//------------------------------//
// Chap. 12 Ticking Time Bomb 
// Story: How Death Lived 
// by Crimson Wisp 
//------------------------------//

////////Avalon////////

When the sun's rays peeked through the dirty windows of the ancient library, I sent out Silver Lining and Cherry Wing to find a water supply within the hour and I sent Scarlett Stream with Honey Blossom to forage for food. The rest of the group were ordered to scavenge for any and all tools, materials, or artefacts they could find within the castle with the exception of Spectre Luamoon, Blazing Shot, and Savant Dancer. 

Blazing had dedicated himself to finding weapons and armor to outfit the other ponies, and so far, he'd found several suits of armor in relatively good condition, so there was that. Spectre was helping out Savant Dancer with relearning of old spells long since forgotten, and hypothesizing on how to be able to cast magic again now that they were undead. 

Speaking of which, I'd have to make a mental note to remind Azazel of that. Hopefully, he would be able to bestow upon them the gifts of magic much like Anvari. 

By daybreak, they had already catalogued and read through half of the library and were steadily making progress. The information would be copied out of their memories and absorbed for my master's later use. 

Much of the geographical, arcana, and limited information pertaining to the wildlife in this forest was concordant with Trephor's research, but there were odd bits of what little history he could research that didn't quite align with the contents of Savant Dancer's mind. 

The only prominent difference between Canterlot's archives and this ruins' seem to be everything pertaining to a place known as the Crystal Empire. According to Canterlot's archives, the first ruler of the empire was a mare named Amor-

"...uuuugggghhh..."

A pained groan from my master tore me from my thoughts. I turned around to see him holding his horns in what seemed to be pain. I quickly got up from the stool I was sitting on and ran towards him. As soon as I got within arms reach I pressed my boney hand against his forehead. He had a steadily growing fever, but was still entrenched in a deep sleep. 

I looked around and saw that the ponies I sent out still hadn't returned, so I broadcasted an immediate signal for all the skeletons to come back with whatever they had. 

I pressed my hands against Azazel's forehead and chest, then focused. There was a foreign presence in his mind, and it was tricking Azazel's body into thinking it was freezing. Azazel's body would overheat and send him into shock if I didn't forcefully remove it. 

Shutting my "eyes", I felt around for the presence and found it trying to wrap around his mind and encompass it. I began to pry it off, only for it to try and latch on with greater ferver. As I worked, I heard the sound of hooves hitting the ground and the sloshing of a liquid spill ever so slightly and pitter patter against the stone floor.

"Sir Avalon! The scouts have returned with water and some apples. Why did you summon them back so quickly?"

I heard Blazing Shot call out from behind me.

"Bring me water! I have to cool him off!"

I explained, returning my complete attention back to Azazel. The entity was struggling to keep it's hold on my master, and if I kept on pulling on it to come off, it soon would. 

As I worked, I felt something wet run down my hands and all along Azazel's body. The liquid then sizzled into steam as it came into contact with his skin. I immediately felt the presence "lose its footing" and with much effort, Azazel's mind was freed from it's grasp. 

My master's eyes shot open and he began taking massive lungfulls of air while his wild eyes scanned his surroundings. We gave him some room to breathe, and after regaining his breath, my master spoke.

"What in the nine hells happened?..."

He asked out of breath.

"We have taken refuge at the ruins I mentioned to you yesterday. As for what happened just now, something was trying to force your body to overheat."

I explained.

"hmm..."

He hummed before continuing, looking around the library we were in. He saw Anvari "sleeping" peacefully by his side and let out a small sigh before sitting up.

"Actually, We are currently in one of Equestria's oldest archives. This entire structure is part of what's left of the castle of the two sisters."

Savant Dancer explained with fascination on his voice while popping his head out of a mound of books he had buried himself under. He climbed down the small pile of books, trotted over to us and sat down beside me a little too much giddiness for my liking. 

Azazel was deep in thought, mulling over what I assumed had been the events of the last two days.

"Avalon?"

He asked, looking off into space.

"Yes?"

I asked.

"Have you explored this castle?"

he asked.

"We have sir, every last nook and cranny, though I believe that there is something that requires your attention."

Spectre answered for me.

"Is there an area in this ruin where it's unnaturally cold and whispers can be heard?"

He asked, his demonic eyes locking onto mine with an unwavering focus. To say me and Spectre were taken aback by how specific he was would have been an understatement. 

"I... uh..."

I tried to answer, but the words would not leave my mouth. He looked down, then his eyes began inspecting us. He began to search the room for something before looking back at us.

"Where are the others?"

He asked me with weariness on his face and tone. I hesitated, unable to find the best way to tell him without infuriating him. Fortunately, Blazing Shot answered for me.

"Sir, we endured heavy losses on our way here. We are all that is left."

He explained. To this, Azazel let out a groan of frustration while holding the bridge of his nose with a clawed hand. He stayed like that for a moment before taking a deep breath.

"Avalon, the area I described earlier, does it exist?"

He asked, now looking at me. I nodded, and he looked to be a little more at ease.

"Alright... Is there anywhere where I can bathe?.. I need to clear my head so that I can figure out our next move."

He stated, his shoulders sagging a bit in resignation. I looked over to Cherry Wing who was holding an empty old wooden pale. She set it down before speaking.

"Yeah. There's a waterfall and a shallow river south of these ruins. I can take you there if you wish."

She explained.

"Alright. For now, everyone stay here. Avalon, see if you can contact Trephor and Mia from here. I want to know what's going on on their end."

He ordered, weakly rising to his feet to then fall back onto the makeshift bed. 

"Master, please take it easy."

I placated, gently keeping him from standing up again with my hand on his shoulder. He sighed and stayed put for moment before turning towards the sleeping, undead manticore. He whistled, and the manticore's eyes lit up, signifying it was awake. The creature rose from it's position and walked over to Azazel, moving it's head under his hand. It received gentle scratches before I realized what he wanted to do.

"Help me up Avalon."

He commanded, and I obeyed. Climbing onto the undead feline, he let a victorious smirk spread onto his face.

"What is your name, pegasus?"

He asked, looking at Cherry Wing. 

"My name is Cherry Wing, sir."

She answered. He nodded before speaking.

"Very well, Cherry Wing, lead the way."

He ordered, and with that, I escorted them out of the palace and watched them disappear southward into the trees of the elusive Everfree. I walked back inside, and passed by the hallway leading to the aforementioned area of cold and ominous voices. I was tempted to go there and explore it, but I knew better than to head into potential danger by myself. I headed back to the library and found the undead ponies gathered around Anvari, who was unsurprisingly uncomfortable with all the attention on her.

"Alright, our master has left. Honey Blossom, Scarlett Stream, I presume you found some apples for Azazel?"

I asked as I walked towards them. They nodded and presented a burlap sack that seemed to be stuffed with apples towards me. 

"Where did you get these?"

I asked. I received no answer and it was only when I looked up from the inside of the burlap sack that I saw Honey Blossom and Scarlett Stream looking at me. The former looking utterly mortified while the latter was pointing with a hoof somewhere above me. Looking up, I saw an eight legged silouhette land on my face and latch on with said appendages with a grip of mild strength. 

I then looked forward and pulled off what had just latched onto my face. Upon closer inspection, it seemed to be a spider with a body the size of my skull with a star shaped coloration on its abdomen that sparkled like a shiny gem. What surprised me the most about it was how calm the creature was, even as I looked it over.

"Sir Avalon! Get away from that thing!"

I heard Honey Blossom's voice call out from ahead. Looking away from the oversized insect, I saw the ponies were all hiding behind a table turned on its side. I cocked my head to the side in confusion before setting the harmless arachnid on the ground. It looked up at me for a moment before scurrying away behind a bookshelf. As I saw the little creature vanish from sight, I heard the unmistakeable sound of a jaw bone falling to the ground. Turning to look over to the ponies, I saw that Honey Blossom had just dropped her jaw. I got up and walked over to her. Taking the jaw bone in my hand, I then moved it close enough to her skull where it would gravitate back into position.

"I- I don't understand... why didn't it try to maul your face off?"

Scarlett asked, looking at me with utter bewilderment.

"I don't know, and frankly I don't care. If it isn't hostile, it is of no concern. For now, keep those apples safe for when our master returns. I'm going to see if I can reach Trephor and Mia."

I ordained and with that, I left the room to search for a place to meditate and hopefully reach my friends.

///////////////Meanwhile, in the Everfree forest...//////////////////

The unsuspecting half-blood spawn of hell and Death itself, had been showering himself off under a small waterfall that fed a shallow river that dug into a ravine which was swallowed by the Everfree. 

Alone to collect his thoughts, he began to think on just how to get Mia and Trephor back from the Solar bitch's clutches. Erm... hooves. 

His memory of the castle's layout was limited, and try as he might, he couldn't think of a way to save them. After about an hour of chastising himself and being angry at Celestia, he calmed down and did his best to get his mind off of it for the time being. 

He scrubbed his troubles away as a memory of his earlier years with the skeletons he called his family resurfaced. Closing his eyes under the stream of cool water, he began to visualize the day he tried to wear pants. After Mia had spent days making him simple leggings so that he could go out in public looking a little more inconspicuous with his father, Azazel had worn them on an excursion to the Black Mountain. 

After an incident with a fire drake, It was no surprise to see the two come back with a cartful of gems and gold from the beast's hoard, covered from head to toe in ash and soot, with small cuts and bruises grazing most of their bodies. While the two were completely naked, their clothing burned to a crisp and discarded, and giggling like a bunch of drunkard idiots they sauntered inside their hidden abode. 

Being in the nude was something Azazel was relatively comfortable with. Something about being raised by the most infamous succubus of the nine circles might have something to do with it. Speaking of which, she was not at all happy to see her husband and her son grazed with injuries and naked to boot. Not to mention Mia's distress over the destroyed leggings.

He smiled at the memory before becoming sour at the thought of his parents. He sighed and moved out from under the stream of water that had cleaned his hair. Brushing back the long locks of brunette hair out of his face, Azazel waded out of the knee deep river and towards the shore.

