> Wrath
>  by Enternal
> --------------------------------------------------------------------------

> Chapter 0: The Ancient Prison
> --------------------------------------------------------------------------

A figure was bound, suspended twenty feet above the cool, crystalline floor below. He hung from chains inscribed with runes, shackled to his wrists. A dull, green glow emanated from the runes. The massive chamber lay deep below Canterlot, unknown completely to the city above. The spirit of chaos himself remembered not the day the prisoner lost his fight. 

The figure was an old man, who had sat in a purgatory of silence for far longer than he could care to remember. Only silence and the runic glow met his eyes and ears for what seemed to be millennia. The ancient man knew why he lay in purgatory. He was a warrior among the peaceful, and so his crimes were that of war. He had terrified the populace with his rage, so much so that they betrayed him, dubbing him "Wrath" and sealing him away.

Over time, his fury faded. He had trusted them, he had bled for them, he bet his life to save them from a fate worse than death. His methods were brutal, yes, but they were necessary. Still,  he was deemed a monster and struck down. The ancient warrior did not understand or stand a chance against the weapon they used against him. He did know that it found its power from six artifacts, stone, crafted from the a tree of life. But how had the powers of harmony been utilized as a weapon? How had harmony struck him down?

The Alicorns had always hated him, though he knew not why. It was they who had brought him to this realm, torn him from his home in their time of darkness to save them. And when he did, they punished him. Only violence could match violence, he did what deeded to be done. He remembers still, their parting words, the faces that spoke them. The disgusted look on the Alicorn Queen's face and the holier than thou sneer on the King's were burned forever in his mind. Those faces were the last thing he saw, and the last thing he heard before he was confined was the King's final insulting remark-

"Think long and hard about what you have done, and what you are, Monster"

For so long, the warrior hung chained with near-complete sensory deprivation. When an azure light penetrated the gloom he thought himself finally succumbing to madness. Only when the light lay almost directly below him did he realize he was not hallucinating.



	



>>>>>>>>>Cadence<<<<<<<<<<


Maddening laughter echoed across violet crystal as a dazed form slowly lifted herself from the hard ground. She looked about herself and saw her pink fur matted with grime, and her purplish mane tangled and disheveled. With shaky hooves she stood, and examined her surroundings. 

Crystal of a dark purple hue surrounded her, glowing dully. A twisted carapace of a face, complete with serpentine eyes flashed across the crystal walls around her, a booming, taunting laugh causing her ears to fold and her eyes to shut. She clutched her head with her hooves and fell to the ground, blacking out once again as the laughter echoed.







Purple eyes opened and the pony who wore them clutched her head in pain, slowly the lance of agony receded to a dull throb. She climbed again to her hooves, firmly, with conviction, and saw again the circular room as it was before. She scanned for any kind of escape and, finding none, tried to remember how she got here.

"I was with Shining, we were on the train over to Canterlot for.......for..... our wedding! That's right, these are part of the caverns below Canterlot! I was on the train and, oh..." She grit her teeth and stamped her left fore-hoof to the ground as the small chamber echoed her words back to her.

"THAT BITCH" she yelled. She remembered clear as day now, the disgusting changelings and their queen, how they raided the train, she remembered it all. That's why she was here, the queen was impersonating her. She gathered her rage (and magic) into her horn and aimed at the nearest wall. Shouting a battle-cry.


"HYAAAAAAAAA!"


A blueish laser emitted from her horn, and shattered the wall into fragments. After the dust settled, she saw a crystalline path beyond the ruined wall. After looking again at the featureless room she decided it was her only hope to follow the path, and find an exit. She began her trek, and quickly made a strange discovery. Somepony has been down in these caverns before, and they made stairs. The stairs seemed to be formed out of pure magic, which intrigued her to no end. 

Pure magic architecture dates back before the time of Starswirl! she excitedly thought. He had written (and she had read) many books on the 'Lost Alicorn Empire' and pure magic architecture is what he found in some of the ruins of the civilization. Realization dawned on her

"There are alicorn ruins beneath Canterlot?!" She shouted, surprised. The cavern walls murmured back the phrase. She folder her ears in brief shame before thrusting a hoof up into the air.

"It is my solemn duty as a Princess of Equestria to explore any remaining artifacts of the Alicorn Empire!"  Satisfied with her proclamation, and in spite of her situation, she couldn't help but feel giddy. She elected to follow the stairs, as they may lead to untold knowledge, and an exit.

Especially an exit, she is in a hurry after all.








The pulsing light from the pure magic stairs had long since lost its splendor, and had begun to hurt her eyes. The stairs just kept going and going, endlessly. She had stopped and slept twice while traversing them, and the effects of hunger and thirst were taking their toll. 

These stairs are endless! How the buck do you even build this many stairs! and why, why so MANY?!  She thought bitterly to herself. She must have gone down more stairs in these caverns than she had seen in all her life.  A stupor born of desperation began to overtake her mind.

"Why did this have to happen.... it was going to be perfect," she half-sobbed to herself, as she continued plodding down the gently humming steps, and then off of them, onto a strangely cobbled crystal floor.

"How did I get beaten so easily? What will that bug do to Equestria? What will she do to my wedding?! What will she do to my Shining?!?!" Cadance was so caught up in her panic that she failed to notice the stairs had in fact, ended. Replaced by massive crumbled stone columns on either side of a crystal corridor. After some time, and a little more half-sobbing, she looked around once again, and finally noticed her surroundings had changed.

The dim glow of the pure magic was long faded into the background. As she continued the corridor grew darker and darker, and the crystal changed from violet to a deep red. She looked back to see the ruined pillars, with strange runes etched into the stone. She didn't know what they were, but she supposed it was the language of the alicorns. The longer she stared, the stranger the runes seemed to become. Suppressing a shiver she turned her gaze to the columns on either side of her. They were twice as tall as she was (including the horn) and they lied on the ground long since toppled over, having likely been knocked down centuries ago. She finally looked ahead, towards the eerie darkness. After a moment's hesitation she made her decision, and began her descent into a red-lined void. Her need to find a way out overpowering her fear. 

She anxiously looked about and gently trotted down the hallway, lighting her horn as she went. Her hoof-falls the only thing to be heard as she explored. The floor slowly changed from level to a steep decline. Darkness seemed to surround her, the glow of her horn failing to reach the ever more distant ceiling. Looking back behind her, she wondered.

How did this place come to be? Little Twiley and I studied the ruins of the old Empire as written by Starswirl more than anypony, so why is there no record of this place at all in the canterlot archives? Could alicorn ruins beneath Canterlot of all places really go undiscovered?

As she pondered the mysterious passage, the floor began to level out, and she soon noticed a strange grey form, barely illuminated by a dim green light that somehow pierced the darkness. She drew closer, and she saw it was suspended by a set of glowing chains, which appeared to be covered with green (presumably alicorn) runes. Once she reached nearly right beneath it she realized, it was a living creature! It appeared to be bipedal and hanging from its two arms. It had some kind of cloth wrapped around its midsection, and seemed to be covered in sparse hair that failed completely to hide the skin beneath, exposing its flesh, this was true everywhere except for its head, where she saw a large white beard spanning both sides of it's face connecting to long white hair upon its head, it had a face scarred and fierce, and wholly unlike anything she had seen before. And its expression was......confused? She flew up, testing her wings for the first time since she was trapped, and moved closer, looking directly into its grey eyes...

Her eyes slammed open in shock, fear gripped her body and she tensed from her tail to her muzzle (with exception to the wings) as it dawned on her for the first time.

That it was staring back
> Chapter 1: Drink a Drought of Blood
> --------------------------------------------------------------------------

                                                                                                      
The obviously distressed Alicorn seemed lost in thought as she examined me. I shifted in my bonds as I did the same. Her mane was ragged and tear stains covered her muzzle, her wings were unkempt and in need of preening, she flew up to me and I saw an electricity in her gaze.  She holds no concern for herself, she continued to examine me, and I her. Her frame froze when her eyes locked onto mine. She yelped and fled several meters away, looking at me in shock, with some shame. After several awkward minutes of us looking at each other, she spoke.
"What are you? Who are you?
It was my turn to be shocked, Does she not know who I am? The former guard of the King and Queen? No, some trickery must be at hand, the King and Queen toying with me as they always did. I will not play your games pink alicorn. 
"Don't toy with me, why are you here? Why would they send such a young one to deal with me, why would they send anyone at all?" I spat the last part, vehemence lacing my tone. She folded her ears, and for her part seemed genuinely hurt, and confused- as she looked from my face to the floor, ears still folded, I realized I may have made a mistake. I have prided myself in the past with being able to read the character of anything, or anyone, from dragon to pony and back again. So why does this alicorn seem so genuine, if it's a trick? I sighed, and decided to humor her. When she made eye contact  with me again, I gave her an answer.
"I am called Wrath, I am a human" Her face changed again, looking at me confused, she was silent for several long minutes before questioning me further.

"Why are you here?" 

My puzzlement grew. Did she not come here with the purpose of seeing me? The warrior damned forever by the Alicorn King, and Queen? I tested my bonds, pulling against them. She flew back several meters, fear on her face as the floor and ceiling let out pained groans. The chains lit up in brilliant white magic as the runes placed upon them crackled to life, after but a moment my feat of strength failed. The rune's might had bested my own. I returned to limply hanging, more somber than before.
"I am here, as prisoner to the Alicorn King and Queen. My sentence is an eternity in darkness. I was never meant to receive visitors, or be released" Hope flashed through my mind for the first time in, well, a very long time. She would not be here if she had any connection with the old crown. There is a chance I can see the sun again!  Perhaps she can be convinced to free me.
"Unless you would release me, young one?" My tone as hopeful and non-threatening as I could make it. I waited for her response with rapt attention, softening my features best I could.






His question burned in my mind, at least, I assume it's a he if the voice and beard are anything to go by. This creature, er...human, was imprisoned by a king and queen? There are no records of any kings with true magic, and the only queen I know of with it is currently above, most likely ravishing my dear Shining... But the magic runes embedded in his bonds, they are of pure magic! Only the Alicorn Empire had the capability to build pure magic runes, they can be broken with enough magical force but, to create them takes a practiced alicorn blacksmith! Or so Starswirl reasoned in his books. This could only mean that an Alicorn King and Queen imprisoned him. My eyes widened. This creature has been here a very long time, and he wants to be free? I could free him I think but... why was he imprisoned?
"What were your crimes, to be imprisoned in such a place?" I asked, steeling my features. Oh dear Celestia I must look horrible right now! I thought sadly. But I can't back down now. You can do this Cadance, for Shining! I watched as his face shifted from hopeful, to a burning scowl.
"Yes, I suppose you would ask me that," The Human, Wrath, paused, and seemed to think on his response, he closed his eyes. He re-opened them after a second and he continued speaking. "I was imprisoned due to my methods of fighting, I was deemed too brutal, and though I loyally served the King and Queen..." There was a lapse in his scowl, and for not even a second a face of absolute sadness shone on his face. Then the scowl returned.
"Here I am, betrayed and apparently, forgotten" So he is a warrior, a supposedly brutal warrior, but that forlorn look on his face, however short, spoke volumes. He looked like a foal! I bet he honestly never thought he would be turned against.  Silence ruled the barren crystal room, as I continued to ponder his plea. I am in desperate need of a warrior... but I can't just trust him, can I? He says he was imprisoned for brutality but... Hmm. That is both a good and bad thing, if I do release him, and I do convince him to help me, that bucking bug will be ripped to shreds! But Celestia would never approve of this, or would she? Conflicting thoughts flooded my mind as the human made another plea.
"Free me, and I will serve you however I can" His tone trying, and failing, to not sound desperate, as he continued he got louder and louder. "Set me against your foes, or allies! Send me to war or use me as a guard, use me as anything you wish! Just free me! I can not bare to stay here another day, and if you will not free me, kill me! Death would be better than this bondage!!!" The last of his speech was shouted, and quite frankly it put the royal canterlot voice to shame, my ears were ringing and I had taken a defensive position on reflex. With my horn lowered and my wings fully extending, putting more effort into slower but more powerful wing-beats to keep me aloft.
Though his volume shocked me , I smiled inwardly. Yes! I'm playing him into my hoof. But to free him would sap me dry, and if he went back on his word I would be defenseless. But he seems to have been honest so far, why would he tell me everything he has if he was lying? But Is it worth the risk? Images of Shining, Canterlot, and Equestria flicker through my mind in turn,  I know what I must do.
"Very well Wrath, I will free you on these conditions: There is a powerful creature above us, in the City of canterlot. She is a shape shifting creature known as a changeling, that is currently disguised as me. Deal with her and her minions, as well as hold yourself to our laws, lands, and customs afterwords. These are my conditions" Nervousness betrayed my stoic expression, as I felt a bead of sweat trail down my muzzle. He should be fine with those conditions right? He said he was a warrior, a savage one at that, he should have no problem with what I asked should he...? Right? As I doubted myself he began to give me an answer.

"I will mount her head on a pike should you wish it! I accept!" His face was wild with joy and relief, and I gave a wild grin, my stoic expression finally cracking.
"I believe this will be the start of a beautiful friendship" I said as I began gathering what little remained of my magics. That bug had almost left me dry, the wall in the first room ate a lot of magic as well. This would drain me completely. I hope I don't pass out I thought as the runic chains lit, responding to my power. I just need to focus the magic on the first rune in the second sequence, Starswirl wrote that is where the deactivation rune is located in all Alicornian runes I focused and the chains began to glow even brighter. The magic I was using becoming visible in strands leading from my horn tip to the focused runes. The runic array upon the chains dissapeared in a hot flash of light, and all of the stored pure magic surged upwards, falling into the now illuminated ceiling like water. The light consumed everything in my vision. The magic amazed me and as I stared my mind grew sluggish, I faintly noticed the human looking at me with concern, his mouth moving, though I heard nothing He got smaller.  I'm falling. A sharp pain struck along the whole of my back and my head, as my world began swimming and darkening. Darkness...




The young alicorn, just sapped of all her strength, plummeted to the ground. I strained against my bonds as the magic was leaving them, but could only watch as she hit the ground hard. Once they were emptied of that ancient magic, only normal chains bound me, I exercised the full force of my might, and the chains fell apart as if they were made of paper. I fell towards the ground and landed on both my hands and feet, knees bent, with the palms of my hands on the ground at my sides. I rose and walked toward the fallen alicorn.
She was in terrible shape, dehydrated, pale, and now without her magic to support her, she very well might succumb to magic fatigue, and die. She freed me, I can not rest allowing one who brought me light again to die as punishment for her actions. I will not let her die Grabbing her horn, I cut a small but deep gash on the underside of my left forearm, just below my elbow. I sat as I opened her equine mouth and held her in my lap, allowing the blood to flow from the wound down her throat. She was not so far gone as to not swallow on reflex, and so for roughly half an hour, she drank from my arm. Once her face regained its color, I tore a strip off my loincloth and bandaged my wound. Not that it bothered me, but if I was to carry her and bleed all over her, someone will think ill of me.
I lifted her lithe form from the ground, and began the long trek out of this hellish place. I walked and watched the dark red glow of the ceiling come closer and turn lighter into a lovely violet. I approached the ancient columns, now collapsed, that once signified the entrance to my prison. I grinned as I saw the cracks and crumbling edges of the fallen, glorified signposts. It is good that they succumb to age and wither into dust. I falsely reasoned. In truth I was just very pleased with seeing what was part of my betrayal in such a sorry state. My spirits high I continued to the stars that led the way out of this accursed place.




"How peculiar" I remarked. After climbing the stairs for what seemed like weeks but I knew was only a single day, I saw that the crystal seemed to have grown and spread, blocking off the exit. 
"What now?" My passenger questioned. After about an hour of walking the pony had woken, my blood having fully rejuvenated her. Though she insisted that I carry her due to equestrian customs, and I must follow them per the agreement, though her question being asked from the position of being snuggled against my chest, being cradled by my left arm, made me doubt that such a custom existed.
"We force our way through!" I said simply and I struck the wall with my free hand in a mighty punch. The crystal wall cracked beneath my strike, but still held. I began to prepare another strike, I noticed the wall begin to glow. Being no fool I backed away and watched it crack more and more. A feminine shout graced my ears as a blast on the other side of the wall sent it crashing forth upon me and my charge. I threw her to my side, as far away from me as I could, and braced myself as several tons of crystal fell upon me.
> Chapter 2: Make Haste Make Haste! The Castle Palace Waits!
> --------------------------------------------------------------------------

	I coughed and hacked, trying to expel the crystal dust from my lungs. Blowing down that wall with that much magical, kinetic force may have been overkill. The purple unicorn thought. Maybe next time a more concentrated blast over a smaller area, of course that would require a magnitude more power to accomplish, but would it be worth it? Maybe I should re-read On Kinetic Projection and Magic Restoration for Dummies? Or maybe I should.. A happy cry derailed my train of thought.
"Twilight! Is that you?" 
I looked toward the voice, and saw Cadance rising slowly off the ground. Cadence, my old foal-sitter, or otherwise known as, A CHANGELING QUEEN IN DISGUISE! I galloped with fury over the wall's remnants towards my former caretaker.
"HOW DARE YOU IMPERSONATE HER!" I shouted as I reached her. I tackled her to the ground with as much force as I could, eliciting a pained yelp from the bug.
"Twilight it's me!"
"Lies! Lies!" I snorted. "You cant trick me again!"
Then the fraud did something she could never do. She pushed me off of her and got up, and began a song with a short dance. I was in complete disbelief.
"Sunshine Sunshine ladybugs awake..." I watched as the impostor mirrored mine and Cadence's greeting. Complete with the flank shake. My pupils dilated as I realized this was no impostor, it actually was Cadence, my old foal sitter! My eyes began to water as I reached out to hug her. But something yanked my tail, pulling me into the air. I flailed for a bit before I found myself upside down, and face to face with one of the most terrifying creatures I have ever seen. I must have been almost 3 meters off the ground looking at the utterly infuriated face of what I can only describe as a hairless minotaur, sans horns. 
"I will tolerate no violence pony! Attack my charge again and I shall..." The hulking creature was cut off.
"LET HER GO"  I heard Cadence shout from below me
"Remember what I said about how somepony was impersonating me!"
A look of understanding came upon the strange beings face, and he lowered me to the ground, I backed up and examined him. I have never seen anything like him before! He is like some strange cross between a minotaur and a diamond dog, but with no hair! I continued to examine him when Cadence spun me around and began to examine me as a mother would, worry dotting her face.
"Are you alright Twilight?" She finally asked, looking at me intently.
" My tail is kinda sore but after that i'm OK," I turned my attention back to the being towering behind us. 
"What are you, who are you, why are you protecting Cadence?" I asked as I looked from his strange lower appendages, to the furry cloth around his waist, then up to his bearded face. All the pain and surprise of what just happened completely forgotten. Before he answered he made a show of looking from Cadence to me and back again. Cadence gave a nod beside me.
"I am a human, I am called Wrath, and I am indebted to Cadence," He narrowed his eyes, and I remembered his volume and anger when he had held me. 
"Do not attack her again" I gave a fervent nod, and, satisfied, he turned his attention back to the Alicorn now beside me. 
"I will lead the way out, I remember the way." She nodded to him, and he turned and began into the room I was just in.
"So how did you end up down here Twilight..."



Cadence and I followed Wrath as he broke down wall after wall of solid crystal with nothing but brute force. Cadence and I followed and watched him as we talked. I recounted the tale of my suspicion of the impostor, which she promptly told me was a changeling, and she recounted the events of how her own capture unfolded, complete with how she came to be in company with the colossal Wrath. A shiver went down my spine when she told me of his supposed crime. 
After a particularly sturdy wall (which took exactly three blows from Wrath to crumble into dust) we felt a cool breeze, and saw the sky. The dome shield of magic my brother had been maintaining was still firmly in place. I was overcome with excitement.
"Look Cadence! Shiney's shield is still up!" Gauging by where the sun is in the sky, and the time or year as well as our relative latitude, I would speculate the wedding has just started. 
"That means we can still stop the wedding! We have no time to waste," I began to channel the teleportation spell. 
"I'll just teleport us right into the throne room, and we will beat the changeling queen!" Just before the flash of magic went off, I barely heard a desperate sounding shout from Wrath. 
"WAIT". 
The teleportation magic had already been activated, my body was enveloped in the familiar magic. Roughly a second later, I felt the slightly dazing effects of long range teleportation as my hooves met a familiar, velvety red carpet. I raised my eyes and looked about.


We were in the throne room alright.




The flash of teleportation magic faded, and I am still right where I was. If only teleportation magic could effect me. I inwardly lamented. If only they knew it didn't.
I found myself just past what appeared to be a metal gate, lead to by a road comprised of two long metal bars, with smaller perpendicular bars running inside them. I followed them with my gaze, they stopped at a long brick building with a..... red.... roof? What building material could they use for a red roof? Dragons scales perhaps? I walked through the grass and left the crystal hole behind me.  As I approached the building I saw its immediate area littered with ponies. Curious; unicorns, pegasai, and earth ponies aplenty, but I don't see a single alicorn. I approached with renewed vigor. I must get to the palace, and these ponies will tell me, or show me, the way.
Once they caught sight of me, every pony garbed in what I can only barely describe as armor turned towards me. The pegasai took to the air, and the earth ponies and unicorns advanced holding swords and spears of either steel or magic. I stopped walking and allowed them to encircle me. I stood tall and proud, and searched for the pony in charge. After I spotted the captains blue feathered cap, I looked him in the eye. 

"There is a threat to your kingdom, pony. Lead me to your castle and I shall see it slain."
The ponies looked at me in shock. Fuzzy ears folded and unfolded as they gave fervent glances to one another. Eventually the blue feather-capped pony cleared his throat.
"We royal guard were stationed here. Our orders, to stop any and all suspicious creatures from entering the city. We can not allow you to pass without just cause." I scowled deep, the extent of my expression evident in the ponies faces. Some looked angry, but most fearful.
"And would slaughtering a changeling queen qualify as just cause?"
The guards looked aghast, my question bouncing about in their heads. They looked again to one another, slack-jawed. What pathetic guards are these? That the mere mention of bloodshed freezes their minds, and stops their bodies? I could force my way by them easily. It would not even be a fight. I opened my mouth to offer them a more peaceable solution, when a deafening crack boomed around us. I looked up, and saw not a flock, not a swarm, but an absolute ocean of insect-like creatures pounding at the shield. A large crack spider-webbed across the whole of it. After several moments, the insects rose up as one, and pounded the shield again, cracking it further.
"Do you believe me now?!" I shouted and I tore past the stunned ponies toward the city proper. I dashed right into a crowd of ponies, who seemed to be torn weather or not to scream because of me, or because of what was transpiring above. They decided on both. I sighed, and took a great breath.
"PONIES OF CANTERLOT CITY!" The crowd ceased their noise and stared at me, anxious and frightened, but I had their attention.  "GET INSIDE, BARRICADE THE DOORS! GATHER ANYTHING TO BE USED AS A WEAPON, AND WHATEVER YOU DO, DO NOT PANIC!" I looked about the crowd. Some ponies nodded and began making their way into the nearby buildings, but before so much as a third of them made it inside, a final thud echoed from the heavens, and the shatter of glass breaking fell from high. The remaining crowd immediately caved into hysteria, screaming and running about. 

"God fucking DAMNIT"





All hell had broken loose. The damnable bugs were everywhere, I could barely see the sky behind their swarming, buzzing masses. It's Time
I took position as the bugs came crashing down into the remaining crowd and myself. I grabbed the closest changeling by its neck, and used it as a club to ward off the bugs from my body. I was surrounded on all sides and from all angles. I grinned the sweetest grin a bearded warrior ever grinned, and crushed the throat of the bug I held, dropping his corpse to the ground. The changelings stared in awe and rage. They expected little to no resistance.  I theorized. Well I am going to show them one hell of a resistance! The blood from the fallen changeling misted into the air around my body, and I charged into the wall of changelings, grabbing wildly as my familiar magics began to take effect.
I grabbed two changelings by their necks and applied just enough pressure to suffocate, but not kill. I began to laugh as I used their bodies to bludgeon two more unfortunate bugs. I crushed the necks and tore both fore-hoofs from one of the more recent corpses, all but ignoring the green blasts of magic impacting my body. With every kill, the bloody mist around me grew thicker, and spread further. Already it was stable enough to ward off basic magic attacks. 
Using my impromptu bludgeons I bashed my way through the growing swarm. With every changeling that fell, several more took its place, which was perfectly fine by me. Eventually a literal cloud of red mist surrounded me, I laughed insanely as my vision dulled at the edges, becoming overset by a red haze.

Somewhere in the haze of my mind, A voice of reason cried out. 




"You bloody monster, you killed them all!" An enraged alicorn general shouted. "This was supposed to be a rout! Not a bloodbath! The King was right, you are nothing more than a killing machine, get out of my army!" The general's face was furious, but there was an undertone of disappointment I had not noticed before. Where they not enemies? Did they not all deserve to die? 
"HA, when it all goes to hell, you will come groveling back, begging me for my aid. My way is the only way to fight, fool!" Ah yes, I remember leaving the battlefield in a rage to hunt a dragon after that, I still don't know what that old fool thought was right but...
"Some of those soldiers were our own..."  What?!



I lowered the two forehoof clubs I was wielding as the red haze left my vision. The bloody mist around me faded, leaving something right out of a nightmare. Blood and body parts were everywhere. The streets literally ran red with blood. I heard a whimper from below me. I looked down to see a foal. Female, her coat was a light red, and her mane cloud white. As I stared into her wide sky blue irised eyes, I realized this young filly was blind. 
"Mommy! Where are you Mommy!" She cried. She was balled up and shaking, calling out for her mother. I realized with horror, that if I had not come to my senses, a moment later this young filly would have shared the fate of the surrounding corpses. I, no......I...I... Looking around, I noted with great distress that not a single changeling was alive in the area. They had all either fled to easier prey, or lay as corpses on the ground. I turned back to the filly, my mid reeling, but like I always have, I began to do what needed to be done. I took a knee, dropping the bludgeons from my dripping hands.
"Little one, are you hurt?" I asked as gently as I could, but my deep gravley voice had other plans. At hearing my voice her ears shot up.
"You, you're not a monster are you?.... There was so much screaming........its so quiet now, where is my mommy?" Her little voice struck me somewhere deep, and I struggled to come up with an answer.
"I am not a monster," I dumbly said.
"You're not?"
"No, can I take you somewhere safe?"
"WIll my mommy be there?" She asked, the hope in her voice pure.
"I........ I don't know, but its not safe here, will you let me take you somewhere safe?"
"O-o-ok, just don't let the monsters hurt me."
"I wont" I replied honestly. I grabbed her balled up form daintily, as if clutching a flower, and began towards the closest house. 
"What are you?" The small pony asked as I knocked upon the door. I remained silent, a shutter opened and whomever was inside saw the young filly. As the door began to unlock I gave her my answer. 
"A human," I set her down gingerly in front of the door. The ponies inside quickly grabbed the child, but just before the door slammed I heard.
"Thank you mister human,"
.............. 
My mind was numb. I almost just killed an innocent child in cold blood, maybe they were right, maybe I am a monster.......





Everything is perfect! I thought triumphantly. Celestia is beaten, the real Cadence is defeated, the elements of harmony are nullified, its all gone according to plan, could this day get any better? The throne room doors burst open, as if in response, and three of my changelings walked in. Upon seeing the center changeling, I noticed his condition, as did the ponies in the room as well as the elements, who were closest to the door.
"Oh, my...."
"What in tarnation?!"
"What the buck!?"
"That changeling doesn't look very happy,"
"Dreadful, what brute could do such a thing!"
"*GASP* He is brutal after all..."
The changeling was missing a wing, which was very obviously torn from its back painfully, the open wound spitting blood. A large indent was crushed into the carapace, and lay just behind the wing joints, causing a very obvious and pronounced limp. And some organ damage I suspect. The two uninjured escorts immediately began speaking once I gave them the signal to speak, in the form of a subtle nod.
"My queen!  No changelings have returned from the eastern-most district of canterlot except for him!" He wildly gestured to his injured peer. 
"He says a monster is there, using strange magic to defeat everything in sight! He says the monster is on his way here, and aims for you, my queen," The changeling bowed in respect ( and quite possibly fear) as he finished speaking. 
"Do you mean to tell me..." I began, anger in my voice. "...that the full two regiments of soldiers I sent to that quadrant of the city have been defeated?" I looked between the two healthy changelings. Unexpectedly, the answer came from the wounded one, who could only barely speak. Every soul in the room listened intently to the battered voice.
"No my queen..." He was overcome with a violent coughing fit, and doubled over. His companions helped him back up after he had finished. When he lifted his face to resume speaking, blood dripped from his fangs. ".....they have not been merely defeated, they have been butchered...to the very......last.......ling" The changeling fell to the floor, limp. Both his escorts checked his throat. They shook their heads and said in unison,
"He's dead," 


It seems today could, in fact, get a little better.
> Chapter 3: Castle Confrontation
> --------------------------------------------------------------------------

	I resolved to continue with the conditions of my freedom, to destroy the queen, but to try and keep bloodshed to a minimum. The changelings may have immense evil within their hearts, but killing them en mass effected me deeply. I was shaken by the near death of that earth pony foal, but not irreversibly so. It has been so long since I have seen anything or anyone that was truly innocent, I had almost forgotten that true innocence exists. 
I left the bloody corpse-field and began towards the palace. The changeling swarm parted before me as I made my way toward the castle, undoubtedly smelling the sheer amount, and variation, of blood coating me from head to toe. I saw the city as I went. Tall buildings with strange, new architecture. Streets paved in stone and mortar, coated in blood from the fighting. 
The ponies did not just give in. As I made way to the highest building in the city, I passed several small pitched battles. The changelings would always see me, then smell me, and flee immediately. Some ponies praised me a hero, though I did nothing other than show up. Others saw the blood still dripping from my body as possibly pony blood, and regarded me with extreme caution. All I passed I gave a quick few words of encouragement to continue fighting, or I said nothing at all. I strode for 30 minutes like this until I came to a blockade.
They're learning. The castle gates, once mighty and proud, now lay broken and shamed. Upheaved completely in a show of dominance, most likely to shatter pony morale. It was not without use however. I took cover behind a nearby upturned wagon as I contemplated my next move. Several hundred changeling troops using a choke point. I can't go around, the castle is right there and I am not sneaky. My only path is strait through. But to do so would require a great deal of blood. I sighed in defeat, and held my head in a hand. I either abandon my obligations to this Cadence, or indulge in blood lust right before meeting her... Decisions decisions.
I rose from my crouched position and waltzed directly in front of the blockade. I decided to give them a chance to survive today, a great deal more mercy than I had ever shown in the past.
"Changelings, flee this battle and live to see another day, or you shall be crushed as insects beneath my feet," Maybe it was that their queen was a poor leader, maybe it was that they never cared to come here in the first place, maybe it was that I reeked with the blood of a thousand fallen changelings. Regardless of the reason, the lings looked afraid. I took a great step toward them, and watched their determination waver. Another great step, then another, then another. I was sprinting full tilt at them now, and had already halved the distance between us when their loyalties solidified. They broke cover and charged at me, taking to the air.
Magical blasts fell on me as rain, cooking my skin and my flesh. A few of the smarter one's hurled small objects at me with telekinetic force, cutting and bruising my body further as I closed the remaining few meters. They were smart to keep their distance and fight me from afar. I grinned maliciously. But I am upon them now. I crashed upon their front line, and simply began tearing them apart. The crimson fog began to rise again, but I only allowed it to heal my wounds, I did not give in to the bloody hunger as I did hours before.  I aimed instead to break their morale. Excessive strength and brutal executions my means of doing so, after the 10th changeling was brutally ton apart screaming in agony, they began to falter, I seized the opportunity and barked a shout.
"FLEE YOU FOOLS, OR SUFFER AS YOUR FELLOWS HAVE SUFFERED." I punctuated my statement with crushing the head of the changeling that I held, having just killed it with a punch into its chest, shattering the carapace. Its head burst like a grape when I clenched my first. 
The changelings stopped their attack, and looked around at the pools of blood forming and my uninjured form. We were near the castle entrance. A mere 20 meters or so away from the door, than it was a strait shot to their queen. Her malice burns like a star, even from here I can feel the evil in her heart. I will not extend to her the offer of mercy, I will make true to Cadence my promise to mount her head on a pike. I looked around again at the changelings, who looked as if they were on death row.
"We cannot leave creature, we must fight you to the last," one stated somberly, as he charged another bolt of the harmless combat magic.
"Our Queen has willed it, we kill you or die trying," another said, its eyes brimming with the will to live. She controls them. My eyes widened in realization, How could It have taken so long for me to see this? The evil in their hearts is not their own it is their queen! They have not fought me on my way to the castle, not to ambush me. But rather because they did not want to die, and their queen had not specifically ordered it! 
The crimson fog around me began to spin, slowly at first, but soon was spinning fast enough to mask the whole of my body from sight. The changelings around me tensed, ready to pounce or flee, the expression on their face leading one to believe the latter. When suddenly it changed completely. Their faces contorted into horrifying visages of pure, unadulterated fury. Their eyes changed from a light blue to a deep red and they grew almost a full meter in height.

I had but a moment to brace myself from within the fog. Heedless of injury, they fell on me as a wave. Gnashing fangs and scorching magic. And even through my bloody shield, I knew pain.







Hmmm, insubordination at a time like this? I Thought. This simply will not do. I drew a fraction of my newly subjugated power into my jagged horn, and began to feed my magic into a particularly powerful rage spell. I targeted those changelings outside the palace. Sensing them through the hive mind, I thrust the spell through, breaking their hollow minds and shattering any semblance of intelligence they once had. I fed the spell until i was sure the only emotion they felt was anamalistic rage. I smiled sweetly to myself and chuckled shallowly.
"I recognize that spell Chrysalis!"
I looked to the frazzled face, and bloodshot eyes of the purple unicorn, stuck in goo near the door.
"Oh really?"
"Yes really! That spell is monstrous! It destroys the mind completely! How could you cast it on a pony?!"
I paused for about a minute, letting some tension rise, I admittedly have a flare for the dramatic.
"Who said anything about it being cast on one of your kind, my little pony?"
She looked shocked, then scared. I smiled as I saw the cogs turn in her head. Eventually her hamster wheels gave her a conclusion, one that painted her face hilariously to my sadistic eyes.
"With the amount of magic you used," she paused, swallowing her nervousness. "You could turn even one of the princesses into a monster,"
"That is precisely the point, our guest shall die before he ever graces these halls"
The pony looked defeated, and began muttering to herself. Probably finally realizing the futility of her situation. Varying levels of shock were on the ponies faces. The butter pegasus had retreated into herself completely. The pink one had a look of sadness, her mane unlike what it had been days prior, then light and poofy, now flat and glossy. Both the orange, stetson-wearing earth pony and the rainbow pegasus looked beyond livid. The only puzzlement to be seen was the white unicorn, who surprised me by speaking.
"How could you just....just........ CONDEMN your own subjects like that?! Celestia would never do the same to one of hers!"
"And what makes you think I want to be anything like the pony princess stewing in digestive juices?"
The elements, as well as everyone else in the room, gasped.
"YOU'RE GOING TO KILL HER?!?!??!" The element of magic splurted, somewhere in between an absolute rage and utter horror.
"No, I am not going to kill her, I am killing her. However slowly draining her of all her magic takes to kill her. It might take years. So i'm just using her as a magic reservoir for now." Though I can't actually use any of the magic until she is dead, which will only take another hour or so. I chuckled dryly behind a holey hoof. But they don't need to know that, as naive as they are.
"Why are you doing this?" The frightened, winged butter horse actually came out from behind her mane.
"For food of course! Your emotions are oh so very tasty," I earned a glare from Cadence, and only smiled back.
"But who is the food for?" A steely look was in her eye.
"Me and my subjects of course, who else?"
She looked confused and angry, but such a meek, shy pony being so aggressive with someone as powerful as myself was so... By tartarus itself she looks adorable, I shall keep her nearby, her adorableness will allow me to harvest emotions of affection more easily from ponies near her.
"The same subjects you are condemning to madness outside?!" 
I looked at the little pony with a raised brow. She is either brave or suicidal. But she IS adorable, I will indulge her curiosity.
"They are not a fraction of the changeling swarm, foal. Sacrificing their lives for the safety of their queen is nothing but an honor, and such an honor any changeling could only beg for." I mentally gave a command. All the changeling guards in the room quickly rose a hoof to their heads and said in unison.
"An honor!" 
All said it well, all but two, who said nothing at all. I looked at the changelings quizzically. They were the two that came in with the dead changeling that bore the news of the threat being dealt with outside. They simply stood there, looking at their still bleeding companion on the floor in front of them. Their gazes were horrified and confused.. It seems the tale of the fallen one has shook them. They will recover in time. I contemplated punishing them for disobedience. But before I could, a bone-chilling shout deafened all present. Nobody, including myself, moved a muscle. We were all in a strange kind of magic induced paralysis. After about a minute, panic began to set in. 
"I-I-I have a r-r-really pinchy kn-kn-knee," The element of laughter near whispered, but it was so quiet in the room you could hear a feather drop, so literally everyone heard her as if she shouted her little statement. 
All of the element's suddenly looked a lot more terrified than before. They began to whisper to one another as I rallied the changelings in the room.  A bottleneck is sure to work, right? The creature is still not dead, if I only bring back the troops still fighting him I could.. 
"*GASP*"
The ceiling shook, and my blood ran cold. I realized I couldn't feel the presence of any of the changelings that were supposed to be outside. No...... he couldn't have. He simply could not have. There is no way he dispatched them all?! I frantically sent a mass recall command to every changeling in canterlot. I looked to the door that was the entrance to the throne room, and winced when a resounding crack met the ears of everyone present. 
"What the buck was that!?" The rainbow pony reflexively shouted. She did not know, but I knew. The palace entrance had just been sundered entirely. I looked at the throne room door again. I just need to buy some time for my reinforcements to arrive. I wove a resilience spell into the door. I strengthened the material, the hinges, and the surrounding wall for good measure. I began to draw a large portion of my magic into my horn, preparing a strike more than even the most ancient of dragons could withstand. Once it was charged I waited.... and waited. The silence was deafening. All eyes beheld the door, including my own. 
After hours of waiting. (2 minutes). I watched with horror as a red fog began to seep through the cracks in the door. Oh no, is that blood magic?  I tested it with a small burst of kinetic, magical energy. It was absorbed into the fog, and the magic negated completely. I sensed it follow the mist back through the door and into a reservoir of magic beyond. A MASSIVE reservoir. That is blood magic, that is 100% blood magic. Oh tartarus this is going to be bad.
The magic began to work its way up the door, coating it, until the entire door was nearly concealed by a veil of crimson. I fed even more magic into my horn. The second this thing comes into view, i'm going to hit it hard. The door fizzled briefly and my protection ward ceased to exist in under 30 seconds, there was no way reinforcements would arrive in time. Well that's not fair at all. The door slowly opened. []Very slowly. A hand appeared, much like a minotaur's, only no fur and with an extra didget. That, and it was entirely coated in red. The door opened further and I readied my magic. 
A being looking completely broken stood at the door. Massive gashes covered his body from top to bottom. His leg was bent at an awkward angle even a fool knew was not natural. Some of his skin was brutally singed, and the smell of burning flesh began to seep into the room. The massive reservoir of magic is all but gone.  Even his lone article of clothing, the fur cloth around his waist, was ripped and soaked completely through with his own blood. 
Regardless of his tattered state, his eyes burned with a determination that peered into the depths of my soul. It was as if I could feel him rummaging around in my heart, with only his eyes. I felt so vulnerable in front of him, every secret I ever had laid bare. Every dark thought...I decided it was high time to blast him to pieces. I sparked the spell and a magic lance shot from my horn right at the creature.
He did not even try to dodge, my lance impaled the right side of his chest, and kept on going. I realized my mistake. The lance would only detonate the magic if it hit a sufficient enough barrier, his flesh is exposed, it simply pierced right through him. I wasted so much magic on that spell! I raged silently. The lance hit a palace wall somewhere behind the creature and detonated. A brilliant flash of light blinded my sensitive dark vision eyes, as a tidal wave of magic floored most everyone in the room.
I was robbed of most sensation. I was dulled everywhere. I could not see and I could barely think, but I could hear. I heard the ponies scream, and fall to the floor. I heard my changelings hiss erratically, then go silent. I rose to my hooves as some cognitive function returned to me, and began projecting wild blasts of magic out of fear, I felt myself lift into the air and I shot more and more, until my magic was depleted completely. Most higher level thinking began to leave me, as it occurred to me I could not breath. I began to struggle as fiercely as my numbed body would allow.
I opened my eyes, and saw through the tears a bloody, bearded face, devoid of emotion. He is holding me, why is he holding me? I wondered. I could not reason why, until I remembered my breathing problem. He is... choking me. I tried to scream, but could not. My tired mind tried to comprehend the lack of a hive presence, and as my brain suffered further the effects of oxygen deprivation, I began to see black along my vision. 




