Chapter 1 - Leaving Tartarus

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Hearing a ring, I picked up the bone-white phone from it’s place on the desk and held it up to my non-existent ear. “What? …. What are you talking about? …. He’s WHAT!? That’s it. This is the final straw! You’d better get Cerberus back or so help me- Huh? He’s been brought back? Then why didn’t you say so!?” I yelled into the receiver, slamming the phone back into its cradle. Rubbing my forehead, I gave a sigh and twiddled my fingers together. I swear that woman has no idea how to handle my pet.

Giving another sigh, I glided down towards my door, my feet barely touching the ground. As I took a look around my office before I headed out, I found that my bed was slightly askew. It should have been next to the window that gave a pleasant view of the Elysian FIelds. Instead, it had been dragged over to the other window that had a rather nasty view of the Fields of Punishment. Waving my skeletal hand, I commanded a few souls to move the bed over while I dealt with Cerberus.

“That dog had better have a good reason to head out without my permission.” I grumbled. As I floated passed the Scales of Judgement - These shouldn’t even be here! Move them back over to the Egyptian section! Pronto! - I thought about the state of things here and how they seemed to be all over the place at the moment. Stuff it. I needed a break.

“Madame Skye? Cerberus is at the front gate with a purple unicorn of some kind.” An undead assistant with rotting flesh and decayed clothes spoke up, holding a clipboard in his ever-detaching arm.

“Thanks for that.” I replied. Changing direction, I passed by the River Styx and headed off towards the more cartoon-y version of the Realm. I looked to my left and found that he was still there. “Why are you still here? Shouldn’t you be helping out the other Dead Realms?” I asked, making my eyeless sockets seem even wider than usual.

“Oh, right! I was just wondering if you wanted to take the day off? You haven’t had one since you’ve taken up this position,” he suggested, an eye popping out and only hanging on by a thread. I kindly put the eye back in place and wiped my fingers on my cloak.

“Actually yes, I will take the day off. Actually, I’ll take an entire year off because I really need to clear my head.” I agreed with a literally lipless smile and sped up my floating, leaving the zombie behind. Excited about having the rest of the year off, I passed by the inner gates, waved to the gatekeepers and stopped just short of the first set of the gates leading to Equestria. I could see Cerberus panting as he held a gigantic rubber ball in his mouth.

“You’ve been a naughty boy Cerberus! Go sit back in the corner like you were supposed to!” I scolded him as the gates opened and didn’t let his puppy eyes make me think otherwise. Clicking my boney fingers, the three-headed dog whined pitifully and sat down in the corner, laying his three heads down.

“Was that really necessary?” I looked down at the voice and found that the purple pony had spoken. I nearly squealed in delight when I saw Clover but then realised that her voice was different. Now I wasn't entirely sure whether it was Clover or not. I floated around her and found that her horn was cracked and that her cutie mark was of a purple starburst. I didn't remember Clover ever cracking her horn so maybe this one was a possible descendant?

“Twilight Sparkle? You shouldn’t be here for … well … ever if I’m reading this right.” I said as my teeth clacked together and looked at the scroll I had retrieved from within my cloak, going down the various cutie marks until coming upon the right one. “And yes, it was necessary. He’s usually a well-behaved boy but for some odd reason, according to his caretaker, he just ran out of the gates. Did you escort him back?” I asked, floating down. My feet touched the floor and I crouched, looking the pony straight in the eyes.

“My name … uh … hm.” Twilight mumbled, watching the strange female skeleton circle around her. “I did escort him back,” Twilight answered once she had finished but backed away almost immediately when she had pushed her face in front of hers, “but I just wanted to know why he would abandon his post. Now that I have my answer, I’ll be going now.” Twilight said with a sheepish smile and immediately raced off, back in the direction she had come. Well that was rude. I looked over my shoulder as I stood up and found that the undead assistant had followed me.

“What do you want?” I asked in a grumbly fashion.

“I just wanted you to sign this. This is meant to say you’re taking an extended period of leave and to just put your signature as well as the place you’re spending the vacation in.” He said, inching forward but stopped at the edge of the sunlight. Right. He was a zombie so of course he wouldn’t like the sunlight. I never understood that but hey, them’s the rules. I walked towards him and picked the offered pen out of his hand and picked up the clipboard that was on the floor. Signing the paper, I put down ‘Equestria’ as the place of vacation and gave them back to him, reattaching his arm at the same time.

“You should really get checked out. You’re falling apart worse than ever.” I advised him.

“I will. Don’t worry,” He looked down at the clipboard and found the place I put down. “Equestria, huh? Those ponies seem to be a handful, but I will not question it. Have fun. I’ll see you in a year.” He said with a smile and walked off, picking his arm back up as it fell off. I sighed and my vision turned black for a second before brightening back up. That’s my own way of blinking. Seeing I don’t have any eyelids to speak of, I just make my vision go black.

I waved off his retreating form and floated out the gates, hearing them crank shut behind me. I then heard a baleful howling and turned back to see Cerberus pawing at the gates.

“Oh. Sorry boy. I just really need a break, okay?” I asked softly, floating up to rub at each of his heads. I heard his tail thump against the ground. “I’ll be back in about a year okay? Billy! Take care of him while I’m gone! I’m taking a year long vacation so I don’t want him breaking out again.” I said that last part to Billy, who was a ghost through and through. She was transparent, had slight orange hair that was always tied up in a ponytail and farmer’s overalls. Sounds weird to have a ghost guard a three-headed dog, I know, but she was the best one for the job.

“Will do ma’am," she saluted and waved me off. I finally have some peace and quiet. Exhaling, I floated away from the gates and from what was my home for the past millennia or so. Giving a grunt, I detached my arm from its socket and used it to scratch my back. Feeling relieved at having that itch scratched, I reattached my arm and sped up my floating, hoping to catch that purple pony on her way home.

Along the way, I slowed down a bit to take in the sights. Seeing a path that lead into the nearby Whitetail Woods, I moved along that and gazed at the white trees. No wonder this particular forest is named “Whitetail”. All the trunks were albinos! Lowering my hood, I scratched at my skull as I heard a few voices up ahead. Steadily floating up the trail, I pulled my hood back up and waited a few paces behind the voices. Hearing that they were talking of nothing that sounded particularly interesting, I shrugged my shoulders and moved off, silently floating out of the woods and back to my original destination, Ponyville.

By the time I got to the Everfree, it was dark but that’s perfectly fine. I see well in the dark. I saw a fair few of the natural habitants look at me with a bit of fear. Of course, a hooded figure floating through darkness is never a good sign. Seeing one charge up to me, though, I stopped my gliding and snapped my fingers, causing my scythe to appear. Holding it loosely in my left hand, I waited for the Manticore to come closer. Soon as it was within range, I swung my scythe at lightning speed, cleaving a few whiskers off of its mouth.

Seeing it yelp filled me with delight and I gave a rattling laugh, having my scythe wink out of existence at the same time. It’s those little things in life that keep you going. Continuing my leisurely float, I raised myself higher until I was just above the tops of the trees. Putting my hand up to my forehead, I turned my head three hundred and sixty degrees and found Ponyville over my back shoulder. Turning my body the rest of the way, I zoomed across the treetops, making a small breeze as I went past.

“WOOOHOOO! Haven’t felt the wind in ages!” I whooped in joy as I seemingly skated across the treetops. Ponyville was coming up fast so I slowed down, touching on the ground at the edge of the Everfree. Out of pure habit, I clicked my scythe into my left hand and held it loosely, walking forwards slowly. The oil lamps that lined the streets cast my hooded figure as a shadow on the various buildings.

I figured I may as well make one last call before my vacation officially starts tomorrow. Unfurling the scroll from inside my cloak, I looked down the list and found one Granny Smith was supposed to die tonight. I’ve met with her before. Multiple times actually, if memory serves me right. By this point we’ve become friends so it wasn’t really that death was knocking but more of a friendly chat. The last time Granny was supposed to die was the year before, when her family had found her sleeping so much that they had considered she was dead. I had come knocking, only to find out that she was still kicking.

“Let’s see if she's actually dead this time.” I mused and putting the scroll back, calmly walked towards Sweet Apple Acres. Upon arriving, I rapped the handle of my scythe against the door and calmly waited for an answer. Breathing in and out as the door opened, I smiled and said, “Death has come knocking.” I told a little filly, who just smiled and waved over to somepony in the kitchen.

“Howdy, Skye! Long time no see!” A familiar old voice called out from the kitchen. Slumping my shoulders, I ducked as I entered and laying my scythe down carefully, I sat cross-legged opposite Granny.

“Hi. You should be dead. You should’ve been dead a long time ago. How have you not kicked the bucket yet?” I asked, resting an elbow on my leg and resting my chin on my fist.

“A combination of these ‘ere ‘erbal tonics and good old fashioned home cooking!” Granny answered with a smile, nudging the zebra tonics over to me. Picking one of the bottles up, I examined it and found that they were a natural cure-all thing.

“Natural cure-alls huh? Did Zecora make these?” I asked, pulling my scroll out with my other hand and looking down the list for a ‘Zecora.’ She was definitely on the list but considering she was a shaman, I wouldn’t put it past her to have found some sort of life extender through dark magic.

“She sure did. Mah granddaughter, Applejack, helped her out.” Granny said proudly.

“Applejack?”” I questioned trying to find an ‘Applejack’ this time on the list. “Not on here. Seems she has a long life to live yet.” I said with a ‘hm’ and pulled my hood down, revealing my bony skull to the family.

“That’s good to hear.” A new voice called out as I heard hooves clopping down the stairs. Turning my head a hundred and eighty degrees, I found the voice belonging to an orange mare with a blonde mane and a group of three apples for her cutie mark once I craned my neck to the side.

“I take it you’re Applejack?” I asked, keeping my body facing forward while looking at her behind me.

“Eeyup. Granny told us all about ya, Skye. She kept going on and on ‘bout how she’s friends with Death or somethin’ like that. To tell ya the truth, Ah never believed her. Mainly because Ah’ve never actually seen you.” Applejack answered and explained about how the Apple Family knew about Skye and wasn’t that scared by her.

“You told your family about me?” I grumbled, spinning my head back around to look at Granny. My face frowned as best it could but without any skin, it was kind of hard to do that. Instead, the ridges on top of my eyes moved down a bit and my jaw stayed in place. “Why did you do that?”

“I had to tell them something. They were wondering why they kept seeing a black hooded figure pop in from time to time!” she said in her defense. I thought I was being so sneaky! If she told her grand-kids about me, then that’s fine. Hopefully they had enough sense not to blab about Granny cheating me multiple times. Looking down at my scroll, I pulled out a quill and inkwell. Placing them on the ground, I dipped the quill and once the viscous black liquid stopped dripping, I put down a note, saying that it was the ninth time in five years that Granny was found alive.

“Whatcha writing there?” Applejack asked. I swivelled my head and found her leaning over my shoulder, looking down at the scroll.

“I’m writing a note, saying that Granny was yet another false alarm. Eventually, I’ll just stop caring if this goes on long enough. Say, has that little filly said anything about me?” I asked, immediately rolling the scroll before Applejack had a chance to read any names on there.

“Who, Apple Bloom? Nah. At least, Ah don’t think so. I’ll bring her in fer ya," she said and quickly trotted up the stairs towards her sister’s room. I heard a shriek and she came running back down, looking at Granny and I in a panic. “Apple Bloom just fell out the window! Ah have to save her!” Applejack said quickly and rushed out the house, intending to catch Apple Bloom before she hit the ground.

Looking back down, I saw a new name instantly move to the top of the list. It had a blank space where the cutie mark was supposed to be but next to it, the name made me gasp in surprise. “Seems like Granny isn’t the only thing here I need to attend to.” I whispered and getting my legs under me, I quickly floated up the stairs, my feet barely touching the floor boards.

Bursting into what I assumed was Apple Bloom’s room, I floated over to the window and clicked my scythe into my hand from where it was resting in the kitchen. Flipping it around so that I could hold it by the blade, I detached the arm that held the weapon and reached down out the window, hoping Apple Bloom got the right idea.

“APPLE BLOOM! GRAB THE HANDLE!” I shouted at her, finally noticing that her eyes were closed. Once I realised that, I dropped my arm, immediately jumped down and caught the little filly, stopping our descent almost immediately. I slowly fell back to the earth and crouched, letting the filly slide out of my grasp. She slumped like a ragdoll once she hit the floor, breathing slowly.

“Is Apple Bloom alright?” Applejack asked as she skidded to a stop next to me. I watched her barrel heave up and down as she visibly tried to calm herself.

“Try to calm down faster. You’re going to get a heart attack in about half an hour.” I said automatically, watching her carefully. “Apple Bloom is fine. I just don’t know why she fell out the window.” I said curiously, looking up to the second floor. I thought I saw a bright flash as something passed by the window but I shrugged it off, feeling extremely giddy at having saved a soul instead of taking it from a being for once. “We need to get her back inside. Whatever may have made her go out the window may do so again. So what I’d recommend is that she sleep on the ground floor for now. At least until we know for sure the danger has passed.” I eyed Applejack, who appeared to have calmed down now.

“Yeah, sure. Ah just hope it doesn’t happen again.” Applejack said with a cautious edge to her voice.

“Let’s hope not.” I agreed with her wholeheartedly and stood up, watching Applejack pick the filly up and gently place her on her back. The orange mare then turned around and walked slowly back to the front of the homestead. Satisfied that Apple Bloom was safe, I floated up to the filly’s window and gently stepped inside, wondering why the hell the filly would go out the window.

Taking a look under her bed revealed nothing so that ruled the Bogeyman out, even though his schtick was taking away children’s souls. As I checked around the room for any possible supernatural beings, I chanted a poem I remembered hearing about the Bogeyman under my breath as I did.

“Out from the bed lies a crooked man,

Whose face was scarred in evil plan.

It leaps on bed and harvest a child,

And reap the shadow, quiet and mild.

Leave the light to banish its sight,

For darkness consumes with a lasting bite.

To this today you leave an impression,

Of lifeless, desolate and rotten expression.”

Now what’s this? As I ran my hands along the wall just to the left of the window, the wallpaper flaked away, revealing a decaying wall underneath. Groaning as I realised that it was the Bogeyman, I slapped my forehead, thinking how stupid I was to NOT suspect it was him. Leaving the room for now, I glided past a few rooms before descending the stairs, making my scythe vanish as I did. Heading back into the kitchen, I found Granny Smith where she was before, only this time Applejack and her sister were huddled together under the table. This was most likely to shield each other from whatever made Apple Bloom jump out the window.

“How is she holding up?” I asked, moving into a seated position and floating down to be near Applejack.

“She’s just sleepin’ fer now.” Applejack answered, watching me intently. “Is something up?” She asked.

I nodded my head. Scratching the back of my hand, I looked at Apple Bloom and tried to discern whether she still had her soul or not. Sensing a flicker of life in her, I sighed in relief and covered my skull with my hands.

“She still has her soul so she should be safe. If this happens again, I’m not sure if I’ll be able to help.” I told Applejack carefully, gauging her reaction by the way she spoke.

“‘If’? Y’all are basing this on an ‘if’? Of course it’ll happen again!” I heard the protest in Applejack’s voice and took my hands away from my face to look at her.

“Yes, I am. From the experience I have with whatever did this to her, if he fails, then he won’t come back. I guarantee it. I just hope this doesn’t happen to any other foals.” I told her sternly. I heard a snore and looking up over the table, I found that Granny had fallen asleep on her chair. “Granny Smith fell asleep so that’s my cue to have a look around the town.” I said wryly and stood up. Taking my head off my neck, I moved it to look under the table at them. I then attempted to smile at them but without any lips, it was sort of difficult.

“Remember what I said about Apple Bloom. I’m positive the thing won’t show up again but if it does, just scream so loud you would wake the dead. And keep her safe at all costs.” I told her finally and straightened myself to walk over to the front door, only remembering to put my head back in its place when I passed over the threshold. Raising my hood, I lifted off the ground to hover over it as I moved along; the hem of my cloak barely treading along the ground.

Chapter 2 - Displacement

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Come morning, my bones literally felt weary as I sat down on top a hedge at Canterlot Castle. By the time I had gotten to the hedge the night before, I saw a couple of ponies and a tiny dragon run to the castle but I paid them no heed. Looking towards the castle, I considered actually meeting the princesses. Haven’t seen them in a long while. They’re probably doing fine but maybe a visit won’t hurt.

Having made up my mind, I stood up and after cracking a few bones to get some feeling back, walked across the hedge maze towards one of the windows, floating over the gaps when necessary. Cupping my hands around my sockets, I tried to get a peek inside but all I could see was my own reflection. Frowning, I looked from side to side before clenching my hand and punching through the glass, cringing at the sound of glass breaking. Hopefully no one had heard that.

Jumping down to the floor, I heard some more glass crunch under my feet as I walked over the shards, heading over to a few of the rooms to judge which floor I’m on. Tapping my scythe on the floor as I walked, I peeked into a few of the rooms and found them to be filled to the brim with books and nary a single pony in sight. ‘Did I stumble onto the library wing? It’s been a few years but my memory isn’t that bad.’

I heard hoofsteps clop along the corridor. My reaction? Float up and not get seen by whoever the hoofsteps belonged to. Willing my scythe out of existence, I kept my hands by my sides as I walked along the ceiling. Nodding my head from side to side at a tune I half-remember from back on Earth I looked down to see both Celestia and Luna walking down the corridor. They must have been the ones whom the hoofsteps belonged to. Judging by the looks on Celestia’s face, something terrible must have happened because she looked furious.

Turning around, I followed them, making sure to keep my centre of gravity while I walked.

“Sister, why would your student attempt time travel?” Luna asked Celestia, cocking her head to the side curiously.

Now this was interesting. Celestia had a new student? After Sunset Shimmer left through a mirror after trying to get too powerful for her own good, I didn't think she would get a new one.

“Twilight Sparkle has always been a bright mare. However, something must have happened for her to suddenly study time travel spells.” Celestia replied, her face bearing a worried look now.

I shouted in surprise at Twilight being the new student; falling to the ground in a pile of bones and cloth as my concentration faltered.

Both Celestia and Luna looked around at the commotion, only to find a pile of dark, raggy clothes where there previously wasn’t. Luna walked forward cautiously, nudging the clothes only to jump back into a defensive position when they shuffled a bit. “Sister, do we have rats in the castle?” the blue Alicorn inquired, turning to look at her sister.

“We shouldn’t. I don’t believe we’ve ever had a rat problem.” Celestia answered, furrowing her brow in concern at the pile. When the pile began to shift and move at a more frequent pace, both sisters stepped back, caution written plain on their faces. Eventually, when the clothes stopped shifting, it stood up and stared at them.

“That was quite a shock.” I mumbled, staring at both sisters as they stared back at me. After a while of awkward staring and fidgeting, Celestia spoke up.

“What was such a shock to you?” Celestia asked, sitting on her haunches.

“Thou art a skeleton.” Luna said, relaxing her defenses slightly and walked forward again, only this time, it was to see the mysterious figure up close.

“Yes, I’m a skeleton. I’m the Grim Reaper or if that’s too modern for you, Miss Luna, then you can call me Death.” I answered as I chortled a bit at Luna’s reaction, noting the prominent lines around her eyes with a tinge of sadness. I then turned my attention to Celestia. “As for your question, Twilight Sparkle being your student shocked me. I thought you wouldn’t have taken on another student after what Sunset did.” I replied to her question, crossing my legs and floating in the air. This surprised the both of them, as well as a couple of guards who thought the princesses needed aid. I waved to them and they awkwardly waved back.

“How doth thou know our names?” Luna asked, eyes widening at the answer, shaking her head in confusion at the feminine voice.

“It was a while before I considered taking on another student but, yes, Twilight Sparkle is my new protege.” Celestia said, inclining her head towards me.

“I know your names because I’ve been watching this particular world every few decades or so just to see how things have been shaping up. I do it with other worlds too but the ones connected to Tartarus are the ones I mostly watch over. It was really in the last thousand or so years of your world that I took a real shine to watching as that was when I officially took up the job as the Grim Reaper of Tartarus.” I said, crossing my arms and making my scythe wink out of existence to better look at them.

“Before you ask anymore questions, can we go somewhere a bit more private than the hallway?” I asked them, placing a hand against the side of my head, feeling rather bored for the moment.

“That would seem wise.” Celestia agreed and nodding her head to Luna, lead the both of them to a more secluded place.

Turns out that secluded place was a garden full of statues. The bone around my eye sockets moved about in an attempt to widen them but the best I could do was make them stretch a tiny bit. It didn’t really matter anyway as Celestia had began to speak.

“So, Death, why are you here?” Celestia asked, causing my jaw to fall softly against the grass. I picked it up and snapped my lower jaw back into place, making Luna cringe at the sound. Celestia was patient enough and had probably seen many things in the time I was away from here.

“Do you actually not remember me?” I asked incredulously.

“Should I?” Celestia asked, cocking her head to the side in confusion with Luna mirroring her.

“Both of you seriously don’t remember? Kind of hard to forget an actual conversation, well, a fair few conversations, with a live skeleton. I helped the both of you out with a few things before taking up this job.” I said, not really being able to think up of them at the moment.

“Things? I’m afraid I don’t follow.” Celestia shook her head confusedly, staring at me as if I had grown a second head.

“Can you tell us how you ended up here instead?” Luna asked, trying to follow the conversation.

“The first time or when I got here yesterday?” I asked for clarification.

“First time, if you please. It may provide some context to whatever interaction you claim we have shared.” Celestia answered skeptically.

“First time, right. Now let’s see if I remember this. It’s been a good while since I first came to this world." I said and crossed both my arms and legs at the same time, trying to remember if I can tell it right. “Both of you had better get comfortable. This may be a long story and I’m not sure if I can explain everything so please hold all questions until the end.”

After having typed up my latest creepypasta, I hit ‘Send’ and logged off for the night, the glow of the computer screen fading until it winked out completely. I stretched and yawned, looking around for my digital alarm clock

“Twelve in the morning, huh? I’d better get to bed.” I said to myself, not really caring about the time as I’m used to going to bed this late. I got up out of my swivel chair and went over to my bed, walking passed my nightstand that were a few creepy looking dolls sat, all facing in opposing directions from each other. As I sat on the bed, I turned to the door as it opened, letting some harsh light in. Mum mustn’t have gone to bed yet.

“Are you still up? I thought you would have been in bed by now.” Mum said, not really that surprised at me being up this late. She had poked her head around the door, revealing frizzy orange curls framing a round face.

“I’m heading to bed now. Can’t you see that?” I retorted, gesturing to the bed I was on. I was in the middle of putting my pyjamas on too. I wore an overly large plain white shirt with dark blue panties and was in the process of getting my pants when Mum had interrupted.

“Oh, right. I was just checking up on you, and seeing if you were ready for that thing you were doing with your friends tomorrow.” Mum said, looking a bit around my room wherever the light from the hallway illuminated it. She was probably checking to see if I had packed for the day. There were plenty of notes on supernatural fairy tales and the beings that those tales were centered around strewn upon my desk and around the walls. The parts of the wall that were lit up anyway.

“Yeah, I’m packed and ready to go.” I answered, nodding my head and stretching slightly.

“Great, I’ll see you in the morning. Night.” Mum said, closing the door a bit. I sighed and pulled up my pants, crawling into bed.

“Night, Mum.” I replied to the half-open door, turning over and closing my eyes.

In the morning, I blinked my eyes rapidly, shooting up out of bed as I stared at the clock on my nightstand. It read that it was six in the morning. That didn’t sound so bad, until I remembered I was meant to meet my friends in about half an hour. I jumped out of bed and rapidly put on some clothes. By the time I had finished up with the rest of my packing, the time read ten past six. I grabbed a few notes to read on the way if I got bored too.

Stuffing the papers into my backpack, I slung it over my shoulder and headed into the bathroom across the hall. Closing the door behind me, I placed my bag against it and tied my jet black hair up into a ponytail in front of the mirror.

“Skye? You in there?” My mum called out after knocking on the door a couple of times.

“Uh huh!” I called back, my voice muffled slightly from the hair tie between my teeth.

“Just checking! Breakfast is on the table for you!” she replied. I heard footsteps walk away and I sighed, cinching my ponytail up with the hair tie. I looked at the clothes I hastily threw on and shrugged at them. I wore a dark red shirt with black and gold lines crisscrossing in intricate patterns, black jeans and looking down at my feet, found I was wearing dark green runners. That’ll do. I’m not terribly fussed with my appearance anyway.

Satisfied with myself, I picked up my bag and headed to the table, which was just down the hall. “What’s the time, Mum?” I asked, sitting down on one of the chairs.

“About six-fifteen. When did you say you had to meet your friends again?” she asked back, sitting opposite and eating her own share of breakfast.

“Six-thirty. I was meant to meet at the bus stop. We’re all planning on going to a festival set to the theme of the Dark Ages that’s happening in town.” I replied between mouthfuls of food.

“Are you planning on doing anything special there?” Mym asked me.

“I was planning on looking at the different kinds of torture they did back then, if they even have that sort of display there.” I said, thinking that if the display wasn’t there, then a staged execution would be the next best thing. Did I mention I’m extremely weird?

“Sounds like fun.” Mum commented. “Don’t let clean-up get in the way. I’ll do that when you leave. Which you should have done five minutes ago if you’re meeting them at the bus stop,” she added, raising an eyebrow at the clock behind me. I turned and found that I should have left already.

“Holy hell! I’d better get going! I’ll see you tonight, Mum.” I said, getting up and kissing her on the cheek. I then bolted, hoisting my backpack over my shoulders as I double-timed it to the bus stop.

Why did the festival have to be so far away? I groaned, sitting behind a couple of friends while the third one sat next to me as we rode the bus into town.

“Something up?” he asked, looking at me, or maybe the view outside. Not that there was much to see except for houses and the occasional park.

“I didn’t realise it was so far away.” I answered, turning my head to Josh as I did. “It was a good idea that we all left early though.”

“Of course it was! I always have good ideas!” Josh proclaimed, grinning wildly. I stifled a laugh at that while one of my other friends spoke up.

“Since when do you ever get good ideas?” Max asked Josh, tilting his head backwards to look at him with a smile.

“Since you pushed Derrick into the bonfire.” Josh retorted, crossing his arms.

“In my defense, I was extremely drunk and had no idea what was happening. I think that cat lady was just an hallucination.” Max’s smile dropped as he turned his gaze forward.

“Who’s Derrick?” I asked, lifting my head up from reading the notes I grabbed. They were of a couple of my favourite supernatural creatures, the Grim Reaper and the Boogeyman. There are plenty of other creatures I’ve gathered notes on back home, such as Unicorns and Pegasus but these two I kept coming back to. I wasn’t a part of this group whenever this Derrick was around, having only joined them a couple of months ago.

“He was a friend of ours. Mad Max here pushed him into a bonfire at a party he attended while under the influence a few months ago.” Holly explained to me, flashing me a smile before turning back to look out the window.

“So why did you push him then, if you knew you were drunk?” I asked, getting into the conversation now that I know a bit about Derrick.

“I thought it would have been fun. Must have pushed him harder than I thought because the next thing I know, he’s in the bonfire when this cat-lady appears. Didn’t know what to make of it so I just chalked it all up to a hallucination but, in the morning when I woke up, Derrick wasn’t there so I think it was all real.” Max replied with a shrug.

“So you two were brothers?” I asked, not really understanding their relationship with one another.

“Nope. Roommates.” Max declared, resting his hands behind his head.

“So … wait. You and Derrick were roommates, you both attended this bonfire party, and you pushed him because you thought it would be fun.” I said, trying to wrap my head around his thinking.

“Don’t bother trying to figure out how he thinks, trust me, Josh and I have given up on that long ago.” Holly supplied, noticing what I was trying to do. I opened my mouth to reply but ended up stuffing my notes back in my bag as I realised we were nearly there.

“We’re almost there. We can have this conversation a little bit later. For now though, torture!” I said with a grin, much to the amusement of my friends based on the knowing looks they were giving me.

“What kind of teenage girl likes torture?” Josh asked, getting up as the bus stopped, the rest of us quickly following suit.

“This one, obviously.” I pointed to myself and laughed, jumping off the bus and racing the others to the showgrounds.

By the time we got there, we were laughing our asses off and began to mill about, losing contact with one another. After losing contact with my friends, I shrugged and headed straight for the torture section, clearly fascinated by what went on in the middle ages. I passed by the many stalls that were selling various foodstuffs as well as trinkets.

When I got to the part of the festival that was playing host to the torture display, my phone buzzed, signalling I got a text. A few of them by the feeling of the vibrations. Fishing my phone out of my back pocket, I looked at the texts and found they roughly said the same thing. ‘Quick! Meet up at the stage area. There’s a special showing of a fake live execution happening in ten minutes!’ Seems like the torture display would have to wait till after the show.

After getting a few directions, I hightailed it to the stage area and managed to sit down next to my friends just as the show started.

“I wonder if the blade’s real.” I wondered, gazing at the axe the executioner was holding intently.

“It’s a fake execution. Of course it won’t be.” Max replied, slouching forward to get a better view.

“You just have an answer for everything, don’t you?” I asked rhetorically.

“SSH! It’s starting!” Josh said, shushing us as the executioner bowed before beginning the show. As he was about to say something, one of the people on standby walked up to him and whispered something into his ear. I couldn’t really tell what his expression was but by the way his shoulders slumped slightly, it probably wasn’t anything good.

“Turns out the person I was meant to execute isn’t available today. We don’t usually do this, but we’re making an exception for this instance. I need a volunteer.” The executioner said. When he did, several hands shot up, including my own. As his gaze passed over the many hands, lingering on mine for what appeared to be a few seconds longer than the others, finally pointed to a willing participant.

As he called out for me to go down to the stage, I felt a chill go down my spine. Probably from the way his gaze lingered on me more than anything else. After hearing a few words of encouragement from my friends, I made my way down to the stage and stopped at the sight of the executioner’s block, suddenly feeling extremely nervous.

“Just kneel down behind the stand and place your head on the block. It’ll be fine. I’ll stop the execution when I reach just about here.” The executioner explained, pointing to a spot a few millimetres in front of my neck. I gulped, nodded and did as asked. I closed my eyes, hoping the blade wasn’t actually real now that I’m up on stage. I felt the whoosh of air parting before a sickening crunch sounded throughout the area.

I opened my eyes after what felt like forever, expecting to see the festival in front of me. Instead, all I saw was inky blackness with a few far-off lights.

“Where the fuck am I?” I asked to no-one in particular; shocked at being wherever I was. I didn’t expect to get an answer, but I didn’t expect intense pain to happen either. After feeling my skin and muscles rip away from me in tattered shreds, I was surprised to still be breathing, in a sense. My organs appeared to have been taken away as well. That’s great.

Barely concentrating from the amount of pain my body went through, I didn’t even notice a piece of material wrapping me up until it started to tighten itself. I swear it felt like I was being wrung through a strainer. By the time it was over and the material unwrapped itself, I was gazing at sunlight. Harsh, sunlight.

“Oh god that was painful. What was that place?” I muttered, slowly sitting up. I didn’t even realise I could move about before looking down at my arms. All I could see was bone and no skin. At all. “GAH!” I gasped, jumping and looking over myself. I was a skeleton. How is this possible? Actually, how can I even speak if I don’t have any vocal cords?

I looked down further and found myself standing on some sort of cloth. Gently picking it up, I placed it around my shoulders and feeling around the back of it, found it had a hood. Lifting it up over my head, the sunlight got blocked partially when it rested partway over my face - er - skull. Does it still count as a face when there’s nothing there to reveal emotions? Either way, I put a hand up to my forehead to block out a bit more sun and called out for my friends. There was no answer.

“Where are they? Where am I?” I asked, twirling around to see various sized trees reaching for the sky. Where I was standing happened to be a small clearing with flowers dotted about. Looking beyond the treeline, I found a soft darkness. Seems the canopies are very much overgrown.

Clasping my hands together and cracking my knuckles, (that felt weird), I took a step forward and felt something slam into my head. Crouching as I clutched my head in pain, I tried to blink and remembered that I didn’t have any eyelids to blink with. Looking at the offending thing, it turned out to be a tall stick with a crescent metal blade at the end. I was surprised my skull didn’t fracture from the force of the impact. I kept a hand on my head, trying to soothe the pain as I picked up what I can only assume was a scythe by the way the blade looked.

“Someone has a sick sense of humour.” I muttered. I walked into the treeline while still staring at my newly acquired weapon. I gave it a few experimental swings at a couple vines in my way and liked how it cut through like a knife through hot butter.

That executioner didn’t sound like he would actually behead me. Since he did, then by all rights, I should be dead and not aimlessly walking around an unknown forest. My eyesight adjusted quickly to the darkness so I guess that’s a good thing. After walking around for a bit with no end to the trees in sight, I sighed and sat on the grass, wondering what my next course of action should be.

I can either think about how I felt about this whole situation, or I could actually try and find some civilisation. I chose the former so now that I’m actually sitting and getting a better look at myself, I found that it wasn’t so bad. Sure, the transition between Earth and wherever here is, was weird and extremely painful, it didn’t detract from the fact that I think I’m the Grim Reaper now. I got the cloak, I’m a living skeleton and I also have the scythe. How can I not be him? Her. Whichever gender I was. Doesn’t help that there most likely isn’t any way back so I’ll probably get homesick in a few days.

I flapped my cloak a bit and wrapped it around myself as I stood back up. Too bad it didn’t come with something to tighten it up. Oh well, I suppose I’ll have to get used to this. As for the scythe, I held it in both hands, switching it from right to left to see which felt better. It definitely felt alot better in my left, so I kept it in that hand as I resumed my wanderings. I turned my head as I heard a rustle from some shrubbery at my right. If it was some form of intelligent life, it wouldn’t hurt to check it out.

“Hello?” I called out and slowly walked to the bushes, only for them to cease their rustling as soon as it heard my voice. “Hello? Is someone there?” I repeated, urging for something to answer. A dark purple horse-looking face poked out of the bushes, framed by what looked like a scratchy, dark brown hood.

We stared at each other for a few seconds before screaming at the same time. Me for seeing a face that is most definitely not human and the purple horse for most likely me being a skeleton. When the horse ran out of breath, I stopped screaming as well and sat, noticing it was a lot smaller than me.

“What art thou?” she asked in a trembling voice, the sound clearly marking the horse as female.

“I’m a human skeleton. What are you?” I answered, groaning inwardly as I realised this is probably some Middle Age Earth parallel. At least I roughly know when I am.

“I am a Unicorn pony. I was out collecting flowers for a potion when you started calling out.” she answered, now emerging full from the bushes to sit opposite me. I saw her holding a wicker basket filled with various types of flowers in a glowing blue field. Ah, pony. I was close with the horse assumption. Wait. Pony? This is a world where ponies are sentient!?

“Last I checked, ponies weren’t the main sentient species of this planet.” I said, shaking my head. Listen to me! I’m holding a rational conversation with a pony! I’ve officially hit a low point in my life.

“Thou art a hoo-min? These creatures are only spoken of in legends. What is thy name?” she asked, quirking an eyebrow at me. I suppose a tall walking skeleton would make anything curious.

“Human.” I corrected her and waved my right hand through her blue field. “My name is Skye but seeming I’m wearing this get-up, you could probably call me Death too. What’s your name?” I said wryly, unfortunately no longer having the muscles to form even a tiny smile.

“‘Human’. Clover the Clever is my name. I am the assistant of Starswirl the Bearded.” Clover answered, nodding primly and also feeling quite proud of her position.

Clover the Clever? Starswirl the Bearded? Just what kind of planet did I end up on? These names are not ordinary names! Ordinary by human standards at any rate. I leaned back and opened my jaw to speak, only to be interrupted by something falling into my lap. I picked it up, with Clover looking at my hands curiously.

“These are hands. Never seen them before?” I asked, waggling the bones of my right while I looked at the thing with my left. Soon as I turned it around to see a the barest hint of a face, it began to laugh madly.

Clover flattened her ears against her head and drew her hood tighter in an effort to drown the laughter.

I winced and quickly turned to see if there was anything else to it. To my surprise, a note was on the back of it. Peeling it off, I stuffed the laughing skull face first into the ground to muffle its noise while I read the note.

Sorry for executing you. Could have been anyone, really, but you stuck out the most. Here’s a token of forgiveness. This one is special. Just think of a message and throw it into the air. I’ll do the rest.

What kind of note was that? Was the Executioner behind this? I looked back and forth between the note and skull and then finally looked to Clover.

“I know I just met you but do you think I should do what this note says?” I asked her, not really having anybody else to turn to for advice.

“If that’s what thou wants. I can’t really say.” Clover said with an imperceptible shrug, still slightly freaked from the laughing skull. All she wanted to do was pick some flowers deep in the Everfree and then head back to the castle. All this skeleton stuff was the last thing she wanted to deal with.

Being cautious about this, I placed my hands on the back of the skull, keeping it in the ground so I won’t have to listen to that crazy laughter. Now what could the message be? I am Death, the Reaper of Souls. Fighting and soul-crushing are high up on the list I like to do, especially if it’s against the supernatural. Give me a call by placing the skull face-first into the ground. Trust me, it will definitely help. That should be a good enough message.

“Brace yourself.” I said and when she had covered her ears again, flung the skull up into the air, hearing it laugh all the while before it disappeared into an inky black portal. “Do you know where the closest settlement is?” I asked, turning my gaze from the disappearing skull to Clover.

“This way. I do not think the other citizens will take kindly to you though.” Clover said warily, deciding to trust this creature for now.

“That’s fine, just as long as I can get to somewhere where there’s chatter.” I replied, scratching the back of my skull as I flipped my hood up and followed Clover.

Chapter 3 - Warbling Cries

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I felt around in my cloak to see if there any hidden pockets or the like. Feeling a slight bulge to the left and near the front of it, I placed my hand inside and pulled out my phone, really surprised I still had it.

“What is that contraption?” Clover asked, pointing a hoof towards my phone.

“I doubt this would have any use now but, this is called a phone. I was able to use it to call my friends and family if I was ever far away from them but I somehow doubt I’ll get reception here.” I answered, turning it this way and that, pushing the power button on and off a few times. Nothing happened with it even though I remember it having full battery before I died.

“That is intriguing,” she replied, using that blue field of hers to multi-task and bend away a few leaves before we emerged onto what looked like a well-travelled dirt path. “This is one of the main paths throughout the Everfree.” Clover explained, trotting onto it and leading me down it. She seemed to know where she was going so I didn’t complain for the moment.

“What is that blue field you use to hold the basket in the air?” I asked her, pointing to said basket. When I had stood up earlier, I didn’t realise how short she was when compared to me but it looked like I had grown a fair few inches since going through whatever it is I went through to get here. If I included Clover’s horn in the height estimate, I would say she probably came up to my waist. If this is the average height of the main species here, then I’m going to have a lot of crouching to do.

“Magic. Doth thou not know what magic is?” Clover asked, stopping in the middle of the track to turn around and look back at me. Didn’t we just have this conversation?

“I’m a living skeleton, Miss Clever. Do I look like I know what magic is?” I asked her, then thought through it, and face-palmed, an audible thwack sounding out. “Don’t answer that. I only got to this … planet about twenty minutes ago. Every little thing here is new to me so I may need a crash course in pony history before we make it to wherever you’re taking me.” I said with a groan, realising I may need to do something to occupy my time while this coloured horse explained their history. From they way she gasped, I went to face-palm but stopped when I figured it wouldn’t be worth it.

“I would be glad to but it would be better if the both of us went somewhere a bit more comfortable.” Clover answered, a massive grin adorning her face. What fresh hell have I gotten myself into? This pony is a giant nerd! As I opened my mouth to speak, a weird, warbling screech caught our attention.

“What was that?” I asked curiously, a tiny bit of fear creeping into my voice at the unknown call.

“Thou wouldst not fly in daylight …” I heard Clover mutter before she took off at a run, forcing me to follow her in pursuit. I heard the screech again, making me pick up the pace. Soon, I was running quickly, fast enough that it felt like I was floating. Not paying much attention to it, I grabbed a hold of Clover and her basket full of flowers as I zoomed passed her and followed the path, ignoring her whimpers at being carried.

Eventually setting down at a massive castle, I let go of Clover and her basket. The screech was heard throughout the forest again but it seemed to be pretty far off. Letting out a sigh of relief, I looked over at Clover and found her to be looking inside her basket for something. “Whatcha looking for?” I asked, crouching down beside her.

“Good. All the different types of flora I collected are still here. How did thou get both of us here so quickly? We had a good couple of hours to get back here.” Clover asked, moving her hood from off her head to try and get a better look at me. Only a couple of hours out? How did I get here quickly?

“Only a couple of hours … I’ll have to think on that later. For now, what did you mean when you said, ‘thou wouldst not fly in daylight’? I asked her, wrapping my imaginary tongue around the awkward words.

“Halt! Who dare goeth there?” I cringed at the words, so glad that modern tongue simplified the language a fair bit. I turned my gaze from Clover to the guard that spoke, spooking him a fair bit at my, pardon the pun, dead look.

“You want something?” I asked him, straightening up to my fullest height. Clover quickly saw what was happening between us and answered for me. After a bit of arguing between all three of us, Clover finally managed to convince him that I was a safe entity. Whatever that meant but as long as I was safe, then it should be fine, right? Clover opened the door after giving a grim smile to the guard, and led me inside, expertly navigating her way around the castle until we arrived at one of the many non-descript doors we walked passed. What’s different about this one than all the others?

I soon found out when Clover nudged it open and lead me inside. I closed the door behind me after ducking my head under the door frame. The first thing I did when I got in the room was look up to see how high the ceiling was. It appeared to be a good enough height for me to stand up without crouching but I went to sit anyway, if only for it to be easier when speaking with Clover.

I then took a good look around the room and found it to be set up with many primitive looking science equipment, such as cauldrons, some sort of primitive tubes and I guess what was meant to pass as a Bunsen Burner. That was what took up the majority of the centre of the room, on an extremely large oak table. Arranged around the sides were a few cushions, two desks, one in the back left and one in the back right corners.

“Why did you bring me here?” I asked her, watching Clover place the basket down and begin to snip the flower petals with scissors she held in her magic.

“Thou asked why I said the words I did. I want you to take a look at that tome.” Clover instructed, pointing a hoof towards one of the many books littered around the room. I got up and walked over to it. I picked it up and sat back down to try and see if I can read the language. What language was this!? It’s all just a bunch of scribbles! I recognised the pictures in the book though as supernatural creatures of myth and legend back home. So this was a book about mythical creatures? Very interesting.

After rapidly flipping through the pages and hearing some weird alchemical stuff going on in the background, I settled on a picture and tried to actually read the words. Within a few moments, the scribbles rearranged themselves into words I could understand, making me drop the book in surprise and shock. I must have said something as well for I heard Clover walk up next to me.

“Is something the matter?” Clover asked me, picking the book up in her magic.

“That ‘tome’ is not normal!” I cried out, pointing a finger at the book.

“Whatever dost thou mean?” Clover asked confusedly, tilting her head to the side.

“Well … it … the words rearranged themselves!” I protested, snatching the book out of her ethereal grasp and flipping through the pages once again to see if the same thing happened.

“They shouldn’t. This is Equestrian writing so there should not be anything magical about it.” Clover said, looking at the book upside down as I stopped on the same page as before. The picture I was staring at had the image of an incredibly deformed horse that stood up on it’s hind legs, had goat’s horns, large bat-like wings and a really skinny tail ending in a trident’s fork. It’s forelegs ended in razor-sharp claws, making it look like it stood on two hooves instead of all fours. I looked on the opposite page and found the words rearranging themselves but I did not drop the book this time even though my hands shook a little. Something she said bugged me though.

“Did you say Equestria?” I asked her monotonously.

“Yes. Is that a problem?” she asked, blinking owlishly at me.

“No, the name seems familiar though. Didn’t you say there was a Starswirl the Needed as well?” I asked, taking another good look around the room to see if this Starswirl was hiding somewhere.

“Bearded. My teacher was meant to be here, but I do not know where he is.” Clover corrected and I noticed her frown a little at the words in the book. “There. That is why I said those words,” she had pointed her hoof towards a passage.

I looked closely at it and read it under my breath. If I didn’t know any better, I’d say this was about the Jersey Devil.

“This … book …” I trailed off, flipping to the cover and then back to the page a few times before looking up to Clover, who had now busied herself with preparing some sort of concoction. “Is this a guide to mythical creatures?”

“No. A guide to real creatures.” Clover answered simply.

“What? So everything in this book is real?” I asked in a slightly high-pitched voice. Researching myths are one thing but to find out they are actually real is something else entirely. When did my life get so topsy-turvy? I think it was when I got beheaded. That would probably do it in for most people.

“Nearly. There is still one creature with no information. But there is a depiction of it on the final page.” Clover instructed. Out of curiosity, I turned to the final page and groaned, holding my skull in my hand as I gazed at it through my fingers. The picture was of a tall, spindly creature with thin, stork-like legs and slender arms. In one hand, it was holding the decaying head of a doll and in the other was a bag filled with an unknown substance. What looked like a top with a hood covered the upper half of its body while a roll of bandages were bandaged around the top part of its right leg. The most notable feature were the two glowing eyes.

“I know why you don’t have any info. He hides under children-foals’ beds and goes away whenever the light gets turned on or when an adult looks under the bed to see if their children were telling the truth.” I whispered to myself. If both the Jersey Devil and the Boogeyman are real then everything I’ve researched about is potentially real. That’s just great.

Hearing the door creak open, I snapped my head to it, only to find Gandalf trot in. The pony equivalent anyway. What I really saw walk in was a grey Unicorn sporting an impressive beard as well as a star-spangled cloak and hat. He stopped short when he saw me, blinked and turned his attention to Clover.

“Clover, did thou try thy hoof at necromancy again?” he asked Clover, leaving me slightly confused. Necromancy. Again? She’s done necromancy spells before?

“No, I did not. This creature appeared out of nowhere.” Clover replied, pointing to me. I waved at the both of them nervously, having no clue as to what was going on.

“Did it now?” Starswirl asked with a hint of curiosity in his voice. He turned his attention back to me and almost immediately trotted up.

“I’m not an ‘it’!” I protested to the both of them but what use would that do? I’m obviously a foreign creature here but that doesn’t give them the right to call me what they want to. At the very least they can call me a she!

“No, thou art not an ‘it’, but a she.” Starswirl agreed with me, surprising me to no end. I wasn’t able to give a straight answer though as at that moment, a surprisingly loud screech sounded just outside the window. “Clover, canst thou get prepared for an attack?” Starswirl asked his assistant, immediately backing away from the window.

“The same creature we heard.” Clover said, looking pointedly at me. She thinks I have all the answers? I had never heard that screech before! I even told her as such before she walked to the book and flipped through a few pages, pointing to the picture.

“A … harpy?” I deadpanned, looking at the title of the opposite page. Just how many creatures were in this book?

“‘Tis a most foul creature.” Starswirl commented. So not only is the Jersey Devil (or whatever alien counterpart it has) prowling the alien woods but there’s also a Harpy straight out of fucking Greek mythology? I've only heard of it in passing though so it may explain why I'm not extremely familiar with it.

“What do you expect me to do? I only just got here!” I told the both of them, slamming the book shut and standing up to my fullest height. I managed to shift my bones so that I could glare menacingly at the two ponies, feeling a hint of satisfaction at their scared looks. It didn't last long as my skull decided to re-assume its original bone structure.

“We do not expect thee to do a thing.” Clover told me in what she hoped was a reassuring voice but a slight tremble betrayed that fact.

“We expect thou to accompany us to see the Princesses.” Starswirl said bluntly. If he was scared by the scream, then he didn't show it. Without another word, he walked to the door and opened it, clearly expecting for me to follow him. Clover followed shortly after, leaving me alone for a bit. Why did everything suddenly get so complicated? I sighed and keeping a tight hold on my scythe, followed both ponies, cringing at the Harpy’s screech as I closed the door behind me. Hopefully the princesses didn’t rely on the ‘attack first, ask questions later’ method of speaking.

Chapter 4 - Meeting Royalty

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As soon as two gigantic doors opened, with one half depicting a beautiful carving of the sun and the other depicting an equally beautiful moon carving, I saw a white … horse (there was no other way to describe her), with a pink, blue and green mane. I assumed she had the same pattern for her tail. She looked down upon the three of us from across the room on top of a gold throne. My teeth chattered violently as I realised we were actually approaching their equivalent of a ruler. Well, two rulers.

I looked beside the white horse and found a slightly smaller throne, though it was no less imposing. Upon the smaller throne sat a slightly smaller horse with a dark blue hue to her coat. Her mane looked like the night sky had been captured within it, what with the way it flowed.

I jumped to the side as I felt a blast of heat come towards me. I looked around to try and find where the blast came from, only to get a faceful of heat. It felt like the sun itself was trying to burn me alive. As alive as I could get anyway, considering my circumstances. I fell backwards with a short cry, my bones breaking off from their joints upon impact within my cloak.

“That was not cool!” I shouted and then fell silent as I saw the white horse powering up something on it’s forehead. I couldn’t really see clearly from my position on the floor.

“Princess! This creature means us no harm!” Clover called out to the white horse. So she’s the princess? I wonder if she gets many visitors with that temper of hers and my earlier assumption was right. She is the ‘attack first, ask later’ type.

“What did I ever do to you?” I asked this ‘Princess’ as I tried to figure out how to reassemble myself. I didn’t hear an answer, except for hooves clip-clopping on the tiled floor, I thought it had all gone silent.

“Thou … Thou art meant to be in Tartarus. How art thou here?” the Princess asked and when I managed to turn my head to look at her, I could see her head much more clearly and found it had a horn on top of it. So she’s like Clover? Good with spells? I suppose so, what with the heat blast she gave me.

“I’m not meant to be in- Tartarus!? The Greek Underworld?” I asked back, feeling my body begin to knit itself back together. First the feet, then the leg bones realigned themselves. Then it was my pelvis, rib cage, spinal cord, arms, neck and finally my skull. I rotated my arms as much as I could to see if they still worked. Glad that they did, I cautiously crawled backwards and stood up, noticing with a bit of glee at the horse coming up to my neck with horn included. At least I don’t have to slouch as much.

“We don’t know about these ‘Greeks’ but we doth know that thou art meant to be in Tartarus, helping the souls of the dead cross the Styx,” the Princess explained, her anger momentarily forgotten as she seemed to have calmed down.

“Helping the … no! I’m meant to be back home! On Earth!” I cried, finally realising that I may never get back home. I crouched down and held my hands to the sides of my head as I heard two different sets of cries sound out around the room. I took a quick glance and even found a couple of familiar looking creatures flying passed the various windows.

“Those beasts hast been terrorising our subjects since we discovered their existence in the forest. After they began screeching at us, we knew that we weren’t equipped to fight them so I tasked Clover and Starswirl with devising a solution to help out,” the Princess explained, giving a bit of a grimace at my actions.

“Yeah well, they sound freakin’ scary! Those ‘beasts’ as you call them, are legends where I come from. Nothing but myths!” I replied, standing up and pointing to the solitary shadow flying about. I looked and counted again, making sure I got the right number. Where was the second shadow? There were meant to be two shadows! “Weren’t there two shadows before?”

At this, the other ponies present looked up to try and locate the shadows. They only found one and could not find the other one.

“This is odd.” I looked towards the thrones when I heard this and found the other princess to be speaking. “There indeed were two shadows flitting about. The other one suddenly leaving is curious,” she continued as she stepped down and began walking slowly towards us. The other three were too preoccupied with trying to find the shadow that left.

I heard a warbling cry and automatically wincing at it, managed to turn my head to find an upright pony hybrid creature with jet black, shaggy fur, giant bat wings, a goat’s head with ram horns and small clawed things in place of forelegs. Actually, as I looked at its posture a bit more, it sort of reminded me of a kangaroo. Haven’t seen one of those since I moved out from Australia to America.

“I believe we found the second shadow.” I said with a figurative gulp and quickly moved backwards from it, my bones shivering with fear.

“Thee woulds’t not fly in daylight.” I heard Clover speak those words again and I turned to face her to try once again to ask what it meant. The book wasn’t very clear on that but this turned out to be a big mistake as I was suddenly struck from behind and thrown into the wall to my left, making a noticeable crack in it. I crumpled into a heap of bones as I came into contact with the floor, my skull rolling away from my body.

Thinking up of something, I concentrated and made my head jump. It didn’t work so I was stuck with looking at what was going on instead while my body repaired itself.

~THIRD PERSON POV~

“Thee woulds’t not fly in daylight.” Clover said to herself, not really expecting anypony to hear what she said. But seeming she was close to Skye when she spoke, it was a bit of surprise to see the skeleton turn towards her when she did. There was no warning because the next minute, the skeleton was across the room and on the floor with her skull rolling away from the rest of her body.

Clover’s ears flicked as she heard a thrum of magic from somewhere near her. Her ears were attuned to the sound thanks to countless months of working side by side with Starswirl in the ways of magic. She saw a bright yellow shield get erected in front of the group just as the lumbering beast gave a weirdly distorted cry before jumping towards Clover. It howled in pain though when it felt it’s fur get torched at contact with the shield. Clover and Starswirl both looked to Princess Celestia in surprise at her use of magic.

“I doeth what I must to protect mine subjects.” Celestia said as she kept up the shield, watching for another attack from the beast.

Another attack was attempted, but this time, Clover saw it come from behind Princess Celestia in the shape of the second monster. The ‘Harpy’ that Skye raved on about earlier. She went to erect her own magical shield behind Celestia but a dark blue one got put in place instead. When this happened, Clover fired off a few random spells at the Harpy to see if they would have any effect.

Two missed but the third one connected, causing the Harpy to give a shriek as it felt its wings begin to freeze. It abandoned the attack on the horse and retreated for now, crashing through one of the stained windows in an attempt to escape.

~SKYE’S POV~

I did not expect the Harpy to retreat as quickly as it did. When my body picked my head up, I felt a tingling sensation as it got reconnected with it’s spinal cord, signalling that I could move around again. I shook my arms and grabbed my scythe from where it fell. pointing the hooked end towards the Jersey Devil.

“Alright, you ready for round two?” I asked it; acting cocky when in reality, I felt my kneecaps knock together underneath my cloak. It gave a roar and I flinched backwards at the sound of it, which most likely saved me from having another meeting with Mr. Wall behind me. When I flinched, I saw the abomination move to rake its claws along my chest but it missed by a millimetre.

The Jersey Devil gave another howl and went for my neck, clearly intending to behead me. Again. I was fine with it being done once, but twice? I’m just glad I ‘lived’ through it the first time. I ducked as I saw it leap and held my scythe up, not really sure what else to do. I looked to the ground as I felt the hooked end connect with something. Soon as it did, I turned to the side, away from the group of coloured horses, and swung with as much strength as I could muster towards the nearby window.

Another warbling cry sounded out as one of the beast’s arms got sliced to the bone, getting my weapon stuck. I let it go as I felt myself be pulled along with the momentum, watching it and the beast fly through the window and into the forest beyond. There goes what was possibly my only defense in this messed up world of colourful ponies … and mythical beasts.

I turned from the window to look at the group, only to find the Princess levelling her glowing horn at me. I took a quick look along her body and found a tattoo of a sun on her butt as well as wings. So what? That made her a Pegacorn or something? I can see why she would be considered royalty though.

“Seriously? I just helped you and lost my weapon in the process. What else do you want from me?” I asked her, crossing my arms in front of my ribcage. She most likely had another reason for pointing her horn at me threateningly.

“We want thou to go back to Tartarus,” the Princess said, acting as if the monster attack never happened.

“Are you kidding me? Two monsters attacked here and you’re just waving it off as if it was an everyday occurrence. Is it an everyday occurrence?” I told her, suddenly becoming fearful if that was true.

“Unfortunately, it is. We don’t know how to combat them but we do know how to defend ourselves from them. So far, only these two have shown any signs of aggression towards us,” the other Princess spoke up, now descending from her own throne after making sure that the monsters wouldn’t return.

“Before anymore is said, I want to know something. What are your names?” I told them, pointing to both Princesses.

“They are Princesses Celestia, and Luna.” Starswirl introduced them and then faltered when he realised that he didn’t know who I was.

“Princesses, I am Skye, or Death if you prefer. According to Princess Celestia, I’m meant to be in Tartarus. Obviously, I am not. I don’t even know what I’m doing here so if someone can explain what’s happening around here, I’ll be grand.” I answered for Starswirl, introducing myself and bowing a bit to show respect.

“At least she is respectful.” Princess Luna commented, looking to her sister in worry. I looked at Celestia and felt extremely worried for my well-being when I saw that she hadn’t powered down her horn in the slightest. In fact, I think it may have gotten brighter.

“Princess Celestia, I doth not understand why thou still have magic going through thine horn. Skye has just helped us with the fight and hast not done anything untoward to us since. If anything, I believe that she is a good creature, and not one of the bad ones.” Starswirl tried to convince Princess Celestia that I was not evil but it appeared that she was having none of it.

