Spike had one rule above all others. He will always finish whatever he starts. At the moment, that precludes to crushing a certain skeletal dragon. His tail lashed out and knocked the bony beast back into a mass of small zomponies. The little nuisances had tried to bite through his scales, or climb his titanic form, but met with failure on both parts. As a result the titanic dragon had little to worry about aside from the skeletal dragon. Then again, that skeletal dragon was proving quite the annoying nuisance.

Unlike a normal dragon it didn't crumble beneath the force of his 'tail-whip'. Instead it reformed its bones and climbed back onto its claws. 'What does it take to smash this thing?' the magenta dragon mentally demanded. He had tried everything from physically breaking the creatures bones, to crushing it under his weight. He was under no delusions that he wasn't titanic and heavy. He knew he was enormous, he also knew he weighed several dozen tons. But at this point none of that weight or muscle had done him any good.

'No matter how many times I smash him, he just gets back up,' the ancient beast mentally complained. He was becoming increasingly annoyed with this situation. He hated monotony, a trait that hadn't changed at all since he was a baby dragon. Being bored just didn't agree with the magenta titan in the least. Far as he was concerned, the old 'attacks' on Dream Valley had been amusing. Granted they were dangerous, but he preferred that to being bored out of his scales. It was also true that he often got into trouble because of that, but it wasn't like he was malicious in his intent. He was just bored.

Spike was suddenly jarred from his thoughts and knocked back. Landing on his back with a grunt, the great titan glared at the annoying beast. Twisting his body around for a bit, Spike placed a massive claw to the ground. Several zomponies were crushed beneath his claws as he did and amused Spike. With a twist and a lurch the great titan turned his body over. His hind paws came down on more zomponies as he righted himself. He then quickly ducked low to avoid a swipe of the bony beasts claws.

He trained a glare onto the creature for the attack. He tensed for only a moment before he lunged forward and bodily rammed into the bony beast. His full strength and weight were impressed upon the creature and easily broke it apart. Bones went flying, some of the larger ones crushing several stray Zomponies. Spike merely snorted, watched, and hoped that they didn't get back up again. His hopes were, however, in vain as the beast soon reformed. Bones rose up in a black aura, or crawled back together to reform the bony beast.

'I'm getting really really tired of this,' Spike mentally growled and glared daggers at the bony beast. It didn't seem to care, instead letting out another hollow shriek / howl. The sound was in no way similar to the roar of a dragon. It was much shriller, and sounded empty and dead. It was a horrid sound that Spike felt anger over, that made him desire to crush this thing even more than he already did. The sad part was the desire did not stem from anger, but from pity. He pitied it for the sorry state it was in and wanted to end it.

With a snort Spike lunged at the bony beast once more. He ducked below its claws as it lashed out at him, and rammed into it with a grunt. The bony beast was knocked back, hundreds of Zomponies instantly being crushed as it skidded over them. Spike however reached up and rubbed at his head. Unlike some dragons who had horns, his skull wasn't reinforced. His dull spines made it possible for him to ram into something, but it wasn't exactly practical. 'Useful for crushing those little pests though,' Spike inwardly admitted with a chuckle.

Every downed Zompony was one less for Faust to deal with. In his mind that was a victory in and of itself. Small it may be, but it could easily prove the difference between life and death for the ponies. Which is why he decided he needed to use his breath weapon. Much as Faust was against burning the Zomponies, Spike had a special fire. Two or three thousand years prior Faust had visited him in his home. She had also found him sprinkling something onto the iron he'd been eating. That something turned out to be magnesium.

Magnesium was apparently an extremely flammable metal, however it was only like that in a dust or shard form. The problem was he'd been using it as a spice, and considered it like salt or paprika. Although it actually tasted a bit like ground peppers. Much like iron he'd gained some properties from it as well. Namely, his fire was now fueled by that magnesium. As a result his breath could easily melt solid steel if he wanted it too. Had he ever managed to hit Daring or one of the other ponies with it, they likely would be smoldering cinders in seconds.

This unfortunately had several draw backs. The most obvious was that he could no longer simply close his mouth and 'blow' fire. No. The heat of his flames was so great he'd melted one of his front teeth by accident. As a result, Spike had to keep his mouth wide open and breathe out the flames. The second problem was that he couldn't regulate the radius of the fire now. It came out in a huge wave, there was no way for him to concentrate it into a thin stream or into a fire-ball. This meant that he couldn't use his fire for more mundane purposes like simply starting a fire or roasting a meal.

He had also found that he couldn't just stop it 'mid-blast'. Instead he had to exhale all the flames before he could close his mouth again. Depending on how deep a breath he took Spike could thus be exhaling flames for minutes or seconds. It also meant he had to be sure he wanted to breathe the fire in the first place. If he decided too late that he didn't need to torch something and it couldn't get away...

Spike shook such thoughts from his head and glared at the bony beast. He quickly inhaled a deep breath and narrowed his eyes. He then leaned his body forward, opened his mouth, and breathed a torrent of magnesium fueled flames at the bony beast and zomponies. The white hot flames roared forward with the force of an explosion. The zomponies were stripped of their flesh in a matter of moments and even their bones were melted shortly after. The bone dragon lasted half that time, its entire body melting into a smoldering heap.

It took him several minutes to fully exhale his magnesium fueled fury. Once finished he closed his great jaws with a snap and took in the devastation he had wrought. Smoldering piles were all around him. Some of them still burning and would still burn for some time. The only real way to put out the flames was to suffocate them. Water would be useless as magnesium would burn even if doused in the ocean. But then again, that didn't really matter anymore. He'd dealt with the zomponies and bone dragon. Unless they could rise up from nothing but cinders he would be...

A moment later an eerie black aura formed from the air and began to pull the smoldering ashes. The ashes twisted and twirled in the air before becoming a part of a single mass. Spike watched in a mix of frustration and barely restrained fury as a now flaming being formed from this same ashes. The ashes compiled upon one another while Spike resisted the urge to snarl furiously. He had honestly thought he was done fighting the zomponies and bone dragon. Now he had to deal with their remains forming something else too?

