Episode 1: The Strange Swordsman Part 1

View Online

A shout of irritation echoed off of the skeletons that composed the castle walls, and over the dimly lit chamber in which the swordsman fought with his rivals of many battles in the past. "Eh?!" He looked over the weapon in one of his many hands. "Why, I've been had!"

Certainly, the sword looked like Excalibur, one of the twelve weapons of legend. Its blade had that same golden sheen, the same markings, and everything that the original had displayed in the paintings he had viewed and the documents he had pored over. But using it against his current adversaries seemed to have the same effectiveness as beating them with a rubber chicken. No, he immediately thought, as even that would have been more useful.

His name was Gilgamesh, one of the single most dangerous warriors in the entire world. A collector of swords, he was renowned for his brilliant strength, his vast variety of weaponry, his red-orange Genji armor – an immensely powerful suit known for its incredible protective ability –, and his magical prowess, based around learning the abilities of any foes he faced and adapting them to his personal style. His eight arms, some of which were gauntleted, gleamed in the low light of the lamps, as did his helmet and leggings. Only his chest, bare of the Genji mail, his face, and the arms that were uncovered by gauntlets could be seen, revealing his grayish skin.

In spite of a personal bias against him, Gilgamesh served as the second-in-command to the ruler of the corpse-laden castle, Exdeath, a warlock and former tree whose very existence emanated pure evil. The latter point was particularly prominent, and was what Gilgamesh despised the most about his work – Exdeath was known to slaughter, imprison, and torture anyone who even slightly disappointed him, no matter what position they held among his ranks. In fact, Gilgamesh sometimes questioned why he had yet to actually exit his position, only to remember in an instant what happened whenever one of Exdeath's servants "quit."

He shuddered at the mere thought of what he had witnessed in the past, but instantly turned his mind back on the battle at hand. Hoping for the best from his new sword, Gilgamesh altered his grip and swung the so-called "legendary weapon" towards Bartz and the other members of his party once more, praying that he was simply holding the blade wrong… only for it to bounce off of his rival's armor with the most quiet of squeaks.

Even with his derision of Exdeath and what his evil had wrought, Gilgamesh could not deny the true reason he continued to fight for him – the mere act of battle. To Gilgamesh, fighting was what he lived for and, much as he despised it, working for Exdeath had brought him many challenges and conquests that he had only dreamed of in the past.

Bartz and his group, consisting of the pirate-princess Faris, the princess-princess Lenna, and the other princess-princess Krile – formerly the old king of Bal, Galuf, but he had perished in a duel with Exdeath, much to Gilgamesh’s dismay; he had nothing against Galuf, and had been saddened by the news of his passing – were his greatest rivals, and some of the only men and women who had ever bested him in combat. Certainly, they were the only ones who had defeated him consecutively. He admired them for that.

Unfortunately, he did not know quite as much about them as he wanted to, mostly due to them having only interacted on a few occasions. Each of those times, however, their blades had crossed, and he always relished those encounters. But apart from the most basic information about them and their personalities, very little had been learned in regard to their lives.

Having grown fed up with the blade's edge being either disgustingly blunt or made out of cardboard, Gilgamesh threw the sword to the ground. It let out a rather surprising metallic clang as it hit the stone floor. "This," he said, the venom on his words evident, "is far from the strongest of swords! I feel so betrayed!"

Bartz's group had stopped attacking him completely, likely out of pity. He was about to make a scathing note about how absolutely stupid of an idea it was to leave a weapon that useless out in the middle of Exdeath's castle, but bit back the remark as the loud, angry voice of Exdeath echoed across the walls.

"Gilgamesh!"

He winced automatically. "Erk!"

For their part, his rivals all seemed to be looking around them in shock, as if trying to grasp just where the voice was coming from.

"You worthless fool!" Exdeath continued, his voice filled with pure, unfiltered malice. "For your continued bungling, I banish you from this dimension!"

Gilgamesh felt his eyes widen, and a chill ran down his spine. "Wh-what?! No!" he screamed to the world around him, but the cry seemed to have fallen on deaf ears. "Anything but that!"

"Silence!"

Gilgamesh felt the world beneath him either vanish or merely open up, and a black void began to pull him into its depths. His fingers scraped against the stone floor as he struggled to free himself, but they quickly slid away as the void’s force pulled him further within. Before he disappeared completely, Gilgamesh could see Bartz, Lenna, Faris, and Krile, all of whom covered their faces in an effort to look away from what was occurring before them. Even the ones who had bested him so frequently were horrified at the brutal and violent display, capped off by a single, terrified, and completely broken scream:

"NOOOOOOOOOOOO!"

-- An Epic for Gilgamesh --
-- Episode 1: The Strange Swordsman Part 1 --
-- Written By ZaleAcon --

The world around Gilgamesh slowly came into focus, followed by a throbbing pain in his forehead. He sat up, clutching his skull with one of his hands, and realized that he had been lying atop a white, smallish bed. He gave the pain a moment to subside, although his vision was still tinted red.

As soon as his head stopped throbbing, Gilgamesh leapt high up into the air. He only barely managed to avoid slamming his head into the ceiling in the process, but landed gracefully enough.

But just as he stood up tall and stretched out his back, a new thought struck him: where was he?

He glanced about the odd place. At first glance, it appeared to be a house. Everything was made of wood, from the bed to the tables, and the floor and ceiling even had signs of knots and circles in them, almost as though the building was actually inside of a giant tree. The walls, oddly enough, were covered in bookshelves, but they seemed to be somewhat warped to fit the circular walls. He turned to look out the window, and was greeted by what must have been hundreds of leaves, as well as a bright and cheery sun high in the sky.

"Hey! What's going on up there?" came an unfamiliar voice from below. It appeared the building had at least two stories.

Instinct told Gilgamesh that any voices he did not recognize must be either enemies or neutral parties. Deciding to be better safe than sorry, he reached for his side to grab a weapon; if his soon-to-be opponent was neutral, he could try to explain everything later, maybe. Of course, it was only when he reached to his side that he came to a startling, distressing conclusion: all of his weapons were gone.

Of course, he thought angrily. He had dropped them all in order to pick up that useless weapon from the treasure chest. Excalipoor, he decided to forever call it, due to its worthless, subpar nature.

While hand-to-hand combat was not entirely difficult for him, Gilgamesh preferred using some sort of medium to control his blows. And though magic was also technically viable, he had no clue whether or not his spells would affect the approaching beast.

Due to the first option being unavailable – Gilgamesh made a mental note to pick up some form of weaponry as soon as he was able to –, he decided to follow his next best option: run. However, the realization immediately hit him that there was no path for him to escape on. One available route, a staircase, was likely being taken up by whatever creature was working its way towards him. The only other route, the window, appeared too far up from the ground and could potentially cause great injury.

Temporarily forgetting that he had literally just jumped what must have been ten feet into the air, Gilgamesh fled under the bed in an attempt at stealth. He managed to get halfway under it before his large, muscular body caused him to be unable to fit all the way under. It was only when he tried to get out from the bed that he came to what must have been his fiftieth startling realization that day: he was stuck. Completely.

After flailing around beneath the monstrous piece of furniture, Gilgamesh heard the footsteps come to a stop behind him. "Oh, for Pete's sake…!" the voice said. "How do you get yourself stuck like…? Ugh, never mind…"

Again, Gilgamesh was forced to bite back a scathing, brilliant, and completely earth-shattering line that would likely have left the poor creature stuttering for days as she – he surmised from the voice – recovered. Instead, he merely let out a muffled growl.

"Oh, right," said the voice. "I… uh… I guess I'll have to pull you out of there, won't I…?"

Gilgamesh felt a strange pressure on his back as slid, unceremoniously and rather painfully, from underneath the accursed sleeping device. "Gwah!" he gasped as he was dragged along the ground, feeling at least one splinter enter his bare chest.

As soon as he was free to stand, Gilgamesh did so, and turned toward his mysterious captor. Said captor happened to be less than half his size, and appeared to be a unicorn, not unlike those from his own world, but with large wings on her back. In fact, they actually looked rather cumbersome. Her lavender coat and the strange mark on her flank certainly stuck out quite a bit.

The unicorn looked him over and grimaced. "I’m glad you’re finally awake," she said, "You’ve been out for awhile, but… You wouldn’t mind me asking a question, would you?" Without waiting for a response, she continued, "So… what are you, exactly?"

Gilgamesh took a second to mentally process that fact that a horse was speaking his language. Not to mention that it seemed quite fluid, at that! Certainly, monsters had spoken before, but nothing so feral or wild as an equine. It felt almost surreal.

But he could not let her see his fear. Beasts could smell fear – they reveled in it. And the beast before him seemed quite hungry, based on the way her giant, giant eyes looked straight into his own. He needed to avoid showing any signs of worry or nervousness, or she would be upon him in an instant.

All he needed to do was answer her question.

Gilgamesh's eyes lit up as he stood tall and placed his eight arms on his waist. "Thank you for asking, my dear lavender equine!" he declared loudly, making his voice sound even more heroic and powerful than it usually was. "I am Gilgamesh, the manliest of swordsmen, and the swordliest of mansmen!"

The equine simply stared at him for a good ten or fifteen seconds, likely entranced by his sheer amazingness. "Riiiiiiight," she said at last, her voice deadpan from shock. "So, uh… I'm Twilight Sparkle."

Twilight Sparkle? What was that, a brand of shampoo?

No matter how tempted he was, Gilgamesh hid the urge to proclaim this to the unicorn before him – nothing made a beast angrier than petty remarks. "Excellent moniker, my friendly equine with a protrusion of the scalp and feathered wings!" he announced, grinning, before a thought struck him. "Wait, hold on a second –" the sudden change in tone seemed to catch his captor off guard "– where is this?"

The last thing he remembered was Exdeath banishing him to rift between dimensions, but could that mean that this harmless-looking creature – albeit one that could very well be quite vicious – was actually some sort of… demon of the rift?

Twilight continued to look over him, still in shock over his raw and unfiltered power. "This is Ponyville."

"No, no! More general than that!"

"Equestria?"

"More! Is there a giant, nightmarish castle anywhere around here? Or a giant bridge, mayhaps?"

Twilight simply stared at him. "Um… no, I don't think so."

"Is this a dangerous and terrifying rift between dimensions that creatures can be banished into by a monstrous king who once happened to be a tree?"

"Wh… Huh?" Twilight continued to stare at him as if he was the crazy one, rather than the lavender equine with random tattoos on her body and eyes the size of dinner plates.

Gilgamesh nodded, looking past her and towards the staircase behind her. It was the perfect chance to escape. "Well, in that case, I'd best get to know this land that shall now hold me as its captive! Farewell, Moisturizer, and my thanks for giving me this assistance!"

He immediately bolted down the stairs, dodging a low-hanging ceiling that foolishly threatened his life, and bounded out through the front door, leaving a confused and surprised Twilight Sparkle behind him gaping as Gilgamesh rushed through the area.

"Wh… what just happened?"

Gilgamesh heroically walked across the path, smirking to himself as the various equines stared upwards at his sheer awesomeness. Unlike Twilight Sparkle, or whatever she had called herself, these beasts seemed far less aggressive.

Although he did not have a sword or his trademark naginata, Gilgamesh could still likely best any creature that dared to face him in battle with the use of his magic and unarmed combat. Of course, again, neither was ideal, but he could do it if he absolutely had to.

One of the creatures even pulled two smaller ones – its children, he surmised – away from the road, and told them that they would be safe and that everything would be okay. Ha, of course everything would be okay if Gilgamesh was there!

The hero of legend, clad in the all-powerful Genji armor, save for his chest-plate, continued to step across the path and through more confused and frightened looking equines, some of which had horns, others with wings, and some with neither. Even though he had no idea where he was going, Gilgamesh had no doubt in randomly walking around and talking to the locals would get him where he was going. It worked for Bartz, at least.

However, as he stepped across the path, Gilgamesh was suddenly struck by a bullet to his unprotected chest, and felt himself being flung back as some sort of rainbow laser blasted into him.

"Gak!" he managed to once again gasp as he fell back to the ground.

"O-oh, sorry about that!" a voice called out to him. They had better be sorry, given that they were dealing with the mighty Gilgamesh!

He worked his way to his feet, and stared at his attacker. It was a blue equine with the most unnatural hair color – or mane-color, perhaps? – that he had ever seen in his life. And that was saying a lot, given that he had dealt with Faris and Lenna, whose hair was blue and pink respectively, so often.

Of course, neither of them had rainbow hair. That was just ridiculous.

It took him several seconds of recovering from the pain to realize that the equine was flying. "Sorry about that," it said again, its voice decidedly feminine. "I guess I was going a bit too fast to see you there…" She extended a hoof. "I'm Rainbow Dash, the fastest flier in all of Equestria! Who're you…" She blinked, as though she were actually seeing him for the first time. "Or, uh… what are you?"

Gilgamesh glared at her, attempting not to point out the ridiculousness of her name. "You do not know me?" he asked, somewhat offended at his new rival's lack of knowledge of who he was. "I… am… Gilgamesh, the legendary, powerful, and legendarily powerful swordsman who shall pound you into oblivion for daring to run into me and causing me no small amount of pain!" He gestured to the bruise on his chest, a massive thing that likely measured around two inches in diameter.

As he had suspected, the beasts were out to attack him. First the unicorn, now a pegasus. And at the speed this “Rainbow Dash” had been going, she would undoubtedly be difficult to hit in a straight-up fight. He needed a reliable weapon, and fast.

He leaned in close to the tiny yet deadly creature. If she were so willing to fight him, he would be glad to retaliate. "From this day forth, you and I are enemies, and I shall do everything in my power to best your every move and make you feel sad about yourself and your stupid hair color for this transgression!" Yes, she was nowhere near as powerful as Bartz, or… well, or anyone else he’d fought, but it was the principle of the thing that mattered.

"Wait, what?" asked the pony whose mane likely took forever to dye – unless it was natural, in which case Gilgamesh wondered how it worked, and how such pigmentation even logically made sense. "I mean, uh… sure, I'll compete with you, I guess, but isn't that a bit much for me accidentally running into you o–?"

"No arguing! Gilgamesh awaaaaay!" He proceeded to bravely run from the tiny pegasus, racing down the street at such a rate that he kicked up dust.

Rainbow Dash blinked and rubbed the back of her head with a hoof. "Huh, what's that guy's problem?"

Continuing on his all-important journey to learn the layout of this mysterious land, Gilgamesh stepped down the street, nursing his recent war wound by holding his hand to it. His eyes were trained solely on the path before him, looking about with eagle eyes for any signs of any creature that dared to attack him again. Even he, in his infinite power, wisdom, and courage, had to guard himself. This land was clearly hostile.

As if to further drive the point home, Gilgamesh continued to step forward and accidentally ran into a six-foot-tall stack of walking books. He fell back, crashing into the ground and holding his hand to his dazed head.

“Aw, darn it! I can’t believe I dropped this stuff…” said an unseen creature, but Gilgamesh surmised that it was definitely some sort of hostile, violent beast like the others.

Instead, what he saw was a small, light-blue unicorn. What really struck Gilgamesh as odd about her – again, based on the voice – was that her mane was almost the same color as her coat, but only very slightly darker. In fact, the only things about her that wasn’t blue were her greenish-yellow eyes. But besides those, she wasn’t especially noteworthy. Even her ridiculous mane color looked normal at that point.

“Sheesh! And after I wanted to keep all those things organized, too…” She rolled her eyes, and looked over at Gilgamesh. “O-oh, uh… heh, heh… Sorry ‘bout that. Guess I didn’t see you behind those books, huh?”

Gilgamesh stood up tall. “No, you most certainly did not!” Was this world just actively out to hurt him? It certainly felt that way.

The unicorn blinked, and looked closer at him. “Wait a sec… Hey, what’s your name?”

“Why, I am glad that you have asked me that most desirable question! For, you see, I am the grand, immense, powerful–”

“Yeah, yeah. Sure.” She rolled her eyes. “Just your name, guy.”

He scowled. “Gilgamesh.”

“Gilgamesh, huh?” The unicorn placed a hoof on her chin as if in thought, before she placed it back on the path. “Well, uh… y-yeah. I really need to work on walkin’ with these things. I swear, I just keep on running into everything… Sorry ‘bout that. Again.” She started to pick up the books with magic, and smirked over at him. “Well, I guess I’ll see you around, then. So, uh… g’bye!” She suddenly sprinted off into the distance, and Gilgamesh could only watch as she ran off.

He stared for a few seconds, and turned to continue on his journey. What was with these creatures and just randomly attacking him? Oh, well. He would never learn more about that universe and its bloodthirsty denizens if he did not walk about and greet them for himself.

Even if that required him to visit every single shop, market, and building that stuck out to him, he would learn this place inside and out.

Gilgamesh continued his heroic parade throughout the land known as Ponyville, watching as the ponies stepped aside in respect for his presence, and nodding to them as they did so. At least these creatures understood the powerhouse who stepped among them with a serene grace that most of them likely lacked. But why did they stare at him so oddly? Did they truly fear him so?

Before he was able to go off on a tangent, a nearby store caught his eye; it appeared to be a bakery, based on its odd shape. Gilgamesh suddenly noticed just how hungry he was, likely due to the strange pegasus's attack on him and that unicorn tripping him, or perhaps because of Exdeath banishing him to this strange dimension.

Gilgamesh shuddered at the memory, of the void slowly devouring him, watching those before him cover their eyes in fear of what was to happen to him, and of passing out in the depths of darkness…

"Um, sir, can I help you with anything?"

Gilgamesh blinked, and realized that he had subconsciously stepped into the strange store, and was simply standing in the entrance and staring off into space. The orange-coated stallion manning – horsing? No, that was stupid – the register was staring at him quite oddly, as though Gilgamesh had spontaneously grown a second head.

"O-oh, of course," he said, walking forward towards the counter, and looked over the options. All of them were sugary sweets, none looking as though they held any actual nutritional benefit.

Gilgamesh grimaced. While he liked to treat himself from time to time, the fact that there was nothing that would sufficiently fill his stomach disheartened him slightly. Not to mention the sheer lack of luck on his part, finding a place that only sold sugar-based products when he was so hungry. Perhaps his fortune had been affected, as well.

Not to mention that everything looked pink. Everything. He could practically feel his manliness and power being sapped away every second he stood in that store.

However, that cupcake did look somewhat appetizing…

"I will take one of those, if you please," he said to the stallion behind the counter, gesturing to the small, sugary treat. Although nothing of note truly stood out to him very much about the stallion, Gilgamesh did have to acknowledge that he was able to look him in the eyes without needing to tilt his head upward very far.

The equine nodded. "Alright, then…" he said, writing Gilgamesh's order down on a small pad of paper by using his mouth to hold the pencil.

The cashier turned around and handed – hoofed, perhaps? No, that sounded even more idiotic – the note to one of the creatures behind him: a pink creature with yet another unnatural mane color. Although, at the very least, Gilgamesh could acknowledge the fact that it wasn't as ridiculous as the rainbow-maned creature from earlier. Besides, the fact that it was the same color as Lenna’s made it far more believable to him. Had it not been for the way it was combed, being extremely large and, for lack of a better word, poofy, he would not have been bothered by it at all.

While she said nothing at first, the mare's eyes seemed to burn into Gilgamesh's as she turned away and stalked off with the note clenched in her teeth.

"So," the cashier said, pulling him away from the sight, "are you from around here? I can't say I've seen a creature like you before." He didn't even seem remotely fazed by the pure power that Gilgamesh seemed to exude as he stood tall, four of his eight hands on his hips and the other four arms raised up to the sky.

"No," Gilgamesh responded. "I only just arrived here today, as far as I know."

"Huh. Alright, here's your order." The cashier spontaneously pulled a bag out of thin air. "That'll be eight bits."

Gilgamesh blinked. "Bits? Er…" He reached into the pocket of his armored leggings – for the first time thanking that odd design choice – and pulled out a small pouch. He proceeded to take eight pieces of gil from it, laying them on the counter. "Um… will this cover it?"

The cashier looked over the golden coins, obviously confused. "Hm… I've never seen this form of currency before," he admitted. "Are these solid gold?” When Gilgamesh nodded, the cashier continued, “Bet I could sell them for quite a bit… Alright, I'll take 'em." He picked up the eight coins with his hoof, a maneuver that Gilgamesh questioned the possibility of, and handed him the bag with the cupcake in it. "Have a nice day!"

Gilgamesh simply nodded to the cashier and turned to leave, only to see that same pink equine standing in front of him. She was positioned on a table, staring into his eyes with ones that looked as if they were about to pop out of their sockets.

The mare stared him over for a short time, saying absolutely nothing. "So," she finally said, her voice slow and deliberate, "do you have any plans to stay here?"

The question was so innocent, yet held a strange and horrific undertone that even the almighty and handsome Gilgamesh could hardly keep from finding nerve-wracking. However, he simply puffed out his chest and stared down at her with the same wide-eyed look. "Mayhaps," he proclaimed heroically, causing everypony in the bakery to stare at him in awe. "However, I do not… currently… have any… plans…?" The way she continued to stare at him unnerved him to no end, and caused him to bitterly curse at her in his mind for being one of the first creatures to ever do so. "Um… yes?"

The creature instantly stood up straight, a large grin covering her face. "Oh, cool!" she said, and held out a hoof. "Hi! What's your name?"

He paused for an instant, looking her over cautiously. "Gilgamesh…?" he managed to utter with immense braveness.

"Ooh, Gilgamesh!" she squealed, placing her hooves on her face. "That's such a cool name! And so fun to say, too!" Before he could say anything, the equine jumped off the table and began to poke at his body, looking him over. “Wow, and I really like that armor-y look you’ve got going for yourself, too! Makes you look like some kinda warrior or something!”

She suddenly stopped and giggled, jumping back onto the table in front of the more-than-somewhat-unnerved warrior. "Hi! My name’s Pinkie Pie! Nice to meetcha, Gilgamesh!” She leaned back, giving him some breathing room. “Well, since you’re staying, I guess I’ll have to throw you a party!”

“You, er… you don’t have to…”

“Ha!” Pinkie laughed. “Of course I do, silly! I throw a welcoming party for everypony who moves in here! I mean, what’s not to like? It’ll have cake, and balloons, and streamers, and it’ll all be really, really, really, really super-terrific-awesomely-spectacularifically–”

"Pinkie!" the cashier shouted, his voice somewhat muffled from where he had slammed his head into the register. "Please just… go back inside… I think you're scaring the customers…"

She stared at him for several seconds, giving the equine by the register the same wide-eyed look she had just given Gilgamesh, before she broke out into a wide grin. "Okie-dokie-lokie, Mr. Cake!" she declared, before literally bouncing back into the place behind the door.

Gilgamesh had no reaction that could be claimed, other than to simply step outside the building quietly, bitterly consumed by his new lust for vengeance toward the pegasus, the unicorn, and the hyperactive creature who he had just met.

Clearly, this new world was a dangerous, dangerous place.

After a careful and scientific test, Gilgamesh confirmed that the cupcake was, in fact, delicious. The texture was perfect, the flavor, divine. It was absolutely befitting a warrior such as he.

However, it did absolutely nothing to alleviate his stomach, nor his sudden worry that the pink equine with the giant eyes would attack him in the midst of his slumber. And without weapons of any kind, defense against her would constitute missiles, exploding, or some other extremely circumstantial magical ability.

None of those options seemed particularly appealing. Mostly due to his poor aim. He would have to aim from point blank in order to even come close to hitting his target.

As such, Gilgamesh decided that the best course of action would be to gain any form of weaponry that he could find as soon as feasibly possible, preferably within several hours. Or minutes. Hopefully seconds.

His eyes instantly set upon the nearest store, which seemed to be one that sold clothing. While he doubted that the building would sell weaponry – it likely only sold armor, which he would have absolutely no use for given his current equipment – it was still his best option overall. After all, he saw no other stores that had the symbol of a sword on them, the common staple of a blacksmith's shop.

Then again, he saw none that had signs for magic, items, or "INN" written in giant letters, but the strange clothing area was still probably his best option. Perhaps it was some strange kind of department that sold everything.

The warrior stepped forward, some of his hands placed upon his hips, and opened the door with all of the force he could muster. Gilgamesh looked about the so-called "Carousel Boutique," and over the various mannequins that were placed throughout the area, all of which were clad in gaudy outfits that appeared only to have the capacity to fit equines.

The entire building was designed in various shades of blue, covering the floors, walls, and even the ceiling. Even some of the furniture was blue, with the only differentiation being in a few yellows and greens, as well as in said gaudy clothing.

He scoffed. Disregarding the rainbow-maned pegasus, the book-obsessed unicorn, and the pink creature who had no idea what personal space was, Gilgamesh highly doubted that anything that lived in "Ponyville" could fight, especially while wearing such frilly clothing as the ones on display. It seemed more of a hindrance than anything, really. In fact, he had been wholly convinced that the equines were mostly benign.

Gilgamesh rolled his eyes at the depressing display, using his keen intellect to glean the fact that there were no weapons to be found in such a sad place as the clothing store, and turned to leave.

"My apologies," said a voice. "I truly do not mean to be so late, but I – Oh! Um…"

He turned back toward the voice, and saw yet another unicorn, this time with a white coat. Unlike the two before, however, her mane was extremely curled, looked as if it had been brushed several hundred times in the last hour alone, and its color was… blue.

Of course it was.

The two simply stared at each other for several seconds awkwardly, before Gilgamesh spoke. "Oh, never mind me," he said, attempting to be as polite as he could physically muster. "I was only just leaving; nothing in here appears to intrigue my taste."

The equine coughed, and glanced away before muttering something under her breath. "Oh, well, I will admit that we don't carry anything in your… um… size. However, I can probably find you something more flattering than…" Although she did not finish the statement, the unicorn gestured to Gilgamesh's entire body.

"Hey, I… This is completely flattering!" Gilgamesh protested, standing tall and showing off his almost-completely-armored form. "Do you have any idea how hard it was for me to get my hands on this?"

The unicorn smiled politely. "I am not saying that it wasn't. But… I simply don't believe that it shows off your… poise enough." She then added in a quieter tone, "Not to mention just how garish that color is…"

Gilgamesh grimaced. "I assure you that this is the most beautiful and fantastic armor available to me. Too bad the chest plate doesn't fit like this, though. I could always just go back to using two arms, but…" He shook his head, finding himself being thrown off track. "Anyway, I will not need your gaudy clothing in order to make myself appear powerful!"

Her jaw dropped in surprise. "Wh… Gaudy?! And who are you to be making such a claim?!"

The warrior stood up tall, his back straight and his hands on his hips once more, showing off the mighty war-wound from earlier. "I… am the mighty, powerful, and legendary swordsman –" he paused for dramatic effect "– Gilgamesh! I have been thrown across dimensions, fought and communed with heroes of old, and have wielded the legendary blade Excalibur into battle against my greatest foe!" Or, at the very least, a poor representation of it. "And who, pray tell, are you, tiny equine?"

The equine blinked, the gears appearing to spin in her head. "Ah, so you're the one Twilight felt the need to warn me about…" She grimaced. "And with good reason, it appears. I am Rarity," she added as an afterthought.

"Moisturizer told you of me?" Gilgamesh cocked an eyebrow. "Already, it appears that this dimension is learning of the legendary heroics that my blade holds!"

"Um… You don't appear to have any blades…"

"Yet! And soon, I shall find a weapon worthy of me, and I shall use its might to return to my home!" Gilgamesh turned to the door once more, and began to step out, heroically declaring, "Fare you well, polite equine, and may we meet again!"

Rarity stared at the door he had exited through with an expression that seemed a mixture of confusion and shock. After a time, she turned away from the door, and began to mumble to herself. "'Gaudy,' he says. Hmph, says the… the… creature wearing full armor…"

Gilgamesh continued his walk through the town, his stomach still grumbling and his lack of weaponry still tugging at the back of his mind. The polite equine – who, he had to admit, had the most realistic hair out of any of the four he had greeted so far – and her insults of his heroic garb continued to sting, as well. The creatures of the town, he concluded, were rather cruel when it came down to it, especially that dangerous pink mare. Even if they seemed mostly calm, he would be smartest to watch out in case they turned on him.

Gilgamesh shuddered involuntarily; he likely was not going to sleep very well that night.

After much walking down the road, the warrior found that the street had given way from stone to dirt, and a large, red barn had overtaken his field of vision. A farm, likely, and he was looking forward to the prospect of having food in his stomach. A great warrior such as him could not fight as well when starving, after all, as Gilgamesh knew from years of experience.

He stepped down the path, and into the area in front of the barn. He stared at it carefully, before he turned and saw something that made him jump.

Not very high, of course, but still.

Several hundred trees appeared to dot the landscape, all of them covered in an odd, red type of fruit. Suddenly, a wicked thought occurred to him: there were so many trees, so the landowners likely wouldn't miss a few of the fruits if they were to go missing.

Gilgamesh cackled with an absolutely-not-villainous glee, then stepped over to the nearest tree and preparing to shake the fruits loose. Immediately, however, he realized how easy it would be for him to be noticed so close to the barn. Perhaps if he went out a bit further, the creatures that owned the farm would not notice him.

While he had no doubt that he could best them in combat, regardless of whether or not he used a weapon, Gilgamesh did not wish for the entire town to declare him a thief, or to potentially be imprisoned. Again, he shuddered involuntarily, memories of the prison of Exdeath's castle returning to him. How many creatures had been thrown into it? How many had suffered for minor infractions? Dozens, perhaps. Maybe even hundreds, but he was not going to guess so high a number. Perhaps he was luckier than he'd initially thought.

The swordsman shook his head in an effort to rid himself of those memories, and slowly stepped around the barn. He looked around until he found an area where none of the equines would find him as he pilfered – or, rather, permanently borrowed – the mysterious red fruits that hung from the trees.

He slowly tiptoed over to the nearest tree, reaching his uppermost hand's fingers up toward one of the foodstuffs with careful determination. While he could have used blue magic in order to bring down the fruit, Gilgamesh worried over the affect it would have on the tree as a whole; obviously, shooting it with missiles would not go unnoticed.

The fruit came loose from its perch, slipping from the tree's branch and into his fingers. With a grin, Gilgamesh held it as if it were some prized jewel, and slowly bit into its red exterior.

He was never one for fruits of any kind – Gilgamesh's diet primarily consisted of meat, fish, and some vegetables for nutrition and variety – but even he had to admit that the flavor was excellent. Perhaps it was merely because he hadn't eaten anything all day save a cupcake, or perhaps it was the victory of defeating the system, but Gilgamesh did not care; for the first time in what felt like ages, his ravenous stomach felt somewhat satisfied, if only temporarily, and he reached for another, and another, and another.

By the time he was done, he had completely stripped the tree bare of everything, including the leaves. Not that he had any intention of eating those, of course.

"Hey! What's goin' on back there?!" called out a voice, causing Gilgamesh to nearly choke on one of the fruits.

With the speed and grace of a dancer, he turned and began to sprint in an effort to escape being caught with his arms full of the foodstuffs. He needed somewhere to hide. Somewhere that the pursuer would not be able to locate him.

A new building came into his peripheral vision. The building was tall and red like the barn, with a domed roof and a large, open entryway. Naturally, Gilgamesh sprinted straight into the area, ducking his head in order to avoid the low ceiling.

Once inside, he breathed a sigh of relief, holding the three remaining fruits close to his chest in an effort to keep them concealed, when he noticed what appeared to be a spear sticking out of a barrel of hay. Gilgamesh reached over and pulled it free of its binds, looking over the newfound weapon with immense interest. It looked to be some sort of trident, with the blades curved rather than angled. While Gilgamesh was interested in the weapon and its appearance, the sheer convenience of finding it when he needed it most was what intrigued his brilliant mind immensely.

"Hey, is there somepony in there?!" demanded the voice. An equine's shadow appeared in the strange tall building, leaving Gilgamesh with a pit in his stomach. "If ya stole them apples from that tree, y'all'd better c'mon out!"

The swordsman looked to the entrance, to the trident, and to the entrance once more. He quickly stuffed the three remaining fruits into his mouth, and pressed his back to the wall in an effort to avoid being seen.

"Alright, then!" the voice shouted angrily. "Ah'm gonna count ta three, and if you don't come outta there afore that, Ah'm gonna take you out myself! One… two…"

Gilgamesh exploded through the entryway of the building, rushing past the equine so quickly that he did not even get a decent look at it, instead running with immense grace and balance as he attempted to escape the angry creature that no doubt would monstrously rip him to shreds.

Applejack blinked, watching as the strange creature awkwardly flailed by as it ran passed her. "Wh-what in tarnation…?" she gasped, unable to move out of sheer surprise. She narrowed her eyes as it vanished over the horizon. "Hold on a sec'… did that thing just take our pitchfork?"

Gilgamesh panted, leaning against a nearby building with his newfound weapon strapped to his side. It had been a narrow escape on his part, but he had somehow managed to evade the creature threatening his life. He chastised his arrogance regarding the situation, knowing that even he – the magnificent, great, and humble creature he was – had not been stealthy enough in his pilfering, and news of his thievery would likely spread before too long.

However, he could at least take solace in the fact that his selfish stomach now was completely filled with the delicious red foodstuffs, although Gilgamesh made a mental note to avoid that farm until he was certain the situation had cooled down.

He let out a deep sigh, glancing over the area in which he now stood, leaning back in an effort to regain his breath: it was a small cottage, the area a tall hill on which it sat, and far enough away from the farm that he felt safe, at least for a time.

A quiet shout from inside completely shattered any theory of safety: "N-no! Stop…"

Although the voice was small, it carried a mixture of sternness and fear, and sounded distinctly feminine, just like literally every other creature he had met that day.

Seriously, what was the gender ratio of this universe? And why had he met so few creatures of note?

But such questions were quickly forgotten. Gilgamesh puffed out his chest, gripping the trident in two of the arms on his left hand, before he leapt gracefully through an open window. The swordsman let out a muffled gasp as his body crashed into the low wooden floor.

"Hm? Say, who have we here?" asked a somewhat condescending voice, as a shadow leaned over Gilgamesh's form. "A trespasser, maybe? Do you know what happens to trespassers around this area, you… Wait a second, what is this thing?"

Gilgamesh felt himself being pulled up so that he was standing upright, his head coming dangerously close to the ceiling. He found himself face-to-face with an odd creature; it was some sort of chimera, its body composed of various parts of different creatures, yet it looked somewhat dragon-like. The thing's eyes met his own and it laughed. "Hah! Hey, Fluttershy, you need to see this thing's face! Actually –" it paused, placing a claw on its chin "– huh, you look like one of her animals… or maybe just a stray?"

Out of the corner of his eye, Gilgamesh saw a yellow equine with a pink mane rush into the room. A pair of wings sprouted from her back. "Ah, Discord…" she said weakly, not yet looking at him, "I… I think you shouldn't…" Her eyes met Gilgamesh's, and a large smile crossed her face. "Oh! You're that creature that Twilight was telling me about!"

The swordsman grimaced, pulling himself from the dragon-beast's grip with no difficulty. He instantly stuck yet another heroic pose – although he ensured that this time, he spun the trident for good measure – and set his eyes on the monstrosity. "Indeed, I am he who has been summoned to this world!" he declared, narrowing his vision at the thing that had undoubtedly been assaulting the poor, meek equine. "And I, too, have come to this place to best the beast and rescue you from his wretched claws!"

The chimera let out a gasp. "Wretched?!" he exclaimed indignantly. "I will have you know that I file these daily!" As if on cue, a large fish appeared from nowhere, and the chimera proceeded to rub it back-and-forth on the claws of his manticore-esque paw. "I mean, that's just rude!"

"You do not terrify me, foul beast from the rift!" declared Gilgamesh, arching the trident so that its blade pointed at the thing's chest. "I am Gilgamesh, legendary warrior, and I shall send you to your knees!"

There was a pause, before the chimera turned toward the yellow equine. "I hope you don't mind, Fluttershy, but I feel the need to turn this little toad into a… well, a toad!" Smoke appeared and covered the chimera's body, concealing it completely. When it reappeared, the creature was clothed in a pointed hat and robe – reminiscent of black mages, Gilgamesh thought, although the hat was purple, rather than the usual yellow or orange – and holding a broomstick.

The chimera cackled, and held out a strange, almost-birdlike arm before he began to chant: "Now that I'm in my witching mode, let's see you as a little toad!"

Smoke poured from his fingers, shooting toward Gilgamesh with an almost-terrifying speed. The substance completely coated the warrior's body, making him unable to see beyond the curtain of darkness. He did not move, however, still standing in the same, steady position until the smoke vanished completely, leaving him entirely unharmed.

The strangely-black-mage-like chimera stared, mouth agape, at Gilgamesh. "Oh, come on!" he shouted angrily, and snapped his fingers. Sparks flew from them, and toward Gilgamesh much like the smoke, but they, too, did nothing. "Ugh, don't tell me that I need recharge my toading batteries! I swear, those things get no time before they just run out of juice, and that's no fun at all…"

Gilgamesh threw back his head and let out a mighty laugh, ignoring the foolish creature's statement about juice. "Ha! The might of evil is no match for the armor upon my breast!" he proclaimed, ignoring the obvious contradiction. "Your status ailments shall harm me not, just as they refused to back where I was born and raised! And now, evil-doer, prepare to face the might of Gilgamesh!"

The swordsman prepared to lunge at the chimera, who was still sputtering and snapping its fingers to no avail, before the small equine jumped in between the two. "W-wait!" she cried, the weakness having left her voice, and she blushed. "U-um… that is, if you don't mind…"

"State your case, small equine," responded Gilgamesh, and he set his eyes on the chimera behind her. "But know that this most wretched of creatures, with its hideous, distorted face, disgusting features, and horrible, horrifying body–"

"H-he's my friend…" the equine said.

Gilgamesh blinked, staring over at the monstrosity. "Wh… what… What is…?"

The chimera stared at him with eyes like ice, and suddenly stood as it had prior to wearing that outfit. "My hideous, disgusting, distorted form," he responded, "happens to be close friends with this creature here. Now, I'm normally a pretty amiable guy." A pair of black glasses magically appeared on his face. "I like long walks on the beach, strolling through parks, and try to keep my world-destroying magic from, well, destroying the world –" he lowered the glasses "– but even I draw the line at some areas, and one of those happens to be acting like a complete jerk to one of my friends. Now, let's go over what you've done, shall we?"

A list appeared next to him, and he pulled a pencil out of thin air. "Well, first, you broke into her house." He checked something off the list. "Second, you threatened me with a stolen pitchfork." The chimera proceeded to check something else off of the list, just below the first object. "And third, you called me ugly. Several times. That was just unnecessary." The list promptly lit on fire, and vanished into the air around it. "Now, what do you have to say for yourself?"

Gilgamesh simply stared over the two. He looked to the equine, to the chimera, to the equine, and to the chimera again. "I… um…" He blinked once, a brilliant plan forming in his mind. "Look, it's a…!" Unable to come up with anything witty to say, Gilgamesh simply turned around and leapt out the open window, landing with an audible crash on the grass outside.

Fluttershy and Discord exchanged a look, the former coughing. "Um… shouldn't we help him…?"

Gilgamesh groaned from the other side of the window.

"Oh, I'm sure he'll be fine," Discord responded glibly. "After all, such a great swordsman's ought to have some means of preservation!"

Gilgamesh stumbled over the road, clutching at his chest. So far that day, he had suffered various wounds, and all of them caused him no small amount of pain. That befouled monstrosity, the horrifying pink mare, the beast from the farm, the rude-yet-polite shopkeeper, the unicorn with all the books, and the missile-like pegasus had not helped matters in the slightest.

Gilgamesh stepped passed the entrance of the town, his feet kicking up dust behind him, while the trident lay at his side – his only defense against the beasts of the wild. His feet moved him forward still, through the road as the sun began to set, and up a hill where a single tree lay, rooted to the ground.

His back crashed into it and he sat upon the dirt around its base, coughing as he did so, and folding his arms around his chest. Already, even as the sun had barely begun to cross the horizon, the chill of the night started to seep into his bones. Gilgamesh shuddered, and pushed himself back further until his head rested against the cool bark.

He did not care for the splinters that bit into his back, the mosquitos that ate away at his chest, or even the frigid night air that swept over the land. No, he had slept in far worse conditions, and they had only hardened him to the experiences of life. Compared to the nights he’d slept in swamps, mountains, or deserts, this was a metaphorical breeze.

As such, despite the nagging feeling in the back of his head that the psychotic pink mare would murder him in his sleep, or that the dragon-like beast would try to get revenge for his mockery, Gilgamesh's eyelids slowly drooped over his tired face, and consciousness soon vanished completely.

All that remained propped up against the tree was the snoring figure of a warrior, his prized new weapon at his side, his stomach full, and a day of hard work behind him. And, upon his face, there lay a strangely peaceful look, the memories of his banishment, of Galuf, Faris, Lenna, Krile, and even Bartz and Exdeath lost into the void of a long and dreamless slumber.

Two small eyes watched the town from the distance. Six long, spidery legs stepped across the plain as the figure moved toward the peaceful place, cloaked by the night shadows, and dark even in the moonlight. Its pincers clacked together and its eyes narrowed as it set its gaze upon the town.

The beast began to move towards it with frightening speed for a thing so large, its pincers clacking even faster as it did so. The green aura around its body shimmered dully in the darkness, yet did not appear to slow the creature down in the slightest as it moved across the plain.

And none of the few creatures that walked about the area – their eyes half-closed from tiredness – noticed the hungry thing that now rushed towards the town, its intentions all too clear.

Episode 2: The Strange Swordsman Part 2

View Online

The bright eyes looked across the plain, still focusing their foul and obvious intent upon the peaceful village in the distance. The creature continued its pursuit, looking across the place under the dim light of the moon. It clacked its pincers together once more. Its target was clear in its mind, and the denizens of the village would be none the wiser to its attack until it was far too late.

Dust was kicked up in its wake as its sharp claws tore into the earth, and the air seemed to part at the shimmering field about the insect-like beast. Its pincers clacked faster, although the noise that they created was unheard by the equines living in the village.

It was close – closer than even it, with its minuscule intellect, could have imagined. Soon, its mission would be completed, and its desire to feed upon flesh would finally be sated.

-- An Epic for Gilgamesh --
-- Episode 2: The Strange Swordsman Part 2 --
-- Written By ZaleAcon --

Twilight Sparkle sat around a table in the library, letting out a deep sigh as she placed her head in her hooves. Her friends sat around him in similar positions of confusion and irritation.

"So… anypony have any thoughts about our 'new arrival'?" muttered Twilight, rubbing her temples.

Rainbow Dash grimaced, leaning back in her seat. "I think the guy's a total blowhard," she said. "I mean, didja all hear just what he… it… whatever it was said?" She stood up, deepened her voice, and raised her forelegs into the air. "'I… am… Gilgamesh, the legendary, powerful, and legendarily powerful swordsman who shall pound you into oblivion for daring to run into me and causing me no small amount of pain!'" She changed her voice back to its normal pitch and rolled her eyes. "Sheesh, the guy's more of a drama queen than Rarity, and that’s sayin’ something."

Rarity blinked. "I… I beg your pardon?" she asked. "I assure you that I am far from being anything like that ruffian and his disgusting sense of fashion… or lack thereof, I suppose." She proceeded to mumble something incoherent under her breath, although the few words that Twilight was able to catch were most certainly not meant for the ears of foals.

"N-not to mention just how mean he was to Discord…" Fluttershy said, her voice barely audible. "H-he said that he was… h-horrible, and ugly, and all sorts of other not-nice things…"

"And please," Applejack sighed, "please tell me that this 'Gilgamesh' wasn't that wacko who went and stole our apples and pitchfork? Ah mean, Ah can tolerate a lotta things, but thievery's just disgustin'…"

Fluttershy grimaced. "W-well, I did see him running around with that… he called it a trident, but I don't really know why he–"

Applejack slammed her hoof into the table, causing the others to jump in surprise. "Dagnabbit! That pesky little varmint!" She looked over at Twilight, her eyes narrowed. "Ah hope that none of y'all like that guy, 'cause Ah'm gonna rip him to pieces the next time we meet!"

"A-Applejack!"

"What? Ah'm just gonna make him work off what he stole, and then some. And give back that pitchfork, 'course." She grimaced, placing a hoof on her forehead. "Though why he stole that ol' thing's beyond me…”

Rainbow Dash rolled her eyes. "Probably so he can go and show off his 'legendary swordsmanship.' I bet he's off in some field right now, or threatening some poor old mare for looking at him the wrong way." Rainbow Dash leaned down and picked up her fork, jumped onto the table, and struck a dramatic pose.

Once again, she lowered voice, and said, "'Fear me, you scoundrels, for I am the mighty, awesome, deadly, powerful, and every other adjective Gilgamesh! Now face my terrible wrath, and vanish beneath a sea of demise! Have at you!'" She stabbed at the air with the fork, her eyes narrowed.

Several of the ponies around the table burst into peals of laughter at the ridiculous sight, forgetting the troubles of the day to simply take in the image of Rainbow Dash acting the part of the mysterious creature before she, too, began to laugh with glee, stepping down from her perch.

"Hey, could you all keep it down?!" Spike shouted from the floor above, his voice somewhat slurred due to sleep deprivation. "Some of us are trying to sleep!"

The six mares stopped, met each others' eyes, and instantly began to giggle again, albeit at a lower volume.

Pinkie Pie – who, miraculously, had avoided speaking at all up until that point – grinned from ear-to-ear. "Well, Gilgamesh didn't do any of that stuff around me!" she said. "I mean, he stepped into Sugarcube Corner, and he was all, 'I'll have a cupcake, please,' and Mr. Cake was just like, 'Sure.' And then he took the cupcake, and–”

"Pinkie!" snapped Applejack.

"Oh, sorry, I was kinda getting off track." Pinkie grinned sheepishly, and placed a hoof on her chin. "Weeeeell… after we talked, and he told me he was moving here, Gilgamesh just kinda walked out of there really slowly, and looked back over his shoulder about… two or three times, I think." She shrugged. "He seemed kinda nervous about something, but he didn't say anything about how awesome he was."

The other five stared at her in stunned silence. Twilight blinked, and looked between her friends. "Well," she said awkwardly, "I'm not going to ask how you managed to shut him up, Pinkie, but… Well, it worked."

"Hold on a second," Rarity interjected. "Pinkie, dear, did you just say what I think you did? Did… did you just say that this Gilgamesh has decided to move to Ponyville?"

"Yeah! I was gonna throw him a party tonight, but nopony's seen him, and there was gonna be balloons, and streamers, and funny hats, and streamers, and cake! I even made a design and everything!" She pulled out a small piece of paper with a happy, smiling caricature of Gilgamesh in the middle.

"Pinkie!" Applejack snapped again.

Pinkie blinked and smiled sheepishly again. However, before she could say anything, she was interrupted by a loud thud.

"Oh, dear!" Fluttershy gasped. "I-I think that Twilight's out cold!"

"Hang on, I've got it!" Pinkie exclaimed, grabbing a basin of ice water from some pocket dimension and emptying it onto Twilight’s unconscious form.

Twilight instantly sat up as the cold water rushed over her and let out a loud gasp. "Wh… Gilgamesh is moving into Ponyville?! No, what if he… but a lunatic like that can't be allowed to just run all over this place!" She began to hyperventilate, horrifying images of ponies being threatened by Gilgamesh entering her brain, culminating in a mental image of Canterlot on fire. "We have to get this guy out of here!"

Applejack grimaced. "Three things, Twi'," she said, holding up a hoof. "First, ya need ta calm down. Second, where'd ya get that basin, Pinkie?" The pink pony opened her mouth to speak. "On second thought, don't answer that. And third, Twi'" – she turned and looked at the cowering alicorn – "Gilgamesh ain't gonna destroy this place. While it does seem like he's got an ego bigger'n Ponyville, he seems mostly harmless. Mostly."

"He's running around with a pitchfork! Somepony could get hurt! And they probably will, knowing our luck!"

"Hey, Ah said 'mostly,' not that he's completely safe ta talk to." Applejack sighed. "Yeah, it'd probably be best if we get that thing outta his hands, but he ain't harmin' anypony… yet, at least."

Rarity rolled her eyes. "After you made such a big fuss about him stealing apples from your farm, you're going to just claim that he's not causing any harm? At the very least, we need to keep him from tearing the entire village down."

Rainbow Dash sat back. "And considering that he threw a tantrum when I accidentally ran into him today… we probably should keep him monitored for… Oh, how does 'always' sound?"

"W-well, he just seems like a lost animal," Fluttershy whispered, "a-and we don't even know what he is yet, right…?"

"That's a good point," Twilight conceded, her voice having mostly reverted to normal. "We're talking about some new species, here, or something. It wouldn't make sense to just throw him back into the Everfree or wherever he came from, even if he isn't… well…"

The five mares all turned their gazes on Pinkie Pie expectantly, although she simply shrugged. "What?"

Twilight opened her mouth as if to say something, but closed it just as she did. "You know what? Never mind." She rubbed her temples with her hooves, and said, "C'mon, let's go and find Gilgamesh before he causes any destruction."

"But where do we even start to look?" Rarity asked. "That creature could have disappeared to anywhere within Ponyville, or even outside of it! For all that we know, we may never find him under these cir–"

"AAAAAAAAAUGH!"

The six of them instantly jumped from their seats, and exchanged glances.

"I think we've found him," Twilight offered dryly.

Without a single other word, the six mares galloped off towards the sound of the scream, and towards where they expected to find Gilgamesh.

"M-monster…!" gasped the mare, stumbling back in terror.

The beast before her was absolutely horrendous; it stepped across the earth on six long, spidery legs. Its long, golden eyes stared directly into hers. Its carapace was a strange green, and its shell shimmered with an odd light in the shadows cast by the night sky.

The creature's pincers clacked together, omitting a loud and disgusting squelch throughout the town square. Its eyes focused upon the mare in front of it, though it seemed to lose interest fairly quickly – its gaze traveled from the mare’s body to the many surroundings buildings, almost as though it were scanning them for something.

However, just as quickly as it had looked away, the monster's gaze settled back on the poor mare, and its pincers clacked together once more. Its eyes looked almost hungry, and the mare could have sworn that the smallest bead of drool began to drip from its mouth and onto the stone road near the town square.

"No, stay back!" she cried, taking a single step backward before her legs froze up completely.

The beast did not listen to her pleas, as it slowly stepped closer to the mare. Its legs cracked the stone as it stepped, and its massive frame dwarfed hers. The pincers clacked together once more before the beast lunged forward.

However, before it could successfully hit its target, the mare was shoved out of its path.

Twilight stumbled back in awed terror from the massive, insect-like creature. "What… what the heck is this thing?!" she gasped.

"Looks like one of the beetles back on the farm," replied Applejack, "but much, much bigger."

Rarity stepped up beside them. "In any case, we should not allow this beast to run wild throughout Ponyville! The results would be absolutely disastrous!"

"Yeah," Twilight said, "let's put our search for Gilgamesh on hold right now… we've gotta deal with this thing first!"

The monster's pincers clacked together, and it let out a loud screech at its meal being taken away. It focused its gaze on the creatures who stole away its food, and its pincers began to hit even faster than before.

Without warning, the insect lunged at the six mares, causing them to jump to either side of its path in order to avoid being devoured. The thing's legs bit into the rock with a frightening speed. It recovered from its charge at an astonishing rate.

Twilight's horn glowed a bright pink as she welled her magic into it. She released it suddenly, sending a blast of pure magical energy at the insect-like beast.

However, rather than become stopped in its tracks or injured in any way, the monster did not react to the blow at all. Twilight and the others watched in horrified awe as the blast simply vanished into the aura around its body.

"What?!" she cried, stumbling back again. "That's not… Th-that's not…!"

Rarity grit her teeth. "That glow around it… it must be some sort of magical barrier! But to absorb even Twilight's magic…! Why, that’s completely absurd!"

Applejack stepped forward. "Then y'all'll have ta let me take this," she growled, stepping up in front of the massive beetle. "If magic ain't gonna work, then one of my patented apple bucks'll rip this thing up like paper!”

She stepped forward to crash into the creature, but was stopped in her tracks as it blasted her with a jet of strange, blue-green liquid. It coated her from head to hoof, adhering her to the ground like glue.

"Hey! What the hay is this?!" she growled, trying to pull the liquid from her body to no avail. "Gah! Why can't Ah move?!"

Fluttershy held her hooves up to her face. "Th-this is looking very bad…!" she gasped, eyes pinpricks. "It won't even react to my stare…!"

Rainbow Dash puffed out her chest, and flew towards the beast, only to be hit by the same substance that coated Applejack. "Blech! This stuff's disgusting!" she spat some out of her mouth, trying to pull herself out of it. "C'mon, move, move!"

Pinkie stumbled back. "U-uh… this looks bad!"

"Why can't anypony who can actually help us be here when we need them?!" Twilight shouted. "I mean, you'd think that there'd be more ponies paying attention to something like this!"

The creature looked over the six mares, and – as if deciding that none of them were fit to fight back – turned its gaze on Rainbow Dash, staring her down as drool began to drip off of its pincers.

Rainbow Dash continued to pull at the slime that coated her body, before looking up and noticing the giant creature looming over her. Her eyes became small, and her jaw dropped in terror. "O-oh, no…"

"What do we do?! What do we do?!" Pinkie cried, bouncing in circles and covering her eyes with her hooves.

"Fear not, young equines, for I shall rescue you from this most wretched of creatures!" came a familiar shout from above.

Twilight pressed her hoof to her forehead. "Oh, great…" she muttered, "and I thought things couldn't get any worse…"

As if from absolutely nowhere (which, Twilight suspected, was exactly where he emerged from) Gilgamesh literally jumped from the sky, landing between Rainbow Dash and the insect.

He twirled Applejack's pitchfork in his hand, eyes narrowed as he looked upon the massive beetle-like beast with eyes of ice. "Foul beast of darkness," he proclaimed, and pointed the pitchfork toward the monstrosity, "know the fate of one who would attempt to slaughter these mostly-defenseless creatures!"

Rainbow Dash blinked, possibly in surprise at the armored giant leaping from the sky and landing on his feet with no difficulty. "Wh… Hey, who are you calling 'mostly-defenseless'?!"

"You, of course!" Gilgamesh answered her rhetorical question. "Thankfully, that wretched injury that you imparted upon me earlier shall not cloud my judgment in rescuing you from this being of utter destruction! Nay, instead it shall but strengthen my resolve!"

Rarity leaned over to Twilight. "Um… I suppose that you have some idea what he's saying?" she whispered, not taking her eyes away from Gilgamesh for an instant.

Twilight sighed and rolled her eyes. "No. Unfortunately."

The insect, however, did not appear as fazed as the rest of them were. Instead, it looked over Gilgamesh for but an instant, and its eyes shifted to a strange, greenish color. It simply stared at him for several seconds, much to the combined shock and confusion of the ponies present.

After those several seconds passed, its eyes turned back to normal, and it let out a screech even louder than the one earlier. The thing lunged toward Gilgamesh, its massive pincers clacking together faster and faster.

Gilgamesh reacted immediately, jumping back and spinning the pitchfork in his hands once more. "So you long for the embrace of death?" he asked. "In that case, then I, the almighty Gilgamesh, shall not deny you your request! Prepare yourself… and perish!"

He lunged toward the insect, stabbing with the not-quite-a-weapon (Twilight refused to consider it dangerous in the slightest, considering that its tips were completely blunt), only for the beast to leap back and shoot that same gooey substance at him. Gilgamesh jumped aside, the liquid flying instead into the window of a nearby house, followed by the sound of a stallion's scream.

The beast did not allow that minor setback to infuriate it, however, and rushed toward Gilgamesh with the same horrifying speed that it had shown earlier in an attempt to impale him on its pincers. Gilgamesh raised one of his gauntleted arms, not only blocking the strike, but also completely stopping the thing in its tracks as it tried to bite through the material. Even though its pincers could clearly not penetrate the strange gloves, it still tried, biting and gnashing at the thick metal.

Gilgamesh pulled away, spun the pitchfork once, and stabbed toward the thing again, using his same strategy in an effort to end its life. Once again, it simply dodged the strike and let out yet another scream to the sky, before rushing toward him once more.

The two continued to counter and trade blows, with the insect-like monster continuing to rush, screech, and spit at Gilgamesh as he dodged and stabbed at it. The six ponies all stared, mesmerized by the odd display. Even Twilight had to admit that it was rather impressive that he was standing for so long, but she immediately decided that it had to have been a fluke; unless he had encountered a beast like that before or had been watching their fight, there was no way that he could possibly have known how it fought.

After a time, the beetle-like beast appeared to have grown tired, its legs shaking and seeming almost crumpled in some areas, while Gilgamesh still stood with a level of energy that seemed to rival Pinkie Pie. "I shan't give up here!" he declared at the thing, "so come and face your foe, or flee back into the darkness from whence you came!"

Once again, the beast's eyes changed, becoming the same color of green as they were before. For several seconds it simply stood in that position, before its eyes reverted to their original color. The insect took a single step back and turned, scuttling down the road and out of Ponyville completely, leaving only the silence of the night in its wake.

That and, of course, the six ponies who stared with gaping jaws as Gilgamesh struck yet another heroic pose, looked them all over, and – without a single word – jumped roughly fifty feet into the air and vanished from sight.

The ponies stood in silence for several minutes. Rainbow Dash was the first one among them to speak. "Did… did that really just happen…?"

Its pincers clacked together and its eyes were set on the ground in front of it. It had been so close, and the one that it had been searching for had been directly in front of it, yet it still failed. Its stomach was empty, just like the rest of it, and the beast felt no small amount of pain from its crumpled joints.

It ached – oh, how it ached – but reprieve would not arrive. All that it desired was to fill its stomach and for the agony in its legs to cease. At last, its gaze moved away from the road, and toward another area entirely.

A strange castle lay nestled on a cliff, surrounded by a large city. It glowed in the darkness of the night, standing out immensely against the black curtain. A single bead of drool rolled down the thing's face at the sight of it, and the sheer beauty of the feast that was soon to await it danced in its mind.

But in the back of its mind something still continued to nag at it. It knew what its target was meant to be, but the city just looked too delicious for it to focus on such trivial matters. No, it needed to feed, and with its new shell, the city would be nothing but a buffet.

With renewed speed and vigor, the monster rushed toward the city, its new target locked in its sight.

Rainbow Dash cleaned the rest of the goop out of her feathers, grimacing in a mixture of pain and humiliation. "I can't believe we got showed up by Gilgamesh," she groaned, spitting some of the slime out of her mouth. "Blech! Ugh, what the hay is this stuff, anyway?"

Twilight opened up yet another book, glancing through it in an attempt to locate information on the strange being that had attacked their town. "I'm not sure," she admitted, "but it seems to be something designed to make that thing's prey unable to move. We're… we're lucky" – she felt as if she was going to vomit admitting it – "that Gilgamesh came when he did."

"Yeah!" Pinkie shouted, throwing her hooves into the air. "I mean, Dashie woulda been lunch! Or dinner." She placed a hoof on her chin and took on a quizzical expression. "Yeah, probably dinner. But still, that thing was terrifying! I can only imagine what woulda happened if it got to Dashie. It’d probably have–”

She was instantly quieted thanks to Applejack placing a recently-wiped-off hoof into her mouth. "Pinkie," she murmured dangerously, "please just don't say anythin', okay?" At a nod from the pink pony, she retracted her hoof, and slammed her other one into the table. "Darn it! Ah can't believe that thief had ta come and save us!"

Rainbow Dash sighed, flexing her wings with an audible crack. "Yeah, I know," she muttered, and rolled her eyes. "Seriously… I'm not about to owe anything to that creep!"

"Indeed," agreed Rarity, sipping tea from a cup in front of her. "However, I do have to ask you this, Twilight: When do you plan to tell the princesses about him?"

Twilight blinked, her eyes suddenly growing small. "Th… Oh, no!" she cried, throwing the book to the ground as she did so. Twilight instantly began to run about the library, hyperventilating as she had only a couple of hours earlier. "What if Princess Celestia gets angry at us for being unable to stop that thing… Wh-what if she banishes us, or disowns me as her pupil, or banishes us and disowns me?!"

Already, the horrifying mental image began to form:

"Twilight, I am very disappointed in you," remarked Celestia coldly, glaring at her former student. "Because of your last failure, I am revoking your right to be an alicorn. In your place, I will assign a more capable creature." She turned to the side, and gestured to the figure next to her. "What do you think, Gilgamesh?"

"Um… Twi'? Are you feelin' okay, or…?"

"No!" Twilight screamed, stumbling back into the bookshelf in horror. It shook as her back collided with it, but – thankfully for her fragile skull – none of the books fell on top of her.

Unfortunately, she did not notice until it was too late that Pinkie had chosen to place her party cannon on the top shelf.

With a loud thud, Twilight had lost consciousness once more, sprawled on the ground beneath Pinkie Pie's artillery.

Rainbow Dash pressed her hoof into her forehead. "Ugh… somepony grab the ice water…"

As Pinkie reached into the aether to do so, footsteps began to echo down the staircase. The pink mare quickly threw the icy water on her friend, and sat her up.

Spike came sauntering down to the bottom floor, holding a piece of parchment in his claws. There were very visible bags under his eyes, and he was slouched over. "Ugh… Twilight… I jus' got this for you…" he muttered. He stepped over to her and handed her the parchment before turning and grumbling to himself as he stepped back up the stairs.

Twilight levitated the paper in front of her face and unrolled it, looking it over for several seconds before her face went pale. "O-oh, no…" she breathed, already looking on the verge of another panic attack.

Fluttershy stepped over to her, and weakly spoke: "Um… what's the matter, Twilight?"

"Is it Gilgamesh?" growled Rainbow Dash. "I swear, if that jerk got into Canterlot…!"

"I'm not sure, but…" Twilight groaned, her face still pale. "I mean, I… I think you should all take a look at this…"

Rarity stepped over, and used her magic to grab the letter. "Here, allow me to look at this," she said needlessly. "Hm… Well, it merely appears to be a letter from Princess Celestia, so why is i–" She stopped, and her face completely changed: Her eyes became small, her jaw dropped, and her overall color seemed to turn almost green. "O-oh… s-sweet Celestia, that's just…!"

"Gimme that!" Applejack declared, grabbing the letter out of the air and glaring at her two friends. "Sheesh, if y'all're gonna act like that, Ah've gotta see why…" She raised up a hoof to her mouth and cleared her throat. "Alright, then…

"'My dear ~~student~~ former student, Princess Twilight Sparkle,'" she read, and blinked. "Huh, that's odd… why does the 'student' have a cross goin' through it? Ah, well… Anyway, it says, 'The ponies of Canterlot will need your aid. A monstrous bein' has appeared in the city, and is terrorizing the nobility and common-folk alike. While there have been no serious injuries yet, Ah fear what will occur if nothin's done ta stop it. Please make haste, and come up here as soon as ya can. Princess Celestia.'"

The room was silent for several moments, before Applejack placed the paper on the table. "Huh," she said at last. "Well… that's a problem…"

"Funny how we have to do everything," Rainbow Dash grumbled. "I mean, can't Princess Celestia take care of this? Or Princess Luna? Or even Discord, I mean he's got nothing to do right now!"

Fluttershy looked over at her, her expression neutral. "Oh, but Discord needs his ten hours of sleep, and I couldn't just force him to get up right now. I mean, imagine how annoyed he'd be!"

Rarity cocked her head, having finally broken free of her stupor. "Funny, I did not think that Discord needed sleep, given that he's the avatar of chaos."

"Oh, but of course he needs to sleep!" Fluttershy gasped. "What else would he be doing right now?"

Discord lay sprawled out on a table that appeared to be made out of hay with a large milk carton beneath his head. A book was clasped in one hand, a box of cotton balls in the other, and he mumbled to himself as he looked over the pages.

