Our Darkest Days

by Bluecatcinema

The Gluttony Of Uroho

The trio arrived in Zebrica, greeted by a blazing sun in the cloudless sky.

"Geez, it's hot." Sterling mopped his brow.

"Seriously?" Sunset frowned. "You said in Moscolt that you wanted a little heat."

"Yeah, but not this much!" Sterling groaned.

"There really is no pleasing some ponies." Echo sighed. "Now, our next page lies in the town of Marerakech, under the care of the Zebra Uroho Gourmand."

"I suppose it'd be too much to ask for Gourmand to not be nuts?" Sterling snarked. "Because I'm kinda seeing a pattern here."

"It's hardly the fault of the previous guardians that their lives deteriorated to the point where they felt they needed to invoke their respective pages' power, now is it?" Echo pointed out. "Nopony could have foreseen that happening."

"If you ask me, all this dark magic stuff is way too dangerous." Sterling frowned. "Instead of 'researchin' it, why don't you just leave well enough alone?"

"Because of the potential for good, of course." Echo answered.

"'Good'?" Sterling snorted. "Dark magic is only good for causing destruction!"

"Sterling..." Sunset growled.

"It's true!" Sterling insisted. "It's dangerous! Every user was rotten to the core! Sombra, Black Knight, Seraph, Grogar, Whippos. Each one of them nearly destroyed Equestria on several occasions!"

"First off, it's 'Warpos'." Echo corrected. "But I do agree with you."

"You do?" Sterling said in confusion.

"You do?" Sunset echoed.

"Indeed, dark magic has a bloody and horrific history, and yes, almost every known user of dark magic had every intention of subjugating the masses and causing great destruction." Echo admitted. "I can say without a doubt that dark magic is certainly something not to be used by ponies of weaker minds."

"...Meaning?" Sterling frowned.

"You saw what it did to Rancour and Zhadnost. They thought that the page they had was a ticket for a better life, and nothing could go wrong... but dark magic has a property about them that finds it's way into the user's mind and causes them to lose their grip on reality and what is right and what is wrong. It is nothing short of a miracle that the poor shopkeeper from Manehatten hadn't succumb to his own desire. Dark magic is like a parasite." Echo declared. "Plain and simple."

"Thus bringing me back to the point that dark magic is dangerous." Sterling glared. "Didn't it cross your mind that what happened to those two psychos might happen to you... again?"

"Again?" Sunset frowned. "What do you mean?"

"It does." Echo nodded, ignoring Sunset's question. "But dark magic is simply something I cannot walk away from. One cannot get honey without getting stung a couple of times."

"But even so, why risk getting stung by a bunch of bees, especially if they are deadly?" Sterling retorted.

"To sate my hunger, of course." Echo replied wisely. "There is so much we can learn from dark magic, and if I were to ignore it, I would be left with an undying thirst, unquenchable by any liquid in existence."

Wow..." Sunset murmured, no longer wondering about the 'again' Sterling mentioned. "That's deep."

"Yeah, sure..." Sterling huffed. "Can we just get to Marekakech already?"

"Of course." Sunset nodded.

"A fascinating place it is, too." Echo smiled. "It's inhabitants include Zebras, Antelopes, Wildebeests... And the Zebra are apparently so progressive that they have eschewed the rhyming speech of most of their brethren."

"Yeah, yeah, real interesting." Sterling scoffed. "Let's just go, already."

When the trio arrived in Marerakech, they noticed something wasn't right. There were weak emaciated Zebras, Wildebeest, and Antelope everywhere. Some were nibbling desperately at small patches of grass.

"Whoa... this doesn't look anything like the brochure." Sterling frowned.

"Those poor things." Sunset gasped sympathetically. "They look like they haven't eaten in days."

"There must be some kind of famine going on." Echo observed. "Alas, such a thing tends to happen in this part of the world."

"A part of the world that so happened to be where a page from Sombra's book, huh?" Sterling frowned knowingly. "...I smell a rat."