'I am so torching that 'Necronomicon' book if I ever find it,' the magenta dragon decided with a scowl. The fiery being was shorter than him and soon stood on two digitigrade legs that ended in razor sharp talons. It had two arms ending in sharpened dragonic claws. Its upper torso resembled a dragons only thinner. It's long tail ended in a monstrous barbed end. A pair of large tattered wings stretched from its back. Finally, its head had a short muzzle, two long forward sweeping horns, and a pair of horrible red eyes. Added to all that was that it was seemingly made of fire and shadow.

"Oh you have got to be kidding me!" The creature ignored Spike's incredulous exclamation, instead lunging forward to attack. Spike ducked under the flaming hell beast and twisted his tail to knock it to the ground. The fiery hell beast lunged at him once more, swinging its wicked burning claws in wide wild arcs. Spike ducked and dodged the swift claws of the creature as best he could. While it was smaller than him the creature was insanely fast. This meant that although Spike could out muscle the creature, it had an advantage in flexibility.

'That stupid book probably picked it knowing how slow I am,' the magenta dragon idly realized with a growing scowl. If the book was able to plan, that meant it had some form of intelligence and sapience. If it was sapient, then Spike was fairly certain this would not be an easy fight. Not only could the book reanimate the dead, but it also showed an incredible gift in shifting the dead into different forms. 'Creative for a book, wait... Faust, it must be using her magic,' the dragon noted with his worry growing ever stronger.

Spike knew that Faust's magic influenced creativity in ponies. However he had never entertained the thoughts it could influence other beings as well. Part of him felt foolish for never considering it a possibility. Another wondered if she could do the same thing with him. However for the moment neither thought proved useful. So instead Spike snorted out a bit of soot and glared at the great beast of shadow and fire. It roared back at him, a scarlet flame igniting within its horrible fanged maw. Spike lowered his body while the creature flapped its wings and shot forward.

The great dragon merely smirked and slid beneath the creature, his tail knocking it down. The flaming beast hit the ground hard but soon got back up. Spike merely grinned and then stuck his tongue out at the creature childishly. The beast roared out indignantly but Spike had already turned and began to rush through the towers halls. Much as he wanted to fight the creature, he doubted that Faust would appreciate a flaming monster right outside her door. The magenta dragon also hoped that Light Bringer wouldn't mind some company heading his way...

The simulacrum chamber was silent. The elements of harmony and resident princesses had decided it was time to rest. They knew not when they would next be afforded such an opportunity after all. Thus they had dispersed around the chamber to find places to rest. Rainbow Dash was now sleeping on a large shelf, her hooves crossed under her chin. It wasn't the most comfortable place to sleep, but it could've been much worse. Applejack was asleep to the side with her hat lowered over her eyes. Her head rested against the surprisingly soft pieces of a doll of some kind.

Rarity and Fluttershy had leaned against one another, Light-Bringer's saddlebags placed delicately to the side. Both mares were curious of their contents, yet had resisted the urge to look within. Crunch was softly sleeping, curled up under a table near Fluttershy. Pinkie was sleeping on her back with all four legs spread outwards. Not surprisingly she was also snoring and twitching, proving she could be loud even when she was asleep. Finally, Celestia and Luna were sleeping next to one another, a space between them filled by the still awake form of Faust.

The ancient alicorn was still alert, and had no intention of sleeping anytime soon. She needed to be certain that absolutely nothing would get into the chamber. Much as she prided herself on being a master of wards, she had always preferred to err on the side of caution. However, when she felt Celestia start to squirm at her side, the ivory mare turned to the solar alicorn. She frowned for only a moment, then smiled and lowered her head down next to the younger mare. She closed her eyes and began to hum a soft tune, hoping to lull the other alicorn to a more peacefully slumber.

At her other side, Luna began to stir as well. Smiling softly, Faust extended her wings over their backs and softly nuzzled both younger alicorns. Luna began to shift into her side more, while Celestia leaned into the warmth from her wing. Still softly humming to the younger mares, the ancient alicorn suddenly smiled. An odd thought suddenly struck her and she hummed a bit more, then softly began to sing...

She was cold, alone and very scared. Her little sister was all but wailing at this point and she didn't know what to do. It had all happened so fast. A strange creature had just appeared and snapped its fingers. Then in a flash her parents were changed into plants. The thing tried to play with her afterwards, but she was trying to console her sister. He lost interest quickly once the wailing foal was made more apparent. Then in another flash he just vanished. Now she was alone, hiding beneath the tree that had once been her mother. The stable that had once been her home had been torn asunder by great branches from either parent.

She shivered and crawled protectively over top her sister. She slowly shifted back to try and hide herself. It was a futile effort really, there was little that could hide her in the broken stable. She waited for something to come for her while her sister cried and wailed. She tried to quiet her, but could do nothing as the hoof steps drew ever nearer. She let out a soft sob and closed her eyes, awaiting whatever fate was to come. The hoof steps suddenly stopped, and for a moment all was silent. The little filly slowly opened a single purple eye to see what had come for them.

Standing before her was a sight she could not comprehend. A being as white as purest snow with a mane the shade of leaves in fall. The being was a mare, and she stood several hooves taller than any pony she had ever seen before. Her horn was more like a kind of fluted spear. Dressed in a rather drab cloak with the hood down. Her eyes however, those grabbed the fillies immediate attention. She was not able to read body language, nor could she read facial expressions. But those eyes, she didn't need to know how in order to see the kindness there. They were utterly blue and shining like the gentle sea.

The mare's eyes passed from her to her sister. A frown, soft and worried crossed over her features. She approached slowly, but the filly backed away. Her sisters wails grew louder and caused her to wince. She didn't know what to do, then yelped as a crimson glow surrounded her and her sibling. They were pulled from the ground until a pair of soft forelegs wrapped around them both. The mare grasped them both softly, and then shushed her little sibling soothingly. The foal let out hiccups for a moment before the mare smiled softly and hummed softly for a time, before she began to sing...

Come stop your crying it'll be alright
Just take my hoof, hold it tight,
I will protect you from all around you,
I will be here, don't you cry...

The voice was soft and surprisingly warm. It soothed the chill she'd been feeling for some time now. Her body relaxed and she all but collapsed against the mare. Her sibling blinked her cyan eyes open and looked up to the mare. She followed, purple eyes looking to the auburn maned mare. Said mare continued to smile, and then continued to sing to them.

