//------------------------------// // Chapter XXXIII - Daemonis Interius // Story: The Adventures of Damon Lipton // by Mr101 //------------------------------// The Adventures of Damon Lipton Chapter XXXIII - Daemonis Interius “Damon? What on Equestria is going on with—” Discord was interrupted as Damon shot a blast of wind at him. He roughly slammed into the ground over and over as he bounced along it before slamming into a tree with his back. He let out a strangled cry of pain as the tree buckled from the impact of the crash. Wincing, Discord looked up only to be met with Damon standing mere inches from his body. The draconequss’ eyes went wide as he stared into Damon’s, the red flames piercing right into his very soul. Discord was able to to duck and roll out of the way just in time as the mage slammed his fist into where his head was, causing the tree to explode into millions of splinters. With a surprised gasp, Discord snapped his talons and teleported away, realising how dangerous the situation was getting. However, to his horror, he wasn’t teleporting. Panicking, Discord began to rapidly snap his talons over and over, trying desperately to teleport away. However, each time he did so, nothing would happen. “W-What?!” Discord spluttered. “Oh, that is just not cricket!” The draconequus came to the realization that Damon was somehow preventing him from simply teleporting away. He felt the air around him become cold, as if he was trapped in ice. Swallowing a lump in his throat, he looked up to see Damon slowly start to walk towards him, each step he took making the clouds above darken as Discord felt the rage coming from Damon. He now had two options. Run. Run away the old fashioned way as fast as he could and pray to the ancestors he could somehow outrun the skeleton. Or he could fight. And pray that he could stop Damon. He decided the former was the best thing for his health. “Well as much as this has been fun, but would you look at the time!” Discord smiled sheepishly as he looked at his arm, which was covered in dozens of watches of all shapes and sizes, “I really must be going, ta-ta!” Discord, with the help of what magic he could use, suddenly flew like a bat out of hell into the forest, flying so fast that the trees bent slightly from the sudden rush of wind. Damon meerley stopped in his tracks as he glared down at the draconequus. A shadowy mist began to form around his body, swirling around the mage’s body before it had fully engulfed him. Damon let out a horrifying screech that sounded animalistic and demonic, as if all the creatures of tartarus itself had awoken, and launched himself after Discord, using the shadows to propel himself at speed. Berry paced about her living room as Colgate sat on the nearby sofa. It had been well over half an hour since Pinchy had gone awol and Luna had assigned several of the guard that had come with the her and Princess Celestia to search Ponyville to see if they could find any trace of the filly. Berry and Colgate had wanted to go with them, but they were told that they should remain at home just in case Pinchy turned up there. “I’m starting to get worried, Colgate,” Berry said as she glanced up at the clock. “I know, hun,” Colgate replied, “I’m sure she just went off to the park or something to calm down. She was a lil peeved she couldn’t go with the others.” Berry nodded, “You’re probably right… but still, I can’t help worry.” Colgate got off the sofa and nuzzled the mare’s neck softly, giving her a reassuring smile, “I know, hun. I know.” Berry smiled back as she returned the nuzzle, “Thanks, Colgate…” “Now, how about I make us some tea whilst we wait, okay?” Colgate suggested with a soft smile. “That sounds wonderful,” Berry smiled as she sat down on the sofa. Te mare watched the unicorn enter the kitchen and the second she did, her smiled faded to a frown as she glanced back up at the clock with worry. “Where are you, Pinchy… ?” She whispered softly. “You know… I remember your soldiers used to be made of tougher stuff. Guess a thousand years of bugger all happening changes that,” Dorian tutted. Celestia gritted her teeth and glared at the mad man, her mane disheveled and her breathing ragged. It had been some time since she had fought like this and it was showing on her. Behind her, all of the guards ponies lay unconscious, their armor battered and dented. “Though I do find it amusing that these mares are still kicking. Showing the guys that girl power, eh?” The elements looked up with varying degrees of expressions. Fluttershy, Pinkie and Rarity all had looks of fear on their faces, and were standing behind the other three. Rainbow and Applejack both had expressions of anger as they glared back determinedly at Dorian, using