Equestria Legends Online

by Shadowflame

June 1st ("It's Where my Demons Hide")

The boss room was empty…

There was absolutely nothing inside it. We all searched the massive room, those with wings looking high, and those without looking low. We couldn’t even find a single wisp of black smoke hidden in the cracks in the walls. The room was completely and utterly empty.

The demon was gone.

Soul was the first to speak after we realized this, “Okay, what the hell is going on here?”

“It’s obvious the boss isn’t here.” Comet replied to the unicorn.

Soul Cards rolled his eyes sarcastically, “Thank you, Comet. Is that why there’s nothing in this room?”

“Yes.” She replied, oblivious to the hint in Soul’s voice.

As Soul proceeded to face hoof himself, knowing he wasn’t getting anywhere using sarcasm around Comet, Eclipse spoke next, “It seems that the boss left the room. It’s kind of like the past two bosses we’ve fought against, where they left their rooms after their doors opened.” He paused, “Granted that thunderbird broke through a wall to get out, but the same idea still holds true.”

Violet interjected, “But we still need to beat the boss. If we can’t find and defeat it, then we’re stuck with two problems: The gray weather outside, as well as the horde of monsters that is sieging Hollow Shades as we speak.”

Cloud replied, “For once, Violet’s right.” Off to the side, Violet exchanged a confused look with Dylan, mouthing ‘For once?’, to which Dylan simply shrugged, just as clueless as his team leader.

“Yeah,” Cross agreed with his dragon comrade, “If we can’t find the boss, then the players in Hollow Shades are in deep trouble. So in order to help them, we need to find this demon.” He glanced towards Sky, “Sky, you’re the expert here on demons. Where do you think it probably went?”

Sky shrugged, “You got me. Demons are unpredictable, to say the least. If anything, it’s long gone by this point.” He then frowned, taking another look at the empty room we were in, “But still… Something doesn’t seem right.”

I spoke this time, “Well, whether we could find it or not, by now we probably don’t have any time left to look for it. Right now, we need to get back to Hollow Shades and help defend the town from the horde of monsters. Who else agrees?”

Frostlight was the first to agree, “It seems logical. After all, if we search the crypt for the boss and defeat it, the town could be destroyed by then.”

“I agree, too.” Neon answered, “Frostlight does have a point. The players back in town are counting on us to beat the boss. And since we can’t find it, we can at least fight some monsters with everyone else.”

After a short moment, everybody agreed. I nodded to the group, “Okay, let’s get going. The sooner we ge-“

A small banner suddenly appeared from my player menu, obstructing my vision slightly. I looked down at it to see it read,

New Message from Fro

I stopped for a second, surprised by the sudden message. It was only surprising, considering I thought Fro was facing off against dozens of monsters at the moment.

I silently opened up the message, reading it to myself,

Shadow,

I’m not sure what you’re doing right now, but whatever it is, keep doing it. The monsters attacking the barrier around the town just got up and ran away. We don’t know why they even ran, but they all simultaneously turned around and walked into the forest. They’re completely gone now, and I couldn’t help but wonder if your group was the cause of it. However, the air around the town is still gray, and hasn’t changed. What is going on?

-Fro

“What the…” I breathed silently, confused. I turned to the rest of my group, “Guys, listen to this.” I proceeded to read the message to them.

Their reactions were similar to mine.

“So, we came all the way here to find the boss, find that the demon is actually gone, and the monsters attacking town just got up and left?” Dylan asked.

Beside him, Soul muttered in a whining manner, “Aw, and here I thought I was gonna be able to fight those demon-influenced monsters. Probably would’ve gotten a lot of experience points from it.”

Neon nudged the disappointed unicorn with an elbow, signaling that now wasn’t really the time for that.

Swift frowned, speaking out to whoever would answer, “But if we can’t find the boss, and we don’t have to worry about the players back in town, then what do we do now?”

I recalled back, where only moments before Sky said something wasn’t right. I was starting to think he was right; Something did seem wrong. We came running to fight the boss, so we could stop the onslaught of monsters from destroying Hollow Shades. But as soon as we find out the boss was gone, the monsters backed off from the town. That couldn’t be just a coincidence.

I frowned, affirming in my mind that something wasn’t right. And I was sure that everyone else was thinking the same thing.

I cleared my throat to speak, “I think we better return to Hollow Shades. Something’s wrong here, and we all know it. If we get back to town and compare notes with Fro about what happened, maybe we can piece together whatever is going on here.”

We all turned around and proceeded to leave the room, with a few of our group looking backwards in case we had missed something. From the way their weapons were raised, it looked as if they were half expecting the boss to appear as we walked out the door. And I wouldn't have been surprised if it did. Quite frankly, I believed anything could've happened at this point. I doubted I'd even be fazed if Discord came riding in on a pogo stick.

Once we left the boss room, we all travelled back down the corridor of the crypt towards the exit. Sky walked next to me, like always, but as we walked, I decided to drift back a bit so I could walk beside Frostlight. Because what guy wouldn't want to be with the girl he likes? After all, this was actually the first time I've done guild business with Team Whiplash and Frostlight.

But as I walked beside her, I noticed Frost's expression seemed unnerved. She looked like her mind was lost in thought.

"Hey, you alright?" I asked.

Jerked back into reality, Frostlight nodded, "Oh, yeah. I'm fine." Her face didn't change as her mind began to drift again, "I'm just feeling a bit of anxiety about all this."

"I know what you mean." I replied.

"Do all boss battles feel this way?"

I paused, "No, not really. I mean, we all get nervous as we get closer to the actual fight, but nothing like this has happened before." I gave her a small smile in an attempt to cheer her up, "Ironic how it's your first time going up against a boss, huh?"

Frostlight laughed quietly, a smile coming to her face, "Haha, yeah." But as quickly as the smile came, it was replaced by a look of concern as she glanced past me, "Sky? Are you alright?"

I glanced towards Sky on my other side to see his expression forming a half grimace. His head turned this way and that, as if he were looking for something in the corridor.

