Trickster Priest

by Fresnor

First published 1st of April, 2015

Equestria has to deal with monsters on a weekly basis but what happens when an actual monster shows up in the from as a once costumed human?

Trickster Priest, heartless monster, that crazy idiot, there are many names that he goes by but Xellos is the one that he goes by most often. Taken from his world after making a purchase at a convention this once human being is now a literal Monster trapped in a world of ponies. Of course just because he is a Monster doesn't mean he has to be a monster, right?

My own attempt at a story in the Displaced universes with one of the best villains ever. Many things will be made up as I go along but as for what to expect? I'm thinking around an upper Alpha to low Uber being is where he fits there, reshaping the world by destroying chuncks of it counts as Uber right? I'm going to be watching the series while I write these to try and keep as much of his personality in as I can, but of course with the human mind involved it won't quite be the same.

Chapter 1

It was another beautiful day in the country of Equestria as Celestia’s sun shone down on the city of Canterlot. The ponies of the kingdom had no clue of the forgotten evils that their land contained as their rulers let the knowledge of the worst creatures fade into history. Yet even though much had been forgotten by them as time had passed there were still reminders of it if one knew where to look.

In the castle gardens of Canterlot stood a statue of one of the strangest creatures in existence. Its mismatched limbs of a lion paw, eagle claw, goat hoof, and lizard leg were attached to its serpentine body with one feathered and one bat-like wing jutting from its back. Nothing on its body really looked as if they should fit together yet somehow they were all attacked to the same body. This creature was Discord, proclaimed Lord of Chaos and Disharmony and at this very moment he was very, very bored.

“Would it kill you to actually say something for once? It’s bad enough that I’ve been strapped in stone for centuries but when they finally bring you in you had to have that look on your face. All I’m asking for is a bit of conversation until I find a way to bust out of here.” His voice wasn’t audible unless you knew what to listen for but it was directed at one that could hear it since he was in a similar state.

Across from Discord was another statue of a tall bipedal figure that was wearing a mantled cloak that covered its chest area in the front and hung down to its feet in the back. Between the right shoulder and neck was a clasp for the cloak that had three round gems embedded in it. Attached to the wrists, belt, and neck area of the figure were matching talismans also bearing a large jewel in them. Hanging from a hip was a large pouch used for storing things but what was most striking about the figure was how it was leaning forward with a finger pulling one eyelid down and sticking out its tongue as if taunting something.

Of course even at Discord’s insistence the figure said nothing in response and the very air seemed to sigh as the draconequus couldn’t do it himself. “Fine, see if I do anything to help you out once I get out of here. You might have been mildly entertaining when we last met but you can just rot there for a few more centuries for all I care if you aren’t going to talk to me.” Discord went back to entertaining himself again with whatever song came to his mind while the statue across from him in the garden continued taunting him.

<><><><><><><>

Outside of Equestria in the borderlands between the Minotaur Confederacy and the Gryphon Empire there sat a quaint little town called Claw that bordered the Black Labyrinthian Forest that sat along the borders of the two kingdoms. What few knew about this town is that there is a café there that served delicacies that couldn’t be found anywhere else as the recipes for them had been passed down through the minotaur family that owned the place for generations. Seated at this café was a figure that looked much like a minotaur himself but with a head that looked remarkably like the figure across from Discord in Canterlot. Unlike the statue this figure lacked the grey coloration and was much more colorful with his pale skin and dark purple hair.

He was seated at one of the café’s tables with a jewel-topped staff leaning on the table next to him while he had a newspaper open in his hands in front of him. “Well, it looks like the dragons are starting to spread out once again. I almost thought I went overboard back then but if the official migration is starting up again then I must not have.”

He flips through the pages browsing for other topics of interest. “Let’s see; Diamond Dogs refusing to dig which is driving up gem prices; more border skirmishes between gryphon bandits and Equestria, I might have to look into that; and… what’s this?” He sits up straighter as an article catches his attention that he wasn’t expecting. “Well, well, well. It’s seems that little Looney has finally come back again. Things are about to get interesting back in Equestria it seems so it might be time for me to visit old sun butt again.”

He rolls up the newspaper and sets it aside before signaling to a young minotaur female that was waiting tables. “Loolas, would you ask your mother to prepare three of your family’s special Black Forest cakes to go. I’ll also take an order of season baked chicken to go; it seems there are some old friends I have to visit.”

The youngster nods before pointing off in the opposite direction. “Okay mister priest, though it looks like the chicken may be a bit raw and coming this way.” The figure labeled as a priest looks in the indicated direction to see what looked like a half dozen gryphon mercenaries headed in his direction. They were looking right at him with hostility and the streets were clearing out as they moved towards him purposefully.

“So you’re the Mysterious Priest creature that has a fifty thousand bit bounty on its head? You sure don’t look tough enough to deserve such a price but a jobs a job. Come along quietly and we won’t have to hurt you.” The leader is a bulky black gryphon that was covered in scars who tried to look intimidating as he says all this.

The seated figure just yawns before turning back to the young minotaur. “Run along Loolas, and tell your mother that I’m sorry for the damages to the café. Also remember the order was for the baked chicken, these are still too raw.” He pointed at the mercenaries who ruffled their wings at being insulted and prepared to attack. He just looked at them through his slitted eyes and casually placed his hand on his nearby staff.

“So you want to do this the hard way then? Very well, but you should know that we’ve captured some of the worst things that Tartarus has to offer so you had better not underestimate us.” The six mercenaries fan out around the priest and slowly start to advance as the priest begins to circle the table with his staff drawing a circle around it.

“I’m insulted. Comparing me to the mindless beasts that sneak out of that place is like calling the sun a bit warm. But I guess expecting witty banter out of a bunch of featherheads is a bit much to ask isn’t it?” The insults are starting to get to the gryphons as their wings flare out in anger as they advance. Citizens of the town watch from various places of cover to see what is going to happen and some are even starting to collect bets on the fight.

With a shriek from the leader the six pounce as one at the priest with their weapons drawn. They all clash as one over the center of the table the priest was seated at but of the priest there was no sign. The leader of the group pounced atop the table to get a view of the area. “He’s faster than I thought, guard each other’s backs and keep a lookout for him! He can’t have gone far.”

The other five surround the table looking outwards as the each scans the area for signs of their quarry. The all freeze up when they hear his voice echoing out of nowhere.

“Oh Spirits of Earth I summon you now,
Grant me your power in exchange for my vow;
Please do my bidding and do as I say,
I command you oh spirits,”

The priest appears again at the edge of the circle with a grin on his face and a wicked gleam in his now open eyes as he thrust his hands from above his head down towards the circle, “EXPLOSION ARRAY!”

The gryphons start to flail as the ground beneath them starts to rise up before erupting in an explosion that engulfs everything within the circle. The six yell out in pain as their bodies go flying straight up into the air just too fall moments later back where they starter. All six of them were a bit scorched from the explosion and not a one was conscious as the spell had knocked them out.

The figure that they labeled as the Mysterious Priest turns to the young minotaur that was bringing out his order as he holds a hand out to the side. “There you are Loolas. Once again I’m sorry for the mess but sometimes these things happen.” A large pouch of bits suddenly falls from the sky and lands in his outstretched hand, looking a bit burnt but still intact. “This should be enough to cover the repairs and the food though.”

The young waitress peers into the pouch before nodding and hiding it away somewhere. “It’s more than enough mister priest and we’ll just add the rest to your tab like mommy says you keep here. She wanted me to ask you where you are off to now and who your friends are you are going to visit.”

The priest stashes the cakes away in the pouch at his side before taking a bite out of one of the drumsticks from his own meal. “Oh I’ll be off to Equestria for the foreseeable future as things are about to get entertaining out there soon. As for my friends out there do I really have to remind her?” He raises a finger in front of his face as Xellos opens the eye opposite it mischievously. “That is a secret!”

Author's Notes:

Had this idea bouncing around in my head a while so I might as well put it out there now, though the timing could be better considering the date. I'll probably see some complaints about not having the start being with him as a statue, but there are some perfectly good reasons for that which will be explained later. Don't expect any consistent update schedule for this though as my focus is more on another story and this is just to try and get the ideas out of my head and written out so I can focus better. Not sure what I'll do about adding other characters or crossovers, but I'll see what comes up later though considering his strength and style I don't predict much inviting of others.

It doesn't mean I'm opposed to crossovers but it would probably be safer to le others do the writing as it's hard enough to get into the characters head without getting into the head of other people's characters. I'm already seeing some problems with how I wrote this but he really isn't at the point yet where Xellos acts as the usual obnoxious style just yet, that's for when the Mane 6 show up. Also this is my first attempt at a third person view so expect many mistakes based on that as well. Just let me know if you see anything that needs to be fixed and I'll do my best to do so.

Chapter 2

The following days found the priest named Xellos flying on a direct course for Canterlot castle. While it looked as if he was enjoying himself he was in fact rather bored just watching the landscape fly by below him. “Hmm, maybe I should have taken that airship to Equestria instead of flying there. At least then I could have just slept the entire time if there was nothing worth paying attention to. Good thing I’m almost there though, that looks like the mountain the city is located around.”

He was about to pick up speed as he flew by a lone mountain when the sound of yelling from somewhere nearby which was odd considering his current altitude. “Get out!” What followed that was a loud echoing roar and when he looked around for the source he noticed a cave near the top of the mountain he had just passed that had some colorful figures outside of it. Another one soon joined them as it was rapidly ejected from the cave causing it to collide with the others and a nearby rock.

“I guess I take that back, this looks like it could be rather interesting, especially if I heard what I think I did.” After a quick scan of the area he saw nowhere that was appropriate to hide behind so with a sigh he shifts from this plane to the astral plane. I hate having to watch from this place, it’s just not the same and… hello, what’s this? It’s been a while since I’ve seen ponies that shine like that, not since old Swirly’s apprentice. Looking over the six figures, one hiding behind the large rock, he took in the dazzling radiance that was emitted from each.

White, blue, lavender, yellow, orange and pink forms shined like stars in the washed out terrain visible in the astral plane. Each was shaped much like they were in the mortal plane but their mane and tails flowed in the non-existent wind of the plane. Xellos reclined in a small depression above the cave entrance as he examined them and he raised an eyebrow as a more earthy form came stomping out of the cave below him. So that’s what that roaring was from, I didn’t expect to find dragons already trying to muscle back into this territory. I think I remember that one as well, I wonder how those six were planning to deal with him and why.

He looked at the six figures as the dragons roar echoed between the planes to see how they would react. His look of interest turned to one of surprise when he noticed the pink one looking right at him but he didn’t have time to ponder it when the yellow one began to act. “How dare you... How dare you! Listen here, mister. Just because you're big doesn't mean you get to be a bully. You may have huge teeth, and sharp scales, and snore smoke, and breathe fire. But you do not-- I repeat-- You do not! Hurt! My! Friends! You got that?”

Xellos almost took off in the opposite direction in panic as a wave of mental force was projected at the dragon from the yellow pegasus. Now that is rather scary and that was without it even being targeted at me. Whoever that is I don’t think making her mad is a really good idea. Too bad her power isn’t working quite like she is expecting though. The energy of her attack was pressing on the dragon but most of it was rolling off his body as waves of anger and hate boiled up from it. Hmm, not much could be able to resist that, too bad this dragon has seen things scarier than her before. It seems that I might have to step in to prevent someone from doing anything drastic.

~~~~~~~

Twilight and her friends watched in shock as, of all ponies, Fluttershy flew out of her place of hiding to start berating the dragon for hurting them. The shy little pegasus continued berating the large beast who just stood there staring at her with no change in its demeanor. “What does she think she’s doing? Is she crazy?”

Twilight’s words were whispered to the others who were piled around her by the broken rock. All of them had their eyes locked on the two above them, except for Pinkie Pie who was looking somewhere behind the dragon Twilight noted. “I believe she is using the Stare on it, Twilight. The darling doesn’t like using it but when she does nothing has been able to disobey her.” Twilight nods at Rarity’s words but she looks a bit worried as she watches the two.

“Don’t look now, but I think this might be the first time that this Stare of hers isn’t working.” Those familiar with their friends ability do a double-take and look closely at the dragon to see that it indeed not being affected and actually looks angrier.

“But that’s impossible, nothing can resist Flutters when she gets serious, can they?” Rainbow Dash starts looking worried as smoke starts leaking from the dragon’s nose as Fluttershy finishes up her tirade. “Ponyfeathers, we’re in trouble aren’t we?”

Fluttershy looked to be expecting a response from the dragon and started to look a bit worried when none was forthcoming. When it suddenly opened its jaw to roar directly into her face her wings snapped shut as she froze up in fear causing her to plummet to the top of the pony pile below. As the dragon reared its head back in preparation to unleash its burning breath on them as they tried to escape from underneath the paralyzed pegasus a voice echoed from behind the behemoth causing all involved to freeze.

“Now now Ragoth’Aeros, we wouldn’t want to do something that we would regret now would we? You remember the last time your kind tried to attack the ponies of Equestria, don’t you?” The ponies, barring Pinkie whose gaze never wavered, looked around in confusion for the source of the voice. The dragon’s reaction was much more drastic is his eyes were open wider than normally possible as his read color paled to a bright pink color.

Suddenly the dragon started groveling in a random direction while pleading helplessly. “Please don’t hurt me oh merciless one! I wasn’t trying to hurt them honest, just scare them a little so I could go back to sleep!” The ponies were shocked by the sudden change in demeanor of the dragon but they were even more shocked when a figure appeared out of thin air above their heads.

Xellos glared at the dragon with his violet eyes that were now visible to the intimidated being. “I’m sure that I said no aggression would be accepted, and that includes acts of intimidation. You might want to consider whatever request they had since they decided to climb up here or do I have to do something drastic?”

The dragon whimpers and nods before it slithers back inside the cave before it streaks out again carrying some large sacks as it rapidly vanishes into the distance. Twilight stares in awe at the figure before them that managed to scare the dragon off just with a few words and his presence. “Um, thanks for your timely help, I’m Twilight Sparkle and-“

She was interrupted as a flash of color sped by her and glared at the back of the bipeds head. “Enough of that, who and what are you anyways? And why is a dragon completely terrified of you?” Twilight face hoofs at the brashness of the rainbow maned pegasus. The tall figure remembers that he still has an audience and turns around to behold the ponies through his once again slitted eyes.

“Oh, sorry about that. He and I go a long ways back and I just had to take a moment to catch up with him. My name is Xellos, the Mysterious Priest.” They all stare at him in confusion after his introduction before Twilight shakes her head and gathers her thoughts.

“Well as I was saying before being interrupted, my name is Twilight Sparkle and these are my friends, Rarity, Rainbow Dash, Applejack, Fluttershy, and... where did Pinkie Pie go?” Her friends each nod in turn on being introduced but look around when they realize one of them is missing. Rainbow Dash and Applejack glare at the bipedal figure suspiciously moments later, the former due to her usual nature and the latter as something feels off to her about him.

“Do you mean the pink one? I believe I saw her take off towards that town I can see over there once that dragon left. Should I have said something about that?” Twilight wonders how he knew that since he was focused on the dragon the entire time but there were more important things to worry about.

“I can probably guess what she is doing, but how did you happen to find us up here? It’s rather isolated and considering we are near the top of a mountain there would be little reason to come up here anyways.” Xellos looked towards the sun for a moment before turning back to them again.

“Oh I was simply flying by at the time on the way to visit an old friend of mine. It’s been a few years since I last visited and it felt like a good time to do so again. Speaking of which, I should be going now since my help is no longer required. We’ll meet again Twilight Sparkle.” Before any of them could stop him he walked behind a nearby boulder before vanishing from sight. When the ponies rounded the obstruction there was no sign of him or any clue of where he went.

“Where did he go? There’s something odd about him that I can’t explain. He mentioned flying and was even doing so but I’ve never seen a spell like that before. I can’t even tell if he teleported away, went invisible, or cast some other spell after he got out of sight.” The others looked at Twilight worriedly as if it was something that even she didn’t know about then that meant trouble.

“Sugarcube, ah don’t know what he was or how he did that, but ah can tell that things are about to get interestin’ around here soon.” The others nodded to each other as they made their way down the mountain again wondering what the coming days would bring.

<><><><><><><>

Celestia, Princess of the Sun gazed out over her city as the end of the day steadily approached. She was sitting down with a cup of tea at a table next to one of the many windows the castle had as she wondered how her student was doing. The smoke on the horizon had stopped so she knew she had succeeded so she was just waiting for direct word from her.

Spying a flicker of green out of the corner of her eye she turned to see a scroll materializing above the table and she smiled. “I was wondering when she would get around to sending that. Let’s see what Twilight has to say today.” Unrolling the scroll she did a quick scan of the contents as she took a sip of her tea. On spying a name that should not be there she accidentally took in more tea on accident before spitting it across the room before she read the letter again carefully.

Dear Princess Celestia,

I am happy to report that the dragon has departed our fair country, and while I almost expected my good friend, Fluttershy, to be the one to convince him to go it was in fact a surprising third party that was in the area that convinced him to leave. Some creature by the name of Xellos showed up when all our efforts had failed and saved us at the last moment. I don’t even want to think what would have happened if he hadn’t shown as that dragon was very angry until he arrived. Still I learned an important lesson that true strength can come from the most surprising sources at times. Fluttershy was terrified the entire way yet when things were looking down she still risked everything for us even at the expense of her own comfort. I am ashamed to admit that I would never have expected it from her yet it shows that you should always have faith in the hidden strengths of your friends.

Always your faithful student,
Twilight Sparkle.

“Why does he have to come back at a time like this? I need to find Luna before he shows up and warn her before she does something drastic.” She rose from her chair and was preparing to go in search of her sister before a whistling sound distracted her. Before she could turn to find the source of the sound she was blinded as the world was engulfed by a flash of pink.

Author's Notes:

Yep, things continuing on. Flashback next chapter to explain a few things but if you have questions leave them below just in case I don't think of them.

Also before I go here's something to think about. Prince Philionel meeting Fluttershy and teaching her everything he knows.

Chapter 3

1013 year before the banishment of Nightmare Moon
Earth

The crowds at the convention center were extremely thick as it started up for the first day of the weekend long event. While most came as just themselves there were a good many that came dressed up as characters from their favorite forms of media. A couple friends, of the latter group, had just finished collecting their badges and were making their way inside the building. “Man I can’t believe that you actually went through with dressing up like that. You’re going to scar so many people for life, do you know that?”

The one speaking, wearing a purple wig and cloak over his average figure, looked over at his friend as he facepalms at how he is flaunting his outfit. The cape and high heeled boots weren’t overly unusual but the skimpy top, bikini-like bottoms and spiked shoulderpads brought it all together in a rather unique look. “I know that you are a fan of Naga the Serpent, but her outfit is just not fit for a four hundred pound man.”

The large man let out a laugh, trying to imitate the one from the character he was dressed as, before slapping his friend on the back. “Oh Lighten up D*****, everybody always expects someone to dress up like this at these conventions so it might as well be me. Besides if people are going to avoid me it just makes it easier for us to get around as they open a path up for us.”

The thinner figure just shakes his head as he plants his custom-ordered staff and poses for someone nearby pointing a camera at him before turning back to his friend with a sigh. “I still can’t believe how much you paid to get that thing made. I mean there’s hardly anything to that thing so the only reason I can think of why it cost that much was to pay for the poor guys therapy bills afterwards.”

The larger man just shrugged as he browsed through a nearby table of merchandise before answering. “Well it’s not like all of us can just ask their mom to sew something up for them. Some of us actually have to put some effort into affording or creating our costumes.”

D***** just rolls his eyes at his friend as his face warms up slightly. “I don’t ask her for stuff like this often and it wasn’t that hard for her to modify one of the renaissance outfits she made before making the other bits. I still had to pay someone to create a replica of the staff and my outfit still feels like it’s missing something.”

The larger man was about to turn back and reply when his eyes catch sight of something on the next table. “You mean something like those? Didn’t that character you dressed up as have something like those as well?” He points at a set of jewelry that he had seen, bringing his friends attention to them.

He examines the objects closely and realizes that his friend is correct. They look exactly like the demon’s blood talismans from the series; from the half-circular shape around the stones, down to the correct colors as well. “Huh, not often someone gets the colors right, usually they are lazy and have them all a red color instead of the correct red, white, black, and blue for each dark lord they represent. How much are they anyways?”

He looks up to the vendor who was watching them closely. Something felt off about the man, he seemed to exude a greasy aura, and he almost left then and there until the man spoke. “You have an eye for quality there, young sir. Normally I wouldn’t let them go for less than fifty each, but for you I can let them go for one twenty-five.”

He was still a bit suspicious of the vendor but the deal was a bit too good to pass up, especially since they didn’t look to be made of plastic or even glass. He fishes out the money and passes it over to the vendor in exchange for the talismans. “Enjoy your purchase, you won’t regret it.”

D***** looks at the creepy vendor as he starts laughing in a way that makes him worry about his sanity. Shrugging it off he starts to attach the talismans while glancing at his friend. “I’m really not sure about that vendor, but these are exactly what this outfit needs.” His friend just waves it off as he looks at some of the plush toys on another table while he clips the last talisman to his belt. “So how does my outfit look… now?”

Looking up from his belt he is shocked to find that everything had vanished and was replaced with complete darkness. He waved a hand in front of his face and was wondering what was going on as he could clearly see himself and one the second pass everything faded in again. Unfortunately what appeared wasn’t the convention but instead was a forest trail with him standing in the middle of it.

“What just happened? Where in the world am I now?” He slowly turns in place and finds nothing around him beyond more trees and random flora. Confused as to what is going on he reaches up and scratches his head just to find another surprise. “What the?” He tugs on what should have been a wig to find that it was now very real hair even with the purple color.

“Right, I have no idea what is going on now but standing around won’t get me anywhere. Let’s see I have a good feeling about… that way.” After spinning around blindly for a moment and pointing in a random direction with his staff he begins walking down the path. He whistles a jaunty tune, not paying any attention to the fact that he isn’t feeling any sort of fear or panic over his situation.

What he did notice was that the air smelled much fresher than anything he had scented before. The wildlife that he could see was also much more friendly than it should have been as he saw birds and small animals pass within touching range and a couple of the birds even landed on an outstretched hand once. “Well wherever I am it definitely could be worse. Everything here seems rather peaceful and I’ve had worse views before.”

As he finished saying this he pushed through a bit of foliage to find himself in a clearing. Unfortunately he wasn’t alone in the clearing as his eyes locked on a small crowd of figures at the other end of the large clearing. “What in the world is…?”

Across from him were ten creatures that he never expected to see standing over a pair of horse-like figures. He rubbed his eyes but it didn’t change the view and he had to admit that he was really seeing a group of gryphons in armor. They were just as shocked to see him as he was at seeing them so it gave him time to examine the other two creatures as well.

Are those really what I think they are? How in the world am I seeing ponies from that one show right here in front of me?” He was guessing that the two grey ponies were female from the size and slim shape and he noted that one had what looked like a pie tattooed to her rear. What really caught his attention though was the look of fear on their faces as well as the cuts and bruises all over them.

Well that isn’t a good sign. Maybe I shouldn’t have said anything about how peaceful it is around here. Unfortunately he didn’t have time to think things through any further as the gryphons had started getting over their shock.

“Well what are you birdbrains waiting for? Get that… whatever it is.” The lead gryphon ordered his subordinates which brought a worried look to the human’s face. He took a step back as they started to approach in a threatening manner.

He was about to say something when they began to charge him and the nearest thrust a spear at him. He managed to dodge to the side but he tripped over a root that he missed seeing sending him to the ground. The gryphon behind the first raised a sword over his head and prepared to slash down at the fallen biped who raised his staff and arms over his head as he closed his eyes. What I wouldn’t give to be anywhere else but here right now.

The expected blow never came though as he felt a difference in the air around him that felt unusual. “Hey, where did that thing go?!” He looked up at the hollow sounding words and was once again struck speechless at what he saw.

The world around him took on a washed out appearance that seemed to mimic what he was expecting to see. The gryphons were duller but seemed a bit more twisted and crueler appearing than before while the ponies, while also dull, looked much stronger in appearance than before. I’m starting to notice a trend here which should be impossible. If I’m right I should be able to…

Shakily he got to his feet and started to concentrate on the area around him. Steadily waves of air started to pulse away from him as he slowly lifted into the air. He breathed in deeply before slowly letting it out as he looked down to see himself flying a short distance above the ground. First the wig somehow merged with my head, then I appear in what seems to be another plane of existence, and now I just willed myself to fly. If I didn’t know any better I would think that I somehow turned into the character I dressed up as, Xellos. But that would be silly as my name is really Xellos.

He was about to continue with his thoughts when he realized what he just told himself mentally. “That can’t be right. Xellos… Xellos… My name isn’t Xellos, my name is Xellos.” He looked down in confusion as all attempts at saying his name would only come out as Xellos. He started to worry a bit but his attention was diverted as he saw that the gryphons had stopped moving around and were looking around in fear. Did… did they actually hear me even from in here?

Dropping the name issue for now he watched as eight of the gryphon backed up into a circle with each other while the other two watched over the ponies. “Where are you?! Show yourself now before we kill these two!” Xellos raises an eyebrow as he wonders how they expect that to actually work.

“Why would I care what happens to those two, I’ve never met them before and know nothing about them or their kind. But if you really want me to show myself.” He floats above the eight and decides to test his theory again by trying something else he remembered from the show. Appearing a good distance above them he starts to chant one of the spells that he remembered from the Slayers series.

You who crosses between sky and earth,
gently flowing water,
gather in my hand and give me power!

The gryphons look around in confusion as they once again search for the source of his voice. One of them finally looks not only upwards but also a bit behind to spot him but not before he finishes the incantation as he points his hands at them. “DEMONA CRYSTAL!” White fog started to flow from his hand at a rapid pace to surround the eight below and spread out in a circle, flowing over the claws of the other two guarding the ponies but not quite reaching the two captives.

When the fog cleared all that was left were eight frozen statues with the other two staring in shock at their own appendages that were frozen to the ground. “Well that worked better than I expected but it does explain a few things. Now what was it you were planning to do with the ponies if I didn’t show up?”

He looked over the remaining two gryphons who just stared at him in terror while the ponies just watched in shock. Xellos took this moment to look over the two ponies now that he had the leisure to. One looked slightly younger than the other with the older being of a gray color with a dark orange mane and tail and the previously noticed pie tattoo. The younger was also grey, but seemed to lack the mark while her mane and tail were a deep green. They both also had bright blue eyes and if he had to guess would probably come up to just below his head if they stood on their hind legs.

When neither of them said anything he decided to break the ice in a manner of speaking. “Well since you two seem to be free now you should probably find someone in charge to let them know about these gryphons. If you’d like I could escort you there if you wish.”

This shocked the eldest out of her stupor as she stuttered a bit since she didn’t know how to react to the biped. “Um, I think the Princesses are about a good day or two walk away and they need to know about this. W-would you be able to keep us safe that long?”

His only response was to nod as he waved a hand in an ‘after you’ gesture so that they would indicate the correct direction. He looked over the two as they began to walk as a couple last thoughts came to mind. Now I’m wishing that I took up my friend’s pestering to watch more of that show instead of the rare couple I caught on accident. I think I remember a bit about a couple princesses but I have no clue as to what they are like or even how they would react to me.

He sighed as he followed the two and wondered what was going to happen to him as well as how and why he was even in what is obviously an entirely new world.

Author's Notes:

Well there's the obligatory crossing over chapter. He probably should be panicking more but as you see not all is right with him right now. End of the current flashback but expect a few more in future chapters as they are needed. Also let me know what I may be doing wrong, especially if you downvote as I see one right now but no mention of why.

Chapter 4

Present Time
Equestria

Twilight Sparkle was having Spike put the last few touches on her letter to her mentor while her friends were watching Rainbow Dash bounce a ball on her head and discussing what they saw earlier. “Ah don’t trust that guy. I mean what kind of pony introduces themselves as a mysterious priest? Something just ain’t right about him.”

The others look a bit unsure but they aren’t overly quick to dispute the issue. “He did help us though so he can’t be all that bad… I think. I mean he did help us with that big scary dragon.” Fluttershy hides behind her mane after she says this, still trembling at the thought of what had almost happened.

“Four Hundred! Oh yeah, a new record!” There is a bit of cheering for Rainbow Dash as she takes a couple bows to the others. “Anyways what I’d like to know is why that dragon was scared of that creature. It was flying away so fast that even I don’t think I could have caught up to it. Not to mention that- whoa what is that!?” She suddenly points at a pink smoke trail that suddenly rocketed up from the other end of town. Twilight looked over at the others, having finished her letter and having Spike send it, and nods to them before they all started rushing towards the launch point.

~~~~~~~
Other Side of Ponyville

Xellos flew over the town while in the astral plane as he considered what had recently happened as well as his future plans. “It’s been a while since I tried to remember my old life but I’m sure that those six were from that one show. From the few episodes that I saw much of it focused around them so things will probably be the most interesting around them. Maybe I’ll look in on them again after meeting Sunbutt and Moony again.”

As he casually flew by he observed the dull figures below him and wondered how things had changed in Equestria over the past couple centuries. His attention was pulled to specific part of town when he saw a bright streak of pink in that direction that didn’t fit with the view from the astral plane. “What was that?”

He watched for the flash of color again and when he saw it again he tried to track it with his eyes. He noticed that it flashed between two different colors of pink, one of them he remembered being that of what he saw of those six mares before. He decided to land to get a closer view but when his feet hit the ground he lost sight of the figure once again. When he turned around his view was filled with filled with blue causing him to leap up into the air again at top speed.

Pinkie blinked in surprise as she looked around in confusion as the biped looked to have vanished considering the speed he moved. “Huh? So that’s what that feels like. Now where did he go?” Xellos watched as Pinkie Pie darted around the area at extreme speeds within the astral plane as she looked around every corner for him. He had to catch his breath as he didn’t expect to see a pony on this plane, especially one that seemed to have mastered moving around on it.

Xellos slowly dropped to the ground again behind the pink pony and began speaking causing her to jump in surprise. “Well now I was definitely not expecting this. It’s been a long time since I’ve seen a pony within the astral plane without any assistance.”

Pinkie Pie just stares at him for a moment before she starts bouncing in place. “Oh getting here is easy even though my friends don’t understand it and I’ve tried explaining it to them. That’s not important though. What is important is that you are new in town which means that I get to throw you a party and to do that I need you to answer one question.” She looks at him with a very serious expression. “Chocolate, Strawberry, or Vanilla?”

Xellos considers going with his usual answer but something about the mare causes him to pause before answering. “Um, all of them? Who are you anyways?” Pinkie’s mouth opens as she prepares to answer him before her eyes narrow and she examines him more closely.

“Okie… Dokie… Loki…” She drags her reply out before her expression goes back to her previous cheerfulness again. “Oh and my name is Pinkie Pie. I already heard before that yours was Xellos which sounds familiar now that I think about it.”

The pink mare enters a thinking pose as she taps her head as she tries to remember something while Xellos nods at her name. “Well this is nice and all but I have places to be and-“ He pauses as his eyes widen and takes a closer look at the mare. “Did you just say Pie? Would you by chance happen to be descended from a Sweet Potato Pie?” He looks a bit worried as he asks her this question.

Pinkie Pie looks at him again when her eyes suddenly widen and an extremely wide grin spreads across her face as she starts bouncing in place. “Oh! Oh! I remember now! You must be that thing that saved my Greatgreatgreatgreatgreatgreatgreatgreatgreatgreatgreatgreatgreatgreatgreatgreatgreatgreatgreatgreatgreatgreatgreatgreatgreatgreatgreatgreatgreatgreatgreatgreatgreatgreatgreatgreatgreatgreatgreatgreat grandmother all those years ago. I can’t believe that those stories Granny Pie told me were actually real and that I’m really meeting Old Uncle Xellos for real!”

Xellos was needless to say a bit shocked at this revelation as he brings a hand up to the side of his head. “She told me that I’d regret teaching her daughter how to use the astral plane and that it would come back to haunt me. I just didn’t think it would involve one of the ponies involved with the Elements of Harmony.” He muttered to himself as he watches the bubbly pink mare bounce around him in excitement when an idea comes to mind.

Pulling out one of the cakes that he had brought from his satchel and cracks the box open slightly. As soon as it was cracked open Pinkie Pie freezes in midair before she sniffs the air a couple times and slowly pans her head around to stare at the box. “Is that? Can that be a legendary Dark Forest Chocolate Cake from the Black Forests between the Gryphon and Minotaur kingdoms?” A line of drool of drool starts pouring from her open mouth as Xellos smiles and nods wickedly.

“That it is, and all you have to do is finish this off and-“ He pulls out a large covered cup of a hot liquid which is snatched up by the pink pony who chugs it down in seconds before she snags the cake from his hands and running off with it. “Well that was rather easy though I was expecting something more.”

He looks at the cup that was spinning in the air and his eyes widen as he realizes that he grabbed the wrong one from his bag. “Well this is embarrassing, that was one of the ones I was saving for little Loony. Still, from what I remember hearing about this Pinkie Pie the results could be rather interesting.” He shifts back into the mortal plane, frightening the ponies that were currently in the area, and waits for a few moments.

Moments later the pink party pony returns and is vibrating in place in front of him as she babbles on at a high speed. “~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~” Her words are spoken at such a fast pace and high pitch that he can’t understand them and he starts to wonder what he just unleashed.

He remembers a bit of what she said earlier and he grins deviously as his eyes open with a mischievous glint in them. “You know you said something about a party earlier, it’s just too bad you can’t do something for all those boring nobles in Canterlot, they could really use one right now.”

Pinkie Pie actually freezes in place for a moment before she starts vibrating once again. After about a minute of this she blasts off into the air leaving a pink contrail behind her as she flies in the direction of the country’s capital. Xellos whistles as he shades his eyes and watches the pony achieve lift-off before an idea comes to mind. He was about to ask a pony for help when he notices a conveniently placed telescope and lawn chair hidden in a pocket dimension which he then grabs and flies up to a nearby roof.

“This should be interesting to watch and it’s a good way to hint to Celly that I’m back. I never did tell her how to make this stuff so she should recognize the symptoms well enough.” He settles in and focuses the telescope on the city in the distance and slowly counts down until the time that the pony will impact.

“It came from over here, hurry up you slowpokes!” He hears the voice of one of the mares that he met earlier and glances in her direction before turning his attention back to the telescope. “Hey you! What do you think you’re doing up there! What just happened here!?”

He feels the presence of the rainbow maned pegasus nearby and he ignores her after tossing her the cup and a short comment. “I just gave Pinkie Pie this to drink.” Rainbow Dash looks at him in confusion before she sniffs at the cup. After the first whiff her eyes widen as her wings lock up as she falls off the roof onto her friends below. Seconds later she is back on the roof, followed by her friends, but a look of terror is on her face.

“Don’t tell me that you gave Pinkie Pie coffee. Don’t you know what happens when she gets ahold of that stuff!?” The eyes of everyone except Twilight shoot open to their widest while the unicorn looks at them in confusion.

“What’s so bad about coffee? I drink it all the time when I have late nights.” The others turn to her in shock before they realize that she wasn’t there during that incident.

“That’s right; you weren’t in Ponyville when that happened. Well darling, about a year before you arrived Rainbow Dash thought it would be funny to see what would happen if she gave Pinkie some coffee. I won’t go into details but it took me a month of daily trips to the spa to fix my coat and the mayor banned the substance from being anywhere near Pinkie again.” Twilight is still a bit confused at Rarity’s words, but she looks worried at how her friends are shivering at the thought.

“Oh don’t worry about that, that wasn’t coffee that she drank.” The five let out a sigh of relief before he could continue. “It was a triple espresso.” Fluttershy looked worried at this while the others were just confused.

“And what, exactly, is a triple espresso?” Xellos looks back over at them before he smiles slightly at them.

“Oh it’s nothing much. An espresso is pretty much five cups of coffee combined into one. So you can guess what a triple espresso means.” Xellos is amused but the looks on their faces as their mouths all drop open in shock at his words. As he is about to look into the telescope again he pauses and looks thoughtful. “Now that I think about it, normally those are served in a smaller cup and not a large one like that. Was it a bad idea to give her that much?”

Both Fluttershy and Rarity faint at this while Rainbow Dash and Applejack hold onto each other in fear. Twilight looks at the cup in shock as she mentally calculates the size. “You mean to tell me that you just gave Pinkie Pie, an already unpredictably hyperactive pony, the equivalent of one hundred cups of coffee? And you’re wondering if that was a bad idea!?”

As a pink balloon shaped cloud rises from Canterlot when Pinkie Pie impacts into it the relaxing biped turn and looks at them. “You know, she said that too when I gave her sister a cup as well.” They were about to ask who he was talking about when they were knocked off their hooves from a loud scream.

“XELLOS!”

The ponies were all shaken from the impact of the Royal Canterlot Voice the hit them from Canterlot while Xellos was laughing. “I see Celly got my message well enough, and look! She’s coming to visit.” The three conscious ponies just stared as they watched their princess fly towards them. When she landed they just watched as she walked up to them and dropped Pinkie Pie in front of them.

“I believe this belongs to you.” They just nod as she turns her attention to Xellos who was still lounging on the chair he had found. “As for you… I really don’t know what to do with you and I’m sure my sister will be thrilled with what you have done. I haven’t had the heart to tell her that the statue in the garden isn’t you because she looked so happy about it.”

Xellos just continues to smile up at her as she rubs her head with a hoof. “Oh come now Celly, it’s not like I hurt anyone and I’m sure your sister has forgotten most of the things I did. A thousand years is a long time to be angry you know. By the way I love the new look.”

The princess of the sun just sighs in frustration as she keeps rubbing at her now pink head as she ruffles her pink feathers. There is a snort from the gathered ponies but when she looks at them all she sees is two of them glaring at Rainbow Dash. Turning back to Xellos she just shakes her head. “Why couldn’t you have just continued to act like you did during the last thousand years instead of causing trouble again?”

Xellos just chuckles at her as he glances through the telescope again. “Why Celly, you know that things would be boring if I didn’t liven things up occasionally. I haven’t done anything around you in a while since you already had enough to deal with over the centuries. Of course you may not have to worry about telling little Loony about me since she is about to find out herself soon.”

Celestia looks at him in confusion before she sees him pointing towards Canterlot. Following his gesture she sees a blue speck that is rapidly approaching and she lays a hoof across the top of her muzzle. Soon the blue alicorn landed next to her sister as she thrusts her now pink mane towards her. “Sister! Our mane has been defiled! What hath happened while we slept!?”

Only now does she notice her sister’s state and she gapes in shock before she looks at the other ponies nearby. She was about to ask them when a voice came from behind her, one that caused her wings spread in alarm. “Well Loony, it’s so good to see you again after all this time. I’m glad to see that your mane grown back in again as well.”

Luna didn’t move as she looks her sister in her eyes. “Tia, wasn’t that monster sealed in stone in the castle gardens while I was gone?” Celestia just shakes her head while Luna starts looking angry. “Then does that mean if I turn around he’s going to be standing right there?” It is easy to tell from how she looks that Luna is really mad from how she had stopped speaking in her archaic style and at her sister’s nod a blood vessel could be seen popping out of her forehead.

Walking over to Twilight she grabbed the cup that was being held in her magic with a wing before she whipped around and flung it right at Xellos. As it impacted with his head, knocking it back, she started screaming again. “YOU! How dare you show yourself to me after what you’ve done! When I get my hooves on you not even anything in Tartarus will be able to stand looking at you!”

With that she started chasing after him as he ran around the edge of the roof trying to cave his head in with a hoof. Soon enough he jumps off the side and flies in a random direction with her in hot pursuit leaving the five conscious ponies, two of them only now groggily rising, alone with the sun princess.

Rainbow Dash is the first to question what just happened. “Princess, can you please explain what just happened?” Princess Celestia sighs as she shakes her head while looking in the direction her sister flew off in.

“Luna probably wouldn’t want me telling you since it was a rather embarrassing moment for her. Let’s just say that those two have a bit of history and I don’t see it improving anytime soon.” This doesn’t help the confusion over the situation much and neither does the laughter filling the air from out of nowhere.

“Oh Celly, I forgot to leave these with you. Make sure that you give one to little Loony and don’t devour them both. As for what happened, well I guess she must be a bit annoyed that I shaved her mane and tail off one night after she turned into Nightmare Moon. I would have thought that she would have gotten over that already, but oh well, what can you do? I’ll see you some time later; I’m still owed a party by Pinkie after all.” With that two boxes appear on Celestia’s back and raucous laughter fills the air as Rainbow Dash can no longer hold it all in.

Author's Notes:

And just thing, he hasn't even met the CMC yet and offered suggestions for what chaos they can get into. I didn't originally plan for some of the Pinkie Pie bits but it just makes too much sense that her habit of appearing out of nowhere would involve some kind of dimensional travel. Having him teach someone in her family a long time ago just sounded like a good idea. No idea how to explain the Pinkie Sense, or if I want to, but it does make a good lead-in later for the Pinkie Keen episode.

Chapter 5

Celestia was pacing in front of her throne as she tried to gather her thoughts for the coming meeting. She had promised an explanation to her student about Xellos after that incident but she had tried to delay it stating the need to clean up the mess in Canterlot. It had been a week since then and things were mostly back to normal again, at least if the mental scarring wasn’t included in the tally. “Why did he have to show up now, of all times? I still don’t even know what he is capable of other than he is powerful and nearly impossible to catch.”

She sighs as she brushes a hoof at her once again white coat as she sits in her throne and calls for the rooms doors to be opened. She did have to admit that it was actually nice not to have to worry about court the last few days as many of the nobles were too terrified to leave their homes. After dealing with the few that did actually show she was notified by her guards that Twilight and her friends had arrived causing her to end court for the day and send her guards out of the room as the six entered.

As she looked them over she was surprised to see that Pinkie Pie was looking rather subdued in comparison to her normal self. Her head wasn’t held as high as usual and she was keeping pace with the others instead of darting around. Soon enough they all reached the foot of the throne where they bowed to the princess, except for Twilight who ran up for a nuzzling from her mentor. “Thank you all for coming. We have much to discuss and I’m sure you have questions of your own after what happened recently.”

There are some nods from the others while Pinkie Pie holds up a sign with the phrase ‘uh-huh’ on it. Celestia looks at it strangely before glancing at her student with a raised eyebrow. Seeing what her mentor was looking at Twilight explained. “Oh right. Pinkie is still recovering from what happened last week. After sleeping for three days she finally woke up and we found that she had overstrained her voice. She’s recovering but it still hurts her throat when she tries to speak.”

Pinkie nods as she holds up another signs stating ‘I’m all Partied Out’ as she sips from a cold drink. Celestia stares at her for a moment longer before she shakes her head and gets back on topic again. “It is fortunate that her exhaustion was the only thing that happened after meeting with Xellos alone. He has proven to not only be unpredictable but also extremely dangerous when he chooses to be. This isn’t the first time that he has given that drink to somepony for a joke or whatever reason he might give.” Celestia’s eyes glaze over as she thinks back.

<><><><><><><>

Approximately 1500 years ago

Celestia was preparing herself for another day in her room when she heard a commotion from somewhere outside. Her sister was running late for some reason but as she had never been before it must be important. Before she could go and see what the commotion was her room door was blown off its hinges revealing her sister in all her glory.

“Sister! He has shown us the most marvelous of drinks imaginable! Behold the Nectar of the Gods! THE NIGHT SHALL LAST FOREVER! HAHAHAhaha…” With that she collapsed in the doorway, as her metabolism burned through all the excess energy, and began snoring up a storm. Celestia walked to her sister’s side and picked up the cup that was grasped in her wing before sniffing at it. At the strong odor the sun princess wrinkled her nose before searching for the source of the drink.

<><><><><><><>

Present

Celestia shudders as finishes explaining the last incident. “It was only later that I found out that she had spent the previous twenty-four hours rewriting the kingdoms tax code by herself. There are still professionals trying to translate parts of it so that it can be understood by the common pony.” The princess looks up to see her student and her friends looking at her with varying levels of shock and horror causing her to clear her throat.

“Still that’s just one of the many incidents that have been caused by him. He has had over two millennia to leave his mark on the world and not always in small ways either. The Rocktalon Crater Lake bordering Equestria and the Gryphonic Empire, the scarcity of dragons, and even the Yearly Multicultural Dessert competition held in a new location every year around the world are all due to his efforts.” There were looks of surprise all around but Twilight was looking thoughtful about something.

“But Princess Celestia, I thought that the history books mentioned you and your sister being responsible for the Rocktalon Incident. It was why the war with the gryphons ended with the gryphon army surrendering completely before they could invade Equestria.” The princess just shakes her head at her student.

“While that may be what has officially become the story for that day, the truth is much different. Using magic that we have little knowledge of he turned the mountain fortress that was once there into the lake it is today. When everything had finally settled down, Xellos had vanished while we were left with all the blame. It was also the start of my sister’s dislike of him as well.” They all looked at each other, not knowing how to respond to this story about a creature that had helped them once already yet shortly after had made a mess of Canterlot.

“You said he used some kind of unknown magic, but surely you have learned something about it by now. I didn’t recognize any of what he was doing but shouldn’t you have learned at least something throughout the years you’ve known about him?” Twilight was a combination of worried about what could happen as well as excited about learning something new.

The princess shakes her head at her student though she expected the question from her student eventually. “He has shown a variety of talents but as far as we can tell he has been the only one to show these kinds of abilities. He seems to pull energy from various elements but it is still unknown how he does it, but my sister and I are sure that he hasn’t shown everything he can do.”

Twilight looks thoughtful about all this as she mutters to herself about finding it out. Rainbow Dash does a couple flips in the air before she starts punching at the air. “So what, you want us to use the Elements of Harmony to blast him? It’ll be a piece of cake.”

While the other five rolls their eyes at their friend’s antics the princess responds in the negative. “If it were that easy it would have been done long ago. Before Luna was banished we had tried to stop him on multiple occasions yet whenever we thought we had him he would vanish on us. Even magic suppressors couldn’t keep him in place for very long.”

There is a moment of silence before the farm pony speaks up. “Ya mean to tell us that he just runs away? How is he a threat if he just skedaddles if ya show up?” The princess is a bit annoyed at it being labeled like that but her face remains neutral.

“In a way you are correct, but he has been able to escape even our most reliable traps. If he could do this then who knows what else he could do. I hate to admit it but he may be as strong as my sister and I combined.” She is distracted for a moment by Pinkie Pie as she holds up a sign asking ‘Have you tried moving outwards and upwards?’ on it. Twilight soon grabs the sign, much to Pinkie’s annoyance, and tosses it away though something about it bothers the princess for some reason.

“The important thing is that I want you all to do absolutely nothing when it comes to him. He is absolutely merciless when it comes to removing what he deems a threat and he has shown that the Elements just aren’t enough. My sister and I will deal with him if he does something again so don’t risk yourselves unnecessarily.” The six have no idea how to react to this as they had been told just how powerful the Elements were. Having a potential threat that can’t be handled by them was quite a shock.

“So what do we do about him then? He sounds like he is going to be around Ponyville for some reason. Shouldn’t we know more about him so we know what to expect?” Celestia is worried at her student’s information of Xellos hanging around Ponyville and she sighs. She considers what Twilight says before sighing and starting in on the tale of how the originally met.

<><><><><><><>

Elsewhere

Xellos was off flying around Equestria looking for something to pass the time until something interesting happened in Ponyville. It’s just too bad that I missed that whole Trixie incident, it was one of the only episodes I remember other than the first one and those two movies. Oh right I can’t forget that bit with the wedding and Discord since my friend wouldn’t shut up about them. From how it sounds that town is full of interesting things while those six are living there. Too bad I don’t know much about what is supposed to happen.

He buzzes close to the side of an airship, to the consternation of the ponies piloting it, as he looks over a checklist. I probably could have had more ideas for this then, but I’ll just have to add to it as new ones come up, can’t finish everything on it too soon. He was interrupted from his thoughts as a small void opened up in front of him, ejected an object right into his face. With a quick reaction he uses his power to keep it from closing as he examines the item before tossing it into his pouch.

“I would love to know why this thing keeps spitting random junk at me. At least this time I was ready for it so I can finally try something.” Frowning in concentration he called up a small black cone and pointed it at the void in the air. “Now let’s see if I can find what secrets are behind this void.”

Flexing the fingers on his hand he sends the piece of himself flying into the void with unexpected results. With a small yelp of pain he jerks his hand away as the portal snaps closed as he loses his focus on it. Taking a closer look at his hand he notices that the tip of his pinkie is missing. “Well that what unexpectedly painful. I guess I’ll have to try something else next time I find one of those, or it finds me considering what keeps happening.”

He gives his hand a shake as the missing bit of himself becomes whole once again. With a new annoyance for him to think about being added to his mind he decides to make a detour and searches for somewhere to stop at for a quick meal and to sample the local treats. As long as he keeps on finding something new the world has little to worry about from Xellos’ powers.

Author's Notes:

Another chapter down and yes, that lame line before sending off that black cone is what the summoning phrase will sound like. What? Can't expect everyone to send it off intentionally with a decent message. Of course I doubt many of them actually send off a piece of themselves on accident especially as that is pretty much how monsters from Slayers reproduce. Make of that what you will.

I'm thinking of using these end notes to also toss out ideas that come to mind to give people something to think about. For this one, well the Season 5 premier episodes came out and one thing comes to mind. If those marks force everyone to be equal, what would happen if the spell was used on Sweetie Belle and her non-existent cooking skills?

Also another flashback next chapter.

Chapter 6

Equestria 2013 Years Ago

Xellos followed the two ponies through the forest towards the princesses they spoke of. He wasn’t terribly worried about there being any problems, especially with the new abilities he found himself with. The two ponies were talking quietly with each other which left him with time to think about what he was going to do.

It’s obvious that I’m no longer on my own world and right now the only thing that I can think of that caused this were these talismans. He takes a moment to examine the one on his right wrist, noticing that it’s a bit more vibrant than it was before. I wonder if these work now like they did on the show. Granted with this form it’s not like I’d need them but they still could come in handy. It would also be nice to know more about what is going on out here. The ponies are probably the side to work with since the gryphons attacked without cause but I’d prefer to be sure.

While Xellos was occupied with his own thoughts the ponies were having a conversation of their own. “Sis, are you sure that we should be taking that creature with us? Who knows what he might do to us if he gets angry.”

The elder mare shakes her head at the younger mare. “I’m not sure myself, but I’d rather know that he is there where we can see him than worrying if he is following us. Besides, he did save us when he didn’t have to so that has to count for something.”

The younger mare looks back at the tall figure trailing them before turning back to her sister. “Well I hope nothing happens until we reach the princesses. I don’t think I’ll feel safe until we find them and leave him with them.”

Their little chat was interrupted as Xellos finally decided to call out to them. “You know; I never did get your names or hear why you were the guests of such interesting creatures.”

The sisters look at each other for a moment before turning back to the biped and the elder responds while the younger keeps them in the right direction. “Well I guess that we can explain since you did save us. My name is Sweet Potato Pie and this is my sister, Homity. We were just returning home from a visit to our grandparents when those gryphons came out of nowhere. We had heard that the gryphons were threatening to invade, but this is the first time we’d seen or heard of them being in Equestria.”

Xellos considers this for a moment before nodding. “So, there is a war brewing then? It seems that I may have arrived at a more interesting time than I had thought. At least I don’t have to be too worried about being bored.” He mutters the last bit so that the two can’t hear him but their ears twitch back towards him in an attempt to still do so.

He looks around a moment later and frowns as he realizes that the forest had gotten rather quiet. “Is it supposed to be this quiet in this place? Because I know that the animals used to be pretty chatty not that long ago.” The ponies look around to find that he is right and the look around looking worried.

They both dropped to the ground with their ears flattened to their skulls when a roar rang out through the forest. Xellos turns in the direction of the sound and spots a large beast heading towards them through the trees. “It’s a manticore! What are we going to do?!” Xellos’ eyebrow rises as he watches the creature come fully into view fully revealing its leonine face and scorpion tail.

He slowly backs up towards the ponies without taking his eyes off of the manticore. “Well this is an interesting turn of events. Pity that I’m really not in the mood to deal with something of this size, so…” Taking one last look at the beast towering over him he kneels next to the two prone ponies and vanishes just before the scorpion tail impacts where they all were. The manticore looks around in confusion as the three disappeared as it sniffs the area trying to find where they went.

On the astral plane Xellos watched as the beast paced around before moving off elsewhere while trying to find them. The younger pony was looking around in wonder and fear as she found herself in a place that looked much like before but it just felt wrong. “W-where are we now? Why does everything look so wrong?”

Xellos looks down at the younger pony as he realizes that the ponies probably knew nothing about this place. “Right, I probably should have warned you about that but as you could see there wasn’t enough time for that.” He tapped on the forehead of elder pony which was enough to shock her out of her panic.

“It went right through me! I should be dead, why aren’t I dead, how could it go right through me like that?!” She was starting to hyperventilate before her sister wrapped her hooves around her and started squeezing her in a hug. When she calmed down again she looked at the tall biped with her sister joining as well.

Xellos sat for a moment considering what to say before he waved an arm around him. “Welcome to the astral plane, a world that exists in the same place as the world you live on, commonly called the mortal plane. Other than that I don’t know since I haven’t explored it enough yet to find everything about it.”

He pauses for a moment as he feels a strange pressure coming from the direction they were headed. Curious as to what it is he flies upwards to above the trees and peers off into the distance. “Well that is definitely not what I was expecting to see, but I’m pretty sure that is where we are headed.” He gently floats back down as he looks over the giant forms of the two alicorns, one like a burning sun and the other like a universe of stars.

Shaking his head as he lands next to the two ponies he decides on a new course of action. “I think I’m going to speed things up a bit so we don’t have any more distractions. Stay close though since I haven’t done this too often so it might get a bit bumpy.” He pauses for a moment as he runs through the words for the spell in his head before the final one. “RAYWING!”

The two ponies start flailing their hooves around as the leave the ground while a translucent barrier surrounds them. “N-now what is happening? How are you doing this?” The younger sister looks at the biped with a mixture of fear and wonder.

“Oh it’s just a simple wind barrier spell. Not only will it get us there faster it’ll also protect us from most things that could hurt you.” The ponies looked at each other with a bit of worry before the shrieked as the bubble sped off above the trees. The screaming stopped though when they caught sight of the two figures on the horizon.

“What are those things up ahead? They look a bit like the princesses. But how can they be so… huge?” The two ponies stare in awe at the figure ahead of them.

“Well from what I remember things on the astral plane can show more about what something really is. I’m guessing that that is a representation of their power and not their actual form. It’s one of the strange things that can happen here, things may look like they take up a lot of space but they really take up no space at all.” The two look a bit confused at the explanation but Xellos doesn’t seem inclined to explain further.

The two watch as the terrain flies by below them in wonder as, being earth ponies, flight is something that they aren’t used to. While the view isn’t what they were expecting, due to the dull colors, but it was spectacular nonetheless. They could even see patches of slightly brighter colors which were given off by the various lifeforms they based which, when shown over the background of the duller plant life, made it look as if they were flying over a sea of stars.

Eventually they came to where the two large figures were and they landed at the foot of them. From that angle the two sisters had a strange feeling of disorientation as they could see the princesses rising above everything and taking up the whole city, but at the same time they were standing in their throne room. They weren’t given much time to get used to this phenomenon as they were suddenly thrown back into the normal world right in front of said princesses.

Princesses Celestia and Luna were having another boring day of court while they tried to prevent a war with the neighboring countries. They were currently listening to the diplomat from the Gryphonic Empire as he tried to justify the buildup of forces on their border. Luna leans over towards her sister. “Tia, can’t we just go and remove that fortress instead of sitting here listening to these lies from this creature?”

Celestia just shakes her head in response. “I know that you don’t like just sitting here, but until we have actual proof of wrongdoing then our hooves are tied. If we just start attacking them without it then we will be just as bad as Discord.” Luna shivers at the thought and is about to reply when she notices that the entire room had gone quiet.

The two princesses look up and see that a strange new creature had somehow appeared in the center of the room along with two battered earth ponies. The room was entirely focused on them and the princesses tried to figure out how they got there. Luna was glaring at the guards who still hadn’t moved into action while Celestia was looking over the two injured ponies with a critical eye. Seeing the cuts and scrapes on she turned to the tall creature but on a quick examination decides that they weren’t from it though they did match another creature in the room.

Leaning over towards her sister she mutters something to her before addressing the rest of the room. “It seems that the proof we need may have just arrived. So what brings you to our court with two of our subjects that appeared to be injured?”

All eyes were focused on the tall biped that somewhat resembled a minotaur but was obviously something different. It looked as if it had its eyes closed but the princess could tell that it was still looking around and what it saw amused it. When the silence started to feel oppressing the creature spoke. “Well this is rather embarrassing. I bring these two after finding them surrounded by gryphon soldiers just to find you talking with another one.”

He looks around and sees that the gryphon ambassador was looking scared. “Oh but was that supposed to be a secret? They were traveling pretty openly about an hour flight away.” The gryphon started sputtering in shock, trying to deny that there were any soldiers in the area. Xellos kept an eye out as Luna sped off in the direction he indicated though nobody else was paying attention to her.

After his words registered completely with the nobles in the room things went crazy as they started trying to yell over each other. The gryphon ambassador tried to flee but it didn’t take long for the guards to stop him and bring him back down in front of the princess. She looked from him to the three intruders and noticed that the tall creature had vanished as well as her sister.

“Guards, escort the ambassador to his room and confine him until we return to speak with him. Until then I will need to speak with these two in my study.” She points a hoof to another of the guards. “You fetch one of the doctors and bring them to treat the injuries of these two.”