My consciousness faded.
As he killed me, I did not make a sound.
> Chapter 4: The Night Sky
> --------------------------------------------------------------------------

	The crumpled corpse that was once a queen fell from my grasp. I looked down at her. So….. arrogant.  I do not think she was actually afraid, not until I was banging on her door. She earned her bloody fate. A quick glance around told me the ponies were horrified , with exception to Cadence, who looked remorseful more than anything. The changelings were in some kind of daze, swinging their heads around pitifully and muttering incoherently as they stumbled about.
The crimson fog around me faded, and its pain numbing powers went with it. My body is failing me. I thought grimly. I had been seared badly by the green magic, and once enraged the changelings proved that their fangs could be very sharp. I must rest soon.
I lowered myself slowly to my knees, and then my hands as my fatigue took hold of me. 
The ponies freed themselves, and went to tend to their wounded groom-to-be. I heard the background violence of a city at siege cease. What's left? Or rather, who?
Cadence was powerful, more so than I had thought at first. I could feel her magic like a large dragon’s fiery breath in the room. She was not alone, Twilight’s magic burned like a small star, but the pulsing sack connected to the ceiling, that burned like an actual star. Only slightly weaker than the bug queen’s magic had been. Their princess... what was her name? The sack was pulsating slowly, seemingly digesting the pony within. If not broken, that magic stomach will kill her. I tried to rise to my feet, to free her, but without the blood magic to sustain me I was without the strength to do so. I turned my head back to the ground in front of me, and used all my remaining strength to keep from collapsing into a heap.
Several moments later I felt a tap on my right shoulder. I turned my head to look at a sunflower-coated pegasus with a pink mane. Her cutie mark one of three butterflies, my head fell back to facing the ground after a glance.
“You killed her,” She said, her eyes had looked determined, but brimming with tears. Not used to the blood I suppose.
I tried to speak, to tell her to free the princess, that she needs help, but my voice eluded me. A pool of blood was forming at my hands and knees, running along my body. I could not tell her to save her princess, but I could answer her query. I gave a half-hearted nod. 
I felt something wet and soft touch a particularly nasty gash along my shoulder, I glanced and saw her rubbing a cloth along my wound. With the way it stung, water is not what made it wet. A potion perhaps?
“Thank you,” She near whispered. Almost as if she did not want anybody to hear.
“Fluttershy what are you doing!” A southern female voice sounded from behind me, I heard several sets of hoofsteps approach.
“I-I-Im just tending to the cuts so they don’t get infected... if thats ok..” I saw a two sets of hooves, orange and white, out of the corner of my eye.
“Did you SEE this….this…..this….WHATEVER IT IS just kill the changeling queen!?” The voice was rather pompous, I remembered rich nobles and snotty royalty. Grating as ever.
“Well yes but the queen was hurting lots of ponies and Cadence and Twilight’s brother and Princess Celestia and I thought I should help and, and…” 
A wet smack interrupted her as someone cut free the magic stomach and it spilt over the ground.  I could see whatever, or whoever was inside stood on four white hooves, but they were clad in golden horseshoes. Ah, the fabled princess at last. I tried to rise, but managing to wrench myself to my knees alone would have to do. The concerned Fluttershy continued to tend to my cuts as I stared at this country's supposed leaders. 
----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------

My sweet Shining is ok. Check. The Queen is dead. Check. Celestia is…..where is she? I looked around the room, notably ignoring the corpse and Wrath’s prone form. I saw some of the Elements of Harmony congregating around him. I spied the sack pulsing near the ceiling. There she is! I trotted over and reached out with my magic. The spell binding the occupant was easily broken with the caster dead. It began to fall from the ceiling and split just before it hit the ground, the form of Celestia stood while the sack splattered to the ground around her. As regal as ever. My senior princess was undoubtedly the most elegant. Though she is dripping with goo…..ew.
Celestia looked around the room carefully, eventually setting her gaze down on the dead changeling queen. She looked sad, heartbroken even. She had wanted to defeat her, but not kill her. My ears splayed back and I trotted to her side.
“It’s done Celestia, but Canterlot is safe now,”
“...........is it?” she asked. She was now looking at Wrath, an emotionless mask plastered firmly on her face. He had risen to a kneeling position, and was looking at Celestia with a face that seemed like it was supposed to be stoic, but just looked tired. So that’s what a kneeling biped looks like. 
“This is my friend, Celestia. He has risked his life to help us, he is no danger to us.” 
Wrath watched her intently, with a searching look that seemed to peer into her soul,  she returned the look. For several long minutes the two just stared at each other. Celestia proud and dripping goo, regal and fierce; Wrath looked determined, yet tired and kneeling. The other ponies began to vacate the room and the remaining elements joined Rarity, Fluttershy, and Applejack by Wrath, with exception to Twilight who was caring for her brother. They formed a half circle behind the wounded human. Some of the ponies grew nervous and fidget as the two stared at each other. I wonder what they’re thinking. The building tension was dissipated when Wrath smiled. Which was very odd to see. A happy grin on a haggard face, dripping with blood.
“You...  you are the princess Celestia... that Cadence and Twilight have said so much about.... aren't you?” his voice rasped horrendously, it seemed to be taking a considerable amount of effort to speak.
“I am, but I can not say I know you, creature. However you have saved my ponies and myself, wounding yourself in the process. For that you have my gratitude,” Her stoic mask broke as she gave Wrath a humble bow and a small smile, now she just looked tired. Being digested like that must have been horrible. I shuddered.
"There will be time for thanks later however, the city must be tended to at once, besides, your wounds still bleed," 



My mind is abuzz with questions. Here I stand in the palace throne room. The very same one from two days prior, and it's like the invasion never happened at all. I glanced toward Shining, who now looked rested and happy to be at his own wedding in a sound state of mind. The throne room was exactly as it should be. No roaming changeling hordes, no evil impostor Cadence, just a nice, formal wedding. Celestia stood hosting the ceremony next to me, she no longer drips in that goo. It took over a day for her to get it off. And we STILL don't know what is was.
A lot has happened in the past two days..
My mentor Celestia had Canterlot cleaned up rather quickly. Most of the time and effort went to repairing damaged houses, and disposing of the changeling bodies. Everypony was told to steer clear of the entire southern side of the city, because of a quarantine Celestia had set up. I wonder why... No no, Celestia told me not to worry about it, so I won't. There were very few pony fatalities, the bodies had been  cleanly taken care of and funerals were given. 
Celestia asked me and the other elements go around and boost the morale of the city. Pinkie got to throw many of her new " Canterlot is safe now" parties and "Bug Queen is gone" parties. Rainbow Dash tried to help with cleaning up the quarantine, but pretty much only a few high ranking guards were allowed in. Applejack and Rarity had helped rebuild, and Fluttershy had gone to help the hurt. Speaking of the hurt, I did not see Wrath once after Chrysalis was killed. Celestia and Cadence had helped him to one of the royal rooms, Luna's I think, given that she was out in Saddle Arabia as a diplomat it would make sense. I wonder if he is still in Luna's room? He probably- 
"Here she comes," 
I EEPed and frantically looked around, Celestia was looking past me. 
"Here comes who?" 
"Cadence silly!"
The throne room opened and Cadence came through, elegant in her wedding dress, traditional white but laced with gold. Wow She was preceded by the flower fillies, who skipped and ginned along the way. I looked to the side and saw my brother in his lovely suit, who had the most sincere grin I had ever seen on his face. What a wonderful wedding.




I awoke to the sound of a chime, singing softly. Where am I? I was surrounded by softness and warmth. My eyes slowly cracked open to see a dark blue ceiling, ornate as any palace I have ever seen. So I'm still in the palace. I looked around the rest of the room, it seemed to be a royal bedchamber of some kind. Everything was a blue. From the lightish blue of the carpets and the walls, to the deep navy blue of the bed sheets and the ceiling. A ceiling that hung at least 20 meters in the air, a large chandelier hanging with a replica of the moon upon it. It was made of a black stone, most likely obsidian. 
I sat myself up and looked over my body. All of the lesser cuts and burns were gone entirely, only the blackest burns and deepest gashes remained, and they were bandaged securely. Though they hurt tremendously, they would not be a hindrance. In addition, my loincloth had been repaired. Or rather, replaced. What was once a loincloth made out of the finest bear fur, is now some white fluffy material, it is comfortable, but I will have to skin the next bear I see, as only a traditional loincloth is suitable for battle. For now however, this makeshift one will have to do. It seems the ponies now are much more caring than they were before. The old King would have let me go naked than replace my loincloth.
I rose from the warmth of the lavish bed and stood. A head rush sent me reeling but I recovered quickly. Using that much magic at once had been necessary, as those enhanced changeling were an actual threat, but this backlash will be hellish for at least the next several days. I walked to the open window, were I saw a expensive looking chime. It was hanging from a rather large balcony. 
I walked out onto the balcony and was presented with a commanding view of the city. It was in much better shape than it appeared prior. Wait... How long have I been asleep? The full moon was high in the sky, and the stars shone brilliantly. Were I an astronomer, I would simply look at the start to tell the date, but, as I am not an astronomer, I will find another way. 
After admiring the night sky for perhaps another 30 minutes, I decided to go searching for the princess, that "Celestia". As her magic is powerful, and I can feel it radiating from the balcony. I left the room by its large obsidian door. Immediately outside stood two guards both wearing black and blue armor, thestrals. Standing stock still on either side of the door, they were obeying the traditional pony guard rules. I suppose some things must remain the same. They are supposedly unable to move or react to outside input. Looking from one to the other I saw them profusely sweating. They are not as relaxed as they let on, that, or their armor is very warm indeed. I simply walked by them and began down a spiral staircase that led away from the room. 
After reaching the bottom I began to follow after the star of magic. It lead me through corridor after corridor until it led to a marble door, larger than those I had been passing. Music and the sounds of many voices came from the room beyond. She is just on the other side. I opened it and walked through.
All the chatter that had been going came to an abrupt halt, even the music ceased. The room was large, and ponies were everywhere. Some were congregated at tables with white tablecloth drinking what I can only assume is wine.  Some had been dancing in front of a large orchestra, but now stood frozen, as did the orchestra. Cadence was on the dance floor, with a blue maned, white stallion unicorn. I scanned the room until I found Celestia, standing near a large fixture of Ice in the shape of two ponies dancing.
"Please calm down everypony, return to the after-party there is no cause for alarm," Celestia announced as she cantered over to me. The orchestra was the first to recover, and when they did the party began to resume as ponies recovered from the shock of seeing something standing taller than Celestia burst into the room.
"How many days have I slept?" I asked the alicorn when she reached me.
"Oh not long, about two days, a little longer. We did all we could to cure your wounds, but some were simply beyond our healing magic. It was all we could do, as our hospitals are not outfitted to handle someone of your......proportions."
"What is a hospital?" I asked.
"Oh its.....never mind it is irrelevant, I am just surprised you are already awake,"
"I am surprised I slept as long as I did," She raised a brow a this.
"Cadence told me about you.. somewhat... but she said that you were trapped for a long time, a very long time, is that true?"
"A very long time is an understatement, but yes, it is true,"
"Then would it not make sense, that the first sleep you have had in, however long, would be longer than you are accustom to?" I slowly nodded.
"I suppose so," Our conversation paused briefly as the party returned to full swing. She beckoned me to follow her.
"Cadence also told me of the deal you two made," She glanced back at me, her eyes were filled with concern. 
"I want to trust you, you have saved both Equestria and myself, however please understand that you have only demonstrated the trait that had you imprisoned, and did so quite effectively." I remained silent as she led me to a table with six mares around it. One of them being Twilight. They all had on strange jewelry, Twilight with a tiara and the rest with necklaces. It took a moment but my eyes widened as I had a realization. Those were the Elements of Harmony, the very same elements that the damnable King and Queen had used to imprison me.
"So for this reason, I would have you stay in Ponyville, a small village near here, and be monitored by these six mares for one years time." She stopped us just before we were within earshot of the table. She used her magic and gently lowered my head, whispering in my ear.
"I will not tolerate anything that is a threat to my ponies, If you demonstrate that you are more than a bloodthirsty killer, then after a years time I will allow you to go where you please. But the King and Queen that imprisoned you, Wrath, were my parents." My entire body tensed at once, and I began to summon all the remaining magic in my body, which was not much at all, to my fists. She immediately noticed and hastily added before anybody around us noticed the magic.
"I never spoke with them, but they left writings of a unique creature named 'Wrath', they called him a monster, a monster that delighted in slaughter. Their writings told of how the elements imprisoned him forever, they did not say where. They said that he should rot away for all eternity for his crimes... But I never met them, or you. And I believe in second chances."
She released her telekinetic hold on my head and I rose back to my full height, dissipating the magic I had summoned. I sighed deeply and closed my eyes.
"I do not have much of a choice do I?" My eyes were closed, but I could feel the sad look she was giving me.
"My hooves are tied Wrath, I have to be sure you're not a monster. Besides, you are immortal correct? It shouldn't be so bad to put up with some harmony for a year, should it?"
I stood in silence for a moment, thinking. She is the daughter of those damnable royals, but she is completely different from them. They did not care for their subjects, they were greedy and vain. This Celestia has very little evil in her heart, but no heart is without at least some evil. She has only demonstrated kindness thus far. I opened my eyes and looked down at her face full of pity.  Her face contorted with sympathy as it was, it made me want to pet her, but I restrained myself. Well, whats a year to an eternity in silence?
"I accept,"
She clapped her hooves.
"Fantastic!" She led me the remaining distance to the elements.
"Girls, I have somebody I would like you to meet,"




Far south from the lands of ponies, in a misty jungle known as the Shumji. A jungle that matches the Everfree Forest in sheer evil, something unnatural stirs. Beneath twisted boughs of gnarled trees and hanging vines, beneath the twisted creatures that roamed therein, beneath the blackened dirt, lay an egg. Three meters tall and 1.5 around. It is covered thickly, in black, hellish vines. These vines act as veins, connecting the egg to the surrounding dirt as they feed it dark magic from the forest itself. The egg has layed here, beneath the jungle dirt, since the great cataclysm. It is a remnant of something maliciously unnatural, from a time forgotten. For eons, the egg has lacked one component. To hatch, it needs just a hair, of true blood magic. Only the kind spawned by total blood lust will do, and carried in on the wind just minutes prior, was one such magic.
One crack appeared, marring the pristine exterior of the massive, deep-purple chrysalis. The black tendrils surrounding and coating the egg began to shrivel and die, slowly igniting, and burning to ash. Another crack, followed by another. The egg begins to writhe, twisting and contorting, squirming upwards.
Above a chimera patiently waits, looking for prey. Being below the rank of "apex predator of the jungle," it must keep some semblance of stealth. It presently hid beneath some underbrush, watching for some lesser monster to cross its vision. It waits, then something odd occurs. A purplish gray........thing..... emerges from the ground. As it rises the chimera licks all three sets of its lips, hungry and finally being presented a meal. The thing burrows further out of the ground, and the chimera starts stalking towards it, drooling all the while. It looks organic to the predator, pulsing with life and therefor, edible. The chimera rears back, and pounces.
A viscous claw bursts through the embryonic membrane moments before the beast would have impacted, tearing through the chimera's goat head and coming out the other side. The chimera's remaining heads begin to howl in agony as another claw tears from the embryo into its chest. Four other viscous blade-like claws swing in all directions, and the egg shreds completely, its remnants splattering across the forest in all directions, which slowly start to catch fire. A large ovular head spiked and vicious, with slitted dragon-esque eyes thrusts into the chest of the chimera, and begins to devour organ after still living organ. A demonic cackle erupts from the monsters jaws as it bites into the beating heart of the chimera, finally ending the poor beast.
After devouring the would-be apex predator, the monster stands. Four meters tall, with wicked fangs the size of a ponies forehoof. The monster looks about. Its slender legs ending with three clawed toes, which daintily carry its weight. It leaps from the ground to a nearby tree; for balance, it embeds three of its six sword-like, clawed appendages into the bark . A long, spiked, reptilian tail swings slowly. The tail becomes rigid as the creatures entire carapace seems to lighten in color, become translucent, and fade from sight.
"Help! Somebody help!" A young girls voice calls from the unseen beast's mouth, luring unsuspecting prey into its midst. 
> Chapter 5: A Town Called Ponyville
> --------------------------------------------------------------------------

	The 'Equestrian Express,' is what they call the great metal..... thing I am currently in. A feat of technology and magic used to transport groups of ponies and cargo from place to place using pre-placed pathways. As interesting as the contraption is, its occupants are far more so. I am sitting in a transport 'car' with my captors, or as Celestia put it, friends. 

The pink one is an oddity I still don't quite understand. She is called 'Pinkie Pie', but I am to call her Pinkie, so she tells me. It is what her friends call her, so I should as well, apparently. She is a baker, and swears I shall try her cupcakes. The element of laughter is strange indeed.

The orange earth pony is a farmer, an apple farmer so aptly named Applejack. She appears hardworking, and I imagine she would have great difficulty telling even the smallest lie, fitting for the element of honesty I suppose.

Both the pegasi, Rainbow Dash and Fluttershy, the elements of loyalty and kindness respectively, had very little to say. After my wounds were tended to, Fluttershy has not spoken to me save to tell me her name. Rainbow Dash said she was a weather pony and clammed up shortly after. I do not know why.

Rarity is a master of cloth, or 'fashionista' as she puts it. One who sows and mends clothing. At first I thought it might be a good idea to ask her where I might find a bear, or at the very least, bear fur. But when the element of generosity brought up Fluttershy's pet bear, I deemed it unwise. There was also a small purple drake near her hooves, hanging on her every word. I knew not why he was there but I did know he had been at the wedding that I crashed.

The last of my captors is the element of magic, Twilight. Who has been bombarding me with questions non-stop since we climbed aboard this steel contraption.

"How is it that your wounds mended so fast?" I opened my mouth to respond.

"Well I-"

"Celestia expected you to be out for weeks but you recovered in just two days! How did you do it?" She questioned from the bench next to me. I glowered at her a bit then sighed.

"...I draw from airborne magic to heal my wounds."

"You draw on ambient magic and are able to manifest it? Fascinating!" The overexcited unicorn's eyes lit with passion.

"Starswirl wrote of how difficult is was for him to draw on ambient magic and he was one of the best! Do you use Starswirl's theorem of magical resonance or Clover's theorem of ambient magical atrophy to achieve such an impressive healing factor?"

I opened my mouth to tell her that I have no idea who these ponies are, but before I could..

"Oh I know! You use the more modern magic synthesizing theorems to suck magic right out of the air don't you! But you don't have nearly enough mass to achieve that, unless... say,  do you...." 

I clamped my hand over her mouth. She struggled briefly then stopped and stared at me. I very slowly removed my hand . She sighed dejectedly and rested her head on her fore hooves. 

"Sorry, I get a little excited sometimes,"

I chuckled quietly.

"Believe me Twilight, I have seen much worse."

Her friends were on the other side of the car. Having some idle conversation and glancing our way every so often. I could tell Applejack, Rarity, and Rainbow dash still harbored suspicion of me. Why wouldn't they?

I looked out the window and beheld a mountain in the distance, forested and tall, with a silver and gold city atop it. The city was foreign to me, but the mountain was not. So many years...gone. Wasted. 

I sat, brooding, with my head turned to the window, when I noticed a weight on my lap. I looked and saw Pinkie was laying there, belly up. With her position, and the way the glanced from my hands to her belly, there was no room for argument, this pony wanted a belly rub.

I sighed and began to pet her, lightly patting her soft belly fur beneath my calloused fingers. She layed there with a dreamy smile all the while. Twilight and Fluttershy looked at me with smiles of amusement, but the other three seemed disturbed. I ignored them and returned to staring out the window, this time greeted by the fleeting vision of the mountain as well as a grassy plain. The sounds of the ponies conversation returned.

Soon I had a dozing pony in my lap, she had stretched her legs when she fell asleep, leaving herself in an awkward pose on my lap. I gently flipped her over and returned to idly petting her as my mind began to slow down and tire as well. I noticed twilight leaning on me, I looked at her with a raised brow and she just yawned, and claimed my arm in a hug. She was soon asleep, before too long, so was I.




"This is Ponyville station, Ponyville. Will all passengers for this destination please disembark. Thank you and have a nice day. 

I was rudely awoken to a booming overhead voice. I wearily processed what it said as my instincts took over and I tried to rise to a defensive position, But when I tried however, I noticed something was...off. I looked down and realized I was covered in ponies. I remembered the sleeping party pony on my lap and swore internally.

When a pony falls asleep, if other ponies are idle, they will congregate to said pony and fall asleep as well. The harmony magic at work within them causes this I surmise, or perhaps they are simply very affectionate as a species. Regardless, Pinkie was still on my lap, and during the remainder of the journey Twilight had spilled over into my lap as well. The other 4 were on either side of me, laying down. I was in the very center of a pony-pile. The only one not in the pile was the drake. Who was already awake and looking through a small booklet across the isle.

As cute as these ponies were when they slept, we had to get off the metallic behemoth if that voice was to be believed. I slowly rose, carefully brushing all but Pinkie off my lap. I stood cradling the baking pony and began heading for the exit, all of the ponies groggy but waking thanks to the voice, whatever it was. I found the door quickly enough and walked out into the night. 

Wherever we were was lit by small lights encased in glass, atop large metal poles. I examined the quaint but oddly rural town as I waited for the other 5 ponies. It was not a large town, only a couple thousand ponies could live here in total. Why would such a small village be so near their capital city? My captors came lumbering off the train, groggy with drooping eyes.

"Whew, I'm beat, hey, we'll should talk tomorrow, I'm gonna go get me some shuteye," Rainbow Dash proclaimed as she took off into the night sky. I gave her a hollow wave with my free hand. 

"That sounds like a plan, I'm gonna hit the hay too, I'll see y'all tomorrow." Applejack said as she trotted away, stumbling slightly as she did so. 

My load suddenly seemed much lighter. I looked down at my hand holding Pinkie to notice the pony was gone, but in her place, a note. Curious... I did not see her move. I read the note.
	Dear Wrath
Tomorrow at exactly 5 O Clock is your 'Welcome to Ponyville' party. 
Don't be late!
- Your Friend
Pinkie
P.S. I hope you like cupcakes!

P.S.S. I really hope you like cupcakes!

I rose a brow and quickly memorized the paper, before feeding it to a small plume of fire. I looked up to see a confused Twilight with the small, sleeping drake riding her back was all that remained of my 'entourage'.  The rest must have departed while I read.

"What was that?" She asked, her curiosity beating out her weariness.

"A note from Pinkie, I apparently have a party tomorrow at 5 O clock," I paused. Twilight watched me expectantly.

"And for some reason it is imperative to her that I am fond of something called a 'cupcake',"

She only laughed as she began to lead me through the city.

"So for the next year, it is likely you will be staying with me." 

"Indeed, as decreed by your princess," She slowed down and looked back at me, raising her head slightly so she could look me in the eye.

"Please don't think of this as a prison sentence Wrath. I promise you will have fun!" She smiled. Fun? I grunted in response. She sighed and returned to full stride. We passed many a small thatch-roofed house, and made many turns before arriving at what appeared to be a tree. A tree complete with windows and a door. I blinked.

"This is your home?" I asked.

"Yes, it is. Now lets go inside shall we?" She approached the door and unlocked it with practiced ease using her magic. She ushered me in and I was met with a library. A library complete with a kitchen, a bust of a unicorn, and several other oddities. I skeptically looked at the purple unicorn as she climbed a set of stairs leading to a second floor. The irony of a library filled with books made from trees, inside a tree, was not lost on me.

"Come on now, there is a guest bedroom down this hall," She pointed with a forehoof to a corridor branching off what appeared to be her and her drake's sleeping arrangements. 

I carefully climbed the small steps and walked down the corridor.

"First room on the- *yawn* left," Twilight tiredly stated. I estimated it was several hours after midnight. I followed her instruction and went into a small but homely looking room with a dresser and a bed. I carefully lay myself in the much too small bed. My head was resting on the pillow, but my legs were bent at the knee and my feet were on the ground.

I have slept on worse.  I closed my eyes and relaxed my body, this time willingly allowing sleep to take me.





I awoke to something small and pointy tapping against my shoulder. My sleep had been dreamless yet rejuvenating, as always. I opened my eyes and looked to a small purple drake as it poked my shoulder. When it saw I was awake it did something I did not expect.

It talked.


"I made breakfast, Twilight is already awake and told me to come get you, so c'mon!" The drake was pulling at my shoulder, trying futily to pull me with him. I simply sat up.

"You can talk?" I asked, bewilderment lacing my tone.

"Of course I can talk"

"But you are just a hatchling aren't you?" I asked the strange drake. He looks no older than a year, yet he can talk? A normal drake cannot speak until they reach two to three years of age. How was this one talking?

"I am ten years old thank you very much!" The drake then stormed out of the room, offended. Now I was just more confused. How is a dragon that old that small? I wondered. It was a mystery for later however. I retraced my steps to the kitchen where I found a groggy Twilight with a checklist suspended in her magic. The list went from the top of a clipboard down onto the ground in a large heap.  There were a large stack of golden disks on the table. They looked unlike anything I had ever seen.

"What are those?" I asked the purple pony. She slowly rose her gaze from the list to the disks, and then looked at me a little more awake than before.

"You mean you don't know what a pancake is?" she asked. I shook my head. 

"Well, it is a baked good made from wheat and flour, traditionally eaten with maple syrup." She smiled and floated a bottle, some 'pancakes', and a plate toward a seat at the table.

"Do come and try one, Spike is very good at making them," I approached the table and gingerly sat in one of it's chairs, it creaked some, but it held. I relaxed and looked toward the wonderfully smelling 'pancakes'. This is new.





A sickening crunch resounded around the small clearing. An overturned merchant wagon was slowly burning as its contents, silk and other cloth, lay scattered on the ground. The monster was devouring a poor pony merchant couple who had decided to stop their traveling carriage and look for a little filly lost near the outskirts of the jungle. They had ventured in calling to the foal. Only to meet a swift and brutal end.

The monster finished its meal and let out a throaty chuckle. The most important meal of the day. It thought as the sun began to peak over the tops of the trees surrounding the clearing. The monster rather enjoyed the taste of the ponies flesh. It was sweet and tender. Completely unalike the tough flavorless meat of the jungle fauna.

I must have more of it.

The monster than began to bound out of the jungle. Its two legs acting as springs it made it to the treeline very quickly. Once there is cautiously looked about. The slight shrubbery slowly gave way to a grassland that spread as far as the creature could see. It began in a mad dash into the tall grass, running fast enough to win medals all across Equestria.  The speeding predator seemed a stray gust of wind, gently blowing across the grassland as it sped eagerly toward whatever may be out there.





After finishing the 'pancakes', Twilight and myself had departed the library to visit her friends, the other elements of harmony. We were to begin with those in town, then move to those out of town. We would not be visiting Rainbow Dash's home in the clouds.

Moving through the town had been easy. Ponies parted for me as if I was some long lost princess of equestria. Some even bowed. Why would they treat me this well? All I did was battle changelings... That brought something else to the forefront of my mind. The changelings.

"Twilight," I asked slowly.

"Yes?"

"Whatever happened to all those changelings after their queen died?"

"Well, we are not really sure." I rose my brows as we kept walking. Looking at her intently.

"After a day of stumbling around aimlessly, the changelings all suddenly took off, heading in different directions. I have no idea why. But that is a riddle for another time, we are here."

Our first stop is easily the strangest building I have ever seen. It looks to be made of candy, it is both a bakery and Pinkie Pie's home.  Twilight and myself walk up the steps and enter the confectionery. Inside a motherly looking blue mare greets us from behind a counter.

"Hello Twilight! And hello..." The pony trails off, looking directly at me. I blink. She blinks. She gestures with a hoof. I cock my head to the side.

"Wrath," Twilight interjects. "His name is Wrath Mrs. Cake, is Pinkie in?" She looks thoughtful for a moment before responding.

"Yes, she is in the back baking something for a party later tonight, another one of her 'Welcome to Ponyville' parties I assume." 

"That does sound like her, lets go say hello, shall we Wrath?" 

"Of course," She leads the way through the customer part of the store, behind a counter, and into a large kitchen. Where Pinkie is diligently trying to do.........something, I'm sure. She is staring at a peculiar metal box, with strange knobs and a glass pane.

We stood in silence for over a minute before Twilight decided to break the ice and grab the mare's attention.

"What are you baking pinkie?"

She slowly looks up from the contraption and turns her head to us. Madly grinning, she jumps toward me. 

I catch her and hold her up like a puppy.

"Can I help you?" I ask her.

"Well, yeah! Duh! You can try these cupcakes!" She looks thoughtful for a split second before wrenching herself from my grasp and bolting back to her seat in front of the metal box.

"Just as soon as they are done!" She sits unmoving from her position on the floor. 

"Pinkie, watching the oven that closely might hurt your eyes." Twilight tried to convince the party mare.

"But if I don't watch them this closely, how will I know when they are at the right delishinatude?" She didn't look away from the oven.

"Delishinatude.......right......well we are going to go see Rarity now, I guess we will see you later, right pinkie?" 

"Oh yes Twilight, you will," She turned and gave us both a rather predatory grin. "You too Wrath," she added. I nodded slowly and began to back out of the store, Twilight on my heels.

"She is weird, but she has never been that weird before." Twilight said once we were safely outside.

"That mare is most disturbing," I added gravely. "Now to the element of generosity's home, yes?"

"Yes, its right this way," she began walking down the road with me following. "It is quite a.....unique building."

"How do you mean?"

"Oh, you'll see." She nodded sagely. "Its just up ahead."

We came into view of a garish circular building. It is unlike any building I have ever seen before, marking the third time in 24 hours that such a sight has occurred.

"Do all of you elements have a disturbingly unique home?" 

"Well..... I mean..." she trailed off, we were nearly at the front door before she finished. "I suppose so, except maybe Fluttershy," 

We entered the lavish home, a bell striking at we crossed the threshold. A sing-song voice carried down from the top of a set of stairs.

"♫ Be with you in just a moment!♫"

We waited and I examined the room. There was white pony figures everywhere. Some bare and some draped in pony clothing. The supplies for such clothing spread everywhere in the room. The room being connected to a hallway leading deeper into the house. A white unicorn foal with a bi-colored purple mane appeared walking out from said hallway.  She had on a saddlebag.

"Rarity I'm going to meet Applebloom and Scootaloo ok?" the foal shouted as she entered the room proper. As she walked onward she saw Twilight, and began to smile, then she saw me. Her body froze mid stride. Her mouth hanging open dumbly.

"Have fun dear!" Rarity's voice shouted back from above. The foal didn't move, and neither did I. Twilight however, did. She approached the foal and waved a hoof in front of her face.

"Are you ok Sweetie belle?" She asked the frozen filly.

".................what is that..........." The filly whispered. I could not hear her, but I could read her lips.

"That is my friend Wrath, Sweetie. Are you going to be ok? He won't hurt you, if that is what you are thinking." Twilight answered the foals unasked question and she calmed herself. Lowering her mid-air hoof back to the ground. 

"Yeah ill be fine," she meekly replied before slowly making her way toward me. I realized I was blocking the door and moved aside for the young pony to pass. Once the door closed behind her we heard Rarity descending the stairs.

Turning, I saw her approach Twilight and hug her. She looked to me.

"How are you enjoying Ponyville so far?" she asked. After a moments thought I responded.

"It is a quaint town, it is nice, however the populace seems to think I am royalty. They vacate the area wherever I go," I responded. The two mares looked to each other with unreadable expressions. They seemed to have a silent conversation before Twilight turned to me.

"I thought you knew, the ponies aren't doing that because they think you are royalty, they do it because they are scared of you," She looked pained to say it and smiled nervously. "I'm sure they will get over it with time, they did with Zecora anyway." I stared at her with my usual stoic face. Afraid of me? It appears some things do not change.  I snorted. What possessed me to think they were treating me like royalty?

"Anyway, lets discuss over some tea, shall we?" Rarity was walking toward what I think is a kitchen. "Twilight I know you like Earl Grey, how about you Wrath?" She was already within her kitchen, with me and Twilight not far behind.

"........Do you have Jasmine?"





After an hour of speaking with the fashion pony we parted ways and began toward the outskirts of Ponyville toward a place called 'Sweet Apple Acres'. The farm of Honesty, Applejack. We walked toward the farmhouse and I saw, to my amazement, hundreds if not thousands of apple trees in every direction. Never in all my years have I seen a farm designed solely to harvest apples. 

As we neared the farmhouse we caught sight of Applejack bucking trees a little off the path. She collected the baskets the apples had fallen into, and put them onto a wagon. She began toward the nearby barn and spotted me and Twilight, who was enthusiastically waving. She weakly waved back and returned to pulling the cart to the barn. We reached her as she reached the barn. After putting the apples within she came trotting out, a smile on her face.

"Howdy Twilight and Wrath, I didn't expect you here so soon."

"Well," Twilight began, " Pinkie was preoccupied baking so we were only there for a moment before we went to Rarity's boutique. We can't exactly visit Rainbow Dash's home, and even if we could she would not be home. So we made it here fairly quick,"

"U-huh, well, I don't really have time to chat right now, being gone in canterlot for so long has put me real behind." She gestured to the apple trees around us, which I quickly noticed were either hanging heavy with fruit, or were bare, having just been bucked by the farm mare. "I got a lot of catching up to do, but I will make it to Pinky's party tonight."

"How unfortunate," I sadly remarked. I meant it too. I have some questions for the mare that I would like answered. But it will have to wait. Lucky for me I am very used to waiting.

"Oh well, I suppose that bumps up our visit with Fluttershy. Lets get out of her mane, Wrath." I nodded to her and we began to walk back toward town. "See you tonight Applejack!" she called out.

"See ya later sugercube!" The farm pony responded from the distance.





We had to go through the entire town to get to Fluttershy's home. It is clear on the opposite side of the town from Applejack's farm. After a small bridge we neared a cabin about 100 meters from a forest. the noonday sun shone down on dozens of small creatures that scampered about the cabin. 

We crossed a miniature bridge over a small stream and Twilight walked up to, and knocked, on the door. The animals seemed oblivious to us, running to and fro as if we were not even there.

Before long the door creaked open. Revealing half of the shy form of Fluttershy. Once she saw Twilight and myself she opened the door completely. 

"Hello Twilight, and um, Wrath.....please come in," The butter pegasus stood aside and allowed us entry. The house was humble, with small burrows for animals everywhere. Fluttershy ushered us onto her couch and sat across from us in an armchair. This amused me. The ponies build armchairs without the proper anatomy to utilize them. 

The three of us settled in when Fluttershy asked Twilight a question.

"Have I introduced you to my friend Roger?" She presented a black squirrel. "He has a problem,"





Before I knew it Fluttershy had sucked me and Twilight into a conversation about the squirrel population in the 'White Tail woods'.  The population of squirrels has apparently been decreasing rapidly due to the introduction of some new predator. Twilight promised the timid mare she would look into why such a thing could happen. We exchanged pleasantries once more before myself and Twilight left for Ponyville once again. 

We had spent considerably more time at Fluttershy's than anywhere else that day, and the sun now hung low in the sky.

"We should probably head over to Sugercube Corner before pinkie comes and drags us there," Twilight remarked as we made our way through the deserted town. Where are all the villagers? I wondered.

As we approached the bakery I felt a considerable amount of magic emanating from it. As if a considerable portion of the village was somehow crammed into the small building. Twilight and I stood at the precipice. Both of us unmoving.

"Well, go on then," She gave me a nervous smile. "After you,"

"No, ladies first, I insist," I responded, holding out a hand. She glared at me.

"I have had my welcome to Ponyville party already, its your turn," She glanced at the door. "Come on," she urged.

I sighed. And reached out to open the door. 

Whats the worst that could happen?
> Chapter 6: Strange Tidings
> --------------------------------------------------------------------------

	Long ago, there was a creature called a Black-Water shrimp. Looking like a large, blood-red shrimp, it almost always lurked near or just beyond the waters edge. Specifically, the edge along the eastern shore of equestria, far beyond the everfree forest. Now these 'shrimp' were huge, big enough to lift a manticore with one claw. They were known to prey on anything from a pony to a small dragons. They would hunt not by using their claws or mandibles, but rather, a hole next to the shrimps head on either side. These holes would project water that was pressurized within the shrimp at high velocities. 

The firing of its natural weapon makes a very distinctive sound, a unique POP. One I came to know rather well when a pony fisherman enlisted my aid in dealing with them. Their shell is easy enough to crack if you can get close to them, but their blasts of water are extremely deadly, fatal to most any creature. Myself included.





I eased the bakery door open, and inside saw darkness. Gripping the handle firmly, I pushed the door open the rest of the way, immediately thereafter bright lights exploded all around the room, accompanied by a loud POPing sound. 

"SURPRISE!!"

Acting on instinct and reflex, I knew I needed some kind of shield. So I grabbed the closest object I could get my hands on, or already had my hand on.

The door.



I tore it off the hinges and took a large step backwards, bowling over Twilight as I crouched behind the makeshift shield. Preparing my next move.

Here?! How are they here, I am inland! How could Black-Water shrimp be here?! My worry faded as the sound of ponies talking came from the doorway, and I heard Twilight groan from the ground beside me. Peaking around the door I saw a very confused Pinkie Pie as well as some fairly shocked party-goers, strange triangular hats atop their heads. Small flakes of colored paper settled to the ground all around the doorway. 

There was never a shrimp. I do not know what that noise was, but it was most assuredly not a shrimp. I stood from my crouched position as Twilight finally righted herself. I set the door down.

"What was that noise?" I demanded, the party pony looked taken aback. 

"It was my....party cannon?" Reaching behind her, she produced a pink cannon, complete with wheels. Twilight walked up to her.

"Maybe using a cannon is not the best idea around our new friend Pinkie,"

"But it's the party cannon! And this is a party!" Pinkie whined in response.

"Then we should get back to the party right?" The pink mare thinks for a moment, chin on hoof, before nodding enthusiastically and rushing back into the home/bakery.

Twilight looked back to me, exasperated. 

"That did not help your image you know, ripping a door off by its hinges," I nodded, still staring at the pink cannon Pinkie Pie had left behind. This cannon made that noise? I looked around for what it could have possibly shot before settling on the small, colorful pieces of paper on the ground. .......why?

"Come on now, it's your party remember." Twilight chided from my side, nudging me with her magic.

"Very well," I walked past the cannon, ahead of Twilight, into the bakery.





It looks considerably different from when we were here last. The booths that make up the majority of the front room are decorated with pink ribbon, and banners hang everywhere with the writing 'Welcome to Ponyville' inscribed upon them. Soon after I walked in, a grey pegasus gave me a hat to match the rest of theirs, she was all smiles, much like Pinkie, however when placing the hat upon my head she missed and struck my face. She apologized and I forgave her, however she was one of the few ponies who actually approached me. My little stunt of ripping the door from its frame has not done me any favors, and many of the ponies fear me too much to approach me.

Many but not all. 

I am crouching near the center of the room (on the 'dance floor') as a mint-green unicorn examines one hand, and I hold the large yellow cupcake with blue frosting that Pinkie gave me in the other. I take a bite of the dessert. 

It is sweet, insanely sweet, absurdly and ludicrously sweet. I will not eat this, it is an affront to nature itself. I wait for nobody to be looking my way and I engulf it in a small spell. Reducing it to ash. I let it disperse onto the ground below me. I turn my attention back to the unicorn holding my hand, who is now individually flexing each digit on my hand.

"Are you quite finished?" I ask her. She fervently shakes her head.

"No no no! How could I ever be finished? These things are amazing!" She looks up from my hand and sees the annoyed expression on my face. 

"I mean, yes, yes I am," She says, releasing my hand from her grasp. She rubs the back of her neck with a hoof, grinning sheepishly.

"It was nice while it lasted," she mutters under her breath as she turns and walks back into the crowd.

Ponies were always strange, but I wonder if they have gotten stranger in my absence? I rise and scan the room for Twilight. I see her with the other elements in one of the bakery's booths. They seem to be having a fervent discussion about something. Spike is sitting next to Twilight, and seems to be staring at the element of generosity. I decide to watch and wait when I see the miniature dragon belch a flaming scroll onto the table. A little young for magic fire I would think, but, I had assumed he was a hatchling. Sitting on the ground, I take a deep breath and center myself, becoming distant from the party around me.  Perhaps examining his soul will yield some answers.





The welcoming void is unlike what it was all those years ago. The once dim plane of reality now glitters with a thousand thousand souls. One less experienced than I would be very quickly overwhelmed by the sheer magnitude of it all. The vastness is dotted by colorful forms that seem to emanate emotion. In my immediate vicinity the emotion most emanated is joy, but a sudden spike of trepidation and fear comes from Twilight's spirit. Her worrisome emotions dissolve into curiosity and concern as I scan the town as a whole. The colorful souls of the pony's swim around me. I need to focus.

Filtering out anything outside ten meters of myself, I quickly locate Spike's draconic soul.

I reach out to examine the dragon's spirit, it is very easy to find. A draconic soul is nothing like a pony's, and stands out like a sore thumb. A pony's spirit usually centers around the pony's heart, head, and cutie marks. (And wing/ horn, if they are present.) However a dragon's spirit encompasses its entire body. Like an outline.

As I begin to examine Spike's spirit I see something....off.

The normally powerful spirit of a dragon is laced by a golden thread of energy, twisting around the whole of Spike's soul, binding it and constricting it in ways just shy of killing it. To do something this grotesque to a soul is appalling. Who would do this?

I begin the laborious process of tracing the golden magic to its source, but before I even come close to completion, something rudely interrupts my meditative state, ripping me back into the waking world.





I open my eyes to Twilight and company worriedly staring at me. The party goes are all gone, only the elements and Spike remain. I focus on Spike. No wings, small fangs. Short stubby claws and limbs. Short neck, large eyes. It's almost as if..

"Wrath are you ok?" Twilight's voice breaks my concentration. I look to her from my position on the ground. With my sitting cross-legged, we are eye to eye.

"I am fine"

"You seemed a bit lost partner, you sure you're alright?" Applejack asks.

"I am sure." I respond. I rise from my position on the floor and loudly crack my back doing so. Causing Fluttershy to eep, Rarity to look appalled, and Rainbowdash and Applejack to snicker at Rarity, who glares at the two of them.  Which in turn makes them begin to fully laugh. 

"You should've seen the look on your face!" Rainbowdash exclaims. To which Rarity just dramatically sighs and looks away. 

I turn to Twilight.

"What now?" I ask. She grins madly.

"We go back to the library for a nice Q and A session!" Her grin turns a shade darker. "....and I have a lot of questions. Who else is coming?" 

Applejack shakes her head.

"Sorry Twi, I gotta get back to the farm. Gotta be up bright and early to catch up on all the time I have been gone." Twilight nods to Applejack who heads over to me. She extends a hoof. 

"You might not be the most talkative fella, but the way those fillies played around on your head when you were meditatin makes me think you aint so bad after all. You are always welcome at Sweet Apple Acres!" I just look at her dumbly as she turns and walks out the door. 	

What?

