//------------------------------//
// A Claw-some Task 
// Story: Beyond My Grave: Nightlight 
// by AnnEldest 
//------------------------------//

"Nope!" Big Mac yelled. 

"What in Celestia's name is that thing?" 

Discord turned the picture around as he examined it a little closer. "Ya, it's the stuff of Nightmares isn't it?" 

Spike had only one phrase to work off of, "a fallen species". This was the one and only thing the Mooti Mootu had told Discord about the bounty it wanted. Spike had searched and searched through book after book and even had to take a trip to Shredder as a third party. At last, he had found his mark, and they were called The Fallen. 

"The Fallen Where an ancient  species that was believed to be wiped out by the guardians many eons ago." Spike read aloud from the book as the other two sat and listened. " They were bred by the king of darkness himself and used to bring destruction and carnage onto the world." 

"Bred by the king of darkness," Discord gulped. "That sounds pleasant."

"Nope," Big Mac gulped.

" So this is the incredibly valuable species that it wants, hmm?" Spike said as he skimmed through the page.

"Great," Discord chucked. "And here I thought that maybe it was just going to be a supernatural bunny or something." 

"Nope," Big Mac said. "The opposite actually."

"So what do you think?" The little dragon asked.

"I think, we're all gonna get ourselves killed." Discord insured. 

"Yup."

Spike sighed as he looked back down at the book. "Well, then that leaves two obvious remarks. This seems to be our only option here."

Discord laughed at the reality of the matter. "So we're going to die and we have no other option for answers. Oh yes, very obvious remarks." 






"Our weapons are one with us. It obeys our commands and in return, we replenish it with our strength."

Arch's words echoed in the young guardian's mind. Arch had told Capper that before he could learn the ways of the guardians, he would have to learn how to wield his weapon of light. 

Capper stood in the dead silence of the forest floor. The light breeze broke the veil just in time for Capper to make a move. He walked forward and leaned backward. With one clean motion, he threw his sword far above the treeline. Once the sword was out of view he reached out his paw. He waited as his mind concerned hard on the need for his weapon.

Earlier that day he had lost the sword in an explosion. He searched, but to no avail. Finally, after giving up and wishing he had it back, the sword flew out of nowhere and returned nicely to his paw.

The actions were repeated and the sword flew back on command. The cat was knocked back a bit as he wasn't ready for the sheer force of the sword. He laughed in awe as he held the divine weapon in his paws. He threw the sword again but  Immediately called it back. The sword froze in midair for a second and then flew back to obey the command. 

Capper chucked as a large grin came over his face. He threw the sword and caught it as it quickly returned. Without any pause, he threw it again. The sword flew back and forwards in only split seconds. Capper laughed as he witnessed the weirdest game of ping pong ever. 

After many moments and even more tosses, the cat pulled back his arm and threw the sword as hard as he could. The sword missed its intended path of travel and instead flew straight at the ground. The Cat was literally swept off his feet as the ground in front of him exploded. 

All he could hear was the high pitch Humm of his ears trying to recover. He opened his eyes only to see spots of bright various colors. He went to his knees and breathed steadily. He felt the blood rush to his head as  Nausea crept to his stomach. Whether it was the fact that he was working his body out in a way he never had before or the fact that he had hit its head several times, he struggled to hold back from vomiting.

His legs caught himself as he staggered to his feet. He looked up to see that his sword was MIA. He bent over and put his laws on his knees. He groaned as he slowly reached out his paw. A few moments passed until the sword flew in on command. Capper was quite literally taken back by it. He laid on the forest floor as his weapon rested peacefully beside him. 

He grabbed the weapon and held it up to his face. Nothing else he had ever owned had ever brought him so much pride. He thought back to his first encounter with one of the Fallen. He was completely helpless against the mighty creature. He wondered if things would have been different with his shiny new toy at his side. Perhaps he could have been the one to show off. The cat chucked at the idea of actually showing off the "great and powerful" Trixie, oops I meant Arch (a little narrator error there). 







Magic, it was the greatest ally for many creatures. Discord's magic in particular was something special. He could use it in pretty much any way he wanted to. Of course, by that time he was feeling pretty useless with his magic. Magic didn't work with the dead, so he was no different than any other pony. 

The stated that the Fallen could be hurt by regular magic, but could only be killed by a guardian or a source of great light. However, most spells that didn't  Involve strength or raw power, was petty much useless towards them.

This meant that why you could blast them, there wasn't anything else you could do to them. Most spells didn't even work around them, such as Teleportation or transmutation. Discord couldn't just open portals or anything around them, but he sure as hell could blast them. 