“‘Tis because I doth not trust this creature one bit. Even though she did help us, who knows what can happen later on? I am going to imprison her in the dungeon until mine sister and I can figure out why she is not in Tartarus like she is supposed to be.” Princess Celestia explained, causing me to freeze in shock. Imprisonment? Why? I’ve done nothing to warrant that! The only thing I’ve done is lose my weapon to the Jersey Devil and laid around as a pile of bones for the duration of the fight.

“You’re going to do what?” I asked her, hoping that my feigned lack of hearing can save me.

“I am going to imprison thou until mine sister and I can sort thy predicament out. I cannot risk having another creature running around, especially one we know nothing about.” Princess Celestia repeated patiently and then zapped me with her magic. I saw a flash of white and felt my body dissolve and reassemble in a quick few seconds. When the light faded, I found myself stuck behind a mesh fence with stone walls to either side and behind me. There were no windows so I had no chance of escaping that way.

“That bitch didn’t even give me a chance to plead my innocence!” I protested, stamping my foot like I was three years old again. I grumbled for a bit then resigned myself to sitting in the corner, facing the mesh fence with what I hoped was a scowl on my face.

Chapter 5 - Plans, Well ... One Really

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PRESENT DAY

“I doth not remember mine sister imprisoning you.” Luna told me, interrupting what I hoped was a convincing tale. I hoped that by telling them of who I was before I took up this job, they would remember how I knew them and not seem so shocked. Which they still do.

“Oh no, she imprisoned me alright. I think it was a few weeks before I took up this Grim Reaper job, if I remember rightly. Now will you let me finish?” I asked before they both gave a nod to continue.

FIFTEEN YEARS BEFORE DISPLACEMENT

“What’s your name?” a doctor in a white lab coat asked me, tapping a pen against a clipboard as I swung my legs. I sat on a rather long red couch, my feet not even touching the floor.

“Skye Rip. What’s yours?” I answered. My mum sent me to this place because she thinks I’ve been behaving rather strangely for a ten year old. I didn’t think looking at pictures of dead people was anything strange, just a habit I had gotten into ever since I witnessed my dad die from a car crash when I was five. It should have scarred me for life but my brain was wired to handle it differently.

“Dr. Stein. Nice to meet you. Do you know why your mother sent you here?” Dr. Stein asked, writing down a few notes as I cocked my head to the side.

“Because my dad died and I’ve been looking at pictures of dead people?” I asked with an innocent smile.

“So you do know. I’m meant to help you get rid of this … ‘habit’ of yours.” Dr. Stein said after a bit of writing, looking at me with a frown.

“How you going to do that?” I asked curiously.

“The usual methods of ‘talk and wait to see what happens’ method hasn’t worked since this is about the twentieth session in a month, I’m going to prescribe some pills,” he answered, holding up a clear bottle of smallish looking pills with a label I couldn’t read on it. “These are Duotine. They have a special ingredient in them that are meant to help you get rid of these habits,” he explained, handing the bottle over to me. I held it and looked at it curiously, giving the ingredients a quick read.

“Ek … ektopln … “ I faltered on one of the words and looked at the doctor to see if he could help.

“Ah, Ektoplomatin. It’s a special ingredient found in the jungles over in South America. It’s meant to help -”

TWO DAYS AFTER DISPLACEMENT

My reminiscing was interrupted from an abrupt clanking sound. My vision brightened when I looked at the fence in front of me, furious at whoever did it. I saw a pony dressed in gilded gold armor, holding a stick in his magic, which he used to rake across the mesh.

“Why are you doing that?” I asked, crossing my arms at him.

“Princess Celestia wanted me to wake thou in time for her arrival,” the guard answered, blinking slowly at me. Why couldn’t she just wake me up herself? She seemed capable of doing it last I checked.

“Tell her I’m awake then.” I said with a wave, holding my arms around my legs as I brought them up to my chest. While waiting for her, I tried to bring the memory back so I could try and remember how it ended but it was no use. “Duotine sounds familiar …” I said to myself before I heard two pairs of hoofsteps come down towards my cell.

“So you’ve come to a decision, have you?” I asked them as I attempted to raise an eye ridge. “It’s been a couple of days. I thought you’d forgotten about me.”

“It took longer than expected, but we hast come to a decision.” Celestia said once she reached my cell, not bothering with greetings. I don’t think she likes me very much. At least she hasn’t blasted me with heat yet. I suppose that’s an improvement.

“What decision would that be?” I sighed, rubbing a hand against the side of my skull. I stood up as best I could, still having to duck underneath the small ceiling. The cell was clearly made to house ponies.

“Thou hast a choice. Either help us with these monsters or I will burn thou to a crisp.” Celestia answered, staring solidly at me. It didn’t look like I had much of a choice, and I really didn’t want to be turned into bone soup.

“I don’t have much of a choice, do I?” I sighed sarcastically, making my hands go into a fist and cracking the bones that way (I still haven’t gotten used to that feeling yet.). I didn’t realise how cramped I was until I walked out the jail cell when Celestia opened the door with her magic. Now that we were standing side by side, I found that the white princess reached up to to the top of my head, horn included. “Do you see how I’m not a threat yet?”

“Yes, we doth understand.” Luna said quickly, effectively shutting up her older sister. “We also understand that thou wast helping us and that thou meant us no harm.”

I nodded at that, sighed, and rested my arms behind my head, making the sleeves of my cloak fall down to reveal more bone attached to my hand. I noticed their curious looks and couldn’t help but smile mentally. This is one of those instances where I wished my face was still attached.

“Good. So what’s the plan? I want to help in any way I can if it will stop Princess Celestia from melting my bones.” I said and nodded my head in the direction of the corridor. “Any chance we could get moving?”

Celestia glared at me but didn’t say anything, preferring to let her sister talk as she lead us down the corridor.

“Our plan is to find the beasts and either capture them or if that fails, slay them.” Luna explained to me. I put a hand on my chin in thought and absently clacked the two pieces of bone together.

“That’s not much of a plan.” I said finally, turning the corner and absently floating over a hole in the floor. Apparently this was a multi-leveled dungeon. I stopped though when I realised what was happening.

“Doth thou hast a better one?” Celestia asked, pausing in her walking to look back at me pointedly.

I was too busy staring at the hole beneath me to answer. When I looked back up to them, they had different looks on their faces. Luna’s showed concern and Celestia’s showed impatience.

“What’s your problem with me?” I asked, managing to move myself over to edge of the hole. I touched down through sheer concentration; really surprised I was able to do that. The feeling didn’t stay with me for long though. “Why do you have such a grudge against me?” I asked Celestia again.

“Did thou not hear me before I imprisoned you? Thou art meant to be in Tartarus, guarding it as well as helping the transition of souls move from one life, to the next.” Celestia explained, turning around and leading us towards the dungeon’s entrance again.

“Tartarus this, Tartarus that. That’s all you ever say to me! I arrived here only two days ago. I got no interest in going to Tartarus! At least not until these monsters are dealt with.” I huffed, dragging a hand down the front of my skull and pulling my hood over my head. “I’ll ask again. Why do you hate me so much? Is it because I’m not a pony like you?” I asked her, oh so wishing I could give her a death glare.

“That is one of the reasons.” Celestia snapped, her tone of voice suggesting no further talk was to be had. I silently fumed to myself and kept quiet throughout the rest of the journey. When we made it back to the throne room, I stretched my back and felt my spinal column click back into place. I rolled my shoulders a couple of times and then looked at the big windows. A few of them were still broken from the fight.

“I see you haven’t fixed up the windows yet. Who’s to say those beasts won’t be back? For all we know, they were just sizing us up and testing us.” I said nonchalantly while inspecting the window the Jersey Devil flew out of, with my scythe attached to it. I stopped my observations though when I heard a soft thud. It sounded like a book falling to the floor. I spun around and looked to the source, finding both Clover and Starswirl staring at me.

“What? It’s completely possible!” I protested, assuming they heard what I said a few seconds ago. I remembered a few of the notes I had taken down about the Jersey Devil and from it, knew the Jersey Devil wouldn’t have been able to do this. I knew virtually nothing about the Harpy other than that it came from Greek mythology.

“We have not recorded anything of that nature though.” Starswirl told me, watching curiously while I straightened up. “These monsters fly about and cause chaos for the castle staff and surrounding forest.”

“Really?” I deadpanned. I couldn’t tell if he was serious or not thanks to his beard covering half his face but his bushy eyebrows seemed to show a lot of emotion, as well as his eyes. “Do you actually have a plan on catching them or were you expecting me to come up with something?” I asked them, moving to the group that were now sitting around the two thrones.

“We hast a plan, but it involves using thou as bait.” Clover said primly, looking at me hopefully. I stared back and tried to think of what that meant. Bait usually means a way of catching the monster. This was their plan? Using me to catch the monsters? I doubt it would work. I even told them as much but they insisted it was the only plan they could come up with. After two days of thinking, I expected there to be at least one more plan. Assuming they gave themselves time to think about the plan anyway.

“Bait. Fine. Why me though? Why not a different pony?” I asked, trying to dissuade the idea of using me. It didn’t look like Clover was having any of it though.

“Simple. The Princesses agree with me that it would be the best course of action. Plus, Princess Celestia suggested that ‘throwing them a bone’ would be a good idea.” Clover answered, looking between me and Celestia. She held a tome in her magic field, as well as a feathered quill. That was a bit odd but didn’t really compare to what was currently going on. We’re planning to capture mythical creatures here! Besides, that pun was just painful.

I stared at Celestia, who appeared to interpret my stare correctly. She simply smiled and opened her mouth to speak, “We want thou to go out into the Everfree and locate the monsters in any way thou thinks will get the job done quickly.”

“You want me to risk myself out there … why?” I asked, forgetting about how I reassembled myself when the Jersey Devil rugby-tackled me into the wall.

“Thou is the most durable one.” Luna spoke up, giving a slight glare to her sister before continuing on. “This is so the least harm comes to our subjects.” I noticed her eyes flash a tiny bit at the word ‘subjects’ but it went by so quickly, I didn’t really think anything of it.

“I’ll ask again, Princess. I’m nothing but a bag of bones. Literally! How can I go up against them!? Besides, my scythe is long gone by now so I doubt I can actually defend myself out there.” I reiterated. I sat down with the group and placed a hand on my chin. “I’m not even sure how to help you. The only thing you’ve told me is that I’m going to be bait. How will that exactly work?”

“We thought that thou wouldst wander around the Everfree for a bit. Then maybe one of the monsters will come out and get thou? They only seemed really aggravated when you suddenly appeared.” Clover told me with a gentle smile.

“Are you- Wait. I’m going to stop asking questions and just do it.” I grumbled, finally realising that I had no choice in this. I got up and walked over to one of the broken windows and climbed out. Hopefully they thought through on how to actually follow me around so if one of the monsters did catch me, they would be ready. “I did not sign up for this sort of afterlife!” I shouted over my shoulder to them as I stomped through the forest.

Chapter 6 - Monster Bait in Training

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~THIRD PERSON POV~

Skye brushed aside some foliage on her way through the Everfree. She grumbled a bit on how they couldn’t come up with anything else but ultimately let it go. She stretched a bit and nearly blacked out when something fell on her head. Hissing in pain, she rubbed at the top of her skull and looked down. The item that fell looked to be an oversized hourglass, with four different elements swirling from the top while never reaching the bottom. She crouched and picked it up, turning it upside down to see if it actually worked like one.

“Okay, this is unusual.” Skye muttered and nearly cried out when a message sounded out in her head. ‘I am Draigo, a primordial dragon. To those who find this hourglass, know that I’m here should you need help. I will give my protection to those I deem worthy. I will give my attention to those who need to talk. Finally, to those who misuse this item and others like it, you shall know my wrath.’

“Draigo … the dragon. Why do I not find that hard to believe?” Skye said out loud, unknowingly activating the hourglass.

A portal opened before her and out stepped a big armored man. His armor was black with golden accents. Not an inch of his body could be seen due to the armor and helmet that he wore. As Skye examined him she noticed that each of his gauntlets’ fingers had a claw on them and that the helmet only showed a single glowing orb for the man’s eyes.

“A skeleton? Well, I’ve seen just about everything now. Are you the one who summoned me?” the armored man inquired.

“Summoned? I suppose so.” Skye echoed, pulling her hood over her head. “I’m apparently the Grim Reaper here. Although how that works out, I got no idea,” she added, moving closer to inspect the man closer.

“Ah, a new Displaced. This ought to be interesting. If you’re the ‘Grim Reaper’ then where’s your scythe? Everyone knows that Death wields a scythe.” The man said as he allowed the female skeleton to examine him to her satisfaction.

“It got stolen by the Jersey Devil.” Skye said casually, stepping away from the man to give him space.

“Jersey Devil? Huh, got more mythology going on than normal, eh? Who have you met so far and do they like or hate you?” the man asked. “Oh, my manners are slipping. My name is Draigo.”

“Draigo, huh? My name’s Skye. It looks like I have a mixture of them, considering a bloody Harpy tore through the throne room.” Skye explained, and considered his other question. “I’ve met ponies. It was a shock to the system, that was,” she answered, not really sure what Draigo meant by the question.

“I bet it was. Which ponies have you met? Celestia? Luna? Twilight?” Draigo asked to help clarify his previous question. “I hear a bit of an Aussie accent to you. You originally from Australia?”

“Oh. I’ve met Celestia and Luna. No idea who this ‘Twilight’ is unless you’re referring to the awful book series.” Skye gave a shudder at that but otherwise, kept her voice neutral. “Celestia’s a pain to be around, mainly because she imprisoned me for something I allegedly did and yes. I’m from Australia but moved away a few years ago. I kept in touch with my cousin fairly regularly but that stopped a couple of days ago when I got executed.”

“Well, that makes two Aussies that I know...You got executed!? Wow, that’s harsh. I’m sorry Celestia is a pain. Not all of them are like that. Mine is quite nice. I guess your first few days of being a Displaced haven’t been all too pleasant. Maybe I can help out with that.” Draigo said in an apologetic tone while taking in their surroundings.

“The execution was meant to be fake. It wasn’t. After I died, I became a skeleton, with this cloak and a scythe. No idea where my scythe is now but I’m sure that the Jersey Devil isn’t far from it. Who’s the other Aussie you know?” Skye shrugged and moved further into the forest. “While you’re here, why don’t you help me play bait?”

“The other Aussie is a guy named Joseph. I met him awhile back and helped him with a few problems. What are we bait for?” Draigo said as he followed Skye into the forest. She stiffened slightly at the name but continued walking regardless.

“Joseph? Likes to tinker with things? Loves science?” Skye asked, moving her head from side to side before picking a random direction. “We’re bait for a Harpy, the Jersey Devil, both, or possibly something else entirely.”

“Yep, when I first met him he had modified his portal gun to shoot two types of goo. Are we trying to kill whatever we’re bait for or something else?” Draigo wondered as he extended his senses out.

“No fucking idea. The only thing Clover told me was that I was bait. Nothing else was said beyond that.” Skye answered and rested against a tree trunk. “I don’t remember Joseph ever owning a portal gun.”

“Well, Joseph is a Displaced. Just like you and me. He probably got it when he was sent to his Equestria. There’s an Aperture Science building there as well. Wait, did you say ‘Clover?’ As in Clover the Clever?” Draigo asked, freezing mid-step when the realization of Skye’s words hit him.

“Not so sure about the ‘Clever’ part but that’s what she introduced herself as. Why you ask?” Skye asked, watching him freeze.

“If she’s here then Starswirl the Bearded is as well...Luna is still Luna, right?” Draigo asked in a very concerned voice.

“Starswirl is here as well. When I spoke with her a few hours ago, her eyes flashed when she mentioned ‘subjects’. I didn’t think anything of it so I just shrugged it off.” Skye said thoughtfully, cringing when a far-off screech sounded.

“Crap, two bad things happening at the same time. Okay, first. Luna is going to become so jealous of Celestia that her being will become corrupt and turn into something known as Nightmare Moon. I’m not sure if that can be avoided, but try to help her as much as possible. Compliment her night, stay up with her, try to keep her mind off of Celestia, get some citizens to visit her during night court, get some of them to compliment her night, anything to help boost her confidence and see that she is still loved and wanted. That is more important than that eerie screech we just heard. Finding and stopping whatever that was is still important. It’s just not as important as Luna.” Draigo rambled as he paced back and forth. “While being bait is what was planned, why don’t we just go toward that screech and capture whatever it is? I’m sure that’s what Starswirl would want. He was, and still is, the biggest nerd I’ve ever met. Even Twilight Sparkle, who won’t be born for about 1000 years, isn’t as big a nerd as he is!”

“You’re saying for me to be kind to Luna? I’ve done nothing but be kind to both Princesses, and Celestia still hates me! But, Luna is a bit more compassionate so that may help somewhat with this Nightmare Moon thing you’re talking about. We could try and capture the creature but I got nothing to capture it with.” Skye said finally, having processed the information dump. She leaned away from the tree and strode in the direction the screech came from. “You mentioned Displaced and other Equestrias. What’s that about?”

“Displaced is short for dimensionally misplaced. Each of us typically gets their own version of Equestria. You were sent here via execution, not very nice, and I was sent to mine when I put on a necklace I got from a gypsy at a renaissance fair. The hourglass that you held before I showed up is my token. You should have heard a message when you grabbed it. Tokens allow others to summon a Displaced.” Draigo explained and then waited to make sure Skye understood and didn’t have any questions

“Renaissance fair? That’s where I got executed.” Skye murmured then shook her head to clear the memory. “I think I have a token already,” she said thoughtfully, thinking back to when she first arrived. “Something hit my head, and it turned out to be a cackling skull with an apology note. I did what the note said, threw it up into the air … and then it vanished. Haven’t seen it since.”

“That sounds like creating a token. I got my original copy back, though.” Draigo said as he tapped his chin. “I’ll probably find your token in my world when I return. Anyway, Displaced can be good, evil, and somewhere in between. Each Equestria is in it’s own universe and each is different. They can have similarities, but each one is unique. Like mine for example. I created the first four dragons in my Equestria and have given them powers and size that only my world has. Ah, my princesses are nice and caring as well. Any questions so far?”

“Having a nice Celestia would be a good change of pace.” Skye commented, and nearly clapped her hands over her head as the screech from earlier sounded much closer. “But one question I do have is this: how did you create dragons? I haven’t seen you do anything other than talk,” she said bluntly after recovering from the screech.

“Well, I created them with my powers. You know that screech that almost makes your non-existent ears bleed? Well, once I hear it I then make it so that the intensity is much less, for me. That’s why I don’t have to cover my ears. That’s also only one of my powers. What would you like to help capture these things?” Draigo asked.

“Depends on which creature it is.” Skye muttered and looked up to see if it was flying about anywhere. “Both the Jersey Devil and the Harpy have wings. If it’s something else then we’re screwed.”

“Why would we be screwed if it’s something else? Flying is always an advantage.” Draigo said as he searched the area for anything that moved.

“Because I don’t know what else lives in this forest!” Skye turned and shouted at him. “It could be just these two creatures, or it could be a whole bunch of them! Who the hell knows!?” she continued, barely noticing both their shadows lengthening further than what they should have been.

“True, but that doesn’t mean we’re screwed. So long as we keep alert we should be fine.” Draigo said in a calm voice to Skye.

Skye snapped her jaw a couple of times before finally relenting. She looked at the ground in embarrassment and saw that their shadows were longer than before. “Are our shadows longer or is it just me?” Skye asked, looking back up to Draigo.

“It’s not just you. I think we’ve found our first mythological beast. Any idea what it is?” Draigo said as he kept an eye on their shadows.

“Nope. Never seen anything like it. But something tells me that they can manipulate shadows.” Skye replied wryly and stepped into the shadow that was cast by a nearby tree. She felt something pull at her cloak and immediately stepped back out. Skye turned and saw the barest glimpse of a wispy black hand before it faded back into the trunk’s shadow. “That … is scary.”

“I won’t disagree. Well, the only way I know how to fight shadows is with light. I’ve got no idea how to capture these things, though.” Draigo said as a small shiver went through him.

“Problem with that is, that we cast shadows wherever we go so there’s no telling if they’re following us or not.” Skye said and tried to move away from the shadows as far as possible. “What am I doing? There’s no way we’ll be able to stop them!”

Draigo sighed. “There’s a way, but we’ll be broadcasting exactly where we are to everything within a few miles. Knowing that, would you like me to stop them?”

“If it means you will stop sinking into your own shadow, then yeah.” Skye said quickly, running up to Draigo as the shadow demons gently pulled him down.

“Do calm down. There’s nothing to worry about. Even you, as Death, can’t kill me forever.” Draigo said as he began to emit light from his very being. The light slowly intensified until the entire area around them had no shadows for the demons to hide in.

When they felt the light, the demons retreated as silently as they came from deeper within the forest, where no light could be found. Skye looked around quickly to see if anything moved, not even realising that the light was of a great intensity. “I don’t think - spoke too soon.” Skye sighed as two screeches sounded out from the trees above them. “Of course they’re up there. Why wouldn’t they be?”

“Should we even the playing field and join them in the sky?” Draigo asked.

“I don’t see why not. Think you can toss me up there? I can hover and it seems to be done by instinct. I can’t really control it yet.” Skye shrugged and pointed up to the tree tops.

“Toss you? While I can toss you, I think getting you used to the feeling of floating will help you the most,” Draigo said as his armor melted into his body and turned into scales. Wings, spines, claws, and a tail grew from his body as his neck and limbs lengthened and he began to grow. He stopped growing when he was double the size of Celestia.

Skye backed away from the transforming man and wondered why he wouldn’t transform before. Soon as she moved her gaze from the tree tops, a deformed, black horse swooped down with leathery wings, landing with a thud. It looked to the skeleton, recognising it from when it attacked the castle. Skye turned her head to look at it and saw her scythe sticking out of its shoulder.

“So that’s where it got to,” she said grimly and faced the monster fully. “This is what? Round three?”

The Devil only howled in response and charged at her, the horns atop its head lowered as it tried to ram her. The Devil missed as Skye floated out of the way with the feeling that there was a cushion of air beneath her.

Draigo smirked at the Devil as its attack hit nothing but air. “Pick on someone closer to your own age, like me.” He then yanked the scythe from the Devil’s shoulder and passed it up to Skye.

Skye took the scythe and swung it experimentally, feeling relief at having the weapon back. “I think this evens the playing field a bit more.” Skye commented, wobbling a bit on the cushion of air. She hadn’t got used to the feeling of floating yet. She looked down at the Devil and laughed harshly before trying to pinpoint the location of the other monster that screeched.

“It definitely evens the playing field for you. For them? They were screwed from the beginning. Would you prefer to take the Devil on to even the score or deal with whatever has been screeching?” Draigo asked as he toyed with the Devil.

“I’d love to even the score. You can probably take on the other monster, which I’m pretty sure is a Harpy.” Skye answered, and pointed to a nearby treetop. A head with black feathered hair and a fairly pointed feminine face poked out from between the leaves. The leaves did little to hide her striped body. She had taloned feet and brown striped wings which were tucked against her sides in an attempt to make her look smaller. Draigo lowered Skye down to the ground as he examined his feathery foe.

“It is a Harpy indeed. Well, if you need some help call me.” Draigo said before taking off towards the harpy with a massive beat of his wings. Skye simply nodded and leaned on her scythe slightly.

“Round four. Do you have a grudge against me or something?” Skye asked her foe and watched it get ready to ram her again.

The Harpy screeched at Draigo and took off into the sky with a flap of her wings, knowing that he was coming for her. Draigo smiled and gave chase to his agile opponent, increasing his wing beats to gain some speed. Once the Harpy reached her preferred height, she turned around and flapped her wings at him, creating a gust of wind that was intended to push him back.

“Do you realise how little air your feathered wings push compared to mine?” Draigo asked as he powered through the gust of wind. His speed dropped some, but with a few wing beats his speed was back up. The Harpy gave a worried screech and flapped higher. On every down stroke she made with her wings, razor-sharp feathers flew down towards the dragon.

“This is going to hurt if I stay at this size,” Draigo said after a couple of the feathers had left wounds along his body. He dropped his speed and wove through the rest of the feathers as he slowly grew bigger and bigger.

Skye dodged to the side as the Jersey Devil tried to ram her yet again. She turned and drew her scythe along its back, making sure to not get stuck again. “Is this all you do? Ram and tackle? There’s got to be more to it than that!” she taunted, trying to get it to do something different. The Jersey Devil merely howled and tried to punch her with its clawed hands, not letting the pain in its back deter it.

The Harpy was astonished at the sight of the dragon growing in size. Not really knowing what else to throw at it, she spread her wings wide and began to flap them in quick succession, creating a series of storm clouds and sending them towards Draigo.

“Storms? Man, I hate flying in storms. It’s hard to just sit back and enjoy the flight. You’d better send your strongest storm at me, though. I mean look how big I am.” Draigo commented, noticing the clouds coming together. He was at his full size and took up about a football field in each direction.

The Harpy heard what he said and smirked, giving stronger flaps. The storm cloud forming in front of her slowly grew until she deemed it a good size. She then sent it towards the others, making one giant storm cloud that spanned a couple of acres in either direction.

“Well, I did ask for her strongest storm now didn’t I. Well, nothing to do but go through it.” Draigo said to himself as he continued head long into the storm cloud before him.

Skye looked up and found a massive storm cloud. She gritted her teeth when thunderclaps sounded out and felt herself tossed into a nearby tree.

“I think he may have cracked a few ribs.” Skye groaned, and slowly got up, leaning onto the tree for support, her scythe nearby. She looked at the Jersey Devil and found it getting ready to ram her again. She looked between the tree and its lowered horns before getting an idea. It howled and began to charge. One it got close enough, Skye moved to the side and gave a bark of laughter at seeing its horns embedded in the tree trunk.

In the storm cloud, lightning flashed, thunder clapped and mini rain storms with clumps of hail formed within Draigo’s way.

“Not that I don’t need a good workout, but I think it’s about time to show this puny being what I can do,” Draigo said as he got to the middle of the storm. He hovered in place and stretched out his forelegs while he tapped into his magic reserves. After a few moments, a giant gust of wind dispersed the giant cloud with Draigo as its epicenter.

The Harpy shrieked in surprise and was blown a bit away by the gust of wind. She recovered quickly and flew around to Draigo’s front. Once she got into position, she desperately flapped her wings at him to let loose a barrage of sharpened feathers aimed mostly at his face.

“Not that this hasn’t been a nice fight, but I do have a new Displaced to look after.” Draigo said as he spun in placed and used his tail to send the Harpy towards the ground. He took the feathers mainly in his back and cried out from the sheer amount that hit him.

The Harpy moved backwards and watched the dragon’s tail swing in front of her. She then moved around back to his front and waved before she let out a high-pitched shriek at him.

“So, it’s a vocal contest now?” Draigo wondered in a louder than normal voice as the shriek rang through his ears. He took a deep breath and let out a massive roar in response to the Harpy’s shriek. The Harpy covered her ears and instinctively tucked her wings against her body and went into a free fall. Skye watched the Harpy fall down and land with a thud, creating a miniature crater.

“That’s it? I thought she would have put up more of a fight.” Skye muttered, having only caught the tail end of it.

Draigo landed next to the Harpy and wrapped her up in a cocoon of earth. “She put up more of a fight than I thought she would. Then again, I was going easy on her.”

“You were?” Skye asked, and looked over to the Jersey Devil, its horns stuck in the tree trunk. “This one kept ramming me. When I looked up at the storm cloud, it tossed me into a tree. That,” she pointed to its current predicament, “is the result of the fight. I didn’t think it would be that stupid.”

“Yes, I was. I could’ve just wrapped air around her before she even took off. There are many things I could have done, but it’s more entertaining when you actually fight your opponent. Shall we deliver these two to the cranky sun and jealous moon?” Draigo said as he wrapped the Jersey Devil in its own cocoon of earth.

“Sunbutt will definitely appreciate it, not to mention Clover and Starswirl.” Skye agreed, taking her hood off and eyeing the two mounds of earth. “How we going to get them back to the castle though? I don’t even remember where it is.”

“Are you afraid of heights?” Draigo asked as he levitated the two monsters in front of him.

“We’ll soon find out.” Skye replied, watching him levitate the monsters with interest. “When we get back, I hope that they have cages set up for these two.”

“If they don’t then I’ll just create some.” Draigo commented as he wrapped some air around Skye and brought her onto his back. “Grab onto the spine in front of you so you don’t fall off. Let’s see how Celestia and Luna respond to a dragon flying toward their castle.”

“From what I’ve seen of Celestia, she’ll most likely be extremely suspicious, paranoid and I think she’s a bit racist too. But I think that’s more towards me than anything else.” Skye muttered, grabbing onto the spine in front of her as well as keeping a tight hold on her scythe.

Draigo took a couple languid steps before beating his wings to take flight. He gained some altitude and began circling around in wider and wider circles. Once they had spotted the castle he flew directly towards it at a leisurely pace.

“We should probably fly overhead before landing so I can dodge whatever they direct towards us.” Draigo said as they got near the perimeter of the castle.

“Sounds like a good idea.” Skye agreed, looking down at the castle. “I don’t think they’ve spotted us yet anyway.”

“How can they not spot a dragon the size of a football field? Are they blind or just incredibly inept at observing?” Draigo wondered aloud.

“Simple. They never look up.” Skye said with a shrug.

“They’re prey items that inhabit the same world as dragons, harpies, devils and who knows what else. They better learn to look up. Especially when a shadow passed over them.” Draigo said as he circled around to find a spot to land.

Skye hissed when a bolt of searing heat narrowly missed them. She peeked over the side and found Celestia flying up towards them.

“Why don’t we scratch what we just talked about?” she asked nervously.

“That’s one out of how many?” Draigo asked. “Try that again and you’re in for a world of hurt, Celestia. I don’t appreciate being fired upon when I’ve done nothing to either you or your ponies.”

“She did the same thing to me.” Skye grumbled. “Princess, why don’t you try talking instead of firing for once?” she asked the princess once they were level with each other.

“‘Tis easier to shoot than to ask.” Celestia answered as she powered up her horn threateningly.

“We caught the monsters, though!” Skye protested, pointing to the levitating objects in front of Draigo. “You can’t tell me you aren’t pleased by this.”

“The way I see it, you’ve got two choices, Tia. Either let us land and see what we’ve brought you or you start a fight with a being older than time itself. Which would you like to do?” Draigo said in a frighteningly cheerful tone. Celestia merely narrowed her eyes at him and flew down, not bothering to answer him.

“I don’t think she likes those choices.” Skye commented.

“Heh, that’s because I basically gave her an ultimatum instead of actual choices.” Draigo said as he followed Celestia.

“That most likely made her less likely to like you.” Skye said, watching the ground get closer and closer.

“I only need one Celestia to like me. Mine.” Draigo commented as he landed in a big clearing near the castle.

Skye slid off Draigo, landing in a crouch as her scythe clattered to the ground next to her. She picked it up and walked around to his front, watching Celestia do the same.

“Are these the monsters?” Celestia asked, pointing a hoof towards them. Draigo uncovered each of the monster’s heads while leaving the rest of them encased in their cocoons.

Skye moved away from them when the Harpy gave an especially loud shriek that nearly broke the nearby windows, sending cracks running through them. The screech also made Skye’s bones fracture slightly, despite how far away she was from it.

“Has Skye captured them?” Clover asked, running outside and slowing to a stop near Celestia.

“We’ve captured these two, yes. Let me do one thing before we continue.” Draigo said then formed a bubble around the Harpy’s head. “There, no sound will get out of her unless I allow it.”

“Put the two monsters in the dungeon.” Celestia commanded a group of wary guard ponies to transport the two monsters to specially designed cages. She then turned to both Skye and Draigo,”I will speak to thee in the throne room,” she ordered of the two of them before going into the castle herself.

Clover watched the guard ponies pick up the monsters and decided to follow them towards the dungeon.

“We don’t have a choice, do we?” Skye said rhetorically.

“Doesn’t seem like it.” Draigo said as he shrunk down to Skye’s size. “I wonder where Luna is right now?”

“No clue.” Skye sighed and lead Draigo inside. “I don’t really know what she does but you did mention a night court earlier, so she’s probably sleeping.”

“Yeah, that’s most likely true. We’ll just have to wait and see what happens, though.” Draigo said.

“I was imprisoned for a couple of days so anything is possible really. I just hope Celestia doesn’t shoot on sight.” Skye said and lead the way to the throne room, opening up one of the big double doors. She walked in and looked around for the princess. “She did say the throne room, didn’t she?”

“Yes, she did. If she does shoot then I’ll return fire. It’s her own fault for being too aggressive from the get go.” Draigo said as he spread his wings instinctively.

“That is because we live in a world full of monsters who attack on sight. Mine sister has had to adapt how she sees things.” Luna sounded out from behind the pair.

“Luna! It’s very nice to see you. I’m glad that you’re here.” Draigo said with a big smile as his tail wagged back and forth like a happy dog’s would.

“Doth I know you?” Luna asked quizzically, tilting her head to the side.

“Nay, thou dost not know Us. We have been summoned to this world by Skye. Wouldst thou accompany Us in visiting thine sister? She is hard to look upon due to her alabaster coat. We would prefer to look upon azure tones.” Draigo said as he brought out some old english words from his memory.

“I … shall accompany thou in visiting mine sister.” Luna said at length, liking the compliment he gave her.

“You know how they speak?” Skye asked, surprise evident in her voice.

“Of course We know how they speak. Dost thou not know how to speak in the olden tongue?” Draigo asked without taking his eyes off of Luna.

“No. It does my head in every time they speak. It’s just through sheer luck I was able to answer them at all.” Skye answered, shaking her head at Draigo’s continued usage of the olden tongue.

“Mine sister said that she would be down in the dungeons with Clover the Clever.” Luna said with a chuckle at Skye’s reaction. She then moved further into the throne room and beckoned for them to follow her.

“Then why did she say to go to the throne room?” Skye wondered out loud.

“Tis a way of showing who is in charge. She has us go to a room and makes us wait for her to show up. A ploy that shall not work for we have fair Luna to keep us company until Tia shows up.” Draigo said as he followed Luna into the throne room.

“So it’s a sign of authority. Great.” Skye muttered, following the both of them. “How long will it be until she shows up?” Skye asked, directing the question to Luna.

“Mine sister said that she wouldst not be long. How didst thou catch the monsters?” Luna replied, sitting down just in front of her throne.

“We caught one through trickery. It was quite stupid and got itself stuck in a tree. The other could not handle its own kind of attack. Once they were subdued We encased them in earth for transport.” Draigo explained.

“And thou can manipulate the earth?” Luna asked, genuinely interested in this.

“That and more, my Princess.” Draigo said as he bowed his head and extended his wings in a shallow bow. “Wouldst thou like a demonstration?”

Luna inclined her head to him, giving him permission. “The room is yours.” Luna answered. Skye moved to stand behind Luna to get a better viewing position.

Draigo warmed up by recreating Luna’s cutie mark out of ice. He then proceeded to show his prowess with a multitude of different elements. Creating a pillar of water that became an arch, a fire star, an earthen likeness of Skye, a small tornado, and a gold diamond ring sized to fit Luna’s horn.

“There are many others, but these are the ones We use the most.” Draigo said as he levitated the ring onto Luna’s horn. Both Luna and Skye clapped at the end.

“That was impressive.” Luna said, blinking a bit at the ring.

“I knew you could move earth but I didn’t you could do those other things too.” Skye said and stared a bit at the ring. “That’s a nice ring.”

“I can manipulate every element. That includes time and space, Aether, and Nether. Aether and Nether are life and death respectively.” Draigo explained. “Thank you. It's one of the few pieces of jewelry that I've made. I do hope that you like it, Luna.”

“It is a thoughtful gift. Thank you, dragon.” Luna said, bowing her head slightly in thanks. Skye went to speak but her attention was drawn to the doors, where Celestia was walking in.

“The other princess is here.” Skye said, moving away from Luna to stand beside Draigo.

“Greetings, Tia. Thine sister was kind enough to keep us company in thy absence.” Draigo said with a turn of his head toward Celestia.

Celestia ignored him for the moment and went to sit on her throne. Once she was decidedly comfortable, she looked down at the two of them.

“We art glad mine sister kept you company. We have a question. How did thou get here without Us being notified of a dragon?” Celestia asked, narrowing her eyes slightly.

Draigo reached between his scales and pulled out a copy of his token before transforming into his human form. He then tossed Celestia the hourglass.

“That hourglass is thy answer. Skye found a copy of it and activated it unknowingly.” Draigo explained.

Celestia caught the hourglass in her magic and inspected it. She noticed the way the different strands moved about and filtered down into an empty bottom-half.

“This is a strange contraption. It is not a timepiece, yet it looks like one.” Celestia commented, her soft anger giving way to curiosity. “Thou said that Death activated this unknowingly?”

“Yes, twas evident since she knew not about Displaced, as thou dost not know. If thou say Our name while holding that hourglass and say a brief message then thou shalt summon Us.” Draigo said in explanation of the tokens’ activation.

“How did thou come by this?” Celestia asked Skye, looking at her.

“It fell on my head.” Skye said simply, rubbing a bit at the place where it hit her. “That thing is lethal.”

Celestia nodded and then turned her attention back to Draigo. She looked at him for a bit and considered something before sighing to herself.

“We thank thee for helping with the capture of the monsters. They wouldst surely be of use to us.” Celestia told him.

“Thou art welcome. Tis there anything else that thou need help with while We art here?” Draigo said as he returned to his draconic form.

“Can thou send the skeleton back to Tartarus?” Celestia asked him.

“You still on about that!? I’ve never even been to Tartarus, so how do you expect me to go back there?” Skye said in disbelief, her lower jaw hanging open a bit.

“She speaks the truth. She comes from a planet called Earth, like myself.” Draigo told the princess.

“She never explained where she came from.” Celestia replied.

“Thou didst not ask, sister.” Luna said, looking between the three of them as they spoke.

“If you want me to go back so badly, then give me directions and I’ll find my own way there. Happy with that?” Skye asked.

“I doth not know where it is.” Celestia answered unhappily.

“I would only be able to help in my world. It would be folly to assume the location of Tartarus is the same in this world.” Draigo told them. “Wouldst thou happen to know, dear Luna?” Luna shook her head.

“I doth not,” she said.

“That’s just great! One wants me to go back to a place I’ve never been before, and they both have no idea where it is.” Skye sighed and rubbed her forehead. “Let’s just say, for argument’s sake, that this world is the same as yours in terms of layout. Where would Tartarus be then?” Skye asked Draigo.

“Deep in the Everfree forest embedded in a mountain that no one can find unless they already know where it is.” Draigo said.

“That’s certainly helpful.” Skye said sarcastically, running through different options of where it could be. “It doesn’t really matter though, does it? I’m sticking around indefinitely so you may as well get used to me.” Skye said, looking at Celestia blankly.

“There is another way to find Tartarus. I've never liked using it, but I could search for it using Nether manipulation. If it’s the place all souls go to then it will be the highest concentration of Nether energy.” Draigo said in a sad tone.

“I’ll find it myself. It’s fine. If she wants to get rid of me that badly then I’ll leave and search for it on my own. Since I’m already dead I’ve got eternity to find it.” Skye said with a shrug. She clenched and unclenched her fists at the thought but other than that, her stance was neutral.

“Depending on the type of immortality, you could still be able to be killed. My type allows me to be killed but I only stay dead under very specific circumstances.” Draigo explained.

“Well, you remember how loud the Harpy’s screech was when you unearthed her head? It was so high-pitched, I felt some of my bones fracture slightly. So high-pitched frequencies is a weakness I discovered. Other than my own stupidity, I got no idea on what other weaknesses I have.” Skye explained, sitting down on the floor and laying the staff of her scythe across her lap.

“So, you don't actually have an eternity to find Tartarus. Heck, you don't even have a grasp on your powers.” Draigo said. He started to pace around the room.

“No, but I’ll learn about what I can do eventually. That was just an over exaggeration anyway. I know I don’t have eternity but, theoretically, I do.” Skye explained. Celestia and Luna watched this exchange curiously, unsure if they should interrupt or not.

“Eventually? Do you even realize the position you're in? A Displaced is usually the single most powerful being in their universe. That doesn't mean that they are unbeatable! You are now the biggest target in this universe for any and all baddies. Heck, even as powerful as I am. I'm only one of the primordial beings in my Equestria. They can kill me and anyone else in my world. You've most likely got something similar. Understand now? You've got to get ahold of your powers ASAP.” Draigo ranted at the new Displaced.

“Hey! I’ve only been here three days! Today is my third day! I’ve spent most of the time here imprisoned in the dungeon by that lunatic that calls herself a princess so don’t blame me for wanting to go out on my own. I’ve already died and I don’t plan on making that a second time. You want me to get ahold of my powers ASAP? Then teach me! If not, then I’ll find some other way to figure out how to use my powers.” Skye ranted, getting up quickly and storming over to Draigo while saying this.

“That's a great idea! I'll teach you how to use your death abilities. I'm warning you, though, I won't go easy on you.” Draigo said with a wide grin as he turned to confront the angry skeleton.

“Idiot says what?” Skye asked herself, all anger gone from her voice as she stopped herself from walking right into him. “What?” she repeated, trying to figure out if he was joking or not.

“I'm going to teach you how to use your powers! This isn't going to be easy for you.” Draigo told the new Reaper.

“How can you teach me if I don’t even know what my powers are? I’ve got sort of an idea thanks to my notes back home but I ultimately don’t have a clue.” Skye said, backing away slightly from the dragon, suddenly fearing for herself.

“Your powers are similar to my Nether manipulation with a few extras, like your scythe. All I have to do is teach you about your death powers and everything else is gravy!” Draigo said in an excited yet fearful tone.

Skye clapped her hands and turned to face Celestia and Luna. “After me calling you a lunatic, Princess Celestia, I am not sure if you will let use any training grounds.” Skye said nervously. To her surprise, Celestia smiled at her.

“‘Tis fine. Thou art able to use the training grounds. Mine sister and I wouldst like to see this training for ourselves.” Celestia said, with an encouraging nod from Luna.

“What?” Skye asked in surprise and looked at Draigo. “Did you expect that?”

“No, I didn’t. I thought that Tia would be disinclined to acquiesce your request.” Draigo admitted. “Though, we are talking about training death powers. We will have to have suitable targets every now and then. So, I suggest using the forest during those points in the training and that the Princesses keep a distance away should anything go awry. We don’t need them dying on accident.”

“That would be a bad thing for Equestria.” Skye murmured. She looked between the both of them though and wondered what brought on the change. “Why did you agree, though? You think he’s going to pound me to dust?”

“Yes, that is exactly what I think.” Celestia answered, still having that same smile from before. Skye sighed and looked to Luna.

“Princess Luna, can you tell us where the training grounds are?” she asked her. Luna nodded and walked towards the throne room doors.

“The training grounds are this way. Mine sister and I will make sure to keep a fair distance when thou uses suitable targets.” Luna promised, and lead the three of them to where they needed to be.

“Celestia is way too agreeable all of a sudden.” Skye whispered to Draigo, twirling her scythe around her arm.

“Yes, it’s a bit odd. She probably thinks that once you have a hang of your powers that you’ll be able to find and go to Tartarus. Just how she wanted you there in the first place.” Draigo said as he watched Luna leading them to the training grounds.

“I got a bad feeling about her.” Skye commented, watching Celestia cautiously for a bit before looking back to the front as they rounded a corner.

“Hmm, we’ll have to keep an eye on her if you, a Grim Reaper, have a bad feeling about her.” Draigo said.

“Eh? I’m sure I’ll get a hang of the feelings. For the moment, I just want to figure out how my powers work.” Skye replied.

“The first thing we’ll do when we get to the training grounds is find your source of energy. I’ll help a bit, but I’m only used to helping dragons find their source of magic. So, it might take awhile.” Draigo told her.

“Good luck helping me with that then.” Skye said with a chuckle, looking up and around as they entered an unfamiliar part of the castle. After a few more twists and turns, the group found themselves at the training grounds, which took up a lot of space. It seemed to span an entire football field with an impressively high ceiling. There were training dummies littered about but it didn’t seem like any of the guard ponies were using it.

“Thou art luck today is an off day.” Celestia observed.

“Thine guardsmen art lucky that they aren’t here. None of the powers we are going to be training are laughing matters and all of it can be considered ‘dark magic’ in one way or another.” Draigo explained as he walked into the center of the training grounds.

Skye shuddered and followed after him, standing a bit away from him awkwardly. The princesses walked over to a couple of benches that were set up for the guards for when they wanted to take a break during training.

“So what did you say was first? Finding my source of magic or something like that?” Skye asked.

“Yes, we’ll find your source of magic.” Draigo said as he walked over to Skye. “Sit down in a comfortable position. I’m going to pour some of my magic into you. It should either flow into your source or avoid it all together.”

Skye stared at the dragon for a few moments before sitting down on the ground with her legs crossed. She placed her scythe next to her and looked to Draigo for the next course of action. Draigo put a claw on her forehead and let some magic flow into Skye’s body. Skye tried to screw her eyes shut but then remembered she didn’t have any. So instead, she let the magic flow through her and out again. As it did, she then realised that there was a part in her where the magic didn’t flow, instead, it just avoided it all together. Could that be the source of her own magic?

Draigo pulled his claw back after a few moments. “Feel any area that my magic either avoided or pooled into?”

“Yeah I do. For some reason, the magic is completely avoiding the area where my heart used to be.” Skye replied, looking up at Draigo as she put her hood over her head.

“Well, the next step is accessing that power. Try to tap into your ‘heart.’ For me it feels like fire, ice, lightning, along with a few other elements are coursing through my veins. You need to find out how it feels to tap into your power” Draigo explained.

Skye tried to figure what he meant before mentally feeling around where her heart used to be. She thought she found something but it felt cold. “Extremely cold. That’s what it feels like. Not icy cold, but more … cold silence, I guess?”

“Like there's a cold void that sucks all the warmth from your very being and won't allow a single sound to be heard?” Draigo asked.

“When you put it that way, yeah. But then again, I got no warmth to begin with.” Skye replied, not even bothering to attempt facial expressions anymore. It was just too difficult.

“That's the feeling I get when I use nether manipulation. You'll have to get used to that feeling if you want to use your powers. Now that you know where and how to tap into your powers we'll move on. Is there anything about your new self that you feel confident with or about?” Draigo asked.

“What do you mean?” Skye asked, tilting her head to the side before standing up.

“Something that feels familiar or feels right when you use it. Your scythe, your body, obviously not your powers, but something.” Draigo listed off.

“Oh. My body then. I may be a skeleton but it’s still my skeleton, if that makes any sense.” Skye said, stretching a bit before tapping her foot against the ground. “Surprisingly, I don’t have any broken bones.”

“Okay, tap into your power and do some exercises. While doing so, try to have your power go into your movements and everything about your exercises.” Draigo said as he demonstrated what he meant. With each movement of his jaw electricity jumped for each of his teeth and across his entire body.

Skye eyed the electricity for a bit before doing as he asked. She felt around her ‘heart’ for a bit before finding that cold feeling again. She then raised her fist up and slowly clenched and unclenched it, trying to get the cold feeling to travel through her bones. It eventually did and found small, black wisps curl off her fingers.

“This is going to take some getting used to.” Skye commented.

“If you think that's hard then it would be next to impossible during a fight.” Draigo tapped into his power and performed some attacks. Black energy could be seen flowing from his claws, wings, tail and fangs. “Once you get to this level we'll work on techniques and sparring, with and without your scythe.”

“What did I say back in the throne room? I’m still getting used to actually having magic, let alone controlling it.” Skye replied, looking at the black wisps on her fingers with interest. She closed and opened her fist again, letting go of the cold feeling for a bit. “I just need time to get used to this first before we get to the hard stuff.”

“Don't get me wrong. The level I showed you is magnitudes above what you just did. You're progressing fairly quickly, but you're right, it'll take time to get used to. The sparring and techniques will only be after you’re more used to things, I promise you. Now, let's continue your exercises.” Draigo said as he resumed his own exercises.

“Continue how? The only thing I’m doing is opening and closing my fist.” Skye said, leaning slightly on her scythe.

“Is your energy flowing through your entire body? Are you able to get those wisps from anywhere besides your fingertips? These exercises are to get you used to your power and using it as your body is moving around. So, try running, throwing punches, kicking, things that you'd be doing during combat.” Draigo said as he hit the floor and left blackened claw marks.

“If you want me to do all that, then let me fight you in your human form. The best way to learn is by doing.” Skye shrugged, walking to one of the training dummies. She tapped into her magic, noticing that it was a lot easier this time, and went to punch the dummy while letting her magic flow through her.

“I thought you didn't want to spar, but alright. Come at me.” Draigo said as he changed into his human form and took up a fighting stance.

Skye looked over her shoulder, mildly surprised at him taking her up on her offer. She turned fully and let her magic flow through her as she ran up to him. She prepared her scythe and swung it at his head, not noticing black wisps trail off the blade.

Draigo charged forward and lowered his right shoulder. Skye’s scythe would hit him, but only with the staff. He let his magic imbue his body once more, his entire body becoming darker. As his shoulder made contact with Skye’s chest, Draigo let out some of his energy to affect the level of fear Skye felt.

Skye managed to hit Draigo on the back with her staff, surprised that he charged. She gave a groan when he hit her and stumbled backwards a bit. When she got her bearings and looked back at him, she could see elongated claws on Draigo’s hands. This made her shake her head to see if it was just an illusion but it didn’t go away.

“What did you do when you made contact?” Skye asked, a bit of fear leaking into her voice.

“Fear inducement. I used this along with my frightful presence to help Joseph get rid of some robots. You should be able to do the same. Truthfully, I don’t even need to touch you to use it. The amount of fear you have right now is about what prey feels when they are being stalked by a predator. With enough fear someone can go from competent to useless in mere moments.” Draigo explained as the black energy around him intensified into a black aura.

“That would be why your claws look longer than normal.” Skye muttered, switching her scythe from left to right. “Let’s try this again. I want to try and get my fighting skills up to scratch.”

“Alright. Remember that a weapon like your scythe has an area where you’ll only hit with the staff instead of the blade if you opponent is too close to you.” Draigo said as he conjured a golden sword that had a double headed eagle as its crossguard into his right hand. “I’ll be using Nether manipulation along with every stroke of my blade. Each will be a sample of what you should be able to do yourself. Fear is only the beginning.”

“Of course it is.” Skye groaned. Switching her scythe back to her left hand, she got into a fighting stance. “I hope I know what I’m doing,” she said to herself, letting her magic flow through her and into her scythe, watching as it turned a darker colour.

“Good, you’ve learned to imbue your weapon with your magic.” Draigo said as he began to slowly walk towards Skye. His sword’s blade went from gold to black as he walked.

“And that means what, exactly?” Skye asked, noticing his weapon change colour as well.

“It means that you’ll be able to have a further reach for if you have to touch someone for your powers to work. Or for dramatics, like this!” Draigo said as he plunged his sword into the ground and conjured some ghosts that floated out of the ground.

“That’s just dramatics?” Skye asked with a laugh and went to try something with the ghosts. She lifted up her right hand and pointed it at one of the ghosts. “Something simple. I want to see if I have control over these. Try doing a backflip,” she explained and ordered the ghost to attempt to do her bidding.

“Yep, I don’t know about you, but I don’t need to touch anything to use my powers.” Draigo said as the ghost did a backflip and an army of them appeared behind Draigo. Skye felt delight at the backflip and leaned to the side to look behind Draigo and pointed to the army behind him.

“Did you summon those ones?” Skye asked him.

“Yes, I did. I wonder if any of them have something to say to their Princesses?” Draigo said as one of them floated into his body.

“I’m sorry, your Majesties. I died in a training accident and was unable to help protect our kingdom.” a voice said through Draigo’s body.

Celestia stood up at this, tilting her head in curiosity at Draigo. She walked up to him and tried to place the voice he used.

“‘Tis fine, trainee. We accept thine apology.” Celestia said as she bowed her head slightly. “Are these others the same as thou?”

“All of them are guardsmen, Your Majesty. Some have regrets from being defeated in battle while protecting this castle while others never got a chance to tell a significant other how they felt. It varies from pony to pony.” the voice explained.

“I feel like crying now.” Skye sniffed.

“Do not worry, Skye. While each of them have regrets, they are able to move on. This one inside me is actually the only one with strong enough regret to actually want to say something.” Draigo explained.

“So you want me to try and send them on?” Skye asked, looking out over the many ponies. “There’s a lot there,” she added with a whisper.

“Yes. I summoned them from the Nether and can return them myself, but this is good practice.” Draigo said as the spirit floated out of him. Skye watched the spirits for a bit before walking up to one of them. She crouched so she was eye-level with it and tried to figure out what to say to them.

“Hello. Can you say why you’ve stayed behind?” she asked the spirit.

“I wasn’t able to tell my friend goodbye or that I loved her.” the spirit explained with a bowed head and droopy ears.

“What was her name? Can you remember that?” Skye asked gently.

“Her name was...Clover. She was studying with some really important pony. I can’t remember much else.” the spirit said as it wracked its memories for details. Skye gave a soft gasp at the name but there was no other reaction beyond that.

“I know who Clover is. I’ll let her know what you told me.” Skye said at length, wracking her brain for what she hoped was an appropriate response.

“Reconciliation is great, but if you do it for each spirit you meet then you could be doing that forever. As I said, each of them can move on. All you have to do is send them on their way. How you do that is up to you.” Draigo said in a mood shattering explanation.

“What else am I meant to say? I couldn’t think of anything else.” Skye said, standing to stretch for a bit; mentally glaring at him for ruining the moment.

“You don’t have to say anything, if you don’t want to. This is going to sound cold, but I would just send them on without a word.” Draigo said as he gestured to the army of ghosts.

Skye sighed and gave a nod, knowing that it seemed to be the best way. She crouched in front of the spirit she talked to before and saw black wisps curl off her right hand. She extended it and placed it on the pony’s shoulder, willing the spirit to move on. After a few seconds, the pony seemed to give off a sigh and moved upwards in a cloud of white smoke.

“It may be cold, but it seems to be the most efficient way.” Skye said softly.

“Try sending multiple of them at one time. After they’re all gone we’ll continue sparring.” Draigo said as he turned to face the army he’d summoned.

“Let’s see if this will work.” Skye said, moving back a bit and holding her scythe in both hands. Watching it turn dark, she sliced the air, sending a wave of black energy towards the army, making about half of them move on as the wave passed through them. “Hey, it does work,” she said delightedly.

“Good job, Skye. Let’s send the rest of them on over. It was cruel to summon them back to the living world, but it was necessary for practicing your abilities.” Draigo said.

Skye gave a nod as she sent another wave of black energy towards the rest of them. Once she had made sure they had all moved on, turned around and looked at him.

“Sparring? Right, fighting skills, all that.” Skye said a bit distractedly.

“There will be some things I use during our fight that you won’t be able to do. Just try to think about things that you’d think a Grim Reaper should be able to do and try it out.” Draigo said as his sword’s blade became half white and half black.

“Sounds good to me.” Skye replied, holding her scythe loosely by her side.

“Rule one: Keep a good grip on your weapon!” Draigo shouted as he used some dark earth to knock Skye’s scythe from her hand. Skye got startled when Draigo shouted. She watched her weapon sail across the room and land point first in the floor.

“Oh come on!” she shouted, running after her weapon.

“Rule four: Never turn your back on an opponent.” Draigo said as he tripped Skye from behind. He then placed himself between her and her scythe. Skye gave a small shout as she fell to the floor, her arm falling out her cloak.

“What happened to rules two and three?” Skye got up and grabbed her arm with her other hand. Looking at it, she got an idea and then tossed it behind Draigo towards her scythe. “I think I’m able to control my arm,” she whispered and concentrated, feeling her arm move across the floor rather quickly.

“I’ll tell them to you when they come up, like right now. Rule two: Never underestimate your opponent.” Draigo said as he levitated Skye’s scythe into his left hand. The scythe seemed to have some dark electricity flowing through its blade.

“Never underestimate your opponent, huh?” Skye asked and pointed to the bottom of the scythe where her detached arm had grabbed on to it. She concentrated and forced her arm to move up the staff, stopping just short of Draigo’s own arm.

“Very good, but you’re still disarmed.” Draigo said. “How do you plan to take back your scythe?”

“Um, clicking my fingers?” Skye asked uncertainly. She had no idea if it would work but it was worth a shot. She clicked the hands of her right hand and watched the scythe vanish, only to reappear in her hand with her arm still attached to it. “I’m actually surprised that worked. I was only joking!”

“Very good, Skye. That’ll help surprise your foe when they think you no longer have access to your weapon. Though…” Draigo said before charging at Skye and swinging his sword in a downward arc. “Rule three: Don’t get distracted and pay attention to your surroundings.”