all of their will to try and hide their fear. Twilight, looked up with awe and a mixture of curiosity and worry. Dorian saw they mares looking at him and grinned, “What’s the matter? Cat got your tongue? Well… I soon will!” He chuckled as he rolled over, his human form gone entirely. In it’s place, a large feline monstrosity, the size of a house easily dwarfing the ponies. His body covered in black and white fur adorned with a jumble of black and white shapes, zigzags and lines. His eyes, one white with a black slit and the other black with a white slit, leering down at the group as his sharp grin curled up and almost around his whole face. “You will not harm my subjects, Dorian!” Celestia shouted, “You will be defeated!” Dorian purred loudly, “Cute. Very cute, but it’s going to take more than words to defeat me.” The cat grinned his eyes squinted down at the alicorn, “Amuse me, Celestia…” The alicorn winced a little as she kept herself barely standing up. As soon as Dorian had transformed, he had fired a blast of magic at the group. They had been caught off guard and unable to block it. However, Celestia was able to use her body as a shield to prevent the other from being hit. Because of this, she felt the full effect of the energy blasts effects, which was one of Dorian’s favorite tactics. An energy draining spell. Whilst he was unable to drain the alicorn’s magic as she was more powerful than he was, he was able to sap the energy from her body, rendering her unable to cast high level magic without pushing herself to extreme exhaustion in the process. Seeing their Princess badly hurt, the guards had charged at the mad man, only to be instantly backhanded into the cavern’s wall and knocked out, much to the delight of Dorian. As Celestia readied herself for a fight, she felt something touch her back lightly and saw Kalanar standing beside her. I have a plan she heard Kalanar say telepathically, I’ll distract him, as it’s me he currently wants to play games with. You need to channel the rest of your magic into the girls to power the elements of harmony enough to take Dorian out in one shot. Will it work? She asked him. I think so. But you will only get one shot, so make it count. Celestia nodded as Kalanar smiled before turning to the feline. “You want to play a game, Dorian?” “Game? Oh I do love games!” Dorian replied, rolling onto his back with a grin, “What shall we play? Backgammon? Checkers? Mahjong?” Kalanar smirked as Dorian suddenly let out a yelp as his body was slammed into the ground by one of Kalanar’s giant summoned stone hands creating a crater in which the hand covered up. “I was thinking of ‘pet the kitty’…” Kalanar replied. The stone hand began to rumble before two white beams of light burst through the palm, destroying the hand, as Dorian crawled out of the hole with a frown on his face. Before Dorian could retort, Kalanar pushed off from the ground and into the air suddenly, looming over the madman and twisting his body, transforming into a large ice dragon and landing on top of Dorian. Dorian Cried out before he was able to roll over and latch onto Kalanar, sinking his claws into the scales easily causing Kalanar to let out a roar of pain. Dorian pinned Kalanar to the ground before he opened his mouth. A ball of white and black energy began to form as he forced Kalanar to remain still, aiming the energy at his head. Just as he was about to fire, Kalanar was able to get a claw free and struck Dorian across the face, scratching deep into the madman's face causing it to bleed and his head to suddenly snap to the right where he let loose the built up energy. The ball of energy slammed into the wall and obliterated it and kept on going until it finally faded, revealing a hole that led outside to the forest. Dorian growled as he pushed off Kalanar and floated back into the air, raising his claws up and slashing the air repeatedly, sending several shock waves towards Kalanar. The elf roared out and shot a blast of blue fire that stopped the shockwaves, causing a second explosion to echo through the cave. “You’re not playing fair, Daloreth!” Dorian whined, “you’re supposed to take the hits like a good follower!” Kalanar smirked up at the madman, “I’m happy to disappoint you, then,” Kalanar, crouching slightly, suddenly burst two wings from his back and with an almighty flap, he launched into the air quickly, swiping with his own claws at Dorian. Dorian vanished just as the claws were about to clip him and appeared above the mage, his back legs kicking down and sending Kalanar into the ground with a loud boom. The impact sent a large dust cloud into the air as Kalanar roared out in pain. Wasting no time, Dorian quickly descended to the floor and slammed on top of