Rather than replying to Frostlight directly, Sky called out to the rest of the group, "Is it just me, or is anybody else getting a strange feeling from this place?"

A few mumbles passed through everyone else, some saying that they weren't feeling anything and didn't know what Sky was talking about, while a few began noticing an eire, ominous air in the crypt.

Out of the corner of my eye, I could see Frostlight suppressing a shudder, "Well, now that I think about it, this place itself seems weird. But it *is* a crypt, so that'd explain it."

"Yeah," I agreed, turning back to Sky, "Maybe you're just feeling strange because we're in a place that's supposedly a burial site for dead ponies." Dead people, dead ponies; same thing really, and the thought brought the same result. I shuddered slightly, "Ugh, Sky, why'd you have to make me think about that? Now this place is making me feel weird, too."

"Sorry." Sky replied absentmindedly. I had to pause for a moment to make sure that was what I heard him say. It wasn't that he never said sorry, but whenever he managed to get something under my skin he'd usually laugh in triumph for a bit, like any best friend would. An apology wasn't something I expected.

I was about to point this out to him, but I noticed that Sky had gone right back to what he'd been doing before: Glancing all around the Crypt's corridor, as if he were expecting something to pop up.

For a moment, I couldn't tell what was acting weirder, The boss, The monsters who attacked the town, or Sky himself.

When we got back to Hollow Shades, everything was calm again. No monsters stood bashing in on the barrier between them and the town. Heck, even the cracks that had been appearing in the barrier from the monsters' blows were no longer visible. It was as if Hollow Shades hadn't been in any danger at all.

Our group quickly found Fro again, back in the local inn where we met Rogue. Once he found that we were safe, we told him how we couldn't find the boss. He was just as shocked as we were.

After we told what happened from our side, Fro told us what happened while we were gone. What he told us wasn't much more than what we had gathered from his message; The black-eyed monsters attacked the barrier nonstop, but then at the same time, they all stopped, turned around, and ran back into the forest. And nothing happened in town that could've explained why they fled.

But since the monster attack was no longer a problem, our group, as well as the rest of the Hollow Shades players, turned our attention towards the main task at hand: Finding the boss.

Our group split into smaller teams, which were joined by the Hollow Shade players. And we split off, searching for the demon boss in both the forest and the crypt itself. We figured since the sky still remained gray, the demon wasn't too far from town.

But no such luck. After a few long hours of searching, the sun began to set in the already darkening sky, and we called our search off. Gratefully, the players of Hollow Shades returned to their homes for the night.

However, housing our group for the night wasn't quite as easy. Hollow Shades, being a small town and all, only had one inn for us to stay in. And with all of our usual members, along with Team Whiplash, there weren't enough rooms available to house one player per room. So, we had to compromise and pair together into rooms.

I sighed as I laid back on my bed, tired from the days work. My armor and weapons were unequipped and I was ready to hit the hay, "Man, who knew looking for a demon would be so exhausting?" I looked towards my room mate for the night, "Are demons always this hard to find?"

Sky nodded as he sat down on his bed, "Yeah. Most of the time, you can't find a demon unless they want to be found."

"Yeah, figures." I mumbled. I took another look at our room. It was a stranger room in comparison to the rest of the town outside. The inn itself looked almost medieval, made out of old wood and stone, making me believe the inside rooms would fit a similar style. But I was wrong when Sky and I entered our room to find it looked almost completely modern. Carpeted floor, plastered and painted walls, and incredibly soft, spring mattresses; It almost reminded me of my old room back in the human world...

Funny how I've started calling our home world the human world, right? I used to call it the real world, seeing as we were only in a digital world of a video game. But after months in Equestria, where you really can die, it's already real enough. Whatever happens in here is already real enough, so I don't see any point in calling this 'game' as something that's not real.

Anyways... Where was I?....

Oh, yeah! Mine and Sky's inn room reminded me of home, back in the human world. I was sort of caught off guard by it, seeing as the only inn I've ever stayed in was back in ponyville, and all the rooms there fit the style of the town. It made me wonder if it was the same for the rest of our group and their rooms.

But then, another thought came to mind, and I chuckled slightly, "You know, Sky? That reminds me: I can't believe Neon jumped at the chance to have Lexus as a room mate when we all were pairing up."

Sky nodded, a small smirk on his face, "Yeah, bu-" He paused for a second, his smirk disappearing, "Well, it's actually not all that surprising. They have been dating for months now."

"I know, I know." I laughed, "I've said it once, and I've said it again: Lexus is a stud. I just hope they'll be alright in the same room together."

"Eh, nobody cared about it, so I don't see why we should worry." He gave me a sly look, "Are you jealous now that you didn't pair with Frostlight?"

I felt my face immediately redden. I quickly turned my head out of Sky's view, "Shut up."

Sky proceeded to laugh smugly, which ticked me off, to say the least. But through my anger, a sly smile grew on my face. I returned Sky's smirk, "But if you're gonna talk like that, then I might as well say the same about you and Siren."

Sky's smug expression instantly vanished, and he replied without even looking, "Siren and I aren't seriously dating, and I don't have a huge crush on her like you do with Frostlight."

"Is that why your latest messages with Siren have always said things like, 'You're special to me'?"

His eyes widened and he glared daggers at me, a cold sharpness in his voice, "How did you find out about that?"

I smirked, "Cloud was curious about what you two message each other about in the middle of the night. So he flew outside by your window and watched you message in the middle of the night."

"Remind me to wring his neck later." Sky muttered.

We both sat in silence, Sky fuming where he sat while I laid back on the bed with a sense of triumph.

Sky spoke again, "Okay, no bugging each other about the girls we like, agreed?"

I nodded, "Agreed."

Neon Fire

Neon sighed in relief as she de-equipped her armor and weapons, dropping off the extra weight. It felt good to come back from a day of work, especially in tonight's case. Sure, her group hadn't been able to find the now missing boss of Hollow Shades, but at least she could make up for the disappointment by spending the night alone with Lexus.