She leads the two sisters to the room in question and she takes a seat behind her desk facing the two. “Now my little ponies, please tell me all about what happened to you.” She kept her voice in a low and motherly fashion to reassure the two. They looked at each other before they began reciting the tale of what they went through over the course of the day. Neither noticed the pillar of light that flared up in the distance through the window behind them.

~~~~~~~

Luna was furious as she flew off from the clearing with the frozen gryphons. While only two of the gryphons seemed to be alive still, albeit frozen to the ground, she was able to get all the evidence she needed about the treachery of the Gryphonic Empire. “They think that they can just attack us without us retaliating? We will unleash the full force of our power against them if they have harmed a single one of our subjects.”

As she flew off another figure appeared in the clearing behind her. “Well this is getting interesting. I guess that these ponies aren’t going to be little pushovers after all. I wonder where she is going now though.” He once again disappears leaving the clearing free of everything except for the large scattering of debris that now inhabits it.

Eventually the two end up outside of a large mountain with a giant fortress sticking out of it. As Luna screams out a challenge Xellos admires the area. “Well that is a lot of gryphons. If this is all a surprise attack then they could cause a lot of damage.” He pauses as swarms of gryphons take flight after the princess who meets their charge halfway. “Of course with her and her sister they probably wouldn’t need armies to fight back.”

He settles back on a nearby hill and watches the battle with interest. The gryphons seem to be trying a swarm tactic to try and defeat her which works decently well as she struggles as they pile on her. “Of course when one charges in alone and angry it makes it rather easy to be defeated. I guess I could help her out and there is one perfect spell for this situation I’ve been dying to try.”

He looks over the fight as he ignores a voice in the back of his mind telling him not to do this. Deciding to go with the full spell he holds his staff in front of him horizontally before beginning to chant.

“Lord of Darkness of the Four Worlds
I call upon you
Grant me all the power that you possess!”

His tone deepens as he feels power flow into him from the talismans as he transitions into the actual spell.

“Heed me now, thou who is darker than dusk,
Heed that which is more red than blood,
In the name of that which has been buried in the bottomless abyss of time eternal,
I summon thee, Master of the ultimate darkness,
Have no pity on the fools who stand in our way,
Infuse me with power; let your strength become mine
to wipe them from the face of this earth
to deliver unto them the ultimate doom
DRAGON SLAAAAAAAAGH!!!”

Xellos’ scream echoed across the battlefield as the ruby red beam of energy blazed from his hands towards the mountain. The spell impacted the side of the mountain fortress and it exploded into a huge ball of red that expanded, engulfing the entire mountain and much of the area that the princess was fighting on. Xellos though wasn’t having much of an easy time as pain ripped through his skull like an ice pick.

His eyes started to change from their original violet color to a deep red. It felt as if his very being was being ripped asunder by something he didn’t recognize. Suddenly the spell cut out and the pain also cut out as well leaving him panting as the phantom pain left by the agony he went through pulsed through him.

He didn’t know how long he lay there but he sensed something land nearby and when he eventually was able to move again he looked to see the white princess looking over the area in shock. Catching his breath he climbed to his feet and tried to sneak away until a voice froze him in place. “Don’t go anywhere.”

He turned slightly to look at her and he spotted rage on the face of the princess. It was soon blocked out by another form of a blue sooty color. “Tia?! Why did you do that? You almost hit me as well!” Xellos took this as a chance to try and sneak away as the sun princess tried to talk her was out of the blame. He didn’t get to far when he was once again stopped by a voice. “YOU!”

He turned back to see Princess Luna staring at him in rage. Adopting an apologetic pose he gives a guilty smile. “Well I sure didn’t expect that to happen. Well you look like you’re doing well but I really have to go now, see you again.” With that he takes off into the air and vanishes from sight.

Luna wasn’t going to let him go that easily though as she sent a telekinetic blast through his location. “You get back here right now! How dare you nearly blow me up and bury me under a pile of rocks!? You’ll pay for this you hear me!?” Luna ranted at the sky while her sister tried to calm her down as she continued to survey the devastation.

Author's Notes:

And the reason for the animosity, Luna nearly getting blown up by Xellos. I had something else I was planning to say here but I completely lost it as I'm watching Doctor Who.

Now some food for thought. Every once and a while a HiE or OC story thhat involves adding a 7th Element of Harmony always seems to leave out one key point. The big fixed point of the entire series involves the very first sonic rainboom. That one event is what links the Mane 6 together so adding a 7th would technically require them to be affected by that event in some way as well. Most of those stories though completely ignore that event which hurts it in some way. Of course this now brings to mind a story idea where a human is transported over as a mare with their age reverted to match the others during that event then they have to live out their life until the 1000th Summer Sun festival. I'm rambling on now so I'll hop off now.

Chapter 7

Princess Celestia sighs as she finishes telling her tale to the six mares. “After that Luna never forgave him and he has been picking at her ever since. We’ve never been able to predict what he would do, one moment he is saving a village from a fire and the next he is destroying one on a whim. We’ve tried many things to stop him but not one has worked because we know little about him.”

They six mares all look at each other with varying emotions on their faces, from fear on Fluttershy’s to a weary excitement on Pinkie’s. None of them knew what to say after hearing this story as it was hard to believe that some creature could just appear out of nowhere with all that power. They were all surprised when Luna spoke up behind them all. “I see that you are telling them about why I can’t stand that creature, Tia. Though I notice that you haven’t said anything about what he was doing while I was gone the last thousand years.”

Celestia looks a bit flustered at the question as which surprises Twilight as it is a state she had almost never seen from her mentor. “Uh, well, that is to say… You see there was this…” Celestia sighs as she shakes her head at her sister as she capitulates.

<><><><><><><>

1000 years ago
Just Days after Luna’s banishment

The Captain of the Solar Guard pounded on the door leading to the chambers of the ruler of Equestria. “Princess Celestia! Please come out of there, we need you to lead the country before it rips itself apart! Princess Celestia!”

Inside the chambers was a mess of an alicorn as she sobbed in grief over what she was forced to do. The magic in her mane had still not returned leaving it to hang limply in its natural state especially as it hadn’t been washed in days. This was further proven by the matted fur of her muzzle that was further exemplified by the tear tracks running down it. She hadn’t wanted to see anyone since her sister was sealed in the moon and the room had been sealed by her magic to keep them out, or so she had thought.

“Well, well Celly, I was wondering why I hadn’t heard anything from you and your sister lately. It sure must have been difficult to unleash the greatest weapon of Equestria on your sister though; I didn’t think you had it in you.” Xellos walks around the princess’ bed twirling his staff as he looks over the damage caused by the conflict.

Celestia glares at Xellos for a moment before she slowly climbs to her hooves and growls menacingly at him. “Do you think that I had a choice to do that? That I wanted to banish my sister to save my ponies? Do you think it was easy to make it where I will never see her again!?” In a fit of rage she blasted the area that Xellos was standing with a surge of solar energy.

When the smoke cleared there was nothing left of him and the princess almost thought that she finally got him until she felt his arm across her withers. “Well I’m hurt. Here I am to tell you about this little prophecy I’ve heard of and you just attack me for no reason. I guess you really don’t want to hear about when your sister is going to be back. I’ll be back when you’re a bit calmer.”

With that he disappears leaving Celestia gaping at where he once was before she fully comprehends just what he said. “Wait, what prophecy!? Xellos, what prophecy are you talking about!? Xellos you get back here right now and TELL ME!” Even with the Royal Canterlot Voice to increase the chances of him hearing he ignored her as she flailed impotently at the sky.

<><><><><><><>

906 Years Ago

“Captain, be sure that the guard is ready for tomorrow and the official opening of the castle. I want to be sure that my ponies are safe and there are some rumors of some elements planning an attack during the celebration.” The Solar Guard Stallion salutes the princess before he heads out of the room to do his duty.

Once he exits Celestia sighs as she leans back and looks at another scroll dealing with the plans of Canterlot. It had taken a long time but the move from her old home to here was about to finally be completed. She approved a couple more requests when she was drawn from her planning by a voice she was waiting to hear for a while.

“Nice to see you looking better than when we last met. I was actually worried that you were going to do something drastic when I left but it’s good to see that you’ve pressed on.” Celestia looks up to see the form of Xellos laying across the back of her chair looking down at her.

“I’ve been wondering when you were going to return again. Your words were the only thing keeping me going all this time but I need you to tell me what exactly you meant by prophecy? I’ve searched for these past ninety-four years but haven’t heard any that deal with my sister.” Her voice is a bit shaky near the end and a tear can be seen in the corner of her eye as she stares at him.

Xellos pauses as he thinks for a moment. “You mean that old thing? It’s been a while but I think I remember it correctly.
The Mare in the Moon, a powerful pony who wanted to rule Equestria,
defeated by the Elements and imprisoned in the moon.
Legend has it that on the longest day of the thousandth year,
the stars will aid in her escape, and she will bring about nighttime eternal.
It’s been a while since I’ve heard it but I believe that is how it goes.”

Celestia’s eyes widen as she listens to the prophecy and when he finishes the tears are freely flowing. “You mean that she isn’t gone for good? I’ll actually be able to see Lulu again in the future? Please tell me that this isn’t a lie.”

Xellos shakes his head at the princess. “You should know by now that I avoid telling lies, they just aren’t as fun as the truth. Besides this is a prophecy of destruction so you still have a lot of work to do to prevent the worst of it, especially since you’ve already ruined those gems of yours.”

Celestia doesn’t pay much attention to him though as she keeps muttering “Thank You” over and over again. Xellos, noticing that he is being ignored, just smiles before vanishing from the castle again.

<><><><><><><>

500 years ago

“You really should eat more, Celly. Your sister won’t be able to recognize you when she returns if you look like a skeleton.” Celestia rolled her eyes at being interrupted by Xellos once again. He had been in and out every couple decades to annoy her, though she often found herself enjoying the break from monotony.

“Unlike some ponies I don’t have the time to keep up with my figure. Not only do I have to keep a kingdom running but any spare time I have is spent on planning for my sister’s return.” Even though she said this she kind of wished that she did have more time for herself. Too often she was forced to skip meals as another emergency reared its head forcing her to deal with it. She couldn’t admit it though as she had to appear strong for her subjects.

“That’s not very good excuse especially since your ponies watch everything you do. I’ve seen fillies starving themselves just so they can look like you. Lucky for you I have the perfect solution to that problem right here.” With a flourish of his cloak he reveals a box sitting atop his hand which he then opens to reveal a cake which he sets in front of the princess.

“Behold a cake originating in the depths of the Dark Labyrinthian Forests bordering the lands of the minotaur race. A triple layer chocolate cake baked with cherries in the batter, cherry sauce and creamy frosting between the layers and topped with more frosting and chocolate shavings.” Celestia stares at the cake for a second before she brings a wing around to her face.

“Your plan is cake? For a moment I thought that you would actually have something useful to say.” Xellos just chuckles at her reaction.

“Oh, no need to thank me, Celly. Oh, and Discord says hi. He’s rather entertaining despite being a captive audience.” With that he vanished from the princess’ sight leaving her holding her head.

“Great, now the big headache is talking with the even bigger headache. I am surprised that it has taken this long for them to meet.” She looks at the cake on her desk and sniffs at it before trying a piece of it before sighing. “This cake is actually pretty good.”

<><><><><><><>

400 years ago

Celestia was walking through the halls after a long day of holding court. She had taken to wandering the halls at random in the hope to finding something new every day. Every once and a while she would find something new that had been put up without her knowing, and even the occasional secret passage she had forgotten. It gave her something to keep things a bit fresh and interesting over the years.

Of course at times she finds something that she wishes she didn’t find; like that statue she just walked by causing her to stop and face hoof. “When did he put this thing here, and how did he sneak it by my guards?” In front of her was a statue of Xellos performing a rude gesture to whatever passed by in the hall.

Taking a closer look at the statue she notices a rolled up scroll at the base of the statue.

‘Hey there Sunbutt,
I heard that you’ve been a bit lonely so I had this built for you by a private contractor. I know how much you like your little statue gardens so I thought I’d give you one of me to add to it. Maybe you could put it with Dissy so that he has some company when you aren’t visiting him. Oh and I also left you a cake at his statue as well.'

Celestia rolls her eyes as she finishes reading before she calls a servant to get the thing moved while she went off to see about this cake.

<><><><><><><>

Present

“From that point on I never did see him much, though he still left present around the castle for me to find. Most of the time the presents were a cake of some kind but occasionally it would be something unique.” The others in the room just stared at Princess Celestia as she finished her retelling of what Xellos had been up to over the past millennia in regards to her.

Luna was the first to react as she walked over to her sister and prodded a flank with her wing. “We had wondered why your posterior was so large when we had returned. It figures that it was that creature that caused it to inflate while I was gone.” Celestia glares at her sister for the comment while some of the other mares try to stifle chuckles.

Twilight sits looking at the notes that she had been making with a thoughtful look. “I guess that attacking him would be a bad idea especially since we don’t understand anything about him. I’m not sure if we will be able to stay away from him with how unpredictable he seems to be.” Most of the others nod in agreement, though Rainbow Dash and Applejack still look a bit unsure.

Things started to wind down from there as they finished up talking with the princesses and made their way home to Ponyville. They conversed about what they had learned from the princesses but there wasn’t much more they could add from what they observed of the creature. They were still trying to come up with a plan when the train pulled into Ponyville though their conversation came to a halt when they saw what had happened while they were gone.

“What happened here? Why is everything blue?” The six looked around the town to see that all the buildings were covered with a blue powder while no ponies seemed to be around. Searching the town they eventually found them in a long line outside of the spa, one of the few buildings not blue for some reason. What threw them off though was the fact that while they could recognize the ponies, something seemed to be wrong with them. They went to talk with the pony at the end of the line who happened to be the mayor sporting a giant pink afro.

“Mayor Mare, what in Equestria happened while we were gone?” She turned to see the six before sighing.

“I hope that you had a good talk with the princess while you were gone. That strange creature that caused Pinkie to redecorate Canterlot showed up soon after you left and dumped that blue powder on the town. Nothing happened at first but a few hours later everypony started having strange things happen to them. There was panic everywhere until Zecora came to help us.” Everyone except for Twilight reacted to the name negatively which confused the lavender unicorn.

“What do you mean Zecora came to help? Are y’all crazy?! Who knows how much worse she will make everything!” Twilight looks at Applejack in surprise at her friend before turning to the Mayor.

“Who is this Zecora? I haven’t heard of her before and I’m curious about the reaction my friends just had.” Mayor Mare looks a bit sheepish as she asks this but explains before the others could interrupt, though Pinkie was holding up a sign they all ignored.

“She’s a zebra that has been living in the Everfree Forest the last few years. We mistakenly thought the worst of her because of that and how she looked, but when she found out what happened here she was quick to help us with the antidote. Apparently this was all caused by some plant called poison joke.” Twilight raises an eyebrow at all this while her friends looked a bit unsure of themselves about this information.

Twilight turns to her friends with a questioning expression on her face. “Wait, you all were treating this Zecora poorly just because of where she lived and looked different?” When they all nodded just slapped a hoof over her muzzle in embarrassment.

Author's Notes:

Going to be a few changes to some of the episodes, some of the bigger changes will have more explanations though. Now for those watching the show the most recent one now is the AB and Luna episode. Interesting how they pretty much shoved our faces in what Sweetie and Scootaloo's talents are going to be, though they really didn't touch on AB's though she is decent at potions but is decent for building things as well. There was a disappointment with the episode in that they only mention Babs but didn't show anything. Of course that may come in the 100th episode possibly but all we have right now is speculation which is really going to be hilarious.

Chapter 8

Xellos looked out over Ponyville as it was swarmed by tiny winged balls of fluff that looked too cute for how dangerous they were. “I was gone only a few days and this town gets invaded by the most annoyingly cute vermin possible. I can probably guess who’s to blame but she probably wasn’t alone considering how out of touch most of these ponies are.”

Looking down at the market square he catches sight of a flash of pink bouncing around the place erratically. It looked as if she was moving at random but he noticed that the pile of objects she was carrying was increasing. Taking a closer look he saw that she was gathering a large variety of instruments. “Well it looks like at least one of them isn’t a complete idiot. I’m wondering how much of what Pinkie Pie does is an act and how much is real. I’m starting to think that she may secretly be a genius behind that mask of insanity.”

Seeing that things are on the way towards being taken care of, he flies around looking for a certain excitable unicorn. He finds her rushing towards the center of town with the rest of her friends and slowly descends above her. Twilight for her part stops and says something to her friends before she starts charging up her magic. “Oh please tell me she isn’t about to do something recklessly stupid, using magic on a creature of chaos is the worst idea.”

His worries were proven true as a wave of energy flooded away from the lavender unicorn to pass over the town. He held his breath as he watched the parasprites float in place for a moment examining the food that was near them. When they started eating the non-food items he let out the air he was holding in relief before floating down right behind the group. “Well this is a surprise; the wise and powerful Twilight almost wipes out an entire town by irresponsibly using her magic. Of course it makes sense considering your teacher is all about appearances and not what a creature truly is.”

Twilight’s head snaps around towards him in shock, interrupting her panic attack as her other friends ran off to protect the town. “What are you doing here? Don’t we have enough to worry about without these parasprites ruining everything? And what do you mean by what you are saying about the princess?”

Xellos smirks as he looks down at the young librarian. “Oh I just thought I’d come by to see how things have been here. For such a small town there always seems to be something interesting happening here. As for the princess she only cares about if something fits in her tiny world view. In fact I remember the first time she saw these things herself, she wouldn’t show her face for months after she attempted the same thing you did.”

His answer doesn’t reassure the unicorn as a frown is plastered across her face. “She’s seen these things before? Then why hasn’t she told me anything about them before? There should have been a book or something about them that she should have given me to read.”

The biped just waves off her concerns before replying. “Oh she probably blocked the memory of when she turned them all into carnivorous beasts and watched as they devoured the entire town she tried to protect. It was even her fault that she brought them into the town in the first place because she thought something that cute couldn’t be dangerous.” He pauses as he hears music on the wind while Twilight looks at him with a look of horror. “Oh look, Pinkie Pie is coming to fix your mistake.”

Him pointing out the approaching pink party pony distracted Twilight from him for a moment which was enough to allow him to vanish from sight. When Twilight turned back to ask him what was going on she saw no sign of him causing her to huff in annoyance before following after Pinkie with her other friends soon joining her.

From the astral plane Xellos kept an eye on them to see how things would turn out and he was surprised to see Celestia flying in towards the six as they made it to the edge of the Everfree. He ignored much of what was being said between them all but his ears perked up a bit when Twilight spoke up about something other than the scheduled visit. “Princess Celestia? Xellos was her a moment ago and he said that you had seen these things before but why was I never told about them with how dangerous they can be?”

It was subtle, but Xellos notice the princesses eyes widen slightly at the question as well as a small shudder run through her body. She seemed as calm as ever though when she finally responded to her student’s query. “Twilight, there are many things in this world not written in books. Sometimes it’s better if they are left in the past to be forgotten.”

With that she nodded at her guards to take off leaving the six behind to stare after her with various expressions of shock. Only Pinkie Pie noticed the reappearance of Xellos as he watched the princess fly away with a hand shading his eyes. “Well I guess it was too much to hope that she would have changed after all this time. I almost thought I would have to start shoving food down her throat to get her to take care of herself all those years ago until I found her cake weakness. Of course now I’ve been hearing about the occasional joke about her flanks from some of the leaders of other countries.”

Before any of the others could react a rainbow blur flew by them up into his face. He just looked at Rainbow Dash curiously as she glared at him in anger. “Hey! Just who do you think you are saying that type of thing about our princess, huh?”

Xellos brought a finger up to in front of his mouth in thought for a moment. “I believe I would be a nigh-immortal monster that is one of the few beings that has seen her at some of her best and worst moments.”

That answer threw them all off as it wasn’t what they were expecting. Applejack was especially shocked as she didn’t sense a hint of a lie in his statement though she felt as if something was missing. “Now hold on there partner. What do you mean by you being a monster?”

He opened his mouth to answer her before he paused and started rubbing the back of his head. “Would you believe it, I actually never mentioned that to anyone else before, though it’s mostly true now. It’s true though, what you see before you is the body of one of the strongest being belonging to the monster race.”

Their reactions varied, for Fluttershy cowering behind the others to Twilight’s jaw dropping in shock to Pinkie Pie’s lack of a reaction as she continued to bounce in place. Other than that pink pony there was a hint of fear in the expressions of the other mares though some quickly suppressed it. Seeing all this Xellos just frowns a bit before continuing. “Oh come one, just because I’m a monster doesn’t mean I’m some sort of monster.”

Pinkie starts laughing as if she understood what he meant while the others just looked at him in confusion. The rainbow-maned pegasus was the first to snap out of her daze as she got up in his face again. “Well then Mr. ‘Monster’ how about you tell us why you are here. What are your plans, huh?”

The monster half turned away from her and waved a hand in her direction. “Oh there’s no need to worry about me doing anything bad around here. It’s already entertaining enough without me influencing anything. Besides there’s too much else I still have to do before destroying the world.”

He turned back to look at them all when he noticed how quiet they were being to see them all staring at him in shock with their jaws wide open. Only one of them wasn’t staring at him and when he noticed what Pinkie was reading he reached a hand towards his knapsack. “Hmm yep, it’s right here at the end girls, destroy the world. It’s right after shave Rarity’s mane and fill Canterlot castle with butterscotch pudding. Ooh, how did you know about the secret recipe the Cakes have been working on?”

With a sharp yelp both Twilight and Rarity darted over to read over the scroll that Pinkie was perusing. Finding the parts that they were looking for they turned a sharp glare at the biped as he started chasing Pinkie around for the list. “Hey come on now, give it back. You know how long it took me to write that thing? I haven’t even finished the ten before it yet and I still need to check through them all again.”

The two unicorns watched the two chasing each other around them while they try to get a word in but give up after the third lap. By the tenth pass Twilight was just looking exasperated even though Rarity’s expression was unchanged. After a couple more passes Twilight sighs before she sticks a hoof out into their path tripping Xellos with Pinkie being a short distance behind. When they looked up they found themselves face to face with the annoyed purple unicorn.

“Sorry to break up your fun, but would you mind explaining what you meant by destroying the world? That usually isn’t something to joke about and after already almost having that happen I doubt I would see that situation again.” She was about to say more when a white hoof slammed Xellos’ face back down into the ground. Twilight looked up to see the enraged face of her alabaster friend staring down at the prone figure.

“What are you planning to do to my mane?! If you dare even THINK about doing something that I promise that I will buck you so hard that… that… RRGH!” Twilight stares in shock at her friend losing her composure like this though she hadn’t seen anyone even suggest something like this to her before. She watches as Rarity marches off a distance away from the others to try and calm down as the rest stare after her in shock. She shakes her head and makes a note to check on her friend later before turning back to find Xellos right up in her face causing her to stumble back a few steps.

“Oh there’s no need to worry about that, as I’ve said there are too many things I have to do before that point. Besides by the time I get around to cutting her mane she probably won’t care about it anymore.” Twilight just sighs and glares at him as that wasn’t the point of what she was saying.

Xellos looks at her a moment more before he snaps his fingers in realization. “Oh wait, you were talking about the other thing on the list. Well that is easy to explain because you see,” he pauses a moment and taps a finger on her nose, “that, is a secret!” With that he disappears from sight leaving Twilight to stare after him in confusion before she lets out a growl of frustration.

“Ugh, why do I get the feeling that he’s doing this just to be difficult. I’ll write a letter to the princess just in case though.” Looking around she realizes that there is still a mess to clean up and sighs before heading back into town to help with the repairs.

Author's Notes:

There we go, his master plan, or at least part of it. I wonder when the mane 6 will notice all the little hints he's been tossing out though on a variety of things.

Chapter 9

Winter is often a time when beings take the time to rest and don’t often travel or even go outside of their homes often. For Xellos though, he found this to be the perfect time to fly around as there would be fewer things to run into and less chance of starting a panic. Even after all these years he still enjoyed lazily flying around whenever he had the chance to, especially since in his old home he was ground-bound.

“It’s times like this that I don’t mind being sent here by whoever that guy was. Of course if I was still in my old body then I’d probably be hiding from the cold as well.” Through all this the monster had been reclining in the air and only then decided to spin around to see where he was.

Looking around he spotted a large city off to his left causing him to angle his flight towards it. “Ah, there’s Manehatten. I really should talk to the princesses some time to figure out what the ponies are thinking with their naming schemes. Either way I really hope that pony is here this time. I’m really curious about what her show is really like without it being interrupted.”

With a small smirk he turns in the direction of the city and starts to descend towards the ground. When he landed on the edge of the city the few ponies that were there shied away but didn’t panic as much as a smaller town would. Even though they may have seen a variety of creatures due to how big the city is, it still didn’t stop them from warily watching him as he walked along the streets.

The ponies that encountered him weren’t quite sure what to think but they could feel that something was off about this creature. For his part, Xellos just ignored the ponies as he wandered from shop to shop looking for his quarry while buying whatever interested him. The shopkeepers didn’t know what to think of him as he came through so they answered as swiftly as they would so that he would leave quickly.

Eventually he found a pony that had seen the mare he was looking for and he made his way in the indicated direction. He was surprised that it took him this long to learn that she was in the city as he would have expected to see signs advertising her show. As he wandered through the city trying to find another clue as to her whereabouts he heard some scuffling in an alley as he passed. He was about to ignore it when he heard a familiar voice yelling from it. “Get back! Trixie wants nothing to do with you!”

In the alley the pale blue maned, azure colored mare was backing away from a pair of brown unicorn stallions that were backed up by a dark red pegasus stallion. The mare’s horn was glowing and she kept it aimed at the three as the advanced on her with their own horns glowing. “Come on doll face, we just want you to come along with us somewhere to talk in private.”

The mare’s eyes widen at the sleazy look that they give her before they narrow once again. “Trixie said no, why can’t you ponies just leave Trixie alone? It’s not Trixie’s fault that that stupid bear attacked that town.” Unfortunately for her they say nothing to her and don’t stop advancing on her. Seeing as they gave no indication of backing off she puts more power into her horn to try and drive them off before a voice stops her.

“Ah, there you are Ms. Trixie, I‘ve been looking all over for you trying to catch that wonderful show of yours. I was unfortunately held up so I was forced to miss your Ponyville show though I heard it was a blast until a couple foals brought an ursa minor into town.” The three stallions turn around in shock to see a tall biped standing behind them, though none of them even heard him arrive.

Trixie was unsure of what to make of the creature but he seemed to be, to her, a fan of hers so she defaulted to her usual stage presence. “Well it’s about time that somepony finally believes the Great and Powerful Trixie’s words about what really happened in that hick town. Trixie would give you and autograph but as you can see Trixie is a bit detained.”

The two unicorns look towards the pegasus for guidance and he waves them towards the biped with a wing. “Looks like somepony doesn’t know when to mind his own business and stay out of dark alleys. Why don’t you two show him what we do to nosy guys like him?”

Xellos just smiles as the two advance on him and doesn't react as their horns start glowing brighter. When they both release a blast of energy a cloud of dust is kicked up as they impact his chest, causing Trixie to yell out in horror. The red pegasus turns back to the mare with a smirk on his face. “Well scratch one would be hero. For how strange he looked I would have figured he would have put up more of a fight and-“ “BURST RONDO!”

He is cut off by the shout and the multitudes of balls of light that come flying from the cloud as they pepper both him and his two underlings, driving them back. The pegasus turns back in annoyance while the other two cower under the barrage of flames. “Come on now, it’s rather rude to just attack someone without even introducing yourself first. Of course judging from your lack of any reaction to that little spell I can tell that you are obviously not what you appear to be.”

The pegasus looks over at his two cohorts before turning back towards Xellos with a sigh. “Good help is so hard to find these days. But I suppose this is what happens when you try to get a pony to do a demons job.” At that his eyes start glowing a deep red as he makes a snapping sound with his wing feathers. As a half dozen bulky bipedal creature appear in the air around him his body starts to elongate in a hideous fashion making him look as if he was a pony made out of sticks with a stretched out and pointy muzzle.

“By Celestia, what kind of creature are you!?” Trixie can only stare in shock at what the pegasus had become and the new creatures weren’t much better. Xellos only yawns as he takes this all in but other than that doesn’t react, to the confusion of those present.

“Brass demons led by a mid-level monster. It has been a long time since I’ve seen either of those that I was beginning to think that there were none left.” He looked over the creatures before turning towards the azure mare huddling in the back of the alley. “I’m sorry about this Ms. Trixie, but I’m afraid that I have to ask you to SLEEP”

Trixie was about to say something before her eyes rolled up in her head as she lost consciousness. The red monster glanced over at this before turning towards Xellos in confusion. “Now why would you do that? You’ve only guaranteed that I will take her once I’ve finished killing you, though in other circumstances you might have been worth recruiting.” With a flick of his skeletal thin wing he orders the brass demons to attack as the start launching flaming arrows at Xellos.

He made no move to block or even dodge the attacks as the attacks started to engulf the area he was in. The monstrous pony just smirks as this happens and he turns to deal with the sleeping mare behind him. As soon as his back is turned though he is stopped as an energy lance strikes him in the back, causing him to stumble. Similar lances strike the six lesser demons but they instead shatter apart as their entire being is destroyed.

“Really now, I would have expected a lot more from a mid-level monster, but if even a weak spell like that can knock you down then I may have over-estimated you.” The quadrupedal demon shakily turns back towards Xellos with a look of intense pain and shock on his features.

“Impossible! How could something like you hurt me so easily? Nothing in this realm should even be able to touch me, let alone injure me to this extent!” He looks at the biped more closely than before and his eyes start to widen, this time in fear, as he starts to realize what he is dealing with. “No! That is impossible, no monsters that strong are supposed to be outside of Tartarus yet so how can you be here!?”

Before he can say anything else a large black cone rips its way out of his abdomen while Xellos leans in close with his eyes open with a cruel look on them. “I’ve been wondering where they all were, but as for why I’m here? Well you really don’t need to know that now do you since you have no reason to care.”

With that the monster pony started to break apart as its body was destroyed by the attack. Xellos just watches as the figure screams as its body is erased from the world before he turns his attention to the two stallions that were still cowering away from him. “Now what to do with you two now that the annoyance is gone.”

The two freeze up under his scrutiny before their eyes roll up in their heads as they both collapse. Shaking his head, Xellos moves to the azure mare before picking her up and leaving the alley. Not wanting to be seen by other ponies just yet he shifted planes before flying towards a hotel he had seen as he explored the city. When he reappeared in the building carrying the mare he earned a few odd looks, but the large pouch of bits he dropped in front of the mare running the front desk was enough to forestall any questions as he rented out a room.

After setting Trixie down on the bed he took a seat as he settled in to wait for her to awaken. He wasn’t sure exactly what he wanted to do though he first had to learn what the mare was doing. Xellos was so caught up in his own thoughts that he didn’t notice the mare stirring until her voice broke the silence.

“Where is Trixie? What happened to that creature? Don’t tell me that Trixie was just having another nightmare.” She had yet to notice the other occupant in the room but that soon changed when he lifted his head to look at her. “Of course Trixie could be wrong, who are you and what do you want with me?”

Xellos looked at her for a moment before he leaned back in the chair while putting his arms behind his head. “It’s exactly like I said before; I wanted to see one of your shows for myself. After hearing about you I’ve always been curious about what a stage magician show would look like when unicorns naturally can do magic.”

Trixie looked at him suspiciously for a few moments before she turned her nose upwards. “Well of course any unicorn can use magic, but only Trixie does it with the flare deserving of the word magician.” She pauses for a moment after posing during her last bit of her sentence before she looked a bit sheepish and dropped down again. “Of course Trixie is hitting a bit of a snag setting up a performance lately.”

Xellos looks her over with a critical eye before he realizes what she is talking about and snaps his fingers. “Oh right, the ursa minor crushed your stage. Of course that was all cleaned up and stored away but I did manage to retrieve this without anyone noticing.”

Trixie’s eyes widened as he pulled out a familiar pair of purple objects from the sack at his side. “A-are those Trixie’s hat and cape? But Trixie thought those were lost with everything else I owned.”

As Xellos nodded she floated the objects over to herself as her eyes started to tear up at having them again. She sits there just holding the items to her chest as the tears flow before she remembers the biped still in the room. “How can Trixie ever repay you for returning these to me?”

Xellos just waves this off. “Oh there’s no need for that, I just want to see your magic show for myself. Also you don’t have to worry about everything else that you need for the show, I’ll gladly pay for you to replace everything that you lost and even improve some of your acts if you need to.”

Trixie’s eyes narrow as this sounds too good to be true for her and she voices this fact. “And what do you expect from Trixie other than just seeing Trixie’s magic show?”

“Well I would ask that if you wish to challenge Twilight again that you practice more, but you really don’t have to do anything else.” Xellos starts going through a few motions with his hands. “Really, cross my heart, hope to fly. Stick a cupcake in my eye; I really don’t want anything else from you. It would be nice to have a casual friendship and betraying a friend’s trust by lying is the quickest way to lose it…” “FOREVER!”

Trixie lets out a shriek as a poofy pink pony head pops out of her headwear that proceeds to eyeball Xellos. She watches in confusion as the head disappears back into the hat but when she looks into it a moment later finds it empty. “W-w-what in Equestria was that!?”

Xellos just eyes the hat in amusement before he casually waves the incident off. “Oh that would be my adopted many times great-niece that lives out in Ponyville. She tends to do that if you make her special promise though I have no idea how she even knows it is happening. Of course I don’t think anyone would want to deal with that by breaking a promise made that way.”

Trixie slowly shakes her head as she hoofs at her hat in confusion trying to figure out what just happened. Xellos looks thoughtful for a moment as well as he looks at the hat. “Of course that does remind me that if you want to rival Twilight then you may want to master teleporting if you haven’t already. Anyways how about we go out and get everything you need for your show now.”

Trixie doesn’t have anything else to say as she is dragged out of the room into the city. Over the next couple months the two start rebuilding everything that she had lost during the incident in Ponyville. Trixie even managed to put together a few new tricks for the show and at the end of winter she was finally ready to begin her first performance in months.

Xellos sat out in the audience as he waited for the curtains to rise on Trixie’s new stage. He kept an eye out as there was angry muttering by a few ponies in the audience and he suspected there to be trouble over the rumors of what happened in Ponyville. Soon enough fireworks were launched from the stage as Trixie began her show though it didn’t take long for the heckling to start. “Well isn’t this is a surprise? The mare that almost destroyed a town thinks she can just show up around here?”

Before Trixie or anyone else in the audience could say anything else, the stallion that spoke up was struck over the head by a staff. “Oh quiet down you, some of us are here to watch a show and not listen to you spouting lies about a mare that was almost killed when two foals drug a dangerous creature into town.”

There was muttering through the audience at Xellos’ words but none of them wished to speak up against him. Trixie gave him a thankful look as she continued her show as if she wasn’t interrupted, much to the enjoyment of the crowd.

Xellos watched as Trixie showed off her magic and was rather impressed by what she could do with her magic. Sure there wasn’t much power behind what she could do, but the variety of things she pulled off was rather amazing, even for a unicorn. At the end of the show Xellos met up with Trixie backstage to congratulate her.

“Well I must say that you really do have a rather impressive show with a good amount of variety. From what I can see you may be able to do more things than even Twilight can right now and much of what she can do she pushes too much power into.” Trixie looks a bit surprised at first but then starts preening a bit at the praise.

“Well of course, was there ever any doubt? Trixie is only the most amazing unicorn of all time.” Before she could really get going she was interrupted as Xellos set a few scrolls in front of her. “And just what are these for?”

Xellos just smiles before explaining. “Well you do have an advantage on Twilight in that you’ve used your spells more and know many more, but she still is obviously more powerful. I saw how exhausted that sole teleport you did took out of you so I thought that these would be a good reward for a successful show.”

Trixie looked miffed at the combination of praise and criticism but when she unrolled the first scroll, her jaw dropped in shock. “T-this is the spell I saw you use when we first met. But how can this be possible, from how this reads anypony could cast it, even non-unicorns.”

The biped just smiles at her reaction to the gift. “Of course. What, you expect those tribalist unicorn schools to bother looking at magic that is used by other tribes or races? You just have to look at the zebras and their alchemy which is much more advanced than anything in Equestria to realize something is wrong with them.”

Trixie looks over at the scroll that Xellos had brought her from her old stuff a month back detailing her graduation from Celestia’s School for Gifted Unicorns before turning back to him as he continued. “Now just imagine how Twilight would react if you get the jump on her in researching an entirely new form of magic that she knows nothing about.”

The azure mare looks at him for a moment longer before the corners of her mouth twitches upward which soon descends into laughter. “Oh yes, Trixie can just picture the jealousy on her face over that. Yes, Trixie thinks she can make real good use of this information indeed.”

After a couple more minutes explaining some of the finer details of the spells the two finally separated towards their own paths. Trixie began the start of her reborn career while Xellos went back towards Ponyville and the fun that was bound to happen in the future there.

Author's Notes:

And so begins the sabotage of the future canon episodes. Also the reveal of a problem with this world that I'm really planning on having fun with. Now to decide on what to do with the Big 4 and their followers and just what do the sisters know about them.

Chapter 10

Xellos yawned as he flew back into the airspace over Ponyville after his little trip over the past few months. With spring in swing he didn’t have to worry too much about causing any major disasters with the season change and it made locating certain ponies much easier. Looking down over the town he contemplated how peaceful everything looked and wondered what he could do to liven things up.

His thoughts were interrupted though by the sound of screaming from the town and when he looked down he noticed that a fire had broken out at the building he identified earlier as the town’s spa. “This looks interesting, and I didn’t even have to do anything yet.” Flying over the building he noticed a few other things going on with it that he missed earlier, such as a river of suds roiling out of one window as well as Twilight in the front of the building looking a little grey.

What really drew his attention though, were the three smaller figures he noticed running out of the back of the building. “Well I guess that explains what happened in there. I guess I missed the period when those three first met up, but since they have now things should get very interesting.” With his attention caught by the trio he faded out of view and followed them to see what they were currently up to.

“I told you that a spa pony cutie mark was a waste of time.” The other two rolled their eyes at the orange pegasus but didn’t bother to argue. “I just hope we don’t get into too much trouble for what happened back there.”

The white unicorn looked back towards the direction of the spa before shaking her head. “Who stores cement next to the mud they plan to use anyways? It’s not my fault the bags look alike.”

“Well whatever happens we can hide out at Sweet Apple Acres until it all blows over. My sister is busy right now to make up for the time she missed yesterday.” The yellow earth pony lead the other two in the direction of her home to avoid being punished for their latest adventure.

The three slow down as they disappear among the trees of the apple farm and find that nothing is following them. “So what are we going to do next since Sweetie Belle’s idea was a bust?”

The other two look back at the pegasus before moving over to a nearby tree where Applebloom unrolls a parchment and pins it to it. “Well that was the last idea we had so far. It looks like we need to come up with more again.”

The three sit in the shade of the tree whispering to each other and where so caught up that they didn’t notice the figure appear behind them. Xellos bowed down a bit so that he could peer at the list before he let out a noise of interest, causing the three fillies to freeze up as he spoke up. “So no attempts at using magic of any kind? I would have thought that with Twilight around that you would have tried looking through her books of magic.”

The three slowly turn around to see the legs of the biped which they follow up towards the figure bent over above them. While he isn’t looking at them the three still feel intimidated enough to back away from him until they press against the tree behind them. They stare wide-eyed up at the figure as he looks over their list but eventually the white unicorn of the group breaks and lets out a whimper. “Please don’t eat us.”

This causes Xellos to finally look down at the three fillies to see them staring up at him with a look of terror on their faces. Taking his staff he slides the top of it under the orange pegasus and lifts her up to eye level as he stands straight again. He makes an effort to look her over as if debating the edibility of her before setting her back down next to the other two. “Nah, too scrawny for my taste. Besides you looks like you wouldn’t taste very good anyways.”

Two of the three look a bit relieved at his words, while the pegasus just glares at him in indignation. “Hey! Who are you calling scrawny? Just look at this flank, does it really look scrawny to you?”

Xellos looks at the other two as they facehoof at their friend’s reaction to what she took as an insult. Looking back at the pegasus he crouches down to get a better view of her while he grins at her. “You know, the usual reaction to being told that they aren’t edible is often relief, not to try and convince them otherwise.”

Scootaloo started sputtering a bit before she looked a bit abashed over her reaction to being called scrawny. While Applebloom starts ribbing her for this, the unicorn of the group looks thoughtful. “Why did you ask why we haven’t tried for a magic-based cutie mark? It might be possible for me, but Scootaloo and Applebloom it wouldn’t be possible for.”

He doesn’t answer the unicorn verbally, but he mentally chants out a phrase and watches as the three start to yell out in shock as the four of them rise up in the air with his Raywing spell. The three fillies huddle together as the slowly rise above the level of the trees, though the wings of the pegasus are fluttering a bit as she looks around with shocked interest instead of the shocked fear of the other two. “I always find it interesting how over times the unicorns brainwashed this country into ignoring the magic of other species. Especially the magic that can be used by the non-unicorn ponies as easily as they use their horns.”

The three look up at him in shock as well a few other expressions depending on the filly. The unicorn has a look of disbelief, the earth pony of worry, and the pegasus of pure excitement. “Whoa, whoa, whoa, whoa! You mean that we could learn how to fly and stuff if we learned this magic?” At his nod the pegasus started bouncing around excitedly before she clung to his leg. “Please, please, please, teach us!”

She would have continued on, but she was pulled back into the group by Applebloom who looked at the monster suspiciously. “That’s all well and good, but who are you anyways?”

“I was sure word would have gotten around by now. Anyways I am Xellos, the traveling priest.” The three look at each other in recognition for a moment before backing away slightly.

“I’m not sure if my sister would want me talking to you. She was saying some pretty mean things about you over the winter.” The others nodded along with the unicorn as they had heard similar things as well from the ponies they hang around. Xellos just shrugged as he landed the three back on the ground again before he started to walk away.

“That’s too bad really. Just remember if you ever want to try for a cutie mark in magic then I’ll be around for a while.” He grins as he walks away as he knows the three won’t be able to resist finding him again after he worded it like that. As soon as he gets out of sight from the three he pulls out a list and makes a mark by the line ‘Teach CMC for greater havoc’ before finding a place to relax.

It wasn’t until the next morning that the three find him again which he found to be a good thing as the only thing of interest he’d seen that day was Fluttershy flying away with a wagon. “Hey Mr. Xellos, would you still be willing to teach us some of that magic?”

Looking over he notices the three fillies walking along towards him. “Oh? What happened to your sister not wanting you to talk to me?” The three look at each other for a moment before turning back to Xellos again with Applebloom continuing to talk.

“Well they never did say that we shouldn’t talk to you and they ran off earlier today.” Xellos nods as he rises to his feet and stretches.

“Well I guess I can show you a bit if you want. Just don’t try to teach anyone else, especially Twilight.” The three fillies look at each other in confusion, but eventually turn back to the monster and nod in agreement.

Seeing as they seemed interesting in the one spell he showed them, or at least two of them did as Sweetie Belle wasn’t very enthusiastic. While Applebloom and Scootaloo paid close attention and at least memorized the words easily enough, the unicorn just seemed bored. After watching the pegasus member of the trio actually get off the ground a bit before crashing hard into a nearby tree she just sighed and pulled out a small medical kit from somewhere and walked over. Seeing this and the scrapes on the pegasus, Xellos got an idea that the three could find especially useful.

“Wait a moment; I think I have an idea of something else that you may want to try instead of that other spell.” The two young ponies look at him curiously as he pauses to concentrate for a moment and starts chanting.

“Blessed humble hand of God.
Breath of Mother Earth,
I pray thee come before me,
show your great compassion to this person
and deliver them
RECOVERY!”

The two gawk as a ball of light appears at the end of his hands and he presses it over the small wounds. Sweetie Belle’s ears perk up as the wounds on her friend slowly close up and fade away as if they had never happened in the first place. “So would you be interested in learning this instead?”

The unicorn nodded vigorously at the question and he focused on teaching her the spell by letting her practice on a small papercut above her hoof, as well as the other two when they got injured. She got plenty of practice as they did crash often enough, Scootaloo twice as often as Applebloom, and she was able to close up minor wounds by lunch time. The other two were also able to get in the air a respectable amount, though the instincts of the pegasus interfered with her and broke her concentration often which gave her trouble.

Eventually he taught them as much as they needed for those spells and all they needed to do was practice. He left them to it and wandered around the town for a bit looking for something interesting. Eventually he got a spike of curiosity and made his way towards the library to looks through a few books. It was empty when he arrived so he made himself at home in a corner while looking through a few history books to see what lies were being perpetrated lately.

Much of what he read was correct, as far as he knew, but there were a few incidences that he noticed were altered or even missing that he was around when they happened. Eventually his reading was interrupted when the door to the library opened, revealing two familiar purple beings. “Spike, I think I’m going to go lay down for a bit. It’s been a very long day and… What are you doing here?”

Xellos looked up from his book to see Twilight and Spike staring at him as he turned another page of the history book. “Well this is a public library isn’t it? Though I’d hesitate in calling it that if the history books are going to be inaccurate.”

The unicorn’s eyes narrow as he says this. “What do you mean by inaccurate? A lot of research has been done to make sure that everything in them is true and even the princess has written off on them.”

Xellos scoffs as he calmly turns yet another page. “Has she now? Well she seems to have forgotten all the innocent griffons that were killed during the Prench-Griffonic war that were living in Equestria at the time, and there isn’t any mention at all of King Sombra and his reign over the north.”

Twilight’s mouth opened to respond before she shook her head and let out a groan. “You know what? I’m not going to deal with this now. After trying to figure out how Pinkie Pie does what she does all day I really don’t feel like getting into another debate right now.”

Xellos looked up from his book in interest at this and smiled as he looked back down at the book. “You mean how she can appear out of the oddest places that she shouldn’t be able to fit in? That’s easy to explain. I taught a member of her family how to do that over a thousand years ago and they seemed to have passed it down.”

Twilight froze up at this and her eye started to twitch in frustration over what she just heard. Xellos, seeing an opportunity, reached into the bookcase next to him and booped Twilight’s nose as his arm came out of the flowerpot she was standing next to. Twilight’s mane started popping up all over the place until she finally let out a scream of anger before rushing up to her room a slamming the door shut.

With a smile Xellos pulled out his list and crossed off an entry before setting it aside and going back to his book. Curious about what that was about Spike walked over to peek at the scroll before he looked up at the monster with a quirked eyebrow. “Really? You have ‘Cause Twilight to snap’ as part of a checklist?”

Author's Notes:

Teaching the CMC how to fly. Nothing can go wrong with that now, can it?

Chapter 11

Twilight slammed the door to her room shut as she stormed through after dealing with the annoyance downstairs. Ignoring everything else in her room she threw herself down onto her bed before starting to mutter to herself. “Stupid Xellos and his stupid teachings. Of course when something impossible is going on he has to be at the center of it.”

She buried her head into her pillow, hoping for a short nap, but circumstances decided to conspire against her even further that day. No sooner had she started to doze off, then the window to her room exploded inwards as a pony projectile came flying through it to crash into a bookcase covering the pony in the books it once held. The purple unicorn let out a groan as she shoved her head deeper into her pillow before she pulled herself out of her bed.

“Really?! After the day I’ve had you had to choose now to crash into the library, Rainbow Dash? And didn’t I tell you to stop… using… the… windows…” She trailed off when the figure turned out to not be the pegasus she expected, but the younger Scootaloo instead. Before she could form a response to this unforeseen scenario another pony came flying through the window, one that shouldn’t have been able to do so in the first place.

“Scootaloo! Are you all right? Quick we have to get out of here before Twilight finds us. Why are you waving your hooves around like that?” The orange pegasus was trying to get her friend to stop speaking but it was too late as the purple librarian stood behind the earth pony. When Applebloom slowly turned around she came face to face with Twilight’s twitching eye. “Oh, hi there Twilight.”

The two fillies slowly backed away from the unicorn as the twitch in her eye only got worse. The two recognized the look on her face as having seen it before after some of their recent escapades. Glancing at each other they both nodded before covering their ears as Twilight’s mouth started to open.

<><><><><><><>

“XELLOS!”

The so named creature looks up from his book at the yell from upstairs and wonders what he did now. His attention was then drawn to the front door as it slams open and a white unicorn filly comes rushing through and up the stairs. “Well that secret didn’t last as long as I thought it would. Oh well, I guess I’ll have to have fun with this sooner now than later.”

Spike looked over from the ladder where he was shelving a book. “Now what are you planning to do to Twilight? And was that Sweetie Belle that just ran through and up the stairs?”

Glancing over at the dragon before returning to his book, Xellos just shrugs. “Oh I just taught three fillies a simple magic trick. Scootaloo and Apple Bloom really took well to learning how to fly while their friend Sweetie Belle learned a small healing spell.”

The dragon started laughing but when there were no return laughs his look turned to one of horror. “Wait, you aren’t joking? Why would you teach the Cutie Mark Crusaders something like that? They’ve already caused a lot of damage around Ponyville in the last couple months without being able to do that stuff.” He paused for a moment before glancing over his shoulder. “Do you think you could teach me, too?”

“Absolutely not!” The two turn to see Twilight storming down the stairs with her mane sticking up all over the place. The three fillies warily followed her down the stairs as she marched right up to Xellos and glared at him over the book. “What were you thinking, teaching these three something as dangerous as that?!”

Xellos just smirked as he continued reading the book. “Oh please, that spell has a built in wind barrier making it even safer than those silly chariots you use to fly around in. Besides, the white one knows some healing magic if something does happen.”

Twilight’s glare doesn’t change at all as she continues staring at him. “I was talking about dangerous for the rest of the town. What in the world are you thinking, teaching ponies magic like that? Not just them but Pinkie Pie’s family as well?”

The seated biped sets his book aside before stretching his arms above his head. “Oh you’re just jealous that I haven’t shown you anything yet. As for why I did it? Well that, my dear Twilight, is a secret!”

When the humanoid disappears from sight Twilight’s eye starts to twitch again. The four others in the library start to back away when she lets out a scream of fury. When her voice cuts out all that can be heard around the library is the faint sound of laughter.

<><><><><><><>

Xellos kept away from Twilight the next few days while observing the fun antics she got up to over his recent action. When her and her friends left towards Cloudsdale for an event he followed along while staying out of sight and he wasn’t disappointed by what he observed. “Those six are just so entertaining even when I don’t bother doing anything. They didn’t even have to try to cause havoc inside that factory.”

He watched as the factory ponies ran around trying to fix everything that went wrong when the six went through the place. Looking over some of the snowflakes as they flew by, he shook his head at the silliness of the ponies making snowflakes individually. “I still don’t know why they make these one at a time instead of using more natural ways to mass produce them. Hmm, maybe I should add that to my list of things to look into.”

As the novelty of the panic wore off he followed after the six ponies towards the cloud coliseum where the competition they were here for was. Getting bored with watching everything from the astral plane he looked around for a good spot to phase in from before deciding to be a bit cheeky. Taking care not to get burned as he moved in close he popped up next to the princess of the sun, surprising the guards that were next to the princess.

The princess felt his presence as he appeared and waved off the guards as she kept her face neutral while she was internally rolling her eyes. “I was wondering when you would be showing up again. I heard that you have been teaching forbidden magic to my ponies yet again. You are lucky Twilight does not know enough about it to recognize the spells.”

Xellos, who was reclining on a garden chair-shaped cloud next to the princess, just yawned before responding to her accusation. “Of course you would say something like that about magic that isn’t normally used by a unicorn. Even though that magic is a natural part of the world and is used by other countries you try to suppress all knowledge of it. I’m surprised you haven’t locked up Pinkie Pie for using non-unicorn magic.”

Celestia’s eye twitches slightly but she makes no other reaction as she continues watching the event going on in front of her. “I know that you did not just call me a tribalist? I have been working for years to make sure that all my ponies are treated equally and you dare call me a tribalist?”

The princess is forced to duck as a cloud flies above her head and breaks apart on the archway behind her. Xellos looks up to see a familiar cyan pegasus for a moment before answering. “Well you certainly don’t do anything to disprove that image. Everyone knows about Celestia’s School for Gifted Unicorns, but where is Celestia’s School for Gifted Pegasi? Or Earth Ponies? And of course when two kinds can use magic that is powered by nature itself it just has to be forbidden. Then of course there is your little plan for your student, who just happens to be a unicorn, when there are other perfectly good candidates that aren’t unicorns.”

The princess’ head whips around to stare at him wide-eyed before her attention is dragged away by an explosion of color from below. She decided to just ignore his comment for now but she couldn’t forget it as it picked away at her mind. Noticing what happened she made to leave and consult with a couple others but she was brought up short again when Xellos said something else she wasn’t ready for. “Oh, before I go pester your sister, you should know that the walls of Tartarus are failing.”

Looking back at where the monster was once sitting, the princess felt her knees shaking in actual fear before she regained control of herself. Her guards looked at her with worry as she muttered to herself. “Please mother, tell me that for once he is actually lying about something.”

<><><><><><><>

“We cannot believe that our sister just left us here while she runs off and fools around at some show. At least our new niece decided to keep me company.” Princess Luna looked up from her meal to look across the table at the pink alicorn that was helping her adjust to the thousand years of changes that she had to catch up on. She was wary at first when Celestia introduced her adoptive niece to her but she quickly grew on her.

“Aunt Luna, I told you before that the Royal ‘We’ is not used anymore. It is ‘I’ and ‘my’ now, not ‘we’ and ‘our.’ Besides, this gives the two of us time to get to know each other better without Auntie Celestia hovering over us.” Princess Cadance took a sip from her teacup before waving off one of the servants as she refilled her cup herself. She looked over towards the Captain of the Royal Guard, who was watching over the two, and winked at him causing a blush to form on his face.

Luna was about held up her own cup for a refill, but her eyes narrowed when she noticed the hand holding the teapot, causing her to let out a growl. “And just what do you think you are doing here Xellos?” She shifted her gaze to glare at the biped who was standing there grinning over at her. The rest of the room only now realized that he was there, causing the Captain to enter a combat stance and the other princess to stare in shock.

“Creature! Get away from the princesses!” With a quick spring forward he thrust his spear at the monster, just for it to shatter inches away from his upraised hand. Xellos didn’t even spare a glance at him as he lowered his hand and took a seat between the two princesses.

“Come on now Luna; is that any way to treat an old friend.” He scrunched up his nose a bit before glancing around. “And did someone forget to clean up in here? Something doesn’t seem to be agreeing with me.”

Luna just glared at him as she watched the Captain try multiple ways to dispatch the biped but he sat there ignoring it all. “Captain, you can stand down. We have been trying to get rid of this creature for centuries but nothing we do have been able to work. While it can be therapeutic to try your actions are pointless. While I may despise this creature it has never actually tried to hurt us.”

The Captain looked over at her and nodded before backing up to his post again, though he didn’t take his eyes off of Xellos. Luna turned back towards the biped and raised an eyebrow at his actions as he kept messing with his collar and looked a bit sick. “And why are you here now? Do you not have better things to do than to pester u-me?”

After the last incident she had a long talk with her sister about him and learned about the interesting things that had happened while she was gone. In the end she had at least tried to be a bit more civil with him even though his attitude grated on her. She had never seen him like this before though and it piqued her interest as he almost looked sickened about something.

“Well I was planning on waiting before saying, but I just told your sister how the walls of Tartarus were breaking down. I’m sorry but something just doesn’t agree with me here and I have to go. I hope you have and enjoyable wedding Princess Cadance and Shining Armor.” With that he disappears from the area leaving two of the three ponies staring at where he was in confusion.

The pink alicorn turned towards her aunt with a questioning gaze. “Who was that, Auntie Luna? And how did he know about the wedding?”

The princess of the moon looked back at her with a similar look on her face. “He’s… Difficult to explain. But he always seems a bit strange and seems to know things. Neither my sister or I have ever mentioned the wedding to anypony.”

Author's Notes:

Hints...

Chapter 12

The Gates of Tartarus. Entryway to the home of many of the most dangerous creatures known to ponykind. The guardian of the gates were one of the most feared creatures in existence, so feared in fact that even alicorns would have issues dealing with him if they were ever forced to fight. So the sight of Cerberus chasing after a ball whenever a smaller bipedal figure sent it flying was not something that one would expect.

The figure clapped his hands together as the three-headed dog bounded back towards him with the spherical object in one of his mouths. “That's a good puppy; bring the nice ball-shaped monster to me.” After a few moments of struggle Xellos finally gets the large canine to drop it in front of him. “Now are you finally ready to talk now or do we have to continue persuading you?”

He stared at the ball for a few moments before part of it slid away revealing a head beneath what appeared to be armor. While it was clear that it was supposed to be of a white coloration, the tinge of green across its face showed that it wasn't completely unaffected by its trip. “You'll get nothing out of me you traitor to the monster race. You'll never learn how we are escaping from Tartarus or his plans for this world once we do!”

Xellos just shrugged at the spherical monster's reply before turning his head towards Cerberus and bringing his stuff up to his shoulder. “Well you heard him Cerby. Fetch!” With that he swung his staff around like a golf club and sent the creature screaming off into the distance with the guardian of the gates in tow.

With them vanishing into the distance it left him with some time to himself to think. “As fun as this all is I still don't know how they are escaping from this place. I don't think I could dent this door even if I poured everything into a single point.” He tapped his staff on the door for emphasis before putting an ear against it trying to hear something. When there was nothing he just backed away before rubbing his chin in thought.

“Well since I won't be figuring that out anytime soon then I might as well focus on some other problem. I still don't know what it was that was that drove me away from Luna like that. I've never felt a draining sensation so bad that it made me feel sick to my stomach.” He sat there thinking through everything that happened at that moment until he was interrupted once again by the return of Cerberus with the monster in his mouth.

“Hah! You think this will be enough to shake me? Nothing can get through my armor. Nothing!” As the monster cackled to itself inside of its shell Xellos stretched both of his arms above his head. The monster continued to cackle but if it had opened its shell it would have noticed that Xellos' eyes were opened and looking at it full of malevolence.

“Well if you aren't going to talk then I see no reason to delay anymore about keeping you around. Of course now I'm going to have to say goodbye; oh and it won't be painless. I'm afraid circumstances make that a bit impossible.” The cackling of the monster stopped as Xellos says this and its body tilts to the side a bit as if in confusion.

“Didn't you hear what I just said? Nothing can harm me in me armor. Dozens of creatures have tried, even the oldest of dragons but nothing has been able to scratch me yet!” Its voice held a tone of pride but the ominous laughter from Xellos sent chills through its body.

“Oh dragons are nothing compared to me, but even then it wouldn't matter since I don't even need to break through your armor.” Leaning against the figure he rapped his knuckle on its shell a couple times before continuing. “You know armor like this is worthless if you keep opening it to look outside. Something could easily sneak in if you aren't careful.”

The armored creature's eyes widened as a small cone-shaped object floated into sight on the inside of its armor. Before it could do so much as twitch a sharp pain ran through it as the cone pierced through its cheek. The object then ricocheted off the inside of the armor and began to bounce around inside of it gouging out pieces of the monster as it went. Outside of the armor, screaming could be heard as the monster was slowly torn apart bit by bit without a chance to defend itself. Eventually the screaming stopped and a stream of black oozed out of the bottom followed by the cone which soon flew over to merge with Xellos.

Turning back to the large canine he leaned on his staff before gesturing towards the now empty ball. “Well I guess you have a new ball to play with for a while, don't you Cerby?” He glances at it and notices the dent marks from the guardian's teeth and he wondered how long it would last. “I guess it's time for me to head out now but I'll be sure to try and visit more often.” Reaching up he gave the dog one more scratch behind the ears before he flew away from the gate.

Taking one more glance back at the shrinking figure of the three-headed canine he gave a slight smile. “He really is such a puppy even after all these years. I guess for something to live a long enough time and still stay sane they either have to go crazy or have a young and innocent mind.”

<><><><><><><>

“Hmm. Maybe teaching them wasn't all that great of an idea in the first place, at least without keeping an eye on them afterwards.” Xellos watched from atop a cloud as Fluttershy and Twilight chased after the Cutie Mark Crusaders, two of them at least, while they flew around just out of reach. “Of course this is also entertaining in its own way, isn't it Sweetie Belle?”

He looked over to the unicorn filly that was clutching the cloud next to him in fear as she looked down at her friends. Clipped to her ear was a decoration that glowed slightly that was given to her by the biped next to her. “Mr Xellos? Can you please let me down now? I'm not very comfortable up here.”

Xellos reclined back on the cloud as he looked up at some of the clouds above them. “Oh it's perfectly safe, especially with that ear clip I gave you before bringing you up here. It's just as good as it was when it was first made for the minotaur princess five hundred years ago. Thinking about it she had the same reaction when she first tried it out as well. That's why she decided to 'lose' it by giving it to me back then.”

Looking back towards her he saw the pleading look that the filly was giving him and he capitulated. “Oh fine, but it's not like anything would happen to you even if you did fall with a certain cyan pony keeping watch.” He pointed up towards a nearby cloud that had a rainbow tail sprouting from it before slowly dragging the cloud towards the ground. “You can keep the clip though; never know when it would be useful, especially since your friends could fly you around as well since you never got the hang of it.”

He was about to say more, but as they reached ground level his vision was blocked by a pair of cyan eyes. “YOU! What were you thinking teaching two fillies something so dangerous!? Don't you know what can happen if you don't keep an eye on ponies when they first start flying?!” She was about to continue but she was stopped when Xellos' eyes rolled up in his head and he collapsed at her hooves. “Oh Dear! Di-did I just...” At the thought that she may have injured another being she joined the biped in the realms of darkness.

Twilight walked up to the buttery pegasus and started waving a hoof over her as Pinkie Pie sat over Xellos with a towel. “Well this is a rather unusual situation. Princess Celestia said that nothing they did ever seemed to work on him before but he just fell over from Fluttershy looking at him. Fluttershy just fainted, but how is Xellos doing, Pinkie?”

Looking over she saw Pinkie using a stethoscope on him while her pet Gummi was on her head wearing a doctor's outfit. Suddenly she stood up straight and looked over at the alabaster unicorn. “I have absolutely no idea.” Twilight facehoofed at her response but was distracted by Fluttershy slowly coming awake again forcing her to focus on helping her out. When she turned back she found that the two had vanished causing her to sigh as she said her farewells to the pegasus as she rounded up the three fillies and she made her way towards the Everfree.

<><><><><><><>

Xellos groaned as he woke up and rubbed his head at the pain that was running through it while he looked around to see where he was. He didn't recognize where he was, but he could guess from the organized piles of party supplies around the room. He suddenly remembered what had happened before he woke up here forcing a rare groan out of him. “Ugh, I knew getting hit by that would be bad, but I didn't think it would be this bad. Now to figure out exactly where I am now.”

He jumped a bit when a voice rang out behind him, showing just how out of it he still was to let anything sneak up on him. “Oh you're finally awake, Uncle Xelly! You've been out a couple days now so I brought you to my special party cave while you got better. I've never seen Fluttershy's Stare do that to anypony before.”

She paused for a moment in thought before shrugging and continuing on a different tangent. “While you were sleeping you missed out on a lot but I kept a list for you just in case you wanted to know. Let's see you missed Twilight being turned to stone, Gummi cutting a rug at the dance club, the Cutie Mark Crusaders crashing into Rainbow Dash's home-” Xellos partially tuned her out for a moment as he tried to clear his thoughts a bit until she reached the end of her list. “-and finally the Cutie Mark Crusaders ave been cleaning up their new club house.”

He frowns for a moment as some of the things registered while he thought things over. “Too bad I missed out on that statue bit with Twilight. I guess she didn't have to worry about anybody coming along with a marker then; it would have been a fun prank but with how things are I still might get a chance later. Maybe I'll add it to my list sometime.” He paused to consider this before shaking his head. “Maybe later, but thanks for watching over me Pinkie, I appreciate it.”

Pinkie just nodded and bounced away before sliding up the slide that led into the room. Xellos just watched as she did this before shaking his head and vanishing into the astral plane. “Too bad I also missed when Twilight tried to figure her out. Maybe I can convince her to try again so I can watch.”

Getting a good stretch as he floated out of the building and into town he found that Pinkie's party cave was hidden under Sugarcube Corner. Since he was out for a few days he considered stopping for a snack until he spotted the Cutie Mark Crusaders running off. “Hmm, I wonder what they are up to. If those three are together then it is bound to be entertaining.”

Smiling to himself he flies after the three and watches them attempt various things in an attempt to get their cutie marks, many of which left him laughing at the seemingly impossible results. When he saw that they were heading towards a building that appeared to be a salon he got an idea that he almost felt ashamed of dumping on them. Flying above them he phased into view again. “Going to the salon next? I bet Sweetie Belle's sister has many more interesting things at her place for that, plus you could get a good look at her mane to see how some of it could be used.”

The three skidded to a halt at his words before looking at each other for a moment with Sweetie Belle replying first. “I don't know, she really doesn't like anypony touching her things.”

Scootaloo, being the brash one of the three, quickly pushed the idea forward though. “Come on Sweetie, he's right. I'm not even sure what half the stuff I've seen in her bathroom are for but one of them is sure to help get our cutie mark. We just have to try.”

Sweetie Belle glanced over at Applebloom in hopes of her being reasonable but it was obvious that it wasn't to be. Soon the three were running off towards Carousel Boutique with Xellos sneaking along behind them. Luckily Rarity was napping at the time, after having finished a large number of orders, so the three were given free reign over everything. Soon he was flying away from the building laughing harder than he had been that entire day while making a mark on a scroll he had pulled out. Moments later a scream could be heard ringing out from the building that even the diarchs in Canterlot could hear. “XELLOS! I'M GOING TO KILL YOU!”

Author's Notes:

Any guesses on what happened to Rarity?

Chapter 13

Author's Notes:

Well this chapter went a bit longer than I thought but it is a bit action filled. A bit of a warning things are about to get a bit violent and bloody so let me know if you think I should add the gore tag or not.

Also I am happy to see that this story has broken the 100 vote mark with a 96% approval rating.

Princess Luna yawned as she crawled her way out of her bed for another long day of boredom as she continues catching up on everything she had missed over the years. Wearily rising to her feet she levitated over her robe before slowly plodding in the direction of her bathroom. Finishing her morning ablutions she the made her way to meet with her sister for what was lunch for Celestia but breakfast for the moon princess.

Entering the room where her sister was she nodded to her as well as the other blurry figure in the room before taking her seat at the table. “Coffee?” At her nod the figure slid over a cup of the steaming drink to which she drained before lifting it for another refill. It was only when she was halfway through sipping her second cup that she noticed just what the second figure in the room was.

“Tia? Why is this thing in here during our personal dining period with you?” She shoots a glare at the monster that was sitting nearby with a plate of cake and ice cream while reading a newspaper. Moments later she just sighs and puts her head down on the table as one of the kitchen servants brought in her usual morning fare. “Oh never mind. It is way too early to have to deal with him right now.”

Once the servants had left left room she used her tongue to grab something from her plate and drag it into her mouth. Celestia just rolls her eyes at her sister's lazy habits before sipping from her teacup. “It is just another one of his habits he picked up while you were gone, Lulu. Whenever he does something that causes more trouble than he expected he hides out around the castle for a few days as he tries to fix what he caused.”

Luna raised an eyebrow at this. “Do we even want to know what it was he did this time then?”

The solar princess looks in the direction of Ponyville for a moment before she explains. “I am sure you remember that voice the echoed up from Ponyville a couple days ago? Well my student sent me a letter with the full description of what happened and it appears that it originated from Rarity, the Bearer of Generosity. It appears that her younger sister and her friends got into her beauty products and used them on her while she was asleep and well...”

As she paused in her explanation Luna brought her third full cup of coffee up and took a drink as Xellos popped up from behind. “And now Rarity looks like the worlds largest chihuahua!” This caused Luna to picture the image in her mind and proved to be too much for her as the coffee she was drinking started shooting out of her nose. The monster continued speaking though as if nothing had happened. “I still don't know how they managed to to make a hair removal remedy with things that are meant to help it grow, but if anyone could do it it would be them. At least I was able to sneak in and save her mane so I could turn it into a wig.”

Celestia just shook her head at him as she turned her attention to her sister who was rolling around on the floor in pain. “Oh sweet nectar of the gods, why must you betray us so!?” Looking between her and the monster that was nonchalantly reading through the newspaper again as if nothing happened.

Looking around at the rest of the room her attention was drawn to the window as a wisp of smoke that she recognized as from Spike came floating in. As it coalesced in front of her Xellos moved over next to her while folding up the newspaper with a specific article on top. “I'm going to have to make sure everyone's plans for this day are cleared. So what does the neurotic mess of your student have to say now?”

As Xellos read over her shoulder his smile slowly faded until a frown was plastered across his face. Luna looked up from her position on the floor to see this and a thrill of fear went through her as his perpetually closed eyes opened to reveal the lavender eyes behind his lids before he vanished from the room. Looking over at her sister she became even more worried at the look of terror on her sister's face as the magic around the parchment in front of her faded and Celestia rushed towards the doors. “Guards! Emergency Mobilization Procedures Cumulus Six Solar! All available troops prepare for departure in ten minutes!”

Luna was swiftly on her hooves and following her sister out the door but she was able to glimpse a bit of what had thrown her sister in a panic as it dripped off of the scroll onto the floor. Even without getting close enough to visually confirm it she could smell the scent of blood wafting away from it.

<><><><><><><>

Hours Ago

“Come along now Spike. The sooner we finish out here the less likely it is that somepony sees me like this.” Spike nodded as he looked over at Rarity's bundled form as they walked through the barren area where they were hunting for gemstones. He was still reeling from what had happened to her and he vowed once again to get back at the fiend that did this to her somehow. He had yet to see the full extent of what had happened to her though but, if what he heard was true, he was glad for it.

“I can't believe that Sapphire Shores showed up with me looking like this. I was so embarrassed to have to show her my best works while not being remotely presentable for it. When I get my hooves on that monster he will pay for this travesty.” Spike stepped away from Rarity when he hears the venom in her voice, but said nothing as he had no arguments with her reaction.

After nearly an hour of work they had finally filled up the wagon they had brought with gemstones of various colors and sizes. After nearly doubling their load with their last find they were preparing to leave when Rarity's magic alerted her to another source of nearby gems. After a small scuffle Spike was left yelling out in frustration as the covered unicorn was dragged into the earth.

“Unhand me you brutes! Where do you think you are taking me?!” Rarity struggled as the diamond dogs pulled her through their tunnels to some unknown destination. As they led her towards their lair she noticed things about them that she had missed before in the confusion of their ambush. The three dogs were rather ragged looking and had a starved appearance to them. The gems they had were also of some of the lowest quality that she had ever seen before and they barely had any on them. As they moved deeper into the tunnels she even noted that they seemed to be scared of something and their fear only got worse the further they went.

Eventually the four figures entered a large cavern that contained a throne with a large pile of gems behind it. Rarity was confused as to what was going on as the gems in the back looked to be of a very high quality compared to what her three escorts had and she was so focused on them that she failed to see the figures in and by the throne until he spoke in a high-pitched voice. “Why have you three returned without gems like I ordered you to? And not only that but you bring an intruder into my domain as well?”

Rarity cocked an eyebrow at the diminutive figure that was sitting in the throne as well as the reactions of her escorts. What she was now assuming was their leader was small; about the size of Spike which made him half the size of even the smallest of the trio. “Forgive us boss, but we thought she would help find gems. She-” The larger dog froze as their boss leapt out of the chair, while remaining in the shadows, and he started to back away with the others. What she didn't expect though was for the runt to slam his fist into the ground and the earth to start trembling towards them.

Her eyes widened in shock as the ground around her started to erupt with spikes of rock which tore at the clothing she was wearing. With the proximity of the spires she wasn't able to turn to see what was happening behind her but she heard quite a few yelps of pain from the three though. She could only stare as her outfit was fully removed revealing her denuded body with the light purple stubble of where her mane and tail had started to grow out from again.

“I don't remember telling you to think when I gave you my orders! If I wanted a thinker when I sent you out I would have gone myself you incompetent mongrels. Next time when I give you orders I... I... So pretty.” The entire room froze as the diminutive leader said the last bit as they looked around trying to see what he was talking about. Even Rarity was confused until he came up and starting circling around her, the stone spires having vanished without her noticing, and he started stroking her side.

“Excuse me!? As flattering as your words are I do not appreciate being pawed at, thank you very much.” With a twist of her body she knock the tiny boss away with her rear as she turned away from him in a huff. This, unfortunately, left her unable to see his smirk as he waved a paw to a figure in a dark corner of the room.

“You say that like you have any choice in the matter. What I want I get and my patron Caine will do everything he can to see that it happens.” Rarity started to turn at his words, but the last thing she saw was a wall off leathery wings before she let out a scream of pained terror.

<><><><><><><>

Later

“I can't believe they just let us walk in like this. You said that the diamond dogs kidnapped Rarity but where are they hiding?” Twilight looked around as the five mares and Spike walked through the tunnels completely unopposed. Both her and Fluttershy were worried about all of this while the others seemed unconcerned about it all.

“They probably heard that I was coming and just tucked their tails and took off running. We'll find Rarity and be out of here before you know it.” There were a couple eye rolls at Rainbow Dash over this but no real arguments. Most them were just glad that the cyan mare didn't fly ahead like she normally would in this situation, but being underground did make it hard to fly in the first place.

Spike lead them through the tunnels as the path that Rarity was taken through was easy to identify as the hoof-shaped scuff marks were easy to see among all the paw prints in the sand and dirt filled corridors. The dragon was worried for the mare he adored and he was starting to wonder about Twilight's question as well as the diamond dogs had been pretty persistent about grabbing Rarity.

Eventually they came to the cavernous room with the throne and gem pile where they looked around warily. The area was dimly lit so most of them had trouble seeing, and Spike's eyes were only on the pile of gems, so they didn't notice any of the figures in the room. “Again with the intruders. Why is it that not once, but twice I see something come before me that I didn't ask for? And where are my guards that should have been keeping them out?”

All eyes focused on the throne area, which was the origin of the voice, to see the small figure nearly buried in a pile of cloths and furs that decorated the throne. The mares got a better look at him as he leapt off of his throne to stand before it, which soon brought a laugh out of a certain pegasus. “Really?! After all this way this is all that is standing on our way? I didn't even know that diamond dogs came in the puffball variety.”

Her comment brought a few chuckles from her friends as the diamond dog leader stepped into the better lit area in front of the throne. The pomeranian diamond dog growled cutely at their reaction to his look and raised a paw in the air before shouting out in a squeaky voice. “Minions! Why are you just standing around back there?! Get out here now!”

Nothing happened at first, but when he snapped his fingers after a few seconds a taller figure appeared next to the throne before it bowed and vanished again. Shortly afterwards there was a yelp from a cavern in the back and soon a group of diamond dogs came streaming out of a tunnel to the rear to gather in front of the mares. There were only a dozen of them there which brought a frown to the pomeranian's face, but he still proceeded as if nothing was wrong. “Kill them!”

The dragon and mares reared back in shock at this order but they recovered quickly as the diamond dogs charged them. The fight ended quickly without much of a fuss as the diamond dogs were completely dominated due to the injuries and malnourishment that they had been suffering from. They all quickly ended up in a pile against a wall leaving the mares to stare down the miniature diamond dog. “All right partner, give us back Rarity and we'll let ya go unharmed.”

The pomeranian just glared at the pile of diamond dogs for their failure before raising his hand and snapping his fingers again, summoning the figure they saw earlier as well as one other. The six invaders gasp as they recognize one of the figures but there was something that was obviously wrong to them. “What did you do to her?!”

Rarity didn't react at all to seeing her friends and it was obvious as to why as her eyes were glowing a bright solid azure. The dog boss just smirks at their reacting as he runs a paw over her body possessively. “My queen may have been a bit hesitant at first but, thanks to Caine here, she is now completely loyal to me.”

The six are frozen in shock at his claim but when they start to recover it is the most reckless one of the group to do so. Rainbow Dash charged directly at the dog boss and Rarity without even bothering to pay attention to the third figure in the room. Of course it didn't even need to do anything as the leader just slammed one of his paws into the ground sending a spike of stone up on front of the pegasus gouging a path of blood from her right cheek up through her eye, sending her reeling to the side. All her friends gasp in horror as she clutches momentarily at her eye before reaching a bloody hoof towards her friend. “Rar- ity.”

The bare mare just continued to look sightlessly forward as if she hadn't heard the cyan mare and was blind to the world around her. The boss dog just continued to smirk at them all as he nodded towards the injured mare causing the unicorn next to him to lower her head. The dragon and mares all let out a yell of 'Rainbow!' when Rarity unleashed a large pulse of magic from her horn sending the pegasus crashing into the wall on the other side of the room with a load crack.

The mares all ran back and gathered around her unconscious form as Fluttershy knelt next to her and examined her injuries. Her hooves trembled as she peeled back her eyelid to see the clean cut through her eye with a notch in her eyelid and it was obvious that her sight would be lost in that eye. She let out a gasp though as she rolled her friend over and saw the angle of her wing which was the source of the sound that they heard when she had impacted the wall. “Oh dear this is bad. We really need to get her back to town fast or else she may not make it.”

All heads turned back to the main threat in the room as the sound of laughter rolled out of his form and echoed through the cavern. “You should worry more about yourselves since you will all soon be joining her. Caine! I think you were right about how worthless those mutts were so you may go ahead and bring in their replacements.”

The figure in the shadows nodded to the leader before finally stepping out where the others could clearly see him. None of them knew how to react to seeing what appeared to be a bulldog-like diamond dog that had a jaw that looked to be made of steel as well as large bat wings. Unlike the others he stood ramrod straight until he bowed at the waist with an arm across his chest to the opposite shoulder to the other. “As you wish, my lord.”

Twilight, Applejack, and Pinkie Pie took a defensive stance around their injured companion as he stepped forward though they hesitated when a score of other bat-winged figures appeared from out of the air. The odds didn't look good for them as one of their companions was already down and the other was arrayed against them. Twilight turns away from the demon-looking figures towards her assistant who was still staring at the blood dripping from Rainbow Dash's eye. “Spike, send a letter to to the Princess and then do what you can to protect Rainbow.”

This snapped him out of it enough for him to turn and nod at her as he scrambled around his scales for what he needed. While he found a roll of parchment easily enough he couldn't find anything to write with when his eyes settled on the blood polling on the ground. With a shudder he dipped a claw into the blood and quickly wrote out a message for help before sending it of with a burst of flame. As soon as it was sent he was shoved against the wall as Applejack was knocked into him which drew his attention to the fight.

Applejack was looking roughed up as she was scorched by the multitudes of flaming arrows struck her body that the demons were firing. In fact none of the three were able to do much against the barrage as Pinkie was focused mainly on dodging everything while Twilight had a shield up to block the attacks but couldn't get an opening to return fire. He started to get worried as only the demon-like creatures had been attacking this entire time and the two leaders hadn't done a single thing yet.

Soon Applejack was forced back against the wall as she collapsed from all the burns that she received from the attacks which allowed the demons to focus on the other two with her out of commission. With Twilight still under her shield they all chose to bombard Pinkie Pie and, even with her Pinkie senses, she was still caught by surprise as the attacks against her suddenly doubled. At first she was able to keep up but all it took was for one of the attacks to clip her leg and she was soon caught under a barrage of flaming arrows and taken out of the fight as well.

With Twilight's friends knocked out of the fight all the demons were allowed to focus their efforts completely on her. With a score of creatures unleashing everything they had on her there was little chance for her to go on the offense as she had only shielded herself the entire time. With the strikes scattering over her shield she was able to hold them off for a few minutes but when they started to focus their strikes on the same point her efforts proved for naught as it fell as soon as she was struck by an attack that slipped through the barrage.

With all the mares defeated the only thing standing between them and their deaths were Spike and Fluttershy. Fluttershy wasn't sure where to focus as on one side were her injured friends and the other was a whole mob of monsters that she was terrified by. As she was working up her courage a ball of flames hurtled over the heads of the demons and struck the ground in front of her sending her headfirst into the wall behind her forcing her unconscious.

Spike looked back at the five injured mares before turning back to face the creatures that had taken Rarity from him and he put on a brave face as he steps forward and blows some smoke out of his nose. The dog boss just looks at him and laughs at how ridiculous the sight before him was of a baby trying to protect a bunch of grown mares. “Oh this is just priceless. The wittle baby thinks he can do what the grown mares couldn't.” With a twitch of his head he signals to the demons. “Finish him!”

As the demons started unleashing the arrows of flame at Spike there was some movement behind his as Twilight reached towards his form from behind. “Spike, no!” She was forced to lay there and watch as Spike took attack after attack as he crossed his arms in in front of himself in a defensive posture. Soon a cloud of smoke and dust was kicked up and started to obscure his form to the mares horror as a tear started to roll down her cheek.

Eventually the attacks stopped leaving a shifting cloud of debris and all attention was focused back on the mares. Taking a moment to mock them; the pomeranian strode to the front of the group and posed. “Foolish ponies thinking they could do whatever they want in my lair. Once I finish you all the world will know not to mess with Lord EEEEK!”

His speech was interrupted as a stream of emerald flames erupted out of the cloud and missed him by a hair, catching one of the demons behind him and turning it to ash. The few mares that are awake gasp in shock as Spike charge out of the cloud of dust and starts breathing fire indiscriminately over the area catching a couple more demons on fire and sending the dog boss retreating to the rear again. When Spike stopped his assault three of the demons in total were down and there wasn't a single mark on him to the incredulous stare of the pomeranian. “How?! How could you idiots do nothing to a baby?!”

Spike took an aggressive stance and fired a bit of flames out of his nostrils in anger. “That's baby DRAGON to you bub!” The few conscious mares looked confused for a moment before the fact that dragons are not only naturally fire resistant, to the point of Spike cooking using only his claws, as well as being highly resistant to magic. They were a bit shocked that Spike was magically the natural enemy of the demons and started to feel hopeful about the situation.

Lord 'Eeeek' just frowned at the dragon's cockiness and the looks that were appearing on the faces of the mares before he slammed his paw into the ground as he did when Rainbow Dash charged him. Spike was busy focusing on the demons so he didn't see the attack coming until the spire of stone burst from the ground impacting into his chest, sending him flying back into the mares. The attack didn't break through his scales but when he started coughing up blood it became obvious that he had a major internal injury and they all started to fall into despair.

The diamond dog leader advanced on the group, waving back all the others, and glared at them in anger over the humiliation he almost suffered. He didn't even feel like saying anything as he cracked his knuckles in an attempt to look threatening. With an exaggerated motion he reared back as far as he could before leaping into the air and slamming his fist into the ground. As Spike tried to step forward to take the blow the conscious mares huddled together with tears in their eyes as they awaited the end.

They flinched when they heard a loud cracking sound as they tried to brace themselves for the impact of the stones spires to pierce into them. When nothing happened they tentatively looked up to see what went wrong before they gasped at the sight of a familiar object in front of them. While the were cowering a gem-topped staff had fell from the direction of the ceiling into the path of the attack, dispelling the fore out to the sides. The pomeranian just gawked in shock at yet again being interrupted that he failed to do anything, even order his minions, as a voice shouted out from the darkest shadows. “Shadow Web!”

A multitude of tentacle-shaped shadows burst out of the shadows towards the demons and dog. None of them were ready for this surprise attack so they weren't able to dodge before they connected with their own shadows, paralyzing them all in place as a biped walked over to retrieve his staff. “Well isn't this an interesting situation I find you all in. I would have thought that old sun-butt would have been more active at keeping stronger level monsters out of her kingdom as well as teaching her student how to deal with the weakest. I mean come on! The baby dragon did more than all five of you combined.”

Twilight shook off the shock at seeing the self-proclaimed monster to send a feeble glare at him though it's hard to keep it at the feelings of relief flowing through her. “Princess Celestia was a great teacher! Why would she have even thought that I would need to fight something that I had never even heard of?! Why are you even here and if you saw what Spike did then why didn't you help?!”

Xellos just brushed off her bit of anger as he turned back to the paralyzed creatures as they tried to break free. His eyes were on the Caine fellow that was hiding in the back as he just blew off the others. “I as with Celly when she received the letter from you all up in Canterlot and arrived when Spike stepped up. And why would I need to help out when it looked like he had everything under control. He really should have just ignored all the brass demons once he found that their magic did nothing to him and focused on the real threats. Besides if I stepped in before you had a chance to help yourself then how would you ever learn?”

Twilight tried to growl at him over this but it soon turned into a wince as the pain of her burns hit her again. She noticed that only one of the figures arrayed against Xellos wasn't reacting at all through all of this and it was the Caine figure that hadn't assisted throughout the entire fight. She stared at him for a moment but turned her attention back to Xellos when he started chanting in an attempt to figure out how he was doing it. “Holy wind, which flows gently across the land; let all things be filled with your pure breath. Van Rail!”

Through all of this Xellos had his palm flat on the ground and when he ended it threads of ice burst out from under his hand and advanced on all the paralyzed figures. Twilight watched in awe as the spell formed and she jerked back, biting off a yelp of pain at the movement, as the threads started wrapping around all the figures encasing them in ice. In an instant the battle was over as their enemies were trapped in ice leaving only the controlled Rarity standing alone and unharmed. Something looked off to her though as she looked over the figures until she noticed that one was missing but before she could point it out Xellos turned around again with one of his arms behind his head.

“Well isn't that embarrassing? The monster behind it all must have run away and I didn't even notice.” This earned a few rolls of various eyes before he looked a bit more serious as he examined them all. “Hmm, looking closer there is a bit more damage to all of you than I could handle alone. Good thing I brought a helper along with me.”

Reaching into his bag he pulled out a white figure that was familiar to them all who looked really confused about being there. “Huh? Where am I?” She looks up to see what was holding her and her confusion only grew. “Mr Xellos? Where am I? I was just in school just a moment ago.” The mares look confused for a moment but their heads turn to Pinkie Pie as she lightly claps her hooves together in applause.

Xellos sets the filly down before explaining. “Well you do remember that healing spell I taught you, right?” At her nod he continued. “Well your sister's friends were hurt on their recent adventure and need help. The more you can do the better but you should probably start on Spike first.”

She looks confused for a moment before she turns around to see how badly injured they are and lets out a gasp at what she sees, especially when Spike starts coughing up blood again. After examining him and, finding a broken rib, she casts the healing spell she was taught to the dragon's relief. While not instantaneous the pain slowly recedes from his body and he softly thanks the filly as his body is repaired.

Through all this Xellos was examining the others and he determined that Rainbow Dash and Fluttershy were in the worst shape but it was hard to determine which was worse between the potential internal damage of the cranial injury of Fluttershy and the obvious broken bones and bleeding of the cyan mare. When Fluttershy regained consciousness and tried to get up to help the other mare he made a decision and held her down with one hand. “Don't worry, I'll help her out.”

With his words she calmed down and settled back again as he motioned over one of the other mares to support her before turning towards the half-blinded mare that was still unconscious. After taking a moment he glanced over towards the filly who was about done healing the dragon and made a decision. “Sweetie Belle? Can you hold up a second and come here for a second?”

She paused and looked at Spike questioningly and he just nodded before waving her over to the biped. When she arrived she let out a bigger gasp than her previous one as she found that Rainbow Dash was in a much worse condition than she had thought. “You remember when I taught you that spell I wold you some of the problems with it? Can you tell me why it would be a bad idea to use it on her right now?”

Sweetie Belle gulped as she averted her eyes before reciting what she could remember. “The Recovery spell doesn't directly heal the target but helps the body heal its wounds a a rapid pace taking minutes instead of days or even weeks. Because it uses the body's reserve it takes a heavy toll so there are limit to how much the spell can do.” She pauses for a moment before adding something. “You also said something about it not working on sick ponies as it makes it worse but I forget why exactly.”

Twilight listened through all this and she was surprised that it sounded almost exactly like what medical personnel use in hospitals. She wasn't sure what he was going to do about Rainbow Dash's injuries but she paid attention herself as whatever he did would be something the Princesses would want to know of.

Xellos nods nods to his young student as it was a good enough explanation for the spell as he decides to show her the next level of the spell. “Right, that spell would help some here but it would be risky with all the blood she had lost. There is another spell that is better in this situation though but it works much differently even if the casting technique is much the same.”

Turning back to the severely injured mare he holds out his hands to her and focuses on the spell. “Blessed, humble hand of God, life and breath of Mother Earth, I pray thee come before me, show your great compassion to this person and deliver them back to us! Resurrection!”

Sweetie Belle cocked her head as she listened to the chant as it was almost exactly the same as the one she was taught with only slight differences. Her eyes widened though as light gathered in the gauged out area of Rainbow Dash's eye and the wound began to mend itself. Much the same happened with her wing as it visibly realigned itself and mended itself before it reflexively folded back into a neutral position. Once he finished casting all that remained of her injuries was a scar where her eye injury was and the slight notch in her eyelid.

With the rainbow-maned pegasus in a near pristine state now, Xellos turned back to his student and saw the look of wonder on her face. The others that were watching weren't much better though Twilight was the worst as she mouthed the word 'impossible' to herself. “That is what is called the Resurrection spell which can heal almost anything short of death, despite the meaning of the name. Even lost limbs can be restored if you are good enough casting it. The reason why this spell can do this is because, instead of using internal energy, draws energy from all living things in the area at the cost of taking longer to cast.”

He was about to say more but a loud cracking sound rang out behind him and he paused before turning to Sweetie Belle once again. “Excuse me a moment, but it seem I'm not done dealing with a certain problem here. Please continue healing them as much as you can while I go and deal with this, Ms Belle.”

After receiving a nod from the filly he turned back to the frozen figures to find that the diamond dog was breaking his way out. When the upper section of the ice shattered, leaving the pomeranian's lower half still encased, the dog began to shout at the monster. “Do you think that this is enough to stop me?! Caine has given me the power to take down all my enemies and something like you won't stop me from ruling these lands!”

While he was ranting and trying to free his lower body Xellos took a moment to consider his form before chanting a new spell. “Source of all power. Raging thunder from the sky. Gather in my hand and grant me power. DIGU VOLT!” Raising his arm out to his side and pointing his palm at the diamond dog he fired a blast of lightning at the creature. When it connected he screamed out in pain but when the spell stopped the only changes to him was that he was free of the ice and all his fur had puffed out from the electricity.

Xellos raised an eyebrow at this situation as the diamond dog struck the ground in rage sending a tremor of energy towards him. He watched as the energy reached him and spires of stone came up from the ground around him in enough numbers to obscure him from view. Most of he mares that were watching let out a gasp at seeing this but Pinkie Pie was instead watching the panting diamond dog and the figure behind him.

“Hmm, that is rather weak for a stone spiker spell, especially if that little bit can tire you out.” The diamond dog let out a yelp of shock as he leaps away and turns to the monster that had popped up behind him without him noticing. “Of course there are better ways to work with the earth if you know how.” With a grin and a slight opening of his eyes he starts casting a new spell while pointing both arms at the diamond dog who takes a step back.

“Infinite earth, mother who nurtures all life, let thy power gather in my hand! VLAVE HOWL!” With a yelp the dog boss lost his footing as the ground around him in a good radius melted away into a pool of lava. After a moment of flailing he sank from sight leaving the dragon and mares to stare in open-mouthed shock at what happened.

Xellos took that moment to leap over towards the group as he brushed a speck of dust off of his shoulder. “Well he was a bit tougher than I expected but-” He was cut off as a overly cute roar of rage sounded out behind him as he turned to see the seemingly immortal diamond dog crawled his way out of the molten rock unharmed. When a certain word ran through his mind he realized what the problem is as he smirks while the diamond dog actually chants out another familiar earth shamanism spell.

“Well this was rather unexpected. Tell me Twilight, what do you know of the Pledge of Immortality?” At her confused look he knew that she knew nothing at all about it causing him to sigh. “The Pledge of Immortality is a pact between a monster and another being where that beings soul is sealed inside of a Pledge Stone.” At hearing what is essentially a variant of how a necromancer becomes a lich, Twilight lets out a horrified gasp. “I see you get the point of that at least. With this the being doesn't age and instantly heals from all injuries. There are only three ways to kill someone that goes through this process.”

Turning back to the diamond dog as he finishes his spell with a shout of 'Vu Raywa' he fully opens his eyes and hold his staff out to the side like a sword. “First, you have to kill the monster that made the pledge, which we can't do since he ran.” He started to advance as a pair of draconic look statues rose out of the ground and began to rise to their feet. “Second, you destroy the Pledge Stone which would take more time than I want to use.” With a look of effortlessness, Xellos swings his staff twice, decapitating both golems before they reach him causing the dog boss to freeze. “And third, you hit them with a power stronger called from something stronger than the monster itself. Luckily for you I have yet to meet a monster in this world that comes close to even half the power that I hold.”

At his last final sentence his voice dropped into a sinister tone which sends a shiver down Twilight's spine and cause the diamond dog's eyes to widen in terror. Before he could blink his vision was obscured by Xellos' palm as he was slammed back into the wall behind him. A moment later both figures vanished from sight as Xellos shifted them to the astral plane. The mares looked around in confusion except for Pinkie made a few wincing motions before she covered her eyes and whimpered at what she saw. The others wanted to ask but knew better than to do so if it affect the party mare like that.

Moments later Xellos appeared again looking as carefree as usual and began assisting Sweetie Belle who had ignored everything as she worked on healing them all. None of the others said anything as they weren't sure how to react to what happened so things finished up in silence. Once they were all standing, except for Spike who was being gone over by the filly again, they looked over at Rarity who still stood where she was sightlessly.

“Why hasn't Rarity done anything yet? Is there anything we can do for her?” The others let out a small sigh as Fluttershy was the one to speak up since they were all trying to avoid the monster. He doesn't say anything though as he steps over towards the alabaster mare and looks closely into her eyes while humming to himself before raising his hand and flicks her horn hard with a finger. When the mare let out a yell of pain and fell to the ground he straightened up with a grin.

“Oh there's nothing to worry about. It looks like it was only a simple mind block and suggestion spell so a good shock to the brain is all that's needed to cancel it.” They all watched with a bit of joy as Rarity rubbed her head and rose to her feet. She froze at hearing his voice though and her eyes locked on him, with them back to normal again, as the narrowed in anger. He seemed unconcerned as she let out a roar of rage and tried to tackle him which he effortlessly dodged.

“Well it seems that everything is fine here now so I guess I should be going. Oh and say hi to Celly and Loony for me please.” With that he disappeared from sight and it was obvious he was gone as Rarity roared in fury towards the ceiling at missing her chance at getting her revenge. Moments later the roof around the throne collapsed as a hole was blasted through it from above and squads of the royal guard funneled in through it, followed by the two princesses moments later.

“Stay where you are! Surrender and you shall not be harmed!” The dragon and mares winced at the impact of the Royal Canterlot Voice from Princess Luna before they gave her a deadpan stare. The guards looked around to find that there was nothing to fight and both princesses looked towards Twilight and crew questioningly. Before they could say anything a groan from behind them sounded at forcing all eyes on the groggy pegasus that was only now waking up.

“Oh my head. So did we win?” Both Applejack and Twilight facehooved at Rainbow Dash's question who just looked around in confusion at everything that had changed. With a sigh Twilight started to explain to everyone exactly what they had all missed, to the shock and consternation of those that had missed out on everything.

<><><><><><><>

Later

“I am so glad to be home after that horrible experience. I still don't like that brute but I can't fault him teaching you those spells Sweetie, especially with how useful they were today. I can't even remember anything after that monster grabbed me but I'm proud to hear what you did for everypony else today.” Her younger sister just blushed at the praise as the she rode on her sister's back into Carousel Boutique. She was confused though when Rarity stopped just inside the doorway and she peered over her head to see what was going on.

Rarity's eye started to twitch as she took in the forms of the three diamond dogs that had initially started all of this day's problems as well as the cartloads of gems they had behind them in her home. She was about to scream when she saw them but she paused when the three started groveling at her hooves which confused her. “What are you filthy creatures doing in my home? And what are those carts for?”

The larger of the trio peeked up at her a moment before he started whimpering out in a whiny tony. “Master Xellos told us that with boss dog gone that you are in charge, Mistress Rarity! If we don't follow you he'll come back to punish us. He sent us with all this as tribute as well as these'”

Rarity wasn't sure what to expect from them but this wasn't it. Looking closer at what he thrust out towards her she grimaced as she recognized what used to be her mane and tail which were now fashioned into a wig and tail clip. Her sister on her back let out a sound as she also recognized the items before she leapt off her back and escaped upstairs while Rarity was distracted by everything.

The fashionista juggled everything around in her mind as she tried to come to terms with what was happening before letting out a sigh of exasperation. Taking the two objects she put them on and decided to go a little bit easier on Xellos even though she wasn't near ready to forgive him for what had happened yet. As for the diamond dogs she considered them for a moment more before she got an idea which caused her to grin lazily at them.

The three weren't sure what to do when they saw her expression, but at her next words they weren't sure if they would rather deal with her, or take their chances with the monster that had taken out their leader. “Well if you gentledogs are going to be working with me there are going to have to be a few rules. The first of them is that you are all going to need a bath before anything else.” The three looked at each other with a whimper of fear before the mare started to drag them all off in the direction of the Ponyville Spa.

Chapter 14

Twilight wasn't a complicated pony by any means. Give her a book to read, some new magic to study, and maybe a hayburger or two and she would be content to sit around quietly all day. Today was one of those few days where she could get all of those things at once, though she was more careful than usual with the burger, and it would have been perfect if it wasn't for that infernal humming from her currently unwelcome guest.

“Do you really have to do that while you're here? You've already repeated that same song twenty-three times now and it's starting to get annoying! I don't even think Pinkie would repeat the same song that many times.” Looking up from his book, Xellos just glances over to the annoyed unicorn before shrugging and going back to reading, minus the humming. Twilight continues to glare at him before letting out a huff before turning back to her own studying once again.

Unfortunately for her the humming was the less annoying problem as the monster started tapping his fingers atop the table next to him. With a groan of exasperation she slammed her book down onto the table in front of her before glaring at him once again. “What are you even doing here anyways? Don't you have something better to do right now than to annoy me?”

Putting down his book, which happened to be a history book of sweets, he looked over at the purple mare before setting the book down. “Well I thought that you would be bored with all your friends out delivering that tree without you so I felt you could use some company. I actually expected you to leave with them as well especially since Spike went with as well.”

Twilight looked away from him at his words before she muttered to herself at a level not quite low enough for him to miss. “It's not like I would be much of a help anyways if anything happens. Even with my magic Spike does a better job protecting my friends if something happens.”

She let out a small yelp of shock as the biped disappeared from where he was in the room and reappeared right in front of her face, examining her closely. “Why I do believe that you are actually jealous of him. I didn't think that you would take it that hard having to be saved by him when what he was fighting really stood no chance against a dragon's natural abilities. Brass demon's don't use much beyond simple fire magic but if that monster had brought brau demons, trolls, or one of a variety of other creatures then he would have been just as helpless as the rest of you. Of course if old Celly didn't bury all that magic and taught you something other than defensive spells then you would have done better.”

The librarian once again looked away but this time with a slight blush at being caught out before she sighed and turned back to the monster. “Fine, yes I'm jealous of Spike for being able to do so much while I could only stand there while my friends got hurt. All those years as Princess Celestia's student and that was the first time where it all meant nothing.”

Lifting up the book that she was reading she brandished it in front of Xellos' face. “Once the princess learned what happened down there I asked her for help in case something like that happened again and she gave me this, one of her personal journals. While I never expected to get something like this from her it would have helped if I could at least read it so I could learn something that would help.”

She flopped heavily back into the seat she was using while Xellos picked up the book she was reading and paged through it a bit. He made a few noises of interest as he looked through the book, reading the contents with ease. “I don't see what the problem is, it's just one of sunbutt's usual cyphers for her personal works. It's not like she needs to make something she uses herself hard to read when only those she trusts could get ahold of it.”

Twilight just looked at him in confusion before she shook her head at him. “What are you talking about? I already tried that and it only turned out to be nonsense and none of the other ones she taught me were any better.”

Her face contorted into one of annoyance as Xellos started chuckling at her predicament but before she could complain to him he explained. “Remind me to get you a few books from Neighpon next time I head out there. The ponies out there have adopted many of the habits of the serpentine dragons that live there, which includes a habit of writing a bit differently. If you do her cypher in the same style then it works perfectly and...”

He paused as his eyes passed over something that looked more familiar than it should have been and was something he never expected to see here. Twilight looked curious when she saw his eyes open with what she would almost call fear yet it seemed impossible for a creature like him. “It looks like you found something interesting if it can cause you to look like that? Should I be studying that first if it's something that even you seem to fear?”

She worried that she probably shouldn't have said that when she saw the anger in his eyes behind the haunted look he was sporting and wondered if she went a bit far. “If you want to destroy the world to do it then be my guest. You definitely have the skill to cast this spell but I doubt you could control it well enough to survive and if something goes wrong the whole planet would be taken with you. Calling on the power of the Lord of Nightmares is not something to be done casually.”

Twilight's eyes were wide as he revealed what he had read and she felt a drop of sweat roll down the side of her head. “It... it really can't do that, right? I mean, the princess would never give me a spell like that if she knew that something could happen if I accidentally made a mistake in casting it. She wouldn't, right?”

Xellos just shook his head as he slowly regained his composure and flipped through the book to a pair of safer spells. “Those are just the worst things that can happen, if anything you would most likely fail to even get it to work as you are now so I doubt she expected you to use that one even if it will be effective. It looks like the ones you should be starting with are at the end of the book and these two should be all you need for anything up to mid-level monsters.”

After having the book passed back to her, and she did a quick translation of the spells, Twilight's jaw dropped in shock at what exactly she was reading. “It can't be! These pull power directly from the sun and moon respectively. It took dozens of unicorns in the past to just move the sun before Princess Celestia yet she expects me to learn something like this alone?!”

The unicorn was caught between reverence and panic at the thought of doing something like that but her mind shifted to another concern as Xellos started to walk off again. Her eyes narrowed as she realized that she didn't know much about this monster race he belonged to or why specialized spells are needed. “Why are spells like this needed anyways? Wouldn't basic unicorn attacks spells work if you put enough energy behind them?”

Her question caused the biped to pause before turning back to her with an infuriating smirk on his face. “So you finally want to know more now, do you? I'm honestly surprised that it took you this long given what happened with Pinkie Pie. As for your question, basic unicorn magic can't touch a monsters true body and the same goes for most other brands of magic as well.”

Twilight looked confused at this revelation and starts to rub her chin with a hoof. “What do you mean about a true body? I could plainly see those ones down in the diamond dog tunnels and Spike's flame breath worked perfectly on them, not to mention everything you were throwing around. It sure looked like all of that was working just fine.”

The biped took a seat with his book before opening it to a random page. Twilight started to get impatient as it appeared that he was ignoring her until he spoke up once again. “Those weren't true monsters, or at least full ones, except for the one that looked like a winged diamond dog. At best they are classified as lesser demons or even half monster meaning that they are resistant to only the weakest spells. The one that ran away was at least a mid-ranked monster if it had a form looking that close to a diamond dog.”

Glancing up and seeing the purple librarians confused look he started wondering if he should have made a diagram or chart to better explain things before continuing. “Lesser demons usually form by possessing common items which determines what they can do but if they get strong enough they start taking on a standard form. True monsters each have their own body and only a representation of it can be seen on this plane. Those strong enough to be classified as at least mid-rank can start taking on an appearance that helps them blend in with the world around them, making them very had to find if they don't want to be found. Even then, to even damage a monster you have to be able to hit their true body in the astral plane where it is located.”

Thinking it over, Twilight had to agree that it would be hard to hit something that wasn't truly there but something came to mind as well from this information. “So does that mean that Pinkie would have been able to actually hurt that thing since she can travel through the astral plane? If all it takes is getting at their real body then it would be easy for her, even more if she can takes others along as well.”

Xellos looked up from his book with a raised eyebrow and was about to say something when he paused and brought his hand up to his chin in thought. He had never considered what would happen if something invaded the astral realm to directly attack a monster but he did see one very large problem. “Well in theory that could work, but since her size doesn't change any when she crosses over then she would be at a disadvantage as most monsters would tower over her. A monster's size gets larger as it gains in strength, which consequently causes a larger reaction to their body on this plane if they are defeated. It can be hard to judge how strong they are just from that though as perception works differently on that plane so you could think they are weak from how they look standing next to you but they are really further away than you think.”

Throughout all this Twilight had been scratching notes into a parchment and as he finished explaining she read through it again with a frown. “That really doesn't make any sense though. How can it look like the are small and standing right next to you but are instead further away and towering over you? The world just doesn't work like that, it's impossible!”

The reading biped just smirks and chuckles at her question as he expected there to be some comments along that line. “This world maybe, but the astral plane isn't truly this world, it just exists parallel with it so while they touch they don't follow the same rules. As for it being possible, well I thought you were a better patron of the sciences than that, magic or otherwise. Nothing is truly impossible, and if you prove it is then you just missed a variable you didn't know of.”

Twilight sputtered a bit at his accusation but she finally calmed down enough to admit to herself that he had a point. She knew almost nothing about this astral plane he talked about and without more information she was qualified to say much of anything about it. With a sigh she started to put the notes she was writing away to get back to studying when something caught her eye in them. “Wait, you said monsters can change their appearance to blend in with the world around them. If that's true then why do you choose to look like something that stands out completely?”

This question caught Xellos off guard as it was also something that had never occurred to him before and having it happen twice in a matter of minutes was unusual, though unsurprising considering the nature of the questioning mare. “I've actually never thought about that before since this is what I've been accustomed to for the last fifteen hundred years. Taking a new form so that I could blend in and avoid many of the annoyances over the years just never occurred to me.”

With a thump Twilight's hoof collided with her head as she heard this from the biped as she started to wonder what made him such a threat with his obliviousness. When she looked to where Xellos was she found that he had vanished and she wondered where he went until she heard a thump from off to the side of her. Turning her head her face took on a look of complete shock as she took in the new form that he was sporting as he bumbled around on four hooves.

His hair hadn't changed much as it transitioned over to a mane and his new tail was cut in much of the same style as well. Twilight had to hold back a look of annoyance as she noticed his coat was much the same color as her own though being of a lighter shade which mollified her a bit. Her eyes traveled up to his horn for a moment before flickering to his side and the wings that were there. The strange gems she noticed had transferred over to this form as well but due to her position she couldn't see if he had a cutie mark. The last things she took note of was his size, which looked to be around Princess Luna's when she last saw her, as well as how... effeminate he looked compared to every other stallion she saw.

“Hmm, no, I don't think I'll be walking around like. I don't like how it feels and why get used to walking around on four legs when I do just fine on two.” Xellos glances over himself as he rubs a hoof on his head where he bumped into a bookshelf. “Though I could see the appeal of it if I had a reason to do so... Maybe during some event in Canterlot after with a dress or something?”

Twilight just stared at him with a dumbfounded look on her face as he looked over himself and actually considered wearing a dress. That combined with him looking like an alicorn would cause more problems than she wanted to imagine so she decided to try and dissuade him. “Well you definitely wouldn't be able to hide if you go around looking like that anyways. With only three alicorns, all of them mares, you would be noticed faster as the only male alicorn instead of as your previous form.”

“Hmm, you have a point there. I'd probably have even more beings chasing me if I did show up and I rather like not being forced into a role like Celly and Luna.” The unicorn let out a sigh as Xellos turned back to his previous form but it caught in her throat at his next words. “Now if you'll excuse me I really need to have a talk with sunbutt about letting spells that can destroy the world get out. She should know that that is my job.”

Before she could stop him he disappeared in his usual manner and she buried her face in her hoof once again. She was quick to write up a note for her mentor but on remembering that Spike wasn't nearby for the usual fast delivery she rushed out of the library towards the town post office.

<><><><><><><>

Her Royal Highness Princess Celestia had few pleasures throughout one of her normal days running the kingdom. Her lunch periods were one of those few times as it allowed her to take a moment to herself during the day to relax for a bit and to unwind from the stress of the morning and prepare for the afternoon. So when she prepared to take her first bite of the cake that came with the meal she was puzzled to say the least when her mouth closed on air.

Looking around it didn't take her long to spot a familiar form in the room causing her to sigh in exasperation. “What is it now Xellos? You know how much I dislike having my meals interrupted unless it is important.”

Looking at the annoyance she was mildly surprised to see that his eyes were actually slightly open which gave her a hint of how serious he was being about what he was here for. “I'm curious. You know what my plans are and naturally object to them. So why did you feel it was necessary to give Twilight a spell that could do the same thing if she tries to cast it and screws up? Calling on the representatives of the sun and moon would have been plenty but calling on the Lord of Nightmares is just irresponsible.”

Before Celestia could answer, her sister walked into the room with a loud yawn as she pushed into the conversation. “Sister, why did you tell him about mother? Especially that name of hers, you know how much she disliked being called that.”

The princess of the sun was about to say that she never mentioned her to him at all but was stopped by the dumbfounded look on his face. With an 'oh' of understanding he slapped a fist into his opposite palm as he covered his previous goof. “Oh that's right. She also goes by the Mother of All Things so of course you two would know her, though that still doesn't explain why you gave Twilight a spell that could destroy her and the world. Oh and could you send Twilight and her friends these tickets to the upcoming Stumpy Rotisserie concert coming up while keeping two for yourself and Luna? I doubt they'd accept them from me.”

Both Luna and Celestia stare at him in confusion before the elder sister speaks up. “I can do that for you though I'm wondering why you feel that this is important. Also I had forgotten that the spell to call mother was in there, but I had better let Twilight know about it before she does try to use it. What I am wondering though is how you knew those titles for our mother in the first place.”

As soon as she asked this she knew she shouldn't have bothered as he made a familiar motion of bringing his right hand up towards his face, causing a small growl of annoyance to escape her sister's throat. “That! Is a Secret!”

Author's Notes:

And another chapter in with a bit more world building. You know how hard it is to pull stuff from the Slayers anime when there is so little out there? I kind of want to find the non-anime mediums now to see if they add more that I could use. At least I can add things that would fit though I'm curious about what kind of spell would be created if it was based on Xellos. New spells can obviously be made as Lina actually developed Zelas Brid herself.

Edit: Forgot a bit near the end.

Chapter 15

The two just stared at each other daring the other to blink first. It would be hard to tell from an outsiders perspective though as one set of eyes appeared to be out of focus and dull while the other didn't appear to be open at all. With a cough from the sickly looking phoenix, the two separated with Xellos turning to look at Celestia as she rode along in her chariot as he ignored the glares from the pegasus escort.

“Do you really think that bringing her with you to Ponyville is a good idea? With some of the stories I've heard floating around your guard she can be rather mischievous, enough that I've heard a few are in therapy.” The princess just gave a patient smile as she looked over at the two.

“Oh you worry too much, Xellos. This is just a simple visit to get to know Twilight's friends better and from what I remember Fluttershy is extremely shy. Philomena will be the perfect excuse to get her to open up and talk voluntarily. I see no way for her to get into any of her usual mischief in a town like Ponyville either.” Xellos just looked at her for a few moments more before turning his gaze back to the elderly phoenix. Eventually he just shakes his head before glancing over at the approaching town.

“Well don't say I didn't warn you. At least I won't have to worry about being bored today with her on the loose.” Before any of the nearby ponies could blink he vanished from their view but not before a last whisper of words floated around to them. “I wonder if Pinkie has a tub of popcorn I could borrow.”

The guards were slightly relieved at his disappearance after receiving orders contrary to what their reactions would have been to such a dangerous threat. At the same time the began to worry about what the monster had planned while they were away from the capital.