"Hm… So that is what Luna does in her free time…?" He turned the page, shoveling the cotton balls into his mouth. "She really needs to work on hiding her diary better…"

"Never mind," muttered Rainbow Dash.

Twilight stepped up between the two and grimaced. "Anyway," she said urgently, "we've gotta get going now before somepony gets seriously injured!"

The others did not even have a chance to react before they were engulfed by a bright pink light, and completely vanished into one of Twilight's powerful teleportation spells.

Ponies screamed as they ran throughout the streets. The monster paid their cries no heed, however, and continued to step about the area, its legs stabbing into the buildings, causing them to crack and break apart. Its viscous bacteria coated the landscape. It looked to the sky and screamed loud and long, before turning its gaze back on the fleeing creatures.

They ran in horror, several trying to escape into other buildings or toward the massive building in the distance. The beast screeched once more and clacked its pincers together before rushing toward them with a horrifying speed for one so large and clumsy-looking.

"Halt there, fiend!" came a cry from behind it, and the beast turned to view its new adversaries.

Before it stood a group of six horned creatures, all clad in golden armor and standing tall. The front-most one stepped forward, and gestured to the ones behind it. "Now, focus your magic with mine!" it declared, its horn turning a bright blue.

The others nodded, and their horns also began to alight either blue or pink, and shot rays of pure magical energy toward the beast. However, their attacks vanished as soon as they touched with the aura surrounding the creature.

The leader stumbled back, eyes wide. "What?!" it gasped. "All of you – retreat!"

Almost instantly, the six creatures turned and rushed away, leaving the monster back to its own devices. It let out another screech in approval. It turned toward the street and began to scuttle down the path once more, its legs continued to crack the road as it did so, and its pincers still crashing and gnashing together.

Before it, the equines continued to flee away from the destruction, still running toward the palace at the city's head. They did not dare to look over their shoulders, instead affixing their eyes on their target and sprinting for their lives.

"What?!" Celestia shouted, looking over the guard before her. "Are you certain that creature is unharmed by magic?!"

The guard nodded, his teeth grit. "Yes, Princess," he responded. "Our greatest team attempted to fend it off, but to no avail. Even now, the ponies are leading it toward the palace in their attempt to escape, but I fear that if that monster is as quick as it appears to be, we could run the risk of serious danger."

Celestia sat back on her throne and rubbed her temples. If she left the palace to face the beast, she would only stir up more unnecessary panic, and with the insect being immune to even powerful magic, the results would most certainly be disastrous.

"Twilight," she heard herself murmur, "please get here soon…"

Twilight stumbled out of the light, groaning as she held her head. Traveling as far as she had was difficult on its own when she was by herself, but the others being with her had caused her no small amount of fatigue.

Shaking her head free of the exhaustion, Twilight stared over Canterlot in horror. The buildings were crumbling into the ground, the roads were breaking apart, and a strange, gooey substance covered much of the landscape.

"Hold on a second," muttered Rainbow Dash, "isn't this the same stuff that thing was doing back in Ponyville?" She blinked, and flew up into the air to scout out the area. "What the…! It must've come here after Gilgamesh chased it off!"

Applejack grit her teeth. "It ain't important how that thing got here; what's important is that we're gonna have ta stop it!"

"But without magic," Rarity murmured, "and with that strange substance that it shoots off, how can we expect to best it? Such a thing as this can't simply be rushed into," she added thoughtfully. "We do not have the Elements of Harmony, and it looks to be a simple matter of combat, rather than negotiation."

Pinkie crouched into a fighting stance, her eyes fixed on the dilapidated street. "Well, then," she growled, "let's throw this thing a party it'll never forget, and get these ponies out of this perilous predicament!"

Twilight's horn began to glow, and she grit her teeth. "I might not be able to help you girls out here much," she admitted, "but I'll do whatever I can to support you!"

"No more talk!" Rainbow Dash shouted. "That thing's getting closer to the palace, and if it gets there…"

The six mares looked each other in the eyes, and wordlessly ran down the broken up street. Their hooves cracked over the shattered glass, past the crumbling buildings, and toward the royal palace in order to end the foul insect that had caused so much destruction.

The insect-like creature had given up on its most recent prey, and convulsed awkwardly in the center of the street. Its eyes had reverted to that odd shade of green, but seemed to be rapidly switching between both that and their original color. Its pincers smashed together several times, and it let out what sounded like a combination of a screech and a groan.

Applejack stepped over to Twilight. "Hey, what's with this thing? Why's it just stopped here?"

Before her question could be answered, however, the beast's eyes stopped their alteration and changed to their normal color once more. It looked to the sky, let out one last howl, and affixed its gaze to the six mares. Its gaze shifted between them, as if it remembered them from only a couple of hours earlier.

"I-I'm not exactly sure I like the look that it's giving me," Rarity murmured. She took a single step back in an effort to stay away from the insect.

"Me neither," responded Applejack. "Do y'all think it remembers us from earlier, o–?"

Before she could finish that statement, the monster screeched again, clacking its pincers. Immediately after doing so, it charged towards them, with only a quick dodge to either side preventing them from being crushed.

"Alright, everypony," Twilight declared, "we've gotta keep this thing busy while Rainbow Dash and Applejack do as much damage to it as they can. Are you all ready?"

The five instantly nodded, hoping that they could execute their plan before the thing rushed once more.

"Alright, girls, then let's do this!"

The creature screeched once more and rushed toward them. The mares reacted immediately, once more leaping aside as the monster crashed into the building behind them and became stuck.

Rainbow Dash flew into the air while Applejack rushed at the insect from the ground, both crashing into it before it had a chance to react. It cried out in pain, letting out a loud groan of agony as Applejack slammed her legs into its side and Rainbow Dash flew into it from above.

The thing wrenched itself free from the wall, and glared at the mares that had caused it so much agony, before it spat more of its slime towards them. Twilight leapt forward and grabbed the stuff out of the air using her magic, hoisting it into the sky and throwing it away from her friends.

It stumbled back, looking between the six mares with horror apparent on its small face. The creature turned away from them, planted its legs into the building behind it, and started to climb the structure in what appeared to be an escape attempt.

However, Twilight knew that allowing such a thing to escape would do no good to anypony, especially if it continued its spree of destruction about Equestria. "Alright, girls," she shouted, staring up at it, "we just need to knock it down from that building, and we're all set to g–"

Naturally, Murphy's Law instantly came into effect, with the creature – rather than escaping, as Twilight had predicted was its attempt – leaping from the wall, with its massive body pointed toward the area where she stood.

Had the building been any taller, Twilight had no doubts that she could have run to escape it. However, given the shortness of it, all that she could see was the thing's shell as it came toward her. In that brief instant, she forgot that she could teleport, use levitation, or any other method that could have saved her life.

Instead, Twilight raised her hoof up to cover her face, and hoped that the inevitable pain would be quick. Given that she was an alicorn, she knew that the wound would not be fatal, but she could suffer any sort of permanent injury due to it.

She stood in that position for several seconds, before realizing that there was no pain, and there was no massive beast crushing her in the broken-up pathway.

"Do not fear, Moisturizer, for I have come to rescue you from this foul beast!"

Twilight looked up in shock to see Gilgamesh, his eight hands holding the insect above his head with a strange simplicity. The pitchfork was tied to his waist, and his eyes were set as he held the creature high.

And then – as if it was nothing at all – he threw it several feet to the side, leaving the six ponies to stare, openmouthed, as it crashed into a building. Gilgamesh slapped his hands together, and looked to Twilight with a large grin. "That was close, wouldn't you say?" he asked, his voice still sounding ridiculously hammy. "I am glad that I was able to show up when I did!"

Twilight ignored the large amount of crow that she was currently eating, and nodded. "Yeah," she responded, for once relieved to see him. "How did you…?"

"You did not think I would leave a beastie like this to its own devices, did you?" responded Gilgamesh. "Of course not! After you left, I tracked it, and found it coming here!"

The illusion was instantly shattered. "You've been waiting here – camping here," Rainbow Dash growled, "for all of this time, just so that you could make an entrance?! What about all of the buildings that you just let get destroyed?!"

Gilgamesh laughed, placing his hands on his hips. "Mere trivialities!" he responded. "Next to the life of a creature, a building is but a small price to… pay…" He stopped, the six ponies staring daggers into his eyes. "What?" he asked incredulously. "I needed a way in order to actually gain an advantage on that thing!"

"So you were camping."

"I was not camping!"

The two were interrupted from their small fight by yet another loud screech coming from the building that the monster had been thrown into. The beast stumbled from the wreckage, although its body seemed to have been somewhat altered by the attack: Its shell was dented at several points and looked almost concave at others, while four of its six legs were bent at awkward angles. Even its pincers were affected, bent down instead of in.

It looked over the six equines and Gilgamesh, let out a weak gasp, and stood tall. In spite of its wounds, the creature began to awkwardly stumble toward them. Its eyes were set on Gilgamesh, and its jaw opened wide, revealing a large amount of the slimy liquid. Instead of being thick, however, it seemed more watery, and bubbled as if it was boiling.

Twilight's eyes widened in horrified realization, and she felt her heart stop in her chest. "Everypony get down!" she heard herself scream to the creatures around her.

Everypony instantly obeyed, dropping just as a large sphere of the slime flew over their heads and slammed into a building behind them.

Said building instantly exploded.

Fire rained down on the ponies as the creature continued its slow advance. It let out several weak cries as it did so, eyes still focused on Gilgamesh. However, the closer it walked, the further its wounds seemed to cause it agony, and the beast eventually stopped completely in order to catch its breath.

In that instant, Gilgamesh responded. He pulled himself up from the ground and rushed toward the insect. The beast pulled its head back, readying another shot of the explosive liquid at its target…

… only to stop as the pitchfork split it in half down the middle.

The six equines reacted in several different ways to the display before them; Fluttershy covered her eyes with her forelegs, Rainbow Dash and Pinkie Pie both let out cries of shock, Rarity crawled back as the liquid spilled onto the ground, and Twilight and Applejack simply stared in awe.

For a moment, the beast began to convulse, with both halves moving erratically in either direction. Without even a single last screech, however, the two broken pieces dropped to the ground, unmoving.

However, what Twilight found to be especially odd about the creature was simply in what happened after it died: No blood exited its wounds, unless one was to count to strange liquid that it had collected in its throat (and that now lay beneath its body, curiously unexploded) as "blood." But what she truly found to be curious was what she could see from where she lay.

There was nothing inside of the creature; its body was literally empty.

She jumped up and ran over to the carcass, looking it over to ensure that she hadn't missed anything. Her eyes, though, had not deceived her.

"This is so weird," she murmured, touching her hoof to the creature's shell. Something about the way it felt seemed familiar to her, but she could not quite place it. "You'd think that a thing like this would need at least some kind of organ in order to survive…" Her more scientific side had already overridden the terror that she had felt only moments earlier.

Disregarding Fluttershy – whose hooves were still clamped firmly over her eyes – the other ponies stood up to look at the thing that had been so utterly terrorizing the city.

Rainbow Dash touched the area where Gilgamesh had stabbed the creature. "Yeah," she agreed, "you'd think that a beast like this'd need something, right? I mean, it doesn't even look like it has a brain." She ran her hoof over the area, and recoiled. "Gah!" she cried, pulling her hoof back. "Ugh, sweet Celestia, that just…!"

Rarity stepped over to her friend and examined the injured hoof. "That's odd," she mused, gingerly touching the wounded area. "I haven't seen a cut like this come from a creature's body before… Save a timberwolf, of course," she added.

Gilgamesh placed a hand on his chin, but said nothing.

"Is there… something wrong?" Twilight asked curiously.

"No, there's just something familiar about this thing," he replied. "It is odd, yet… I feel as if I've witnessed a creature like this before, somewhere…" He shrugged, and turned away from the group. "Oh, well. If I cannot remember it, then I am absolutely certain that it contains no manner of importance. Farewell, my equine allies, and I am entirely too grateful for your assistance in the ending of this being of evil!"

Without a single other word, Gilgamesh bounded away once more, leaving the confused ponies to their own devices in the rubble of what was once Canterlot.

"I am so, so sorry, Princess!" Twilight blubbered for the fifty-eighth time, pacing around the throne room. "I-I just… I should have done something earlier, or I shoul–"

"Twilight, calm yourself," Celestia responded gently. "This was nothing that you could have prevented; that creature would have caused this destruction regardless of what you did to stop it. I am only thankful that this 'Gilgamesh' you've told me about appeared when he did."

Twilight froze. "W-wait," she gasped, "how do you know his name? I didn't tell anypony except for Spike and my friends his na–" she froze, and placed a hoof to her forehead. "Spike…"

Celestia smiled. "He was worried about you having to care for that creature all on your own, so Spike sent me a message regarding his fears. I didn't want to intrude, so I simply stood back, but I was fully prepared to give you help if you needed it.

"In any case, however," Celestia continued, "I realized something strange regarding the creature that arrived here: Its kind has never been seen anywhere in all of Equestria, nor in any surrounding nations that I can think of. In fact, it was only spotted for the first time this evening, as if it just appeared out of nowhere. Now, how long has it been since you found that swordsman?"

"Three days…" Twilight stopped, her eyes widening in realization. "Are you saying that that thing's appearance was triggered by Gilgamesh's? It did seem fixated on him, now that I think about it…" She paused, a horrified look crossing her face. "But… if that's the case, we need to get him out of here as soon as we can! It could be too risky to keep him around here if something like that's gonna just show up again…!"

"I agree," admitted Celestia, "but… something about this simply feels off to me. I can't exactly explain what it is, but this entire occurrence just seems too simple. Too… planned, if you will." She met her former student's eyes, and grimaced. "I am aware of your animosity toward Gilgamesh, but I feel that it would be best for us to keep him in Equestria while we can, if only to know where that monstrosity came from."

Twilight sighed. While she wanted to keep Gilgamesh as far away from Ponyville as possible, she had to admit that Celestia had a very valid point. "Yeah," she finally said, "but only until we find out more about this. Having a guy as unstable as Gilgamesh around Equestria for too long could lead to disaster…"

Celestia nodded, and stepped over to Twilight. "Very well, then I'll provide him with ample housing in Ponyville. I want you and your friends to keep an eye on him, but I want to see what else you can do. Who knows?" she added "Perhaps you'll make a new friend."

Twilight rolled her eyes at the statement, but said nothing else. She and Celestia exchanged their farewells, and the two bade their leave.

Neither of them saw the small thing in the top corner of the room that had been watching them throughout their entire conversation.

Gilgamesh leaned back against the tree, looking up at the night sky with a small smirk on his lips. Already he had bested a creature and saved several innocents from being devoured.

Needless to say, he felt immensely accomplished.

So, without further ado, Gilgamesh felt his eyes grow heavy – burdened by the hard work of the day – and found himself in yet another deep and dreamless sleep, hoping that this one was not to be interrupted until he wanted it to be.

And, for once, it wasn't.

Episode 3: An Aria of Treble

View Online

Vinyl Scratch's eyes opened to the sound of a ringing doorbell. She sat up in her bed slowly and yawned, mentally cursing the creature that felt the need to ruin such a good and vivid dream. Although she knew just how late it was, with the clock on her wall showing that it was well-past eleven in the morning, it was still annoying that somepony would just decide to make her awaken after the monster's attack the prior evening. Granted, their building hadn't been one of the unlucky ones, but still.

Vinyl sauntered over to the door, attempting to smile as she cursed her roommate's healthier sleep schedule, with her already having left many hours before. She tore the door open, glaring at the unicorn stallion on the other side.

He was clad entirely in blue, a trademark outfit of a royal messenger, and wore a small smile. "You are Miss Vinyl Scratch, correct?" he asked. He continued without waiting for an answer, "I've been given a message for you. Yes. I have." He held up a scroll, and began to read: "'To the musicians Vinyl Scratch and Octavia Melody, I would like to request your presence at the Nightmare Night performance in one week. I realize how sudden this must appear, but my other choice decided to quit his position last night due to the… unforeseen circumstances. As such, I feel that you two would be the next best choices because of your prior work on this sort of matter. Please come to royal palace to give me your final verdict, and ask me any questions you see fit. My thanks to you both, Princess Luna.'" The messenger paused for a moment, and grimaced. "Ah, yes, there's a post-script: 'I would also like to see somepony capable of playing the piano, if possible; our old one has recently been replaced, and we would like to see it put to good use. Thank you both once more.'"

"Do you need me to repeat that?" the messenger asked, lowering the scroll. He blinked, and waved a hoof in front of Vinyl's face; her eyes were wide, and her mouth agape. "Um… Miss Scratch, are you feeling alright?"

Vinyl blinked once, and instantly came back to reality. "Oh, uh… no… no, I'm okay."

"Good," responded the messenger, smiling. "Good. I will relay the success of this back to the princess in that case. Yes. I will. Farewell, Miss Scratch, and congratulations. Do give my regards to your roommate." He turned and began to sprint down the path away from her house, running in the direction of the royal palace.

Vinyl simply stood in the doorway for several seconds, before she slowly closed it. She looked to both sides and when she was absolutely sure that nopony could hear her, let out a loud "Yes!"

-- An Epic for Gilgamesh --
-- Episode 3: An Aria of Treble --
-- Written By ZaleAcon --

Octavia Melody studied her roommate curiously, looking her over with no small amount of cautiousness. Vinyl was never one to spend money like she had on such a nice restaurant. Actually, she never was one for fancy eating places at all. "Too many rich snobs," she'd always say, right before pointing to her throat and gagging. She didn't even need to mention just how tight their funds were.

Octavia found her actions to be very childish, but that was mainly due to her friend having always been somewhat immature; on the day that they first met in high school, Vinyl had introduced herself by literally running straight into her in a very spacious and empty hallway.

Even then, Vinyl stood out like a sore hoof among the ponies surrounding them. Rather than eat her food slowly, she insisted on stuffing as much as she could possibly could into her mouth, instead of sipping her wine, she downed the entire glass like it was a shot, and – most irritating of all – she kept her sunglasses on. Indoors.

It wasn't even especially bright; the lighting in the eatery consisted entirely of small candles on the walls, and a single chandelier in the center of the circular ceiling, causing the walls to be slightly shadowed in some places. There weren't even any visible windows from where they were seated.

Octavia raised the pasta up to her mouth, continuing to watch as Vinyl continued to devour her food like a ravenous animal. Somehow the other ponies did not stop to stare, but she could clearly see that many of them were struggling. Hoping to keep it that way, Octavia cleared her throat, causing her roommate to stop her attack.

"What's the occasion for this? You've never been one to splurge." In fact, it could be said that Vinyl Scratch was one of the cheapest ponies out there – disregarding when she spent money on her own musical equipment, of course.

Vinyl grinned over at her, her cheeks still stuffed with food. "Unf!" she declared. "Unf un uh'prie!" She swallowed, coughed, and smiled again. "Uh… sorry, Tavi. 'It's a surprise!' That's what I meant to say."

Octavia rolled her eyes, and began to twist her fork in the pasta. "I'm sure that it is," she said grimly, "but what the surprise is is what I'm worried about…"

"Hey! Whaddaya mean by that?" Vinyl asked indignantly, although Octavia had to hand it to her that she managed to keep her voice down this time. "Trust me, this isn't gonna be like the Gala; it's gonna be completely awesome, I promise!"

Once again Octavia rolled her eyes. If she had a bit for every time her friend said something along those lines, she would be richer than half of the Canterlot elite.

"I just mean your schemes have almost always ended in disaster. The only one I can think of that didn't completely fail and cost us was the wedding last year. And even that was only because of the changelings' attack," she added, taking a sip of her wine.

For the past three years, both she and Vinyl had been doing odd jobs to pay the rent on their apartment. Octavia would play her beloved cello for the elite members of Canterlot, while Vinyl worked at the local nightclub as a DJ. Even with the money they earned, the two could barely afford the place they lived due to the lack of a demand for their performances. So in order to pay for groceries and any extra amenities, the two took turns every week for part-time jobs to enable the other time to practice their craft. Occasionally the two would get a high-paying job, but the main purpose of that would be to give both of them a week to relax.

Even their apartment wasn't much to look at. The place was a box, thirty feet in length, width, and height, and smelled of old plaster, tin, and rust. It wasn't much, but it was home, and Octavia preferred it to living out on the streets of Canterlot.

Vinyl rolled her eyes, matching Octavia's sarcastic gesture with one of her own, and grinned. "Well, Tavi, I've got some good news for you." She leaned in close to her friend, causing her a desire to move in the opposite direction. "Today… I got a message from Princess Luna herself! Something about playing at the Nightmare Night party."

Octavia choked, coughing from sheer shock and the alcohol that blocked her windpipe. "Y-you're not seriously…?" she gasped, and coughed again. "I-I mean… really?!"

"Yep!" Vinyl nodded, her grin only having grown. "Looks like the princess's original choice cancelled last night after the… uh… well, you know…" She rubbed the side of her head with her hoof. "Yeah, but anyway, she thought we'd be good replacements for 'em."

Octavia set down her glass, turned her head downwards, and sighed. "So… we were the second choice?" she asked glumly. "I should have known just how unlikely such a thing would be…"

"Huh? Whaddaya mean by that, Tavi?" Vinyl sat back and looked over her face. "I mean, isn't it great news? C'mon, smile, won't'cha? Sheesh…"

"N-no! No, it's not that, it's…" Octavia sighed again, and looked away. "It's… I fully understand Princess Luna's logic behind it, but… Doesn't the idea of us being second-best dishearten you at all?"

Vinyl grinned. "Nope," she said, "because it's not like that matters, right? I mean, think about it: we're gonna be performing for the princess of the night! Again, I guess, but it's still pretty cool!"

Octavia resumed to spinning her fork in the pasta, and picked up her glass with her other hoof. Why did she have the feeling that the performance would end in disaster? Maybe it was simply a sort of coping mechanism, given their past track record. the changelings and Elements of Harmony had already been bad enough.

But the worst part was the small piece in the back of her mind that kept screaming at her, telling her just why it was that she felt such dread at the prospect of their performance.

"Besides," Vinyl added, "what's the worst that could happen, really? I mean, it isn't like the world's gonna end just because we're… T-Tavi? Are you okay?"

"Y-yes," she replied, purging the memories from her mind. No matter how hard she tried, however, Octavia could never completely forget them, no matter how much she wanted to. "Um… y-yeah, I'm completely fine. Please don't worry about it."

"Tavi, are you sure you're–?"

"I told you I'm fine!"

The entire restaurant seemed to have turned towards her in that moment, and Octavia flushed. "J-just, don't worry about it, okay? Nothing's wrong."

"Um… alright?" Vinyl cocked her head slightly. "Well, I… uh… Well, what do you think about the performance, then?"

Octavia grimaced and turned her head away. Under normal circumstances she would have no issues with the performance, but certain factors of the time around it did nothing to hinder her anxiety. However, just looking at the expectant and excited look on Vinyl's face completely crushed whatever resolve she'd held.

"I… Alright," she said after several seconds. "I'm not going to question it. Not now, at least, but just… Yes, such an opportunity doesn't come up very often, and–"

"Yes!" Vinyl flung her hooves into the air triumphantly, attracting the gazes of every single pony in the restaurant. "Awesome! Let's go tell the princess! Right now!" She stood up to leave, and looked as if she was ready to sprint out of the area.

"Wait! We still have to –" Octavia's protest fell on deaf ears, as the doors already swung back-and-forth in her friend's wake "– pay…"

The waiter stepped over to her, his face completely deadpan. "Miss, your bill."

Octavia took one look at the amount and slammed her head into the table, uttering out a loud groan.

"So, as you suspected, she seemed excited at the prospect," finished the messenger. "Of course, it's hard for me to blame her; I think I'd be the same in that regard. Yes. I would."

Luna nodded, smiling inwardly. "Indeed. Thank you, Glass. You may go now."

"Of course," Encrypted Glass said again, "and you are very much welcome for the message. Now, I believe it would be best if I head off. Yes. It would." He turned and began down the throne room's hallway, and through the massive set of doors that led out into the main area of the palace.

Celestia stared after him with an odd intrigue from her throne. "I wasn't aware you'd gained your own messenger, Luna," she remarked. "He seems pretty reliable."

"Most of the time, yes," Luna agreed, "but there have been a few minor… incidents, so to speak. He sometimes takes quite a bit longer than you would expect." She grinned. "But enough about that, Sister; I'm just glad that those two actually acc– er, that they obtained the message, rather."

Celestia raised an eyebrow. "You don't think they'll agree?"

Luna sighed, and turned away from her sister. She focused her gaze on a stained-glass window on the side of the chamber, focusing on the way the sun manipulated the colors. "After what occurred last night, I cannot be certain," she admitted. "Whatever that… creature… was, it appeared from nowhere, and seemed almost too delighted to cause destruction. Feral, even. And seeing as my other selection fled for his life, how can I be certain that the two magicians will not feel the same, and will not try to get away?"

"I see your point," Celestia said. She stepped over to Luna, and placed a hoof on her shoulder. "However, that being said, the ponies of Canterlot – of this area in general, now that I think about it – have dealt with dozens of monstrosities. Considering Discord's rampage, the changelings, Nightmare Moon, Twilight Sparkle," she added as an afterthought, and smiled mischievously, "they've already seen much in the way of danger. And given that so few of them have actually run away…"

"I suppose, but–"

The door to the throne room instantly burst open, as a guard ran in. "Princess… es," he said, suddenly noticing Luna, who waved rather good-naturedly, "two ponies are here to see you, claiming that you have invited them." He pulled a small card in front of his face. "'Vinyl Scratch' and 'Octavia Melody,' they called themselves."

Luna smiled. "Very well," she said, "send the two in here, will you not?"

The guard nodded, and stepped out through the door. Several seconds later, the two mares walked in, both seeming a strange mixture of excitement and fear, likely due to the opportunity they'd been given; while Luna had not seen either of them prior to the Grand Galloping Gala, she had heard of Octavia's excitement at being selected to play the music, and she knew Vinyl from the royal wedding. In fact, that had been a major deciding factor in their inclusion, as the two of them had gotten along swimmingly at the celebration.

"Welcome, both of you," said Luna, nodding to the two musicians. "I heard that you had received my message, but I didn't expect you so… suddenly." She wondered if Glass had passed them in the hallway, before deciding that it was unlikely; he always had the odd habit of vanishing.

Vinyl stepped forward, and raised the sunglasses so that they were propped on her horn. "Yeah, sorry about that. We didn't think it'd be so quick, but we decided that we'd –" she paused, likely for dramatic effect, and leaned in close. Meanwhile, Octavia simply rolled her eyes "– take you up on your offer!"

Luna's eyes widened in shock, and Celestia elbowed her. "It's just like I said; The ponies around this area are tougher than you think, Sister."

"I-I suppose so," Luna whispered back, still surprised at the answer. "Well, thank you both, but how did you come to this conclusion so quickly? At least, I would have expected several hours, but–"

Vinyl waved her hoof. "Eh, I've never really been one for all that stuff," she said, before lowering her sunglasses. "I like to get things over with quickly. Don't really like t'just sit still and think when I could be doing other things, y'know?"

"V-Vinyl!" Octavia gasped, appalled that her friend would act so casual in the presence of Luna and Celestia.

"Oh, c'mon, Tavi! You know I'm just kiddin' around!" Vinyl grinned, and playfully punched her in the shoulder. "Sheesh! You really need to lighten up a bit!"

"B… Not in the presence of royalty!"

Luna smiled to herself, reaffirming the reason that she like the two musicians so much – or Vinyl, at the very least; she was genuine, and did not feel the need to put on a fake accent or dress extremely fancily, nor was she demeaning towards anypony.

"Seriously, just lighten up, won't'cha? It won't kill you to be yourself, y'know!"

"M-maybe, but…" Octavia flushed, and looked away. "How we ended up talking about this in the middle of the princesses's throne room is something I will never understand…"

Celestia coughed. It wasn't especially loud, but it was enough to draw the attention of the two mares. "Well, I'm glad you came to your decision," she said, "but I believe that my sister has something that she wishes to share with you two."

Luna stepped forward, until she was directly in front of Vinyl and Octavia, and nodded. "Yes, anyway… I'm happy that the two of you managed to decide that you will be able to help with this endeavor. But I do have to ask… do you remember my… other request?"

Vinyl paused, and placed a hoof on her chin. Several seconds later, her eyes widened beneath the lenses of her glasses. "Oh, yeah! Something about a piano, right?"

Octavia blinked. "Wait, what's this about a piano?"

"You… didn't tell her?" Luna cocked her head and raised an eyebrow.

Vinyl shrugged. "Eh, it didn't seem overly important at the time. I mean, you did say that you'd 'like' it, right? Not that it was necessary or anything?"

Luna let out a deep sigh and met Celestia's eyes before she turned back to Vinyl and Octavia. "I suppose I should have clarified that, shouldn't I?" She breathed in, gritting her teeth at a certain piece of information being omitted from the message. "I'm sorry, but… I don't think that the correct information was given to all of you. Yes, I did say that I would have liked for there to be a piano player –" Luna silently cursed Glass for leaving such important information out "– but that was never just 'optional.'"

Octavia turned pale. "But that's completely impossible!" she blurted out. As the others in the room looked at her in confusion, she flushed. "I-I'm sorry, Princess, but… the two of us are the only ones in our little music 'group.' Neither of us is talented enough to use an instrument such as the piano, and the only creatures who can are so sparse that the odds of them being able to assist us are extremely low."

"Yeah," Vinyl agreed, and she raised her sunglasses onto her horn once more. "I mean, yeah, I get that it's important and all, but there aren't a lotta griffins, or minotaurs, or dragons around this place." She scrunched up her nose, giving her the appearance of one who had just eaten a rotten toadstool. With hot sauce. "And the few that there are're just a buncha jerks, anyway!"

"I understand," Luna noted, and sighed again. "However, that being said, the usage of a piano is a necessity; it's a very old part of the ritual, a celebration that occurred over one millennia ago, and to not use it would be a travesty."

Vinyl raised up a hoof. "Uh, hang on. We need to talk about this."

The stepped over to the far side of the room, where Luna couldn't make out their voices under their hushed tones. Although she tried to listen in on what they were saying, not a single sound besides muffled whispers could be heard.

The two spoke for about two minutes before they disbanded their private meeting and walked back over to Luna and Celestia. "Very well," Octavia said, sounding exasperated, "we accept your terms, Princess; I cannot guarantee that whatever piano-player we find will be… um…"

"Good?" Luna offered.

"Yes. Quite," said Octavia. "But we will do what we can regarding this, so I'm sorry if there are any major complications."

Luna nodded and smiled. "Excellent. In that case, I would be happy to answer any questions you have."

Vinyl looked between the two princesses. "Alright, then, tell me this," she said. "Is there anypony in around here who would be able to give us a hoof… claw… whatever with this? That you know of, I mean," she hastily amended.

"Any help at all would be wonderful," Octavia said, although her eyes were somewhat narrow; dealing with Vinyl constantly, Luna surmised, was likely more difficult than she had expected.

She opened her mouth to her give an answer, only to be cut off immediately: "Of course," Celestia said, wearing a smile that could likely melt even the coldest of hearts. "In fact, I believe I'll send a message down to Ponyville even now. You two know Twilight Sparkle, correct?"

Vinyl rolled her eyes. "Course we do; her face is only literally everywhere." As if to prove her point, Vinyl pointed behind her to a stained-glass window depicting Twilight Sparkle's coronation. "So, uh… yeah, I think I've got a pretty good idea who she is."

"Excellent!" Celestia replied, already stepping back to the throne.

"That being said, Princess," Octavia added, "we know 'of' her, but we are not acquaintances with her, nor with her friends… And how is she meant to help us, anyway?"

"Allow me to say this much," Celestia noted, as she pulled a small piece of paper from a table next to the throne. "I know of a creature who could give you aid in this matter, but you'd have to travel down to Ponyville. Since you two seem so resolved, I'll just pen this letter now." She pulled a quill from the table, and began to write across the paper. "I'll ask Twilight to meet you down at the train station… along with her new 'friend.'"

Luna nodded to Vinyl and Octavia. "Thank you both for coming out here," she said, "and thank you both for accepting my conditions, too. Um… I understand the inconvenience of this, and I wish you luck in finding your newest musical ally."

"Oh, uh…" Vinyl eloquently stated, "thanks, Princess. Well, we'll see you when we get back! C'mon, Tavi!"

She grabbed Octavia's foreleg forcefully, and – ignoring her shouts of reluctance – literally dragged her friend out of the throne room as she sprinted back into the foyer.

"They're gonna need it," Luna added, and looked to Celestia, who barely managed to hold in her laughter. "I hope that loony swordsman doesn't cause them any more harm than good…"

Celestia grinned, and stepped over to her. "I'm absolutely certain that he won't," she noted. "Besides, it'll give him something to do that doesn't involve senseless domestic violence. Also" – she looked Luna square in the eye, her smile instantly becoming mischievous – "you really could use some acting lessons, Sister. 'A very old part of the ritual,' indeed."

"G… H-hey, that's…!"

"Oh, you know I'm only kidding." Celestia chuckled and she placed a hoof on Luna's shoulder. "Besides, I fully agree with your action here; I'd rather Gilgamesh be put to some use, rather than have him sit about Ponyville all day. Boredom can drive a pony to madness…"

Luna rolled her eyes. "I know," she said, her voice sharp. "I had to deal with that for a thousand years."

Celestia grimaced and looked away. "Yes. I… never meant–"

Luna waved a hoof, and pulled herself away from her. "No, don't worry about it," she said. "There are more important things to worry about, after all." She turned back to Celestia, and nodded. "Speaking of which… have you discovered anything new regarding that monster that attacked last night?"

"Unfortunately, there've been no new breakthroughs," Celestia replied, and she sighed exasperatedly. "The scientists are looking into it even now, but nothing new has come up. Not even what its shell was formed of."

"Curious," Luna murmured. "Perhaps it is merely some new species?"

"I thought of that, but no creatures like it have been noticed anywhere else in Equestria lately." Celestia placed a hoof on her chin. "Or anywhere else in the world, for that matter," she added. "The griffins haven't noticed anything like it, the zebras have nothing to add in the matter… no matter whom I've asked, the response is always the same. I even sent them fragments of the shell to make sure, but they haven't found anything."

"Nothing at all?" Luna pressed.

Celestia shook her head and stepped up to one of the windows so that her back was to her. "No, there's been absolutely no progress into this. I suppose that I can understand, since it was only last night, yet… I'm not entirely sure."

"Curious," Luna repeated. "Maybe it's for the best, though… given what that monstrosity did to Canterlot in one evening, can you even imagine what could occur in the case that more of them exist?"

"And that's what worries me. I cannot say for certain, but something about this entire ordeal seems immensely… strange. There were reports of that creature's eyes shifting in color, and of its demeanor changing several times throughout the night. And that isn't even getting into what could have happened if Gilgamesh hadn't showed up." Celestia shuddered.

Luna nodded and joined her by the window. "And though I may not hold him in the highest regard, I can agree with that statement completely," she said, although she felt somewhat disgusted to admit it; while she had yet to actually meet the swordsman, Twilight's description of him from the night prior – or what Celestia had divulged, at the very least – did nothing but cause the bile to rise in her throat. "However, that being said," she added, "it will do you no good to obsess over this matter."

"I know that," Celestia murmured, "but I still can't help but worry about it."

Luna sighed. "Allow the researchers to worry about what happened last night," she said. "They'll find an answer soon enough, I'm sure. There are more important matters for you to worry about, after all. Gilgamesh for one."

Luna grimaced and turned away. "My apologies, Sister," she said, "but I've much that I need to do right now. If there are any further complications, feel free to ask me for any aid. I would say Discord as well, but… we both know how he can be."

"Right. Thank you, Luna. I'll call on you if there are any future… complications." Celestia nodded. "Oh, and also… if you gain any further insight into this matter, please don't hesitate to tell me."

"Of course." Luna stepped over to the doors leading out of the throne room, and looked back. "Like I said, Celestia, it won't do you any favors to worry about this so much. I understand your worries, but I'd rather not have you burn yourself out due to this. The Equestrians need a strong leader, now more than ever."

With those last words spoken, Luna threw open the doors with a mighty, overdramatic flourish and stepped away from the throne room, leaving Celestia alone with her thoughts.

Gilgamesh felt miserable. He had been awoken early and literally pushed to the train station by a certain overzealous winged unicorn, in spite of him having a difficult time standing with his back straight. Even a warrior of his caliber needed rest in order to be at his peak, after all, and the equines were doing nothing to allow him that small amount of refuge away from them and their constantly-attacked town.

"Guh…" Gilgamesh groaned. He gave in to his feral urges and sat down on a nearby bench, ignoring the creatures that took in his impressive frame and giant muscles as they walked passed.

The winged unicorn looked over at a nearby clock before she hung her head, and began to rub her temples with her hooves. "Where are they…?" she murmured quietly, her voice sharp. "They should've been here seven minutes ago…"

Gilgamesh groaned again, louder this time, before rubbing his forehead with one of his hands. "I cannot believe that you would drag a creature such as I out of that most grand of rests solely in order to make me sit still for so long. Moisturizer, I am quite ashamed of your brashness."

"Twilight," she snapped, "and what do you mean 'most grand of rests'? You were asleep until twelve, and you would've kept sleeping even longer than that!"

"Given last night's events, can you truly blame me for desiring a chance to rest longer? I did not see you fighting that thing – oh wait, yes I did, and I had to save your life!"

Twilight slammed her head into a nearby column, likely as a self-punishment for questioning his reasoning. "Ugh… I give up," she muttered. "When this whole thing's done, I really hope that–" The rest of her speech was incomprehensible due to her voice lowering in volume, although Gilgamesh heard her for roughly two minutes before he could her voice became louder: "And by doing that, at least nothing'll ever bother Ponyville again."

Gilgamesh yawned and sat back, knowing that her speech was meant for her ears only. "Yes, although any future attackers shall be met with my mighty trident!" He paused, and stroked his chin. "At least until I can return home, of course."

Twilight looked over at him. "Return home? You mean you're not from Ponyville?"

Gilgamesh let out a single laugh at that. "No! Nay, I have never set foot into your town until only recently. If anything, I am not even from this dimension!" He stood up, and moved onto the bench in order to appear taller. "You see, I come from a different land entirely – one of magic–"

"We have magic," Twilight pointed out.

"Better magic!" Gilgamesh declared. "The ability to control fire, ice, and lightning! The power to poison, blind, and petrify your foes with ease! The skills to heal damage with a single incantation, to silence your foes until their tongues shrivel in their mouths, to make them so enraged that their only acts are those of a behemoth…" He rubbed his palms together. "And that is but the tip of the metaphorical iceberg!

"My world," Gilgamesh continued, completely blocking Twilight's next statement with his filibuster, "contains monsters beyond your wildest dreams and nightmares, some of which can be bent to the will of specific people! There are caverns, castles, bridges, more castles, towers…"

Twilight grimaced. "So… your world isn't very different from ours at all," she stated. "The best magic-users can raise the sun and the moon, we have monsters all over the place, and lots of –" she coughed and deepened her voice "– 'caverns, castles, bridges, and towers'" – she reverted back to her normal pitch – "too."

Gilgamesh smirked. "Ah, but my world has certain qualities that are far more dangerous than anything you could even begin to imagine." He jumped down from the bench, and spread his arms. "For one, several types of magic. For another, castles made out of corpses, and for a third, a maniacal warlock who seeks the power to rule everything."

Twilight blinked. "Wait, what were those last two?"

"Oh, pay them no mind," Gilgamesh said. "After all, I am certain that Exdeath has long since been bested by Bartz and his allies – if they can beat me, they can definitely beat him! Why, I'll bet that they're sitting in their homes right now, celebrating!"

"Wh… Hold on a second." Twilight raised up her right foreleg and raised an eyebrow. "Who's Exdeath? Who's Bartz? Actually, now that I think about it… who the hay are you?"

"A story for another time," Gilgamesh responded. "For now, allow me to say that I am simply a warrior from my world. Anything else isn't really that necessary."

"It… kind of is," Twilight protested. "It feels like you're only giving me half of the story… if even that."

Gilgamesh placed two of his hands on his hips and raised the other six into the air. "Well, in that case, I will give you a small crash course." He breathed in deep. "Bartz is my greatest rival; the two of us have clashed numerous times in the past several weeks – once upon the so-called 'Big Bridge,' once on the ocean, and once in Exdeath's castle. Yea, we have crossed blades several times, myself and his team! They are all grand fighters, for certain."

"And 'Exdeath'?"

"A warlock of terrible power," Gilgamesh replied.

Twilight blinked. "That's it?"

"That is all that matters, at any rate," Gilgamesh said. "As I said, any other information would be unnecessary right now, as I've no doubt that Bartz, Lenna, Faris, and Krile have put an end to him and his evil!"

Twilight studied him for several seconds before sighing. "You know what? Never mind."

Several seconds after those words left her mouth, the sound of an engine permeated the air, followed by a large train pulling into the station. It stopped at what Gilgamesh presumed to be a fixed point, before the doors on the side opened.

Equines emerged from the various exits – some with wings, some with horns, and some with neither – who walked out onto the platform before going on their merry way. Some greeted others who had been waiting, while others simply stepped down into the town. However, two of them behaved differently.

One of them was a unicorn with a white coat, an electric-blue mane, and a pair of sunglasses on its face, while the other seemed to be just a normal equine. They stepped up to Gilgamesh and Twilight, and the latter sighed. "I'm very sorry, Princess," she said. "Vinyl here had to go and hold up the line for ten minutes longer than necessary."

"H-hey!" the other protested, "it was an emergency!"

"The fact that the ice cream stand was having a sale does not count as an 'emergency'!"

Twilight looked between the two and sighed. "You're Vinyl Scratch and Octavia Melody, right?"

"Sure am!" said the unicorn. "Though my fans call me 'DJ Pon-3,' 'cause my skills at the records are three times as good as anypony else's!"

Octavia pressed a hoof to her forehead and groaned. "Excellent. Because we needed to make an even worse impression on them…"

"Whaddaya mean by that, Tavi?"

"Never mind."

Twilight looked between the two of them. "So… uh…" she said, evidently at a loss for words, "Celestia told me that you two wanted to speak with Gilgamesh about music?"

Vinyl grinned. "Yep! So… let's take a look-see!" She instantly jumped over to Gilgamesh, raised up her sunglasses, and began to look over his body with extreme interest. "Huh, eight hands? Wow, that's perfect!"

"Perfect for… what, now?" Gilgamesh asked. He had no problem with the attention that he was receiving – after all, his strength was immense, and so his popularity should have been directly proportional to it – but something in her voice thoroughly piqued his interest.

"Duh! Isn't it obvious?"

"Vinyl!" snapped Octavia, who looked up to Gilgamesh apologetically. "Please forgive her. She's a bit… well… childish."

"Hey!" Vinyl protested.

Octavia pressed a hoof to her forehead and muttered something under her breath. "As I was saying," she continued, "Princess Luna tasked us with discovering a creature with the capabilities of playing a piano for the Nightmare Night concert coming up in a week. I know that this may be sudden – and that you do not even know us, for that matter – but would you be willing to fill the role?"

Gilgamesh stared at her for several seconds, before he was finally able to speak. "A warrior such as myself, playing an instrument? Absurd! After all, how am I to hone my blade if I am too busy playing your little tunes?" He folded all eight of his arms. "I cannot, that is the answer!"

"B… Gilgamesh!" Twilight hissed. "These two came all the way out here in order to ask you for help, and you're just going to–?!"

"No, it doesn't matter," Octavia said, raising a hoof. "It was worth the effort, I suppose, but I should have expected this outcome." She nodded to her friend. "Alright, Vinyl, we may as well search the town to see if anypony would be willing to help us."

As she turned to walk away, however, Vinyl said, "Hold on a sec. Y'know, pianos are actually really tough instruments to learn to play. I guess I can understand why you wouldn't wanna try; I mean, it'd probably be too tough for you to get."

Gilgamesh felt a vein throb in his head. "What do you mean by that?!"

"Well, it's just that pianos are really, really complex instruments. Maybe too complex for even a tough guy like you!" Vinyl smirked. "Course, if you wanna prove me wrong…"

Another vein throbbed in Gilgamesh's head. "You would dare question my abilities?! I bet I could play songs unimaginable to even you both!"

Vinyl's smirk grew and she lowered her sunglasses. "Okay, then… why don't'cha prove it? I mean, what've you gotta lose, right? But… I get that you're too busy swinging around that pitchfork to play, so I guess I'll just have to regard you as an amateur."

Gilgamesh felt the world around him fade to white. Everything around him froze in time as those words slammed into him like the train that now was stopped. "Gh… I…" he sputtered, attempting to keep himself calm. "H-how dare you say that about me! I-I'll have you know that I am an expert when it comes to the piano!"

"Really?" Vinyl asked. "In that case, why don't'cha prove it to us? I mean, just 'cause you say you're good at something doesn't mean you actually are, right? So –" she leaned in close to Gilgamesh "– why don't you perform at Nightmare Night? It's just one song, a solo, so it shouldn't be too hard for an expert like you."

Octavia stepped over to her. "Vinyl, are you sure that's a go–"

"I shall do just that!" Gilgamesh declared. "Tell me of this Night of Nightmares, and I shall perform with my most grand of piano abilities for all of you who would desire to listen!" He stood tall, and placed his hands on his waist. "Indeed, I shall play!"

Vinyl grinned. "Perfect! The performance is nine days from today. Oh," she added, "and no stepping out, got it? Pinkie Pie promise?"

"There shall be no quitting," replied Gilgamesh. He copied Vinyl's gestures and words, following through the most sacred blood pact of the 'Pinkie Pie promise.'

Come to think of it, wasn't Pinkie Pie the mare who gave him such vivid nightmares? No, it must have been a coincidence.

"Great, great!" Vinyl said, pulling her sunglasses up again. "Okay, Tavi! Let's get outta here and leave Gilgamesh to his own business!"

Octavia sighed. "If you have any questions, please do not hesitate to ask. Here" – she handed him a piece of paper –"this is our address, as well as any other means of contacting us in the case of you having any issues with this performance. Thank you very much for all of the help, Gilgamesh."

"There is not a single problem!" he replied. "I shan't step away from the plate, now that you have touched my emotions! No, I shall give you your assistance, and play this most grand of concerts!"

"Perfect! Thanks again," Vinyl replied. "I'll see ya around if you have any questions. Or, y'know, just wanna hang out or something." She literally grabbed Octavia and started to drag her back towards the train. "C'mon, Tavi! Let's get back to Canterlot and tell the princesses the good news!"

"Wh… Vinyl…!" Octavia's protests fell on deaf – or at least not-listening – ears, as she pulled onto the train after mere minutes of having been off it.

Twilight turned to Gilgamesh after the two had vanished, and placed a hoof on her chin. "Huh. I didn't know you could play the piano."

"I… er… can't," he admitted.

Twilight blinked. "Wait… you lied?"

"No!" Gilgamesh replied indignantly. "I most certainly did not lie, I just… did not tell the whole truth!"

"And what exactly does that mean?" Twilight's eyes narrowed.

Gilgamesh turned away in attempt to avoid the somewhat-terrifying-when-angered equine. "I assure you that I can play such an instrument with simplicity!" He paused, and rubbed the side of his head. "Er… with adequate practice, of course. But I still can, and shall!"

"Hang on just a second," Twilight said, and she stepped over to where Gilgamesh could see her. "Wait, did you just let Vinyl Scratch psychologically manipulate you? Into playing a piano?"

"Oh, come now!" Gilgamesh said dismissively. "I assure you that I was in complete control of my emotions in that instant; neither of the two equines 'manipulated' me in any manner, psychologically or otherwise! What kind of creature do you take me for?" He scoffed and began to step away. "Now, if you don't mind, I am off to learn the art of playing the piano."

He stepped down from the platform with the stance of the most confident of warriors, back straight, eyes set, and arms still at his side, leaving Twilight alone.

She stared after him for several seconds and shook her head, before following suit. "This can only end well," she muttered.

"I can't believe you just did that," Octavia deadpanned. She and Vinyl were seated on the train, on their way back to Canterlot after a short and somewhat-expensive ride.

"Did what?" asked Vinyl.

Octavia sighed and leaned back in her seat. "What you said to Gilgamesh, of course! You realize that what you just did could be considered illegal, right?"

Vinyl rolled her eyes. "What are you talkin' about? I mean, we're gonna give him a cut of the money, too!"

"That's not what's important," snapped Octavia. "You played on his emotions to your own gain, and locked him into a contract which he has no way of escaping! That's slavery, Vinyl! You could get in massive trouble for that!"

"Listen, Tavi: I know that you're the one here with the legal degree, but think about it." Vinyl pulled the sunglasses off of her head and grimaced. "He chose to help us of his own free will." Octavia opened her mouth to protest. "Yeah, yeah, I know what you're gonna say: 'But you made him, Vinyl!' And you're right, kinda, but that's just how it goes, right? I just prodded him a bit, and what happened next was his own choice."

Octavia sighed and shook her head. "Even so, I don't want to see you get into any unnecessary trouble, alright? Besides, how can we even be sure that he'd be able to play the piano at all? All we know is that he has eight arms."

Vinyl grinned. "Eh, don't worry about it. I'm careful. Besides, what's the worst that can happen? Gilgamesh has a bit of difficulty? He can play any song he wants. Doesn't have to be some overly-complex piece, so he could just play some scales and walk away." She leaned back in the seat and closed her eyes. "So, yeah, don't worry about it. I mean, I'm sure he's got some musical ability. And if not, we can always lend him a hoof, y'know?"

"I suppose." Somehow, Octavia highly doubted Vinyl's argument. Why did she get the feeling that Gilgamesh was not the kind of creature to merely play something so simple.

"Regardless of that, just be more careful with that kind of thing in the future," she added. "The last thing that I want is to have to bail you out of prison." Funds were tight enough as it was.

Vinyl stretched, although her eyes were still closed. "You worry way too much, Tavi. Just relax sometime, alright? It's all gonna be just fine."

Octavia grit her teeth silently, but said nothing. No words were necessary, after all, and the deadline that rapidly approached her would do nothing to make anything "fine." If anything, it only made it worse.

Gilgamesh stared at the instrument in front of him with immense confusion. Across its frame were several white rectangular-prisms, as well as other, smaller shapes of black. Despite him finally being inside of a home of his own – courtesy of the "princesses," as Twilight had called them – he felt no more at ease than he had sleeping in the open, and the massive monstrosity did nothing to quell that suspicion.

"So," he remarked, pulling out the book that Twilight had given him (The Key to Playing Pianos: Notes Included), "which of these is the so-called 'middle-C'?"

He studied the pages, perusing over them before coming to a vague understanding. He placed two hands upon the mighty behemoth's wooden hide, and pressed down on the indicated notes. Gilgamesh was rewarded for his efforts with a sound that only vaguely resembled music.

Once more, he pressed the note, although he moved once more afterwords. He continued to follow the indicated symbols until he had once more reached the 'C' note, but one frame of music-length higher. Intrigued by the sounds made, he decided to play the thing once more, but much faster.

What occurred could barely be described as "music."

Gilgamesh slammed his head into the top of the piano, sending papers flying in every direction. It was going to be a long night.

Author's Notes:

After several weeks, this chapter has finally been completed. I'm going to try to make all future chapters not take this long, but I can't make any promises. Honestly, up until this week, my schedule was so absurd that I barely had any time to write; most of the work was done this week, and probably more than half of this chapter was written on today and Saturday alone. Also, there were so many music puns that I could have used for the title that it took me awhile to decide.

With this chapter, we are introduced to two of our major secondary characters, although the roles that they both play will not be evident for some time.

Now, due to there being only one response to last week's question, I've decided that I'm going to do the following with all future chapters: If a chapter has more than twenty-thousand words, then I will cut it in half. If it has less, then I'll just leave it as-is. Also, all "episodes" in this way will be cut in half, as well (Episode X Part 1/Episode X Part 2, for example). There are probably going to be very few chapters that hit this point, so may not even happen during the story.

Honestly, thank you to everyone who has waited so patiently for this, and I hope that I can get the next chapter out in a reasonable amount of time!

Episode 4: A Diamond in the Rough

View Online

The storm came without any warning. Within mere instants of its arrival, rain poured from the sky with a kind of rage not seen in years, highlighted by crashing thunder, monstrous winds, and lightning that stabbed across the clouds, which left the sky pitch-black. Indeed, it was a storm unlike any seen in the confines of Ponyville for many years.

A figure stumbled across the dirt road, fur dripping and caked in dust and mud. Its movements were erratic, awkward, and pained as it slowly pushed itself through the rain, coughing all the while. Its claws were cracked and bloody, and its eyes were distant and unfocused, as if it had no specific target. But even then, in that case, it still had something that it knew it had to do, regardless of the outcome.

Images passed by it, mere figments of its goal: A sign, unreadable in the darkness, some houses, and lights that shimmered from the sides of the path like candles. Everything was in the back of its mind as it stumbled, as it dripped, as everything began to hang in the balance. It was so close to its goal, and it had been running for far too long.

The figure finally found the building that it had been seeking since its journey's start, and reached up to hit a single hand to rap against the door – only to find its consciousness fading away, and its body slamming into it instead as the world began to go dark.

-- An Epic for Gilgamesh --
-- Episode 4: A Diamond in the Rough --
-- Written By ZaleAcon --

Gilgamesh awoke to the sound of something slamming into his door. He let out a groan of irritation as he wrenched himself away from the floor and upward. Cracking his neck and shoulders to force them into losing their stiffness, Gilgamesh stepped over to the door and pulled it open.

"Took you long enough!" snapped the equine with the stupidly-colored mane, which now clung to the side of her head and dripped from the rain. "Sheesh… I've been knocking for the last ten minutes!"

Putting aside his grudge against her for the wretched injury imparted on his first day in the odd land, Gilgamesh said, "Indeed? My apologies for keeping you waiting for such a massive amount of time." He stifled a yawn in an effort to appear more ready. "What seems to be the problem, pray tell?"

The equine rolled her eyes, and shook her mane in order to keep it out of her face. "Ugh… why am I even bothering?" she muttered, and coughed. "Er… yeah, Twilight wanted me to get you. Said it was somethin' important, I think." She rubbed the back of her head, looked away, and nodded.

Gilgamesh stood tall, pulling the trident from its position beside the door. "Very well," he heroically declared, "then allow us to be off and give your ally the assistance that she requires!" He bounded out into the rain, taking a position beside the dangerous pegasus.

"Um… okay…?" she responded, cocking her head at his brilliant display. "Yeah, let's just get going before you, uh…" She rubbed the back of her head again. "Yeah… let's just go."

Without further ado, the rainbow-maned equine – Gilgamesh swore that was all he noticed about her, although he didn't quite remember her name from their first encounter. Technicolor Blast? Something like that – flew off into the distance, although her eyes were trained upon Gilgamesh and his massive, muscular frame. He could hardly blame her, of course; even in the freezing rain and crackling lightning, he would focus all of his energy on keeping such a dangerous and powerful adversary in check as well. Clearly she was more savvy than Gilgamesh had initially assumed her to be.

"Hey, are you gonna just stand there, or are you gonna move?!" came the telltale shout of the rainbow-maned equine. "We don't have all day, y'know!"

Gilgamesh rolled his eyes in a brilliant display of sarcasm, but nonetheless complied to her wishes and began to run down the path. The day prior had granted him with much in the way of learning his way around the so-called "Ponyville," allowing him to learn of the various locations that made up the town in between his bouts of playing the piano. Granted, he had various chances on his first day, but certain complications made that difficult.

"Okay, seriously! Stop staring off into space already!" she growled. She pushed her sopping mane out of her face.

Gilgamesh sighed and stepped forward, finally beginning to walk down the path after the equine. The rain fell quickly, but his helmet was able to keep his head dry. His torso and upper arms were not so lucky, and nor was the trident. Gilgamesh sincerely hoped that it would not begin to rust.

His footsteps were heavy on the dirt path, his feet leaving imprints on the now-muddy road that led towards the giant, extremely conspicuous tree that housed one Twilight Sparkle. Gilgamesh mentally scoffed at the absurdity of the name, and the names of every creature in the land. Vinyl Scratch? Octavia Melody? How could any parent be so cruel as to name their child something so much like what their eventual profession would have them become? None of it made much sense to him, but then again, who was he to judge the name of a creature? He had once served Exdeath, after all. Actually, did Exdeath name himself? Probably. Maybe.

Before he had enough time to question where what bizarre tunnel that train of thought had emerged from, Gilgamesh found himself standing in front of Twilight's not-very-humble abode: A massive tree that twisted off into the sky, and that somehow managed to stay alive despite its innards carved out of it. But that was another tangent that he could explore on a different day.

The rainbow-maned equine flew down to ground level, and opened the door without so much as knocking on it. "Hey, Twilight," she said casually, "I got Gilgamesh."

Gilgamesh stepped into the room behind her. He was contemplating whether or not he should have dried off his arms when Twilight interjected, "Great. Thanks, Rainbow. Hey –" she turned to him "– would you mind coming over here and taking a look at something for me?"

Gilgamesh grimaced and sighed, but complied nonetheless. How many times did Twilight need to awaken him early before her sadistic and evil heart would be satisfied? "Of course," he said instead, puffing out his chest. "Whatever can I grant you assistance on?"

"Could you come and take a look at this," Twilight repeated, gesturing to the chair next to her. "I… er, I'm not sure how to say this. I think it'd be best if you saw it for yourself." She stepped to the side, and Gilgamesh walked over to take a look at whatever she was referring to.

In the chair was a figure that looked extremely similar to a werewolf, but appeared far more feral. Its jaw was rather large, its eyes took up a good portion of its face, and it had blue-gray fur that covered its entire body. It was clad in a simple vest, and its large, clawed hands were covered in dirt and dried blood.

Gilgamesh stared at its unconscious form for several seconds, and turned back to Twilight. "And?" he finally asked, cocking his head slightly. "What is it that you want me to do here, exactly?"

Twilight flushed. "I-I just thought that… since you're the expert on hands, you could help us understand what happened to him!" She turned away and grimaced. "Well, there is Lyra, but she's kinda… um… yeah."

Ignoring that last statement of the creature called "Lyra" – Gilgamesh swore that she had to be a musician, too, given her name; if she wasn't, he would have been amazed – Gilgamesh continued. "Yes, but what does that have to do with anything? What about that dragon that you always carry around with you? His claws are far more like this creature's than my hands are!"

Twilight just sighed. "He's asleep right now, and I didn't want to wake him up."

"But it was alright to rob me blind of any chance of slumber I had?!"

"Spike's had some bad experiences with diamond dogs in the past, and… well… yeah. Besides," Twilight quickly added, not daring to meet Gilgamesh's narrowed eyes, "you seem more knowledgeable in how hands and claws work! I just wanted to find out why only his are so badly damaged."

Gilgamesh felt his eye twitch in annoyance, but again he complied. "Fine," he muttered, "just give me a few minutes, and I'll have you your results."

"Really? Great!" Twilight said, and she looked over at her friend. "Thank you for getting him here again, Rainbow. I have a few questions for you, too, if you don't mind."

Rainbow – Rainbow Dash, that was her name! – merely shrugged. "Sure. I don't mind."

Gilgamesh crouched down to look over the wounds, grimacing as he did so. He had very rarely seen such a mess of one's hands; it appeared to be less of a case of there being a single large wound, so much as many smaller cuts across the creature's flesh. As he wiped away the blood to get a closer look, he could hear Twilight and Rainbow Dash speak.

"So, they didn't tell you anything either?" Twilight asked. "Nothing at all?"

"No. They didn't say anything about a storm," Rainbow replied, her voice having a bit of an edge to it. "Ugh! I mean, the least they could've done is say something about all this! Nopony even had time to trim the trees or anything!"

Gilgamesh scraped the blood and dirt from the cuts, and further examined them. As he'd thought, there were many small wounds across the surface of the creature's hands, some of which were line with small rocks. Had it been digging for something?

"Still, they should've at least said something," Twilight pressed. "I mean, considering the size of this storm…"

"I know, I know! But they didn't, and that's what bugs me – no, that's what bugs all of us! Even the guys in charge of scheduling this storm seemed confused by it!" Rainbow huffed. "There was literally no warning about this thing coming!"

"Maybe it blew in from the Everfree Forest?"

Rainbow Dash scoffed. "Ha! I doubt it. Clouds from the Everfree don't enter this area, normally. They can't. Not unless they're pushed in, I mean, but nopony'd be that stupid."

Yes, there seemed to be residue of some kind around its cracked and broken claws. Underneath them was more mud, and even more tiny rocks. But under what circumstances, Gilgamesh wondered, would a creature dig so quickly? What had it been after?

"Well… do you think it could have been intentional, then?" Twilight asked.

"I doubt that, too. It'd take an army of pegasi to move that many clouds into position so quickly, and there'd be no point into doing something so complicated – if it was an attack, I mean. Yeah, I'll admit that they do look like they might've come from the Everfree, but still."

"But what about a unicorn?"

"Moving all those clouds?" Rainbow laughed. "Sorry, Twilight, but it'd take a genius to move all of those clouds like that… without proper planning, I mean, but who'd plan something like this out? Not to mention the effort a pony'd need to use just to do all of this…"

Twilight sighed. "Well, if it wasn't a pegasus, wasn't a unicorn, and wasn't by natural causes, then what could it be?"

"Can't say. I'm sorry, but I really don't know. The guys over at the weather institute are looking into it, but we won't know anything until then."

"I guess not."

Gilgamesh continued to look over the wounds. The blood could easily be explained, and the dirt under the claws could, as well. But the question still remained: Just what was the creature digging for so frantically?

"I have the results," he announced, and looked over at the two equines.

Twilight blinked. "Really? What happened?"

Gilgamesh nodded and stood up. "Well, it's not exactly conclusive, but… it looks like he was digging for something, but got his hands really cut up in the process. Oh," he added, "and it doesn't look like a simple attempt at digging, either; it seems really frantic, like he had to hurry."

Rainbow stepped over, and looked at the creature's claws as well. "Huh. It does look like that. And I've never seen a diamond dog in such rough shape, either…"

Gilgamesh said nothing at the species' name, but chose instead to continue on with his analysis. "Whatever happened, these wounds are still open. I'd advise that you clean these out and bandage them up as soon as you can. Otherwise, they might get infected."

Twilight nodded. "Right. I'll just… Wait a second, why do you seem to know so much about this stuff?"

Gilgamesh merely shrugged in reply. "When you spend as much time fighting as I do, you grow to learn that cleaning out a wound is a very important procedure. Too many battles can be lost when one of your hands is swollen up." He paused for a second and cringed at a particularly painful memory. "Ugh… And when I say too many, I mean 'one.'"

"I, uh…" Rainbow Dash murmured, her wings seeming to have been pulled in even closer than usual. "Um… I don't really know what to say to that, but…" She coughed, and cleared her throat. "Right so, uh… what now? You guys want me to wait, or…?"

"I think it'd be for the best if you both wait here until he wakes up," Twilight said. She looked outside and shuddered. "Yeah, that weather looks too dangerous, and I don't want to risk you getting hurt, Rainbow Dash. Oh, and, uh… and you too, Gilgamesh," she added as an afterthought.

Gilgamesh rolled his eyes in response. He wanted to bring up the fact that he had braved the storm, figuratively and literally, and looked over a creature's wounds just because Twilight asked him to, and that he had not even been thanked for it, but refused to do so. He was going to be the bigger man in all of this, no matter how much effort it would take him to do so.

"Very well," Gilgamesh said. "I have no qualms with waiting within this impossible building until this creature finally awakens. It cannot take too long, I would imagine."

"I certainly hope not," Twilight murmured, and looked over to the window. The sky outside was still pitch-black, with the only light coming from bolts of lightning that stabbed through it. "And hopefully the weather gets better soon… I'm getting worried about the others."