For ones so small, you seem so strong,
My wings will hold you, keep you safe and warm,
This bond between us can't be broken,
I will be here, don't you cry,

It was as she was starting to fall to sleep that she and her sister shivered. Though the song warmed their spirits, their bodies were still cold. But a moment later, the filly felt as a pair of large soft wings wrapped around them like a blanket. Questions bombarded her on how the mare had wings. Yet she was just so tired to bother to ask. The mare's song slowly sent her off to sleep and to her dreams.

'Cause you'll be in my heart,
Yes you'll be in my heart,
From this day on,
now and forever more,

The filly didn't do anything more. The song echoed in her ears as the mare continued to hold her and her sister. Her sister had stopped crying at last. Instead she shifted and wiggled against the enormous unicorn mare. Once settled she started to fall to sleep. The filly was not far behind her. Her mind was covered in a haze as the song continued.

You'll be in my heart,
No matter what I say,
You'll be here in my heart,
Always...

The filly yawned tiredly once more. Her sister was fast asleep and she was unable to keep her eyes open any longer. Instead, she slowly drifted off, wrapped in soft downy feathers and held gently by the strange mare. She didn't know what may await upon her waking, but she didn't care. She just wanted to rest her eyes for a moment, and the song echoed in her ears as she finally drifted to sleep. The mare smiled softly and then whispered the final word softly to both little ponies.

Once her song was done and both the foal and filly were asleep, the alicorn smiled and shifted them to one forelimb. A single wing wrapped around them as she made her way out of the ruined stable. She continued to hum to the weary foal and filly sleeping peacefully in her grasp. As she wandered off, humming softly, she idly drew out a map and made her way home. The ruined stable was no place for a foal and filly to live, and with a certain Draconequus around, her home was far safer. It was with that thought in mind that the mare wandered off into the mists and away from the ruined stable...

Faust's soft singing had echoed across the simulacrum chamber. The soft echo of her voice had even risen a certain marshmallow fashionista from her slumber. A single blue eye looked to the ancient alicorn with a hidden smile. The scene she was seeing was far too precious. The ancient alicorn had extended her wings over either princess. Luna had fallen into Faust's side with a look of content across her muzzle. Celestia had laid her head against Faust, a look of serenity upon her face. Faust herself had finally fallen asleep, a soft ghost of a smile across her lips.

Rarity merely smiled at the scene of the princesses wrapped in their mother's wings. For all the bluster Faust spouted about not being their mother, she certainly acted the part. Besides that, as far as Rarity was concerned, blood didn't mean everything. 'Sometimes, merely loving them is enough,' she thought to herself. A quick glance around the chamber alerted the fashionista to the fact she wasn't the only one awake.

Applejack did well to hide it, but a slight stream of tears was visible beneath the brim of her hat. Rarity felt a pang in her chest as she watched the cow-pony reach up and rub vigorously at her eyes. With her eyes, mostly, dry the orange apple mare then turned and tried to sleep once more. 'She must miss her own mother terribly,' Rarity noted inwardly. However she then shifted for a moment and laid her head on her forelegs. It was with a final glance at the princesses and Faust that Rarity drifted into slumber with a single errant thought lingering in her mind.

Nightmare panted heavily and tried desperately to catch her breath. The fight had not gone quite as she or Light-Bringer had hoped. The 'Legion' was an aptly named being. It sent out its undead spawn in nigh unending waves. Concentrating on the 'central mass' of the legion had proved highly ineffective. Not only was it far easier to cut down the zomponies around it. It also used any and all zomponies that clung to its body in order to protect its core. This meant that Nightmare and Light-Bringer had been forced to try and rip apart the thousands of zomponies.

At first it had truly been a test of their metal to fight so many all at once. Waves of zomponies marching forward without fear of death. Yet as time wore on, she and Light-Bringer chipped away at it's shell of undead flesh and bone. It was a disturbing sight to be perfectly honest. Masses of undead ponies falling away in droves as they were rendered truly dead. Some were cut down by her shadowy blades or mist form. Others were frozen or pierced by icy swords from Light-Bringer. Either way, once its undead horde had finally fallen, she began to see what lay beneath that shell.

It was a horrid creature, that was all she could say. Its appearance defied her comprehension as she couldn't truly see it all. Or as strange as it was, what she could see of it she couldn't fully understand. All she could see was a red eye surrounded in a glow which seemed to cause her to feel ill. The longer she stared at it the more ill she felt. Nightmare wasn't sure why, but it unnerved her. As an alicorn, she was almost physically impervious. Whatever it was about this creature that could cause her to be ill, it didn't bode well at all.

"You shouldn't stare at it," Light-Bringer suddenly noted. The sound of his voice snapped Nightmare from her trance and she backed away. Her eyes landed on its shadow instead. Unfortunately, even that was strange, not only was it red like the eye, but somehow it was even three-dimensional!

"Why?" Nightmare questioned hastily. She did not know why, but she felt even more ill by staring at the creature's shadow.

"Speak knave! Why should we not stare at this creature most foul?" the ebony mare demanded of the undead stallion.

"That creature doesn't exist in the same way as mortals," Light-Bringer began, "in all actuality, it exists in such a way that it shouldn't exist. As a result, your mind cannot fully comprehend its shape or form, causing you nausea and discomfort while staring at it. Stare too long and it could potentially drive you mad," the icy stallion explained bluntly. Nightmare merely grunted, still feeling ill even as she turned her eyes away from the creature. Once it, and its shadow, were both out of sight she felt her stomach settle and her mind calm.

"We understand, though why art thou not afflicted by this horrid curse then, sir knight?" Nightmare questioned flatly. "You are clearly far younger than we, not to mention a mortal, we are immortal and it discomforts us greatly merely to look upon it," Nightmare noted. The icy stallion merely snorted out a breath and glared at the Legion. It was oddly still, as if it were waiting for something.

"I'm ten thousand years old, undead, and I've seen far worse than this thing's true form, thus I can comprehend it, unlike you," Light Bringer replied flatly. The ebony mare blinked owlishly for a moment and stared at the stallion in clear surprise. She was honestly unsure of how she should react to that admission. While she felt a small bit annoyed by his blunt tone, she could sense no deception from him. She ultimately decided not to anger the one being older than her and turned away with a light blush.