Sunset took a sandwich out of her saddlebag (the trio having stocked up on food during their stay in Moscolt).

"Here." She gave it to a nearby Antelope. "You need this more than I do."

"Bless you, kind lady." The Antelope smiled gratefully. "Your help is most appreciated."

"I have some food, too." Echo offered.

"And me." Sterling stepped forward.

The starving Marerakechians gathered around, grateful for whatever food they could find.

"Thank you so much." A Zebra smiled.

"You're welcome." Sunset smiled back.

"I just wish we could give you more." Echo admitted.

"So do we." The Antelope sighed.

"Don't you worry, pal." Sterling declared. "I have a sneaking suspicion your problem is connected to our reason for being here. If I'm right, things are gonna change around here pretty quickly."

"Then for our sake, I hope you're right." The Antelope declared.

"Me too." Sterling said solemnly. "Me too."

"Come along, then." Echo urged. "According to my sources, Uroho Gourmand runs a diner in the center of town."

"A diner?" Sunset frowned in confusion. "If there's a place that sells food around here, then why is everypony starving?"

"If I had to make a guess, the same reason ponies were angry in Zhire, and turned to gold in Moscolt." Sterling glared.

"Let's not jump to conclusions." Echo declared. "Even very likely conclusions..."

Echo, Sunset, and Sterling walked over to the diner. Inside was a lot of food lining two buffet table as well as tables and booths, as per usual food establishments. It was deserted, save for a lone Zebra attempting to get the door to the back room open. He was thin, like the other inhabitants of the town, and unlike most Zebras, opted to wear more modern attire then the 'tribal' look often favoured by them, a style chosen by a significant amount of the species.

"Hey." Sterling called.

The Zebra turned and glanced at the trio.

"There's food in here, guys." He whispered.

"Why are you whispering?" Echo asked. "We aren't the authorities. We aren't going to turn you in."

"That's right" Sunset agreed.

"'Sides, we have bigger fish to fry..." Sterling declared.

"What is your name?" Echo inquired.

"Ziggy." The Zebra replied.

"And what's your deal?" Sterling asked. "Why are you trying to get in?"

"You saw what's going on out there." Ziggy pointed out with a scowl. "The whole town is starving to death, and there's this guy here that stockpiling enough food to feed all of Zebrica and keeping it locked away from us."

"But why? Who would do such a thing?" Echo frowned

"You don't wanna know, man..." Ziggy gulped.

"Well, I d-UGH!" Sterling suddenly slipped, hitting the ground. He got up and lifted his hooves, as he realized he had slipped in some very old, rancid leftovers.

"UGH!" He gagged, wiping himself off. "Oh, gross! What, did somepony empty a trashcan here?"

"Keep it down, he'll hear you!" Ziggy hissed.

"Hey!"

"Now you've done it..." Ziggy trembled.

"Who the buck is that?!"

The squeaking of wheels echoed, as an extremely obese Zebra in a muscle shirt came in on a scooter. Echo, Sunset, and Sterling all gaped in shock and disgust, as the fat Zebra chowed down on a tofu chicken leg messily. His fur and shirt were splattered with grease, sauce and fragments of food, some of it going bad, and his mane was long and unkempt. A symbol of a mountain adorned his flank, and tucked into the shirt was an old piece of paper that was miraculously clean.

"Is that..." Sterling shuddered, horrified.

Echo swallowed his bile and nodded.

Uroho Gourmand." He said in a strained voice. "The one we've been looking for."

"...Holy crud, he's put on a lot of weight." Sterling hissed silently.

Gourmand breathed heavily, then let out a bit of gas, as he pointed with his tofu chicken leg.

"Get away from my food!" He yelled, before digging back into the chicken leg.

"Look, there's plenty in here for everypony!" Sunset declared. "They're out there starving!"