Rainbow Dash rolled her eyes. "Oh, I'm sure that they're all okay! Well" – she placed a hoof on her chin – "most of 'em, at least. I just hope that Fluttershy was able to get all of her animals to safety before the rain started…"

"Yeah, me too," Twilight admitted, and she looked over at Gilgamesh. "And what about you, Gilgamesh?"

He rolled his eyes in reply to Twilight's foolish comment. "Ha! I would not be so worried. Considering how dangerous the creatures of your little village appear to be, I would not fear for their safety!"

"'Dangerous?'" Rainbow asked. She blinked, and pressed a hoof to her forehead. "Please don't tell me that you're still annoyed about me running into you on your first day here…"

Gilgamesh merely gestured to the wound on his chest; its size had neither increased nor decreased, but the injury had become a disturbing shade of dark-blue. An eternal reminder of just how terrifyingly powerful the equines of Ponyville were, so he would always remember it as.

Rainbow Dash sighed. "Oh, c'mon! It was just an accid–"

"An accident? Ha! Accident or not, the facts still remain that you rammed into me at an immense speed without once bothering to change your trajectory!" Gilgamesh folded all of his arms, glaring at the equine as she brought back painful memories of two days past.

Rainbow Dash grit her teeth and flew up into the air, her wings moving in such a manner that she should not have been feasibly able to keep afloat, especially since there was no wind. Although she seemed to be saying something, Gilgamesh could not quite make it out, as he was far too busy questioning exactly how the wings worked. Was it some manner of magic? Perhaps the same kind that allowed them to "move clouds," as Rainbow Dash had claimed? And if it was, then what was the purpose of the wings? Perhaps they were merely some sort of decoration? But in that case, why would they flap as if they were actually flying like a bird? Maybe they actually were necessary to keep a pegasus in flight?

"Hey! Are you even listening to me?!" snapped Rainbow, bringing Gilgamesh back to reality. "Seriously, would you quit doing that? It's starting to creep me out…"

Gilgamesh blinked, and briefly contemplated on the strange tangents that he had recently embarked on. "Oh, my apologies," he said. "I dozed off somewhat, there."

Rainbow Dash's left eye started to twitch furiously. "Gh…"

Before any other words could be uttered, Twilight stepped in between them. "Hey, would you two stop this?! It's bad enough that the storm outside is so strong, but I don't want to have to deal with the two of you at each others' throats all night, okay?!"

Rainbow scoffed and turned away. "Yeah, yeah. Whatever."

Once more, Gilgamesh's reply was merely to roll his eyes in yet another display of sarcasm towards his newly-found rival. However, as she apparently did not see him – evidenced by the fact that her back was to him – Gilgamesh instead decided to let out a deep, dramatic sigh. He turned away from her so as not to have to face the impossible colors that made up her mane, focusing his gaze on the figure by the fireplace.

"Okay?" Twilight repeated, and she sighed. "Sheesh… It's not like it's gonna be a sleepover or anything; it's way too early for that. And besides, I'm sure that the weather'll clear up soon. The clouds can't hold that much rain, after all! … right?"

"I hope not," Rainbow Dash grumbled, turning back to Twilight. "I don't wanna have to spend any more time than necessary around… him."

Gilgamesh turned to look at her, his eyes narrowed into a glare. "Likewise. In fact, I would rather brave the storm than waste any further time here!" As if to accentuate the point, he began to bravely and heroically step towards the door, eyes set on the darkness outside. It was hard to believe that it was only ten in the morning, but that was not at the forefront of his mind. However, he stopped in front of it upon viewing the weather, and briefly contemplated whether or not he would want to go through the rain again. After reaching a conclusion, he sighed. "Never mind."

When he turned around, he could see Rainbow Dash's lips curl into a small smirk. "Yeah, even I wouldn't go out there."

That only tempted Gilgamesh even more. The worry of rust ruining his new trident was one of the only things keeping him from running outside at the moment. Actually, now that he thought about it, would rainwater actually do that much damage to something made out of metal? Because it was so controlled, would it have an immensely adverse affect on his trident?

"Um… Hello?" Gilgamesh was vaguely aware of a hoof being waved in front of his face. "Gilgamesh? Are you feeling alright?"

"Just ignore him, Twilight," muttered Rainbow Dash. "He's been doing this a lot today."

Gilgamesh blinked, and looked the two equines over. He hadn't had any problems with all of those random tangents beforehand in his life. At least not that he remembered. But here he was, questioning so many things about their world – dimension, maybe? He had been banished by Exdeath to the interdimensional rift, after all – and never had thought to ask any questions on the matter. Even if he could learn everything based on small snippets of dialogue that he caught between any two of them, several things still were unknown to him. Did that count as a tangent? Probably.

"Um…" he said eloquently, "I just realized that there is much that I do not know of your world… would you mind if I ask you any questions?"

Rainbow cocked her head slightly. "Questions? Wait… you mean you're not from around here?"

Twilight rubbed her temples. "Believe me, Rainbow," she said, "it's confusing to me, too… but from what I understand, Gilgamesh doesn't come from our universe… somehow." She lowered hooves, but then raised one up to her chin. "Huh, now that I think about it… I haven't really told you anything about here at all. And I don't think anypony else has, either…"

"No, unfortunately." Gilgamesh sighed, and leaned against the wall by the door. "I haven't had the chance to learn anything about here from any of you, really… besides the obvious facts. Unicorns use vaguely-described magic, pegasi can fly and move clouds, and the other equines – the ones without wings or horns – seem stronger. And like I just said, your magic doesn't make any sense."

"Our magic makes perfect sense!" Twilight said indignantly. "Levitation is levitation, teleportation is teleportation, and everything else functions just like you'd expect it to be used!"

"But there's almost no practicality to it!" Gilgamesh replied. "Levitation and teleportation I can understand, and I can even understand the uses of magic to move the sun and moon, and to control the weather; even my universe has magic like that. But the thing that annoys me is that there are so many spells that just don't make sense. There is a spell to craft mustaches! What is the purpose of something like that?! And I am probably safe to assume that that is hardly the only spell that doesn't make any sense!"

"Most of the magic here is used for professions," Twilight countered. "Even a spell that can make a mustache grow has a use around here, because it's part of a barber's job!"

Gilgamesh sighed. "Maybe," he admitted, "but the magic in my universe is entirely based around being useful and practical. The power to call down lightning at a moment's notice, to make an inferno rise up from the depths of the earth, to be able to call down meteorites, and to create tidal waves all have some purpose!"

Twilight stared at him for several seconds. "But our universe doesn't focus on fighting," she said, her voice suddenly calm. "There are some spells that are used to fight, but most of them are fairly mundane."

"Wait… how did you guess that–?"

"Every spell that you just listed was some kind of attack, right?" Twilight asked. "We don't have a use for the ability to summon tidal waves, or to bring down meteorites, or anything else like that save for research purposes." She grimaced. "Although I do wish that we'd learn more attack-based magic, considering the constant threats to Ponyville we get, it's not our main focus."

Gilgamesh let out yet another sigh, and sunk back into the wall. "Well, explain this to me," he said. "How is it that a giant tree that's been completely carved out is still growing?"

Twilight completely froze. If Gilgamesh did not know any better, he would have sworn that he'd somehow broken a sort of barrier with those few words, and completely confused the equine. "Well, that's…" she started, only to pause and place her hoof on her chin once more. "Huh, that's actually not a bad question. I think that it's because the tree is… uh… Wait, no, that makes no sense! Um, maybe it's… uh…" Her voice trailed off, and Twilight began to mutter about how the library was able to keep growing and producing leaves despite it being so cut up.

Under normal circumstances, Gilgamesh would have dismissed the thought, but the problem he had was not so much that the tree was still alive – after all, a tree could live for years even after a creature took up residence inside of it – but that it had obviously been completely cut to pieces and polluted so greatly. Then again, wasn't the Great Tree of Moore in a similar state? It was completely carved out, much like Twilight's house, and it was also a sort of host to the four crystals of his world. On the other hand, Gilgamesh was no botanist, so he could hardly claim to understand how trees worked.

"Wait, I think I get it," Twilight said, with sudden confidence. "Just because the tree's been cut out doesn't mean that it's dead. I mean, it is kinda weird how it still has all of its leaves in mid-Autumn, but that's not important, right? Well, since it's still alive, the tree can still produce leaves and get nutrients and everything like that."

"Huh, that's actually pretty fascinating," Gilgamesh replied, making a mental note of that for later.

Rainbow Dash had just been quietly observing their odd conversation, before she turned to the diamond dog in the chair. "Hey, wait a second… I think he's waking up!"

As if by an extremely contrived coincidence, the creature's eyes slowly opened, revealing their greenish-gray color to the world. He let out a low groan and rubbed his head, before he looked around for a moment. Suddenly, his eyes grew large, and he let out a gasp.

"What…?" the creature rasped, his voice sounding pained. "Ugh… just… where am I…? Wait… I think… I remember that…" He froze, and looked between all of the faces. "Wait… did you pull me… out of the… rain…?"

Twilight stepped over to him. "Yeah," she said, "you fell into my door earlier today… do you remember that at all?"

"Fell… into your door…?" The diamond dog placed a bloodied hand on his chin, before his eyes widened again. "Yes, I… I came… looking for… for you…" He broke out into a fit of coughing, seeming to choke on something.

"Hey, are you alright?" Twilight asked, sounding extremely concerned. "Are you sick?"

"Yes, I'm sorry…" He coughed again. "I just… needed… to find you… before it was… too late…"

Rainbow Dash flew over to him. "Too late? Too late for what?"

The creature's eyes met theirs, and he coughed once more. "C-cave in… at the mines… The rain… it eroded… the soil and the… rocks fell…" He fell into yet another coughing fit. "T-tried… t-to… help the others, b-but… claws broke on… the rocks… Others are… are trapped…"

Twilight's eyes widened in horror, and Rainbow Dash's wings instantly pulled back to her sides. Gilgamesh stepped over to the diamond dog. "Trapped? You mean in the mines?"

"Y-yes… I was lucky… but they… they're going to…!" He coughed again, hacking heavily into his bloody hand. "Dust… dust in my lungs, but… I-I should… b-be okay… But… the others… they'll suffocate…"

"Why did you come to me for help?" Twilight asked. "I mean, of all the ponies around here…?"

The diamond dog groaned, and struggled to his feet. "Ugh… I needed… magical help… You… were the… closest…" he rasped. "Sorry… I don't… want to… cause any t-trouble…"

Twilight grimaced, seeming to understand that she did not have much of a choice in what was to occur next. "Where are the mines?" she asked. "Or… what direction are they in?"

"You… you really are going t-to… help me…?" the diamond dog asked, his eyes widening once more, before he broke into yet another fit of coughing.

"Of course!" Rainbow Dash interjected. "We're not the kind of ponies to just leave creatures when they're having trouble with anything. Just tell us where those mines are, and let us worry about your friends!"

The creature's eyes began to water. "Th-thank you, but…" he groaned, still struggling to keep on his feet, "I… cannot just… make you all… g-go on y-your own… The mines are… h-hidden… and the e-entrance is completely… b-blocked…"

Gilgamesh blinked, and looked over the others. "Wait a second," he said. "Don't I get a say in this, or…?" He trailed off towards the end of that thought, his eyes having met Twilight's. She glared at him with a strange, cold kind of rage that he had only very rarely seen before, and kept her eyes interlocked with his own. After several seconds of having his soul pierced by Twilight's gaze, Gilgamesh muttered, "N-never mind."

"Great," Twilight said, suddenly with a great cheeriness, and turned back to the diamond dog. "We'll all be glad to help you with this." She extended a hoof. "I'm Twilight Sparkle."

"And I'm Rainbow Dash, the fastest flier in Equestria!" declared said pony.

"Gilgamesh," uttered the one who bore that most grand of names.

The diamond dog looked between the three and smiled slightly. He coughed once, and took Twilight's hoof. "My… n-name is Grant…" he rasped.

"Of course it is," Gilgamesh muttered, willfully attempting to ignore the obvious pun in an effort to preserve his sanity.

Twilight looked him over, and nodded. "Alright," she said. "I'm not exactly excited, since… um –" she gestured to the nearly impenetrable wall of pure darkness outside the door "– that. Are you sure you're alright to lead us in that weather? I don't want to risk anything, especially with your wounds still open…"

Grant gingerly touched one of his hands, and winced. "Ugh…" He coughed again, and said, "I should… b-be fine… J-just need to… to wash out the… w-wounds…"

"Really?" Rainbow Dash asked, cocking an eyebrow in disbelief. "'Cause you don't exactly sound like you're gonna be fine. Can't you just tell us where the entrance is, and let us take care of it?"

Gilgamesh nodded. "Going out into a storm of this magnitude with lungs as full of dust as yours would do naught to assist you," he declared. "You have already played your part in this, have you not? Much as I loathe entering the maelstrom, more so I would despise a creature to suffer more than necessary!"

Grant passed Twilight a look, and she shrugged. "Yeah… we don't understand him, either. But they're right; risking yourself any more than necessary would be too dangerous."

"Dangerous…?" Grant hacked, and he chuckled. It was an ugly, broken sound, followed by yet another fit of coughing. "Danger… is something th-that… we all have to… all h-have to f-face…!" He held up his left hand to his mouth, but was unable to stop another violent attack. "Ugh…! It… d-doesn't… matter anymore… I am the one… who t-tried t-to… t-to help them… and I… I am the o-only one… w-who kn-knows where the mine's entrance… is…!"

Rainbow Dash, Twilight, and Gilgamesh exchanged a glance, before Twilight looked over at Grant. "Um… fine, we'll take you with us. But you've got to promise that you won't do anything stupid, got it?"

"Right…" Grant replied, attempting to hold in another coughing fit. "I-I'll… do just that…"

Rainbow looked at him uneasily. "Yeah, uh… just how far away are the mines?"

"T-two miles… north of here… Th-they're in the m-mountains…"

Gilgamesh grimaced, and let out a deep and dramatic sigh. "Very well, then!" he proclaimed. "Allow us to seek out your comrades, and we shall pierce the stones that bind them in the darkness! Come, my friends, and let us journey into the abyss of despair!" He pulled the trident free of its bindings, and angled it upwards.

Rainbow Dash rolled her eyes. "Yeah, yeah. You know big words. Now, can you actually talk like a normal pony… person… whatever you are? I mean, sheesh!" She deepened her voice, as if in a mockery of his own. "'Yea, allow us to traverse this most magnificent of mountains and scale the mighty–'" She stopped, and reverted her voice back to normal. "See what I mean?"

"You…! You would dare to mock my dialect?!"

Twilight pressed a hoof to her forehead. "Um… you guys…? I think that we have more important things to wo–"

"Nopony even talks like that!" Rainbow Dash said, interrupting Twilight. "You don't even talk like that ninety-percent of the time!"

Gilgamesh felt his eye begin to twitch. "I talk like that all the time! My vocabulary is verbose and powerful!"

"If by 'powerful' you mean 'from five-hundred years ago,' then you're doin' perfect," quipped Rainbow Dash.

Twilight took a single step forward. "Um… you guys…?"

"I am powerful! Far more so than you, at any rate."

Rainbow Dash flew straight up to him, her eyes boring into his. "What did you just say? You wanna say that again?!" she growled.

Gilgamesh glared directly into Rainbow's eyes, matching her efforts at intimidation. "I would be quite glad to do so! I, Gilgamesh, am far more powerful th–"

"You guys!" Twilight snapped, causing the two of them to jump in surprise. "You can argue about that later – actually, no, bad idea. But we have something that we need to do now, understand?!" She glared between the two of them, who now faced away from each other. "I said, understand?!"

"Fine, whatever," muttered Rainbow Dash.

Gilgamesh rolled his eyes. "Of course, though my point still stands firm."

"Good…" Twilight muttered, "now let's just go before Grant's friends have to suffer because you two can't get along."

She pulled the door open with her magic, and slammed it behind her after she'd exited. She was quickly followed by the others, including Grant – who, Gilgamesh realized, still had yet to wash out his wounds, and who seemed as if he was trying to keep himself from falling over with every step he took.

However, Gilgamesh said nothing on the matter. He was far too preoccupied with how all of the hurricane-esque clouds had been transported to Ponyville in the first place, and questioning just who had done so.

As the rain splattered around his feet, on his chest and back, and just on his general vicinity, Gilgamesh's thoughts on the matter only continued to be piqued. Actually, as he was thinking about it, how many questions had he thought of in that day? He certainly was very curious as to how the equine-based universe worked, and how so many odd things could happen in it. Even in his universe, the strangest thing to occur as a result of magic was… the crystals, now that he thought about it. Where had they come from, even, and how did they hold such magical power? And why did Exdeath long for them so badly? He had claimed something about using their energy to recapture the power of the rift, but Gilgamesh had not been given all of the information on the matter.

Gilgamesh grimaced, the reality of the rain, wind, and cold air coming back to him instantaneously. He really needed to stop going off on all of those odd tangents, no matter how much he longed for the knowledge. Then again, the only times that he ever had been able to focus entirely on a given subject was during either a battle – sometimes verbal, but more often physical – or any other interesting moment that he could think of, such as when practicing the piano.

However, he knew that paying attention at the moment would be in his best interest, with the area in front of him literally impossible to see were it not for Twilight's horn lighting up, so he decided that it would be best to simply listen in on the others' conversations.

"So," Gilgamesh heard Twilight say, "you seem pretty well-spoken, Grant."

Grant smiled, although it was somewhat creepy, given the low lighting. "Yes…" he rasped, and coughed. "I am… I am a m-merchant… so I h-had to t-teach… myself t-two languages… in order to… to make any fair s-sales…"

"A merchant?" he heard Rainbow Dash say. "Huh. Whaddaya sell?"

"Gemstones, m-mainly…" replied Grant. "B-because the sp-specialty… of… d-diamond dogs is… d-digging… I have to… h-have to m-make use of m-my…" He burst into yet another fit of coughing, and shivered as the rain dripped down his fur. "S-sorry…"

"Don't apologize," Twilight said, and she shivered as well. "Ugh… Yeah, don't worry about it. A merchant, though! Where do you sell your wares?"

Grant's smile fell a bit. "I… h-have not made… m-many sales… r-recently, at least…" He coughed. "I-I have… had t-trouble getting any s-sales f-for… for the past f-few months… Not m-many stalls a-are… are available… P-ponies don't… seem to want… a diamond dog… i-in their town…"

Rainbow Dash stepped over next to him. "What? That's ridiculous!" she said, but she placed a hoof on her chin. "Although… I guess that I can see where they're comin' from…"

Grant cocked his head. "Why would… th-that be…?"

Gilgamesh stepped closer to them; he wanted to hear the reason that such racism was present amongst the equines of Ponyville. Whatever the reason was, he imagined it to be nowhere near as bad as one might expect.

"Two years ago," Twilight said, "a friend of ours got kidnapped by a group of diamond dogs near Ponyville. And… well, let's just say that the townsponies aren't really the most forgiving when it comes to something like that…"

Rainbow Dash scoffed and rolled her eyes. "Funny that they were so quick to forgive when Spike went insane and kidnapped the same pony… and attacked several Wonderbolts, and destroyed a good portion of Ponyville, too."

"W-well," Twilight quickly added, "Spike's just a kid! He didn't really have any control over what happened to him…"

Gilgamesh smirked. "Please. When I was just a child, everyone in my village feared me! Age means nothing in a matter like that. If he caused more trouble and was forgiven very quickly, and the 'diamond dogs' caused trouble on a smaller scale and are still despised, wouldn't you consider that to be racism?"

Twilight fidgeted uncomfortably. "Um… can we change the topic?"

"Actually, no," said Rainbow Dash. "For once, I think I agree with Gilgamesh about something…" Her face twisted slightly as she realized what she had just said. "But… uh… y-yeah, he has a good point. I mean, even if we overlook the fact that diamond dogs literally enslaved Rarity, it's not really that fair that they still get such a bad rap when Spike could have killed dozens of others, and he got off without being charged with anything!"

"I… I guess not," Twilight admitted. "But… No, you're right… I'm sorry, Grant, I honestly didn't think tha–"

Grant rolled his eyes, and a small smirk appeared on his lips. "H-ha… Don't w-worry about it so much…" he rasped. "B-believe me… a l-lot of diamond d-dogs are j-just… complete… j-jerks…" He chuckled again, which quickly changed into another coughing fit. "M-most of the… o-ones I… kn-know are decent… b-but maybe it's… j-just th-them…"

"Good thing you don't have to send any more letters to Princess Celestia, eh, Twilight?" chuckled Rainbow Dash, before she changed her voice once more. "'Dear Princess Celestia: Today I learned that being racist is bad, and that we should accept ponies – er, creatures – based on how they act, not on how they look. Your Former Student, Princess Twilight Sparkle.'" She instantly burst out into laughter, and Gilgamesh could not tell whether she was literally crying with mirth or if it was just the rain that was dripping down her face.

Twilight flushed. "R-Rainbow!"

"What? It's funny!" Rainbow Dash rolled her eyes, attempting to get herself under control. "Besides, didn't we already learn this lesson with Zecora? I mean, you'd think that the ponies would've learned by this point."

Grant looked over the two, obviously suppressing yet another fit of coughing. "H-huh…? I d-don't… quite understand j-just… just wh-what you… are t-talking… about…"

Gilgamesh looked between the three figures, but decided not to question whatever they were speaking of. Under normal circumstances, he would have wanted to learn of this "Zecora," and likely have gone off on yet another strange tangent about what kind of creature he or she was. However, he had once again began to question the storm, as the cold atmosphere made him shiver.

It would have taken something powerful, Rainbow Dash had claimed, to move the clouds in such a manner, but what could hold such strength? It would have to be something immense. And why did he care so much? He may have been asking too many questions, now that he took the time to think about it. But what could have been responsible for the storm? Natural causes seemed an impossibility, given that the pegasi were the ones in charge of the clouds. In that case, it would take an army of pegasi, an individual of immense magical ability, or some combination thereof.

Gilgamesh placed a hand on his chin. "Or perhaps…" he mused, "I've been looking at this the wrong way since the start…"

Twilight looked back at him. "Huh? Hey, Gilgamesh, what are you talking about?"

Gilgamesh blinked, realizing that one of his tangents had escaped his mouth. "Oh, nothing," he lied. "It's merely something that I'm curious about. That's all." When she continued to stare at him, obviously unconvinced, Gilgamesh said, "Honestly, it's nothing of importance; just something that I'm thinking about."

Rainbow Dash smirked, and shook the water off of her mane. The obvious insult could be seen in her eyes, but neither she nor Gilgamesh said nothing.

Ignoring her rudeness, Gilgamesh replaced his hand on his chin. Magic in their universe would never be able to move so many clouds with such ease, but what about a good shot of Aeroga, or even just Aera? Wind magic such as those could easily cause a storm such as that to occur. Maybe. He was just going off on another random tangent, Gilgamesh was sure, and he was almost certain that he was incorrect; perhaps it was merely some freak accident, but again, he could not be sure.

Whatever the case was – whether it was an accident or on purpose – the fact did not change that the water from the rain had been the cause of the diamond dogs becoming trapped underground, and of the pain that Grant had gone through trying to dig them out of the mine. If it was from natural causes, then it could not be altered, but if it was done by a living being – which Gilgamesh sincerely doubted, given the oddly friendly nature of the ponies of the universe, and especially since everything was usually eye-searingly bright in color – then that would mean that it was likely some sort of attack or sabotage.

Just like the monster that had attacked the other night, no one knew just what it was, or where it came from. The only thing that any of them knew for a fact was that the accidents all began only shortly after Gilgamesh had been banished by Exdeath. What if he was the cause of the accidents, and what if his mere presence was what caused the anomalies to occur? It was a terrifying thought, fearing that the world was bending around you in such evident ways. He just hoped that that theory was not the case.

"Ah…" Grant's voice snapped him back to reality. "W-we… are here…"

Before the group stood a massive mountain, likely several-thousand feet tall. The wall of the mountain was covered in rocks and soil, which varied in size from massive boulders to mere pebbles, all of which were wet from the rain. The dust seemed to hang in the air, visible in the light produced by Twilight.

"Well," Rainbow Dash said, cracking her hooves, "let's get digging so that we can get outta this storm." She flew over to the large pile of stones, and started to kick at several. Because they were all so wet, many of them began to slide over each other with surprising ease, falling down and causing the pile to lower.

Twilight went to help as well, using her magic to lift several stones into the air and throw them behind her, taking the ones that Rainbow Dash was unable to move on her own.

Gilgamesh pulled the trident from his side, spun it for effect, and rushed at the pile. He placed the tips of the spear beneath the largest boulder that he could find, and catapulted them over his head. However, as he did so, the sound of snapping wood echoed throughout the area; the trident splintered, and the tip and shaft had completely separated from each other. Although enraged that such a thing had occurred, Gilgamesh simply threw the pieces of the broken weapon behind him and commenced lifting several stones using his eight arms.

However, the minutes passed and not a single one among them could see the entrance to the mine. Rainbow Dash began to groan whenever she bucked at a piece of rock, Twilight panted heavily and her horn began to shoot off sparks, and even the almighty Gilgamesh let out groans of frustration even as he tried to use all of his arms in order to clear the path. It appeared that their efforts would be futile, for no matter how hard they tried, the pile seemed to be just too large. The three of them simply did not have the energy to continue their crusade.

After several more minutes passed – although Gilgamesh was not sure how many, for he could not even think of anything to distract himself from the pain – Rainbow Dash collapsed onto the rocks, panting heavily in a mixture of pain and fatigue. "N… I can't do any more…" she groaned, her voice sounding broken up. "Just… just too many…"

An idea struck Gilgamesh in that moment, one that he would never have even considered beforehand. Although he was in considerable pain, he pointed downwards, sincerely hoping that one of the spells that he thought would never be necessary would actually have some sort of use. "Missile!" he declared, and watched as the titular magic weapon emerged from the aether surrounding him and crashed into the rocks. When the dust from the initial impact cleared away, several rocks had been reduced to rubble, but the entrance was still not exposed.

Gilgamesh was actually surprised that the thought had never come to him before, but was not about to complain. Shouting "Missile!" several times in succession at the top of his lungs, the rocks began to completely shatter into oblivion, until absolutely nothing remained of the place directly in front of the entrance except for various small pebbles.

Having caught her breath, Rainbow Dash stepped over to him, and looked down at the cleared area. "U-um…" she managed to sputter. "How did you even…?"

"Magic," replied Gilgamesh simply. "Magic… and missiles."

Twilight and Grant joined them, and both looked down at the area that had been cleared. "Well, I guess that's one way to do it," Twilight deadpanned. She stepped down the rocks, and looked into the depths of the cave. "Hey, wait… I think I can see them! Hey, Grant, are these your friends?"

Grant stepped down after her, followed by Gilgamesh and Rainbow Dash, and looked into the thin entrance to the mine. He squinted his eyes, and said, "Y-yes… I think that's…" His eyes suddenly widened, and he ran over to the others. "B-Basil…!" Grant gasped. "Rupert, a-and Diana…! Jet…! It's… I'm g-glad to s-see… th-that you're a-all… o-okay…!" He broke out into another fit of coughing.

Although Gilgamesh was trying his hardest to avoid slamming his palm into his forehead at the various and obvious puns that made up the names of the five diamond dogs, he could only find a strange warmth in his heart as the friends were reunited.

Grant turned, and gestured to them. "Th-these… are the ones who… who h-helped you… all…! T-Twilight Sparkle –" he gestured to her, and looked as if he was about to start coughing again "– Rainbow… D-Dash –" he gestured to her "– a-and… and the one wh-who… opened… th-the path to get to all of you… G-Gilgamesh…" He pointed to the swordsman in question, at which point Gilgamesh puffed out his chest with pride.

"It was no problem on my part," Gilgamesh replied. "I simply did what was necessary to help those in need."

Actually, now that he thought about it, why weren't the other diamond dogs all coughing like Grant had…? No, that wasn't important at the moment; that could be questioned later.

One of the diamond dogs, who had near-black fur, stepped up to him and smiled. "Thank you… for helping us," he said, although his language sounded extremely strained, such as him placing the accent on the wrong syllable in "helping." He continued, "We would have… died… if you… um… hadn't come."

"Again, it is not a problem in the slightest, for I am Gilgamesh!" he replied. "I am the most grand of swordsmen, of warriors, and the one who can destroy rock with ease!"

"And humble," he heard Rainbow Dash mutter from behind him.

Gilgamesh continued, ignoring her statement: "I protect those in need, and I shall do whatever is necessary in order to keep the lives of innocents from falling into disarray! And," he added regretfully, "I could not have done it alone." Loathe though he was to admit it, Gilgamesh could not deny that the others' help was completely necessary in helping the pun-based diamond dogs escape from what would have been a terrible end, and to pretend that was not the case would be to defy his own sense of honor.

Rainbow Dash blinked, and flew up beside him. "Wait a second… did you really just say…?!"

"I cannot deny the truth," Gilgamesh noted simply, and turned his gaze back to the four creatures that had almost suffocated. "It was only thanks to both Rainbow Dash, Twilight Sparkle, and Grant" – Gilgamesh felt his credibility as a warrior begin to vanish as soon as those pun-based names left his mouth – "that I came here in the first place; the three of them convinced me to come this far, and to help all of you."

Rainbow Dash and Twilight simply stared at him for several seconds, before the two of them glanced at each other. "Well… this is just, um…" Rainbow said. "I'm not sure what to say, actually."

Gilgamesh rolled his eyes. "Please," he said. "Do not act as if it is such a revelation when I merely listed a fact. All that I did was blow up the entrance to this mine, and nothing more than that." And go off on very strange tangents, but Gilgamesh had no plans to mention that part.

"Well… um…" Twilight stammered. "Th-thank you, I guess."

Grant nodded and smiled. "H-ha… A-and here I… w-was… c-convinced th-that… that you were… n-nothing but a b-braggart…!"

Gilgamesh grimaced, and turned away. "Oh, come, now! Me, a braggart? Absurd! But, that being said, I am a bit sad that my trident shattered beneath this mound of boulders, but I can always purchase another if I must."

"Wait," said the dark-colored diamond dog, prompting Gilgamesh to turn around. "You… said you were a… a warrior, right…? Use… swords…?"

He placed a hand on his chin, and cocked his head slightly. "Um… yes, I do. Why do you ask?"

The diamond dog stepped up to him, and handed him a long and thin bundle of cloth. "Here," he said. "Found it… in mine. Our thanks… for helping us."

Gilgamesh gingerly took the bundle. "Thank you," he said, and began to unwrap the cloth. As he pulled the last bit of the fabric away from the object in the center, Gilgamesh noticed the familiar steel of a sword's sheathe, and removed the blade that it held.

The weapon was certainly a double-bladed sword of some sort, but it appeared to be odd; the blade was made of a dark-blue and semitransparent substance, etched with various markings across its surface. Its hilt was a darker blue than the blade itself was, and had a thick grip. Looking over it, Gilgamesh estimated that the weapon was at least two feet in length, and four inches across.

"This is magnificent," he whispered, feeling a finger over its edge. "Sharp, too… Where did you find a grand weapon such as this?"

Grant stepped over to him and smiled. "It w-was… something th-that we found i-in… our s-searches a-awhile ago… B-but it's not… worth… m-much…" He coughed. "Y-you k-keep it… Gilgamesh… a-as o-our thanks… f-for everything…" He broke out into yet another fit of coughing, and turned to Rainbow Dash and Twilight, his smile instantly falling off of his face. "I-I'm s-sorry… that we d-don't have… much e-else to… g-give…"

Twilight shook her head and grinned. "Don't worry about it, Grant," she said. "We didn't do it for a reward or anything like that. We just wanted to help you guys out when you needed it."

"And… h-help us…" Grant rasped, before the smile reasserted itself, "y-you… you did…"

"Well, in that case," Rainbow Dash said, and she cracked her left foreleg, "let's get heading back t' Ponyville! I think the others're probably waiting."

"Probably," Twilight repeated, "especially since the rain looks like it's stopping."

Everyone in the room looked out into the distance, as the darkness began to give way to sunlight that slowly crept over the horizon. Gilgamesh instantly questioned the probability of such an event happening, especially just after their journey finished.

"Hey… l-look…!" Grant said. "Th-there's… a r-rainbow…!"

Of all of the cheesy, contrived, and ridiculous ways to end a massive storm… that was the only one that Gilgamesh had fully been expecting. And, for some reason, rather than feel annoyed at the sheer amount of coincidences in that universe, the feeling that he held was one of strange warmth and an odd happiness at the sight. But that was probably just because he didn't want to have to walk back to his new house in the rain and risk getting the new sword wet.

In any case, Twilight, Rainbow Dash, and he all bade farewell to Grant and his friends, and began back on the path towards Ponyville, watching as the afternoon sun appeared over the clouds.

Gilgamesh sat before the wooden behemoth, the night sky showing outside of his window. The small light above him pooled over the various papers, and he once again looked over the keys in an attempt to learn how to uncover the instrument's secrets. At last, after careful preparation, Gilgamesh placed two of his hands on the mandated keys shown before him, and began to play yet another scale.

Surprisingly, the result was not entirely terrible.

Gilgamesh sat back and cracked his fingers. It wasn't bad, maybe, but it certainly could use some improvement. So, with his new weapon laying beside his bed, Gilgamesh began to practice once more, eager to best his newest foe.

Author's Notes:

Well, I managed to keep it to around two weeks, at the expense of my entire weekend, of course. I honestly had no idea what I was going to do when I came into this chapter; all that I knew I was going to do was beginning, ending, and a few other minor details. Some things even changed altogether throughout this chapter's production.

I had a lot of fun with Gilgamesh's "tangents," mostly because he seems like the kind of guy who would question everything around him that doesn't make a lot of sense. Plus it was enjoyable just to play around with his personality and to see just what goes on inside of his head.

Anyway, I hope to get the next chapter out soon, but I can't promise anything. Mostly because I only have a very vague premise, and not much else to work with, but I'll see what I can do. At the very latest, I'll try to get it out by the fifteenth, but, again, I'll make no promises.

Episode 5: A Ghastly Trick

View Online

The mail came slightly later than Fluttershy had been expecting. And by "slightly later," she was referring to the two hours that it had taken the messenger to get the mail to her, well after the usual amount of time it took.

"I'm truly sorry about this. Yes. I am," he said. He was dressed like a royal messenger, wearing a dark blue coat and black-rimmed hat. "I meant to be here several hours prior, but… I became somewhat sidetracked."

Fluttershy blinked, and retreated into the door of her cottage slightly. "O-oh," she whispered, "that's… f-fine. A-at least it's here now."

The messenger bowed his head apologetically. "Again, I'm truly sorry about all of this. I had no intention to keep you waiting so long. No. I didn't." He grimaced. "But, without further ado, I must present you with this message." He lifted a small envelope from his bag using magic and floated it over to Fluttershy.

The messenger saluted her, smiled slightly, and turned away. "How strange," he mumbled to himself as he began to walk away from the cottage. "To think that such a letter would merely be sitting in the midst of the throne room… Why would Princess Luna request me to deliver such a simple-looking message…?"

When he was out of her line of sight, Fluttershy closed the door, and let out a sigh of relief. It was already hard enough to deal with a normal mail carrier, but having to speak to one of Princess Luna's own messengers had made it immensely difficult for her to remain calm throughout the short conversation.

Fluttershy carefully looked the envelope over. There was no return sender? That was definitely odd. In fact, there were no marks of any kind, save her own name printed in large, featureless text. There wasn't even a stamp, now that she thought about it. Was it really from the princess?

In spite of her own desire to avoid curiosity like the plague – curiosity killed the cat, after all, and Fluttershy loved cats – she could not help but gingerly open the envelope, cautiously peeling it apart. As it opened, Fluttershy could see nothing inside except for a small piece of paper, likely folded over several times. She pulled it out, once again with extreme caution, as something about it completely unnerved her.

Fluttershy's suspicion had proved to be right; the letter was folded over itself several times, as if in a desire to make it better fit the envelope. But even as she unfolded it for the last time, Fluttershy could tell that the message was a perfect square, and small – barely three inches on each side, in fact.

The only things that were large were the words listed before her. They were as featureless and bold as her name on the envelope's front, and Fluttershy felt her heart stop as she read them over to herself:

You will die next.

-- An Epic for Gilgamesh --
-- Episode 5: A Ghastly Trick --
-- Written By ZaleAcon --

"So… another has turned up."

"Yeah. Poor beasts."

Fenrir Dire placed a hoof on his head. "What a waste," he muttered, "but are there any leads on what caused these travesties?"

Detective Cold Case shook her head. "Nothing yet, sir," she responded. "Only that one note's been found. And that's all."

"Right. I understand." Dire stood up from his desk, and looked out his office's window over Canterlot. "What a waste," he repeated. "To think that such acts could go so far… Detective, have you any information on their physical states at the time of their…?"

"Yes, sir," replied Case. In the mirror's reflection, Dire could see her as she placed a manila envelope on his desk. "The victims were all mutilated; Mister Abyssal Void's horn was cracked and broken off, Miss Maelstrom's wings were cut off, and the last victim – an earth pony, we believe based on no evidence of either wings or a horn – still hasn't been recognized due to the severe scars and scorch marks on his or her body." She shuddered, and touched her own horn protectively.

Dire felt his wings clamp to his sides as those words passed his eardrums. He was never one for flight, and was always a pegasus who preferred to be grounded, but he could still feel a sense of terror at the mere thought of one's wings being cleaved from their back. "I see," he responded, as calmly as he could manage. Which, given the circumstances, was very calm. "Detective, thank you for this report."

Case nodded, and placed a hoof up to her head in a kind of salute. "Of course, sir. Although, if you don't mind me asking…"

Dire turned to face her. "What is it?"

"Regarding this report, sir… I've been meaning to ask for a while, now, but –" Cold Case paused, as if she was trying to find the right words to say "– why is it that you seem so fixated on this case? This isn't like you to want to look over something. As a prosecutor, I mean." Case rubbed the back of her head. "I mean… there aren't any suspects, and I'm sure as hay that this isn't going to be taken to court…"

"Perhaps," Dire admitted, and he sat down in his chair. "However, that being said, assumptions cannot be made that such an event as this is to be taken lightly; there are far too many… similarities between the incidents. Even if the common theory is…" He coughed, trying to veer away from the subject. "Yes, but in that vein, should we not suspect foul play?"

Cold Case rolled her eyes. "There hasn't been a murder in this area – especially not on this scale – in four years. You should know that better than anypony, so why are y–?"

"Please, Detective," Dire said sharply. "Do not question my want for involvement in this. In any case," he added, standing up once more, "there is no point to this line of questioning. I would advise you to hurry to the scene once more, or should I choose to call Dreadnaught and tell him about your act of insubordination?"

Case's lips twitched up into a smirk. "Yes, of course," she mused, feigning a look of horror. "I should be far more careful. Although… I'm pretty sure that the chief isn't going to get mad over an ‘infraction’ such as simple curiosity. Eh, sir?"

Dire narrowed his eyes. "Detective, do not try my hoof on this matter," he snapped.

"Yes, sir," Case sighed. "By the way, Mr. Dire, sir… I've been meaning to say: We got a message earlier today. Somepony got a letter saying they'd be the next one to die. Name's… uh… Butterfly, or something. Sent the letter they’d gotten to us to look over."

Dire grimaced, and sat back in his seat. "Of course… has there been anything on what to do regarding the threat?"

"Nothing yet, sir."

"I see."

There was silence for several seconds as Dire mentally evaluated the actual worth of the police, doing nothing to assist a creature that had been threatened so horrifically. At last, he slammed his hoof into the desk before him, and his eyes met Case's. "Well, why not?" he snapped, although his voice was icy. "You must realize that a creature has been marked for death, and none of you have even made the decision to go and protect him or her?"

Case went pale, and she looked away. "W-well, sir, that's…" She swallowed before meeting his gaze once more. "U-um… Well, w-we think it's… j-just a prank, sir."

"A prank?" hissed Dire. "You believe this to be a mere prank? Even if that is the case, that should not deter your movements! It is actions such as yours that caused Equestria's last murder to occur in the first place, and Dreadnaught is willing to allow such negligence to continue?!" He was shouting by that point, and Case seemed to have shrunk back in terror of his voice.

"B-but we're not… sure if it's a murder, yet… sir…" whimpered Case. Her eyes had turned to pinpricks, and her blue-gray coat had become almost white. "Th-the consensus is th-that they're all–"

"Suicides, I know!" Dire snapped once more. "But is that any cause for such ignorance and arrogance on your part? What did Dreadnaught have to say on this matter, hmm? Did he advocate your stupidity?!" He slammed his hoof into the desk once more. Dire's voice suddenly became very quiet and calm. "Now, if you desire to keep your profession, I would advise you to go and at the very least attempt to convince Dreadnaught to go and at least check on the creature who called for your aid."

Case shrunk back towards the door, and she mumbled "Y-yes, sir… I-I'll do that…" before she turned and stumbled out of Dire's office.

Fenrir Dire sighed, and rubbed his temples. Cold Case was a brilliant detective, there was no denying that fact, but he often questioned how she – in her ignorance outside of that career – had not lost that position after so many blunders. He reached over and opened the manila envelope that she had placed before him, looking over its contents with eagle eyes. As always, her gathering of evidence was as neat as it was meticulous. The images of the bodies were all in great quality, as was the written information, the diagrams of the scenes, and any other evidence that had been gathered.

The given information – the way that the victims had been hung from their necks, the ladders that revealed only their hoof-prints – all pointed to signs of suicide, but something about the victims themselves, all of whom were mutilated horribly, did nothing but reaffirm his first opinion; namely, the theory that the cases were all homicides. And that was not even to mention the note that had been found at the scene of the latest victim, the one who had been so destroyed that his or her very body could no longer be identified.

Dire stared at the image of the message, its letters awkwardly scrawled in blood, and with only a single word, but quickly pushed it away in an attempt to keep that word from searing itself even further into his brain.

No, that was not important at the moment. What mattered, first and foremost, was to ensure that no more victims would appear, and that the creature who had called in with a note of her own would be discovered to not die in such a disturbing manner. Dire rested his head on his hooves, and let out yet another sigh, hoping that Cold Case would be quick.

The sound of knocking echoed throughout the entire bottom level of the library. It reverberated across the wooden floor, the walls covered in various literary works, and finally reached its intended target: one Twilight Sparkle. She looked up from the parchment on which she had been writing, and turned her gaze toward the entrance to the library's entrance.

With a low groan of annoyance, she trotted over to the door and pulled it open. On the other side stood a unicorn stallion, his light-gray mane and maroon coat visible under a blue jacket and hat. His stature was fairly average, leaving him almost completely un-noteworthy. In fact, the only thing about him that Twilight really noticed was that he wore the clothing of a royal messenger, and a fairly high-ranking one, it seemed.

The messenger smiled at her, although he appeared very uneasy. "Ah, so you're Princess Twilight Sparkle?" he asked, though he continued without any confirmation: "Yes, er… It's a pleasure, I must say. Yes. It is. Um, yes… I was apparently requested to deliver you this letter. But I'm not entirely certain as to why…" He shrugged, and magically grabbed a small parchment from his bag, before pulling it up in front of his face. "Yes, yes… here, I'll read it to you… Yes. I will."

"'Dearest Twilight Sparkle,'" read the messenger, looking over the parchment, "'it would appear that there is a problem. A very large one, at that. You see, my most faithful of messengers has told me of a letter that he delivered to your friend, Fluttershy, after discovering it in the throne room of the royal palace. However, there appears to be an issue in regard to that.'" He paused, took a breath, and said, "'Yes, I had written no such letter, and there were signs that the window in the throne room was broken from the outside. Worse still, it appears that the letter that my messenger delivered happens to have been a'…" He paused again, and his eyes turned into pinpricks. "No… that can't possibly be…" he breathed.

"What is it?!" Twilight urged, attempting to pry what little information she could out of the messenger. After all, if he insisted on reading the princess's letter to her – a move that she, personally, found rather baffling – he may as well tell her just what the truth of the matter was. "What did she say?"

The messenger regained his composure, and nodded. "Yes, I'm very sorry. Yes. I am. Now, where was I…? Ah, yes…" He inhaled, and said, "'Worse still, it appears that the letter that my messenger delivered happens to have been a death threat. I cannot say for certain, but it seems that somepony wishes to see your friend dead. The police have recently dispatched a detective and her partner to look over this matter. They have also recommended that you and one of your friends – although just one, for reasons that they refused to disclose – in order to keep her company before they arrive, if only to put her at ease. If you discover any new information, please alert myself, Princess Celestia, or Dreadnaught, the chief of police, immediately. My thanks, Princess Luna.'" He grimaced. “Ah, yes… she has added a post-script, it would appear: 'In the case that you are wondering why I had to send a messenger in order to give you this, I was unable to contact Celestia, and desired to get you this as fast as I could. He may seem somewhat lazy, but I assure you that this messenger is the best I had available.'”

As soon as he stopped reading, the messenger let out a sigh. "Lazy? Me? That's ridiculous. Yes. It is. Oh, well," he added, and looked up at Twilight. "Yes, I do believe that is all. I'm very sorry for the bad news, Princess Sparkle. Yes. I am." He rubbed the back of his head with his left foreleg, and sighed again. "Yes, very sorry. In any case, I realize that you likely wish to go and check on your friend. So I'm sorry for holding you up for so long."

The world around Twilight began to spin. A death threat? Against Fluttershy of all ponies? How could anypony want her dead, or be willing to go so far as to send her a letter proclaiming that desire? She felt sick at the mere thought.

"R-right," she at last managed to say, trying to steady herself. "Um… thank you, Mister… um…?"

The messenger nodded, and tipped his cap. "Encrypted Glass, Princess."

Twilight nodded. Her mouth felt dry, and her wings were clamped to her sides as if bound to them by steel. "Yes," she managed to say, trying to sound as calm as possible. Which, given the circumstances, was not calm at all. "Th-thank you, Mister Glass."

"It's n-not a problem at all, Princess. No. It's not," Glass replied, and he placed his hoof up to his forehead head in a kind of salute. "It is m-merely my duty as Princess Luna's personal messenger to get everything out a-as soon as feasibly possible! And I shall do just that, regardless of the circumstances. Yes. I-I shall." He attempted to smile, but Twilight, even in her terrified and exhausted state, could tell just how disturbed Glass truly was at the news.

She held up a hoof. "Really, don't worry about it," she said. "Thank you for getting it to me so quickly, though."

"Again, it's not a problem at all on my part," he said. "But in any case, it would be best for me to be off. Yes. It would. So farewell, Princess, and I wish you the best of luck on your escapade!" And with that, he turned and began to sprint away from the library, leaving Twilight in silence.

“So,” Gilgamesh said, not looking over at Twilight as he was led along the dirt road, “can you explain something to me?” He was slightly hunched over, and he once again mentally cursed at her for having dragged him out and into the open.

She simply glanced over at him. “What?”

Gilgamesh grimaced. “Why are you dragging me of all creatures along with you on your escapade to your friend’s house?”

Twilight merely rolled her eyes, and refocused her gaze on the road. “I already told you,” she said bluntly. “Maybe if you actually took the time to listen…” She shook her head, and let out a sigh. “Ugh… this is just ridiculous…”

“What? A threat such as that seems pretty normal to me.” Gilgamesh pressed a hand to his mouth, stifling a yawn.

Twilight rolled her eyes again. “Yeah. I’m sure it would be,” she remarked dryly.

The two walked in silence for a time, the world around them eerily quiet and cold as they stepped along. No sounds save their footsteps could be heard, and even the animals about the area seemed to have hidden. In spite of the beautiful weather – which was certainly better than the storm from the previous day – the area simply seemed devoid of life. Not even any ponies wandered the grounds, although, given the recent threat, Gilgamesh could hardly blame them. He had received many of the like back in his own world, commonly from Exdeath’s more disgruntled servants when they longed for his position, but the response to them had been swift and brutal.

Several minutes passed in that awkward, terrible silence, before Gilgamesh finally said, “Well, why is it that you’re asking me for help? Would it not be better for one of your friends, one of the creatures she trusts, to look after her? Instead of a complete stranger?” A stranger who had recently pointed a pitchfork at one of her friends, at that.

Once more, Twilight was quiet for several seconds. “Well,” she finally said, although it sounded somewhat pained and forced, “you seem like the most qualified… in this case, I mean.” She placed a hoof on her chin, as if trying to figure out what to say next. “Yeah. Um… right, you just seem like the one who would be best at keeping Fluttershy safe, I think.” The silence came down again, with only the crunching dirt of the path able to be heard over the quiet cacophony.

Gilgamesh looked out over the landscape. It truly was beautiful, he thought to himself – the grass was a very healthy-looking shade of green, the trees that littered the area all had leaves of the same color, and the scattered ponds were clear. It was certainly a step up from the disgusting, mosquito-infested marshes that he was used to.

Gilgamesh grimaced, and looked back towards the path. It was important that he was to focus on the matter at hand. Why was a creature as docile as the so-called “Fluttershy” being targeted for death? What was the purpose, or the motive behind the action? She most certainly did not seem like the kind of equine who would warrant such abuse, or so Gilgamesh assumed, based on his limited contact with her. Then again, the same could be said of Lenna – from what he had seen of her, Gilgamesh knew that she was extremely kind, but she certainly packed a punch behind that dagger of hers.

He rubbed one of his wrists at the memory of a particularly painful blow, before turning his mind back to the matter at hand. Again, Fluttershy did not appear particularly dangerous. Even her name displayed that fact, and Gilgamesh knew all too well just how much a name in the equines’ dimension meant about them, overall. But still, if she really was the kind on a daily basis, then why? Why would any of the creatures of the land lust for her blood, to the point of sending her a message about it? Logically speaking, wouldn’t one just commit the act? Giving advance warning seemed extremely arrogant. Or, perhaps, like it was never meant to commit the crime at all.

Could that be what they were dealing with? No, Gilgamesh had done his research – a simply prank had already been ruled out by the detectives, especially after further testing had been done on the letter Fluttershy had received. Then the arrogance was likely the correct choice in the matter. Whoever the alleged murderer was, could it be that they were simply incredibly cocky in their own abilities? Yes, that seemed possible. Plausible, even.

Gilgamesh placed a hand on his chin. “Arrogance, eh?” he heard himself mutter. “But, in that case, the killer would have to be a creature proud of their act, and confident of their abilities as a whole. That narrows it down to –” he froze, realizing that Twilight was staring at him “– literally hundreds of potential suspects,” he finished, shortly before noticing that his latest tangent had taught him absolutely nothing new about the criminal or their identity.

“Rainbow Dash was right,” he heard Twilight murmur to herself. “That was really creepy…”

Gilgamesh looked away from her in an effort to avoid any further scrutiny. However, it was immediately as he did so that he realized that the two of them had already reached Fluttershy’s cottage. As was to be expected, the place was literally surrounded by a combination of barbed wire, steel fencing, and what appeared to be a giant ring of fire, forming a sort of cage that not even the smallest of pegasi could fit into. The only open area was a single gate at the front, and even that appeared to require heavy checking in order to pass. Rightly so, Gilgamesh thought to himself as he and Twilight approached the entryway.

A figure appeared at the gate as they approached, clad in some sort of security uniform. Gilgamesh instantly recognized him as the monstrous chimera that he had encountered on his first day, and instinctively wanted to turn back as soon as the chimera’s eyes locked with his.

The creature simply looked him over for several seconds, and looked to Twilight. “Oh, if it isn’t Princess Twilight Sparkle! … and friend,” he added bitterly. “So, I take it that you’re here to check up on Fluttershy, hmm?”

Twilight looked at the creature with something resembling distaste, but nodded. “Yeah, yeah. Discord, can you just let us through? I’d rather not have to wait out here…” She didn’t finish the thought, and shuddered, instead.

The creature, Discord, rolled his eyes. “Well, as much as I would just love to see you ripped apart by some crazy pony, I think that would put a bit of a… a bit of a damper on Fluttershy’s and my friendship… so fine.” He stepped aside in order to let her through, but pulled himself back into place as soon as Gilgamesh walked up to the entrance. “Whoa, sorry there, Buffy, but no can do.” Discord pulled out a fish rolled up in sandpaper, and started to file his nails. “See, I’m not really sure if I can trust you around Fluttershy. She’s a bit… delicate, with that threat and all. And I’m not about to let a creature like you go and make anything worse. So, sorry to tell you this, but –” Discord’s head disappeared in a puff of smoke, reappearing with sunglasses on his face “– take a hike.”

“Discord…!” Twilight’s voice was dangerous.

“What?” Discord asked, his voice suddenly the sound of pure innocence, and a halo appeared over his head. “I may not look it, but I actually care about my friends – and I’m not going to make them suffer any more than they already are.” He pulled the halo from his head, flattened it, and started to pick at his teeth. “Again. It’s nothing personal. Except completely.”

Gilgamesh reached one of his eight hands to the sword at his side. “You would challenge me?” he asked, attempting to keep his own voice from fluctuating. “Then I will gladly accept.”

Discord simply looked him over for several seconds. “You understand what I mean, Twilight?” he deadpanned. “There is absolutely no control over this guy! Put him in a room with Fluttershy, and he’ll kill her before anything else gets the chance!” He spat out the flattened halo, and it vanished in a puff of smoke. “I’m amazed that you wouldn’t bring one of your more qualified friends over… even a hothead like Rainbow Dash would be better protection than this idiot!”

Gilgamesh grit his teeth, and felt a vein appear on his forehead. “So you doubt that I’m qualified? I assure you that I am quite qualified!”

“Um…” came a small whisper from behind them.

Discord scoffed. “You? Qualified? Please, even I’m more qualified for this than you are, and I never take anything seriously!”

“Um… would you two please…?”

Twilight was visibly biting down on her lower lip, as if trying to keep herself from having an outburst. Gilgamesh ignored this however, and simply continued in his efforts to best Discord at his own game. “I assure you that I am quite qualified!” he repeated. “I am a defender at heart! A warrior down to my soul! I have the strength of a glacier, and resilience of a boulder…!”

“And all the intelligence and modesty of both,” Discord deadpanned again. “Yeah, listen, I know you’re trying to sound smart, here. Maybe you’ve just got gunk in your ears, but I’m pretty sure that you’re not listening to a word I say.”

“U-um… please… would you two just…?”

Gilgamesh felt another vein on his forehead. “I-I… I assure you that I…!” He paused, and felt his teeth begin to scrape together. “I… I am–”

“An idiot? Yes, I’d believe it.” Discord pulled one of his arms off, and began to scratch his back with it.

A new thought process began to work its way into Gilgamesh’s mind. He was no idiot, and he knew that completely. However, attempting to prove such a thing to his latest adversary was proving to be not only ineffective, but also counter-intuitive; Discord was refusing to listen. But what was pushing him to that brink? And why did Gilgamesh feel so angry? Of course, that was it! He was being goaded by Discord into becoming enraged. Why had that thought not occurred to him before, and why did he have to go on a tangent in order to realize it for himself? No, that did not matter at the moment.

Gilgamesh instantly felt himself become calm once more, and stared directly into Discord’s eyes. “I,” he said, his voice completely unwavering, “am entirely qualified for this.” He crossed all eight of his arms, and raised his head slightly. “I have all of the necessary pieces in order to make this lucrative… for myself, and for the creature who is now shuddering in terror within the confines of that building.”

“Um… but I…”

Discord stared at him for several seconds, before cocking his head. “Oh? You think that, just because you went and changed around your stance, that makes you any better for this? Sorry, but it doesn’t quite work like that.” He reattached his arm and cracked his shoulder. Immediately afterward, Discord snapped his fingers, causing a large ice cream cone – shaped like a cat’s head, humorously enough, and with the “ice cream” in question being packing peanuts covered in chocolate sauce – and leaned back against the burning wall around him, but with no marks of it being… well, made of fire anywhere on his body. “You’re just wasting your time, my time, Twilight’s time, Fluttershy’s time, and even the killer’s time…” He paused, and replaced his paw on his chin, thoughtfully licking the packing peanuts while holding the ice cream cone in his other hand. “Well, actually, that last one’s not too bad, now that I think about it… But you’re still wasting everypony’s time just by standing around here.”

“Then let me in,” Gilgamesh challenged, “unless… you don’t think you can handle me?”

“Don’t try to psychologically manipulate me. It doesn’t work. Lord of chaos, remember? Actually, now that I think about it, you didn’t know that tidbit, did you?” Discord stuffed the entire cone into his mouth at once, and licked his lips. “Ah, that hit the spot… But… well, believe me, I’ve learned my lesson ever since Vinyl Scratch made me fix all of her equipment for free.” He grimaced, and rubbed the back of his head. “Sheesh! That was sure embarrassing…”

Gilgamesh cocked an eyebrow. So he was not the only one who had been manipulated by Vinyl? That was comforting, at least. But lord of chaos? What a strange thing to rule. Literally.

He cracked his eight sets of fingers, planning to say just that. “You’re worried for your friend’s sake, but you’re not even willing to allow a professional to look at her?” he said instead. “Believe you me, Discord, I am a warrior of the highest caliber. And I will not allow a creature such as you to belittle my intellect, my abilities, or me.” He stood up tall, in such a manner so that he was looking down at Discord. “I was not forcibly dragged out here just to waste my time.”

Twilight flushed from behind the gate. “H-hey!”

“Not now, Twilight,” snapped Gilgamesh. “I am not one to give up, but if you are so adamant in making this difficult –” he breathed in deep, trying to force the next words out “– then perhaps… we can come to a compromise?”

Discord smirked. “Uh, huh. And what’ll that be?” He placed a hand on his chin, and began to stroke his goatee. “Oh, wait, let me guess – you’re going to say something along the lines of –” he pulled out a hand puppet of Gilgamesh, complete with eight arms, and changed his voice to a mockingly high-pitched version of Gilgamesh’s own “– ‘I’ll be polite in there’ or ‘I’ll try and not be an eyesore,’ right?” His voice became normal again, and the puppet burst into flames, before Discord crossed his arms. “Well?”

Gilgamesh bit back the urge to say something extremely scathing towards Discord, ignoring it for the simple fact that he needed to convince him that he was open to negotiations. “Well, the two of those are a given,” he remarked as calmly as feasibly possible. Which, given the situation, made his voice shake slightly in a quiet rage. “However! The point that I actually wanted to say was this.” He pulled the sword from its scabbard, and offered it to his verbal adversary. “I am fully willing to allow you to hold on to this whilst I am inside of there – a sort of loan until today’s work has come to a close.”

Discord looked down at the sword for just a moment, before he glanced back up to Gilgamesh. “Hmm… I could swear that I’ve seen something like this before… Oh, well.” He held it up into the air, and the weapon vanished in a plume of black smoke. “Well, since you want to go so far for this… Eh, sure. But –” he leaned in close, keeping his eyes level with Gilgamesh’s, before his voice turned dangerous “– if you cause Fluttershy any more strife than she already feels… well… Let’s just say that she won’t be the only one with a death threat. Capiche?” He held out his paw, but retained his cold glare.

Gilgamesh hesitated for a moment. Something felt off, but he wasn’t entirely sure what it was. And had he truly just given away his sword? All to get into the house of an equine who he did not even know, and for no good, obvious benefit? Why was he acting so foolish?

But after thinking on it for several seconds, he let out a sigh – partly of irritation, and partly of defeat. He had come this far, and by no means would he give up yet. With a single, albeit slow, movement, he reached over and clasped Discord’s hand in his own.

Discord instantly grinned, his expression becoming far more lenient and friendly. “Okay, come on in.” He stepped aside, and gestured to the area past the gate.

Gilgamesh did just that, choosing to oblige his adversary, and walked past Discord and into the area within the confines of the burning cage.

“O-oh!” came a small, whimpering voice from just within the area, although the speaker was hidden behind Twilight. “U-um… I-I’m sorry if Discord caused you any trouble, Mister Gilgamesh… He’s not normally this serious about this kind of thing…” The speaker stepped out from behind Twilight, revealing herself as the pegasus, Fluttershy.

Discord sighed and crossed his arms over his chest. “I told you to wait inside the cottage, Fluttershy,” he said, although not unkindly. “Just because this cage is literally on fire doesn’t mean it’s impenetrable, you know!”

Fluttershy blushed. “I’m sorry.” She turned her gaze to the ground, and began to paw at it with one of her front hooves. “I… I heard shouting from out here, and I started to get worried… so I ran out here as fast as I could, and I saw you and Mister Gilgamesh fighting! I-I tried to stop you two, but I guess you couldn’t hear me…” She sighed, emitting a sound that could almost be described as “silent.”

Discord looked over at Gilgamesh, the latter fully expecting him to consider that causing Fluttershy “more strife than necessary.” Instead, however, he just sighed again, and gestured at the door. “Go in.”

The four creatures did just that, all of them entering Fluttershy’s cottage. Not Fluttershy, Gilgamesh, Discord, nor Twilight seemed willing to sit down, instead with Twilight immediately freaking out as soon as the door closed.

“Why the hay did some jerk send you that threat?!” Twilight exclaimed. She began to pace to and fro, all while coming up with possible ways that Fluttershy could have sufficiently created a potential motive. “M-maybe they’re some undercover assassin, and they think she’s a potential threat to their mission! Or maybe Fluttershy’s incited the wrath of some kingpin crime boss! O-or maybe…” She trailed off, her mutterings all difficult to hear.

Gilgamesh turned towards Discord and cocked an eyebrow. The unspoken question was obvious, and he responded in turn, “Yes, yes, I’m well aware of that. But at least Twilight didn’t try to skewer me in front of her. Oh, I’m sorry – did I just say that out loud? How silly of me.”

Still bitter. How interesting.

Gilgamesh really did not have too much to say on the matter, however. He knew the error that he had made, and had no intentions to repeat it any time in the near future. That was, unless the situation actually warranted violence, of course. Even for a creature who oft lauded himself as the great warrior – that he undoubtedly was – Gilgamesh could tell that the equines’ dimension was a place that very much deterred such a thought.

And to think that, back in his original world, a death threat was basically a daily greeting. At least… it was among the people of his village, and even then it was done in a joking sort of manner. For just a moment, he felt himself drift away into those memories, before he snapped back to reality.

“Um… does he do this often?” Discord asked, looking over at Twilight. “And do his eyes normally glaze over like that when he does?”

“Yeah, that sounds about right,” Twilight muttered in reply, having finally calmed down somewhat.

Discord rolled his eyes. “Delightful.”

Gilgamesh grimaced. Why had he gone on so many random tangents as of late? Was there some problem with him? Certainly, he always was wont to those kinds of events – as he remembered, many bouts of Exdeath’s rage at him came from him dozing off in the middle of a job that he was to be working on – but the sheer amount that he had recently partaken in was just odd. In fact, the more that he thought about it, the more Gilgamesh questioned just why he couldn’t seem to focus on anything for a decent amount of time.

He placed a hand on his chin. Yes, why? Why could he never focus on anything as of late? Did he need to be in the midst of battle? Or perhaps… was it simply the shock of jumping into a new dimension? Gilgamesh had never thought much of it at first due to everything he had seen in his life. But what if that was the case? Could it be that his mind was breaking down from everything that he had learned?

A moment of panic washed over him, only to be completely subsided as he realized that such a thing was extremely unlikely. No, if his mind were breaking apart, then he would have noticed it. Right? Yes, that seemed to be implausible – it was most likely that he simply was still getting used to the new dimension. The new dimension that he did not know how to escape.

