> Death Becomes Her > by Total Eclipse > -------------------------------------------------------------------------- > Arc 1-1 (Awakening) > -------------------------------------------------------------------------- Without definite leadership, the ponies have fallen into anarchy. What can I do about this? I was struck by an idea. Some ponies worship the sun and others, the moon. So I raised my left hand in a gesture I haven’t made a while and said “Power of the Creator.” I summoned up the moon dust and the fires of the sun then shaped them into ponies superior to all others in every way. These two new ponies are taller, more majestic and possess both wings and horns. The one made from sun fire I made with a radiant white coat and fierce magenta eyes. I made her mane and tail every color in the rainbow then bleached them into a minty hue. On her flank, I placed an image of the sun. The one made from moon dust, I colored midnight blue and gave her eye's of the most beautiful teal I could imagine. I made her mane and tail out of pure energy and colored it two shades of blue, within it a made stars twinkle like the night sky. On her flank I place the image of a crescent moon in the night sky. I dubbed them alicorns. It took about a week to temper their minds in a way that could handle eternal life; I made them just as human as all the other ponies, except with more charisma, more leadership skills, and keener minds. During that time I had to give them enough power to be superior to every other pony, but not so much so as to upset the balance too much. I decided on giving them access to all pony abilities and the ability to control the Sun and Moon in an emergency. I named the white one Celestia, and the blue one Luna. They were ready, so I wiped their minds and sent them down to earth. -Kokusho’s Journal, Year 1012, month 5, week 4, day 2 -Awakening- Kokusho’s anger seethed out from under the Gates of Tartarus like poisonous gas, he had finally gathered enough power break his slumber. Waves of pure hatred created writhing black tendrils that lapped at the massive titanite doors, snaking their way between any gaps in the structures frame. “Damn you Celestia, you too Luna,” he said as he gritted his teeth. “How dare they?” Kokusho, even after nearly three thousand years of slumber, was still perplexed as to where his creations obtained the strength to overpower and banish him. He didn’t remember creating those wretched crystals. The Elements of Harmony, as Celestia called them. It didn’t matter anyway though, he had learned his lesson. The first time he didn’t use his full power, and because of it he paid the price and now he was permanently weakened because of the Elements of Harmony. Luckily, the thousand year time frame in which the elements were apparently inert gave him the time to gather up a considerable amount of power. Still though, compared to what he used to be, he was nothing now. The black tendrils continued to work their way through the mystical Gate in front of him. Kokusho was so tired of this place, he’d rather be dead alongside the rest of his race than spend another moment behind the gigantic black doors. Tartarus, is what the ponies called this place, it was apparently where Celestia and Luna banished all of the world’s unmentionable evils. It was place for them to rot and fester in their own darkness. For him to be labeled as some sort of evil entity pissed him off to no end, no matter Kokusho was never one to hold on to anger. Good did come out of it his predicament though, he made many allies while he slumbered. While his form and powers were mostly inert, his mind could roam freely about the depths of Tartarus. He saw all of the creatures imprisoned with him: Ghouls, shades, vampires, lycans, demons, gorgons, and a myriad of other beasts which must have come about by natural means. He made his presence known, and made the most powerful his allies. He rallied the hordes feelings against Celestia and persuaded them to follow him, the world’s true god. A smirk crawled across Kokusho’s face as one of his black tendrils worked through the Gates of Tartarus. The eldritch energy lapped at the outside air like a parched deer licks at a watering hole. Latching on to the forces of the outside world, Kokusho disassembled his body and pulled himself through the gate. They would have their freedom. Awakening Luna suddenly became hyper aware, causing her to toss panicked looks around the throne room as her body snapped to attention. Cold sweat formed beads across her brow and matted the fur on her face, the rest of her body shivered violently, as if let out in the tundra. The prickly sensation, at first alien to the midnight blue alicorn was soon met with realization. The feeling was one that she had never thought she would feel in her eternal life; it was a psychic link, a mind’s eye of sorts, the purpose of which was to alert her if the Gates of Tartarus were ever compromised. The alert was blaring in her mind louder than a volcanic eruption. Immediately, Luna teleported from the throne room directly to Celestia’s. Already It had begun, her teleport was sloppy and required far too much energy, proof of that what her senses told had had indeed occurred. “CELESTIA!” Luna cried out, utilizing the royal Canterlot voice. Celestia’s eyes snapped open and she leapt out of bed like a frightened cat and backpedaled into the corner closest to her bed. Her hooves scratched against the hardwood floor as she attempted to fully come to her sense and find her balance and her mane stood straight up from the sudden rush of excitement. “What?!” Celestia yelled nervously. She blinked the the dream world out of her eyes and saw that only her younger sister stood before her. “Why on earth would you do that Luna?” She said as she held a hoof to her chest. Celestia’s breathing slowed to a normal pace and mane resumed it normal flow as the adrenaline slowly left her system. “Celestia,” she said trying to remain calm. “T-the Gates of Tartarus, their o-opening.” “Impossible, the only being who would be able to-” Luna cut her sister off, accidentally. “Surely you feel it, the waning of your powers?” Luna’s eyes fell down to the floor intent on looking at the divot she a pawed out. “He’s trying to get out.” “We have to go, immediately.” “It’s impossible for us to make the journey fast enough,” she said shaking her head. “He’s suppressing so much of my power, it was taxing just to teleport here from my chambers. We’d never be able to teleport to Tartarus.” The Sun Princess's head sank, as she thought of the implications of what Luna was telling her. Just as her sister had stated, she could feel his spiteful ethereal grip on her magic. Her temper mane started to flicker between it's minty rainbow shades and solid pink as her magical strength waned. Luna's condition wasn't much better. After a simple teleport the princess of the night was reduced to a quivering mess. Overcome by magical exertion and fear the Princess of the Night finally succumb to the fatigue and collapsed on her sisters bed. "Luna!" Celestia screamed as she jumped forward and embraced her sister's shivering body. "H-how is he d-doing t-this?" Luna stammered. The warmth of Celestia's wings draping over her was usually enough to lift her from any concern, but not this time. It was all too much. "He shouldn't have the power to perform such magic and still have power enough to open the Gates, at least not alone." She said. Luna was pressed close close to Celestia. She could feel the her sister's ragged breaths and quivering muscles. It took everything she had to be strong for Luna and not break down with her. "We imprisoned him in Tartarus sister, he was never alone." The dark alicorn closed her eyes, the strain had finally taken its toll. Celestia's eyes widened in horror at the revelation. Enemies from eons ago, forces and being that should have never existed all possibly at his beck and call. “Damn him,” Celestia slammed her hooves on the floor “Wait, I have an idea. I can’t say I like it, but it’s our only option.” She gripped parchment, an inkwell, and a quill in her telekinetic grip and began to hastily scribble out a message. Usually, even in the face of great threats such as Discord she retains her composure, but this was much worse than a playful spirit of disharmony. She finished the letter and scratched down her signature, The alicorn eyed the parchment to make sure she had spared no detail, satisfied she focused whatever magic she could gather. Coating the paper in a golden yellow glow, and teleported the letter away. Awakening The letter arrived at Twilight’s library not even an hour ago, but the purple unicorn had already headed out into the night towards the Gates of Tartarus. Upon reading how her princess thought something was wrong at the gates and that she should look into it Twilight dropped everything she was doing and set out. Normally she would have read the entire letter thoroughly, but ever since Cerberus, The gate guardian of Tartarus, had shown up in Ponyville studying Tartarus had become somewhat of a closet obsession for Twilight. What could possibly be behind that gate that would require such a creature to guard it? So, foolishly she had dashed out of the library with nothing more than her saddlebags, ink, quills, and parchment. She left the letter on the floor. Spike, her number one assistant, walked over to the discarded paper, rolling his eyes he picked it up to his face. “Hmm, I promised I wouldn’t read Twilight’s letters unless she asked me too…” Even though he told himself that, his little claws were slowly pulling the scroll open. “well since it’s already open.” He said with a sideways smirk. To my faithful student Twilight Sparkle, Luna has felt a powerful magical disturbance coming from the Gates of Tartarus. I would like to entrust you, with the task of investigating the nature of the disturbance. I would like you to document and report your findings to me. I really wish that I did not have you to do this for us, but you are the only other pony who knows where Tartarus is. Do not go alone Twilight, I have a terrible feeling about this, gather your friends for this trip and if anything seems awry, you are to abort your investigation. Signed, Princess Celestia “Oh boy.” Spike groaned. The direction Twilight had run off from the library says that she didn’t even get past the first part of the letter, seeing as she wasn’t headed towards any of their friends’ homes. “I need to send the Princess a letter.” Awakening The sight at the Tartarus Gates was anything but satisfactory for Twilight Sparkle. The dark magic in the air made her hairs stand on end and dulled her senses. It was like being drunk, she felt confident, like she could do anything. No, not anything, Celestia sent her here on and task, a task that she would complete. She slowly sifted through the underbrush in an attempt to a get a better look at the Gates. Twilight poked her head up through a bush and scanned the surrounding area for the source of the malicious, intoxicating energy. Slowly turning her head from left to right, she inspected the massive black barricade. Cerberus was nowhere to be found, tipping off the mare's danger senses immediately Her fur started to stand on end as her eyes continued to search for any sign of trou- What the hay is that!? Twilight thought. She eyed the strange creature up and down, it was biped, and its body was completely covered by clothes. It looked to be about six feet tall from where Twilight was standing. Like Spike it had, what appeared to be hands, but this creature had five digits, whereas the mare’s assistant only hand four. The creature’s mane was Jet black, and was slicked back, but a few stray bangs had fallen across its face. The young mare’s legs began to quiver uncontrollably as she noticed something from the being that she hadn’t noticed before, he was smoking. Its flesh and hair all seemed to trail away from its body as ghastly wisp and eventually fade away; it was as if the creature were made of mist. Inspecting the creature more closely, she let her gaze glide across its arms and back to its hands. Shadowy tendrils poured from its fingertips and started to bore into the surface of the Gates. Her eyes widened in horror as two and two clicked: the disgusting power leaking from Tartarus, the magic pouring from the creatures fingertips…It was opening the gates! Twilight gulped hard at the thought of what kind of power the creature must wield to be able to open the Gates of Tartarus. Opening the gates was difficult and tiring for even Princess Celestia, yet here was this thing doing it in what appeared to be a casual manner. She took a single nervous step back, she had to tell Celestia about this now. A sound resembling the crunching of old bones echoes eeriely through the clearing. Stupid Twilight. She yelled internally. She looked back at the twig she had broken with her hoof and slowly lifted the appendage as if she had stepped into the most disgusting substance in Equestria. She slowly looked back to where the creature was, hoping that it hadn’t heard the sound. The creature was staring directly at her, its ice blue eyes drilling into her mind. Twilight let out a freaked out squeal and closed her eyes. She gathered her magic and prepared her teleport spell, it wouldn’t get her home, but it would at least put a few miles between her and it. Her horn started to glow with the familiar purple light signifying the unicorn’s spell casting. She felt the magical energies and latched on to them with her mind. The energy exploded in her mind then…nothing. She had the spell just a thought ago, but now the magic had just fizzled away like a drop of water on a hot skillet. Slowly, she felt herself rise up and out from the brush. There was no glow around her, but the feeling in Twilight’s chest told her that this was magic, ancient and powerful, the likes of which she hadn’t feel since Discord was loose. Her body quaked violently as she floated forward, looking up she stared directly into the eyes of the creature as she drew ever nearer. She saw no anger or malice, in its eyes, not even a twinge of hate, just sadness and disappointment. After a second of floating forward in suffocating silence, Twilight was face to face with the creature. “Hello my little pony,” He said as he moved her face to meet his. “Come to greet your creator face to face?” “Wha-who are you?” She asked shakily. An amused smirked formed across his face “Wow, it seems like after everything that happened Celestia or Luna would have at least mentioned me.” He waved a finger playfully in Twilight’s face. “Tsk, tsk I’d expect something in the history books about Kokusho…actually, scratch that, the little incident was pretty isolated. Still to not mention their father, the nerve.” He said shrugging. “I told you my name, so come on, what’s yours?” His tone was playful and casual. “T-Twilight Sparkle, student of Princess Celestia.” “Ah, so she has a protégé now?” He said teasingly. “Why are you opening The Gates of Tartarus? Don’t you know what’s behind there!?” She yelled, determined to get to the bottom of the creatures goals, her fear starting to wane. “I know exactly what’s on the other side of that door.” His face twisted into a disgusted scowl. “Sadly, my powers aren’t as strong as they use to be so I need what’s behind there.” “If you open that gate ponies will die!” The mare pleaded. He sighed audibly. “If your princesses had just listened to me it wouldn’t have had to come to this. What I’m doing here is best for Equestria.” Twilight had stopped shivering a while ago. Kokusho's casual mannerisms and tone of voice put the mare at ease. Even though this creature was opening the gates none of that dark, murderous power that she could feel from the Gates was flowing from the being in front of her. She did, however, look at him with much confusion and disbelief. She focused on her magic and tried to feel for any small indication that it was still there, after about a second of intense concentration she found a small fragment of power that was safely tucked away deep within the core of her being. Reaching out to this power, she teleported herself out of the creature’s magical grip and onto the ground below her, she pointed a hoof at the creature in an accusing manner and narrowed her gaze. “I won’t let y……………” Kokusho didn’t hear a damn thing that Twilight was saying, he was too taken aback by the fact that she had just used magic despite the fact that he had cut her magical abilities. His eyes glowed with a faint purple color as he used his magic to look beyond the unicorn’s flesh and into her existential ley lines. There at the center of her being, pulsing strong was a source of power that had integrated itself into the small pony. With each pulse it radiated a familiar energy, one that made Kokusho cringe reflexively. “Elements of Harmony…” He stated coldly. “How do you know about those?” Twilight questioned. “You have them?” “One of them, I’m the element of magic.” The mare stated proudly. Kokusho knew next to nothing about the Elements, but the one thing he did know was that when they defeated him it had been six of them together. Closing his eyes and sighing, he came to a decision, one that would tear at his heart forever. If he could neutralize at least one of the elements the threat would be either gone, or severely weakened. I knew this wasn’t going to be pretty, but damn... “Why are you staring at me like that?” She took a step back. “I’m sorry Twilight,” He said as he manifested a large blue set of burning magical claws on his right hand. Stars flickered in and out within the magic construct and the excess magic trailed of each bladed end and evaporated in the air. “Sorry for wh-” Her own shrieks cut her question short as the unicorn threw up a defensive barrier, a reflex she instilled into herself just in case she was ever attacked. A bright flash illuminated the area as energy collided with energy. The light lasted for barely a heartbeat as Kokusho’s massive aetheral claws tore through Twilight’s shield as if it weren’t even there. Her pitiful power was no match for his eldritch might. The starry blades raked across the mare’s head shredding the left side of her face and completely ripping off her lower lip. She wanted to scream, but couldn’t. The blades continued raking down, eventually reaching her throat. Five burning blades sunk into her flesh and tore out her wind pipe, leaving Twilight standing up right and gurgling like a crab. It was over before the light from the clash had even dissipated. Twilight lay in an ever growing pool of her own life fluid, the life fading from her eyes with each passing second. Kokusho stood over her and dispelled his claws. Awakening Everything was so blurry and muffled, her senses betrayed her. She couldn’t feel anything: Her hooves were numb, her body felt heavy, and her head felt light. She couldn’t even think clearly anymore, ideals and thoughts came to her in fragments…she didn’t understand what was happening. Her eyes slowly lowered to the dirt and suddenly she noticed how wet her face felt and that one of her eyes didn’t work. Red extended on the ground all around her. A brief moment of clarity came over her as she realized what had happened to her. With each passing moment the unicorn’s eyelids grew heavier, and her heartbeat grew weaker. Kokusho knelt down over the Twilight and put his hand on her mauled face and brushed her mane gently to the side. “If only there were a better way,” he whispered into her ear as she closed her eyelids. Heh, I’m not getting out of this one…Looks like curiosity finally killed the mare. She thought as the she faded into silence and darkness. > Arc 1-2 (What You Never Want to Hear) > -------------------------------------------------------------------------- It’s so normal looking, even though the mare has an anime face it just walks around and grazes. I got it! I pointed at the pony and colored its coat pink! Then I made its eyes blue, and its mane bubblegum pink, then I hit its mane with a burst of wind. She looked like she had just been in a fight with a blow drier. I beckoned the creature over to me; she trotted over to me nervously nuzzled my hand gently acknowledging me as her master and creator. Pinkie, you shall be my experiment pony. - Day 5 --- Today I called Pinkie to me. I had an Idea yesterday, I had created animals, let’s see if I can bestow upon them human level intelligence. I place my hand on Pinkie’s head and focused on what made humans human, and then removed the worst of it. I remember how my sisters use to act and imparted a little bit of her into Pinkie. It didn’t work. Pinkie went into what I believe is some sort of coma. - Day 6 --- IT WORKED! Pinkie woke up today and started pestering me about being bored, so, in jest, I suggested to her that she should throw a party. She ran out and tried to her hearts content, but alas there was nothing to make a party with. I could just conjure the material but I wanted to see how she would handle it. She asked what my name was, I didn’t tell her my real name, so instead I said Kokusho...you know, like the Magic: The Gathering card. - Day 7 - Journal of Kokusho Week 3, Days 5-7 -What You Never Want to Hear- The skies over Equestria wept. The world had just been robbed of its Element of magic. The forces of natural harmony have been shattered. Kokusho’s head hung low as he quietly uttered a prayer for the pony, her blood was on his hands. What had happened during his slumber? His mind ran circles, and he gripped at his hair. Why did that mare have an Element of Harmony? It didn’t make any sense, back when Celestia and Luna wielded them against him he could sense their terrible power. There was no way such powerful magic could be housed within a mortal shell and not flay the creature’s soul, yet that mare, Twilight Sparkle held the power at the core of her being. “Why?!” The human screamed. Kokusho clutched at his bare chest as he fell to his knees. His eyes caught sight of the pool of Twilight’s blood and slowly traveled upwards until he was staring at her dull, lifeless, lavender form amidst a small crimson sea. “Celestia…Luna…” He was spent, prying open the Gates of Tartarus was no easy task, despite how casual he made it look. Kokusho was hunched over the ground on his hands and knees panting like a tired dog. The rain was relaxing, but unsettling at the same time. The drops were icy, not like cold, more like... sadness or emptiness, the kind of chill that comes from losing a part of yourself. As the water soaked his hair and slid across his naked body, his form started to shift. His black hair lightened up into a dark shade of brown and the vaporous wisps rising from his body started to disappear. The inhabitants of Tartarus were now pouring out of the gates in droves; all around him dark figures dashed through the brush and glowing eyes of all colors gave fleet glances before leaping off into the forest. The ground started to quake as a towering creature slowly approached the downed. The beast was massive, it was easily over three stories tall. The world darkened and the smell of brimstone and sulfur filled the air as the creature’s shadow started to overtake Kokusho. Kokusho craned his neck upwards towards the cry sky to take in the full sight of the monster in front of him. The rain that dripped off of the creature was blackened by soot and stunk of ash. The creature resembled a horned werewolf. Giant black horns grew from the sides of its head and a burning amber mane. Its deep auburn coat hugged tight to its muscular physique and large amber tufts of fur on its arms blazed with supernatural fires. The claws on each of its hands looked sharp enough to rend steel with little. It arched its back, inhaled, and released a soul shattering howl into the night sky, causing all of the wildlife to scatter. The wolf sniffed the air and growled quietly. It looked to its right and saw the fresh corpse of a young pony, its lips retracted, plastering a devilish grin on its face. “Ah, Kokusho, I see you’ve already had your taste of revenge. Now, my wolves get to experience the hunt once again.” His throat rumbled with excitement and his claws trembled with delight at the thought of tearing into the herds of succulent ponies. “ALL OF EQUESTRIA SHALL BECOME MY PACK’S FEEDING GROUND!” He roared. “No,” Kokusho said quietly. He tried to stand, but nearly buckled. “You will subdue the outer most northern provinces. You are not to bring your slaughter into the heartlands. Do you understand Ifrit?” He said shakily. “Don’t overstep your boundaries in your bloodlust.” “Fool, I am The Lord of Devastation. Did you really think that you could command me and my wolves outside of the Gates of Tartarus?” Ifrit bellowed. A circle of wolves was now forming around the two. Golden eyes hidden in the bushes stared out at the man and the beast. “I will do as I please!” The demon wolf declared as he stepped away. He barely went two steps before he suddenly stopped, he tried to force himself forward, but all that accomplished was sinking his hind paws deeply into the mud. Ifrit whipped around snarling like a wild beast, but it quickly turned into a frightened whimper. Kokusho held on to Ifrit’s arm the human’s grip was like a vice, inescapable. Icy blue eyes pierced Ifrit’s burning amber eyes. Kokusho’s gaze invaded the demon’s spirit, invoking primal terror from the creature. The wolf trembled under Kokusho’s grip. “I can feel it in the way your blood pumps through your veins, and in the quickening pace of your heartbeat. You. Fear. Me. And that fear is justified. It’s a terror bred into you, the instincts of an animal who knows that it’s outmatched. Heed my words Ifrit, if you stray from the north or turn that place into a mass graveyard I will wretch your damned soul from your still writhing body and dump it into the void.” The demon’s eyes widen at the mention of the void. That dark, cold, lonely place outside of any realm of existence where nothingness ate at every fiber of one’s being until they too become nothing. Demons like Ifrit couldn’t truly die, the only way to be rid of them was to destroy their souls, which was for the most part impossible. But should the soul of a demon become trapped in the void they too would be consumed by the realm of nothingness like everything else that went there. Kokusho released his hold on the beasts arm and allowed him to walk away, neither looked at each other again. Ifrit growled quietly under his breath and snorted before letting out a saddened howl. The wolves around Kokusho quickly dispersed, leaving the area around him once again barren. The man stared at the ground, face sunken and set into a frown. What have I unleashed upon the world? His thought process was interrupted by the sound of hooves splashing in the mud, near him. He looked up to see what the possible threat could be, but was instead greeting by the sight of a bright yellow fox like face a few inches from his own. “Belius.,” he said as he released a breath he wasn’t aware that he was holding. Belius stood a few inches above Kokusho, her lower half was equine in form. She had four legs, all ending in bluish colored hooves and a shaggy off yellow coat with bright yellow fur along her back. Her upper half was similar to a diamond dogs, except slimmer and more feminine. Belius’ upper body maintained much of the same color