on to the plans for them all to leave once this is all over. He mistakenly believes that it will solve all the problems caused by their presence here.” Celestial said without hesitation. Dante scowled at her while Twilight's face fell to sadness. “I do not disagree that something is to be done about all this, that there are threats that need to be dealt with, but your sacrifice a few for the many outlook is not the way to go about this. It is possibly the worst route a leader could take and I am surprised someone as smart as you could not see this.”

“Dante… is this true?” Twilight asked. When he did not answer her head fell forward and she slowly got up from the table. “Excuse me Princess, I… I need some time to myself.”

“Twilight, wait…” Dante started as he got up from his chair, but with a quick turn she had already gone. He grit his teeth and with a resigned feeling in his heart went back to Celestial. “Why? Why do this?”

“Twilight will be fine Dante. She just needs time to herself,” she replied. “As to why, it is because while you are seeing a things on a wider scope, you are missing important elements that will affect you. Like I said before, I do not disagree with you. I just see an alternative and what steps need to be taken immediately.”

“Like what?” 

“Mostly you are missing the feelings of your friends. You say you all need to go but do they want to? They have the beginnings of a life her, some have found love and others friends for life. You may see things in a logical sense but emotion and attachment is far from the grasps of logic. Think of it like this, do you want to leave Twilight and all the friends you've made here?”

The reply was almost instantaneous. “No.”

“You're a smart man, Dante. You remind me of Alaric almost,” Celestia said and gazed at him sadly. “Both wanting to do what was right, charismatic and caring leaders, and with an eye for the larger picture. You're compassionate like he was, but where you mull over with your mind, he acted with his heart and sense of right and wrong. He put everything behind why he believed was true, but was not afraid to be proven wrong. It was why he captured the hearts and minds of those who were his friends and the respect of those who were against him.”

“And it's why you fell in love with him,” Dante said quietly as Celestia wiped a tear from her eye. Dante sighed and went to embrace her. He had been outmaneuvered by himself, and he knew she was right. Panic and desperation had driven him and he was ashamed to admit it. Yet while he embraced the regal princess and felt the feathers of her wings on his neck, he didn't mind it.

“It was one of the many reasons,” she giggled and let go of him. She nuzzled the top of his head before they separated. “I am glad I got through to you.”

“I've realized that despite my attempts to master it, I still have the capability to overreact. Without, Principle Feinmann around to keep me in check, perhaps you are the best alternative.”

“I will certainly try to live up to the expectation, but you will have to tell me more about him so that I know what I'm getting myself into,” she replied with a laugh. “You and Twilight really are one in the same.”

“Perhaps we are, Celestia,” he said. “I need to apologise to her though. I was unfair and, like you said, not seeing the issues I would’ve been causing. It’s the least I can do, but I feel like she will need some time before she's ready to see me again.”

Celestia tittered. “A smart man like I said. She will be fine in the end, but we need to deal with the issue at hand: the transition of power.”

“What is the plan?”

“Prince Frostfeather will be making an address in the main square. I pushed the idea that he should show solidarity with the people and silence any detraction immediately. It will be a subtle show of force, mainly hinging on his ability to show his honest desire to be one for the people. He made one request which surprised even me.”

“And that was?”

She smiled deviously as if she was waiting for this exact moment and judging by her glee, Dante assumed she had. It was when the Canterlot voice then boomed out that he knew she really was enjoying herself.. 
“On behalf of his majesty, I Princess Celestia am granted the power to summon thee, Dante, to the aid of the Crown Prince tonight. This power was invested to me personally by the royal decree of Prince Constantinian Frostfeather, heir apparent to the Griffon Throne, ruler of the united lands of the Griffon Empire and its colonies, sword and shield of the people, and ruler of the skies. As such, you and your compatriots will be knighted for your contributions and allowed to speak on behalf of the Prince.”

She finished with an exaggerated flourish of her wings as she cut off her Canterlot voice and gave him a gigantic smile. “Still have it,” She laughed. “You will probably need to prepare now though. I have arranged for you to have time to clean up before the ceremonies. You’d best use it to get ready and prep a speech I am fairly sure you will be expected to present.”

Dante nodded. “I’ll do my best.”