A new feeling of panic rushed down his spine, and a chill seemed to overtake Gilgamesh’s every nerve. The thought had never really occurred to him before, but… what if he was stuck in the equines’ dimension forever? What if he could never escape? What if Exdeath’s banishment was permanent, and he was never to see his home again? His village would be lost to him, he would never get the chance to cross swords with Bartz, Lenna, Faris, or Krile…

Gilgamesh shuddered, and noticed that all of the others seemed to be staring at him. “Um… Mister Gilgamesh? Are you feeling okay…?” Fluttershy asked, as if the death threat on her life had been made null. “You look cold…”

He blinked once, and looked back and forth between her, Discord, and Twilight. Sure enough, the three creatures’ eyes were all locked on him. “Oh, I’m… um…” He rubbed his neck, not entirely sure what to say. “Yes. I’m fine.”

“Are you sure?” Twilight asked. She leaned her head closer to him, and cocked an eyebrow. “You’re acting a bit weird… um, or… more than usual, at least.”

“No, you needn’t concern yourselves over my health!” Gilgamesh replied. “I assure you all that I am in the utmost condition.”

Twilight simply stared at him for several seconds. “Really? Because you’re talking like that again.” She placed a hoof on her chin, and looked up towards the ceiling. “Yeah. And when you did that yesterday, you seemed really agitated towards Rainbow Dash. So I’m not sure if this is right or not, but it seems like some kind of nervous habit…”

Gilgamesh rolled his eyes in response, but felt his nails dig into the back of his neck. “N-nervous? Me? That’s absurd!” To drive the point home, he placed his hands on his hips, and stood as tall as he could manage. “I-I don’t get agitated, see? Please, assuage your fears of my current condition. I claim with nothing short of full confidence that I–”

“Gilgamesh,” Twilight deadpanned. “You seem very, very anxious about something. There’s no point in even pretending.”

“G-gah!” Gilgamesh’s hands nails dug deeper into his neck, to the point that he began to feel pain. “Hey, what right have you to claim this of me, under any circumstances?! You’re no psychoanalyst!”

Discord pulled out a pad of paper and a pencil, and looked as if he was checking off something. As he did so, he said idly, “Yes, but even I can see the symptoms of some sort of mental breakdown. Let’s see: A change in demeanor, using different vocabulary, the fact that you look like you’re going to rip your neck off… Ah, yes. It’s all coming together, now.” He tore the page off, and handed it to Gilgamesh. The paper was a not-so-cleverly disguised game of tic-tac-toe.

Fluttershy pulled her wings close to her sides, and looked up straight into Gilgamesh’s eyes. “Yes, you don’t really seem to be as fine as you say you are… B-but I’m sorry if that’s not true…! I-I don’t mean to imply…”

“Well, Gilgamesh?” Twilight snapped, her eyes narrowed, and Gilgamesh found himself stepping back instinctively. “Are you going to admit to it –” she raised her right foreleg and pointed it at him accusingly “– or should I make you?!”

Gilgamesh felt himself be thrown back for an instant, flinching visibly as his hand dug ever deeper into his neck, with all of his eight hands following suit. Several of his arms gripped each other’s wrists with their grips growing even tighter, and the sound of several cracking bones emanated throughout the air of the small cottage. This continued for several seconds, until Gilgamesh felt a particularly painful crack, and fell over onto the ground in reply.

He blinked just once, as a sudden realization hit him. “Wait a second… Why do I feel like I’m being interrogated here?!” He stood up, and placed his hands on his hips. “I’ve no need to ‘admit’ my nervous habits! I am a warrior, and so it should be natural for me to feel some anxiety around others at times – like when they’re drilling into my mind, for example. And besides,” he added, “this isn’t important for right now, is it? Aren’t we here to make sure that this ‘Fluttershy’ is safe up until the police arrive?”

Gilgamesh felt his palm hit into his forehead as soon as the name left his mouth. He swore: every single creature living in the equines’ dimension had some completely stupid, contrived name that somehow managed to be the basis of his or her personality. Even the lord of chaos happened to be named Discord. Why did nobody know how to give their children names that didn’t seem like things that a person would call their pet bird?

“Are you… are you sure you’re feeling alright?” Fluttershy asked, her voice still quiet and innocent. “You seem kind of flustered, Mister Gilgamesh.”

“Oh, no,” he muttered, attempting to sound earnest. “I’m absolutely fine. Not a problem in the slightest. Nope. None.”

Twilight rolled her eyes. Obviously, his attempt at being sincere hadn’t gone over as well as he’d hoped. “Right.” Her voice was dripping with pure, unfiltered sarcasm. Gilgamesh would have been impressed, if he wasn’t so irritated over what had just occurred to him.

“Well,” Discord said, “that certainly happened. Now, why don’t we go and actually focus on something important… Like, uh… I dunno, Fluttershy?! We can work out Gilgamesh’s mental problems later. When there’s not a mark on her head,” he added unnecessarily, before pulling out yet another fish wrapped in sandpaper and began to file his nails.

Discord blinked just once, and the fish vanished. “Ah, yes, speaking of which,” he said, “it seems that we have some guests… Hmm, I’ll go and check on the gate. Twilight, be a dear and keep Gilgamesh from terrifying her, would you?” Without waiting for a response, Discord vanished from sight, evidently having traveled back to the entrance of the fiery cage.

In his absence, Gilgamesh walked over to the couch, and sat down. His back was hunched over so that he was staring at the ground, not desiring to look over at the two other creatures in the room. “Not a problem at all…” he heard himself mutter.

What ridiculousness. How in the world had he ever managed to get himself roped into this situation in the first place? Getting tossed into another world entirely, lost unto the one that he so loved, and unable to get back home. The thought had never before occurred to him that he would be unable to escape, but what if it was true?

No, that couldn’t be. He would have to learn the truth for himself as soon as the creature responsible for the attack was found and brought to justice. And then – and only then – would his fate be decided.

“But… you’re sure that you didn’t anger anypony? Not even something minor and stupid?”

Gilgamesh blinked. Twilight was speaking to Fluttershy, of course. Probably grilling her for more information regarding the threat. He looked up a bit, feeling the bones in his back crack slightly at the movement.

Fluttershy shook her head slightly. “N-no… At least, I don’t think so…”

Twilight sighed. “What about somepony you annoyed in the past… like Gilda, maybe, or somepony else?”

Gilgamesh cocked his head slightly. He would never understand just why they used “somepony” rather than the more effective “someone.” What of the creatures that weren’t like them? Did they call them “somepony,” too? Probably.

“W-well, Twilight, to be honest…” Fluttershy replied. “I’m not really sure… b-but I don’t think that Gilda would… um… would do it like this…”

Twilight placed a hoof on her chin. “Right…” she muttered, for what must have been the twentieth time that day. “But what about somepony else? There’s gotta be at least one creature out there who would want to…” She paused, realized her words, and began to backpedal. “Um… yeah. Right.”

Gilgamesh rolled his eyes in response. Under normal circumstances, he would have said something scathing in reply, but now was hardly the time for sarcasm.

“W-well, maybe…” admitted Fluttershy, “but I… I’m not sure…”

Twilight sighed again, and turned away. “Something about this just isn’t adding up… Is there even a motive behind this…?” she murmured.

Just as she turned back towards Fluttershy, Discord reappeared in the room. “Ah, yes. Sorry for running off like that, but it appears that we have guests.”

A figure stepped through the door. She was a blue-gray unicorn, her mane a mixture of tan and green, and was wearing a large saddlebag, with one of those strange markings on her side – this time, a magnifying glass. “Huh. Nice place,” she said tersely. She stepped into the room, and offered a hoof for the creatures inside. “You’re Fluttershy, right? The mare who was threatened?”

Fluttershy nodded, although it was only barely visible.

“Great!” said the mare, and she extended a hoof. “My name’s Cold Case, though – and I don’t wanna brag, but – around the station, I’m called the ‘Ace Detective.’” She flipped her mane, a small smile forming on her lips.

“And not much else, actually,” came a rather cold voice, as another creature stepped into the room.
The figure was quite clearly a male pegasus, but his coat threw Gilgamesh off just to look at it – it appeared to be a pitch black across his entire form, with even his wings and mane being that same color. The only places on his body that appeared to hold any differentiation was a small line on the left side of his mane, and the edges of his wings – both of which were stark white. In addition to those, he wore a strange coat around his whole body, which covered nearly everything, save his wings, legs, and head. Even the mark on his side could not be seen beneath it.

He stepped over to Twilight, and bowed. “A pleasure, Princess,” he said, his voice holding an accent similar to Twilight’s diva of a friend. “I apologize for the idiocy of my partner… she took us on a goose chase about your town, you see, but that is beside the point…”

Twilight blinked, and cocked her head slightly. “Hey, hold on… haven’t I seen your face in the papers…?”

“The papers? Perhaps,” replied the strange pegasus, and he held out a hoof. “I am Fenrir Dire. Prosecutor. And she, if I might say –” he gestured to Cold Case, who instantly flinched “– is my partner, so to speak.”

Gilgamesh stood up, and looked over the two. “A prosecutor?” he asked. “In that case, why is it that you have come here?”

Dire nodded. “Why, indeed,” he responded. “And you must be Gilgamesh, is that right?” Gilgamesh nodded, and Dire said, “Yes, I see. So you have been brought here in order to look and make sure this mare stays protected, is that also right?”

Gilgamesh smirked. “Oh, but of course!” he declared. “Whenever a creature is in need, I am not going to leave them to suffer on their own!”

Cold Case nodded, and looked over to Dire. “Yeah,” she said absentmindedly. “Well, you can go now if you want – Chief Dreadnaught sent us down to check up on this thing, after all.”

“Yes,” Dire agreed, and looked to the five other creatures in the area. “I’ve some questions for the victim of this threat… if you would not be afraid to answer them, of course.”

Fluttershy took several steps back, but nodded quietly. “U-um… okay.” Her voice was still faint, but it sounded as if she was legitimately trying to push through her terror.

Discord rolled his eyes in response. “Tch… Excuse me – Prosecutor Dire, was it? – would you mind if I stay behind?” He teleported a glass of water into his hands, and promptly drank all of the glass as if it was water, and ate all of the water as if it was glass. “I simply feel that it would be for the best if Fluttershy has a friend here; or, at least, somepony who she knows.”

Dire did not even seem remotely fazed by Discord's actions, and simply nodded. “Of course,” he said. “I have no plans to force any of you to exit if you don’t want to. Simply…” He paused, and shook his head. “No, no… That is unimportant.”

Twilight blinked. “Huh? What is?”

“Nothing in particular,” Dire responded, a thinly-veiled lie if ever there was one. “But, as I was saying… Cold Case, would you take her statement on this matter? It would be best to learn everything that we can quickly.”

Gilgamesh placed a hand on his chin. It was odd, really, just how methodical the two seemed to be; within instants of Dire’s statement, Cold Case had already begun to take out several pieces of parchment and quills from her saddlebag, and took Fluttershy and Discord into another room to ask questions. It all seemed to happen so fast that Gilgamesh did not even have the chance to go into a tangent before Dire had started questioning Twilight.

“So you were given that letter by Encrypted Glass, right?” Dire jotted the notes down as he spoke, gripping the pencil in his wings. Gilgamesh did not even want to ask how long that had taken to master, instead focusing on Dire’s words: “I see… So you had no knowledge prior to this meeting that your friend was being targeted by anypony.”

“Not at all,” Twilight replied, and she grimaced. “Ugh… I just don’t get this! Why would anypony target Fluttershy, and so out of the blue like this, too!”

Dire nodded his head in reply. “Believe me, Princess – I would have to claim the same in this matter. I do, however, have some theories regarding just why such a thing could occur. Of course, none of them are verifiable as of yet, but one in particular has been nagging at the back of my mind since earlier today.”

“And… what is that theory, exactly?” Twilight asked.

“There is no need for me to disclose that as of yet, Princess. I’m sorry, but I would rather learn what the truth is later, rather than blindly leap into danger.” Dire touched one of his wings gingerly, and winced.

Twilight nodded, although she still looked rather troubled. Of course, given the circumstances behind everything, Gilgamesh could hardly blame her. “Yes. I understand, Prosecutor Dire.”

“Of course, if you want,” Dire said, “I have no qualms with you staying by to investigate the area, and to look after your friend… provided that you have proper supervision, I should say.”

Gilgamesh cracked his wrists, and looked over at Dire. “And… what about me?” he asked tentatively. “Would you rather I stay, or would it be best if I am to depart from this relative location?”

Twilight blinked, and looked over to him. “Wait a second… Gilgamesh, you’re not seriously…? But wait, why are you asking that?”

“The sake of curiosity, and nothing more than that,” he replied, and looked to Dire. “Well? Have you reached your… eh… verdict, should I say? Yes, that sounds about right…”

Dire placed a hoof on his chin – an act that Gilgamesh noted seemed to be common amongst the equines – and nodded. “Yes, I have no problems with you staying here either, Gilgamesh. However, I must state this, first and foremost: This is but an investigation, and a form of police protection for Fluttershy and the animals living around her house.” He paused and touched his wing again, before wincing in apparent pain once more. “In the case that there is no attack tonight… well, both Case and I are to exit the premises.”

Twilight grimaced, and let out a sigh. “That’s… kinda weird, actually. I mean, aren’t you a prosecutor? So why are you taking the same orders as Detective Case?”

“Let’s just say that I… Well, it’s not so much an ‘order’ as it is a ‘request.’ A request from the chief of police himself, if I may add.” Dire rubbed the side of his head with his wing. “Yes, I understand the inconvenience that this creates, but I cannot simply stay here and keep watch over the situation twenty-four-seven. If anything, you already have an excellent fortitude outside.” He gestured towards the giant burning cage that covered the entire cottage.

Gilgamesh folded his arms. “And what of me, Prosecutor?” he asked. “You said that there is no necessity in my being here, correct? Then would it not be convenient for me to simply return home now?”

Twilight turned to him. “Wait, you’re really just going t–?”

“What’s the point in me being here at all?” Gilgamesh asked, interrupting Twilight’s rather pointless question. “It’s not as if I am contributing anything to this, now am I? No. And… I can tell that I’m not exactly wanted here.”

Twilight completely froze, and turned her head away from him. She was visibly struggling not to meet Gilgamesh’s eyes. Of course she was – she had been one of the first to so rigorously assault him and his mentality, yet whenever she needed help, she just had to get him. How could she not feel even slightly guilty over the matter? It would have made him sick if she wasn’t.

Dire grimaced, although his voice still sounded as monotonous as ever: “No, there is no need for you to stay here if you don’t want to.” He shrugged. “Of course, I don’t understand the bad blood between the two of you… but I am not here to investigate that matter. Gilgamesh, if you so desire, you can leave here.”

Gilgamesh nodded, but said nothing. There were few words that could properly express how he felt at the moment, but “unwanted” was most certainly one of them. He turned towards the door and walked outside, unaware of the world around him, and stalked down the road and toward his house, hoping to vent his frustrations on the keys of the piano.

Gilgamesh played the keys, slamming his fingers down on them in pure anger at himself, at those around him, and at his own rage and sorrow of what had occurred. The behemoth’s teeth sank deep into the actual instrument, to the point where anyone – or anypony – else would have feared the thing’s destruction. But in that moment, such a fear did not exist to Gilgamesh.

Even when what he produced was, in fact, decent, he still could not deny his own anger.

“It seems that you forgot something,” came a voice from the doorway. Gilgamesh turned to see Twilight, levitating the blue sword, still in its scabbard, over to him. “Discord wanted me to get this to you – something about a loan.” She smiled awkwardly, and walked over to him.

Gilgamesh said nothing in reply, and turned his attention back to the piano in front of him.

“Um… well, you sound like you’re getting better,” she said, obviously attempting small talk, but utterly failing. “Um… yeah, you sound like you’re doing pretty well at this. I’m sure that Vinyl and Octavia will be thrilled.”

Again, he said nothing, but continued to pound away on the keys. His anger refused to stop building up, even though he knew that he did not have the right to be in such a rage. An innocent creature had been threatened with death, and here he was, feeling so sorry for himself that he refused to act on anything else.

After what felt like hours, he paused his playing, and turned to look at her. “Did anything new turn up?” he asked quietly.

Twilight’s ears folded themselves against her head. “No…” she replied. “Prosecutor Dire, Detective Case, Discord, and I all looked for clues for hours. Hay, we even went out into Ponyville to ask for anything regarding the letter, but we couldn’t find anything!” She grit her teeth. “Meaning that Fluttershy’s gonna have to deal with this for another day, at least… or maybe even the rest of her life,” she added.

Gilgamesh turned back to the piano, and pounded away at the keys for another several minutes. When he had finished, he looked over at Twilight once more. “I… I see,” he said, but nothing more. What was there to say? “I’m sorry, Twilight,” or “You’ll catch him, Twilight”? No. There was no use in wasting his words on such things as those.

He played again, feeling the keys under his fingertips, allowing his rage to flow once more. All of their efforts had been all for naught.

“We’ve come up with an idea, at least,” Twilight said as he played, her voice nearly drowned out by the cacophony. “An idea of the attacker, I mean.”

Gilgamesh stopped, and looked over at her. “Let me guess,” he said dryly, “he or she is an arrogant, cocky imbecile who believes that sending a letter to their victim beforehand is irrelevant, as they are to die either way?”

Twilight blinked. “Wait, how did you…?”

“I came up with that on my own,” Gilgamesh replied, and began to play softer. “You don’t think that those tangents are all pointless bouts of me staring off into space, do you? No, I use them to think.”

“It’s weird,” Twilight admitted, “but you seem so much different than you did at first.”

Gilgamesh continued playing. “Creatures usually do,” he replied. “But… when you’re as dangerous as I am, is that really to be so unexpected?” He smiled slightly. “Ha! I know my power – that I am the most dangerous swordsman from my village, that my magic is immensely powerful…” He stopped playing again, and shook his head. “How strange. How… ridiculous, at that! I am the strongest swordsman in the world, this or any other, but…”

“But what?” Twilight asked.

“I… honestly, I am unsure. How can I be?” he grimaced. “Where I was born, strength was all that mattered. Your intellect was measured by your magical proficiency, your strength by how many people you could best in straight combat, and the like.” He resumed playing, softer than ever. “How strange,” he repeated, “but I was always the strongest. I was the smartest, too! … albeit, not in the way that ‘intellect’ is usually measured outside of there.”

“What does that have to do with all of this?” Twilight asked. “I mean… what does you being intelligent or not have to do with what happened today?”

“Maybe… because I’m not as smart as I was always told I was. It took me so long to realize that you all hated me – that I was nothing more than a thorn in your sides!” Gilgamesh clenched his hands into fists. “I was a fool to think otherwise at first! I was a complete and utter imbecile!” He slammed one of his fists onto the piano, causing it to emit a loud, disgusting cacophony.

“And,” he added softly, “I was a fool to think that I could ever live in this place… I… cannot deny that fact…” He shook his head.

Twilight bowed her head slightly. “I… I’m so sorry.”

Gilgamesh bit back every single remark that he could possibly have made – the urge to curse, to scream, to blame Twilight for his rage and anger and hatred and sorrow. He wanted to rip into her, to see her feel terrible, yet he could not. He couldn’t force himself to say anything.

After several more minutes of silence, he spoke: “Please, Twilight Sparkle… leave me be to my suffering. I’ve no necessity for your pity in this time.” His voice was quivering, although he tried his hardest to suppress it beneath a layer of neutrality.

Again, minutes passed, the effect accentuated by the clock on his wall, ticking the seconds away as they occurred. Finally, Twilight nodded. “A-alright. I’m sorry again, Gilgamesh. For all of this.”

And then she left. Just like that, she turned and walked out of his door, exiting his house, and traveling down the street off towards the horizon.

Gilgamesh turned his attention back to the piano, and resumed playing, although even he could feel the tears of his mixed emotions on his hands.

Episode 6: The Fruits of Our Labor

View Online

Fenrir Dire sat back in his seat, eyes focused on the desk before him, and bit on his bottom lip in a combination of exasperation and annoyance. His face, normally stoic and calm, looked completely exhausted from his, Case’s, Discord’s, and Twilight’s fruitless endeavor in searching for the perpetrator behind yesterday’s actions.

Case grimaced, and paced to and fro. Although Dire would normally question why she felt the necessity to join him in his office – especially given the current crisis – he said nothing of the sort, instead rubbing his temples.

At last, when Case stopped her incessant pacing, she looked over at him. “Um… sir?”

Dire looked up. “Yes? What is it, Detective?”

“Do you really think that it was such a good idea to leave her alone? Fluttershy, I mean.”

“I understand your concern, but it’s as I said.” Dire returned his gaze to his desk. “It is not our place, no matter how much you may wish it be so, that we could simply whittle away the hours there – you and I both have jobs to do. Besides,” he added, “she appears to be in good hooves… or hands, if you will.”

Case sighed, and looked past him and out of the window. “I… Yes, sir, I understand, but…” She waved her hooves about as if trying to find the right words. “It’s just… Well, I’m not sure how to put this, but…”

“No matter your feelings on this matter,” Dire said, pulling the manila envelope from the desk, and placing that note on top of his desk – that accursed image, taken from the third crime scene, “it does not change the facts of this. Detective Case, our role in this is finished… for now, at least.”

Case’s vision suddenly moved over to the note, and she stared at it. “I knew it,” she muttered to herself.

He raised an eyebrow in response. “You knew what?”

“The note, your actions these past few days… You’re still obsessed with RT-3, aren’t you?”

Silence completely overtook the room. In fact, the overall mood seemed to darken as Dire’s eyes narrowed at Case. She froze completely in response, even as he hissed through grit teeth, “We… are done here, Detective. Please exit the premises immediately.”

Case pushed through her terror, stepped forward, and slammed both of her hooves on Dire’s desk, taking him by surprise. “You…! It’s over! It’s done! You caught the guy, remember?! Or are you too busy obsessing over that to focus on this, huh?!” She leaned in close, and Dire almost felt himself shrink back in response. “That’s why, isn’t it? That’s why you were so obsessed with keeping that Fluttershy safe, weren’t you? It was because of–!”

“Be quiet!” Dire shouted, his voice completely losing its once-stoic tone, and his eyes became like ice. “Case. Leave. Now.” Every word was punctuated with complete and utter rage, anger, and hatred, and it took all of Case’s energy not to shudder at her partner’s outburst.

She grit her teeth, and turned away from him. “Tch…! Fine, sir,” she growled, “but don’t think that this is the end of this, got it?! I’m gonna get to the bottom of this little mystery if it’s the last thing that I do as a detective!”

“It very well may be.”

Shaking her head just once in reply, Case stepped over to the door, and – without taking so much as one look back – slammed it behind her. The sound echoed off of the walls; and it was quite possibly one of the only times that such a fight between a prosecutor and their detective had occurred in Canterlot’s law office.

Dire grimaced, and sat back in his seat. He stared down just once more at the note before him. Or, rather, a message, for it was less of a note on paper, instead having been written on the ground in the victim’s own blood.

After several seconds of simply staring at it, he threw it back into the drawer of his desk, and slammed the infernal thing shut. Dire placed a single hoof on his forehead, and let out a simple groan of annoyance and frustration. Several more seconds passed with him in that position before he reached into his desk, pulled out a new piece of paper, and began to write down a message to a certain somepony.

-- An Epic for Gilgamesh --
-- Episode 6: The Fruits of Our Labor --
-- Written By ZaleAcon --

“Another mug, Princess?”

Twilight glanced over to her side and saw a waiter, whose gaze was focused on the two empty mugs of coffee that sat on her table. “Oh… um, sure.” After the confirmation, she turned her gaze back to the window outside, where the pre-sunrise sky could be seen.

She was sitting in a simple coffee shop, neither posh nor famous, and she did not care in the slightest. The coffee itself was wretchedly bitter, likely not helped by her desire not to add any milk, cream, or sugar, but that was not the reason that she had gone there in the first place. And, even in spite of everything, Twilight mentally reprimanded herself for having awoken so early for coffee. Or she would have, at least, had it not been for her own inner turmoil.

The events of yesterday had made sleep all but impossible for her to endure. Not even the town’s excitement at Nightmare Night, just less than a week away, could quell the turmoil that had occurred – if anything, its dark and creepy nature only worked to twist the knife even further.

Between the threat letter to Fluttershy, Gilgamesh’s statements, and the sheer terror of the townsfolk that a monstrous killer was hiding in their midst, Twilight had found sleep to be extraordinarily difficult. She had tossed and turned beneath the covers so much that Spike had decided to sleep downstairs so that she would not awaken him, and the simple feeling of being alone only accentuated her own hidden fear.

She was vaguely aware of the sound of something being placed on the table before her, followed by a muffled “Here you are, Princess.” Using her magic, Twilight levitated the object, a small, ceramic cup, to her lips and drank deep. Although she coughed on the bitter flavor, it had not been nearly as bad as her original interaction with the substance.

“Hey, is this seat taken?” Twilight glanced up to see another unicorn mare, her light-blue coat extremely visible against the brown, gray, and black of the coffee shop. Without waiting for a response – not that Twilight had planned to give one, of course – the mare sat down, and rested her forelegs on the table.

The two sat in silence for several seconds, before the new arrival nodded. “Yeah. I’m sorry about this, but… you seem a bit down. So… what’s the problem?”

Twilight didn’t say anything in reply, instead choosing to continue slowly and silently drink her coffee.

The light-blue mare nodded. “Right. I guess that…” She stopped, and shook her head. “Never mind. Guess it’s kinda weird to have a stranger ask that, huh?” She laughed awkwardly, and turned to look out the window. “Heh… it’s a beautiful dawn – um, pre-dawn – huh?”

For just a second, Twilight thought she could see something in the mare’s eyes, but that quickly vanished. “Um… yeah, I guess…?” she replied, although it was never something that she’d really thought about before; Twilight had seen hundreds of days like this, after all, so why would one be so different than the others?

“Yeah…” The mare looked over to the waiter, and smiled. “Hey, can I get something?”

The waiter nodded. “Of course, miss… What will it be?”

“Just a… uh…” The light-blue mare placed a hoof on her chin as if contemplating, before she smiled. “Yeah, uh… I’ll just take a normal coffee, please. Black, if you don’t mind.”

“Of course, miss,” the waiter repeated, and stepped away from the table.

After several seconds of silence, the mare chuckled again, just as awkwardly as before, and said, “So… you’re Princess Twilight Sparkle, right? What’re you doing in a place like this?”

Twilight shrugged, but didn’t say anything in reply.

“Eh, I can’t say I don’t blame you. It’s… well… quiet here. Peaceful, too.” The mare placed a single hoof on the table, and started to trace something onto the stained wood. “Yeah.”

Another several seconds of that same, awkward silence passed before Twilight looked up. “Um… I’m sorry but… have we met before?”

“Nope.” The answer was both blunt and swift, with neither finesse nor grace in its delivery. “But that doesn’t really matter,” she continued, “now does it? Far as I’m concerned, I saw a pony who looked a bit on the sad side, so I thought I’d see what I could do.”

“I’m not interested in your pity,” Twilight muttered. Under normal circumstances, she would gladly have taken up conversation with this strange mare, but the whirlwind of events only served to deter her urge to talk.

“Probably not. But hey – might as well try, right?” The waiter returned and set the light-blue mare’s coffee mug in front of her, which she gratefully sipped. “It’s like my best friend always says: ‘Every creature deserves aid in their darkest hour, no matter the circumstances.’ Though he’s always prattling along ‘bout stuff like that.” She chuckled, though this time it sounded genuine.

Twilight couldn’t help but smile at that, no matter how small it was, or how large the bags beneath her eyes had grown. “I… I guess,” she admitted, before frowning again. “But my problem’s not that simple – I have to help so many creatures, I…! I feel like I can’t help anypony…”

The light-blue mare smirked in reply. “Really? ‘Cause the last time I checked, you’re Princess Twilight Sparkle, not some run-of-the-mill showmare.” She took another sip of her coffee. “I’m pretty sure that you can do anything you want. Even if it’s something like, say… catching a killer.”

Twilight, who had been drinking from her own mug at the time, promptly spat coffee all over the table. “G… Wait, how’d you know about that…?” she gasped, still trying to remove traces of hot coffee from her nose.

“Trade secret.” Stretching her hooves up into the air, the mare let out a loud yawn. “I’m kidding, Princess – my best friend and I recently moved into this town. Looks like we picked a bad time, though…” Again that look appeared in her eyes, although Twilight could not quite place what it was.

“Yeah,” Twilight agreed, and turned her gaze back to the window facing the outside world. “Yeah, I guess.”

The mare took one from her mug of coffee, and stood up. “Well, Princess, sorry that I wasn’t able to say much, but…” She shrugged, and rubbed the back of her head. “But, well, I’d better be goin’. Just remember, though – you’re stronger than you seem to think you are.”

She grinned and stepped over to the door. Before she stopped, the strange mare placed some money on the counter, thanked the waiter, and grinned over at Twilight once again. “Well… I’ll see you around, I hope. G’bye, Princess.”

Before Twilight could say anything in response, the light-blue mare had already left the shop, and she turned back to the window outside. Just over the edge of the horizon, the first signs of the rising sun could be seen.

“’Every creature deserves aid in their darkest hour,’ huh?” she heard herself murmur. “I wish it was that simple…”

But still, she could not shake the feeling that the mare had a point; she wasn’t going to find the one threatening Fluttershy’s life and she wouldn’t help all of the ponies of Ponyville by sitting around and moping, right?

So, using all of the energy that she could muster, Twilight stood up, and walked over to the counter. Like that mare before her, she paid for the coffee, thanked the waiter, and stepped out as the sunrise began to wash over her.

Today was a brand new day, after all, and she would not let it go to waste.

The sound of splintered wood was the only warning that Gilgamesh had before his door exploded open. Shards of what appeared to be birch showered the floor in front of it, and the light burst through the new opening and into his house.

He groaned, realizing that the so-called “light” consisted of the sun having only just peeked over the horizon, and rolled back onto his side. “T-Twilight,” he muttered, “can’t you just lemme sleep for once…? So tired…”

“Found ya at last, ya jerk!” came an indignant shout from the door, and Gilgamesh felt his eyes instantly burst open, the sleep literally tearing away from them.

Had he been any quicker, he would gladly have jumped up and run away. Instead, however, neither of those options was available to him as the voice’s silhouette blocked the door. Instead, Gilgamesh used the ancient art of pretending that he could not be seen by laying still, and hoping that the intruder would go away in due time.

“Ah’m not movin’ from this spot ‘til you come out here!”

Well, that certainly did not work as planned. In any case, Gilgamesh knew that the insane creature would likely attack him as soon as he stepped onto the ground. Then again, how could he know that? He didn’t know her – he surmised from the voice that the creature was female – personally. But still, he had to be careful and cautious, just in case she truly was a dangerous beast.

Gilgamesh stealthily stepped down, his feet making no sounds as they brushed against the wooden floor. Hurriedly, he placed his blade’s scabbard on his side, and set his hand on its hilt as he slowly walked over to the figure at the front door – or its remains, at least.

“Yes… can I help you?” he asked the equine, now able to see her features more carefully. She had neither wings nor a horn, but instead wore what appeared to be a straw hat on her head.

Her eyes were narrow, and her lips pulled back into an annoyed frown. “Yeah, ya can ‘help me’! Y’all’re that guy who stole all them apples from my farm the other day, ain’t that right?”

Gilgamesh felt his blood run cold. Just as he’d thought, it was that same, crazy beast that had threatened to slaughter him so brutally on his first day in the town. That statement had all but confirmed it.

“I… have no idea what is it that you are proclaiming,” Gilgamesh lied, feeling sweat on his brow. “Verily, this exposition of yours is utterly irrelevant to me, for I have not acted according to your theorem.”

The equine narrowed her eyes even further, but did not take her eyes off of him. “Twi’ told me ‘bout this… somethin’ about ya havin’ ta use words like that when ya were lyin’! Plus, Ah remember ya perfectly from then! Same gangly arms, same height…”

Gilgamesh crossed his arms, attempting to calm himself mentally and avoid any direct confrontation. He may have been one of the most dangerous warriors in the world, but even he knew his limits. “Alright,” he responded, “let’s say that I am this guy who committed this act of thievery. What do you want, exactly?” There, he’d managed to fix his language and make himself seem much more relaxed, even though he could still feel moisture beneath his helmet.

“Well, first of all,” growled the equine, “I want ya to reimburse me – no, my whole family – for yer thievery! Them apples ain’t as easy ta grow as ya seem to think!”

“Yeah, apples don’t grow on trees…” Gilgamesh muttered as dryly as possible. He blinked just once and grimaced; maybe this world was a worse influence than he’d originally assumed.

“What was that?!”

“N-nothing! No, I most certainly did not declare anything in that short span of time!”

If looks could kill, as the saying went, then Gilgamesh was completely sure that he would be ten times over. Instead – whether it was fortunate or not – he was still very much alive.

The equine grit her teeth. “Fine,” she muttered, “but that still doesn’t change what ya did! And not just them apples, either – Ah heard that ya destroyed that pitchfork of ours, which ya also stole!”

Gilgamesh stared down at the mare with the same annoyed look. “I don’t think that one counts. I was trying to save the diamond dogs, after all! And plus, look at what you’ve done here –” he gestured to what remained of the door “– so if anyone needs to be ‘reimbursed,’ I’d say that it’s me!”

“Tch! Ya wouldn’t open up, so I had ta take measures inta my own hooves. And it don’t matter if ya tried ta save those guys, ‘cause ya coulda done it without that pitchfork!”

“’Twas a trident, not some mere farmer’s tool!” Gilgamesh countered. “Stop dodging the reality of this situation – you completely obliterated my door, so I’d say that we’re about even, wouldn’t you?”

Instead, like some sort of stubborn, unstoppable force, the equine only became even more enraged by that. “We’re far from ‘even,’ Gilgamesh.” She stepped closer to him, causing him to step back in response. “Fine! Ah’ll concede that the tri… that the pitchfork’s covered, but the apples? Y’all’re gonna have ta pay me back for those!” Another step forward, and Gilgamesh felt himself literally become backed up against a wall. “And Ah’m not gonna take ‘no’ for an answer!”

“Fine, fine, fine!” Gilgamesh shouted, partly to keep the surprisingly terrifying creature from getting any closer. “How much is it that you want?! Two? Ten? Twenty?”

“Oh, no – it ain’t gonna be that simple, Ah’m afraid.” Her mouth twisted into a smirk. “Ya stole apples? Then yer gonna replace ‘em! Yer gonna replace all of ‘em that ya stole –” she leaned in closer, eyes narrowing even more than they already had been “– and make up for it tenfold.”

“T-ten…” Gilgamesh gasped, peeling himself away from the wall. “But that is…! That’s just…!”

The equine stepped closer to him. “It’s a fittin’ punishment for a thief like yerself… or are ya gonna just run away again? ‘Cause if ya’re gonna do that, Ah’ll just keep raising yer sentence even more! How’s twenty-fold sound? Fifty? Or maybe y’all’re in the mood for a hundred?”

“G…!” Gilgamesh managed to gasp, and the cold realization of the moment struck him like a train; if he fled, he would only be making everything worse on himself. If he remembered correctly, this insane mare was one of Twilight’s many friends, and given his track record with her, it was likely that her friends hated him just as much as she did.

“Well?!”

Gilgamesh grit his teeth. Farming wasn’t even the most difficult job for him to deal with, and planting and tending to ten trees would be of no consequence whatsoever – heck, he could probably finish it all within two hours, give or take a few minutes. But what truly got to him about the matter was the fact that he would have to swallow his pride in order to do so. A warrior such as him, so built for combat and war, going into a field to plant trees? It was unthinkable, demeaning, a waste of his talents!

Then again, wasn’t the piano, as well? Gilgamesh bit back the thought, but also kept inside the fact that he had found the instrument to be an excellent way to relieve stress in the past several days, especially given yesterday’s events. It had already been bad enough that he had so nearly broken down in front of the very creature that had driven him to such distress.

But he had to. Still, even through all of his pride, stubbornness, and desire to be in charge, Gilgamesh had to force himself to work with the possibly dangerous mare. “Fine,” he growled through his teeth, although he twisted them into a sort of disturbing smile. “Fine, just… let’s get this over with.”

“Believe me,” deadpanned the mare, “Ah just want the same thing. Oh, before Ah forget… my name’s Applejack.”

Of course it was.

Several scrolls, letters, books, and memos were sprawled out across the library floor, all of which were either opened, disheveled, or both. Twilight sat at her desk, looking over a particularly hefty stack of papers, before letting out a cry of irritation and throwing all of those onto the floor with the others.

Spike stepped around the mess, re-shelving the many works in an effort to avoid having to do it later. “T-Twilight…” he groaned in frustration and tiredness as the papers scattered all across the area, “can’t you… go a bit slower?”

She looked back over at him. “Sorry about that one, Spike,” she said sheepishly, “but I need to find information on this as quickly as possible, and all of these other things are just getting in my way!”

She was referring, of course, to the mysterious events of the past several days. Not only had Gilgamesh arrived in that time, but that strange bug had appeared out of thin air, that monstrous storm had occurred, and the death threat to Fluttershy had been sent. Twilight was absolutely certain that there was a connection between the cases, but no magic books that she’d been looking through detailed anything of the beetle-like monstrosity.

Contrary to her original thoughts on the matter, creating a storm of that caliber was a spell listed in at least one of her resources, but it was only to be cast by the most dangerous and magic-savvy unicorns – which was to say, maybe two percent of them at most. And even then, that was probably too high of a number due to many unicorns with that sort of magical ability being mostly specialized to a specific art. Not to mention the fact that the spell required hours of careful preparation, and even the slightest deviation would completely ruin it, causing potentially disastrous effects for the caster.

And, of course, that still left two matters incomplete: namely, the threat letter to Fluttershy and her treatment of Gilgamesh over the past several days. Of course, the latter could be dealt with at the appropriate time, but the former was too pertinent to ignore.

“Well, maybe it’s not as magical as you think,” Spike mumbled, stretched out his back, and rubbed at his sleep-deprived eyes. “Isn’t it possible that the bug thing just crawled in from some unknown country? Or maybe even Tartarus?” He yawned just once, and went back to picking a particularly large scroll off of the wooden floor of the library.

“No, and no,” Twilight said, her gaze turned back towards her latest inquiry (A Gathering of Magic, written by the famed wizard and knight, Coast Guard). “Princess Celestia and Princess Luna told me that a thing like that hasn’t been seen in Equestria since… well… it’s never been seen by anypony. Ever.” She glared down at the book, flipping through its pages with such speed that the poor thing was bound to be torn apart at the seams. “And it can’t’ve come up from Tartarus, Spike, because it hasn’t even been seen in there.” The book slammed shut, its contents proven to be completely worthless to her latest inquiry, and was unceremoniously thrown over Twilight’s shoulder.

Spike dove, catching the tome just before it struck the ground, and stood up. “So… whatever that thing was, it’s not from around here? Like… our world, here?”

“I think so, but… well, I’m not really sure,” Twilight admitted, perusing through a scroll. “Whatever it is, I’m sure that it’s connected to Gilgamesh showing up here… and to the storm two days ago, and to the incident with Fluttershy.”

“Well, we’ve always had weird things happen around here,” Spike deadpanned, “so why is it so strange that we have some other things happening now? I mean, a day where Ponyville isn’t put in some sort of danger seems more unlikely than one where it is.”

Twilight grimaced, and turned away from the latest object of her study to look over at him. “That’s… a good point,” she admitted, “but still, having so many of these unlikely events occurring so close to each other is just… well, it’s unlikely, for one thing.” Spike opened his mouth to say something, but Twilight cut him off: “And before you say anything about Pinkie, or anypony else, I want you to think about the fact that Gilgamesh and that beetle are literally not from our world – or at least, that seems to be the common theory with the latter…”

Spike grimaced, though he continued his work. “Yeah, I know that part… and I will admit that it’s a bit weird, but still!” He raised his arms into the air, rapidly flapping them about as if in an effort to validate his point. “Still, think about it, Twilight! Gilgamesh and that monster are aliens, kind of, but where did that thing come from?”

Twilight placed a hoof on her chin, as a memory poked at her brain:

“No, there’s just something familiar about this thing. It is odd, yet… I feel as if I've witnessed a creature like this before, somewhere…”

Her eyes became wide in realization, and she placed a hoof on the table in an effort to keep herself steady. “Gilgamesh… thought that it was familiar…!” she breathed. “But wait, does that mean that…?!”

Spike stepped over to her. “Um… Twilight, are you feeling okay? Wait… what did you just realize? What happened?!”

Twilight simply stared off into the distance, the dots connecting themselves in her head. If, as she theorized, the creature had really come from Gilgamesh’s world, then how had it appeared in Equestria? Or in any country of their world, at that? Hypothetically speaking, the strange beast should not have had a way through to their world.

“Did it stow away with Gilgamesh?” Twilight heard herself mutter. “But it couldn’t have, right…? Unless it managed to escape before I found him… But he didn’t say anything about it, so…”

She was brought back to reality by the sight of a purple hand being waved in front of her face. She blinked just once, before following the hand back to its source. “Oh, uh… Spike.”

“Twilight, are you feeling okay?” he repeated. “You just sorta… looked off into the distance, and then your eyes glazed over… and then you started mumbling to yourself…”

Again, Twilight blinked. Had she just gone off on one of Gilgamesh’s famous tangents? Well, she supposed that was what happened when she didn’t get enough sleep, and briefly pondered whether or not the same was true of him before the reality of the situation kicked in.

“Spike, can you finish up reorganizing these works?” Twilight asked, gesturing to the many, many different pieces of paper that still littered the floor. “I need to go and find Gilgamesh, and quickly!”

Though he opened his mouth to object to cleaning up the rest of the library, Spike found himself staring at an empty room, the door outside thrown open and Twilight rushing down the street towards the area of Ponyville where Gilgamesh lived.

Gilgamesh was, of course, not at home. At the moment, he was too busy hoisting a plow about the field to focus on such matters. His back ached, but he didn’t complain. His sides were cramping from the sheer weight of the accursed thing, but he still didn’t object to the treatment.

At least, he did not verbally. The confounded thing scraped through the dirt at a speed not unlike that of a snail, and likely weighed about five-thousand times as much. His shoulders cracked whenever he made even the slightest of movements, and the pain was even worse than picking up the boulders in order to save Grant’s friends two days ago.

He let out yet another grunt of pain as the obnoxiously slow device scraped across the dirt. It was a thing designed for equines, not humanoids, but Applejack had insisted that he be “strapped with it well an’ good,” or something along those lines. Still, at the very least it gave him the chance to wonder the various ways he could make her pay for the agony and humiliation he was enduring.

Yes, he had stolen her apples. Yes, he had stolen her trident. But she’d also completely obliterated his door, essentially blackmailed him, and forced him to perform hard labor in exchange for not making him do as much work later on.

Seriously, did the creatures of Ponyville exist just to make his life as painful as possible?

Another snap, followed by a particularly painful and disgusting pop, and Gilgamesh continued stumbling down the ten-yard stretch wherein he was to plant the ten new trees. On the plus side, he was at least halfway there.

On the minus side, his shoulders, upper back, and legs felt completely ruined by the labor. No matter what else occurred, his body simply was not built to carry a plow across the ground in that manner. It would have been far better had he just been given an easier way to sow the soil. It was in that instant that Gilgamesh questioned why he had jumped up and declared that he could, of course, carry the plow across the ground, even when Applejack had asked if it would be too much.

On second thought, maybe he really was the only creature making his life so difficult.

It would have been the perfect time to enter into one of his famous tangents, to hide away his mind as his body drunkenly stumbled across the path, only to awaken at the very end. But the pain was so great that any thoughts of doing so were only reacted to by what felt like a bolt of lightning running throughout his body.

It was in that instant that Applejack – who had been bucking at trees nearby – stepped over to him, and looked over his body with no small amount of pity evident in her eyes. “Um… Gilgamesh? Are ya sure that you can carry that thing ‘round? Looks to me like y’all’re havin’ yerself a bit of trouble with it.”

Gilgamesh’s only response was a groan of pain, followed by yet another bone cracking, possibly literally. Now was his chance to get that accursed contraption off of his back, but he still said nothing on the matter.

Instead, he merely scoffed at the idea. “Ha! Trouble? That is absolutely absurd!” He crossed his arms, wincing as they seemed to snap under the weight of the plow. “Gn… Yes, yes, of course!”

Applejack narrowed her eyes. “Listen, Ah know Ah don’t seem like the smartest apple in the bunch, but Ah can assure ya that Ah know when y’all’re lyin’ ta me, and ya ain’t the best liar, either. So,” she growled, “tell me the truth, won’t’cha?”

Gilgamesh rolled his eyes in response, his head being one of the few parts of his body that did not feel as if it was wont to collapse at any given moment. “I have told you nothing but the truth!” he lied. “I assure you that I am in no more agony than any other case of my life. Besides, carrying this contraption is certainly a simple matter!”

“Yeah, Ah’m sure it is,” Applejack muttered. “Listen, Ah know ya wanna be all tough an’ that sorta thing, but there ain’t no purpose to it! The point of this was ta get ya ta pay off what ya did, not shatter yer back!” As if to accentuate her point, she poked his spinal column, causing a large crack to emanate the area followed by Gilgamesh wincing. “See?”

But Gilgamesh was too stubborn – or, rather, too powerful! Yes, that was it – to admit his error in the moment, and instead continued walking down the path. “As I have said, I feel no pain from… Gak!” He let out a gasp of agony as his shoulders cracked again, the sound echoing across the entirety of the area. “U-urgh… Yes, I am… erk… f-fine…!”

Why could he not admit his flaws? He’d had trouble with it yesterday. He had admitted the truth, that the equines seemed to all deride him immensely, to Twilight without any sort of fear, so why could he not simply say that the plow caused him no small amount of pain? Was he so obsessed with his want to be strong that he was even willing to destroy his own body in order to be perceived as powerful?

But he wasn’t being powerful – he was just being stubborn and idiotic. The chance had been laid before him, and still he did not say anything that could help himself. A shame that he didn’t have any magic that could assist him in the given moment. Being able to shoot missiles from your hands, jump really high, and self-destruct only went so far.

That’s when a new thought exploded into Gilgamesh’s mind. Of course, it had been something that had never occurred to him before. Why would it have? Using a spell such as that in the given circumstances would have been useless, otherwise, but if he could increase his working speed…

The smallest smile fell on his lips, and Applejack raised an eyebrow in response. “Um… are you feelin’ okay, Gilgamesh? Ya just kinda spaced out there for a couple of minutes…” Despite the circumstances, she looked genuinely concerned. “If ya’re havin’ so much trouble with this, Ah could always go an’ get ya some water or somethin’…”

Gilgamesh’s smile broke out into a full grin, and he stood tall. “Of course!” he declared. “That is the solution!” Honestly, how could he not have seen it earlier? It was so obvious. And to top it off, he had somehow gone off onto one of his tangents even when plagued with so much agony. That hadn’t quite been what he had expected, and it was a pleasant surprise.

“Huh?” Applejack blinked just once. “What are ya talkin’ ‘bout?”

The pain briefly forgotten, Gilgamesh looked about the area, hoping that the spell would work properly. “Okay…” he murmured, ignoring the watchful eye of his captor – if she could be considered that, of course. “Haste!”

A greenish aura began to dance about his body as soon as the last letter left his lips. All at once, the world seemed to slow around him, if only marginally – or perhaps he was just moving much faster. In either case, the result was the same: namely, that Gilgamesh felt new vigor enter into his body.

Yes! It was absolutely perfect! He took a single step forward, and his body already felt far lighter. Now it just needed some additional touches, and he would be completely ready to venture further across the field the full distance.

“Alright, let’s see,” he muttered, looking deep within himself for additional spells to assist his current status. “Hmm, yes, this seems like it would do… Okay, Regen!” A new aura appeared about him, joining with the greenish one of Haste, and he instantly felt most of his pains begin to vanish. “Ah, perfect…”

“Um… Gilgamesh?” he turned to see Applejack, who was knitting her brow. “What was that fancy magic? And why’s yer color like that thing that came over here the other day?”

Gilgamesh straightened his back, the pain having mostly receded. “Well,” he admitted, “let’s just say that this should make the job far easier.”

Again, he took a single step, reveling in the new power that he seemed to display. And how odd it was that all that it necessitated was for him to be ridiculously stubborn, and to not accept help when he actually required it.

Gilgamesh suddenly stopped, realizing his error – he had already covered much of the track, and his body felt completely healed, so why was he so busy reveling in his own new strength? In fact if anything, he owed Applejack for having given him the ability to cast the magic, not himself; had it not been for her, after all, he would not have stopped long enough to have become engaged in that tangent.

But what surprised him more than anything was the discovery of how his magic could be used in far more than battle. Even the most simple, most mundane of tasks could be made far easier with the usage of simple time and blue magic… maybe even black magic could be useful – despite the fact that it was created specifically for combat. And the help of white magic – the ability to heal oneself or one’s allies – would obviously be helpful, as well.

Maybe if he ever got back home, he could work on implementing such an idea. After all, by that time Exdeath would surely be dead, right?

He suddenly felt a lump in his throat, but continued to soldier on. The end of the path was in sight, and he felt relieved at having almost finished the first step in paying off his debt. But still, that thought from yesterday continued to nag at the back of his skull like some sort of annoying worm.

What if he really couldn’t get home? What if he would be forced to spend the rest of his life, which he knew to be a very long one, trapped in this world, along with creatures that obviously despised him so greatly?

How long would it take before he sufficiently enraged them to the point where he would have to begin wandering again?

Alone.

He shuddered, feeling the weight of the plow, but not seeing it. The world had gone completely white before his eyes, and he stumbled in a drunken stupor down the path as the questions continued to chip away.

What if he never got the chance to see or face his rivals again? What if somehow he was destroying his world by not being there as he walked about, unable to do anything about his fate, or any others’?

What if that creature, Fluttershy, was cut down because he had abandoned her? What if Twilight truly did hate him so much that she wanted to see him locked away, no longer a threat to her world or her friends? What if they all hated him to that extent?

The world was still unseen, and Gilgamesh could not feel anything anyone. Everything seemed almost numbed to him, nonexistent. What did it matter, anyway? Unless there was some sort of miracle, he would never be able to return home.

At the moment, he would rather be within the rift. That would at least give him some hope of reprieve, but here? This dimension, world, universe, or whatever it could be considered seemed to have no true connection with his own. It simply seemed to be that Exdeath had overshot his original target, and nothing more than that. If anything, sending him to the world of the equines was a worse punishment than simply slaughtering him, or sending him into the rift between dimensions.

There, at least, he would not have to worry about the creatures around him despising him so much. There, at least, he could slaughter the beasts with nary a care in the world, no guilt, and no sorrow over it.

At least in there, he wouldn’t feel so terrified that a strange, pun- and pastel-filled world held a killer so insidious as the one who had sent that message, and he wouldn’t feel fear for the life of a creature he did not even know. No, the rift would have been a boon. The rift would have been grand. Perfect, even!

Gilgamesh blinked just once, and found himself walking straight into what seemed to be a tree, and Applejack yelling at him from behind, “Hey, Gilgamesh! Wake up, won’t’cha!”

The world came into view around him, the whiteness fading and being replaced by colors and shapes. He blinked again, and looked around him for several seconds, before turning back to the plow behind him before jumping in surprise.

In the time that he had been questioning everything about his own self worth, the worth the others saw him in, and whether or not the rift would have been a better place to call home, Gilgamesh had walked no less than one hundred yards. The path had been burned into the ground in his stumbling about, but the combined healing and quickening of his magic had left him completely numb to any pain that might have resulted from it.

He looked about him in a sort of daze, before looking over at Applejack. She grimaced, and shook her head just once. “Sheesh! If ya wanted ta pull that plow so badly, ya just had ta ask!” She smiled awkwardly and coughed. “Er… yeah, so…”

Gilgamesh looked about him again, still unbelieving of how he could possibly have moved so quickly. Granted, he had cast Haste, but that should not have given him that much speed. But still, that only begged the question…

“How long was I… er… ‘out’?” he asked.

“Out, huh? Well, Ah’d say that, uh… well, yer eyes glazed over ‘bout fifteen minutes ago, if that means anythin’.” She gestured to the tree in front of him. “Yeah, y’all’ve been walkin’ into that there tree fer the last five minutes, too.”

Fifteen minutes?! How could that possibly be? His tangents usually lasted no more than one minute, but that one had taken so long to fully accomplish. Were they getting longer? Was it because he was so tired?

He struggled to come back to reality, and to avoid going off on yet another one. “Er… yes, my apologies,” he said sheepishly. “I seem to have drifted off, there… It must have been a lack of sleep. Or something,” he added.

Applejack regarded him cautiously for several seconds, and let out a sigh. “Well, Ah can’t blame ya. Heard ya were up all night practicin’ that piano of yers. Guess Ah, uh… Ah shoulda woken ya up later, huh? Prob’ly’ve given ya a bit more rest, at least…” Her ears flattened, to the point where they could not be seen beneath her hat. “Ah… Ah’m sorry.”

Gilgamesh blinked. Wait, why was she apologizing to him? He was the one who had just randomly spaced out in the middle of his efforts, and had done more than one hundred times his original act just because he had been so obsessed with relieving his stress the night prior. If anything, he should have been the one saying that he was sorry.

He pulled the plow from his body, finally feeling very liberated of its weight, and free to roll his muscular shoulders without having to worry about his bones cracking relentlessly.

How the various weapons that he would always wield – often consisting of swords, naginatas, maces, and the like – weighed less than a common plow was something that he would likely question for the rest of his life. Or until he decided to ask. Either way.

However, he turned his attention to the disappointed mare in front of him, and nodded his head slowly. “There is no need for you to apologize,” he declared, placing his hands on his hips in that most heroic of fashions that he used. “Nay! It is entirely unnecessary, as you are not at fault here for what has transpired here!”

Applejack raised an eyebrow. “Um… Ya seem kinda nervous, Gilgamesh. Are ya sure y’all’re feelin’ okay?”

“But of course!” Gilgamesh said, once more attempting to change his vocabulary in an effort to make himself appear more calm. How Twilight had realized that before him was something he would never quite understand, but that was a matter to be looked at later. “I… I feel completely and utterly fine. Yes, I… er… Why are you staring at me like that?”

Applejack’s head was craned forward, her body low on the ground, and her eyes a cold glare that seemed to delve into and strangle Gilgamesh’s very soul. “Oh, no reason,” she said, the most obvious sarcasm in the world evident on her words. “Course, not like ya would lie ta me, huh?”

Gilgamesh crossed all eight of his arms, and looked away from her. Suddenly, he wished that he had not awoken from that ridiculously long tangent of his. “N-no! No, no, of course not! Why would I ever make such an insidious… I-I mean, wh-why would I ever tell a not-truth? A very, very big not-truth like that, too.”

There, how could she question that sort of logic? Not only had he averted his abuse of massive words, but he had also managed to speak to her in a completely informal, calm manner.

Instead, the eyes of pure ice bit further into his soul, threatening it to be completely devoured, as Applejack straightened her back, her legs suddenly turning stiff. “Are… Are ya makin’ fun of me?!” she shouted in reply. “’Cause Ah ain’t no idjit, if that’s what y’all’re thinkin’!”

“No, no, no!” Gilgamesh said, trying to quiet the pure, unfiltered anger in her voice. “I-I would never think such a thing! Why would I ever make the assumption that your mental prowess is anything b–”

“Y’all’re doin’ it again, Gilgamesh!” snapped Applejack.

But he, in his stubbornness and momentary idiocy, decided instead to refute her claims. “I am doing no such thing!” he blatantly lied, before realizing just what he had said, and chose to change the subject in an effort to get away from the pony. “And besides, wouldn’t it be best if we start finishing this up? I’d rather not spend my entire day debating over points that, clearly, neither of us will win!”

After all, how hard was it for him to keep them from hating him? He wasn’t about to admit his fears; they would probably just laugh at him, or refuse to admit the fact that they all despised him so heavily. But in that case, why was Applejack so insistent on burrowing deep into his mind, on disarming his lies? It wasn’t as if it truly mattered in the end.

She stared at him for several seconds, both of them unmoving under the sun of the early morning, before she grit her teeth and let out a sigh. “Fine,” she muttered, “Ah’ll just get ya those seeds, and ya can… plant… the…” She blinked, and looked past Gilgamesh, prompting him to turn his head.

Behind him, a certain winged unicorn with a particularly purple body could be seen, sprinting as fast as seemingly possible. She ran up to them and paused, panting heavily.

“Twi’?” Applejack asked, cocking her head to side a bit. “What’re ya doin’ here? Ah thought ya were s’posed ta be in the library.”

Twilight Sparkle coughed, obviously still recovering from her run, and held up a hoof until she was entirely composed. Even then, she still sounded awkward.

Or, rather, she sounded like Twilight Sparkle.

Gilgamesh bit back the urge to put those words into thought, forcing back his current anxiety and anger at her until after he heard what she had to say.

“I-I was looking all over for you…!” Twilight gasped. “I ran to your house, but the door was broken down, so I spent the last hour asking around Ponyville trying to find you… and then somepony told me that you’d come here with Applejack, and…” She paused, thoughtfully. “Wait, what the hay are you doing here?”

Gilgamesh opened his mouth in order to speak, but Applejack got to it first. “Ah’m sorry Twilight… it’s my fault!” Her ears flattened. “Ah was still kinda angry at him for what he did four days ago, so Ah… uh…”

“So she broke down my door, blackmailed me, and forced me to perform menial labor,” Gilgamesh deadpanned, his face as neutral as he could possibly make it.

Twilight stared at him for several seconds, likely attempting to take in this new information. “Um… wait, you did WHAT?!” she shouted, turning back to Applejack. “I know he made you angry, but really? And Gilgamesh –” she gestured to his body “– what’s up with that coloration, too? Seriously, what’s going on here?!”

Applejack’s cheeks became bright red. “Erm… w-well, Ah… yeah…” She turned her head away, likely in an effort to avoid showing any more creatures the new coloration. “After he stole my pitchfork and all of them apples, Ah… Ah jus’ lost my temper… so Ah wanted him ta work off what he’d stolen!”

“Ten times what I’d stolen,” Gilgamesh said, still trying to keep his face neutral, but feeling just as sheepish to admit to his wrongdoing. “And I would have no qualms doing such a thing, normally!”

Twilight raised an eyebrow, and looked between the two. “Okay… and what about that strange aura?”

“This,” Gilgamesh responded, striking yet another heroic pose, moving fairly slowly in an effort for his movements to be captured at normal speed, “is the combined effort of a regeneration spell and a speed spell. Both are fairly commonplace in my world, but are mostly used for the sake of combat, and combat alone. And,” he added, “are apparently very useful for pulling a heavy plow across several yards of land. Several dozen yards of land, I should say.”

“What…” Twilight’s eyes seemed to bulge out of their sockets. “Huh?! B-but… but you… You ate that much?!”

Gilgamesh blinked, realizing the wrongness of his statement, and quickly waved his eight hands in an effort to dispel Twilight’s shock. “No! No, no, no, no, no!” How many times had he said “no” today? It must have been at least one hundred by that point. “I… erm…” How was he to explain the fact that he had completely lost consciousness halfway through the journey?

Luckily, he didn’t. “He just went and spaced out halfway through,” Applejack said, her face looking much less red. “He only had ta go ten yards, and he went a hundred instead! Can ya believe it, Twi’?”

“Let me guess: his eyes glazed over, didn’t they?” Twilight’s voice was completely deadpan.

“Yup,” Applejack said in reply, her voice similarly neutral.

The two simply stared at each other for several seconds, before they began to giggle. Although they covered their mouths with their hooves, the sounds of mirth were still quite evident, leaving Gilgamesh to question just what was so funny about it.

Gilgamesh waited until the two had calmed down, which took several minutes, before asking, “You seemed to be in a rush, Twilight. Do you need something?” Unlike the more informal tone he’d often used, this one burned with nothing but sheer distaste, scorn, and the smallest, smallest touch of bitterness. “Because if you do, I would be happy to help you with it.”

“O-oh, right…” Twilight said, the giggle-fest instantly forgotten. “Well, first of all… I wanted to apologize again about last night. And about all the other times, too.”

Gilgamesh raised an eyebrow, but said nothing. Why was she apologizing now? Did she not realize that it was far too late to undo the trouble, pain, and sorrow that she had caused for him? That his entire crisis that day had been entirely because of her, her selfishness, and her despise towards him?

Granted, he likely deserved much of it in his stubbornness and arrogance, and made a mental note to cut back on those in the future in order to avoid potentially angering the denizens of the world and finding himself banished.

Twilight took in a deep breath. “I… Okay, yeah, you were a bit of a jerk at the time. And arrogant. And you always bragged about yourself. And–” She paused, and let out a sigh. “Right. I could go on all day about how you broke into my friend’s house, or how you robbed my friend, or how you insulted everypony here, and tried to KILL AT LEAST ONE OF M–” She paused again, took in a deep breath, and let it out. “But… you also did some good things, too. And I owe you an apology for all the times that I really was a jerk to you – I guess it never crossed my mind that you had actual feelings.” She froze, realized what she’d just said, and pressed a hoof to her forehead.

“No, please,” Gilgamesh said, his voice dripping pure sarcasm. “Go on.”

“U-um… I… uh…” Twilight stuttered, coughed, and looked away, her cheeks now crimson. “I… I know that I made a lot of wrong choices based around you, so… I-I’m sorry.”

There were two options before Gilgamesh. He could either forgive Twilight for her acts toward him, in which case he would be the bigger creature – both literally and metaphorically. It would also give him the chance to prove that he was willing to give her a chance, secure his place in that village, make him seem normal, maybe let him finally get a chance to actually stay somewhere, relax, and…

The second option never even entered his mind after that point. It would have been foolish to have chosen anything else, especially given the terror that his latest tangent had filled him with, and the fact that its solution was so obvious.

“Very well,” he remarked, though it pained him to avoid gloating. “I shall accept your forgiveness.”

“Wait… y-you will?!” Twilight gasped, obviously not having expected that response. “I-I mean… I just thought that…”

“That I would make you jump through hoops, or some other thing as that?” Gilgamesh laughed, although it was less a “laugh” and more of a “half-hearted, semi-depressed chuckle” – the sound of a creature that had chosen the path of good over arrogance. “Ha! You wound me with your accusations, Twilight Sparkle! What reason would I have to do such a thing? None! Ha… Ha…” He trailed off, before rubbing the back of his neck with his hand.

“Um… okay…?” Twilight said uneasily, raising one eyebrow before passing Applejack a glance. “Well… uh… in that case, can you tell me your opinion about something? It’s… um… it’s something that I’ve been worried about since this morning, and I thought that you’d know–”

The rest of her words became unintelligible as Gilgamesh blocked them from his mind. Of course, she wasn’t apologizing because she was legitimately sorry, or wanted his friendship, or anything like that – it was all over some stupid, probably meaningless question that meant absolutely nothing. Once again, Twilight Sparkle had proven that not only did she have a ridiculous name, but she was also only interested in Gilgamesh because of his abilities, and nothing more than that.

“– but yeah, like I was saying,” Twilight continued, pulling Gilgamesh back to reality. “About that monster from the other day… that weird, empty, beetle thing… You said that you remembered it, right? That you’d seen it somewhere before?”

Gilgamesh blinked just once, and placed a hand on his chin. “Yes, I believe so,” he admitted, “but what about it? Just because I recognized it does not mean anything! It is plausible that a beast such as that was bred in your land, right?”

“No,” Twilight replied. “It was… Well, nopony’s seen anything like it around here, so I wondered if it existed back on your world.”

“I see,” Gilgamesh said, rubbing his chin with one of his right hands. “So you presume that it came from my world?”

“Yeah. I think so, at least.” Twilight grimaced. “It makes the most sense out of all of our options, I think. Maybe when you came here, it hitched along for the ride?”

Gilgamesh shook his head. “I doubt that. It is possible that it came from my world – or half of it, at least – but it could not have come here with me.” Before Twilight could ask why, he continued, “As I just said, my world is actually split into two halves – but the part that I was in had no such creatures wandering it.”