As he trudged onward, he charged hellfire in his chest. His body temperature rocketed, and the water on his body and hair began to sizzle and evaporate off him. He stood under the shade with his eyes closed in a sort of sleepy contentment, enjoying the sounds of nature as he dried himself. 

Just as he finished and let his body temperature drop back down, he heard a magical pop off to his right. His eyes shot open and scanned the immediate area for danger. On a rock conveniently placed next to the tree where his loincloth and belt hung on a low branch of an odd looking tree, lay a rolled parchment held closed by a red ribbon and a golden broach with an odd looking emblem on it. 

Seeing it, he immediately grew even more uneasy. He glanced around and saw nothing but the river and a near impenetrable thicket of trees and shrubbery. He shut his eyes and poured magic into his keen ears to enhance his senses. 

The manticore that carried him on its back was resting a short distance away while his escort made laps around the perimeter to make sure nothing would catch him by surprise. Not sensing anything else, he relaxed a bit and took a deep breath to try and calm himself down. 

With a shaky sigh, he took his garments and put them on. The amulets and trinkets clinked and clattered together on his belt as he strapped it on over the worn, jet black fabric which fluttered down to his knees at the front and draped down to the floor as it reached towards his back. A hole made for his tail allowed it near unhindered movement while also keeping clear of the leather and metal belt. 

Having made sure his sex wouldn't be unceremoniously exposed due to a sudden movement, or an inconvenient breeze decided to give anyone standing around a gander at his family jewels, he took the parchment and opened it. 

