Memoirs of a Thief

by grey mane

Steps Into The Past Part 2: Island of Grey

The storm clouds over the Zherbenok bay slowly grew darker with each passing minute warning the locals that a storm was coming, though the winds remained calm and still the locals were accustomed to the worst coming their way. As the clouds swirled high in the sky the locals remained unaware to the strikes of lightning on the nearby cliff, with each strike making contact with the earth everypony that Xiuhtecutli had teleported soon found themselves at the bay.

Though it took them a moment to start regaining feeling in their bodies they all felt dizzy, shambling around they tried to focus themselves but being teleported in the way they had been left them with a strange feeling.

Stumbling around Applejack was the first to slowly regain her senses, “Oh nelly, I hope we never have to travel like that again.”

Groaning as they all rose to their hooves they agreed, “Is there any real reason for traveling like that?” Rarity inquired hoping there was a rational and reasonable explanation, “Princess how are you feeling darling?”

“We shall be fine, a tad dizzy but fine.” She faintly claimed as Selune helped her up, “Thank you for your aid.”

“It’s my pleasure.” Selune replied as she looked around, “I see that nearly all of us are accounted for.” Recalling how their guide had appeared out of nowhere back in the throne room, Selune tried to cast her spell for true sight but found she could not call forth the magical energies to do so.

Worried she informed Luna who in return tried to cast a small levitation spell on a nearby pebble, Twilight and Rarity attempted a spell or two as well but all found they had the same problem.

They soon found that they were not the only ones to have some kind of trouble as Rainbow Dash shouted, “My wings I can’t move them!”

Looking at Rainbow and Fluttershy they saw their wings were either stuck pointed to the ground or to the sky, Luna’s seemed to be in their normal resting position but she too found it rather difficult to move them.

Applejack was not without her own set of problems either as she found most of her strength seemed to have been stripped from her as she bucked a nearby tree, “Darn, not even a lousy leaf.”

Though they were angry about being limited they mostly worried that they could be stuck where they were, “Alright everypony let’s just calm down, I’m sure Xiuhtecutli will know what’s going on.” Trying to keep them calm Luna was uncertain if even he had the answer to their predicament.

As they looked around they noticed that not only could they not find Xiuhtecutli but they also lost track of Pinkie, hoping she had landed somewhere near by Applejack started searching in the forest.

“Do you think he just dropped us off here knowing we couldn’t make our way back any faster than just walking?” Rainbow accused as she looked off the edge of the cliff thinking Pinkie could be dangling below.

Having the same thought Luna shook her head knowing she could trust Greymane and his decision, “I don’t think he would have, he said it to my sister that his word is as good as his life. And Grey had the utmost faith that he would not simply abandon us.”

“But if that is true then where is he right now?” Selune inquired wanting to have the same faith that Luna had, but even still pondered if the creature in question could be trusted.

Hearing a muffled angered voice startled them for a moment, “To answer your question I am currently contemplating the whole of the universe with your hoof on my face.”

Looking down Selune soon saw Xiuhtecutli and took a step back as she gave a nervous chuckle, “Oh sorry.” As they all gathered around him Selune asked the new question at the forefront of their minds, “What happened to you?” To their sight all that could be seen of him was his face and the rest under the crust of the earth.

Letting out a disgruntled sigh they could see on his face how displeased he was, “Ask the pink one.”

As many of them started to giggle Twilight couldn’t help but ask, “You thought of ca-”

“I thought of cake, yes.” Xiuhtecutli interrupted as he took his astral form to slip out of the ground, “Speaking of the pink one where is that monstrosity at now?”

“We can’t find her, also what’s up?” Rainbow brashly charged him in an attempt to pin him to the ground.

As she dove at him they watched as his body acted like a shadow and she went through him, “It’s an after effect of the spell, your bodies are not used to literally becoming a force of nature. It happens to everyone their first time, the more you travel like that the more your body adapts to it.” Thinking back to what she saw in Grey’s diary Luna asked if he was used to such forms of travel, “Not completely, he’s use to fire, earth, and wind. Water and lightning are only two of a few he is not used to, and yes even he went through such problems as his strength being absent for a time.” As he looked out to the ocean Xiuhtecutli guessed at what could have happened to Pinkie Pie, “I am sorry for the pink one, but because her mind was not clear any number of things could have happened. She could be at the bottom of the ocean, scattered to the winds, there is no telling what could have gone wrong. I shall give you all a momen-” Before he could finish a bolt of lightning struck him dead center of his gut causing him to fall over, “I’ve found… the pink one!” He struggled to exclaim.

As countless more bolts struck around them they were able to catch faint traces of Pinkie as if she were hopping around, “EveryponythisissoamazingIfeeltinglyalloverandittickles!” Before long the bolts of lightning started to turn from white in color to pink with each strike, “Didanyofyoufeelthisamazing!?” she squealed in excitement with a laugh.

Continuing to pounce around causing lightning to strike with each little move she soon found herself held in place by a spell.

Struggling to move towards her Xiuhtecutli’s hand was extended, “Out of the countless and endless possibilities that could have happen…” He growled as he stared at Pinkie, “you somehow bonded with the spell!?”

Looking at their friend they could see Pinkie was barely stable and with each little giggle she became even more so, “I take it there is a way to reverse this?” Twilight hoped worried what could happen.

“Under normal circumstances it is best to just leave her be, eventually the spell wears off and she returns to normal. But as we are short on time and I doubt she will sit still long enough for that option, and yes there is a way to remove the spell which is why I stopped her movements.”

Carefully moving in Xiuhtecutli’s eyes started to glow as he reached for Pinkie with his left, once he took hold of her head they watched as she slowly became solid and stable. As the spell was removed from Pinkie they watched as it was transferred to Xiuhtecutli, in the very instant Xiuhtecutli took on Pinkie’s affliction he thrusted his right hand into the air and a pink bolt of lightning shot into the sky.

Letting go of Pinkie as he fell Xiuhtecutli began breathing heavily from exhaustion as Pinkie stumbled around, “I feel dizzy…” She trailed off before falling over.

Lying on the ground Xiuhtecutli looked up at the sky as he grumbled, “He’s doing this to test me, yes that’s it he’s trying my patients right now. It makes complete sense, why else would I have to put up with such a problem with this issue. I’m far too old to put with this, and it's not like…” Letting out a disgruntled sigh he crawled to the edge of the cliff and looked out to the ocean, “that pain in the ass. He’s doing this to force me into his way of thinking, this new age way. I’m a Leviathan not some new born alicorn.” Standing up he looked as his claws and could see that even now he almost hadn’t aged, “I’ve been alive for countless ages had to even come close to committing genocide for the sake of this world…”

As he trailed off talking to himself he was unaware that Luna caught a little bit but didn’t want to worry anypony else, “What was that about genocide?” She kept her voice low as a means to try and keep the conversation between the two of them.

“It’s long before your time, and nothing for you to contend with.” Turning around he looked at all of them but soon looked down at Luna, “What does concern you and all of them is the long walk to our destination.” Holding his hand out he pointed out towards the ocean with nearly no real destination in sight.

“By walk you mean take a luxurious cruise don’t you?” Rarity's optimism was sadly greeted by a glare, “I guess not, so then which boat will we be taking to our unknown location darling?” Having realized her last few words, Rarity quickly recalled some of her romance mystery and some thriller novels that included those very words. ‘Unknown location’ and they were never portrayed well.

Rolling his eyes Xiuhtecutli came to the conclusion that they had yet to realize he was being literal when he said walk, “No boat or ship of any kind we walk from here.”

Feeling her wings slowly coming down to her side Rainbow Dash boasted, “Well some of us will have to walk but I can fly all the way there.”

“Yes, and then you get lost in dense fog or possibly the maelstrom that awaits us out there.” Looking at Twilight he saw that she was trying to use magic but was still struggling, “And if we could teleport there I would have done just that, but the island is sealed off and impossible to enter save for one option.” Looking Luna in the eyes he brought his face close to her as a means to tell them without truly saying it, “And that is to walk.”

Summoning forth her swords Selune tried to slash away at Xiuhtecutli as a means to get between them, “Is there any reason as to why you narrowed your focus, and singled out my mentor like she’s a threat?”

With a laugh he snapped his fingers and caused the blades to shatter, “Why indeed I wonder, perhaps she knows why.” His vague responses were slowly angering their small group and he knew it, “Tell me Princess of the Night why is you were the first he named, why does he trust you so much, and why most of all are you here? If he, as you say, loves you then would he not take the best choice to keep you as safe as possible where you have the most power? You’ve been inside his mind far more than any living thing so tell me what do you know?”

As the others tried to step in and keep Xiuhtecutli from pressuring Luna like he was, Luna couldn’t help but think about his questions. He was right Grey did choose her first, and though he said she would be fine if there was even the smallest hint of danger Grey wouldn’t let her be near it. In fact he would be there to deal with it, as she thought about it she closed her eyes hoping she could figure out the answer to it all.

Luna hoped that in some small way Grey had left a clue for her, or at the least she could recall something from his diary. Opening her eyes she saw Grey standing at the edge of the cliff just looking out at the ocean, walking up to him she she could feel the cool crisp night air and see a clear star filled sky. As Grey looked up at the moon slowly setting before him, Luna could hear him faintly whisper her name as he smiled.

As she watched his mouth she soon muttered the same words he did as he looked back out to the ocean, ‘Iftah ya simsim?’ Luna quietly inquired.

As the ground beneath her started to shake the vision she had slowly washed away as tiny droplets of ocean water flew into her face, once the world around her returned to normal all that remained from the vision was a land bridge.

Moving past her Xiuhtecutli groaned at how he was right, “And with that all the pieces fall into place, and so to shall we start our walk with grace.” Reaching to the edge of the bridge on both sides everypony watched as he touched an unseen barrier, “This is why we must walk.” As it crackled to his touch it appeared to be made of nothing but magical energies “No living creature has the power to break this, not even I.”