Skye looked to him, then up as she noticed what he was doing. She brought her scythe up to try and block the downward stroke, feeling vibrations go through her as the blade struck.

“I got to pay attention all right,” she muttered.

“Good reactions. Do you know what your antithesis is?” Draigo asked as he continued to swing his sword at Skye at a variety of angles.

“Life?” Skye asked as she attempted to block each strike. When she couldn’t block it in time, it hit her bone, causing her to cry out.

“Correct. Don’t be surprised if there’s something here that tries to use it against you.” Draigo said as the white part of his sword bled some white energy into Skye. As the white energy coursed through Skye’s bones, she felt the bones knit back together. It proved to be too much though as she blocked the next strike with her staff and jumped out of range.

“What did you do?” Skye asked as she bent over to catch her breath.

“Aether manipulation is the white energy. Aether is able to heal anything among other things. I tried healing you a bit so you could continue to train. Was it too much?” Draigo wondered as he let Skye catch her breath.

“Yes, it was! I’m dead. Sure, healing bones is fine but it kept going and tried to give me my body back. It can’t. I can’t get my life back and I can’t get my body back. It was painful being stripped of it the first time and I’m definitely not going to go through that again just to get it back.” Skye tried to explain.

“Sorry, I didn’t mean to cause you pain with that. I guess I’m too used to healing living things. This is good to know for the future, though.” Draigo said, trying to find something positive about the incident. Skye mentally poked her tongue at him and stood up, keeping a tight grip on her scythe.

“Ready to go again?” she asked angrily, clearly mad at him taking the healing too far.

“Whenever you’re ready, milady.” Draigo said as he readied himself. Skye nodded and poured some more magic into her weapon, making it turn a deep black. She ran up to him and swung the scythe towards his feet but kept her eyes on the rest of his body, waiting to see what his next move would be. Draigo jumped up and over Skye’s head as he turned in midair. He then swung the flat of his blade towards Skye’s own feet.

Skye’s swing kept going when Draigo jumped. She stumbled after it stopped, spun and noticed Draigo had tried to swing for her legs as well. Thinking for a bit, she walked up to him to try and get a good look at him.

“Can you take off your helmet? I want to have a look at your eyes.” Skye asked, realising that they eye slit was too dark to see anything.

“Thought of something, have you? Well, let’s see if it works.” Draigo said as he took off his helmet with one hand. His face was very masculine and he had dark brown hair with ice blue eyes.

“It’s this sixth sense that I have only just figured out.” Skye murmured and peered into Draigo’s eyes to see if this sixth sense was right. After a few moments, she stepped back and held her head, crying out a bit in pain. “You … killed one of your own kind ... in a flash of furious rage.”

“Yes, I did. His name was Shen Long. He believed that by killing me that he could rid the rest of the dragons of the delusion that I’m their god. I had summoned a girl named Crystal earlier that day and he was about to kill her even though the fight was basically over.” Draigo explained as he took a few steps back from Skye with shock evident on his face.

“You felt anger, rage and a white hot anger at what he did. It looked to go by in a flash but it took all of five minutes to completely eviscerate him.” Skye droned on, sounding like she was recounting memories. “A few memories flowed into me when I looked into your eyes. Apparently they are ‘windows to the soul’.” Skye continued wryly, not even noticing the shocked look on his face.

“That memory is one I shared with Joseph’s Fluttershy. I regret ever telling her about it.” Draigo admitted. “That’s probably why that particular memory is so strong in my mind.”

“Sorry for doing that. I didn’t realise it would be so painful for both of us.” Skye apologised and rubbed her skull to soothe the pain. “I think that’s enough training for today,” she said.

“It’s alright. I don’t regret killing him and would do so again. Fluttershy is not a pony who is used to violent actions. So, she got mentally scarred from me telling her about it. I helped her through it and she’s even tougher now because of it, but I still regret telling her in the first place.” Draigo explained. “This does seem like a good ending point for today’s training. You should still try to think of more abilities you can use, though.”

“I’ll see what I can do.” Skye replied and walked over to where Luna and Celestia were sitting.

“Enjoy the show, Your Majesties?” Draigo said as he walked over to pick up his helmet.

“We did. ‘Tis very interesting to see two powered creatures train.” Luna answered with a smile.

“Is that what a human looks like?” Celestia asked him.

“Yes, this is what a human can look like, Celestia. I’m human just like Skye. Well, we were human.” Draigo said as he scratched the back of his head.

“Let me put it this way. That’s a human with skin, this is a human without skin.” Skye added, gesturing to Draigo and herself.

“Thine body structures art different though.” Celestia said as she looked from one body to the other.

“Does a stallion have the same body structure as a mare?” Draigo asked. “I’m a male human and Skye is a female human.”

“No, they do not.” Luna answered and then realised what he was getting at. “Oh, I see now.” Luna added, nodding and standing up.

Draigo had a grin on his face before his armor disappeared to be replaced with only a loincloth. “This is the closest you’ll get to a side by side comparison of Skye and myself.” Draigo then struck a few poses to show off his muscular body.

“‘Tis an apt comparison.” Celestia commented after observing the two of them for a few moments.

“For some reason, I don’t feel self-conscious when I do this.” Skye said with a shrug, taking off her cloak to reveal just the bare bones. “Princess Celestia appears to be fine with us now, which is a huge relief.” Skye added after noticing that Celestia was no longer being hostile towards them.

“Huh, I thought for sure that you wouldn’t take off your cloak.” Draigo said as he walked over to stand next to Skye. “Yes, having one of the rulers turn from an enemy to a friend is always a good thing. Not sure why she changed her mind, though.”

“After seeing thou fight and going over the monster attack in the throne room, I see no more reason to be hostile. Forgive me, it was just as mine sister said. This is a hostile world and I have had to adapt my tactics when meeting new subjects.” Celestia explained, nodding her head to Luna.

“I completely understand, Celestia. It’s just hard to have a mare who you like acting hostile towards you. I’m sorry for almost instigating a fight.” Draigo said. “It did help that the other mare I like was there to help explain things.” Draigo added.

“You like your versions of the Princesses, right?” Skye asked him, feeling her bones begin to shake. Concerned with this, she placed her cloak back on and sighed in relief when they stopped shaking. She looked to Celestia and Luna to gauge their reactions and found them staring dumbfounded at Draigo.

“Yes, I do and they seem to like me as well. I’m still not 100 percent on that.” Draigo said as he changed into his draconic form. “You would not imagine how much more comfortable it is in this form.”

“Yeah, I can’t.” Skye said. She looked out the window and found that the sun was starting to set. She looked back to the Princesses and noticed that Celestia had her horn lit up. “I thought you weren’t being hostile anymore.” Skye said nervously.

“I am not being hostile. I am lowering the sun so mine sister can raise the moon in its place.” Celestia explained as she brightened up her horn.

“What?” Skye asked, jaw nearly dropping to floor.

“Celestia raises and lowers the sun while Luna raises and lowers the moon. They aren’t called the Princess of the Sun and the Princess of the Moon for nothing. I had to help my Celestia out for about a thousand years, though.” Draigo explained.

“Uh…” Skye trailed off as she looked between the sun and Celestia, not really processing the information. “How - what?” Skye spluttered. “Princess of the Sun, and Princess of the Moon. One controls the sun. The other controls the moon. Yep. Sure. That’s plausible.” Skye added, walking away from them and to the training room doors. “That’s just perfect!”

“In some universes they are goddesses who are connected to the sun and moon. They always control the sun and moon, though. It makes for wonderful political leverage against other nations.” Draigo said as he followed Skye.

“I bet it does. Being the Grim Reaper. Fine. Monsters in Equestria. Fine. A planet full of talking horses. Fine. Using magic to raise the sun and the moon? Not fine. That one takes the cake!” Skye ranted, moving through the doors and taking off down the hallway.

Celestia and Luna looked to each other before following after Draigo and Skye, wondering what she was on about.

“Well, it can also be called Celestial Energy manipulation. Like I said, I had to help Celestia for about a thousand years.” Draigo said in hopes of making it seem more plausible for Skye.

“Wait, hang on. You helped your own Celestia for a thousand years with the sun and moon?” Skye asked, dialing it back a bit on the rant. She stopped walking and leaned on a wall to look at him. “Why did you have to help her if she could do it with Luna’s help?”

“Luna was incapacitated and there wasn’t a way to bring her back up to snuff. So, I raised and lowered the moon for a thousand years. Celestia still doesn’t know about that, though. She thinks she did it herself.” Draigo told her, glad that she had calmed down a bit.

“Ah, okay.” Skye said. It took a bit for her to think through the information. She looked behind Draigo and found Celestia and Luna to still be a little ways off. “Is that after this Nightmare incident happened?”

“Yes. Luna was banished to the moon by the Elements of Harmony wielded by Celestia. After a thousand years she came back and her corruption was purged by a new set of Element Bearers.” Draigo told her in a very quiet voice.

“Hmm. Okay.” Skye said after a bit. “Do you get hungry? Surprisingly, I don’t get hungry anymore.”

“I don’t necessarily need food to survive. It’s nice to take a break and enjoy the tastes, but my body doesn’t need food to function. It is made of the elements themselves afterall.” Draigo explained.

“Well then.” Skye replied. “I’m going to check on the monsters down in the dungeon. You want to come with?” she asked him.

“Well, if these guards are as inept at their jobs as mine are then it’d be good to check on them. Any idea how to get to the dungeons?” Draigo asked.

“Hahaha, no.” Skye said with a chuckle and turned her attention to Celestia and Luna, who had caught up by now.

“Sister, I need to attend Nightcourt. Can thou show these two to the dungeons?” Luna announced, asking her sister to give them directions. Celestia agreed and pointed her head in the way of the dungeon.

“Thank you, Celestia. Luna, if we don’t see each other again. Know that it has been a pleasure and that your nights are beautiful.” Draigo said before walking in the direction Celestia had indicated.

Chapter 7 - Dungeon Fears

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~THIRD PERSON POV~

Skye noticed Luna’s cheeks darken a little before following after Draigo and Celestia. “These dungeons have multiple levels, don’t they?” Skye asked, remembering her trip back up into the castle.

“They do. We only needed to use them once before, when we captured some of Sombra’s forces. Our dungeons were overflowing so we built some more rather quickly to contain them.” Celestia explained.

“Ah, the Crystal Empire. It’s sad that the entire thing disappeared when Sombra was defeated.” Draigo said in a somber tone.

“Very sad. Equestria lost a good amount of ponies with Sombra’s defeat.” Celestia said morosely and opened up the entrance to the dungeons with her magic. She then lead the both of them down the stairs towards the bottom of the staircase.

“I’m lost. What’s this ‘Crystal Empire’?” Skye asked.

“The Crystal Empire is a land to the north of Equestria. It’s citizens were the Crystal Ponies. They were called this due to how their coats were partially translucent and shined like crystal. Sombra was a ruler there. He ruled with an iron hoof and wielded dark magic to keep his ponies in line. He enslaved them and made them mine crystals all day long. When he was defeated he somehow took the entire Empire with him into oblivion.” Draigo explained.

“Oooh … Spooky.” Skye said sarcastically. “How does one pony take an entire empire with them into oblivion? From what I’ve seen so far, I don’t think that’s possible here.”

“Oh, it’s possible. With enough dark magic one unicorn can obliterate an entire city. That’s why it’s now forbidden magic. That and the users tend to become corrupted by the magic they are wielding.” Draigo told the skeptic. “The empire was also just one city, somehow. I never did understand why a single city was called an ‘empire.’ It’d be like only this castle being an entire kingdom.”

“That’s a bit extreme, isn’t it? Making an entire city disappear just because he was defeated?” Skye asked, following them as they walked around the corner once they reached the bottom of the stairs.

“It is. Apparently Sombra never learned to share and thus wanted the city to be his or no one's. I have heard from other Displaced that there's a possibility of it showing back up, but who knows for sure.” Draigo said.

“If it does, that’s going to be a sight to see.” Skye commented. “Princess, are we close to the monster cages yet?”

“The monster cages are nearby. We just have to walk a bit longer.” Celestia answered, frowning a bit at the conversation that was taking place.

“This may not be the most pleasant conversation, but it'll help Skye get used to her new home world.” Draigo said as he noticed Celestia’s frown.

“Sounds like I’ll be learning a lot in the next few weeks.” Skye replied.

“You have no idea.” Draigo told her.

Skye went to say something but was interrupted by a howl. “He really needs to stop that.” Skye sighed, recognising the Jersey Devil’s call. “I thought the sound would have carried further than this.”

“Square corners help to keep sound waves from traveling as far. I did expect it earlier than this, though.” Draigo explained.

“Clover and Starswirl placed sleeping enchantments on the beast. They most likely wore off.” Celestia said, flattening her ears against her head at the screech. When the group rounded the final corner, they saw two specially designed cages holding the monsters. Clover and Starswirl were taking down notes on the way the creatures acted and hadn’t noticed anypony near them yet.

“Find anything interesting or useful? Clover? Starswirl?” Draigo asked as he stuck his head between the two. Both ponies gave a start and stepped back a bit from the sudden head intrusion.

“Dear dragon, we hast more findings than we know what to do with.” Starswirl answered, recovering quickly.

“These creatures are particularly noisy. We have taken the proper precautions and used magic to dull our hearing against the screams.” Clover added.

“Why not just use a sound proofing spell on the cages? Surely you don't need to hear them the entire time you're observing them.” Draigo suggested.

“We doeth a soundproofing spell but deactivated it because we needed to see how high their screeches can go. We were in the middle of taking notes about the screeches when thou arrived.” Starswirl replied, tapping his quill against a piece of parchment.

“Hmm, how didst thou get past mine sound manipulation on the Harpy?” Draigo wondered.

“We hath not touched the Harpy yet. Thy sound manipulation is still intact.” Starswirl responded.

“We wanted to test this Devil first.” Clover added, taking down a few notes as the Jersey Devil howled again.

“I see. That is very wise considering the Harpy can actually attack with its voice.” Draigo said.

“It can?” Clover asked, blinking in surprise.

“Yes, it can. That's the main reason I made it so no sound could escape. If you want to study it then I suggest that you leave its vocals for last.” Draigo told her.

“We shall take that under consideration.” Starswirl smiled, lighting up his horn to surround the Jersey Devil’s cage with a soundproofing spell before looking at the Harpy cautiously. “Doth they need food?” he asked, pointing to the monsters in the cages.

“Probably. I'm only familiar with dragons, though. You know whether they need food or not, Skye?” Draigo told the group.

“I’m completely unfamiliar with the Harpy but with the Jersey Devil, I would say that it most likely eats meat.” Skye answered him.

“Where would thou find meat?” Clover asked, tilting her head to the side.

“Well...right about here or here.” Draigo said as he poked Clover in two different spots. “Meat is muscle. Any living creature, besides bugs and insects, contains meat.” Clover poked her tongue out in disgust.

“That is horrible.” Clover said, immediately backing away from the Jersey Devil.

“I used to eat meat too but I can understand how you would think it being horrible.” Skye told Clover as she sat on the floor.

“That's just the circle of life, Clover. There are beings that eat plants and there's beings that eat those beings. Do my teeth look like they're made to eat vegetation?” Draigo asked and opened his jaws wide. Clover shied away from the dragon at seeing his sharp fangs.

“N-no, thou doth not.” Clover started to sound a tiny bit scared and lowered her tweed hood a bit more.

“Do not worry, Clover. I may eat meat, but I only eat meat that would kill others. My teeth may be designed to eat meat, but I eat everything, literally.” Draigo said as he produced a gem, tossed it into his mouth and chewed it up.

“That is most interesting, dragon.” Starswirl said and jotted down a few notes about the gem eating. “Doth most dragons eat gems?” he asked curiously.

“I know not about thy world, but mine dragons love to eat gems.” Draigo told the curious unicorn. “I just transferred that I have forgotten to introduce myself beyond Skye. My name is Draigo.” Draigo’s scales darkened a bit from his embarrassment.

“Greetings, Draigo. I suppose Princess Celestia and Skye told thou about us?” Starswirl assumed and wondered if he should take the soundproof barrier off of the Harpy cage.

“Yes and no. Skye told me she had met Clover the Clever. From that I guessed that Starswirl the Bearded was around. I met both of thee in my world. I am much older than you may think.” Draigo told them.

“Ah.” Starswirl responded. He looked over to Skye and raised an eyebrow at her.

“What?” Skye asked.

“Thou told Draigo about Clover, but not about me?” he asked.

“I know Clover a bit more than I know you, besides, it was the first name that popped into my head.” Skye protested and crossed her arms over her chest. She looked to the Harpy and watched it try to scream at them. “That Harpy is not going to be happy if it manages to get out.”

“Then make it scared enough that it doesn't want to leave.” Draigo suggested.

“What? Through fear inducement?” Skye asked, continuing to watch the Harpy.

“Yep, it's more useful than most would think.” Draigo said.

“Okay, fine. How did you get me to be scared of you back in the guard’s training room?” Skye asked.

“This might take you a little while at first. Fear inducement is a mind altering ability. I put my magic into your mind and felt the fear in your mind grow. If I had increased it enough I could have disappeared from your sight while standing before you.” Draigo explained.

“So it’s a mind thing. Okay then.” Skye said, clapping her hands and cracking her knuckles. “I doubt I’ll get this on the first try,” she added. “How should I go about doing this then?”

“Pool your magic in a hand. Point a finger, or whatever feels best to you, and imagine your finger extending to touch the Harpy.” Draigo said as he demonstrated. His claw became pitch black before he raised it toward Starswirl. After a moment, the energy could be seen extending to almost touch Starswirl’s nose. “It didn't matter where it touches so long as it touches them. After it's hit the target feel around for their fear and make it expand. The amount of fear you want your target to experience will depend on how much you expand their already existing fear. ” The stream of magic formed a ball at the end that steadily grew in size.

“I'm not sure I can do that.” Skye said uncertainly as she flexed her right hand. Starswirl backed away from the ball of darkness but kept listening to take notes down later.

“You never know until you try. If you can’t then I’ll make it so the Harpy will never want to leave its cell.” Draigo said as he let his magic dissipate.

“True.” Skye shrugged and felt her magic pool in her right hand. Black wisps spilled over the sides as she raised it up and slowly extended a finger towards the Harpy. She imagined it reaching out and touching the Harpy. As she did, her black magic extended from her finger but didn’t quite make it all the way, stopping just before the bars of the cage. “I managed to do something at least,” she muttered.

“It’s a good start.” Draigo said encouragingly. “Now I’ll give it a shot.” Draigo looked at the caged Harpy and his body grew dark. The Harpy suddenly seemed to scream and backed into a corner of the cage. Even though no sound could be heard, everyone who looked inside could tell that the Harpy was terrified of being this close to the door as it tried to get as far away as possible. “Did I tell you that making my magic visible isn’t necessary?”

“No.” Skye replied, shutting off her flow of magic and looking between the Harpy and the door of its cage.

“What didst thou doeth?” Clover asked, eyes widening at the sight.

“I amplified her fear to about the level of a phobia. Just looking outside the door will be enough to send her into a panic attack. It would be even worse if there’s someone outside of the door.” Draigo explained for the nerdy unicorns.

“So she has agoraphobia now?” Skye asked for clarification and looked back to Draigo.

“When you put it that way, yes. She’s afraid of going outside the cage and even more afraid of anyone standing outside of it. So, agoraphobia for a very specific situation.” Draigo told her.

“Cool.” Skye commented and stepped away from the door. “What time is it?” she asked the group.

“Seven-thirty at night.” Celestia answered and watched Clover and Starswirl with amusement.

“We have been collecting findings for this long?” Clover asked.

“I’m guessing you also forgot to eat dinner. Which I suggest you get.” Draigo suggested. A memory of Twilight doing the same came to his mind.

Clover and Starswirl looked sheepishly at the dragon. “We only meant to be down here an hour or so. Studying these creatures got so interesting.” Starswirl explained, with Clover nodding along.

“Oh, I know someone who’s exactly the same. It’s no big deal, but you should probably get something to eat while you’re remembering.” Draigo said with a knowing smile. An audible growl sounded out from both ponies, causing them to look down in embarrassment.

“Me thinks we should start heading back up.” Skye said helpfully, turning and walking back the way they came.

“This way, Death.” Celestia pointed and watched Skye turn around and walk in the other direction.

“Don’t worry. Castle’s are made to be confusing for those that don’t live in them. It’s part of the defenses.” Draigo told Skye as she walked past him.

“Of course they are. Why wouldn’t they be?” Skye asked rhetorically and turned her head a hundred and eighty degrees to look behind her. “You coming or what?” she asked before turning her head back to the front.

“Of course I’m coming.” Draigo said as he followed Celestia and Skye. Starswirl and Clover looked at each other before catching up to the others.

After a bit of walking and turning corners, Skye dropped back to whisper to Draigo, “How does the Nightmare Moon incident even happen? Far as I know, she’s seems kind and caring.”

“Well, she becomes jealous of her sister, the citizens don’t appreciate her night, they don’t come to her night court, etc. She basically feels unwanted and unneeded. Eventually she becomes either insane or corrupt and transforms into Nightmare Moon. She fights Celestia and then Celestia uses all six elements of harmony to banish her to the moon.” Draigo explained in a whisper.

“Seriously? It’s a jealousy thing?” Skye asked in disbelief.

“Imagine having a sister who shined so brightly that you were forgotten about and ignored. Wouldn’t you try to do something to change that? Well, Luna tried to make eternal night so that she wouldn’t be forgotten and her nights would be appreciated again.” Draigo said.

“That’s why you said those things about me trying to get some ponies to attend her night court and appreciate her night?” Skye asked, nodding her head from side to side as she imagined what Draigo said.

“Exactly. It may be inevitable, but you never know what may help.” Draigo told her. Skye sighed and began to climb the stairs after Celestia.

“I’m not sure what will work, but I will try my best to not let this happen.” Skye said determinedly. She thought about what he had said and figured that it may not be a bad thing to compliment the Princess of the Night. She hasn’t really seen any of it but maybe the night ahead wouldn’t be so bad.

“That’s all I can ask for.” Draigo said as his gaze returned to Celestia.

“What is this other ‘me’ like?” Celestia asked once she reached the top of the staircase.

“Well, she’s kind and understanding. You look the same. She can be both motherly and frightening at the same time and she packs a wallop behind each of her strikes in combat. She mostly stays in Canterlot Castle to keep the kingdom running, but when she’s really concerned with something, and doesn’t believe that just her student and her friends can handle things, she’ll go out herself.” Draigo said with a dopey smile plastered on his face.

“From what I’ve seen of this Celestia, she’s all fright.” Skye commented dryly.

“That is certainly something.” Celestia replied, ignoring Skye’s comment. She turned back around and led the group towards the dining hall. They past by the throne room on the way and Skye took a peek inside to see if there were any ponies around. The only occupants seemed to be Luna, the guards and a few ponies wishing for help but other than that, it was empty.

“Does Luna get many visitors during night court?” Draigo asked as they past the throne room.

“No, she barely gets any. This is the most I have seen in a long while.” Celestia said sadly. “I canst do anything about it because my subjects believe me to be sleeping,” she added.

“Hmm, what would happen if they knew you weren’t sleeping, Celestia?” Draigo wondered.

“I doth not know. My subjects know not to disturb me when night falls though.” Celestia answered, stopping just to the side of the door and peeking in stealthily.

“Well then, excuse me.” Draigo said as he walked through the throne room’s doors. He made sure that no pony could see Celestia as he walked past her.

“What are you doing?” Skye asked, watching him curiously.

“I’m giving Luna some company.” Draigo said as if it were the most obvious thing in the world.

“I will come with you then.” Skye said with a sigh, not really getting why he was doing it.

“The three of us will dine and join you three later.” Celestia smiled and lead Clover and Starswirl further in the castle.

“If you’re wondering why I’m doing this it’s because I like her and seeing her like this makes me want to do all I can for her. Besides, every now and then I get to mess with the mere mortals that come in with really stupid issues that a Princess isn’t needed to handle.” Draigo said after hearing Skye’s sigh.

“That’ll be fun if she gets any more ponies in.” Skye replied and took a quick look around. The ponies that were in attendance hadn’t noticed them yet except for Luna, who gave them both a smile before returning to her duties. Draigo smiled back and stealthily made his way toward her throne. Skye stayed back. put her hood up and hid in the shadows, watching the colourful ponies carefully.

“Your Majesty, another monster attack has happened and me and my village were wondering what thou art doing about it.” A dark beige stallion with a blonde mane told Luna.

“We hast captured two of these beasts. Plans are in place to try and capture more of them.” Luna answered wearily, giving a soft sigh when she saw that the pony wasn’t satisfied.

“Then why is the sun not out longer for our safety? We can at least better protect ourselves when we can see the monsters,” the stallion argued. Luna’s eyes flashed for a brief second but managed to stop herself from lashing out at him. She took a few calming breaths and continued.

“I shall ask mine sister and see if she can do anything about it.” Luna said finally.

“Are you kidding me? The sun out even longer? Do you want the guard to become so tired that they fall asleep at their posts?” Draigo shouted from right behind the stallion. “Besides, ponies need the night to sleep properly. You all can sleep soundly at night because Princess Luna and her guard are here. So, you better appreciate all that she does for you.”

The stallion jumped in fright and immediately turned around, feeling terrified at the sight of the sudden appearance of the dragon.

“Oh, look. The widdle stawion is scared.” Skye piped up from the shadows, only showing her skull to him.

“I ...I wouldst have thou know that these monster attacks are serious!” the stallion said bravely, despite feeling terrified.

“Are they? Then it’s a good thing I captured a monster earlier today, now isn’t it? You see, Princess Luna knew that capturing monsters would require extra help. So, she asked me and my friend to help.” Draigo said as he hooked a claw towards Skye’s skull. “Now, is there anything else you wish to bring up to your Princess of the Night?”

“N-n-n-no, Your Majesty!” the stallion all but shouted as he ran from the throne room, making the other couple of ponies waiting their turn extremely nervous.

“Who’s got the next issue?” Skye asked the two ponies that were left. Draigo walked up and laid down next to Luna as Skye inquired about the next issue. He then laid his head at her hooves.

One of the ponies, a mare this time, stepped forward with shaking legs. “I have an issue with nightmares. Why art the monsters causing these getting worse?” she asked carefully.

“Because I have been dealing with my own nightmares and hath not had the chance to settle mine subjects’ nightmares.” Luna answered calmly. “I shall deal with them when I am confident in my ability to do so.”

“Do not fret, little one. Princess Luna is very good at getting rid of nightmares. So, keep your chin up and remember that she is doing her best for her subjects.” Draigo said in a comforting tone without moving his head from its position.

“Th-thank you, Your Majesty.” the mare said, bowing her head before walking out the throne room. The pony that was left was simply too scared to speak so he left without a word.

“Thank thou for thy help.” Luna said, letting out a breath she had been holding in. “‘Tis been increasingly difficult to deal with these issues.”

“Thou art most welcome, Luna. We must admit that helping with ponies like the first is quite fun. Hast thou any other duties to perform this night?” Draigo inquired. Luna shook her head.

“No, We hath done mine duties for the night.” Luna replied.

Skye looked out the window and heard her lower jaw clang on the floor as she looked at the sky. She tried to form words but resigned to pointing energetically at the night sky.

“I think Skye has seen the beauty that thou weaves during the night, Luna.” Draigo said as he noticed Skye’s energetic motions. Much to Luna’s delight and amusement, Skye nodded her head quickly.

“We art glad thou hast taken a shine to mine night.” Luna said with a smile. She then lit up her horn and wrapped Skye’s missing jaw in her magic and waved it in front of Skye’s face. Skye tried to reach for it but Luna moved it out of the way.

“What’s the matter Skye? Luna got your jaw?” Draigo asked with a chuckle as he watched Skye try to grab her lower jaw.

Luna laughed as she kept Skye’s jaw out of reach until eventually, she grabbed it and jammed it back on her face.

“That was not funny.” Skye said at last. She couldn’t help but giggle a bit though when Luna continued laughing at what she had done.

“We beg to differ.” Draigo said as he tried not to laugh too much.

“Sure you do.” Skye said sarcastically and walked up to Luna, sitting down on Luna’s other side.

“We art not sorry we didst that.” Luna said after calming down. “Why didst thou come to mine Nightcourt? I thought thou went down to the dungeons,” she asked.

“We did, but it turned out that Starswirl and Clover forgot to eat dinner. They art dining with thine sister right now.” Draigo told her. “I could not help but come and give thee some company after seeing the attendance of thine court.”

“Those three art the most I hath seen in awhile. Usually ‘tis one or two.” Luna said sadly. “‘Tis humorous that Clover and Starswirl forgot their dinner, though ‘tis not unusual.”

“I bet not. It’ll be worse for a little while now that they have two monsters to study.” Draigo said. “What dost thou do with thine time after court is over?”

“I retire to mine chambers and gaze at mine night. With thou two being here, I may change my mind about that for tonight.” Luna answered.

“Didst thou have an idea of what we can do now that thou hast company?” Draigo wondered.

“I never really had company at Nightcourt. Mine sister usually sleeps by the time court is over.” Luna answered simply. “What ideas didst thou have?”

“Dost thou fancy a night flight? Tis one of mine favourite times to fly.” Draigo admitted with a bit of blush showing.

“That wouldst be lovely.” Luna agreed, her cheeks darkening slightly.

“You two have fun, I’ll just take a walk around the castle and try to figure out the layout.” Skye said with a knowing tone.

“Try floating about as well. You still have to figure that one out.” Draigo suggested as he stood up.

“Right, that would be nice to figure out too.” Skye agreed and gave them a wave before heading off to explore the castle. Luna stood up as well and looked to Draigo.

“What didst she mean by her tone?” Luna asked, tilting her head to the side.

“Um, well...I’m not quite sure.” Draigo said evasively. He then began to walk towards one of the broken windows. Luna thought for a bit, then followed, flaring her wings in preparation for the flight.

“Thou knows what Skye meant but I shalt not push thee about it.” Luna replied.

“I’ll tell thee if thou canst make me drop below the treeline.” Draigo said as he flew out the broken window.

“That a challenge?” Luna asked, taking off after him. She gave a few flaps and was soon flying side by side with him.

“Tis a challenge indeed.” Draigo told her as he began to gain some altitude.

“I accept thy challenge!” Luna smiled and immediately flew to one of the nearby clouds. She used her wings to shape it into a crude battering ram. She then flew away from it, turned and picked up speed until she bucked a side of the battering ram, shooting it off to Draigo.

Draigo’s eyes widened as the battering ram cloud careened towards him. He dove toward the trees to gain speed and leveled off right before the tops of the trees. The battering ram hit his tail, but he just barely stayed above the treeline.

Luna narrowed her eyes and tried to think of something else that could get him below the treeline. She still flew quite aways above him and then smiled cheekily as an idea struck her. She flew to a group of storm clouds and gathered them up and used her wings to direct them towards Draigo. Once they were on top of him, she raced towards the cloud group and bucked them, forcing a few lightning bolts to go off.

“What art thou...Oh, crap!” Draigo said as he tried to dodge the lightning directed at him. He successfully dodged a few, but then was hit by a rather large one. He thought he was going to be okay until a tree came out of nowhere and he flew right into it.

Luna watched the results triumphantly until a rather large tree sticking out of the forest shook with a large impact. Growing increasingly concerned, she flew down below the tree line until the tree that shook came into view.

“Draigo?” she called out, noticing the way he looked.

“HAHAHA! Well played, Luna. Well played. I did not expect thou to use lightning.” Draigo said as he got his legs and wings in order.

“Thou … thou art fine?” Luna asked as she hovered in place and looked over to the tree where a mark in the shape of Draigo’s face was implanted into it.

“Well, yes and no. I can still fly, but I think I hurt something in my face. Wouldst thou come and see if there’s anything wrong about it?” Draigo asked as he stood up and examined his wings. Luna quirked a brow and flew over to him. She lighted down and tried to get a good look at his face.

“Thou wants me to look at thine face?” she asked slowly for confirmation.

“Yes, I canst tell that there is something hurt, but I’m not quite sure what since mine face is just varying levels of ache from hitting yonder tree.” Draigo said as he lowered his head to Luna’s level.

“Thou did leave the tree with a good first impression.” Luna said with a slight laugh and gently touched Draigo’s face to see if it hurt anywhere.

“Ah, I did tell thou that I would reveal what Skye meant by her tone if thou got me below the tree line.” Draigo said as Luna began her inspection. He winced a bit when she touched his eye ridge and again when she got near the spines on his head.

“Thou wilt sport bruises.” Luna commented at his winces. “What didst Skye mean by her tone?”

Draigo gave Luna a peck on her cheek. “That is what she meant, dear Luna. Or more specifically she meant this to be a date between us.”

Luna’s cheeks darkened considerably at the revelation. “She meant for this to be a date?” Luna asked in faint surprise, although she kept feeling around Draigo’s face for anymore sore spots.

“That’s why she didn’t come with us. She wanted to give us some space.” Draigo said and gave a cry of pain when Luna got near one of his concealed fangs. “I think I broke at least one tooth.”

Luna jumped back a bit at the cry and considered what he said. “I feel sorrow for breaking thine teeth. Skye … ‘tis wouldst do her well to get her priorities reorganised.”

“Don’t feel sorry, Luna. I challenged you to get me below the tree line.” Draigo told her as he reached out a claw and made her look into his eyes. “Besides, I heal very quickly and it was truly worth it to see the true beauty of the night. You.”

Luna stumbled over her words as her cheeks darkened a lot further than before. As she thought through his words further, joyful tears welled up.

“I speak nothing but the truth, Luna.” Draigo said as he enveloped her in his arms and wings. Luna didn’t speak as she let Draigo hug her, crying happily. “Th-thank thou, Draigo.”

“Thou art most welcome. Wouldst thou like to know something about thine sister?” Draigo asked in a quiet tone. Luna gave a few hiccups as she quietened down.

“Know what?” Luna asked while wiping her eyes with her hooves.

“Thine sister stays up to enjoy thine night. T’would not surprise me if she were awake at this very moment gazing at thy night sky.” Draigo told her.

“I never noticed mine sister gazing at the night I created.” Luna said softly, shaking her head to figure out if it was true or not.

“She told me herself that she didn’t know what would happen if your citizens knew that she didn’t sleep until late at night. Apparently they think she goes to sleep when the sun goes down.” Draigo told her. “If thou wants we could see if we can spot her enjoying thy night.”

Luna laughed at what her subjects thought her sister did after taking down the sun. “Mine subjects obviously hath no clue on what mine sister doeth after the sun sets. I hast no clue if she even gazes at mine night.” Luna said with a hint of anger in the last part she said. She quashed it though to nod at Draigo. “Can We see if mine sister enjoys the night?”

“As thou wishes so thou shalt get.” Draigo said as he slowly released Luna from his embrace. He spread his wings as a white energy shone throughout his face. Luna squinted at the bright light and walked backwards a bit as she was released and spread her wings to take flight.

“I know not which room is thine sister’s. Lead the way mine Princess.” Draigo said as the white energy dissipated.

“Mine sister’s chambers art on the east side of the castle while mine art on the west.” Luna explained as she gave a few flaps to get ready.

“Ah, for the sun rises in the east and the night begins when it sets in the west.” Draigo said as he joined Luna in preflight warm ups.

“Convenient, ‘tis not?” Luna smirked and took flight and hovered in place while waiting for Draigo to finish.

“Yes, very convenient.” Draigo said with a smile as he took to the skies. Luna flew in front and slightly to the side as she lead Draigo back to the castle.

“How didst thou become a dragon of thine ilk?” she asked suddenly, looking back to make sure he was following.

“I bought a necklace from a gypsy at a fair. Once I put it on it transported and transformed me. I still don’t understand how or why, but I no longer want to go back to how I was.” Draigo told her as he continued to follow her.

“Doth thou not care for thy home?” Luna asked, nodding as he told his story.

“If I were to somehow get home there’d be no one that I’d know. I’ve spent almost fourteen billion years as you see me.” Draigo admitted.

“That is horrible.” Luna commented sadly.

“Yes, but I have been able to create a pseudo family in the form of the dragons back in my world and have found two wonderful mares that can keep me company through the ages.” Draigo said with a toothy smile.

“Still, thou hath not been able to see thine family in ages. Doth thou not miss them?” Luna asked, and saw that the castle was in sight.

“I missed them for about ten billion years. During that time I was continuously alone. After that I filled my time to the brim with creating my dragons and exploring the planet I settled on so that I wouldn’t have time to miss them.” Draigo told her. Luna blinked at that and lead Draigo around the side of the castle towards her sister’s room.

“I know not what that must have felt like but that doth not mean I canst imagine it.” Luna told him. “I doth not know what I wouldst doeth without mine sister.”

“I believe she feels the same way, even if she doesn’t show it.” Draigo said. “Now, how shouldst we see if thine sister is enjoying the night? We wouldn’t want to be caught until we knew for sure that she is enjoying it…”

“I wonder what she thinks about it when she looks up.” Luna mused as she lead Draigo to a higher altitude once she noticed that her sister was looking down. A few tears shone in her eyes but fought them back in case her sister hadn’t looked up yet.

“I’m unsure of what she is looking at, but she is up much later than either thou or thine subjects believed.” Draigo said as he tried to figure out what Celestia was looking at.

“This much is true.” Luna agreed and tried to look at what her sister is looking at. “Doth thou have a clue as to what she is gazing at?”

“I think that she is thinking on something and not really looking at or seeing anything.” Draigo replied.

Luna thought on this for a bit. “Though, I wonder what she is thinking about. I hath never spied on mine sister before, this is new to me.” Luna said and moved further into the castle’s shadow when she noticed her sister move her head up a bit.

Draigo got a mischievous smile on his face as an idea occurred to him. “I think I can find out what she is thinking about. Wouldst thou like me to try?”

“Yes, please.” Luna answered.

“Okay, I’ll be back.” Draigo said as he pecked her on the cheek and flew around to visit Celestia. Luna blushed and kept watch on the two of them.

“‘Tis you, Draigo.” Celestia smiled when she noticed him fly near her. She stepped back from the balcony in case he needed room to land.

“Greetings, Celestia. I couldn’t help but notice your pensive look as I flew overhead.” Draigo said as he landed in front of Celestia. “What art thou thinking so hard upon?”

“Twas thinking about this monster problem. I doth not think that it would keep me up so late.” Celestia admitted.

“Hmm, hast thou talked to Luna about the subject? She is thine sister and fellow ruler of Equestria.” Draigo said.

“I hast not.” Celestia shook her head. “She is mine sister and I doth not want her to worry about this.”

“Thy concern is touching, but me thinks that thine sister already worries about that and many other things.” Draigo told her.

“Like what?” asked a shocked Celestia. “I was unaware she hath other problems.”

“She worries that thine citizenry doth not appreciate her or her night. She worries that thou art like unto them. She worries that she is no longer wanted or needed.” Draigo said in a concerned tone.

“She doth worries about such things?” Celestia asked concernedly.

“She hath not told me this, but I know she is worried nonetheless.” Draigo said. “She cried tears of joy when I told her that her night was beautiful. Wouldst she do that if she was not worried about her night and it being appreciated?”

“She wouldst not.” Celestia sighed in agreement. “Why hath she not told me this?”

“Thou art busy during the day and she believed that thou were asleep not long after her night began. She must think you have not the time for her concerns.” Draigo told her. “Whether this is actually true or not I cannot say.”

“I-what?” Celestia asked, not really believing what he said. “She believes I doth not have time for her?”

“As I said: I’m unsure if she truly thinks that. Hast thou tried talking to her about anything beyond thine royal duties?” Draigo wondered. Celestia shook her head.

“No. These monster attacks have taken up all our time in recent years so ‘tis difficult to find the time for a one on one get together.” Celestia admitted.

“Wouldst thou like the time for one right now?” Draigo asked.

“I would but ‘tis she not attending Nightcourt?” Celestia asked confusedly.

“She had all of three ponies come to Nightcourt. I helped her hasten one that needed it and another left without saying a word. The third was a simple issue and didst not take long. She is therefore done with Nightcourt.” Draigo explained.

“I thought there were more than that when We looked in on her earlier.” Celestia said softly.

“Tis true what I have said. For you see, I have gone flying with her this night. The bruising on mine face is proof.” Draigo said and proudly bore the bruising as though it were a medal.

“How doth a dragon get bruising?” Celestia asked, an astonished look on her face.

“By flying face first into a very sturdy tree.” Draigo said with a chuckle. Celestia’s eyes widened at that and she opened and closed her mouth a couple of times before finally settling on some quiet laughter.

“How and why did thou fly face first into a tree?” Celestia asked.

“I got hit by a lightning bolt that somehow made me think I was higher than I actually was.” Draigo told her.

“Did mine sister hit you with a lightning bolt or was it a stray thundercloud?” Celestia asked as she whipped her tail from side to side.

“Thine sister did hit me with a well aimed lightning bolt. I had challenged her to make me fly below the tree line, she succeeded.” Draigo said with a shrug at the end.

“I doth not think mine sister was capable of such a feat.” Celestia said with a mildly impressed tone in her voice.

“In truth, I wanted her to succeed so I allowed the lightning to hit me. Had I wanted, it would have been redirected.” Draigo admitted and shot a bit of lightning off of the balcony to demonstrate.

“Still though, I didst not expect Luna to actually partake in combat.” Celestia said, eyeing the lightning bolt as it sailed into the distance.

“Combat? If it was combat then it was very one sided. I only flew around and dodged.” Draigo clarified.

“Far as I know, mine sister doth not partake in combat. This is surprising for me.” Celestia admitted and finally looked up towards the night sky. “The sky, it’s beautiful,” she breathed.

“Thou needst to talk to thine sister more if thou dost not know that she would accept a challenge when she wants the reward for winning. And of course the sky is beautiful. Luna puts a lot of effort into it.” Draigo said.

“This is the first I hath seen of it in a while.” Celestia admitted, and sighed, looking to back down to to Draigo. “Where is mine sister. I really need to talk with her.”

“If she is where I left her then she is right...about...there.” Draigo said as he pointed to Luna’s hiding spot.

Celestia looked to where Draigo was pointing and found a dark blue, flowing mane studded with stars. “She hath been hiding there this entire time?” Celestia asked and watched Luna fly down towards them.

“Varily. Thou underestimates her sneakiness.” Draigo said as Luna touched down next to them.

“I couldst not help myself. I eavesdropped by using a sound-enhancing spell.” Luna admitted when she landed and looked at Celestia with red eyes. “How couldst thou not know enough about me?”

“The same way thou thought she wast asleep not long after thine night began, Luna. Jumping to conclusions and not communicating with each other enough.” Draigo told her.

“Ever since these monster attacks started decades ago, thou hath become recluse and barely spoke to me.” Luna told Celestia. “Why?”

“Because I doth not want thou to worry about these attacks. “ Celestia said simply.

“Yet Luna had a petitioner tonight that came about the monster attacks. If the attacks stopped, would you two talk to each other more?” Draigo said as he looked out at the forest.

“Yes, but I doth not see that happening any time soon. There are more monsters than the two locked up in the dungeons.” Celestia said readily.

“I want Us to talk to each other more on a daily basis, not when these attacks are over!” Luna stamped her hoof to try and show how angry she was.

“We art talking now, art we not?” Celestia asked rhetorically.

“Thou art talking, yes, but neither of thee know the other like a sister who lives in the same castle should. That much is evident.” Draigo said as he made gestures in the air as if he were calculating something.

“This shows how far apart we hath grown and how much talking we hath not done.” Luna said sadly, sitting down and looking at the balcony floor forlornly.

“Draigo, doth thou know how we patch Our relationship?” Celestia asked, observing Luna’s saddened state.

“Set aside time everyday to chat with each other about anything besides thine royal duties. Set aside more time everyday to do activities together. Oh, the most obvious thing would be to remember the Elements of Harmony: Loyalty, Laughter, Generosity, Honesty, Kindness. When those come together they create the sixth element: Magic or Friendship. Surely you who have wielded them would remember all of this.” Draigo expounded as he continued his air calculations.

“Yes, We remember how the Elements work.” Celestia said curiously. Luna looked up at the mention of friendship and wondered if that would actually work to patch up her relationship with Celestia.

“Why would that work for Us?” Luna asked sadly.

“Art thou not friends with thine sister? Doth friends not forgive one another and make up? Friendship is the key for without it both the elements and relationships don’t work.” Draigo said as he finished his calculations and turned on the both of them.

“Friends doth make up?” Luna asked curiously and looked a tiny bit hopeful.

“Friends get into arguments. Yet they forgive each other and make up. Tis the same with thy sister. Both of thee have forgotten what the elements actually represent. For harmony is not one of the things between thee. Now, forgive thy sister, make up, and strive to be better.” Draigo told them both.

“Forgiving mine sister wilt not be easy.” Luna said at length. “Especially since she hath practically ignored me after Discord’s chaotic invasion.”

“If that were actually true then the elements would never have worked and Discord would still rule. Thou may feel that way and it may take a very long time for true forgiveness, but each of thee have said thou want to talk more. Start there and take small steps in getting to know each other again. Both of thee will have more time after I take care of the monster attacks so start rescheduling.” Draigo said with a confident smirk.

Both Luna and Celestia looked at each other warily before slowly nodding at each other. Luna smiled sadly at Celestia while Celestia smiled cautiously at Luna.

“Art thou willing to forgive me, dear sister?” Celestia asked softly.

“If We take this in small steps, like the dragon suggested, then there may be room for forgiveness, Sister.” Luna replied to her.

“Well, it’s either that or one of you gets banished to the moon/sun.” Draigo admitted offhandedly.

“Hey, look! I- what’s going on here?” Skye asked from a bit beyond the balcony, tilting her head in confusion.

“Oh, I just told them that they either forgive each other or one of them gets banished to the moon/sun.” Draigo told Skye, not even realising that she was actually floating around.

“That’s a bit on the nose but I’m glad the two of you are actually making up.” Skye said casually to the both of them.

“We wilt take things slow but we shouldst be better off for it.” Luna said softly with a small smile on her muzzle.

“I think a phrase Joseph uses would fit here. Good on ya, Sheila.” Draigo said in his best Aussie accent. “Looks like no one is going to get blasted with the elements for a good long while and that’s a good thing.”

“That accent was terrible.” Skye said bluntly.

“I’ve only been around the accent for a few days so of course it’s terrible. I just couldn’t not try using it.” Draigo said with a shrug of his wings.

“Princesses, it’s good to hear that the both of you are trying to repair your relationship with each other.” Skye said and bowed respectfully. She then looked at Draigo’s back and tapped it with her scythe. “Were you a therapist back on Earth?”

“Nope, I’ve just had a really, really long time to think about things. That and I live with Celestia and Luna. So I know what they’ve done to start repairing their relationship after Luna got back from her thousand year stint in the moon.” Draigo told her.

Skye floated around to Draigo’s front and sighed. “You live with the two mares you like?” she asked in disbelief.

“I’ve got a separate room in Canterlot Castle, but yes. They basically made it so I couldn’t say no when they asked me to stay with them. What with the almost tears, sad expressions, and desperation in their voices.” Draigo admitted.

“That’s what I call being desperate.” Skye commented.

“They’re immortal and they wanted someone near them that they didn’t have to say goodbye to after a hundred or so years. That’s one of the reasons that I didn’t really develop friendships until I met them for the first time. I got tired of goodbyes.” Draigo explained.

“I take it back then. It’s more sad than anything else.” Skye amended and floated down to the balcony floor.

“I can’t say otherwise about that.” Draigo admitted after a moment of thought.

“Do you notice anything different?” Skye asked suddenly, concentrating a bit and slowly floated up and down. “I finally figured it out!”

“Wait, you’re floating?” Draigo said and observed her movement. “You are! Great job. Can you do that while doing other things or does it take a lot of concentration so far?”

Skye, Celestia and Luna smacked their foreheads in unison. “How dense are you? I’ve been floating this whole time! Besides, I don’t know if I can do other things while floating, for now, I just want to get this down pat until it’s second nature to me.” Skye answered.

“Um...it depends on the moment.” Draigo said as he rubbed the back of his head. “Any idea how wind affects you?”

“Not yet.” Skye replied. “I’ve only just figured out how to move up and down.”

“Well, there’s no time like the present.”Draigo said as he flapped his wings towards Skye.

“What?” Skye asked and immediately blew away with the wind, only managing to stop herself from hitting the castle wall just in time. “What’s the big idea?” she called out.

“Well the big idea was for you to get used to your abilities.” Draigo said with a smirk. “Wind seems to affect you to a great degree. It’s like you’re a freakin’ sail.” Draigo observed.

“Of course it does! I’m a skeleton, I can’t be any less aerodynamic! The wind just goes right through me!” Skye argued, slowly floating towards the three of them.

“Well, hopefully that will change once you’ve gotten used to it. So, who wants a safe zone from the monsters?” Draigo said to change the subject. Celestia and Luna both shot their hooves up like they were little foals again before having no idea on what the safe zone could be.

“A safe zone?” Luna asked, slowly bringing her hoof back down.

“An area that the monsters can’t enter into.” Draigo told them.

“That sounds simple enough.” Celestia said, bringing her hoof back down as well. Skye floated down and tapped a finger against her skull.

“How big will the safe zone be?” she asked him.

“The castle and some surrounding area. Will that suffice?” Draigo said. “I can make it bigger if needed.”

“That area is a fairly large one. Art thou sure thee hast sufficient magic?” Luna asked, standing up and walking towards the balcony railing.

“Well, I’ve been like this for fourteen billion years and have been using my magic and building up its reserves since day one. Think that will be enough?” Draigo said.

“That shalt be more than enough.” Celestia said and looked at Luna for a moment before returning her attention to Draigo.

“Now, there is one condition that you may not like.” Draigo told the group.

“What condition?” Skye, Celestia and Luna asked at the same time.

“I have to claim the entire area as part of my hoard.” Draigo said both quietly and sheepishly.

“What’s a hoard?” Skye asked, utterly confused by the concept.

“Well, for normal dragons it’s a pile of treasure they claim as theirs. For me and my dragons it’s whatever they believe is valuable that they collect. If I claim the entire area as my hoard that basically means I own anything and everything associated with it. Which is why you may not like it.” Draigo explained.

“So would that also mean any living thing inside it as well?” Skye asked.

“Yes, it would. It wouldn’t really change anything for anyone besides me. If something tried to steal, destroy, or claim for their own any part of my hoard I would instinctively defend my hoard to the death. This shouldn’t apply to ponies, though.” Draigo clarified. “I’m just not sure if anyone wants to be ‘owned’ by another being.”

“If you claim this castle, you ‘own’ everything in it as well, including the Princesses, Clover, Starswirl and me?” Skye asked, backing away a bit and trying to think this whole claim thing through.

“Anything and everything, yes. I won’t take anything and it’ll only change how I react to anything that attacks this place while I’m here. Once I’m gone the effect will remain and nothing more.” Draigo told them.

“Oh. I get it now. I’m up for it then.” Skye said, raising her hand and looking at the princesses. “Ultimately, it’ll be up to you two to decide.” Skye said sheepishly after noticing their looks.

“To tell the truth, this is my last ditch idea to defend my Equestria. With this I’ll be able to apply a magic powerful enough to keep everything out, should we want it like that, and I do mean everything.” Draigo told the hesitant princesses.

“Thou wants to claim this castle and the occupants, to protect Us from the various mythical beasts?” Celestia asked in trepidation.

“Yes, it’s only for protection. Nothing else, I swear upon my love for my Princesses.” Draigo said as he knelt down and spread his wings across the floor.

“How doth thou show thine claimage on this castle?” Luna asked with slightly less hesitation than her sister.

“I spread my magic and smell around the entire area. For the smell, all I’d have to do is fly or walk around enough, nothing obscene.” Draigo told her. “Oh, there’s also a ritualistic phrase I must say.”

“An incantation?” Luna asked curiously.

“Basically, yeah. I’ll be saying it while I spread my magic.” Draigo said to Luna.

Luna beckoned for Celestia to follow her away from Skye and Draigo so they could talk about the hoard idea in private.

“I don’t think they’ll take to it.” Skye said as soon as they were out of earshot.

“Well, no being wants to be owned by another whether it’s just for protection or not.” Draigo replied.

“Sad but true.” Skye replied. “Do you have enemies of your own that caused you to come up with this idea back in your Equestria?”

“Yes, I do. They are fellow primordial beings, according to the info I got on my trip to visit the Asian dragons.” Draigo told her.

“That can’t be a good sign.” Skye commented and thought of something Draigo said earlier. “With Joseph, do you remember him mentioning any family when you hung out with him?”

“Hmm, he had a talking potato named Crikey who was apparently his friend. Other than that he didn’t mention any family.” Draigo said with a thoughtful look.

“I don’t think- wait. A talking potato?” Skye asked in surprise. “HA! He’s finally cracked it!!” Skye announced before bursting out in laughter.

“That’s what I thought as well. Then I isolated the potato from any other sources of magic and it talked to me. It was kinda rude.” Draigo told her.

“It actually does talk?” Skye asked through fits of laughter.

“Yeah and it’s name is Crikey. I don’t know how to explain it, but I put it inside a time bubble and made sure there weren’t any people inside it who could make it talk. I had to grant two wishes because of that as well.” Draigo said in a slightly miffed tone.

“So you made a bet with Joseph?” Skye asked, not really noticing that Celestia and Luna had finished their conversation and were now listening in.

“I told him that I’d grant Twilight and Fluttershy one wish each if it turned out he wasn’t crazy and the potato could actually talk.” Draigo clarified.

“What art thou speaking of?” Celestia asked them.

“Oh, just another Displaced that happens to be my cousin. Have you two come to a decision?” Skye asked, smoothly switching topics.

“He’s your cousin!? Talk about a small multiverse. You wouldn’t happen to know anyone named, Jason, Derrick, or Sora would you? They’re some of the few other Displaced I’ve met.” Draigo asked after hearing that Skye and Joseph were related.

“I heard of Derrick back on Earth. I hung out with the same group of friends he did, apparently. I joined after a bonfire incident happened and you just solved the mystery. He’s been Displaced. No idea who the others are though.” Skye announced and looked back to the princesses.

“Well, hang onto your cloak because Derrick is now Crystal and she’s preggo.” Draigo told her, ignoring the two Alicorns nearby for now.

“Derrick … is now Crystal. Derrick turned into a girl and managed to get pregnant. How does that even work?” Skye asked in disbelief and walked over to the balcony and leaned against it. “I don’t even know who Derrick is, I only know the group of friends he hung around with and on the day of my death, they told me a bit about him. I apparently joined their group two months after Derrick disappeared so there’s that.”

“Well, I’m unsure who changed Derrick, but it was probably some really powerful being who was bored.” Draigo told her.

“I’d blink if I could. Wait, isn’t Crystal the girl you mentioned that was nearly killed by the dragon you had killed?” Skye asked, remembering him saying something about a Crystal.

“The one and the same. She was pregnant and still decided to fight a four billion year old dragon. She definitely has guts.” Draigo responded.

“How far along was she if she decided to fight a four billion year old dragon!?” Skye asked in shock, now ignoring the princesses for the moment.

“I believe she said four or five days.” Draigo said as he thought back to that date.

“We hath come to a decision.” Celestia said a lot more loudly than necessary, nearly going into the Royal Canterlot voice and wanting to put a stop to this conversation and tried to steer it back on track.

“Ah, right. What is your decision?” Draigo asked after letting the ringing in his ears subside a bit.

“Give me a sec …” Skye called out, her skull visibly vibrating from the frequency.

“The both of Us have agreed to thee claiming this castle for thine hoard. On the condition that ‘tis only for protection and nothing else.” Celestia said forcefully while Luna watched Skye’s skull vibrate in amusement.

“I accept your conditions and swear to do my best to protect this area while I’m here.” Draigo said in a very official sounding voice.

“Thank thee.” Celestia responded with a slight bowing of her head. Luna walked over to Skye and cautiously tapped her skull with a hoof to see if she responded.

“Art thou okay?” Luna asked concernedly.

“Fine! Don’t tap!” Skye shouted, the ringing in her skull going up and down in frequency.

“I’ll take care of claiming this area in the morning. That way anything watching can see me and will know what they’re going up against should they be stupid enough to try to attack after getting past the magic I’ll set up.” Draigo told Celestia as he laid a opened claw on top of Skye’s skull to help absorb the vibrations.

“‘Tis a sound plan.” Celestia agreed with a slight yawn. “I need to rise in a few hours to raise the sun,” she added.

Skye felt the vibrations leave through the top of her skull and slowly felt her head go back to being a normal skull. “That loud voice knocked me around for a bit. Did they agree or not? I couldn’t really hear them.” Skye commented.

“This castle and everything else shall be mine come morning so long as it’s only for protection.” Draigo said as he wondered where they were sleeping tonight.

“Oh, great. Glad they agreed to it as well. Any idea where we’ll be sleeping tonight?” Skye said, clapping her hands in delight.

