Celestia gasped as she awoke from a nightmare. Having shared a tent together on the still battlefield, her gasp aroused Luna who had fallen asleep after having raised the moon. She was very tired these days.
“Sister, what is wrong?” the night princess asked, looking into Celestias eyes with a mixture of concern and curiosity.
“I felt him, Luna. That… grievous Stallion. I could feel him on the border of my mind, watching me as I slept.” Luna’s face grew quizzical.
“I felt no such presence in your dreams, Tia.” There was a sudden snap in Luna’s head and the right eye of the angel appeared in her mind’s eye. She gasped as her sister had and the two of them felt themselves waking up all over again. “I dislike dreams within a dream.” she commented.
Celestia turned to her dark counterpart. “You saw it that time too, didn’t you? That eye.”
“Yes, the right eye, always the right one. I fear if he’s entered the physical realm, we may be looking at war we will not survive. The Angel’s playground and every side is just a collection of Chess pieces.” Such a grim thought brought a chill to Celestia’s spine.
“Why would he come back now? He’s left us be for over a thousand years, and just when things turn hairy, he shows up and brings Hell with him.” Celestia began to panic, a rarity indeed for the often calm and at times serene Alicorn. Luna felt that it was her turn to play the big sister and comfort her crying co-ruler.
“It is highly unlikely he has come for us, Tia. Perhaps he is simply observing the war through limited eyes.” Despite her attempts, Celestia disagreed with her hypothesis.
“He is not the kind to sit back and watch things unfold. He is here for a reason. Besides, it’s not him that I fear most of all, it’s what lies behind that eye… within him.”
Luna grew curious about what her sister had just said. “I have not heard about anything residing within him, Celestia. Have you kept yet another secret from me? How could you? Shouldn’t you have learned from last time?” The princess of the night rose to her hooves and addressed her sister in an accusatory manner.
“No, I’d forgotten about it until recently. If I’d have remembered, I would have told you the night my student and her friends brought you back to me. I’d have told you all I could about him.” Celestia defended.
“Then tell me now.”
Celestia patted the cushion beside her and urged her sister to sit beside her. The dark Alicorn did as she was asked and stared at her sister, waiting for the rest of the truth.
“As you know, he is an Angel, but in order for him to have become Death, he had to be more than an Angel. He had to have control over both the heavens and Hell itself. So he fused his body with that of the most powerful demon. That Demon, though sharing his body, retains his own mind and hides within the mind of his host, acting like a Parasite. The demon feels no remorse, no pity. He would never take a hostage and he revels in mass slaughter of any kind. When you were away with Mother, I fought the Angel and found I was on par with him. But then it happened.” Luna shifted in her cushion. This story reminded her of the ghost stories she would hear from her sister during the nights before they took control.
“His left eye became like his right and he changed… for the worst. His head was covered in a strange Dragon’s skull, but it was different. Like the skull itself was tainted with something unimaginable. This demon is more powerful than the Angel and fights constantly to take control. I nearly lost my life within a minute, had the angel not fought back and saved my life.”
Luna was on the edge of her cushion. She found it difficult to imagine her sister on the bronk of death, despite how often she dreamed of such a thing when she was banished on the moon.
“Could the Elements of Harmony protect against him?” she asked.
“Once, perhaps, but I feel as though he’s changed over the years, grown stronger and more powerful. It feels as though the Demon has won, but at the same time has given up.”
“We came to an understanding.” a voice said from behind the two. Both princesses jumped and ran towards the opposite end of the tent. There stood the angel in all his glory. Nothing like before, he now stood as a Stallion would and the skull was not present. Yet his eyes shone bright yellow and his sclera was blacker than the cutie mark on Luna’s flank.
“W-what do you want here, d-d-demon?” Celestia stuttered. The two princesses held each other closely, fearing for their lives. It felt like the longest time to them since they were considered the most powerful in the world.
“Me, I want nothing from you. My friend however, seeks both your forgiveness and offers her aid to you in the war. I am simply here to oversee negotiations, and to make sure there is no foul play between the two parties.” As Death himself spoke, he flapped a large black dragon wing beside him and the Changeling Queen herself appeared as though out of thin air. She seemed disorientated. When her eyes focused on the two princesses, she went still, daring not to make a move.
Mar sat down between Celestia and Luna’s cushions and offered them their respective places. The two princesses warily sat beside their superior while Chrysalis sat across from him in a diamond shaped enclosure.
“Begin.” the angel said bluntly, observing the three.
“Oh, my head!” Spike groaned as he returned to consciousness. Twilight was the first thing he saw and felt as she leaped into him and sobbed. It took less than a second for him to remember the events that transpired prior to his blackout. The way Twilight was screaming, he knew he’d failed to protect Shining Armour. He scooped the heart broken mare into his arms and held her close. Unlike before, the animosity he felt while enraged or excited didn’t reveal itself; however, the boiling hatred for that odd stallion remained stagnant in his mind and soul. He could feel the dark consciousness within him, furious at having been overpowered and overshadowed. But it remained dormant for the time being.
“I can’t believe the Angel of Death himself made a deal with Chrysalis of all ponies and killed Shining Armour.” Rainbow Dash commented, holding Scootaloo closely. Spike took a moment to understand what Dash had just said about his enemy. ‘The Angel of Death himself’. That’s what she had said.
“Shit!” he growled.
“You know somethin’ about this guy Spike?” Applejack inquired.
Spike nodded. “Yeah. Like Dragons, he’s supposed to act as an Arbiter. He’d observe a conflict between two sides. But unlike dragons, if he finds that one side is resorting to trickery, he will interfere and discretely give the losing side a helping hoof.” Applebloom raised her hoof before asking a question that was undoubtedly on her friends’ minds also.
“What’s an Arbiter?” she asked.
Spike thought of the quickest and simplest way to answer her without confusing her with literacy. “A Judge.” he replied simply. He then looked down at the calmly silent Twilight and realised she had cried herself to sleep almost instantly.
“How is Cadence holding up with the loss?” he asked. Nopony was willing to answer, but after an uncomfortable silence that seemed to drag on, Gilda replied for them.
“She’s…sort of frozen. She won’t speak, she won’t move, she’s barely even blinked since it happened.” Spike sighed, being careful not to wake the sleeping mare in his arms.
“Things aren’t going well. Everything’s falling apart and we’re no closer to victory than we were before I was resurrected. This war’s going to take a toll on so many ponies.” the dragon took a moment to just relax and breathe as it almost seemed like a godsend recently.
“Preparations are almost ready, your Highness. The Leviathan is prepared to fight for us. We had to… sacrifice quite a few of our soldiers in order to strike a reasonable deal of its assistance though.”
The Gryphon King sat back in his throne, listening to the report his subordinate was giving him.
“Sacrifice is a part of war. When we emerge victorious, we shall remember the names of those who sacrificed themselves for the victory of the Gryphons. In the meantime, prepare to head out. I want to watch the Leviathan end Spike’s life with my own eyes. Then I will personally deal with Celestia and that ignorant sister of hers. Perhaps I will keep them as my pets. While I find ponies to be disgusting creatures, I’m sure I’ll find some enjoyment when I test the stamina of Alicorn Princesses.” he mused. The subordinate, held back the desire to vomit at the images brought up.
“What… are your orders, Sire?” he asked. The king returned from his reverie and looked at the gryphon before him with thought clear on his face.
“I have none to give as of this moment. Continue with the preparations. We move out at Dawn.” With that, the subordinate bowed low and hurried out of the Royal hall, intent on avoiding failure.