Bound by Scales

by FrostTheWolf

43- Restless

        When I originally fell asleep last night, I was right next to both Applejack and Pinkis inside of her room. But as I was waking up now, I found myself in a place that… well, it wasn’t really comforting to say the least. For one thing, it looked a lot like that of the mindscape that Coryena had called me too many times before or when Chroma ‘introduced’ himself to Applejack, Revaan and I. But everything in here was much darker and looked more like the exact opposite of what I had seen before whenever Coryena wanted to talk to me.

        “Hello?” My question just echoed all around me, before going silent as I tried looking around to try and understand where exactly did I end up. “Is anyone here?” Again, no response. I was all on my own here. Was this… somehow another nightmare like before? Because it seemed almost like it, from the darker atmosphere to the fact that just looking around in here made the hairs on my neck stand up. “What is this place?”

        Welcome to Hahvulon. A dark sounding voice echoed throughout the place, almost making my heart skip a beat as I tried to look around and see where it was coming from. Or what we call the Nightmare. The first thing that came into my mind was to try and find a way to defend myself… hunh?

        I looked down at my right hand, trying to summon a weapon or something for me to hold onto. However, it did not work. Almost as if something was preventing me from doing so. I even tried the same thing with my left hand too like all the times I did it before and it still did not work. Trying to conjure a weapon from the physical realm, are you? It’s a shame that such a handy ability such as that one does not work here in this realm. Oh, well this is just brilliant. Not only am I stuck here, but I can’t be able to even protect myself? How the hell is something like that fair?

        “Who are you?” I then asked rather sharply, almost as if I was demanding a direct answer from him. Without losing my composure though. “And why did you bring me here?”

        Oh, but haven’t you noticed… this isn’t your first time here. In the blink of an eye, the entire room changed and… no… no way. This is… this was where I learned about Zinnia’s fate. But how-?

        You recognize this place, don’t you? The voice spoke again, sending a deep chill down my spine once more that made me think I was somehow freezing. It was where you learned that your dear friend… the one that you called Zinnia… had been consumed by the void. I was the one who made that nightmare as an opportunity for me. Everything would’ve been perfect, if it wasn’t for that blasted dragoness watching over you.

        “Coryena…” I thought to myself, realizing what he meant. But around now, I was beginning to think something. This… whoever they are. They were no ordinary being. In fact, they felt similar to that of the aspects that I faced before… but there was no way that this could be it. They possess living beings or objects, not dreams like this.

        But… since you are here, allow for me to answer both of those questions for you. Another blink and the area returned to the state that it was before. But now, a new figure stood in front of me. It almost looked like that of a bipedal dragon. Similar to the anthro form that I saw Revaan take when Shayne and the two of us went to the Imperial Dragon City back in Hunter’s world. However, this one was covered in a dark aura that resembled the night sky and you could not even see the scales on the body or their actual face for that matter. Just two burning lavender dots that looked to be eyes that were glaring at me viciously.

        “I am Krosis Tantabus… Aspect of the Stars,” Wait, this guy is an aspect?! Seriously, how is that possible!? “And I am what remains of Luna’s own despair… Does she honestly think that forgiving herself for her past deeds would make me go away…? How pathetic.”

        At that moment, I had several different questions. But one specific one came to mind right now. “Wait… How… are you supposed to be an aspect? Aren’t they supposed to be-?”

        “What? You think that they could only possess living things or objects in the physical realm?How naive…” He looked towards me as I heard him let out a scowl. “I was once the embodiment of Luna’s own crippling guilt. A devourer of dreams. Nightmare incarnate… But when those damnable ponies told her that she could forgive herself for what she done, I was severed. Cast out… all while she took in the original creature that was of her own making.”

        Then… I watched as I saw what looked like something appeared in his hands. “But now… Nightmare herself gave me a purpose… gave us a purpose… But you don’t even seem fazed by the others,” A long grey handle began to extend forth, holding what looked like a blade that resembled a dark crescent moon as he looked back at me. “So… Scalebound… what do you know of them? What do you know of the Aspects?”