"Too bad! All the food in this diner belong to me!" Gourmand growled with a full mouth, causing chewed up food to splash from his mouth, "I am not going to stand by and have vultures like those losers out there eat my food! Especially since I have this pretty little number here..." He tapped the page tucked in his shirt.

"Is that..." Echo gaped, his eyes twitching. "Are you seriously using a rare and delicate page of a powerful artifact as a napkin?!"

"Yeah, so?" Gourmand sneered, "It was given to me! So I'm using it!"

"Using it?" Echo gaped, as he inspected the morbidly obese pony. "How?!"

"Like this!" Gourmand roared, as he opened his mouth wide and swallowed the half-eaten tofu chicken leg whole, bone and all, gargling it down. As he did so, however, wisps began appearing from his eyes. Within seconds, the leg suddenly slip into his throat, and with a gulp, it was gone, and Gourmand let out a loud burp.

"Oh Faust..." Sunset felt bile rising again.

"So he's a whackadoo, just like the others." Sterling sighed. "Only way grosser..."

"I'll admit, this is one application of dark magic I do not care for." Echo shuddered.

"Oh, up yours!" Gourmand barked. "This spell makes it where I can eat as much as I want! It's like my stomach became a black hole or something."

"How is this guy still alive?" Sterling cringed.

"The better questions is how can you just let all those others starve?" Sunset asked. "They need this food way more than you do!"

"Ah, I used to think the same way you do once." Gourmand shrugged. "I was part of this group that helped folks in need. Buildin' bridges, makin' vaccines, all that stuff. When I was all done, I came back home, and opened up this diner to feed all the folk here. I was so happy back then! But then my doctor said I needed to lose some weight! Saying that three hundred pounds was unhealthy for a guy my age! He put me on a diet of rice crackers and parsley sprigs. Meanwhile, all the others were piggin' out at this diner, free to eat whatever they wanted, and as much as they wanted. It was absolute torture! In the end, I just couldn't take it anymore! I was tired of low carbs! I was tired of celery! I'm hungry, and now with this page, I won't have to go hungry ever again!"

"And leave the others without food?" Echo growled, "Are you that much of a pig that you would let them die from starvation, all because you didn't want to eat healthy?"

"I figured I'd done enough caring about others for one lifetime." Gourmand shrugged. "Now, I'm looking out for number one." He glanced at Sunset lecherously. "Although, I wouldn't mind a plus one... Whattaya say, good-looking?"

"I say 'you make me sick'." Sunset spat.

"What?!" Gourmand growled. "Oh, don't tell me; You only go for skinny or buff guys, like the nerdy bat and the draft horse in the guard get-up over there! It's because of mares like you that us fat guys never get laid!"

"Just calm down." Echo told him, trying to ignore the insult. "The magic of the spell has clearly warped your mind. We can help make you well again. All you have to do is give us the page."

"You'd like that, wouldn't you?" Gourmand snarled. "Sorry, I'm done giving hoofouts!"

As they talked, Ziggy sneaked over to the pile of food on the buffet table. Suddenly, Gourmand rounded on him in a squeal of tires.

"I thought I told you to get away from my food!" Gourmand yelled.

"It's not like you can eat all of it." Ziggy countered.

Gourmand blocked his way.

"Hey! You just watch me!" He yelled.

He then began eating from one of the food bins on the buffet table, stuffing his face with some garden burgers, his eyes becoming wispy again.

"Oh, lord..." Sunset groaned.

"I'm gonna puke..." Sterling grimaced.

"Such a travesty..." Echo retched.

Then, Gourmand belched loudly, causing Echo to step back in revulsion, knocking over a plate from the other buffet table. Gourmand gasped in shock.

"No! No, no, no! No!" Gourmand panicked, as he scooted over to that buffet table, prompting Echo to back away from him as he then began chowing down on the snack foods, his eyes gaining their wisps once more.

"Oh, to Tartarus with this." Ziggy snarled, as he went back to the food bin he was trying to gather from. However, Gourmand was quick to notice him.

