> Morsidus Grim-Record: The Last Element
>  by Asdera3485
> --------------------------------------------------------------------------

> A New Arrival - A Confused Human
> --------------------------------------------------------------------------


Chapter 1
A new arrival – A confused Human


Morsidus woke up in the middle of what looked like a hallway. “Where am I? How did I get here?” he asked himself. He had a painful headache and went to go put his hand on his head, when he realized it was a hoof. 

He sat there all wide-eyed looking at his new hoof and looked at the rest of his body. He realized that he was either dreaming or going insane. He kicked his leg against a nearby table and instantly reacted to the pain.

“Not a dream. OK. So I’m a pony, in a weird world and in a hallway. I can adapt, and I will adapt. At least I still have that.” He said as he looked back at his flank and noticed that his tattoo from home was there on both sides. He went to try to stand on his back legs alone but kept losing his balance. He figured it wouldn't work so he started to walk down the hall. 

He came across a reflective object and decided to look into it. He noticed that his eyes were not like normal, they were slotted like a cat or a dragon. He pondered this as he kept walking down the hall. After a while of wandering around, he heard a male voice from behind him. 

“Halt, don't move!” As Morsidus turned around, he noticed a white unicorn with a blue mane walked up and was holding up a spear with some sort of magic. “State your business for breaking and entering into the royal castle of Canterlot or I will send you to the dungeon.” He said with an aggressive tone.

Morsidus took a step back while trying to find his voice. He finally stopped and showed the armed unicorn that he was able to protect himself if needed. 

“I don't know how I got into the royal castle, or to this world for that matter. I come from a world of creatures called humans. I was performing in a music festival when one of the bass stacks blew up. It messed with all the equipment, and I guess it opened up a rift panel that sent me here and turned me into this form.”

The unicorn just stared at him, confused. Finally, he decided to speak. “Follow me. I will take you to the throne room of Princess Celestia. My name is Shining Armour. What is yours?” He pulled the spear away but kept it ready in case Morsidus tried anything.

“My name from my world would probably confuse you. I do go by a nickname. Morsidus Grim-Record. It is nice to meet you. Is this Princess Celestia the matriarch of this realm?” 

Shining just gave him another confused look then realized what he asked. “Yes. She rules all of Equestria along side the three others. I am sure you will meet them in due time since all are in the castle for a summit.”

Morsidus just walked behind Shining until they reached a massive door. The guards on duty stopped them from entering. Shining glared at them. “What do you think your doing? I must speak with the princesses immediately! I found an intruder within the castle that they must hear from!”

One of the guards just glared back. The other, a unicorn, answered his question. “There's been one interruption tonight already by the zebra that your sister knows. You know her, the one with this cutie mark.” He used his magic to show the zebra's mark. Morsidus recognized it immediately.

A moment later, the door opened. The guards moved out of the way to let them in. They were being watched by a white alicorn with a rainbow colored mane, a dark alicorn, one pink, and one purple. The only other person in the room was the zebra. “Zecora!?” Morsidus shouted. Zecora looked over and knew who it was. 

Shining bowed to the princesses. “Sorry for the intrusion. I found this pony in the western hall. His name is Morsidus Grim-Record. He states that he is from another world.” he turned to Morsidus and introduced the princesses from top to bottom. “I Present you to the four rulers of Equestria. Princess Celestia, Princess Luna, Princess Cadence, and Princess Twilight.”

The one introduced as Celestia looked at him with intrigue. “I'm most curious as to where your from and how you got here. I am also curious as to how you know Zecora.” 

Morsidus retold the explanation that he gave Shining. “That's the story. As to Zecora, there's a human in my world with the same name and mark as her. The resemblance is uncanny.” 

Everyone looked at Zecora, hoping she might have an explanation. She Cleared her throat before speaking. “If it's answers you seek, I'll tell you thus. Listen to the tale of how I know Morsidus. The shaman's of the Kivuli know much. Our magics can be used as such. I am here as well as the one he mentions. Enough meditation allows spirits to travel dimensions.”

Everyone just looked at her, collectively confused as to what she said. Morsidus walked up next to her. “She is saying that the Kivuli tribes here, as well as in my world, can transfer their spirit between dimensions to their other selves. It can only be done by unnerving amounts of meditation. I guess it could sort of be considered as teleportation magic.” Everyone understood then.

Princess Twilight spoke next. “I wonder why your eyes seem different than other ponies? They seem almost like a cat.” 

“Oh but he isn't a pony in any way except for looks.” Came a voice. A weird creature appeared out of nowhere. He looked like he was built out of several different creatures. “My name is Discord, Spirit of Chaos. Before you ask, I have been here since the zebra arrived. Anyways, this young stallion is, like me, a draconequus. Rare breed though. Can use magic without a horn, and can generate wings from nowhere. When angered though, the full form shows, and the true beast within takes control.”

Celestia pondered this for a moment. “I think I know what to do. Twilight and Zecora. You two are to bring him to Ponyville and teach him basic magic, and see if there is a way to return him to his home.” Twilight and Zecora nodded in unison. 

“Discord, I would like you to join them and teach him how to control the beast within and possibly even change form at will.” Discord pouted before he nodded. He didn't want to but he figured it would give him a chance to see his first real friend again.

Celestia turned to Shining. “Shining Armour, I want you to gather Vinyl Scratch and her roommate and inform them that they are to move to Ponyville to try and get new ideas for their music. Their last concert seemed a bit repetitive.” Shining saluted and ran out the door. 

“Morsidus Grim-Record, in case we have no way to return you home, I want you to learn our ways and our culture. I also want you to spend time with Vinyl and her roommate and see if you can give them ideas from you world. If there's anything you need, name it and we will try to accommodate.”

Morsidus bowed. “Yes Princess. I thank you for your generosity. I do have one request.” He turned to Zecora. "I know your magic wouldn't get me home, but would you be able to find a way to bring by guitar equipment here? Is there any way?” Zecora though for a moment then walked up to Princess Celestia. “I have an artifact that connects the two worlds in question. With the relics and your magic, we can obtain the items he mentions.” Celestia nodded. 

Morsidus was brought to a room that he was to share with Shining. He was told that Zecora and Princess Celestia will try to bring his equipment as well as a few other items from his world. He ate some food, after finally figuring out how to hold a sandwich with hooves, and went to bed. He figured that if he was stuck here, he might as well try to enjoy himself.
> The Story of Meeting - A Time of Greeting
> --------------------------------------------------------------------------


Chapter 2
The story of meeting – a time of greeting


The next day came with a fright. Morsidus woke up to see Shining Armour just standing at the edge of the bed and staring right at him. The scare was enough to trigger the magic that Discord said he had to the point of teleporting him into the room next to his. 

He looked around quick to see if anyone was there. In the chair nearby, noticed a shocked pony. She was orange in color, and she had a yellowish mane. She didn't say anything, just pointed at the door. Morsidus walked out while saying, “I apologize for this, I got scared and ended up in here though magic.”.

The only thing he heard from her was “Yeah' right.” as he closed the door. He looked back over to his room to see Shining standing there with a smile. Morsidus just scowled and walked away to see if he could find Zecora. 

He found her in the castle garden meditating. 'Even in this world, she meditates every morning within a park or forest.'  He sat there for a while just watching her, getting used to the form she took here. He looked back down at himself, still not used to his new form. 

He was thinking about the accident. He was wondering if it was some sort of portal that sent him here, or if it was something like Zecora's meditations. He was thinking about it when he looked back up and saw Zecora's face within an inch of his own. He felt scared and fell back, but tried to control himself due to the fact that he didn't want a repeat of earlier. 

“Deep in thought you seem. Does all this seem like a dream?” She asked. She walked away a bit then asked one of the nearby guards for some tea. When the guard asked Morsidus if he wanted anything, he just said coffee. After a while of silence, he finally decided to answer Zecora's question. 

“To be honest, I know its not a dream. I still have the bruise to confirm that.” He said while thinking about his 'table manners' last night. “I just don't get how or why I'm even here. I get that some of the equipment went crazy but...” he paused to let out a sigh.

“You wonder if a will be good, like it was when you wore that hood. Even though it might seem astray, I say, have fun and play.” Morsidus smiled and looked at his friend. “Thanks Zecora. You always know how to cheer me up. Even in my world, you have always been there for me.”

Zecora nodded and stood up. She put one hoof on his shoulder then left back to her room. Morsidus stood up and did the same. He felt unhappy that Zecora wasn't able to bring his guitar here. She was however able to remember what it looked like and gave Celestia a detailed drawing. She said she would get a hold of some of her connections.

As he was heading towards the entrance to the castle, he noticed the purple Alicorn called Twilight Sparkle with a few of her friends waiting for him and Shining. Among them was the mare whose room he accidentally teleported into earlier that morning. 

“Good morning to you Princess Twilight Sparkle. Beautiful day, isn't it” he said while bowing in respect. Twilight was impressed at his niceness. The other ponies just looked at him, except the orange one. 

Twilight decided to speak up when she realized that he wasn't coming up yet. “Morsidus, please stand up. While your living with me, you can just call me Twilight. We are going to have so much fun while we spend time together.” 

Before she could say anything else, the blue pegasus with a rainbow mane was laughing at some sort of joke that Twilight made by accident. It took everyone a few seconds to get the joke. 

The off-white unicorn with the styled purplish mane used her magic to pull the pegasus to the ground. “Rainbow Dash! Why do you insist on making a joke out of everything we say?” The pegasus took a second before responding. “Oh come on Rarity. You guys make it so easy. Especially Fluttershy.” She pointed to the yellow pegasus with a pink mane. She was talking to the orange pony.

Morsidus made a mental note to memorize the names as they went. Eventually, Zecora and Shining Armour joined them and they were on their way to the train station. Before leaving, Princess Luna pulled Morsidus aside to wish him luck. She gave him a black cloak as well as a small pouch of gold coins.


When they got to the station, Discord was waiting for them. He didn't say anything to them. In fact, he pretended they weren't even there. Morsidus looked around and noticed people whispering about his eyes. He also noticed a small little gift shop in the station. 

As he walked into the station, he noticed the one thing he was hoping for, black tinted reflective sunglasses. He was amazed at how they looked exactly like the ones he had back home. He brought them to the cashier and asked how much. When the cashier said ten bits, he set the pouch onto the counter and counted out ten. 

He walked out and the orange mare called Apple Jack, who eventually forgave him for the accident that morning, whistled and said he looked snazzy. Not long after, the train arrived and they all hopped on. 

Morsidus and Zecora were talking about everyone's reaction to his disappearance back home. They were joined by Twilight not long after. “Something has been bugging me all day. How is it that you two even met?” She asked. Morsidus and Zecora just looked at each other and laughed.

“The way we met, was through our school. Our friendship was made through a circumstance most cool.” Zecora said. Morsidus just laughed at the rhyming. Apparently, Zecora did that in his world as well. Twilight just looked confused and turned her head a little. 

Morsidus decided to explain. “We were taking a world culture class together and we were told to do projects on a different one in teams. When I was told I would be doing one on the Kivuli Tribe with Zecora, we became the best of friends. I even taught her how to play a bass guitar. Her first show with us was where the accident arose.”

Twilight just nodded with agreement. She now knew how they met and that was all that mattered to her. That and how Zecora's magic could allow her to be in two worlds. She was about to ask when Rainbow Dash appeared behind her. “So in your world, are you two like dating or something?”

Morsidus just did a literal facehoof while Zecora kinda blushed a bit. Rarity used her magic to pull Rainbow dash away. No one said a word for the rest of the ride.

When they got off the Train into Ponyville, Morsidus noticed right away that it seemed like a small village. Everypony else went their own separate ways and Zecora went to walk around the marketplace. Morsidus followed Twilight to her home. As they arrived, he realized it was a library. He also realized the little purple dragon outside sweeping the doorstep.

Twilight called out to him, which made him jump a bit. “Spike, I'm back. Go and get the guest room ready, we have a visitor staying with us for a while.” He ran into the house and went right to cleaning the guest room. “Morsidus, go ahead and make yourself feel at home. That shelf over there has some spell books if you wanna go ahead and try to learn a few today. If not, we will start tomorrow.” 

He decided not and told Twilight he was heading out to explore. She gave him a saddle bag and put his bit pouch in there. She figured he might buy a few things to make him feel more at home. He hung up the cloak but left his sunglasses on as he walked out into the village.

He walked around for a bit and just watched the small town go about it's day. He noticed Apple Jack selling apples with a large red stallion. “Hey Apple Jack, what you up to?” he asked as he walked up. The stallion just ignored his arrival and sold a few apples before he came over. 

“Who we got here. Ah don't recognize you at all. You new 'round these parts?” he asked. Apple Jack turned to him. “Big Mac', ah told you about Twilight's guest. This here is Morsidus Grim-Record. He's not too bad of a guy. Could use a little more practice on the magic though.” She said as she winked to Morsidus. Big Mac' just gave her a confused look and went back to selling apples. 

Morsidus bought a few apples and found a little stall that had an assortment of random items. He noticed a set of guitar picks and bought them. He decided it was getting late so he went back to Twilight's house. When he got there, he noticed Zecora was there as well.

“Hey Zecora, what are you doing here?” he asked as he took off his sunglasses. Twilight answered the question as she came down the stairs. “I asked her to stay here for a few days. I figured that since she has known you longer, you might feel a bot more comfortable with her around.” 

Morsidus just nodded and went to look around the library. He found a few books he figure he might read later. One of them included the first Daring Do novel.  Zecora finished her tea and then set up a small blanket on the couch. Morsidus noticed and frowned. 

