//------------------------------// // I Expect You to Dine // Story: Labyrinth of Madness // by Speven Dillberg //------------------------------// I Expect You to Dine The man looked at the shocked expressions on the party’s faces and sighed. “Oh just come in here and talk to me, you have no idea how long its been since I’ve had a good conversation!” He shouted enthusiastically. “There’s free food in it for you!” Scarlet slowly advanced towards the table and reached out to grab an apple. She took a bite out of it and her eyes beamed with joy. “This is better than one of Applejack’s apples,” she said before taking another bite. The man coughed into his palm and then rubbed it against his jacket. “I’m a chaos lord, no offense Miss Scarlet but of course my apples are better!” He all but shouted. “Now come in, eat drink, be happy and gay, or straight if the mood takes you I suppose!” The man added the the last part with a laugh. “Fuck it, I’m starving,” Ethan said as he quickly grabbed a plate and walked up to the part of the table where the wellington was being served. He grabbed the biggest one that he could see and then continued down the line. “Agreed,” Twilight said with a nod, she took off after Ethan, grabbing a plate as well. She walked down the table grabbing this and that, including a large fruit salad and to the surprise of several of the group a large, wellington of her own. I will watch over you for you while you eat, mother, the voidling whispered in Twilight’s head. “That’s the spirit!” the green haired man said with a grin. Scarlet soon grabbed her own plate and arrange it with gecko meat, corn, and mashed potatoes and apples, lots of apples. Thomas’s eyes went wide at what lay before him. It wasn’t the variety that grabbed him, but the sheer quantity. He grabbed a bit of everything and began shovelling it down, not having had a proper meal in far too long. Dash grabbed a large assortments of apples, some hayfries and a pie all for herself. Mostly due to the sheer amounts of hunger she was facing. Once everyone had gotten what they wanted the group sat down at the table. Ethan sat directly at the man in the suit’s right and Scarlet sat at his left. Twilight sat beside Ethan, and Celestia, after laying Aeron gently down on the carpetted floor, took up the seat beside Scarlet. Luna and Thomas elected to sit across from one another, Dash sat at the end of the row, occasionally stealing glances towards Aeron’s still form. “So, I take it that you like apples then,” the man said with a chuckle and a nod in Scarlet’s direction. “Maybe I do,” the woman replied as she cut into her gecko steak. “Were you aware that you can fit small explosives in apples?” the man asked her with a cheery chuckle. “That’s why you should always slice them before you eat them,” he added with a grin. “And if you wanted to kill us you would’ve already done so.” She replied stabbing a fork in her steak. “Who says that I’m not slowly poisoning you?” The man asked her with a wide grin. “Because you need us, that and my heart and tainted blood prevents me from getting poisoned.” She stuffed the peace of meat into her mouth and enjoyed the juicy flavor she was getting. The man rolled his eyes. “You are no fun at all, are you?” He asked her with a slightly annoyed snort. “She acts like that a lot, especially around new people,” Celestia pointed out after arranging her own meal. “I know, I’m just trying to loosen her up a bit,” the man told Celestia with a chuckle before he turned to Luna. “Ah the Atoner, how are you today?” he asked Luna before apologetically adding. “I hope that the meat doesn’t make you lose your appetite.” He took a sip from his goblet. Luna briefly paused in her eating, looking as if she was about to gag. But she held it in and gave a low scowl at the man. “I was doing fine until you decided to mention it.” The man held his free hand up in the air. “Sorry, my mistake, I can be foolish occasionally.” “Excuse me, but would you mind telling us your name?” Twilight asked the man. “No offense, but mentally calling you ‘the man’ and ‘that green haired guy’ is really starting to irritate me.” “Oh, how rude of me. My name is Van. Kata’s older, much better looking, and smarter, brother as you might already know.” “Van? That’s an odd name,” Twilight said with a frown. “Well, it’s one chosen for your convenience. To truly say my name would take no time at all and drag on for eternity. It smells like screaming purple and would damage your sanity so severely you would be rendered sane again.” The chaos lord smirked. “No promises you’d be same individual, of course.” “I can sympathise,” Luna nodded. “My sister and I share a similar problem.” “I’m much stronger than you though,” Van informed her with a smirk. “Yet, you’re not the one in