• Published 28th May 2015
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Upon the Sea of Sky - Meep the Changeling



Formor human Stolen Ruby, and her skypirate crew embark on a quest to save Equestria from doomsday at the behest of a mysterious group of ponies.

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3 - That is not dead which can eternal lie...

Pine Sap - 1st of Snowfall, ‘09 EOH - Noon

There was a spot on the ship I missed being on when I was captain, the crow’s nest. Nothing beat just standing up atop the mast looking around the infinite expanse of the sea. Except for the sky that is.

Airships are pretty rare artifacts. Aside from Risky and her, possibly still alive sister, I don’t think anyone, let alone anypony, knows how to make one. While pirates tend to have most of the few remaining from back when people could afford such wonders, I hadn’t gotten to try my hoof at keeping lookout on one before.

It’s fun enough where I enjoyed being the one pegasus on board. Nopony can see further than a pegasus. We can look at a pony across from us and with a twitch of the eye be looking at a house a five minute flight away as if we were just as close to it as the other pony.

Sure, at night a thestral will do a better job, but Faust damn it if I’m not going to take the day watch! Besides, it took me a full three hours to prove to Ruby that pegasi make our homes in the clouds. We wouldn’t run into a reef up there, but we could hit a city and piss off everypony in it.

The position was needed for that alone, and we still needed to keep an eye on weather systems. This wasn’t Equestria, pegasi didn’t have the winds and rains on a leash. I don’t know about everypony else on board but I don’t want to sail right into a thunderstorm because no one is watching the clouds.

Of course, it was also fun to watch the ground fly by. That’s right, I like the easy job which is pretty damn important. Doesn’t everypony? The most important thing in life is for you and everypony you care for to ensure minimal hardships, and enjoy maximum pleasure. With this job everypony remembers you and recognizes you as important when all you really do is look around in case of -

Anything heading to the ship. Like that black spec that just separated itself from the village, and was taking off, heading for us. Had we forgotten somepony? We set sail nearly ten minutes ago, I swore I did the headcount properly.

I focused on the dot, vision snapping into focus and -

“Dragon! Bearing fifteen degrees astern to port!” I called at the top of my lungs.

To my amazement only the Captain, and Risky showed actual concern. Ruby sprinted to the wheel, turning it in a fearful frenzy to bring the guns to bear. Risky did her weird muttery hoof wavy magic, activating the ship’s wards in a blaze of silver light.

“What's wrong with you lot? All hooves stand to quarters!” I bellowed.

A dark purple furred, bright red and dark blue maned mare below me took a spyglass from her bag and squinted off into the distance. “Easy there mate, a dragon lives up in the volcano. We rented the mine from-”

She nearly dropped her spyglass, eyes contracting to pinpricks as she screamed, “It’s not Stormhide! Everypony panic!”

In less then a second every single thing I taught them vanished. The deck below became a panicked mess of chaos which reminded me why I preferred griffons. All I could do was hold a hoof to my face, ignore the screams, and be thankful the important systems were magically powered.

I turned my attention back to the approaching dragon. Below me, a barrel of apples flew overboard as somepony ran headlong into it. I was fairly certain the dragon was a female, her head and tail spines were short and sloped backwards, indicative of female dragons as far as I knew.

Somehow somepony manage to shake the mast. “Pine! Help! It’s utter chaos down here!” Ruby screamed over the sounds of a full on herd wide panic.

“I’m doing what I can captain!” I called back. Orange scales, red spines, claws and wing membranes. I wasn’t familiar with that family. Thank Faust it wasn’t a purple and green drake, the last then we needed was teleporting breath.

“You’re fucking around in the mast!” Ruby accused.

Right. The captain wasn’t from around here. “Ignore them! It’s just Herd Spook! Anypony not affected will be helping solve the problem. I’m identifying the dragon!”

“The hell is Herd Spook?!” She demanded.

“Somepony panics so other’s panic too! It- It’s a pony thing! Drake’s a young female, she may be after a hoard… She looks like she’s a weak flier but still faster than us.” I explained turning back to try and look for the -

“Hi!” said a blue eye the size of my face which filled my vision!

“Ahhh!” I screamed, almost falling off the mast.