As she closed her player menu, she looked up at the inn room she was sharing with Lexus. It was a cozy little place, with carpeted floors, a closet, and two beds, though Neon doubted neither of them would be using one of them. On one of the beds, her boyfriend sat leaning his back against the wall behind it. He didn't show any signs of enjoyment with their current situation for the night, but it was understandable considering the huge disappointment everyone had today.

But, Neon, being both a friend and a lover, decided it was time to cheer Lexus up. She trotted over to the bed and climbed up onto it. She scooted closer to Lexus,snuggling up next to the stallion with her muzzle, "Hey, why the long face?"

Lexus didn't even give her a side glance, just a blank stare down at the bed covers. He remained silent, without a reply.

But Neon wasn't gonna let that slide. She wrapped a hoof around his shoulders, pulling him into a tight hug, "Lexus, it's alright that we didn't find the boss, okay? I know you're disappointed about that, but now isn't the time to mope about it. But there's a plus side to all of this. We get to share a room, and we've never stayed the night together like this before. So let's enjoy it, okay?"

Lexus looked up from the bed, taking a sideways glance at Neon. His eyes remained blank, and his expression varied in the same way. In a monotone voice, he replied, "I have to take care of something."

With that, he shrugged himself out of Neon's hug, hopping off of the bed in the process. Without another word, he walked out the door and slammed it behind him.

Neon watched in surprise as her boyfriend left so suddenly. "That was... weird." He had never acted that way before, especially not towards her. A frowned creased her mouth, "Something isn't right..."

Quietly, Neon slid off of the bed, following Lexus out into the hallway from a distance.

I looked back over at Sky, who I noticed held a bitter look on his face. I raised an eyebrow, "What's wrong?"

Sky groaned, "I don't know. Ever since we left the boss room, I've had this weird feeling. It's been making my skin crawl this whole time and I can't help but think I'm missing something..."

"If you've been feeling it ever since you left the boss room... Does it have to do with the boss' disappearance?" I asked.

Sky shook his head, "I was thinking that before, but now I doubt that's what it is. I still don't have any idea why I'm feeling this."

A pause. I frowned at the ceiling, "But why would only you be feeling it? Why not me or anybody else?"

"Good question." Sky slumped down onto his bed in a similar fashion as me, "There's nothing really separating me from everyone else. Maybe it could be my player ability, but even then, I don't know what that has to do with anything here."

"Hm... Well, your player ability is 'Darkness'..." I glanced out a nearby window, peering out at Hollow Shades in the moonlight, "Come to think of it, your ability could have to do something with this town. It's a dark town, dark monsters, heck, even a dark demon boss who can possess people."

Sky suddenly gasped from the bed next to me, "Uh, oh.... I forgot something. I can't believe I never thought of it before, but it didn't come to mind." He sprung up from his bed, eyes wide, "But... But how could this be-"

"What is it?"

Sky turned towards me, "I learned about a month ago, during the nights I'm usually awake, that my ability allows me to sense the presence of dark, evil monsters. If it has anything to do with ghosts, skeletons, the undead, or even demons, I'll know when they're around."

"Wait, demons? So maybe... That feeling you've been having was because you could sense the boss?"

Sky nodded, standing up from his bed, "Yeah, but the problem is... The monster has to be within a fifty foot radius of me in order for me to feel it."

A blue unicorn and an orange dragon made their way down the hallway of the inn towards their own room. With stomachs full and satisfied, both Cross and Cloud grinned as they headed for bed.

"Ah, nothing like inn food before bed. Right, Cloud?" Cross asked, licking a small bit of cupcake frosting on his lip he'd missed before.

Cloud nodded, patting his belly with a claw, "Yep, that's the stuff."

But then, they both glanced forwards to see someone coming down the hallway towards them. It was Lexus, and his face was surprisingly expressionless. The duo of unicorn and dragon waved towards him, "Hey, Lexus. You headin' to bed?"

Lexus said nothing, his eyes fixed straight forward past his two team mates. Without a word, the pegasus passed between the two of them, continuing down the hallway.

As the two, 'brushed off' players watched him go, Cross muttered, "Whoa, talk about giving the cold shoulder. What's his deal?"

Cloud shrugged, "Beats me."

They both turned back down the way they were going, but they were stopped yet again by someone else: Neon. And to their surprise, a concerned look covered her face.

Neon glanced between the two of them, "Did Lexus come down this way?"

Cross nodded, pointing a hoof down the hallway, "Yeah, he went down there. But something about him seemed off... He didn't even reply when we said 'Hi'."

Neon frowned even more, "I know. He's been acting weird, and I'm worried about him. Before he left our room, he said he had to do something, so I'm tailing him to see what's going on."

Cloud glanced back towards the way Lexus had gone, "Well, he's our team mate, so we should be just as concerned about him. Let's go." The three of them quickly, but quietly, followed after their strange acting companion.

"But how could the demon have been that close to us this whole time?" I asked.

Sky shook his head as he paced nervously, "I don't know. I started sensing the boss back in its room, but we didn't find anything there... But that must have been because the demon didn't want us to find it."

"So... Then the boss followed us out of the boss room?"

"Yeah, and that's the problem. Remember how the boss of Appleousa was able to get into town and attack? This boss could very well do the same thing."

Suddenly, the door to our room opened. We both turned our heads towards the entrance to see Lexus standing in the doorway.

"Oh, Lexus. Good. Just in time." I said, "Hurry and find Fro. The boss is inside town, and the sooner we find it, the better."

Lexus, to my surprise, said nothing as he looked at me with unwavering eyes... It was kind of creepy.

"...Lexus?"

A spear suddenly appeared in Lexus' hoof, without even opening his player menu or using a selected item gesture, and the pegasus ran into the room quicker than I could react. I saw Lexus swing his blade towards me at blinding speed, a small light reflecting off of the metal point.

But as I thought the weapon would stab into me, it was stopped by a large *CHINK*. Before I realized it, Sky had pulled out one of his own swords, and used it to block Lexus' spear. Now his black sword held the spear in place above me, unable to hurt me.

I couldn't believe what I saw. Had Lexus actually meant to attack me?...