"I'm sorry, but I have to go tend to my animals, they do miss me so much." Fluttershy quietly states before daintily fluttering out the door. She gives a small wave before closing it behind her.

"I have soooooooooo many questions!" Pinkie says excitedly, hopping up and down. 

"This can't be boring, I'll come along too," Rainbowdash says from the top of the room. She never really does stop flying.

"I also have some questions for you darling," Rarity adds. Twilight then begins to lead us out the door. Myself, Rarity, Rainbowdash, Spike and Pinkie Pie in tow.

As we walk I remember before I went into my meditative trance, Spike had belched a scroll. When they read it I had felt a sharp pang of worry from Twilight.

"Twilight?" I ask.

"Yes?" 

"That scroll you received earlier caused you a great deal of worry, what did it say?" She sighs and slowly shakes her head.

"A small town on the edge of the San Palamino desert called 'Last Chance' has spontaneously become abandoned. Almost everypony in the town has vanished."

"Almost everypony?" Rarity asks. Twilight looks concerned again.

"There was one Donkey left. He was completely mad-"

"Mad? Why was he so mad? Was he mad because all his friends were gone?" I hold up my hand to silence the pink mare. Who continues to speak, though no noise comes out of her mouth.

"Pinkie! This is serious!" Twilight accuses. "Nopony has any idea where they all went!" Everyone falls silent after that.

We reach the library, still in silence. Twilight unlocks the door and we all go inside, myself last. Twilight begins setting up cushions in a circle for her 'Q and A session' as the other elements begin to get comfortable.

Something she said earlier gnaws at me. Once she is finished I take a seat near the bottom of the stairs on a large pile of three large cushions. Twilight is to my left, Spike lays next to her. Pinkie is at the far side of the circle, on her back with her hooves in the air, slowly flailing them. Rainbow is next to her, then Rarity on my right.

"Alright!" Twilight starts. "Now that we are together we can begin! I will go first and we can go clockwise from there. Now Wrath how do you-"

"Actually Twilight, could I start?" I ask. She looks a little frazzled but consents with a nod.

"You said there was one donkey left, what happened?" Her friends, Spike, and I look at her for an answer for about thirty seconds. Her face gets grim and pale.

"...Celestia said she would talk to him about what happened personally, and to her he seemed completely insane. At first he talked about how the residents in the town slowly dissapeared, one by one. Then he started talking about voices he was hearing, and began crying hysterically. She was the last one to see him alive. The next morning his balcony window was found open, he had jumped from his room at the castle to the gardens." The ponies around me all gasped, Spike did not, as Twilight's purplish magic was covering his ear holes.

"Thats.......horrible" Rarity sputtered.

"What could somebody do to a pony to make them do that?" Rainbow asked. nobody gave her an answer.

".....Celestia made sure to clean him up herself."  Twilight finished. The ponies in the room looked shocked for awhile. Having seen, heard, and done much worse, I grew bored of it quickly. I spun my wrist in a gesture to Twilight, she looked confused for a moment before she nodded.

"Oh! It's my question now isn't it? Well then, Wrath, how old are you?" I thought for a moment while she, and everyone else, stared at me. Seemingly trying to forget what had just been said. Though Spike just seemed confused as to the tension in the air.

"I have no idea how long I was imprisoned, so I cant give you a valid answer." She just hardened her look.

"Ok, before you were imprisoned," She amended.

"On the day of my imprisonment, I was 3087 years old," I sadly shook my head. "But I was imprisoned for so much longer than that. I could not tell the passing of days." I paused and got more comfortable on the cushions provided. "...my real age could be in the thousands, tens of thousands, or even hundreds of thousands, I do not know. Next question."

"Alright! My turn my turn! How many cupcakes coul-"

"Pinkie!" Twilight scolded Pinkie pie. "Arent you forgetting someone?"

The pink mare thought for a moment before grinning sheepishly. 

"Sorry spike," She apologizes.

"It's ok" Spike smiles and looks to me. "Now for my question... Have you ever fought a dragon before? Not like me, but a full grown dragon?"

I look to Twilight for a moment, she has an uncertain expression on her face, but nods nontheless.

"Yes," I answer honestly. I have fought dragons before, though those fights tend to be much more defensive than others. An elder wyrm is arguably the most deadly foe you could ever face. 

Spike can't contain himself, and asks another question immediately after I answer.

"Didja win?" 

I nod.

"If I did not I would not be here," That seems to satisfy him. I look at the pink mare and see her large azure eyes are locked with mine. Her insane smile betrays her fierce eyes.

"So..." she starts. "Did you like my cupcake?" 



To everyone else in the room. The question seems innocent. Happy, even. But not to me. I can hear the challenge in her voice, I can feel the steel of her gaze, her spirit is closed off, I feel no emotion from her. This is......bad. I decide to lie, to lie through my teeth.

"Yes." The answer must have sounded hollow even to Spike. But Pinkie only grins wider.

"Do you promise?" She asks.

"Yes." I answer without hesitation. Her grin is wolf-like. Predatory. 

"Do you...pinkie promise?" She sweetly asks. The most innocent question in the world to everyone else in the room. 

"Yes," I answer again. The mare slowly rises, and practically glides over to me.

"Repeat after me." The mare commands, leaving no room for discussion. She begins an almost ritualistic chant with strange motions. I follow as she does.

"I swear, cross my heart and hope to fly, stick a cupcake in my eye, that I enjoyed your cupcake," As I finish I feel a shiver go down my spine. I have not shivered in a long time. I have this feeling that I have just made a huge mistake.

Pinkie smiles at me, all wolfishness suddenly gone, and turns on her tail, bouncing to the door. 

"That's all I need to hear, see you tomorrow Wrath!" And with that she is out the door. The ponies and dragon seem a little thrown off, but shrug and return to normalcy surprisingly fast. Rainbowdash coughs loudly. Garnering everyone's attention in the room.

"I think it's my turn now. Have you ever seen a sonic rainbow before?"

"A what?" I ask. She strikes a pose.

"A sonic rainboom! An explosion that I cause when I break the sound barrier. Which is super awesome. I have to show you some time!" I slowly nod. 

"Alright I suppose." I respond. 

"Now It is my turn, now darling I am going to cut straight to the point and ask, when we first saw you that.....thing....around your waist, what was it made of? Never in my life have I seen its equal and it was simply dashing"

"Bear,"

She blinks, Twilight and Rainbowdash blink, Spike yawns.

"Bear?" Rainbow, Twilight, and Rarity say at once.

"Yes, bear. Bear hide specifically, the skin and fur of a bear." With every word the ponies look a little greener and Spike looks confused.

"How would you wear a bear's skin? Did it give it's skin to you? Wouldn't that hurt?" Looking at the horrified faces of the ponies, I realize that things like this have never been taught to the young drake. Well, I'm in too deep now. I might as well be honest with the drake.

"The bear did not 'give' me its fur Spike. There is a ritual warriors like me undergo. We find a bear and fight it to the death, the goal being to kill the bear while keeping damage to its hide at a minimum. How well one did is reflected in the quality of their loincloth. Therefor the quality of a warrior's loincloth reflects the quality of the warrior."

Rainbow looks awestruck, while Rarity looks disturbed and Twilight excited, as she fervently writes on a notepad with a quill. Spike just looks tired. 

"You kill and skin bears as a symbol of one's strength? Fascinating!" Twilight scribbles some more on the paper before setting it aside. "Alright, my turn again, can you use magic?"

I bring my hand up to my chin and think for a moment. 

"It is, complicated."

"How?" Twilight asks, undeterred.

"Innately, my kind posses no magic whatsoever. However, I have learned ways to draw magic into myself. So yes, I can use magic." Though my 'spell casting' is about as useful as parlor tricks.

"Well I have more than enough data to work with for now, but I want to ask you some more questions tomorrow." Twilight states, turning to her friends and spike she says "Anybody have any more questions?"

Spike and Rainbow shake their heads.

"Just one last thing then darling," says Rarity. "Your kind are large in stature and strength, you fight and kill bears as a hobby. Why is it that before you arrived, there has never been tale of humans before?"

I sigh.

"I am sorry. But that I cannot tell you, not yet" The ponies look confused, the dragon looks asleep. Unless Celestia allows it, that is not something I am willing to share. Not yet anyway.

"I understand," Rarity says. She stands and trots over to Twilight, whom she hugs. She also briefly nuzzles the sleeping dragon before facing me.

"Well I don't, but you can tell us when your ready," Rainbow states from near the ceiling, before coming down and patting Rarity on the head.

"This has been fun, but I must get to bed. Every lady needs her beauty sleep after all!" Rarity trots out the door. Followed by Rainbow.

"G'night guys!" She shouts before taking off, into the night sky.

I cross my legs and assume a meditative pose. Twilight yawns from my side.

"I think Spike and I are going to bed."

"Sleep well, this night I will meditate, please wake me come morning if I am still in my trance." 

"Sure, and you will have to teach me how to do that at some point you know." I smile.

"Gladly, say, how many ponies dissapeared from that village?" There is a slight pause.

"Around 200,"

"Thank you" I say as she climbs the stairs.

I hear Twilight rummaging around a bit above before my trance takes hold of me. 200 souls kidnapped should be easy enough to find. And it seems the San Palomino Desert is still where it was. Lets see if I can't find out who, or what, is responsible.
> Chapter 6.5: Through Dark Eyes
> --------------------------------------------------------------------------

	Deep within the Macintosh Hills

The sun was setting, brilliant golden light shone down on the largest of the Macintosh Hills. The green grass upon the hills swayed with the gentle breeze. The scene was picturesque, and indeed many a pony artist had traveled to this same hill to paint or draw. Unfortunately, a creature not nearly as pleasant as a pony resided upon the hill presently. The monster lay sprawled across the ground, all eight of its limbs splayed around it, a demented grin upon its face.

So......full. The monster thought, relishing in the feeling. The last several days had been spent sating a near insatiable urge for pony flesh, and the monster is exhausted. But the fruit of its labor shone clear as day by the distention upon its midsection. The beast had gorged until it could gorge no longer.

Its travels had told it how weak and gullible ponies are. Beckoning them to their deaths was child's play. So trusting and helpful, none of the ponies had ever suspected a thing, and their flavor was all the better for it. The monster was no fool however, it knew that slaughtering the ponies blatantly was unwise. Lest he attract unwanted attention. So it had eaten ponies swiftly, but did so one at a time, leaving no remains.

It had nearly wiped out an entire village. Nearly.

He had not noticed the scent until it was too late, the village had had a resident donkey, who upon seeing the village abandoned, became extremely suspicious. He had been the only one not to fall for the dark creature's bait. Upon hearing the voice of a small filly crying for help, the donkey had slowly approached the dark alleyway the voice called from, as opposed to the ponies that passed by before and after him, who had blindly ran in, to their almost immediate demise.

No, the donkey had been calculating, and upon seeing the alleyway to be empty, instead of investigating further to find the unmistakable sound of a plea for help, he had loudly exclaimed "NOPE!" and immediately turned tale. 

At that point, half the village had 'dissapeared'. But only the donkey survived the night. None of the ponies had heeded his hastily shouted warnings as he fled the small town. The monster felt no anger that the donkey had gotten away, only shame.

Next time, none will survive, I will be sure of it. The monster began to think tiredly of how the last few days hunt could have gone better. The drowsiness caused by its massive meal began to take effect, and the monster closed the triangular slits that were its eyes. It did not notice the three forms that had quietly landed at the base of the hill behind it, that were slowly stalking toward it. 

Three teenage dragons, Garble being the leader, a red scaled drake with slightly torn wings, and two other dragons, a skinnier white scaled dragon, and a fatter grey one. Named Bone and Muck respectively.

As the three dragons inched upwards, crawling on their stomachs, they began to speak in hushed whispers.

"What is that?" Bone asks apprehensively.

"Does it matter!?" Garble snaps, irritated.

"It just looks creepy is all he means Garble," Muck whispers, barely audible even to the dragons very near him. He would never admit it to Garble or Bone, but he was terrified, not just scared. Completely bloodcurdlingly terrified. All dragons know the scent of blood instinctively. However few dragons could differentiate different kinds of blood.  Fewer still could distinguish old blood from fresh blood and blood from different members of the same species. Muck could. And he could smell the blood of over one hundred different ponies clinging to the monster. He gulped.

"Are you some kinda whelp?!" Garble whispers harshly. Stopping and looking back to Muck.

"U-Uhh, No... no im not," He responds meekly. 

"You gotta admit, that thing looks pretty freaky, look at all those claws!" Bone adds. Garble begins to angrily respond before snapping his jaw shut, widening his eyes, and pointing. Bone and Muck follow his claw.

All three of them freeze as they see the creature open its massive maw... and girlishly yawn. Almost cutely, like a young filly. The teenage dragons shudder in unison. The creature sounds as namby-pamby as a pony, but those fangs are at least three times the length of any of their own, and the whole thing looks like something out of a nightmare.

"...what the hell," Garble murmurs. Bone and Muck just look on, with their mouths opening and closing but no words coming out.

"Nope," Muck whispers. "I'm gonna go eat some gems back at the badlands, screw this." He begins to inch backwards, head down, while shaking his head.

"Oh come on muck, get back here!" Garble half commands, half pleads, him and Bone turning to look at their retreating friend.

Muck just sighs and looks up from the dirt before gasping loudly. Garble and Bone wince at the volume.

"Muck, what the fuck!" Bone whisper shouts.

"It could have heard you!" Garble adds. The two stare at their awestruck friend in a mixture of confusion and silent rage, waiting for an answer.

....

	"...its gone"

Garble and Bone nearly snap their necks turning them, the monster is gone. As if it vanished into thin air. The three exchange glances.

"Ok, yeah, you know, I'm out too." Garble states, jumping to his feet and spreading his wings. Bone and Muck do the same, however Bone is frantic, and trips over himself. Collapsing into a messy heap of teenage dragon.

Garble and Muck take off. A faint shimmer of light, nearly invisible to even a draconic eye, advances toward the prone form of Bone.

"Get out of there Bone!" Muck shouts, still rising.

Bone stumbles over his feet again, before finally spreading his wings and taking off. He opens his mouth in a joyous grin.

"That was a close one, eh guys?" He states proudly. before noticing the looks of confusion on his friends faces.

"Whats wrong?"

"You're not moving, like, at all..." Muck solemnly states. Bone's eyes widen in realization, as he notices the gripping pressure around his tail. He turns back, and sees a form faintly shimmering. Bipedal with six large claws, two of which gripping his tail. He could almost make out its face, but he did not see the sinister grin spread across it.

The monster reveals itself as Bone screams, thrashes, and belches fire all at once. The smirking monster, completely unfazed by the dragon's flame, makes a proclamation.

"You interrupted my nap," 

The girlish voice denies the creature's terrible nature, and for the second time the dragons all shudder just before Bone is slammed into the ground. The monster pins the dragons limbs to the ground, all five with the tail included, and still has a claw to spare. It raises it above Bone's face.

"Never eaten dragon before, its a shame. Your body will have rotted before I can eat again." The monster moves to strike with its claw, but is toppled by a large blow to its side. Garble and Muck had flown full force into it.

"GET OFF HIM!" Garble roars. He and Muck bellowing continuous flame upon the creature's side. Together their fire proves enough to hurt the beast, as it lest out a pained hiss, turning and springing to its feet far faster than a creature that large should be able. It spreads its six terrible arms around it, poising to strike as it begins to take the full force of the fire directly to its face.

Meanwhile, Bone had scurried as far away as he could from the monster, and watched in horror as his friends continued a stream of fire at the beast, while it spread his claws and began walking toward them. Looking at his friends, he sees Muck's eyes are open, and upon seeing the creature advance, he stops his spray and takes to the air.

Garble however had not seen, his eyes were clenched shut. 

A moment after Muck took off, the creature pounces, all six claws striking at once.

Bone shrieks as he takes to the air, flying strait up toward Muck as fast as he can. Once the two are together they look down below.

Garble had been minced, the claws had cut through him like butter. Bloody chunks of former dragon litters the ground, and the one responsible stood upright, limbs at it's sides.

It stares at Bone and Muck, visibly seething with hatred, even as smoke rises off its charred carapace.

Turning, it slowly approaches the severed head of Garble. It places a clawed foot upon the former dragon's head before growling and stomping down, crushing it. Bone and Muck wince, and the monster vanishes again from sight.



Muck and Bone begin to fly east in silence as they try to process what just happened. They don't see the faint shimmer below as it practically glides down the hill, heading due north.

"What are we gonna tell his mom?" Muck remarks sadly as the short journey to the badlands begins to feel even shorter.



> Chapter 7: A Pleasant Afternoon
> --------------------------------------------------------------------------

	I felt the stabbing of Celestia's sun on my eyes. Groaning, I turn over and pull the blankets closer, hoping to block out the light. My blanket snuggles around my furred form nicely, I feel so comfortable. Warm and Cozy, and the near silence is music to my ears. The birds chirp happily outside and a faint breeze wisps through the room. 

Huh, the windows open, Spike usually opens it when he gets up.

.....

But Spike usually sleeps in, if he is up before me than that means...





The purple unicorn practically bursts from her bed. Mane frazzled, she summons her checklist with a quick spell. She reads it twice, then a third time for good measure, before beginning to magically groom her mane and tail. Once she is satisfied with her efforts she heads downstairs.

The smell of breakfast tugs at her, and she follows it almost in a trance, to the kitchen. 

Upon entering, Spike turns from the food to greet her.

"Morning Twilight, hope you slept well, it's nearly 10!" Spike proclaims before turning back to the food, some waffles and oats. Twilight sighs.

"Last night things got pretty intense, I hope today is much more calm." Twilight responds, taking a seat at the table. She thinks back to the night before. Those ponies going missing is worrisome, but Wrath needs to see something kind, something nice, something unlike what he is used to...right? Or do I need to help with the search and rescue project? Spike sets a large pile of Waffles and a bowl of oats with cinnamon just in front of Twilight. Who takes a deep breath through her nose before sighing dreamily. Spike is an excellent chef.

Celestia said she had her Royal Guard investigating and that I should focus my attention on Wrath, so that is what I'll do! She thinks to herself.

The unicorn goes to take a bite of the wondrously smelling waffles, but is interrupted by her own thoughts again. Speaking of my house guest, where is he?

"Spike?" Twilight asks.

"Yes?"

"Where is Wrath?"

"In the front room, didn't you pass him on your way in?" He replies, before setting an equally large helping of Waffles on the table and sitting in front of it. He takes a huge bite, and chews loudly before stopping.

"He looked kinda weird though, like he was sleeping with his eyes open." The dragon garbles.

"Don't talk with your mouth full Spike," Twilight chides as she rises from her chair. She trots into the front room to find her newest friend. Or who she hoped was her newest friend. The human had not been unfriendly, in fact he had been quite polite. But she felt that he did not trust her, and according to Twilight. Trust is the foundation of any friendship.

Upon finding the human, she remembers what he said the night before. 





"Sleep well, this night I will meditate, please wake me come morning if I am still in my trance."





She approaches the entranced human, he is sitting in that awkward position of his, with his lower limbs bent almost like a pretzel beneath him. His hands are in his lap turned upwards, but his eyes are wide open, a faint, ghostly magic dancing around them. Oh he is meditating alright, he will have to teach me how it works one of these days, but for now. How to wake him? The unicorn puzzled briefly.

She decides a scientific approach is in order. Her plan: To employ strategies used by pony scientists all over the world in generations past. 

She is going to poke him, and if that doesn't work, slowly resort to more extreme measures to get her desired result.

After pondering a moment further, Twilight nods to herself. Confident hat her plan is infallible. 

She pokes his shoulder.

No response.

She pushes him gently.

No response.

She conjures a small force spell and thrusts it at him.

No response. Curious she thinks.

She rises to her back hooves, and puts one hoof on each of his shoulders, and gives a mighty push. At first nothing seems to happen but soon he budges an inch, then another, then another. Soon enough her full body shove sends his prone form backward to the ground. The faint magic around him dissipates. But did it work? Twilight thinks to herself.

A sigh affirms that her methods were a success, and Twilight grins a huge grin. Another victory for science!

"I suppose I technically did ask for this," The human gruffly states from the ground, clearly unnamused. "But was this really necessary?"

"Yes." The unicorn states with a grin. "Now come get some breakfast, today is a busy day!"

Even though its starting so late. She frowns. I guess we can't visit Cheerilee and the school today.

Wrath rises from the floor, and together with Twilight, enters the kitchen and takes a seat at the table. Spike had prepared a plate for Wrath, and the three begin to eat.

After eating in silence for a while, Twilight speaks up.

"So, did you find anything while meditating?" The grizzled veteran swallows, then gravely answers.

"Nothing good, I will need to speak to Celestia herself about what I have found." 

Twilight stops mid bite and magically drops her fork.

"Why didn't you say so sooner?!" She asks, flabbergasted. "Celestia should be notified at once! What did you find out?"

"Well...." Wrath starts, claiming a large chunk of waffle with his fork. He dips the golden loveliness into the pool of syrup pooling on the plate. Then raises it to his mouth, and chews slowly before swallowing.

"I figured it could wait until after breakfast," He carves out another chunk of the spongy breakfast cake. "...and what I found is for Celestia's ears alone." He finishes, returning completely to his meal.

Twilight glowers at the human briefly before turning to her assistant.

"Spike, take a letter." She commands. The dragon looks down at his mostly finished waffle and sighs. He then runs into the other room, quickly returning with a piece of paper and quill. 

"Dear Princess Celestia,
Wrath has some information regarding the missing ponies and will only tell you what he found. Please come to Ponyville to question him at your earliest convenience. 

-Your faithful student.
-Twilight Sparkle



The drake finishes transcribing the letter, then blows a thin stream of green fire onto it, burning it to ash. It then floats away through the open kitchen window on an invisible wind.

The young dragon then returns to the table and begins to devour the last of his meal, a sharp contrast to Wrath, who seems to savor each and every bite. Twilight continues to glare at Wrath as she returns to her own meal. Why can't I know? she thinks. What could he know?

Spike finishes his waffles, and begins to wash the breakfast dishes. Twilight slowly eats, frowning.	Wrath looks stoic, but beneath the surface his thoughts are fraught with an emotion unfamiliar to the bearded warrior, fear. 

He needs to have a long chat with the solar diarch, and perhaps the lunar diarch as well. He has an idea of who, or what, is responsible for the disappearances, or rather, killings, as he has sadly learned. But he hopes he is wrong. The ancient berserker hopes with every fiber of his being that his hunch is wrong. Because if he is right; something darker than Equestria has ever known is lurking within her borders. 

Wrath shivers involuntarily, his mask of stoicism cracking briefly, then continues on with his meal. This does not go unnoticed by Twilight.

What is he thinking? She wonders.

The rest of the meal passes in semi-awkward silence.



"Now what were those called?" Wrath asks, having just finished his meal. He pats his belly from the table and allows himself a small smile.

"Waffles," Spike responds, walking away from the sink, having just finished cleaning up breakfast.  "Tasty arent they?" Spike asks, smirking. 

"Indeed" Wrath affirms, bowing his head slightly.

"Hey Twilight." Spike asks from the doorway to the front room. "I promised Rarity I would help her dig up some gems today, so I'm going to go do that."

"Be careful," she warns. "We don't want a repeat of last time."

"I know I know!" He hastily replies as he turns and heads to the front door. Wrath looks to the unicorn sitting at the table across from him, quietly looking over a rather large checklist.

"What happened?" he asks.

"Well... long story short, Rarity can be annoying to the degree of it being considered a weapon. She used that weapon against a group of Diamond dogs who had found her mining in their territory, and imprisoned her. She wasn't captive an hour, but Spike still thinks it's his fault,"

"I see," Wrath slowly responds.

Twilight returns to looking over her checklist while Wrath reflects on what he learned the night prior. The two sit in a confortable silence for several more minutes before Twilight rolls up her check list, and levitates over a saddlebag to put it in. She then rises from her seat and dons the saddle bag and looks toward Wrath expectantly.

"Ready to get to know some ponies?" She asks brightly, grinning. Wrath nods and stands.

"Lead the way,"





This is working! The ponies are beginning to accept him! Twilight thinks, stirring her tea while looking around at the crowded cafe.

The first thing on her checklist was to take Wrath to a very public place, and be casual. So far it was working. The little tea shop they are in is named "Spirit Lotus", which specializes in exotic teas from Griffonia and the distant Zebracan tribe-lands. Twilight was enjoying some fruity herbal tea, strawberry, while Wrath sipped on jasmine.

The purple unicorn's excitement stemmed from the fact that they were drinking tea in a public place casually, and no one was freaking out. Twilight couldn't see a single pony that seemed bothered by the bearded oaf.

"You were saying?" Wrath asked. Twilight was confused for a moment, having suffered a lapse in thought.

"I'm sorry, what were we talking about?" She sheepishly replied. Taking a dainty sip from her cup. Her rapid-fire thoughts had made her completely forget whatever conversation they were having.

"You were speaking of your first adventure here,with the nightmare, you were heading into the forest." Wrath reminds her. She nods slowly before recounting the tale.

"We had decided to head to the 'Castle of the Two Pony Sisters', to recover the elements of harmony." Twilight took a deep breath, then continued. 

"We first suffered through a landslide near a ravine, I would have fallen in if not for Applejack. After that, we made our way deeper into the forest, and we encountered a manticore!" Wrath nods.

"How did you slay it?" He asked. Twilight was taken aback by the question.

"K-Kill it? We didn't kill it." She stutters.

"Well, what happened then?" Wrath asks her.

"Well, Fluttershy pulled out a thorn that had been stuck in its paw, which had been causing the beast a great deal of rage. Once it was calm it let us pass without incident." Wrath hummed deep in his throat. 

"I can't believe that, manticores are violent, territorial creatures. It would have attacked you regardless." He theorized.

"Well, what do you think then? I have not done much research on manticores, we know little about them other than they prey on virtually anything smaller than them." Twilight asks, then takes a large pull from her tea, emptying it. Wrath leans back in his chair and brings his own cup to his lips, sipping slowly at the tea. Twilight can't help but find the sight amusing. The massive muscled warrior with a cup of tea not the size of his hand, daintily sipping with a stern expression on his face. I wish I had a camera. She thinks.

"The beast was probably grateful," Wrath finally says, bringing Twilight out of her thought again.

"Grateful, how does that factor into the equation?" she asks.

"She pulled the thorn from its paw, correct?" Wrath starts, setting down his similarly empty cup of tea. Twilight nods. "Then it probably felt indebted to her, and by extension her group being you and your friends, and decided not to kill and eat you." Twilight puts her hoof to her chin in thought as a waiter stallion comes and takes away the empty tea cups, leaving a small bill on the table. That is a possibility. Twilight thinks as she looks through her saddle bag, then deposits three bits onto the table. But that would explain why only Fluttershy and sometimes us don't have problems with them. I still hear about ponies getting mauled by them on a monthly basis, so it would make sense.

"Anyway, what happened after that?" Wrath asks.

"We traveled through a haunted forest where the trees seemed to come alive, then with the aid of a sea-serpent crossed a raging river." Twilight stands and Wrath follows suit. The two make their way out of the small shop and into the busy street, the sun hangs high in the sky.

"A sea-serpent? In a river?" Wrath asks as they begin to walk towards the north-eastern side of town, where Applejack's farm is.

"Yes, a river-serpent perhaps? He was there, Rarity gave him half her tail to repair his mustache. That is why he helped us cross," Wrath gave a sideways glance the Twilight, who was trotting beside him. He shrugs.

"After the river fiasco, we tried to cross this rickety bridge onto the castle grounds, but it was broken. Rainbow Dash had to fly over and repair the thing. But Nightmare Moon tried to goad her into abandoning us, she failed of course, and we made it into the castle once we crossed the bridge,"

"And then you found the elements and blasted the Nightmare correct?" 

"Not exactly,"

"How do you mean? That is what happened is it not?" Wrath raises a brow.

"It was, but the old physical manifestations of the elements were worthless, and Nightmare Moon destroyed them. We had to see each element within our selves and they manifested new forms. Then we blasted her back into Princess Luna!" Wrath stops in his tracks.

"What do you mean blasted her back into Princess Luna?" He eyes the unicorn with an extreme expression she does not recognize. His eyes are wild and intense, but the rest of his face seemed slack.

"Ummmmm, yeah. Once the elements cleansed her of Nightmare Moon she turned back into Princess Luna, Celestia's sister." Wrath's face relaxed briefly into a small frown, which made him look ancient.

"I see," Wrath states before resuming their walk. Twilight just follows and wonders what the human could be thinking.



Cleansed of the Nightmare, that magic had to go somewhere... fear magic doesn't just dissipate into the air like mist. If it was powerful enough to posses an alicorn, I would have sensed it when I meditated. Someone had to use it, but for what end? Morbid thoughts echo through the worried human's mind as he and Twilight make their way to Sweet Apple Acres in silence.


> Chapter 8: An Ancient's Tale
> --------------------------------------------------------------------------

	Wrath and Twilight finally made it to the edge of the Apple's property. Twilight and the girls were planning to have a small get together, complete with games, to see how Wrath handles social situations. They began to walk the dirt path leading to the barn and Applejack's home. Twilight turned to look at the human, and saw his typical stony face. She softly shook her head. Why does he hide his emotions? How would anypony know how your feeling if you have the same stern expression on most of the time? If you are down how would anypony cheer you up if they don't know. Twilight furrowed her brow. Maybe that's just it, Wrath is not a pony. Are human's just not social creatures?

Apple trees gave way to grass and eventually dirt as the pair made it to the household and barn of the apple residence. A large banner hung from the top of the door frame of the barn. With only a pony's face smiling on it. The doors stood semi-ajar with a familiar orange pony leaning on them, blocking Twilight from seeing further inside.

Twilight smiled at her friend, she smiled back and waved. Wrath made a short bow of his head his greeting.

"Howdy Twi and Wrath! Glad yall are here." The county mare seemed off to Twilight, who new her friend fairly well. Hey eyes kept flicking from the barn to Wrath.

"Are you ok Applejack? You look like something is bothering you." 

"Well, I mean.." Applejack visibly swallowed a lump in her throat. "I just never had royalty in my barn before, its got me a little worked up,"

Twilight shook her head with a small smile. 

"Being around Celestia has never bothered you before has it?"
'
"That's the thing Twilight, it aint Celestia." 

Twilight visibly brightened.

"You mean Cadence is here?!" Twilight was overjoyed, and that fact was plainly written on her face.

"I dislike being the bearer of bad news Twilight, but that is not Cadence," Wrath said, staring over Applejack's head and into the barn. "I do not recognize that Alicorn."

It dawned on Twilight who it was, and she suppressed the urge to shudder. She had nothing against Princess Luna, but Nightmare Moon haunted her dreams still. When she first appeared she looked nothing like Nightmare Moon did. But as weeks went by, and her appearance returned to what it should be, Twilight could see the resemblance.

And it scared her.

Wrath however, seemed pleasantly surprised. 

"Well, let's go meet her then." He said. Applejack nodded and opened the door further, and dissapeared inside. Wrath followed shortly leaving Twilight outside alone. The sun was bright enough that she could not see more than a meter inside the barn. She took a shaky breath and steeled her resolve. Princess Luna is not Nightmare Moon. Princess Luna is not Nightmare Moon. Princess Luna is not Nightmare Moon.

With that Mantra playing in her head she finally followed into the barn.

The barn was arranged to host a party. There were banners hanging everywhere obviously made by Pinkie. A table filled with all manner of confections. As well as for some reason a few carnival games. Pin the tail on the pony and darts to name a few. Why? Rainbow Dash and Rarity were at the dartboard talking fiercely, each with a dart in hoof. Pinkie was nowhere to be seen, and Fluttershy was hovering near Wrath's shoulder while he and Applejack stood behind Luna. Who had her head in a bucket of water and apples. Princess Luna, diarch of the equestria and keeper of the night, was bobbing for apples in a barn.Huh

Twilight and Applejack stand around her, unsure of what action to take next. Wrath however, has no such confusion. He walks around to the other side of the bucket before kneeling and sticking his hand into the water. A moment passes, and Luna rips her head from the water, splashing all the ponies that had been waiting behind her.

Wrath tries to wipe the water from his face, to no avail. He had been closest to the epicenter of the splash and was soaked. Luna's back was turned to the ponies and she seems to Twilight to just be staring at Wrath.

"So you are the creature our sister spoke of."

"I am."

Luna turns her head and looks at Twilight, who gulps. Not Nightmare Moon

"Twilight Sparkle, we would like to have a small discussion with you." Twilight nods shakily.

"Of course princess."

Luna turns and trots to the far side of the barn, Twilight gives her friends a nervous smile as she follows the princess. Once Twilight catches up Luna begins in a hushed tone.

"What have you learned about him? Can he be trusted?"

Twilight hesitates then slowly nods, and whispers.

"He is not impolite. Perhaps a bit blunt but friendly enough. I have learned very little about him aside from that he has seen more than his fair share of combat. He panicked when Pinkie used her party cannon and tore her door off its hinges and hid behind it. So maybe he has a stress disorder of some kind? He has not been aggressive in any way."

Luna rose her head and looked at the ceiling. She let out a hum as she pondered something unknown to Twilight. Bringing her head back down with a determined look she declares.

"We will question him ourselves." 

Twilight watches her promptly turn and march toward the human. Who she sees now has his own head in the apple bobbing bucket. Her friends are surrounding him as his head moves about beneath the surface.

Luna and Twilight reach the scene and see some air bubbles coming up.

"How long has he been down there?" Luna asks.

"Oh a minute or two, or three." Rarity answers.

The 6 mares watch as Wrath's head continues to move about beneath the surface. I wonder what his lung capacity is? Twilight thinks. She has no measurement of the human's physical capabilities, she will have to try to correct that in the near future. 

"Princess?" Rainbow Dash asks.

"Hmm?" She responds, turning her head away from Wrath.

"Not that you aren't welcome or anything, but why did you come and not Celestia? Didn't she say she wanted to personally oversee him?" She did. Twilight remembers the lengthy discussion her and the elements had with princess Celestia when Wrath was unconscious. Her and her friends where to see if Wrath could integrate into a pony society or at least prove he was not some bloodthirster addicted to combat. The elements would vote after the year period was up on whether Wrath would be resealed or freed. 

"Yes, but we convinced out sister to allow us to come in her stead, we wished to see the human ourselves." As Luna finished Wrath raised her head from the water. He has an insane smile on his face and an apple core in his mouth. He takes the core from his mouth and thrusts his fist into the air, before promptly sucking wind.

"I don't think that's how your supposed to do it." Fluttershy mumbles just loud enough for everyone to hear.

"Wrath dear, you don't have to eat the apple underwater, you just have to bite onto it and pull it out." Rarity says. Garnering a shocked expression from the human. Who slowly lowers his fist and uncurls it, revealing the crushed apple core. He tosses it behind him before coughing slightly and returning to his feet. He then locks eyes with Rarity.

"I see." He mutters.

"We would like to have a discussion with you." Luna says. "In private." She adds. Looking around to Twilight and her friends. They collectively shrug and make our way out of the barn.

Luna's magic closes the barn door and locks it. The five mares stand around and look at each other for several moments.

"Soooooooooooo," Rainbow starts. "Learn anything new about the big guy?" Twilight thinks for a moment before nodding.

"Yes, but not much."

"Oh then do tell darling." Rarity chimes in.

"Well," Twilight takes a breath and briefly reflects on the previous day. "He seems very intelligent, but very primal as well."

"Uhhhhh, what do ya mean by 'primal' Twi?" Applejack asks. Twilight takes a moment to consider her answer. 

"He is very instinctual, and is close to nature. I think he has been doing the same thing, fighting that is, for a very long time. So much so that he became accustom to it. But I don't think he has always been this way, I can't prove that though, not yet."

As Twilight finishes a flash of pink soars past her vision and hears a distinct THUD. She is briefly dazed before shaking her head and looking toward the direction that the pink blur had gone, toward the barn, specifically its door.  A door coated magically in a locking spell by Princess Luna. 

None other than Pinkie Pie sits at the base of the large barn door, then turns Toward Twilight and the rest of the elements while clutching her nose.

"I dink I dok by dose." She says through her hoof. Twilight hears Fluttershy gasp and briefly wonders why, before seeing the crimson dripping from Pinkie's hoof.

"Pinkie!" Fluttershy exclaims before rushing to her wounded friend. "Oh my... we need gauze or cloth to cover it to stop the bleeding and some ice for the swelling."

"That is A LOT of blood." Rainbow Dash says looking at the blood running down Pinkie's hoof and dripping onto the grass. She shivers slightly. "I'll grab the cloth, be right back Pinkie!" Twilight looks at the Rainbow blur that is Rainbow Dash as she speeds toward Ponyville. Well that wont take long, now about the ice.

"I got some ice inside, I'll be right back girls!" Applejack exclaims before turning and galloping toward her home. Well, now all we can do is wait. Or maybe?

"Does it hurt Pinkie? I can numb the area with a numbing spell." Twilight asks the pink mare.

"Doh, id dust durts a widdle." She replies. Wow that is bleeding profusely. Twilight thinks. She looks down and sees none on the ground. Shouldn't there be a considerable pool of it by now? She looks back up at Pinkie's hoof and watches the blood flow. It goes from her nose, down her hoof, drips off her hoof and..... Mistifies? There is a stream of red mist. Twilight's eyes widen. It is almost impossible to see but a thins stream of red mist is flowing off of pinkie.

Twilight walks around and traces the stream to the cracks in the barn door frame. Where have I seen that before? She only ponders a moment before her mind flashes to the canterlot invasion.





A red fog began to seep through the cracks in the door. Chrysalis blasted it with a small amount of magical energy. Which is swallowed by the fog. The fog begins to work its way up the door, coating it, until the entire door is nearly concealed by a veil of crimson. The door fizzles briefly and a spell cast upon it by Chrysalis fades. The door slowly opens and a hand appears opening the door fully. Wrath appears, heavily wounded but with a look of grim determination on his face.





The vision of Wrath wounded with an aura of bloody fog surrounding him is perfectly envisioned by Twilight's mind's eye. This could be bad, very bad.



She waits around for several more minutes watching the stream of blood-fog flow before abruptly stopping, and pooling beneath Pinkie as it should. Soon both Rainbow Dash and Applejack return. Fluttershy carefully dresses Pinkie's wound and the six chat until they hear a shout from inside the barn.

"We will not be subverted! you are on!"





The barn door shuts, and Luna casts a warding spell upon the door. 

"There, we shall not suffer small ears" She turns to me with a stoic expression. "Now, onto you. I have some questions of my own."

I nod and sit. Cross-legged on the ground. Sitting, the Princess's head is only slightly higher than my own.

"What would you wish to know?" I ask, opening my arms with my palms exposed in a hopefully placating gesture. Luna seems unimpressed.

"Firstly, we would like to gauge just how much a threat you pose. My sister tells me you defeated the Changeling queen, but barely survived the ordeal. Is this correct?"

"Yes, but I would like to add that I fought through her army as well." Luna thinks for a moment, and then squints her eyes.

"Yes, you did. Ponies reported a strange bipedal creature wading through the melee. I assume this was you?

"I believe so."

"A few of the reports stated that you seemed rather insane whilst you fought." I sigh and relax my shoulders, I look Luna in the eyes while maintaining a stoic expression.

"Yes. That would be accurate." Her gaze does not waver.

"Explain."

"It is a long story princess."

"We are immortal and therefore have a lot of time."

"Very well." How am I to start? I stroke my beard absentmindedly. " To begin, I am a human being."

"I am aware of what you are, Wrath."

"Ah, so you are. But have you ever seen one like me? Do you have any knowledge of my kin?"

".........no" The princess lowers herself to the ground.

"That is where the tale begins, do you know of the alicorn empire?"

"Aye, but very little. Only what archaeologists have uncovered while we were....away.....we knew nothing of it before." I nod in turn. She does not know about her parents. Celestia keeps that knowledge to herself. Interesting.

"I was summoned to this realm by the old alicorn King and Queen." Luna's eyes widen and her mast of stoicism breaks, and her confusion shows through.

"How is that possible?" 

"I know not. But I know I was wrenched from my home to this realm, not willingly I might add." Her confusion lasts several more moments, before the stoic mask reforms.

"The tale of your origin is interesting. But how does it pertain to your apparent lust for battle?"

"I am getting to it. My kind used magic different, yet the same, as yours." She nods, I continue. "We materialized out magic through the 11 different magical energies. I am attuned to one of them, as are all humans. I am attuned to the seventh magic, it manifests almost exclusively during combat. Specifically whenever blood is shed" She raises an eyebrow.

"And when the magic is 'manifested' as you say, it causes you joy?"

"No, not exactly," How do I put this? "It...affects me. If I am not careful it can overtake me. The further into a melee I get, the more blood is shed, the harder it is to maintain control. All creatures are effected by their magic. But some are uncommon, and some do not have such adverse affects."

Luna frowns and lowers her gaze to the ground in front of her. 

"You say the seventh magic, surely you have a name for it?" I open my mouth to respond, but a familiar energy enters my body. Luna must sense it too for head snaps up and her horn begins to faintly glow.

"What are you doing?!" 

"Nothing! The magic is coming to me from....from..." I turn my head and look about the room. Trying to pinpoint the location. Blood is being shed, somewhere very close. My hands form fists.

"From where?" Luna asks.

I look about for a moment longer before I see the source. A steady, but weak, stream of bloody fog is streaming through the door frame.

"It is coming from just outside the barn." I tell the princess. Her horn lights up in a brilliant display of magic before softly returning to the dull glow of before.

"It seems the element bearer of joy has injured her nose." I try to relax my body, but old urges are hard to ignore, I cannot un-ball my fists or un-tense my muscles.

I chuckle darkly.

"Do you see now princess? My magic in action! I can control myself with such a small amount but a nasty wound would prove harder to ignore."

She looks worried for but a moment before her mast of stoicism, her 'princess mask', returns. 

"This is.........informative. Thank you Wrath, we will bring this information to our sister. As long as nobody is seriously wounded then you are safe to be around, yes?" I shake my head.