The dragon flapped her wings moving further back, “Oops! That was startling right? Um, those ponies, are they afraid because of me?”

Faust’s mane she was huge! Also she was most certainly not a pureblooded dragon. The best way to describe her was if you took a pony’s general shape, covered it in scales (with cute little freckle like scales on her nose, cheeks, and flanks), gave her spines instead of a mane, two slender swept back draconic horns, a dragon's wings and tail, and half-hoof half-claw talons. Then make that pony bigger until she was about two and a half ponies tall.

“H-how did you get through the shields?” I stammered, gulping nervously.

“There’s a hole in the top.” She said pointing up with one talon. “Seriously though, are they afraid of me?”

“Yes…” I admitted, while carefully looking up to find, a hole in the shields at the top. Faust damn it... “Do they need to be afraid?”

“I don’t think so. I didn’t see any other boats up here, but I guess there could be. Are you the Captain? I thought the captain would be in the tallest shippy bit.” She babbled.

Huh, maybe this wasn’t an emergency. “No, Captain Ruby is down at the wheel. Do you need a ride?”

She turned and looked towards the wheel, before giving me an angry look. “Nopony’s at the wheel!”

I turned and looked in surprise, “She was there a minute ago…”

“What are you doing sortta-on my ship?” Ruby demanded, her voice coming from above us.

“Oh! She moved! I’m sorry for getting mad.” the dragon apologized. Turning to look at Ruby she offered a smile, “Hi! Are you Ruby?”

Ruby raised an eyebrow hard enough to make her hat twitch. “Yes… How do you know my name?”

“I was praying to her Fwooshyness the Lady of Flames to try and break out of the room my parents locked me in, but I accidentally contacted somepony else who was like, ‘World saving quest over that way.’ and told me I should come help you.”

“What?” Ruby and I asked together with confused head tilts.

“Oh! He said to mention I’m a cleric!” the massive half-dragon informed excitedly.

Risky appeared in a flash of light below us teleporting onto the top spar. “Excuse me, did you say you’re a cleric? Heal specced or combat specced?”

“Ummmm…” The half-dragon, Ruby, and I intend together looking at Ruby in complete confusion.

“Er- I mean could you heal my sister? She’s minus most of her body right now.” Risky said sadly.

The orange behemoth nodded, seemingly quite impressed. “And she’s alive still? That’s awesome! Everything I’ve ever eaten dies way before it gets down to halfway. She must be pretty tough! … I think I could stop her from dying, if she is. I mean she’s still alive, and I can’t imagine she was like that before that awesome fire two months ago.”

Her eyes glazed over for a few moments. I swear I saw flames shaped like hearts dancing in them. Then she blinked and her eyes refocused. “Um… I was saying somth- Oh yeah! I can't put her body parts back. But I think I could prevent her from dying.”

“Oh…” Risky’s ears drooped sadly. “Well that’s better than nothing.”

“We do need a healer…” Ruby mused. She looked down to Risky and asked, “Could you cast Zone of Truth around us please?”

Risky nodded and muttered, “Dleif scitilopitna.”

I felt a tingle pass through me, the half dragon blinked and sank down in the air to get on eye level with Risky. “What kind of magic was that? You have dragon wings, are you a half dragon too? Can we just do that? Or is that like a pony thing? You’re WAY more pony than me. Which sucks… I used to look like you but then dad made me get rid of most of my pony half so I would be tougher. He’s kind of an asshole like that.”

“I’m just a thestral.” Risky answered simply. “I am a wizard though, so I cast a spell. Yeah, I know only unicorns are supposed to be able too… It’s not unicorn magic, it’s different.”

“Oh, okay! So why are you standing on the uppy bit’s sticky outy bit? You have wings, you could be burning up here with us.”

I did my best to ignore my eye twitch as she referred to the mast as the ‘uppy bit’.

“Burning?” I asked in confusion.

“Yeah, burning. I never understood ‘chilling’ to mean hanging out. That’s stupid. cold sucks. Fire is awesome. So burning is the correct phrase.” she answered flapping her wings to hover closer to me as she spoke.

I wanted to argue that point, but this was a very big half dragon, who apparently ate meat, and I was pretty sure I would fit into her mouth. Fortunately Ruby spoke up before I said something stupid.

“What’s your name?”

