/////////Avalon, several hours ago/////////
As Azazel lost his grip on Saros' mind, the tendrils of blood that linked them to one another violently pulled away from the human's chest and recoiled. My master yelped at the sudden jolt of pain that ravaged his arm, stumbling backwards and taking a knee.
Severing my connection from the now waking stormcaller, I turned my focus on Azazel, and I panicked when I saw his right arm drenched in blood.
"Azazel!"
I exclaimed, running towards him. Kneeling by his side to check on the injury that was slowly stitching itself back together, Azazel turned his attention towards me.
"R̶̯͛E̸̛͉͐S̸͍̠͊̿T̷̫̉̆R̶̼͉͌̍Ȃ̴̪͔͠Ï̸̜͝ͅN̴̜̉͘ ̶̱̩̏H̵̨͍́I̷͈̰̕͠M̴̫̆̆!̷͇̂"
He roared, clearly in pain. It took me a second to register what he had ordered, but by then it was already too late. As I turned around, I saw a masked human sprinting towards me at full speed.
His turquoise eyes crackled and flared with small trails of arching lightning as he ran.
"ACCELERATE!"
Saros said as I got to my feet and tried to grab him, but he simply leapt off the ground and used me like a stepping stone to leap over me. As I was pushed down by his weight, I hit the ground with a resounding thud.
It took me less than a second to regain my bearings and scurry to my feet. As I turned around, I noticed the familiar sound of a manticore's roar. From behind one of the monolithic bookshelves, the undead manticore my master had revived and Anvari had tamed lunged towards the human in midair with it's claws and teeth bared.
At speeds that I struggled to keep up with, Saros' body was enveloped in blue bolts of lightning as he proceeded to unnaturally pivot in the air and roundhouse kick the manticore off it's path with a direct hit to it's skull. The beast was sent hurdling through the air and crashing onto a table.
When Saros' finally hit the floor, he was surrounded by five of the ten armored golems stationed around the library, their halberds and swords at the ready.
As I began to charge towards him, I didn't realize that he was still enveloped in the blue lightning from before. The golems brought down their weapons a second too late on the stormcaller, as just when they were about to strike, Saros' maneuvered around the golem directly in front of him.
"THE WORLD SLOWS DOWN!!! LIGHTNING BLUE!!! OVERDRIVE!!!"
The human shouted as he proceeded to unleash a flurry of electrically charged punches at the unsuspecting golem.
To my knowledge, golems are among the most difficult constructs to destroy. In order to truly beat them one would have to bend or break the material they are made out of to enough of a degree that if the golem tried to reform, it could no longer use those parts to reconstruct it's body.
However that may be, the human's speed and surprising power made quick work of the living suit of pony armour, punching through it's form as if it were paper. He sent a barrage of metallic shards and lose pieces of scrap flying with his fists.
Before I could even react, my master rushed behind me and used his scale plated wings to shield me and himself from the incoming barrage of metal shrapnel. This went on for five more seconds before the sound of Saros' war cry and metal shards bouncing harmlessly off of Azazel's wings was interrupted by a familiar voice shouting from my right.
"SHIN RATENSEI!!!"
The voice of Anvari rang out along with the tell tale sound of a concussive blast hitting an unsuspecting human.
Azazel parted his wings in time for both of us to see Saros be sent hurdling through the air and smash into one of the titanic bookshelves with enough force to make them sway back and forth as they threatened to fall over. My master outstretched his hand, and using a telekinetic spell, stopped the massive bookshelves from tipping over, leveling them out.
As the stormcaller was dislodged from the crater he created, he fell several feet to the ground as books he knocked over began to fall on him.
A bestial growl rumbled behind me, followed by the sound of clawed feet of demonic proportions stomping over to the fallen human. Azazel walked past me and I swiftly followed, standing beside my master as he hoisted up a dazed Saros by his left arm.
He then inspected a hole in the stormcaller's shirt, revealing a newly formed sigil burned onto his flesh.
"It worked."
He said with a relieved chuckle. Azazel took off the human's mask and let him fall onto his back. He inspected his gauntlet, the once matte sable finish of the metal now gleamed with a red aura of blood magic.
The dorsal plate of his clawed glove now bore a blood red luster in the form of Azazel's sigil. My master looked between the human, trying to get up and his gauntlet.