"Lexus? What are you doing?"

But as I asked, Lexus glared at me. But his eyes... They were black.

Sky shouted, "It's the boss!" He quickly made his other sword appear, drawing it and lashing out at Lexus again. However, the boss made good use of Lexus' natural speed and jumped out of the way. With an inaudible snarl, Lexus, or rather the boss controlling him, dove towards a window and rammed his body through it with a giant crash.

Sky and I looked in shock as Lexus broke through the window, which was located on the 2nd floor, hitting the ground and taking off galloping.

"Oh my gosh, he broke a window." I cringed slightly.

Sky had a similar expression, "I know. The game usually prevents structures from becoming damaged. Which means this boss can bypass that part of the game as well."

Suddenly, we heard footsteps come through our open door, and we turned to see Neon, Cross, and Cloud rush in. Neon's face looked as if she were panicking, "What happened? Where's Lexus?"

"Bad news." Sky replied, "Lexus has been possessed by the demon boss."

"WHAT?!" The three of them exclaimed.

"Yeah, he just ran off outside after trying to kill me." I added.

"Kill you?" Cross frowned, "But a player can't lose their health inside a town, so how could he have killed you?"

Sky replied quickly, "Well, we didn't think he could break through a window either. If he can bypass that rule, he can probably bypass the safe zone rule as well." He shook his head, "But right now we need to catch Lexus. If we can catch him and hold him in place, then I can perform an exorcism to get the demon out of him."

"Which way did he go?" Cloud asked, spreading his wings, "I can fly after him."

I pointed a hoof towards the window, "He went that way. And from what I could see, he was running towards the forest. I'll fly with you, Cloud, but we'll have to go fast if-"

I was cut off as Neon suddenly pushed past me and leaped out the window as well, "LEXUS! I'M COMING, BABY!"

The remaining four of us blinked in surprise as we watched Neon disappear into the night. But, that was Neon for ya, with a behavior that could match that of Pinkie Pie's.

I turned towards Cross, "Sky, Cloud, and I will go after Lexus, too. Go gather everyone in our group and have them get ready to fight. I have a feeling this'll turn into a boss battle."

Cross nodded and galloped out the door. Meanwhile, Sky and I equipped our gear, and alongside Cloud, leaped out the broken window as well, out into the night to save Lexus.

We all found ourselves racing through the forest, Cloud and I flapping our wings hard above the treetops, and Sky galloped hard on the ground below.

"Do you see Neon or Lexus?" Sky shouted up at us.

"Nope!"

"How are we even supposed to find them at this time of night?" Cloud asked, frustrated.

Suddenly, a giant green flare shot up into the sky from the middle of the forest, not too far from where we were.

"Does that answer your question?" I replied, "Come on, Neon must've found him. Let's go!" Cloud and I diverted our course through the sky, while Sky followed on the ground.

When we reached the place where Neon's flare went up, we found ourselves in a large grove, with plenty of space in between the trees. And right in the center of the grove, two spear wielders were locked in combat. Neon and Lexus' spears were locked against each others when we arrived, turning their fight into one of pure strength. Lexus, with eyes still black, his face was contorted in fury. But Neon, her expression was one of fear, worry, and even desperation. She didn't want to have to fight her lover, but lucky for her, she wasn't alone anymore.

"Heads up!" I shouted, zooming towards them with my wings on the wind, my sword and shield drawn. Neon glanced towards me, and upon seeing me, quickly dove out of the way. With Neon clear, I pulled my shield forward and rammed the butt of it into Lexus' face with a right nasty *CLANG*.

As I rushed past with extra momentum carrying me, Lexus staggered back from the blow, though his health bar didn't deplete much. With him off balance, it was the perfect chance to grab a hold of our possessed friend.

"Neon! Grab his front legs with magic and I'll get his back ones!"

Without a moment of hesitation, Neon complied by conjuring a whip of green flames. With just a twitch of her head, the green, fire whip lurched towards Lexus from the side. The long stream of fire connected with the pegasus' front hooves, wrapping around the legs at the same time in a semi hogtie. Lexus' spear fell to the ground as Neon suddenly pulled her grip on him towards her.

Meanwhile, I reached out with my levitation magic and took hold of Lexus' hind legs. I pulled as well, and Lexus rose into the air as Neon's and my magic suspended him above the ground.

Furious, the demon inside Lexus thrashed about in our hold, trying to liberate himself from our magical hold on him.

I shouted towards Sky, "Alright, Sky! Your turn!"

He didn't need to be told twice, and he galloped closer to us. Once he stood within ten feet of Lexus, he stopped, closed his eyes in concentration, and lit his horn in black aura. Only after a short moment, Sky's magic reached out towards the ground below Lexus, and something suddenly appeared in it, engraved into the dirt. It was a pentagram, an exorcism circle, much like Sky's cutie mark.

As soon as the star shaped design became clear in the dark of the night, Sky's flew open. And to our astonishment, his had become just as black as Lexus'. Before any of us who were present could wonder if the demon could possess two players at once, Sky spoke... But his voice was deep, and bloodcurdling, "Get thee hence, dark plague of the mortals."

The pentagram on the ground instantly began glowing with black magic, which soared straight up from the symbol and into the darkened sky.In the middle of it, Lexus screamed, loudly. It made my ears pop from the sheer volume, but it wasn't from Lexus' voice, but rather from that of a monster's coming out of the pegasus' mouth.

Suddenly, the screaming ceased as the exorcism worked its magic. We all watched as Lexus' body slumped downwards in his magical tie, with black smoke seeming to float out of his skin. Swirling about his body, the smoke rose into the air, condensing just above Lexus into a dark cloud.

In a moment, the exorcism completed itself and the diagram on the ground disappeared, and Sky's eyes returned to their normal color, as did Lexus'. The latter slumped down on the ground unconscious, and I released my hold on him while Neon pulled him away, out from under the dark cloud. But Sky glared up at the dark cloud, weapons drawn at the ready.