The half-dragon’s ears drooped and head hung as she muttered, “Dracony… Look my parents kinda hate me and are also terrabad at naming things. Mom calls the necklace which enhances her speed her ‘speedy amulet’.”

Ruby gave her an incredulous stare. “They seriously named you a contraction of dragon pony?”

“Yeah… but I hate it so just don't call me anything. If nopony else responds to ‘hey you’ everything will be great!” Dracony said with a naive smile.

“You mention your parents a lot. How old are you?” I asked. Captain seemed intent on taking her with us, if this was someone's child… well…

Dracony blinked and tapped a claw to her chin thoughtfully. “Um… what year is it?”

“The ninth year of the Era of Harmony.” I answered.

“Which is when exactly?” she asked, scales darkening in a sheepish blush.

“One thousand and thirteen years after Princess Luna was banished.” I informed.

“Who?” She asked in confusion. Her eyes pleading with me for an answer.

“What rock did you crawl out from under?” Lyra’s voice called from the rigging, apparently having climbed up while we were talking.

“That one.” Dracony answered pointing back towards the mountain.

Lyra blinked, taken aback. “Oh. Well… You know, Luna, Princess of the Night, Alicorn Goddess of the Moon and Stars.”

“No I don’t know her. Mom never talks about pony stuff so I never learned the names or number of Alicorns. Do you know who’s in charge of fire? I know she as a she.” she asked eagerly.

“It’s 5824 CE.” I said having finally added the era’s together to get the current year since the Classical Era.

“Oh! Awesome! Hold on… mathing…” Dracony informed, tapping her claws together as she preformed a way to complicated arithmetic for figuring out your age. “Um… Four thousand two hundred and forty one. I think. Could have missed a year there.”

“Come again?” Ruby asked in a shocked tone.

“Again? But I haven’t done that once here yet. Do you mean like, you wanna watch me-”

“What? No!” Ruby said facehoofing, “It’s an expression! It means could you repeat what you just said.”

“I have never heard that expression.” I said giving ruby an accusing look.

“Yeah same here.” Lyra called.

“Yep, not a saying.” Risky confirmed.

Dracony nodded confidently. “So you do wanna watch? Well okay, it might be neat to have someone watch, but it will probably be hard in the air-”

“Please just say how old you are again.” Ruby groaned.

“I’m this many.” she replied remaining completely stationary.

“You didn’t hold up anything…” Ruby prompted.

“Because I seriously don’t know! Four thousand somethings. I’ve lost track okay? I’ve been locked in a room so my parents can make me the new shrine guardian if dad ever dies. All I know is I got in trouble for burning a forest down like four thousand years ago and haven't been let outside since.” Dracony admitted.

“Captain?” A green maned pony called timidly from the deck, “The dragon isn’t going to eat us is it?”

Dracony looked down and shook her head, “Nope! Ponies are like, way too chewy. Also it’s more fun to eat evil things.”

“Yeah it’s all good everypony. She just wants to come along on our quest.” Ruby called. A heartbeat later she added, “She’s nice… but a little crazy. In an endearing way.”

“Awww thanks!” Dracony exclaimed with a grin.

The ponies below sighed, laughed, and smiled in relief and went back to their business. A dozen or so flew up towards the mast, probably to say hi.

“Right. Crisis averted, but I still want to know how you knew my name, where I was, and what you want.” Ruby informed.

“I told you, I was praying to try and get a lemon to burn my room’s door down with-”

“What?” we all asked in unison with equal confusion.

Dracony held up a claw, a lemon with a bit of canon fuse sticking out of it inexplicably held in her grasp. “Yeah, combustible lemons. The perfect weapon of spite. Can’t leave home without one!”

She tossed the lemon back and forth between her foreclaws as she continued. “Anyways, I didn’t get a hold of Whatever-her-name-is, my Lady of the Flame. Instead I got a hold of some really confused guy who was like… I don’t know Chaos god or something. Anyways he said he'd give me all the lemonnades I wanted if I came and helped you guys out. And I was like ‘awesome I’ll go set shit on fire for them’ because literally anything beat being stuck in a box you can barely turn around in!”

Ruby gave Risky a quick look. Risky nodded, “Looks like commune contacts them DMs.”