“Zecora, take the guest room. I'll sleep on the couch. Wouldn't be the first time right?” he said as he chuckled a bit.

“Your niceness is pure and true. Morning is when I'll next see you” she said as she gathered her stuff and went to the guest room. Morsidus laid on the couch and started to fall asleep right away. He figured he would need as much rest as he could get if he was to learn to use some basic magic tomorrow.
> The First Lesson - Musical Magic
> --------------------------------------------------------------------------


Chapter 3
The First Lesson – Musical Magic


Morsidus was sitting on the ground behind the library, groggy from his first "magic lesson", if you could even call it that. He'd attempted to teleport, using a spell from a book given to him by Twilight. It worked, well, sort of. He had teleported a whole 3 inches.

Morsidus looked through the spell book, and noticed how all of the spells were full of mathematical equations. Most of these were advanced, but others were more simple. Having aced advanced math in highschool, he easily understood it all.

Morsidus facehooved. "You're such a nerd," he mumbled. The more he thought about it, though, he realized that he was probably the coolest nerd in school. "Especially if you're judging by good looks," he thought and stifled a laugh. He probably could've gotten any girl he desired, but his eyes were always drawn to one in particular...

Morsidus shook his head to bring him back to his new reality. He flipped back to the first page of the spell book and one word caught his attention, "Levitation? This could be interesting,"

He quickly read over the spell, and got up, ready to try it. But Morsidus instantly forgot his plans when he looked over to see that Zecora was upside down, balancing head-first on top of a bamboo pole. It appeared as though she was meditating. His mouth fell open.

Twilight went up to him, "Did you read the levitation spell yet, Morsidus?" He nodded. "Good, does the spell seem simple enough? If not, I could always find a book for younger learners." she said. Morsidus gave her a small glare before trying to levitate an apple that Twilight had placed, along with several other things, on the ground. The apple glowed a slightly dark-purple color, and unbeknownst to him, his eyes were glowing the same dark purple color.

He lifted the apple with little issue. Twilight looked at him, her eyes wide and curious. "I'm impressed. Very few ponies can succesfully levitate on their first try," she said.

Smiling proudly, Morsidus went around the yard trying to levitate the different objects Twilight had strewn about. All of them levitated with relative ease, except for the last item. It was a chair. He focused on it, but for some reason the chair wasn't moving. It wasn't even glowing! But strangely, Morsidus could feel that his magic was holding something.

"Put me down, you silly fool! Before I turn you into a mule!" Zecora called, and broke his focus. He turned around to see Zecora on the ground, giving him the most deadliest of glares he'd ever seen.

"Heh, um... Sorry, Zecora," he said, trying to hide his smile. Zecora stood up and walked inside, followed by a giggling Twilight.

A few hours went by, and Morsidus was able to learn the levitation spell correctly, and understand the basic formula for teleporting. Happy with his accomplishments, he walked into the treehouse.

The first thing he noticed as he slipped through the door, was the guitar shaped case on the table. Curious, he tried to open it but fumbled with the lock, "Stupid hooves," he mumbled, but was eventually able to get it open. The case held a strap and a guitar with a note on it. Morsidus couldn't help but remark on how the guitar looked identical to his Gibson SG back home.

He levitated the note up so that he could read it.

Dear Morsidus Grim-Record,

Though I do not understand the terminology of the guitar, I do know, from what Zecora told me, that playing with hooves might be a bit more difficult. To help, I've cast a spell on the guitar. Now it will look as though you're using your hooves, but instead just use your magic and your memory of the notations of the music that you play. Remember that I am always watching over you at night. If you ever need my guidance, sleep it over and I will find you.

Sincerely,

Princess Luna

It surprised Morsidus that the Princess would be so kind as to offer him help whenever he needed it. He set the note on the table, and levitated the guitar out of it's case. He walked over to the couch and sat down, laying the guitar in his lap.

Attempting to play it was a little awkward at first, as he was trying to get it to sit in a way that felt comfortable. Finally finding that position. He grabbed one of the guitar picks from his saddlebag and he began playing a song he had written a few years back. He felt the magic flow from him into his guitar, and when he started playing, his magic had amplified the sound he wanted. Somehow, playing this guitar felt natural to him. Just as it did when he played his guitar back home.

When he finished the song, Morsidus heard a saddened voice coming from behind him, "The song I hear is one of wrong. It is one I have not heard in so long." He turned around to look at the zebra, wondering how long she'd been standing there.

"I know I got you into it, and that it's a part of your culture, but you can stop the rhyming, for now," he said. He sat there for a minute in silence, before Zecora sat down beside him and gave him a gentle hug.

"If you want me to stop, I will comply. I just never thought I would hear that song again, after you finally came to terms with your parents' passing," Zecora said.

"I know, Zecora, but it was the first thing that came to mind. It's just hard to believe that today marks the third year since the crash," Morsidus said, and sat their in a moment of silence. He was remembering when the police came to his house to inform them of the crash. They had said that his parents were involved in a car accident, and that their car had ended up spiraling into a nearby gas station.

After that, his sister was his legal guardian, until two months ago. When Morsidus turned 18. He still lived with his sister and her husband, but had stayed distant from everyone since then.

The night of the accident, he wrote that song to communicate his sorrow. Even though his band mates were there for him, it wasn't until he met Zecora that he was actually able to get over the loss. Once he did, he stopped playing his song.

It was a long while of deep thinking before Morsidus snapped back to reality. Zecora was in a chair reading one of Twilight's many books. "I'm heading out to Octavia and Vinyl's place to help them with their music," he said slipping the guitar on, Zecora only nodded and carried on with her reading.

"Did you say you're going out to meet Octavia and Vinyl?" Twilight asked, running out of her room. Morsidus nodded. She ran back into her room and came out with an old record levitating above her. "Would you ask Octavia to sign this for me?"

"Of course," Morsidus smiled as she placed it into his saddlebag, then levitated the bag onto his back. She walked back into her room. Morsidus put his sunglasses on and began walking toward where he was told they were staying.

On the way, he noticed that one of the stands at the market had a certain something that he'd been craving for since before the concert, a bucking cigarette. He walked up to the stand and looked at all of the different kinds and flavors.

"Need yer fix?" asked the stallion from behind the counter. "Welp, as long as ya got tha bits ta pay, Ah can help keep ya from yellin' at everypony." Morsidus was staring at all of the different kinds for a few minutes, before finally settling on two packs of a minty flavor and a lighter of sorts.

After walking for several minutes, Morsidus came up to a shockingly red house with the address that he was looking for. He had strolled up the walkway and knocked on the door. A moment later, a white mare with an electric-blue mane answered. "Sup? What can I do for ya?" She asked, her head was still bobbing to the beat of some music in the background.

Morsidus stood there looking at the mare for a second before responding, "You must be the famous DJ PON-3 I've heard so much about. Or do you go by Vinyl Scratch?" The mare looked confused for a moment, before she realized who he was.

"Nah, bro, Vinyl works fine for me. Hey, Tavi! That Grim-Record guy is here!" she yelled as she motioned for him to come inside.

Octavia was lying on one of the three couches they had in the living room. "How could I forget that he was coming today? Oh, I do hope that this doesn't get too terribly loud," she said as she sat up. Morsidus noticed that she was wearing the same style of goggles on her head as Vinyl. He'd listened to the few records they had together earlier, but didn't realize that Octavia was a more sophisticated mare.

Octavia had gestured for him to sit on the couch opposite her. He set his guitar up against the side of the couch, and then pulled what he needed from his saddlebag before laying it beside his guitar. As soon as Octavia noticed his cigarettes, she had produced an ashtray from a hidden drawer in the center table.

"If you smoke in here, you must keep as much ash in this tray as possible. Would you care for anything?" she asked as she headed towards the kitchen. Morsidus shook his head and lit a cigarette. He felt a ton of weight pulled from his shoulders as he took the first few drags.

Morsidus stayed there for about 5 hours talking about the wonders of heavy metal, he'd even played a few songs for them. Octavia was curious as to how he could use magic without a horn, and slightly jealous, so he explained to her that he was technically part draconequus.

"I should be heading back, but before I go," Morsidus pulled Twilight's record from his saddlebag, and handed it to Octavia. "Would you mind signing this? It's for a friend of mine." Octavia nodded, and pulled a marker out of the hidden drawer. She signed it, and placed it in his saddlebag.

After getting back, Morsidus had went to light another cigarette before Twilight used her magic to rip it from his mouth and place it neatly back in the box. "Not in the library. On the balcony outside, yes, but not inside," she said as she grabbed the record from his saddlebag and went back to her room. "Goodnight!"

Sighing, Morsidus went outside and smoked his last one for the day. He'd have to go to Fluttershy's cottage and meet with Discord so that he could learn to use his draconequus abilities and open his wings. When he finished his last drag, he walked back inside and retired to the couch, falling asleep just as his head hit the pillow. 
> A Bad Tale - True Feelings Known
> --------------------------------------------------------------------------


Chapter 4
A Bad Tale – True Feelings Known


Morsidus strolled down the street of his old home town. The street that his parents often used to travel home from work. He couldn't remember how he'd gotten there, but he didn't really care. He was too busy thinking. He remembered how his sister had constantly told them that this road was unsafe, because it forks right at a gas station. "If someone were to T-bone you, you'd be thrown right into a gas pump!" she'd tell them, and they would always reply that they were great drivers. He smiled at the memory of their daily arguments.

Hearing a car, Morsidus removed himself from his thoughts, and retreated off the street into the grass. He looked down the road, but saw no car. Still, he didn't feel as though it was safe for him to continue his walk in the street.

Morsidus stared at the small gas station across the street. He couldn't figure out what felt different, and then it clicked. As if on command, he saw a black car drive down the road in front of him, while a truck drove from the road behind him. The truck was going so fast, and there was no way it was going to be able to stop at the sign.

His parents' still hadn't seen it coming, because they kept driving. Morsidus cried out to them, but could do nothing except watch in horror as their car was struck mercilessly by the truck. It seemed as though the driver didn't even slow the truck down or even try to stop, until they'd hit the car.

As the crumpled car flew through the air towards the gas pump, time stopped. Nothing was moving, not even the trees that were swaying in the wind seconds before. Tears streamed down his face as Morsidus ran towards his parents.

A light blue aura engulfed Morsidus and pulled him back from the scene. Princess Luna looked at him. With tears in her eyes, she shook her head. "No! Not again! Not again, not again!" He screamed, and lunged towards them. Luna's magic held him in place. "I can't let them die again! I CAN'T!!!" Luna couldn't focus her magic on the dream while holding Morsidus, so she allowed the dream to continue, and the car hit the pump.

His parents were engulfed in a fiery inferno, and once again, he was useless to stop it. Morsidus fell to his knees, and Luna released him, now using her magic to stop the dream. "I stopped the nightmare last night, but I had to let it go tonight,"

"It was just a dream?" Morsidus whispered. 'Of course it was, why else would I be a human again?' he thought.

"I apologize, I forget how easy it is to be lost between a dream and reality," Luna bowed her head.

"You didn't have to... I-I could've dealt with it. This nightmare, it-it comes and goes," Morsidus had to say it to convince himself that it was true, "It's just a nightmare." He sat down, entranced by the still flames.

"Are you so sure that it is just a nightmare? Or is it a message from beyond hidden by your fears?" Luna walked toward the truck. It had a huge dent in the front of it, but was otherwise fine. At the least, it was drivable. Luna pointed to the driver of the truck. "Look at this human. He may seem legitimate, until his true face is revealed by the mirror. Look into it, and tell me, what is it you see, Morsidus?"

Morsidus walked over to where Luna was standing, and stared into the mirror. The eyes that stared back were a dark shade of gray, just bordering black, with dark slits for pupils. It was a pony in the mirror, but a draconequus like Morsidus. As far as he could see, the pony was silver with a light gray mane.

Morsidus was shocked, unable to utter a word, so Luna answered his question before he said it. "His name is Fang," she explained. "Fang Wolf-Shadow. He was born in Equestria, but eventually learned to travel dimensions through the use of his draconequus magic. Long ago, Fang sought out Discord. He'd requested guidance on vengeance. Discord had agreed to train him, but once he'd taught him everything he knew, Fang betrayed him. He went on a rampage, managing to destroy nearly half of Equestria. Celestia and I eventually captured him and banished him, dreading the day when he was bound to return. One thousand years later, and Fang still wreaks havoc. It is my knowledge that you know of his work. I believe your world calls it 'World War II'."

"But he can't be the one who killed my parents, can he?" Morsidus looked at Luna. "I wasn't there... This isn't a memory it's just... I don't know! But I wasn't there, so how would I know? So this may not even be true..."

Luna replied, "But it is. This pony is indeed the one who murdered your parents-"

"But I wasn't there! I didn't see him! And the police said that they weren't murdered! It was an accident! It was an accident!" Morsidus choked back a sob.

"No, I believe that your parents were targeted by Fang Wolf-Shadow. Using his magic, he was able to track down other draconequus' and he found you. I know not whether there are more out there, but I pray for their sake, that you're the last."

"But that still doesn't make this a memory! I wasn't there! How did his face get into my dreams if I wasn't there! Tell me, Luna, HOW?!"

"Morsidus, calm yourself. It is by your magic that you were able to witness this. Your subconscious revealed to you your memory in dreams only."

"But," Morsidus glanced into the mirror once more, before closing his eyes and allowing the news to overtake him.

When he opened them again, he was lying on the floor of Twilight's house.

Morsidus thought back to the man driving the truck. Ever since seeing his face, he'd felt a sense of remembrance, but didn't know how. He pushed the thought away. The pony was what he should be worried about. If Fang had targeted his parents, Morsidus could be next.