"What did you do to us!?"
Saros demanded, extending a hand forward and charging his magic. Azazel raised his arm, and clenched his fist so that Saros could see the mark on it's plating.
"Ś̶̗t̷͇̑ă̴̗n̶̗͝d̷̥́.̶͙̾ ̵͕̽D̵̝̍o̶͚̍ŵ̷̟n̷̢̊.̶̭̏"̷̗͛"
My master ordered, his voice calm yet stern. As he spoke, the gauntlet made a low whirring sound that resembled the humming of a large bell.
The sigil on the dorsal plate began to glow more intensely, and where the engraved symbol was carved on the human's chest, the same sound and change of light blossomed.
To Saros' further horror and confusion, his magic was dispelled. As the crackling and hissing bolts of lightning dissipated, he lowered his arm. He tried to keep it aimed at Azazel, but his own body betrayed him.
I looked back towards my master, and saw a smirk I knew all too well. It was the same shit eating grin that he inherited from his father.
"Tell me Saros. Did you really think I would let my one chance to reap vengeance slip through my fingers?"
Azazel asked the beaten stormcaller, his grin dying down to a more reserved smile.
"Fuck you! You sick son of a bitch!"
The human snarled with venom in his words. This insult would prove to be a serious mistake, as my master's smile became a frown.
The once cocky expression on his face became one of controlled rage. As Saros realized what he had done, his defiant look faltered.
Azazel closed the small distance between them and pinned him to the ground by stepping on the stormcaller's chest. My master then lowered himself so that their faces would be only inches apart.
"I have no desire to kill you human, but if you force my hand I will not hesitate to mame you. I will make this as simple as possible for you to understand. You are mine to do with as I wish, until I no longer have need of you."
Azazel stated with a chilling calmness as he put more of his weight on the human.
Saros was now finding it impossible to breathe. He tried to push the demon's foot off, but that proved to be fruitless. This went on for a bit more, the stormcaller punching my master's leg and squirming desperately to get some much needed air in his lungs.
My master got closer to Saros's right ear as the human began to lose consciousness.
"C̷o̸o̵p̴e̶r̶a̷t̵e̵,̴ ̵a̵n̵d̶ ̸y̶o̶u̵ ̸w̷i̸l̶l̵ ̶l̴i̷v̸e̷ ̷t̴o̷ ̶s̷e̸e̴ ̸y̴o̴u̸r̶ ̶m̷o̶t̷h̵e̷r̵ ̶a̶g̵a̷i̵n̷.̵ ̶T̵h̴a̶t̶ ̷i̵s̷ ̴a̷l̶l̶ ̶I̸ ̵a̶s̴k̸.̷"
He whispered almost sensually into the human's ear. As Azazel backed off, Saros was allowed to breathe. After a fit of coughs, the human flinched after hearing my master speak again.
"Sanitarem..."
With his wounds now healed, he sat up and glared at Azazel, as if trying to kill him with his gaze.
"Now. I have questions for you to answer."
My master said, unfazed by Saros' attempt to remain defiant. A devious smile returned to Azazel's face as he used telekinesis to lift Saros' mask off the ground and levitate it towards him, tempting him to take it.
///////Ponyville General Hospital, present time///////
"Ow!"
Saros protested through gritted teeth as a unicorn nurse poked and prodded his bruised body with her hooves. She inspected his body with a trained eye, and scribbled notes down on a clipboard suspended in a gentle teal aura.
In the emergency room where Saros was, the Princess of the moon and the mane six were huddled around the shirtless human while leaving enough room for the nurse to work unabated. He had not said much when he first arrived, and Luna had insisted he be checked physically to ensure he was ok.
"No bones seem to be broken, but you have some bruising. A few nights of good sleep should take care of it. I can't say the same for those burns you have on your chest. How did that happen?"
The nurse asked, standing before the stormcaller and with a clipboard and quill at the ready in her magical grip.
"A spell was cast on us. We do not know what it was exactly, but we know it to be some sort of mind controlling spell."
The human explained, looking over the dark red symbol etched into his skin.
"Okay, I'll have doctor Scalpel run some scans on you and we'll see what we can do about that."