“The who?” Dracony asked sharing my confusion.

“The people who gave us our quest. Alright, you can can come with us. Just um, I take it you follow a goddess of fire?” Ruby asked.

Oh bloody tartarus! “Yeah, be careful with fire on the ship. It is made of wood.”

She nodded twice. “I swear in the holy name of Chlorine Trifluoride I will not burn the ship.”

Lyra’s face scrunched up in confusion as she asked, “How they hay do you not know what year it is but know what Chlorine Trifluoride is?”

Dracony held a claw to her heart reverently, “My lady passed onto me the knowledge of her holy water when I was but a hatchling. I am blessed with the knowledge of all which burns.”

Lyra raised an eyebrow questioningly. “All?”

“Spacetime ignition temperature is one point four two times ten to the thirty two degrees Kelvin. At this point, reality itself is burning, thus all things burn. Therefore by knowing how hot you need to make a fire to reach plank temperature, you know all which burns.” Dracony said reverently.

Lyra nodded slowly and began to climb down the rigging. “I sleep in the cabin next to the machine shop. Please stay out of both of those… there's oils, fumes… lotsa flammables. I’m going to go away now okay?”

“Okay!” Dracony said with a completely oblivious smile. The poor girl may have been a few thousand years old, but she had the social skills of someone who just turned twenty.

“So, Dracony…” Ruby said with a wince, “That’s a horrible name. Ever hear of nicknames? It’s a name people call you besides the one your parents gave you.”

“You can have different names!?” she exclaimed, nearly falling out of the air as she forgot to flap her wings.

Ruby nodded. “Yeah, since you’re sailing with us for a while, and not burning the ship or things on the ship, or people on the ship, or air around the ship, I thought you might like a real name. Like, I don’t know… How’s Connie sound?”

“Exotic! Like burning copper sulfate, but with extra cute. Also it’s not completely stupid.” She replied simply.

Ruby and I waited a few seconds quietly.

“Oh! You mean if I would like to be called Connie! Yes please! It’s a nice name.” Connie giggled.

I looked over to Ruby, giving her my best concerned look. “I hope your mate has another one of those earrings in stock because feeding a dragon of her size is going to be a logistical nightmare. Also I don’t know where we can find a berth for her.”

“I wasn’t born, I hatched.” Connie commented.

“That’s shiptalk.” Risky informed flapping her way up to Ruby’s side. “She means a place for you to sleep… and well, frankly, Hon the only place on the ship she is going to be able to fit into is our cabin. She’s too big for the hallway below decks.”

Ruby hummed to herself, “Well… that’s a problem. Connie would you be ok with us shrinking you so you-”

“Yeah no. I’m not little. Nope nope nope.” the half dragon interrupted with a nervous twinge in her voice.

Ruby sighed, a defeated frown crossing her muzzle. I was very happy to be sure Ruby wasn’t the sort to argue with a pyromaniac dragon. “Alright… you can bunk with Risky and I. But if we want some pri-”

Risky interrupted by leaning over and whispering into Ruby’s ear quietly enough for me to not hear anything.

Connie, on the other hoof, “You like dragons? That's cool, but your context implies you mean more than that. Sooo like, what?”

Risky sputtered, cleared her throat and gave her a sheepish look. Ruby laughed and gave Risky a pat on the head, “At least you didn’t just go ask her right away and assume I’d go with it… What Risky means is she thinks you are pretty and would like to have some fun with you. Which is okay with me, but she didn’t think you would hear her and-”

“Oh!” Connie giggled, “I get it! Sure! First overgrown forest we come across we’ll burn it down together!”

I couldn’t help but laugh as Risky explained what she had meant by fun. Or so I assumed, I couldn’t hear anything over the sound of my laughter. Ruby’s face when she said ‘burn it down’ was priceless! No treasure in all the seas could compare to that face!

“Oh. That’s less fun… unless it’s more fun with someone than alone. I guess we could try.” Connie said as Risky finished.

I blinked twice and turned to look at the two in shock, “Seriously?”

Ruby shrugged. “A person’s a person. Also well… why not?”

“She’s a dragon!” I objected. “The logistics are astounding! I mean she’s huge! No offense.”

“Why would I be offended by a complement?” Connie asked.