*****

Dressed in a flowing black robe that matched the ones worn by his companions, Dante felt the wind on his face as a breeze blew through the streets, bringing with it a soft howl. The repairs on the city had ended for the day and in the opening hours of the Prince’s address crowds had begun to form in the main square. Even now, the murmuring could be heard streets away as every window and inch of open space was fought for. There was excitement in the air as they formed a jostling circle, crowding around stage with no guards to prevent them from doing so. It was a choice made by Frostfeather himself despite the concerns by his advisors, a method to show his concern and bravery to his people. Stalls served as impromptu stands, children were raised on shoulders, and every window seemed to be occupied as they listened and watched the ceremony.

Despite his enjoyment of ceremony and public addresses in school, both Frostfeather and Celestia had warned him of the notorious amount of pomp and blustering that Griffons enjoyed. He had learned that the titles Celestia had referred to were only a fraction of the nearly forty independent stations the Prince was to be called after his coronation. Even now, as another noble rose to give his support, and began identifying himself by name and title, Dante find a slight bit of dread well up.

Frostfeather appeared interested as he sat in a high back chair, dressed in in a decorated purple toga and waiting on the still blustering noble to finish their speech, but the glazed look in his eye told a different story. No doubt he was silently begging for the ceremony to be over, but the sight of Dante seemed to reinvigorate him. A smile broke across his beak and he brought up a hand as the noble finished, ushering silence throughout the excited crowd. With another gesture he coaxed up the six ponies, their princess and the three men to the stage.

Celestial took a step forward and took position next to Frostfeather as he walked confidently to the podium which they stood behind. To his right were the six elements of harmony, and to his left stood Dante and his companions. Dante spied the six girls waving and smiling to cheers of adoration and thankfulness. Rainbow Dash, Pinkie, Rarity, and Applejack seemed to enjoy the attention, gracefully accepting and returning the love heaped on them. Fluttershy was her customary nervous self, but in the presence of Sam, seemed to put on a brave face even as her back led quivered anxiously. As for Twilight, her face smiled, but the tight muscles invisible to the crowed revealed just how much she was forcing herself to seem cheerful.

Another tightness plagued Dante’s chest and he forced himself to look away to his companions. In comparison to the girls, Sam and Moe were a more somber affair. Both gave the same small waves and smiles, but there was a tired and worn air about them that he understood. Moe was quick to put on the airs of friendliness, but held a tightened fist to his side. He wore the same forced expression as Twilight, but less effectively. There were obvious signs Moe was in no mood for this, but it came to Dante’s mind that perhaps Celestia had been just as forceful with Moe as they had been with him. It concerned him, but paled in comparison to Sam who seemed as though he were ready to collapse as he was taken by a sudden coughing fit that forced him to take one of the seats behind him.

Making a mental note to check on the two of them afterwards, Dante turned his attention back to the crowd. Frostfeather had put his hand back up to quiet the crowd before he spoke in a loud and confident voice that Dante hadn't known the frightened and doubtful Prince he knew possessed.

“Friends! Brothers and Sisters of our Empire! Lend me your ears and attention!” He began with a clear and authoritative cry. The wings on his back fanned out, drawing every eye to him that hadn’t been pulled from his voice and making him out to be almost twice his size. The golden feathers that had been added to his wings shimmered in the light with radiance and the tassels on his sleeve shook as he spoke. “These past days have been dark for us, filled with bloodshed and terror. We have been attacked, imprisoned, and been subject to all manner of unspeakable injustices that I dare not speak of. Our city was desecrated and we have been freed, only to pick up the pieces once more. Even worse, our beloved king, my father, has been critically injured by the one who put us in chains!”

There was a gasp that ran through the cry, a spark that soon erupted into outrage, wails, and cries for vengeance. Dante recoiled from the sheer change in the atmosphere while Frostfeather smiled at the outright support for his father. The people had loved their king and Dante now saw how the Prince was banking on it. “My people, I too share your anger at this injustice, but the blood debt has been paid. The scoundrel, Ravenn lies dead, torn apart by vengeful blades thirsting for justice. We are left without a foe and we must now turn the feelings in our hearts to new ventures. It is for this reason that I have called you here!

“I know your pain, my people, but beyond the darkness of the present I can see a better tomorrow. The time for pain, for anger, for vengeance is over. Now we must look to better things. We must mourn for those lost, help those injured, and rebuild our city. It is something which I know and accept. I am still filled with honest to the gods anger at what has been done to my father, but I know that my anger will not mend his bones or heal his injuries. Instead, I turn that fiery passion to you my friends as I take the throne as he recovers. I implore you to turn away from anger and come together as one. Together we are strong and together we can rebuild what was broken. Ravenn may have caused great injustice, but we can undo what he sought to accomplish. Our ancestors survived war, disease, famine, and prospered. Who is to say we cannot do the same? Who is to say that this is what lays our empire low? Not I! I will proudly take up the shovel and show the true spirit of our people to those who would say we are weak!”

