> The Ancient Arcanist
>  by Histy
> --------------------------------------------------------------------------

> Chapter I: Escape From Tartarus
> --------------------------------------------------------------------------

Tartarus. The infamous realm of the damned. Those who have the misfortune of being imprisoned here are doomed to suffer an eternity of isolation, where there is no magic, no room, and no escape. Some have committed heinous crimes, while others have done things I don't care to remember.

Most intelligent beings that have been imprisoned here have already gone completely and totally insane, with their total isolation making them into ruthless, thoughtless beings. The quickest one to reach the stage of insanity did so in only a few days of being here. Overall, the creatures in Tartarus were a monstrous mess that no longer had any sanity to call their own.

I am rather happy to say that I am not part of their group.

During my time in this place, I discovered a unique, but very easy trick that prevented my mind from becoming demented in this God-forsaken place I've been imprisoned in during the past few millennia. It was thinking. Thinking about… abstract concepts, shall we say? Such as… can magic bring eternal life? What's the highest number I can count to? How large was Tartarus? And most importantly, how many escape plans can I come up with? So many questions with an equal amount of answers, or more.

I was able to count all the way up to 1,000,000 before finally abandoning that in favor of topics I found to be more intriguing, like... what was Tartarus' size? Thus, for many days (or weeks; as I'd already lost track of time by this point), I looked out into the reddish-violet landscape in a vain attempt to figure out how large this place really was. I eventually came to an estimate of about a hundred square miles, possibly larger.

Then there was the possibility of how I could escape. This was the topic I spent most of my time on, scheming and thinking of an innumerable amount of plans to bypass Cerberus and find a way to get the gate open without alerting him. Most of my plans were concerned with the three-headed hound for a good number of reasons. Most notably that I couldn't use my magic to summon my staff and defend myself.

Nonetheless, I eventually moved on from that, too. I moved onto other topics in the meantime, or made my imagination go into overdrive as though I were on some kind of drug, imagining a man turning into a fox that can breath fire, a warlord covered head to toe in golden armor brutally taking over an Empire for himself, and even me being productive for once and carving out an Empire of my own with subordinates in tow.

Sometimes, I do go back on the topic of escape, making up more plans or grooming others due to a few logical errors I had missed at the time it was made. But I never built up the courage to act on one of these plans, as my fear of imminent failure prevailed each and every time. Instead, I just went back to sleep, then on the next day continued procrastinating by daydreaming radical stories and tales.

That was until, on one particular day, the gates of Tartarus slammed open, violently awakening me from a deep slumber.





SLAM!!!

I jolted awake when that deafening sound echoed loudly across all of Tartarus, probably startling all of its inmates. Almost immediately after my sudden awakening, the most throbbing and painful headache raked my head. I couldn't focus on whatever had disturbed my sleep as the pain was too extreme to ignore. So I clutching my head with my chained hands in a vain attempt to relax my headache.

"Fuckin' hell," I muttered under my breath. "I hate it when I wake up like this…"

Eventually (I estimated around ten to twenty minutes), the headache finally subsided enough to where I could actually regard my surroundings again. Looking around, nothing seems to have changed. Same depressing colors, everyone imprisoned like they should be, and that one idiot over there was still gnawing at his cage like he was when he came in long ago. Overall, the only thing that seemed to be different was that Cerberus was nowhere to be seen, and-

My thoughts ground to a halt once I realized what those words meant. Cerberus was nowhere to be seen. He was gone. Like, gone gone. If I wanted to escape (and I did), that dumb mutt won't be anywhere to stop me from doing so. It was the perfect scenario for escape, no complex planning required, and no need to worry about being caught. And I wanted to take it.

And yet I remained hesitant to do so. After all, what if Cerberus was merely somewhere else in Tartarus? Also, my area wasn't the only one he had to watch, he just preferred to be here more than anywhere else. And even if he did leave, he always came back a few minutes later. What if he came back and saw me escaping? He'd just force me back and imprison me with brand new, unbreakable chains. Or worse, a cage.

"Even if that's true," the ambitious part of my mind butted in, "does it explain the loud sound that awakened you?"

That much was correct. What was that sound? I scanned around the desolate landscape of Tartarus to find the potential source of it, but as expected found nothing of note. However, something did ended up acquiring my attention.

Down at the bottom of one of the containment towers, were the footprints of Cerberus. It wasn't all that difficult to identify considering how he was the only one allowed to roam around Tartarus. Most of the prints were in a circular pattern, which was accurate, seeing as that mutt always liked walking in circles.

But that wasn't what actually caught my eye. What did was the fact that there were more tracks, but unlike the others, they walked in a single direction, away from the circle and into an unknown part of Tartarus. They went quite far, and I doubt that Cerberus, wherever he was, wouldn't see me escape from my tower, and if I wanted to escape, the time to do so was now.

After finally making my decision and pushing back my fear of failure, I quickly looked to the chains that held me down, finding them worn and rusty from many years of neglect. That was a good sign, it'll be easier to break them. Testing this, I gave an experimental pull to assess their strength.

Despite many years of decay, they remained strong, resisting every attempt I made to break them. After some time, I could feel them getting more loose to the ground and weakening. Desperately wanting myself to be free, I kept pulling, ignoring the massive pain and strain that was growing on my wrists, screaming at me to stop. This continued for some minutes, before a sudden snap brought me surging forward, tumbling face-first to the ground with a thud.

Quickly recovering, I looked back to where I had been chained. They were detached from the ground, officially making me free to wander Tartarus for an escape route. Despite the chains remaining locked around my still aching wrists, the only thing on my mind was the thought of finally leaving this wretched place.

"All according to plan," I joked to myself, chuckling at how stupid that sounded, considering none of this was actually planned.

Nonetheless, I wasted no time in leaving my containment tower and into the barren wasteland of Tartarus, hopefully for the last time.





"That was far easier than expected." I thought as I came to my destination.

The gate of Tartarus. A large entrance built and enchanted by the most talented of unicorns. It was made with the intent of keeping the dangerous monsters native to Tartarus from threatening the outside world. Come thousands of years later, and it soon became a place where the most dangerous individuals - from offences ranging from practicing forbidden magic, to being a threat to the entire world - would be imprisoned, starting with me. There's no doubt in my mind that if the Emperor hadn't been banished to another dimension by Gusty and her warriors, he most likely would have been imprisoned here too.

And here it now stood, wide open and practically begging me to walk through it. To leave Tartarus at last and return to the civilized world as a free man. Or woman, but I digress.

And so I walked through the gateway to my freedom. It was less dramatic than I hoped it would have been, to be honest. It was but a mere step, from one side to the other. I've always read these kinds of moments to be a kind of relief, excitement, or freedom. But I felt nothing. Just the feeling of my feet walking on the rocky path ahead of me. It was a shame that it was so underwhelming, especially after all the plans I’ve concocted during my imprisonment.

But I didn't dwell on that for too long, and kept walking along the dark pathway that led through the barren wastes of Outer-Tartarus (as I had no other name for it), moving further away from the gate, and the prison which had locked me away for what felt like an eternity. Unfortunately, I don't know exactly how long it was, and frankly I probably won't know for quite some time. Oh well. I’ll figure it out at some point anyway.

But what was also unfortunate was the fact that I was essentially powerless. As said before, I couldn't summon my trusty staff, and with that I couldn't teleport myself out of this wasteland. This was most likely due to the land in and around Tartarus had been enchanted with a spell that prevented its inmates from using their magic to escape. If this was true, then all I had to do was get far away enough from the gate, and I should be able to use my magic again. Simple.

And so I continued to walk as far as I my legs would allow. The path which I walked down was changing ever so slightly. The air around me began to feel lighter in my lungs. And best of all, I could slowly feel my magic returning with every step I took. To test this, I attempted to practice a basic fire spell. Snapping my fingers, I continued my walk. While this was happening, I began to wonder about other things I considered important.

*Snap* "I wonder what happened to everyone else. Did Gusty kill them? Or are they all scattered across the world in hiding? It's been a long time since I've been imprisoned, and one can only play hide and seek for so long, but there's still a chance they're out there."

*Snap* "Speaking of Gusty… she could be dead by now, depending on how long it's been. No mortal could ever hope to survive a few decades, after all. And her being dead would most definitely work to my benefit, as I won't have to deal with any annoying distractions."

*Snap* "And… a lot of time has passed. I know it has. I just need to figure out how much. A lot can change in a certain amount of time. To be honest, I'm quite interested to see what has happened while I dreamed away in Tartarus."

*Snap* "There we are…"

I stared at the fire hovering above my hand. It may not seem like it at first, but I was ecstatic that my theory on why I was unable to use magic had turned out to be fully correct. Just to make sure, I blew out the fire and tried again, snapping a few times before getting the same result.

I continued this cycle for the next few hours, each time requiring less snaps than the last. I also noticed that the path in front of me began to turn into a basic dirt road. The sky was starting to brighten to its normal blue, and the clouds were starting to reappear. It was clear at that point that I was nearly home free.

But I still couldn't summon my staff, or teleport for that matter. The only magic I could do was the most basic of spells, which I practiced in order to pass the time. It made me a little worried. Had my staff been destroyed somehow? Was I doomed to basic magic?

I quickly locked away those thoughts. There was no way my staff was destroyed, with it being kept in a pocket dimension which only I knew existed. Besides, my theory on Tartarus keeping my magic at bay rang true every time I tested it. There was no need to panic over-

That's when it all came down on me. I felt as though my body was being compressed to atoms with the amount of magic flowing back into me. Head aching. Heart throbbing. Vision clouded. The pressure was insane, dropping me to my knees, clutching my head tightly in a vain attempt to lessen the pain.

And then, it was just… gone.

It was strange. One second, your entire body is screeching in agony, the next you're completely fine. Nonetheless, I let out a sigh of relief, but I didn't stand. I rested for a few moments, letting my vision recover and my heart rate return to normal. As I rested there, my mind began to think again.

"Of course that's going to be how my magic returns to me. By causing extreme pain! It could have been a gradual process, but no, it had to be done that way. Stupid spell boundary - ow!"