pattern had her lower body, but on her chest there was a large tuft of white fur with a few clumps of green tips and her coat hugged to her body much more closely. The fur on her shoulders was bright yellow like her shaggy back fur and her arms ended in clawed hands that were the same color as her hooves. She had a face similar to that of a fox, the tips of her ears with the same shade of blue as her hands. On the creatures back where to massive swords crossed like an “X” and held to her by thick brown leather straps wrapped around her shoulders. “Master?” She said softly, obviously concerned. “You look…unwell.” She nuzzled his shoulder gently to get his attention. “I-I need to rest.” The man swayed uneasily on his feet, his balance getting progressively worse with each passive second. Kokusho fell forward, but was caught by the soft dexterous hands of the fox face being. Gently, Belius lifted the human up and place him on her back. He instinctively clutched onto her soft, warm fur. His vision faded in and out, as he allowed himself to sink into the realm of sleep he chanced another glance at the corpse of the innocent pony he had murdered. Her corpse was gone. The darkness overtook him before he could fully register what he had seen. “Sleep well,” Belius cooed. Her hooves started to disintegrate and turn into mist. Soon her entire form as well as her passenger had turned into tiny water droplets. A light breeze passed through the clearing and whisked them away. -What You Never Want to Hear- Twilight stirred under her covers, tossing her sheets and pillows wildly around her bed. The mare grunted and snorted in her sleep, fits of thrashing randomly came and went as her mind was assaulted by fragments of memories that she couldn’t understand. The lavender mare saw, something, a creature unlike anything she’d ever seen. “Kokusho…” Twilight mumbled from under her covers. The mare’s mind was assaulted by bright flashes, and disorientating sounds. In she jerked forcefully to the left, causing her pillow to be thrown into the adjacent bookshelf. Giant blue claws filled her visual range, and dread filled her heart. What was she so afraid of? Nothing made any sense to her at the moment, everything was so disjointed. “I won’t let you…” The pillow received her words openly, but returned no comfort. “NO!!” She shrieked like a banshee, filling the library with an ear shattering wail. The bladed appendages dug into her flesh and shredded her face. Memories of searing pain flooded her senses. She could feel her warm life essence leaking out from her head, Twilight tried to suck in air and gasp, but blood filled her lungs and choked her. “--ight, Twi--, TWILIGHT!” Spike yelled as he gripped her coat. He had been trying to shake the suffering pony out of her hysteria for several minutes, but all he could get from his surrogate sister was whimpers and wails. “S-Spike?” The mare choked out. “...” The small dragon brought her into a deep hug. “It’s okay Spike, it must’ve all been a bad dream. What the hay did I eat last night?” She chuckled awkwardly into her hoof. “Twilight, don’t you remember?” He said as he wiped away the last of his tears. “You’ve been asleep for almost an entire week, everyone’s been worried sick!” Twilight put her face into her hooves and closed her eyes. “Urgh.” The images in her head swirled and combined, slowly creating coherent memories. “The Princess sent you that letter.” Flashes of parchment ran through her mind, she remembered being asked to do something important. The sight of the Everfree forest dashing past her and the smell of an approaching downpour took her away from reality. “I was worried when you rushed out before reading all of it, so I wrote the Princess back and told her what was going on.” She put a hoof on her chest as she recalled the touch of the ominous magics being using on the Gates of Tartarus. She remembered the creature that was responsible for tampering with the ancient barricade. As more images started to fall in line Twilight found that drawing breath was becoming ever more difficult. “And then later on in the night you just sort of returned. Your coat was covered in mud, twigs, and blood. I-I thought you were hurt, but other than a few scrapes you were fine.” She recalled how helpless she felt when she could use her magic, once again she was in that creatures magical grasp. Hello my little pony. It spoke the words with the same love and endearment as her teacher. She started panting rapidly, she could feel her assistant shaking her and she could hear his voice calling out to her, beckoning her to return from the dark recesses of her mind. Elements of Harmony. Twilight had never heard the words spoken with such venom. She trembled violently and sank her face even deeper into her hooves. The claws were so close to her, she could feel the magic energy emanating from them. Her pupils dilated to the size of pin prick as she slowly ran her hoof down her face and across her neck, taking in the feeling of the slightly raised skin of fresh scar tissue. I’m sorry. The unicorn’s eyes snapped shut as the hands responsible for her death crashed down on her skull. Twilight tried to yell out, but her throat was already raw. The only sound she could muster was a terrified whimper. Tears streamed from her eyes and rained down on Spike’s head. The young dragon did the only thing he could think of. Spike let his big sister’s head rest on him as her gently stroked her mane. “Shh.” He whispered into her ear. Just this once Spike wished that he could be a giant, monstrous dragon. At least then he could scare away whatever had brought one of Equestria’s strongest mares to such a state, but for now, all he could do was be there for her. Twilight’s breathing steadied and she stopped shivering. Spike looked the dishelved mare and gently laid her head down on the pillow that remained on her bed. He smiled at her tear stained face, she looked peaceful. The young dragon shook his head, he still wasn’t sure of what had happened, but at least Twilight didn’t look like she was panicking anymore. -What You Never Want to Hear- The lavender mare’s nose twitched in her sleep. Even in the grasp of deep sleep her body knew the smell of pancakes and hay strips. She slowly shifted around in bed and poked her nose out from under her covers. Her mane was all over the place, but she didn’t care. The smell of food was too tantalizing, so like a sailor drawn to the jagged shore by the siren’s song, Twilight forgot about the world and simply drifted towards the kitchen in a daze. Before she even knew what was happening she was seated at her oak dining table. Spike had placed a generous helping of flapjacks in front of the mare. “Hmm,” She mumbled. She had never noticed how hungry she was before. Between the nightmares and the panicking the fact that she had went a week without eating just seemed like a back burner issue. “Amazing as always Spike!” Twilight beamed at young dragon, causing him to blush a little. “Ahh, don’t mention it Twilight. I mean I wouldn’t be your number one assistant if I didn’t help you whenever you’re out of it right?” He said with a smile. “Very true,” Twilight rubbed his head with her hoof and smiled. The two enjoyed breakfast together as brother and sister. Spike graced Twilight with small talk about what had been going on while she was resting. He explained how her friends visited every day and even helped run the library in the past week. Twilight almost sprayed orange juice out of her nose when Spike told her about how Pinkie thought that she had a super special late night party with her special somepony and she just needed a lot of rest. Spike chuckled at Twilight’s expense, earning himself a swift bop on the head from the flushed mare. As if the back of his noggin were some sort of mail button, Spike burped plume of green fire. A rolled up piece of parchment slowly floated down into the dragon’s hands. “A letter from the princess?” Twilight asked as she cocked her head to the side. “Yeah, I let both her and Luna know that you were finally awake.” The paper was grasped by Twilight’s familiar purple aura and hoisted away from Spike. Using nothing but her telekinesis she popped the scrolls seal and unfurled the letter. Dear Spike, This is wonderful news! I have to see Twilight immediately. Luna and I have been wondering about her well-being ever since you told us the state she returned home in. As soon as I finish writing this letter I shall send a carriage to escort Twilight directly to the castle. P.S. Spike, thank you for taking such good care of your older sister and my faithful student. With warmth, Celestia Twilight blinked stupidly for a few seconds before what she had said fully registered. “The chariot will be here any minute!” She could already see the shadowed forms of the pegasi guards and the carriage flying down from Canterlot. She tapped her hoof on her head as she tried to figure out a way to get prepared before her escorts made it to her home. Then it hit her… MAGIC! -What You Never Want to Hear- The castle seemed much livelier today, kind of like how it was during Cadence and Shining Armor’s wedding. Guards trotted to from room to room, some carrying deadly, master crafted spears and others levitating bundles of gleaming golden armor. Twilight cantered briskly through the majestic halls, the clip-clop of her hooves was muffled by the plush red carpeting that Princess loved so much. The fibers tickled her hooves, causing the mare to walk around with a stupid grin plastered across her face. She finally reached the gigantic red double doors leading to the throne room. Two unicorn guards stood stone faced on both sides of the frame, both seemingly glaring at nothing, when in reality they were both diligently scanning the hall for any disturbance. The royal guards’ expressions softened when Twilight trotted up to them. She was about ask if she could go in, but the unicorn stallion to the right of her spoke up first. “Ah, miss Sparkle. Celestia was expecting you; however, The Princess is not on the throne at the moment. She awaits your presence in her study,” The guard said as he pointed her in the correct direction. As if she didn’t know. Twilight trudged through the castle hallways; her eyes traced the patterns on the elegant carpeting. The interest she had in the active status of the guards was soon replaced with a downtrodden thought pattern. Was this her real life or was she in some kind of fantasy, some sort of pony heaven? Had anything she dreamed actually occurred and if none of that was real, then where did the scars under her coat did come? The unicorn was stopped by the sudden appearance of two massive mahogany doors. Caught up in her mental machinations, Twilight smashed face first into the barrier with her full weight, rattling the wooden frame. “Ow, ow, ow,” she moaned as she rubbed her throbbing nose with a hoof. Celestia’s guards snickered at the poor mare under their breath. “Twilight, Is that you out there?” A motherly voice asked from behind the door. “Yesh,” the mare said though her hoof. The doors slowly creaked open and Celestia poked her head out to greet her to greet her faithful student. The Princess beamed down on the young pony and shot annoyed glances at her guards. Celestia was exactly as Twilight remembered her: pristine white coat, lively shimmering magenta eyes, and flowing mint toned rainbow mane. She was the pinnacle of equine beauty. “Well don’t stand out there like a stranger Twilight!” The Princess called enthusiastically. “Come in, I’ve just prepared a fresh pot of tea.” Celestia whipped around and retreated back into the recesses of her study with Twilight in tow. The lavender pony watched her teacher’s regal stride, had it always been so... Forced? The alicorn gestured for Twilight to take a seat on comfortable looking red and gold phoenix feather pillow. Between them was a small table upon which sat a kettle of tea. The princess took her seat across from the unicorn and gave her a weak smile. “Twilight, I can’t began to tell you how happy I was when I found out that you were fine.” She bit her lower lip. “When I thought I had lost you…” Celestia looked away from her company and gazed dreamily at the setting sun. “Twilight, I never want to feel like that again.” The sun god’s cheeks shimmered in the honey colored sunlight. Twilight had to rub her ears to make sure that she was hearing everything correctly. She rubbed her eyes to straighten her vision; obviously something was off because she was sure that Celestia was crying. The thought of such a thing was so alien to her that it would have been downright hilarious if it wasn’t playing out right in front of her. Twilight’s muscles locked up and her eyes shakily scanned the princess. What do I do, What do I do!?. She thought. If this were Fluttershy or Pinkie, a hug and some encouragement would go a long way. For Applejack and Rainbow all she had to do was be there for them show that she had their back one hundred and ten percent. And if were Rarity, they would sit down and talk it out over a meal or maybe take a spa trip and cool off. But this was Celestia, Princess of Equestria, and Goddess of the Sun. How does one comfort the most powerful being on the planet? The air was thick with the uneasy feelings of the two mares. Celestia, noticing her student’s muddled expression, coughed quietly into her hoof to snap the young unicorn out of her daze. “I apologize Twilight, it’s just that everything is just so...” The princess grunted uncouthly and put a hoof up to her forehead. “Never mind, we aren’t here to talk about that,” she said dismissing the thoughts from her mind. “How about some tea to ease our tensions?” “Y-yes that would be nice Princess.” Twilight watched as her mentors golden aura encompassed the tea kettle and the two porcelain cups and tray. The china rattled and rose unevenly from the table. Is Celestia struggling? Twilight mused. She continued to watch as the alicorn started to shakily pour them two cups of tea with her telekinesis. The white cup slowly floated over to the unicorn, it was almost to Twilight with The Princess’ golden aura suddenly released the piece. It all happened so fast, before either mare could even react the table between them and all of the china had been shattered into a million pieces. The lavender mare’s coat had been stained brown by the unexpected assault of tea. “Oh, Twilight, I’m so sorry let me just clean this up.” Celestia said embarrassed. “It’s not that bad Princess, here let me hel-”If Twilight’s jaw hadn’t been connected to her skull it would have fell through the floor. Princess Celestia’s flowing mane mane fell limp on her neck like a normal pony’s and her beautiful mint polychromatic mane became a solid cotton candy pink. “Princess, y-your mane!” She said a little louder than she wanted. Celestia looked up at Twilight and cocked her head quizzically. She shifted her eyes to the left and saw regular pink colored hair hanging down over the side of her face. She drew in a large amount of air, but quickly threw her hooves over her mouth to stifle her gasp. Her horn once again started to glow, but every time it lit up it immediately faded away. With each pathetic pulse of her dwindling magic the prismatic coloring of her mane attempted to return, but to no avail. She hid her face from her student and stood up. “This is not a good time, I-I don’t wish for you to see me like this!” She said as she trotted briskly into the back room of her study. She closed the door behind her and called out from the other side of the bookcase. “Just give me some time to collect myself.” Twilight didn’t know what to say. Her idol just had a breakdown in front of her and she had done nothing to comfort her. Am I really so weak that I let her status keep me from treating her like a friend? The mare held her head down and stood up from her comfortable plush cushion and slowly trotted towards the door. She invited me here to show me how worried she was about me, and how important my safety was to her, but when she needed me I just sat there. Her mood had just taken another one – eighty. Twilight had no idea how much longer this roller coaster would last, but the one thing she knew for sure was that she wanted off, now. This ride that she was on wasn’t fun. So far it had been mostly highs of confusion and lows of depression. I just want to know what’s going on. Why are the guards mobilizing? What happened to me that night? Why does Celestia look so fragile? She knew that the answers to those questions would only bring more questions, so the mare did all that she could at the moment. She cried. -What You Never Want to Hear- Cyan eyes peered through a crack in shutters of one of Celestia’s windows. Luna had seen everything that transpired within the confines of her sister’s study. She was supposed to join them in welcoming Twilight back, but ever since the young unicorn stepped onto the palace grounds she had been sensing a dark, powerful aura from her. She watched as the young unicorn sulked around the study, deciding that it was now or never, Luna focused what magic she could gather and tossed herself and Twilight through space. The sudden teleportation caused Twilight sway on her hooves. She leaned against a walk as she waited for the stars in her vision go away and when they didn’t fade, she resorted to rubbing her temples to clear her senses. Once she looked around the room and noticed that the walls and ceiling were decorated like the night sky she understood that she wasn’t going blind or crazy. It didn’t take long for the mare to realize where she was. Celestia’s room was decorated with beautiful reds, golds, and whites, mimicking the day the Princess brought; whereas, this room was the antithesis of Celestia’s which could only mean… “Hello Twilight,” The dark alicorn intoned. Like her sister, Luna’s mane was solid and made of hair, just like any other pony’s. It no longer flowed supernaturally; instead it just hung there, static. Unlike Celestia thought, Luna looked much more energetic, a far cry from fine, but still a lot better than Celestia. The two stared at each other awkwardly for a few seconds. Twilight’s eyes began to narrow on the pony in front of her. Something about Luna’s tone, and the way she stood before her intensified the unicorn’s irritation. “What is going on!” Twilight growled. “The guards look like they’re gearing up for war, You and Celestia look like you both have one hoof in the grave, and I can’t remember everything from that night one week ago!” She was panting heavily after the outburst. Luna let the young pony vent, if anypony deserved to be angry, it was Twilight. Celestia dragged her deeper into this conflict than any other being on the planet. The Princess of the Night sighed heavily as she prepared to break her young friend’s heart. “This is hard to explain Twilight, please bear with me,” She said as trotted slowly to the large window on the far side of her room. Luna gestured for Twilight to join her. They both looked through the window and down into the courtyard below. The guards were preparing many large contraptions which Twilight recognized as catapults and ballistae, things she had only seen old Equestrian history books. “Yes, we are preparing for war, yet war is not the correct term.” Luna looked at Twilight and could see the confused look on her face. “You see, war implies that both sides have an equal chance at victory, but as it stands…” She looked back down on the soldiers moving diligently to and fro. “We will be slaughtered.” “How can you be so sure Princess?! Whoever these enemies are I believe that Royal Guard can handle them. My brother is fit to lead this time and I’m sure that he wouldn’t let anything within a mile Canterlot!” The young unicorn said. Her face beamed with pride and confidence when she mentioned her brother. “You know this enemy Twilight. Do you really believe that we have a chance here?” Luna’s company simply shook her head at the princess’s statement. “I know the enemy?” The unicorn asked. “Think.” “Kokusho.” Twilight whispered. Images of large titanite doors sliding open flooded her mind. “He opened the Gates of Tartarus one week ago. When he escaped he brought with him an army of monsters the likes of which Equestria hasn’t seen for thousands of years. Chances are that he wants both me and my sister’s heads on a pike and when he’s done with us, he will lay waste to Equestria.” Luna was gritted her teeth at the thought of a her country burning. “Y-you and Celestia. You two can stop him! If he was in Tartarus then you defeated him before, right?” She eked out. “That goes with your question about the current state of my sister and I. No Twilight, we cannot stop him this time. Somehow, Kokusho is draining our strength. Celestia is in such bad shape because all of her magic is being used to keep up her appearance, she has the most public duties after all. I have been able to hold on to much of my strength by using magic sparingly. Celestia always meets threats head on, she’s never felt so powerless.” “I just…” Twilight placed her face in her hoof. Everything was messed up even with an explanation given to her she still didn’t understand. Luna and Celestia killed, Canterlot a warzone. Impossible. She didn’t know if the words Luna spoke didn’t make sense because she couldn’t imagine war in such a peaceful time or because she simply denied that such a thing was even true in the first place. She placed a hoof on the window for support and looked up at Luna. Her face was that of somepony who was broken, with little left to lose. Twilight closed her eyes and tried to calm herself. “What happened to me that night, one week ago?” She asked sternly. “You died.” > Arc 1-3 (Sanctum) > -------------------------------------------------------------------------- It’s time to start my project. Project build a world I call it. I raised my left hand and said “Power of the Creator.” I felt a weight come down on me, one that was surprisingly absent before. Guess I never noticed that the planet didn’t have an atmosphere (So that’s why my ocean boiled away). I flew into space and looked around. The debris of the moon was still there. All that remained of the moon was a ring of dust and mile wide rocks wrapped around the planet, the remnants of a body that humanity once looked to for its beauty. I raised my right hand and said “Power of the destroyer.” The cloud of stone started to glow orange. When I was satisfied with the molten glob I clenched my right hand into a fist and caused the cloud to collapse in on itself. I pulled the glowing planetoid to me and commanded that it remain with the planet. I cooled the new moon and began attacking it with telekinetic strikes (the moon just isn't the same if it isn't all beat up) and gave it a gentle push to start it on its orbit. - Journal of Kokusho Day 7 -Sanctum- Twilight was in a panic again, the mare’s heart raced and her eyes darted back and forth. She wasn’t looking for anything, but the sheer ridiculousness of what Princess Luna had just said to her made her question the validity of her situation. “What do you mean by I died? ” Twilight fumed. “It is exactly as I said, Twilight Sparkle,” Luna responded calmly. She chuckled awkwardly at Luna. In her mind it wouldn't be to far fetched for a crew of camera wielding ponies to leap out of the curtains at any moment. The images of her nightmare flashed through her mind, causing her to cringe. “Well, no offense princess, but I’m right here. There’s no way that I died.” Luna sighed and stared out at Canterlot. “Spike sent us a letter after you foolishly ran off alone. My sister and I rushed to the safe and prepared to send the Elements directly to Spike.” The princess of the night bit her lower lip and looked down at the young mare beside her. Twilight was like a daughter to Celestia and like another sister to Luna. “However, shortly after we prepared them the Element of Magic’s gem drained of all energy and fell dormant.” “I don’t understand. What does that have to do with me dying?” Twilight was shaking her head; half of it was her trying to make heads or tails of the situation, while the other half was her denying even the slightest possibility of her death. “As I’m sure you know Twilight, Celestia lost her connection with the elements which is why they were powerless stones when you and your friends first found them,” The lunar princess said. “Other than losing their connections with their chosen wielders, the only time the elements fall dormant are when a current wielder dies.” “Neither myself, nor my sister could sense your magical presence. You were gone!” Luna yelled forcefully. Her gaze had hardened at Twilight. Luna’s teal eyes drilled into the young mare, causing Twilight to backpedal away from the window. “My sister was on the verge of tears, and then suddenly your element came back to life and shone just as bright as before!” She stomped a hoof, the sound of cracking marble filled the room. A pregnant silence sat between the two mares as Luna ground her hoof into the crumbled stone of her floor. The alicorn’s horn began to glow with silver wisps of light as she fashioned her spell. She violently threw back her head, whipping her extravagant teal mane away from her face and releasing the gathered energy. Immediately, Twilight noticed two things wrong: First, was that Luna’s room became much darker, as if the sun had been lowered, though it was nowhere near time for the arrival of the night. Second, all of the sounds of the outside world had been silenced; she could hear neither the chirping of the birds in the royal garden, nor the activities of the guard ponies. Twilight’s horn tingled from the power of Luna’s magic and the sensation of cold water splashing against her coat spread across her entire body. The young mare started to step away from her princess, as beads of cool sweat to trickled down the side of her head . Luna was behaving irrationally, Twilight could only guess at what Luna was going to do. Luna took a step towards Twilight. The princess held her head low and her eyes were alight with magical power. “When the element of magic returned to life, I felt something else come with it, a dark presence,” she informed as she glared at Twilight. Continuing her menacing approach, she raised her head and looked down at the shaking unicorn. “At first I thought that perhaps a shade had taken hold of your corpse”- The Princess of the Night was now towering over her subject. Using her powerful forelegs, Luna shoved Twilight over and pinned the mare on the floor. Twilight could only whimper as the forceful hooves of the alicorn held her firm. -“but now that you stand before me, I can feel what afflicts you. Death’s Essence. Twilight,that dark power must be purged from you. I pray that I am not too late.” Luna lowered her horn until it was mere inches above Twilight’s heaving chest. A single spark of silvery magic arched from the princess’s horn like lightning to metal rod, soon the single spark turned into a raging stream of lightning like magic. “B-but princess, I’ve never heard of-,” A searing lance of pain shot through Twilight’s chest, causing the mare to instinctively arch her back and shriek like a primal beast. The magic felt like it was flaying every nerve ending in her body at the same time. It was as if somepony had placed the sun inside of her bosom and the glowing sphere was