Memorizing Fang's face, Morsidus walked towards the bathroom, intent on brushing his teeth. A simple task such as that becomes much harder without hands. Or thumbs, for that matter. He'd levitated the brush up, but couldn't hold it for long enough. It took fifteen minutes longer than it used to, but he was finally able to do it. Proudly, Morsidus strutted out the bathroom with a huge grin on his face, momentarily forgetting about his disturbing dream. This prompted curious glares and exchanged glances from his female onlookers.

"Well, you seem happy today, Morsidus," Twilight giggled. "Anything you want to talk about?" She smiled.

Morsidus blushed, "Um, no, not really. But later I might have a few questions for you,"

"Ok, well Spike just finished breakfast. You should probably eat before heading out to Fluttershy's cottage," Twilight waved him over to where Spike had prepared a mini-buffet for Twilight's guests.

Morsidus grabbed his sunglasses and saddlebag while replying, "I would, but I've got some questions for Discord that should best be answered right away."

"Oh, you mean about your wings? Well, I'm not sure that they're that important, but if you think so, of course you can be excused. But here-" Twilight levitated a blueberry muffin into his saddlebag, "-take a muffin. It's never wise to learn on an empty stomach."

Thanking her, Morsidus left for Fluttershy's cottage, eating the muffin on the way. He thought about this "Fang Wolf-Shadow" and why he looked so familiar. The more he thought about it, the angrier he got. By the time he reached Fluttershy's cottage, he was raging.

Fluttershy stood just outside of her house feeding some of the smaller animals. She was singing along with the birds. Not wanting to frighten her, Morsidus knocked on her gate to let her know that he was there. "Oh, dear! Come in, Morsidus. Discord is just inside napping on the couch," Fluttershy smiled and hid behind her hair, a blush creeping onto her face.

"Thank you, Fluttershy," Morsidus said and let himself through the gate. "Sorry if I scared you." Fluttershy hid behind her animal friends, while he walked inside.

Like Fluttershy had said, Discord was napping on the couch. With a scowl set on his face, Morsidus used his magic to pick up the couch and flip the tired draconequus off. Discord sat up and stared at Morsidus. "How rude. You do realize that I am here of my own free will helping you? Also, I'll have you know that I could turn you into a carrot if I felt like it," Snapping his claw, Discord summoned a bowl of carrots and began to eat one.

Morsidus gave him a deadly glare, causing Discord to pout a bit. "Discord, what do you know of your former student?" He seethed through clenched teeth.

"Well, you're going to have to be more specific. I am quite the popular teacher," Discord smiled.

Morsidus breathed hatred with every word, "Fang Wolf-Shadow."

Discord transformed into a secretary, and began sifting through a multitude of files, finally coming across one he was looking for. "Tsk. Oh, him. Yes, awful business, that one," He glanced up at Morsidus, "What do you want to know about him? Well, more importantly, how do you know about him? Celestia never revealed his existence to the public."

Ignoring the last question, Morsidus replied, "Tell me everything,"

"Well," Discord began, "I was enjoying a nice stroll with my pet timberwolf, Tim, and he just found me. He wanted my guidance. He told me that he wanted to get revenge on the pony that killed his parents. As soon as I heard 'revenge', I told him, "But, of course!" Because, let's face it, who else was going to help him? And besides, nopony does vengeance like me!"

"Discord, just skip your childish immodesty and tell the story!" Morsidus growled, getting a sad look from Discord.

"Fine," He whined, and continued, "After taking him under my wing, I taught him everything I knew, not just on the subject of revenge, but everything else as well. I actually grew quite fond of him, I mean what else are you supposed to do when you hang out with somepony for 3 years? Well, when there was nothing left for me to teach him, he just attacked me! I mean, how rude! I turned him into the perfect weapon, and he uses it against me? I never saw it coming. Well, I realized who he was afterwards." Discord paused.

"And who was he?" Morsidus asked.

"Oh, you want me to go on? Well, fine. He was the dimension jumping colt I was told to 'fix'. Apparently, when I sent my adorable pet Timberwolf to remove his power, Tim attacked him. His parents were able to get him to safety, but it was at the expense of their lives. Hmm... Now that I think about it, I really should have gone myself to remove his powers... All well, the past is the past."

"Who told you to fix him?" Morsidus pressed.

"Well, the princesses of course! I mean they didn't say that exactly, they more said," Discord turned white, and wore a flowing, multi-colored wig. "I just need you to remove the potential threat," he said in Celestia's voice, then reverted to his original form. "I told her that I would, and I did, or so I thought," he said, but you could see a sliver of remorse in his eyes.

That was enough for Morsidus, and he calmed down. "Let's change the subject, shall we? Come now, you must learn to FLY!" Discord snapped his claw and summoned Morsidus' wings.

"Gah!" Morsidus fell back, not prepared for the sudden shift in balance. Fluttershy walked in.

"Oh, my! Discord! What did I tell you about teasing?" She gave him a hard stare, causing him to blush.

"Ah, yes. Well, my dear, Fluttershy, we were just having a rousing discussion on the olden days. Hmm?" Discord looked to Morsidus, who was back on his hooves, enthralled by his wings. "Hmm. Well, now he should have no problem summoning his wings. No problem at all! Though, using them is another lesson entirely." Discord grabbed Morsidus by his tail and pulled him outside. Fluttershy followed close behind.

"Oh, dear. Discord, do you have to drag him like that?" She asked.

Discord dropped Morsidus' tail. "Why, of course not. It's just more fun this way!" Discord hovered a few feet above the ground, urging Morsidus to do the same. As soon as he got to Discord's height, Discord snapped his claw and he lost his wings.

"OUCH! What did you do that for?!" Morsidus growled, as Fluttershy attempted to help him.

Shrugging, Discord replied, "Summon your wings, and then you can FLY with me!"

It took over an hour, but eventually Morsidus was able to summon his wings on command. "YES! Take that, you chaotic MADMAN!"

Discord suddenly appeared in front of Morsidus. "You do mean madpony, and thank you for the generous compliment." Discord turned around, watching as somepony walked through the gate. "Oh, Zecora! So glad you could make it! Come! Your special somepony was just about to show me up." He winked.

Zecora walked through the gate and sat down beside Morsidus, blushing. "Your lessons are coming along well, are they not?" She smiled. Morsidus nodded, telling her that he had one last lesson to learn.

Morsidus hovered roughly fifteen feet above the ground, afraid to move any higher. "Oh, come now! What fun are wings if you're too afraid to use them?" Discord pulled him upwards by his tail.

"Discord! How could you be so insensitive?" Fluttershy reprimanded.

Morsidus was hypervintalating, "It's ok! I-I think I can do it! R-really! Now, LET ME GO!" Shrugging, Discord dropped his tail, and allowed Morsidus to fly by himself. At about 1 mile above groundlevel, Morsidus laughed, "Ha! I'm really doing it! Hey, Discord, wanna race?"

Racing upwards, and often losing, Morsidus soon reached the height where Zecora was nothing more than a speck in a sea of green. "Wow," he gasped, out of breath. "How far up are we?"

Discord rolled his tongue out into a measuring tape, much to the surprise of Zecora. "Oh, we're roughly 5 miles up."

"Oh, how wonderful!" Fluttershy said when she finally reached their height. "Congratulations, Morsidus. You're officially a flier!"

Smirking, Discord said, "Oh, yes. Wonderful indeed, but I feel that he needs to pass the test before we can brand him 'flier'. Let's see if you can catch a simple item..."

Discord snapped his claw, and Zecora appeared under his arm. "Discord! What have you done?! You must be mad if you find this fun!" She shouted, kicking and flailing.

"DISCORD!" Fluttershy yelled.

He dropped Zecora.

"NO!" Morsidus dove for her. She was falling faster than he could fly. "ZECORA!" He pushed himself as hard as he could, continuously willing himself to go faster. Like a barrier, the air tightened around him, and just when he thought he couldn't make it, he heard Zecora scream his name.

Anger coursed through him, much stronger than the adrenaline. Morsidus pushed through, and suddenly felt himself moving faster than before. He caught Zecora with ease. "A Shadow's Barrier Blast," she gasped, dropping her rhymes. "Only a Kivuli Draconequus can perform those." Her eyes went wide as she stared at the streak of shadow following him.

Slowing down, Morsidus landed outside just outside Fluttershy's cottage. Discord and Fluttershy followed behind him. "Are you alright?" He asked. Zecora was too shocked to speak, so she nodded her answer. Morsidus sat her down, then went to confront Discord.

Fluttershy quickly went to check on Zecora, leaving Discord laughing on the ground. "Oh, I can't remember the last time I had that much fun with another of my kind!" Discord stood and smiled innocently at Morsidus. "Good work on the blast, Morsidus! I guess you really are a flier, after all! And I am so sorry about the whole 'dropping you to your death' thing, Zecora. Forgive me?" Zecora turned her back to him and walked inside, leaving the door open behind her. Confused, Fluttershy went to tend to her chickens.

Morsidus glared at him, fully intending to hurt him. "Ah, ah, ah!" Discord wagged his claw at Morsidus. "You forget, I am the spirit of Chaos!"

Morsidus began to scream at Discord, using a voice that rivaled even the Royal Canterlot Voice that Luna used from time to time. "I DON'T CARE! YOU MAY HAVE DONE WRONG IN THE PAST, BUT YOU DO NOT HAVE THE RIGHT TO DO THAT TO THE MARE I LOVE! I'M IN THE RIGHT MIND TO-" he stopped short of his threat once he realized what he'd said. Discord once again fell to the ground, bursting with laughter. Fluttershy hid in the chicken coop, afraid to come out.

"What did you say?" Morsidus turned around to see Zecora blushing a very heavy red. Morsidus was unsure of how to respond, so in a moment of panic, he closed his eyes and used the teleportation spell. He wasn't thinking of any particular place, so when he opened his eyes, he realized that he was in a barn.

> A Hidden Secret Known - The First Date
> --------------------------------------------------------------------------

Morsidus glanced around the dark barn in an attempt to find where he was. He continuously bumped into many things, some were soft- hay maybe? -others, not so soft. Finally, his eyes adjusted and he managed to find... Barrels? Barrels filled with apples. 'Who'd put that in their barn?' He thought. It took a second, but he soon realized that only one pony he knew owned an apple farm, and that was Applejack. Logically, he must be at Sweet Apple Acres.


'Crap. I'm not sure that Applejack and I started off on the right foot- err... Hoof. I just hope she doesn't get too angry. I'm not sure I want to be on that mare's badside.'

Morsidus stumbled towards the huge barn doors, but they were locked from the outside. "What! No!" He ran at the door, headbutting it a few times, then sitting down when he got dizzy. "Ok... Maybe not my brightest plan..." He slurred, rubbing his sore head. He looked around the barn for something he could use to escape, but instead saw a large pile of very soft-looking hay. 'How tempting... Maybe just a short nap. I did have a long, embarrassing day.'

Morsidus planned on taking a short nap to contemplate what he'd admitted to Zecora. He wondered whether or not he'd ever be able to look at, or even talk to Zecora again. She was the love of his life, and he blew it. He was afraid that now that she knew his biggest secret, that she'd reject him. Then, the awkwardness between them would fester and he'd never be able to see her again. She'd never shown any sign of returning his feelings, or even flirting with him over the past two years since they met.

Morsidus was so worn out from earlier, that he didn't even have time to think about the how to escape from the barn before he'd fallen under sleep's spell.

Hours later, Morsidus was rudely awoken. "GAAAH!!!" He screamed and jumped up, soaked in freezing water. "What?!"

Three fillies stood in front of him, an earth pony, a pegasus, and a unicorn. "Ha, ha! You snore!" The pegausus filly laughed and poked him.

Morsidus shook the water off. "What? No, I don't!"

"Yes, you do!" the pegasus shouted.

Morsidus grumbled, "No, I don't..."

"Scootaloo! Don't argue with strangers!" The white unicorn said. She was holding a mostly-empty bucket of water dangerously close to Morsidus' head. He noticed how she was struggling to keep it in the air, concentrating a little too hard, so he knocked it down with his hoof.

The three fillies argued amongst each other for a minute, until the yellow earth filly with a huge pink bow in her mane seemed to remember what she came here for.

"Hey! Gals! C'mon, quit arguin'!" She grabbed the capes the other two wore, in fact she adorned a matching one, and pulled them apart. "Gals!" They calmed down.

"Now... Who are ya, an' what are ya doin' in tha Apple's barn?" The earth filly asked.

Morsidus replied quickly, "I'm Morsidus Grim-Record! I-I know Applejack! Last night I accidentally teleported here and couldn't get out."

"Ha! I TOLD you, guys! He slept here because the door was locked!" the orange filly shouted.

"Well, duh!" the yellow one argued. The two bickered as the white unicorn came over and sat beside him. "Don't mind them, Mr. Record," she chirped. "They're always arguing over something! By the way, my name's Sweetie Belle. Scootaloo is the pegasus, and the other pony is Applebloom. I think I've heard my big sister talk about you, do you know her?"

"Well, for one thing, you don't have to call me, 'Mr. Record', Morsidus is fine," He laughed. "And I might have met your sister, is her name Rarity, or possibly Twilight?"

The filly nodded. "Mmhmm! Rarity! Isn't she just fabulous!" She smiled at me.

Morsidus laughed. "Yes, she is very fabulous!"

Just then, Applejack walked in looking very groggy, a lot like Morsidus. "Ah was wonderin' what all that noise was. Girls, Ah thank it's best for y'all to skidaddle on inside fer breakfast," she pointed to the fillies and motioned for them to leave.