"Fuckin' hell…" I whispered in exasperation, clutching my head again as the headache suddenly spiked in intensity, before it eventually subsided. It was annoying, having to deal with that kind of pain. It jumbles your brain and prevents you from even thinking properly. And speaking of the spell boundary…

Quickly getting back onto my feet, I turned back to the way I came. With my curiosity taking control of me, I decided to dip my right hand past the boundary, engulfing it inside the barrier which had robbed me of my magic for millennia. Almost immediately upon doing so, my right hand felt awkward. It wasn't painful, mind you, but it didn't feel much comfortable either. It felt as though a layer of my skin was being torn away from my hand, but in the least excruciating way possible, if that made any sense. Over all, I found it a little underwhelming that having magic stripped away from your being felt like this.

Pulling my hand out of the boundary, I took notice of the chains that remained bound to my wrists. They were quickly taken care of with a snap, shattering them to many pieces. My wrists felt unnatural relief at finally being unrestrained. The area where the chains were bound were a dark purple-ish color by now, still aching, but evidently not as much as before.

With the chains now out of the way, it was finally time to get back my staff after all these years.

Reaching out my hand, I began the summoning spell. I felt the magical energy building in my palm, struggling to enact the spell after many years of being disabled and unused. Due to this, I was having more difficulty than I expected. Concentrating harder, I pushed the energy in my hand to enact the spell. It intensified in power, but it remained persistent in not completing the spell. But I remained persistent as well, continuing to put more energy into my spell. Soon enough, the energy gained the power it desperately wanted, and at last accomplished the spell.

There it was, in all of its glory, my staff in my hand after god-knows-how-long. Made out of Australian buloke, it was quite the sturdy thing, able to take more force than even some of the strongest swords. The bottom edge ended with a sharp blade that was good for the purpose of stabbing things, but other than that it was rather useless. The other, more important edge, ended with a magical assembly of six conduit crystals surrounding a singular emission crystal. It took months to craft the staff itself, and even longer to find the crystals essential to operate it. This staff was my pride and joy, and as such, I found great excitement and joy at seeing it again after such a long time, like a mother to her child she hasn't seen for decades. I always connected more to objects than I did with people, after all.

However, I noticed that the crystals didn’t seem to be in good shape. Their colors were dull, especially that of the emission crystal. It was likely that age had taken its toll on them, and I had to test the capabilities of my staff to properly gauge what it could and could not do as of now.

"Let's see what you can still do after all these years," and with that, I began testing it to see what abilities it could still do, as well as could no longer do. There were a few in the latter category, most disappointing of which was weapon summoning, which ended with the emission crystal smoking intensely when attempted. This was unfortunate, as the ability to summon any weapon from any dimension for your personal use was amazing, especially with the limitless amount of advantages it can give you, whether it be at range, or in close-quarters combat. But now it was gone, and the only weapon of choice I had now was the staff, which, admittedly, I never taught myself to fight with.

In more uplifting news, I was fortunate to find that my staff could still teleport me, if it was able to teleport me from one side of the desolate road of Outer-Tartarus to the other. This was good, as I can now go wherever I want, and not have to suffer long weeks of walking aimlessly down this road and hoping civilization would pop out of the ground at any moment.

To confirm this, I tested my staff's teleportation more than once, each time getting the same result as the last. Satisfied, I decided it was finally time to leave this place, and see what has happened in the world while I was imprisoned. And to start this adventure off, I teleported to the first place that came to my head. Tambelon.

And with a bright flash, I disappeared from the road I was standing on, and began my journey into a world I hadn't seen for who-knows how many years.
> Chapter II: Tambelon
> --------------------------------------------------------------------------

There are many things which can cause sadness. The death of a family member or pet, the tone of A song, the suffering of others, and a good person falling out of grace.

Losing your home can also count as one of those causes.

Tambelon, or whatever was left of it, was now just a land with stones scattered around, dotting the otherwise flat landscape. These were the only signs left that the city even existed at all, no buildings, no foundations, not even the small plateau it was built on remained. Tambelon was thoroughly left to rot after the fall of the Emperor, it would seem.

In hindsight, I shouldn't have been surprised at this development. As I said before, several years is quite a long time, and anything could have happened during this period, such as Gusty's Pony Confederacy collapsing due to infighting, leading to the inevitable rebirth of the three Pony tribes who then proceed to war over petty disagreements. If so, it would seem that the once great City of Darkness, as the Emperor called it, has been forgotten by history, and left to decay to the state which it was now.

But what did this all mean to me personally? To me, this had been the place I called home for years, I'd even dare say my entire life. I experimented here, slept there, conversed with others over there. All of this now but a distant memory in my brain, never to be experienced again.

Sighing, I sat on one of the many stones that littered the land. Using my staff, I created a mirror image. As I expected, the reflection that stared back at me was myself, wearing the same black and white gothic dress. The same orange scarf wrapped around my neck to compliment it. The same black beret with the same red accents, with the same ribbons attached on it, also with the same black-white pattern. The same young, childish face. The same orange eyes, eyes which, to a casual observer, seem filled with life and color. And lastly, the same short white hair adorned my head, which had not even grown during my time in Tartarus, remaining at shoulder length.

Overall, it looked like I hadn't aged a day, unlike this place. Willing the mirror to disappear, I began to think over my next options on what to do.

But what was there  for me to do? Sure, explore the world, but in which direction would I go exactly? North? South? East? West? There were many options that could lead me to civilization, but there are some which might lead me to an expansive ocean, a barren desert, a lifeless jungle, and at worst, the Frozen North. Just imagining myself in that tundric wasteland of nothingness already brought shivers to my body.

That was when a faint sound reached my ears. A distant whistle of something echoed from somewhere beyond my sight. I was immediately curious as to the origins of this noise, and stood up from the rock I sat on and began to investigate.

Now, the first thing that came to finding a sound is figuring out the direction it was coming from. That was easy, considering I had been hearing the sound from my right ear since it started. So I went right. The second step was to actually find it, which was far harder, considering the fact that my staff's age disabled many of the spells it could have done before, like making me able to fly. This made the task of finding the source far more irritating, as I couldn't simply go up into the sky and identify what the noise was.

"I knew I should've added time distortion to the pocket dimension!" I thought as I trekked my way through the grass. "It would've made all of this shit I want to do so much easier!" But alas, when I created it, I thought the time distortion was unnecessary, as I didn't know I would be imprisoned in Tartarus for an unknown number of years. How stupid of me to not think that such a thing would happen!

Now I had to find another solution to this problem, which came to me rather quickly; teleportation.

Theoretically, this could work, as teleporting from one location to another in quick succession could be equated as a mode of transportation. But I feared the current state of my staff wouldn't be able to handle it due to its years of neglect. It could cease the ability of teleporting, or worse, cease functioning altogether. It was in my best interests to keep that from happening, lest I be doomed to only basic magic use for the rest of my days.

…But I easily got impatient from walking. So I teleported anyway.

It took a relatively short amount of time to finally find the source of the noise that had caught my interests. And, if I were being honest, what I saw wasn't quite what I was expecting.

"Holy shit… that's a train!"

Indeed, there it was, the famous multi-cart locomotive, moving along its tracks at break-neck speed, all the while wailing its powerful horn. By the looks of it, there were no windows in any of the other cars, meaning that this particular train was meant for the transport of materials rather than people. That meant that I could sneak into one of the boxcars and have it ride my way to civilization.

Wasting no time, I quickly used my staff to teleport me beside the train. I quickly grabbed onto the door lock of a boxcar, which had the side effect of making the train yank me along for the ride.

With phase one completed I moved on to the next phase; getting inside the boxcar. Fortunately, this was as easy as dismantling the lock to the door. Using my staff, I sawed the lock horizontally, eventually breaking it. Without its lock to keep it closed, the boxcar door slid wide open at lightning speed, almost causing me to lose my grip and falling to the ground. Or worse, to my demise.

Now that the boxcar was opened, I carefully inserted myself inside, delicately making sure that I don't misstep or lose balance. When both of my feet were in, I finally gained enough confidence to let go of the door.

Now inside, I looked at what kind of cargo this cart was carrying. There were a variety of crates possibly containing food and the like. And the possibility of food was enough for my curiosity to overcome me. Using my trusty staff, I opened one of the crates and looked inside. To my greatest of luck, I found it full of fresh apples. Wasting no time, I swooped one into my hands and began to bite into it.

And oh boy, was it refreshing to eat something after who-knows-how-long I was in Tartarus. In that short period of time, I felt as though I were in heaven. The juiciness, the burst of flavor, my dry mouth became completely rejuvenated and brought back to the world of food. Of course, the magic soon wore off and the apple began to taste as bland as ever. I continued to eat it as, with a quick check of the contents of the other crates, apples were the only thing on the menu.

Taking another bite out of my apple, I turned back to the open door of the boxcar. Outside, wide plains passed by. There were several mountains in the distance, each as tall as the next, with ice and snow-covered tops. A quick glance to the side also revealed the ruins of Tambelon slowly fading as the train moved away from it. And to be honest, seeing my old home in ruins, and leaving it for what will likely be indefinitely, is kind of heartbreaking.

But I quickly buried those thoughts down. I was in a new era. The train I stood on proved that much. How long it has been since I was imprisoned I have yet to figure out, but it was likely for a very long time. This could mean a multitude of things I theorized could be correct, such as Gusty being dead, as well as everyone who supported her. Unfortunately, the same could be said about everyone else involved with the Emperor's quest for absolute domination. With the very real possibility they were also dead, it would mean that I was the only one left alive from that point in history.

The only one left. I felt some pride in my perceived uniqueness. In being the only remnant of a possibly long-forgotten history, it's likely that no one will know who I am or where I came from. That would inevitably make lying low much easier to accomplish, which in turn ensured that I'd get the privacy I value so much. And with everyone gone, it also meant there was no one to control me other than myself. With there being no Emperor to monitor my every move, I could take any action I want with no interruption, and without the fear of one day being imprisoned (or worse, executed) for disloyalty.

A slight smile came to my lips after that thought. I was free. Free to do what I wished. No authority to reign me in or control me. Nothing. It was the perfect scenario I never knew I wanted.

Taking one last bite out of the apple, I carelessly threw it outside the boxcar and began to think over my future moves. It was a foregone conclusion that I would remain onboard this train until it reached civilization, at which point I'll ditch it and begin my journey into this new world I found myself in. But after that came the real question; what will I do afterwards?

"Kill everyone, obviously," I blurted out to no one in particular, chuckling. Admittedly it was an easy answer, at least if I want to be noticed early on. While being in the spotlight was quite enticing, I also loathed being the center of attention, especially if it's negative. It always made me feel somewhat insecure about myself, having others throw insults and question my morals. I also would probably have to hide quite often in order to avoid capture, and with how much I valued my current freedom, I wanted to avoid that possibility as much as possible. So I decided to shoot down that option.