His words brought out a cheer from the crowd who chanted his name in unison with their fists held to their chests. Frostfeather seemed elated by the reception his words received. Cries of ‘unity’ and ‘rebuild’ resounded throughout the makeshift forum and Dante knew at that moment that Frostfeather had secured the hearts and minds of his people. He presented himself not as their king, but as another griffon who intended to put his heart and soul into benefiting his people. His words from this point on would simply be the icing on the cake he had presented.

“Of course, we are entirely capable of rebuilding and healing on our own, but in the course of these past days I have learned that we are not required to walk the solitary road. I have learned that there is no shame in asking your neighbours for their aid. In fact, doing so is one of the highest forms of bravery I have seen for it takes considerable humility to admit when one needs help. 

Our neighbours in Equestria did not need to come to our aid. Princess Celestia and Princess Luna had every right to refuse us and leave us to a harder fate. Yet when called upon, they responded immediately, and sent the very Elements of Harmony and their protectors to aid us! They sent us their bulwark out of the kindness of their hearts and today, that kindness shall be returned!”

With a wave of his arm an attendant arrived on the stage carrying a small lacquered box which Frostfeather took and opened. From it he withdrew a red ribbon that held a four pointed star surrounded by laurel leaves and emblazoned with an outstretched claw. “The Medal of Merit is awarded to those who have assisted in the advancement of our country. I award it to these nine individuals for their efforts in freeing our people and ensuring that Reiksadler still stands. It is my hope that upon bestowing these medals to you, that you accept them as a token of gratitude and with the knowledge that should you require it, all of Griffonkind will come to your aid should you need it.”

He walked over to the six girls and with careful grace, he placed the medals over their heads and around their necks. As he came across to Dante, Moe, and Sam, he began on the far side, placing their medals around their necks and giving them an appreciative nod. When he came to Dante, he did the same, but placed a claw on Dante’s shoulder. “I wish there was a way that could possibly convey just how much I truly appreciate your help my friend. This could not have been done without you.”

“There is no need, I would do anything for a friend,” Dante said as he placed his hand on Frostfeather’s shoulder and grasped the Prince’s arm. “Good job with the speech by the way.”

“It was absolutely terrifying. I swear I am about ready to soil myself,” Frostfeather laughed and raised Dante’s arm as he turned to the cheering crowd. “My citizens! It is with pride that I give you the honor to hear my friend and companion, Dante and his response!”

Frostfeather let go of Dante’s arm and took his seat on the stage. With a breath, Dante took to the podium and scanned the crowd from side to side. A sea of eyes greeted him and he averted his gaze to his friends who looked at him with mixed expressions before he began to speak. 

“Citizens of Reiksadler, I must first humbly accept this honor on behalf of my compatriots. I am not the most eloquent speaker so I will say what needs to be said. Like your Prince said, you have suffered a great injustice from an individual who hails from my own world. Alongside the Prince we rectified this and ensured that Ravenn would never have the opportunity to harm another. In this moment, I pledge my support behind Prince Frostfeather’s words. Now is a time for rebuilding, but it is a time for mourning and honor. We all hurt from those we lost, but we will carry their memory of them in our hearts till the end of our days, we will celebrate the joy they brought and cherish the impact they had on us. They are gone but not forgotten; they will live on in the spirit of love and friendship.

It is on those same principles that I pledge, on behalf of my two compatriots, and on the memory of our fallen friend, that we will always be there for the citizens of the Griffon Empire. You may call on us for aid at any time, and we will respond. I once thought of us as trespassers on this world, that our presence had upset the balance of this land. However, my eyes have been opened thanks to the efforts of my cherished friends and that of my hosts. We will always be up to the call to help defend against the darkness because we will not be leaving. I say for all of us that we are here to stay.”

Out of the corner of his eye he saw Twilight’s face morph from the forced smile to one of genuine joy. He smiled at the knowledge that his apology had been accepted for the most part. Of course he knew he would still get blasted for his earlier actions, but it was a start. A start which reinvigorated his hope and words.