𝒯𝑜 𝒷𝑒 𝓌𝓇𝒾𝓉𝒾𝓃𝑔 𝓉𝒽𝒾𝓈 𝓉𝑜 𝓎𝑜𝓊 𝓃𝑜𝓌 𝒾𝓈 𝒶𝓃 𝒶𝒷𝓈𝑜𝓁𝓊𝓉𝑒 𝓅𝓁𝑒𝒶𝓈𝓊𝓇𝑒, 𝑒𝓈𝓅𝑒𝒸𝒾𝒶𝓁𝓁𝓎 𝓉𝑜 𝑜𝓃𝑒 𝓌𝒾𝓉𝒽 𝓈𝓊𝒸𝒽 𝒶 𝓇𝑒𝓅𝓊𝓉𝒶𝒷𝓁𝑒 𝓁𝒾𝓃𝑒𝒶𝑔𝑒, 𝑜' 𝓈𝑜𝓃 𝑜𝒻 𝓉𝒽𝑒 𝒢𝓇𝑒𝓎 𝒢𝑜𝒹 𝑜𝒻 𝒟𝑒𝒶𝓉𝒽. 𝑅𝒾𝑔𝒽𝓉 𝓃𝑜𝓌, 𝓎𝑜𝓊 𝓂𝒶𝓎𝒷𝑒 𝓌𝑜𝓃𝒹𝑒𝓇𝒾𝓃𝑔 𝒿𝓊𝓈𝓉 𝓌𝒽𝑜 𝑜𝓇 𝓌𝒽𝒶𝓉 𝒾𝓃 𝓉𝒽𝑒 𝓂𝓊𝓁𝓉𝒾𝓋𝑒𝓇𝓈𝑒 𝐼 𝒶𝓂. 𝐹𝓇𝑒𝓉 𝓃𝑜𝓉 𝓂𝓎 𝒽𝒶𝓁𝒻-𝒷𝓁𝑜𝑜𝒹𝑒𝒹 𝓇𝑒𝒸𝒾𝓅𝒾𝑒𝓃𝓉, 𝒻𝑜𝓇 𝐼 𝓂𝑒𝒶𝓃 𝓎𝑜𝓊 𝓃𝑜 𝒽𝒶𝓇𝓂, 𝒷𝓇𝒾𝓃𝑔 𝓎𝑜𝓊 𝑔𝑜𝑜𝒹 𝓃𝑒𝓌𝓈, 𝒶𝓃𝒹 𝒶𝓃 𝑒𝓍𝓅𝓁𝒶𝓃𝒶𝓉𝒾𝑜𝓃 𝒶𝓈 𝓉𝑜 𝓌𝒽𝓎 𝐼 𝒶𝓂 𝓌𝓇𝒾𝓉𝒾𝓃𝑔 𝓎𝑜𝓊 𝓉𝒽𝒾𝓈 𝓁𝑒𝓉𝓉𝑒𝓇. 𝐵𝓊𝓉 𝒷𝑒𝒻𝑜𝓇𝑒 𝐼 𝒷𝑒𝑔𝒾𝓃 𝓉𝒽𝒾𝓈 𝒷𝓁𝒶𝓉𝒶𝓃𝓉 𝒷𝒶𝓇𝓇𝒶𝑔𝑒 𝑜𝒻 𝓋𝑒𝓇𝒷𝒾𝒶𝑔𝑒 𝓌𝒽𝒾𝒸𝒽 𝓌𝒾𝓁𝓁 𝒷𝑒 𝓂𝑜𝓈𝓉 𝓋𝑒𝓇𝒷𝑜𝓈𝑒, 𝐼 𝓌𝑜𝓊𝓁𝒹 𝓁𝒾𝓀𝑒 𝓉𝑜 𝓅𝓇𝑜𝓋𝒾𝒹𝑒 𝓎𝑜𝓊 𝓌𝒾𝓉𝒽 𝓈𝑜𝓂𝑒 𝒸𝑜𝓃𝓉𝑒𝓍𝓉. 𝐼 𝒽𝒶𝓋𝑒 𝓁𝒾𝓋𝑒𝒹 𝒾𝓃 𝓉𝒽𝒾𝓈 𝓁𝒶𝓃𝒹 𝒻𝑜𝓇 𝓆𝓊𝒾𝓉𝑒 𝓈𝑜𝓂𝑒 𝓉𝒾𝓂𝑒 𝓃𝑜𝓌. 𝒜𝓅𝓅𝓇𝑜𝓍𝒾𝓂𝒶𝓉𝑒𝓁𝓎 𝓉𝒽𝓇𝑒𝑒 𝓉𝒽𝑜𝓊𝓈𝒶𝓃𝒹 𝒻𝒾𝓋𝑒 𝒽𝓊𝓃𝒹𝓇𝑒𝒹 𝓎𝑒𝒶𝓇𝓈 𝓉𝑜 𝒷𝑒 𝓅𝓇𝑒𝒸𝒾𝓈𝑒, 𝒷𝓊𝓉 𝓉𝒽𝒶𝓉'𝓈 𝒶 𝓈𝒾𝒹𝑒 𝒻𝓇𝑜𝓂 𝓉𝒽𝑒 𝓅𝑜𝒾𝓃𝓉. 𝒯𝒽𝑒 𝓇𝑒𝒶𝓈𝑜𝓃 𝐼'𝓂 𝓌𝓇𝒾𝓉𝒾𝓃𝑔 𝓉𝒽𝒾𝓈 𝓉𝑜 𝓎𝑜𝓊 𝒾𝓈 𝒷𝑒𝒸𝒶𝓊𝓈𝑒 𝒶 𝓁𝒾𝓉𝓉𝓁𝑒 𝓊𝓃𝒹𝑒𝓇 𝒶 𝓌𝑒𝑒𝓀 𝒶𝑔𝑜 𝓎𝑜𝓊 𝒸𝒶𝓂𝑒 𝓉𝑜 𝓉𝒽𝒾𝓈 𝓌𝑜𝓇𝓁𝒹 𝒷𝓎 𝒻𝑜𝓇𝒸𝑒𝒻𝓊𝓁𝓁𝓎 𝒷𝓇𝑒𝒶𝓀𝒾𝓃𝑔 𝒶𝓃 𝒾𝓃𝓉𝑒𝓇𝒹𝒾𝓂𝑒𝓃𝓈𝒾𝑜𝓃𝒶𝓁 𝒷𝒶𝓇𝓇𝒾𝑒𝓇. 𝒩𝑜𝓇𝓂𝒶𝓁𝓁𝓎 𝐼'𝒹 𝒽𝒶𝓋𝑒 𝒶 𝒻𝑒𝓌 𝒸𝒽𝑜𝒾𝒸𝑒 𝓌𝑜𝓇𝒹𝓈 𝒻𝑜𝓇 𝓎𝑜𝓊 𝒶𝒻𝓉𝑒𝓇 𝓎𝑜𝓊 𝓂𝒶𝒹𝑒 𝓉𝒽𝑒 𝒷𝑒𝒶𝓊𝓉𝒾𝒻𝓊𝓁 𝓂𝑒𝓈𝓈 𝐼 𝒸𝒶𝓁𝓁 𝒽𝑜𝓂𝑒 𝓇𝑒𝑜𝓇𝑔𝒶𝓃𝒾𝓏𝑒𝒹 𝒷𝓎 𝓎𝑜𝓊𝓇 𝒻𝓁𝓎-𝒷𝓎, 𝒷𝓊𝓉 𝒾𝓉 𝓌𝒶𝓈𝓃'𝓉 𝓊𝓃𝓉𝒾𝓁 𝒶𝒻𝓉𝑒𝓇 𝐼 𝒹𝒾𝓈𝑜𝓇𝑔𝒶𝓃𝒾𝓏𝑒𝒹 𝑒𝓋𝑒𝓇𝓎𝓉𝒽𝒾𝓃𝑔 𝓉𝒽𝒶𝓉 𝐼 𝑔𝑜𝓉 𝒶 𝑔𝑜𝑜𝒹 𝓁𝑜𝑜𝓀 𝒶𝓉 𝓎𝑜𝓊. 𝒜𝓈 𝒶 𝒸𝓇𝑒𝒶𝓉𝓊𝓇𝑒 𝓌𝒽𝑜 𝒹𝑜𝑒𝓈 𝓃𝑜𝓉 𝓉𝒶𝓀𝑒 𝓀𝒾𝓃𝒹𝓁𝓎 𝓉𝑜 𝑜𝓇𝒹𝑒𝓇, 𝐼'𝓋𝑒 𝓈𝑒𝑒𝓃 𝓉𝒽𝑒 𝓉𝓊𝓂𝓊𝓁𝓉𝑜𝓊𝓈 𝓂𝑜𝒷𝑜𝒸𝓇𝒶𝒸𝓎 𝓎𝑜𝓊'𝓋𝑒 𝒸𝒶𝓊𝓈𝑒𝒹 𝒾𝓃 𝓉𝒽𝑒 𝓉𝓌𝑜 𝓇𝑜𝓎𝒶𝓁 𝓈𝒾𝓈𝓉𝑒𝓇𝓈. 𝒲𝑜𝓊𝓁𝒹 𝒾𝓉 𝒽𝒶𝓋𝑒 𝒷𝑒𝑒𝓃 𝒶𝓉 𝒶𝓃𝓎 𝑜𝓉𝒽𝑒𝓇 𝓉𝒾𝓂𝑒, 𝐼 𝓌𝑜𝓊𝓁𝒹'𝓋𝑒 𝒶𝓅𝓅𝓁𝒶𝓊𝒹𝑒𝒹 𝒾𝓉 𝒶𝓃𝒹 𝓂𝒶𝓎𝒷𝑒 𝑒𝓋𝑒𝓃 𝓁𝑒𝓃𝒹𝑒𝒹 𝓎𝑜𝓊 𝒶 𝒽𝒶𝓃𝒹. 𝐻𝑜𝓌𝑒𝓋𝑒𝓇, 𝐼 𝒻𝒾𝓃𝒹 𝓂𝓎𝓈𝑒𝓁𝒻 𝒾𝓃 𝒶 𝒷𝒾𝓉 𝑜𝒻 𝒶 𝓅𝓇𝑒𝒹𝒾𝒸𝒶𝓂𝑒𝓃𝓉 𝓌𝒾𝓉𝒽 𝓎𝑜𝓊. 𝒴𝑜𝓊 𝓈𝑒𝑒, 𝒶𝓈 𝑜𝒻 𝓁𝒶𝓉𝑒, 𝐼'𝓋𝑒 𝒽𝒶𝒹 𝒶𝓃 𝑒𝓅𝒾𝓅𝒽𝒶𝓃𝓎 𝒾𝓃 𝓇𝑒𝑔𝒶𝓇𝒹𝓈 𝓉𝑜 𝓉𝒽𝑒 𝓉𝑜𝓅𝒾𝒸 𝑜𝒻 𝒸𝒽𝒶𝑜𝓈 𝒶𝓃𝒹 𝒽𝑜𝓌 𝒾𝓉 𝒶𝒻𝒻𝑒𝒸𝓉𝓈 𝑜𝓉𝒽𝑒𝓇𝓈, 𝒶𝓁𝑜𝓃𝑔 𝓌𝒾𝓉𝒽 𝒶 𝒸𝒽𝒶𝓃𝑔𝑒 𝑜𝒻 𝒽𝑒𝒶𝓇𝓉 𝓉𝑜𝓌𝒶𝓇𝒹𝓈 𝓉𝒽𝑒 𝓅𝑜𝓃𝒾𝑒𝓈 𝑜𝒻 𝐸𝓆𝓊𝑒𝓈𝓉𝓇𝒾𝒶. 𝑀𝒶𝓃𝓎 𝓂𝒶𝓃𝓎 𝓂𝒶𝓃𝓎 𝓂𝒶𝓃𝓎 𝓎𝑒𝒶𝓇𝓈 𝒶𝑔𝑜, 𝓎𝑜𝓊𝓇'𝓈 𝓉𝓇𝓊𝓁𝓎 𝓇𝓊𝓁𝑒𝒹 𝓉𝒽𝒾𝓈 𝓁𝒶𝓃𝒹 𝒶𝓃𝒹 𝓈𝒽𝒶𝓅𝑒𝒹 𝒾𝓉 𝒾𝓃𝓉𝑜 𝒶 𝒸𝒽𝒶𝑜𝓉𝒾𝒸 𝓌𝑜𝓃𝒹𝑒𝓇𝓁𝒶𝓃𝒹 𝓌𝒽𝑒𝓇𝑒 𝓃𝑜𝓉𝒽𝒾𝓃𝑔 𝓂𝒶𝒹𝑒 𝓈𝑒𝓃𝓈𝑒 𝒶𝓃𝒹 𝒶𝓃𝓎𝓉𝒽𝒾𝓃𝑔 𝓌𝒶𝓈 𝓅𝑜𝓈𝓈𝒾𝒷𝓁𝑒. 