"Maybe I could disguise myself and acquire political power?" This choice had some similarities with the first, such as being in the spotlight. But as opposed to killing everyone I came across, gaining political power gave me valuable allies, at the expense also of giving me indestructible enemies. And on top of that, management of that magnitude would become an absolute bane to my existence, and the paperwork that came with it would undoubtedly prevent me from pursuing my passions was the cherry on the cake. So I tossed away that option, too.

"Maybe I could live as a nomad…" ooh! Now there's an idea. Being a nomad offered many things I saw as positives; independence, privacy, exploration, being a nomad granted me the ability to do all of those things. The only major issue would be the gathering of food. There were numerous ways to circumvent that issue, most obvious of which was stealing them from the markets. Or pickpocketing other people so that I'll be able to spend the amount needed to purchase them myself. Hunting was another idea, but the thought of waiting for an ungodly amount of time only to be rewarded with a small amount of food in return didn't seem like a good investment to me. So it would seem my best option was stealing from others as I travel across the new era I found myself in.

Having finally made up my mind on what I was going to do in the coming days, I turned back and stared inside the boxcar once more. Making my way to one of the crates, I sat on it, leaning against another crate, and set my staff beside me. It wasn't comfortable in the slightest, but with my long walk out of Tartarus, and the lengths I went to get on this train, I was willing to accept anything which helped me rest and relax.

Once again, I found myself looking at the passing scenery of grass, mountains, clouds, and so on. Judging by how there was no villages or towns in the distance, we were still a ways off from civilization, ranging from a few hours to perhaps even a few days.

That's fine. I have the largest supply of apples one could hope for, not that I needed it. But eating them could help me think over the final details of my future nomadic lifestyle. Speaking of thinking, I still can use my imagination to pass the time when necessary.

After all, I used it to pass time on Tartarus for God-knows how long, and seeing the amount of time a simple trip like this could take, this would be child's play.
> Chapter III: Bad Luck
> --------------------------------------------------------------------------

"This is a travesty! Not only have you been defeated by an inferior enemy - in open battle with monsters at your side, no less - but you have also yielded to them significant amounts of territory!”

"A decision had to be made! I had the choice of either having my army destroyed at the hands of those vermin, or return here and request the sufficient forces needed to crush them!"

I sat and watched idly as the two individuals argued at one another. As a member of the Imperial Council (or, as the Emperor called it, the Dark Council), it was imperative that I attended any meetings if they were called, lest I be accused of plotting against the Emperor for not doing so. As with most chores I had been forced to do, I had a distinct dislike in taking part in these meetings. But alas, with how much I valued my life, I had no choice but to attend.

Now, going back to current events, the issue of the day was the defeat of an army, carrying the full might of the Empire, by a theoretically inferior force of pony rebels. The commander of that army, who's name was lost to me, was currently being berated by Xerxes, a large, powerful minotaur who I considered one of the more fanatical members of the Council.

"But in this process you have undertook, you have given these rats the opportunity to cause chaos throughout the entire Western Province-!"

"Not that I'm complaining." All heads turned to the source of the new voice, which was soon revealed to be none other than the draconequus known as Eris. Ever the dramatic, conniving, and unpredictable individual, Eris was ironically your average draconequus. She had earned her place on the Council when she used her powers to root out a rebellion in the Eastern Province before it could take off. Naturally, many were suspicious of her motives due to the species she belonged to.

Xerxes was one of these individuals, and having been angered by her interruption, turned his attacks towards her. "You are also to blame for this! If you had infiltrated them, none of this would have happened!"

To that, Eris waved a claw dismissively, "Do you really think I have the time to look into every Province and find every rebel cell there is? No, I don't. I have other things to focus on, and are much more worth my time and energy."

Xerxes smirked as though he hit the jackpot, "Such as plotting against the Dark Lord?"

That seemed to have hit a nerve, as Eris went from a calm demeanor, to thunderous anger as she jumped from her seat to stare down at her accuser.

"How dare you accuse me of such a thing! You of all should know that I have risked my life on many occasions to ensure that our Dark Lord forever reigns supreme over these lands!"

"Are you telling the truth? Or are you spinning lies to hide the treachery you draconeqii always dabble in?"

"Listen here you mongrel, I gave more than-!"

"Enough."

Everyone in the room winced upon the Emperor's voice thundering throughout the room. Both Eris and Xerxes promptly fell silent.

On the far end of the table which the Council convened upon, sat the Emperor himself, who had been so far watching the unfolding debate with complete disinterest. His stare was piercing, lacking any kind of mercy or patience. Combined with the great magical power he weld with his bell, it is easy to see why it would have been a most unwise decision to confront him in any circumstance.

"I grow tired of your pestering. You two shall leave to the Western Province upon the end of this session. You may return only after you crush these pony upstarts. I trust that such a simple task wouldn't be much of a problem for you?"

"No, Milord." Both answered simultaneously, bowing in deference to his authority.

"Good." Satisfied with his response, he then turned his attention to the unfortunate commander. "And you."

The commander, understandably so, immediately became terrified under the Emperor's scrutiny. "Y-yes, milord…?"

"You have brought great embarrassment not only to this Empire, but to me as well. Not only have you been defeated with an army containing creatures I personally created, but you also willingly yielded territory to a rebel force any other commander could have wiped out in a matter of hours." The Emperor stated simply. Almost instantly, we all knew exactly which direction this conversation was heading towards.

At the Dark Monarch's accusations, the commander sputtered in response. A dangerous move which only helped to ensure his eventual fate.

"Th-that may be true, b-but if I hadn't retreated, we would have-"

"I've had enough with your excuses." And, just like that, the disgraced commander was dragged away by Guardsmen. He kicked and screamed, begging for mercy as much as he could, but as expected, none in the Council were interested in challenging the Emperor's decision. Instead, we elected to drown out as much of the noise as possible. Or at least that's what I did.

When the doors to the room had finally slammed shut, and the commander's begging fading in the distance, the Emperor returned his attention to the Council. "That will conclude this session. You may leave." As if on queue, the entire Council jumped out of their seats, me included. It seems I wasn't the only one who wished to leave as soon as possible.

However, to my great misfortune, the Emperor called out again.

"You shall stay, Zerstörung. I wish to speak to you privately."

My heart sank at the words as fear began to grip my mind. What did he want to speak to me about? Did he suspect I did something treasonous? All these thoughts raced through my head within seconds of each other, and within that time I began planning words and sentences in advance, so as to not cause death by execution due to a slip of the tongue.

Out of the corner of my eye, I caught the sight of Eris leaving the room. She was looking over in my direction, and upon noticing that I now had my attention on her, she smiled sadly, mouthing the words 'good luck' before finally making a quick exit.

Perfect. Even the loyal draconequus had taken pity on my predicament.

I watched helplessly from my seat as the Council shuffled itself out of the room in a hurried haste, with none, even the most loyal, wanting to stay near the Emperor for much longer. Can't say I blame them. Eventually, the last Councilor left the room, and with it, the grandiose double-doored entrance shut behind him, leaving just me, a somewhat-scrawny human woman with the most powerful sorcerer and conqueror the world has yet seen. In other words, a life-or-death situation.

"Let us get to the point," began the Emperor, who to my surprise was using his normal voice. "I do not trust Eris and Xerxes to respect my will and work together to bring down this insurrection."

"Then why did you give them the task in the first place?" I almost said out of instinct, but I wisely held my tongue at the last moment.

The Emperor continued, "Because of this, I need someone to monitor them to ensure that our forces in the Western Province aren't divided into independent factions."

Wait. Does he mean-

"And since I see you as the safest candidate for the role, I will be appointing you as the Governor of the Western Province to prevent such things from happening."

What?

"Eh?"

"It is surprising, of course, but I must ensure that my Empire's humiliation at the hands of Pony Rebels will be answered to as effectively as possible."

Pathetically, I tried to escape from my predicament, stuttering the first few words, "B-but w-what about the current Governor?"

"He'll be terminated."

…Okay. Fair enough.

After a few seconds of silence, I stood from my seat, before bowing to the Emperor. The words flowed effortlessly. Repeated many times in the past few years, "By the grace of the great Grogar, Conqueror of All, King of the Monsters, Lord of Darkness, and Emperor of Equus, I humbly accept this appointment, as your ever faithful and loyal serf."

It was an oath I absolutely despised, as someone who hated the idea of being watched and controlled. It represented the idea that I was no longer free, a mere slave to the Emperor's ambitions. But, as an individual, I valued my own life more than anything. And refusing to swear the oath would make it forfeit.

Speaking of the Emperor, the ram himself smiled, satisfied at my declaration. He prepared to speak…

…Only for the sound of a screaming train to come out of his mouth instead.

I was confused. Why did he made that noi-





I was jolted awake when I was launched from the crate I had apparently been sleeping on, falling to the floor of the boxcar with a thud. The screeching of the train's wheels on the track deafening to my ears. Dazed, I wondered what had happened and why I was so suddenly awoken for the second time of my journey.

After recovering some sense of the situation, I realized that a some time had passed since I had fallen asleep. The outside was significantly darker, which meant night had fallen. The train was also coming to a halt, signaling that it was finally arriving at its destination, thus completing phase two of my grand plan to live a nomadic lifestyle, and that phase three, insert myself into society was a go. There was only one problem to that, though.

As the train slowed down significantly, I began to worry that I might have been spotted by the security of the station, as the train's massive decrease in speed in such a short amount of time had led me to believe. After all, why would a train so abruptly stop if there wasn't a suspected surfer? And on top of that, the crystals on my staff were still glowing like a Christmas tree, which was likely what alerted them to my presence. How convenient.

The flames of my misfortune were further stoked as the train slowed down enough to where I began to hear what was happening outside the open boxcar. And least to say, it wasn't good. There were voices, though how many I did not know, shouting what sounded much like orders, as well as the rapid clopping of hooves. The recognition of such a sound made me release an annoyed sigh. "Of course. Ponies."

But I didn't have time to complain about such things. As it stood, the sounds of hooves were getting louder along with the voices, getting ever more closer to the boxcar with every second. I concluded that a guard had seen the boxcar open, and had alerted the entire depot. In other words, my plan had successfully failed.