She stated with an assuring nod and a polite smile. Giving his thanks, Saros watched the nurse leave the room. As he stared at the door while spaced out, Twilight looked over the strange being sitting on the hospital bed.
He was tall, easily as tall as Celestia, but not as tall as the demon she had met only a few days prior. His body seemed to have the same build as that of Azazel's skeletons. He stood straight up and walked on his two hind legs.
Saros seemed similar to an ape, but had no fur anywhere aside from his medium length mane of messy white hair. The strange biped had blue eyes that seemed to glow with power, and he bore small scars all over his body, particularly all over his arms and paws.
He wore worn clothes, mostly black, and an eerie mask he carried with him lay face up next to him on the bed. As he looked off into the distance, seemingly at nothing, Twilight's gaze was fixed onto the mark on Saros' chest.
"I don't get it..."
She muttered to herself, garnering the attention of everypony.
"Get what Twi'?"
Applejack asked.
"Why would Azazel cast a mind control spell over Saros and send him here?"
She asked, her gaze shifting to the element of honesty.
"Maybe he's here to spy on us."
Rainbow Dash asserted, eyeing the human skeptically. Silence reigned for a few moments before Luna spoke up.
"Saros?.."
She asked, concern evident in her tone. This made Twilight look at the human, who had remained completely still, but was silently shedding tears through a mask of practiced stoicism.
Luna walked over to her son and placed a hoof over his right hand. She now stood in between the girls and him, with Saros to her left and the mane six to her right.
He turned to look at her, and realization hit Luna like a wrecking ball. The tears he was shedding were not of sadness... they were of fear.
"He showed me the true meaning of hate, mother... He showed me cruelty unlike any I've ever seen... He-"
He began, gradually losing his composure. His explination was then cut short by an azure hoof gently pressed against his lips.
As a distraught Saros looked into his mother's eyes, he saw fury; stocked by maternal instinct, and tempered by countless years of nightmare slaying.
"One thing at a time. What happened? What did he do to you?"
She asked in a calm tone that contradicted the rage behind her eyes. Wiping away his tears, he regained some of his composure.
"When I awoke, I tried to escape; but Azazel had already placed me under his spell. I am still in control, but I am still bound to him... compelling to do his bidding... whether I want to or not..."
The human began.
"He asked me things about the castle and the Everfree. He then forced me to show him the castle... and where the dead were laid to rest."
He continued, his gaze shifting away from his mother and down to her hoof on his hands.
"...He found something... something that angered him... something... vile..."
He explained, pouring as much disgust into the word 'vile' as possible. This got the attention of Twilight, who then stepped forward.
"What did he find?"
She asked, the human now looking at her. He hesitated, but eventually, he opened his mouth and began to explain what happened.
/////////The Everfree forest, several hours ago//////
After a well deserved meal to celebrate his achievement of successfully casting a complex blood spell. A small entourage of four golems accompanied Azazel and Avalon as they were escorted by their unwilling guide through the Everfree.
They had explored the castle's ruins and had acquired a substantial amount of resources. Mainly tools and old stone building materials left behind from when the castle had been abandoned centuries ago. However, the ancient burial grounds proved to be a waste of time, as the bones of those buried there had long ago become naught but dust.
The group of seven explored the virtually non-existent remains of houses and buildings that had been swallowed by the Everfree. The remains of a large village that once surrounded the castle...
"Why did the ponies leave this place? Wasn't this their only home?"
Avalon asked, contemplating the remains of what he assumed to be a house; while a massive tree grew and continued to tear the house's foundation asunder.
"This was not the only city within Equestria's borders, but to answer your first question. The palace and subsequent city of Canterlot was finalizing it's construction at around the same time my mother... became the nightmare..."
Saros began, placing a hand on another tree as he looked on at unrecognizable forest around him.
"But what I fail to grasp, is how the Everfree became this way."
He finished, now looking at the sickly dark brown bark of the trees and dull green vines that grew between and over the trees.
"What was it like before?"
Azazel asked, squatting down to inspect the ground below.
"The Everfree was once a lush and beautiful forest. It had always had a "wild" appearance, but it has become... um..."
The human replied, struggling to find the right word. As he did, Azazel pressed his left hand against the dirt floor.
"Revelio..."
