> How Death Lived > by Crimson Wisp > -------------------------------------------------------------------------- > Prologue part 1 (Revised) > -------------------------------------------------------------------------- There were certain benefits to being the Son of a Former Hell Queen and a Powerful Lich. One such benefit was my extensive knowledge pertaining to the Dark Arts—I have crafted a spell or two over my long existence. Can’t exactly call myself ’alive’ so I simply exist, similar to others with demonic bloodlines. The main drawback was that we were despised by most other for our demonic bloodline and necromantic power respectively. My mother, Lilith... yes that Lilith, met my father during one of his escapades into Hell to satiate his undying thirst for knowledge. Power alone wasn’t enough to satisfy him, he sought knowledge from other entities. SOMEHOW he managed to woo her and begat little old me into existence. Contrary to popular belief, Mephistopheles the King of the nine circles of hell was very protective when it came to his wife. So upon learning his wife (my Mother if you couldn’t guess) was banging another man. A human no less. He was absolutely livid, most say Hell has never burned hotter than during that outrage. My father being as smart as he was managed to place his souls in a phylactery before his first death. Several days after my birth he discovered that the demon he fucked gave birth to his child. To say Father was determined as Hell to be with my mother would’ve been an understatement, he managed to get down to the Nine Circle of Hell and free my mother with a newborn me in tow. Note to even get to Mephistopheles' Fortress in the deepest layer: he needed to cross several rivers of molten lava, battle nigh endless hordes, demons ranging from little insects to towering giants, and all while battling the soul sucking despair permeating in Hell’s atmosphere. Love pushed him past his mortal limits greatly that day to which I am still impressed by. Father managed to live a decent life with my mother raising me. Near the City of Tamriel in the dense woods’ deepest parts, south of the Black Mountain. My childhood was about as normal as you could get considering my parents. Father taught me the basics of Necromancy and Soul Magics. Only my mother could teach me about my demonic heritage, despite Father’s best intentions he was only mortal in the end. She taught me everything he couldn’t, yet made sure I knew both sides of my bloodline. Even after so long I don’t know if he was the luckiest dumbass to ever live or the unluckiest genius I knew. Either way he was ridiculously thorough with keeping the secret to his longer than normal lifespan. You can only be resurrected so many times without inflicting lasting damage to your soul... I still remember the first lessons he taught me, the first time I raised an undead from the ethereal hold of the afterlife. It was a dog which I hadn’t learned how to control yet. So the mad mongrel attacked father and killed him, after he resurrected himself he grounded me until I learned how to control my creations. Like any parent he sent me to my room, only he locked me in with a human skeleton. A spell he used on my bedroom door prevented anything other than an undead from unlocking it. Demons, including half demons, didn’t count since we were never alive in the first place. At first I thought he was a monster for doing this to me, but the sort of tactic made me learn something that could save my life. He loved using these learn it yourself tactics much through my youth. Many hours were spent going through trial and error until I was able to get the skeleton to follow my instructions. Upon getting out of my room, I was so tired from not eating that I felt like so could eat an entire cow whole. My youth was overall pretty peaceful and full of happy moments. That is, of course, until the day after I had just turned eighteen years of age... I still remember it clear as crystal when it all changed. It was the silent night after raining the whole day, the night had just cleared to showcase the beautiful star-filled sky. Father was out of the small stronghold my parents built as a home. Meanwhile, Mother was teaching me how to fly as a birthday gift which I had eagerly waited for many years to learn. Demon wings physically weren’t supposed to allow for flight; for one thing, unlike the forest birds’ wings that I was so used to seeing. My wings were upside down and covered with hardened scales that serve as a natural shield if I wrap myself in them. They were too large to repeatedly flap them like insects, yet were also too bulky to carry me up in big wing flaps like birds. My mother, however, made it fun for her amusement by giving me enough information to reach my own conclusions. Instead of actually telling what to do! Isn't that a bitch!? /̸̥̉̂͋̚/̸̦̰̬̺̈́/̶̟̗̭͈͉̃̆͊̑͛/̸̢̯̻̃͌͑̓͜͠/̵͙͉͆̈̆̚/̴̡̔̐̀̍ͅ/̴̫̱̫̘̇͛͊̀/̸̛̦̲̭̎̏̒/̷͎̋͛́/̵̡̛͍̤͊̑̄͗/̸̫̜̘̥̓͆̈́͋|̸̛͕͕̇̚*̴̱̍̾͒*̴̫͌͛̆͘*̸͇̖̼̩̪̿̾͒*̴̢̗͕̫̒̃̚͝͝*̸̳̤̯̲̆̆̂͂̍|̶̡͉̮̼̼̃͑̏\̷͇̍̕\̵̱͍͎͑̎̋̂\̶̢̳̾̎̓͘͝\̶̥̜̼̜͘͜\̵̫̯̩̒\̵̧̫̲̽̐̽̋̊\̵̨̬̳̠͙͛̓\̷̟̹̑͗̇\̶̭̀͂̔̊̂\̶̧͚̳̥̿͛̇̃\̷̙̙̤͙̝̀̌͌̓͝ ”Mother, how am I supposed to fly if my wings aren’t made for it?” I asked letting my wings slump to the forest ground, ”I have been flapping my wings like a drunk turkey for the last thirty minutes, yet every way I can think of has failed! What am I doing wrong?!” Desperation laced my voice as I looked into the black spheres that were her eyes, the only way I could have known she was looking at me was by her orange Irises. Both glowed with motherly love at the level of our home’s fireplace. This way of letting me figured it out on my own was causing frustration to cloud my mind. ”Azazel... you are not a harpy, so you can’t fly like a bird. You are far too heavy to fly like a beetle, so you cannot use an insect's way of doing this. What other creature do you know that is able to fly?” she answered with her own question. A devious smile spread across her face while mine tensed in deep thought as I tried to solve the mystery. I began thinking back to my lessons Father taught me when we traveled to the Black Mountain. An ancient creature attacked... then I remembered a certain creature, I would have slapped myself for not thinking of it sooner. ”Father always gripes about how dragons shouldn’t be able to fly...” I muttered to myself. Her smile turned into a shit-eating grin that was only rivaled by my father’s whenever he told a lame joke. Their sheer stupidity was what made her burst out laughing. In this case, it was her way of letting me know that I had gotten closer to the solution. ”Hmmm... Dragons are too weighed down to achieve flight like a bird, much less so at the speeds they can reach... but, how?” I asked my mother, stumped at this point. She didn’t say a word, instead, she opened her jaw to let small tongues of fire creep past her lips. Her mouth closed with a resounding snap as she exhaled small smoke plumes through her nose. It suddenly clicked at what she was trying to get me to understand. ”Magic! Dragons use magic! To ignite the air the exhale, to harden their scales, to strengthen their muscles, and–” I started. ”They use their magic to fly like the wind!” Mother finished cutting me off. Her wings fluttered in excitement as I figured out the first step to flying. They were like mine albeit considerably smaller to fit her feminine build. ”So, how is it done? Do they use a spell to make their entire bodies lighter, just their wings, or... is it something else?” I asked thankful to finally be getting somewhere. My mother lightly chuckled before pulling me close, a kiss was planted on my cheek. I felt her warm breath near my ear to which she whispered the answer I so desperately sought in an almost seductive manner. Obviously, my mother didn't intend to do the deed with a minor, much less her own son. This was most likely a tone out of habit, considering she was a somewhat sexual deviant. ”Demons, much like dragons, create powerful gusts of wind that propel them into the skies. Our wings are used as an anchor point for those wind currents, let me show you~” My eyes widened upon hearing this since I had never seen my mother fly. I knew she could from what Father told me in his own words, it looked incredible as her wings sliced through the air. No matter how much I asked her before to show me she would never do so, not even giving me a small jump. That was until this point as I looked at her eyes still wide yet disbelief showed on my face. She seemed a bit embarrassed, but when she saw me, her expression returned to its usual cool-minded demeanor. A small smile was flashed in my direction while she stood a few yards away. I stared at her in awe as my tail swished from side to side in anticipation. Mother spread her large wings and did something I wasn’t expecting, they folded back to their normal resting position. Suddenly, she sprinted toward my direction at her fastest speed. I thought she was going to ram into me until I heard a sound. The trees began shaking as wind rushed from under my feet in a violent torrent that nearly knocked me over. Her wings opened wide, they were positioned toward her rear end. Mother leaped into the air followed by a sound resembling a hurricane—she took flight. The clear sky allowed for no clouds to block my view, the full moon enabled me to see her silhouette. I took in every detail I could of her form as she flew like a crazed banshee with wind raising around her. While working in perfect unison both wings flapped in a large oval-like pattern. The tips reached from her waist down to her above her knee caps. I surmised that was her wing reach and continued watching how she moved in several laps above the forest. Whenever moving forward her body was flat as a plank enabling wind to pass down her back. Switching an angled vertical ascent her body was never fully facing upward unless she wanted to go straight up. Mother made sharp and rounded turns to show me how to successfully attempt them. The former required using larger flaps in her wings alongside leaning her torso in that direction. Rounded turns seemed less forceful as my mother would gradually lean into them using tighter flap-strokes. She did this all using powerful grace, I hoped to follow suit as soon as I possibly could. Upon finishing her final lap she fell towards me like a shooting star. This created a wind blast strong enough to knock me off my feet. I rolled onto my stomach which wasn’t painful per se the momentum just caught me off guard. As I laid there face down, I heard Mother walking up to me along with Father exiting the house. To no doubt see what was going on. It simply took seeing me and the crater my mother created to clue him into what occurred. He let out a disappointed sigh. ”You went for a late-night flight and didn’t tell me?” he asked, sarcasm dripping in his every word. My mother simply looked him straight in the eyes before rolling them. ”I was just showing our son how we demons fly, ” she replied. Father walked over while she was talking proceeding to plant a soft kiss on her lips. His hands came to a rest on her curvaceous hips. ”Well, you can take me sky-high in bed tonight to make up for it~, ” he said with a lewd smile adorning his face. Mother’s resolve could not withstand the obscene levels of cheese. She roared with laughter at his joking request proceeding to wrap her arms over his shoulders. A human’s stature often came short when compared to a demon’s after all. ”We shall see about that my little hu–” ”Mother, Father! Please cease that, I’m right here!” I protested cutting my mother off, staggering to my feet I was unable to bear their sappy love banter. Although hearing it from anyone made me sick to my stomach, I hoped to one day engage in it with my special someone. If I had one. Options were quite slim considering I was only a half-blooded demon. They took full bloodlines seriously, and I doubted any humans apart from Father would fall for a demon of any kind. My parents laughed at my discomfort, kissing as they parted. ”I’ll see to dinner, ” my father told Mother. ”You’re the best~” she replied smiling. Her tail swaying from side to side like an excited dog. ”I know, ” he added, his trademark shit-eating grin formed. My mother groaned in a mixture if disappointment with a small giggle fit escaping her mouth. ”Oh, why do I put up with you?” she sighed, his grin remained unwavering. ”I don’t know... you tell me~” he countered. This made Mother turn him around with her long, prehensile tail, she pushed him back into the house. ”Go make dinner, and remember to cook your meat not ours, ” she ordered, ”we don’t want another soul burning incident.” ”Yes, ma’am!” he barked out while saluting, I recognized this impersonation, one of those human soldiers who walked the roads on the forest edge. Father disappeared behind the door and went to make our dinner. My mother chuckled to herself before walking back over to me. ”Alright, Azazel, now that you’ve seen me flying, its time for you to learn, ” she said. I screamed internally in excitement while the flames in my body heated up, I couldn’t stop a fanged smile from creeping onto my face. \̵̧̖̗̣̯̂̿̓͛\̸̢̡̒̕\̵͈͉̩̱̲͊̄\̵̦͚̹̙́͛\̷̠̫͚͘\̶̨̮͌̑̿\̵̧̳͓̖̌̓ͅ\̵̼̳́̚\̷̛̯͐͊̽\̷̜̭̼̜́̔̓̚͝\̷͍̣̲̌̽̈́̕͘ͅ|̶̜̜̺͐-̵̦̓̓͂-̴͓̓͐͒̊̕-̸̣́̑̈̀͘-̴̨͒̔͘͠͝-̸̯͕̩͐̀̆́|̴̩̯̒̋̋ͅ/̵̢̡͖̬͈̍́/̵͙̮̬̫̈/̷̠̈́̄̚/̵̝̍͂͂̚̚/̴̱̀̓̚̚/̴̢̧̱͍̈́̀̚͜͠/̴͈̯̲͐/̸͇̲͐̉̈́̈́/̵͈̻̀̏̎/̴̗̚/̶̣̣̿͛̋̑̿ After several grueling hours of me jumping and falling that on my face, I was able to muster enough wind pressure to keep myself airborne for a few seconds. Of course... I ended up falling on my face again when the wind ceased. I had been annoyed at not being able to achieve anything in all this time, yet that last attempt renewed my burning enthusiasm. This motivated me to practice even after Mother told me to go inside to eat. Managing to finally get it after a full night of practice. I was able to fly until I promptly passed out at three in the morning, Mother dragged me inside the house. She dumped my unconscious body onto my bed to which I slept for nine hours. It hit noon as a sunray hit my face through a window, making me wake up. My stomach growled in protest to going the entire night without eating. I wanted to test my newfound mobility so I decide to go hunting. We still had food from the night before, but I felt like challenging myself. That would require me to travel a ways away since my parents had placed a mile wide diameter barrier around our little plot. It warded off unwanted visitors, including dangerous animals by turning them in the opposite direction without them noticing. Father designed the barrier to allow things like rabbits, boars, deer, and caribous to pass through. If you didn’t count us, then our home was a predator-free zone where they could feel safe in. Safe enough to breed and give birth to on our land—although most just stayed to rest. Mother tried to teach me how to use a bow which started horribly due to my clumsy hands. Trying to hit bulls-eye targets father made for us that day ended with me being shot. When I fired the arrow, it ricocheted off a nearby wall embedding itself through a slim crack in my wrapped wing shield. How I managed to hit a sewing needle-sized space still confounds me. Anyway... I asked Father to make me some armor for when I go hunting after I recovered. He appeased my paranoia by doing two things: one, he taught me how to use telekinesis to control and direct the arrows rather than shooting from a bow. This happened two days ago on my actual birthday, he bought me an armored full arm gauntlet which I engraved my initials into the pauldron. I carefully strapped it on making sure it didn't make noise while I moved. I took a black metal arrow from my room and left out my window onto the ground. Taking in the clear blue sky combined with the Black Mountain pouring over the east treetops, I ran through the clearing where my home was. Upon getting far enough away, I shot off into the skies with a loud blast of wind. Almost immediately did I notice it was much easier to fly during the day then at night. It wasn’t till this moment that I realized how fast I was capable of flying, I grew nauseous so I slowed down settling on a low glide. I took in my surroundings and noticed I was nearing the barrier’s edge. As much as I wanted to fly further, I couldn’t go through it without either of my parents opening a hole for us to head out. They would never tell me why, but I suppose it made sense. I have only ever been to a city once accompanied by Father on a supply run. At the time I was too young to understand why I needed to hide my horns, wings, and tail from others. Different races hated me for a reason I thought was stupidly selective. Yes, I was different. Yet to an elf, a dwarf was as different to them as a full human was to me. Father was a mortal human while Mother was an immortal demon Hell Queen. If they could get along well enough to have me, then why couldn’t everyone else? I assumed for the longest time the barrier was to just keep bad beings that would be mean to Mother and I for being different. Before that dragon encounter on Black Mountain, I thought they would get along with something like me. We both could breathe flames, had scales, and leathery wings. They weren’t as intelligent as I thought they were... not to mention loud. As I saw that I was getting quite close to the barrier, I began reducing my altitude in an attempt to replicate Mother’s spectacular landing. While it was spectacular I didn’t exactly... land like mother did. More like I crashed into the ground somewhat less hard than my first flight attempts. Once I shook off the dust from my fallen form, I checked for anything broken or sprained. Minor bruising was the only thing present which would heal in a few hours. I began searching for signs of game like Mother taught me to. She told me to use my heightened senses, my nose wasn’t just for show. Closing my eyes to concentrate, I slowly breathed in large breaths trying to find anything that smelled different from plant life. Minutes passed until I caught a whiff of dung off in the distance. I followed it, my hand near the arrows tied around my waist should I need one. When I reached my target, I took a mental note pertaining to the excrement pile. ”Still fresh... Where are you little piggie?” I muttered to myself as I looked around for signs of my prey. An obvious sign would be disturbed grass from its hoofprints. After several minutes, I saw fresh footprints like I was searching for, but they didn’t belong to the boar I was expecting. In fact, it was something I would never expect this time of the year. ”What’s a Caribou doing down here?” I questioned confused, ”they should be in the Northern Plains since it's summer. So, why...?” I mulled over what could possibly drive one down here, but just sitting in the woods got me nowhere. I was going to hunt it, bring it back home to skin it, and ask Father why it was down here. He knew more about the wildlife of the forest than I did so he would have some type of answer. By following down quietly, I managed to catch up to the confused Caribou. It stood out like a sore tail ligament against the lush green plants. I could tell due to its antlers it wasn’t just another deer. Luckily for me, the Caribou was facing the opposite I was following it from. This one was circling near the ravine that sprouts from the Black Mountain and carved through our land before leading deeper into the forest. As I got closer to the ravine, I saw my target casually trotting along the barrier edge. It practically screamed odd since Caribou’s were more cautious than deer. I decided to follow it to investigate its strange behavior up close. Where it was going seemed to relieve it or something was happening to keep this one as calm as it appeared. While following it I picked up the vague smell of rotting that was getting stronger as we neared the ravine. I assumed it must have been some large carcass nearby, the wind carrying its smell. Ignoring this scent, I continued stalking the Caribou pulling an arrow free from the lasso. My magic held it hovering above my shoulder I kept my target in my crosshairs at all times. Due to my size being a bit large, one wrong move could easily alert it to my presence. I closely tuck in my large wings as I walked and paid close attention to where my clawed feet went. Keeping my distance by hiding behind the trees I never took my eyes off the large Caribou. When it reached the ravine, it stopped near the edge seemingly frozen in place. I waited a few minutes in which it did not move a muscle so I went to get a closer look. The tree line only stretched a certain length as I now had to rely on my keen eyes. One detail I could make out about the Caribou was that something was wrong with it. This weird one wasn’t just halting all motion, I could see its chest remain completely still... it wasn’t breathing at all. My revelation freaked me out to the point any anxiety I had quintupled. I shifted my weight to get closer to it and snapped a dead twig under my foot. The Caribou’s ear perked up, time seemed to slow down as it turned to look in my direction. What I saw looking at me made my heart skip a beat, the top part of it’s muzzle was fully rotted down to the bone. That thing’s eyes... they were pale and utterly empty like when a creature had died. It was like I was staring at a walking corpse that moved on its own, I felt sick to my stomach seeing the state it was in. Yes, I have performed Necromancy—which involved reanimated corpses, but they were always just the clean boney white skeletons. This thing felt like it was uprooting the life inside me from a single glance. It didn’t just look wrong. It was wrong, so very very wrong. I was snapped out of these disturbed thoughts as it turned its body around facing my direction. In order to keep myself from screaming out of the panic washing over me, I had to put my hand over my mouth to muffle my mouth should I slip and scream. Not daring to move a muscle I also held my breath. The arrow in held my magic was primed and read to fire at the slightest movement from either of us. Fortunately, this thing didn’t seem interested in me since it turned its attention back to the ravine. A few seconds of standing still while holding my breath got to the point where I thought I was going to pass out. That was when the undead Caribou walked forward, it careened off the edge. I could hear its body hitting the walls of the deep chasm as it fell each bone in the decaying mass shattered on impact. Then, I heard a final thumping splash as it fell onto the human ankle-deep water pool, I let go of the breath I was holding. Several deep breaths followed in order to calm myself down. Once I had collected myself, I walked towards the ravine to ensure that whatever thing it was would STAY dead. This led me to walk next to the edge of deep terra crack which I immediately regretted. When I peered over the edge, I now understood why the smell of death was getting stronger the closer you got. The Caribou that just ended itself had company at the bottom. At least thirty caribous, deer, and even a few boars with varying degrees of decay were spread around. By the smell alone I could tell they had been there for a while. My fight-or-flight instinct kicked in, driving me to blast off out of there back to the house. I have only ever flown as fast as I did then twice, let’s say that I landed as gracefully as my last landing. If not so much worse because I landed in my mother’s garden. Father had been teaching her how to grow spices so she could have them to cook with, saving him time from always going out to buy them. He came out of the house to investigate the noise as I pulled clumps of moist soil and broken ceramic pieces from my hair. ”Azazel, are you o-” he stopped dead in his tracks upon seeing the destroyed ceramic with smothered plants under me. A dark aura rose from behind him, “your mother is going to kill you!!! Why did you-?!” “Father, we have a serious problem!” I shouted cutting him off. What halted his rant wasn’t the fact I cut him off, it was the fear still present on my face. Father had never been the most effective at reading others yet I was easy to read as a children’s book to him. He knew something was clearly wrong, and by the look on my face he knew it was worse than Mother’s fury over the spices. ”What happened?” he asked me, helping me to my feet. Without my horns, we were about the same height give or take an inch. ”I-I went hunting when I woke up to test my new mobility. I flew near the barrier edge, and spotted Caribou tracks on the ground. I follo–” ”A Caribou? Down here in the summer?” he interrupted with disbelief in his questions. My eyes were glued to his. ”That’s what I thought at first too, when... I finished telling him what had happened. From me following the rotting Caribou, to the smell of death that surrounded the ravine, to the corpse mounds at the bottom. While I spoke, my father was growing more uneasy with every word I said. ”Are you sure that’s what you saw?” he asked, his tone implied that he was hoping I would say it was all false. But, I know what I saw. ”Father, I swear to you it’s the truth! I...” halfway through my statement, he hugged me and began rubbing my lower back. ”It’s okay, go get clean yourself up then stay inside. I’ll go check this out. Stay near your mother. Tell her why you broke some of her plants, hopefully she won't skin you for it.” that last part snapped me out if my old panic right into a new one. It donned on me that I had slammed straight into my mother’s little project. I shook my head of those thoughts before nodding to Father. I did what he asked as he left in the direction of the ravine. By using the cleaning pool in our ’basement’, I washed the sweat and dirt off my body. I went up to my mother’s room after I was mostly dry. I found her lying face down, resting on her "day off" no doubt. Flopping next to her I gave a defeated sigh. ”What’s on your mind, Honey?” she asked raising her head a bit. I sighed again before explaining everything to her, she stayed quiet throughout my whole explanation. Once I finished speaking she began stretching the make of my neck. My worries began melting away as we stayed like this for a while, I fell asleep by her side. > Prologue part 2 > -------------------------------------------------------------------------- I had been sleeping in my mother's bed for what I assume had been just a few hours when I heard what sounded like the ice cap of the northern lakes creaking and groaning in the winter. The noise was loud, making my sensitive ears beg me to shield them.  When the noise had seemingly stopped, it rang out again. The horrible sound was coming from outside. As I made my way outside, I shuddered to imagine what could have been making such a horrible sound. Traveling with my father, I had seen many creatures and lands far from our little piece of the woods.  The sound that kept resonating through our home shook with each impact. I had seen leviathans before, creatures so massive that they could level a whole city with little to no effort, but I threw out that idea when I realized that there were no leviathans for miles of our home. The closest one was a massive sea creature at the bottom of the Elven Gulf that could drink the sea itself and swallow ships whole.  Doing my best to cover my ears, I fumbled groggily over to the living room where I assumed my parents were. There was no way they couldn't hear this racket, right?  As I passed the kitchen, I caught my mom at the edge of my peripheral vision and stopped before I back-peddled towards her. She had been holding what I think was a glass of milk, her eyes darting about, scanning the roof in a vain attempt to find the cause of the repetitive impacts. "Mom! What's going on!?" I shouted, hoping she would take notice. Fortunately for me, she did.  She looked at me with a look of dread that shook me to the bone. She wasn't answering me... "MOM!"  I tried again, hoping to get a response.  The response I got was her pointing to a window behind me. I turned around and walked over to the window and what I saw next confused me as much as it amazed me.  I could see the barrier being struck by what looked like... Falling stars? No... They were spheres of magic. Small ones arced over the treeline where I knew the barrier ended and fell on the shield harmlessly.  Ripples, much like when you toss a stone into a lake, spread out over the barrier before dissipating. Then, from a barely visible pillar of smoke I hadn't noticed earlier, a much larger orb of fire shot into the air and exploded when it smashed into the barrier.  The impact made that dreaded noise which I had thought belonged to a leviathan. Cracks spider-webbed across the area of impact before slowly reverting back to their epicenter and disappearing from the barrier. As this happened I heard the front door burst open with a bang and before I could register it, my mom was taking a defensive stance in front of me and the hallway that led to the main entrance. As my dad rounded the corner, I noticed his clothing was covered in dirt and his hands and face were drenched in blood. He was breathing as if he had been running after a boar, but the look on his face didn't imply that he'd been chasing after something. He was surrounded by the stench of decay and I raised my arm in hopes that it would mitigate the smell. It didn't. "Azazel, go to your room and hide as we've practiced." He ordered as calmly as he could between breaths. "Bu-" "NOW!" He yelled. Dad had never yelled at me for anything particularly important, an example of that would have been my mother's garden. But this... This was bad.  He didn't even finish barking his order before I began scrambling for my room, my wings knocking over anything hanging on the walls. I went inside and locked the door.  When mom and dad made our house, they had passages that led out of the main structure built into each room in case something like this happened.  He also made me a bottomless bag with an assortment of tools and things I would need to survive in the wild. I pulled it from under my bed and left it near the center of my room. It was no bigger than a watermelon, but it weighed as much as my dad.  To be fair, I am quite strong. Mom always said that I needed to learn my strengths and how to harness them, so I did my fair share of exercise. I was used to pulling my dad's cart filled with supplies whenever we headed to some trading post on our way to the black mountain or went through the outskirts of Moonshine city.  I never bothered to check the contents as I always thought dad was a little too paranoid and that I'd never use it. I would be proven wrong as the impacts suddenly stopped, and a ghastly silence filled my home. Not even the insects of the forest dared make noise, a weak breeze flowing in through my window was the only sound I could hear for what felt like a few minutes.  I walked over to my window and saw what looked like a focused beam of sky blue energy tearing through the shield, releasing a sound akin to a thousand baby wyverns roaring all at once in my ears.  The barrier shattered with a blast of wind that shook most of the leaves of the nearest trees and combined with the awful cacophony, I fell on my back in agony, doing my best to dull the sound by placing my clawed gauntlet and free hand over my ears.  Once the ringing in my ears stopped, I got to my feet, wrapped my quiver around my waist and began filling it to the brim with arrows from my small reservoir in my weapons chest. When I was going to head over to the window and are if I could spot our assailants so I could fill them with arrows, I heard a voice I didn't recognize, or rather I didn't recognize as friendly. "ASTOSHAN!!! COME OUT AND SURRENDER THE DEMONS YOU'RE CONSPIRING WITH YOU FILTHY HEATHEN!" The voice was distinctly masculine, deep and gruffed. Whoever this was, they were mad, and worst of all, they knew my father's name.  I knew that other races didn't like demons, but People could get hurt needlessly, particularly my family over this incoherent stupidity. I looked over to the window tentatively before opting to take the smarter spot. I wrapped the bag of tools around my waist letting it rest next to my quiver and opened one of the floorboards that acted as a trap door to a passage that led to the cellar, and out towards the back of the house. Before I headed out, I needed to know who these people were. I walked to the wall between me and the outside world and pulled on a loose stone brick. Freeing the brick from its spot, I could safely see what was going on. I peered through the rectangular hole and immediately spotted several humans clad in silver armor. Most of them held spears, the rest held either crossbows or some strange weapon I hadn't ever seen. It had a hilt, much like a sword, but where the blade should be was a long chain with what looked like a small sphere with spikes on it at the end of the chain. Their shields branded a tapestry of runes with a backdrop of a night sky, and an ornate moon adorning the shield "Surround the building, make sure nothing gets in or out."  One of the armored humans ordered in a whisper that I nearly missed. Seventeen of the thirty or so warriors I could see began spreading out and disappeared out of my limited sight. I heard the front door of the house open, and my father came out with a very familiar elven woman by his side. Shapeshifting is an ability the demon lords of the nine hells passed on to my mom. I only inherited my mother's look and ability to breathe fire. My affinity for necromancy, my desire to learn, and my relatively cheesy/morbid sense of humor come from my dad. "What brings the astral guard to my corner of the woods?" My father asked with a hint of venom to his words. One of the soldiers stepped forward, I assumed he was the one in charge due to the black cape with white dots draped over his shoulder spoke up in the same booming voice I had heard earlier. "I, Deus Vult, Captain of the Astral guard am placing you under arrest by decree of Queen Elizabeth Solaris the first!" He barked. I could feel the necrotic energy within my dad begin to seep into the ground as he tried to keep himself calm. "On what charges!? The sun goddess agreed to leave me alone if I routed the orc marauders that were invading your Capitol! I held my end of the deal! What makes you think you can just waltz in here and threaten me and my family!!!"  