They groaned, but ran off anyway. "Sorry for waking you up so rudely!" Sweetie Belle yelled as the fillies ran out of the barn screaming, "CUTIE MARK CRUSADERS, AWAY!"

"Goodness! Never again am Ah gonna host another CMC sleepover," Applejack mumbled and walked up to Morsidus, having a seat beside him. "Ah heard what happened at Fluttershy's," she began. Morsidus blushed. "Zecora an' Twilight came runnin' over here earlier lookin' fer ya." She stood up, motioning for Morsidus to follow. "C'mon, we can have some breakfast real quick, then Ah'll call 'em."

Morsidus glanced over at the sun, which seemed dangerously close to the west horizon. "Um... what time is it?"

"Ah lil' past seven, why?" Applejack replied.

"Well, when did Twilight and Zecora come looking for me?" He asked, curiously.

She stopped to fix her hat which had fallen over her eyes. "Ah thank about 3:30, maybe four."

"In the morning?!" He shouted, incredulous.

She nodded, "Eeyup. They were a might worried fer ya."

They walked to the farmhouse, and inside Big Mac was making breakfast for the three fillies, resisting their pleading that they should do it themselves. Granny Smith had apparently fallen asleep in her bowl of oatmeal, waking up and complaining about how it was too cold. Big Mac would just laugh and reheat it.

Despite Big Mac's insisting, Morsidus didn't eat anything, which couldn't have been wise because he'd missed breakfast and dinner the day before. He was just too nervous to eat, as he was busy wondering how Zecora was going to act around him now that she knew the truth.

Applejack walked to the phone on the wall and called Twilight. Spike answered. "Heya, Spike! Do ya know where Twilight is?" She asked.

Spike replied tiredly, "She's at Sugercube Corner looking for Morsidus. Why? Have you seen him?"

"Eeyup. He's over here. Ah'll call Sugarcube Corner an' tell her. Thank ya kindly, Spike." She hung the phone up before calling Pinkie Pie at Sugarcube Corner.

"Hello, whoever this is on the otherside! I'm Pinkie Pie! Do ya want some cake, cookies, pies, cupcakes, candy, or just overall treats?!?! HUh, huh, huh?!?! Well, do ya, do ya, do ya?!?!"

"Umm... Pinkie?" Applejack asked.

Pinkie Pie jumped in excitement on the other side, "Oh, hey, Applejack! Oh wow this is so cool! I'm talking to Twilight who was just talking about coming from your house! Oh, wow, oh, wow, oh, wow! Ya know what else is super duper absolutively cool? I just-"

"Pinkie! Can Ah just talk ta Twilight?" Applejack facehooved. That mare had the ability to ramble on and on for hours.

"Oh, yea! Sure, silly! All ya had to do was ask!" Pinkie giggled and handed the phone to Twilight.

"Hello? Applejack?" Twilight asked.

"Heya, Twilight! Ah found Morsidus, he's here at mah house if ya wanna come by and get him." Applejack told her, and heard a loud pop on the other side of the phone. "Uh, Twi?"

A bright flash of purple appeared in Applejack's living room, and out of it walked Twilight with Zecora stumbling behind her.

"Please warn me beforehand, so that on my face I do not land." Zecora groaned, sitting down.

Twilight gasped, "Morsidus!" She ran towards him, capturing him in a hug. "Oh my gosh! We were all so worried!"

"Nice to see you to, Twilight," Morsidus said and returned the hug. He looked over at Zecora, who would only stare at the ground.

Twilight walked over to talk to Applejack, who was still holding the phone and listening to Pinkie Pie ramble on and on about how Twilight had just disappeared. "Umm... Pinkie? Yea, Ah found Twilight," Applejack said. Seconds later, Pinkie had pulled herself through the phone and was lying on Applejack's kitchen floor.

"I WANT IN ON THE FUN, FUN, FUN!" Pinkie shouted and jumped up, bouncing around AJ's kitchen.

"That's impossible!" Morsidus gasped, but luckily not loud enough to get the partier's attention. Shaking his head, he slipped out the front door during the commotion and sat on the porch. Unbeknownst to him, Zecora had followed him out and sat beside him. He looked over at her. "I-I'm sorry you had to find out like that, Zecora. I was scared that if you knew how I felt-" Morsidus stopped short when Zecora gave him a hug.

She looked him right in the eyes, "It has been forgiven, but it has not been forgotten," she smiled. Morsidus gasped and stared back into her blue eyes, noticing that they were the most brilliant shade of sapphire he'd ever seen. She eased the hug, "So, where shall we dine on this night, so fine?" she asked.

"Huh?" Morsidus asked, his mouth falling open.

Zecora giggled, closing his mouth. "When you confessed true love, mine was then shown. So where, I ask, will our first date be known?"

Morsidus was wide-eyed and had no idea how to respond. It took him a few seconds before he regained his ability to think. He stood up, smiling proudly. "I noticed a small restuarant yesterday. We can go there. You should go to Rarity's boutique and buy yourself a nice dress, and tell her that I'll pay her tomorrow. How about I pick you up from there at around five?"

Zecora couldn't help but be slightly surprised at how nonchalant he was able to act, despite the overwhelming amount of fear she could see on his face. She just nodded and left down the road toward Ponyville. Watching her leave, Morsidus couldn't help but notice the slight bit of spring added to her step.

After a few minutes of blissful Ignorance, Morsidus finally understood what he'd just done. He collapsed back onto the porch. Big Mac walked out onto the porch and dragged him off to the side. "Ah saw whatcha did there, and Ah'm proud of ya. She seemed so lonely, what with her livin' in tha Everfree by herself,"

Morsidus looked at the ground , and then looked at the red stallion next to him. "I don't know what I'm going to do, my brain kinda just went on autopilot! I don't even have enough bits for a suit or even the restaurant."

Big Mac grabbed Morsidus by the tail and dragged him into the house past the others. "Hey, Twilight!" Morsidus called out as Big Mac pulled him up the stairs. Twilight didn't reply, just stared at him curiously. Big Mac pulled him into a room.

"Here, try this," Big Mac said as he handed Morsidus a dress shirt and tie. "Ah got it when Ah thought Ah was gonna marry Miss Cheerilee," He laughed at the memory. Surprisingly, it fit perfectly. Big Mac handed him the coat for it. "There. Now ya just gotta get some groomin' an' yer all set," he smiled.

Morsidus smiled for all of five seconds before realization hit him. "Oh, but I still can't pay for the restaurant, though."

Big Mac put his hoof up to silence him, then he handed Morsidus a small bag of bits. "There ought ta be more than enough ta get through dinner, as well as any other lil' treats an' gifts." Morsidus had a wide grin on his face again.

"I swear I'll pay you back!" He thanked Big Mac for the outfit and left wih it in a bag with the bits. He ran out the door towards the library.

"Hey, Spike!" he yelled as he entered. "Where are ya, little buddy?" the small drake ran out of the kitchen.

"I told you that I don't like being called that!" He stood in front of Morsidus, slightly tired. He must've just woken up. "What's up?"

"Can you take a letter to Princess Luna?" Morsidus asked.

"Sure," Spike ran over to the table and grabbed a sheet of parchment and a quill. "Ready!"

"Dear Princess Luna," Morsidus began. "I have a favor I need to ask you, but I'm not sure I can express it well enough in dream." Morsidus continued on and used the quill to draw a picture. Spike sent the letter up in a bit of flames. He belched up a reply about a minute later.

Dear Morsidus Grim-Record,

We have thoroughly read your letter and looked at the drawing you provided us. We have sent the information to our friend and her gift will be waiting at Twilight's house upon your return. We hope you and Zecora have a most pleasant time tonight.

Sincerely,

The Princesses

After reading the note, he ran upstairs to the master bathroom. 'I hope that Twilight won't mind, since it is a special occasion.' He thought. Grabbing two towels from the cabinet, he laid one on the ground outside of the shower and the other one on the sink. He turned on the water and hopped in.

After he was done with his shower he heard a knock on the door. "You need anything, Morsidus?" Spike shouted. Thinking for a second.

"Actually, yes. Would you grab a few bits from my bag and run down to the watch shop? Tell him that Grim sent ya!"

"Sure, thing!" Spike shouted and ran out.

Morsidus was shaving the bit of stubble he had when he heard another knock. "Are you alright in there, Morsidus? Spike said you ran up here after sending a letter to Luna," Twilight said.

Morsidus walked to the door and responded, "I'm fine, Twilight! I don't know if Big Mac told you or not, but I have a date with Zecora tonight. I hope you don't mind me using your grooming stuff. I'll happily replace anything if you want me to." Morsidus waited a few seconds, hoping that Twilight wouldn't slam the door open in his face.

What she said surprised him, "Don't worry! A lot of the stuff in there is actually for guests. I keep my stuff locked in the yellow cabinet. Take all the time you need!" He heard the door open downstairs, but brushed it off figuring that Spike had gotten home. Twilight ran down to see whoever it was.

Morsidus slipped Big Mac's suit on and walked downstairs. Spike ran over to him and handed him the watch Morsidus asked him to retrieve. It was a sleek black watch with his cutie mark emblazoned on the face. Thanking Spike, Morsidus walked into the kitchen, surprised to see Twilight chatting with Discord and the bouncing, pink, earth pony he saw earlier, but had not met personally.

The pink pony tackled him, "OH! OH! OH! Hi! I'm Pinkie Pie! You must be Grimmy! HA! That's so funny! Grimmy rhymes with Gummy! Grimmy, Gummy, Grimmy, Gummy, Grimmy, Gum-"

Morsidus put a hoof on her mouth. "I get it, um, Pinkie." She jumped up, helping Morsidus up as well. "Twilight, I'm heading out," He said, smiling shyly.

Twilight yanked his tail, "Don't forget your sunglasses!" He accepted them. Thanking Twilight, Morsidus walked out of the door with the bag of bits on a rope around his neck. He checked his watch, and decided to teleport to the boutique so he wouldn't be late. He'd seen pictures and had been practicing fairly often.

Luckily, it worked. Smiling, Morsidus knocked on the door of Carousel Boutique, hearing Sweetie Belle shouting from inside. "Ok, ok, ok! Just wait a second!" She opened the door. "Oh, hello again!" She let Morsidus in. "Sis! Morsidus is here!" she shouted.

Rarity ran down the stairs. "Oh, my! I do hope it doesn't bother you, but we might need just a teensie weensie bit longer to get Zecora ready, ok?" She bit her lip. Morsidus nodded, and she rushed back upstairs.

Minutes later, Rarity bounced down the stairs, smiling happily. "Prepare to be amazed!" She squeed as Zecora gracefully stepped down the stairs.

She adorned a beautiful, shimmering blue gown that seemed to sway like the ocean's waves as she moved. She had her hair down and braided with several colorful flowers intwined in within it. Morsidus couldn't help but be enthralled by her beauty.

Zecora giggled, "Shall we get going, my love? To the restaurant you have spoken of." Morsidus nodded, and opened the door for her, gesturing for her to exit. They talked during their short walk to the restaurant, and Zecora finally realized why he'd wanted her dressed so nicely. The restaurant Morsidus had taken her to was the most fancy and high-strung restaurant in all of Ponyville.

The waiter seated them at a table with a window view and took their order. They chatted about how Equestria and how things worked. She was basically giving him a complete list of do's and don't's. They talked about his visit with Vinyl and Octavia. He even told her how he thought that Octavia was beginning to turn into Vinyl. They laughed at the thought.

Morsidus paid for dinner and brought Zecora back to Twilight's house where she saw another guitar case on the table. "What's this? A second case? Was there a problem? Would you have possibly preferred a bass?" she asked.

Morsidus smiled at her. "Open it," he said and walked to the table. She opened it and tears came to her eyes. It was a bass guitar that matched her coat and had her cutie mark painted on it.

"Oh, Morsidus!" she tackled him to the ground in a love-lock. "I love it!" She looked him in the eyes. "I love you." she gave him a small kiss on the lips.

The next morning was filled with planning, and lots of it. Morsidus awoke to the sight of Rainbow Dash and Pinkie Pie putting up streamers throughout the library. He watched as they zipped this way and that, practically asking to crash into something. He heard somepony running down the stairs.

"What's going on down here?" Twilight asked Morsidus. He just shrugged and walked to the guest bathroom. Pinkie was the first to respond.

Pinkie Pie appeared in front Twilight, nose to nose. "Weeeeeell, Rarity told me about Grimmy and Zecora's date last night, so I decided to throw them a 'REALIZING TRUE LOVE PARTY!'!" She yelled then bounced back to her decorating.

Morsidus walked out of the bathrom and grabbed his cigarettes and lighter from his saddlebag before walking out onto the balcony. Fluttershy had returned it earlier since he'd left it at her house when he 'zapped out'. 'I should really apologize to Fluttershy for scaring her so badly.' he thought as he took a few drags.

Upon walking back inside he noticed that the rest of Twlight's friends had shown up and were helping. Happily, he strolled into the kitchen and Spike gave him a cup of coffee. Thanking him, Morsidus walked into the back yard and watched Zecora do her morning meditations.

Throughout most of the day, he practiced his levitation and teleporting spells, along with a few new ones Twilight had given him. He'd finally gotten into the rhythm of quickly doing the calculations. Zecora sat at the back table, playing her new bass. Her guitar had a similar spell cast on it like his did, except hers relied entirely on thought. His still needed some magic.

They practiced for a little over an hour, giggling when they misplayed a note. When they figured they were finished, they went inside to help the others decorate.