"It is not the severity of the wound that matters princess, it is the amount of bloodshed. A bloody nose bleeds a great deal. Unless a pony is disemboweled no single wound should affect me more than this." I steady my breathing and try to return to my previous state of calm. It is proving to difficult a task with the constant stream of blood.

She walks over to the door, and her horn glows a brighter shade of blue, and the door is layered with another spell. The flow of blood ceases. She walks back over to me and smiles.

"We have learned much! We thank you." She turns to the bucket of water and apples and sticks her head in. She rummages around fora bout 15 seconds before raising her head with an apple between her teeth. She levitates the apple away from her mouth and sets it on the ground next to the bucket.

"That is how you do it! Would you like to try again? Under two minutes this time?"

With the flow of magic cut off. My normalcy begins to return to me. She has a spell that can block the magic? I have never seen such a spell before I stand. But that is not a bad thing, in fact, that is a very good thing. I look the princess in the eye.

"Very much so Princess, in fact, I bet I can beat your time." I wolfishly grin. She looks aghast. 

"We will not be subverted! You are on!"
> Chapter 9: Dusk
> --------------------------------------------------------------------------

	
The apple bobbing competition lasted roughly one hour, the end of the contest being caused by the elements finally prying through Luna's spell and into the barn again. 

They were more than shocked to find the princess and myself soaked, with most every apple in the barn bitten. Applejack was less than amused to find an entire day's harvest gone. 

One visit to the royal bank later, Luna, Twilight, and myself are walking back toward Twilight's home, the tree library. 

"I just don't understand how a piece of paper is equivalent to gold." I respond.

Twilight groans as we pass the bakery. Luna starts to say something, but I see Pinky's face melded into the glass window. At first, I could think the sight a strange painting of some kind. However, as we move past it, I see the eyes follow me, and the smile deepen. I suppress a shudder as I return my attention to Luna. 

She stares at me for several moments, expecting an answer of some kind.

"What?"

Twilight groans again.

"Wrath this is not that hard a concept, a 'check' is treated like a sum of bits so you don't have to carry all your bits with you all the time." Twilight was getting impatient with me, I could hear it in her voice, I frowned.

"That is exactly what I did."

"Oh really?" Luna chimes in. "You must never have had very many bits then."

"At some points I carried tens of thousands, hundreds even!" The both groaned.

"Wrath, your strength is impressive, but even you could not carry around several tonnes as if it were nothing." Luna asserts. I grin wryly.

"It would be if I had to carry their weight, yes." The two stop their eye-rolling and look at me. "I carried them with me, but they weighed nothing."

The tree house comes into view.

"Did they use some extremely lightweight currency then?" Twilight asks.

"No." I answer immediately. "Our golden pieces were in fact, very similar to yours."

"Then, how?" Luna adds.

"I did not have one when I was imprisoned, but we had small sacks, enchanted to an area in planer space that-"

"A POCKET DIMENSION!" Twilight shouts wide eyed, realization dawning on her. I  frown again.

"Well that is the shorthand version of it, but yes, a pocket dimension." Twilight begins to lightly drool as we finally reach our destination. 

"Hmm, that could be very useful indeed." Luna states as we make our way inside.

Twilight quickly walks to a door that I had not noticed before, slams it open, and descends into an inky blackness. I look over at Luna who shrugs and walks over to the table and sits. I make my way into the kitchen, Twilight did have some rather tasty tea after all. 



After returning with some fine cups of 'Zebrican Jasmine', Luna and myself sit in relative silence as distant machinery whirs to life below us. Luna takes one of the three glasses I had prepared and takes a dainty sip from it. She flicks her ear twice, before nodding to herself and downing most of the cup in one go. I enjoy my tea at a much more conservative pace. Twilight's experimentation begins to cause the floor to vibrate.

"What is she up to down there?" I ask

"We have not the slightest idea."

The 'silence' stretches on, with the machinery getting louder and a distinct 'pinging' noise being thrown into the mix.

"Think she needs help?" Luna asks.

"No, I think she has it under control."

We both sip our tea as some shouts of frustration sound from below. The abrasive noise ceases and the floor becomes still. We both let out a sigh of relief.

Before long, a very singed and still slightly smoking Twilight emerges from her cellar door. She joins us at the table and begins to sip the third cup of tea without saying a word.  I am beginning to like this place. I think. I give both ponies a large smile as I rise to brew a second pot of tea.





The monster lay on cool, albeit mossy, stone. It had traveled northward after its battle with the three dragons, and sought somewhere to nurse its wounds. It had passed the largest pony city it had seen thus far, and had then entered a most confusing forest.

Now it lay immediately inside an even more confusing ruin. Its severe burns over its face and the majority of its chest still softly smoldered, a side effect of dragon's fire on the creature's carapace. The crackling sound of its still-burning face was a constant reminder of the failure it had endured and it emitted a feminine groan of frustration from its position splayed on the ground.

It had only gotten one of the three damnable drakes, the other two had gotten away. Infernal whelps! The beast seethed with rage. It had been ashamed after the failure to slay the entirety of that pony village, that and being faced with this new defeat has overwhelmed the creature. It was so furious it could hardly think, let alone plot an infiltration of a pony village to feed.

The beast rose from its prone form on the stone, the stone itself seemingly emanating calm. 

It decides to take a good look around the ruins it is in. I need to clear my head.  

It wandered down the hallway, which was the main foyer to the castle proper. The monster had collapsed immediately after entering the ruin, but it had entered through the front door.

Large, ruined decorations littered the castle walls. Insignias and motifs of the sun and moon hung or lay all about. The creature stepped over broken pillars and collapsed pieces of broken stone as it made its way to a large, double throne. 

Perplexed, the monster began to wonder who could have ruled here. One side of the throne held a sun motif, another a moon motif. In a strange sort of cosmic irony, a break in the ceiling above caused a small shaft of light to fall directly on the lunar throne, but not upon the solar. The being admired the throne a little longer, seeing the cracks and breaks time had inflicted upon it. At least one thousand years this place has been abandoned.

What is that noise? The crackling sound of its burning face dissipates, but the creature does not notice. As a strange musical sound begins to reverberate through the castle. The melodious noise enchants the monster, who finds itself straining to find out which direction the sound is coming from, to no avail however, as the sound seems to be coming from all around it. The monster loses all sense of reality around it, as it begins to dumbly wander about, searching for the source of the noise. It stumbles down a pathway to the right of the throne, and comes to a rotted door. The monster feels compelled to open it, and roughly shoves one of its claws at the door, which is torn off its hinges and falls apart as it falls down the staircase beyond.

The noise ceases, and all becomes quiet. The creature's rational thought returns from the haze. What the..? The creature looks down the winding staircase, cracked and aged. It looks down the hallway behind it and sees the throne some distance away.

How did I get here? What just happened? The monster's wrath temporarily forgotten, It tilts its head in confusion before a realization hits it. My face is healed?! It raises its tail to its face and chest and feels around, the burning has stopped and is nearly healed, the resilience of its carapace returned.

It is then, with an unclouded mind, that the creature detects a strange presence surrounding the castle. It was similar to the presence it encountered when it was near unicorns, but far stronger, with a much larger area of influence. It can almost feel the energy flowing around it, like a fog.  How did I not notice this before?

The creature turns back toward the staircase, clicking its tongue in confusion. Was I healed by a pony? If so, why? It takes a testing step onto the decrepit steps. Satisfied that they will hold its weight, it begins to descend into the depths of the Castle of the Two Sisters.

After reaching the bottom the creature looks down the dark hallway. It has no difficulty whatsoever in seeing through the darkness, but whatever force that mended his wounds sees fit to light torches lining the walls of the hallway, casting an eerie green glow. Suits of pony armor stand at attention on both sides of the hallway, strangely enough. The creature finds that the suits of armor are not decrepit like the rest of the castle, they are in seemingly good condition. The creature lowers itself and walks on all eight limbs, completely silent, as it navigates forward.

It passes by broken doors after withered stone columns and it turns left, then right, then left again, torches igniting as it comes and extinguishing as it goes. Eventually It stops tracking its path, as it walks the maze that is the castle bowels. 

The monster soon comes to a large, ornate door, made of some kind of blackened wood. Like the suits of armor, it too seems unaffected by the test of time. Remaining on all eight limbs, the creature eases the door open by the handle with its tail. Revealing the room beyond.

The creature steps into the massive room. Blank stone walls on either side of the room leading to a distant, equally blank stone wall at the opposite end of the room. It would be completely barren, if not for the red carpet surrounding a hooded figure sitting at a piano, an instrument unknown to the monster. The figure begins to play a few notes, its back turned toward the monster, who turns sideways and begins to circle around.

The melody fails to enchant the monster as it did before, and as the monster circles the face of the hooded figure comes into view. It is a mare, with a horn unsurprising to the monster. She looks tired and, somewhat translucent. Her fur is as black as her cowl, and the bit of her mane that is visible is a sort of purplish-fog, clinging to her head. Once the monster reaches the opposite side of the room, where the mare is facing, she stops playing.

"Who are you?" She asks, looking up from the piano keys. The monster recoils as if struck. It had been asked what is was before, but never who.

"I do not know," The monster's girlish voice replies. "No one has ever asked me that before...." The creature approaches the front of the piano, once there, it rises from eight legs to a sort of seated position, kneeling on its rear two legs and supporting its upper half with its six claws. "Why do you ask?"

The mare takes a long while to respond, her hooves trailing idly along the keys of the piano, but not playing any notes. She sighs.

"The truth is, whoever you are, that I am very lonely, I have longed to talk to something aside from these barren walls." This confuses the creature, who clicks its tongue.

"Why do you not leave?"

"I am trapped here," The creature pauses, clicks some more.

"Why?" it asks. The mare slowly pulls off her cowl. Revealing her to be, to the monster, a pony with both wings and a horn. Her purple-fog of a mane flowing slowly in an invisible wind. Draconic eyes and and a sad smile on her face.

"Do you understand now?" she asks.

"I do not," The mare looks taken aback.

"You do not know of me?!" 

The creature shakes its head. It wonders who this crazy pony is, and more importantly, why it healed it.

"Why did you heal me?" The creature asks. At this, the mare recomposes herself before continuing.

"I, Nightmare Moon, request your aid..............oh what is your name? Don't you have one?"

The creature clicks its tongue.

"How would you know your name? And why would you need one?" it asks. The mare is quick to respond.

"Your name is what others call you usually, and you need one for others to know you by," The creature clicks its tongue. "...for example, unless I know your name , you are just some large, predatory creature that found its way into my castle." 

"Then I suppose I have no need for a name, I do not need others to know me. What do you need aid with?" She does not press the matter further.

"I need help reclaiming my body." Nightmare Moon demonstrates her point by raising her hooves, and clapping them together, but instead of a collision followed by a noise, they pass right through each other.

"What you see now is not a body, but rather, my magical power condensing to retain my soul, this form was my last ditch effort to save my life when my body was stolen. I narrowly escaped oblivion by forming it. However because of the method I used, I am bound to remain within a certain distance from the spot where my real body was stolen, else this form will dissipate and I will die."

The monster rises to its two feet. And slowly pushes a claw toward Nightmare Moon, who gives the monster a blank stare as its claw reaches her chest, and passes through.

"Interesting." The monster remarks. "But how could I help you? And if I could, why would I?" 

Nightmare Moon sits back down at the piano, and begins to play a dull melody.

"As for the how, you would have to bring my body back here. Right now it is being used by Princess Luna. It looks similar to my current form, but her fur is a deep blue, her mane a slightly lighter shade, and her eyes are typical pony eyes." The monster tilts its head to the side. 

"As for the why, I could give you most anything. What do you desire, uh....are you sure you don't need a name?"

The creature looks up, then slowly back down.

"I suppose I could use one, but how do I pick?" The monster raises all six of its claws into the air.

Nightmare Moon thinks for a moment.

"Ahah! I have just  the spell that could help." She begins to channel some energy from her horn. It zips around the monster briefly before returning to her horn. She closes her eyes and some white light erupts from her horn. She opens them and begins to mouth a word.

"Shendu." She says, slipping some over the word. "My truth spell tells me that your true name is Shendu."

"Hmm.." It thinks for a moment, its many arms and tail swaying in some invisible breeze. "I have no better ideas, so Shendu it shall be. So Nightmare Moon, why should I serve you?"

"Well," she starts. "What do you want, Shendu?" Shendu thinks back to its fight with the dragons, it grits its teeth briefly.

"The capability to kill dragons."

Nightmare Moon looks Shendu up and down, then grins.

"You would look good with wings." The lunar usurper then began to thoroughly examine Shendu. It could feel her gaze travel across its tri-taloned feet, over its long spiked tail, up its thin frame and to its six claws, then finally to its visage itself. A large ovular head, spiked with small, slitted eyes, two slits for a nose, and a fierce maw that, when closed, makes it seem there is no mouth there at all.

"Yes, you shall make an excellent dragon killer, but before that I need my body. I need it alive, and as uninjured as possible. Preferably completely uninjured, do we have a deal?" the ghostly form walks through the piano to Shendu, then extends a hoof. A small glow surrounds her hoof as Shendu raises its tail to wrap around it. Shendu is surprised to find its tail gripping a tangible hoof, it shakes the hoof briefly before releasing it.

"You have a deal." 

"Excellent!" Nightmare Moon laughs haughtily. Shendu observes her a moment longer before making its way out of the room. The lights in the hallway are now all lit, and even as it reaches the castle foyer minutes later, it can still hear the cackling of the dark alicorn below.

What a strange pony.

Shendu then makes its way out of the castle, but the second its talon touches the cool dirt of outside a booming voice stops it.

"WAIT!"

Shendu turns and the apparition of Nightmare Moon appears in front of it, looking frazzled.

"Before you go, you should know about the Princess." Shendu looks longingly toward the forest outside, just barely under the blanket of light that is the sun, then looks back at Nightmare Moon and sighs deeply. 

"Yes?"

"She is not a pushover, Shendu. You may have physical strength and the 'fear' factor, so to speak, but Luna wields a terrifying amount of magic. You must ambush her or strike from the shadows if you hope to render her unconscious."

Shendu chuckles girlishly. Oh don't you worry ghost-pony. Striking from the shadows wont be a problem.

"Anything else?" Shendu asks.

"Yes, one last thing." Nightmare Moon looks worried as she speaks. "Her sister."

Shendu raises an eye ridge.

"Her sister is Princess Celestia, the only one to ever defeat me. You can not face her, for she wields the light itself, and all shadows flee the light."

" I have nothing to fear....." Shendu looks the apparition in the eye, and lets its body fade. "..... I do not use shadows; You will have your body, Nightmare Moon." With that Shendu falls to all eight limbs and silently makes its way into the forest. Leaving Nightmare Moon very confused.

"Shendu not only vanished from sight, but any magical signature vanished as well.... Just what in tartarus IS Shendu?" She wonders.

Shendu does not hear her, it is already making its way westward. The darkening forest seemingly welcoming its every step.






After a lengthy conversation regarding pocket dimensions, Wrath, Twilight, and Luna walk toward Sweet Apple Acres, for it is known to have the most commanding view of the surrounding area. The sun was setting and the time to move the moon was near, and Luna wanted to show Wrath a feat of power, be it simply a show of power, or to impress a friend only Luna knew. So the three traveled to the highest point of Sweet Apple Acres, Macintosh Hill.

The hill is rather impressive. It stands a proud twenty meters above the surrounding farmland and can see well across Ponyville. The farmhouse lay at its base, farmland to its west and north, and to its east lay the everfree forest, a fence separating the forest from the farm.

"Its almost time!" Luna declares. The fiery sunset is trailing the western sky, and darkness begins to seep over the Everfree Forest. 

"I will admit moving the Moon or Sun on your own is impressive. I remember it taking a great many Alicorns." Wrath says.

"Really?" Twilight asks. Wrath nods.

"It was considered the highest honor to be involved in moving the sun or moon." Twilight seems satisfied, but mentally reminds herself to ask Wrath more about that in the future. 

"I helped move the sun once." Wrath adds. The Princesses jaw drops and Twilight looks at him owlishly.

"Thou moved our sister's sun?" Luna raptly asks.

"Yes, I was one of ten. That is how it was done back then. But things have changed." Wrath strokes his beard.

"They have indeed." Luna takes a breath. "It is time." 

Luna raises herself into the air, and magic thrums through her horn. A bluish glow centers itself in her, and disappears. She grins down at her two companions. The moon rises, and darkness falls.
> Chapter 10: The Reach of Shadows
> --------------------------------------------------------------------------

	This forest is wonderful. Shendu thinks to itself as it brushes past the fear-inducing shrubbery, the strange magic having no effect on the monster. The moon has just risen and hangs low in the sky, a waning crescent, the new moon would be soon. When darkness fell the forest came alive, much to Shendu's delight. Shendu feels at one with the dark forest as it passes by forest denizens. Manticores and cockatrice and timber-wolves. oh my

I need to find a pony princess, what better place to start than a pony village? Visions of the last pony village it visited flashed through its mind. Namely the gore, the tasty, tasty gore. But this time there could be no gore. A dead pony does not talk. But after they talk... Maybe a little gore.

The trees begin to thin and through them the monster can see a small two-story cottage in the distance. The last of what appears to be a small army of animals making their way inside the small cottage. 

From a small shack looking building to the side of the cottage a yellow pegasus comes floating, a trail of chickens heading into the small shack. Shendu slows its pace as it reaches the forest edge, its natural camouflage still in place. Shendu begins a slow creep toward the pegasus, who seems to be singing a song to the animals.

Yes, this one will do.

The pegasus finishes her song and closes the small shack door. She then trots over to the cottage and steps inside, the door clicking soon after it shuts.

Shendu contemplates its next move. It could barge in, demanding answers; or it could be stealthy and sneak in before getting the answers it needed out of the pony. The latter will do.

A grumble sounds from Shendu's stomach. 

Shendu remembers the birds the pony had been herding. But first, a snack.

Shendu hums as it approaches, going first to the small shack. The small building being completely wooden, a small, seemingly makeshift door guarding the occupants within. Shendu unlatches the simple door with its flexible tail and gazes upon the avians within. A dozen chickens clucking softly to one another.

They begin to cluck louder as Shendu opens the door fully, in confusion the hens and lone rooster rise from their perches. One brave hen venturing toward the door. Shendu deftly makes way for the hen as she walks just outside the shack, and then it slowly latches the door when the hen turns and walks to the left.

With the door safely shut, Shendu thrusts a claw through the chickens neck, silencing it immediately. Shendu opens its mouth wide as it raises the skewered hen to its jaws, then engulfs the dying bird in one chomp. 

The meat is sweet and tender. The chicken was well cared for indeed.

With the snack out of the way, Shendu searches around the house for an opening. The front door being a last resort. After less than ten seconds of searching it sees a window on the upper level.

Shendu takes great effort to quietly climb the wall, making sure not to puncture the stone too deep. Upon reaching the window Shendu simply grabs it from all four directions and pulls gently. After thirty seconds or so the window 'pop's quietly and Shendu shifts it to its tail, gently lowering it to the ground so as not to break it.

With the window out of the way Shendu takes a good look inside, is sees a large fluffy bed, several dressers, an open door to a bathroom and a closed door to what Shendu can only presume to be the hallway. Shendu crams itself through the window into the room. Shendu being several times larger than what the cottage was designed to house.

It crouches low next to the bed, with two claws reaching upwards to the ceiling and its long tail laying on the ground in front of the bed.

The monster clicks its tongue.
And now I wait.












It did not have to wait long.



The door finally, slowly opens. Twenty minutes after Shendu took position. It creaks open and the yellow pegasus pony comes into view, a small rabbit at her hooves. She goes to take a step before the small rabbit stops her by grabbing her hoof. The step would have landed her right on Shendu's waiting tail.

"Whats wrong angel?" The pony asks the rabbit. Angel looks up at her with his ears twisting this way and that. He looks out at the room, at one point coming close to locking eyes with Shendu, who slowly raises is crouched form to a standing position as the bunny looks fervently around.

"Angel, I am very tired, can this wait until morning please?" The pony asks the rabbit. The rabbit grabs her hoof even more forcefully when she tries to raise it again.

"Come on Angel, please?" The rabbit ignores her and returns to searching the room.

I am growing impatient. Shendu thinks.

The pony, seemingly fed up, lifts her hoof again before stopping as the rabbit lets out a small squeak. The rabbit points and both the pony and monster follow his paw.

He is pointing at the window.

Shendu curses itself silently before moving into action. First the rabbit dies, then the pony shall be questioned.

Shendu strikes out with a claw, however the strike being from across the room the distance causes the strike to err and the claw to penetrate the floor just in front of the rabbit. Who immediately and without a second thought turns tail and runs, making a short attempt to pull the pony with him before just running for his small, furry life.

Shendu abandons all attempts at stealth, and releases its invisibility. 

To her credit the pony does not even scream. Her jaw drops and she freezes completely, locking eyes with the monster.

"I am going to ask you a question pony, if you give me a good answer I wont hurt you." Shendu tells the pony. It had meant the message to be intimidating, but the fact it has the voice of a filly negated much of the venom in its words.

".............." 

The pony is still frozen, still locking eyes with Shendu, but her mouth has begun to open and close.

Shendu is not amused. It takes a step toward the mare and brandishes all six of its claws, tearing a bit into the pony's ceiling.

"I wish to know where Princess Luna is. And you shall tell me or die. Do you understand pony?" Shendu asks, louder and angrier than before. The pony continues to stare and open and close her mouth like a fish before snapping her jaw shut and blinking.

"What are you?" She asks timidly. Strangely, even in the face of such a terrible monster, to Shendu the pony seems more curious than afraid. "And what do you want with princes Luna?"

Shendu, while on one claw admires the pony's bravery in face of certain death, is on the other five angry that she is wasting its time.

"Tell me where she is pony..." Shendu encircles the pegasus in its claws, bringing its face right up to hers. The smell of chicken blood still on its breath. "....tell me or die." The monsters slitted eyes finally manage to bore the seriousness of the situation into her head, because she finally begins to truly panic.

The sound of animals begins to rise around the cottage home. Bird cries and the calls of other small animals sounding in every direction.

"W...w...w....what..?" She stammers. Her breathing coming in short and rapid breaths.

"Tell me where Princess Luna is.." Shendu traces a claw along the mare's cheek, the razor-sharp edge drawing blood. "Or you die."

The pony shakes her head slightly and shudders.

"Th...th...th...th...the farm." She finally stammers out.

"What farm?" Shendu girlishly asks.

"S..S...Sweet apple acres." She sobs. 

"Where is that?" It asks Sweetly.

"O...On the other side of town." Shendu retracts at once. As fast as a four meter beast can in a 2.5 meter home anyway. It turns toward the window and moves to it, becoming translucent quickly. It leaps out the window, claws slicing deep into the window frame as it passes.

Shendu is fully invisible by the time it hits the ground. It turns and begins to stalk toward Ponyville proper, leaving behind a traumatized Fluttershy.







Luna Lowers herself back to the ground proudly, the night sky shinning above her. Twilight gives Luna a smile and stomps her hooves. Wrath nods in appreciation and claps his hands together a few times.

"That was all well and good Luna, but was this the only reason you brought us out here?" Wrath asks, looking around quickly.

"Well, yes!" The princess responds gleefully. "And was it not worth it?" 

"It was Princess it was, I just think it best not to be out lurking in the dark." At this the princess raises a brow.

"Do you fear the night, Wrath?" She asks.

"There is nothing to be afraid of out here!" Twilight chips in. The three are standing in a circle upon the top of the hill. Wrath continues to swivel his head, both ponies can see his eyes searching.

"I do not fear the night, I fear that which lurks in it." Wrath says dully.

"No manticore nor timber-wolf would dare approach an Alicorn! You have nothing to fear." The princess chides. The human begins a slow walk down the hill, the two ponies begin to follow the seemingly distressed human.

"You think there are creatures that would not attack you?" Wrath asks the princess, who curtly nods.

"We hold the power to move the celestial bodies, no creature of this world would dare challenge us!"

Wrath is silent for several moments.

"Have you ever fought a creature not of this world?" The princess is caught off guard, and her disposition turns curious.

"No....I have not, are you referring to yourself Wrath?" Twilight simply looks from the princess to Wrath as they talk, content to listen and mentally take notes.

Wrath chuckles humorlessly. 

"No princess, I would not challenge you either even though I am not of this world."

"Then to what do you refer?"

Wrath looks at Twilight a long time, breaking his unusual scanning of the surroundings.

"You are the same rank as your sister, so you have the right to know. But I ask that you do not speak this to anyone other than her, and Twilight, speak this to no one."

Twilight nods enthusiastically and Luna looks skeptical.

".....Very well Wrath, we shall only tell our sister. Now what do you speak of?"

The withered human returns to scanning the landscape.

"Last night I meditated..."

"Really? Thou meditated?" Luna interrupts. "How is this relevant at all?" 

"My meditation allows me to reach out with my spirit, and see the magic of the world from a, different, point of view. It was in this point of view that I investigated the happenings with the sudden ghost town on the edge of the dessert."

Luna and Twilight both give the human rapt attention as they begin winding their way back into Ponyville.

"What I discovered was evidence of something I hope with all my being is not true. You see, every living thing leaves behind a magical......residue wherever it may go. This residue had the magical properties of the being that left it. It is how I so easily found Celestia when I awoke after the invasion."

Both ponies nod to Wrath as they pass over the bridge into Ponyville proper.

"In that village was the residue of 200 or so ponies, but I could not find any actual souls. This can mean one of two things. Either all the occupants teleported a massive distance in one night, or they were all slain in one night."

Twilight grimaces and Luna scowls.

"I don't suppose you think they teleported?" Twilight asks quietly. The sad hope in her voice tears at both Luna and Wrath. 

"I'm sorry Twilight, but I don't think that is what happened."

"What......What beast could do this to our subjects? The only thing short of an Alicorn that could kill that many ponies that fast is a dragon. But if that were the case the village would be burned to the ground." Luna's scowl deepens, and Twilight shrinks into herself as they pass by the carousel boutique. 

"T'was no dragon Luna. For there was one more thing I sensed in my meditation. Though by all that be I hope I sensed wrong. There was a faint trace of pure magic left in the village."

"Pure magic?" Twilight asks. Wrath looks again to Luna, trying to garner permission to continue. At his glance Luna nods once.

"Yes, pure magic, though it comes in many forms. What I detected was pure, unadulterated Malevolence, and only one creature I know of leaves that particular magical residue."

The town hall building passes them by, they are walking in the very center of town.

"What is it?" Luna asks gravely. Wrath looks to her briefly and sees horror on her face.

"They have many names, but my people called them the Uttuku."

Twilight mutters the name under her breath lightly. Wrath shivers and looks around hurriedly. He sees the magical blue lights the ponies use to illuminate the street, as well as the surrounding buildings illuminated in the cold glow of them. The blinds and doors are all shut and all the residents seem to be asleep. Everything seems peaceful. Then what is eating at me? He wonders.

"What ARE they?" Luna asks.

"They.....are creatures of pure malevolence. There are several different types of them. There is the lowest, a type of grunt or minion called the Ani. They stand around the same height as a pony. They walk on four long blunt but rounded legs, and have an outer carapace that is almost as durable as dragon scales. They have no real mouth and do not eat in the traditional sense. They extract magic from animals they clubbed to death with their limbs as food. They travel in packs and are attracted, as all Uttuku are, to anything that could be considered innocent as a preferable food source."

"How horrible!" Luna barks, aghast. Twilight seems torn between horrified and intensely curious.

"It gets worse, there are two other breeds. They are much better known than the minions. They are the Ekkidu and the Shedu. Or in equestrian, Reaper and the Maiden respectively."

A magical pop and a brief flash or purple light surprises both Luna and Wrath who hurriedly look to Twilight, who has summoned a quill and paper. She begins to rapidly scribble on the paper before looking up and seeing her companions staring at her.

"*Ahem* please continue?" She asks shyly as she continues to rapidly transcribe what she has heard.

"That can only be for your eyes Twilight." Wrath warns.

"I know, but I cant just remember all of this." Wrath shakes his head before resuming.

"Anyways, I'll talk about the reaper first. It is a massive thing, easily as tall as a hydra and just as wide. It has a massive, fang-filled maw, it could eat me whole in one bite to give you some perspective. After that it has two massive scythes for arms, each as long as one of your train 'cars'. It, like the minion, walks on four legs. Though instead of the stubs the minions have, they posses massive taloned feet. Like a bird of prey. They are known to siege entire cities and have hide even more durable than dragon scales, in fact, they are known to prey an adult dragons who are foolish enough to go near them." 

The three walk by sugar-cube corner as they continue their talk.

"Ummm, neither the....Ami?" Twilight starts.

"Ani." Wrath corrects.

"Thank you, neither the Ani or the Ekkidu seem like they could be responsible for what happened. The Ani would have left blood splatters all over the village if they.......bludgeoned ponies to death. And there simply would be no village if it was an Ekkidu."

"You are correct, but I do not think either the grunts, nor the Reaper is responsible. No, I believe we are dealing with a Maiden, the most terrifying of them all."

"We are unsure Wrath. The two you have described thus far are very horrifying indeed. What could be more so?" Wrath takes a deep breath and another look around them, the blue glow seemingly eerie now. A bad feeling gnaws in the pit of his gut.

"The Maiden could. I have fought grunts in my time. I have slain more than a few. I once participated in the defense of a town where a Reaper was attacking. It took several days and at least one hundred great warriors, but it was slain. However in my many years I have never, ever seen a dead Maiden, I have only heard tell of them being slain. I fought one once and I barely survived; even the most hardened of my kind congratulated me for that fact alone."

"How are they so deadly?" Twilight asks

"They are deadly for several reasons. The first is their biology. A Maiden stands roughly four meters tall. It has a wide jaw with teeth the size of a ponies forehoof. It has a long, nimble tail at least two meters long that ends with a single spike and It walks on two very slime and agile legs. Their feet have two claws that go forward and one that goes back, making them almost lithe in their movements. They have six upper limbs that extend out of three sets of shoulders. All six limbs end with long claws. This is what they look like. However this is not what makes them deadly."

Wrath scoffs.

"Hell, they are not even that resilient. Their carapace is weaker than both the reaper and the minion. Though you would still need something harder than steel to pierce it. No, what makes them terrifying is that they posses a unique ability. They bend the light around them in such a way that they are rendered almost completely invisible, they also bend any kind of light magic around them as well, making any kind of spell that functions via light useless on them."

Wrath sighs and lowers his gaze, the Tree-house is within sight.

"But even that doesn't make them as deadly as they are. What makes them a walking nightmare is that they learn. Both the grunt and the reaper are little more than beasts. The grunt is a simple predator and the reaper though it CAN talk is so maddened by bloodshed it does little more than cackle and make threats." Wrath takes a breath and looks around again, more rapidly.

"No, the Maiden is intelligent. That is why it is such a threat. It is an intelligent creature that is cruel. Imagine what evil Celestia could cause if she was suddenly enthralled by malevolence alone?"

"I....I see." Luna says after a long while. The three walk and contemplate in the quiet of the night until they reach the Tree-house.

"Oh yeah, I never told you why they are called Maidens did i?" Wrath asks just short of bemused.

"No, you didn't." Twilight answers quickly, unlocking the door with a spell.

Wrath snorts once and strokes his beard.

"They are called Maidens because they posses the voice of a young girl."

Twilight unlocks the door, but for some reason it wont open. Her magic begins to burn more brightly as she pries at it.

"Its.......its stuck!" She shouts. Both Wrath and Luna lean in to take a closer look.





A girlish giggle comes from above them
> Chapter 11: The Maiden
> --------------------------------------------------------------------------

	>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>Wrath<<<<<<<<<<<<<<<<<<<<<<<<<<<<<<<<<<<<<<<<

A girlish giggle sounds from above Twilight, Luna, and me as we stand in the doorway, Twilight in front with me directly behind her, and Luna to my immediate right. My eyes flick upward for a moment and see nothing but the tree-house that Twilight calls home.

My instincts know better than that.

Today had been well. I think. 

Acting quickly, I lean forward and shove Twilight out of harms way. She lets out a brief cry before hitting the neighboring house. I move to do the same to Luna before the noise of something sharp slicing through the air reaches my ears. I am too slow, the beast's strike is about to land.

I'm too late. I internally wince, bracing for the blow. 



It never comes.

I look up to see a shield of blue magic, two long claw-like cracks on the right and left side of it. I look to Luna and see her horn alight, glowing furiously. Her face is strained into a grimace as she glares upward. The shield begins to slowly lower, flickering.  The force pushing down slowly overpowering Luna.

I raise my arms to support it. Almost right as I begin to aid, Luna's shield stops flickering and turns an almost opaque teal, the cracks mending completely. 

Together we push back, raising until my arms are fully extended, as we hold it there Luna eyes flick to mine.

"Is this the beast you were speaking of?" She asks, strained.

"Probably," I respond, shifting my weight. "But I know not why it is here"

We hear an enraged shriek above us. The shriek lasts several seconds before morphing into a bloodcurdling roar. I look back up and see the wood of the tree-house tear violently as the creature re-positions itself, before a great deal of additional force slams into Luna's Shield. This time the force concentrated in six separate points on the barrier, cracks emanating from each point.

"This barrier wont hold," Luna grunts. The hidden creature presses down further, I am forced to one knee and Luna's face is contorted in agony.

Her horn sparks once. The barrier is about to break.

I release my hold on the barrier and dive toward Luna. Her grimace gets even wider for a brief moment before the barrier collapses and she is tackled to the side.

A loud thud sounds behind us. I scramble to my feet and assume a defensive position over the still recovering Luna. Two claw-shaped indents can be seen on the dirt where the beast is standing.

"Was that really necessary?" Twilight's voice asks from the other side of the indent, her having recovered from being thrown like a rag-doll.

A sickening swooshing sound begins to fill the air. Where have I heard this before?  It sound like something very sharp is whipping through the air. Oh

My grim visage falls to horror as I realize what the sound is.

"Twilight get down!" I bellow. She looks at me curiously before obeying and dropping down. A moment later the wall behind where her head just was is cleaved horribly, a massive gash marring the wooden home.

I turn my attention back to the indents on the ground. I can at least track its feet. The indents disappear as the creature moves. A claw-mark lands closer to Twilight then before, then another.

I glance at the still recovering Luna, whom was rubbing her horn in anguish, before bringing my left arm to my face and sinking my teeth into my own flesh.

I hardly feel it anyway.

As blood begins to trickle down my arm I launch into a dead sprint at the tracks. A very worried Twilight just a few paces beyond them. She looks conflicted a moment, before her horn lights up and she disappears in a puff of lavender magic. I smile darkly. Good girl.

As Twilight teleports away I reach where the tracks imply the creature is, I dive into it with arms wide open. My chest meets carapace and my arms swing around to its front. As my blood touches the creature its illusion fades, revealing the Maiden in all its grotesque glory. The Maiden then begins to thrash about wildly, trying to dislodge my grip of its throat.

Two sharp gasps sound behind me followed immediately by feverish muttering, but they are ignored as I put my all into wrestling the fiend, blood pouring down my arm and onto the creature.

>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>Twilight<<<<<<<<<<<<<<<<<<<<<<<<<<<<<<<<<<<<<<<<<<<<<<<

My teleportation spell lands me right next to Princess Luna, who has just ambled to her hooves. She looks down to me and smiles before the seriousness of the situation hits us. We both gasp as we see what has happened.

Wrath appears to be hanging onto nothing in the air, but his body is flailing around like somepony possessed. His arm is dripping blood, and as it stains an invisible surface near it something begins to come into view. From invisible to translucent and then finally to opaque the creature from Wrath's story comes into view, looking just as terrifying as he had said it did.

From his position on its back, Wrath starts to try to strangle the massive thing, much to its displeasure.

"We have never seen a horror that is that monstrosity's equal." Luna mutters quickly from beside me.

"How do we get rid of it?" I ask. Could I just teleport it away? 

The Maiden begins to attack Wrath with its tail, and lashes him violently as one would with a whip. This does nothing to deter Wrath, as his grip only seems to tighten as his blood is spilled. I can see the chitin around the Maiden's neck beginning to crack and give way.

The Maiden flexes all six of its claws at once, and brings them back as far as it can, crushing Wrath from both sides. Wrath howls in agony and releases his hold on the Maiden's neck, and grabs a the base of the Maiden's uppermost right claw. As it regains its breath Wrath gets into position on the shoulder.

I realize what he is about to do and can only stare slack jawed. Wrath heaves with all his might, and a sickening crack  echoes throughout Ponyville followed immediately by a hellish roar that would make a hydra envy. Wrath lands on the ground with his prize before being beset on by the creature, who turns and back-claws him fiercely with its three left claws, sending him crashing through the Library wall.

A look a fire comes into Luna's eyes as the crash echoes throughout the town. 

Lights begin to turn on in neighboring houses and Luna begins charging up a spell, white light emanating from her eyes. I begin to back away as I see the amount of magic running through her horn. I glance at the now wounded Maiden, who is clutching its stub with a shocked expression. 

This is going to end badly. I think. I begin channeling a shield spell while running toward the Library where Wrath was thrown.

"FIEND! WE SHALL OBLITERATE YOU WHERE YOU STAND!!!" Luna bellows with the royal canterlot voice as she releases a shaft of pure white magic at the Maiden. It barely has time to shield itself with its five claws before the blast hit in a blinding flash of light.

Oh and hit it did, right as I reach the hole in the Library and activate my spell. The explosion sounds as my forward shield surrounds the library.

The blast-wave explodes outward from the Maiden, breaking windows and knocking anything and everything aside as it goes. 








As my vision returns I see the creature in the same position, five claws acting as a shield and the rest of its body crouched behind it. Luna is also in the same spot, panting with the magic having left her eyes.

Time seems to slow down as the Maiden stands.

Its claws retreat to its sides and dig into the ground raising it back to its feet. The claws themselves seem no worse for wear, however the same can not be said for the rest of the creature. I feel some bile in my throat is I watch. The Maiden stands, its carapace charred and cracked. Bits and pieces of its outer shell fall to the ground, revealing the vulnerable flesh beneath. Its face opens in a silent snarl, chipped and broken teeth stare at me and Luna, no less fierce than before.

The Maiden takes a step back, and begins to become translucent, but somethings wrong with its natural ability. The parts of its carapace that fell off are not invisible, they are hidden from view but emit a strange blackish light, strangely illuminating the surrounding area as the wounded Maiden takes careful steps away from us.

My magic thrums slightly as I quickly scan the light. After half a moment the spell tells me the light is on the fringe of being ultra violet. If this was not so terrifying this would be the most exciting and bizarre scientific event I have seen since the Elements of Harmony!

"What the buck is that thing!?" A stallion shouts from a nearby window.

"Dear Celestia!" Another voice.

"Horrible!" Another.

This is getting out of hoof. A look back toward the hole in the Library wall tells me nothing but dust can be seen. Luna is recovered and is now marching toward the creature, sending up small, blue pulses of magic. A distress signal to call the guards! Why didn't I think of that?

Ponies begin to peek out of their homes, watching and chatting quietly as the Princess marches toward the retreating maiden, the black-light still erupting from its unseen wounds, it looks more like some strange ghost than a living thing, the large stub of its missing arm shining like a beacon.

The Princess follows the creature, the Royal guards that had been stationed in Ponyville arrive. Twenty strong with the majority being pegasai, the creature is soon surrounded from the air. The unicorn guards take position around the creature, erecting magic barrier on top of barrier.

"FEAR NOT MY LITTLE PONIES. THE CREATURE SHALL BE DEALT WITH. RETURN TO YOUR HOMES." Luna bellows in the Royal canterlot voice. 

I swallow loudly then approach her, stepping over broken glass. I blink twice before casting repair spell after repair spell, looking for where glass had been before Luna's spell. My repair spell is not powerful enough to fix anything other than glass, but that will have to do.

"Princess!" A royal guard approaches Luna. Typical white fur and blue mane but with a small orange feather behind his ear, testament to his rank as an officer.

"Corporal." She responds. Still eyeing the strange sight within the many shields.

"What are your orders?" The apparent Corporal asks.

"Keep the 'creature' contained. We will send word to our sister immediately and the two of us shall discus on a course of action from there."

The Corporal and Luna move closer together and continue to talk, but I get sidetracked by a certain pink mare.

"Heya Twi!" Pinkie greets. How she got behind me I don't know. Don't question it, just don't question it, remember last time.

"Hi Pinkie." I greet. "I take it the noise woke you up?" I ask with a sad smile.

She chortles, ending with a snort.

"No I wasn't sleeping. I just had my entire left leg go itchy for like THREE whole seconds. I knew something bad was gonna happen but I couldn't tell where so I couldn't sleep!"

Pinkie looks around rapidly.

"Where's the big guy?" She asks, one ear flopping back and forth.

I point with my hoof toward the tree house, and the gaping hole in the wall. The dust now having settled, the innards of the tree can now be plainly seen. A whole lotta books.

Pinkie looks to be, confusion and sadness evident on her face.

"What happened?"

"That." I point with a hoof toward the Maiden, who I see has now abandoned its 'invisibility' and is lying on the ground, steam still rising from the cracks in its carapace. "...hit him through the tree house wall." Pinkie's mane deflated slightly.

"He is ok right?" She asks. Umm, I never did actually check. I'm sure he is fine.

"I'm sure he is Pinkie, he said he had fought one of these things before! I bet he is fine." I smiled a false smile. Now that I think about it, he said he barely survived an encounter with one, and that he did not kill it.



But Pinkie does  not need to know that.

Just then I feel a scaly set of arms hug my foreleg. I look down at the small dragon and quickly nuzzle him.

"You ok Spike?" I ask. He had not been in the Library at the time, he had been with Rarity.

"Yeah" he responds, wiping away some residual mist from his eyes. "I just had this really bad feeling, and then there was this horrifying sound, and then I came out here and heard an explosion and I got thrown to the ground and then I saw the hole in the library and, and, and.."

I cut him off with another nuzzle.

"Its ok Spike, I promise." The little dragon nods happily, then climbs up my leg and sits on my back, hugging the back of my neck.

I feel something large pat the entirety of my back, Spike and all. Spinning my head I see a colossal snow-white wing. A snow-white wing attached to none other than...