~~~~~~~

Xellos was actually disappointed by how little was going wrong with the party and he had barely touched his popcorn because of it. Sure the antics of Rarity and Pinkie were mildly entertaining but he was expecting a bit more with the mischievous phoenix around. He watched as the princess was drawn away from the building and was about to leave himself when his attention was drawn to the birdcage that was abandoned by the guard. “Well, well, well. I may have given up too soon on my expectations of seeing something interesting happen.”

He watched as a familiar pink-maned pegasus snuck up on the cage and opened it without anyone noticing. After coaxing the bird out and onto her back she performed a feat of stealth that would have been something more expected of Pinkie Pie than the shy pegasus. His interest finally piqued, Xellos followed after the pair to see what was about to happen.

What followed was a somewhat entertaining bit of interaction between the two, though it left the monster annoyed at the phoenix as the kind mare didn't deserve the treatment she was given by the molting trickster. When Twilight arrived, followed soon after by a pair of royal guards who didn't even bother to do much of a search as a precaution. Seeing an opportunity, Xellos decided to taunt them a bit just to liven things up some more.

“I'm surprised to see you two out here. Weren't you both supposed to by guarded the princess' precious bird right now?” The two guard stallions froze in place before slowly turning to glare at the monster. Neither of the two said anything as they had been told to do nothing to provoke him so they soon faced forward again and went on their way. They did put on a bit more speed though at Xellos' parting words. “Well you had better hurry and get back to her. Who knows what punishments the princess will mete out if something were to happen to Philomena.”

With a chuckle as the two rushed back towards town in a panic, Xellos turned back to see the door to the cabin open and the bird he was keeping an eye on take off running followed soon after by the two ponies. This was the start of an entertaining chase scene between the three around Ponyville while trying to avoid each other as well as the royal guard.

“Those two really have no clue what they are dealing with do they? I would have thought that Twilight would have known something since she was being taught by sunbutt as well as the fact that her brother is a guard as well. Last I checked every guard has to deal with that pest as training for dealing with annoying nobles.” After watching the two, as well as a pair of guards, walk right by the bird hiding behind a newspaper he let out a sigh and shook his head. “This was amusing at first but now it's just sad. Maybe I should give Twilight a hint to remind her if she actually knows anything about her.”

Floating down from his perch he waited for the purple unicorn to pass by him before stick out the bottom of his staff into her path and shifting back into the physical plane. With predictable results Twilight went flying and landed upside down in a hay cart with her vision directed towards the monster. With a groan she picked herself up and leveled a glare at him. “What was that for? Don't you have something better to do than to annoy me?”

With a shake of her head Twilight looks around trying to spot her quarry. “I don't have time for this, I need to find Philomena before the princess finds out.” As she was about to rush off she ran face first into a barrier causing her to growl at Xellos.

“How rude. And here I was just trying to help you with your little phoenix problem. Of course I would have thought you knew all about her what with you being around the princess so much. Even then I would have thought your brother would have said something since he would have had to have served guard duty for her at least once by now.” Twilight's glare turned to a look of confusion as his words hit her.

How does he know about my brother? I never mentioned him to anypony since he arrived, though I probably should make a note to do so. And what does he mean that I should know about Philomena from him? I don't remember Shiny ever talking about a... phoenix... The unicorn's eyes shrunk to pinpricks as she remembered something she had overheard her brother telling her foal-sitter.

<><><><><><><>

The door to the Twilight household slammed open as the elder son returned from a rough day at the castle drawing the attention of his younger sibling away from her book. “I can't believe that the Princess has us guarding that blasted bird all day and tells us to keep her in her cage while not allowing us to lock her in or anything. We spent all day chasing her around the castle just to lose her in the kitchen fireplace. We thought that she burned to ashes in there but when we got back to her room we found her smugly sitting inside of her cage.”

The stallion threw himself onto the couch next to his sibling's foal-sitter who proceeded to run a hoof through his mane. “It wasn't until afterwards that the princess told us that Philomena is nearly impossible to kill and it would take dark magic to do so. The only time it is easy is during something the princess called her period of rebirth, whatever that means. When that time comes around the princess makes sure that she is always somewhere nearby so that nothing happens to her.”

<><><><><><><>

Xellos watched as Twilight's jaw dropped open as a look of realization came over her face and her eyes shrunk to mere pinpricks. “Oh ponyfeathers, I have to find Fluttershy fast.” With that the unicorn dashed off in search of her friend while the monster chuckled to himself.