Moving his hand around the barrier they saw it acted like an arch way, “How was this made?” Twilight and Selune inquired at once eager to learn.

“As far as my race can tell from our oldest documents…” Violently pulling his hand way with a growling roar his hand covered in smoke, “it just simply came to be, none knows why or how only that it has. Though many of my race have theorised this is a result of when the natural flow of magical energies intersect with one another.” Hearing a collection of confused sounds Xiuhtecutli growled when the thought he would have to explain it.

To his amazement Twilight, Selune, and Luna perked up at once about having read Starswirl the Bearded's report on the Ley Line Magic Theory, “Though I think he may have called it pseudoscience.” Twilight added only for the three of them to realize Xiuhtecutli had a slightly annoyed look on his face.

“Well it is good that at the least three of you are educated to an infant's level of understanding.” He groaned while gesturing for all of them to start their long walk, “For the record it is not a theory, as you can see before you it is quite real.” Feeling a bit of distrust from them Xiuhtecutli sighed as he waved them through, “If it makes you feel better you can explain his theory, once you are done I might fill in a few things should this…” Trying to recall a name he cared very little for Xiuhtecutli grunted as he guessed, “Swirlbeared of a Star you speak of, could have missed.”

Baffled if his mispronunciation of Starswirl’s name was a means to insult him, a lack of care, simply a mistake, or all three they couldn’t tell, “His name was Starswirl the Bearded.” Twilight snapped back, “And I will continue on with his theory, and I don’t think he would have missed a thing.” Though she was hesitant to take the first step Twilight continued in her lecture on the subject, “According to Starswirl’s notes; Lay Lines are alleged alignments of a number of places of geographical interest from around the world. In many such locations as ancient monuments and megaliths, where it is believed that these alignments tend to intersect the most. This in turn causes these locations to resonate with a special psychic or mystical energy.”

“According to his theory Ley Lines could also affect anything that lives in the intersections.” Selune chimed in as though it were her turn to read a segment of a text book aloud in a classroom, “Though there have been no solid evidence to prove this other than a few documented reports, but many speculate that these reports have been forged or falsified in some way.”

Slowly making their way down the bridge Xiuhtecutli sighed, “This Beared one seems to have most of it down, but yes these points where the Ley Lines intersect can have some effects on the area they are in. The more intersecting streams there are the greater and more intense the effects tend to be.”

Looking back towards the mainland Fluttershy let out a slight shriek as rushed backwards into Rainbow Dash, “What’s got you so wound up?” Looking to what Fluttershy pointed at even Rainbow was baffled, “What happened to the bridge? It was there just a second ago.”

“That is one of the effects I was talking about, though this bridge is made of the earth it is pure magic. Look below us and you will see that there are far more questions than answers.” As they looked over the edge of the bridged, watching as the last of the fishing ships sailed under them and through the stone wall, “They cannot see this land mass or us, nor are they aware of it coming out of the ocean or falling back into it. How this has existed without a caster is beyond me, all I can tell is this island was brought to life by the overabundance of magic from the Ley Line.”

Feeling cramped in what little space he had, Xiuhtecutli cast a spell to change his form to that of a garter snake granting himself more room. As he drifted through the air many of them pondered what spell it that was used to do this, all of them were aware of changelings and their ability to change appearance. But changing from one form to another was a whole other level of magic, and how it caused him no pain was another issue in their minds.

Though Twilight, Selune, and Luna wanted to ask him about it, they were overshadowed by Fluttershy, “Oh, you look so cute like that.”

Drifting in the air till he came close to the yellow mare Xiuhtecutli turned around to look at her, “I am an age old leviathan, this form is just to let me stretch myself without worry of any of you. I did not take this form to be…” Before he knew it Fluttershy had taken hold of him with one hoof and started gently rubbing his upper back, “oh by The Ones!” He exclaimed, “A little lower if you don’t mind.”

As she moved her hoof down his back Fluttershy noticed that as a snake he still showed signs of being tense, “You should relax more, it really is unhealthy to be this wound up.” What struck her as strange was in his current form she could feel muscles that normal snakes would not have.

“Oh curse this form and its wants… but thank you none the less.” He grumbled in her care, “I would be more calm than this, however when you deal with Greymane as often as I do. It is impossible to rest or relax, and even if I wasn’t tending to him and his games there’s still the matter of tending to the world.” Feeling more at peace with her touch he let out a purring growl as though he was a hybrid of a cat and a dragon, “If I still had shoulders I would as for those.”

Gently gliding while tending to Xiuhtecutli, Fluttershy continued to talk with him like she normally would to the critters back home.

As Fluttershy tended to their guide Selune found this to be the best opportunity she could get to speak with Luna, “Speaking of the Great Thief himself, you and the Legend huh? How did that come about?” Selune wasn’t one to pry but having seen Luna and Grey nearly kiss she couldn’t help but inquire about it.

Luna gave a nervous chuckle as she started to blush and look out towards the horizon, “Oh… huh… isn’t the sunset or rise rather lovely today?”

“Princess the storm clouds are blocking out the sun.” Taking a quick glance back Selune saw that Xiuhtecutli was still indisposed so to speak, “You’re hiding something…”

Hearing a gasp from their right Selune looked past Luna to see a surprised Twilight, “Have you told him!?”

“He would prefer that I not…” Luna sighed as she almost seemed to drag her hooves, “he’s told me how he feels. But requests that I not tell him, he fears that should he know that it would draw danger towards Equestria.”

As the three mares continued to talk on the matter Grey woke up in the dungeon with a groan, “My head…” Looking around his vision was blurred, “still gotta work out the formula.”

“And just what formula are you talking about, is it the potion you drank back in the throne room?”

Seeing only a blue blur Grey could only guess it was his visitor from before, “It’s highly toxic, so until I solve that problem I recommend that you don’t try to copy it. Just a little word to the wise.” Struggling to stand he laughed, “Side effects include but are not limited to severe headache, nausea, blurred vision, minor to severe memory loss, having quintuplets, constipation, and explosive diarrhea.” Laughing at his own joke Grey groaned at the pain his head was feeling, though the headache and blurred vision were the only two out of the list to be real.

“Amusing…” Chambers groaned, “why do you act like this, you are a living legend. I’ve read the stories and heard rumors about you from across Equestria, even managed to pull some information out of a demon once.” Seeing a displeased expression make its way across Grey’s face told him that Grey was against torture in the name of saving lives, “Every bit I heard and dug up all came to one conclusion, you are an monstrous enigma the likes of which none have seen before or since. Yet you keep yourself contained because you say you value life, how long will this value hold you back? And how long can you be contained?”

“You don’t trust me…” Grey smiled, “I don’t blame you. I fear myself and what I am, but tell me something. If you don’t trust me, why are you talking to me, why have you not tried to kill me? A thousand years ago there wasn’t a single guard among the believers that wouldn’t have hesitated, some came closer than any could ever dream of. But it was because I let them get that close.” As his vision started to return Grey started to read the pony that stood before him, “So why haven’t you?”

Though Chambers had not said a word of his work, his stance spoke volumes for him and that was all Greymane needed to see. And Chambers knew this to be true as he was also trying to read Grey based off what he had seen thus far, and though some of it impressed him far more made him question the stallion that sat before him.

“I am under orders to let you live…” Raising an eyebrow he humphed at the thought of letting a threat like him live, “for now at least. But so help me if you set even the tiniest of hairs out of place I will not hesitate to kill you, and send you back to your cell that awaits you in the depths of Tartarus.”

With a chuckle Grey pulled out the last stone he had left, “I don’t doubt that. And it is because of that I have two more favors to ask of you.”

“I don’t owe you a damn thing, so why should I even humor this?”

With a faint smile Grey leaned in, “Because you already said you would.” Confused as to what Greymane meant, Chambers crossed his hooves as he sat down, “Should I cross that line again, should I even fathom attempting it I want you to end me without a single thought. I’ll even wait for you to come for me.” Shaking his head as he laughed Chambers asked what the second favor could be, “When the time comes, no matter how it happens. If I am meant to die do not try and save me, even if you are ordered to. If I am to survive then I will, but if my time comes then I will accept my fate.”

“That’s it? Kill you as I have sworn to, and let you die if it is your time.” Chambers watched as Grey carved something into the floor of his cell, “And why should I even think that you can be trusted to such a point in time?”

Leaning against the wall Grey carved a second rune into his last stone and tossed it towards Chambers, “Here is your answer…” He watched as Chambers dodged it allowing the stone to fall into the cell behind himself, “the rune on that stone is a sister to the one on this floor. I don’t know what will happen when it does but I can at least ensure that I’m the only one involved, if you want to listen in keep a hold of that stone.”

Wanting to ask what Grey was planning he soon found himself cutting the moment short as the door to the dungeon was slammed shut, “Okay guys we have till the maids bring the evening meal, time is of the essence. Did you bring a storm cloud?”

“It wasn’t easy finding one in such clear weather…” A voice replied, “but ya I got it.”

“Good, and how about you, how long can you hold the spell?”

“Twelve hours at the least, and should we need it almost a full day.” A third spoke up sounding slightly hesitant. Almost questioning if what he was doing to be right.

Knowing the next guard rotation was an hour away Chambers knew something was wrong, and having heard their conversation he could only guess what they were up to. Taking to the shadows of the cell the stone had fallen into, Chambers questioned why the early rotation and what purpose did the cloud serve or their need for a spell? Many of his questions pointed to one thing in his mind, Greymane was the reason and he was aware of it from the start.

As the three ponies made their way to Grey’s cell Chambers carefully picked up the stone, looking at the three of them it was clear they were all from the royal guard. But they were not the one’s who were to take this shift, every fiber in his being told him to take the first chance he had to investigate this change. And yet, he found himself wanting to stay and ensure that whatever came next the guard could not be held responsible.