He muttered, casting a spell of divination. As green wisps of magical energy flowed down from his arm, they sunk into the ground below before looping back around and phasing through his forearm.
Azazel felt the familiar presence of magic. It was, unsurprisingly, wild and formless. However, it bore a familiar residue, not unlike... soul energy!?
His eyes shot open at the sudden realization and pulled his arm off the ground. His hand however, was being ensnared in dark root-like growths with sky blue spines.
He reflexively charged magic into his hand. Manifesting it as necrotic energy, caused the dark tendrils to pull away and bury themselves underneath the ground with a high pitched shriek. Seconds later, the ground began to shake and from the earth sprouted more of the same black roots with blue spines.
The ends of each sprout had a cylindrical head, which then opened to reveal a pair of vertically split mandibles with a wall of blue skin on the inside and a sizeable quantity of asymmetrical rows of teeth.
The strange plants growled and shrieked while spewing a dull blue gas from their gaping maws of spike like teeth. Immediately, Saros began firing arching lightning bolts which destroyed four of the aggressive flora.
His attempts to destroy the threat was immediately rendered pointless, as eight more of the plants emerged from random points around the group. As the golems surrounded Azazel and Avalon to defend their master, Azazel unleashed a roar that caught the attention of the massive plants.
"Stop!"
He ordered, causing the crowd to halt. Azazel stepped out of the golems formation and outstretched his hand as he approached the plants.
"Azazel! what are you-!?"
Avalon started, before being silenced by a very passive aggressive wave of Azazel's hand. As he drew nearer, the plants began to hiss and bare their blue "teeth".
"If you can understand me, then know that I bear you no ill will. Your souls have been corrupted, but they are not yet lost. Let me help you."
He stated as calmly as he could, despite the tinge of instinctual fear he felt while walking towards the carnivorous plants. Although the hissing and growling had decreased, the plants were still being very aggressive. Azazel stopped a few feet away and took a deep breath.
"Let me help you."
He said, his voice a mere whisper. The plants ceased their aggressive hissing and stayed still for a few moments, before one hesitantly moved forward.
The maw of the deadly flower was visibly fighting the urge to chomp down on the demon's hand as it layed it's now closed "head" on Azazel's hand. With a comedic creak, the jaws of both Avalon and Saros swiveled open in disbelief.
"Fracti meam ego regena quod est conprobabit... Nunc quoque iternum te..."
Azazel muttered in the arcane tongue of sorcerers long since past. As he did, his eyes became to white orbs of light, which then expelled a blue mist that dissipated into the aether as he spoke.
From the point where his hand made contact with the plant, a wave of sky blue magic spread over the plant's body and enveloped it in a blinding flash of magic that hummed with an ethereal sonorousness.
When Avalon and Saros could see again, they immediately noticed the plant was gone, and only a patch of healthy grass and the odd blue flowers remained.
As Azazel then moved his hand with his palm facing upward, he spoke up again, his voice sounding like that of a multitude speaking as one.
"Let me help you."
He boomed. The plants looked at the place where their vanished comrade once was, then back at the demon. To Avalon and Saros' further bewilderment, they all lurched forward; and the healing continued.
After twenty or so times that the spell was repeated, Azazel stopped, much to the ire of the multitude of similar carnivorous plants that had emerged all around the group.
"There is much that I do not know and that greatly annoys me. I will heal the rest of you when I get answers to my questions."
Azazel stated, seemingly at one of the patches of blue flowers surrounding him. This made an already confused Saros and Avalon to exchange looks and shrugs that implied mutual unawareness of the situation.
The demon looked around, his eyes darting about the several patches of overly fertile ground. Azazel continued searching until he stopped on one to his far right.
"You, come here."
He ordered, presumably at nothing. However, from the patch of grass where Azazel was looking at, a trail of small flowers began to emerge. The blossoming path of daisies, daffodils, and poppies stopped just shy of where Azazel sat with his legs crossed. His tail was expectantly swaying from side to side, and his wings were folded against his back as compactly as their bulk would allow.
He turned around and looked in the direction of the golems, his undead and his prisoner, motioning for them to come with a wave. After a bit of hesitation and the plants giving them room to pass, the group sat around Azazel; avoiding the flower patches at all costs.