"This is a demon." He muttered, "But this isn't his true form." With a quick grunt of effort, his horn lit again, firing a small beam of black magic at the dark cloud. As soon as the spell hit the demon, the dark cloud twisted and contorted, as its shape began to suddenly change.

BGM: Magia. If this music distracts you from reading, turn it off, or simply turn it down so it fades in with the background.

The black smoke of its body spread upwards and outwards, taller and wider, up until it was the size of a building. But then, it stopped expanding and spreading, and the black cloud morphed. The demon's smoke smoothed out and solidified into the form of a giant, black cloak, the hems of it tattered and wisp like. The hood of the cloak was up, but its insides were dark, making it impossible to see what was inside.

But suddenly, a pair of large, red glowing eyes pierced through the darkness under the demon's hood. And as if it hadn't been there before, something white extended out from under the hood. It was white, cold, and could chill a bone by looking at it, and we soon found that it was the demon's head: A massive, white skull of a horse, with sharpened teeth in its jaw, like that of a wolf. Out from beneath its cloak, two appendages extended and revealed themselves, two white, bone legs, those of a horse.

And then, a stream of black smoke funneled down into the Demon's bony hooves, solidifying into a scythe, with a shaft that could compare with the size of a tree, and a massive blade that glinted in the moonlight.

Above the boss' head, a health bar appeared, as well as its name: The Equine Reaper.

The demon suddenly swiped its scythe towards us. The giant blade of the weapon moved so fast that it was only a blurred reflection of moonlight.

"Look out!" I leaped back out of the way, and the scythe struck into the ground where I'd been before, throwing up dirt and grass everywhere.

Seeing the destruction a single attack could do, I cringed somewhat, "Dang, that's crazy powerful." I glanced towards the others, only to find that they had been able to get out of the way as well, except for Lexus who laid unconscious underneath the demon.

Apparently Neon noticed that as well, and she charged at the Equine Reaper with her spear and shield. With a burst of magic downwards, Neon rocketed herself off the ground and into the air where the demon floated.

"This is for my boyfriend!" She screamed as she arched through the night sky, spear pointed towards the possessing demon. She thrust the point of her weapon at boss, only for the demon to float out of the way quicker than Neon could have predicted. Having missed her target, gravity pulled Neon back to the ground and she landed beside Lexus.

But Neon wasn't going to let this demon slip away just like that. Her horn flared and a green whip of fire lashed out at the boss above. But the boss easily evaded the attack again by floating off to the side. Thrashing her head this way and that, Neon cracked her whip this way and that in a barrage of strikes. But like before, the demon danced through the air like smoke, uninjured by the attacks.

Neon moved her head to crack the whip again, but before she could, the demon suddenly appeared to her side, its scythe flashing again. Quicker than the eye, the scythe struck its target, and Neon was thrown towards the side of the grove, a giant gash of red code in her side. She landed hard, a breathless scream came out of her as the pain came rushing in all at once.

"Neon!" I winced. That looked like it had to hurt. A lot. I looked at her health bar to see that it was now at half full. Which meant she couldn't survive another hit. I turned to Sky and Cloud, "I'll keep this thing busy. Grab Lexus and Neon and get out of here. Once they're safe, get back here to help."

"Right."

As they ran to help their fallen comrades, I flapped my wings and took to the sky. Once I was at the same altitude as the demon, I raised my sword.

"Blaze!"

My player ability activated and my sword came alive with flames. Instantly, I arched my flight path up and over, so that when I did attack the boss, I'd do it from above. I dove down with my sword reeled back in preparation to strike, and once I was close enough, I swung.

I thought I had taken the demon by surprise, but I found that I was wrong. As soon as my blade was within an inch of its cloak, the boss seemed to vanish like smoke, though it only flew out of the way to the side. My eyes widened as I realized my attack had missed, and out of the corner of my eye, I could see the demon was ready to strike.

I flapped my wings to gain a bit of altitude and get out of the way, but before I could get clear the scythe came down hard. I was able to avoid most of the blow, but I let out a cry of agony as my bottom right hoof was struck by the massive blade. I risked a glance down at it as I flew upwards, only to find that the bottom portion of my hoof had been severed off, only leaving a stump of red code.

But before I could react, the boss was on me again. Its scythe glinted again as it took a swipe at me, and I knew there wasn't a chance for me to get out of the way again. I quickly brought up my sword and shield to deflect the blow, but it only worked slightly. I was thrown backwards from it, like if a truck had rammed into me at full speed.

I quickly flapped my wings to correct my flight pattern, but I could see the demon coming at me to attack again. But this time, I was ready. The scythe flashed in the moonlight, and I brought my sword up to parry the strike. But rather than knock away the weapon like I would for a smaller opponent, I used my sword to vault over the top of the blade. The demon had no time to react as I came flipping towards him with my flaming sword in tow.

My blade stabbed right through the demon's head... Or so I thought. I expected a small resistance as my sword cut through the demon, but there wasn't any. It had cut clean through the demon for sure, but it was as if the boss hadn't been there at all. I flew past the boss, taking a look at its health meter. It hadn't dropped at all.

"What the...?"

Suddenly, a voice called out from the ground below,

"The Calvary has arrived!"

I looked down, and much to my relief, found that our whole group had arrived. Sky, Cloud, Cross, Violet, Soul, Dylan, Eclipse, Siren, Swift, Comet, Frostlight, and the rest of Team Whiplash. Weapons drawn and serious expressions, they were ready to take on a boss... Though I wasn't quite sure this would be a boss they wanted to take on.

Soul stepped forward, "Man, Shadow. Even with your power, you haven't made a dent in this demon's health."

Out of the corner of my eye, the demon's scythe flashed and I parried the blow like before. I flew past it, not even taking a swing at it with my sword in fear that I'd end up with the same result as before. I shouted down, "Hey, this thing is tougher than it looks. So I could use some help here!"

Violet stepped up beside Soul, "Alright, we gotcha covered." He set the head of his hammer down on the grassy floor, "Ready, Soul?"

Soul, swords drawn in his magic, jumped onto the end of the hammer, crouched like he was ready to jump, "Ready."