The soldiers standing behind Deus lowered their spears and aimed their crossbows at my mom and dad. I felt my slit pupils narrow, and it took every last ounce of will power to keep me from tearing down the wall and ripping their heads off.  I could hear the voices of the souls of bandits and thieves that had tried to kill me and my father on our supply runs howl and scream for bloodshed. Dad told me to consume those I killed, not their flesh, their souls. They would allow me to access more and more power from my inner well of necrotic power. As I stood there, trying to silence the souls within me, I did my best to hear the conversation outside. "While it is true that our Queen made a deal with you. That does not absolve you of your crimes of hiding a demon from Queen Solaris' judgment and creating an aberration against nature itself. Not to mention your extensive list of times you've used the dark arts to maim and desecrate the bodies of Solarian citizens and guards alike." Deus finished and drew from a hidden sheath, under his cape, a sword which engulfed itself  in a fire that alternated between orange, yellow, and white. It radiated holy light that was blinding to my eyes. The armored captain took his flame wreathed saber in his hands and released his cape from his armor, letting it fall onto the ground as he assumed a combat-ready stance.  The guards behind him began to surround my mom and dad, and that's when I lost all semblance of control. The anger I felt towards these self-righteous bastards was being fueled by the howls of the dead, wailing to me to break his bones and rend his flesh. My quiver was emptied as every metal arrow I had hovered free off my lower back and a rapid-fire volley of hatred fueled death began to tear through the nearest guards' armor. Eight of them died instantly and the rest that surrounded my parents turned to see what in the nine hells was happening.  I blasted through the wall and using a telekinetic spell I retrieved my arrows. They stared at me, frozen in place as a very angry juvenile demon stared back at them with nothing but black hatred in his eyes. The primal roar I had been trying to stifle earlier escaped my lips as I took out my anger on the paralyzed soldiers. My arrows hovered around me at the ready, but I was too angry to fire them, so I opted to use my bare hands to destroy those that would dare hurt my family.  The guards tried to fight back and I would grab their spears before they could stab me while their swords shattered against my hardened wings. Their leader shouted something I couldn't make out, due to my victims' pleas for mercy, then what felt like a sizzling stream of wind slammed into me.  I flicked my wings around to shield me from the heat, but soon they too began to hurt with the same burning sensation. I staggered back, not knowing what was going on, and then it suddenly stopped though I could still hear what was happening. As I unfurled my still smoking wings, I saw my mom and dad casting a shield spell that was being assaulted by a jet of holy fire. I then noticed that the Captain from before was aiming his sword at us, the beam coming from the blade. "AZAZEL! USE THE WARP STONE IN YOUR BAG!!!" My father ordered, struggling along with my mother to hold the barrier. I blinked as it donned on me what I had to do. A warp stone could teleport me anywhere I wanted along with what I had on me and two other willing beings. My hand dug into the bag and blindly rummaged around for a glass orb. "AZAZEL!!! HURRY!!!" My mother pleaded through her strained breathing.  I panicked at her cry and the fear I had been repressing with my rage enveloped me as I desperately searched through the impossibly deep bag.  When the barrier finally broke, I found what I was looking for. I pulled out a tangerine-sized sphere that glowed with a faint white light and felt like polished glass in my clawed gauntlet. As I looked up from the orb in my hand, I saw Deus Vult aiming his blade right at my face a few feet away from me and my parents, who had fallen to their knees. The flames that engulfed his sword turned sky blue and I had a vague idea of what would ensue after his blade finished charging up. "Any last words wretch?" He snarled.  I was scared beyond belief, but then time slowed down to a near halt. There was no sound, only my own breathing and my heart thumping away in my chest. I felt my mother's hand on my chest, my father's hand on the sphere in my hand. They were looking at me with a face of tender love and... Are they crying?! "Be strong Azazel, remember to fight for what's right, to live, and love like only you can..." My mother spoke in what seemed like a whisper. My mind was racing, I couldn't make sense of what was happening.  "W-what!? What's going on!?" I managed to say. It was impossible to move any faster than that of a snail's pace. "We've taken you this far... Now you have to carry on without us... Try to not make enemies, and stay away from sun goddesses, ok?..." My dad's voice was as quiet, I could tell he was holding back tears as well. Before I could make another question, I felt my mom pour into me as much of her life force as she could. I felt stronger than I had ever been, but that wasn't my priority at the moment. They sounded like they were... No... "I wish we had more time..." My mom whispered tears were now running down her cheeks.  Before I could regain my bearings, my dad poured power into the warp stone, which began to shine and glow in a rainbow of colors that didn't seem natural but had I been in another circumstance, I would've found it to be beautiful. "We love you..." They spoke in unison. That was the last thing I heard them say before I heard the sound of glass shattering along with a sound similar to lightning, and time sped up to its normal speed.  I felt the power of a star slam into my chest as my ears pick up Deus shouting something along the lines of 'sidus igne maxima' before the roar of the holy fire rammed into me and disintegrated my parents.  I expected to slam into the ground and die, burning alive, but what happened next confused me as much as the holy flames burned against my chest. I was sent flying through what seemed like shattered glass and as I fell through the hole, the cold night air hit my wings.  The only thing that kept me from trying to correct my course through the air was the insistent stream of holy fire that kept pushing me along like those powder-filled tubes the dwarves have in their kingdom. "Fireworks" is what I think they called them. As I was dragged farther from the hole ripped in the sky, it began to close back up like the cracks of my father's barrier. When the hole was no more I slammed into something hard, what I would later discover to be the side of a mountain.  The impact shook said mountain and left me winded. when the stream of holy fire ended its assault on my chest, gravity peeled me off the mountain and I began to fall straight down. I don't remember much of what happened in those few seconds I was falling, but what I do remember was the pain and my entire body yearning for the sweet release of death.  As soon as I hit the ground, everything fell to darkness. And I found it near impossible to take a breath. The last thing that I remember going through my mind as I felt the life seep out of me, was my parent's last words.  "We love you..." /////////////Princess Luna/////////////// I had just raised the moon and finished painting the beautiful tapestry of the night sky when something caught my eye.  In the distance, high up over the Everfree forest, magic swirled with bolts of electricity leaping between the clouds of wild magic before exploding outward towards Canterlot in a spray of what seemed like ethereal glass.  From the epicenter of the broken magic, something flew through the air like a crazed bolt of stray magic towards the base of our mountainside city, leaving a trail of light blue flames in its path.  The object crashed into the mountain, shaking the castle and the entire city with a thunderous boom. When the earth stopped shaking and the city showed no signs of collapsing or falling of Mount Canterlot, I used a teleportation spell to travel to my sister's room.  She had been startled awake, her rainbow mane was suffering from the worst case of bed mane I had seen in years.  "Sister! Something has slammed into the mountain!" I exclaimed using the Canterlot voice to inform my dear sister of the urgency I carried in my words. Tia was still trying to get a hold over what was happening. "What?.." She groggily asked, trying to rub the sleep from her eyes.  "Sister, we are under attack!" I managed to say in a stern, yet quieter in tone. My sister finally wrapped her head around what I was saying. "What?! By who?! Is it the changelings?!" Getting off the bed, her mane flared up like a raging fire before calming down as I answered her question with the details of what I had just seen.  She listened at the edge of her proverbial seat as I explained and her face went from a concerned and frightened mare to that of the brave and focused leader I knew my big sister to be. "We'll go together to see what the damage is. Guards!" The moment she called for her solar guard, a golden clad stallion and mare rushed through the door and stood at attention a few hooves away from either of us. "Alert the rest of the guard. Get everypony to safety, that is your number one priority. Once everypony is safely out of the castle, meet us at the base of Mount Canterlot." She ordered. The guards saluted and left as quickly as their hooves would allow them. Tia used her magic to levitate her regalia and crown on and looked at me with an icy glare that reminds me of the times we headed out to face monsters that threatened our little ponies in centuries past. "Let's go." I stated. And with that, we flew out through my sister's balcony overlooking the land of Equestria as we flew to make sure the city would not fall. Whatever had slammed onto the mountain, it missed the city and it's pillars completely and simply hit the magically strengthened stone with little to no damage. My eyes are much better at seeing in the dark than my sister's and at the foot of the mountain I spotted a small crater with a small plume of blue flame and smoke,  what I assumed was what hit the mountain.  "Luna! There!"  Tia exclaimed, pointing at the smoldering crater.  As we flew down near the crater, the wind of wings extinguished the flames. Through the smoke, a very faint crimson light shined at the bottom.  We got close, horns at the ready to either teleport or blast whatever this thing was straight to Tartarus. With another round of wing flaps, the smoke cleared to reveal a creature unlike any we had ever seen. At first, I thought it to be a dragon, but its wings looked too heavy and unnatural to achieve flight.  The blood red glow from before was a portion of its chest that was reduced to a bloody crater that was slowly healing itself. The creature had clawed feet with three toes on the front and one on the back. The bulk of its broad torso was a creamy white. Its limbs seemed to be covered with hard red scales.  It had a long tail with the same coloration as his other limbs and a spear like a barb at its end. The creature's head was strange, it looked to have the same type of creamy white flesh over its face with a long brown mane that reached down to its chest and its back.  Its face was flat, with the exception of its nose, and had no fur anywhere aside from its long mane. Jutting from the creature's forehead were two dark red horns that curved up and over it's head before following it's long mane down before curbing back up. smaller spine-like protrusions rose from the top of both horns in a descending pattern of size before ceasing half way along the horns.  It wore a battered belt with metal trinkets dangling from small chains across its waist with what looked like the remains of a quiver, a small white satchel with a strange black rune, and worn black drapes covered its thighs and what remained of a melted gauntlet that covered its forearm and its clawed hand with five digits. It was barely breathing, and covered in what I hoped was its own blood. "Luna?.." Tia looked at me both bewildered and concerned. "I'm just as lost for words as you are Tia.." My sister's gaze returned to the creature. We simply stared at it, the hole in its chest healing completely and chest rising and falling as it breathed weakly. "Princesses!" A pegasus stallion clad in armor called as he descended with four other guards in tow. He landed behind us and led the small march towards us. "The last of the ponies in the castle and the city are being mobilized into the shelters as you requested, what are your orders?" He asked, standing at attention. As he spoke, more and more pegasi landed behind them. Shortly after, a large group of unicorns and earth ponies either teleported or ran towards the princesses as quickly as they could.  Once they reached the Diarchs, everypony stood at attention, silently waiting for their princess to give them their next orders.  Whatever the creature me and Tia were looking at was, it was intelligent and was wounded. We turned to look at each other and with a simple glance, we confirmed that our thoughts were on the same page.  "Bring a team of paramedics and a carriage used to carry luggage," I ordered turning to face the unconscious creature. "We're having a guest tonight at the Palace," Tia said with a smile before doing the same as me and waiting for the paramedics. > Chap. 1 A monster in the halls > -------------------------------------------------------------------------- //////////Princess Celestia//////////// I must admit. The events of last night prevented me from getting any sort of rest. Being woken up to the sound of a massive explosion and then Canterlot shaking with an earthquake that threatened to split the mountain on which our home resides was alarming enough. Then to learn that the cause of this was an unknown creature that slammed into the mountain like a runaway freight train added a whole other level of confusion that I was not ready to handle in the middle of the night. Fortunately, my sister's vigilance over the night kept us safe and informed over what was happening. If she was still banished on the moon, I don't know what might have happened. Assuring our little ponies of the Court of the Sun that everything would be alright was no easy feet, explaining to them what had happened seemed to be enough. Though there were many protests after revealing that the cause for the earthquake was to stay in the castle until we could determine with certainty what to do with it. Fortunately, Lulu was able to give a... persuasive speech, that was enough to qualm the uncertainty of the court. When the end of the night came, Lulu lowered the moon, and I raised the sun to start a new day for Equestria. Luna came by my room shortly after, she looked more exhausted than usual as she walked through my door. Every time I've seen her like that, she tells me that she had to deal with a particularly troublesome nightmare in the dream realm. "Good morning Lulu. Did you sleep well?" I asked more as a courtesy. I knew exactly how she slept, though I didn't know why. Besides, I would much rather be kind to my sister for her sake rather than my own. "No Tia... And that's exactly why we must speak with you." She croaked before clearing her throat. I used my magic to serve her a cool glass of water from a pitcher my maids bring me every morning. Luna gave me a tired smile and took the glass from my magic. She drank it down as greedily as etiquette would allow and rubbed her throat with a forehoof before speaking. "Thank you, sister..." She said before walking over to me. Her tone... It was sadness, not weariness. "Luna is everything alright? You don't look well." I asked as gently as I could, wrapping a wing around her as she sat next to me in my near the balcony of my room. We were looking out towards the city of Canterlot, the Everfree that loomed in the distance, and Ponyville just behind it. Luna remained silent for a moment. "Sister... We're... I'm conflicted." She started, struggling to find the words. I did my best to let her know I was listening. "About?" I asked. "Azazel..." She said with a hint of pity and remorse in her voice. I blinked in confusion. "I'm sorry, Luna... What?" I asked, trying to be as respectful as possible. "The creature that we brought into the castle last night... His name is Azazel Astoshan Lilith." I had an idea of where Luna was going, but I let her continue by nodding in understanding before she continued. "This creature is not of our world. I know not where it comes from, and it is a formidable force to be reckoned with." This was worrying indeed. But what puzzled me more was the fact that Luna felt "conflicted", as she put it. "I have seen his memories. For one barely exiting his adolescence, he is not afraid to take the lives of those that would dare harm him or those he cares for... He is the only son of a demon and a necromancer that is referred to as a God of death... But..." Luna stopped, unable to find the right words. My impatience was getting to me, so for now, I decided to nudge her only a little to help her get the thought through. "But?" I asked. "I have seen five of the elements of harmony in some shape or form manifested in his life out of his own volition. Kindness. Generosity. Honesty. Loyalty. And laughter. But just as I have seen the elements, I have also seen him perform merciless brutality, bring death, instill fear and very recently... suffering born from loss." I will admit the first three of the last list didn't surprise me much. But that last one... "Loss?.." I asked tentatively. Luna simply nodded. She must have read my pleading eyes because she continued after taking a glance at me. "He and his family have been persecuted by a kingdom that mirrors our own in many ways for him and his family's practice of black magics... His arrival to Equestria was the result of his parents sacrificing their lives to save their son's life." My heart sunk as I heard this. I have no love for necromancers. They are monsters in pony form who exist with the sole purpose of causing mass death and destruction wherever they go. But I knew for a fact that Luna's control over dreams was beyond question. "What do you think we should do Luna?" I asked my sister as calmly as I could manage after a bit of thinking. The amount of information that had just been laid on my hooves was too much to make the decision on my own. Luna was taken aback by this. But she recovered just as quickly before giving me a concerned reply. "Part of me wants to imprison him in stone as we did for Discord. But I know that won't work in the long run, and it would not be just after all he's been through... I... Hmmm..." She chose her next words as carefully as she could manage considering the pressure she had on her shoulders. "Do you think that Princess Twilight and her friends could help him? Twilight and her friends were able to reform discord and save me from myself.. He's nowhere near as powerful as Discord, should he turn on them they should be able to defeat him with the elements." I can't even begin to express how proud I am to be Luna's sister, especially when she says things like this. I had been holding back tears that began to flow down my cheeks as I hugged my sister and began to laugh out of pure joy. Luna was first startled, but quickly realized I meant well and joined into my embrace. We let go of each other and made up our minds. "Then it is settled." I mused. "We should make ourselves known, he's already awake, and I don't know if he'll be alright with being chained to his bed." Luna stated. My eyes went wide at this before I sighed in acceptance. "I forgot about that. It's ok. It will be fine, everything will work out." I repeated to myself in my head like a mantra as we headed towards the infirmary. //////////////Azazel////////////////// When I came to, two things were immediately clear. One, I wasn't home. The room I was in had white marble walls and tall ceilings. A single window that let in the sunlight illuminated the room. It had nothing other than the bed I was on. Two, wherever I was, I was chained by my wrists and legs with enough leeway to allow for me to sit. Upon noticing this, I began to pull and strain my bonds. They groaned and whined as I pulled with the little strength I had after waking up, but the chains wouldn't break. I could feel magic on the golden cuffs that bound my wrists. They were engraved with many small runes, draining me of my magic and feeding the chain to repair and reinforce my bonds. It quickly became apparent that brute force wouldn't. I sat there in silence for a way to free myself And then I remembered something, I could breathe hellfire. The hellish flames destroyed anything and everything it touched, save for the scales on my arms, legs, and wings. So I brought the cuffs to my face and let out a weak stream of black and red flames from my mouth. Slowly, but surely I could feel the golden cuffs lose their magical runes as they were deformed by the intense heat. I did the same for the other, and once I finished, I waited for my magic to return so I could strengthen myself enough to break free. As I sat there, I began to feel my strength slowly coming back. I estimated that my strength should return to its full swing in about five minutes. I waited patiently for the minutes to pass, and as I waited my senses began to wander. I could sense life forms outside my room. I couldn't tell what they were but I knew they were very small, they would reach to my stomach if I stood next to them. "Goblins?... No... They're too dumb to make a place as elegant as this... maybe dwarves..." I mused to myself as the five-minute mark passed. When I finished counting I held the chains taught and gave them a hard pull. They snapped much easier than I expected. They were mostly made of some brittle metal, though he struggled to find a logical reason as to why there were magic draining runes on the weak golden cuffs if dwarves we're such good craftsmen. He could think about that later, now he would have to find a way out. As the chains fell to the floor with a loud clatter, what sounded like small hooves hitting a hard floor caught me off guards as I eyed the wooden door that led outside. "What was that?" A male voice spoke from behind the door in a language the same as my own. "That thing is probably moving in its sleep again. It's fine, nothing can break those cuffs. They were made to hold monsters like Tirek by Princess Celestia herself. It's not going anywhere." Another voice stated matter-of-factly, this one female yet gruffy and stern. Princess Celestia? Tirek? Where in the nine hells did my parents send me!? If I wanted answers, I would have to leave the room to find out. I got off the bed as quietly as I could and once I cleared the bed, I stretched my wings, flapping them a little. I took the opportunity to stretch and pop my joints. As I did, several resounding cracks and pops left my joints, especially in my back as I stretched. I let out a sigh of relief as I walked over to the window to get an idea of where I am, and if needed, possible escape routes. When I did, I saw a beautiful city even more so than Moonshine. It was easily twice as colorful. Rainbows arched over the tops of buildings and beyond the city was a beautiful expanse of green fields with a forest near by. I could've stayed there for hours, until I noticed movement in the streets below. I used my magic to enhance my vision to see what the colorful dots moving below were. To my utter bewilderment, I saw small horses in every color imaginable. They wore clothing that reminded me of the wealthy nobles that traveled by carriage to and from Moonshine. these creatures had very short heads with BIG eyes. they looked like caricatures from my dad's story books. I could see no people other than the pastel horses. I stepped back and stood there trying to make sense of what I had just seen. As my mind raced to find a way to justify what I had just witnessed, the sound of a locked door being opened snapped me out of my thoughts. Out of reflex, I cast an invisibility spell on myself and turned around just before the door opened. What I saw next left me flabbergasted. Two small, colorful horses entered the room, they were clad in golden armor that looked like it would be heavy to carry. One was slightly larger and bulkier than the other. The former had a mint cream coat and a brown mane, the latter was a pastel pink with orange hair. The smaller one had a small horn jutting from the top of it's head and I instantly recognized it as a unicorn, causing me to blink in amazement. Their eyes opened wide and their huge irises shrunk to pin pricks as they stared at the empty bed with horror. "ITS GONE!!! How did it escape!?" The stallion cried out in despair. It was almost funny to watch, but considering my circumstance, it was in my best interests to not laugh and be quiet. That and the fact THAT I WAS LOOKING AT A TALKING MULTICHROMATIC HORSE THE SIZE OF AN UNDERFED DEER HAD ME QUITE SHOCKED. Before the smaller one could answer, two gasps were heard outside, and I couldn't help but wonder if there were more small talking horses outside. "LOCKDOWN THE CASTLE. NO PONY GETS IN OR OUT UNTIL THE CREATURE IS FOUND!" A feminine voice that reminded me too much of my mother ordered in a voice that must have been amplified with magic to cause the door and bed to shake. Also, "no pony?" This day was getting stranger and stranger by the minute. The two armored horses, or... ponies? left the room with the door wide open. The sound of many hooves clip clopping away into the distance let me know it was safe to breathe again. I had to drop the invisibility spell as I was getting light headed. I decided to wait for my magic reserves to refill before I dared make a run for it. As I walked over behind the door and sat down as close to the wall as my wings would allow me, I noticed I was missing my gauntlet and bag of belongings. I didn't know exactly what was in it, but I trusted my dad with my life. So if the bag was made with the intent of granting me survival, then I would look for it. Fortunately, I knew just the spell for the job. However, a divination spell required for me to concentrate. It would take time, and I couldn't use other spells as it would drain me too much. I would have to use it once, memorize my target's location, and make my way with the remaining magic in me to defend myself. It was a long shot, but I couldn't think of anything better. So I sat there for a bit, letting my magic build up. When I was confident I had enough, I focused and uttered the incantation. "Encontrarium... Satchel" I was detached from my body and my sight zigzagged through the halls, passing over more armored ponies of various colors, until it flew through a closed door and into a table where his satchel laid next to several of the mementos that should've been hanging from my sash. The spell ended and I was shot back, taking the same route but in reverse towards me and when I opened my eyes I looked down to see that the medallions and other nick knacks that I had collected in my travels with dad were missing. this angered me, but at least I knew they hadn't thrown them away, as all of the missing trinkets were on the table I saw. "Right, left, left, right, down the stairs, right and second door to the left..." I repeated the directions twice more before steeling my nerves for what was about to come. When I was sure nothing was in my immediate vicinity, I bolted out of the room and followed the path I had memorized. My heavy footsteps echoed across the halls as my claws tried to dig into the polished marble floor with the hope of getting better traction. This only resulted in my footsteps being louder as they shrieked when I drifted right on the first turn. I nearly slammed into the wall, but I regained my footing and kept running. Upon getting a clear view of the hallway I saw two more of those little horses running in my direction, presumably to see what the noise was. What I can guarantee they weren't expecting, was me. As I ran at them at full speed, their eyes shot open and they ducked out of my way to save their skins as the big bad monster charged at them to eat them. I don't think that's they're thought process, but it helps me not panic at the thought of how ridiculous the whole situation was. I ran passed them and took a left at the next intersection much the same way I did in the last hallway with the next few turns. Guards were in the way and I did my best to avoid them while going at a full sprint. The miniature pegasi I encountered we're easy enough to dodge, and the brave one that tried to follow me I juked into a wall as I used the pillars of the well decorated stair case to swing down to the floor below as the distracted pagasus slammed face first into a wall. There was one of them that was right in my path and I couldn't dodge in the second to last turn, so I picked up the mare instead of ramming into her and as she screamed for dear life I slowed down, using the sharp talons on my legs and left arm to grind to a halt. I set the shivering guard on the floor and bolted off to my destination. When I found the door, I ripped it clean off it's hinges and laid eyes on my prize. I walked inside and paid no mind to the terrified horse that shimmied flat against the wall around me and left the room screaming, "MONSTEEEEEERRRRRR!!!!" The first thing I grabbed was what remained of my gauntlet, so I ripped off the melted pauldron and kept the forearm and the clawed glove. As I inspected each medallion, wyvern tooth and key I began to clip them back onto my belt. Whatever these creatures were, they didn't damage my things, and for that I was grateful. As I grabbed my satchel, I opened it and began to rummage around for anything to defend myself. as my hand scoured the insides of the bag I found something I recognized, a hilt. Perfect! However, just as I grabbed onto the hilt, I heard a voice call out to me from outside the room. "STOP!" The voice was unmistakeably feminine, so like a child with it's hand caught in the proverbial cookie jar, I looked over my shoulder, using my wings to hide my arms. I saw two normal sized horses, one was a alabastor with Golden regalia with a sun on it's chest plate while the other was slightly shorter and was a deep blue with jet black regalia and a crescent moon on the other. These were larger and had both pegasus wings and unicorn horns, but what startled me was the way their hair flowed in a non-existent breeze. Their horns were surrounded by a haze of magical aura that I didn't like at all. Unicorns, as I knew them, had magical properties in their blood, but they could not cast magic like I did. The three of us simply stared at each other for what felt like an eternity. Then, the white one spoke with the voice that resembled my mother. "Turn around. Slowly." Resistance meant I'd have to deal with two opponents I knew nothing of while weakened. Compliance was my best bet. But before I did anything I decided to make a question of my own. I channeled magic into my vocal chords and spoke with two voices at once. One was my own, while the other was MUCH deeper and barely intelligable. This would increase my chances of not seeming to be at their mercy and would buy me time to think of an escape plan should things go south. "Where am I?" My voice chilled the air, and my assailants flinched at the sound I produced. They didn't answer, so I drew the blade from the satchel and slid it into my belt. "I'll ask again, Where. Am. I?" In retrospect, I think I poured a little too much dramatic effect, so I dialed down the level of magic in my voice as I slowly turned around. "I mean you no harm, please tell me where I am." Getting a better view of each other, I noticed their stances had changed. A few moments ago, these pagasus/unicorn... things were standing ready to charge and impale me with their horns. Now their stance was a bit more relaxed, though their horns still shimmered with magic. I clutched the satchel closer to my chest as we stared at each other like startled Caribous. After what felt like an eternity, the blue one spoke. "You are in our castle. You crashed into it last night. We found you unconscious outside and brought you in here to question you when you woke up." The white one looked at their companion for a bit before refocussing on me. This was a castle. It certainly fit the regal bit, and if the crowns on their flowing manes were anything to go about, they must be the owners if this castle. There was only one way to know for sure. "Who are you?" I retracted my magic completely. My singular voice sounding a lot less intimidating. I lowered my voice to a near whisper as I sat down with my legs crossed. This surprised the two equines, but they too relaxed and the magic in their horns disappeared. "I am princess Luna, ruler of the night. I am responsible for crafting the star-filled night, guarding over the dreams of those that sleep, and moving the moon across the sky." The blue one stated. "And I am her older sister, Princess Celestia, ruler of the day. I am responsible for raising and setting the sun, handling diplomatic and internal affairs over the land of Equestria, and I am a mentor to the Princess of Friendship." When I heard "ruler of the day", I felt a wave of rage directed at Queen Solaris and any like her. My slit pupils narrowed, showing my blood red Iris amidst the darkness of my eyes. I said nothing for a while, doing my best to keep my breathing as level