He moved at a leisurely pace after the purple mare and soon found the three he had been watching just as the phoenix burst into flames. His eyes narrowed at the look on Fluttershy's face while Princess Celestia explained things to them all. As the phoenix pulled herself back together he got a mischievous look on his face as he maneuvered around for the perfect opportunity.

~~~~~~~

Laughter spread through the gathered ponies as Philomena got the nearby guards ponies to break their steadfast stoicism at Rainbow Dash's behest. Things were cut short though as a voice rang out above the laughter. “AQUA CREATE!” The looks of joy became looks of shock as a column of water sprang up in the middle of the gathered ponies and proceeded to soak the phoenix that was hovering above them all.

After the torrent ended they all stared at the grumpy looking bird as she was forced to land nearby as the weight of her wet feathers prevented her from flying well. The sound of chuckling turned all heads to see the figure of Xellos standing nearby and it was soon obvious that he was the one that cast the spell to drench the phoenix. Before any of them could react Philomena let out a squawk of outrage as she burst into flames, drying her feathers, before she took off after the now fleeing monster while trying to peck at his head.

The guards looked between the fleeing phoenix and the princess before the latter let out a sigh of exasperation. “Just let them go for now. They've been like this ever since she set one of his favorite meals on fire and he accidentally caused her to explode.” Twilight and her gathered friends all looked at the princess before looking over at the two fleeing beings with a look of worry.

Later, when the two returned looking a bit banged up, the princess was saying her goodbyes to the towns residents while Xellos was reclining against a tree near the chariot that the phoenix was riding in. The two refused to look at each other but it didn't stop the monster from saying one last thing to the bird. “Next time you decide to pull one of your pranks you had better make sure that it isn't going to be one that hurts somebody. I don't need you breaking an amusing pony like Fluttershy because you couldn't help yourself and if you do break them I might have to show you how bad of an idea it is to get on my bad side.”

The phoenix didn't make a sound but when she glanced over at the monster she was forced to cringe away at the murderous intent that was pouring off of him. For once in her long life the bird actually felt true fear.

Author's Notes:

Ehh, short chapter but that's mostly because I couldn't come up with much this time. I'll try to do better especially since next is a CMC episode. I think adding a bit more fun to their bag of tricks will be a good idea.

Chapter 16

“Ewwww... Gimme a break. Come on, Crusaders! Maybe we just need to try zip-lining again.“ With a sigh Scootaloo led the trio out of Sugarcube corner looking a bit disappointed about something. When mention of yet another song was made she picked up the pace to escape while the adults had a laugh at her reaction.

Unbeknownst to the three there had been a fourth being with them through their entire journey that day as he found their efforts somewhat amusing. “Too bad I didn't show up a few years earlier. Catching at least one of those events would have been rather entertaining and maybe...” Xellos left that thought half formed as he watched the three arguing about if they should try for a zip-lining cutie mark again or not.

When the three started wrestling around he started shaking his head before phasing back into normal view. “Well, well, well. Trying for wrestling cutie marks again I see? Or would it be in arguing with each other?”

The three froze in place when the monster's voice rang out behind them and they slowly turned their heads to look back at him sheepishly. Quickly the three composed themselves and got into a huddle. “Ah don't know if we should talk to him any more. Mah sister told me to stay away from him and that she doesn't trust him.”

Sweetie Belle shakes her head at Apple Bloom before tossing her bit in. “I don't know. He may be a bit strange but he's only helped out whenever he showed up. Plus he did teach us some neat magic.”

“I say we go for it. It's not like we have any better ideas right now and you have to admit that what he showed us already is something nopony else has tried before.” The other two look at Scootaloo before nodding and breaking away from their huddle. What the three weren't expecting though was for Xellos to have snuck closer while they were talking to stand above them and listen in causing them to fall back onto their rears when they spotted him.

“Well if you want to learn more all you have to do is ask. It's not like what I've taught you so far are a secret really no matter how much the princesses wish otherwise. Besides with how talented Sweetie Belle is at what I've already shown her I'm sure you two will do well once we find what you work best with.” The non-unicorns of the trio look over at Sweetie Belle as she blushes at the praise though she frowns a bit when she glances back at her empty flank. Quickly the three huddle together for one more whisper session before turning back to the monster.

“We graciously accept your proposal to teach us more magic.” Xellos chuckles at the serious tone coming from the unicorn filly and ruffles Scootaloo's mane as he walks by the three, causing her to flail her hooves at him in annoyance. It didn't stop her from following after him though with her friends towards an open field outside of town.

Once they arrived at their destination Xellos turned to look over the three as they sat down around him. “Hmm, what to teach you three this time. I didn't think about it last time but the raywing spell was actually not really suited to you three, even though one of you took to it rather well.”

Sweetie Belle brought a hoof up to her chin in thought for a moment before she looked up at the biped. “If the spell wasn't suited to us then when was Apple Bloom able to fly around so much better than Scootaloo? Shouldn't her being a pegasus make her be able to fly better with that spell?”

Her other two fillies nodded at this question though the pegasus looked at her friend with a bit of jealousy. “That's exactly why she had troubles with the spell. Her instincts as a pegasus would be telling her that something is wrong while she is using the spell since it blocks out the feelings that normally come with flight. She really should have no problems learning any other involving air shamanism such as this one.”

With a flick of his wrist he pointed his hand in the direction of the Everfree before chanting a spell. “SCATTER BRID!” From his extended palm a scattering of lights appeared and started floating in the direction he was aiming, their speed held back by his will. The three fillies watch in wonder as the golden orbs slowly float by them before they slowly reach out tho them.

“Ooh, pretty.” While it was Sweetie Belle that was the first to comment, Scootaloo was the first one to touch one of the orbs causing it to burst and a small jolt of electricity flowed through her body causing her fur to puff out. At her yelp of surprise the other two jerk their hooves away and stare at the fluffed up pegasus with the looks on their faces shifting between shock and amusement.

“Well I guess that's one way to learn not to touch strange spells.” At the orange filly's glare of annoyance he let out a chuckle before explaining. “This is one of the weakest lightning spells that are out there and, while pretty, is more of an annoyance as you can see. Of course I'm sure that you can think of some interesting uses for it and even the weakest spells can do some damage if you use them wrong.”

Pulling out a scroll with the spell incantation he tosses it to Scootaloo before turning towards Sweetie Belle. “I'm not sure what magic would be best for you yet, though from what I hear about your cooking then fire magic might be a good choice.” The unicorn blushes at his comment and glares at her friends as they chuckle at her. “But you have been doing well enough with white magic so I'll give you one spell for later, since there isn't anything to practice on, while showing you another useful spell.”

With another flick of his wrist he causes the still floating balls of electricity to come to a halt before they all converge at a point on the ground nearby. When they connect a flash of light streams out before they vanish leaving a smoldering patch of ground which soon evolves into a small fire. With his hand still outstretched he begins to chant again before finishing with the words of power. “EXTBALL!”

“Oooh!” The unicorn's eyes shone as she watched the fire get drawn into a solitary point before being snuffed out completely.

“Like the other spell this is a weaker form of another spell but it's enough to handle smaller fires. The other one is used to remove poisons and minor magical effects so good luck finding a way to practice it.” The unicorn filly leaped around in excitement before she snagged the scrolls with the spells inscribed on them and began her own practice session.

The remaining filly and Xellos just shook their heads at the unicorn before turning back to each other. After a while Applebloom started to shift around a bit as Xellos just observed her without saying anything. She opened her mouth to say something but was interrupted by the biped. “I never thought about it before, but earth shamanism, the type of magic that would fit you best, doesn't really have many small scale spells to practice with.”

“Don't ya know any spells ah could learn that aren't earth type spells? Anything would work as long as it has a chance for me ta earn a cutie mark.” Looking at the filly's hopeful expression the monster thought through what he knew and with a small grin he decided on a spell that had potential entertainment value in the future.”

“Actually, I know exactly what spell you should try to learn. I think even Twilight will agree that this spell will be just perfect.” Applebloom was worried by the grin that was on the monster's face but her excitement at learning new magic wiped all her fears away.

<><><><><><><>

Sweet Apple Acres was in an uproar that morning as strange creatures wandered around it tearing up trees and knocking the apples off into a pile near the barn. The creatures weren't much to look at as if the were put together by an amateur, just walking rocks with arms. Their destruction wasn't unopposed as a pair of earth ponies tried to contain the damage as well as they could. “All right ya varmints, cut that out right now!”

Applejack struggled with one of the creatures that she had lassoed while her brother tried to push a second one with all his strength yet they kept on moving while furrows were dug up under the hooves of the ponies. Their younger sister was running towards them from town followed by a purple figure that she was sent to find. “Sis, ah got Twilight just like you asked!”

“What is going on Applejack? What are these things and where did they come from?” Twilight looked around at the rock creatures as they continued with their systematic destruction of the orchard and gathering of apples. The young filly looked away in embarrassment at the question and started scuffing at the ground with her hoof.

“Um, ah kind of made them with a spell Mister Xellos showed me yesterday. Ah didn't mean for things to turn out like this, honest.” The unicorn looked down at the filly in surprise before she brought a hoof up to her face and started shaking her head.

“Of course he would be involved somehow. Every time something strange happens lately it somehow involves him. Tell me, what exactly was this spell supposed to do?” Twilight observes the creatures as she asks this while her horn lights up to try and hold one of the creatures back.

“Well all he said was that it would make something called a golem that would follow my commands. So ah thought ah would try them out and made a few ta help harvest apples. At first they were doing what they should have but after a while they started breaking and uprooting trees while they worked.” Twilight nodded to the filly while she observed the reactions of the golems as they were held back.

“Hmm. They don't seem to be all that smart really. They are still doing exactly what you ordered them to do but only that. They aren't reacting to anything else even if something gets in their way. Have you tried to tell them to stop yet?” The filly nodded as she watched her siblings continue trying to stop them.

“That was the first thing ah tried before getting mah sister. Ah don't what what happened to them for them ta stop listening ta me or why they started destroying everything.” Twilight nodded once again as she changed tactics and started lifting the golem she had in her grip into the air. With a wince she tried to crush it in her grip but it proved to be more resilient than she expected as she started sweating. With a frown she set the creature down and tried to blast it with a telekinetic bolt, also to no avail.

“I'd compliment you on how tough you made these things if they didn't go crazy like this. I guess now is as good a time as any to try out something new I learned.” Taking a wide-legged stance the unicorn bowed her head as she began to chant the spell she had learned. “Shining down upon the land and sea, making things grow and bloom. Great and powerful sun, we honor you this day.” She brought her head up sharply as she focused her energies on the creature she was targeting. “SOLAR ARRAY!”

With a flash of light the area around the golem erupted into a pillar of solar energy as the spell was unleashed upon it from on high. The three farm ponies just gawked at the tableau that the unicorn had unleashed while she panted heavily from the unexpected toll that casting the spell took on her. Soon the light faded leaving only the scorched form of the golem which still smoldered a bit before it began to crumble away as the magic animating it faded.

“It actually worked. Now I just need to do it half a dozen more times and...” Before she could continue she fell to her knees as the drain from the spell took it's toll on her. Applejack quickly rushed over to her friend and tried to help her up again.

“Are ya all right sugarcube? Ah don't know what ya did but ah don't think that ya can do that again let alone six more times.” Twilight shook her head before she staggered up to a standing position once again. She was about to stubbornly try and cast the spell again but she was stopped by a clapping sound which drew the attention of all the ponies present to a nearby tree.

“Bravo, bravo. I knew that you would be able to use the full power of that spell. Though you may want to hold back a bit next time, you almost gave me a tan way over here.” The purple unicorn's eye twitched erratically as she looked at the monster lounging on a tree branch before she brought a hoof up to her face.

“Why didn't I listen to the princess when she said to avoid him. I thought keeping an eye on him would have been a good idea but he is turning out to be more trouble than he is worth.” She speaks quietly enough that only the nearby filly can hear her but she raises her voice as she addresses the lounging biped. “Why are you here anyways? So much of this is your fault so why are you just sitting there instead of helping?!”

Xellos just stretches his arms above his head while he yawns before turning his head away from the ponies. “Now why would I do that when you are doing such a wonderful job at it already? Besides, Applebloom was still there when I used another spell to get rid of the one I showed her how to make a golem. Even then these ones should be gone again in about an hour or two.”

At the mention that the filly knew of the spell all eyes turned towards her causing her to flinch away and blush. “Um, ah may not have been paying attention while you were doing it so ah may have forgot half of it.”

The ponies shook their heads sadly before they all winced at the sound of another tree being uprooted. Xellos scratched at the back of his neck when all eyes turned back to him before he let out a sigh. “Oh fine, it's not like things were going to get any more interesting here anyways. You might want to check with Sweetie Belle to help fix the trees since she could use the practice.”

Leaping out of the tree he takes a few steps towards the golems before he calls out. “DUG BREAK!” With a shudder all the rock creatures stopped in place before they each collapsed into piles of dirt as the spell animating them faded. The ponies sighed in relief at seeing the destruction being halted and before they could turn back to Xellos their attention was drawn towards Ponyville by a loud shriek.

“Speaking of, it seems that Rarity found that gift of those blue flowers that were left in her bed to give her sister a chance for more practice. It is probably best that I take my leave for a few days, so until next time...” As he trailed off he disappeared from view causing the two adult mares to just stare at him before simultaneously slamming a hoof into their faces in exasperation.

Author's Notes:

Hmm, that should do for now but maybe I'll come back later to add a bit more. I may have to start creating new spells since there really isn't much variety of spells outside of 'spell of blow stuff up x.'

Chapter 17

The great doors of Tartarus. None alive know what it is made of but many have tried to break through the doors to little avail. Despite that the once pristine door was now etched with cracks along its surface and other than the gate's guardian no sane creature ventured near. That's why it was odd that something other than Cerberus was near it and even rapped on it with his staff to a tune as old as time.

“Shave and a haircut...” Xellos turned his head to press an ear to the door as something on the other side slammed into it twice before everything went silent. Standing back from the door the monster ran a hand over one of the heads of Cerberus as he looked over the cracks.

“Not good. Not good at all. Looks like you're going to have to earn your keep soon old boy. If you're lucky it won't come to that if the princesses figure out a way to fix it.” With a final pat on the canine's head he started walking along the wall while dragging a hand along it. The wall had fared much better than the door but that was to be expected as it was many time thicker. Even so there was somewhere along the many miles that contained a breach of some sort yet after months of searching he had yet to find it.

“You'd think that it would be easy to find a hole in a wall that separates two realms but I just can't seem to locate it. Either it's not here or something is hiding it would take more power than any of the ones that I know have escaped can pull off.” Moving away from the wall he surveys the desolate landscape around the prison before taking off flying back in the direction of Ponyville.

He was most of the way there when he saw a flash of purple below him which looked vaguely familiar. “Hello... Was that who I thought it was?” Flying backwards while keeping an eye on the location he saw the figure he soon spotted it again and was able to confirm that it was Spike that he saw. “Well this is interesting, I must have missed something while I was gone if he's looking like that.”

He observed Spike as he walked along with a sack on a stick while looking broken-hearted over something. Seeing as it was starting to rain Xellos decided to follow after him in curiosity since he had rarely seen the dragon alone outside of town or even away from Twilight's library. “Hmm, if I remember right when I was exploring the area there should be a cave in the direction he is heading. Of course if he does then things could get entertaining.”

As he had thought the young dragon stumbled into the cave that was in the area where he found a huge pile of gems and other treasures. Shaking his head as Spike started eating some of the gems, Xellos just watched unseen as he waited for things to get worse. While the dragon was swinging a sword around that he had found he didn't notice the giant figure that was awakening from its sleep and had noticed the invader.

What followed was a rather embarrassing sequence of events as the purple dragon tried to act tough in front of the adult dragon nearly a hundred times his size. Xellos was about to step in himself when an owl flew in to save Spike and eventually lead him to Twilight who had been looking for him. He watched as the trio galloped away from the cave but when he saw the larger dragon prepare to give chase he just sighed.

“I wouldn't do that if I were you. I can't be held responsible for what happens to you if something were to happen to them.” The green dragon's head reared back at hearing his voice and he was about to attack the new intruder until he saw who it was that was stopping him. Glaring at the monster for a moment he exhaled a stream of smoke from his nostrils before speaking with a voice full of venom.

“You. What, murdering most of my kind wasn't enough for you so now you have to humiliate us by letting your little pets steal from us now?” With a snort of disgust the dragon walked back over to his pile of treasure before going through it to see what was missing.

“Oh I wasn't talking about me doing anything, though I may have watched for a while, but if anything happened to them then Princess Celestia would be very angry. She has enough to deal with what with Tartarus slowly letting its inhabitants free somewhere.” The last part was muttered but the dragon easily heard it with his enhanced hearing. Grunting in annoyance the dragon dropped down in front of his horde keeping the monster separated from it.

“Hmph, I would say that you would like for your kind to escape from there, but I've learned over the years that there are certain rules that you follow. You would never say or do anything without a reason so why are you here? And don't bother trying to threaten me, I could care less about your precious plans and you won't kill me unless I interfere with your plans.” Xellos just yawned as he twisted a finger in his ear.

“Oh, there's no reason for me to be hear other than curiosity. That dragon is just part of my current entertainment of the century. Still I would hate for you to get nothing out of this encounter so just to show that there are no hard feelings I'll leave this for you.” Setting a heavily gem-encrusted crown on the crown the monster vanished from sight leaving the dragon to his own thoughts. With a sigh he picks up and examines the crown before sliding it on on of his spines.

“The elders are going to want to know about what he said about Tartarus. How humiliating, first having my horde raided by a whelp and then being forced into being a messenger for him.” Shaking his head the dragon got to work sealing his home before taking his long trip across the world.

<><><><><><><>

“Come on, Twilight! Why can't I keep it? It's the perfect size for me and you know how hard it is to get something like this that I can use.” Spike kept a tight grip on the sword that he had found in the dragon's cave as Twilight tried to pry it away from him.

“And I said no! You don't know how to use one of these and you could really hurt yourself.” Twilight yanked her head back trying to pull the weapon out of her assistant's grasp but no matter how much she tried he just wouldn't release it.

That was the situation that Xellos found when he arrived back in the library much to his amusement. He was curious why it took them until the morning to have this argument but at least he knew a way to end the argument. Appearing between the two he grasped the hilt of the blade and pulled it out of the scabbard to examine it. As Twilight's magic had been focused on the sword itself, Spike was sent flying backwards with the scabbard in the wall. “Huh, this is in pretty good shape for something that was sitting in a dragon's horde for who knows how long.”

Releasing her magical grip from the blade, Twilight just glared at the monster before letting out a sigh. “Xellos, now what are you doing here? Don't you have something better to do than bother me?”

With a shrug Xellos handed the sword back to Spike blade-first who wrapped his arms around it tightly much to Twilight's shock as she let out a yelp of panic. Rushing over to the young dragon she closely examined him for injuries but when she found nothing she leveled another glare at the monster. “What? Do you really think a simple blade like that would harm a dragon? Even one as young as him? Besides there are still many books I haven't gotten around to reading so the library is the perfect place for me to be.” Shaking her head Twilight just sets her assistant down before looking at him.

“Fine, you can keep it Spike but you better be careful with that and not treat it like a toy. If you hurt anypony with that then you'll be grounded for a year.” With a squee the dragon darted out of the room with the blade to find somewhere to practice with it. Shaking her head at her assistant's exuberance she turned back to the monster who had stepped away to browse the books. “Now why are you hear Xellos? For real this time.”

“Well if you must know I'm just seeing how the preparations for Pinkie's special day are. She's practically family so I thought it would be a good time to catch up with her a bit.” Twilight grimaced at being reminded at the reminder of the monster's connection with one of her friends and the headaches that came with it. She was still suspicious of Xellos as most encounters with him ended with a headache for one of the ponies involved.

“That's it? Just a little family event? No pranks or dangerous events this time?” Vanishing from where he was, Xellos appeared in front of the unicorn and poked her nose causing her to brush his hand away with a hoof.

“Not all all. If I did stuff like that all the time it would start to get boring. Though I guess it wouldn't hurt to have something prepared just in case, with her sense of humor she probably wouldn't mind.” Twilight just gave a deadpan stare at the monster before sighing in exasperation.

“Fine, if you're going to be here I might as well let you in on what we are planning. That way at the least whatever plans you have won't interfere with it since you don't seem to want to hurt her.” After making sure that the pony in question wasn't around she let him in on the plan the group had for the upcoming day while he listened intently.

<><><><><><><>

“Oh dear. I thought that their plan was too good to be true. She respects them enough not to pry but her imagination is just too much for her sometimes.” Xellos watched from the shadows as Pinkie sat at a table with various random objects that she had found around Sugarcube Corner. The only thing at her little pity party that made any amount of sense was her pet Gummy.

Shaking his head he stepped out of the corner in order to try and cheer the pink mare up. “Hey there Pinkie. How's my favorite party mare of Ponyville?”

Pinkie Pie barely glanced over from her conversation with a pile of rocks to see his appearance. “Oh you, are you here to abandon me as well like my so called friends?”

Xellos just lifted an eyebrow at the flat-maned mare. “Well, someone sure has the case of the grumps, especially today of all days. Good thing I have just the thing to cheer you up.”

The only reaction from the pink mare was a twitch of her ear as the monster started digging around deep into his satchel. “Now where did I put those. I just finished looking through them yesterday so they should be somewhere around here. I really need to sort this thing out so that... Ah ha!”

With an exclamation of triumph he pulls out a small box and sets it on the table near Gummy. Pinkie was facing away from him at this time with her hooves crossed in front of her but her head was turned slightly to see what he was doing. Seeing how Pinkie seemed to be hallucinating new friends for herself, Xellos decided to play along with it by using a couple items he made out of boredom.

“Since you are collecting new friends how about a few that I've found while I've traveled. Let's start with good old Applejack.” Pulling from the box was a large bottle of the amber liquid with a wig and tail much like the pony but sized for the bottle. It didn't draw much of a reaction from the mare other than a lifted eyebrow but she she did continue to watch as the monster reached into the box for another item.

“Next up we have the fashionable Pearity.” Following his statement was him pulling a pear that had the matching style of the unicorn it represented. This one drew more of a reaction from Pinkie as the corner of her mouth twitched upwards.

“Then there's Buttershy, she can't stay long though as she tends to melt into the background quickly.” Yet again another item appeared with the look of the corresponding pony, this time attached to a stick of butter. Pinkie's mane started to twitch at this one as she let out an involuntary snort. Xellos grinned at this as he was looking away into the box again for the final item as he couldn't think of something for one of the five ponies that weren't around.

“And lastly we have this magnificent beauty, Toilet Sporkle” This last one finally cracked through the mare's grumpy exterior as the snorts became a chuckle that devolved into full blown laughter as she fell onto her back and started kicking her hooves up in the air. Xellos was proud of his work on this one as he had to actually convince someone to actually invent the spork and then he needed to get enough of them to bend around into the shape of a toilet.

Once Pinkie recovered and wiped a tear from her eye she bounced up and wrapped her hooves around Xellos in a hug. “Oh silly uncle. You always did know how to cheer up the family. At least that's what Granny Pie always said.”

Patting the mare on the back Xellos looked towards the window and saw a familiar rainbow mane zipping by before a knocking sound was hear on the door. Pinkie stiffened up at the sound but when she looked up at the monster he just nodded to her and waved a hand to the door causing it to open. Rainbow Dash took a moment to take in the view of the room and raised an eyebrow at the items on the table as well as the position the two were in. “Did I miss something here?”

Separating from the honorary uncle of the family, Pinkie slowly walked towards the pegasus before slowly passing her by while giving her the stink-eye. Rainbow Dash was confused about what was going on and pointed her wing at the pink mare while looking at Xellos for answers. Shaking his head he just ruffled the mare's mane as he walked by making her flail her hooves at him before leveling a glare at him.

Taking another glance around the room and at the various items she did a quick lap of the room before flying out the door causing it to shut behind her. Gummy blinked before licking at an eye as he stared at the three items on the table, the bottle of amber liquid having gone missing.

Soon the group arrived at the barn where Pinkie found that her friends were avoiding her to set up a surprise birthday party for her. She had forgotten that today was that day what with all the planning she did for the rest of town and even many others in other places. Later when the party started winding down Xellos approached the mare with a small stack of boxes. “More presents?! But you already gave me one when we opened the ones from everypony else.”

Xellos just grinned as he set them down before pulling out a postcard that had a picture of a bunch of gray-toned mares and a brown stallion. “Oh I'm just delivering a few things from some important ponies that couldn't make it today. A Happy Birthday just isn't the same without something from family, now is it?” With a gasp of surprise and happiness the pink mare grabbed up the biped in another hug while the rest of her friends watched in bemusement at the two unpredictable beings.

Author's Notes:

Could it be?! An actual update of this after nearly 5 months?! I'd like to say I'd update this more often now but my whims of whimsy won't let me plan ahead like that of what I write. Of course I do plan on another chapter of this one soon, though it's looking like only a touch of the season 1 finale will be in it just for a small bit of info for something else while it will focus more on Discord. Just don't expect the usual lovable one as I may have to add a gore tag just for that chapter.

Chapter 18

Author's Notes:

Gore warning this chapter. Also adding the tag since there will be more scenes of horribleness later.

Xellos chuckled to himself as he went through the pile of photos he recently had developed after the recent Grand Galloping Gala event in Canterlot. He may not have been officially invited, but he still had a ticket if he wanted to be open about it but staying hidden to watch those six mares demolish the place was so much more entertaining. He only became visible long enough to take pictures of the various happenings that interested him before disappearing back into the astral plane once more. Of course that didn't mean he was completely unnoticed as Pinkie had brought him a snack or two when she had a moment between her attempts at livening the place up.

Pulling out the wonderful picture of Rarity being used as a shield, he pondered it for a moment before smiling as a twisted idea came to him. “Now all I need to do is convince her, and that shouldn't be all that hard if I just spin it right.” After putting most of the photos back into his bag the bipedal monster soon was off towards Carousel Boutique and the mare that resided there.

Inside he found Rarity in her sewing room as she attempted to work on some new dress. She wasn't getting very far though as she constantly kept glancing back at the ponyform with her Gala dress on it, that was still damaged from that night, before sighing and turning back to her work. After watching the unicorn do that a couple times Xellos decided to appear in the line of site and waited for her to look once again.

The next time Rarity looked up she was confused as the last thing she saw was no longer there and was instead replace by a dull red gem. Her gaze drifted upwards until she came face to face with Xellos, and the mask of a hissing snake he was wearing, causing her to recoil backwards in fright. “Wha-ha-ha-haaAAA!” Getting her bearings after putting a bit of distance between herself and the monster, she leveled a scowl at him before huffing and turning back to her work. “Oh it's you again. What do you want this time you brute? Can't you see I have work to do?”

In response the biped only chuckled as he slid the mask back into his satchel. “Oh don't be like that. I'm only here to check up on you after your magnificent showing at the Gala.” With a flourish he produces a set of pictures showing the indignities that the mare went through during the event causing her to blush in embarrassment before she shredded the objects with her magic.

“Hmph, I would rather forget that night, thank you very much. Now if you don't mind I'd like to get back to work without any interruptions.” She turned back to her work and proceeded to ignore the monster whether he left the room or not. Xellos just watched her work for a few more minutes before he grinned and leaned down to by her ear.

“Well what if I told you that I have an idea on how to get back at the so-called Prince and all it'll take is a little bit of your time.” Even though she tried to ignore him, Rarity's ear flicked as he whispered his plan to her. Ponies walking by the boutique shivered at the cackling laughter that soon floated out of the building.

<><><><><><><>

“I've been wondering when this event would get around to happening. At least now I know that all of that wasn't a dream though the reality isn't much better than fantasy.” Xellos poked at the cotton candy cloud that he found in front of himself before licking off the chocolate milk that dripped from it. Looking away from the cloud he watched as the multitude of pegasii tried to deal with with the odd weather while the rest of the ponies tried to tame the chaos on the ground.

He found it odd that none of the Elements of Harmony were in the area so he was guessing that they were either on the way to Canterlot or were already there. His curiosity about if things will play out like he remembered, he flew off in the direction of the city to watch and maybe take a few pictures. As he neared the city he froze as a beam of light flared away from near the castle followed by a multitude of explosions from the same area. “Now this is worrying. None of that happened in the show, yet it still seems oddly familiar.”

<><><><><><><>

Minutes Earlier

“Please Twilight, please be careful when you deal with him.” Princess Celestia watched as the six mares entered the maze in search of the Elements of Harmony. Discord was one of the greatest threats the she and her sister had to face and was in fact the only one they weren't able to handle with their own power in the past. True the sisters had grown in strength over the years, but Luna's powers had atrophied over the past thousand years and was still at only a fraction of her former glory.

“Now what's with the long face, Celly? I thought you would be happy to see me after all these years. Why else would you have kept me around in your personal garden instead of locking me away in your old castle?” The princess' head jerked around towards the draconequus who had appeared behind her while the pesasus guards in the room flared their wings at the figure.

“Intruder! Protect the Princess!” The dozen guards around the room charged at Discord in unison and tried to drive him away from the princess. Celestia tried to warn them all to stop but she froze as an odd feeling radiated off of the chimera causing her to only stare at him as a blue glow shone from his eyes. Before she could do anything or any of the guards could reach the two Discord brought up his claw and snapped it, bathing the room in a spray of red.

Celestia was in a state of paralyzed horror at what she witnessed as her hooves came up in front of her face as she stared at the crimson liquid dripping off of them. As her gaze surveyed the room and settled on the remains of her guards that lay whitely amongst all the red, there was only one thing that she could say. “What kind of horrible monster have you become Discord? You never would have stooped this low back then.”

Discord's only response was to burst out into the most malicious laughter that she had ever heard from him and never wanted to hear again. Slowly the draconequus advanced on her and the princess could do nothing as she was frozen by the look in his eyes. She could see death approaching her in his blueish eyes when a beam of energy impacted him in the side and sent him flying through the wall. “Stay away from my sister you monster!”

Standing in the doorway to the throne room stood Luna wearing a look of righteous anger that was directed at the draconequus. Held within her magic was a brown, curved stave with a diamond-shaped hole in the center while the ends emitted a light that formed the string connecting the two ends which gave off a glow much like that from the moon. Without sparing a glance towards her sister she advanced on the hole made by her attack while carrying another object which she lay at her sister's hooves. She gave a look towards the bones in the room, which caused her look of fury to break momentarily, before she glared outside towards where Discord was picking himself up off the ground. “He has gone too far this time Tia. We can't just let him do what he wants this time or else there may not be an Equestria left after he is defeated.”

Celestia looked down at the item that was dropped in front of her as her eyes trace along the black bone-like structure that had small three-pronged blade-like objects on each end. With another look at the blood and gore covering herself and the room her face hardened as she grasped the object in her magic and caused it to ignite from both ends with a golden light. “You're right, if we don't fight then those guards... Those guards would have died for nothing. We can't let him run rampant especially with my student searching for the Elements.”

With a flash of golden light, Celestia teleported the two princesses outside to face the murderous draconequus. The two put some distance between each other to give them room to move if they needed it while Discord finally rose to his feet while poking at his tooth. “That actually hurt a bit. I'd say being stuck in a giant rock for a thousand years hasn't hurt you any little Loony, but that little toy of yours is new. Much more violent than those pesky Elements of Harmony I must say. I think my tooth is actually a bit loose now.”

Princess Luna drew back the string of her bow while glaring at the chaotic being. “Greater beings than thou have fallen to the Great Weapons of Light. Years after we defeated thou the kingdoms united to face an even greater evil that threatened to destroy the world. Brave souls discovered these in temples of ancient deities and brought them to us in our time of need.”

Celestia started twirling her lance as she spread her wings out behind her. “I would offer you the chance to surrender Discord, but after what you did to my ponies you have shown that you are nothing but a heartless monster that needs to be stopped. You better be prepared as this fight will not be like our last.”

With a downward slash of her weapon, Celestia fired off a beam of golden energy from the lance at Discord's lower body while Luna fired high with her own. Discord reacted by opening up two holes in the air to intercept the beams of energy forcing the two princesses to dodge or be hit by their own attacks. The resulting explosions as they hit the ground was enough to alert the guards to the problem and they started swarming in before Princess Celestia stopped them. “Royal Guard, stand down! Do not engage Discord as you are no match for him, let us handle him while you evacuate the surrounding area.”

The guards were unsure of if they wanted to follow the order, but seeing the princesses being forced to dodge a flying elephant which exploded when it hit the ground made the rethink their plan and instead nod to their rulers. Discord watched as they ran off with a pout before turning a malicious grin on the two princesses. “Well that's no fun, and here I thought that I was going to have more toys to play with. Oh well, I guess my little friends will have to occupy their time until I'm through with you.”

With a snap of his claws bright flashes appeared all over the city before silence settled over Canterlot. It only lasted for moments before the screams started to sound out all over the city followed by the roaring of beasts. Throughout the city ponies were attacked by the large numbers of chimeras, imps, and rocs that had appeared as a result of Discord's magic. The two princesses watched all this through the viewing screen that the draconequus had summoned up as if to taunt them.

In the case of Luna it worked as she increased the rate of her attacks as she grew a bit more reckless while her sister did what she could to deflect the attacks sent at her. Discord was hard pressed to avoid the increased rate of attacks and the palace gardens had seen better days at it was filled with craters from the attacks by the princesses as well as the random objects conjured by Discord.

The fight was essentially a stalemate as neither side could get an advantage over the other as they traded attacks back and forth. Seeing that things weren't going anywhere will the smaller attacks, Celestia flew close to her sister to give her a message before breaking away. “Luna, keep his attention for a moment while I try something.” The ruler of the night just nods and steps up her attacks even more so as to keep Discord off-balance while Celestia landed behind a bit of cover and focused her magic on her weapon.

“Glorious light that guides us, strike down from the heavens upon-” She couldn't get any further than that as a shovel slammed down on her head from the other side of the cover she was hiding behind, dazing her heavily and sending her to the ground.

“Now now, none of that. Things are just starting to get interesting and we don't need you sneaking off and trying to hide.” Luna could only watch as she struggled to free herself from the cotton candy cloud she found herself stuck in the Discord materialized around her when her sister took cover. Seeing her sister brought down by the monster she started to struggle even harder to no avail.

As Discord brought up his paw for the final blow on the Princess the color of his eyes faded to yellow and red as he paused. “That should be enough for now, I have other ponies to deal with.” Raising his claw he snapped his talons causing him to vanish as he teleported away, leaving one princess confused while the other one rubbed her head as she tried to rise to her hooves.

“Oh dear. This is not good. Things weren't supposed to happen like this at all. I really hope this was all just a fluke and things turn out like they should.” Princess Celestia looked up to see Xellos standing in front of her looking in the direction of Ponyville. She leaned heavily on her weapon as she tried to clear her head and tried to make sense of the biped while her sister, not having heard him, took a different approach on seeing him.

“Now thou art here?! 'Tis bad enough that we had to deal with Discord's insanity, we do not need thou to make things worse!” Xellos ignored the dark princess for the most part except for a moment when he waved a finger back towards her causing a geyser of water to wash over her from below with enough force to clear away the cloud she was trapped in. Once the deluge ended, the princess sputtered in annoyance as she glared at the monster. “Really?!”

Celestia tried to ignore her sister's reaction to the monster's appearance as she instead tried to fathom the meaning of his words. “What do you mean by things turning out like they should? Don't tell me you have something to do with how Discord is acting.”

He only turned his head towards the solar princess before looking over the city and towards Ponyville. “I'd like to say that's a secret, but for once I have now clue why he is acting like that. He's not acting at all like I expected and the few texts I found also paint him in a different light.”

A trio of chimera that were summoned by Discord came into view but before either princess could react Xellos' eyes opened and they were rapidly shredded by innumerable small black streaks. Both alicorns looked on in shock at the brutality that he showed before he tosses a small smile back at them. “Well it looks like you two have your work cut out for you keeping things together here. Since you are going to be busy cleaning up I think I'll go and have a word with the so-called Lord of Chaos.”

The two watched as Xellos vanished from their view before Luna landed next to her sister. “As much as it hates us to admit it, he is right. Our subjects need help to handle this threat that they are unprepared for. We just hope that he doesn't make things worse.”

Celestia shook her head to clear the last of the effects of the blow to her head. “I have never been able to tell what he is thinking, but I believe that he, at least for now, is on our side. His true plans are still a mystery to me as all he'll ever say is that his goal is to bring about the end of the world. He has kept saying that whenever I asked while you were gone but he has never shown any sign of doing so but I expect that everything he has done has been to our benefit as well as his.”

Luna just stared at her sister before turning away with a 'hmph.' “We have not seen anything useful of his hassling of us. But 'tis a conversation for later, we have a city to retake.”

With a nod the two took off into the city, Luna towards the part of the city where her Lunar Guard were barracked to awaken them to reinforce the city. Celestia instead went to assist her own guard in driving the creatures out of the city. She quickly found a large group of her guards defending a large area where many of the city's citizens had evacuated to and landed next to a unicorn lieutenant that was shielding the area while issuing orders to his subordinates.

“Lieutenant! I need a status report on how the battle has been going while I was occupied by Discord.” The lieutenant looked over and saluted the princess before waving off the sergeant he was talking to to bring his last orders to the proper location.

“Ma'am! We have currently lost a quarter of the city but we are holding now that we have established a base camp and fortified what we had. We don't have a count of civilian casualties yet, but many good ponies have been lost protecting them, including the Captain of the Guard. We are currently trying to reach a pocket of resistance in the part of the city we have lost but the enemy has amassed heavily in that area.” With a nod the princess looked over the map that he had laid out on the table in front of him before she looked up as a scout came barreling up to them.

“Princess! Sir! The enemy has made it through the shield from below!” The unicorn looked up in shock while the princess just frowned before she tilted her head as she heard something. At the edge of the barrier one of the buildings fell apart as the creatures erupted outwards from within and started attacking the nearby guards. The pegasii guards couldn't take to the air effectively as the downdraft from the wings of the many rocs kept them grounded as those who attempted to take off were taken down rapidly.

“Lieutenant, drop the shield.” He and the scout looked over at Celestia in shock but seeing the look in her eyes the unicorn nodded. As soon as the bubble shield came down, beams of energy flew through the sky, vaporizing the rocs on contact. The sky was only clear momentarily as it was soon filled with bat-winged ponies as the Lunar Guard arrived. “No more. I won't lose any more ponies to these creatures. Captain, you stay here and continue coordinating the efforts to retake the city. SOLAR GUARD! TO BATTLE!”

With her shout using the Royal Canterlot Voice, the princess ignited her weapon once more and charged into the fray leaving the bewildered newly-made captain behind with the dazed scout. “The Solar Lance and Lunar Bow really existed? They were always legends, I never thought that I'd actually see them being used by the princesses.” The captain only responded with a shake of his head as he redoubled his efforts to save the city.

<><><><><><><>

“Now if I was a spirit of chaos, where would I be?” Xellos pondered as he looked around Ponyville as the sun and moon switched places at a steady rate. He had been extremely interested in what things would look like in person when Discord got loose but so far he was not impressed. He watched as the group of ballerina buffalo danced by while the various ponies that met with Discord acted out in ways outside of how they usually did.

“Honestly I expected more from him, though there still seems to be something off about him. Before he was acting nothing like everything I've found says him to be, yet now he is back to what I expected.” He shook his head while eyeing an odd pink filly that flew by using a propeller beanie.

When he first flew into the town he had found the bearers of harmony but had avoided them when he saw the state they were all in. So when he noticed Twilight running around and looking as colorful as she usually was he knew he didn't have much more time. He thought back on the knowledge that he had of what should have happened and he decided to check the very center of town as that was where he should have be waiting.

He was correct in his thoughts as he found the draconequus there, but unlike before he wasn't alone. Discord was holding in his talons by her neck a familiar cerise-coated mare while the foals of the town were huddled in terror at his feet. As he slowly choked the life out of her Xellos noted that Discord's eyes were starting to glow blue once again and, despite what his instincts were telling him, he decided to interfere.

Discord grinned maliciously as he watched the life slowly fade from the mare's eyes that he held in his grip. The thrill of having complete control of a pony like this was such a thrill and he had to wonder why he had never done this before. His enjoyment of the act was soon ended as a sharp pain shot through his arm forcing him to drop the mare and he was thrown back as a powerful barrier sprung up between him and the mare and foals that was centered around a staff in their midst. Narrowing his eyes, Discord scanned the area for his assailant but nothing was visible yet he could still hear something chuckling at him before it spoke.

“Now now Discord. What kind of being of chaos goes around killing innocents like that. Granted I haven't seen Ponyville be so orderly since you have taken over so I highly doubt that title of yours was well-earned.” Discord growled at the voice that he couldn't find the source of until he turned around to find a smiling face inches from his own causing him to jet backwards in surprise. Seeing who it was his eyes dimmed a bit to their natural colors but the glow didn't fade completely.

“You.” Discord's voice dripped with venom, but behind it there was still a hint of pain as he crossed his arms and turned away from the biped, only then noticing that his playthings had vanished along with the staff. “So you broke out as well? Well I have nothing to say to you after you ignored me for all those years while being right there with me.”

Xellos' face became blank for a moment before he burst out laughing which caused the draconequus to narrow his eyes and turn back to him. “Wait, you thought that I was sealed in stone along with you? What, you expected me to have been so boring and stupid to just stand there while the princesses charge up their toys? I would have thought you of all beings would have noticed that that thing was just an empty shell.”

Discord looked sheepish at hearing this before the glow started to grow stronger once again. “Oh you think you're so funny just leaving that there without saying anything. And what are you talking about my work being orderly?! Ponyville is now the Capitol of Chaos and shall be the gem of my new empire!”

Xellos just scoffs as he looks around at the mess the chimeric being had made before catching sight of Twilight out of the corner of his eye with her friends as the carefully advanced. Throwing a hand in the direction opposite the mares he started to distract him. “Oh really? All I see is a new kind of order that you've imposed on the town. I don't even think that you know what chaos is anymore what with you destroying more of it than you create. You might say you are rather... Predictable.”

The glow completely vanishes from Discord's eyes as his jaw dropped to the ground in shock at his words. After picking it up again and reattaching it he leveled a red-eyed glare at the monster. “Don't know what chaos is? You think I'm predictable!? You call this predictable!?”

“Alligators, yes I was thinking about those on my way over here.”

Discord froze a moment as he held up the giant-sized Gummy he had pulled from a nearby tree before tossing him to the side and produced a jack-in-the-box which popped open sending a ax wielding Mayor Mare to bounce around in front of Xellos. “What's this? Boom! In your face!”

“Cliche.”

“No look, watch!” Pulling out of his ear he waved around a q-tip with both ends being made from familiar silver and pink fillies.

“Juvenile.”

“Shock and Awe!” A conga line of stallions wearing lederhosen danced by.

“Oh it's so scary!” Snapping his claws an Ursa Minor with pony arms and a boar strapped to its head appeared.

“Seen it”

“What's this one do?!” From out of nowhere a pink flamingo in neon green lingerie landed on Discord's head.

“Garish.” Discord collapsed to the ground panting as his attempts to impress Xellos failed and he tried to come up with another idea before the monster's voice pulled him out of his introspection. “The rainbow is new.”

The draconequus was confused as he hadn't made one of those. “Rainbow?” Turning around he only now saw the Bearers of Harmony had once again united with their Elements and had managed to sneak up behind him to use them while he was distracted. Before the attack could hit Xellos disappeared leaving Discord time for only one last line before being returned to stone. “Oh, poop.”

<><><><><><><>

Back in Canterlot the garden had been cleaned up by the same wave of energy that had gone out when Discord was resealed reverting everything he changed back to normal. His statue was returned to where it originally was for the moment but a new place for him was being made elsewhere to contain him for if he ever escaped again. This placement was fine with Xellos as he examined the draconequus closely. “I wonder what happened to you to change you like that. Everything about you says you shouldn't be killing anything as it erases chaos but you did it constantly.”

Placing his right hand on the statue for a moment he was about to walk away when its eyes began to glow once again. Before he could react the glow started to expand around the statue before it drained away in a stream towards his wrist before finally cutting out. Looking at his wrist he noticed that the once dull gem of his talisman now had a blue glow deep within it. “Hello. What have we here?”

He wasn't fully sure what had just happened, but he had his suspicions as well as a new topic to bring up with the princesses sometime in the future.

Chapter 19

“Right then, the day is finally here and all the invited guests are arriving. With all the problems getting in the way I was almost thinking that this whole event would be canceled. Now all that's left is to find that stallion and everything will be perfect.” Xellos looked out over Canterlot as he watched Twilight and her friends make their way towards the palace to meet up with the princesses. Floating around the city a bit he managed to locate the stallion he was looking for and he observed him while planning how to approach him.

Prince Blueblood walked through the streets with his head held high as he wandered through the city after being kicked out of the palace by his aunt. Occasionally he looked at the ticket to the exclusive concert that he was of course invited to and in fact was in the private box with his aunts. The fact that he had to share them with some other mares that they invited was the reason why they he had been kicked out as he had objected to their presence. He was so distracted by his thoughts that he didn't notice a mare walking right towards him with her head buried in a map until she collided with him.

Shaking his head he drew himself to his hooves once again before glaring at the mare that ran into him. “Watch where you are going, peasant. You almost dirtied my pristine coat.” The mare shook her head as she recovered from the collision before she let out a gasp and gathered up her thing, not having heard the insult from the prince. His eye started twitching at her until she eventually rose to her hooves before bowing towards him.

“Oh dear, I'm so sorry, sir. This is my first time in Canterlot and I'm a bit lost. This place is a lot bigger than the griffon and minotaur cities I've been to and in fact this is the first time I've been in Equestria. Can you maybe help me find my way, good sir?” Blueblood looked over the unicorn mare as he tried to grasp how she seemed to have not heard what he said moments ago. The red dress she was wearing reminded him of what he read was worn in the far east and fit well with her light lavender coat and violet mane. He was about to walk off and ignore her until her words actually hit him and he looked at her in interest.

“Wait, you've never been to Equestria before?” His voice had dropped the haughty tone that he usually put into it and felt himself grow excited as she nodded in response. “Madam, if you can tell me about your travels then I would be glad to show you to where you want to go.”

<><><><><><><>

“...and when the sun sets the light shines in such a way that the entire forest looks like a sea of flames. That cliff was one of the greatest challenges to get to the top of but the view made it all worth it.” Blueblood sighed as he listened to every word that the mare said as she described the various places that she had visited over the years. This was the situation that the princesses and bearers of harmony walked in on as they entered the private box of the Canterlot Concert Hall.

Prince Blueblood sighed in longing as the mare finished another tale of her travels before looking over at the door as it opened and he smiled at the princesses as they entered. “Oh Auntie, you've finally arrived. This fine mare was just regaling me on her travels around the world while waiting for you. How fortunate that I ran into her and escorted her here.”

The prince ignored the other six mares that entered with his aunts while the princesses each raised an eyebrow at the stallion. All eight of them looked over the mare and Twilight was about to say something before Rarity hushed her and pulled her over to the seats on the side furthest from the two before she started whispering to her. Princess Celestia took her own seat next to her nephew while emotionally looking over the mare. “This certainly is a surprise, nephew. Would you mind introducing us to your companion?”

He opened his mouth to reply but he only then realized that even after talking for the last few hours he had never thought to ask the mare her name. Looking over at her questioningly she raised a hoof to her mouth as she realized this as well. “Oh, I am so sorry. I was so caught up in reminiscing about my travels that I completely forgot to introduce myself. You may call me Seri, explorer of exotic places.”

As the mare bowed to the princesses, Applejack narrowed her eyes at her as she felt that something was off with the mare but she couldn't quite place why she felt that way. All conversation ceased at that moment as the early show events started to prepare everyone for the main event. They all settled in to watch the up and coming musicians that had been invited to perform before the showing of the works of the famous composer.

While the rest were paying attention to the show, Blueblood and the mare were whispering to each other too quietly for the others to hear. Of course they weren't the only ones as the others commented to each other on what they though of the various acts they watched. They didn't need to worry about ruining the experience for others in the concert hall as the private boxes were shielded in a way that sound didn't escape them while muffling the rest of the crowd. It even blocked the view of who was inside of them so as to provide them some privacy and reduce the stress on the performers for when the princesses decided to show.

Princess Celestia kept one eye on her nephew the entire time though as he was acting out of character for what she was used to with him. He had yet to say a single thing against the element bearers the entire time in spite of the glares sent his way, though he still ignored them. It was also odd for him to pay so much attention to a mare and actually talk with her without putting on his usual better than everypony attitude. She rolled her eyes when she noticed his hooves begin to wander along the mares flank and she dismissed her worries as his lecherous side came out. She said nothing since the mare didn't seem to be complaining though her opinion of her fell at the same time.

The mare giggled as Blueblood's hooves wandered but when it went further south it froze in place as it came into contact with something he wasn't expecting. She gave him a grin before winking at him. “Oh my, a bit forward aren't you?”

Celestia looked down at her nephew and her eyebrow rose up when she saw the look of shock and horror on his face. “Is something wrong, Prince Blueblood?”

At hearing her voice his eyes shrank to pinpricks before he fell backwards out of his seat and away from the mare. “Ohit'snothingAuntiebutIjustrememberedthatIneededtodosomethinginthepalacebye.”

The nine ponies watched in shock as Blueblood stormed out of the private box leaving most of them looking confused as to what just happened. When Rarity began laughing all eyes turned towards her looking for answers before she looked across the way to the other end of the box. “Oh, that was just perfect. I was afraid that you were about to back out with how you were acting before, but that was just perfect Xellos.”

“XELLOS!?” The others, with the exception of Twilight, all stared at what they had thought was a mare in shock, even the two princesses. When the other pony started chuckling his voice started changing from what they heard originally to the one the recognized from the monster they knew.

“Well Rarity I was considering it after talking with him for a while but a deal is a deal. It was sure interesting what he had to say about all the nags and gold-diggers that he'd had to put up with over the years.” Rarity winced at the last bit before glaring at him before he turned towards the princess.

“He also seemed real interested in the places I described to him. I'm surprised that he stays in Canterlot instead of actually traveling around himself.” Celestia just looks at him before she sighs and turns back to watch the stage.

“I have considered sending him away but with how he acts he would be liable to cause an international incident. When he starts acting like the prince he is supposed to be then, and only then, will he be allowed to have free reign to travel. His mother assures me that she is working on improving his image.” Her words were greeted with silence until it was broken by laughter, much to her surprise.

“Oh, this is rich. The mare that he can barely stand is supposed to be the one to improve him? The only reason he acts out is so that you'll kick him out of Canterlot so that he can get away from her since she won't let him leave.” Celestia didn't even think of this as a possibility as her nephew use to tell her everything when he was younger. Saying nothing she turned back towards the stage which finish the last act before starting up an intermission to allow ponies a short break and to get a snack.

“I'll have to think on this but I just have to ask, when have you been able to take the form of a pony and why haven't you done so before?” She turned her head in the opposite direction as Twilight groaned and slammed her head into the railing in front of her.

“That was partially my fault princess. When he agreed to talk with me so I could learn a bit about him he told me how his body wasn't his real one and how the one we knew was so he could blend in. Well he found he could turn into a pony but it would actually stand out even more because, well...” She waved a hoof back over to him as the dress he was wearing ruffled around a bit before his wings popped out of the hidden slits in it causing the jaws of the princesses to drop, as well as half her friends.

“Yes, he made mention of that when he requested that I make him that dress. I must say that I am surprised how well it turned out on him but he does have a unique figure.” They all examined him closely and they had to admit that she did have a point though it didn't explain why he decided to wear it. Celestia brought a hoof up to her face as he started posing for them all, which caused both Rainbow Dash and Luna to turn away.

“Well as much as I enjoy the attention, our food is about to arrive and I believe that the real show is about to begin.” The mares all jumped at the sound of knocking from the door to the box and Pinkie and Applejack went to wheel in the food and drinks that were delivered for them all as a small ditty started to play through the concert hall signaling the end of the intermission.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=dxU-SgOtVSM

All eyes turned to the stage as a quadruped dragon that was about the size of Celestia, also wearing a black tuxedo, came out from behind the curtains. After tapping on a mic a couple time he cleared his throat before throwing is forelimbs out wide. “Welcome! One and all to what you have all been waiting for. In just moments we shall begin that which has never been seen before. For this very night is the first time in history that the entire collection of the works of Stumpy Rotisserie have been brought together in the same place many that couldn't even be played when they were written. Now let the show begin and prepare yourself for celebrated orchestral sensation celebrating the end of the Prench Gryphonic war!”

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=VbxgYlcNxE8

As the music played there were various reactions from the crowd. Twilight looked at her friends and shook her head as she saw that Rainbow Dash had fallen asleep without anyone noticing until her gaze settled on the princess. “Princess Celestia? This is the second time I've heard about this war but I've never seen any books on it, what happened?”

Celestia looked over at her student before she sighed and turned her attention back to the stage. “It happened centuries after I was forced to banish my sister and it was now one of my best moments. I still think back and wonder if all those senseless deaths could have been prevented if I just did something different.”

Xellos smirked as he thought back to the day that started the war and the event that caused it all. “Yes things could have gone much better that day. I mean the ponies of the country rising up and slaughtering every griffon they could catch and all their supporters in the name of freedom leading to a decade long war to break away from the Griffon Empire? And all because the rulers ordering the execution of a group of innocent protesters? To this day tensions between that country and all griffons are high and they barely allow Equestria to have diplomats there since Celly refused to assist them during the revolution.”

Twilight just stared in shock while Celestia was saddened as her memories of seeing and smelling all the bodies in the street in various states of dismemberment. Never before had she been so disappointed in her ponies as she had been that day and it had taken all of her control not to reduce the city to a giant crater. Their attention was drawn back to the stage as trapdoors on the sides of the stage opened up and two objects that they never expected to see rose up from below. “Celestia? Are those...?”

Twilight's question was answered as the cannons fired off during the songs finale, startling all the sleepers in the room awake. Rainbow Dash herself was plastered to the roof of the box looking around in shock while her friends laughed at her predicament. Xellos though had his eyes focused on the audience below as he chuckled at how many ponies had fallen asleep, especially a certain electric blue-maned one he had his eyes on.

“What the hay was that?!” The cyan pegasus looked towards the stage and her eyes widened in shock at what she saw. “Wait, are those cannons?! Who they hay uses cannons in a boring orchestra?!” She was met with shrugs from the others while Twilight was looking at the program for the concert.

“That's a good question, especially since everything about this song is impossible.” When her friends just looked at her in confusion she groaned before turning the flier around and pointing at it. “It's all right here. The day that this was written it was impossible for there to be cannons except that they hadn't even been invented yet even though it was written with them as part of it.”

They all looked back towards the stage in realization as the song reached its end and the announcer stepped out once again. “There have been some last minute delays for our next presentation which will be rectified shortly, but until then enjoy this little ditty by the artist.”

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=9ccp09CPWvU

“Ah don't know why, but somethin' about this song just don't sit right with me.” The others nod while Luna frowns in concentration.

“We have to agree, something about this one is uncomfortably familiar.” While short, the song was enough time for them to prepare for the next segment as the dragon returned to the stage.

“Tonight we have a real treat for you all. Don't bother looking at your programs as we have kept this secret from you all until now. Many had thought that all of the works of Stumpy had been found but recently a new one had been discovered in the ruins of a town in a hidden valley.” Xellos opened his right eye before bringing a hoof to his face and shaking his head.

“Oh dear, this is not a good thing if it's what I think it is.” Celestia raises an eyebrow in his direction before he continues. “If it's the song I believe it is then we may have a problem. Music is a force of magic on it's own in this world and there are songs that have caused the death of entire towns and even cities. I think they may just have found one of them.” The princess' eyes widen in shock but it was too late as the orchestra began playing, freezing her in place.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ODV6mxVVRZk

{Note: Instrumental version was blocked but the lyrics shouldn't be there for this.}

By the time the song ended there wasn't a dry eye in the house though many didn't know why they were crying. In fact many of the ponies were near catatonic from hearing the song that the announcer was looking out at it in panic as he motioned for the next song to begin. The curtains quickly rose revealing the musicians and a trio of minotaur that walked to the front of the stage. As the music started up Xellos let out a sigh as he recognized it and shook his head. “Well this is a stroke of luck, this should easily counteract the effects of the last song.”

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=S9A8xcbIeTs

{Note: Yes they are dancing just like in the video and the extra sounds of the tamborine and whistle sounds are in as well.}

The effect was immediate as the audience slowly recovered, much to Celestia's relief, though as she listened to the song she brought a hoof up to her face while her sister looked a bit nervous. The others were looking at Xellos as they recovered who started to explain. “King Phil Strongarm, the first king of the Minotaur Lands, used this song to protect his city from Nightmare Moon with just the power of his flexing muscles when she tried to drop a meteor on it.”

Luna by this time had buried her head in her forelimbs in embarrassment while most of the mares were distracted by the minotaurs flexing on stage. “Ugh, we actually remember him when that happened. For a pacifist he was quite a fighter though we know not how he managed what he did.”

Celestia chuckled as she remembered her interactions with him. “He really was an interesting ruler to deal with once he united the scattered tribes of his homeland. His daughters though were quite amusing as well, what with the older one and her propensity to where... unique... leather outfits and the youngest's push for justice. I wonder what their descendents have been doing since their family gave up the throne two centuries ago.”

Xellos brought a hoof to his chin while looking at the stage. “Well the oldest never had children, and the middle child's descendent owns the place I brought you that cake from. As for the youngest, last I heard she runs a small mercenary company that usually takes on problematic bandit groups.”