"Here we go!" Violet grabbed his hammer with both his magic and his hooves, and with unmatched power, he swung his hammer upwards, with Soul on top of it. The latter unicorn was launched from the hammer like a bullet as he catapulted towards the demon, swords ready to strike.

"Wait, no!" I shouted, but I wasn't able to say it in time before Soul struck the demon.

I watched as Soul's swords pierced into the demon's cloak, followed by the rest of him as he tried to punch a hole through the boss' chest. But Soul did travel through the demon, though it was more like he traveled through a cloud of black smoke in place of the Reaper's chest. Its health bar remained unchanged.

Soul landed on the ground past it, turning back to face the demon in confusion, "What the hell? Why can't I hurt it?"

Nobody had a chance to answer, as the Reaper swung its scythe again, this time encompassing the whole of our group with one swipe. I was knocked out of the air and into the ground, while I could hear the shouts of my group members as they were thrown by the sheer magnitude of the boss. I looked up to see that everyone was in bad shape, even after one strike. All of our health bars, including mine, had dropped down in the yellow zone.

Cross was the first to recompose himself, "Crap, that thing's strong."

Soul muttered from his place, half buried in dirt that kicked up from the attack, "Not to mention it's almost impossible to hit. I didn't even scratch it."

Suddenly, Sky stood up as well, panting hard, "This is a demon. It isn't that easy to kill." He looked back at everyone, "Stay back. Only I know how to kill it."

Everyone, especially me, stared at Sky, too tired to even gasp in shock. They spoke their mind.

Cloud, "No way, you're not cutting me out of this fight."

Dylan, "No, don't. It's too powerful!"

Siren, "Sky, let us help. It's suicide to try alone."

The others said something along those lines as well, but they were quieted as Sky glared back at them, his voice cold as ice, "Trust me. You can't help here. Stay back so you won't get hurt."

Sky quickly turned his attention back towards the demon, swords shimmering with black magic. His demon opponent took note of Sky, regarding him as a single target, and hefted up its scythe.

Sky took a deep breath, his horn glowing more as he flared his magic, "Sub-ability, activate: Iron Gale."

Sky felt his body grow lighter as his ability activated one of his special moves, one that he had never used in front of his team before. Iron Gale: The bane of demons and monsters alike. A destroyer of those from the darkness, its orgin, the very place they came from.

He saw a red glow emit from his own eyes, and in his vision, multiple target symbols appeared. The targets slid across his sight, locking onto the weak points of the demon ahead of him. Once the targets were set, Sky felt the next part of the spell happen.

Suddenly, his hooves lost their contact with the ground as his body floated up about an inch off of the ground, like a gale was keeping him afloat. With one more will from his mind, Sky raised his swords and his body lurched forward at blinding speed. Everything in his sight was a blur, except for the targets the game system had set for him. With as much strength as he could muster, Sky slashed his swords into the weak points of the demon, causing the beast to shriek extremely loud.

But Sky wasn't fazed by ringing in his ears it caused, and he continued to ride the wind in the darkness, plunging each of his swords into the demon in rapid succession.

We all watched in awe, unable to conjure words at the feat Sky was accomplishing. He had matched the Demon in speed, and he was literally flying circles around the boss. The Equine Reaper would take swipe after slash at Sky, but the dark cyan unicorn easily evaded every attack like a fly around a fly swatter. But this 'fly' was quickly eating away at the boss' health bar, his flurry of sword strikes blurring into black wisps around him.

I could feel my jaw hit dirt as Sky's attack only got faster and faster. Until finally, the boss' health meter dropped down to its last little sliver.

But before Sky could strike a final time, the demon got a lucky hit. Sky was thrown off course as the blunt edge of its scythe. I could hear Sky grunt in surprise, but just as quickly, the dark cyan blur hit the ground running and leaped back into the demon.

The Reaper brought up its scythe to block the unicorn, but Sky used his swords to vault over the blade, and onto the demon's pony skull. And with the last of the spell's strength, Sky plunged his swords into the top of the demon's skull, causing it to give one last shriek as its health dropped to zero.

But unlike the other bosses, this demon surprisingly didn't burst into code. But rather, the boss simply evaporated into thin air, like black smoke dispersing in the open sky. As the demon's body disappeared, Sky fell to the ground below, crumpling onto the grassy terrain as the last of his strength fled him.

Suddenly, in the dark, night sky, a banner appeared:

Congratulations! You have defeated The Equine Reaper!

I quickly got to my hooves, and rushed over to where Sky had fallen, which was difficult with my amputated hoof. But I managed to reach him and saw that he was struggling to get up. With my magic, I heaved his body off of the ground and put him back onto his hooves.

Sky, panting hard as the spell must have taken a lot out of him, nodded to me in a gesture of thanks. But instead of replying in turn, I asked the one question that was on everyone's minds, "How did you do that?"

Still a bit nauseous and staggering, Sky only replied, "It was difficult, but now I'm really worn out."

But then, a small window appeared in front of him:

You've gained the last-hit bonus. You receive a rare item.
-Oblivion

Sky tapped a hoof on the item, and one of his swords disappeared, only to be replaced by another one. It was a long, double edged sword, completely black except for three, dark blue gems on the hoofguard. Sky smiled a bit by looking at it, satisfied with the drop.

But then, like every boss battle, the next element appeared. A shining light sparked into sight in the sky, making it almost look like a star in the night. But it slowly began to descend until it reached Sky. Holding up a hoof, Sky caught the light, and the brightness subsided, leaving behind a golden necklace with a plain, blue gem in its center.

Sky tapped a hoof on the element, and a text box appeared:

Element of Willpower (Inactive)
Object Type: Item

Sky smirked weakly, "Willpower, huh? Kind of suits me."

Usually by this point, our whole group would be celebrating. We had beaten a boss (though it was more like Sky did it alone), and another element had been retrieved. Seven down and three to go. But this time, no one really cheered. It wasn't that we were shell shocked by Sky's awesome show of power and speed, though that might've had something to do with it.