Twilight blinked. “T-two halves? What do you mean by that?”

He sighed, and waved her off. “Eh, I can explain later. But for now, let’s just say that it would have been impossible for that thing to have followed me here.”

“Okay, then…” Twilight said. “But what if it came here some… other way?”

“’Some other way?’” Gilgamesh asked. “And what ‘other way’ could that possibly be? Like I said, it would be impossible for it have–”

“What if it was sent here, too?” Twilight asked, and the overall mood of the area shifted. “Or… what if it somehow crossed the border between our worlds?”

Gilgamesh instantly felt the world around him grow cold. Was it possible? No. It wouldn’t be possible for it to travel there of its own accord, especially given that their worlds were not interconnected in the same vein as his own world and Bartz’s. It would have had to enter the rift first – already an impossible feat for a literally empty being – and enter Twilight’s world from there, which would already be immensely difficult due to the rift likely not being open from there.

But what if it was sent over?

“Gilgamesh, are you feeling alright?” Twilight asked, for once looking actually concerned over his health. “Your face just turned completely white… Wait, did you just realize something about that creature?!”

Was it possible? Could some creature have sent it to Twilight’s world by accident – or worse, on purpose?

No. It couldn’t have been an accident; Banish was not a spell that functioned in that manner, as it required a focused and pointed destination for a creature to actually be thrown into that location, with even the slightest of deviations causing it to malfunction. Exdeath had obviously lost focus in casting it, which had thrown him into Equestria, and if the target had been the same area, it could not be a mere coincidence.

Applejack, who had just idly been watching Gilgamesh’s and Twilight’s conversation, stepped over to him. “Gilgamesh, are ya really feelin’ okay? ‘Cause if ya’re not, Ah can–”

She never finished that thought, however, as the sheer terror, horror, and fear gripped Gilgamesh like a vice. His legs gave way under him, and he felt himself fall back, his head colliding with the tree behind him. Luckily, his helmet kept the damage from being too great, but it was less the pain of falling into a tree and more so the fact that he locked his knees that led to Gilgamesh’s undoing.

The last thing he heard before the world turned black was Twilight’s voice, filled with genuine panic: “Oh, Sweet Celestia! Applejack, quick! Find something, anyth–!”

And then silence.

Dire looked up from his desk to the sound of a hoof rapping on his door from the other side. “It’s unlocked,” he said, just loud enough to be heard out in the hallway.

The knob slowly turned, before the door completely opened. A single pony, a familiar earth pony mare, stepped in, and closed the door behind her. “Prosecutor Dire,” were the only words she said at first.

He nodded in turn. “Miss Melody. I see that you got my message?”

As if in a sort of confirmation, she held the letter up and nodded. “Yes,” she said, “I… I received it just a few hours ago. Unfortunately, I was working at the time, so I was unable to completely read it over, but…”

Dire waved her off. “Don’t worry about it too much,” he said in his famous monotone. “But I take it you have realized just why I asked you to come here?”

“Let me guess,” Octavia said, stepping forward. “Did you find any new evidence regarding the case?”

“Yes. And I do believe that you’ll find it to be quite… decisive.” Dire reached into his desk, and pulled out a small piece of paper – a picture from one of the latest crime scenes. On it was depicted a single word, written onto the ground in the victim’s blood. He placed it on the desk in front of him, and rotated it so that his guest could see it properly.

Octavia reached down and picked it up, before her face went completely pale. “Wait a second, isn’t this…?!” She appeared to be hyperventilating, and quickly threw it back down.

“As I said,” Dire continued, “this is quite decisive, wouldn’t you agree?”

“Of course I do!” Octavia replied, her face pulling itself into a small smile. “This… this is perfect! We just have to show it to Princess Celestia, and we can get a retrial without any worries! And then… and then it will all…” She trailed off upon seeing Dire’s expression.

“Miss Melody,” Dire said, his gaze focused on the image, “yes, that will be very beneficial to our case, but… without the proper evidence, there is nothing to prove our point.” He looked up, and met her eyes. “Yes, it is decisive on its own… but it is by no means an instant victory. But,” he quickly added, “that is not to say that we are not close! We are almost there.”

Octavia lowered her gaze to the floor, and bit down on her lower lip. “But… can you, Vinyl, and I really find all of this…? There’s only six days left, after all…”

“Believe me, I understand that,” Dire noted, and he stood up from his desk, turning his gaze to the window and the world outside. “But we are far from alone, here – I asked Doctor Quill if he would look over some new evidence, and I requested Miss Watch and Chief Dreadnaught to ask for further information about the case.”

“That’s something, I guess,” Octavia said. “So… is that all, then? Because I really should get back to practicing.”

Dire felt the edges of his mouth twitch slightly. “For what? Lawyering or music?”

“Both,” she shot back, and turned to leave before stopping halfway. “Oh, and Prosecutor Dire – thank you for this. Even after that… that…”

“Mess?” Dire offered.

“Tragedy,” Octavia said instead. “Even after that, you still came and helped Vinyl and I so much… I’m somewhat sad that it’s coming to a close.”

Dire smirked, although he didn’t turn back to look at her. “I highly doubt that it will end here. If anything, I look forward to seeing what will happen afterward, after we put this wretched thing to an end… But until then, farewell, Miss Melody. And I hope to see you in court.”

Octavia nodded just once, and turned fully around. She got to the door and had it fully opened. Just before she stepped out, however, she turned around and took one last look at him, and the door closed shut.

Dire stood alone, once more, looking out the window and over Canterlot below. He turned to his desk, and that accursed note that rested upon it. Was he glad that new evidence had been discovered? Of course he was, but the facts remained that it was digging deep into his past – that uncomfortable, wretched, disgusting time that he would rather forget.

And that word – that one, monstrous word – only caused the bile to rise in his throat even more.

The moonlit sky gleamed outside of Gilgamesh’s new door, the old, splintered pieces of his previous one having been fully cleaned up and removed. As per the usual, he sat at his piano, fingers dancing across the keys in an effort to finally play something that sounded decent.

And, once more, the sound was something that was actually fairly good.

It was surprising just how quickly he’d been let out of the hospital, especially given that he had completely collapsed, but Gilgamesh was not about to complain. The event had not only allowed him to avoid telling Twilight about his fear, which even now ate away at him, and even made Applejack avoid making him finish his work in the field.

As the time had passed, so too had the spells he’d cast upon himself, but Gilgamesh did not care – at the moment, he was far too busy focusing on his own disbelief that the creatures of the world actually had worried about him, if only for a short period of time. Twilight had even requested his forgiveness, if only in a semi-sarcastic manner.

But, again, that was not what he was focused on at the moment. All that he cared about was putting his frustrations, fears, pains, and sorrows into the instrument before him, and feeling the music flow about his home. Everything else could be worried about tomorrow, when he would actually get the chance to focus on the things that had driven him to unconsciousness in the day.

And then he would finally be able to focus on just where that monstrosity had come from.

Author's Notes:

This story has now been featured over at the Las Pegasus Tribune! Go and give these fantastic people a look!

Honestly, this was a weird chapter for me to write due to all of the events that happened over the course of it, but I still enjoyed several of the scenes immensely, particularly Twilight's interaction with the blue mare in the coffee shop and Gilgamesh's massive tangent. Overall, however, I have to admit that this is more of a set-up and character development chapter, so I promise this won't happen too often.

Also, do not expect later chapters to be this short in the time it takes me to write them - I'm just lucky that this week happens to be one where I don't have much going on, so I can dedicate a lot of time to working on this story.

As always, thank you guys for reading this, and I will try to get the next chapter out as soon as my schedule will let me.

Episode 7: Dragon Your Feet

View Online

The air was cold, a sign of the coming winter, even as the warm, afternoon sun hung over the land. Not a single cloud was present in the pale sky, leading one to assume that the wretched storm from three days ago had been but a mere memory. Even the winds were but a light, gentle breeze that seemed to have been created solely to remind a creature that it existed at all.

Yes, the day was perfect, and Sunny Fields could not have been gladder as a result – after all, her parents had finally relented, and were taking both her and her brother on a picnic into the meadows near their home.

No matter how one was to look at it, today was something that could not have been destroyed by any means. The sun was too bright, the sky too beautiful, and the grass too green. Even the plants all seemed to hold some sort of extra life in the wondrousness of it all.

Sunny felt a brush against her shoulder, followed by a bit of childish giggling. “Heehee! You’re it, Sunny!” She turned around to see her brother, Nimbus Cloud, run off into the distance of the meadow, a grin on his face.

Even though he and she were same age of eight years old, they bore so many differences that it was absolutely astonishing that they were considered twins in the first place – Nimbus, for example, was a pegasus, while Sunny prided herself on being far more grounded as an earth pony.

Sunny rolled her eyes in response, before taking off after him with a similar large grin. “Oh, no you don’t!” she shouted in response, as she closed in on him. “I’m gonna get you~!”

But then he stopped, and Sunny smirked as she smacked him on the shoulder with her hoof. “Ha! Next time, you’d better…” She blinked, and looked over Nimbus’s face. His pupils had become pinpricks, and his normally dark gray face had turned completely white.

“Hey, Nimbus…? What’s wrong?” No response. Sunny waved her hoof in front of his face. “N-Nimbus…? A-are you…?”

All of a sudden the world became darker, as if the sun had vanished and shadows had covered everything. Sunny froze, not wanting to turn around, not wanting to see just what lay behind her, even as a small voice in the back of her mind urged her to do just that. Unable to resist the urge any longer, she spun around towards whatever thing was covering the sky: smoke.

Large, large amounts of smoke – a veritable boatload of the stuff, and possibly even more so than that. And in the midst of it all was a massive… thing. She did not even know how to describe it.

Yes, Sunny had seen dragons in her life – several times they had been seen flying over her house, a multitude of grays, reds, greens, and even blues – but the monstrosity that now soared across the sky so effortlessly could hardly be considered draconic in the slightest.

Was it the size of a dragon? Yes, it was massive, and had those huge, dark wings that seemed to rip apart the world as it burst through the smoke and fire that trailed from its seemingly lipless mouth. But Sunny, though her heart felt as if it had stopped in her chest and she shook tremendously, couldn’t help but feel that something about the dragon was… off. She couldn’t quite place it, given that she felt light-headed and terrified at the sight, but there was something just disturbing about the creature. Something wrong

And then it landed in front of the two foals. Its black eyes glared into theirs, the only sight that Sunny could clearly remember about it.

Why wouldn’t her legs work? Why couldn’t she run? Her legs were petrified, her jaw slack, and her eyes wide, but neither she nor Nimbus could run away from the hulking, gigantic beast.

Where were their parents? Didn’t they know? Where were they? Where were they? WHERE WERE THEY?

Sunny couldn’t even pry her dried-out tongue away from the roof of her mouth to scream in terror as the thing’s large mouth opened, revealing row-upon-row of razor-sharp, perfect teeth. Its movements were still weird, but they were no longer her focus – now they were nothing more than an afterthought.

The creature’s eyes seemed to alter, if for but a moment, and it flew towards them. Again, neither child could move as the dragon’s talons burst through the smoke, seemingly aimed directly at their skulls. But instead of gripping its iron claws on the two ponies, the dragon instead soared over their heads and off into the distance towards the mountains.

Sunny and Nimbus collapsed into the green grass from the wind, looking up with shock and confusion as the smoke cleared away from the sky, and the world became bright and cheery once more.

Then came the cry off in the distance, followed by a great plume of fire bursting into the sky from the nearest mountain’s peak.

-- An Epic for Gilgamesh --
-- Episode 7: Dragon Your Feet --
-- Written By ZaleAcon --

A single page was flipped, and Twilight looked over towards Spike. “Hey, can you hand me that?” She gestured to a particularly hefty tome on the top shelf.

He looked up to the area and let out a low groan, before pressing a clawed hand to his face. “Ugh… Sure thing, Twilight,” he muttered, and attempted to put on a semi-happy face.

She mumbled a quick “Thank you,” and refocused her efforts on the book before her.

Ever since yesterday’s fiasco with Gilgamesh at Sweet Apple Acres, Twilight had been furiously poring over every book she could find on dimensional traveling; fiction, non-fiction, spell books, and even the occasional diary on the subject all lay scattered across the library’s floor, just as they had been yesterday. She had to know everything about the subject, just in case Gilgamesh’s theory had proven to be correct.

Twilight bit down on her lower lip. The more that she thought about him, the guiltier she felt over how she and her friends had treated him. Had he deserved much of it? Definitely, especially given his overinflated ego. But it was clearly getting to be too much, and Celestia probably would not want Gilgamesh to completely isolate himself from the ponies of Equestria. Even more so if he truly knew what was going on in regard to that monstrosity from so many days ago.

She grimaced and shook her head. No, now was hardly the time to obsess over a matter such as that. If she didn’t finish researching the subject, then how could Twilight avoid feeling that her world was about to come under attack by Gilgamesh’s own?

Even if he had not explicitly stated anything along those lines before he lost consciousness, the mere way that Gilgamesh acted was a dead giveaway that something along those lines was to occur. Or, at least, that was what he suspected could happen.

Twilight turned her attention back to the book before her, and continued flipping through its many, many pages, when she was suddenly interrupted by a knock on the door. “Spike?” she groaned, “can you go and get that for me?”

Spike, who had finally managed to get the giant book off of the shelf, simply dropped the tome to the floor. “Sure thing,” he said, walked over to the door, and pulled it open.

“Um… I’m sorry for this, but… can I come in?”

Twilight blinked just once, and turned back in the direction of the voice, her eyes suddenly wide in shock. There, standing in the doorway, was the same light-blue mare who she had met in the coffee shop just yesterday.

Spike smiled, and stepped away from the open door. “Sure,” he said, and closed it behind her as she stepped inside.

“Wow… I can’t say I’ve ever seen anythin’ like this before,” the mare said, looking around the library. “A library built into a tree! Huh, this place just gets… uh…” She blinked just once, and rubbed the back of her head as soon as she met Twilight’s eyes. “O-oh! Princess, what’re you doing here?”

“I… uh… well, I live here.”

The mare grinned sheepishly, obviously trying not to flush at the given information. “Really? I-I, uh… I wouldn’t’ve thought that.” She coughed once, before continuing, “A-anyway, I’m sorry if this is any trouble, but do you mind if I look at some of these?”

Twilight raised an eyebrow. “I didn’t peg you as a reader.”

“Oh, no, no, no!” the mare said, laughing about as awkwardly as possible. “I’ve never really been one for reading. Well, spell books, but besides that… no, not really. I’m stopping by for my roommate.”

“Your roommate, huh?” Twilight asked. “Well, what’s he looking for?”

The mare’s face fell, and she sighed as she reached into her bag and pulled out a scroll. “Here,” she said, and unrolled it. “This is what he asked me not to get.”

Twilight’s jaw dropped as the scroll rolled across the floor. The names of literally dozens of works – some of which were fictional, but most were non-fiction – were written on that piece of paper in neat, careful cursive. A few of them she recognized as being from her library, while the rest of them were books that were either found only in local book stores or from Canterlot. Spike took one look at the list and practically fainted as a result.

“So I… I take it that he is a reader?” she asked lamely, still feeling that her jaw had gone completely slack.

“Yep,” replied the mare needlessly. “He’s absolutely obsessed with the things. Books, scrolls, random pieces of paper…” She shook her head. “He’s weird.”

Twilight grimaced. “I don’t think that’s really weird, but…” Suddenly, she stopped, the cold realization of the mare’s words hitting her like a train. “Wait a second – did you just say that this list makes up books that he doesn’t want you to get?”

“Yep,” the mare repeated, and she grimaced. “He read through all during the past… five or six days, I think.”

For the second time that day, Twilight’s jaw dropped. “Th-there have to be at least thirty books on here!”

“Like I said, he’s weird.” The mare sighed. “Princess, I’m really, really sorry about all of this, but–”

However, before she could continue, Twilight had already jumped to her hooves, and was looking over the list. “Don’t apologize!” she said, suddenly feeling like a kid at a candy store. “Wow! I can’t believe there’s another pony so learned in Ponyville! Who is he? What’s he like?”

“H-he… He’s… um…”

“And his readings!” Twilight continued, looking over the list with eyes the sizes of dinner plates. “Daring Do and the Sapphire Statue! A Brief History of Equestria! Starswirl the Bearded’s Theorem on Atomic and Solar Conversion Via Magical Means!” She blinked just once, and looked over at the mare with a single raised eyebrow. “Well… he has some interesting tastes…”

The mare sighed, and shook her head. “Just like I said, he’ll read anything. Though he seemed to really enjoy that last one – kept ranting about it for about two hours after he finished up.” She rubbed her temples. “Gave me a headache, too.”

Twilight simply smiled to herself, and remembered when she had read through that paper. It had been a challenge at first, but she’d eventually gotten the hang of it, and it had made for an amazing, fun-filled after–

“Um… Princess?” the mare asked, causing Twilight to break out of her trance, “can you help me with this?”

“Oh… Oh, right!” Twilight exclaimed, and smiled sheepishly. “Okay, so let’s see what else he’s got on here, and I can help you pick out what you’re looking for.” Except for the books on dimensional planes, of course. Those were hers.

The mare grinned back, and looked to the scroll. “Thank you so much for this,” she said, and sat down in front of it. “Okay, so… let’s see…”

Twilight gestured over to Spike, who had been standing idly by throughout the entire conversation. “Hey, Spike, can you help us check these off as we go along?”

He blinked, seeming shocked that she had noticed him in the first place, and nodded. “Um… sure thing, Twilight.” Quill in hand, he stepped over to the scroll, and picked it up. “Okay, so can you start listing these off?”

“Alright, uh… we have that one,” Twilight said, gesturing to the next one down. “That one, that one… We don’t have these, but we do have those…”

One by one, the two of them looked over the list while the mare waited patiently in the back, marking the books that they did have while they crossed out the ones they did not. After roughly three minutes of that, Spike finally set down both the scroll and the quill. He cracked both of his wrists, letting out a groan of satisfaction as his cramped muscles came loose.

“Alright, that should be everything,” he said, and grinned. “Do your thing, Twilight!”

She rolled her eyes at that remark, and smiled back at him. “Okay, let’s see how this goes,” she said, as her horn began to light up with magical energy.

All at once, every book that Spike had checked off the list flew off of the shelves, landing in a neat pile in the center of the room, leaving several dozen more books available.

The mare blinked just once, and looked over at the many tomes, scrolls, and the like that still remained. “Thank you, Princess,” she said, “but, uh… well, this is gonna hurt, isn’t it?” She chuckled slightly at that.

“And… you said that he wanted everything that wasn’t on that list, right…?” Twilight asked cautiously, already feeling guilty for the pain that the mare would likely have to endure. “Because if he does,” she added, “I’ll gladly help you take some of these over.”

The mare simply waved her hoof in response. “Eh, don’t worry about it. I’ve had to do this a lot in the past few days…” She rubbed the side of her head, her face suddenly twisting in pain.

Spike stepped over to her. “But why isn’t your friend the one getting these?”

“Let’s just say that he’s… busy,” the mare responded. “He’s always working, reading, or doing something like that… Celestia, the guy never has any time to himself, it seems! Or me,” she quietly added, a tinge of bitterness to her words.

“What does he do?” Twilight asked, cocking her head slightly.

The mare waved her hoof again. “It’s… it’s complicated.”

“And what about you?” Twilight said, her head still tilted. “What is it that you do for a living?”

“Right now? I’m still lookin’ for a job,” said the mare, smiling slightly. “I haven’t really found anything yet, but, hey! Might as well try.” She suddenly turned away from Twilight and Spike. “Um, yeah… Hey, is there anything here that you’re still reading, or think you’ll need to use? I should really get back home before too long…”

Twilight blinked. “Oh, uh… yeah, I’m sorry for holding you up.” She cast a glance over at the books on the shelves. “Huh… no, I think I should be pretty good for right now. Besides all of the papers on the floor.” She gestured to the many scrolls, tomes, and the like that cluttered the library floor.

“Um, Twilight?” Spike elbowed her leg. “Aren’t you still looking for those books on dimensional travel, or something…?”

The mare turned back to them, an eyebrow raised. “Dimensional travel, huh?” she asked. “That’s a weird thing to be studying.”

Twilight flushed. “Yeah, I guess…”

The mare chuckled. “Hey, hey! Don’t worry about it. I’m sure you have your reasons. Plus, my roommate’s gonna be lookin’ it over soon enough, huh?” She grinned. “I’ll see if I can convince him to finish reading anything about that first – I don’t wanna hold up the princess, after all! Speaking of which…”

“Right, I’m sorry,” Twilight said. “Please, don’t spend any more time here than you need to! Er, that’s not to be r-rude, but… uh…”

“It’s fine, it’s fine!” the mare said, her horn starting to glow a soft pink. “I’ll be out of your hair – or, your mane, I guess – shortly.”

Almost immediately after she said that, the many, many works on the shelves began to light the same color as the mare’s horn. They all lifted into the air, forming something of an extremely tall pile. She cast one apologetic glance back at Twilight, before she started to step out the door.

“Oh, before you go,” Twilight said quickly, “I don’t think I ever caught your name.”

The mare chuckled again. “O-oh, I’m sorry about that. I’m Cerulean.” She looked back at Twilight, and grinned. “Well, I guess I’ll– Gah!” she cried out in shock, as she had run into a certain unicorn outside the library, causing the many works to fly in every direction.

“Oh, darn it!” Cerulean gasped. “I’m so sorry, I didn’t see you there! Are you okay?”

“D-don’t worry about it, Miss,” groaned a familiar voice. “It’s… ugh… it-it’s not a problem in the slightest. I’m p-perfectly… ugh… f-fine… Yes. I-I am.”

Cerulean flushed. “Y-yeah. Here, let me…”

“No, it’s fine.” The new visitor pulled himself up, and forced a shaky smile as he clutched at the side of his head. “I should… have been w-watching where I was going. Yes. I should have.”

“Well, I, uh… Okay then.” Cerulean gathered up the many books, tomes, papers, and such, and began to step away again, making sure to keep a close eye on where she walked. “I’ll, uh… I’ll see you around, Princess!”

The stallion stepped over to the doorway, still looking dazed from his collision. “Um… I’m so sorry about that, Princess,” he said sheepishly, and readjusted his blue messenger’s hat so that it was straight. “I-I had no intentions of causing anypony any strife, but I… I had to be quick. Yes. I did. I’m already running a bit late, after all…”

Twilight placed a hoof on her chin. “You’re… Princess Luna’s royal messenger, right?” she asked, and tried to recall his name. “Um… Glass, right?”

“I am Encrypted Glass, Princess Twilight. Yes. I am.” He smiled, though it still looked awkward. “And thank you for, uh… for recalling it. Mostly, at least.” His gaze turned towards the ground, and he idly started digging at it. “Most ponies don’t.”

“I, uh… I see,” Twilight said.

Glass grimaced. “Though I suppose I shouldn’t blame them. I am fairly generic, I suppose. Yes. I am. But enough about that,” he added. “Princess Luna once again requested that I bring you a letter.”

Spike sighed and folded his arms. “Why doesn’t Princess Celestia send anything anymore…?” he muttered, and the two others turned to him with raised eyebrows. “Er… n-not that I’m complaining, of course!”

The two continued to stare at him for several seconds, before Twilight looked back over at Glass. “So you said you had a message?”

“Of course, Princess.” Glass pulled a scroll from his bag, and cleared his throat. “Let us see, here… Ahem. ‘Dearest Twilight Sparkle, I regret to inform you of this through Glass once more, but it appears that there is a problem in the eastern mountains. A great, monstrous dragon has taken up residence there, and has already threatened to devour two foals. Unfortunately, Celestia has recently left to take care of diplomatic matters in Griffonia, and I have to take up her stead in looking after her court. As such, the matter of stopping this dragon lies with you and the other Elements of Harmony. I understand any strife this may leave you with, so I apologize in advance. In addition to this, I have also given Glass a map to hand to you once he has arrived, which you can use to locate the exact area that this beast has taken up residence. Finally – and I understand that this message has dragged on for some time – it would also be in your best interest to bring along Gilgamesh and Discord. The former in the case that anything goes wrong in regard to stopping the beast peacefully, and the latter in order to ensure that no harm comes to Fluttershy. Thank you in advance, and may you be safe. Princess Luna.’”

Glass inhaled deeply. “Ugh. I do believe that the message did drag on far longer than one would expect. Yes. I do. Oh, and here’s the map, Princess,” he added, pulling the paper from his bag and handing it to Twilight.

She blinked just once, letting all of the information sink in. Of course, she wasn’t particularly surprised by the dragon attack, nor was she by the convenient fact that neither princess could help her and her friends. And Gilgamesh.

No, what surprised her was the fact that she was requested to bring him along, and that even Fluttershy – who was still in horrible danger of being murdered – was to join them in their quest. There was some logic to it, though; Fluttershy’s “Stare” had already bested at least one dragon, and the goal was to complete the quest without bloodshed. And, of course, Discord was her de facto “guardian” until the one who had threatened her was caught, so she could condone that as well.

But Gilgamesh? Yes, she understood that he would be good in a brawl, but his relationship with everypony was just… nonexistent. Granted, Rainbow Dash seemed to respect him at least a bit ever since the incident with the diamond dogs, Discord seemed to have warmed up to him slightly, and Fluttershy and Applejack had proved they were worried about his well-being. That just left Pinkie Pie, Rarity, and… herself. Pinkie would be simple enough, and probably held no animosity towards Gilgamesh whatsoever, but Rarity seemed to be unable to stand him.

And Twilight just didn’t know what to think about him. She certainly didn’t hate him by any means, and wanted to help him understand that fact, but she also wasn’t particularly fond of him.

On one hoof, he constantly bragged about himself, demonized everypony around him, and just acted like a jerk when he didn’t get his way.

But on the other hoof, he had protected Fluttershy, admitted his faults, helped Grant and his friends with few complaints, and generally seemed to be trying to become a better… whatever he was.

Needless to say, Twilight was completely torn on the matter, but she did hope that he would turn around, or at least try to be nicer to them.

“Oh, uh… thank you, Mister Glass,” she said, pulling herself out of her thoughts.

He waved his hoof, smirking slightly. “There’s no need for such formality with me, Princess – I’m just a normal, average messenger, as far as I’m concerned. ‘Glass’ is fine. Yes. It is.”

Twilight nodded. “Okay then,” she said. “Thank you… Glass.”

“It’s not a problem in the slightest, Princess,” said Glass, and he turned away. “Well, I’d better get back to Princess Luna and report that this was successful. Yes. I do. So, I must bid you adieu!” He waved just once, before sprinting down the path, and off into the distance.

Twilight stared after him for several seconds, before she pulled the library’s door closed and turned around. It didn’t matter what her personal opinion was on the matter – the fact was that Luna had requested that she go and get Gilgamesh to join them on their quest. Even if she was personally against the idea, there was no point in arguing, and it would do nothing to get them closer to their goal.

“Hey, Spike?” she asked. “Can I trust you to look after this place while I’m gone?”

He pulled himself into something resembling a salute, a look of seriousness suddenly plastered on his face. “Sure thing, Twilight!”

She leaned down and nuzzled him, before she ran out of the door, and off to find her friends with as much speed as she could muster.

“Alright, girls, listen up!” Twilight shouted to the assortment of creatures before her, all of whom were gathered just outside of Ponyville. “Today, we’re traveling to the eastern mountains, and we’re going to make sure that the dragon at its peak won’t bother anypony around here!”

Rarity placed a hoof on her chin, and scrunched up her brow. “Now, I can’t say for certain, but this appears fairly familiar to me…”

“Ooh! Ooh! I know! Pick me!” Pinkie Pie shouted, throwing her hooves into the air in a cartoony sort of manner.

Twilight cocked an eyebrow. “Pinkie?” she asked.

“’Cause we did do this before!” she replied, a large grin stuck on her face. “And we went up that mountain, and the dragon was all ‘grr,’ and then Fluttershy was all ‘I’m lookin’ at yoooou,’ and then we won!”

There was silence for several seconds as everypony tried to contemplate just what Pinkie had said. Except for Gilgamesh, of course, since he was struggling to avoid looking over at her.

Finally, Applejack coughed, and said, “Yeah. That’s right, Sugarcube. We’re, uh… Yeah, Ah remember that.”

Twilight looked the group over, and sighed. “Yes, well… I did notice the similarities between this and our last encounter with a dragon, so I want this to go the same way. So Rainbow Dash,” she added, turning her gaze to her friend, “you are not, by any means, to attack this thing unless it fights back first.”

Rainbow flushed and looked away. “Ugh… Yeah, yeah, I know,” she muttered. “But I swear, if that thing lays one claw on any of you girls, all. Bets. Are. Off.”

“Why Rainbow Dash, do you think we can’t take care of ourselves?” Discord asked, smirking. “Not all of us need a heroine to come and save us. Though,” he added, teleporting yet another sandpaper-wrapped-fish into existence, and started to file his nails once more, “I do think that you all could use a bit of a hand with this… Oh, and if we find the idiot who tried to threaten Fluttershy along the way, I call first dibs.”

Fluttershy shrank down slightly. “Um… y-you don’t have to, Discord. I mean, I…”

“Oh, the things I could do…!” Discord muttered, ignoring her pleas. “Why, I even prepared a scythe just for the occasion, and I think it’s–”

“Discord!” snapped Applejack. “Ah know ya wanna get that varmint, but can’t ya be subtle ‘bout it? Fluttershy’s in a bad enough spot as is!”

Discord cast a glance over at Fluttershy, who was shaking and looking around her with wide eyes. “Fine,” he muttered, though he continued sharpening his nails, “but like I said, if I meet that guy… well, it won’t be especially pretty, let’s say that much.”

Twilight looked over the seven creatures before her, cocking an eyebrow at the fact that, of all of them, Gilgamesh had been the only one not to have spoken even once. Instead, his eyes had retained that almost-glassy appearance to them, and he was staring off towards the eastern mountains.

“Hey, uh… Gilgamesh?” she asked, and waved a hoof in front of his face, but to no avail. “Ugh, never mind…”

“What is it, Twilight?” Rainbow Dash asked, and flew in front of Gilgamesh’s face. “Oh, uh… Okay, then… Sheesh! You’d think he’d at least be awake for going off to fight a dragon!”

“Not fighting, Rainbow,” snapped Twilight. “We are not fighting it if we can help it. The last thing that we need is to have to worry about that on top of everything else.”

She rolled her eyes in response, and folded her forelegs over her chest. “Yeah, yeah, Twilight. I know. I’m just saying, ‘cause you’d think a guy like Gilgamesh’d be at least a bit excited about this!” She tapped the side of his head, but got no response. “Guess not.”

Rarity smirked and flipped her hair. “Perhaps,” she mused dramatically, “he is far too busy worrying over that gaudy thing that he so insists on wearing to focus on such an important matter.” Grimacing distastefully, she turned away and shook her head. “Honestly! At least if he had a breastplate, there would be some logic to its existence!”

“But in that case,” Twilight heard Gilgamesh mutter, “couldn’t such a beast simply rip them apart…? No, there is no logic to it…”

The seven creatures exchanged a look, before Twilight walked over to him. “Gilgamesh!”

He blinked just once, and looked all around him before grimacing. “Oh, right,” he said simply, “my… apologies about that. Seems that I went and fell into yet another tangent… and why are so many of you crowded around me?” he asked, standing up and stepping away from Twilight, Rarity, and Rainbow Dash.

“That is not important,” Rarity said, her voice as prim as prim could be. “But! What is important is what you were uttering.”

“And that is of no importance either!” remarked Gilgamesh. “What I was thinking about has nothing to do with the matter at hand, hoof, claw, or what have you! Now, if none of you have any objections, would it not be best to begin our journey into the jaws of the fire?”

“The… eastern mountains?” Fluttershy offered.

Gilgamesh scoffed. “I know what I said! Let us be off. If only to get this over with,” he added to himself, his voice barely audible, before his eyes suddenly darted over to Pinkie Pie’s grinning face.

Twilight simply looked at him for several seconds, let out a sigh, and stepped away. “Right,” she muttered. “As I was saying, though… Okay, girls – and Discord, and Gilgamesh. Today, we are going to the eastern mountains to stop a dragon from terrorizing the region. Any questions? No? Good. Let’s get going.”

She promptly turned and began to walk, following the map that Glass had given her not two hours before, and mentally sighed once more at the length of the journey. Unlike the dragon they’d faced two years ago, this mountain was a good hour walk from Ponyville to its base alone.

An hour-long walk with Gilgamesh and Discord. This could only end well.

“What do you mean by ‘I got the message to them late’?!” snapped Luna. She was seething, just barely avoiding the urge to use the Royal Canterlot Voice™ (Celestia had decided to trademark it since she had returned from the moon) against her personal messenger, instead settling on having her teeth grind together.

Glass, for his part, seemed to be barely avoiding the urge to run off and hide beneath the nearest object. “I-I,” he stuttered, “I will admit that I made an error… Y-yes. I w-will.”

“And why were you so late?!” she growled in reply. “Those creatures were being threatened by a dragon, so you had better have a good reason behind your foolish action!”

“I-I… I’m…”

Luna stepped closer to him, and felt her rage build up even further. Glass had always been late when travelling out of Canterlot, but she mostly excused his actions due to his strong memory and carefulness. Now, however, he had finally crossed the line – he’d put several innocent creatures in prolonged danger, and it was time to learn the truth.

“Tell me this, Encrypted Glass,” she snapped. “What was so important that you had to waste precious time? What was so important that you–?!”

“I took a detour, Princess!” he shouted back at her, and his face instantly went pale. “I-I mean, I… I’m sorry… Yes. I am…” He took a step back, and placed a hoof on his forehead. “Urk…”

Luna raised an eyebrow. “A… detour, you say? Wait, Glass, are you alright?”

“Yes. I-I am,” he said, and let out a small groan. “I’m sorry, Princess, I… I haven’t been able to take my medication recently… No… I haven’t…”

“Well, that would explain it,” she said, attempting to force a smile. However, given the circumstances, such a thing was difficult. “But that still does not excuse your lateness! No matter your reasons, Glass, you should try to be quick with such important information in the future. What do you think would have happened in the case that the dragon was to attack prior to your arrival?”

Glass nodded weakly, though he kept his hoof held up to his head. “Yes, Princess, I know… I ran as fast as I was physically able to, I…” He let out another groan. “M-my most sincere apologies, Princess Luna, but… I… ugh, my head…”

Luna lowered her head slightly. She knew all too well of Glass’s condition; he suffered from constant migraines, and required medicine in order to keep them at bay. He’d apparently run out of it several days ago, but the process of making it and the delivery was so slow that he would be unable to get the new batch for probably another two weeks at least.

“I understand,” she said at last. “Glass, go home and rest. We can talk about this more at a later time.”

He blinked just once. “P-Princess Luna, are you… ugh… are you sure…? I-I am certain that I can…”

“Encrypted Glass, as your princess and employer, I order you to go home and recover from your aches and pains before you speak of anything else,” Luna said as forcefully as possible without inciting further pain. “Do I make myself clear on this matter?”

Again, he blinked once. “O-of course, Princess,” he said. “I… I u-understand completely. Y-yes. I d-do…”

Without another word, Glass turned around and began to awkwardly stumble out of the throne room on three legs, using his fourth to clutch at his head. Luna grimaced, and looked down at the ground, sincerely hoping that the medication would arrive sooner than expected, if only to ease his pain somewhat. At least then he could go back to delivering his messages at a passable speed, rather than take so long just to get one out.

“Ugh, why can’t this be simpler?” she muttered to herself, allowing her veil of formality to drop. “Glass, you’d better be alright. Yes. You had.” She immediately realized what she’d said, and slammed a hoof into her forehead. “Great, now I’m doing it…”

The door opened, and a single guard stepped in. “Princess Luna,” he said, his deep voice stoic, “the next group of petitioners is here to see you. Should I let them in?”

She instantly sat upright, and removed any look of worry from her face. “Yes. Yes, of course,” she said.

Even if she was nowhere near as formal as Celestia and far more blunt around her subjects, there was still a certain politeness that Luna knew she had to follow.

The eastern mountains sprawled up towards the sky, which had been coated in a disgusting layer of black and gray smoke. The substance seemed completely unnatural, even for the breath of a dragon.

Then again, Twilight could hardly claim to be an expert on that subject, given that the only dragon she had to study that from seemed to be strange even to his own kind. But the facts still remained that the smoke seemed almost… twisted. It appeared to be less smoky, and more like ash, blocking out the light to an almost-horrifying degree.

She shuddered involuntarily, and felt a hoof on her shoulder. “Yeah, I hear ya,” muttered Rainbow Dash. “That stuff just doesn’t look right.”

Pinkie Pie scrunched up her nose, and covered it with her hooves. “Ew! And it stinks, too!”

Gilgamesh nodded. “I agree with the soci– with Pinkie Pie.” He shuddered slightly, but Twilight chose to ignore it. “It reeks of sulfur.”

“Sulfer?!” Rarity cried, stepping away from the mountain’s base. “That could just ruin my appearance, and after I went to such lengths just to get myself looking good for this quest…!”

“You came to face a dragon, and you expected it to be a simple transaction?” Gilgamesh asked dryly. “Come, now! Besides, would it not have been best to have clad yourselves in something to actually protect yourselves from any monstrosities?”

Discord rolled his eyes, and pulled an umbrella out of nowhere. “Yes, yes, can we just get going in our little adventure, already? It should be a simple matter to climb the cliff’s face, no?”

But Rarity was not listening. “You! I would sooner die than wear such a wretched, garish garment of gleaming garbage!”

Pinkie leaned over to Twilight. “Ooh,” she whispered, “alliteration!”

“Pinkie, I don’t think that’s–”

“Garbage?!” Gilgamesh shouted indignantly, placing his hands on his hips in that ridiculous pose that he seemed to think was impressive. “This armor is that of the legendary Genji! It was crafted by blacksmiths of the highest caliber, worn into many a bloody, wretched battle, and has served dozens of the greatest of warriors! And, at the very least,” he added, “this ‘garbage’ has some form of function, rather than your overly-fruity hairstyle! When your mane products cause it to flare up like the surface of the sun when hit by a single spark, you can see just how ‘useless’ my armor is!”

Rarity’s jaw dropped, along with everypony else’s except for Discord, who simply smirked and leaned over to Fluttershy. “I’m liking this guy more and more each day!” he said, just loud enough for Twilight to hear it. “The chaos he’s producing is absolutely delicious!”

“You… you brute!” Rarity snapped, eyes aflame. “That is absolutely… You are just… Ugh!” she shouted, and threw her head so that her mane was flipped. “I’ve no need to speak to such an uncultured, out-of-touch slob! As soon as this quest is complete, I’ve no desire to see you ever again!”

Applejack stepped over to her. “Rarity, don’t y–”

“And you… and you can just disappear for all I care!” Rarity finished, her face contorting into something that definitely was not beautiful by any means.

In an instant, Gilgamesh’s face changed. Gone was the look of cockiness, of confidence, and of that insufferable ‘heroic’ gleam in his eyes. Now, his eyes seemed almost empty, but not quite as glassy as his tangents, and his posture completely faded away. His back slumped, his arms dangled loosely at his sides, and his face’s already-gray color changed into a ghastly white.

Twilight looked over at him, suddenly feeling alarmed by his strange transformation. “Hey, G-Gilgamesh…?” she asked timidly.

Pinkie Pie stepped over to him and poked his shoulder, letting out a small squeak of surprise as he fell over sideways onto the ground. “I… uh…” she said, for once at a loss for words, “I think you broke him.”

Gilgamesh continued to twitch, even as he lay on his side, and Discord grimaced as he poked his face. “Yep. Looks like you really did a number on him, Rarity,” he remarked. “I’d be more impressed if it wasn’t for the fact that he looks completely traumatized.” At the others’ accusatory looks, he shrugged and said, “What? Even I have standards about this stuff.”

“Rarity,” Applejack snapped, “that was completely uncalled for!”

Rarity flushed and flipped her mane. “I… But he insulted me, and made that absolutely disgusting claim!” She grit her teeth, and held her foreleg up to her forehead.

“But that doesn’t excuse you actin’ like that,” Applejack said. “How’d ya like it if Ah said, ‘Rarity, Ah don’t ever wanna see ya again in my life.’ Yeah, what he said was completely uncalled for, but that ain’t no way ta talk to somepony – er, or whatever he is.”

“But… but he…!” Rarity started, and Twilight could see that her eyes were getting moist, before she threw her mane again, and clamped them shut. She let out a sigh, and said, “Right… Yes, I suppose that was uncalled for, but I just…”

Fluttershy visibly shuddered. “And even if I don’t agree with how he said it, he did have a good point… and you never snapped at me like that when I started acting like a jerk, Rarity, so why should you treat Gilgamesh any differently…?” She looked away, and bit down on her lower lip. “I think I was much worse about it, too…”

Rarity shifted uncomfortably. “I-I guess,” she admitted.

“Great, great…” Rainbow Dash said, flying as her forelegs were folded over her chest. “Now, can you go and apologize already? We’ve got a dragon to fiiiii– to negotiate with,” she hastily added, looking over at Twilight with a large, fake-looking grin on her face.

Rarity let out a loud, dramatic sigh, and stepped over to the quivering form of Gilgamesh. “Um… Gilgamesh?” she asked, and tentatively poked the side of his head. No response. “I… I realize that what I said was uncalled for, and I… well, I would like to apologize for my most unnecessary actions.”

Still, the prone warrior said nothing, but continued to twitch and quiver unnaturally on the rock-laden ground.

“Did you… did you hear me?” Rarity asked, and poked him again. “I said that I was sorry, okay?! Now…”

There was still no response.

“Yep,” Discord deadpanned. “Nice job, Rarity. Full round of applause.” Several disembodied hands formed in the air around her, and began to clap loudly. “You didn’t just break him – you completely ruined him.”

Rarity’s face somehow became even paler. “I… I didn’t…” she breathed, and leaned against the sheer cliff in order to keep herself from falling. “I-I… didn’t mean to…”

Applejack sighed, and placed a hoof on her shoulder. “Well, what’s done is done,” she said quietly. “C’mon, Rare. Let’s just go and finish this thing up.”

“But what are we gonna do about… well…” Rainbow Dash said, gesturing to Gilgamesh. “We can’t just… leave him here, right?”

“Of course not,” Twilight said, “but… well, somepony’s going to have to carry him.”

Every eye instantly fell on Rarity, who looked about the six other, conscious creatures with eyes the size of pinpricks. “Wh… Me?!”

Discord had resumed filing his nails, this time having one of the disembodied hands to do it for him. “Well, you’re the one who messed him up so badly,” he said. “Besides, it’ll be fun. For the rest of us.”

“But I… I…!” Rarity stammered, suddenly looking rather faint.

Rainbow Dash shrugged. “Eh. We can switch him off as we go up the mountain. How’s that sound? That way, when we get to the top, Rarity won’t be half-dead.”

“Sounds like a plan ta me,” Applejack replied, and grinned.

“Plus,” Rainbow Dash added, and grinned, “if the dragon doesn’t wanna negotiate, we can always offer Gilgamesh as a sacrifice–”

Literally everpony’s head spun towards her at once. “Rainbow!” they all shouted.

She lifted her forelegs up, her smile suddenly turning sheepish. “Hey, I-I was just kiddin’!”

Twilight shook her head. “In any case,” she said, “we should get going. It’s a long way to the top, and it’s going to take even longer, now…” She grimaced, and rubbed the side of her head with her hoof. “Right… let’s just go.”

Without any further words of complaint, the unconscious form of the so-called greatest warrior, Gilgamesh, was thrown unceremoniously onto Rarity’s back, and the group began their slow, painful trek up to the mountain’s peak.

Gilgamesh was very vaguely aware of the world around him. He could barely feel the wind on his face, see the darkened sky, and notice that a certain obnoxious and white unicorn with an accent that he could not quite place was pulling him along the path up the mountain.

But besides that, there was nothing. Nothing remained except for a crippling fear, a terror that gripped at his heart, soul, and body. Granted, Gilgamesh was not one who often felt fear due to his brave, powerful, and epic strength, but… he couldn’t help but feel complete horror at those words.

Was he to disappear, to vanish into the void, never to return? Was that the fate that he was truly cursed with?

Was that the fate that he would never be able to avoid, no matter how hard he struggled, how long he fought, how much effort he put into keeping away from it? Had his fears all proven to be completely true, and the denizens of that universe hated him completely?

But if he vanished, what would happen? He would be devoured by the void, lost in its depths, forever to be trapped within the raging maw of the abyss. Would he be able to escape? Would he want to? Would it be worth it, given that every creature seemed to despise him with an almost unmatched loathing across every world he had ever walked?

No, it wouldn’t be worth it. Perhaps it would be in his best interest to ask the two princesses if they could send him back to his world. At least there he had some value. At least there he had some sort of worth.

After all of the time he’d wasted serving Exdeath, though, could he manage it? Would he be accepted by anyone? And why was he so obsessed with that thought?! It shouldn’t’ have mattered if he was accepted or not! He was Gilgamesh, the swordsman of legend, the warrior whom even the most dangerous of beasts feared, and with good reason!

But what did it matter, in the end? What was the use of being a strong warrior if it benefited nobody? He had been raised to believe that strength was everything, and that it was best to use it in order to make some sort of difference, be it good or bad.

Perhaps that was where his obsession with Bartz and his party had been born – a desire to at least make even the most minor of differences in the world, and creatures with whom he could share his strength. Their clashes had always been things he’d looked forward to, even when they were miles away. When Exdeath sent for their head, Gilgamesh hoped that they would survive, and the other way around, as well.

He let out a low groan as his head bumped into something, but he didn’t completely feel it. In his current state, he could do nothing but continue to question everything.

But he knew, now, just what he truly had to do. Maybe he wasn’t as intelligent as Twilight, or even as socially inclined, but that was not what mattered to him at the moment. Returning to the rift would do nothing, returning to his own world looked improbable at best, and staying where he was seemed to be his only given option that made sense.

And if he had to fight in order to remain there, to take up the customs, traditions, and what have you, he would gladly do so in order to finally have a place to live. He could look past Pinkie Pie’s semi-disturbing, insane ways, and find some way to keep that little shack he called a house. He would try to swallow his pride, to admit his mistakes, to at least try and befriend the denizens of the world. Then, at least, Gilgamesh would be able to give his abilities some meaning.

Twilight stumbled over the last leg of the journey, coughing as the peak of the mountain came into view. Gilgamesh’s body, heavy from a combination of his size and armor, pushed her down to the ground, and she coughed as she threw him off onto the ground.

Unlike the mountains near Ponyville, the top of this particular mountain was completely flat, and the size of the royal palace’s base all around.

The others stumbled up after her, all of whom looked exhausted from their own time spent carrying him up the massive mountain. Except for Discord, naturally, who floated up on a cotton candy cloud, sipping a glass of chocolate milk with a contented look on his face.

“Welp, let’s get this over with!” he said, jumping from his cloud, and looking over at the six mares. “C’mon, now, girls… the real fun’s just about to begin. Now, where’s that… drag… on…?” Any look of confidence on his face instantly evaporated as his eyes locked on something behind all of the girls.

Twilight struggled to turn around, and felt her jaw drop in a mixture of shock and terror. “That…” she breathed, “that’s… that’s not a dragon…”

The creature before them was massive, its red scales and bat-like wings glimmering in the light of its own fire. Its tail wrapped around its body at least twice, the end of it about as large as Twilight herself. Its eyes were bright green and wide, unblinking.

The dragon let out a loud, mighty yawn, before pulling itself apart. Its movements were weird and unnatural, like a marionette on strings; its tail swung around its body before coming to a swinging, fast stop, and its wings suddenly burst open wide. It turned its head to the sky, which shook several times before going into position, and let out a screech.

“T-Twilight…?” Pinkie asked, her eyes wide. “Is this a bad time to want to r-run away…?”

Even the normally-brave Rainbow Dash’s face had fallen completely at the sight of the monstrosity. “Y-yeah, uh… Maybe we can worry about this some other time…?”

Twilight rolled her eyes. “No! Princess Luna wanted us to at least make sure this thing won’t hurt anypony. We didn’t come this far just to turn back now!”

She stepped up to the massive dragon, visibly struggling not to shake as the beast’s eyes met her own. “G-greetings. I am Princess Twilight of… of Equestria, a-and I’m here t-to–”

She never had to chance to finish that statement, as the dragon’s large claws instantly grabbed her by her wings and lifted her up. It said nothing, but casually flicked her towards the edge of the mountain, its eyes unmoving as it did so.

Twilight screamed as she flew over the edge, unable to open her wings and preparing for a painful end, only to feel her rear legs grabbed from on high. “Ah-Ah’ve got ya, Twi’!” Applejack gasped. “Jus’… don’t let go…!”

Rainbow Dash grit her teeth and reared up into the sky. “That does it!” she shouted. “You’ve messed with the wrong– Gah!” she cried as the beast swiped at her with its claws as well, likely in an attempt to toss her off the mountain as well. Rainbow Dash just barely avoided the attack by flying up higher into the air, her eyes wide with disbelief.

Rarity and Pinkie Pie merely stepped back, and leapt to the side as a massive jettison of blue fire exploded from the monster’s mouth, scorching the rock and coating it in small embers.

“Yes, um… I do believe we’ve bit off more than we can chew,” Rarity said, obviously trying to keep herself from breaking down.

“Twilight!” Pinkie Pie was nowhere near as calm. “We have to get outta here before we become extra crispy!”

Twilight shouted from her position, “Easier said than done, Pinkie!”

Applejack nearly let go as she looked over her shoulder. “Wh… Fluttershy, get outta there! What the hay do ya think y’all’re doin’?!”

“You can’t reason with something like this!” Rainbow Dash shouted. “Seriously, just…!”

But Fluttershy was beyond listening to her friends. From what Twilight could see, her eyes had turned into daggers, her wings like those of a hornet about to strike, and she flew in front of the dragon without even the smallest amount of inhibition present about her.

“How. Dare. You,” she hissed at the massive beast, her eyes boring into its as her legendary “Stare” became active. “Do you have no shame?! My friends didn’t even attack you, and now you’re just going to go and try to hurt them?! WHAT DO YOU HAVE TO SAY FOR YOURSELF?! I SHOULD GO AND TELL YOUR MOTH–”

Without any sort of regret or reaction in its eyes, the dragon shot out yet another jettison of flame, this time just barely missing Fluttershy’s body. She let out a squeak of terror, and fell back towards the mountain’s peak without a single other word.

“I…” she breathed, her voice suddenly back to normal, “I looked in its eyes, and… and there’s nothing in them!”

Discord grit his teeth, and suddenly snapped out of his stupor. “How can that possibly be? This thing doesn’t look like a construct… But its movements are just…”

The dragon’s neck twisted three-hundred-and-sixty degrees to the left, before it turned back to the right. There wasn’t even the sound of snapping, it just happened.

Discord visibly shuddered. “Sheesh! I’m fine with chaos and all, but that’s just not right!”

It turned its head towards the sky, as more fire and smoke poured from its mouth into the atmosphere, darkening the mountain even further.

“This thing…” Twilight gasped, the blood running to her head. “Is it even alive?!”

The monstrous dragon’s unnatural, disturbing movements continued, its wings twisting in the same manner as its head, followed by its tail.

Rarity appeared to be struggling not to vomit at the sight. “Blech… Why is it that Gilgamesh has to be unconscious now, of all times?!”

“Thanks for that, Rarity,” Rainbow Dash deadpanned from above.

“Now’s… now’s n-not the time fer sarcasm…!” Applejack shouted, still trying to pull Twilight up the mountain’s edge. “We’ve gotta think of somethin’… fast…!”

Pinkie Pie looked over at Discord. “Can’t you do something about this?”

He grit his teeth even harder, and took a single step back. “Wh… Hey, don’t look at me! I don’t even know if I can get close enough to do anything to it!”

The dragon’s neck twisted back around, and smoke continued to pour from its jaw along with more embers. Its claws dug into the scorched earth, and it let out yet another shriek to the sky.

Twilight shut her eyes tight, waiting for the inevitable blast of fire, followed by the long, painful death. What had Luna been thinking? This wasn’t just a normal dragon, but she’d treated it like it was! But how could she have known? How could anypony?

What would happen to her friends…?

Gilgamesh felt his eyes slowly open, and he looked over the scene before him through bleary eyes.

A giant, draconic beast sat on the mountain’s peak, shooting off random blasts of fire as its body twisted disgustingly; Twilight Sparkle was hanging off of the edge with only Applejack keeping her from falling to her death; Rarity and Pinkie Pie were lying on the ground, just beside a huge scorch mark; and Fluttershy and Discord were on the opposite side of the dragon, both staring with slack jaws. Fantastic.

Gilgamesh instantly leapt to his feet, and looked over the creature with careful eyes. It looked very vaguely familiar, but he couldn’t quite place it based on appearance alone. However, rather than focus on such unimportant matters as that, he began to look over its forms of attacking – shooting fire appeared to be its primary pattern, and those claws looked more than sharp enough to act as weapons of their own.

Applejack looked over at him, a look of utter disbelief on her face. “Gilgamesh?! Y’all’re awake!”

Within seconds, every single creature there turned their heads towards his now awake form, and their jaws dropped.

But Gilgamesh was not focusing on their faces or actions. No, he was too busy feeling a sort of fire deep in the pit of his stomach, focused straight at the beast before him, as his mind ran over what he had thought about in his unconscious state.

Rarity had said such cruel things to him, Pinkie Pie had terrified him for so long, Twilight had been sarcastic and used him like a tool on various occasions, and Applejack, Rainbow Dash, and Discord had refused to trust him at first, instead seeing him as nothing but a threat.

Even if all of those things were true, Gilgamesh could not deny that they had helped him, too. They had given him shelter, had allowed him to live within their village, acknowledged his abilities, and had tried to befriend him at various points. Twilight had apologized to him over her and her friends' actions, Fluttershy and Applejack had expressed concern over him, and the more he thought about it, the more Gilgamesh realized that they were only trying to help him.

But rather than accept their aid, he was only pushing them away even further.

And so, despite any misgivings he may once have felt, the feeling of the fire in his stomach, directed towards that beast, had only one emotion to it:

Hatred.

“You…” he growled. “You would dare to cause such destruction, pain, and sorrow? You are no drake! You… are but a monstrosity! And I shall eliminate you as such!”

“Gilgamesh, get out of there!” shouted Twilight. “That thing will–!”

He didn’t care. He didn’t care if it blasted him with fire, or clawed at him, or whatever the twisted, awkward creature did. He simply stepped forward, his hand on the blade at his side, until he was directly in front of it.

Gilgamesh had a plan.

“Perhaps,” he gasped, “I am no genius. Perhaps I am but a fool, but I know all too well that I have made so many errors over these past few days.” He looked back at the creatures, and nodded. “And so… allow me to do this, because battle is the thing I am an expert in!”

The dragon’s mouth opened wide, and fire began to form in its jaws. Gilgamesh quickly held the sword up, blocking his face as the fire began to roll over his entire being. In that instant, though he heard the cries of the creatures around him, something new seemed to enter into his mind.

The fire subsided, though he still stood, albeit with minor burns on three of his eight arms. Gilgamesh grinned. “Perfect!” he shouted, and blinked just once. “Just as I thought!”

“Now watch, all of you!” he shouted back at them, the thrill of battle overtaking him once more, “because this monstrosity is about to be burned!”

Though he knew just how awful that pun really was, Gilgamesh was far too busy pulling his head back, and then rapidly throwing it forward. “Flamethrower!” he shouted, and a blast of pure fire instantly burst from his mouth, shooting off towards the dragon.

The beast, seemingly unable to comprehend the attack, let out a loud scream as the fire struck its body, lighting its red scales aflame. It struggled and flailed about, swinging its claws indiscriminately in a mixture of pain and rage, and its green eyes were clamped shut.

Meanwhile, the seven other creatures could only stare with slack jaws at the display, not making a single sound. Applejack had even managed to get Twilight up to the top of the cliff just in time to watch the monster burn.

Gilgamesh stepped back, and altered his grip on the sword. He leapt up forty feet into the air, feeling that the ground below him had vanished, and aimed the tip of the sword directly for the dragon’s head. There was not a single complication as it dug deep into its skull, and tore straight down the burning beast’s front until Gilgamesh’s feet hit the ground again.

He tore the blade free, and turned away. “And that, you see,” he growled, “is why you do not mess with creatures such as these.”

The dragon did not say anything in reply. How could it? It now lay in two halves on the ground, after all. Two halves, both completely empty, and–

Gilgamesh paused. “Wait… completely empty?!” He ran over to the creature’s corpse to reaffirm that claim, and felt his jaw drop in shock.

Just like the insect that had attacked the city the other day, this beast was entirely empty on the inside. There were no organs, there was no blood, or bone, or muscle, or anything at all. There was nothing inside of its burning body.

The others soon joined him in looking over the corpse, and Twilight touched the exterior. “Another thing like this…?” she muttered, and looked over to her friends. “This can’t just be a coincidence… right?”

Rainbow Dash shook her head. “I can’t believe that’s what you’re choosin’ to focus on!” she said, and wrapped a foreleg around Gilgamesh's neck. “You’re not gonna say anything about what this guy just did?”

“That truly was impressive, I must admit,” Rarity said, and she flushed as she turned away. “Er… And my apologies, Gilgamesh. I… I was not thinking when I reacted to your words so harshly, and… yes,” she finished.

Gilgamesh stared at her for several seconds. On one hand, she had been such a huge jerk to him, had insulted him and his armor, and had… No, there was no point in arguing with himself. He knew the answer from the beginning.

“Of course,” he said at last. “And my apologies, as well. What I said was… It was not only unnecessary, but cruel. So I… I am sorry.”

Twilight cocked her head at him. “Huh. What made you jump out there and stop that thing? I thought you hated us…”

“Hated you? Why would that be?” Gilgamesh asked, and he stood tall, placing his hands upon his hips. “Regardless of what may have occurred, a great, heroic warrior such as myself is not wont to abandon creatures such as yourselves to such a grisly fate! And besides,” he added, “I have no hatred for any of you.”

“Even me?” Pinkie Pie asked, leaning uncomfortably close to him.

Gilgamesh took a single step back. “No, of course not!” He turned away, and swallowed his pride. “Over these last few days, I… well, to be blunt, I never thought that any of you truly cared about what could happen to me in the slightest. Why would any of you? I… I thought that all of you hated me, not the other way around.”

“Well, to be fair, you were kinda a jerk,” admitted Rainbow Dash, and she removed her foreleg, “but you were also kinda cool, I guess. I mean, you saved those diamond dogs, and you even gave the credit to Twilight and me!”

“And,” Discord added, “you helped Fluttershy out after she got that threat. Sure, you didn’t really stick around, but –” he paused, and began to file his nails again “– it’s the thought that counts, I guess.”

Applejack nudged his leg. “And Ah ain’t never seen nopony pull that plow as fast as you did, Gilgamesh!”

“I… suppose so,” he admitted, “but what of all the times I was such a jerk to all of you? I held a trident to his throat, stole your fruit, and various other crimes of which I should be held responsible, yet–”

“Water under the bridge,” said Twilight, interrupting his rant. “Gilgamesh, ponies – or, uh, whatever you are – make mistakes, but the important part is owning up to them, and making sure that you don’t do them again in the future. Besides,” she added, “that’s just a part of being friends.”

Gilgamesh blinked just once. “Wait… f-friends? Twilight Sparkle, what are you insinuating?”

“I think you knooow,” said Pinkie, once again getting closer than he found comfortable.

Twilight coughed, and everypony fell silent. “Gilgamesh, we’ve had some tough times over the past few days, but that’s to be expected. You just came here from some other world, after all. But the fact of the matter is that, if you really want to find your way back home, you won’t have to do it alone anymore.”

“Wait… you’re really…?” Gilgamesh said, just barely forcing the words out of his mouth.

“Of course I am!” Twilight said, and held out a hoof. “So, what do you say? Friends?”

He stared at it for just a few seconds, but already knew his answer. Just like before, it was what he knew was right, and what he truly wanted. In those few seconds, he could see the other five mares lean forward expectantly, while Discord merely stared.

Gilgamesh took her hoof. “Certainly,” he said. “Friendship it is.”

A great, loud cheer came up from the group, as they all crowded around him, clamoring excitedly, congratulating him, and just speaking.

“So, before we leave this place,” he said dully, and pointed at the massive, empty corpse, “who’s… uh… who’s going to carry that?”

Twilight sat at her desk, writing her latest letter to Celestia. Even if her friendship report had long since finished, she still had to tell her mentor the good news.

“’Dear Princess Celestia,’” she said, speaking as she wrote. “’Today, I learned a very important lesson about friendship, and from the unlikeliest of sources. Yes, a creature can be mean to you, or brag, or anything like that, but that doesn’t mean that you can’t work around those flaws. And sometimes, the creatures who are that way make for some of the best friends overall. Your Fellow Princess, Twilight Sparkle,’” she finished, and placed a hoof on her chin, before continuing: “’P.S.: Your prediction was right.’”

With that completed, she turned to the sample of the dragon’s flesh, sitting right next to that of the insect that had attacked Canterlot on Gilgamesh’s first day since waking up. As she’d thought, the substances were completely identical, down to the very last molecule.

“Who could’ve sent something like this?” she murmured to herself. It had to be some sort of construct, a golem of whatever that material was.

But what could the material be? From what she knew, it was highly flammable, cut really easily, felt extremely familiar, and–

Twilight slammed her hoof into her forehead. How hadn’t she realized it sooner? She would need to run some tests to make sure, but it seemed so obvious.

But, then again, who would have suspected that a monster could be made out of paper?

Gilgamesh sat in the same position as always, his hands pressing on the keys with a newfound mirth. To think that he had finally managed to do it, that he could have at last been able to befriend the equines. And to think that all it took was admitting your faults and apologizing for your actions, at that.

And his playing only reflected the new joy in his heart.

He sat back, and stared at the instrument before him, running his fingers over its wooden plating. To think that, only a few days ago, he’d hated the thing, and now it had become something of a way to vent his emotions, to show the world just what he truly felt. It was a weird feeling, if only due to how ecstatic he felt, but he wouldn’t’ have given it up for anything.

And so, with much gusto, joy, and excitement, Gilgamesh continued to play, his joy swelling along with that of the keys.

Episode 8: Nightfall

View Online

The time was approximately five in the morning, and the pre-dawn darkness still hung like a shroud over Canterlot.

Luna stepped along the hallway towards her personal chamber, yawning softly to herself as she did so. Although she was completely exhausted from her time holding court the prior day and having to both raise the moon and oversee the night sky, she had avoided the tiredness until only several hours beforehand. Thankfully, Celestia had been kind enough to give her an early start on her sleep schedule. She’d sent her off to her chambers long before the sun was meant to rise, promising to take care of it.

She let out yet another yawn, louder this time, and stepped over to the door of her room. It was a door that she always locked, always made sure was both secure and closed. Not even the maids were allowed inside whenever she wasn’t.

Reaching for the key, Luna touched the doorknob instinctively.

And then she felt it turn fully.

Startled, she leapt back several inches, a sudden nervousness clenching at her throat. Theoretically speaking, Luna was the only pony who should have been able to unlock the door – there wasn’t a single other key in existence. She even made sure to keep its shape a secret so that nopony could copy it. Yes, perhaps that was a little paranoid, but Luna had her reasons.

But the doorknob still turned. The door was still unlocked, yet how could that be? Did she want to find out?

Luna stood in that position, cautiously staring at the door for several seconds before realization dawned on her. Of course, she must have simply forgotten to lock it the day prior… right? Yes, that was the only explanation that made sense. It made perfect sense.