        That… question came out of nowhere… yet, instead of refusing to answer, I told him what I knew. “Nightmare created you by using her own magic to make artificial souls… combining them with that of the souls of deceased dragons. From there, you’re forced to take over the bodies of others… feeding on their emotions-”

        In an instant, Krosis slammed his weapon into the ground where he was at to stop me from going any further. “Do you honestly think that is the case…? Tell me… have you ever seen Nightmare after she ‘created’ us…” I did not have an answer for him that moment and instead, was just silent. “I thought as much… Why it is true that we are combined with that of the souls of dragons long gone… What you said about artificial souls is completely blasphemous.”

        Wait, hold up… if that was the case, then why-? “We were created when Nightmare split herself apart… she created us through sacrificing herself and in turn, had us want to carry out her final wish… The demise of you and the Onyx bloodline!” In a split second, Krosis’ sickle was swung directly at me, forcing me to try and dodge the attack as part of the blade’s edge barely sliced my chest. I tried to back up and give myself a distance, only to find my back against a wall that I knew for certain was not there before. “And that is something I will do! Nopony in the physical realm can help you hear, Scalebound!! You are in a realm of my own creation… and there is no way you will survive!!”

        When ah woke up this morning, ah felt rather calm and refreshed. Last night, both Ken and ah decided to stay the night at Pinkis’ place so we could be able to help her with our newest addition to our ever growing family and as ah was getting up, ah noticed that Ken still happened to be laying down on the bed. Fast asleep.

        Extending a hoof, ah tapped his shoulder in order to try to get him to wake up. However, that really didn’t do much at all. I tried again, this time with a little bit more force, but still nothing. “Come on, sleepyhead. Ya need to get up…”

        Even the sound of the door opening didn’t do anything to disturb his slumber as I looked back to see Pinkis trotting through the front door of her home and past me. Hunh… Did she go out to get something to eat? Ah thought that we had stocked up food for her after Candy was born.

        “Hey there, AJ,” My train of thought came to a halt at that point as I turned around and looked to see Shayne standing in the doorway. “How’s everything going? The kids aren’t really giving you too much trouble now, are they?”

        “Nah,” I shook my head in response before beginning to speak to her. “Ah’m having Granny Smith look after them for a bit while Ken and ah are helping Pinkis out with Candy Apple.”

        “Well, to be honest with you, I think Pinkis is getting back to her usual self,” Shayne then explained to me as she was fiddling with her boomerang. “Fluttershout told me that the two of them went out for breakfast this morning… and not even half an hour after they got there, Pinkis cleared out an entire restaurant and almost had them go out of business.”

        “Heh, real funny there Shayne,” I told her… but her expression did not change… and there was no hint of deceit in her words at all. “Oh dear Luna, you’re serious.”

        “I am… Fluttershout told me that she had to pull Pinkis out of there before she could storm into the kitchens in the back where the chefs were planning the lunch menu for the day.” The rogue assured me, and again, she was telling me the truth. So I guess she just decided to go out to get something to eat with her friends then. “Though, on a completely different subject… do you know where Ken might happen to be?”

        That had me nod my head, looking back inside for a brief moment before turning back to face Shayne. “Yeah, he’s still asleep. Why do you ask?” For a moment, Shayne looked back at me with a raised eyebrow… before letting out a deep sigh.

        “Well, Revaan said he wanted to see him about some-” However, as Shayne looked back inside, the expression on her face changed almost in the blink of an eye. Now being one of deep concern. “Applejack… Did Ken fall asleep last night with a gash across his cheek?”