But we were all silenced as we heard a slow, calm, clapping sound coming from a tree behind our group. We all turned to see the one being we all hated in this game: Discord.

The Draconequus was lounging across a branch, his snake like tail wrapped around it like a python. His hands clapped together in mild amusement, and a sinister smile crossed his features, "Well done, Darkened5ky. Well done."

"What do you want, Discord?" I snarled.

Discord chuckled a bit, "Honestly, Shadowflame, I would have thought you'd figured out my little pattern by now. I've always appeared whenever a boss battle's going on." He snapped his fingers, appearing in the middle of the grove, "But that's not what I'm here for. After all, I'm sure you all are wondering what really happened here."

That perked up everyone's interest. "What are you talking about?" Eclipse asked.

leaning back into a relaxed position, where he floated in midair, Discord replied, "Oh, you know. The whole town going 'gray', the monster attack on the town, the nigh unstoppable, possessing demon boss. Please don't tell me you haven't figured it out by now."

Comet shouted at the Draconequus, "Stop beating around the bush! What are you hiding?"

Discord rolled his eyes, "Ah, Comet. The new girl of the group. Must you always be so straight forward? Don't any of you see? This whole thing in this town, all of the trouble caused, was a setup by me."

We all blinked in confusion, though I could see a 'you don't say' meme running through my head.

"You see, when your team arrived, but didn't go to the boss room right away, I used the demon's power to influence the monsters of the forest to attack Hollow Shades. But that was only to get you to the room faster before the boss decided to get up and leave its room. So, when you did arrive, the demon secretly possessed Lexus, and I planned for it to murder Shadowflame in the dead of night." He sighed again, "But we can all see how that turned out."

"Wait, murder me?" I asked.

Discord snapped his fingers, and we suddenly found him wearing a soccer jersey, bouncing a soccer ball on his knees, "Yes, that's right. After all, the easiest way to win a game is to take out the competition." With a powerful kick, the draconequus launched the ball towards us, though it looked more like a fireball in midflight. I had to duck in order to avoid it.

Discord continued, "So you see, this boss was one I specifically made to kill off the Elements of Harmony. However, I didn't expect Sky to have taken it down by himself." He snickered deviously, "But I know there's something that you all would be curious about."

In a flash, Discord appeared next to Sky, though the draconequus was dressed in a suit and sitting behind a news caster's desk, "In other news, it appears that a certain member of the Knights of Harmony, one who just barely received the Element of Willpower, has been keeping a secret that may lead to contention in their group. Back to you, Janet."

Everyone ignored Discord's antics, though the group's eyes fell on Sky. The unicorn in question looked as if he were a thief caught red handed, eyes wide and and sweat droplets on his brow.

"Sky, what's he talking about?" I asked.

Sky only cringed, caught off guard by Discord's revelation. But Discord proceeded to coil is long body around the dark cyan unicorn, like a snake.

"Oh, ho, ho! You mean you haven't told them yet? Shame on you, little pony." The draconequus turned his head towards the rest of our group, "If he won't tell, then I will."

"You see, Sky here has always had a secret desire to fly. He has always wanted to sprout a pair of wings and fly away into the sunset." He appeared right in front of me, prodding my forehead with a claw, "Of course, when a certain someone woke up with a pair of wings on his back, he began feeling a bit jealous. He's been feeling like fate cheated him, meanwhile his 'best friend' is strutting around with extra appendages on his back like a show off."

Before I could protest, Discord coiled back around Sky, who looked horrified by what was happening. Meanwhile, Discord only grinned at his confusion, "All this time, Sky has been keeping it hidden, but he's been feeling jealous of Shadow. And when you keep something bottled up, it'll keep growing until it finally bursts!"

Discord suddenly exploded in a blast of confetti, reappearing next to sky, "You know, I'm actually doing you all a favor. If I hadn't revealed Sky's secret, then after enough time, his jealousy would've burst past the breaking point. And who knows what would've happened after that?"

He laughed coldly, "After all, this kind of jealousy is the type someone would kill over to satisfy."

Behind me, I could hear the others saying their own opinions. Some wondered if what Discord said was true, while others began calling out on the draconequus' claim and saying it was lie. But their words were drowned out by my own thoughts.

The memory of my conversation with Sky, back on the airship, came flooding back:

Sky spoke again, "So, flying is really that good?"

I nodded.

"Hm, I figured it'd be." Sky muttered, "Kind of makes me envious."

Sky *did* want to fly, and he had never told me about it before I became an alicorn... I felt a sharp twist in my gut as I realized the facts backed up Discord's claim.

My throat went dry, "Sky... Is that true?..."

My best friend hung his head, ashamed. But Discord leaned in closer to Sky's ear, literally speaking with a forked tongue behind his teeth.

"What are you going to do now, demon slayer? You took out my boss here singlehandedly, so what's stopping you from taking Shadow's ability?"

"Shut up." Sky hissed behind clenched teeth.

"Come now, Sky. Your secret's blown, and I doubt your friends are going to accept you now. So you might as well take what you can."

This time, Sky didn't reply. Discord continued, grinning sickly as he could see an inner conflict going inside the unicorn's mind,

"Go ahead and take it. It's what you've always wanted, and if you miss this chance, you may never get it again. Your wings await."

Discord snapped his fingers and he vanished from sight, never to reappear again, leaving Sky standing alone in the grove while we stared at him. Only silence passed through the night.

"S-sky?" I stammered.

Suddenly, Sky's horn lit up and his swords levitated in front of him. And then, he took a step forward.

I had never felt so horrified as I did in that moment. My mind went blank as something in the depths of it snapped. I don't know what it was, but all the security, the pride, and the relief I used to have with Sky seemed to shatter with that single sword draw. I faltered back, my throat seeming to constrict itself as I realized my best friend was actually going to attack me.

Sky took another step forward, yet it didn't even occur to me to draw my weapons to defend myself. Even if it had, I doubt I would have. The feeling I had was like if a friend was holding a knife to my back, and with every step Sky took, it would inch its way closer to my spine. I was simply frozen, completely out of shock, fear, and denial.