"Princess Celestia!" I gasp, spinning around into a bow.

"Sister!" Luna calls from behind me. 

"We have captured the creature responsible for the San-Palamino village abductions." Luna gestures with a wing to the bubble of magic. The creature was not laying or standing, it was in an odd limbo of the two, it is laying horizontal as it was before but has now proped itself up on its three left claws.

Its eyes are glued to Celestia, with its jaw slack.

"I see." Is all Celestia says. She approaches the dome with an expression unlike her normal self. Her princess smile is gone, replaced by a faraway glare. It sends shivers down my spine.

As she reaches the magical barrier she lights her horn in a powerful magic.

"Lower the shield!"  She commands. The guards ponies hesitate briefly before complying and lowering the shield.

What is she thinking?! 

The Maiden tries to rise from the ground but is unable, its body is too wounded. After struggling it finds itself perched on 7 limbs, slanted slightly due to the missing arm. It looks up at Celestia, who lets her glare fade back into her normal smile.

The spell on her horn brightens.

"Make it quick." The creature requests, with the small voice of a filly.

Celestia blinks twice and all the guards show different levels of bewilderment. Ranging from a slight confusion to full blown slack jawed astonishment. 

Spike moves around on my back and Celestia clears her throat. Her spell activates and a great many golden chains appear around her, each thrumming with powerful enchantments.

"I'm not going to kill you."
> Chapter 12: Chains
> --------------------------------------------------------------------------

>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>Wrath<<<<<<<<<<<<<<<<<<<<<<<<<<<<<<<<<<<<<<<<<<<<<<

"WHAT DOST THOU MEAN THOU ARE NOT GOING TO KILL IT?"

The booming voice commands me back into the waking world. 

My chest. I painfully groan. Everything is fuzzy, my ears are ringing and I'm wet with my own blood. I crack an eye open to see the roof of the library, I look down at my now ruined torso. Several cracked ribs and a fractured sternum as well as three large lacerations can be seen across it. Probably some internal damage as well, the amount of blood I have lost is the only reason I'm conscious. I grasp at my surroundings and force my way to my feet, the bloody mist aiding me every step of the way.

If I don't see a healer soon, or the Pony equivalent, I will die. My tired mind thinks. I don't register the panicked voices outside as I slowly and painfully head for the hole I made.

I hobble out of the hole in the Library, clutching at my chest when my foot catches something and I tip forward. 

Ow. I raise myself back to a sitting position and glance over what tripped me. Even my dizzy mind is pleased at what my eyes behold.

The Maiden's severed limb, complete from shoulder to claw. I grasp it and plunge it into the dirt, using it to stand myself back up. I lift it from the dirt and begin using the monsters severed limb as a walking stick, making my way toward the...the....the.....

Celestia has the Maiden suspended in the air, surrounded and restrained by golden chains, her sister, Luna, is next to her. Though I can't hear what she is saying her mouth is moving. Twilight and Pinkie stand behind Luna, spike on Twilight's back. Royal guards surround the whole scene.

I blink several times, trying to process all of what I'm seeing.

"WHAT DOST THOU MEAN THOU ARE NOT GOING TO KILL IT?!" I remember the words that woke me. Not going to kill it? What do they mean 'not going to kill it'? I begin to hobble toward the group, none of which has noticed me yet, I am quickly within earshot, and Luna's babble becomes coherent.

".........we must protest sister, the creature is responsible for the deaths of hundreds! We must-"

"Enough of that Luna!" Celestia retorts, staring coldly at her sister. My gaze falls on the creature again, the little magic I have left burns with hate as I stare, my hobble becomes swifter. "What good would killing it do?" Celestia continues.  "It is a beast of death and destruction, execution would only give it peace. It would be no punishment." No. It would be justice! She turns her gaze back toward the creature, her face becoming a stoic mask.

"What would you have us do? Let it go?" Luna asks sarcastically. Not if I have anything to say about it. I think.

"No, I have a plan for it. One I believe you would agree to if you would just stop and listen to me." The creature raises itself slightly, being bound as it is all it can do is raise its head, but I can see it looking at me. I grit my teeth, feeling for my remaining magic. Not much left. But all of it in one blow should smash its head in.

"We are all ears dear sister." Luna responds, seemingly distant. Everything but the Maiden falls from focus.

I am nearly upon it, just a few steps away. A voice calls my name but I can't hear it. I lift the claw into the air, preparing the overhead strike. This beast must die! I do not heed the equine shouts of confusion and warning as I close the distance to the creature. My face twists into a snarl as I try to bring down my make-shift weapon, amplifying the blow with the last of my magic.

The claw freezes midair, caught in a golden aura. My spent blood falls to the ground in a splat, its magic wasted. I haggardly turn to Celestia. The beast is guilty of the mass murder of innocents! She must know this?! It must die!

I open my mouth to rebuke her intervention, to demand her to release me, but all that emerges is a violent hacking cough. Blood leaks from my mouth, though it has no power to give. Internal damage... I almost forgot. The blood remaining in my magic had been keeping me conscious. With the last of my magic gone, my mind becomes clouded and fuzzy. The blood loss finally begins to truly effect me, I struggle to complete the blow but my effort is futile, Celestia's magic far outclasses my wounded, weary body. 

My vision begins to swim and I lose my grip on the claw, wind rushes past me and my back impacts the ground. Hello ground, old friend. My tired and blood deprived brain struggles to think properly. I find myself observing the meshing blobs of color around me. Golden, then a dark blue. Alabaster flutters across my vision then violet takes its place. I look around and find some strange joy in what I see, the colors amusing to me. Black starts at the corners of my vision and my gaze lands on something darker than everything else. My eyes manage to focus just once before the darkness takes hold; a pair of slitted eyes on a cracked, bound, and broken monster's face is the sight that bids me farewell from the waking world.



>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>Fluttershy<<<<<<<<<<<<<<<<<<<<<<<<<<<<<<<<<<<<<


My hooves hit the pavement rhythmically as I make my way to Ponyville. My wings stay frozen at my sides and I glance from side to side. Searching for any trace of the...........thing that had visited me. 

I shudder as the memory replays in my mind. The strange feeling, angels warning, the missing window, and finally.....it.

What was it? I quietly wonder, trying to keep my mind off the darkness around me. I have never seen anything like it. The cool night air kicks up, rusting my mane and the surrounding grass. I stop and stare off into the darkness toward the distant Everfree forest, I'm about halfway to Ponyville from my home, and the forest is beyond the veil of darkness; but still, I stare where I know it is.

What did it want with Princess Luna? I stare down at my hooves. My fur is standing on end, a testament to my stress. I lift a hoof and feel my cheek, where the monster had scratched me. The cut had been perfect, the...........claw razor sharp. It had hardly bled. 

	I hope it didn't want to hurt her. I lower my hoof and begin a faster pace into town. But what was with it's voice? What kind of Everfree monster has that kind of voice? Not one I have ever heard of. I cross over the bridge into town, a bunch of light seems to be coming from the center, some kind of commotion waking everypony up.

What if it isn't from the forest? I have never heard of it before and I know about all of the forests creatures.

Whatever commotion was going on comes into view. My eyes widen and I freeze. Princess Celestia and Luna? I shake my head and begin a steady trot. I see the two princesses, a bunch of guards, Twilight and the rest of the elements arranged in a circle. In the middle is.......

is......



Wrath?

The human is lying on his back with arms spread, a large scorch mark on the ground just before him. Both Princesses are standing above him with their horns alight. I draw closer, and the guards begin to depart, some flying and some in a flash of magic.

Pinkie is the first to notice me.

"Heyya Fluttershy!" She shouts, even though I am only a few steps away at this point.

"Hey pinkie." I respond nervously. I notice the blood surrounding Wrath, and the indent in his chest.  "Oh my gosh!...W-What happened?"

"It all happened to fast, now that all the elements are here I'll tell you all what Happened." Twilight starts from beside me. 

"About time Twi!" Rainbow Dash exclaims. Various murmurs of agreement come from Rarity and Applejack.

As Twilight begins to recount the tale, I notice Celestia's left ear twitch, indicating she is listening as well. Her and Luna's horns still alight as they cast magic over Wrath. 

"We had just gotten back to the Library, the door was locked and wouldn't budge. I tried casting a lock removing spell but before I could I heard a filly's laughter." I shrink into my mane. Oh no.

Spike sits up on Twilight's back.

"A filly's laughter?" he asks, non-believing. 

"A filly's laughter." Twilight affirms.

"Creepy." He shivers. "What happened next?" 

"Well, Wrath picked me up and hurled me like a ball at the neighbors house, when I recovered I saw Wrath sprinting toward me. It took me a moment to see the indents of steps progressing toward me on the ground. After seeing them I teleported to Luna."

I glanced at Luna and saw her nod once, but only once. Her concentration entirely on the spell. Wrath looks like he is in bad shape. If he dies...



It will be my......my.......fault. 


I struggle to blink back tears as I make my way to Wrath's head. A strange look of bliss upon his face. I kneel next to him and look over his body.

"After that Luna and I watched Wrath wrestle thin air before the...creature.... revealed itself." Twilight went on. "It was like nothing I have ever seen!"

"Ah still wish I coulda seen it." Applejack complains. "This critter sounds so darn interestin."

"I agree, though I am not exactly sad that I don't get to see it." Rarity chimes in.

"...what did it look like?" I ask. Barely above a whisper. I bury my face in my hooves. I have no idea if she heard me or not.

"It was almost twice as tall as Celestia, it stood on two legs and had six massive claws and a long tale. Anyway, after it revealed itself it wrestled fiercely with Wrath. Long story short, Wrath tore off one of its arms and it struck him with three claws at once, sending him into my library, leaving a gaping hole in the wall." I stop listening, and begin to softly cry into my hooves just next to Wrath's head.

Soon hoofsteps sound near my head, and alert me to somepony standing right over me.

"Are you alright dear?" Rarity asks me. I hear the hoofsteps of others approach.

"No."

Nopony says anything. The only sound that can be heard is the thrum of the princesses magic, and Wrath's ragged breath.

"I am not alright."

The same silence follows before being shattered by Rainbow Dash.

"It's alright Fluttershy, I'm sure Wrath will be fine." I look up and blearily see Rainbow Dash smiling at me, before glancing at the princesses. "He is going to be alright, right?" Celestia looks over to her and smiles.

"Yes, he should be fine. He somehow expunged all of his natural magic, which wouldn't be fatal in and of itself, but paired with extreme blood loss. Let us just be glad my sister and I got to him when we did." 

"See! nothing to be worried about." Rainbow Dash says. Patting me on the back.

"You don't understand, its my fault." I look around at everypony. "I-It was in my house......It a-asked where P-Princess Luna was."

"It did what now?" Luna asks furiously. "Are you sure you don't just want to kill it sister?" Why aren't they mad? I wonder. I had thought Luna would be furious at me. Wasn't that basically treason?

"It was in your HOUSE?" Applejack sputters.

Celestia shakes her head. 

"Yes, I'm sure. I believe what I have in mind is a much better plan." She looks down at Wrath and frowns, his chest wound is covered in a softly glowing layer of magic.  Turning, Celestia flicks her magic off and addresses the six of us. "Girls, tomorrow around noon please come to Canterlot, I will arrange a royal train car for the six of you." 

She turns and her and Luna's horns begin to glow. Why aren't they mad at me? I shake my head and stand.

"What about the big guy?" Rainbow Dash asks, gesturing to the now peacefully slumbering human.

"Oh, don't worry. He is coming with us." Luna remarks as their horns flash. I hide behind my mane. When I glance back out after my sight returns the Princesses and Wrath are gone.

"So dear, um, what exactly was that thing doing in your house?" Rarity asks, as sweetly as she can.

I shiver and begin to recount the tale.


>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>Shendu<<<<<<<<<<<<<<<<<<<<<<<<<<<<<<<<<<<<<<<<<<<<<




Darkness surrounds me. A void, stretching infinitely in every direction.

"Where am I?" I ask. Nothing responds. I feel a sharp pain on the right side of my head. I wince and bring my uppermost right claw up and rub at my head. 

I recoil from my claw and hold it away from me. I begin to examine it thoroughly, from the claw tip from where it connects to my torso. Normal, a-

"As if it had never been torn off?" A female voice asks from the void. I quickly recognize it. Princess Luna.

"So you know our name?" The voice asks. A swirl of blue penetrates the darkness in front of me, it shapes itself into the image of the lunar Princess.

You can read my thoughts? 

"I can"

How?

"You are dreaming." I cock my head to the side.

"You don't know what dreaming is? Very well, we shall tell you. A dream is a succession of images, thoughts and/or emotions that pass through one's mind when they sleep, it is also when you are dreaming that your soul rests. Simply put, we are inside your head right now."

I make an experimental swipe at the princess, and am surprised when my claw connects with her side. I had not put force behind it, as I expected it to pass through. But how is she in my dream?

"It is the duty of the Night princess to watch over dreams, and thus we have some control over them." Her visage turns cold, and her body begins to grow, and grow, and grow. Until her face alone encompasses all of my vision.

"However we are not here to give thee a lesson on dreams, we are here to extract information." I feel a spike in terror before she surrounds my body in a blue glow, blinding me. I flail my arms, legs, and tail about, I open my mouth to scream as pain spikes throughout my head.

The agony is overwhelming, so much so it forces me back into the dreamless sleep I have always known.


>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>Royal Bedchamber: Solar<<<<<<<<<<<<<<<<<<<<<<<<<<<<<


Celestia sits upon a cushion of silk. A dainty cup of tea held aloft her her golden magic. Her head is tilted back and her eyes are shut, a vain attempt at relaxation. She would not sleep this night.

A shadow appears beneath the door frame, and Celestia responds by cracking an eye open and summoning a second cup of steaming tea.

The aura changes from gold to blue as the lunar diarch materializes from the shadow. The cup is brought to her lips and she takes a long pull from the life giving fluid. 

"We fear you were right sister." Luna says, sighing. Then very ungracefully flops onto a similar cushion to her sister's. Celestia smiles softly and lowers her head, sipping from her tea.

"In what manner lulu?" Celestia asks.

"The....Maiden. Shendu, it calls itself; is nothing more than a foal. It is only several days old and has been acting solely on its base instincts, however dark they may be. Being in its mind was troubling sister. It is very logical, very selfish. But the childhood naivety it holds is....astounding, considering its murderous nature." 

Celestia nods and frowns slowly.

"Naivety? How so sister?" 

"It's....hard to explain. The creature would easily kill you should it hunger. But it would not out of annoyance. Unless it hungers or necessity demands it, it does not kill. Which is abnormal for powerful, meat eating species; which typically will kill anything weaker than themselves on a whim. " Luna takes a pull from her tea.

"It killed two hundred ponies, are you telling me it was that hungry?" Celestia asks, raising an eyebrow.

"Yes." Luna responds, lowering her tea. "At that point it was two days old, and had yet to come across such a large amount of........meat.... that was so easy to obtain, that and for some reason its palette is more suited to...ponies."

Celestia makes no noticeable reaction aside from sipping from her tea slightly longer than she had been.

"Is that it then?" She asks

"Not at all, it has no knowledge of basic concepts that would be second nature to a foe such as Nightmare Moon,  Which brings up another issue, Nightmare's revenant still haunts the old castle. It must be dealt with. The cause for the Maiden's assault on us was a promise from Nightmare Moon to give it wings."

A harsh, bark of a laugh escapes Celestia's lips at this, much to her sister's shock.

"Something funny sister?" Luna asks somewhat coldly.

"Just.....Irony is all. I think I have made my choice." Celestia stands and approaches her sister.

Luna eyes her approaching sister before rolling her eyes.

"You want to see the Maidens memories for yourself then?"

Celestia nods.

"Yes."





"I will send my most highly trained ponies to exorcise the old castle as soon as I meet with my adviser." Celestia says, breaking the spell that had bound her and Luna.

Luna yawns tiredly, which makes Celestia giggle.

"That time again?" She asks the drooping Luna.

"Indeed." She responds.

The two walk to the balcony, the cool night sky greeting them. They both light their horns, and celestial bodies are pulled. The sun rises and the moon falls. The latter of which immediately departs for bed.

"Sleep well Lulu!" Celestia shouts at her sister who is already at the door. She turns her head and smiles, nods her head once and slips out the door.

Celestia's smile falters and she sighs. She turns from the radiant dawn and walks toward an old, dusty shelf of lore nestled in the corner of her room.

She pulls a weathered volume from its contents. Its title had long since faded but Celestia knew it well, Quinque Concordi Magica  or The five harmonious magics.

She sat down again on her cushion and levitated both the book and a fresh cup of tea to herself. If she was going to go through with her plans for Shendu, she would need a refresher course.



>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>Shendu<<<<<<<<<<<<<<<<<<<<<<<<<<<<<<<<<<<<<<<<<<<<<<<<<<<<<<<


I finally woke, the throbbing of my right shoulder rousing me from my sleep. I found my vision was restricted, something covering my eyes. I strained against the chains binding me, and was swiftly reminded of the condition of my body, broken. It had barely stopped bleeding but my struggling had re-opened some of the smaller wounds.

Why haven't they killed me? I am a significant threat to them, shouldn't they kill me? I wondered. I clicked my tongue.

I can feel the light of day on my carapace, not direct however, filtered, as if through glass. The smell of rock, and pony are all I can smell. Nothing useful. That creature, he was going to kill me, but Celestia stopped him. Why?

I can hear hoofsteps and muttering all around me. However the muttering was so faint I could make out no words. It would not hurt to talk would it?

"Hello?" I ask. My voice is met with the volume and amount of muttering increasing dramatically, though I can still make out no words.

I go limp and sigh. There is nothing I can do at the moment. I may as well get comfortable.





The passage of time is easy for me to recall. Whether it is due to some kind of internal clock or my own unconscious doing, I do not know, but I do know three hours and fifteen minutes have passed. Nothing has happened other than the sound of a distant, but massive, door opening and closing several times, and the sound of hoofsteps leaving and approaching.

By my count, the room had twelve more ponies in it that it had when I awoke.

The massive door grates open again, and strangely enough, all the muttering stops. The ponies around me all go silent as......eight.....no, seven sets of hoofsteps and one set of footsteps approach. The smell of the large, bearded creature alerts me to its presence. 

The seven ponies and biped approach, but are all much louder than the ponies I have been hearing so far.

"Is it awake?" A cocky voice asks. I don't recognize it. It's female and slightly scratchy.

"Yes, it is." A motherly voice responds. I recognize it as Celestia. "And it can hear you."

"Wow, your sister really did a number on it princess" Another voice says. 

"Yes she did Rarity, she had meant to kill it with the blow, I was surprised it survived at all when Luna told me what spell she used." Celestia responds

"If it is any consolation I was, and still am, very nearly dead." I croak, my girlish voice scratching slightly from my damaged throat. Several gasps meet my proclamation. 

"Why did you attack us, fiend?" A deep, male voice asks. 

"I was pr-"I begin to say, but Celestia cuts me off.

"All will be explained in time, Wrath. You two shall have plenty of time to catch up, I assure you." I snap my mouth shut and hear murmurs of confusion around the new ponies. The old ones are still completely silent. Guessing by the presence of the princess, they must be guards. Not supposed to talk when she is around I suppose.

"Attention! All guards please leave the room immediately, allow nopony but Princess Luna or Captain Armour through." Celestia declares. It is immediately followed by a chorus of hoofsteps made in unison as the thirty something guards all vacate the premises.

Once they are gone, and the door is shut, Celestia begins.

"I must apologize for the subterfuge my little ponies, and Wrath. But it was necessary." I can hear a twinkle of magic and a pop as something is summoned. Many gasps follow.

"The elements of Harmony!" The scratchy female voice says. "Are we gonna blast the monster!?"

"Well... yes and no. You wont be doing exactly what you did when you purified Nightmare moon, but you will be using them." Celestia responds.

"Wait, What did ya mean, 'subterfuge'?" A twangy female voice asks. This voice has not spoken yet. I hear a sigh.

"What is about to happen, will be to the rest of the world, Shendu's execution via elements of harmony." I strain slightly against my bonds, I know it is futile, but the sound of my own execution being announced makes me want to squirm, to get away.

"Alright, so what will it be to us, Princess?" The twangy voice responds.

There is a moment of silence, broken by the twinkle of magic.

"You are about to find out, Applejack, Now Twilight, read this passage, then use the elements." Another gasp. I shake my head slowly.

"This is from Starswirl's original works! How did you get this, princess?" An excited voice asks. Celestia giggles in response.

"He gave them to me himself, my dearest student." She responds.

There is an extended silence, with the 'student' presumably reading. My nerves gnaw at me, I can't help but struggle a little more. Some more wounds re-open. I don't learn it seems.

"Will you stop that?" The booming male voice demands. 

"Stop what?" I ask.

"The struggling, you are leaking down onto the floor." He responds.

"I can't stop." 

"Why is that?" 'Rarity' asks. "It seems most painful." I take a moment and think. Why am I struggling?

"Because I am terrified." I respond honesty, defeat in my voice.

Silence follows for several more minutes.

"I got it." the 'student' proclaims suddenly. "Are you ready girls?" She asks.

Four voices respond in the affirmative, albeit one very quietly.

"Pinkie?" The 'student' asks.

"It, its not gonna kill the..........creature....is it? I don't wanna kill anything." The voice asks sadly.

"It shouldn't," Celestia responds. "If the spell fails then it simply wont work."

"Alright, then I'm ready!" Pinkie proclaims. I can't see her, but I get the feeling she is striking a pose.

I feel the thrum of magic, and I begin to struggle. I feel something cool caress my face, and I begin to struggle more violently. Soon, the whole of my body feels like something cool is being drug across it. Then it gets worse. The cool feeling turns warm, then hot, then extremely hot. 

I open my mouth to cry out in agony, but the heat enters there as well. In spite of the pain, I realize I have lost my ability to hear, and smell. I can not taste, see, hear, or smell. Aside from the burning, I am suffering total sensory deprivation. I open my mouth, or what I think is a mouth, and scream. I scream for all I am worth.

After what feels like hours, but I know to only be ten minutes, the sound of screaming reaches my ears. After a moment I realize the screaming is my own. I stop and feel wetness dripping down my face. I can feel my face! I am alive! The liquid goes down my face and past my......nose? I don't have a pronounced nose. I smell something slightly salty, I remember the smell. Tears. But...thats impossible.....am I crying? I open my eyes. Which are now uncovered.

I look around. I see the concerned faces of seven ponies and the disturbed face of the biped, who looks absolutely horrified. I notice everything seems more colorful than before. I realize with a start that I am no longer bound. Yes!

I rise to four legs and take a single step before collapsing, the pain from my wounds returning to me. Except they are more painful than before. I can hardly bear them. I can feel my eyes begin to water again and my limbs to begin to shake. 

I revert to the fetal position, trying to control myself. Wait, four limbs!?

I open my bleary eyes and stare down at my body. Four hooves, black fur and a gray mane meet my eyes.

The shock immediately renders me unconscious.
> Chapter 13: Leisure
> --------------------------------------------------------------------------


>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>Wrath<<<<<<<<<<<<<<<<<<<<<<<<<<<<


It has been a great many years, even before my imprisonment, that I have been shocked into inaction.

I stand and look at the broken form before me, absolutely horrified. The young filly seems to have a black coat and grey mane, however it is almost more red than any other color. It lay curled in the fetal position, sobbing so softly that were the room not dead silent, no one could hear it.

Celestia's magic ignites briefly, a small spell being cast, before going out.

"My personal doctor has been notified, and will be here shortly." She says. A red pool begins to form below the filly, I can feel the magic in the blood call out to me, but I ignore it.

A minute goes by, nobody breathing another word.

Twilight unfreezes, and looks around to her friends, then silently levitates the elements back to Celestia, piling them at her hooves, before slowly approaching the former Maiden.

"When will your doctor get here?" She asks quietly.

"Soon, another minute or two at most." Celestia responds, just as quietly. But her voice gets even quieter as she continues. "I....I believed the elements would mend any existing wounds. I am sorry you girls had to see this." She receives no reply.

Twilight kneels beside the filly, who was still crying ever so quietly. Her horn ignites and a small lavender aura surrounds the filly's head. Her crying stops and her eyes slowly open. Bleary and wet, the filly blinks repeatedly to clear them. Her eyes are crimson. She turns her head to Twilight, who was still leaning over her.

"What are you doing?" She asks, her voice small. It is the same voice she had before, but something is off, what is it? Twilight just looks at the filly, saying nothing. The two simply stare at one another.

"Blocking out the pain. It's a spell I learned when Spike molted for the first time. He was hurting so badly, I found a spell to help him through it."

The filly moved her hooves beneath her, and looked like she was about to stand.

"Don't" A voice said. The filly looked confused, and looked around for a moment. Her matted, bloodied mane swung around and dripped blood, before her eyes landed on mine.

"If you try to stand you will just pass out, you have lost too much blood." More faces looked at me, the rest of the element bearers and Celestia herself. It took a moment to register that the voice that spoke was my own.

Just then, the massive throne-room door creaked open, and an aged, unicorn stallion came galloping towards us. His fur was light blue, his mane a darker hue. He wore a white lab-coat and his cutie mark was a blanket draped over a sea of stars. He toted all sorts of things in his magic. Clipboards, syringes, and a great many cloth towels.

"My apologies, Princess!" He shouted from across the room. His speed belied his years, and he reached us in moments. He immediately set upon the bleeding filly. He first levitated her into the air, then a syringe flew into her foreleg, she only had time to look confused before the medicine took effect, and her body went limp. The doctor then began to rapid fire spells while the cloths ripped themselves into smaller pieces and began to bandage the great many wounds upon the filly.

"I was delayed by a royal maid being most unwilling to part with her towels." He said while working. I watched in silent awe as the filly was changed into a mummy. Alicorn doctors would simply mend any wounds with their immense power. They never had to rely on skill and expertise. I can only imagine what an alicorn doctor this talented could do.

"Twilight?" Celestia asks. Twilight turns to the solar princess. A sad, defeated expression on her face.

"Yes?"

"Would you and the other elements go to the dining hall? We will join you shortly." 

Twilight nods and her horn shines, then flashes. Her and the other elements gone from the room. I approach the doctor, being mindful of his tools.

"You are very talented." I praise. He looks to me and nods his head, smiling.

"Thank you." He responds, returning to his craft. I look over to Celestia.

"So you have gone and changed the Maiden into a pony, and not only a pony but a filly. What is your plan for it now?" I ask. She looks at me and grins a mischievous grin. 

"Well, as part of your rehabilitation, you are supposed to prove to me you are not a bloodthirsty warmonger. So the moment the good doctor here is done; Shendu, which is her name by the way, will be your responsibility. " I sigh heavily, then nod my head.

"I assumed as much." She looked shocked, even the doctor stopped momentarily to gawk at me.

"What do you mean you 'assumed as much'?" She squawks indignantly. I smirk, albeit in a sad, defeated manner.

"Well, I am no fool Celestia. You want me to prove I am not a bloodthirsty killer. What better way for me to do that, than by not killing a previously mass-murdering monster that is now a defenseless filly? I can put two and two together." She glares at me a moment before her expression cracks and she slightly giggles.

"Am I that transparent?" She asks.

"Kind of, why else would you save a monster?" She frowns at that.

"Now Wrath, I may be taking advantage of a good opportunity but I would have saved Shendu regardless. I believe that with her new body she has the opportunity to live a meaningful life. The spell I used was originally devised by StarSwirl the bearded himself. He used it to turn an adult dragon, that had torched an entire countryside, into a stallion. That stallion not only found harmony in his life, but also founded the treaty we still hold with the dragons across the eastern sea. I honestly believe Shendu can bring good to Equestia, that is why I saved her."

I stare at Celestia, trying to process what she had just told me. She eventually stopped looking my way and opted instead to focus on.....Shendu, who was being lowered to the ground.

"Is she ready doctor?" Celestia asks.

"Yes! The spell is prepared for you Princess." He bows and moves away from the mummified filly, his tools moving with him. The mummified filly has three strips of cloth levitating off her body, an intricate spell placed upon each one. I can not tell what the spell does, but I can tell that it is intensely complex and requires a great deal of magical power. 

Celestia trots up to the filly, and the aura around the three cloth strips turns from the white of the Doctor's magic to the Gold of Celestia's. Her horn begins to glow furiously and the entire cloth around the unconscious filly glows a brilliant golden.

After five seconds the glow dies down and the cloth begins to blow away, as if it were ash. What is left is the unconscious filly. Her grey mane now sparkling with life and her black coat sleek and shiny. Her previously ruined wings now appear perfectly preened, and upon further inspection, larger than a pony her size should have.

She now slumbers softly on the ground, a far cry from the ruined filly sobbing and bleeding a few minutes ago.

"It seems your skill improves with every patient." Celestia remarks.

"Thank you Princess!" The good Doctor exclaims. "Now unless you require more, I will return to my office. There is last week's edition of Daring Do sitting on my desk and I am halfway through it." The Doctor looks at Celestia expectantly. He must be absolutely enthralled.

"I require nothing more, you may return to your book, Mythic Haze."

"Thank you Princess!" Mythic exclaims before turning and galloping back toward the door, his remaining tools in tow.

"Between you and me." Celestia starts. "Daring Do has not released a new book in over a year." She giggles behind her hoof. Correction, completely enthralled and senile.

I look from Celestia to the filly, Shendu, and back again.

"So what happens now?" I ask.

"Now we go eat, come, we have kept Twilight and her friends waiting long enough. Besides, did I ever give you a proper tour of the castle?" She turns and begins to trot toward the door, which is just now slamming shut from the Doctor's exit.

"What about her?" I gesture toward Shendu. "We can't just leave her here." 

"You are absolutely right." She turns her head to the side and her horn ignites, lifting the filly from the ground and forcing her into my arms. "I guess you will just have to carry her, remember, she is your problem now." I begin to follow after her.

"Don't you mean responsibility?" I ask, jogging slightly to catch up to her. The door opens before us in her golden magic.

She giggles.

"No."




>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>> Shendu<<<<<<<<<<<<<<<<<<<<<<<<<<<<<<<<




I first noticed the motion.

I am swaying through the air, I can feel it bristling through my mane.

My mane.




	right




I am being gently held by something that is very solid and very warm. My old body really didn't mind the cold, but my new one seems to detest it as I find myself unconsciously snuggling deeper and deeper into whatever is holding me, almost against my will. I crack an eye open and see decorative marble walls. As I move I see different illustrious paintings come into and out of view.

I look around and notice Celestia walking to my left, just above eye level. She notices me looking and smiles slightly.

"Wrath, shes awake." 

A grunt is the only warning I get before I am quite rudely lifted from my cozy niche, and held beneath my shoulders by the now colossal biped from before. He is holding me directly in front of his face.

He has stopped walking and now stares at me, an intense, fiery look in his eye. This goes on for several minutes.

"Really we must be going Wrath, the dining hall is just around the corner and the girls have been waiting long enough." Celestia says from the side, I look over to her and see her fixing Wrath with a deadpan expression. I look back to Wrath. It looks like he is frozen, how do I unfreeze him?

I tentatively reach out with a hoof and gently bop his nose, then retract my hoof. His eyes follow my hoof the whole time, going cross-eyed when I touched his nose. He snorts and begins to walk again, folding his arms with me in them. I get comfortable and watch as we round the corner.

A long hallway comes into view, doors every few steps on each side with the large throne-room door at the end. Guards are stationed in front of every door with two in front of the throne room door. We go into one of the side doors.

A large table occupies most of the room, with the six ponies from before sitting side-by-side on the left side of it. They had hushed when we came into the room.

"Sorry to keep you waiting girls." Celestia says, as she begins to trot toward one of the two seats at the head of the table. I am carried to the far end and placed in a seat nearest the head of the table. Wrath takes the seat next to me, looking rather comical, being as large as he is in a chair as small as that. The entire time the occupants of the room had been staring at me, having hushed conversation. I realize the pony I had extracted information from is sitting among them, and had been there when I was.....changed.

"Its no problem Princess." The white pony, Rarity, responds.

"After..... that..... we weren't exactly hungry." The rainbow mane pegasus mutters, I recognize her as the scratchy voice from before. 

"Well I'm hungry, I wont lie." The orange, hat-wearing pony says.

"Then let us wait no longer!" Celestia declares, her horn shining. Moments later waiters and waitresses of all kinds come from several sets of doors throughout the room. Each balancing a metal plate with a large silver top upon it. Wrath and each pony...myself included, get a plate placed in front of us. The waiters and waitresses lift the tops in unison, and the 'meal' commences. 
> Chapter 14: Light
> --------------------------------------------------------------------------


>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>Fluttershy<<<<<<<<<<<<<<<<<<<<<<<<<<<


The moon is full tonight. As I sit in the train car I can't help but marvel at how well the countryside is illuminated by the moonlight. I ruffle my wings a bit and look around the car, everypony else is asleep. Only the other elements had been in this car. Wrath had taken Shendu into a  neighboring car to 'observe' her.

Shendu... Dear Celestia

I am not exactly a stranger to blood and gore. Even before the canterlot invasion, I had known my fair share of bloodshed. The forest creatures I take care of often enough will come to me seeking a bandage for a wound they got. Be it from an accident or another animal, they come to me for help. I always do, I have brushed matted, bloodied fur to cleanliness on more than one occasion... 

...Sometimes, animals will come to me having barely survived an attack or an accident, and are too far gone. All I can do for those poor creatures is ease their passing, this has also happened on more than one occasion. But none of that could have prepared me to see a pony in that state.

I clench my eyes shut and take a deep breath, the only sounds I can hear are the train's distant engine, and Rainbow Dash's snoring.

I open them and release my breath, and stare again at the countryside. But it seems no matter where I look I see Shendu. Not the healthy, confused Shendu I had seen at dinner, but the broken filly that had been barely alive on the throne room floor.

I shiver.

Even if she did do all those horrible things, I can't stand to think of a little filly in that condition. I bring my hoof up to my face and feel my cheek, where Shendu had cut. It has almost healed, it was a shallow cut, any remnants of it would be gone this time tomorrow. 

	I need to see her.

I don't know why, but the urge to physically see the monster-turned-filly is almost overpowering.

She can't hurt me, nothing bad could happen, right? I rub my hooves against each other, suddenly cold. She is just a small filly now, she couldn't hurt one of the crusaders, let alone an adult mare. The events of last night replay in my head, and a question comes to mind. What did she want with Princess Luna anyway?

I get up from where I had been laying, and carefully trot over to doorway that separates the train cars. Pinkie twitches as I pass her and I freeze, she fell asleep siting almost like Wrath does. I creep forward and her leg spasms slightly, then her head falls to one side. I slide through the small space between cars and into the next car, quietly shutting the door behind me.

This car is unlike the one I was just in, this one has four doors on either side, whereas the old one had 2 doors on either side and then a common area. I tip-hoof over to the first door on the right, and crack the door open, empty. I continue down the right side, all four rooms on that side empty. I move to the left side and repeat the process, the first three are empty. If they are not in this room, then they are in a different car completely.

I crack the last door open ever so slightly. From what I can see, the curtain is pulled back and the window is open, moonlight shining through. As I look, I see Wrath; his back against the wall opposite me. He seems to be asleep though I can't see his face.

I crack open the door a little more, so I can see the whole room. The bed is unoccupied, the blankets still neatly folded. Where is Shendu? I look around and my eyes go back to the window, the open window.

	Oh no.

I open the door enough to slip in and I shut it behind me, I move toward Wrath intent on waking him before I notice a small bundle of feathers in the center of the floor, I look closer and see a pegasus filly, her black feathers and fur having hidden her. And I had nearly stepped on her.

I ruffle my feathers and kneel next to the filly, who I can see now is slightly shivering.  I'm here, she is in front of me, now what?

I ponder a few seconds more before making my decision. I gently reach out with a wing and nudge the small pile of feathers, which unfurls after a moment revealing the young pegasus. Her eyes open and her crimson eyes look into mine. 

She cocks her head to the side and a strange click comes from her mouth. I look from her to the slumbering Wrath, who has yet to move, then back to her. She looks confused, and strangely blank. I had noticed it during dinner but her face shows very little emotion, though her body language seems normal. That's not normal is it? Well, duh of course it isn't normal, she was a monster after all.

I realize I have been just silently staring at the filly for over a minute.

"Why?" I ask her, whispering. She cocks her head to the other side.

"Why what?" She whispers back.

"Why did you attack Wrath?" I point to the still human with a wing. The filly looks down from my gaze for a moment.

"I did not mean to, I was only trying to capture Luna, he interfered." I blink. Right, she had forced me to tell her where Luna was.

"Why capture Luna?" 

"A ghost asked me to." She responds with a strait face. What?

"What? Why?" I whisper yell.

"You sure are asking a lot of questions." She answers with an ear flick. Normally, ear flicking means annoyance, but with Shendu I wonder what it could mean.

"Yes I am, but I feel like I deserve to after you made me tell you where she was." I respond in a whisper a little louder than necessary. I gesture to the barely visible claw mark on my face for emphasis. Her ears fold back, and she reaches up with a hoof to feel them.

"Alright I'll tell you.... the ghost said she would give me wings if I gave her Luna." Shendu shivers a little more forcefully and looks around, she then folds her wings in on themselves, holding them tightly against her body.

"Why did you want wings so badly?" I ask, my voice softening.

"So I wouldn't burn again." She whispers sadly. Its my turn to fold my ears back.

"Explain." I demand quietly.

"I was attacked by a group of dragons and was burned, badly. But that could have been avoided if I had any way to fight a flying dragon. Not long afterwards I stumbled across a ruined castle, hurt and hungry. A ghost was there. She healed me and said if I brought her Luna she would grant me wings so dragons couldn't threaten me ever again."

She unfolds her wings from her body and flexes them to their fullest, then folds them up again, shivers, then sighs.

"Be careful what you wish for." I whisper to her. Dragons? I suppose the Maiden really couldn't do anything against dragons.

The chill in the air finally penetrates my fur, and I suppress the urge to shiver. 

"Why is the window open?" I ask. Shendu shakes her head.

"Wrath wanted it open." I look over to the sleeping human, he has raised bumps all along his arms and legs, minotaurs have the same reflex, they are called 'goosebumps' and they usually indicate that the minotaur is either afraid, or cold. I very much doubt Wrath is afraid.

"Why would he want it open?" I ask.

"I don't know." Shendu says with a shiver. I fix her with a stern look.

"You're cold, arent you?" I ask, she nods. "Why arent you using the bed?" Shendu slowly looks over to the bed.

"Wrath didn't say I could." 

"But he didn't say you couldn't." I counter. She shakes her head.

"He said I can only do things that he explicitly stated I could do." I look over to Wrath and stare disapprovingly at his face, obscured in darkness though it may be. Shendu can't hurt anypony anymore, being cruel to her wont help. I look back at the filly, and see her large, crimson eyes staring at my own. Did the spell have to make her so adorable? This is the same creature that killed ponies! I continue to stare at her, my countenance turning sour. But she didn't kill me, why didn't she kill me?

As I stare I see Shendu's eyes go wide.

"There you are!" A whisper-shout yells from behind me.

I hear the door click shut behind me and hoof-steps quietly approaching. I gulp and turn as a pony plops down next to me. Her pink fur vibrant even in the dark.

"Hiya!" She whisper-shouts.

"What are you doing here Pinkie?" I ask.

"Well, I had this weird dream where a bunny was running away from a ghost chicken and thought the bunny looked a little like Angel so I thought I should tell you, but when I woke up you weren't there, so I went looking for you."

I just blink and shake my head, a small smile on my face. Pinkie will be Pinkie.

"Your insane." Shendu states, then shivers again. Pinkie responds immediately by grabbing her and pulling her into a hug.

"I'm not insane! I'm Pinkie!" She whisper-shouts. Shendu resists the hug at first, then seems to realize that Pinkie is warm. Shendu then snuggles into the hug, a small smile on her face. Pinkie looks over to me.

"Why are we whispering?" She asks.

"So we don't wake Wrath up." I respond.

"I don't think the big guy would mind if we chatted with Shendu for a little bit." She says, now fully snuggling the filly.

"Well, maybe not but I don't think we should wake him up anyway." I say, glancing at the human, who still has not moved a muscle.

"He's awake." Shendu's tiny voice says from Pinkie's lap.


>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>Wrath<<<<<<<<<<<<<<<<<<<<<<<<<<<<<










The dinner had been... surprising. Aside from some awkward tendencies, Shendu behaved like a normal pony. By all rights, Shendu could not have acted as she did. I decided after dinner to do some investigating.

After we all (the elements, Shendu, and myself) got on the train to head back to Ponyville, I had swept Shendu to an adjacent car and immediately put myself into a deep meditation. I had set upon Shendu's soul with great vigor.

... the next several hours would teach me wondrous, horrifying things.

A Maiden's spirit is unique, as is every kind of spirit. The soul of a Maiden is focused along its spine, from the tip of its tail to the base of its head. The whole of the spirit is black, the monster's claws occasionally pulsing with dark energy. This is what Shendu was, but now?

The spirit is a strange amalgamation of maiden and pony. This is disturbing on its own, but what disturbs me the most, is the color as well as the.....addition. The soul is still mostly black, but five colorful strings of magic are entwined within the very fiber of the soul, and are actively.....changing it. The strings are white, pink, orange, teal, and yellow. Obviously one for each element of harmony.

What has Celestia done?

During this meditation, I have tuned out the world completely, the train could crash and I wouldn't notice. So I watch in rapt horror as the spell woven by the elements alters Shendu's soul further. The shape soon more pony than maiden, and the color no longer black, but speckled with the five colors of the elements. 

Then revelation struck, Celestia had said the spell was designed by Starswirl, for a dragon that needed suitable punishment.

She must have no idea what this spell actually does. What Starswirl did to that dragon was a fate worse than death, fitting considering its crime. The spell changes the target soul on a fundamental level, ingraining the five light magics; Gaudium, Verum, Caritate, Virtus, and Benevolentia into its very structure. 

For a proud dragon, having its very soul altered is an insult worse than any other. I imagine their pact of peace is out of the dragon's fear. No amount of ponies as food is worth the risk of being turned into one.