        At first, I thought that Shayne was lying. I did not remember such a thing at all and he wasn’t injured in any way when he went to bed last night. But when I looked back to him now… there was a gash. An open one and he was beginning to bleed. “W-what the hay?!” I gasped, rushing in to try and see what was wrong. “H-he was just fine a minute ago. W-what’s going on?”

        “Hey, don’t look at me! I’m the one who just noticed this,” Shayne told me, just as shocked as I was right now. She hurried to grab some towels from the kitchen to try and suppress the bleeding. But even with that in place, it didn't work. And before she could say anything, we heard a loud cry of what almost sounded like Revaan if he was in pain. “Oh crap… AJ, what do we do?”

        “J-just hold down the bleeding and get him over to the temple! M-maybe Revaan knows what is happening or something.” I told her, unsure myself as Shayne had Aurox appear and pick him up before taking off towards the temple. As for me, I needed to go inform Pinkis on what was happening… and hope that no other problems pop up out of nowhere.

        Unfortunately, that did not happen. Because just as Pinkis was coming out of her room, I heard an all too familiar voice at the door. “Uh… AJ, is everything alright? I just saw Shayne & Aurox running across the temple just now with Ken and… he doesn’t look too good.”

        For the love of Celestia, Rainbow… Why did you have to do this now of all times!?

        “Define ‘doesn’t look so good’...” Pinkis cut in, narrowing her eyes.

        “It happened just as you got back…” I explained to her. “He was fine last night, but Shayne saw that there were wounds on his face and body. Something that ah know for sure wasn’t there when ah woke up this morning.”

        Now, I shot a glare at Rainbow, who was still there, even as ah was talking to Pinkis. “Don’t just stand there, Dash. Go help them!!” All she did was give me a mock salute and then dashed off as I looked back to Pinkis now. “Ah don’t know what’s going on, but whatever it is, Revaan’s in pain and Ken’s not waking up.”

        “Alright, I’m not good with that… stuff, but I’ll come along. Candy’s asleep right now…” I nodded my head, having her follow me out of her room and towards the temple as fast as we could. When we got there though, we found that Ken’s condition was beginning to get worse. He now has a few gashes on his arms and legs as Shayne and Rainbow were trying to apply first aid to his open wounds.

        Revaan himself was in the room too… and the injuries that Ken had were now seen as visible scars along his face and body too. “You’re here… Do you-?”

        Immediately, I shook my head. “Sorry, Revaan, but I don’t know what’s going on…” I told him, before looking back at him. “Didn’t you tell Shayne to tell Ken something earlier?”

        All the dragon did was nod for a moment, but before he could say anything, we heard something come from the room where we had the gate to Ponyville. But who actually came in here was something that I did not expect. Not only was Twilight here… but Princess Luna too. “We’re here, Rainbow! What’s-”

        Now I was getting really irritated. “You told them!?”

        “What? You told me to help, so I told Twilight what was going on! If this is some magic thingamajig, she can find a way to make it stop, right?” Rainbow asked me. However, before Twilight could say anything, that was when I saw Luna approach him… with an almost horrified expression on her face.

        “N-no… I-it can’t be…”

        “Princess, what’s the matter?” I asked her.

        “Yeah, you look like you just saw an evil ghost of your past or something.” Now everypony, including Pinkis, was glaring at Shayne as she looked back at us with a puzzled glance.

        “This presence… I’ve felt this before…” Luna told us, ignoring Shayne’s comment as I looked back at her. However… Twilight, Rainbow and I were not prepared for what she said next. “It’s… the Tantabus?”

        “What!?”

        “Oh, COME ON!!! I thought we already dealt with that!” Rainbow complained.

        “The what?” Pinkis asked, tilting her head. “The last season I watched was five before I was abducted and probed, what’s the ‘Tantabus’?”