"No!" Gourmand screamed, as he started throwing nearby plates at Ziggy.

"Hey, stop it, I'm starving!" Ziggy yelled, shielding himself from the plates as they shatter against him. "Me, my wife, and my three little girls need food! One of them is only a foal!"

"Get away from my..." Gourmand pulled up a metal spork.

"Oh, sweet mercy." Ziggy went pale.

"Food!" Gourmand cried as he charged at Ziggy, stabbing him repeatedly. The trio was horrified.

"No, stop!" Sunset yelled, appalled.

Gourmand threw Ziggy aside, as the famished zebra clutched his wounds, groaning.

"You skinny dudes just think you can take whatever the buck you want, don't you?" Gourmand spat. "World on the platter!"

Sunset ran over to the zebra, checking on him.

"What the buck is wrong with you?!" She yelled at Gourmand. "He has a family to feed!"

"Good Faust, dude, he was just hungry!" Sterling added.

"Well so am I, bunghole!" Gourmand retorted.

"Well, I think you've had plenty already." Echo declared with a cold glare.

"That's an understatement!" Sterling snickered.

"You odious fat-flank!" Sunset snarled, trying to stop Ziggy's bleeding.

Gourmand started to get angry.

"Are you calling me..." He growled.

Echo and Sterling's eyes went pinprick small, and Sunset stiffened, as they realized what they did.

"Oh, buck." They said in unison. If there was one thing that you should never call a pony of Gourmand's stature, especially one who is psychotic, it's:

"FAT?!" Gourmand screamed out loud, his mouth nearly unhinging.

With a screech of tires, Gourmand charged at Echo and Sterling, spork drawn.

"YAAAAHHH!" He screeched.

Echo and Sterling managed to leap out of the way, but Gourmand turned, and made to charge at them again.

Meanwhile, Sunset was continuing to apply pressure to Ziggy's wounds.

"Oh, being stabbed to death by a spork... what a way to die..." Ziggy cursed.

"You're not going to die." Sunset assured him. "Not if I can help it."

Sunset looked around, trying to find something she could use as patch up Ziggy's wounds. She caught sigh of food wrappers, napkins, and paper towels, and, using her magic, fashioned them into makeshift bandages.

"That should hold for now." She smiled.

"Thanks." Ziggy smiled.

"Come on." Sunset helped him up. "Let's get you to safety."

As Sunset pulled Ziggy to one side, Gourmand continued trying to run down Echo and Sterling.

"Is that the best you can do?" Sterling taunted.

"I'll show you my best!" Gourmand roared.

Gourmand grabbed more plates as he drove by the buffet table and began chucking them like crazy at the Thestral and guard.

"Look out!" Echo ducked.

"Seriously?" Sterling dodged a plate, which smashed against the wall. "Let me show you some real firepower!"

Sterling drew his crossbow and fired some bolts at Gourmand. However, while the bolts did hit their target, Gourmand's excessive fat practically made it seem like they'd hit marshmallows... and it only made the obese zebra madder.

"Grrr..." Gourmand growled darkly.

"Okay, that most certainly didn't work." Sterling gulped.

Gourmand let out a roar as he steered his scooter towards Sterling. However, as he did, the scooter ran over a puddle of sauce.

"Whoa, whoa, whoa!" Gourmand stammered as his scooter veered out of control towards Sterling.

"No, no, no!" Sterling gaped.

Within seconds, Gourmand toppled out of it and landed on Sterling.

"MMMMFF!" Sterling's muffled voice emanating from under the rotund Zebra, his back hooves flailing like crazy.

"Help!" Gourmand groaned, struggling to right himself, before letting out another burp. Sterling's muffled screams grew louder, "I've fallen and I can't get up!"

"Allow me to help!" Echo rammed into Gourmand, knocking him aside and off Sterling.

"Ahhh!" Sterling gasped for air, the upper half of his body all sticky and dirty (not to mentioned sweaty), and his mane sticking out in places. "He smells like a landfill... a sweaty landfill! And I could hear 'Wrecking Ball'!" He then gripped Echo. "Wrecking Ball I tell you!"