the downed dragon, laughing with a gleeful, maniacal tone as he repeatedly stomped on Kalanar. After several stomps, only for Kalanar to suddenly roll out of the way and slam his tail onto the ground hard. As he did, two large rectangles of earth ripped up from the floor and slammed together, with Dorian in the middle. Dorian suddenly appeared on top of the two earth pillars as Kalanar slammed his hands together and growled before several pillars of ice ruptured form the floor and shot towards the madman. Grinning, he let out a cackling miaow as he dodged the incoming pillars, prancing about as if he was in a ballet. Dorian then swung his body full circle and used his tail to send out a crack of lightning straight towards Kalanar. The mage used his wing to shoot into the air, avoiding the lightning as it struck the ground and exploded. Not wasting his time, Kalanar slammed his hands together and the spines along his back extended and sharpened. He then tucked into a ball and began to rapidly spin in the air until he was nothing but a blur. Dorian watched with amusement, though he was more interested in the fact that Kalanar was in a ball shape, thanks to his current form. Kalanar suddenly blast towards Dorian, much faster than the madman was expecting and slammed right into him, forcing Dorian along the ground and making him yell in surprise as the spines bore into him, trying to break the flesh. Growling, Dorian used all his strength to grab Kalanar, stopping his rotation before he opened his mouth and shot a blast of white energy into the mage, sending him straight into the opposite cavern. Growing loudly, Kalanar fell to all fours and slammed the ground. Dorian looked around as the floor rumbled before several tree roots ripped from the ground and tried to grab the madman. Dorian cackled in delight as he broke apart, his individual body parts weaving in and out of the roots attacks. He would use his floating paws to swope every now and again at the roots and destroy them. “Not bad, but not good enough!” Dorian laughed. Kalanar hissed at Dorian before his eyes shone slightly and the roots sprouted dozens upon dozens of brightly coloured flowers. Dorian watched with curiosity as the flowers bloomed bigger and brighter, purring as he tilted his head. Suddenly, the flowers’ petals opened out and a yellow gas like substance spewed from them, catching Dorian off guard and causing him to start choking. “W-what?!” Dorian spluttered. “You may be a demigod, Dorian,” Kalanar started, “But your body is still an avatar. A mortal avatar.” Dorian growled as he fells to the grouch, choking and gasping for air as his body began to revert back to his human form, his hands around his neck as he tried to desperately get some air into his system. Dorian had forgotten the risks of using an avatar to appear in Equestria, and was paying for his carelessness. D-damn! He thought, It’s a paralyzing toxin! “What’s going on, Princess?” Twilight asked. “Even though Dorian is a demigod, he is unable to manifest into our plane of reality in his demigod form, just as he cannot do so in Cyrium,” Celestia replied without taking her eyes off the battle. “He has to use an avatar, a willing host who allows the demigod to possess him and use his body as means to interact with our world. However, this comes at the cost of having his power reduced significantly, as well as all that comes with  having a mortal host. Such as being susceptible to toxins and physical injury.” Twilight nodded as she processed the information before Celestia moved behind the girls. “Alright, everyone get ready, it’s time to finish this!” Celestia commanded. The elements nodded as they closed their eyes and levitated slightly off the ground, their respected elements beginning to low as Celestia lowered her horn and poured all of her remaining magic into the girls, giving them a boost in power. As Dorian became rigid, heavily breathing as the toxins slowly dispersed along with the roots and flowers. Kalanar slowly approached Dorian, his body shifting back to his normal appearance. Dorian struggled to look up at the elf as he gritted his teeth. “W-well played, Daloreth… are you going to finish me off then? Do I get a final word, a final cigarette? Phone a friend?” Dorian chuckled. “I’m not trying to kill you,” Kalanar replied as he stood above the madman. “Then, what?” “I’m was just distracting you.” “What?” “Now!” Dorian’s eyes went wide as Kalanar vanished and he saw the others a few feet away from him. In the fight with the mage, he had somehow completely forgotten about the others and had been forced near to them, meaning at the range he was, there was no way he was going to avoid the attack. He cursed himself for not investing in a