trying to burn its way through her flesh to freedom. Her eye’s rolled back in her head as pained tears soaked her muzzle. Her senses were so oversaturated that if it were not for the torn and ragged feeling in her throat she wouldn’t have even known that she was screaming. A dark smoky aura started to rise from Twilight’s coat as Luna continued to feed magic into her exorcism spell. The air in her chambers was quickly starting to smell of ozone from all of the magical discharge, but Luna couldn’t stop, she had to save Twilight. Tears welled up in the alicorn’s eyes as she watched her sister’s beloved student and her friend writhing on her floor in unbelievable pain. The more dark aura that rose from the young mare’s body, the more effort Luna had to put into drawing it out, at this rate what little magic she had left wouldn’t be enough to finish the spell. Twilight’s body went rigid and she stopped reacting to the pain of the spell altogether, suddenly her body started to twitch and jerk erratically. Luna’s eye’s widened in horror as the mare began to seize up from the trauma of the exorcism. If she didn’t finish the spell soon Twilight’s life would be in danger. It was now or never. Luna pulled back with all of her magical strength. The dark aura embedded itself deeper into Twilight’s soul and refused to budge. The unicorn’s eyes migrated from the roof of her skull and locked gazes with the Goddess of the Night. Slowly, Twilight’s irises started to shift from their natural dark purple color to a sinister, bloodthirsty shade of crimson. The possessed mare released a gut wrenching roar. What forced its way out of Twilight’s throat sounded as if it came from everywhere and nowhere at once, thousands of voices seemed to mesh with that of the unicorn’s, forming an eerie cacophony of sound with barely any semblance to a voice. “Pain!” Twilight cried out in countless wailing voices. “Escape!” Faster than Luna could react, Twilight smashed her hooves into the alicorn’s right fetlock, shattering the princess’s foreleg like it was made of cheap plywood. Luna buckled from the sudden pain and attempted to clutch at her bloody, broken limb, but before she could nurse her injury Twilight had brought her hind legs to bear right beneath the blue alicorn’s chest. She lashed out, her movements as precise as a machine. Her hooves impacted Luna’s rib-cage with the force of a speeding locomotive; an audible, fleshy crunch reverberated off the walls of Luna’s room and a wave of force threw pictures off of the walls and toppled curios. From Luna’s perspective the world slowed to a crawl. Splintered wood, blood droplets, and glass all hung nigh motionless in the air as her body careened through several cabinets and a wooden door before finally slamming into her black marble bathtub. The princess rose shakily on three hooves, she dry heaved as the pain from all of her injuries started to set in. A sharp marble spike was lodged in her shoulder, and life essence dripped from the mare’s nose. It took nearly everything she had to drag herself out from the ruins of her bathroom. Twilight, still consumed by the collective desire to escape, was viciously stomping around the room and slamming her hooves against the walls in an attempt to free herself from Luna’s extra dimensional prison. The princess hobbled back into the main chamber of her bedroom, crushing glass and loose stone as she walked. The sounds of her approach caused the feral mare to snap her head towards Luna and focus all of her attention on the pony that caused her pain. Twilight ducked low and glared at her friend, her eyes were filled to the brim with bloodlust. Luna looked deep into the young mare’s gaze and saw the intent to kill as plain as day, but there was also something else, she sensed a symphony of conflicting emotions from the possessed mare’s face. Twilight’s body trembled like a panicked animal and her pupils were dilated from the adrenaline coursing through her veins. Suddenly, the unicorn pounced at Luna, but she was prepared this time. With but a thought, her attacker was caught mid-jump and suspended several feet above the floor. Her quarry writhed in her telekinetic grip. Luna narrowed her eyes and sneered as she used her magic to cut the blood flow to her quarry’s brain. Within seconds the thrashing stopped and Twilight’s eyes started drift to the back of her head, her irises returned to their normal color and the mare went limp in Luna’s magical grasp. Gently, the princess rested the unicorn’s body on her bed and sighed. Using her magic, Luna ripped the marble spike from her shoulder then focused her last reserves of magic on her injuries. Bones snapped back into place and cemented themselves together and flesh rewove itself until nary a wound could be seen on her body. Luna rubbed a hoof across her face to wipe away the dried blood from under her nose, at the same time she released her encapsulation spell, bringing her room back into the normal flow of Equestrian space-time. With her final ounce of strength Luna slid over to the bed and collapsed onto the fluffy mattress next to Twilight. -Sanctum- The morning sunlight rolled into Princess Luna’s room at a snail’s pace. Slowly, the resting form of Twilight was bathed in the warm rays of Celestia’s sun, causing the mare to toss and turn. The unicorn weakly slid out of bed. Groaning the entire time, she walked over to what she assume was a sink, not once did she actually look around at the destruction surrounding her hooves. All Twilight knew was that she hadn’t had a headache this bad since the morning after the Grand Galloping Gala. Never try to drink Celestia under the table. She said to herself as she ran a cool stream of water from the faucet. She dipped her hooves in and savored the icy feeling against her skin. She gently splashed her face a few times to stimulate her mental faculties. Her vision started to clear and the pounding in the back of her skull subsided, for the first time since she’d been awake she actually looked around. The scene threatened to knock her out. What the hay happened to Princess Luna’s room? The mare was trying to formulate the answer, but right as the gears in her head started to turn she heard voices through the wall, directly outside of Luna’s room. If her ears were working properly both Celestia and Luna were outside of the room, as well as a stallion with a scratchy voice. Twilight trotted carefully to the wall, making sure her hooves didn’t crush any marble or glass and alert the ponies that she was eavesdropping on. The princesses’ voices were coming through the wall behind Luna’s bathroom mirror. She pressed her ear against the mirror and listened in. “So, i-it’s inside my faithful student…” She heard Celestia say in a distraught tone. Twilight could hear the metal clanking of her teachers golden horseshoes against the white marble floors of the castle hallway. It sounded as if the princess huffed and stomped around for a little before calming down. “I’m afraid so sister,” Luna said. “I tried my best the Death Essence from Twilight, but after a week of symbiosis, it’s fully merged with her. I’m certain that she’d die if we removed it.” Twilight could make out the weak rattle of Luna’s chest regalia as the alicorn dipped her head. “Truly, I curse the name Unicornelius,” Celestia seethed. She spat at the name. Twilight couldn’t remember a time when Celestia’s hate of another was audible in her speech. The unicorn couldn’t even remember a time when she thought Celestia hated anypony; Celestia had spoken of Discord, Chrysalis, Nightmare Moon, and even Sombra with not a hint of malice in her voice. “Had he not created that abominable magic Twilight would not be in this predicament.” Wait, there’s something wrong with me? Twilight thought. She raised a hoof to her chest and gently pressed down on the soft fur. Something is inside of me, and whatever it is it obviously isn’t nice. Luna’s words resonated in her mind. Whatever had bonded with her was apparently a part of her for life now. She had almost fallen into her own thoughts, but luckily she caught the name Unicornelious before spacing out. Where have I heard that name? Unicornelious…Ah ha! I read a report he wrote with theories about where a pony’s energy goes after death. It was interesting theory-craft and well thought out, but if I recall correctly, he was one of the Grand Magi before Luna was consumed by the nightmare, so why does Celestia hate him? Twilight now had at least a little information. Hmm. Death Essence, Unicornelious, I bet I could find something about him in the restricted sections of the archives! Her eyes brightened at the thought of all knowledge she would get to pour through during her quest for answers. Even though she was far from out of the fire, Twilight could feel her mood beginning to improve. Twilight gathered her magic and prepared to teleport. My magic feels…different. Note to self, see if this Death essence has any effect on unicorn magic. With her mental note in place, she winked out of existence. -Sanctum- “I can’t say that I fully understand your plight princess.” The Night Guard Stallion shrugged. “Which brings me to my question”- he looked at Celestia, then back to Luna. -“exactly what can the Luna Adeptorum do in all of this? We could be out securing Equestria’s borders against the coming threats, surely one mare isn’t worth the full attention of your private forces milady.” “Nox Dux Grim Stride,” Luna said, looking down at the stallion. “That one mare happens to be one of the Elements of Harmony, our last line of defense against the encroaching evil. She is also a larger threat than anything else out there and our greatest chance of survival.” “Luna, his question still stands. I would be lying if I said that I saw the reasoning behind summoning Grim Stride here. What are you planning sister?” Celestia narrowed her eyes at her sibling. “Something you won’t like,” Luna confessed with a sad chuckle. Celestia had reacted exactly as Luna expected. It took a little longer than she wanted, but after she revealed most of her plan Celestia agreed that it was in fact Equestria’s best chance at weathering the upcoming storm. Reluctantly, Celestia gave her sister permission to set her plans into action. With her sister behind her plan, and Grim Stride accepting his new task the trio separated. “I believe in Twilight, she’ll overcome this hurdle and return to use as the same mare.” Celestia’s words echoed in the back of Luna’s mind as she trotted over to her bed. Her mind jumped from one idea to the next as she tried to think of ways to break the news to Twilight. Sweeping her gaze across the jumbled up black sheets, the night princess noticed the absence of a certain lump that should be there, resting peacefully. She trotted around the room and searched for clues as to Twilight’s whereabouts until finally entering the bathroom. She quickly scanned the room and whipped around, writing the place off as lacking any evidence. Mid turn she caught sight of something on the mirror, Luna stopped on a dime and ran over to the reflective glass and stared intently. It was faint, but Luna could see it clear as day, the warm, fading mark of a pony’s ear was temporarily tattooed onto the mirrors surface. “This complicates things,” the alicorn muttered as she rushed out of her room. -Sanctum- Twilight reappeared inside the Starswirl section of the Royal Archives. The place was exactly as she remembered it. Rows upon rows of shelved tomes dotted the large circular room, scrolls littered the floor were some Magi had obviously gotten a bit too enthusiastic about his research. The young mare giggled to herself at the thought the pony scrambling out of the library when his duties called. She knew the feeling of getting overly excited over learning something new. The stench of paper old as Canterlot itself filled her nostrils, causing her to shudder. The hairs on her back stood on end, this was just like when she crept into the archives for that time spell. She literally worried herself crazy over that and in her clouded judgment she unnecessarily infiltrated the library. It just started to occur to her exactly how much knowledge was held in this room. Almost everything Starswirl the Bearded had ever written would be right here. Smacking herself with a hoof, Twilight continued to trot through the vast archives in search of her goal. Despite how much she wanted to dive nose first into the books surrounding her, she was on a mission. She traversed the archives based solely on memory. The part she was looking for was well hidden, and out of the way, but it looked normal. The truth is that Twilight only knew where she was headed because of her old curiosity. As a young filly she had heard Celestia offhandedly mention Luna’s Sanctum. In her reverie the sun goddess had accidently let the little book worm filly know that it was hidden in the Royal archives. There were books in there not meant for the eyes of anypony other than the princesses, but whatever was in there could shed some light on her situation, and maybe tell her what was going on. Twilight trotted casually towards plain looking bookshelf. She stared up at the towering structure and its tomes, books of all colors and ages adorned its shelves. Taking a look around to make sure no pony was watching, Twilight pulled down on a red book. The bookcase stuttered and shook violently before slowly sliding to the side and revealing a large, black wooden door with a light blue crescent moon symbol on it. Dust puffed out from behind the sliding bookcase, coating Twilight in a thin layer of gray grime. Immediately she could tell something was off, the last time she saw this door, the concentration of magic protecting it was enough to nearly fry her brain just from laying eyes on it. Now she sat there staring at the entrance to the unknown with no ill effects. Perhaps back then I was just more sensitive to powerful magic because I myself wasn’t very skilled…Even though she told herself that, her mind kept drifting to the Celestia’s magic failing to hold on to their tea cups and both princesses taxed postures. She thought back on the creature, Kokusho, he called himself. Could he have something to do with this? She pressed a hoof against the dark door and pushed as hard as she could, to her surprise she fell straight through the black threshold. While it was a relief that gaining entrance wasn’t difficult, it also confirmed her fears. Luna was able to maintain this spell throughout her entire exile to the moon. For it to be down now… Twilight bit her lip to her fight back her tears. Oh princess why didn’t you tell me? She sniffled a few times as the thought of the burden both Luna and Celestia must be carrying at the moment. She turned towards her goal and steeled her resolve, desperate to continue. Perhaps she could find a way to help the princesses while she looked for answers. Before her was a deep, seemingly unending staircase, the mare sighed. Honestly, it was starting to get old, castles with secret staircases that went down forever. She gathered her magic and began to levitate herself. She shot a lavender ball of energy down the passage to make sure it was a straight away, with the path confirmed as straight and unobstructed she used her telekinesis to toss herself down the passage far faster than she could have ever hoped to run. “Yeah! WOOWHO!” She yelled like an excited filly as she flew through the passageway after her purple beacon. The runes on the walls slowly came to life around her, as if the stone itself was invigorated by the presence of the mare. Feeling comfortable in her control, she threw in a few stunts for good measure. Soon the mare was twisting and spinning through the air like a certain rainbow maned pegasus she knew. And just like a certain pegasus she abruptly crashed into a bookcase, bring her giggling to halt. “OWOWOWOW.” She said as she dug herself out of a mountain of old books. With her body free of its text blanket, she was free to get her bearings. The room was massive, but it didn’t look like a library. Sure the wall she crashed on had a bookshelf, but out from there the chamber had an elegant dais with hundreds of ancient runes carved on it, a long formal looking table, and rows upon rows of glass cases exhibiting artifacts that Twilight had never seen in any book. Her horn burned as she walked past the oddities, their power was obvious to the mare so she left them alone, regardless of how curious she was. She stepped on to the dais and noticed that the runes on the device matched the runes she had been seeing on the walls. A small spark of purple energy jumped from her hooves to the dais, causing a few of the runes to glow. Twilight looked down curiously at the phenomenon. Focusing on the runes she let some of her power trickle into the platform. Runes flared to life all around her and the chamber's lighting slowly began activating, the more of herself she put into the dais, the more the chamber seemed to reciprocate. Soon the chamber could maintain power without her constantly feeding it magic. The feeling was strange, it was like having a second body. Instinctually she called several books over to her with the magic of the Sanctum. She looked over the covers of the books she had gathered, one was simply labeled "Notes", with the name Unicornelius. The color of the tomes pages and the layer of filth on it reinforced exactly how long it has been since anypony was in this place. The next book was simply a black bound hoof book, and the final one had the words Instrumenta Deos hoof written across the cover. Twilight sat Instumenta Deos off to the side and instead dove straight into Unicornelious’ notes. What was in this book was likely of the most relevance to her. She started to skim over Unicornelious's notes in search of anything useful. --- I can’t live like this anymore, why Luna? Can you not see that this strife is tearing me apart? My wife and daughter were taken from me far too early. All I want is to see them again. I have the power, the knowledge, and soon the means, but the Moon has forbidden me from creating the spell that will allow me to be reunited with my precious Lily Petal and Rose Bud. --- Luna caught me trying to use the spell and sentenced me to life in the dungeon, the cow. But I still hold no ill will towards her, how can one whose family is just as immortal as them ever hope to feel the pain of loss. I have never seen her with a special somepony, and she has no foals, all she has is Celestia. I pity her. She thinks she has stopped me, but foolishly she allowed me to keep my notebook. --- Everything has been prepared and my runes are all hidden under the straw in my cell, all my spell requires to work now is a single soul that will act as a catalyst. So excuse me while I go get one. --- Twilight cringed as she turned the page, burgundy stains that the mare knew were dried blood dotted the page and obscured the text. --- It’s beautiful, the ultimate spell. I shall call it, Death Essence. Finally it’s complete, I’m the first pony create a spell that will allow one to transcend the barriers between life and death. Once I take this magic into myself, it will allow me to interact with the souls of dead ponies. I’ll be able to see my family again. --- She flipped through a large section of blank pages, until she came to the next entry. --- What have I done? I was just defending myself and I killed a pony, but that isn’t what has me so scared. After he…expired, I saw his soul! When I tried to interact with the spirit went inside of me! For a moment I could hear him cry out in fear. It was as if my mind were on fire for a split second, but it quickly dissipated. After I "ate" his soul, I felt stronger, faster, and more alert. I looked in a mirror and I looked like I was ten years younger. The entire situation left me hungry for more, I fear that if this empty feeling inside of me continues grow that I may soon hunger for another soul. --- Lily Petal... Oh sweet Celestia, please somepony help me! I’ve killed so many but I need more…The voices won’t stop and I can barely tell who I am anymore. It was just too much, every soul I took made me better... More than a normal pony. Now Equestria’s entire army is after me, even the Luna Adeptorum, but it’s ok I have a friend now, I forged him in the fires of Izalith. He helps a lot, by binding it to the Death Essence I have learned that I can access the talents of those poor ponies I hurt…so I guess they aren’t really gone. --- I think I’ve reached some sort of equilibrium. I’m no longer hungry, and the voices have stopped. I can feel it, where ever souls are supposed to go they no longer do it on their own when I'm around. My presence ruins the natural cycle of life and death. If I don’t absorb them with the Death Essence they sort of just fade away, every time I see it happen it just feels wrong. But where do they go…I must know. --- This will be my last entry, I have my answers. I now the extent of my folly. I apologize for what I’ve done, but an apology will never be enough to atone for wrongs i've committed. I tossed my friend down a chasm, I hope the blasted hole leads to Tartarus. I’ve turned myself in, the guards will be here any moment. One hundred thousand, five hundred and fifteen ponies died by my hooves. Knowing Luna, my time left on this earth won’t be long enough to apologize to the families of those that I’ve hurt. So I apologize for not getting to apologize. Twilight’s stomach curled up into knots. She was harboring an abomination of dark magic inside of her. Unicornelious was crazy, selfish and reckless, but at heart he was a hurt stallion who was desperate to see his family again. But that thing he created drove him to sickening feats, and now, it was a part of Twilight forever. “I’m a monster...” Twilight dropped all of the books on the ground rested on her belly. She shamefully covered her face with her hooves and tried to hide herself from the world as she sobbed into her fore hooves. The cold metal of a horseshoe pressed gently into the bawling mare’s shoulder. The unicorn looked up with bloodshot eyes and locked stares with the gentle blue of Luna’s gaze. “And a monster might be the only thing that can protect Equestria right now,” she said reassuringly. Twilight stood up unsteadily and wiped the tears from her face. “I'm going to be here for more than I week aren't I?” she joked. “I’ll send Spike a letter for you.” > Arc 1-4 (Burn Notice) > -------------------------------------------------------------------------- I began to notice several strange occurrences, the planet itself seems to react to me and heed my commands. Magma becomes rock where I stepped, wind blew, and valleys closed at my whim, even the day - night cycle I under my control. Hell I’m still alive after the world ended in light and fire, which is just as ridiculous. Honestly, I’m not sure what I should be feeling. –Day 2 -Journal of Kokusho -Burn Notice- The world came speeding back into focus as Kokusho’s head materialized. Rapidly, millions of tiny water droplets coalesced solidified and shifted colors. Being turned into water, disassembled, flown across a nation, and then reassembled was a new experience for the man and he couldn’t quite compare it to anything. Kokusho eased his grip on Belius’s fur and slid off of her back. His bare feet impacted against the warm black pebbles that seemed to make up the ground with a soft patter. He looked down and remembered that he was completely nude. I was wearing clothes when Luna and Celestia imprisoned me, so where exactly did they go? He thought to himself. He looked around himself and checked his surroundings. The sky here was blackened by ash and for a moment, he thought he had caused this. He clenched his teeth and stared at the ground, the black pebble strewn, soot covered ground. Kokusho raised a brow in confusion for a quick moment as everything started to fall in line. The air in this area smelled of sulfur and there were cracks in the ground that periodically spewed steam like a tea kettle. It was warm to, really warm If he and Belius were mortal it wouldn’t be hard to believe that they would have suffocated or been burned to death just by standing where they were. The human shivered, not from the temperature, but from the thought of being nude for another moment. Creating clothes was a simple task, even with his currently diminished powers he could easily complete the task with no strain to his reserves. His mind focused on his old outfit: A black cowboy duster, a dark blue turtleneck, a long black scarf and a pair of grey pants with black chaps . With his outfit created, he could finally breathe easy knowing that if the denizen of the world fled from him, their horror would be born from the fact that he was a strange and powerful creature and not because of his huge terrifying python. Kokusho sniggered at bit at his own cockiness, which in turn led to him on his knees banging the scorched earth with his fist in hysterics. His own internal pun was too much for him at the moment. “Master?” Belius asked with a hint of concern. She watched as the human continued laughing until the laughter turned into coughing, at which point she rushed over to him. Kneeling over, she tenderly placed a hand on the man’s shoulder. Kokusho waved her off. “I’m fine, I’m fine, just laughing at a joke,” he said as his giggles faded. Now with the issue of clothing rectified, Kokusho decided to look up at his surroundings. The pieces of the puzzle gingerly fell in line as he took in the sights. Before him in, jutting out of the blackened earth was a large jagged hill. The man could see a thin, steady stream of black smoke trailing from the peak of the soot covered hill. The putrid odor of rotten eggs was at its strongest in the direction or the hill, and heat seemed to emanate from there as well. “Belius, why did you bring me to an active volcano?” Kokusho raised an eyebrow at the water spirit. There was work to be done and they didn’t have the time to go on a sightseeing tour. He turned the idea over in his head, there was no doubt that Equestria had changed in his absence. Mentally, he sat aside a reminder to take some time out to look around the planet when all of this was resolved. She looked over to her master and gave him a small bow. “Master, before we left Tartarus you told me that the first steps of your plans included acquiring enough power face the Alicorn Sisters once more. You said that you would need to reclaim your gauntlets and gather any interesting magic that you find along the way,” she said while rising from her bow. The fox-like being then pointed towards the volcano, “and this place exuded magical power. I thought that perhaps this location would be a good start you.” The man sighed and pinched the bridge of his nose. “Thank you, I appreciate the effort.” Turning to face the volcano, Kokusho stretched out his senses towards the towering rock formation and just as Belius had informed him, there was power there. It the fact that he couldn’t sense it from outside the gates of Tartarus, like Belius could, worried him. Hopefully this endeavor would be worthwhile, keeping Celestia and Luna weakened like this was more of a drain than he expected. His senses were dulled, and his magic was severely weakened. The man looked down at his hands and watch as the appendages shivered weakly under his gaze. Might as well get this