charge,” Scarlet pointed out before taking a bite into her corn. “Details, details, we’ll get to those once we’re all drunk. I’ve found that details are so much easier to discuss when you’re drunk,” Van replied with a grin. “Of course most things are.” He took another sip from his goblet. “Speaking of drinks, where’s ours?” Celestia asked as she glanced up and down the table, see that there were no sort of bottles. “Oh...right.” Van snapped his fingers and eight goblets appeared in a small flash of light. “There, just think of the drink that you want, and it’ll be there,” he told them with a grin. “Don’t tell the Olympians that I’m stealing their idea,” Van mock whispered. “I don’t feel like going through a Divine copyright lawsuit right now,” he added. “Yeah, we’ll keep that in mind,” Thomas said with a roll of his eyes. “Good!” Van said with a grin. “I hope that you enjoy your time here with me, I can provide you and your lover a suite for the night if you’d like, it’s soundproofed of course,” he added with merry eyes. “That’d be nice,” Thomas responded automatically before his brain could catch up to his mouth. Luna just turned crimson again. “Excellent, I can show you the way whenever you wish,” Van told him, smiling sincerely at the two. “Would you like to have mood music, or do you prefer to create that yourself?” He added with a small chuckle. “Enough!” Luna choked out before clearing her throat. “This is not the kind of conversation one should have when dining.” “It isn’t? Where else would you have it?” Van asked her, looking truly perplexed by the alicorn’s answer. “Preferably when we’re not trying to eat,” she answered. “I doubt anyone else here wants to think of that at the moment.” “Oh you silly mortals, always such prudes about sex. Bo would laugh at all of you,” Van told her with a chuckle. “Of course I suppose not everyone has the same perspective, and that’s for the best, it keeps things interesting!” he said with a wide smile. “So, Van, can you read our minds?” Ethan asked curiously. “No, except yes,” Van replied with a grin. “Actual mind reading is incredibly difficult. It’s much simpler to skim the surface thoughts or delve into dreams,” Luna explained. “Give the mare a carrot!” Van said enthusiastically, a carrot appeared in front of Luna’s face and sat there in the air, unmoving. Luna briefly scowled before snapping it out of the air with a crunch. “Anyways, your fuckbuddy’s right, actually reading your mind is really hard, even for someone like me, I just skim for the important things,” the man continued with a smile. Luna started choking on the carrot. “N-no! I would never even think of touching him like that!” she exclaimed as soon as she could, pointing a shaking hoof at Ethan. “Oh, right, my mistake. Sorry it’s been awhile since I’ve talked to anyone,” Van said with a chuckle. “So I’m not good enough for you Lulu?” Ethan asked with a stricken look on his face. “And here I thought that we had something really special!” he added with an equally sad look. The alicorn rolled her eyes. “Oh, stop being so melodramatic. I just have standards when it comes to who I choose to bed,” she explained. “It’s much more than simple physical attraction. The same can’t be said about my sister,” she added. “Standards, and you’re with him instead of me?” Ethan asked jokingly. “For shame Lulu, for shame!” Ethan exclaimed melodramatically with a nod towards Thomas. Thomas rolled his eyes. “Not my fault we’ve got stuff in common,” he said. “Besides, aren’t you married?” he asked before turning back to his food. “Happily,” Ethan replied with a chuckle. “I was joking in the first place.” “I can see why my sister hates him the most,” Van said with a nod towards Ethan. “You’re so like me!” he added with a grin. That statement made Thomas choke on his mouthful of meat. After clearing his throat he stared between the two. “Oh fuck. One’s bad enough.” “And this one has godlike powers, the universe is doomed!” Twilight exclaimed. “Can I go home and have sex with Tia before you two destroy the universe please?” she begged. “Oh calm down. My powers are limited to this realm, and I am bound to it. My sister forcing you all here against your wills broke so many rules,” he explained with a sour expression. “Rules? What rules?” Twilight asked curiously. “Interfering with another’s realm in any way, such as removing someone who is tied to its very existence, is dangerous. There was every chance that bringing you here could have ended catastrophically,” he said, nodding at the ponies. “I’m not that important,” Twilight said, blushing slightly. “My dear, do you have any idea how much paperwork I would’ve been required to fill out in order to just ask you to come to my Labyrinth?” Van asked her. “And the rest of you would be even