𝐻𝑜𝓌𝑒𝓋𝑒𝓇, 𝓉𝒽𝑒 𝓉𝓌𝑜 𝓇𝑜𝓎𝒶𝓁 𝓈𝒾𝓈𝓉𝑒𝓇𝓈 𝓉𝒽𝑜𝓊𝑔𝒽𝓉 𝒾𝓉 𝓅𝓇𝓊𝒹𝑒𝓃𝓉 𝓉𝑜 𝒾𝓂𝓅𝓇𝒾𝓈𝑜𝓃 𝓂𝑒 𝒶𝓈 𝒶 𝓈𝓉𝑜𝓃𝑒 𝓈𝓉𝒶𝓉𝓊𝑒 𝒻𝑜𝓇 𝑜𝓋𝑒𝓇 𝒶 𝓉𝒽𝑜𝓊𝓈𝒶𝓃𝒹 𝓎𝑒𝒶𝓇𝓈. 𝒯𝒶𝓁𝓀 𝒶𝒷𝑜𝓊𝓉 𝒷𝑒𝒾𝓃𝑔 𝓈𝑜𝓇𝑒 𝓁𝑜𝓈𝑒𝓇𝓈... 𝐿𝑒𝓉 𝓂𝑒 𝓉𝑒𝓁𝓁 𝓎𝑜𝓊, 𝑜𝓃𝒸𝑒 𝐼 𝒻𝑜𝓊𝓃𝒹 𝒶 𝓌𝒶𝓎 𝓉𝑜 𝒹𝒾𝓈𝓅𝑒𝓁 𝓂𝓎 𝓌𝒶𝓎 𝑜𝓊𝓉 𝐼 𝒽𝒶𝓋𝑒 𝒽𝒶𝒹 𝒷𝒶𝒸𝓀 𝓅𝒶𝒾𝓃𝓈 𝓉𝒽𝒶𝓉 𝐼 𝒻𝑒𝑒𝓁 𝑒𝓋𝑒𝓃 𝓉𝑜 𝓉𝒽𝒾𝓈 𝒹𝒶𝓎. 𝒮𝓊𝒻𝒻𝒾𝒸𝑒 𝓉𝑜 𝓈𝒶𝓎 𝓉𝒽𝒶𝓉 𝒶 𝓉𝒽𝑜𝓊𝓈𝒶𝓃𝒹 𝓎𝑒𝒶𝓇𝓈 𝒾𝓃 𝓈𝓉𝑜𝓃𝑒 𝒽𝒶𝓋𝑒 𝓁𝑒𝒻𝓉 𝓂𝑒 𝓇𝒶𝓉𝒽𝑒𝓇 𝓅𝑒𝑒𝓋𝑒𝒹 𝒶𝓉 𝓉𝒽𝑒 𝓅𝓇𝒾𝓃𝒸𝑒𝓈𝓈𝑒𝓈, 𝒹𝑒𝓈𝓅𝒾𝓉𝑒 𝓂𝓎 𝒸𝓊𝓇𝓇𝑒𝓃𝓉 𝓅𝑜𝓈𝒾𝓉𝒾𝑜𝓃 𝓇𝑒𝑔𝒶𝓇𝒹𝒾𝓃𝑔 𝓉𝒽𝑒𝒾𝓇 𝓈𝓊𝒷𝒿𝑒𝒸𝓉𝓈. 𝐼 𝒶𝓉𝓉𝑒𝓂𝓅𝓉𝑒𝒹 𝓉𝑜 𝓇𝑒𝓈𝓊𝓂𝑒 𝓂𝓎 𝒶𝓃𝒶𝓇𝒸𝒽𝒾𝒸𝒶𝓁 𝓇𝓊𝓁𝑒 𝓊𝓅𝑜𝓃 𝑒𝓈𝒸𝒶𝓅𝒾𝓃𝑔, 𝓉𝒽𝒶𝓉 𝒾𝓈 𝑜𝒻 𝒸𝑜𝓊𝓇𝓈𝑒 𝓊𝓃𝓉𝒾𝓁 𝓉𝒽𝑒 𝒸𝓊𝓇𝓇𝑒𝓃𝓉 𝒷𝑒𝒶𝓇𝑒𝓇𝓈 𝑜𝒻 𝓉𝒽𝑒 𝐸𝓁𝑒𝓂𝑒𝓃𝓉𝓈 𝑜𝒻 𝐻𝒶𝓇𝓂𝑜𝓃𝓎, 𝓇𝑒𝓁𝒾𝒸𝓈 𝓉𝒽𝒶𝓉 𝒶𝓇𝑒 𝒾𝓃 𝑒𝓈𝓈𝑒𝓃𝒸𝑒, 𝓅𝒽𝓎𝓈𝒾𝒸𝒶𝓁 𝓂𝒶𝓃𝒾𝒻𝑒𝓈𝓉𝒶𝓉𝒾𝑜𝓃𝓈 𝑜𝒻 𝓉𝒽𝑒 𝓉𝒽𝒾𝓃𝑔𝓈 𝓇𝑒𝓆𝓊𝒾𝓇𝑒𝒹 𝒻𝑜𝓇 𝒻𝓇𝒾𝑒𝓃𝒹𝓈𝒽𝒾𝓅 𝓉𝑜 𝑒𝓍𝒾𝓈𝓉; 𝒸𝒶𝓂𝑒 𝒶𝓇𝑜𝓊𝓃𝒹 𝒶𝓃𝒹 𝒾𝓂𝓅𝓇𝒾𝓈𝑜𝓃𝑒𝒹 𝓂𝑒 𝒶𝑔𝒶𝒾𝓃. 𝒯𝒽𝒶𝓉 𝓈𝒶𝒾𝒹, 𝒶𝓈 𝓎𝑜𝓊 𝓌𝑒𝓁𝓁 𝓀𝓃𝑜𝓌 𝓉𝒽𝑒𝓇𝑒 𝓂𝓊𝓈𝓉 𝒷𝑒 𝒶 𝒷𝒶𝓁𝒶𝓃𝒸𝑒 𝒷𝑒𝓉𝓌𝑒𝑒𝓃 𝑜𝓇𝒹𝑒𝓇 𝒶𝓃𝒹 𝒸𝒽𝒶𝑜𝓈, 𝑔𝑜𝑜𝒹 𝒶𝓃𝒹 𝑒𝓋𝒾𝓁, 𝒶𝓃𝒹 𝓌𝒽𝒶𝓉 𝓃𝑜𝓉. 𝒜𝓈 𝓈𝓊𝒸𝒽, 𝓌𝒽𝑒𝓃𝑒𝓋𝑒𝓇 𝓉𝒽𝑒𝓇𝑒 𝒾𝓈 𝒶𝓃 𝒾𝓂𝒷𝒶𝓁𝒶𝓃𝒸𝑒 𝒾𝓃 𝓉𝒽𝑒 𝒹𝓊𝒶𝓁𝒾𝓉𝓎 𝓉𝒽𝒶𝓉 𝑔𝑜𝓋𝑒𝓇𝓃𝓈 𝓉𝒽𝒾𝓈 𝓌𝑜𝓇𝓁𝒹, 𝓉𝒽𝑒 𝓋𝒾𝓇𝓉𝓊𝒶𝓁 𝑜𝓅𝓅𝑜𝓈𝒾𝓉𝑒 𝑜𝒻 𝓉𝒽𝒶𝓉 𝒾𝓂𝒷𝒶𝓁𝒶𝓃𝒸𝑒 𝓌𝒾𝓁𝓁 𝒸𝑜𝓂𝑒 𝒶𝓁𝑜𝓃𝑔, 𝒶𝓃𝒹 𝓎𝑜𝓊 𝑔𝓊𝑒𝓈𝓈𝑒𝒹 𝒾𝓉, 𝓇𝑒𝓈𝓉𝑜𝓇𝑒 𝓉𝒽𝑒 𝒷𝒶𝓁𝒶𝓃𝒸𝑒. 𝒞𝑒𝓁𝑒𝓈𝓉𝒾𝒶, 𝒽𝑒𝓇 𝓇𝑜𝓎𝒶𝓁 𝓈𝓊𝓃-𝒷𝓊𝓉𝓉𝑒𝒹𝓃𝑒𝓈𝓈 𝒽𝑒𝓇𝓈𝑒𝓁𝒻, 𝒸𝒶𝓂𝑒 𝓉𝑜 𝓉𝒽𝑒 𝒾𝓃𝑔𝑒𝓃𝒾𝑜𝓊𝓈 𝒸𝑜𝓃𝒸𝓁𝓊𝓈𝒾𝑜𝓃 𝓉𝒽𝒶𝓉 𝒾𝒻 𝓈𝒽𝑒 𝓇𝑒𝒻𝑜𝓇𝓂𝑒𝒹 𝓂𝑒, 𝓉𝒽𝑒 𝒷𝒶𝓁𝒶𝓃𝒸𝑒 𝒸𝑜𝓊𝓁𝒹 𝒷𝑒 𝓅𝓇𝑒𝓈𝑒𝓇𝓋𝑒𝒹, 𝒶𝓃𝒹 𝒶𝓁𝓁 𝓅𝒶𝓇𝓉𝒾𝑒𝓈 𝒾𝓃𝓋𝑜𝓁𝓋𝑒𝒹 𝒸𝑜𝓊𝓁𝒹 𝒷𝑒𝓃𝑒𝒻𝒾𝓉 𝒻𝓇𝑜𝓂 𝒾𝓉. 𝒮𝑜 𝓈𝒽𝑒 𝒸𝑜𝓂𝓂𝒾𝓈𝓈𝒾𝑜𝓃𝑒𝒹 𝓉𝒽𝑒 𝒷𝑒𝒶𝓇𝑒𝓇 𝑜𝒻 𝓉𝒽𝑒 𝑒𝓁𝑒𝓂𝑒𝓃𝓉 𝑜𝒻 𝓀𝒾𝓃𝒹𝓃𝑒𝓈𝓈 𝓉𝑜 𝒹𝑜 𝓉𝒽𝑒 𝒿𝑜𝒷. 𝐼𝓃 𝒽𝒾𝓃𝒹𝓈𝒾𝑔𝒽𝓉, 𝐼 𝓌𝒾𝓁𝓁 𝒶𝒹𝓂𝒾𝓉 𝓉𝒽𝒶𝓉 𝐼 𝓌𝒶𝓈 𝒶 𝓇𝑒𝒶𝓁 𝒿𝑒𝓇𝓀 𝓉𝑜 𝒽𝑒𝓇, 𝒶𝓃𝒹 𝐼 𝒶𝓂 𝒶𝓁𝓈𝑜 𝓌𝒾𝓁𝓁𝒾𝓃𝑔 𝓉𝑜 𝒸𝑜𝓃𝒸𝑒𝒹𝑒 𝓉𝒽𝒶𝓉 𝓉𝒽𝑒 𝓂𝒶𝑔𝒾𝒸 𝑜𝒻 𝒻𝓇𝒾𝑒𝓃𝒹𝓈𝒽𝒾𝓅 𝒽𝒶𝓈 𝓂𝒶𝒹𝑒 𝓂𝑒 𝒶 𝓂𝓊𝒸𝒽 𝒷𝑒𝓉𝓉𝑒𝓇 𝒸𝓇𝑒𝒶𝓉𝓊𝓇𝑒. 𝐼𝓃 𝓉𝒽𝑒 𝓋𝑒𝓇𝓎 𝓁𝒾𝓀𝑒𝓁𝓎 𝒸𝒶𝓈𝑒 𝓉𝒽𝒶𝓉 𝓎𝑜𝓊 𝒶𝓇𝑒 𝓌𝑜𝓃𝒹𝑒𝓇𝒾𝓃𝑔 𝓌𝒽𝑜 𝓈𝒽𝑒 𝒾𝓈, 𝓉𝒽𝑒𝓃 𝐼'𝓁𝓁 𝒷𝑒 𝒽𝒶𝓅𝓅𝓎 𝓉𝑜 𝒾𝓃𝒻𝑜𝓇𝓂 𝓎𝑜𝓊 𝓉𝒽𝒶𝓉 𝓎𝑜𝓊'𝓋𝑒 𝓂𝑒𝓉 𝒽𝑒𝓇 𝒶𝓁𝓇𝑒𝒶𝒹𝓎. 𝐻𝑒𝓇 𝓃𝒶𝓂𝑒 𝒾𝓈 𝐹𝓁𝓊𝓉𝓉𝑒𝓇𝓈𝒽𝓎, 𝒶 𝒷𝑒𝒶𝓊𝓉𝒾𝒻𝓊𝓁 𝓅𝑒𝑔𝒶𝓈𝓊𝓈 𝓂𝒶𝓇𝑒 𝓌𝒾𝓉𝒽 𝒶 𝓅𝒾𝓃𝓀 𝓂𝒶𝓃𝑒, 𝓎𝑒𝓁𝓁𝑜𝓌 𝒸𝑜𝒶𝓉, 𝒶𝓃𝒹 𝓉𝒽𝓇𝑒𝑒 𝒷𝓊𝓉𝓉𝑒𝓇𝒻𝓁𝒾𝑒𝓈 𝒻𝑜𝓇 𝒶 𝒸𝓊𝓉𝒾𝑒 𝓂𝒶𝓇𝓀. 