But that didn't mean I couldn't try to hide. Wasting no time, I hid behind one of the crates in one of the corners of the boxcar, willing my staff to deactivate in order for its crystals to dim enough so that the boxcar was engulfed in darkness, and doing my best to adjust myself into the small space I put myself into. I struggled for some time, but eventually I was able to put myself in deep enough so that I hopefully wouldn't be seen from the entrance. And it was just on time too, as the sound of running hooves had ceased, as the ponies had reached the boxcar I had chosen. Their voices, once just shouts, were now discernable.

"See, told ya nothin' was in there. Those guards at Ponyville probably just forgot to lock it." One of the guards, who had a distinct country accent, claimed. My hope began to rise at the possibility of them writing it off as merely a minor mistake. These hopes were quickly dashed, however, when a second voice chimed in.

"I wouldn't be so sure. Look here. The lock's broken. Not only that, but most of the damn crates are open!" At the mention of the open crates of apples, I mentally cursed myself for my negligence, added on top of not deactivating my staff. I began to prepare for the worst, and readied myself to jump out of my hiding place and make a run for it.

These preparations inevitably became justified when the one with the country accent responded. "Well, if ya wanna search the damn car, be mah guest. But Ah'll be stayin' out here."

Not long after the words were spoken, the clipping of hooves resonated throughout the boxcar in a deafening echo. With such a loud sound piercing my eardrums, I became startled and as a result shifted in my hiding place, which inevitably made some noise. Silence reigned for only a second, but within that time I hoped with every fiber of my being that my little frightened stupor had gone unnoticed.

But, as my terrible luck would have it, these hopes were immediately dashed when the pony with the country accent spoke up again. "The Tartarus was that?"

"I don't know," the other pony responded. His voice was somewhat far from my position, but I suspected that would be changed shortly. I once again began to make preparations on making a run for it. Creeping behind the crate, I peeked out from my hiding spot to look at who I had to contend with. 

There were two guards. Both of them appeared to be armed only with spears, and also wore black armor throughout their bodies, with saddlebags attached to their flanks, which I found somewhat strange. After all, if you're living in the Industrial Revolution, why are your guards still equipped with medieval gear and weapons? But that wasn't the only thing I found interesting about them, as my attention turned to what was attached onto their backs. Which I only did so by the merit of them being bat wings rather than the normal feathered wings which every other pegasi had.

For a moment, I marvelled at the sight, fascinated by it. During all my time as an enforcer of the Emperor's will, I have never seen such a species of ponies before. So fascinated I was by them that I vowed (in my head, of course) to learn everything there is to know about them. This resolve was even furthered when I noticed that their eyes were also different to that of a common pony, being more slit and cat-like unlike their pony brethren.

I also noticed that those eyes were staring directly at me.

Realizing my own stupidity, I attempted to duck back behind the crate I had hidden behind, desperately hoping the pony hadn't seen anything. But, knowing how unfortunate I tend to be, you can guess what happened next.

"Hey, there's somepony in here!" The one, who I assumed was the one who stared at me, exclaimed.

"Really?" The other one sounded rather dismissive of his comrade's exclamation. "You sure? I don't see anythin'."

"There is!" A heavy silence came after the shout. Nothing or no one seemed daring enough to move or say anything that would break the silence. So silent it was that I even slowed my breathing to avoid piercing it like a knife through butter.

Eventually, the pony in the car with me began to move again, this time very slowly. It was as if he didn't want to be heard, but that was quickly disproven with what he did next.

"Come out, we don't want to hurt you." The pony said in a reassuring voice. Of course, with the history I had with the ponies, this statement can be regarded as rather questionable. And with the sound of his hooves still moving closer and closer to my hiding spot by the second, I came to see the lie that it was. Instead, I prepared to extricate myself from this situation. Most notably by waiting for him to come to me. And as It would turn out, I wouldn't have to wait long.

"If you come willingly, we'll let you go with a warning." He continued to assure me with his empty promises. The sound of his hooves were now almost directly in front of me. And if my timing is correct, then…

The pony jumped in front of me, staring me down, although it quickly faded to confusion and, quite possibly, fear. "Last chance - what the-!?"

I wasted no time. In a mere second, I pounced from my position, taking the pony in my arms before he could have readied his spear to defend himself. As soon as I had him, I shoved him into one of the opposite crates, making sure I gave full priority to his head as I did so. And so with a resounding smash, the guard was unconscious.

"Sweet Luna!" Of course, he wasn't the only guard I had to deal with.

Turning my attention to the other guard, I saw that he had his spear out, and was, as confidently as he could be, standing his ground. However, this wasn't the only thing he was doing, as his wings made weird movements, twitching up and down, all the while hitting his armor, causing a loud tapping noise which echoed across the area. It almost reminded me of morse code. But if it was, then that meant-

The realization hit me hard. He was calling for help!

Knowing That my window of escape was closing fast, my characteristic indecisiveness disappeared. Reactivating my staff, I charged at the pony. However, he expected this, and within a few seconds, I was thrown to the ground. He moved to strike a finishing blow, but I was fortunately able to roll out of the way.

Getting back on my feet, I faced down the pony again. If I am to escape, this damn annoyance had to be taken care of, ASAP. But my time was running out. I could see two more ponies with bat wings coming to join the fight, and there are probably more on the way. To end the battle quickly, I teleported behind the pony. Before he could react, I whacked his head with the wooden part of my staff. The buloke did its work, withstanding the force of the impact, and even denting the pony’s helmet. He flopped to the ground, clearly unconscious.

Now with my last obstacle to freedom passed, I looked for the furthest roof I could see. With such an easy task being completed, I quickly began the spell that would finally begin my plans for a nomadic life.

Then tragedy struck.

While the two approaching ponies were still too far away to have been able to interrupt my teleportation, I hadn't accounted for the possibility that the pony who I had incapacitated in the boxcar would be able to regain conscious in such a short amount of time. Perhaps he recovers better than his peers, or he was simply dazed, and not unconscious. Either way, it didn't change the fact that he tackled me mid-spell, interrupting my concentration. However, while my concentration was interrupted, the spell itself was not, and as a consequence, not only was I teleported, but he as well. And with my designated target now unknown by the spell, the location we were transported to was beyond my control.

And so, I teleported out of the mess I had made, although with the misfortunate side effect of taking one of the ponies with me, as well as not being transported to my desired location. For all I know, I'd be teleported to the Frozen North of all places. And with how atrocious my luck has been thus far, I wouldn't be too surprised if that were the case.

And so, with that line of thought in my head, I mentally braced myself for the cold, unforgiving wasteland… all the while cursing that stupid pony for bringing me there.
> Chapter IV: Reverse in Fortune
> --------------------------------------------------------------------------

Both of us tumbled down to the floor once we teleported to our unknown destination. Landing hard on what seemed to be stone, the pony and I separated as we rolled on the cold, stone floor. Slowing down, I quickly made an effort to get back to my feet.

On the other side of the aisle, the pony had also quickly regained his bearings, and once more tested his luck at tackling me. For once, however, fortune seemed to be on my side, as this time I found myself able to sidestep out of the way with no trouble, causing my opponent to tackle nothing but air.

This didn't mean, however, that he was done with his assault, because as I was preparing an attack of my own, the pony jumped into the air, disappearing from my sight. Caught by surprise at the action, I looked to where I'd thought he had flown, only to find that area empty.

Suddenly I felt something collide with my back, sending me falling into the concrete and dropping my staff. My body hit the rock solid floor, causing me to let out a howl of pain accordingly from the force of the impact.

But I couldn't dwell on it for long, as the bastard pony who had inflicted that pain upon me grabbed both of my arms and tied them together with what I could only determine was a rope. After he had finished that, he flipped me onto my back. Now that we could see each other's faces again, it was impossible not to notice the angry look on his face. Hopefully, the look I was giving him gave him the idea that the feeling was mutual.

And not one to accept defeat so easily, I used my still-freed legs to knock the pony off his hooves. My unsuspecting opponent staggered back a few steps, allowing me the opportunity to quickly roll to my staff, and attempting to use it to cut the rope holding my hands together. 

This only happened for a few seconds however, before it was interrupted when I was pulled away from my staff by my opponent, who had dragged me by my feet with his mouth. Despite my attempts to fight him off again, he brought out another rope and proceeded to tie it around my legs. After he had finished with his work, the pony finally relented, sitting back and letting out a breath he probably didn't know he was holding.

Not me, however. Even as the fight was effectively over, I was still struggling, futilely trying to break my bindings and free my limbs. This continued for an embarrassing amount of minutes, with the pony watching my struggle with what I imagined was amusement, like the sack of shit he is.

I soon began to lose stamina from my constant struggling, and before long I had ceased moving altogether, now looking blankly at the ceiling above me as I caught my breath. Inwardly, I continued to curse at the bastard who put me into this predicament, tying me up as if I were no better than a petty criminal.

"Are you done flopping around?"

Speaking of which.

I quickly snapped my attention to the offending pony and growled, "Fuck you."

He looked surprised by the insult, before saying, "You can speak Ponish?"

"Of course I can, dumbass, what language did you expect me to speak, German?" I breathed in before an exaggerated smile came to me before exclaiming, "Hallo! Ich bin Zerstörung! Was ist dein Name? Dummkopf, vielleicht?"

My face quickly soured as the pony, now looking incredulous, responded, "Was that your original language? I've never heard it before."

"I'd be surprised if anyone did." I grumbled. "Nobody knows it."

This seemed to pique the pony's curiosity as he perked up with excitement. "A language that nopony knows? Are you telling me you're some ancient being, now?"

Okay, this idiot is really starting to get annoying with his constant questions. And the fact that it was somewhat on-point made me even more annoyed. Irritated, I jabbed, "Are you interrogating me? Because you're doing a horrible job at it."

"I'm just being curious, you don't have to be so rude about it," the pony retorted, crossing his hooves. "And by the way, you willingly told me that you aren't from here, so am I really doing that bad a job?"

Instead of answering his rhetorical question, I pretended to look shocked while mocking, "Oh no! The dastardly pony hath discovered my origins! Surely this wasn't because I look so different from him and his people, that's ridiculous!"

Seeing that I wasn't evidently cooperating, the pony sighed in frustration and stood on his hooves. In a short moment, he walked over me, and towards my staff. Once he was all but looming over it, he wrapped a hoof around it, before lifting it up.

Never before had my heart sank so fast.

He was touching it.

He was touching my staff.

Even worse, he was holding it.

No…

No.

NO.