But still, she could not help but feel a strange prickling feeling in the front of her skull. No, it wasn’t fear – Luna knew the feeling of fear perfectly, and that most certainly was not it. In fact, she couldn’t even begin to place what that feeling was, but it most certainly was not pleasant.

Slowly, ever so slowly, Luna pressed her hoof to the door once more, and felt the knob turn again. She pushed forward, holding her breath and keeping her eyes shut as the door creaked open, a reminder to fix the old hinges that held it shut.

She opened her eyes quickly, and exhaled deeply as she looked over her chamber. It appeared to have been completely untouched, with even the scrolls she’d left behind on the bedside table not moved in the slightest, still tidily formed into a neat pyramid on the polished wooden table. With a grin on her face, and newfound confidence in her heart, Luna reached over to flip the light switch.

The room remained dark.

Luna raised an eyebrow in confusion, and flipped the switch again. Still, the lights didn’t come on, and her chambers were still bathed in darkness.

She rolled her eyes, and walked over to her bedside lamp, muttering to herself, “Tch! ‘Lasts for months,’ indeed…” Luna took one look at the bulb, pulling the drawer out in order to find a replacement, when her heart suddenly stopped in her chest.

The lamp was completely empty. There weren’t even any shards of glass around it to show that the bulb had randomly exploded.

There was literally nothing inside of it at all.

And then there was the sound of the door behind her creaking shut, and Luna turned just in time to see a figure charge towards her. Its form was completely shrouded by a dark blue cloak, and its face by a white, expressionless mask. Its movements were idiosyncratic. It was like a marionette on strings, with its legs twisting awkwardly, and randomly stopping at various points. She couldn’t even tell what its race was, because even though it was clutching a dagger, whatever sort of appendage it had – hooves or claws – could not be seen beneath its cloak, nor could any wings on its back or a horn.

Wait…

A dagger…?

Luna felt her eyes widen in shock. She quickly jumped back just in time to avoid being stabbed. Her head collided with the wall, sending a sharp spike of pain through her skull.

Luna felt her eyes, unfocused from the blow, move onto her attacker. It shifted in and out of focus as it pressed the dagger up to her throat.

But she couldn’t react. She felt groggy, the back of her skull – oh, how it ached! Her thoughts were disjointed. Choppy. Short.

The attacker let out a low, quiet chuckle. It pulled the dagger away, turning its blade slightly in its… whatever it had.

“I wonder,” the creature whispered, in a voice that Luna couldn’t quite place, “what color an alicorn bleeds. Well –” the attacker paused for an instant and pressed the edge of the dagger to Luna’s throat “– I suppose we’ll just have to find out, see?”

In that instant – perhaps spurred on by the assassin’s taunts – a surge of power seemed to erupt from Luna’s very being. Her horn became alit with pure, dark blue energy, and she aimed it all at her attacker. But before she could lift it into the air, the attacker slashed a wound just below her jaw with its dagger.

The would-be-assassin let out a gasp of surprise as it was suddenly thrown against the opposing wall. In a mixture of fear, pain, and rage, Luna felt herself pick the attacker up once more, and throw it into a large nearby window.

The sound of glass shattering echoed throughout the chamber, followed by a loud crash on the ground below.

Luna attempted to work her way back to her hooves, but felt herself collapse as the blow the back of her head finally took its toll on her. Despite her mind’s protests, her body would not listen, and the world soon turned even darker.

-- An Epic for Gilgamesh --
-- Episode 8: Nightfall --
-- Written By ZaleAcon --

The time was approximately eight in the morning, and the royal palace was alight with activity. Several detectives from the Canterlot Police Department wandered the blue-carpeted halls, taking statements from several of the guards or generally looking for any evidence of the criminal’s attack.

But nothing had been found to prove just who or what was behind the assault. It was almost disturbing, in a way; there weren’t any prints save her own, and not even any glove marks were evident anywhere in her room. No physical evidence could be found, and the attacker’s true identity was far from being discovered. Even minor information – race, sex, probable age, species – was impossible to find.

The guards apparently hadn’t even noticed the creature that had stalked the halls, nor the weapon that they had carried upon their person. Was it a dagger? A sword? None of them could say for certain. Whatever monstrosity it was, the assassin was undoubtedly a genius at its craft. So much so, it seemed, that it had been able to waltz, canter, or whatever its way into the palace with no difficulties in the slightest.

Twilight Sparkle looked about the area, muttering to herself as she did so. To think that she had been so close in looking into dimensional properties, only to be whisked away into a crime scene, and it had all begun with that note Celestia had given her.

Princess Twilight Sparkle, it had read, a wretched problem has arisen in Canterlot. I cannot say exactly what it is at this time, for I fear that anypony with you may panic, though I must request your presence immediately. The problem will be made clear when you arrive.

Though she wanted to know just why so many requests had been sent out via letter recently, Twilight was not about to question the orders of the princess. So without any hesitation, she had run straight off to Canterlot, and found herself staring at this mess. It had taken mere moments to learn that Luna’s life had been threatened, and that she was now completely unconscious, but Twilight was still finding it hard to believe.

Why anypony would attack a princess was her biggest question. It simply made no logical sense – such a crime would be declared as both treason and attempted murder, the punishment of which was a choice between death, banishment, and petrification. None of them were particularly good options.

Regardless of the killer’s intentions, however, the result was the same: Luna was unconscious, and the attacker was nowhere to be found. It hadn’t even left behind a single remnant of its existence.

Twilight paced to and fro, waiting impatiently for something, anything, to happen. She had been told specifically to wait in the foyer of the palace until somepony sent for her, but nothing had occurred so far. Even the detectives, forensic scientists, and others ignored her as they went about their daily grind, murmuring under their breaths about various matters, or talking and laughing with each other elsewhere. How could they be so happy at a time like this?

“Excuse me, Princess Twilight,” came a deep, bass voice from behind her, and Twilight turned toward it.

And then she looked up… and up… and up…

The figure was massive, likely even more so than Big Macintosh, and especially for an earth pony. His coat was a healthy bronze, though his mane – a sporadic mixture of dark and light gray that hung down to the back of his head and curled up at the front – betrayed his true age. His eyebrows were larger than his green-blue eyes, making them look extremely small on his head. His Cutie Mark was a shield-shaped police badge, surrounded by a blue circle and with an inverted star behind that.

Twilight couldn’t avert her eyes from his face, and wondered just how tall the giant stallion truly was. “Um… it’s a, uh…” She coughed, awkwardly. “Um, right… What is it?”

The figure blinked just once, and nodded. “Yes. I apologize for the wait, Princess. I’d no plans in involving you in this case, though it would appear that Princess Celestia planned otherwise…” He grimaced. “Once more, I apologize for the inconvenience. But that being said, I have a request, if you would be willing to take it.”

“Oh, uh…” Twilight said, still focusing on the stallion’s height, before blinking. “Wait a second… Um, if you don’t mind me asking… Who are you…?”

“Oh, of course. My apologies again, Princess.” The stallion bowed his head, though his expression remained the same. “Dreadnaught, the chief of police.”

“Oh, right. Chief of… police…” Twilight trailed off, and felt her face blanch as she realized to whom she was talking. “O-oh! Right. Right, I understand.”

There had been an unprecedented number of stories about the chief of police – that he had more raw physical ability than most minotaurs in their prime, that he had stopped upwards of five-hundred crimes throughout his life, that he could shoot lasers from his eyes when angry…

Twilight doubted the validity of the last one. Maybe.

“So… uh… what’s your request…?”

Dreadnaught nodded and smiled slightly. “Okay, then…” He turned away and shouted, “Hey, Quill, come over here!”

A single griffin looked over at the two, stared for a second, and walked over to them. He rubbed the side of his head as he approached, causing Twilight to notice his plumage: it was stark white, but the tips were pitch black. In fact, his colors looked almost like an inverted version of Prosecutor Dire’s, but without that weird stripe on his head. His body, on the other hoof, looked to be a mess; the griffon was disturbingly gaunt – which caused him to look less like a griffon and more like a steel pipe with feathers glued on to it – and large bags sat under his gray eyes. His plumage looked as if it hadn’t been properly washed in weeks, maybe months, and his talons were chipped and broken.

“Yeah, yeah… What is it, Dreadnaught?” he asked, his voice sounding both tired and irate. “You finally got something for me to work on? Because this is starting to get dull.”

Dreadnaught nodded, and looked over to Twilight. “I don’t believe the two of you have met, have you?”

“No,” Twilight admitted, looking over the annoyed-looking griffin, before she cautiously held out a hoof. “Um… I’m Twilight Sparkle.”

The griffin nodded curtly. “Sullivan Quill,” he said, about as tersely as physically possible. “Police Psychoanalyst.”

“So… uh… what is it that you want me to do, exactly?” Twilight asked, her gaze turning to meet Dreadnaught’s eyebrows… er, eyes. Naturally, her neck was craned at a very uncomfortable angle.

“So far today, nopony’s been able to speak with Princess Celestia due to some reason or another. I want you to take her statement, as she will likely want to see somepony she is close to in this sort of… situation. Oh, yes,” he added, “and you’ll be taking Quill along with you, too. Just in case.”

“Delightful,” Quill said dryly.

“Wait,” Twilight interrupted. “I understand you wanting me to get the princess’s statement – I guess she’d be more willing to tell me everything than somepony else – but… why’s he coming along, too?”

“Let’s just say that he’s… interesting,” replied Dreadnaught.

Quill rolled his eyes in response. “Yeah, yeah. He just means nopony else wants to deal with me,” he deadpanned. “Now, can we just get this crap over with?”

Dreadnaught turned to him, his eyes suddenly becoming sharp. “Now, listen here,” he growled, suddenly sounding much less professional. “I’m not going to tolerate this, not even from you. The last thing we need is for the princess to refuse because you feel the need to act like a child.”

“Fine, I get it. You don’t need to tell me twice, Dreadnaught.” Quill grimaced, seemingly his default facial expression, and let out a sigh. “But just because you’re asking me. I just want to get in there, and to get out as fast as I can.” For just an instant, his eyes seemed to darken. “After all, there’s only so long left…”

Twilight looked back and forth between the two. “Um… am I missing something here?”

Dreadnaught shook his head. “No, there’s nothing about this you should worry about, Princess,” he said, suddenly regaining his professionalism. “That’s all I have to say on the matter, however. My apologies again, Princess Twilight, and I wish you luck.”

Without another word, he turned and stepped back over to a group of ponies, one of whom Twilight recognized as Detective Cold Case from several days prior, before he began to instruct them, as well.

“Well, not much we can do about it now, huh?” Quill asked, sounding both incredibly bored and no less irritated than he had before. “C’mon, Sparkles. Let’s just go and get this thing over with.”

Twilight kept her jaw clamped shut, pushing back the urge to scream at her new “partner.” The nicest thing she could say about him so far was that he kept his mind on the job at hand, so at least they shared a common goal.

Then again, it would give her a chance to talk to Celestia, so maybe she could share her findings on the paper constructs that had been attacking Equestria as of late. She could tell her about Gilgamesh, about her theories of how something was sending these monsters into their world, and everything else. In a way, she was actually thankful to Quill for that much.

But that probably wouldn’t help alleviate the inevitable pain from working with him.

The unused room was dark, to the point where only the vague shape of its sole occupant could be seen. Not even a single piece of furniture rested within. It was in a room much like that wherein Luna had been attacked.

Had she just been more diligent, had she just tried harder, she could have…!

Celestia slammed her eyes shut, and forced herself to focus on the matter at hand. Yes, Luna had been attacked, but she was far from dead. At least she could take some sort of refuge in that.

But still, the thought that any of her citizens – that her ponies, such innocent beings as they were – could have committed such a fell act was absolutely heartbreaking. She’d thought that four years ago had been the last time such brutality would be witnessed, but… the mere realization that such a thing could have happened was more than she could bear.

And even if Luna fully recovered, the scars, both physical and psychological, would definitely remain. How could she ever feel safe in the palace again? How could Celestia feel safe, given the criminal managed to sneak past the guards with no difficulties in the slightest? How…?

“Princess…?” The door opened ever so slightly, and a figure stumbled in. In the darkness, Celestia could barely make out his facial features, though that voice seemed familiar enough.

She blinked just once, tearing herself out of her mind, and focused on the creature before her. “You are… my sister’s messenger, correct?” Encrypted Glass, she believed it was. But why was he there? And, more importantly, why was he trembling so much…?

Without warning, he leapt towards her, causing Celestia to brace herself… only to feel him wrap his forelegs around her neck, and to start sobbing profusely into her side.

“I-I’m so… so… s-sor-sorry, P-Princess…!” he wailed. “It’s my…! I-I’m…!” He continued in a similar vein, starting sentences, but not ending them, as his tears continued to stain her coat.

“Calm down, Mister Glass,” Celestia said gently, and placed a wing about his body. “Please, just tell me what happened…”

Glass paused for a moment in his crying to wipe away the tears, and nodded. “Y-yes… I’m sorry, Princess, I’m…” He hiccupped, and coughed. “I… It’s all my fault that Princess Luna’s… that she’s…!” Without warning, he fell back onto her coat, the tears springing forth anew.

“Mister Glass, please just tell me what happened…” Celestia repeated.

“It’s my… it’s all my fault, Princess!” Glass said, clearly trying to hold back his tears. “If I’d… if I had-h-hadn’t taken that stupid detour, I’d have… I’d have…”

Celestia stared down at him, and moved in close to nuzzle him, to make him feel safe. “Start from the beginning,” she said, her voice still extremely gentle.

Glass swallowed and nodded. “Right… I was… I was supposed to be here several hours ago… b-back when… when Prince-Prin-Princess Luna was attacked… If I’d just been here, I could’ve… I’d… I…”

Once more, he broke out into sobs against Celestia’s side. This clearly wasn’t going to get anywhere at this rate. Loathe though she was to admit it, that was a fact that could not be denied – Glass was clearly too far gone to recount anything of that like, instead showing such guilt, shame, and pain as he did at the moment. In that case, it would be up to Celestia to discern his meaning for herself.

He’d taken a detour, he said? Yes, that sounded right. So then, had he not taken said detour, he would have arrived earlier, back around five in the morning?

Celestia blinked just once. “That seems… awfully early,” she said at last. But to think, that was before most creatures even woke up normally, and the mail wasn’t sent out until approximately… six or seven, she believed it was. It was hard to keep track of the exact time, given that it seemed to change every day.

Glass pulled himself out of Celestia’s plumage, and nodded through his tears. He took a deep breath, swallowed, and said, “Y-yes, Princess… Princess L-Luna always wanted me t-to be pre-prepared in case of any… any… prob-pr-problems…” He wiped his eyes, and hiccupped. “Y-yes… She… she did…”

His expression suddenly changed, even visible in the darkness. “Princess Celestia, please… is Princess Luna…? W-will she… will she be…?!”

“Luna… Princess Luna,” Celestia corrected herself, “will be fine. Her wounds weren’t particularly deep, and the dagger missed several of her vital organs. Believe me, Mister Glass, you’ve nothing to fear.”

“I… I see… Yes. I do.” Glass let out a sigh of relief, and gave a shaky smile. “At least… at least there’s that much…”

Celestia nodded. “Yes, she’ll be completely fine. It will take time, but –” she averted her gaze from her sister’s messenger “– in the end, there is no need to make yourself suffer unnecessarily.”

“I suppose…” he admitted, his voice and speech suddenly becoming more formal. “But had I not taken that detour, Princess Luna would never have entered such a state to begin with…” He stepped away, turning his gaze to the nearest wall. “How, then, can I not blame myself for this? If I’d been there…”

“You would have been attacked as well,” Celestia pointed out.

“Maybe, but…”

Glass said nothing more, though his silence spoke volumes.

Several minutes passed in the darkness, before Celestia said, “Mister Glass, I assure you that any problems regarding my sister will be taken care of. The assassin shall be caught and tried for their crimes. Whoever he or she is, they will not be allowed to cause any more strife across Equestria.” She smiled. “So please do not fret, because I promise that everything will be fine.”

He bowed his head in response. “Everything will be fine,” he echoed quietly. “I… I see. Yes. I do.”

Again, the room was quiet for roughly a minute. Glass finally said, “Princess, I apologize for my ignorance in this matter. And… thank you for putting my mind at ease. If only somewhat.”

Celestia could feel nothing but compassion for the poor creature – to think that he was suffering so much, even though he had not been harmed in the slightest! Perhaps, she thought to herself, there were monsters such as the assassin lurking about her beloved land. But for every beast, there were several hundred creatures such as Glass. It was quite uplifting, to say the least.

The sound of the door to the chamber creaking open interrupted her thoughts, and Celestia found her gaze turning away from Glass as sunlight flooded the room.

The door opened slowly, the rust on its hinges evident of the lack of use. Twilight simply stood aside, watching as her “companion” pulled it open, muttering to himself under his breath.

As the room came into sight, light poured into it from a window behind them, revealing its two occupants: Princess Celestia, whom they had been searching for, and – perhaps most surprisingly of all – Encrypted Glass, Princess Luna’s messenger.

The two instantly looked up to the new arrivals in obvious surprise, and Quill placed his talons to his forehead. “Of course,” he muttered, dry as ever. “She would be in the last place we’d think to check, wouldn’t she…?”

“Princess, I’m so sorry if we’re interrupting anything,” Twilight said, feeling mortified at having caught the two in such a moment. “But we’ve been looking for you for the past three hours and…” She trailed off, just barely avoiding the urge to tell her mentor of her new desire to punch Quill in the jaw.

Celestia stood up, and nodded to Glass to follow suit. “Yes,” she said, “I apologize for having hid myself away, but I felt I had to be…” She suddenly stopped, her eyes slowly trailing over to Quill. She simply stared at him for several seconds, before she managed to say, “D-Doctor Quill, I–”

“Yeah, yeah,” he muttered, his deadpan voice just barely hiding a layer of venom. “I’m just here to take your statement. I don’t want any of your sugar-coated nonsense, so let’s just get this crap over with, got it?”

“Yes, I–”

“Now wait just a second, here!” Twilight shouted, feeling the last bit of her resolve snap as she wheeled toward Quill. Her eyes became narrow, and she growled, “You can mock me as much as you want, but how dare you talk to Princess Celestia like that?”

For just a second, she thought Quill’s eyes flashed. The bored expression on his face completely faded away as his lips twisted into a scowl, and his eyes narrowed to match her own. “I’ve got no reason to explain that to you, Sparkles.”

“You’re treading on thin ice!” she snapped. “If I hear you say one more thing – just one. More – like that, you are off this case!”

The tension in the room was so thick that one could cut it with a knife. For just a moment, Twilight thought that Quill was going take heed of her warning.

Then the corners of his lips twitched into a smirk and he turned his head to the side. “You seem angry, Sparkles. Are you angry?”

It wasn’t the fact that Quill was obviously baiting her that set her off. It wasn’t that he was smirking, or that he was asking such a rhetorical question. It was simply how he said it, his voice dripping with a sort of sarcastic smarminess she had never heard in her entire life.

Twilight could feel herself practically light on fire, her face likely becoming red with rage and hatred at her “partner.” “That does it!” she shouted, loud enough to be heard several rooms over. “You, Sullivan Quill, are off this case! Leave the palace NOW!”

As she finished her outburst, Quill placed his talons on his chin, his smirk becoming even larger and more mean-spirited. “Sorry, Sparkles, but you don’t have the authority to do that.”

“I am a princess of Equestria, Doctor, and I assure you that I have more authority than you want to pretend.”

“Really? So, you’re the chief of police, now?” Quill said, his expression changing back to looking completely uninterested. “Alright, then… why don’t you go and tell the others how to investigate, hmm?” He cracked his neck from side to side. “I’m sure that Dreadnaught would be glad at your input.”

“I-I never said that!”

“No? Huh, guess I just imagined it…” Quill let out a yawn. “The only creature in Equestria with any authority over me is the chief of police. I’m afraid that being a novice princess just isn’t going to cut it, Sparkles.”

Twilight gaped. Yes, she had known that Quill was rude, and sarcastic, but for him to have been such a blatant jerk was just disgusting. At least everypony else she’d met who acted like that seemed to have some sort of motivation for their actions. But Quill?

Well, Twilight had to suppress the urge to punch him in the jaw for that.

“You… I just, just…” Twilight stammered, attempting to say something that would show her self-control. Celestia knew that Quill didn’t seem to have any.

“Yeah, that’s what I thought,” Quill said, not allowing Twilight to finish her statement, and walked up to Celestia.

“Come on, then,” he muttered, his voice suddenly sounding much more somber and irate. “Like I said, the sooner this crap can be dealt with, the better. I don’t wanna waste any more time than I have to.”

Celestia nodded weakly. “Yes… of course. Twilight,” she said, glancing over at her, “we’re going to head into a different chamber. Could you make sure that Mister Glass is fee–?”

“He’s fine,” Quill said, cutting her off. “None of his emotions are rampant, he’s displaying normal readings, and he appears to have mostly recovered. Now let’s go.”

Again, Celestia merely nodded, and said nothing else as she and Quill stepped out of the chamber.

Twilight simply stared after them as they vanished from sight, before she turned her gaze on the silent Encrypted Glass. “Argh! I can’t believe that guy!” she growled. She would rather have spoken with pre-friendship Gilgamesh. At least he hadn’t been that absurdly grating.

Glass blinked just once, as if awakening from a trance, and shook his head. “O-oh, yes, Princess.” He grimaced, and turned his gaze to the door.

“Hey, Glass, I’ve been meaning to ask… why’re you here? Shouldn’t you be seeing… Princess… L…” Her face fell as soon as the words left her mouth. “Oh… right.” She’d been so preoccupied with her “partner” that she’d completely forgotten Luna’s predicament.

“I-I’m sorry, Princess!” Glass blurted out, and hugged his forelegs around his torso. “I-I’d no intention of causing you any strife, I…!”

Twilight stepped over to him. “Calm down, Glass,” she said. “I’m… fine, see?” She pulled her face into a fake, plastered-on grin.

Though he seemed unconvinced, he nodded and unwrapped his hooves from his body. “Right… I’m sorry again, Princess, but ever since all of this stuff began happening, I can’t… I just feel so anxious. Yes. I do.” He turned his head away from hers.

Twilight blinked just once as she saw what appeared to be a large wound just to the right of his left ear, awkwardly and barely hidden beneath Glass’s large hat. It was a blackish-purple in color, and there was a small stream of dried blood on it.

“What happened to your head?”

Glass shrunk down and pulled his hat down further over the wound, leaving it completely lopsided. “I-I was trying to get here as fast as I could today, and I… er… I, um…” He coughed. “It’s a bit embarrassing… Yes… It is…”

Twilight stepped closer to him. “Looks like you hit your head pretty badly,” she said. “Did you trip or something?”

“Like I said, it’s embarrassing…” Glass’s face could not have been any redder.

Twilight stepped in front of him, and looked down at his hooves. They were covered in several bruises, tiny cuts, and scrapes. “Okay, Glass,” she said, sounding seriously concerned, “are you alright? These all look really recent, and–”

“O-of course, Princess!” he said, standing up as tall as possible, though he winced as several of his injuries pressed into the ground. “I’m absolutely fine! Yes. I am. So there’s no need for you to– a-ack!” Before he could finish that statement, Glass slipped and fell back, hitting the ground unceremoniously.

Twilight instinctively reached down and helped him back to his hooves. “Hey! Glass, are you okay?”

Although he was obviously dazed, Glass nodded. “Fit as a f-fid-fiddle,” he groaned.

“Fiddles don’t randomly fall over,” Twilight deadpanned.

“Y-yeah…” Glass rubbed the side of his head where the wound was, wincing as soon as he made contact with it.

Realization dawned on Twilight, and she mentally pressed a hoof into her forehead. “Glass.”

“Yes, Princess?”

“Please don’t tell me that you just randomly fell over, and that’s how you got your wounds.”

Glass blinked just once. “O-of course not, Princess!” he said for the umpteenth time that day. “The real reason was much more… um…” He paused for a moment, before mumbling something to himself.

Twilight leaned in close. “Sorry, what was that?”

“W-well I, er…” Glass grimaced, and picked at the ground idly. “I woke up today, and I was having a bit of trouble with my eyes. Yes. I was. So I just went outside and started running along the path here, when my legs just sort of…”

“So you tripped,” Twilight surmised.

Glass merely nodded, his face still beet-red.

“But what do you mean you ‘had a bit of trouble with your eyes’?”

For several seconds, there was a long, awkward silence as Glass continued to pick at the ground with his hoof. “I guess there’s no point in hiding it anymore, is there?” After several more seconds, he said, “I… I suffer from chronic migraines. Yes. I do. And they aren’t ones such as, say, a mere headache – I legitimately feel like my head is being split open whenever one of these comes around.” He continued to prod the ground with his hoof, staring intently at it and ignoring Twilight’s eyes.

Twilight nodded empathetically. She knew all too well the pain of a splitting headache, especially considering how her friends constantly seemed to be running into her, landing on top of her, or predicting pianos falling from above with startling accuracy.

She shuddered momentarily, before making a mental note to be extremely careful in case Gilgamesh ever decided to rid himself of his own piano. Considering that he was so strong, she would have to watch the sky whenever she went over to his house.

“But wait,” she said, coming back to reality, “don’t you have medicine for it, or something?”

Glass nodded. “Yes. I do. But it’s very limited – and expensive – and I ran out of my latest shipment just a few weeks ago. And since the source is so far away, I still have awhile to wait before I get a new batch.”

Twilight took a step away from him to give him more space. Perhaps it was out of a fear that he would randomly fall on top of her, or maybe it was due to a possibility that he would start to clutch at his head in agony. Either way…

“And that affects your eyesight?”

He stopped picking at the ground. “My depth perception, yes. It becomes much more stunted after a headache like that. My suppliers said that it had something to do with it messing with the area where my eyes connect to my brain, or something along those lines. Yes. They did.” He looked up and turned his attention to the door. “And when I have a hard time differentiating layers…”

Twilight winced at the thought. Seeing everything around a creature as being flat would frankly be very disturbing, if only because it would make her feel like she was in a cartoon, rather than a three-dimensional world.

Speaking of cartoons, she wondered how Gilgamesh was at the moment, before getting her mind back on track. It was not the time for going off on random tangents, after all.

“How long does this usually last?” she asked.

“The migraines or the eyesight problems, Princess?”

“Both.”

Glass nodded. “The migraines usually last… fifteen to thirty minutes, I think? Yes. They do.” He grimaced, and returned to poking the ground. “The issues with depth perception, on the other hoof… they’ve been anywhere between… ten, fifteen hours. This current one ended around the time I fell, so I’d say it was closer to twenty.”

Before Twilight could say anything else, however, he added, “But keep in mind, Princess, I’ve only had these a few times. Yes. I have. So I can’t be entirely sure.”

She nodded. “I see…”

“It probably also didn’t help matters that I was running as fast as I could,” Glass muttered, rubbing the side of his head again and wincing at the contact.

“Yeah, I can see that being a problem,” Twilight said dryly, and stepped closer to him. “Well… at least you seem much better off now, right? I mean, you could’ve gotten a concussion or something, but…”

“If I did, I doubt I’d notice it,” Glass admitted. “The pain from these headaches is so bad that a concussion wouldn’t feel very different.”

“Really? It’s… it’s that bad?”

“Well, I…” Glass paused, and placed a hoof on his chin. “Imagine the worst headache you’ve ever had. Now, multiply that by one-hundred.”

Twilight shuddered, her hoof instinctively moving to her own head. “Well… I, uh… I’m glad you’re okay now.”

“Me too, Princess,” Glass said. “Yes. I am.”

The two stood in an awkward silence for a long time before Celestia and Quill returned to the chamber. Celestia looked pale, somehow having become even whiter than her normal color. Quill, on the other hoof, looked as if he’d recently exploded, his grit teeth and curled talons not matching his gaunt form. He turned to look at Celestia, and Twilight could hear the venom in his words.

“I hope you’ll think about what I just told you, Celestia,” he said, “and how you brought this mess on yourself.”

Without another word, he turned around and stormed out of the chamber, refusing to even acknowledge Twilight’s and Glass’s presences. He slammed the door behind him, drowning the room in darkness once more.

Celestia leaned against the wall, looking as if she was about to collapse. “I-I… I’m…” she said to herself, also as if she couldn’t see Twilight and Glass.

“Princess!” Twilight ran over to her side. “Princess, are you okay? What the heck did that jerk say to you?!”

“O-oh, Twilight.” Celestia turned her empty eyes on her. “It’s… it’s nothing for you to worry about. Doctor Quill just… h-he went over some important matters regarding… regarding this… this…” She swallowed. “Regarding this… case…”

It was obvious something was bothering her, but Twilight had no idea what it was. How could she? It wasn’t as if she could read minds, or anything of the sort. She didn’t even know where to start.

“Princess…” Glass said, and looked over at the door. “I-I should be going. Yes. I–”

“Mister Glass,” Celestia said, interrupting him, “I-I… I’m sorry.”

He blinked. “Whatever for, Princess?”

Celestia shook her head. “Just… I’m sorry. But… you said you are worried about Luna, right?”

“Yes, of course, Princess.”

“Then, please… Luna is in the castle’s infirmary now. If you… if you wish to go see her, then please… please do so.”

“I-I understand, Princess,” Glass said. “Then I’ll just go. Yes. I will. And Princess Twilight…?”

“What is it?” Twilight turned to look over at him.

“Thank you,” he said. “Both of you.”

With those words, Glass opened the door to the chamber and walked out, attempting to cover the lump on his head with the hat once more. His movements were far more sluggish than Quill’s had been.

After he had left, this time leaving the door open, Twilight looked over at Celestia. “Princess… are you going to be alright?”

“Yes, of course.” Celestia took in a deep breath, and Twilight could already see some color returning to her face – which was strange, because, again, Celestia was completely white, but Twilight decided not to question it. “Yes, I-I should be fine. I just need some time to myself.”

“Oh… Okay, then,” Twilight said, and stepped over to the open door. “I’ll get back to Chief Dreadnaught. I’ll, uh… I’ll see if there’s anything else he wants me to look into.” She trotted outside, and started to close the door.

“Twilight, wait…”

But it had already been too late, and the door to the chamber slammed shut, leaving Celestia alone in the darkness once more.

It was only much later that Twilight would realize just what she had forgotten to tell her about.

Even for someone who had only been living in the area for seven days, Gilgamesh could not deny that feeling of something stirring in the pit of his stomach. It couldn’t have been dread, because he had already conquered his fears of the world – friendships had been formed, swords had been swung, dragons had been slain, and pianos had been played. But even in his small, almost empty home, he felt a chill run down his spine.

Maybe it was the fact that Twilight, nor any of her – his – friends had come to force him to wake up. A first, really. Maybe it was just that strange sense that he got whenever something was about to go horribly, painfully wrong. Maybe it was just the nervousness from performing on Nightmare Night in mere days – three days, at that, if he didn’t count today.

But no, he knew the feeling all too well. When Bartz and his allies stormed Exdeath’s castle, that same sort of chill struck his spine. That feeling was not nervousness, not fear, not even dread. He couldn’t even begin to imagine what it was, but it was something far beyond mere terror.

His fingers touched the piano keys lightly at first, but he couldn’t bring himself to practice. Not yet, at least. There was something that he needed to look at first.

Gilgamesh stood up from the piano and dusted himself off. He turned to look over at the door, and stepped over to it. Pausing for a mere moment, he placed one of his many hands on the doorknob and turned it. As the door opened with a small creak, Gilgamesh stepped outside, and turned his eyes up to the sky.

It was normal. Everything was in its place, as it had been the previous few days. So why had he been so worried about it? Under normal circumstances, Gilgamesh would have merely chalked it up to warrior’s intuition, but there was literally nothing there. No monsters, no friendly creatures, nothing of the sort.

At least when he and Bartz had fought, or had interacted, there was some sort of threat evident. At least then he had been justified in his nervousness, but now it just felt as if he was freaking out over nothing.

“It must be these past few days,” he said. “Dragons, murder threats… Tch! To think that this world looks so serene…” He shook his head, and turned around to head inside.

Gilgamesh paused just before stepping into the building, however, and looked back over his shoulder. Still, there was nothing that he could see, and he shook his head. Yes, it must have been the past few days just messing with him. Everything was probably fine.

Or, at least, he hoped it was.

The Canterlot Police Department was dead silent. Not a single creature spoke as they all processed the information. In a room far in the back of the building, two ponies were exchanging information regarding the case.

“Not a single trace…?” said Detective Cold Case. “What the heck do you mean by that?!”

“Exactly that, Detective,” Dusty Trail, one of the forensic scientists, said. She brushed a hoof through her auburn mane. “My team looked all throughout the castle, and not a single trace of any sort of intruder could be found. No hoof prints, no magic marks, not even any signs that anything had been tampered with. And,” she added, “I have something else that you’ll probably be interested in.”

“What?”

“The door,” Trail said. “It was opened normally. No lock picks were used, the window wasn’t opened by anypony, and there were no signs of breaking and entering.”

“What about teleportation?” Case asked. “Is it possible that the assassin–?”

“No. The princesses’ chambers are specially designed so that nopony can just teleport in. Same goes for the infirmary, and some other important rooms that aren’t normally open to the public.”

“I see… Then, in that case, it means that whoever is responsible for the attack–“

“Yes. It means that he, she, or it knew about the key, enough to have an exact duplicate lying around.” Trail paused. “And, if I may say, note that the our would-be-killer would have to have seen that key a lot. Princess Luna kept it far from the prying eyes of the public to prevent just this sort of thing from happening.”

Case nodded. “Right. So that leaves out most of Canterlot.” She paused. “So the most likely candidates would be those who know the princess, or at least worked with her. A maid, maybe, or a royal guard?”

“I doubt it.” Trail cracked her neck. “Looking at this logically, nopony in their right mind would attack a princess – the punishment for such a thing is far too much. If you want my honest opinion… I think that the attacker behind this might be responsible for the deaths around Canterlot.”

Case rolled her eyes. “Really? First Dire, now you?”

“You can’t deny the connection, can you?” Trail asked. “Think about it: three creatures wind up dead, a princess is nearly killed, a death threat is sent out to Ponyville, all in the span of a month…” She shook her head. “Ugh… I haven’t seen this much wanton violence in four years.”

Case grimaced. “Okay, I’ll admit that there are some similarities, but that doesn’t mean that they’re connected, right? For all we know, it could just be a coincidence.”

“You’re absolutely right,” Trail said. “But there’s a certain point where these facts all start to blend together. The closer I look at this case, the more similarities I find between it and the three suicides, and even that death threat.”

Case shook her head, but said nothing in reply. She knew that she couldn’t possibly argue with Trail; her logic was sound, if somewhat flawed, but she had to keep up appearances.

But before she could say anything, Case felt something tap her on the shoulder. She turned around and saw Sullivan Quill, standing still and with a face as bored as ever.

“What do you need, Quill?” she asked, not looking forward to speaking with him.

“I’ve got something I need to talk to you about.”

“Can’t it wait? I’m in the middle of an important conversation, here.”

Quill rolled his eyes. “Yeah, yeah, I can see that. But I have something more important I need to speak to you about. Now. In private,” he added, glaring over at Trail to accentuate the point.

Case sighed. “How important are we talking about?”

“Important enough to get me out of my lab and to waste my time talking to you.”

Case froze. It was common knowledge that Quill often locked himself up in his laboratory, doing Celestia-knew-what in there. If the information was pertinent enough to make him leave there...

She looked over at Trail. “Can you give us a minute?”

Trail shrugged. “Sure thing,” she said. “I’ll give you ten, if you need it. It’s not like I really planned on sleeping tonight, anyway…” She stepped out of the small room, leaving the two of them alone.

“Alright,” Case said, turning her gaze back on Quill, “what’s so important about this case that you have to talk to me alone?”

Quill looked around the room for a few minutes, and took in a deep breath. “Before we start talking, I’d just like to say that you’re not very good at disguising yourself, Case.”

She could practically feel her blood freeze in her veins at that statement. “Wait... what do you mean?”

“I know who you are, Detective.” Quill smirked that cocky smile that he always wore when he knew he was right.

“I-I have no idea what you’re talking about.” How did he know? How did he know?!

Quill cracked his neck. “I can feel your fear, Case. I think that’s enough to know that I’m correct.” His smirk fell. “Also, you shouldn’t leave out your personal files; it’s bad for your reputation.”

Case slammed a hoof into her forehead. The one time she accidentally misplaced her information, and of course he would find it. “Ugh… H-how much do you know?”

“Enough. But I’m not here to blackmail you, or anything like that.” Quill ran his talons through his matted hair. “Like I said, I have something important that you need to know. That bit of information was more to make sure that you are who your files say you are.”

“And how’s that supposed to help solve the case?”

“Yeah, yeah, I’m getting to that.” Quill muttered something incomprehensible under his breath. “But if you’re as desperate to solve this as the rest of us are, then I think you’ll understand what I’m about to tell you…”

But as he began to speak, and as Case began to listen fervently, neither of the two noticed the small creature on the wall that seemed to be recording their every word.

Gilgamesh placed his fingers on the piano keys once more, only to pull them away again. No matter how many times he tried, he simply couldn’t force himself to do it. It was as if there was something wrong with him, or perhaps with the piano, but he couldn’t say what it was.

It was weird, though – that day, he hadn’t done anything of note. At all. In fact, he felt as if he’d led one of the most uninteresting days in his entire life. And for someone like him, that was saying a lot.

He placed his fingers back on the keys, and forced himself to play them once more. Gilgamesh had literally been practicing all day, save the few times he’d gone to eat, and the experience was starting to take its toll on him.

But still, he managed to play, and the result sounded better than anything he’d done before.

Gilgamesh sat back and shook his head. He was definitely improving, but he just wished that he could do something else. Even tilling Applejack’s farm, or going out into the rain, or speaking with Twilight had been better experiences than sitting alone for several hours.

He just felt completely and utterly bored. Reluctantly, he stood up and walked back over to his bed. Maybe if he went to sleep, the next day would be more exciting. At least then he’d be able to do something with himself. But until then, he’d just have to sleep off the minor irritation, underneath the bright moon up above.

Author's Notes:

Oh, hey, this story updated. It's been far too long, and I have to apologize for my inability to write this for such a long period of time. I just haven't had the opportunity to work on it as of late, and it's been driving me insane.

This is basically the chapter where the main story starts to reveal itself, and I have waited far too long to start writing it. I know that it's a bit shorter than the others, and focuses heavily on OCs, but I promise that the story will focus more on Gilgamesh and Twilight and all those characters in the coming chapters.

So thank you guys for hanging on this long, and I'll see you in July for chapter nine!

… okay, it'll probably only be about a week or two…

Side Note: At this point, I plan to go back and work on cleaning up some of the earlier chapters a bit. I also changed the summary to match what is actually going on now. Again, thank you all for being so patient through these last few months!

Episode 9: A Chance to Breathe

View Online

After so much time had been spent fighting massive insects, saving diamond dogs from terrible storms, fighting dragons, and struggling to solve murder mysteries, Twilight Sparkle was surprised at the sheer normalcy of the day.

No, not even normalcy; an Equestrian day would have been more akin to the perils that she and her friends had encountered. If anything, the day was more abnormal than anything else. It had even gotten to the point where she’d started waiting at the door for the inevitable letter from Celestia, Luna, or some other important figure. Hay, even the case with Princess Luna had been temporarily put on hold due to a lack of evidence.

But still, even with all the joy and peace, Twilight couldn’t help but feel some sort of chill down her spine, as if something wicked was waiting behind the corner. The calm before the storm, so to speak.

Her hooves clacked against the dirt and stone path, and she held her head high. Twilight looked about the buildings – all of them looking strangely generic, she thought, compared to her and her friends’ abodes – with slow trepidation. If there were some sort of assassin or something running free, then it would do her no good to be unprepared. Anypony else may have called her paranoid, or said that she worried too much. But after the last week, Twilight knew that letting her guard down for even an instant would fatal.

Okay, maybe she was taking this a bit too seriously.

But even with all that had happened, Twilight could not deny the calmness of the day. Maybe, after all that had happened – and what was surely to come – a period of silence was just what she and her friends needed:

A chance to rejuvenate themselves before the winds of the storm inevitably blew through once more.

And if nothing else, she thought with a small smirk, it would give her a chance to finally get some research done without any interruptions. First, though, she had to find Gilgamesh…

-- An Epic for Gilgamesh --
-- Episode 9: A Chance to Breathe --
-- Written By ZaleAcon --

It was a quiet day. The sky was covered in a thick layer of clouds, but there was not a singular droplet of rain to be seen.

Gilgamesh stood outside his little house, simply staring up at the sky. How long had it been? One week? No, it had been even longer than that. The sheer fact that he had lost track of time absolutely stunned him.

Back then, that week ago, he looked upon the world around him as if it were entirely alien – which, to be fair, it was. But now he saw it as normal. That strange sort of peacefulness, save the obvious discrepancies, the friendly natives… Ah, if only he had a way to consistently fight! If only there was an actual way he could draw his sword and challenge someone to a duel, rather than something. Even playing the piano did little to aid his itching hands and the absence of that sense of power he held.

But those monstrosities, the events of that wretched storm, and even the attempt on poor Fluttershy’s life had been enough for the past several days, but the blandness of yesterday’s proceedings had made his blood burn even hotter than before.

Actually, now that he thought about it, why not go and see his newfound friends? His daily schedule had been reduced to a time of sheer boredom, so it would do him some good to meet with the others once more. After all, what else was there to do? Even his interest in the piano was starting to wane, and that was far from what he wanted. He needed something to fill that empty void at night.

Void… Why did that send such a shiver down his spine, even now? Certainly Bartz and the others had succeeded in their goal to stop Exdeath, no? Defeated him, avenged Galuf, and saved the world? Yes, of course. There was no point in denying it, after all.

But even the mere thought of Bartz’s name caused a small lump to rise in Gilgamesh’s throat. “One day,” he said to himself. “One day, I’ll return.”

Until that day, he would just have to contend with his fifteen hundred tangents and at least try to get something done. But when that day came, surely he would be able to stand face-to-face with his eternal rival. Yet who knew how far away that day was?

But one day he would. There was not even the smallest amount of doubt in Gilgamesh’s mind that he could return to his world. If he could be sent away from his own world to Equestria – or the planet that encompassed it, perhaps? He would have to ask Twilight about that one – then surely he could travel the other way. Yes, he knew he could. Again, there was no doubt in his mind. And then he would be able to fight to his heart’s content.

Gilgamesh blinked and pulled himself out of his trance, only to realize that he was standing in the middle of the town square. He blinked again and placed a hand on his forehead.

How had he even gotten there so quickly? It wasn’t as if he had been off on a tangent for too long, right? Oh well, it hardly mattered; he’d planned on travelling there anyway, so any way to ease the length of the journey hardly caused him any inconvenience. If anything, it did the exact opposite.

The townsfolk walked around him as if they were used to his presence. Gilgamesh smirked a bit at the thought. By that point, he was less of an outsider and more an actual person living in this place. Even if he was completely different from everyone – he absolutely refused to say “everypony,” even now – that hardly made any difference.

Now that he thought about it, the sheer amount of sentient creatures in this world far outweighed those in his own. Equines, griffons, certain breeds of canines, dragons, and what looked to be far more than just those were all present, and all had the capacity for a large amount of intelligence. Why, compared to the idiotic beasts in Exdeath’s employ, this world was a metaphorical goldmine of intellect.

The weirdest part about these beings, though, was that they seemed to live together in harmony so well. At least, judging by the information that he’d gathered on his own time. He had yet to see this in practice, but the mere thought that so many creatures lived with one another without constant wars or other types of fighting was absolutely astounding. Then again, they weren’t so different, save their appearances.

“Uh, Gilagmesh?”

Gilgamesh blinked again as he felt something press up against his leg. He suddenly came to, and glanced about him for the creature that was so intent on interrupting his all-important tangent.

He looked down, only to make eye contact with a certain lavender winged unicorn with a mane that happened to be filled with multiple colors that did not make logical sense seeing as–

Okay, it was Twilight Sparkle.

“You’ve been standing out here for the last fifteen minutes,” Twilight said. “And your eyes have been glassy the whole time.” Gilgamesh could have sworn that she’d muttered something like “Encrypted Glass” under her breath, but he could not quite catch it. “Anyway,” she continued, “are you alright?”

“Why yes, of course I am! I have never been more alright than I am in this exact moment in time!” He suddenly calmed himself down. “Yes, I was just… thinking.”

“Well, there’ve got to be better places to do it than out here in the middle of the town.” Twilight chuckled. “Oh, yeah! That reminds me, I wanted to ask you some things.” She paused. “Hang on – let’s go sit down first. Oh, I know! Why not Sugarcube Corner? I’m sure you’d like it there.”

“Sugarcube Corner? Oh, right.” Gilgamesh nodded, the memories flooding back to him. “That bakery.” He was quiet for several seconds longer. “So you want to go eat there, or…?”

“Yes!” Twilight paused. “Wait, I mean, no! I mean, I do want to get something to eat there, but that’s not the only reason I want to go there.” She stopped for a second and cleared her throat. “First, I want to ask you some questions, like I said. Plus it’s been a long week; I need to get some energy back.”

“A fair point,” Gilgamesh said. “But what do you wish to ask me about? You’ve already bled me dry about Exdeath, and Bartz, and everything…”

“Well, yes, but there’s just so much that I want to know!” Twilight pointed her hoof over to one of the many paths out of the town’s plaza. “But first, why don’t we get going? This cold weather’s starting to get annoying…”

Gilgamesh raised an eyebrow. The weather was not that cold, and he wasn’t even wearing anything over his chest.

Wait, it must have been his blood. Yes, the blood of the warrior, boiling in his chest, was keeping him from freezing out in the midst of the no doubt icy gale! But without the gale.

“Yes,” he said, in an effort to protect his tiny and feeble friend, “I’m sure that Sugarcube – ulp – Corner is quite… quite warm.” He had to fight to keep the bile from rising in his throat at the mere mention of the literally-sugar-coated name of the place.

Was there nothing in this world that was not intent on sapping away his warrior’s spirit? Or blood? No wonder Twilight was so cold, even when her body was covered in a layer of fur. Or was it hair? He couldn’t tell on appearance alone, and instead opted to–

“Uh… Gilgamesh? Are you feeling alright?” Twilight asked, snapping him out of his trance.

He blinked and pressed a hand to the side of his head. “Oh, yes, of course. Just doing a bit of thinking.” Before she could reply, he stood straight up. “Yes! Let us journey to this place of – erp – sugars and cubes, and… ugh. Let’s just go.”

Twilight stared at him for several seconds, a look of disbelief in her eyes, before she turned and trotted off in the direction of The Place With the Disgustingly-Cute Name. That should have been its title. No, from now on, Gilgamesh would call it that. Or something akin to it, at least.

As he walked behind Twilight, Gilgamesh could not help but admire the town around him. Every town in his world had been so small, only consisting of maybe eight or nine houses at most, and maybe thirty or forty people. But Ponyville was like a city, or a metropolis, and he had heard rumors of even bigger areas. How the creatures did not get lost in their own homes was a mystery to him, but not one that he longed to pursue.

Gilgamesh snapped himself back to reality, pulling himself out of his latest tangent. “So,” he said, in an effort at small talk, “wonderful weather.”

“Huh?” Twilight glanced back. “Oh, uh… yeah, I guess.”

“It’s strange.” Gilgamesh rolled the area where his right shoulders intersected, feeling the satisfying pop of his bones. “Ah… No matter where I go, there always seems to be the same sky.”

“Your world’s sky looks like this?”

“In a way. I guess all skies look the same. Sunlight, and all that.”

Twilight raised an eyebrow. “I’m surprised you’re so knowledgeable about that sort of thing.”

“Eh, I find it to be interesting.” Gilgamesh rolled out his left shoulders. “I read about it once.”

“’Once’?”

“Maybe twice,” Gilgamesh quickly amended, before changing the subject. “Ahem… But I find it so strange that you – er, pegasuses – can control the weather.”

Twilight stepped back so that she was walking alongside him. “Pegasi, Gilgamesh. It’s pegasi.” She paused. “And why’s that such a surprise to you?”

Gilgamesh shrugged, his shoulders popping again under the minimal strain. “Well, it’s not so much ‘strange’ as it is… well, different. N-not ‘bad’ different, really, I mean, but…”

“I think I understand,” Twilight said. “Not about the ‘changing the weather’ thing, but the ‘different’ thing. Life’s a lot different when you see it from somewhere else.”

“I’ll say so.”

The two stepped forward in silence for several minutes, Gilgamesh unable to make any interesting conversation as he and Twilight solemnly marched on Sugarland or whatever. He wasn’t exactly enthusiastic about the name, but at least he would not be poked and prodded by Pinkie Pie again, now that he knew her better. Maybe.

They continued walking past the houses, and Gilgamesh found himself staring over the architecture with accrued interest. Buildings of stone, clay, brick, and wood of various colors gazed back at him, each looking fairly mundane… at least when compared to Twilight’s library house, the giant carousel-shaped clothing store, Candy Land, and whatever else there was of interest.

But the more he looked at it, the more questions arose in his mind: how had they built their houses without hands? Obviously, the unicorns could have telekinetically moved the stones and other products into place, but what of the other species? Diamond dogs could have helped, but the prejudice against them would clearly go against such important matters, and-

Wait, why was he focusing on such unimportant matters as the scenery or backdrop? Was it not the action that mattered? Maybe, but he could not say.

He blinked just once, and a sudden realization struck him. “Wait, how could any of them survive without hands… in a society that essentially demands hands?!” Even if the unicorns could magic everything into place, the pegasi and earth ponies still would be forced to use their mouths or bend their hooves into awkward shapes in order to perform basic activities. Even lifting a spoon, fork, or knife would require the deftest of movements in order to avoid dropping it. Perhaps they just stuck their faces into their food instead, but that only raised more questions.

Gilgamesh suddenly noticed that Twilight was staring directly at him, and remembered his outburst.

“Gilgamesh, are you, uh… are you done?”

“Yes, I… Um, yes.” Gilgamesh rubbed the back of his neck, his face suddenly feeling bright red.

Twilight nodded, though it was obvious that she was feeling uneasy. “Er… okay then. We’re here.” She gestured up with her hoof, and Gilgamesh saw the sign of Calorie World – a large image of a cupcake on a sign, which perfectly matched the building’s appearance and presumed policy of “will give literally anyone diabetes.” “We’ve actually been standing outside here for the last minute or so…”

“Oh, I-I see.” Gilgamesh made a new mental note to actually attempt to focus on what was going on around him. It was like he was a child in a candy store. No pun intended. “Well, let us go inside, shall we?”

Twilight stared at him for several seconds before letting out a sigh, and mumbled something beneath her breath. Without another word, she ascended the two flights of stairs that led up to the door of the cupcake-laden monstrosity.

Even on the first day, Gilgamesh had not been paying much attention to the décor of the land, but now he could see that everyone seemed to have a strange desire to cover their homes in whatever suited them personally. At least, Twilight and their friends did. He wasn’t so sure about everyone else, whose homes seemed almost generic in comparison to the villages from his world.

He walked up the stairs, feeling them creak slightly beneath his feet, and walked through the door that Twilight had so graciously opened. What awaited him was exactly as he remembered it from his first day: a floor paneled with wood, a large, circular, and yellowish rug that covered much of said floor, and that counter where dozens upon dozens of sugar-laced foods sat, waiting to be consumed.

Twilight turned to look at him. “So where do you want to sit?”

Gilgamesh placed a hand on his chin, and briefly pondered the question. Was this some sort of test? Clearly, he needed to ensure that both of them were satisfied with their seating conditions, but where would be an adequate location.

He scanned the store, narrowing his eyes as he looked about the various tables. So many options, and each of them looked viable for every occasion. The one close to the counter would lessen their time spent waiting for the food, but the table by the windows provided quite a nice view… or would he simply go halfway, and choose the table that would provide a medium amount of waiting time while still giving a decent view outside? But then there were the tables in between the center and the two sides.

There were so many options, but which was the right choice? They were all viable choices, but which one would provide the best ratio of food-to-visuals? Or maybe the best option would be to–

Again, he was vaguely aware of a hoof being waved in front of his face, and he blinked as he snapped out of that extremely concentrated state.

Gilgamesh stared in front of him, seeing Twilight’s blank expression before he noticed anything else.

“You know what? Never mind.” Twilight let out a sigh and tapped the top of a table directly next to him. “C’mon. Let’s sit here.”

Ah, so it was the halfway-to-the-halfway-point table that Twilight had wanted! If only he had suggested it sooner.

Gilgamesh obliged, pulling the tiny chair out from under the table before he sat down upon it. He was pleasantly surprised when it did not collapse underneath his weight, and even more so when his legs managed to fit underneath the table. He pulled himself in and rested his four left arms on the tabletop by their palms.

Several seconds of awkward silence passed before Twilight cleared her throat. “Um, so… I have something I wanted to ask you about.”

Gilgamesh nodded. At the very least, he figured that it would help him make up for his wretched table-based blunder. “Very well. What are you so curious about that you would bring me all the way over here to Candy Land?”

“Sugarcube Corner.”

“I know what I said.”

Twilight placed her forelegs on the table and nodded. “Ahem, anyway… So you know how you told me all that stuff about your world the other day? Back when Vinyl and Octavia showed up and dema- asked you to play at the Nightmare Night celebration?”

“Hmm… Yeah, I remember something along those lines,” Gilgamesh said. “You asked me about my world, I explained why the magic of where I come from is amazingly powerful… Oh, and I told you about Bartz and Exdeath, right? Yes, I think so.”

Twilight nodded, her face suddenly becoming a grimace. “Oh, yeah. It wasn’t very descriptive. At all.”

“Is that what you wanted to ask me about?” Gilgamesh was tempted to lean back in his seat, but a small voice in the back of his mind told him otherwise.

“Something along those lines. So I–”

“Excuse me?” said a new voice, and Gilgamesh turned to see the stallion from the first day – still orange, still tall, and still looking much different from the others – standing just behind him. “Can I interest you two in anything?”

Twilight blinked. “Huh? Oh, uh… I’ll just take a cupcake, if you don’t mind. Chocolate, white icing, and… uh… no sprinkles, please.”

“And I,” Gilgamesh said, “will take a cupcake as well. Um… same as hers, if you don’t mind.”

The stallion nodded. “Sure thing. I’ll have it out to you in five minutes or so.” He turned and walked away toward the cash register.

Twilight cleared her throat. “So, as I was saying, I wanted to ask you some questions about your world – specifically, I wanted to ask you about those things that attacked Equestria this past week.”

“I can’t promise you that I’ve got all of the answers, but I’ll certainly try.” Gilgamesh nodded. “Alright, ask away.”

“You’re not going to pass out again, right?” Twilight asked. “Because some of these questions might–”

“No, Twilight, I will do no such thing!” Gilgamesh declared. “As I said, ask away, and I shall do my best to answer from there.”

“Okay, then… First, what do you know about dimensional barriers?”

Gilgamesh paused and lifted one of his left hands to his chin. “Not much,” he said. “I know enough to help you in some questions, but I can’t say I’m an expert on the subject.”

Twilight raised a hoof. “That’s fine. That’s perfect, actually. I-I just have a few questions regarding your world. But we might be here awhile, so…”

“Not one problem. It’s not as if I planned on doing anything today, anyway. And anything is better than the drag that yesterday had become.” Gilgamesh grimaced at the memories of absolute boredom, sitting around in his tiny box of a room for hours by himself.

“A drag?” Twilight raised an eyebrow. “Well, I wish I could say the same…”

“Why?” Gilgamesh sat straight up. “Did… did something happen?”

Twilight blanched. “O-oh, no! No, nothing really happened yesterday for me, either. Or at least, nothing that’s really important. Anyway, as I was saying… can you tell me about those creatures that came over to this world?”

“I believe so, at least with the insect.” He rolled out his shoulder again, but without causing it to pop. “I can’t say exactly where I saw it, but I know that I’ve at least viewed images of it somewhere. Or perhaps Exdeath told me about it? Well, I’m not entirely sure. I’m sorry.”

“No, no! It’s fine. But have you ever seen that dragon?”

“Absolutely not. I’ve never even heard of a creature as foul as that in my life. Well, save Exdeath, but that’s a given.” The corners of his mouth twitched into a smirk. “But no, I’ve never seen anything like that beast before, but the way it split open…”

Twilight nodded. “Yeah, I think I’ve figured that out, too.” She placed her forelegs on the table, and drew in a deep breath. “I’m not sure if this is correct, but I have a feeling that whatever monsters those were are to be made from kind of paper.”

“Paper?” Gilgamesh leaned forward, intrigued by this new line of thought. “But how could anything so large be made from something like that?”

Twilight breathed in again, and said, “I’m not sure, but both the carapace of that big insect and the dragon’s hide were made from the exact same fibers, and those same fibers were found in paper. It’s a really weird theory – especially since those things were able to withstand so much pain, and especially because of that dragon’s ability to breathe fire – but it’s the only one that makes sense.”

“But monsters made out of paper?” Gilgamesh said, cocking his head to the side. “No offense, but it sounds a bit… silly, to say the least. Paper is easy to cut, and a monster made from it would be impractical, not to mention anatomically impossible! Where would its organs go?”

“That’s the other thing.” Twilight turned her gaze to the counter. “Those monsters were acting feral – maybe even suicidal at times. Almost as though they were completely berserk.”

“Mindless killing machines,” Gilgamesh murmured.

Twilight nodded. “Exactly. But they even had the same eyes: empty, emotionless… and then they randomly turned green.”

“So you think that some creature – from my world, most likely – sent those beasts here?”

“It’s a bit of a stretch, but… yeah, I think it’s pretty plausible.”

The two sat in that sort of awkward silence for what must have been a minute, just trying to comprehend the likelihood of such an event. Sending monsters would not have been too difficult, if the caster knew where he was – or even if it was just an accident, like his own banishment. But who would send such beasts? Exdeath seemed to be the most probable choice, but Gilgamesh was sure that Bartz, Lenna, Faris, and Krile had ended him long before either beast had arrived in Equestria.

But did they really? Could Exdeath have perhaps survived the encounter?

Could Exdeath have won?

Gilgamesh shut those thoughts away. No, such a thing was impossible. If Bartz’s group could best him in combat, then they could easily slay Exdeath. There was no point in letting any sort of doubt form.

Right?

Before Gilgamesh could mull over his thoughts any further, the voice of the stallion behind the register permeated his eardrums. “Here’s your order,” he said, followed by a small tray landing on the table.

On that tray were the two, sugar-filled, sugar-coated, probably-not-good-for-one’s-health foods. The two cupcakes were a dark brown, with spirals on top forming the icing.

Twilight looked up to the shopkeeper and pulled some of those strange coins from a little bag. “Ah… I think this should cover it?”

The shopkeeper took the coins, looked them over, and nodded. “Yep! It’s all here, alright.” He turned to Gilgamesh. “And you, sir, that’s… ah…” He placed a hoof on his chin. “Oh, sorry. Never mind.”

Gilgamesh raised an eyebrow. “’Never mind’?”

“Yes, you paid for it the last time you were here, if I remember correctly. I don’t know what those coins of yours were, but, uh…” The shopkeeper rubbed his left foreleg with his right. “We had ‘em appraised, and got more than enough money to purchase… well… let’s just say they’re worth a lot of bits.” He grinned. “So from now on, you get to eat here for free.”

“What.” It wasn’t so much a question as just a flat, empty statement from Gilgamesh. His jaw dropped at the bold proclamation. “And just… how long does that last?”

“Until you can eat three-hundred cupcakes.” Without giving him a chance to react to that statement, the shopkeeper turned and walked away, leaving Gilgamesh with his mouth hanging open.

“Th-that was eight-hundred gil! Eight-hundred!” He held up his arms as if to accentuate the point. At Twilight’s confused expression, he added, “In my world, that sort of money is pocket change, but here…” He placed a hand on his chin. “I just… I can’t believe they’re worth so much…!”

“Is that… really such a surprise?” Twilight asked.

“I suppose it shouldn’t be,” Gilgamesh admitted. “Each coin’s made from gold, after all.”

Twilight’s eyes nearly bugged out of her head. “Gold? Why would you make a currency out of gold?”

Gilgamesh shrugged. “What else is there to use it for?” He tapped the sword at his side. “Gold weaponry looks nice, yes, but it’s functionally useless! And gold armor’s the same, despite what some shopkeepers may tell you. So we may as well get some use for it, right?”

“I guess,” Twilight said, “but a currency made from solid gold also sounds really bad for the economy.” She began to prod at the table aimlessly. “I don’t know about your world, but it’s a pretty rare ore here in Equestria.”

“And what do you use it for?” Gilgamesh asked, genuinely curious. Of course, given what he’d seen at Rarity’s boutique, he already had some semblance of an idea what the answer was.

Twilight shrugged. “Well… jewelry, mostly. But we also use it in furniture, clothing, and other ways of decoration.” She shrugged again. “Like you said, it’s pretty useless, so we have to make do with what we can get.”

“Exactly!” Gilgamesh said. “I swear, though, the amount of traders selling ‘gold armor’ as something that is actually defensive is downright staggering.” His face contorted in disgust.

Twilight shook her head. “Well, I guess it’s good to know Equestria’s not the only place suffering from conmen,” she muttered.

“Doesn’t everywhere?” Gilgamesh asked.

“I’d be surprised if there weren’t…”

“So,” Gilgamesh said, changing the subject, “is there anything else you wanted to ask me about?”

Twilight nodded. “Yeah, I’ve actually been wondering about something for a while, ever since you told me about your world’s ‘better magic,’” she said, careful to make the hoof-quotes, “last week.”

Gilgamesh winced. “Er… yes, that may have been somewhat preemptive…”

“Only somewhat,” Twilight deadpanned. “Anyway! As I was saying, I wanted to ask you about that.” She glanced up from her cupcake. “You said that there were ‘multiple kinds of magic,’ right? Or something along those lines?”

“Yes… I think so,” Gilgamesh said.

“Well what are they?”

Gilgamesh took a deep breath. “We have, if I remember correctly, six types of magic in the world I come from. Whereas here, everything is labeled as just ‘magic,’ the different types in my world are each their own unique section, and are classified as such. First, there is black magic, or ‘attack magic.’” He paused. “You can probably guess that one’s function based on the name alone. The spells in it are your basic fighting spells – fire, ice, and lightning – and some others that can work to cripple your foes, such as poisoning them and sending them to sleep.”

Twilight nodded. “So I’m guessing that it’s more of a war-like mage, right?”

“In a way,” Gilgamesh said, “but a lot of adventurers teach themselves black magic, especially since there are a lot of enemies that can’t be harmed by physical attacks – or, at least, are hard to hit from close range.”

“Alright, I think I understand…”

“The second, and one of the most important to some people, is white magic. It’s basically the opposite of black magic in every way.”

“Let me guess,” Twilight said. “It focuses on healing, rather than attacking?”

Gilgamesh nodded. “Exactly. White magic is all about protecting allies, buffing their defenses, and getting rid of the damage dealt by enemies. It’s pretty self-explanatory, really.”

“It sounds like a lot of doctors would be white mages,” Twilight mused.

“Actually, yes. White magic’s extremely popular, since it can heal most injuries pretty easily and without any need for medication.” Gilgamesh rubbed the side of his head. “Of course, it can’t do anything about illnesses, but it makes up for that by having some minor status-inflicting spells of its own, like confusion magic and magic that sends fighters into a berserk frenzy.”

Twilight nodded. “Yeah… I think I can see how magic like that would be useful… Okay, what’s next?”

Gilgamesh rolled out his shoulder again. “After black and white magic comes red magic. It’s… red magic is basically just a simple combination of both.”

“That actually sounds really useful. Why do creatures from your world specialize when they could just learn that?”