𝐻𝑒𝓇 𝓊𝓃𝑒𝓃𝒹𝒾𝓃𝑔 𝓀𝒾𝓃𝒹𝓃𝑒𝓈𝓈 𝒾𝓈 𝓌𝒽𝒶𝓉 𝓈𝒶𝓋𝑒𝒹 𝓂𝑒, 𝒶𝓃𝒹 𝓈𝒾𝓃𝒸𝑒 𝓉𝒽𝑒𝓃 𝐼'𝓋𝑒 𝒹𝑒𝒹𝒾𝒸𝒶𝓉𝑒𝒹 𝓂𝓎𝓈𝑒𝓁𝒻 𝓉𝑜 𝓀𝑒𝑒𝓅𝒾𝓃𝑔 𝓉𝒽𝑒 𝓁𝒶𝓃𝒹 𝓉𝒽𝒶𝓉 𝓈𝒽𝑒 𝒸𝒶𝓁𝓁𝓈 𝒽𝑒𝓇 𝒽𝑜𝓂𝑒 𝓈𝒶𝒻𝑒. 𝒜𝓁𝑜𝓃𝑔 𝓉𝒽𝑒 𝓇𝑜𝒶𝒹 𝓉𝑜 𝓇𝑒𝒹𝑒𝓂𝓅𝓉𝒾𝑜𝓃 𝐼'𝓋𝑒 𝓈𝑒𝓉 𝒾𝓃 𝓂𝑜𝓉𝒾𝑜𝓃 𝒶 𝓋𝑒𝓇𝓎 𝒸𝒶𝓁𝒸𝓊𝓁𝒶𝓉𝑒𝒹 𝒶𝓃𝒹 𝓅𝓇𝑒𝒸𝒾𝓈𝑒 𝓅𝓁𝒶𝓃 𝓉𝒽𝒶𝓉 𝓌𝒾𝓁𝓁 𝒸𝒶𝓈𝒸𝒶𝒹𝑒 𝒾𝓃𝓉𝑜 𝓉𝒽𝑒 𝒻𝓊𝓉𝓊𝓇𝑒 𝓉𝑜 𝒶𝓈𝓈𝓊𝓇𝑒 𝓉𝒽𝒾𝓈 𝓀𝒾𝓃𝑔𝒹𝑜𝓂 𝒽𝒶𝓈 𝒶 𝒷𝑒𝓉𝓉𝑒𝓇 𝓉𝑜𝓂𝑜𝓇𝓇𝑜𝓌. 𝒰𝓃𝒻𝑜𝓇𝓉𝓊𝓃𝒶𝓉𝑒𝓁𝓎, 𝓎𝑜𝓊𝓇 𝒶𝓇𝓇𝒾𝓋𝒶𝓁 𝒽𝒶𝓈 𝓃𝑜𝓉 𝑜𝓃𝓁𝓎 𝒸𝑜𝓂𝓅𝓁𝒾𝒸𝒶𝓉𝑒𝒹 𝓉𝒽𝒾𝓃𝑔𝓈, 𝒾𝓉 𝒽𝒶𝓈 𝒸𝓇𝑒𝒶𝓉𝑒𝒹 𝒶 𝓈𝑒𝓇𝒾𝑜𝓊𝓈 𝓅𝓇𝑜𝒷𝓁𝑒𝓂 𝓉𝒽𝒶𝓉 𝒾𝒻 𝓁𝑒𝒻𝓉 𝓊𝓃𝒸𝒽𝑒𝒸𝓀𝑒𝒹, 𝓌𝒾𝓁𝓁 𝓂𝑒𝒶𝓃 𝓉𝒽𝑒 𝑒𝓃𝒹 𝑜𝒻 𝐸𝓆𝓊𝑒𝓈𝓉𝓇𝒾𝒶 𝒶𝓈 𝓌𝑒 𝓀𝓃𝑜𝓌 𝒾𝓉. 𝐹𝑜𝓇𝓉𝓊𝓃𝒶𝓉𝑒𝓁𝓎 𝒻𝑜𝓇 𝓎𝑜𝓊, 𝓉𝒽𝑒𝓇𝑒 𝒾𝓈 𝒶 𝓌𝒶𝓎 𝓌𝒽𝑒𝓇𝑒 𝑒𝓋𝑒𝓇𝓎𝓅𝑜𝓃𝓎 𝒷𝑒𝓃𝑒𝒻𝒾𝓉𝓈 𝓉𝑜 𝒻𝒾𝓍 𝓉𝒽𝒾𝓈, 𝒷𝓊𝓉 𝒻𝑜𝓇 𝓉𝒽𝒾𝓈 𝓉𝑜 𝒽𝒶𝓅𝓅𝑒𝓃, 𝐼 𝒽𝒶𝓋𝑒 𝓉𝑜 𝓀𝓃𝑜𝓌 𝒾𝒻 𝓎𝑜𝓊 𝒶𝓇𝑒 𝓌𝒾𝓁𝓁𝒾𝓃𝑔 𝓉𝑜 𝒹𝒾𝓈𝒸𝓊𝓈𝓈 𝓉𝒽𝒾𝓃𝑔𝓈 𝒻𝒶𝒸𝑒 𝓉𝑜 𝒻𝒶𝒸𝑒. 𝐼'𝓂 𝒶𝓁𝓈𝑜 𝒶𝓌𝒶𝓇𝑒 𝑜𝒻 𝓎𝑜𝓊𝓇 𝓂𝑜𝓈𝓉 𝓇𝑒𝒸𝑒𝓃𝓉 𝑒𝓃𝒸𝑜𝓊𝓃𝓉𝑒𝓇 𝓌𝒾𝓉𝒽 𝒶 𝒸𝑒𝓇𝓉𝒶𝒾𝓃 "𝒮𝒶𝓇𝑜𝓈 𝒞𝓎𝒸𝓁𝑒." 𝒯𝒽𝑒 𝓁𝒶𝓈𝓉 𝓉𝒾𝓂𝑒 𝓌𝑒 𝓈𝒶𝓌 𝑒𝒶𝒸𝒽 𝑜𝓉𝒽𝑒𝓇, 𝓌𝑒 𝓌𝑒𝓇𝑒 𝓃𝑜𝓉 𝑜𝓃 𝑔𝑜𝑜𝒹 𝓉𝑒𝓇𝓂𝓈. 𝒮𝑒𝑒𝒾𝓃𝑔 𝒶𝓈 𝒽𝑜𝓌 𝐼 𝒻𝑜𝓇𝒸𝑒𝒹 𝒽𝒾𝓂 𝒾𝓃𝓉𝑜 𝓉𝒽𝒾𝓈 𝓌𝑜𝓇𝓁𝒹 𝓉𝑜 𝓈𝒶𝓉𝑒 𝓂𝓎 𝑜𝓌𝓃 𝓁𝓊𝓈𝓉 𝒻𝑜𝓇 𝓅𝒶𝓃𝒹𝑒𝓂𝑜𝓃𝒾𝓊𝓂, 𝒾𝓉'𝓈 𝓇𝑒𝒶𝓈𝑜𝓃𝒶𝒷𝓁𝑒 𝓉𝑜 𝒶𝓈𝓈𝓊𝓂𝑒 𝒽𝑒'𝓈 𝓃𝑜𝓉 𝓋𝑒𝓇𝓎 𝒽𝒶𝓅𝓅𝓎 𝓌𝒾𝓉𝒽 𝓂𝑒. 𝐼𝒻 𝓎𝑜𝓊 𝒶𝓇𝑒 𝓌𝒾𝓁𝓁𝒾𝓃𝑔 𝓉𝑜 𝓃𝑒𝑔𝑜𝓉𝒾𝒶𝓉𝑒, 𝓉𝒽𝑒𝓃 𝑜𝓃 𝓉𝒽𝑒 𝒷𝒶𝒸𝓀 𝑜𝒻 𝓉𝒽𝒾𝓈 𝓁𝑒𝓉𝓉𝑒𝓇, 𝓎𝑜𝓊 𝓌𝒾𝓁𝓁 𝒻𝒾𝓃𝒹 𝒶 𝓈𝓅𝑒𝓁𝓁 𝓉𝑜 𝓈𝑒𝓉 𝒮𝒶𝓇𝑜𝓈 𝒻𝓇𝑒𝑒. 𝐼𝒻 𝓎𝑜𝓊 𝒻𝓇𝑒𝑒 𝒽𝒾𝓂, 𝓉𝒽𝑒𝓃 𝐼 𝓌𝒾𝓁𝓁 𝓉𝒶𝓀𝑒 𝒾𝓉 𝒶𝓈 𝒶 𝓈𝒾𝑔𝓃 𝓉𝒽𝒶𝓉 𝓎𝑜𝓊 𝒶𝓇𝑒 𝓌𝒾𝓁𝓁𝒾𝓃𝑔 𝓉𝑜 𝓉𝒶𝓁𝓀. 𝐼 𝓌𝒶𝓃𝓉 𝓉𝑜 𝓇𝒾𝑔𝒽𝓉 𝓂𝓎 𝓌𝓇𝑜𝓃𝑔 𝒹𝑜𝒾𝓃𝑔𝓈 𝒶𝓃𝒹 𝒶𝓉𝑜𝓃𝑒 𝒻𝑜𝓇 𝓂𝓎 𝑒𝑔𝓇𝑒𝑔𝒾𝑜𝓊𝓈 𝑜𝓋𝑒𝓇𝓈𝒾𝑔𝒽𝓉𝓈. 𝐻𝑜𝓌𝑒𝓋𝑒𝓇, 𝐼 𝒸𝒶𝓃𝓃𝑜𝓉 𝒹𝑜 𝒾𝓉 𝒶𝓁𝑜𝓃𝑒, 𝒶𝓃𝒹 𝓇𝒾𝑔𝒽𝓉 𝓃𝑜𝓌, 𝐼 𝒶𝓂 𝓎𝑜𝓊𝓇 𝒷𝑒𝓈𝓉 𝒷𝑒𝓉 𝒶𝓉 𝒶 "𝓃𝑜𝓇𝓂𝒶𝓁" 𝓁𝒾𝒻𝑒 𝒽𝑒𝓇𝑒. 𝐵𝑒 𝓉𝒽𝒶𝓉 𝒶𝓈 𝒾𝓉 𝓂𝒶𝓎, 𝐼 𝓌𝒾𝓁𝓁 𝓅𝑜𝒾𝓃𝓉 𝑜𝓊𝓉 𝓉𝒽𝒶𝓉 𝐼 𝒹𝑜 𝓉𝒽𝒾𝓃𝑔𝓈 𝓂𝓊𝒸𝒽 𝓁𝒾𝓀𝑒 𝓂𝓎 𝓃𝒶𝓂𝑒𝓈𝒶𝓀𝑒 𝓌𝑜𝓊𝓁𝒹 𝓈𝓊𝑔𝑔𝑒𝓈𝓉. 𝒲𝒽𝒾𝒸𝒽 𝒻𝓇𝒶𝓃𝓀𝓁𝓎, 𝐼'𝓂 𝒶 𝓁𝒾𝓉𝓉𝓁𝑒 𝑜𝒻𝒻𝑒𝓃𝒹𝑒𝒹 𝒶𝓉 𝓌𝒽𝒶𝓉 𝒾𝓉'𝓈 𝒹𝑒𝓋𝑜𝓁𝓋𝑒𝒹 𝒾𝓃𝓉𝑜 𝑜𝓋𝑒𝓇 𝓉𝒾𝓂𝑒. 𝐹𝑜𝓇 𝒾𝓃 𝓉𝓇𝓊𝓉𝒽, 𝒟𝒾𝓈𝒸𝑜𝓇𝒹, 𝒾𝓈 𝒿𝓊𝓈𝓉 𝒶 𝓂𝑜𝓇𝑒 𝓈𝒾𝓃𝒾𝓈𝓉𝑒𝓇 𝓈𝑜𝓊𝓃𝒹𝒾𝓃𝑔 𝓈𝓎𝓃𝑜𝓃𝓎𝓂 𝒻𝑜𝓇 𝒸𝒽𝒶𝓃𝑔𝑒. 𝒜𝓃𝒹 𝒾𝒻 𝒶𝓅𝓅𝓁𝒾𝑒𝒹 𝓌𝒾𝓉𝒽 𝒸𝒶𝓇𝑒 𝒶𝓃𝒹 𝒶𝓉 𝓉𝒽𝑒 𝓇𝒾𝑔𝒽𝓉 𝓂𝑜𝓂𝑒𝓃𝓉, 𝒸𝒽𝒶𝓃𝑔𝑒 𝒸𝒶𝓃 𝓈𝒶𝓋𝑒 𝓉𝒽𝑒 𝓌𝑜𝓇𝓁𝒹. 𝒯𝒶𝓀𝑒 𝒾𝓉 𝒻𝓇𝑜𝓂 𝓂𝑒!