The library looked amazing. The six mares had braided several colors of streamers together and laced them around the room. The ceiling was covered completely with colorful balloons of many different shapes and sizes. Tables had been placed around and elaborately decorated with flowers that had been carefully woven together. Rainbows of gems had been glued together into hearts and placed over the windows so the sun would shine through them and light the room with a colorful assortment of prisms. On the middle table, a huge heart-shaped cake had been made and decorated with zebra stripes intermingling with red bands of color. In the center of the cake somepony had affixed Morsidus' and Zecora's cutie marks together and placed them within a blue heart with the words, "True love," tracing around it several times.

Just as Zecora and Morsidus walked in, the guests had begun to arrive. Twilight had left the back door open in case anypony needed to rush out into the yard for any "Emergency Evacuations". She'd assumed that it would happen because Applejack had brought her family's hard cider with her, and Rainbow Dash had gotten some beers from the corner store. Pinkie Pie had even brought some wine and champagne for the more sophisticated Canterlot ponies she'd invited.

After all the guests had arived, Twilight walked halfway up the stairs and tapped her glass. Once she'd gotten the attention of everypony, she began to speak. "Thank you all so much for coming tonight. We are here to welcome Morsidus Grim-Record to Ponyville and to congratulate him on winning the heart of a very special zebra." She nodded towards Zecora.

Everypony clapped with much cheer and delight, not even noticing the figure that ha crept through the door, watching the whole event with much malice. Once it died down, they all heard somepony begin to speak, "Oh, yes. Congratulations, Morsidus," he spat, a malicious smile creeping up his face. Everypony turned to look at the stranger who stood in the doorway.

"Congratulations! You finally got the girl you'd always wanted. Oh, yes, and I almost forgot to thank you for inadvertently bringing the end to this quaint town. I wouldn't be able to do it without you, my dear brother." he laughed, the setting sun glinting off of his nearly black eyes.
> The First Battle - A New Friend
> --------------------------------------------------------------------------

“Howdy, stranger!” Pinkie Pie hopped up to Fang Wolf-Shadow with a huge grin on her face. “Wanna join Grimmy’s party?! Huh, do ya, do ya, do ya?!” She bounced in front of him, and his amused smile fell into a bored frown.

“You are simply a waste of my time…” he sighed and shot a bolt of magic at the mare. The crowd gasped as Pinkie Pie disappeared, leaving only a small singe mark on the carpet.

Twilight screamed, “PINKIE! You monster! Just wait until the Princess hears of this!” Tears formed in her eyes as Fang yawned in boredom.

“All right, princess. Go get her.” Fang shot another bolt of magic, this time hitting Twilight and whisking her away to Pinkie’s fate. “Anypony else think that they're worth my time?” he asked and laughed.

Everypony backed away from the stranger, including the rest of the elements, leaving an empty path between him and Morsidus. “Fang,” he seethed, pushing Zecora behind him. “Bring them back! You have no right…”

“Ah, ah, ah. You are wrong, Grimmy. I have unfinished business with Equestria’s newly-redeemed chaos bringer. Surrender him to me and maybe I’ll consider not burning you all alive,” Fang chuckled and took several step forward. Lucky for Discord, Twilight had cast a camouflage spell causing him to look like every other pony, just in case anypony still held animosity towards him. “And for those unfortunate mares… Well, at least there’s a unicorn, so a slight chance of returning to our universe… Maybe.”

Morsidus growled, but had to choose which battle to fight, finding the two elements, or making sure Fang doesn’t kill hundreds of innocents. “No, Fang. You want a fight, you will fight me.”

Fang chuckled, "If you insist..." His malicious grin grew wider as he began to manipulate his form. His eyes turned from their shadowy grey to deep emerald, and red streak appeared, seemingly a tattoo that grew starting at the base of his front leg, and encircling it before going onto the next three. It traced his way up his body, stopping in jagged points around his face. Silver dragon wings protruded from his back, and grew to full size in under a second. His horn formed last, doing much like his wings, and stopping at a fine point. When he smiled, his teeth were shown, they looked like they’d been filed into fangs, and sharp enough to break skin on contact. The transformation lasted only a second, but ponies were already panicked and huddled into groups.

Morsidus gasped, and had taken a step back before he’d even registered that he’d moved. Fang made a slight movement back, and Morsidus knew what he’d planned. Morsidus pushed Zecora out from behind him and into a crowd of ponies just as Fang lunged and tackled him through a window. Morsidus didn’t have time to react, and impacted the ground with the Fang’s weight baring down on top of him. He felt the wind get knocked out of him, and Fang laughed as he struggled to catch his breath. Using his horn like a knife, Fang whipped his head to the side and managed to cut his cheek.

Morsidus felt some blood drip from the cut, but ignored it. Instead, he was doing calculations in his head. Morsidus teleported, but made a miscalculation and only managed to move a few feet. Zecora screamed as Fang lunged towards him, horn first. Morsidus fell to the side to dodge it, and teleported to the street in front of the library.

Fang had appeared beside him, hardly a second later. Morsidus growled and attempted to summon his wings, but his mind was still too blurred. Fang attempted to stab him again, but Morsidus teleported, this time to the outskirts of Ponyville near the edge of the Everfree Forest. He'd hoped that he’d have a second to recover, but no such luck as Fang had followed him and appeared hardly a foot away.

Morsidus was aghast, and Fang used that to his advantage. Fang blasted a fiery bolt of magic at him, and he dived just in time to avoid a fatal blow. The blast had, however hit his left ear. His ear was gone, but luckily the heat from the blast had cauterized the wound, effectively stopping the blood flow.

Fang dove at Morsidus, but Morsidus jerked away, avoiding a fatal stabbing but receiving a long, deep gash that was bleeding profusely. He screamed, and the jolt of pain gave him the adrenaline needed to summon his wings. He flew into the air, in an attempt to get a second to adjust to the pain and think up a plan to fight back.

Fang shot another bolt of heat at Morsidus, but this time he was ready, and he dodged it only for it to hit his tail and burn half of it off. Somehow, Fang managed to throw another flash at him only a few seconds after his previous one. He wasn't prepared for this one, and the bolt blasted through his left wing, leaving a sizable hole in the center of it. He shrieked, and fell from the sky, striking the ground hard.

Fang walked up to his figure lying bloodied and beaten. He chuckled, “Brother! Are you all right? I thought you knew better than to forget to fly.”

Morsidus groaned, but managed to growl back, “I’m n-not your brother.” He attempted to sit up, but pain wracked at him from all sides and bound him to the earth.

“Maybe not in your mind, Grimmy, but biologically we are,” Fang said and kicked dirt at Morsidus. He growled and again tried to stand, but to no avail. “Oh, the anger you possess, brother! If only you could use it for the right purposes…” Fang pretended to pout, and laughed right after. “You know what I do when I’m angry, Grimmy? I think about the good times!” he nodded and chuckled. “Mmm, yes. One particularly good memory was hearing your parents scream as the flames burned them alive.” He was laughing now, and Morsidus couldn’t contain his anger.

Like Fang, jagged black lines rode up Morsidus’ body. His cerise eyes changed to a deep crimson, and then his horn came in. His transformation happened in half the time as Fang’s. Adrenaline pumped through his body and gave a sense of newfound energy as he sprang up from the ground.
He was consumed by rage as he wrestled Fang to the ground. Despite his situation, Fang was still grinning. “They burned, Grimmy,” he choked out. "Burned!"

Morsidus growled and delivered blow after blow to Fang's face, turning his silver coat closer to purple and black. The entire time Fang continued to laugh, and Morsidus continued to hit until a shout was heard, “MORSIDUS, STOP!” He looked over to see Princesses Celestia and Luna flying towards him. They landed several feet away.

“He killed them! He admitted it! HE LAUGHED ABOUT IT!” Morsidus screamed.

“Morsidus, enough! You are in a state of being consumed by rage and vengeance, you are not in control of your actions! Please, surrender Fang to us,” Princess Luna cried.

“HE IS A MURDERER!” Morsidus half screamed, half sobbed. "And he deserves this!"

Celestia walked towards him, “And by doing this you will become no better. Luna?” She nodded towards her sister, and Luna nodded back. Celestia raised her horn and Luna joined with her, and they cast the spell together. They sent a unified beam of light at Fang Wolf-Shadow, sending him back to whatever dimension he was in last. Celestia sighed, “Sadly, this spell will not hold for long.”

With the subject of his fury gone, Morsidus faded out of his full form, though his wings did not dissipate like his horns, most likely due to their sustained injuries. With his adrenaline gone, Morsidus grew drowsy and faintly remembered a bright, purple flash before falling to the ground, unconscious.

Morsidus awoke the next morning with a migraine that was out for vengeance. He didn’t know where he was, but also didn’t care. The bed was soft, the room was warm, and the lights were off. Recalling the events of yesterday, he slowly moved to get out of bed when he felt another body beside him. He turned his head to see Zecora lying next to him, thankfully she was lying on top of the blanket.

Morsidus thought about rousing her, but decided against it. Cautiously, Morsidus sat up, but was quickly pulled back down and into the zebra’s embrace. “I'm not asleep,” Zecora said drowsily, and pulled him closer. He wrapped her in an embrace for several minutes, before Zecora broke the cuddle and hopped out of bed. Morsidus watched her leave before painfully attempting to stand.

It took longer than he would have liked, but he was able to get out of bed and slowly make his way to Twilight’s room, hoping to find her back in their universe. Instead of Twilight, he saw Pinkie Pie asleep. Confused, Morsidus made his way down the stairs and saw Twilight asleep on the couch.

As he walked towards the guest bathroom, he caught a glimpse of Zecora’s tail going out the back door, presumably so she could do her meditations. Morsidus made a mental note to join her when he could.

Upon entering the bathroom, the first thing he noticed was the stranger he saw in the mirror. He was taken aback by his reflection. Morsidus wasn’t this bloody and bruised pony, covered in bandages from head to hoof, he couldn’t be. Yet, he was. He was bruised, bandaged, scarred up, and missing an ear. His wing had been carefully folded and wrapped up in gauze to avoid infection and further injury.

Morsidus returned to the main room and saw Spike trying to wake up Twilight, knowing how she’d hate to sleep in past ten. She sat up just as Morsidus limped in. “Thank you, Spike,” she smiled at her assistant as he ran upstairs to wake up Pinkie. She gasped when she saw Morsidus. “Oh, you look awful!” she said, and trotted over to help him. He brushed her off.

“Thanks, Twilight. You really know how to flatter a friend,” Morsidus chuckled. Twilight’s face went red as she apologized for her blunt statement. She hadn’t seen much of him yesterday as she was exhausted after getting Pinkie home.

Spike walked down the stairs covered in what was left of a key lime pie. Before anypony could ask, Spike growled, “Did you know Pinkie sleeps with sweets? Because, I sure didn’t!” Then stomped off to wash the pie from his scales.

“Is that what you do all day, Twily?” The stallion in the doorway laughed, Morsidus recognized him as the one who originally found him.

“SHINING ARMOR!!!” Twilight screamed and ran over to her brother, catching him in a choking hug.

A tall, pink alicorn stepped out from behind him, laughing “Aren’t you forgetting somepony?” Twilight cheered and gave Cadence a hug before doing their usual song and dance.

“What are you doing here?” Twilight asked.

Cadence replied, “Auntie Luna asked Shining to watch for signs of The Followers here, and I took a vacation to be with him.”

Twilight’s usual sense of worry and caution kicked in, “But who’s watching over the Crystal Empire? What if the Changelings attack?! What if the Crystal Ponies go on a riot because you left without consulting them?! What if Sombra returns to take control while you're gone?! WHAT IF-”

Cadence stopped her ranting by shouting over her in a voice that was as near to the Royal Canterlot Voice as the love princess could get. “TWILIGHT!” Twilight stopped and looked at her, barely noticing Shining Armor’s laughing in the background. “Auntie Tia has already appointed her best guard to watch over the Empire for us, and Auntie Luna has already held discussion with the Crystal Ponies, letting them know that we were taking a short leave of absence.”

Morsidus walked away from the two princesses’ conversation to ask Shining Armor a question. “Captain Armor,” Morsidus saluted. “What exactly did the Princess mean by ‘the Followers’?”
Shining Armor stared at Morsidus for several seconds before answering, “The Followers of Fang are ponies who believed he would return to destroy the chaos bringer. More than likely, they’ve already heard of his return and re-banishment. Umm... Were you thrown from Cloudsdale or something? You look terrible,” 
Morsidus shrugged, "Something like that," 
Shining smiled, “Sorry, also, you don’t need to refer to me as ‘Captain’, Shining Armor is fine. And you?”

“Morsidus,” he smiled. “But Pinkie calls me ‘Grimmy’.”

“Hey, she calls me ‘Shiny’,” Shining laughed. “And it always gets Cadence so angry!”

As if on cue, Pinkie Pie jumped from the staircase and landed on Shining Armor’s chest. “Oh, boy! Shiny’s here, Shiny’s here, Shiny’s here!” She bounced on his chest. Morsidus noticed how the alicorn of love kept her eyes on Pinkie, even when Twilight was talking.

Spike ran in, calling for Morsidus. “You got a letter from the Princesses,” he said and handed the scroll parchment to Morsidus. Taking it in his magic, Morsidus read the letter to himself.

Dear Morsidus Grim-Record,

We send our regards, and hope that you are in better condition today. With our limited knowledge of the dragon, or draquonecuus anatomy in general, we have not been able to come up with any medical treatment for your current condition. However, we ask that you deliver the herbs we’ve included to Zecora, in confidence that she may be able to brew a health potion. Hopefully, her potion will grant you flight in your left wing once again, though as of now, hearing in your ear is still not possible.
Sincerest apologies,
The Royal Sisters

Included in the scroll were various plant-type organisms, which Morsidus brought out to Zecora. Upon seeing them, she gasped and began ranting about how rare they were, and that a potion mixed by these herbs would be at its strongest, especially when brewed by a master.