worse!” “Wait. I get why that’d be the case with Luna,” Thomas said, butting in, “but how am I important? I don’t really do much except drink, gamble and take potshots at raiders.” Van chuckled. “Thomas, you’ve got a reality built around you and you don’t even notice it, it’s actually kind of endearing really.” The man blinked. Then he blinked again. “America became the way it did simply so I could do what I did?” he asked, getting the feeling he was completely wrong. “Not exactly,” Van clarified. “Think of a universe as a huge piece of fancy clockwork, and the people living in that universe as its gears. Now, there are some gears that aren't really needed and the universe couldn’t care less if they went missing or became broken before their time comes. However, there are some that are critical to the functionality of the clockwork. If you take those gears out earlier than you should, it will causes a domino effect slowly making the whole clockwork come to a halt.” “Wait, so you mean to tell me that Ethan is vital to the existence of a universe?” Twilight asked Van incredulously. “Who the hell was the genius who thought that one up?” “Most likely his world’s resident Divine,” Van answered with a small shrug. “Just because they have the ability to pick a champion of sorts doesn’t mean that they pick a good champion.” “Oh, right, her,” Twilight mumbled. “What’s wrong with me?” Ethan asked with a chuckle. “Would you like the full list or a summary?” Luna responded seriously. “I suggest you pick the summary, the list takes close to a week to get through.” Twilight snorted with laughter and Ethan rolled his eyes. “Luna, you’re just jealous that you’re not as awesome as me,” Ethan told her with a grin. “I’ve fought demons, led armies and I move the moon every night. You just have suicidal tendencies and a horribly inflated ego,” she replied smartly. “And yet one of us withstood and defeated the Nightmare on his own, and one of us didn’t,” Ethan shot back. Luna narrowed her eyes and glared at him with the intensity of a nuclear blast. “How well would you have fared against a major demon, one whose domains are hate and jealousy?” she questioned. “I have had to put so many to rest after they were lost to such beings. I am lucky I did not suffer the same fate.” Before Ethan could reply his mouth disappeared. Van had snapped his hand shut. “That’ll be enough of that,” he said flatly. “While I’m not opposed to arguing, I’d rather we not make this evening depressing or truly angry.” He snapped his fingers and Ethan’s mouth reappeared. “Now apologize!” Van added with a slight glare at Ethan. “I - sorry Luna,” Ethan said, his face downcast. “I shouldn’t have said that - I don’t think sometimes...” “I am sorry too. We should not make our suffering a competition, but we nearly did,” she added, looking at her plate. “Yeah, tell me about it,” Ethan said with a slight sigh. “Celestia, how’s your food?” he asked changing the subject. Celestia paused in her eating. “It tasted good, but I do taste that it was modified by the art of chaos.” She looked at Van. “Like it was something else before it was food.” Van gave a dodgy look. “Well of course, I can’t make something out of nothing. I’m not a voidling. I just found a pile of something that no one was ever going to use and rearranged the molecules. Don’t worry, it’s safe to eat still. The food won’t change back to what it was originally.” “Interesting,” Twilight said with a small nod. “Why didn’t Discord ever mention that when he was teaching me about chaos?” “Because he didn’t see where I got the idea from. This is more work of science than of magic.” Van took another sip from his goblet. “That would do it, Discord doesn’t exactly have a scientific mindset...” Twilight said before she cut off a large piece of meat and popped it into her mouth, chewing contently. “So Van, why is your sister in control of this place instead of you?” Van began to briefly choke on his liquid before letting out several large coughs to clear his throat. “Hmm, sorry about that. The reason why little pony is because she betrayed my family, killing everyone, including myself, or at least that’s what she thought she did. The only reason I’m still alive is because of Liby, or as you might know as the Labyrinth.” ”You named your torture chamber Liby,” Twilight’s voidling asked him incredulously. “Yes youngling of the void, her name is Liby. Also for your information, she wasn’t always a torture chamber, she was arena to test and train many of the universe champions. The day Kata took over is when she forced Liby into becoming this disgusting maze of death and terror,” Van said with as an angry expression crossed his face. “My home was stolen from me, as was my friend, and my family.” Then his face cleared. “However we’ll