“We are here to stay for this is our home which we will defend. That is my solemn oath!”

*****

Had any of the crowd or stage bothered to look up in the sky, they may have seen the small speck that floated free of gravity. Beleth doubted that anyone in that crowd would have paid attention even if they could see him from his position in the clouds. The ceremony had taken an interesting turn since Dante had made his oath and it had slowly changed into a merry mass of revelry. Beleth smiled as he watched it all, content with the knowledge that the painful recourse he would suffer for using his reserves to cross the divide between world and create a spectral image was well worth it.

“Celebrate as they might, this is a purely pyrrhic victory for them.”

Beleth felt a cold chill run through his magical image as he spun around. Instantly, he felt the cold sensation emanate through his body. Looking down, he saw a hand sprouting from his slightly transparent chest, wreathed in black flame. When he returned his eyes to the owner he was greeted with the sight of Dagon’s face sneering at him. The man had changed since his appearance in Ponyville. He sported the same black marks that ran from his eyes down his cheeks and a set of bat like wings had sprouted from his back. The horns on his head had gone from a smooth cylindrical shape to a set of jagged spikes that could rend and tear flesh. As he examined him, Beleth shuddered as he felt a familiar presence within the body.

“How, Belial?” he demanded. “How did you transfer yourself?”

“You ask a lot of questions for someone about the be sent to that wasteland,” Belial said through Dagon’s lips. “You and I both know how fragile a broken man’s conscience is. So is it really a surprise my old companion?”

“Regardless of whether I go back to the void, you are not going to prevail.”

“You can believe all you want, Beleth. That doesn’t mean it will be the case.” Belial said. “Aedus is free and soon the others will be ready as well. It will be a simple matter of making them join me. They followed Acharon, they will follow me. And when they do, nothing will stop me from restoring myself.”

Beleth scowled as he heard the words Belial spoke, hatred swelling in his chest as he tried to keep his image intact. Then a small smile formed and he began to chuckle as he digested Belial’s words. “You are a fool if you think they will be so easily swayed. You don’t know how those three really are.”

“Oh but I do. I will have them even if I must rip the powers out of the bodies they inhabit at this very instant,” Belial spat back. He rolled his hand and a faint light burst from the citadel and shot towards him. He caught the glowing orb and showed it to Beleth. “Dante and his friends are only three now to my four. Ravenn’s body may be lost, but there are other ways to bring him back into the fight.”

“You will never win. I won once, I can do it again.”

“Go back and rot in the void,” Belial spat as he twisted his hand. The flames seemed to catch onto Beleth and began to rapidly eat the spectral image from the inside out. A gasp of pain racked through Beleth and he watch Belial with absolute hatred in his eyes who smiled back. “Once I am finished here, then I will come and get you. But first, I will need to collect our warhound from his host's nest.”

*****

Applebloom loved days where the sun shined and the cool wind blew through her coat, bringing with it the many smells of the farm. The fact that her chores had been done early and now she could spend the day with her friends on the farm was even better. The three of them had gone from scheming up new ideas for their cutiemarks, to trying and failing those schemes, before they had just begun to play in the fields next to the forest. Running through the trees, they chased each other in a game of tag. Each had their own methods, and Applebloom found her strategy of hiding in the bushes on the very edge of the forest had worked out perfectly so far. 

Sweetie Belle had found Scootaloo in the early minutes of the game, hanging off a branch like one of Miss Cheerilee's ‘Hang in There’ posters that hung in their teacher’s office. However, they had then spent the next ten minutes turning over almost every movable object in the orchard and field in pursuit of Applebloom. Twice they had come close, but she had managed to avoid them by pressing herself down on the ground where the bush was thickest. She knew by the end of the game she would be a tangled mess and that Granny Smith would give her the dressing down of a lifetime when she saw her, but winning and the bragging rights were worth it.

“Those to ain’t ever gonna find me,” She whispered to herself and let out a quiet giggle. She watched as Sweetie Belle stomped around in the field, pouting in frustration as Scootaloo popped out of a treetop like a groundhog. The two of them seemed to be arguing and Applebloom kept giggling as she saw them. She would reveal herself in a few minutes, but she knew that neither Sweetie and Scoots had a chance in Tartarus of finding her. The Unicorn filly would be too scared and Scoots would rush and overlook her if she even came near. No, she was perfectly hidden and once again, would be the reigning hide and seek champion. 