        I was going to say something, but that was when Luna spoke up. “It was a dream creature that I created to originally give myself nightmares of the atrocities I committed when I was Nightmare Moon. However… when I was able to forgive myself for all I did, the Tantabus was weakened and I was able to bring it back in… but this… this is beyond my understanding…”

        “Not without having everypony having the same dream and seeing what Mac would look like as an alicorn princess.” Rainbow added on the side. Which lead to me glaring directly back at her so that way she didn’t say anything else that was stupid.

        “Pretty sure Brutalight would have something for this.” Pinkis stated offhoofedly. “Might be tricky to get ahold of her in her exile, but if you guys want I could give her token a try.”

        Luna herself took a moment to look towards her and shook her head. “No, that would not be entirely necessary…”

        “Hold on…” Twilight replied back, looking towards the Princess. “You’re not going to do what I think you’re going to do… are you?”

        “Of course not!” Luna declared. “It would be too great of a risk to do that here… Besides, the only one who is dreaming right now is Ken and nopony else.”

        “Can’t you just do that scrying thing like before?” Rainbow then asked, leading to Twilight to shake her head now.

        “No, the subject needs to be awake in order to do that and if we did, it doesn’t work on somepony’s dreams.” Well, there goes that idea.

        “What’s the plan then...?” Pinkis grunted, annoyed.

        “Well… I have one idea… but it is a risk…” Luna replied back. “If I use a spell so that I can see what is going on, then we might have some kind of idea as to what it is. But if I try it, whatever is harming him could possibly harm me too.”

        “Does it have to be you though?” Revaan asked, now sounding a little concerned.

        “I’m the only pony who has the ability to walk in dreams… however, this one is just to try and contact him… think of it like ‘Dream Telepathy’ if that helps.” Luna told him in response. “I just need somepony to watch my body for a moment.”

        I nodded my head as she casted the spell. Watching her as she was hard at work trying to reach him… however, after a few seconds… something didn't feel right. In an instant, Luna was thrown backwards into Revaan. Gasping for breath like she got the life sucked out of her as Pinkis and I rushed over to her.

        “P-princess, are you okay?! W-what happened?”

        At first, Luna said nothing… but that was until she caught her breath and began to speak. “A-aspect… K-krosis… Ken’s t-trying to s-survive, but h-he can’t fight back…” Then, the princess looked towards Pinkis. “Y-you… said you have a friend that can handle this?”

        Pinkis grinned before nodding. “She does the bizarre for a living. We don’t call her the Element of Wrathful Magic for nothin’. I can have her here in under a minute.”

        “Bring her here… and hurry,” Luna wheezed, still trying to recover as she looked back at the earth pony. “S-she needs to help him… help him kill what’s causing this.”

        “So, what’d Ken get himself into exactly...?” The demonic voice of Brutalight Sparcake asked, trotting into the room. She had a serious expression on her face.

        “Over the last few months, Ken’s been fighting these things called Aspects… Pieces of Nightmare Moon fused with the soul of a dragon,” I explained to her, before getting right to the point. “There are four of them and he’s defeated three… but the forth one is now trapping Ken in a nightmare. Cutting him off from anything he could use to defend himself and any injuries he takes in that nightmare injure himself now.”

        As I said this, I pointed a hoof to Luna, who was still a little bit shaken and was downright shocked (and a little bit intimidated) by Brutalight’s presence as I continued my explanation. “Luna tried to go into his dream, but was forced out seconds later… She says that whatever’s causing this needs to be killed because if you just wake him up now, it will kill him the next time he tries to go asleep.”

        “I’ve dealt with this type of bug once before. On our Equestria, actually.” She looked to Pinkis. “Remember when Nightmare Moon tried to infect Rarifruit?”

        “Yeah, that was pretty… nasty.” Pinkis cringed. “That whole situation could’ve been avoided if Apple Pills didn’t-”

        “Off topic.” Brutalight cut in. “Point is, I know how to deal with it without resorting to killing him, or doing damage. I need more specifics on it’s capabilities.”