as I could. Luna seemed to pick up on my sudden change of mood, and tried to remedy the harm done. "You needn't worry Azazel. Tia and I do not wish to harm you." They knew my name. That could not be overlooked. my subconscious pumped magic into my vocal chords again as I stood up and flared my wings out of reflex. "How do you know my name!?" My sudden outburst caused them both to flinch. Celestia turned to her sister with concern. Luna looked at her sister and they both too several steps back before speaking. "We did not mean to scare you. As I told you before, I am the guardian of dreams. When you slumbered I saw your dreams and your nightmares. They told me the story of your life, what brought you here... and the pain you carry in your heart." She said sincerely, bowing apologetically. They seemed genuine. But I would have to be certain. On my belt, I took one of the medallions that my father had gifted me. It was shaped like a star and held the sigil my mother made for me. According to her, it's my name in her native tongue, Abyssal. I've learned enough to read it and somewhat understand it when spoken, but I can't speak it fluently myself. I unclipped the medallion from my belt and grasped it firmly for them to see. When I did, my sigil began to glow and the princesses' horns began to glow again with their magic. "This medallion was given to me as a gift on my fifteenth birthday. It can sense lies. No matter how small. So if you speak truthfully and answer my questions, you will have gained my trust." I offered, doing my best to act like my father whenever he was trying to strike a deal with some merchant, or trying to convince a traveller he meant no harm. The two looked at me with unease in their expression. "What do you wish to know?" Luna asked. I pondered for a moment what to ask, and then settled on something simple, yet risky. "Are you familiar with my kind?" I asked, the effect on my voice was still present. The two simply shook their head, and the medallion remained inert in my hand. They were speaking the truth. I need more answers. "What is the name of this place? I've never seen creatures like you." I asked. Celestia spoke up to reply, never taking her eyes off me. "You are in the land of Equestria." The medallion was still Inert, no lies there either. Now for the real question I wanted answers to. "What do you plan on doing with me?" The two sisters looked at each other, then back at me. Luna was the one to reply now. "Upon seeing your memories, we wish to give you a chance to start a new life here in Equestria. And teach you of the power of friendship. As it was shown to us." This was making no sense to me. If I had been home I could've sworn that anyone offering me this would've been lying. But here stood two goddesses that were actually concerned with my well being. A demon, no less. I lowered the medallion and clipped it back into my belt as it dangled limply from my waist of a short chain. If this was my mom and dad's doing, then I would go along with it. "Very well. I will do as you wish." I said with a bit of hesitation. Celestia and Luna seemed content to find a middle ground. They led me out and of the room and told me of the history of the land, as it was depicted in beautiful murals on stained glass windows that lined the throne room. They told me of the Elements of Harmony and their bearers. They told me of their triumphs and their effect on those that allowed Friendship to heal and mend the wounds inflicted to them in the past. To me, it sounded like a fairy tale my mother would've told me when I was little. I had to confer with my medallion every now and again. The part I really struggled to believe was the rehabilitation of a God of Chaos. That I would have to see for myself. When Celestia was telling me of her student's newest victory against a pony that threatened to mess with time itself, a parchment materialized from a green flame that appeared without notice. When Celestia opened it, her smile widened considerably. "What is it?" I asked her. She looked at me with an excited smile that made me somewhat uneasy. "It would seem that my student caught wind of your... spectacular entrance to our world, and wishes to meet you. She'll be coming tomorrow with her friends." She said with motherly love that hurt a little to listen to. This goddess of the sun reminded me too much of my mother. Though I was intrigued with these Elements of Harmony. They were said to hold the strongest type of magic in this realm. If my father was still alive... he'd want to learn how to harness it and write a whole book about it for me to read. I looked into Celestia's and Luna's eyes for reassurance. I found it at an alarmingly quick rate. I think for the first time in my life, I felt safe without my parents... I gave out a quiet chuckle before musing to myself. "Maybe I could get use to this." > Chapter 2. Necromancy, pancakes, a pompous prince, and dreams > -------------------------------------------------------------------------- //////////////Azazel//////////////// The rest of my day was relatively uneventful. The Princesses gave me a tour of Canterlot Castle. Fortunately, my abrupt arrival did not hurt anyone, though I did cause a bit of panic when I collided with the mountain. The guards that moved through the castle on patrols and standing guard at every major room in the castle were visibly startled by my presence. apparently dashing through the castle like a crazed banshee left quite the impression, and the guard I had scooped up during my jaunt through the halls was taking the day off to recuperate. I would have to apologize for that, and I voiced my concern to Celestia. When I told her she was taken aback by my request. "Forgive me, I just didn't expect kindness from a necromancer." She stated, with a hint of guilt in her voice. I would've felt offended by this, but I was being offered courtesies that could be in jeopardy if I ran my mouth as I pleased. "It is not wise to base other's intent on their set of skills or gifts, your highness." I stated. It was as close to a verbal jab as I was willing to take with the sun goddess. She nodded sagely before continuing our conversation as we headed to what I assumed would be a dining room. "You're right, and again, We are sorry if I may sound rude or say something to offend you. I really don't mean to..." Luna added. They looked like they wanted to ask more questions, but their desire to not be invasive was stopping them. I must admit, I don't think I had ever had a conversation like this. Most of the interactions I've had with travelers were short and even then they were pretty rare. I remembered my father's warning, "stay away from sun goddesses" but I knew that I had nothing to fear from Celestia. She possessed a motherly demeanor, not unlike my mom. And Luna was very welcoming and kind. They wanted answers, and I saw no reason to deny them. "Princesses, is there more you wish to ask?" If she wanted answers, now was the time. Luna hesitated a bit before speaking. "Necromancers study dark arts, poised with an insatiable hunger for wreaking death and destruction wherever they go. Your soul should be tainted with the vilest darkness, yet the only times that you've taken life was to feed and protect your family. Not once did you revel in causing death. I want to know how and why?" She asked. Her question was loaded, but I figured that I'd give her the same explanation my father gave me when I asked the same question. "Necromancy is one of, if not the most powerful school of magic. It is the study of how magic intertwines life and death in a natural balance, a balance that can be harnessed. To understand it, you must first recognize that there are five aspects to necromancy, flesh, bone, blood, soul, and life force, or how my father called it, spirit. When most people think of necromancy, they think of rending flesh, breaking bones, consuming blood, enslaving souls and snuffing out the life force of others. While those are all things that I as a necromancer can do, they only represent a small fraction of what I can do. I have the power to heal grievous wounds, restore missing limbs, and save others from the clutches of death. Not only that, I can create a bridge between the dead and the living. granting a few moments the living with the power to speak to those that have long since passed. As for why I have not fallen to an insatiable bloodlust, we must return to the concept of balance. There can be no death without life, and life without death is meaningless in the long run. Knowing that life has value, has made me lose my taste for taking it without a valid reaso. However, that is not to say that I am discouraged by this to take the lives of those that cause pain, misery, and suffering to others without a good reason. They are the one's who's flesh I tear asunder, whose bones I shatter, who's blood I take, who's souls I devour and who's life force I take from them. Their souls are fused with mine and become part of the collective that is me. They hold no power over me and they will remain my slaves until the day I die." I explained as we walked into a large room with colorful windows and a long table filled with an assortment of fruits and other things that I did not recognize. "I had breakfast prepared for us. If there is anything in particular you would like, I can have the cooks prepare it for you." Celestia kindly offered. I was unable to answer as my nostrils were being assaulted by an assortment of sweet scents that were new to me. I picked up the small of fruits and warm milk, but there was another scent I could sense that was devilishly enticing. I had picked up the scent once before that one time we entered Moonshine City, but it was nowhere near this strong. I didn't reply to Celestia as my body moved on its own, closing the distance between me and the table of strange delicacies. I sniffed the air over several of the plates and trays on the table and was astonished to find that scent came from small, disk-shaped, bread-like pastries that were adorned with some sort of white foam and strawberries in the shape of a smiling face. I tilted my head in confusion. Next to the stack of sweet-smelling pastries was a bottle with a red cap and what seemed to be a brown, viscous, semi-transparent fluid that smelled faintly of honey, but its scent was sweet and easy on my nose. The collection of aromas was intoxicating and I began to salivate at the thought of what they would taste like. "Is everything alright Azazel?" Celestia asked, her voice was mirroring my mother's again, and I was almost inclined to call her that. Were it not for my late parents' sacrifice. I wheeled around to look at them, Luna was looking at me with curiosity, while her sister was giving me that motherly look that would make my heart sink just that little bit more. "What is this? Its scent is incredible!" I exclaimed, pointing at the plateful of sweet-smelling foodstuffs. Celestia gave a warm smile and chuckled lightly into her forehoof. "Those are called pancakes. Would you like to try them?" She asked coming to take a seat at one end of the table. Luna simply shook her head at this with a smile of her own before going to the other end of the long rectangular table. I nodded before eagerly sitting down on a large pillow laying on the floor, my wings fidgeting in anticipation. Celestia sat down and used her magic to levitate one of the plates with a stack of four of the pastries she called pancakes. She also levitated the bottle of brown liquid towards me. "This is called syrup, you can add it to your pancakes to sweeten them." I took the bottle in my hand as I eyed the thick fluid. I looked at celestial raise a fork and small round-tipped knife with her magic and cut out a stack of four triangles before carrying them to her mouth and eating them whole. I decided to follow her example and did the same, except I used my hands. The cutlery was a little small for me, but I managed to cut out the triangles and skewer them with my fork. I carried the food into my mouth as the sun goddess did and my eyes rolled back into my skull as I melted when the soft and sweet pancakes hit my tongue. As I chewed a moan that could've been confused for a manticore's purr escaped my lips as my wings went limp and drooped to the floor. "Oh my stars...~" I couldn't help myself. I had never had something that tasted so good in my life. It had a perfect mixture between sweet and salty, neither taste overpowering the other, and the sliced strawberries added a whole other texture that made the experience just amazing. Celestia had been watching my reaction and was barely containing her laughter, while Luna watched with wry smile, shaking her head. "Try using the syrup." Celestia suggested, covering her grin with a forehoof. She didn't need to tell me twice. I opened the bottle and poured some of the syrup on my next forkful of pancakes. And immediately shoved it into my mouth. My mind shut down with the overwhelmingly good taste. I threw all notions of etiquette out the proverbial window as I craved for more. While I cannot shapeshift completely like my mother, my body can assume minor changes. In this instance, my mouth sprouted rows upon rows of teeth as my lower jaw split down the middle with the sound of breaking bones and shifting flesh so I could devour the pancakes whole. Although it was normal for me when I got excited to use shapeshifting to let my parents know of how I felt, Celestia and Luna seemed very disturbed at my transformation. After I finished, my forked tongue lapped up the remaining nectar of the goddesses from my three pairs of lips. As my jaw shifted back to it's usual shape I have out a content sigh before noticing the faces of horror the princesses were making. "What?" I deadpanned. The princesses were about to say something, but before they could get their next thought out the doors to the dining hall were thrown open. I turned around on the seat to see a visibility upset unicorn storm in. It was slightly taller than all the other ponies I had seen before, but no where near Celestia or Luna's height. It seemed to be wearing a white suit over it's alabastor coat, but I couldn't tell if that was the case with the collar of said suit seamlessly integrated into it's figure. It had a sky blue tie that matched his eyes and a mate golden mane that draped over his eye. It made a beeline for Celestia and when it got near her. "Auntie Celestia, we have to speak immediately! Why was I not informed that the creature was in the castle!? What in Equestria made you think bringing a monster into the castle was a good idea!? Why-" His barrage of questions was cut short by Celestia's hoof being firmly planted parallel to his mouth. He was clearly a stallion. His voice, sounded similar to the teenagers that would come near our forest, distinctly masculine, but carrying no real authority. His posh accent made me cringe as it reminded me of the nobility that would send the Astral Guard chasing after me and my father if we were ever caught near Moonshine after our little... incident there. "Good morning dear nephew, thank you for asking if I slept well. I rested well, how about you?" Celestia replied with profane levels of profanity I thought only my mother was capable of. The stallion seemed to short circuit, as he backed away a few steps before trying again without so much aggression, but making it clear that he was still upset. "Good morning auntie, I slept well. You too aunt Lu-" He froze and opened his eyes so much I though his skull would break the moment he laid eyes on me. He clearly wasn't expecting me, and I decided to capitalize on the opportunity to teach this petulant noble just who in the nine hells he's talking to. I channeled magic into my vocal chords and let my demonic voice and appearance do the rest. "For someone so small, you've got a really big mouth. Wouldn't you agree Princess Luna?" Luna caught wind of what I was doing, and played along while trying to keep her giggling to a minimum. "Oh I do agree Azazel. Our nephew Blueblood has a tendency to forget that he would benefit from keeping his thoughts to himself most of the time." She stated deviously. Blueblood's eyes shrunk to near pin pricks as I stood to my full height and made a show making my footsteps loud and intimidating as my wings flared out. I made a point of covering his only exit with my body. He scurried backwards into Celestia's side and made himself as small as he could as I closed the gap between us. I craned my face near his and gave my little speech. "Hmmm, Blueblood. You know, where I'm from. The blood of unicorns resembles a glowing, white milky substance that is worth a lot of coin if you know who to sell it to. But I wonder... W̷̙̑h̴̘͑ȃ̵̟t̸̺́ ̴̗̒p̶͇͛r̶͙̀o̴̮͌p̸̛̯e̴͇͐r̶͍͌t̵̺̂ḯ̸̬ë̴̼́s̸̠̋ ̵̘͛ď̵ͅo̴͚̅e̷̗̔s̶͉̄ ̸̥͛t̷͖̓h̷̺͆ẽ̶͇ ̴̝̂b̸̙͒l̴̤̏õ̸̼ó̶̞d̶̰͘ ̶̝͆ỏ̷̲f̴̪͐ ̷̭̕p̷̹̿o̷̡͆n̸̠͝ḯ̴̭ȅ̸̖s̴̠͝ ̷̩͋h̴̛̗a̴̰̅v̴͍̕e̵̟̎ ̶͈͒t̴̺̍o̴̢͆ ̶̝̔o̴̰̿f̶͔̓f̷̼̃è̶̮ṙ̷̢?̴̮̑ ̷̘̽E̴͕͘s̴̭̈́p̵̫̾e̸̕͜c̴͍̓i̴̬̽ä̶͇́l̶̤̽l̸͙͝y̷̘̽ ̷͎̍â̸̺ ̷͎̊u̸̪͛n̵͍̏ì̵̗c̷̪͗ò̴̡r̸̨̀ń̶̪ ̶̼̔s̸̮̃u̵̪̎č̴͙h̷̢̾ ̵͉͝a̶͉̓š̸̲ ̵͚̈́y̵̩͑o̷̙̿u̵̠͛r̶̘̋ś̵͓ë̷̡́l̵̲͌f̷̤̿.̴͚̌.̶͙̌.̵͉̅ ̴͈̎s̶̳͊ö̶̦ ̶̥͂t̴͎͂e̷̞̽l̶̤͆l̴̜̚ ̵͛͜ṃ̶̓e̸̪̓,̷̠́ ̷̑ͅB̸̯́L̴͖̚U̴͕̓E̵͖̒B̴͉̑Ľ̵̰Ǫ̷͠Ö̵̱́D̸̞̊.̵̨̓ ̸̤͆C̴̨̏A̴̮͊R̵̤̓Ẻ̴̦ ̴̲͘T̶͈̀Ȯ̸͕ ̵̰̓H̷̪̒E̷͇̚L̷̳̈́P̴̨͊ ̶̪̈M̴̨̀E̷̢͌ ̶͈̽T̵͎͆Ė̷̖S̸̽͜Ţ̵̏ ̷̹́M̸͈͆Y̴̫͊ ̷̟͊T̴͖͐H̷͌͜Ë̸̮O̷̲͆Ṙ̴̪Ỳ̷̢!̷͓̐?̵͖͝!̸̧̋?̶͆ͅ (What properties does the blood of ponies have to offer? Especially a Unicorn such as yourself... so tell me BLUEBLOOD. CARE TO HELP ME TEST A THEORY?!?!) I poured too much magic into the last part of my statement, as it was nigh unintelligible. Fortunately, my message got across. The main indicator was the shivering unicorn silently weeping in terror as he held onto his aunt for dear life. Celestia looked at me with concern. So I took a chance and looked straight into her eyes as I gave her a wink and a mischievous smile. She gave me the "are you kidding me!?" look before rolling her eyes and sighing. "Blueblood, I'm trying to make a good impression on our guest. Come see me later in the evening, ok?" Celestia said softly to her nephew. To this he nodded and bolted under my legs, and before I could even turn around to watch the coward flee he was gone. The clip clop of hooves off into the distance made me giggle manically to myself. Content, I turned back to Celestia, who was none too pleased with my behavior. "For what it's worth, I simply wanted to show your wonderful nephew some demonic hospitality." I stated with the most innocent smile I could manage, but I knew that it was coming off as a shit eating grin. Celestia was staring daggers at me, and just before she could say anything, Luna burst into a manic laughter she had been stifling ever since I got up from my chair. We both turned to look at Luna with shock as she had been laughing so hard she had fallen off her chair, and even as she hit the ground she kept laughing hysterically. After a few seconds of watching Luna laugh herself to death I began to laugh myself as Celestia simply rolled her eyes as she shook her head in disapproval and went back to her pancakes. Once everyone finished eating, I was taken to my quarters. It was the room that I had been imprisoned in the night prior. The guards took the bonds off my bed and after wishing me a good night's sleep, Celestia and Luna left me in my room by myself. I locked the door to my room and got in bed. As I began to think about the following day, I began to drift into sleep. I was very intrigued and excited to meet the famed Elements of Harmony. Celestia and Luna spoke very highly of them, and I was particularly interested in the element of magic. Maybe they could teach me of magic that I am not familiar with like my... my father. I hadn't thought much about what happened the night prior. What had happened to my parents. It just felt so... unreal. It felt like a dream that started out as a nightmare that devolved into something good and pleasant. For now, I'd just have to go to sleep and make sure that I was dreaming. Make sure that when I woke up, I'd be in my bedroom snoring my body's exhaustion away. However, no matter how hard I tried, I couldn't fall asleep. I could hear my parent's voices. They were screaming when they were holding up the barrier that protected us from the Astral Guard's holy embers. I began to cry at the memory. The pain in my mother's eyes. The regret in my father's. As I cried, the stress I didn't even know I was holding began to melt away, only to be replaced by a burning rage. If I ever found my way home, I would rain down on the Astral Guard and this Queen Solaris with the power I would gain in this world. I swore on my parents death that they would know despair. I swore they would feel my pain a thousand times over. I wanted their screams for mercy to be heard by all, and helped by none as tortured their souls for what they took from me. When sleep finally found me. I dreamed I was standing in our forest, near the edge of the treeline that had a clear view of Moonshine city. From what my father had told me, The city had been named that way in honor of Queen Solaris' late sister. Princess Umbra, who had died fighting valiantly to defend her country against the Elven Kingdom a few decades ago. I've never seen Solaris in person, but my mother and father knew her. They disliked her, and I never understood why my father would make a deal with a traitorous whore like her. I was raptured from my thoughts as I heard many footsteps in unison, marching to an unheard beat. Thinking quick on my feet, I leapt into one of the thick trees and stayed as quiet as possible. Surprisingly, it held my weight, and I was able to keep my wings tucked against my back and at the ready should I need to fly away. As the marching got closer, I could hear what sounded like... singing? When they came whithin view, my body tensed as I recognized the silver armor, their weapons... their leader. My eyes narrowed as I stared daggers at the man I despised to no end. He was walking infront of his men, and when I heard the lyric to their stupid little jingle. I felt the souls whithin me wailing for vengeance. "No more they kill, no more they mame, no more they terrorize. The spawn of hell is Astoshan and he's been pulverized. By Deus Vult and his flaming blade, demons are swiftly slain. together we march home, as saviours of the day!" The men sang in unison with glee, one of them playing the tune on what looked to be a flute of some sort. To me it didn't matter, they were going to die for this mockery. As the last few soldiers marched past me, necrotic energy flowed through my hands. I dropped from the trees and snuck my way behind them, holding an invisibility spell. I walked behind the two guards that walked in the rear of their formation and grabbed their necks from behind. I drove my necrotic energy through them and they died in my hands before they even knew what was happening. I pumped magic into their bodies and whispered the curse of undeath along with the touch of death hex. "Ego mortem dominating... ad tactu mortem..." The corpses then convulsed for bit and I let go of them. I retreated behind a nearby tree to watch the madness unfold. Three armored bafoons went to check their fallen comrades and upon you hung the bodies they too died, falling on their brethren. The younger soldiers began to panic as the older ones just looked in horror. Deus noticed what was happening too late for him to save himself or his soldiers. The pile of bodies began to rise, and with a bone chilling shriek the corpses obeyed my next two commands. "kill the humans, and disarm Deus." The corpses, ignoring all pain and exhaustion, lunged onto their friends and tore the few that wouldn't succumb to undeath limb from limb. Deus tried to fight them off, but being outnumbered thirty to one made it near impossible to hold his ground. My corpses distracted him long enough for me to get from behind, and using my brute strength i grabbed Deus' sword arm and tore it right off. When he fell to the ground, screaming agony at the loss of his limb, I took his holy weapon and walked toward him. "H̸m̶m̶m̵.̸.̸.̵ ̴y̵o̶u̸ ̷k̸n̴o̷w̷,̸ ̷i̷t̶'̷s̶ ̶f̴u̵n̸n̵y̴.̵ ̷t̸o̷ ̷t̶h̸i̶n̶k̸ ̷t̶h̴a̷t̴ ̶o̸n̷l̸y̵ ̴a̴ ̶d̵a̶y̴ ̵a̴g̶o̴,̸ ̷I̸ ̴w̶a̴s̵ ̸w̶e̴r̵e̵ ̵y̸o̶u̵ ̴w̶e̵r̸e̸.̶ ̷a̷t̸ ̸t̴h̵e̸ ̶m̶e̶r̸c̶y̴ ̸o̶f̷ ̶a̶n̴o̸t̴h̵e̶r̸.̶ ̵h̵u̴n̵t̴e̶d̴ ̸b̷y̴ ̷s̴o̴m̸e̸o̷n̸e̷ ̵t̷h̴a̶t̵ ̸d̸e̶t̶e̷s̵t̵s̷ ̷y̸o̶u̸ ̵f̵o̶r̸ ̴e̵v̵e̴n̸ ̷e̸x̶i̷s̶t̶i̸n̵g̷.̷ ̶w̶h̷a̵t̸ ̶w̴a̸s̵ ̸i̶t̷ ̷t̸h̶a̸t̷ ̴y̷o̵u̴ ̷s̴a̶i̸d̸ ̴t̶o̷ ̷m̶e̸ ̸b̸e̶f̴o̸r̸e̶ ̷y̶o̸u̶ ̵t̷r̸i̷e̸d̶ ̸t̶o̴ ̴k̵i̷l̵l̵ ̶m̴e̵?̷" (Hmm.. you know, it's funny... to think that only a day ago I was where you were... at the mercy of another. Hunted by someone that detests you for even existing! What was it that you said to me before you tried to kill me?) My words held nothing but disdain for this vile human that was looking up at me with sheer terror. "I-I... I Killed you!!! I Killed Astoshan and that witch! How are you alive!?" He spat out blood as he protested in disbelief. "H̴̤̋o̷͍̓w̶̨̑ ̶̺̏d̶̝̐o̵̯̿e̸͈͝s̷̨͋ ̸̲͐ị̴̏t̵̫̀ ̶̛͜f̸̫̍e̸̺̊é̶̫l̸̡̀?̴͉̃ ̴̛̦T̷̻̉o̷̍͜ ̶̺͛h̸̯͑ả̸̼v̷͘͜é̷̝ ̴̻́t̶̬̒h̶̞́ȁ̸̢t̶̲͐ ̷͓̓w̷̧͆h̴̰́ī̴̠c̶̟̈ẖ̸̓ ̷̳̐y̴͕̎o̴͈̍u̶̳͑ ̷͚̽h̵̡̅a̷͎̓t̵̻̑ȩ̶̊ ̶̺̒c̶̜͒ö̸͉m̷͔̉è̸̫ ̷̬͌b̵̬͋a̴̛̟c̶̛̬k̶̛̙ ̶͈̑F̶̪̍R̵̜̅Ō̶̤M̶̘͑ ̵̬̒T̷̺̎Ḩ̶̉Ë̷͇́ ̵͕̊D̷͕̐È̸̞A̸̧͂D̶̬͆!?!?" (How does it feel? To have that which you hate come back FROM THE DEAD!?!?) I raised the blade over my head with the intent of bringing it down with enough force to cleave a mountain. "Ą̷̞̤͇̈́̑Ņ̶̻̹̪̒͌̍̀̕Ý̴͕̰ ̷̲͖̮̳̃̅͘͠͠Ĺ̷̹̯͚̇͐͆̄Ä̵͖́̕S̷̲̯̦̀Ṯ̴̖̩͒͋̀ ̵̳̜̫̺̫̾̋̓̀W̵͍̟̗̑͐̑͠͝O̷̢̢̮͙͐̄̏͘R̸͖͉̬̒̽́̚D̵̛͎̹͐Ŝ̸̝̤͖̪̮̀̄̈́!̶̫͔̓̃̀̀͘?̶̹̗̍̎̅͌!̵͓̓̄̆̓?̷̢̙̹̩͋" (ANY LAST WORDS!?!?) I brought down the sword with all my hatred onto this bastard, but just before I could see his skull open, the world seemingly slowed down to a halt. I couldn't move, all I could do was try and look around me. There was nothing, no sound other than my own thoughts and breathing, and that's when I heard the sound of hooves trotting behind me. To my surprise, Luna walked around me and stood just behind Deus' frozen form. "Azazel? Is this truly what you want?" I couldn't answer her, I couldn't move. "Is the death of this creature the only thing you can do to avenge your parents?" I really wanted to say something, but no matter how much I willed myself to move, I couldn't. The, the world faded to black, only Luna's glowing horn was visible in the void. I was released from whatever she was holding me in, and I noticed that the sword I had in my hands was gone. "You..." I growled before continuing. "HOW DARE YOU PRETEND TO KNOW WHAT MY PARENTS WANTED!? YOU KNOW NOTHING ABOUT THEM OR ME!!!" Luna simply looked at me with unwavering resolve. Her horn glowed again and we were sent an area in front of my house. the place where my parents died. I could see my mother and my father from the side creating a barrier, along with another me, with his arm elbow deep into an all too familiar bag. It was the night my parents died. Deus was blasting a stream of holy fire at us while mom and dad were creating a dome of raw magic to block out the flames. Then, I saw the scene I was all too familiar with play out before me. "Be strong Azazel, remember to fight for what is right, to live and live like only you can..." My mother's whisper was a cacophony of echos that no matter how much I covered my ears, the sound would not be lessened. It was too much to bear. I began to sob as my ears burned and my heart could take no more. "STOP! PLEASE MAKE IT STOOOOOOP!!!" As if on command, the echos stopped. My mother, my father, and my double vanished along with the dreadful noise. I could hear the crickets chirping and the gentle breeze rustling the trees around us. The peaceful environment did nothing to take away the pain. I lay broken on my knees crying like a baby that wants his mother. I felt alone. I didn't even notice that Luna had moved next to me as I lay there on my knees, covering my face with my hands and hiding behind my hair. "Azazel... This path that you're choosing to walk. I know it far too well to allow you to repeat the mistake I nearly made. You will find no peace this way. I nearly lost everything that mattered to me. What your mother and father did was for you to have a chance to live a life that is worth living." Luna's gentle tone was soul nourishing to say the least. She placed a hoof on my shoulder and began to stroke my back. I finally began to relax, but I still was far from ok. "I... I feel lost... Mom and dad always knew what to do.... they... they always knew what to say.. they were the only people that... that..." I was struggling to get the words out as it was, and before I could finish, I broke again into another fit of uncontrollable sobs. Luna moved her hoof onto my arm, and pulled on it for me to face her. As she gently tugged my hand off my face and gave me a hug that I didn't know I needed as badly as I did. She caressed my hair with her hoof as she let me cry out my frustration and grief. We stayed there for what felt like an eternity as she whispered assurances that everything would be alright and strokes my hair. I felt exhausted. After I calmed down enough to stop crying we broke the hug and sat under the night sky to watch the stars. I wanted her to keep holding me, but i didn't want it to get awkward between us so I simply stayed out and kept my hands to myself. "Thank you... I... I needed this... Thank you." I said to her, looking at her beautiful dark blue eyes. She smiled at me and silently laid her head on my shoulder as we resumed to watch the stars. Was this what Luna and her sister meant by the magic of friendship? I could nearly wound or sickness of the body, but a magic that could heal wounds of the heart and soul? This is something I wanted to harness. With a power like that I could honor my mom and dad's wishes. I swore it on their graves that I would fight for what is right, to live and love as I only I can. For my mom and dad. I will harness the magic of friendship! > Chapter 3. Common ground with old friends > -------------------------------------------------------------------------- ///////////Twilight//////////// Everything had been going great until we heard a loud explosion that sounded almost like a blast of electric magic in the direction of Canterlot. I had been sitting with the girls on my balcony during our sleepover at my castle when we saw the sky over the Everfree shatter like glass and saw something crash into Canterlot mountain. At first, I wanted to go immediately and see what was going on. But the girls had insisted we enjoy our night and deal with it later. I was quite annoyed over this, but this night was important. We had all just returned from Starlight's first friendship lesson with Sunburst in the Crystal Empire and the Royal Crystalling. I invited the girls and with some help from Pinkie, we were celebrating Starlight's success. After the party ended, I couldn't sleep knowing that there was something that demanded to be researched near the foot of Canterlot Mountain. As the girls slept in my room, I jutted down a letter to Princess Celestia. I let her know that I really wanted her to take whatever it was that hit the mountain and keep it safe so I could study it. I left the letter near my bed so Spike could send it to the princess in the morning. After that, I got in bed and fell asleep a little more at peace. I woke up to the scent of breakfast wafting its way to my bedroom from the kitchen. I woke up and freshened up before heading down to eat. When I reached the throne room, I found the girls eating pancakes while intently looking at the map. Applejack, Rainbow Dash, Rarity, Fluttershy, and even Starlight were silently watching the map with confusion, wonder, and bewilderment. the only one not looking at it was Pinkie Pie, who was gingerly eating her pancakes with a large smile as she chewed on the sweet goodness of Spike's pancakes. When I closed the distance and sat down, I decided to break the silence that was invading the room. "Morning girls. What's wro-" I followed their eyes along the Cutie Map and saw all of our cutie marks hovering over the map, specifically, over Canterlot. Another few minutes of silence passed and Rainbow Dash let out a groan of discomfort. "Can we go just one week without being sent off to who knows where to solve some friendship problem!?" Everyone simply looked at her with blank expressions. It was only then that I had noticed that our cutie marks were shining like they usually do whenever the map sends us on missions. "Oh, I don't think so darling." Rarity answered coyly. "Am I the only one who thinks that whatever that thing that we saw fly right into Canterlot is related to the friendship problem?" Applejack asked. This made us all look at each other for some hope of finding the answers written on our faces. Unfortunately, there were no answers to be had on our faces. "How long ago did the map show our cutie marks?" I asked, now my priorities shifting from getting food in my stomach to satiating my curiosity. Pinkie Pie had finished her pancakes and had been sitting quietly, listening to the conversation. "The map lit up just before you came here, actually. Also, I made you pancakes." Spike said, appearing from behind my chair with a stack of his trademark pancakes on a plate with utensils in one claw and a bottle of syrup in the other. He set the plate in front of me and sat down beside me. I looked down at the stack of pancakes and then back up at my friends. "Girls, can you be ready tomorrow to go to Canterlot?" I asked them. Rarity and Rainbow Dash nodded, Applejack looked directly at me along with Fluttershy and Rarity. Pinkie Pie was smiling, a lot wider than normal. She was also very quiet. she was rubbing her hooves together as if scheming something. "O' course Twi. I'll just let Granny Smith know so she can tell Big Mac and Applebloom to cover for me." She stated with a gentle smile. "I would have to go home and let my animals know that I'd be gone for a bit... but I can go if I'm needed." Fluttershy said with a mixture of nervousness and kindness in her voice. "I'll tell Sweetie Bell to stay with Applebloom at Sweet Apple