“I shalt show thee to thine chambers. We discussed this at length after agreeing to Draigo’s claimage.” Luna said and looked to the both of them.

“Oh, thank you, Luna.” Draigo said with a slight incline of his head.

“Yeah, thanks.” Skye said. Luna inclined her head to Draigo and then beckoned for the both of them to follow her.

“We shalt see thou later in the day for a talk.” Luna told Celestia as they went past, who nodded with a smile.

“We shall. See thou later on, dear sister.” Celestia replied and watched them leave through her chamber doors.

“Are we in guest chambers or something else? Cause I’ve slept in my princess’ treasury before.” Draigo asked as he followed Luna.

The guards stationed outside Princess Celestia’s chambers did a double take when they saw three different beings walk out instead of the usual one being Princess Celestia.

“Thou shalt reside in guest chambers for the time being.” Luna answered. “Unless thou hath other preferences.”

“Well, I do, but they involve my princesses and I found that the treasury doesn’t offer much privacy.” Draigo replied.

“Thou wouldst prefer to rest in royal chambers rather than a treasury?” Luna asked confusedly as they turned a corner into one of the many guest chambers in the castle.

“Yes, but it’s more about who is there than the actual room. It’s very nice to fall asleep with a body or two pressed against you.” Draigo clarified.

“Ah. So ‘tis more for warmth than area size?” Luna asked again.

“I wouldn’t qualify then.” Skye commented.

“I’m plenty warm by myself, but it’s reassuring to know someone or some people are comfortable enough around me to fall asleep. There have been plenty of ponies in the past who ran away screaming before I could say a word when they first met me.” Draigo answered.

“I believe I understand now.” Luna replied and looked over at Skye in concern when she heard sobbing sounds coming from the skeleton.

“Something wrong, Skye?” Draigo asked after noticing the sobbing sounds.

“It’s … nothing. I’ll be fine … once I get to my room.” Skye replied through a few hiccuping sounds.

“Uh huh, not buying it, Miss Waterworks. What’s up?” Draigo asked again.

“Noth *hic* ing. I’m fine!” Skye replied with the same answer, just hoping that her room was close by.

“Maybe you’re a little homesick now that you’re going to sleep? Or maybe you’re sad because you don’t need sleep now that you’re the Grim Reaper?” Draigo said as he started to guess what was wrong.

“If I was *hic homesick, it would have *hic* hit me when I was imprisoned.” Skye tried to evade the guesses by lowering her hood over her face.

“Hmm, true. Was it something I said that triggered this?” Draigo wondered. Skye remained silent but it was broken by her hiccuping.

“Ah, so it was. I’m sorry for bringing up a sad memory for you.” Draigo apologized. Skye shook her head in response to that. Luna opened a door near the next corner with her magic and lead the both of them inside. Once they were all in, she closed the door behind them and turned around to try and help sort out this problem.

“Okay, you’re sad and/or upset about something. What can we do to help?” Draigo said to the hiccupping skeleton.

“N-Nothing. If I say I’m fine, then I’m fine!” Skye answered.

Draigo walked over and wrapped a wing around her. “I’m sorry, but that’s the wrong answer.” He gave her a squeeze and hoped she’d say something besides ‘nothing’ and ‘I’m fine.’

“Of course it’s not the wrong answer. It’s the right answer for me. I’m fine and the two of you don’t need to be concerned about me!” Skye repeated, trying to to dodge the issue at hand.

“Once again, that’s not the answer we were looking for. Do you care to buy a vowel?” Draigo asked in game show announcer voice.

“A towel?” Skye asked, thinking he pronounced a ‘t’ instead of a ‘v’.

“A vowel, dear. If you are actually homesick and lied about it before know that I’ve been there. For ten billions years at that.” Draigo told her.

“I don’t want to buy a vowel, I want to go home!” Skye shouted in a moment of confused and angered weakness.

“Ah, so it is homesickness. Luna and I are here for you. What can we do to help?” Draigo said in a calm, understanding voice.

“Nothing, I’m fine, I don’t want to go home.” Skye answered as she reverted back to bottling up her feelings.

“Do you know how a bullet is fired? There’s pressure that builds up behind it and forces it out the barrel. If you keep bottling up your feeling you’re just going to blow up later on and regret it, most likely. I know I have.” Draigo told her.

“Of course I know how a bullet is fired. Once it is, it hits home in a target, just like how I want to go home.” Skye said and immediately covered her mouth after the fact.

“Go on, let out your rage, your sadness, and everything else. You’ll feel better afterwards, trust me.” Draigo said.

“But I don’t want to! If I do, knowing what I know about myself, then I could probably kill Princess Luna!” Skye shouted in anger, not even realising she had gotten into a fighting stance with her scythe held out in front of her.

“You think I’d let something happen to her while I’m around? You’re dead wrong.” Draigo said firmly. “Do you know what happened when I blew up after bottling up my rage and sadness?”

“Dead? That’s what I am! I died and I won’t be able to go back home because of it!” Skye raged at him, ignoring his questions.

“You’ll be dead in more ways than one if you don’t let out your feelings. Heck, I almost destroyed my entire planet because I did exactly what you are doing.” Draigo said.

“‘I’ll be dead in more ways than one’?” Skye repeated. “How the hell does that happen?”

“Emotionally dead. Right now you’re fine, but once you blow up due to bottled up emotions you’ll slowly die emotionally if you keep bottling them up afterwards. Do you never want to feel happiness again? Cause that’s possible.” Draigo said as he grabbed her scythe’s staff.

“No, I don’t! If I can’t go back home, then I don’t want to feel anything anymore! It’ll be perfect for when I finally head off to Tartarus!” Skye cried, tightening her grip on her scythe and pulling it back towards her.

“Let me tell you that you could be way worse off than you are right now. You could be a pony that has to run away from her ruler because that ruler is trying to hurt you or do very bad and explicit things to you. How do I know this? Cause I met three mares who have to do that on an almost daily basis while they deal with quirks they have absolutely no control over. So, think they don’t want to feel anything anymore? Well, they don’t, but they let their emotions out so that if they somehow find a way home they aren’t going home as a zombie.” Draigo told her as he remembered Brutalight Sparcake’s and her friends’ situation. He pulled the scythe towards him in hopes of wearing Skye down physically so she would let go emotionally.

“Who art these mares thou speaketh of?” Luna asked Draigo suddenly.

“Good for them. I can’t go home so I think I can let myself not feel anything!” Skye replied, taking back her scythe before suddenly letting go of it.

“Those mares are hopefully no one you ever meet that in the same kind of situation as Skye and myself.” Draigo said to Luna. “Now, who said you can’t go home? If you think you can’t go home due to you ‘dying’ then think again! Anything is possible in the void and in the multiverse. Anything!” Draigo stepped back a bit and held onto Skye’s scythe, surprised she had let go so early.

“I don’t think I told you what kind of death I got dealt. Decapitation. If I go back, I will be inhabiting a headless body that is most likely in the ground by now. So no, I can’t go back home because my old body won’t be there, happy with that answer?” Skye asked coldly, snapping her fingers and summoning her scythe back to her side before suddenly swinging it at Draigo’s head in a cold rage.

Draigo watched the scythe coming towards him and caught it with his teeth at the last moment. He bit down and shattered the scythe’s blade. “What do you call that underneath your cloak? All it needs is some flesh and you’re all set. Like I said anything is possible!”

Skye flung the staff across the room, barely noticing it being caught in azure magic. “I call this a skeleton. I can’t get flesh, considering this ‘void’ you mentioned stripped me of it in the first place!”

“Then was what you said earlier a lie when you said my magic was trying to give you flesh? If it tried then it can succeed. You’ve only seen the tip of both my abilities and magical might. You want to fight then bring it. You want to kill something then kill me. Whatever it takes to make you feel better.” Draigo said in an equally cold voice as Skye’s from earlier.

Skye let her magic pool in her hand, slowly darkening the bone as some of it spilled over the sides of her open palm. She tried to induce fear in him by letting her rage pour into her magic as well when she extended multiple tendrils out to him.

“Good try, but my draconic form is nowhere near as weak as my human form. Like this, I’m immune to magic. It sucks when I get injured, but otherwise it’s handy.” Draigo said as he confronted the tendrils of magic. “So, hit me with your best shot.”

“That’s what I’m trying to do, but it doesn’t appear to be working!” the worked up skeleton said, cutting off the flow of magic. “Just leave me alone for the night, I’m sure I’ll be fine in the morning.” Skye said softly, a stark contrast to how she was acting moments before.

“Sure, you’ll be fine in the morning. You’ll have something else to keep your mind off of this. That doesn't mean it’s gone or over. You’re going to need to let someone in who you trust enough to listen and be there for you when you get like this.” Draigo said with a sigh. “That obviously isn’t Luna or I.”

“Yeah, obviously.” Skye muttered and finally took a look around the room. There was a neatly made bed in a corner, along with a few odds and ends that could have passed for tables. “I suppose this is my room?” Skye asked, Luna.

“If that is what thou wishes.” Luna responded, finding it exceptionally hard to imagine this skeleton being sad. She looked a bit downcast as she left the room, waiting for Draigo to reappear outside as she closed the door behind her.

“Know that I'm here if you decide you want to talk about things.” Draigo said and walked out of the room to join Luna.

“Don’t count on it.” Skye said bitterly and watched the door close behind him.

“Skye is not forthcoming with her inner turmoil?” Luna asked when Draigo walked out the room.

“Nope. She's going to eventually blow up over something that isn't really a big deal at this rate.” Draigo said as he shook his head.

“Skye is making a ‘big deal’ out of it, though.” Luna responded as she began to lead him over to the west side of the castle.

“This is something that is a big deal until she gets over her homesickness. Down the line she could blow up because of a stubbed toe or something insignificant like that. If she doesn't learn to open up to someone or let her feelings out, that is.” Draigo told her as he followed her lead.

“That doth not sound like a good plan with the way she is handling her feelings for the moment.” Luna replied morosely. “A change of subject. How wouldst thou like to sleep in mine chambers? I thought about it while thou were trying to get Skye to open up.”

Draigo stutter stepped when he heard Luna’s proposal. “That sounds wonderful. Thou dost not mind sharing thy chambers with me?” Draigo asked, a bit surprised that he had gained her trust in such a short amount of time.

“I wanted to thank thou for starting reparations on Our relationship. I am more trusting than mine sister is.” Luna explained as she giggled a bit at Draigo’s stumble.

“Thou art most welcome. I'm glad I could help the both of thee.” Draigo told her with a smile. “Unfortunately, I was unable to help the princesses in my world in the same way.”

“That is most unfortunate.” Luna replied. She lead him down the now familiar halls, knowing that they were almost to her chambers. “I am glad that thou agrees with mine decision on thy sleeping arrangements,” she added with a smile.

“I'm glad that thou thought to offer this arrangement.” Draigo replied with a smile of his own. “Tis been awhile since I've had such arrangements and I truly do miss this arrangement. Tis a very thoughtful gift, Luna.”

“After what thou said about thine own sleeping arrangements back home, I thought it would be better for thee.” Luna said slowly as she tried to explain her reasoning further while her cheeks darkened a bit.

“Well, thank thee. This will be a wonderful night’s sleep.” Dragio said cheerfully as he avoided looking directly at Luna and his scales darkened as well.

“I canst agree more.” Luna replied happily. Soon enough, they rounded the corner into the final hallway. “Mine chambers art just up here.” Luna indicated where they were by slowly opening the door with her magic before they walked up to it.

“Didst thou send thy guard away or didst thou not have a guard posted outside thine chambers?” Draigo wondered as he didn’t notice any night guard in the area.

“I doth not hath a guard posted outside mine chambers. Most of them are too sleepy to guard me at night.” Luna replied with a small sigh.

“Hmm, art there no Thestrals thou couldst recruit? They make up a majority of the Night Guard in my world.” Draigo inquired as they entered Luna’s chambers.

“If there art any Thestrals, We hath not discovered any to recruit.” Luna said and stepped to the side so Draigo could walk in fully.

“Tis sad to hear that. They make wonderful Night Guard since they are nocturnal.” Draigo said as he fully entered her chambers.

“They are?” Luna asked, her ears perking up slightly at this.

“Varily. They are also known as ‘Bat Ponies’ in my world. They are also more competent than their Day Guard counterparts, for some reason.” Draigo explained.

“Mine sister’s guards art competent for now but they quail in fear whenever a monster attacks.” Luna responded and sat next to the door for the time being.

“Tis almost as bad as incompetency since the monster attacks have been going on for decades now.” Draigo said a bit grumpily. “I can not stand incompetent guards.”

“Maybe I should talk with mine sister about disciplining the guards.” Luna suggested, more to herself than anything.

“Perhaps, but for now we should retire lest we not get enough sleep before thine sister raises the sun.” Draigo suggested. Luna nodded in agreement and gave a small yawn before walking up to her bed. She stopped before it though and turned back to Draigo.

“Where and how wouldst thou sleep?” Luna asked with a quizzical look.

Draigo cleared his throat a bit. “The last time I had this arrangement I slept while side by side with mine partner. My wing draped over her to act as a blanket.” He told her as his face felt like it would catch fire.

“This an intimate thing?” Luna asked, blinking a bit.

“Twas mainly because I was feeling protective, but it can be called intimate.” Draigo explained. “Mine body radiates heat and she still wanted a blanket so I extended a wing over her since adding a blanket would have been sweltering for her.”

“It was more for protection then?” Luna asked as she hopped up onto her bed.

“Twas, but only by a hair. This was after I had accidentally brushed her chin with mine tail.” Draigo told her. “She decided that she would have me join her for the night as a way to ‘punish’ me for it. Of course, the smile on her face gave her away.”

“Hmm.” Luna hummed and thought on it for a bit. “I suppose thou sleeping with me on mine bed wilt be fine,” she said slowly.

“Just let me know if thou gets uncomfortable. Thine comfort and sleep is more important than where I sleep.” Draigo said as he slowly joined Luna on her bed.

“I shalt. For the most part, I shouldst be fine.” Luna said wryly as she laid down comfortably. Draigo laid down next to her and curled his tail and neck around her leaving her enough room to move around.

“Tis good to hear. I wouldst hate to disturb thine sleep for more comfort for myself.” Draigo told her as he settled down and draped a wing over her.

“This is most certainly warm.” Luna commented as she snuggled into his embrace a bit.

“Tis good to hear.” Draigo said as his eyes started to droop before closing. A soft snore could be heard from him as small smoke plumes escaped his nostrils. Luna giggled a bit before following suit.

Chapter 8 - Ektoplomatin Search

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~THIRD PERSON POV~

Later on in the day, Luna woke up with a yawn. She opened her eyes and shook her head for a bit as she tried to figure out what the leathery feeling on her back was. She crawled out from underneath it and further onto her bed. After a bit, when she managed to wake up fully, she realised that the leathery feeling was Draigo’s wing.

“‘Twas a pleasant sleep.” Luna whispered to herself as her cheeks coloured. Draigo felt around with his wing a bit after Luna got out from under it. The wing folded against his body after finding nothing beneath it. Luna tilted her head at Draigo curiously as she watched his wing fold up.

“He looks peaceful.” Luna murmured after a bit. Draigo stirred a bit before muttering some words in a language Luna didn’t understand before settling back down. She flicked her ears at the language and wasn’t sure if she was familiar with it. “That language is odd,” she murmured before reaching out to shake him for a bit.

After a bit of shaking, Draigo’s eyes opened up and he let out a big yawn. He proceeded to stand and stretch his entire body to rid it of any kinks. Looking around, Draigo noticed Luna looking at him.

“Good morning, Luna. I hope thou slept well.” Draigo said after he was done stretching.

“Good morning, Draigo. I didst sleep well after thee draped thy wing over me.” Luna replied, smiling brightly at him.

“Tis good to know I can bring comfort to others.” Draigo told her. “Shouldst we go check on our emotional skeleton of a friend?”

“We shouldst, lest her emotions run rampant again.” Luna agreed, hopping off the bed and over to her door.

“Tis a worrisome affair, but one that she must go through,” Draigo said as he stepped off the bed and joined Luna.

“When thou was sleeping, an odd language thee spoke. Not sure what if it was familiar or not.” Luna said, quickly leading towards the room they left Skye in.

“Hmm, my dream was about the Asian dragons I recently visited so it was probably one of their languages.” Draigo told her as he matched her pace.

“A group of dragons thou hath created?” Luna asked with interest.

“Yes, they are almost complete opposites of me appearance-wise. They have no wings. Long, slender bodies, like unto a snake, and hair on their heads and ends of tails.” Draigo told her as they continued their journey to Skye’s room.

“Thou created opposite-dragons?” Luna asked him as she kept up the pace and soon rounded a corner into the hallway that Skye’s room was in.

“Yep, I also created dragons that look like me. Though, I truly only created the first pair of each race.” Draigo explained.

“What happened with those pairs? They went off and did their own thing?” Luna asked.

“Basically. The only thing the two races have in common is a sort-of religion that somehow got started by their descendants. The religion worships me as their god.” Draigo told her.

“Thy … descendants? worship thou as a god?” Luna asked in confusion.

“They do. Even though I have never once claimed to be a god.” Draigo said.

“Ah.” Luna said simply and opened the door to Skye’s room with her magic. The both of them walked in and found Skye rocking back and forth slightly in a corner of the room.

“Okay, what happened?” Draigo asked in a concerned voice.

“Just … old ... memories.” Skye said slowly as she moved her head about from corner to corner, not really seeing the dragon and princess in the room.

“I know what you mean. They tend to come up just when we don’t want them to.” Draigo said to the fledgling reaper.

“No … I just need my pills. I usually have them every few days to keep some monsters out of view. Monsters only I can see for some strange reason.” Skye tried to explain as she lowered her hood over her face in an attempt to block out her vision.

“Seems like they are spiritual monsters if only you can see them.” Draigo said.

“Worst part about this is that I can’t take pills anymore because I don’t have a functioning body to process them, not to mention they’re back home on Earth so we can forget about that.” Skye explained further while her rocking got a bit faster.

“Hmm, that is a problem. What do they look like?” Draigo asked.

“They’re little red pills I got prescribed to since I was ten years old. Ever since getting them, I’ve seen monsters but they’ve also kept them at bay. It’s a drug meant to help with my mind.” Skye answered as she measured the size with her forefinger and thumb.

“Interesting, but I meant the monsters. Anyway, do you know the ingredients in the pills?” Draigo asked.

“They just look like shadow creatures. Nothing more. One has a mask and he seems very nice but I haven’t really spoken to him. The only ingredient I remember in the pill was something called ‘ektoplomatin’. Apparently it’s an ingredient only found in South America.” Skye replied.

“Hmm, perhaps the Everfree has a similar plant. You don’t happen to know what it looks like, do you?” Draigo wondered.

“Nope. Never saw it in its plant form.” Skye answered as she kept her head down and looked to the floor.

“Well, is there anything you’d like us to do?” Draigo asked as he tried to think of something he could do.

“Which being prescribed thou to take these? Tis that human thou wast speaking with in thy dreams?” Luna asked. Skye nodded at her, too sunken into her memories to question how the princess could go into others’ dreams.

“Hmm, you sure he was actually a doctor? Sounds like the drug made the monsters appear in the first place.” Draigo said after thinking about what Skye had told them some more.

“I guess I could always see them but just never noticed?” Skye said uncertainly, terrifyingly unsure of what was real or not. “I don’t really know if I’ve gone into withdrawal yet or not.”

“How long has it been since your last pill?” Draigo asked.

“Four days, I believe. No, scratch that. Five. I took a pill the day before I got Displaced.” Skye responded.

“Well, that’s long enough for withdrawal symptoms to appear. Any idea how to get the ekto stuff besides going to South America? That seems to be the only solution.” Draigo said.

“That’s a hard no.” Skye said forcefully, curling up into a ball while shaking violently.

“Is she withdrawing into herself?” Luna asked.

“She’s gone into a fetal position. So, yes and no. You’re going to have to endure it until we can figure something out I’m afraid.” Draigo told the rocking skeleton.

“That … is not .. going to go down well.” Skye squeaked uncharacteristically.

“No, it definitely won’t. I might be able to do something after I claim this area for my hoard, but until then all I can do is help you get through this.” Draigo told her. Skye couldn’t respond as clacking bones sounded out from how violently she was shaking. Draigo reached out with his magic and dampened the vibrations until they were gone.

“Skye, hang in there. I can claim this area in minutes. I just need to get outside.” Draigo said.

Luna frowned at Skye and directed Draigo the quickest way to fly out of the castle. She promised him that she would keep watch over Skye and let him know if her condition worsened.

Draigo quickly flew up above the castle and spread his arms out to the side as he grew into his full size and hovered in a vertical position. His body began to glow and particles of magic began to descend into the entire area.

“I, Draigo the Primordial dragon, due hereby claim this castle, its surrounding area and all who reside therein as part of my hoard. Let all those who hear this know that I will defend this place and its residents with my life. Only those who have been authorized by myself or my representatives may enter here.” Draigo intoned as his magic embedded in everything in the affected area. After his magic permeated the entire area he glided back down to see how Skye and Luna were doing.

“Greetings, Draigo. She hath not rested throughout the night.” Luna said and pointed to the bed. Its sheets were unwrinkled and it looked like it hadn’t been slept in in ages. “‘Tis something that hath bothered me since thou left.”

“I don’t think she needs to sleep anymore, but I could be wrong. I’ve claimed the area for my hoard. Has she gotten any better or worse?” Draigo asked.

“She hath hiccupped and given a few shakes.” Luna replied as she continued to observe Skye in concern.

“Okay, so monsters can’t attack this place anymore. That lets me go into the forest and search for the plant, if it grows here, without worrying about monsters coming to get you guys.” Draigo told her. “Problem is, we’ve got no idea what it looks like.”

“I doth not know what this plant looks like either.” Luna said sadly, watching Skye shake rapidly a bit, then calm down slightly.

“Skye’s the only one who has even a chance of knowing what it looks like and she already said she doesn’t know.” Draigo said as he tried to think of a solution.

“Maybe I couldst go into her dreams and locate the plant?” Luna asked uncertainly. “This shalt be a last resort if we canst think of nothing else to find the plant.”

“Do you have a book with pictures of the plants that grow in the Everfree?” Draigo asked.

“Starswirl and Clover shouldst know which book we have need of.” Luna answered.

“Where would they be right now?” Draigo said.

“With the new capture of these monsters, then they wouldst be in the dungeons.” Luna said.

“Got it.” Draigo said as he rushed out of the room. He moved past Luna and Skye as fast as he could and made his way toward the dungeons. Once he found Starswirl and Clover he dug his claws into the floor and ground to a halt just short of running into them.

Clover and Starswirl whirled around at the sudden intrusion, a fearful look in their eyes before recognising who it was.

“Draigo, what art thou doing here?” Clover asked, surprise evident on her face.

“I need a book that has pictures of every plant that grows in the Everfree.” Draigo said as he breathed heavily.

“Why wouldst thou need a book on botany?” Clover asked as she quirked a brow underneath her brown tweed hood.

“I need to find a plant that contains ekto...ekto...ekto something. Skye needs it for medicine.” Draigo said as he struggled to remember the ingredient’s entire name.

“Ekto ... “ Clover repeated and tried to think if she remembered the rest of the word.

“Skye needs this ‘Ekto’ plant for medicinal purposes?” Starswirl asked.

“Yes, she’s already exhibiting withdrawal symptoms so we need to find it as quickly as possible.” Draigo explained to the unicorns.

“Clover, wouldst thou be able to show this dragon the book on Everfree Plants?” Starswirl asked his assistant once he realised how desperate Draigo sounded.

“Sure. It shouldst be in Our study chambers.” Clover replied and inclined her head to Starswirl.

“Alright, lead the way.” Draigo told her.

Clover complied and began to run towards her study chambers after sensing how desperate Draigo was to find this plant. Draigo kept pace with Clover as they wove through the castle to reach her study chambers.

“How quickly doth Skye need this plant?” Clover panted.

“Yester-day.” Draigo said between deep breaths. “It’s been … five days since ... she last … took her medication.”

Clover blinked at this and managed to run faster, getting to her study chambers in record time. She wrenched open the door and began rifling through the many books littered about to try and find the right one. Draigo stood in the doorway knowing that he’d only get in her way as she searched for the book they needed.

Getting increasingly desperate, Clover used her magic and levitated multiple books around her and rotated them around her head to find the book that way. “No, no, no, no …” she repeated this over and over, growing frustrated at not being able to find it. “Oh come on! This should be a lot easier to find!” Clover shouted to herself as she ran into the back of the room to look for it there.

“How many books do you have in here? The whole library?” Draigo asked as the sheer amount of books in the room finally hit him. A triumphant shout echoed from within the room as a book sailed out towards Draigo.

“Whoa!” Draigo exclaimed as he clapped his claws together to catch the flying book.

“Not the whole library, just half of it.” Clover admitted sheepishly, trotting out of the room and inspecting the book. “Is that the book thou wanted?”

Draigo opened the book and leafed through it to see that each entry had a picture of its described plant.

“Yeah. Now we just need to discover which is the plant that contains the ekto stuff then find it in the forest.” Draigo said as he began scanning each entry for that ekto word. Once he reached the middle of the ‘E’ section, he found a moss-covered tree with spotted bark as the picture and the title above it said ‘Ektoplomatin’.

“Okay, so it’s a moss covered tree. Now I just have to find a specific tree in a forest.” Draigo said in an exasperated tone.

“This tree hath spotted bark. It shouldst be easy … no it wouldst not.” Clover backtracked as she realised just where the castle was.

“Any ideas on how to quicken our search?” Draigo asked hopefully.

“No, sorry.” Clover said and flattened her ears in way of apology.

“Is this tree any bigger or smaller than the rest?” Draigo asked as he searched its entry for anything helpful.

“It details the height, colouration and the general area of where it grows.” Clover responded as she searched the entry with Draigo. “The general area is ... Everfree. That didst nothing for Us.” Clover said with a slight puff of anger.

“Is there a way for you to communicate with me if I were to leave to begin searching the Everfree for this tree? I ask because that could cut down on the time needed to find it and bring it back.” Draigo said as they continued to search the entry for helpful information.

“I hath no idea on such communication.” Clover said with an apologetic tone as she flattened her ears against her head again.

“Alright, don’t get down on me. I’m just thinking of things and asking about them as they come to me. Does this thing have any distinguishing features besides spotted bark? Cause that might not be the easiest thing to spot from the air.” Draigo wondered.

“Down here,” Clover pointed to a part of the description they overlooked. “It says that this tree usually hath red leaves throughout most of the year. The only time it doth not, is when Summer rolls around.” Clover read out loud.

“It’s not summer right now, right? Please tell me it’s not summer.” Draigo said as he began to leave the room.

“No … tis nearly summer though.” Clover said uneasily.

“Thank goodness. Where’s the closest spot to fly out of?” Draigo asked, relief evident in his voice.

“Out the library.” Clover said automatically and pointed to the double doors at one end of the corridor. “Through those double doors at the end.”

“Thanks, Clover. I owe you one.” Draigo said as he bolted for the double doors. Once there he threw them wide and took off through the nearest window. He was soon above the Everfree forest and searching for any sign of those red leaves.

After about twenty minutes of searching, Draigo finally spotted some red in the massive sea of green below him. He flew towards it and found a clearing to land in that was nearby his intended target. Upon landing, he saw that the tree indeed had red leaves and spotted bark. It wasn’t until he got to the tree that he realised one crucial thing he forgot to find out. What part of the tree was needed for the medicine?

Once he thought about his new conundrum for a moment he came up with an idea. If he didn’t know what part he needed then he’d just bring the entire tree. He grew to his full size and yanked the now small tree from the ground and took off back towards the castle.

Upon arrival at the castle, Draigo looked around for a place to put his cargo. He found a courtyard without a roof after a little searching and set the tree down in it as he shrunk down. He then flew back through the library to find Clover. Hoping the book would tell them which part to use for medicine.

“Clover! Can you hear me, Clover!?” Draigo shouted as soon as he got into the library.

“Doth not shout at me!” Clover shouted back, ears ringing as she walked out of one of the aisles. “Didst thou find the correct tree?”

“Sorry, and yes I did. I forgot to find out which part to use for medicine, though. So, I brought back the entire tree.” Draigo told her with embarrassment tinging his voice.

“Thou brought the entire tree here?” Clover asked in shock. She recovered quickly though and magicked the book out in front of her. “I hath tried to discern which part thou needs since thee left but this book doth not specify. So I came in here to find some more information.”

“Yeah, I put it in a nearby courtyard. Find anything before I shouted for you?” Draigo asked.

“I believe to hath found the correct tree in this book.” Clover said helpfully, magicking another book from the shelf behind her. She went through the pages quickly and went back to the page she was on before. It showed the same tree as before, except it contained more information than the other book.

“Hopefully we can make it into a paste or something to rub onto Skye. She doesn’t exactly have anything besides bones for a body.” Draigo said as he thought about the types of medicine he knew about.

Clover hummed and quickly scanned the page. “Either the moss … or the bark … or both. Mix them together with some red leaves to make it into a paste which thou can then apply to the affected area.” Clover recited from the book. “Doth that help?”

“Yes, it does. Thank you, Clover!” Draigo said excitedly and gave Clover a peck on the cheek. Not really thinking after everything that had happened this morning.

“Um.” Clover mumbled, her cheeks colouring at the kiss. “I art glad to hath helped thee,” she managed to say.

Draigo flew through the window he came in through, ignoring Clover’s blush, and landed in the courtyard next to the tree. He took a clawful of both the bark and moss then a clawful of the red leaves. Conjuring up some water, he ground the ingredients together with his bare claws as he added water to make the paste. After he was satisfied with the paste’s consistency he flew off toward the guest area of the castle.

Upon arrival at the guest area he saw Luna in the doorway of Skye’s room.

“How is she?” Draigo asked as he walked on only his hind legs.

“Her condition ... hath worsened considerably.” Luna said tiredly, noticeable lines around her eyes. “She hath started to … ‘suck the life out of the air’,” she said uneasily, giving off a large yawn and leaning against the doorframe for support.

Draigo gasped when Luna told him the extent of Skye’s condition. He then laid his tail across her withers and poured some Aether from himself into her to counteract any life she’d lost to Skye’s ability.

“I have the medicine.” Draigo told her as he held out both of his claws that were covered in the paste he’d made.

“That’s … good.” Luna replied, not really feeling the effects of Draigo’s Aether spell. Behind her, Skye hadn’t moved from her curled up position in the corner. Black magic pooled beneath her with one noticeable tendril hovering near Luna with another one slowly stretching out towards Draigo.

“Suck all the life from me that you want. I’ve got more than enough.” Draigo said as he reached down and started to rub the medicine onto Skye’s skull. He increased the amount of Aether that he was pouring into Luna after seeing the tendrils of black magic stretching towards them both.

The medicine reacted with Skye’s magic. As Draigo continued to rub it in, Skye’s magic slowly quietened down, the pool of blackness slowly disappearing with the tendrils of magic retreating as well. The one near Luna stayed close by her a lot longer than it should have before finally pulling back into Skye.

“Skye, can you hear me? If you can, nod your head.” Draigo said after Skye’s magic was under control.

“AH!” Skye screamed as she sat up, looking around quickly to see if there were any shadow creatures about. “What … what happened?” she asked quickly, barely noticing the occupants in the room.

“Well, I left to find that plant you needed for medicine. So, I’m unsure what all happened after you had curled up into a fetal position and forgot how to talk.” Draigo admitted.

“You left the room?” Skye asked confusedly. “You were in my room?”

“I’m in your room right now. So, yeah. Luna’s here as well. She stayed with you while I found and created your medicine.” Draigo told her.

“She was? I don’t need any medicine … who told you I did?” Skye asked, standing up and looking at both Luna and Draigo.

“You did, numbskull. You said that it made the shadow creatures go away and that the last pill you’d taken was five days ago.” Draigo explained.

“Before I got … Displaced.” Skye sighed and rubbed her face with her hand. “It’s coming back to me now. It’s rare but I experienced this a few times over the last fifteen years. I temporarily lose memory of what happened in the day up until I take it. Then it takes a few minutes to regain my memory along with a few questions,” she explained to the both of them.

“Well, I just gave you that medicine.” Draigo said as he showed her his claws that had leftover paste on them still. “You were sucking the life out of us at your worst.”

“That’s not Duotine. Duotine are pills. That’s just some paste.” Skye said immediately upon observing the paste. “I don’t remember sucking the life out of anything, though.”

“This paste contains that ekto ingredient that Duotine has in it.” Draigo told her. “Just look at Luna if you don’t believe me about the life sucking.” He gestured towards Luna. Skye raised a finger in objection, then looked towards Luna, focusing especially around her eyes where there were still noticeable lines.

“Oh.” Skye whispered as she took Luna’s new appearance in. “I didn’t think Ektoplomatin existed in Equestria.”

“It does, thankfully. There’s a tree in a courtyard that contains it in its bark, moss, and leaves. I guess that’s the entire tree then.” Draigo said.

Skye heard Draigo but kept her attention on Luna. She crouched so they were seeing eye to eye.

“I’m … sorry I did this to you.” Skye apologised.

“‘Tis quite alright. Draigo arrived just before I collapsed from thy withdrawal. I wouldst readily help mine friend again, if need be.” Luna said graciously, giving Skye a friendly smile.

“I hope this proves just how much you can trust us. If you still can’t open up to me then work with Luna. She can visit you even in your dreams.” Draigo said as he washed the remaining paste off his claws with more conjured water.

“She can? That’s an invasion of privacy.” Skye said as she stood back up, ignoring what he said about trusting them. “In a world full of mythical monsters and magical ponies, why can’t a pony visiting dreams at night be real too?” she said sarcastically.

“She only goes into dreams that need help. Nightmares, night terrors, and the like. It’s not like she just goes into dreams to spy on ponies. Helping is all she wants to do.” Draigo said, knowing it was a bit redundant.

“Uh huh, sure.” Skye muttered, not entirely trusting the two. “I didn’t want the both of you to see me like that. I honestly thought this would have happened sooner.” Skye said softly as she crossed her arms over her torso.

“Believe what you want. It’s the truth, though. Now, if you’ll excuse me. I have to go replenish my magic reserves after claiming this entire area and having my life sucked out of me.” Draigo said as he walked toward the nearest spot to fly away from.

“See you later then. We can train after you get back.” Skye replied, feeling a tinge of regret at something she knew she had no control over.

“Thou hast to recharge? I thought thy reserves were unlimited.” Luna followed with a questioning look on her face as Skye lagged behind them.

“I have a massive reserve, but I put too much magic into claiming the area. Right now if you were to test any molecule in the area for magic you’d see that they are filled to the brim. Add to that the amount of magic I used to keep you from dying and you’ve got one drained dragon.” Draigo explained. Luna nodded in understanding.

“How wouldst thou recharge? I doth not think there art any places to replenish thy reserves here.” Luna said.

“There’s multiple spots that keep moving around out in the Everfree that offer the highest amount of replenishment.” Draigo told her.

“Multiple spots around the Everfree?” Skye asked confusedly, seemingly trusting them up to the point of asking questions again.

“Yep, they keep moving and are almost never in the same spot. Any guesses as to what they are?” Draigo asked as he prepped for flight.

“Never heard of them before now so no.” Skye replied. “I’m going to see if Celestia has reverted back to her old self or not,” she added, giving Draigo a small wave before trying not to get lost in the castle.

“I hath not heard of them neither.” Luna echoed.

“Both of you have, actually. It’s called Magical Beasts. I hunt them and eat them and I get my energy back.” Draigo told her with a predatory smile. “Normally, I wouldn’t have to do this, but I still need to train with Skye.”

“Good luck hunting those Magical Beasts then!” Skye called out before she rounded the corner at the end of the hall. Luna backed up a bit from Draigo’s smile, not liking how it made her feel scared.

“Magical Beasts giveth thou thy energy back?” Luna asked uneasily.

“Yes. Resting and becoming one with the elements does as well, but this also lets me get some frustrations out at the same time. I can’t exactly tell Skye not to bottle things up if I bottle them up, now can I?” Draigo explained as he let his predatory smile fade away.

“That wouldst be hippocritical of thou?” Luna asked and sat on her haunches.

“Yes and I really don’t want to be a hippo.” Draigo said as he made a horrible pun.

“How quickly doth thou replenish?” Luna asked, not knowing he had made a pun.

“I’ll need a manticore or an entire Timberwolf pack at bare minimum. So, an hour or two? They aren’t the easiest things to find after all.” Draigo said.

“Alright. We shalt see thou later on in the day then.” Luna smiled, not really liking the fact he had to consume animals but knew that she had no say in the matter.

“That thou shall, Luna.” Draigo agreed as he took off to hunt for his prey.

Chapter 9 - Corrupting Monsters

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~THIRD PERSON POV~

TWO WEEKS LATER

Skye has trained hard with Draigo, slowly getting faster and a lot more cunning with how she used her magic. Luckily, with the red leaved tree still in the open courtyard, she hasn’t had any more withdrawals due to the fact that Clover helped her with some paste to apply to her forehead every few days. Her magic has gotten stronger and she has learned how to control it a lot better with Draigo’s help.

Skye is attending Celestia’s Day Court to try and get a feel for how the ponies handle their issues and politics. With what she’s seen so far, it’s been a lot of the same kind of pony asking for help with various mundane things. So it has been very boring so far.

“What does this next pony have to say?” Skye groaned, standing next to Celestia’s throne and looking like a demon from hell.

“Shhh. Mine subject probably hath a different request rather than the usual.” Celestia said, beckoning for the pony to step forward. A mare with a pale pink coat and a dirty blonde mane and tail with a cutie mark of intertwined cherry stems stepped forward with a panicked look on her face, unsure of how to react to the rather tall, cloaked skeleton.

“Your Majesty, I bring terrible news. Ponies within the neighbouring villages hath gone missing and the ones that come back hath been drained of their life force,” the mare said rather quickly, nearly stumbling over her words in her haste to get them out. Skye reacted before Celestia could speak to the panicky mare.

“Drained? What do the bite marks look like?” Skye asked. The mare looked between her princess and the skeleton, not really knowing whether she should answer or not. Celestia gave a sigh and nodded her head in acknowledgement of the mare’s plight.

“The bite marks art shaped like a triangle. ‘Tis that significant?” the mare gave Skye the details she wanted.

“Bite marks in the shape of a triangle ... oh you have got to be kidding me!” Skye said in an exasperated tone.

“What art thou complaining about this time?” Celestia asked her with a pointed look.

“It’s another monster attack. Which village has it been attacking most recently?” Skye rubbed her forehead and sighed, looking at the mare that raised the issue.

“‘Tis a village southeast of here,” the mare answered.

“Can you lead me there then? I want to make sure the monster is stopped.” Skye replied, gripping her scythe rather tightly. The mare looked to her Princess to see if it was safe for the skeleton to accompany her back to her village.

“Skye shalt accompany thou to thy village as mine representative, after she tells Us what monster she thinks is the cause of these attacks.” Celestia replied to the mare’s look.

“It’s a mythical monster from back home that was said to live on the border between Mexico and America. Not sure how true it was but the monster’s name is the Chupacabra. It does what this mare described to its victims. Drains them of blood and moves on.” Skye explained.

“It is known for targeting goats in our world, but apparently it likes ponies in this one.” Draigo chimed in, having heard what Skye had said as he’d stealthily entered the throne room. The poor mare backed in fright at the sudden appearance of a dragon.

“Th-th-there art also some g-g-goats that hath gone missing too,” the mare responded to this information with a terrified tone.

“Well, there’s no time to lose. I can fly you both there. Unless you’d like to try some long distance floating, Skye.” Draigo said.

“I need the practice. But I don’t think this mare wants to fly with something that she’s obviously scared of.” Skye replied, tapping her foot against the stone floor. The mare shook her head in agreement.

“Thou wants to go too?” Celestia asked Draigo in surprise.

“I’ll be there if Skye can’t handle the Chupacabra by herself.” Draigo told Celestia. “Besides, nothing has happened here for weeks. It’s gotten monotonous.”

“‘Tis true but thy training Skye hath been entertaining for Luna and mineself.” Celestia said with a slightly amused smile.

“What’s your name?” Skye asked the mare, figuring that it would be a nice thing to know if they were going to be together for the foreseeable future.

“Cherry Blossom.” Cherry answered.

“We most likely need to get to the village as fast as possible so, would you mind if I held you to make things flow faster?” Skye asked her, walking away from next to Celestia’s throne and more towards Cherry.

“I wouldst mind that very much.” Cherry said with a slight panic to her voice.

“It’s either you get carried by her or you ride on my back. Cause you’re too slow to run back there.” Draigo told the frightened mare.

Cherry’s panicked eyes flicked between Skye and Draigo before she finally relented and sighed.

“I shalt go with the skeleton. Those spines on thy back look too dangerous.” Cherry said in resignation, knowing that there was no arguing with the two beings.

“They aren’t dangerous when I’m at full size. I can carry about a hundred of you like that.” Draigo informed the pony with a slight pout. Cherry Blossom shook her head at the info, still wanting to go with her decision.

“Since it looks like we’re hanging out with each other for the next few hours, it would be better if you call me Skye rather than ‘skeleton’.” Skye replied.

“Sky is about all you’ll see for awhile as well.” Draigo said, not being able to resist the obvious pun.

“Hardy har har.” Skye replied to him, crossing her arms at him.

“Skye? Were thou born up in the clouds?” Cherry asked her, tilting her head at the odd name.

“No. We’ll have time enough for questions and answers after we leave.” Skye said irritably. She scooped Cherry up by holding her around the middle after sending her scythe to who knows where, knowing that it could come back to her at any time. She then floated a few feet off the ground and zoomed out of the castle, not bothering to look back and ignoring Cherry’s echoing squeals of fright for the moment. Draigo gave Celestia quick wave before following behind his boney friend.

After getting hurriedly said directions from Cherry, Skye lead Draigo towards the village, nearly dropping Cherry in surprise at all the cherry trees dotting the land. She coasted to a stop and looked for a place to land. Spotting one, she glided over and set down, letting go of Cherry at the same time. Cherry stumbled around before landing heavily on the upturned roots of a nearby cherry tree.

“This is a lot of cherry trees for one town.” Skye muttered an observation before gently helping the dazed mare back on to her hooves.

“I’m just gonna keep flying until there’s a more open area to land in. Plus, I get to watch the frantic ponies scurry inside. It’s been so long since they’ve done that that it’s kinda nice.” Draigo said as he flew overhead.

“You go do that then. I’m just glad that I have a reason to get out of the Everfree.” Skye called out in a joyous tone, giving him a wave as he flew by.

“Which … what … who?” Cherry asked, trying to shake her head out of her daze.

“Snap out of it!” Skye shouted, giving Cherry a rough shake.

“What!?” Cherry shouted back, snapping out of her confusion and glaring daggers at Skye.

“Sorry, you were dazed and I need to know where you last saw a victim.” Skye held her hands up in defense.

“The … pony who died was … where art everypony going?” Cherry switched topics as she watched the ponies in the town flee indoors at the sight of a gigantic shadow.

“They’re just fleeing from Draigo.” Skye said casually, walking into the village. “It’s a small village so I’m not surprised they’ve fled this quickly,” she added.

“’Tis a village that is still growing!” Cherry complained as she followed Skye.

“Yes, it is, but I don’t think it’s gonna get too big.” Draigo yelled down to them. He used sound manipulation to hear everything they were saying even though he was so far away.

Skye looked up and sighed, placing a hand on her forehead to block out some of the sunlight. “Where didst thou sight the last victim?” Skye asked her, barely noticing her words slip into their way of speaking.

“Over here.” Cherry said, directing Skye in the right direction.

“Behind the saloon?” Skye asked, following Cherry behind the building. When they got around the back, Skye ran a hand down her face at the sight of the body. The occupants of the village were probably in the middle of carrying it when Draigo showed up. “There art three bite marks on the neck. ‘Tis doth not tell Us much.” Skye sighed as she crouched over it.

“He was found in the orchard.” Chery supplied, barely containing herself from retching at the sight of blood around the wound.

“Here that, Draigo?” Skye called out, not looking away from her inspection of the body.

“On my way to the orchard!” Draigo yelled as he passed overhead.

“Draigo is taking care of the orchard. Hath there been any other locations that thou knoweth of?” Skye asked Cherry and noticed the sickly look on her face. Putting two and two together, she softly grabbed Cherry around the middle and took her out of sight of the dead body.

“We shalt see a lot of this. Thou shouldst hath told us of thy reaction to blood.” Skye scolded Cherry while she recovered.

“I doth not think it wouldst hath been a problem.” Cherry replied in a soft voice.

“Thou hath better get used to it.” Skye replied and waved in a random direction. “Shalt We find other locations?”

“Other victims hath been found on the other side of the village.” Cherry said helpfully, leading Skye to the opposite side of the village from where the cherry orchard was.

“I hope Draigo found something.” Skye muttered as she followed Cherry.

“Oh, I found something! I found some footprints and some blood. No Chupacabra, though!” Draigo yelled as he banked around for another pass over the town.

“Great!” Skye called back then repeated the word to herself. She rubbed the back of her head and looked at the ground for some footprints and other victim-related evidence on their way to the other side of the village. By this point, some of the local ponies had poked their heads out of their windows to have a look at what this strange duo was doing.

Cherry lead Skye to the entrance of some mountain ranges that bordered the village. “Another victim was found there.” Cherry explained when she pointed to the entrance.

“‘Tis dark … this shalt be great!” Skye said excitedly after observing the shaded entrance for a few moments.

“Want some light?” Draigo asked as he performed some aerial acrobatics. Skye looked up and observed his aerobatics for a few moments before shaking her head.

“I wilt be fine. I canst see clearly in the dark.” Skye answered, shading her sockets for a few minutes before turning and heading inside. Skye drew a hand across the wall, trying to feel if anything was on there. After a few moments, nothing appeared to be jumping out of her. Just as she was about to turn around and head on back out, a hiss sounded out of a rather large crack in the wall. She stopped in her tracks and froze for a second as a scaled tail slid around her neck.

“Thou shouldst knoweth something. I doth not have any neck to strangle.” Skye said smugly, clicking the fingers of her left hand to summon her scythe. Soon as it appeared, she swung the hooked sickle backwards and found delight in the creature’s howl of pain. The tail slithered off of her neck and back to wherever the Chupacabra was. She followed it with her head, wishing she could smile as she found the creatures hiding place.

Cherry got a panicked and terrified look on her face when the pained howl sounded out from the entrance. “”Twas th-that Skye or ... “ she tried to ask Draigo but trailed off, too scared to complete the sentence.

“No, that was the Chupacabra. Skye has yet to scream like that during our training sessions. Don’t worry, I’m right above you and can intervene at any given moment.” Draigo called down to her as he circled above.

“Got it!” Skye shouted back as she swung her scythe at the creature’s hiding place, getting it stuck in the crack. She tried to heft it out but soon quit when she felt her head fly off her neck. “‘Tis an unfortunate predicament,” she said to herself as she watched her body stand still before running after her head. A bit above her, she saw the Chupacabra snicker as its tail slid back behind it. Her body picked up her head and placed it back on her neck, swivelling it until it screwed on. She spun to look at the creature, only to find it camouflage and disappear from view.

“The creature disappeared on Us!” Skye shouted, floating quickly up and down the mountain range cave-like hallway to try and find it.

“How’d it do that? Is it part chameleon or something?” Draigo wondered as he continued to guard Cherry. “Anyway, try finding its shadow! Even if it’s invisible it should still cast a shadow!”

“‘Tis dark as night in here! How am I supposed to find it then?” Skye shouted back, slowing down and taking the time to concentrate on something that Draigo taught her. She felt around with her magic, sighing in relief as she sensed three different souls, with one just in front and beneath her. “Found it!” Skye announced and stepped on its tail and made it visible again. The Chupacabra turned around and struck her leg, trying to bury its fangs in her bone and made Skye cry out in pain.

“‘Twas a different pained scream than before ...” Cherry reported, laying her ears flat against her head.

“That it was. Seems the Chupacabra is putting up a good fight.” Draigo said as he landed and stood over Cherry.

“Give back mine leg!” Skye shouted, hopping up and down to try and follow the Chupacabra out of the entrance to the mountain ranges. It hissed as it spat out the leg and scurried forward, revealing that it was an overgrown lizard with spines, scales and a tail when it came into the sunlight. When it hissed, the three fangs in its mouth showed as it tried to find its next blood-filled victim.

“You can float! Why dost thou need a leg then?” Draigo reminded the Reaper.

“I doth need a leg to walk around when I get tired!” Skye argued, picking up her leg as she floated over to the Chupacabra. She watched it get poised to strike Cherry and gave it a hearty thwack on the head, effectively knocking it out. “Thou canst thank me later.” Skye muttered as she tried to put her leg back into place.

Cherry had scrambled into Draigo’s back leg to try and get away from the monster. Her eyes were pinpricks but they slowly got back to their normal size when she realised the fight was apparently over.

“I thank thee?” Cherry whimpered uncertainly.

“Cherry was safe whether thou whacked yon monster or not. Tis only proper to thank her, though, Cherry.” Draigo commented.

Skye did a double-take when she realised Draigo was standing near her and not flying around. She was too pre-occupied with the fight to notice otherwise.

“When didst thou land?” Skye asked, testing her leg to make sure it was working properly.

“About the time thy leg was stolen by the Chupacabra. I wanted to ensure that Cherry was safe in case the Chupacabra got away from thee.” Draigo told her as he covered a chuckle at her double take.

“Uh huh. We take this back to the castle for Starswirl and Clover?” Skye asked, poking the Chupacabra with her foot gently.

“I doth believe that they would be grateful for more research material.” Draigo said as he examined the Chupacabra.

“Thank thee for saving Our town.” Cherry said with a grateful smile, having recovered from the shock of actually seeing the Chupacabra.

“We art glad to hath helped.” Skye said with a nod.

“We shouldst get back before the Chupacabra wakes up.” Draigo said. “We bid thee have a good day, Cherry.”

“Good day, Skye and dragon.” Cherry said with a bit of a waiver to her voice then nodded her head to them and ran out from under Draigo and back to the village to tell them the good news.

“How wilt We carry this back to Starswirl and Clover?” Skye asked after waving bye to Cherry and mentally smiling at the cheers the village gave out.

“Same way as the others?” Draigo suggested.

“Entrapped in a mound of earth?” Skye asked as she thought back to how the Jersey Devil and the Harpy were transported.

“Yeah. That way even if it does wake up it can’t get away or hurt us.” Draigo reasoned.

“That is a good idea.” Skye agreed and pulled her hood over her head as she began floating. “It shalt be easier flying back.”

“Much easier for you. You won’t have a terrified pony in your arms.” Draigo commented as he wrapped the Chupacabra in a cocoon of Earth.

“‘Tis true but thou hath flown with earthen mounds before so it shouldst be easier for thee.” Skye said as she floated up and above him. “I wilt see thee back at the castle,” she added and began flying back to the castle.

“Thou shalt not get away that easily, Skye.” Draigo called as he levitated the mound before him and took off after Skye.

“Thou wants a challenge?” Skye shouted over her shoulder when she heard him.

“Let’s see how fast thou can go, Shinigami.” Draigo said as he pulled alongside her.

“Shinigami implies god of death. I am not one of them.” Skye argued and kept looking straight ahead in case any stray birds got in their way.

“Hmm, fair enough. Shall we begin the race on the count of three?” Draigo asked as he kept pace with her and ignored anything else in the sky.

“One … two … three!” Skye counted down and shot forward, keeping her arms by her sides in an attempt to make herself as streamlined as possible.

“Thou wilt find that I am faster than my size belies, my friend.” Draigo said as he increased his wingbeats and slowly, but surely caught up to Skye.

“Oh, really?” Skye asked and let the rushing air move throughout her body, noting that it was an unusual feeling. Getting used to it, she then began to move faster and slowly pulled away from Draigo.

“Thou art fast, but how long can thee keep up thy speed?” Draigo called to her.

“As long as necessary?” Skye called back uncertainly.

“Then we shall see who ends up at the castle first. Considering how long it took us to get to that village...I doubt you’ll last at that speed. I have been known to be wrong, though.” Draigo said as he thought about how far they had to go still.

“If thou sees me slow down, then go on ahead. I wilt catch up eventually.” Skye replied with an imperceptible shrug.

“If thou slows down I will pull ahead, but will keep within sight of thee. Just in case thou gets in trouble or can’t remember the way back.” Draigo told her as he kept his pace steady.

“‘Tis a giant castle in the middle of a forest. I shouldst be fine.” Skye commented as she kept up the pace.

“Tis true... Fine, I shall leave thee in the dust.” Draigo said as he increased his wingbeats and parted the air before him with his magic. Skye sighed and shook her head as Draigo passed her by, wondering why she ever agreed to the race in the first place. “Keep up thy pace. Tis good training for when you need to travel far away very quickly.”

Skye snorted and kept it up, watching Draigo slowly get further and further away.

“Ah, tis been so long since I went that fast. I wonder how long Skye will be?” Draigo wondered as he touched down back at the castle. He set the mound of dirt on the ground and waited to see. After roughly ten minutes of waiting, Skye touched down and nearly collapsed into a pile of bones, unused to flying so far or so fast.

“Art thou alright?” Draigo asked after seeing her rough landing.

“I am … fine.” Skye said, flopping forward in the middle of her sentence. “I am not used to flying that fast … or that far.”

“Tis only natural. Thou hast not needed to do so, but tis good to know how fast thou canst go and how far thou canst float. Knowing thy limitations and then increasing them is part of training.” Draigo said as he levitated the mound of earth and slowly started to walk towards the dungeons.

“Let’s get down to the dungeons. I doth not want the Chupacabra to wake up and howl.” Skye muttered, following Draigo.

“Yes, that wouldn’t be nice. Starswirl and Clover will probably be down there studying the other monsters, again.” Draigo commented as he picked up his pace to a normal walk while shrinking down to fit into the castle.

“Most likely.” Skye agreed, scratching the back of her skull as she pulled her hood down. “They wouldst be glad to find an unexpected third monster to study,” she added. “Is Princess Celestia still attending Daycourt?"

“I think that would depend on how many petitioners she has today. Luna won’t take over until night at the very least.” Draigo said as they continued to travel to the dungeons. Skye tapped her chin in thought for a while, not really noticing they had gotten to the dungeons until they started to descend for a long while.

“We wilt need to design a cage for the creature.” Skye said finally, realising that nothing had been prepared.

“Hmm, that we will. I think keeping it in the mound of earth will do until we design it, though.” Draigo said as he began to think about the cage’s design.

“That can work.” Skye agreed, waving at Clover and Starswirl when they came into view. Clover noticed and waved back, eyes lighting up at the earthen mound following Draigo.

“We bring thee a Chupacabra.” Draigo announced.

“A Chupa … cabra?” Starswirl asked slowly, eyeing the pile of dirt. “‘Tis that another monster?”

“‘Tis another one. We got called out to a village southeast of here.” Skye explained, trying to sound apologetic at the same time.

“When didst thou start speaking like us?” Clover asked, noticing the change in Skye’s inflection.

“I noticed it about the time we found out about the Chupacabra. I’m unsure if she’s been speaking thusly earlier or not, though.” Draigo said as he remembered something about Clover. “Didst thou know a guardsman, Clover?”

“I hath been speaking in mine modern tongue earlier. I mustn’t have noticed when I slipped into this dialect.” Skye said with a shrug.

“I didst know a guardsmen. He was mine friend but he died in battle. Why dost thou ask me this?” Clover answered, walking over to the mound to see how big the Chupacabra was.

“When I first started training with Skye I summoned some ghosts. One of them turned out to know you. He had a message for you that he left with us. He wants you to know that he loved you and he wanted to say goodbye.” Draigo told Clover in a reverent voice.

Clover froze in place, registering what he said but not really hearing it. “He said what?” Clover asked, a saddened look on her face and wondered if she had heard him right. “He … loved me?” Clover asked in a small voice.

“Yes, Clover. He loved you. He was probably going to tell you after the battle he fell in. I’m sorry for your loss.” Draigo told her in a comforting tone.

“I … I ...” Clover choked, tears welling in her eyes as she thought about the friend she had lost and slowly backed away from the group. “I need to …” she couldn’t complete the sentence and raced out of the dungeon.

“She needs some time.” Skye said softly, watching her go sadly.

“She does and we need to design a cage. We’ll train after we’ve completed the cage.” Draigo said as he returned his gaze to the mound of dirt.

“What I need to know is what this creature is capable of.” Starswirl said, all business after looking in concern at Clover’s retreating form.

“Turn invisible, bites ponies in three places to make it look like a triangle and has a prehensile tail.” Skye counted off, remembering her fight with it. Starswirl nodded, sighed and magicked a scroll of parchment and quill from under his hat.

“We shalt need these materials. Thou can find these easily enough in the Everfree, near the Drake mountain ranges.” Starswirl informed them, giving Draigo a list of materials.