better avatar, one that could withstand the effects of the toxin. “Oh… poop.” A rainbow colored beam slammed into him at the speed of light, causing him to let out a cry of pain as the magic surged through him and engulfed him in a rainbow light that forced Kalanar, Celestia and the others to shield their eyes. When the light faded, they expected to find a statue of Dorian. However, they found Dorian lying on the floor, groaning as smoke rose from his body. “B-But how… he should be stone!” Twilight spluttered. “It would appear,” Celestia said, “Dorian has had his magic syphoned by the elements. Why, I do not know. But right now, he doesn't have the magic to be a problem.” She trotted over to his form, wincing a little as she touched her horn to his forehead. As she did, her horn lit up and around Damon’s right wrist a metal band appeared. Celestia panted as she cancelled the magic and felt her legs nearly give out. Kalanar quickly rushed to her side and let her use his body for support. “Are you okay?” He asked. She nodded, “I-I’m fine, his energy draining spell is quite powerful and has done a number on me. Been awhile since I felt like this. I’ve reached my limit pouring a seal into that metal band… Dorian won’t be able to use the majority of his power unless a certain requirement is met.” Kalanar nodded as he examined the unconscious madman’s form. Celestia could feel the mage’s desire to strike at Dorian, possibly to kill him and she stepped forward shakily, resting a wing on Kalanar’s back. “We don’t kill, Kalanar,” Celestia said, “The elements have seemingly spared Dorian for some reason, maybe he may have his use yet in the grand scheme of things I do not know. But we will find out why, so please. Have faith in me.” “I’m not too happy that Dorian isn’t in stone... “ Kalanar muttered, “but if he was to die, I doubt the other Gods would be too happy that the equilibrium would be destroyed.” He was silent for a moment before he sighed heavily and looked at the Princess, “Alright  I’m going to trust you on this, please don’t let my faith in you be broken” Celestia nodded, “He along with Discord were good friends of mine and my sisters,” she replied before looking away a little somber “Till that day…” “What day?” Kalanar asked, catching her last line.” “Another time,” Celestia replied with a wave of her hoof, “We need to return to Ponyville and find out what’s going on. “But why?” Twilight asked, having been examining the elements and Dorian, trying to make sense of things, “Why would the elements not turn him to stone?” “Maybe he’s needed later to save Equestria?” Pinkie replied. “Why in the hay would he save Equestria? He just tried to destroy us!” Applejack replied. As the elements began to bicker about why dorian had remained as he was, Celestia looked away as she thought to herself. She couldn’t understand why he was turned to stone like Discord was all those years ago. Perhaps, like Discord, Dorian had a bigger part to play in Equestria? Only time would tell. “Come on, let's—” Celestia stopped mid-sentence as her eyes went wide, a shiver running down her spine as she felt her body tense up and become filled with dread. She looked towards the open hole and stared out into the forest. “Do you feel that, Kalanar?” She asked. Kalanar looked in the same direction as Celestia, feeling the same sudden overwhelming sensation fill his body “This isn’t good…” Kalanar replied. “What’s what?” Rainbow replied, “The hay is going on?!” Twilight suddenly shivered softly as she finally felt the same sensation, “Th… that’s not normal magic…” Kalanar gritted his teeth as he felt the dark magic fill the area, coming from the forest. They could all see the clouds in the sky in the distance start to turn black. Damon… Kalanar thought. He quickly exited the cave via the hole created by his battle with Dorian, followed closely by the others. Once outside, the mares gasped at the destruction ahead of them. Several craters dotted around the Everfree ranging in various sizes, trees were uprooted or destroyed and flames dotted around the area. Fluttershy suddenly let out a loud gasp and pointed to the right of the group, near where the mouth of the cave was. “Look!” The all looked and saw the body of a small pink filly they knew all too well. Pinchy. Wasting no time, Kalanar raised his hand and teleported Pinchy to them carefully, holding her in his arms as he checked her over. “She’s okay, just a little cut on her forehead and she’s unconscious, we should get her too—” “Uncle Bones!” Pinchy suddenly cried out as she woke up, “Don’t give Discord your magic!” “Pinchy!” Twilight cried out. The filly blinked and looked around, confused as to why the elements of harmony, Princess and Kalanar were