"Again with the insults, huh?" Gourmand snarled, as he struggled back on to his scooter. "I'll shut you up for good this time!" He then pulled out his metal spork again.

The fight continued, neither side making much headway.

"Come and get it!" Gourmand roared, charging towards Echo.

Echo took off, and Gourmand crashed into a wall.

"No fair!" Gourmand groaned. "Get down here and fight!"

"Oh, I will." Echo smirked, proceeding to divebomb Gourmand.

Gourmand grabbed Echo's leg.

"Gotcha!" He sneered, before throwing him at Sterling.

Echo collided with Sterling and they both collapsed on the floor.

"Guys!" Sunset called from across the room.

"They need you." Ziggy told her.

"So do you." Sunset declared.

"I'll be okay." Ziggy assured her. "Go. Help your friends."

"I will." Sunset nodded.

Sunset rushed over to Echo and Sterling.

"You two okay?" She asked.

"Yes, but not for Gourmand's lack of trying." Echo admitted. "I'll give him this: For an overweight fellow, he is quite a fighter."

"Any ideas, smart guy?" Sterling asked Echo.

"Just one." Echo smiled. "We give him what he wants: Food."

"Say what?" Sterling gaped.

"Just look at him." Echo pointed. "He's already a massive mound of fat. If we overfeed him, he'll be too stuffed to fight."

"Worth a shot." Sterling shrugged.

Let's do it." Sunset smiled.

As Gourmand charged them, they dodged again, and raced to the buffet.

"Get away from there!" Gourmand yelled. "That's my food!"

"Well then: Bon appetit!" Echo declared, grabbing a hoofful of nachos and thrusting it into Gourmand's mouth.

"Mmm, cheesy!" Gourmand grinned, his eyes regaining the wisps as he chowed down.

"How about some chilli?" Sterling rammed an entire plateful into Gourmand's face.

"Or some churros?" Sunset stepped forward, using her magic to fling them at Gourmand.

"Ohhh, so good!" Gourmand moaned, too enraptured by the food to even question why they were feeding him. The wisps around his eyes grew stronger.

Echo and Sterling continued forcing food down Gourmand's throat. Sure enough, the rotund Zebra's stomach began to rumble.

"Urghhh..." He groaned. "No more..."

"But we haven't even gotten to dessert yet!" Echo shoved some pudding down his throat.

"Stop it!" Gourmand roared, swinging his spork weakly, "Something's wrong with my spell!"

Sterling then charged at Gourmand, leaping onto the front of his scooter.

"Hey!" Gourmand barked.

"I'll be taking that!" Sterling smirked, as he pulled the page from his shirt. Then, with a back flip, he reared his back legs and bucked him away. "Eat it, fatso!"

Gourmand reeled back. His body began groaning more loudly, the absence of the page having unfortunate repercussions.

"I feel really bad." He whimpered. "Oh my Faust... Like super bad gas..." The trio looked on in disgust and disdain. "You gave me indigestion." His body groaned more. "You little... pigs..." He then got angry once more. "Time to..." Echo, Sunset, and Sterling stepped back, a bit unsure as to what he was going to do next. "PURGE!"

The trio braced themselves as Gourmand charged at them with his scooter... and then, the masked pony broke the front door down, much to their shock.

"What the?!" Gourmand gasped, stopping his scooter instantly.

"Oh come on, now?!" Sterling groaned.

"Hey!" Gourmand turned to face the masked pony. "Who are you?! More skinny dudes to take my food?!"

The masked pony stared at him... but it was obvious he was as disgusted as the trio was.

"Well, bring it on!" Gourmand sneered, ignoring the pain in his giant stomach. "I will kill YO-AHH!"

The villain, with the flick of his hoof, knocked Gourmand off with a well-placed punch of his microcrystal formed into a giant hoof.