During the commotion caused by Shining and Cadence’s visit, Morsidus was able to slip out the door unnoticed. He drew attention, whether he liked it or not, so he wore his cloak and glasses. Then, he just started walking, not in any particular direction, just away from the main source of his stress, and the reality that a cult was after him. He just walked, stopping maybe midway through for a smoke.

He grabbed his cigarettes and lighter from his saddlebag. The pack was brand-new and unopened with a note taped on the side of it, “Saw you were out, so I grabbed a pack on the way back from the market, with Twilight’s written permission, of course. –Spike” Morsidus mad a mental note to thank the small dragon later. The smoke relieved a lot of tension, and he felt better afterwards.

Finally looking up from his walk, Morsidus realized that he’d walked all the way out to Sweet Apple Acres. ‘I'm already out here, so maybe I’ll check in with AJ and Mac,’ he thought and went to knock on the door. He managed to knock once before being tackled to the ground by the Cutie Mark Crusaders. Applebloom used her farm skills and quickly hogtied him.

“CUTIE MARK CRUSADER PONY WRANGLERS!!!” they yelled in unison. The door opened and Applejack looked at the scene in front of her. She grabbed a rope from a hook by the door, and Scootaloo screamed, “ABANDON SHIP!!!” Then, the three fillies started to run away from the cowpony as fast as their tiny legs could carry them. Applejack easily lassoed them and pulled them back. In an attempt to scape, Scootaloo was gnawing on the rope in hopes of chewing through it. Applejack gave the three fillies a good lecture before untying them. They each shouted a quick apology before running off towards Ponyville to “wrastle up some ponies”.

“Ah’m sorry ‘bout that, sugar cube. They always get ah lil’ crazy now an’ then,” Applejack apologized and sat down on the porch, motioning for Morsidus to sit too. “Ya look ah lil’ banged up there, Morsidus. Are ya sure it’s all right ta be gallivantin’ out in these parts in yer condition?”

Morsidus shrugged. “I’ll heal, I just needed to get away from the stress at the library,” he sighed.

“Well, shoot, Morsidus, yer always welcome by whenever ya need ta talk,” Applejack gave him a friendly punch in the shoulder.

Morsidus looked around the orchard and a thought came to mind. “You guys wouldn’t happen to need any help around the farm, would you? Because, I’ve got some free time, and I do owe Big Mac some bits,” he asked.

Applejack thought for a second and replied, “Well, apple bucking season just kicked off, an’ tha south field did grow ah better harvest than we expected… Ah’ll talk Granny Smith inta hirin’ ya, but yer gonna have ta get here by sunrise, because Granny Smith likes an on-time worker. Are ya sure yer up ta it, though? Apple bucking ain’t easy, an’ it’ll be even harder workin’ in yer condition.”

Morsidus stood to walk/limp back to the library, “I’m sure I’ll be able to pull it off. Motion equals emotion, right? Well, the more I work, the easier it’ll be for me to heal up.” Morsidus waved bye as Applejack stood there, dumbfounded by his saying.

“Motion equals emotion? What in tarnation is that s’posed ta mean?” She said aloud to herself before turning to walk inside.

When Morsidus got back, he was met with a lot of random commotion. Inside, Cadence and Zecora were arguing and throwing things at each other. Shining Armor was lying on the couch reading a magazine, while Twilight was in the kitchen, seemingly oblivious to the tenants destroying her house and each other. Morsidus walked over to Shining Armor, “Umm… What’s all the ruckus about?” Before Shining could answer, Pinkie Pie fell through the roof, landing square on Shining Armor's sensitive parts.

“FRACAS!” She screamed, hopped off of her pony cushion, and rushed out the front door, leaving Shining injured on the couch.

He grabbed his stallion parts and groaned, rolling off the couch and landing face-first on the floor. “Curse you, Pinkie Piiiie…” he groaned. Somehow managing to pull himself together, he crawled back onto the couch and answered Morsidus’ question, “Z-Zecora noticed my limp and tried to give me a drink to help, but Cadence thought she was trying to flirt with me. For now, it’s best we ignore it until Cadence’s love spell kicks in...”

“… Shining, are you crying?” Morsidus asked.

“W-what?! Psh! N-no! It’s liquid pride!”

“Mmhmm,” Morsidus nodded as he walked into the kitchen and waited for the storm to pass. Minutes later, Cadence and Zecora were heard laughing in the main room. Morsidus walked in and saw that Shining had fallen asleep on the couch, and Cadence was standing over him with a feather while Zecora put shaving cream on his hoof. Cadence tickled his nose with the feather, but got no reaction. Smirking, Morsidus shouted, “YOU GET UP THIS INSTANT, PRIVATE ARMOR!” A second later, Shining stood at attention and saluted. He realized too late what happened as he already had a face full of cream. Cadence and Zecora busted out laughing at his misfortune.

An hour later, they heard a knock on the door. Twilight answered to see two Royal Canterlot Guards standing there. As soon as they saw Twilight, they bowed. “Your Majesty, Her Royal Highness requests all of you in Canterlot immediately, apparently there has been a new development involving the Fang Wolf-Shadow case,” one guard said as he lead the ponies to the chariots awaiting them.


Nopony said anything, they just snapped into action. Shining put his armor on, Twilight and Cadence grabbed their tiaras, Zecora and Morsidus threw their cloaks on and put the hoods up, and Spike just grabbed his sandwich. They hopped on the chariots and were off to see the Princess.

Upon arrival, they were brought to the throne room where Morsidus noticed the new pony right away. He couldn't believe what he was seeing. The new pony was a pegasus, with a dark coat and a white mane, but Morsidus ignored everything except the cutie mark. There was only one person he knew with that mark.

“Elayas?” The pegasus recognized Morsidus and smiled. He couldn't believe what he was seeing, Elayas Silver-Moon, in Equestria. Morsidus listened intently as Elayas recounted his few memories from before arriving here. Apparently, he only remembers sitting in class when a fire drill went off. He couldn’t remember anything afterwards until waking up here, except that the fire alarm was deafening, much louder than normal.

When Elayas finished, Luna nodded and spoke up, “We believe it was Fang Wolf-Shadow, due to the time and nature of this event. It is believed that he is working on breaking the banishing spell again, by sending humans through it so as to weaken it.” 

They were dismissed and were brought back to Ponyville, taking Elayas with them. Once home, Zecora and Morsidus took Elayas to Fluttershy’s cottage in the hopes that she would house him. Morsidus knocked on the gate to announce their arival. Fluttershy was sitting in the backyard sipping tea with Discord.

“Oh, hello, Morsidus,” Fluttershy became her normal, shy, self when she noticed the new pegasus they’d brought along.

Morsidus got to the point rather quickly, “Hey, Fluttershy, this is Elayas Silver-Moon. He’s from my world. Twilight's house doesn't have enough room to let him stay with us, so I was hoping that he could stay with you for now. Is that all right?” Fluttershy nodded and poked the ground with her hoof. “Thanks, Fluttershy!” Morsidus shouted and left Elayas with Fluttershy, as he was eager to get some alone time with Zecora.

Halfway down the road, Zecora handed Morsidus a small bottle of a shimmering red-green liquid. “Drink all of it in one tip, and do not dare to miss a sip,” she said.

“Oookaay? I comply, I guess,” Morsidus said and downed the liquid. It tasted sort of like cheese-but-probably-not-good-cheese and it may have been slightly chocolaty, but it was definitely very salty. “All right,” Morsidus grimaced, “Remind me not to let you cook me dinner. Ever.”

“It was a potion of health, though it is finite. It can only heal your wing, but it will do so in less than a minute,” she rhymed and walked into Sugarcube Corner.

“GRIMMY!” Pinkie shouted from behind the counter. “How are your boo-boo’s doin’ today? Boy, was that fight epic! Oh, hey, Zecora!”

Morsidus laughed, “Yea, they’re getting better. Umm… Pinkie, you do know that you weren’t there when I fought Fang, right?”

“Oh, I know, but I read it in the transcript!” She piped cheerily, pulling some cupcakes out of the oven.

“The what?” Morsidus asked.

“CUPCAKES ARE READY!” Pinkie screamed, then giggled. “So, what can I get you guys?”

Morsidus asked for a muffin, but was sad to hear that a pegasus had just came in and bought their last batch. Instead, Morsidus took a small deli sandwich, and Zecora got a chocolate shake. Morsidus began to pay, but Pinkie refused his bits, saying that the defender of the universe didn’t have to pay until his boo-boo’s healed up.

They left the bakery and began the trek back to the library. On the way, Morsidus heard several small clicks and noticed a slight bit of rainbow-colored hair in crevices near them. When he got a chance, Morsidus grabbed Rainbow Dash with his magic and pulled her out of the shadows. “Rainbow Dash, do I even really want to know why you’re stalking us with a camera?” Morsidus asked, clearly annoyed. Rainbow looked worried for a second, but quickly bolted into the air and flew off. “I’ll be right back…” Morsidus said.

Morsidus threw off his cloak and flew after her, the bandage on his wing falling off after the first few flaps. Rainbow Dash saw that he was gaining on her, so she deployed a tactic she learned at flight camp. She flew straight up and came to an abrupt halt before diving almost straight down. Getting close to the ground, she hit a ninety degree angle and flew parallel to it until nearing Sweet Apple Acres. She was sure that Morsidus had lost her by now, but instead he was getting closer to her. Frantic, Rainbow flew faster until she broke the sound barrier. She was sure she’d lost him after a Sonic Rainboom, but was tackled by Morsidus shortly after reaching the Apples’ barn.

Morsidus helped her up, “B-but how?! I did a Sonic Rainboom! Nopony can keep up with that!” she shouted.

Morsidus whistled and replied, "Shadow’s Barrier Blast does a pretty good job." Flustered, Rainbow Dash flew away, and Morsidus rested on the roof of the barn and watched the shadow intermingle with the rainbow before dissipating completely. Once it was gone, Morsidus teleported back to Twilight’s house. Unfortunately, Cadence and Zecora were having another argument, and now he was in the middle of it.


> First Show - First Follower
> --------------------------------------------------------------------------

“It’s been weeks, Morsidus. Don’t you think that if they were going to do something it would’ve already happened?” Spike asked while munching on an apple.

Morsidus lifted the bored drake off his wagon and set him on the ground. He responded while lifting several buckets of apples into it, “You don’t think that they could be planning something big? He nearly got the better of me during our last fight. He’s smart, and he’s set on killing Discord. Possibly me as well.” He hitched the wagon onto him and walked towards the barn. Spike hopped on his back. “This doesn’t worry you at all?” Morsidus continued. Spike just shrugged and bit into another apple.

Rolling his eyes Morsidus walked into the barn and unloaded his harvest in the stall next to Applejack’s. His initials had been carved into the door, designating it his. He smiled and unhitched the wagon from his back. Pulling Spike off the apple barrels he said, “Spike, why don’t you run back to Twilight and let her know that I won’t be coming back after work.” Spike nodded and ran off towards Ponyville.

Morsidus went to tell Granny Smith that he was finished for the day. He took a shortcut through the orchard to get to the Apple’s farmhouse. On the way, he continuously heard whispering in the trees. He rolled his eyes. “Try it and you three will end up tied to the tree you’re in,” he gave a small smirk.

The three crusaders groaned and jumped out of the tree. Except for Scootaloo, who fell out of it. They trudged back to their clubhouse, their fun ruined by Morsidus. Every day since he’d healed up, the trio would attempt to sneak up and catch him off guard. He’d learned their patterns and even learned a few lasso tricks from Applejack for when they were particularly rowdy.

Morsidus finished up at the farm, and headed back to town where Elayas was waiting for him. “Hey, Elayas! I just finished up. Are you ready to go?” he nodded and threw on his saddlebag. They were about to walk off towards Vinyl and Octavia’s when Morsidus got an idea. “Wait, I know a shortcut.” He smiled mischievously and quickly went through the calculations in his head. Seconds later, Morsidus and a disheveled-looking Elayas appeared in Vinyl Scratch’s living room much to the surprise of Octavia and Zecora.

Octavia had spilt her beer and chastised them, “Don’t you know how rude it is to teleport into somepony’s living room?” She then went into the kitchen to get Vinyl and a rag to clean up the mess. Elayas collapsed onto the couch, dazed from the sudden teleportation.

Zecora giggled and said, “Morsidus, Elayas, pull up a chair for we have good news to share, and not telling you would be quite unfair. Mayor Mare chose us to play in just a few days at the Gala, so grand, as Ponyville’s band.” She smiled broadly at them.

Morsidus laughed, “Us? Really?! That’s great!”

“It’s pretty metal, isn’t it? I knew that she was gonna choose us the entire time! If she hadn’t then Ponyville would have like no chance at winning,” Vinyl said while setting a few beers on the table. Octavia immediately picked them back up and set them on a plate.

Elayas sat up on the couch. “Winning? Winning what?” he asked.

Vinyl smirked, “The hearts of Canterlot,” She laughed. “Nah, dude, it’s just an expression I use a lot. I don’t know what I mean by it, but I think I use to say that we are gonna OWN at that party!”

Elayas looked puzzled for a second and then Octavia reminded everypony that they should start practicing for the Gala. Their practice session began pretty well, but over the course of the next few days they got better and better. Finally, even Octavia thought that they sounded great.