discuss this more later.” A slightly uncomfortable silence fell over the group as they ate. “So... Thomas, how are you?” Ethan asked breaking the silence before it became oppressive. “Pretty good, considering what I did before,” he replied darkly. “That’s good,” Ethan said with a nod. “Glad to see that you're doing okay,” the man added. Dash looked over at the area where Aeron was lying to find him no longer there. Worried, she glanced over to Ethan and Thomas. “Uhm, where’d Aeron go?” “Insane?” Ethan joked. “No, he’s not here anymore,” she said with a bit of a worried look. “That’s not good...” Ethan said as he looked around the room for the black man. As Ethan did so, no sign of him was to be found. Dash joined in with the search, looking under the table to find nothing. “I’m kind of getting worried...” she said softly. Suddenly Aeron appeared out of nowhere and jumped at Thomas, another knife in hand. “I’ll kill you, you mutated freaks!” Aeron shouted as he came at Thomas. The sudden attack did nothing to help Thomas, still recovering from his previous ordeal. “Get him off!” he managed to choke out as the other man nicked him with the knife. Suddenly Aeron froze in place. Van snapped his fingers and the knife floated out of his hand. “You’re not a very happy person,” the chaos lord informed Aeron. “Although, that’s not entirely your fault. Regardless I can’t have you attacking people,” the man rose from his seat and walked up to the frozen wanderer. Then he reached out and touched Aeron’s forehead with his forefinger. Aeron’s face, which up to then had been clouded with irrational anger, suddenly cleared. “Ugh... Why do I have a massive headache?” Aeron asked uncertainly as he looked around. “Where am I?” “Safe and sound, for the time being at least,” Van replied simply. “Now get some food.” “And try to keep your hands, and knives to yourself,” Ethan muttered under his breath. Aeron said nothing to Ethan, only taking a seat a grabbing a small piece of bread, slowly ripping chunks off and eating it. Thomas picked himself up, using Luna’s leg as a hand-hold. “Fucking whack-job...” “Are you okay?” Luna asked worriedly as the man drew himself up. “Yeah, yeah, I’ve been through a lot worse, you know that,” he replied dismissively. “Well excuse me for being concerned,” she shot back unhappily. “I’d be careful if I were you young man, not everyone gets to sleep with a goddess,” Van told Thomas with a small smirk. “Technically, I am but a demi-goddess,” Luna clarified. “Goddesses can’t actually die.” “My point still stands,” Van replied. “He should be very careful not to anger you.” “The one time he angered me, I merely scared him.” Thomas glared at the mare. “Luna, telling me that I got you pregnant was not scaring me, it was traumatic.” “Well if you’re going to fuck a bunch of women, Soldier Boy, you better be ready for the whole, ‘I’m pregnant’ ordeal.” Scarlet stated. “Beside there’s no way for you to impregnate her, unless magic was involved,” she added. “Actually, he might’ve been able to depending on the circumstances,” Twilight said academically. “If it weren’t for how his body reacts violently to my magic, then he could have,” the alicorn explained. “That’s what’s scary,” Thomas muttered as he continued eating. “Have you considered the love child option?” Van asked Luna. “I don’t know off the top of my head whether or not it works in your universe but I’ve seen it work elsewhere.” Luna blinked. “I’ve never even heard of such a thing. Isn’t a love child merely a normal foal?” “It’s a property that some Equestrians possess. It allows those who truly love each other to have children despite all opposing circumstances. All that is required are two beings who love each other and at least one uterus,” the chaos lord explained. Luna rolled her eyes. “Sounds like that silly superstition that a unicorn’s horn can cause pregnancy if inserted,” she replied. “No, such a thing is not possible in my Equestria.” “That’s too bad,” Van said with a shrug. “You know, if you two really wanted to have children, then you could always come to my Equestria,” Twilight told Luna. That would be a bad idea, mother. There’s many rules set in place about having two identical beings in the same universe. Not only that but their universe’s rules will still apply to them, so that’s also a no go. Although I suppose you could travel to an unoccupied universe and do it there, of course that would be very dangerous and time consuming, the voidling whispered to Twilight in her mind. “Or a surrogate,” Aeron muttered while he quietly chewed on bread. Thomas looked around in shock. “Why the hell are we talking this!?” he screamed. “Yeah, let’s drop the subject. Besides, I don’t think Thomas would be a good father figure,” Scarlet said taking a sip from