Discord didn't see what was even the point since he really couldn't just shoot layers out of his ass. Sire, he could do some powerful stuff, but nothing with just raw laser power. Spike on the other hoofs could use his fire to potentially hurt one of them. Big Mac had decided to go brute strength and use a large log.

With little preparation, they had collectively decided to use a very large apple shipping crate as a cage for their hunt. The book told stories of how strong and powerful the creatures were, buuuuttttt, Spike had  Chose to skim right past the important information. 

With all their equipment in hand, they set out to find their prey. The book made it very clear that the creatures loved to go out at night. Big Mac brought flashlights as they weren't for sure if any magical light source would work around the creatures.

"So where are we going to even find this thing," Discord asked.

Spike held the lantern above his head as he buried his face into his book. "Well, it says that if there is any known to be in the area then the best way to track it is to have it come to you."

"How the hell do we do that?" Discord scoffed.

"Well, usually they're attracted to creatures that are Experiencing tremendous fear or anxiety. That also includes creatures that have been experiencing these things for long periods of time." Spike continued to scan through the pages as he tried to prep himself the best he could.

"Are there any warnings or anything similar that it says?"

Spike looked back and forwards through the page. "No, not really. It just goes on about their history, but doesn't seem to be anything useful to us at the moment."

"Well, I guess that's good."







"Hold on, wait just one second." Capper stood as the face of utter shock swept across him. "You want me to take on one of those things?"

Arch leaned over the young guardian and laughed. "Listen I was much younger than you when I had to take on much larger opponents."

"Ya but you had actual training, by other guardians," Capper scoffed. 

"Listen, you'll be fine."

"Fine! The last time I encountered one of those things it beat the shit out of me." 

Shira stepped in. "It won't be like the ones you've seen before. We'll find you a really weak one that you can practice on."

"And by weak, you mean like mouse weak, right?"

"Listen we don't have much of a choice," Arch groaned. "If you're not ready to face one, at least a weak one, on your own then you're going to die before we make our trip."

"OK, then why don't you like, train me or at least spar with me? Why go straight to the arena and fight the big boss."

"Because it'll make you stronger," Shira smiled. "And because we don't have the time to properly prepare you for this."

"Really?" Capper groaned.

"Afraid so kid," Arch chucked as he patted Capper on the back.

"Well, if this is our only method of doing this crap, then at least tell me that the creature is smaller than me and can't smash through walls and stuff."

Arch laughed at the idea of one-off the fallen being so weak. "Ahhhhh, good one kid."





The night sky settled over the land. The light of the Moon dwindled above as the thick trees blocked most of it. The three friends sat down in a small clearing. The book had said that they liked closed areas such as forests or jungles; they liked to hide their presence.

The Mooti Mootu had told Discord that the creatures were in Equestria and if it was true then the book stated that they wouldn't have much trouble finding it. A simple recipe could easily mimic the  Infamous scent they loved so much, and their "genius" planning could take care of the rest. 

"Hey so one thing that's bugging me is why in Equestria would one of these things be in, Equestria" Spike sat as he poured liquids into a small pot.

"I honestly don't know," Discord responded. "Honesty, it has me on edge too. These things seem to be demanding on steroids, so what could they be doing here?"

Spike looked up from his book. "Ya, an army made from the "King of Darkness". Sounds like some rated R movie crop that twilight would never let me watch." Spike looked up at the dimmed moon. "We should tell the others when we get done here."

"Why didn't you tell them earlier?" Discord asked as he played with his magic.

"Well, I would prefer to do it when I don't have to try to explain to Twilight what I have been up to. I don't know how she would take any of it."

Discord shrugged as he continued his horseplay. "Do you think it's anything we would want to tell Luna about?"

Spike looked up from the pot as he stopped mixing. "I don't know to be honest. I would hate to have to drag her back into this stuff. Especially since she had to deal with Cadence not too long ago."

"True," Discord agreed.

"However, this could be something really bad  Lurking right under our noses without us even knowing."

"Are you sure we shouldn't tell her now?" Big Mac asked. 

"Na," Discord protested. "Let's have a look at this thing ourselves and make a decision after that."

"Why?" Slike asked.

"Because we don't always have to resort to her for supernatural help. We gotta sometimes deal with this ourselves."

"Dang," Spike sighed.

"What?" Big Mac asked.

"I don't know if it's super cool or super sad that this might just be our new hobby next to O&O."

"Well actually I would say that it is indeed supernatural," Discord laughed