with her. She then noticed the destruction and let out a soft whimper. “What’s wrong?” Kalanar asked. “Uncle Bones was here with me… and so was that meanie Discord,” she began, “h-he kidnapped me and was forcing Uncle Bones to give him his magic or he would hurt me. I bit his thumb and was thrown away and after that I don’t remember anything… my head hurts.” Suddenly, a screech filled the forest, sending a cold shiver down everyone's spines. It sounded neither animalistic nor human, rather more inhumane as if something had awoken. Pinchy cried out in fear and hid her face inside Kalanar’s robes as the others each showed similar signs of fear. “We need to get back to Ponyville, now!” Kalanar shouted. Celestia nodded as Kalanar channeled his magic to allow her time to recover, he teleported himself, the elements, Celestia, the unconscious guards and unconscious Dorian away. Discord panted as he flapped his wings as hard and fast as he could, his ears splayed back against his head as he ducked and weaved in and out of the trees. A shriek sounded behind him, getting closer before a bolt of energy shot past him, narrowly missing him by mere inches and collided with a tree, causing it to explode in a large ball of flames. The draconequus came to a screeching halt as he swerved to avoid the fireball and continued to fly through the forest. This isn't good, he thought to himself, I can’t shake him! Looking behind him, he gritted his teeth as he saw the large swirling shadows gaining on him, the two red flames in the center fixed onto him as the trees were obliterated by the lacerting shadows. Rolling onto his back as he flew, he sprouted a second head that kept its gaze forwards whilst the other focused on the shadows. “Keep going!” The head looking towards Damon commanded. “Aye! Aye! Cap’n,” the second head replied. As he flew by them, several trees were highlighted in yellow and violently ripped out of the ground and thrown at the shadows in order to try and slow Damon down. Damon’s shadows whipped out of him and sliced at the incoming trees, reducing them to fire wood as he raced after Discord. With gritted teeth, Discord focused his magic into his paw and ripped open a portal, reaching inside he pulled out a large pack of playing cards before sealing the portal up. He quickly opened them and took out the cards before beginning to frisbee them at Damon. The cards shot towards the mage, screeching as they did and slicing through the trees like a knife through butter. Damon let out an ear piercing screech which was followed by a shockwave that shot out and hit the cards, causing them to fall to the ground the instant they were touched. Cruising, discord suddenly took a right and circled around behind Damon before the mage could react. Discord then focused his magic into his paw and gripped the wrist with his talons, holding the paw up directly behind him. Sticking his tounge out in concentration as he focused, using none of his digits as a sight, he let out a barrage of yellow orbs that screeched down the forest towards the shadows. A huge explosion rocked the forest as a huge ball of flames roared from the impact zone, spreading out and incinerating the nearby trees. Wasting no time, Discord charged up his magic before firing a single, huge ball of energy that whizzed into the inferno, causing the already large ball of flames to explode as the ground shook violently, sending destroyed trees and earth into the air. “I think we got him!” Discord said to himself. The head piloting the draconequss screeched their body to a halt as both heads looked to where the explosion happened. Taking a tentative step forward, Discord approached the explosion zone as the flames subsided and gave way to a pillar of smoke that slowly rose into the sky. The draconequus peered over the edge of the huge crater where Damon lay in the center. His robes back to their normal blue and tattered, his bones no longer bearing rotting flesh. “Huh... that was easy,” The first head said. The second head nodded, “I agree. Ah well, let’s just take the magic from him and go see how Dorian is doing. From the feel of things, he’s let his inner beast out.” “Always hated that form of his, gave me the—AARRGH!” Discord suddenly cried out in pain as something pierced his lower half. Looking down he saw a small spear of shadows rammed inside of him on the right side. He let out a choked gasp as he felt the spear push through him and out the other side, his eyes wide in shock. The second head vanished as a small trickle of blood leaked from his mouth. He slowly looked up to where Damon was, seeing the mage still on the floor. However, his robes had started to fade to black and  the shadows had begun to wisp around him again, with