"Ah, forgive us elder, yet neither are we mortal," the ebony mare offered softly.

"True, however your mind is still mortal, immortal body or not," the icy stallion replied. That got a raised brow from Nightmare, but she didn't comment on it further. Though she was curious how her 'mind' was still mortal and her body wasn't, it could wait until after the Legion was dealt with.

"So, if we are unable to look upon the horror of this creature's true form, how doth thee expect us to combat it?" Nightmare asked the icy stallion. Her gaze was turned to a hallway to the side, anywhere but at that foul beast. She wondered idly why it wasn't moving. She considered it was trying to make a plan of some kind, but that was unlikely. Thus far it has shown only limited intelligence.

"You need not do any more, I can face this thing alone from here," Light-Bringer replied. Nightmare's head snapped to the side and glared at the undead war-pony.

"Surely thou can't expect us to sit by and do naught as thee fights this beast alone," Nightmare growled at the stallion. There was a sudden clatter from the hallway to the side. Nightmare and Light-Bringer both glanced to it to see a flaming metal stallion approaching. He slid to a halt glaring down the hall, only to widen his eyes and stare at the Legion in shock. The legion itself began to pulse and writhe in the air, its body briefly visible to show twisting pulsating flesh and numerous tentacles. The armored pony, War-Helm, shook his head and snorted as he glared from the Legion to the Nuckelavee.

Light-Bringer frowned and glanced back to what approached from the hall. The skinned centaurs unnerved him for a moment. "Nuckelavee," he mentally groaned. He then turned back to the Legion, his eyes narrowed dangerously. "It would seem we have more to deal with, something that doesn't afflict your mind as the legion does," the icy stallion noted to Nightmare.

"Verily sir knight, we are beginning to find the undead more and more disturbing," Nightmare admitted with a shiver. The ebony mare then shook her head while War-Helm scraped a hoof and snorted. Light-Bringer glanced at the living armor and quietly nodded his head.

"Yes, it's quite the repulsive monstrosity is it not," Light-Bringer commented calmly. War-Helm shot him a confused look. "Of course I can understand you, why wouldn't I?" Light-Bringer replied to an unheard question. Nightmare ignored both stallions as the Nuckelavee approached. While they were horrid to see they did not harm her or make her ill at a glance. That was why she was more than happy to deal with them and leave the Legion to Light-Bringer.

'And to that other strange knight also, and really, how many knights are we to meet this day?' the ebony alicorn wondered to herself with a frown. However that was besides the point, the three ponies quickly went to work against the creatures.

Unlike War-Helm, Nightmare used magic in spades against the Nuckelavee. Her horn shown with an ominous light as she swung her head here and there. Great arcs of shadows sliced and cut through the masses of undead with ease. The mistress of the night narrowed her eyes and then reared back and stomped on the ground. Instantaneously the shadows of the Nuckelavee rose up as a mass of spears to impale the creatures. Nightmare winced slightly at the gruesome display, yet felt no remorse for the deed itself.

'These creatures are no longer alive, yet are forced to continue on. I will release them from this torment,' the ebony alicorn thought to herself. More Nuckelavee approached her, each brandishing blade like limbs to use against her. However the mistress of the night smirked and then formed into a mist. Her amorphous form shot forward with blinding speed and became a blade of its own. It sliced and sheered through the Nuckelavee, tearing limbs and flesh away. The mist soon turned and went back to the spot at the crossroads before reforming.

As Nightmare dealt with the skinned centaur, War-Helm and Light-Bringer stood against the Legion. The armored war-pony snorted a gout of flame and glared at the hideous monstrosity. The squirming pulsating sharpened fang ridden flesh of the legion and flailing tentacles were disgusting. However unlike Nightmare he was already insane, which meant this wasn't so bad to him. True, he still felt sick to his stomach just looking at it. But unlike her he didn't have a stomach, nor did he really care about the feeling. Instead he began to drag his hoof along the ground and lower his head.

He glanced to the icy stallion at his side a moment later. The body of the stallion was intact, unlike his own, with icy hoof prints beneath his hooves. Truly it was almost like staring at his exact polar opposite. Whereas he had lost his body the icy stallion had not. Whereas he had the power of flame the other stallion had ice. Whereas he was totally silent, the undead warrior could speak eloquently. Whereas he was basically a pegasus, the icy stallion was a unicorn. Whereas he was quite clearly insane, the undead unicorn was also clearly not.

The only thing they shared was that the stallion and he were both undead. However he was allowing his mind to wander, and that was not a good thing. War-Helm turned his head back to the Legion and narrowed his eyes. It hovered and rippled and shook in disgusting ways. Beneath it, it's three dimensional shadow had reformed into a reflection that shouldn't be there. The sight would be enough to leave most too ill to move. However War-Helm cared not for such trivial matters. He reared back with a whinny and then suddenly lunged forward.

Light-Bringer watched as the armored pony galloped toward the legion. He felt a very brief moment of annoyance before narrowing his eyes. The legion had been silently hovering for far too long to be normal. He knew that something was going on. However the problem was that he didn't know what it was. The creature could have been planning, or it could have called more zomponies to add to it. However instead of anything happening, it just hovered there silently. The icy stallion knew that something was about to happen. He just didn't know what that something was going to be.

The eye in the center of the legions main body began to glow. The flaming pony's approach had finally triggered a response from the legion. Its eye gave off a malevolent glow for only a brief moment, before a crimson beam of light and heat was expelled forward. War-Helm saw it coming and quickly flapped his wings and shot over to the side with wide eyes. Light-Bringer did the same, a deep scowl on his face. 'It's compressing magic into a beam and using it as a weapon, not hard, but annoying,' the icy stallion noted to himself.

As the beam passed him, Light-Bringer galloped towards the legion. War-Helm watched him pass for a moment before following behind him. The legion formed its tendrils forward, eyes opening at their ends and glowing as its central one had a moment before. Light-Bringer narrowed his eyes and dodged and weaved through a series of beams. His armor limited his maneuverability, however not too greatly. He noted several of the beams had managed to scorch his armor or tear chunks from some of his exposed flesh. He ignored that and galloped at full tilt as the beams ceased.