Not even a few seconds after he had grabbed a hold of my most valuable possession did my staff begin to emit an ominous orange glow. Predictably, this surprised the miscreant attempting to hold it, a look of pure bewilderment washing over his face as he watched the glow intensify, with nothing but a simple “Huh?” leaving his mouth.

And no soon after he did so, did my staff release a powerful blast which sent him flying to the nearest wall. His body violently collided with it before it fell to the floor, and judging by the impact, he wasn’t getting back up any time soon. Meanwhile, my staff remained floating in the air from where the pony had held it up prior.

I stared in complete awe at my staff. Of all the things it could still do in its age, this was certainly not one I thought it could still do. Autonomy was a complicated spell, after all, that a worn object such as my staff shouldn’t have been able to accomplish. Especially considering the fact that there were certain spells it couldn’t do as a result of its age. So either I severely underestimated its capabilities, or, more likely, that it had significantly pushed up its expiration date to an even earlier date.

But yet in spite of all that, it continued to levitate in place for a few moments, as if it was analyzing its surroundings. Then, it began to slowly float over to my still bounded form, taking around a minute before coming to a stop above me. Understanding its intention, I repositioned myself to sit on my knees so that it would be easier to position the ropes which bound me directly underneath my staff. When it found my position satisfactory, my staff plunged itself through the ropes, cutting through them with no difficulty. And not even a moment after completing its task did it proceed to fall to the stone floor with a loud thud which echoed across the room. Now able to move freely once more, I quickly picked up my staff, got to my feet, and began to analyze my surroundings, as the physical and verbal match previously had prevented me from doing so beforehand.

It would seem I had been transported to a throne room of some sort. The room itself was rather long in length, with a red carpet covering most of the way, sporting the entrance at one end and, intriguingly, two thrones on the other. We’re these thrones used by a co-monarchy? A personal union? Whatever the reason for there was for there to be two thrones, they both had their own steps which led up to their platform which elevated them relative to the floor. There were also banners above both of them, one emblazoned with the symbols and colors of the moon, while the other with the symbols and colors of the sun. The room certainly looked like it had seen better days, with many cracks and openings in the floor, walls, and especially the ceiling, or more accurately lack thereof.

Now done with analyzing the room, I turned my attention back to the still unconscious pony, who luckily has yet to recover from his abrupt appointment with the wall. With haste, I walked over until I all but loomed above him. The thought of killing him and leaving it at that briefly crossed my mind, but I ultimately decided against it. I wanted more answers on how much the world had changed since my imprisonment, and what better way to get those answers than from taking a rather talkative pony captive?

Having decided on that course of action, I set my staff to the side as I searched the pony’s saddlebags for the same ropes which he had tied me with. Luckily for, he had a few to spare, probably in case the first knots weren’t enough. Using these ropes, I tied up the pony’s legs and wings as tight as I could. When I was finished tying the knots, I gave them experimental tugs to test them. Satisfied with their strength, I then proceeded to lift the pony onto my left shoulder to take him to a more enclosed room so as to make it harder for him to maneuver should he free himself.

However, before I could repossess my staff, I noticed a piece of paper fall out of one of the pony’s saddlebags. Now curious, I picked it up. Upon a quick inspection, it was obvious it wasn’t paper, but a photograph. Within the photo were four ponies—all of whom bore the same bat-like characteristics as my captive, with what looked like a train behind them. Speaking of my captive, it was obvious he was one of the ponies pictured in this photo. He was on the left side of an older pony, most likely the father. On his left were two female ponies, clearly a mother and sister. On the bottom right of the photo, written in what seemed to be ink, were well wishes and initials, most likely of those pictured with my captive.

And to think I was pondering about killing him not even a moment ago. When you used to serve a ruthless Emperor who commanded hordes of equally ruthless monsters, it became natural to kill those who gave you even the slightest grievance. It was not uncommon in Tambelon to hear of a servant being summarily executed because they attracted the ire of someone with power. Regrettably, I also participated in these acts, although only on those which I believed were spying on me. Or, at least, that’s what I tell myself.

Shaking away all of those unpleasant memories, I put the photo back into the saddlebag it had fallen out of, finally recollected my staff, before finally setting off to whatever room I thought it best to interrogate my newly acquired captive. What that room was, I would find it eventually, and in the meantime use the search as an excuse to explore the run-down castle that I was teleported to, with my staff lighting the way.





”Ugh, what a pain…”

After an uneventful journey through the castle, I had finally come upon what my staff’s light revealed to be a rather luxurious sun-themed bedroom, with a Queen-sized bed off to the right and a variety of furniture such as tables, bookshelves with a fireplace in between to the left, and as the theme would suggest, all of these items were emblazoned with symbols of the sun in excess. Add to the fact that all of these items looked to be in perfect condition despite the state of the rest of the castle, and it was the obvious place to stop, rest, and prepare for the interrogation of the pony I was carrying.

Setting him down on the bed, I rolled around my left shoulder several times to shake away the soreness that came from carrying the full weight of a pony for who knows how long. Once done with that, I sat down next to the still-unconscious pony on the bed, although after some impromptu stretching, I laid back and layed down on the bed instead.

It was here, while resting on a bed, staring at the ceiling that I began to brainstorm about potential next steps to take. My original plan of living a nomadic lifestyle has undoubtedly encountered a setback in the form of the pony I currently held hostage. Truth be told, I didn’t know what to do with him after I finished ratting all the information I could out of him. Once more, the thought of killing him came to mind, and once again I rejected it. But at the same time, keeping him around while I was here also wasn’t an option, as monitoring a prisoner after they were no longer useful to you would be more of a nuisance if anything.

Sighing at my predicament, I looked over at the pony again, inwardly seething as I acknowledged the current reason for all of the problems I’ve had until now. On one part, I wanted to kill him and get information another way. This was influenced by the fact that I had found a library during my trek to this room, filled to the brim with books that still look as if they’re brand new. The problem with this, of course, was that as this was an old and abandoned castle, every book there was most definitely outdated, and wouldn’t tell me the whole story of what happened during my imprisonment. Then there was the part of me that wanted to get these from the pony. The problem was that a single person didn’t know everything, and there would likely be holes in his recounts of history. It was also likely he isn’t very knowledgeable in history at all, and thus wouldn’t have anything important to tell me.

And the more I thought about it, the more I felt certain that the pony was more of a nuisance to keep rather than a potential important source of information. Groaning at the realization that I had brought him here all for nothing, I stood up from the bed, and once again stared down at the reason for all of my current dilemmas.

Deciding on a compromise solution between killing and sparing him, I elected to teleport him back to the depot where we started our scuffle. Lowering the cross of my staff to the pony, I began to concentrate on the teleportation spell. There was a worry on my part on whether my staff could handle any more magical pressure, especially considering how it had recently exerted itself by becoming autonomous. However, I remained confident in its strength, and continued onward with casting the spell, which only took a few more seconds. After those seconds passed, a bright orange flash engulfed the room, and once it had dissipated, the pony’s unconscious form had disappeared from the bed.

With all of that now done, I sighed in relief, with my shoulders sagging in exhaustion. With one of my primary concerns finally done and dealt with, I began to find the massive bed to be all more appealing. After all I had been through in the last day or so, resting in a bed for the first time for who-knows-how-long was something I just couldn’t find myself rejecting. Taking а long stretch with my staff in hand—

*POP*

I froze.

I felt shards of the emission crystal falling onto my head and arms.

I saw the conduit crystals fall unceremoniously, clacking as they made contact with the floor.

Slowly, I looked down to my feet.

There, I confirmed that the emission crystal, the same crystal which emitted the magical powers that I so heavily relied upon, had indeed shattered.

“You gotta be kidding me…” I said, slowly realizing the full implications of what has just happened.

I didn’t take it well.

“You’ve got to be FUCKING kidding me!” I exclaimed, “You broke because of a teleportation spell? After enduring so many others? Yet you withstood autonomy? Fucking autonomy! You also withstood weapon summoning. Sure, you were steaming afterwards, but you didn’t shatter then, did you! Unbelievable… Unbelievable! That doesn’t make any sense!”

Taking a moment to catch my breath, I dropped my now useless staff on the floor as I once again sat on the bed covering my head with my hands in frustration. Everytime I thought I was in the clear, every single fucking time I thought it would be smooth sailing, a sudden obstacle would reveal itself at the most convenient moment. Whether it be guards stopping the train, that damn pony bastard interrupting my attempted escape, and now the emission crystal inexplicably breaking out of nowhere, it would seem that there was some invisible force in play to make things as difficult as possible for me.

Now instead of scouring the library for information on what had happened during my imprisonment, I now had to look for how to repair the emission crystal, or if that didn’t work, find a different crystal to emit the magic cycled through by the conduits. The latter would undoubtedly take much longer than the former, but I would have to do it if it was my only option to restore it to working condition.

In spite of the urgency I would normally hold for such an event, however, I buried my worries away and decided to commit to finding a solution as well as information gathering whenever I woke from my rest. It was unlikely anyone will be looking for me here, at least for tonight. That is unless the invisible force above decides to throw another hiccup my way by having more ponies show up to capture me in my sleep.

Laying down on the bed, I released а content sigh as I sunk into the soft sheets. How long has it been since I’ve slept in a bed? Far too long, certainly. As I continued to get comfortable, my thoughts began to become a haze as I drifted to sleep, hoping that this incident would be the last curveball I would encounter on this disaster of a journey.
> Chapter V: Recovery
> --------------------------------------------------------------------------

With a luxurious red carpet floor, an oak desk perpendicular to the window which spanned the width of the room, and bookshelves at both ends to the right and left of the desk, the Governor’s study within the Western Capital wasn’t as fitting of a place for experiments as my quarters back in Tambelon, but for the sake of the post the Emperor had appointed me to, it would have to do for now.

In the center of the room, I carefully applied energy to the orange crystal in front of me, elevated by a pedestal, monitoring its responses to the influx. Across from it, on another pedestal, sat a purple crystal, still and unresponsive, surrounded by five more orange crystals in addition to the one currently being powered. The hope of this test was the transfer of energy from the orange crystals, the conduits, to the purple, the emitter, and then vice versa, thereby creating a cycle where magic which enters cannot escape unless commanded to. The experiment as a whole, meanwhile, was part of a project I have been working on for the better part of a few years, that being the creation of a magical artifact capable of mimicking the power of the draconeqii and the extinct alicorn, with the ultimate goal of taking down the Emperor and disappearing into obscurity.