Her giggling stopped when a noise came from behind and she felt herself become rigid. Big Mac had warned her that the forest near the orchard as home to all sorts of nasty critters, but she knew that they wouldn’t come near the edge of the forest in broad daylight. Quietly she gulped and slowly turned her head, only to scream as she saw rows of jagged teeth and glowing red eyes.

Falling back, she saw the thing blur as it turned and bounded off. Stars exploded in her vision as she hit her head on a stone and rolled out from the bush. Clutching her throbbing skull, Applebloom heard the concerned voices of her friends as they bounded to her. She felt a hoof on her shoulder and after a minute felt better enough to actually understand what the two of them were saying.

“What happened,” came Scootaloo as she switched from the bush to Applebloom. “Was it a Timberwolf?”

“Oh no! You’re bleeding!” Sweetie cried as she touched Applebloom’s head. A jolt of pain made her recoil and her hoof shot out against Sweetie’s with a hard smack. “Ow! What was that for?”

“Ah’m fine!” Applebloom snapped as she touched the cut on the back of her head. She winced slightly and her hoof came back with a few specks of red against her yellow fur. A red haze had begun to tinge her vision until Scootaloo stepped forward.

“That wasn’t nice, Applebloom,” She said angrily. “Sweetie was just making sure you were alright. You didn’t need to yell or hit her.”

At the sound of the accusation, the haze lifted and Applebloom looked to Sweetie who was nursing her hoof. A sense of guilt welled in her and she looked down, ashamed of her action. “Ah’m sorry, Sweetie. I didn’t mean to hit you like that. It just hurt and I didn’t want to be touched.” she said apologetically.

Sweetie nodded and hugged her. “It’s ok, I'm sorry if I hurt you.”

“Guys! Look at this!” Scootaloo yelled. She had gone up to the bush and with a shaky hoof, pointed to the tree behind it. Large scratches adorned the the bark of the tree, the edges of them smoking as if something had burnt its way through. A deep sensation of dread went through each of them as they slowly backed away. Despite their age, they had seen the monsters that lived near their small and quiet town and each of them knew that none of them could do this.

“All in favor of getting Big Mac?” Scootaloo said quietly. They all nodded and like bullets, shot back towards the barn as fast as their legs could take them. Even as they did so, Applebloom took a quick glance over her shoulder and then redoubled her efforts. She didn’t know if it was her imagination or not, but she could have sworn she saw a giant metal claw tear off an entire branch filled with apples before pulling it back into the forest. Whether or not it was true, she was not about to go back and find out.
	
	
> The Cost of Failure
> --------------------------------------------------------------------------

The night sky felt cool upon Shishiro’s skin as he stood at the mouth of the cave. Weapon drawn, he cut through the the air against the targets his mind created and grunted with each swing of his blade. It was a rudimentary style he had taught himself when he had taken up his path of vengeance. There were no artful twirls or complicated attacks that would be accompanied by a long chant of that specific attacks name. Such things left a fighter open and wasted breath that could be put into another swing. No, his style of fighting was simple and had worked in tandem well enough with his natural skill. There was no artful display, just killing intent.

He managed another series of blows before he unleashed a yell as he imagined his blade connecting with an exposed Felid stomach. The thought satisfied him. His imaginary foe in the shape of his one true enemy crying for mercy as his life spilled out from him. Yet the sweet satisfaction faded immediately as reality pulled him from his battle haze. The scowl on his face returned just as he caught Mileena emerging from the mouth of the caverns they had fashioned into their hideout.

“Fighting your imaginary friends again?” She asked coyly. “Are you not bored of doing the same thing every night?” Her eyes began to run up and down his half naked form and a seductive smirk began to appear. “I can think of a few things we have and haven't done yet.”

Shishiro spat on the ground and sheathed his sword. “I'm not indulging you again, Mileena. That was one mistake too many,” he said, retrieving his shirt from a nearby tree. The night was still fresh in his mind, along with the aches and pains she had caused him.

Mileena shrugged and brushed a strand of blue away from her face. Despite her appearances, Shishiro had no doubts she was the stronger between them. He had seen her take down all sorts of creatures in their time together, most often two to three times her size. Her strength however, was matched only by her volatility and cruelty. He had seen her go from jubilant to berserk at the smallest slight and was well aware of her tendency to slowly pick apart her opponents rather than finish a fight quickly. A foolish person would have said they were thankful she were on their side, but he knew better. An ally of Mileena was just as likely to suffer as her enemies.