War-Helm merely followed behind the older stallion, dodging the beams far easier than he had as well. Soon the flaming stallion watched Light-Bringer create a series of icy steps and got an idea. Lunging to the side, War-Helm approached the underside of the legion. With them split the beams split to try and attack each of the stallions. War-Helm easily avoided the spray and turned into a fiery spin beneath the legion. His body soon became a torrent of flames that shot up into the beast. Light-Bringer merely dodged and then jumped over the legion. He created an icy shell around his body and then dropped.

The flames below and the ice above, the legion was hit on both top and bottom. The flames burned and seared, the icy pierced and froze. Soon the ice began to change into hundreds of blades of different sizes. The single eye in the center of the legion pulsed and shook as the blades began to tear it apart. War-Helm however merely shot upwards like a great beam, shooting straight through the creature and into the sky. Light-Bringer allowed himself to fall into the hole made by the flaming pony. Once within he called on his magic and sent a mass of blades outwards, tearing the legion's core apart.

The blades shot from the body and into the walls of the hall. From the remains of the creature, War-Helm and Light-Bringer leaped forth. The two armored ponies landed and skidded to a halt across from the downed legion. War-Helm's armor steamed from heat while ice had formed around Light-Bringer. The two turned to Nightmare, Light-Bringer idly knocking a little of the legion's remains from his armor. The ebony alicorn glanced to what remained of the legion with no small amount of surprise.

"Impressive," she admitted. War-Helm ignored her and checked around for more zomponies, or whatever else the book would send there way. Light-Bringer on the other hand began the arduous task of removing the vast amount of ice from his armor and body. "Thou hath the strength of a great many ponies, sir knight," Nightmare noted aloud. However the armored pony remained silent and removed the ice from his left forelimb. Instantly it fell off and Nightmare reared back. "Dear moon above!" the mare cried. Light-Bringer merely rolled his eyes and shot her a look.

"No it isn't," the undead stallion stated with a roll of his eyes. Nightmare snorted and pointed to the severed limb.

"Then what's that then?" the mare demanded. Light-Bringer blinked and glanced down. The sight of his own severed limb barely seemed to affect the icy stallion. In all honesty he actually hadn't felt the limb fall loose. The sight of it on the ground also didn't really bother him all that much. He was undead after all. Limbs falling off was a common occurrence when you take enough punishment.

"I've had worse," the icy stallion stated with a shrug. He idly picked the severed limb up with his magic as Nightmare fixed him with a look.

"Thou art a liar," The ebony alicorn huffed. Light-Bringer merely rolled his eyes and stuck his severed leg back onto his body. Using a bit of necrotic magic, the undead stallion reattached the limb properly. That finished he then gave Nightmare an amused look. The ebony alicorn narrowed her eyes onto the stallion then turned with a huff. War-Helm ignored both of them and trotted around anxiously. The floors suddenly shaking beneath their hooves brought all three to a cautious halt.

"That can't be good," Light-Bringer muttered before looking back to see Spike running their way. The enormous dragon then turned into a skid and slid to a stop over the three. War-Helm's eyes bolted open and he felt the sudden urge to hide. While he could fight alicorns, that was because he was inherently immune to magic due to his iron armor. A dragon of that size was pure bulk and muscle, it'd tear him apart like he was paper! Said dragon panted lightly, then took a quick breath and then glared at the hall.

"Beast, what art thou doing here?" Nightmare demanded angrily. The magenta dragon in question glanced at the ebony alicorn for only a moment before his eyes narrowed back onto the hall.

"That damnable book has been playing with its troops again," Spike replied with a scowl. Light-Bringer grunted and flexed his forelimb for a moment. Once he was certain it wouldn't fall off again he trotted over to stand beside of one of the dragons claws.

"So what did it create this time?" the undead icy stallion questioned curiously. A screeching roar answered his question and caused his head to snap to the side. "Sweet sun above!" the icy stallion exclaimed upon seeing the beast of shadows and fire. Spike chuckled lightly and rolled his neck until he heard several satisfying pops.

"I don't really know what to call it," the dragon began with a shrug, then looked to Light-Bringer, "Hey tiny, any ideas?" Said undead stallion merely looked to Spike with a single wide glowing eye.

"I... I'm at a loss, I've never seen something like that before!" the stallion exclaimed. War-Helm snorted a gout of flame and then narrowed his eyes on the approaching monster. He scraped a hoof along the ground and gave a great whinny as he lunged at the beast. "Wait you fool! We have no idea how dangerous that thing is!" Light-Bringer shouted at the living armor.

"Elder, perchance thou could freeze the beast?" Nightmare suggested. Light-Bringer frowned, considering the idea for a moment. However in the end he shook his head and looked to the creature with a frown.

"Neigh, unfortunately I can't tell if the creature generates fire or is mere set on fire," the icy stallion replied with a frown. War-Helm approached the flaming creature fearlessly. The living suit of flaming armor galloped towards the creature, his armor turning white as his heat rose. The stallion attempted to burn through the creature, however was merely batted away by a single arm. War-Helm flew back, skidded across the floor before finally falling into a heap at Nightmare's hooves.

"Well, that did naught," the ebony alicorn noted aloud. War-Helm growled and shot the mare a harsh glare. Nightmare merely ignored him and turned back to Light-Bringer. "What difference would generating or being set on fire make?" the ebony alicorn demanded. War-Helm got back to his hooves slowly, his body shaking and creaking as he did so.

"If it was only set on fire it'd have a core which would act as a fuel source for its flames. Tiny's ice could freeze the damn thing and then I could smash it and it'd be gone," Spike began, then snorted a bit of smoke from his nostrils. "However, if the thing generates flames it's body simply makes them. That would mean it has no core to freeze and would instantly melt any ice around it," the magenta dragon explained with a thoughtful frown.

"Then pray tell what thee suggest we do about this creature, beast?" Nightmare questioned with a glare. Spike snorted a puff of smoke and then rubbed his shoulder with a frown. The beast itself slid to a stop across from them, its eyes glaring at Spike who glared back just as fiercely. The dragon dared not move his eyes, instead merely released another snort of smoke from his nostrils.