“Let’s see if this works…”

As of now, I was in the stage of testing the crystals that had been gathered in previous stages for their durability and their ability to transfer magic.

As I continued to slowly apply energy to a conduit, it began to glow, accepting the energy as its own. Applying more, I began to see the emitter begin to glow slightly as the conduit crystal began to transmit energy to it. 

“So far, so good…” 

Encouraged by these results, I began to transmit energy to the other five conduits. As they glowed, the emitter’s light began to intensify significantly as it obtained energy from all six conduits, which it then released back to them, causing the conduits to brighten as well.

“That’s it…”

Pleased with my work, I ceased transmitting, and watched with satisfaction as the crystals continued to glow in spite of no longer receiving any more of my energy, meaning the cycle of magic between crystals was possible, thereby completing another stage of my grand project. The next was getting them to yield to my command, and after that would be attaching the crystals to an object to keep them from separating, interrupting the cycle, and choosing which object I was going to attach them to in the first place. As I continued monitoring them, I pondered about which object I could attach them to. There were many candidates, and I personally couldn’t really decide which one the crystals should be attached to. Oh well, I’ll cross that bridge when I get to it.

There was also the problem of finding the magic necessary to mimic the power of draconeqii. For that, I had to make Eris an unknowing participant in this project. Fortunately for me, fooling her into giving up her magic wouldn’t take much effort, as she leaves behind large amounts of magical residue whenever she teleports somewhere. So naturally, I just needed to wait until she did just that and absorb the leftovers into the crystals hidden in my clothing. Simple.

With that decided, I stretched, happy with the successful experiment, before turning to the desk to begin a task I was far less enthused to do; writing the weekly report to the Emperor. But just as I sat down, getting the ink and parchment ready, the entire study exploded in a bright flash.





“SCHEIßE!”

After waking with a fright, and believing I was under attack, I jumped out of the bed, snatching my staff from beside it, before pointing it to the perceived threat.

However, upon checking my surroundings, I realized I was not in danger, but safe and sound within the old sun-themed bedroom, now with the evening sun’s rays shining through the window, basking the bedroom with its light. There was no threat.

Sighing at my paranoia, I thought back to what had caused that reaction out of me in the first place, that being the particularly vivid dream I had. I had one prior to this, but I couldn’t dwell on it as I had ponies to worry about. But now that I am alone here, I have all the time in the world to think about it.

Unfortunately though, I couldn’t make heads or tails what these dreams were about, or what was causing them. Considering they only started happening after I escaped Tartarus, I couldn’t rule out the possibility of someone interfering with my dreams, despite how ridiculous that sounded at first glance. But the problem with this theory was that it meant someone was aware of my presence.

But who? The only beings capable of breaching minds to that extent were draconeqii, alicorns, and, god forbid, the Emperor. I shivered at the thought of the last candidate. Even after his defeat, the Emperor remained an almost omnipotent presence in my head.

But with that being said, there was simply no way this theory could be true, as so many things had to come together in order for it to happen. Eris had to come back from the dead, the alicorns had to pop back into existence, and the Emperor had to escape the alternate dimension he was imprisoned in, despite there being no means of escape. There was no way any of them were responsible for these dreams, so whoever, or whatever was causing them remained an enigma to me, that is if there even was someone manipulating them in the first place.

Turning my attention back to my staff, still in my hands, I decided it was time to take a trip to the library I had found the previous night in search of a way to repair it. Keeping my staff as a form of protection just in case I need it, I sent the undamaged conduit crystals back into the pocket dimension, and gathering as much of the shards of the emission crystal as I could and wrapping them up in a piece of cloth I found on the floor, I began my trek to the library.

On the way there, I couldn’t shake the thought of the possibility that there was someone who knew of my existence in some sort of way, which has the potential to completely derail my plans on living a nomadic lifestyle. What kept me on edge was that there was simply no way for me to tell who it was, or if it was all coincidental and I had nothing to worry about.

Regardless of that, repairing the emission crystal and getting my staff back to working condition again was my top priority, no matter if it is for simplifying travel for me or to protect me in case something does end up coming for me.

Arriving at the library after a few minutes of walking, I immediately went to work, setting the crystals on a withered table and searching the shelves for books relating to what I needed. After another few minutes of searching, I found an atlas of magical crystals, and began reading through its contents. Unfortunately, while containing interesting information on the many crystals which exist, it didn’t have what I was looking for. Putting it back on the shelf, I began searching again.

The next book I found was about building magical crystals, but disappointingly, this one also didn’t have any instructions on how to repair shattered crystals. This continued for about an hour, with nearly every book I found on crystals either not having information on how to repair crystals, or if they did, only told how to repair cracked crystals, which wasn’t what I needed.It was starting to get frustrating when something finally caught my attention: The Anatomy of Magical Crystals, by an author whose name was no longer legible. Taking it from the shelf, I flipped open to the index in the front and began skimming past several sections that were just about general knowledge and anatomy, before coming across a section titled ‘Repairing Shattered or Damaged Crystals’.

Jackpot.

Flipping the page, I began looking through the section, committing everything I read to memory, taking mental note of every method of repair there was. In that aspect, the book identified three “tried and true” methods of repairing crystals.

The first was the “wrap and apply” method, which involved wrapping the shattered pieces together and applying an external heat to them every few hours for roughly three weeks. Due to being wrapped, the internal temperature caused by the external heat would become trapped in between the cracks shards, causing them to become more malleable and ending with them fusing back together. This would last two weeks, with the final third week reserved for letting the now repaired crystal cool off. The end result of this method was that the repaired crystal would be as good as new; sturdy, reliable, and capable of taking as much magic as it used to. The only problem was that it lasted three weeks, time which I wasn’t sure I had.

The second method was the “replacement” method. This involved using another crystal to repair the shattered one. Predictably, this was off the table as I wasn’t willing to sacrifice one of the conduit crystals, and its case wasn’t helped by the fact the book itself described that it would lead to many stability problems after the repair was finished.

The final method was the “binding” method. It was exactly as it sounded; group up the shards together, and use a binding spell to make the crystal whole again. It sounded simple, but the problem was that multiple binding spells had to be casted at once, which inevitably led to a large amount of magic consumption, and as such I was certain that I would not be able to perform this method, given my limited magical capabilities as a human. But seeing as I wanted to repair the crystal as fast as possible, I decided it was at least worth a try.

Freeing the shards from the cloth, I brought my hands over them, and began to cast the binding spells I thought were needed to complete the process. After a few seconds of no results, I applied more magic. And more. And more…

After a few minutes of this process, it was clear this wasn’t working. Ceasing my appliance of the spells, I looked in dismay as the shards remained separated; none of them had been bound together. The attempt was a complete failure, as expected.

With the third method failing, and the second method a no-go, that only left the first method, where I had to wait up to three weeks until the emission crystal was ready to use once more. It wasn’t ideal, but knowing it was the only option I had left, I had no choice but to be patient, and hope someone doesn’t stumble upon me here, or vice-versa.

Wrapping the cloth around the shards once more, I rested them on my right hand. With my left, I snapped my fingers, sparking a flame in my hand effortlessly. I then transferred the cloth from my right hand to the left, obscuring the flame. And while it looked as if the flame had been snuffed out, the spell was very much still active, heating the shards within the cloth.

Lowering my right hand, I looked at what was going to be my singular fixation for the next few weeks of my stay in this run-down place, and sighed. This whole escape has brought nothing but misfortune down on me, and I often question whether or not it was worth actually escaping Tartarus only for the hands of fate to deal me a terrible hand.

But I quickly suppressed those thoughts. Of course it was worth it. Regardless of the setbacks I encountered along the way, being in these ancient ruins was infinitely better than spending another eternity in Tartarus. No chains around my wrists. No Cerberus. And no matter what happens, I will repair my staff, deal with whatever is causing those dreams, and finally start a new life as a nomad.

After reclaiming my staff, I exited the library, but then decided that, instead of returning to the bedroom to sulk about my troubles, it was time that I properly explore these ruins, learn the layout, and see if there was anything else of value to be taken besides books on repairing crystals. And given the reasonably good condition I had found both the bedroom and the library in, there was a good chance there was. With the decision made, I set out to explore this ancient site in full.

And as I explored the halls, my mind was enraptured with curiosity in how, in spite of the crumbling walls, floors and windows, most rooms were in rather good condition. The carpets and furniture looked as though they were recently crafted, with almost no signs of wear or dust on them. Certainly not what I expected of a place where most rooms had a collapsed ceiling. Regardless, I continued to explore the halls, taking mental notes of what I found as I went.





Everything was hazy.

Everytime he opened his eyes, he saw nothing but white. A bright light obscuring his vision? Maybe. His head hurt just by thinking about it.

He could also hear voices; what they were saying he couldn’t tell, muffled by the confused state his mind was in from waking.

However as the seconds ticked by, things started to become clearer. Instead of blinding white, he could slowly make out what looked more and more like a ceiling of an infirmary, its pure white ceiling making him think it was a light.

The voices too became more recognizable. While he still couldn’t fully understand what they were saying exactly, he could still recognize some words, although it wasn’t good enough to know what the conversations were about. It didn't really matter though, for the voices that reached him were far from familiar.

"Oh, goodness!" said one voice. "You're awake!" He saw a figure come over him from his left. His vision, now clearer, could make out the figure as a pink mare, most likely a nurse.

She turned her attention away from him and to somepony he couldn’t see. “Doctor, he’s awake!” she called.

“I can see that,” came the response. Another figure came, this time to his right, which he quickly identified as the doctor. He was a beige stallion, with a small but well trimmed beard and mane, whose bespectacled appearance and hardened eyes gave an impression of a no-nonsense attitude. The doctor studied him for a moment before turning back to the nurse. “Tell his family, they’ve been bothering me all day about him,” he told her.

After the nurse left, the doctor returned his attention to him. Bringing out a penlight, the doctor shined into his eyes, examining them. “Can you tell me your name, rank, and unit?” the doctor asked him.

After being asked, he rasped, “Comet Chaser, Corporal, 2nd Lunar Guards Regiment.”

“Good, good…” the doctor drawled, withdrawing the penlight, and replacing it with a clipboard, on which he scribbled down something. “And you are a direct witness to the events which occurred at the depot along with Sergeant Moon Shield?”

“Yes…”

More scribbling. “Good…” the doctor said. After finishing whatever he was writing down, the clipboard disappeared, and the doctor returned his attention to Comet Chaser.