over with. He thought to himself. Wordlessly, he started to stride towards the smoking black mountain. Belius, ever faithful, followed close behind. The gravity of what he was doing started to catch up to him. With his powers as weak as he was, there was a high chance that he could be mortal at the moment and he was willingly walking into an active volcano. Slowly, doubt began to creep into his mind and his pace started to slow to a crawl. The change in Kokusho’s demeanor wasn’t lost on Belius. She’d known Kokusho for several thousand years, and in all of the time she’d spent with the human, he never looked as he did right now. Frightened wasn’t quite the word to describe the emotion that she was sensing from him at the moment, it felt more like uncertainty. She trotted to his side. Perhaps there is something I can do to ease his tension. She thought. Digging through her mind, she remembered that Kokusho was Tartarus’ inmate zero, the first being consigned to oblivion within the grim, dark immaterium. “Equestria and the world have changed much since you walked its surface. My imprisonment was relatively recent, perhaps I can fill you in on what has changed? ” She said, hiding her concern behind well practiced professionalism. As they travelled up the side of the volcano, Belius explained how Equestria had expanded even further then its previous borders and how uncontrolled wilderness was exceedingly rare even when she and her kin were free. She took the lead, forcing Kokusho to keep pace if he wanted to hear her story. Every so often he would get caught up in thought and stumble over a stone or take a misstep, but Belius would be there to catch him every time. The path to the base of the volcano was treacherous. Seething streams of sulfur spewing magma flowed down hill through crevices forged by fire. Large vents, leading to the depths of the earth, ejected steam and noxious fumes at seemingly random intervals. The stench of rotten eggs and the sweltering heat grew with each step forward, but so did the strength of whatever magic lay in wait within the mountain of fire. The conversation that Belius started during their trek, had shifted in subject to her own motivations . It was a conversation that Kokusho often defaulted back to when in the water goddess’s presence. Her goals were simple, and relatable, which is why he enjoyed listening to her tales, every word she spoke reassured him that she would never betray his trust. Every time he had her speak about it, he managed to get a little more out of her. “Celestia wonders why disaster upon disaster befalls her nation, she brings it upon them, and her subjects suffer because she can’t leave the natural order alone!” Belius vented. Her tone was obviously heated and the fur on the back of her neck stood on end, but it was a calm controlled sort of anger, one that she could direct. “The Sun made me into what I am now, I never wished to take up arms.” She said as her rage receded. Kokusho and Belius had travelled the entire way by the time the water spirit finished her story. Kokusho had completely forgotten about his prior uncertainties, every doubt in his mind had been replaced with determination. Determination to make the alicorn sisters answer for their crimes against Belius. It was one thing to give up on one’s own goals, but when your goals are intertwined with those of another’s quitting was not an option. “Master.” Belius said calmly in an attempt to garner the man’s attention. “Yes?” He said. She pointed to an old, ash covered wooden sigh at the entrance of the cave. Kokusho walked over to the sign and reached out to touch it. The layer of ash was as thick as tar, it was as if the sign hadn’t been disturbed in centuries (If the carbonized insect exoskeletons in the layers of ash were any indication). He swiped his hand back and forth across the wooden sign to clear it of the obstructing substance. With each pass of the palm, the writing on the sign became clearer. His hand bustled with magical energy as it continued to pass over the wooden plank. Enchanted sign, explains how it survived being on the side of a volcano all of this time. He thought as he wiped the last trace of ash from the board. The wooden sign was perfectly preserved, the writing as clear and concise as if it had just been painted on. Above the wording was a single, simple drawing, a red pony skull with crossbones behind it. Kokusho traced the writing with his finger as he read hastily scribbled writing out loud. Warning, To whomever this may concern, turn back now. The prize is not worth the peril. Old gods sleep here, and we were fools to disturb their rest. The message ended there. After the last word the ink trailed off ominously towards the ground. The man’s skin chilled at the message he just read. What are these Old Gods that they speak of? He asked himself. Belius rested a soft, furred hand on his shoulder. He looked into her eyes for a split second and could see the wordless message she was sending him. I’m with you. She removed her hand from him and slowly entered the mouth of the cave. Kokusho smiled weakly as he watched Belius disappear into the darkness of the volcano. She’d been supportive up until this point, he had no reason to doubt her. If he needed to he could lean on her, and he felt confident in that fact. The inside of the cave was relatively unremarkable. Magma drooling stalagmites hung from the ceiling of the cave, making both Belius and Kokusho have to keep an eye up. The man ran his hand along the cave walls, the layer of ash that had built up was thicker then goat cheese. It wasn't enough for it to be deadly, but it had to be dirty as well. He quickly used a small burst of wind to blow the ash off of his hands before continuing. After a couple of minutes traversing the glowing cavern an odd lump of stones caught Kokusho’s eye. He walked ahead of Belius to get a better look. Kneeling down, he started his inspection of the stones. They were all black, he reached down and picked one up and he gave it a firm squeeze, causing it to break apart in his hand. “Bone char…” He muttered. The man looked over the rest of the skeleton, much of it was missing. It looked to be a pony, he snapped one of the bones in half, revealing that it was mostly hollow. “A pegasus…” Several blossomed metal bits were on the ground where on the ground where the pony’s ribcage was supposed to be. Belius slowly trotted up to the man and stopped. “Hey Belius look at this…” He got no response. “Belius?” He asked as he looked up at her. She was staring at something further down in the cavern. Kokusho stumbled to his feet, following her gaze, his eye fell upon the wonder that captivated his general. The cave opened up into a massive antechamber with magma falls continually spewing the molten stone down into the earth. In the center of it all is a large dilapidated metal structure, much too angular to be of pony design, not to mention the metallurgy is much to advance. In a trance like state, Kokusho started to walk towards the structure with Belius in tow. Kokusho reached a hand out to the metal building, only to be stopped by a greenish-blue field of energy. Power jumps between his hand and the force field as he runs his fingers across the barrier. “A cold plasma field?” He knew exactly what it was, but he never thought he’d seen what has before him right now. “What form of barrier spell is this?” She cocked her head inquisitively as she prodded the barrier with one of her swords. “No, this is not magic. This... is technology. Human technology,” Kokusho said with a small chuckle. “My people did amazing things with nothing more than their mind and tools.” He tried to push his way through the barrier, only to find that it is completely unyielding. “Identification please.” A scratchy monotone female voice demanded. After a quick second of searching Kokusho finds the source of the speech, a working security panel near a large sliding metal greets him and Belius with the same demand. “Um,” Kokusho stammered. “Biometric scan initiated.” Green light shot out from the small panel, encasing Kokusho in a grid like image as it slowly works its way up his body. “Welcome subject V4N-6U4-R5.” The panel stated as it lowers the shield and opens the door. “Don’t look at me, because I don’t even understand,” Kokusho said as Belius raised a hand to question the situation. Wordlessly the duo entered the structure. Dust, Dust everywhere; The interior wasn’t nearly as bad as he expected. They were met by angular metallic walls and the smell of stale air. Several automated guard bots lay in disrepair in the halls of the structure and even though there seemed to be power, barely any of the systems were operational. Lights flicker on and off and random intervals, but for the most part the halls remained evenly light allowing Kokusho and Belius to easily navigate the structure. The emergency lights flickers seemed to be a bit too consistent to be a shortage of power, one side of the hall flashed as if trying to get their attention. He looked up at the water spirit, both nodded, wordlessly deciding to follow what they believed was guidance. Boots, watches, and skeletons littered the dirt covered floor, the crunching of ancient remain underneath their feet echoed offed the walls creating an eerie symphony that emphasized how dead the place was. Following the lights, they were eventually lead to a wide open room. In the center of the circular room was a gigantic transparent tube with some sort of metal coiled along the inside of it. Blinding white energy danced inside of the contraption and seemed to pool into an orb in the center of the tube. A few computer consoles were fading in and out and crackling with static near the device. So this is the power Belius felt… Kokusho started to walk towards the consoles, the same white energy that filled the device started to arch across skin and clothing and his eyes started to glow a brilliant blue as if he were using magic. “W-what is that?” Belius took a step back from the intimidating device. The power pouring from it was like nothing she had ever felt before. “It’s a warp pipe generator. Large ships used them to travel unbelievable distances instantly,” Kokusho replied hazily. The spirit could only give him a puzzled looked. She had no idea what a "warp pipe", all she knew was that the contraption towering over them was powerful. Looking at it made her hairs stand on end, every fiber of her being told her to destroy it, but her loyalty to kokusho demanded that she stay her hand. He reached out to the console causing it to spark to life. “Subject: V4N-6U4-R5, please place both hands on the feeder pylons.” Stated a mechanical voice. Two rods with grooves for comfortable gripping started rose from a panel connected to the warp pipe generator. “Hmm…” He said as he walked over. Cautiously, he gripped the pylons. “Wait!” Belius yelled. Before she could move to her master’s side the room was engulfed by white light, making her lightheaded. She could swear that she heard one of the sound boxes speaking as she slipped into unconsciousness. “…Children… Genetic experimentation… One success…… Survival… So sorry… Should’ve told the public… Could’ve saved more…… Beacon… Project VANGUARD………… Will return.” A verdant beam of energy burst from the top of the volcano, lighting up the night sky as it left the atmosphere. -Burn Notice- Twilight panted heavily and spat a glob of her own blood from her mouth. She'd become use to the sharp taste of iron and the pain serious injury over the course of her training. Grim Stride’s strike was vicious and left the mare’s ears ringing and her jaw rattling. The left side of her face was tarnished by a bloody gash and the teeth on that side of her jaw were cracked and felt loose. A single drop of blood leaked from the wound on her face and impacted the gray matted training floor. Steam rose from the gash on her cheek as the flesh knitted itself back together. Her teeth made sickly crunching sounds as they moved back into place and repaired themselves. “Pathetic!” Grim Stride yelled. “Protect your left girl!” As he chastised the mare he , once again, demonstrated a proper left side guard with a short sword. He took her hooves in his and worked her through the motions. Twilight’s face was flushed redder that Big Macintosh’s coat. Grim Stride’s face was practically touching hers, his warm breath washed over her neck and threatened to melt her on the spot. As his foreleg intertwined with hers she felt his toned muscles relax and pull taut as he maneuvered. She whimpered quietly as her mind sank into a sea of inappropriate thoughts. “…And that’s how you perform the square guard. Twilight…Twilight!” He called to her, but she continued to stare dreamily off into space. He lightly cuffed her in the back of the head, drawing her out of her dream world. ”Ready up Twilight.” Grim Stride stepped back into position. He stared at the mare, the fury of battle burned brightly in his eyes as he prepared to strike her. “Defend yourself!” He shouted as he extended his hoof blade and lunged at her. The knight’s strike was flawless, his stance impeccable. Everything about the movement was as close to the concept of perfection that a mortal could a hope to achieve. A white cone of condense air formed at the tip of the blade as it was thrust at Twilight. If Twilight was the same mare that she was a month ago then she would have been skewered before she could have even reacted, but she wasn't, Grim Stride made sure of that. Her combat trained eyes easily tracked the blade despite its super-sonic speed. Twilight hastily moved her head slightly to the right to avoid the attack. A loud booming sound erupted in near her face, knocking her off balance and causing her ears to ring. The mare’s blade had been hovering by her side this entire time, her mind told her to parry the blade, but her body still obeyed the instinct to dodge. No matter how much Grim taught or how much she learned, experience was still experience, without it, all of the combat knowledge and techniques she knew were worthless. Grim Stride, noticing her distracted state of mind drew his hoof back away from her. “Focus!” He barked at the mare. He lashed out again, the blade effortlessly cut through the air and shattered the sound barrier as it sped towards her face. Grim Stride’s hoof and weapons became a barely perceivable blur of hundreds of rapid thrusts. Twilight replied in kind by nimbly weaving her head in and out of the flurry of attacks, parrying and countering where she could. Luna and Celestia sat in a balcony overlooking the training floor. The entire facility was several hundred feet below the castle, deep within the crystal caverns inside the mountain Canterlot was perched upon, ever since Luna had returned to power the Luna Adeptorum, have been reestablished and their numbers skyrocketed. The standard guard barracks had proven inadequate in housing the massive surge of soldiers and as such a new training and housing area was needed. In her wisdom, Luna suggested rebuilding the old Luna Adeptorum training facilities from their old castle in the caverns under the city. Seeing as her soldiers were to become nocturnal due to the influence of the magic that they would receive from her, the princess had no problem with their facilities being under the radar, so to speak. Being away from the public’s eye has allowed her to make sure that her guard was as deadly and efficient as possible. Celestia’s hooves were pressed against her muzzle as she watched her faithful student engaged in mortal combat. The princess’s mane now lay limp across her shoulders, a dark monotone pink. She’d had to relinquish the magic used to maintain her otherworldly appearance the night she spoke with Twilight. Her control of the sun had been slipping more and more. She doubted her subjects could tell, which brought relief the alicorn, but the fact that she knew still disturbed her on a level she could quite vocalize. The sun was a part of her, it was her power, she was the physical embodiment of the great star. Having her connection to it slow fade was like feeling yourself being slowly pushed aside by those you love. Raising the sun used to be a joy for her, but now when she reached toward the sky with her magic, the sun slapped her touch away, as if to say that it didn't need her. Celestia looked over to Luna and studied her sister’s calm, collected expression. Unlike herself, who had fought to control the sun, Luna had simply given up on influencing the moon once she felt it reject her commands. Celestia could understand why Luna had given up, but the ease at which her sister just let go puzzled her. The sun was an integral part of who she was, it took until this morning for her to let the sun go. “How has Twilight been doing, Luna?” Celestia asked. The sun princess released an exasperated sigh as she awaited her sister’s response. “She’s taken to hoof to hoof combat almost as naturally as a dragon to magma,” responded the darker alicorn. “Getting her to convert her knowledge of magic into war spells was foal’s play, she’s absorbed every bit of demonology that we threw at her, and her physical growth has been astonishing. Heh, she can even counsel souls.” Luna knew that those weren’t the answers that her sister wanted. “Luna…” Celestia looked into her sister’s aqua eyes, the sun goddess’s expression pleading with her younger to tell her what she wanted to know. Luna sighed, reluctantly she turned to face Celestia. “She’s taking this far better than expected.” She looked at her sister with a sunken scowl. “Despite what happened to her, I don’t think the gravity of the situation has fully caught up to her.” Luna eyes sink to the floor as she continues to talk, her gaze seemingly boring a hole in the stone of their balcony. “She’s been beaten, tortured, and sent through unbelievable hell, all to fight our enemies for us. Do you know what drives her sister?” The sun goddess closed her eyes and shook her head dolefully. She knew what Luna was about to say, but she didn’t want to hear it. “She takes it all just so that you won’t be disappointed in her. Her loyalty to Eques - No, to you is unwavering. She believes in you fully and would never directly go against you,” Luna said as she placed a hoof on her sister’s shoulder. Celestia’s face was buried in her hooves by this point. Her Faithful Student , was doing this, for her. Luna continued watching the lavender unicorn’s training with a steel gaze. “Celestia, it’s almost time for Twilight’s arrangement and the mana transfusion.” Both alicorns slowly stood up and walked out of the balcony. Twilight and Grim’s sparring session came to an abrupt end when both ponies clashed with the force of several hundred pounds of explosives in the center of the training floor, sending both into the wall opposite their opponent. Twilight slowly started to crawl out of her crater, the wall took much more damage than the mare that had crashed into it. Her impact left a six foot depression in the wall, small pebbles and large chunks of stone fell to the floor as she forced her body out of the hole. Her body was covered in bruises and long lacerations. She shook herself violently, causing dust and rocks to drop out of her coat and mane. Her wounds were healed before she could shake all of the debris from herself. She quickly glanced across the room and saw Grim Stride pulling himself out as well. He looked no worse for wear than when they started today’s training session. He flared his bat like wings and shook in place, cleaning himself off with ease. He and Twilight methodically made their way to the center of the floor and stared into each other’s eyes. Their gazes seemed to last for an eternity, both ponies wore a stone mask for an expression. Two death glares cold enough to freeze the sun met between the two and battle for supremacy. “Good Job, Twilight.” Grim finally said, breaking the pregnant silence. “We’ll finish today’s session with a bit of demonology.” He flashed the mare a gentle as he gestured for her to move towards another section of the training hall. Twilight squealed quietly to herself. Demonology was her favorite part of training, she got to research and learn about the creatures that she would probably be confronting. The history of history of was at the tips of her hooves, even though the situation was dire, books and study would always be one the unicorn’s most heated passions. Twilight entered the projector room. This was where the Luna Adeptorum went over combat stratagem and reviewed intelligence. In the center of the room sat an enchanted table made from petrified wood, it was enchanted to hold a libraries worth of knowledge and project the data as scaled down three dimensional models and text. Glow gems lined the walls, giving the room an eerie moonlit effect that Twilight had learned to find comfort in. The mare took a seat on the left of the table. Grim Stride trotted in and casually placed his hooves on the table, the image of a tall fox-like quadruped with two arms and yellowish fur manifested in the air over the table. “Belius,” Grim started. “What do you know of her Twilight?” “Hmm… She came from the oceans to the east of Equestria. Belius was the cause of the Silver Winter over three thousand years ago, before that incident no one had ever seen or heard of a creature like her. Because the Silver Winter threatened to freeze all of Equestria the Princesses had to banish Belius to Tartarus to save the nation,” Twilight stated. “Correct. According to first hoof accounts by the Princesses, Belius is some sort of water de-” Grim stopped mid-sentence and watched as Twilight summoned a notepad and quill. Every time he lectured she pulled out the notes, and every time, he found his face buried deeper into his hooves. “-mon, so expect mana dominance from her in all matters pertaining to water magic. As an elemental Belius cannot be killed while in the presence of her element, she will simply regenerate continuously. It’s theorized that she can’t even be killed because of the composition of our atmosphere.” “Mana dominance, I’ve heard of that. That’s the theory that states that if two equal magical forces are exerted on the same object the magic with the higher affinity for that object will have an easier time with the task. It’s why moving the moon was harder for Celestia than moving the sun even though the moon is smaller and closer,” Twilight summarized. “Correct.” The double doors to the briefing room slowly spread open, flooding the chamber with soft artificial moonlight. Celestia and Luna stood in the doorway, both wore the best mask of confidence they could muster. “Twilight, if you don’t mind, it’s time to depart for the Anima Conclave .” “Oh, um yes Princess.” She bowed in a shallow manner and quickly trotted over to the two alicorns. “Aren’t you coming Grim?” “No, not today. I’ve got something important to take care, see you around Twilight.” Grim flared his wings and performed a short hop, giving him just enough air to comfortably glide past the princesses and out of the room. The bat pegasus flew an inch too close to Luna, allowing her to keen senses to pick up the sound of his racing heart and slightly elevated body heat. “Hmm…Go on without me sister and prepare Twilight on the dais, I’ll be up in a moment.” “Luna, what are you doing?” Celestia asked as she looked at her younger sister skeptically. “Let’s just say that curiosity has caught itself a mare,” She replied with a sly smirk. Celestia sighed and rolled her eyes at Luna’s antics. Always something with her . She said to herself. She draped a single alabaster wing over her pupil and scrunched her face up in concentration. After a second of two of focus both ponies disappeared in a flash of light. Luna followed the trail of dark magic from the pegasus until she found herself at the Luna Adeptorum’s locker wells. Trotting quietly through the maze of steel containers, Luna found her quarry. Grim Stride stood in front of a locker with a picture of Twilight’s cutie mark branded on the face of the door, the stallion was still as a glacier. He’d have been mistaken for a statue if not for the rapid rise and fall of his chest. He held an envelope in his teeth; the the thin parcel was small, square and red and appeared to have very elegant writing on it. He shook away the thoughts of completing his action and sighed, holding his head low he walked away. The princess of the night held a hoof to her mouth as she tried to hold in her squeal. With a quick charge of her horn Luna teleported to the Anima Conclave, Twilight was already on the dais going through her arrangement, Luna hated seeing the young mare go through the torturous process, but it was necessary. The Anima Conclave, or Luna’s Sanctum as Celestia started calling it after her younger sister started to spend most of her time there, was built by Unicornelious to aid in controlling the Death Essence . The dais in the center could arrange and quell the hoard of souls that the Death Essence held in a manner that made them complacent and willing to lend their strength to their host. Without constant upkeep, the souls would eventually go rampant and attempt to overthrow the host, and fight for control of the body until nothing more than the basic desires of the souls were left driving the shell of a pony. Through testing they learned that Twilight, for all of her willpower, could only go about a week and a half before she started to struggle with who she was, less if she called upon the souls within her frequently. Twilight stepped off of the platform, panting heavily with each step she took. “Ok… Luna’s here… Let’s perform… the mana transfusion.” White wisps from the arrangement spell were still trailing off of her body and floating off into the air. Her legs shivered as her nerves tried to make heads or tails of the pain they had just experienced. “Twilight, you should rest, the transfusion can wait until later.” Celestia pleaded with her student. She hated seeing Twilight like this, the thought of willingly putting her student through pain to benefit her own goals made her stomach knot up. “Don’t… Worry… About me Princess…” The young mare took a deep breath and stood proudly before her mentor and ruler. “I c-can handle this… Do it!” She said shakily. Celestia looked at her sister sadly. The mighty princess of the night could only stare at the floor and nod weakly as the dark blue aura of her magic started to encapsulate her horn and Twilight, they both knew that they needed the power. What if Kokusho were to show up at the castle today? There was nopony who could fight him unless they accepted Twilight’s magic. Tendrils of raw mana began to pour from the unicorn and snaked towards the two princesses. As the magic touched Celestia's coat the energy shifted from lavender to gold and started to swirl around her body before finally sinking into her chest, revitalizing her. Luna went through a similar ordeal except with dark blue energy. Once the magic finished sinking into Luna’s chest she gasped violently. Her eyes glowed a furious white as her dark magic scrying spell activated without her consent. “CELESTIA!” Luna yelled in the Royal Canterlot Voice. “HAVE YOUR GUARDS SECURE THE CASTLE WHILE I MOBILIZE THE LUNA ADEPTORUM!” “Sister what’s going on?” she asked as she stood at attention. “IFRIT, HE MARCHES ON TROTTINGHAM!” > Arc 1-5 (Luna Burns