“Alright. Anything I should know about the Drake mountain ranges before heading out?” Draigo wondered as he went over the list of materials.

“Nothing I canst think of.” Starswirl answered as he tried to think of anything particularly dangerous to do with the mountains. “Dragons couldst be guarding this material though,” he said and tapped one of the materials listed with a hoof to show what he meant.

“Well, if dragons are the worst thing there then this will be cake. The kind Celestia would gobble down.” Draigo said with a chuckle.

“Thou need any help with the materials?” Skye asked Draigo, not really sure if she could help.

“I don’t think I do, but if thou wouldst come with me, just in case. We wouldn’t have to make another trip.” Draigo replied.

“Good point. We shalt see thou later, Starswirl.” Skye commented, giving a wave to Starswirl before zooming out of the dungeon. “Thou coming, Draigo!?” Skye shouted from the top of the dungeon stairs.

“I’m coming, I’m coming.” Draigo said as he joined Skye. They quickly made their way outside and were soon flying towards the Drake mountain range.

A WEEK LATER

Skye continued to get faster and stronger with her magic. She constantly checked up on Clover to see how she was doing and it turns out that she was slowly getting back into the groove of things, though her eyes still looked puffy and red. Celestia and Luna had tasked Draigo with trying to get some rare fish that was found on the far side of the Everfree, where a giant lake was located.

“Man, it’s been forever since I’ve been fishing. I wonder how long it’s gonna take to catch the fish they want?” Draigo wondered as he looked forward to his trip. He checked the gear he’d been given and selected what to use.

Before too long, Draigo had his line in the water as he waited for a bite. He wasn’t sure how big the fish was going to be, but he was confident he could catch it no matter how big it was. Now, he just had to wait and see what happened.

The shadows lengthened while Draigo fished, slowly going from day to night as the sun set. Two glowing white eyes appeared behind Draigo and they moved about, casting an afterglow wherever they moved. A gnarled hand stretched out and gently tapped against Draigo’s back before zipping back into the shadows, the eyes disappearing as they moved to another spot.

Draigo spun around and tried to find whatever had tapped him on the shoulder. Seeing, hearing, and sensing nothing around, he returned to his task. The glowing orbs flashed red for a second before moving behind Draigo, fully moving out of the shadows. Oddly enough, it didn’t cast a shadow itself. A dark brown hood covered its head and a small cloak covered its spindly torso. A belt with odds and ends was wrapped around its waist with bandages covering its upper thighs. Its hands moved in circular motions as shadows moved above Draigo’s head and slowly descended down into him.

Draigo noticed some movement in the corner of his eye and quickly looked to see what was moving around. What he saw made his blood run cold. Shadows, nothing but shadows. Draigo gave a cry as he tried to fight the shadows, but he was only able to get the cry out before he blacked out. Satisfied with his work, and the way Draigo slumped backwards onto the grass, the creature nodded to itself before stepping into the shadows and retreating to someplace else.

When Draigo woke up he felt as if something was covering his body. He changed into his draconic form to try to get rid of the feeling. When the feeling persisted, he examined his body. Finding nothing there, he looked into the lake.

His features had changed. His sclerae were now black and his retinas were red with golden slit pupils. Purple flames, that provided the bit of light needed to see, were flowing from the corners of his eyes. His scales no longer showed the multitude of colors, they were purple and black. Every spine, claw, and fang was now serrated instead of smooth and conical. He looked...evil and he liked it. His instincts were telling him to go seek out prey and to claim everything that was valuable as his own. It sounded like a nice idea so he did just that as he flew in the direction of the castle.

By the time the moon was high in the sky, a great shadow fell over the castle, causing many of the ponies inside to cower in fear, even though they had no idea why. Skye shivered as she felt something move across her window and looked outside to see what it was. Her mouth fell open though when she saw a purple and black dragon heading towards them. She floated out the window and went to confront the dragon, keeping her guard up in case it was dangerous.

“Why, if it isn’t Skye. How are things?” Draigo asked as he got close enough to see who the blob of black was.

“Draigo!? What happened to you?” Skye asked, sidelining the question once she was close enough to hear him, shocked at his new appearance.

“Draigo? No, I’m no longer ‘Draigo.’ I am now Kar’Voth. I’m here to claim what’s mine. If you get in the way. I’ll have to eliminate you.” Kar’Voth told her.

“Kar’who? What sort of name is that?” Skye asked and looked into his eyes, trying to see if she can access his most recent memories.

“It’s an evil name that is fitting for a being like myself. Now, stand aside. I’m going to go claim the Elements of Harmony. Well, I already did that, but now I’m going to take them. After that I’ll raise an army of dragons and take over the world.” Kar’Voth told her as he flew by, on his way to claim the Elements.

Skye moved out of the way and thought about what he said for a minute before going after him. “I can’t let you do that, Kar’Voth!” Skye called out and summoned her scythe to her side. She swung it behind her and then at Kar’Voth, aiming for one his back legs.

“I won’t allow any delays to my plans!” Kar’Voth cried as he plummeted toward the ground before opening his wings to stop himself from crashing. He continued on after sending some black lightning towards Skye.

Skye followed him and nearly crashed into the ground herself when Kar’Voth suddenly changed course. She felt electricity hit her, making her bones clatter together.

“That wasn’t nice. So, I’m a delay now, huh? What happened to me being your friend?” Skye called out as she flew after him, trying to discharge the electricity at the same time.

“Well, when I woke up I realised that everything should belong to me. You already do. So, you’re just a delay to me owning everything else.” Kar’Voth explained as he shrunk and dove through the library’s window. Skye went after him, shooting through the window and nearly crashing into the wall opposite.

“I hate to do this to my own friend, even if he’s corrupted.” Skye muttered and watched him closely before sending a tendril of dark magic out towards him in hopes of draining his life force.

“You think I can’t sense your magic? Well, I can and it feels so familiar. Like the Underworld.” Kar’Voth said as he dodged the tendril of magic and rushed out of the library and towards the throne room.

“I thought you wouldn’t be able to.” Skye muttered and gave chase, swinging her scythe at his back legs once she was close enough.

Kar’Voth cried out in pain as the scythe bit into his legs. He slowed a bit due to the pain, but sent black crystals careening towards Skye to drive her back as he continued forward.

Skye groaned out in pain as the crystals bit into her arms and stuck there, making her drop her scythe.

“I can’t stop him. I need help with this.” Skye said quickly, changing course and flying over to the east side of the castle. Once there, she burst into Princess Celestia’s room, startling her awake. “I’m sorry to wake you, Princess but we have a problem..” Skye said hurriedly.

“What problem art thou speaking of?” Celestia asked, recognising the panic in Skye’s voice.

“I think Draigo has been corrupted and he’s after these things called the Elements of Harmony.” Skye said and watched Celestia quickly get out of bed.

“Draigo hath been corrupted? We need to get to the throne room.” Celestia ordered and ran for the Elements with Skye following behind.

At that moment, Kar’Voth had just reached the throne room’s doors.

“Hello, dear ponies. Don’t mind me. I’m just here for the Elements. Keep pleading your cases to Luna.” Kar’Voth said as he burst through the doors and headed towards the Elements of Harmony.

Luna stood up from her throne at what the dragon said, shock evident on her face. She recovered from it and ordered the ponies in attendance to flee the throne room. The various ponies listened and ran while Luna put up an ice-cold shield around the Elements.

“Thou shalt not get these Elements!” Luna shouted at the black and purple dragon.

“Dear Luna. I already own the Elements. You and Celestia allowed me to do so. Now I’m here to take what’s mine. That’s all,” Kar’Voth told her.

“We didst no such thing!” Luna protested, running towards the Elements in case her shield wasn’t enough.

“Oh, but you did, my beatiful night flower. Don’t you remember having that secret conversation with your sister as Skye and I had our own?” Kar’Voth said as he advanced on the Elements.

“Yes but that was when Skye and Draigo were present … thou art Draigo?” Luna said, now noticing the slight resemblance between Draigo and this one. She saw him get closer and desperately shot a spell at him to make him freeze in place. Kar’Voth raised a piece of dark earth between himself and Luna. It shattered when Luna’s spell hit it.

“I am Draigo no more. I, Kar’Voth, stand before you now. I don’t want to hurt one of my lovely and precious belongings so step aside, Luna.” Kar’Voth said as he continued to advance.

Luna shuddered in disgust at his words before letting off another ice spell, this time taking flight and flying above him.

“Thou art not getting the Elements, I wilt not let thou!” Luna repeated, hoping the repetition would get through to him.

“You see, Luna. That’s where you’re wrong. I always get what I want. I wanted to keep you from becoming Nightmare Moon. I got it. I wanted to claim this entire area as mine. I got it. I wanted to share your bed. I got it.” Kar’Voth said in an increasingly slow and creepy voice as he rolled out of the spells path and plunged the room into darkness. His voice never stayed in the same spot while he talked.

Luna made a disgusted look before the room was plunged into darkness. She lit her horn up to see if she could shed some light into the throne room. A yellow light joined hers as Celestia flew up to meet her.

“Sister, hath Draigo come by?” Celestia asked her sister, barely registering the disgusted look on her face.

“He is somewhere in this darkness.” Luna said in disgust and concentrated on her shield around the Elements. “I am not sure where he is at this point.”

“Why, hello, Celestia. Skye. Come to join the party? I was just explaining to Luna that I always get what I want. Isn’t that right, Luna?” Kar’Voth said. His voice moved around the area once more. “Oh, I do have a question for you. Which is your favorite Element? Personally, I like honesty quite a lot.”

“Loyalty.” Luna answered immediately while Celestia said that she liked Kindness the most. Skye wasn’t sure what they were going on about but she made use of this chatter by walking around in the darkness and trying to swing her scythe at Kar’Voth’s front legs this time in an effort to incapacitate him.

“Now, Skye. We can’t have you interfering so I’m going to trap you for awhile. Kay?” Kar’Voth said as he raised a black crystal to stop Skye’s scythe. He then raised more crystals that encased Skye on all sides with no gaps between them. Skye tried to get her scythe out but was soon caught in a crystal trap.

“Let me out of here, Draigo!” Skye shouted out to him, banging her fists against the inside of the crystal.

“I’ll let you out once I have the Elements...maybe.” Kar’Voth said as he made his way towards the Elements once more.

“Let me out right now, or so help me!” Skye growled at him, not believing he would let her out for a second. Celestia tried to fire some heat waves towards Draigo, momentarily lighting the entire room up before they dissipated.

“If you’re going to attack in the dark, Celestia. It’s much better to do something like this.” Kar’Voth said as he shot a stream of black fire at her.

Celestia felt the heat coming off the flames, letting her duck under them before trying to find Draigo again.

“If thou art such a coward, why not fight in the moonlight?” Celestia taunted.

“Taunts, Celestia? I’m far smarter than to allow you to know where I am while fighting you. For you see, I know how both you and Luna fight. I’ve experience this first hand in my world. So, I’m just going to take what’s mine and return later on with an army of dragons to claim even more things.” Kar’Voth explained as he once more blended into the darkness as he slowly made his way toward the Elements.

“Luna! To your left!” Skye shouted helpfully, seeing where Kar’Voth was. Luna responded by firing an icy beam towards her left, trusting Skye’s judgement on where the corrupted dragon was while Celestia went after the Elements herself.

Kar’Voth sent a stream of flame to counter Luna’s bolt and a flat pillar of crystal from the top of Skye’s encasement was sent to hit the skeleton’s skull to knock her out for awhile.

“Why are you making me hurt my precious belongings? All I want is what’s already mine.” Kar’Voth said and rushed toward the Elements as he heard rapid hoof beats getting close to them.

“Thou art saying non-sense!” Luna shouted at him. Celestia heard Kar’Voth’s claws beat faster against the floor and wondered why she didn’t do this earlier. In a desperate attempt on her part, she tried to levitate the six gems out of their housings and back to her so she and her sister could use them against the corrupted dragon.

“Well, time for a change of plans. I guess I’ll just have to get rid of one of you now that you’re this close to the Elements.” Kar’Voth said as he sent another flat pillar of crystal that hit Celestia on her skull, knocking her out. He let the darkness dissipate and stood between Celestia’s unmoving body and the Elements.

Luna fought down tears when she saw Celestia’s state. No longer believing it was Draigo, she gritted her teeth and flew down to Kar’Voth, putting a magical shield around herself as she barreled into him.

“That’s a good idea, my dear, but it’s all too easy to grab the ice and stop you through sheer brute strength!” Kar’Voth said as he dug his claws into the ice and pushed against it, stopping Luna just short of knocking him over. Luna flapped her wings to try and get some more speed out of them but soon realised it was all for nought. She felt Kar’Voth’s strength as he pushed against her ice wall and got an idea. She locked her wings against her sides and plummeted to the floor, rolling sideways as she tried to see if her plan worked. Kar’Voth flew through the air as he desperately tried to get his claws out of the ice. He ended up hitting the floor as the ice barrier shattered, leaving him free but stunned.

“Finally.” Luna muttered and ran up to the Elements herself, taking advantage of Kar’Voth’s stunned state. When she reached them, she tried to magick them out of their housings like Celestia did moments earlier.

“I see one problem with your plan, Luna. Celestia is needed to use the Elements. Unless you bear all six elements. Which I highly doubt.” Kar’Voth said as he saw Luna try to get the Elements free. He then charged towards Luna.

Luna ignored him, managing to free three of the Elements, the ones that worked only for her. She then heard him about to ram her and with tears flowing from her eyes, she made a desperate and possibly idiotic move and wrenched out the other three Elements, a small bit of the crystal remaining inside their housing. Luna made them rotate around her with her magic just as Kar’Voth got to her.

“That’s not possible! There shouldn’t be a single bearer of the Elements!” Kar’Voth shouted as he ground to a halt and stood rooted to the spot by fear.

“There is not a single Element bearer, true, but thou hath made me desperate.” Luna said angrily, making the elements rotate faster around her as she turned to confront the paralysed Kar’Voth.

“But you and the elements belong to me! How can some belonging turn on its owner and win? How? How!?” Kar’Voth shouted as he tried to think of a way out of the situation.

“We never agreed to let Kar’Voth claim us!” Luna shouted furiously, stepping forward and feeling a tiny bit of delight at seeing the tables turned.

“Curse you and your logic! I shall return and endeavor to make the world mine! You know I speak the truth for I’ve done nothing but that from the beginning!” Kar’Voth shouted in rage.

Luna didn’t bother answering, instead, she moved the ring of Elements from around her to her front. She felt them light up and quickly rotated the six gems, tears stinging her eyes as she watched a rainbow stream hit Kar’Voth, surrounding him in a bright light. Kar’Voth roared in agony as the light consumed him. The light then swirled around and out a nearby window before going to the moon and placing Kar’Voth in it. The dragon’s fearsome profile could now be seen on the moon’s surface.

Soon as she saw Kar’Voth’s profile outlined in the moon, the Elements dropped and clattered to the floor. With a pang of guilt, Luna observed missing pieces from three of the gems. She left them on the ground and quickly checked on Celestia, breathing in relief when she was found to be breathing. Luna knew Skye was going to be fine but wondered if Kar’Voth will ever let Draigo resurface.

Chapter 10 - Elemental Research

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A THOUSAND YEARS LATER

“Spike, do you know what today is?” Twilight asked her assistant as she pulled down a few books from the library shelf with her magic.

“Free Day, right? Why was it called that, anyway?” Spike asked her, climbing up the stairs to see if she needed any help.

“Spike, I’ve told you this plenty of times. But I suppose once more wouldn’t hurt.” Twilight gently said, turning from the bookshelf to one of the tables that had been set-up for studying. She placed the few books she had gathered on the table and waited for Spike to sit near her.

“Tell me again then. Why is today called Free Day?” Spike asked, sitting next to her and watched her crack open a book about fairy tales.

“Well, nopony knows, really. The only ones who truly know are the Princesses. Even though I’m Princess Celestia’s personal student, she hasn’t told me the true reason about it. As far as I’m aware, it’s been called that because they help feed the poor and help out the homeless ponies.” Twilight explained, suddenly frowning at her explanation. Even she didn’t believe the reasoning the Princesses have out but it was the only one they had to go with so everypony just went along with it.

“It’s called Free Day, because the Princesses help feed the poor and help out the homeless?” Spike asked, nodding in understanding.

“Exactly. There’s probably more to it though.” Twilight replied, flipping through the pages in the book before landing on one. “Elements of Harmony … see Dragon in the Moon. What? I just flicked passed the ‘D’ section and it didn’t say anything about a dragon.”

“You probably flicked through it too fast.” Spike commented, resting his head on a claw with his elbow on the table. Twilight rolled her eyes and slowly flicked through the pages until she reached ‘Dragon in the Moon’.

“This is just a legend about how the Princesses freed Equestria from some form of tyranny by sending that villain into the moon.” Twilight commented, trying to find some more information in the book.

“That would explain the draconic face.” Spike told her as he got up, feeling a belch coming on. He burped and in a whirlwind of green flames, a scroll appeared. Twilight caught it in her magic and quickly read through it. “What’s it say, Twilight?” Spike asked her curiously.

“It says that both the Princesses want to see us.” Twilight said, looking at Spike with a raised brow.

“Let’s go then! No use waiting around here.” Spike said with a grin and ran out of the library and into Canterlot proper. Twilight snorted and chased after him all the way to the castle, dodging the ponies in the street as she went past.

They both ran through the castle doors and into the hallways. She knew them like the back of her hoof by now and lead Spike to where the Princesses told them to meet. After a quick debate on which way to go, Twilight just snorted in frustration and lead Spike to the throne room. She walked in with Spike on her heels and waited patiently for the Day Court to finish before speaking with her mentor and princess. When she called for a break, Twilight took this chance and walked up to Celestia with Spike in tow.

“You wanted to see us, Princess?” Twilight asked after bowing.

“Both my sister and I wanted to see you but she told me to take care of it while she handled other duties for today. We wanted to see you because the town of Ponyville is in need of a royal helper this year. A disaster has befallen them recently and we need to stay here to oversee things in Canterlot. So, we'd like you to go, as our representative, to check and make sure everything is being done to help their increase of poor and homeless.” Celestia explained to her student.

“You want us to go to Ponyville? But what about my studies?” Twilight asked, obvious panic set in her voice.

“Your studies will be fine. I just want to make sure everything is okay with Ponyville. I heard it was a pretty big disaster.” Celestia answered with a quiet chuckle.

“Come on, Twilight! It’s Ponyville! It’s someplace outside of Canterlot that we’ve never been to before!” Spike said excitedly, trying to persuade Twilight to agree to this.

“Plus, it will give you a chance to make some friends.” Celestia added, nodding in agreement with Spike.

“Friends? I don’t need friends! That’s what Spike’s for.” Twilight protested, rubbing a hoof on top of Spike’s head.

“Thanks, but you need more friends than just me.” Spike said, taking Twilight’s hoof off his head.

“Fine. Let’s just get this over with.” Twilight said exasperatedly, knowing that there was no point in arguing with the two.

“Excellent. This checklist should help you with the disaster recovery efforts.” Celestia said happily, magicking a furled up scroll and giving it to Twilight. “Please make sure to make some friends. It’ll be good for you,” she added as a last piece of advice.

“I’ll see you later then, Princess.” Twilight said with a small smile and a wave, and lead Spike out of the throne room and towards where the chariots were held.

During the rest of the day, Twilight and Spike talked to the various residents of the town and soon found that there were five different mares in charge to help with the disaster relief. A butter yellow mare with a pink mane and three butterflies for a cutie mark was in charge of helping the injured animals. An orange mare with a blonde mane and a Stetson as well as a cyan Pegasus mare with a prismatic mane were in charge of lifting rocks and helping the various injured ponies along with a white mare and a stylised purple mane. The last pony was a pink one with a darker pink mane. She was in charge of making sure everypony stayed chipper and kept their spirits high.

While the sun went down and the moon went up, the shadow in the moon disappeared as the various residents went to the town hall for a final celebration of the day as well as for some final disaster relief efforts. They were hoping for both the Princesses to show up for some last minute morality points. When the mayor opened the curtain, nopony of note appeared.

“Dear residents of this town. I, Kar'Voth, am here to tell you that your princesses are mine, literally. You and the rest of Equestria will follow in short order, never fear. All I ask is that you obey me. You may live like you usually have, but I will own each of you!” Kar'Voth said in a very cheerful tone as he appeared on stage in a flash of black lightning. The ponies gathered spoke amongst themselves before a collective question was asked,

“Who’s Kar'Voth?” A chorus of voices sounded out in confusion. Twilight wracked her brain to try and remember if she had heard of him before and realised that the Dragon in the Moon and this Kar'Voth was most likely the same being.

“You’re the Dragon in the Moon!” Twilight called out, with various shouts of protest flung her way.

“Ding ding ding! Give the mare a prize!” Kar'Voth said. “Your prize is to watch helplessly as I claim all of Equestria as mine.” His voice went from cheerful and delighted to cold and unforgiving.

“What kind of dealy is that!?” Pinkie Pie shouted at him, not really liking the idea of being ‘claimed’.

“The kind where I get what I want and you ponies get to go about your everyday lives. Unless, you’d prefer to try to stop me and end up like your Princesses.” Kar'Voth threatened.

“I don’t know about anypony else, but I’ll sure try to stop you!” Rainbow Dash told him before flying up and bucking him in the face.

“Well, I see you want to join your Princesses.” Kar'Voth responded as he sidestepped the mare’s attempt to buck him in his face. He encased her in black crystals, but left her head exposed. “Now, be a good little mare and stay right there.”

“What’s the big idea!?” Rainbow shouted at him, trying to get free of the crystal to no avail.

“How’d ya reckon ya’ll gonna claim us?” Applejack called out.

“The same way I claimed the castle in the Everfree and everything inside it as mine.” Kar'Voth began. “Actually, it’ll be better if you just see it.”

“You claimed the castle in the Everfree?” Twilight asked in surprise.

“Maybe claiming the entirety of Equestria is not the best way to go about it, darling.” Rarity told Kar'Voth uncertainly.

“I don’t like that idea.” Fluttershy whispered, hiding behind her mane.

“Oh, it’s the best way to go about getting the rest of the world and I love this idea.” Kar'Voth said as he stepped off the stage and started to walk out of the building. “And yes, I claimed the castle and everything in it a thousand years ago.”

“Hey! Let me out of here! Don’t you dare leave me like this!” Rainbow protested when she realised the dragon was going to leave with her still trapped inside magic crystal.

“No. If I did that then I’d have to hurt one of my future belongings. I don’t like doing that if I don’t have to.” Kar'Voth said as he got to the exit and took to the skies as he headed toward the Everfree castle. Twilight went to go after the dragon but remembered the predicament that Rainbow was in. She ran back in and over to Applejack.

“Applejack, right? Are there any picks left over from picking apart the rocks?” Twilight asked. Applejack nodded.

“There sure is. What d’ya need them for?” Applejack asked, then looked over to Rainbow as Twilight gestured to her. “Right. Ah’ll get those picks then,” she said and raced out of the room to find the picks. A few moments later, she came back with about five picks and handed them to the five strongest ponies she could find, including herself. Then, they all went up to Rainbow and began to steadily pick away at the crystal surrounding her.

When they got the crystal to a thin enough layer, the crystal cracked around Rainbow. She burst out of it and took off after the dragon, not caring what anypony else said.

“Applejack spoke up, Pinkie, Rarity and Fluttershy also spoke up.” Twilight mused then an idea got in her head to go with these four and chase after Rainbow. ‘Wouldn’t hurt to try.’ she thought and went to each of them, asking them to help her follow Rainbow to the Everfree. After some much convincing, they all agreed and rushed after Rainbow, heading towards the Everfree.

When they got to the entrance, four of the mares immediately walked in with the fifth cowering at the edge but after some coaxing from Twilight, Fluttershy walked in was a massive gulp.

“I-I don’t think w-we should be here.” Fluttershy whimpered to the group as she looked around fearfully.

“Don’tcha worry none, you’ll be fine with the four of us here.” Applejack reassured her.

“Rainbow was following that dragon and the dragon was going to the castle in the Everfree so that’s where we should head too.” Twilight reminded them. “Do any of you know how that disaster happened to begin with?” she asked them.

“From what I know, a big bang sounded out near the town square, making me wake up in a hurry. It was rather improper to wake a mare up before her beauty sleep is meant to end.” Rarity answered primly.

“Same thing happened to us even though we were nowhere near the bang.” Pinkie supplied, bouncing up and down along the path they were walking.

“So a big bang sounded and you all woke up from it this morning?” Twilight asked them, switching her gaze from pony to pony as they spoke. “Do any of you know the cause of it?” Twilight asked, trying to get to the bottom of this disaster mystery.

“No, sorry, Twilight.” Fluttershy apologised.

“It’s fine. It’s probably just another natural disaster anyway.” Twilight said casually. The group fell to silence for a few moments as they tried to think of what to say.

“Ooh! Anypony know good ghost stories!?” Pinkie asked excitedly.

“Ghost stories? This is hardly the time for ghost stories, deary.” Rarity said with nervous laughter.

“If anything, it would be a nice way to pass the time.” Twilight told them, nodding to Pinkie. “Why don’t you start us off then?”

“The best ghost stories are based off events that can actually happen~” a ghostly voice told the five mares. The mares slowed their walking as they heard the voice.

“Was that you Pinkie?” Twilight asked her, looking around nervously.

“Nope. Must have been somepony else!” Pinkie said with a delirious smile.

“Who-who said that?” Rarity asked the air and feeling really stupid for doing so.

“I did~” said the ghost as it ran a hoof along Rarity’s spine. Rarity shivered and let out a gasp at the touch.

“Wh-wh-what was th-that?” Rarity asked in a small voice. She tried to see if she could spot anything but nothing could be seen.

“I don’t know but I don’t like the sound of them.” Twilight replied, trying to see if she could spot whatever those things were.

“Come out and face us!” Applejack shouted at the ghostly voices.

“We are already facing you, miss~” the ghost said as it and its comrades formed ranks in front of the five mares.

“That’s a lot of them.” Twilight said unnecessarily, coming to a full stop.

“Ghosts aren’t real! You just need to laugh at them to make them go away!” Pinkie said with a giggle.

“Ah don’t think that’ll work, Pinks.” Applejack warned her. “These ghosts seem to mean business.”

“Are you r-r-real?” Fluttershy asked one of them, giving a small eep when it turned its featureless face to look at her.

“We are very real, ma’am. Otherwise we would not be able to touch any of you~” it said as it put a hoof against Fluttershy’s cheek. Fluttershy shrunk away from the touch and gave another eep at the cold and slimy feeling.

“You may be well-mannered but you sure are cold.” Rarity gave a comment as she shivered, still reeling from the effects of earlier.

“What do you ghosts want?” Twilight asked them, refusing to move from her spot.

“We were sent by Kar'Voth as a delaying tactic. We were told not to lie to you as well~” one of the ghosts responded.

“So then why don’t ya’ll move out of the way and let us get back to business?” Applejack asked them.

“We cannot do that, ma’am. For we are the easiest of the obstacles set for you.~” said another of the group.

“Obstacles? There are more of you along the way?” Twilight asked in disbelief.

“What am I telling you? All you have to do is laugh at them! It’s easy!” Pinkie interjected and walked up to one of the ghosts, chortling at it as if it had told a good joke.

“I highly doubt that would work, darling.” Rarity told her.

‘The unicorn is correct. We were summoned using dark magic and will not go away because of laughter.~” the group answered in unison.

“Aww. But that’s what I was always told to do! Giggle at the ghosties and they’ll go away!” Pinkie protested, ears drooping in embarrassment and sadness.

“So how do we pass by you then?” Twilight asked, sitting down and swishing her tail from side to side impatiently.

“It’s okay, Pinkie. You gave it a good try.” Fluttershy said to Pinkie with an encouraging smile.

“Thou must be honest with one another even if a lie would mean saving thy friend’s feelings. We will be able to tell if any of thee lie. Now, please tell each other something thou likes about each other and something thou hates about each other. We will be able to tell if any of thee lie.~” explained an obviously very old ghost.

“So you want us to say what we like about each other and something we hate about each other? We’ve only known one another for a few hours,” Twilight said as she reworked the old language in her head into words that she understood.

“Tis long enough to find something for each category if thou art friends.~” replied the ghost. Surprisingly, Fluttershy was the first to say something.

“Pinkie, I like the way you manage to cheer everypony up even when they seem at their lowest.” Fluttershy told Pinkie softly. “The one thing I d-don’t like about you though, is the way you seem so chipper all the time. Don’t you have any other emotion that’s not ‘cheerful’?” Fluttershy asked her, getting bolder the longer she talked.

“What? You like how I cheer everypony up but you don’t like how I’m happy all the time?” Pinkie asked for clarification to which Fluttershy nodded. “Well let me tell you what I like and don’t like about you. I like the way every single animal in Ponyville want to be your friends. It’s a good quality in you. But the one thing I don’t like, is the way you’re shy all the time. Can’t you be less shy every now and then?” Pinkie asked the shy pony, causing her to retreat behind her mane.

While Pinkie and Fluttershy had a one-sided conversation, with Pinkie being the side that talked, Applejack and Rarity confronted each other.

“Rarity, Ah like how much dedication ya’ll put in making those dresses but the thing Ah don’t like about that, is the fact that ya get ponies trussed up in them, even if they don’t want to.” Applejack told Rarity, watching her friend reel from shock.

“How could you say such a thing?! I would never force a pony to try on a dress. In fact, I don’t like how stubborn you can be but I admire the loyalty you show to your friends.” Rarity shot at her, causing the both of them to end up in an argument.

Twilight watched the four, three, of them get into arguments and turned to the ghost that laid down the rules. “What can I say to them? I know so little about them it wouldn’t make any sense for me to participate in this,” she told them.

“Dost thou not see something right now that thou hates about any of them? Surely thou dost. Thou canst use their interactions that thou hast seen during this to find something you like about them as well. Canst thou?~” the ghost replied.

“The only thing I can see about them that I hate at the moment is them arguing!” Twilight shouted the last word at the four of them. The four mares stopped their arguing and looked at her in surprise. “The other thing, the thing that I like, is the fact that they joined me in chasing after Rainbow. If they wouldn’t, then I would have gone by myself,” she added, facing the ghost again and completely oblivious to what she just said.

“All of thee have spoken true. Thou may pass.~” the ghost replied as they dissolved into thin air.

“Come on, We don’t have a lot of time.” Twilight said, thankful that the ghosts finally dissipated. She then began a light trot, the other four following after.

“Ghost stories. Anypony have them?” Pinkie asked, speaking as if the ghost army never happened.

“Pinkie, we’ve just lived a ghost story. I don’t think anything more can be said about that.” Rarity told her with a shiver down her spine.

“Ah agree. Let’s put this behind us and never talk about it again.” Applejack said stubbornly.

“Never talk about it again? We just encountered live ghosts! Who else can say they did that?!” Twilight said suddenly, getting excited with what they just went through.

“N-Nopony, T-T-Twilight.” Fluttershy said nervously, her hoof slipping a bit on the ground.

“Exactly! It could the greatest scientific find ever!” Twilight said excitedly, nearly slipping onto all fours but recovered just in time. “Where did this crystal come from? It wasn’t here before.”

“Ah don’t know but Ah don’t like the looks of this.” Applejack stated, cautiously stepping on the crystal before slowly walking away from the group as her footing got more sure.

“Applejack!” Twilight called out, noticing that the crystal around the orange mare began to grow. She lit up her horn and stuck her tongue out, trying to see if she could levitate Applejack back to the group.

Applejack looked over and didn’t notice the crystal until was halfway up her body. She slowed to a stop and slid a few feet before stopping completely. She noticed the crystal with a look of trepidation and found that she couldn’t move her hooves at all.

“Come on, we need to save Applejack!” Twilight called out and slowly but surely lead the group over to Applejack, making sure not to slip. Soon as they got near, the crystal disappeared back into the ground, leaving Applejack relatively unharmed. “You alright, Applejack?” Twilight asked concernedly.

“Ah’m fine but Ah think we need to stick together with this one. It looks like that if one of us leaves this here group, then this crystal ground will trap us.” Applejack explained worriedly. The mares accepted that explanation with a bit of hesitation but ended up sticking together anyway purely out of fear. They made it to the end of the crystal path and sighed in relief at the same time.

“We didn’t lose anypony, did we?” Fluttershy asked softly. The other four shook their heads and were surprised that no other mishaps had occurred along the path. They struck out along the path again and made their way to the castle, knowing that it was their destination.

With some casual chatter along the way, the five of them walked around the bend and soon found themselves in pitch blackness where no light could be seen in either direction.

“This is highly unusual.” Twilight observed and waved a hoof in front of her face. She couldn’t see it so that meant extremely low visibility.

“There’s no light here at all. How are we meant to see where we’re going?” Rarity asked, walking forward cautiously.

“You’re a Unicorn, Rares. Try lighting that there horn up.” Applejack said as she tried to follow Rarity by the sound of her voice. Rarity lit her horn to give off some light but that too was swallowed by the darkness.

“No light so we have to be very cautious when walking.” Rarity said as she frowned at her horn before continuing forward slowly. Twilight walked forward as well before realising that Pinkie or Fluttershy hadn’t spoken up.

“You two alright?” Twilight asked when she found her way to the both of them. Fluttershy shook her head, which was no surprise but the surprise was Pinkie shaking her head.

“Pinkie? You? Scared of the dark?” Twilight asked in surprise. She thought that Pinkie didn’t show any fear.

“Dark with light is a good thing but ultimate darkness is bad.” Pinkie sounded like she recited that from a book.

“You’re that scared of the dark that you won’t move at all?” Twilight asked, offering Fluttershy a hoof for her to hold while she talked with Pinkie.

“I just said that dark with light to see by is a good thing. I’m not that afraid of it if it’s like that. But this? This is a whole different beast.” Pinkie replied, barely noticing Fluttershy take Twilight’s hoof gently.

“Well … why don’t you bite my tail then and just follow where I step?” Twilight suggested kindly, already having a hooful with helping Fluttershy walk with her.

“What if you move too fast?” Pinkie asked, suddenly standing up.

“I’ll be sure not to.” Twilight reassured her, turning around and offering her tail for Pinkie to bite on. She winced when Pinkie bit hard on it but moved slowly through the darkness, holding tightly onto Fluttershy’s hoof to be sure she didn’t fall behind either.

Applejack and Rarity smiled when they finally saw Twilight emerge with Fluttershy and Pinkie close at hoof.

“What took you so long?” Rarity asked curiously.

“I-” Twilight was cut off when she felt a sharp tug on her tail. She looked behind and found Pinkie shaking her head vigorously. Twilight raised a brow at her and turned back, intending to talk to her about it later.

“I had to help Fluttershy along with Pinkie’s help,” she amended what she was going to say and smiled sheepishly at Applejack and Rarity.

“As long as y’all make it out in one piece, that’s fine by me.” Applejack said, turning around and walking down the path. The other four followed her.

“Why didn’t you want me to say you were scared?” Twilight whispered to Pinkie, making sure the others didn’t here.

“I don’t want them to think I’m not happy all the time.” Pinkie said simply.

“That’s no way to go about it. You need to let others know that you’re not just happy-go-lucky all the time.” Twilight told her, shaking her head at Pinkie’s response.

“I know but I can’t help myself.” Pinkie replied and quickened her pace to catch up to Rarity and Applejack. Twilight and Fluttershy looked at her, then at each other and went to catch up to the other three.

Some time later, Twilight noticed that the moon was high in the sky and grumbled that they haven’t been making quick enough progress.

“We need to get moving! The whole of Equestria is counting on this.” Twilight said exasperatedly.

“The ‘whole’ of Equestria?” Applejack asked her with a quirked brow.

“Have you forgotten what he said when he appeared? He said that he wants to claim the entirety of Equestria.” Twilight reminded her and looked up with a scowl as she heard a raspy voice shout out.

“Hey! Up here!” Rainbow shouted down towards them.

“Rainbow? Ah thought you’d have caught up to that dragon by now!” Applejack shouted up to her.

“I would but I got trapped by a wall of black wind!” Rainbow called out, flying down towards them with a wall of black wind following her. She tried to fly away from it but found another wall of wind blocking her that way. “This is getting a bit ridiculous.” She sighed and bumped into a wall of wind above her. The only way out seemed down but that was soon blocked by the ground itself. Rarity tried to rescue her but the wall of wind pushed her back.

“So, y’all are sayin that ‘the fastest flyer in Equestria’ is being stopped by wind?” Applejack asked as she began to giggle. “Isn’t tha somethin’ tha the easiest obstacle?”

“Hey! I’d like to see you try it!” Rainbow retorted.

“Admit it, RD. This is pretty funny when you think about it. I mean wind stopping a pegasus?” Applejack said. She laughed and wiped away a tear before looking to see how Rainbow was doing.

“Yeah, it is kinda funny for a pegasus who can control weather to be stopped by something so simple.” Rainbow admitted as she giggled. The black wind dissolved and Rainbow was able to fly onwards. “Catch ya later!” Rainbow called out as she flew away but was stopped short when she felt her tail yanked by something. “What? I was just about to-”

“No buts, Rainbow. You’re staying here where we can keep an eye on you.” Twilight said forcefully, but a bit of laughter escaped as she watched Rainbow dangle upside down with her tail stretched out in mid-flight.

“How d-did she get free?” Fluttershy asked as she covered her mouth with a wing to hide her smile.

“It was right about the time she admitted something and laughed.” Rarity recalled.

“Hello? Dangling in mid-air here!” Rainbow called down to Twilight. She let go of her tail and Rainbow plummeted to the ground catching herself in time by flaring her wings and flapping down gently.

“So, she laughed at herself?” Twilight asked.

“That sounds about right.” Pinkie agreed and shrugged, sitting down.

“We can’t go forward until we laugh at ourselves. This may be one of the harder ones.” Twilight sighed.

“Ya sure ‘bout that, sugarcube?” Applejack asked. Twilight nodded, forcing Applejack to walk forward to test it out. Soon enough, as she got close to a point on the path just ahead of the group, a black wall of wind appeared where she tried to go. She stepped to the side and tried to walk forward only to be stopped by the wind again. “Yup, we’re stuck. You’re right, Twilight.” Applejack said and walked back to the group.

“Now we have to laugh at ourselves but it will most likely be an honest thing like the first obstacle.” Twilight summarised, tapping a hoof against her chin as she slowly began to pace. Pinkie followed Twilight’s movements for a long while before speaking.

“What’s up, pacey? I didn’t think you paced, Twilight. Soon enough, you’ll pace a circle into the ground.” Pinkie jibbered.

“What? No I won’t. I can stop any time I want.” Twilight argued, continuing to pace in a circle.

“Sweetie, you kind of are.” Rarity supplied, pointing to the ground where Twilight’s head was currently bobbing.

“Nope. I’m just pacing like I usually do.” Twilight said in continuous denial.

“If this is how you usually pace, I’d hate to see the other places you walked.” Rainbow said as she chuckled a bit.

“Um.” Twilight blinked as the others disappeared from view, finally realising that she actually was pacing a circle into the ground. “Heh heh, oops.” Twilight laughed in embarrassment, climbing up out of the hole with Applejack’s help. “I believe that counts,” she continued.

“Rarity, you got a bit of dirt on your coat.” Applejack pointed out, hearing Rainbow snicker at Rarity.

“I do? Where?!” Rarity shouted, twirling place frantically to see if she could spot it.

“Other side.” Fluttershy said helpfully, pointing to the tiniest of smudges on her otherwise pristine coat.

“What? How did that get there?” Rarity asked, spinning around until she made herself. “Wait, I, heh heh. This may be a bit of a worry.” Rarity laughed, stumbling around until she fell against a tree. Fluttershy ran up to her and gently helped her up, laughing a bit at Rarity’s silliness.

“I’d like to see you laugh at yourself Applejack.” Rarity challenged, brushing off the bit of dirt as she laughed at how small it was.

“Ah don’t think Ah can laugh at myself, Rares.” Applejack said, watching Rarity with narrowed eyes.

“No, I believe you can. If I did then you most certainly can. So will you take up the challenge?” Rarity pressed, narrowing her own eyes challengingly at Applejack.

“Ah mean it. Ah doubt Ah can even come up with something to laugh at before the night’s over.” Applejack said stubbornly, eyes darting from side to side for a few second before refocusing on Rarity.

“There has to be something there, darling.” Rarity said in disbelief.

“What do ya want me ta do? Laugh at myself for being stubborn?” Applejack asked with a surprised look.

“That can work.” Twilight told her.

“Well Ah won’t!” Applejack stubbornly replied to Twilight.

“Listen to yourself! You’re being stubborn right now!” Rainbow called out now, laughing at something that AJ obviously wasn’t getting.

“Admit it Applejack.” Twilight smirked.

“No, Ah … fine.” Applejack relented and laughed a bit. “Ah’m stubborn yes, but I didn’t think it would be something to laugh about,” she added, feeling a few chuckles escape her before finally laughing softly.

“Applejack, Rainbow, Rarity and myself can pass through the wind barrier. I’m sure Pinkie can pass through anyway because she just laughs at anything which leaves, Fluttershy.” Twilight said with a sigh.

“I’ll be fine if I get left behind. It’s okay.” Fluttershy said softly.

“No, it’s not. We’ve come this far, we may as well go all the way.” Twilight said to her and noticed that she hid behind her pink mane the minute Twilight raised her voice to a more normal level.

“You’re hiding behind your mane again?” Rainbow asked with a chuckle. “I thought you stopped that ages ago.”

“I wanted to stop, but it was just too easy to hide behind my mane.” Fluttershy told her as she peeked out from behind her mane.

“That’s ridiculous!” Rainbow teased, laughing at Fluttershy’s predicament. Fluttershy blinked at Rainbow for a bit before laughing, realising that Rainbow was right.

“You’re right.” Fluttershy said softly, smiling and laughing as she flicked her mane behind her ear. They all laughed at each other’s insecurities that they had showed while walking passed the wind wall. They made it through without a hitch and with no further delays, they ran towards the castle, wanting to get this over with as quickly as possible.

They soon found the castle looming in the distance. As they ran up the path, they skidded to a halt in front of a great chasm with a broken bridge that had been connected between the castle and the cliff side.

“Argh! The castle is right there!” Twilight complained and stamped her hoof.

“We have no bridge to get to it either.” Applejack commented, sitting down and looking across the chasm. Rainbow flew down into the chasm to see if she could find the other edge of the bridge. Spotting it dangling on the castle side of the chasm, she grabbed one of the ropes with her teeth and dragged it back up, holding it on their side of the chasm.

“Brith here!” Rainbow called out through a mouthful of rope.

“That’s not a bridge. That’s half a bridge. We still need rope to hoist it up on this side so Rainbow doesn’t get too tired.” Twilight said with a bored comment.

“Ah got rope!” Applejack announced, reaching under her Stetson and bringing out a coil of rope. She handed it to Twilight who unfurled it and attached it to one end of the bridge with her magic. She extended it out and found that it only reached halfway.

“Do you have anymore?” Twilight asked Applejack. She replied by shaking her head. “What else can we use then?” Twilight asked and began to look around for any vines that could be used. She felt the rope combine with another aura of magic, causing Twilight to look at the bridge, only to find a purple tail that had been straightened out to be a makeshift rope.

“Rarity? You-Your tail!” Twilight said in surprise, noticing Rarity’s cut tail.

“It’ll grow back, Twilight. I just couldn’t stand being on this side longer than I have to, knowing that the dragon is in there somewhere.” Rarity reasoned and attached the sides of the bridge with her tail. Rainbow hesitantly let go of the bridge, watching it start to fall but stopped as the two pieces of rope grew taut and held it up.

“Finally!” Rainbow called and dashed inside, the other five scrambling after her.

“Didst thou now learn thy lesson back in the town?” Kar’Voth asked as he knocked Rainbow out of the air and into the others. The group fell over like bowling pins. As they struggled to get up, Rainbow recovered the fastest and rushed at him, bucking him in the face again.

“Thou Rainbows truly like kicking dragons in the snout, don’t you? Fine, try again without thy energy!” Kar’Voth said as he absorbed Rainbow’s energy until she had to land.

“What?” Rainbow asked weakly, barely able to stand as she limped back to the group.

“What did you do to Rainbow?” Twilight called out, placing a shield in front of the group in case he tried anything funny.

“We didst absorb her energy as We said We would. We dost not lie.” Kar’Voth told the group as six orbs of stone started to orbit around him. Twilight watched the orbs orbit him with her eyes.

“What are those?” Twilight couldn’t help her curious side, momentarily forgetting about the fight.

“These? These art mine Elements of Harmony. We didst claim them with the castle and those who occupied it. Such as Clover the Clever and Starswirl the Bearded.” Kar’Voth explained to the quizzical unicorn.

“You ‘claimed’ the greatest Unicorn in history!?” Twilight asked in surprise, lowering her shield to let the others do what they want. Applejack watched Twilight’s reaction and reacted herself by running towards Kar’voth to headbutt him in one of his forelegs.

“We didst claim Celestia and Luna as well, Twilight.” Kar’Voth told Twilight as he looked down at Applejack. “Tis futile, Applejack.” He absorbed Applejack’s energy as she stood next to his foreleg. Applejack let out a groan as she slumped against his leg, too weak to even make an attempt to go back to the group.

“You claimed the Princesses as well?” Twilight asked in a small voice, a horrified look overcoming her features as she witnessed Applejack get her energy sucked out as well.

“Varily. Would any of the rest of the care to try something?” Kar’Voth inquired as he looked at each of the remaining mares. The other four were too scared to do anything, not to mention Twilight looking shell-shocked at having learned this new information.

“No? We see no reason not to begin the ceremony then.” Kar’Voth said as he walked towards the four remaining mares and the exit that was behind them. As a last-ditch effort, Twilight powered her horn and covered the exit in sparkly shield magic, knowing that it wasn’t enough to stop him but hopefully it would slow him down. She grunted with the effort of keeping the shield up while Pinkie, Rarity and Fluttershy tried to think of what to do.

“Oh? Thy magic feels similar to Clover’s, Twilight Sparkle. Perhaps...Yes, tis so. Mine magic is already permeated throughout thy body!” Kar’Voth said in surprise.

“What the hay does that mean!?” Pinkie called out.

“It means that she has been mine since she was born for it seems that all of Clover’s descendants had mine magic passed onto them. Dost thou understand, Pinkie?” Kar’Voth explained. He had stopped the moment he’d found his magic inside of Twilight.

“So you’re saying that Twilight is descended from Clover and Clover was claimed by you in the past but that means that whatever magic you used that was inside Clover is also inside Twilight because she’s a descendant of Clover? That’s a bad case of genetics if I ever heard one.” Pinkie said in a rush, tilting her head from side to side as she talked.

“Correct, Pinkie. Mine magic is the reason why this castle wasn’t reclaimed by either the forest or beasts for the past thousand years.” Kar’Voth told the hyper mare. The three mares still standing looked to Twilight in concern.

“Why are you all looking at me? Because I have some freakish magic inside me from a thousand years ago?” Twilight snarked and glared at the dragon. “Why did you claim everything in this castle a thousand years ago? Just to have something belong to you?”

“Nay, at the time We were known as Draigo. We claimed everything, with permission from Celestia and Luna, to protect it from monster attacks.” Kar’Voth explained to the lavender mare.

“So you were corrupted then?” Twilight asked, her horn sparking as she kept the shield up.

“We know not what happened. All We know is that when We woke up we looked like this and felt so much freer than before.” Kar’Voth told he as he resumed walking towards the exit. Twilight kept the shield up and groaned as an utterly ridiculous idea entered her head.

“Kar’Voth, do you want to hurt your belongings?” Twilight asked, feeling sick when she knew that she was part of that category.

“We would prefer not to, but will if we must.” Kar’Voth replied.

“What would you do if I hurt myself then?” Twilight asked, trying to keep him talking as she went through multiple plans at once.

“We would heal you, but We have been unable to use such magic since We woke up like this, Twilight.” Kar’Voth admitted.

“You won’t be able to heal yourself either then if you managed to get hurt?” Twilight asked her third question, horn sparking multiple times as the spell kept flowing through her horn.

“Tis as thou hast guessed, but We do not see any of thee managing to hurt us.” Kar’Voth said confidently.

“That doesn’t matter right now. Besides flying, what else can you do?” Twilight asked, laying down on the floor as she concentrated all her strength into keeping the sparkly shield up.

“Well, We use Nether manipulation and dark magic. We have other abilities, but they are sealed.” Kar’Voth told her as he wondered what she was getting at.

‘He can’t use anything other than dark magic. That’s just great.’ Twilight sighed to herself and looked up to Kar’Voth. Fluttershy whispered something to her as she gestured towards the dragon. “You sure you want me to ask him that?” Twilight asked and focused her attention back on Kar’Voth. “Fluttershy wants to know if you can change form. I don’t know where she got that idea from though.” Twilight relayed Fluttershy’s message and watched Fluttershy whisper something to Pinkie.

“We hath not tried that since becoming aware of Our changes.” Kar’Voth admitted.

“Why don’t you try then, Mr. Voth?” Fluttershy asked in a bold move of her own.

“We art weaker in that form, but We suppose We should know what abilities are left to Us.” Kar’Voth said as his scales became metal full-plate armor that was pitch black with purple accents that covered his entire body. He had a cape on his shoulders that was black with purple lining. His gauntlets had one inch claws on each finger and a sword was strapped to his waist. Looking at the helmet he wore only one glowing green eye could be seen with purple flames pouring from it.

“This is your true form?” Twilight asked in a bored voice and flattened her ears when Fluttershy told her to.

“Who cares what he looks like? PARTY CANNON!” Pinkie shouted, pulling out a small white cannon with a blue rim and pink wheels from behind a nearby pillar. She moved it and aimed it before laughing hysterically and pulling the string, letting loose an explosion of streamers and confetti bags at a high velocity. Kar’Voth flew back about twenty feet as he took the cannon’s blast in his gut from ten feet away. It would have been worse if not for his armor.

“How did We forget about her cannon?” Kar’Voth asked himself. He looked up and noticed the Elements were on the floor where he had been standing earlier.

Twilight looked at the fallen orbs and remembered him calling ‘Elements of Harmony’. She didn’t really know what they were but stood up and ran up to them anyway, cutting off her flow of magic and powering down the shield. The other three followed her to the orbs and they instinctively grabbed one, not really knowing what else to do.

“No! Not again!” Kar'Voth yelled as he changed back to his draconic form and charged the four mares.

Twilight grabbed the other three Elements in her magic and ran to the side, and over to Applejack. “Do any of you know what these are?” Twilight asked them.

“Nope but he seemed angry that we got them.” Pinkie answered, giggling at Kar’Voth.

“Thou shalt not be laughing when thou hast no energy!” Kar’Voth yelled and absorbed the energy of Pinkie, Fluttershy, and Rarity, leaving Twilight for last.

“You sucked their energy out.” Twilight stated, staring calmly at the dragon. “I barely know these ponies but what I do know of them is that they stood up for each other, even when arguing.” Twilight shrugged as she sat down and even had the audacity to stare boredly at Kar’Voth.

“We shall give thee a choice. Keep thy friends or keep the Elements. I will take whichever thou dost not choose.” Kar’Voth told Twilight.

“I don’t even know what these things are.” Twilight replied and magicked the six Elements in front of her face to inspect them. “They’re just stone orbs. Why do you want them so badly?”

“We shall tell thee if thee hand them over to me.” Kar’Voth stated as he slowly walked towards Twilight.

“I’ll gladly hand them over when you tell me what they are.” Twilight said, magicking the orbs behind her when she noticed him move.

“We get them first then We’ll tell thee. Not the other way around, Twilight.” Kar’Voth told her as he continued to slowly walk towards her.

“You tell me first, then I’ll give them. I won’t take it any other way.” Twilight countered, levitating the Party Cannon stealthily as she realised her horn was still lit up from magicking the Elements near her.

“We didst not want to do this, but thou hast made Us.” Kar’Voth said as he reached out with a tendril of black energy and directed it toward Twilight. Twilight didn’t move from her spot, instead, levitated the Party Cannon next to his ear and pulled the string with her magic, causing it to make an extremely loud explosion with streamers and confetti going everywhere. Kar’Voth roared in pain as he lost hearing in one ear, was flung forty feet away and got a concussion from hitting the floor with his head.

Twilight breathed a sigh of relief before running out of the room and further into the castle, looking back at her new friends for a brief second before disappearing around the corner. With the Elements in tow, she ran through corridor after corridor before finally tiring out in an open courtyard with a gigantic and oddly-leaved tree. She flopped against the roots that were hidden from the doorway and levitated the Elements close to her she could try and inspect them in peace. She heard a primal roar of rage emanate from the castle’s entrance.

“She’ll pay for that.” Kar'Voth said to himself after his roar. He started running down the corridors, looking for any sign that a pony had been here. With a thousand year’s worth of dust everywhere it didn’t take him long to find Twilight’s trail.

Twilight cringed at the roar and quickly set to work finding out how these stupid orbs worked. The first one she inspected had a star shape while the other five had a generic crystal shape. She set those in between the roots for now, hiding them out of sight to inspect the starry one. ‘It’s just a star etched into a rock. There’s nothing special about this at all other than the fact that it was a star and the others weren’t.’ Twilight shook it to see if it would activate that way but nothing happened. “Oh come on. You have to work somehow.” Twilight muttered to herself.

“Oh, they do, but you’ve run out of time to figure it out.” Kar'Voth said as he stood in the doorway leading into the castle.

Twilight peeked her head around the wide trunk of the tree to find the dragon standing in the doorway. “Hey. How’s it going?” she asked casually, stuffing the other five Elements deep into the roots of the tree in hopes of him having not seen them yet.

“Oh, you know. Concussion, ruptured eardrum, and being flung forty feet. I’ve had worse injuries, but I think I’m at least talking the right way now.” Kar'Voth told her as he walked towards her.

Twilight stepped out from behind the tree trunk and gave him the Magic Element. “You are, don’t worry. I have no idea how these work but I do know you want them, badly. So, I flung the other Elements into other parts of the castle.” Twilight said casually, hoping he wouldn’t see through her bluff if his concussion was really that bad.

“Well, that’s one plus, I guess. You wouldn’t lie to me, would you?” Kar'Voth asked.

“Why would I? You’ll just suck my energy out and leave me for dead if I did otherwise.” Twilight answered, as she walked passed him. “Before you ask, I don’t know where I put the other Elements. I tried an unstable teleporting spell on them to see if they activated that way and they got teleported to different parts of the castle.”

“Dead? No, the others will be fine. They just need about eight hours of sleep. Why would I kill something or someone that I was about to claim for myself?” Kar'Voth said as he kept his attention on Twilight.

“No clue. You seemed like that kind of guy to me. Which way is it to the entrance? I want to check on the ponies I travelled with.” Twilight asked boredly, doing her best to keep emotion out of it.

“I may be evil, but I try not to kill things that I don’t have to.” Kar'Voth said as he pointed Twilight in the correct direction and started his search for the Elements in the courtyard. Twilight looked back after he finished speaking and got an extremely worried look on her face as she observed what he was doing. Now knowing that her friends would be fine, she took off in the other direction and noticed the dust on the floor. Lighting up her horn, Twilight swirled the dust behind her in an effort to mask her tracks as she explored the castle for a bit.

“Stupid, Twilight. Spreading the Elements all over the castle. Gonna take forever to find them.” Kar'Voth grumbled to himself as he gave the entire area a once over. He even checked in the tree’s roots, nothing. “Well, next room, I guess.”

“This is a big library.” Twilight commented, having found herself inside the Castle’s library and noticing the multitude of books in the shelves. “I could get lost for weeks here but I can’t. I got to make sure Kar'Voth doesn’t find those other five Elements. Wait. I’m in a library! I can search them up here!” Twilight said to herself and clapped her hooves in delight as she immediately began poring over the books to find any information at all on the Elements. She soon found out that there were six different elements, each with their own magical properties but the one thing that she seemed to come back to is what the Elements represented.

“Laughter, Generosity, Kindness, Loyalty, Honesty and Magic. I got five unconscious friends back at the entrance. Maybe it will work with them?” Twilight asked herself and figured it couldn’t hurt to try. With that in mind, she shut the book and took it with her in case she needed it, leaving various sized piles of teetering books in the library. She shot past Kar'Voth in one of the corridors and almost immediately stopped in her tracks when she realised. “Found the Elements yet, Kar'Voth?” Twilight asked, slightly out of breath.

“No, but you seem to have found something, Twilight. Why the rush?” Kar'Voth asked with a raised eye ridge.

“I realised I hadn’t checked on my acquaintances yet. Too busy exploring the castle.” Twilight said, not turning to look at him and staring straight ahead. “You haven’t found even one Element yet? I thought you’d have found at least two by now.”

“I still only have Magic. The one you gave me.” Kar'Voth admitted as he levitated the Element around him.