The train ride to Canterlot was rather uneventful. Twilight and the other Elements came as moral support, and even brought Sweetie Belle, Scootaloo, and Applebloom to help set up. When they got there most bands had already set up and the outdoor concert area looked great, but definitely needed some typical Pinkie Pie flare.

The first place everypony went to was the main stage, which was much more elaborate and technical than the plain wooden ones he’d played on before. This stage was huge, taking up at least a fifth of Canterlot Courtyard. It was circular and programmed to rotate, giving each band their own space to set up their equipment and decorate. That was the first thing Pinkie wanted to do, but Zecora talked her into decorating the courtyard first, so they had time to set up their equipment without streamers in their faces.

Applebloom, Sweetie Belle, and Scootaloo were asked to help with setting up. They obliged, but Applebloom quickly got bored and ran off, chasing a butterfly into the Royal Garden. Sweetie Belle didn’t stay much longer than Applebloom, as she entangled herself into a mess with the wires and it took Twilight, Rarity, Fluttershy, and Scootaloo to get her out. Scootaloo did her task with ease, as well as Applebloom and Sweetie Belle’s. Doing nearly all of the work, Scootaloo finished setting up and wiring their portion of the stage with only some difficulty.  

Once she was finished, Morsidus went to double check and found a few mistakes. 'She did a pretty good job for a filly who’s never seen a guitar before,' Morsidus thought to himself, rewiring the stage.

Octavia was setting up instruments when she was interrupted by the stage manager. “Hey, we need y’all’s stage name so’s we know how ta introduce ya,” he said pulling a clipboard off his back.

Octavia gasped and paced the stage repeating, “Ohdearohdearohdearohdearohdear-,” Clearly wracking her mind for something to tell the bored stallion. Zecora and Elayas talked through it for a second while Vinyl fell to the ground laughing. “This is serious, Vinyl! We should have been more prepared! I should have been more prepared!”

Zecora and Elayas finished talking and Elayas mouthed something, and Morsidus caught it right away and knew what to do. He walked to the stage manager and said, “We’ll introduce ourselves, thanks.” Shrugging the manager nodded and walked back to his post.

They were the last to perform as they were the last band chosen to play. The stage whirred and spun until Morsidus and the band were facing the crowd. The ponies were talking amongst each other and shouting out praises and some slander. Morsidus yelled, getting their attention. “WE ARE THE ELEMENTS OF THE SHADOW BEAT! START US OFF, MISTER SILVER!”

They had decided in Ponyville to start off by playing a cover of “Rock and Roll All Night”. So Elayas started the drumming and several seconds in Morsidus began with his guitar, Zecora, Vinyl, and Octavia soon followed suit. They performed several other songs, Hammerstall, Black Veil Bridle, and Blind Stallion being the songs the audience praised the most, requesting an encore of each.  When they finished Morsidus spoke, “This last song is called Sadness in Death,” He glanced over at Zecora before continuing. “And I wrote it several years ago, but this will be the first time I’ve ever played it in public.”

They finished their last song and went to find a place to spend the night. Twilight had insisted that they use the guest rooms at the castle, and the group happily obliged.

Morsidus lied in his bed, listening to Elayas’ snores as he ran through his thoughts for the day. He managed to elude sleep until sometime around one in the morning.

Morsidus walked alone through the Everfree Forest, realizing quickly that he was nowhere near Canterlot. ‘I must have teleported in my sleep somehow,’ he thought. Seeing a clearing, Morsidus walked towards it, but tripped over a tree root. He bit his lip to keep from screaming. Mumbling a few nasty words about the tree, Morsidus stumbled into the clearing and immediately spotted another creature. ‘Hopefully this goat… bull… THING is friendly,’ he thought.

“Excuse me? Can you tell me how to get to Ponyville?” Morsidus asked.

The creature turned to look at him and growled, uprooting a tree and holding it over its head. “Iron Will’s the name, and destroying you is my game!” It, or rather he threw the tree, narrowly missing Morsidus.

‘This thing is crazy!’ Morsidus dove back into the tree line, attempting to summon his wings. He realized quickly that the spell wasn’t working. Cursing under his breath, Morsidus crawled into a tree desperately hoping for his spells to work, but they had no effect here either.

“Hello, Morsidus Grim-Record,” Princess Luna said, sitting next to him.

“WHAT THE-?!” He jumped, nearly falling off the branch in the process. “Princess Luna?!” Princess Luna remained expressionless and flew down towards Iron Will. In his anger, he’d began uprooting trees in search of Morsidus.

“IRON WILL!” Luna called, and he looked over at her. As soon as he caught her eye, she had him under her hold. He stared into Luna’s eyes         , unmoving, until she sent a beam of magic his way. It knocked him out, but when he came to his face was etched with confusion. He looked down at his body, and his confusion shifted into fear. Slowly, his body was fading away, his color went first, and then it seemed to crawl up his legs until it reached his face. He opened his mouth to shout something, but he was already gone.

Morsidus stared from the tree, too shocked to move. Luna spoke up before he had a chance to fully process the situation. “It appears as though somepony has stolen my spell book. It is the only way they could have learned Dream Magic.”

‘Dream Magic? I’m so learning this!’

Morsidus attempted to sit up, but his body refused to move against gravity. Sighing, he rolled out of his bed, crashing to the ground. He used the bed frame as a support, and pulled himself to his hooves. He looked to the bed next to him, luckily, Elayas was still sleeping.

Morsidus felt a chilling wind coming from the balcony, and saw the Princess of the Night herself. She sat just behind the railing, staring up at the stars. Morsidus sat beside her, noting the sadness etched into her features. “I know what you are going to ask, and the answer is no. Dream Magic is very dangerous, and only capable of use by alicorns. Iron Will has been apprehended, and his unicorn accomplice shall follow soon after.”

“But the spell couldn’t have been cast by a unicorn-,” Morsidus said, confused.

Princess Luna cut him off. “Whilst one uses the Alicorn Amulet, they gain the powers of an alicorn. Zecora reported the amulet missing one month ago. It is why she was at the Castle the day of your appearance.”

“Alicorn Amulet?” Morsidus was hit by a slight gust of night wind and shivered. “What’s that?” He looked back towards where Princess Luna sat moments ago, except now she was nowhere to be found. “Princess Luna?” He called, standing up and looking around. Shrugging, Morsidus walked back to the warmth of his bed and fell asleep almost immediately.

The next morning started off… strangely. Meaning, Shining Armor was lying in bed next to Morsidus, snoring loudly. Morsidus groaned, and levitated Shining into the room’s shower. He made sure to hit the cold water. Shining Armor, captain of the Royal Guard, awoke with a high-pitched, very lady-like scream. Morsidus couldn’t contain his laughter as Shining fumbled out of the bath/shower and turned the freezing water off. He made sure to not shake off any of the water when he pounced on Morsidus in a huge embrace. 

Morsidus checked on Elayas, noting that he wasn’t in his bed. He shrugged it off, assuming that he was already awake. He followed Shining Armor out of the room and into the Main Dining Hall.

Walking in, Morsidus noticed Princess Celestia was sipping tea daintily and reading the Canterlot Times, while Princess Luna ate waffles and played on her Game-Colt. She was too into her game to wave hello like her sister.

“So, Shiny,” Princess Cadence purred, sitting between Princess Celestia and Luna. “Did your ‘errands’ go on longer than expected?”

Shining Armor blushed, “Uh… Hey! Your band made the front page!” When everypony turned their attention from Shining, he let out a sigh.

Celestia smiled proudly, “Yes it did, Morsidus. You and your band did very well.”

Morsidus grinned, and sat down at the table and asked the nearby chef for some coffee and whatever food was ready at the moment. He came back in moments with a pot just for him as well as a mug. He thanked the chef, but before he could take a drink his cup was swiped by a white unicorn with a massive hangover.

Vinyl mumbled, and face-planted the table. Octavia sat down beside her, giggling. “Shut it, Tavi…” She groaned, and told the chef that he needed to get her a bottle of brandy.

Morsidus glanced around the table, curious as to where Elayas was. Celestia noticed his slight worry, and sent a guard to find him. The guard reported smugly that he was still sleeping, and pointed Morsidus in the direction.

Morsidus shot the snickering guard a look before trotting off to find Elayas. What he found was… intriguing, to say the least. Elayas was found in Fluttershy’s room snuggled by the yellow pegasus.

“I understood that they were close, but not this close,” Princess Luna said, walking in after him.

Morsidus nodded. “He was really drunk last night, and I think I remember Fluttershy mentioning that she had an herbal remedy for hangovers.” Princess Luna looked at him questioningly. Morsidus explained, “He suffers from major stage fright, so whenever he has to perform, he drinks a bit to loosen up.”

The Princess nodded, and slipped out of the room. Morsidus followed shortly after, taking a different route from her, and going to his room. Once there, he slipped a bit bag out from his nightstand’s drawer. He poured the contents onto its flat surface, and counted his share of the bits earned from last night’s performance. Perfect, more than enough for what he wanted.

Morsidus grabbed his sunglasses and saddlebag, preparing to walk out of the door, when Zecora walked in. “Oh, you are going where? I will come, if you don’t care.”

He smiled at her, pushing her out the door and shutting it behind himself. “Actually, I was just coming to get you. I’ve never actually seen Canterlot, so I figured we could make a day out of it.”

Zecora squealed with glee, and dashed into her own room. She came out with her saddlebags on and bounced back to Morsidus. She giggled, grabbing his hoof and pulling him down the hallway and out of the castle.

“It is of Celestia’s recommend, that we go to a place called Joy’s Suspend.” Zecora walked towards a bright pink coffee house with an advertisement on the sign saying, “Princess Pre-approved”.

Afterwards, they went to a custom clothing store that Zecora had spotted. Morsidus was looking at a leather jacket, trying to decide whether or not to get it. He asked Zecora, and got an immediate yes. He bought one for each member of the band and had them embroidered with their logo.

They window shopped for a while before stopping for lunch. It was nearing two, and Morsidus had missed most of breakfast. Zecora sighed at the beautiful scenery. “It is a lovely day. Warm, without a hint of grey.”

Morsidus smiled, “I know one other thing that’s lovely.” Zecora blushed at the compliment, enticing a few more from the stallion.

They flirted between each other for several minutes until a loud explosion crashed their date. Morsidus looked towards the noise, only to catch a glimpse of rainbow streaking towards the Everfree. “PUT IT ON MY TAB!” Morsidus yelled, summoning his wings. He lifted Zecora into the air and flew towards the haze of black smoke.

As soon as they got there, worry flooded their hearts. A forest-green unicorn was fighting Twilight and her friends. But he wasn’t alone. Seven changelings stood armed around him, shifting into mirror images at times, so it was impossible to tell friend apart from enemy.

He carefully put Zecora down and went after the nearest changeling. He threw changeling after changeling crashing into each other, but one always came and took the last one’s place. They were healing extremely quickly, and Morsidus wasn’t fast enough to get them all down at once.

Twilight and the Elements were tiring quickly, and she shielded them behind a barrier. It was clear to Morsidus that she wouldn’t be able to keep it up much longer. Zecora stood just outside, attempting to keep the mini-swarm at bay until they could fight again.

Morsidus noticed it just as the barrier shattered. It was the unicorn. The swarm kept them from reaching him, meaning that he could do whatever spells he needed. Morsidus teleported beside the green unicorn, noting his red eyes. Morsidus swiftly bucked him in the chest, knocking him to the ground.

He got up, blasting Morsidus back and let the changelings engulf him. Without being able to see through the swarm, Morsidus couldn’t teleport to get back to him.

Then he heard the scream.

Morsidus wasted no time, and bucked the changelings away from him and rushed to Zecora. She was unconscious, and her body was bruised and bloody, with a long gash on her side. He looked to Twilight and her friends, but they were encased in a green magical barrier. The changelings were cornering him, and he was alone.

“The Zebra witch is dead! The Elements are captured! Where is your savior now, Discord?!” The unicorn cackled, and prepared another spell.

At that moment, Morsidus snapped. Rage pulsed through his body, and he was finally able to convert to his full form. Morsidus blasted the nearest changeling, sending him barreling away. The opening was quickly closed by another.

He growled and set up another attack, but stopped short. He was shocked to see that he was no longer surrounded by changelings, but by Zebra. Many different Zebra, with one recognizable one standing directly in front of him.

“Z-Zecora?” He shook his head. ‘N-no… This isn’t her! This is just a cruel changeling trick!’ he thought. Still, he couldn’t bring himself to shoot her, or any of them. ‘But what if it isn’t? What if she’s trying to blend in and-and I kill her?’

Morsidus took a deep breath in and pushed away two changelings on his left. He dashed through the opening, quickly being pursued. He couldn’t think of a plan through his muddled mind, so instead he charged into action.

He knocked down whatever changelings happened to be nearest him, with one exception. Through his rage, Morsidus couldn’t tell where Zecora had gone, and the changeling Zecora was nearing him. He couldn’t help but risk it…

And he hesitated.

With that hesitation, the changeling managed to get one good shot in, knocking Morsidus back.

He stumbled to his hooves and blasted the changeling. She hit a tree, and fell unconscious, thus showing her true form.

With all of the changelings incapacitated, Morsidus went for the escaping unicorn. He flew over to him, landing in front of him.

They fought, but Morsidus was taking more damage than he was dealing. Hearing a knocking sound, Morsidus glanced up. It was Twilight. She was yelling something to him, but he couldn’t make out what. He teleported closer to her while the unicorn caught his bearings. It sounded like she was saying, “Only he can take it off.”