Acres while we're in Canterlot. If we're going to Canterlot, I'll need time to have my things in order to meet our soon to be friend. One must always look at the very least presentable to make friends darling!" Rarity chimed in. Rainbow Dash sighed shortly after. "Welp, I really wasn't planning on doing much on my day off anyway, so I'll go." Rainbow Dash's answer had its annoyed tone turned into a more relaxed and cheeky one. I nodded before speaking. "Then it's settled. Tomorrow we'll take the train to Canterlot together at 10 am." The girls nodded happily and everyone went down on their breakfast, every now and again stopping to talk about the events of the Crystalling. When everypony finished, Applejack spoke up as she got up to leave. "Alright, I'm off to go tell Granny Smith of where we're goin' tomorrow. Take care girls!" In the same fashion, the girls left one by one until only spike and Starlight remained with me in the castle. "Twilight?" Starlight asked, who'd finished her pancakes a while ago, was walking next to me as we headed out to walk towards my study. "Yes?" I responded. "Is this how you girls normally do things? Like going on friendship missions, I mean." She asked with curiosity much like my own. "Yes, though there have been times when the map calls us when we're out of the castle. As for friendship missions, the map tends to only call one or two ponies at a time. The last time the map called all of us was for something bi- OH MY GOSH THE MAP CALLED YOU FOR YOUR FIRST FRIENDSHIP MISSION!!!" I nearly screamed in excitement as realization flushed over me. I hugged Starlight filled with joy. Moments like these were the ones that give me insight if how pinkie pie lives every day. We broke the hug and Starlight, though a bit shaken, was taking it well. "I wonder what it could be..." My pupil mused to herself. "What do you mean Starlight?" I asked. I already knew where she was going, but I wanted her to feel safe telling me what was on her mind. "Well, You've told me that the Cutie Map sends you and the Elements on friendship missions. And Applejack thinks that it has to do with whatever that thing was that flew straight into Canterlot. For all we know, the chance of it being something ponies are fighting over is just as likely of it being sompony that needs to learn about friendship. What I guess I'm trying to say is that, as far as I know, there's no way to know what the friendship problem actually is until we get there, is there?" She explained. I had stopped my questions earlier that morning and realized that I hadn't considered any of that. I nodded to her explanation before answering, which took me a few seconds. "That's true. However, the map has never failed to know who to send, when to send them and where. And If it called us all, then it probably means it will take all of us to solve the problem." Content with my answer, she smiled in satisfaction and we stayed quiet for the rest of the walk. We parted ways and headed to our respective rooms to pack for tomorrow. Entering my room, I saw the letter from last night that I wanted to send to Princess Celestia. I took it in my magic and read it over before crumpling it and getting a new parchment of paper to rewrite my letter. Dear Princess Celestia, Last night, me and my friends were celebrating Starlight's success in the Crystal Empire with a sleepover when we saw a portion of the sky over the Everfree forest explode like a shattered mirror and the thing that flew into Canterlot Mountain. This morning we woke up and found that the Cutie Map was sending all of us to Canterlot. Starlight believes that whatever it was that came from the sky is the reason we're being sent there. I'll be in Canterlot by tomorrow at noon. We were hoping we could stay in the palace while we sort this out. please let me know if there's anything you need us to do. Your faithful student, Twilight Sparkle. When I finished writing my letter. I went to look for spike so he could send it for me. //////////////Azazel///////////////// I woke up from my restless dream feeling weary. I wasn't sleepy, I just felt drained. I sat up on my bed and yawned as I shook the sleepiness off me. It was still dark out. There wasn't a clock in my room so I had no way of telling the time. I looked to my right and saw my bag, carefully seated against my bed on the floor. I picked it up and put it on my lap as I crossed my legs. I opened it and began to inspect the contents. The first thing I pulled out took me a bit to identify, but then I noticed it is a human femur bone. My eyes widened at this and I began to dig again. More and more bones came from within, along with a few colorful skulls. Upon closer inspection, I noticed something odd about the skulls. they had been engraved with writing in abyssal. I dug into the bag again and pulled out a somewhat large tome. I set it aside and for the first time, I peered straight into the bag. Dad told me that if I did, I'd see nothing. The runes that lined the inside of the bag would send the contents into a pocket dimension he made for that specific usage. Don't ask me how dad never explained it to me so I'm clueless. surely enough, I saw nothing. Confused, I took another look at the skulls, and I recognized the names engraved on their sides. "Mia, Trephor, Avalon, Anvari..." I read the four names aloud and my eyes began to water with tears of joy. These skulls belonged to the first few skeletons I ever raised from the dead. They had been my only friends in my younger years. To be fair, all undead I raise become an extension of what makes me, me. They were all me, in a way, yet they are their own creatures in my eyes, seeing as how they act with a relatively free will I grant them. The thing about the undead is that they require a supply of necrotic energy to keep them up and about like the living need food. What I would normally do would be to draw magic from the environment and use it to replenish my magical reserves while giving them a constant stream of energy if they stayed near me from said magical reserves. As I grew older, I got tired of constantly having to feed them my power, since ambient magic in our part of the woods was used to fuel the barrier that kept us safe. Even then there wasn't enough for me to keep them up and about for more than a few days at a time. But this world was rich in ambient magic, it was only at that moment that I realized the boost in power I got, compared to what I had at my disposal back at home at least. Normally, it would take me a full day to replenish the strength, considering I used magic along with my hellfire to break off my bonds earlier. So I got an idea. I got off my bed and put all the bones on it on the floor. then I flipped my bag upside down and out came the noisy clattering of many small and large bones. I immediately recognized who's bones belonged to who, as I would paint their bones so I could tell them apart when I was younger. Mia had many little yellow and blue flowers on her shoulder blades, arms, and legs. I painted Trephor completely green, every last digit was a grassy green with the exception of his jaw, I painted that brown. I remember I painted him like that because when I was first learning how to hunt with mom, I wanted him to accompany me, so I painted him green and brown so he could be "camouflaged". Avalon was painted a jet black with Red accents in his joints, shoulder blades, and teeth with the hope of making him look like a wraith. Dad didn't like it, but mom was thrilled to learn that I used hellfire to blacken the bones with soot. I made him so I could scare my dad while he was studying, and I got in trouble quite a few times because of it. Anvari was the smallest of the group, she had been a teenage she dwarf in life who died of physical abuse. My dad found her outside of Moonshine city, crying under a bridge with nothing but a blood-soaked rag on her. He put her out her misery when she told him that her mom and dad had abandoned her. I will never forget the way he looked at me when he gave me her cleaned remains. "Let it be a lesson to you Azazel. Your magic, your race, or how many things you may have don't define you. It is what you do with the power you have that defines you. And the ones responsible for this are the real monsters of this world. And I want this to stick with you for as long as you live. The day you do that to one of your kids or any innocent person for that matter, will be the day you just how cruel I can be. Understood?" He made me promise him I'd take care of her, so I have always made a point of protecting her above all my undead. She's the only one I gave a proper burial when I got tired of keeping her around. I also kept some clothes for her and the rest of my friends, though i lost track of where they went after the last time they were raised from their "eternal" slumber. Surely enough, they were in my bag and had flopped in a messy stack that lay next to the pile of bones. I closed my bag set it on the bed, silently thanking my dad for his foresight. It was still a bit heavy, so there were still more things in there. That would have to wait, I was going to get my childhood friends back. I stood to my feet and focused my power onto my right hand. It was enveloped in a combination of black and red flames that condensed into a sphere of necrotic energy just a few centimetres above my palm. When I felt I had enough of it pent up, I released the necrotic energy from my hand in a small explosion that made a noise similar to the movement of ghosts. When the blast of energy struck the bones, the dark flames were absorbed with a gentle swooshing sound. The bones shuddered for a bit before they rolled, tumbled and connected over each other into four complete humanoid skeletons. With a sound similar to a muffled bell, their eye sockets lit up with small wisps of a flame of a crimson hue. "Rise friends... and live once more!" With that, they rose and shook their heads, snapping out of some sort of daze. "Let's see if I can still do this..." I muttered to myself. I closed my eyes and began to focus on my creations. Soon enough, I could control the skeletons and ordered them to get dressed. All they had were similar white shirts with loose black pants with a rope belt that would go just over their pelvises. It took me a while to get hang of it again. I hadn't raised the dead in a while, much less controlled multiple bodies all at once. Several hours past and I was able to not only make the move somewhat realistically, but I had also managed to make them talk. I started with vowel sounds and moved to full words which then shifted into nonsensical "conversations." It wasn't easy, I had only done it once before and I had been practicing the spell for weeks so I could have them sing for mom on her 40,000ish birthday. I don't know how old she was exactly, but I do know she's somewhere around that number. When the sun rose, I managed to move from harmonizing with one skeleton at a time, to all of them with myself adding to the melody of a song I hum to myself whenever I worked or was studying. I made up the melody ages ago, but I've never been able to write lyrics for it. I had heard the guards outside my door commenting with fear over the singing, everyone and again I would stop the skeletons' performance to hear them shivering in their armor and repeating to themselves that they were getting paid triple for standing there and doing nothing. I also heard one utter something akin a prayer to Celestia, but I paid no mind to it and got back to work. The ambient magic in this world was enough for me to feed my creations without expending my own magic or strength. It was a skill I had perfected while, but I was a bit out of practice. I knew I would get my power back into full with enough practice, but one thing at a time for now. Now was the time for my undead quartet to perform for real. Just before I could command my skeletons to do anything, my door's lock clicked open and the door was flung open. The thing that caught me completely off guard wasn't the fact that my skeletons nearly trampled each other to get behind me and cower under my bed and behind me as I sat on the bed. It was Princess Luna with tired eyes and a WIDE grin on her face as she led her sister into my room. They sat down just shy of a few feet away from me and with her magic, Celestia shut the door behind her. Luna was looking like she about to explode with giddy anticipation. "Sister! This is what I told you about the singing undead!" Luna exclaimed cheerfully. Celestia was not at all impressed. As for me, there was a lot of internal screaming along with me trying to put the most neutral face possible. Celestia simply cocked her head to the side as she tried to look at Anvari, it was only then that I noticed that they were moving of their own volition. She was hiding behind my left-wing in an attempt to shield herself from the Alicorn's gaze. "Azazel, what are those things?" Celestia asked with a tone that implied that she already knew the answer and was asking out of courtesy. I swallowed before steeling my nerves and answering her. "Friends of mine." I wasn't lying. They were my only real companions for as long as I can remember. The only reason that I didn't have them these last few years was because of the lack of new things to do with them. Luna's smile shrunk, but only a little. "And who is that, if we may ask?" She asked, pointing a hoof at the skeleton standing behind me. I immediately commanded it in my mind to come before me, but it didn't move. I furled my eyebrows at this before standing up and turning around to see why Anvari wasn't obeying. She was slowly backing away, her ribs and jaw we're clattering together with what I could only describe as fear. It took me a bit to realize why she was doing that. The skeletons were controlled by my thoughts, which left emotional imprints on their bodies. Anvari was particularly receptive to my fear. And thus she trembled in fear while I simply stared in confusion. "It's ok, they're not gonna hurt you. Not while I'm here." I whispered to the scared skeleton. She looked at me with her red glowing "eyes". She hesitantly walked towards me and I picked her up like my mother would've picked me up when I was small. Turning around, the rest of my skeletons come out from under the bed. These took Celestia and Luna by surprise. Luna simply looked on in awe as the skeletons sat beside and behind me on the bed. Celestia looked at all of them. I can tell from her face that she wasn't expecting them to look the way they did. Even if she didn't know what species they belonged to, I could see she was caught off guard by their color schemes. She then focused on me, and the look she gave me said exactly I thought she thought with what I heard her say next. "I assume you killed these poor creatures and used their bodies to indulge in your musical performances?" Her tone was very passive-aggressive. I had never heard anyone speak to me or another like that, but I had read enough books and spoken with enough strangers to know that her accusation was something she condemned me of preemptively. I could tell she didn't trust me, and the kindness she had shown me the day before had occurred because she doubted I was even capable of what I claimed. This world seemed to have a lot of negative stigma towards necromancers, much like my old homeland. I sighed at the thought of explaining to her that I wasn't a genocidal monster. Unfortunately, I forgot what happens when you're magically linked to four undead skeletons who can speak one's thoughts involuntary. "He didn't kill us you uncultured swine!" Trephor spoke with a voice similar to my own, but with a posh accent. My eyes went wide at this as I froze in utter panic. Celestia and Luna were taken aback from this. Luna was just not expecting one of my skeletons to speak up, but Celestia's shock turned into a furious gaze. I had to remedy this NOW or I would not live to see another day. "Forgive me, your majesty! I can't control what they say or think!" I spat out as quickly and as respectfully as I could manage, shielding Trephor from Celestia's angry eyes with my wings. Luna picked up on what was happening and cut in to soothe her sister's rage. "Sister. Let him explain himself. I wish to know more about our guest before we make any hasty decisions." Luna implored her sister placing a hoof on her sister's shoulder. Celestia was staring daggers at me while she let out a frustrated sigh. "Very well. Explain to us why there are undead in our castle, how they came here and what you plan on doing with them." She spoke with raw mirth in her tone. Giving her an honest answer was the best option, but I wasn't going to let her off easy. I was a necromancer, yes, but so was my father. He never used his power to enslave and oppress others. his powers to obtain knowledge, punish those who abused their power and help those he cared about, his family. And I refused to be verbally beaten into fear. "The skeletons you see are a gift from my father. They are the bodies of murderers, thieves, and an abused child left to die...." I caressed Anvari's skull as she further buried herself in my arms. this gave me the strength to say more, and more I spoke. "I told you before. I don't have a taste for killing needlessly. Their souls and bodies are being put to better use than the one they had in life. I found their bones in my bag and wished to do something for me to remember my parents by. Something they loved." I never raised my voice, but I was very Stern with what I said. Celestia's anger had dwindled but her resolve remained strong. "And what gives you the right to determine whether or not the souls of others should be judged by you? That is a perversion of nature itself!" She declares believing she had cornered me. "And what gives you the right to determine what is natural and what is not? Especially in regards to life and death? Last I checked, you're a sun goddess. And every time the gods intervene in matters that don't concern their domain, Innocents and the really unlucky ones die." I countered with the same calmness as before. I was keeping my own anger in check, but skeletons' flaming dots were growing in intensity as I grew angrier at Celestia's ignorance. Celestia was livid, her elegant mane that once danced in a non-existent breeze, now flickered in what seemed to be rainbow-colored flames. Luna got in front of her sister, no longer able to sit idly by and watch us bicker. "Sister, Azazel speaks true. We cannot judge him like this. It is unfair and against everything this kingdom stands for." Luna objected to my defense. I was relieved to see that someone would listen to reason. What happened next caught me off guard and shook my very being. Celestia's furious stare shifted over to Luna. I could feel the betrayal she felt in her just by looking at the tears that were welling up in her eyes as she clenched her teeth in a vain attempt to keep herself under control. "Need I remind you that it was a necromancer who killed our parents!? A necromancer who threatened to destroy everything our father and mother had built! After we let him stay with us in OUR OWN HOME! I WON'T LET HISTORY REPEAT ITSELF! I REFUSE TO LOSE ANYPONY ELSE TO A MONSTER THAT INDULGES IN BLACK MAGIC!!!" Celestia had lost all semblance of control, and her horn flared with magic, readying herself to attack. Her adrenaline-fueled rage was the only thing keeping her from breaking down into a chasm I was all too familiar with. Loss. I could see it in her eyes as I watched the argument unfold. Luna got in between the both of us, and thanked her internally for saving from another blast of what I assumed would more holy fire to the face. "Celestia! Azazel is not like the monster that took our mother and father from us! He spoke truly when he said he does not take pleasure in taking the lives of Innocents! He's like us, Tia! That is why we must help him!" Luna protested gently but firmly placing her hoof on her sister's chest. After Luna set her hoof down without fear of the raging sun goddess, I had moved Anvari behind me and commanded my skeletons to be ready should I need a distraction to escape. "HELP HIM!? HOW COULD HE POSSIBLY KNOW WHAT WE'VE BEEN THROUGH!? WHAT I'VE BEEN THROUGH!?" Celestia cried as her wings flared outwards in a knee jerk reaction. I had to act fast, or this would escalate out of control. I won't lie, I was getting mad at something that I was all to familiar with. I have tried before to make strangers not fear me. But whether it's my dominion over undeath, or my demonic heritage, no one listens. They jump to conclusions and chalk up everything I say to nothing more than lies. My anger was slowly superseding my fear, and once I noticed it. I decided to use it how my mom and dad taught me to when these situations happened. Beat it into them with the cold truth, and if that doesn't work, abort. "Because my parents were killed by someone just like you." I said calmly. Celestia, though still distressed, was confused and slightly offended by my statement and pressed for answers with poison in her voice. "What are you talking about!?" She asked. "M̴y̶ ̸m̸o̵t̵h̷e̴r̵ ̵a̴n̶d̶ ̵f̷a̴t̸h̶e̴r̸ ̶d̷i̷e̷d̷ ̵t̴o̶ ̵s̴a̸v̶e̷ ̷m̵e̶ ̷f̸r̶o̶m̵ ̸a̸ ̶s̴u̸n̵ ̵g̶o̸d̵d̸e̶s̵s̷ ̴w̵h̵o̴ ̴s̵e̷n̴t̴ ̷s̶o̵l̸d̴i̶e̵r̴s̷ ̶t̷o̷ ̶m̴y̴ ̴h̸o̷m̵e̷ ̸w̶i̶t̷h̷ ̶t̸h̵e̴ ̵i̸n̴t̴e̸n̷t̷ ̷o̷f̴ ̴k̸i̵l̷l̶i̵n̷g̴ ̶m̷e̸ ̸a̶n̴d̷ ̶m̶y̶ ̶f̴a̶m̸i̶l̷y̵.̴ ̵T̷h̷e̴y̸ ̷a̴r̵e̸ ̵d̵e̸a̶d̴ ̴b̴e̶c̷a̷u̷s̶e̴ ̷o̴f̷ ̴s̶o̴m̴e̵o̸n̵e̷ ̵l̶i̸k̶e̶ ̷y̶o̷u̸.̶" (My mother and father died to save me from a sun goddess who sent soldiers to my home with the intent of killing me and my family. They are dead because of someone like you.) I stood up from the bed as I let my displeasure seep into my words. Luna backed away, ready to defend her sister should she need it, but willing to let me make my case unobstructed. I walked over to Celestia and stood right in her face, I didn't bother crouching to her level. I simply looked down at her with my fists clenched as I tried my best to stay calm enough to not tear her throat out. "I know the pain you feel. To lose those that you love the most... You can call me a monster all you like, but you are insulting my family and the magic they used to protect me. You don't know what I can do, and that scares you. Well let me tell you what I am not. W̸e̷l̶l̵ ̶l̸e̴t̵ ̶m̵e̸ ̷t̶e̵l̸l̵ ̸y̴o̶u̸ ̷w̸h̷a̸t̶ ̴I̶ ̸a̸m̷ ̶n̴o̵t̸.̷ I̸̟͑̆ͅ ̴̈́̿͒͜ą̶̣̀m̷̮̓͌̃ ̶̫͓͔͝͝n̶̨̓o̷̝͆ẗ̵̥̫̘́͌ ̸̦͈̑̀s̷̼̟̃o̸̡͕̿̈m̶̩̥̙͛e̵͔̕͠ ̷̧͎̤̆i̴̢̼͓̓n̵̗̈͠s̸̩̈́a̴̭̿͊͝n̵̡̢͝e̵͚̗̯͊̌̚,̴̟̈́ ̶̧̌̓g̶̯̉̾̀ẽ̸͔̯̦n̸̤̂o̴̢̜͈͊͐c̵̞̠̉i̸͇̒̀̃d̸͚̙̮̏a̴͎͕̰͋̒l̸̥̯͘ ̸̱̱͗̽̐m̶̪̑̑͆ạ̸̀n̵̗̲̈́ï̴̗̺̜̊̇ǎ̵͔̫c̶̪̪̮͊͗.̸͕̒ͅ ̴̪͆̑Ỉ̶̼͑͜ ̸̧͍͎̓ȧ̷̼m̶͎̹͔̋̒̅ ̶͙̓ṱ̵̝͘h̶̲̉̐ę̶͚̬͊͝ ̸̢͕͎͗̈́s̷͈͐̏o̵̲̒͐͆n̸͔̔ ̴̮̳̹̿õ̸͉f̶̡̠̦̆̎̕ ̷̼̂D̷̡̫͋̅ě̵̮̞a̶̰͚͉͌͠t̵͖̥͠h̷̡̪͠ ̵̢̚ą̸̳̍͐̂n̶̞̏͂͗d̵̼̈̅̚ ̸͈̓͊t̷͍̊͝h̴̖͑̀͘ȇ̸̠͍͈̐ ̵̗̫͒f̶̙̱̭̂̕o̷̭͘ŗ̸͛m̶͖̘̈́ę̵̩̯̌͊͝r̷͇̃ ̵̻͔̔Q̵̢̟͌͝u̶̡̹͋̉͂e̶̼̗͛e̸̼̓n̵̰̘̊͌̏ ̷̢͈̊o̶̯̓̏̽f̶̞̜̟̐̔ ̶̦̗̅t̶̢͘h̵̲̒͝ȩ̸̛̥̗͛͝ ̷̩̰͒n̴͈̆ï̷͓̳̞n̴̼̱̏̕e̴̗̓ͅ ̵̱̽ḫ̴̓̕͝e̸͚̝͈̿̒̿l̴̢̯̱̈l̸̗̽̕ŝ̷͉.̶̛̫̻͑͆ ̶͓̙̀̎Í̸͕͓f̴̧̄͋͝ ̶̢̭̟̆̚͠I̵̮͙͐̆͘ ̸͎͈̟̈́ŵ̶̢̱͔̽a̷͕̓̀̈́n̶͈̖̽̀t̷̠̔e̵̮͙̩͌̆̐d̸̜͉͖͐ ̵̻̰̘̈̒y̶͙̆ó̴̞̚u̶̟̅͐͗ ̶̹̍ǫ̷̮͠ŕ̷̞̂͠ ̴̢͎̌͐̚͜y̵̹̓͝ǫ̸̳̰͋ú̷̧̘̥r̴̳̚ ̴̠̈́̓i̴̪̼͖̔̀l̴̨̑k̴͖̣͓̕ ̵̛͈͇̣͘d̴̺̰̭̈́̅e̶̼̹̅͋͘a̵̯̦͐̎d̵̹͇́,̸̤̪̽́̀ ̵̮͕̀̓Ĭ̵̫̇͝ ̶̠̮̾͆̌ẅ̷̥́̌̈́o̷̤̹͌̿u̸̦͚͗͝l̸͉͘d̶̙̅͐͋'̸͓̣͑̆v̵̳̈́̊̔e̴̟̝̾̎ ̶̖̲̗̀͘a̵̝̒̂͛ľ̸̨͓̄̕͜r̶̟̪̦̿͋e̶͇̝͂̆́a̴̮͛ḍ̸͆̚y̵̱͝ ̷̳̘̓̀͋d̴̝̀o̸͎̰͚͋̈́n̸͎̖͌̕͝e̷̺̳͌͂ ̸̡͎͊̕ś̸̲̎o̷̡͇̽͒.̵̡̯̭̓̓͠ But I haven't, not because I believe it's a mercy I grant you, but because without a valid reason, I could not live with myself knowing I took the lives of the innocent." (Well let me tell you what I am not. I am not some insane, genocidal maniac. I am the son of Death and the former Queen of the nine hells. If I wanted you or your ilk dead, I would've already done so.) As I spoke, Celestia's anger was soon replaced with horror at the realization of what I was saying and what that implied for her. She looked down to the floor and silently shed painful tears as I stepped back and sat down on the bed. I drove in the final knife with a vengeance. Feeling the need for retribution being sated at the sight of her tears. "I won't let my anger consume me as it has you. B̸e̵c̵a̵u̴s̷e̵ ̶i̵f̵ ̴I̷ ̴d̶o̵,̴ ̷t̵h̸e̵ ̵m̸o̵n̷s̸t̵e̸r̷ ̶y̴o̵u̴'̵r̵e̸ ̵s̶o̷ ̵a̷f̵r̵a̴i̸d̴ ̷o̶f̵ ̷w̵i̵l̷l̴ ̸d̵o̴ ̷e̸x̵a̶c̵t̷l̵y̵ ̸w̵h̴a̸t̷ ̶y̶o̴u̸ ̴t̵h̸i̶n̶k̷ ̴i̴t̸̴ w̷i̴l̷l̵. D̵̝̜̈̊e̷̠̼̓s̸̢̺̊̔̀t̴̖̻̯͆̔r̸̥͒ǫ̴̺̙͐̂̏y̶̧̮̅i̸͚̬̔̎n̸̫͛͗̌g̸̮͉̃ ̶͙̊͗̌e̷͍͗ṽ̷̮̠͎̂è̸̳̓ͅr̴̭̝̄͂y̶̛̥͎̏t̴̛͇͚̆h̸̛͇̗̾̐i̸̟͇̕n̷̛̜͕͆̐ġ̸̨̺̉ ̷̯̲͖̒̚y̶̟̒̂̽ő̴͕̯̟̀û̵̱͖̺̓̔ ̷̝̈́́͜͝l̶̜͇̈́̐o̵̖͓͇͂̋̌v̷̹̟͇̅̓̌ẽ̴͙͓̀.̸̺̭͚̈́͝.̸̺̬̱̕.̷͖̟͗̓ ̶̮̞́ a̸n̴d̷ ̶t̶h̸e̶ ̷o̶n̷l̶y̴ ̸p̵e̴r̸s̵o̵n̴ ̸I̸'̸v̵e̴ ̷e̸v̴e̸r̴ ̷c̵o̴n̶s̸i̶d̴e̵r̸e̶d̸ ̷t̷o̵ ̵b̴e̴ ̶a̶ ̶t̷r̸u̶e̸ ̵f̷r̵i̷e̸n̵d̴.̴.̷.̶ Leave me be. I want no part with a deluded monarch who thinks they can tell me what I am or am not much less with anyone that thinks like you." (Because if I do, the monster you're so afraid of will do exactly what you think it will. Destroying everything you love... and the only person I've ever considered to be a true friend...) With that, I got up again and went for my things. I took the tome I had taken out earlier and placed it in my bag, and I commanded my skeletons to follow me and with that, I walked around Celestia and Luna, who had been holding her sister close to ease her quiet sobs. My heart sunk at the sight. Arguing with my parents, and dealing with those who would have my head and that of my family had taught me to defend myself verbally and to not be afraid of confrontation. Luna looked over to me with sadness in her eyes, she was pleading for forgiveness with her gaze. I gave her a kind smile before take a glance at her sister. Celestia's form shuddered as I could tell her sobs we're becoming more and more difficult to restrain, while Luna repaid my smile with one of her own and quickly returned to soothing her sister's crying. I left and began searching for a way out of the castle that didn't mean smashing through a window with my entourage. I would have to find the place where their dead would be buried, after that, I'd head to fields at the foot of the mountain and pick a direction from there. > Chapter 4. The past comes to haunt or heal us all > -------------------------------------------------------------------------- ////////////////Starlight Glimmer/////////////////// We had all packed our things and met at Ponyville's train station by 10. We arrived at Canterlot after a quick train ride, and by noon we made it to the palace. We even made bets during the ride as to what the problem could be about. As we were escorted to our rooms, we spoke with some of the guards and confirmed our initial suspicions. What slammed into Canterlot was, in fact, a living being. What really startled us was its physical description. It didn't sound like anything any of us had ever heard of. Before we could get more out of him, we reached the throne room. The doors were opened by guards who then stood at attention waiting for us to go in. The princesses were on their thrones. Luna smiled at us in her relaxed and caring manner; but despite her warm smile, Celestia seemed tired. This worried me a bit. "Thank you for coming girls." Celestia spoke in her distinctive maternal tone. She rose from her throne along with Luna and came down to greet us. I was the only one that really bowed out of respect for the diarchs, and since nopony paid any mind, I stood back on my hooves and simply let Twilight deal with the situation. Celestia had received Twilight with a warm hug using their wings. Once they parted, their exchange began. "Princess Celestia, did you read my letter?" Twilight asked, there was worry in her voice, but not enough to warrant panic. Celestia gave her a weary smile before answering her question. "I did Twilight. And... I think I know what your friendship problem is..." As she spoke, she looked down and away from us with guilt in her voice. Luna, who had been silently listening in to the conversation decided to speak up. She explained everything that had happened earlier that and the night prior. I have to admit, I was shocked to learn the creature had gone through so much in so little time and welcomed Luna's kindness willingly. and that's not even taking into account the fact that he is a necromancer. However, all of that paled in comparison to what happened earlier this morning. It seemed absurd that a monster that practices the dark arts of magic would handle the situation so calmly. The girls were tearing up at Luna's account of the creature and Celestia's discussion, but what made the dam of self-control keeping Celestia together was shattered when Luna spoke his last words to them. "...after that, he left the castle without incident. We figured that trying to make him stay would worsen the situation. We've had the guards monitor his every move and keep a distance to not provoke him. Everypony in Canterlot has been ordered to stay indoors until we can be certain he won't do anything." Luna finished as she stroked her older sister's back with her forehoof, who had calmed down enough to stop crying. The girls had were all reeling from the information they had just been given. Applejack, Rarity, and Twilight were all silently mauling through their minds trying to find the appropriate response. Fluttershy was still wiping her tears and sniffling every now and again from the sad story Luna told. Pinkie Pie was looking thoughtful, but if Rainbowdash has taught me anything is that one does not question Pinkie and not think too hard. Speaking of which, Rainbowdash looked livid. "When I see him. I'm gonna buck his butt all the way to Phillydelfia." She said through gritted teeth. The girls were all pulled from their respective trances and locked eyes with Rainbow. "WHAT!?" Twilight nearly shouted, horror visible on her face. "Who does he think he is!? Talking to the princesses like that, hm? It doesn't matter what he says he's been through! Nopony talks to the princess like that! Much less make her cry!" Rainbowdash valiantly expressed her indignation. Before Twilight could counter, Celestia raised a hoof to silence them and spoke up. "Girls, please. I... I need your help. I've made a terrible mistake. I've been burying my pain for so long, that seeing someone like him made me push away a potential friend away. Not only that, but I've forgotten what the elements of Harmony and this kingdom stand for..." Celestia stated dejectedly, tears beginning to well up in her eyes again. At this point, we had all moved closer to Celestia and the girls have her reassuring smiles. I just stood there in silence, watching every subtle movement the princesses and the girls made, taking mental notes of everything they did. "I know what I have to do but... I don't know if I have the strength to do it..." She confessed. "Princess, you won't do it alone. We will always stand with you when you need us. Elements or not, we will always be willing to help you. Just as you helped me find my friends and guided me to do what's right." Twilight reassured her with a hug. The girls all did the same, understanding what the princess needed. Her words filled me with a warmth I haven't felt in a long, long while. Seeing others you care about taking steps to better themselves. If this is what Twilight felt like when she helped me, I am going to really enjoy being her student, more than I already do, mind you. "Eeeyup!" Applejack chided. "Indeed!" Rarity chimed in. Pinkie and Fluttershy nodded, Pinkie doing so with greater intensity while giggling happily. "Group hugs are the best!!!" Pinkie gleefully added. Rainbowdash wore a determined look on her face and nodded in agreement. "We'll always stand by the princesses and for our friends!" She Proclaimed. To this Princess Celestia's grimace turned into a smile of pure joy. She guffawed a genuine laugh as she wrapped her wings around the girls and gave into their affection. Wiping the last of her tears, she chuckled a bit before letting us go. "Thank you girls, I'm really thankful for all of yo-" The tenderness of the moment was cut short as the doors to the throne room opened and an earth pony guard with a grey coat and a mint green mane came in with a hurried gallop. When he reached us, he bowed and awaited for acknowledgment from the princesses. "Ah, Lieutenant Trust. What are the whereabouts of our most recent guest?" Luna asked the guard. "The creature is currently making a slow beeline for Canterlot's mausoleum, just as you predicted. The skeletons that travel with him have not caused any damage, though they have caused the civilians in their homes to become distressed, your majesty." He answered her with the reverence and firmness of a loyal soldier. I hadn't really seen the royal guard up until I went to the Crystal Empire with the girls to see Sunburst, but the ones in Canterlot seemed a lot more... rigid than the ones in the Crystal Empire. Must have something to do with the different chain of command. "Good. Keep an eye on him and do not provoke him." She told the guard as he saluted and left us alone once again. Then I realized the implications of what that guard had just said. "A mausoleum!? You don't suppose he's going to raise an army of skeletons to attack Canterlot, is he!?" I pleaded, hoping for all that was good that she'd say no. To everypony's surprise, Luna laughed at my inquiry, and once she calmed down answered my question. "No, dear Starlight. Though I do think we should all go to see what he'll do. I don't believe I could give an explanation that gives a satisfactory description as to what he's capable of." She said with a giddy smile. To this, Celestia was taken aback, and that had us all somewhat concerned. With that, we made our way to Canterlot's "cemetery". Twilight explained that since Canterlot is the place where all the rich ponies of Equestria live, they don't bury their deceased in graves, instead, they are laid to rest in a beautiful mausoleum. When we got there, I was sure I would've marveled at the structure's beautiful architecture were it not for the ghastly sight of several not so dead skeletons of well-dressed ponies alongside bipedal skeletons of creatures I didn't recognize standing near the entrance. We stood just a few yards away from the main archway into the building's small front garden, simply watching the skeletons walk about and interact with each other as if they were still alive. What caught me off guard was that the bipedal ones were TALKING and some we're even SINGING with the pony ones in a melody I didn't recognize. It was as unnatural as it was bewitching to look at, and try as I might, I couldn't pry my eyes off the reanimated corpses. When I finally snapped out of my trance, I found Luna looking at the skeletons, as if assessing the situation with a fascinated gaze. Celestia looked uncomfortable and nervous, but I don't think it was the skeletons that were making her feel that way. The girls all had different reactions. Twilight was staring at them with morbid curiosity. She was also writing furiously on a sheet of parchment she must've carried in her saddlebags. Applejack was visibly disturbed, but she stood her ground. Fluttershy was shaking like a leaf behind Rainbowdash. Rainbowdash looked like she was about ready to obey her fight or flight instinct, she was on the ground in a fighting stance using her wings to further protect her friends. Pinkie Pie was giving me the impression that she wanted to run-up to the skeletons and give them a welcoming party or something of that nature. It took me a bit to find Rarity among the group, considering she had fainted at the sight of the walking dead and laid on the floor with a hoof dramatically over her eyes. When I turned my gaze back to the mausoleum, I froze at the sight of the thirty-ish skeletons looking right at us. The crimson spheres of fire that acted as pupils let us know what they were looking at. There was a silence that filled the air, even Twilight's quill writing against the parchment had stopped. It was then cut off by footsteps, powerful and heavy. I saw it walk out the mausoleum with another bipedal skeleton that was much smaller than the others that were already outside by its claw. The creature I had heard about only moments ago. It stood on its long hind dragon-like legs that had an old and worn out jet black robe, which held on to its waist with a metallic belt and many small, objects I couldn't make out due to our distance dangled from its waist along with what seemed to be a strange brown bag. It had a long red tail with a spear like Barb that vaguely reminded of Spike's tail. If you didn't count the anatomical mess that was its wings, it was easily a few hooves taller than Celestia. It's muscular arms and legs were covered in thick red scales. Its claws had five long digits that looked like they could tear through stone like it was nothing with brute force alone. The scales that covered the arms and legs ended just shy of its broad shoulders. Its torso was a pale creamy color with no discernable fur. It had scars all across its chiseled chest. My eyes moved to inspect its face, and I was perplexed with its features. Its face was flat, save for its small, pointy nose. It had no fur just like the rest of his body, save for the long and thick mane of dark brown hair it had that draped over its shoulders and down to its chest. It's two dark rad horns jutted upwards from it's forehead and curved back behind it's head to, only rise once more and add to it's impressive height. Its eyes... its eyes were a black so dark that seemed to drain all light that came near them. It had glowing red irises that cut through the black and slit reptilian pupils. Its face had a neutral expression as it walked out of the mausoleum with only a few steps and it began to look in our direction. At first, it seemed confused, but then it's eyes locked with Princess Celestia's and they narrowed. It looked at us with the gaze of a predator sizing up its prey. The skeletons that were on their haunches looking at us rose to their hooves and marched near the creature as if to defend it by forming a semicircular wall. I turned to look at the girls, and they were all as taken aback as they were scared. To say that I wasn't afraid would be an absolute lie. I turned in the other direction to see Luna walking towards the creature. I wanted to stop her, but my fear of the undead horde she was walking towards was keeping me rooted to my spot. She stopped just under the archway and began to speak. "Azazel, we mean you no harm. Please, tell the undead to stand down." She asked. The creature stayed quiet for a bit, its eyes darting onto all of us for a brief moment before answering in a voice that was deep and distinctly masculine. "I̷ ̸p̸r̵e̷s̵u̸m̵e̶ ̷t̴h̴e̸y̴ ̸a̷r̸e̴ ̷t̶h̸e̴ ̶E̸l̷e̵m̸e̵n̸t̶s̸ ̶o̶f̶ ̶H̵a̶r̵m̷o̵n̴y̵.