I finally break my trance, and rip myself back into reality.









"He's Awake".

I immediately tore my eyes open and searched the room for the black filly. I paid no  mind to the pink pony who's lap she was in, nor the yellow pony next to them. I reached out and seized Shendu, eliciting a gasp and an 'EEP' from the adult mares. I turn the now-frightened filly toward me and stare intensely into her eyes. They had been a deep crimson when she awoke, like blood. Now they are still red, but much lighter, at this rate they will be pink by morning... They are also wide, and frightened.

I slowly return to some semblance of normalcy, and lower the pony down into my lap. The other two's mouths are moving but I don't listen to what they have to say. Celestia has effectively killed the Maiden; in either the best, or worst manner possible. By the time the elements are done, the soul of the Maiden as well as its body will have been completely transitioned to that of a pony. The only thing that wont be changed is her memory, the memory of a hungry alpha-predator who slew hundreds of innocent ponies...



Wont the guilt simply tear her apart, or drive her insane?



I slowly look down to the pony in my lap, who I realize I had been subconsciously petting.

"Not that I don't enjoy this, but why are you stroking me?" The little pegasus asks from my lap. Perhaps it would be best to put her out of her misery before she attains guilt? It would be a mercy. I continue to pet her, her incredibly small... and fragile body, extremely soft, velvety even. It would be a mercy.





...remember, she is your problem now." Celestia states. I begin to follow after the solar diarch.

"Don't you mean responsibility?" I ask, jogging slightly to catch up to her. The door opens before us in Celestia's golden magic.

She giggles.

"No."






"....yeah I think I'm gonna go back to bed, see you in the morning Shendu!" Pinkie exclaims, disappearing through the door. I mindlessly pet Shendu as Fluttershy mumbles something far too quiet to hear, then daintily rises and quietly walks out the door, shutting it behind her. She could easily do that to me, couldn't she? Turn me into a pony. If I do kill Shendu, even if it is as an act of mercy and not vengeance, she would have me share Shendu's fate. Or would she simply return me to my prison?

I slowly tilt my head back, eyes wide open toward the ceiling. The soft filly in my lap is now snoring ever so slightly.





I spend the rest of the night in a state of rapture, wondering if I should confront Celestia, or simply care for the filly and carry on as normal.

When has my life ever been normal? 
> Chapter 15: An Experiment
> --------------------------------------------------------------------------


>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>Shendu<<<<<<<<<<<<<<<<<<<<<<<<<<<<<<<


"This is Ponyville station, Ponyville. Will all passengers for this destination please disembark. Thank you and have a nice day."

I awake, blinking sleep from my eyes. I lift a hoof and rub my eyes while loudly yawning. Two hours after midnight. My biological clock tells me, once my eyes clear I look around the room. It is the same as before, though now lit with sunlight streaming in through the window.

Sunlight? It can't be two hours after midnight. I frown as I realize that my biological clock is forever gone.

"Awake are you?" A gruff voice asks from above me. I am lifted and turned to face Wrath. Dark bags hang from his eyes and his dour countenance makes him seem very, very old. After a brief look in my eyes, he closes his and tilts his head back, releasing me from his grip. I flutter softly to the ground, using my new wings to slow my decent.

"It is as I feared." He mutters quietly to himself. The large man then sighs tiredly before staggering to his feet.

"What is?" I ask, feeling very small in comparison.

"Don't worry about it." He says, before slowly making his way to the door. He ducks through it and I follow close behind him. He leads me back to the other car where the 'Elements' had been sleeping. As we enter the room I eye the pink and yellow ones. Their visit last night was strange.

Wrath walks by most of them until he reaches Twilight, whom he stands in front of impatiently as she wakes up. I shadow him as he goes, avoiding the gazes of the 'Elements' as best I can. I fail however, as Rainbow Dash snatches me up and holds me.

Her eyes and hooves thoroughly examine my wings.

"This doesn't make any sense." She mutters to herself, turning me this way and that gently tugging on my wings. I see Wrath glance over to me as he begins to talk quietly with Twilight.

I flex my ear and try to listen in, but to no avail.

"Whatcha doing Dash?" Pinkie excitedly asks from behind me.

"Looking at her wings."

"Why?" Pinkie chirps.

"Because they are like, 20% bigger than they should be."

"Is that bad?" I ask.

"Oh no no no, not at all, just weird." Rainbow Dash responds, now holding me upside down. After a moment more of examining, she gently sets me down.

"Do ya know how to fly yet?" She asks me bluntly.

"No, but I haven't tried." I reply honestly. She 'hmmms' at that.

"I could teach you, I am the best after all." I click my tongue. Why would she train me? Shouldn't she hate me? 

I open my mouth to respond but snap it shut when I see Wrath striding over to me, an eager looking Twilight behind him. 

"You can discuss that later. We must be going." Wrath remarks before snatching me up and folding his arms. He turns and makes his way toward the exit, the only ones left in the room behind us being Rainbow Dash and Pinkie Pie.

The morning sun is harsh, and I weakly block it out with a hoof. My body gently jostles as Wrath carries me. 

"This is so fascinating! I knew I could get you to open up about your magic!"  Twilight remarks with glee. 

"Think of all we can learn! Nopony has studied anything like this since StarSwirl himself!" Wrath just walks on, not responding to her exclaims of scientific joy. 

As we walk, the Library from the night before last comes into view.

"You're sure you have the proper tools?" Wrath asks. Twilight fervently nods.

"Judging by what you told me, I think I have the perfect machine for the job!" Twilight teleports to the door, opening it in a dim flash of magic. Wrath is not far behind her, and we step into the Library a moment later.

"Twilight, that you!?" A voice shouts from upstairs.

"Yes Spike, it is!" Twilight shouts back, the door to the basement already open and one of her hooves already on the steps.

"Is Wrath here too?!" His voice asks.

"Yes!" The man holding me shouts, his booming voice making me wince.

No further response comes from above, so Twilight disappears down the stairs, we are quick to follow. The room we come into is unlike anything I have seen before in my, albeit short, life. Strange metal creations dot the walls and floor, no two alike. A large metal table takes up the most space in the room.

"What are we doing exactly?" I ask. Twilight just hums to herself and plucks a far-away machine off the wall in her magic. She brings the metal thing toward herself and after a brief examination lets out a 'squee'. The thing looks like a hat, but covered in different colored lights.

"Science!" She declares. I feel the cool thrum of magic around me and click my tongue as Twilight levitates me over to the flat metal table, right in front of her. She turns the thing she plucked off the wall and gently sets it on my head. She straps it to me and I find myself staring at Wrath, who is watching from the other side of the room. His face looks grim.

I hear Twilight let out an 'Aha!' from behind me and suddenly the hat whirs to life. I feel it vibrating gently on my head and see the room light up as the hat's flashing lights turn on.

"Alright, the machine is ready." Twilight says from behind me. The hat must be somehow connected to the table, because I realize I can not turn my head.

"So, now are you going to explain whats going on here?" I ask hopefully. Wrath brings a hand to his face and sighs deeply. He then slowly walks to where Twilight is behind me, glancing at me with an expression I do not recognize as he passes.

"Yes, I suppose it's time for some answers." Wrath begins behind me. I hear the sound of a quill scratching on paper.

"The elements of harmony have changed not only Shendu's body, but her very soul." My soul? I hear Wrath take a deep breath.

"What this means is... complicated. The fundamental makeup of her soul has changed, as well as its shape. What we are looking for is exactly how much the makeup of it has changed, as in, which of the primordial magics comprise her soul and how much of each." Twilight's quill stops.

"The primordial magics?" She asks.

"Do you not know of them?" 

"I have never heard of them." I hear the sound of flesh smacking flesh, presumably Wrath striking his hand to his face. I click my tongue.

"Then this just got more complicated, what DO you know of the soul Twilight?" Wrath asks, exasperated.

"Well, I know from my books that each species has a slightly different soul, and I know from Celestia that the Elements of Harmony correspond to one's soul, but.... that's it."

Wrath pauses a long while. 

"At least what you do know is not wrong, the reason species have different souls is their shape. All members of a given species have the same shape of soul, however all creatures soul's are built from the same basic magics. These magics upon which all souls are built are the primordial magics I speak of." The 'scritching' of quill on paper is getting louder and more intense as Wrath goes on.

"How do these 'primordial' magics relate to the Elements of Harmony?" Twilight asks. 

"The Elements of Harmony are largely unknown to me. The way they can manipulate the soul should be impossible, by all rites the Elements of Harmony should not exist!" Wrath pound a fist against the table, and I feel the shock wave vibrate through it. I begin to rub my hooves together.

"...but from what I have seen, I know that of the six elements all but one directly refer to the five light primordial magics, the sixth is an anomaly, but from what I have seen it acts as a power source for the other five." The 'scritching' of Twilight's quill stops again.

"The elements are honesty, loyalty, laughter, kindness, generosity, and magic; I'm guessing magic is the power source?"

"I would think so, yes."

"Fascinating." The 'scritching' returns full force. Wrath comes around the side of the table and bends over until we are at eye level. He stares me in the eye for several moments while I look at him owlishly. He then rights himself and walks behind me again.

"We should get started, just what information will this machine give us?" Wrath asks. Yes! Get on with it already.

"It tells us the concentration of magic in different parts of the body, as well as if there is any dark magic present."

"Dark magic?" I ask.

"Volatile, toxic magic that should be avoided at all costs." Twilight says quite resolutely.

"I know of the dark primordial magics, but not just 'dark magic'." Twilight turns on the machine and it activates in earnest. I can feel magic thrum through my skull. 

I can no longer hear the conversation presumably taking place behind me. Why do I get the feeling I am going to be here awhile?


>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>Twilight<<<<<<<<<<<<<<<<<<<<<<<


The machine softly 'wir's as it begins to collect data, and a nearby machine begins to magically mark a strip of paper with what is being collected. In total the process should take about twenty minutes. 

I turn from the machine and look at Wrath, who is perched over Shendu with a haunted expression.

"So what are these 'primordial' magics? You have said they make up the soul, but what do they actually do?" My attention flicks to my paper and quill, I summon then to my side and ready them both. This is so exciting!

Wrath pulls over an old machine, a sturdy one I used to weigh large quantities of books, and he sits on it.

"The ten of them make up your soul... they, can be used almost as a... a judge of character." He brings a hand to his face and strokes his beard. "It is hard to explain to someone who has never seen it."

Seen it? He has seen souls? I squee quietly, and involuntarily. StarSwirl and Clover would kill to be here right now!

"Tell me all that you can!" I demand. He queerly looks at me before nodding slowly.

"It was explained to me as a child that one's personality is almost a....reflection of one's soul. The thoughts one has, and the actions one takes, are products of three things: which primordial magics are present in one's soul, the shape of one's soul, and one's memories. Two souls can be vastly different but extremely similar."

"Like snowflakes?" I ask without thinking. He fixes me with a deadpan stare. Then the corners of his mouth turn up, just a little.

"Yes, like snowflakes. You are a special snowflake." I frown at him as he chuckles. Oh haha, very funny big guy. He chuckles a little bit more before his dour expression returns.

"What of the machine's answers then?" He asks. I grin.

"Lets find out!" I declare before trotting over to the magic terminal for the scanner. I lift the paper in my magic and begin to study.

Magic is concentrated mostly in the wings, a little in the head and almost none in the heart. Completely abnormal for a pony.
In addition, a great deal of dark magic is centered in the wings, and is slowly...pulsing?
If the data is correct, the magic is flaring up every few seconds. Both the dark and normal magic becoming active, then going dormant.
Another difference, a normal pony's magic is constantly active, though not as active as the aforementioned flares.

I see Wrath hovering over my shoulder, he points to the page.

"This, what is this?"

"That is where magic is concentrated, according to the machine anyway." I respond. He moves his finger slightly.

"And this?"

"That is dark magic." He returns to the book scale and sits. He leans forward and puts his hands together, his face twisted in thought.

"I think I understand. The concentration of magic is like a combination between a Maiden and Pony, though there is far less Malevolence than there should be."

"Malevolence?" I ask, my ears splaying backward.

"It is one of the primordial magics, the 9th, Ultio. Or Malevolence in your tongue." My quill writes and I think. Shendu has malevolence at her core? that it..disturbing. But she should have more of it?



Oh!

It's because of her transformation, her soul is changing what magics make it up because of the spell. But if what Wrath said is true... Horror dawns on my face. The Maiden is dead, what is left is something different, something new.

Wrath must notice my change in demeanor. As he splays his hands out, palms up, toward me, his face one of horror.

"Do you understand now, what has happened to Shendu?! Do you understand the implications?!" He shouts, standing. I flick an ear in response, my own horror rising in turn. Celestia, she... she couldn't have known. Or could she? Is this really still a mercy?

Wrath gestures violently to the filly with the flashing hat on the table.

"What Celestia has had done to Shendu is....is....." He trails off, his fervor dying, and sits back down. Burying his face in his hands. 

"She has been altered on such a fundamental level that she can hardly be called the same creature." I say in a monotone voice. This is so... I don't know what to think.







We sit, the sound of the machine whirring being the only sound to break the silence. I look to Wrath and see his face is still in his hands. Shendu was a Maiden, a monster, but now she is a pony. She can't hurt anypony anymore. So this is a good thing right? But doing that to somepony seems, wrong.  I look over to her, she is still patiently sitting in the same position, her head strapped into the scanner and the scanner strapped to the table.

But the Maiden killed hundreds of ponies! Where is their justice? Is this really a fit punishment? I frown as I stare at Shendu's back, my eyes owlish and unblinking.

Then I remember who dealt the punishment. Celestia, my mentor. Celestia has always known what was best, even when I didn't see it. Making friends was something I didn't want to do, but she encouraged it. And just look at what happened! I steel my resolve and look at Shendu. I walk to her and balance on my back hooves, and give her a hug. She jumps from the contact, but after a moment settles into it, even going so far as to lean into the hug.  Celestia has changed her into a pony. She is not a monster anymore, but a pony. Everything Wrath has said essentially means that she is not a Maiden anymore at all. The only thing that is still the same is her memory. So if she is a pony, then she deserves what all ponies deserve. Friendship.

I hear Wrath rise behind me and walk over.

"You accept her then?" he asks. I look over to him and see his face a swirl of emotion. Once he sees me looking, it hardens into a stoic mask.

"Yes, she is a pony now, and always will be." He closes his eyes and shakes his head.

"You don't, I take it?" I ask.

"It will take time." 

He walks toward the stairs.

"She is not a threat, and I don't need to guard her. I'm going to venture about for a while. I will be back before night falls, is this fair?" I can not see him, but I can hear the resignation in his voice.

"Of course, I'll get Shendu situated and explain what we found out to my friends." He sighs and leaves. I can hear the front door shut behind him, and immediately after, the thunking of dragon feet comes down the stairs.

"Hey Twilight I was wondering if......whoa who is that, and why are you hugging her?" I release my hug and fall to the floor, prompting an adorable whine from the filly, just audible over the machine's whirring. 

"This is Shendu, I'll explain why she is here later, when the girls are here." 

"When is that?" The young drake asks.

"Later today at approximately three O' clock." He nods.

"Cool, I was going to make some nachos and was wondering if you wanted some." I hmm then look over to Shendu and smile.

"Make enough for three."
> Chapter 16: The Shadow of a King
> --------------------------------------------------------------------------

	Two excited royals make their way off a train, wonder and amazement on their faces, Princess Cadence and Shining Armor. They chitter excitedly and anxiously as they make their way into the crystal city, having been given instructions from Celestia to act as rulers and guides to the native ponies.

A shadow watches the newlyweds from the snow. As they pass through the city limits, a growl of hate sounds across the tundra. 

Mine


The tundra ice cracks, and large black chunks of crystal rise from the depths. The black crystal pulses, and then rockets through the snow toward the city, obedient to its master's will. The crushing sound of crystal crashing against crystal breaks across the landscape. The onslaught of darkness has begun, cruel laughter echo's from the shadow, ghostly and terrifying. The crystal residents of the city are thrown into a panic.

The citizens of the town had only recently awoken, the events of the distant past seeming a fleeting dream, amnesia blesses them with ignorance. The shadow however, has not forgotten. Its cruel form snakes across the tundra, launching spires of crystal toward the blesséd city while howling with laughter and hate.









The outer buildings of the city had fallen to ruin under the shadow's wrath before the barrier rose. A large, pink, glimmering dome that shielded the whole city. The two royals within having finally taken action against the threat. The ponies within still scream and run about in panic, but at least they are safe, for now. 

A pulse of magic fires from the highest tower in the city, light blue and harshly glowing. It moves at speeds far exceeding that of sound as it heads over the wastes and strait for canterlot.

The shadow becomes enraged at this, launching ever-larger chunks of black crystal into the barrier. All of which shatter into nothingness on contact. A furious roar tears across the tundra, coming from every direction, before the shadow slithers into the frozen wastes.

It will be back.







>>>>>>>>>>>>>>Spike<<<<<<<<<<<<


I sit in front of a large plate of nachos. The scent of the gooey cheese wafting through the air, beckoning to me. I mustn't, Twilight said to wait for Shendu. A claw reaches out, slowly, grasping a single chip. No, Twilight is just upstairs! What if she sees? The single chip is lifted, a strand of cheese connecting it to the plate. I'm supposed to wait for them, but one chip wont hurt, will it? I grin madly, then open my maw, bringing the chip close.

Just before my jaw snaps shut a burst of green fire explodes from my throat, incinerating the chip.

Nooooooooooooooooooo!

A scroll materializes from the flame, Celestia's insignia stamped firmly on it. I reflexively catch the scroll, but I stare at where the delicious nacho had been. It was too soon. A single tear forms on my eye, a tear of loss, loss of what could have been. I will never forget you nacho. I stare for a while, silently mourning.

Eventually Twilight comes downstairs.

"Hey Spike, so Shendu should be finishing up about now, why don't you grab the nachos and... is that a scroll from the princess?" Twilight asks as she trots down the stairs. I wordlessly hand over the scroll, still mourning my lost nacho.

"Oh my...." Twilight breathes as she reads. I look up from where my poor nacho died and see concern etched on her face. She continues to read.

"What did the princess say?" 

"She says a matter of grave importance has come to light, and that she needs to speak with me immediately. A chariot is already on the way to get me and bring me to canterlot." The unicorn widens her eyes as a knock sounds at the door. She slowly looks over to me.

"When did this letter come Spike?" 

"Ummm... five, ten minutes ago?" I respond sheepishly

Another knock at the door.

"Come in!" Twilight calls to the door. After a moment a white hoof pushes it open. A royal guard peers through.

"Ms Sparkle? Her Highness requests your presence at once." Twilight sheepishly nods and makes slowly for the door. 

"I will be back as soon as I can Spike." She follows the stallion out the door. I sit there and my attention returns to my nachos. I grin and reach for one before remembering something. Or rather, someone. Shendu, right.

I get up from the table and make for the basement. I wonder what was so important? Celestia has never demanded Twilight to immediately see her like this before. It must be something big.

I reach the basement door and begin descending the stairs. I just hope is isn't Nightmare Moon big. A soft 'whirring' sound greets me as I reach the bottom. Looking around I quickly find the multicolored helmet attached to who I assume is Shendu's head. I make my way over and turn the machine off, throwing the room into silence and darkness.

"Hello?" The filly beneath the helmet asks.

"Hi" I climb onto the table, having a little trouble doing so. I eventually push over Twilight's book scale and use it to get up.

"I am guessing you're Spike?"

"Yup" I undo the straps binding her to the hat, then the hat to the table, which is much harder than it should be thanks to it being almost pitch black in the room. Without a unicorn present the lights need to be turned on manually. And I forgot. To be fair the helmet is very bright.

Once free, the pony walks to the edge and jumps off, I worry for a moment before seeing the filly's huge wings. She descends into the darkness out of sight.

"Where are you?" She asks. The only light in the room is coming from the open door to the basement, granting just enough light to maneuver to the stairs.

"Up here." I respond from the table.

"Oh. I see." She responds, then giggles. "Oh wait, no I don't." I roll my eyes, knowing full well she can't see them.

"Can you see the stairs?" I ask. 

"Barely, but yes."

"Can you get to them?" I ask as I begin to climb down from the table.

"Yes, I think so." She shouts, further away in the maze of a room.

"Then I'll meet you upstairs." I shout back, stumbling through the dark. I don't dare use my fire-breath, as a great deal of the machinery is sensitive to heat.  This will be fun. 

As I'm about to reach the halfway point, the light flicks on.

"I found the switch." Shendu shouts from the top of the stairs.

"Thanks!" I shout back as I quickly make my way through the now illuminated basement. As I reach the top I hear her in the kitchen. Following her I find her with her nose over the nachos. I get a look at her for the first time. Her fur is black and her mane grey. Unusual colors for a pony.

"They smell good right?" I ask. She nods and begins to turn.

"I have never smelled anything.....like...........them." As she completes her turn toward me, her speech slows and her eyes go wide. Suddenly her fur stands on end and her wings each beat powerfully, sending her upward to the ceiling. Her wings keep pumping keeping her back on the ceiling and her wide, pink eyes on me.

"You're a dragon..."

"Well... yeah?" I respond. What's wrong with her? I pull a second chair up to the nachos and eye them hungrily.

"You want any nachos?" I ask her without looking, my attention consumed by the nachos in front of me. With reverence I lift a chip from the plate, remembering its fallen brother. Never again. I internally promise. I hear the pony's hooves meet the ground, and then her quietly approach.

I bite into the bliss of my nacho and lose myself to the cheesy goodness. The pony carefully pulls herself onto the other seat and looks at me apologetically.

"I apologize for...that." It takes me a moment to respond, as I carefully chew and swallow the morsel before saying anything.

"What was that anyway?" I ask reaching for a chip. "You just kinda flipped out."

"I haven't had good experiences with dragons in the past." She responds as she reaches for a nacho. She manages to clasp one between her hooves and bring it to her face. A look of bliss crosses her features as she chews.

"This is delightful." She declares. I nod sagely.

Nachos are delightful.


>>>>>>>>>>>>Everfree Forest<<<<<<<<<<<


The biped slowly makes his way through the dense forest. Thorned underbrush cuts into the bipeds legs as he walks. He pays little mind to the small lacerations as he walks.

His flesh is easily cut. His blood runs thick with magic. He is the ideal prey for any everfree monster, yet nothing has attacked him yet. Much to his frustration.

A nasty, rotten smell permeates the air, and the biped stops. He knows the smell, and a small grin crosses his features.

"Come on..." He whispers darkly. Many figures appear at the edge of the biped's vision, moving steadily closer. The biped lowers himself and spreads his arms.

The creatures, timberwolves, oblige the human's wish. They draw closer and growl surrounding the human.

Soon enough the ten of them surround the human, who has not moved a muscle. The timberwolves pounce and the human grins.





The human angrily kicks a pile of former timberwolf. He is beyond frustrated. There wasn't really even a fight and the human is more than a little irritated about how weak the timberwolves are.

The only wounds the human bares are the ones the shrubbery gave him. He shakes his head and frowns as he turns on his heel and makes for the forest edge. 

He had been trying to get his mind off of the former monster back at Twilight's library, but it appears fighting the pathetic wild predators will not be sufficient distraction. 

The human elects to return to the library and settle it, the darkness looming over his head is suffocating and he has had enough of it. As the human breaks the treeline and makes for the library, he wonders about the solar diarch. 

The human thinks matters of the soul are not to be taken lightly, and is now cautious of Celestia. She had come off as a benevolent mother figure to the ponies, but now... the human wonders just what lies behind Celestia's smiling mask.


>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>Shendu<<<<<<<<<<<<<<<<<<


The nachos were very tasty, and the young dragon, as it turns out, is not bad company.

"I am just saying if I'm a dragon shouldn't I have wings?" Spike asks. I glance at my own feathery appendages.

"I know next to nothing about dragons. But I have never heard of a dragon without wings that didn't have them torn off in battle or something similar." I respond.

The door opens. We both turn and look as Wrath slowly shuts the door behind him, seemingly deep in thought. The human makes his way over to us and raises a brow.

"Where is Twilight?" He asks.

"Celestia summoned her to canterlot for something urgent." Spike says.

Wrath hmms at that. Spike's face turns odd and he suddenly looks excited.

"Hey Wrath! Remember that thing you fought? Well I was in charge of cleaning up the mess around the library and guess what I found!"  The drake practically leaps out of his seat and runs out of the room and up the stairs to the second level. 

"That thing?" Wrath asks me. "He doesn't know about...you?" I shake my head.

"I thought he did."


>>>>>>>>>>>>>Wrath<<<<<<<<<<<<


The sound of something being dragged reaches our ears as Spike reaches the bottom of the stairs. He comes into the room dragging behind him the Maiden's severed claw. 

"The Maiden's severed claw." I state, gingerly taking the thing and lifting it off the ground. The cutting edge of the claw still gleams, un-dulled in spite of being severed. I look to Shendu who has a look of shock on her face.

"Aint it cool?" Spike asks excitedly. I lift the claw and turn it around in my grasp, feeling its weight. Now that I get a good look at it, this might make an excellent weapon. I spin it around and gently prod the center of my palm with its point. It cuts cleanly, splitting the skin like a knife through fog. Fists can only get you so far.

Shendu seems to have gotten over her shock, and now just stares at her severed limb with a blank expression.

"I think that is just so cool. What do you think Shendu?" Spike asks turning to the filly. Her eyes wide, she opens and closes her mouth a few times before any words come out.

"Yes it's... cool." She responds quietly, her wings fluttering and twitching behind her. I set the claw behind me on the ground, against the wall. Once it is out of her sight she noticeably relaxes.

The door opens and a frazzled Twilight storms in. The three of us can only watch in shock and confusion as a whirlwind of magic  tears through the books of the library. Books twenty at a time open and shut and are put back as Twilight gallops up the stairs. The whirlwind dies down for a moment as the walking twister reaches the second story.

"What just happened?" I ask spike. He shrugs at me.

"I dunno, I have not seen her this worked up in a long, long time. But even then she was more chaotic about it. She seems to have a purpose right now."

We are not blessed with peace for long. The unicorn charges down the stairs with a saddlebag and three large bags in the air behind her. Roughly twenty books from the library shelves also float to her side. Her reddened eyes turn to us. 

"Come on everypony! We got trains to get on!" I raise a brow.

"Didn't we just get back from canterlot?" I ask. Spike, Shendu, and I share a look before turning back to the crazed librarian before us.

"We are not going to canterlot." She says, a disturbing tone in her voice that I do not recognize.

"Then where are we going?" Spike asks. A frightening grin comes across her face.



"The Crystal Empire!"








>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>Frozen Wastes<<<<<<<<<<<<<<<<<


Underneath the ice of an unknown northern mountain, dark crystal pulses with hateful magic. A being of shadow running rampant about the dark crystals. Corrupt and unintelligible babbling issuing forth from the shadow as it raced. Cracks of black lighting randomly coming forth from the shadow, forging evermore black crystals with each strike.

Mine


The entire cavern rumbles with the force of the shadow's declaration.

Calming, the shadow focuses its hate. Images flash across the black surface of the crystals; Celestia, Luna, the faces of countless crystal ponies and finally, Cadence and Shining Armor. 


The shadow rises impossibly from the ground, its hate defying the curse put upon it. A dark fog forms, black lighting striking from its depths with increasing fervor. A pair of green and red eyes materialize within the fog, their cruel gaze only enraged further by the site of the desolate cavern that it ruled.

IT WILL BE MINE AGAIN. The black fog howls. A large crack of lighting strikes upward, cracking the ancient mountain's base. The fog seeps through the crack into the forming blizzard.

It is time to renew the assault.
> Chapter 17: Best Laid Plans...
> --------------------------------------------------------------------------


>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>Princess Celestia<<<<<<<<<<<<<<<<<<<<<<<<


The Equestrian Express rumbles to life as the last of the VIP passengers board. I watch from far above as seven ponies, a dragon, and a human stuff themselves into a rather compact car. The boarding had taken much longer than it should have, a certain white unicorn delaying the trip with her incessant need for luggage. 

The train sets off, barreling northward to the Crystal Empire. It consists of five cars; the engine, a passenger car holding the civilians and Wrath, a much larger passenger car holding thirty of my finest royal guards, and two cars worth of luggage and supplies. The journey north  takes six days, however my sister and I have enchanted the engine with a powerful time-flux spell, which should cut the journey down by half.

Three days Cadence. You must hold out for three days.

I watch as the train reaches the horizon, a worried frown worms its way onto my face. I look away and beat my wings, heading for Canterlot castle. My sun is near the horizon now, soon it must change places with my sister's moon.

I reach the Castle in a span of minutes, its spiraling twin towers greet me as I fly to the top and land on my balcony, overlooking all of Canterlot. The sky is twilight. Luna's stars peak over the eastern sky. Clouds mask my sun and cast brilliant oranges and golds across the sky. Millennia may pass, but I shall never tire of this sight. My horn thrums with magic and I perform the ancient spell, my sun dips behind the horizon and blue meets the gold in the sky. See you in the morning.

I stare for a moment longer, then turn and make my way into the castle. Now for a much less pleasant task. I trot out of my quarters and nearly collide with my maid-pony. 

"Princess!" She shouts as she falls into a hasty bow. 

I smile warmly at her. "You may rise Dusk Feather." She raises herself and ruffles her feathers.

"Did I miss it?" She asks mournfully. I repress the urge to laugh at the look on her face. Dusk Feather, I think you are the only pony who enjoys sunsets as much as I.

I move to the side and gesture widely with my wing. "No, it's just starting" Her face alights with joy and the young mare rushes by me to the same balcony I had landed on. I watch her giddy form stare upward at the darkening sky with a grin. Never change my little pony, never change. I then turn and shut the door. The white, marble walls of the castle stare at me between paintings as I descend the spiraling staircase. 

Eventually I pass by the common mess-hall, and the guards-ponies within. The eyes of the stallions and mares within alight at the sight of me. Even the most grizzled, angry stallion in the room can't help but give me a smile and a salute. I return their cheer with a smile and a nod, then continue towards my destination.

The bathhouse and barracks pass me by as I reach the entrance to the inner-castle; a small, stone door on the lowest level of the castle, protected by an 'ignore-me' charm. Hidden in plain sight. The door has proudly stood there since the castle was crafted, my destination lays within.

My horn flashes and the door opens, I duck inside, trading my usual smile for a tired frown. These dark halls are never happy to see me.


>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>Shendu<<<<<<<<<<<<<<<<<<<<<<<<<<<<<<<<


The train car is actually comfortable this time.

I lay sprawled on a large bench, my legs and wings outstretched. The impossibly soft surface I lay on is called 'velvet' according to Rarity. 

Spike sits near me, upright with his arms crossed. "Why won't they tell us whats going on?"

I look up and see his frown. "I don't know." Why does it matter? Does it make a difference if we know? "I am much more concerned about this 'velvet' material. I don't think there is a more pleasing texture in the world." I rub my face into the cushion and sigh in delight. My old body could not feel a texture this delicate. I think back to my old body and glance backwards to where I know the storage car, and by extension my old arm, is.

I try to think back to what things felt like in my old body, but find it difficult. I remember what my claw felt like as it cut through flesh, but I can't recall how the grass felt beneath my feet. Did I forget, or did I just never store sensory information that insignificant at all? I raise my head and a hoof, and look to it closely. I see the hard surface of the hoof, as well as the fine, black fur on my foreleg. I can feel so much from just one limb, I can't remember feeling as much from my whole body, as I now feel in just one leg.

Spike shifts beside me. "Hey I got a question."

"What is it?" I ask, prying my eyes away from my hoof.

"Not that you aren't fun or anything. But why did they bring you along?" His curious stare bores into me. Do I tell him? I have to tell him something, how much do I tell him?

"I have to go wherever Wrath goes."

"Okay, but that seems odd, I mean its not like he is your dad, your a pony and he is a human."

"Is Twilight your mom?" I return his curious stare. He closes his eyes and nods his head.

"Fair point, fair point."

The door to the room opens, and the elements and Wrath come through. I can see guard-ponies in the room beyond just before the door is shut. The ponies all look uncertain, even Wrath seems solemn. Spike and I share a look and both shrug. Twilight sits beside Spike. Applejack and Rainbow Dash each pick a portion of the velvet seats and lie down. Fluttershy comes over and sits beside me and Rarity goes sits next to her.

Pinkie claims Wrath's lap and the human slowly pets her. At seeing this I feel a pang of emotion I don't quite understand. I watch Wrath's hand attentively as it strokes Pinkie's mane and fur.

	...?

After a moment, I recognize the emotion as jealousy.

"How was the meeting?" Spike asks, finally breaking the silence.

"It could have gone better." Twilight sighs. Spike nods and gestures with a claw.

"What was it about?"

She sighs and looks to her friends for support. Nothing good if their mood is anything to go by. Twilight thinks for a moment, and after a few nods from her friends she relents.

"King Sombra."

"Who?" Spike asks. I click my tongue, sharing in his confusion. Twilight looks at me with a bemused expression.

"An old foe of Princess Celestia that has come back from banishment." 

Spike snorts. "Then its not a problem! You guys took care of Nightmare Moon easy enough, what makes this Sombra guy any different?" Nightmare Moon? That weird ghost pony? Twilight shakes her head. 

"Different kind of banishment, Nightmare Moon was banished to a place. Sombra was banished from his body."

"How on earth do you do that?" Wrath asks. 

"You use the Crystal Heart that we were discussing, it uses the power from the crystal pones to banish dark magic, when it was used on him, Sombra's spirit was so dark that his body and spirit were separated entirely. But now his spirit has come back and is trying to reclaim the Crystal Empire that he once ruled."

Wrath hums at that, and the pink pony in his lap turns over, presenting her belly to him. As he resumes petting her I feel another pang of that strange emotion. Why am I jealous?

"Why doesn't he just go back to his body?" Spike asks.

"His body was just a normal pony's body without his magic, dear. And this all happened over a thousand years ago. The body of a pony just doesn't last that long." Rarity says.

Fluttershy agrees with a nod. "His body returned to nature." So it rotted into nothing? That must be frustrating. 

Everyone settles down and begin to chat idly to each other. The discussions are boring and mundane, and I quickly find myself nodding off.


>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>Princess Celestia<<<<<<<<<<<<<<<<<<<<<<<


I trot down the hidden stone corridor, magic torches lighting my path as I go. Withered stone walls present moss, and the scent of mildew fills the musty air. The smell is unpleasant, yet slightly calming. The corridor breaks into a small alcove with three paths stemming off from it. The alcove itself is a circular room with a long wooden table in the center. An ornate and misshapen chessboard sits atop it and a blue alicorn sits near it. The eternal game. A gift from Discord.  I think, eyeing the chessboard. He said no pony could ever win a game of chess with it, on either side. Though truth be told I had never used the gift, preferring instead to use its bizarre appearance as a decoration.

I look to each of the three passageways at the end of the room, trying to remember which hall lead to where. I have not seen these depths in a thousand years. Now lets see, left leads to StarSwirl's pond. The source of the scent of mildew. Right leads to a dead end and several golems. The center passageway leads to the labyrinth proper.

I ponder a moment how long it takes to traverse the labyrinth before I realize I missed a crucial detail. Seated on the other side of the wooden table is my sister, who has been waiting for me with a smirk on her face.. How is she here?! Why is she here?!

"We were beginning to wonder when you would get here."  I give her a humorless chuckle and take the seat across from her, the strange chessboard between us. 

"What are you doing here sister?" I ask. Luna found the entrance, I'm glad she's not ventured further in.

"We could ask the same." Luna frowns deeply. "We wonder why such a place exists.." She gestures to the surrounding hallways. She can not possibly know about what lies at the end of, or within, the labyrinth.

"Luna you really must learn modern equestrian." Her eyebrows furrow and her ear twitches.

"Do not change the subject sister dearest, why did you come here?" I hide behind a mask of calm and flick my horn to life, thoughtlessly moving a white pawn forward, the pawn is a miniature of a pony.

"I am here for the protection of our ponies, Luna. You know I would do anything to ensure their safety." Luna's frown morphs into a scowl and her horn alights, the white king, a miniature of myself, is lifted off the board and incinerated in a flash of blue magic.

"Is that why you sent your student to deal with the monster that nearly defeated the both of us, and you sent her without the actual elements of harmony?" As Luna speaks her frown returns and she shakes her head, closing her eyes. "Are you trying to get your student killed?" How dare she!

"Of course not!" I bark, outrage breaking through my mask. "But what other options do we have? I have sent her with the most experienced and talented guards in Equestria, Princess Cadence and Captain Armor are already there, and the human is going as well." I take a breath. I am doing the right thing.

"She is going as best equipped as she could go. And you know that the elements don't work on him anyway." Luna simply fixes me with a hard stare.

"She is not going as best equipped as she could go, if she were, we would both be on that train. Nay, in truth we would be soaring there before the train ever left the station." I shake my head.

"Sister, we can't go." Luna truly angers at this.

"Why?! Why can we not face one of our oldest foes?!" I return her hard stare a thousand fold.

"Because what if, even with our aid, he wins?"  Luna pauses, holding her anger. "Let me tell you what would happen little sister, if he won. Twilight, the elements of harmony, the beacon of hope for all Equestria, and us would be gone. What happens then? What would our ponies do?" My magic ignites and I incinerate all the black chessboard pieces, somewhat stunning Luna.

"If we stay, together we can activate the relic within this city, and face him with the ponies of Canterlot and Ponyville behind our backs. A full city and large village that together number around twenty thousand stand many hundreds times more of a chance against him, than the three hundred or so ponies left in the Crystal empire."

Luna's anger dissipates and her ears fold.

"Then why send anypony to face him there? Why not evacuate the empire?" If only.

"Evacuation is impossible, he was already laying siege to the city when we caught word of his re-appearance. I can only hope the city lasts until Twilight arrives." 

"Why are you placing so much faith in Twilight? She could never combat him in any way."

"If she finds the beacon of hope and manages to activate it. She can repel him from the city." 

Luna scoffs.

"Then he would not be dead! He would simply return again more powerful than he was before!"

"His body is dead Luna, his spirit is exposed, his concentrated evil would most likely be purified in the light of the beacon. But sister if you have a better suggestion-" I perk my ears up. "I am all ears."

She contorts her face in thought. It definitely helps that Wrath is going. The old warrior is a wild card that may prove pivotal in defeating the dark king. My wings slump behind me slightly. Why did he have to come back now of all times? Luna turns her snout up then shakes her head.

"We think you are correct sister, though. We wonder if it was wise to send the Maiden with them?" 

"The Maiden?"

"Shendu." Shendu! Oh by the sun I hope he can't touch Shendu's soul. If he had a Maiden under his control.... No, the spell is irreversible, or... it should be. I shake my head and put on a fake smile.

"Shendu will be fine sister." I reassure Luna. She shakes her head and then gets up from the table and stretches her wings. 

"Very well sister, we are in agreement for now. Now show me this 'relic' you have been keeping secret from me." I nod and rise as well.

"Yes, it is about time you knew about the relic left from mother and father." 

I start toward the leftmost path with Luna hot on my tail. Her confusion at my last statement practically rolling off of her in waves. Now to navigate the labyrinth, an easy task for two alicorns.

We begin down the center path, as we go we pass an out of place portrait of a mountain goat upon the wall. I stop and eye it for a moment, trying to remember if it holds any significance. 

"Ahah!" I remember this one! I move the portrait aside and cast a small flame into the tiny hole that lay behind it. A thud sounds around the corridor and dust falls from the ceiling.

"What was that?" Luna asks from behind me.

I grin, real joy on my face. "That was the sound of a trap deactivating!" Her shoulders slump. This is so much fun!

"Will there be more traps?"

"Oh yes!"




>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>Twilight<<<<<<<<<<<<<<<<<<<<<<<<<<<<<<<<<


I yawn tiredly as I wake.

These cushions really are soft. I snuggle deeper into the cushion as the train jostles slightly. I crack my eyes open and look around me. Everyone is sleeping and accounted for except... Shendu.

I roll off the cushion and onto the floor, and look around for the small pegasus. I find no trace of her, however the door to the guards car is slightly cracked. I quietly make my way over to it and slip through, shutting it behind me. 

I look around at the thirty guards staring at me from their various positions around the room, some still laying down, some standing, some sitting and polishing their armor, but all awake.

"Uhhhh, hi?" I ask uncertainly. A couple guards wave their hooves in greeting.

"Has anypony seen a small black pegasus filly?" I ask the room.

"Over here Twilight!" A small voice calls. I make my way further into the room. The guards lose interest in me, returning to whatever they had been doing. I look around for the voice but can't seem to find it. I continue to the end of the room where a desk has been set up and an older mare sits, a green feather on her helm. The vice-captain of the guard. On her desk sits Shendu, with her nose buried in a map of the Crystal Empire.

The vice-captain looks at me critically. "Hello Twilight Sparkle." I nod.

"Hello Contessa, how are you this morning?"

"I am well Twilight." Her voice is monotone, and her expression entirely unreadable. "We are approximately 50 hours from our destination. We will arrive just before sunset if my calculations are correct."

"Good to know." I look down to the map with Shendu over it, next to it I see Contessa's notepad. The battle plan from the day before is written on it but, a large portion of the plan is scratched out.

Contessa sees me looking. "Our little friend here pointed something out that we did not consider yesterday." At my raised brow, she continues. "Sombra is a shadow, more or less, and Shendu looked over the reports that Princess Cadenza has sent us about when, where, and how powerful Sombra's attacks have been. She noticed a pattern that we did not. He attacks against the sun."

I shake my head. "That's impossible, his attacks that occur in the early morning would be on the opposite side of the city if that were true."

"You would be right Twilight, but there's more. The Crag Mountain range is on the southeast side. Shendu thinks he has been using the shadow of the mountains to somehow enhance his power and attack with the sun." I nod slowly, Certainly something to consider, but why would the mountain's shadow help him?

"That is very eye opening, but how would he use a natural shadow to enhance his dark magical power?"