‘Take what off?’ he thought. He turned the idea in his head for a second before a blast from the unicorn caught him off guard. He shook it off, and remembered what Princess Luna had told him.

An idea came to mind, and Morsidus hid from the unicorn. While he looked for him, Morsidus swooped down, catching him unguarded. Morsidus lifted him high in the air, and the unicorn kicked and screamed wildly.

“Take it off!” Morsidus growled, somehow being heard over the roaring wind.

The unicorn spat back, “N-never!”

Morsidus smirked, and let the unicorn fall. He caught him, and told him again, “Take. It. OFF!”

The unicorn was nothing more than a whimpering mess, and he quickly pulled the amulet off. Before Morsidus could take it from him, he threw it far into the Everfree Forest.

He landed, and locked the unicorn and his changeling drones within a large, wooden cage Twilight had conjured. His rage had worn off, and he was no longer in his full form. Slowly, he stumbled over to where Zecora was and laid down beside her, quickly falling asleep.
> Interest Realized - The Last Element Revealed
> --------------------------------------------------------------------------

Chapter 8
Interest Realized – The Last Elements Revealed

Morsidus woke up to the sound of a constant beeping. He couldn't remember what had happened. All he remembered was seeing Zecora hurt. After that, it was all blank. 

He decided to try and open his eyes. He immediately regretted it. ‘Too bright.’ he thought. He used his magic to close the blinds and tried opening his eyes again. As soon as he did, he noticed that he was in a hospital room. He also noticed that there were flowers and candy and toys strewn all over the room. He looked over to the door to see a nurse walking in. 

"Good to see that you’re finally awake. My name is nurse Redheart. You were sleeping for near a week. When the news got out of what happened and who you were. People from all over Canterlot came and brought ask these gifts for you. You’re a hero now."

Morsidus couldn't help but to just nod. Redheart ran a few tests to check his vitals. There was one thing that Morsidus was afraid to ask. 

"How is Zecora doing?" He asked finally. Nurse Redheart just gave him a sad look. "She has yet to wake. Her injuries were too severe. See will be back to normal but not for a long while. Knowing her though, she could heal herself once she has the chance to go back to her hut."

Morsidus fell silent. He couldn’t help but to feel that he was responsible for her injury. ‘It was all my fault. I should have protected her.’ he thought as Nurse Redheart left the room to go check on her other patients. 

A few hours went by before anypony came to visit. It was Twilight. She came in and went right to the charts at the end of his bed. He had most of the stuff in his room removed and sent to other patients that could have needed some cheering up. A few select things were still there. 

Twilight sat down next to his bed before she finally broke the silence. “Well your vitals show that you are healing remarkably well. Zecora woke up about 20 minutes ago and is going through some test of her own. How are you feeling?”

Morsidus just looked at his hooves. “It felt like I hit a brick wall head on. I feel like I am not remembering something that I should be. Twilight, what happened?” She looked at the ground well and long before she finally responded.

“I figured you wouldn’t remember. After you saw Zecora go down, your eyes went all black and you turned into your full form. The beast within you was able to break free. You caused a lot of damage and passed out as soon as the fight was over. People were wanting answers to the point of a riot. Princess Celestia told everypony what happened and they branded you a hero.”

Morsidus looked back at Twilight and then back to his hooves. “It’s all my fault.” He said. Twilight gave him a small confused look. “What is?” she asked. Tears started to drip down his face. “Zecora’s injuries, It was all my fault. I couldn’t do anything from stopping the changelings from hurting her. I couldn’t protect the one I love. How am I supposed to protect everyone when I can’t even protect one?”

Twilight put a gentle hoof on his shoulder. “It wasn’t your fault. It was just something that comes with the territory. Don’t blame yourself because a few ponies got injured. It was jus-“Morsidus slammed his hooves and started yelling before she could finish.

“HOW DO YOU KNOW WHAT IT’S LIKE? YOUR PARENTS WEREN’T KILLED BY A PSYCHO AND FORCED TO WITNESS IT NIGHT AFTER NIGHT FOR A WHOLE YEAR! YOU DIDN’T WATCH THE ONE YOU LOVE ALMOST DIE BECAUSE YOU WEREN’T ABLE TO PROTECT THEM! IT WAS ALL MY FAULT! I AM THE ONLY ONE TO BLAME!” 
When he finished, they realized that Zecora was standing in the doorway. “Morsidus.” Was all she was able to manage before Morsidus ripped off the heart monitor and teleported out of the hospital. When he opened his eyes, he was in an open field in front of an old looking castle.

The ancient Castle of the Royal Pony Sisters was where he had ended up. It was a place he had heard of but never visited. He realized that it was cold and the clouds were dense, making it a bit dark. He walked into the old castle, since it was the closest shelter. 

He walked around and found the main throne room. He walked up and saw that they still had their cushions on them. He hopped on one and lied down; using the hospital gown he still had as a blanket. Within moments, he was sleeping. When he woke up a few hours later, he realized that everyone was there, even Celestia and Luna. They actually came to look for him. 

“What do you all want?” he asked through narrowed and still tired eyes. Celestia was the one to answer. “After Twilight told me of what happened, I followed your magic trail here. I figured it would be rude to wake you, so I went to my old study to grab a few books that I wanted to read. I found one that confirmed my suspicions. After that, I summoned everypony else here.”

“What sort of suspicions? Is there some sort of prophecy?” Twilight asked. Celestia nodded as she lifted the book with her magic and opened it up. “It reads like this. ‘I, Nostradamus the Wanderer, have foreseen an issue not like any that has befallen before. I lived through my prophecy of Pomhay and have discovered the birth of two other Elements of Harmony. One in our world, and one in another, both born on the same day but at the same time, on different days. One is the Element of Light, the other, the Element of Shadows. Not all will be as it seems. The reverse of what one would expect will happen. Shadow will overtake the light, but no evil shall reign. Both will survive but one shall be destroyed completely.’ There is nothing past that.”

Everypony just looked at Celestia. Twilight started to get an idea to better understand what it meant. “I think we should break it down into sections. First, what does he mean by the birth of two other elements?” Luna was the one to respond. “We felt something when Morsidus came to this world. It was the same feeling we got when the Elements were awakened. We believe that Morsidus is the Element of Shadow and Fang is the Element of Light. Morsidus has his Shadow’s Barrier Blast, while Fang was able to perform the Halo Blast.” 

Morsidus asked the next question. “What did he mean by born on the same day but on different days? Does it have anything to do with why Fang keeps calling me his brother?”

Celestia answered after a few moments of thought. “I had the same question in mind but then I remembered that you were in fact from a different dimension. It means that you two are celestial twins. You two look exactly the same except for the color of your coats and manes. Time progresses differently between different dimensions. That means that even though it is one year here, it can be twice that far in your time. Ultimately, the times crossed at a certain point and you two were born at the same exact moment in both timelines. But when he jumps between dimensions, he can only go to a time that’s the same as here. He can’t travel timelines itself.”

Morsidus just nodded. It was a lot to take in. He and Fang were technically brothers then. Morsidus was starting to get an idea of how to end the fighting. He would have to control the beast within and make peace with it. Morsidus knew that for once, the shadows would overpower the light.

> New Friends - New Challenges
> --------------------------------------------------------------------------

Chapter 9
New Friends – New Challenges

It was about a week before everypony went back home to Ponyville. Morsidus was told that he would have a new guard with him. He was told of his qualifications and unique abilities. The new guard was waiting in front of the library when they got there. 

He was a red zebra with the traditional black stripes. His mane and tail were a more electric blue with some more black stripes. He was wearing his armor which he rarely took off except for cleaning himself or when sleeping. He had a red shield with a gold star as a cutie mark.

He was standing there with a young mare, probably no older that Morsidus. She was also a zebra, but she was the normal black and white kind. Her cutie mark was a record with a lightning bolt coming down from it. They almost looked exactly the same so he thought that maybe they were twins. 

Morsidus walked up to the stallion. “Hello, you must be Captain SnowFire Blitz. I have heard of your qualifications and of your abilities. I have been made aware that you have knowledge about Fang.” SnowFire just looked at Morsidus with the same uncaring look that he was known for.

“It is a pleasure to finally meet the one that Princess Luna speaks highly of. I have been told that I am to be staying with you for the time being. I have no care for sleeping on the hard floor. I have grown accustomed to it over the past few years of serving Princess Luna.” SnowFire then gestured to the mare. “This is my sister. It may seem like it, but no, we are not twins. She is full zebra while I am part changeling. Thus my abilities.” 

Morsidus just nodded. Luna told him of SnowFire’s abilities. He was more than confident that he would do a better job than Shining did. He looked to the mare as she cleared her throat. 

“Wassup? I’m DJ Z-Blitz. My real name though is Melody. I’m the most well known DJ in the northern Stalliongrad district. I was told that I would be staying with some sort of fashion chick. Where am I going?” Morsidus walked inside as Twilight was giving her directions. SnowFire followed him in.

“Just a couple questions.” Morsidus stated. SnowFire nodded to the request. “Ok. One, Just how good with shape-shifting are you? Two, does your sister have the same abilities as you? Three, why does she seem a lot like Vinyl? And four, why do you feel ok with sleeping on the floor? We have a couch.”

SnowFire thought it over for a moment before replying. “She does not have the same abilities as me, but she can perfectly replay a song after hearing it only once. And her unique ability is that she can cause thunderstorms at will. She seems like Vinyl because they lived across the hall from each other during college and then became her protégé. If there is a couch available, I will gladly sleep on it. I hate sleeping on floors. Messes with my back. As for my abilities, well….” 

Before Morsidus knew what happened, he was staring at a perfect copy of himself. All the same markings and everything. Even his cutie mark was copied! Morsidus nodded and walked up to the room that him and Zecora were going to share from now on. He figured that he would take a small nap before she got there. 

Zecora decided to go to her hut and grab her medical herbs and stuff. She probably wouldn’t be back for a while. Elayas and Fluttershy went back to her cottage to check up on Discord and the animals. 

Morsidus woke up an hour later. He felt a body next to him and while still in a sleep like state of mind, thought it was Zecora. He opened his eyes to check and noticed a striped red face not even one inch from his own. Morsidus ended up being so startled, he fell right out of the bed. 

He stumbled back onto his hooves before giving his new guard a small glare. “Dare I ask why?” SnowFire just laid there. Morsidus noticed some small snoring coming from him and remembered that Luna said that he was specially trained to sleep with his eyes open.

He decided to just let him sleep for now, so he left the room and went out to the balcony. He lit up one of his cigarettes and felt instant happiness. ‘Sanity, oh how I have missed you.’  He thought. 

He was sitting there for a few minutes when he heard somepony crash onto the balcony . He looked over to see a greyish pegasus mare with blond hair and crossed eyes. “You okay?” he asked her. He put his cigarette in the ashtray and went to help her up. 

“I will be. Don’t worry. This happens a lot. Are you Morsidus?” she replied. He just nodded as she started digging through her saddle bag. “My name is Derpy. I’m the mail mare for Ponyville. Somepony wanted me to deliver this to you.” She said as she passed him a small box. He opened it to see that it had muffins inside of it. Derpy felt a little jealous. She loved Muffins. “Another Successful delivery for Derpy Hooves. Onward to MUFFINS!”

She giggled as she took off at a speed that made Morsidus worry that she might crash into one of the branches. When he saw that she was clear, he went back and finished his cigarette. He had heard of the cross eyed pegasus, but didn’t think that she was too big of a danger. 

---------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------

Outside of Ponyville, Derpy landed near a tree. “Did you deliver the package to the right pony?” asked a hooded stallion that was lying on a branch. She smiled as she replied. “Yup yup! I Even asked his name to make sure. Anything else sir?” 

The stallion just shook his head and tossed something to her. When she caught it, she realized that it was a double chocolate macadamia muffin. She did the biggest squee that she could before thanking him and flying off.


Back at the library, Morsidus was walking around, trying to find a new spell book to read. He was especially looking for one on combat spells. He couldn’t find one. “Spike, I need you to take a letter that is to be addressed to Shining.” He called. Spike came over from the kitchen and grabbed a quill and some parchment. “Go ahead Morsidus, I’m all ears.” 

Dear Shining Armor,
I am sure by now, that you and Cadence are aware of what happened in the Everfree. Due to that, I decided to learn some combat specific spells. Twilight doesn’t have any in her library, so I was wondering if you had any I could borrow. 
Thanks
Morsidus Grim-Record.

Spike finished writing and sent it up in green flames. No reply came right away so Spike went upstairs for some sleep. Morsidus went out back to relax and enjoy some fresh air. 

After a while, he decided to go back inside. When he walked in through the back door, he noticed that SnowFire was awake and was making some coffee. Morsidus walked into the main area and noticed that Zecora had indeed returned and was lying down on the couch. She was still awake. 

Twilight was walking around, putting misplaced books back where they belonged. She was humming a tune to herself while she did it. SnowFire came walking in, sniffing the air.

Morsidus didn’t say anything, he just lied down on the floor. He levitated the box of muffins over from the table and grabbed one. He was just biting into it when he heard SnowFire yell. “NO! DON’T!” It was too late.

All of a sudden, there was a blinding flash of light coming from Morsidus. Twilight was shocked to see the light. Zecora was so scared, that she ran behind Twilight. SnowFire just stood there, berating himself for not noticing the problem earlier.

When the light faded, Morsidus was lying on the ground. He had a massive headache. He went to put his hoof on his head, only to realize, it was a hand! Morsidus was human again. He was even wearing the same clothes he had on when the incident at the concert happened.

No one knew what to do. Their only hope for stopping Fang was just turned back into his old weak and frail form. 

No magic. 

No wings. 

No hope.