        “What is in there is something that can only be killed by Ken’s own power, but he’s blocked all of it…” Luna told her, sounding concerned… for Brutalight. “He’s like a god in there, creating and destroying things around him at will. Are you sure that you can be able to handle something of this nature…? I-i know you said you did this before-”

        “Relax, Princess.” Brutalight said coldly, an evil grin forming on her face. “I know what I’m doing, unlike some ponies… I’ll take care of Ken, you can go back to sulk on your throne or whatever.”

        “No… my work isn’t done yet…” Luna shook her head. “I’m going to be the one sending you in… Just make sure you bring him back.”

        “So what am I doing? Going in and getting him out or unlocking that power?”

        “Go in, unlock, kill what’s keeping him captive, then get out.” I now spoke up so Luna could rest her voice a little bit.

        “Got it. It’ll be as easy as… well, as easy as anything else I do.” There was an air of superiority to her words, as if she were speaking to children who didn’t understand what she was saying.

        “Alright… Just sit down and close your eyes. That’s how I can send you in…” Brutalight laid down and closed her eyes casually, smirking still. Then, that was when Luna casted the spell and we all just stood there afterwards.

        “So… is she under yet?” Rainbow’s question was answered by a nod from Luna as she let out a sigh. “Oh good… because seriously. Who else thinks she’s a complete and total b*tch?”

        “Rainbow!!”

        Run. That was all that I could do right now at this point. For a moment, I felt Luna trying to come in and reach me, but it was only mere moments after I began talking to her that Krosis banished her out. Forcing me to be on the run as any particular place that I thought I could lay low in. But now… Now, I was tiring out. Without my abilities, how the hell am I supposed to survive, let alone defeat this guy?

        “Giving up already?” And there was this guy’s taunting. Each time I heard him speak, it was if he was trying to look down upon me and refer to me as an inferior being. His crescent scythe in hand as I felt his presence come closer and closer to me. “How about you just fall forward so I can claim your head as a prize? Or are you still going to hope that somepony is going to come rescue you?”

        “Well hope no longer! A prince has arrived!” Wait, what? Was that… who I think it was? “And please, no ‘our princess is in another castle’ sh*t, I get dizzy in these dream sequences, it’s like I’m on shrooms, so I’d rather not this be a decoy.” Holy crap, it was who I was thinking it was!

        When I looked up, I watched as Brutalight landed in front of me and blasted back Krosis with what I assumed to be dark magic. Before she turned her attention to me.

        “You owe me for this, I don’t like not being able to stab things.” Brutalight grunted, “Oh, and Pinkis sends her regards… I hope you know where your powers are locked up.”

        “Honestly, I don’t think they’re locked up in an actual location,” I told her, flexing my right hand like I was trying to do something, only for nothing to happen. “It’s like if there’s a clot in an artery. I don’t feel anything flowing through at all.”

        “Hmm… must be a mental block. We don’t have much time before that thing comes back, and I doubt I’ll be able to one shot it again.” Brutalight stated. “I think this is either a spiritual thing, or something my magic can fix. Not used to supporting someone’s psyche to win, I usually just do it myself. Thoughts?”

        I looked to her, but also looked back at where Krosis was as he was coming back up again. Almost unfazed as he glared at the two of us. “What’s this? Another uninvited pest?!”

        “J-just do something! He’s coming back towards us again!” I told her.

        “I f*cking noticed… don’t rush me.” Brutalight said, uninterested as she tapped her chin and her horn lit up. “Located the clots. Want me to cut them out?” There was humor in her voice. But to me, I thought that she was being serious.

        Before I could give her an answer though, we both heard a loud roar from Krosis as the aspect began to charge at us.

        “Why three?” Brutalight suddenly asked Krosis.

        “You dare just ask questions to me when your life is at stake?!!” He roared, swinging his scythe as the blade went over our heads.

        “Not mine, I’ll just wake up. Call me Curious the Cat.” Brutalight replied unaffected by the weapon. Her horn was still glowing...