Red) > -------------------------------------------------------------------------- Week 3, day 1 She’s so depressed, I can’t take it. I imparted a sliver of my power to create and bend reality on the mare. I told her to think of stuff to do and it would happen, the first thing she did was disappear and pop out of my coat, screaming “WOW!” Not much later she was able to be nearly anyway at any time, even in reflections. But something in her eyes said that everything still wasn’t right. Week 3, Day 3 I threw her a party and she loved it she burst balloons, drank punch, and ate cake to her hearts content. She wanted to know how I did it all, so I gave her absolute knowledge on parties of all sorts. I put a little brand on her flank to signify her love and knowledge parties. Three cute little balloons. Week 3, Day 4 Today Pinkie said the party was great, but it would have been nice to have more ponies to enjoy it with. She was lonely, this was easy to fix. I just pulled color combos out of my ass and made a hundred or so ponies all with human intelligence and everything they would need to know to create basic civilization. I programmed it into their very souls to magically receive a brand when they found out what their unique talents. I made little unicorns and little pegasi and just normal ponies. I created these beings, they were my little ponies... -Journal of Kokusho- -Luna Burns Red- The pack raced through the northern forests of Equestrian at breakneck speeds, putting even the fastest predators on the globe to shame. Each amarok playfully nipped and shoulder tackled their brothers and sisters. The pack was basking in their freedom, having been trapped in Tartarus since before the reign of Nightmare Moon, they couldn’t help but be elated by the smells of living prey, the feel of cool nighttime air, and the silver light of the moon above. The scent of the forest was truly luscious. Piss and adrenaline hung heavily in the forest air, like wet, matted fur. As the foreign predators ran past caves other animal dens, they caught glimpses of the many fauna of the wood. Prey species did everything they could to stay out their way - the rabbit huddled up tightly in dugouts, the deer and elk slinked away into the brush, and the birds fell silent. A toothy grin started to spread across Ifrit’s muzzle, scanning his surrounding, he could feeling them all around, skulking in the shadows. Chuckling deeping, black smoke escaped from the tiny space in his teeth and rose up where it then disappeared into the breeze. Even this forest’s apex predators, were prey to the amarok. The creatures of the brush would be safe... For now, but they get to keep their peace. He shot them all glances: You don’t get die this night, but every dog has its day. His eyes said to them. “Love,” the smaller wolf cried as she scampered along side Ifrit. “Are we really going to continue allowing that creature to subjugate us?” The massive wolf chuckled quietly to himself. The dark sound sent shivers down his pack’s spine, causing each wolf to look around in paranoia for a brief moment. Those around him looked upon his form with confusion, wondering what their father thought was funny. One by one, the lesser wolves started laughing as well. These pups laugh when I laugh, though they know not what is humourous. The thought was made not in malice, but in jest. He dare not sour their glee. “You speak foolishness Vigdis, let the worries leave your head, we have a task to perform and I want your senses as sharp as your teeth.” “I understand. And what of the gauntlet Lord Kokusho asked us to retrieve?” “Have the Preafators ready,” he said, smirking at his mate. “Yes Love.” Vigdis answered as she silently fell back into the pack. After an indeterminate amount of time traversing the forest, Ifrit halted as did the forest. Before was the ground was no more, just a sheer cliff. Before frustration could take over, the scent of favored prey and hated enemies invaded his nostrils. Off in the distance, perhaps four miles away, was Trottingham. Trottingham was a charming city, built during the old kingdom, nearly two thousand years before Princess Luna succumbed to her darkness. Unlike its cousins Manehattan and Stalliongrad, Trottingham chose to remain a quaint town by keeping the majority of its building made of wood instead of stone and metal. The town’s roofs remained composed of thatched hay, adding to the burg’s old world charm. The cobblestone streets were nearly empty, save for the late night guard patrol and the air was filled with the delectable odor of freshly baked breads and cooked vegetables, making the entire place feel homely, despite the tense armored ponies roaming the town. The clang of spear on platemail echoed throughout Trottingham as the guards made their rounds. They’d been sent here by the princesses nearly a month ago for the purpose of added defense in case something foul tried to harm the townsponies. “What was that?” the guard asked in a soft feminine voice. “Sounds like it came from inside it the bushes.” male voice replied in a Trottingham accent. The guard, an earth pony mare, clad in the green tinted plate mail of the Royal Army, by the name of Oopsie Daisy, slowly slinked towards the suspicion group of plants. She lowered her head closer to the bush to investigate. “Hmm, nothi-EEEYAH!” She yelled, rearing up and flailing her legs. Out from the bush lept what appeared to be a diamond dog, albeit, more wolf like in appearance, more slender with better definite musculature, and much larger. “What is one of those mutts doing here?” Cannon asked as he ran up to steady Daisy. The mare was still panting, but at least her eyes had shrunk back to their normal size and she no longer looked like she was one spook aware from a stroke. “Hey you! Yeah you. Diamond dogs aren’t allowed within Equestrian city lines, leave now.” Cannon stood his ground and spoke with authority, all the while standing tall to make himself appear more intimidating. The dog simply seemed to ignore him and instead sniff at the air. “Don’t ignore me, I Cannon of the Royal-” “Quiet!” The wolf roar, raising to his full bipedal height. The creature was like nothing Cannon had ever seen. The wolf’s coat was white as fresh snowfall, and it’s eyes were as blue as the midday sky. One look into the beasts eyes and Cannon knew he and Daisy had to get out of there. “How amusing that you ponies have forgotten your place in the world now that you’ve lived in the light.” The voice was soft and feminine yet, thrummed with ancient power. She started to walk towards Cannon and Daisy with slow methodical steps. Each step left deep claw marks in the cobblestone streets though she seemed to glide across the ground, making her menacing approach seem like a logical paradox-each foot fall so slow, yet their retreat was being outpaced. She was now upon them. “... I am Vigdis...” She stood to her full height of nearly nine feet. In a panic Cannon lashed out with his spear, imbedding the pole arm in the bitch’s chest. For his effort, Cannon received a grunt of discomfort from Vigdis and the lovely image of blue flames devouring his spear, turning it into ash. Cannon stood there slack jawed, as the wound he just inflicted rapidly closed up and vanished as if it were never there. “...Mate of Ifrit...” She reached down and snatched the stallion up before he could react. “Your species time at the top has ended pony...” She held him in the air by one of his hind legs and let him thrash in her grip. Her claws closed around his leg like a vice, drawing blood and eliciting a cry a pain from him. She brought his throat to her face and let Cannon feel her breath against his coat. The stream wrapped around his neck and sank into his fur “... You... are prey.” Daisy shakily brought her head up to watch the scene that was playing out before her. No matter how badly she wanted to move, to help Cannon, her legs just wouldn’t obey her. She could do nothing but cover her eyes with her hooves and tremble. A terrible crunch and a sound not unlike the tearing rubber, followed by the splash of copious amounts of fluid echoed off the walls of Trottingham’s buildings. “And your predators... Have returned.” -Luna Burns Red- The den was alive with activity. The Luna Adeptorum darted from chamber to chamber, each rushing to gather combat equipment. All around bat-winged pegasi were gearing up in enchanted steel armor and strapping bladed gauntlets around their fetlocks. Below them ash grey unicorns and earth ponies with the same serpentine yellow eyes, mirrored their flying counterparts moves. Most of the magic users were slipping into grey lightweight leather-like body armor. In addition to it’s many defensive enchantments, the suit bore several easily accessible pouches, each likely filled with some sort of potion, whether they were for healing or for killing depended on the squad. Their combat attire was completed by covering themselves in beautiful, midnight blue silk like hooded cloak. Each mage quickly finished their preparations and they methodically walked past a large cabinet, snatching up a staff in their magical grip and affixing it to their cloaks. The earth ponies took a more traditional look and donned armor similar to that of the pegasi, albeit a bit bulkier and lacking the slots on either side for wings. Unlike the pegasi, they wore dark grey luster free chainmail under their heavy plate armor. Once fully armored they trotted past a similar cabinet and pulled out all manner of weapons ranging from fetlock mounted blades to halberd to katanas, each enchanted to stick to whatever surface the wielder willed it them to. Like hive minded ants, each pony fell in line, trotting quickly to combat outfitted carriages that sported crossbow turrets. Each group was composed of six ponies: three pegasi, two earth ponies, and one unicorn; a perfect balance speed, strength, and support. Grim Stride directed all of the chaos into something resembling order, allowing everything to to move along in a sort of smoothness that could only be obtained through years of intense drilling. The steel grey pegasus hovered above his forces, his golden eyes scanning for any problems. His armor was more like that of the mages than the other pegasi, and he wielded neither mounted blades nor a staff. Instead Daisho consisting of a nodachi and a katana hung from his right side, two of the finest pieces of Japoneighese blacksmithing in Equestria. The grand doors at the rear of the den swung open, revealing both both princesses and Twilight. The royal sister strode in nimbly. The quiet clop of their hooves, a far cry from the loud cacophony of sound saturating the den. The three strode in near perfect form. Twilight, still a little woozy from arrangement and giving the princesses mana, seemed to be prepared. As she approached Grim Stride the mare cast a spell, engulfing her in a ball of purple light and obscuring her from view. Using his foreleg, Grim shielded his face from the sudden surge of light, until display had ended. Twilight stood before him in full battle dress similar to the mages, but with armor plating in the places that didn’t need to be flexible. Using her magic, Twilight called a halberd over from one the racks and gave it a test swing. Satisfied with the weapon, she placed on her back where it would adhere until she willed it to come loose. “Twilight, this will be real combat. No do overs, no opsies...No second chances... Are you ready for for that?” His hardened gaze bore directly into Twilight, trying to size up the mare’s position. “Honestly, no, but what pony has ever been truly ready to kill or be killed when first presented with the situation? Training in these caves prepares me for the reality of what’s out there no better than a game of chess prepares a commander to send real ponies to die on the battlefield,” she said sternly. For all intents and purposes Twilight put on a convincing ruse. Her tall strong, stance spoke of great confidence and something about the way she trotted up to him with her weapon brought with it and air of finality and duty; however, none of that was what he wanted to see. As he scanned her body, for a moment, he considered refusing her, until he saw it. A simple twitch of the ear, followed by an miniscule shift of her left hoof. Her eyes held the fire of confidence, but behind that was fear... That’s what Grim Stride was looking for. Fear of death and fear of failure, when combined with confidence and training would make sure she did her best, fear would keep her concentrated on her goals. He flashed her a smile and gestured for her to jump onto the the carriage behind him. Celestia watched in awe as her student boarded the chariot, unsure of whether she should be proud of Twilight's decision to brave the battlefield or if she should snatch the young mare up by the nape of her neck and forbid her from facing Ifrit so soon. Once the mare boarded she was greeted by hoof bumps, a hug, and even a nuggie. Seeing this, Celestia knew that she couldn’t stop Twilight from going even if it was the right thing to do. Even in this dark hour, her student was driven by the magic of friendship. There was no way Twilight would let her new friends tackle this alone. A later Grim gave the order and the chariots took off. Twilight looked back of the railings at the shrinking form of Celestia. Her hoof twitched, and her mouth worked wordlessly. Celestia stared at Twilight as her chariot pulled away. She raised a hoof to speak, but no words came. Luna turn and started to trot off while Celestia stood there deep in thought. Though she still spied her sister trot off gingerly. “Luna,” she called over her shoulder. “I know that gait, what are you planning?” The moon diarch stopped in her tracks, not even bothering to turn around to address her sister. “Twilight’s path is bound to be a trying one, there are artifacts in my sanctum that can be of great help to her.” “Like what?” Celestia growled. “...The Whispersilk Cloak, The Blightmail, and Blight Satus” “Luna, you can’t... Those items drive a pony’s soul to madness... With Twilight’s condition...” “I know sister, they were locked away for a reason, but with the main issue with those artifacts was that the wielders were not under our guidance. Twilight is a strong pony, with us by her side she will not stray. These items will giver her an edge over her foes.” “I'll trust your judgement here Luna. I have faith in my student." -Luna Burns Red- The flight to Trottingham was uneventful thus far. Twilight had summoned the one of the tomes on demonology from sanctum and took to studying it diligently the entire flight, every now and then she muttered a mental note under her breath, but otherwise never looked up from her book. The other two pegasi were pulling the carriage and the two earth ponies were casually chatting among themselves. “Ifrit, one of the big three... at Trottingham...” Thicket said sadly and she pulled her lance closer. She was a young earth pony with a build that leaned more towards lithe than muscular. “Tartarus,” Dune Bug cursed. “No telling what were trotting into.” Their chatter helped pass the time, but more than anything it helped loosen up the soldiers in the chariot. Dune Bug and Thicket had changed subjects three or four times and were now engrossed in a heated debate about who the Manhattan's Mare-Do-Well was under the mask. The two pegasi pulling the chariot-- Hot Streak and Gale-- were idly chatting about Soarin and his how his pie eating skill would translate into - Grim shivered fiercely when his mind caught where their conversation was going. “Luna save us...” Grim snapped his head in the direction of the distressed voice, But before he could even mouth a reply his eyes lock on the sky in front of the transport. The horizon was burning. A shifting orange dome of light peeked over the curvature of the earth and licked at the azure night sky. Grim knew it was Trottingham... it was the only thing in that direction large enough to burn so gloriously. The pegasus could only stare at the glow of the inferno, his mind trying to comprehend what could breed so much damage in such a short timeframe. Is this the power of demons? His squad wasn’t doing much better either. Everypony’s eyes were looking in Trottingham’s direction, each face scrunched up or buried in hooves as various emotions took over. He shook his head, clearing the panic from himself. “Adeptorum!” He yelled. “Are we just going to gawk while the ponies of our nation burn?! No! Break from your fear, we’ve ponies to save and monsters to kill!" He turned to face the studious mare in front of him. “Twilight we’re going to drop you off on the outskirts, clear the way for any survivors as you search for Ifrit. We’ll be doing the same. If you find Ifrit before the rest of us, don’t engage! We’ll take him together.” Shakily, she swallowed the lump that had formed in her throat and nodded. “Double time it now, the other Squads will get the picture and step up.” The two mares pulling the chariot nodded to each other and turned their attention forward. “Hehe, hold on to your glasses Twi.” Grim muttered. “What? I’m not wearing-WAHHH!!!” The chariot took off like a rocket, accelerating like nothing she’s ever experienced. The rushing wind drowned out cries and once the metal transport broke the sound barrier her words were forever lost to the slipstream. The boom shook the skies, calling for action from the other guards around them. One by one the flock of chariots accelerated, each disappearing with a thunderous boom and zooming off toward Trottingham. Luna Burns Red Trottingham was burning. The skies above the town were stained orange and black by the malevolent pyre that was consuming the homely structures. The smells of searing flesh and setting gore polluted the air, where there was once peace, anarchy now reigned. Death was so heavy in the air that the skittering pony populace could feel it clinging to to their coats like swamp tar. Fires raged, devouring everything in their path; stone, hay, wood, and flesh were all swallowed by the vicious inferno like tasty snacks. The flames moved with an otherworldly intelligence, everywhere there was fuel, it hit first, growing in size and strength. Everywhere, ponies fled from both fire and predator alike, both where to fast. A red blur darted across a street and into and building. A brown blur was right on its heels. The building's front door slammed shut. The brown blur crashed through the door, smashing the wooden obstacle into splinters. Frantic scrambling, pained screaming, and surprised yelping escaped through the doors and windows of the establishment. It came to an end just as quickly as it started, casting an eerie psuedo-silence across the area, nothing but the background crackle of burning wood made a sound. A tall bipedal figure slowly stepped out from the building, behind it, being dragged by a single hind leg was a beaten red stallion. Once completely out in the open air, the hellhound lifted the stallion up until his preys gut was level with his snout. Without waiting another moment the hound opened his mouth as far it its jaws would allow and started to tear at the pony's belly. Blood, entrails, and stomach acid ran down the predator's face and chest, impacting the ground with a sickening splosh. Right as the beast was starting to lose itself to the feast, a head of cabbage lightly rolled into its paw. Now, more alert, the hound scanned the area. Spotting the the broken down cabbage cart, the hound turned its nose up to the air and attempted to pick out anything of interest. They weren't stupid beast, it knew that based on the arrangement of the vegetables in the cart the cabbage wouldn't have just fallen out without being jostled and based on the carts position, being stricken by fallen debris was highly unlikely as well. Its curiosity paid off when its nose picked up two of its favorite scents. Adrenaline and arousal... The hound quickly made its way over to the vegetable cart, crossing the distance nearly instantly. With a simple flex of the arm and a twist of the wrist it slapped away cart like it weighed nothing, revealing a shivering yellow foal, cradled in her mother's baby blue hooves. "The little one would have had a better chance at life had she escaped alone. How does it feel to know that your child will die because of your inability to control you body's greedy need for sex?" It growled in a raspy feminine voice. Slowly, she reached out with her claws, intent on taking the foal. A lavender blur crashed into the massive wolf, followed by a piercing crack akin to a thousand whips. The force of the was enough impact sending sending the mother and her foal reeling across the ground. The cobble stone split like a nut, and the buildings shook violently, some collapsing from the force. Whatever it was that hit the wolf hit struck with enough force to bury it in a massive crater with an elevated rim. The mother's ears rang and her head swam from the sudden force, but she and her child were no worse for wear. Looking up, she reluctantly searched the area, mostly the crater, for any signs of movement. She flinched and her ears swiveled forward when a small stone rolled down the side of the crater that she was facing. She held her child closer when she saw a form lumbering through the dust. It was a young lavender unicorn mare dressed in the garb of one of Princess Luna's magus. The pony stumbled out of the dust cloud and cough softly into a hoof to remove the irritating particles from her lungs. She shook her herself off, shedding puffs of dust with each movement. The unicorn looked up at the frightened mare staring at her. "You've got to get out of here! Head towards-" she coughed again. "-The edge of town, the Night Guard will take you back to canterlot!" The mother nodded. As fast as she could she grabbed up her filly and place her on her back. As fast as she could, the galloped away from the lavender pony. Twilight watched the two ponies dart off into the town. Please... Let them make it out of here. she thought as the mother's tail disappeared around the corner of a building. A throaty growl came from behind her, causing her heart to leap into her chest. Twilight took a breath and calmly turned around. Ok, you can do this Twilight... Remember what Grim taught you... Remember the text on amaroks... > Arc 1-6 (Burn the Candle at Both Ends) > -------------------------------------------------------------------------- Year 379, month 11, week 1, day 6 It’s been several centuries and all of the original ponies I created have died; however, Pinkie is still alive and well apparently, the power I gave her keeps her young as well. Go figure. Seeing, as she is the oldest and most experienced pony, I instructed her to take the reins of leadership. The newer generation does not even believe I exist. Good. I’d rather not be involved directly anymore. I do not want to be worshipped as a god. Year 934, month 7, week 1, day 3 Pinkie came to me in tears, claiming that she has not had friends in almost 500 years. From the loneliness in her eyes, I can tell that she isn’t lying. The ponies wised up and noticed that management didn’t change despite the tricks Pinkie used to keep them off of her trail. She says that they know she’s been around since the creation of ponykind and that they know she has powers no other pony possesses. According to her, they raised her to the status of a god emperor. None of this I knew, I’d been asleep on the moon a good millennium prior. I could fix this problem easily. I took enough away the portion of her power that kept her young and gave her the power of reincarnation. Every time she dies she’ll lose the memories of her past life, but she’ll always be a pink earth pony mare named Pinkie (in some fashion)and she’ll always have the powers I gave her. Her love of parties and her talents will remain constant and she’ll always be able to feel me watching. Year 1004, month 2, week 3, day 3 Today, Pinkie died for the first time. For the first time in countless ages, I shed tears. I know she’ll return, but she won’t remember me. It’s been a long time since I’ve felt truly alone. -Journal of Kokusho -Burn the Candle at Both Ends- The setting was as serene as it could be. Birds chirped in the distance, singing of the beauty of the new dawn. A gentle sea breeze wafted across the white sands of the beach, carrying with it the salty scent of natural brine and marine life. Where the white sands ended, lush viridescent grass sprung up, trailing off until great thick wooden trunks rose up into the skyline. Gracefully, Belius strode across the surface of the emerald waters with her arms outstretched towards the skies. Small winged balls of glowing water occasionally landed on her hands or shoulders each receiving caring nuzzles before being sent on its way. Belius, the water spirit, frolicked carelessly over her waters. This was her domain and here she was queen. The fox like goddesses wanted for nothing other than the happiness and safety of her children, the water sprites. They were delicate little things, buzzing about on glittering gossamer wings. Together they were the weather of the world. Her children went wherever the wind took them, pooling together in midair in the perfect show of harmony. As a family, they brought rain to far off lands. The results of her children’s joining weren’t always as benign though. Hurricanes, typhoons, floods, and thunderstorms were all the doing of her children, but they could no more control when they merged or the effects of their merger any more than one could chose the amount of air their blood cells carry. They were a part of a natural system, one that Belius felt occurred for a reason. Belius mulled on what her enemies wanted: A complete cease and desist of her and her children’s weather altering activities. Of course her answer had been no. Without her and the water sprites, how would the creatures on the other side of the sea receive rainwater during the wet monsoons? She wasn’t the only one to receive such a command, both of her brothers and her sister had be given the same ultimatum: Cease you disruptive activities or prepare to face righteous judgment. Their response had been the same as hers, a resounding “no”. Berial-- Lord of Light and Life; Ifrit-- King of Fire and Instinct; Zerona-- Queen of Darkness and Fear; and herself, Belius-- Spirit of Water and Tranquility all chose to oppose their oppressors. With each choice comes consequences and the consequence of their choice was war. Belius refused to fight their oppressors, instead providing her kin asylum when they needed to recuperate. Her kin, however fought with gusto, defending their land and children with everything they had. The fighting continued for centuries, neither side able to gain any ground over the other. Belius believed that the fighting would never end. Then Fear fell. With Zerona’s death, they lost morale and fighting strength allowing their foes to push them into a corner. Belius grieved over the loss of her sister for nearly a year, but never let her sadness lash out at the world. Belius stared into the calm water below her as she began to relive her grief. Super-heated air crackled and whistled, breaking the spirit from her thoughts and drawing her attention to the beach in front of her. The air whined in protest over the physics-shattering event occurring in front of Belius. Without warning, a massive