̶ ̶T̸h̸e̶ ̶p̸r̸o̶t̶e̶c̶t̶o̸r̷s̴ ̵a̵n̶d̸ ̴h̴e̸r̵o̸e̸s̵ ̸o̸f̴ ̴t̷h̶i̶s̴ ̴l̶a̵n̸d̴.̸ ̵C̶o̴r̵r̵e̸c̴t̵?̴" (I presume they are the Elements of Harmony. The protectors and heroes of this land. Correct?) Its voice was... off somehow. Its tone was firm, with distrust in it's voice. "Yes, but they are not here to harm you. And neither are we." Luna said as she took several steps closer. The wall of undead reacted and huddled closer together, letting us know that Luna was not allowed to get any closer. "P̷r̷i̵n̷c̴e̷s̵s̸,̴ ̴I̷ ̵h̴a̶v̷e̷ ̵s̵e̵e̷n̴ ̴y̴o̴u̸r̶ ̴s̷o̴u̴l̶ ̶l̴a̸i̶d̴ ̵b̸a̸r̸e̷ ̵a̸n̵d̶ ̵y̶o̵u̸'̶v̷e̵ ̸p̴r̶o̸v̷e̵n̷ ̴t̴o̶ ̷b̵a̵r̷e̴ ̷m̶e̶ ̵n̵o̶ ̸i̸l̶l̸ ̵w̷i̸l̶l̵.̴ ̷I̵ ̵t̶r̴u̸s̶t̵ ̶y̴o̶u̶ ̴w̶i̵t̸h̶ ̴m̵y̴ ̸t̶h̸o̷u̵g̷h̸t̵s̶ ̶a̵n̶d̷ ̴m̶e̶m̸o̸r̵i̷e̴s̵.̶ ̵Y̸o̸u̴'̴v̷e̴ ̵s̵h̸o̵w̸n̵ ̵m̵e̶ ̸k̴i̵n̴d̵n̴e̵s̸s̵ ̵t̶h̷a̵t̸ ̸I̵ ̷h̷a̸v̶e̷ ̶n̸o̷ ̸w̵a̶y̴ ̸t̴o̵ ̷r̴e̴p̴a̴y̵,̷ ̵a̶n̷d̷ ̶f̶o̸r̵ ̵t̶h̷a̷t̶,̵ ̷I̸'̶m̷ ̶g̶r̴a̷t̸e̶f̶u̵l̵ ̵b̸e̷y̴o̶n̴d̴ ̷w̸h̷a̶t̶ ̸I̴'̶m̴ ̸c̴a̷p̴a̶b̵l̵e̵ ̵o̵f̶ ̵p̸u̵t̴t̴i̶n̸g̵ ̷i̴n̷t̷o̸ ̶w̷o̸r̵d̴s̶.̵ ̶B̶u̵t̷ ̶a̸f̵t̵e̷r̵ ̵w̶h̷a̴t̵ ̸h̴a̷p̷p̷e̸n̵e̶d̵ ̷t̴h̶i̵s̵ ̵m̴o̸r̷n̶i̴n̸g̸ ̸a̵n̵d̵ ̷t̴h̵e̷s̵e̸ ̸l̴a̵s̵t̸ ̵t̸w̶o̶ ̶d̵a̴y̵s̵ ̷I̸ ̵d̶o̶n̴'̶t̶ ̴t̵h̴i̶n̴k̸ ̵I̶ ̶c̶a̸n̶ ̴t̷r̷u̵s̸t̷ ̴y̷o̴u̷r̴ ̴s̶i̸s̸t̴e̸r̴ ̷o̶r̴ ̶t̵h̷o̵s̵e̷ ̴t̴h̶a̵t̶ ̷s̶e̴r̸v̶e̶ ̶u̸n̵d̴e̷r̸ ̷h̴e̴r̵.̴" (Princess, I have seen your soul laid bare and you've proven to bare me no ill will. I trust you with my thoughts and memories. You've shown me kindness that I have no way to repay, and for that, I'm grateful beyond what I'm capable of putting into words. But after what happened this morning and these last two days I don't think I can trust your sister or those that serve under her.) He said, picking up the smaller skeleton next to him, which proceeded to nuzzle its skull under his chin. It would've been endearing in its own creepy... undead way, were it not for the circumstances we were in. Celestia had been steeling herself while all of this was happening and after the creature's last comment, she walked beside her sister with a determined look on her face. The creature visibly tensed at this, baring its sharp dagger-like teeth wrapping its claws in a defensive manner around the little skeleton in its arms and spreading it's strange, inverted, draconic wings to make itself look bigger. It's small skeletal army stomped their feet in unison as they prepared for what they expected was a battle. Celestia noticed this and took a small step back in apprehension. Luna looked at her sister with a look that said: "You've got this!" The Solar Diarch took a deep breath before speaking. "Azazel, I was wrong. I was wrong for comparing you to the monsters of our world. I made the mistake of hurting you out of misplaced fear and ignorance. I didn't take the chance to befriend you and instead have driven you away because I've been too self-absorbed to see that I still have flaws I need to fix. In the millennia I've lived, I've learned much; yet I still have much to learn. And right now, I want to make up for my mistakes. I wish to start again with you. To show you the power of friendship and the wonders it has done for my little ponies. And hopefully, I wish to heal alongside you the wounds that others have inflicted on us." Celestia's small speech had made all fear within me vanish as I was filled with a mixture of excitement, energy, and joy. I was finally going to see the result of my first friendship mission unfold before me! Unfortunately, my excitement was snuffed out as another obscenely long moment of silence passed. Then the army of skeletons parted and made a path between it and Celestia. It set the little skeleton down on the ground and pointed at one of the bipedal ones with it's claw, one who I had just noticed had little flowers drawn onto its bones, and the little undead walked over to the flower-themed one and was picked up by it. The creature walked up to Celestia, never taking it's black and red eyes off of her as his unyielding focus. It got close enough to hunch down to her eye level. It then spoke in a whisper that I almost didn't catch, were it not for its ghastly voice. "I̵̛̘ ̶̾ͅw̵͖̐i̶͠ͅl̷͚̈l̵͙̈́ ̷̬̓g̸̢̑i̴̛͍v̵͔̾e̶̥͐ ̴̤͝ỵ̶͂o̸̳͗ṵ̴̐ ̷͖̚t̴̜͝ȟ̷̟è̷̺ ̵̼̊c̷̝̏h̷̗͊a̶̛̮n̴̡̈c̴͕̓ȅ̸͎ ̶̧͆t̵̰͛o̵͓̓ ̴̪̽p̸̧͗r̶̰̚ő̸̥v̶̦̽e̵̙̋ ̸̫̆ť̶̬h̷͇̎a̷̮͝t̴͇͝ ̶̘̌ÿ̸̥́o̴̟̕ù̴͔r̶̟͊ ̶̭͝f̸̤̐ŗ̴̏i̷̦̅ẽ̸͜ṋ̶̀ḍ̸́s̵̺̈h̸̯̀ị̵̇p̶͈̐ ̶̠̄i̶̻͂s̴̎͜ ̶̠̾w̸͍͐ò̵̧r̸͕̀t̸̨͐h̸̯͐ ̴̡̽t̵͈̃h̵͎͋ě̷̘ ̵̥̂r̴̛̫ȉ̸͔s̷͓͋k̴͖̈ŝ̷͓ ̷̟̈́İ̸ͅ'̸̓͜m̴͇̈́ ̵̢̄t̴̖͠a̷̺͝k̸͈̀i̸͒ͅn̸̢͊g̸͇̕,̷̫̆ ̸̻̒ạ̶̏g̷̺̅à̸̖ǐ̸̡n̴̙̈s̸̗̀t̶̢̓ ̵͔̅m̶̢̆y̷̔ͅ ̷̰͋b̷̹̾ė̸̻ṭ̶͠t̴͎͌ë̵͙r̸͙̽ ̷͓̈́j̵̩͠ů̸͚d̷̤͑g̸͙̃m̶̲͑ę̵̔n̷͉͆t̸̹̋ ̵͉̔a̵̡̓n̶̹͑ḓ̶̄ ̸̼͌m̵̮̚y̷̛̹ ̸̧̛f̴͎̔a̷̜̓ţ̴̄h̵͕̚e̷̟̎r̶̰̋'̷͉̓s̵͖̒ ̴̫͗w̶̭̃i̵̛̲s̴̰̃ĥ̸ͅe̴͈͑ş̵͘.̸̹̈́ ̴̪̕D̴̲͊ơ̷̱ṋ̵͝'̷̺͠t̷͍̽ ̷͕͝ȇ̵͔v̶̘͑e̵̝͑r̷̝̂ ̵̗͝m̴͌ͅa̵͚͘k̶̬͗e̷̗͗ ̶͙̓m̷̞̈́ě̸͙ ̸̝̀r̵̭͆e̶̩̎g̵͕̓r̸̡͠e̸̻͐t̴̳͗ ̷̡̀t̶̜͑h̴̑ͅí̷͔ṣ̸̀ ̸̡̄d̶̙͒e̴̬͒c̴͈̉i̴͚̎s̴͉̅i̶̺̓o̷̠͌n̵͕͋,̷͙͑ ̷̱͝C̵̖̆e̵̖̋l̸̤̏ȩ̵̓ś̷̤t̷̫̐ĭ̶͇a̸̖͠.̶̞̾ ̶̠͋B̵͖̀ḛ̴̄c̵̫͂a̸͈̅u̵̹͆s̴͚͂e̸͙͌ ̸̞͊i̷̲͠f̷̫͝ ̶̼͝t̵͇͐h̸̰̋i̶̹̅s̵͖͌ ̵̫͊i̴͈͗s̷̫̽ ̶͎̎s̸̛͎o̴͔͗m̶̟͗e̸̹̚ ̴̙̓t̶̰́r̶̰͒i̷͚̇c̵̟̀k̶͔̏ ̸̯́f̸̟͠ŏ̶͕r̸̘̾ ̶̬̔y̴̧͛o̴̜̓ü̶̞ ̵͖͠t̴͖̓ô̸͍ ̶̥͌l̸̛͖ă̵̗ṱ̴̍e̶̤͛ṙ̴͍ ̴̳̉k̵̪̃ḭ̴͘ľ̶̩l̸̡̓ ̷͍̓m̷͎̌ê̸̱ ̷͕̀á̴̜n̸͈͘d̶̦̍ ̵̛̬I̷̢͠ ̵̠̄s̷̛͎ǘ̴̫r̵̩̈́v̷̰̑í̶̠v̴̼̄e̴̼͆,̶͍̉ ̸͈̉ṅ̶̮o̴̺̾t̸̘͗ ̵̬͘é̶̬v̸̞̀e̴̚ͅn̶̳̍ ̷̱̾ȳ̷̨o̵̧̊u̴̠̾r̷̳͑ ̸͓̋ṡ̶̝i̶͍̋ś̷̱t̵͗ͅé̶̘r̷̳̄ ̷̧̇w̷̙̆i̴̯̅l̸̲͝l̴̠̑ ̷̧̆b̷͕͑e̴̞̓ ̵̳̕ș̸͒p̵̛ͅa̸̻̍r̸̳̒e̵̙͝d̸͕̍ ̶͇́f̵̝̈r̵͙̒ọ̷̀m̸̲͆ ̶̞̊m̸͎̊y̷̖͌ ̷̻͂w̶͉͊ṛ̴̾a̵͔̅t̶̮̆h̵̳́,̷͓̈́ ̶͓̇a̷̧̐n̸̝̅d̶͚͘ ̸̺͂ÿ̴̱́ō̷̩u̶̞͝ ̸̬̉w̸͓̒i̵̞̒l̸͆͜l̷͓̂ ̴͕̑ș̴̈́ṷ̶̕f̵̖̔f̵̮͠ȅ̴̢r̸̰̍ ̷̨̚m̸̳̾ȍ̶̮r̸̜̆ē̶̲ ̵̲̈́ț̸̄h̷̗̉a̴̲͌ñ̴̟ ̴̖̍a̴̧̐ṇ̴͐y̴̦͒o̴͛ͅṋ̸̈ē̷̲.̸͍͘ ̶͚͒Ị̸̓ ̵͔̅w̴͙͋ĭ̴̩l̵̡̉l̵͚̑ ̴̯͝r̶̼̀e̵͈̚d̴̪͋ų̴̂c̵̾͜e̵̬̓ ̶̝̈́ŷ̶̹ǫ̵̍u̶̲̎r̴̬̐ ̸̪̍ṋ̶̄a̵̱͐t̷̳̒ȉ̴̝o̴̧̅n̷̜̿ ̴̗̈t̴̪͌o̴̭̒ ̶̠͠a̸̙͒s̴̕ͅh̵͍͂,̴̳͛ ̶̜͊å̸͉ņ̴̅d̷̪͐ ̸̺̒k̷̥͝ȅ̷̥e̸͉̅p̷̛͍ ̷͙̃y̴̭͘o̶͖̕u̶̡̾ ̵̨̾a̴̫̐l̴̹͆ị̵̏v̴̭̓e̷̩͆ ̶̪̂l̴̮̀o̵̯͌n̴̺̍ǵ̵͇ ̵͔̕ḙ̵̐n̸̩̍o̵̗̐u̸͚͑g̶̝͂h̸̙̾ ̵̡̌t̶̙̿o̷̗̒ ̵̤̂h̷͇̏ë̶̟́a̷͔̔r̷̹̈́ ̶̙̅t̷͕̚h̵̥̐e̴̪͘ ̵̯̒c̸̭̒r̵̘̔į̸͗ȇ̴͉s̷͔̎ ̶͖͘ọ̶̓f̴̺̀ ̸̬̊y̶̰̕ǫ̷̒u̷̯̍r̶͉͂ ̵̝̆s̷̤͗ú̸͖b̴̫͒j̴̝̎ĕ̸̘č̸̮t̴̝͂s̶̥͝ ̷̘͋f̵̯̈́ō̵͜ṙ̴̝ ̵̥͑h̸̳̿e̶̫̓l̵̨̾p̶͉͘ ̸̹́b̵̭̊ȅ̴̪ ̶̳̑h̴̬̊e̷̗̾à̷͜r̷͙͐d̴̤͑ ̶͙̆b̶̘̊ỳ̸͓ ̶̤̍a̵̰̒l̴͖̋ľ̵̤ ̴̤̃a̷̲͗n̷̹̒d̶̻̐ ̷͙̋s̵̢͆a̴̟̿v̵̪͛e̵̲̅ḏ̵̅ ̸͔̊b̶͇̈́y̴̩̿ ̸̯̿n̴̪̍ŏ̷͓ ̸̧̛o̸͓͐n̴̨̈e̸̹͋.̴͙̈́" (I will give you the chance to prove that your friendship is worth the risks I'm taking, against my better judgment and my father's wishes. Don't ever make me regret this decision, Celestia. Because if this is some trick for you to later kill me and I survive, not even your sister will be spared from my wrath. You will suffer more than anyone. I will reduce your nation to ash, and keep you alive long enough to hear the cries of your subjects for help be heard by all and saved by no one.) Celestia's resolve didn't falter, but this creature's threat was making me shake like a leaf in fear as he seemed more than willing to make good on his word. When it finished talking, Celestia nodded. Luna then placed a hoof on Celestia's shoulder before speaking up. "She won't fail, my sister is more than capable of atoning for her mistakes." She gave him a friendly smile. To this, he looked at Celestia, then at us. "For her sake... I hope you're right." He said, pressing his longest digit against his shortest and then applying enough force to cause them to slide off each other; the latter hitting his palm with a snapping sound. The miniature army of undead regrouped and marched forward, stopping just behind him. "I believe introductions are in order." It said to Luna, pointing at us with his claw. She gave him a kind smile and walked over to us with him in tow. //////////////Azazel/////////////// I can't say that meeting the heroes of this colorful world was totally unpleasant, though I do wish that pink menace would keep her distance from me. Her soul is a blinding well of raw emotional energy that makes my head hurt. Levels of joy should not exist at such an extreme. There's something odd about all of them, each having some distinct trait in their souls. I couldn't put my finger on it, but for now, those are questions I could dig into later; considering I was being offered my old stead back if I cooperated. I'll have to find some way of repaying the princess of the moon. After I was introduced to them, we began our trek back to the palace of the of the princesses. Celestia didn't speak to me the entirety of the way, and honestly, I think it was for the best. I wasn't feeling very talkative with her anyway. The lavender pony, the alleged princess of friendship surprised me with her curiosity. Most of her questions had to do with my magical skills. I lied to her and told her that the army I had raised was the extent of my power, though I have raised an entire town's worth of dead before. It was mostly to provide me and dad an escape from an angry mob of lizardfolk. A story I was in no mood to talk about. "So... where are you from?" She asked. "I do not come from this world. I use to live in the Ursan forest, West of Moonshine city in the Solarian Empire. With my mother and father..." I replied, always looking forward. Fortunately, she picked up on my discomfort of the topic and stayed quiet. I noticed out of the corner of my eye that the sky blue pegasus mare with the rainbow mane was... apprehensive to say the least. She was clearly upset at something, and judging by the way her soul burned with mild anger I knew she didn't like me. I really didn't care then, nor do I now what she thought of me. So long as she kept to herself, I would not bother her. The pink one had tried to get Anvari's attention for about twenty minutes, and had only succeeded in overwhelming her instead. "Is your little skeleton afraid of me? Does it have a name? Does it like balloons? What about cupcakes? Can it eat them without a stomach?" Those were only some of the questions I could make out from it's rapid-fire barrage of questions, all while completely oblivious to my increasing annoyance. "Anvari, much like the rest of my creations, are manifestations of my emotions, given sentience. She's easily startled. Try being quiet and let her come to you." I said in hopes of making her obnoxiously loud and cheerful voice be silent, if only for a few moments. I gently set Anvari down on the ground and made her walk between me and the pink pony. Anvari was mortified at first,but after a bit of walking and the pink pony being a little less overwhelming, she mustered the strength to give her a hug, and rode on the pink equine for the remainder of the trip. Seeing as the pink one spoke to Anvari in a much quieter to r to not scare her, I let out a sigh in relief and kept walking. The orange one with a farmer's hat broke the beautiful silence that all to little. "Ah must say, yer not at all what I was expecting." She said, sounding like the farmer she claimed to be. This bothered me a bit, but instead of throwing a fit like a child, I decided to use my words. "And what exactly you were expecting? Applejack, was it?" I asked with that tinge of discomfort I felt earlier as I slowed my pace to walk beside her. "Ah don't mean to be rude, Azah-zel. Ah was half expecting you to be cranky and unreasonable with what had happened between you and the princess this mornin'. Ah'm mighty sorry for bein' so judgy." Her words weren't the only thing that surprised me. For starters, my name sounded strange to me with her accent. Second, she spoke with a bit of guilt and an oddly, friendly tone, she also held a small smile as she spoke to me. What really caught me off guard was her soul energy. When I first saw her, I was confused as to why her soul was obscured by foreign soul energy, and now I realized that it's source was her hat. There was something surrounding her form like a shield. It was only then that I realized, I had stopped dead in my tracks as I was fixated on her hat. As I pried my eyes off her, I saw everyone had stopped and were now looking at me. We had finally reached the castle, and the guards standing watch at the main entrance were giving me those looks of forced resolve and fear I was getting accustomed to seeing. "Apology accepted. Remind me to ask you something later... When there are less eyes staring at us." I stated, walking past the bewildered mare and around the princesses. The guards were too terrified to open the twin doors for me and my army of the undead, so I got on one knee and opened my bag. I searched inside for a bit and pulled a brown jar with my sigil on it. I opened it to find it was pitch black inside and got an idea. I whistled a comand for my army to get inside, and surely enough my troops obeyed. The skeletons were engulfed in black and red flames before collecting as a massive swirling vortex of fire that was promptly sucked into the jar. The only ones I left outside were Anvari, Trephor, Avalon, and Mia; half of which walked over to me and stood as my bodyguards. Anvari remained on Pinkie's back, and Mia stood besides Luna. When my display of magic ended, I absent-mindedly close the jar, put it back into my bag, opened the large doors myself and began retracing my steps back to my quarters; leaving a pair of princesses and seven mares wide eyed and dumbfounded behind me. As I entered the room I gazed through Mia's eyes to see what was the status of the mares that didn't immediately follow me. "Wh-... What... just happened?" A confused alabaster unicorn with a pristine purple mane asked at her friends. As I made my way through the halls, I sense Mia turn to the shocked mares and speak in her gentle, feminine voice. "A desintigration spell on the skeletons to move and fit them into a soul jar, clever. Wouldn't you agree?" She finished. Luna looked at her in milder confusion than before, though the same could not be said for the rest. Mia looked at the ponies staring at her and shrugged. "Just me then? Alright, let's go inside. Azazel must already be waiting for us at his room, should you still wish to speak with him." And with that, Mia began her casual stroll back into the castle and following my steps back to the room I had slept in the night before. Pinkie Pie, with Anvari riding her like a knight charging into battle, raced after Mia and the "Mane 6", as Twilight called her group of friends followed my skeletal friend. Upon reaching my room, The girls found me sitting on my bed, arms resting on my thighs, fingers intertwining my hands looking at the floor. I had been preparing responses for whatever else they wanted to ask of me, though I was hoping they would just leave me be for the evening. I heard a knock on my door and I motion Avalon to open. He walked to the door and opened it slightly to find Anvari on Pinki Pie's Applejack and the rainbow maned pony who's name I can't remember standing at the door. Avalon opened up the door completely and let the bouncing pink menace in with Anvari giggling happily. Anvari was the quietest of my skeletons. She rarely spoke or made any form of noise, and hearing her be happy like that made me reconsider how I viewed the pink personification of euphoric innocence. She set Anvari down in front of me with a gentle hug. "If you ever come to Ponyville, I'll throw you a party with all the balloons you want! Ok Vari?" She asked my small friend. Anvari simply nodded excitedly and wrapped her boney arms around Pinkie in another hug. Upon letting go, she smiled at me with an infectious grin. I'll be damned, she truly is the element of laughter. As this happened, Applejack entered the room and waited patiently with her cranky companion sitting impatiently as Pinkie gave her thanks and left in the same joyful leaps and bounds with which she came in. Before The farmer could speak, the cyan one bolted and stopped right in my face. Her huge magenta eyes and her warm breath were the only thing she was letting me take in as she began her threat. "Ok, listen up buster! I don't know who you are, much less do I care what you say you've been through, but I'm going to make this crystal clear for you! I don't like the way you talked to the princess! And if you even think of laying a hoof on the princess or on my friends, You're gonna be in for a world of hurt! Ya got that?!" She was borderline screaming at my face, and it took every last ounce of willpower to tear her apart right then and there. The thing that really angered me, was Anvari's fear. When this blue imbecile began her pathetic rambling, she startled Anvari so much that she was whimpering in my arms and shaking like a leaf. I could ignore her staring daggers at me, I could even handle her threat without incident. But scaring the undeath out of my father's most precious gift to me... No, for this... She would know the true meaning of fear. I stared back at her, letting her know I was not afraid. I let Anvari go and she promptly ran to Trephor, who had been sitting behind me in silence. "I̷'̷l̸l̷ ̷p̴r̶e̴t̷e̵n̷d̸ ̶y̶o̶u̸ ̷d̵i̷d̴n̵'̸t̶ ̶j̶u̵s̶t̸ ̷t̷h̸r̶e̴a̶t̶e̸n̷ ̶m̵e̷ ̵a̷n̷d̵ ̷g̸i̶v̸e̴ ̶a̵ ̶w̶a̴r̷n̵i̷n̵g̶ ̶o̸f̸ ̸m̷y̸ ̸o̴w̴n̵." (I'll pretend you didn't just threaten me and give a warning of my own.) I stood up, flared my wings, and grabbed her by her neck. I stared into her with all the hatred I had buried whithin me. The hate for Deus Vult, the hate for Solaris, the hate for her. Without even thinking about it consciously, I cast formidinis aura, a fear spell to make it as clear as possible that I was not going to take anyone's bullshit. Now now. "Į̵͊ ̵͓͝ŵ̴͓i̷̞͗l̷̫̊ḽ̷̍ ̸͉̍e̴̢̓x̵̢͘c̶͍̔ṷ̴̈́s̴̝̓ẻ̴̝ ̴̩̊y̵̔͜ö̵̬́ǔ̴̩ ̸̜̚t̴̯̂h̶͈͆i̴̺̕ṡ̶͕ ̵͜͝o̴̩͛n̷̙͂c̶̻̋e̶̥͆ ̸̣̌f̸̮͊o̵̥̊r̷͇͗ ̶̹̚ṯ̴̽h̵̥̔e̷̬̿ ̷̙̉s̸̈͜á̷̻k̸̦͝e̷̯͛ ̸͕̽ȏ̷ͅf̵̳̏ ̶̲̀m̵̝͐ḁ̵͂i̸͍͂n̷̪̎t̶̜͝a̸̪͗i̷͍̒n̷̲̏i̷̝͋n̶̞͘g̷̥̈́ ̴͙͐m̸̛͚y̵͇̕ ̷͍͘f̶̖͐r̵͖͌i̶͚̕e̵̪̓n̸̩͝d̴͈̈́s̴͎͋ȟ̴̤i̸̪̽p̵̡̈ ̸̲̎w̸̫̋ì̵̜ṯ̸̃ḧ̵́͜ ̷̬̐t̷͚̐h̴͈̆e̴̗̅ ̷̯́p̸̱̍r̴̗̋i̴͉͛n̶̲̓c̵̢̎e̸̪̐s̸͙͝s̵͉̊è̴̻s̵̳͂.̸̹̈́.̴̦̎.̵̣͛ ̷̞̏B̵̭̾u̷͍̿t̴͔̽ ̶̞̂m̸̢̓a̷̻͐r̸̜͠k̴̼̿ ̸̧̎m̶͉̉y̶̆ͅ ̸̡͝ẃ̸̖ö̶͍́r̷̖͛d̴͉͑ŝ̴͎ ̵̫̀y̸̰̅o̴̺͒u̴̪̓ ̵̹̈P̵̻͊A̴͙̋T̵͇̒H̴͉̎Ė̷̡T̸͚̈I̸̝̅C̴͎̎ ̸̻́è̴̼x̸̙͋c̸̹̈ṵ̶͋s̶̘̄e̵̦͠ ̴͎͂f̵͖͐o̸͇͛ṙ̷̟ ̵̬͒à̷̹ ̴̫̚p̴̩̏ē̴͕g̶͉̎a̸̮͗s̵̘͒ų̸͝s̵̢͘.̵̠͝.̷̤̄.̷̠͘ ̴͈̿T̶̞̒h̴̞͠ṙ̵̬ë̵͖́a̶̠͠t̸͙͗e̷̓ͅn̸̠͠ ̶̭͠m̴͉̊ě̸̝ ̵̞̑ą̸͝g̸̪̐a̵̬̍i̵͕͗n̸͈̕,̴̖͑ ̶͍̽ä̷̢́n̸̼̑d̵̗͝ ̴̠̔Ì̷͎ ̴̣̅s̶͙͝ẁ̷͈e̷̪͊a̶̖̾r̴͇͘ ̶͇̆ṱ̷͝o̴̲̾ ̴̣̽ỷ̸͈o̵̥͒ù̶͈ ̷̪̅o̷̠͆n̴͕͛ ̶̗́m̴̥͋y̷͉̿ ̷̦̏m̵͆ͅo̴͉͠t̵̬̿h̸͓́ė̵ͅr̸͙̾ ̶̭̓a̸̤͘ṋ̶̈́d̸͕̎ ̴̜̒F̵͕̃ä̷̯́t̸̨̊h̸͍̎e̶̜͂r̶̻̋'̴̲̚s̸̭̉ ̶̟̅l̷̡̕i̸̹͒v̶͖̈́e̸̺͘s̷͖̉ T̸̤̗̾̑͋Ḩ̶̰̖͍̋̏Ǎ̸̘͚̃̈́T̷̬̠͂̊̎̄ ̵̬͍͙̈I̴̧͚̹̲͊̉͛͝ ̵̐̒̑͜W̶̢̞͌͛͂͝ͅI̴̛̼̓L̶̅ͅL̷͚͂́̌̀ ̸̠͍̳̇͝R̴͖͖͉͇̒̅̑Ó̸̢̦̼B̶̛͓̓̓ ̷̯̳̩͛̑͐̕͜Y̵̨̤̥͙͌O̴̬̼̠̒͛́Ṷ̴̟͒̃͊̀ ̸̡̌̀̈́̍ͅǏ̷̤F̵̮͋̇̀ ̷̯͍͆E̷̬̳̓V̸͇̌̽̊͝E̶̺͒̾͘̚ͅR̷͉̲̯̭̀Y̷̛̺̹͘T̵͍͆̅̎H̷̡̹͌I̴̱͌̒̋͝N̸̯͓̯̂̽̕G̴̮͑͘ ̸͎̤͍͇̾Y̷̧̽̚͜O̶̱͆͝U̷̩̹̗̿͋͝͝ ̴̟̝͌͗͜͠L̶̡̛̺̃͗͜͝O̷͖̦͊͠V̷̥̲̻͒͜͝Ȩ̸̙̙͈̈́̂́͘ ̵̯̙̕A̵͇̲͆̽̌ͅN̶̮̹͖͊͗̉̓Ḏ̸̯̈ ̸̠̯̗̍͒̎͛M̴̖̀̋A̸͍̓͆̕͝K̴̛̠͙͠Ẹ̴̭͋ ̸̼̱͇̭̓̐̍Y̴͇͆O̷͈̓̇̀̌͜Ǔ̷̗̋̃ ̷̢̗̙̼͒B̸͈́̀̿̀E̵̛̘͍͔͇Ĝ̴̯ ̵̛̠̜̦͝F̷̬̗͗̈́̕Ờ̴̢̹̓R̴̰͙̒̀͠ ̴̖͓̉̎D̶̰̳̱̾̊͋̋E̵̪͗A̸̢̿̚T̷̹̝́̔̚Ḧ̵̠̟̽ͅ!̴̙̠̌!̶͙͓͌!̸̨̪̰̀̂͂" (I will excuse you this once for the sake of maintaining my friendship with the princesses... But mark my words you PATHETIC excuse for a pegasus... Threaten me again, and I swear to you on my mother and father's graves THAT I WILL ROB YOU OF EVERYTHING YOU LOVE AND MAKE YOU BEG FOR DEATH!!!) I was struggling to keep myself from crushing her neck. When I finished, I finally calmed down enough to notice that she was crying from the lack of oxygen and absolute terror. I let her go the moment I noticed this and simply stared daggers at her shivering form. If this is what dad had to deal with when he went out alone, it's no wonder he only took me out when the number of people we would interact with would be close to nothing. Dealing with ignorant creatures sucks to no end, especially when you can't just kill those that infuriate you. Applejack, who had been scared half to death for her friend, gently pulled her away from me by biting down on the multicoloured tail of her catatonic friend after I let her shivering body fall on the floor. "Rainbow, can ya give me a minute with... uh..." She looked at me with a look that took me a bit to register. She was confused as to what my name was, but was scared of making me angrier than what I already was. "Ȃ̷̫z̴̡̏å̷̙z̵͔̽è̸̲l̸̼͝" (Azazel.) I finished for her, albeit with the anger that I was trying suppress. "R-right, Uh-zay-zel..." She pronounced my name funny, but I wasn't about to correct her when she was being so compliant and helpful in removing the source of my hate fueled anger from the room. Avalon had opened the door and had dragged the object of my ire clear of the entrance before closing the door a little too hard. "Ya wanted to talk to me Azazel?..." She spoke in a nervous tone. I assumed it was the fact that her friend had been removed from the room in the manner that she had been. This land and it's culture revolved solely around friendship and harmony, so individual creatures must feel vulnerable and defenseless when presented with something threatening such as myself. I took a moment to take deep breaths and calm myself toa more agreeable level before replying. I looked at her with the most relaxed look I could manage to counteract my hostile appearance. "Applejack... I know we've only known each other for about an hour, but I wish to ask you a few things before the you head back to your friends." I explained, my voice finally returning to normal. "Well, ah don't see why not. Ah am a little curious as to why you'd want to talk to meh privately." She replied, her nerves lessened slightly as Avalon walked back into view. I silently ordered him to lie down on the bed behind me while I picked up Anvari and sat her down on my lap. It took me a bit to answer her, mainly because I had to reassure myself that she wasn't a threat. "I was a little skeptical when I was introduced to you and your friends. I don't have a pleasant history with the heroes of my land and I still have my doubts now with you and your princess of the sun. However that may be, that is not why I asked for you to speak with me in private." I stopped for a moment to think of how to best explain it to her. The "dark" arts aren't welcome in this land if Celestia's outburst this morning was anything to go by. I sighed and decided to voice my theory as it was, along with a question. "Are you familiar with soul magic? Or necromancy for that matter?" I asked her. To this she shook her head with a resounding: "Nnnope." I nodded in understanding, and began my little lecture. "In short, Soul magic is an extension of Necromancy. The school of magic that blurs the line between life and death, and bends the souls of the living and dead alike to the whims of the caster. I have studied this art under my father's guidance for as long as I can remember. I can sense the life force of beings and manipulate it accordingly. Through necromancy, I am skilled in staving off death as I am bringing it upon others. Soul magic is the specialized manipulation of said souls. As for why any of this matters, I must ask you something. However, because of the nature of my question you may feel free to simply not answer." As I spoke, Applejack sat on her haunches looking at me with her head tilted slightly to the side in confusion, her fear now gone completely. It was almost as if my tantrum from before had never happened. "Alright? What exactly is it that y'all want to know." She asked. "Where did you get that hat?" I bluntly asked. She took her hat off and eyed it for a moment before speaking. "This here hat was my dad's. He gave it to meh some time before he and mom..." She couldn't finish her sentence. Pain that had been long since buried was starting to resurface. I look down, knowing that the attention on her was not helping. "They're... dead. aren't they?" I hesitantly finished her sentence. I heard a slight sniffle, and when I looked up, I found Applejack teary eyed and looking mournful. Hopefully, my suspicions would be correct. Meaning that I could maybe give her some closure. "Applejack. I'm sorry... for your loss. I don't wish to be intrusive, but I must ask, may I hold your hat for a moment?" I asked, extending an arm and placing my hand on her shoulder. Her sad eyes shifted between me and the hat, her grief being replaced with a mild confusion as she moved my hand off her and put the hat on my hand. I decided to get to work so I could give her her heirloom back. The first thing I noticed when I picked up the hat was that it vaguely resembled a soul tether. Soul tethers are, in essence, a downgraded phylactery. It keeps the soul of any creature you desire anchored to a desired object, but couldn't bring you back to life like a phylactery. Speaking of which, I had to make my own. I had thought about it before, but now the necessity for one was becoming less and less. Still, wouldn't hurt to have a plan B. I closed my eyes and focused on a divination spell I vaguely remember my mother teaching me. "Revelio..." I whispered to myself and my hand was wreathed in a ghastly greens mist that danced around the hat and spiraled down my shoulder, around my arm and down to the hat. I sensed not one, but two souls tethered to the hat. What I found to be incredibly interesting was that the souls weren't tethered to the hat with any spell I was familiar with. They were being sustained by what I could only describe as... love... A pure bond of love connected the souls that resided in the hat protected Applejack, but I wanted to know just how good was this protection. When the spell was complete, I handed her back her hat. She placed it on her head and looked at me with a longing look. She wanted answers, I would give them to her. Though not with words. I focused another spell into my hand. One that would cause damage, but not kill her. "Tactus Dolorem..." My hand became wreathed in a familiar black and red smog. Applejack was looking at me with fear, but I think it was the look of curiosity in my face that stopped her from bolting out the door. I extended my hand and tried to touch her with one of my fingers, but the moment my hand got close I felt my finger press again what I knew was a magical barrier. It had remained invisible to the naked eye, but the moment I made contact it began to strain and crackle as it unravelled the spell on my hand before my finger touched her. Applejack's concern shifted into curious awe as my hand enveloped by darkness poked her chest gently and the darkness surrounding it would vanish when it got close. When I had felt I had seen enough, I pulled away and dispelled the Tactus Mortem spell from my hand. "Hmm..." It was all I could mutter as I looked at her with fascination and a warmth in my heart that felt... right, somehow. "What is it?" She asked, finally snapping out of her confused trance. I gave her a gentle smile before answering her question. "It would seem that your father gave you something very special. Something I've never seen before, and I don't think your parents knew about it until their... passing as well." I stated, albeit a little reluctantly. "W-what do you mean?" She asked, her eyes scanning me over in disbelief and her soul was glowing with hope at the sight of my mind racing with ideas. My father, in one of his many lessons, had taught me how to briefly bring the souls of the dead to the living plane to speak to the living. I had never performed the ritual, but I knew it could be done. The tome in my bag didn't have any labels, but the way it was structured gave me the impression that dad left it there for me to relearn things he either already taught me or, and I was really hoping was the case, contained new spells and other important information, along with the ritual I was thinking of. However, it would be best not to get ahead of myself and tell her of the nature of her hat. For now, that would be enough. "Well, it seems that your parents are still with you Applejack. Their love for you seems to have tethered their souls to this hat. The spell I just used is a spell used to inflict pain, but your hat generated a barrier to protect you from harm. Though I think it's more accurate to say that your parents were the ones keeping you safe." As I finished my explination, Applejack had a smile growing on her face along with a viable struggle to keep herself from crying. She then proceeded to leap Forward and wrap her forehooves around my neck and over my shoulders as she let out tears of joy that flowed down my shoulder. I would've shied away from her if it weren't for the raw joy and... gratefulness?... that radiated off her. After a bit of hesitation, I reciprocated the show of affection. This... this felt good. That hug felt like it lasted forever, and I had no reason or desire to complain about it. My mind flashed to my parents and the night they died... their sacrifice. Their last words. Remember to fight for what is right, to live and love as only I can. This... this moment, I felt their love. That same love that they had the moment I came into their lives and had no right to have was the same that made them sacrifice their lives for me. An undeserving child that could never repay the love he was being given. That exact same love was the love that I felt. That was the love that radiated off Applejack. "Thank you..." My train of thought was cut short with Applejack's voice and her breaking the hug. Part of me wanted it to go on for a bit more, but I knew that it would just be awkward, so I let her climb off me and look at me instead. Her huge, green eyes sparkled and that only made me smile in turn. "No, thank you." I replied, enjoying the tenderness of the moment simply looking into her eyes. Applejack's orange cheeks turned a light pink as she averted her eyes and looked down for a bit. She looked back at me after a bit and gave me an awkward laugh while smiling. "Uhm... I should get going. I don't want the girls to get worried. Do you want them to come in and speak to you?" She stated, the light blush she had never really going away. To this I chuckled before answering. "Thank you, but I think I need some time to myself. Tell the girls and the princesses to ask whatever questions they may have to Mia, she will stay with you for as long as you desire." Applejack tipped her hat off to me before turning around and taking her leave. I was left alone in the room with my skeletons in silence. The warm sensation in my chest had returned, and soothed me to my core. "Master?" I recognized Avalon's deep voice cut the silence. "Yes?" I asked, turning to see him standing by my bedside at attention like a loyal soldier. "Should I go get Mia? She hasn't come in yet." He asked. "No. She's currently entertaining the princesses and their subjects." I sighed and opened the bag that laid near the foot of my bed. I rummaged around for a bit and found what I was looking for. I pulled out the tome I was looking for and set it on my lap. "Go outside and keep watch. I don't want to be disturbed while I read." I ordered, and my creations obeyed with nods. Anvari had crawled into my bed and laid down with her head on my left thigh. I smiled at this and caressed her skull as I opened the book and read the handwritten message. It was my father's hand writing... Azazel, If you're reading this odds are your mother and I are... no longer with you. Whether it be because we are dead or are separated indefinitely, know that we love you to no end. As such, we have created a book filled with spells, rituals, and alchemical recipes that will allow you to survive and thrive in whatever world you land in. Speaking of which, I believe an explination is owed. When you were born, I knew that Mephistopheles and others like him that considered us to be their enemies would threaten you and our home. So I prepared a special warp stone in your bag to allow you to escape death's grasp should you need it. The warp stone was created from a Nova crystal you helped me harvest on your twelfth birthday from the Black mountain. The magical energy trapped whithin the crystal should be enough to break through a dimensional barrier to a different plane. Due to the infinite number of dimensional planes that exist, it will take you to any one of the infinite realities you wish if you focus on key traits that you want from. said reality. Because of the Nova Crystal's magical power and brittleness it will be a one way trip leaving no trace of where the transdimensional leap took you to. With nothing more to say, I wish you the best and keep on keeping on kiddo. Your proud father, Astoshan I was holding back tears as I read my father's message, only to then see my mother's beautiful cursive writing below it. 