Twilight turned and watched the Element curiously before smiling up at him. “You’ll find them eventually. Now, I got to check on the others.” Twilight said before stepping backwards and running back towards the entrance. Kar'Voth decided to quietly follow Twilight in case she knew something he didn’t.

‘Okay, the Elements are still under the roots. That’s good to know. I’ll just quickly grab them and then head on back to my friends.’ Twilight thought, too busy running towards the courtyard to notice anything else. When she got there, she quickly checked behind herself to see if anything was amiss. Not noticing anything, she went to the roots and levitated the hidden Elements out from the ground. A bit of dirt was still on them but that shouldn’t be a problem. Pleased that Kar'Voth hadn’t found them, she turned and began to run back into the castle.

“So, you did lie. Lying isn’t very nice, Twilight.” Kar'Voth said as he strode through the doorway. Twilight gave a small eep when she saw Kar'Voth walk in and quickly hid the Elements behind her even though she knew it wouldn’t do any good.

“I thought you were still searching the castle, Kar'Voth.” Twilight whispered.

“You seemed to have found something so I decided to follow you, just in case.” Kar'Voth told her.

“I found out about the Elements but I still don’t know how they work.” Twilight replied, backing up into the tree, suddenly afraid of what he might do to her.

“I could tell you, but that wouldn’t help me at all.” Kar'Voth said as he turned to leave. “I think I’ll go check on your friends.”

“They’re not my friends.” Twilight huffed. “They’re just random ponies that helped me when I asked.”

“Really? Then how did you get past my traps?” Kar'Voth asked as he continued his way toward the castle’s entrance. Twilight realised that he wasn’t going after her and came up with another stupid idea.

“I responded with appropriate answers.” Twilight said as she rushed by him, heading to the entrance as quickly as she could.

“Appropriate answers wouldn’t get you past all of them. Only true friendship could get past all of my traps. That’s how I know how much of a threat you six are!” Kar'Voth said as he charged after her. Twilight heard the thud of his claws quicken against the stone tiles and multitasked her spells by keeping the Elements levitated and placing a sparkly shield between her and the dragon.

“I brought them along just for that reason. I barely know any of them, but somehow we managed to get passed them.” Twilight told him, quickening her own pace in an effort to get to the castle entrance first.

“Barely know them? Didn’t you learn anything during those traps?” Kar'Voth asked her as he took flight and sped to catch up to Twilight.

“Nope. That’s the one time I didn’t learn anything.” Twilight lied, glancing behind her and slowing and ducking when she realised what he was up to. She moved the shield she created around herself as she watched him fly over.

“That’s too bad. I guess you’ll never learn about Loyalty, Honesty, Generosity, Kindness, Laughter, and Magic.” Kar'Voth told her as he flew over her.

“Yeah, too bad.” Twilight echoed as she slowed to a trot.

“Given up already?” Kar'Voth said as he noticed Twilight slow down.

“No. I just thought you would go on ahead.” Twilight said casually, keeping the portable shield between her and Kar'Voth. She levitated the orbs in front of her face and thought about them and her friends. Getting a determined look in her eyes, she rushed by Kar'Voth and moved the shield back behind her as she resumed racing towards the entrance.

“That’s more like it!” Kar'Voth said excitedly as he chased after her. Twilight ignored him and soon came upon the entrance, where her friends talked with each other as they laid down, trying to get their strength back.

“Twilight? Where have you been?” Rarity asked, watching her race in with five of the orbs clutched in her magic.

“Learning about the Elements and being chased by Kar'Voth!” Twilight answered, giving each of them one of the orbs. “I don’t know which orb is which so I’m hoping I gave them to the correct pony.”

“You’re still missing the most important one, Twilight. Good luck getting it away from me.” Kar'Voth said as he rounded the corner and confronted the six mares.

“Ah. Right. Magic.” Twilight sighed despondently, her ears flicking in disappointment.

“Hang on a sec. What just are these Elements y’all speak of?” Applejack asked, looking at the orb Twilight gave her.

“Loyalty, Honesty, Generosity, Kindness, Laughter and Magic. Those are the six Elements of Harmony. From what I read, they’re what sent him to the moon a thousand years ago.” Twilight explained, nodding her head in Kar'Voth’s direction.

“Yes, Twilight, they are. And I’m not going to let you send me back there!” Kar'Voth told her as his eyes turned completely black and a wave of dark earth crashed towards the mares. Twilight realised she still had her shield up and now that she only had one thing to worry about, decided to put all her power into the shield. She extended it into a ring around the group and strengthened it until sparks flew off her horn, a signal of too much power being channeled into it.

“It seems that Celestia’s prized student still needs to work on her defenses. Unlike a certain guardsmen that you know.” Kar'Voth laughed as Twilight’s shield shattered and his earth hit the mares.

The wave pushed the mares into the far wall, their heads hitting, making them slump against the floor. Twilight was flung into the wall from the dual force of her shield shattering and the wave sending her flying. She hit the wall and heard something crack as she fell. Gently rubbing her head as she lied there, she cried out in pain when her hoof brushed against the base of her horn, feeling a bit of it missing. “Too much power fed into horn results in horn cracking when flung against wall.” Twilight muttered to herself as she analysed her pain.

“Don’t you see how futile your efforts are? I beat the Grim Reaper and Celestia before Luna sent me to the moon. What makes you think you can do better than them?” Kar'Voth taunted as he slowly walked towards Twilight.

“Because I have friends.” Twilight said, hearing a hum of power from the five orbs surrounding them. “Applejack is honest as Rainbow Dash is loyal. Fluttershy and Pinkie displayed kindness and laughter in equal measures and Rarity is generous by using her tail as a makeshift rope.” Twilight continued, shutting her eyes against a blinding light. When it disappeared, five gems were in place of the orbs.

“That’s five. What about the sixth?” Kar'Voth said as he took his Element in claw.

“No clue. No idea how to activate that one.” Twilight said truthfully, wincing when she moved her head. ‘I’m going to have a hard time casting spells with my horn being cracked,’ she thought to herself sadly.

“You’re Celestia’s student. You know about the other five, but don’t know about the last and most important Element: Friendship? What kind of dunce are you?” Kar'Voth asked, astounded that she knew so much yet so little.

“I’m a very good dunce. I never knew about friendship until today, even now, I still don’t know anything about it.” Twilight replied, closing an eye as she felt a bit of blood run down her face from her cracked horn.

“You’re even more dense than I am if you’ve learned nothing about friendship after going through everything you have today.” Kar'Voth told her in exasperation.

“Fine. You caught me. I’ve learned something about friendship but even that little bit isn’t enough to activate the sixth Element.” Twilight admitted. She thought back over the journey in the Everfree and realised that the only thing of note she really learned was that they all stuck together, even though they argued a lot.

“Well, your friends are obviously Element Bearers. You, are not. I will let you leave, but they will stay here. Trapped so that they can not use the Elements against me.” Kar'Voth told her as he advanced upon the other five mares. Twilight tried to put up another shield between them but the stress on her horn was too painful to do so. She contemplated what he said and didn’t bother moving an inch.

“But I don’t wanna move.” Twilight stated, narrowing her eyes at him.

“Then I will move you. Goodbye, Twilight. The next time I see you will be when I own all of Equestria.” Kar'Voth said as he wrapped Twilight in dark wind and moved her outside the castle’s entrance.

Twilight looked at the castle for a second before standing up and checking herself over, noting how the only real injury to her was her cracked horn. ‘I can’t let this continue. I need to come clean and save my friends.’ Twilight thought as she ran back over the bridge to charge back into the entrance room. ‘This will most likely make no sense at all but I got to try something!’ Twilight thought desperately as she confronted Kar'Voth.

“What kind of friend are you if you want everything in Equestria to belong to you?” Twilight called out to him as she ran into the entranceway.

“I never said I was friends with anyone. That doesn’t mean I don’t know about it, though. The Elements were used on me before and I did have friends before I woke up.” Kar’Voth said. Kar’Voth’s eyes changed to regular golden dragon eyes and his serrated features smoothed out.

“Twilight! It takes a spark to activate the last Element of Harmony!” Kar’Voth said in a very similar, but different voice than normal. The six mares looked at Kar’Voth weirdly before Twilight pondered what he had said.

“A spark activates the last Element? What spark? The books never said anything about a spark!” Twilight called out.

“I do not have long. Kar’Voth is...almost in control...again. The magic of friendship is what you need. True friendship.” the voice told her. The dragon’s body began to shake as he screwed his eyes shut as though in pain before they opened to reveal Kar’Voth’s eyes once more.

“I do not know what he told you, but you must pay him no heed.” Kar’Voth told the mares.

Twilight watched the orb that contained the Element of Magic as she thought over what this other voice said. ‘If friendship is what’s needed, then maybe I actually can activate the Element.’ Twilight wondered and thought over what she and her friends did on the tests and as she thought of them, the orb slowly lit up every time it orbited near her.

“Now, Twilight. Leave before you get more hurt than you already are. Your horn is damaged just like this Element is. I don’t want you to lose the ability to use magic. It would make your ancestor roll over in her grave knowing that her descendant made it so she couldn’t use magic anymore.” Kar’Voth told her as he started to slowly encase the other mares in black crystal.

Twilight looked at her friends in shock before turning her attention back to the dragon. “Wait. Let me see the Element again. Since I can’t activate it, it wouldn’t hurt, right?” she asked in a carefully neutral voice.

“I suppose that’s true. What do you hope to see that you haven’t already?” Kar’Voth said as he slowly levitated the orb towards Twilight. Twilight took a calming breath and lit up her horn, wincing as more sparks than usual cascaded out of it while she levitated the orb towards herself. As soon as it was close, Twilight then slowly walked over to her friends.

“Probably a … hidden button or something like that.” Twilight answered him with a wince.

“Twilight, it’s a solid orb of stone not a container that opens when touched in the right area.” Kar’Voth told her, getting kinda tired of how stupid she seemed to be.

“I beg to differ.” Twilight said softly, grinning in delight when the orb began to glow intensely as it came in proximity with the other Elements. “Hey, Kar’Voth, maybe I’m not so stupid after all.” Twilight called out smugly, watching a five-pointed purple star appear in place of the solid orb.

“No, not again! It’s all his fault. He’s been fighting me since we became like this. Fine, you will all perish!” Kar’Voth said as he took in a deep breath and sent a stream of black fire towards the six mares. The Elements counteracted the magic with a rainbow shield before going towards the six different bearers. When they made contact with each bearer, a white flash appeared before dimming to reveal six different items.

A gold, lightweight helmet studded with orange gems in the shape of apples appeared on Applejack’s head underneath of her Stetson. An axe with a long pink handle and a blue and yellow metallic blade appeared in front of Pinkie, the handle nearly hitting her on the head. A white flash appeared on Rarity’s hooves, barely indistinguishable from the rest of her coat. What she got were blue gem studded horseshoes that had hairline fractures crisscrossing over them.

Fluttershy got a bright yellow and pink shield with a giant fractured butterfly gem on the front of it. Rainbow’s wings got the white glow and when it disappeared, rainbow-coloured wing blades edged with electric blue appeared on the top of her wings, adding extra protection while still being razor sharp and incredibly lightweight. Twilight was the final one to receive an item: a thick, mystical tome with a lavender cover and a starry illustration appeared before her while the spine of the book looked slightly frayed.

“Weapons, armor, and a book? They didn’t look like that before...I guess I’ll have to kick it up a notch now that all six elements have been activated.” Kar’Voth told them as he plunged them into darkness and put a smooth coat of crystal on the floor beneath them.

Chapter 11 - Elemental Conditioning

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~THIRD PERSON POV~

Twilight immediately tried to light her horn up but the pain of it being cast was still too much for her to bear.

“Rarity, can you light you horn up?” Twilight asked her only for an emphatic ‘no’ to sound out as an answer.

“I’ve tried lighting it up but the darkness just takes it away as soon as it’s cast.” Rarity informed her, tapping her hooves against the floor.

“The Elements are lighting up on their own …” Fluttershy whispered, seeing different coloured lights emanate from different points along their bodies where the Elements had settled, giving various degrees of sight within in the darkness.

“This is how I beat Princess Celestia and the Grim Reaper. Let’s see how you do.” Kar’Voth said as his voice echoed around them. Rainbow looked at her wings in awe before flapping them to get airborne. She stopped flapping before hitting the roof when something told her to spin and shoot electric blue blades in a wide radius around her friends.

“That has to get something!” Rainbow called out, watching white-hot electricity arc between the blades. Kar’Voth cried out in pain as the arcs bit into his hide and electrified him.

“So far, you’re doing better than they did, but how about this?” Kar’Voth said as he tried to trap those still on the ground with crystal like he had Skye. Rarity watched the crystals form in her limited vision. She felt her hooves move on their own accord as she watched herself hit one of the forming crystals with a hoof, causing it to shatter with a lot less force than intended and continued to do so with the other pieces of crystal.

“These Elements seem to have a mind of their own.” Rarity told the others once she was felt like she was finished.

“Impressive.” Kar’Voth admitted. He made a pit beneath them and shattered the layer of crystal beneath them. The five mares screamed when they suddenly found themselves falling, with Fluttershy unable to fly to even save herself, let alone the others. She felt herself being pulled faster than the others though as the shield attached to her foreleg made itself barely bigger than the hole they were falling in. When they reached the bottom, the five of them landed on metal rather than broken stones.

“The shield saved us.” Fluttershy said softly, whimpering as she felt a couple of her friends move on top of her as they tried to find better footing. Rocks falling caught their attention though when a pink blur rapidly dug a tunnel just next to the shield using her axe as the digger.

“HEY! USE THE TUNNEL!” Pinkie called down as she looked over the hole, somehow talking clearly through holding her axe in her mouth.

Four of them scrambled off the shield and carefully made their way up the tunnel, leaving Fluttershy to figure out how to shrink the shield to a more manageable size.

“Oh? You got out of the pit? How about the opposite then?” Kar’Voth said as he sent a pillar of dark earth at them horizontally. Applejack took her Stetson off when she felt her helmet pull her towards the earthen pillar. She went along with it and lowered her head before running headlong into the pillar, praying that the helmet would not shatter into bits. An explosion of rock and earth could be heard when Applejack barreled into it.

“These Elements may be a bit strange, but they sure do work.” Applejack reported, managing to stop herself from ramming into the wall.

“Well. Who knew you were so thick headed, Applejack.” Kar’Voth said with a chuckle. “Well, you can’t use all the Elements as Luna did. Perhaps I worried for nothing. Then again, maybe I should just do as I did before and suck your energy out!” Kar’Voth said as he began to try to suck all of their energy away.

Twilight’s tome flipped through its pages of its own accord before stopping on one. Twilight looked at the spell and after a few minutes of reading it, figured it wouldn’t do any harm to use it. When a black tendril snaked into the light illuminating from the book, she lit up her horn and tears forming as the amount of energy for the spell caused her horn to spark uncontrollably as well as cause her untold amounts of pain. She fought through it though and cast the spell at where she figured Kar’Voth was when she deemed it ready. The tendril vanished and she figured that the others near her friends vanished as well.

“Once again, you’ve demonstrated individual use of the Elements. It’s going to take a whole lot more than that to stop me, though.” Kar’Voth said as he sent a ball of nothingness at them.

Pinkie hummed to herself as she felt her axe light up with energy and pull her towards the middle of the room. She listened to the axe’s hum before moving over to the right and swinging her head from side to side rapidly, not really caring if she managed to hit whatever the Element wanted her to hit or not.

“Thith ith fun!” Pinkie mumbled through her swinging and humming.

“Hmm, these Elements are interesting, but I doubt that they can stop you from flying away!” Kar’Voth said as he generated a tornado of dark wind around the six mares. Each of which floated into the air and met up in the middle of the tornado.

“Is everypony okay?” Twilight asked, keeping a tight grip on her tome of spells with her hooves, not really trusting her horn at the moment. Four of them said that they were while an eep travelled up to them from the floor at the bottom of the bit. Fluttershy was picked up by the force of the tornado along with her over-sized shield and was floated up to meet with them. “Fluttershy, have you managed to work out your shield?” Twilight asked her.

“No. I don’t even know how it got big in the first place.” Fluttershy replied, feeling her foreleg shake as the shield got bigger and managed to block out most of the wind surrounding the mares. “It doesn’t get any heavier even though it’s so big.” Fluttershy squeaked in surprise.

“That’s good to know. Now we just have to figure out how to combat this tornado with the rest of the Elements.” Twilight observed.

Rarity futilely punched the air and didn’t think anything happened until the air moved around the spot she had punched without going through it. Rainbow saw this and flew up to the hole to inspect it.

“You literally punched the air?” Rainbow asked with a raised brow.

“I didn’t think it would work!” Rarity protested, giving the air another punch and noticed the hole get bigger. “Why don’t you use your new wings to help me out, darling?” Rarity asked her, looking at the metallic shine on her wings. Rainbow shrugged and stretched her wing out towards the hole, flapping it harshly to let a single white metallic feather fly through the hole, knocking the rest of the air out of the way.

“That appears to have worked. I think ... Pinkie. Try slicing the air as well with your axe. Maybe it will widen the hole.” Twilight directed her as she carefully flipped through her magical tome for an appropriate spell to use

“Okey doke!” Pinkie cheered, floated over to the hole and shook her head, swinging the axe at the hole a couple of times to enlarge it. The three of them kept working at it, taking it in turns until the hole was big enough to let them through. Twilight and Fluttershy stayed behind so they could try and figure out how to shrink the shield.

“This is going to be a tough one to fix.” Twilight muttered, looking over the shield until cautiously touching the now giant, fractured butterfly gem. It glowed pink for a second before suddenly shrinking to its original size, causing Fluttershy to squeak and zoom out of the air hole in fright. Twilight breathed in relief before following her friends out the hole. She reached the edge of it and fell down, giving a short scream before being caught by Rainbow Dash.

“So, even something like wind can be destroyed by the Elements. I see no need for darkness either. Rainbow and Twilight did hit me earlier after all.” Kar’Voth said as he let the darkness subside. “What are you going to do now, my little ponies?”

“This?” Twilight asked uncertainly as the six items began to glow now that their bearers had a clear target to attack. Twilight’s horn lit up of its own accord, causing Twilight to flinch in preparation for the onslaught of pain. Her tome rapidly flipped through pages while Rainbow’s wings lit up like a disco ball. Fluttershy’s shield rotated rapidly while Rarity’s shoes began to send out waves of blue magic. Pinkie’s axe and Applejack’s helmet both lit up with varying degrees of power.

The book stopped on a page and charged the other five Elements with power, a rainbow of light flew towards Kar’Voth spearheaded by Rainbow’s colourful wing blades and Pinkie’s spinning axe. The rotating shield was not far behind them while Rarity’s blue waves extended outwards in ever-widening circles. Applejack’s helmet lit up with the biggest apple gem providing an orange beam to add to the fight.

Kar’Voth roared in pain and agony as the Elements hit him. He could feel whatever effect had swarmed his mind start to clear. By the end, his voice was Draigo’s deep, powerful voice once more. He fell to the ground, closed his eyes, and breathed deeply as he recovered from his ordeal.

Pinkie’s axe boomeranged after clashing into Kar’Voth and spun back to her, making her duck and watch it embed itself in the wall. “Hey! It’s a boomeraxe!” Pinkie cheered, walking up to it and trying to yank it out of the wall with her mouth.

“Kar’Voth?” Twilight asked him cautiously, her voice hoarse from screaming at the magical assault her horn gave her.

“No, I...am Draigo.” Draigo asked as he opened his eyes to reveal that his eye had kept the black sclera while his irises turned back to their golden color with normal slit pupils.

“Draigo? Rainbow asked, flying up to him and slowly went around him, inspecting him from every angle.

“It’s the goody dragon!” Pinkie announced, still trying to get her axe out of the wall.

“Yes, Pinkie. I’m a good dragon.” Draigo said with a knowing smile.

“You want any help, Pinkie?” Fluttershy asked, dropping her shield and walking over.

“Maybe a bit of help would be nice.” Pinkie said, moving to the side and watched her try to get the axe out.

“Fluttershy is trying to pull it out when Pinkie couldn’t? Please, allow me. If Pinkie, an Earth Pony, can’t budge it then maybe a dragon can.” Draigo commented on the bizarre event as he stood up and walked over to the embedded axe. Pinkie and Fluttershy stepped to the side to see if he really could pull it out. Rainbow was having none of it though and flew towards the axe, standing in front of it in an attempt to stop him.

“How can we trust you after what we went through?” Rainbow asked him, narrowing her eyes and flaring her wings in preparation.

“Rainbow, do I look like Kar’Voth?” Draigo asked in a serious tone. Rainbow stood her ground while she looked him over to see if he was telling the truth.

“What happened to Kar’Voth then?” Twilight asked, sitting down and watching him with a slight bit of paranoia.

“He is gone. Never to return. I assume the Elements of Harmony cleansed him from my mind instead of banishing me to the moon again.” Draigo told her. “Seriously though, do I look like him?”

“Yeah, ya kinda do.” Applejack said, pointing to his spines and eyes..

“Here’s another question, how do you know our names when we never even told you them?” Twilight asked.

“I met all of you in my own world. Ever heard of multiverse theory?” Draigo said as he looked to the parts Applejack had pointed to. He discovered that his claws were still serrated while his scales had changed back to being iridescent. He couldn’t tell what his eyes were like, of course.

“Only in science fiction novels.” Twilight answered.

“You have lovely scales, though.” Rarity complimented him, liking this new look instead of the dull purple and black from before.

“Thank you, Rarity. Multiverse theory is true, Twilight. There’s a multitude of different universes that are somehow connected.” Draigo said with a smile at Rarity’s compliment.

“You’re from one of these universes then?” Rainbow asked him, slowly stepping to the side as she realised that he meant no harm to them.

“Yes, I am, Rainbow. I was summoned here by the Grim Reaper herself.” Draigo told her as he strode over to Pinkie’s axe and pulled it free with a grunt of effort. “Here you go, Pinkie.”

“Thanks!” Pinkie said, taking the axe in her mouth and swinging it playfully.

“You were summoned … by the Grim Reaper?” Twilight asked in disbelief, not really believing that the Grim Reaper could be real either.

“You sound like you want some proof, Twilight. I wonder if Celestia and Luna...Oh crap, I forgot about them!” Draigo said as he closed his eyes and concentrated as he felt for their immense magic. After a few moments he found them and felt dark magic around their bodies. He reached out mentally and dispersed the dark magic, freeing the Princesses. “There, they are free. Now, about that proof...”

“Granny Smith talks about the Grim Reaper as if they were old friends.” Applejack commented, taking her helmet off and placing her Stetson back in place.

“That makes sense. Your granny has probably had a few scares in her life. I don’t think Twilight is quite convinced, though.” Draigo said as he noticed Twilight’s expression hadn’t changed.

“I still need to see actual proof.” Twilight said condescendingly, quirking a brow at Applejack’s comment.

“I don’t think there’s proof of the Grim Reaper being real, but I do have proof that other universes exist. Don’t freak out at what I’m going to show you, okay?” Draigo told them and waited for a response.

“Just show us already!” Rainbow called out, flicking her tail in impatience.

Draigo didn’t respond, he just changed into his human form. His armor was still black, but his eye was yellow and didn’t have a flame coming from it and he had yellow accents instead of purple going along it. He reached up and removed his helmet to reveal his human head. He had dark brown hair with ice blue eyes. His sclera stayed black, though.

“There. I’m proof that there are other universes since I’m human.” Draigo told them.

Five mouths fell open in shock while Twilight looked like her brain stopped working.

“I-is that wh-what you actually l-l-look like?” Fluttershy asked, cautiously stepping backwards until her back hit the wall.

“Well, this is what I originally looked like before becoming a dragon about fourteen billion years ago.” Draigo told them nonchalantly. “So, I think I’m more dragon than human at this point.”

“Four … four … four …” Twilight sounded out, sounding like a broken record and shaking as she tried to contemplate it.

“I think I broke Twilight, again.” Draigo said as he waved a hand in front of Twilight’s face.

“I think that was an information overload.” Rainbow said, laughing at Twilight’s reaction.

“Is this what Twilight is usually like when a lot of information is given to her?” Rarity asked, tilting her head in concern.

“That seems to be the trend so far.” Draigo told her as he conjured an orb of water about the size of Twilight’s head before dropping it on her.

“GAH!” Twilight screamed blinking at the sudden assault and drying her eyes. “What was that for?”

“You looked like you were stuck.” Pinkie answered, dropping her axe and joining in the conversation.

“Like Pinkie said. You needed something to get your mind out of the loop it was on. So, I dropped some water on you.” Draigo admitted.

“There’s a multiverse, you are from one of the universes inside the multiverse and you, yourself are fourteen billion years old?” Twilight asked, the water assault jolting her brain back into action.

“Yes, yes, and yes. One hundred percent correct, egghead.” Draigo said as he checked off each point with his fingers. Two shadows cast by the moonlight flew by the entranceway, causing Applejack and Fluttershy to look up and try to spot their sources.

“Are the Princesses arriving now?” Applejack asked Fluttershy.

“I think so.” Fluttershy answered quietly.

“About time the Princesses showed up.” Rainbow scoffed and crossed her forelegs over her chest as she flapped in place.

“They’re here? Oh man. I hope they aren’t too angry at me. I’ve never liked it when they get angry.” Draigo said as he changed back to his draconic form. Soon after, twin beams of magic hit Draigo, one of heat, and one of ice as the Princesses flew into the entrance room.

“GAAAH! Going back to your old policy, Celestia?” Draigo asked as he laid prone on the floor.

“You imprisoned us!” Luna answered, forming an icy shield around herself as she rammed him. Celestia noticed that he looked different from before but was too late to stop Luna in her stubbornness so instead, she flew down to Twilight and the others to try and protect them.

“Nooo, that was Kar’Voth. Look at my eyes and tell me I’m Kar’Voth.” Draigo said in an attempt to convince Luna as he tried to keep himself from being smashed against the wall. Luna grimaced and stopped her ramming, only to fly back to her original position and froze his legs with a simple freezing spell.

“Luna isn’t listening to reason. You have to convince her in a different way.” Celestia informed him, placing a shield between her subjects and Luna’s wrath.

“Easier said than done, Celestia.” Draigo said as he tried to think of how to convince a vengeful Luna that he wasn’t Kar’Voth. Luna snorted and flew around him, firing off varying degrees of coldness at him ranging from absolute zero to well below negative fifty.

“Fine. You want me to show you I’m not him then I’ll show you.” Draigo said as he freed his legs from the ice and breathed a stream of flames to counter each of Luna’s rays. He charged forward under the cover of the smoke created by their attacks colliding and grabbed Luna’s head with both his claws before she could get far enough away.

“There’s only one way I can think of that will truly convince you, Luna,” he said as she struggled to get free of his grasp. Draigo then kissed Luna full on the lips as he closed his eyes and spread his wings to hide what he’d done from the others. Luna struggled some more until she pulled back and looked at him properly. Before saying anything, she kissed him back and then wriggled out of his grasp.

“D-Draigo?” Luna asked, hovering in place with her cheeks darkened considerably.

“Tis I, Luna. Thou shouldst have known twas me when thou looked into mine eyes.” Draigo said with a smile, temporarily switching back to the old tongue.

“I haven’t heard that dialect in a long time.” Luna said softly, scarcely believing that Draigo was back with them.

“I figured you’d be more convinced if I talked like I did when you last saw me. Now, I do believe that your sister and the new Element bearers are worried about you still trying to kill me.” Draigo told her as he tilted his head toward the group of mares behind him.

“New Element bearers?” Luna asked flying around Draigo to look at the mares curiously. She looked between all six of them before realising that the varied items were the Elements. She lighted down and stayed a fair distance away, embarrassed by her actions. “I’m sorry for the trouble I’ve caused.” Luna apologised to them.

“I don’t think I’ve seen Princess Luna quite that angry before.” Twilight commented, eyes widened in fear while the others sounded out their acceptance of her apology.

“You think that’s bad? My version of her and Celestia sliced me up after I told them some news that they didn’t like hearing. It took two full days for my legs to work properly.” Draigo said as he walked over to stand next to Luna.

“That’s some power these other princesses have.” Rainbow said with delight showing in her eyes, now flying at full speed around the room to work out some excess energy. Twilight tried to stop her by capturing her tail in her magic again but cried out when her horn sparked. She screwed her eyes shut and rubbed the sore spot vigorously.

“Ah, right. Twilight broke her horn while battling Kar’Voth. I’d heal her, but I’m unfamiliar with healing horns. I’d rather not mess it up and end up making things worse.” Draigo told the group.

“She broke her horn?” Celestia echoed, leaning in close to check the damage for herself.

“I’ve never heard of a Unicorn breaking their horn before.” Luna commented, watching Twilight with concern. Twilight’s friends all shared the same worried look when they glanced over to their pained friend.

“She broke it when she was flung against a wall after her barrier was shattered. Now there are four broken things in the room. Three Elements and Twilight’s horn.” Draigo said. “Well… five, I guess. My mind was broken by the Elements hitting Kar’Voth.”

“Which Elements are broken?” Applejack asked, looking at the weapons that they had fought with.

“Kindness, Magic and Generosity. That would be the shoes, the shield and the magic spellbook.” Luna said with regret, recognising the Elements she had broken so long ago.

“Those were my Elements when I wielded them. Why are they broken though?” Celestia asked, still looking at Twilight’s horn to see if she could try and fix Twilight’s horn, knowing it wouldn’t do any good if it was just a patched up job.

“Well, Kar’Voth kinda forced Luna to use all of the Elements on him before getting sent to the moon.” Draigo explained as he rubbed the spines on the back of his head in embarrassment.

“Speaking of which, weren’t you in that moon for the last thousand years? Aren’t the ponies back home missing you?” Rainbow asked him, having stopped her flying when Twilight cried out. She had lighted down and was now near her friends, looking worriedly at their new friend.

“Celestia and Luna are probably worried sick. I can’t get home on my own, though. I have to be sent back or summoned home by someone who has my token.” Draigo explained.

“What do you mean by ‘sent back’?” Fluttershy asked him.

“I have to be told that I can go home by the one who summoned me in the first place.” Draigo told the timid mare.

“Who was it that summoned you in the first place?” Rarity asked, rubbing one of her eyes in an effort to stay awake.

“The Displaced of this universe. I think she went to Tartarus, though.” Draigo said as he thought about where she might be at this moment.

“Is this that Grim Reaper ya mentioned earlier?” Applejack asked.

“Yes, she is. I’d go find her, but I’ve got no idea where she is right now.” Draigo said with a shrug of his wings.

“What … are you … going to do now?” Twilight asked through clenched teeth, her eyes still shut but her ears had been kept open.

“Well, I’ll probably try to make amends for everything Kar’Voth did while I wait for Death to come for me.” Draigo said as he thought of his options. Pinkie gave an audible slap to her face at his last words.

“That was just terrible.” Pinkie muttered.

“Princess, Kar’Voth said something strange to me while I was trying to figure out the Elements.” Twilight told her, opening her eyes as the pain subsided.

“What did he say, Twilight?” Celestia asked, looking back to Draigo before returning to Twilight.

“She has my magic throughout her entire body from when I claimed everything to protect it. It was somehow passed along by Clover to the next generation and so forth until we get to Twilight.” Draigo explained to the Princesses with a sigh.

“Is that what he said?” Celestia asked him without taking her eyes off Twilight, thinking over the implications of this. She saw Twilight nod and noticed a bit of fear in her eyes at this. “I’m sure everything will be fine, my student.” Celestia said reassuringly.

“Twilight, the only thing that means now that Kar’Voth is gone is that I’ll protect you to my dying breath while I’m here. That was the condition I agreed to when I first claimed this area. It may even have made you stronger since you were born with it. I’m not completely sure since this is the first time something like this has happened.” Draigo informed her with a kind smile. Twilight smiled back calmly, no longer feeling any fear towards him.

“That condition is a bit of an overkill.” Rainbow said, watching Celestia light her horn.

“I barely remember agreeing to it, Loyalty.” Luna said, lighting her horn as well to help Celestia move the sun and moon.

“Oh? Then you barely remember our flight through the night? Cause I remember it perfectly.” Draigo said teasingly.

“No, no, I remember it, even if a few details are missing. I also remember the night we slept together.” Luna said casually, shrugging as she felt blood rush to her face. Celestia stiffened at this revelation but didn’t inquire any further.

“While it’s nice to reminisce we should probably let the young mares go home to bed.” Draigo said, remembering that they had been up all night to defeat Kar’Voth.

“Oh! That reminds me. Twilight, which would you rather? Canterlot, or friends?” Luna asked cryptically, remembering what her sister had told her before they got imprisoned.

“Friends.” Twilight replied immediately, giving a small yawn as the adrenaline rush left her.

“Ponyville it is then. The Golden Oaks library has already been set up to be a temporary home at my sister’s bequest but you can make it into a permanent one if you wish.” Luna continued, smiling at Twilight’s answer.

“Oh … good.” Twilight said slowly, her eyes drifting closed and slowly slumping to the side. Applejack managed to catch her and laid her on the floor, looking at the Princesses and Draigo apologetically.

“Let’s get you girls home. I’m sure your families and friends are worried about you.” Draigo said with a soft chuckle. “Mind helping me carry them home, you two?” Celestia and Luna shook their heads, smiling at him before picking up a couple of mares each in their magic.

“What? They’d fall off if they rode on my back and I’d rather not find out how many I can carry without hurting them with these things.” Draigo explained as he looked at his ‘new’ claws.

“We can meet you back at Canterlot Castle then?” Celestia asked, picking up a third mare in her magic and departing.

“We’ll meet you there, Draigo.” Luna said, waving bye before picking up the last mare and flying back to Ponyville.

“Thanks for understanding!” Draigo called after them before walking outside and flying off towards Canterlot. One thought occurred to him as he flew. He would have to wait out of range of the guards so he wouldn’t end up looking like an archery target full of arrows and holes.

PRESENT DAY

“Is that what happened when Kar’Voth resurfaced?” Skye asked, getting up and stretching.

“Yes, Death. That is what happened. Twilight told us of what happened with her before we showed up but, yes.” Celestia informed her, reliving the memories that Skye had talked about and both Princesses were thoroughly convinced of Skye knowing them a thousand years ago.

“So where is Draigo now?” Skye asked, crossing her legs to float in the air.

“Right behind you. What took you so long!?” Draigo asked after he’d snuck up on Death.

“AAH!” Skye screamed, shooting down into the ground in fright. “I’m sorry I got caught up in work! I was convinced to go on a year-long vacation only yesterday!” Skye explained, covering her head with her arms.

“Uh huh, suuuure. Death couldn’t check up on a new life sign that showed back up after a thousand years. Riiiiight.” Draigo said jokingly.

“Nope. Barely recognised it. Besides, I only checked up on Equestria whenever I had time. I was too busy helping the other Underworlds to notice!” Skye protested and scrambled away from him, only to bump into a statue in the Royal Gardens.

“I’m just giving you a hard time, Skye. Relax.” Draigo said with a small chuckle. Skye managed to growl at him in anguish.

“How did you cope not being able to go back home for the past year and a half then?” Skye asked, simmering down from his jibes.

“I was in Ponyville watching over Twilight and her friends. I can’t exactly promise to protect everything I claimed and not be around when they need my help, now can I?” Draigo explained to the curious skeleton.

“No, but from what I remember, you claimed the castle in the Everfree and everything in it right? So you claimed Twilight since she was born because of Clover?” Skye asked confusedly, placing her head in a hand in an effort to relax.

“Yeah. How’d you figure that out?” Draigo wondered.

“I accidentally called Twilight, Clover when she brought Cerberus back to the gates of Tartarus. They just look so similar, and if it wasn’t for Twilight’s cracked horn, I’d swear that she was the spitting image of her.” Skye explained. “I just don’t see how your freaky dragon magic got passed down through the generations without losing potency or becoming a recessive gene.”

“My magic retains its potency so long as I’m alive. That includes while I’m in other worlds or banished to the moon.” Draigo explained to the confused Reaper.

“You were in the moon for a thousand years. I think I can see how that would work.” Skye mused, accepting the explanation for now. “I wonder what Celestia and Luna back on your world are doing? They’re probably worrying about you excessively from what I remember you telling me of them,” she added thoughtfully.

“Probably, but they haven’t tried to summon me so they’re at least safe and sound.” Draigo said as he looked into the sky.

“Either that or they tried to summon you when you were in the moon and it didn’t work because of the Elements’ power?” Celestia suggested kindly.

“Yeah, that could also explain it. Now that you’re here, though. You can send me home, Skye.” Draigo told her, starting sadly but ending cheerfully.

“You never told me how to otherwise I would have said it before Kar’Voth knocked me out.” Skye stated simply, crossing her arms over her chest.

“True. It’s a good thing you didn’t, though. Cause I’m pretty sure my Princesses would’ve nearly killed me then used the Elements to help me out.” Draigo told her as a shiver ran through him from picturing what his Celestia and Luna would’ve done to him. “Anyway, to send a Displaced back to their world just say ‘our contract is complete.’ Then they’ll be sent home whether they want to or not.”

“Your Princesses sound crazy.” Skye said, getting up and folding her hands behind her back. “All I say is, ‘our contract is complete’ and you’ll be sent home?” she asked.

“Yeah. Say, ‘Draigo, our contract is complete’ to send me home.” Draigo confirmed.

“Before I do, here.” Skye said, reaching into her cloak and pulling out a skull wrapped in cloth. “This, is the token my Displacer gave me. I found another laughing skull on my travels throughout Tartarus. The only reason why it’s covered by a cloth is because it laughs like a maniac,” she informed him, and tossed it to him.

“Thanks, Skye. Do you still have my token?” Draigo asked as he put the cloth wrapped skull under a wing.

“I think I gave it to Celestia and Luna to keep before setting off on my search for Tartarus, which happens to be passed the Whitetail Woods.” Skye answered, tapping the side of her skull in thought for a bit.

“So long as someone trustworthy and responsible has it in this world. I’d hate to be summoned by someone that would abuse the power.” Draigo said with a smile.

“Agreed. Now to send you home. Draigo, our contract is complete.” Skye said, mirroring Draigo’s smile in her mind. Before anything else could happen, Luna walked up to him and kissed him full on the lips for a few moments before stepping away.

“Stay … safe.” Luna told him feeling blood rush to her face.

“Of course, Luna. Thank you for everything.” Draigo said as his own blood rushed to his face.

“Um … did I miss something?” Skye asked, tilting her head to the side confusedly.

“Only the development of our relationship, Skye. You know, nothing too important.” Draigo said sarcastically as a portal opened up behind him.

“Right. Luna will have to catch me up on that.” Skye said sadly, giving him a wave as the portal opened. “I think it’s about time you got back, don’t you?”

“Yes, I do believe it’s time to see my own lovely day and night Princesses.” Draigo said with a reminiscent expression. “I’ll see you next time everyone.” He stepped through the portal and disappeared in a flash of iridescent light.

~SKYE’S POV~

I watched him leave with a tinge of sadness, realising that I could probably never have a relationship like he and Luna did. I placed a hand over my sockets and sighed before lifting it up and looking at Celestia’s and Luna’s concerned faces.

“What? Why you looking at me like that?” I asked them, pulling my cloak around myself out of habit.

“You seemed sad at the mention of Luna and Draigo’s relationship. Care to tell us why?” Celestia asked me and I watched her face go from concerned to sad, her look mirroring how I felt on the inside.

“No…” I petered out and realised that this is the kind of thing Draigo warned me not to do. I didn’t think it would apply so soon after he left though. “Fine. I’ll tell you why. It’s because their relationship made me realise I’ll never have anything like that. You happy now?” I asked them, keeping my hands by my sides.

“No, I’m not. I may have found out the reason, but I’m not happy because you’re feeling this way.” Celestia told me and raised an eyebrow. I am so glad that she wasn’t as trigger-happy as when I first arrived.

“Let me feel this way then. I’ve gotten along just fine for the past thousand years and I don’t plan on changing it just because of one itty bitty relationship.” I grumbled. There was more to it but I didn’t plan on telling them that! I looked at them in anger for a bit before sighing and floating past them, planning to get familiar with the castle layout. I looked back when I heard hoofsteps and slumped when I realised they were following me.

“Why are you following me?” I asked them. I hoped it wasn’t to inquire more about my relationship status.

“We want to get to know you again, Death.” Luna answered and I heard wingbeats as she flew to catch up to me.

“Isn’t me telling you how I know you enough?” I asked them with a slight hint of desperation to my voice.

“No. We haven’t seen anyone like you in a thousand years.” Celestia said, suddenly appearing in front of me. I was probably too busy noticing Luna’s wingbeats to hear another pair fly by. I slowed to a stop and touched down, jaw dropping slightly in disbelief.

“Really? You haven’t seen anyone like me in a thousand years? Me, personally, or a Displaced like Draigo?” I asked for clarification, really confused on what she meant by that.

“You, as in you, Lady Death. We haven’t seen anyone like you since after you left for Tartarus.” Celestia specified, a pleased look coming over her face at managing to stop me.

“I don’t think anyone like me has even appeared in a thousand years. Now, if you’ll excuse me, I need to go and look around the castle to get familiar with it.” I said, mentally poking my tongue out at her before floating along the corridor, taking the corners at higher speeds than normal, venting my anger through flight. Of course they would get to the bottom of my feelings. Friends do that. I suppose I haven’t known friendship like that since leaving them.

I saw an open window and floated out of it, looking at the city spread out before me. I didn’t think the pony population could get any bigger but the proof is right in front of me.

“Just how big is Equestria now?” I asked myself, putting a hand above my eyes to block out the sun. I looked towards it and found that it was going below the horizon, signalling that it was sunset. “Were we talking for that long? It was morning when they confronted me!” I said in shock and surprise.

“Death?” A voice spoke near my ear, causing me to shriek and fly to the side, away from them. I looked at it and realised it was Luna.

“Oh. Princess Luna. Did you want something?” I asked her in an embarrassed tone.

“I did. While we were talking about old memories, my sister had to attend Day Court for a few hours. Don’t worry, I’ll make sure I’ll tell her about what she missed. What I really wanted to talk about was a monster attack that happened yesterday. It’s more of a monster sighting than an attack. My sister told me that the pony who had raised the issue seemed scared stiff of what he saw. He told my sister that this beast towered above him and had long shaggy fur. As soon as it was spotted, it just lumbered off into the Everfree with a quick glance back. I thought you would know what this monster could be.” Luna explained, taking breaths when needed.

I thought of the description and then vaguely remembered my notes on such a monster. I sighed despondently and told her what I thought the monster was.

“We’ll have to figure out how to catch Bigfoot then.”

Chapter 12 - Brute Force

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Back home, I would have notes on plenty of different monsters. I was planning to eventually compile them all and write a book about it but it didn’t really turn out that way, did it? But I think things turned out better than they would have back home. I looked behind me and jabbed a thumb in the direction of the castle.

“We should probably get back to Celestia. I need to find out more about what this pony said before we do anything else.” I told Luna before floating back down through the window and almost immediately getting lost. The layout was so different from the castle in the Everfree. How was anyone meant to find their way around without a map? It just seemed too big for the living quarters of two Princesses but I suppose that’s what castles are meant to be. Glorified houses. I flew past a court full of ponies, stopped my gliding and backtracked to find the Day Court.

About time I found it! Snapping my fingers to dematerialise my scythe, I floated above their heads and managed to stick to the shadows high up until the court was over for the day.When the last pony exited the room, I dropped to the floor, and a couple of guard ponies closed the door behind them. I watched Celestia walk off her throne and over to me.

“Greetings, Death. Did my sister tell you about the pony that was talking about the monster?” Celestia asked, sitting down in front of me.

“Yeah, that’s what I was going to-” I was interrupted when I spotted a black portal rimmed with white open up on the floor behind the Princess. I pointed to it just as an orange blur was shot out of it. “I’ll change my question. Did you summon a Displaced?” I asked her, not taking my eyes off of the spot where the portal was.

“No. I didn’t.” Celestia answered and looked to where I was looking just in time to see the orange jumpsuit land safely on both feet as its weird white boots broke the fall. I marched up to it and flipped my hood up, walking around to its front to see who it was. I saw hair that was a mix of brown, green and gray and when he lifted his head to look at me, his eyes were an odd colour of green and yellow.

“Hello?” I asked carefully and his face turned to one of shock and horror, quickly backing up until he hit Celestia. The princess frowned and held him in a levitation field as I slowly walked up to him. “Let me try something else. What’s your name and how did you get here?”

“J-Joseph … and … p-portal,” Joseph replied, obviously scared at seeing me. I gave a sigh and looked him in the eye, wincing as a very vivid memory floated in front of me. There was laughing, some sort of gas and a dead Spike. Wait. What was that? His Spike’s dead!?

“Let me ask you something, Joseph. Did you kill Spike, or was it someone else?” I asked him, not bothering to comfort him or anything.

“Technically, I did kill him but it was an alternate personality that actually did it, Sheila!” I heard him protest and then it hit me. This may have been a random Displaced portalling into my world but the accent and the name I definitely remember. Remember when Draigo talked about my cousin? This appeared to be him except he seemed more crazier than when Draigo had described him.

“Does the name ‘Skye’ mean anything to you?” I asked him.

“Sh-Should it?” Joseph asked.

“Yes, it should,” I answered and did my best to not sigh. Maybe his killing of Spike thing messed up his memories. I don’t see how that was possible because I appear to remember him just fine, even if Draigo had to remind me of him.

“Why?” Joseph questioned.

“Name of your cousin? The one that moved to America?” I pressed, trying to see if I can jog his memory. He looked at me and shook his head. Maybe it’s because I was a skeleton and not a flesh and blood. Yeah, that was most likely something to do with it.

“What kind of crazy skeleton is this!?” I heard him ask and I saw him cover his mouth afterwards. Whatever it was, it seemed like he had a few screws loose so I pointed to the spot where he had come from.

“If you do remember, just remember that your cousin is the Grim Reaper. Now get out,” I said harshly. This probably was my cousin, but I don’t want another Displaced here so soon after one had left. I watched him gulp, nod and when Celestia released him, he placed a portal on the floor and jumped into it. It closed immediately behind him and I sighed. I really hope he gets forgiven for what he did.

“Did you say you were his cousin?” Celestia asked me and I simply nodded before walking up to her. I did say that but, he didn’t really feel like my cousin. At least, not the cousin I knew back home. “Why didn’t you mention him earlier?”

“Because I forgot. Simple as that,” I replied with a shrug and looked at her. “Now, before any more interruptions happen; the pony that told you about Bigfoot? The one with the long fur and all? Do you know where they live?” I asked with a tilt of my head as I tried to get the sudden appearance of Joseph out of my mind.

“I believe they’re from Ponyville. Would you like an escort there?” Celestia questioned while I simply shook my head. I knew where Ponyville was from my various visits to Granny Smith as well as some of the old folks dying off naturally.

“I’ll be fine. If you need me, I’ll either be in Ponyville or the Everfree,” I said with a sigh and quickly flew off towards Ponyville.

My cloak billowed out behind me as the wind raced through my bones. I’ll admit it was a weird feeling when it first started happening but I had to get used to it over time. Now? Now it was fantastic to fly. I saw Ponyville coming up and I slowed down when I realised how bright the day was. I don’t think I ever had to fly out of Tartarus in daylight. Welp, let’s just see how it goes.

I landed in the middle of the town and staying in the shadow cast by a giant tree, looked at the different ponies warily. I then realised I had forgotten to ask what the pony actually looked like. Facepalming with an audible thwack, I groaned at myself. Most likely Joseph’s sudden appearance threw me off guard. Yeah, that’s probably it.

“Now … who would be best at asking about Bigfoot?” I mumbled to myself. The different ponies walking about haven’t taken notice of me, so I assume that’s a plus. I’ll have to face the shadowless marketplace sooner or later though. Just as I took a step, I was stopped by a voice down somewhere near my knees. Looking down slowly, I saw the head of a light gamboge pony with a purple mane. Her big, wide eyes were a grayish purple and it sounded like she was repeating something.

“Who the heck are you?” the filly asked. She didn’t sound aggressive but appearances can be deceiving.

“Death. You?” I asked before crouching and held my chin with a hand as my other rested lazily against my femur. She didn’t seem to be screaming in fright but only time will tell.

“I’m Scootaloo!” Scootaloo chirped and smiled brightly despite me staring at her. This was a weird filly, that’s for sure.

“Scootaloo. Maybe you can help me. Have you seen a large furry creature lumbering towards the Everfree?” I asked casually. Didn’t hurt to ask and I wasn’t really sure where to start anyway.

“You mean a bear?” Scootaloo asked with a head tilt and hmmed in thought. “No … unless you count the one behind Fluttershy’s cottage.”

“Close enough, thanks,” I said with a nod and scratched my skull through my hood. Either I missed something, or the residents of Ponyville don’t seem that rowdy at seeing a filly talk to a living skeleton. Standing up, I then walked towards the cottage but soon heard three sets of hooves running up behind me. I turned and three fillies skidded to a stop. Apple Bloom (thank Hades she was alright) and Scootaloo were there along with a white Unicorn filly. I stared and she seemed to shrink under my sightless gaze. I smirked on the inside. “What do you three want?”

“We wanted to know more about you!” the white Unicorn filly squeaked. If I had eardrums, they would have surely ruptured from the intensity alone.

“So why do you want to know more about a talking skeleton of a creature that you most likely have never seen or heard about before?” I asked them in fake delight. That didn't appear to affect the three one little bit.

“Because we believe you can help us in getting our cutie marks,” the filly squeaked again. I would have asked for her name but it appeared I wouldn't get that chance yet. Hearing quite a few ponies scream, I groaned to myself and turned around. Seeing a closed up hairy fist and red knuckles head straight towards me like it was NASA’S last attempt at launching a rocket was not a good sight to have. As it was, I was sent careening backwards into the giant tree I was standing under mere moments ago. I left a cartoonishly Skye-shaped hole in the trunk and couldn't help but gape at the man stalking towards me.

His face was beetroot red and I couldn't tell if that was blood or just how he naturally looked. His hair turned into vibrant pink flames and then back to normal seemingly of its own accord. He wore animal skins piled on top of one another (wouldn't he get seriously hot under all those furs?) and a giant sword strapped to his back which was buckled over the top of the massive pile of furs. He was broad shouldered, had muscles that seemed to writhe under his skin with every step he took and by the time I saw his bloodshot, furious eyes, he had already punched me again. At close range. With a flat palm.

I grunted and slammed into a bookshelf, my bones losing their connection with each other as the books fell down around me. I groaned as my skull lay on the bookshelf itself like a trophy and watched the big ugly brute walk towards me again. Now that the tree trunk wasn't obscuring his lower half, I could tell that he was wearing some sort of fur breeches and went barefoot but as far as I could tell, none of that mattered as his face was taking up my entire field of view again.

“That's smart,” I muttered.

“What's smart, Death? Me catching you off-guard, or me breaking apart your body?” the large man asked. His voice sounded gravelly and even had a rather strong British accent. That was surprising and there were two more surprising things I figured out. He knew who, or what, I was and he could walk on two legs. The only one that I know who can walk on two legs around here is me.

“I didn't expect you to have brains but you breaking up my body was clever,” I told him casually and he wasn't perturbed by me speaking despite having no tongue to speak of. I willed my bones to try and reform themselves but felt the connection broke again when he stepped on one of my moving toe bones. This guy really knows how to keep me down. Concentrating again, I moved my left hand towards the behemoth. Just when it got to his leg, he turned and kicked my hand, making it sail back out of the hole. That’s great. Hearing a scream, I groaned inwardly. They must have spotted my disembodied hand. “What do you want? You don’t just hit something unless you have a point to prove.”

“I want you to pay for what you’ve done,” the man told me with a pointed finger to my skull. I saw a clenched fist sailing towards me but at that moment, I felt my hand smack into the back of his head, throwing off his aim. His hairy fist splintered the bookshelf next to me instead of my skull. Who threw my hand back through the hole?

“Who was it that wrecked my library?” I heard a familiar female voice say in a low voice. The brute laughed at her tone and turned to face the speaker.

“What are you going to do, puny pony?” the man asked, his hands on his hips as the muscles on his back quivered with laughter, his voice booming around the room. It stopped suddenly and his hands flew up to his throat. Whatever the mare did, at least he stopped talking for now.

"That's not all I'm going to do if you don't get out now," the mare continued in a snarl.

“Um, excuse me?” I called out. An angry mare walked into view from in front of hulk humongous and stopped suddenly at seeing me. I stared at the pony and couldn’t quite place her until I spotted her cutie mark. “Twilight Sparkle? This is your library?”

“Yes, and I would appreciate it, if there weren’t any battles within,” Twilight said haughtily. Her tail flicked in annoyance before she rubbed the base of her horn. Right, it was fractured. She must have been used to it though as she kept walking and wincing whenever she used magic to pick up the fallen books. My gaze shot back to the monster as he turned back to me and picked up my skull with a hand. My guess? He's taking Twilight seriously.

“What are you going to do now? Boot me like a football between two goal posts?” I asked him, my attention on what he’s going to do rather than Twilight. He didn’t answer. One of his meaty hands was rubbing his throat as he walked outside the tree-library. I willed my body to follow him before he stopped suddenly. My bones barraged into his back but he barely felt it. I hit the ground when he let go and quickly let my body form around me. When I was standing up within my tattered cloak, I walked around him to have a look at what had made him stop. It was a pony. Seriously? The apparently immortal Twilight didn’t stop him, but this one does!? I looked between the both of them before settling on the giant. “Who are you?”

“My name is Rig, Death,” Rig told me in a clipped tone, even though I directed my question to the behemoth. Rig was a rust coloured pony with a steel-grey mane and tail and oddly enough, he didn’t have a cutie mark. Interesting. A full grown stallion without a cutie mark doesn’t appear every day.

“Not you, him,” I said, pointing a finger to the behemoth.

“You’ll find out,” Rig replied evenly as he walked up to the animal-skin-wearing man. When he nudged the man’s leg, they both vanished on the spot. I was left dumbfounded but quickly scanned for their life signatures, or souls if you want to get technical. I couldn’t really sense them but that didn’t necessarily mean they weren’t still around. I still have a lot of questions for them but it looked like they would have to wait. With my mind made up, I spun on the spot and disappeared into my shadow. Now everything was in monochrome with all the ponies looking around in confusion. I rarely had to use this power but that brawler made me more cautious than before.

Sometime later, I found myself on the outskirts of the Everfree. Was this where Bigfoot was last seen? I stepped forward and was suddenly in bright daylight again. I would be squinting and blinking if I still had my eyes. Crouching on the dusty ground, I looked for any tracks but they seem to have disappeared.

“What are you looking for?” Twilight asked. I stood up straight and stared at her. “What?”

“I thought you were fixing up your library?” I asked her, scratching my skull with a finger.

“That was a few hours ago and Spike helped heaps, so I’ll ask again. What are you looking for,” Twilight reiterated with a snort. This mare was really impatient for some reason.

“I’m looking for tracks but they must have disappeared,” I said and scanned the ground carefully. A purple flash interrupted my inspection and I whirled back around to Twilight. She was sitting on her hind legs and rubbing her horn furiously.

“That’s gonna hurt for a while,” she groaned. “I did a spell that would unveil tracks and the last unknown ones, beside yours, were from a couple of days ago.”

“Come again?” I asked. It can’t have been two days. There was no way I was talking for that long but then again, I didn’t need to breathe so maybe it did take that long.

“A couple of days. That was the last time I was in Ponyville as well after I took Cerberus back. I performed a time travel later that night and I ended up knocked out for a couple of days,” Twilight explained with a gesture and sweeped her hoof over a section of the outskirts of the Everfree. I pointed to where she gestured.

“Is that where you ‘saw’ the tracks?” I questioned. She nodded and sweeped her tail behind her. I looked at the area and could see the barest imprint of a giant foot. “Well, there’s something here.”

“Can I come with?” Twilight asked suddenly.

“No,” I replied just as quickly but before I could go any further, I felt something tug at my core and a few seconds later, was pulled from my reality into an entirely different one. Namely, a moving train.

Chapter 13 - In Sickness and In Health

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I groaned and rubbed my head. This did not bode well. I sat up and jumped a bit as the train moved along the tracks. Where was I? Maybe this was the same reality? My vision brightened up and I saw Rig leaning over me.

"What do you want?" I groaned.

"Nothing. Just sending you to sleep for a long while," Rig said cryptically before bopping me on the skull. My vision immediately darkened and I fell unconscious. Well, it was definitely the same reality that I knew.

SOMETIME LATER

When I woke, I found myself in the desert somewhere. The desert! Now, usually, the sun would bleach my bones but thanks to my robe ... that wasn't an issue. Looking around the dry, arid landscape, I pulled my hood up and headed in a random direction. After some time walking and overall humming to myself, I soon found a tree line bordering the desert. By this point, my robe was full of sand and trailing behind me, my sockets felt gritty and my joints actually creaked whenever I moved. I believe it was high time for a bleach bath. As soon as I entered the tree line, a hulking figure moved past my vision and continued further inwards. My interest piqued, I silently moved after it.