a single spear of shadows connecting the two together. Discord watched as Damon’s body, still limp, started to float into the air as the shadows violently wisped around and eventually began to envelop him again. Realizing he hadn’t much time to get away, and that this was no longer a game, Discord grabbed the shadow spear and winced in pain as he slowly pulled it out of him, hissing loudly as blood started to leak from the wound. With a final cry of pain, he removed it from his body, clutching his wound with his talons. As the shadows took over Damon’s body, Discord took off into the forest as quick as he could, panting as he tried to create a large enough gap between him and the mage and to think up of a new battle plan. He poured magic into his wound to try and heal it, but something was blocking him from healing fully, as if his magic was being rendered utterly useless. What is this magic inside him?! He wondered as he zigzagged through the trees. He suddenly felt as sharp pain in the left side of his body as something collided with him, sending him into, and through, a nearby tree. Crying out in pain as he rolled along the ground, he looked up to see Damon already near him, having seemingly closed the gap between them. Without hesitating, Discord pushed himself up and twirled his paw, highlighting several trees around him that suddenly ripped out of the ground and transformed into large wooden knights. Each one armed with various weapons. Damon floated and watched, his shadows dancing around him as the wooden knights advanced. The draconequus gritted his teeth as he kept waving his paw, struggling to hold onto his magic as he felt his body become a little woozy from his wound. Suddenly bursting out of the ground around Damon, several large black roots with crystal thorns quickly wrapped around the skeleton, constricting and holding him tight. The mage remained motionless as the roots held him in place as the knights readied themselves just incase he broke free. Grunting, Discord raised his paw up and down, making the roots violently lurch back and forth, slamming Damon into the ground over and over again, seemingly stunning the mage. He kept this up several times before he reached out with his talons and growled. Now or never! Summoning all of his power, Discord shot out a blue and black beam of magic that hit Damon square in the chest. Damon cried out in agony as the shadows began to slowly retract back onto his body and down Discord’s beam of magic. Discord winced as he continued to drawing on Damon’s magic, sucking the shadows closer to him. He could feel his own magic start to give way as he fixed all of his power into drawing Damon’s. It was a risky move, as it would leave him defenceless for a moment. But he didn’t have a choice. He needed to do it now, he wasn’t going to get another chance like this. The extraction would drain him of his own magic, but it would be worth it to consume the chaotic energy inside of Damon. As the shadows reached his talos, Discord’s eye shot open and his eyes shrank to the size of pin pricks as Damon suddenly vanished in a puff of smoke. A-A fake?! NO! Discord then turned around to see Damon nearby behind him. He immediately began to backpedal away and flee as his wooden knights rushed the mage. Just as he was about to run, he was thrown forwards by an explosion behind him, hearing the knights get blown to smithereens. Before He hit the ground, he felt his right arm get grabbed and saw the shadows engulfing his paw. The draconequus was then violently pulled up and over, slamming into the ground over and over as Damon’s shadows beat him into a pulp. He yelled in agony as he felt his bones breaking from the sheer force. His vision began to blur in and out as he struggled to remain conscious. The draconequss was scared, scared he was actually going to die. Discord cried out in pain over and over as he felt his joins begin to crumble under the beating. He tried to break free but had no strength left in him, his magic all nearly gone thanks to the failed extraction. Damon slammed him one more time into the ground before releasing him. The draconequss lay on the floor, wincing in pain, his limbs and wings broken and bloodied. Shakily and slowly, he rolled his head over to see Damon looming over him. The mage raised an arm up and the shadows burst from behind him and soared up high into the air, arcing into a sharp point. Discord’s eyes widened with horror as Damon brought his arm down, his hand pointing to Discord’s chest. Specifically where his heart was situated. With a shriek that sounded throughout the whole forest, the shadows careened downwards, twisting as they did, heading straight for Discord. Suddenly, there was a massive blast of