Luna shudders as she is still focused on her memories of the King though her eyes still wander of the muscles of the trio on stage. “Remind us never to mess with her, especially if she is anything like her ancestor. Our head still hurts from the memory of being being driven through the earth from the top of a building.”

Most of the mares had been too distracted from the conversation from the act on stage as shown by Rainbow Dash's next words. “Wow, if more concerts had eye-candy like this I'd go to them more often.” She was met with a combination of nods and rolling eyes as the performers took a bow while the next act was being prepared. Rainbow Dash yawned as the music started playing at a pace that started to put her to sleep though Luna's eyes shot wide open as the actor on stage began singing.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=77umP7IRxD4

“Wh-When was this song written Tia? We've never heard anything like it before.” Her sister gave a sad smile as she remembered the first time she had heard it. Before she went into it she poked Luna's nose with the tip of her wing.

“Grammar sister, I've told you before the “Royal We” hasn't been used in forever.” The princess of the night rolled her eyes but said nothing as she waited for an answer. “As for the song it was a year after you were banished that the song premiered in a new play. There were many that missed you when you were gone, especially in the border towns.”

Luna was lost in thought as she enjoyed the rest of the song. She regretted what she had done and it felt even worse after hearing that she had been so wrong all those years ago. She missed what the announcer said but was still pulled out of her funk when the next song began though one of the others was more shocked at what she heard.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=t7wJ8pE2qKU

“Whoa whoa whoa whoa! This Stumpy fellow made this song, too?” Her eyes were still wide as the operatic sequence began as she fell back into her seat. “I can't believe the one who wrote one of the most awesome songs for the One Winged Pegasus play also did such lame ones as well.”

Most of her friends rolled their eyes at her reaction though some of them had questions about the composer. “Well darling, while some of the songs are a bit... odd... I wouldn't say they are all that bad. It is strange that somepony would have such a variety though as most musicians focus on a single genre, especially all those years ago.”

Some of the others nodded while Twilight looked thoughtful as she looked at the program once again more closely. She knew that something was wrong with what she was reading but it took her a moment to see it as it was something hard to believe. “That's not the only thing wrong and I can't believe I missed it. All of the songs are written over a period of five hundred years.”

Celestia chuckled drawing the attention away from her student to herself. “That is part of the mystery of Stumpy Rotisserie. Nobody knows who or what they are or if it is even a single being. Even I have not met them though every invitation sent to them ends up being used though nopony can remember who arrived with it. Though I do have a few suspicions.”

She tossed a subtle wink towards the cross-dressing monster while the other mares were considering her words. Xellos chuckled silently as he kept his eyes on the stage and audience below, enjoying the reactions that he saw. He also kept one eye on the mares in the box with him as they were all here at his invitation and it would be rude to ignore them.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=f-7ZX_JA7-A

While she had been pretty neutral over most of the songs, when the latest one started up Applejack's eyes lit up. “Well now this is more like it. Sure it ain't something that would be easy ta dance ta but it does remind me of home.” The others didn't say anything but they had to agree it seemed to fit the farm mare in a way.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=gqg3l3r_DRI

When the next song started they were all forced to back away from Pinkie as any free objects within her reach suddenly started flying through the air as she started to juggle them. Pies and sandwiches and drinks flew above their heads as she somehow managed to be on both sides of the room as she passed the food from herself to herself. She somehow even managed to keep it all paced along with the music even when the tone changed. When it finally ended everything landed back on the food cart where she had grabbed it from with no a single bit spilled. Looking at each other the rest of the mares decided to ignore what had just happened and continue on with the next act.

They were all a bit confused as the next performance only had eight figures on stage but they all were using the same instrument. The group included a variety of performers, everything from mares and stallions to gryphons and minotaurs, yet each of them was bearing a cello as the each took a seat on opposites sides of the stage in groups of four. Xellos watched as the unicorn he had his eye on from earlier waved at the dark-maned gray mare on stage, trying to get her attention.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=U_oaPY0Brrw

When the music started they were all shocked at the sounds that were produced by the instruments and even from his angle he could see that the mare below had her jaw nearly to the floor. “How can those all be the same instrument? I don't think I've ever heard such a variety of sounds from the same tool before, not that I really listened to much music. What kind of pony would it take to be able to imagine how to do stuff like this?”

“That is why this composer is so widely renowned. He has influenced so many over the years to explore what can be done with music instead of only going with what is safe. Of course that does not mean that every idea has worked out as the garbage band period did not last long, though it did later inspire the use of wineglasses.” Luna glances over at her sister with a raised eyebrow as she levitates a drink over from the food cart.

“Sister, you never cared much for the arts before our banishment. You always said it was a waste of time that was better spent following more worthy pursuits.” Celestia looked away from her sister in embarrassment, but before she could defend herself Xellos started to chuckle.

“Oh you have no idea some of the things old Sunbutt got up to even when you were around.” Celestia didn't even try to glare at him for the nickname as she was instead giving him a pleading look to try and quiet him. “Or should I say Ms. Sunny Shores, or Whinny Shines, or even Steppen Mires.”

Celestia could only bury her head in her hooves at each name. Her student looked dumbfounded at her teacher's reaction, as she had never seen her in such a state before, but one of the names suddenly hit her in a way that actually had her glaring. “Wait. You were Steppen Mires?! The one that wrote those horrid books that followed me through my entire life?!”

Her friends tried to calm her down, especially Rarity who rubbed her shoulder as she did so. “There, there, dear. It can't be that bad to have such a popular novel brought up every once and a while over the years. Of course I have read better love stories in cookbooks than the one in that travesty.” Twilight just glared at her friend while her teacher whimpered and tried to crawl under her chair at the embarrassment at being outed like that. Luna wasn't sure if she should berate Xellos for what he was doing to her sister or cheer at seeing her stoic demeanor broken for once.

When the announcer returned to the stage after the latest song ended the princess sighed in relief as the attention was pulled from her. “I hope you have had a wonderful night as we now come into our last show of today. I would like to thank everyone at the Baltimare Universal Musicians Society for there assistance in gathering everything you have heard tonight as without them this would not have been possible. They have a real treat for you as this next piece has never been played before and it has been released only this past year even. So without further ado let the performers please take the stage.”

The cellist that Xellos had been watching smirked as she stepped off the stage and went over to nudge her dumbfounded friend who was still staring at where she was in utter shock. At the contact she shook her head and made some motions to her friend before she made her way up to the stage much to her friends confusion who took the vacated seat. The shades-wearing mare joined the gathering group as instruments were brought out for each of them as she picked out the violin and rose to her hind legs while looking at the others as they all waited for the signal to begin.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=GwES9M0isVM

It was the gray mare's turn to be surprised as her friend played up on stage with an instrument she wasn't expecting. Reactions from the audience was also mixed as many of the nobles present were unsure of the music while many of the musicians were excited for something new. The mares with the monster watched as well and just enjoyed the song as it played.

Soon the show came to a close and the audience started to filter out of the concert hall. The eight mares in the box sat and talked about what they had watched as the crowds filtered out while making a final meal out of the food they had ordered earlier. “Ah was worried about what we were going ta see when Xellos gave us those tickets but I must say that it wasn't all that bad.” The others nodded at her comment and Rarity looks a bit thoughtful.

“It's just too bad that nopony seems to know who the composer is even after all this time. I wouldn't mind an autographed copy of a couple of those songs.” The other nodded and were about to prepare to leave when Xellos started to chuckle causing them to pause and look at him.

“Well if an autograph is all you want then I happen to have a few sets of signed copies of each of the songs... except for that one that shouldn't have been played again.” He pulls out from somewhere eight stacks of records in cases, each of them being signed. While Celestia smiled knowingly, the others were confused as he gave each of them a stack of records.

“Wait, how is it that you know who this guy is but nopony else does?” Rainbow Dash's question was just answered with a smirk as Xellos turned towards the purple unicorn.

“Tell me Twilight, do you know what an anagram is?” The unicorn just tilted her head at him at the question, not knowing where this was going.

“An anagram is a literary technique that involves rearranging the letters in a word or words to form other words. I don't see what that has to do with her question though.” Xellos just continues smiling as he writes out the letters of 'Stumpy Rotisserie' in the air in front of him with his horn. Once he was finished he waved a hoof through it causing the letters to rearrange to spell out 'Mysterious Priest' in its stead. After a moment of staring at it most of the mares just face-hoof as they remember how he sometimes introduces himself.

Princess Luna was a bit more shocked as she just stares between him and one of the records of the song she enjoyed. “You mean you wrote all of these?! Why?! How?!”

Xellos just looks at his hoof before waving it in front of him as his form melts away leaving his usual bipedal form in front of them while holding the dress draped over one of his arms. “You know as well as I how boring it can get after you live long enough so I decided to take up a hobby or two. The music was just so boring at the time and after a couple hundred years I was able to put a few things together. Of course without certain instruments it was a bit hard so it took a while to manipulate things so that they get invented.”

They all just stare at him as he says this and wonder just what he was thinking to go through all that effort for a simple hobby. Fluttershy, who had been quiet up until this point, slowly raised her hoof to ask a question. “Um, I'm sorry to be nosy, but how did you come up with all the different kinds of music? If you don't mind telling us I mean.”

Looking around at the curious mares he slowly brought his hand up in front of him before raising a finger. “That, my dear. Is a secret.” They all groaned at his answer as he disappeared from view leaving the mares to just shake their heads.

“We knew that it was too good to be true that he would behave the entire night. When he is not acting as if he knows everything he just has to try and make us paranoid.” Luna's words are met with a few nods as they slowly cleared out of the room and head up to the palace for the rest of the night.

Author's Notes:

For those wondering about the dress he is wearing.

Well this chapter has been running around in my head since the first couple chapters though I may have lost bits of it. And really, if you were stuck in another world and had years on your hands then why wouldn't you recreate something from your own world. Probably would take ten times as long as the original composer to make it just right but why not?

Let me know if I messed anything up, especially those links.

Chapter 20

Sweet Apple Acres was well known for both it's apples and the hospitality of the ponies that live there. What few know is that the trees are also some of the most comfortable around which led to the common infestation of rainbow-maned pegasii that plagued it. Xellos was using the trees for this purpose as he reclined on a branch while watch two ponies work around a nearby barn.

“Always nice to have a show while I relax. Though I wonder how Applejack and Rainbow Dash will tear that barn down by themselves.” He rose an eyebrow as the farm mare took cover while the pegasus moved towards the barn alone. He let lose a whistle as he watched the mare slam through the walls of the building as she started to tear the building apart. He was just as surprised as the pegasus when her rainbow tail was snatched up in familiar glow of magic, stopping her in midair.

Not having noticed that Twilight had been walking up, Xellos examined her closely and noticed a few odd tics in her. Eventually the two separated, with Twilight taking cover with AJ while the pegasus started flying up high into the air. Xellos' eyes watched as Rainbow Dash came diving down at the barn at high speeds before an explosion of colors spread out from her just before she slammed into it. He shuddered a bit as the rainboom rippled through the nearby dimensions, including the astral plane. “I wonder if they even know how dangerous her doing that can be to everything nearby. If I can feel it from here then lesser monsters at the point of impact will definitely have problems.”

Noticing that Twilight is walking off away from the barn, while looking a bit more messy than before, Xellos decides to follow her as he feels that things are about to get interesting. His expectations are proven true as he follows the mare towards Fluttershy's home to find her wrestling a bear. He was impressed that the shy mare had a hidden outer strength to go along with the inner strength that she also kept hidden from others. He was tempted to stay longer but with how Twilight seemed to be shaken from seeing this he decided to follow her instead.

Over the course of the next few hours he observed the unicorn's descent into madness as her worries got the best of her and she found no relief from them. When she came upon the three fillies he had taught magic to he frowned with worry as the situation started to hit its peak. “I really hope that she doesn't do anything dangerous. I'd rather not have to step in and stop her, especially since her friends don't seem to think anything is wrong.”

When Twilight pulled out the doll and eventually cast a spell on it he had to laugh at what he saw as everything went out of control. He was subtle about protecting the three fillies while the town was going crazy by subtly protecting them from being trampled during the small riot. It wasn't hard to do so by using a wind barrier or three just before they could get hurt so nobody would notice anything was out of place.

Through it all he was laughing and he didn't stop until the arrival of Princess Celestia who quickly resolved the problems caused by her student. After sending her student to the library while she cleaned things up Twilight's friends met up to talk before chasing after the two with the monster following them unseen. After letting her ponies know about the new arrangements that were going to happen she was about to leave when Xellos decided to make an appearance.

“Bravo, Twilight. I haven't seen anything that entertaining in years. You really do have a way with magic.” Celestia rolled her eyes at the monster while her student flinched away from him.

“Xellos, why are you here? I sure hope you have not had anything to do with any of this.” He affected a look of hurt at her words before leaning back against the tree while seated on the railing of the balcony.

“I'm hurt that you would think I would have done something like this. Even if I had a reason to I'd find a more entertaining way than using magic to mind control an entire town in such a way that random beings could get hurt. Besides, it's your student that cast the spell, I have to wonder where she even found it.” Twilight huddled down at her teacher's hooves and looks almost to the point of crying which has her friends glaring at the monster.

“Is there a point to all of this or are you just here to torment my student?” Celestia's voice hardens slightly as she drops a wing over her student to block her off from the biped.

“No reason really, I just felt like commenting on how you complain about me teaching the old magic when your students learn spells like that. Of course it probably is fortunate that you only teach a weakened version of it now or else your ponies could have actually been killing each other back there.” Twilight's eyes widen at his words when she hears about what could have happened but the other part of his words catches her attention causing her to peek out from behind her mentor's wing.

“What do you mean the spells are the same but weaker? I thought unicorn magic was completely different from the forbidden spells that you knew.” If they could have seen them through his mostly closed eyes and the darkness they would have seen him rolling his eyes at them as he starts flicking a finger through the air causing runes to appear.

“This is how the spell is written out for a relatively common spell that was used in combat centuries ago.” Flinging his hand out into the air he sends arrows of fire flying into the air before snapping his fingers to extinguish them. “Now this...” He waves a hand through the runes wiping most of them away while gathering up what remains in front of his hand. “...this is how she teaches unicorns, and only unicorns, how to cast the same spell.” Causing the runes to line up in front of him as if they were lined up in a horn he thrusts his hand forward causing them to compress together and firing out mere darts of flame that don't go nearly as far as the last spell.

Twilight's eyes are wide at learning this while Celestia just glares at him for showing this to her student before she sighs as he continues. “The so-called 'Want-it-Need-it' spell really has many forms depending on how it was used. At full power how you used it would cause any affected by it to tear each other apart violently just to get at it. Now if cast on a living creature it works a little differently depending on where it is focused but I'll leave it to the princess to tell you how later.”

At that point he vanished leaving the ponies alone to allow Celestia to finalize her departure none of them noticing the three figures that were sneaking away below them. As she flew off back towards Canterlot she grit her teeth as she felt a familiar presence beside her, having had enough of him for the night. “Now what do you want?”

“Don't be like that, Celly. While this may not be good news it still is something you might want to hear about, especially since it concerns Discord.” Celestia's wings falter for a moment causing her to drop a few feet before she recovers and looks at him with wide eyes, waiting for him to continue. He holds up his left arm to show off that talisman on his wrist to her. “I'm sure you remember what these are, correct?”

At her nod he flips around above her to her other side and shows off the right talisman which has a faint blue glow in its depths, causing her to raise as eyebrow. “After Discord was sealed I paid him a visit and something flowed out of him causing this to happen. I don't suppose the name, Chaotic Blue means anything to you, does it?”

Once again Celestia froze up but at least this time her wings were locked out to her sides allowing her to glide for a distance before she recovered. “Where did you hear about that?! Even when I was young that name was only part of legends but he was supposed to have been defeated by the ancient alicorn emperors along with three other ancient evils. The world was supposed to be a very dark place until they were locked away and eventually destroyed. But why would all that matter?”

Xellos frowned as he looked down at the blue glow before looking at the alicorn. “If I'm right part of him may still be around and that part came to inhabit Discord until the talisman absorbed it. I may never have met him but everything I knew about Discord painted him as being different from how he was acting, which was erratic as it was.”

Celestia considered his words and couldn't help but agree with him. The Discord that recently escaped was not the same one that she and her sister had defeated in the past. There were moments though when she saw signs of the old him but generally he was out of character even for him. “I see what you mean, but what are you getting at?”

Xeloss' tone grew serious which was a stunning change from his usual playful mood which actually scared her a bit. “Each talisman represents one of the four monsters that I'm betting match up with your great evils. With Discord having been possessed by one of them that means that those stories were wrong and there could be at least three more out there. I hope you are ready because things are about to get much worse especially if they possess beings that are easier for them to control.”

Thinking back to Discord and how bad things were then Celestia wasn't sure she wanted to see how much worse things could get. If Xellos was worried about this then she had to talk to her sister and make plans immediately.

Author's Notes:

Rewritten and a bit short but not much really happened anyways. Now I need to double check my theoretical notes to make sure this doesn't happen again.

Chapter 21

“I wonder what these tabloids masquerading as a real newspaper have to say today.” Xellos picked out a fresh newspaper that was recently tossed into the trash and rose an eyebrow at a story in the corner of the front page. “'Unicorn saves zebra settlement from monster attack, page 4.'”

With his interest grabbed he turns to the page to see a small picture of the damage tone to the unnamed settlement which included a view of the bodies of zebras and brass demons in various poses with a few survivors roaming the wreckage. “'An unnamed unicorn was reported to have rescued a zebra settlement that was in the midst of an attack by unknown creatures. Some experts believe these claims to be a hoax as there are no known records on the creatures shown and that the incident is a publicity stunt to increase funding to the nation. The unicorn, believed to be a mare, was not found for comment but is thought to be the same pony in other incidents reported in recent weeks.' Well, good to see that she seems to be doing rather well. Of course now I'm tempted to start up my own newspaper if this is the quality that Equestria produces now.”

He skims over the rest of the paper but with the title page story being about the royal guard rescuing kittens being the highlight he finds nothing else of interest. Incinerating the paper he looks around and notices a flier advertising and event for sisters in Ponyville. His mind is drawn to the three fillies he was teaching and he knew that two of them would be there but he wasn't sure about the third. Flying towards Sweet Apple Acres, where the event was supposed to happen, he kept an eye out for where it was taking place as well as a place to watch from.

He found a spot above the action on a fluffy cloud and found that he was a bit early as they were still setting some of the events up. Surveying the area he spotted a familiar orange figure looking at the set-up before turning and walking away, head low. “Oh dear, I had wondered but I guess she doesn't have a sister like the other two. I would have thought Rainbow Dash would have been her sister but I never really did bother to ask.”

Floating down behind the filly he watched for a moment as she paused to kick at a rock before speaking up. “Well this won't do, having one of my students looking so down would really reflect poorly on me. What's got you so down?”

Scootaloo jumped a bit at him appearing behind her from nowhere but living in a town with Pinkie Pie tends to inoculate you to being surprised to it wasn't as bad of a scare as it could have been. Looking back to see the biped she winces as her gaze hits the ponies setting up for the Sisterhood Social forcing her to turn away again. “It's nothing really.”

“Oh really? If it's nothing then why would you be looking so down while walking away from something your friends are about to be part of?” The filly doesn't look back but he can tell he hit a nerve as her wings stiffened up a bit before she slumped and let out a sigh.

“Fine, I just haven't been able to do much with the others lately and then this happens. Applebloom has been hanging around the library and sneaking Twilight's books on putting magic in other magic or something. Sweetie Belle has been hanging around watching Spike while he learns how to use that sword of his with a retired guard. Now both of them are here with their sisters while I'm just here with...” The filly trails off at the end as she looks down at the ground sadly once again, not wanting to continue.

Xellos looks over the crestfallen filly as he thinks on what she said and realizes he hadn't given much thought to the style of magic the three fillies would use. Sweetie Belle just naturally fell into a support role with her magic while it seemed that Applebloom was searching for a role as well. While those two were doing that they were unknowingly leaving their friend behind and the monster quickly came up with an idea. “Well since you aren't doing anything else and we seem to be in an open enough space then how about this? Try and hit me.”

The filly froze in confusion for a moment before turning to look at him questioningly. “What did you say?”

“Try and hit me. You look like you have some things to work out so you might as well do it on someone that can take it. Besides, it's not like you even have a chance of hurting me let alone touching me.” His challenging tone at the end causes the pegasus to bristle at him and she gives a halfhearted buck at him as he leans down towards her. As she wasn't trying hard he easily dodged her hooves by leaning back slightly but his non-nonchalant attitude sparked some anger in the pegasus.

With a yell, Scootaloo turned and threw herself at Xellos in an attempt to headbutt him before swinging her hooves wildly at him. Xellos, for his part, frowned as the filly essentially flailed at him randomly with him using the minimum amount of movement to avoid her swings. “Really? I've seen better fighting out of a drunk in the early morning. What ever happened to those moves you showed off during the talent show I heard about?”

His words made the filly angrier but she did start to flail less as her movements became more composed. She still was overly reckless in her offensive style and Xellos decided to up the lesson some more. “Not bad, but you really need to be ready to dodge.”

“What?” Scootaloo's eyes snapped up to him but she was still unprepared for his staff coming up to her stomach, sending her flying back across the ground though she still stayed upright on her hooves. The attack was more of a surprise for her than actually painful as it felt more like she was shoved backwards than hit. It also robbed her of much of her anger which was exactly what Xellos was trying for. “What the hay was that for?”

Xellos chuckled as he waved a finger at the pegasus. “Would you really expect someone to just stand and do nothing in a fight? Besides, the most important thing in any fight is defense since if they can't hit you they can't hurt you. Of course even if you do get hit being tough enough to shrug it off helps as well.”

The filly just glared at Xellos as she flared her tiny wings and prepared to charge again. “Well how is throwing me around supposed to help with that?” Launching herself at the monster in a flying kick, she used her wings to try and propel herself faster at him. His reaction to this latest attack was to just shake his head before raising a hand in the path of her hoof. When she hit she smirked for a moment before noticing that he didn't even move a hair and then the pain from her impact of her hoof was felt by her sending her rolling on the ground cradling the limb.

“Ow, ow, ow, ow! What the hay!? What are you made of, it's like kicking a boulder!?” Casually looking at both sides of his hand before smirking at the filly.

“Just proving a point since physical attacks like that won't work on monsters or tougher creatures. Of course if you remember I did teach you some magic that could have helped against weaker creatures yet you didn't bother to use it.” Scootaloo blushed as she remembered the magic she was shown before she smirked as she renewed her assault once again.

“RAYWING!” Floating into the air with the barrier around herself, the filly then started circling around Xellos before coming at him from the side. His only reaction was to raise an eyebrow as he waited to see what she was up to now. As she crashed the shield of the spell into his side, she kicked off of him to fling herself backwards into the air before unleashing another spell. “SCATTER BRID!”

Watching the swarm of balls of electrical energy fly at him, Xellos smirked as the filly hung in the air behind the attack. “Not bad, not bad. Now dodge!” Vanishing from sight he bypassed the fillies spell and appeared in front of her with his staff pressed against her gut. Her face fell when she found him close in on her so easily before she was once again sent flying backwards from a strong, yet gentle, shove.

When she landed Scootaloo started to pour her frustration into the same spell she just used while Xellos prepared for another short lecture as he was unconcerned by any potential attacks. As the filly unleashed her attack a cyan blur flew down and landed between the two before it started screaming at the monster. “Hey! What the buck do you think you are d-d-d-ddddd!”

To the shock of the two Scootaloo's attack hit Rainbow Dash right between the wings turning her words into a jittery mess as the electricity flowed through her form. The filly quickly rushed to the side of the older pegasus with a face full of worry. “Rainbow Dash, no! I didn't mean to, please say you're all right!”

Xellos stood over the two with his hand pinching his chin as he looked over the two. “Well that was interesting. That was stronger than the spell should have been, about as strong as a mono volt or maybe even a dig volt. Good thing pegasii are pretty resistant to electric-based attacks.”

Scootaloo glared up at him before her attention was pulled back to Rainbow Dash as she groaned and shook her still smoking head. “Ow, what just hit me?”

“Well that would be a spell that you got in the way of when you decided to jump into the middle of a sparring match. Good think I haven't shown her any of the more dangerous spells I know of or ones that you wouldn't be able to shrug off like that.” The rainbow-maned pegasus looked around and on seeing the two remembered what she was just doing before rounding on the biped.

“A sparring match?! What were you thinking doing something like that with a filly?! You could have really hurt her!” Xellos just scoffed at her worry as he motioned towards the young pegasus.

“Well she certainly knocked you out pretty good for being 'just a filly' and wasn't it 'just a filly' that helped heal you and your friends back during that diamond dog incident?” Both pegasii refused to look at him as he said this as they didn't want to acknowledge his words on what had happened. It didn't take long though for the older mare to recover and fly up into his face.

“That doesn't explain why you are teaching her something so dangerous. That spell hurt and if it was anypony else that was hit I don't know what would have happened.” Xellos paused and looked closely at the filly for a moment before looking back at the older mare.

“It's true I didn't expect her to be able to pull something like that off, the spell is normally mostly harmless.” He pauses to ponder for a bit before his mind wanders back to an old minotaur friend he used to know. “But I do know of a spell that would be perfect for her to use at it would let her be able to physically hit monsters as well as deflect magic if she needs to and it's no more dangerous than your hoof.” Going back through his memories he visualizes the time from his past before he starts to chant the words of the spell.

“The source of all spirit,
That blue flame that is never exhausted,
That power that sleeps within my soul.
Become one with me
and obliterate the dark abyss.
VISFARANK!”

The two ponies just stare at the glowing ball of energy that appears around his fist after he finishes not knowing quite what to think. Turning towards a nearby tree he slams his fist into it causing it to shudder from the impact but with him holding back there was no further damage. “This spell might add a bit of power behind her attacks but the point of it is to imbue astral energies into your attacks so the you can fight creatures without a solid body. That, along with the defensive aspect, make it a useful spell to have but it doesn't last all that long so needs to be cast continuously.”

He lets the two poke at the spell a couple times before he starts teaching it to Scootaloo until she manages to retain it. Rainbow Dash also pays attention as she hovers off to the side, not knowing what to think of the monster's relationship with the filly though she can't see a reason to object after some of what she had seen since it would help keep her safe. She pays attention to everything as she promises herself to try the spell out herself later while also keeping an eye on future meetings between the two.

Once Scootaloo gets the spell down the two return to their sparring again with Rainbow Dash keeping an eye on things so it doesn't get too out of control. As she watched she thought back to what had happened when Xellos had last saved her and her friends and wondered where she could go to improve her own skills as she didn't want to owe the monster anything and she knew that as long as he was around things would be always be dangerous.

Author's Notes:

Bleh, tired and a tad bit tipsy so not much to say right now. I think I may be skipping the Cutie Pox, though I'm debating on which direction I want to go with the Tank episode as I can see some humorous ideas that I can use with Xellos bringing along a 'pet' for the Mane 6 to meet.

Edit: I just noticed I lost a chapter and will need to rewrite it but it was only one so not much was lost. Only realized it when thoughts of Lesson Zero came to mind.

Chapter 22

Sweet Apple Acres was usually the most tranquil part of Ponyville when it wasn't interrupted by the sound of hooves on wood. With both of the older the Apple siblings off in town it was odd to hear the sound ringing through the trees.

Near the Crusader clubhouse the three fillies for the day together while accompanied by both Spike and Xellos. While Applebloom and Xellos were occupied with their own things, Sweetie Belle was watching Spike and Scootaloo facing off against each other. While Spike was wielding a wooden sword, Scootaloo was empty-hoofed which was the source of the sound echoing out as she punched at the blade whenever it came close.

The two sparring were nowhere near the most professional at what they were doing so quite often blows were able to sneak by their defenses. That is exactly what happened to end their current session as Spike's sword was only clipped by the pegasus' hoof and was deflected only slightly and continued until it solidly landed on her wing. “Yeow! Watch it Spike, that one really hurt!”

Spike ran a claw through his head spines in embarrassment while Sweetie Belle came over to look over her friends wing. “Sorry about that, Scoots. I still have trouble controlling myself when I swing. I either swing all out and hit too hard or pull my swing and barely even touch if it's not dodged.”

At hearing his last word Scootaloo's eyes widen as she rolls away from Sweetie Belle, much to her annoyance. “Hold still! You're starting to bruise and I don't want to find out what happens if I mess up a healing spell.” Rubbing the back of her head the pegasus shoots a glare over at the reclining monster.

“Sorry about that, but the past week I've had to deal with him telling me to dodge at random times before knocking me into trees.” Xellos, for his part, just ignored the filly as he flipped through a stack of pictures he had taken recently. Chuckling at one of Rainbow Dash snuggling up with her new pet he stashed them away in his bag.

“Sounds to me like you still need more lessons in that if it's not instinctive yet when you're about to be hit. Maybe I should start using golems to motivate you more.” The young filly's pupils shrank at mention of his newest idea as she backed away slightly.

“Oh look at the time I forgot I have a thing today, gottagobye!” The three other younglings rolled their eyes at her excuse as she bolted away from the area, knocking into Applebloom as she raced by. The earth pony filly let out a shout of annoyance as the stack of wooden chunks she was working on were knocked out of her hooves and onto the ground in front of her. Glaring at the retreating pegasus for a moment she turned to pick up the things she dropped just to freeze in shock as her eyes widened in fear. Throwing up her forelegs across her face she was soon peppered with sharp splinters as the chunks of wood exploded into pieces that scattered around the area.

“Applebloom! Are you all right?!” Sweetie Belle rushed over to look over her bleeding form as the yellow filly waved her off a bit before she sat up again with a wince.

“I'm all right, but it took me forever to carve those and now their gone.” She pouted at the remains of her work as Xellos walked over to one of the largest pieces which he picked up and examined.

“Well now this sure is interesting. I can't remember the last time I've seen work this detailed, and you did all of this yourself?” At the filly's nod he looked closer at the piece of the perfectly engraved rune that was on the piece of wood in his hand. Picking up another piece he found a second rune and he assumed the others were much the same. Digging through his bag he pulled out a small enchanted jewelers lens and held it up to his eye for a better look.

“Hmm, there's the problem. You must have been charging these with magic while you were carving them so when they came into contact like that they discharged everything. You need special tools that don't channel magic what you do the engravings so that doesn't happen. Wood isn't the best material for this either.” Applebloom's ears perk up at hearing his but doesn't otherwise move while Sweetie Belle heals her light wounds.

“Really? What should I be using then? All I had were some spare nails that I found in the barn.” Seeing an opportunity, Xellos pulls out a diamond-tipped white ceramic fountain pen and a inkwell full of ink mixed with powdered silver. Along with those he pulled out a stack of thin ceramic cards and set them all on the blanket he was seated on.

“Ceramic is odd in that it doesn't hold magic well and doesn't channel it in a focused form as a result. Of course diamonds are the opposite as they can hold any kind of magic but since it can be used to cut through almost anything it is the perfect thing for carving as long as you don't touch it. Silver is also good for that so scratching a silver-infused ink into another object makes it much easier for the spell to be more permanent.” The farm filly look at one of the ceramic cards before pressing on it with her hoof and frowning at how easily it shattered.

“How are these going to be of any use though? If wood was bad then I don't see how these will last any longer.” Without prompting the marshmallow unicorn also added in her two bits causing the farm filly to shoot a glare at her.

“Not to mention that I've seen her writing skills. Ms. Cheerilee can barely read what she writes.” Looking at the shattered card for a moment the monster digs deep into his bag once again and pulls out a scroll and a crystal orb before setting them both down with the latter on the former after unrolling it. Intoning a couple words he causes the orb to start spinning in place before at floats of the ground slightly and fires off a beam of light in opposite directions, causing Spike to dodge to the side as he was in the path of one of them. Xellos then adjusts the scroll so that the image drawn on it is aligned with the light before removing the orb and replacing it with a gem.

“Those are just the secret behind it all and it's been lost since this technique is something unicorns were always too full of themselves to use. While they use gems for enchanting, their style of it isn't as long lasting a majority of the time.” Setting down a gem in the center of the circle, he pulls out another, finished, card and places it atop the gem before placing his hands on either side of the circle on the scroll. Channeling his magic, the array began to glow before the entire center gave off a flash leaving the gem alone without the card.

“Wow, what happened to the card?” Xellos passed Sweetie Belle the gem and watched as she held it up to the sun to look through it. She gasped as she noticed the designed carved into the center of it before showing it to Applebloom. Taking it in her own hoof she gazed into it in shock before she passed it back to the monster.

“That is amazing! Do you think that you can teach me how to do that? Twilight's books don't have anything like this and what they do have only works for unicorns. Everything I had was all just me guessing and hoping it worked.” Xellos was surprised that she had gotten as far as she had with that little information and wondered how far she would get with his help. It didn't hurt either that he would be tweaking Princess Sunbutt's nose yet again by reintroducing an old branch of magic again.

“Why, of course. I wouldn't be showing this to you if I didn't intend to show you how to do it. Of course you had better be prepared as mistakes can have some, unintended consequences.” Flicking the gem into another nearby clearing he gave a mischievous grin as it exploded, showering the area with dirt and leaving the young filly gulping in trepidation.

<><><><><><><>

Applebloom sighed as she glared at the gemstone in front of her as it spouted flames into the air. She had only wanted to create a stone that gave of heat for the winter but instead it started on fire and wouldn't stop until all the magic in it was drained while burning out the enchantment. “This is impossible. Every time I think I got it something else always goes wrong and it seems to be getting worse.”

With a sigh she flopped down next to her latest mistake and poked at it with a stick in disappointment. Before she could get to deep into her funk though her attention was pulled away by the sight of Rainbow Dash flying all over the place doing random common tasks while posing occasionally. “What the hay is up with her now?”

“Oh she's just panicking as her other friends hide behind a mask and show her up when she tries to save ponies. Just the usual craziness in Ponyville.” The filly raises a skeptical eyebrow at Xellos as he appears from nowhere before shaking her head.

“Does that include my sister Applejack? Because that sure sounds rather dishonest and she wouldn't do something like that.” Xellos' eyes follow the pegasus as she flies around before she vanishes somewhere else in town.

“Oh, she's part of this all right, no matter how much I dislike this plan of theirs. It's so close to lying and so many things could go wrong.” Applebloom looks confused at his words as she looks at the gem that had finally burned itself out.

“But don't you lie all the time? I mean some of the things you say are just so far out there at times.” The monster just smirks as he taps his nose with his finger.

“Let me let you on a little secret. I never lie, at least not in that way. The truth is just so much more fun and if others think I'm lying because I make it sound so incredible then it's all on them.” Applebloom wasn't sure if she should believe him or not especially as she remembered some of his claims.

“Well you said you were evil but you have been helping me and the other Cutie Mark Crusaders as well as my sister and her friends. If you were really evil then you wouldn't be helping us like that.” As Xellos started to chuckle Applebloom was feeling a bit creeped out as an odd sensation went through her body. When the feeling left she found herself sweating and gasping as the monster reclined backwards into the air.

“That's an easy one, because it's so fun! Just because I'm evil doesn't mean I don't know how to have any fun. If you're thinking I'm supposed to be like all those other creatures that you think of as evil just remember, I'm evil, not stupid. Everything I do is all part of my master plan.” The filly looked a bit worry but looking upon his smiling face she didn't feel threatened at all despite his words.

“Rrright, whatever you say. Anyways maybe you can help me with what I'm doing wrong with this enchanting stuff. Every time I try something keeps going wrong no matter what I do.” Xellos looks over the burnt out gem and gives Applebloom a few more pointers as she tries to push the confusing thoughts out of her mind.

<><><><><><><>

Princess Celestia was bored out of her mind after another day in court. After sending the latest in the long line of nobles away she sighed at how inane their requests had been getting. Suddenly a wisp of green smoke flew in through the window bringing her mood up in excitement. As the scroll appeared in front of her she quickly grabbed it in her magic and began reading it. She chuckled at the lesson her student and her friends had learned when she paused as a stack of objects fell from the scroll.

Finding that they were a bunch of photos her eyebrow rose as she flicked through them. Her smile fell as she flicked through them until it eventually became a frown as she got to the last one. Looking out the window she let out a sigh as she set the photos aside, the top one being of Xellos posing in front of the unmasking of Mare-Do-Well. “What am I going to do with that student of mine.”

Author's Notes:

Hmm, kind of sucks not having ideas for certain episodes and having to skip them. Oh well, just means more action for the CMC. I'm still amazed at the mostly positive review the story is getting though the lack of comments or discussions as a whole is a tad disheartening. It tells me I'm at least generating interest just not enough to make people excited for what may happen in the future enough to guess or speculate. Oh well, back to plotting the end of the world.

Chapter 23

Xellos yawned as he looked out over the tranquil view of Ponyville from the cliff overlooking it. It had been quiet since Twilight's birthday and beyond the occasional trip to pester the princesses he was starting to get bored and him being bored wasn't good for anyone. Before he could head out to spread a bit of havoc though a loud shattering sound was heard throughout the town followed by a roar.

“Well now, what have we hear?” Gaining some altitude he looked around before spying a large wingless dragon stomping through the streets in search of something. With the familiar colors of the dragon, as well as remembering what event Pinkie was planning for the day before.

“Huh, it seems little Twilight has screwed up once again. That or the princess forgot to teach her the important things about young Spike there. Now should I help her out or just take pictures to annoy the princess with later. Decisions, decisions.” As he tried to decide what to do, Twilight and her friends were chasing the once diminutive dragon after he had abducted Sweetie Belle from her sister's boutique.

“Rarity, don't you have any idea how to stop him? I mean Spike always used to do anything you asked of him.” Rainbow Dash looked over at the white mare to see her shaking her head with a sigh.

“Sorry, darling. But Spikey Wikey has actually been more interested in my sister than me lately. He even found this beautiful jewel recently but he would only let me have it once Sweetie Belle asked him for it nicely. I don't know why but something about him ignoring me in favor of her annoys me.” The others roll their eyes at her and some of them would have chuckled if it wasn't for the current situation.

They each did what they could to stop Spike but with him acting the way he was and them not wanting to hurt him they had little effect. They paused at the arrival of the Wonderbolts but they were also completely ineffective as Spike easily catching them inside the water tower he was carrying around before slamming the opening into the side of a mountain. The six mares could only watch in open-mouthed shock at this before a clicking sound caught their attention. Looking to the side they saw a familiar bipedal figure wielding a camera. “Xellos? Just what are you doing?”

Putting the camera away, the monster added the fresh pictures to a photo album. “Oh nothing much. Just getting pictures of Equestria's most ineffectual special forces team. I would have thought they would have lasted a little longer than that. They've really gone downhill since the days when they fought actual monsters.”

While Applejack held Rainbow Dash back by her tail, Twilight was rubbing at the side of her head. “Is this really the time for your jokes? Couldn't you at least help for once instead of doing whatever it is you do. Spike hasn't hurt anypony yet but I'm not sure how long will last with how he has been changing.”

Xellos hummed to himself as he observed the dragon that was now chewing on a portion of Sugarcube Corner that had broken off on his exit. “Yes, I can see that. I do wonder who didn't restrain him from getting this far in the first place. Anyone that has been around long enough should know about a greed issues. This always happens if a dragon isn't disciplined by a stronger being until they are stronger than anything within their immediate area. Of course the growth is limited by what they know of the strength of others. I'm guessing that with his natural resistance that even your magic would be hard-pressed now.”

Getting away from Applejack, Rainbow Dash finally was able to fly up into the bipeds face. “Who do you think you are saying that about the Wonderbolts!? They are the awesomest fliers in all of Equestria and don't you forget it!”

Xellos and the cyan pegasus stared at each other for a few moments before he held up the photo album. “Well this picture of them being knocked out by Rarity of all ponies says otherwise, and adding that to just now when they tried to save Sweetie Belle they aren't doing that good of a job. In fact I'd say Fluttershy is better at the rescue thing than they are. Now if you'll excuse me I have a student to go speak with.”

He left the six ponies behind with one pegasus with her jaw nearly to the ground and the other one a beet red. Vanishing from their location he quickly reappeared next the the giant dragon but more specifically the hand holding Sweetie Belle. “So, how is the young damsel-in-distress today? Are you having fun?”

The young filly in question lifted her head up from where it was planted in the claw holding her and gave him a bored look. “What do you think? Sure it was scary at first, then a bit fun when I noticed it was only Spike, but he won't even talk to me and I'm getting bored up here.”

Raising an eyebrow at her lackadaisical attitude, Xellos just looks over the claw holding her. “Well let's see about getting you out of there. As entertaining as he is like this I think I prefer him as he was before. Now how to go about doing this.” As he was talking he didn't notice that Spike was leaning down to glare at him from above until he started to roar at him and took a swipe with his free claw.

With a sigh the monster effortlessly glided out of the claw's path while chanting a spell. “Bogardic Elm.” With yet another roar Spike tried to take a step after the fleeing biped but stumbled as his footing was caught up in the mire that was now under his feet. Looking down he found that the ground had changed and was now sticking to his feet. On hearing the sound of a throat clearing he once again looked up to see Xellos floating in front of him. “Sit, boy”

With a flick of his staff Xellos slammed the end of it into the top of Spike's head sending him flat into the swamp below with the filly just outside of it still in his grip. With a roar Spike tried to struggle his way out of the muck as his spines began to lengthen and grow sharper. “Now now, we can't have you running off and causing more trouble. Freeze Arrow!” With a flick of his wrist he sends a shower of arrows encasing all of the dragon's limbs in ice before landing in front of the dragon's head causing him to roar again. “Oh, be quiet.”

With another flick a sent out another burst of magic freezing Spike's jaw shut with his head pointed in Sweetie Belle's direction. “Spike! Xellos, please don't hurt him!”

“Oh don't worry, it'll take much more than to actually hurt him. Now how to go about turning him back.” He stood there pondering as he looked between the struggling dragon and the filly as an idea started to form in his mind. “Hmm, have you ever heard what you are supposed to do with shooting stars?”

Sweetie Belle tilted her head slightly as she looked at Xellos in confusion. “You mean how you can make a wish on them? But what does that have to do with helping Spike?”

With a small grin Xellos looked up towards Canterlot which happened to be on the other side of the dragon's head as his plan came to completion. “Oh just an idea, but remember to do that face that you give to your sister when you really, really want something.” Stepping a bit away Xellos brought his hands as the filly looked at him in confusion.

“Heed me, thou who casts thy gaze from the heavens upon this land.
Now, bring thy power to Earth...
Meteor Fall!”

From his upraised arms a beam of light shot up into the sky before slowly fading away. All the ponies in the area stare at him wondering what had gone wrong with his spell as they couldn't see anything happening. Suddenly the wind started to pick up as the birds in the area started fleeing from the trees into the sky. Fluttershy gasped as this was happening due to her connection with the wildlife. “What is happening? The animals are terrified of something but I can't tell what.”

By this point Xellos had lowered his arms and was watching the sky and all eyes followed his gaze, except for the still struggling dragon. Rainbow Dash was the first to see something, due to her superior pegasus eyesight, and let out a gasp as she saw something. “What is that!? Where did that giant rock come from up there!?”

Squinting to try and see it, Twilight's eyes soon widened in terror as she soon could see the object that was starting to give off a red glow. “What in the world!? Is that an asteroid!? Is Xellos trying to kill us all!?”

Her friends looked at her in shock for a moment before looking up at the object glowing in the sky. Sweetie Belle was far enough away to not hear her but she did see the shooting star beginning to form. Remembering Xellos' words, she widened her eyes into a teary look before silently making her wish as the star blazed across the sky. With him looking in her direction, Spike was hit with the full force of her look and it shot a feeling of shame through his entire body.

Slowly Spike's body began to soften before beginning to shrink down to his original size again. His grip on Sweetie Belle loosened, allowing her to slip out while his bonds were starting to be too large to hold him. Soon he was left rubbing his head in the middle of the mire looking around him all confused. “Ugh, what happened?”

“Spike!” The young dragon was knocked back into the muck again as he was tackled by the white filly as she threw herself at him in relief on seeing his original form. His confusion was heightened as he saw that Twilight and her friends staring in shock at the sky before looking up to see the still falling star.

Appearing in front of Twilight, Xellos brushed off a rogue patch of dust before looking down towards her. “Well how was that? One dragon returned to his original self with minimal property damage on my part.” Twilight's only reply was to raise a hoof to point behind him causing him to turn and look up curiously.

The asteroid had now mostly burned up but there was still a large chunk left still falling towards the planet. He opened his mouth to say something but stopped as the meteorite finally finished it's decent, slamming into a tower in Canterlot. The six mare's jaws dropped at the sight while Xellos rubbed his chin thoughtfully. “Hmm, must have been a bit larger than I thought, but I swear that it should have landed somewhere deep in the Everfree. Hmm, I guess the planet doesn't spin as fast as I thought it did or something, oh well, I doubt anyone got hurt, it was only a tower.”

Turning around he was met with six shocked glares to which he only raised an eyebrow. Suddenly they were all blown back and wincing as a shock wave blew over the town that sounded uncomfortably familiar. “XELLOS!”

Glancing back towards Canterlot, Xellos sweat-dropped slightly before rubbing the back of his head with a nervous laugh. “Well it seems that my job here is done, I have something to do elsewhere now. See ya!”

He flew off into the distance and the six deadpanned as they spotted a dark streak chasing after him while two young being struggled to drag themselves out of the nearby mud.

Author's Notes:

Um, oops? Guess things might be a tad difficult next chapter during Nightmare Night.

Chapter 24

Nightmare Night was one of the favorite holidays in Equestria of Xellos as few gave him a second look as he walked around. Everyone always expected to see strange things that night and he was always amused at the pranks that happened even if they were often rather weak without additional assistance which he frequently provided.

Ponyville was relatively simple compared to some of the larger cities but that could be attributed to both the size and traditional nature of the founding earth ponies. It was a good thing though as a certain trio had been trying to find a way to incorporate their recent teachings into the holiday but Applejack had to draw the line when her sister nearly demolished the barn with her golems trying to get them to dance in sync.

Early on Xellos was fine with watching how things just to see how things worked out before he added his own little touch. He currently had his eyes on Rainbow Dash and her cloud prank as he felt it was rather boring compared to what could be done. Before he could decide on what to do he felt a huge presence approaching and his eyes were drawn towards an approaching sky chariot. “Well now, it looks like things are about to get really interesting around here now.”

With a grin the monster floated in the direction it was heading to find Luna leaping off to land in the center of town. He had to restrain himself as the princess proceeded to yell at the ponies of the town in the Royal Canterlot Voice, which caused more fear than respect. Shaking his head he landed by the insulted looking princess before she could storm off and tossed an arm over her withers.

“Well hello Princess, fancy seeing you here tonight of all nights. I would have thought you would have been up in Canterlot terrorizing the nobles instead of down hear screaming at the ponies of Ponyville.” The princess had to restrain herself from going off on the monster as she shrugged off his offending appendage and took a few steps away from him.

“Just when we thought this night could not get worse of course you would show up. What do you want monster? Haven't you caused enough problems for us?” Xellos just chuckled before reclining in the air next to her as she stomped away.

“What? You don't enjoy seeing a familiar face other than your sister after your thousand years in the corner?” Luna froze for a moment before she turned her head to glare at the biped.

“There is nothing we'd rather see less than you. Always since we met you you have vexed us without end. If we didn't know that you would just run away we would end you now.” With a roll of his eyes Xellos booped the princess with his finger before floating in front of her as her eyes crossed.

“You rate the likes of Sombra and Discord ahead of me? I'm not sure if I should feel complimented or insulted that what little I've done means more to you than a pair of tyrants. You would think that not being banished or turned to stone since we've met would put me just a little higher than them.” Luna just glared at the monster as she started to growl lightly.

“You blew up a mountain fortress with ourselves inside of it. And you expect us to just act as if it never happened? If we knew that you would not just run away again we would destroy you.” To punctuate her words the princess took a swing at Xellos with her hoof but he only only stepped backwards. Looking insulted the monster just turned away with a huff.

“Well if that's how you feel about me then I'll be leaving then.” With that he vanished from sight leaving the princess to just grumble to herself as she marched off towards the Whitetail Woods.

Xellos, true to his word, wandered around Ponyville for a while before he eventually came upon the princess once again. Taking a moment he watched as the night princess actually cut loose and have a bit of fun for once. Of course when things started going wrong for her and she started to throw a tantrum causing the monster to shake his head. “Oh dear. It seems I may need to step in before she does something she'll regret. Maybe it's time to bring back an old gag from the past.”

“Princess, remember! Watch the screaming!” Twilight Sparkle tried to calm Luna down but after the reaction of the town, most especially Pinkie Pie, she had had enough.

“NO, TWILIGHT SPARKLE! WE MUST-!” The princess' rant was interrupted as a pillow slammed into her face causing her to stop in shock. Shacking her head she tries to continue. “WE MUST-!” This time she is interrupted as a red fruit slapped wetly across her nose, leaving a streak of juices dripping off of it.

With a twitching eye Luna brought a hoof to rub the liquid off before taking a taste of it. “Raspberry... Only one dares...” Her eyes dart around the area before they lock on a lone figure sneaking around the back of the crowd. Spotting him her eyes narrowed while her mane started flowing erratically around her. Lighting her horn she grabbed the mallet next to a nearby attraction before brandishing it before herself. “XELLOS!”

With her cry of rage a path was cleared between the two allowing Luna an opening to charge after the monster. With a smirk, Xellos dodged to the side as the mallet came down smashing one of the recently animated spiders instead of the princesses original target. “Whoops! Can't you take a joke Looney? It always helped you in the past to stop screaming at your subjects, and that was a thousand years ago. Your sister sure hasn't done that for centuries.”

The only response he received from the princess was another scream of rage as she once again tried to smash in his head. With an exaggerated motion he once again dodged out of the way subjecting another innocent spider to being splattered. Seeing that she couldn't be reasoned with he refrained from speaking as he continued to dodge around the area.

Back where she was standing before the princess ran off, Twilight began to pick her jaw up off the ground before rubbing at her head in annoyance. “Really? You two have to do this now? Ugh, why can't these things ever be easy?”

“Twilight!” Looking over she found Pinkie and Applejack running up to her with the farm mare in the lead. “What the hay is going on here now? First the princess caused those spiders ta go crazy and now she chasing after Xellos.”

With a groan Twilight shook her head before glaring at the retreating duo. “Well I was trying to get princess Luna more accustomed to the current times but somepony kept sabotaging my efforts.” This time her glare was directed at Pinkie Pie who looked confused. “She heard about Nightmare Night and came to try and get the town used to how she really is. All the screaming and running away from her has been really making her depressed and every time she tried to being accepted you kept sabotaging her!”

Pinkie Pie looked a bit worried though Applejack just looked even more confused. “Wait, wait, wait. How was Pinkie sabo-watsing her? She was just doing what she does every year during Nightmare Night. Everypony always does stuff like that on Nightmare Night so ah don't know why it would matter to Princess Luna. It's not like she... Uh... Uh oh.”

The orange pony's eyes shrank to pinpricks as what she was missing finally came to her. Pinkie Pie was the one to speak up for the both of them as her mane deflated. “Like she has been gone for the past thousand years and doesn't know anything about the holiday about her that she thought she could use to be accepted and not feared.”

Twilight nodded sadly as the party pony looked downcast about her actions that had hurt the princess. Looking off towards the path of flattened spiders Twilight moved to chase after the two that had were leading the destruction. As she ran she tried to think of a way to calm the princess despite the actions of Xellos. “Why must he keep doing this whenever she is around him? I would think that he would treat her nicer with how long they have known each other.”

Eventually she finally finally caught up with them just as Luna's purloined mallet finally made contact with Xellos, sending him rocketing deeper into the forest. Panting as her rage faded away, princess Luna slowly dropped to the ground before she sighed and lay her head on her hooves as a tear fell from her eye. “Oh he is right. We have been gone so long that we have no idea on how to act in these modern times.”

Twilight slowly advanced on the princess before she took a seat next to her. “Are you going to be all right, princess? This can't be easy for you, especially after you almost had the rest of town finally about to accept you.”

Twilight winced as Luna sent a tearful glare at her before the princess sighed and lay down again. “Please do not remind us. If it was not for the pink one then none of this would have happened to us.”

Neither of the two noticed the large group that was coming up behind them until one of them spoke up. “We're really sorry about doing all that princess Luna. We thought you were just joining in on the fun with all of us tonight. If we knew that you didn't know about all of this we wouldn't have kept running away screaming.”

Turning the two found that Pinkie Pie had snuck up on them along with the entire foal population of Ponyville. One of the smallest of the group, a piebald colt, stepped forward to the front of the group. “We really are sorry princess. I was so excited that my favorite princess had shown up that when Pinkie said that you were here to have fun with us I just followed along.”

Princess Luna just sat there in shock as she was suddenly surrounded by apologizing foals before a slight smile appeared on her face. Her eyebrow rose as she felt a heavier weight settle on her back causing her to turn to find an unwelcome face to meet her. “Well now isn't this turning out well for you. Now all you have to do is remember what I've told you and everything will be just fine. Now if you'll excuse me I think I'm going to try that new Whack-a-Spider game I saw a pony setting up in honor of our little show we put on.”

As the three gathered adults looked confused at his words he leaned over and gave a little peck on the side of Luna's muzzle before vanishing, leaving them all in shock. Pipsqueak, the colt that spoke up, looked up at the princess innocently. “Princess Luna? Was that your coltfriend?”

While Pinkie Pie looked amused, Twilight was wincing as she looked worriedly at the princess as her expression morphed from confused shock to rage. “XELLOS!”

Author's Notes:

Bleh, that took longer then I wanted and I was expecting it to be a bit longer as well. Still, chapter is out with a bit of fun added in. Now to try and think about what I should do with the Hearthswarming episode or if I'll even use it at all.

Chapter 25

Xellos leaned back against one of the Canterlot palace's spires as he looked out over the city. Night time was always interesting there as the skies were so clear and free of the light pollution the he was used to from his old world so he had a clear view of the skies and surrounding lands under the moon. He had made it a habit of just relaxing somewhere high and taking in the view on Hearths Warming since he had arrived in this world to help keep a grip on what little memories he had of his old life.

That night he was focused on teasing a windigo that had found it's way to the area, which he had encased in a crystal ball, but had his mind on other things. One of the things on his mind was his little list of things to do before enacting his final plan as he had been breezing through it faster than expected now that the current age had arrived. It had been a long time since he had added anything to the list but that was also part of why he set the current day aside like he did.

“It has been a long time since I have seen you up here. Though I guess that explains why my sister had one of her guards let me know that something was up here instead of taking care of it herself.” The biped's head turned to the side to see Celestia walking up the side of the roof towards his location.

Turning back to the windigo Xellos just shrugged is a drew a finger along the surface of the ball which the spirit of hate chased. “Well I doubt I will be welcome anytime soon, at least until you little ponies' media circus calms down in a month or two. Besides there are plenty of places around the world to visit with a view as good as this for today.”

He gestured to a newspaper that was next to him with the headline, 'Princess Luna Has Secret Fiance?' The alicorn had to sigh as she looks on the picture of Xellos kissing her sister on the cheek and how the stories had escalated this far already. “They do tend to take things like this a bit too far, yet I wonder who it was that gave the press that photo as there has yet to be a name given for the photographer.”

Xellos paused and looked thoughtful for a moment before her went back to toying with the orb. “I believe that it was a young colt from Ponyville that took the picture since he always is carrying a camera around. I doubt the press would enjoy admitting to being upstaged by him which would be why they didn't release a name and there wouldn't have been any reporters there since it's a small town and Luna showed up unannounced.”

The princess had to chuckle at the thought of their reactions to a colt bringing them the picture despite how much trouble it had brought. She moved closer to the monster before she took a seat right next to him to look out over the city with him. The two just sat there for a while just taking in the silence and each others company before the alicorn finally sighed. “I should start bringing Luna up here when we both have nothing else to do. Just to sit and talk as we get away from everything even if it is just for a few minutes. She missed so much while she was gone and she has so much trouble understanding our ponies now and you and I are the only ones that were there to see it happen and considering how you two get along.”

She paused as she looks over at Xellos while considering something. “Why is it that you do all of that to Luna anyways? You used to do it before her banishment but you eventually stopped, so why start up antagonizing her again?”

Xellos stared into the globe for a moment longer before he stored it away in his satchel. “Back then it was all just fun and games and I wonder if she ever would have become Nightmare Moon if I didn't stop. Of course that was then, now she just feels so off as if she had lost her sense of fun and I've been trying to get her to open up a bit. That night she was starting to open up again but when she started to fall backwards I decided to step in. Mostly I do it just because it's amusing.”

Celestia just shook her head at him before leaning against the spire that topped the roof. Standing up, Xellos walked out to the edge for a better view of the landscape in the direction towards the walls of Tartarus. “Amusement. That's why I do much of what I do and because they are interfering with that and my own plans is why I fight those of my own kind. We are all creatures that are descended from chaos, but unlike chaos they have only one focus and reject chaos by refusing change. Change is inevitable yet they reject it unlike most of the world. Did you know that the Canterlot Plains there used to be called Demon's Run?”

She paused to think for a moment in curiosity, wondering where he was going with this, before she shook her head. “Huh, remind me to tell you that little poem about it I heard from old Swirly. Still, change should always happen but if not guided correctly it can turn into a hindrance instead of a benefit. Your subjects are a perfect example, they've changed so much in a peaceful direction that few have any real fight left in them. Luckily it isn't too late to fix all of that.”

In response the princess only leveled a glare at him, as she realized what he was referring to, before speaking. “We have that peace because those spells were no longer in use and forgotten. You are lucky that it is only those fillies that are being taught and Twilight can keep an eye on them. At least then whatever damage you may cause will be contained.”

Xellos just looked back at her and raised an eyebrow before shaking his head sadly. “Wow, you sure have been out of touch all this time if that's what you truly think, especially with all the escapees from Tartarus. I wonder if you would still be saying that if I just watched as your precious student died because everything she learned was worthless against even the weakest of monsters. Or if one of the kingdoms that still have that magic decided that your peaceful and defenseless ponies would be perfect targets to invade. Peace of your kind is only a lie that is revealed when war arrives on your doorstep and by then it's too late to stop it.”