"No idea," he admitted with a shrug. "Faust and the others never had to deal with anything like this," the dragon noted more to himself than any of the ponies. The beast suddenly roared and lunged forward, Spike spread his limbs and prepared to face it once more. However before the dragon could attack an icy blast managed to halt the creatures forward sprint. Light-Bringer's horn gave off a chilly mist as he glared at the creature with his sole remaining eye.

"Perhaps not, yet I need not have fought one before to know what to do about it," Light-Bringer stated darkly. "I'll freeze its path, even if it can break through it'll buy us enough time to plan our next attack," the stallion began as he trotted forward. The icy stallion then concentrated on his magic and with a quick wave of his horn conjured an ice barrier between them and the beast. Letting out a breath the undead stallion backed away as the creature began to slam its arms into the barrier. 'Now to plan,' Light-Bringer thought to himself, a frown crossing his face.

The beast's continued assault against the barrier quickly began to bear fruit. The ice began to melt and piece of it flew off. Spike snarled and bared his fangs to prepare for a fight. War-Helm snorted a gout of flames and began to scrape his hoof along the ground. Nightmare however looked to Light-Bringer for guidance. The ancient undead pony mentally sighed as he looked to the burning beast. 'And hope we survive long enough for Faust to fix this mess...'

The moment that they were alert, the ponies had set out. Faust had led them to a secret passage within the Simulacrum Chamber. It had been hidden behind a portrait, the portrait had been of an unusual stallion even Twilight didn't know. All Faust had said was that he'd been a dear friend centuries before and left it at that. The group followed behind the ivory alicorn into a downward staircase, however Faust stated they were actually going up... which of course Twilight couldn't understand.

"How can we go up by walking down a set of stairs?" she demanded. The ancient alicorn shrugged her shoulders in response. This particular passage had always been more than a bit of a mystery to her. In all honesty, most of the tower was actually quite a mystery. The many passages and how they worked had a habit of confusing the mare.

"To tell the truth I have no idea, I just know we're going down, but by the end we'll have somehow ended up going up," Faust admitted with a smirk. Twilight's eye twitched and she started a brief rant about how that didn't make any sense. The others wisely kept their own comments to themselves. But at this point, the majority of them had decided there was only one thing to know about Faust's tower. If it could happen, most likely it would happen, even if it made no logical sense. Celestia sighed and shook her head. She then trotted the the lavender mare's side and smiled down at her.

"Twilight perhaps discussing how it shouldn't..." the solar alicorn started to say. However she then came to a halt as she realized they had somehow walked up into a room... when they'd been going down... "How?" she questioned as she looked back to see the stairs going down behind her. That wouldn't be so bad, were it not for the fact that they had been going down, not up.

"That doesn't make any sense!" Twilight shouted with wide eyes. "We went down, not up! How did we end up up here?" the little lavender unicorn demanded with a mad twitch to her eye. Twilight's friends exchanged nervous glances as the mare started to loose it. All of them were very aware of just how manic the mare could get when something didn't make sense. Faust however merely snickered and trotted into the room.

"I don't know, we just did," the ancient alicorn called over her shoulder and looked around the room. This one was known simply as the gallery. It was a large marble room with red carpets, dozens of paintings, sculptures, and other such art collected over the millennium. 'Now to find the passage that leads to the library and put a stop to that book,' the mare thought with a stern frown.

"Where are we anyways?" Applejack questioned with a glance around the gallery. She soon decided that wherever they were, wasn't quite as exciting as the rest of the tower.

"Oh my goodness, look at all this! I had no idea you had a museum in here as well," Rarity gushed and trotted around to view the art and sculptures. Faust turned to give the marshmallow mare a look, a frown across her lips.

"Rarity, not only am I a muse but basically the living embodiment of creativity. Writing and art are two of the most common forms of creative works. I'd think me having art and such in my tower was practically a given," the ancient alicorn stated flatly. Rarity blinked for only a moment and considered Faust's point. Then sheepishly nodded her head. She had forgotten that Faust was technically a muse.

"Interesting as all that is, what are we even doing here?" Rainbow questioned while staring at a painting. The painting depicted perhaps the stuffiest looking unicorn she'd ever seen.

"There's a secret passage from the gallery down to the library," Faust explained without missing a beat.

"Where is it then?" Twilight questioned, only to stop and trot over to a portrait of Starswirl the bearded.

"I'll have to look around, I haven't been in the gallery in some thousand years now," Faust admitted with a shrug. Behind the ancient mare, a painting suddenly moved. The painting was the same one which Rainbow had been staring at, and was now gaping at in shock. The stuffy stallion within it stroked his mustache for a moment before clearing his throat. His doing so got the attention of those closest to him, Faust included.

"If I may Lady Faust, it's to the east behind the portrait of Queen Majesty," the stuffy stallion in the portrait noted. Faust blinked and then brought a hoof to her head.

"Duh, of course it'd be behind Majesty's portrait," the ancient alicorn noted. "Thanks Huffy," she then stated to the painting with a smile. The portrait stallion smiled with pride and adjusted the monocle over his eyes.

"Twas nothing milady, tis an honor to help you," the stuffy stallion stated pleasantly. Faust rolled her eyes and turned to the other ponies. However she then realized that talking paintings weren't that normal in Equestria. This was made painfully clear by the looks of shock on the faces of every pony. 'Maybe I should teach a few ponies some Pictomancy later,' she considered to herself.

"Holy sweet mother of bucking Celestia!" Rainbow shouted and pointed a hoof at the painting. "It talked!" she cried while looking to Faust with wide eyes. The said portrait stallion suddenly scowled deeply and glared at the prismatic pegasus

"Of course I talk! What kind of fool are you mare?" the stuffy stallion demanded. Faust mentally groaned and brought a hoof to her face. It was looking like it was going to be a long day.

"Oh shut up Huffy, some of us are trying to sleep back here!" a mare's angered voice came from a ways away.

"Really Hurricane, could you at least try and be civil," a cultured voice called out in response. Luna's eyes suddenly bolted open and her jaw dropped when she recognized the voices.

"Th-that was Princess Platinum and Commander Hurricane!" Luna declared with no small amount of shock.