“You guys are early… ish,” With most of his sight returning Grey could see a faint shine of the sun from down the hall near the stairs, “or lateish pending why you are here. Lunch was what an hour ago?” Looking at the unicorn in the back Grey saw a duffle bag that appeared to be full with various items, “Oh no wait don’t tell me…” Though Grey could guess they had come to torture him he gave a playful smile, “did Celestia send you guys down here to wish me a happy birthday?” Laughing as they opened his cell and slowly walked in Grey did his best to remain strong for what was to come, “Please tell her I said thank you, but today is not my birthday. To be honest it’s been so long that I don’t remember when I was born.”

“Sir must we really do this? I mean he’s immortal after all we can’t kill him.” The young unicorn worried what Grey would do when he broke free.

Double checking the shackles and tightening the chains till Grey was suspended in the air, the oldest of the trio chuckled at the sight before him.

“That may be so, but that just means his life is nothing but torture.” Turning around the earth pony opened the bag and started rummaging through it, “Put up the barrier, Celestia may be tending to delegates and other matters pertaining to Equestria but that won’t keep her long. And then there’s the evening meal to deal with, at best I’d say we have three hours to get him talking.”

As the young unicorn started to slowly fashion a barrier, “Oh you want me to talk, well I’ll save you the time.” Grey sarcastically hinted, “I was born a poor black mare, a pegasus if you believe that, in what is now your mother’s house. I was rather bright for my young age and everypony knew it.” As the barrier started to seal itself the last Chambers heard was half what he expected, “Right out of my mother’s womb I could read, write, and cast magic. I was a young prodigy…”

Once the barrier was closed Chambers could hear nothing but saw Grey’s lips moving, he guessed at what he was saying and with what little reaction he saw from the three guards he smiled.

“I don’t know whether to applaud him for being clever, or to condemn him for being so damn stupid.” Looking down at the stone in his hoof Chambers scoffed at the thought of taking Grey’s little toy, “Rune based magic, I’ve heard of such things and even seen some study into it but nothing like this.” Placing the stone next to his ear he could feel a slight tingling as the rune caused his eardrum to vibrate.

“We don’t want to hear some bullshit story about your past or upbringing, we want to know what you have done with them.”

looking ahead Chambers soon began to question what was going on, if Celestia had planned on beating information out of Grey she wouldn’t have used the guards. She would have had chambers plan something else out that left her involvement out of suspicion.

“Alright fine I’ll say it now, they are on a wild goose chase.” With a joking sarcastic tone in his voice Grey smiled, “I sent them to an island to bring back a magical turnip that will speak nothing but riddles, once they’ve returned I’ll vanish and you can enjoy a wonderful talking meal.” Bursting out into a fit of laughter Grey had trouble keeping an eye open, “Fair warning though you will never shut up afterwards. But on the up side you will start to sing a rather lovely song that will have both mares and stallions flocking to you in droves.”

Pulling out a nightstick from the bag the earth pony jabbed the head of it into Grey’s gut, following it up by beating him across his body. Only after being stopped by the pegasis of their group did he lower the stick under Grey’s chin.

“I don’t give a shit about them…” Wanting to remind Greymane that he was incontrol, the young stallion struck him once more across the face, “the artifacts, where are you hiding them?”

Though it was clear to Chambers and Grey as to what was going on neither of them moved to end the situation, “I already told Celestia I didn’t do it, there’s enough evidence that I didn’t steal the Elements of Harmony.”

Receiving several more beatings they could hear his bones crack and several others break, “Like we want those worthless pieces of shit, we want the ones you’ve hidden over the years. We want the ones that can make this world trimble with but a single step, with but a single word, we know you have them and we know you have been collecting them.” Striking him once across the chest they heard a rib or two break causing Grey to grunt in pain, “WHERE ARE THE ARTIFACTS!!!”

“I left them with your mother as a gift for a wonderful night.” Laughing through the pain Grey slowly rose his head to look at his assailant, “Next time you see her, give her a kiss for me will ya son? Same goes for the two of you as well, guess that means I should act like a parent now huh?”

Taking offense to Grey’s little joke the young stallion began to beat him without mercy, with each little joke or smart ass remark the beatings became worse.

In time the young stallion dropped the stick and reached back into the bag, “You’re one tough son of a bitch, but then again I expected nothing less from the Crimson Stained Stallion.” That title again how it brought pain to Greymane, his mind swirled in a torrent of self loathing that made him wish they would just end him then and now.

Though the cell was echoing with the sounds of golden spikes being tapped together, all Grey could hear was the screams from that night. And the tormenting taunting voices of the demons that laughed during his time in Tartarus.

As Grey started to feel the tips of the spikes being playfully dragged up and down his torso, “Tell me something…” Grey’s tone was somber no manner of play could be heard and it made very pony worry what could come next, “when did you betray your loyalty to the royal family of Equestria? And for what reason, was it money, promise of power, fame, what was it?”

As the earth pony scoffed the others slightly laughed at the question, “Like we care about this nation or any other, we have always been loyal to the Ancient One. Not those blundering wind bags up there, I mean come on the royal family is a joke. Prince Blueblood is a spoiled brat with no clue of what it means to be a real stallion, and Celestia ruling for as long as she has upon her gilded throne after banishing her only sister. Sounds to me like a power trip.” Hearing him mention Luna’s banishment, Grey could recall how the demons constantly told him he was the root cause of it.

That if he hadn’t gotten as involved with her as he did she wouldn’t have been banished, that she would have continued to rule at her sister’s side.

“The Ancient One wanted to make a move over a thousand years ago to conquer their slowly growing empire, but then we soon heard that you vanished without a trace.” The pegasus chimed in, “He made hunting you down the biggest priority, he didn’t want you stepping in and ruining anything we tried. But there wasn’t a single clue as to where you went or even as to why you disappeared, only that you had and no pony in the Order could find you… not even the Ancient One could track you down.”

Taking the first golden spike the earth pony slowly started pressing the tip into Grey’s gut, “So without any clue as to where you had gone, or when you would return the Order was commanded to lie low and wait. But soon enough the royal family started showing the same problems as any clustered group, infighting, lack of trust towards one another, even going so far as to hire spies to look into others.” As the spike went into Grey they heard him grunting in pain and smiled, “So over the years we slowly infiltrated Canterlot hierarchy and positioned ourselves where we had the greatest advantage, and in time we even gained support of a few members of the royal family. You would be surprised who would sell out this nation just to be put into power.”

As the earth pony slowly stabbed Grey with the other two spikes, the young unicorn almost dropped the barrier as his fears took hold of him. Closing his eyes as hoping he wouldn’t have to see more the young colt reclosed the barrier, but he heard as his leader began to wiggle one of the spikes around.

As Grey clenched his teeth Chambers watched on and listened in confusion, “He can escape, he can fight them, he can tear them apart from what I’ve heard. Why? Why, if for any reason is he doing this?”

Continuing to question the reason behind Grey’s thinking Chambers listened hoping to find the answer, “Here’s a nice little treat for you,” Pulling out one of the spikes Grey cried out in pain, “each of these spikes is specially crafted. They are all barbed so when I pull it out it tears bits of flesh with it. Makes it near impossible to patch up the holes, who am I kidding by the time they find you. You will be wishing you could have died,” Shoving the spike into a new place he twisted it around, “now that you know what to expect let’s see if we can get you talking.”

Looking around Grey tried to figure out which of them would be easier to manipulate, “Talk… I’ve been talking. But clearly you haven’t been listening.” With another spike being pulled out and shoved back in Grey cried out once again, “I gave the artifacts to your mother.”

“Normal methods won’t work here, let’s use it.” Watching the pegasus bring the cloud over Grey nervously chuckled, “One last chance…” Holding up his hoof the earth pony slowly stepped out of the way, “where are the artifacts?”

“You there, unicorn, why are you part of this?” Before the young stallion could answer the earth pony dropped his hoof, and with that the pegasus struck the cloud.

As lightning came flying out of the cloud it struck the golden spikes, causing the electrical energy to jump between the points in Grey’s body. When the shock died down they watched as Grey twitched but still shown signs of consciousness.

“The Artifacts…” He waited for Greymane to look up, “WHERE ARE THEY!?” Grey gritted his teeth and shut his eyes, “Fine!” Signaling to the pegasus a bolt of lightning struck Grey again.

Letting out a bellowing cry Grey started to jerk around in his shackles, once the moment died down again Grey could hear the heavy hoof steps from one of his old tormentors. He could smell sulfur as he was reminded of how much worse it was in Tartarus. Slowly his senses returned to the here and now only to see a small throwing knife being jabbed into his lower abdomen, as it was slowly pulled back out the earth pony slowly dragged it up to Grey’s chest.

“You stupid young foal.” He grunted, “You know nothing of the powers you tamper with…” Feeling his blood slowly run down the length of his body Grey knew this was only the start, “the artifacts will destroy you, they cannot be controlled.” Looking past the young unicorn Grey saw one of the maids drop the evening meal that was meant for him and run off, “But I can still save you, all of you. Turn away from what you are doing, from what he demands of you.”

Stabbing Grey in his shoulder the earth pony twisted and moved it around, “Like you helped us a thousand years ago? Thanks but no thanks, if we had our choice we would rather stay where we are than take the side of a devil.” Backing away he rose his hoof, “Now tell us, where are you hiding the artifacts?”

Choosing to keep his mouth shut Grey hopped that the young unicorn would come to his senses, with the drop of his hoof they watched as Grey’s open wounds seemed to steam and slightly turn from pink to red. With each strike the electrical charge bounced around in his body slowly cooking his freshly opened wounds, the brisk cool air of the dungeon stung upon his searing flesh. And each time Grey refused to answer their question he would receive a beating, a few more cuts across his body, and one more jolt of lighting.