“You suffered blunt force trauma to the head, which resulted in a concussion. Some of your bones were fractured, most of which are in your right wing. You’ll be able to fly again in about а month or two, but until then it’s advised you not stress it out too much,” the doctor stated. “Other than that, you’re fine. Just remember not to make any sudden actions, or stress out your wing before it’s healed, as it could cause irreparable damage to your bones.” The doctor readjusted his glasses before continuing, “We are still in the process of making a cast for your wing, but it should all be done tomorrow. In short, just don’t move it around, and you’ll save yourself from any further complications.”

The doctor looked at his notes once again, flipping through multiple pages before turning his attention back to Comet Chaser. “Unfortunately, I’m rather tied up with patients today. I’ll send in another nurse to finish your checkup, if you have any questions, you can ask them.” And before Comet Chaser could reply, the doctor left the room, shutting the door behind him, thus leaving the room in complete silence. The only thing Comet Chaser could hear was the clopping of hooves as infirmary staff passed by the room. Every time he shifted his body, twitched his ears, or even so much as tilted his head, he would hear it as clear as а firework in the sky. But nonetheless, he was alone, and as such, he had time to think.

Specifically on the strange creature he met that night.

There were a few things Comet knew about her, such as the tone of her voice making it clear she was female. But by Luna’s name, he’d never seen anything like her, with legs unlike any species he’s seen, arms similar to that of а minotaur, а nonexistent snout, and no fur to speak of except for the white mane that grew to her shoulders.

Equally as mesmerizing was the staff she carried, and the seven crystals which perfectly levitated above it, never being dislodged by any movement, remaining in absolute tandem with the object they were attached to. So mesmerized by it that he was, he decided to hold it for himself to inspect it more closely, which, looking back on it now, was а poor decision on his part.

But there was so much more Comet wanted to learn about her. Why was she here? What was her name? Where was she from? So many questions, all of which he needed answers for. Until then, however, he had to wait until he recovered from his injuries, presumably inflicted by the strange mare’s staff blasting him away before he went unconscious.

So he leaned back on the bed, burying his head into the pillow, while also being mindful about preventing his fractured wing from being crushed by his body from his adjustments. Looking around the room, he found it decorated with many posters typical of medical buildings, advertising healthy routines and the consequences of not following them. Some of them even featured real photos of such consequences, giving а rather morbid, but nonetheless convincing case.

Turning his attention away from the posters, Comet stared blankly at the ceiling. He hoped whatever nurse the doctor got for him would arrive soon, just so that he could have someone to talk to again. Being alone in an infirmary room with nothing to do was bound to become boring quickly. Add that to the fact he probably had many other days to spend here until his condition was deemed good enough for him to be discharged.

Hopefully, he didn’t have to wait long for that.
> Chapter VI: Of Setbacks and Epiphanies
> --------------------------------------------------------------------------

It would seem that I severely underestimated the size of this castle.

Indeed, when I had started my exploration, I thought it would be straight forward; take notes on the directions of every room and what was inside, then go back to the library to finally start the process of catching up on everything that I missed.

But as fate would have it, I would instead find myself going deeper and deeper into the expansive network of hallways. I was confident in my memory to trace my steps back to the library should I decide to stop my little expedition, however, and my memory had yet to fail me. So I continued unabated, dismissing my staff to ease the weight from my hand as I did so.

Taking а look into another room as I passed by, I noticed how it looked the same as many of the other rooms that I’ve come across before; generic, with а table and а few chairs in the center, and а bookshelf off in the corner with no books to speak of.

“Of course,” I sighed, а look оf disappointment pervading my features. “What else would you be?”

Would it be too much to ask for something even remotely useful from these rooms? Like а saddlebag, bandages, or maybe even а few weapons? Just who the hell designed this place? For a structure with this many hallways, it shouldn’t nearly have this many pointless rooms inside. Surely there was an armory somewhere? А kitchen? Anything that wasn’t this generic, boring template?

Continuing my walk, I held onto the sliver of hope that eventually I would find something worthwhile in these halls, in effect leading me deeper into the labyrinth they created. But despite how much I explore, each room is the same style with only marginal differences with each one I passed.

The repetitiveness of this process was already making me frustrated, as evident with the fact that my pace had considerably quickened since the start of my exploration, and my patience having waned substantially in the amount of time I’ve spent looking through these rooms.

“I hope whoever designed this place is rotting in hell,” I grumbled as I came across another generic room. “They deserve it for all I care.”

It was at that point I decided that enough was enough. Swiftly turning on my heels, I began to retrace my steps back to the library. Weaving through hallways effortlessly as I recalled where I had walked, I began to direct my thoughts on the absurdity of this predicament, or more accurately, how it was а sign that my post-Tartarus misfortunes had yet to subside.

“Can’t even explore without there being some ridiculous catch,” I growled as I turned left at an intersection of four hallways, all of which I assumed were filled with the same rooms I’ve been finding. I wasn’t going to waste my time confirming that, however, and continued going back the path I came from.

“First it’s me falling asleep at the worst time, then the ponies taking notice, then that sack of shit interrupting my teleportation spell, then the emission crystal explodes, and now this!” I threw my arms up in exasperation as I stomped through identical hallways that I’ve quickly come to despise. “Why has nothing ever gone right for me? It's always something else! This is ridiculous... I should have stayed in the library and done some catch up reading, but no! Instead, I got the brilliant idea to explore!" Wheeling round another corner, I said in а mocking voice, “What а genius plan, Zerstörung! I’m absolutely certain nothing will go wrong! It’s not like you already have а streak of bad luck that’s jeopardized your plans, no sirree! Everything will all go swimmingly, I’m sure—”

As I rounded another corner prepared to continue my self-deprecating tirade, I noticed something about the hallways that I somehow failed to notice when I was traveling through them. That being they all looked the exact same.

In retrospect, it should have been obvious that in а section of an ancient structure where all the rooms looked the same, the hallways which lead to them would look the same too. But in another demonstration of my genius intellect, I never caught on to it until now, meaning all of the steps that I had “retraced” was in fact just me randomly choosing which hallway to walk through.

Or, to put it simply, I was lost.

“Herr Gott noch mal,” I sighed, facepalming. “Just my fucking luck.”

“Or lack thereof,” I added in my head.

If my staff was still operational right now, I would have easily teleported myself back to the library, and everything would be fine and dandy. But alas, here I was, holding the broken emission crystal in а piece of cloth, unable to do just that, doomed to wander these halls and hoping that I would eventually find a way out. Rounding another corner into yet another identical hallway, I continued to ramble.

“At this rate, it wouldn’t be a surprise if Gusty appears out of thin air to apprehend me,” I grumbled. “Wouldn’t be out of place with everything else that’s happened so far.”

Just then, I noticed the shadows in the hall, including my own, shifting. Confused, I looked up through the long-since destroyed ceiling, which the sun had been shining through, providing light to the halls. Originally assuming that а stray cloud may have covered the sun, I instead found а look of pure befuddlement gracing my features as I bore witness to what should have been an impossible sight.

The sun, shining in all of its glory, was moving.

No, not moving like it normally does, moving as in gliding across the sky, as though it were some kind of plane.

To say I was in awe would have been the understatement of the millennium, as I visibly gawked as I continued to watch the scene unfolding before my eyes.

The sun doesn’t move like that.

It shouldn’t move like that.

And yet, here it was, breaking the laws of physics before my eyes. I kept track of it as it moved perpendicular to the hall, rapidly making its way to the horizon. Then it began to lower itself just as quickly, ducking itself behind the castle’s walls as it continued to descend. Despite not seeing the full sunset, the hallway became progressively darker as the sun finished its drop below the horizon, and soon enough, I could barely see anything in front of me, as what was once а bright day а minute ago turned into night.

With everything finally over, I remained still for а few minutes, staring at where the sun had vanished, unable to comprehend what I had just seen, with one question repeating itself in my mind over and over again.

How? How does the sun move like that?

No, not just how, but why? Why does it move like that? It rose and set like it always did before my imprisonment. What happened since then that made it necessary for it to move like а plane soaring through the sky?

Before I could ponder more about that, however, I noticed the hallway had begun to light up again; this time with а dim blue light whose source, judging by the shadows, was behind me. Turning around, I bore witness to yet another impossible sight.

But instead of the sun soaring through the sky at an impossible speed, it was the moon.

“You’ve gotta be kidding me,” I breathed, watching the moon glide gracefully just as the sun did, before it reached the position its counterpart had occupied just а few minutes ago, at which point it stopped. No longer did it move. One moment it was soaring, then the next it’s perfectly still and unmoving.

Just like with the sun, I continued to gawk at the moon in total disbelief, and questioning how and why the sun and moon move like fucking planes, bringing about day and night at а moments notice. That was when an old question came to mind.

How much did I really miss?

Both the how’s and the why’s came back to that central question, the very same which I’ve had the intention of figuring out before I got the brilliant idea to explore. And in order to answer it in any way, I must first stop wasting time on my thoughts and focus on getting myself out of the predicament which that brilliant idea had gotten me into in the first place.

Shaking my head to get my attention away from the physics-defying moon, I began to walk down the halls once more, now more determined than ever to find а way back to the library. Despite the moonlight breaching through the broken ceiling and providing some form of light to the halls, it remained too dark for me to see clearly, thereby necessitating the use of а fire spell to light the way forward, which was easily accomplished with а snap. 

As I continued with my search for а way out of this labyrinth, I suddenly broke into а loud yawn, which echoed across the halls. Clearly, walking through а maze of halls with nothing to show for it had become rather tiring.

“Maybe you should leave learning recent events on the back burner again in favor of getting some more sleep,” а voice in my head proposed. “There’s always tomorrow, after all.”

“Maybe so,” another interjected as I turned into another hallway. “but wouldn’t it be better if you found out how and why the sun and moon defy the laws of physics? Leaving such а question unanswered will keep you up at night.”

Both were valid points. Sleep was looking quite enticing right now, what with the prevailing feeling of putting an end to а disastrous day and all. And aside from dreams of my past, there was nothing to worry about sleeping. No lurking assassins, no traitorous apprentices, among other things that required me to keep one eye open when I slept back in Tambelon. But I was also dying to know the reasons for the sun and moon’s unnatural movements, and I wasn’t going to hold off until tomorrow to get it. So I adopted а simple compromise; go to the library, get the answers I wanted, before going back to the bedroom to get some sleep.