Turning his thoughts away from the past, he quickly slid his shirt on. “You obviously have a reason for coming up other than to comment on my training. Anything else and you would have waited.”

“How very astute of you,” she replied, her yellow eyes flashing with her grin. “It's Dagon, I'm sure you've noticed it too.”

He nodded and grimaced. He remembered the night he had first met the Diablon. Hollow faced and skinny, the man had seemed uninteresting and Shishiro had initially been inclined to ignore him. He would have done so until Dagon had claimed he knew of Shishiro’s past. That had earned him a sword tip pointed at his throat. The only thing that stopped it had been Dagon’s promise of power.

You seek vengeance? Good. I know of a set of artifacts that can grant you power beyond your wildest imagination. All I need is your help in obtaining them.

He had reluctantly agreed only after Dagon had explained what they were supposed to do and his theory. Receptacles of pure demonic power that would enhance his natural abilities a thousandfold. He had heard legends of such items used by warlords and became convinced when Dagon had been able to show that the same three artifacts had been the very same ones in the tales. After that, he had been at Dagon’s command ever since.

“What of it?”

The draconic woman furrowed her brow at him, obviously displeased. “Don't be ignorant. You've noticed it too. The way he acts? The attack? Now he's asking us to collect and assemble some suit of armour and corpses? Dagon has changed and I do not fancy following someone half mad.”

“It is not my place to s-”

“Not you place to say, of course,” she retorted. “You're far to loyal to someone who neglects to even tell you what he does when he creeps off in the dark.”

Reluctantly he agreed. Mileena had a point. Dagon’s attitude had not changed until they had been attacked and transported to this place. Since then, they had caught him whispering to himself and acting increasingly paranoid, complaining about voices no one else heard. Then it had manifested in their attack and defeat at the town when that strange Diablon had almost obliterated them. Since then, all paranoia had vanished and Dagon had seemed to return to his normal self.

Before he could say so, the sound of wings flapping caught him and he looked skyward. A shadow soared above them, though no wings held it aloft. The vaguely human shaped figure then dove toward them and Shishiro gripped the hilt of his sword just as it touched down.

“My methods are beyond you, much like my powers now,” Dagon said as he pulled the hood of his robe back. Black and red eyes gazed at them, smouldering with arcane power as the spectral wings sprouting from his back unfurled and began to disappear. Shishiro felt his body instinctively step back against his mind’s wishes. He knew Dagon would not do anything to him as long as he proved his usefulness. Yet the power Dagon now possessed made even his trained mind falter. To him, a new aura surrounded their leader. Black and fathomless, it could reduce one to a gibbering mess. Dagon had become fear incarnate, and no one could defend against fear once it had wormed into their hearts.
    Mileena appeared unfazed, or at least was able to put on an unaffected face. “Whether or not you have new powers, I refuse to be lead without knowing what we are doing,” she retorted defiantly. Shishiro stared in awe of her sheer stupidity, but Dagon merely stepped towards her until they were face to face. Still Mileena did not budge and stood proud with her hand on her sword. “I know I may not be able to win against you, but I can definitely give you a few painful wounds that would definitely hurt for a long time.”

    Dagon did nothing, but continued to stare at Mileena, subtly examining her as spectral tendrils crept out of his back. Then, as suddenly as they appeared, he relaxed and let them fade away. “You are right Mileena, you would die, but that would do more harm to my plan,” he said. “I’ll tell you this however, continue to question me and I will put you through such suffering that even you wouldn’t be able to come up with.”

    Mileena relented to Shishiro’s relief and dropped her grip on her sword. “Fine. So what is our next move if you care to enlighten us?”

    “Have you brought me all the items I asked for?” he asked in return. When they both nodded, he continued. “Our gambit in the north failed. Ravenn is dead and two of the three relics are in our enemies hands. Our efforts are now to focus on retrieving them. This is why I commanded you to retrieve the materials I require. Now show me to them.”

    They led him back in through the mouth of the cave and down a series of twisting passages that had been carved out using some of the lower demons they had been able to summon. While weak, the demons had proven tenacious and carved out a subterranean network of passages, quarters, and various facilities that now housed their forces. The efforts had also proven fruitful with a discovery of ore veins within the mountain. These precious materials had gone to the ores deeper in their fortress, ready to be processed into the tools their forces would need.