Each bit of it reminded him of his imprisonment when the worst of it was being reminded he cause Luna’s banishment, “You… arrogant foals…” He struggled to speak with a dislocated jaw and blood slowly dripping from his lips, “you can’t get me to talk… I’ve faced worse...” He trailed off into unconsciousness hung upon the wall.

Chambers had watched Grey’s torture for the course of several hours and in that time he learned that Grey would take his secrets to the grave, yet when it came to Luna or even Twilight and her friends he was like an open book. As for Selune Darkeye he was willing to teach her because of the potential he saw, but why, why was it with this group he stayed in his shackles and took the torture, why did he tell the young unicorn he could save him? Was it some kind of point he was trying to make, was he trying to prove something, what was it?

“Strike him once more.” The earth pony commanded.

“What?”

“You heard me…” He grumbled in anger, “one more bolt, and make it last for as long as you can. I want to watch him cook… I want to smell him roast.”

“But sir, if I do that he will die! He would be of no use to us!” The pegasus exclaimed hesitant to slam down on the cloud.

“Your point?”

“We need him alive to learn about the locations to the artifacts.”

Taking hold of the pegasus he slammed him into the wall, “Need I remind you of what he’s done to the Order? What he is capable of? If he dies then so be it all are to be held accountable for their actions, for their sins… even him.” Letting go of the pegasus he scoffed at the thought of Greymane dying, “Besides the Ancient One told all of us already, he’s immortal and can’t be killed. Not by any of us anyway.”

Chambers was about to step in when he heard the clanking of armor, the sounds of it placed the number of guards about five or so. It amazed him the spell that kept the sounds of torture contained worked against them as well, they were deaf to the sounds of the maid dropping the platter with a scream, and even more so to the sounds of guards coming towards them or even the cell door nearly torn off its hinges. Demanding to know why Grey hadn’t be struck with lightning, as he turned round he watched as the intruding guards subdued his cohorts and were about to do the same to him.

Dropping to his flank he rose his front hooves surrendering, knowing that there was nothing he could do.

Celestia was the last pony to walk in, “What have you three done?” She was in shock to see Grey in his current condition, the deep gashes across his body, the holes the spikes ripped out of him, all of it.

In her mind Celestia felt she had failed him when he had given her his trust, and worst of all how her sister was going to take this. Then the last of it what Xiuhtecutli was going to do, looking at her hoof she pondered the symbol as her mind spiraled. Before she could be lost to her fears her mind refocused to a grumble from Greymane, what he said no pony was able to understand.

“Fear nothing Celestia, for we have weakened the monster. If he truly is immortal then it takes one to end one, I wouldn’t hesitate if I was you.” The young earth pony proclaimed, “Be thankful, this will be the only chance you get.”

Stripped of their garb and equipment the three offenders were dragged off to further into the dungeon just as a small group of medical ponies arrived, though members of the guards themselves one of them vomited at the sight before him. They had seen injuries from training, they had seen battle scars from dealing with bandits, but this, this was something worse. Not once in all their years had they seen this level of brutality, what shocked them all the more was to discover Grey was still alive though barely and slowly slipping closer to death.

*Celestia listen to me,* The mental link was weak and fading fast, *I must stay in the castle, this must remained contained. If word got out what happened here you will lose face with your citizens, and worse my enemies will take notice.* Celestia knew it was Grey but his words made her worry, it was nothing short of suicide or murder to do as he asked.

She was conflicted she knew he needed proper medical attention, but at the same time she knew he was right. Celestia recalled how he willingly belittled himself, how he fell from the side of the mountain dragging Adramelech with him. And even facing death itself to best Asmoday, but even still she worried.

Slightly nodding she bit her lower lip, “Give him the best medical attention you can, and give him one of the rooms here in the castle. Whatever happens we must keep this contained, not a word of this is to leave the castle.” The guards were stunned to hear this from her, they knew Grey needed better than what they were trained. And though there were some medical professionals among the guard, without the equipment at the hospital Greymane’s fate would be left to chance.

“But Princess if we do that then…”

“I am well aware of it, but think about how he’s done things thus far. He would have us keep this contained, should knowledge of this gets out how would any of it make us look. The guards torturing prisoners here in the dungeons, would the citizens trust any of the royal guard after that?” She felt ill from having to say that, but what else could she do?

“Princess Celestia is right, and if word did get out the repercussions would be astronomical. Not only would the royal guard be looked at poorly, but how long till there’s rioting in the streets or even a rebellion? We have to tread lightly from here on out and hope he can recover from this.” Looking towards the stairs the guards saw Shining Armor and Princess Cadence, the two of them seemed to be slightly out of breath, “Take him somewhere he will be safe,” Pointing at two of the guards behind Celestia he walked forth, “the two of you will stay here with me and we will see what information we can drag out of those behind this.”

As everypony left to do what they could Celestia remained frozen where she stood unsure of what to do next, “He’s a crazy suicidal bastard I’ll give him that.” Chambers claimed as he walked up to Celestia, “He knew they were coming, had some idea as to what was coming, and all he did was give me this damn rune while swearing I wouldn’t step in.”

It was then Celestia recalled his words about something going to take place that was outside of her control, in a way he did see this coming and all he could do was hold out long enough for the maid to show up. Any events that followed after that were like well placed dominoes being knocked over, and all of it would look purely coincidental leaving only those at its start to appear as the only knowledge holders.

“Did he say anything else, like who was coming or why?”

“I’m afraid not, for most of it he acted like I’ve reported. Strange thing though, when they called him Crimson Stained Stallion his mood and attitude changed completely. On top of it he tried to save the unicorn, I would like to request that one gets transferred to my facility as a safety precaution.” Though safety was on his mind, Chambers wanted to question this young pony away from the other two. In the hopes he could discover something more, something he believed Grey had planned from the start.

“If you believe that is best, but try not to harm him. I think there has been far too much senseless violence.” Celestia shook her head wanting to believe she was making the right choice, but she was more than well aware she knew nothing of what was going on.

Why had those three attacked him as they had? What’s more is why did Grey, according to Chambers, just take this abuse from them? It was only hours ago that he had shown he was more than skilled to deal with those three, in Celestia’s mind she questioned how many of her guards Grey could truly face on his best of days?

As she continued to ponder and toil over the many questions that now ran through her mind, Celestia followed the guards to the room they had barely prepared to take Greymane in. With what little they had the medical guards prepared to do what they could, as the door was shut closed the last few words Celestia heard from them were not very inspiring. Most believed he wouldn’t make it out of the operation, others said if he somehow made it past the operation the most he would have was maybe an hour.

As the lead mare demanded them to shut their mouths she took a firm stance, “We don’t know the outcome or the events to lead up to them, all we can do is our best now give me the damn scalpel.”

Before the door could come to a complete close Celestia saw a frightening figure in the room, it started out as a simple silhouette from one of the medical guards. And while their shadow had originally stopped at the base of the wall, it slowly made its way to where it was now and started to take a shape of its own. It was unlike any of the ponies in the room as it was a bipedal creature stranger than any other than she had seen before.

It stood a rough five and a half feet taller than any of them and seemed to carry a scythe in its left skeletal hand, with its right hand it reached into the black cloak it wore and pulled out a pocket watch. Taking a moment to look at the time it soon placed it back from where it came, just as the door came to a close it turned to look at Celestia.

Having seen its face an icy bolt of fear struck through her body as it seemed to paralyze her, ‘He can’t be dying just yet… can he?’ She pondered hoping the creature’s strange presence signified something else, “Guard whom was that in the black cloak standing in the corner?”

“Huh… well… there was nopony there by that description your majesty.” Confused and hesitant the guard worried he would at the least be ordered to have his eyes checked.

With that answer Celestia could feel the icy chill reaching for her spine, ‘Please make it through, if anything can be true from those stories it's that you are a survivor. Please hold on, if for any reason just so you can see Luna one last time.’ For the moment Celestia didn’t care about the deal she made with Xiuhtecutli, she only cared that Luna could at least have one last chance to see him alive.

Even if that meant Luna could blame her for Grey’s death.

While they continued to walk towards the island Celestia was greeted by a group of worried ponies, “Princess…” The lead pony struggled to say removing her medical mask as she sighed, “The good news is after 36 hours we managed to get him stable, but that’s the only good news I’m afraid.”

Looking past the exiting ponies Celestia saw faint signs of failure in their eyes as her’s focused on the proverbial elephant in the room, “He’s not…” She swallowed hard as she stared at the skeletal being sitting in a chair reading from a scroll, one leg crossed over the knee of the other the only sound among any of them the ticking of a clock.

It's sound grew louder and louder with each passing second till the mare before her spoke up, “Not yet, his injuries are far too severe for us, let alone a hospital, to try and save him. His stab wounds could only be cauterized to slow his bleed out, and his internal organs are near roasted it’s nothing short of a miracle he’s still breathing right now. I don’t even think transplants could save him, speaking of such things we even after everything he still barely has enough blood in his body. Without knowing his blood type we would only end up killing him in the worst possible way.” The tone she had went from bad to worse as she looked back into the room, “I give him till sun rise tomorrow at the most, and that’s if he’s lucky. I know it’s a rather moot point to ask but I feel I must, does he have a next of kin we should inform?”

Walking past the mare Celestia had heard from Luna he had no living relatives, “I’ll inform her myself.” She didn’t want to lie but felt it was better than saying she would inform her sister upon her return.

Walking in she heard Grey’s faint breathing and feared the creature that sat in the room, it's presence was dark, cold, and oddly comforting which made Celestia worry all the more.

“The fear of death follows from the fear of life. Anyone who lives fully is prepared to die at any time.” The creature greeted Celestia as she stood next to Greymane, “One of the few quotes I enjoy from a rather fine author. But you wouldn’t know of him, he’s not of this line he’s from another.” Looking at his scythe resting against the wall Celestia’s eyes darted back and forth, “That is rather rude Princess, as humorous though it may be, rude none the less.” It claimed not moving it’s face away from the scroll.