“Because red magic, like I said, is just a simple combination of the two,” Gilgamesh replied. “Yeah, it gives access to both black and white magic, but it is severely limited when it’s compared to them. It’s good at first, but it can’t catch up after enough time’s passed. Overall, it’s pretty average.” He paused. “You know, it feels as though I’m just rattling off statistics…”

“Well, I’m fine with statistics,” Twilight said. “Just give me all the information you can.”

“Alright, then… did you get all that?” Gilgamesh asked. That cupcake was taunting him, he swore…

Twilight blinked. “Huh? Oh, uh, yeah. What’s the next type of magic, then?”

“After red, black, and white… there’s blue magic.” Gilgamesh leaned back in his seat. “Blue magic is definitely the odd one out, even among all six types. Well… seven, if you count sword magic, but…” He trailed off at the end and shook his head. “Er… never mind.”

“So what’s so weird about blue magic?” Twilight asked.

“Blue magic isn’t something that a mage can learn through training, or even by purchasing magic books.” Gilgamesh began to roll out his other shoulder, but the bones still did not pop. “You remember the spell I used to clear away the rocks in front of the mines back during the storm, right?” Twilight nodded. “That was blue magic. It’s also the same kind of spell I used the other day when I fought that weird dragon-beast.”

“So you said that can’t learn it through training,” Twilight said. “Then how are you supposed to learn it?”

Gilgamesh picked up the cupcake and took a single bit from it before placing it back down on the plate. “Blue magic is acquired by experiencing it. In order to properly master a spell, you would need to be struck by it from either another blue mage or a monster that can cast it.”

Twilight placed a hoof on her chin, and her eyes seemed to light up. “Oh! So when that dragon hit you with its fire, and you turned around and shot it back at it… That was blue magic?”

“Yes it was!” Gilgamesh was certainly happy about her newfound interest in his world. “But blue magic is also ridiculously situational, unfortunately. Because it’s so unorganized compared to the other types of magic, it’s hard to find consistent uses for it. But when it’s useful, it’s incredibly useful.”

“Like for blowing up rocks?” Twilight deadpanned, and took a bite from her cupcake.

“Exactly. I could go into specifics about it, but I think I’ll save that for some other time.” Gilgamesh grimaced. “Magic is… Well, it’s complicated, and at least one type of this is one that even I don’t get entirely.”

“So what’s next?”

“Okay, let’s see… Red, black, white, blue… Oh, yes! The next type of magic is time magic. This is another weird one, just because I don’t quite understand the specifics of how it works… but I’ll try to explain it as best as I can. So time ma–”

Twilight looked over his shoulder. “Oh, hey Pinkie!” she called, completely cutting off his statement.

Pinkie Pie bounced over to the table, and looked between the two of them. “Ooh! Hi, Twilight! Hi, Gilgamesh! What brings you two to our super-duper-happy-awesome-corner-of-fun?” she asked.

“We just came here to get something to eat, and to talk,” Twilight said vaguely. “Wait – where have you been?”

Pinkie rolled her eyes, and pointed over to the kitchen. “I’ve been right over there, of course!” she said, as if it were the most obvious thing in the world. “I was keeping a super close eye on you two. To make sure you were enjoying yourselves!” she quickly added.

Gilgamesh rubbed the back of his neck. “That’s… not creepy at all.”

“And I heard you two talking about magic and stuff, and I wanted to come over and join you!” She paused. “Do you mind if I join you?”

The odds of her taking “no” for an answer seemed abysmally low, especially given who they were talking to, so Gilgamesh decided to take the smart decision. Not the logical decision, but the smart one.

“Of course, Pinkie,” he said. “But wait… won’t you get in trouble?”

She grinned. “Of course not! It’s my lunch break, silly!” She turned to Twilight. “Oh, yeah, that reminds me! Twilight, do you mind if I talk to you later? It’s super-duper important!”

Twilight blinked. “Oh, uh… sure, Pinkie. But after we finish up here, okay?”

“It shouldn’t take too long anyway,” Gilgamesh said. “We only have… two types of magic to go, actually.”

Pinkie sat down to Twilight’s immediate left and nodded. “Oh, yeah! I heard all about the other colors. So what’s left?”

“As I’d been saying,” Gilgamesh continued from where he left off, “the next type of magic is time magic. Like I said, this is a really weird one, but not for the reason you’d think… It doesn’t focus on time travelling or anything like that, actually. Time magic is all about changing the time around either allies or enemies… often with weird effects. The most obvious two are slowing down enemies and speeding up friends.” Something that he would never do around Pinkie Pie, he silently added. “But there are other things, too.”

“Like what?” Twilight asked.

“Well, first of all,” Gilgamesh said, “I still don’t quite get it – even though it’s one of the types I use – but I think I have a… basic grasp of it? Yeah, I think so.” He paused and took a deep breath. “Time magic is used to treat wounds by speeding up an ally’s recovery time, but the weird thing is that it’s also used to manipulate space.”

“Oh! Oh!” Pinkie waved her hoof around in the air. “I have a question!”

Gilgamesh sighed on the inside. “Yes, Pinkie?”

“So when you say ‘space,’ do you mean like outer space?” she asked. “Like the planets, comets, and things like that?”

“In a way, yes,” Gilgamesh said slowly. “That’s certainly a part of it. One of the spells even brings down comets, but…” He shook his head. “I’m getting ahead of myself. Anyway! It also refers to matter in general. I think.” He placed a hand on his chin. “There are at least two spells that alter gravity, and time magic’s also where the spell Exdeath used to banish me comes from, Twilight.”

Twilight nodded. “I see…”

“Pfft, and you say that you don’t understand it,” Pinkie said. “That sounds pretty ‘understanding’ to me!”

Gilgamesh shook his head. “A-anyway, as I was saying. The final form of magic that I know of is summoning magic.” He frowned. “Again, self-explanatory, but it’s basically the ability to call forth elemental spirits to fight for you. Unlike the others, this one is incredibly complex because, like blue magic, you can’t learn this one through simple practice alone.”

“So how do you learn it, then?” Twilight asked. “I’m… I’m guessing that you don’t just get hit by summoned beasts to learn that one?”

“Well… kind of?” Gilgamesh said. “Technically, you do need to get hit by summoned beasts in order to gain access to the magic, but… Well, I’ll just explain it as best as I can. So in order to summon a powerful spirit, you need to make a pact with it. Unfortunately, that isn’t as simple as it sounds.”

“I’d imagine!” Pinkie said. “There’s probably some secret ritual, and you probably have to surrender something you love and cherish so that you can get the power to–”

“Actually,” Gilgamesh interrupted, “you just have to hit the spirit. A lot.” He rubbed the back of his neck. “As long as it takes them to acknowledge that you are clearly ready to wield their power, at least. Some of them might just jump in your pocket, but for the most part, it seems that almost all of them want to fight. Not that I’m complaining, mind you.”

Of course, he’d never summoned an elemental spirit himself, but Gilgamesh occasionally sparred with Carbuncle, a beast in Exdeath’s castle, in order to better his abilities at piercing reflect barriers. He often wondered why Carbuncle decided to spend his days mulling about in a castle of skulls when he clearly was not trapped there like the others, but he was not going to complain or risk driving away a powerful foe. And just the thought of his duels was causing his blood to yearn for a duel with a powerful opponent.

“So, do you understand that?” he asked, quickly pulling himself back to reality before another tangent struck.

“I think so,” Twilight said. “I mean, I guess it makes sense that a spirit would want to test your power before they join up with you. I mean, imagine if you tried to summon a monster and it was too much for you…” She shuddered at the mental image, and Gilgamesh felt a chill run down his own spine at the thought of an inexperienced summoner trying to bring forth Bahamut or Leviathan.

“Then that’s it,” he said. “There isn’t much more that I can tell you regarding magic, besides some specific spells. Is there anything else you wanted to ask me, then?”

Twilight paused for a moment. “Um… no, I think I’m good for now. Thanks, Gilgamesh.”

He waved a hand. “Not a problem,” he said. “If you have any further questions, and it’s a convenient time when I’m not sleeping or fighting for whatever reason, please do not hesitate to ask me for anything else!” He needed something to do, after all.

Pinkie tapped Twilight’s shoulder. “Okay, Twilight! Now I have to ask you something! Um… do you mind coming back to the kitchens with me? This is, uh… This is a pretty important thing.”

Twilight blinked. “Huh? Oh, uh… sure, Pinkie.” She glanced over at Gilgamesh. “Alright, Gilgamesh. I guess I’ll see you later. Thanks for this!”

“Thank you,” he replied, and stood up.

Gilgamesh grabbed the not-yet-half-eaten cupcake and took another bite from it, before turning to leave Candy Land. He walked out to no resistance, and stepped off into the distance from the only interesting thing that would happen that day, even if it was literally just rattling off statistics like some sort of business meeting.

Oh well, at least he had a piano.

Night had fallen across Equestria, bathing the land in a dark cloak. The Canterlot Police Department, however, had remained as active as ever, especially given the recent events that had transpired across Equestria.

Chief of Police Dreadnaught entered into the small room, and sat down on a wooden chair. It was not a big room – at roughly twenty-five feet long, fifteen feet wide, and eight feet tall – but it would suffice. The room was entirely built from stone, with the door on one of the long walls and a small window on the opposite side. The floor was partially covered with a white, ovular rug, and a small bookcase sat on one of the shorter walls, with a bed beside it.

The denizen of the room looked up. He was an older-looking stallion, with a very dark gray coat and a yellow mane and tail. His cutie mark – Dreadnaught grimaced inside at the mention of such a term. Did Celestia have no pride? – was partially obscured by the table, but was a single black sixteenth note that nearly blended in with his fur.

The stallion looked up from the table and grinned. “Oh, Dreadnaught!” he said, in a deep yet quiet voice. “Sorry, I didn’t see you come in.”

Dreadnaught smiled in turn, and laid the two mugs he’d been carrying on the wooden table. “Don’t worry about it.”

“So,” the stallion said conversationally, “how’s your daughter?”

“I think you’d know better than I would, Nacht,” Dreadnaught said jokingly. “She’s fine, though. And yours?”

Nacht chuckled. “She’s… doing okay, I think.” He paused, and looked up with a serious expression. “So… has anything new been found?”

“Not since I checked on you last, no.” Dreadnaught tapped the side of his mug. “But you already know what we’ve found.”

“Yes,” Nacht said, and took a swig from his mug. “Hmm… Cider?” He looked up. “What’s the occasion?”

“Nightmare Night’s in two days,” Dreadnaught replied, and drank some of his own. “I figured you should enjoy what you can, right?”

“You sound so grave about it,” Nacht said with a grin. He shook his head, and the grin fell off. “But… maybe it would be for the best at this point…”

Dreadnaught pressed a hoof to the table. “Don’t talk like that!” he snapped. “We… we’re almost there, I can tell!”

“Really? Two days left, and we have nothing substantial.” Nacht took another swig of cider. “Don’t waste your time with something like this – with somepony like me. It’s not healthy.”

“Tell that to Quill.” Dreadnaught shook his head.

Nacht grimaced. “Yeah, I’ve heard what he’s doing… The idiot’s going to wind up killing himself over this stupid case…”

Dreadnaught nodded, but stayed quiet for several seconds. “Are you nervous?” he finally managed to ask.

“If I’m going to be honest?” Nacht paused, and lowered his head. “Yes. I-I’m terrified, really… But I should have known this was coming since the start. I… I hate to talk like this, Dreadnaught, but I don’t think you’ll make it in time.”

“Yes… Even I’m starting to question it, myself.”

“But Dreadnaught,” Nacht suddenly said, “even if you can’t do it, I want you and the others to do something for me.”

“What is it?” Dreadnaught asked.

Nacht nodded and leaned in close. “Whatever happens to me, you have to catch that monster. He – or she, maybe, I don’t know – is still out there.” His eyes turned alight for a second. “And while I don’t care what happens at this point, you have to make sure that whoever is responsible for this mess meets with the justice he or she deserves.” He paused and sighed. “No… No, that’s not true. I do care what happens, but I…”

“Yes, I know,” Dreadnaught replied. “And I will do everything in my power to catch the true criminal. Just as we all have been for all these years.”

“Hard to believe that it all went by so quickly…” Nacht shook his head. “I was hoping that it’d be over faster, that it could all be done with…”

“I know,” Dreadnaught repeated, and took another drink from his cider. “If worse comes to worst, I’m prepared to go to extremes.”

Nacht grit his teeth. “Don’t even think about it,” he growled. “I’m not going to let you of all ponies do something stupid just because of a mistake.”

Dreadnaught slammed his hoof into the table, causing the two mugs to rattle. “I’d hardly call what happened a ‘mistake,’ Nacht!” He calmed himself down. “All anypony wants is for this tragedy to come to an end. I’m not turning you into a martyr like a certain organization has.”

“Constellation?” Nacht guessed.

“Do I even need to say it?” Dreadnaught replied. He sighed. “Nacht… I’ll do what I can, and I can’t promise you any more than that.”

Nacht stood up and walked over to the window. “I-I know,” he said. “And I’m not going to ask you to, either. This whole thing is ridiculous, and I don’t want to waste anypony’s time with it any longer. The sooner it can just be left in the past, the better.”

“I just hope we can end it off without any more trouble,” Dreadnaught said gravely. “Quill and Prosecutor Dire are already having hard enough times as is, and then there’s Vinyl and Octavia…”

Nacht’s face became pained. “Yes… I know.” He shook his head. “But if anypony can make it past this, it’s Fenrir. And Vinyl, Octavia, and Sullivan…” He pressed a hoof to his forehead. “I hope they can, too.”

“Me too,” said Dreadnaught. He reached for Nacht’s mug, but looked up. “Are you still drinking this?” Nacht shook his head. “Alright… Then I’ll just take this out of here with me, if you don’t mind.”

Dreadnaught stood up and held both mugs by his side. There was no point in leaving it, after all, especially given Nacht’s current situation.

He turned to look at his friend. “Nacht,” he said slowly, “are you going to be alright?”

Nacht blinked and looked back at him. “I’m…” He paused, placed a hoof on his chin, and swallowed. “Y-yeah,” he said at last, “I think I’ll be fine. I’m sorry for all of this.”

“There’s no need for you to apologize,” Dreadnaught said, and turned to leave the room, but suddenly glanced back. “Do you need anything else?”

Nacht shook his head. “No, I think I should be fine. Thank you, though, Dreadnaught. This was…” He paused, as if he was trying to find the correct word. “This was fun. A shame we can’t do it more often.”

“Who knows?” Dreadnaught replied. “Maybe we’ll get lucky. We’ve still got time to find out the truth, so who knows what’ll happen next? Until then, though…”

“Yeah,” Nacht said, “I’ll see you some other time. Whenever it’s convenient.”

Dreadnaught simply nodded and exited the room, slamming the cell’s door behind him as he went.

Gilgamesh stepped into the small box that made up his home, muttering to himself about the past several hours. Rather than go straight home, he had been led around Ponyville by a serious of increasingly-banal activities that did nothing more than drive him to the point of exhaustion. Even if he had the opportunity to speak with his newfound friends, it did little to aid their relationships.

He reached for the switch that turned on the light, and flipped it on so that he could see what was going on in the darkness…

… only to be greeted by the visages of seven very happy-looking creatures.

“Surprise!” they called, throwing their hooves into the air in recognition of some sort of celebration.

Gilgamesh, surprised by the preemptive strike, looked around the house quickly, and noticed things that looked completely out of place – balloons with little strings and words, streamers that looked as though they were flat-out stapled to the ceiling, and a large table with a massive, rectangular cake, drinks, plates, and other eating utensils.

“What is all of this?” he asked, finally able to act.

Pinkie Pie bounced her way over to him. “Well, duh! What do you think it is?” she asked, and pointed at the cake. “It’s your ‘Welcome-to-Ponyville’ party, of course!”

Sure enough, the large cake had “Welcome to Ponyville” written on it in green letters and decorated with green flowers, and it had a small picture of a little Gilgamesh fighting a little dragon in one corner. It was adorable.

Pinkie rubbed her hooves together nervously. “I know it’s a bit late but, uh… Well, whaddaya think about it?”

Gilgamesh looked back at the group of ponies behind him. All of his friends were there; even Discord was present and accounted for, though Gilgamesh presumed that was more because he had to make sure that no creature was trying to kill Fluttershy.

After several seconds of careful deliberation, Gilgamesh nodded. “I think it’s perfect.” He paused. “Wait… is this why you all carted me all over the town today?”

Rainbow Dash rubbed her neck. “It… took us a lot more time than we wanted it to.” She rolled her eyes. “’Cause a certain egghead wanted us to – Ahem! – ‘perfectly measure out the distance of the streamers.’”

Twilight flushed. “I’m sorry, but we had eight streamers and this house is perfectly square! I wanted it to look really nice!”

“That doesn’t mean you had to make it into a math problem!”

“In any case!” Twilight quickly said, prompting Rainbow Dash to roll her eyes, “I’m sorry about how much stuff you had to do today, but, well… I hope you enjoy the party!”

Gilgamesh grinned. “Of course, why wouldn’t I?” He could already tell that this day would be one of the greatest in recent memory, without even having the party yet. “Come, my friends! Let us enjoy these great festivities!”

Without a moment’s hesitation, his newfound friends all joined him in what may have very well been one of the greatest parties Gilgamesh experienced in his entire life. Then again, he had grown up without much of a use for partying, so this was one of the only parties he’d experienced. And, so he thought, the simple acts of talking, exchanging stories, and just being with his friends was more than enough for him to acknowledge that it was one of the greatest days of his entire life.

And it was there, in that room, where he first wondered if he really wanted to go back at all. But only after getting a picture of little Gilgamesh fighting the little dragon to frame on his wall. That was a keeper.

The soft beeps of a heart monitor echoed in the white room of the Canterlot Hospital. The line was steady, if somewhat slow compared to a normal beat, but that was to be expected, especially given the room’s current occupant.

Luna felt her eyes open slowly, her mind groggy from unconsciousness, before the scenery of her current location came into view. Her head was sore, and there was a stinging pain in her face where something had cut into her, but she couldn’t quite remember what it was.

“P… Princess Luna? You’re awake!” came a cry of relief and joy, and Luna turned her head to see one Encrypted Glass, staring at her with tears in his eyes.

“Glass…?” she groaned. “What happened…?”

“You don’t remember, Princess?” Glass asked, his face suddenly becoming terrified. “There was… you were attacked in your room and I… I was so worried about you…”

The memories came flooding back: a dark room, the sound of the closing door, and that monstrous creature’s voice.

”I wonder what color an alicorn bleeds. Well, I suppose we’ll just have to find out, see?”

Luna shuddered, and felt the pain in her skull increase. Of course, she’d crashed into the wall, and then that assassin had tried to kill her…

“I… I wanted to make sure you were alright,” Glass said, his normally-proper tone completely dashed, “so I came here to check in on you… Yes. I did.”

“How long have you been here?” Luna asked, ignoring her incredibly dry throat. Why had she only just noticed that?

Glass shook his head. “I, uh… I came here yesterday, a few hours after you were attacked, and I’ve been here ever since. Yes. I have.”

“You’ve been here for a whole day?!” Luna suddenly sat up, the sharp pain in her skull intensifying. “G-Glass!”

“I-I’m sorry, Princess!” he said, shrinking in his chair. “I-I just… I just wanted to make sure you were okay…”

As he was now, the royal messenger uniform looked too big on him, even more so than usual. The hat seemed to be swallowing his head, and the jacket hung a bit off his chest. It was almost as though he were a child trying on the clothes of an older sibling or parent for the first time.

Luna shook her head. “Glass – you… you do not have to apologize. Really, I should be the one apologizing to you,” she said, retaking her more formal tone of voice. “I should not have pulled you into here in the first place.”

“No, no!” Glass said frantically. “I came here myself, Princess. Yes. I did. You shouldn’t be apologizing.” He glanced away. “Especially given what happened…”

“You’re right,” Luna agreed, and lay back down. “The one at fault is that creature who attacked me. That coward of an assassin.”

Glass nodded. “Yes. I can’t believe anypony would do something so terrible, especially to a princess…”

Luna shuddered again. Clearly the attacker had been enjoying itself in its assault, but why had it attacked her in the first place? Had it been just a spur of the moment decision to try and kill a princess, or was there something more behind it?

Glass’s expression suddenly changed completely, and he held a hoof to his head. “Ugh… I-I’m sorry, Princess. My head’s… Ugh…” He groaned, and Luna noticed, to her shock, that his eyes were actually starting to turn up in his skull.

“Glass, do you want me to call for the nurses?” she asked, already poised to press the button.

“N-no, Princess,” Glass groaned. “I-I’ll just… walk home, if… ugh… if that’s o-oka-okay… Y-yes. I… urk…”

“Are you sure?” Luna asked. “I could very easily–”

“No, I’ll be f-fine… ugh…” Glass clutched at his skull. “Please, I’ll… I’ll just get going… Ugh… Princess, I’ll… I’ll see you when I… when I get the next chance…”

Without giving her a chance to respond, Glass stumbled over to the door drunkenly, groaning in agony as he walked out. Luna sat back in her bed and sighed to herself. She could relate to Glass’s pain, but if it were so bad, she would put in express order to get that medicine herself.

But all she could do now was wait in silence for the next day, when she would likely be released, and when she could raise the moon again.

Gilgamesh’s house was oddly quiet, save for the notes of the piano. The party had ended around an hour ago, and he now sat at the edge of his new hobby and foe, playing the keys to the best of his ability while also yearning for the events of the past.

His stomach was full of adorable cake, the streamers had been torn off the walls – much to Rainbow Dash’s not-so-subtle protesting – and Twilight had gone over magic even further with him, because that was apparently necessary.

But now there he sat, his abilities of playing a musical instrument rising to a level even he had never expected them to.

Gilgamesh sat back from the piano, and nodded his silent approval at his increased skills. Was he an expert? No, not by a large margin, but that would change in time.

Perhaps he would keep the piano after the concert was done, he thought. It could be a fun little distraction from his usual grind of doing nothing. Yes, that sounded like a good idea, and he was sure that Vinyl and Octavia would be more than happy to agree to such a thing.

But first, he would have to find something else to do.

Author's Notes:

And after more time spent not writing this story, here is the latest chapter of "An Epic for Gilgamesh." I also added a story image, because I may as well at this point. I'm a bit disappointed that I couldn't find a very good one of eight-armed Gilgamesh, but the current one should work just fine. Besides, I've had some people not understanding the Gilgamesh this story is about before they clicked on it, so this should fix up that problem.

There really isn't much else for me to say about this chapter, besides the fact that it the scene where Gilgamesh goes over magic -- something just about everyone reading this is going to know from the start -- takes up almost two-thousand words. Literally, one-fifth of the total chapter is "How to Magic" with Gilgamesh.

So the next chapter is going to be… interesting, to put it mildly. We're about to hit the real meat of the story, if you can call it that, and so I'm going to start looking for a proofreader. Mostly because what happens next is going to be both extremely specific in how I have to write it, the reason for which will be apparent immediately, and it will also be long, and will probably take up a massive portion of the story on its own. So if anyone would be willing to proofread the next chapter, please don't hesitate to ask, because that is only one part of what is to come.

Episode 10: The Nightmarish Turnabout - Investigation Part 1

View Online

Darkness swallowed the room, with only a single, small lantern giving it any sort of visibility. The stone floor was painted with blood, the source of which lay not far away. His heart had stopped beating not twenty minutes before.

The second figure, which looked in on the scene from the outside, fell to the ground in shock. “N-no…” she muttered. “I was… I couldn’t’ve…”

She raised a hoof, stained red. At her side lay a conical dagger, the entirety of which was, of course, also blood-soaked.

“This is wrong… this shouldn’t’ve…” The figure muttered. Her eyes were transfixed on the body that lay unmoving beneath the swinging light. “I-I wasn’t… I-I’m…”

Her eyes suddenly rolled back in her head, and the figure fell into the blood before her with a soft splash.

-- An Epic for Gilgamesh --
-- Episode 10: The Nightmarish Turnabout – Investigation Part 1 --
-- Written By ZaleAcon --

One would not have expected anything different that day, on the thirtieth of October, and with only one day until Nightmare Night. It was a calm, peaceful day, without a single cloud in the sky, and – perhaps more poignantly – without any major issue having happened, at least not in Ponyville.

Twilight sat at her desk, looking through one of the books on dimensions (specifically, The Theory of Parallel Worlds by famous Griffish scientist Cyan Faltair) that Cerulean had left behind. She had leafed through its pages one by one, scanning each several times in an effort to discover some information on Gilgamesh’s predicament.

Twilight sat back and rubbed the sleep from her eyes. She had been at it for… well, according to the clock, it had been at least eight hours, but she was barely halfway through the book. If it had been for a more lenient reason, especially if she was just reading for personal fun, she could probably have finished it in half that time, but under the current circumstances such was not an option. Even though she had not given herself time to rest after the previous night’s party, Twilight could not stop. After all, who knew how long they all had before another paper beast was sent after them?

Even if Gilgamesh was as good a swordsman as he had both claimed and had proven – and definitely well-versed in his world’s magic, as the previous day’s lesson showed – that the monsters had jumped in power so exponentially from the magic-resistant insect to the massive, fire-breathing dragon was terrifying to her. Yes, she and her friends could fight if need be, but they were hardly warriors; even given their track record for fighting against several dozen deadly creatures in the time Twilight had lived in Ponyville, that did not change the fact that they were still ill-equipped to fight a threat that was completely unknown to them.

Twilight sighed and looked back over the book’s pages. Even if it took her several more hours, she had to be prepared for any threats. She was not about to let Gilgamesh carry her friends and her away from danger any longer, and wanted to ensure that she could do anything to help when the situation would inevitably arise.

A sudden knock at the door interrupted her thoughts, and Twilight groaned loudly. “Spike?” she asked. “Can you grab that for me?”

Spike, who had taken the foolish route of staying up all night with Twilight, yawned. “Yeah, uh… sure, Twilight, sounds good t’me…” He yawned again and blinked his eyes that he was visibly struggling to keep open.

He stumbled his way over to the door, pulling it open and allowing the sunlight to stream in. “Hey there,” Spike mumbled. “Can I help you?” He rubbed one of his eyes with his left hand.

“Er… yes, if you would,” came an unfamiliar voice from the other side of the door. Twilight turned toward it, and the form of a messenger – one who, surprisingly, wasn’t Glass – came into view.

The messenger rubbed the side of his head with a beige hoof. “Sorry to bother you so early in the morning, sir,” he said, “but I was given a letter from somepony who wanted me to get this to you quickly. Said it was ‘urgent,’ he did.”

The messenger reached into his saddlebag, pulled out an envelope, and placed it on the ground. “Ah, yes, here we are. Looks like this is right, sir.” He nodded down at Spike expectantly.

Spike blinked as though he were confused and placed his claws on his chin. “Uh… why’re you…? Oh, wait! Right, I’m, uh… S-sorry about that.” He opened a drawer next to him, pulled out ten bits, and handed them over to the messenger. “Sorry,” he repeated, “we just haven’t had a messenger who waited long enough for a tip in a while.”

“Glass?”

“Glass.”

The messenger nodded. “Yes, I understand.” He counted up the coins and nodded again. “Yes, I understand indeed. Thank you for your patronage, and I do hope that you make use of our services in the future!” Without another word, the messenger turned around and dashed off, presumably to another exciting adventure.

Spike picked the letter up and dusted it off. “Hey Twilight,” he shouted over to her. “You want me to read this for you?”

Twilight rolled her eyes. “Thanks, Spike, but I think I can handle this.” She magically pulled the letter from his claws, floating it over in front of her face. “Urgent, huh?” she murmured. “Wonder what’s so urgent about it…”

She flipped the envelope over, and read the return address on the back. It was an unfamiliar area of Ponyville, but the fact that there was an address in the first place made her feel more at ease. It was better than getting a letter like Fluttershy did, at least.

Her own address was written in clear, blocky letters that looked as though the writer had done so deliberately. Twilight carefully opened the envelope, making sure not to damage it in case she would need it later, and slid the letter out from within. She unfolded the letter itself, blinking as it came into view.

“Huh,” Spike said, looking at it over her shoulder. “I can’t read a word of it. I doubt I could even if I was awake,” he added jokingly.

The letter’s contents were completely different from the blocky lettering on the envelope, instead being an extremely defined cursive that made the process of deciphering its contents difficult.

Twilight smiled to herself. “You want me to read it out loud?”

“Sure, if… uh… if you want,” Spike said.

“Okay then… Uh, let’s see here…” Twilight coughed and began: “’Dearest Princess Twilight Sparkle, Third Princess of Equestria, Former Student of the Princess of the Sun’…” She lowered the letter and grimaced. “This is going to be a long one, isn’t it?”

“Don’t stop there,” Spike urged. “Keep going!”

“Alright, alright…” Twilight said with a chuckle. “Ahem, where was I…? Oh, right. Ah… Third Princess… Former Student… Ahem, ‘I regret to inform you of a most egregious plight of which I am faced concerning a close friend of mine, and one of which I must request your aid in. Though, in the most honest of senses, I find what has befallen my friend deplorable at best, I am unable to partake in the matter on my own due to various reasons equally deplorable, and none so shameful as my own inability. Thus, I must turn to you for aid, as was recommended to me by said friend, whom you know well already. As I despise the art of wasting one’s time on unnecessary and irrelevant poppycock’–“

“’Poppycock’?” Spike asked, raising an eyebrow.

“Yep, that’s what it says,” Twilight replied. “Anyway… ‘As I despise the art of wasting one’s time on unnecessary and irrelevant poppycock, I must address the situation at hand (or, in this case, would you proclaim it to be hoof? Regardless, the outcome remains unequivocally wretched), in that it is one of – if the not the absolute most – traumatic and problematic experiences which my friend has yet to face. I speak, of course, of the events that transpired upon the crossing of yesterday’s darkness to today’s earliest light. A nightmare, one may call it, yet even that would be far too generous a title. My friend, she was placed unto the gaol for a crime of which she is not guilty – a transgression that, for those who dared to call her so, is unforgivable – and awaits for one to grant her the aid and respite she so craves. Thus, my request is simple: I desire for you, Princess Twilight Sparkle, to assist my friend in reaching her liberation. This is no simple matter, but I know that you are no simple pony. Regardless of your answer, I can do nothing but give you thanks for, at the very least, humoring my request for aid in this darkest of times. In the case that you decide to take upon yourself this challenge, my friend awaits you within the prison in Canterlot. Otherwise, again, I thank you for, at the very least, taking the time to read my plea for your help. My thanks be to you.”

Twilight took a deep breath. “Wow, that was even longer than I thought.”

“Sure was,” Spike muttered, rubbing the side of his head. “But does it really just cut off like that?”

“Yeah.” Twilight turned the letter over. “There’s no signature or anything. It’s weird. I mean, obviously it’s some creature’s friend, but I wonder who it could be?”

“Whoever it is, they’re really pretentious.” Spike rolled his eyes. “I mean, who talks like that? I’m pretty sure that was more formal than the letters you get from the princesses! No, wait, I’ve been reading Princess Celestia’s letters for my whole life, and she’s never once used the word ‘egregious.’”

Twilight couldn’t deny that. “But to be fair,” she said, “I’m kinda on a first-name basis with the two of them, and Celestia’s always been really informal around me. But still, you do have a point. Whoever wrote this must be really cultured.”

“Or pretentious,” Spike repeated.

“Maybe, but I don’t know.” Twilight looked back at the letter. “Still, somepony put a lot of time and effort into this, that’s for sure. And… well, I’d be lying if I said I wasn’t curious.”

“You’re gonna go look into this person’s friend?”

Twilight nodded. “Yeah. I’m… uh… I might as well, right? Besides, princesses are supposed to help creatures out who’re in trouble.”

Spike grimaced. “But, uh… well, are you sure that it’s safe?”

“What do you mean?”

“Well, um…” Spike rubbed his hands together. “She’s in jail, right? And you can’t exactly be sure if she’s really innocent, or if the guy sending this just wanted to help her out, or what…”

Twilight nodded again. He had a good point. “But I think I…” She paused, searching for the right words. “I think I should at least look into it, don’t you? If somepony’s really in trouble, it’s my job as a princess to give them all the help I can.”

She glanced over at the book that lay open on her table, fighting the urge to go back to reading it. “But if I do that, I’ll lose the chance to learn more about this stuff… and then Equestria as a whole could be in trouble! Argh!” She placed her front hooves to the sides of her head.

“Uh… Twilight?”

“Of course, I could just take the book with me and read it on the way… but that’d be too heavy, plus the detention center’s all the way in Canterlot, and that’s a good half-hour away at least… I could go, check on this pony, see what’s wrong, come back, and then finish reading… Oh, but what if an attack happens while I’m gone?! Oh, Celestia, what’ll I do then?!”

“Twilight?”

“What?!” she suddenly shouted, whirling back toward Spike. Her eyes were wide and possibly bloodshot, but she was too ingrained in her panic-attack to notice.

Spike slunk away. “Um… Wh-why don’t you just go up to Canterlot to see what’s wrong, and I –“ he gulped, realizing that he would probably regret what he was about to say “– and I’ll take notes on this thing for you.”

Twilight suddenly brightened up considerably. “Oh, thanks Spike,” she said. She nuzzled him, and added, “I’ll be sure to get you something nice later.”

“Heh, sounds good to me.” Spike puffed out his chest. “I’ll take the best notes you’ve ever seen!”

“I’m sure you will.” Twilight grabbed her saddlebag, slipping it on carefully. “Uh huh, let’s see what I have here… I’ve got the letter, the envelope… Actually, that’s all I need, now that I think about it.” She stepped over to the door, pulling it open with her magic. “Okay, Spike, take care! I’ll be back soon!”

Spike saluted. “Sounds good, Twilight. See you then!”

With that last exchange, Twilight stepped out the door, beginning her walk to Canterlot and, more importantly, to the prison where the letter sender’s friend was in peril.

Twilight’s hooves clacked against the pavement as the prison came into view. It was a short building, about the height of a typical house in Ponyville. However, it compensated by being half as wide as the block it was situated on. The prison was made entirely out of brick, with barred windows throughout the compound, and two steel doors out front.

Twilight shuddered at the sight. It was a place that most ponies avoided, and for good reason. Given that few serious crimes were committed in Canterlot, the prison did not usually have many occupants (which spoke volumes, given that it was a joint prison between both Canterlot and Ponyville). The lack of creatures, sounds, and any signs of life in general made it look empty, especially with how disproportionately large it was. Twilight even recalled hearing rumors that the place was haunted by the souls of those who had been falsely accused.

She trotted over to the door and raised a hoof to knock on it, before hesitating for a moment. Was she truly about to enter a prison? Even if it was relatively unoccupied, was it worth it?

This whole thing has to be a mistake, she thought, still struggling with her attempt to crack her hoof against the heavy, steel doors. Maybe it would have been for the best if she had never left home in the first place.

But then she recalled the letter itself, which rested in her bag. It had not been a demand for help, but a plea. It was clear that, whoever had sent it, he or she wanted to protect his or her friend. Did she have the right to deny the sender that? To deny them the chance to see somepony they clearly cared for enough to request that Twilight, a princess, could help her?

Technically, yes, she did have that right. But what kind of princess would refuse something so heartfelt, from somepony who had reached out to her in their time of need? In that case, she would have no right to claim any such title.

Twilight breathed in slowly and knocked her hoof against the door. How many creatures had she helped in the past two weeks, with nothing in return but personal gratification? Gilgamesh, Grant, Vinyl, Octavia, Fluttershy, the whole of the Canterlot Police Department, and probably several others. She was not going to back down in the face of a new creature in need, regardless of the circumstances.

Several agonizing seconds later, the door slowly opened inward, having been pulled by a guard on the other side with a too-small hat and a nametag that read “Winter Snap.” “What b-brings you h-here today, Princess?” he asked, clearly struggling to keep calm in the face of royalty.

Twilight reached into her bag and pulled out the letter, handing it over to him.

The guard read it over carefully, handed it over to her, and nodded. “Y-yes, so you want to s-see the mare who we a-arrested last night, Princess?” Without waiting for a reply, he said, “F-follow me, please.”

Twilight did just that, following the guard down the small, dimly-lit hallways of the prison towards the detention center. Or, at least, that was her assumption of where they were going, as she had never entered the prison before.

After a short walk, Twilight found herself standing outside a large, locked door, similar to the one outside. The guard stepped up to it, placed a key in the lock, and opened it with a gusto that seemed unbefitting somepony who had spent the entire journey stuttering.

“H-here we are,” he said. “Please be p-p-patient, Princess; the perpetrator– Ah, the defendant will a-arrive shortly.”

Twilight stepped into the detention center, and found that it was surprisingly large. The room was a rectangular prism, thirty feet long and wide, but only around six or seven feet tall. A large wall separated it into two equal sections, with the middle cut out and replaced with a thick layer of glass. Only a few holes in the top to allowed any sound to go through. In addition to all that, there were two seats on opposite sides of the wall, and even a compartment, seemingly in case either side had something to give to the other.

Twilight tapped her hoof against the wall impatiently while the guard stood by the door. “It’s a s-safety precaution,” he had told her when she asked why it was necessary for him to stand by. “N-not that I think y-you-you’re untrustworthy, of-of course, but I… ah… I c-can’t go against the rules. S-sorry, Princess.”

She understood it completely, of course; though prisoners were carefully secured so they could not use their abilities to escape, visitors were not. In the case of a visitor trying to break somepony out of prison, there needed to be guard nearby to either stop them or slow them down.

So still, she waited in an awkward, prolonged silence for the sender’s friend to show up. It was hardly a short wait, either. Time passed slowly and it was all Twilight could do not to fidget in the darkness and stuffiness of the room. It was around then that she wished she had taken the book with her, rather than just leave it back at the library with Spike. Heck, she wished she had taken Spike with her, if only to have somepony to speak with whom she was more comfortable.

But unfortunately she was on her own, and did not have anypony willing to speak with her, so Twilight was forced to continue to wait, feeling the time pass by ever-so-slowly, until the door on the opposite side finally opened.

Twilight sat up suddenly and forced herself to look professional as the subject of the letter walked into the room. As said mare came into view, however, Twilight felt her eyes widen in shock.

She had been led in by at least two guards, and muttered under her breath as she sat down in the chair before noticing Twilight. The mare suddenly smiled, the look of discontent completely washing off her face. “Hey, you made it! Heh, I’m glad, ‘cause I was really starting to get worried you wouldn’t show up!”

Twilight could only stare, slack-jawed. At last, she was able to say the mare’s name. “Cerulean?!”

It was unmistakably her; the coat and mane were both the same, but her horn had been covered with a black, semi-transparent stone called “anti-crystal,” which absorbed and nullified all kinds of magic that came near it. As a result, it was ideal for imprisoned unicorns.

“H-heh, yeah…” Cerulean grinned sheepishly. “Sorry about all this, Princess. I, uh… I didn’t wanna involve you in this, but my friend insisted on sending you a letter.” She raised her hooves. “And here you are!”

“Here… I am,” Twilight repeated dumbly.

Cerulean grimaced. “I, uh… I bet you have a ton of questions, don’t you?”

“More than you think.”

“Yeah, I… Probably.” Cerulean looked down, avoiding Twilight’s eyes. “I’m sorry you got dragged into this. Like I said, this was my friend’s idea, not mine. Told me you’d be able to defend me, and such.”

Twilight blinked. “Defend you?”

“Huh? Oh, yeah.” Cerulean grinned. “Y’know, defend me in court? Because I’m on trial? For murder?”

“For murder?!” Twilight sputtered. “No, I’m sorry, but I didn’t know any of that! And… and I can’t defend you! I don’t even have a license, or any experience, or anything!”

“Wait, didn’t he say that in the letter? I thought he would’ve…”

“You mean this letter, right?” Twilight pulled out the letter and pressed it against the glass so Cerulean could read it. “There isn’t a single mention of court or murder in there!”

“Let’s see…” Cerulean looked it over. “That’s not true. I mean, didn’t you see this? It clearly says, ‘help my friend reach her liberation’ and ‘the events that transpired upon the crossing of yesterday’s darkness to today’s earliest light.’ See there?” She pointed to the letter. “It’s a bit obscure, yeah, but those are supposed to refer to the murder and defending me in court. I can see why you’d be confused, though.” She rolled her eyes, and muttered, “And after I told him to ask you about this and everything, too? Ugh, sometimes I wonder why I even bother with him…”

“Maybe it says that, but–” Twilight paused. “Wait, didn’t you say that it was his idea to ask me?”

“Okay, I lied a little, but still.” Cerulean grimaced. “I can’t write for beans, but it was his idea to get an attorney. Sorry about the confusion there, since his writing’s more flowery than your average meadow. I just recommended you, that’s all.”

“Oh, so that’s all,” Twilight deadpanned. “Like the fact that you forgot I’m not a defense attorney. At all.” And why was it necessary for somepony else to recommend an attorney?

“Hey, it should be pretty easy,” Cerulean insisted. “I mean, I know that you’re really smart, Princess; heck, I think you’re a genius, if I’m gonna be honest. So all you’ve gotta do is get some evidence, make up a case, and get me out of here.”

“How smart I am doesn’t matter, here!” Twilight snapped. “Finding evidence, making a case, and getting you found innocent are all things that require extensive time, research, and forethought. Do you realize how difficult this actually is?” She placed a hoof to the side of her head.

“I guess that’s a no, then, huh?”

“Yes, it’s a no! Cerulean, I’m sorry, and I really do want to help you, but I’m not a good candidate for this. I don’t even have the legal right to defend you, and like I said, my experience is non-existent.” Twilight grimaced. “I’m sorry, but can’t you find an actual attorney?”

Cerulean shook her head. “I can’t,” she replied, “’cause nopony’s willing to take my case, and the few who are are way too expensive for me.”

“Huh? But why not?”

“It’s a murder case, Princess! The first one in Canterlot in four years!” Cerulean sighed. “Do you realize what will happen to a pony who defends me if I’m found guilty? And there’s a lot that’s pointing to me being guilty!”

Twilight nodded. If she were found guilty, her attorney would likely be seen as a social pariah at best. Given the harshness of Canterlot’s socialites, being declared as somepony trying to get a convicted murderer back into society would completely ruin their reputation. But in that case, it only raised another question.

“Then why,” Twilight asked, “are you requesting a princess to represent you?”

“Because everypony already likes you,” Cerulean said. “If I were found guilty while you’re defending me, it would just look like another case of Princess Twilight Sparkle trying to help somepony in need. And if I’m found innocent? That only bolsters your reputation, right? Besides, who’s going to speak out against a princess?”

“I’m still not an attorney, though,” she pointed out. “Even if I do take your case, I’ll never be accepted in court.”

Cerulean nodded. “Yeah, I get that. I thought about that, too.” She smirked. “You’re a princess, right? Not to mention you used to be Celestia’s pupil. I’m sure that you can get away with giving yourself the right to defend a single case. It’s not like the public’s gonna go into an uproar over you helping a… well, a friend, I guess? I’m not sure if I really count, but eh.”

Twilight could hardly argue with that logic, flawed though it was. And if she was the only one willing to give Cerulean the help she needed, did experience really matter? She had been left alone, with nopony giving her a second glance, and she was begging for Twilight’s help. And she was not the sort of pony who would leave a creature to suffer without aid.

Twilight sighed. “Fine,” she said, “I’ll look into it.”

Cerulean sat up quickly, meeting Twilight’s gaze. “Y-you will? Really?!”

“Yeah, I…” Twilight paused. What could she say? What was there to say, really? That she knew Cerulean was innocent? She had no knowledge about the case, so how could she make such a claim? She did not even know when the trial would be, who the victim was, or any circumstances.

“I’ll look into it,” she repeated. “I still owe you from the other day, anyway. So when’s your trial?”

“It’s, ah…” Cerulean rubbed her hooves together nervously. “It’s… it’s tomorrow, actually.”

“T-tomorrow?!” Twilight cried.

“Y-yeah. Tomorrow at, uh… at… ten in the morning…” Cerulean mumbled, looking down at her hooves.

Twilight felt her eye twitch. Of course the trial was tomorrow. Why would it not be? What reason did it have not to be? Given her luck, she supposed she was lucky that it wasn’t that evening.

She pressed a hoof to her forehead and groaned. “Ugh… Are you kidding me…?” It was no secret that Equestrian trials were brief compared to those of other nations, but to have a trial just a day after Cerulean’s arrest seemed absurd.

“S-sorry, Princess. I, uh… I guess I shoulda told you that first, huh?”

“No, no, it’s fine,” Twilight lied. She grimaced. “Still, though, that’s a pretty tight schedule… I guess I should get going, then.”

Cerulean nodded. “Right. Sorry I can’t be much help in this either.” She rubbed a hoof over her forehead, brushing away her mane. “I have a bit of information, but not much. I know where the crime took place, but I don’t know a lot of other stuff about it.”

“Where was it?”

“The Canterlot Police Department. The victim was in a special holding cell, I think.” Cerulean rubbed the back of her head. “Like I said, I don’t know too much about it. If you need any information though, you just have to ask.”

“Alright, I think I’ll go check out the crime scene.”

Twilight grimaced. In a mere hour she had gone from studying alternate dimensions to somehow agreeing to take on a murder case. Why her life was so complicated, even she did not know, but that was hardly the time for self-pity.

“So I’ve taken your case,” Twilight said. “Is there any paperwork I need to do or anything?”

“Shouldn’t be,” Cerulean replied. “You just needed to say you’d take my case. It’s the police department’s worry now.” It seemed like they were going through a lot, weren’t they? First a murder on their premises, now even more paperwork.

Twilight stepped down from the stool. “Okay,” she said, “I’ll be back to check in on you later, alright? For now, I’m going to see what I can find.”

“Sure, sure.” Cerulean grinned. “I trust you, Twilight; I know you can probably get me outta here, so now’s the time to see if I’m right.”

Twilight walked over to the steel door and looked over at the nearby guard. “I’m ready to go.”

The guard suddenly jerked to attention, and said, “Y-yes… yes, Princess! Please, follow m-me.”

Within minutes, Twilight stood outside the prison, and felt her eyes readjust to the sunlight. The air seemed fresher, and the world seemed far brighter than before. No wonder so few creatures went anywhere near the prison; it seemed to absorb the life of anypony who even dared to draw close.

Her hooves clacked against the stone path as she walked away. Twilight had a destination in mind, but it was hardly the Canterlot Police Department. Even being able to call herself an attorney, that made no difference when she did not have the skills or education of real lawyers. So even if she would probably be returning to the prison in just short time, Twilight did have an idea of where she planned to go first.

She needed somepony who could help her in court, who could act as something of an assistant. It would have to be somepony who was intelligent and thoughtful enough to link together facts to create a case, somepony who was stubborn and loud enough to get his or her thoughts across, and somepony with a good enough eye that he or she could locate vital clues. Yes, as much as she theorized she could potentially regret the outcome, Twilight had to give herself every advantage she could afford.

Reading about cases, the legal system in Equestria, and such were important, yes, but none of them made a difference if she had no experience in the matter. Any allies who could help her were more than welcome. And – though again, she feared she would regret the decision – she knew just who she had to ask.

It was time to pay Gilgamesh a visit.

“Eh? A trial?”

Twilight fidgeted. “Er, yes, a trial. In court.”

Gilgamesh placed one of his eight hands – which led Twilight to wonder how he managed to maneuver them all so well – on his chin. “I appreciate the offer, but I can hardly accept such a thing! Court is hardly exciting enough for my tastes.”

Twilight nodded and pressed her hoof against the closed door of Gilgamesh’s house, mentally evaluating the lack of good lighting. “I get that,” she said, “but–”

“But nothing, Twilight, but nothing!” Gilgamesh sighed. “Believe you me, my small friend, that I would love to grant you aid in this most dire of predicaments, but how, pray tell, could I do such a thing? What you ask of me goes against what I– wait,” he said, cutting off his own train of thought, “are you even a lawyer?”

“It’s a long story,” Twilight mumbled, “but yes, I am a lawyer. Kind of,” she added under her breath. “Apparently princesses can be whatever they want.”

“A political leader who blatantly disrespects the law? Isn’t that tyranny?”

“Apparently not,” Twilight deadpanned.

“Well, as much as I would like to debate the legal ramifications of what you’ve done, I wouldn’t. Which is why I am hardly suited for a court of law.” Gilgamesh shook his head. “I’m a warrior, Twilight!” He suddenly struck a pose, pulling the sword from its sheathe and pointing it to the sky. “A legendary hero of legendary… ness… who goes out into the field of battle and skewers his foes upon the spear or sword or what-have-you of legend! Does that sound like a figure fit to stand in a court of law?”

Twilight sighed. She was afraid it would come to this. “Gilgamesh, what do you know about the Equestrian legal system?”

He replaced his sword back into its sheathe. “No, I cannot say I am, but the system of law hardly changes between worlds, I would imagine. Though with Exdeath, it was less fair, and more for the sake of fun.” He shuddered and placed a hand on his perpetually-helmeted head.

“So you know nothing about our legal system, then?” Twilight asked, leaning forward a bit.

Gilgamesh hunched over. “Nothing that I cannot readily assume, no.”

Ignoring the triple-negative, Twilight said, “The Equestrian legal system’s… kinda weird, really. To put it simply, there’s a lot of yelling, objecting, drama, and all that stuff.” She paused. “I’d try to explain it completely, but it’s hard to talk about it without a visual representation. Basically, just think about every debate you’ve seen –”

“I’m suddenly very bored.”

“– to the tenth power,” Twilight finished. “Just… I just want this to stick, alright? Think of it like a, uh… like a fight, okay?”

Gilgamesh straightened up. “Very well.”

“But with, um… but you’re fighting with… words. Yeah, that’s it. You’re fighting with words, not weapons or magic. Think of… ah…” She waved her hooves around, trying to recall a time when a similar incident had occurred. “You remember when Fluttershy was threatened, right?”

Gilgamesh placed a hand on his chin, stroking a non-existent beard. “When I first met… ah, what was his name…? Dire, yes? Prosecutor Dire?”

“Yeah, exactly.” Twilight continued to think, attempting to find any way she could get out of having to take the case alone. “Before that, though. You remember when you talked with Discord, right?”

“Yes, yes, I recall. Speaking of which, is Fluttershy’s cottage still surrounded by fire?”

“I… I think so. I haven’t been there in awhile, but that’s not the point! When you and Discord were talk– debating, you remember that? When you got him to let you in?”

Gilgamesh nodded. “I do recall that, indeed. But why is that so important?”

“That’s basically how a court battle would play out. More or less.” Twilight desperately hoped that the phrasing would convince him.

“Like that, you say?” Gilgamesh continued to stroke his chin. “I suppose there is some merit to be seen in such a confrontation, but where is the risk? The danger? What thrill is there to a duel when one side’s victory is meaningless?”

“You’ll be fighting to keep a creature – an innocent creature – from being maybe executed. There’s your sense of risk.” She paused. It was time to push it further. “Besides, uh… didn’t you say that you were a hero? Isn’t it a hero’s job to save a creature in need?”

Gilgamesh paused. “Well… yes, I suppose so.”

“And what kind of brave warrior backs down from a fight?” Twilight asked. She may not have had Vinyl’s level of psychological mastery, but even she could read Gilgamesh like a book. “Don’t you want to challenge this new, unknown foe to a… uh… to a… word duel?”

“I back down to no foe!” Gilgamesh said. “How dare you even insinuate such a farcical statement?!” He grabbed the hilt of his sword and pulled it out again. “For such a claim, Twilight Sparkle, I shall take your challenge! Fear me, unknown prosecutor, for I, Gilgamesh, shall cut you down!”

“That’s the spirit!”

Gilgamesh suddenly paused. “Wait, did you just manipulate me?”

Twilight fidgeted. “Um… Kind of, I guess?”

He shook his head. “Remind me, Twilight, to work on building my resistances to this sort of manipulation. However,” he added, “I cannot deny that you have intrigued me with this concept. Fighting a new foe in a courtroom with the purpose of rescuing an innocent proclaimed guilty, where the punishment is to walk forever with the burden of my failure?” He grinned. “It sounds more exciting than I’d first imagined.”

“So you’ll really help me with this?”

“Of course, why would I not? It’s not as if I have much else to do, anyway…” Gilgamesh shook his head. “So, when is this trial. And, furthermore, who is it for?”

Twilight blinked. Of course, why had she not told him sooner? “It’s for a friend of mine,” she said, “and the trial’s… um, you might be a bit annoyed when you hear this…” She rubbed her forelegs together. “It’s tomorrow.”

“Tomorrow?” Gilgamesh asked. “Perfect.”

“Huh?”

Gilgamesh placed his sword back in its sheathe. “I have been feeling quite a bit of… perhaps the term that would describe it in its best of words would be ‘bloodlust.’ So few true battles in so many days does such a thing to grand warrior of my fantastic caliber! But now… well, I suppose it would be best if I were to thank you, no?” He laughed. “Ha! Let the criminals of the world fear, for here comes their justice! And that justice is me, Gilgamesh!”

While Gilgamesh continued his laughter, Twilight could only sigh in relief. Obviously there were other choices, but – much as she hated to admit it – Gilgamesh seemed the most likely to give her help in the case as a whole. It was not necessarily that he was brilliant, but he was clearly intelligent enough to make the most of his surroundings. Not to mention those strange tangents of his, which would no doubt be helpful in a courtroom environment.

Twilight looked over at him. “Gilgamesh,” she said, “c’mon. I think now’s as good a time as any for you to meet my… our client.”

“Very well,” Gilgamesh said. “After all, the only way to properly prepare oneself for a case of such a magnitude as this shall inevitably be would be to learn the most basic of details before any other matters reveal themselves!” He pointed to the door with all the arms on the left side of his body. “Lead us, Twilight, towards the one in need of assistance, and I promise you I shall grant he or she the chance to escape to a life of freedom from the confines of the accursedness of fear!”

“Um… right.” Twilight nodded. “The prison’s awhile away by foot, actually. It took me about thirty, thirty-five minutes to make it there when I went to meet with her. I’ll fill you in on what I know on the way up there.”

And so, without further ado, Gilgamesh and Twilight began their long, slow, and informative walk from Ponyville to Canterlot, where they hoped to meet with their client and – perhaps – to shed light on just what had occurred the night before.

There were still some questions she needed to ask, after all.

“So this creature in danger…” Gilgamesh mused, “you said her name was Cerulean, did you not?”

The two stood in the meeting room of the prison, which seemed extremely cramped and musty with three creatures on one side of the glass. It was obviously not designed for so many creatures, but Gilgamesh probably filled it up the most, with his head nearly touching the low ceiling. The guard, of course, looked terrified, though that was probably more the fact that Gilgamesh had insisted on bringing his sword in.

“Yeah, that’s her name. Cerulean.”

“And she was imprisoned for murder, yes?” Gilgamesh hunched over a little, giving himself more room to breathe.

“That’s right,” Twilight said, “because of course we couldn’t’ve gotten a client for something like petty theft or jaywalking. Had to be murder.”

Gilgamesh rolled out his shoulder. “Well, that just makes it all the more invigorating for I, Gilgamesh, to solve this most wretched of crimes, does it not?”

Twilight rolled her eyes. “I guess.” She rubbed the back of her head. “It just feels like we’ve been doing so much for these past two weeks. When we finish this case, I think I’m gonna go on a vacation.”

“Hmph, I don’t understand your lack of a love of adventure. Especially for one so selfless and heroic as yourself, Twilight, I find it strange that you could despise these grand escapades.”

“That’s easy for you to say,” Twilight muttered. She yawned, and remembered that the previous night had been spent not sleeping. “My idea of fun doesn’t exactly involve climbing a mountain and fighting a dragon.”

“Suit yourself,” Gilgamesh muttered. “Ah, but do you see that? It looks as if our client has arrived.”

Twilight looked up as the door on the opposite side opened and Cerulean stepped in. She stepped over to the opposite side of the wall, sat down on the chair, and grinned. “So, uh… so does this mean you’ve found something?”

“No, not yet,” Twilight said. When Cerulean’s face fell, she continued, “I actually wanted to ask you some questions about the crime itself, if you don’t mind.”

“Huh? Oh, sure, sure.” Cerulean blinked. “Wait, hold on. Who’s that guy over there?”

Twilight looked over her shoulder. “Oh, him? He’s Gilgamesh; he’s helping me out with this case.”

Cerulean grinned. “Hey, I thought you seemed familiar! I think I, uh… I think I met you a while back, right?”

Gilgamesh placed a hand on his chin. “Met me a while…? Ah, yes, did you not run into me on the street? Literally?”

“Heh, heh…” Cerulean laughed nervously. “Let’s just let bygones be bygones, okay? Okay.” She paused and placed a hoof on her chin. “Actually, I don’t think I introduced myself, did I?”

“You are Cerulean, yes? The defendant?” Gilgamesh grimaced.

“Huh? Oh, yeah, how did you know? Did Twilight tell you?”

“Well, yes, but…” Gilgamesh trailed off and placed a hand to his forehead. “I probably could have guessed that without her help, though.”

“Huh? Oh, you mean the whole ‘Cerulean is blue’ thing, right?” She chuckled. “Heh, yeah. I’ve always thought the parents around here name their kids after the most unoriginal things. Me included,” she added with a smirk.

“Right?!” Gilgamesh shouted. “Thank you! I’m glad some other creature thinks that!”

For some reason, Twilight suddenly foresaw a friendship built on the singular idea that Equestria’s citizens were named stupidly. Hopefully there would be more substance than that if said friendship were to be true, but given how desperate Gilgamesh seemed for friends in the first place, it hardly seemed to matter.

“So anyway,” Twilight said, “I’m sorry to bother you about this, but could you give us some information about the crime itself?”

“Huh? Oh, sure. I’m honestly kinda surprised you didn’t ask me the first time around, but hey, whatever.” She breathed in. “Also, Princess? Don’t worry about it. If anything, I should be apologizin’ to you, not the other way around.

“So anyway,” she continued, “let’s see here… Ahem! The crime was committed last night, between eleven and one, in a holding cell at the back of the Police Department. They were apparently keeping the victim there for… well, for some reason, I guess.”

“You don’t know?” Gilgamesh asked, placing a hand on his chin.

“No, I’m sorry.” Cerulean shook her head. “If I’m gonna be honest, I never even met the guy before.”

Twilight cocked her head. “Wait… but why were you arrested?”

“Yeah, I thought you’d wonder that…” Cerulean sighed and looked down at her hooves. “And here’s where things get weird. Really, really weird, actually.”

“’Weird’?” Gilgamesh asked. “How so?”

Cerulean said, “The murder took place in the holding cell, but the lock on it wasn’t broken or anything like that. So, I mean, logically the killer had to be somepony with the key, right?” She paused. “Take a guess where it was.”

“You’re kidding,” Twilight said.

“No, but I really wish I was.” Cerulean shifted in her seat. “But yeah, that’s right – the key to the cell was found on me, and I was found just outside the cell.”

Twilight nodded. “So that’s why they arrested you? Because you were the only one with access to the cell?”

“But what do you mean you were ‘found outside the cell’?” Gilgamesh asked. “Did someone just happen to find you in there?”

“Something like that,” Cerulean said, “but… but if I’m gonna be honest, I’m really not too sure about what happened in there. I think… I think I was knocked out.”

“By the real killer, perhaps?” Gilgamesh asked.

Cerulean nodded. “Y-yeah, I… Yeah, I think so, actually. It makes sense when you think about it, right? Somepony stabbed the guy, knocked me out, planted the keys on me, and got away? I think that’s what happened, but nopony believes me. In a way, I guess… I guess I’m all alone, huh?” She chuckled bitterly. “All alone, with only you guys willing to listen to me.”

“All alone,” Twilight repeated, and she suddenly remembered something. “’Every creature deserves aid in their darkest hour, no matter the circumstances.’”

“H-huh?”

“Your friend says that, doesn’t he?” Twilight asked. “And I think… I think that he’s right. Cerulean, I-I trust you. I know you’re not the one behind this.”

“P-Princess…” Cerulean began to tear up.

Twilight shook her head. “Please, if I’m going to be allowed to call you Cerulean, I think you can call me Twilight. It’s only fair, isn’t it? Plus… well, we’re friends, aren’t we?”

Cerulean raised a foreleg to cover her eyes. “F-friends, huh…? Princess… er, Twilight… th-thank you. And… I’m sorry. I’m so s-sorry for… for everything up ‘til now.”

“The same goes for me,” said Gilgamesh. “We shall do everything in our power to save you from this wretched place. On my honor as a grand warrior, I swear it.” He reached for his sword, but a quick glance over at the guard made him reaffirm that thought. “Believe you me, Miss… or rather, Cerulean, that I shall capture the true perpetrator of this foul act, no matter the cost to myself!”

“Y-you guys…” Cerulean sniffed. “Darn it! I-I’m not crying, I swear! I’m just so… so happy, and this place is really d-dusty. Yeah. Yeah, that’s it, it’s dusty…” She pulled her hoof away, and was clearly trying to hold in the tears. “Ahem! Yes. If there’s anything else you wanted to ask me about, please do so. I’ll be more than cooperative.”

Twilight smiled. Even with how much she had internally complained about the case, the fact remained that she was completely willing to help Cerulean out, no matter how hard it would potentially be. And with Gilgamesh’s help, she knew that she could do it; after all, idiotic though he was a lot of the time, Twilight could hardly deny how much she trusted him with her life, especially given that he’d saved it at least twice.

“I think we’re good for now,” she said, and looked over at Gilgamesh. “C’mon, we’ve got a crime scene to look into.” She turned back to Cerulean. “We’ll be back before visiting hours are up with our findings, so just sit tight!”

“Heh! Of course!” Cerulean grinned. “I know you two can do it. After all, Twilight… that’s why I requested you to defend me.”

Gilgamesh nodded, and reached for the hilt of his sword again, much to the visible dismay of the guard. “Yes, then let us be off, and let us seek the truth of this most wretched of crimes! Fare thee well, Cerulean, and as Twilight said, please sit tight until we return!”

Twilight leapt off the stool, this time with a renewed sense of excitement. Perhaps, in hindsight, Gilgamesh was right; she certainly was enjoying this more than she had originally anticipated.

She and Gilgamesh followed the nervous guard to the front door and out of the building. They stood together, facing away from the building, for several, quiet moments, before Twilight nodded her head.

“The police department shouldn’t be too far away,” she said. “So I guess it’s time we start discovering the truth behind what really happened last night.”

“And discover it we shall. For Cerulean’s sake,” Gilgamesh said. “Now, my friend, let us be off, and let us begin our preparations for our duel with our newest enemy… in court.”

To be continued…

Author's Notes:

And so the dimension-traveling warrior and the pony princess go off on their journey to become the greatest lawyers ever! … wait.

So yeah, after three more months, here's the first part of the actual main conflict. Remember when I said it was going to take a long time? Yeah. I wasn't kidding. Now we're at the point where An Epic for Gilgamesh goes from being a comedic, fun little slice-of-life story about Gilgamesh moving into Ponyville to an Ace Attorney-esque murder case which is probably going to take up at least half the overall story. And no, I'm still not kidding. So pick a suspect, strap yourselves in, and prepare for a wild ride of court battles, because for some reason I thought this would be a good idea.

In addition to that, this is obviously the first part of two for this investigation, mostly because I got to this point and realized that I was less than halfway done, but this was a much better stopping point than the one I initially planned the use.

On a side note, from this point on, please either refrain from spoilers or tag them like this. (For those who don't know, spoilers can be tagged by using [spoil er]. Just remove the space.)

Thank you guys for being so patient, and I will do everything I can to actually get the next chapter out in a semi-reasonable amount of time. As usual, if you find anything you think I can fix, please point it out so that I may do so!