“Meh. We’ll work something out.” Risky said with a shrug.

“You just met her!” I objected.

“That’s okay, I don’t mind. I have a lot of lost time to make up for, and they are cute.” Connie quipped.

I rolled my eyes and sighed. “Well alright if you want to try to get a dragon in your herd go for it. But don’t come crying to me when she accidentally breaks your legs by sitting on you too hard.”

“They won’t. I’m a cleric. I’ll just heal that if it happens. It shouldn’t though, I’m squishy.” Connie commented.

“Do you even understand what they are asking you to do?” I asked, my objections basically hinging on how apparently little Connie knew of social things.

She nodded. “Yeah, they want to share a hoard with me. Which is the base unit of a family, implying sexual activity between all adult members not spawned from other adult members within the group. I’m ageless, so what’s a few years tied down to two ponies who are kinda cute? It will be good practice for the relationships I have after them.

“I need to start somewhere, and I’d like to make up for lost time.” A second later she added, “I appreciate you looking out for me but I am not a hatchling. I just… need practice dealing with ponies I haven’t imagined into existence.”

“Oh. Well, that’s good to know.” I said carefully, “I’m going to go back to keeping a look out.”

“I’ll get my spellbook so I can work on a spell I’m making on the deck. We can talk and the crew can get to know you.” Risky said to Connie before teleporting away.

“I need to get us back on course. Why don’t you sit down near the wheel and we can all talk together?” Ruby offered kindly.

“Okay! Can we talk about fire? Specifically, how flower combusts at the right suspension in the air causing an explosion? It’s one of my favorite things I haven’t gotten to see yet.” Connie said eagerly.

“How do you know about all of this stuff? Is it seriously divine revelation?” Ruby asked as they descended to the deck.

“A lot is, but other stuff is from books. They have a ton of neat things in them. I’m pretty sure that whatever it is if you take a look, it’s in a book!”

I turned to look off the port side and sighed. My mother was right. Life does get more complicated after you turn forty...

Genesis - 2nd of Snowfall, ‘09 EOH - Midnight

Of the few things in this world which fill my barely beating heart with fear, Rintham is the worst. It’s a place few willingly go. Not even the most powerful and insane of mages or the most bloodthirsty of warlords come here. Were my master not hiding the remainder of the Tribunal within it, I would stay a week's journey from here.

Rintham, a two mile deep crater in the earth, lined with obsidian as if lava flowed down its edges to pool at the bottom. It’s centered in an ash desert filled with petrified trees and animals, forever frozen in position as they fled in horror. You can find a pony or Griffon there from time to time, they always look more horrified than the animals. As if they knew something simpler beings could not when death came for them.

This was all one would see instantly when they arrived. There was more, far more deeply wrong with Rintham. The sort of things you wouldn’t notice without spending a while in the area.

There was never any wind, nor could pegasi coax them into existing anywhere in the desert. The sky was visibly gray, fading from blue at the edges to black in the very center. During the day the air is thick, oppressive, everything around you slowly blurring to indistinguishable dots of color as if you needed glasses. When night comes everything is crystal clear, but if you looked up the stars are mere pinpricks of light. Candles hanging in the sky.

During that same night if you listened closely, and all was quiet you start to think you hear things. A whisper, a faint cry for help, a lover’s voice, a faint snatch of a haunting melody. Yet the moment you try to listen for it, it’s gone. Never to be heard again.

That’s enough for the average creature to stay far from Rintham, but the magically sensitive species have even more in store for them. Every mage knows of the lay lines, free power for the tapping if you are close to one. Many also know ley lines cross and the junctions hold even more power. A few are aware of nodes, extremely rare places many ley lines converge, nexuses of pure arcane power.

Those who work magic who have set hoof in Rintham know that nodes can die. Seven ley lines run to the edge of the desert, none go through it. The center of the crater should have been a node, but instead, nothing. Magic is dead here.

In Rintham, no spell exists which is not cast by a mage or brought in from the outside. Even these sources of magic slowly wither away. Your spell fades too quickly, the magic in items you bring bleeds away. That is horrifying for a mage on it’s own, but something hooks into your mind as the magic is drained. Your magic isn’t being simply depleted, something is devouring it.