“What is it that you find both humorous and rude, I’ve said nothing and done nothing till now.” She spoke in a nervous tone.

“The fact you thought using my weapon against me is what I find to be rude, where it is humorous is that you would die the second you touch it.” Trying to peek at the scroll Celestia found it blank as the creature sighed, “You lesser beings and your curiosity…” He groaned rolling it up to tuck away under his cloak, “even if you could see the letters you wouldn’t be able to read it.”

Barely holding out it's hand the scythe gently flew over towards it as Chambers knocked on the door, “Princess do you have a moment to spare?” Looking back Celestia saw the creature was gone.

“Chambers did you see anything else in this room besides what is already here?” She inquired hoping she wasn’t losing her mind.

Looking around the room and even down both ends of the hall he cleared his throat, “Should I have?” Looking at Celestia his concern over the situation grew, “Perhaps you should go lie down, and stop worrying over…” Chambers couldn’t think of a nice way to label Greymane let alone any kind of label to place on him, “him.” Grey’s words about letting him die rang within his mind and made him wonder if this was something he had planed.

Either way it wasn’t good they knew next to nothing about Greymane and even less about Xiuhtecutli, all information Chambers dug up on them was the same. Save for one… Xiuhtecutli was an ancient creature whose race was annihilated by his own claw, but what was never discovered was why, how, or what led up to such a thing. Only that he was the last leviathan left in all the world, with knowledge and secrets in magic and the ages to make him a threat they might never be prepared for.

Walking towards Chambers, Celestia kept a worried stare on Greymane, “I would like to, but far too much has happened.” Looking at Chambers she hoped for some good news, “Did you find anything at all as to why this happened?”

With a sigh he held out his report, “The stallions in custody refuse to speak, and I’ve already prepared transportation for the unicorn as planed. Grey hinted away at him being the weakest without really saying it, so if we want answers with very little effort he’s the one we talk to.” Clearing his throat he leaned against the door-frame as he prepared for any repercussions of his actions, “I watched them do it… before anything happened he asked that I not get involved so I sat back and watched. I heard everything, they believe he can’t die which is why the tortured him as they did.” A thick silence fell between them as Chambers took a deep breath, “Princess they were trying to force him into giving up the location to other artifacts around the world, ones he himself has hidden. This goes much further than we thought, what’s more is they referred to their leader as The Ancient One. No other name or title, I already have my best looking into him and this Order of theirs.”

Neither of them said anything more as their gaze fell upon Greymane, they knew if anypony had more information on them it was him. Celestia knew he had once warned Luna about them and said it was best they remained out of it. But why, if such an organization like theirs could infiltrate the guard and assault him on a whim, then why face them alone? Far too much didn’t make sense and each answer they had only raised more questions, of them the biggest they wanted to know was how long had they been fighting one another and why is it they are only finding out about them now?

A group like theirs would have shown itself over the years, they would have made mistakes yet they didn’t. And yet when they think he was most vulnerable they strike, and only at him nopony else.

“Chambers…” Celestia was hesitant but tried to plan accordingly, “have five of your best and most trustworthy here in Canterlot come to the castle. I want two of them guarding him round the clock, the remaining three are to look for more of these traitors. But they are not to act, he took this on by himself to leave us out of suspicion. I suggest we take his gift and use it to the best of our abilities.” As she walked past him Celestia turned to go towards the throne room to tend to other matters, “Oh and Chambers…” She called back as she stopped, “I expect a full report on anything you and your ponies discover, and should he awaken with enough strength to talk I want to be informed within the very second.”

Titling his head with a nod Chambers sighed, “As you command Princess it shall be done.” Looking back into the room he stared at the weakened thief, “Be it luck, tenacity, determination, whatever it is that keeps you alive right now I don’t know. But you are damn lucky she want’s you alive for the time being, though I doubt we have to worry about you for very long given your current state.” Closing the door he whispered, “I guess I’ll be seeing you in Tartarus.”

Chambers didn’t have much hope on him living to see the next sunrise let alone Luna’s return, but something bugged him to no end. Why did he trust Luna so much? In the time he knew Greymane existed he had kept an eye on him and watched all that he had done.

He gave Luna his diary, he shared with her information that nopony else knew of, and finally it was Luna he had the utmost faith in to go to this island. But why, nothing made much sense to him, and what’s worse is his monocle couldn’t keep an eye on her. Something was blocking his artifact but what it was he couldn’t figure out, the last he had seen of them they were standing at a cliff.

Chambers had informed Celestia of everything up to this point, but without any definitive proof behind this disturbance he was unsure as to how to explain himself. He knew that he would have to report it but he didn’t know how to go about it. All he did know thus far was the two of them could not be trusted, he was a thief unlike any other before or since his first appearance according to what information he had gathered. And the creature that protected him was an even greater mystery, it had slaughtered its own race to near extinction for an unknown reason, and if there was once a race of creatures like him it was clear that not only was he the last but quite clearly the strongest of them.

Though it wasn’t much information to go on it was plenty to tell Chambers not to trust either of them, as he walked through the castle he was given a faint gesture by one of the butlers.

As they cross paths Chambers slipped a note into his breast pocket undetected as he whispered, ‘We have our orders.’

Parting ways the butler vanished without a trace, magical or otherwise, to carry out the orders given unto him, for everypony on all sides things had become tense and everypony had to make their next move with extreme caution. One wrong move ended everything in the worst possible way. As Chambers walked the halls unnoticed he pondered if this was the life Greymane walked on a daily basis, sure he walked the same path but it seemed oddly different in only a few small areas.

While their choices to take the greatest of caution was common ground they differed on how they did things, Grey tried to spare the lives he came into contact with as often as possible. This also included demons even when Adramelech had attacked Grey still did what he could to give him a chance to leave unharmed, it wasn’t until he was given no other choice but to fight that he did. And even then according to the reports Grey didn’t try to kill him, he tried to resolve the fight quickly.

His threats of killing another were clearly hollow, were as for Chambers he never gave it a second thought. At least not until he had heard about Grey’s feat in besting the Archdemon, though it nearly cost him his life. The very thought of trying to save your enemy was a concept he never once heard of in his many years serving Celestia, when it came to Nightmare Moon they dispelled the evil that held Luna captive. Sure they quote unquote saved an enemy but it was more or less like a family squabble than anything else, and Luna’s return meant Nightmare was destroyed.

Sure the terminology was different but the concept was the same in some way, but why, why would Greymane throw his life away trying to save those who would kill him without a single thought? Chambers wouldn’t even bother letting some nopony thief from who cares where get away with a simple theft of an apple off a cart, so much made him ponder, think, and even question. With each answer he managed to discover he began to have far more questions, all he ever knew was how to just kill as a means to resolve any issues that came his way quickly.

As Celestia and Chambers continued their work the three ponies who tortured Greymane sat in their shared cell chained to the wall, the youngest of them had been sobbing most of the time worried what was going to happen to them. But in the last few moments he had gone deathly silent and it worried the other two, at first they thought he cried himself to sleep but his eyes remained open and had rolled back into his head.

Whispering among themselves they knew what came next for them planning to escape in the hopes they could run before anything else could happen, “You poor ignorant fools are not going anywhere… well save for your own graves.” Slowly they turned their gaze over to the young unicorn with the greatest of fear taking hold of them, “You couldn’t have sent word first, no you stupid fuck ups had to think you could take him on.” Slowly he blinked as his eyes turned pitch black, “You honestly think you stood a chance, right now he’s up there laughing at us.”

Walking between them he drifted to the one on his right and started caressing his chest, “A-ancient O-one…” The earth pony’s voice trembled as he realized whose presence he was now in, “I-I-I…” He stuttered as he felt the soft touch of the young unicorn that was his lesser only seconds ago.

“Sir he can’t be laughing…” Interrupting the earth pony the pegasus felt the cold touch of death grip his spine as Sabien placed both hooves on his lower ribs and started making circles, “In the state he’s in there’s no way he should be walking right now, even if he’s immortal he’s severely injured.”

Stopping the circle movement of his hooves just under his rib cage he violently pressed up and in breaking an unknown number, “No he’s not, he’s just as injured as you are. He’s far more powerful, far more dangerous than you think.” As the pegasus started to grunt and groan from the pain Sabien held up his chin, “Look at me…” Slowly their eyes made contact, “this is what it means to be severely injured.”

The pupils in the eyes of both the pegasus and the earth ponies narrowed as Sabien augmented his leg with a spell, slapping the pegasus Sabien shattered his jaw causing him to cry out in pain.

Sabien caressed his cheek as he shushed him, “Don’t worry, you’re learning a valuable lesson. One I’m sure the two of you will never forget.” Giving worried pants the pegasus tried to cry loud enough for the guards to hear as Sabien began beating him to death.

As the guards showed up having heard the first grunt they tried to stop Sabien only to find their magic had no affect on him, fumbling with the keys they watched in horror as the last strike into the pegasus snapped his neck.

Turning to face the guards he looked up at the earth pony as he chuckled, “See you all get to learn something, this is what severely injured means,” As the guards opened the cell they charged Sabien only to find themselves pinned to the wall by a spell, “ah, ah, ah, I’m not done teaching the young and stupid.” Walking over to the earth pony he placed his right hoof on his chest as the stallion begged for mercy, “Oh you poor stupid fool, I can’t forgive you, I can’t show you mercy, you brought this on yourself. I warned all of you that you stood no chance against Greymane, I told all of you to keep us hidden and to send in your reports and wait for commands.” He gave a sigh filled tsk as he brought his hoof back, “But you didn’t listen, now you have exposed us, but don’t worry that’s why I’m here now. To fix your mistake, to clean up after you.”

With a single punch Sabien ripped out the earth pony’s still beating heart and held it before him, “But… I…” He struggled to say as the last of his life faded from him.