"W-what! But they've been dead for centuries!" Twilight declared with wide eyes. The ponies quickly turned to Faust who chuckled nervously and rubbed the back of her neck. The ancient alicorn quickly looked to either side for a distraction, only to groan when a new voice sounded out in the gallery.

"Princess perhaps you shouldn't egg her on, you know that when she starts she'll be at it for a while," the new voice noted. The voice caused Celestia and Luna to shoot one another a look of shock, then turn to Faust.

"Was that Clover the Clever just now?" Celestia asked the ancient alicorn with no small amount of interest. Twilight's attention snapped to the ancient alicorn with an eager look. Feeling the gaze of the rest of the ponies upon her, the ancient alicorn grinned sheepishly.

"Uhh... sort of," Faust replied nervously. There was a groan from behind Twilight and then clearing of some ponies throat.

"Excuse Faust, seems that she forgot to mention we're not normal paintings," a deep authoritative voice commented. That voice caused Celestia's head to snap to where the painting of Starswirl hung. The stallion in the portrait was now stroking his beard, an amused smirk playing across his muzzle. The instant Twilight saw the painting moving she was rendered wide eyed and speechless. She merely stared at him for a long moment, before he raised a brow and looked to Faust. "Is there something wrong with her?" he asked with conscern.

"No, you're just kind of her hero," Faust replied with a shrug. Starswirl made an Oh with his mouth and then looked back to Twilight.

"H-how are you talking?" Twilight asked the painting with wide eyes. The bearded stallion merely stroked his beard for a moment before finally replying.

"Pictomancy, you know Picture Magic," Faust replied as she trotted over to the little lavender mare. "It's an ancient school of magic a great many artists would use it to bring their paintings and pictures to life," the ancient alicorn continued with a smirk. "Some of my subjects came up with it during my reign, and since then I've used it on some of my portraits," the ivory mare explained while coming to a stop next to the portrait of Starswirl.

"Well actually that's kind of hard to explain, Starswirl here is as close to the original as possible since he is based on the original Starswirl the Bearded. He has all the memories and such I implanted into him, his quirks and other things, it's just not his soul or whatever," Faust replied with a frown. The portrait pony merely hummed and pulled a pipe from his cloak before placing it in his mouth.

"Additionally, the art of pictomancy is a lost art, the exact mechanics behind its inner works have long since been forgotten. Faust has only learned the basics in the magic of pictomancy, rather than invented it, as such their is no record of the mechanics involved with its creation or how it actually works," Starswirl noted aloud. "As such while Faust knows how to use it, she never bothered to learn the exact mechanics behind it," the portrait pony added with a nod. Faust turned and gave the bearded stallion a dark glare.

"Shut up," the ivory mare growled. Twilight blinked and then turned to Faust with an incredulous expression.

"You use a spell you don't fully understand?" the little lavender mare questioned incredulously. Faust snorted and then let out a huff while turning her head to the side.

"I understand the basics, I just didn't learn all the advanced parts," the mare stated flippantly. Celestia brought a hoof to her face and shook her head. Twilight looked at the ancient alicorn aghast.

"But you could be doing it wrong!" Twilight shouted. Luna gave the young mare a rather scathing glare for the remark. True her mother should understand what a spell does and how it works. But the mare didn't have to be so blunt about it!

"I know what I'm doing!" said ancient alicorn growled. Starswirl finally grew tired of the two arguing and let out a breath. He pulled his pipe from his lips and settled a glare onto the mares.

"Mares if it's not too much trouble, perhaps this discussion can wait for another time," the portrait pony noted sternly. Twilight instantly claimed up and nodded her head stiffly, while Faust huffed and turned her nose into the air.

"She started it," the ancient alicorn stated childishly. Rainbow and Pinkie both broke into laughter, Rarity giving them a look and then turning back to Faust.

"Be that as it may dear, perhaps Twilight is right," the marshmallow unicorn began gently, "I mean, using a spell you only know the basics for can't be safe." Faust rolled her eyes and blew a breath into her bangs. The ancient alicorn then turned and trotted deeper into the gallery with a frown.

"Yeah yeah whatever," the ivory mare grumbled with a flippant wave of her hoof, "Lets just find that stupid book before it causes anymore damage to my tower." The other ponies merely gave a wave to Starswirl and then followed after the ancient alicorn. Rarity quickly trotted up beside of Faust and looked to her curiously.

"So miss Faust, how is it you know pictomancy but never learned how it works?" the marshmallow unicorn questioned curiously.

"By being reckless," Twilight grumbled irritably. Faust shot the little lavender mare a glare, then blew a breath into her bangs.

"Back when pictomancy was first created I was still princess, because of that I wasn't recording everything as I do now. As such no pony took the time of recording the advanced equations and formulas for pictomancy," Faust explained tiredly.

"Wait, then who taught it to you?" Luna questioned curiously. A smile suddenly crossed the ancient alicorn's face as she remembered her 'teacher' in the art of Pictomancy.

"A traveling artist and dear friend named Arrow Realm taught me," Faust began with a giggle, "she was a feisty little filly whose special talent actually was Pictomancy," the ancient alicorn stated with a sigh. The memories of the blond filly were amusing to say the least. From using pictomancy to conjure random objects. To creating horrible monsters to attack the ponies who picked on her. Realm had been an extremely feisty little filly for her age.

"So wait, not only is there another lost school of magic that you are proficient in, but it's a school of magic that some pony could have a cutie-mark in and never know about?" Twilight suddenly questioned incredulously. Faust rolled her eyes for a moment then silently nodded her head. "Then why aren't you teaching any pony any of these lost arts?" The little lavender mare demanded. Faust took a deep breath and then turned to give the lavender unicorn a flat look.

"Maybe because I'm always recording everything and don't have time to teach," the ancient alicorn noted flatly.

"You taught the princesses," Twilight countered. Celestia mentally groaned and brought a hoof to her face. She also noted she was doing that quite a bit recently. Moreover, if it wasn't her mother causing it, it was Twilight. 'Those two are far too alike, yet equally dissimilar, it's uncanny really,' the celestial diarch noted inwardly. She then trotted to Twilight's side and hoped she could defuse this situation before it got out of hoof.