Focusing on one of his golems, Azazel wordlessly ordered it to come around and sit directly in front of him.
"You may borrow this golem so that we can speak."
Azazel offered, to which there was no audible reply, save for the odd cracking of wood and the movement of foliage by the carnivorous flora waiting patiently around the necromancer.
Avalon sat by Azazel's right, but Saros opted to stay standing near the other golems. Silence continued for a moment before the sound of a whispering voice slowly became audible.
"...I... ...am most grateful... allow me... to introduce myself... I am called... Jaunty Wisp..."
The voice came from the golem, it's once menacing orbs of crimson fire became two wisps of sky blue magic. The voice was distinctly feminine, but it carried a cult accent the demon could not quite remember from where he had heard it. Azazel smiled politely and bowed his head a little.
"I am Azazel, son of Astoshan the Grey God of Death, and Lilith the former queen of hell. I've been through a lot of things these last few days, and I have not been able to sit down and have a friendly conversation. Besides, I wish to understand you."
He explained, the final sentence directed at the floral crowd around him.
"What about me... do you wish... to know?..."
The voice asked.
"Do you remember who you were? Before you died."
The demon replied with a question of his own. It was this question that made Saros and Avalon realize what Azazel was talking to. Their reactions, of coming to a mild understanding and being shocked respectively were visible on their faces.
While Avalon sat next to his master, listening idly to the conversation; the stormcaller's mind raced a thousand miles an hour as he connected the dots and he became acutely aware of where he was and what surrounded him. The voice took a moment to answer, as if pondering how to best elaborate.
"I... remember it... like one remembers a dream... I can recollect pieces of it... but never the entire play... Does that make sense?..."
The feminine voice asked, it's tone indicating uncertainty in it's own logic.
"It does. What do you remember?"
Azazel asked, his head tilted to side as he focused all of his attention on the possessed golem.
"I was... a scholar...."
She mused.
"Really?"
He questioned.
"I was..."
She began by confirming his question.
"I learned... in the city of Everfree... but I think... that was a long time ago..."
She said, bringing a hoof to her chin.
"What did you study?"
Azazel asked.
"I was... a philosopher..."
Jaunty answered.
"And what happened to you?"
The demon asked.
"I was a mother... that lived shortly after the defeat of Nightmare Moon..."
She began, her speech was slow and deliberate.
"It was a time... in which many things changed... along with the laws that governed Everfree city... and a religion was born from Princess Celestia's victory... over the Nightmare... I believed philosophy to be the study... of the systems of the world... and our purpose within them... and yet... discussion of the arcane... and the Princess of the Sun was considered... heresy... a crime..."
She seethed, the flame of Jaunty's eyes becoming slightly darker. As she spoke, the flowers that bloomed around her began to wilt and whither away at a snail's pace.
"Who declared this a crime?"
Azazel asked.
"I... do not remember the exact name of the order... But I think they called themselves... Solarians..."
The ghost began again. The mention of the ancient order's name began a cascading chain of emotions that began to writhe and churn within Azazel's very being.
"I remember... one of their leaders... He said to me... that faithful servants... of the goddess of the sun... should hunt down heathens... and drive them to enlightenment... like a manticore hunts it's prey... and drives them to traps."
As the unaware spectre explained away her past, the plants around the group and the demon interviewing her began to grow restless. While the plants had begun to drool and emit quiet hisses, Azazel sat with his fists clenched firmly and his face denoted the steadily worsening condition of his self-control as it deteriorated with each passing second.
"One would think that such a thing would not be bad in her eyes. Wouldn't you agree?"
He offered, his politeness towards the ghost being the only thing keeping him from flying into a murderous tantrum.
"Yet... Here I am... murdered..."
The spirit stated, sounding dejected. Silence reigned again for a few moments before Azazel spoke up.
"Who murdered you?"
Azazel asked, whispering his question to keep himself from shouting. His fists were clenched so tightly that his gauntlet began to creak and groan with the sheer strength with which he squeezed at nothing.
"I was hunted... taken from my own home... to the palace of the princess... before her highness... I... I was beaten... forced to lie... and... to give up others... under the promise... that me and my son... would be spared..."
Jaunty confessed, the desire to cry and sob was denied by the mere fact that she was physically incapable of doing so. Azazel looked into the blue embers of Jaunty's eyes as he spoke.