Squashing the heart on the stone floor he scoffed as he walked towards the guards, “Well everything seems to be in order here,” Walking past them he pulled the sword off the hip of one of them, “oh… no… wait, I am clearly forgetting something here.” Turning around he threw the sword between the eyes of the guard he took it from, “Here’s how this is going down,” He removed the sword from the remaining guard, “the two of you came down here at the sounds of screaming, this young pony I’m possessing went crazy and killed his partners then killed a fellow guard.” Stabbing himself a few times the guard watched as blood flowed like a river out of his body yet he didn’t grunt or groan once, “He attacked you so you ended his life in self defense, nice, clean, and our tracks are covered.” Dropping the second sword he pulled the first out of the head of the guard as his host body began to die.

Covering his hoof in blood he splashed it around the dungeon before sitting down and letting the loss of blood take its course, “Like I would tell them anything like that, I would never betray my loyalty to my Princess.” The guard growled while baffled at what he was watching.

“But that’s exactly what I want from you, that undying loyalty to your Princess.” Dragging his chest along the floor he smeared the blood till his host body could no longer move, “It keeps you submissively docile, and most of all…” The last of his words trailed out of his mouth as his body perished, the guard released from the spell he heard a voice whispering in his ear, ‘it makes you stupid.’

Hearing the dark sinister laughter the guard trembled as a few beads of sweat formed and slowly made their way down his brow.

Having found a moment between her duties as a princess, Celestia felt it was best to check on Grey’s condition hoping he was getting better. Looking out the window she saw the setting sun and worried that Grey would die some time during the night, the creature she had seen before didn’t pose any better signs.

Celestia never felt such dark power nor had she ever felt so eerily calm before, “He’ll be waking in a few moments Princess, should you hurry you might get there as he awakens.” Looking up her train of thought was broken as she looked at the young colt.

Looking around she saw no other guards nor any signs of anypony, “Are you lost young one?” She smiled, “Tell me whom your parents are and I’ll help you find them.” The young colt was unfamiliar to Celestia as she hadn’t seen him before, the stranger thing was she tried to read the forefront of his mind just to find an answer only to be blocked.

Pulling back the hood of his cloak the young colt looked identical to Greymane causing Celestia to wonder if Grey had a son, “I have no parent’s to speak of Princess, as I am something much greater than yourself.” He smiled as he tilted his head, “Do not worry for he has no foals, I only look like this to communicate with you a little easier.” Scratching the back of her head Celestia watched as the young colt walked into a wall and vanished, “Not much time left, and he won’t be awake for too long. About a minute at the most if I guessed it right.”

Having witnessed this Celestia started wondering if she was losing her mind, a young colt that might not have been there, a creature whose mere presence brought fear to every fiber of her being? Something wasn’t adding up and the only pony in her mind to have even the slightest answer was lying in a bed hanging by a thread between life and death. As she came near the room he was resting in Celestia hesitated for a moment before cracking open the door, looking around she didn’t see the skeletal creature anywhere.

However the atmosphere of the room itself was uneasy and filled her with fear unlike any other, Celestia pondered if this fear she felt came from the mark on her hoof. And if so then what could it all mean? Taking a few steps into the room she saw that he was still sleeping, whether or not it was a peaceful sleep was up for debate.

His breathing was next to unnoticeable, he shown no signs of movements, and even in the calm dark room Celestia couldn’t hear a heartbeat. All of it made her worry if he was dying or if he already passed from this world.

“Grey…” She whispered as she sat down, “normally I’m not on this end of things, but…” She was hesitant and worried she was talking to a corps, “what should I do…” She shook her head, “what can I do when that serpent returns? We know nothing about him and almost as much about you, surely there is something you can tell me.”

‘Note’ A soft gurgling whisper escaped his lips before he was lost to sleep once more.

Pulling out the note he had given her, Celestia tried to open it only to find it sealed off to her, “I don’t understand, what about this is going to help?” Holding the note out to him she waited for an answer only to hear him ask Luna for forgiveness in his sleep.

It was clear to Celestia her moment to ask for his advice had come and gone and his mind had drifted back out unto the endless ocean of dreams. For Grey however he knew not what it was like to dream anymore, for all he saw was an endless hell scape that brought nothing but pain and torment. The worst of it all was watching those he care about die by his hooves followed by the sinister laughter, the laughter itself came from him though he knew he was crying over them.

Leaving the room Celestia heard him mumble that phrase from before in the same strange language, looking back she worried what it meant, what kind of trauma he went through that cause him to create a mantra. So many unanswered questions, so many secrets, everything shrouded in shadows, Celestia feared she would have to go to Luna and demand the diary Grey had given to her.

Leaning against the wall she stared out at the setting sun as she gripped her own leg, the crumbling of the note the only sound she heard. Looking at the note she tucked it back under her royal jewels as she sighed.

“If you worry so much then don’t pursue the answer.” Turning her head she saw the young colt again, “Your worries come from the fear that it is not your place to know, and though this is true you still wish to have the answer.” His voice was stern and full of authority, yet at the same time he sounded full of compassion and understanding, “Do not pursue the answer if you are unsure about wanting it in even the slightest of ways, but if you do choose to continue down this path hold nothing against him once you have what you seek.”

“And what is it that I seek young pony, what is it that you know that I do not?” Celestia lovingly asked him hoping to find even a little truth in this fog of secrets, “If you know anything please share it.”

With a smile the young colt faded from her sight, “If it were my place to do so Princess. We all have our place in life, I know mine quite well. Do you know yours?”

Pondering what the young colt meant or if he was even real Celestia looked back out the window only to let out a gasp.

As Celestia rushed to contend with her ever growing list of problems, Luna and the others had come to a cave. Their only light from a set of strange flowers that illuminated their path, as they walked everypony took notice of the many odd plants that decorated their path.

As they muttered amongst themselves Xiuhtecutli violently reached back pulling Fluttershy into his grasp, “Consider us even from before…” Before anypony could start questioning him or yelling at him he pointed back to where she was, “I forgot to mention that some of the plants here have a taste for flesh of all kinds, so do stay close and be weary of what you choose to get close to. The most vibrant and beautiful of them are the worst, their digestion can last up to 2 thousand years and have often taken to eating other plants in some cases. But ponies are their delicacy.” As many of them shuttered he slithered to an opening in the cave, “Behold, the very secret behind his immortality.”

As they followed him they saw a building in the distance it’s bold letters sent shivers down their spines, ‘THEIR LOVE IS A MEMORY; A GHOST IN THE FOG.’

They wanted to ask him about what it meant only to see he stood like a pillar in a hallway, his hands clasped together, his head bowed, his eyes closed. He said not a word as he stood motionless, his respect for them was far greater than any living thing could ever fathom. And in their eternal slumber he wished them to have the peace they had all more than earned.

On their left following around in a circle was a row of headstones each one appearing blank, “Who are all of them?” Applejack spoke up as they walked around.

“Greymane…” Xiuhtecutli spoke solemnly soft only to hear their confusion, “Each and every one of them Greymane.”

“Darling you can’t be s-s-serious…” Rarity tried not to stutter wishing that what she was seeing and had heard wasn’t true, “he couldn’t be in every one of… of…” She trialed off in worry as she looked at the unmarked headstones.

“I am, but they are not.” Turning to his right he slithered past them, “Each grave is filled by Greymane, they are the same only in name but each one different.” He sighed having to share this secret unsure as to what could come from it, “As you know he can die, what you may not have known is he is far more mortal than any of you think…” Stopping a few headstones down he waved his hand causing a rose bush to sprout out of the ground, “she always loved the pink rose.” He sounded in pain as if something pierced his heart, “Each of them took the name and walked this path of isolation, and when the time came the next in line was chosen. The world thought he was immortal and all powerful, capable of doing as he wished… how wrong they are yet don’t know it.”

Out of all the numerous graves there the one that drew Luna’s earlier fears back like a raging river was the single open grave and the pile of dirt sitting next to it, looking down into it Luna felt cold and lone. Sitting down she bit her lower lip as she took hold of her left leg trying to hold back her tears.

“So this is what it means to be him…” Her sobs finding their way into her voice, “to be Greymane?” As she turned around they saw the tears though she tried to hide behind her hoof, “To be see as a criminal by the world though you try and save it, only to be forgotten as somepony else carries on your name?” The very thought was dark and left them all feeling so empty they almost joined Luna in crying.

“Is that what you see?” Xiuhtecutli pondered as he looked around, “Tell me could any of you accept whom each of them are, what they had done?” Pointing to the far end on his right side a light shined over the headstone, “The twelfth Greymane was one of the most clever, her father the eleventh was the greatest potion master to exist before or since his time.” Slithering over to Luna his movements brought to a halt by Selune who stood before him unsure as to what she could do, “Each and everyone of them did something that made them immortal in the eyes of the world, the tenth Greymane brought an end to the war with Tartarus with nothing more than his own willpower. He discovered the demonic curse that is still used to this day by the Greymane you know. What you see around you is a reminder of how this world is safeguarded by an individual who is willing to walk alone in the shadows, isolated in the dark so that others like you all over the world can sleep all the more peaceful at night!” Turning away he looked back in contempt though sadness filled his eyes, “And that book that all of you have heard of as foals, they are remembered through that book. And one day so too shall he.”

As he slithered towards the black obelisk like structure he paused for a moment as he looked back towards his right, his mouth slightly opened as he stared at the hole that he overlooked before. He had hopped that it was something else but knew that wasn’t the case, the hole was right before the headstone to the sixth Greymane. Hoping his mind was playing tricks on him he rushed towards the building knowing that mare was one of the best advocates he ever had, she alone could bring an entire army to its knees without trying.

Many of the stealth skills the Greymanes used came from her, she was as dangerous as she was beautiful and smart. Even before the tenth had ended the war the Greys were more than well known among the realm of Tartarus because of her.