rift of chaotic flames tore everything along the sandy beach into pieces, disturbing the serenity of the scene. The burning doorway snapped open, taking in a sudden burst of fresh air from surrounding area. The rapid influx of fuel gave the flame within the rift renewed life, causing a deadly, concussive backdraft that burned and toppled several of weeping willows at the tree line. The sands surrounding the blaze became glass as the angry inferno roiled the nearby ocean waters. A battered and bloodied figured fell out of the raging flame, causing the fire to fizzle out. Desperately, it tried to right itself and stand on its own two legs, but its beaten body refused to obey. Its claws gripped at the sand, digging deep furrows in the sediment. The gesture was full of rage, even though the creature’s face was hidden, you could tell that it wished there was a throat where its claws closed. “Damn her!” “Ifrit!” Belius yelled. Immediately, she ceased her frolicking and galloped over to her fallen brother. “She killed him...” He fell-- unconscious-- into Belius’s embrace. Belius gently rested the wolf’s head on her lap and summoned a large mass of water from sea. The cool, emerald liquid rushed to Ifrit, covering his wounds like a medical salve. Belius held her hands over her brother’s body and called upon her magic. Her clawed hands and the patches of seawater both emitted a bright blue glow and pulsed in time with each other, slowly their lives synchronized with each other’s. A heartbeat for a heartbeat. A surge of magic for a surge of magic. As if time were being reversed Ifrit’s wounds started to heal, some completely vanishing, though the worst lingered a while longer. Belius didn’t even have to question where the wounds came from; the cauterized gashes and severe burns on the beast king of flames could have only been inflicted by one being, one mare. The water spirit shivered, her eyelids were clenched as tightly as possible as in an attempt to stem the flow of tears. One of her brothers was dead and the other barely escaped. I begged you not to antagonize the ponies… She rubbed the fur on her brother’s face. Look at where it’s gotten you. Ifrit shifted and squirmed as Belius worked on revitalizing him. Suddenly, as if a switch had been flipped, the wolf’s eyes snapped open. His eyes darted around; it was clear from the low growls that he was one small push away from panic. He tried to jump up and make a break for it, but Belius brought him into a powerful, loving embrace before he could get away. Like the wild beast he was, Ifrit struggled, thrashed, and growled. Waves of intense heat burst from him, incinerating the small shoreline plants, and scorching the sands around him. “Shhh, it’s alright, you’re safe now,” she whispered into his ear. “Our struggle against the ponies has escalated, she knows how to kill us. Permanently… ” His arms hung limply at his sides. “I- We can’t continue like this. Belius, you need to help me fight back.” “This is why I told you to leave the ponies be. I warn-” “-You warned me?” Ifrit interjected. “Belius, our brother is dead! His blood is on the ponies’ hooves… Other than live, what have we done? ” Silence was his answer. Water sprites danced around the two’s heads making cheerful, upbeat sounds, glad that mother’s family was well. Belius stared at the ground and refused to make eye contact with Ifrit. “They’re hunting us down; Berial is dead… She’ll come for me, then for you, Belius...” ...Belius, Belius, Bel… Belius! She awoke with a start. Bright, glowing blue eyes hovered not too far from her face. Staring into the deep pools, she could feel the concern behind the gaze. “M-master?” “There’s just no help for you is there Belius?” Kokusho held out his hand to her. With a firm yank he pulled her up. “I’m not you master, I’m your friend.” Once she was up and the haze had fallen from her mind she came to a startling realization. They were no longer in the strange ruins that she and Kokusho found. The chilly mountain air nipped at the flesh under Belius’s coat, but freezing temperatures were of no concern to the water spirit. A thin frosty mist hovered around her face, slightly hampering her view. The world beneath her seemed to stretch on forever. The greens of the forest and the blues of lakes painted a tranquil scene, letting her forget her recent dream. Somehow, they had gotten to one of Equestria’s frozen peaks, nearly a thousand miles away from the volcano. She couldn’t imagine Kokusho carrying her all the way here in his weakened state, but she had no other idea for how they made the trip. “What happened to that strange place we were in with the warp pipe generator?” she still had no idea what that was. Kokusho chuckled. “Funny you should mention that.” The man held up his right arm so that Belius could get a closer look. He closed his eyes and furrowed his brow as he concentrated. White electricity snaked across his arm, increasing in intensity with each passing moment. With a wave of his arm he tore the space in front of them open, creating a stable rift. The edges of the portal crackled and pulsed with power. They peered through the breach together, Belius, eager to see where it led. It led to her flanks. Belius stared at the strange scene. Before her was nothing but a fuzzy faded yellow surface. She tilted her head as she tried to decipher what she was seeing. “What manner of scrying spell is this?” A devious grin spread across Kokusho’s face as he reached into the portal, a small amount of electricity came to life at the tip of his finger. “EEK!” Belius leaped away from the human’s shocking touch, her sudden uncoordinated movement caused her to nearly face plant in the snow. Kokusho couldn’t hold his mirth in any longer, his silly grin gave way to full-fledged laughter the moment he caught sight of Belius’s flushed face and puffed out cheeks. The uncharacteristically vulnerable squeal was something he never thought he would hear from her. For as long as he’d known her the water spirit had been a pillar of inner strength and a source of reason and clarity whenever he needed it. The least he could do for her was to give her a few laughs in this trying time. Kokusho’s joviality was infectious, soon Belius found herself chuckling quietly at his antics. She lay down in the snow, her legs delicately folded beneath her frame and continued to gaze out at the world. Not even a second later, she felt Kokusho taking his place at her side. “Even though temperature isn’t a threat to me, I still feel cold,” he leaned into her, letting her fur shield him from the winds. Belius curled up around him, sharing her body heat. “You do not believe yourself better than the inhabitants of this world. You see yourself as someone who is just as weak as everyone else.” She turned to look at him. “You feel cold because you think you should, you think the laws of the world apply to you.” She never once broke eye contact with Kokusho. “It’s one of the qualities I admire most about you. It’s why I follow you and not my brother.” For several minutes, Kokusho just sat there, silently contemplating what his friend had said. “You were frowning...” Belius looked at him and raised an eyebrow. “In your sleep... you were frowning. Bad memories?” The human asked. “I suppose you could call them that,” Belius said quieter than usual as she stared at the snow around them. “Ifrit?” She nodded. The entire motion looked downcast. “The last time we saw each other I didn’t see things as he did and now he’s ignoring me. Perhaps if I had helped Ifrit back then-” she was stopped by Kokusho’s finger on her lips. He sighed, “Why do you keep bringing this up? There’s nothing you could’ve done. What happened wasn’t entirely your fault.” He ran his fingers through her fur. The methodical massage eliciting a calmed purr from her. Kokusho could feel her muscles relaxing at his touch. “I just can’t let it go...” “Don’t let it eat you alive.” “...” “Mast- Kokusho, I am cold as well.” “I know, Bel, I know.” The two friends sat there on the frozen peak, watching the sun set. Without Celestia influencing it, it was more graceful than it had been in centuries. The calculated, precise dip of the star now seemed feral, unleashed. To the public they wouldn’t notice any difference, but to the two immortals this sunset was the beginning of a new era. Even at a time like this, they could spare a moment just to appreciate what they had. It wasn’t much, but it was all they needed. -Burn the Candle at Both Ends- “Shit,” Grim Stride cursed as he leaned over the railing of the carriage. Shit indeed. Their carriage had overshot its projected destination by almost a mile and a half, placing them directly above the heart of Trottingham. The cityscape had become a beautiful masterpiece created by an amalgamation of the most dreadful ingredients. Below them, fires raged and wolves rampaged. Smoke and the acrid stench of cooked flesh pervaded the air, cloaking the streets in a veil of death; while a cacophony of horrifying screams created the abhorrent symphony for the piece. Pony parts lay scattered across the streets, leaving ribbons of bloods trailing from the severed limbs back to their dead or dying owners. Grim wretched when he peaked over the railing of their sky carriage. The bat pony hadn’t witnessed a scene this horrific since the changeling incursion on luvcat territory. As gruesome as it was to see the little felines beaten and drained until they were nothing more than bruised husks, it paled in comparison to the carnage below him. “Damn, we’re going to have to continue on this course until we get to the other side of town,” his stomach still lurched when he looked below, but if it bothered the stallion, he hid it well. “From there we evacuate anypony we can and push these beasts to the center of town where we can finish them off! Everypony got that?” He received as cascade of battle cries as an answer. His team was on board, all except for the shivering librarian with her hooves cupped over her ears. WhatamIdoinghere… whatamIdoinghere… whatamIdoinghere... Twilight had been repeated that mantra ever since they came out of supersonic transit. Curiosity had once again gotten the better of the bookish mare, her insatiable need to know all but forced her to look over the railing once they slowed down. The moment she saw the state of Trottingham, she recoiled away from the murderous view and withdrew herself from the real world. This was nothing like her other experiences. Nightmare Moon-- the jealous goddess; Discord-- the spirit of chaos; Chrysalis-- the parasitic queen; and Sombra-- the tyrannical slave driver; were all villainous in their own terrible way, but none of them reveled in such wanton murder and destruction! IthoughtIunderstood… IthoughtIunderstood… Dear sweet Celestia, what can I do here? I want to help, but- but… This is just too much… I can’t... A shrill cry caused her ears to perk up and herself destructive inner world to shatter. It sounded like a filly, but in all this chaos? Twilight jerked around and leaned of the carriage railings. Swiveling ears searched for the source of the cry. “Twilight,” Grim called out. Twilight couldn’t hear anything other than the crying of the threatened child. Her frantic searching ended when she spotted a fallen mare clutching her filly. Twilight immediately bristled when she saw what was stalking towards them, climbing up on to the railings she delicately balanced on the edge of the flying carriage. From up here the amarok would have looked like little more than brown splotch, but to Twilight, it appeared as if she were peering through a telescope. Suddenly, her fear didn’t seem to matter anymore, all that mattered was the two ponies in danger right now. I can save them, I know I can! Slowly, she let her body tilt forward. “Don’t you dare!” The stallion yelled after her. “Stick to the plan!” They stared at each other for a moment. The moment his eyes caught hers, Grim knew that he had lost any possible argument he could bring up. Damn his rank, it wouldn’t do anything to convince the mare in front of him. Twilight had that look in her eyes: the look she had when she stood up after being knocked down, the look she had when she didn’t immediately know the solution to a situation. Everything from her focused expression to her strong posture yelled that her mind was made up. “I can’t do that, those ponies need help!” I apologize princess, but I’m about to do something illogical… Stupid even. And with that she let herself fall. “Luna- damnit!” “Do we go after her, sir,” Dune Bug asked as she watched the unicorn plummet like a lavender brick. “No, stay the course, we don’t have the time to retrieve her now.” Don’t die you foalish mare. -Burn the Candle at Both Ends- The wind rushing through her mane felt good, better than she could have ever imagined. It was exhilarating! I have to master that wing spell at some point. Twilight gathered a small amount of magic, and then released the burst of energy behind her, adding thrust to her rapidly accelerating descent. The explosion of mana rocketed her pass the sound barrier, causing a resounding whip-like crack effect as she made a beeline for her target. The wolf never saw the purple missile that struck her down. What happens when a seventy- nine kilo pony travelling at five kilometers a second slams into the ground? It would be like detonating a fifth of a ton of TNT. Twilight almost came to the realization a little too late. Twilight slammed into the wolf like a catapulted stone in a castle’s wall. The moment she felt her hooves contact stone, the mare cast a powerful force-dampening field. The force of the impact was enough to send the mother and her foal reeling across the ground. The cobble stone split like a nut, and the buildings shook violently, some collapsing from the force. Whatever it was that hit the wolf hit struck with enough force to bury it in a massive crater with an elevated rim. Twilight’s ears were ringing and her vision was completely obscured by dust. A strange burning sensation on the tip of her ear and at several places across her body caused to shiver and jerk; she still wasn’t use to rapid regeneration, but she definitely wasn’t complaining. She crawled off the unconscious wolf and out of the newly formed crater (that she would later completely deny being the cause of). Twilight coughed violently, expunging the invading dust particles from her lungs. Luckily, the mare and her foal were directly in front of her so she didn’t have to look too hard to find them. She had given them a chance to escape, but they were just lying there, staring at her. "You've got to get out of here! Head towards-" she coughed again. "-the edge of town, the Night Guard will take you back to Canterlot!" The mother nodded. As fast as she could she grabbed up her filly. Placing the child her on her back, she put all her strength and focus into fleeing. Twilight watched the two ponies dart off into the town. Please... Let them make it out of here. She thought as the mother's tail disappeared around the corner of a building. A throaty growl came from behind her, causing her heart to leap into her chest. Twilight took a breath and calmly turned around. Ok, you can do this Twilight... Remember what Grim taught you... Remember the text on hellhounds... A single claw gripped at the edges of the crater, the weakened cobblestone gave under the wolf’s strength, causing her to tumble back into hole. She yelped loudly. Twilight took a mental note of how vulnerable distressed it sounded. It almost sounds like a… Oh horse-apples... The scratching of claws echoed through the city streets, mingling with the crackling and popping of burning wood. Three more of the large bipedal wolves revealed themselves. One came crawling down the side of the building to Twilight’s left, a shred of fresh pony flesh hung from its jaws and swung lazily with each movement the beast made. Another peaked around the corner down the road. It raised its nose to the sky and took a few whiffs of the air. It’s head turned to the crater that female had fallen in, then to the lavender mare who had caused his pack mate such pain. The final wolf vaulted from rooftop to rooftop with a staggering degree of ease. For a moment, Twilight was mesmerized by the creature’s agility. Her moment of blissful curiosity didn’t last long. Her foes bolted down the street covering the distance in under a second, putting them nose to nose with the mare. They rose to their full height, six feet of murderous fur and muscle towered over her as dark brown eyes burned with primal rage. And every ounce of it was directed at Twilight. A glint of light flashed above her head, had she been any slower she would have completely missed it. They’re fast. Twilight’s training kicked in, breaking her musings. With practiced precision, she telekinetically drew her halberd above her head, intercepting the lightning quick strike. The force of the blow caused the cobblestone under Twilight’s hooves to shatter like dinner plates. The mental feedback was excruciating It felt as if a ton of bricks were rattling around in her skull, pressing down against her brain. Twilight whimpered as she felt her telekinesis buckle under the creature’s strength. She struggled to keep her guard up, but it was a losing battle. They’re too strong. Then stop playing their game. Twilight stood across the mat from Grim, panting. Her mane was soaked with sweat from the day’s sparring sessions causing it to stick to her like a spider web. She grumbled incoherently under her breath as the tiny cuts and bruises littering her body healed. “You’re too fast and too strong!” She called out, “You’ve been doing this sort of thing for years, not to mention the fact that you’re some sort of super pony!” She huffed. During their sparring session, she formed rough estimates of the numbers behind his physical prowess. They didn’t make sense. There was no way a normal pony, bat or otherwise, should be able to do what he does. “Don’t try to best me on my terms then.” Grim tapped on his head, “This is your greatest strength. No matter how fast or how strong you get never forget, Twilight. You are a thinker.” Twilight drew more magic into herself, causing a secondary over glow to form around her horn. The other wolves, seeing their pack mate struggle to end the small pony, jumped to his aid. Claws and teeth shot towards the mare at the speed of sound. She let of a panicked shriek as the beasts tore into her flesh. Canines pierced her shoulder, tearing out bloody slabs of skin and muscle and painting the ground beneath her crimson. Claws slashed at her left side, shattering her ribcage, rupturing her lung and spilling her guts in the process. Her magic died out, causing the halberd to fall, clattering loudly against the ruined stone. Without the polearm hindering its progress her original assailant’s weaponized limb crashed against her face. Twilight didn’t even have time to scream before her skull was smashed in and her head torn in two. Brain matter and sharp segments of bone sprayed out from the point of impact. Pink mush leaked out of the side of her head still attached to her neck, splattering into the blended heap of viscera at her hooves. Twilight swayed back and forth as the strength rapidly drained from her body. The mare fell to the ground. She smiled eerily at her killers. Her entire form shimmered with magic. Bright cracks raced across her body until the mare’s visage was like that of stained glass. Her grin grew as a magenta sphere formed around all four them. Twilight’s eyes burned with magic. The light emanating from her body rapidly increased until it was unbearable, forcing the wolves to shield their eyes from the magical flare in front of them. Quicker than the wolves could react, the inside of the bubble was inundated in white light. Muffled whines escaped the shield as furred fists hammered at the prison. Soon the cries stopped and the shield fell, releasing the dark grey smoke trapped within. Everything within the shields boundaries had been vaporized or severely burned. Two bodies, barely distinguishable from the char around them, rested in the soot. A slab of burned meat sloughed off the one of the corpses, the only movement from the bodies. A cloaked figure skulked through the alley’s shadows. A thin smile spread across the hooded pony’s mouth, flashing a white toothy grin to over her shoulder towards the smoldering pile of bodies. For my first time using the explosive body clone spell it went fairly well. I used a little too much magic though. Never overcharge a spell to compensate for lack of experience. She recited Celestia’s lesson to herself and nodded her head, satisfied at her sloppy, but effective tactic. Ok, now that that’s taken care of I can turn my attention to regrou- Before Twilight could finish her thought, a dry, cracked claw burst through the wall of the building to her left, showering her in wooden splinters. A Powerful hand seized her throat, crushing her windpipe while fine dagger-like claws pierced her flesh. Twilight was helpless against the creature’s onslaught. The sudden attack caused her body to go rigid and her brain to shut down. Twilight hadn’t made a move to defend herself, not even when the smoking, burned beast viciously slammed her body into the ground- repeatedly. Her head swam as the scene before her rapidly shifted from open sky to cobblestone with each flex of the wolf’s powerful arm. Eventually its brutal attacks ceased. With its energy expended, the creature tired and fell over, landing next to her with a soft thud. Panting from her ordeal, Twilight could only stare at her assailant through bleary eyes as tears flowed freely down her cheeks. A weak whimper escaped her mouth, slipping through the thin space between her lips and sounding more like a broken whistle than a sound of agony. The mare grunted each time a bone shifted back into place and mended itself. The creature beside her was cooked black and horribly disfigured. All but a few patches of fur had been incinerated, dotting it’s body like sparse patches of vegetation in a droughted desert. Its ruined flesh was split open and cracked. The first thing that came to Twilight’s mind as she gazed at the steaming wounds was a dried lakebed. The wolf’s left arm was nonexistent, completely eradicated by the contained blast the unicorn released upon it and its brethren. Twilight rolled over and stood, loosening the pebbles from her coat. Her thoughts were running at a mile a minute and she felt as if her head would explode at any moment. Everything was crashing down around her. She was alone in hostile territory. At least I saved those two ponies. Now I can catch up with Grim. She took a deep breath to steady her heart rate. A moment later she had compartmentalized her thoughts and pushed the more disturbing of them into a deep dark hole that she could review later. Find Grim and everything will be okay. -Burn the Candle at Both Ends- A single scorched and bloody lavender hoof jutted out from a pile of smoldering rubble. The injured extremity wiggled around until it found purchase on a sturdy stone support beam. With as much strength as she could muster, the battered mare pulled herself out of the seared remains of whatever the structure had been before its annihilation. Bone, stone, and wood all snapped with the same enthusiasm as Twilight hefted herself up through the destruction. Patches of dried, caked up blood stained her coat. The dark crimson blotches dotted her body as if she were a murderer who had just reveled in her butchery. Her entire left ear had been torn off, leaving a gory stump of cartilage connected to a section of badly cracked skull. The crash dislocated her jaw, it hung uselessly, unable to be moved. Her back and side both looked like a griffon sushi chef’s cutting board; deep gashes exposed bone, muscle, and organs to the open air. Pulverized, would be the best way to describe several of the vertebrae in her lower back. The exposed discs reminded one of shattered dinner plates. Shakily, Twilight rose to her hooves. Steam rolled off of her as the wounds on her body closed and mended. Suddenly, the strength left her legs sending her muzzle first into the dirt. Twilight hit the ground, choking for air. A torrent of crimson life fluid and mauled flesh gushed from her mouth with each cough. She clenched at her chest, desperately. The feeling was like nothing she’d ever felt before- somewhere between drowning and and being set on fire from the inside out. Her vision faded with each passing second until the darkness threatened to completely overtake her. The sounds of the world grew muffled to her. Even the beating of her heart seemed distant. She could feel her panicking heart slow to a crawl, as weakness took over her body. Twilight, resigned to her fate, let herself fall limp- that’s when she felt it- something cold and stiff jutting out from her chest. With what little magic she could muster, she grabbed hold of the obstruction and pulled with all of her telekinetic might, removing it with a wet sounding pop that was immediately accompanied by the splash of liquid on stone. Twilight’s vision returned quickly once her healed lung could properly expunge the blood that flooded it. Everything had been reduced to smoke and ashes in a heartbeat. The skies were clogged with enough ash to block out Celestia’s sun, choking away what little life Trottingham had left. Instead of buildings, piles of wreckage occupied Trottingham, reducing the visage of the once great town to that of a blackened plain dotted with the carbonized husks of dwellings. A swing sets devoid of foals and parents defiantly remained upright, mocking the ruinous powers that levelled the city. It was a joke in and of itself. On the skeleton of razed hut, a scrap of the Equestrian flag waved proudly. Nothing remained of if save for a discolored wing, ripped to the point where only five feathers spread over a dirtied moon, clutching at the satellite. Twilight’s nose scrunched up, the town smelled like rancid flesh. The odor of seared flesh and charred plant matter dominated her nostrils, causing her to blench. Tears flowed freely from her eyes, now that the shock dissipated and the barriers between herself and reality crumbled, her raw heart was left to shoulder the scene before her. The mare held a hoof up to her head. “W-what happened...” Twilight rounded the corner of the final building in the block. Town square lie in disarray before her, completely empty save for the gratuitous gore, consuming fires, and battered combatants. A large, imposing wolf like creature towered over a defiant looking bat-pony. The shredded bodies of Grim’s squad lay strewn about the plaza. Limbs and entrails were tossed haphazardly like discarded toys in a foals playpen. The macabre game seemed to be ending and now pegasus was alone against a beast of nature, the very aspect of bloodlust, passion, and fire. Grim’s conviction, however, did not waver. He dashed at the beast with his front legs outstretched, each leg brandishing both his nodachi and katana, each poised to sink into Ifrit’s flesh. The captain moved like greased lightning, reaching speeds Twilight thought impossible for the pony body to withstand. Ifrit would never be able to react to Grim’s strike in time, not from this range. Twilight’s eyes lost track of the pegasus. She knew her perceptions were playing a trick on her, but