        “You have dark magic all around you just like me!!! Isn’t that obvious!!?!” And that right there… was one thing that he probably should not have said out loud.

        “Oh, right, of course. I was just asking why three specifically. They’re not very guarded in the first place.” Brutalight spoke up casually. I suddenly felt a weird weight lift from my shoulders… What…?

        For a moment, I… felt something. It was brief… but it was something. “Brute, whatever that was, it’s working. Keep going.”

        “Ugh… I was stalling, moron…” Brutalight grunted, glaring daggers at me.

        “S-sorry.” I whispered in a low tone, trying to not catch any attention.

        Brutalight stared at Krosis. “Seriously, why not ten? Or twenty? Or an even number?”

        “Do I look like somepony who would just give away their plans through useless monologue?! I’m trying to kill you!!!” This time, he swung his scythe straight down on top of where Brutalight would be, but missed as she moved at the last second in order to get out of the way and work on the second one.

        Seconds later, while Brutalight was teleporting around Krosis, I felt another heavy weight lift off my shoulder. This time on my elbow instead as I gave her a thumbs up with my free hand. Again, Brutalight glared.

        “Fine, I just thought you’d show me the courtesy… Oh, is it to symbolize the other Nightmare Moon things that Ken killed?” All that did was cause Krosis to roar uncontrollably as the shadows that were all around him began to grow as he glared towards Brutalight before charging directly at her.

        “Don’t you DARE try to defile my brothers, you soulless black hearted B*TCH!!! I’ll rip your heart out of your chest for that!!!” Did… he seriously just call her that? Out of all the things he could’ve said… why did it have to be that?

        “I’m no more a b*tch than you are…” The last weight suddenly lifted, “Ken, are you done with your standing around...? I have a lotta experiments to do.”

        Well, let’s find out… Now with the last of the weight on my arm being lifted, I felt my energy actually being able to flow through this time. Turning it into a blade that I was to hold onto as I looked towards her. “I am… Though, I have an idea,” I told her, getting up on my legs as I saw Krosis stop dead in his tracks, but still enraged. “You lead… I follow.”

        “Goody~” Brutalight’s horn flared as a black and violet sphere appeared below Krosis, which forced him onto the ground violently. Two short, thick blades of different designs appeared in the air above Krosis. “You got the soul and heart thing mixed up~” Then, the blades impaled Krosis in the blink of an eye.

        “Grr… Why you!!” However, even with being impaled, Krosis snapped his right claw and the ground began to rumble under Brutalight as an attempt in order to try and break her concentration.

        But, the thing he did not take into account, was me severing his claw from his arm with a single slash of my blade. The attack caused him to scream in pain, as he glared back at us. The scythe around him was beginning to change and transform into a whip. One that grabbed onto Brutalight by her hooves in an attempt to try and drag her across the floor and throw her into a wall.

        Brutalight took the hit, looking unphased and bored. “Ow...” She remarked, unremarkably. Krosis himself, using his free claw, pulled the two blades that Brutalight had originally used and threw them aside.

        “You think conventional weapons can harm me!? Pitiful!!” He roared, yanking Brutalight over to him. Whatever he was trying to do though… I was not going to let that happen. So, running at him, I slashed at Krosis to knock him backwards. Freeing Brutalight from his grip as she was able to get back up on all fours.

        “You gonna kill him? Luna or Applejack said only you could kill it.” Brutalight remarked.

        “That’s right… but first we need to stop him from trying to change everything here to his liking,” I told her, looking back at Krosis for a brief second before speaking.. “I need to cut off his other claw first. Then he won’t be able to bend anything here to his will… Do you have any spells that can force him down to his knees?”

        “I have many.” Brutalight stated. “I’ll set up a trap here, you lure him over. Once he’s here, the trap will force him to the ground.”