her own goblet. Aeron smirked and snickered at the sly comment. “That’s amusing.” “What the fuck is that supposed to mean?” Thomas asked indignantly, glaring at Scarlet. “It’s means I don’t think you would make a good father figure,” the woman said again. “I don’t think anyone here would be a good parental figure,” Aeron added. “Au contraire,” Ethan replied with a slightly annoyed frown. “I make a great father,” he added indignantly. “Oh, really? All of us would be amazing fathers? What kind of father lets his son witness brutal acts of murder? Even if it is justified?” Aeron raised a brow, setting his piece of bread onto a plate. “Oh, so it’s better to keep them naive about death? We live in the Wasteland, Aeron, besides you’ve got daddy issues in general,” Ethan replied. “I’m not claiming to be a role model, but no child should be born in the Wastes. I should’ve stayed in the Vault and died there rather than live in a world of cruelty,” Aeron retorted. “Being naive is one thing, being ignorant is another.” “And that’s the kind of thinking that keeps the Wasteland exactly where its been for the last two hundred years!” Ethan exclaimed. “Because humans are so great at preservation,” Aeron deadpanned. “To be honest, I’d rather stay asexual and avoid sexual contact like the plague than impregnate a woman.” “We’re not perfect, but being apathetic doesn’t help anyone!” Ethan said while eying the other wanderer. “Helping people is what got me into this fucking mess! I wouldn’t be here dealing with you or losing my sanity if I didn’t help anyone! I could’ve just let Rainbow Dash die and be done with it!” Aeron stood up and yelled at the top of his lungs, veins bulging across his forehead. “W-what?” Dash stuttered a moment, befuddled by Aeron’s words. “What, you didn’t hear me?!” Aeron yelled at the pegasus. “I wouldn’t be here if you hadn’t showed up that day! I could just be in Tenpenny Tower thinking up plans on how to survive rather than deal with this group of morons!” Dash’s mouth was agape for a moment as she stared into Aeron’s angry eyes. She pushed away from the table and quickly flew out of the room through one of the doors that lined the walls, not saying another word. “Well, you’re an idiot,” Thomas commented as he drank from his cup. “And you’re an awful leader. You can’t even keep this group in one piece!” Aeron retorted angrily to the man. “So were many others. Yet, a lot of them had a good foothold on their people,” Van stated. “Now, take a deep breath and calm down and enjoy the free meal. There’s no reason to be angry at each other. Only at Kata.” Aeron inhaled deeply and the exhaled very slowly. He did this a few times before clenching his fists and then releasing them. “I’m sorry. Dealing with some inner issues and I may have taken it a bit too far.” “It’s no problem, if you want I can create a punching bag for you to help relieve some of the stress,” Van suggested “As great and effective as that sounds, I will have to decline. I don’t deal with problems by punching a giant bag of sand or dirt. I just let them sit and I contemplate it,” Aeron stated, taking his seat again. “But, being in this maze is really getting on my nerves. Kata is driving me into insanity and I can’t handle it.” “That is her specialty. She’s done it to nearly half a million people. Hopefully with your help, I can end that,” Van stated. “It’ll be my pleasure to help,” Ethan told the chaos lord with a smile. “Yeah, she’s probably the only other person I want to see crucified,” Scarlet said “I’m all up for killing her, but, there’s a few issues I need to deal with myself before I bother proceeding with you guys,” Aeron sighed deeply. “Yes, you should probably go after your friend,” Twilight said, putting extra emphasis on the word friend. “... Among other things,” Aeron rolled his eyes slightly. “If I may do so, I’d like to excuse myself.” “Go right ahead, she went to the third room on the right” Van replied with a shrug Aeron slowly pushed himself away from the table, leaving his piece of bread behind, and then leaving the dining room portion of the panic room. After removing himself from the main dining room portion of the large, complex, panic room, Aeron stepped out into the hallway in search for Dash. Looking around, he quickly spotted the blue pegasus sitting on her haunches and staring down the long, white, corridor. “Thinking, I see,” Aeron spoke softly, walking up behind her and staring with her. Rainbow Dash didn’t respond. “I’m going to be brief, Dash,” Aeron sighed. “I’m leaving this group. It’s apparent that I am a large problem, and the solution is for me to wander aimlessly in this maze. I’ve also hurt you and whatever relationship we may have dearly. I believe it’s best we spend some time apart. Whether it’s a few