it felt like hours before the strike connected. The sonic boom reached her right as the pegasus’ body rocketed into an adjacent building. Grim’s body smashed against the sturdy construction, both giving way simultaneously. The mare blinked, confused by the turn of events. Twilight could see his injuries as they formed. She watched as his snapped ribs punched through the his chest, and his skull flattened. She watched as his wings crumpled against the reinforced construction and as his legs bent at inappropriate angles from the force of the impact. This was neither the outcome she wanted, nor expected. “Impressive, for a pony.” Ifrit said, his voice, sweet as poison apple. “You, unlike your pathetic pack, forced me to actually focus on avoiding that strike; had I underestimated you, little pony, you may have managed to sink your sad little briars into my flesh.” The wolf smiled at Grim’s twitching body, displaying his predatory teeth to the dying soldier. The busted up form of the night captain jerkily slid down from its resting place, leaving a trail of blood along the side of the structure and landing in a heap. Dark grey feathers danced in the air around Grim before finally joining him on the ground. This wasn’t happening, it was too surreal. Grim, the lightning fast night guard captain lay dying at the paws of the demon Ifrit. Twilight let her eyes roam across the carnage splayed out in front of her. Through the raging infernos, she barely made out the forms of several familiar ponies. Tears welled up in her eyes as she identified each mangled corpse as one of the members of Grim’s squad. Her entire body shook, every fiber of her being screamed her, compelling her legs run to their barely recognizable bodies. But she didn’t. No hope... There’s no hope left…If she held her head any lower, her muzzle would be coated in the same ashen snow that smothered stone streets of Trottingham. No! Not like this. Even if I have to stand up to Ifrit myself, I’ll stop him! I have to... Through agony and weakness, Grim spoke up. “Y-you’re just a s-s-selfish coward. A slave t-to your in-instincts… Too afraid t-to even try a d-different way of life… You don’t-” the captain coughs up even care that you’re hurting others...” Grim spat a glob blood and mucus out of mouth. Chips of the pony’s teeth mingled with the dirt, pebbles, and soot that had settled on the streets with the pony. “Defiant to your last breath. You continue to impress me pony.” The wolf held a claw out as he spoke. The air above Ifrit’s overturned palms wavered, distorting Twilight’s view of his machinations. Intermittent bursts of white flame jumped between his fingers while burning gel dribbled from his hands onto the ground. The dirt beneath him hissed loudly as the gel made contact with the ground, but not loud enough to drown out the ancient creatures words. “You have the spirit of a hunter and a will of fire. You, little pony, are worthy of experiencing the World Fire. A large orb of the burning pseudo-liquid formed in Ifrit’s palm. “O Flame through me enact thy will, “Soak thee in desire and instinct, “Let the Blaze rise up and judge this pony’s worth, “By Flame destabilize the controller of bondage in thy life, “By Flame neutralize all stigma inherited from thy parents, “With Flame, trample upon all enemies of thy advancement and promotion, “No darkness shall hide from the light of thy Flame.” Ifrit lazily tossed the fireball onto Grim’s still body. Liquid fire cascaded over the pony’s body like a tsunami overtaking a harbor. The moment the blaze touch the night guard’s body, he sprung to life. Twilight’s ears perked up at the sight of Grim standing again, relieved by the sight of him alive and well. It took everything she had not to run to him and draw the stallion into a powerful embrace. This was the best thing to happen this night. All wasn’t lost! She could rush in and grab Grim and they could fly back to Canterlot. She knew she could save him. She knew that Grim would make it. Then the screaming started. Grim’s agonized voice broke through the crackling sounds of cooking matter. Whatever the noise was that came from his mouth. Twilight was sure it wasn’t from a pony. Ponies’ voices didn’t sound like ancient rusted gears grinding against each other. The burning stallion fell muzzle first onto the ground, tearing at his body with his hooves in a vain attempt to rip his own skin from the bones. He continued to roll and yell forcing Twilight to avert her eyes from the barbaric display. Eventually it ended and the town was silent. Twilight looked up. Her eyes widened and tears formed on the brim of her eyelids from what she saw. “A shame,” Ifrit intoned as he crushed the pegasus’ smoldering skeleton. Several smaller bipedal forms cloaked in red and gold robes emerged from around the eastern side of the town square. Twilight assumed them to be wolves like the ones she saw attacking the town. They moved toward seamlessly, ten sets of legs all working to bring a large onyx and spinel chest to Ifrit. By the magic radiating from the chest, Twilight could tell that it was enchanted with hundreds of sealing spells, likely of the princesses’ own creation. They raised the chest and presented it to Ifrit, bowing their heads to stare at the floor while they did so. “All things are born in fire and to fire all things shall fall.” He placed his claws on chest and focused his power on the enchantments keeping it closed. Twilight’s fur stood on end and her horn tingled in reaction to the amount of raw, primal magic surging through the air. Her irises produced a faint glow, a side effect of her body venting the extra magical energy she was taking in. A small burst of superheated air originating from Ifrit and the chest washed over her. “NOOO! The Harlots! They will not keep me from my prize. My pack and I have suffered for over one thousand years. I will not be DENIED!” he roared. Twilight felt the familiar surge of magic radiating from the wolf once more, however this time the power was wrong. Her stomach lurched from the raged soaked mana permeating the area. She could feel his desperation and the concentration of magic increased. Raw mana arced between the individual strands of her mane as sparks of it flew out from her horn in uncontrollable spurts. Everything around her became wavy and distorted. The temperature was rising. Fast. She panted to cool herself off, but opening her mouth only caused the her spit to boil and evaporate. Just like the tears, staining her cheeks had moments before. “I need to get out of here...” Twilight muttered under her breath. She fell over on her side. It was too much. The heat was frying the fur off her body and blistering her skin as she struggled to pick herself up. She tried everything she could to find her strength, but the heat sapped it all. Her body grew heavier and more unresponsive with each passing second. Twilight feebly raised a hoof, but once succeeded in pawing at the ground. If this was to be the end, she at least wanted to see it. Using the last of her energy, Twilight opened her dried out eyes. She didn’t even get to scream before the sea of flames consumed her. A deep frown etched its way onto Twilight’s face. Probably should have left that memory buried. But she knew that was a lie. Had she not reminisced she wouldn't have the knowledge of Ifrit gaining possession some strange chest. She trotted through the smoking devastation around her. Wherever she was it wasn’t town square. According to her mental map she had been blasted several blocks away from where she was. With a sigh, she swallowed her apprehension and made The walk to town square was a dreary one. Fire, smoke, and corpses littered the streets (if you could even call the slagged paths streets anymore). After travelling with her nose to the ground for several minutes, Twilight finally reached her destination. Trottingham’s beautiful town square was even more ruined than it was her first time here. Like everything else it was completely leveled. Even Ser Locke’s Fountain was nothing more than a pile of rubble. Despite the status of the buildings, Twilight could tell, by her orientation, where Grim fell against Ifrit. She hadn’t seen or heard any signs of the wolves since she woke up, but she still treaded cautiously to her friend’s resting place. If what she remembered was correct Twilight knew she would find nothing but ashes, so instead of searching for the stallion’s body she opted to recover his swords. She dug around the site vigorously until her hooves his something metallic. Using her magic, she cleared the debris off the top of the object, revealing the undamaged nodachi and katana. Twilight lifted the weapons in her telekinetic grip and placed them on her back alongside her halberd. There was nothing left for her here. She crouched low and prepared a powerful jump, but a sudden spike of pain broke her concentration, causing her to grip the back of her head. Her skull throbbed for a moment, but the pain was short lived. “Urgh. What was that? A magic surge?” she guessed as she rubbed the back of her neck. There was a sniffle behind her. Survivors? Twilight’s heart raced at the prospect of finding somepony alive among the destruction. I’ll get them somewhere with some medical facilities I’ll- She whipped around to face the pony who was basically begging for attention. Her red eyes spied nothing but air. Another sniffle brought her gaze down. Standing at her hooves was a filly. A white, translucent earth pony filly. Twilight’s jaws worked, but no words came out. Trails of wispy vapor rose from the ghostly child’s body. This was a being of pure magical energy. The filly’s body emitted mana like a geyser, freely spilling power all around her. Twilight felt something wrap around her hooves. It’s touch sent electricity through the mare’s body. Her face drooped; through their contact, she could feel the child’s rapidly diminishing mana reserves. “I can’t find my mommy,” the filly said. “The nice pony saved us from the bad dogs then it got hot and n-now I can’t f-find her…” she stuttered. Vapor poured from filly’s eyes. Twilight assumed they were supposed to be tears. Twilight pulled her into a comforting embrace. Stroking the child’s mane, Twilight spoke softly, “Shh, little one. I don’t know where your mother is”-- the filly tensed at the news-- “but I promise you’ll be with her shortly. I-I can sing you a song to pass the time… Would you like that?” Twilight tried her best to sound as gentle as possible. She wasn’t a mother and she didn’t plan to be for a very long time. She’d been training all this time for combat, not for putting foals to bed. A cheek brushing against her chest reminded her that she had a pony in her clutches. And according to the pattern of the pony’s movement, Twilight had a song to sing. The unicorn sighed. I’m really not cut out for this. Fluttershy would know what to do in this situation. A small smile graced Twilight’s face. “This is a beautiful little song a friend taught me.” “Hush now, quiet now~” As Twilight sang and rocked the foal, she looked over the wreckage that was once Trottingham. Even with her first hoof account of events, she could figure out where it all went wrong. If they hadn’t overshot their destination would they have been fast enough to evacuate the town? If she was with Grim and the squad, could they have stopped Ifrit? The mare watched as blue wisps similar to the ones trailing off the little filly’s body seeped out from under the ruins of shattered buildings. “It’s time to go to bed~” The last traces of filly the floated away, scattering to the winds. -Burn the Candle at Both Ends- After what Twilight had just seen, a long flight was just what she needed. As she found out earlier, having the wind wash through your mane and supersonic speeds was quite calming. She’d had hours of silent flight to mull over everything, but now that time was at an end, Canterlot was in view. She used her magic to slow her approach on the castle’s pegasi runway. Her cloak was rigid, holding its shape and allowing her to glide easily. Twilight put a small amount of mana into the cloak, causing it to become pliable for a split second before shaping itself into a parachute. Before Twilight could lose her footing, ground control was at her side. Trained support ponies took her weapon, removed her cloak, and unlatched her armor. The items fell to the ground unceremoniously, they were unimportant now. Like a pit crew tuning up a chariot, they cared for Twilight. In less than two minutes, she was hydrated, place on a gurney, then wheeled into the castle. Darkness encroached upon the corners of her vision as she watched the ornate glass fixtures hanging above whizzed by. I-I made it back... Another uneasy, unrefreshing nightmare filled slumber. Another day of tossing and turning in bed because of traumas that nopony should ever have to endure. Twilight’s cheek brushed against her cool, fluffy pillow. She didn’t know how long it had been since her arrival at the castle, everything was a frustrating blur of self-loathing and fury. The mare had mixed feelings; in her sleep, she’d everything again: the bodies, the fire, the bloodshed, everything. She was so tired of it all. It was only her first outing for the cause of stopping Kokusho, but she’d seen enough. Her eyelids twitched. The memories of Trottingham threatened to flood her thoughts, as if a dam were near its breaking point. She groaned, cracking her eyes open, she tried to take in her surroundings and get her bearings. The space was much too dark to see anything, but the smell was familiar. “Too familiar...” She summoned a floating mote of bright purple light. The impromptu flare illuminated the room around her, revealing the space. Twilight’s eyes swept over the bed she was in. It was small, but she could still fit in it well enough. The six pointed star pattern comforter from her days as filly greeted her, she snuggled into the cottony fluff. For the moment, she was at peace. Twilight took solace in such a simple thing because it told her she was somewhere safe, somewhere nothing could harm or frighten her. The bookshelves towered over her defensively like vigilant sentinels tasked with her defense. She let herself remain wrapped up in the odor of books that had not been cracked open in years. It was a basic joy of hers, something primal she could enjoy without overthinking. Twilight felt a surge of magic building in the room with her. Teleporting was her most iconic skill, she knew the mechanics of it in and out. She knew when somepony was teleporting, it was for her reading that magic in the air was as simple as reading a foals picture book. The Princess of the Night appeared a few feet away from the bed, looking as if nothing was wrong. Twilight slid out of bed, wincing in anticipation for how sore her body would be, however, the pain and discomfort never came. Oh, right… The revelation sat sourly on her mind. Less than a week ago, her ability to take great deals of punishment and recover rapidly seemed like such a boon; long days of training with no pesky the muscle tenderness afterward, wounds healing immediately with little to no scar tissue, and boundless stamina convinced Twilight that she was better off. Even now she was thankful for the Death Essence’s contribution to her survival, if it didn’t grant her such impressive fortitude she wouldn’t be here now. Still, fathers, mothers, and foals had died, whereas she lived. Ponies with much more to live for than her were gone, entire families reduced to ash in the blink of an eye. Why do I get to live? Her head hung low as she reflected on Trottingham’s fate. Luna approached the unicorn and lowered her head, giving her friend a comforting nuzzle. Twilight shied away from the contact, too ashamed to accept the warmth of the princess. Luna noticed the mare’s ice-cold reaction and backed off. The alicorn knew the fate that befell Trottingham and that Twilight likely took it as a personal failure. “Twilight, there was nothing you could do...” Twilight shut her eyelids shut. Tears threatened to burst forth … Her entire body quaked as she held in her emotions. Quickly, Luna replaced the morose tone in her voice with one of amiable determination. “However, you must understand that this won’t be the last time where you fail to save everypony. We will have other chances to stop Kokusho and his vile cohorts. Come Twilight, we must meet with my sister and prepare for future assaults from the demons of Tartarus!” She trotted for the door with Twilight in tow. Right as Luna reached the door something snapped in Twilight. It was was if a magical bomb had went off in her skull, freezing her where she stood. “No...” The unicorn muttered under her breath. Luna stopped in her tracks, tossing a glance over her shoulder at the young mare, “No?” “I-I can’t do this again Luna… J-just tell P-princess Celestia that I apologize, but I can’t go back out there and fight like- like this again!” The dark alicorn slowly turned around on her hooves and brought Twilight into a strong, loving embrace. “It’s okay Twilight, we all fail sometimes. My sister and I are here to support you.” She stroked the purple mare’s back, “I understand how you feel...” Twilight chuckled. The sound was dry, mirthless, uncharacteristic of the unicorn. Luna broke the embrace to look into the unicorn’s eye purple eyes. Twilight’s gaze was fixed on the ground at her hooves. Her bangs hide the tear streaming down her face from Luna, but the immortal could still make out her friend’s shaky breathing. “You understand...” Twilight’s voice was low and carried a dark undertone. The words were tainted with a rage that Luna had never heard from the young pony before. “I’ve seen much death in my days, Twilight, it is never easy to witness the end of another’s life.” Luna intoned. “But have you seen what I have? Felt what I have?” She asked dryly. “It felt so- so wrong… You’ve seen the physical side, you’ve seen ponies die... but have you seen what happens after that?” Twilight’s eyes were wide open by this point. Her trembling worsened and sweat beaded on her brow as she continued to vent on her escort. “Have you ever sat for hours on end with the dead comforted their confused, terrified souls? Have you ever lied to fillies and colts about why they were ghosts? “Twilight-” “No! I-it’s my turn. Let me talk now!” She yelled abruptly, throwing Luna off balance. “Princess Celestia loves receiving my friendship reports, and I have no doubts that both of you would like to hear a full report on what happened in Trottingham, well here it is!” Twilight sucked in a huge volume of air, filling her lungs with the life giving oxygen as she prepared for her speech. “Dear Princess Celestia and Luna, Did you know that a foal’s soul wasn’t mature enough to exist outside of the body for more than a few hours? I learned this after the spirit of a foal I personally rescued evaporated into wisps of aether in my hooves! I’ve never felt so smothered, so out of my league in my life. Here was a precious, innocent life, taken, and I utterly failed to live up to expectations and stop the threat… I-I found her mother’s soul searching for her and explained that both she and her child were dead. The mare asked me if she and her foal would be reunited on the other side… I said yes and I’m a terrible pony for it. B-but what the buck am I supposed to say to a question like that?!” The last sentence, though included in the report, felt like a letter addressed to Luna personally. Luna was absorbed, but at the same time blown completely away. Twilight, at some point during her rant, managed to advance on the dark alicorn. In her time of passion, the purple maned mare chose to accentuate her grief by pounding away at her princess’s chest. Luna stood there, speechless as the distressed young mare beat at her with tired hooves. Confusion etched its way across her face as she tried to figure out which hurt more; the anguish-filled strikes from the mare, each landing like the thunderous blow of a siege engine or the fact that she and her sister sent such an innocent soul to do their dirty work, and intended to do so repeatedly. As soon as it began, it ended. But to Luna, it felt like hours of torture on her mind, body, and soul. She was sure that by the time this was all over, both she and her sister would have a nice little cell in Tartarus carved out for them. Right next to Discord. Twilight took a step away from Luna, her tear filled eyes pleading with those of the alicorn’s. No words were spoken spoke between the two, only understanding. Her horn flared as she drew a large amount of magic to herself. The words that poured out from Twilight’s broken soul, conveyed by the look they exchanged, were mirrored by Luna. “I’m sorry,” both souls said simultaneously. The flow of mana condensed tightly against the mare’s body, hugging her like a blanket. Energy exploded outward, lighting up the room, and forcing Luna to cover her eyes with a hoof. Where Twilight had been now stood empty, nothing betrayed that the she was ever there save for the circle of slagged marble tiles. The alicorn’s starry mane danced behind her, carried on waves of aether. She stared blankly at the molten stone in front of her. Her face was a mask of porcelain. A single tear ran down the slick material, eroding everything in its wake. “What now?” > Arc 2-1 (Of Coats and Masks) > -------------------------------------------------------------------------- ~Of Coats and Masks~ Reality gave way to a wicked tear in space. Writhing flames bordered the portal, holding the anomaly stable. Unimaginable heat poured from the rift, defrosting the mountain’s peak and bringing the area up to Ifrit’s standards of comfortability. The demonic wolf grasped the edges of his self made transportation, the preternatural heat being of no concern to him, and pulled his body free of the blazing hole in space. Ifrit’s heated paws contacted the ground with a loud hiss, blasting steam into the air. The sudden rush of heated water vapor washed over the frozen mountaintop, melting the frost and sending a warm deluge down to the world below. He snorted, twin jets of flame leapt from his nostrils, taunting the frigid air. This place was cold and stagnant. The opposite of everything he symbolized. He was flame; passion and progression and progression incarnate. His eyes scanned the peak for his “Lord”. The moment Ifrit’s gaze landed on the mysterious creature named Kokusho his mental state evolved from annoyed to enraged. Growling, the predator approached the sleeping man. Who did thing think he is? How dare he touch Belius? The demon stared at the two of them. The human was nestled snugly against his sister’s side. Belius was curled up around Kokusho, protecting him from the frost that had accumulated on their bodies, which was currently falling off of them in chunks. It would be so easy to end the creature here. To strike him down and cleanse Belius of its corrupting influence, though he doubted his sister would understand. Despite his confidence, Ifrit was not a fool. He knew that if his sister were to come at him in a fit of rage over his actions, there would be no force on the planet that could save him from the storm of her fury. For now at least. He mused. “So, what do you have for me? Did you and your wolves find what I was looking for?” Kokusho asked, running his fingers through the fox demon’s coat. Ifrit’s eyes popped open at the realization that the human had been awake this entire time. He still had no idea to what depths Kokusho’s power reached, but he hoped divination was not one of the being’s specialties. The scene of his sister being petted like a well cared for beast did nothing to dissipate his anger. He watched as Belius just accepted their lord’s touch, enjoying it even. Still she found the time glare at her older brother. I forget how well she can read me at times. Calming himself, the horned wolf prepared to answer the query. With the same unscrupulous grin a politician would bear, Ifrit began his debrief of what happened at Trottingham. His explanation was concise: his wolves assaulted the town, the ponies tried to fight back, Luna’s demon ponies escalated the confrontation, Trottingham was a casualty of war, and in the hamlet’s ashes he found nothing like what Kokusho described. A few details didn’t add up in Kokusho’s mind. Ifrit was a brute, so his unnecessary violence was to be expected. He also didn’t know if he could buy that the fire demon’s original intention wasn’t to level the town, but he had no way to prove otherwise. The real issue pulling at the back of his mind was the fact that his gauntlet had not been found. He had felt it there; getting it should have been easy. But instead, the dog had returned empty pawed and his gauntlet had vanished from his senses. The articles constantly called out to their master, clawing at his mind and demanding his attention, but now he could only feel one plea for reunion. Where the cry from his left gauntlet once occupied his thoughts, was nothing more than an empty space. The more Kokusho focused on it, the more intense the chills running down his spine became. Choosing to abandon the subject for now, he rose to his feet and shook off the a few patches of ice that were still clinging to him. “Sounds like your task was an absolute failure in every regard.” Kokusho popped his neck loudly. Belius stood as well, maintaining her protective stance around the human. “I accomplished none of the goals you set out for me...” Ifrit held out one of his large hands. Once he had turned his palm over, a small firestorm swirled to life in his grasp. “However, through blood and flame, I have contracted these creatures to your orders.” Clambering across his hand, a tiny red dragon whelp weaved through the wolf’s fingers. Though small compared to its full sized cousins, the creature still sported an impressive wingspan. Kokusho reached out to touch it and get a feel for the magic it held. The mini dragon was a compact turbine; energy poured from its tiny scaled hide freely, tingling his skin like static electricity. “Interesting...” The human said, curious about the reptile. It yipped and hissed happily, nuzzling against Kokusho’s hand, before suddenly leaping onto his shoulders. “And I can summon them in the same manner that you summoned this one?” Ifrit nodded. “Remember the feel of its magic. When you require their aid, simply think of your orders and use your magic to call to them. They will come, and they will obey.” Such creatures could be of great use. The dragons were easy to control, practically sized, and relatively powerful. Kokusho mulled over Ifrit’s failure and his gift. While he didn’t get the power boost he was expecting, the additional resources from the lab he had found coupled with the possibilities of his new legion was promising. Hopefully, through using what he already had, he would be able to track down his missing gauntlet. “Keep your eyes and ears open, Ifrit. If you need me, or I you, you know how to find me.” The air whined in protest as a fiery maelstrom erupted around the demon. “Yes, my lord,” Ifrit all but spat, disappearing in a whirlwind of flame and embers. Belius and Kokusho watched as the cloud of ash dispersed in the wind. Once the wolf’s magical signature could no longer be felt, the water spirit turned her gaze to her friend. “My brother is hiding something from us.” He