This includes the magic which holds my flesh together, which binds me to my phylactery, and animates my very body. There is no greater expression of my loyalty than to return to Rintham and report to my master. I do not believe anypony else would do so willingly. My counterparts had to be placed under a geas to return to our master’s home.

One would expect a castle, or a fortress to lie at the heart of Rintham. Instead there is a rotting wooden yurt surrounded by a sea of arcane junk. Depleted artifacts which once could have slain gods, the bones of a million great mages, countless arcane trinkets, mountains of ritual components. It looks like the home of a madpony, for that’s precisely what it is.

She was not the master I served directly when I was an agent of the Tribunal. She was the one they served. Madness is a two edged sword, for her it’s bane would have none take her seriously at face value. The rotting robes, the obsession with this place, her raving mannerisms…

All of these were meaningless, for she could weave plans so intricately and elaborately as to have been the one who created the group who safeguarded Equestria for three thousand years. Given time to find her mind she always had a solution in the form of occult wisdom, a cleverly brutal tactic, or impossible cunning. Every threat from outside its borders the Tribunal faced, we beat because of her. When my old masters were slain, I brought our remnants to serve her. The Mad Mare.

I didn’t regret it, despite the insanity of the past few years we were accomplishing many things. We had acquired the Book of the Dead. We had broken the curse upon us to never set hoof in Equestria again. We had infiltrated the Crystal Empire and Equestria. But most of all, most importantly, tonight we would win.

She promised us and end to evil. Once this final ritual was completed in full ‘No greater evil shall enter the world, then that which lies within.’ With no more evil able to enter the world, we could at least begin to destroy it and make headway. For tonight we restored my father to life.

The Mad Mare stood hunched over the very center of the crater, a small cauldron of molten arcanite floating at her side without any aura as a river of deep gray metal poured from its depths. The river of molten metal filled the channels carefully scraped into the crater's floor and walls over three thousand years. The massive thaumaturgic circuit was nearly finished, the final pound of metal poured out before my eyes.

She tipped the cauldron back, the last drop of metal splashing over the rim and joining the circle below. It was time.

“Silent. Order Imposed. That which speaks, that which controls. Chaos, resist.” The Mad Mare begged in her eerily young and tortured voice.

I nodded and watched as the iron bound tome floated seemingly of it’s own volition to her side. It opened to an exact page. On that page was the name of death herself.

The Mare stepped into the center of the circle. The dark night dimmed as the circle seemed to drink in the light, becoming a perfectly black scrolling, arcane pattern, within the brighter obsidian. I froze, this was not how active arcanite was supposed to look. Had I made an error? Was the ore not pure enough?

“Dusk’nyth Vhuzompha, y’sll'ha y’stell'bsna ah nog. Y'ai gotha n'gha li'hee.” She cried violently into the night.

The air hissed as it began to move, sucked down into the light drinking cracks of the circle. I felt the air around me grow cold. I shouldn’t have felt that. I shouldn't feel anything. I couldn’t feel anything!

I took a step back, fur on the back of my neck raising as terror built in my heart for the first time in decades.

The Mad Mare repeated her chant. “Dusk’nyth Vhuzompha, y’sll'ha y’stell'bsna ah nog. Y'ai gotha n'gha li'hee.”

The moonlight slowly faded, vanishing completely before flaring back as a bright, vibrant red.

I could feel my soul. It burned. I needed to flee, to run, I was nailed in place.

“Dusk’nyth Vhuzompha, y’sll'ha y’stell'bsna ah nog. Y'ai gotha n'gha li'hee. Uaaah!” she screeched.

The air in front of her twisted, contracted, folding into a faint white, pony like shape. A second ripple resolved into a scythe, held calmly at the figures side. It reached off to it’s side with a hoof, and grabbed something from the ether. A moment later and a pale orange dot glowed as a lit cigarette appeared in it’s lips.

“Hello. It’s been a while. I suppose you couldn’t make it even a few days longer?” Death asked in a sad tone.

“Dusk’nyth Vhuzompha, tharanak y’ah grah'n gnaiih hupadgh n'ghft!” The Mad Mare intoned.

“Not even another day? You had so much will power back then, there has to be a scrap left! Please?” Death pleaded.

“Gol-Grogar ah’gotha wgah'n shugg.” she continued.