"ACK!" Gourmand groaned, the sudden attack not helping his stomach problem, "Why you little…" He struggled to get up, but he was too fat to do so, "I kill you!"

With more waves of his hoof, the microcrystals were beginning to envelop the fat zebra.

"You want a piece of me?!" Gourmand roared, as he then took a mouthful of the crystals and swallowed them, "Well, do ya?"

However, the masked pony's eyes only narrowed more in disgust as he waved his hoof once more and the microcrystals all began to swarm into the zebra's mouth.

"Gah?!" The zebra gasped, as the microcrystals flooded into his mouth like a geyser. "No! Gah! Stop...!"

"Oh no..." Sterling murmured.

Gourmand's body was beginning to bulge, the crystals poking through his skin.

"He's going to blow!" Echo yelped.

The trio ran out of the diner, with Ziggy being carried by Sterling, not wanting to stick around for the end. They ducked behind a fence, peeking though the gaps.

Inside, the masked pony continued forcing the crystals into Gourmand.

"No... more..." Gourmand wheezed, his body reaching its limit. "I'm... full..." His eyes rolled back into his head.

Shortly after, there was a dull "boom!" and the diner's windows were splattered with unspeakable slime.

"Oh, my Faust..." Sunset shuddered, utterly revolted.

"That was certainly the most horrid way to go as far as crazy dark magic using ponies go." Sterling admitted. "Hooves down."

The masked pony soon walked out the diner, half of his body covered in that same sludge, straightening his jacket. The townsfolk surrounding the diner glanced at the masked pony... but then glanced at the open doors.

"Hey, the diner's open!" A Wildebeest declared.

"Oh, jolly day, I'm starving!" An Antelope cried.

The townsfolk charged into the diner, ready to feast, paying the masked pony no mind. They didn't seem to be phased that what remained of Gourmand splattered the walls, nor did it do anything to affect their appetite. The masked pony then glanced around, searching for the trio. Believing they had escaped, he left on a cloud of crystals, shaking the stuff off his coat.

"That was a close one." Echo declared, as they emerged from behind the fence.

"For him, that is." Sterling smirked.

"Thank you all." Ziggy smiled, still wincing a bit from his wounds. "You have saved this town from starvation."

"Happy to help." Sunset smiled.

"Now if you'll excuse me, I'm going to grab some food for my family." Ziggy declared. "Farewell!"

As Ziggy rushed into the diner, the trio departed.

"So, another guardian was corrupted by the page he was supposed to be protecting." Sterling said smugly. "I hate to say 'I told you so'..."

"Nopony likes a gloater, Sterling." Sunset frowned.

"It's alright, Sunset." Echo declared. "Cross's taunts shall not deter me from my beliefs."

"You're no fun." Sterling pouted.

The group walked in silence, when Sunset suddenly said:

"So... Echo..."

"Sunset, I am in no mood to explain to you the whole 'probation' matter." Echo frowned. "So perish the thought."

"Not that..." Sunset shook her head, though it was still a question in her mind. "It's something else... why did you want to study dark magic in the first place? With all the animosity towards the subject and what you said about dark magic being a parasite, I can't help but wonder what your reasons are."

"You and every single pony in the world." Sterling rolled his eyes.

"Funny." Echo glared at Sterling, but then letting out a sigh. "But I do believe a proper explanation for my choice of field of research is warranted."

"This ought to be good." Sterling murmured to himself, before Sunset elbowed him.

"Well... it goes way back, about fifteen years ago, in the town of Flankaster. I was between jobs, and I was taking an evening stroll. Back then, I was unsure about what to do with my life. As far as I could remember, dark magic had always fascinated me, but at the time I lacked the gall and drive to pursue the field. It was during this stroll that I came across an awful scene... a stallion that was attempting to...'force himself' upon a young mare." Echo recalled.

"Oh my..." Sunset murmured in shock.

Even Sterling was beginning to take actual interest. "Really? What happened next?"