        Nodding my head, I got to work on keeping Krosis occupied so he would not realize what Brutalight was doing. Our weapons clashed with each other as his changed back into the scythe form from before in order to combat my blade. Despite only having one hand, the aspect was still able to go toe-to-toe with me and counter almost every one of my attacks. Even getting close to almost striking me across the chest with the edge of his blade.

        We continued to clash with one another for another minute or so, before I pushed him back with another attack. I wanted to see how Brutalight was with her progress, but I remembered that if I let my guard down for a minute, he would cleave my head off of my shoulders. So, I solely needed to focus on Krosis right now until she’s ready.

        “Is this really everything you can do?! Where was the ferocity that destroyed my brothers?!! Are you truly the fearsome warrior with the soul bound to a damnable Onyx!?!” He lashed out, his attacks happening much quicker than before. Making me seem concerned that he was going to try and throw me off balance.

        Taking a moment to back up, I began to concentrate some of the energy I had on me through my legs as I looked back at him. Krosis himself was preparing to slam his scythe into the ground as I charged at him and dashed underneath. Striking his back, the aspect howled in pain once more before swinging his scythe in a vertical motion, forcing me to fall backwards and barely missing the edge of it as I got back up to my feet.

        “It’s been ready for a bit!” Brutalight called out from… where was she?

        “Brute, where are you?” I then asked, knocking Krosis back as I tried to leave some space between him and I. I began to head to where exactly I saw her last, but not try to get too close to where I accidentally get caught in the trap instead of Krosis.

        “Where do you think you’re going!!?!” The aspect roared, giving chase and trying to attack me while I was on the run.

        “Keep heading straight but jump when you see a flash of purple.” I heard, listening to what Brutalight told me as I kept on pushing forward. After reaching a certain point, I saw the flash and immediately jumped into the air, while Krosis just ran straight forward. Instantly, wires of shadow began to spring out like vines. Latching onto the aspect from all sides and forcing him down to the ground.

        “You dare try to-!!” Before he could try anything, I slashed at his other wrist, cutting off his other hand and preventing him from trying to break free as he fell to both knees. Not wasting any time, I prepared one last slash as I held my blade above my head and slashed down the middle. Where it slowly began to have Krosis break in half.

        However, he did not go away quietly… and instead gave off one chilling warning. “D-damn you!!! I-if you think you’re safe with us gone, then you are not!!”

        “Shut this f*cker up already…” Brutalight grunted, aggravated. “I have classes to attend, and I’d rather not be subject to my treachers sadistic hard ons.”

        As if it was on cue, Krosis was no more… but now, someone else stood there. Looking like Revaan when we were in Hunter’s realm. “You… freed me? Thank you… I appreciate everything you did.”

        “Um… I know that you’re a dragon soul… but you don’t seem like the others,” I added, before looking back to this one. “Who are you?”

        “Really now?” He asked, almost laughing. “You’re bound to my son and you don’t know who I am… Oh boy…” The soul soon noticed Brutalight just standing there for a moment before taking a deep breath. “First though… let me send your friend back to the physical realm-.”

        “No need, I’ll leave on my own. I can see when I’m unwanted…” With that, Brutalight vanished in a puff of black and purple energy.

        That just had the soul let out a deep sigh as he looked back at me. “Children these days… All I do is try to show a little bit of gratitude and they take it the other way,” He then turned to me, smiling a bit. “You must be Kendov… the one that Revaan’s bound too.”

        “And… you’re his father.”

        “Yes, but I prefer to go by my name. Sulvulaan,” The name rang a bell in my head. Sulvulaan, the dragon word for dusk. “I always wanted to make sure that my son grew up to be a strong and powerful dragon. And with you helping him… correct me if this isn’t the right phrase, but I think he’s in good hands.”