While she was about to argue, the princess instead winced as she remembered what had happened that day which caused her to give her student that book of spells. The princess wanted to argue with him on this more but he had a point especially with Tartarus no longer being secure. Thinking of that hellish prison reminded her of something she needed to ask. “Before the breakouts from Tartarus I would have argued with you, but I never expected anything to breach it without being noticed. Have you found the source yet?”

Glancing back with a raised eyebrow at how easily she capitulated on the previous topic he decided to just accept the small victory for now. “Hmm, unfortunately I haven't found a thing about it which is worrying. I have searched every bit of the barrier as well as the surrounding area and have found nothing. So either something is strong enough to hide the breach from me, or they found another way out that is nowhere near there. Both are rather concerning prospects. Hopefully it's not some other kingdom, that hasn't banished all the old magic, finding a way to summon them through the dimensional walls.”

Celestia looked worried on hearing this while she made a mental note to check on the other kingdoms and how they still had those spells. “That is worrying, especially if the stronger creatures locked away start to escape as well. If you were right about Discord being possessed by one of the strongest then who knows how dangerous the others will be since it couldn't completely control him.”

Glancing down at his talismans, Xellos wondered how many of the other three were locked in there at that moment and how many were free elsewhere. “Hmm, that could be a problem then if any of them gain control of anything truly strong. With all the enemies you've made over the years and just locked up it'll be hard to say who has the last three fragments until they show. I highly doubt your student would be ready to face any of them anytime soon.”

The princess nodded before she rose to her hooves to make a few preparations for the future. As she prepared to leap into the air Xellos' voice rang out once again. “Oh, and try to get Twilight to lighten up a bit. With how long she is going to be around she can't afford to be as neurotic as she is if she's going to be around for as long as you.”

Celestia stumbled at his words before she turned back to glare at him furiously. “How do you know about that?! I never told anypony about so how did you find out? If you do anything to her I'll...”

Her tirade was halted when Xellos vanished before reappearing right in front of her and booping her nose. “Oh calm down. You should know by now that I don't kill indiscriminately and preventing your student from reaching her so-called destiny goes against my own plans. Of course things may not fully turn out like you expect but I won't be doing anything to her, for now.”

The response to this was a growl from the princess as she continued to glare at him before her face morphed back to one of her usual sereneness. “It is true that you are little like your other monster brethren yet I have to wonder why you are fighting them and why you have been so talkative today. Rarely are you so forthcoming and you often keep most things a secret.”

Xellos paused to think for a moment before he shrugged at her. “Let's just say that if anyone will be destroying the world it will be me, I at least have my pride in not letting others do it for me, as for all of this?” He smirked at her before he continued. “Just blame it on the time of the year and call all of this an early Christmas present.”

With that he vanished from the alicorns view leaving her both bemused as well as disturbed. “How much of the future does he know, and what is this Christmas thing he mentioned?”

Author's Notes:

Mostly exposition but a few hints of things to come as well. Maybe I'll just do a skip of a few episodes instead of trying to cram stuff in, with maybe some more stuff with the CMC. Things will be rather slow up until the S2 finale though which is when the action will pick up. Oh, and the 'disaster coming next tuesday' episode as well since that will be something biggish.

Chapter 26

“Huh? I don't remember picking up one of these.” Xellos casually tossed aside a pirate flag once owned by the Dread Pirate Sprinkles featuring a pony holding hooves with a skeleton pony. “I really should go through this more often and get rid of this random junk I've picked up over the years.” He tossed another item away, narrowly missing Twilight who turned to glare at him through the previously tossed flag.

“Do you really have to do that here? As interesting as most of this stuff is the library is not the place to clean out your bag.” She ducked as a bejeweled chalice flew by her head which was quickly snatched up by Spike.

“Seriously, who do you think has to clean up this place once you leave?” The young dragon quickly snagged up the flag as Twilight tossed it away and added it to his small pile of things he planned to squirrel away.

“Actually, this is the perfect place to do this. Do you know how much isn't even in the history books that I was there to see personally? Of course there is so much that I've seen that I sometimes need reminders about what happened even if the account is biased.” Twilight's eye twitched at him calling her books inaccurate and biased but said nothing as the princess had admitted a couple points that had happened in the past.

Xellos started to struggle a bit as he attempted to pull the next item from his bag but it seemed to have been caught on something. With a few more tugs he was able to dislodge whatever it had been caught on to reveal an enchanted storage cooler. “Weird. I don't remember ever owning one of these. I wonder what was so important in it that I would stash it away.”

Unfortunately opening it was a terrible idea as a cloud of stench poured out of it causing the pony and dragon to gag at the stench. A glow spread through the library as Twilight slammed every window open which was soon foolowed by the head of the two being thrust out of them. “Oh my Celestia, what the hay was in that thing? Even Spike's breathe after he's gone diving in the palace dumpster was better than that.”

“Hey!”

Looking at the container one more time Xellos froze the entire thing in a block of ice before he launched it into orbit with a spell. “You really don't want to know. It must have been something that slipped into my portable pocket dimension without me noticing. That or I just need to clean it out more often; after a thousand years it's not that hard to forget something.”

Twilight just facehoofed as she groaned at the monster before she turned to look at Spike as he let out a yelp of pain. “OW! Something just bit me!”

The librarian thought she saw something dart out the open window but the sight of Spike rubbing at a bruise on his arm was more important. “Spike, are you all right? What could actually get through your scales to even hurt you? Unless...”

She turned to glare at Xellos as he was looking out a nearby window. “You!? Now what did you do!?”

Xellos shook his head as he turned back to the mare. “It seems that there was some kind of creature inside that container which just went running off into town. You might want to do something about that instead of yelling at me, especially since young Spike there doesn't look so good.”

Twilight's head whipped around to look at her assistant to see him slowly collapsing to the ground. “Spike! What's wrong!?”

The dragon wasn't able to answer as he had passed out while sweating from the onset of a fever. While looking over her shoulder the monster rubbed his chin as he examined the young dragon. “Hmm, paralysis and induced fever reactions. Well Sweetie Belle was complaining about not having enough practice with some of her spells and with that thing on the loose she should get plenty of it. Who knows how many ponies that thing will run into.”

The mare glared at the monster for a moment before her eyes widened as what he was saying hit her. “Wait, you just watched as that thing ran off!? Why didn't you stop it!? If it could do that to Spike with his thick scales then what would it do to a pony!?”

Her mane started to pop out of place as she ran out the door leaving Xellos alone to set the downed dragon onto one of the library's reading couches. Afterwards he did what he said and brought Sweetie Belle to treat the dragon but was soon off into Ponyville searching for the inevitable disturbance with the purple pony in panic. Before he could find her he was distracted by a sight that he never expected to see. “HEE-YA!”

Xellos had to look again at what he was seeing but the view didn't change forcing him to land next to Rarity and Pinkie Pie. The two ponies were also shocked at what they were watching as Fluttershy had just finished performing a suplex on Shoeshine sending the rest of the nearby ponies running. “Wow, that's not something you see everyday. Is that really Fluttershy or does she have an identical twin sister that I didn't know about?”

Pinkie Pie just shrugged while Rarity picked her jaw up off the ground before clearing her throat. “Well, it appears that dear Fluttershy has learned how to be a bit more, um, assertive. Though I think she may have taken the teachings from that minotaur a tad too far.”

While the pink party pony nodded along in agreement with her, Xellos looked over the fallen form of the injured earth pony. “So do you think that she will be all right after that? Someone should probably follow after Fluttershy as well.”

Looking back towards the yellow pegasus they found that she had taken off further into Ponyville and the carnage had only begun for those that got in her way. Pinkie and Rarity looked at each other before following after her leaving Xellos to poke at the downed mare. His eyebrow rose as he didn't get a reaction from her when he noticed movement out of the corner of his eye. When he looked towards the disturbance he noticed some type of slime creature fleeing the area and he only then noticed a dark bruise on the mare's neck.

“Ugh, I'm too late! That's the fifth pony that thing has knocked out. Xellos, why aren't you doing anything to help stop that creature?!” Twilight came stomping up to the biped before taking a moment to catch her breath. “How can something that small without legs move so fast?”

The monster looked back the way the mare had come from to see another downed pony in the distance. “So you just left all those injured ponies where you found them? I sure hope that you at least remember where they all are and had someone else go to help them.”

His words might as well not have been said as Twilight had already taken off after the creature once again leaving him to shrug his shoulders as he levitated the downed pony off towards the hospital. It took him a while but he eventually found the other four the Twilight had mentioned but by that time even more had fallen to the creature.

Xellos finally caught up to Twilight after the sun had started to set while out near Fluttershy's cottage. She had been chasing after the creature all day and was running out of steam in her panic-ridden state. She was barely plodding along as she advanced on the hut when she spotted Pinkie Pie and Rarity leaving Fluttershy's home. “Heya, Twilight! What are you doing all the way out here this late? Ooh! Pudding!”

Before Twilight could stop her Pinkie scooped up the slime creature as it scooted by her hooves and popped it into her mouth. The purple mare could only stare in horror as this happened but a look of confusion fell over her as nothing seemed to be happening before it morphed into frustration. “Oh, come on!”

She collapsed to the ground in a combination of fatigue and frustration while Pinkie bounced off towards home. Rarity was more disgusted than anything over her friend's action and with Twilight soon snoring away she only had one creature to turn to for answers. “Darling? Just what has been going on while Fluttershy was having her issues?”

After pulling a blanket out of his bag and tossing it over the sleeping mare he started setting up a small camp before answering Rarity. “Oh, just a minor creature issue which Pinkie just solved while your sister treats the ponies affected by everything that happened. How did the Fluttershy side of things turn out?”

Rarity explained how everything went down over the day while Xellos tapped at his chin. “Hmm, something about all of that sounds familiar to me. Where did that minotaur happen to go when he left?”

After being pointed in the correct direction Xellos floated off in search of the minotaur to confirm his suspicions. Coming up on the wagon as it rolled away he let out a smirk as he noticed the emblem that was many of its surfaces. Hearing the minotaur talking to one of his goats, Xellos decided to listen in for a bit.

“I just don't know what went wrong. Never before has a pony taken my lessons so well yet that one is also the worst one to learn them. My ancestor would be so ashamed of me for not being able to spread his teachings once more.” Iron Will pulled out an extremely beat up journal and rubbed a hand over the faded cover before setting it down on the seat of the wagon. He resumed pulling the wagon on his way towards his next destination which he still had to decide on. Eventually he came upon a good location to set up camp and was about to stop when he heard a voice behind him.

“Wow, this thing really has seen better days. And where did the rest of it go? Last I remember it took two minotaurs to carry it around but even a foal could carry it around. At least some of his sketches made it through the trials of time, including this beauty.” Turning back to look at who was speaking the minotaur found the monster reclined upside down with the journal angled so that he could read it while still being visible to the minotaur. He was about to yell at the invader until he noticed the drawing in question which was an exact duplicate of the monster, causing his eyes to widen in shock.

“El Demonio Burlador! But you were supposed to be just a story told as part of the lessons as told by my ancestor. How could you actually be here?” Iron Will backed away a few steps as Xellos just quirked an eyebrow at him at the name.

“Huh, that's a new one. And I thought that King Phil had run out of names in his old age. Still, I had thought that the owners of the restaurant were the last of his descendants to survive until now. Of course since I never did meet his third daughter I'm guessing that you are part of her line, especially since the eldest one never had children.” He casually rolled off the wagon's bench just as Iron Will charged headfirst into where he was moments ago.

Iron Will tugged a few times before finally unsticking himself from the wagon allowing him to turn and snort at the monster. “You are the greatest evil to come to this world that the great King Phil Strongarm could never manage to defeat. By my honor as a descendent of that great king I shall smash you with the powers granted to me by his teachings. When somepony tries to block, show them that you rock!”

Iron Will threw himself at Xellos once again in an attempt to clothesline him which brought back memories to the monster as he bent backwards to pass under the blow. “Not bad. But it still lacks that little something he always put into his attacks. Of course I would be willing to part with a copy of the complete journal that I happen to have if you do a simple little thing for me.”

The minotaur froze in place as he was about to perform a third attack as his eyes widened at the sight of the huge book that Xellos pulled from his bag. “How... How did you get ahold of that? My family has the only copy of his journal and even with our protection much of it was destroyed.”

“Let's just say that old Sunbutt's little journal spell is extremely useful when it comes to making copies without anyone knowing.” The minotaur's eyes narrowed at the monster as he snorted in irritation and anger at him.

“As much as I dislike having to rely on something such as you for this, my family would do anything for that knowledge. What is this deal that you propose?” Xellos just smirked at him as he relished in the negative emotions.

“Well it's simple really. All you have to do is learn the real teachings that King Upbeat wrote in that book and fix your little failure from before.” Iron Will just looked confused for a moment before he clarified.

“So all you want me to do is teach that butterball once again? Why would you want something like that?” With a smirk Xellos brought his hand up to in front of his face with a finger upraised.

“Normally I'd just say it's a secret, but you'll probably learn about it as you read and find out just how perfect of a match she is with what you will teach her.” With a chuckle he passed the towering minotaur the journal leaving Iron Will wondering what he was getting himself into.

Author's Notes:

Bit of silliness for now but next chapter will have a bit of flashback stuff. Probably the last one period as it'll explain a lot of the remaining backstory that is needed. Also new changeling episode out today was neat, but way too rushed at the end and won't be making it into this story due to reasons coming up later.

Chapter 27

Xellos quirked an eyebrow as he looked at the chain that Twilight had just strapped to his wrist. “There! Now as long as you're chained here then at least you won't have anything to do with whatever is about to happen.”

Lifting it up for a better look Xellos just shook his head. “Really? You think that something is about to happen and you think that this would be enough to stop me? I don't even have anything planned for right now anyways so I don't know what you're trying to stop me from doing.”

Twilight ponders the monster for a moment before she nods. “You're right, better add a few spell just to make sure. Can't have you escaping if you really were the one that caused that disaster next Tuesday. I just wish that I told me exactly what it was that happened to make me look like that.”

Xellos just blinked a couple times as the words registered with him before he started chuckling. “Wait, you actually met your future self? As in time travel? Wow, I haven't seen a time travel spell being used since old Swirly started researching them and recording everything he found.”

“I thought I told you not to call me that!” Both heads turned to the side to look at the brown-maned, tan stallion that just spoke with raised eyebrows. Realizing what he just said the stallion cleared his throat before walking off while whistling. Twilight and Xellos' eyes followed him, the former in confusion while the latter with realization, before turning back to each other.

“Right, disregarding the craziness of Doctor there and the nickname, do you mean to tell me that you actually knew Starswirl the Bearded?” Xellos' glanced back in the direction of the stallion before turning back to the purple librarian.

“Oh, we've met. He always kept trying to lock me in his science dungeon just to study me since I never acted like the others of the monster race. Of course it didn't help that he had problems remembering when he was with all his studies.” With a roll of her eyes Twilight just brushed him off and went to check on her friends since she had trouble believing his far-fetched claims. Once she was out of view Xellos effortlessly slipped the chain off and followed after from above.

While he could probably guess what would happen in relation to Twilight's issue after seeing the many things that Starswirl got up to. Seeing her directing her friends and half the town to try and cover all possibilities should also have been predictable but what came crawling into town wasn't something he expected or wanted to see. “Oh dear, the poor thing! What in the world happened to you?”

“Fluttershy! Be careful! That thing could be dangerous!” The buttery pegasus ignored Twilight as she approached the form of Cerberus and looked over his injuries. Only one of the heads was still conscious and had managed to drag its mangled body to the town before finally collapsing. The mare found that most of the creatures ribs were shattered and three of its legs were broken as well, making it a wonder how it had made it so far. Even stranger was about seventy percent of its fur was missing and replaced with burns which should have been impossible for a creature of fire.

“Oh dear, this isn't good at all. I've never seen anything be this injured before and still be alive, what do I do?” Her panicking over the injured creature was stalled by a bright flash as Xellos appeared next to her along with a dazed Sweetie Belle.

“Hmm, not good. Not good at all. Sweetie Belle, help Fluttershy take care of Cerberus, I have something I need to go take care of.” The nearby ponies looked at Xellos warily as his eyes opened angrily before he vanished from sight. Looking at each other for a moment the mare and filly proceeded to start helping out the injured canine while the others wondered just what the monster had planned.

<><><><><><><>

“Send in the next petitioner.” Princess Celestia sighed internally as one set of nobles left the room just for another pair to trot in with more inconsequential complaints. The princess was looking forward to when she could close up court for the night and do something else, preferably reading a new report from her student or, surprisingly, from Prince Blueblood. While his mother still pestered her to bring him back, the stallion himself had actually improved after being sent off with a diplomatic group to the neighboring countries. She had sent her most strict former-general to keep an eye on the prince, but even her own reports described a surprising change to the stallion as he actually acted like one for once.

She settled in to listed to yet another boring presentation, which was obvious as the nobles had servants setting up a pair of easels with charts and diagrams. Suddenly there was a a commotion in the room as the nobles were sent flying by a flash of light. The princess sat up straighter in interest at hopefully something more interesting happening but she slumped down when she noticed that it was only Xellos. She gestured to her guards to stand down before turning her attention back to the biped. “Xellos, what brings you here today?”

“I'm only stopping by to let you know that Cerberus is horribly injured and in Ponyville now so you might want to enact whatever preparations you had.” With that he vanished leaving the princess to stare wide-eyed at where he was a moment ago. Standing up from her throne she spread her wings and turned to her guards. “Court is over for the day! Guards! Awaken my sister and have her meet me at the chariot grounds! Then enact Emergency Procedure T until further orders!”

As the guards rushed to follow her orders and the nobles were escorted out of the room Celestia made her way down to the armory. Unlike with when Discord escaped she was going to be fully armed this time.

<><><><><><><>

The plains outside of Tartarus looked like a war-zone as the area had craters scattered all over it, some of them still aflame. The great gates of Tartarus had been blown open from the inside and even now creatures were still pouring from the prison. When Xellos arrived most of the strongest creatures were already gone, including whatever had broken the gates, but there were still many of the weaker monsters around and even a few medium level ones still had yet to escape. “Well this is about what I expected, but who knows what has already escaped. As much as I hate to do this, I guess it's time to push up my plans a bit.”

Flexing his arms forward and cracking his knuckles, Xellos began his decent towards the broken gate and started materializing a swarm of black thorns. Phasing back into the physical plane he unleashed a barrage of them upon the escaped prisoners, mostly focusing on those of the monster race that were away from the gates of Tartarus. His landing was met with screams as his attack shredded through the fleeing creatures without them having a chance to fight back.

Upon landing he immediately stood tall as he planted his staff into the ground next to him in the center of the open gateway, halting the advance of any more prisoners. The more mindless inhabitants as well as the stronger monsters held back as they could sense something was off about him, but one of the lesser monsters was more reckless and charged him heedless of the danger. Only seeing an enemy it spat a stream of acid from its gaping maw and charged into him expecting an easy kill. Unfortunately for it Xellos didn't even bother to defend and instead thrust his arm into the creature's chest before ripping out its core effortlessly, forcing the escaping horde to pause even further.

Leveling his gaze on the gathering forces of Tartarus, Xellos watched them warily as he sized them up for potential threats. Most of what he could see were relatively weak compared to him, but he could sense at least one upper level monster in the bunch that could potentially be a threat if it caught him off guard. Luckily for him the monster he was searching for stepped forward to the front of the group allowing him to identify it while it tried to parlay.

“So the pony's pet monster that I've been hearing about deigns to show himself before his own kind only after we free ourselves. Tell me, what did those lesser beings offer you so that you would betray your own kind? Betray your very nature?” Xellos looked over the monster's form as it stood there waiting for an answer. He could tell that this wasn't the real body as it was only a beefier, wolf-like diamond dog than normal but the headgear it wore was highly suspicious. From what he could tell the bat-winged headband across its eyes was the true form of the monster and was of the type that took over and empowered others and had little real personal strength. Seeing the ease of his opponent Xellos smirked and finally answered.

“They haven't given me a thing to do what I have been doing and I haven't betrayed anything. Unlike all of you I actually plan for the long term and don't act recklessly. Of course I can't have anyone interfering with my plans so there were bound to be some casualties.” As his glare hardens the mob slowly backs away leaving the leader of the band isolated.

“If that is true then why not let us know those plans so we can avoid messing with them. Then we can each just go our own ways without having to fight.” The monster had its eyes closed when it was saying this but when it opened its eyes the world had turned sideways one it with Xellos having disappeared. Screams followed the view shortly after but were soon silenced as its former body fell in front of it revealing that it had been decapitated.

The monster's view soon changed yet again as its head was picked up and turned towards the view behind it. The horde that was once behind it had been reduced to a pile of meat as something had went and shredded them all. Angling its eyes it saw that it was Xellos that had picked him up who was yawning at the scene. “Well you see my plans involve all of you being out of the way so I can focus on ending everything. I know you all are trying the same but its a matter of pride with me and letting someone else do it just doesn't sit well. So unfortunately for you that means you have to die. It's nothing personal really, but these things happen.”

With a flick of his wrist Xellos sent the head flying upwards with the monster still attached to it as it started screaming. “Wait, wait, WAIT!” Ignoring the creature Xellos spun his staff before unleashing a beam of light, vaporizing both the head and mask-shaped monster. Looking around at the bloody and barren area Xellos let out a final sigh.

“Well that was disappointing. Now what will I do while waiting for Sunbutt to arrive?”

<><><><><><><>

Despite his complaints Xellos easily found ways to entertain himself as more prisoners trickled their way out of Tartarus. Seeing the slow rate that they were coming, he decided to set up obstacles for them to pass through to escape, and even allowed some of the ones that managed to escape to go free. He was watching the latest batch when Princess Celestia finally arrived with a large group of the Royal Guards. “Xellos, what-”

“Shh!” He cut her off with a raised finger as he intently watched his latest victim. “He's about to get to the final part before he escapes.” The princess watched as some sort of draconic gryphon approached the threshold of the vast prison but just as it was about to cross through into Equestria it was impaled as a multitude of spikes hit it from multiple directions before shredding the body apart. “Ooh, so close, too.”

Celestia shook her head at the biped while one of her guards vacated her stomach at the sight. “Xellos, this is not the time to play around. Tartarus has held for millennia and nothing has ever broken out like this before. We need to find what caused this and get everything that escaped back in.”

Xellos just yawned as he watched for the next batch of prisoners to approach the gateway. “I haven't seen anything worth getting serious about and whatever did this was long gone when I got here. It shouldn't be that hard to find out what could have done this though since there isn't much that Cerberus couldn't have stopped. Besides this was bound to happen eventually since nothing lasts forever. Now how is Cerberus doing? I assume you sent Luna to help out in Ponyville.”

With a sigh the princess signaled to her guards to spread out through the area to scout it out. “Yes, I thought it would be better to keep you two apart during this and she always did have a soft spot for him. Whatever escaped from here though we need to find fast, can we at least assume that you'll keep an eye out for it if you won't actively search? I've learned that expecting you to go out of your way to help never turns out right.”

With a smirk at the princess he starting walking away. “Well it seems one of you are finally remembering how I work. Besides if these things could do that to Cerberus then I doubt they will be hard to find yet fighting them alone would be more trouble than it's worth. Anyways I have a puppy to go look in on so I'll leave things to you. Oh and you might want to warn your guards about the blood, things got a little... messy here.”

Before she could respond Xellos had vanished leaving her to deal with the cleanup, which was made more complicated when the guards realized that the 'mud' that was spread out as far as they could see was in fact blood and gore from everything that the monster had already handled. Celestia brought a hoof up to rub at her temple as one after another of her guards started adding to the mess with the contents of their stomachs.

Far away from the site of horror, Xellos stopped in his travel to pull out an orb from his pouch. “That was good for a start, but there is still much more to do until I'm finished.” Faint screams could be heard from the orb as he stashed it away yet again and ghostly images passed across its surface including one vague bat-like form.

Author's Notes:

Huh, I was wrong. NEXT chapter is the flashback one.

Chapter 28

While things around Ponyville were often chaotic and unpredictable, a trench was still the last place you would expect to find there, especially filled with ponies. That was what happened to be at the edge of the town that day as Twilight and her friends, minus Fluttershy, prepared to watch the Great Dragon Migration that was scheduled to come through that day. “I can't believe that the Great Dragon Migration is passing by here today! Nopony has seen it for hundreds of years, since before Princess Celestia banished her sister to the moon even and the history books don't even mention why. It's just too bad that we have to deal with the uninvited guest, what are you even doing Xellos?”

Twilight looked over at the monster who had been picking at an ad orb while occasionally flicking black specks off to the side which dissolved into nothing. Looking up he noticed the five mares watching him causing him to clear his throat and hide the orb away. “Oh, nothing much, just a little side project of mine. Besides after that recent incident with Tartarus I've been rather busy so keeping an eye on the dragons as they pass through is a nice break. Can't have them doing anything rash like last time.”

Rolling her eyes Twilight goes back to talking with her friends while they waited for the migration to arrive. They didn't have long to wait though as the dragons soon came into view, but it left them rather disappointed as they trickled by at a slow pace. With a huff, Rainbow Dash summed up what many of them were thinking in her own words. “Is this it? There are hardly enough for it to be called a migration, let alone a great migration. How lame.”

One of the dragons flying overhead heard her and prepared to swoop down and strafe the area but another shape gave him pause. Looking closer he saw the form of Xellos leaning back and watching the migration which sent him into a panic as he fled rapidly. The mares noticed this and looked at Xellos curiously as this wasn't the first time that had happened. “You never did explain why all those dragons fear you. I always thought that there was nothing that they feared, they barely even respect Princess Celestia.”

Xellos pauses and watched as Spike wheeled up a trolley of snacks while wearing a frilly apron along with his sword. Rainbow Dash took a moment to tease the dragonling for the look while Rarity tried to reassure him that he looked fine. Word soon spread through the group about Twilight's thinly-veiled request for a tale and soon gathered around the monster causing him to shake his head. “Well it's a bit of a tale, but since you've heard much of it already I guess I can let you know the rest.”

vvvvvvvvvv

Smoke rose from the newly minted crater as Xellos flew unsteadily away from it. He didn't know the situation the he left behind but it didn't matter as his face twisted into various states. What was odd though for any that may have been observing was that both sides of his face had a different expression, one half that of terror and a violet eye, and the other of glee with a red eye. If they could look even further they would witness the battle that was going on within his own mind as dissenting personalities fought for control.

“What's going on?! Why can't I move my body like I want to, and for that matter where am I going?!”

“Well that's one eyesore out of the way, now what should I destroy next?”

“What the? Who just said that? Are you the one doing this to me? Give me back my body!”

“Your body? You really should have looked in a mirror as this is obviously mine even if you were in control of it. If you didn't cast a Dragon Slave then you would still be in control though I would have expected that to kill us instead of setting me free. But now that I am we do things my way.”

The original consciousness was shoved into the back of his mind as he flew around, relishing in his freedom. He had no memories of how he had arrived but he did know everything that the other knew so he was sure that the body was his even if he didn't have many personal memories. It didn't really bother him though as he was finally out now and he had the urge to have some fun with it.

He didn't know where he was or how long he was flying around but he eventually came upon something that caught his eyes. Landing on a convenient plateau Xellos watched as a cloud of creatures slowly advanced towards Equestria with him standing in its path. As it go closer he could see that the cloud was formed by a countless number of dragons as well as something else that was rapidly approaching him from the front of the group.

While the form had the general appearance of a dragon, he could tell that it was actually a monster that only appeared to be one of them. After floating in front of him for a few moments observing him it decided to land to speak. “Well this is a surprise. I was sure that I had found all the stronger monsters that had yet to be locked away in Tartarus. You're just in time though for today we take our revenge on the pitiful pony princesses and their homeland. Once they are brought low we can then finally bring about the grand design of our kind.”

Xellos looked over the gathered forces and he felt odd as he observed all of the creatures, but mostly it happened when looking at the dragons. Unsure as to what it was that was bugging him he decided to try and find out why he felt this way instead of acting immediately. “Well I can understand why all the monsters are here, but why are there so many dragons here as well? Why would they decide to help out?”

The dragonesque monster just snorts as he casually waves a hand in front of his face. “Them? Those beast just want revenge on the humiliation the ponies put them through over the years. They're just a useful shield to wear the enemy down until we mop everything up.”

Xellos frowned as he heard this as the odd feeling intensified. In his distraction his suppression of his other side weakened enough that his voice broke through again.

“Pff, of course they would find something else to do all the work for them if they are so weak they don't believe in their own power.”

“Bah, I thought that I got rid of you, but you do have a point. That's what has been bothering me, their unmonster-like behavior. Have they no sense of pride?”

“Pride? Why would the cowards have a need of that? They are no better than mindless beasts in how they only focus on doing the one thing that they were made to do? Where's the fun in rushing through everything without enjoying the simpler things in life? Some creatures of chaos they are.”

The words of the suppressed side struck a chord in the one controlling the body as he frowned in thought. He had a point in all that especially since the first thing he did when he took control was relish in the freedom and have fun just flying around. While it may get boring eventually, just having the experience was reason enough to take his time in returning everything to chaos until he was good and ready. Also there was the more important reason in that if it was going to be done he was going to do it himself without relying on something else to do it for him.

Looking up at the gathered horde he grinned maliciously as he raised an arm out to his side before waving it across the area occupied by the army. The nearby monster's jaw dropped as he felt an overwhelming surge of power before the army started falling from the sky in pieces. Every monster that had been in the air had been obliterated by Xellos' attack, while many of the dragons took lethal hits as well with only the most observant or lucky managing to escape deadly or crippling blows.

“Why!? Why did you do that!? Aren't you one of us!? Why would you stop us from destroying the ponies that threaten us!?” He let out a gasp of shock as his head was removed from his shoulders before it landed in Xellos' outstretched hand.

“Why? Well that's because you have forgotten what it means to be a monster. If I want to destroy them then it will be with my own power and not someone elses. Besides, I feel that things will be much more interesting with the pony's kingdom being left alive than if I allow it to be wiped out this soon after they've obtained freedom.” With a flex of his hand Xellos crushed the skull of the other monster before looking out over the devastation while turning his thoughts inwards.

“That actually felt good to do, like erasing a disease that was inhibiting me. I think I will hold off on destroying everything, at least as long as things remain amusing.”

“Now that sounds like the Xellos I know. Why finish off everything when there is so much to be gained from having fun with it? Also with the strength in this body there shouldn't be much that would be a threat and I doubt that there are any of the highest ranked monsters in this universe.”

“True, everything I do will be by my choice without anyone ordering me around. Maybe... Hello, there seems to be some survivors from their little fall.”

Looking down the monster noticed a green figure trying to crawl away from the area of the massacre. Flying down he found a large green dragon with purple highlights trying to limp away on three legs as it had lost its wings and a hind leg. Seeing the monster advancing it cowered away while trying to cover a slightly smaller form hidden in a nearby thicket. “No, get away! I knew that trusting your kind was a mistake and that you would betray us all!”

Xellos just smirked at the dragon while ignoring the emerald green eyes he could see in the brush behind the dragon. “I never really was on your side anyways. In fact all these so-called monsters are an embarrassment to the monster race. Still, I'm feeling generous now and I think I'll let any of you that survived leave to lick your wounds. I will give you this warning though. The ponies are mine to deal with how I wish and anyone that interferes will have to answer to me.”

The two beings shrink away at the overwhelming aura of evil that the monster is emitting and quickly nod in agreement to him. With their answer given his eyes close to their usual form before he smiles gleefully at them. “Good! I'm glad we had this talk, oh and be sure to tell all your friends as well. Well I've got things to do, people to see so I'll just leave you here.”

With his final words Xellos flew off leaving the dragon to slump in place as his purple companion crawled out of the bush to comfort him. Unknown to them the two consciousnesses within the monster came to an agreement as one final thought rolled across his mind. “Now where am I going to find some paper.”

^^^^^^^^^^

“...and that is how the dragon race was nearly wiped out.” Xellos smiled as he looked around at the gathered mares and dragon as they stared at him in horror. “What? Too much?”

Twilight shook her head and glanced around at her friends before answering for them all. “As interesting as it was to hear about something that was never explained in the history books I never thought anything could just be so...” She paused as she tried to search for a diplomatic word until one of the others stepped in.

“Evil?” She turned to frown at Spike who was glaring at the monster with a combination of anger and fear. With a sigh she looked back at Xellos before nodding wearily.

“Well I will admit that it wasn't my finest moment, being a bit at war with myself, but it's not like I kept that a secret. I'm pretty sure I've mentioned the fact that I was evil before, maybe I was just being too subtle about it.” That mares collectively facehoofed as they remembered the various moments he'd said that as well as at his current performance of bafflement.

Spike flops against the side of the trench as he lets out a loud sigh and wraps his arms around himself. “Just great, it's bad enough that I know nothing about being a dragon but to find that my kind is endangered? How am I going to learn anything if all of the ones I could learn from are too young or dead?”

Twilight moves to his side to comfort him, but she turns to glare at Xellos when he snorted in amusement. “Is his pain really that amusing to you?”

Leaning back in the air he just waved a hand at her in a negative fashion. “Oh nothing of the sort. I just find it amusing that he feels he has to ask someone else how to just be himself, especially from those that tried to invade a kingdom to kill all the inhabitants. Really, dragons are interesting in that they can be just about anything they want based on their needs and environment.”

Spike looked interested for a moment before turning back to his thoughts again while Twilight's interest was piqued. “What do you mean by they can be anything based on their environment? Sure Spike is a bit different from those dragons, like his lack of wings, but isn't it just because of how young he is?”

Raising an eyebrow Xellos just chuckled a little as he watched a few more dragons fly by. “Well that could be part of it, but dragon magic is focused heavily in their body and allows them some shape shifting capabilities, which should have been obvious during that little period of greed he had.” Spike blushed at being reminded of that but was ignored as the monster continued.

“In fact I had an old friend that wasn't much larger than him and had trouble growing larger since she didn't need to with how strong she was in magic. When he started hoarding like that he thought he needed to be stronger to protect it so he grew until he realized that he didn't need it all. Of course that isn't to say that he hasn't changed at all. Since he started training with that sword he has been bulking up a bit.” All eyes turned to stare at Spike at this as they took in his form more closely.

Rarity was the first to notice something as her discerning eye settled on the dragon and began picking out changes. “Darling, have you gotten taller lately? And when did you start getting so muscular as well?”

Rainbow Dash rolled her eyes at Rarity noticing something like that but she had to admit that the mare was correct as she poked at the dragon. “Huh, she's right about that. You don't seem to be as soft as I remember you being. Huh, the squirt mentioned that she was training with you during her spare time. Maybe I should check on her more to see how she is doing.”

While the mare wanted to do it due to her curiosity, she also wanted to see if there was anything else she could learn but didn't want to admit it. Twilight though was staring at Xellos before she just through up her hooves in annoyance. “I give up! One moment you go on about murdering most of an entire race, then you act as if nothing happened and are all helpful. Pinkie Pie is easier to understand than you are.”

With a smirk Xellos just flips around backwards before landing on his feet. “Well I wouldn't be all that mysterious if I was easy to understand. Speaking of which, I think it's time to visit little Luna again, so if you'll excuse me.” The mares watched as he disappears from view before they facehoof as a scream echoes down from Canterlot. Spike though was looking thoughtful as he stares off after the migrating dragons.

Author's Notes:

I think that's the last flashback that I need to do in my story now. Still wondering if any of my little hints for things that'll appear later are going unnoticed or people just don't care about them.

Well next up, the infamous wedding. Not much else really to add to the other chapters but I just have to figure out the answer to one important question. Muffins or Pancakes?

Chapter 29

“How can you say that!? With how it fills you up and warms you from the inside it is obviously better!”

“Nonsense! The warm sticky liquid just oozing down the tall sides, the creamy topping, it is obvious that this is better!”

The city of Canterlot was being invaded by changelings yet one part of the city had stalled out as those there paused to watch the argument of the duo. Xellos and Derpy had been arguing with each other for the past twenty minutes over something but none of the surrounding ponies knew what it was exactly. Many of the mares though had reddened faces as some of the things the two described sounded rather lewd without that bit of context context. Even the changelings that arrived into the area stopped to view the odd tableau between the two.

“I tell you the pancakes from Flapjack's Emporium of Edible Delights are the best breakfast in Canterlot!” Xellos posed with an arm outstretched towards the eatery on one side of the street that the two were standing on.

“Preposterous! That title belongs to the Bakery of Amazing Goodies and their fresh muffins!” Derpy stood on her hind legs and copied his pose as she pointed off in the opposite direction.

A convenient gust of wind blew through the area as the surrounding crowd went silent before a collective sound of facehoofing was heard. With the source of their curiosity ending the ponies and changelings started to realize what they were standing next to and the ponies took off with the changelings giving chase. As one pair ran by from down the street Xellos raised an eyebrow before turning to his companion. “Weren't those your children?”

With a gasp the pegasus took off after her daughters leaving Xellos to stand there looking amused after the pegasus. He found her to be much like Fluttershy in many ways yet she lacked the extreme sense of fear that the yellow mare gave off which made her bearable to be around. Yet even with all those positive emotions within gray pegasus he felt no discomfort whatsoever by being around her, as if her lack of desire to hurt others somehow blocked the sensation.

Looking around Xellos noticed that while he was standing there he had been surrounded by changelings who were watching him warily. Raising an eyebrow at them he looked around until he found what he believed to be the leader which was looking rather agitated. With a hiss the changeling leader sent out a command to its compatriots sending them all charging in at the monster. With a shake of his head Xellos disappeared right before they could hit him before reappearing in front of the commander.

“You know the charge in all at once and become bunched up tactic rarely ever works. Especially with an EXPLOSION ARRAY thrown into the mix.” The group that tried to tackle him were engulfed in in an explosion as he chanted the words of power, stunning them all as the commander gaped at them. Before he could react he was also put down as Xellos' staff came down across its head.

Looking around he took in the chaos going on in the city and soaked up the negative emotions caused by it. “It took them long enough to show up, though it's odd that I haven't seen any sign of the changelings over the past thousand years. Now what to do with my time until things come to a head.”

Flying upwards to survey the city, he scanned the area for anything of interest until he needed to leave. He quickly spotted the wedding area, which only now had the Mane Six escaping from, but his attention was pulled away by a familiar feeling. “Hmm, those shouldn't be here. In fact I was sure that I checked the area for them already.”

Flying off in the opposite direction of where the six mares were heading, he soon found an odd disturbance at odds with the rest of the city. While there were ponies running in panic from the area there were also changelings doing the same thing as well as they tried to escape from something. He soon found this something as found a swarm of brass demons surrounding a building marked with a red cross, though the size suggested more a clinic than a hospital. Before he could investigate why they where there one of the creatures came flying out of the door to the building followed by an orange blur. “Well now this is an interesting development.”

He quickly identified the blur as Scootaloo while she proceeded to pummel her enemy with her magic encased front hooves before it collapsed from the assault. As she fell to all fours again to recover another one dove in from above but Spike was quickly there to use the filly as a jumping point to parry the attack away with his sword before unleashing his fire-breath to finish it off. As he landed a shout came out from the building drawing their attention. “Get back in here you two, another golem is up and moving and this time I think I got that enchantment right.”

The two soon retreated into the building again yet when the brass demons tried to follow they were repelled as a stone stallion, shaped like Big Macintosh, barreled into them. As it fought off the attackers flare arrows rained down on it but were deflected by a light aura around it being emitted from a ruby in its back. On closer observation Xellos noticed pieces of other goleMacs scattered around the area and he assumed that those were failed attempts at giving them protection from the brass demon's spells.

While the stone guardian protected the door, Xellos phased through the wall while remaining invisible to others. Inside he found Applebloom working with a pile of gems as she tried to bind a fire-repelling enchantment to them for the gathered guardsponies. In the back Sweetie Belle was working on healing those that had been brought in earlier while being assisted by the few staff members still in the building. There was even another golem watching over her while she worked as well while the building was slowly being fortified.

Getting a closer look at the guards and Scootaloo he noticed that, while uninjured, they all were covered in soot from where they had received various burns and were healed. There was something else that caught his eye on the filly but before he could observe it more closely the entire entry was blown apart, sending the three younglings flying into the opposite wall and the guards all over. With a gasp Sweetie Belle ran over to her friends to try and assist them while Spike rose unsteadily to his feet to face the new threat.

“I can't believe how incompetent you all are. I guess what they say is true, if you want something done right then do it yourself.” Spike was knocked back into the three fillies as the new threat appeared in front of them. As the smoke cleared the dragon's eyes settled on the shattered blade of his sword, all the way down to the hilt, and the four scythe-like legs behind it. Looking upwards his eyes moved from the bulbous lower body that was connected by a spine-like stem to a hunched upper body and bladed arms. “Now if you are done with this foolishness you are all going to be coming with me to see the master.”

Frowning, Xellos brought an arm above his head and started forming a spear-shaped cone before he paused as something unexpected happened. As Spike slowly backed up into the fillies he looked around to see all the guards groaning in pain as they tried to defend themselves from the brass demons that were entering the building. Seeing that there was no help coming from them, and recognizing that his fire-breath would be worthless against the monster, his eyes closed as his grip tightened on the sword. “Please, something, anything. Please help us.”

His prayers were granted as the sword in his grip started flickering before a beam of power erupted from where the blade used to be, impaling itself in the monster's head and sending it reeling in pain. “No! That sword! How could you have that?!” Spike stared in awe at the blade of light before him before his expression turned resolute as he turned to the monster. As he started to charge the reeling monster Applebloom recovered enough before pulling an opal from a nearby pouch and hurled it into the the opening of the building behind it.

“Fire in the hole!” The gem bounced a couple times before it burst into a vortex of lights that swirled into a hemisphere around it. As the monster backed into it a called out in pain as his backside was pelted by the sparks of energy, while any brass demons that tried to pass through it were torn to shreds. By this time Spike was able to advance on the monster enough to unleash a vertical slash with his sword, destroying it and removing the largest threat to the ponies. Applebloom had been digging through her bags through all this before finally pulling out a stick that had a gem tied to the end of it which unleashed blasts of energy when she pointed at the demons in the building.

“So, Gorun Nova. I can't believe I didn't notice that when he found it. And Applebloom storing a Raza Clover in a gem and enchanting another to fire Elmekia Lances? She's really coming along well with that.” Seeing as things were being handled well here he prepared to leave before one final sight caused him to smile. Through all that chaos the three fillies had earned their cutie marks of a shield containing the colors of their friend's coats, though slightly paler, as well as another more vibrant object.

Applebloom's was a wand with an apple-shaped ruby to top it crossed with a wrench to represent her abilities at artificing and enchanting.

Sweetie Belle's was much simpler being a five pointed star with a small bell in the center representing her affinity for white magic by it's upwards pointing position as well as her musical abilities.

Scootaloo's was a bit harder to identify through the soot all over her but the wings around it were easily identifiable and after a moment Xellos realized that encased in them was a dragon head wearing a helmet. The entire design reminded him much of the symbol used by Phil Strongarm's family and it fit well with how Scootaloo took to her the old ruler's daughter's fighting style along with her physical abilities.

With a final smirk Xellos flew off, satisfied that the fillies and dragon were fine, looking for something else to entertain himself with. His decision was quickly made for him when he noticed the Bearers of Harmony being escorted back to the wedding hall by a large group of changelings. “Huh, I guess I was watching that for longer than I thought. Time to go see the main show of the evening.”

He watched as things played out as he expected but since he was starting to get bored he decided to interrupt as Chrysalis finished singing. “Bravo! Bravo!”

The changeling queen's head whipped around at his voice to stare at the figure leaning against the pod Celestia was in, clapping at her performance. As she realized just what she was looking at her eyes shrank to pinpricks as she began to internally panic. She was brought out of her state of shock when two of her subjects sped past her at the monster causing her to yell out in panic. “Not you, no! If you value your lives don't fight him!”

Her words arrived too late as the figure blurred and she felt a breeze pass by her. Turning around she found Xellos crouched over her subjects with their heads in his hands at the center of a crater where they impacted the ground. She backed away towards the cocooned princess as he stood and slowly turned towards her while brushing at his shoulder. “I really have to applaud you on all your luck during this little incursion of yours up until now. I mean Princess Sunbutt there had so many hints that something was wrong yet she kept turning a blind eye.”

vvvvvvvvvv

“So Celly, anything interesting happening in the last few weeks since I've visited?” Xellos hung down from the chandelier in one of the various sitting rooms that were scattered around the castle. The princess had to sigh at being interrupted during a quiet tea time she was holding with her niece by the monster though didn't let anything else show.

“Good evening, Xellos. Other than the preparations for my niece's wedding coming up everything has been fine. If anything changes that needs your assistance then I will let you know.” Xellos could tell that he wasn't wanted there as he flips down and lands next to the younger princess who flinches away as he lands.

“Huh, I would have thought that there was something going on considering the shield around the city. But if you say there is nothing then there must not by anything, so I guess I can take this time to visit Luna then.” He patted Princess Cadance on the head, causing her to growl at him, before leaving the two annoyed mares to their tea.

^^^^^^^^^^

“I mean you would think that she would have realized that something was wrong when I stayed in that room for longer than a few seconds and even touched you. By the way, good job on toning down Princess Pink's overwhelming positive energy, she's actually bearable now that she isn't just radiating love all over the place.” Princess Celestia's eyes widened as she remembered that moment before wincing at being so blind to all the clues that were thrust into her face. Chrysalis kept backing away from him until her rear bumped up into the sun princess' prison.

“Just why are you here monster? There shouldn't be anything here for you.” The changeling queen's voice shook slightly as her fear showed through, much to the shock of many of the observers. Xellos just chuckled before he gestured with his hand to the chaos outside of the building.

“That is where you are wrong, and is in fact your biggest mistake from all of this. Your kind is supposed to feed off of love, yet what love is there during a war? Oh, you may have been able to defeat Sunbutt over there with your power stolen from a few ponies but any monster would easily defeat you after all this. It's ironic that a race that feeds off of love instead spreads fear, anger, and hatred which is exactly what the monster race feeds off of.” Chrysalis' eyes widen in realization of what she had done and just how much further out of her league she was against the monster. Instead of facing up to him she whirled to glare at the princess behind her.

“You! What were you thinking allowing something like that thing in your kingdom!? Don't you know what they are capable of and what they will do!? What they've done to me and my people!?” The princess would have flinched back at the anger directed at her though something tickled at her mind at that moment. The same thing was happening with Xellos as something in the queen's voice had changed and a soon realized that it was very familiar to him. After gesturing at Twilight and pointing towards the pink princess, he vanished before reappearing right behind Chrysalis before leaning down to her ear and whispering causing her to freeze.

“Well now, isn't this an interesting development. I had thought that he had killed you all those years ago, but to find you like this? Luckily for you I now have a good reason for staying out of this but I do have a message for you before I go. It shall be returning soon along with him. So you might want to rethink your priorities, Empress Amore.” The eyes of both royals widened at the information and Celestia even gasped at the name as her eyes darted to the changeling. Xellos took the time given by their shock to disappear on them though the changeling still turned to try and stop him.

“Wait! What do you mean!? Is it really-!?” Queen Chrysalis' eyes widened as she noticed a wall of pink energy building up around the royal couple before it exploded away from them. Before she had time to react, her and her kind were sent hurtling out of the city, ending the invasion. While the others celebrated and started to clean up the damage caused by the attack, Celestia was staring off after the queen.

“Could it really be her? And did he really say what I think he said?” Blinking a few tears away the princess turned to a nearby guard and gave him some orders to pass along to another. No matter what was going on, she had things to prepare.

Author's Notes:

I'm not sorry. Though I hope some people were expecting at least one of the little surprises in this chapter.

Probably made a typo somewhere, so let me know if you find it.

Chapter 30

“Spike!”

“No Twilight, I'm not giving it up and that's final!” Both Princess Celestia and Luna watched as Spike and Twilight argued over what would happen with the sword of light ever since it had been revealed during the changeling invasion. They had called the unicorn in for a different reason but they hadn't had a chance to explain it to her since they had been arguing constantly. The two were surprised that the young dragon had found it in the first place and that neither had recognized it the few times they had seen him with it in prior times.

Before the argument could escalate any further the solar alicorn stepped in. “Now Twilight, as powerful as the weapons of light are, it would cause more problems if we had it than if we left it with young Spike. The other races are already uneasy that my sister and I have two of them and if they heard we had acquired a third then they would riot. In the past dragons always wielded it in battle so it is appropriate that it remains with Spike. This is not why we called you here though, Twilight.”

Twilight calmed down a bit as she settled in to listen to her mentor why she was there. After explaining how they were sending her to the Crystal Empire to help her brother as a test, with a bit of a light show showcasing some of the history, they watched as they left the throne room before sighing. “I really hope that she can do what we could not all those years ago. Yet things may be even more complicated than even we know if what I recently heard was true.”

“Well they'd have to be if the Empress is still alive after all this time. Even I remember how the story went out about what Sombra did to her before he took over but it seems as if it may have been worse than that.” The princesses turn to see Xellos looking out the window at Twilight and her friends walk over. Luna growled at seeing him but was stopped from advancing on him when her sister brought a wing into her path.

“Calm, sister. He was the one to realize who the changeling queen really was and distracted her in the end. Though I have to wonder just what it is that he is planning to do about this situation.” Celestia looked over at the monster as he stretched his arms out.

“Oh just the usual. Follow along, offer advice that may or may not be helpful, just the usual. Considering you just sent your student to take a test while lives are at risk things are bound to be entertaining.” The alabaster mare's eyes narrowed at him while her sister mouth quirked upwards for a moment before she schooled her expression again. Celestia didn't notice this though as her attention was full on Xellos.

“I have my reasons for why I do this and I'm sure you know that as well with what you've hinted at.” The princess remembered what he had let slip in the past and hoped to fully confirm what he knew and was surprised to be rewarded this time.

“Yes, yes. You and your little alicorn plan. Still you'd do better to teach her how to say no otherwise your so-called nobles will just run all over her. Anyways I'd better go since I have a train to catch. I'd rather not have to fly all the way up north through all the weather up there.” As he vanished Celestia just shook her head before she realized that there was another in the room that hadn't known about her plans until she cleared her throat.

“So sister. Is there something that you aren't telling me that I should know?” With a wince Celestia turned back to see he sister looking at her with a raised eyebrow. With a sheepish grin the princess turned towards her sister.

<><><><><><><><><><>

Aboard the train Xellos kept out of sight and kept an eye on the group of mares while keeping hidden. Of course he knew that he couldn't hide from Pinkie Pie that easily but she wouldn't give him away that easily as she appreciated the value of a surprise. As their talks weren't of any interest to him his mind drifted back to what he remembered of the Crystal Empire, though as he was still relatively new to his abilities back then he was never able to get far into it with the power given off by the crystal heart. The food he was able to get though was still delicious even that far out.

After reminiscing on that and looking forward to more he also thought on how the princess was dealing with all of this. Despite how he acted around her he didn't really blame her as something happened when the empire vanished that erased it from the minds and books at the time. He didn't know why he wasn't affected, but the princesses were to the extent where they could only remember events they were personally involved in near the end. There were probably others that remembered as well, such as the dragons, but he had never bothered to search for them even if they would tell him.

Another part of his mind was also focused on what he knew from his old life and how much of it would be admissible. His presence alone would change things, but his actions during recent events may just be enough to send things completely off the rails. His thoughts on it were only momentary as there wasn't much really that he knew and not knowing was more entertaining as well.

The train soon arrived at the northern station and the six mares and solitary dragon disembarked just as he remembered them doing. Differences made themselves known rapidly as when Shining Armor arrived to escort the group there were two additional ponies with him. With his curiosity piqued he moved in to listen while staying invisible to them.

“Things are really bad out here Twilight. Cadance and I came out here with a full company of the Royal Guard and we've already lost half of them with most of the rest injured. Corporal Red Shirt and Ensign Flash Sentry here are the only two in good enough shape to travel right now. When the empire returned it didn't do so alone and there have been monsters congregating in the area ever since. We need to get back to the city now before they find us.” The mares look worriedly at each other before following the prince consort with the two guards bringing up the rear. Xellos followed along after them but, now that it was pointed out, kept an eye out for other monsters which he could faintly feel in the distance. There was something else as well but he couldn't tell what it was as it hung about like an oppressive fog. It wasn't until he heard the screaming below him that his eyes focused on what was going on with the group he was following.

When the screaming started the mares stopped to turn and stare at the pony caught in the dark fog that had rolled up on them unawares. Their horror intensified as they watched Flash Sentry caught in the grips of the fog with his eyes rolling in panic. Red Shirt backed into them as the flesh on the pegasus' face began to melt off of him with his eyes following not long after as they dripped out of their sockets. Moments after it had begun all that was left was a skeleton standing before them, jaw opened in a silent scream and wings spread, as the fog drifted down and started advancing towards them again. They tried to run from it but they soon found that they had been surrounded with no way to escape.

“Stand back! We're under attack again!” Shining armor through up a shield around the group that contained them completely in a sphere allowing them to keep running. As the fog came into contact with his shield he winced before his eyes widened as he saw a blackness creep up along where it initially touched as it ate through his shield. He quickly threw up two more but the second was quickly suffering the same fate as the first and they were still a good distance from the city. As he was about to panic himself a staff fell from the sky ahead of the group and pulsed once clearing a wide area of the fog. Rolling to a stop as they passed it they all turned to see a bipedal figure stepping out from somewhere between them and the main portion of the fog. “Xellos!”

The mares stared in shock at the figure before them that had protected them from whatever it was that was attacking them. Without turning towards them he raised a hand above his head and a small black cone formed in his hand, quickly extending into a spear-like shape, before he turned and threw it to his left. As it passed through the fog it dispersed it in a long corridor before a black shadow wrapped around it, stopping it. The force of it's passing still cleared the fog further ahead revealing to them the form of King Sombra. Xellos didn't even look at the mares as he finally spoke. “This is not a fight that any of you can handle. Twilight, you need to hurry and find the heart of the empire or else all of the world will die.”

Raising his hand before the purple mare could respond he pulsed out a wave of energy which sent the shielded group flying towards the city. With the distraction out of the way the monster turned towards the menacing figure that was slowly advancing on him. “So we finally meet King Sombra. Or should I be calling you Death Fog now?” The only response he got was a deep menacing laugh from the unicorn.

----------

“Xellos! What are you doing!? What is the heart of the empire!? Xellos!” Twilight banged her hooves on her brother's shield as her friends tried to drag her into the barrier around the city. The last view that she saw of the monster was him materializing a dozen more spear while preparing for battle. Once inside she turned to her friends in anger. “We need to go back and help him!”

“Twily we can't. I may not trust him but I do know that there is nothing we can do. A lot of good ponies lost their lives trying to stop him already and right now the only chance we have to stop him is to find out how to fix this country.” Twilight's head fell at her brother's words but she looked up when she felt a hoof on her shoulder to see Corporal Red Shirt.

“I'll stay and keep an eye on things, ma'am. If anything happens I'll bring word to the palace.” Looking at the stallion Twilight slowly nods before moving towards her brother. As the walk off she turns back to to see the earth pony guard pull off his helmet, revealing his red coat and black mane as the enchantment dropped, before wiping a hoof across his head before putting it back into place. The last thing she did before heading into the city was wish him luck and hope that he would survive whatever happened out there.

----------

When the stallion passed back through the barrier the sight that greeted him was beyond his expectations as a horde of monsters had arrived and joined King Sombra in the battle against Xellos who was throwing more of the conal spears at the monarch, which only shattered on impact. The monster was able to keep many of them away as a swarm of smaller black cones spun around him, shredding any that got close, but they were still distracting him a bit from the more important fight. Sombra himself floated around menacingly while trying to engulf his enemy in his fog with little success.

The battle continued like this for hours with everything remaining in a stalemate between the two. The group of monsters had been taken out yet Xellos wasn't unscathed as he had been clipped a few times leaving his clothing ragged and torn. The two faced off against each other as they examine their opponent since their previous attacks haven't been having much effect. “Well this has been interesting. You're obviously stronger so I can't hurt you, but I'm just too fast for you to hit. Still, you're rather disappointing to have been able to defeat the princesses and rule an empire all those years ago. The power must have burnt out your mind over the years and removed any cleverness you had.”

As he spoke he didn't notice the ground behind him starting to blacken and bubble as crystal forms started to claw their way out of the ground. Even more began to form under the skeleton of the pegasus and crawled up it until it completely covered it. Xellos noticed it as the eyes light up with a sickly green glow and turned towards him as he was grabbed form behind by more crystalline forms. “Of course, I could be wrong.”

Sombra began to laugh evilly as Xellos struggled to break the grip of the crystal golems before his head jerked upwards sharply. With his form being restrained Xellos didn't have a chance to dodge as pillars of crustal burst from the ground at angles to pierce him through the sides of his chest, suspending him in the air. He let out a scream of pain which intensified as the fog swarmed in and engulfed the left side of his body, eating away at it.

Red Shirt observed all of this from just outside of the barrier and on seeing this prepared to turn back to let the others know when he saw something else approaching. “Oh this can't be good. Why would they be here now?”

As Sombra prepared to deal the finishing blow a burst of green energy slammed into his head sending him back a few paces. As if it was a signal the attack summoned a rain of green energy that bombarded Sombra and the crystal forms holding Xellos. “Heh, about time that you showed up.”