"To be honest, I was at a loss as to what to do. This was before I taught myself how to properly combat ruffians, and this stallion was about a head taller than me. I would had surely stand no chance against him..." Echo mused, frowning with remembrance. "I was moments away though from seeking help from the authorities when he came forth."

"Who?" Sunset asked.

"A Thestral, just like me." Echo explained, "He was a lot older than me, white maned, pale grey coat, notched bat wings, had a pair of circular sunglasses, and a four-winged bat cutie mark... that was as much as I knew about him. I watched as he came from the shadows, demanding that the stallion left the mare alone. The stallion said 'no' of course... but then, something absolutely shocking happened..."

"More shocking than a pony with a four-winged bat cutie mark?" Sterling joked. "Who ever heard of a four-winged bat?"

"There was one instance of a bat like that, but that's aside the point." Echo shrugged. "The point is... the Thestral merely lifted his glasses and wisps came from his eyes instantly. His hooves became raveled in this purplish smoke and within seconds, he trapped the stallion in a veil of it, rendering him unconscious instantly."

"Purplish smoke... why does that sound familiar?" Sunset mused.

"Because it should." Echo declared. "For it was a 'dark smoke' spell, straight from one of the old dark magic spell books. It was a spell often used to torture ponies, whether it be for interrogation or for laughs... just breathing in an ounce of it was supposedly like breathing death itself... yet when this Thestral used it, the despicable stallion, despite his cruel intentions, didn't feel a thing."

He then glanced at both Sterling and Sunset.

"Don't you get it?" Echo smiled. "A pony just like me had somehow managed to take a dark magic spell solely meant to inflict pain and suffering and use it to incapacitate a pony, no more, no less. If such a spell as the 'dark smoke' could be used for the sake of altruism... then maybe dark magic as a whole could be used to change the world... for the better. I never did see that Thestral again after that night... but it is because of him that I see dark magic for what it is today... and it is because of him that my belief in dark magic will never be shattered... no matter what."

"Wow." Sunset smiled. "You really do impress me sometimes, you know that?"

"Thank you, Sunset." Echo grinned. "I do try."

"Well, goody-goody for you." Sterling snorted. "Now can we please leave this country, before I get baked to death?!"

"Complaining again, I see." Echo smirked.

"Well, I never did get that water..." Sterling frowned.

"Guess in all the excitement, we forget." Sunset shrugged.

"We can at least take solace in the fact that we now have three pages." Echo smiled. "Victory is within our grasp."

"I'd rather a nice, cool smoothie was in my grasp..." Sterling groaned.

Back in the Crystal Empire, Shining and Cadance received word from Moscolt via letter.

"'The fugitives dropped off the golden body of Dr Zhadnost at the local police station'." Shining frowned as he read the letter.

"That's not something you read every day." Cadance noted. "Does it say whether they could change him back?"

"Apparently, nothing they've tried has worked." Shining sighed. "Pity, really; They could have interrogated Zhadnost. We could have finally gotten some idea of Echo's true intentions. But instead, we're still in the dark."

"Well, at least that page didn't fall into the hooves of that masked pony." Cadance offered.

"I know." Shining sighed. "But we still can't sure of Echo's goals. Until then, nopony can rest easy."

"Let's just hope their intentions aren't as bad as they could be." Cadance declared. "And that our Guardsponies catch up to them soon. At the very least, they can straighten this whole thing out, so we know for sure whose side they're on."

"Those Guardsponies are the best we have." Shining said confidently. "If they can't catch up to those three, nopony can. Echo and his friends can't run forever. One way or another, we'll get to the bottom of this..."

Comments

[HolyCross9]

Uroho reminded me of that fat mayor from Cloudy With a Chance of Meatballs.

[danick]

UUUHHHH, i guess i already know the bad guy here

[00RaiserGundam]

5704820 So right.

[Koala2001]

Hmmm... Microcrystals... Sounds an awful lot like microbots, just confirming my big hero 6 suspicion...