days or forever.” The pegasus still didn’t respond. Instead, she only blinked and continued to stare. “Whether you agree or disagree with my decision, I must leave. I’ll keep my weapons safe with you, excluding my knife, to ensure that I am mostly unarmed and cannot harm the group if I come into... violant contact,” Aeron unbuckled his pistol’s holster and set it next to Dash, along with removing the rifle from his back. Dash’s eyes looked to her right to see the weapons and small portions of ammunition sitting there, then quickly went back to staring ahead. “I just want you to know something before I do end up wandering aimlessly,” Aeron let the conversation be silent for a minute or two, before sighing. “What I’ve been through in the Wastes, everything I’ve encountered or fought or will continue to fight, I am glad that you were by my side. What I said in the room was true I could’ve done better without you,” Aeron thought he could hear Dash gritting her teeth in anger. “But, that being said, a lot of the situations were made easier with you by my side.” “My emotional distress, my sanity, and dealing with some... Unforgiving people... That was made easier with you there. I do hope you do well in your endeavours and I sincerely wish you return home to your love, Twilight,” Aeron slowly turned around and walked away from Dash. But, before he left, he spoke once more. “Rainbow Dash... I think I’m ready to consider you more than just some companion. But, I’ll let you decide that yourself.” Aeron then walked off, leaving Dash to contemplate what he just said. She turned around, slowly, to see Aeron was no longer there. The pegasus stood up, taking Aeron’s weapons, and trotted slowly back into the main dining room to speak to the others. Aeron had been gone for several minutes and the group had mostly focused on eating in that time. Whilst they were eating, a silent pegasus had made her way back to the table, throwing Aeron’s weapons onto it. “Aeron left,” Dash said with a sigh. “Left?” Celestia asked. “Why did he leave?” “He believes he’s going is a large problem to the group. So, he felt it reasonable to just... Leave,” She answered quietly. “Really? Ethan’s more of a problem than he is,” Scarlet pointed out. “No offense,” she added later to the wanderer. “None taken,” Ethan replied with a chuckle before he returned to the topic. “He does realize that it’s suicide alone out there… right?” “I’m sure he does. I think that was the point. I mean, I’ve seen him want to be alone before, and the Wasteland isn’t the best place to go walking around for ‘fun’ in...” Dash shook her head at the thought. “But, there’s no point in trying to find him now. He’s probably already lost.” “Fuck, we’re a man down,” Twilight muttered. “Shouldn’t we try to find him and change his mind?” Luna asked. “If he wants to go out to my sister’s death trap, I can’t stop him without a good reason.” Van said as he looked down with his eyes closed. He opened them and looked back up. “He’s already out of the panic room.” “Well... hopefully he won’t die out there,” Thomas said with a slight sigh. “Meh, nothing we can do about it now,” Ethan said with a shrug. “Strange though, for him to run off like that,” Scarlet muttered while pondering a thought. “I suppose if he felt like he was a danger to us then he would’ve wanted to remove himself so that he couldn’t hurt us...” Twilight said. “Then that just poses the question.” The woman stated. “What danger could he have possibly posed to us?” “Well, he did go crazy on Rainbow Dash and Thomas earlier, perhaps he felt that the risk of himself falling back into such a state was too much,” Luna suggested. “What do you think, Rainbow Dash?” Luna asked turning towards the multichromatic pegasus. “Yeah, that’s sounds like something he’d do. Especially with how he acted,” Dash agreed with the princess. “But aren’t you used to those kind of people everyday?” Celestia asked. “Yeah, before I took over Vegas, you couldn’t walk through Freeside without meeting a least one insane person.” Scarlet answer. She then shook her head, shaking her current train of thought off. “Maybe I’m just thinking about this too hard.” “Thinking’s always a dangerous occupation,” Ethan said with a slight chuckle. “For you maybe,” Thomas said with a roll of his eyes. Van spoke up. “Actually Ethan is both right and wrong but...” he stopped mid sentence as his face soon bore a curious expression. He then turned to his left and a sly grin from on his face. “It appears we have an extra guest.” Out of the shadows a familiar black coated stallion materialized right in front of the group, with a slightly amused look at Van. “Interesting, not many mortals can sense my presence.” “Mortal, me?” Van asked with faux indignation. “When did I catch that particular