smoke, just as the shadows crashed into the ground , sending earth into the air and uprooting trees. As the smoke cleared, Damon looked down to see that Discord had vanished, only his right arm remained. For what seemed like an eternity, the mage stared at the limb. It appeared that Discord had been destroyed. However, Damon could sense the draconequus was anything but, and was no longer in the forest but rather back in Ponyville. He had gotten away. He had gone unpunished. He… was not dead. The shadows vanished for a moment, leaving the mage by himself. Several seconds passed by until he let out a scream that sounded neither animalistic nor human. Something snapped inside of him as he let his rage loose.The ground around him ruptured, throwing earth into the air as a huge array of shadows shot out of the earth as the sky rapidly darkened. The shadows slammed into him, consuming him as his body began to contort before he shot up and then back down into the ground, burying deep within the earth. Making a beeline for Ponyville. “What on Equestria is going on over there?!” “Princess! Please tell us what’s going on!” “Are we in danger?!” “Look at that explosion, everypony panic!” “Please, everypony calm down! Panicking won’t help the situation at all!” Princess Luna lowered her ears a little as she watched the chaos that gripped Ponyville. Ponies ran amok in fear as they watched several explosions and roars rumble from the Everfree. Sister… where are you? There was a bright flash of light as Kalanar and the others teleported into the square. Luna quickly rushed to Celestia’s side and used her body to prop the older alicorn. Several guards rushed to the aid as well, helping their fallen comrades towards the hospital. Luna noticed Dorian’s unconscious form, as well as the magic sealing metal band on his arm and shone her horn brightly. Channeling her magic as chains bound themselves around Dorian, hugging his body tightly and glowing with her own blue magic. “Guards, take Dorian to the guard barracks and hold him there. He will not pose a threat in his current state with mine and my sister’s magic sealants on him. But do not let him out of your sight!” “Your highness!” Several guards took Dorian away from the square, briskly making their way towards the local barracks to detain him as the lunar princess turned her attention back to her sister and friends. “What happened, sister?” She asked. Before Celestia could explain, a loud scream interrupted her. “Pinchy!” “Mummy!” Kalanar put Pinchy on the floor here she scrambled towards her mother, who was running towards the group with Colgate in tow. The filly tackled her mother who wrapped her in her hooves, clinging tightly to her as the filly sniffled and sobbed. “I was so worried about you!” Berry said. “M-Mummy, Discord kidnapped me! He tried to make Uncle Bones give him his magic!” Berry cooed at her daughter and comforted her as she stroked her back, Colgate soon joining her as the three held one another closely. Just then, a second flash of light filled the square and Discord fell to the floor, crying out in pure agony. Celestia and Luna gasped seeing the beaten form of Discord lying there. The draconequus looked up at them and they all could see that there was no longer mischief in his eyes, no evil intent. Just pure fear. “O-oh my!” Fluttershy gasped as she stared wide eyed at Discord. Discord slowly got up and winced, clutching his right side, covering where his arm used to be and took a few steps forwards, wincing each time. Luna stood her ground and readied herself for an attack. However, Celestia raised her wing a little, her eyes filled with concern and worry. “Discord… ? What happened?” She asked softly. Discord chuckled, but she could tell it was filled with an underlying level of fear, “I’ve messed up, Celly… big time. I had to perform a sacrifice spell. My arm for my ability to escape. But that’s not important. W-we need to leave. Everypony. Now!” “I don’t understand, what’s going on?” Luna asked. “There’s no time to explain!” Discord snapped, his tone serious and uncharacteristic, “we all need to leave now otherwise we’ll be destroyed!” “Destroyed? How?” Twilight asked. Kalanar suddenly appeared before Discord, not caring for his injuries as he gripped the draconequss around his neck causing Discord to cry in pain, “What. Have. You. Done. With. Damon?!” He growled. “Kalanar!” Celestia shouted. Discord choked as he tried to speak, but the ground began to violently rumble, causing everyone in the vicinity to struggle to keep their balance and Discord to struggle until he was free of Kalanar’s grip. “Oh no… it’s too late…” Discord whispered. Before anyone could reply, the ground exploded as a large, cluster of shadows