𝓜𝔂 𝓭𝓮𝓪𝓻 𝓼𝓸𝓷, 𝓘𝓯 𝔂𝓸𝓾'𝓻𝓮 𝓻𝓮𝓪𝓭𝓲𝓷𝓰 𝓽𝓱𝓲𝓼 𝓽𝓱𝓮𝓷 𝔀𝓮'𝓻𝓮 𝓶𝓸𝓼𝓽 𝓵𝓲𝓴𝓮𝓵𝔂 𝓪𝓹𝓪𝓻𝓽 𝓪𝓷𝓭 𝔀𝓲𝓵𝓵 𝓷𝓸𝓽 𝓼𝓮𝓮 𝓮𝓪𝓬𝓱 𝓸𝓽𝓱𝓮𝓻 𝓪𝓰𝓪𝓲𝓷. 𝓗𝓸𝔀𝓮𝓿𝓮𝓻, 𝓘 𝔀𝓲𝓼𝓱 𝓽𝓸 𝓶𝓪𝓴𝓮 𝓸𝓷𝓮 𝓽𝓱𝓲𝓷𝓰 𝓬𝓵𝓮𝓪𝓻 𝓲𝓷 𝔂𝓸𝓾𝓻 𝓶𝓲𝓷𝓭, 𝔂𝓸𝓾𝓻 𝓯𝓪𝓽𝓱𝓮𝓻 𝓪𝓷𝓭 𝓘 𝓵𝓸𝓿𝓮 𝔂𝓸𝓾. 𝓦𝓮 𝓪𝓻𝓮 𝓹𝓻𝓸𝓾𝓭 𝓸𝓯 𝔀𝓱𝓸 𝔂𝓸𝓾 𝓪𝓻𝓮 𝓪𝓷𝓭 𝓽𝓱𝓮 𝓰𝓻𝓮𝓪𝓽 𝓶𝓪𝓷 𝓘 𝓱𝓪𝓿𝓮 𝓯𝓪𝓲𝓽𝓱 𝔂𝓸𝓾 𝔀𝓲𝓵𝓵 𝓫𝓮𝓬𝓸𝓶𝓮. 𝓛𝓸𝓿𝓮 𝓪𝓼 𝓸𝓷𝓵𝔂 𝔂𝓸𝓾 𝓭𝓸, 𝓪𝓷𝓭 𝓵𝓲𝓿𝓮, 𝓯𝓸𝓻 𝓵𝓲𝓯𝓮 𝓲𝓼 𝓽𝓸𝓸 𝓼𝓱𝓸𝓻𝓽 𝓽𝓸 𝓷𝓸𝓽 𝓫𝓮 𝓮𝓷𝓳𝓸𝔂𝓮𝓭. 𝓨𝓸𝓾𝓻 𝓛𝓸𝓿𝓲𝓷𝓰 𝓜𝓸𝓽𝓱𝓮𝓻, 𝓛𝓲𝓵𝓲𝓽𝓱 As I read her message, cold tears began to fall down my cheeks and onto the first page of yet another gift from my parents that I could not repay. I raised the book to my lips and softly kissed the page. The memory of my mom's 40 thousand-ish birthday came to mind and through my pained sobs, I began to sing part of the song I had tried to harmonize before the sun rose on that day. Taking comfort in the memory. "...fate... is kind... she brings... to those that love... the sweet fulfilment of.... their secret longings..." As I neared what would have been the crescendo, I subverted it into a decrescendo as Anvari got up and pulled my arm for me to lie down. I hadn't noticed it then, but looking back on it, I almost could've sworn I could hear a chorus of angelic voices lulling me to sleep as I finished the lyric. "Like a bolt... out of the blue... fate steps in... and sees you through... When you wish... upon a star... your dreams... come... true..." > Chapter 5. A job well done/Sun goddess > -------------------------------------------------------------------------- //////////////Twilight Sparkle/////////////// It was incredibly interesting to talk to Azazel's skeleton, Mia. We were waiting outside Azazel's room so he and Applejack could talk by themselves while we sat just outside. We were all scared at first, but Mia assured us that Applejack would be safe. Rainbow Dash, being who she is, decided she was going in with Applejack to make sure she was safe. Mia had relented and told her that if she was to do so, to not do anything rash, though I had a feeling she would do just that. Just after Pinki Pie came out without Anvari on her back, Mia told us stories of things she did in life and what it was like being undead. She had been a rogue thief along side her husband, the green skeleton with the brown jaw, that tried to kill Azazel's father the first time Azazel ever went out of their secluded home. I learned much of Azazel's world through her. Apparently, the undead retain some of their own core traits from when they were alive, yet they all had some trait inherited from the caster. In her case, Azazel. She is a personification of his more curious and compassionate side combined with her own rambunctiousness added to the mix. Her "husband" was the son of a noble that was destitute from his family and became a bounty hunter just like Mia when she fell in love with him. Unsurprisingly, Rarity had woken up from her unconscious stupor and was asking her questions for her latest romantic novel. "Hold on just one second! You mean to tell me you two aren't married!? But you've been calling him your husband for over an hour!" Rarity gasped in shock. Mia turned to her before answering. "We will be! He just... doesn't know that yet is all..." She trailed off, looking to the side. I didn't think it was possible for something without a face to look flustered, but somehow, Mia pulled that off. It was mostly her eyes. It seemed their default color is the same as Azazel's magic, a deep crimson hue. However, different emotional cues would trigger the flames to change color. During her telling of her past life, her more fond memories were accentuated by her eyes turning into a leafy green. The sadder, more tragic events being shown by her eyes turning a light blue and the flame of her eyes dying down a bit. Whenever she spoke of Trephor, her eyes would change to a light pink and then return to red once she stopped. For the hour that she spoke, I had been taking notes, and everypony had been listening intently. That is of course until Princess Luna raised a question of her own that cut Mia off before she could say another word. "Wait a moment. There's something that doesn't quite make sense with all that you've told us." She stated, raising a hoof to get Mia's attention. To this, she cocked her head to the side in what seemed to be mild confusion. "And what's that Princess?" She asked. "Azazel told us earlier today that the souls of you and your companions were being tortured. However, you don't seem like you are under any form of torment. What did he mean by that?" Luna asked. At the mention of souls being tortured, all of us went wide eyed; our gazed going from Mia to Luna, then back at Mia. "Oh, well the answer to that is quite simple.-" She stated with a tinge of glee that felt... off. Regardless of our shock, she continued. "I am not the same being that owned this body while she was alive, and neither are my husband or the rest of us. The soul of the Elf that tried to rob Azazel and his father while on a supply run, was consumed by Azazel years ago. The aspects of my former self that still clung to me manifest as parts of my modern personality when Azazel gave me sentience and over time formed me into the person I am now." She finished. At this point, I chastised myself for not writing it down on the spot, so I got to compensating for it by writing it from what I picked up. Before the conversation could go on, I heard yelling followed by the unmistakeable sound of a door being forcefully slammed. Me and the girls leaned to look behind Mia to find Rainbow Dash shivering on the ground in a fetal position. She looked to be on the verge of tears, and her face showed the unmistakeable traces of a pony that had just stared death in the face and promptly soiled themselves. I hadn't even noticed that my jaw was hanging open in shock until a very amused looking Mia gently shut my mouth by pushing my jaw up with her skeletal finger. "Rainbow Dash! What happened?!" Rarity asked with worry in her voice. "It looks like Rainbow butt over here pissed off my master." Mia deadpanned. To this, Luna and Celestia rose from their haunches and looked ready to charge into Azazel's room. As a response, Mia rose with them and raised her arms and hands as if to stop them from reacting violently. "Princesses, Applejack and Rainbow Dash have not been harmed! Please calm down." She said, trying to difuse the situation. Begrudgingly, they sat back down again. Luna doing so with more ease than Celestia. They didn't look angry, they were worried. "I promise you that Applejack is unharmed." Mia spoke, kneeling back down to her original position. "How can you be so certain!?" Rarity shouted next to my ear in a mixture of horror, anger, and mistrust. "Because if she wasn't, Azazel wouldn't have spared Rainbow Dash." Mia replied indignantly, pointing at Rainbow Dash, who had been holding onto Fluttershy for dear life. She had her back turned to us and wasn't making a sound, but we could tell she was crying. Meanwhile, Fluttershy had been trying to calm her down to no avail. "Spared!? Rainbow is shaking like a leaf because of him! For all we know she could be suffering from something permanent!" Celestia exclaimed, unable to keep her thoughts to herself anymore. Rolled her eyes before speaking. "Azazel isn't one to do something without reason. If this happened, she must've done something stupid enough to make him angry. He most likely used a fear aura spell to get whatever point it was that he wanted to get across. And even then-" Mia's retort was cut off by the sound of Azazel's door opening. We all shifted our attention to the door, and a wave of relief washed over me as I saw Applejack walk out in one piece. The thing that really caught me off guard was her smile. She seemed to be lost in thought as she trotted towards us with a warm smile that I only barely noticed after she stopped looking down at her hooves. "Like I said. unharmed." Mia deadpanned as moved out of Applejack's way. Applejack's smile vanished when she looked up at us. "Uh... What did ah miss?" She asked, looking confused over our own bewilderment. There was a brief silence that was invaded by Pinkie's sudden appearance from Celestia knows where. "Well, You really didn't miss much. What happened was that after you went in with Rainbow Dash and I dropped off little Vari with Azazel, Mia began telling stories about her past life and hersuperdupercoolninjatheifjobthatshehadbeforeshemetAzazel'sdadandAzazelsowhatendeduphapoeningwasthat..." Pinkie Pie, lost in the euphoria of retelling everything that had just happened sped up her speech so much that it became an indistinguishable babbling that only made sense to her. We were all looking at her dumbfounded for what felt like an eternity. After I was able to tune out Pinkie, I noticed Mia had lost interest halfway through Pinkie Pie's overly long, overly cheerful and overly fast explanation and joined the other two bipedal skeletons that had just walked out of the room and were standing guard outside the door. They seemed to be talking discreetly to themselves. I can't say that I wasn't curious as to what it was. So I used a focused hearing amplification spell to... discreetly join into the conversation as a passive participant. Totally not eavesdropping. Slowly, but surely, their voices became audible. "...you're not kidding are you?" Mia asked, to which the two skeleton shook their heads. "I'm not gonna lie, it caught me off guard. especially when miss Applejack got all lovey dovey with masGAH!" Trephor's remark was cut off by the tall black skeleton slapping the back of Trephor's skull. Avalon, I think is his name. Or at least I know it's a he by his burly voice. "Can you please take this seriously? We need to be focused on the task at hand." He stated before returning to his silent vigilance. "Party pooper, no cake for you." Trephor shot back while rubbing the back of his skull and pretending to pout. I had to keep myself from laughing at the exchange. To this, Mia simply sighed and shook her head. "Can one of you two just tell me what Azazel wants us to do for now? I've been answering questions for what feels like forever and my jaw hurts from talking so much." She stated, rubbing at her jaw bone. Avalon looked at Mia with a steely gaze that rivaled even that of Shining Armor's best soldiers. "He wants to be left undisturbed while he reads. Me and Trephor are to keep watch here while you entertain the Princesses and their subjects." He stated. This made her groan in annoyance. "Honestly, Azazel shouldn't isolate himself like this! Yes, Astoshan and Lilith are gone, but there's nothing he can do about it! There are-" Mia's rather loud rant was cut off by a glare from Avalon and a hand from a worried looking Trephor. "Mia. Don't. Not now." Trephor said with a stern tone I didn't think he could pull off. He took his hand off of her and looked straight at me. I immediately cut off the spell and looked away. It was only then that I noticed that everypony was now looking at the skeletons with curiosity more than anything. I also noticed that Fluttershy and Rainbow Dash were missing. Mia chuckled nervously before speaking. "Is there anything else you'd like to know?" We all glanced at each other for a few awkward moments before Starlight broke the silence. "Hey... Where's Rainbow Dash? And where's Fluttershy for that matter?" She asked, scanning the hallway we were all in. "Oh. Fluttershy took Rainbow Dash to her room while Pinkie Pie was giving Applejack a summary of what she missed. That's right around the time these two came out." Mia explained pointing behind her at the two skeletons. "Oh Yes, yes, that's all very fascinating but can we please go back to the juicy romance between you and tre-MPH!!!" Rarity's comment was harshly silenced by Mia wrapping her hand around her muzzle and giving a nervous yelp. I didn't think it was possible, but she was actually BLUSHING! Her cheek bones were bathed in a pink light as the pinprick sized orbs of fire that were her eyes shined with a pinkish hue. This made Princess Luna, Princess Celestia, and the rest of us to burst into laughter as the two skeletons behind her cocked their heads to the side in confusion. It took us a bit to see it, but our cutie marks had begun to pulse with magic, letting us know that our friendship mission was complete. ///////////////////////////////////////////////////// A convoy carrying precious cargo was escorted by knights that marched through the city of Tamriel in silver armor, covering them from head to toe. The city's inhabitants cheered as their heroes and protectors triumphantly marched to the alabastor castle of their ruler after their most recent success. The leader of the knights, who's armor was only slightly different from that of his men, headed inside with four soldiers holding a cylindrical container about three feet long and one foot in diameter. The "ends" of the cylinder were round and it had a golden ring with glowing blue runes going around the middle of it's length. The object was filled with a semi transparent white fluid with a rainbow of color refracting from it. The container was suspended by four rods with hooks connected to the ring that were held at a distance from the nervous knights in shining armor. Their boots hit the floor in unison as the servants and guards of the beautiful palace made way for the entourage of armor clad soldiers. They walked through the halls, leading to large twin doors, one bearing an intricate tapestry of the night sky with glimmering stars shaped from diamonds, while the other branded an elegant sun who's flaming rays illuminated a city formed from a mosaic of many precious stones. The leader ordered the rest to wait outside for a moment. The doors were opened to reveal a large throne room with a celestial being on it's throne. The room had a very high ceiling with marble pillars that held up the dome shaped roof. The relatively modest throne was elevated on a set of stairs that raised it a small distance from the rest of the room at it's furthest wall. The goddess of the sun, the youngest practitioner of astral magics and the current queen of the Solarian empire, Queen Elizabeth Solaris the first, sat on her mighty throne. She was a tall creature, even by the aasimar's standards and easily towered over her subjects. She wore a white, sleeveless dress accentuated with a menagerie of rings and bracelets of gold that accentuated her heavenly body showing off her form without showing too much skin. Her large bird like wings were white with several shimering golden feathers. She was receiving news from a dignitary of her land on how things were going on the remodeling of the royal archives with a bored expression on her face when the captain of her Astral Guard came into the room. She waved off the noble rambling off over whether to use dark oak or spruce wood for the archive's shelving. The noble promptly shut up, and with a dejected huff, they left the room. Leaving the Sun Goddess alone with her guard. "Your Radiance." The armored leader acknowledged his monarch while he prostrated himself. She smiled at her captain before speaking. "Deus Vult, you may rise." Her ethereal voice commanded. Deus obeyed the command, rose to his feet and took off his helmet, revealing the face of a human. His sculpted features were well pronounced and a small, vertical scar grazed the right side of his lips. His ebony skin color was only accentuated by his black hair that was perfectly groomed and the few white strands that littered his head of hair showed his advancing age. She approached him and planted a soft kiss on his forehead. He smiles before speaking. "My queen. I am pleased to say that our mission was a success. The necromancer was hiding exactly where you predicted his hideout would be, and I defeated him myself. He was no match for the gift you bestowed upon me." As he says this, he squeezes the hilt of the blade sheathed on his belt. Queen Solaris walks away and heads back to her throne. She sits down and crosses her legs, taking a relaxed position. Deus' cocky tone faded into a solemn one when he remembered the events of a few nights ago. "Though I do wish to commemorate twelve of my men that fell in the scuffle." To this report, the gentle smile she had slowly turned into a scowl of disappointment and mild anger. "How in the blue blazes did your men perish? You said yourself that Astoshan shouldn't have stood a chance against the Axelion!" She questioned now sitting at the edge of her throne, her golden wings flared as a response to her fury. "He didn't your majesty." Deus stated with a facade of focus that hid the memories being summoned from the hole he'd buried them in at the back of his mind. He knew well that he had to be careful not to anger his Queen. It had been nine months since she had inherited the throne after her elder sister, the late Queen Morgana Solaris laid down her life for her empire. Morgana had fought by Deus' side in many battles, and she had been a good ruler to her people. He still remembered the day that the report arrived when she died in the battle of the southern orcs. She had recruited Astoshan, a powerful necromancer, along with a group of adventurers to aid her drive off a near endless horde of orc marauders off to the south. He and Elizabeth had warned her not to deal with a necromancer, much less a lich. The one time she didn't heed their advice, the price for her mistake was paid with her blood. The decisive battle was one and the war was ended, but only Astoshan returned alive. If one could call his undeath life, that is. He had brought her to the city along with all the fallen soldiers that she brought with her, as undead mind you. He said that he did so so they could be properly buried. Suffice to say that Deus didn't believe him, and to spare Elizabeth the pain of seeing her sister like that, he kept the report to himself. Unfortunately, that would not be enough. Elizabeth was fifteen when she saw the company of armored soldiers being led by what she thought was her sister back into the city. The scream of horror she let out still reverberated throughout Deus' head and shook him to his core. She had changed that day, something inside her that shouldn't have been there was planted. The seeds of hatred... "THEN HOW DID ASTOSHAN MANAGE TO KILL TWELVE MEN IF YOU DESTROYED HIM!? YOU TOLD ME THAT NO ONE WOULD BE HARMED BY HIM!!!" She screamed with unadulterated wrath, breaking Deus from his thoughts as she walked towards him. He hadn't even registered her moving back over to him. She was crying as she spoke, and Deus couldn't blame her even if he wanted to. He had assured her that death would not fall on her soldiers. She had gotten to know those men several days before he and his men were tasked with capturing the necromancer and destroying anything he had created. Research, undead, living creatures taken hostage, it didn't matter. They were all to be destroyed, and Astoshan was to be taken prisoner. "YOU TOLD ME THAT YOUR PLAN WOULD NOT FAIL! WHAT AM I SUPPOSE TO SAY TO THEIR WIVES!? WHAT AM I GOING TO SAY TO THEIR SONS AND DAUGHTERS!?I'M NOT MY SISTER! I CAN'T DO THIS DEUS! I'M not... I... I don't know what I am supposed to do..." She finished weakly as she fell to her knees, crying. She had been holding his shoulders as she yelled at him. Despite her size and adult appearance, Solaris was only sixteen years old. And Deus knew that the pressure of becoming a ruler in so little time and the blood of the men he'd taken to go capture Astoshan we're taking a serious toll on her. Deus could only stand there in shock, watching the young queen vent her pain to him. After a lot of mental debate, he looked down at her and wiped a tear from her perfectly smooth cheeks. She looked up at him with pleading eyes, only now being able to calm down enough to stop sobbing. Deus gave her a look of reassurance, got her to her feet and proceeded to take her hand. The two walked over to her throne and he sat her down. Giving her hand a gentle squeeze, he looked to the door. "ASTRAL GUARD! COME BEFORE YOUR QUEEN!" He ordered loud enough to be heard outside the throne room. Shortly after his men came in with their precious cargo, Elizabeth's sadness was slowly washed away by curiousity as she eyed the pill shaped container. The soldiers stopped at a distance from the elevated throne. "My queen..." Deus began as he walked over to the container. "Before heading out for my mission, I had the scribes of the royal archives do some research on everything that we have on Astoshan. And on previous sorcerers that became undead, as he is. Mainly to find a weakness we could exploit." To the visible shock of his soldiers, he unhooked the container from the poles the guards were using. He held the container with both hands. To Solaris' further bewilderment, it seemed rather light despite it's size. "According to the official records, Astoshan, like many others before him became a Lich. He performed a ritual that bonded his soul to an object known as a phylactery. It would allow him to come back from death if his body died as an undead. Or to create a new one if his old body was completely destroyed." He explained, looking at the flowing white liquid and the diamond shaped silouhette in the center. He turned around and slowly walked back to his ruler as he continued, now with an even more serious tone. "Astoshan did not kill the brave men that staked their lives for our empire. When I tried to arrest him, a large, humanoid demon burst out of the abandoned outpost he had refitted as a makeshift home. The demon killed my men before I could step in and try to kill it with the Axelion." He stood before her and gave the rest of his story, while the queen stared in both horror and awe at the tale she was hearing. However, her face contorted into one of confusion at his last sentence. "Tried?" She asked. To this, Deus nodded before giving her the rest of the story. "Just as I was about to incinerate it straight to hell, Astoshan and an elf that was with him protected the creature and died in it's place for the demon to escape using some sort of portal." He finished looking away from his queen and down at the container in his hands. Elizabeth was still trying to make sense of why the necromancer would risk his life and freedom for a monster. "...why would he do that?" She asked, searching Deus' face as if the answer was written somewhere on it. He extended the container so she could hold it, and as she took it, she suddenly felt cold. There was something powerful in the container, and the object was being held in check only barely as it's dark magic would leak out in small traces that would send a strange cold sensation through Elizabeth's hands and up to her elbows. "I think he could give you a better answer than I ever could." As realization slammed into Solaris like a runaway cockatrice, she looked down at the container and noticed the four-sided diamond silouhette looking back at her through the viscous, murk of white fluid in the cylinder. "Astoshan..." She whispered to herself in shock, and as if on cue, the silouhette pulsed like a beating heart with a sickly green light. At the center of the light, she saw an emblem she knew far too well. A right hand print with a small heart in it's palm, the small heart having small demon horns. The sight of it made Elizabeth's mind to go into overdrive as her subconscious began to pelt her with flashes of her memory. First, the emblem on a book she had read long ago from her old teacher. The second, an image of human skeletons carrying the flag through the city of Tamriel that brandished the same emblem. The third, the emblem painted on the side of an ancient mural with more emblems by it's side. And lastly, her sister's corpse, walking in front of a battalion of soldiers that she had met and knew that fought besides Morgana as her undead body carried a piece of cloth in her bloodied hand bearing the same symbol. The world itself seemed to hold still as the only things she could focus on, was the object in her hands and the beating of her heart. The pulsing of her heart synced up with that of the pulsing green gem inside the cylinder, and that is when she knew exactly what she needed to do. Her shoulders sagged down as she sighed in contentment, and a small smile that freaked Deus out, sprawled across her face. "...perfect..." > Chapter 6 Low blow/Chapter7 Eye Opener pt. 1 > -------------------------------------------------------------------------- //////////////Azazel////////////////// It's been three days since the elements of Harmony arrived to Canterlot. While the vast majority of them left to their homes by the dawn of the second day, Twilight Sparkle and Starlight Glimmer decided to stay for a while longer so I could be formally interviewed by the princess of friendship. Rainbow Dash was going to go see a doctor after our little... discussion. Rarity had to go back to her "boutique", whatever that is. Pinkie Pie had to go plan a "Welcome to Equestria" party, which I must admit, sounds interesting. Fluttershy had to go take care of her pets, and Applejack had to go back to her family's farm. The day we met, I had locked myself in my room after my conversation with Applejack and refused to speak with anyone after I discovered the tome my parents left me. After seeing their written goodbyes, I fell into an uneasy "sleep" that didn't last very long. I woke up shortly after and dedicated myself to reading the book for the following days without pause. Trephor or Mia would bring me whatever food Luna would have her cooks prepare me. I was delighted to find that Luna was sending me raw meat. Must have something to do with her seeing my memories. I was initially tempted to get out of my room and ask, but I thought it best to make those questions at a later time. I ordered my skeletons to keep Twilight and Starlight company while I studied. I had ordered Avalon to keep Celestia and her guards away from my room. I didn't see Luna during those three days, all I knew was that she was asking Mia to make sure I got some sleep. I appreciated the concern, but I had more pressing matters to attend to. I had Mia relay a message to Princess Twilight, promising that once I finished the first chapter of the tome, I'd come out and talk with her about it and any other questions she might have. Mia told me that she agreed, albeit begrudgingly. I finished rereading the first ten chapters for the fifth time by midday of the third day, and for the first time in three days, I got out of bed for something other than using the lavatory. Those first ten chapters talked about my go-to spells and enchantments. Tactus Mortem, Tactus Dolorem, Encontrarium, Revelio, Aura di terror, and Resurectum Inmortous all described in detail along with the spells variants and a list of other spells I couldn't recognize that apparently use them as their groundwork. I also found a ritual similar to the Encontrarium spell that would allow me to cast an astral projection of myself that could interact with it's surroundings in a limited capacity with a considerable range. After digesting all the new information and making a mental note of studying the ritual further to experiment with it. I put the tome inside my bag and walked outside. Seeing Avalon standing outside by himself, I looked around to look for my other skeletons. "Report." I ordered, rubbing my tired eyes. "Sir, the guards have been keeping their distance from this hallway. Only Princess Luna has passed through here. She's been changing the flowers on the halls every night. She came to me last night to ask if you were sleeping. I told her that you were reading, and she left without making a fuzz" He explained. I stopped swiveling my head around in search for my other skeletons before speaking. "I'm sorry Avalon, but where are Trephor and Mia?" I asked. "Trephor has been taking notes on the surrounding area and is in the library making a list for possible sites to build a more permanent stronghold with the resources available on this world with Starlight Glimmer. Mia is with Princess Twilight Sparkle in the royal dining room having lunch." He replied after shutting his eyes for a moment and opening them up again. Just as I was about to ask for Anvari, I turned around to see she was sleeping on my bed. It was only then that I realized she had slept through those three days with me by her side. I felt a small smile form at the sight before looking back at him. "Perfect. Alright, keep watch over this room and don't let anyone other than Mia, Trephor, or myself inside. Anvari is sleeping, if she needs anything, tend to her and keep her safe in my absence. I'm going to honor my promise to Twilight. I'll send Mia over to stay with Anvari. When she gets here, call Trephor and tell him to meet me at room at dusk to discuss his findings and our next move." I commanded. Avalon gave me a nod, and with that, I began my short walk over to the dining room. As I walked through the halls, I passed by the throne room. From what Mia told me, Celestia held a "day court" at this hour up until sundown. A time where her dignitaries and subjects could schedule a meeting with her to talk about whatever they wanted from her. My appearance was something that unsettled the servants and guards as I passed by. They still feared me, though not as much as they did when they first saw me. For now, that would be good. I didn't want them getting any ideas. As I walked close to the intersection between the dining room and the throne room, the doors to the throne room opened to reveal the diarch of the sun exiting with three more of her subjects that I didn't recognize. Three unicorns clad in purple armor to be exact. If I had to judge their gender, I'd say two of them were mares and the third a stallion. My assumption was based on their overall size and build. Stallions seem to have larger, more defined muzzles, while mares are overall smaller and have round muzzles. I stopped and decided to wait till they passed so I could go on without having to talk with Celestia. However, fate seemed to be feeling sadistic today. The group turned in my direction and noticed me. The two mares' faces were easy enough to read, controlled panic washing over them as their big eyes shrunk to pinpricks. Their apparent leader was a white unicorn stallion with an azure mane and light blue streaks running down it. He looked at me with a glare that reminded me a little too much of a certain human I despise. When no one moved to try to kill me, I relaxed and resumed walking towards my destination. The unicorns huddled around their ruler as she stood there like an unmoving pillar waiting for a tidal wave that would never come. I sighed, slowed down my pace and was stopped a small distance from her when she spoke up. "Good morning Azazel. I presume you were able to read to your heart's content?" She politely asked. "Yes, that is correct." Not in the mood for small talk, I began to walk away; the not so subtle soldiers would go around Celestia at much the same speed to keep me in their line of sight and making a meat shield to protect their ruler. As I was about to make my way inside the dining room, those guards from before got infront of me and forced me to stop. I was getting very annoyed with Celestia and her lackeys. "Move. Now." I ordered. The two soldiers that stood behind their leader flinched at the sound of my voice. Their leader stood unfazed. "Not until I'm certain you won't hurt anypony." He stated defiantly. I would have been impressed if he didn't remind me so much of that bastard Deus Vult with his arrogant attitude. I took several deep breaths to keep myself from unleashing my pent up aggression on this foolish little horse. "I̵f̴ ̸I̴ ̴w̷a̴n̷t̸e̶d̶ ̵y̶o̴u̶ ̴d̷e̶a̴d̷,̴ ̵y̵o̵u̵ ̷a̴l̴r̸e̶a̵d̸y̴ ̵w̵o̷u̴l̴d̴ ̵b̴e̶.