disease?” “Since the day the Light created you,” the voidling replied. He then turned towards the group and focus on Dash. “I have a message for you,” he simply stated. “Oh...?” Dash raised a brow in confusion. “Yes, it’s from your Twilight. It is a bit private, so you probably want to hear it in a quiet place. Unless you don’t care.” “Uh... Sure,” Dash looked over at Van. “Is there any place we can speak privately?” “Yep, any room will do. They’re guaranteed to mute any sound from a simple squeak from a field mouse up to the roars of several orgasaming alicorns,” The strange man replied with a wink at Luna who blushed furiously. “Also I suggest to all of you to get some rest now. The days are going to get a lot harsher from here on out, so enjoy the night while you can.” He added while giving Thomas and Luna a meaningful glance. “Excellent, it has been a long day for all of us, and an interesting first one for me,” Twilight’s voidling said with excitement. Ueirn’s eyes suddenly shot open as he looked towards Twilight’s direction. “What?” he demanded. “Did I stutter, father?” the other voidling asked. “Father?” Ueirn questioned. “I am no...” he stopped as eyes ‘saw’ the other voidling floating inside the purple mare’s head. He then furiously turned his head at Celestia. “You gave my void essence to HER!?” “She was suffering from a spell powered by the void that was consuming her mind. It was the only way to save her.” The alicorn replied. “And you let her tamper with it!?” the black stallion further criticized with a stomp of his hoof. “Hardly,” Twilight’s voidling said. “Hello father, so nice to meet you,” the voice continued as the form of a dark alicorn mare appeared next to Twilight. A dark lavender mane flowed around her head, however inside the darkness there was an inner light that seemed to seep out from within. Her coat was a near black shade of purple and the fur flowed as if a light wind was blowing gently over it. Two violet, intelligent eyes looked at the elder voidling with obvious amusement. “So, how do I look, father?” she asked. “Flashy. You’re letting too much of your energy flow freely like you have no care in the world,” Ueirn replied darkly. “Also, I am not your father.” “Father, progenitor, same difference daddy dearest,” the voidling said with a chuckle. “Besides I don’t have many cares at the moment other than keeping mother safe,” the voidling said frankly. “You should be more careful youngling. If you go running around the void in that form, you'll become a beacon for trouble,” Ueirn said flatly. “Which is why I don’t plan on traveling through the void much, father,” the voidling replied succulently. Thomas decided that he had had enough of everyone else for the time being. “Come on, Luna. Let’s pick up where we left off,” he suggested. “Third room from the right,” their host informed them. Thomas nodded, got up from the table, and began to walk towards the aforementioned door, Luna following not far behind. Ignoring the movement in the room, Ueirn continued on with his conversation with the young voidling. “I find that hard to believe youngling. It’s our nature, and you should know that.” “Well father, I’m already bonded to mother, and any traveling that I’ll be doing will be from within her,” the voidling informed Ueirn. ”Oh, and I’ve decided upon a name,” she added. “Dawn.” Ueirn left a disapproving eyebrow, but stated, “So be it, youngling Dawn.” “So glad that you approve father,” Dawn said cheekily. Ueirn rolled his eyes before he started to walk away. “We’re not done talking yet youngling Dawn. First I must carry out my pact with Dash’s Twilight.” “I look forward to it, father,” Dawn told him with a chuckle. Uerin simply walked through a doorway, with Dash not far behind him. “You know, I’ve never seen Ueirn that frustrated before,” Celestia said, a bit amused by the scene. “I’m made about a third of him, a third of you, and a more dominant third of mother. I already know what makes him tick, and I’ve got more then enough age and intelligence from you and mother to run verbal circles around him,” Dawn told Celestia with a smirk. “Yeah, you’ve got quite the silver tongue Dawn, just hope that Ueirn doesn't bring it down to a duel,” Van said. “If I’m putting the right name with the right story, he’s quite a powerhouse.” “He is,” Dawn replied with a shrug. “Of course I’m not dumb enough to challenge him directly,” Dawn scoffed. “Besides, she has me,” Twilight added, it was surprisingly easy for her to act maternal. “Just be careful Twilight,” Celestia said. “You still owe him a favor and he might exploit that if you anger him.” “I haven’t been saying anything to him,” Twilight replied with a shrug. “But Dawn has, you two are separate beings, but are one in a sense. What one does will