"And?"
He shot back a facade of mild disgust that hid the raging turmoil within. Jaunty stayed quiet for a moment before speaking, the vines from before starting to wrap around the golem's legs as he spoke.
"I... did not want to... but they had my baby..."
She said, her head hung low in shame.
"What happened after you betrayed your own people?"
The half-breed asked with a demonic disdain.
"I was killed anyway... I know not... what became of my little one... but his soul is not... here... in this forest... at the very least... he was not condemned... to my same fate..."
She began, her voice carrying an unspoken amount of pain.
"My soul... became one with this cursed forest... because this world... is insane... but my death... taught me something..."
She explained, the vines now crawling into metallic suit of armor and piercing it with azure spines if eldritch power.
"What did you learn?"
Azazel asked.
"I learned... the true nature of hate... and I learned... to like it..."
She hissed, a blue miasma pouring out from within the helm. Azazel said nothing for the longest time, until eventually he spoke up.
"You had no choice... but to damn your soul. All because of her..."
Azazel began, standing to his full height.
"Tell me spirit, do you wish to avenge your death?"
He offered.
"Yes... if only so that I may rest... knowing that Equestria's false idol... will reap... WHAT SHE HAS SOWN!!!"
She answered, the vengeful wrath within her finally over powering Azazel's spell. Before anything could be done to stop it, the Golem was viciously torn apart by tendrils of dark vines. The plant's soft flesh hardened into a semi-rigid bark like root that intertwined itself to form a new carnivorous plant, rising to Azazel's stature.
The large shoot of intertwined bark "looked" itself over, before turning to Azazel and begin to hiss angrily.
"The spell I used is not permanent. The only way you will be free of this is if you sever that which binds you to this place."
He started his explination while closing his fists with mild annoyance.
"Do not test me, Jaunty. Stand down before I torch your soul to hell!"
He threatened, raising his hands as they were wreathed in hellfire.
While the rest did not make a move to attack him, a corrupted Jaunty roared at him and attempted to swallow him whole. As she lurched forward, her maw of razor sharp teeth were beared.
Azazel caught her jaws and held them in place while scorching them with his hellish touch. As the oversized piranha plant roared it's noxious fumes into the demon's face, he grew more and more furious with each second.
He then spewed a jet of hellfire fly down it's gullet, causing the beasts lower half to be incinerated. With ravenous savagery, he tore the two mouths apart and roared angrily as a black and red aura enveloped his body.
The other plants and the stormcaller winced away in fear at the dark well of white hot fury that looked like he was about to explode. And explode, he did. A shockwave of crimson magic expanded outwards with such power and ferocity that Saros' very soul was momentarily separated from his body in a disorienting wave of pain that left as quickly as it came.
The human saw the stifling number of unnatural plants all around him whither and die, as blue wisps of ethereal light fumed from them and filled the surrounding area with a dense sky blue fog.
As Saros soul slowly realigned with his body, he saw Azazel's tooth filled maw gape even wider than before as it split down the middle. With a sound akin to a dragon taking in air to unleash a torrent of fire, the half-breed began to shred and consume the souls of those around him.
The ethereal miasma began pulling Saros' soul along with it, and try as he might, he couldn't find something to grab to keep himself from being consumed as well. As Saros' soul was completely detached from his body, he hurdled towards the demon that inhaled the destroyed souls of those he would condemn to eternal servitude.
Just as Saros believed it to be his end, he was stopped by Azazel catching him midflight and violently slamming him back down into his body. Now awake in his corporeal form, Saros stared wide eyed at the demon that loomed over him. His eyes were menacing before, but nothing he had seen thus far topped this. Azazel's entire body was wreathed in black and red fire thar sizzled and roiled with a malevolent rumble.