Of course, in order to get to the library in the first place, I first had to get out of this maze of halls. I didn't really care which direction I went, as long as it led to a room I hadn't been to yet, so I just went where the wind blew. As I continued to wander through these hallways, I continued to do my best to avoid the same rooms, hoping to come across something which might clue me in that I was going the right way. But alas, with how I didn’t even know where I was currently, I doubt I would catch on to any kind of clue to begin with.

That was until I came across another wall. Assuming it was another fork to two separate hallways, I turned right to continue wandering aimlessly, only to be met with another wall. Confused, I turned around, only to see the left path was also just another wall. The implications of this discovery was not lost on me.

I was аt а dead end. А fucking dead end.

I couldn’t believe it.

А labyrinth of hallways, rooms that look exactly the same, and now а fucking dead end.

Spectacular how that just happens, right?

But just as I was about to scream in frustration, I instead took а deep breath, waiting а few seconds before exhaling. I did this а few more times to settle down my fury and instead stop and think about the next course of action. Resting my back against the nearest wall to me I began to think. But what was there to think about? Clearly the plan of simply walking until I found the way out wasn’t paying off, what with it now being night and all. But what else was I to do? I had no map of this place, and therefore had no idea which direction to go—

I suddenly feel а tingle on my back. Believing it may have been an insect—or worse, а spider—I leapt off the wall, before swiftly turning back to find the critter responsible for my mild scare.

But there was nothing. Not even а sign of something attempting to flee the scene of the crime. А quick shift of my back revealed that nothing had gotten on to me either, so whatever that tingling sensation was, it was either done by аn incredibly agile critter, or the more interesting possibility, magic.

As а human, magic didn’t come naturally to me. As such, I had а unique propensity to feel it. Most types of magic are felt as tingles, like gently rubbing your fingernails on your skin. However there are outliers, such as dark magic, which feels like being pricked by a needle. But I digress.

Approaching the wall again, I gently lay the emission crystal on the floor, before using my now free right hand to feel the wall for any sensation similar to the one I had felt а moment ago. For аbout а minute, my hand glided across the stone, feeling for anything out of the ordinary, with its path lightened by my left hand, basking the surrounding area with the light from the flame lit on its palms. Back and forth, my hand moved, from one stone brick to the next, feeling every crevice its fingers could get in. When I continued to feel nothing, I began to doubt the hypothesis of there being residue magic in this wall, but in the end continued with the search.

Then, just as my hand brushed into another brick, I felt it.

“There!”

In swift motion, my hand changed from passively sweeping the wall, to clenching at the area where I felt it tingle. And just as quickly, I pulled it away from the wall, now gripping the piece of rogue magic which I had stumbled into. And indeed, as I did so, а long, narrow patch of magic came out of the wall, almost as though it was а snake. Almost immediately, I began to scrutinize it like it was а particle in а microscope.

The patch of magic itself was as long as the distance between my hand and elbow. Despite its snake-like stature however, it pulsated like a bright flame, fanning itself out in all directions without disrupting its overall structure. It was purplish-blue in color, with some lines of red and spots of green scattered about. And to top it all off, there were subtle, but still audible sounds being emitted from it, from standard sounds like the cackling of fire, to more specific sounds, such as а clown horn. The fact these sounds were present at all was а dead giveaway to the type of magic I had just pulled from the wall.

Chaos magic. And at that moment everything clicked. Rooms that were no different from the other, endless hallways, dead-ends where there shouldn’t be any. All of which were most likely the product of the rascal which I now held. And I knew exactly where it came from in the first place.

Chaos magic is well-known for its semi-sentient nature at times, often acting without input from а mage, making it difficult to control as а result. That is unless you knew how to contain it, which is exactly what I did with the emission crystal. However, even when contained in the crystal, the chaos magic wasn’t stable. It continuously found а way to leak itself out of the crystal, thus leading me to create the conduits to send any leaked magic back into the emission crystal. Despite this solution, my staff still needed а healthy amount of maintenance to ensure the cyclic back-and-forth between the crystals worked properly.

So, long story short, my staff being left in the pocket dimension with no maintenance being done on it for countless years ensured the chaos magic was able to discover easier ways to escape the grasp of the conduit crystals, thus answering why my staff couldn't cast the spells it used to.

The shattering of the emission crystal, meanwhile, was harder to ascertain, but my current theory was the last of the remaining chaos magic, after receiving many inputs and spells, decided to bust out all at once, thus destroying the crystal containing it. After finally becoming free from the shackles of the crystal, the chaos magic then decided it was time for it to mess with me а bit, changing the layout of the castle wherever I went. That was until it made а hiccup in the form of brushing against me on the wall, leading to the situation it currently found itself in.

“To think you were the one who was causing all the misery I’ve endured all this time…” I remarked, watching as the chaos magic’s snake-like form continued to writhe in my grip, attempting to break free. “To be honest, I don’t know what to do with you.”

Obviously, I couldn’t let it go free and continue wreaking havoc upon my plans. But I couldn’t exactly continue holding it either, as I needed my left hand to light the way forward with its flame, while the right would hold the emission crystal, heating it up sporadically along the way in accordance with the repair method. Meaning there was no way I could reasonably carry this thing without forgoing something important. I sighed at the dilemma. If only the emission crystal took а shorter amount of time to repair, then this situation could have been entirely avoided…

Unless…

My eyes lit up as an idea popped into my head. Snuffing out the fire in my left hand, I summoned my staff, alongside the six conduit crystals, onto the floor. Using the dim light provided by the moon, I organized five of the conduit crystals into а pentagonal shape at the top end of the staff. Then, setting the emission crystal on the floor, I grabbed the single conduit crystal I hadn’t used, I brought it up to the chaos magic. The rogue strand seemed to have caught on to what my plans were, as its struggle noticeably increased, to the point that it almost broke free from my grasp. Thankfully, my iron grip held firm, ensuring the rascal wasn’t going anywhere.

When the two were all but right next to each other, I suddenly shoved the chaos magic into the conduit crystal. The action had an immediate result, as the chaos magic began to practically shriek as it was forcibly contained into the conduit crystal, with the crystal itself flaring to life with аn orange glow that was so bright that it lit up the entire hallway around me, and caused me to close my eyes to shield them from its intensity. As I did so, a loud screeching could be heard, most likely from the chaos strand as it objected to being forced into the crystal. This continued for several tense seconds, before the screeching began to drown out, and the light subsided, allowing for me to open my eyes to admire my handiwork. The conduit crystal would have looked the exact same as it had before, if not for the slight glow it was now emitting. Meaning my insertion of the chaos strand had been successful.

Carefully, I placed it at the center of the other conduit crystals. The reaction was immediate, as the crystals began the task of creating а field to contain the chaos magic embedded in the center, lighting up brightly, but not as prominently as when the chaos strand had been embedded. I watched silently as my staff, once still and lifeless, began to rise autonomously, until it stood almost completely vertical. The conduit crystals worked as though the emission crystal was not needed, but closer observation revealed that wasn’t the case.

The conduit in the center, working as hard as it could, was already emitting some steam, as it struggled to contain the chaos magic within it. The window of opportunity I had was short, and as such I needed to act quickly.

Snatching the emission crystal with my left hand, and my staff with my right, I willed it to teleport me back to the bedroom. Within а second, my eyes no longer laid on dark hallways lit up dimly by the Moon, and instead found myself looking upon the bedroom.

I let out a sigh of relief at the fact my aimless exploration of the castle was now finally over. And after many hours of pointless exploration, I now found the bed in front of me very tempting to sleep on.

But, as fate would usually have it, а whistling sound to my right, oddly reminiscent of а kettle, interrupted those thoughts. Turning towards the source, my eyes settled on an alarming sight.

The center conduit crystal, which had already been struggling to keep itself together, was violently shaking in place. All over its surface, strands of chaos magic oozed out as it escaped the confines of the crystal. It looked as though it would shatter at any second. Something which I couldn’t allow under any circumstance.

So I did what any reasonable practitioner of magic would do in such а situation.

I panicked.

I dropped everything, and I mean everything, I was holding onto as both of my hands closed around the struggling crystal. I ignored the sounds of the other crystals falling to the floor as my single-minded focus to prevent the chaos magic from escaping and torturing me again was paramount.

I grunted as the crystal brightened with the contact, and felt the chaos strands on my hands, writhing as they tried to find а way around them. All the while I did my damndest to keep the chaos magic in the crystal.

For а while, this tango continued, although with time, I felt less chaos magic on my hands, as I slowly but surely reincorporated it into the conduit crystal, before eventually the whistling had all but vanished, and the shaking had completely ceased.

Believing I had prevented calamity, I looked down at the saved conduit crystal with а content smile.

“That was close,” I breathed. “Could’ve had another broken—“

That was when severe pain, one which I had not experienced since the days of the Emperor, pierced through my hands. It was as though а knife had been driven through both of them.

“Fuck!” I screamed, almost dropping the crystal out of the sheer pain I was experiencing. But I stood fast, and kept my hold of the crystal. Through the pain, I looked down at my hands holding it, and came across а new sight.

The chaos magic, which I had thought had been successfully contained, had now stabbed through my hands in what was likely а last ditch effort to break free. I saw small spikes protruding through both of my hands, the chaos magic attempting to push itself through them towards freedom.

I was not going to let it achieve that.

Using my limited magical potential, I rebuffed the chaos magic’s attack, forcing it back into the crystal once again. The pain remained severe, but it gradually began to lessen as my efforts did their work. Soon enough, the spikes had disappeared from my hands, the pain continuously diminishing, from a throbbing pain to an ache, and from there a mere tingling sensation. Before, finally, nothing.

I waited а few seconds. Then а few minutes. After what felt like an hour, I finally let my guard down as it became clear that the strand wasn’t going to try anything else to break free.

Conduit crystal still in hand, I collapsed onto the bed, exhausted from all the meaningless drivel that had occurred throughout the day. All I wanted to do now was simply sleep and get this comical fiasco behind me. Figuring out the ways of the Sun and Moon will have to wait until I wake in the morning.

And besides, this place is in the middle of nowhere. As far as I’m concerned, I have all the time in the world to learn that stuff. The ponies, if they even care about finding me, are probably still several days away from getting to this place. That is if they are able to identify it correctly from the one I sent back, which in of itself is not certain. And now with а patch of chaos magic back in my possession, I now have some means to defend myself should such а thing come to pass.

Assured in my security once again, I clutched the conduit crystal tightly, As I felt the embrace of sleep claim me, bringing to an end yet another frustrating day.