Shendu looks up from the map she had been looking at. "Well you said that his body got separated from his spirit right? Everyone said his body would decompose over a thousand years but... according to what I have read the Crag Mountains are the coldest known place in the world, his body may still be partially intact if that is where it was, it is too cold to decompose. Maybe his power is strongest there because that is where his corpse is."

Oh dear Celestia she has a point.

Contessa glances at me then to Shendu. "You will be attending our meetings from now on little one."

	
> Chapter 18: Forgotten Shadows
> --------------------------------------------------------------------------

	The last meeting had worn heavily on all present, as they gained no new battle strategies and lost the only ones they had. The guards grimly prepared for the oncoming storm, while the ponies and Wrath attempted to pass the time, but it just dragged on and on. The sun hung high in the sky and they would not arrive until the following evening. The darkness on the horizon was never far from their minds.


>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>Rarity<<<<<<<<<<<<<<<<


"...and that is how I found Opal." I finished, smiling at Wrath. The two of us have been discussing pets for the past hour or so. Well, more so me going on about how I found Opal for an hour.

"But enough about my kitty, do you humans have pets?"

"....yes. We have many. Humans have domesticated most every creature on our world, with few exceptions." Wrath responds. 

"Okay, but have you ever had a pet?" I watch as the human seated across from me strokes his beard in thought. 

"Yes, two. I have had a dog and a rather large snake." I wrinkle my nose at snake. A snake? Who in their right mind would own a snake? Those things are so.....disgusting!  Apparently my disgust shone through, as Wrath gave me an amused look.

"I take it you don't approve?" I shake my head. Don't approve? Who could approve!

"What ever could posses you to have a snake?" He shrugs his shoulders.

"She was very useful. And I never had to feed her, as I did my dog. She hunted for herself." I suppressed a shiver, and turned my gaze to the filly laying next to Wrath, sleeping peacefully. Her color has changed again. Her previously grey mane has now faded to a light pink. What exactly did that spell do? I look closer at the filly. Her eyes have changed too, from red to rose. She acts nothing like that creature did. Nothing at all. You could scarcely say they are the same being....I wonder.

I lean forward and squint at the sleeping filly. A previously meat-eating, solitary carnivore; sweetly cuddling up against a creature that tore off one of her arms... This seems wrong. I will talk to Twilight about this as soon as I can. My eye flicks to Wrath, who is now giving me a strange look. 

"Are you alright?" He asks.

"Yes! I was just...uh.." I glance around the room, looking for a scapegoat. My eyes fall first on the window, where I see snow falling on a desolate landscape, then on Wrath himself, the human clothed only in a loincloth. Hmmmm

".......I was just wondering if humans had some natural resistance to the cold?" I blink innocently at him.

Wrath's curious gaze turns sour. Attention diverted. Success!

"No, we usually do not." I bring my hoof to my mouth and suppress a squee as a thought comes to mind. Iiiiiiiideeeeaaaaaaaa!

"Then how do you plan to survive outside once we reach the crystal empire? Your skin would freeze would it not?" 

"..... I said usually. My magic grants me some resistance to the cold."

"Only some? The Crystal Empire is the coldest place in Equestria, some resistance just wont do!" A massive smile envelopes my face. "Darling, you simply must let me fashion some winter-wear for you!" His horrified expression does not faze me in the slightest. "I could make you look absolutely dashing!"

"I..um. No thank you Rarity." The human fidgets some in his seat. Obviously unused to the type of scrutiny he was experiencing. 

"Oh but I insist, in fact. Spike!" The small dragon immediately turns from his conversation with Pinkie and comes dashing over.

"Yes Rarity?" He asks with twinkling eyes.

"Could you be a dear, and run to the storage car and grab my purple suitcase? The violet one, not the royal." 

"Of course!" He loudly declares, turning on his tail and running into the guard's car. Wrath levels me with an uneasy look as I rise and make my way toward him. I pull my measuring tape from my carry-on.

"Now we will start with some basic measurements."





>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>Fluttershy<<<<<<<<<<<<<<<<<<<<

I watch Wrath stand as Rarity begins to measure every inch of him. The uncomfortable human squirms this way and that as Rarity rushes about his body.

"That is a weird thing to see." I say, looking back to Pinky. She lay next to me, upside down, her head dangling just off the seat.

"Yup, like a puppy measuring a timber wolf." I nod sagely in agreement then look at Shendu, who has woken from her nap with her pillow having stood. Her mane is changing too. Her eyes seem an even lighter pink than they had been yesterday. Rainbow Dash approaches Shendu and whispers something to her. I squint at them as she leads the filly further back into the train.

"Why did Dashie take Shendu?" Pinkie asks beside me.

"I don't know." Pinkie puts a hoof around my neck and pulls me into her. I 'EEP' in surprise.

"Hey, doncha think the whole thing with Shendu is a little weird?" She whispers. I look across from us at the sleeping AJ and Twilight, who has her face buried in a book.

"How do you mean?"

"Like..." She gestures meaninglessly with her hoof. "How does a rampaging monster turn into such a cute little filly? Somethings funny Fluttershy, I can feel it in my tail." I look her in the eye and nod faintly. When Shendu....interrogated me she was completely different than she is now. Now she is like a lost little filly. If you didn't know what she was before, you could never tell.

"I get what you mean Pinkie, but what can we do about it?" She holds her other hoof to her chin in thought.

"We could talk to Twilight? If anypony knows it would be her."

"COLD" A booming voice shouts. Pinkie and I turn to see Wrath with both his hands firmly holding his loincloth, and a blushing Rarity levitating her measuring tape nearby. 

"I knew you were sensitive to cold!" Rarity shouts. Wrath scowls and turns up his nose as Rarity returns to measuring, this time at his neck.

"And what about Wrath?" Pinkie asks slowly. "He is taking the whole Shendu thing better than he should. Almost like he knows something we don't." I squint at the disgruntled human, Rarity snaking around him with a maniacal grin on her face.

"He definitely knows something." I agree. Pinkie releases me and makes her way over to Twilight. She pokes her in the muzzle and pulls down her book. She then begins to whisper in her ear. Twilight looks worried, then nods and whispers back. Pinkie points to me, and I reflexively hide behind my mane.

"Twilight said we'll talk tonight." Pinkie whispers to me after a moment. I peer out of my mane and see the smiling pink mare.

"OK"





>>>>>>>>>>>>>>Rainbow Dash<<<<<<<<<<<<<

The door to the farthest storage car clicks shut behind me. I turn and look into the mostly empty room. Most of the baggage that was brought was put into the first storage car, so this one nearly empty. It has a good amount of free space. Perfect for teaching someone how to properly fly.

I look at Shendu, who is standing in the middle of the room flexing her wings. I approach her slowly. Her eyes follow me as I circle around her. Her form is completely normal. Aside from the slightly larger wings, she looks like any other pegasus filly.

Once I finish my circle, I address her.

"Shendu, have you ever flown before?" She nods, then shakes her head.

"Only once, but it was out of reflex. I did glide a few times though." I pull one of her wings taut, and run one of my primaries down the length of her wing. The spell Celestia cast completely mended her wings, they are in near-perfect condition, aside from a few days of little to no use. I move to the other side and do the same to her other wing. 

"Out of reflex huh?"

"Yeah, Spike scared me and before I knew it I had my back to the ceiling." Weird. It's not unheard of for a pegasus to fly out of fear. But...She was a monster wasn't she? Why would spike scare her? How could he?

"Alright, try to fly." I stand on front of the filly while she stares at me nervously. 

She raises her wings and begins to beat them sloppily. She moves a couple inches off of the ground before losing her balance and tumbling to her side onto the ground. I shake my head.

"Alright, lesson one. You have to move your wings at the same time. Once you have them as high as they can go you need to beat them at the same time. Try again, this time focus on that." She gets up from the ground and nods. She concentrates and her tongue peaks out of her mouth. Her wings beat and she raises a little higher off of the ground than she did last time, before she tumbles to the ground again.

She groans from the ground. I giggle.

"It takes practice, you'll get it eventually. Now, again!" She raises up, and takes the same pose.

One crash later- "This is gonna take awhile." Shendu whines.

"Yes, it is." I agree. "But I didn't get to be the fastest flier in Equestria overnight. Now again!"








>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>Crystal Palace<<<<<<<<<<<<<<<<


Princes Cadence sits on the crystal throne. Her eyes are shut and her horn is alight with powerful magic. A small nudge to her side causes her eyes to slowly open. In front of her stands her beloved Shining Armor. At the sight of him she smiles tiredly.

"Thank you." She mumbles, her eyelids fighting against her.

"Cadence, please. Let me take over the spell. You need sleep." Shining says, nuzzling his bride. She wearily shakes her head.

"You don't have enough power Shining. The..... *YAWN* The Crystal Empire is much larger than Canterlot. And Canterlot did not have dark magic being thrown at it regularly." Shining frowns.

"It's better than no shield. I know you're an Alicorn, but even you can't keep this up forever." Cadence straightens her posture and yawns again. Then determination overtakes the drowsiness in her face. Her eyelids having lost the battle.

"I don't have to keep it up forever. The call for help reached Celestia. I know it did. She will help, I am sure she is already on her way."

"Even if she does come herself. It would take her days to reach here." Shining retorts.

"That's what I am counting on. It has almost been two days already. She should be here soon. In fact, could you have a lookout posted in the direction of Canterlot? Just so we know when they arrive?" Shining looks at his wife, conflicted. After a moment he nods and smiles. He pulls Cadence into an embrace, one she readily accepts.

"I will do as you ask, but promise me that if it gets to be too much, you will let me take over." Cadence's grip on him tightens.

"I promise." Shining releases her, and turn and slowly trots out of the room, giving glances back to Cadence who is watching him with a small smile.

"I will be back before too long!" He shouts as he opens the throne-room door. The door shuts with a thud and Cadence is alone in the room again. Her smile morphs into a frown.

"I hope so." She whispers to the crystal walls.






>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>Shendu<<<<<<<<<<<<<<<<<<<<<<<<<<


"I think I've got it!" Shendu shouts, her wings beating rhythmically. She is hovering just over Rainbow Dash's height, and has been doing so for the past five minutes.

"Great job kid!" Rainbow exclaims. Joining her in the air. "But I think we have been back here long enough, I'm getting hungry. The others should be eating by now, lets join them." With that she begins to walk out of the room. I follow her with a spring in my step. I can actually fly! This is what I have always wanted!

We begin to pass through the second storage car. Wait, no it isn't I always wanted to... to... What did I want? My steps slow to a halt. I did not always want to fly, back in my old body I wanted.... I wanted.... I... I can't remember.

I look down at my hooves and take a few small steps forward. I hear the door ahead clink shut as Rainbow Dash moves into the guard's car without me, but I can't summon the will to follow her. The motion has become to routine, walking on four legs. I feel like I have been doing it for years, when it has not even been a week.

I try to remember what it had been like, walking on two legs or using my claws and walking on eight but... I can't remember. I lift up a fore-hoof and examine it. The black fur looks pristine and incredibly soft. I turn my head and stretch a wing. The black feathers spread apart as I stretch it further. When I first got this body I had no idea how to even move my wings, but now? They feel so natural. It's like I have had them all my life...

I try to think back to my old body, but I can hardly seem to recall anything. I remember......hunger and, and blood. But no actual memories. I remembered some yesterday, but they are gone. It's almost like I never even had that body, like a dream... fading away.

My musings are interrupted by the door creaking open again. Contessa's head pops through the doorway.

"If you are hungry, your companions are eating now." She remarks, her tone emotionless.

"I'm not really hungry." I respond. I'm not sure if there was ever a moment in my old body where I wasn't hungry. Contessa raises a brow and enters the car, shutting the door.

"So I have a question for you." She starts.

"Yes?"

"What is a filly like yourself doing on this train to the Crystal Empire? I was told that the human would be bringing a filly with him, but that was the end of it." She doesn't know what I was?

"Umm, it's like you said. I have to be with Wrath. So if he goes, which he did, then I go too." Her face remains neutral as she speaks.

"But why? I heard what happened with him. Rescued Princess Cadence, then rampaged through Canterlot and made it to the palace. Where he killed the changeling queen and collapsed at Celestia's hooves. I know that part. But how in that time did a filly as young as yourself come under his care?"

Before I can respond the door opens again, this time Twilight steps through. She looks to Contessa, then me, and smiles.

"There you are! Come on, everypony is eating." She tells me. I scamper past Contessa and to Twilight, who opens the door for me with her magic. I trot into the guard car, the door shuts behind me, closed by Twilight's magic. I guess she wants to have a word with Contessa. Thank you Twilight! I make my way through the guard's car, luckily I'm ignored by the guards as they too are eating.

Finally entering the car with Wrath and the others, I see something that makes me feel an emotion I have never felt before. I see Wrath, with a fluffy blue and white coat and matching pants, but that isn't all. He has on a frilly, fluffy, tiny hat that barely goes ear to ear. 

The sight is so unlike what I know of the human, and so unlike what I expected that I find myself on the ground, crying with laughter.






>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>Outer Walls of the Crystal Empire<<<<<<<<<<<<<<<<<<<<<<<


A unicorn stands alone, watching the wall. What little sun there was is falling, and darkness is about to reclaim the landscape. In other words, Sombra's attacks are about to resume. There had been a mere fifty guards assigned to Princess Cadence and Shining Armor, to cover the whole of the perimeter, they had to be spread very thin. This guard in particular was facing toward distant Ponyville.

The nearest guard is roughly one mile away in either direction. But the lone guard here was not worried. He knew Princess Cadence's shield would hold. He was here only as reconnaissance. To keep watch, which had also been his job back in Canterlot unsurprisingly. But he wasn't complaining, because at least this was interesting.

It is almost hypnotic to watch Sombra's attacks. The massive hunks of crystal were his first tactic. But they harmlessly broke upon the shield. The second was this weird black fog that spread over the shield and attacked every stop on it at once. That didn't work either. In the last attack. He had simply barraged the barrier from one direction with pure dark magic, it failed as well.

The guard finds himself almost excited to see what the shadow of a king is going to do next. He is frightened of course. But beneath the disguise that all guards wear to make them look the same, is his cutie mark, a light shining into blackness. His special talent is exploring things that seem scary. So this guard is very eager to see what is about to happen.

So he waits....

And waits....

and waits...

Midnight passes, and the guards eyes are glued to the landscape, nothing. Then, something appears, walking towards the barrier. At first the guard simply can't see it, but as it gets closer, the light from his horn should at least somewhat illuminate it. But all h can see is the silhouette of a pony. As it gets closer the guard becomes confused, he should definitely be able to see the pony's features by now. The guard's jaw drops as the figure reaches the barrier, and is fully illuminated.

It is a pony, with no face, made of blackness. The area just surrounding the figure is darker the nearer it is to it, almost as if the figure was actively sucking the light out of the air. The guard watches with rapt attention as the silhouette rears back on its hind hooves, then slams the barrier with its fore hooves, the silhouette then shatters, but the barrier trembles slightly from the blast; something it has never done before. 

The guard searches at the surrounding landscape, and to his horror sees hundreds of them approaching from the landscape, emerging from the darkness. As far left as he can see to as far right as he can see, the figures appear in even greater numbers as they appear from the blackness of the night. Hundreds quickly turn to thousands, and the guard finds that he is no longer eager to see what is about to happen.






>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>Empty storage car aboard the Equestrian Express<<<<<<<<<<<<<<<<<


Pinkie, Fluttershy, and Twilight stand in a small circle, having just sneaked to the back of the train.

"So girls, what exactly did you want to know?" Twilight starts, looking from friend to friend. Pinkie immediately raises a hoof, widening her eyes and begins to jump up and down slightly. Twilight smiles and point to her.

"OK, I wanna know why Shendu and Wrath seem so close now. I mean, friendship being magic aside. When she was the monster he literally tore off one of her arms, and now she is content to use him as a pillow? Something is funny about that Twilight." Fluttershy nods as Pinkie speaks, then both look to Twilight.

"Alright umm, well. I have two theories." Twilight says. "The first, is that the spell Celestia had us cast is also effecting Shendu's personality, who she is fundamentally. So that the only thing that would remain the same between pony Shendu and Maiden Shendu is their memory."

"That is disturbing on so many levels." Fluttershy mutters. Pinkie nods.

"What is the second theory?" Pinkie asks. Twilight smiles slightly.

"It is a little better than the last one. My second theory is that pony Shendu is forgetting Maiden Shendu altogether. If this one is correct she may soon wonder why she can only remember back to several days ago, when her body seems to be eight years old, give or take a year. But honestly girls, this is only speculation. We wont be able to tell what is going on with her for sure until the spell stops changing her."

"The spell is still changing her?" Pinkie looks around confused. "I thought it was over right after we used it and we saw Shendu.....um. You know. hurt." Fluttershy shakes her head.

"Her body is still changing. Her eyes are getting lighter every day, and her mane was grey when we had her at dinner with Celestia. Now it is light pink." Fluttershy explains.

"I didn't notice it was pink?!" Pinkie exclaims. "How could I not have noticed?! I'm like the pinkest one here!" Twilight and Fluttershy share a long-suffering look, then both smile.

"Did you girls have any other questions?" Twilight asks.

"Yes, how is Wrath dealing with Shendu as well as he is?" Twilight sighs.

"From what he has told me, Wrath can meditate and visualize the souls of anypony. My guess is that whatever is going on with Shendu, he already knows what it is, so it isn't bothering him. Or at least he isn't showing it."

"I wish he would tell us." Pinkie says, her ears drooping, Flutershy sags her head and Twilight just looks down.

"Me too Pinkie, me too."
> A Prelude Chapter 1. The Chieftain, The Shadow, and The Sorceress
> --------------------------------------------------------------------------


The Sorceress

A magical buzz resonates through the air, flooding the chamber with its arcane hum. The sound is naught but music to the ears of the rooms sole occupant, a young sorceress. The sorceress hovers above a concave pit in the center of the room, her arms outstretched. Out of her palms flow currents of violet magic, twisting and flowing through the air into runes etched upon the ruined stone walls. As her power flows into them, the runes slowly begin to glow a faint blue, but growing slowly brighter. The walls of the abandoned structure begin to rumble, and dust falls from the ceiling. 

After several minutes the runes are nearly as bright as a candle, but not nearly bright enough to begin the ritual. This is going too slow. the sorceress thinks. But any faster and this ruined building shall crumble, do I dare?

The sorceress frowns, then gently increases the flow of magic. The runes immediately begin to brighten faster, growing twice as bright within thirty seconds. The walls release a groan, and a chunk of the ceiling falls harmlessly to the floor, crumbling to dust upon impact. Not fast enough! A sudden burst of magic from her palms forces the runes to shine with a blinding light, then suddenly pulse in unison. 

Shining lines of pure magic begin to form, connecting the runes along the walls into a runic array. The sorceress's brow drips with sweat as the runic array forms. This is the hardest part, if I can get through this, the ritual will work! The array finishes connecting the runes, and a slow flow of violet magic begins to flow down from each rune. The many small streams of magic lead from the walls in the circular chamber to the center, and begin to gather within the pit at the center of the room.

Powerful winds begin to tear through the chamber as the magic within the pit liquefies. The purple tunic and cape of the sorceress billow violently through the air, the raging winds tearing off her hood and pulling at her raven hair. The sorceress takes a deep breath, and closes her eyes concentrating on the spell powering the ritual. She slows the flow of magic as she morphs its nature, she opens her grey eyes as the magic flow changes from violet to white.

The winds in the room die, leaving the sorceress's hair a mess. She smiles pleasantly as the runic array does its work, feeding the pool of liquefied magic. She looks down and sees only a fraction of the pool is filled.

"This is going to take awhile." She sighs.




"Another successful hunt!" Wrath bellows. his warriors cheer him as he raises the ruined form of a greater croc. The scaled head is bloodied, with a pole arm still embedded in its skull. Wrath lowers the huge beast, and a bearded warrior garbed in chain-mail steps forth and rips the pole-arm from the body. The warrior then returns to his twin, whose face is lit up with pride.

"You finished it off! Good job!" The elder twin remarks, slapping his brother's back, his own spear resting along his back.

"That beast's skull will be mine once it's butchered, an excellent trophy!" The younger twin declares. The party then gathers together and raise their weapons into the air.

Wrath looks toward the group. An assortment of swords, shields, and spears held aloft as they release a battle cry in unison. Wrath moves to join the battle cry, but something stops him. A nagging feeling at the back of his mind. Something's wrong. The sun shines brightly over the eastern horizon, illuminating the swamp through the blackened trees. The dead croc is still, the spear having just been torn from its head proof that it wold never move again. His warriors all rally with glee as another hunt ends successfully. He should be happy, he should be carefree, he should allow himself some peace of mind and share in his subordinates's glee. 
But he can't.

"We must hurry back." He declares loudly, shouting over the group. Nine confused faces turn towards him. 

"Alright Chief," The elder twin starts, his arm around his brother. "But can I ask why?" A chill flashes across the back of Wrath's neck, and he resists the urge to shiver. His instincts had never lead him wrong before.

"Something's wrong." He replies.

"We can't just leave. We need to gouge out this monster's heart before we take it back to camp!" One of the other warriors says. He, as all the warriors -- aside from Wrath and the twins -- was garbed in leather armor with sword and shield. Wrath recognizes this warrior as the newest to the hunting group, as his shield still held its polish. Another warrior quickly reprimands him with a smack on the back of the head.

"Do not challenge the Chief's orders!" He growls. Wrath simply stares at the soldier a moment, whose hand had raised to rub at the back of his head, before turning and hefting the great beast upon his back. The majority of the monster begins to drag along the ground as Wrath walks back through the murk, toward the village.

"If we hurry we will make it before mid-day." He commands the group. They quickly fall in step behind him and begin the journey home. They must traverse the swamp and cross a large plain to make it back to camp. Another shill runs down Wrath's spine and he quickens his pace.

"Is something wrong Chief?" The younger twin asks. Silence hangs in the air following his question, the only sound being the croc's body dragging along the ground. Minutes pass before Wrath increases his pace further, practically sprinting with the beast being violently tossed about. The warriors struggle to match his speed, even without the burden of a monster on their backs.

"The village is in danger!" Wrath declares as he runs. I recognize the feeling now, malevolence is hanging thick in the air. Only two creatures could produce this much, and it could not possibly be a reaper. Worry is etched upon his face as he thinks of his young daughter. We must hurry.

The scent of blood and smoke hangs in the air, a ruined village lay before the warriors eyes. What happened? Wrath wonders, horrified. He drops the croc to the ground as his fellows crest the hill behind him. Horrified gasps meet his ears.

"WHO IS RESPONSIBLE FOR THIS?!" One warrior bellows. Wrath turns to him, a blank, stoic look on his face.

"Not who, what." He takes a breath. "Search the village! Gather all survivors on this hill and move in groups of three!" Wrath bellows to his men. They immediately break off into groups and charge down into the village. Wrath however, remains upon the hill, scanning the village. Where are you? He looks around the ruins that once were a village. It is, or was, a small village. No more than 100 people. The hunting party comprised of the majority of the warriors. With the village in ruins like this, the survivors will have to be taken to a city. 



If there are any survivors.

Shaking off that thought, Wrath begins to run for his own hut. For his wife, for his daughter. But something weighs heavy in his heart, as he runs, the closer he gets, the more he thinks he knows what he is going to see. As he reaches the entrance to his hut, his once glorious hut ornamented with the skulls of countless beasts, he finds his pace slowing to a walk.

He reaches for the curtain hiding the entrance, it is torn and hanging, yet still concealing what lies within. 




His hand reaches for battered curtain and tears it out of the way, and he looks inside.






The Shadow


The demon walks slowly around the edge of the village, confident that its ability to remain unseen will keep it undetected by the returning villagers.  The demon pats its distended belly with one of its many claws. Not distended from gorging, though it had, but rather distended due to pregnancy. The demon would soon be a mother.

The creature falls to all eight of its legs as it watches the soldiers comb the village, searching for survivors. ♫You wont find anyyy♫ It thinks, a foul grin upon its face. I took them all.

It watches a particular human as he enters the largest hut in the village, the human seems to be different than the rest. Taller, stronger, more dangerous. But if that tent was his... The monster can't help but bark a laugh. Oh how the woman screamed.

A momentous roar tears through the village, originating from the large hut. The large human emerges from it, a look of pure rage upon his face. Oh? Is their stoic leader broken? Is he upset?

The human begins scanning around him, searching with the look of fury still upon his face. He turns this way and that, is if he was going to see the one responsible. You can't see meeee♫ The warrior then seems to calm himself, and sits upon the ground. His eyes shut and he begins to take deep breaths. Just what is he doing?

Before long the monster begins to slink toward the human, careful not to make a sound. Only the faint crunch of dirt beneath its claws and feet can be heard, but the sound of the still burning village covers it up completely. You will be next chieftain. It thinks as it begins to near him.

It reaches striking range, and raises its tail into the position to strike, but before it does the sound of footsteps approaching stills it, and three humans come running toward the chief. The maiden then slowly steps backwards, and begins to silently circle the group, waiting for the perfect moment to strike.

"There is nobody chief!" One bellows as he reaches the still form of the large human. 

"Nobodys left." Another adds, panting. The chief slowly opens his eyes.

"...The monster that did this will die." The chief commands standing. Will I now? the chief then turns and scans the area the maiden is currently circling. He reaches for the massive ax upon his back, unslinging it from the belt of smaller axes running along his chest. What are you doing? His eyes search a moment longer, before locking on to the spot where the maiden is standing, he hurls his ax with all he force he can muster. I don't have time to dodge! The maiden shrieks internally, it spins to protect its belly as the ax finds purchase in its back. 

The invisibility fails, and the monster howls with agony as it falls to the ground.

"What the hell is that?!" One warrior cries.

"A monster?"

"Kill it." The chief commands. The maiden leaps to its feet, and makes a mad dash away, into the annihilated village. Footsteps follow it as it goes, along with shouts as the remaining warriors join the chase. The monster leads them through the village, ducking through the wreckage and running for the forest on the other edge of the plain. Somewhere along the village, the ax had come loose and had fallen out of the wound, leaving the maiden's back with a gaping wound that is bleeding profusely. 

The forest edge comes into sight and the maiden redoubles its efforts, and is horrified when the sound of footsteps are not far behind it. Not 20 feet away, I should have left them far behind by now. This wound is slowing me down. The maiden crosses the forest edge and begins to tear through the forest, trying desperately to escape the humans pursuing it. I have eaten enough for my egg, I do no need to feed or fight any further. The maiden resolves to flee rather than fight, and leads the humans on a tiresome chase through the forest.





The sun has begun to wane in the sky, and both the maiden and the humans are slowing down, exhaustion affecting all of them. The maiden has managed to gain some ground, but not enough. At this rate they will catch me. It thinks. I can not keep this up much longer. The maiden is pleased to spot a clearing approaching ahead. Bursting through the forest edge it formulates a plan. It turns to the evening sun and sprints toward it, due west. Hoping that the blinding light will confuse them, the maiden plans to fight as it reaches the clearing's edge and hides behind a large-broad leaf tree. The humans thunder into the clearing behind it.

"Where did it go?" one voice asks.

"This way!" Another answers. "Follow the tracks." The maiden poises its many limbs as it lies in wait. Soon enough a human appears to its left, sword and shield raised defensively. Two more appear to the right, toting their weapons in a similar fashion. One flaw in your leather armor... The maiden thinks as it extends its claws. No protection on the neck.

"The tracks stop!" The human on the left shouts.

"ITS A TRAP! GET AWAY!" The Chief bellows from the clearing. His warning saves the life of one of the warriors on the maiden's right, who ducks out of the way just in time, the other two however...

th-thud

The maiden abandons all pretenses of stealth and lashes out at the remaining warrior, leaping at him. The warrior attempts to bring his sword to bear, but the force of the three meter tall maiden slamming into him sends him crashing into the tree behind him. He struggles to swing his sword but the monster is far stronger than he, pinning him with ease, even in its wounded state. The maiden quickly brings its maw to the warriors throat, who has time only to loose a cry of defiance before his throat is torn out. He gurgles blood as the maiden releases him, and slumps to the ground as two more warriors break the forest edge. The maiden spins to face the new threat, gore dripping from its fangs. 

The two new warriors move to flank the monster, who begins to back away into the setting sun. Golden shafts of blinding light fall from the trees, and the warriors squint to see the maiden through the light. As they advance the golden rays trade places intermittently with the cool shade of the bows above. The maiden, seasoned in its craft, alters its carapace to instead of bending the light around it, reflect it, and flashes the warriors with the blinding light of the sun.

"She's tryna blind us!" one warrior shouts as he raises his shield to block the harsh light.The other warrior cries out in pain as he does the same, but he drops his sword and clutches his eyes with his freed arm. Perfect. The maiden thinks, and lunges forward. Landing on its four upper claws, the maiden rockets itself toward the warriors with two claws outstretched. Neither warrior reacts in time and both are impaled. The maiden hefts both warriors aloft and tosses them to the side. Five left.

The clearings edge had made for an excellent choke point, but the humans had decided not to make the same mistake again. The remaining five come through the edge at once in a mad dash, the maiden backpedals and falls to all eight legs as it observes them. Two garbed in leather armor with swords and shields, the same equipment the soldiers it had already killed had worn. Two in chain-mail with spears, who look identical, and the Chief. Who wields a massive battleaxe with a sash of smaller throwing axes across his chest. Even the warriors with spears do not worry the maiden, but the chief does. The open wound upon its back still agonizes the maiden, the blood flow had only lessened, it had not stopped.

The chief is at the front, leading the charge, his face twisted in fury.

"Stay on top of it! Don't give it a moments rest!" The Chief bellows. He is gaining ground on the maiden quickly, leaving his warriors behind. Kill the others first, then isolate the Chief. The maiden suddenly dashes to its left, compressing itself through a small gap in the trees. The Chief being far to large to fit, is forced to struggle through as his men charge forward without him.

The moment the fourth warrior passes through the maiden leaps at them in a frenzy. I need to kill them now, I won't get another chance. It pierces the chest of one leather garbed warrior with its two highest claws, ignoring the prodding spears and sword of his fellows, the maiden pins the human to the ground and forces its claws the rest of the way through his chest. Blood spurts from his mouth and he drops his weapons. The maiden wastes no time and rips to the sides, tearing the poor warrior apart in a spectacular display of gore. Before the maiden can target the next warrior, a spear penetrates the wound in its back. The roar of agony is immediate and deafening.

"I got her!" One of the spear-men shouts from atop the maiden. The maiden then begins to wildly swing its limbs, rising to its two feet. One catches the twin upon its back in the belly, and he falls with a shout of anguish. The maiden spins toward him as he clutches his wound with one hand, trying to keep his innards inside him. He thrusts the spear toward the maiden as his fellows strike at it from all sides. The maiden hisses threateningly before striking at the wounded twin with all its might. The twin falls to the ground in pieces, and the remaining two warriors back way.

"Big brother!" One twin calls, tears forming at his eyes.  The treeline suddenly crumples inward, and the Chief explodes forth, positioning himself between the remaining warriors and the maiden. The hulking warrior stoops low, his massive ax held aloft in one hand and his face completely blank, with no trace of his former anger. His eyes lock with the monster.

Then something unusual begins to happen, slowly at first, a red mist begins to form around the Chief, coming from the nearby corpses. The mist floats toward the Chief and coalesces into a crimson fog, giving the warrior's eyes a red hue. 

"I never joined for this..." The leather garbed warrior states from behind Wrath. He turns and flees. The remaining twin look from the warrior to Wrath, then to the maiden, and finally to the body of his brother. He drops his weapon and runs after the other fleeing soldier.

The two remaining stare at each other, neither moving a muscle. Both now understand this is a one verses one fight. The stoic mask of the Chief breaks, and his face is enveloped in rage. The maiden takes a slow step backward. What is that mist? This human can use magic? Another step, the human takes one forward. That is how he spotted me earlier, he can use magic. This just become more dangerous than I planned for. With that thought, the maiden spins on its heel and takes of into the forest. 

"COWARD!!!" The Chief bellows, and the chase resumes in full.






Sorceress


The pool of magic is now nearing full capacity. Just a little more......there! The runes along the walls fade, and the sorceress looks with glee at the pool. She lowers her arms and watches the last bit of magic flow into the pool. As it does the pool begins to bubble softly. Its ready. She lowers herself to the floor, at the edge of the pool. 

"Now for the finishing touch." She says happily. Reaching into her sleeve, she produces a single, white, feather. A feather most peculiar. Months ago, she had come across a creature unlike any she had seen before, or even heard of. She had found the body of a most peculiar equine. It had seemed to be a horse, but with both wings and a horn. It had been wearing a crown and was leaking intense magic, magic that does not exist in this world. The sorceress had quickly come to the conclusion that the creature was not of this world. It had somehow brought itself here. She could never find out why, however. As the creature was dead when she found it. So she had plucked a single feather from it, and buried its body. 

That was the purpose of the ritual, the spell she had been spending the last several months perfecting. It was a spell to create a portal to another world. She turns the feather over in her hands, the pale thing glimmers as it moves, still leaking magic. She caresses it once more before dropping it into the pool of magic. She then takes a step back, and watches.

The feather softly drops to the pool, and quickly slips beneath the surface. The pool bubbles around the point of magic, before becoming milky and white, the ritual accepting the portal. Soon the entire surface is opaque, and the color of milk. The sound of bells faintly ringing emanates from the completed portal. Joy courses through the sorceress and she claps her hands wildly. 

"Yes! I shall be the first to explore this new realm! I, Elysium the sorceress!"

Elysium extends her hand toward the rear of the chamber, where an ornate staff rests along the wall. It is enveloped is a violet aura and floats toward Elysium, who lets it glide gently into her hand. The staff; comprised of dragons root, a rare tree that when ignited burns into a material as durable as dragon scales; is adorned with with a four talon-ed, golden claw. A trickle of magic on Elysiums part, and a small sphere of fire ignites at the claw's center. It burns a deep crimson.

With her prized possession in hand, she takes one step back then leaps into the portal, feet first. A world of colors pass before her eyes, dazzling her. Soon it fades to darkness, and she clutches her staff to her chest as her senses fade.






The Shadow


As the maiden sprints, it sees a crack in the trees to its right, and spots a ravine beyond them. The maiden makes for it, breaking the forest edge and slamming all six claws into the dirt before the ravine. The maiden then hurls itself using its arms like springs, flying though the air to the other side. That ravine was at least 20 meters across. It thinks as it lands, it wastes no time and immediately dashes into the forest ahead. He couldn't have possibly...

A forceful impact sounds behind it, and the maiden grits its teeth. Just what kind of human am I dealing with? The maiden looks around, searching the forest for a plan, its wounds are deep, it can not keep fighting and running. It will soon need to rest. A glance to the sky makes the maiden realize something. Night is minutes from falling, my vision is far better in the dark than him. If I must fight, I will have an advantage. Now considering combat as a viable option, the maiden searches for a place to ambush the Chief.

The seemingly endless forest offers many a tree to hide behind, but the same trick would not work twice. No, I must find something different. As it runs, another clearing appears ahead, and the maiden bursts through it. The maiden searches the trees, and sees another ravine off to the left, smaller than the last one. Unlike the last one however, beyond the ravine the maiden can see the trees beginning to thin. Some ruins lay beyond those trees, an excellent place to ambush the Chief.  The maiden takes off for the ravine, running and bounding over it instead of launching itself as it did before.

"Get back here child killer!" The Chief calls with a booming voice as the maiden soars through the air. It hits the ground running, followed closely by the thud of the Chief landing behind it. He is closing in on me, I need to make my move soon. It thinks. The maiden openly sprints through the thinning trees, pushing itself as hard as it can. A glance behind it tells it that it is losing the Chief. Wonderful.

A strange noise reaches the maiden's ears. Quiet, but audible to the maiden's adept hearing. A whistling cutting through the air. The maiden's eyes dawn in realization as it realizes what the noise is. No time to dodge! It tries to sidestep, but a throwing ax embeds itself into the maiden's open wound, cutting deeper still into its back. It looses a hellish scream and crumples to the ground. It tries to scramble to its feet, but a sharp pain down its back makes it realize that its legs have been disabled, forcing it to the ground again. A hiss of pain escapes its maw. Using its arms as momentum, the maiden hurls itself to the side, narrowly avoiding the ax striking where it had lain moments before. The maiden spins around and poises itself on its six claws, facing the Chief with its tail raised above it, similar to a scorpion.

"Done running away now?" The Chief asks. "Though I'm not sure you could if you wanted to." The maiden's useless legs twitch beneath it, as if in response to the Chief's words. He growls and dashes forth, swinging his ax overhead. The maiden blocks the blow with its tail, and the two enter a competition of strength.  The maiden hisses as it begins to lose ground being forced to slowly backpedal. If I can free my tail up, I can tear this ax out of my back. The maiden quickly devises a plan.

The maiden suddenly pushes forward, catching the Chief off guard. It raises itself onto its four rear claws and moves to slice the Chief's belly with its remaining two. Having no choice but to retreat, the Chief jumps back, narrowly avoiding the blow. The maiden follows immediately with a sweep of its tail, knocking the Chief to the ground. 

The maiden spins and takes off on its claws. It then coils its tail around and grips the ax. It sneaks a glance backwards, and sees the Chief rising to his feet. Bracing itself, the maiden tears the ax out of its back and howls in pain. The pain in its legs ebb.

"Damn you!" The Chief shouts as the maiden rises to its feet, it winces from the pain, but they are now functional. I need to get away. It chooses to head further into the ruins, and begins to run. A faint whistle begins to cut through the air. Do you think me a fool? It thinks as it sidesteps the throwing ax. The maiden spots a ruined tower in the center of the ruins, a faint golden glow emanating from within. Any kind of distraction would be useful. The maiden dashes for the tower.

"Where are you going?!" the Chief howls in rage. The maiden reaches the tower and begins to ascend the aged cobblestone, tearing its claws into the stone and ripping them out as it goes. The Chief begins to climb behind it, and a quick glance tells it that the Chief is using the holes created by its own claws to climb. Damn! The maiden barely registers the faint sound of bells.

The maiden breaches the top of the tower and looks around, the ruined building had been hollowed out, and runes line the circular walls, emanating power. A pool of white lay at the center of the room. What the..? the maiden thinks but has no time to ponder further.

"You're mine now!" The Chief shouts from behind, and tackles the maiden off of the ledge, sending both of them downward. They strike the ground in unison, at the edge of the pool. The Chief hefts his ax upwards from his position above the maiden, starting on an overhead swing. No! The maiden cries internally. The golden glow of the pool lights up the Chiefs face as he brings down his ax, and the maiden barely manages to parry it with a claw. Using the last of its strength, it hurls the Chief off of itself and knocks him backward into the wall with its tail. Exhaustion grips the maiden and it struggles to remain standing. The wound on its back, that had just begun to scab, had been torn open again. An even deeper wound gracing the maiden's back. I can fight no longer, my body is about to give out... But I won't die like this! I need to lay my egg! The maiden's ears again register the sound of bells, and it glances at the pool as the Chief rights himself.

"Where are you gonna run to now?" He asks as he raises his weapon, his stoic visage glaring int he maiden. It looks from him, to the pool behind it, and back again. That sound... this pool leads somewhere.

"Oh no you don't!" the Chief shouts, realizing the maiden's plan, but it is too late, the maiden is already falling backward into the pool. A wave of feeling passes over it as it slips beneath the surface, numbing its senses. What is this? The maiden wonders as each sense slowly fades. It dimly registers the sound of something splashing above it. Blackness soon takes its vision and the maiden can only hope it made the right choice. It curls itself into a ball, protecting its belly. Its consciousness fades.
> Chapter 19: Nightmares
> --------------------------------------------------------------------------


Wrath


The seats on the train are comfortable. They are spongy and soft, the padding reaching up to my back. If I would lay down, I would surely succumb to sleep. The velvety texture of the seats, not to mention the small body warmer sleeping in my lap, should be more than enough to lull me to sleep. 

"sigh"

But it can't, it wont. 



I have a bad feeling.

The coat I was given by Rarity is soft and warm, yet it does nothing to quell the chill along my neck. The last time I had this feeling... I try to suppress a shiver. I fail. I lift a hand and bring it to Shendu, who is sleeping peacefully in my lap. I gently stroke her. Her mane and fur are both incredibly soft. She is so much like her. I look at her. Her muzzle is hidden, pressed against my coat Her large, expressive eyes are shut. A small shiver runs through her, and she whimpers slightly. A nightmare I wonder? I gently lift her head into a more comfortable position, with her head resting along my thigh. As I do so, her hooves shoot out and grip my hand, pulling it into a hug. A smile comes across my face.

A smile?!

The mirth is purged from my face, replaced by my usual hard expression. I remember a faint, barking laugh near a burning hut. My burning hut. The hand held by the filly balls itself into a fist. How many lives has this one taken? Two hundred, at the minimum? Why should she be so at peace? Why should such a monster be allowed to live? Another tremor racks the filly's body, and she grips my hand tighter, her breathing becoming erratic, a pained and fearful expression on her face. She begins to softly shake her head. I frown at her. I take my other hand and place it just above the back of her head. A monster that killed fathers, mothers, sons..............daughters.

I allow my hand to settle on her head. The large appendage covering her head from ear to ear. The weight of my hand stops her head from moving, and her shuddering somewhat subsides. I stroke downward gently, slowly petting her. The look of fear on her face goes away. Replaced by a small smile, some wetness becomes visible near her eyes. She is crying, yet... she is smiling. Tears of joy? Pinky, who is laying next to me, shifts uneasily. I look to her and see a distraught expression on her face as well. Her too?

I glance around the cabin. Each pony whose face I can see is seemingly wracked with grief. Some, Fluttershy and Applejack, are trembling constantly. Everyone is having nightmares?  My brow furrows. Is there anything I can do?

I sit in silence for awhile, then feel for my magic as an idea strikes me. She had nightmares often, whenever she did we would sing to her. I look around again at the ponies and lone dragon. I should sing for them, but without the second singer it would sound wrong. Shendu turns over in my lap, releasing my hand. Her face loses its smile, and a distraught expression comes over her again. She is a pony! But... they still act so much alike. Tears begin to form again at the corners of her eyes, this time not out of joy, but fear. I could not bear to watch her cry, and I cannot bear to watch Shendu cry either.