As they followed him to the structure they found themselves stopping as he banged on the door, “Can’t you just blast it open with magic?” Rainbow tapped the black doors as she continued to mock him, “I mean you’ve been talking so high and mighty about how powerful you are, some glass door can’t be… that…” Pausing for a moment she turned around and noticed the whole building was made out of the same black glass, “What is this?”

“Obsidian, the same volcanic glass that makes up the dome that covers and shields this place.” Looking at Rainbow in annoyance he placed a finger on her head and lowered her to the ground, “And I would never use magic in this place, there’s no telling what kind of affect the Ley Lines could have on my casting. Besides everything that is made of obsidian is charged by the Ley Lines, any spell thrown at the dome is not only absorbed but it is also thrown back at three times its original power and ten times the original speed. I don’t think anything could penetrate this place…” He rolled his eyes at the thought but knew the repercussions wouldn’t matter, “at least not without killing the whomever tries. And even if the dome was cracked open I’ve seen shards of obsidian fall off the walls only to be replaced almost instantaneously.”

Looking around he soon rushed over to a statue that appeared to look like the first Greymane, as he neared it he started demanding that the statue open the doors.

“You know that’s just a statue right?” Twilight stared at him in bewilderment questioning his intelligence only to be startled by the statues sudden movement knocking Xiuhtecutli away from itself.

“That accursed artifact has never liked me, it was brought here by the second Greymane who used it to build this place as a reminder of her adoptive father the First Greymane. The very stallion who spared me my fate.” Getting back up he growled as he pointed at the chest of the statue, “Right there is the artifact, an emerald stone that prefers to be called The Architect” Snarling at it Xiuhtecutli slithered back to it, “And we need it to open the building up for us.”

For a moment it sat there doing nothing but staring out into the open area, slowly it turned its gaze towards Luna and started walking. Selune and Twilight tried to stop its advance only to find it slipped past them before they knew it, the only indication it had done this was a trail of smoke that moved not just around them but between them as well. Turning around in fear of what it was up to they were soon astonished at what they saw.

“W-why is it caressing her cheek?” Selune bafflingly inquired unsure if she should laugh or try to pull the golem away.

Sighing at what he saw Xiuhtecutli leaned against the building, “The Architect feels out it’s masters thoughts and wishes, it then combines them with what emotions they are feeling about those thoughts and creates things from it. Over the years it has learned from every last one of my advocates, their thoughts, their knowledge, their secrets, everything that was and still is whom they are is part of The Architect.”

Bursting out into laughter they caused Luna to blush as Rainbow spoke between gasps of air, “S-so… i-it’s… in love?”

“Not exactly…” He groaned crossing his arms, “the Architect is merely reflecting the emotions of the one who loves her. A few months before the issue with Asmoday he came here, he was looking for answers. I’m guessing that’s when his emotions for Luna were collected and added to the it.”

Looking at the face of the golem Luna watched as it slowly changed to look like the Greymane she knew, “What answers was he looking for?” Before Xiuhtecutli could answer the golem gently took Luna by the hoof guiding her to the side of the building.

Placing its hoof on the wall they watched as small stones started to move in the pattern of an intricate puzzle, each piece shifting, turning, sliding, and twisting before the door stood open for them. Holding its left hoof out the golem gently pulled Luna in with its right hoof though the golem itself never moved from its spot. As everypony followed her in it bowed its head to them in respect but stared at Xiuhtecutli as he moved along with them.

Once inside Twilight and Selune shrieked at all the books just sitting around them, oddly not collecting dust. They seemed to be just as clean and new as they day they were made, near the center of the room was a table with scrolls and books stacked upon one another, some even left open. Unable to contain their excitement for untold knowledge and secrets beyond what anypony could ask for, the two of them rushed the table with smiles on their faces hungry to learn more about Grey.

Carefully delving into each book, scroll, and tome in sight their excited expressions slowly turned into bewilderment, “Why are all of these blank?”

Flipping a few more pages hoping it was a trick, Twilight nearly went stir crazy, “No they are not blank, they can’t be blank. Right? Right?”

Taking hold of Twilight’s hoof Luna looked down at the page, “You’re right they’re not blank…” Staring at the page she groaned, “but we don’t recognize the language it’s in.”

Reaching for the book the three of them were startled by Xiuhtecutli, “The reason those appear to be blank is because you can’t see past the spell that keeps them sealed. As for you Princess…” Slithering towards her he levitated Luna a few feet off the ground, “keep your hooves to yourself, I know what is contained in each and everyone of these pages. You don’t.” Slowly letting her down he articulated each word, “So… keep… your… hooves… to… yourself.” Before any of them could say anything to him he slithered away, “What we seek is this way, down below.”

As they followed him to the stairs leading down they marveled at the small figurines of each Greymane that had come and gone over the years, though their questions were endless Luna could only focus on her earlier words next to that open grave. So many of them had come and gone but the world only knows of one, as she thought about this she recalled the last two times he brushed against death. Her mind focused all the more on Selune’s prediction, Luna wasn’t ready to let him go, nor did she want to think about how close he was to dying in just a blink of an eye only to be forgotten as another took his place.

Luna walked slowly her eyes trained on the floor as tears slowly formed in her eyes, she was unaware that she had fallen behind the group being caught up in her own thoughts. She hoped there was a way to save him if even a slim chance stood to do so. The one question that stayed in her mind was this, ‘If he was this world’s savor, then who would save him?’

As her hooves dragged against the floor Luna was unaware of a single book that had fallen from the stack, gently touching the book the room around her went dark as disembodied voices rushed past her ears. Slowly it all calmed down and Luna found herself in a cave staring at an alicorn with a near same appearance as Grey, but his eyes were a light shade of brown rather than the ones she knew.

Before him swathed in an aura of magic was a ring with strange little markings, behind him Xiuhtecutli glided around in his astral form, “Are you sure it will work this time?”

“It has to work, for the sake of the world it has to.” Placing the ring on his horn the markings shined for a second, “I studied every rune she documented and I did everything I could to make ones that would adapt to the curse, this ring will bring an end to the war.”

As he walked to what she assumed to be the exit the illusion came to an end, looking around Luna realized why Xiuhtecutli singled her out. Because Greymane taught her how to view his diary she could see all that was contained in the building, looking at the book Selune and Twilight tried to read she walked over and placed her hoof down on the blank page.

Slowly the room blurred around her and the air was filled with the scent of freshly fallen autumn leaves, as everything came into focus she saw Xiuhtecutli looking at a set of notes talking to a zebra.

“Your formula doesn’t make much sense, and why use poison joke? It’s merely just that a poison, why even bother using it?”

With a rather sadistic laugh the zebra ground up dried poison joke into a fine powder before adding it to the slightly boiling water in a beaker, “Why? Why else? This plant contains magic within it, rather tricky magic but magic still. If I can find a way to harness it…”

“Grey.” Xiuhtecutli tried to get his attention as it slowly boiled over, “Grey…” His advocate continued his rant about harnessing chaos magic and using to help make the world better, “GREY… THE-”

“Not now I’m nearing a breakthrough!” He laughed his attention on his notes.

“GREY THE DAMN BEAKER I-” He shouted as the beaker boiling poison joke blew up on them.

The zebra was slammed into the wall with enough force to leave an imprint of his body upon it, Xiuhtecutli found himself caught between his astral form and his humbled form unsure as to how to fix himself.

The zebra’s laugh echoed in the cave as he fell from the wall, “Oh colt that was awesome…” He rushed over to the chemistry set with a pep in his step, “let's do that again!”

Xiuhtecutli gave a worried groan unsure what else the toxic plant could do, “Please let us not.” Luna giggled at how they were complete opposites, she even questioned if this zebra was really one of the Greymanes.

As the memory came to an end Luna could hear the faint distant voices of the others, taking a few steps nearly rushing off to try and catch up with them. She stopped and stared at the small figurine of a changeling, looking at the stairs she could hear their voices growing further and further away. Luna knew she needed to catch up with them but she couldn’t help but learn more about Grey’s predecessors hoping she could better understand them.

Biting her lower lip she touched one of the books wanting to see if the figurine was truly one of them, as she held the book she felt a warm loving feeling surround her as though something or somepony was embracing her while a burst of light blinded her from below her hooves.

As the light slowly dimmed Luna saw a young mare and Xiuhtecutli moving towards the Tree of Harmony with the elements still attached, “So this is the tree from those old legends and stories…” Pulling back her hood she appeared like any other earth pony yet with the same color mane and coat as Greymane, “it’s not that impressive if you ask me.”

“You most of all should know better than to underestimate stories and legends my young advocate. The Tree of Harmony is far more powerful than you know, and it draws its power from the artifacts that are housed in its branches.” As they moved closer to the tree he was forced into his humble form as she was forced to take her changeling appearance.

“I see it doesn’t want me to keep a form I want.” Reaching up to touch the tree she closed her eyes as she gently rested her horn upon it, “It feels warm, peaceful, and loving.” He cooed loving what she felt from the tree.

Reaching towards it Xiuhtecutli’s claw was zapped by magic causing him to pull back, “It’s not safe to leave these artifacts here, take them and let us be off.”

“No… I don’t think we will.” Letting go of the tree she turned and walked away, “They told me only those worthy will be allowed to remove them, and from what I saw them do to you I can say they are well enough protected.” Slowly she walked past Luna only to stop as her head reached her back, “To whomever their wielders may be I envy you, I hope and wish that you never lose your way. And should you meet any of my successors please find not fault with them, they only do what they believe to be best. Just as I.”

As she pulled her hood over her head she changed her appearance back to what Luna first saw, Luna pondered if she knew somepony other than her successors would view this memory and left that by choice. Or if was merely by chance that she had stumbled upon such a thing, either way she smiled as a small tear ran down the side of her face. Luna wasn’t sure what made that tear form in her eye, but what she did know was the words the young changeling spoke filled her with comfort making her believe everything would be just fine.