Death’s eyes fell on me. I felt them burn through my very being as if her gaze was made of fire. To my surprise she smiled, “You aren't completely evil. Just mostly evil. I don’t suppose you’d stab her for me would you? Please? For the sake of your home? I don’t know what she promised you, but you should really just run her through before she-”

“Ph'nglui mglw'nafh Sombra H'dies wgah'nagl fhtagn!” The Mad Mare screamed.

“Fuck!” Death cursed. She spat her cigarette out. “Faust damn it! Now I have to resurrect him and the asshole is just going to do her bidding. Come on, stab her! Now! Go all apprentice unseats their master so the world will only have to deal with… your dad... Oh…”

Could I? Should I? Was that really for the best? I may be an honorable and loyal pony but if Death is saying to kill somepony… Should it be headed? No, my oath is my life. What have you if you do not even have your word?

Death’s ears drooped. “So be it. Sombra’s spirit is free, you may return him to life as you demand. Please unbind me now. This is pretty painful, and I know damn well she hate’s doing it. Bastard.”

“Zhro.” The Mad Mare whispered apologetically.

Death vanished, the air warping back into it’s normal state, save for a few white hairline cracks floating in the air, barely visible to the naked eye.

For an instant, I thought that would be it. The cracks would open and Sombra would step from the portal, then close. Nope.

She walked around the cracks, inspecting them carefully, robes fluttering as the spell circle pulled them towards it, as if trying to drag them in. For a moment I saw her face, younger than it should have been, yet worn from untold hardship. Thin peach colored cheeks clinging tightly to the bone beneath, a lock of pale yellow mane, the abyss for eyes.

Satisfied at the crack’s appearance she threw back her head and screamed. “Cynothoglys! Wgah'n ftaghu, goka ya'gotha lw'nafh Sombra n'gha'agl ah shugg ah n'ghft'agl, y'hah!”

The Mad Mare’s hoof plunged into the ground, sinking in as if the obsidian were water. The circle pulsed, the red light of the moon dimming as the circle drank in its light. From the center of the circle she pulled a dark, nearly black amethyst heart.

The heart pulsed, beating just as one of flesh would. The stumps of arteries atop it dripped inky blackness as she set it down in mid air. The heart beat once as her hoof left it, then the ground shook. It heaved upwards, cracks opening up in the ground as thirteen massive columns of black crystal erupted from within carefully positioned circles.

A thousand tormented screams filled the air as dozens of glowing lava-like forms resembling ghostly ponies were dragged legs first from each column. The tormented forms melted into ribbons of orange light before swirling around the beating gemstone heart.

A thick green mist bubbled up from the ground. I could feel it slowly eating away my hooves for a brief moment before it moved on, swirling around the center of the spell. The orange energy raced into the heart, the flow of inky black blood increased, becoming a thick stream.

It pooled on the ground, then slowly crawled upwards, hardening into a dark amethyst skeleton. Almost instantly after the bone formed the mist crawled up the limbs, thickening and hardening into a simulacrum of flesh, binding the bones together at their joints. A second later the darkness pulsed, leaping up and racing towards the skeletal form like a pet eager to see it’s master.

The darkness struck the skeletal form like a wave, clinging to it in the shape of a pony as it condensed forming a solid body. One I had never seen before, but one I recognized from his paintings. The dark, coal black fur, the purple aura burning around his eyes, the smooth swept horn colored as blood.

The melting orange shapes began to swirl around the columns, the green mist remained in bare threads waving across the ground, the circle burned a dark blue faint vapors raising into the the sky. Sombra’s eyes snapped open, the green and red orbs fixing on the sky immediately. He smiled, his gaze slowly lowering as he laughed. “Fools! When there is no more room in Tartarus, Sombra will walk the-”

His eyes took in the glowing shapes, columns of black crystal, and swirling green mist above the obsidian floor, and scrunched in confusion. “-other Tartarus… The hay?”

“Silence!” The Mad Mare barked, her voice deepening as it did each time her madness turned to genius.

Sombra turned with a snarl, which faded immediately. “I see. Very well, what task does my master have for me?”