Episode 11: The Nightmarish Turnabout - Investigation Part 2

View Online

Fenrir Dire sat alone in his office, staring at the same image that had transfixed him for the past week. That single word seemed to curse him, to mock him, and to jeer at him as it lay in blood. He knew it all too well; the name that had haunted him for so long, and would likely continue to haunt him in the future.

He sipped his coffee and grimaced at the bitter flavor. No matter how hard he tried, Dire had yet to get used to the taste. He reached toward the nearby dish, paused for a moment, but eventually relented, using a nearby pair of tongs to place one, two, five cubes of sugar in his dark brew. Dire raised the mug and took a sip, finally happy with the taste.

“So,” he muttered to himself, “it happened, didn’t it? After so long, it had to happen…” He shook his head. What a cursed thing life was. So full of joy, yet so full of suffering as well. And how was Sullivan taking it? He, who had initially been affected worst of all…

Dire shook his head. What was the point? In the end, it had all been for naught. Ashes to ashes, dust to dust, death to death.

Four years. Had it truly been so long? Had it been so long since the world had come crashing down around him?

Dire sighed and reached for the newest report on the suicides for what must have been the third time that day. The more he read it, however, the more disturbed he felt. If the autopsies were correct, something was horribly wrong – the victims were all so similar to that case, but…

Dire shook his head and pushed the data away from himself. That case was not the one he should be focusing on, after all. He reached for his mug and took a long, deep drink of it before setting it down with a sigh.

“No,” he said to himself, pressing a hoof to his forehead. “No, I must focus. If I do not, then…” He paused and let out another sigh. “I simply must.”

And yet even he could not shake the feeling that something was terribly wrong.

-- An Epic for Gilgamesh --
-- Episode 11: The Nightmarish Turnabout – Investigation Part 2 --
-- Written By ZaleAcon --

“So this is the Canterlot Police Department?”

Gilgamesh was staring at the building in awe, although Twilight could hardly blame him; it was at least five stories of highly polished steel, complete with dozens of windows, pillars, and other decorations that made it look incredibly impressive. Even the entrance looked magnificent – a large, arched gate covered in glass and stones. If anything, it looked more befitting of a palace than a simple police department.

It was almost incredible how such a magnificent building was only a block away from the prison.

“It’s… bigger than I thought it would be,” Gilgamesh continued. “How do they even afford something like this?”

“Where do you think the tax money goes?” Twilight asked. “There’s a reason only the richer ponies can live comfortably in Canterlot – and why everypony wants to work here.”

Gilgamesh nodded. “A shame part of this city was blown to bits only a week ago.”

“Yeah. It’s a good thing we rebuild quickly.” Twilight shook her head, trying to get them back on track. “So, uh… should we head to the crime scene?”

“That’s why we came here.” Gilgamesh looked down at the front doors. “It would probably be a good idea to get this done quickly. The sooner we finish, the better the case we can make, after all.”

“Right.” Twilight took a single step forward and then stopped. She had never entered the Canterlot Police Department before, mostly because she hadn’t any need of it up until today. It was a strange feeling, given that the only reason she was even going in was to investigate the murder. She took a moment to take in the building and swallowed. “Let’s go.”

The doors opened smoothly inward, giving way to a large lobby with a checkered floor. A pair of desks sat on either side of the door, each staffed by what appeared to be a receptionist. Two staircases sat near the back of the lobby, seemingly so that officers and detectives would be able to travel up without a large amount of traffic.

As Twilight and Gilgamesh stared on in silent awe, the sound of a cough brought them back to reality. “Excuse me, but do you have an appointment?”

Twilight glanced to her left and saw a receptionist with a graying mane and glasses looking her over. “O-oh, I’m sorry,” she said, stepping over to her. “I’m Twilight Sparkle…”

“Oh, I realize that,” said the receptionist.

The receptionist at the other desk giggled and chimed in, “I can’t imagine anypony who don’t, Princess.”

Twilight blushed. “Oh, I, um… Sorry.” She rubbed the back of her head sheepishly. “I’m here with my… uh… partner. We’re looking into the murder that happened last night.”

The bespectacled receptionist paused for a moment and tilted her head. “The chief didn’t ask you, did he?”

“Huh? No, he didn’t. Actually, we were–”

“We are serving as the defense,” Gilgamesh explained. “We figured that it would be for the best if we could access the crime scene. To understand the crime better.”

The giggling receptionist nodded. “Hmm… Yes, yes, I think I understand.” She chuckled. “I’ll make sure to alert Chief Dreadnaught and the head of the investigation that you’re heading up.” At the alarmed look on Twilight’s face, she quickly added, “It’s just to make sure they know you’ll be there; it’ll be less of a surprise this way. The chief isn’t even in right now, anyway.”

Twilight shifted. “O-oh, okay. I understand.”

“Here –” the bespectacled receptionist gave her two passes “– these’ll let you walk around here without havin’ to worry about being questioned. Long as you’re holding these, Princess, you’re a guest.”

“Thank you.” Twilight hung the lanyard around her neck and gave the other copy to Gilgamesh, who followed suit. “But hang on… why’re you giving these to us so easily? I thought you’d be more strict about something this important.”

The bespectacled receptionist looked around for a moment before leaning in close. “The truth is, Princess, everypony here’s been in a panic ever since the body was found last night. With what’s been goin’ on around Canterlot recently, all our worker’s’ve been on edge.”

Twilight blinked. “Wait… what do you mean? What’s been going on around here?”

“Huh?” The bespectacled receptionist paused. “You mean you don’t know? Well, uh… n-never mind. It’s nothing, Princess.”

Gilgamesh crossed his arms. “That’s not a terribly convincing argume–”

“Anyway! As I was saying, everypony’s been on edge, so anypony who can help us get this case solved quickly’ll be welcomed here.” The bespectacled receptionist began writing something on the computer in front of her. “Ah, here we go. Now I just enter your names here, and… Ah, excuse me, sir?” she glanced up at Gilgamesh. “May I have your name?”

“Indeed!” Gilgamesh said, standing tall. “I am the warrior whose name is known across the world! He who is known by king and peasant, whose allies are grateful and whose enemies fearful, whose–”

“His name’s Gilgamesh,” Twilight deadpanned.

“Gilgamesh…” The bespectacled receptionist frowned, sighed, and glanced up at him. “Er… How do you spell that?”

“Heroically!”

Twilight pressed a hoof to her forehead. It was going to be a long day.

Detective Case’s day could not have gotten worse.

First she had to deal with a murder in the police department, which was already bad enough. As good as she was at looking over crime scenes, and how used to it she was, she couldn’t help but find the sight of blood disgusting. Even the police tape that outlined where the victim’s body had been disturbed her; it brought back far too many memories.

But what bothered her more than that was the knowledge that anypony knew her identity. Certainly, Chief Dreadnaught knew it, but that was more out of necessity than anything else. Otherwise, how would a pony who had just joined the force get the rank of detective? Granted, there were questions, but she hardly paid them any mind.

Her goal was far more important than that.

But nothing bothered her more than Quill knowing the truth. Given how antisocial he was, Case knew she would be fine, but she could not help worrying now that two creatures knew who she really was.

Technically three, said a small voice in the back of her head.

Case shuddered. No, there was no point in being afraid. Being afraid would not help in any way and would just hinder her ultimate goal. So long as she could solve the current case, she could find what she was looking for.

“Excuse me, Detective Case?”

Case blinked and glanced behind her. “Oh, Detective. Sorry, I seem to have dozed off.”

The detective shook his head. “You’ve been doing that a lot today. Are you sure you’ve been getting enough sleep?”

“H-huh?” Case blinked. “Ah… Y-yes, of course.”

In truth, she hadn’t slept a wink. Quill’s words had put a stop to any rest she could have received the prior night. Especially with what had come of them.

“That’s good.” The detective turned to leave, but paused and glanced back. “Hey, take care of yourself, you hear? Last thing we need is a detective wearing herself out on a case as big as this.”

“Right. Thank you.”

Case turned her full attention on the crime scene, glancing furiously about in search of some new piece of evidence. But no matter how hard she looked, she could not quite push the feeling out of her head that something was horribly wrong.

Twilight and Gilgamesh stepped up the nearest staircase. Twilight took the time to look down at the map (“It’s complimentary!” the giggling receptionist had insisted) as the two walked to the second floor.

“So according to this,” Twilight mumbled, mostly to herself, “it looks like the holding cell’s up on the third floor.”

“And that’s where the victim was killed.” Gilgamesh placed a hand on his chin. “But what is the point in having a cell here when there are dozens open in the prison?”

“It’s for prisoners who haven’t had their trials yet or who haven’t been sentenced,” Twilight said, keeping her eyes on the map. “It makes it more convenient for the officers, since they don’t have to go over to the prison to interrogate the suspects. Not to mention that, given how notoriously awful Canterlot’s prison is, nopony wants to send a potentially innocent creature over there.”

“And what of Cerulean? Shouldn’t she be locked up here, in that case?”

“I’m not sure, honestly.” Twilight grimaced. “But if I had to guess, I’d say it’s because a murder happened around the cells, so the detectives wouldn’t want the suspect around the scene of the crime. I’m sure any other prisoners would’ve been transferred, too.”

“So it’s a special case, then? That makes sense, I suppose.” Gilgamesh paused for a second, then added, “But doesn’t the royal palace have a dungeon?”

“Yeah, it does.”

“Then why could they not hold her there?”

“It’s only for creatures who directly threaten the princesses, nobles, or Equestria itself,” Twilight explained. “Heck, even creatures who seriously threaten the Elements of Harmony are liable to be thrown in there, since hurting them could be considered an attempt at treason.”

“So the one who sent Fluttershy that note would be sentenced to the dungeon, not the prison?” Gilgamesh nodded. “I suppose I understand.”

“Yeah.” And so would the one who tried to kill Princess Luna. Of course, Gilgamesh knew nothing of the attempted assassination, and she had no plan to give that away just yet.

The two continued walking up the stairs. They passed by a door that led into the second floor, where the detectives and police officers worked, and came upon the entrance to the third floor. The sign next to the small door read, “Holding Cells Block A and Interrogation Rooms.”

“’Block A’?” Gilgamesh asked. “How many blocks are there?”

“I thought there was just one,” Twilight said. “Er… That’s what I’ve read, at least.” She paused. “I guess… maybe it’s in case they have to build more cells?”

Gilgamesh shook his head. “That’s a depressing thought. The department’s already thinking ahead…”

Wordlessly, Twilight pulled the knob on the door, which opened with little resistance. She looked inside, holding her breath in fear of seeing a real body, and let out a sigh of relief when all she was light coming in through the barred windows.

Twilight actually found herself surprised with how meticulous the room was, bloodstain notwithstanding. The room itself was surprisingly small, consisting of four small cells along the left and right walls and one large cell at the back. The floor was a rough-cut stone and the walls were made from cracking plaster, in contrast to how neat the floors below appeared. Even more interestingly, the cells themselves looked incredibly new and the bars seemed solid enough that even an explosion couldn’t destroy them.

The two stepped inside, and Gilgamesh looked directly in front of them. “Cerulean said the victim died in the holding cell at the back – I take it that’s the one right there?”

Five detectives stood in and around the large cell at the back. They were examining the scene with notebooks of their own as they dusted down the bars of the cell and looked over every crack they could find.

One of the detectives suddenly looked up at the sound of Gilgamesh’s voice. Her long, greenish mane bounced as she turned her gaze to the door, followed by a puzzled look on her face.

“Hey, hold on a second… what are you two doing here?” she asked.

Twilight and Gilgamesh walked forward up to the cell as the other four detectives continued to work diligently.

“Detective Case,” Twilight said, attempting to keep a calm expression, “it’s good to see you again.”

“Likewise,” Case said, cocking her head, “but why’re the two of you here? You’re the last two I would’ve expected to take interest in something like this.”

“We didn’t,” said Gilgamesh. “At least, not initially.”

Twilight continued, “The two of us are investigating the murder that happened last night. We’re the… uh… we’re the defense.”

Case’s eyebrows shot up. “The defense? You mean you’re defending the suspect, Princess?” She shook her head. “Sheesh, if that’s the case, it looks like the prosecutor’s going to have a tougher time than we thought.”

Twilight blushed and pressed a hoof to the back of her head. “Y-you don’t have to say that…”

“Heh, of course I do! Anyway–” Case suddenly paused. “Wait, do you even have a license to practice law?”

“Well, I–”

“Yes,” Gilgamesh interrupted.

Case blinked, then shrugged. “Eh, okay. So I take it the two of you want to look over the crime scene?”

“That’s why we’re here, yes,” Twilight said. “Plus, we wanted to ask you some questions. We’ll need evidence, too, obviously – we need to build the best case we can.”

“Well, since I’m the best ‘Case’ around, I think I can help with that.”

The entire room went silent, and at least one of the detectives working in the background pressed a hoof to his forehead in disgust.

Case grimaced. “Ugh, sorry. That suspect – Cerulean, she said her name was – she kept making all these terrible puns when I went to interrogate her earlier. I think they stuck with me.”

“Wait… Cerulean did that?” Gilgamesh asked. He cocked his head and crossed his arms. “She never did anything of the sort around us…”

“That’s probably because she likes you.” Case rubbed the back of her head. “Ugh… But anyway, yeah, I get that. Normally, the police aren’t supposed to help the defense out like this, but I figure it’s a special… case…” She pressed a hoof to her forehead. “Crap. Give me a second, okay?”

One of the detectives grimaced. “You’re doin’ this on purpose, aren’t you?”

“No, I’m not! I swear I’m not!” Case sighed. “Anyway, as I was saying, the police don’t normally work with the defense, but the chief said we could this time around. Lucky you, huh?”

“I guess,” Twilight said. “But… why’re you allowed to help out now?”

“Let’s just say this case is really important,” replied Case. “I can’t say much more than that, but the chief told us to find out what happened no matter what – even if it meant helping out the other side. Besides,” she added, “a lot of us suspect she’s innocent anyway.”

Gilgamesh placed a hand on his chin. “And why is that, if I might ask?”

Case grimaced. “I’m sorry, but that’s all I’m allowed to say about this.”

“Really? Nothing else?” Gilgamesh sighed. “In that case, could you at least go over the basic facts?”

“Of course.” Case pulled a small notebook out of her saddlebag. “Ahem! Let’s see, here… what is it you want to know?”

“Anything would be fine,” Twilight said.

Case stepped over to one of the detectives – a unicorn mare currently dusting the area around where the victim’s body had been – and tapped her on the shoulder. “Doctor Trail, could you lend me a hoof?”

The mare looked up from her work. “Eh? You need me, Detective?”

“Yes,” Case said. She pointed over at Twilight and Gilgamesh. “These two – they’re planning to defend Miss Cerulean in court – probably could use your knowledge about the scene.”

“Well, I’m not sure how much help I could be,” said the mare. She placed her duster in her saddlebag. “Me, I’m nothing but a humble forensic scientist. There’s probably nothing I can say that they can’t figure out themselves.”

She turned to look at Gilgamesh and Twilight and smiled slightly. On closer inspection, she appeared fairly old, though not nearly as old as Dreadnaught; her auburn mane had at least one gray streak, and Twilight could make out a small wrinkle above her eyes.

“Come on, Doctor Trail.” Case chuckled nervously. “You don’t need to be so hard on yourself.”

Trail shook her head and looked over at Case. “I’m just kidding, Detective; a little joke, nothing more.” She turned her head back to Twilight and Gilgamesh. “My name is Dusty Trail. I normally work in forensics. It’s a pleasure to meet you, Princess Twilight – and you as well, I’m sure,” she added to Gilgamesh.

“Same here,” Twilight said. “But wait, you said you work in forensics? So why are you here?”

Trail brushed her mane back. “We normally have enough detectives to cover a specific case, but today’s different. Most of ‘em are out working on the… uh… incident from the other day, so I was relegated to field work.” She shrugged. “It’s not too difficult for me; I trained in both forensics and detective work, so I can work in either reasonably well.”

Gilgamesh raised an eyebrow. “The other day’s incident? Did something happen recently?”

“Yes, but it’s classified.” Case’s eyes bored into Twilight’s. “Right?”

Twilight blanched. “Y-yeah. I’m sure it is.”

“Anyway, as I was saying,” Case said, “Doctor Trail’s been taking care of some minor forensics stuff while we’ve been out here. I figured she’d be best for answering your questions.” She blinked. “Oh, and before I forget – Doctor, can you hand them a copy of the case files?”

“Ah, yes. Here, let me…” Trail reached into her saddlebag, pulling out a thin manila envelope. “Ah, here we go,” she said. “This should contain all the information you need – the victim’s autopsy report, information on the murder weapon, and crime scene pictures.”

Twilight opened it and glanced over the autopsy report. “’The victim died by stabbing… single wound through the back… between eleven and one…’” She looked up. “Huh, everything checks out with what Cerulean told us.”

Gilgamesh reached for the envelope and began rummaging through. He pulled out the pictures of the crime scene, looked at them for a second in confusion, and looked back at Trail and Case. “Do these pictures not include the victim’s body?”

“Unfortunately, no,” replied Trail. “The victim’s identity is completely classified – to the point where even the images aren’t allowed to show his body. Most of us know who he was due to him being held here, but we cannot risk his identity being revealed.”

Twilight grabbed the pictures. Sure enough, they all depicted nothing but the police tape that now lined the ground. She was thankful for that, if nothing else; the last thing Twilight wanted to see was a corpse, even with the large bloodstain in the middle of the tape.

She replaced the pictures and looked back up. “So why can’t you reveal his identity?” she asked. “I’m guessing the reason must be pretty important.”

“Extremely important, actually,” Case said. She yawned, rubbed her eyes, and continued. “I can’t reveal anything else about him other than his gender. I’m not even allowed to divulge his age or why he was held here.”

“Not even to a princess?”

“Nope, sorry. But if there’s anything else you want to know, just ask.” Case smiled. “After all, they don’t call me the ‘Ace Detective’ for nothing.”

Gilgamesh nodded. “Very well… When was victim found?”

Case nodded, her expression becoming far sterner. “His body was found this morning at one-fifteen along with the suspect by a security guard. She was unconscious at the time, presumably from shock, but she’d clearly been hit on the back of the head. Since some of the victim’s blood was on her, too, we believe there was a struggle in the cell.”

“But you said you don’t believe it was her?” Gilgamesh continued. “So why was she arrested?”

“Her hoofprints were found on both the cell’s key and the murder weapon,” said Trail. She reached into her saddlebag and pulled out a picture of a dagger shaped like a unicorn’s horn, but the spirals were reversed. “A five inch dagger made from a bronze-iron alloy. It was custom-made by the security guard at the time, but she apparently left it behind by accident.” She cracked her head to the side. “The hole went all the way through, strangely enough, so it was hard to determine it perfectly, but the dagger matches the victim’s wound very closely.”

Twilight shuddered. Why did it have to look like a unicorn’s horn? Was it some sort of sick joke? And more importantly, how had a single stab pushed that tiny thing all the way through?

“As the dagger matched the wound,” Trail continued, “and the suspect’s hoofprints were the only ones we could lift from the dagger – save the guard’s, of course – and there were no magical traces on it, we were forced to arrest Miss Cerulean as the only potential culprit.”

Gilgamesh nodded. “I see,” he said, “so that is why you arrested her. She told us of the key, but said nothing about the weapon itself. I suppose it could have just slipped her mind, though. So who was this security guard who discovered the scene?”

“Her name’s Keep Watch,” replied Case. “She was assigned to this position last night. ‘Nine-thirty to three,’ I think she said.”

“Hold on,” Twilight said. “Wouldn’t she have been here when the crime took place, then? How could she have missed something this important, much less known the time it took place?”

“That’s the issue,” Case said. “I questioned her earlier, and she said somepony’d told her she wasn’t supposed to go in until one-thirty. Apparently, somepony else was going to take her spot. Granted, she’s a bit… odd, but she doesn’t have any reason to lie.”

Twilight placed a hoof on her chin. “Did she say who it was?”

“Who said that to her, you mean?” Case asked. When Twilight nodded, she continued, “No, but I’m pretty sure that pony’s going to get a sound thrashing from Chief Dreadnaught when he finds out who it was.”

Trail shuddered. “Hmph, I’d hate to be that poor sap… Dreadnaught can be downright brutal, especially when you lie about something that important. Even more so if it winds up with… this.” She gestured to the scene.

Twilight stepped past the two to get a better look, but felt her jaw drop when she saw the interior of the holding cell for the first time.

It looked more like a low-end apartment than a prison cell. Granted, it was still fairly small, but was fully furnished. The bed looked more comfortable than the average prison bed – heck, it looked more comfortable than her bed in the library – with a small, packed bookshelf beside it. A large, ovular rug covered most of the stony ground and a table with two stools sat in the middle. Even the bars had a nice, if simple, pair of curtains on either side.

Twilight turned back to Case and Trail. “What’s with the fancy décor? Was the victim wealthy or something?”

“You know we can’t tell you that,” Trail said. “Unfortunately.”

“I suppose not,” Gilgamesh muttered. “Do you mind if the two of us take a look around the scene?”

Case shrugged. “Sure, knock yourselves out. We’ve already found just about everything, but if you locate anything else, feel free to tell us.”

“Thank you,” Twilight said, and paused. “But just to check – what have you all looked over?”

Trail began counting off. “The table – including under the tablecloth – and the chairs, under the rug, behind the curtains, the pillowcases, under the bed, under the sheets, around and under the bookshelf, outside in the area directly below the window, the other cells, and just about everywhere else on this floor.”

One of the detectives looked up from his work examining the wall near the bookshelf. “I haven’t gotten to the bookshelf itself, yet – if you want to start anywhere, I’d recommend there.”

“There you have it,” said Case. She nodded towards the detective. “Make sure you look over every last book – I want no page unturned. I’ll join in soon enough. As for you two,” she said, looking back at Gilgamesh and Twilight, “I’d be more than glad to have your help. We’re short on members at the moment, so any hooves are good. Just call me over if you find anything suspicious, okay?”

Twilight nodded. “Right.” She looked over at Gilgamesh. “You want to start at the top or the bottom?”

“I’ll start on the top row,” he replied. “We’re just looking for anything suspicious, yes? What… exactly does that mean?”

“You’ll probably know it when you see it,” Twilight said, and started walking over to the shelf.

She magically grabbed the first book on the lower shelf – Adventures of an Abject Thinker – and began to leaf through its pages, keeping on the lookout for something “suspicious.” When nothing interesting came up, Twilight sighed and placed it back into the shelf.

She grabbed the next book – a thicker volume titled The Creation of Legality – and turned it through, again finding nothing of value. She dejectedly put it back in the shelf and reached for another before stopping.

The third book looked different from the others. For one, its spine was in tatters while the others looked newer. For another, when she pulled it out, the title was written in a distinctly childish scrawl: The Bestest Detective! The book itself was also incredibly thin; if it went over twenty pages, Twilight would have been shocked.

Ignoring the obvious error, Twilight opened it slowly. The pages were all slightly crumpled and the words all written very sloppily. Each page, despite containing only two or three sentences, had its own little, crudely drawn illustration at the bottom. It was clearly made by a child, but why was it in this prisoner’s bookshelf?

As Twilight continued to look it over, she couldn’t help but read the simple yet childish story. It was the story of a detective who caught all the bad guys and made them pay for their crimes. Of course, everything was horribly exaggerated – the villain fled the scene by helicopter despite being a simple thief, for example – but it was clear a lot of time and effort went into it.

But then, just when the action seemed to be winding down, the story just… ended. No closing, no ending, nothing. Twilight looked over at the side of the book and found herself unsurprised to see that what was no doubt the last page of the story had been ripped out.

She sighed, shook her head, and looked at the “last page” of the book – really just the other side of the back cover – and found herself surprised by a sudden shift to an extremely neat cursive font, reading, “To my mentor and friend, thank you for giving me so much out of life. I hope you enjoy this story as much as your daughter and I did making it. Signed, your humble student.” The signature afterwards was so garbled and jumbled that Twilight could not read it even remotely.

Still, that phrase stuck out to her. “’Your daughter,’” Twilight heard herself whisper. “So, he was important to somepony after all…”

She looked over the book itself in search of a name, but couldn’t find anything beyond the garbled mess of the supposed student. As she did so, however, she felt something slide out of the area between the cover and the first page, which she had somehow missed. The small piece of paper fluttered to the ground gently before landing gracefully in front of the bookshelf.

“What’s this…?” Twilight mumbled as she picked it up.

It was an extremely small envelope, looking so thin and tiny that it was no wonder she missed it. Twilight looked it over a second, turning it over to find a name, but it was completely blank. She opened it out of curiosity and froze. The envelope was empty, but something was written on the inside of the flap.

It was in blood. And it looked too fresh to be from long ago.

As she recovered from her shock, Twilight read over the message. Or she tried to, at least, but it was horribly smeared. It seemed to be only one word, anyway, but most of the letters were unreadable. The only letters that weren’t were the first, the last, and half of the second, all of which seemed capitalized.

“What is this…?” Twilight muttered. “W… A… or R, maybe? And then an H? And what are these other letters? What does this mean…?”

Either way, this was definitely important. She looked over at the detectives and waved for Case.

“You found something suspicious?” she asked, stepping over to Twilight.

Gilgamesh put down his latest inquiry. “Hmm? What did you find?”

“It’s an envelope, but there’s something written inside.” Twilight shook her head. “Sorry, but I can’t quite make it out.”

“It certainly seems like it was written recently – I’d bet last night, too. But what are these letters? W…” She suddenly froze, and her face visibly paled. “I-I… Ahem.” She suddenly regained her composure, or at least appeared to. “Thank you, Princess,” she said. “I think this should be very important to… ah… to our findings.”

Trail stepped over. “Hey, Detective,” she said. “Give that to me; I’ll make sure it gets down to the lab. If that’s the victim’s blood, we can be sure either he or somepony else tried to write something on this envelope.”

“But then somepony hid it away in this book.” Twilight held up The Bestest Detective! “Why hide it?”

“Did the victim write it?” Gilgamesh asked. “Perhaps he wrote it in order to give the killer’s identity and hid it in this book to be careful.”

Trail nodded. “It’s a distinct possibility – the victim didn’t die immediately, after all, so the he could have made this. If he wanted to, he could have used magic to get this book from the shelf, put the envelope in it, and place it back.”

“And in that time,” Twilight continued, “the bloody message smeared because the victim was in a hurry to write it, resulting in this.”

“If we use luminal, we might discover what the message originally was,” said Trail, “but I can’t guarantee the paper will make it through the treatment intact. It could very well fall apart if exposed, especially given how thin it is…” She shook her head. “In all likelihood, we won’t be able to completely process this message for awhile.”

“Y-yeah,” Case said. “We probably won’t.”

The four stood in silence for several seconds, before Gilgamesh suddenly said, “So… the victim was a unicorn?”

Trail blanched. “Wh… When did I say that?!”

“You said he ‘could have used magic’ to get the book from the shelf,” Gilgamesh said, “so I naturally assumed he had to be a unicorn. A unicorn stallion, at that.”

Twilight blinked. “Wow, I didn’t even notice that.” Of course, she had been almost entirely preoccupied by the bloody message at the time, but still. Maybe having Gilgamesh as her assistant was a better idea than she’d initially thought.

“A-anyway,” Case said in a blatant attempt to change the subject, “let’s move on, shall we? As I was saying, it’s clear this is a very important – or at least, a very interesting – piece of evidence. Whether or not it’ll help get your client off the hook, I can’t say.” She grinned. “But I can say that I think you’d be great as a detective!”

“R-really?” Twilight blushed. “I-I mean when I was little, I kinda, er… But I never thought I’d… Heh, heh, uh, thank you.”

Trail nodded. “I’d say so, at least. Granted, you seemed to be a bit too engrossed in that book for your own good, but I think it worked out in the end.”

“Yeah, um… Thanks.” Twilight rubbed the back of her head. “Hey, speaking of that book, mind if I take a few notes on it?”

Gilgamesh crossed his arms. “Do you think it could be useful?”

“I’m not sure,” Twilight admitted. “But… Well, I don’t think the envelope was placed inside it for no reason.” She shook her head. Not to mention that missing page. Twilight could not say why it bothered her so much, but something about it just felt off.

“Well, if you’re that sure, I don’t see why we shouldn’t take a closer look.” Case grinned. “Who knows? It might just be the key to finding out the truth behind what happened.”

“I… wouldn’t go that far, but…” Twilight shook her head. “Anyway… I can’t really think of anything else I need to ask.” She looked over at Gilgamesh. “What about you?”

He nodded. “Actually, I do.” He placed a hand on his chin. “This security guard – Keep Watch, you called her? – can you tell us where she is right now?”

“I take it you’re interested in her testimony, eh?” Case asked. When Gilgamesh nodded, she said, “I can’t say for certain, but I heard she’s been speaking with Doctor Quill down in his lab. You want me to give you directions?”

“That would be excellent. Thank you.”

“Hang on a second,” Twilight said, suddenly feeling a pit in her stomach. “This ‘Doctor Quill’ isn’t the one I think he is, right?”

“He should be,” Trail replied. “Doctor Sullivan Quill.”

“Oh… great.”

Gilgamesh placed a hand on his chin. “Who exactly is he? And why is his name getting such a negative response…?”

Twilight pressed her head against a nearby wall. “You’ll… you’ll see,” she groaned. “Ugh… and here I was hoping to avoid him.”

“We all do, Princess,” Case muttered. “We all do…” She shook her head and smiled. “Anyway, as I was saying, it shouldn’t take you too long to find his lab from here. It’s… huh, let me grab a map…” She rummaged through her bag, pulling out a map of the department. “There we go… Ahem, here, let me explain.

“We’re currently on the third floor, reserved for prisoners and interrogations. You go down the staircase to the main lobby, and you see this door, here?” Case pointed to a door at the back end of the lobby on the map, just between the two staircases. “It might be a bit hard to see – one of the guys in charge of the last renovation painted over it by accident, you see – but it leads to another staircase leading down.”

“That one goes to the labs,” Trail continued. “It’s where I usually work. The stairs will deposit you in a long, narrow hallway. Doctor Quill’s personal lab is on the third door on the right; it’s the one with ‘Psychoanalysis’ written on it.” She grimaced and brushed some of her mane away from her eyes. “Just a warning, though – Quill is temperamental at the best of times, so make sure you don’t bother him too much.”

Twilight sighed. “Believe me, I know.” She forced herself to smile. “Thank you two for all your help,” she said. “I hope all of this proves useful in court tomorrow.”

“Anytime, Princess,” said Case. “If you need any more help, just let us know. We’ll do our best to get you information – within reason, of course.”

Gilgamesh nodded. “Indeed. And thank you again.”

The two turned and began walking from the large room, shutting the door behind them as they emerged in the hallway. They paused for a moment before looking at one another.

“So,” Gilgamesh said. “We have the victim’s autopsy report, pictures of the scene, general information regarding the crime, the murder weapon, and that odd envelope and the book you found it in.” He stroked his chin. “It’s certainly an odd assortment of evidence, I’ll say that much…”

“Yeah, but it’s important we don’t leave any stones unturned.” Twilight grimaced. “Although, I’m not really all that keen on having to see Quill again…”

Gilgamesh shook his head. “I suppose I’ll see what all the fuss is about soon, right?”

The two began to walk down the stairs. “So Gilgamesh,” Twilight asked, “why is it you wanted to meet with the guard so badly?”

“The biggest point of contention is that the key was found on Cerulean, yes? In that case, I figured it would be best to ask to guard directly.”

“Not just the key – the murder weapon, too.” Twilight shook her head. “Ugh. I can’t believe she forgot to mention that detail…”

It was arguably even more important than the key itself. Sure, the key having her prints was suspicious, but that could be explained in a number of ways. But the murder weapon? That was incredibly suspicious, to the point where it could easily threaten their entire case. Especially since Cerulean had completely neglected to bring it up…

“Good thing Detective Case told us about it when she did,” Twilight muttered. “Otherwise, we may not have known that until we read through the files more thoroughly…”

“Indeed. We’ll have to ask Cerulean about it after we finish speaking with Miss Watch. We can hopefully swing by before visiting hours are up.”

“Yeah.” Twilight sighed. “The sooner we can find out what’s going on, the sooner we can get to work on our defense.”

“But right now, our main priority should be to gather information,” Gilgamesh said. “After all, we can’t form a strong case without strong evidence, right? We mustn’t rush ourselves – hurrying would be an easy way to miss important clues.”

Twilight smiled to herself. “Heh… It’s kinda weird. That’s the last thing I’d expect to hear from you.” She grinned and looked over at him. “Aren’t you the guy who always rushes ahead?”

“Conserving energy is an important tactic in any circumstance, Twilight. That’s just common knowledge on the battlefield.”

She rolled her eyes. “Even I know that one,” she said. Though it probably helped that she had a brother in the Royal Guard. “But still… Oh, we’re here.”

They stepped down into the massive lobby. Twilight looked across the wall between the two staircases, and was unsurprised to find the discolored section Case had told them about.

She and Gilgamesh walked over slowly, their steps resonating on the marble floor. The only discernable differences between the door and the surrounding walls were how it was slightly indented and the fact that the door had a dull knob. In fact, otherwise, it was almost perfectly camouflaged.

“No wonder we missed it,” Twilight muttered. She could just imagine somepony coming in for their first day, but being unable to find their workplace. Heck, experienced workers probably had trouble from time to time.

Gilgamesh reached out and grabbed the knob and twisted it sharply to the side. He pushed the door forward, and it opened with a dull creak.

Behind the door, Twilight could see a small hallway leading to the promised staircase. Lights along the walls flickered awkwardly, and the staircase itself looked like it descended into pure darkness.

“You know, when I saw this place from the outside, it looked like they took better care of it than this.” Twilight grimaced.

Gilgamesh stepped inside and peered down the stairwell. “It looks completely black down there,” he observed. “I almost think the holding cells were built in the wrong place…”

Twilight walked through the door, passed Gilgamesh, and looked back. “Well… I guess there’s no point in staying up there, right?” She pressed her hoof to the first step, wincing for a second as it creaked. “It feels like this place is gonna fall apart any second…” Well, now they knew where the renovation money should have gone, at least. That or the department was decorating for Nightmare Night.

Gilgamesh pulled his sword from its sheath – something Twilight still questioned, as the receptionists had somehow not confiscated it immediately – and prodded the top step. “It seems safe enough,” he said, “but I can’t say the same about the others.” He poked the next step down, which gave a similar creak.

“I don’t think it isn’t safe,” Twilight said. She took another step down, followed by another. “I mean, if dozens of ponies are going to work here, obviously the stairs wouldn’t be broken or anything. They’re just old.” She took another step and found, to her relief, that the next step wasn’t creaky at all.

“I don’t get it,” Gilgamesh said. “Why would they put so much effort into renovating the exterior, but not here? This place looks nearly abandoned.”

Twilight shook her head. “Welcome to Canterlot.” She looked over at him, and found he was barely visible in the flickering light. “It looks really nice on the outside, but when you go a bit deeper…” As they continued walking down the staircase, she sighed. “It’s all about appearances.”

Gilgamesh shook his head. “You sound as though you’re very knowledgeable about this.”

“I have to be,” Twilight said. “I spent most of my life here, after all.”

The stairway suddenly seemed to end as a door came into view. Light went into the stairwell through the cracks in the door, and Twilight looked over at Gilgamesh. “You want me to do the honors?”

Gilgamesh grinned. “Why not?”

“Okay, then…” Twilight magically gripped the door handle and turned it to the side. “I guess it’s about time we meet up with Keep Watch.”

She pushed the door in as light flooded the stairway, momentarily blinding both herself and Gilgamesh. Seconds later, her vision returned and the hallway Case and Trail told them about came into view.

Compared to the stairway, the hallway leading to the laboratories was very nice. The carpeting was thin and stained but looked fairly modern, and the walls were clearly repainted recently. The doors, thankfully, were not the same brown, but clearly stood out.

Twilight and Gilgamesh stepped along, reading the signs on the left as they went. “Let’s see…” Twilight murmured. “’Forensics’… ‘Custodial’… Ah, here we are.” She pointed to the letters on the door written in bold, bronze font. “’Psychoanalysis.’ I hope she’s in here…”

“Worst case scenario, I suppose we could question Doctor Quill,” Gilgamesh offered.

“’Worst case scenario’ indeed…” Twilight muttered. She reached out for the doorknob, then jerked away as if her hoof was on fire. A large part of her mind was telling her not to touch it, to turn around, and to get out of there. “I’m not sure I can do this, Gilgamesh.”

“Oh, come on! He’s a doctor, not some supernatural being!”

“I’m not sure about that,” Twilight said. “Nopony is that sarcastic without having to enact some sort of ancient ritual.” Or, for that matter, nopony was that much of a jerk.

Gilgamesh smirked. “You clearly haven’t met anyone from my world, then.” He stepped over to the door and placed his hand on the knob. “Now, come on, Twilight. You said it yourself – the sooner we speak with Keep Watch, the sooner we can get to work making a case. Aren’t you the one who wanted to help Cerulean out so much?”

“Yes, and I still do!” She shook her head. “Just… give me a second, okay? I’m sorry.”

“Of course.”

Twilight breathed in and out for what must have been a minute before she nodded. “Okay. I think I’m ready.”

“Alright, then…” Gilgamesh turned the knob just enough to hear it click. “In that case, I suppose it’s time to see if Detective Case was right.”

He turned the knob the rest of the way and pulled the door towards him. Unlike the previous door, the one leading the Quill’s lab had an edge that was so close to the floor it slid across it, making a sound that was in no way subtle. If Quill hadn’t noticed anypony when they first turned the knob, he almost certainly had by then.

Twilight heard Quill speak before she even entered the room. “Oh, great. As if my day couldn’t get any better.”

She and Gilgamesh stepped inside the laboratory, stopping just after the entrance as they gaped. If the lobby of the building was its most architecturally impressive, Quill’s lab had to be the most technologically impressive.

It was a small room that was about half the size of the victim’s holding cell, but the objects throughout the room definitely made up for it. The wall opposite the door had three shelves that ran horizontally and parallel to each other, and each of which held a combination of beakers, books, and other seemingly valuable trinkets. Wires hung down from the ceiling that ran across the other walls towards openings in the floor, presumably for the dozens of lights that covered the ceiling like tiles. A long science bench sat directly to the right of the door and along the entirety of the rightmost wall. It, like the shelves, was covered in beakers, paper, and quills.

But what drew Twilight’s attention the most were two particular areas. One was a large computer in the center of the room that sat on a desk with wires going across the floor. The other was the corner of the room directly to their left, in which at least five tall piles of paper sat. It was clear from markings on them that the papers had been written on extensively, but Twilight could not read them from her current angle.

After she broke out of her stupor, Twilight suddenly noticed the two figures in the middle of the room standing just in front of the computer. One was obviously Quill, who still looked just as dreadful as he had the first time they’d met; his bones could be seen where his skin was not hanging off, he still had large bags beneath his eyes, and his feathers were still filthy. If anything, Twilight thought he somehow looked worse.

The other creature, however, was completely different. She was an earth pony with a red-orange coat and a silvery-white mane. Her bright blue eyes and healthy smile made her look far younger than Quill, and she turned to the entrance with a salute as the two entered. Twilight briefly caught a look at her Cutie Mark – a lock and key.

“Oh, wow, Sparkles,” Quill said, his expression as bored as ever. “You’re the last creature I thought I’d see here. Oh, and you brought a friend.” He placed his cracked talons on his neck and cracked his head from side to side. Twilight could have sworn she saw dust fall from his plumage to the floor. “You certainly know how to liven up my mornings.”

“It’s noon, Doctor,” Twilight said, trying as hard as she could not to smack him. “And anyway, I’m here to see if you have anypony named ‘Keep Watch’ here.”

The mare suddenly left her salute, only to immediately return to it with more gusto. “Then you are the most lucky of mares!” she belted out suddenly, a large grin plastered to her face. “For I… am Keep Watch! I, the most great defender… of jiiiiustice!”

Twilight gaped. Sweet Celestia. No.

It was a second Gilgamesh.

Quill nodded. “Well, now you’re acquainted, how about you get outta my lab? The two of us were kinda talking, but I guess that’s hard to do when all you do is blubber. Right, Sparkles?”

Twilight felt her eye twitch as Quill glanced over at Gilgamesh. “And what about you? Or are you mute?”

Gilgamesh grimaced. “I can see why you were so hesitant,” he muttered. He looked over at Quill and said in his normal voice, “I am Gilgamesh. I have no doubts you have heard of my recent excursions.” He then stood tall, placing his hands on his hips. “I, the legendary hero, who fought to protect–”

“Yeah, yeah, shut up.” Quill sighed. “Great. I’ve got an idiot who thinks she’s a princess and a moron who thinks he’s a hero.”

Gilgamesh’s eye twitched. “Yes, well… We’re here to speak with Miss Watch. We’re investigating the murder that occurred last night.”

Quill rolled his eyes. “Oh, so the idiots are playing detectives, now? Great. Just great.”

“And the child’s pretending he’s a doctor. Can we move on, please?” Twilight snapped. She suddenly realized what she’d said and covered her mouth.

Quill, however, just seemed to be spurred on further. He smirked and turned his head to the side. “You seem angry, Sparkles. Are you angry?”

In truth, Twilight’s blood was boiling. Nopony had ever made her as angry as Quill, but she did everything she could not to show it. She breathed in and out slowly, trying to think of happier times.

“We’re not here to pick a fight, Quill,” she said, struggling to keep her voice under control. “We’re just here to get Miss Watch’s statement so we can defend our client.”

For just a minute, Quill looked shocked. The smirk completely dropped from his face and he stared, dumbfounded, at Twilight and Gilgamesh.

And then he started laughing. It was a mocking, cruel laugh like nothing Twilight had ever heard before. “Wow, I… Wow…” Quill covered his face with his talons. “Crap… This is incredible. I can’t believe it… You… Sparkles and her idiot sidekick, fighting in court – that’s just incredible!”

“Idiot sidekick…?” Gilgamesh asked.

“Don’t bother.” Twilight shook her head. “That’s what he’s going to call you. Forever.”

As Quill got over his laughing fit, his face suddenly became calm again. “So, you’re the lawyers? Huh, I guess the stories about lawyers being pathetic wastes are completely true.” He looked at them coldly. “Oh, did I forget to mention? I hate lawyers. I hate them more than anything.”

“And nothing’s changed,” Twilight deadpanned. “Now, will you let us speak with Miss Watch?”

“And why should I do that?” Quill cracked his neck again. “I honestly don’t give a crap about you or your case, Sparkles. In fact, I think I hate you even more. And since this is my lab, that means I have control over who comes in or not.” He narrowed his eyes. “So get out.”

Was it her, or did Quill seem even more bitter than he was the other day? It was hard to tell, mostly because he was such a complete jerk that any fluctuation seemed like it could be meaningless.

Twilight sighed and turned around. “I should’ve guessed this would be a waste. Alright, let’s go.”

“Twilight, are you certain?” Gilgamesh asked.

“Yeah. There’s not really a–”

Twilight recoiled at the sudden shout. “Wh-what the heck was that?!”

“My most sincere apologies, Princess!” said Keep Watch, pulling her leg back into a salute. “I simply felt the necessity to gather your attention!”

“Uh… Well, you definitely have it…” Twilight took a moment to feel her pulse. She likely lost several years of her life from the shock. Or she would have if she wasn’t immortal, at least.

“Thank you!” Watch said. “You see, I believe it would be the most great choice I can make to assist you in your quest for… jiiiiustice!”

Quill pressed his talons to his forehead. “Watch…”

“I apologize, my good doctor!” Watch said. “However! I must request you to allow me to pursue this justest of goals! I must speak of the facts of the case!”

Quill sighed. “Fine, whatever… I know better than to argue with morons.”

Watch somehow managed to ignore Quill’s statement. “So, Princess, it is a great pleasure to meet you! I am Keep Watch, guard of the Canterlot Police Department’s holding cells, and agent of justice!” She pulled out her badge and flashed it in the light. “Fear not, helpless creatures of Canterlot, for I shall aid you in your time of disparity!”

“Don’t you mean ‘despair’?” Twilight asked.

“No! Disparity! For I shall make a difference, and that difference is… jiiiiustice!”

Gilgamesh grimaced. “Excuse me, Miss Watch?” he said, trying to get the conversation back on topic. “We’re merely here to get your statement about the crime scene.”

Watch suddenly paused. “The crime scene…? Ah, yes! My stomping grounds, my fortress from evil, my area to defend as the protector I am!” Watch laughed heartily. “Ah, ask me questions, and I shall answer as only an agent of justice is able!”

Twilight grimaced. She took it back – Watch was clearly worse than Gilgamesh could ever hope to be. Everything about her just screamed “grating.” Nevertheless, she had to get the information, no matter the cost.

“You found the victim at one-fifteen in the morning, right?” Twilight asked.

Watch nodded. “Indeed. I had attempted to come in early for my shift.” She stood tall and stared off into the corner in what Twilight could only assume was an attempt at being dramatic. “After all – the true hero is the one who fights for–”

“Justice. Okay. I get it.” Twilight rubbed her temples. “Please, just… just tell me what you saw.”

Watch frowned. “Well… Anyway, yes, I arrived on the scene at one-fifteen. Exactly, actually.” She sighed. “Unfortunately, I found myself too late, and the wretchedness of the crime scene was laid bare! He – the victim, that is – he lay in a pool of his own blood, and she, the killer, was outside his cell, key in hoof! It was a sight that my nightmares shall contain forevermore…”

“We know this much,” Gilgamesh said, “but we wanted to have you clarify a few things, if you don’t mind.”

“Not at all, my ally of justice!” Watch saluted, suddenly perking up again. “Yes! Please, ask me as many questions as you desire, for my time is yours!”

In the background, Twilight could have sworn she saw Quill jerk and suddenly hit his leg against his desk, followed by a quiet gasp.

“Anyway,” Twilight said, pulling her mind back to the subject at hand, “we met with Detective Case at the crime scene, and she told us something interesting. Is it true that somepony told you your shift wasn’t until one-thirty?”

“Unfortunately, yes,” Watch said. She turned towards the back of the room. “Some lawless creature told me a fallacy, and thus I was unable to best the slayer of the innocent.” She shook her head. “A shame, truly.”

Gilgamesh raised an eyebrow. “’The innocent’?” he asked. “The victim was a criminal, wasn’t he? How in the world could that be considered ‘innocent’ by anyone?”

“U-uh… Well, that’s…” Watch’s voice began to shake, losing its volume. “Er… It’s a, uh… a metaphor.”

“That’s… That’s not a metaphor,” Twilight pointed out.

“Er… I-I meant irony?”

“That’s not it, either,” Twilight said, desperately resisting the urge to press a hoof to her forehead.

Watch flushed, and for the first time Twilight realized how young she looked – in fact, she pegged Watch for being no more than eighteen. “O-oh… Sorry…”

Twilight shook her head in exasperation. “Anyway,” she said, trying to get the conversation back on track, “you said somepony told you that you didn’t have to come in until later, right?”

“Y-yeah…” Watch cringed and stood up straight. “Er… I-I mean, yes! Yes, indeed, such a foul creature did riddle me with lies! And as a result, the prisoner lay dead while the killer lay, just outside his cell, her coat drenched scarlet!”

“Coat drenched scarlet…?” Gilgamesh asked. “What do you mean?”

“Is it not obvious? Clear? Apparent?” Watch asked. “The killer – that is, Miss Cerulean – was completely covered in the victim’s blood!”

“WHAT?!” both Twilight and Gilgamesh shouted, their jaws dropping.

Twilight shook her head. “Hang on – you’re telling me Cerulean had the victim’s blood on her?!”

Watch saluted and grinned. “That is correct! The suspect, when I found her, was completely drenched – from head to hoof!”

“Maybe she should change her name to ‘Scarlett,’” Quill remarked from the back of the room, barely hiding the smirk on his face. It took all of Twilight’s energy not to glare at him.

“This is bad…” Gilgamesh said unnecessarily. “In fact, this is worse than bad! Even the most wretched of beasts would flee from this case with this knowledge upon them!”

Twilight grit her teeth. Cerulean had hidden that. She had hidden all of it. The keys she’d been found with? Sure, she’d mentioned those, but nothing else. The murder weapon had been hidden from them. The fact that she was supposedly “drenched in blood” had been hidden from them.

How could they trust her at this rate?

“But that’s something else that was interesting,” Watch mused, seemingly to herself. “The victim’s blood was all over the suspect, but do you know what? The dagger was almost spotless.”

Twilight blinked, snapping out of her stupor. “Wait… What did you say? The dagger was ‘spotless’…?”

“Well, of course there was some blood here and there…” Watch trailed off, pressing a hoof to her chin. “For the most part, though, the dagger was almost completely clean. In fact, apparently most of the blood was added afterward from the pool on the ground – at least, that is what the forensics team claimed. The luminal test didn’t turn up much, either, now that I think about it…”

Gilgamesh paused. “Is that even possible?”

“If the blade was covered with something else, I guess it could reduce the blood splatter…” Twilight murmured. “But Detective Case didn’t say anything about that – hay, she didn’t even mention finding anything at the scene.”

“Yes, indeed,” Watch said, nodding. “I looked over the scene the thoroughliest I could, but even I could discover nothing of use…”

“This is definitely something we should look into,” Twilight said to Gilgamesh. “I mean, how could Cerulean have been covered ‘from head to hoof,’ but the dagger wasn’t unless she took the time to cover it?”

Gilgamesh placed a hand over his chin. “Yes… but in that case, wouldn’t that lead to several problems?”

“Yeah,” Twilight said. She turned to look at Watch, and added, “Thank you, Miss Watch. Your input’s been very useful.” And disturbingly revealing, at that.

Watch saluted, instantly regaining her former momentum. “But of course, Princess! That you value my assistance has proven my worth as a security guard! Nothing shall stand between I, Keep Watch – and… jiiiiustice! – any longer!”

“Does this mean you’re done, yet?” Quill muttered from his position.

“Actually, no,” Twilight said, much to his dismay. “Miss Watch… before we leave, I wanted to ask you a question. Well… two questions, actually. After that, I think we’ll be good to go.”

“Two questions, eh?” Gilgamesh murmured. “What are they?”

Twilight looked over at him. “Well, the first one’s pretty obvious, but –” she looked back over at Watch “– would you mind giving us a copy of your testimony? The one where you found the victim, I mean.”

Watch nodded enthusiastically. “Ah, yes. Of course, Princess!” She suddenly looked over at Quill. “Uh… Excuse me, Doctor, but do you have any paper I can borrow?”

Quill let out a sigh and pressed his talons to his forehead. “Drawer on the right. Top shelf. Pens are there, too.”

“Ah, thank you.” Watch trotted over, grabbed the necessary items, placed the paper on top of the desk, and started to write. “Let’s see, here… ‘I found the suspect outside the cell, covered in the victim’s blood…’ Ah, hold on a moment… ‘The murder weapon and the keys were nearby.’” Watch set down the pen and turned around towards Twilight and Gilgamesh. “Well? Is this sufficient?”

She lifted the paper in front of her so the two could read it, and Twilight immediately discovered the Watch had what must have been the most childish penmanship she had ever seen. On the plus side, however, it was at least legible enough to understand. It just looked incredibly unprofessional.

Twilight paused for a moment, looking for the right word. “Perfect,” she finally said, trying not to sound sarcastic. “Thank you very much.”

“Not a problem… Uh, rather… Of course, Princess!” Watch grinned, although it looked more sheepish than usual.

Twilight took the paper and tucked it away in her saddlebag, desperately hoping it would be permissible evidence in a court of law. “So here’s my second question, then: You said somepony told you not to go until later since somepony else was taking your shift, right?”

Watch shook her head regretfully. “Yes, indeed… I even had to leave my key by my desk for the replacement, given that they needed it. Had I been carefuller, I could have prevented the tragedy. However, I suppose even a professional makes errors in judgement.”

“Right,” Twilight said. “But who told you that? And more importantly, who was supposedly taking your shift?”

Watch suddenly froze. Her already regretful expression began to droop even further, until it looked like an upside-down “U” and her eyes turned into pinpricks. “I-I, uh…”

“If somepony had your position, it’s feasible he or she may have been responsible for the crime,” Gilgamesh mused. “In fact, it’s almost completely plausible – whoever held that shift may very well be the murderer. Not to mention that he or she would have access to the cell’s key… Now that I think about it, it appears that your replacement could have been the killer.”

“E-er, I… I mean, I… uh…” Twilight suddenly noticed a sheen of sweat forming on Watch’s terrified-looking face. “I-I kinda… forget.”

“You ‘forget’?” Twilight asked, raising an eyebrow.

Watch stepped back until she was up against the computer. “Y-yeah. Wait, no! I-I mean, no, of c-course I didn’t forget! I-I mean, uh… I-I mean that I don’t know who took my shift. The, uh… The guy who told me – he said it was just somepony else. Y-yeah…”

“And you didn’t bother looking into the matter further?” Gilgamesh asked. “I find that highly unlikely. You just called yourself a professional, after all.”

“I-I… um… That is, I…” Watch’s eyes suddenly darted to the entrance. “I-I have to go do something… uh… important!”

She bolted past both Twilight and Gilgamesh, pushing them aside as she sprinted from the laboratory with that same panicked look on her face. They could hear her hooves pound on the floor as she ran down the hall and up the stairs before vanishing completely.

“Well,” Gilgamesh said, “that wasn’t suspicious at all.”

“Yeah. Thanks, by the way.” They turned to see Quill standing there, looking even more disgruntled than usual. “You know, it wasn’t as if I was questioning her or anything. No, no, I mean, I was almost done anyway.” He ran his talons through his matted mane. “Oh, and that she had important information for me? No, no. It’s absolutely fine.”

Twilight sighed. Even though Watch had run off on her own volition, she could hardly argue it wasn’t her fault; her question had been the one that set her off, after all. “Doctor…”

Quill, however, was hardly finished. “Oh, no. Please, just waltz on into my lab without my permission and bother me. Here, actually… Why don’t I get you something, Sparkles? Tea? Coffee? Why the hay not?!” Twilight suddenly felt herself become very small as Quill’s face contorted with rage. “Y’know what?! Why don’t I just kiss the ground you walk on like every other moron in Equestria?! Huh?!” He slammed left foreleg against the nearby wall, causing Twilight to jump. “How about I treat you ‘special’ because you’re a princess, eh?! Since you, like those other idiots think you can just go and spout your entitled crap and do what you want whenever you want it?! I mean, you’re a princess! So that means you can ruin us worthless peasants, doesn’t it?!”

He paused to breathe, and Gilgamesh nudged Twilight on her side. “Maybe we should run…”

“And y’know what else, Sparkles?! How about I–?!”

“Sully~!” rang a familiar voice from down the hall.

Quill suddenly stopped, looking away from Twilight and Gilgamesh for just a second. “Hm?”

Twilight turned towards the doorway, preparing to make a break for it when she saw to whom the voice belonged. Then her jaw practically dropped.

Vinyl Scratch practically bounced into the room, carrying a basket. “Sully!” she said again, practically launching herself at Quill.

Quill, for his part, actually grinned. Not one of his sarcastic grins, but an actual smile. Twilight didn’t even know he was capable of that feat.

He ruffled her mane playfully. “Hey, kiddo. How’ve you been?”

Vinyl laughed. “I’m pretty good. Since Nightmare Night’s tomorrow, Tavi and I’ve been practicing all day.” She grinned. “But we’re taking a lunch break right now, so I thought I’d pay you a surprise visit.”

“Well, it’s good to see you. I’ve been dealing with some… complications…” He glared over at Twilight and Gilgamesh.

Vinyl turned around slowly. “Huh? Oh, sorry… I didn’t realize you had company.” She blinked and pulled up her glasses. “Huh? Wait a sec…” She grinned even wider. “Hey, Gilgamesh! How’ve you been? You practicing?”

“Every day,” Gilgamesh said proudly.

“Heh, awesome. Oh, and Princess Twilight’s here, too?” Vinyl stepped up to her. “So, what’s the occasion? You guys here to get a lesson from Sully? ‘Cause let me tell you guys he’s a great teacher.”

“Ah, so this is where you learned how to psychologically manipulate people,” Gilgamesh said. “But no, we’re actually investigating a murder.”

Vinyl paused. “A murder? Huh, that’s kinda cool, I guess. Anyway –” she turned back to Quill and presented the basket “– here!”

“What’s this?” Quill asked, grabbing it nonetheless.

“Since Tavi and I were on our lunch break, I picked you up something from Hayseeds,” Vinyl explained. “Plus, I noticed you haven’t been eating too well, lately. So I wanted to make sure you at least got some food, since you’re cramped down here all the time.”

Quill flushed, which was barely visible beneath his dusty feathers. “Thanks, kiddo. Make sure you take care of yourself too, okay? And be careful.”

“Don’t worry, I will!” Vinyl turned to leave before immediately turning back. “Oh, by the way, I just saw Keep running out of here. She was asking me not to say anything, buuuut…” Vinyl grinned devilishly. “Well, she might have run off towards the museum, but I can’t really say for sure. Oh, but if you do find her there, I didn’t say anything, okay?”

Quill grinned. “Ah, I see. Well, I might need to head there later. Thanks.”

“For what?” Vinyl asked innocently. “Oh, and you two – good luck with your investigation!”

“Thank you!” Twilight said.

“She seems rather nonplussed about the idea of a murder, doesn’t she?” Gilgamesh asked.

Vinyl rolled her eyes. “Well, of course I am! I mean, they’ve been happening for a while, espe–” She cut off as Quill gave her a stern glare. “Well, yeah. So what are you two doing?”

“We’re the lawyers!” Gilgamesh said proudly. “Defenders of truth, justice, and the suspect!”

Vinyl suddenly paused and looked over at Quill. “Wait… Sully, what do they mean ‘defending the suspect’? Has somepony been arrested already?”

Quill shifted uncomfortably. “Well, Vinyl… there was a murder last night.”

All the color drained from Vinyl’s already white face. “L-last night…? Wait, who was it? Who was killed?!”

“Nobody’s told us quite yet,” Gilgamesh said, causing Vinyl to turn towards him. “However, it looks to be–”

“Nopony in particular,” Quill interjected. “The victim hasn’t been identified yet, though.”

Vinyl let out a sigh. “O-oh, that’s a relief. Er, not that anypony died, I mean, but… Are you sure?”

“C’mon, would I ever lie to you?” Quill rustled her mane again. “It’s gonna be fine. I promise. Now get going – I mean, you wouldn’t wanna be late for rehearsing with Octavia, would you?”

Vinyl caught sight of a clock on the wall and jumped. “A-ah, you’re right! I-I gotta go! Sorry, Sully, but I’ll have to talk to you later. And Gilgamesh, keep practicing!” She turned and sprinted out of the room in a way reminiscent of Watch’s escape.

After they couldn’t hear her footsteps anymore, Gilgamesh placed a hand on his chin. “Huh, you’re the last person I’d expect to have a softer side.”

“Oh, shut up,” Quill snarled, apparently back to his old self. “You’re lucky Vinyl came when she did, or I’d still be chewing you two out.” He shook his head. “Whatever. It doesn’t matter, anyway. I’ll have to take the time out of my schedule to track down Watch since somepony chased her off, but fine.”

“But I’m confused,” Twilight said.

“And that’s an epiphany?” Quill snarked.

Twilight glared at him. “I meant I don’t understand something.” She paused, waiting for some kind of sarcastic remark. When none came, however, she said, “Why did you lie to her?”

“What do you mean?”

“When she asked you about the murder, you said the victim wasn’t identified… but that’s obviously a lie, since Doctor Trail told us the police know who he was.” Twilight looked him straight in the eyes. “So why did you lie about that?”

Quill cracked his neck, suddenly looking bored. “Eh, don’t worry your empty little head about that.”

Gilgamesh crossed his arms and cocked his head. “Don’t you mean ‘pretty’?”

“Did I stutter?”

Twilight grit her teeth. Yes, he was definitely back to the same old Quill.

“Anyway, I have to head to the museum to look for a certain security guard, so please forgive me if I’m not as cordial as you two.” Quill pulled on a coat hung over a tack on the wall. “And since I’m leaving, that means I have to lock up my lab. So get out. Now.”

“But there may be important evidence in here,” Gilgamesh protested.

“Except there isn’t.” Quill pulled his other leg through the coat. “Actually, here’s an idea: Why don’t you go bother somepony else? Somepony who isn’t stupidly busy right now? Maybe Dire’d do the trick.”

“Dire?” Gilgamesh asked. “You mean Fenrir Dire the prosecutor?”

“No, I mean Fenrir Dire the baker. Yes, I mean the prosecutor.” Quill sighed. “I’d be happy to give you his address, but I’m too busy doing something else and also I don’t care.” He fastened the coat around his shoulders. “Besides, just go to the prosecutors’ office. He shouldn’t be hard to find.”

Twilight blinked. Was Quill actually being helpful for once? “Um… thank you,” she said awkwardly.

“Yeah, yeah, whatever.” Quill stepped out of his lab, and the two of them followed suit. He locked the door and muttered something unintelligible under his breath. “Anyway,” he said, “just get going. I honestly can’t stand the sight of you, and based on your emotional readings, you can’t stand the sight of me, either.”

“Emotional readings?” Gilgamesh asked.

“It’s unimportant. Now go away.”

Twilight and Gilgamesh did not need to be told twice. They walked away from Quill, tried hard not to get caught with him in the dark stairwell, and walked out the front door of the Canterlot Police Department into the light of day.

The two simply stood there for several seconds before Gilgamesh asked, “So what should we do now?”

“We could head to Cerulean and ask her about what Watch said, but Quill might have a point,” Twilight said, biting back the bile in her throat as she said it. “Prosecutor Dire might have some good advice regarding all this evidence. And, more importantly, he might be able to give us an idea about court tomorrow. Although,” she added, blushing slightly, “Vinyl bringing in that food reminded me that I haven’t eaten anything all day…”

“Then perhaps we should go find something to eat,” Gilgamesh said. “After all, whether on the battlefield or on an investigation, a person cannot act at his full capacity while hungry. And, er… I may be slightly hungry as well…”

Twilight laughed. “Well, if we’re both in agreement, let’s go get some food. We can better discuss our next move then.”

To be continued...

Author's Notes:

And now, after four months, the next chapter of the story. Also, I lied; there are actually going to be three parts to this investigation, mostly because I realized how long this chapter is and didn't want it to become ridiculous. The next chapter will be published sometime in the next decade.

Regarding the actual chapter itself, however, I definitely had a lot of fun with this one. I also wanted to play more with the comedic and lighter aspects of the story, with the truly dark stuff coming later. Also, I promise that the detectives have a legitimate reason for not believing Cerulean is the killer. It just hasn't come up yet, but it will make much more sense when it does.

Oh, and this case? It's about to get much more complicated than it seems. I'm not kidding when I say this part might get slightly ludicrous. And by "slightly," I mean… well, you'll see.

Anyway, evidence time!

Current Evidence:

Autopsy Report: The victim was stabbed once through the back between 11:00 and 1:00, but may have lived up to three minutes after the fatal wound.

Dagger: The murder weapon. It's fashioned after a unicorn's horn with a backwards spiral and was custom made by Keep Watch. Bloodless when found, but still bears Cerulean's prints.

Envelope: A bloodstained envelope found in the picture book. The only visible letters are "W," "A" or "R," and "H."

"The Bestest Detective": A crude picture book found at the scene of the crime. The last page of the story has been torn out.

Cell Key: The key to the victim's holding cell. It was found on Cerulean, but Watch's replacement had the only copy at the time of the crime.

Watch's Testimony: "I found the suspect outside the cell at 1:15. Her coat was covered in blood and the dagger and key were nearby."

Next Time: Twilight and Gilgamesh eat food. And also finish off the investigation.