𝒴𝑜𝓊𝓇 𝒻𝓇𝒾𝑒𝓃𝒹𝓁𝓎 𝒢𝑜𝒹 𝑜𝒻 𝒞𝒽𝒶𝑜𝓈,

𝒟𝒾𝓈𝒸𝑜𝓇𝒹

𝒫.𝒮.

𝒫𝓁𝑒𝒶𝓈𝑒 𝒾𝓃𝒻𝑜𝓇𝓂 𝒮𝒶𝓇𝑜𝓈 𝑜𝒻 𝓉𝒽𝒾𝓈, 𝒽𝑜𝓅𝑒𝒻𝓊𝓁𝓁𝓎, 𝒽𝑒 𝓌𝑜𝓃'𝓉 𝓉𝓇𝓎 𝓉𝑜 𝒷𝓁𝒶𝓈𝓉 𝓂𝑒 𝓈𝓉𝓇𝒶𝒾𝑔𝒽𝓉 𝓉𝑜 𝒯𝒶𝓇𝓉𝒶𝓇𝓊𝓈 𝓌𝒽𝑒𝓃 𝒽𝑒 𝓈𝑒𝑒𝓈 𝓂𝑒. 

𝒫.𝒫.𝒮. 

𝒪𝓃𝒸𝑒 𝒮𝒶𝓇𝑜𝓈 𝒾𝓈 𝒻𝓇𝑒𝑒𝒹, 𝐼'𝓁𝓁 𝑔𝒾𝓋𝑒 𝓎𝑜𝓊 𝑜𝓃𝑒 𝒹𝒶𝓎 𝓉𝑜 𝓈𝓅𝓇𝓊𝒸𝑒 𝓊𝓅 𝓉𝒽𝑒 𝓅𝓁𝒶𝒸𝑒, 𝒶𝓈 𝐼 𝓌𝒾𝓁𝓁 𝒷𝓇𝒾𝓃𝑔 𝒾𝓃 𝒶 𝑔𝓊𝑒𝓈𝓉 𝓉𝑜 𝒽𝑒𝓁𝓅 𝓈𝓂𝑜𝑜𝓉𝒽 𝑜𝓊𝓇 𝓃𝑒𝑔𝑜𝓉𝒾𝒶𝓉𝒾𝑜𝓃𝓈. 𝒞𝒶𝓃'𝓉 𝒽𝒶𝓋𝑒 𝒶 𝒻𝒶𝓂𝒾𝓁𝓎 𝓇𝑒𝓊𝓃𝒾𝑜𝓃 𝓌𝒽𝑒𝓃 𝓉𝒽𝑒 𝓅𝓁𝒶𝒸𝑒 𝒾𝓈 𝒾𝓃 𝓈𝒽𝒶𝓂𝓈, 𝓃𝑜𝓌 𝒸𝒶𝓃 𝓌𝑒?

𝒫.𝒫.𝒫.𝒮.

𝒟𝑜𝓃'𝓉 𝒻𝑜𝓇𝑔𝑒𝓉 𝓉𝑜 𝒸𝓁𝑒𝒶𝓃 𝒷𝑒𝒽𝒾𝓃𝒹 𝓎𝑜𝓊𝓇 𝑒𝒶𝓇𝓈. 𝒴𝑜𝓊'𝒹 𝒷𝑒 𝓈𝓊𝓇𝓅𝓇𝒾𝓈𝑒𝒹 𝒽𝑜𝓌 𝒹𝒾𝓇𝓉𝓎 𝒾𝓉 𝒸𝒶𝓃 𝑔𝑒𝓉 𝒷𝒶𝒸𝓀 𝓉𝒽𝑒𝓇𝑒. 𝐵𝑒𝓁𝒾𝑒𝓋𝑒 𝓂𝑒, 𝓎𝑜𝓊 𝓌𝑜𝓊𝓁𝒹𝓃'𝓉 𝒷𝑒𝓁𝒾𝑒𝓋𝑒 𝒽𝑜𝓌 𝓂𝓊𝒸𝒽 𝑔𝓊𝓃𝓀 𝑔𝑒𝓉𝓈 𝒷𝒶𝒸𝓀 𝓉𝒽𝑒𝓇𝑒. 𝒪𝓃𝑒 𝓉𝒾𝓂𝑒 𝐼 𝒻𝑜𝓊𝓃𝒹 𝒶 𝓌𝒽𝑜𝓁𝑒 𝒷𝑒𝒶𝓋𝑒𝓇 𝒾𝓃 𝓉𝒽𝑒𝓇𝑒! 𝐻𝑜𝓃𝑒𝓈𝓉!

(To be writing this to you now is an absolute pleasure, especially to one with such a reputable lineage: The son of the Grey God of Death. Right now, you may be wondering just who or what I am. 

Fret not my half-blooded recipient, for I mean you no harm, bring you good news, and an explanation as to why I'm writing this later. But before I begin this blatant barrage of verbiage which will be most verbose, I would like to provide some context. 

I've lived in this land for quite some time now. Three thousand, five hundred years give or take, but that's aside from the point. The reason I'm writing this letter is because you came into this world by breaking an interdimensional barrier a little over a week ago. 

Normally I'd have a few choice words for you because you organized my home in space between worlds, with your little fly-by. But it wasn't until I disorganized everything again that I got a good look at you.

As a creature who doesn't take kindly to order, I sensed the chaos you would brought upon the royal sisters. And while at any other time I would've applauded and maybe even helped you; however, I find myself in a bit of predicament with you. 

You see, about two years ago I had an epiphany in regards to the topic chaos and a change of heart towards the ponies of Equestria. When I first came here, I ripped the fabric of reality itself so that I could transform this world into a wonderland where everything and anything was possible and nothing or anyone had to abide by any rules. 

HOWEVER, Dear Celestia and Luna didn't appreciate what I offered and turned me to stone for it. Talk about sore losers, am I right? Let me tell you being petrified for over a millennia has left me with some serious back pains. Regardless of this, I tried to reconquer Equestria for myself and failed thanks to the bearers of the Elements of Harmony. 

Fortunately, Celestia quickly realized that in order to preserve peace, there must be balance. Whenever that balance is threatened, the universe will create or summon something restore that balance. Celestia, for all her faults, realized this simple premise and gave me the chance to be reformed. She commissioned the elements bearer of kindness to do the job, and I can proudly say she did an outstanding job. 

While in hindsight, I was a real jerk to her and I'm willing to admit that the magic of friendship has changed me for the better. Along my journey to redemption, I've set in motion a complex plan to keep the bearer of kindness and her home safe for generations to come. 

Unfortunately, your arrival has not only complicated things; it has created a problem that if left unchecked, will result in everything that I love about this world to be destroyed. 

Fortunately, there is a way to fix it where everyone benefits from it; but for this to happen, I need to know of you're willing to discuss it face to face. 

I'm also aware of your recent encounter with a certain Saros Cycle. The last time we saw each other, we weren't on friendly terms. If you're willing to negotiate, on the back of this parchment, you'll find the spell I used to escape my stone prison. If you free him, I'll take it as a sign that you want to talk. Hopefully now, I'll be able to atone for my egregious actions against him and all those I've harmed. 

I will warn you of one thing in advance, I do things much how my name suggests. Which I'm a little offended by how it's devolved in the last few centuries. For in truth, Discord is just a more sinister sounding synonym for change.

Your friendly spirit of Chaos,

Discord.

P.S. 
Be sure to inform Saros of what's going to go down, I don't want him trying to blast me straight to Tartarus.

P.P.S 
When you free him, I'll give you a day to spruce up the place. Can't have a family reunion in a pig sty can we now?

P.P.P.S 
Make sure you scrub behind the ears, you'd be surprised at how much gunk gets stuck back there. One time I found a whole beaver back there, honest!)

Reading the letter, Azazel's eyes gaped open and he had to read it a few more times to make sure that he'd read it correctly. When he was sure he got it right, he began to scheme in his mind as the prospect of saving his family and getting retribution from Celestia dawned on him. 

A wicked smile that could only form on a demon's face graced his lips. He whistled for his ride and escort to come back, and in a few moments, they appeared before him through the vegetation of the Everfree. Their crimson eyes piercing through the darkness with hellish fealty.

"Master? You called?"

Cherry Wing asked, standing at attention. Her master looked at her with a confident look as he rolled the scroll back into it's more compact form.

"I did. Let's go back to the castle. I think Avalon will want to hear about this."

He ordered while showing the rolled up parchment. And with a nod from Cherry Wing, Azazel climbed onto his unconventional steed and rode off towards the castle. After a few minutes of jogging around the trees, they found their way back to the clearing of the familiar ruins that now served as the young necromancer's base of operations. 

Reaching the stone steps of the main building, he climbed off the manticore and walked with his escort back towards the ancient library. Unbenounced to the young Half-blood, his servants were enduring pandemonium of their own. 

Azazel opened the old wooden doors of the old library to then see his skeletons chucking whatever they could get their hooves on at what seemed to be oversized spiders. He could only look on in bewilderment at the odd spectacle. The familiar pony unicorn with the attitude of an old soldier was swinging what looked to be like a makeshift short axe made from stone and wood at the spiders that were trying to get close to the ponies huddled behind the warrior. 

They were holding onto what seemed to be a large sac that contained what Azazel would later discover to be apples. This revelation came about when one of the spiders descended down from the ceiling and tried to pluck one of the crimson fruits from above. An earth pony of the group wheeled around to check on the apples to find the spider on top of the sac looking at her like deer would often look at their predator in those last few seconds of their life as they realize they were about to die. 


The mare screamed in terror and proceeded to run in the opposite direction in a wild frenzy before bulldozing her skull right into a particularly large spider that sat harmlessly on her head. She then proceeded to try and run away from what was latching onto her head.

"SWEET CELESTIA GET IT OFF! GET IT OF MEEEEE!!!" 

She wailed in horror, slamming into every wall, bookshelf and spider in her path before a considerable amount of books fell from the impossibly tall bookshelves and promptly buried her. The chaos was then cut short as the door to the library swung open and the sound of a demon cackling manically after a loud thud echoes through the walls of the library, now a lot worse for wear than an hour prior to this. 