"Ị̵͝ ̸̝̏d̶̮̚ó̶̙ ̷̺̌ť̶̪ḧ̴͎́î̶ͅs̸͇̈ ̸̘͠l̷̡͐a̶͚̓s̶̡̚t̴̝͛ ̷͔͠a̴̳̕c̵̛ͅt̶̃ͅ ̵̼̅o̸̼͐f̷̰̀ ̶̘̉k̵̖̈́ï̴̤n̶͔͒d̵̙͗ṋ̶̅è̸͖s̵͚͠s̸̛̖,̷̝̕ ̶͎̐f̸̡̉ỏ̷̜r̶̙͘ ̴͉̿ÿ̵͈́o̸̳͆ụ̶̾r̴̖̚ ̷͖̍m̴̭͑o̷̰̍t̵̥̋h̸̹̆e̸̦̐r̴̺͝'̵͍͆s̴̖͘ ̵̛͇s̶̘͐ä̸͚k̸̺̓ë̵̟́.̶̫̓ ̸̛͙S̷͙͝h̴̯͌ȅ̶̗,̷̢̓ ̷͕̕w̴̑͜h̴͉͐o̵͎͐ ̷̟̍s̶̨͝h̷͕̓o̷͎̽ẇ̶̘ě̷̺d̴̰̔ ̴̡̔m̸͇͐e̵͙͌ ̸̕ͅk̴̨̾i̷̅ͅn̴͑ͅd̸̟̓n̷̲͗e̶͓̊s̷͕͌s̵̼͛ ̶͈̀w̶̱̄h̸͔̎e̶͎̔n̵͇͋ ̴̰́n̸͓̈́ö̶͉ ̶̝̈́o̶͉͐n̷͉͒ę̵̒ ̴͙̌e̵̩͝l̴͚̋s̶̨̃e̴̻͊ ̸̞͗w̸̧̌ò̷̬u̵͚͐l̵̪͂d̶͍͑.̸͓̇ ̴̳̈́S̸̼͌h̵͖̓e̵͖̓,̴̬̓ ̸̬̏w̵͓̋h̵̻̉ŏ̴ͅ ̵̝̀p̷̨͗ṷ̶͛ȑ̵̩g̴̺͠e̴̞̊d̵͙͂ ̴͎͌t̸͒͜h̶̐ͅe̷͗ͅ ̷̡͗d̶͎̅ŕ̴͜ẽ̶̦a̶̩͝m̵̲̃ș̷̊ ̶̫͊o̵̜̓f̷̥͘ ̸͎̃h̷̭͛e̴̩͐r̸̪̉ ̵͕̊ũ̷̦ń̷̗g̸̝͗r̸̘͌a̸̗̎t̷͔͋ȅ̵̙f̷̝̽u̶̹͝l̷̻̍ ̶̥͋s̶̖͌u̷̟̎b̵̰̀j̵̲͑e̸̺̽c̸͠ͅţ̴͠s̸̞͆.̶̖͠ ̵̲̐S̷̮̅h̵̝̚e̸͙͊,̴̰̉ ̶̺̅w̶͔̏h̶͈̆ọ̸̓ ̴̯̓l̴̝͠o̸͚͋v̶̟̌ȇ̵͎d̵̀͜ ̴̛͕y̷̱̆ơ̵̰u̴̩̐ ̵͙͆s̷̛̘ō̸̱ ̷̠̈m̵̭͊ų̸̍ċ̷̙h̶̡̽ ̴̖̾y̸̹͋ơ̵̠u̶̠̒r̸̜̀ ̸͉̍a̸̮̿b̴͎̑s̷̡̀ě̸͇ṋ̸̈́c̵̣̎e̶͕͝ ̸̞͘l̴̖̉e̸̲̅t̵̼͒ ̸̟̇h̴̼̋e̷͎͋r̸̦̔ ̶͖̔f̵̫̽á̸̡ĺ̸̘l̵͈̋ ̴̫̈ṭ̵̓ö̷̘́ ̴͇͑m̶̘̀ȃ̴̲ḍ̷̎n̴̞͒e̶͉̚s̷̹̋s̶͇̄.̴̳͂ ̸̞̕T̷̰̑a̸̲̾k̵͚̀e̶̹̋ ̷̳͝y̴͇̓o̴̱̓ư̴̗ŗ̸͋ ̵̘͆m̸̰̈́o̴̠̽t̷̘͌h̸͇͘ê̶͕r̸̮͑,̸̡̂ ̶͐ͅa̶̹͋n̴̤͠d̵̰̆ ̴̘̈́l̸̜̀ë̴͈́a̶̬̾v̵̻̄e̷̠̐ ̵͙̽t̷̛̠h̸̛̬e̷̟̅ ̵̑͜l̶͙̎a̶̟̋ń̶̮d̵̜́ ̷̖́o̷̿͜f̴̠̉ ̵͍̚È̷͉q̶͉̏u̶͖̇ë̵̞s̶̥̎t̵̝͒r̵͖̅ȋ̶̲a̴̼͒ ̵̥̇t̸͔͛o̸̗̅n̶̲͊ĩ̴̘g̴͓̓h̶̺͘ť̴̖!̴̦͛ ̵̰͌P̵̤̎a̸͐͜c̸͉̾k̶̖͒ ̸̨̐a̸̰͊n̴͒ͅḏ̶̐ ̷̜̃g̸̩͝ő̸̬.̸̞͝.̵̡͝.̸̜̔ ̸͚̇a̷̠͝n̷͉̒ḍ̴̔ ̶͉͊d̵̄ͅȍ̴͔ ̶͓̈́N̴̟̾O̵̞̓T̷̲͘.̷̩͗ ̶̠̈L̵͕̀O̴̻͠O̸͔͛K̵̮̓.̵͎̿ ̵͎̃B̸͎͗A̸͈̐C̸̩͛K̸̹͊.̸͇̊"
He threatened, his barely restrained tone and distorted voice showing a fraction the maelstrom of hate with which he seethed. Every last fiber in Saros' body screamed for him to get away, and he was all too eager to obey his instincts.
Saros scrambled to his feet and leapt into the air, charging up magic in a desperate frenzy to get away. A bolt of lightning crashed down through the foliage, miraculously missing all of the trees and avoiding a forest fire, taking Saros with him. His body now converted into Ionic energy, he hopped from cloud to cloud as they hovered peacefully through the sky.
His thunderclaps disoriented birds flying nearby, and startled a pack of manticores that had been sleeping after their last meal. The stormcaller used the sun as his compass to find his way north, when calmed down enough to not feel as if death itself was chasing him.
/////////Present time, Ponyville General/////////
With an unbelieving gasp, the mane six recoiled in shock at the stormcaller's retelling of what happened before he arrived in Ponyville. They looked among themselves, nopony having a clue of what to do. That is, of course, until Luna spoke up.