The observing stallion didn't blink as the changeling swarm, more than were even at Canterlot, unleashed everything they had on the crystal monarch. “Destroy him my children! Take your revenge on him for what he did to us and take back what is ours!”

As one the swarm dove towards the black unicorn in a rain of green flames. While stunned from the surprise attack, Sombra quickly recovered and began summoning more crystal creations to deal with the new threat. Red Shirt had no idea what was going on and there was only one thing for him to do. “The Captain needs to know what is going on.”

The stallion rushed through through the barrier into the city as fast as his legs could take him. It didn't take him long to reach the palace as he nearly broke records for his speed and the eyes of his fellow guards, all injured, and Shining Armor, who was on the balcony, turned towards him as he skidded to a halt in front of the prince consort. Princess Cadance was there as well but she was swiftly failing from the fatigue of holding up the shield. “Sir! We may have a problem! Changelings, too many to count and more than attacked Canterlot are outside of the shield! They appear to be attacking Sombra!”

A wave of whispers went through the room as word spread of his news. Shining Armor's eyes widened as he turned towards his wife as she collapsed from the strain of holding the shield. Turning towards the balcony he looked out over the city to see the shield dropping revealing the battle in the distance. While he knew his own shield was worthless against Sombra, the changelings were another story as he powered up his horn and fired a pulse of energy into the air. Once it reached its peak the energy expanded into a dome around the entire city as the stallion turned towards the guard. “Get back out there and keep track of what is going on. Get back here as soon as anything changes.”

Turning back after the stallion took off again Shining Armor looked out over the city once again. While he couldn't see what was happening with any detail he could still see the changeling army steadily shrinking in size. Hearing screaming from above he noticed Spike falling from the tower above him with something in his grip. Cadance saw it as well and felt something from the object held by the dragon that filled her with energy.

A crazy plan filled the minds of the two but the end results was everything that they hoped for as the crystal heart was returned to where it belonged. There wasn't any time to celebrate though as there was still the threat of the changelings outside of the barrier to deal with. The Bearers of Harmony, along with Shining Armor and Cadance, eventually made their way out to the edge of the new barrier created by the crystal heart to meet with Red Shirt who was waiting for them.

“Report, Corporal! What has been going on out there!” The stallion glanced back at the arriving ponies before turning back to resume observing the changelings.

“I'm not sure, sir. Ever since that wave of energy came through and obliterated Sombra the changelings have just been wandering around aimlessly. I haven't seen that other creature that started fighting him either. Wait... Something's happening...” The gathered ponies watched as a small group of changelings started advancing on the city carrying something between them all. Shining Armor took a defensive pose before he noticed that they were also carrying a white flag.

The seven mares let out a gasp as the group neared the edge of the barrier allowing them to identify what, or rather who, they were carrying. It wasn't just the fact that it was Queen Chrysalis, but that she was in such a poor condition the it was a wonder that she was alive. While her legs had holes in them, they weren't supposed to be large enough that said legs were barely attached nor were the supposed to be dripping blood. Much of her body was also missing as well, as if something had bitten large chunks out of her yet despite all that she was still managing to raise her head tall, though her voice was weak. “Princess Cadance, I wish to speak with you.”

The group inside the shield look at each other a moment before the pink princess steps forward. “What do you want?”

While the princess wasn't overly hostile, she was far from friendly in how she spoke to the changeling queen. Chrysalis sighed at the tone she was met with as well as the emotion she could feel from the princess before she weakly spoke. “I suppose I deserve your scorn, but please don't take it out on my children or deny them from their home. Everything I have done has been for them and they don't deserve your hate.”

The queen's words were interrupted as a coughing fit overtook her body, which sent blood to the snow below, before vomiting up a torrent of blood. The mares gasped in shock at seeing this, though Fluttershy and Rarity fainted at the sight, while the nearby changelings moved to assist their queen until she waved them off. When she began to speak once again her voice had lost much of the strength that was in her voice before. “Sombra, with help from those monsters, did this to us and banished us from our home. You won't have to worry about me for much longer, but please, take care of them when I am gone, I beg you.”

Princess Cadance's eyes narrowed at the queen for a moment as her horn lit up before they widened again at what she sensed. Instead of the lies she was expecting she felt complete sincerity from the changeling and could even feel her life fading fast. Looking around at the other changelings she noticed many of them gathered at the barrier looking in and many had tears in their eyes, those of joy. As she looked from face to face her own started to soften before she looked over at her husband.

“You really aren't thinking of?” She slowly nodded to him causing him to sigh as she turned back towards the changeling queen. With a slow nod to the queen the princess silently gave her word to watch over the survivors after she died. With a sigh of relief all the tension in the queen's body went out of her as she gave up struggling to stay alive now knowing that her children would be safe once she was gone. The life quickly faded from her but she had enough energy for one last line.

“Thank... you... my... daughter...” With that the queen of the changelings finally took her final rest after the centuries of protecting those dear to her after having been cursed with the life they had led. Her final words though shocked the gathered ponies as they looked at each other as the surviving changelings let out a keening cry of grief at the death of their ruler.

“What the hay did she mean by that!?” The others looked at Applejack and shrugged before they all snapped their heads around at the chuckling behind them.

“Shouldn't that be obvious? Queen Chrysalis really was Empress Amore, the last ruler of the Crystal Empire before Sombra took over with what now seems to have been the help of other monsters. And with Princess Pink there being the direct heir of the empire it means they really are family.” Turning around the mares saw Xellos, but what they saw made them turn green, though Shining Armor was more at the thought of his wife being related to the changeling.

“Xellos! Your arm!” The monster looked down at his left arm where the gazes of the mares were focused and at the blackened hole left there.

“Oh don't be such a baby, Twilight. Limbs grow back.”

“No they don't!”

In response the biped only chuckled as he looked over at one of the changelings that had cautiously entered the city and was speaking fervently with one of the crystal ponies that had been gathering since the princess had come to the city's edge. Xellos winced as a pulse of energy came out from the crystal heart while the eyes of the mares widened as they so the black form of the changeling get peeled away, revealing a crystal pony stallion, yet he still retained the wings he had as a changeling though they were now whole and more iridescent.

“Well that is still uncomfortable, but not as bad as it used to be. Interesting that the heart can do that as well, even with it being slightly tainted by the negative emotions that ran rampant while Sombra was in charge. Still at least you won't have to worry about the monster possessing Sombra any more now, but I think it's time for me to leave. I won't be able to heal well being this close to the heart.” Before they could stop him he waved to them with his right arm, which had two glowing talismans attached to it, and disappeared from sight.

Cadance noticed something on the ground where he was and grabbed it with her magic to find an old locket made of crystal. Opening it she was surprised to find a picture of not only Chrysalis, but also of a pale yellow stallion with empty white eyes on one side of it. She realized that the stallion was blind but she forgot all about it when she saw something that caused her to drop the locket causing Shining Armor to take notice of it.

“Cady? What is that?” Picking up the locket in his own magic his eyes zeroed in on the picture that had shocked his wife. In it was a tiny pegasus filly but what surprised him the most was how much it looked like Princess Cadance.

Author's Notes:

Huh, 30 chapters in and not a single crossover. Still, I'd rather not be like so many of the others that turn into just a massive crossover fest every single chapter causing nothing to really happen in their own story. Also many of those also seem to be cursed by the Hiatus bug as well.

Also that is now two of the big bad four down with a funny little twist that I bet nobody saw coming. Really it gives a good reason as to shy Chrysalis didn't kill Cadance and instead just locked her away like that without even a cocoon.

So next up the Pinkie Invasion. Wonder what I should be doing about that episode or if there will be no changes and just skip to the next. Actually I may just skip right to Magic Duel if I didn't just now realize that I should be doing something more with the CMC. Hmm, giving them their cutie marks so early is really going to screw some things up now.

Chapter 31

“...For cupcakes! For victory! For Fun!” After her rousing speech Pinkie Pie unleashed her swarm of clones against the horde of monsters that were advancing on Ponyville. After sending them off the real Pinkie bounced back and sat at in a lawn chair next to Xellos who passed her a drink as the rest of the Bearers of Harmony watched on in shock.

“I don't know how I should be feeling about this. While an army of Pinkie Pie is terrifying I really don't think sending them to be slaughtered like this is a good idea. On the other hoof I almost feel sorry for the monsters.” The others nodded in agreement to Rainbow Dash's comment not know how else to express the feelings they were having.

“I know we said that we needed to find the real Pinkie and get rid of all the fakes but this is definitely not what I had in mind.” Twilight winced as she watched one clone get cut in half while a small group ran up to hug another one before exploding causing her eye to start twitching. “I'm not even going to ask how that even happened.”

Xellos took a sip from his own drink before setting it down beside him. “What? It solves both of your problems at once without any real effort and it even comes with free entertainment. The clones are removed, the monsters, trolls, and other threats are removed, everyone's happy. It's not like anyone is getting hurt.”

The mares just stared at him as one of the clones performed a stellar face plant nearby and dug a two foot trench before fading away. “Well, no one important anyways. It's not like these magical constructs actually are alive or feel anything. They are basically just puppets really. Hmm, too bad I never figured out that doll spell, it would have been interesting to have dozens of little Pinkie's running around.”

All the mares except Pinkie shudder at the thought of a swarm of smaller Pinkies that could hide anywhere even more easily than the original. They were snapped out of their daze by the real one soon enough though. “Uncle Xellos, can you maybe please speed things up a bit. I mean it's kind of super duper creepy watching me die over and over again which is also kind of cool. Would that make that coopy or crooly? Anyways as neat as this all is we really need to get to the party soon.”

The biped looked over to the perturbed pink pony before shrugging and rising to his feet. “I had almost forgotten about that. Well I guess I had better make this quick instead of drawing it out.” Looking out over the field his eyes quickly locked onto the biggest threats advancing on the town before raising an arm above his head. Slowly six black javelins formed above him and when they were completed he threw his hand forward, sending them off into the gathered mob. Faster than the eye could see his attack flashed out across the field and impaled each of his chosen targets before the spear erupted in an explosion of darkness consuming all within the blast radius.

With their strongest fighters wiped out in an instant the rest of the monsters fled from the area with a Pinkie clone or two still giving chase. Turning back to the gathered mares Xellos brush his hands together. “Well that's that. So shall we head back to town now?”

Twilight just glared at him a moment before looking out at the retreating creatures and leftover clones. “I'm really not sure what it says about me that I'm actually starting to get used to some of the things you do. Though are you sure that it is a good idea to just let those Pinkie Pie clones run off like that?”

Xellos just casually waved a hand at the purple mare before responding. “Oh I'm sure it'll be fine. Magical constructs like that never really last long without a magical source to keep them animated and I'm sure that they'll be taken care of by the things they are chasing before that.” The others just rolled their eyes at him before turning back towards town, none noticing the pink figure that was sneaking away in a direction away from both groups.

----------

The party was in full swing at Sugarcube Corner when the group arrived. It wasn't long after entering the building that three pony-shaped missiles collided with Xellos' chest, babbling in excitement. “Xellos! You made it!”

The biped chuckled at the yell of the three fillies as he carried them back towards the party in the building. All around the room were decorations each with the cutie mark of one of the three lucky fillies. “What? You expected me to miss one of the most important days of my precious students? Of course watching one of Princess Sunbutt's little ponies get a cutie mark in something she tried to rid the world of is just a side benefit.”

Twilight Sparkle shot a glare at him before her eyes turned towards the flanks of the three fillies. She could guess what some elements of them meant, yet for the most part the meaning of the marks escaped her. “So what do your cutie marks mean? I'm guessing that the shield is for your friendship with each other, which is nearly unheard of being shown in a mark, yet except for Applebloom I can't tell what they are supposed to mean.”

The three fillies look at each other for a moment before glancing back at their flanks. “Uh, that's a good question. As awesome as it is I have no clue at all what it means.”

Sweetie Belle nods in agreement with Scootaloo as she frowns at her own mark. “Yeah, and mine is rather tame in comparison. I mean, what does a strangely drawn star even mean? At least the music note is easy to explain.”

The last of the trio looks up towards the monster next to her with a hopeful look. “Well, maybe Xellos knows. He did just say that they were for some kind of magic, and we did get them in Canterlot when all those changelings were attacking while helping keep those guardsponies safe. I'm pretty sure mine has to do with those golems and enchanted gems I've been making.”

All eyes were on Xellos as he snacked on one of the cupcakes that Pinkie made for the party. “Well, *gulp* it isn't surprising that the meanings of at least two of your marks have been lost to time. Sweetie Belle's star is the classic symbol used to represent white magic, hence it pointing upwards while black magic is downwards. Scootaloo's is a bit more complicated though.”

Taking a seat with a tray of treats he looked more closely at the design on the pegasus filly. “This though is more interesting in that it resembles the mark of a royal house from long ago, but not a pony one. It is much like the crest of the old minotaur ruler Phil Strongarm and his daughter used magic in a way much like Scootaloo was. I highly doubt that she is a descendant of bipedal bull people though so who knows why she has that specific mark.”

The fillies looked thoughtfully at their cutie marks as they were led away by their sister-figures. Xellos relaxed as he watched the room though one pony stayed near the biped instead of wandering off. “Um, Mr. Xellos? How is your arm if you don't mind my asking? You left so suddenly last time with that injury and... um... meep...”

Looking down Xellos saw that Fluttershy was looking up at him shyly. He never did much with the mare for various reasons, mostly because he didn't wish to anger the pegasus time bomb, though he did occasionally talk with her. Throwing back his cloak he flashed his arm to the mare. “It's all healed up now just like I said it would be. Being that close to the Crystal Heart was keeping me from healing so I had to go elsewhere for a while.”

What he didn't tell the mare was that his true body was still recovering from the fight but since there was nothing she could do about it he kept the information hidden. He just had to hang around the noble district of Canterlot a bit more to soak up some of the negative emotions to finish, that or find a more violent area outside of Equestria. “Oh, that is a relief. I would hate to know that you had gotten seriously hurt helping us. Not that we don't appreciate it, but...”

The pegasus looked away from the monster who just smiles at her. “Oh don't worry too much, I probably won't make a habit of that. If it wasn't for the fact that you stood no chance against him you never would have known I was there.”

The mare looked up at him from around her mane in confusion at his words until a crashing sound rang out across the room. Looking away from Xellos she saw a table flipping through the air with Pinkie Pie below it catching the raining food. Moments later the table landed back where it was originally with Scootaloo looking embarrassed while rubbing the back of her head with a hoof. “”Uh, sorry about that. The table just came out of nowhere.”

Pinkie Pie, after setting most of the food back on the table the rest having gone down her throat, just patted the filly on the head. “Oh don't worry your little head, it's your party after all and was only an accident. Besides it was Dashie that asked you to show off like that.”

All eyes turned towards the cyan pegasus who was standing near the two looking guilty. “Yeah, this may not have been the best place to ask for her to show me her moves. Maybe tomorrow, squirt, when I show you my latest move we can try again?”

The filly bounced around in excitement at hearing that she would be able to spend more time with her idol. Many ponies just grinned at her antics though a couple were still glaring at Rainbow Dash for causing the disturbance. Xellos was with the former group as he made his way around the edge of the party, casually chatting with a few of the ponies he knew while keeping his ear open. Mostly he ponies were talking about the havoc the Cutie Mark Crusaders always seemed to spread and how it would hopefully lessen now that they had their cutie marks, but there were a few other interesting conversations going on as well. “But Applejack! I want to help out with the applebucking more this year and and this is the perfect way!”

The older farm pony just sighed while shaking her head at her sister. “Ah know you want ta help, but ah really don't think that this is the way ta do it. Remember what happened last time you tried to use those rock ponies of yours ta help out? Ya dang near destroyed an entire row of apple trees and if Xellos and Twilight weren't there it would have been even more.”

The filly wasn't to be dissuaded from her course though as she brought more arguments to bear. “But that was before I knew how to really control them. I know what commands to give them now so they won't go out of control again. I'll even write down everything that it will do so you can check it and make sure that I didn't forget anything.”

Applejack looked down at her sister as the filly gave her a pleading look. Eventually she pulled her hat down over her eyes and sighed. “Fine, but we'll start by having them do something simple first as well as having Twilight go over your list. Ah expect that she will have a few things ta add and find what else ya should tell them.”

As Applebloom began happily hopping around her sister Xellos attention was pulled towards the third member of the trio. Sweetie Belle was also with her sister though she wasn't quite as enthusiastic as the other two and actually looked a bit unsure about something. Rarity was doing her best to cheer her up though her efforts were a bit off the mark. “But Sweetie, you have such a beautiful singing voice and it even shows in your cutie mark. I know so many ponies that could help you learn everything that you need to become a huge star. I'd even have the perfect dresses for you to wear for every situation.”

With a roll of her eyes the filly voiced her protests towards her sister's idea. “But Rarity, I don't want to do anything like that. Sure I like singing but I have no interest in singing in front of others like that.”

While her eyes drifted over in the direction of Diamond Tiara and Silver Spoon whispering in a corner, Rarity just looked at her as if she was crazy. “But why? You would just be so perfect at it. What could you even possibly think of doing that would you rather do than that?”

Sweetie Belle turned to glare at her sister as her attitude was starting to get to her. “Well not something that is just picked out for me like that! You always do this! You keep trying to shove your expectations on me without even considering what it is that I want! If you had at least asked then you would have known that I already asked Nurse Redheart if I could come in and help out at the hospital when I had free time. I don't know if it's something I want to keep doing but at least I'll be doing something to help ponies instead of just showing off!”

Rarity was taken aback by her sister's tone of voice with her as well as what she insinuated about her profession. Yet she couldn't fault her reasons for wanting to try working at the hospital either since it fit with her own reasons for many of her own charity-work. She watched as her sister stomped off towards her friends and considered everything she had learned as well as her teacher. She still didn't fully trust Xellos, yet she had to admit that what he had been teaching was very powerful and her sister's talent would be in high demand. While she wasn't going along the path she wanted for her, she did have to respect her sister for living up to the example she tried to portray as the Element of Generosity.

Xellos was mildly entertained by everything was was hearing and relaxed where he was with a small smile as he made the lives of ponies just that much more interesting.

Author's Notes:

New chapter, yay. Not sure how often I'll be able to update now that I have a new job but I'll still be getting something out over time. Hmm, I thought I was going to do something with Babs here as well, guess she got lost somewhere in the confusion.

Chapter 32

“Well after finding the fire snail things were pretty much settled. Well except for when Mina started going ballistic when she saw me carrying it over towards her and Princess Luna. As soon as she laid an eye on it she just screamed and tried backing away through the nearest wall from it. It was only afterwards that I found out that she has a crippling fear of slugs, snails, and other creatures like them. Also talking about her small wings really makes her get scary for some reason..” Spike finished telling his tale of his trip to Baltimare with Princess Luna to the Cutie Mark Crusaders and it was at that point that Xellos just happened to float by the quartet. His interest was piqued at hearing this as he was reminded of an old friend that he hadn't seen in centuries.

Scootaloo frowned while looking at her own wings before swatting Spike in the back of his head while Sweetie Belle shuddered at the thought of having to deal with the slimy creatures herself, especially if they were as large as her sister's cat. “So, are you going to be keeping in touch with her? You always said how you wanted to meet other dragons and now you've found a female one to talk with.” The other two foals look over at the unicorn as her wariness and unhappiness filter through her voice, though Spike is oblivious to it as he bashfully rubbed at the spot the pegasus filly hit before wincing when he saw her undersized fluttering wings.

“I did ask her a few things, but as I left she said something about me being too young by a few hundred years, no idea what that was about though. She did say she would get in contact with some old friends and have them get ahold of me later. Even then she said she would keep an eye out for any comics that I might enjoy and send them to the library.” Sweetie Belle let out a sigh of relief before glaring at Scootaloo who was making kissing faces at her while Applebloom rolled her eyes.

Xellos was about to enter into the conversation when he spotted a rainbow blur headed in their direction which soon resolved into the form of Rainbow Dash. “Spike! Have you seen Twilight? Trixie is back and is trying to find her over at the library. She's probably here to start causing trouble again.”

Spike's eyes widen as the cyan mare's words register. “Trixie's back?! But why would she come back to Ponyville after last time? Twilight should be over at Fluttershy's if I remember her schedule right. But what...” The pegasus was gone once again before the dragon could ask any more questions while Xellos turned his head towards the library. With a smirk he flew off to prepare for the coming show as the four younglings made their way there as well at a slower pace.

----------

“Now listen here, missy. If ya think ya can just come back here after what ya did last time and start making demands then ya have another things coming.” Charging towards the cloaked Trixie, Applejack tried to tackle her before the unicorn vanished from her sight. Turning her head rapidly, she looked in every direction for the unicorn when she heard a voice from above her.

“Earth below, Heed me
and answer my plea...”

“What in tarnation!?” Applejack began to struggle as the ground underneath her hooves turned to mud, which she started sinking into, while glaring at the unicorn flying above her. “When could Trixie fly? Rarity! Get over here and help me out of this muck!”

She regretted asking the unicorn for her help only moments later as Rarity stood at the edge of the transformed ground in disgust. “Really Applejack, do you know just what this stuff could do to my coat?”

“Yes, Celestia forbid the little gold-digger actually has to let herself get dirty helping someone.” At Trixie's words the alabaster unicorn turned her gaze upwards to glare at her though the floating mage just looked back with disgust. “Oh yes, I've heard how you treated that sweet stallion, Prince Blueblood, like a piece of meat at the Grand Galloping Gala. All she saw was a prince and not the hurt stallion that he really was that I met after meeting him in a town outside of Alpacastan while driving off a coven of banshee from the area.”

Rarity snorted on hearing the name along with Trixie's boast, though she was a tad unsure of herself as she thought back to her original feelings. “Oh please, as if that boorish stallion even deserves the title of prince and I highly doubt your claims are any better than how you defeated an Ursa Major.”

Applejack squinted up at the blue unicorn though as she wanted to disbelieve her, yet couldn't detect any falsehood from her unlike last time. Only now was she noticing how much the mare had changed since she had last seen her and her magic was vastly different from the little tricks she had before. Trixie didn't notice any of this as she pulled out a newspaper and tossed it down in front of the white unicorn, as well as Pinkie Pie who was just moving up next to her friend. “Figures that a hick town like this wouldn't read any of the important newspapers that actually talk about anywhere outside of Equestria. Just another one of the sheep of Equestria.”

Looking at the main article Rarity's jaw drops at the pictures on the front page before her eyes skim the words of it. The full length article goes into many of the things that the unicorn had been doing since they last saw her as well as the recent actions of the stallion prince as well. Pinkie Pie though had eyes for other details. “Ooh, what's with all the hearts around Prince Bluey? And what's this over here on the edge? Mr and Mrs Trixie-”

Trixie's eyes widen as she realizes that she threw down the wrong newspaper and she belted out another spell in an attempt to interrupt the pink pony.

“Often a rare a sight to behold,
But in situations dire it is worth its weight in gold.
SILENCE!”

Pinkie Pie's mouth kept moving after the spell was cast yet no more sound came out of it. It took the party pony a few moments but she soon realized this fact and began to panic while Trixie looked relieved as she landed to retrieve the newspaper from the now insensate fashionista. The nearby townsfolk backed away from her and quickly made a path as a shout rang out over them. “Trixie!”

Hearing the shout and hearing the whistling of wind the unicorn dropped to the ground allowing Rainbow Dash to fly past her and crash into the nearby fountain. While spitting out the water she inhaled, Trixie just rolled her eyes at the pegasus. “Not you again. I don't have time to play with foals so here's something more up to your speed. ZELAS GORT!”

Before she could react tentacles rose up from the water and wrapped around the wet pegasus. “What in the-? Hey! What's the big idea!? Fluttershy, get this thing off of me!”

The shy pegasus slowly flew over and observed the giant jellyfish for a moment before quietly clearing her throat. “Excuse me Ms. Jellyfish, but do you think you could maybe let my friend go? Well I guess it would be scary to just appear somewhere that you don't recognize and... Oh my!” Fluttershy blushed as her wings stuck out stiffly. “Oh um, I don't think she would appreciate that. She wouldn't have time to take care of eggs right now.”

“Wait WHAT!?” As the two fliers tried to deal with the summoned create a flare shot up from the other end of the area.

Turning the showmare looked at the form of Twilight as she threw back the hood of her cloak. “Well it is about time that the great Twilight Sparkle shows herself. Trixie has been waiting for this day ever since she left this miserable town and began her training and now things will be different.” Clearing her throat she tossed her cloak to the side, revealing her naked form before she raised her voice for her proclamation. “Twilight Sparkle! By ancient Canterlot law I, Trixie Lulamoon, challenge you to a duel! Do you accept or concede your honor?”

While most of the crowd was confused with her words, most of the unicorns gasped as they turned to see Twilight's reply. The unicorn herself was shocked at the challenge but she quickly recovered with a frown. It didn't take her much time to think through what she remembered of the ancient tradition and it didn't take her long to remember everything she could and realize that there was no way out of it without embarrassing both herself and Princess Celestia. With a sigh she stood as tall as she could and marched up to the other unicorn. “Fine, I accept, though I fail to see what this is going to prove. You haven't even said why you are even here in the first place other than this ridiculous duel. Now the terms shall be until one of us can no longer continue, non-lethal force only and anything else goes.”

Trixie snorted as she turned away from the other mare and paced over to a nearby open space. “As if you don't know why after what happened the last time we met. When I was chased out of this town with nothing to my name I was left wandering Equestria, trying to scrape up enough to afford something other than pine cones. That all changed in Manehattan but that has nothing to do with now. I accept your terms, and the time shall be right now, with the traditional five minutes to prepare.”

With a nod the two mares pace away from each other as the rest of the town clear away to a safe distance, knowing how dangerous Twilight's magic could get. While Trixie stood silently at her end of the field, Twilight's friends were helping the purple unicorn prepare with whatever advice they could give, sans Pinkie who still couldn't speak. At least they tried to as a loud crunching sound kept interrupting them until they all turned and glared at Xellos who had taken up position on the sidelines with a recliner and large bucket of popcorn. On seeing their looks he elevated an eyebrow. “What? Did you want some?”

The mares just shook their heads in annoyance, except for Pinkie who stomped over and took the seat right next to him and jamming her hoof into the bucket. As she slowly chewed the signal was given for the two unicorns to take their places across from each other. Trixie and Twilight stared at each other, waiting for the other to make the first move when Fluttershy quietly sneezed.

As if that was the signal to begin, Twilight fired a bolt of energy at Trixie who once again took to the air to dodge. After easily dodging a couple more blasts the flying unicorn just smirked. “Is that the best you can do? If so then this will be easy.

Cross over the sky and the earth
A gentle watershed water
Gather in my hooves and become power
FREEZE ARROW!”

Gasps rang out from the surrounding ponies as the shape of a blue bow materialized around her hooves with an arrow of ice. Twilight's eyes widened as she saw the projectile flying towards her causing her to throw up a barrier of energy. On impact her entire shield was encased in ice, worrying the crowd, until it crumbled revealing her shivering form as she glared up at the smirking mare in the air. “Where did you learn magic like that? I've seen its like before but the origin of it was always the same being.”

Eyes turned torwards the reclining form of Xellos who looked around on feeling the attention towards him. “What? I found her at her lowest after Ponyville wrecked her reputation and made it impossible for her to do anything without being rediculed, chased out of town, or even worse. In fact she was about to be killed when I found her so afterwards I gave her a bit of a push with a couple spells. Everything else was all her.” Feeling a heated glare from the side he looked over to find Pinkie's eyes right up against him. “And no, I never showed her that one. I recognize it but it's not one that I would bother using or teaching others.”

The pink party pony looked deeply into his eyes, searching for any hint of a lie before slowly nodding and turning back to the fight. Trixie snorted in annoyance at the interruption before turning her nose upwards a bit. “Hmph, in a way that day was the end of the Great and Powerful Trixie and I was reborn in my current alluring form. I traveled the world learning all the magic that I could and gaining experience fighting threats along the way. Terrifying Tatzlewurms, viscious vampires, rambunctious revenants, laborous lamia, I had to face it all to get to where I am now. Yet after it all the tale of what happened here still follows me and until I defeat you that will never change. Now can we get back to it?”

There were a few looks of shame going through the crowd at hearing the former-showmare's tale, especially as some of them were guilty of spreading the word of what had happened around. Twilight's frown grew as she listened to Trixie until she nodded and shook off the remaining frost from her coat. “Fine, but just so you know I won't be holding back this time.

Source of all power.
Raging thunder from the sky.
Gather in my hoof and grant me power.
DIGU VOLT!

”

Trixie's eyes widened as the lightning came rushing up at her forcing her to dodge once again, this time narrowly as an arc of energy came off the attack, shocking her. She recovered quickly and glared down at Twilight before she charged another spell.

“All sources of power
A gentle flowing sweet water
Gather in my hooves and become power
FREEZE BULLET!”

Twilight recognized the spell and began starting her own.

“Oh, source of all power,
light which burns beyond crimson,
let thy power gather in my hoof.
FIREBALL!”

The two spells collided at the midway point between them and all eyes watched as the two spells fought for dominance. With a flash of light the blue and red orbs swirled around each other before finally imploding in a shower of sparkles. “A pity, while impressive those spells will always end in a draw when used against each other. I do wonder if Twilight knew that or if it was an accident.”

Pinkie Pie just nodded while the surrounding ponies just glanced at him before turning back to the fight. Trixie narrowed her eyes at the unicorn below her before she smirked once again. “Not bad, it's what I would expect from my rival but let's see how you handle this one.

Oh power of light and earth and wind
Break now the spell that has been cast upon this mare
FLOW BREAK!”

Twilight, not recognizing the spell, put up a shield and waited to see what it would do before reacting. What she didn't expect was for her shield to dissipate into nothing, leaving her shocked before she tried to bring it back up once again. After straining to unleash her magic and not even getting a flicker she looked up at Trixie in shock. “My magic! What did you do!?”

Trixie laughed at the confused unicornbefore she landed, not wanting to waste the energy to continue flying now that it wasn't needed. “Wouldn't you like to know? Now let's see how you fair without your magic now.

You who crosses between sky and earth,
gently flowing water,
gather in my hoof and give me power!
DEMONA CRYSTAL!”

Fog rapidly spread from Trixie's hoof towards the shocked mare. When Twilight noticed the air freezing as the fog passed she realized how much danger she was in but by then it was too late to run. Yet when the fog entered the area around the unicorn it dissipated harmlessly much to the surprise of both Twilight and Trixie. “Wait, that shouldn't have happened, did I do something wrong?”

The blue mare pulled a book from her main and started flipping through the pages to find the appropriate spell. Twilight stood there shivering due to how close the spell had come to landing, especially when she wasn't sure how safe she would have been if it landed. Xellos chuckled as he walked onto the field shaking his head. “That was such a great show yet you really should have studied up more on how exactly Flow Break works.”

Trixie's head shot up as she looked over at the monster with wide eyes. “But I did everything that was required for the spell, you saw how it stopped Twilight Sparkle from using any of her magic!”

Xellos just shook his head sadly. “It doesn't just stop your opponents magic, it stops ALL magic except those that fall under the branch of white magic. Of course if Twilight was using a white magic version of a barrier spell then it would have done nothing to stop her from protecting herself. Of course going by the terms of the duel neither of you can continue unless you feel like waiting for however many hours it takes for the spell to wear off again.”

Trixie's jaw dropped for a moment before she let out a yell of frustration before stomping off in frustration at the fight ending in a draw. Twilight let out a sigh of relief as her friends starting cheering though it was a bit subdued since it wasn't a win. Pinkie hugged Twilight, hoping that it would dispel the spell on her but just grumped when she still couldn't talk. “I'm glad that that's over, but what were you thinking teaching Trixie such dangerous magic, Xellos!?”

Xellos looked at Twilight before he shrugged. “What? It was just like I told you earlier. Besides, she really isn't that bad once you get to know her and you could use someone to actually challenge you in magic. Seriously you hardly even talk with any unicorns that know half of what you say when it comes to magic. Now if you'll excuse me, I have an old friend to go and see.”

With a flash the monster vanished from sight, taking Spike with him without the mares noticing. While they started discussing what just happened, Xellos appeared a distance away with the dazed dragon. “Now, what was this you were saying about a dragon earlier? Tell me more about her, she sounds like someone I used to know.” As Spike proceeded to describe her, Xellos' grin widened as he pondered what he would do once he arrived in Baltimare.

<><><><><><><><><><>

The city of Baltimare was quiet after the recent rash of fires that had happened and the mystery thereof having recently been solved as the sun began to set. All but a small comic shop out in the dragon district from which shouting filtered out of. “If you don't pay up now then we won't be responsible for what could happen to your shop without that insurance!”

The dragoness Mina just sighed as she shook her head at the pony trying to extort her. “Well I tried to be nice, but if you insist on doing this the hard way. DIEM WIND!”

With a blast of wind the pony was launched screaming out of the building to crash into the alley across the way from it. Sighing yet again the dragoness turned back to finish closing up her shop for the night when a voice sounded out from behind her. “Huh, they sure don't make bandits like they used to, do they?”

“They sure don't and they don't have anywhere near the treasure that they used to. I mean if you are going to rob someone you might as well- GRK!” Quickly whipping around Mina looked towards the reading area of her shop to find Xellos paging through a comic he had pulled out. “Xellos! What are YOU doing here? How did you find me? My spells are still active so you shouldn't have been able to locate me!”

Lifting an eyebrow as he peered over the comic Xellos chuckled. “What? Can't an old friend come and say hello? Besides I'm not the one that found you but a mutual friend that you recently made.”

Opening her mouth to reply, Mina brought a claw up to her face in realization. “You've been hanging out in Ponyville haven't you? Why am I not surprised that you'd be in the most chaotic town in Equestria? Now that I think about it you used to talk about Princess Luna even back then and she was here as well with Spike.”

With a sigh she shook her head as the monster put the comic back where he found it. “So you've been in hiding all these years? I haven't really been looking for you really. Mina isn't a very imaginative name, one I think you used before, especially with how close it is to your real name L-”

Xellos was stopped from speaking any further as the dragoness appeared to teleport across the room to clap her claws across his mouth. “You idiot, don't say my name! Don't you know that the princess still has spells around trying to find even the hint of my name popping up!? Really, not even minutes after showing up you try and get me killed again. That's why I hid from you all these years, you tried to sacrifice me and my friends to Beastmaster!”

Looking Bashful as he rubbed a finger along his cheek the monster looked away from the diminutive dragoness. “You know it's not like that. If I wanted you dead you know that there would be nothing you could do. It's just that due to the circumstances there was no other way for me to take care of her, and if I had asked you would have charged some exorbitant amount.”

Glaring at the monster for a few more moments the dragoness looked away with a huff. “I figured that was the reason after thinking about it for a few decades, but that doesn't mean you are getting out of repaying me for everything back then. Now you still haven't told me why you are here now after all this time if you weren't looking for me.”

Glancing back at her the biped flashed the two glowing talismans that he was wearing. “More just a courtesy since even I have no idea what is going to happen now. Both Deathfog and Chaotic Blue possessed powerful beings and I fear that the other two aren't far behind.”

Mina gaped at the sight of the two glowing gems before she regained her bearings. “What!? That's impossible! When we split ways none of the powerful black magic spells had worked! With the death of Beastmaster all of the powerful monsters, barring you, had been defeated! If those four are still around then...”

She trailed off as Xellos nodded looking grim. “Yes, if they are back then the greater black magic spells are working again, and things are about to get so much worse as the most dangerous two of the four are still out there and could be anywhere still.”

Frowning the two look down at the two gems that represented the two beings that had come the closest to destroying the world. The dragoness shook her head before turning away from the monster. "That all has nothing to do with me anymore. Even if I could use the greater black magics again I haven't used much beyond the basics in years. The me that fights monsters and hunts for treasure has long since been laid to rest. This is my life now and I'm actually happy to not have to deal with it anymore."

Xellos just shrugged as as he reclined back, watching the dragoness clean up around her store. "As I said, it is just professional courtesy that I'm here. Well that and I was really curious if it really was you that I was hearing about. But if you are really happy about doing any of that, why am I seeing spells that remind me of your style being used by a unicorn that I helped out and gave a few spells to?"

Mina froze at his question before slowly tuning her head around with a blush. "Don't tell me, you were the one that Trixie talked about all the time when she was here pestering me? I knew that she was going to be trouble, when I first laid eyes on her. I don't know how she found me, but don't you know how annoying it is to have someone ambushing you day after day just so they could learn new spells? Seriously she's almost as bad as a certain minotaur family in their persistence. Even after she managed to learn some of my spells from having them used on her over and over she still wouldn't agree to leave me alone until I showed her some of my personal spells."

The monster chuckled as he matched up the mental image of the unicorn he had with what Mina described and could totally see her doing that. "Well it's a good things that she already has a rival she is going after or else you would have to worry about her coming after you again. Of course if that did happen then I'd have to stop by to check on you more often to see if anything entertaining happened."

With a shudder, not being sure if it was from the idea of dealing with another self-proclaimed rival or having the monster coming around, Mina turned away once more. Clearing away the last of the loose comics from that day the dragoness looked over at Xellos once more before sighing and shaking her head. Deciding that he was starting to outstay his welcome Xellos started making his way for the door when something else occurred to him. "Oh right, before I go I had one last message for you from your sister when I saw her a century or two back. She said, 'Dad is talking about quitting, come home and visit.' Seems like someone hasn't been keeping in touch with family like she should have been."

With a chuckle Xellos walks out of the building leaving the dragoness behind as she starts sweating in fear at the thought of facing her sister again.

Author's Notes:

What? She actually DID use that name in the anime so this felt like the perfect place for her. Now just who could her sister be, hmmm?

Chapter 33

“I had forgotten how boring things could get when staying in one place for a long period of time. Too bad that I can't just leave or else I'll miss the fun when something actually does happen around here. Ponyville is just a magnet for entertainment.” Despite his words, Xellos did have a few entertaining moments over the past few weeks. Of course seeing the Bearers of Harmony nearly being taken out by a tornado, watching Spike fight off a pack of Timberwolves with the Sword of Light, and even Applebloom's cousin unleashing a horde of golems during a family reunion seemed almost routine compared to what usually happened around Ponyville.

Xellos considered heading off to Manehatten to check on the fourth crusader and maybe see about teaching her like the other three when an interesting sight became visible flying towards Ponyville. “Hello... What brings Princess Sunbutt all the way out here?”

Flying closer to the carriage, staying out of phase with reality, he was surprised to see that there was a passenger riding with the princess. “Is that Discord? Huh, I wonder what it is she has planned now. I know that he gets lose again in the future, but is it already that time? Oh this is going to be good.”

He settled down to watch the show as the princess gathered the six bearers and put Fluttershy in charge of reforming the chaos spirit. After the princess left, the group freed the draconequus which soon caused the monster to frown. He was patient and his watching at first, but as things progressed he started getting annoyed with Discord's antics and when he snapped his tail to forcefully change a group of beavers mentally. “Well, well, well. If it isn't the self-proclaimed lord of chaos in the flesh. So what predictable schemes do you have for all of us today?”

While Discord turns to glare at the monster, the six mares wince at his appearance with most of them groaning. “Ugh, really?! You choose now of all times? How can things get any worse?”

As Pinkie Pie swatted Rainbow Dash in the back of the head for saying that, Discord slowly stomped up to the biped and stared him in the eye. “You! Oh, I have been waiting to have a word with you for a long time. How could you just leave me alone all those years with that empty shell and not say anything? And how could you call me, lord of all chaos, something as insulting as predictable?”

Xellos just rolled his eyes at the serpentine figure. “Oh please. I've seen more chaos from the ponies in this town than I've seen from you, and that's without counting Pinkie Pie there.”

Pointing over to the side the two glanced at the pink pony to see her polishing her hoof against her chest at the praise. “You? All you've done is throw your magic around randomly taking control of everything. That was why you were sealed away and, predictably, as soon as you were free you started doing it once again. Even after promising to stop just now you just couldn't help yourself and still forced your powers on those beavers, robbing them of free will.”

The six mares glared at Discord at hearing about him breaking his word immediately after giving it. “Discord!”

Discord looked over the mares glaring at him before a sighed with a pouty look. “Fine.” With a snap of his fingers the draconequus reversed his previous spell. “Is that better?” None of the mare's frowns left them causing him to roll his eyes and glare at Xellos. “Now see what you did? Everything was going just fine until you showed up. This is why I can't stand you monsters. You all keep ruining my fun.”

Xellos just smirked at the draconequus as he leaned back in the air with his staff behind his head. “Well you should know that chaos is what chaos does, and all monsters are creatures of chaos. Though for a so-called lord of chaos to be taken over by a mere creature of chaos must just be embarrassing. Especially since it was only a shard of one of the four dark lords.”

The draconequus growled at the biped as he started laughing at the end of his latest comment though he couldn't argue the fact as it really did happen. “Well excuse me for not being in the right mind while trapped in that statue. Sitting around doing nothing is just so mind numbingly boring that anything new seemed interesting and I didn't bother fighting back. It was a rather unpleasant experience, though it does make me realize that you aren't like all those other monsters. No, you actually seem to have something else in mind other than destroying the world.”

Discord gazes at Xellos thoughtfully while the six mares exchange glances as this was the first time they've heard any kind of confirmation of what the biped claimed to have plans doing. Xellos, for his part, threw one of his arms over and started to lead the draconequus off to the side away from the mares. “Oh I still have the urge to do that, but it's easy to keep under control with the help of a little list.”

The mares looked at Twilight as she let out a small squee of pleasure while Discord rolled his eyes. “Really? A list? What kind of creature of chaos would keep a-” The draconequus eyes bug out as Xellos pulls scroll after scroll from his bag until there is a pile larger than all the ponies nearby combined. “Are you sure that you're a creature of chaos and not something called up by purple smart over there?”

Xellos just rolled his eyes at Discord as he shook the last of the scrolls out of his bag. “Laugh it up, but I bet you couldn't even do half the things on just one of those scrolls without resorting to your powers. I also enjoy actually remembering some of the things I've done in the past instead of just living in the present like you.”

Discord just snorted at the biped before plucking up one of the scrolls to read through out of boredom. He didn't expect to read what he found, and his eyes steadily widened as he worked down the list until he burst out laughing. “Wait, you actually shaved Rarity's mane?! And I missed it?! Oh you just have to tell me how you managed that one without her killing you.”

He said this loud enough for the mares to hear, which caused the unicorn in question to shoot a glare at the duo. Xellos could only shrug as he started stacking the scrolls by the ribbon color they were wrapped in. “Actually, that one was much easier than I expected. Just a little suggestion to her sister and two friends and they used her as a guinea pig in their attempt at a hairdressing cutie mark. While hilarious it was almost too easy.”

While Discord guffawed at this, the six mares began looking at each other worriedly. With a sigh Applejack turned a glare on Rainbow Dash. “Ya really had ta go and ask how it could get worse, didn't ya? While ah expected the two ta start fighting, this is even worse. Who knows what they will do with them bonding like this.”

As he continued to look through the scrolls, Discord had to admit that he had trouble remembering many of the things that he did over the centuries. Setting the current one down he looked over at one that was bound with a red ribbon, the previous one being green. “I will admit that there is some charm to this, but why the different colors? It just seems so, organized.”

Xellos frowned as Discord unrolled the scroll he was indicating. “Well there are only three that matter, and it's just a reminder so I don't need to search through all of them constantly. Red are completed, green are in progress, and the black... Well those are impossible to finish now. It's a pity, I was looking forward to seeing how some of those would have turned out.”

As he was about to respond, Discord choked as he read one of the entries that weren't marked off. “Wait, you actually tried to get old Starswirl laid? Even I know when something is so impossible that it's not even worth trying.”

The monster only smirked at Discord at hearing this. “I almost thought so too, until I discovered what he was attracted to, or at least that version of him. After tricking him into showing up at a rather risque party, he avoided all the other ponies in favor of the punch bowl which just happened to be spiked. Turns out he wanted someone with more power than him, and unfortunately the only ones like that were Sunbutt and Luna who he saw as daughters. Well, and you of course but with you being stoned out of your mind you weren't available at the time.”

Discord was unamused with his comment, which was shown on his face. Looking to the side he notices the six mares still watching them, unsure how to react to this development. “I almost forgot that they were there. Well mister expert, since you know so much, what do you think I should do about them?”

The mares flinch as the spirit of chaos points a claw towards them. Glancing over as he starts putting the scrolls away, Xellos shrugs. “Who knows. Maybe you should actually do something that they would never expect from you? Try actually making friends with them instead of pretending or fighting them.”

Looking at Xellos with a deadpan expression for a moment, the draconequus soon turns away. “Really? That is your suggestion? Make some friends? Of what use would I have for friends?”

“It just shows how little you know about chaos. Just look at them.” Xellos gestures over to the mares nearby. “You have a jock, a hillbilly, a nerd, a wallflower, a popular girl, and Pinkie Pie. How they stay friends without tearing each other apart is a mystery and if that isn't the perfect example of chaos then I don't know what is. Of course you have claimed to be a spirit of disharmony, but I find that to be a concept that is just too self-destructive.”

Hearing this, Discord actually takes a moment to look at the mares in a serious manner. He had always just mostly ignored the ponies and treated them as toys, but now that it was pointed out to him he was surprised that he didn't notice it before. Each of the mares was so different from each other and with their conflicting personalities he would have thought that they would have torn each other apart long ago. Shaking his head the serpentine spirit looked back over at the biped.

“I would say you were crazy and not making any sense with that idea. But where is the fun in making sense? Of course, you are right about one thing. I have absolutely no idea how to go about your idea since I've never had any friends before.” Xellos looked thoughtfully at Discord for a moment before he just shrugged.

“Don't ask me, I find that most just tolerate me since they can't rid of me. Why don't you ask the future princess of friendship over there.” He indicates the purple unicorn nearby which causes Discord's head to whip around and squint at her, causing the mare to fidget at the attention.

“Now how would you know something like that? I can see that she has the potential but how do you know for sure?” Xellos just grins as he digs around in his bag once again.

“Oh, it's just part of old Celly's plans, and I promised not to interfere with her student. Of course I never said anything about this.” Pulling out a scroll bound in a violet ribbon, he passes it over to Discord while keeping an eye on the mares. Unrolling it the draconequus' eye lifts as she takes in the information before he starts cackling madly.

“Oh, this idea is just crazy. So crazy that she would never expect it. I love it! If I didn't know any better I would think that you were on their side.” Holding his gut as he returns the scroll, Discord slowly wipes a tear away.

“Isn't it though? She'll never see it coming and in the end it just makes everything easier for me. Of course I would hope that you would stay out of this now that you know. I would hate to have to see just how much damage I could do if you ruin this.” Discord just chuckles as he waves off the glare from the monster.

“Oh don't worry about me. I wouldn't dream of interfering with this. Of course that doesn't mean I won't be around to watch the fireworks when she finds out. Now I guess I should go and give this... friendship thing... a try. Of course that doesn't mean that I have to make it easy on them, does it?” The two laughed as Discord slithered his way back towards the six mares while Xellos sat back to watch the fireworks.

<><><><><><><><><><>

Princess Celestia finished up with her day court and was preparing to settle down for dinner with her sister when a wisp of green flame floated through a nearby window. Seeing it she smiled at hearing from her student, though she wondered what she had written about as she expected it to take a few days for them to deal with Discord. Unrolling the scroll when it appeared, she read through it slowly before her smile slowly morphed into a frown which wasn't missed by her sister. “Tia? Is something the matter? You usually are happy to hear from your student.”

Shaking her head, the solar princess looked over towards her lunar counterpart. “I am not sure. It seems that the issue with Discord is settled, yet I am worried about the cause of his change of heart. It appears that Xellos showed up and had a talk with him after I had left. Not long after he pulled him aside, Discord returned and was rather attentive to the Bearers of Harmony and seemed to be genuinely trying to make friends, if in his usual annoying way.”

Luna frowned as she heard about Xellos getting involved before she let out a huff. “Xellos is up to something. He never does anything if it does not benefit him in some way. Just what did he say to Discord and what is it going to mean for us?”

Celestia looked out the nearby window towards Ponyville in the distance. “I wish I knew.”

Author's Notes:

Had to skip a couple episodes and just reference them. Not like much interesting was going to happen in them. Of course now we have the season end coming up next. Just what do you think is going to happen now?

Chapter 34

The monster looked down at the dragon as he sheepishly looked back up at him. As the larger figure smirks, the smaller one frowns in annoyance. “Don't say it...”

“Well I see that you're a bit tied up here, so I guess I'll have to find you later.” Spike groaned at Xellos' horrible joke as he glared at the pets that he was supposed to be watching. For some reason they were being more troublesome than usual which had resulted in his current situation of being tied to a tree by them.

“Ugh, I told you not to say it. What are you even doing here anyways? Shouldn't you be, I don't know, out bugging Twilight or something?” Xellos shrugged as he looked over the leashes keeping the dragon in place before snapping his fingers, causing them to release the dragon.

“Yeah, I don't really feel like dealing with the aura of love around the Crystal Empire right now. Though I guess it could have been interesting to see if there are any changelings left. I'm curious as to just how Sombra did that to them. Of course, right now I'm finding it interesting how a promising swordsdragon like you is having so much trouble with a bunch of simple pets.” Spike winced as he unraveled the leashes from around his body before gathering all the pets up again.

“They aren't bad alone, but get them together, especially with Angel, and they are impossible to control. Wait, where IS Angel?” Looking around, Spike found that the leash that had held the fluffy abomination was now dangling empty on the other side of the tree. Groaning, Spike raised a claw to his face when a carrot struck him in the back of his head. Turning to look up into the tree he found the bunny glaring down at him before grinning and hopping down the other side of the tree and away.

“Oh great, he escaped. Now what am I going to do? Can this day get any worse?” The world decided to answer him as a belch ripped through him and a gout of flame erupted from his mouth. When they cleared, a journal and note fell into his hands as he let out a groan. Before he could react, Xellos snatched up the book as he got a closer look at it.

“Well now, if it isn't Swirly's old journal. I had wondered where it had gone to after all these years. Not that I tried to hard to look for it since I already have he older ones. He always did get annoyed that he kept losing them.” Spike glared up at him as Xellos flipped through the journal.

“Hey! Give that back! The princess must have sent that to Twilight for a reason!” Glancing over the edge of the journal, Xellos just casually resumed reading.

“Oh don't worry, I'll be sure that she gets it once she returns. But aren't you forgetting a more immediate problem? A little monstrous bunny problem?” Spike frowns for a moment before his eyes widen in realization.

“Oh crud! Angel's on the loose! If Fluttershy finds out that I lost him, then...” Spike trails off as a faraway look enters his eyes before he takes off after the escaping critter with the other pets in tow. Shaking his head, Xellos looks back to the book.

“Well have fun, old friend. Of course I'll be making sure that Twilight gets this, but first...” With a grin Xellos reaches towards his bag and starts to dig around.

<><><><><><><><><><>

“...so girls, I really could use your help with this.” Twilight looked around at her friends as she finished explaining why she had called them over. She looked at them all hopefully as they frowned in confusion.

“Ah don't know, Twilight. Ah mean why would ya even need my help with something like this? It's not like ah know anything about magic that could help ya, and ah doubt anypony except Rarity would be able to help.” Twilight frowned at her friend's response before she realized that she may have gotten too into her explanation again and tried to explain again more clearly.

“That's the problem though, this spell that the princess wants me to complete is like nothing I have ever seen before. If I'm reading this right, a unicorn alone has no hope of completing it, and even a group of them would fail. It seems to need the support of earth ponies and pegasii to complete it, as well as unicorns. I'm not even sure if I will even be able to cast this spell, even with all of your help, it's extremely complicated.” Eyebrows rose as she said this as they had yet to see a spell that Twilight couldn't cast. For her to say that she was unsure if she could do it, even with help, said just how difficult the spell was and they couldn't deny her their help and not feel guilty.

“Well if you need our help than you can count on us! Just tell us what we need to do and we'll do it.” The others looked wary for a moment before they nodded along with Rainbow Dash's claim, causing Twilight to let out a happy grin and started clapping her hooves together.

“Ooh, this is going to be so exciting! Not only do I get to try out a new, never before seen spell, but my friends are going to be helping me with it as well!” Her friends couldn't help but grin as Twilight started bouncing around the room in her excitement.

“So, what do you need us to do?” At Rainbow Dash's question, Twilight paused for a moment to calm down before she pulled out the journal and spread out a multitude of loose pages.

“Well if I am reading this right, you just have to stand in the specified locations and do... well... whatever it is you do when using your respective magic. I already have everything set up downstairs, the hardest part was drawing out all these runes and the magic circle required. It also requires a magical focus for each of us, but luckily the princess recently sent the Elements here for safe-keeping in case we ever needed them.” Hearing that the spell would require not just them, but also the Elements of Harmony caused the five mares to look at each other once again in worry. Twilight missed seeing this as she was already heading downstairs, thinking that the others were following her.

“Um, is it too late to change my mind?” Fluttershy let out an 'eep' as her friends turned towards her before they all followed their friend downstairs. Once they reached the room that Twilight had prepared, the gaped at seeing all the drawings on the floor and ceiling as everything else had been cleared out of the room, presumably into the bulging closet.

“There you are. I was wondering what was taking so long. Rarity, could you double check that I have everything correct while I show the others where they need to stand? Your eye for detail should be able to spot anything I might have missed.” The white mare soon had a multitude of drawings shoved in her face as the other four mares were shuffled off to various points around the room.

With a sigh the fashionista started going through the drawings and comparing them to the markings on the floor and ceiling. As she went through them she marveled at the complexity and strange beauty of what her friend was making. Soon she came to the last of the sigils before she paused and pointed a hoof down at one. “Twilight, you have this one wrong. It looks like it is not only backwards but upside down as well.”

Coming up alongside her, Twilight blushed as she rubbed the mark out before remaking it with a spare piece of silvered chalk. “Oops, good find there Rarity. Not like it would have done anything dangerous like turn this into the center of a crater encompassing all of Ponyville or anything, hehe.”

The others felt a stab of fear as Twilight nervously laughed off her attempt at a joke and on again reconsidered if they should really be helping her with this, or even be within the same country. Still, they had promised to help her and the fact that she was at least making sure everything was safe at least partially reassured them.

Soon the two unicorns had checked everything over and Twilight led Rarity over to her position in front of her own Element. Taking her own place at the center, Twilight levitated the Element of Magic onto her head before looking around at the others. “All right, that should be everything. Now all of you just... do what comes naturally? Honestly I'm not even sure what is supposed to happen, but whatever it is should be unbelievable.”

Charging up her horn, Twilight stated channeling her magic into the circle below and above herself. Her friends watched warily as the circle started to glow, which spread out from the center. As it reached the portion that they were on, the five mare's eyes lit up in the color of their Element as they froze in place. Soon Twilight's magic reached the outer edges of the circle and the Elements bordering it which started to glow before firing off a beam of magic into each of her friends. The last sight that Twilight saw, was the image of her friend's bodies fading from existence as the energy that hit them was channeled into her, turning her vision lavender.

As Twilight's body faded away like her friends, a figure walked out of the shadows and gathered up the fallen notes and journal. Seeing the energy fade from the magic circle, he began erasing and evidence of what he had done. Once it was cleared, Xellos stood back with a smile as he looked up. “Your move, Sunbutt. Your move.”

<><><><><><><><><><>

Princess Celestia stood, staring at her student and her friends. She had expected seeing Twilight arrive here eventually, but the fact that her friends had shown up as well at the same time was a complete surprise. The six mares were still in a daze at what happened, which prevented them from seeing the look of surprise on the princess' face before she began to compose herself.

“Ugh, Princess Celestia? What are you doing here? Where are we? I cast that spell after finishing it, though I've never seen a spell using a magic circle like that, and next thing I know my friends all disappeared and I was here.” Twilight looked around the infinite expanse of stars around her. Seeing her friends, she was relieved that they were unharmed, especially after what she thought she saw.

“Twilight, what you have done is... Wait, magic circle?! There was nothing like that in Starswirl's journal. Where did you get the idea to use something as dangerous as that?!” Twilight was thrown off a moment as Princess Celestia's wings flared out and her eyes widened in panic.

“But princess, it was all there at the end. Sure I had to finish up the last bit of research on it, but the spell clearly said that it was a requirement. I even managed to cut out the verbal component of the spell by using it.” Celestia's jaw dropped in shock at hearing this before she brought up a hoof to rub at her head.

“But where did it even come from? There was nothing like that in the journal when I sent it. Everything is going wrong, in fact I did not even plan for your friends to be here like this!” Her head snapped to the side as laughter filtered out of the aether.

“Oh, but Celly, this is going along with my own plans perfectly.” As Xellos faded into view, the princess reacted angrily as she got up right in his face.

“You! What did you do!? You told me that you would not do anything to interfere with Twilight's destiny! And how are you even here! Creatures like you should not even be able to enter the Aetheric Realms!” Xellos just chuckled before patted her on the head.

“Oh, silly alicorn, thinking that you know everything. High level monsters can easily slip between the physical realm and the Astral Plane, so it shouldn't be outside the realm of possibility for the strongest ones to make it here. I mean it's only a jump to the left from there anyways to get here.” The princess was shocked silent at this which gave a certain pink pony to add her own comment.

“Ooh! Ooh! And a slide to the right!” Xellos shook his head at his adopted niece.

“Not quite that far Pinkie, that leads into the dream realms where Luna rules. I tend to avoid that area.” As the two conversed, neither noticed the princess' mane flaring up a bit as she stared at Xellos.

“XELLOS! Why must you be so infuriating!” She would have said more but the sound of crunching off to the side drew her attention. Looking in that direction, Celestia found both her sister and Discord watching the show while eating popcorn. Seeing the draconequus, the target of her anger changed momentarily. “Discord! Did you have anything to do with this!?”

The chimeric creature scoffed at her accusations as he dug into his bag for another clawful. “Oh, please. Why would I want to make even more of you? I'm just here to see the great and patient Celestia finally lose it in front of her own student who worships the ground she walks on.”

The princess froze up before her head slowly turned back towards her student and her friends. Seeing Twilight's eye beginning to twitch she sighed and rubbed at her temple with a hoof. “Luna? Could you please do something about your coltfriend while I deal with the mess he created?”

The princess of the night started sputtering at her sister as her wings flared out behind her. “Coltfriend!? With that thing!? I wouldn't date him if he was the last stallion alive!”

“Please, as if I would have anything to do with miss emo over there? 'Ooh, look at me! Nobody is paying attention to me so I'm going to kill the entire world through eternal night!'” Luna's face darkened even further as she glared at the monster.

“This coming from an overgrown child given too much power! Why I ought to...” As the two began arguing back and forth, Celesta shook her head as she made her way back to her student to calm her down, while Discord and Pinkie Pie watched the new show that was evolving.

“I'm sure that you have many questions, my faithful student, but time is short. Once you get back I shall...” She was a bit premature in her thoughts that things couldn't get worse as Discord took that moment to speak up.