As the majority undead looked on, paralyzed with confusion, at their master who was on his knees rightfully guffawing the stress of the last few hours off at the hilarious display. As he laughed, the spiders froze upon seeing him, and immediately made themselves scarce. After looking at their master in confusion for what felt like an eternity, the skeletons pried their eyes off the giggling demon and took stock of the sudden lack of eight legged monsters. 

After looking rather embarrassed, they all approached their master, all except for Cherry Wing. Who proceeded to gallop over to the small mound of books to help her friend out of her current predicament. Wiping a tear from his eye, Azazel looked over his unconventional creations.

"Alright, I'm sure that there's a reasonable explanation as for why all of you were losing your minds earlier and I will hear it in due time. But for now, where is Avalon? And where is Anvari for that matter?"

He asked. Just as he did, he felt a gentle tugging on his loincloth. He looked down to his left and found Anvari, giggling to herself. He immediately understood why as he looked over to his horde. The smile he had on his lips slowly died down after none of them answered and they took stock of the absence of a certain black skeleton.

"I... don't think he could've gone far. He said he was going to contact Trephor and Mia. I haven't seen him since those dreadful creatures came in here."

Scarlett spoke, swerving her head around as she searched for Avalon. The rest nodded in agreement to what she stated. Sighing, Azazel shut his eyes, and reached out with his senses. His keen ears began to pick up on faint muttering from the outside, and echoes of the wind blowing through the gaping holes of the ancient castle's halls from behind him. 

Having a lead, Azazel turned face and began heading out. Before he could take more than two steps, his ears were overwhelmed by the pleas of his skeletons.

"PLEASE DONT LEAVE US!!!"

They shouted, making Azazel wince. Looking back towards them, he found them all huddled down as closely as they could to him.

"Can you all be quiet?!"

He shot back angrily, rubbing his sensitive ears. They winced at his retort, shortly after, they nodded eagerly if only to get away from the bugs they feared so. Their master, now taking deep breaths to soothe his annoyance, reached out with his senses to find his second in command.

The half breed's ears isolated the echoes of humidity condensing and falling on the cold stone floor as it tapped and reverberated in a rhythm that seamlessly blended with the ambient. The gentle wind that kept these ruins cool and moist even under the morning sun would gently push on torn banners, their fluttering rebounding off the walls and reaching the young demon's ears. The sound of bones rubbing against each other coalesced and merged with his breathing to create an atmosphere of morbid calm. 

Like the sound of undead who aimlessly wander in some crypt, not making a sound save for their movements across the empty halls. Azazel stayed like this for a small while until his ears picked up Avalon's voice.

"...have no idea what you are unleashing..."

It was faint, but Azazel recognized his voice. Avalon was nearby, and his tone seemed cold and harsh. Opening his eyes, Azazel followed the voice which was growing as he rounded a corner.

"...take everything away from you..." 

Avalon's voice was muffled and interrupted by the clip clop of hooves of the undead that followed Azazel in relative silence. It would stop for a minute or two before appearing again. Azazel passed several rooms that had their ceilings caved in or shrouded in cold darkness. 

In the darkness of the halls he walked, he saw a faint red light emanating from a door cracked open only slightly. He quickened his pace and opened the old door. In the middle of what seemed to be an armory filled with rusted full body armor for ponies and old weapons subjected to the passage of time, sat Avalon with his legs crossed. 

His eyes were lit ablaze with hellfire, wisps of the unholy flame dispelling into the aether with the burning of restrained anger and... sadness. From his eyes, small purple embers fell, and as they fell shifted to a deep blue which would flicker out once they reached the floor. He was sitting silently, with his hands held as fists with so much strength that I could hear his metatarsals groaning and creaking from the stress they were being subjected to. 

Immediately, Azazel knew what he was doing, but something was clearly wrong. The sight was familiar to him, as Avalon's was the power of telepathy, particularly, telepathy over the dead. Azazel walked inside and towards Avalon, his curious expression shifting to that of concern. He gently placed his hands over Avalon's skull and shut his eyes. 

Sensing his master's touch, the onyx skeleton relinquished his mind to Azazel. Now seeing through his second in command, Azazel could see that Avalon was linked to Mia. Before her stood a figure that elicited only rage within him. The pony in front of Mia had two guards clad in golden armor lying on the floor and badly burned. The Mare herself was surrounded by smoke and smoldering ash that fluttered around her. She wore golden regalia that accentuated her large, yet fit barrel and hooves. 

Her mane no longer flowed in a non-existent breeze. It instead danced like the flame of a bonfire with a "rainbow" of pale turquoise, mint green, sky blue and pink colors. Her tail bore the same color scheme and atop her head sat a golden tiara with an amethyst gem on its center, much like the one on her chest plate. 

However, what angered Azazel was not her presence, but rather her eyes. The lavander color that showed motherly love was gone. Instead, her eyes were that of a demon. Black and hateful with a burning anger that none could rival. Those eyes were that of the monster that imprisoned Saros, the same one's he believed to have been naught but the lies of a deluded spirit driven to madness. 

///////////////Mia, about twenty minutes ago////////

Trephor and I had been sitting in that damned cell for a long time. I have to say that it's an odd experience that in the place where I would hear the words I have yearned to hear for years, had been said to me in a place that made me feel nothing but dread. Not to mention that being this far from Azazel means that we don't have a continuous supply of necrotic energy to feed us, which is a serious problem in and of itself. 

We "slept" through most of the night, though we did wake up once in the middle of the night as Twilight came down to the dungeons to try and get Starlight out. Apparently, Celestia had ordered that the prisoners would be interrogated by her personally, and as such Starlight was to remain imprisoned like us until she could determine what would be the best course of action. Twilight tried to ask us for what had happened, but I was too tired to think straight after the day we had. 

She stayed with Starlight through the rest of the night in that cold cell, using her magic to summon quilts and pillows for her to lie besides her pupil. If there was anything to be respected of these ponies, it was their sense of kinship. These being the thoughts that ran through my mind along side the occasional thought of dread. 

When morning came, I was greeted by the sight of Trephor looking off to the left like he had seen a ghost. Turning to look at what was making him so uneasy. Sitting with his legs crossed infront of us and his eyes snuffed out was a slightly transparent apparition of Azazel's most loyal creation.

"...Avalon?"

I muttered. To this, Trephor's jaw slacked open before he spoke up.

"Y-you can see him too right?.."

He asked hesitantly. I looked up at him and nodded. Our gaze locked with the apparition, and just as we did their eyes lit ablaze. It looked around and locked onto us, letting out a small sigh of what seemed to be relief.

"Thank goodness I finally found you. Are you two alright?"

It asked with Avalon's voice. My eyes widened at the realization of what was happening. 

"Avalo-?"

I started before he cut in.

"DON'T SPEAK! Twilight Sparkle and her student are next to your cell and I'd rather not alert them of my presence."

He stated firmly.

"But how-?"

Trephor tried before Avalon cut in again.

"BE QUIET!!!"

He shouted, making me and Trephor wince away from him. He sighed, placing his bony fingers on the bridge of his nose before speaking again.

"I'll explain everything, but for now you need to stay absolute quiet and pretend like I'm not here. If Celestia or anyone finds out they will destroy you."

He explained, causing Trephor and I to gulp down nervously. He got up and walked closer to us before sitting back down.

"I'm contacting you to let you know that everything will be alright. Azazel is already looking into how to get us to safety and you two out of Canterlot. I'll be asking you some questions and I need you to answer without speaking. So nod for yes, and shake your head for no. Got it?"

Not being in the mood to get yelled at first thing in the morning, we nodded before he continued.

"Alright, Have they hurt you damaged you in any significant way?"

He asked. We shook our heads.

"When they dragged you into this cell, were you awake?"

Nod.

"Have you been interrogated?"

Shake.

"Do you see anyway you two can maybe escape?"

He asked, causing us to get up and look around our cell.

"No."

I answered after inspecting the window.

"Mia be quiet! You're gonna-"

Avalon chastised before being cut off by a feminine voice. 

"Hey.. Um... how did you two sleep?"

Turning around I found Twilight standing behind the bars to our cell.

"Pretend like I'm not here!"

Avalon urged, causing me to look at Trephor. He was looking back at me and we redirected our gaze towards Twilight. We walked past Avalon's visage and stood in front of her, separated by the old metal bars.

"We don't sleep. What do you want?"

I asked, trying to bury my nervousness under a genuine dislike for her with a harsh tone. She flinched back a bit before answering.

"I... I wanted to know what happened."

She admitted, letting out a little sigh and lowering her head a bit. If I had had eyebrows to scrunch, then I would have scrunched them in confusion.

"What are you talking about?"

Trephor cut in. Being a walking bag of bone related jokes and bad comedy he's a very good actor. As such, he came across as a lot more imposing than me. This caused Twilight to take a step back, her ears folding back in apprehension. 

"Starlight isn't awake yet and I couldn't get her to tell me what happened without being insensitive. The guards are under orders not to tell me what's going and if your Azazel is reasonable we could sort this whole situation out without having to resort to violence!"

She explained. I felt conflicted about her response. Back home, not only could I tell when someone was lying. But if anyone told me this back home I could've bet my life that they were lying. But this world... It was different. Good and evil aren't so easily concealed, and the "evils" of this world are very tame compared to the vile, two-faced world we once called our home.

In the days that I've known her she had not lied to me, and judging by the way her body moved and spoke, she was telling the truth. I decided to stay quiet, thinking of what to reply with or ask. Before long, I heard an odd combination of voices.

"You may have a noble heart Princess, but I doubt Celestia would be lenient with us..."

Turing to my right, I saw Trephor standing  besides me with a dark haze surrounding his skeleton. Avalon was nowhere to be found, and both Trephor and Avalon's voices spoke as one.

"She's imprisoned us after she failed to kill Azazel, and will be using us as hostages to lure him out."

They continued. As he spoke, Twilight's eyes shot open in horror at the accusation. 

"WHAT!? But why would she do that!? Celestia would never-!!"

She exclaimed before being cut off by Trephor slamming his fist into the iron bars.

"SHE TRIED TO KILL HIM AND US BY EXTENSION!!!"