A low hum begins to come from my throat as I summon some of my little remaining magic. The rumbling noise causes some of the older ponies to stir. 

"♫Glacies frigus ventus per nemora et colles domum congelat , et medullis ossa comminuit somnia , eripit eos.

Dormite iam meo amiculi pusilli animi quietus sit somniare somnia igne populi inhabitantes orbem,

Sed vitae tellus priscis moribus recrescit semen♫" 

I take a deep breath and prepare for the second part of the song, her part. One of us would hum while the other sang, it feels....wrong without her voice. The ponies seem to have all been affected by it. Most have stopped tossing and turning and all of the mumbling has ceased. Just as I begin, I see Applejack crack an eye open.

"♫Audi lupi ululantes in spiritu vocat genus non est responsum suorum depulsa iam.

In stamine vitae est lentus , et bysso et texant tuum in robore dura tempora exspectare certamen in gelida terram est radix vitae,

Sed vitae tellus priscis moribus recrescit semen♫"

As I finish I look around the room. Everyone's nightmares seem to have abated for now. They are still, and pleasant looks adorn all of their faces. It worked. I let out a breath I didn't realize I was holding. My eye falls again on Applejack, who is apparently trying to stare through my soul. Her piercing look softens after a moment, and she looks slightly downward. I look down at my lap and see my hand subconsciously stroking Shendu's mane. Shendu is now perfectly still, her only movement the soundless rise and fall of her chest.

I notice curiously that the chill along my neck is gone. I lean back into the softness of my fluffy coat. It worked, but it still feels wrong to sing alone. I close my eyes and let my worries fade, succumbing at last to a long-suffering slumber.






Fluttershy


I awaken with a long yawn. What nice dreams. Opening my eyes I roll off the seat and onto the ground, letting my wings expand, allowing me to softly land on the carpet of the train. Today's the day. I wipe the sleep away from my eyes and look around. A few of my friends are up, namely Applejack and Rarity, who are having a quiet conversation at the end of the car, the side leading to the Royal Guard's car. I see Applejack has a pouch of apples. Breakfast does sound nice. As I approach I hear their conversation.

"....Ah'm telling you Rarity, it was like nothing ah've ever heard."

"That's quite the story Applejack. But I have a hard time believing he would do something like that." Rarity says before daintily biting down on an apple. I sit next to the girls and Applejack passes me one, I take a bite.

"Mornin Flutershy." The orange mare says with a smile."Sleep well?"

"Yes actually!" I respond immediately, forgetting my mouth was full. I swallow before I continue. "I had the most amazing dreams, I haven't slept so well since I was a filly!"

"Applejack claims you have Wrath to thank for that." Rarity says, dotting her mouth with a napkin. "She says Wrath sang us all a lullaby last night."

"Oh?" I respond, biting into the apple again. Wrath sang us a lullaby? That is so unlike him. I chew for a bit and swallow. Or is it? We have only known him for a week or so.

"It was like nothing ah've ever heard. I didn't understand a lick of it but it was so nice to hear. Woke me up from a nightmare too." Rarity and I both give her a look at that.

"Was it a bad one?" I ask quietly.

"Yeah, it was pretty bad. I dreamed we were being chased by nightmare moon, and before I know it. I hear this voice in my dream. Nightmare moon went away and I was surrounded by my family. Then I woke up and saw Wrath singin. It looked like Shendu was having a real bad nightmare too, she was cryin in his lap. But he just sang and stroked her mane, by the time he was done she was sleepin peacefully and her tears were all dried up."

I glance over at the rest of the car. Everypony seems to be rousing, even Shendu, who yawns cutely as she rolls out of Wrath's lap. Then I notice Wrath himself. His head is locked back and his hands are balled up and shaking, his knuckles ghost white. His face is hard, angry and fearful. Shendu and the others begin to walk toward us, walking tiredly to breakfast. 

"Wrath looks like he is having a nightmare." I say quietly. Both Rarity and Applejack look.

"He does, it looks like a real bad one too." Applejack adds. We stare at him in silence as our friends reach us. Applejack wordlessly dispenses apples to them and they quietly eat.

"Morning girls." Twilight says after a moment. She looks up from her apple with a smile. "I had the best dream last night!"

"Me too!" Pinky nearly shouts, the volume shocking us all. "I threw the biggest and bestest party in all of Equestria!"

"I dreamt I became the captain of the Wonderbolts!" Rainbow adds. "It was the coolest thing ever."

I look at Shendu and Spike, who are now chatting quietly at the edge of the circle, both have massive smiles on their faces as they talk. They slept well too I bet. I get up and start walking over to Wrath. 

"You alright Fluttershy?" Twilight asks.

I nod. "Wrath isn't up yet, and he looks like he is having an awfull nightmare. I'm going to check on him." As I reach Wrath, I notice something black and fuzzy hovering at the corner of my eye. I ignore her and fly up to Wrath's face. He looks tired and angry and....afraid? I place a hoof on his head. Hot. 

"You okay?" Shendu asks, I go to respond before I realize she is not talking to me. She flutters up to Wrath's face and peers down at him, then she grabs his head with her hooves and pulls it upright.

"Lets lay him down." I say as I move to support the human. Shendu gently pushes him and I realize much too late how heavy he is. I'm going to be squished! Luckily, Rainbow had flown over to help. Between the three of us, we lower him down. His visible fist is still shaking, but now at least he is more comfortable. I notice that a green glow is emanating from the corner of his eyes. That's not normal.

"Twilight, can you come here for a moment." I ask. She turns her head and nods, swallowing the apple in her mouth. She comes trotting over.

"What did you want Fluters....." She stops mid sentence as she sees Wrath. She dashes over and scrutinizes Wrath's face closely. "This is bad; this is really, really bad." She says after a moment, backing off. Shendu lands on Wrath's chest and looks down at him with worry.

"What's wrong?" She asks. Twilight shakes her head a moment.

"That is dark magic. Celestia showed me that is the kind of magic Sombra uses." Shendu's face looks even more concerned. Sombra, oh no. That is really, really bad. Twilight ignites her horn and her bag comes flying over. She rips through it quickly before finding some paper and a quill. "Spiiiike!" She calls after jotting something down. The small dragon comes walking over with a mouth full of apple.

"Can you please send this to Celestia right away?" The purple dragon nods before audibly swallowing.

"Sure Twilight." He engulfs the letter in green flame. He scratches his chin. "What was the letter about Twilight?"

"We are getting close to Sombra now, this evening we should reach the Crystal Empire. We might already be within the range of Sombra's dark magic. Wrath is having a dark magic infused nightmare." The dragon scratches his chin a little more in thought. Within moments Spike belches a scroll. Twilight snatches it out of the air and reads it aloud immediately.


Dear Twilight Sparkle,


I am currently indisposed at the moment. But because it is urgent I'll tell you as much as I can. Sombra's magic is fueled by darkness, by fear. He gains power from taking ponies fear and turning it into magic. You mustn't be afraid of his lies Twilight, his magic will try and deceive you!

Good Luck!

-Princes Celestia


Lies and fear, what kind of villain is he? I wonder. Twilight's eyes scan the page for short moment before she looks up at Wrath. Shendu is still on his side, looking at him sadly.

"What in Equestria do we do now?" She asks.

"We could try waking him up?" Spike suggests. Twilight blinks at him owlishly. Wow, I never even thought of that. Shendu shakes Wrath's face a bit. After a moment his lips peel back in a silent snarl. The filly keeps on shaking him. I hope nothing bad happens. Twilight, Spike, and I all watch as Shendu continues to shake the human's head. He tenses up for a moment, before his eyes shoot wide open and he practically leaps to his feet, sending Shendu flying.

"Show yourself!" He shouts with all his might. "I'll tear you limb from bloody limb!" I stand stock still in shock, my mouth hanging open as he turns this way and that with a look of absolute hate on his face. "Where are you you invisible bastard?!" Seeing us staring at him. And in my case quivering in fear. His expression softens and he calms down some.

"....what......what happened?" He asks slowly. His eyes darting from Twilight and mine. I hide behind my mane as he looks at me, obscuring the world from view.

"You were having a nightmare?" Twilight's voice asks.

"....yes. I, I was." Wrath's voice responds. I hear the thud of something hitting the ground. I peer out and see Wrath has seated himself on the ground, his eyes wide, looking at the floor.

"Sombra's magic did that to you I think, Celestia told me he does that to ponies-err, people to gain power." I relax my mane and look around normally. Everypony is now staring at Wrath, a half eaten apple lay on the floor from where Rarity had dropped it.

"He will pay for making me see such things." Wrath says oddly with a calm voice. He maneuvers his legs so that they cross in front of him, and he places both of his hands on his knees. Is he going to meditate?

"Are you okay?" Shendu asks, having walked back over after being flung across the room. She sits in front of Wrath with a tearful expression. Wrath opens his eyes and gives the filly a hard look, before it softens and he pats her on the head.

"I am okay now." Is all he says before he closes his eyes and begins meditating. Shendu looks up at him and jumps into his lap, where she turns about and lays down, staring out on all of us. I raise a brow at her and all she does is smile awkwardly.

"I'm going to stay near him if that's okay." She says as her ears lower in embarrassment. I nod. 

"This is going to be hard isn't it? Beating Sombra." I ask. Twilight looks at me and nods.

"Yes, but we beat Nightmare Moon, we have beaten so much, we can handle this!" Twilight says with conviction as she turns and trots back to breakfast. Spike and I follow behind her, I look back at Wrath, and see the faintest tear-stain beneath his eye. I wonder what his nightmare was about.






Shendu


Most of the day has passed, and I have spent the whole day sitting in his lap.

"Wrath, cmon!" I demand from his lap, putting both front hooves on his chest. I shake him relentlessly. Eventually his eyes open, and for a moment I see that same green glow from before, but it dissipates. He closes his eyes and brings his hands to his face, shaking his head.

"This is going to be bad." He mutters.

"No it's not," I say. He looks me me uncertainly. "We have so many here to help, Sombra doesn't stand a chance against all of us." I reassure him. He shakes his head again, but this time with a smile on his face.

"Only time will tell, we are close." He stands. I jump to the ground beside him.

"I know that, everyone knows that, that's why I woke you up." 

"I see." He mumbles. We walk over to the others, who are all donning winter wear. Rarity comes trotting over with Wrath's small hat in tow. Wrath affixes her with a withering glare, which does nothing to remove the smirk on Rarity's face. I laugh. After everyone is geared up, we all sit near the door. Wrath has retrieved a rather wicked looking claw from the storage compartment. It takes me a moment but I recognize the claw as my own. From what Contessa tells us, we will need to make a break for the Crystal Empire, as the train track ends about a mile from the city proper. Eventually the train rumbles to a halt.

"Well, we are here! Lets go everyo-" Twilight is cut off as an explosion rocks the car. The lights in the car flicker and die. I find myself huddled next to Wrath, one of the few who withstood the blast without falling down. His massive hands reach out to the door and rip it open.

Beyond it is nothing short of a monster.

It has the general shape of a pony, but it seems to only be a silhouette. Almost sucking in the darkness around it. Once he sees it Wrath loses his composure. He leaps forward and tackles the thing to the ground.

"Get off the train and stay away from these things!" He shouts. We shamble out into the cold. It looks like a snowstorm is about to hit. I look to the left and see guards flooding out the exit door to the guard car. I take flight and hover close to Wrath's head, as he pins the shadowy thing to the ground.

"What in tarnation is that?" Applejack asks through her scarf.

"I'm not quite sure, but I know it caused that explosion earlier." Wrath says, upon a closer look, I see Wrath's hands are faintly glowing red. "I'm suppressing its magic for now, but I think if I let it go this thing will explode." Twilight steps up to him.

"I think I can help." She says, her horn glows for a moment and the shadow pony disappears, appearing again 30 meters or so away in the air. We all watch as it falls to the ground, and when it hits it explodes violently, causing me to fall to the ground and cover my ears.

"Those things are dangerous, we can't get close to them at all." Rarity says, Fluttershy and Rainbow Dash an uneasy look.

"The Crystal Empire is this way." Twilight speaks up. "If we hurry we can be there in 10 minutes." And with that we are off, Twilight in the lead with our group in the middle and the guards following behind. I make it a point to stay close to Wrath at all times, never straying more than a meter or so from him. That dream I had... I'm still not sure what I am supposed to be but.  Wrath's head is constantly turning, scanning the landscape, my old claw held firmly in his grasp. I know I need to be with him, Wrath knows what I am, what I am supposed to be, maybe I can get him to tell me. Soon the snow begins to pick up, and Twilight's trot turns into a gallop.

"I see it, the Crystal Empire is just up ahead!" I see it too, a massive magical dome encompassing a large city. Crystalline structures with a massive building at the center of the town. As we move closer I see the building more clearly and, the cracks along the shield more clearly.

"Oh my."  Fluttershy breathes as she sees the massive cracks along the barrier. The damaged barrier flickers before us as another crack forms, a distant explosion sounding in the distance. Just then the storm picks up, changing from a snowstorm into a full blown blizzard.

Dark laughter echoes around us, and a large pair of eyes appears in the storm. Green, with a red iris and purple magic trailing about it. It pulses what I can only believe to be dark magic through the air.

	!!!

I cry out in pain and crash to the ground. I lay there in the snow, quivering in agony. What is this? It feels like my body is on fire. Before long I feel a set of hooves pick me up. I try to look around but my eyes are in agony.

"I've got you Shendu." I hear Contessa's monotonous voice say. I close my eyes to the world. Everything hurts....I can barely think.... I hear muffled shouting and another explosion. I feel myself fall through the air, and something else grab me.

"Now just what are you?" I hear someone say loudly, causing me to flinch. Huh? What am I....?

"Yes, What are you? Celestia has never sent something as strange as you here before. You look like a pony but, underneath that, you are just as dark as I. We should be helping one another." 

Images of my past burst into life. I see vividly the events of the small town off of the San Palamano desert. The ripping and tearing of flesh, the blood, the ponies. I cry out.

"Did you forget what you were? How sad. Let me help you remember even more." I remember speaking with the ghost pony, I remember the dragons, I remember going to Ponyville to get Luna. I remember....I remember...Trying to, and almost succeeding in, killing Wrath. No. That couldn't have been me! I would never do that! The dark voice laughs all around me, and I feel my body spasm.

"Oh but you did. And you will again." Another explosion goes off, and I hear voices shouting, but I can't make them out. A wave of light passes over my vision, and the darkness recedes.

"We shall speak again Shendu. And when we do, I shall return you to your former glory." The voice says somewhat quieter. I scream as pain wracks my body, the burning sensation all over me intensifying. The pain is too much to bear, and I pass out.
> Chapter 20: Blood and Tears
> --------------------------------------------------------------------------


Shendu


My eyes creek open, a fantastical sight greets me. A twisting vortex of color above a calm countryside. I sit myself up and notice with a shock my body is back to.....to...what it used to be. Where am I? I raise my many limbs about me, and notice that one of my claws is missing. I try to remember why. Everything is hazy, and the attempt to remember causes my head to throb, I slowly rise. The countryside is calm, long and wavy grass surrounds me and a mighty tree looms nearby. The vortex of color above me twists constantly, moving by some unseen force. The landscape is only barely touched by the light above, seeming like it was the light of the moon that shone upon it.

	"Shendu can you hear me?"

A voice tickles my mind, but any meaning behind the words is lost as I gaze into the vortex of color above me. I watch the display in awe. Reds, blues, yellows, the entire rainbow dances. It calms me somehow, and I find myself lowering to the ground, laying in the soft grass. Then another color enters the light show. A dark, inky blackness seeps into the vortex. I find myself recoiling at the sight. Some far-away part of me crying out in horror, but I can only watch as it perverts the vortex.

"Wake up dammit! You need to wake up!"

Another something tickles my mind. What was that? I look down at my body and see the same blackness from above is wafting off my form, drifting up and joining the vortex. Another glance at the darkening vortex above shows the colors are fading fast, most of the vortex is now unseen in darkness. The landscape around me reflects the change, the once mighty tree is now withering, its leaves turning to ashes. The grass too, is dying, tuning yellow and wilting before my eyes.

"No." I whisper. Everything was perfect! Serene! I need to do something before it is lost completely. I jump to my feet and look around, searching for something, anything, that might fix this.

"Shendu if you can hear me you need to wake up!"

This time I hear the words and grasp the meaning. I'm asleep? But how do I wake up? When did I fall asleep? The last thing I remember was getting off the train and running through the snow... then there was that voice.

"Did you forget what you were? How sad."

That shadow, it did this! I clench my eyes shut and focus on myself, trying to block out everything around me. Wake up wake up wake up wake up.

A cruel laughter echoes around the dreamscape, I open my eyes and see the surrounding land is now barren and dead.  I look up, the vortex is nearly completely black, only a shimmer of color proves it's not completely consumed. In a panic, I dash to the now-dead tree and slam my head into it with all my might, I hear what sounds like the shatter of glass as memories pour into my mind. Memories of slaughter and blood. I remember my life from the beginning, starting with the chimera, the first thing I ever killed. Everything goes black, and I feel liquid being splashed on my face.





I gasp and try to sit up, blinking at the bright light that surrounds me. A powerful hand holds me down on what I now feel is a bed. Water drips from my face as I try to get my bearings. Wrath and Spike are the only ones in the small room. A bucket dangles from one of Spike's claws. He sheepishly grins.

"Sorry."

"It's okay." I mutter. I look back to Wrath and see his other hand holding part of my mane, which I see is now back to the grey it once was. My eyes begin to water. "I remember everything." I suddenly remark, looking down. "I forgot after they transformed me, but I remember now." There is a pause, then I feel myself being lifted and pressed against Wrath's chest. I can't see anything as tears stream from my eyes. I can only hug the muscled human's chest as grief wracks my body.






Wrath


The filly quietly sobs in my arms. I slowly look over to Spike and see a confused look on his face. I motion with my free hand to leave the room, to which he quickly obliges, leaving me alone with the sobbing Shendu.

"Hush, little one." I quietly say to the filly. I take a seat on the bed and gently rock her. Her little hooves try and grasp around my chest as she tries to reign in her emotions. I just let her hug me and hold her close. So her memory is back? Is this the work of Sombra? What would he possibly stand to gain from making Shendu remember being a maiden? Or was that even his intention? So many questions I don't have the answers to. I can only hold the filly as she cries. 

After we came through the barrier the first thing we did was run for the palace. Once there the others went to meet with Cadence and Shining Armor while I brought Shendu to the first bedroom I could find. Spike alone accompanied me. Many minute pass as the filly's cries slowly quiet, until she is simply clutching my chest.

"Why?" She quietly asks. I can only raise an eyebrow. A meaningless gesture to one whose face is buried against my chest and arm. I give a 'hmm?' in response as I gently turn her so her face is toward me. She still huddles against my chest, refusing to look me in the eye. I can see the tear stains marking the fur beneath her eyes.

"Why am I alive?"

"Because Celestia decided that you should live." I respond slowly. She shakes her head.

"No, I mean, why am I alive in the first place? Why was I a monster?"

That question gives me pause. I had expected her to ask why she was a pony, or why she remembered in the first place, or even why Celestia made that decision. I am slow to respond, gently stroking her mane as she finally raises her eyes to mine.

".....Nobody knows why they are alive. Many have theories, many think they know, but worrying about why you exist is futile. You will never know. Just know that you are alive, and..... yes, you were a monster. But there is no reason why you were a monster, you simply were. There is no reason why I am human, or why Celestia is a pony. We simply are. But you are not the same creature you were before, know that. The creature that attacked that town is dead, Shendu. You simply share its name and know its memories. You are who you choose to be."

Shendu looks down, and a small frown worms its way onto her face.

"I didn't choose to be a pony."

"And I didn't choose to be a human. I said you are who you choose to be, not what." After that she looks up at me with a look of wounded hope.

"So I don't h-have to be a m-monster?" She quietly asks, her voice cracking sadly as fresh tears well up in her eyes. I grasp her a little firmer in response as I pull her into a hug. The forlorn filly cries fresh tears onto my chest as she clutches me again with all her might.

"No you don't." I whisper. More to myself than her. "No you don't."






Twilight


The throne room is filled with my friends, my brother and sister-in-law, and myself. We all stand around a seated and disheveled Cadence.

"Sombra's attack has stopped, for the moment." Cadence says as she opens her eyes.

"Excellent." A monotonous voice calls from behind us. I turn and watch as Contessa with a throng of royal guards enter the throne room, shutting the door behind them. "We have much to discuss."

The mare produces a map of the area, with a large X to the southeast of the city, right in the middle of the Crag mountain range.

"What is this?" Shining asks. The girls all voice their confusion as well, Contessa merely points at the X.

"This, is how we defeat the Dark King." She says as she taps the X with a hoof. "The tallest mountain in the Crag mountain range had a crystal mine in it, back in the glory days of the crystal empire. Sombra had quite a large labor camp there when he came to power. We came to the conclusion that Sombra's corpse must be there." All heads look to Contessa as they process this new information.

"That would make sense." Cadence mutters. "That would explain how he attacks when he does. If he is using the natural shadow of the mountain."

"Precisely." Contessa praises. "If we find his corpse and properly destroy it, the Dark King should be gone for good."

"Ah have a question." Applejack speaks up. "How do ya 'properly destroy it'?" 

"Yeah, I mean, how to you destroy something that is already dead?" Rainbow adds. Shining armor tilts his head to the side.

"Well, light magic should purge his body. Any kind would do after how long it has been." he says. "But how do you get there? Sombra is still rampaging just beyond the barrier. It will be very dangerous."

"Yes, and it is not as if Sombra will simply stop his attack on the city. Cadence is a dear but she won't last much longer, we need ponies to stay and help protect the citizens here in case the barrier fails." Rarity says.

"So we need to decide who stays and protects the citizens and who goes to defeat Sombra?" I ask.

"Yes." Contessa answers. "I think it is fairly simple really. The ones who would actually be of use in getting to Sombra and killing him once and for all are small." She pauses as she takes a breath. "I am a seasoned commander, so I will of course be going, then the dragon as his fire will be useful against any ice we may encounter blocking our way, five of my best guards and lastly the human for protection. Everypony else will stay." Applejack and Rainbow immediately begin to protest, but a look from Contessa shuts them up almost immediately. "Anypony else would just be a liability"

"Why not take me?" Shining asks, Contessa just looks at him with her unreadable expression, then silently gestures to Cadence, whose eyes are half-lidded and is beginning to lean to the right. Shining scowls at Contessa before moving to support his wife, nudging her softly to wake her from her near slumber.

"Any other objections?" Contessa asks as she looks around the room. "No? Good. I will be getting my stallions and myself ready. We should get moving as soon as we can, like Rarity said, Cadence won't last much longer." With that the olive mare turns and trots away, the guards she brought with her quickly following suit. I turn to my friends.

"Girls, while they can probably beat Sombra, we should look for another way. Lets go to the library and see what we can find." I suggest. Nods meet my notion and after a hug with my brother we make our way out of the room.






Wrath


Many minutes have passed since Shendu asked that last question. Her crying has now stopped and if it weren't for her eyes being open I would think she were asleep, as she has not made a single sound since. She is not the same creature she was before. She is a pony that shares the maiden's memories, that is it. I rock her gently and cradle her a little closer, she responds by clutching my arm tighter. And she is my charge. I am unfit to raise a child, but who else would take her? Who else could take her? The ponies of today have very limited knowledge of the horrors this one endured. I am one of few that can give her the care she needs. But I am no parental figure. Even with...with..... my own. I was a provider. My....my.....she actually raised the girl. Besides, am I even capable of raising a child anymore?

My musings are interrupted as a knock sounds on the door. Shendu and I both look toward it as it slowly opens and Contessa, along with Spike, come walking through.

"I hope I am not interrupting?" Contessa asks.

"No, what do you need?"

"We have a plan to finish Sombra, and we leave as soon as possible. You, the dragon, five of my guards, and myself will be going." Hearing this, Shendu clutches me tighter still. Surprising me with her strength.

"I'm going too." Shendu states.

"No, you are not." Contessa responds, earning a glare from Shendu. "You saw what happened when you were exposed to Sombra, we can't even think of exposing you to him again." Shendu begins to quiver in my lap. Seeing this, Spike speaks up.

"The girls are all down in the library looking for things to do incase we fail or Cadence gives out before we can beat Sombra. I can take you to them?" He offers. Shendu looks up at me and begrudgingly nods her head. I set her down and she slowly makes her way out of the room, following Spike. I look over to Contessa and find her watching Shendu go, when the door shuts behind them she speaks.

"How is she?"

"She remembers her former life. All things considered she took it pretty well."

"Well that's good to hear, now come on, we have to get ready. The maiden's, er, Shendu's claw is with my guards, one of them grabbed it when you dropped it back outside the barrier. We have to go as soon as we can. When Spike meets us we can set out." I nod my approval and follow her  out of the room.
> Chapter 21: Would-Be Kingslayers
> --------------------------------------------------------------------------


Wrath


The walk to the armory was a quick one, with Contessa catching me up with her plan of action along the way. The armory itself was impressive, a massive room filled with racks of all kinds of weaponry. Ranging from simple swords and shields, to polearms and even some ballistas. Sombra must have been preparing to wage a war, against Equestria perhaps? The five guards who were chosen stand at attention, stoic faces, a saddle of equipment, and a new weapon on each.

Contessa addresses the guards. "Alright stallions! Once Spike the dragon gets here we set off. We will leave through the eastern edge of the city, make our way to the edge of the Crag mountains, and proceed southward until we reach the railroad that leads us into the heart of the mountains. Any questions?" Her question is met with silence. 

I look around the room for my weapon, when a decorated shield catches my eye. It's an incredibly bright thing to look at, all light blues and purples, but being made from crystal makes it very durable. Lifting it, I feel its got a good amount of weight to it, and is larger than a pony by a good margin. Its only flaw is it lacks a strap of any kind to hold it. Hmmmmm. Ah! I grab two small daggers from the same shelf and drag them across my palm, drawing just a thin line of blood. I then jab the daggers into the back of the shield and connect them with a strip of cloth torn from my coat. I hold the thing aloft and admire my work.

"What are you doing?" Contessa asks from behind me.

"Arming myself." I respond, turning to her. I see Shendu's old claw on her back and gratefully take it from her. "Thank you."

"My pleasure." She responds. "But are you seriously using the front of a chariot as a shield?" I take another good look at my new 'shield'. Sure enough, it does appear to be the frontal armor for a chariot.

"I suppose I am." I answer. She just turns and makes for her own gear. I heft the claw in my hand. It's stiff. But with any real force put into a swing the joints would move. I look around the armory again, searching for a way to make the claw into a proper weapon. I spot a spear. Taking some more cloth, I bind the two together. The spear facing down with the claw at the upper end. I would rather hollow out the claw and simply place a metal pole within it, but I do not have the time. That can be done later, for now, this will do.

With my new shield and sword....claw.....spear.....weapon I stand by Contessa as we wait for the Spike. The olive mare is expressionless, as usual. I start to say something, but my mouth snaps shut as I hear the pitter-patter of footsteps approaching. The door opens and the dragon himself walks through. He finds six ponies and a human staring directly at him, bringing a claw to his neck he chuckles weakly.

"I suppose we are ready to go?" He asks.

"You suppose correctly. Now Brightheart and I-" The guard whose name Contessa spoke stands up a little straighter. His new axe nearly sliding off his side. "- will act as a vanguard, and will be at the front. Spike will be behind us directly, behind him will be the remaining guards, and the human shall take up the rear. We leave now, Come Brightheart."

She trots past Spike with Brightheart at her heel. Spike is lost for just a moment before following, the guards follow after him with me in tow behind them.

We quickly leave the palace behind. I take one last glance back at it. 





We breach the barrier with caution. Sombra's attacks ended some time ago, and it should be another few hours before they start up again, yet caution is important. Those exploding shadow-ponies are a nightmare to deal with, we barely got away the first time. The clouds have parted, allowing a few scant beams of sunlight to hit the wasteland; the frozen, desolate wasteland. It is just clear enough to see a mountain range off in the distance, with one earthen spire reaching far higher than its brothers. 

As we walk I keep a sharp lookout, and a firm grip on my equipment. As the daylight fades the shadows seem to come alive. Every jagged rock has a dark ghost. 

The shadow of one particularly large hunk of ice and rock seems to shudder, before expanding. I watch it closely as it shrinks again, before beginning to wave back and forth. Is he toying with us? I wonder in silence.





Half a days-walk later we find ourselves reaching the foothills. The moon is obscured in the sky and the mountains seem solemn in the darkness. The trip was uneventful, however extremely stressful. I determined early on that Sombra was toying with us, intentionally or otherwise.  The shadows had danced around us more and more as they grew longer in the setting sun. Spike especially had it bad, jumping in fright on several occasions. The cold grew worse as well, and I found myself grateful for the clothing Rarity fashioned for me.

Now however, the cold was worse than ever, only Spike seemed unaffected by it. The eight of us all stand around a small fire, burning whatever wooden scraps we could find while Spike was off gathering more a small ways up the foothill. 

"What is your plan of action?" I ask, looking to Contessa. The mare stares in to the fire as she thinks.

"We will continue with our original battle plan, and will head south, however this cold is debilitating. Sombra is expected to become active again very soon, we make camp here, and after Sombra's attack ends we continue south." She pauses as a shiver overtakes her. "W-we should reach the old railroad around mid-day tomorrow, and the crystal mines a few hours after that."

We all stand in silence around the fire for a few moments, before the ponies begin to move. The guards all unfurl bedrolls and place them around the fire, Contessa herself sitting upon one and taking an, almost meditative stance. 

"Go ahead and rest, Wrath. I will take the watch for now." I nod at her and sit myself in front of the fire. 

"Wake me when you tire, and I will assume the watch so you may rest." She nods her agreement as Spike returns, a large bundle of sticks and twigs in his grasp. He drops them all down in a heap and makes his way over to me, laying on his belly next to me.

"It's not much but it should last through the night." He says, yawning. I pat him on the back.

"Good job." 

"Thanks." With that, the diminutive drake promptly falls asleep. I stare at him before I lay myself against my shield, having slightly embedded it into the ice to act as a back support. I allow the bliss of sleep to come to me, but I find my thoughts turning toward Celestia, and what she has done.

She has to know more than she lets on. I ponder, glancing at the sleeping dragon. I distinctly remember what I saw when I last examined his soul. The way his draconic soul is bound is eerily similar to what was done to Shendu, Celestia claims the only way that can be done is through the power of the elements, that she can not do it on her own. However the elements have not been used on the dragon, so how is he bound?

I contemplate meditating to examine his soul further, but I ultimately shy away from the idea as I remember what occurred on the train. Sombra would likely pick up on my heightened awareness. It is a powerful gift but a great vulnerability to a manipulator of dreams, were he to trap me in my physical body I would be defenseless. I again try to banish all thought from my mind, try to join the oblivion that is sleep, but sadly my attempt is thwarted yet again as I hear a movement in the snow behind me.

I start to rise, already reaching for my weapon when I see Contessa. Her face looks normal but her eyes seem terrified, she locks eyes with me and carefully shakes her head. I slowly relax myself as she slowly reaches down, into her saddlebag, and produces a round bottle filled with some red liquid.

The disturbance grows in volume behind me, likely having gotten closer, and still Contessa motions for me to be still. What is in that bottle? I wonder, as she slowly changes her stance, her right forehoof held at her far side with the red liquid, her arm ready to lob it. She intends to throw it?

I hear the sound once more, a clear thump in the snow directly behind me, before Contessa launches the bottle, sending it hurling over my head. I hear the shatter of glass, followed by the roar of fire. I jump to my feet and grab my weapon, leaping over my shield and bringing it to bear against whatever intruder or minion of Sombra dared to attack us while we rested. To my surprise I find nothing but scattered flames around a trail of snow-tracks left by something with large claws.

No corpse in sight.

The guards were awakened by the noise, but stay in their bedrolls. 

"I'll take a walk around the camp, there may be more of whatever that was." I say to the guards. They attempt to return to slumber as I approach Contessa. 

"Exactly what was that?" I ask.

"I don't know." She responds, shock bleeding through her usual stoic demeanor. "It was large, and birdlike, and....and had darkness dripping off of it."

"How about I take the first watch then? Get some sleep." I offer. She seems like she wants to protest, but agrees as she lays down.

"If anything happens, and I mean anything. Wake me right away."

"As you wish."

I slowly begin to patrol the small camp, walking larger circles around it as I go. The darkness is thick, almost tangible. I feel as if were I to stray too far from the campfire I would be consumed by it. While the area seems to stink of malicious intent nothing appears to be out of the unordinary that is equestria, and I return to camp.

I sit down next to Spike, who slept through the earlier ordeal, and begin the night's watch.
> Chapter 22: Shadow Beasts
> --------------------------------------------------------------------------


Wrath


I stare at the dying embers of last nights fire, listening closely as Contessa readies her guards to move. Spike sits beside me, also staring into the fire.

"So what are we actually doing again?" He asks.

"You mean with Sombra?" I respond, wondering how he didn't already know.

"Yes."

"Well, its simple. One of those unicorns is going to blast light magic at whatever is left of Sombra's remains. That should put down his rampaging spirit for good, or so Shining Armor says."

"Why would destroying his old body affect him now?" Spike asks, finally looking away from the fire.

	....I don't actually know. 

"We will just have to trust that the good Captain knows his dark magic, or is it prince now?" Contessa breaks in, having already packed.

I shrug by way of answer and stand, looking around at the busying guards. They move with a methodical efficiency, as soldiers should. My gaze falls on the tracks of the unknown creature we saw the night before. A trail of large three pronged claw prints lead up to nearly where I had been resting. I follow the short trail to its beginning, where I see a large disturbance in the snow, as if something landed there.

Spike follows me as I move, not trusting his surroundings after a guard regaled him of the story of last night.

"What do you think it was?" He asks me.

"I don't know"

"Will it be back?"

"Maybe, but I'm really not sure. If it was made of shadow like Contessa said then I think we will be seeing it again." But we shouldn't see it again unless its night, or at least, I hope we wont. Spike's face is fearful, and he steps even closer to me, holding his claws together. 

"Are you two ready?" Contessa calls. Spike and I make our way back over and we get in formation. Contessa wastes no time and we are off.





As we walk the sun beats down on the wasteland, reflecting off the snow and making it difficult to see. Spike is seemingly unaffected by the harsh light. A quick look in the direction of the city and I see a mass of black fog surrounding it and obscuring the sky-blue dome of Cadence's doing. With the brightness of our location however, the maddening shadows are absent. Seemingly unable to survive where there are no natural shadows. The silence is eerie, with only the crunch of our steps to meet our ears.

The mountains stand tall nearby, peering down at us from behind the foothills. In a few hours the sun will be obscured behind them, and we will be blanketed in shadow. My companions are on edge, Spike simply oozing nervousness, while the guards have a certain jitter to their step. Contessa herself seems normal, solemnly leading us toward the distant railroad.



Then a piercing cry breaks the silence.

The guards jump in near unison and Contessa swivels to the side, facing our left. Spike yelps and trips, landing flat on his rear. I heft my makeshift weapon and peer over a nearby chunk of ice..-

A monster made of darkness greets my vision. It's charging us, what appears to be a long and hooked beak, as well as several talons piercing the darkness that fogs its body. The beak opens wide and a torrent of blackness comes forth.
I duck behind the chunk of Ice and watch as the guards scatter, Contessa shouting orders to rally that the guards ultimately ignore, blind in their terror. Spike however, was unable to get out of the way in time.

The stream of darkness consumes him and he disappears from view. I leap into action.

Spinning my weapon I leap toward the mass of shadow, that seems to pay me no mind as my weapon passes through it. Normal weapons can't hurt it? I think as the shadow-monster turns on me. I see a purple pair of reptilian eyes within the fog, they narrow in anger and the thing rears back. I dodge to the side as fast as I can muster, narrowly avoiding the mass of darkness that consumed where I had been standing just a moment before. I have almost no magic left in my blood, I'll have to rely on the unicorns to deal with this monster.

I turn and begin running to where I last saw Spike, I find him twitching in a pool of darkness, his claws held tightly to his head. 

The strange shadow-monster losses another piercing cry and begins to charge again. But not before the soldiers finally recover. Contessa orders them to strike and together they unleash a barrage of magic at the shadow-monster. Contessa herself lobs another of her red potions over their heads, landing square on the shadow-monster's beak. The flash of fire and magic seems to wither it, and for a split second its form is revealed. A bi-pedal bird not unlike a terror bird, gray skin with gray feathers and a dulled yellow beak.

Then the darkness washes over it again and it recedes with a cry, sprinting faster than any human could toward the mountains, in less than five seconds we lose sight of it to the brightness of the area. I return my attention again to the dragon, who still lays twitching on the ground before me.

I kneel down next to him and place my hand on his head.

"Spike! Can you hear me?". He doesn't respond, instead clutching tighter at his head and curling into a small ball of dragon. I gently pick him up and feel his violent shivers. 

"What happened to him?" Contessa asks. After a moment she adds "He was hit by that blast of shadow, wasn't he?" I nod my affirmation.

"He isn't responding, can their magic do anything?" I ask, gesturing to the guards.

One of the guards, who I remember to be named Brightheart, steps forward.

"I can try."

"Then do." I respond, holding the diminutive drake out before him. His brow furrows and his horn ignites, a gentle aura of magic enveloping the dragon's head. After a moment the magic recedes, and Spike's shivering stops.

"Will he be alright?" I ask the unicorn guard. He responds with a shrug.

"He should be, from what I could tell he was placed into some kind of waking Nightmare. I did a simple restoration spell and put him into a normal sleep. He should be okay when he wakes up but I can't be sure."

I thank Brightheart and give the dragon a gentle shake, rousing him from his slumber. He awakens with a scream.

"RARITY! OH DEAR CELESTIA WHY DID-..." Spike trails off, his eyes rapidly scanning around him and his vestigial eyelids blinking like mad. After a moment I gently place him on his feet. He stands for a few moments with his mouth open in complete confusion, before it snaps shut and he breathes a deep sigh.

"Are you alright?" Contessa asks, with some actual concern.

"...I think so," He responds after a moment. "That was horrible, it was like every nightmare I ever had put together."

"Do you feel at all strange?" I ask him.

"....Yeah, a little. I feel kinda, hungry." To punctuate his statement, his belly growls.

"We brought enough rations to last two weeks, give or take a few days. If all goes well, we will be back the day after tomorrow." Contessa says. "Here." She pulls a few apples out of her pack and passes them to the dragon.

Spike bites into the first apple and recoils, shock on his face.

"This doesn't taste like an apple at all." He says. I take it from him and sniff it. Seems normal to me. I take a small bite, and chew. The familiar taste of the fruit makes me turn a queer eye to Spike.

"It tastes normal to me." I say, handing it back to him. He looks at me and then the apple, his stomach growls and makes the decision for him. He begins to eat the apple, but with a pained look on his face. After he finishes the first one he devours the second, then looks down at his empty claws.

"An apple never tasted so bad before, and I once bit into a rotten apple by mistake."

"Ill give you some fruit bars from my rations once we make camp, but you will have to wait till then." I tell the small dragon. He looks at me and for a moment his eyes seem fierce, but then he nods and mutters thanks. 

"Alright ponies, back to business! March!" Contessa shouts as she begins to do just that. We quickly fall in line behind her, each of us trying to put the horrid encounter with the strange monster behind us.





We crest a large hill as the sun reaches its pinnacle in the sky, which is not very high given where we are. The mountains cast a massive shadow around us, and a cleft in the mountain range becomes visible. A set of railroad tracks emerge from the split in the mountains, leading down to an old, decrepit building. More tracks emerge from the building leading further down the mountain range; and west, off into the frozen wastes.

A large hawk calls from above, and I eye it as I ponder. Spike has always loved apples, and those were some that Applejack brought with her, and she is always bragging about how great they are. That apple tasted fine to me but strange and awefull to Spike, I wonder...

"Listen up!" Contessa calls, bringing the march to a halt. "That ruined building down there is the old train station, we are going to quickly search it and start into the mountains, we will follow the track until we find a good place to make camp. Questions?" None of the guards say anything and neither does Spike, who has been acting strangely ever since the shadow-beast blasted him. His normal, fearful demeanor has been replaced with a kind of indifference. After we began marching he hadn't jumped in fear or shivered once.

"One thing." I respond to Contessa, I turn to one of the unicorns. "See that hawk up there?" The guard nods. "Do you think you could bring it down?"

His magic flares and the hawk begins to screech, as the unicorn slowly pulls him down. Soon enough the surprisingly large bird is just before us, squawking angrily.

"Why?" Contessa asks me, with a brow raised.

"Nothing you will like, would you ponies kindly turn the other way?" Contessa looks at me a bit longer as I grab the large bird, but she turns and starts down the hill, toward the crumbling station. The guards each give me a strange look as they follow her.

I wait a moment with Spike and watch them walk. After a minute or two I turn to Spike, the bird still squawking up a storm in my grasp.

"Spike, there is no nice way to say this. I am going to kill this bird, and when we make camp I'm going to cook it." Spike gets a horrified expression on his face for a few seconds, before it dissolves into a look of wonder.

"Eat...the hawk?" He asks, now eyeing the bird.

"Yes, I understand that you have never eaten meat, so I think this will taste more..normal to you." The young dragon watches the bird for a few moments, then looks back at me. 

"Okay, I'll try it!" He says with some conviction. I nod and grab the birds neck, it lets out one last angry cry when it feels my grip, and then it is silent. I feel a gentle trickle of magic enter my blood as the bird dies. Better than nothing. I quickly bundle up the bird and place it on my back. Spike watches with a kind of hunger in his eyes.

I think I was right, I can't know for certain unless I check his spirit but, it is likely those strange golden bindings on his soul have weakened. It would explain why he is only just now acting like the carnivore he is.

"What does hawk taste like?" He asks me as we begin to follow the ponies down to the ruined station.

"Meat tastes entirely unlike plants Spike, but the one other time I ate a hawk it tasted just like chicken."