    As they continued, Shishiro found himself biting back a question as he pondered the revelation Dagon had told them. A moment of hesitation passed as they kept walking. “Dagon, you said they had two of the three relics. What happened to the third?”

    Dagon spoke without even missing a stride, his voice echoing down the empty passageway and off the claw marked walls. “Ravenn was experimenting with Shrieker eggs and how to augment them using the relics. Two proved useful enough in creating obedient auxiliaries that would have aided us. One was implanted in our captive Erdgeist, and the other Ravenn used to control the hoard and its queen.”

    “I understand that, we were all there when you gave him this task. But if he had all three, then how is one missing? It is not as though a relic that gives off so much energy would be easily missed.”

    “It wasn’t misplaced, just misused. From what I found, Ravenn captured that Dwarf and used him as a test subject. The experiment fused the Dwarf with the power in the stone, but it could not be controlled. It broke loose and rampaged, killing Ravenn and the Shrieker Queen, before it escaped into the wilds. Now it is out there with our stone and every moment we waste will make retrieving it all the more difficult.”

    Shishiro had the distinct feeling that Dagon was withholding a few details, but wrote them off. He did not wish to deal with the inevitable refusal and its accompanied threat, but he would find the right time and place when he could. For now, he would keep his mouth shut and focused on the task at hand, the one which would pit him against his desired enemy.

    They entered and stopped in an isolated room at the far end of the tunnel network. It was small and the smell of incense smoke hung in the air, making it hard to breathe but masking the scent of what lay in the confines of the room. At the centre of the barren room was a wide stone plinth carved out of the floor. Glyphs and runes littered the ground around it in a circular pattern, with straight lines aimed towards the base of the plinth. On top of it sat a mass of scrap metal, broken pieces of bones, and putrid rotted flesh that leaked gore and filth over the edges and onto the floor. For an entire week, the lesser demons had scrounged the wilds around their underground fortress, collecting these pieces from graves, refuse, and even the occasional animal that had been caught unaware. All had been deposited here on Dagon’s orders, waiting for when he would make use of it.

    “Perfect,” He said as a morbid grin crossed his face. Shishiro swallowed hard and held back the urge to vomit as Dagon moved forward and gently touched the materials. He inspected them carefully, as though they were fragile treasures and not pieces of broken metal and meat. Around him the glyphs began to glow in a devilish purple light that hurt Shishiro and Mileena’s eyes, forcing them to squint as the light cut through the haze that began to coalesce around Dagon who continued to admire the pile of refuse. “This will suffice.”

    “The man is insane,” Shishiro heard Mileena say as she watched in disgust. Despite his faith in their leader, Shishiro had to agree. Watching a man he respect sift through bones and corpse parts did little to improve his opinion, and Shishiro watched grimly as doubt began to grip his mind.

    Dagon turned to them, fixing his hollow black and red eyes on the two of them.. “Acharon, whom forced the world to its knees, was known to have a force of hunters unlike anything a mere mortal mind could dream of. Monsters of metal and bone, driven only by the sheer rage they felt towards a singular target,” He turned back to the pile and extended a hand towards it. At the same time, a small wisp materialised in his palm and began to collect the smoke in the room. “They did not need food, water, or even rest. Their pursuit was relentless and the only reprieve was death. Theirs, or their targets.”

Shishiro sucked in a breath as the mound of flesh and metal began to shift. An unseen force, as if powered by the now brightly glowing runes on the floor, seemed to mold the metal scrap into thick pieces of armour that melded with the wriggling pieces of flesh. Leg bones that were once exposed, fashioned themselves into raptor like limbs of fused flesh and steel. Armored arms, one ending in a wicked set of talons and the other in a large serrated blade wrapped in chains, joined to the large torso where the wisp had vanished into. Yet his disgust at the sight of the creature assembling itself peaked as the head was the last to form. Though it was a twisted reflection of its bearer, he recognised the agonised face before it was encased in a tusked metal helmet.

“You used Ravenn?” He said shakily before he looked to Mileena to see her pallid face.. If this was the price of loyalty to Dagon or whatever now possessed him. He began to think that perhaps siding with her may not be a worse fate.

“This is the price of failure, Shishiro, remember it. There are worse things than death, and until I give any of my subjects leave to die, they will continue to serve me until I see they no longer prove useful,” Dagon said. “In Ravenn’s case, he created a rabid dog. As such, he will be the one to hunt it down for us.”