From the back, it looked extremely hairy and for lack of a better term, ape-like. It had a lumbering walk and didn't seem to notice me, which was good. I haven't really done much monster catching since becoming this world’s Death full time but … this particular cryptic looked to be Bigfoot. From the back. I didn't know how long I was following him but the sun gradually went lower and the shadows grew longer. He eventually walked into a cave. I decided to settle down and wait for the creature to come back out but I couldn't really do that.

Why? A scroll appeared in front of me out of some blue flames. Tilting my head at it, I slowly picked the scroll up from the moss-covered forest floor and unfurled it. It looked to be an extremely long list of pony names. I read the names over and was slightly confused and concerned by all of these ponies dying at the exact same time. I abandoned my vigil and flew to the town at the top of the gigantic list. Trottingham.

Trottingham was a quaint little town on the way from Ponyville, heading over towards Canterlot. Emphasis on was. It was near the base of the mountain and only held about nine hundred ponies. The list Hades gave me? All nine hundred ponies are on there.

I floated down above the town and saw sickly green trails running through every pathway and dirt road, some of it even oozing out of houses. If I had a tongue, I’d poke it out in disgust. There were heatwaves visibly rising off the ground when I soared closer and I was so glad I had no skin at that moment. I feel like it would have melted off otherwise. When I finally landed, my feet squelched inside the ooze, causing me to make a disgusted sound. It didn’t look pretty, and I so didn’t want to smell it. The ooze had practically soaked into the ground, making it sticky, wet, and a bit muddy too. How long ago was this?

I slowly walked down the street, looking at the empty buildings and something nagged at me. Where were the ponies? If this town had nine hundred ponies, which by my last count did, where are the bodies? Don’t tell me it was the ooze! I shivered and decided to look inside a few buildings. They were all the same. Derelict. Run down. Some even had mushrooms the size of my head growing out of the walls!

There were no bodies anywhere to be found after a lengthy search and by this point, the sun had begun to dip over the horizon. I had scoured the entire town to find nothing. For the umpteenth time that day, I asked myself where the bodies were. If there were no bodies, then I couldn’t collect any souls. Even if I’m on vacation, I still had a job to do. I guess I just needed to get away from the Underworld for a bit. Who am I to complain anyway? I love my job!

“Death,” a familiar voice coughed from behind me. I turned and saw the rusty Earth pony with his steel grey mane from before. Rig.

“I still have questions, but the most prominent one is: what happened here?” I asked him with a bit of anger floating in my voice. “Nine hundred ponies can’t just up and disappear!”

“I will tell you, bu-” I interrupted him by placing the hooked metal of my scythe at his neck.

“No, tell me now. No buts,” I told him evenly. It’s a wonder I haven’t slipped and fallen over yet.

“Fine,” Rig growled. He ducked under the blade and walked around me. I noticed his hooves created miniature craters wherever he stepped. Was this new, or did I just not notice it before? Filing it away for later, I watched him walk before sitting in a dry spot. “That did this,” he pointed and I followed his hoof to where a snow white man was running towards us.

“That’s not the angry Santa from before,” I muttered under my breath.

“That … War is not Santa!” Rig protested and I managed to make my eye sockets widen. War? Did he really just call the giant that knocked me into a tree, War? This pony has to be joking. “That white specimen is Pestilence.”

“Pes … Pestilence,” I deadpanned and floated out of the way when a white Pegasus of all ponies laughed as they slid down the ooze. “What the Tartarus is a Horseman of the Apocalypse doing here!?”

“You tell me,” Rig shrugged and we both watched the pony fly up cheerfully, the ooze simply falling off of her (going by the sound of the laughter).

“How can I?” I questioned him. “I don’t even know what’s happening!”

“Gotta go,” Rig said quickly and ran into an alley. I went to follow only to be barrelled into by a huffing white snow monster. I heard a few dozen sickening cracks when I slammed into the house behind me and winced when the wall simply fell over with me on top of it. Must have been waiting with mould.

“What the Tartarus, Rig!?” I shouted to the heavens. I laid there, unmoving, and unwilling, to reform my body at this time. Pestilence clouded my vision and I saw pus filled boils in multiple locations on his face alone. My gaze rolled down until he disappeared beneath my chin and all along his upper torso, there were infections oozing black stuff and multiple lacerations simply filled with maggots and infectious larvae. His hair … there was none. If this is indeed Pestilence, which all the evidence points to, then it’s probably some form of leukemia that did that.

“Rig can’t save you, Rig can’t save you~,” the Pegasus sung. I turned my head a fraction to the left and saw a cream white Pegasus with no cutie mark (must be a new trend), and bouncy, curly, toxic green hair. The same went for her tail and it continuously dripped off of her before reforming only for the process to repeat.

“Disease, can it,” Pestilence grunted, looking towards his … carer, I guess, with a scowl.

“Okay,” Disease grinned before miming a zipper over her muzzle. What is up with these two?

“Pestilence, let me up,” I told him when I realised he had a hand on my rib cage. I tried to shift but my grip didn’t manage to wrap around the entirety of his wrist. It didn’t seem he was budging. “You know, for a guy named Pestilence, I thought you would be more scrawny and sickly.”

“You thought wrong,” Pestilence had a low voice and finally let go after an agonising few moments. I slowly rose when he didn’t do anything stood up to be next to him. It turned out he was only half a head taller than me.

“What happened to the town?” I asked him.

“I did,” Pestilence answered simply and began lumbering off.

“Why?” I followed after. I wasn’t leaving until I got some answers.

“There were changelings here and I decided to just be rid of the entire town,” Pestilence answered before vanishing when Disease brushed a wing against his shoulder. Um, what? What? Care to repeat? What the heck are changelings!? I needed answers so knowing that nothing could be done, I flew out of Trottingham. When I got to a high enough altitude, I looked between Ponyville and Canterlot. Twilight, or Celestia? Bookworm first in case she knows anything, then the Princess. With a nod to myself, I quickly glided in that direction.

When the sun just finished setting and night quickly set in, I made it to the town. Ignoring the tired ponies walking about, I headed straight for the tree, library, thing. On the way, I was stopped by the sight of Twilight. She had dragon scales instead of fur, a more wispy purple mane and tail, golden sclera and when the fading light hit her, the scales shimmered lavender. I even heard some buzzing from her direction but not being able to see anything, ignored it for the moment.

“Twilight?” I asked hesitantly when I moved closer. Twilight turned her head to look at me and I nearly froze at seeing her eyes were more draconian than pony. Her new wings being membranous added to that. Hell, the fact she had wings at all stopped me in my tracks!

“You want something, Death?” Twilight asked, sounding slightly bitter towards me. I took a step back at the harshness of her tone. I knew I was away, and I understood that not giving her a direct answer while just leaving didn't amount to anything, but just how long was I knocked out for?

“What happened to you?” I asked, going for the direct approach instead of beating around the bush.

“My mother happened, that’s what,” Twilight replied and actually stomped into her library. I went to follow but groaned in slight pain when my skull began rattling from side to side. I held my hands on either side of my head to stop it, and I heard my boss speak.

“Grim Reaper, you are needed in Tartarus. Your vacation has to be cut short,” Hades’ deep voice boomed within my mind and I was kind of surprised no other ponies heard him. I knew he didn’t like to be kept waiting so I twirled on the spot and vanished into the shadows on a one way trip to Greek hell.

Chapter 14 - The Seven Seals

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Along the way to Tartarus, I felt a pull and was suddenly redirected back to Ponyville. Apparently I wasn’t going to meet my boss after all. I turned to look at whoever pulled me back and spotted a pony that was completely black with fully white eyes. Sclera, iris, pupil, you name it, the eyeballs were completely white. Taking a quick peek at its flank … yup, a pony connected with those others for the Horsemen. Seeing that it had no horn and no wings, I pegged it as an Earth Pony.

“What do you want? Can’t you see I’m busy?” I asked exasperatedly, holding out the scroll Hades had sent me.

“Death, I’ve been tasked with keeping an eye on you,” the pony told me. It’s voice marked it as female, and she moved with all the grace of drunk stallion. I stifled a laugh at her walk but shut up when she was suddenly in front of my face, both forehooves leaning against my ribcage. “Something funny?”

“Yeah, you’re walk,” I blurted out. I hope I didn’t make a fatal … er, fataler? Nah, don’t know what word applies but I made something bad of a decision here. One of her eyes went wide. I assume she’s raising a brow. She’s so black it’s hard to tell.

“Alright, we need to talk away from the mortals,” she muttered. She dropped back onto all fours and nudged my hand, causing us to vanish and reappear back in Trottingham in one of the rundown houses.

“Question, why are you here without a Horseman?” I immediately asked before she could open her mouth.

“Because I was having trouble looking for her,” the … what are these ponies called!? Carriers? Carers? I’ll go with carers. Seems less offensive than some other word I would have probably thought up of. The carer trotted to the nearby window and looked out.

“And you think she’s here?” I asked, opting to sit cross legged in the air, watching her.

“My name is Destruction, and I’ve been looking for you,” Destruction told me, turning to look directly at me. Is she- Is she saying what I think she’s saying? No. There’s no way. No bloody way! I can’t be a horseman! I even told her as much but she simply sat on her haunches, flicked her tail to cover her hooves, and continued staring without blinking. I think I can see where a few ponies were coming from with how I don’t blink now that I’m experiencing it first hand.

“Let me repeat. I’m a skeleton. I’m a female. I should be, no, I am dead. I have no experience being a horseman, I don’t plan to be a horseman, and, I am not being a Horseman!”

“There’s no other Death around. Do you see anyone like you?” Destruction simply asked. I did my best to glower but without a face, that was a challenge.

“No,” I said slowly, trying to put as much malice into my voice as possible.

“No need to get cranky,” Destruction muttered under her breath. She was right. I actually needed to calm down before it got any further out of hand. “It’s funny, I thought you were a guy before you opened your magical jaws.”

“I can see that,” I groaned. “Here’s another question. Why do I need a carer? War and Pestilence have them, but I never bothered asking because one, Rig doesn’t like sticking around me and two, Disease seemed way too happy with what she can do.”

“Carers help out their Horsemen and only show up when deemed necessary. The Horsemen, though, show up when a pony has broken the first four seals out of seven. You were the fourth seal to be broken, and ironically, your seal got broken first. There’s usually an order to this and it’s been repeated throughout history time and time again so it’s nothing new, and sometimes the order gets switched around. Unfortunately, instead of Pestilence being unsealed first, it was you,” Destruction explained.

My head was swimming with thoughts and confusion. Horsemen of the Apocalypse usually signal that, well, the Apocalypse was coming. The final apocalypse and since it’s more of a Christian thing, that meant the Rapture before the Apocalypse and these Horsemen bring it about. That’s as much as I remember from Sunday School anyway. Also something about a nine tailed fox being sealed in something or other but I doubt that applied here.

“Let me straighten a few things out before you continue spouting your religious crap. I’m a Horsemen,” I said, pointing to myself. Destruction nodded. “I’m Death, and have been for the past millennia, without knowing about this?” Destruction nodded once more. “Why?”

“Carers show-” I interrupted her with a nod.

“Up when they’re needed. I gathered that,” I said snarkily. “Explain the seven seals you mentioned before continuing on.”

“Of course. There are seven seals, and all of them in different locations around the globe. Four for the Horsemen, three for the rest of the Apocalypse. Seal one, a noise of thunder, and a man rises out of the ground, covered in festering boils, pus filled pimples and infections oozing congealed blood. Pestilence. Seal two, another clap of thunder before the earth feels like it's shifting. It’s War stampeding across the land, swinging his great sword to cleave ponies left and right, although. It’s taken a while for him to actually get around to it. Guess he’s waiting for Famine to show up. War.

“Seal three, is supposed to be Famine’s seal. It hasn’t been broken yet. What all carers have in common other than being at the Horseman’s right hand side, is an innate feeling for when a seal is broken. That’s happened three times. Yours, War’s, and Pestilence’s. Famine, whenever he appears, is meant to boom out ‘a measure of wheat for a bit, three measures of barley for a bit, leave the oil and wine’. Which basically means a kilo of wheat and three kilos of barley for two bits, one bit for the wheat, one for the barley. And the rich can have the oil and wine still. It’s Famine, he causes blights wherever he goes so I guess that’s another way of seeing if he’s arrived yet. Famine.”

I stood, still as a statue. By this time, Destruction began pacing around the room. Most likely, she was trying to keep her muscles from atrophying. I don’t have to worry about that but this information overload makes it feel like my brain is being fried by a million watts of electricity.

“Seal four, is your seal. You are unique. For one, you’re from a different world. That hasn’t happened before. What usually happens is that you appear with Hades at your beck and call. You, Death, are meant to ravage a quarter of the world, but since I hadn’t been notified of you yet, I couldn’t very well teach you and … you seem to have been stripped of practically every power available to you,” Destruction mused.

I stared out the window, trying to process everything she was saying. I didn’t want to interrupt, fearing I may get confused even more. Maybe it would be a nice day if the overcast weather wasn’t causing havoc with the solidified goo? Who knows. The ooze on the road was turning back into a liquid mess along with the mud and gravel of the roads.

“No reaction? Alright, seal five. Souls are taken out of Tartarus and cry, ‘How long, O Lord, holy and true, dost thou not judge and avenge our blood on them that dwell on the earth?’ It means that they want whoever is upstairs to save them. Whoever it is, does, and the souls ascend in whatever this world’s version of Heaven is,” Destruction informed me. Now the ooze was filling up the streets. Maybe it’ll rise? Does goo increase in mass when water gets added to it?

“Olympus?” I managed to ask of her after a considerable effort to get my brain to speak. It managed to move my jaw but that was about it.

“Oh, she speaks. No, Olympus is for gods and goddesses only. The fifth seal is the making of angels out of souls from Tartarus. Seal six, the sun goes black and the moon turns blood red. Stars fall. Earthquakes ravage the world. General start of religious apocalypses. Seal seven, the final seal, herald angels sing and the world goes to shit,” Destruction said bluntly with a thin smile. She’s creepy. No wonder her name’s ‘Destruction’. She actually seems to revel in this! This is an information overload and it was a miracle I hadn’t collapsed from sheer mindfuckery at this point.

Seven seals, I can sort of wrap my head around.

These seals seal the world from destruction, for lack of a better term, and they keep the world in check. Alright. Shouldn’t magic have interfered in these seals at one point or other? Or these monsters? I don’t even know- AUGH! It’s official. I’ve cracked and this is my hell. I’ve gone crazy. Whooppeee! Look at the crazy grim reaper! Hahahaha! I must have been laughing out loud because I found myself being punched through the window and into the ooze, my cloak having stayed back up in the room from what I could see.

Within a few seconds, I felt the bonds holding my body break and my bones ended up falling into the ooze itself, with my head banging against the ground and rolling away from the rest of my body until it came to a stop at a cracked doorstep. My mind’s a whirlwind and I need to just stop and think. Want me to sum up what I can understand from her wacky explanation? Since all the evidence so far, War beating me up,Pestilence beating me up, points to we’re. All. Fucked.

“It takes an Apocalypse to pair me with the crazy one,” I heard Destruction’s voice mutter to herself from a bit further away, and unable to turn my head, had no idea which way she talking from. Oh, these cracks in the concrete make spiderwebs … how nice. “Ah, there's your skull.” I felt myself get picked up and giggled crazily as I swooped through the air and landed back in the green muck.

“Whoopee! Let's do that again,” I said deliriously.

“No,” Destruction said as she nudged my bones back to form a skeleton lying face up in the muck. She looked at the building where I had been punched and I heard her walk away.

“I think I’m back,” I then cursed when I saw a black cloak drift down only to be weighed by the rain that was falling from the sky. It slapped down onto my body but I didn’t feel anything particularly magical. “This isn’t my cloak!”

“I know,” Destruction said simply, removing the black sheet with a hoof. “Now, will you listen to what I have to say?”

“I haven’t been doing anything else,” I muttered bitterly and couldn’t help but direct my gaze to the grey storm cloud above me. It was angry, it was thunderous, and I believe some lightning struck near my head. When I managed to face Destruction by hopping my head into an upright position, she didn’t seem phased by the lightning striking the ground near her.

“Now where was I?” Destruction asked confusedly, tapping a hoof to her chin as she stepped to the side to avoid a lightning strike directly where she was standing moments prior. “Ah, yes. We were talking about carers.”

“Save it. Just let me wrap my head around this seven seals stuff first,” I said immediately. That seemed to shut her up for a bit. Yay, peace. Not quiet. The thunder ruined it. “Can you get my body out of this muck?” Destruction appeared to sigh heavily before gathering my bones and placing them in a nearby house one by one with her teeth. Of course she’d do it as slow as possible. Not only did I get a carer, I got a bitchy one too. Just my luck.

“Alright, Death, let me tell you about carers,” Des began once more, noticing I hadn’t spoken for quite sometime and was for all the world a pile of old bones. “They take care of the Horsemen and act as their guide.”

“How do they take care of the Horsemen?” I piped up.

“They help keep them on their chaotic path and make sure what they’re meant to do is actually done,” Des explained. Yeah, I’m sticking with Des instead of Destruction. Sounds a lot easier to say.

“Obviously, you haven’t done a good job with me,” I snickered.

“No, I just haven’t been informed of you until now,” Des replied simply, sitting on her haunches with her tail wrapped around her legs.

“Is that it about carers?” I asked in astonishment, realising that she hadn’t spoken for quite some time.

“No, I just got informed by Rig that you’re needed in Tartarus,” Des answered and ran out into the storm. She came back with my cloak and after placing it over my body, forced me away from Trottingham without giving me a chance to respond. Well that’s a nice pony, that’s for sure.

Chapter 15 - Visions in the Styx

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Tartarus was surprisingly still in order for an absent Grim Reaper. No other cultures’ underworld was interfering, for once, and it all seemed calm. Too calm. Something must have happened because for one, no souls were about. At all. I blame my vacation. Maybe there was a reason I didn’t take a vacation for a millenia. But, I couldn’t dwell on those thoughts. I had to see my boss … if he was still around.

The rocky barren landscape I floated by seemed eerie. A lot more, actually, without any souls moving about. Just me and my thoughts along with the River Styx and a big cloaked guy standing at the edge of it. Wait. What was that last bit? I backtracked and circled around him. He was cloaked, he had dark smoke streaming out from the bottom of it, the cloak encircled him … and he had his head bowed.

“Hello?” I asked, waving a hand. He didn’t respond. Well, I’m assuming he’s a he. There wasn’t any noticeable bulge in the chest area and that cloak looked big enough to cover anything. I tried saying hello again. He simply stood there. Well if Broody McBrooderson wanted to brood, let him. I didn’t have time for this anyway. I went to move away but his arm suddenly shot out, nearly cleaving my head from my neck it was so sudden.

“Stay,” the man said in a gravelly voice.

“Um, no. I kinda need to see my boss so if you don’t mind …” I said with a short laugh and ducked under his arm. When he made no move, I kept on going. I looked over my shoulder after a bit and saw that his arm had returned to a resting position. I knew I was going to get reprimanded for this but come on! You can’t say ‘stay’ and then do nothing to stop the person you want to stay from going!

“You came back,” the man didn’t sound surprised.

“Tell me one thing. No, two things. First, who are you?” I asked him. My hands were placed on my hip bones over my cloak, giving the impression I was kinda mad. I wasn’t. I just needed this bozo to think that.

“My name is Anubis. What you have obviously seen, is a lack of souls,” Anubis replied, refusing to turn his cloaked head to look at me from his brooding over the River Styx.

“Yeah, obviously. I was going to ask Hades about that,” I said exasperatedly. But now that he mentioned, there was no one around besides us two. “Um … is Hades even here?”

“No. And neither are Izanami or Yama,” Anubis shook his great head slowly. If I stood next to him, he’d tower over me by a good two feet so I resorted to floating at what I supposed was his eye level. Okay. So three of the major death gods are gone … somehow, and Anubis is still here. Why? This is all so confusing! And all because I wanted a vacation! Maybe I should’ve stayed. Izanami, or Izanami-no-Mikoto, the Japanese goddess of creation, is gone. Yama, the death god for the Hindu. Gone. Hades himself! Gone. Anubis? Still here.

“Why?” I asked. My voice was thick with shock and confusion. Mainly because such a thing had never been heard of!

“The Apocalypse is coming. You’ve already met two of the apocalyptic heralders,” Anubis sighed deeply.

“Wait, no. No, this isn’t happening. There’s no way the bloody Apocalypse is happening!” I told him angrily. I even had my scythe appear and threaten him with it. When my blade touched his cloak, the hood fell off, revealing a massive jackal head all in black, the Pharaoh garb clearly worn below his ears.

“Don’t threaten me, Reaper,” Anubis threatened.

“I’ll keep threatening until you tell me what the bloody hell is going on around here!” I shouted at him. His head finally turned and sapphire blue eyes regarded me. Maybe it wasn’t such a good idea to threaten a god after all.

“You want answers? Look down there,” Anubis then returned to where he was looking and I followed his gaze. A swirling vortex was in the middle of the otherwise everflowing river. It was dark as night, and an image eventually appeared.

“What am I meant to be seeing?” I asked cautiously. He didn’t answer, simply stood there like a statue. Well if he wasn’t going to be helpful … I returned my scythe to its pocket dimension, floated to the bank and crouched to take a look. I saw Twilight sitting on a train, but, it was like those scales and draconic features were never there.

~TWILIGHT SPARKLE’S POV~

For the umpteenth time on the train ride to Canterlot, I focused on the piece of paper before me and carefully, very carefully, charged my horn up. When the power reached the tip, I gritted my teeth and braced myself as my magical aura slowly encircled the paper. When the matrix was complete, the paper lifted up a couple inches before my horn decided to take a vacation and blast me with pain on its way out.

“Augh, this is stupid!” I berated myself, keeping my eyes closed as my hooves rubbed the base of my cracked horn. Who knew performing would be this difficult without an intact vessel? Go figure. Okay, let’s try again. But before I could begin, I felt a hoof on mine. I looked at the yellow fur then followed the arm all the way up to Fluttershy.

“You need to stop trying,” Fluttershy told me calmly. I couldn’t. How could I? Magic is - was - everything to me. I felt myself tear up at the thought of not being able to perform even the most basic of spells.

“Why? All I can do is try. That stupid Kar’Voth took what made me, me, away and now I need to get it back!” I told her determinedly. Fluttershy withdrew her hoof and went back to simply looking at me worriedly. I rolled my eyes before letting out a breath and going back to my concentration. “Sorry, Fluttershy.”

“It’s okay,” Fluttershy murmured. I could tell that she was not at all okay but I lacked the wisdom to do anything about it.

~SKYE’S POV~

I interrupted the vision by waving my hand through the whirlpool and looking behind me to see a hulking figure. He didn’t make any noise but the mere presence drew my attention as well as Anubis’. Another horsemen? Maybe? Who knows with these guys. I stood and slowly glided towards him, cautious in case he tried something funny.

“Hey, what are you doing here? Only permitted beings and souls may come through here,” I said, trying to exercise my authority as the Grim Reaper. Even if that wasn’t doing much for the moment.

“I’m here to see how my … Displacee was going but I appear to be in the wrong universe,” a weedy voice spoke out. The figure was literally made of shadows so it was hard to tell where the ground and he parted. I was a bit taken aback by this. The Executioner finally showed up? It took him long enough but that’s only if he is what I think he is.

“Uh huh. Tell me, what does this ‘Displacee’, or whatever, look like?” I asked him. The shadows parted wide, most likely signifying he had arms of some kind. No cloak, no body, no nothing. It looked like he was there and he wasn’t at the same time.

“Black hair? No … no, I stripped that. I stripped the skin and organs too now that I’m thinking of it. Oh yes, and I killed her too,” the weedy voice replied, his arms still wide. I shivered in place. He just seemed so wrong.

“Killed her by execution?” I inquired in a small voice. I couldn’t tell how, but I knew he smiled and it rubbed me in all the wrong ways.

“Indeed, Miss Rip,” the shadows replied. He sounded gleeful. I don’t like it. I don’t like him.

“So … why now? Why here? Why after a thousand years?” I asked evenly. It didn’t make sense for this guy or thing to suddenly show up after all this time.

“It’s been fun watching you play the part of the reaper,” the shadows chuckled. “But now I need you to do something serious.” Excuse me? I’ve been doing this as seriously as possible! Sure, Granny Smith is a hiccup, but she’s Granny Smith! She may as well be immortal!

“Like what?” I clenched my jaw, the harsh grating sound of my bones moving against each other echoing in the silent Tartarus.

“Well, stopping the Apocalypse for one,” the shadow seemed to shrug. It was moving, it was writhing, so it was incredibly hard to tell.

“In case you don’t remember, I’m a skeleton. I can’t stop the fucking Apocalypse on my own!” I shouted, throwing my arms up in the air and stomped away from the darkness. “And how is that me getting serious!? I’ve been serious ever since you dumped me here when I’m clearly meant to be dead in a staged execution gone wrong!”

“Okay, how about some help?” my Displacer asked. He clearly didn’t answer my question. I turned and stared at him blankly. What other emotion could I friggin’ use!? He’s the one that made me this way! I crossed my arms over my ribcage and tapped my foot against the floor.

“No, I want an answer about why you think I’m getting serious now,” I grumbled, desperately trying to keep my anger in check.

“I’m saying for you to get serious now because it’s been relatively mundane to be honest. The Grim Reaper? Sure, you’ve been doing the same job over and over for the last millenia, but when has that ever been fun?” the mass of shadows managed to laugh and I inwardly grimaced at it. This Displacer was seriously getting on my non-existent nerves.

“Miss Rip, I think you should look in the whirlpool once more,” Anubis called over his shoulder. I turned and saw that he hadn’t moved from his statue-like position. Flicking between the shadow creature, which was no longer there, and Anubis, I glided back. I was perpendicular to the River Styx this time, doing my best to look as close as I could without touching the Styx itself.

~HOLLY’S POV~
EARTH - MOMENTS AFTER SKYE’S EXECUTION

There was a hushed silence over the crowd as Skye’s usually bubbly face went slack and rolled off the stage in a burst of blood. I was too shocked to do anything except sit there. She may have been a newcomer to the group, but she definitely was a joy to be around with. My hands were clenched inside my sleeves (mom must have put my too large jacket out again) and were shaking rather badly. There was a deluge of tears rolling down my face, not that I couldn’t care less for the moment, ruining what little makeup I had bothered to put on that morning.

The sound of the double headed axe lifting out of splintered wood brought me out of my sinking thoughts and I snapped my attention to the blood dripping off of it. Her blood. Skye’s blood. It was too real to not be faked and Skye didn’t look like she was getting up anytime soon. In fact, between one frenetic blink and the next, her body wasn’t there at all, with the only evidence being the blood staining the stage.

An uproar sounded out around me and I heard one of my friends, Josh, most likely, call out for me but it sounded far away. I felt myself get pulled and I don’t know how, but I grabbed Skye’s bag along the way. By the time the three of us had made it away from the howling crowd, I was still shell shocked but was at least able to function. It took a while but when I finally felt some sort of touch against me, I jolted and ran to the nearest toilet, vomiting my brains out. It wasn’t pleasant, and neither was the fact that one of my best friends was executed, no, murdered right in front of me.

When I got out, I expected to see my friends but what I got was a whirling mass of shadows that engulfed me, and the two bags I hadn’t let go of. It was silent, much like how I felt mere moments prior, but the silence was heavy, and black. The only thing I could concentrate on were the bags I was holding and the clothes I was wearing. Everything else was fair game. There was pinprick of light directly in front of me no matter where I moved my head. It rushed towards before I had a chance to think and I found myself slamming against a dirty old mattress.

“Oh, god,” I coughed, and held my hand in front of my face, trying to get rid of the smell. What was that? Actually, I’d rather not think about it. I rolled off of it and onto the floor, realising that it was just a mattress and nothing else. Where the heck am I? I squinted at the dull globe and put my hand in front of my face, trying to block the light out as much as possible and that was when I noticed something. There was a heavy feeling on both my forearms. Looking down and holding them out so I can see them more clearly, I found machine parts strapped to both of them, with a couple pieces of thick grey cloth in between the part and my actual skin. There were brown bracers underneath the cloth, providing another layer of protection.

“This isn’t normal,” I muttered and found that my entire wardrobe had changed. I was now wearing a tribal outfit. The parts of burnt gold cloth that had been ripped to allow for free movement had a blue and orange pattern around the edges. I found myself wearing a sleeveless tunic with leather leggings and boots. No more than two sets of bead necklaces hung around my neck along with a light green scarf.

Eventually, my eyesight got used to the dimness and I slowly stood, looking around. It was a room, decaying floorboards, and a quick glance out the window told me that sticky green ooze was covering the buildings and what little road I could see.

“Definitely not normal,” I repeated. I held my head in my hands, and breathed. Okay, Skye is dead, that much was clear. I seem to have been transported, teleported, or something to someplace that obviously wasn’t the renaissance fair. Maybe it was an experimental facility? That has to be it. Let’s go with that. I found a couple of bags on the floor around me, their contents strewn over the floor. Most of it were pages of different creatures so that means one of the bags was Skye’s.

I quickly moved and placed the drawings and information back in one of the bags and looked at the rest of the contents. There was a bottle filled with an orange liquid that had a giant plus on it, a few various arrows and a giant quiver. Beside the bag was a machine with white metal and wood making the arch, with the string having a few beads on either end. Most likely for stability.

“Okay … maybe I should … yeah, just leave it,” I nodded to myself and picked up the other bag, rooting through it. There were a lot more arrows inside plus, another plus bottle. “Guess I don’t have a choice,” I grumbled and placing both bags side by side, emptied the bag full of arrows into the other. I breathed, sniffed, grabbed the odd bow and rubbed my eyes, trying not to cry anymore. I did enough of that while I was spewing my insides out.

“Right. Now, we go out,” I said to myself. I hoisted the single bag over my shoulder, and grunted at the increased weight, before walking out.

~SKYE’S POV~

“Holly!?” I shouted in surprise, looking up at Anubis only to see him slowly lumbering away. “Well, some god of death he is,” I grumbled. I was about to leave myself and try to figure out where Hades and the other death gods went to before I heard the whirlpool start up again. “Okay, whirlpool, what are you going to show me this time?” I asked out loud, and decided to sit cross legged on the edge of the Styx and gazed into it. It showed Twilight this time, and it looked like she was talking to a pony that looked very much like her.

~TWILIGHT’S POV~

“Mum, what are you saying?” I asked confusedly. After hopping off the train and passing through a magical shield my brother had put up, I was ushered to the side by my mother. I said a quick hello before she explained something that was … odd. And scary.

“I’m not who I say I am, Twilight,” Mum answered urgently through gritted teeth. All this was accomplishing was driving me into further confusion.

“Give me a straight answer, mum. Please,” I replied briskly, knowing that if mom sounded urgent, then it must be bad.

“My name isn’t Twilight Velvet. It’s Queen Chrysalis. I told you this a few seconds ago,” Mum pleaded. Why did it sound like she was trying to get me to believe her quickly?

“I never heard of a ‘Queen Chrysalis’, and you’re not her. You’re Twilight Velvet. My mum. Shiney’s mum,” I told her, sounding much like my father for the moment. I honestly had no idea what to believe but I definitely know mum wasn’t this ‘Chrysalis’ or whoever she called herself. I heard Fluttershy call me over and I looked back to mum.

“We can talk about this later. I need to help my friends out with the wedding preparations,” I said with my hoof raised. Her mouth closed and she actually seemed desperate to get me to believe. I was about to head off to Fluttershy when mum pulled me further away from the group and into a hidden alcove behind a fountain. “Mum, what are you doing? I said we can talk later.”

“Since you obviously don’t believe me, I have to show you,” Mum said condescendingly. I backed up a bit when I noticed mum’s eyes flash and stay permanently green. My back hit the wall when her fur began falling off to reveal blackened skin with what could only be described as an exoskeleton growing over the top. A bright green wave exuded out from her now jagged horn and over her body, sealing it in place with membranous wings growing and peeking out of her back chitin.

I was horrified at the transformation to say the least. My heart pounded in fear and, to say the least, I was scared of this … thing. Before I could move, she seemed to smile toothily, showing off fangs. This froze me in place, against a wall of the alcove.

“You’re scared,” I assume this was what Chrysalis actually looked like.

“You’re not mum,” I said, doing my utmost to keep my voice from trembling. I looked out the alcove and through the water to see Fluttershy patiently waiting with Shiney and a few guard members. I turned back to ‘mum’ and found myself scrutinising her armor. ‘What is it made of? Can ponies make use of this?’ I thought, much to my own horror. This thing most likely abducted my mother and my scientific mind was slowly winning me over. ‘Could this creature be nice? It seems like it.’

“I just made it harder to make you believe me,” I heard her sigh. “I did not abduct Twilight Velvet. By the time I became your mother, she was already dead. Long before you were born, actually.”

“What?” I asked in a small voice. No. No way. There’s no way.

“You heard me. Night Light, your father, wanted someone to help him watch over Shining. He happened to catch me changing form in an alley because I was too tired from dealing with my ex husband. It was surprising to see a pony actually ask me to pose as a dead wife but after explaining that it was for his son to have a mother, at least, I couldn’t say no. Especially after Princess Celestia let my foal board at her school,” Chrysalis explained further. And now I have another sibling. This … what!? I’m being bombarded with information and I’m trying my best to get through it all. Mum is still mum. Okay. Mum had an ex and had another foal. News, but still okay. Dad letting Chrysalis be his dead wife for Shiney to have a mother? Sweet, but sure.

“What is your other foal’s name?” I asked her directly, maybe hoping that the straight answer would get me back into an analytical mood.

“I don’t want to talk about it,” Chrysalis said firmly with a sudden harsh glint to her eyes. I felt that sense of fear fill me again but I wasn’t going to let it stop me this time.

“Why? Because they’re dead?” I questioned with narrowed eyes.

“No, missing. They went missing through some mirror and I haven’t had a chance to go through it yet,” Chrysalis said harshly. Obviously a very sore subject. “If you want to know the gender of your sibling and what they look like … I suppose I can give you that.”

“Fine, tell me.”

“Mare. Eight years older than you. Amber coat. Yellow and red mane and tail. Teal eyes. Sunset Rose for a cutie mark,” Chrysalis replied in a clipped tone. So she’s willing to divulge appearance but not name. That’s not frustrating at all. I sighed and within a blink of an eye, she had changed into the mother I’ve always seen but no longer knew. Grey coat, light purple mane and tail with white stripes, a group of three stars for a cutie mark. Within another blink and a splash of water, mum had left the alcove.

I was stuck staring at the stone wall in contemplation until Fluttershy called for me again. I shook my head and filed the information away for later, jumping out of the alcove. After shaking the water off myself, I finally joined Fluttershy and walked with her to where the rest of my friends had gathered.

The shield that was covering Canterlot, provided by my brother, was being pounded upon by black creatures. It seemed they were insistent on getting something. But what? I heard the pounding and looked out the window, and then up. It had to happen when the wedding was happening, didn’t it? I gathered my friends and we all ran to the throne room, hoping that Princess Celestia knew what to do, only to find that a large black insect creature was speaking with her.

“Excuse me, Queen Chrysalis,” we heard Princess Celestia say, politely moving towards us. I quickly glanced at the creature and found her looking at us worriedly. Why was she so familiar? “Bearers, I want you to find Cadence. According to this monarch, she is key to getting rid of the changelings.”

“Um, Princess?” I asked nervously as my friends ran to their rooms.

“Yes, Twilight?” Princess Celestia asked gently, looking at me with a kind demeanour.

“Why is she helping? These creatures are, I assume, a part of her race,” I whispered.

“Because she doesn’t want them. I know it’s not the answer you’re looking for, but she and I will explain if we get out of this. Now go and find Cadence,” Princess Celestia answered just as quietly, leaving me to look at Chrysalis before I ran to find my friends. I found them waiting for me at the throne room entrance and after a quick debrief, we figured to leave the explaining till afterwards. A city was in danger after all.

We heard a crash on our way through the courtyard and looked up just in time to see green flamed comets come crashing down and pulverizing the cobblestone. They soon made a circle around us and we went back to back for the optimal fighting position. The creatures, wearing black chitin, with fanged mouths, with forked tongues, and holey hooves, snarled at us.

“They look a ‘mite frightenin’,” Applejack admitted when they began to stalk towards us.

“I’ll say,” Rarity agreed. One of the changelings let out a wail like a dying cat and everyone in the group turned to Rainbow. Her wing blades glittered among her feathers if you knew where to look.

“What? Less yapping, more fighting,” Rainbow declared. And ignoring our stares, jumped into the fray. I blinked and saw the others take part as best they could. While my friends fought, I sat in the middle of the cleared, feeling rather useless actually. I couldn’t perform anymore magic to save my life and now one was pouncing at me. I gritted my teeth, closed my eyes, and tried not to scream at the pain flaring through my horn.

I let loose the spell and my vision filled with white. When it had disappeared, I rapidly blinked and saw that almost the entire courtyard was filled with charred corpses but none of them seemed to be my friends.

“Um, Twilight?” Fluttershy asked timidly. I turned my head and found them all cowering behind Fluttershy’s giant shield.

“Yes, Fluttershy?” I asked in return, not entirely sure why they were cowering. There was nothing to fight, right?

“Why don’t you look in a mirror, dear?” Rarity asked and Pinkie took a hoof mirror out of her mane, showing it to me by holding with the tip of her mane. I looked at my reflection out of curiosity, and what stared back was not me. The reflection had scales on her muzzle and face, gold sclera, and was, for all essence and purpose, a dragoness. Other than the addition of a broken horn. I raised a hoof in front of the mirror and leaped back when the reflection did the same.

“That’s not me,” I shook my head. “I’m not that, am I?”

“I’m afraid so,” a familiar said from behind me. “Thanks to your distraction, we were able to get Cadence to get rid of the rest of my hive with her fiancee’s help.”

“Distraction?” I asked, glaring at the reflection of Chrysalis. “What distraction? Did you know this would happen?”

“To be fair, I didn’t know what would happen. This changeling princess deal has never happened before,” Chrysalis admitted.

~SKYE’S POV~

This is when I stopped watching. Okay, that explains Twilight looking how she does. Chrysalis being her mother. She must have mated with one of the descendants from the castle, or the most likely one? Clover is her however-many-greats grandmother. Jeez. Can’t I get a break? Please? The universe must have really hated me because I heard a far off trumpet sound before a booming voice shook Tartarus to its core.

“A MEASURE OF WHEAT FOR A BIT, THREE MEASURES OF BARLEY FOR A BIT, LEAVE THE OIL AND WINE!”

Crap. Famine’s here.

Chapter 16 - Meet and Break

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Great, just what I needed. Can someone get me the bleach? I need it to kill myself before Famine comes by. No doubt I’m going to get beaten like the other three times. What is it with the Horsemen and using me as their personal punching bag!? I quickly moved from Tartarus to Ponyville, and tried to figure out where Famine could have been summoned from. Now knowing who did it was another matter entirely and can be figured out after finding Famine. There’s also the issue of War biding his time for something.

When I got to Ponyville, I found the ponies going about their everyday business with the exception of Twilight, who appeared to be running around with her head cut off. No, sorry, like her head was cut off.

“Twilight!” I called out after flipping my hood up to shield myself from the sun and glided up to her. She was running through the marketplace at the moment and it was to the point that a mild dust storm kicked up in her wake. What is wrong with her? “Twilight!”

“Huh?” Twilight gasped and stumbled, rolling into Applejack’s cart. She banged into it, chipping her horn further, and the cart shook with a few apples dropping to the ground. “Ow-hooow,” she groaned and winced when she pressed her hoof to the base of her horn.

“Are you alright?” Applejack asked in concern with a wince, helping Twilight up. “That looked like it …”

“Yes, it does hurt,” Twilight finished with a grumble before noticing Applejack’s concerned look. “What’s the matter?”

“You barely have a horn left, Twi,” Applejack said bluntly and pointed to the cracked stub that was Twilight’s horn. I covered my jaw with my hands and went to go talk with her before spotting the swirling mass of shadows from Tartarus nearby. I changed direction and glided over but before I could, a couple of shadowy tentacles struck out and gripped me and Twilight. I heard the dragon pony gasp and try to get the tentacle off of her neck.

“What are you doing?” I asked the shadows when I realised I couldn’t just phase out of the grip. I felt my bones begin to crack under the pressure and I grunted in pain.

“You two need a break that’s been the weirdness of your lives thus far,” my Displacer told me before the tentacles turned white and we vanished from what we knew of Equestria.

Where the Tartarus was I going!? I spun in the blackness of it all for what seemed like endless hours, that is, until a white light rapidly approached. Unable to shield myself from any sort of impact, the light absorbed me and all I could see was a searing white.

I felt the air rush past me and it sounded like I was screaming. Something dark and ominous rushed towards me before I crashed into it with a sickening crack. There go all two hundred and fifty two of my bones.

UMBRA'S POV

The life and times of a dark ruler sure could be a rollercoaster ride of blood pumping thrill, inglorious conquerings and amassing unrightfully earned riches by looting everything in a ten kilometer radius around your current position, but then again, sometimes, they could just be a plain bore.

Today was just such a day.

After the whole ordeal in Canterlot, permanently dealing with Chrysalis and regaining my Greens, it had been an unanimous decision amongst me, Onyx, and Gnarl to lay low for a bit. Lest a certain pair of sisters would get wind of me and my little shadowy empire and put an end to it.

Thus I ended up in self-confinement more or less.

Gave me a lot of time to go through my arcane library though and boy there was much to read. Heavy stuff, like, Tolstoy heavy. I could barley get halfway through with one tome before it felt like my brain was leaking out of my damn ears. Lyra on the other hand could blaze through the old books of evil at an amazing speed and was able to comprehend the jibber-jabber about arcane matrizes, celestial alignments and some rather disquieting truths about sheep like talking about the weather.

I would never be able to look at the wooly balls of fluff the same ever again.

At any rate, I had much free time on my hands and when Umbra has free time on her mitts, her sweet tooth comes a-knocking. So I had Wiener make me every piece of porn in food form that he could during the time I took breaks from studying. Which was quite a lot to be honest but I always had a good metabolism and with my new body, even more so. Most nutrients I took in went straight to replenish my magical reserves.

"Wiener ma boy, you´ve done good this time." I moaned around a piece of cheesecake as my kobold cook carted in his newest creation, a massive pie that was on the verge of bursting from all the white, creamy fillings Wiener obviously pumped into it (heh, entendre). Darkness bless him and his lack of knowledge what the word moderation meant.

I was about to get me some of that goodie next as, like so often, Murphy reared his mug and clam-jammed me in one of the worst possible ways. A rift opened up right above my dinner table and something came shooting out right at me, collided with me and toppled me over together with my chair.

After the obligatory stream of expletives, I blinked away the tears as I noticed something on my chest. Nothing too heavy but still.

It was a human skull, smiling a pearly white grin right at me. As skulls do.

Now, I do not know if I was that desensitized at that point or if it was still the after effects of absorbing Queen Cheeselegs essence but having the mortal remains of a human sitting on my collarbone did only vaguely phase me that moment.

I took the offending skull in one hand and gave it a look. Must have once belonged to a adult from the size of it. Pristine condition too, given that it was just shot outta the Void and into my face with quite the force.

That made me wonder however. How the everloving hell did that end up in the Void? Was it possible to be stuck in the Void for that long that only a skeleton came out of the other end? If so, that was one of the most fucked up ways to go.

Looking at the fleshless face, I adopted a mournful mien and invoked the Bards great words. "Alas, poor Yorick. I knew him well Horatio." It was then that the skull talked back.

"Oi, mate. You talkin' Shakespeare at me?" It's, her, teeth clacked together in a very fake British accent. The voice was most definitely female and she definitely didn't seem to like the sound of my quote. The skull turned in my hand to survey her surroundings and it then ended up with its lifeless gaze back at me. "Nevermind that. What I'm worried about now is finding the rest of my body."

I stood up, skull still in hand. "Well, my dear, disembodied guest of the fleshless sort, one thing after the other. Care to share your name with me, given that you damn well disturbed me in my own home, during snack time no less?"

"Alright, Blackheart. I'm so sorry to ruin snack time," the skull said sarcastically. "My name is Skye, black lady. Now that you know my name, it's only fitting that I'd know yours."

I gave a nod. "See, that did not kill ya at all, did it? As for my name, it´s Umbra."

"Latin for shadow. Fitting," Skye mused. "Now, if you don't mind, I think my body fell apart upon entering your domain, demon. Can we go look for it?"

With a pleased purr, I gave Skye the skull a slight push, making her jump in my palm like one would do with a ball or something similar. "Your butter up skills are well developed at least. Guess I´ll be a good host then and lend you a hand, seeing as you are in dire need for one at the moment." I quibbed and I swear Skye rolled her non-existent eyes at me so hard. "Now, let´s see..."

We did not have to search for long as I noticed the massacre that not a moment before had been a mouthwatering pie. Now it was a crater of crust and cream, with something protruding right out of the epicenter. Upon closer inspection, it turned out to be a lone hipbone.

"Well, that was easy." I fished the cream coated chunk of bone out of my ruined dessert and gave it a thoughtful look before addressing the skull in my other hand again. "Y´know, I can appreciate a good cream-pie as any other woman but should we not at least treat each other to at least a drink or two before we start the kinky stuff?"

"Two hundred and five bones to go," Skye muttered to herself. "To be fair, if I did treat you to a drink, you'd be the only one drinking," the skull said sarcastically. Skye observed the busted pie and sighed. "I wish I still had a tongue to at least enjoy the taste." She looked around every time I bounced her after this note and she seemed to be fixated upon the exit. "I can't see or sense any of my other bones so, the best bet would be to wander around and see what we find."

"So like finding the proverbial needle in the likewise proverbial pile of hay eh? Or better, a assload of bones in my domain." I tittered. "Your luck that I am such a nice host and that I have a lot of free time on my hands right now. But even if things go south and we find nothing, I still have a few nice ideas what you could do in the future. I always wanted a talking skull to have it sitting at the entrance of my tower, spouting stuff like 'forfeit all hope, thee who enter here' at anyone stepping into my halls."

"I have a feeling that'll get boring really fast," Skye muttered more to herself than me but the message came across clearly. "Or, if we actually do go down that route, I'll just say 'boo'. That usually scares them off."

"Don´t underestimate the bold, the stupid or the heroes. They tend to stick their noses everywhere, even if you put up a big 'Caution, radiated and always hungry ur-dragon with chronically bad mood ahead. You will get eaten!' sign at your entrance." I idly twirled my index finger in the air for emphasis. "That aside, I really hope you have your bones numbered or something. Cause, if we do not find them all, then what? Just curious."

"I, uh, kinda don't," Skye chuckled nervously. "Um, considering this has never happened before, I, um, was not prepared. So … I have absolutely no idea in what's going to happen," the skull hopped up in my hand and let out a disappointed sigh at not finding anything. "You know what we should do? Actually move from this room and move out through your lair. I think … oh, do you have a library?"

Now I rolled my eyes. "It´s a proverb and yes, I was just going to. Chances that all your bones spontaneously grow lots of tiny, bony feet and come to us are pretty much zero, right?" With that we, that is to say I with Skye sitting in my palm, left the dining room and began the search in earnest. "And yes, as the devil wants it, I actually have a library in my tower. Why? Think some of your bones ended up as bookmarks?"

"It's possible the library has some of my bones. Would make for some dead boring reading if all you had were bone scriptures," Skye cackled.

Hah. Skull joke.

We had not to walk far, much to my surprise because we soon stumbled upon the next missing pieces of my newest acquaintances bony body.

Not a few meters down the hall squatted one of my Greens, the name Rancid popping up in my head like so often when I dealt with my Minions, the stinking little gremlin holding fast to a skeletons whole arm and hand, utilizing it to enthusiastically scratching himself everywhere, sending loose scales, flakes of skin and the occasional undefined plat looking shred flying. All while his tongue lolled out and one of his feet thumbed the ground like a dogs who enjoyed a good scritch-a-scratch.

"Oh god, I think I have to boil that whole arm before I will ever be able to use it again." Skye winced.

Even I puked a little in my mouth at the display in front of us. "No duh. Now... let´s get this over with before I start chucking chunks."

I approached the hapless Green who still enjoyed Skyes hand more than he should and held out my own. "Hey, ehr, Rancid. Give me that." I said, half choking through the vile exhalations the Green was releasing. Something like rotten anchovies mixed with several years worth of unwashed sport socks. Even for a Greens low standards of bodily hygiene, that was a new level of disgusting.

Rancid, for his part, stopped scratching his ass with Skyes hand, looking at me owlishly. Then at his scratching tool.

"Come on, don’t make this harder than it needs to be." I growled, inching my hand closer to the humerus of the arm. Almost had it.

For the records, no one, not even Gnarl knows what is going on in the Minions head most of the times (except for stuff like 'Sheepies!', 'Kill stuff for the master!' or the random 'Life is but a theatre and all men are but actors. Out. Out brief candle!'), so it only came as half a surprise as suddenly a manic grin split Rancids lips, the Green joyfully exclaimed "Keep away!" and in a feat of bone twisting acrobatics, the assassin did a backflip from the stand and clambered up a nearby pillar, Skye's arm still in one hand. Once on top, the little bastard waved his prize mirthfully and a moment after, disappeared in one of the many Minion holes that littered my domain, enabling my kobolds to pop up almost everywhere to do my beck and call. Or like in this case, being a massive pain in the ass.

"Well, fuck."

"I would say that green puke factory could keep it, but I kinda need it," Skye chimed in. "We know at least one thingy has an entire arm … which will need a bleach bath. Please tell me you have bleach too," she added in a pleading tone. No doubt that some of the other Greenies were using the skeleton's body parts in much the same way as Rancid. Or worse. That thought made me shudder violently.

"Not here but I can get some shipped. And if that is not enough, I could offer some dragonfire, straight from the lizard."

"You have a dragon here!?" Skye squawked in surprise and awe. Who woulda thought a talking skeleton could be impressed that way huh?

"Yes ma´am, a bonafide dragon, live and in color. Very handy in cold nights, on camping trips and to get rid of anything warranting a 'oh god, kill it with fire, kill it with fire!'" I tapped my boot against the floor in thought. If I were a Green, where the fuck would I hide myself if I wanted to mess with my totally not vindictive mistress?

The latrines where quite too obvious. Or at least I hoped so. My Minions produced more waste than any creature their size should be allowed to. Not going in there. Ever again!

The Brood Pits eventually. If one where to hide, then which place would be better than one swarming with nigh identical brethren? A bit like 'Where´s Waldo?', just more minion-y.

"Dragons are weird, in my experience," Skye muttered. "Would you know of any place where that goblin would have gone to? Like it's room or a hole in the wall or something?"

"If you count having mothers that dwarf Godzilla, who also act like kinda the guardian of this dimensions space-time-fabric and constantly trying to eat you out of your hard earned treasures, then yes, dragons are weird." I conceded, trudging down the corridors. "And yes, I actually have a pretty good clue where Rancid could have gone to. We´ll just need to make a little detour, so I can get something to carry all of you more easy."

This stop brought us to the kitchen where I snatched a old sack. If I really had to find all two hundred odd bones of a humanoid body, I sure as fuck would not carry them all around under my arm.

"A sack's good," Skye mused. "Also, that little creature is called Rancid. That is … oddly fitting," she added as an afterthought. She hopped in my hand to try and get a better look at the surrounding area before sighing in defeat. "No bones here. Or my cloak."

"I know right? They come pre-named and in four flavors. The brown fighters usually have easy and in your face names like Scrapper, Bruiser or Rufus. The red archers are all a bunch of pyromaniacs and have names related to fire and light like Matchstick, Welder or Lucifer. The green ones, the assassins love decay and muck as much as backstabbing, resulting in names like Rot, Decay or Rancid. Finally, the blue healers for some reason have names like Timotheus, Sebastian or Alfonsius. Sounds Latin as fuck, maybe because they have a few brain cells more than your average Minion. That´s what they are by the by, Minions but feel free to call them gremlins, kobolds or whatever. They don't mind."

"Gremlins it is," Skye laughed. "Those pyromaniacs sound like they're fun to hang around with if you want charred bones … which may have already happened," she sighed. "We can find that munchkin later, where are the pyromaniacs at?"

"Oh, they are fun believe me Skye. Usually, the bulk of my Minions hangs around in the Brood Pits since all of their nests are located there, which is where we are going now. I have the distinct feeling Rancid wants to play real life 'Where is Waldo' with us." I replied. "You know, unless I am totally wrong and the little bastard is in one of the many other possible hiding place that litter the place."

After that, we went down the seemingly endless flight of stairs, down into the bowels of my tower in relative silence, Skye probably brooding over things skeletons tend to brood while I simply tried not to think to hard about having to find one specific Green amongst a sea of his kin.

"Is it just me, or did we wander into a sea of algae?" Skye asked suddenly when we reached the bottom of the very long, and very winding, staircase.

"I wish." I muttered in annoyance. Indeed all around us was greenery in forms and colors normally only found in jungles or tropical bodies of water. For whatever unfathomable reason or other, the shed skin and various... secretions of the Greens seemed to promote the growth of vegetation rather than making the ground barren for the next few millenia or so.

Which in turn caused the Brood Pits to be nearly overrun by shrubbery shortly after the Greens nest had been returned to its rightful place in the basement of my tower. It had become so bad that I had to appoint teams of Browns and Reds to counter the seemingly endless flood of plants with machetes and fire. Lots and lots of fire. Not that it changed much, seeing as the stuff was growing back almost as fast as my little munchkins could defoliate the areas around the Pits.

A tugging sensation made me stop for a moment as something clamped down on my leg. Looking down, I stared at some sort of Venus flytrap the size of a damn dinner plate, whose jaws were lined with small but devilishly sharp teeth. Which where right now digging through my trousers, boots and into my leg.

With a growl that was somewhere between pissed and pained, I torched the suicidal shrub with a more violent than necessary fire blast. " One day, I douse this whole damn place in Agent Orange, I swear."

That taken care of, I went straight for the Greens corner of the Brood Pit, which now resembled more a steaming, dense, green hell of a jungle contained on some thirty square meters worth of space than anything else. Ominous movements disturbed the growth every now and then as unseen things moved around and I could have sworn that I heard the heavy rhythm of tribal drums from the very heart of the area.

Swatting a large fern aside, I stepped into the pseudo jungle.

"Umbra … I've captured a chupacabra, attempted to catch Bigfoot, spotted the Boogeyman but none of them compare to what I'm hearing and seeing," Skye told me in a less than confident voice. I don't know what it was, but a skeleton scared just doesn't seem right.

"Sounds like an eventful life... you know what I mean." I said while making my way through the green hell. "I mean, I get a serious Jumanji vibe here. Half expecting that weird hunter guy to pop out of the woods any moment now, or a tiger or these rabbit monkeys."

"Oh, great. Now you got me thinking about that hunter and his cheesy lines," Skye groaned. She made me turn my hand around at a noise of a snapping twig nearby. "Stop, I think I heard something."

"Oh fuck me sideways with a chainsword, I had to jinx it, had I?" I groaned, suddenly regretting my choice to forgo donning my armor and weapons today.

Well, I could always throw Skye at whatever came out the woodworks if everything went south.

After several nervous seconds, a spider crawled out from below its leafy cover.

A housecat sized spider of the black widow variety. But still just a spider.

Which received a burst of lightning for scarring me halfway outta my wits though.

Leaving the sizzling and popping spider behind, I hastened my pace. How hard could it be to find the Greens in this poor mans jungle that could have fitted in the backyard of my old house back on earth? This what not Dark Sun Gwyndolins corridor of eternal mindfuckery after all. By all means, we should have came out on the other side not even after a minute of brisk walking.

The drums grew louder and now I was able to detect cheerful, scratchy voices chanting something too. It sounded almost as if only the next few ferns stood between my bony companion, myself and the source of the sounds.

I turned to Skye with a tormented smile "Wanna bet on what we find? My money is on a long lost culture and we stumble into some kind of savage ceremony."

"That would be something interesting in this jungle," Skye cackled, which appeared to be the only form of laughter she could produce until we find more of her body. "Here's a bet. They're using my bones for something unseemly."

"Well, here goes nothing." With that, I parted the last bits of green between us and the source of the sounds.

I´d like to thought I had seen many things and that whatever was behind the shrubbery could not surprise me. I was wrong.

There, on a impossibly large clearing stood the Greens nest, looking like a bundle of mutated asparagus but in front of it was a full blown tribal village, complete with round little thatch huts and everything. A massive bonfire crackled in the center of the scene and all over the place, my minions were dancing, throwing their wiry arms into the air and enthusiastically hop-stop-dancing in a large circle around a massive stone totem that looked like a five years old crayon doodle made stone. I could make out a mob of presumably hair, a open mouth with pointy teeth and a figure that overall hinted at femininity but the rest was guesswork.