“Don't forget to tell her how her and all her friends are dead now. I doubt any of them could make it here otherwise, except for Pinkie pie here. I can't believe how much fun she has been since I decided to give this friend thing a try.” Hoof met face yet again as Twilight's eyes widened before she began to hyperventilate at the thought of killing herself as well as her friends.

<><><><><><><><><><>

It took a while to calm Twilight down, but by that time it was time to send her and her friends back. The six were now waiting for the princess to arrive at the library as the prodded at their new appendages. Spike was wearily setting out a tea set and a tray of biscuits before stumbling towards the door as someone started knocking on it. Opening the door, he found Princess Celestia there who he invited in before stumbling up towards his bed.

As she entered the room, she looked around at the gathered mares who turned to look at her which distracted them from their new body parts. “I am sure you all have questions for me, and I will do my best to answer any question you have.”

The mares looked at each other before Fluttershy hesitantly lifted her hoof. “Um, was it true that we actually, um, died?”

Princess Celestia sighed as she levitated a cup of tea to herself. “So the difficult question first? Very well. Alicorns are a special sort of creature that little is known about. My sister and I were not born as one either, but became one after we took control of the sun and moon, angering the unicorns of the time. We died not long after they found us, and we found ourselves in the same place you did. Over the years we learned that some immortals are born that way as they shed their former body to acquire a new one that can handle their future strength. This new body is nearly impossible to kill as it is tied to some concept that has to be sundered before they can truly be killed. That or a weapon or being of greater power has to be used.”

The newly made alicorns just stared at the princess as she explained, though now they had even more questions than before. “Wait, so you mean that we are immortal now as well? What is this going to mean for us and our families?”

Turning to Rarity with a look of pity, the princess shook her head. “As I said, the difficult question. The price of this for is the curse of watching those you know and love pass into history as you outlive them. Things will change for them as well as your upcoming coronation will thrust them into the sights of he nobles as they try and gain your favor.”

“Wait, you mean you were going to force this on Twilight? You did say that you had all this planned for her before, and what do you mean by a coronation?” The princess winced at Rainbow Dash's tone before she shook her head.

“You are all alicorns now, and by the laws of Equestria that makes you princesses now as well. And Twilight was the only one I was sure that would become an alicorn like this, the rest of you are an unexpected complication caused by Xellos. Yet, if he had not done this, then you likely would have come into your own in the future and ascended after dying from old age or an accident. There have been those that have lived a peaceful life before their immortality asserted itself.” The mares looked at each other at this information, giving the princess time to organize her thoughts.

“This is just so much to take in. So where are we going with all this now, princess?” The princess sighed as she looked over the mares before her gaze settled on Twilight.

“First, I need to take the journal and those notes back with me to examine just what Xellos did. The additions you described are something that have long been forgotten and it would be best if they were stored somewhere that others can not access them. Then we need to discuss the plans for your coronations.” As Twilight went down to the basement for the notes, the others looked at each other before they covered their ears at Rarity's squeal as she realized just what was happening. Before they could get into talking about it, Twilight came rushing back up from downstairs.

“Princess! The notes, the circle! It's all gone!” With a groan, Celestia shook her head as she planted a hoof in her face.

“Oh, Xellos. Just what are you hiding this time?” The newly minted alicorns just stared at the larger alicorn as they wondered if they should be worrying about if things were about to get even worse.

Author's Notes:

New chapter, . And for those that missed it, I posted a new little joke story. HERE

Chapter 35

Author's Notes:

A short chapter, but adds a little bit of extra stuff from the last previous few. I'm really in a slump with this story though as I'm not sure which of the episodes I should even bother using since most of the time Xellos would just sit back and enjoy the show so it wouldn't be worth visiting them. If nothing else I may just do a few big timeskips to important areas, or hilarious ones, as I move things along. Hmm, wonder how Rainbow Dash would react if Xellos ruined the next Daring Do book so it couldn't come out?

The princess of the sun let out a hefty sigh as she closed the doors to her personal quarters. After kicking off her hoofguards and tossing her raiment to the side, all landing in their appropriate storage areas from her years of practice doing so, she flopped down on her couch to reflect on the day. From the coronation of six new princesses, five more than she had prepared for, to the reactions of the nobles, she was completely drained from it all. Not that any but those closest to her could tell when she was out in public. So when a dark chocolate cake slathered with rich chocolate icing was lowered down from above she barely even twitched at the creature and lazily reached for the treat.

“This does not change anything. I am still mad at you for that little stunt of yours. Yet despite that you doing what you did makes me question just how serious you are about destroying the world when you make it harder for yourself.” Celestia glared at Xellos as she levitated the cake down to her mouth and took a bite out of it, letting out a small moan at the taste. The monster for his part just smirked as he sat down behind the couch looking away from the princess.

“Oh I'll figure out some way to work it into my goals. It's not like I have any plans of going through with it anytime soon. Besides, now I don't have to worry about a Nightmare Bookworm incident if we went through with your idea.” Celestia's ears perked up before she rubbed a hoof at her temple.

“Really? You did all this just because you worry that Twilight might fall like Luna did? Do you really doubt her that much?” The initial reply to her question was a snort of disbelief to her words.

“Oh sure it's possible that it won't happen to her, but until she fixes her bad habits I find it unlikely. As she is now it is more likely that when her friends start to die from age she will try to prevent it. The magic she knows won't do much so that just leaves the dark arts, and in the end...” He trails off as he lets the implications set in. Celestia briefly considers his words before shaking her head.

“It is a lesson that she will have to go through, that all immortals have to go through. Your changing the destiny of her friends will only hurt them all in the long run.” Xellos just rolled his eyes at her as he stood up.

“And here I thought I was supposed to be the evil one. If you truly believed that then your student shouldn't have her wings either. I wonder how she would react if she knew her mentor was so selfish.” The princess turned her head to glare at him over the back of the couch before she sighed, knowing that he was partially correct. She was tired of being alone and it was part of what had motivated her to send that spell to her student.

“Besides, it's not like she won't learn that lesson when her parents and brother die. At least now she will have more emotional support for when it does happen. That and I can't wait to see what my little niece can come up with over the centuries.” The last part he mumbled to himself just low enough for the princess not to hear it. She remained quiet as his words reached her, leaving her wondering if she did do the right thing. While she was lost in thought, the biped mover over to throw open the window before he glanced back one more time.

“Of course, even if I didn't meddle with the spell I did have another option. Though I doubt you would appreciate it if I made The Pledge of Immortality with them. Even if it wouldn't be the first time that I've done so. Hmm, that reminds me that she owes me once again as part of our agreement.” With that he took off out the window, leaving the princess staring after him wide-eyed.

<><><><><><><><><><>

“ACHOO!” Granny Smith rubbed at her nose as she looked around the kitchen while her grand daughter watched.

“Granny? Are you all right?” The elder mare looked down at Applebloom before she waved her off.

“Ah'm fine Applebloom. Just remembering a promise that I made years ago. Seems like an old friend is gonna be stopping by soon.” The filly looked at her granny oddly as she started pulling ingredients out of the various cupboards in the kitchen. Shrugging to herself she moved to help out however she could.

<><><><><><><><><><>

Xellos smiled as he flew away from Canterlot, leaving Princess Luna annoyed once more at his most recent prank. It had taken him a while to find a flute, a pineapple, and yo-yo, but the look on her face was totally worth it. As he wouldn't be welcome around Canterlot for a while, he was coasting over Ponyville when he spotted a familiar figure that was glaring up at him at the edge of town. With a smirk he floated down to the figure and hovered above him.

“Well now isn't this a surprise. It's been a long time since I've had a chance to speak with you again, old friend.” The figure just glared at him with his arms crossed, tapping his foot, before pointing an accusing appendage at him.

“Oh, don't give me that Xellos! You know as well as I that we haven't been friends for a long time! Not since you betrayed us like that!” The monster, for his part, leaned forward until he planted his staff on the ground before resting his hands atop it and his chin atop those.

“Oh, don't tell me you never expected it when you learned that Lord Beastmaster was setting her plot in motion. I would have thought you would have expected it to happen since our whole relationship worked like that. I help you, you do stuff for me, I betray you, you escape and smack me upside the head... That's how it's been ever since we met, Zelgadis.” Zelgadis glared at the monster for a moment before he sighed grumpily.

“It doesn't mean I have to like it. Especially after you cursed me with this form!” He stomped his tiny foot at Xellos as his glare increased once again.

“But I thought you enjoyed this new form. You've been getting all the ladies now that you are fluffy again instead of being rock hard. I mean, just look at who you are with now.” At being reminded once again of his companion, the smaller figure's glare intensified as he tried to set the monster on fire with his mind.

“And that's another thing. Just what do you think you are doing to her?! Don't you know how badly she is cut out for being the center of attention?! Now you go and turn her into an alicorn where she is crowned as a princess?! I guess I was wrong when I thought you were actually becoming friends with those mares.” He sounded disappointed at the end of his rant, though it had no effect on Xellos as he was just as cheery as ever.

“This coming from the one that probably torments her the most out of anyone in an effort to toughen her up. Oh don't be surprised, I've seen the things you've done and it's not because you always enjoyed being the heartless mystical swordsman you acted like. You actually care about her just like you did with little Miss Justice back then.” This brought a blush to the others face as he crossed his arms and turned away.

“Shut up! It's not like that at all! I just can't stand seeing someone so strong act so helpless.” Xellos chuckled at his old friend before he stood straight up and stretched his arms above his head with his staff between them.

“Besides, it's not all about her. I'm interested in seeing what all of them can do over the years, especially my adoptive niece. That family has always been entertaining and she's the most interesting so far. How could I not make sure she lives a very long time? Besides, now you actually have a good friend that can help you with this little problem of yours. In fact I'm betting that she has the best chance of turning you back to your old self once again, Mister Zelgabunny.” The tiny figure glared up at Xellos for bringing up that old hated nickname that was used during that one Artimae Tower incident before the rest of his words registered with him. With a great leap he threw himself at the monster and grabbed ahold of his collar in a deathgrip.

“What?! There's actually a cure?! What is it! Tell me!” Xellos smirked as he brought a hand up in front of him and pointed a solitary finger upwards.

“That, my dear boy, is a secret!” With that he disappeared from view, leaving the dumbstruck form to fall to the ground. After a moment he let out a growl of fury as he kicked at the ground in front of him in anger. After a few minutes of venting his rage at the air around him he gave out a sigh, before twitching an ear as he heard something. With a lighter heart, Angel Bunny bounded his was back to the cottage where his master/friend Fluttershy was calling for him.

Chapter 36

“Have fun storming the castle!” Xellos waved to Babs as she rolled her eyes and began walking towards the Coiffure Cuts Castle. As she entered the building he let out a sigh. “Oh well, it was fun while it lasted. Pity though, she had such potential yet all she wants is to do is style hair. Still, maybe she'll put some of those spells to use in the future. I'll have to check in on her from time to time. Well, back to Ponyville I guess.” Taking to the air, the monster flew back towards the entertaining town that he stayed around most often. Once there, he found out that he was missing out on an event he had been curious about for a long time.

“So they left not too long ago for some kind of Princess Summit?” The gray pegasus mare nodded to the biped as he looked thoughtfully towards the north. With a nod he pulls out a muffin and tosses it to the town mailmare in thanks and winces as she fumbles it. Chasing after the treat she flew headlong into the market to predictable results.

“MY CABBAGES!”

Xellos wanted to applaud the mare as he looked over the scene of carnage left in her wake. The market square which was once peaceful had been demolished in seconds with overturned carts and stalls. Pondering the burning cabbage cart, and just how it had managed to explode into flames like that, he eventually just shook his head and began his flight north. When he arrived at the edge of the Crystal Empire's barrier, he landed to look it over with a sigh.

“Well here's to hoping that I've perfected that barrier. At least it doesn't feel near as bad as it did before old smokey took over.” Stepping through the barrier around the city, Xellos winced as the positive emotions washed over him before he smirked. While it was still very uncomfortable and he could feel the positive emotions weakening him, there was an undertone of negative emotions that still sustained him enough that he probably could have gone without the barrier as well. As it was he was probably at only five percent of his normal strength, which was still considerable compared to what a pony could normally reach.

With that major hurtle out of the way he made his way towards the crystal palace in the center while keeping out of sight. That was easy for him even in his weakened state as the sun slowly dropped below the horizon causing the crystal ponies to retreat to their homes. Not wanting to be discovered just yet, he found a vantage point overlooking the guest rooms of the palace and settled down to wait. He relaxed in a shadowed corner of the ceiling as he watched ponies pass by below them. When he saw six familiar mares pass by below him and head into various rooms he knew that it was almost time as the lights began to dim.

It was a couple hours when he spotted a cloaked figure moving below him as they took cover to hide from a patrol. When the cloaked figure's horn lit up, Xellos' eyebrow rose as he recognized the spell, and it was not one that a former student of the sun princess should have. The unicorn's magic covered the entire hall, and the hidden monster could even hear the sound of the patrol collapsing further down the hall as he fell asleep. When the figure moved into Twilight's room, Xellos floated down to peer inside.

“Well, well. Isn't this interesting? And it's even perfectly cast as well, if it was used on normal ponies.” He winced as the mare stumbled over Spike's tail, but due to her spell nobody awoke from the noise. As she left the room, the disguised mare tossed a final glance back towards the room that Twilight was inhabiting.

“Sweet dreams, princess. By the time you wake up it'll all be over.” Turning around to leave, she bumped her head into something she wasn't expecting. Her gaze took in the legs standing before her before her gaze traveled upwards until she came face-to-face with a smirking figure she recognized from her studies and was one she did not want to see. With a whinny of panic she unleashed a ball of orange flames, engulfing the figure, before she took off down the hall. Once she was out of sight she began panting wildly.

“What was that!? It looked like a human but that couldn't be. The only thing in Equestria that could have been... But how can he be here!? I thought he was trapped in stone back in Canterlot.” She froze as she heard a 'tsk'ing sound behind her and she slowly turned her head.

“First Discord, and now you. What is it with second rate villains thinking that I would be dumb enough to let myself be turned to stone? Any villain worth their salt would know when to fight and when to run.” When Sunset's mind rebooted she let out another shriek and proceeded to do both ideas at once.

“DIG VOLT!” Arcs of electricity flew from the unicorn's horn and covered the area in which the biped was standing. As the current flowed around his body, Sunset Shimmer took off running yet again. After making random twists and turns through the halls, she found herself back in front of Twilight's room, panting from her exertion. She froze up when she heard a voice behind her yet again.

“Huh, I was always curious about what you were getting into that Sunbutt didn't like. Not only that you also managed to actually take an elemental spell and combine it with magic from the sun.” Sunset Shimmer's mind froze at the nickname the monster used, but she soon recovered and slowly backed away from him despite the praise.

“What do you want with me? How are you even here?” She flinched when Xellos vanished, only to reappear once again with an arm thrown over her back. The only reason why she wasn't running away screaming now was that she had noticed that his eyes were still closed. From what she had read about Xellos, he was always at his most dangerous when you could see his eyes, though it was written that he could still be very annoying.

“Oh I just had to come and see Celestia's greatest failure.” The mare's face fell on hearing this and she was about to respond with a biting remark until he continued. “I mean, throwing away one of the most talented sorcery geniuses I've seen in centuries? That's just a perfect waste of such good potential. As if everyone can fit into her narrow view of what is proper.” Sunset's jaw dropped at the praise before she frowned at the monster.

“All right, what are you up to? All the stories I've read about you say that the only time you are helpful is when you want something. So spill.” Xellos' eyebrow rose at her accusation before he smirked.

“Oh I have nothing planned right now. Granted I was expecting things to be a bit more entertaining than it has been. I just had to see the mare that Sunbutt wrote so much about.” The mare looked confused at what he was saying as he pulled a book out of his bag.

“'Dear Diary, today my dear little Sunny did the most amazing thing in class. If only she could control her temper more then maybe... If only I was not so afraid to tell her.' Hmm, it never does say just what she wanted to tell you.” Sunset Shimmer rolled her eyes before turning her back to him, mostly to hide her tears at what she had heard.

“Well if you have no need of me then I really have to be going. Things to do, power to acquire.” The mare took a step away, but was stopped when Xellos cleared his throat.

“Oh, before you go, just one question. Did you remember to put enough power into your sleep spell to fully affect nine alicorns?” Sunset Shimmer froze at hearing this and her head slowly turned to look back at him.

“What did you just say? NINE alicorns? But I thought...” She was interrupted as the door next to her was thrown open, revealing the disheveled form of Twilight Sparkle. The alicorn's eyes focused on the unicorn and the crown peeking out of her saddlebags.

“My crown! She's got my crown!” The mare took off down the hall with Twilight following close behind her as she shouted back over her shoulder. “Xellos! Stop her!” His only response was to wave after her with a smile.

“Have fun in school, Twilight!” With those words the monster vanished from sight to keep track of the coming show.

<><><><><><><><><><>

Eight princess stood in shock as Spike vanished through the mirror in chase of the ninth. The youngest of the group turned towards the eldest with a questioning look before Applejack stepped forward. “Well since we don't know how long she is going ta be gone. Why don't ya tell us just who that was? Ah'm pretty sure there is more ta all this than what ya told us.” The other mares nodded, even Luna and Cadance, as all eyes focused on the eldest princess. She sigh and looked sad about something but before she could say anything a chuckle rang out through the room.

“Oh this ought to be a good one. Please, tell us just what happened between you and your adoptive daughter.” Heads turned in shock when Xellos appeared, staying far from the Princess of Love even if the aura around her was somewhat bearable now, and hearing his words but they soon turned right back to the solar princess as he finished speaking.

“DAUGHTER!?” Celestia tosses a glare at the floating biped before she sighed sadly and shook her head.

“It is as he says. I did take her as my student, but that was after rescuing her from a burning mansion where her family was killed. The conflagration was caused when she earned her cutie mark and I knew that she needed help in controlling her powers. Over the years I grew more and more attached to her until I made it official, but before I could tell her we were separated. But how did you find out about it, Xellos? There are no official records of it and you were not in Equestria at that time.” Xellos smirked as he pulled out the book he had read from earlier to Sunset and tossed it in front of the princess.

“Oh it may not have been specifically written anywhere, but you might as well have been screaming about it in there.” The princess' face reddens as she realizes that the book is one of her diaries and she quickly snatches it up in her magic, but not before her sister recognizes it and rolls her eyes at Xellos.

“After all these years you still steal the diaries of others? When will grow up?” Xellos smirks as her looks over at the night princess and slowly pulls another book out of his bag, causing her eyes to widen. “No... You wouldn't...” His smirk only grew as he opened the book to a random page and began reading.

“'None know the pain of my loneliness. Alone and unwanted. For the light of day holds little for. Fear me, for I am the Night.'” Waves of heat rolled off of Luna's face at the monster reading one of her old poems from when she was a teenager. Rearing back she lashed out at Xellos, causing him to dodge.

“Xellos, you idiot!” The princess began chasing after the biped as he started flying around the room, dodging her flailing hooves. The other princesses watched on, dumbfounded at their actions as Luna chased Xellos around the room. Cadance, not having much interaction with the monster before, blinked as the two before looking closer at them as she noticed something.

“Um, Auntie? Are those two... You know?” Celestia blinked at her adopted nieces question before shaking her head in response.

“No, those two have always been like that ever since he showed up and accidentally... blew my sister up in an attack. I do not know his motivations but my sister has always disliked him ever since.” Cadance looked thoughtful as she thought back to what she knew of the monster, but couldn't come up with much beyond some recent stories.

“That is odd then. I swear that there is something else between those two. I mean he acts just like a colt on the playground teasing a filly he likes. I guess my intuition does not work so well on his kind.” She still sounded unsure of her words, though she dropped the issue. Celestia wasn't as sure that her fellow princess was wrong as she watched the interaction of the two in a new light.

Author's Notes:

Chapter 37

Xellos yawned as he launched yet another thorn into the base of a vine that was gripping yet another pony. Seeing as he already knew what was going to happen he didn't bother following the six alicorns into the Everfree and was instead watching over Ponyville as they dealt with the latest problem left over from over a thousand years ago. He had contemplated ratting out Discord before they left, but he doubted that the mares would believe him after the recent adventure Twilight had gone on, especially as he let Sunset Shimmer just run on by. His boredom was ended when a ringing sound began to sound from his bag, causing him to grin.

“Well now. It seems that she has finally found that little present I left her.” Reaching into his bag he pulled out a large red book and opened it to the first entry.

Dear Diary, I have no idea where I picked this book up from, but I am glad I did get it since I really needed somewhere to put down my thoughts. This last week has been one of the worst in my life, even worse than when the princess kicked me out of what had been my home for over a decade. It all started when I tried to stole an Element of Harmony from Equestria and brought it to this side of the mirror. I still don't know what I was even thinking back then, but in the end everything collapsed around me and I was left at the lowest point I've ever been in my life. I mean, what was I even thinking?! What would a bunch of high school students have even done against the Royal Guard?

Now the entire school hates me, the portal back to Equestria is closed, and the only ones that will even talk with me are the ones that I probably hurt the most. The only reason that they even have anything to do with me is because SHE asked them to. If it wasn't for her...

No, I can't think like that. This was all my fault in the end. If only it didn't take me turning into that she-demon for me to realize it.

Sunset Shimmer sighed as she looked down at the book in her lap before she slowly closed it. She wasn't sure just what caused her to actually write her thoughts out, but she couldn't decide if it was a good idea or a bad one. Shaking her head she moved to set the book on the table by her bed but she dropped it in shock when it began to vibrate in her hands. Fearfully she looked at the glowing and vibrating book on her floor and only one thing came to mind as she recognized the effect.

“P-Princess Celestia?” The human shakily reached for the book and lifted it up onto her nearby bed. After taking a deep breath she opened it to the latest page of writing before stepping back. Reading over what was now written in the book, Sunset frowned is she realized that it wasn't who she was expecting, but was unsure if she should be relieved that it wasn't her or annoyed with who it actually was.

Well, well, well. It seems that Sunbutt Jr has finally found the little gift that I left for her. So how was your little adventure into villainy?

The teenager winced at the little reminder of what started all this while she tried to figure out just how he had gotten this to her. She quickly realized that the moment in the hall where he had put his arm over her must have been a distraction just so he could leave her this book. After contemplating whether it was a good or bad idea to answer him, she decided to just go with it since it wasn't like there were any others wanting to talk with her lately.

I'd ask how you snuck this book over here, but I'm pretty sure I know the answer to that. Why are you, Xellos, one of the most dangerous creatures in history that the princess couldn't stop, so interested in me and this world that is devoid of magic?

Sunset frowned as she watched the next blank section of the book as writing began to appear on it in response.

You're right. Paying attention to a unicorn with mommy issues who tries to invade her home with an army of mind controlled teenagers is just too boring to keep an eye on. Babysitting a town being overrun by overgrown weeds is just so much more important.

The former mare rolls her eyes at his sarcasm though winces at one specific word.

Ugh, why does everyone seem to think that Princess Celestia is my mother? Sure she may have taken me in and raised me since I was orphaned, but she was just my teacher!

On his side of the mirror, Xellos chuckled at striking a nerve, and like any good monster would do kept poking at it.

Really? That's not how I read it when I went through Sunbutt's diaries. You were about all she could write about for almost three entire books. Who knows what it is she even wanted to tell you in that one entry that I read to you.

Sunset Shimmer wiped her eyes at reading about what she felt deep in her heart but would never admit to herself, especially after what had recently happened to her. With a sad sigh she wrote her reply.

Why would she ever want someone like me anyways, especially since she has Twilight and those other alicorns now. I'm just a failure that ran away from home who can't even get accepted by a bunch of teenagers even with them being asked to help.

Xellos yawned as he glanced around and spotted Twilight talking with Discord by herself. Seeing that things were still well in hand he tosses a fireball off to the side, freeing the trio of flower sisters from the thorns that had wrapped around them before looking down once again.

Really? I would have thought it would be easy to at least get Fluttershy or Pinkie Pie on your side. Just help Fluttershy out with some animals and Pinkie would be even easier. At least if they're anything like their counterparts on this side. There isn't much that my adoptive niece will forgive if you really mean it.

The mare-turned-girl blinked at what she read and tilted her head to the side in confusion.

Wait, you adopted a pony? And it just happened to be one of the humans that are supposed to be watching over me? Just how did that happen?

With a smirk the monster flipped to the next page of the book.

More like her family adopted me when I first met them over a thousand years ago, but I always did have a soft spot for that crazy family. Though I'm surprised that you didn't know who Twilight's friends were over here. The other alicorn's that you were surprised to find out about just happen to be the same five as the ones she made over there. Why else do you think it was so easy for her to actually get along with them.

Sunset Shimmer's jaw dropped at this information before she brought a hand up to her face. “Oh great, yet another reason why I was such a failure. How could I not even check out what had changed since I was last in Equestria. It had been years since the Princess even wrote to me trying to get me to respond.” Removing her hand she found that the monster had continued writing.

By the way, just where did you learn how to do those spells? Princess Sunbutt had locked away all spells of sorcery away from her ponies since she banished her sister. The only ponies that I know who can cast those spells now are the few that I've taught myself. And then there is that fireball spell you used. I've never seen a spell be modified like that, not even the Dragon Slayer and self-proclaimed sorcery genius could make spells like that.

The girl's cheeks reddened slightly at the praise, as well as some embarrassment, as she looked over at her book with all her notes on the magic, remembering where she found the original notes.

It... Well, I found the spells in one of the Princess' diaries. Most of them were devoted towards drawing power from the sun and I managed to combine them with the fireball spell I found. I have a couple others as well but I never managed to test them since there isn't any magic over here.

She assumed that was probably the reason why he didn't follow her through the mirror but his next words disabused her of that notion.

Oh there's magic over there, but it probably is a bit different than you are used to. I noticed that you still used your horn to cast the spells, but sorcery is not restricted to being used by unicorns. Apple Bloom and Scootaloo are just as capable as Sweetie Belle is at it.

Sunset Shimmer's eyes widened at the names, and knew that if they were anything like their counterparts on this side then she could only imagine the damage those three could cause with sorcery under their command. Still, hearing that magic should still be possible without her horn made her look at her hands.
“Light which burns beyond crimson flame,
let thy power gather in my hand!
LIGHTING!”

When she saw a small point of light appear above her hand she felt a bit giddy, even if it was nowhere near the size she was trying for. It was still magic and was something she had missed ever since she had come to this side of the mirror.

Huh, it actually does work, but it's much weaker than over in Equestria. But if there is magic over here, why didn't you follow Twilight? From how I understand it what happened those couple days would have been the kind of thing you would have enjoyed watching.

The response she read was nothing close to what she expected and actually scared her a little.

Oh, I could probably figure out a way over there, but that would require me to get near the mirror. You see back when Starswirl made the mirror he tossed another monster through but it didn't come out as he expected. The monster race is closer to forces of nature than anything so what went in on this side was nothing like what came out over there. Pity, I actually liked little Grendel. His appetite made him a good partner for eating contests.

Sunset blinked a few times as she recognized the name from an old book assigned in school. The creature described was very dangerous and she could only imagine just what Xellos would come out as. She distracted herself by considering her other spells that she knew and just how they would work over here.

I guess I should thank you. I never thought that magic worked over here. It may not be as strong but at least it's something and even in small amounts can be useful. Though I will not be casting that one spell again, strongest spell my sun-stamped flank. I still don't know why she even HAS a spell that summons an alicorn that proceeded to spank me.

Xellos burst out laughing at reading this as he knew exactly which spell she cast. After hearing how different the spell was on this world he had wondered just how different the spell would be in the end. It had worked just as he expected with his draconic acquaintance, but hearing how the Lord of Nightmares was the mother of the two eldest alicorns told him it wasn't quite intended to be used like that. Finding out that it actually summoned her physical form only gave him more ammo to use against the transformed mare.

Ah, so I see you met your grandmother. Good to see that she at least knows how to discipline others, too bad she never taught Celestia how to properly do so.

Sunset growled as she gripped her pen tighter.

I told you she's not my... Wait, that was Celestia's MOTHER!?

Her pupils shrank as she stared off into space at the realization of just what she had done back then. Little was known about that parents of the princesses, but it was said that their power was immeasurable. For her to have summoned one of them... She just shuddered at the thought. Her attention was drawn back to the book as Xellos sent another message.

So, after having cast the strongest spell in the entire world, how about I teach you one that is nearly as powerful but without summoning directly from your Granny's power.

The teenager frowned at once again being called Celestia's daughter, but at the offer of a spell nearly as strong old habits came back. She knew she should refuse, but the chance to learn something new was always a weakness of hers. Especially when it was a powerful new spell, not that she would ever really use it.

I'm listening.

As Xellos proceeded to tell her about the spell her eyes widened at just what it was. She had seen her mentor's weapon when she had gone out to the training ground once, but the spell described was leagues above it in power. She promised herself that she would become worthy to wield it some day, but first she had to master the spell. Xellos chuckled as he finished writing everything out for the displaced unicorn. This didn't go unnoticed as a voice spoke up over his shoulder.

“Whatcha doing Uncle Xellos?” Looking to the side he noticed Pinkie Pie sitting on his shoulder trying to read the book he was writing in. Closing the book he ruffled the pink ponies mane before sliding the book away.

“Oh it's nothing you should worry about Pinkie. Just talking to an acquaintance. I'm sure you'll meet her eventually.” As the mare gasped and ran off to make plans, Xellos just shook his head before his mind turned towards another problem.

“Well now that the backup plan is in place, just how should I deal with him? Considering just what he can do it just has to be him.” Xellos looked at the dim white gem that was a part of his set of Demon's Blood Talismans. Only the black and blue ones were glowing at this time and he was sure the other two would show up eventually. Though he had a hint of the third, he was unsure just who or what form the most dangerous of the quartet would take, and that worried him as it was the one that he doubted he would be able to do anything about.

Author's Notes:

Meant to add much of this last chapter, but it works here pretty well. Have fun figuring out where I'm going with all of this.

Chapter 38

Xellos stretched out his arms as he flew over the borderlands of Equestria after a long couple months of being away from the country. He had been out checking around for any sign or word of the escaped convicts from Tartarus, yet there was nothing to be found. Normally he wouldn't interfere with how things were going in the world, unless it amused him, but with the threat of the greatest of the monster race around he had felt he needed to help out.

The monster bypassed his usual grounds around Ponyville and flew directly towards the palace in Canterlot. The guard, on seeing him approach, watched him warily as they had standing orders not to do anything to provoke him and to let him come and go as he pleased. So as he landed and walked along the path toward the throne room they kept a wary eye on him, a few hoping that one of the more annoying nobles would cross his path as they had heard stories of what he would do to them. Unfortunately, though fortunately for the nobles, the halls were clear as he made his way into the throne room.

Celestia looked up from the paperwork she was looking through when the doors opened to see the biped striding through. She was about to roll her eyes at the interruption until she saw the serious look on his face, causing her to frown. “What troubles do you bring me now, Xellos?” With a frown the purple haired creature shook his head.

“More troubling news than anything. The escapees from Tartarus are nowhere to be found and none of my contacts have heard anything either. It's like they have disappeared from this world entirely.” Celestia's frown deepened at the news as there were hundreds of inmates that were unaccounted for. Some of them were even potentially world ending threats that should never have seen the light of day ever again.

“That is disturbing information. I had hoped that they could be found before they become a threat again, but for them to just completely disappear?” The princess sighed as she nodded toward a waiting servant to go and let the kitchen know to prepare the evening meal. With a gesture toward Xellos she started walking towards the dining area with the monster joining her at her side.

“There have been no sign of them in Equestria either. Though lately my agents have been inundated with reports of disappearances and strange cults. They do not seem to be related at first glance, but the vanished ponies all mentioned something about drums.” Xellos frowned in thought before he shook his head and motioned to the dim gems on his talismans.

“You're right. They don't seem to be related to the monsters as far as I know. The last two lords have a different style to them which doesn't involve drums or cults. I'll try to look into it though since it may be some other monster involved, but it could be something else entirely.” The princess nodded as they came upon the door to the princess' personal dining room before turning toward him.

“That is a relief. I was expecting you to refuse, but the help is greatly appreciated. May I ask why though?” Xellos smirked as the door to the dining room opened revealing Luna sitting at the table inside who glared at him on seeing his form.

“That, is a secret!” With that he vanished from sight leaving the princess of the sun to shake her head in exasperation.

<><><><><><><><><><>

Xellos yawned as he flew over Sweet Apple Acres as the moon rose into the sky. He hadn't told the princess but he had heard about the disappearances before but the cults were new. Considering it was a recent thing that had only happened after the Tartarus breakout it was rather suspicious. He only knew of one creature that was supposed to escape, and his knowledge of the other inhabitants was sketchy so he had no clue as to who was responsible.

While considering what he was going to do about the situation, he spotted a familiar white figure slinking through the orchard. Raising an eyebrow he slowed down, the monster floated down behind the form of Angel as he was peering around a tree. Standing over the rodent he peered around the tree himself to see five mares rushing through the apple trees.

“So, what's been going on since I had left?” The bunny froze before peering upwards at the tall biped. Seeing that it was Xellos he shook his head with a sigh at seeing the unwelcome figure.

“Oh great, now you are here. Can this day get any worse. Can you please at least try not to make things any worse than they already are? I don't know how, but Twilight somehow did something to Fluttershy while trying to stop some vampire fruit bats and now she is flying around with bat wings feeding off of the apples around here like some kind of feral beast.” Xellos raised an eyebrow as he looked from the bunny to the panicking mares on the other side of the tree. As he looked at them, he began to actually feel out the area with his senses and noticed an imbalance. As a creature of chaos he had an affinity for it, so when he felt a gaping hole where there should have been chaos, and a beacon of chaos flying around the area he could guess what had happened. Disappearing from view he reappeared near the beacon of chaos and caught the flying form of the changed Fluttershy.

“Well now, what do we have here?” Flutterbat blinked in confusion at the figure that had popped up out of nowhere but when she recovered she began hissing menacingly as she bit at the arms holding her. Xellos just smiled down at the bat pony before reach out with his free hand towards her head. As his hand made contact, Flutterbat's froze up and began to melt away as his hand worked its magic.

“Come on girls, she should be somewhere out here.” Twilight lead the group of mares as they hunted for their friend in Sweet Apple Acres. They had a plan to change her back, but they first needed to find her and lure her to where they planned to trap her. They thought they had found her a short while ago, but when they arrived in the area they thought they had heard her they found nothing. They were starting to worry that she may have left the area. A voice sounding from up in a tree they just passed brought them all to a halt.

“You know. I always thought that I was the one that was supposed to drive you all batty. Of course it would have to be Twilight that manages to screw up a spell and drain all the chaos from one creature to one of her friends, imbuing her with everything she removed from the other. I would have thought that the lesson with the parasprites would have been enough of a lesson to not use magic to mess with a creature's natural feeding habits.” Twilight blushed at the reminder before she glared at the monster hiding in the tree above them. As their eyes adjusted to the darkness around him they noticed a familiar figure curled up in his lap.

“Fine I screwed up, I admit it. Are you happy? Now what are you doing with Fluttershy?” Xellos floated down out of the tree cross-legged, revealing the biped clearly with Flutterbat curled up in his lap, his hand scratching behind her ear. Seeing this the other mares blanched until they noticed that their friend was unharmed.

“What are you doing to Fluttershy? She looks rather... content.” Xellos shrugged at Rarity as his hand continued with its ministrations.

“Well when her secret admirer expressed concern over what was happening I just had to see what I could do to help.” The jaws of the mares dropped as they heard this, while Xellos glanced towards a white figure further back who proceeded to glare at him and brought a paw up to his eyes before pointing it back at him. Looking back at the mares again he found Rarity up in his face.

“Ooh! A secret admirer!? Our dear Fluttershy!? Ooh, tell me, tell me, tell me!” Her exuberance earned eye-rolls from her friends as she bounced in front of the monster. With a smirk, he raised his other hand with a finger pointed skyward.

“Now that, my dear, is a secret.” At his response Rarity's ears drooped as her friends chuckled at her. As the mare backed away, Xellos' hand drifted down and started rubbing at Flutterbat's belly. The feral mare froze up at the sensation before she rolled belly up in his lap and started purring. Hearing the new sound the mares turned their attention to their friend and as one, except for Pinkie who was bouncing in place obliviously like usual, blushed at the sight before them. Rainbow Dash flared her wings after a moment and stomped towards the pair.

“Hey! Just what do you think you are doing to Fluttershy!?” Xellos looked confused before glancing down at the mare in his lap.

“Um, giving her a belly rub? Why, did you want one as well?” The monster smirked as Rainbow Dash backed away while violently shaking her head. His question was answered by another pony who appeared in front of him, bouncing in excitement.

“Ooh, ooh, ooh! Memememe! My turn, my turn!” Seeing Pinkie Pie's excitement, Xellos just shrugged before tossing Fluttershy into Rainbow Dash's forelegs before the pink mare took her place. When his hand began rubbing at her belly she let out a moan of contentment as her tongue hung from her mouth.

Rainbow Dash was distracted from this as she looked at the feral pony in her grip who was blinking at her in confusion. Before she could react, Flutterbat started growling before she let out a hiss of anger at the cyan more and flared her wings.

“Oh, ponyfeathers.” While the prismatic-maned mare tried to deal with her friend fiercely attacking her, Twilight rubbed at her head with her hooves. Looking between the two scuffling on the ground and her pink friend sprawled in Xellos' lap, she sighed in annoyance.

“Really? Can this night get stranger? Well at least we found Fluttershy and I have the spell to turn her back to normal. Rainbow Dash, bring her along to Applejack's home so I can cast the counter-spell. Rainbow?” She looked over in confusion as she couldn't hear the two any longer to find them in an embarrassing position. While Rainbow Dash was all scratched up from her wild friend, she had managed to calm her down and had her on her back in front of her. With a bright red face she kept rubbing a hoof at her friend's belly, keeping her calm as long as she continued though she growled whenever she slowed. Looking up, Rainbow Dash glared at her friends, her face bright red, as they tried not to look at the two.

“Not. A. Word.” With and embarrassed chuckle, Twilight carefully levitated the two, keeping them in the same position as she carried them back towards the Apple Family home to try and put everything right.

Author's Notes:

Hmm, I just realized that there was something I could have done something with but it never came to mind until now. The Claire Bible. I wonder how Twilight will react to hearing about it and how Xellos knows where it is located? Now to find the perfect place to bring it up.

Chapter 39

Author's Notes:

Expect me to screw up somewhere, oh and someone dies this chapter, so be prepared. Not sure what is next yet, but the next solid idea I have at the moment involves Tirek and then a bit after with Rainbow Rocks.

The forest below Xellos sped by as a flew towards a town out on the edge of Equestria. After his meeting with the princess, he had decided to investigate some of the disappearances in hopes of finding something related to the missing monsters. He didn't expect much success though as this seemed to be much too obvious for them if they were in hiding. Still it was at least something that would take up a bit of time that may also end up being mildly interesting.

“Hmm, so that is how it got it's name. Well I guess it's better than what was originally planned by the first mayor.” The flying monster browsed through a pamphlet he had found on the village to pass the time as he traveled. He saw no urgency in this little diversion so he didn't go anywhere near his full speed. Eventually he came upon a large gap in the trees, and with it the sight of the town he was looking for. As he was trying to keep a somewhat low profile he landed a ways into the trees on the edge of town and proceeded to walk but was brought up short by an unexpected voice.

“Just what are you doing here!?” One of Xellos' eyebrows lifted at the familiar voice and turned to find a familiar light gold pegasus. With her signature pith helmet and vest, he easily recognized the mare but was somewhat surprised to find her out here.

“I could ask the same of you DD. It's not like you to come out of your warm jungles into the cool forests for anything.” Daring Do frowned at the nickname as she shot a glare at the monster.

“How many times have I told you not to call me that!? Besides I'm waiting for word to come back on my next expedition and since I've heard rumors about some strange things happening out this way I thought I'd check them out. Though I'm not sure if I want to now that I know you are here, especially after what happened last time.” Her glare deepened at the last part as Xellos just waved a hand casually at her.

“I warned you that you might not like it when you found it. What would were you expecting when I told you that the Clair Bible contained near infinite knowledge?” The pegasus mare grumbled at him before looking away.

“I was at least expecting something that I could read! And would it have been too much to expect an index or something so I could find what I was searching for!? I mean I've only found one reference ever about this Destinae Dominus so it should have been easy finding out information on it if the place was supposed to contain everything! Ever since I read those words and got my cutie mark it has been my life's work to find out just what it is!” Xellos glanced at her before turning away towards the nearby village.

“Well there used to be an index in the form of a caretaker, but she was lost when that large crater was made. Of course, there was always the true Clare Bible, but who knows if it even works after the one who caused the previous incident was alone with it.” Daring Do whipped around to stare at him full on, but calmed herself with a few deep breaths, knowing that he was trying to get a rise out of her. Looking towards the town, she trotted up to stand next to him.

“Whatever. So, what town is this supposed to be anyways? I could never get a straight answer no matter who I asked.” The two started to walk towards the town before Xellos replied with one word.

“What.” The pegasus looked over at him curiously as she hasn't been talking too softly when she had asked her question.

“I said, what is the name of this town?” The monster hid a smile as he replied once again.

“Exactly.” The pegasus quirked an eyebrow at him before looking ahead once again.

“They named this place Exactly?” Xellos shook his head.

“Not exactly. What is the name of the town.” The mare sent a confused look at him.

“That's what I'm asking you, why are you...” She stopped as she noticed a signpost ahead of them stating, 'Welcome to What, You can stop the joke now,' and brought a hoof up to her face while Xellos checked a box off on a scroll.

“Seriously!? They actually named the town What!?” She shoots another glare at the biped in anger.

“Did you somehow convince a whole town to use that name just so you could set up a Haybot and Coltstello skit!?” Xellos let out a laugh as he shook his head.

“Unfortunately I can't claim credit for that. It was really a total accident as the surveyor had a thick accent and what he asked what the town would be called, What was the answer. Of course after the rest of the town found out what it was originally going to be called, they decided not to rename it.” Xellos passed the pamphlet to Daring Do who took it up with a wing and read the section he was talking about before face-hoofing again.

“Seriously!? They don't care that it's supposed to be pronounced Horse Doover, it is written as hors d'oeuvres! Even I wouldn't go somewhere with a name like that, it's just asking for trouble.” Xellos smirks as he walks ahead as the mare is dumbfounded by the stupidity.

“Who knows, though there is one thing I will claim credit for since it doesn't matter now. I was the one that convinced that tribe of ponies to be called the Idiot tribe.” The pegasus stumbled for a moment before she glared at the back of the monster's head. She had dealt with that tribe once before and out of all of the isolated groups she had met they had actually ended up being one of the smartest. In fact they were rather proud of the name and pointing out what it meant was a great insult to them which led to them being very isolationist. She decided to drop the issue for now as she realized she was getting side-tracked.

“You still haven't told me just why you're here. I would think the great Xellos would have better things to do than to come to some backwater town on the edge of nowhere.” The monster was silent for a few moments, enough to make it where Daring Do started to doubt getting an answer, before he spoke up.

“There's something happening out here. Something that I know nothing about. It's all some big secret about drums of some kind and I just hate not knowing a secret this big.” The pegasus frowned before slowly nodding as she could understand that as she herself made a living off of that in part.

“Ugh, and of course the reason why you are here is why the princess asked me to check the place out. I received a letter on what had been going on and she asked me to look into it and research if there were any ancient legends dealing with drums. There weren't many, but none really matched up with what I was hearing so I decided to come out and see for myself what was going on.” Xellos looked thoughtful as they began to come upon a market area that had a few ponies roaming around.

“Well it has been a while since I've had the assistance of others, but I suppose that this may be a good time to do so. At least this way we can cover twice as much ground and gather information in our own ways.” Daring Do nodded, though she wasn't happy about working with the biped, especially after her last adventure with him. Still, his help was better than no help, especially since there was so little information to go on right now.

The two split up in the market square, each going their own way. While Daring Do checked the back alleys and talked to the ponies out and about, Xellos went right to the sole tavern and eatery of the town. While each had troubles at the first, the pegasus being unfamiliar in town and the monster being what he was, they eventually managed to draw out some information from the ponies in town. The two soon met up again outside of town a distance away at a cave that Xellos had learned of.

“Are you sure that this is where that master character is supposed to be? I couldn't get much out of the town except for that title of his and that he is in charge of some sort of cult. If I even hint at anything drum-like then they just clammed up.” Daring Do examined the ground around the outside of the cave as she spoke, finding a multitude of tracks. Xellos was staring at the entrance of the cavern as he felt something off in the area. It was only when he stepped into it and his body started to shiver that he understood as he backed away in surprise. His motion and the look on his face drew the attention of the mare.

“What's wrong now, Xellos?” He shook his head in frowned in thought before answering.

“Well now this is unexpected. It seems that part of what I had been searching for recently was here all along. Though I never expected to find another monster this strong. I can't quite tell from here, but it may be as strong as I am. Pity.” He reached deep into his satchel and pulled out a glowing blue orb and stared at it.

“Wait, you're saying that there is something else like you in there!? And it may be as strong as you are? Also, what the buck is that thing?” She pointed at the object that Xellos was observing closely.

“Here's a small history lesson that not many remember. A monster is never born, but is created when a higher level one breaks off a piece of itself to create a new one. In fact all monsters are descended from the same source. But what happens when one is finally destroyed?” Daring do pondered the question for a moment. She had heard bits about where monsters were from, but this was the first time she had been able to confirm it. Suddenly her eyes widened as she stared at the orb.

“Wait, do you mean to tell me that's...?” She trailed off and Xellos nodded seriously.

“Exactly. Normally they would just dissipate into the air, but I managed to gather up all of their power into this. Normally it would be useless as a monster can't use the power of another unless they created them, but I have spent years purifying it until all that is left is just the pure essence uncorrupted by anything else. I didn't want to use it, but with what we are about to walk into and the fact that it isn't even trying to hide its power...” He let the sentence hang, causing the pegasus to shudder as, though she would still do so if needed, she didn't want to tangle with anything on Xellos' level.

Xellos stared at the orb for a moment longer before he crushed it in his hand, causing it to disappear in a flash of light. With a sigh he felt the energy coursing through him and while it still wasn't enough to match his own strength, it was still a significant increase to his reserves as well as adding knowledge of the abilities used by those the contributed the power. Looking towards the cavern once more he entered without a word with the mare son chasing after him.

“Wait, that was it? Hey, wait up!” The two snuck their way through the cave, following the feeling that Xellos got from the monster deep inside. There was something familiar about it, yet he couldn't quite place his finger on just why as it was also unfamiliar at the same time. As they came upon a bright up ahead they realized that they were coming upon a large cavern when suddenly the presence vanished, causing Xellos to frown.

“Hmm, whatever it was it left. But now that we are closer I can tell that there are still more monsters down here, along with something else.” Daring Do nodded as they began to sneak their way up to the corner before stealthily peering around it and they were surprised at what they found.

“Behold brothers! The Master has finally shown himself and even now the Pawn is advancing on the town protected by the Heretic! With him occupied elsewhere the greatest threat to his return shall be dealt with once and for all! For tonight, the Elements shall burn!” The scorpion shaped monster raised its claws causing the mob of deformed ponies to begin cheering. Each of them had various parts of them that looked to be more at home on a monster, such as claws in place of hooves or spires of twisted metal instead of horns. Xellos could even sense a hint of monster essence in each of them, and he could immediately tell that it wasn't from the Pledge but something even more sinister. On hearing the mention of the Elements though, he frowned in anger and decided to make an appearance, much to Daring Do's surprise and displeasure.

“Well now, what is this I hear about the Elements and this Pawn?” The room was dead silent when he appeared in front of the crowd behind the other monster. Slowly it's head turned around in a one eighty to stare up at him with wide eyes before it managed to sputter out a command.

“The Heretic!? What are you waiting for!? Get HIM!” Before they ponies could move, Xellos's eyes slowly opened and the monster was pierced from all direction but black spikes, killing him instantly. Turning his gaze upon the rest of the room as they began to charge he spoke a single line.

“Simon says, STOP!” When none of them did he smirked before snapping his fingers, causing the room to fall silent except for the sound of cloth hitting the ground. Daring Do walked in with her eyes wide open in shock as she looked at all the plush toys that used to be ponies.

“Wh-what did you just do? HOW did you do this?” Xellos was still frowning as he turned back towards the exit to the room.

“Just a little trick from an old acquaintance. I'm not sure if it is required for them to lose a game, but she used them to turn others into dolls. Look up the Legend of the Artime Tower sometime if you want to know more. But it seems that I am needed elsewhere and don't have time to play around here anymore. Take care of the mess here, will you? I'm sure Sunbutt will be wanting all of these things rounded up for later.” Without another word Xellos disappeared from sight as he made all haste back towards Ponyville and the threat that approached it. Daring Do could only blink, dumbfounded, as she was left alone to clean up the mess before she started cursing at the fleeing biped for leaving everything to her without any explanation.

----------

Noontime hit Ponyville as Twilight and her friends sat out having a picnic with Pinkie's sister Maud, without Pinkie Pie. It had been nearly half an hour since she had left her sister alone with them, frowning before she disappeared. This had them slightly worried, and even with her lack of visible emotions they could tell that something was off with her as she had not stopped staring in the direction the pink pony had gone.

“Was it just me, or did there seem to be something off about Pinkie when she left?” Rainbow Dash's question was met with a few frowns before they nodded.

“Yes, the poor did did seem to be really distracted by something. It must be horrid for her to just leave her sister who she was so-” Rarity didn't have a chance to finish as Maud leapt from her seat to tackle the white mare. Before the others could say anything a mass of metal appeared from nowhere and slammed into the spot where Rarity had been seated and would have injured the alicorn if not for the earth pony's actions.

“What in tarnation!? Is that Pinkie Pie's party cannon!?” The farm mare's words turned out to be true as they looked over the crumpled form of the party pony's party favor. The weren't given much time to think on the implications as Maud was on the move once again, this time intercepting the object which turned out to be the heavily injured form of her sister.

“Pinkie!” They all tried to crowd around the mare, but were beaten to her by Fluttershy who spread her wings to keep the others back so she could examine her friend. She let out a gasp as her eyes roamed over the various cuts and bruises, but her eyes widened at the cut that traveled along her entire barrel towards her flank that was bleeding heavily.

“Oh my! This is terrible! Who could do such a thing to Pinkie?” As the yellow alicorn got to work trying to stop the bleeding, the pink mare in question coughed in pain before groaning out.

“Girls... Run... Before it's too late...” A deep chuckle from out of nowhere caused the heads of the other alicorns to shoot up and search around wildly before settling on a familiar figure that slowly faded into view.

“Oh, but it is already too late. For all of you.” The monster that had nearly killed them back during the diamond dog incident had returned once again, apparently to finish the job. This time though he didn't come alone as small tears began to appear in the air from which monsters and demons began to trickle out through. Soon the sky over Ponyville was full of them and the panic began as fire began to rain from the sky.

“Girls! Group up!” At her words, the mares gathered around Pinkie as Twilight magicked up a barrier around them to protect them from the rain of Flare Arrows. While a few attacks were sent towards other parts of the town to sow chaos, a majority of them were focused on the alicorns themselves. It took everything the lavender alicorn had to hold the shield up so she couldn't do anything to fight back against the tide of invaders. By the time the attack stalled, she was breathing hard and worn down from her efforts, leaving the others to look at her in worry, with one exception as the shield slowly faded.

“All right, that's it! Time to bring on the thunder!” Before anyone could stop her, Rainbow Dash took to the sky and rushed at the nearest brass demon hooves first.

“Darn it Rainbow Dash, don't just be rushing in like that! Though she is right that now is the time to fight. Try and work your fancy magic Twilight while we hold them off. Ah really should have taken Rainbow's flying lessons more seriously.” Applejack sprinted away before spinning and dealing a heavy buck to one of the lesser demons on the ground, sending it flying. Yet no matter how much she or Rainbow Dash hit the creatures, they wouldn't stay down, forcing them to constantly dodge their spells as they tried to take them out.

Twilight looked over at her other three friends to find Fluttershy still tending to Pinkie, yet Rarity was frozen up in shock. From nearly being hit by the party cannon, to seeing Pinkie's horrible injuries, to nearly being killed by the recent attack, she was only a hair away from fainting as she had no clue as to what to do. Twilight was about to say something when she noticed Maud slowly advancing on the monster in charge of the attack.

“Nopony hurts my sister, nopony.” Twilight had gotten used to the emotionless voice of the Pie sister, yet she had to flinch away from her as she could feel the rage coming off of her. The monster only chuckled at the mare as she slowly advanced on him.

“Oh really? And what are you going to do about it, little pony? Huh?” The monster blinked as the mare disappeared from view in front of him and his instincts began screaming at him to run away. It was only then that he realized just what she had said, before he leapt backwards just in time to avoid her plummeting out of the sky at him. Maud's hoof slammed into the ground where he was standing and the area around her erupted into a forest or stone spires radiating outwards, impaling many of the demons in the area. Twilight's jaw dropped at seeing the earth pony pull off an effect much like one of the spells she had read about.

“That could have been bad. If you really are the sister of the alicorn that took out nearly half of out forces then I had better not underestimate you.” Flinging his left arm out, the vampiric diamond dog conjured a giant scythe and brandished it before him. Swinging it upwards, the air before him seemed to warp, and Maud dodged to the side before the ground where she was standing was split apart as if cut by a blade.

“Impressive, you can dodge what you con not see. But unfortunately for you I know your weakness.” Maud's eyes widened slightly as his gaze turned towards the place where Pinkie Pie was and aimed his weapon towards her. Reacting quickly, she moved to block the attack, and wasn't the only one as a wall of lavender rose up between her and the oncoming attack. Unfortunately the wall did nothing as the attack split it in two, and Twilight let out a yell of horror as the attack slammed into Maud, sending up a cloud of dust.

“Now, with the annoyance out of the way, it's time to finish off the rest of you. Huh? Wait, but that's impossible!” As the dust cleared, it revealed that Maud was unharmed, yet she had a hoof raised towards an object on the ground. While she still showed no emotion, her eyes started to glimmer with wetness at what she beheld.

“Boulder. Noooo.” Laying before her in two pieces was the remains of her pet rock. The monster could only stare in shock before he frowned and conjured yet another scythe in his other arm.

“I don't know how you survived that, but you won't do so again!” Swinging both weapons in a figure eight pattern, the monster began launching a series of attacks at the mare, throwing up more dust once again. After a minute, he stopped to observe the area to make sure that she was gone once and for all. Yet when the dust cleared, what he saw just caused him to grow angrier.

“What!? How is it you are not dieing!? And where did you get that armor!?” As he said, the mare was now encased in a gray suit of armor with purple highlighting the various joints. It looked to be made of metal of some kind, yet at the same time it also appeared to be made of stone. Whatever it was made of, it was untouched by the attacks and gleamed as if it was freshly polished. The mare was still frozen as she stared at the remains of her pet and didn't react at all.

“Fine, if that's how it is going to be then I'll just summon the entire army that I had gather here!” He raised both scythes above his head in anger, and Twilight tried to stop him with a spell but she was forced to stop and shield herself and the three helpless alicorns as arrows of flame began to rain down on them from above yet again despite Rainbow Dash and Applejack's efforts to cover them.

Yet nothing came from the gesture as the monster just stood there in confusion. He was about to say something before a portal finally opened up, but what came out was not what he was expecting.

“What!? Just what is going on here!” From out of the portal poured the bodies of dead monsters and demons which began to fade away as they entered that dimension. His eyes widened as he felt a presence appear behind him, and he turned to find a biped that should not have been anywhere near Ponyville. In a panic he leapt away from the figure who slowly looked around and took in the battle, his hair obscuring his eyes.

“Xellos! What are you doing here!? Can't you see we have enough troubles as it is!? Buck me, this isn't working. I didn't want to do this, but it looks like nothing else is going to work. VISFARANK!” A glow began to surround Rainbow Dash's hooves as she cast the spell before she smirked at the monsters in the air around her. “All right, time for round two!” This time when her hooves landed their strikes on the monsters they actually had an effect as they didn't get back up again after falling this time now that she had something that affected their true bodies on the astral plane.

Applejack frowned up at the flying alicorn as she recognized the spell as one that her sister's friend Scootaloo had used before. Thinking of the three Crusaders, her eyes darted over towards her farm just in time for a loud explosion, followed by a pillar of flame, to ring out causing her to smirk. “Well it looks like those three are doing fine, and Spike must be there helping out as well. After this ah'm going ta have ta get one of them or Twilight ta teach me some magic so ah'm not so useless again.”

Xellos took all this in before his gaze swept over towards the ringleader, revealing his rage-filled eyes staring at him, wide open. Not saying a word, the powerful monster raised his hand into the air, palm open.

“All of you! Ignore the ponies! Get Xellos, now!” His words came too late as Xellos' fist clenched, bringing an end to the fighting as suddenly every monster and demon, except for the leader, had been impaled by a black, spear-like thorn, instantly killing them. As their bodies were absorbed into Xellos' attack, he slowly stepped towards the remaining enemy.

“You! Why are you here!? Why do you betray your own kind and defend these ponies!?” In a blink, Xellos vanished and appeared next to the monster, with his arm over his shoulder.

“Why? Because I need them for my plans, and anyone that gets in the way of my plans, well, not like I need to elaborate, do I?” The dog was frozen in fear at his presence, but he still managed to stutter out an answer.

“But why? Why go through with all of this?” Xellos could only smirk maliciously as he leaned closer to him.

“Well I suppose I could let you know a little secret.” Leaning close he began to whisper into his ear, and when he finished the monster's eyes were wide open in shock.

“What!? You can't mean...!? How could any monster even think to...!? GRAAAAAH!” Xellos walked away from the monster as black thorns began to erupt from all over his body, killing him in a painful manner. Walking over towards Pinkie he looked down at her for a moment before reaching into his bag, and pulling out Sweetie Belle who looked around in confusion.

“Huh? What the, how did I get here? Oh, Celestia! What happened Pinkie!? Give me a moment and I'll have you healed right up!” As the filly worked on helping the alicorn, the other mares collapsed in exhaustion, either physical or mental, while Xellos walked over to the frozen earth pony.

“So you must be Maud, one of my adopted nieces. I'm sorry I wasn't able to get here in time to prevent this from happening. That armor is from an old enemy, and as long as you are inside of that there are few creatures that can stop you so you can protect your family in my stead.” The mare said nothing as he knelt down next to her, still looking at the broken stone. With a sigh, Xellos waved his hand, and that armor melted away from Maud, and formed into a small stone on a string around her neck. Bringing up a hoof a grasp at it, she finally broke down and grabbed Xellos in a hug before burying her face in his chest in grief.