“Two months east, within the Badlands of Equestria lies a city of glass and steel, guarded by a ghostly creature. Within the tallest tower lies a book of rules, and within this book the Spirit of Chaos has hidden Celestia’s half of the key. You will retrieve it and bring it here for my slave.” The Mad Mare ordered.

“As you command, but be warned, this third service ends my debt to you. Our contract is fulfilled. Hereafter you will need to barter for my services should you desire them.” Sombra replied in a surprisingly business-like tone.

“As we agreed, so shall it be.” The Mare agreed.

This was going to be awesome! I could spend time with him for the first time in my life. I’m certain he would approve of my power, the skills I had hones over-

“You, Magus, you must find the other half of the key.” The Mare informed.

Bucking Tartarus… “Where is it?”

“Travel to Zebraca, within the Great Library at it’s heart you will find Clover’s journal. Within it’s pages is a memory, bound there by Luna herself. Take it for your own and learn where she hid her half of the key. You may need to capture her, should she have safeguarded it in such way as to prevent others from retrieving it. Retrieve it and bring it here that we might finish what has begun.”

The Mad Mare shivered as if somepony slid a blade down her spine. For an instant the black abyss of her eyes vanished, two blue eyes locked onto mine, pleading, “Don’t… come… back…” She growled as if her jaw were wired shut.

The blackness returned like paper lit aflame. “-without the key.” she finished.

I nodded, “As you command.”

Perhaps there would be a moment to speak with my father before- He was nowhere to be seen. A trail led through the mist to the east. A sign he had already left with impossible speed. I closed my eyes for a moment, then turned and headed south. It was a long way to Zebrica.

Why is it when you accomplish something it’s never what you desire? Maybe I should have stabbed her… Or maybe I should do something a bit out of the bounds of my orders.

I turned east and ran with all the speed I could muster. I could catch up to him, I would. Within a few minutes I came along side him, a dark cloud moving along the ground as if flying, a pony’s form vaguely visible within the darkness.

“Father!” I called hoping for a warm response.

“Crotch spawn.” he greeted without any emotion whatsoever.

I blinked, falling behind a few paces in shock. He wasn’t glad to see me? That had to be a mistake. “I’m Genesis, you don’t know me but-”

“You are an abomination grown from part of my horn within the womb of a slave. An insult to my legacy and heritage in the form of an ordinary unicorn created from the flesh of the King of all Umbral Unicorns. You seek my approval? You do not have the foundation to gain such glory. While I admire the strength within your rotting flesh, it is wasted on a monster such as you.” He didn’t even look at me.

“I… but… your…” I sputtered.

“You seek some form of closure? Affection? I owe less than nothing to you. Had your creators not blasphemed my flesh I would have returned on my own and not have to follow my master’s bidding. If you were not required to fulfill a contract I forged long ago and must honor, I would leave your corpse rotting in a ditch and imprison your soul within a gem so I might torment you until my rage at your existence subsides.”

I couldn’t think of anything to say. I just stared at him, wondering if what I felt was sadness or the onset of death.

His eye moved, looking at me for an instant before moving back to the horizon. “That is an interesting cloak, is it felt?”

“No its lea-”

Sombra lifted a hoof and brushed the back of my cloak, exclaiming, “It is now! I’m just fucking with you. Tell you what, we finish picking up the key for old Gorgar then go split some foals, or a sandwich, or something else meaty. You know, catch up, maybe purge that disgusting Luminous Unicorn blood from you, and raze a village for dessert. It will be fun! Once we have uncle Grogar free I’ll see about setting you up in a kingdom somewhere nice. Now stop slacking off and get your half of the key. Be a good girl and kill something for me on the way!”

Sombra’s speed triple, blazing off into the distance faster than I could possibly have kept up. To say I was baffled was an understatement. It took me five minutes to realize something he had said.

“Wait, did he say ‘Free Grogar’?” I asked myself.

He had to mean so we could kill him. We were working to destroy evil weren't we? It made sense to kill the origin of it. Yes that’s what he had to mean. Right? Yes. It had to be.

I turned back south, uneasily walking to where my Dogs were camped. It would take a while to get enough soldiers to capture the Library of Zebrica.

Author's Note:

I actually sat down and translated the Mad Mare's dialogue into R'ylehian. It took 2 days because no auto translation exists for it... Someone should get on that.