rose an eyebrow at her assertion. ‘Us’? Kokusho thought. Rubbing his chin, the man sighed. “Of that there is no doubt, but we have to move forward regardless.” She shook, removing the last of the water and icicles from her coat. “Where must I go?” Instead of responding with words, Kokusho placed a hand on her shoulder. Belius shivered as his magic trickled into her. The magic was orderly, tame, and precise; yet frighteningly intense. With those sensations came the vague feeling of something calling to her, begging to be found. “Can you feel it?” Belius nodded in affirmation. “That’s where I need you. You’ll be doing this alone. I have business elsewhere to attend to.” His voice was laced with remorse. She didn’t like the idea of leaving him alone, he wasn’t at full strength yet, but Kokusho had given her a job to do and she would not fail him. She let her body dissolve at a snail’s pace, locking her gaze with his as she left him. “Be careful, Belius.” Though she was gone, the wind carried her voice clearly, allowing him to hear her as if she were standing right next next to him. “Yes, master.” He could hear the mirth in her voice. Smirking, Kokusho turned and faced the horizon. She was over there. This was not how he’d imagined their reunion... ~Of Coats and Masks~ It had been a over a month since the royal soldiers came to Ponyville, but the young drake quickly became numb to their presence. The pitter-patter of armored hooves on the dirt roads of Ponyville served as white noise while his focus was completely absorbed in the limited habitat around him. Thanks to the effort of it’s secondary caretaker, Spike, the Golden Oaks public library was kept absolutely spotless. When he received the letter from Twilight weeks ago, telling him that she would be busy with an urgent assignment from the princess for Celestia knows how long and that he was in charge of the library, the young dragon was deeply saddened to be-- once again-- left behind while Twilight went off on an adventure. How was her number one assistant suppose to assist if he was never with her? However, the letter held a small coda hanging precariously near the bottom of the paper. The thing that stood out to Spike the most about the little addition was how little doodles surrounded the writing; some of tiny stars, others of little magic bursts or squiggles. Whenever Twilight was nervous she would scribble and doodle on whatever parchment she was writing on, often lining her part with random imagery. He’d first noticed it when the mare tried to write her first love letter to a colt, but wasted several sheets of paper on nervous drawings. It was a cute habit of hers, one that made Spike chuckle everytime he saw it. The letter’s addition had filled him with joy, lifting his spirits right through the roof, but at the same time it left him with a sense dread. Like a memory you can’t quite peg down, the words and tone of the star-surrounded note tugged at the corners of his mind, telling him that something was off. A majority of the letter told him that she had the utmost faith in his ability to maintain the library and not to hesitate in asking their friends for help if he needed it. It was basically the usually stuff she told him whenever she needed to leave. Still, her writing didn’t feel right. The rest of the note threw him completely for a loop though. Twilight’s addendum, in so many words, was Twilight telling him how much she loved and appreciated him and how she probably wouldn’t be the mare she was today without him. The content had made him throw the letter down to the floor in frustration. He was missing something, he had to be, the letter didn’t make any sense, like it was missing some vital piece of context. Though his mind was addled by the strange note, Spike went on with his daily duties. Twilight said she had faith in his ability to keep Golden Oaks up to snuff, so that’s what he did. Spike, along with occasional assistance from his friends, kept the library open and running. Everyday, during hours and after closing, he would clean and reorganize the library level of the giant tree he called his home. When the day’s chores were done and the catalogs were checked, he would have dinner. Sometimes Applejack, Pinkie, or Rarity would come over to help him cook and share a meal, adding a little variety to his diet since each mare had different tastes than him. He always enjoyed their company and enjoyed it immensely when Rarity started to visit more often. Initially, he hadn’t noticed how often she was around, but as the days turned to weeks he found himself face to face with the white unicorn more often than any time in the past. Everything was hazy to Spike, but according to Rarity, he had been sinking deeper into depression with each passing day, prompting her and the girls to get together and decide that somepony needed to come and keep his chin up. At the time, he couldn’t express how glad he was that Rarity took up the position. Heck, he didn’t even notice that the mare had essentially taken over the library’s basement. All that mattered was that she was there, with him. With Rarity in the library, the other girls had no reason to badger him with question about Twilight and how she had been since her return three days ago. He didn’t know, no pony knew. But he trusted that Twilight was ok. Spike stood on all fours over several haphazardly deposited newspapers, frowning at each recent headline. The first front page photo showed a vast expanse of charred land ,dotted with the burnt out husks of buildings and coated in ash. Trottingham Gone! Was the headline. Luckily, it was the worst, but the others were no less grim: Monsters in Las Pegasus!, and Vanhoover Overrun! were real eye catchers. Images of beasts that looked like they were thought up by a horror writer accompanied each headline. In the pictures, buildings were damaged and ponies fled from the terrors stalking their cities. Back then, when he had first read Twilight’s letter, he didn’t have a clue how serious things could have possibly been. How could he? But with the town as it was now and the dour news of such horrific happenings across Equestria, he couldn’t help but tie whatever Twilight had been through to what was happening now. Peering out of the window, Spike gazed intently at Canterlot. The hole in ponyville’s cloud cover allowing him a clear view He snorted angrily at the city. Canterlot was still encapsulated in blue magical dome, as it had been since shortly after Twilight left and the soldiers came to Ponyville. A day Spike remembered fondly. ------ The windows of the library rumbled as thunder rolled through the tree’s trunk. No, not thunder. Spike hadn’t seen any storm clouds in the sky and telltale flash of lightning was absent altogether. What truly convinced the small dragon that thunder hadn’t been the culprit was the fact that the noise was still going on and growing in volume. Spike stopped tidying up the library and jogged out of the front door. His little legs would have carried him all the way to the edge of town had a wave of massive bodies and stomping hooves not blocked the road before him. Spike stumbled back, falling on his rear after he failed to squeeze through legs of the marching soldiers. His jaw almost hit the ground as he stared up at the wall of armed and armored ponies above him. From his new position on the ground, he noticed the quickly fleeing sunlight. His eyes drifted upward towards the skies above Ponyville. The dragon's curiosity was rewarded with the sight of hundreds of armored pegasi blotting up the sky with dark grey storm clouds. Every hole in the fluffy construct was immediately plugged, plunging the town into a dreary skied pseudo nighttime. “Whoa there pardner,” a familiar voice called out. He felt himself being lifted up. Once he was on his feet, he patted himself off. A thin layer of dirt fell off of him before he turned to the mare behind him. Spike’s eyes widened when he saw that she wasn’t alone. Applejack gave Spike a friendly smile then turned her attention back to ponies in front of them. “Look’s like ah came just in time t'see yer first meetin’ with the town’s newest guests.” “While I’m not one to turn away guests, they did arrive rather abruptly and completely unannounced,” Rarity said. “And that armor… Gun metal grey is so... Medieval…” Rarity shivered as she thought about the out of rotation fashion the armored ponies were wearing. “Um… Rarity,” Fluttershy said from the back of the group. “Yes dear?” “Armor isn’t usually for... umm… fashion…” “But of course, sweetie, that however, does not make it alright for the armor to be such an eye sore.” “She does have a point Rares! Besides, how would they look like big bad soldier ponies if they were all frilly and gemmy?” Pinkie added as she hopped past the two mares. Once everypony had said their piece, Spike became suddenly aware of the lack of a certain loud, brash pegasus. He was about to bring it up, but then he remembered that Twilight told him that Dash had become a Wonderbolts trainee sometime ago. His query on the whereabouts of the rainbow maned pegasus was completely extinguished by little tidbit of information. “What are you girls even doing out here?” Spike asked as he finished cleaning himself up. “Didn’t each of you have something important scheduled today?” “I did, Spike, but I just couldn’t ignore the riff-raff going on in town, so I decided to find the source of the commotion and see just what in Celestia’s name was going on.” Rarity watched as the armored ponies hauled chariots filled with stone and mortar in every direction. “Pretty much the same story fer me,” Applejack admitted. “I reckon the rest of Ponyville got mighty curious ‘bout it as well.” Sure enough several ponies were either peeking through their windows or out in the streets watching the armored ponies work. “But who are these ponies?” Fluttershy asked the million dollar question, causing her friends to turn and face her. Both Rarity and Applejack looked simultaneously confused and embarrassed, clearly ashamed that they hadn’t even thought about the armored ponies’ alien garb and what it meant. Pinkie held her usual smile and offered no help whatsoever. Spike, for the most part, managed to keep his look of disbelief to a minimum. “They’re the Royal Equestrian Military,” Spike stated matter- of- factly. The mares around him stared at him as if he’d grown an extra limb. “The Royal what now?” “Equestrian Military. Ya know, soldiers who defend our nation. Ponies who are often stationed in other countries, helping them and stuff.” The young dragon spoke as if it were common knowledge. “While I was aware that there were Royal Guards, I had no idea Equestria maintained any sort of standing military presence, dear.” Spike sputtered stupidly. On one claw Rarity, his love, was wholly uninformed off these ponies sacrifice and a little naive about how a nation works. It probably wasn’t her fault directly; but on the other claw admonishing her was kind of necessary in his eyes, making just one pony aware of them was one more pony then there was a second ago. Spike came to a compromise. “I guess I can understand where you’re coming from, Rarity. They aren’t seen too often in Equestria unless you live in a border town and even then, many ponies wrongly call them guards. But still, ponies should be a bit more aware. These stallions and mares sacrifice their time, and sometimes life and limb, just to make sure everypony can live the lives we enjoy today. They’re everyday super heroes!” the drake explained excitedly. His eyes sparkled for a moment as he thought of the adventures and glory to be had in the military. “Well shucks, ah feel justa little foolish.” Applejack hid her face behind her stetson “As do I, Applejack. How could the endeavours of these brave ponies be so obscure to the denizens of Equestria?” “Equestria has been at peace for nearly a thousand years… All I ever hear about are ponies joining either the guard or the Wonderbolts.” Fluttershy mentioned. “There may be a recruiting station for the armed forces in Cloudsdale, but, as a filly, I wouldn’t have paid it any attention.” The mare forced her mouth into an awkward smile. Everypony and drake expected Pinkie to add something whimsical to the scene, perhaps give them some sort of nonsensical answer that, upon further examination, answered everything. In a rare universal occurrence, Pinkie Pie had nothing to say. The blonde maned mare scratched the back of her neck and tilted her head. “Now that we know who these ponies are, I’m curious to know just what they are doing t’Ponyville.” Applejack’s eyes examined every inch of the cloudy dome covering the town. “Their shutting us in...” Pinkie informed everyone, her normally voluminous mane and tail now perfectly straight. ------ Spike sighed as he watched a pegasus soldier plug the hole in the clouds surrounding the quiet little town. Ever since the defense lockdown, outside activity has been heavily restricted. Curfews with dire consequences, strict blockades, and restrained commerce between towns were the largest factors in the current stagnation of business in Ponyville. Rustling from the kitchen peeled the young drake’s attention away from the morbid scenery of the town. He had forgotten that Applejack and Rarity were visiting to check in on him and Twilight. It didn't Everytime Spike pictured the mare, it felt as if someone was slowly tracing down his spine with an ice cube. He shook the invading thoughts from his mind; nothing was wrong with Twilight, she was just exhausted from whatever the princesses wanted her to do. At least that’s what he told himself. Standing to his full height, Spike decided to go see what the his two friends where doing. He heard snippets of the chat and it didn't sound too good. Peeking around the entrance to the kitchen, he listened in on their conversation. “Jus’ hang in there sugarcube,” Applejack said reassuringly. “Ah’m sure that the princesses and the military are all over this.” The farm mare patted Rarity’s back, gently soothing her friends pain. Rarity, for the most part, kept her appearance together. The fashionista was as elegant as always. Her mane was perfectly styled, and her coat was brushed to a glossy sheen. Her running mascara was the only indication of a problem. Her chest shuddered, each was breath distressed and drawn out as if she had just run a marathon. “It’s easy for you to say that, Applejack. Sweet Apple Acres is still able to ship produce outside of Ponyville.” Rarity’s tired blue eyes met Applejack’s concerned, stare. “Clothing is not ‘essential’ according to the soldiers who are monitoring travel, so I haven’t been able to send any of my out of town clients their orders. I haven’t made a single bit since the town was put into isolation!” “Ah understand, ya got the right t’be kinda burnt up about this, but the lockdown won’t last forever. At least ya got your savings, right? The farm has taken quite the hit as well.” “For now, but with no income, and no access to my canterlot account, I’ll be in quite a bind if this lockdown isn’t over by the end of the month.” Spike hated seeing Rarity like that. From what he understood, Rarity only allowed her emergency funds and the money she used to purchase supplies in Ponyville’s bank and everything else was kept secure at the capitol. Had she not needed to dip into her emergency bit to pay for the materials needed in a particularly large order, she would have been fine for at least another month. His tiny claws gripped the threshold, carving shallow furrows into the wood. Right as the young drake prepared to make his entrance, a wall of lavender fur passed through his field of vision. “T-Twilight?!” He yelped. “You’re up! Are you okay?! What have you been doing all this time?!” “Thinking...” she replied tersely. Twilight sat in her bed, staring at the large chest and Japoneighese blades sitting atop it. She’d done this every day since she returned home. Two letters rested on the nightstand to her right, but only the one bearing Luna’s seal had been read. I gift unto you, Twilight Sparkle, Grim Stride’s blades; he would have wanted you to have them. I have also sent you your armor, research material, and the late captain’s final words. Celestia and I apologize, we were wrong to thrust you into such a situation. Signed, Luna It was a hastily scribbled out message, but Twilight felt the sincerity and distress behind every word. Memories of how she had exploded on Luna rushed through her mind, causing the mare to bury her face in her hooves. A renewed wave of tears streaked down her cheeks as she looked to the unopened letter. She had abandoned her duty to Equestria, so that she could wallow in self pity. Grim would be all over me for this. She chuckled sadly. There was no such thing as depression around that stallion… She’d been hearing the her friends as they came and went, always checking on her in one way or another. Spike, bless his heart, had held down the fort admirably on his own. The increased activity in her home hadn’t gone unnoticed either. Rarity spending so much time with Spike had came as a great surprise her; the designer’s generosity truly was worthy of her Element. However, along with the activity, she heard the woes her friends brought into the library. It made her sick, she was letting this happen; everypony had it rough, but she was allowing her isolation to add to their problems. Twilight’s head hung low as she reevaluated her situation. I know better than this… I should be there for them. I… I quit on Equestria, but I can’t abandon them as well. The mare snapped out of her thoughts and turned to her assistant, smiling. “I can’t stay cooped up in that room, Spike. My friends need me and I need them.” Spike nodded, falling in line beside her, eager to be a part of the sorrowful reunion. ------ After tales and pains were shared over warm snacks and cold cider. Twilight spared her friends the most vivid of the details, but they knew enough to make their stomachs crawl. Soon enough, the food that spike had prepared was forsaken for a group hug. Their support warmed her more than any fire. “I cannot imagine how you escaped such a dreadful situation, Twilight. To think, you were in Trottingham when everything happen. Why, half of Equestria saw the flames!” Rarity squeezed the librarian tighter before finally separating from her friends. Twilight looked away, not wanting to answer the question. Her eyes slammed shut as images of mauled ponies and burning corpses flashed through her mind. The acrid stench of cooked flesh once again invaded her mind. She was there all over again… Hooves slamming against the door of her home brought the mare back to reality. “Twi, there’s somepony at the door. Want me t’get that?” Offered Applejack. Shaking her head, Twilight took a deep breath and began trotting to the front door. “No I’ll handle this.” Spike smiled at the mare's proactive approach to dragging herself out of the her funk. The walk from her kitchen was short lived, yet long enough to mentally prepare herself for whoever was rapping at her door. The latches clicked open easily, allowing her to swing the door open and greet her company. Neither her mind, nor her body were ready for the onslaught of pink fur, crushing hugs, and concerned nuzzles. “Twilight!” Pinkie gasped. “I was just coming to invite you, Rarity, and Aj to a special event! I was gonna tell them ‘just put the mask on you and you’ll be up and out and ready in no time,’ but now I don’t have to because you’re here!” She pulled Twilight into another bone crushing embrace. “A-and hello to you as well,” Twilight choked out. “I don’t think now’s the time for one of your… uh… ebullient parties.” She pulled herself out of the mare’s grip, fully expecting Pinkie to be downtrodden by what she’d said. Instead, Pinkie just smiled. Bopping the unicorn lightly on the nose, she giggled loudly. “It’s not that kind of party silly! I’m sure the princesses have it under control, and if not they’d just call us! But in the mean time, thought I’d throw a masquerade ball to cheer everypony up!” Twilight’s head was still turned away. Pinkie mentioning that the princess would call on the Elements of Harmony drove home the fact that Celestia or Luna could, in fact, call them to face Equestria’s horror if Kokusho wasn’t handled. The earth pony continued prattling on, oblivious to Twilight’s sudden case of loopiness. “I mean, Of course I’m sad, Twilight, everypony is, and I don’t really that think a party will help much this time, but for just one night we can all put on a mask and become somepony else, somepony happy.” Pinkie pulled an extravagant porcelain mask out of her mane and all but shoved into the unicorn’s face. Taking it in her magic, Twilight turned it over and examined the mask’s features. Lavender and purple feathers jutted out of the top of the costume piece and golden glitter decorated the area around the eyes. She grinned at the goofy piece, realizing that if the mask alone had brought her a small respite, an entire event planned around it could really lift Ponyville’s spirits. “You know what? What’s actually a pretty good idea, Pinkie.” ~Of Coats and Masks~ Sitting on its own artificial island was the sprawling Equestrian metropolis known as Manehattan. The newest addition to the New Yolk area was connected to the mainland via a multi- mile long bridge that could accommodate both a train and carriages. Massive constructs of steel and concrete touched the skies above the industrial super center while a web of ebony asphalt weaved between the buildings, creating an effective-- if chaotic-- infrastructure for transportation. The hustle and of bustle of the city streets drowned out the noise of the production with clopping hooves and idle chatter. Saltwater from surrounding sea gave the city an oceanic atmosphere despite the urban scenery. Gleaming sunlight reflected from the windows of Manehattan’s structures made the city a gleaming become of northeastern Equestria. Froth coalesced on the mane of the giant copper pony bust situated atop the prestigious Centurion Tek building. From the icy haze, Belius reconstituted herself and went about silently observing the hectic metropolis. A twinge of psychic pain raced through her mind, forcing her to clutch her head in her hands and growl. Master’s gauntlet was here. Confidently, the spirit reached out in all directions with her magic. The ocean responded with to the call of its mother with glee, submitting to her command without resistance. Raising her clawed hands above her head, she commanded the air and water to gift unto her a frigid fog more bone chilling than anything Equestria had ever witnessed. Within moments, the organized chaos in the streets became pure hysteria. The panic only increased and the roiling white mist slowly blocked out the sun and sealed the city off from aid. The denizen’s of Manehattan On a the rooftop of a shorter building adjacent Belius’s position stood a singular pony. The mare’s actually appearance was hidden by the set of dark indigo heavy duty coveralls with reinforced knees and extravagant trailing lapels. Tough leather bracers, each with an embedded red gem, protected the ponies forelegs. Her face was obstructed by a dark blue full face mask, complete with glossy aquamarine lenses over the eyes. A wide brimmed fedora matching her color scheme adorned her head, while a bellowing dark blue cape completed the ensemble. The strange mare watched Belius intently for a moment before huffing, irked at the situation. “No pony outshines Mare- Do- Well on her own stage!” > Author's Notes - News > -------------------------------------------------------------------------- How are all of you wonderful people doing? First things first, no I've not dropped the story and yes, I'm still working on it. It's taking me awhile to get this next chapter out to you for several reasons. The first two are shitty excuses, but the last two reasons are legitimate. Reason: 1) Constant distractions kids, in and out my house. Relatives leaving and going. People telling me to go here then there, build this help with that, just URGH! Impossible to focus. This was constant. 2) Thanksgiving and Christmas within a months time each other add that to the other compound above problem by like 30, then add in the super macho family members on my back like "WHAT N---! YOU WRITIN' STURIES 'BOUT RAINBOW PONIES! YOU FUCKIN' GAY N----!" I just could not focus. 3) Legit reason here. This is going to be a big chapter literally and figuratively. It might be over 5k words might even end up over 8k words. A question is going to get answered and that answer will create more questions. Things will happen and the threat will hit the point where it's real instead of a possibility that Luna and Celestia can plan around. Because this is the "take off" chapter I want it to be as good as it can be so I've written it at least twice, but hated them and restarted. The newest version of the chapter is at 1.8k words and I'll be working on it some more later today. 4) My C#, Visual BASIC, HTML and JAVA, and Database classes have started. Lots of work plus this have landed on my shoulders. I'm feeling a little stressed, but it's still manageable. So please guys, put up with my awful schedule. Don't quit on me yet. > Author's Notes - the worst... > -------------------------------------------------------------------------- The reason my story hasn't updated in two months is simply because I don't have a computer anymore, and driving to a library is to write quite the strain on my wallet (I live in the middle of nowhere with the nearest semblance of civilization over an hours drive from my house I have a freaking train track going through my yard), but do know that I am working on it... It may be a paragraph a freaking month, it may be a word a day, but dammit I love this story and I don't want to let it die. I respect all my readers, so it's only fair that I let you know what the deal is. (Same message that's in the blogs) > Author's - This is the End... > -------------------------------------------------------------------------- Of Arc 1 of Death Becomes Her. Twilight has been through some shit and the big bads have been revealed. Now I realize that I messed up a few things, I'm going to go back and fix them either with small edits or a supplemental chapter. And probably short- shorts on my blogs (so watch look for those! They maybe important!) Also a lot of terms and names were probably dropped from the beginning so expect those to start getting attention. I'll be making a list of this stuff and tackling it individually. I'm building this up as a decent sized story universe. Something anyone with a little will and imagination can explore and have fun with. I might make a group, I might not. Tell me where you think the story will go from here, where you'd like to see it go from here, and if you have any ideas you'd like to see implemented in the story. Also, read this story: Shadows and Lies It's a piece from a good friend of mine. We are also working on a collab story, well two actually. Lookout for news on those! I'm going to start either a that MTG crossover or a new story idea based on economics soon. This does not mean I'm rewriting the story or trying to adjust for new canon. All this is is a notice for you readers telling you that the first part of the journey is over and my thoughts and a few plans.