All the while, the Greens had done their outmost to look the part of tribals, wearing little straw skirts and decorating themselves with bones (obviously Skye´s) tied to their bodies, stuck through their noses or held on top of their heads with string, since they had no hair to braid them into. In the far corner, two Greens used what I assumed to be leg bones to lay a beatdown onto some makeshift drums with a fervor.

Oh and they were singing one line again and again. Very, very enthusiastically.

"Omph chakka. Umbra, that´s the name of our chieftain. Omph chakka. Umbra! All together now!"

Taking all this in, I reacted the only way one could appropriately react to such a scene.

"Wat?"

"Turns out we were both right," Skye said in a disgusted tone once she had figured out the scenery before us.

"Alright, I thought I have seen shit, that nothing could surprise me but this... I can´t even... just no." I stepped out of the brushwork and into this mad little shindig. The minions paid me no particular mind, strangely enough, seemingly to enthralled by whatever they were doing. For another matter, there was not filth ridden hide nor nonexistent hair to be seen of Rancid whatsoever. Guess my gut feeling about him hiding here had been a dead end. Well, at least we could gather a lot of Skye's bones here.

To get my minions part with them was equal parts easy and hard at the same time. Easy because I simply ordered them to hand em over (because I was not in the mood for having any of their shit right now) and hard because the bones seemingly soaked into the natural grime and filth the Greens exuded and now looked and smelled like something straight out of grandpa Nurgles gardens of pestilence.

Again, I was thankful for the idea to carry everything around in a bag, which minimized the need to contact and the smell to bearable levels.

"Right, looks like we got most of you now. I think I saw a lot of ribs, both legs, the bones near the shoulders and the collar bones. Still short of the arms, hands, the shoulder blades and the spine." I rattled the bag ´o bones for effect.

"Impressive and kind of disturbing how most of them were in the one place," Skye commented. "I counted roughly a hundred so that means … one hundred and five bones to go? I think? Lost count at sixty when you were gathering them up."

"Again, not really what I expected when I got up this morning but it sure beats being stuck in the study all day. Now, where to go next? Ah!"

Sometimes, one really could not see the forest behind all those trees. Locating Rancid was a piece of cake from the get-go. All I had to do was to ask Gnarl, the old geezer. For all his many, many faults, he always seemed to exactly know the positions of every minion all the time.

>>Gnarl? Come in.<<

>>Yes? Ah, Milady. How can I be of service? And more importantly, why are you not in the study? Do not tell me you are shirking off again. A proper dark...<< Gnarl prepared one of his usual rants about diligence and stuff as the supreme ruler of all minionkind but right now, I did not wanted any of that.

>>Ya, not now okay? I need to know where a Green named Rancid is hiding. That little shit stole something I need to get back stat.<<

A confused silence followed, then Gnarl replied >>Oh? Did he now? Well, I´d make sure to discipline him soon enough for that. Maybe have him take a bubble bath will teach him not to interfere with our Ladyships possessions. Anyhow, he should be hiding in the treasury right now.<<

A groan escaped my lips. Of fucking course. Now I had to walk all the way back up to the highest point of my tower from the very bottom pits. >>Thanks Gnarl, I´ll get going.<<

Waxing his usual praises and whatnot, Gnarl cut the line, leaving me with my thoughts and problems. Just lovely.

"Is everything okay? You went silent on me," Skye cut in, in an unamused tone of voice. She bounced in my hand and huffed. "Green, green, green, black, oh, that's you. You're the only smidgen of color in this forest."

I looked at the skull bouncing about in my palm. "Ah, sorry. Just had a little mind-talk with someone helping me find Rancid. Looks like he´s hiding in the treasury. On top of my tower." A weary breath escaped me. "I know I should have elevators installed when I build this tower."

"Oh, you poor soul," Skye cackled. "Going up and down all those stairs … it's no wonder you're as thin as a twig!"

"Hush you." I replied, giving the skull a good spin before plodding back into the pseudo-jungle.

Quite some time later, we finally were back at the starting point in the residential parts of the tower.

"Well … this is familiar," Skye droned. "Is this … nah, it couldn't be."

"What? What is it?" I wheezed, leaning on the wall for support.

"This is near the kitchen. You need some meat on your bones," Skye said simply, ignoring my obvious plight of lack of breath.

"Fuck you. Seriously, fuck you Skye." I rasped back, plodding up the stairs to the treasury. The sight of my hard earned rich, the mountains of shinies somehow soothed my heart and filled my weary mind with calmness. Not even Onyx, once again snoring on a bed of silver ingots, with the shards of precious gems still covering her lips and cheeks seemed mildly amusing if nothing else.

Now to find Rancid.

"Oh Rancii~id," I cooed out through gritted teeth "come out, come out, where fucking ever you are so I can mangle you filth ridden ass for making me go down and back up all those stairs!"

"There's a greenhorn near the pretty dragon!" Skye called out before cooing at Onyx. "Pretty dragon is a messy dragon. It's a pretty messy pretty dragon."

O~kay, that was definitively weird. Almost as if Skye got herself a ticket or two. But the bit with the greenhorn was what really grabbed my attention.

"The greenhorn is behind the pretty dragon," Skye murmured, probably sensing my weird feeling about her current mood.

"Oh I wonder where my precious little Rancid could be hiding?" I said out aloud, wandering around the room. "Maybe he his... here?" I announced, looking behind a big pile of gems, obviously finding nothing. "Or maybe could he be... behind here?" Next, I peeked behind a large chest filled with rolls of precious fabrics, finding nothing again. From behind Onyx, I heard the movements of someone becoming twitchy. Good, the little fuck was starting to feel the heat. Slowly, like a cat toying with a battered mouse, I stalked closer to the slumbering dragoness. Stretching myself, I was able to make out the tips of Rancids ears, the Green all but pressing himself into Onyx side. Eugh, had to remember to tell Onyx to take a lava bath after that.

When we got close enough, the skull suddenly leapt from my hand and bit onto Rancid's arm, making growling noises and firmly lodging herself in it by her teeth. How in the blazes Skye managed to even propel herself like that would remain a mystery forever.

However, seeing Rancid explode into a flurry of movement as he hoped around, frantically swinging his arm around in an attempt to dislodge Skye gave birth to a howling laughter that burst forth from my very core. I nearly pissed myself, gasping for breath as Rancid even started batting at Skye with her own arm like it was some sort of fly-swatter.

"No... bad girl Skye..." I gasped between laughter "You don´t know where that has been, don´t put that into your mouth."

At some point in the flurry, Skye somehow switched positions and latched onto her own arm. "A biddle halp!?" She called out in a muffled tone.

Clutching my aching belly with one hand, I wiped my tears from my eyes with the other. "Sure, sure, just lemme..." Rancid dodged my initial grab but on my second try, I managed to get ahold of his mangy neck. The sudden halt on Rancid's assault caused Skye to get dislodged and go screaming away far into treasury.

"Umbra, you bi~tch!" I heard Skye's yowls from somewhere on the other side of the treasury.

"Whine, whine, whine." I snarked, taking Skyes arm back from the sheepishly smiling Rancid. Right before pulling my arm back and throwing the dumbfounded Green right out of one of the windows and towards a several dozen or so stories fall before the big splat.

After that, I sauntered over to where Skye had landed and yanked the skull out of a pile of valuables. Bits cascaded out of the hole where the spine connects to the skull and Skye was now sporting two brand new eyes in form of two glimmering emeralds.

"You look like a gaudy gear lever ornament." I snorted at the sight.

"Gears? They're somewhere in my cloak … which I can't seem to find. Oh, right, I'm trapped here. Yay! Whoop de doo! Oi. Umbra, you're a piece of work," Skye rambled.

Plucking the shinies out of Skye, I snorted. "Says the one in pieces who looks like death warmed over one hundred times to many. By the way, I´ve got your arm back."

Skye clacked her teeth a few times as the rest of the coins showered out of her. "You got my arm. That must mean I'm only half armless. Where to now? Your room?"

"Aren´t you a forward one? Nah, not my room but close to it. I don´t know about you but I do not want to roam around aimlessly looking for your missing pieces anymore." I told her, leaving the treasury and making for my planning room. It was chock-full with shelves containing maps, where ever they came from, books about proper tactics, weapons care, how to do a proper evil laugh and most importantly, the map table that magically showed my dark domain and the surrounding lands. With the correct commands issued, it could even show selected areas or places and that gave me an idea.

Placing Skye in the relative center of the map, I paused for a moment. "Alright, now how did this whole ouija board thing worked again?"

"Ouija!?" Skye asked excitedly and began hopping up and down in the middle of the map. "If this is a ouija board, we need more than one creature here. You use a planchette or something, you mutter something else, and then you're good to go!"

Scratching my head, I gave a little groan. "No, it is no ouija board per se. More of a magic map table that I mostly use to monitor my tower and the surrounding areas. I thought, you know, since literally everything is fucking magic here," I pointed at Skye, then myself and then at a random passing Minion who carried a lot of broomsticks, buckets and was humming a very catchy tune "We could kinda use the table with you as a focus or catalyst to pinpoint the rest of you on the map. Like you get infos out of a ouija board, with you as the planchette."

"But I am not triangular silly." Skye piped up quite happily "I have a lot of holes though."

"Yeaaaah... anyways, I figured, could not hurt to try eh?"

"Nope. Fire the ouija up!" Skye responded in delight.

"Alright, here goes."

I never really delved very far into all this ouija stuff. Somewhere in high school, a classmate of mine used to carry one of these boards around all the time. Girl said she was a witch or wicca or whatever and used the board to commune with 'the other side' almost everywhere she went. Our religion teach did not took that very well. Anyways, that girl also sometimes did some divining for others and I watched her a few times. She always described it as the fine process of the spirit finding the threats of the other planes and connecting them to her corporal vessel to attain the information through the movements of the planchette. Or something like this. After the first five minutes of her spouting that occult hoobaloo, I started singing the Spider Man theme in my head very loud while nodding politely at times. I now wished I had paid more attention because now I had to rely on my very own method of making this work, which was effectively the sledge hammer method. Apply brute force to make things work. If that fails, apply more brute force until it yields and works. Or crumbles to pieces.

Holding my hands out in what I hoped was my best and correct channeler posture, I poured mana into the map table to fuel whatever I was trying to make work here.

"Ehrm, okay... map table, heed the call of me, Umbra, mistress of this tower. Oh magic piece of furniture, coming from darkness knows where, grant my request and show me where to find the missing bones of the disembodied head sitting atop of you. Make use of these bodily remains to... ehrm... to show me the path wrought in the paths of the... other world?"

Okay, the chant was something completely off but at least I was not trying to take the Necronomicon from its stand or something like this.

For a while, I just stood there, watching the table, feeding mana into it.

"I don´t think it works." Skye chimed in from her place on the table.

"Hush you. Planchettes can´t talk. Now be good and start moving around so we can get this over with ya? I start to feel more embarrassed than usual." I grumbled back.

"Well this one can, and I'm saying that it isn't working," Skye shot back.

"Come on, work. Show me something or else I use you as firewood!" I threatened the table. Which was made of stone so the threat was kinda of invalid from the get go.

"I still don´t think it´s working~" Skye sing-songed. "Maybe if you... woah!"

Suddenly, I felt a strong tuck in the manas flow and moments later, Skye began to rattle in place. Before she or I could react in any way, she suddenly started scooting around the table. First she shot in the direction of Baltimare, making a sharp turn towards the Crystal Mountains, then skirted around the Everfree, spun around like a spin-top on an empty plot of land somewhere on the southern planes and finally, came to a full stop on Ponyville proper.

"Were all those the locations of my bones or just the magic going wacko?" Skye asked when she stopped spinning in place and hopped backwards a couple of times to look at the location she had ended up on. "Ponyville … oh! Purple smart is there!"

Fighting down a sigh, I stared at the map table. "Knowing my luck and the perverse pleasure Murphy takes in messing with me, I´d say both. Just to be sure, I will send scouting parties to the places we´ve seen. Except for Ponyville. That is a mission I will take myself." I stretched myself, making my spine pop audibly "I´ve been cooped up in here far too long and I don´t want Ponyville burning just yet. Which would happen if I where to send Minions there."

"And you expect me to do what? Be a chew toy for your pet dragon?" Skye snarked before hopping up and down on the map table. "Let me go with you, let me go with you~!"

"Calm your non existent tits Skye, I was not going to leave you behind." I told her, picking her up "Way to many possibilities for things to go south if I where to leave you alone here. Also would make me a poor host, leaving a guest to entertain herself while I am out. I´m gonna leave the bag o´ bones here though, don´t think that is a problem yes?"

"Hey, if you wanna collect em all again, sure." Skye said and somehow she conveyed a shrug with her tone "Because, how high is the possibility that your gremlins gonna snatch em again?"

"Zero percent, cause if they do, I put their souls into a toilet plunger." I replied, simultaneously broadcasting my threat into the mind network.

"If you say so. Now of to horsey town then yes?" Skye chirped, hopping around in my palm giddily.

With a sigh, I trotted of to my throne room and the teleporter stone. One flash later and I stepped out of the port stone in the Everfree. To my satisfaction, it seemed it still have remained undetected.

"Ok, let´s get this show on the road then." One application of my ponyform spell and I was Umbra Illousion again. Only difference this time was the skull sitting atop my noggin, nestled into my mane.

"Oooh~ It's an illuuuusion," Skye breathed before giggling to herself. "Think you can put some of that on me? I think a talking skull will be hard for the ponies to take. Wait. You're in disguise!?" The skull ended up gasping and accidentally bit my hair a bit too roughly.

With a soft hiss, I started trotting towards Ponyville. "Bingo, as it is right now, I am Umbra Illusion, globetrotter and aspiring haunted house owner. I thought I´d sell you as a fancy prob if someone should get to curious but you are right. Better safe than sorry. Haven't done that often though so no complaints if you end up plait you hear?"

With that, I willed my magic into existence again. Sure enough, I knew the most of the theory of applying an illusion spell to another being, thing or whatever but doing it was another thing. It was easy enough to hurl my magic at a target in form of a fireball or lightning but delicately wrapping it around something in order to hide its true nature was a whole different house number.

At least I could not accidentally kill Skye should things go pear-shaped.

I felt my magic creep over Skye, covering her much I covered myself when using this particular spell. Scrunching my face and subconsciously sticking out my tongue a bit, I tried to envision as what I was to disguise Skye.

"Here goes..."

The magic did its thing and a moment later, Skye looked like a grotesque lovechild between a bowler hat and a skull helmet. Yeah, no.

Another try and this time Skye took the form of a off white base cap.

"This feels funny." The cap giggled and much to my dismay, wavered and turned back into Skye. It felt like something about her was messing up my mojo.

New try. I intended for the cap again but somehow the magic did her own thing and this time, Skye turned into a wide brimmed straw hat. It even had some decorative flowers on it!

"No! Totally no!" I bristled and undid the magic. No way in all hell I would wear such a granny hat in broad daylight. At least not without being dead drunk!

"Awww, but I liked the flowers." Skye complained.

Not dignifying that with a response, I casted again. Skye blurred and warped, making me fear a loud and sudden ker-blammo but nothing like that happened. Instead, Skye suddenly flattened and shrunk until a brand spanking new skull shaped hair clip decorated my mane.

"Now, that went better than I thought it would," I stated happily "took only a couple of tries and it is not that straining at all."

"She says while sweating," Skye snickered, the new hairclip snapping open and closed quite quickly in an imitation of a moving mouth.

"Oh shut it, you!" I groused back, wiping my brow with my fetlock. While not nearly as draining as a completely new spell, keeping two disguises up at the same time was unsurprisingly twice as taxing on the caster. With a stagger in my step, I began my track to Ponyville and to find Skye´s missing parts.

Could not be that hard now, could it? I mean, some dog was probably slobbering all over them right this moment or the Crusaders were trying to figure out their cryptozoologist or paleontologist marks with them. Or maybe Murphy wanted it and dumped them into Purple Nurples fuzzy little pony lap and now she was spazzing out over them, zipping around in her basement lab like a little maniac.

In hindsight, that would be the most unfavorable situation and one that would probably end in minor B and E, maybe combined with mild to medium degrees of bodily and mental violence.

On the bright side, the Everfrees foliage made way for lush meadows and a good way ahead, I could already see Ponyville.

"Hey, this is boring!" Skye complained from her perch "All you do is walk, walk, walk. And you don´t even sing a hiking song while you are at it. Uuuh!" Her tone perked up at that and I heard her take a deep, very unnecessary, breath.

My ears folded back without my doing as I realized her intend.

"Yankee Doodle went to town, a~ridin´ a pony. Stuck a feather on his hat and called it macaroni!" Skye sung very, very enthusiastically. Her voice was easily blasting into my ears and despite me grinding my teeth at the sudden acoustic assault, I could not help myself but to admit that the little tune was a rather catchy one.

"Yankee Doodle, keep it up! Yankee Doodle Dandy! Mind the music and the steps and with the girls be handy!" And just the moment the song ended, Skye began anew, even picking up more pace, supplying me with my very own version of the song that never ends.

For just a moment, I considered burying her on the wayside and just go back home and call it a day. Eventually, and thankfully, the dreadful off-key singing gave way to very enthusiastic hums by the time we reached the outskirts of the forest and Ponyville itself.

"Hey, look! Ponies!" Skye interrupted her humming for an enthusiastic cheer that rang through my ears. "HELLO PONIES! I'M A TALKING HAIRCLIP!"

At least a handful of very large eyes landed on me while I froze for a moment. Only for a moment though because instead of swarming me with torches and pitchforks, the mini horses merely begun whispering to each other, most likely perplexed if anything.

"Ehehe, hi everypony." I waved a hoof with a shaky smile "Isn´t that cool? It´s a hairclip with a come-to-life spell on it. Pretty sweet right? Bet you never saw that before huh?"

A few brows where raised at that statement, a few more eyes rolled and a little filly present promptly began pestering the mare next to her if she could have one too, to which the mare replied with the typical maternal phrase of 'be good and we´ll see', lighting up her horn and dragging her apparent offspring away with her.

Muttering broke out amongst the remaining ponies but thankfully, they all returned to what they had been doing before, some giving me a last curious glance.

I let go of a mental breath I´ve been holding as the weight of imminent disaster fell from my shoulders. Zipping around a corner I did a quick five point room check to see if someone was still around. No one was. "Hey Skye, not to sound like a moodkiller or anything but do you think you can, I dunno, be a bit more stealthy like? I get that you are... ehrm, excited but right now, I need to fly under the radar."

"Um ... about that," Skye said nervously, sounding like she had a moment of clarity for the first time in what has felt like ages of non-stop delirium. "I can feel my jaw starting to seize up and grow stiff. Maybe it's because I haven't connected with my body for the last five hours? It's just really starting to worry me and that shout was really uncalled for. I'm sorry."

That in turn caused my ears to fold back. "Hey, don´t sweat it. At least you did not got a foodgasm in a fully occupied Sugarcube Corners. But what´s about that? You saying you get rigor mortis or something all of a sudden?" I told her while trotting around, keeping an eye and an ear open for any rumors about strange bones falling from thin air, wayward explosions or other heralds of the unusual that might lead us to what we were looking for.

"I got no idea sweet cheeks," Skye said simply. I heard a few ponies talk about the goings on of their days with their friends while passing them. Skye quietly hummed to herself, most likely feeling sorry for how she had had acted. "Your demoness … I think I heard some ponies speak about Twilight Sparkle as well as a fluttering cloak. They must be talking about my cloak."

"Well, that is as good a clue as anything. Good job catching that Skye." I told her as I changed course towards Golden Oaks.

Weaving through the streets, bypassing ponies all following their daily routines was a welcoming, calming sensation. Because, the closer we got to the book filled tree, the queasier I began to feel. So many things this could go tits up, so many things to get my ass in the deep fryer. That Skye seemingly got only got heavier with each passing step did not really help.

Reaching the front door, I did a last quick check before I slipped into the building. The entrance room where I encountered Twilight the first time was empty. The whole building had this eerie air to it, really.

"I'm a skeleton... and I feel cold," Skye commented through an ominous creaking sound. "My ja ... cloak. Quick."

Oh joy, fuck you Murphy!

"Hang in there skullgirl," I told her, giving my best to sound sure of what I was doing and optimistic "just a bit longer and we got this." Now, if I were in Twilight's horseshoes, where would I hide a weird, probably magic cloak thingie?

"Basement lab." Was the answer I more muttered to myself as I begun searching for the door down into the bowels of the library. The fact that this door in particular had a big sign on it, designating it as 'Private. Library visitors please stay out. Potentially hazardous spell, magical compounds and technical equipment inside.' made it a real walk in the park to be honest. A couple of voices rang out through the wood, sounding extremely similar, if not the same. It sounded like Twilight was talking with herself.

"… ou hooked me up, now what?" Twilight asked, her voice sounding faint and far away.

Creeping down the stair in best Sam Fisher manner, I strained my ears even more. What in the blazed was going on here? Did Twilight found the Mirror Pool instead of Pinkie here? Some time magic mumbo jumbo? Attack of the body snatchers?

"Now I should be able to scan your thaumatical field in order to compare it to my own and given what I find..." Twilight´s voice began, now more audible as I crept closer to the only source of light, another door at the end of the stairs which was open only a crack wide.

"...you will be able to undoubtedly prove if we are the same pony from different points in time, two versions of the same pony originating from different planes of reality or if one of us is a duplicate by magical or other means?" The... well, other Twilight´s voice finished, in exactly the same tone and everything. Kinda unnerving.

"Well, yes. That is the idea anyways. This is honestly rather fascinating, in a morbid kind of way."

Ha, preach to the choir sister. Peeking through the crack, I saw a circular, large wooden room filled with various machines and equipment. Both Twilights were at one of the machines, with one strapped up on some sort of Frankenstein table, legs splayed in all directions with most of the wires directed onto her head. A few others were dotted around her hooves and arms though.

"I guarantee you won't find that much thaumatical energy within me," the first Twilight spoke somewhat sadly and did her best to gesture to the broken horn atop her head by giving a small nod in an upwards direction.

"Well... ehehe, maybe not a active field you see, but a passive one that should be still strong with you." What seemed to be 'my' Twilight stammered nervously. Almost seemed like she had hit a sore spot or some kind of social no-no amongst Unicorns.

"Is it jus … e or are there more shad ...s than usual?" Skye whispered, doing her best to fight through whatever ailed her.

"More what? Shad... shad what? Shadows?" I whispered back, diverting my attention from the two Twilights discussing complex arcane shit, towards Skye who worried me more and more. "No, it ain´t gotten any shadowier here. Shit girl, are you losing your vision now?" I peeked back into the room where the machine broken horn Twilight was hooked up to, whirred to live, creating a veritable cacophony of flashing lights and all sorts of sciencey sounds.

All of that however took a step back when I spotted something under some sort of glass dome. Right there was a ragged, black mass of cloth. Something that could only, following the process of elimination and fuck you in general, be Skye´s cloak. Just a bit behind and on the left of the two Twilight re-enacting Mary Shelley this very moment.

Perfect!

"Hang in there Skye, I think I have found it. Hold on tight." I told Skye and slipped into the lab.

"Hold on to what?" Skye whispered back. "I don't exac... ave hands at the moment and I'll have you know th … seeing shado …"

"Proverbial shit hon." I hissed in reply, doing Sam Fisher, Solid Snake, Gerrit and whoever else liked to sneak around in dark corners proud (I think) as I kept to the conveniently badly illuminated edges of the room, using Twilights massive, clunkie thirties machinery as additional cover as I crept closer to my target.

"Stop moving! They're looking this way!" Skye hissed back quickly, managing to thump the side of my head with the hairclip I fashioned her into.

"Dirt!" I froze immediately. In a very uncomfortable position too, two legs in the air and in some sort of crouch-duck just behind some cardboard boxes someone conveniently stacked in such a way that they perfectly matched my silhouette this very moment. As these things tend to do.

"What is it? Is everything alright?" Broken horn Twilight, henceforth called Twilight B, asked from her table.

"I think I heard something scuttle around somewhere over there and saw something move." Twilight A, my assumed Twilight, answered and left the table. Soft light flared at her horns tip that she used like a flashlight to illuminate the corner I was hiding in.

"Hello? Is somepony there? I have you know this is my private laboratory and that I am justified to use any form of non-harmful force to eject you from the premises and this building, as stated in article sixty-six, paragraph eleven of the grand Equestrian bill of citizens rights and duties as you are trespassing in an area clearly labeled off limits to the public ." Twilight A stated, managing to sound shaky, dorky and authoritarian at the same time, which made it more cute than anything else.
Sweat began to form on my forehead and I felt a unmistakeable tremble creep into my limbs, telling me that I would not be able to hold this position any much longer.

"Hello? I must inform you that I know five different ways to stun a pony, a griffin, a diamond dog and at least one to slightly daze a adolescent dragon." Twilight A continued to shine her little light around "Also, I am a top grade graduate from Celestias School for gifted Unicorns and bearer of the Element of Magic, which means I know how to defend myself if further need should be."

A large sweat drop rolled down my snout and dripped on the ground. To me it sounded like the canon batteries at D-Day.

"Umbra," Skye whispered, her voice sounding like she was trying to hold something back "I thi... I think I´m gonna snee... sneeze."

Twilight A´s steps approached our hideout.

Skye was fighting a losing battle against the urge to play the horns of Jericho. How in the blazing depths of hell could one sneeze as a skull anyways?!?

The telltale sound of magic charging up filled the air.

Fuck fuck fuck fuck, fuck a duck, fuck all kinds of duck!

Something scurried around my hooves. Looking down on instinct, I spied a big, cuddly looking mouse looking for whatever it´s little rodent heart desired down here. Praying to the deity of cartoon logic, I snatched the little bugger and gave it a shove out in the open where it sat totally dumbfounded like ordered and not retrieved.

For a second, nothing happened.

"What´s going on? I can´t really see anything." Twilight B chimed in.

Right after that, Twilight A´s relieved sigh and giggle could be heard. "Just a mouse, really. Sorry to have worried you so much. I guess my nerves are a bit frayed because this whole... you know, two of me´s scenario."

"I think I can relate. This is all new for me too," Twilight B reminded Twilight A and I thought we were in the clear. When I started to move, Skye let off a sneeze that sounded like a rocket launching in my ears. "You sure it was just a mouse?" I heard Twilight B ask skeptically. I felt tingles of electricity run up and down all over my body only for it to cease. "Electricity's hard to control," Twilight B grumbled.

The relief that washed over me could not be measured in words as my heart rate began to normalize again as I heard the Twilights go back to their experiment or whatever they had been doing. I also made a mental sticky note to make a fitting sacrifice to the gods of cartoon logic for saving my bacon, once this was all done and over.

"Go, go, go," Skye whispered in my ear quickly. Both Twilights were deep in conversation about dragon magic mumbo jumbo so this was the perfect to sneak the rest of the way to the pile of rags underneath the glass dome.

"Geeze, I got it." I hissed back and went to sneak again. Kinda funny how one could sneak with hard hooves, even if said hooves were just hands and feet disguised by a spell.

I closed in on the glass dome as fast as I could after that. No need to prolong all this more than necessary. With baited breath I approached the pedestal. Jupp, right there was a mass of black cloth, presumably enough to cover a human body and on top of it lay... a spine?

Seriously, what the hell?

Not deciding to give any more of my already numbered fucks, I lifted the dome and tugged at the fabric, beckoning it out from under its confines. On my head, I felt Skye begin to rock back and forth like a impatient child.

"And what do you think you are doing?" Twilight A´s voice shattered the wall of silent, foolhardy success I had erected around myself and my hooves lost ground contact as I felt the slight telekinetic pressure and magic cloud enveloping me, lifting me in the air.

I was turned around in the air, coming face to face with a not at all amused Purple Smart. "Seriously, what is wrong with you? Did you really think that old mouse trick would work with me? Pinkie and Rainbow pulled those that often on me just before springing a surprise on me, even I did not care to keep track anymore. Furthermore, have you not read the sign? This here is private, no uninvited individuals allowed. I feel very tempted to call the guards on you this very moment."

"We´ve been busted! Skye, I choose you!" I yelled, ignoring the fuming Twilight in front of me, I tugged Skye out of my mane with my hoof, twisted my spine around and somehow managed to threw Skye into the pile of black cloth, in some vain hope to at least stabilize her or cause a distraction if anything. A faint hiccup sounded from Skye's direction.

"I'm still a hairclip, you know!" Skye shouted, her voice sounding echoey from the dome she was under.

"Did you say Skye?" Twilight B was more curious than anything. I saw her unhook herself from the machine and step onto all fours, which gave me a way better and closer look on her now. She was covered in purplish dragon scales instead of fur, had weird transparent wings, a broken horn, and … gold eyes? What was up with this pony?

"Ooops, my bad." I apologized in Skyes generals direction, undoing the spell disguising her. As a result, the cloth pile gained a new, larger bump but nothing else visibly happened.

Something grabbed me by my face and I found myself snout to snout with Twilight B or Dragolight or Twidragon or whatever. "I ask again, did you just said Skye?" She asked me, a glint appearing in her eyes that could be have been anything from genuine happiness to predatory-ness.

"Uhm, yesh..." I answered as good as my smooshed face allowed me. One angry Twiggle I could deal with, two angry Twiggles, with one being a weird dragon pony hybrid thing that was a whole other house number.

On the sidelines, Twilight A squited her eyes at me. "Hey, don´t I know you? Weren´t you that mare that asked me for all those books even remotely connected to alternate universes a while ago?"

"Yesh?"

"Nothing's happening, but at least my rigidness has stabilized!" Skye reported from under the dome. Well that's good news at least.

"The Grim Reaper is here. At least I can do something about getting home then," Twiggle B mused and let go of my face, ignoring Twiggle A in her pursuit of the skull under the dome.

Twilight A in the meantime moved me closer to her, giving me a very cross look. "You are in very big trouble, you know?"

"Would it help if I said I´m sorry?" I offered "And that I only tried to help someone in trouble? You know, cause that is what every good pony is supposed to do?"

"This Twilight doesn't like the fact you snuck in," Twilight B answered for her, pointing at the Twilight in front of me. She raised the dome and looked at the skull on top of the death rags. "Okay, Skye, you need the rest of your body, right?"

"No kidding," Skye snarked before hopping to the edge of the dome and pointed her gaze in the direction of that bone sack beside me. "We brought a sack full of my bones but we still need a couple more. Can you go find them for us?"

"Any particular place they can be?" Twilight B asked, looking between me and Skye before settling on me. She pointed a hoof in my direction and narrowed her golden eyes. "You. Black pony. Do you know where the other bones can be?"

Metting the golden gaze of Twilight B, I squirmed uncomfortably in the telekinetic hold that still had me unable to move more than a few hairs wide. "Well, I kinda do." I answered meekly, deciding to go with 'cowed and cooperative' for the moment and told Twilight B of my findings.

Looking to Skye for a moment, Twilight B squinted at me "How do you know all this?"

"Ehrm, I did some divination?" Was my sheepish reply.

"What? Divination? That´s not even an acknowledged form a magic! That is more hocus pocus and eyewashing than anything." Twilight A chimed in, visibly miffed. "You could as well throw a dart at a map or let a stick fall to the ground and go the direction the tip points at."

"Screw the divination, I need a map. And you, blackie, are going to tell me where those other locations are," Twilight B said forcefully. She trotted around the room and looked through drawers and above and under tables until coming back with a map of Equestria. "If you can let her go, Twilight, hopefully she can point the other bones."

Geeze, that pony sure was pushy. The kind of pushy that could possibly escalate into 'aggressive' persuasion. Deciding to keep playing my act, I trotted over to the map and pointed to the locations we had discovered earlier.

"These are the places my earlier divination spell showed me. I am pretty sure at least one of them is a hit." I said, throwing some hurt in my tone for good measure as I gave a side glance to Twilight A. Simultaneously, I gave a retreat order to all Minions that had been sent to undertake the recovery of Skyes missing bones. Last thing I needed was that my Minions would be seen together with the bones, even giving just the slightest chance to be traced back to me.

"Okay, this shouldn't be too-" Twilight B interrupted herself when the rest of us saw her teleport to the other side of the room in a burst of electricity. What is up with her!? "Hard," she continued, looking at the rest of us with glee. "I can do this!" She announced grandly, jumping up and down on the spot a few times. Twilight B giggled giddily and walked back to the map. It looked like she had memorized the locations because next minute, she had electrified herself out of the basement.

"Well that's new to me," Skye commented, no doubt scaring the nearby Twiggle that remained.

Teslaportation eh? That certainly was new to me to. With that thought, I looked over to the remaining other occupants of the room, mainly the last Twilight. Giving her my best and most sheepish smile, I folded my ears back "So, ehrm... again, sorry for trespassing but... Well, what the fluff in exactly going on here? I mean, I was just on the road when this talking skull," I pointed at Skye "fell out of nowhere and hit me square in the face. After I stopped screaming, we eventually talked and I agreed to help her find her missing bones. But what is up with that mare? She looks like you, but only if one of your parents have been a dragon."

"I was … trying to find that out until somepony rudely interrupted me," Twilight A said as she levelled a glare at me. If she was scared of Skye, she obviously was hiding it well under that gaze.

"At least my jaw isn't hinging up," Skye piped up, bouncing up and down a bit on that tattered rag. I peeked over Twilight's shoulder and saw Skye's head spinning around slowly. "All I need now is to not see shadow creatures."

"Geeze, I´ll trade ten of my problems for one of yours Skye." But honestly, I am relieved you feel a bit better. Not sure if you could actually croak but I am not really willing to find that one out the hard way." I semi-snarked at the skullgirl before turning back to Twilight A, extending my hoof. "Truce?" I offered with all the dignity of a defeated Cesar. The magipony looked sceptical but sighed and bumped my hoof with hers.

"Truce. A temporary one. You still snuck in here," Twilight A told me and promptly shut the machine off that Twilight B had been strapped to.

"Well. What now?" Skye thought out loud.

"I can work with that." I replied, giving a smirk and a nonchalant horse shrug before trotting over to were Skye was sitting in her cloth pile. "Guess we play the ol´ waiting game until that drago Twilight brings in all your bones she can find. Shoulda brought a deck of cards."

"I can't play, anyway," Skye huffed, sounding for all the world like a child with a temper tantrum. Before I could react, electricity swirled around the room. It soon began depositing a whole pile of bones around the room. I lost count after fifty but eventually, the pile came up to the height of Twilight A. Alas, the poor bone pile didn't last long and it got dismantled when Twilight B reappeared with a short shriek, slamming into the floor and sending bones every which way along with a couple Brown Minions.

"Oh bloody hell!" Really, could things go more south? How could I have underestimated how utterly braindead my Minions could be in crucial situations? Of course, these little shits would get caught and place my ass on the white-hot cooking plate! I only had a few moments tops before both Twilight's would break out of their shock and/or surprise so I acted on the first impulse that came to me.

I gave a short, sharp whistle that got me the Minions attention. Opening a portal to send them back was out of question, it would take to long and I would very likely not able to close it again before I got caught, so I took the only other route to get rid of these idiots. By gratuitously applied violence.

Concentrating energy in my frogs, for a lack of palms, I slammed two electrically charged hooves into the faces of two owlishly starring Browns. While I felt their faces cave in, I immediately started to regret this course of action as my right hoof begun to feel like it was about to melt clean of the bone. Obviously, for some bizarre shit ass reason, I could only channel magic safely through my left hand without giving myself second degree burns in the process so doing this double take-down was essentially a high damage but inflict injuries to yourself move.

Stumbling and unable to suppress a pained yowl, I turned to the last Minion. "Begone foul beast!" I yelled for good measure as I fireballed the Minion in the face, who obediently accepted his fate and turned into a skull and crossbones cloud alongside his Falcon Punched brethren.

As soon as the Minions were taken care of, the searing pain in my right hoof could not be ignored anymore. My leg buckled out under me and I began rolling on the ground, clutching my hurt leg under my other foreleg, swearing up a storm in the process with every swear and bad word in my quite extensive vocabulary of bad words. I then felt myself get picked up and the world turn into a negative version of itself through the red I was seeing from the pain.

"It is so good to have my body back!" Skye crowed after gently setting me down. A couple moments later, I then heard the lid of a couple jars be unscrewed and a soothing salve placed on my burns. "A little burn heal never hurt anyone and don't worry, the Twilights can't hear us. Twilight A is too shocked at Twilight B's entrance to notice anything else."

With a relieved sigh, I looked up to Skye, now a complete skeleton wrapped in a tattered black cloak, which I swore wavered slightly in an unworldly breeze. Somehow, I was a bit disappointed that there were no twinkling blue lights in her eye sockets, like stars plucked straight off the nights sky.

"Thanks, that helped," I wiggled my hooves for emphasis "also, I am glad you are finally in one piece again. Didn´t know you could do this nega time thingy... that is your doing, right?"

"It is, but all I did was pull you into the shadows," Skye laughed and I could swear I saw her grin. She gestured wildly and twirled a bit. "This is the shadow world where there are many layers you can go through, but I won't bore you with the details," she waved her hand flippantly only for me to finally notice some red cream smeared over her forehead.

"The shadow world eh? Are you sure there is no wolf and some bootylicious impette bossing him around somewhere?" I said with a real flesh smirk of my own and undid my disguise spell, stretching myself and enjoying the feeling of popping joints. "Great opportunity to regenerate some of my mana. Just warn me before we go back to the light side, my real form is still kind of a no-go with Twiggle Wiggle. You look like you headbutted a ketchup bottle by the way."

"Unfortunately, the impette and wolf are a no show," Skye sighed and sat cross legged, holding her skull in her hands. "What you see on my head is a special cream for the shadows. It's so I don't see them. If I see the shadows for a long period of time I begin withdrawal symptoms."

"Well, bummer." I grumbled a bit for show and sat down too. "Sounds like you really got the short end of the stick, shoved right up your ass after being beaten with it huh?"

"That's what it seems like. While we're waiting for the Twilights to reacquaint themselves, why don't you tell me a bit about you? From before you got here?" Skye wondered, placing a bony hand against the side of her hood.

Plopping down into a comfortable seat, I shrugged. "Well, fair enough. We have time to spend I take? There is not much to me honestly. I was the eldest of two children, had great parents who worked their butts of for us. I had my own flat with a roomie, worked as a storehouse clerk during the week and I was pretty much a nerd girl. Still am, mind."

"Sounds like a fun life," Skye chuckled sadly before sighing and hovered a few feet in the air. She crossed her legs and took her hood off. "How did you get here then? I mean, something must have happened."

"Oh it was, trust me." I sighed a bit "As to how I got here, same as everyone non-horse I meet so far. I went to a Con, dressed up like my favorite vid game protagonist and due to some freak incident, had to buy some replacement stuff for my costume. Lo and behold, I got tricked into some sort of fucked up Faustian deal with some sort of eldritch ass god thing and boom! One ticket to a place I only knew from a Saturday morning TV show and tons of fanfiction." I took of my helmet and ruffled my hair back into shape. "Now I am what I dressed up as, with all the powers and weaknesses and I guess I am pretty much on my way to world domination to my own conditions. How about you skullgirl?"

"All I did, I researched the horrors of the night. I looked at legends such as the Grim Reaper, the Boogeyman, the Babadook, even that creepypasta legend Slenderman. I went to a renaissance fair, actually, with a couple of my friends. We went to see a public 'execution', you know this staged executions and such? I was picked to be a volunteer. The ax swung down and ... I actually died," Skye chuckled darkly, rubbing the top of her skull. She took a look at the Twilights to check on their conversation and then looked back to me with a tilted head.

"Jesus fucking Christ!" I exclaimed, subconsciously reaching for my own neck "I´m really sorry to hear that Skye. That´s definitively not a good way to go, ehrm, you know what I mean. Dying in general is a sucky experience, still got some kinda PTSD from the last few times I bit it." I blabbered, before deciding to lighten the mood a bit "So you where one of those cryptozoologists and now you are a walking, talking skeleton. Talking about a twist eh?"

"What a twist," Skye laughed. "I came to term with it centuries ago so it's all good."

"Centuries eh? Wow, that means you're doing this shit way longer than I do. I arrived in horseyland roughly a year ago. Guess that makes you my elder huh?" I stretched myself, enjoying the sensation before turning to Skye again "Important thing is, you came to terms with everything. Wish I was that far. I guess I am still somewhere in the denial or delusion phase. Anyhow, there is another thing that I just remembered. A while back I had a girl over who did not arrive via eldritch jackass too and shit escalated from there to the point where a dragon demigoddess showed because the girl was disrupting the flow of reality, in order to eradicate her to save the planet and shit. Point is, since I do not recall summoning you via any means, is there a way for you to go back to your own home dimension? I mean, don´t get me wrong, having you over is nice and all but I don´t think Onyx can sway her mother a second time to spare my ass when she finds out I am hosting someone potentially reality destroying again."

"Since when is the Grim Reaper a reality destroying figure?" Skye asked in a hurt tone but stretched anyway and began pacing. "Mmm. You have a point. I'll have to go back with my Twilight too. Only thing I can figure out is if the princesses in my world summon me and I doubt that would happen. And my Displacer has this idea that Twilight and I needed a break from what's been happening back home. So, all I can think of is that it's up to him and I have no choice in the matter," the female Skeletor shrugged before sighing at the two Twilights. "Those two will talk for days, so until my Displacer decides enough of a break has been enough, I'm stuck here."

"Don´t ask me. The Multiverse is a strange place that likes to fuck you over twelve ways to next Caturday." I shrugged "Hehe, ya, I guess those two could talk forever if we let them. Ah!" I reached into my belt pouch and fished a piece of my dimension door chalk out before tossing it to Skye. "Here. That's some of my patented dimension travel chalk. With that, you can easily travel to another dimension that holds another piece of that chalk. Just draw a door, write the name of your travel buddy in it and voila. Interdimensional travel without the need of pesky tokens. If you feel like visiting again. Comes with limited charges though, I´m not some kind of imba spellmaster yet."

"This is handier than a token," Skye replied happily, catching the chalk piece. "It looks ordinary but I can definitely feel something going on with it. I doubt I can use this to get back home though," she sighed and placed it within her robe, only to draw out a scythe that was taller than her, along with a whetstone. She crossed her legs and appeared to float in the air as she got to work, sharpening the blade with the stone.

"Major juju, I tell you. Did cost me and my assistant most of our hair and fur in the process but we got it stabilized. And you are right, no going home with it, sorry." Jeeze, that scythe was giving me the creeps. Very, very similar creeps to the Eviscerators zweihander and that freaking thing ended me more times than I cared to remember!

"Eh. I'm used to waiting around. You mentioned an Onyx and a mother?" Skye asked casually, clearly not noticing my reaction to her weapon. "What are they?"

"You met Onyx allready, though you might not remember. You where kinda off the whack that time. She is the black dragoness that rooms in my treasury." I explained with a side glance at the Twilights who seemed to be deep into some sort of magi-nerd talk or something. Made me dread that I yet had to make a getaway once Skye had gone home. " Onyx mom is Demotha and for all purposes, she is at least a dragon demi-goddess. Taller than my tower, makes Godzilla look like a kindergartner in comparison. From what I learned so far, she is one of this worlds last resorts to restore the delicate balance of all things existing or some quack. Quite protective of her daughter too. I met her once at that is enough for me to last the next few centuries."

"Oh, is that all?" Skye asked sarcastically. She spotted a note float down in front of her face. She snatched it out of the air and read it out loud. "'Skeletor, you should really take more of a break but I suppose this can't be helped. Get out of the shadows and go to your Twilight.' Okay ... seems like my Displacer is ready to send me home."

"I kinda like their humor." I chuckled and got up "Just gimme a moment to get my spell back on," Once again I became a cute cartoon pony "Ok, ready when you are." Skye nodded and after a few moments of correcting herself, I saw the room have colour bleed through it until it was back to normal.

"Hey, Twilight B!" Skye called out to her Twilight. She looked over and tilted her head. "Apparently we're leav-" Skye didn't get a chance to finish her sentence because as soon as Twiggle B acknowledged her, they vanished in a swirl of black tendrils, leaving me with Twiggle A. Alone. This can only end well.

Chapter 17 - Holly’s Turn

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HOLLY’S POV

Sheeps are a source of food. Sheeps are a source of comfort. Sheeps can be killed by arrows. A useful fact after missing its head completely and instead spearing its leg. The poor animal bleated its terror out and I was thankful I couldn’t be seen within the forest edges. After overhearing locals, I found myself in a place called the Everfree. It frightened the local population, consisting of talking ponies which were not at all freaks of nature. No, they can only speak a strange language with certain words in English. Like place names for example. They can also fly. Maybe Heracles was somewhere around? Oh, and use magic. This was not a Harry Potter convention!

After making sure none of the ponies were watching the sheep, I darted out and then dragged it back to the Everfree. Since I landed in this place a couple months ago, I managed to adapt and I might have been unintentionally learning the language these ponies spoke. From my girl scout days and what I learned from my father, I silenced the sheep, then tied its front legs together with leftover rope, along with its back legs. After retrieving my arrow and wiping it off in the grass, I placed it in my quiver and hoisted the sheep over my shoulder. Grunting with the effort, I began trudging further in. I made notches in trees to mark out various paths to my hidden shelter, made out of a cave that I could swear had constellations within it at one point or another.

The lit fire provided comfort and it was far enough away from the entrance to not blow out every time a breeze rolled by. I was just finishing up my dinner, having made sure the wool was roughly cut off, when a couple loud thuds and what sounded like cracking bones was heard outside the cave.

“That sounded like a terrifying fall,” I winced in sympathy from the sound alone. Standing up, I readied my bow and after notching an arrow to the string, slowly walked to entrance. A couple groaning noises sounded from some nearby bushes. I steeled myself and held my breath, gently moving aside some leaves. What I then saw made my blood run cold. A skeleton and another infernal pony, although this was different. Purple (nothing odd there), thin membranous wings, scales, limp purple mane with dark pink stripes … okay, maybe this pony is an abomination. “Are you okay?”

“No,” the skeleton groaned and I couldn’t place the voice. It was familiar, but not at the same time.

“Kuss ma new gooses (just some new bruises),” the purple scaled Unicorn spoke and I sighed. Apparently I still haven’t learned the language of the ponies yet. I let my bow down and helped out the odd couple to stand up. I felt a shiver go up and my hand start to blacken as the skeleton gripped it, however, it quickly receded when she had realised what was happening. I shook the hand and looked at the skeleton. It was a skull that looked back out of a black hooded cloak.

“Death?” I asked jokingly.

“Yes?” the ske- Death, I suppose, responded and brushed herself off. “Thanks for the help. Where are we?”

“Um, the Everfree Forest as far as the locals call it,” I answered, placing my hands on my hips after hoisting the bow around my shoulders and under an arm.

“Wick mide?” the scaled one asked. I tilted my head and narrowed my eyes in thought. This language needs to be addressed sooner later but I like my isolation too much, goddamn it! It took a few minutes to process the words into my own language. “Which side?” I heard her repeat now that I understood these ones.

“I believe it’s the east side, near a town called Ponyville,” I told her and almost scoffed at the highly original name.

“That’s not far from Twilight’s house!” Death said excitedly and then looked me up and down. I guess my netting and leather caused her great disappointment because her next words were laced with sadness. “We got sent to another world.”

“Um, if it’s any consolation, there’s a town with green goo up north,” I offered weakly, completely at a loss as to what she was talking about. I knew that Equestria was different from Earth, and that it was another world, but Death made it seem like this wasn’t the only Equestria in existence.

“Green goo?” Death questioned, leaning in uncomfortably close, forcing me to take a couple steps back less my body turn black on accident. I nodded quickly and, while impossible to tell, her whole face lit up. “I retract my last statement. We are actually home.”

“Yes!” Twilight cheered and even I understood that before she took off into the forest. That mare is going to get herself killed one of these days if she keeps that up.

“Well, Holly, it was nice seeing you,” Death chuckled nervously and proceeded to float away. I gave a start and grabbed onto her cloak. How did she know my name? Why does she look like the only human (even if it’s a skeleton) in a land full of animals? She stopped her floating and came back to earth, looking away from me and into the Everfree. “How do I know your name? That’s what you were going to ask, right?”

“Y-Yeah, how do you know it? Your voice is really familiar too,” I answered and kept a grip on her cloak in case she tried to move. I picked at the netting on my body with my free hand to keep it occupied so I don’t jump to conclusions. “It sounds like one of my friends who passed away recently.”

“There’s no hiding it from you. You always had good ears,” Death sighed and turned around to face me. I let go of the cloak and took a couple steps back, hand on my bow. Death didn’t advance but she did keep the same distance between us as I slowly walked backwards to my cave. “Hard as it is to believe, you are talking to Skye, Holly.”

“I-I’m what?” I asked in complete and utter shock. My mouth dropped to the ground and I stood frozen still. No way. There’s no way. No WAY is this skeleton Skye! At least, I tried to say that but my mind was numb and I wasn’t able to do a thing.

“Skye. You’re talking to Skye,” De-Skye? Death? What do I call her now?

“I-I …” Very eloquent, brain. You let me be a stuttering fool. I really did do my best to move but my body refused to cooperate. I couldn’t even react when a jet black wingless/hornless pony with a somehow even blacker mane and tail suddenly appeared from the bushes. I felt their completely white eyes pierce through me and straight into my soul, almost as if it was judging me. I wasn’t able to hear or understand what the pony and … Death. For now. I couldn’t hear what they were talking about. My blasted ears refused to listen to my signals. It was like I was a statue!

I wasn’t sure how long I was standing in that frozen position, but when I did regain use of my sense, I noticed that the skeleton and the weird pony (weirder than normal anyway), pony were gone. I know they moved out of my sight to talk but I think they just ended up leaving. I moved a finger. Then two, then my whole hand. Eventually, I felt myself breathe again and took in deep lungfuls of sweet air.

“Okay … where the hell did Death and that pony get to?” I thought out loud, narrowing my eyes. I raised my hand and tapped an earpiece against my ear. It was triangular and had a small black band that looped up and behind my ear. There were raised ridges surrounding a small bar of blue light that felt like miniature triangles. Every time I pressed it, a purple field surrounded me and let me view the world in a different way. Information was given about the plants, animals, and various other things that only I could see. So it had highly advanced AR capabilities. This helped a lot in tracking and trying to find the best spot to hide.

“Let’s see. I know they moved off to my left, and little miss purple dragon hybrid ran off that way too. That’s the direction of Ponyville, to the east,” I mumbled, keeping myself focused. I tapped the Focus earpiece and the purple field vanished. I quickly retrieved my two backpacks, slung them both over my shoulders, and took off to the town of ponies. Just when I thought my day couldn’t get any better.

Timberwolves, go away! I don’t want you around! Why are these things so abundant lately!? I ran from my cave and through the Everfree, going off of memory as to where Ponyville could be. It took a couple of tries, but after burning a fair few Timberwolves, I made it onto the right path. I thought I was on the home stretch until I went ‘oof’, trying not to scream at the fact I got caught in a giant spider’s web.

“Oh, who might you be?” I got the second scare of the day. A mismatched figure with antlers, hooves, paws, and a snake body. I merely glared, trying my racing heart to get still.

“Holly. You?” I retorted in a snippy manner. I can’t deal with any more strange today! I just need to find the first strange thing and get her to talk!

“I’m Discord. Pleased to unmeet you,” Discord chuckled and snapped his paw, a teapot and mug appearing in thin air; that snap also got rid of the spider web in a flash of white. “Would you like some tea?” I shook my head and readied my bow, shooting off an arrow at a Timberwolf that instantly caught fire. It ran away, yipping until it crumbled into a pile of ash. Damn. Running low on fire ammo.

“No, thank you. I need to get to Ponyville,” I told him and tried to walk past, only to be lifted up into the air on a plastic lawn chair.

“Relax, rest,” Discord implored, and poured two cups of tea anyway. I never liked tea, but … I can’t exactly refuse whoever this Discord is. Going from his name, it must be some sort of chaotic thing.

“Yeah, no. I’m on a schedule,” I tried to move, but I couldn’t even do that.

“So where’s the fire? Other than those Timberwolves you burned,” Discord question, calmly at his tea. I thought for a guy with a name associated would be more … chaotic. “Chaotic? Oh, no, not in the least bit chaotic. I’ve been reformed, don’t you know?”

“How did you know I was thinking that?” I queried, pursing my lips and leaving my own tea cup in the air.

“Call it plot convenience or poor writing, either way. While I am indeed the lord of Chaos, Fluttershy has helped me see a better way of … handling things,” Discord laughed and made the tea set vanish. I don’t like the way he said that. It just rubbed me the wrong way.

“Okay … and why visit me then?” I asked with a raised brow, crossing my arms over my chest.

“Because, well my dear, you’re interesting. A lot more so than that walking skeleton, claiming to be Death. She can barely live up to that name. I have a proposition too. Much like her, though, you’ve been sucked into this world. I want to help you escape it. I know you want to as well so don’t try denying it. When you’re ready, call and I’ll help,” Discord proposed with a wide smile that quite didn’t reach his eyes. Before I had a chance to answer, he left and so did the floating lawn chair.

“Ow,” I groaned, having hit the ground heavily. I sat up slowly and rested an elbow on a bent knee, my other hand supporting me on the ground as I leaned back. “That … is strange. Not the strangest, but still up there,” I commented with a breath of relief, glad I hadn’t been killed by that creature.

As I stuck to the shadows of buildings surrounding Ponyville, I contemplated on what Discord had told me. He didn’t sound entirely convincing of being ‘reformed’. Whatever that means. Dad taught me a lot of things, and looking out for shifty characters was one of them. Discord was definitely one of them. Back to the task at hand, now if I were Death, where would I go? Hell? No clue where that is, or even if it exists.

“Bello? Bad u hooing here? (Hello? What are you doing here?)” I turned my head and stared at the white Unicorn with diamonds on her flank. Her mane was a royal purple, and looked coiffed to perfection. I stared at her unblinkingly for a few minutes, and arranged the words in my head.

“Sneaking,” I said slowly, hoping she could understand me.

“Breaking? Whatever bore marling?” the unicorn asked in a shocked manner. I guess I was getting the hang of this stupid language because it sounded like ‘sneaking? Whatever for darling?’.

“To find someone I just met. They left without explaining themselves,” I answered with a roll of my eyes. It looked like she was inspecting my appearance more than taking an interest in my answer. She looked over the metal guards on my kneecaps, and the makeshift crown helmet on my head. The netting on my shoulders, midriff, and over the leather skirt. “If you want to improve it, no thank you,” I sniped. I wasn’t really in the mood for an upgrade at the moment.

“But the lattice over the skirt! Those gaudy kneecaps! That crown! You sure you don’t-" I held my hand up to stop the clearly offended Unicorn and sighed, pinching my nose. It took me a few moments, but I then realised I could understand her perfectly. Great. I unintentionally learned a new language. Whoopee.

“Just tell me where I can find Death.”

“Death? She … I haven’t seen her in a couple of months.”

“Thanks anyway,” I muttered and turned on my heel. I walked a few steps and it took me quite a few more before I realised I had switched location without me knowing about it. The walls were mouldy. They were dripping with an unknown, off-white substance. I would shudder but I don’t know how that would affect the air around. I was amazed at not dying the moment I was transported here!

“Holly, is it?” a smooth voice spoke. I whirled and found myself face to face with three ponies. Two of them were without horns or wings. One had wings. It appeared the ashen stallion, the one with the limp mane, grey colouration, and no cutie mark had spoken. I hesitantly nodded, completely unsure as to what was happening and how they knew my name.

The rust coloured stallion spoke next. The three stallions were in front of towering men. One of them had animal skins covering him, another looked like he was constantly sick and sneezing everywhere. The third one had seen better days. He was holding a scale that constantly moved up and down, holding a bundle of wheat on one side and a couple piles of hay tied up with string on the other. It looked like it weighed more than him! The man had his skeleton showing but despite this, looked strong and healthy.

“This is War,” the rusty stallion gestured to the animal skin man, “Pestilence,” good old sicky was pointed to, “and Famine,” well, I knew he looked famished but … wait. War, Pestilence, Famine, and Death. Where have I heard those four exact names before? “We need to talk.”

Grim Tides

by Piece Bot

Chapter 1 - Leaving Tartarus

Chapter 2 - Displacement

Chapter 3 - Warbling Cries

Chapter 4 - Meeting Royalty

Chapter 5 - Plans, Well ... One Really

Chapter 6 - Monster Bait in Training

Chapter 7 - Dungeon Fears

Chapter 8 - Ektoplomatin Search

Chapter 9 - Corrupting Monsters

Chapter 10 - Elemental Research

Chapter 11 - Elemental Conditioning

Chapter 12 - Brute Force

Chapter 13 - In Sickness and In Health

Chapter 14 - The Seven Seals

Chapter 15 - Visions in the Styx

Chapter 16 - Meet and Break

Chapter 17 - Holly’s Turn