̶ ̵I̵ ̶t̷h̴i̴n̵k̸ ̶t̸h̴a̸t̷ ̷s̸h̸o̶u̴l̷d̸ ̵b̸e̸ ̴p̸r̴o̵o̶f̷ ̷e̸n̴o̸u̴g̸h̶ ̵t̴h̶a̴t̴ ̸I̷'̷m̴ ̴n̷o̶t̵ ̶g̵o̷i̸n̷g̴ ̶t̶o̷ ̶c̷a̶u̸s̴e̵ ̷p̶r̴o̶b̸l̴e̷m̸s̷.̵ ̴N̸o̴w̸ ̷g̵e̵t̷ ̸o̵u̶t̸ ̷o̵f̷ ̷m̵y̸ ̵w̷a̷y̷.̶" (If I wanted you dead, you already would be. I think that should be proof enough that I'm not going to cause problems. Now get out of my way.) I ordered with a little too much venom in my tone. "My sister's in that room, and unless you've got a good reason to be there, I don't want you anywhere near her." He stated stoically, poking my chest with his hoof. I swat it away and cast fear aura before speaking again. Now thoroughly pissed off. "Ị̷̌ ̵̜̈́k̶̻͝n̴̢̕ö̴́͜ẉ̵́ ̷̍ͅn̵̥̊o̴͒ͅt̶̛̮ ̵͛͜ẃ̵͔h̸̹͝o̷̝͆ ̵̳̃y̵͛ͅö̶̼́u̶̳͊r̷̨̐ ̴̣̑s̴̻̀i̶̮̓ś̸͙ť̴̫e̵͚̋ṙ̴̫ ̴̰̋ì̷͜s̴̨̀,̷͔̑ ̶̡̚ň̵͕o̷̩̎r̷͔͗ ̶̳̍d̵̼̊ò̷̰ ̷͓̂I̷̢̔ ̸̼͑c̵̺͝ä̶͓r̵̫̽è̸̪.̴͗ͅ ̷̢̎I̸͖̽'̴̠̍m̶̟̎ ̷̞͑n̵̗̈́e̷̠̎ë̷̜́d̶̺͌ ̷̱͠t̴̊ͅǒ̸̙ ̵̞̎s̸̪̈́p̴͎͑e̸̜̿à̸̗k̶̺̈́ ̶̨̓w̴͔͋i̷͗ͅt̵̤́ḧ̸̦́ ̷̘̇t̸̝̕ḥ̴̀e̴͈͗ ̵̙̃P̸̙̔r̴͙̀i̸̺͂n̵̨̛c̸̰̋ĕ̸̠s̶̬̊s̶̮͝ ̸̡̈ö̷̧f̶̖̆ ̵̳̇F̸̙̈ṙ̶̺į̷̓ė̷̥n̶̡͝ḑ̵̈́s̸͉͐h̶̝̉i̶̳͠p̸̳̚.̸͚̈ ̶̪͗G̶̝͘e̴̙̎t̷̤͌ ̷̖̃o̴̯͆û̸͎t̴͓͝ ̶͍̌ȯ̴̤f̵̬̋ ̷̗͌m̸̨̊y̷̬̋ ̸̳̋w̴͈̋a̷̠͆y̶̺͝,̷̩̌ ̵̲̏n̵̩͑o̸̹͗w̴̛̘" (I know not who your sister is, nor do I care. I'm need to speak with the Princess of Friendship. Get out of my way, NOW!) I yelled at him. The stallion flinched when I got in his face, but he held his composure. I could tell he was struggling to keep it together, he was sweating profusely and his legs were starting to falter. "Shining Armor, stand down and let him pa-" That's as far as I heard Celestia speak before I noticed out of the corner of my eye one of the mares to my left charge a spell in her magic. I barely had enough time to see the ball of magical fire shoot from her horn and hit my stomach. The spell hit me with very little force, but it burned my skin and sent my body into overdrive as the pain triggered an explosion of adrenaline to surge through me. I covered the damaged area with my hands as a reflex, and the moment I saw the small, bloody crater, I lost all semblance of self control. I let out a primal roar as I began charging necrotic energy into my hands, resulting them to be engulfed in a black and red flame. Just as I was about to grab my assailant with Tactus Mortem and rip my attackers asunder, I was enveloped in a golden magical aura. I didn't have time to react as I was violently hurled backwards. I landed on my back and rebounded, flipping and skidding across the polished floor before friction stopped me. My horns shielded my head from getting a concussion, but they hurt from the collision nonetheless. When the world stopped spinning, I was enveloped in that aura again and forced onto my knees, my back was held straight and my wings were pressed back against my body. With my arms pressed firmly against my sides, I quickly took stock of the situation. The mare that had just shot me was looking like a scared dog as her apparent leader ran to her. The stallion that threatened me began angrily yelling at the mare that attacked me. For as mad as he may have been, he had nothing on Celestia. She looked like dad did the last time someone threatened mom. My eyes were locked with hers, and I saw nothing but anger. I had to get free from her grip or she would get a shot off while I was restrained. I began to charge necrotic energy within me to set myself free. "Azazel, stop this! Don't make me-" That's as far as she got before I released the pent up magic across my body and the golden aura around me shattered. I barely registered Celestia stagger from the magical backlash of having her telekinetic grip broken off me before I rose to my feet and began charging a blast of hellfire in my throat. Celestia was able to get her bearings just in time to see me open my jaw and the red hot glow of my throat to know what I would do next. Celestia quickly cast a concave shield to protect herself from the incoming attack. I fired the stream of black and red flames from my mouth and kept the pressure until I was certain there was enough smoke for me to safely bolt it out of there. I knew, even in my adrenaline fueled rage, I stood no chance against Celestia with my current exhaustion. Not listening to Luna's advice to rest was taking a toll on my mind, making it difficult to think, and the sudden usage of so much magic to heal my wound and keep the torrent of hellfire going was making my body shake and scream for me to stop. Keeping up the flames wasn't easy, and I was getting light headed. Fortunately, my plan worked. My flames crashing against Celestia's shield had generated a rather thick smog. I stopped my onslaught and began a breathless sprint in the opposite direction, towards my room. I was going to get my things, and take flight. I'd deal with where I'd go when I got there. Avalon, had been waiting by the door dutifully when I turned onto the corner of the hallway where my quarters were. Avalon didn't even flinch when I rammed through the door, tearing off the door's lock. I had startled Anvari so much she had fallen off the bed when I barged in. I paid little mind to it as I grabbed my bag and opened it. "GET IN! WE'RE LEAVING!" I commanded. Immediately, Anvari scurried over to me and climbed inside the bottomless bag. I tied it around my waist tightly before turning around and seeing Avalon on the inside of my room, holding the door shut with his body. "Sir, we're trapped! What are your orders!?" Avalon shouted as I noticed him struggling to hold the door shut. I took a moment to look around and when I saw the window, I made a hasty plan. "Jump! I'll catch you!" I instructed. Avalon simply nodded before letting go of the door and sprinting towards the window. Just as his body smashed through the glass and began falling, the door to my room swung open to reveal several golden clad ponies. Seeing this, I took three long strides as I dove out the window. I began to fall and easily spotted Avalon's black form rapidly falling towards the contrastingly colorful streets below. I stretched out my wings and used the magic I had left within me to propel myself towards him. As he neared the ground, Avalon began to panic, his arms and legs flailing around in a desperate attempt to grab something. With the sound of the wind rushing past me, I reached out with my hand and caught Avalon by his spine just in the nick of time. I flew parallel to the road and struggled gain altitude, all while flying faster than a falling star. Nobles and travelers alike had to duck and jump out of the way lest they be rammed by three hundred and fifty pounds of teifling muscle flying through the city's main road with the speed of the falling star. I cleared the city's wall by a few feet and only when I looked down to see Avalon, barely holding onto my arm; I remembered that Mia and Trephor were still in the castle. I began circling back around the mountain while I released a high pitched roar my skeletons would recognize as a command to come find me immediately once I lapped around the mountain. While this happened, Anvari opened my satchel for Avalon to climb in. Because I was pressed for time I shoved him in head first, the wind pressure from the speed I was traveling at pushed him the rest of the way inside and Anvari closed the bag from the inside like gnome closing the hatch to their underground home under some comically large tree. I knew I couldn't head back into the city, so I took a quick glance at the area surrounding the mountain. I could see a massive expanse of dark green forest past the lime green pastures that surrounded the mountain where the castle was, so I began to descend towards a clearing near the forest's edge. As I did my best to slow my descent, I braced myself for another less than perfect landing. I wasn't able to slow down enough to land quietly, causing a shock wave of wind and dust to surround the area of impact. Hearing the blaring of what I believe to have been sirens in the direction of Canterlot, I began to run into the forest. Running away from my the only family I had left, away from those that feared me, and away from the one my father had warned me about. /////////////Trephor///////////// ~Sometime before sunrise~ Azazel ordered me and Avalon to stand guard by his door a few days ago. After standing there not doing much other than staring at the opposite wall to me for Two nights and two days, I got bored. The first night I had been standing guard with tall, dark, and grouchy Avalon. Princess Luna decided to come by and do some gardening in the halls, so there's that. After a while, I began my second most favorite activity, pestering Avalon. ~Two Hours Later~ "Avi?" I asked for the gazilianth time. To this, Avalon gritted his teeth before answering. "My name is Avalon. How many times must I say it?" He griped. "As many times as it takes for you to answer my question." I replied. Avalon groaned to this as he clawed his non-existent face off. "For the last time, I can't tell you what to do because I have no idea as to what we SHOULD do! CAN YOU PLEASE JUST... SHUT! UP!" He argued. I looked away from him, raised my hand to my chin and stroked my imaginary handle bar mustache and goatee respectively. "Hmm... You know Avipoo. Come to think of it, I don't think master Azazel is very happy here..." I stated squinting my eyes in mock contemplation before continuing. "Twilight Sparkle seems to be very smart, and the lavender pony that follows her seems to be quite knowledgeable too... I wonder if this castle has a study or library of some sort..." As I knew it would, Avalon's poorly wired skull began to stink of bacon as his proverbial brain threatened to combust from the strain of holding a line of thought that didn't involve Azazel's last command to him. "You're not suggesting that we relocate somewhere else do you?" He asked with a genuinely confused look on his face. "Ding! ding! ding! Ladies and gentle creatures we have a winneeeeerrrrrr!" I celebrated by gesturing at him with my best jester impression. To this, he would have scowled if he could. "Oh, lighten up Aragon." I chastised. "Don't get off topic! Why do you think we should move elsewhere?" He inquired. "I don't think we should move just yet. I'm suggesting that we should have a contingency plan should Princess Sunbutt decide she wants to have an Azazel flambe." I clarified. Avalon seemed lost in thought. Probably looking for a fault in my suggestion or a way to say the same thing differently. "If there's a library in this castle, Princess Twilight must know. From what I'm able to pickup, Mia has been conversing with Twilight on a lot of subjects ranging from technology, medicine, and the history of our land. So comparing Mia's knowledge on the subjects with what they have available has been a regular occurrence." He explained. It amazes me that despite being the only one of us that can communicate with Azazel and us telepathically, he's still dumber than a brick. Eh, guess it comes with the perks of being able to bench press a full grown bear. "Avathong?" I asked, barely keeping my manic giggling in check. Avalon, as expected, was not pleased. "*sighs* What is it Trephor?" He stated as the despair of thinking I'd never leave him be began settling in. Hanging his head in defeat. "Can you tell me where Mia is? I feel like doing some research of my own would be productive." His eyes ignited with renewed excitement at the prospect of me leaving him alone. I couldn't help but laugh at his display. "She should be outside Princess Twilight and Starlight Glimmer's quarters getting ready for the day." He stated with a joy that he didn't have a few a seconds ago. My laughter at his sudden mood swing died down the moment I realized that I had no idea where that was. "Riiiiiiight... Could you point me in the right direction?" As I stated this, I began to get a little dizzy. My sudden dizziness was the result of Avalon using his telepathic bond with me to send me the layout of the castle based on Mia's and Azazel's memories. I shook my head to clear my thoughts and on command, they did. "Ok. I'm gonna go over to Mia. With any luck, I can get you an idea of where we could set up shop with whatever this world has to offer us." I explained, to which, Avalon nodded. "Hold down the fort for me Aragon. I'll be back." I told the now grumbling skeleton standing watch by our master's door on his lonesome. I began my trek through the halls with a small bounce in my strides as I began reminiscing on memories of simpler times. I remembered my first few days after being "resurrected." Azazel had given all of us a custom paint job and his mother Lilith gave us a gift to use with our sentience. Mia had been given the skill and mind of an architect and indoor stylist along with a universally good fashion sense. She's the reason Azazel's room back on our homeworld wasn't a rat infested cesspit, she taught him how to organize and clean after himself. Avalon, being the most loyal, was given telepathy so Azazel could keep track of us. Your's truly, being the most smartest, most handsome, and wittiest, was given the ability to understand, speak, read and/or write in any language I come across. Little Anvari frightens me a little with her gift. DON'T TELL AVALON! She has the ability to channel magic through her arms to cast spells. The reason this scares the living daylights out of me is becau- Hey! Its Mia. The poor girl had been sitting there all night by herself. I approached the door and sat down next to Mia. "Morning Mia." I smiled with the friendliest smile I could offer. Mia looked tired, despite us skeletons not being able to feel physical exhaustion. She yawned before answering. "Morning Trephor. How were things on your end?" She asked, looking at me. "Oh, not much. I just annoyed our dark knight for about four hours after standing in a hallway for nearly three days with nothing to do." I complained. Mia began chuckling at this and scooted a little closer. Seeing this, my chivalrousnessness came shining through and gesture for her to get closer. She did so and rested her head on my shoulder. We stayed there for a while, not really doing much as I simply watched the sun's rays crawl up a wall through a window while it slowly rose. I never really understood why, Mia liked laying her head on my shoulder. I can say from personal experience that hard bones are NOT very comfortable. Unfortunately for my current train of thought, the door to the suite opened to reveal a very happy looking Twilight and a very tired looking Starlight. "Good morning Princess. You too Starlight." I addressed them. The girls perked up and looked at me with a bit of surprise. "Oh, hello again Trephor. Is Azazel ready for his interview?" Twilight asked like an excited scholar, dying to get more knowledge. Me being the all time champion of the disappointment Olympics, decided to give her the best customer service smile possible along with her answer. "Sorry, Azazel is still going over the information. If it's any consolation, the conversation you're gonna get out of him is gonna be juicy." I explained. I expected disappointment, not intrigue. "What do you mean?" She asked, her eyes shimmering with the spark of curiosity. "Well... My guess is that the book he has is a sort of condensed compendium of all things necromancy. A necronomicon, if you will." I explained. Twilight summoned a parchment with a feather pen and an ink well with a smile that rivaled that of the ponified hurricane, Pinkie Pie. I immediately understood why Mia was so tired, and took the best course of action accordingly. Mia, who had been peacefully sleeping on my shoulder, was now being shaken awake by yours truly. "Hey Mia! I was just talking to Twilight about what a necronomicon is and all that it entails. I thought you could give her a much better explanation than me. Seeing as how you're much more knowledgeable than myself with this stuff." I stated, standing her and myself to our feet and politely escorting the sleepy she-elf towards pony princess with a ravenous hunger for knowledge. Mia, was visibly miffed at my display, but she didn't say anything. "Ok-" She began with a sigh, rubbing the sleep off her non-existent eyelids and focusing on Twilight "A necronomicon is, in essence, a collection of rituals, spells, cantrips, enchantments and hexes that revolve around the direct manipulation of..." She explained to Twilight as they walked off into the distance and out of earshot while rounding a corner. When they left my field of hearing I let out a chuckle I'd been holding. I nodded to myself as the two left, and looked over to a very disappointed looking Starlight. "What?" I asked. "You're Trephor?" She replied with a question of her own. it confused me at why she would ask that, and so, I tilted my head to show it as I don't have eye brows to raise. "Yes, I am. I presume you're Starlight Glimmer, correct?" I countered. Our duel of inquiry would only have one outcome. A victory for me. MUAHAHAHAHAHA!!! "That wasn't very nice of you. Especially with how well she talks about you." She stated, her drowsiness replaced with a defensive tone. This stumped me. I mean, Mia of all people, spreading a good word about me? It had to be sarcasm. Right? "What do you mean?" Curiousity overriding my pride. "Well, she told us she really likes you." She stated matter-of-factly. I knew then this was a joke, and as such I couldn't help but laugh. When I finally got my bearings, I noticed she wasn't laughing with me. She looked like she was both seriously worried and really upset. "What's wrong with you!? I just told you she likes you and you treat it like a joke!?" She asked indignantly. Seeing as how she wasn't joking, my fit of laughter subsided and I began to stand up straight. "Starlight, I'm sorry. I- heh heheheheh I just find it so outlandish that out of everyone she would like. She likes me- hehehehehehahahaha... " I confessed, letting my fit of giggling subside completely before I continued. "Look at it this way. What could she possibly like about a bag of bad jokes, cheesy puns, lame references, and poorly camouflaged bones such as myself?" I explained. I'll admit, it sounded funnier in my head. Now I just sounded depressed. Starlight on the other hand, looked a lot less upset, and a lot more concerned. "I'm sorry I lashed out at you like that. Look, why don't we go grab breakfast with Twilight and we can talk about it later with a full stomach, ok?" She offered, trying to lighten up the sour mood. Fortunately for us both, it did, as I was suddenly struck in the face with a way I could kill two birds with one stone. "You know, I think that would be a good idea. Although I don't think food would be good for me. Everything I eat has a way of going right through me." I explained, waving my hand over the are my stomach would be if I had one. This caught her off guard and she let out a hearty chuckle. "Well, is there anything else I can help you with?" She offered. TARGET ACQUIRED. "Well, I actually came here to ask if you could point me in the direction of the nearest library." I explained. She raised an eyebrow at this. "Uh.. Sure, I can take you to Canterlot's public library, but what are you looking for?" She asked. "I want to see if I can find a map to get a sense of where we are and just somewhere I can get a general understanding of what Equestria has to offer." This caused her to tense. I stretched out my arms and let my jaw hang from my left hinge. I made the flames of my eye grow and they turned green with amusement. "I will learn from your land so that my Master's undead horde may eat whole cities of pony braaaiiiiinnnsss!" I spoke with the best zombie voice I could manage. Starlight backed away with a horrified expression that was too funny for me to not laugh. I was promptly konked on the head with a hoof for that, knocking me off balance. "Worth it..." I stated, rubbing the area of impact. Once I got back to my feet I noticed Starlight was looking at me with an annoyed expression. "Ok. ok. I won't joke around with that again." I conceded. Starlight rolled her eyes at this and began her walk to the dining room to enjoy a nice breakfast. "Good, now let's go get me something to eat. The library should open by the time we're done getting breakfast." She explained. I sheepishly nodded and followed her. Twilight and Mia were at the table, Mia talking and Twilight multitasking between eating her cereal and taking detailed notes on everything Mia was talking about. As I waited for Starlight to finish her breakfast I began to maul over what she said about Mia liking me. The more I thought about it, the more it made sense. I am fully aware that I can be an insufferable pain in the ass when I want to be, and despite this, not once has she complained. She's given me advice and helped me to plan out situations where Azazel has needed of me without ever complaining about my humor or choice of words. The more I thought about it, the worse I felt. I began to connect the dots with her behavior as well. All the nights she would become mentally exhausted, she would come to sleep with me or simply to vent how she was feeling. As far as I know, I'm the only one she- "Ok, I'm done. Let's get going." Starlight said happily, derailing my train of thought. "Y-yeah." > Chapter 7 Eye opener part 2/ Chapter 8 Run like Hell > -------------------------------------------------------------------------- ////////////////Trephor////////////////// After Starlight finished eating, she walked over to Mia and Twilight. "So Azazel's magic doesn't use a spell matrix? Then how does he even use magic? Without something to focus his magic through, casting a spell should be impossible." Twilight asked. "Well... in a way he does, but not in the way you'd expect. You see, magic on our world resembles yours in the sense that it can be found anywhere and everywhere that there's life. The thing is that Azazel uses what's known as Argent energy, which is more commonly known as "demonic" magic. It functions differently from your "basic" magic since it comes from a completely different plane of existence, meaning that it abides by different rules than that of your magic and in turn, is focused differently." Mia explained, holding her head in her right hand and applying air quotes with her left when needed. She was sitting besides Twilight on the long, rectangular table. "Then how does it work? Is it some biological mechanism he has like how unicorns have horns, pegasi wings, or earth ponies with their hooves?" Twilight asked with a mouthful of cereal while throwing up her hooves in exasperation. After realizing that all of us were staring at her hilarious show, she swallowed and gave an embarrassed chuckle. "I'll be taking Trephor to Canterlot's public library so he can read up on some things he wanted to know." Starlight expressed hesitantly. Twilight immediately perked up. "Is there anything I can help with?" She offered. I took one long look at Mia's dejected form before answering. "Actually, yes. Can I take Mia with me? I don't want to be rude, I just... want to do some research with her is all. She's my go-to study buddy. And I work better when I have someone to keep me from going off topic." I explained, giving Starlight a wink in hopes that she'd help me out. Mia, who hadn't been moving much, froze in her position before turning slowly to look at me. "But I still have so many questions!" Twilight pouted in a manner that made her unnervingly adorable. "And she will answer them all in due time. But now, we have to get GOING, don't we Trephor?" Starlight urged, wordlessly motioning for Mia to hurry up and move before Twilight could do anything about it. The three of us exchanged knowing looks before we bolted off to the library. Once we got the all clear from Starlight that we wouldn't be followed, our little trio exited the palace and began walking through the beautiful streets of Equestria's capitol. Starlight took the lead with the two of us in tow. "Mia?.." I asked reluctantly as I walked along by her side. "Yeah?" She replied. "I'm sorry for throwing you under the carriage earlier. That was... wrong on my part." I apologized. My unease to her potentially aggressive reaction was made mute when I noticed her eyes turn pinkish in color as she gave me a nervous laugh. "It's fine. If I had been in your shoes, I'd probably do the same." She answered, still looking away. I was shocked, she didn't want to throw my head half way across the city. However, I didn't feel the unease leave me. It was getting worse, yet it didn't feel wrong... It was so strange. Normally situations like this make me feel like my rib cage is going to implode, but instead I feel full of... butterflies? I feel all warm inside just thinking about how nice she's been to me and- WHAT THE FUCK AM I SAYING!? WHAT DID STARLIGHT DO TO ME!? WHY IS SHE LOOKING AT ME LIKE THA- "You Ok there Trephor?" She asked with a tone that I didn't like. She knew more than she was letting on. "What do you mean?" I asked as calmly as I could manage. "You've been staring blankly at empty space for the entire walk, you haven't made a single comment or joke and your eyes are glowing pink." I did my best to process the information Starlight spoon-fed my irresponsive body, and even then it took me a bit to understand why my eyes would be glowing pink. I was blushing. The realization made the fire of my eyes flare and the more I looked away to try and hide it the stronger the flames got. Starlight let out a muffled giggle at my current predicament and it made me mad enough to force my eyes back to their original color and intensity. "Are we there yet?" I asked, now miffed myself. Gods, now I know how Avalon feels too. How positively enthralling. Starlight stopped at the door of a massive three story tall building. "Mhmm" She answered innocently along with a nod. "Perfect. Then, let's get going." I ushered them in as passive aggressively as etiquette would allow while also opening the door for them, gaining another bout of giggles from Starlight and- wait... MIA'S BLUSHING TOO! GREAT! NOW IM BLUSHING AGAIN! Ok, ok, deep breaths. Ok, we're good. I let go of the door and head inside behind the girls. The librarian, a pale orange unicorn that looked considerably older than Starlight, took one long look at us before she could say "hello" and looked over to the sandwich she had suspended in her magic. She promptly threw it in a nearby trash bin and let herself out. "I think it's time to retire." She "calmly" repeated to herself as she walked out of the library. For some reason, Starlight and Mia paid no mind to this as they had already found a table to sit down. I blinked in confusion for a bit, finding it to be the only indicator that I was still same myself after the levels of nonsensical behavior I was witnessing. Snapping out of my confused stuper, I made my way to them. After having Mia "reserve" our table in the mostly empty library. Starlight and I got a sizeable amount of books detailing geography, history, and culture. I'm thankful to Astoshan for experimenting with my gift. Now, I don't have to necessarily read a book to absorb it's information. Simply having an unobstructed view of the text for a few seconds is enough for me to record the information. It's a little more taxing on my mind, but I can get a lot more research done, much quicker than I would have without the pertinent modifications. Apparently it has to do with the runes carved into my eye sockets. I don't think Azazel knows, considering that the last time I had been alive, it had been Astoshan who brought me back and Azazel hadn't asked about it. He took me with him during one of his excursions to find new types of magic, along with researching on another Lich. I wouldn't bet my skull on it, but I think that he was doing research on some old mentor or friend of his that went missing. When I asked about their current state, he told me that they were "traveling". I didn't get much out of him though. I was too busy testing my upgrade on some arcane tomes from gods know how long ago. I think, that was about a year ago, but I couldn't be certain. I'm getting sidetracked again, aren't I? Probably. I had just finished a book that mentioned a place called the Crystal Empire when I heard it. The the sound of the sonic barrier being broken and the call of my master. It was a high pitched wailing that, if I had ears, they be in pain. Azazel programmed us to respond to certain roars or loud sounds he could make as a last resort of communication. That specific one meant "Find me, I'm in trouble." Mia looked up from the book on pony architecture to meet my concerned gaze and we immediately knew what we had to do. We dropped everything we had and made a run for the castle. Starlight struggled to keep up, but she eventually caught up with us. "What's wrong!? What was that!?" She exclaimed out of breath. We were still running towards the castle. "Azazel is in trouble!" I explained. Not having the need to breathe was a serious boon, I could run indefinitely without getting tired. Damnit! I'm getting sidetracked again! Focus! We made it back to the castle only to be surrounded by ponies guards. They were aiming their Spears at us, and for the first time in my life, I was truly afraid. These guys, they meant business. "DOWN ON THE GROUND NOW!!!" One of the armor clad ponies shouted. "LAY FLAT AGAINST THE GROUND AND DO NOT RESIST OR WE WILL USE FORCE!!!" Another shouted, this one a mare with a gruffy voice. After the three of us looked at each other in shock, we quickly complied. Shackles that were a little too big for me bound my arms behind my back. After I was restrained I turned my head to see Mia and Starlight had been cuffed and were laying flat on the stone road. Starlight had dark streaks running down her furred cheeks and her eyes were wet with tears. She was a afraid. Mia... She doesn't have much to read in the facial expressions department, but her eyes... they were blue dots, lost in the emptiness of her hollow eye sockets. "ON YOUR FEET!!!" The first pony shouted. We complied, mainly out of fear we would get stabbed by their spears. While it is very difficult to stab a skeleton due to our relatively small bones, a good hit to the head would be enough to permanently kill us. A shattered skull of an undead can't be repaired and brought back. Only living bone and flesh could be healed. We were escorted into the castle. After walking through the castle's winding halls made it to the dungeons and placed inside separate cells. Mia and I shared a cell, while Starlight sat in a cell besides our own. I could hear Starlight's sobs echo through the dimly lit dungeons. This place was an empty hole, meant to instill a sentiment of isolation. There were very few ponies here. Two guards, one pony in a cell by herself, and two skeletons. After inspecting the dusty cell we were in, I took stock of Mia. She had reached her breaking point. She hated this place. Not this specific cell, but prison in general. She had told me of the time her old self had been imprisoned years ago. She had been caught stealing from a noble in the outskirts of the elven kingdom and fled to the Solarian empire, where she eventually met my old self. We weren't them, but we had their memories, their experiences, their... lives in a way. Mia had been captured by a bounty hunter and was sentenced to be hanged. She waited for four days in a dusty cell like the one we were in now before a window to escape presented itself. The sensation of impotency and the dread of not knowing if one is about to die... She tried for hours to find the right words to describe it. She cried for hours as I listened. I wish I had known it then, how she felt about me. I wish I hadn't been such a dense prick. But no more. I liked to make jokes, and in turn make those around me smile. I wouldn't make her feel like the punchline anymore to the cruel joke that life was playing on us. She was sitting against the wall, with an empty gaze looking outwards. Small blue embers fell from her eyes and hit the floor before snuffing out in the cool air of this godforsaken place. I sat down beside her and placed my hand on her's. "That's life... that's what all the people say..." She sung to herself in near whisper. I loved that song. It was ironic. From what Lilith told me, she'd come up with it when she gave birth to Azazel. She knew that her ex-husband would've killed her and her newborn child, and sang it to herself during her darkest hours. Sitting in a cell with someone she loved awaiting execution. "And as funny as it may seem... some people get their kicks..." But in that darkest hour, someone who loved her came. They literally went to hell and back for the mother of his child. And the story I had heard so many times before, now held a new meaning to me. "Stomping on your dreams... but I don't... let it get me down..." I didn't know what to do, but I'd find a way to get us back to Azazel safely. I now understood how Mia felt for me. And now I wanted to follow Astoshan's example. "Cause this fine ol' world it keeps spinning around..." Mia's fingers became intertwined with mine as she leaned her head onto my shoulder. I rested my head on hers and in that dusty cell filled with despair, I knew love as much as I knew fear. My eyes felt heavy, as the stress of the last hour caught up with me. I looked down to see Mia's eyes were extinguished, meaning she had fallen asleep. Seeing as how I didn't see us going anywhere anytime soon, I closed my eyes, and drifted off to sleep. //////////Avalon//////////// My master had been running for approximately four hours when I felt gravity shift to the surprisingly spacious walls of the bag I was in while hearing the muffled sound of someone gasping for air. It took me a bit to realize what had happened through my light daze, and I became very concerned in a very short lapse of time. "Master!? Permission to come out!?" I asked more afraid than anything. For an insufferably long period, there was nothing but silence with the