"Twilight we were taught during the Dicordian Era, it was all nonsense which Faust felt didn't need to be recorded," the solar alicorn explained calmly. Luna merely nodded her head stiffly and then looked to the ancient alicorn.

"It also doesn't hurt that there were far fewer ponies in that era, thus less to document," the lunar alicorn decided to add in.

"Yes indeed, an excellent point Luna," Celestia beamed at her little sister, then turned back to her student. "Now as you can imagine Twilight, teaching ponies any of these lost arts would take a significant amount of time, of which Faust doesn't truly have with her duties as an archivist." Twilight merely frowned and scraped a hoof along the floor. She could understand keeping records more than any pony. But she also felt that the lost knowledge should be shared, and no pony could teach the lost schools of magic better than someone who learned them herself!

"But couldn't some pony else do all the recording while she teaches at least a few ponies who can teach others?" Twilight questioned seriously. The two alicorns blinked for a moment and then looked to Faust. The ancient alicorn groaned and then shook her head.

"Considering the fact that my tower also houses some of the most evil beings in existence," Faust began with a smirk, then shook her head "I'm not letting any pony in here any time soon." Applejack also decided to add in her own two bits to the conversation. She remembered her earlier conversation with the ancient alicorn. She especially remembered some of the creatures that she had mentioned were trapped in the tower. Much good as Faust could do as a teacher, it was quite clear she was needed more urgently as a jailer. No matter how unfair it was for her to have to do it alone.

"Look sugar cube, ah know y'all mean well, but Faust kind of has enough on her plate without a bunch a students ta teach. She's pretty much a jailer for this place when ya consider all the monsters inside it," the orange apple mare reminded. Twilight hummed softly as she considered the ancient mare's point. The Golden Door. The Necronomicon ex Mortis. The Puppet Pony 'Marionette'. Crunch the Rock Dog. Not to mention only Faust knew what else was held in the tower. The exact number of evil or malicious creatures locked in the tower was staggering to say the least.

The little lavender pony grimaced and shivered at the mere thought of any of them or Celestia forbid, all of them, free.

"Yeah yeah, that's great and all but I still have a question," Rainbow suddenly declared with a raised hoof. The other ponies looked to the mare, Faust arching a brow. "What the buck would a cutie-mark in pictomancy even look like?" the cyan pegasus questioned with her face scrunched up in confusion. Faust blinked and tapped her chin as she tried to remember.

"It was a weird symbol, I'll give you that, and for the life of me I can't remember what it was," Faust admitted with a frown.

"Do you mean 'symbol' as in something like a rune or glyph, or 'Symbol' the old term for cutie-marks?" Twilight suddenly questioned. Faust turned to the little mare with a flat look.

"Both," she answered bluntly. The ancient alicorn didn't wait for the little mare's reply as she continued through the gallery. She soon stopped before a portrait of a beautiful white unicorn, her purple mane lightly curled. However before she could open the secret passage, Fluttershy galloped to her side. The timid pegasus looked positively worried as she stared up to the ancient alicorn.

"Um m-miss Faust, I really don't mean to bother you but, have you seen Crunch anywhere?" the butter yellow mare asked urgently. Faust's eyes bolted open and she looked all around for the rock puppy. With a scowl the mare brought a hoof to her face with a growl.

"Great, now that little monster is loose as well," she muttered under her breath. With a sigh Faust's shoulders slumped and she looked back to Fluttershy. "Look, we'll find him later, right now I'm more concerned with stopping the Necronomicon, okay?" the ivory mare pleaded. The timid pegasus looked to her hooves worriedly for a moment but nodded her head in understanding. Stopping the book to save Spike and Light-Bringer was important. She just hoped that the rock-puppy would be alright on its own...

Crunch padded through the tower with his tongue lolling out of his mouth. The rock-puppy made his way through the towers halls. The undead ignored him entirely as he was made from rock and stone. The Necronomicon ignored him for other reasons. Regardless, the rock-puppy made his way to a familiar room. The storm instrument chamber and made his way inside. The rock-puppy blinked his eyes and looked all around for a moment. He soon stopped when he spotted his quarry within a glass bottle.

The rock-puppy made his way to the pedestal and tried to reach the bottle. However his body was too short for him to reach over it. Instead the rock puppy growled cutely and fell onto his back. Shaking and turning back over onto his paws he padded over to a large drum. Biting into its side he gripped it and pulled it over to the pedestal instead. Hopping atop the old storm drum caused Crunch to be thrown up. He gripped the bottle in his teeth and fell back down to the drum. He was then bounced off of it and landed with a yelp.

The bottle fell from his teeth and hit the ground yet did not break. The spirit within seemed to shift and turn angrily while Crunch tilted his head in confusion. The rock puppy then yipped and got back to his feet and padded over to the drum. He gripped it in his teeth and put it back where it belonged. That done he went and grabbed up the bottle holding Arabus in his teeth and left the storm chamber. The rock-puppy went through a great many halls and corridors. He passed by dozens of different kinds of undead ponies.

Finally he reached another familiar chamber. Within were a plethora of crystals. However one was of interest to the rock-puppy. He saw it among the others, a deep red glow within its center burning like molten lava. That was the one he needed to get. He padded forward and maneuvered it into his mouth along with the bottle. Blinking stupidly the rock-puppy then made his way towards an adjacent corridor. Walking inside he looked around until he saw a glowing seam. The rock puppy hopped through the seem in space and into the shadow realm.

Upon landing on the other side, Crunch looked up to see Grogar. The old goat had a cruel smirk upon his lips, his twin horns alight in an evil glow. The ram idly grasped the bottle and crystal up in his magic and brought them over to him. He then patted the rock puppy on the head. Crunch crooned and rubbed against the ram's clover hoof happily. The said ram let out a sinister chuckle as he eyed the two objects, as well as Crunch himself. "Good work, now come we have much to do," the old goat ordered as he turned and made his way back to his castle.

Crunch let out a few pants before following the old ram with a happy bark. He had no idea what the old ram wanted him or the objects for. But in the mind of the happy rock puppy, it couldn't be anything bad. Although deep and buried within that same mind, the true mind of Crunch the rock-dog began to stir...

The Overworked Alicorn

by BreakDown

The Tower: Part 5