        I nodded my head, thanking him for a minute as he looked back to me. Now glowing with light all around him as he looked to me. “Guess I have to go now… but before I do, I wanted to give you something. Consider it a token of my appreciation,” A mass of silver light soon flowed towards me as I felt it course through my arm. All before I looked back to him as everything around me began to fade to white. “Tell my son that I am proud of the dragon that he’s become.”

        The moment that I woke up, it was not with my eyes slowly opening… or where I try to slowly rise up from whatever I was lying on. No, when I woke up from the nightmarish hell I had been through, it felt like when Jon Snow was brought back to life in Game of Thrones. It was immediate, quick… and it startled anypony close by that saw it.

        “Hey Ken?” I heard Pinkis speak up. “Never do that again… or I’ll eat you like a Sarlacc Pit.” Brutalight snorted.

        I turned to look towards Pinkis… before pulling her towards me for a hug. “My god, I thought I was a goner… I-i’m glad I’m back…” In the middle of it though, I turned to Brutalight in order to tell her something. “Brutalight… if it weren’t for you, I would’ve been a goner. Thank you… I mean it.”

        “And I don’t care…” Brutalight snarked. “I only did this because Pinkis was bothering me. First contact in months and I’m needed to save someone.” Pinkis looked away shyly.

        “Brutalight… you’re always welcome to come visit whenever you feel like it,” I now began thinking of something as I looked back at Pinkis. “We can always invite you to a celebration or two if you feel like you need to take a break every once in a while… You did say that I owed you one right?”

        “Yeah, and that’s not something I’m interested in… Keep your friendship to yourself, I’ll have none of this world. I only cared enough to come here because of Pinkis, even if she’s ignored me.” Brutalight chuckled darkly, turning around. “You wouldn’t want this monster at any party. Just pretend I don’t exist, friendship isn’t in my vocabulary anymore.”

        With that, she walked out of the room. Leaving Pinkis and I alone as I looked back at her.

        “Her attitude is partially my fault, the Elements of Insanity cast her out after her, Rainbine and Rarifruit had a… confrontation.”

        “Don’t blame yourself, Pinkis,” I said, placing a hand on her shoulder before noticing something. “Hey… Where’s everypony else? Is it just us here?”

        “The others had some things to do. AJ got called by her family and Twilight carried Luna to a guest room until she can recover. I think RD’s with AJ.” Pinkis replied. I nodded my head in response, before looking back to her as gave her a kiss on the lips, which made her squeak and turn a shade darker.

        “Thanks, Pinkis… you’re a lifesaver,” I told her, before thinking of something. “Would you… like to spend some time together? We don’t always get to be alone like this.”

        “W-well… I’m sure it couldn’t hurt.” Pinkis shyly responded.

        By the time that ah was called over by Big Mac, ah was really concerned about leaving Ken. Especially with that friend of Pinkis’ trying to help him. But… after a while, that fear began to subside. Rainbow herself even went back in order to check on everything and told me that everything was okay and that Pinkis was just waiting for him to wake up.

        As I was sweeping up the last of what was on the patio, ah watched as Ruby and Magma were playing with each other and also chewing on Rainbow’s tail. They seemed to be having a lot of fun, despite them asking about when was their papa coming over. It… reminded me of when ah had to tell Applebloom about what happened to Ma and Pa that fateful day.

        Yet… when ah looked up and was putting the duster away, my heart skipped a beat. For a moment… ah thought ah saw a mare. One that looked exactly like Ma. I blinked for a moment, but she was still there.

        “Mama, this is fwun!!!” For a brief second, I turned as I watched Magma putting out feathers from Rainbow’s wings as ah had to grab them before Rainbow could do anything. Ah looked back out towards the trees after that… and that mare that ah saw vanished. “Mama, what’s wrong?”

        “Ah, i-it’s nothing Ruby.” Ah told her, before looking back at Rainbow and tilting my head towards the door. “Let’s go inside, ah bet that Granny Smith has a new story to read to us tonight.” With that, we all went inside, making sure to turn out the light as ah closed the door behind me.