ripped from the earth before taking a form. “Uncle Bones?” “Yes, Pinches?” “Are there any monsters where you come from?” Damon blinked as he looked up. Pinchy was beside him on the sofa, looking up at the skeleton with a childlike curiosity. He turned his head to the other side of the room where Berry was setting up the table for dinner. The mare looked back at Damon, as if to remind him to be careful with answering the little fillies question. The skeleton looked back down to Pinchy and tapped his chin, “Well… yes, I’m afraid there are, Pinches.” “Oh…” Pinchy replied, looking away a little from the skeleton. Damon frowned a little as he ruffled her mane, “Why’d you ask?” “Well… I thought that maybe Cyrium was like Equestria, peaceful. But you have monsters there, so how could it be peaceful?” Damon smiled softly as he picked her up and held her to his chest, “There are always going to be bad mages, Pinches. It’s just how life is. Did you know that there are monsters in Equestria?” Pinchy gasped, “Really?” Damon nodded, “Mhm.” Everyone looked up at the creature in frozen shock and fear. The shadows had contorted into the form of a giant, undead snake that loomed over them, towering over the tallest buildings in town. The body of the monster was decaying in various places, revealing rotting flesh and rotten bones as well as the remains of black, cloth like material that fluttered upon the wind. The ponies quickly became aware of the stench of death that was filling the air, causing some ponies to gag and choke as the disgusting stench filled their nostrils. As the body rose up higher and higher, the flesh gave way to shadows that continuously flickered about quickly as if it was a raging  fire. Jutting out of the shadows on either side of the body were two large arms made of rotten bone and flesh, the shadows dancing in between the bones, connecting them to the main body. But what terrified the ponies the most was its head. “Then… how come I don’t see them?” Pinchy asked, tilting her head. Damon paused for a moment before he chuckled and grinned at her, “Because Uncle Bones keeps them at bay!” Damon then yelped as he felt a smack to the back of his head, looking over as he rubbed the spot to see Berry standing beside an armchair, having thrown its pillow at him.. “Don’t lie, Damon,” Berry scowled. Pinchy giggled, “Yeah! Or you tail will catch fire!” “I don’t have a tail, Pinches,” Damon replied, booping her nose. Pinchy scrunched her snout, “Oh yeah…” There was a few seconds of silence as the two mares went back to sorting out the table before Pinchy spoke up again. “You won’t become monster… will you, Uncle Bones?” In the center of the shadows was a large humanoid skull that the shadows partially hid the top of like a hood of a cloak, putrid rotting flesh dangling all over the face.. Four horns emerged from the skull, two on its head and two on its chin. The two on its head jutted out to the sides before curving inwards, before curving upward and reaching a tip that pointed towards the heavens. The lower two were smaller and curved downwards before curving up and ending in a sharp point that stuck outwards. The skull’s sockets contained two, bright red orbs of fire that extended out of the sides of the monster’s sockets, piercing into the soul of anyone who was unfortunate to lock onto them. From where they stood, the ponies could see two sets of teeth in the monster’s mouth. One on the outside that consisted of large fangs and a row of smaller ones on the inside. “You won’t become monster… will you, Uncle Bones?” Damon looked down at the filly who looked back at him. He could see that the filly was legitimately concerned, he could see it in her little eyes. As Berry watched, Damon leant down and pecked the top of her head before he smiled and brought her closely to his body in a protective cuddle, the filly nuzzling into him happily. “I will never be a monster, Pinches… I promise.” A silence befell the town, not a single sound escaped anyone save for the sounds of the monster’s breath escaping its body and the wisps of shadows dancing around like a  crackling fire. of the monster growling softly could be heard until the abomination’s eyes locked onto the cowering form of Discord. The abomination then landed hard on the roof of a nearby house, partially destroying its roof, sending debris flying as it clung to it. Lowering its head only to arch it backwards, it let out a horrendous demonic screech that rippled throughout the town, echoing as if two voices raged within it’s blackened soul. Pinchy stared with her eyes wide and pupils the size of pin pricks up at the monster, frozen with fear as Berry Punch felt a single tear roll down the side of her cheek “Damon…” she whispered.