They practically screamed, Trephor's eyes burning like two red hot ingots in a blazing forge, seething with anger. 

"B-but sh-"

She tried again only to be silenced by Trephor screaming again.

"WE TRUSTED YOU WITH OUR LIVES AFTER THE HELL OUR MASTER HAS BEEN THROUGH AND YOU HAVE THE GALL TO TRY AND KILL US EVEN AFTER WE OFFER TO LEAVE YOU BE!!!"

He roared, causing the purple pony to back up considerably. I was angry with these ponies, but Avalon's short temper was uncalled for. I took his arms and shook my head, pleading silently for him to drop it. Fortunately, Avalon let go of Trephor's mind, the translucent onyx skeleton phasing out of Trephor's body and standing behind us. Trephor was use to it by now, but I don't think he's ever been that mad before. Although that was probably Avalon's do-

"Twilight, step away from the undead."

My train of thought was cut off by the sound of a firm, yet maternal voice. I immediately recognized it and so did Trephor. We backed away from the bars and stood as closely as we could to the opposite wall. Twilight looked to her right and lowered her head while stepping further away from the bars. 

The sound of hooves could be heard reverberating around the damp walls of our cells. Then came the sound of a jail cell opening to our left. As soon as this happened, the voice of a stallion was heard.

"Miss Glimmer, by order of princess Celestia, you are free to go."

He stated, Starlight Glimmer bolted out of the cell and practically tackled Twilight as she ran into her and hugged her with a vicious death grip. The clip-clop of hooves resounded again and into view came the diarch of the sun, Princess Celestia with two guards by her side. 

She carried herself with authority and grace infront of her cell with two guards by her side. One of her soldiers was an ashen grey and the other a pale green. Celestia's eyes... the beautiful magenta they once had was now a bright orange. She looked at us with a stern and determined look.

"Hello again Mia, hello Trephor."

She greeted. We said nothing and for the longest and most uncomfortable five minutes of my whole life there was nothing but silence.

After managing to pry Starlight off herself and sitting her down by her side, Twilight quietly sat, listening to the eerie silence that filled the dungeon. Not long after this, Trephor spoke up.

"What do you want?"

He asked, sounding a bit winded.

"Where is Azazel?"

Celestia asked firmly.

"Even if we knew, what makes you think we'd tell you?"

Trephor, who was resting against the wall retorted with his arms crossed. 

"Because the lives of my guards were threatened without provocation. That is not something I can't let slide."

Celestia answered, staring daggers at us. 

"LYING WRETCH!!!"

I heard Avalon scream to my left, causing me to look in his direction. His fists were clenched and his entire form was encompassed in an even more translucent red aura that radiated from him like whirlwind. Turning my attention back towards the Diarch of the sun, I brought up a question of my own.

"Why?"

I asked. Celestia looked at me and scanned me, clearly not understanding my question.

"Why do you want him dead?"

I clarified. Celestia stayed silent for a bit before answering.

"Necromancers are a scourge on Equus. They bring nothing but pain and suffering wherever they go. Azazel poses a threat to my ponies that I can't allow to exist."

She stated coldly.

"A threat that you brought on yourselves."

From my right, I heard Trephor speak up.

"What are you talking about?"

Asked the Diarch of the sun, sounding a tad offended..

"Azazel told you we'd leave in peace so long as you didn't hurt us or try anything. And just as he promised, no pony has been harmed... yet."

He answered. Celestia's was taking deep breaths while she stayed quiet for another minute before speaking.

"I'll ask you again. Where is he?"

She asked with venom in her voice. She wasn't going to budge, and that was bad.

"Azazel is a man of his word. What do you think will happen when he finds out what you're doing to us? Not to mention the fact that you've outed yourself as nothing but a chronic liar."

Trephor stated with a bit more confidence than before. Celestia on the other hand was now clenching her teeth under her lips with a fury so powerful it sent audible shivers down my spine. Before I could interject and hopefully defuse the situation, Both me and Trephor were enveloped in a golden Aura and sent flying forwards.

"Princess what are you doing!?"

Twilight shouted before we collided with the iron bars with a resounding "clang"! Me and Trephor were being pressed against the bars with enough force to make the bars creak and groan along with our own grunting and struggling to break free from her magic.

"Stay out of this!"

Celestia boomed while turning to look at her angrily. Twilight and Starlight backed away from her and only stopped when they came into contact with the wall. It was only then that I noticed the room get considerably warmer. She turned to look at us and for the first time in years, I saw unadulterated anger with murderous intent glaring at me with a stare that could kill if I wasn't already dead. Just as I thought we would meet our end, another voice spoke.

"Celestia! Stop this very instant!"

Just as the voice rang out, Celestia's grip weakened enough for me to turn my head and see Princess Luna walking towards us with a being that defied all logic, standing behind her with a stern look of concern on it's face. Looking back to Celestia, I could tell she was not at all happy to see her sister or whatever that creature behind Luna was.

"What's the meaning of this!?"

The solar diarch demanded.

"We are here to find truth. And it seems we made it here in the best possible moment."

Luna answered, not showing any fear towards the raging alicorn.

"Good, I was just having a friendly discussion with our guests regarding Azazel's whereabouts."

Celestia quipped while turning to look at us. Her malevolent gaze weighing down on me like the sun on high noon.

"I'm afraid you're making an erroneous assumption Tia."

Luna stated firmly, but respectfully. This caught Celestia off guard, making her malevolent eyes revert back to their magenta hue, if only for an instant.

"I'm going to have to agree with Luna here."

The living mishmash of animal body parts started.

"You see, given any other circumstance, I'd sit by with a nice bucket of popcorn and enjoy the show on my lazy chair."

He, and I assume it was a he due to his masculine voice, produced a red bucket with white stripes, filled to the brim with a strange yellow looking food and a pair of odd glasses with red and blue lenses respectively.

"But frankly this is a little too cruel for my liking and everypony's general well being. I genuinely don't know what has gotten into you, and I won't let you do this. It's wrong and you know it."

He said, taking off the glasses and assuming a more serious tone and posture. Celestia simply scowled in his direction.

"What I'm doing is necessary for everypony's well being! A necromancer is running free in Equestria's borders while threatening to destroy us all! This is a threat that the magic of friendship alone can't solve. If Equestria wants to survive Azazel must be destroyed! His undead are the only way to find him, and I will do whatever it takes to make them tell me where he is."

Celestia argued, stomping her metal clad hoof on the stone floor.

"What has gotten into you Tia!? This isn't like you at all!"

Luna placated with mournful disbelief.

"I'm doing what needs to be done Luna, and that is final."

Celestia stated while turning to look back at us. The fire in her eyes was now more intense than ever, darkening to an amber brown and her irises turning into sharp slits. If her gaze was terrifying before, now it was mortifying. Just as I thought it that worst had come, the magic keeping us pressed against the bars of our cell suddenly vanished. Landing on our faces, we fell and immediately scrambled to get away from our aggressor. Trephor and I sat panting, more out of habit than a need to breathe, looking at a perplexed Celestia, a concerned Luna, and the mishmash of  creatures from earlier looking at us.

"Mia..?"

From my right, came Trephor's startled voice. I looked over to see him looking at me with great fear, his eyes burned with a deep blue. Before I could even ask him what was going on, I lost all control of my body. I wanted to speak and look around, but my body did not obey. Instead, I stood looked forward and stayed quiet. From the corner of my eye, I could see my legs wreathed in the same reddish haze Trephor's had when-

"You have no idea what are unleashing on yourselves..."

I spoke, but Avalon's voice spoke in unison with my own. Avalon was controlling me like a puppet, and I was helpless to stop it.

"Who's talking to us?"

Celestia demanded after a small silence passed. Wait, could she hear Avalon? Avalon stayed silent for a few seconds before answering. 

"It does not matter who I am. What matters is that you listen to me very carefully. Understood?"

He stated firmly. Celestia grit her teeth, but withheld whatever she was planning on doing for the moment.

"Then speak."

She ordered through gritted teeth, taking deep breaths to calm herself.

"I don't like you. None of us do, but if we let our differences drive us to further conflict I'm afraid I won't be able to persuade Azazel from taking everything from you. You know better than anyone here what that entails. Innocent lives will pay the price of both of your boundless rage."

Avalon started, sitting up right and crossing my legs. Celestia squinted, skeptical of his words.

"Necromancers are plagued by a desire to consume and destroy all life they come across. Their ambition drives them to paths of darkness which drives them mad and seek the destruction of every living thing they can kill. They are nothing but vilest filth to ever exist should be slai-!"

Celestia argued, only to be cut off by Avalon.

"Maybe here that is the case, but Azazel is not from here. Making your argument mute, not to mention that he is more than just a necromancer. If you do not believe me then ask your sister! She has seen his mind and can show this to be true!"

Avalon retorted, never taking his eyes off Celestia; who growing more and more furious by the second. As her fury grew, the room temperature slowly rose. She was taking shaky breaths as the damn keeping her anger in check threatened to break. Her mane and tail began to lose their pastel colors and glow with a flaming orange.

"Sister, he speaks true. Please, we are begging you! Believe us! Azazel is not a-"

Luna's plea fell on deaf ears and was cut short by a thunderous explosion. Celestia had shut her while her sister spoke. And in the brief instant before the explosion I could've sworn I saw tears welling up in Celestia's eyes. I then saw a green blur leap in front of me before a deafening blast of fire, smoke and hot air hit me like a battering ram. 

My body slammed into the wall and the impact nearly shattered my skull. Two of my ribs were broken and I couldn't feel my left foot. When I regained my bearings and the throbbing pain in my head subsided enough to see again, I regained control of my body. I waved off the smoke around me to find every bone that made up my left foot up to the ankle were imbedded into the wall just shy of my spine and miraculously having missed my spinal column. 

Upon this realization, I let out a sigh of relief, before seeing something besides my leg. It was hard to see at first through the smoke, but it looked like... IS THAT A FEMUR!? My eyes would've widened in abject horror at the thoughts that ran through my mind as I stared at the soot covered leg. I immediately looked around and not far from the femur was what I recognized to be three fourths of a pelvis bone. Further to my left I saw rubble and... 

"TREPHOR!!!"