"Where is he?"
She asked her son, her tone firm, yet kind.
"He is taking refuge in your old castle. If we make haste, we can rally a large enough battalion to overwh-!"
He started to reply, only to be cut off by Luna.
"No. We are not going to send an army into the Everfree."
She stated firmly.
"Mother! Do you even know what he's capable of!? He'd-!"
Saros protested, to then be cut off again.
"Yes! We do! And it is because of that that we will not send an army to attack him!"
She countered, giving no room for debate. With a heavy sigh, she looked down, then away from him and shut her eyes.
"Our sister is responsible for this. Manipulated or not... her hate will condemn thousands to a fate worse than death if we allow Azazel to fall down that same abyss. We must help him, or innocent will die."
She began, her eyes now opened with a resolve of steel. She turned to look at the girls around, her focus shifting between them all, seemingly at random.
Fluttershy was the first to see it. The pain behind the wall of trained stoicism that was beating like a drum in her head and undoubtedly like a drill at her heart.
"We have the beginnings of a plan, but we need everypony to be present; that includes Mia and Discord. Bring them here so that we may discuss our next mo-"
"DISCORD!?!?"
Saros interrupted Luna as she explained with wide eyes and the unmistakeable expression of disbelief warping his facial features. With small sigh to level her temper, she looked at her son.
"You will be brought up to speed in due time, my son."
She replied calmly before turning back to the girls.
"Please, make haste."
She politely ordered, causing the girls to all nod and do as told. Once the last of the group had left, only Luna and Saros remained. The human, solely focused on the lunar diarch, broke the silence that filled the room.
"Mother? Is there anything I can help you with?"
He asked. Granting him an appreciative smile, Luna trotted closer to Saros and lowered her head. Once it rested on his lap, she let out a sigh of relief. Understanding what she wanted, Saros' confused expression softened to one reminiscent tranquility.
He brought his right hand towards her and began to lovingly run his fingers through her mane. As his digits untangled the astral mane of his adoptive mother, the two sat in silence; enjoying each other's company.