affect the other.” Celestia clarified. “Relax Sunny, Sparky knows what she’s doing, for the most part,” Ethan said. “Yeah, Celestia, relax. If Dawn and Twilight play their cards right, I see them becoming a Shadow Knight in a decade or so.” The chaos lord added. “A what?” Twilight asked. “A Shadow Knight. It’s title given to someone who has a strong bond with a voidling. They could do powerful acts of magic, either of the art of Order or the art of Chaos, mix with Void magic. There used to be a whole order of them many eons ago, protecting universes and keeping the void tame. However, five of them became corrupted and brought the whole order down. They started a war that nearly ended every universe that existed back then.” “They sound like great guys,” Ethan snarked. “Yeah, they were,” Van corrected. “But with the fall of the order, the voidlings all fell under control of the five corrupt knights, who all decided to be called the Apocalypses Lords. Voidlings now have the tendency to outright kill any mortal they come across with, or worse, force a bond and corrupt person’s body throw twisted means. Twilight is the first mortal I’ve see to bond with a voidling and not be corrupted by it.” “Really?” Twilight asked with a raised eyebrow. “I wonder why...” “Well, like I said, it’s because of the Lords. They keep telling the voidlings that keeping a bond with mortal isn’t the way to ‘become alive’, rather consuming everything is the way to go,” Van explained with a shake of his head. “Especially for the scaley bloat of the lot,” he added under his breath. “Y’know, I’d suggest a change in management, but they sound like they’d kill you Sparky,” Ethan told the alicorn. “That’s only if you’re lucky,” Van muttered before shaking his head. “But enough of that depressing topic. Anyways I’d say that it’s bedtime for everyone.” “A quick question before we do,” Ethan said grabbing the chaos lord’s attention. “Questions and answers can wait until tomorrow. Like I said, enjoy the night, not blogged it down with worries.” “I just wanted to know if you’d supply me with the ingredients to make breakfast tomorrow morning, think of it as my way of an apology to the group for being an idiot sometimes,” Ethan told Van. “You don’t need to apologize for something that is nature for you humans, and no, I can’t supply you with deathclaw eggs. Mostly because, I’ve never seen a deathclaw egg. How about wyvern eggs instead?” “I don’t think that it would work the same, there’s just something about deathclaw eggs that makes them taste amazing. Here, let me think about them and you can take in all the details,” Ethan said. Van glanced his eyes upward, having them rapidly move left and right as if he was reading a book. “I guess I can work with this, maybe. Though they are based on your thoughts and not what is physical and real. So the taste might not be right.” “Better than nothing,” Ethan said. Twilight let out a loud squee, and then blushed rapidly. “Sorry... I’ll just be going now,” the purple mare said as she rapidly got up from the table and high tailed it towards one of the doors. “Well then, you’ll find what you need in the morning.” Van told Ethan. “Now I must be off, I have some things to check on.” A doorway appeared right behind Van. Van walked through it saying, “Good night don’t let the wyverns bite,” before door shut right behind him leaving Scarlet, Ethan and Celestia alone at the table. “Crazy day huh?” Ethan asked with a yawn. “I’ve been in crazier,” the woman replied before taking another sip from her goblet. “So, shall we retire to our rooms?” Celestia asked. “I’m not tired, might just pull an all-nighter.” Scarlet replied, who looked like she was telling the truth. “You may not be tired now, Scar, but this could be our only chance to have a completely safe night’s sleep, on actual beds no less. If I were you I’d at least go in and lie down,” Ethan suggested. “Ethan, I haven’t a good night or safe sleep since the Divide. I really don’t care,” the red hair woman stated. Ethan sighed. “Alright then, Scar. Just trying to help without being an ass about it,” the man said as he got up from his seat. “Thanks,” Scarlet replied before taking another sip of her drink. “Alright then,” Ethan said with a shrug. “Night Sunny, I hope you dream of cake,” the man told Celestia with a small chuckle. “And I hope your night goes well, Scar,” he finished with a small smile as he stood in the doorway to one of the rooms. “Good night Ethan,” Celestia replied back as she too got up from her spot, Ethan nodded to her and entered his room, shutting the door behind him. Celestia also walked towards an open door, but stopped and took a glance back at Scarlet. “Good night...Scarlet.” She walked through, leaving Scarlet alone, staring at the liquid in her cup.