Slowly everything returned back as it was while Luna whipped the tear off her face, as the world returned to normal she was startled by the slanted eyes of a dragon staring into her eyes.

“What did you see?” His growl was low and oddly calm despite how his rage shown upon his face.

“Well… uh…” Luna tried to find the right words hoping she could come up with a good enough excuse for what she had done.

Before Luna could think of anything Xiuhtecutli touched the book that Luna held in her hooves, “Ah…” His anger seemed to calm as he put the book back, “her…” His voice slightly trembled as he cleared it, “please come along we have very little time on our side.”

Luna found it odd that his entire demeanor seemed to change from just seeing her, “You didn’t happen to love her did you?”

As he slithered down the steps he sighed, “I am a Leviathan. My race doesn’t feel, let alone understand, love. Procreation was simply something that was necessary to us, nothing more nothing less.” Stopping for a moment he looked up at her, “But if you meant to ask if I cared for her then yes. I have cared for all my advocates and it pains me to watch each of them go, but it is something outside of my control Princess. When their time came all I could do was watch, I remember how I did all I could to keep them safe, to save them when they needed it the most. But in the end the Reaper of Souls claims us all.”

Luna didn’t like anything he had said but was willing to understand, she wanted to ask him more about his race hoping to have a better understanding of him. But she felt now was not a good time to try, especially not here in this most sacred of places to the Greymanes. The further down they went the hotter it seemed to get, everypony had their guesses but not one of them was sure.

“Oh darling how hot is it down here? It feels as though we are in a volcano.” Rarity fanned her face with her hoof as a few beads of sweat formed upon her brow.

With a hmph Xiuhtecutli slithered past them towards a set of doors, “That is because this island sits upon an active volcano, the magic that brings this island to life is also what keeps the volcano from erupting. I may not know how or why this island lives or bends to the whims of my advocates but I do know one thing, this island has done what it can to prepare itself.” Placing his claws upon the doors he thrust his body to shove open the heavy doors, “The obsidian dome that covers the island, the reflective spell that very volcanic glass is imbued with, the flesh eating plants, and finally the active volcano. All of this is to keep this place sealed and protected from any who would either harm it, or use it for their own personal gain.”

For a moment they thought about how Greymane and his predecessors had gathered such knowledge and secrets in this place and locked them all away. But the more they thought about how he fought for them twice, they soon realized what was stored here was for the world. Their secrets was clearly the source of their strength and just as easily their greatest weakness if in the wrong possession, for now they understood that it was best this place remained hidden though they didn’t agree with the idea.

To have such secrets locked away made them feel uneasy, they almost questioned if he was still the same stallion they knew. Luna on the other hoof only hoped that among all these secrets stood the one bit of hope to spare Grey his fate.

As they entered the room they felt a sudden freezing chill take them as everything grew dark, “Do not fear the dark.” Xiuhtecutli whispered as he shut the doors.

In the dark Selune tried to keep her composure as the only sounds she heard around herself was that everypony’s hoofsteps, felling the Princess on her left and Twilight on her right she kept her breathing calm and steady.

*My, my, whom might this be that has stepped into my realm?* A faint voice called out to her as she felt a cold yet loving touch at the back of her mind, *A young mare… an odd one touched by something beyond her understanding. How intriguing…* Before Selune knew what was going on she found herself lost in the dark, *I thought that only Greymane and the leviathan were the only ones to have access to the island. How did you manage to get here?*

She tried to remain calm but hearing voices in the dark was never a good sign, *P-P-P-Princess Luna…* Selune tried not to stutter her words even in her thoughts but her fears gripped her.

*Ah yes the infamous mare who has stolen his heart.* Selune was aware that whatever it was it clearly knew she was scared, *You needn’t fear me young one I am the object of your quest, did the Leviathan not tell you?*

Before Selune could respond she watched as the darkness that enveloped them was dragged into the center of the room, they found it odd to see one another when no light existed in the room. Even stranger still was the darkness had been replaced by this even stranger dark blue void.

“Mirror of the Veil, we come unto you to ask assistance of those who rest beyond the unseen veil between life and death. We ask that you grant us your power so that we may commune with the departed…”

As Xiuhtecutli continued speaking to the mirror it in turn returned to talking with Selune, *Quite the wind bag isn’t he?* Selune tried to contain a chuckle as the artifact carried on, *It’s not that hard, a simple ‘yo we’s needs to chat with so-n-so’ would work just fine. Hell I’d accept a simple ‘hi can you connect me with (insert name of whomever)’. I don’t require a ritual or a chant, this is… this is just sad… and embarrassing to me.*

*Why not just tell him, wouldn’t that make it easier?* Though Seluen’s question wasn’t meant to be, she unknowingly asked what could have unraveled the secrets of the past.

The end of the Leviathans, the start of the Greymane’s, how they came together, every last bit of it would just lay right at her hooves.

*Ew… no thanks,* The mirror knew the possibilities that lay hidden if it went into far more detail than it did, *an arrogant creature like his race is one mind me and my siblings wouldn’t ever want to communicate with. I mean he kept his own advocate from discovering his past just because he told him it held no meaning to whom he is now.*

*What about Grey, he seems…* Though she tried to find a word good enough to explain him, Selune found herself being interrupted through her prolonged pause.

*Would if I could, but Grey hasn’t allowed any artifact to communicate with him in over a thousand years. The only ones who can have been tormenting him, even my sibling The Staff of Wisdom had to fight it’s way into his mind just to talk. And all it wanted was to help set him back on the right path.* The mirror gave a worried sigh as it gave itself an appearance to Selune, *Miss there is far more going on than any of you know, not even the leviathan knows the whole truth. Soon enough the past will catch up with the present, everything will come full circle, and the last few foals of the stars will drown in a sea of their own blood.*

Staring at the young filly before her puzzled her a bit, *Why do you look like me?*

*One thing that was never shared to the Greymanes or the Leviathans. When we artifacts find a perfect wielder we search them to find what makes them who they are, once we have we mold our appearance around that. In you I see a warm, caring, loving heart that wishes to help others. I wish to do the same, and if it were not for the Order of Balance I would do all I could to inform Greymane to give me to you.* As the filly shook her head she sighed while turning to walk towards itself, *But until the threat that is the Order is gone I will abide by their wishes and keep you out of harm's way, be well Selune Darkeye and I hope that one day our paths cross again.*

As the young mare before her started to vanish Selune reached out, *Wait what do you mean the foals of the stars will drown in their own blood? What do you mean by everything will come full circle? I still have so many questions.*

The young mare was gone but it’s voice slowly faded in her mind *All in due time Selune, all in due time.*

As she stepped forth she was held back by Xiuhtecutli as the darkness that was drawn in violently shot forth and began to circle all of them, slowly it came to a stop as it took form of a pony trotting towards them. As the pony came to a steady stop the darkness that made up it’s body faded revealing it was a stallion, looking at all of them he smiled as he crossed his leg over his chest and bowed before them.

“It is an honor to be in your presence.” As he raised his head he looked to his right, “Leviathan, I see not too much has changed. But tell me since when has the policy change to teaching more than one…” Walking through them he looked at each mare, “and such lovely mares at that? Surely they are far better suited for much greater things, after all Princess Luna is among them.”

“49th? But I had requested for the 8th or even the 25th to speak to, why is it you’ve come?”

Looking back over he sighed, “Because I fear for my son, much troubles him, and he has not been at his best for far too long.” His eyes trained on the ground as though he was viewing something, “He’s lost in his own mind, fighting, yet at the same time trying to let go.” Walking up to Luna he took her hoof, “I know what he has said, but as his father I wish to help him. Tell him Luna, don’t hesitate, don’t hold back, it will help him and it will help you.”

Everypony was baffled as to what he meant, Luna was even more so. She knew Grey said he didn’t want to know, so why would his father say to do other wise? Luna didn’t know why Grey never wanted to know how she felt about him, but after what she had seen him do just for her without knowing. She feared what he would do after finding out, what it could all bring.

As he walked towards the mirror he sighed, “The past collides with the present this much you know, the Shadow Walker has risen and so the lights of harmony are now lost in the dark. Only one who traverses the dark can retrieve the light. But I fear the past will overcome the present, the dead will overtake the living, and hope will be lost unto the draconic dogs who now hold the shame of the Leviathans.”

“I don’t understand, there has never been such a creature known as a draconic dog. And what shame? My race has never known shame.” Xiuhtecutli’s voice trembled as he recalled his own past, sure he knew what he did, and he had to do it.

There was no shame in what he did, but what he wasn’t paying attention too was he said Leviathans plural not possessive. It was this one bit of misunderstanding he was overlooking as his fears began to rise. He knew Shadow Walker was a sur name given unto the seventh Greymane from those that succeeded her, it was the one reason she could take down a single army on her own.

She was a pegasus who managed to bend the very shadows around her without the need of magic, sure she had rune magic to use but she never once touched used it believing it left her weak. Before the stallion could leave Selune reached out to touch him, only for her hoof to pass through his body feeling only an icy chill that left permafrost on her hoof.

Slightly startled by the cold she felt and not her sudden realization she watched as the 49th Greymane smiled as he looked back at her, “The mirror spoke to me, it said a few things but of them there is one I want to know the answer to.” Swallowing hard she looked back at Luna hoping the answer was what she thought it too be as she returned her gaze to him, “What did it mean when it said, ‘The foals of the stars will drown in a sea of their own blood’?”

“That is neither here nor now young Darkeye,” Turning around to caress her cheek his hoof faded from their sight, “funny. I guess my time here is up.” Tears filled his eyes as he looked into hers, “You have the eyes of the mare I once loved…” Slowly his body left them as his last words faintly echoed around them, “go to my son and tell him, I take upon the name…” His voice faded with along with him as the room returned to being pitch black.

As the doors behind them opened to light the way Xiuhtecutli called back to them with a twinge of sorrow in his voice, “We’ve been here long enough, let us return from whence we’ve come.”