I refused to believe Discord had gotten under Sky's skin. But the proof of it stood right before my eyes.

I shouted the one thing that came to mind, "Sky, what are you doing?"

Suddenly, Sky froze and he glanced up at me. But his face wasn't contorted in hostility towards me like I expected. Instead, he stared wide eyed at his own swords in his grip, like he just realized he had drawn them.

"..."

No one spoke, because all of us were still trying to comprehend the predicament we were seeing.

But after a short moment, Sky was the first to react. He quickly sheathed his swords and stowed away the Element of Willpower into his inventory. And once he had all of his belongings, he turned tail and ran at breakneck speed into the forest.

"No, Sky! Come back!" The shout didn't come from me, though that was what I was thinking. The plea came from Dylan rather, who galloped hard to chase after his brother.

I don't know what drove me to stop Dylan, but before I knew it, my hoof shot out and grabbed a hold of the colt, halting him in his tracks.

Instinctively, Dylan struggled to get out of my grip, "Let go of me! Sky!" He called after his brother again.

I gave him a hard look, "Dylan, quiet down. I'll go after him, but I need the rest of you to go back to Hollow Shades. It's dangerous to stay out here for too long."

"But-"

"GO!" I didn't mean to shout, but... Given the circumstances, I probably couldn't have restrained if I focused on it. I mean, I was a jumble of mixed emotions at once. Anger towards Discord, hurt or shocked at Sky, and concerned for my whole team. But...

Dylan was taken aback by my shouting, and meekly he complied. Though he took a glance towards the way Sky had ran off, a hurt look written across his face, before returning back to the rest of the group.

Meanwhile, I spread my wings and flew off above the tree line, giving chase after Sky.

It didn't take long for me to find Sky, even when he was running under the cover of the trees. Even when he was running as fast as possible, I was still able to catch up through the air.

Before he got too far along, I dove down through the treetops, landing hard in front of his path. The shock of me suddenly coming through the treetops was enough to stop his running, and he screeched to a halt.

"Sky, why are you running?"

He narrowed his eyes, "You know why. I was seriously going to kill you and take the alicorn ability for myself."

"But you didn't, and that's why-"

"That's why I'm running." Sky cut me off, "If I stay with you guys any longer, who knows how long it'll be before I get tempted again and actually run my sword through you. I need to leave, so I don't hurt anyone."

Leaving? He was seriously planning on leaving?

I tried to argue against it, "You don't have to leave. You proved that you could withstand that temptation to kill me, even when Discord tried talking you into it. And you can do it again."

Sky groaned in frustration, pushing his way past me, "Look, Shadow. Even though I was about to kill you, I was only just able to shake myself out of it. It was a close call, one that was too close. I can't trust myself around you or your ability, so that's why I'm leaving the team."

My mouth opened to protest, but nothing came out of it as I watched Sky walk away. Just from his trot, I couldn't help but wonder if this was my fault. He was my friend, and he wanted my ability, but how could I have been so oblivious to see what was wrong? How could I have not seen the jealousy he'd been hiding for so long?

My mouth tightened into a grimace, and I quickly pulled up my player menu. I selected one of the tabs available, the one that read: Invite to Duel.

Suddenly, Sky stopped as his player menu pinged open with my duel invitation. Reading the text box, he quickly whirled around with a look of confusion on his face.

To answer his confusion, I responded quietly, "If you're leaving just because you want my ability, then I'll let you take it. I'll let you win a duel against me, then you'll get Apotheosis without all of this trouble. You don't have to leave and I won't have to lose my best friend."

Sky glanced between me and the duel invitation, a familiar look returning to his face: One of inner conflict. He wasn't sure whether to accept my offer, or to leave like he had originally planned.

But after a moment of thinking, Sky sighed and tapped a button on the text box, which then made another one appear in my vision:

Surprised, I only stared at Sky, hoping he would give an answer. But, he didn't.

"Please, Sky... Don't do this." I pleaded, "You don't have to leave."

Sky gave me a sharp look, "No, I have to. Do you think that the others will just accept me back because you say it's okay. They won't trust me anymore, after hearing that I held back something like this. I'll never regain their trust if I go back now."

"You don't know that!"

"YES, I do!" Sky snapped back again, and I faltered. I was expecting him to draw his swords again, but he didn't. He sighed, "My time in the guild is over. So just get over it, and get on with stopping Discord. I don't want you moping the whole time after I leave."

It didn't look like I was budging his view of things. He was set on leaving, and I couldn't think of anything else to keep him from going.

I sighed, looking down at the ground in defeat, "If you really are going to leave, then I won't stop you. I have a feeling this is a journey you need to take... But I wish you didn't have to either."

Sky only nodded, a grim look on his face, before turning to leave again. But after taking a couple steps, he stopped and glanced back again, "Take care of Dylan for me... And Siren..."

I nodded, "I will. But only on one condition: That you come back once your journey is over."

A pause... "That's something I can't do. This is goodbye."

He opened up his player menu and tapped a few buttons and icons. But then, another text box appeared in my vision:

By the time I looked up from the message, Sky was gone, having disappeared in the darkness of the forest.

He was gone... My best friend, that had been with me from the start of this game, was gone.

I felt my ears droop, and my wings fell down from my sides like weights. It was because of these things that Sky had run away. Envy, Jealousy, how could I have not seen just a flicker of these beneath Sky's cool, collected mask of expression? He was the one person I knew the best in Equestria, having fought and played together for years... But now he would no longer be with me.

I felt a small tear drip out of the corner of my eye, followed by another. Was this how it felt to lose a friend, even though they hadn't died? I know some people say it feels like you lose part of your soul... Frankly, I thought that expression was spot on in description. It felt terrible...

I turned around and began walking towards town, to tell the others about Sky's farewell. I would have flown, but I wasn't in any shape to fly. After all, my vision was blurry enough as it was. And the fact that my wings drooped lifelessly along the vegetated forest floor. I whispered under my breath, choked with a sob,

"Goodbye,..."