exception of Azazel's tired panting. "Master!?" I called out again. As a response, I saw the opening of the bag part slightly and saw Azazel's fingers begin to open them before sliding back out. Taking this as an affirmation to my request, I further opened the rest of the bag's opening and crawled out. I came out to find myself in a patch of woods with large trees separated with ample room to walk around. The massive trees had their foliage intertwined and collectively covered the sky above us, with only some of the sun's rays poking through the leaves. I turned around to find Azazel, drenched in sweat and dirtied with muck, laying down in exhausted defeat. I knelt down besides him and placed a hand on his shoulder. His wild eyes opened to look at me. I saw anger, betrayal, and hatred. I'd never seen him like this, and it frightened me. "Master... what do I do?" I asked in a hushed voice. Now being able to breathe a little easier, he answered me. "Find... shelter..." He managed as he tried to get up. His arms shook and buckled before he could raise himself to his feet. I knew Azazel was too weak to move, so I began to search for a way to get him moving. My eyes settled on a dead tree whose only remnant was a greyish trunk with some branches protruding at odd angles. I began to think of a way to form it into a stretcher for my master, but then I realized the implications of time and effort needed to carve out a rough shape, not to mention the fact that it would have to be hollowed out enough to not be overly heavy. I began pacing around, before I heard an unsettling roar. It was loud and bestial, kind of like... That's as far as I got in thought when I was struck by something and sent flying into a nearby tree. Having stronger bones than that of my fellow undead meant that the impact against the hardy bark of the tree I slammed into did little to my overall well being. When I rose to my feet, I saw my assailant. It was a chimera with a lion's body, bat like wings, and a scorpion's tail with a powerful stinger. I'd seen my fare share of manticore while I was alive, but I had never had to face one in single combat. Azazel must have entered it's territory without knowing, and now the creature was defending it. I am strong, but a fully grown chimera like this one could kill me easily. I was a bit stunned to notice it hadn't immediately gone for the kill. It was looking at me angrily, and I knew I would have to fight it to keep it from trying to make my master it's next meal. My mind raced with possible ways to put down the manticore. Unfortunately, my train of thought was cut off when it charged me. I rolled out of its way just as it knocked down a relatively thin tree by ramming straight into it. The manticore let out a roar of fury as it clambered back to it's feet and tried to attack me again. This time I was ready for it. I sidestepped it's blind lunge and ducked under an incoming paw swipe. The creature was using it's instinct to fight, there was no thought behind it. Good, it wasn't sapient, or at the very least, intelligent. I continued to dodge it's attacks, letting it knock down more trees and letting the beast tire itself out. After several minutes of back stepping swipes from it's powerful claws, bites from it's jaw and jabs from it's stinger, I lured it towards the dead tree. The beast jabbed it's tail angrily at me before impaling it on the dead tree. The manticore, now trying to free it's stuck tail, was now at my mercy. I used my pointy fingers like daggers as I drove my hands through the manticore's neck in a flurry of quick jabs that punctured it's neck. The creature soon choked on its blood and lay dead at my feet. Making my way back to my master, I saw him resting with his back propped against a tree. He had watched my duel and was now eyeing my kill. "Master?" I asked, his eyes now locked with mine. "Did you break any of it's bones?" He asked with an amused expression. "I don't think so, sir. If I may know, why do you ask?" I inquired. I trusted my master. Astoshan had ordered us long ago to follow his orders unquestioningly. Although I didn't always understand his reasoning, I would follow his orders. "Bring that creature over to me." He ordered uninterestedly. He seemed to be lost in thought. I obeyed, and with much effort, I managed to bring the body to my master. The tail had lodged itself so firmly into the tree that when I began to pull onthe tail to try and get it to come loose, The hollow tree trunk was broken in half, the stinger still stuck. I looked over to my master with embarrassment. Azazel on the other hand, was unfazed by this and simply waved for me to bring the corpse. Now dragging much more weight than I had initially expected, I dragged the body by the manticore's paw and let go of it when it was within arms reach of my master. Azazel took a deep breath, extended his hand outward with his palm facing skywards and began to charge a magical sphere of what I recognized as necrotic energy that hovered over his hand. "Resurectum Inmortous..." He whispered. The orb then exploded outward with a sound similar to the wind combined with the distant, unintelligible screaming of souls. The magic that came out of the explosion was absorbed by the manticore's body. Azazel let his hand fall to his side while breathing heavily again. "M-master, perhaps you shouldn't-" My stammered suggestion was cut short when the manticore rose it's feet. It's slit pupils were now surrounded by a dark red Iris instead of a yellowish brown one. The beast looked down at Azazel and sat down, resting it's head between his legs. It let out a loud purr as my master ran his hand through it's mane. "Good boy..." He whispered to the beast before looking at me. "Where are Mia and Trephor?" He asked, his tone tired yet firm. Having received my orders, I shut my eyes and began to search for them with my mind's eye. I kept my eyes shut so that I could further concentrate on sifting through their memories. As the images, sounds, and sensations that they lived flashed through me, I gained an understanding of what had happened since we had escaped Canterlot. "They are being held captive by Celestia. They have not been harmed, though I fear that may not last." I explained, opening my eyes. I turned to look at Azazel. He had a look I knew all to well. Azazel, being part demon, had trouble controlling his temper. He could yell, and insult others when annoyed, but the look he had now was one of silent ire. He was quietly sitting on the ground, his fear aura activating without him even realizing. "We need to find shelter so we can focus on finding a way to save them." He states grimly. If I had a throat I would've gulped, and much to my surprise I subconsciously tried to perform the action and the sound of a lump going down a non-existent throat came from below my jaw. Azazel opened his bag, exposing Anvari's head just under the leathery fabric. She poked her head out completely to see Azazel looking down at her. "Come out little one, I need your help." He commanded in the most calm tone he could manage. Not oblivious to my master's ire she climbed out with some help from him. He turned to face me after setting Anvari down and prompting the undead manticore to sit on it's haunches. "Help me stand." He ordered. I reluctantly obeyed and helped him stand. "Master, I do think you should stay put and rest. You still have to recover the rest of your strength-" I pleaded. Azazel shot me with a glare and I immediately stopped talking. "This beast was only the first. Scavengers will follow it's scent to us. We have to stay moving or we will die come nightfall." He explained to me before turning to look at Anvari who was caressing the now docile chimera. "Anvari, I need you to summon the horde." He ordained. Anvari looked over to Azazel's discarded bag and extended her hands towards it. She shut her eyes and began to focus. Her skeletal hands were soon wreathed in the familiar crimson fire of Azazel's demonic magic and she began to charge a sphere of the necrotic energy in her hand. When fully charged I nearly missed her whisper the incantation. "Resurectum Inmortous..." The sphere exploded into a torrent of necrotic energy that snaked its way inside of the bag in smoking tendrils. After the last plumes vanished into the bag, there was an eerie silence before the bag began to rustle and convulse violently. I turned to look at Azazel, who was now branding a malevolent grin on his face. "Rise before me... and serve." He demanded, and on command, a tornado of ash and soot rose from within the satchel. It shot tendrils between us to points behind us, feeding the masses of dust behind us. They began to take and equine form, standing on four hooves. some branded skeletal wings while others had long, pointed horns juting from their foreheads. After the stygian skeletons formed, the clothing they wore to their graves began to materialize with a different color palette than before. The once chromatic suits and dresses they wore were now all a uniform black with red accents. The only thing that remained the same was the buttons and long dead flowers that once decorated their impressive attire. I heard Azazel chuckle, before tearing my eyes off the almost complete group of undead before us to points at my master. "It is refreshing to see someone still pays attention to details. Especially at a time like this." He mused. Anvari giggled nervously as the magic surrounding her arms faded and with a cacophony akin to the sound of muffled bells, I was made aware of our small legion's awakening into undeath. Facing the thirty-ish skeletons standing at attention, I heard a unicorn stallion speak in a posh and cultured accent. "My Lord, what would you have us do?" He asked meekly with a small bow. Now looking at Azazel, his evil grin died down to an angry scowl. "M̶y̶ ̶h̵o̴r̶d̷e̶,̵ ̷C̶e̶l̸e̴s̶t̵i̵a̸ ̸h̵a̶s̸ ̴b̵e̴t̸r̶a̷y̶e̵d̶ ̷m̶e̵.̸.̸.̶ ̴a̸n̷d̷ ̶a̵s̴ ̸m̴y̷ ̶c̶r̴e̵a̵t̷i̸o̴n̸s̷,̵ ̴s̷h̸e̵ ̸h̴a̶s̷ ̸b̴e̵t̵r̷a̶y̴e̵d̴ ̵y̴o̴u̴.̴ ̶N̷o̴t̷ ̵o̶n̴l̶y̶ ̸t̸h̷a̵t̸,̶ ̸s̵h̵e̸ ̸h̸a̸s̸ ̸t̷h̷e̶ ̸a̶u̸d̴a̷c̴i̵t̸y̸ ̸o̵f̶ ̵h̵o̸l̵d̵i̵n̵g̶ ̷h̸o̴s̷t̷a̸g̸e̵ ̴y̷o̷u̸r̴ ̷b̸r̶e̷t̶h̶r̶e̶n̵.̸ ̷M̷y̷ ̴c̷a̸r̸e̴t̵a̷k̵e̵r̵s̸ ̷a̶n̵d̴ ̵f̵r̴i̴e̴n̶d̶s̷,̴ ̴M̴i̵a̸ ̵a̴n̶d̷ ̶T̴r̵e̵p̶h̵o̷r̸ ̵a̷r̴e̶ ̷c̴u̴r̷r̴e̵n̴t̶l̸y̷ ̸i̷m̷p̴r̶i̶s̶o̸n̶e̷d̷ ̷i̴n̸ ̸h̵e̷r̴ ̸c̷a̵s̷t̶l̶e̵.̵ ̷A̶s̵ ̴w̷e̵ ̶a̴r̶e̵,̴ ̷w̴e̵ ̵s̵t̸a̴n̶d̷ ̴n̴o̷ ̸c̷h̴a̴n̴c̸e̸ ̵a̵g̴a̶i̸n̸s̷t̷ ̸t̶h̴e̵ ̵d̸i̷a̵r̴c̴h̷s̴ ̴o̶f̷ ̴t̷h̶e̶ ̶s̸u̷n̷ ̷a̴n̶d̵ ̷m̴o̶o̵n̸.̴" He addressed the horde before looking directly at me with a powerful determination before continuing. "Avalon is my second in command, an order from him is to be treated as one from myself. He will guide us to a suitable shelter where we can conjure a plan to rescue Mia and Trephor. Does anyone have any questions?" He asked. The pony skeletons looked among themselves for a while before one rose it's hoof into the air. It was another unicorn, except this one was a mare. "If I may ask, where exactly are we?" She asked. I knew my master knew not where we were, but thanks to Trephor's prudence, I now knew where we stood and where to go. "I can confirm that we are in the Everfree forest, south of Canterlot. I also understand that there are ruins of an ancient castle in these woods southward. Trephor's memory yielded a rough idea of where it lies." I explained, the last part directed at Azazel. He nodded in approval before the sound of howling wolves began to cry out somewhere to the east. "T-t-timber wolves!!!" "We will be torn apart!!!" "We're going to die!!" Several skeletons exclaimed, causing the rest to panic. "E̶͉͂N̵̻͉͊̇́Ô̶̧̺U̴̞̪̇Ģ̶̛̺͐H̶̨̯̄!̷̲̒!̴̡̰͙͗̿̌!̴̡͕̰̾̇̋" Azazel roared before continuing, causing them all to shut up and stand at attention again. "We need to move and leave the manticore here. Avalon lead the-" My master was cut short by Anvari pulling on his arm. She was currently sitting on the inside of the concave tree bark the manticore still had attached to it's tail. "But why can't we take him?.." She asked sadly. Whatever rage Azazel had been harboring was dispelled by her plea. He looked between her and the beast for a while before letting out a sigh in defeat. He turned to look at me with the same look he gave me just before I threw myself out of a window back at the castle. "Avalon, If I lose consciousness, you'll have to drag me to wherever those ruins you mentioned earlier are. I'm counting on you, understood!?" He hurriedly ordered, holding my shoulders in his hands as he spoke. Not knowing what else to say, I nodded. Azazel took a deep breath before his forearms and hands were engulfed in his magic. Letting out a strained roar, I witnessed him plant his hands on the manticore's back. The beast did not flinch as my master incinerated it's flesh. It's body was engulfed in fire and it's internal organs poured out onto the grassy floor in a gelatinous mass from the beast's abdomen in a disgusting display of gore. My master was sweating profusely from the exertion of his magic, the flames of a sable scarlet that perverted the lush green of the woods surrounding us. When the dark flames dissipated, only an onyx skeleton of feline build remained. The tail was freed from the bark as the manticore rose to it's full height with the bark withering away around the stinger. My master spent the last of his magic on this feat and collapsed on his side. I quickly kneeled by his side and placed a boney finger on his chest. His heart was pounding hard and he was still breathing, but only barely. I rose to my feet and looked at the horrified faces of the skeletons, the indicator of their horror being their eyes. Small, glowing dots of blue fire. Taking stock of my surroundings, I laid eyes on Anvari standing on the half cylinder of tree bark, the pony skeletons, and four pairs of green eyes looking menacingly at us from a dis-... Wait. From behind the trees, I saw four bizzare creatures looking at us hungrily. They looked like walking masses of leaves and wood in the shape of wolves. They stalked us from afar and once they noticed I saw them, they began to charge at us. My mind flew into overdrive as I hoisted Azazel up with all my might and dropped his limp form onto the concave bark. Anvari had moved just in time to avoid getting crushed, and when she saw why I had done this, she grabbed Azazel's bag from the floor and leapt on. I jumped on myself and wedged my feet between two convenient branches on either side of the makeshift sled. I grabbed onto the manticore's tail and shouted the only word I could think of. "RUUUUUNNN!!!" I screamed at the manticore, and after rising to it's hind legs and releasing a primal roar, the beast charged forward. The creatures I assumed the ponies meant by "timber wolves" fell upon my skeletal brethren before they could react. The timber wolves slashed with their strong paws and chomped down on the skeletal ponies. They were killed relatively quickly, to die as an undead is painless so I didn't concern myself too much with those that did. As their old bones snapped and their skulls were pulverized, the necrotic energy that kept them alive snaked out of their bodies in tendrils of opaque fumes that flew back towards Anvari's form. The one's closer to us began to run besides the odd carriage being towed by an undead manticore, with the exception of the five pegasi who flew a short distance away from us. The beast was smart enough to weave through the trees, and being undead allowed it to run without tiring, even with the added weight. Just as I thought we were safe from the timber wolves, one of the pegasi that was flying nearby was snatched out of the air and torn in half. It's upper body slammed into a tree and exploded in a flurry of broken bones and necrotic energy. The one responsible for this was gaining on us with it's three companions. I felt my grip for only a moment on the manticore's tail slip and immediately adjusted to avoid losing it completely. When I finally got my bearings, I sense behind me something... familiar... I felt pain. Nothing physical. Hell, it wasn't even my own. It radiated from Anvari like a whirlwind. I turned to see the last tendrils of necrotic energy be absorbed into her arms. Taking one look at her eyes made the world slow down to a near halt. She was crying in a prone position looking at her creations. Glowing embers were trailing down her cheek bones and along the rim of her jaw before being swept away in the wind. However, these embers were not the color of sadness. They were that of rage. As the world resumed moving at it's normal speed, I saw Anvari's eyes ignite with a demonic hatred that would frighten even the most stone cold veterans of wars long since past. Seeing her creations be butchered had brought out Anvari's gift. While yes, it was a gift in an of itself for an undead to cast magical spells, the extent of her power mirrored Azazel's. As the timber wolves closed in to destroy the skeletons forming a wall between the wolves and us, Anvari stood to her feet and glare at them with what I assumed was hell's fury. Focusing back in front of me, I noticed we were reaching a large river that flowed with a violent maelstrom of water. I immediately knew what needed to be done. I turned to face the ponies running by our sides and gave my first order. "CLIMB ON!!!" I shouted. To this the ponies nodded and jumped on, the pegasi doing so much quicker than the unicorns and earth ponies. Though being relatively light in weight, the sudden increment in weight began to slow down the manticore's pace. Though it did not tire, the creature was now struggling to keep up it's pace. I looked over at Anvari who was charging what I knew to be two powerful jets of hellfire. "HOLD HER!!!" I roared my second command, to which the skeletons obeyed. They locked themselves and formed a "web" to hold Anvari and Azazel pinned to the makeshift sled. I could hear the timber wolves snarling and barking hungrily as they drew nearer. The manticore saw the river and thought about stopping it's pace, sensing it's thought, I overrode it and forced it to push forward and await for my signal. As we got dangerously close to the river, I could sense Anvari was primed and ready to release her anger on these bloodthirsty beasts. Fortunately for her, I was all too eager to oblige her. "ANVARI!!! MAKE THEM BURN!!!" She didn't even need my word to know what needed to be done. "INFERNUM INCENDIO MAXIMA!!!" She tried to out roar her spell, unleashing the fury of hell itself on the timber wolves she hated so. From her extended arms, two spiraling jets of black and red flame incinerated anything they grazed and propelled us forward with the speed of a falling star. "JUMP!!!" I tried to instruct the manticore over the roar of Anvari's rage fueled flames. Fortunately, my connection to its mind allowed it to know what I had been thinking before the command ever escaped my mouth. With a powerful leap from the manticore and Anvari's wrath unleashed we soared above the river and soared through the air. After we cleared the river and gained a considerable altitude Anvari could hold the flames no longer. She lost consciousness and remained on our airborne carriage thanks to the hooves holding her in place. As if on cue, the pegasi who had stationed themselves on the corners of the large log clasped on to whatever they could to hold it aloft while being pulled by the manticore, who had also taken flight and pulled us forward through the air. We flew for what felt like an half an hour, crossing over a part of the forest that looked more ominous than the rest of the treeline. Once we passed it I spotted our destination. "Over there! We'll land there!" I exclaimed, rather relieved that this ordeal was nearly over. The pegasi and the manticore did their best to land as gently as possible, but the landing was still rough enough to result in the destruction of one more pegasus. When we touched down, the poor creature thought it prudent to let go of the only thing giving it the ability to halt it's momentum. It slammed into an old stone pillar that broke over the skeleton and crushed it. When the dust settled, I let go of the manticore's tail and rolled out like a nauseous drunkard. "Is everyone alright?" I asked, falling on my pelvis and resigning to simply sit for a while on the dirt floor with my head hung in defeat, a sensation I was neither familiar or fond of. "I believe so, sir. Though, I cannot say the same for... the others." One of the three remaining pegasi, a stallion asserted. I looked up to see him and the other skeletons clammering out of our impromptu flying carriage. "Are we all that is left?..." A scared earth pony mare asked. I was slowly begining to understand just how bad of a predicament we were in. I was stranded in a section of dangerous woods I knew nothing of with three pegasi, four unicorns, and one earth pony. I shut my eyes and began to run my right hand over my skull, out of habit than anything, stroking a head of hair that wasn't there. I began rummaging through my head as for how Mia or Trephor would handle situations like this. "Uhm... Tell me, what are your names?" I asked, deciding it would be best to get their minds off what just happened for a bit. The ponies looked at me, then at each other quizzically before a unicorn mare with a dress that resembled an odd combination of a formal suit with a beautiful skirt that, with it's changed color pallet, shone like a murky night sky with stars dotting it. "Well, if you must know, I am dutchess Spectre of the house of Luamoon. My family has had a long lineage of talented ponies that specialize in illusion magic." She stated proudly in her comically snobby accent. This prompted another unicorn to speak up, a rather large stallion with a deep voice and very pronounced jaw. "I am Blazing Shot. I was part of Celestia's personal guard in life, like my father before me and his father before him. I hope that my daughter has grown well and raised the next generation of royal guards." He stated, standing at attention with his chest as puffed up as his new anatomy (or lack thereof) would allow. His statement annoyed me, considering what had gotten us in this predicament, but he paid no mind to it. Following Blazing Shot, the rest began to introduce themselves. In summary, I was surrounded by a unicorn illusionist, a deceased unicorn soldier that died protecting the princess of the sun from a rioter, a unicorn archivist, three royal "charioteers" that were pegasi, and an earth pony . Their names were Spectre Luamoon, Blazing Shot, Savant Dancer, Silver Lining, Cherry Wing, Scarlet Stream, and Honey Blossom respectively. "Well, now that we are all aquainted, what exactly are we going to do?" The illusionist mare asked me. I looked behind them to see that the sun was now setting and quickly looked around my environment. Infront of me was an old rickety bridge that connected two patches of the forest, separated by a large crevice whose bottom was obscured by fog and the skeletons looking at me expectantly. To our sides were pillars of stone and fallen archways of what used to be a rather large complex and a certain fallen pillar that now served as a resting place for one of the late pegasi. Anvari and Azazel lay unconscious on the tree trunk with the undead manticore sitting near it. The manticore would occasionally look over the side of the half tree trunk to check on Anvari. Wheeling my torso around on my spine, I saw behind us the large castle that lay in ruins. From Trephor's memory of his research, this was the castle of the two sisters that ruled over Equestria many many years ago. The castle itself had been touched only by the passage of time, and looked about as decent as any thousand year old ruins could possibly look like. Seeing that the structure still had a roof I deemed it decent enough to serve as a shelter for the time being. Completing a full rotation of my torso I looked at my charge of undead. "We will stay the night in that castle and nurse Master Azazel back to health. Until then, that is our priority. Find a suitable place inside for our master to rest. We'll set up shop there." They looked at each other, then at the ruins behind me, and finally over to me. Some of them gulped audibly before complying, the one called Honey Blossom being the most frightened of the bunch. I stood up and walked over to the skeletal manticore. The creature did not seem to like me, as it growled angrily once I approached. "You attacked me first, so I retaliated. You died fair and square, suck it up and help me move them inside." I complained at the creature. While it lived, I could guarantee that talking to the chimera would result in me getting mauled to death. Now that it was undead, it obeyed my master, and it would obey me by extension. As expected, the manticore let out an upset huff before it tried to obey the command. Without something to tether it to the tree, it didn't know how to move it other than pushing it from behind, which proved fruitless. I looked around for a way to help it out. After a bit, I noticed that there were some thick vines growing down the side of a broken pillar. I began to gather as many of them as I could and began to braid them into a makeshift rope. Once I was confident it wouldn't break from the stress, I tore a sizeable branch off a tree before heading back to the "sled". The manticore tilted it's head in confusion upon seeing me. "C'mere." I ordered casually. As I closed the distance, the manticore looked quizzically at the items in my hand. Once I was besides the "vehicle", I began to tie the rope I had created to the corners of the trunk. I then tied loops around the sides of the branch. Feeling confident it would work, I motioned for the chimera to come with my hand. The beast silently obeyed, and after passing under the rope and me gesturing for it to bite down on the branch, it was now towing the trunk with greater ease. Nodding to myself in approval, I walked beside the creature and closed the gap between us and the castle. I placed my thumb and ring finger in my mouth and blew as hard as I could. A loud whistling sound came out, and as I had wanted, my entourage came out and gathered around me "Report." I commanded. Blazing Shot took a step forward and spoke up. "Sir, Most of the structure has been destroyed due to the passage of time. The throne room is relatively undamaged, save for the massive hole in the roof. The only other section of the castle that isn't completely destroyed or covered in plant life is the library of this castle." He stated matter-of-factly. The Dutchess from before walked past him and got closer to me. When she was directly in front of me, she motioned for me to get close, as what she wanted to say was for my proverbial ears alone. "I believe I may have found something that would be of interest to your... friend.-" She stated, gesturing discreetly with her eyes. "Though I do not think it would be wise to show rest. It is... unsettling." She explained in a conspiratorial tone. I nodded and opted to give this mare a private audience later. For now, Azazel was my priority. "How bad is the damage to the library?" I asked the undead soldier. "Quite surprisingly, it is relatively untouched, save for a few broken tables and the obscene amount of dust. The windows are very thick, so they haven't been broken. It only has one entrance and it could be converted into sleeping quarters for all of us and still have ample room." He explained. Savant Dancer seemed excited, his eyes glowing slightly brighter than his fellow undead. Noticing this, I then believed it best to ask for what was on rather than prod around in his head. Mainly because I was getting tired, and I needed to be awake to keep watch over my master. Undead don't really need to sleep, but overusage of our gifts can tire us down and force us to fall into a form of hibernation. During these periods we remain "alive" but act as if dead until we are well rested. "Savant Dancer? Is something the matter?" I immediately regretted my decision when he rambled off on something about all of the books here that were in prestine condition given their circumstance. As he continued to drone off and miss me disappearing, I pulled the Dutchess outside of the library to speak with her privately. Though I had mostly wanted to get away from the rambling if the studious stallion. Having to experience the hell Mia went through with Princess Twilight was not something I was willing to endure again. "Alright. Now that we're alone, tell me of what you found." I ordered. She nodded before turning tail and guiding me to what seemed to be another room on one of the ruin's remaining towers. We approached an empty corridor that was cold and damp with a large wooden door coming to stop a few meters away. I would've chalked it up to the cool temperatures of the night, were it not for what I recognized to be the signs of magic with my telepathy. Whatever was casting it was old, very old. Not only that, it was sentient. "Do you feel it?..." She asked in hushed and frightful tone. Her pompous facade now falling apart that we were alone. I stood there with her by my side, waiting for something other than the pressure of very old, very powerful magic. Surely enough, the sounds of the nocturnal forest outside the castle went silent. I could no longer hear the faint chirping and scuttling insects in the night. All I could hear was the deafened silence. My mind began to play tricks on me, and I felt like j was hearing unintelligible whispering from the other side of the door. I took a deep, shaky breath before looking down at the equally perturbed mare by my side. "I'll make sure Master Azazel looks into it when he wakes up. For now, I think we can both agree that it would be best to ignore it and lock ourselves in the library." I explained as passive aggressively as I could to accentuate how uncomfortable I was feeling all of a sudden. With a hasty nod, she complied. The two of us walked back to the library. I had the skeletons help me make Azazel a makeshift bed out of our impromptu carriage with dirt and moss I had the pegasi retrieve to make it a bit more comfortable. Blazing Shot even went out of his was to go to the throne room and bring back a large enough banner to act as a sheet. Within the hour, my master was resting away his exhaustion and on a bed with Anvari by his side on a bed of dead wood, moss, and dirt with a posse of undead ponies, Human, dwarf and a manticore. I had placed Azazel and Anvari's "bed" on the far side of the library with the manticore sleeping nearby it. I don't exactly understand why, but I noticed that it has a particular propensity to care for Anvari. It would only ever get up to stretch or to see if she was sleeping soundly. They others didn't like the idea of staying in the same room with the undead beast, but refusing to take any chances I managed convinced them that it was safe to have it around so long as it kept some distance from them. I had got up to check up on Azazel after the manticore's tenth inspection of the sleeping undead dwarf. Azazel was looking in much better shape than before. He smelled awful, but I decided to wait until morning to go searching for a clean water supply to for him to drink and bathe. Other than his smell, he was fine. He had bags under his eyes, showing the lack of sleep, but otherwise; he was sleeping like a log. Content with how well things had turned out, I walked back to the group of ponies gathered around a small bonfire made from books too damaged for Savant to read or broken furniture. "Did you open the windows on the roof to let the smoke out?" Asked Cherry Wing to Scarlet Wing as she descended from the roof. "Of course. Though I would like to point out that those windows are extraordinarily dirty. How I managed to stay clean was beyond me." Scarlet replied, looking over her form. "Probably because you don't have any fur to get dirty with. One of the many things that you'll need to get to know now that you are undead." I chimed in, coming back from having checked on my master. I dedicated the rest of the night to explaining to them our story of how we got to this world, where we came from and what it is like being undead. I got to know the skeletons I would be working with for the foreseeable future and after a VERY LONG DAY. I finally had a moment to catch my breath and relax. > Chapter 9. Dead Creatures Tell No Tales > -------------------------------------------------------------------------- ////////Azazel//////// I was in a void. I had no shape or form. I simply... was. In this void, there were voices. Voices I've known for ages. The souls damned to serve me for all of eternity. The souls I had consumed. They know not who they once were, not anymore; but I do. Thieves, murderers, and misguided fools who had attempted to kill me. I still remember it, the first time I killed. I was only twelve when it happened. The world around me shifted and without me noticing at first, I began to relive my past. I was traveling with my father when that stupid trio of thieves surrounded us as we walked our way back home through the dirt road that connects the cities of Moonshine and Tamriel. My home was in a section near the center of the Ursan forest which divided the two cities. My father had been teaching me how to cast one of the most basic offensive spells in the school of necromancy, Tactus Dolorem. The spell of pain. There were three thieves, and my father had used an invisibility spell to make himself scarce. I was still unaware of the danger that untrained magic casters pose on others. The three thieves had no idea that it is not wise to provoke a greater Incubi, even if they're a half-blood and a novice spell caster. The combination of having my father "abandon" me while also getting attacked by three armed strangers in the middle of nowhere made me very irritable to say the least. In a violent explosion of energy, I cast the spell I had learned only a few hours prior. The grass and trees near my immediate area barely moved from the ethereal blast of magic, but my assailants did not share the same fate. I had used so much magic in the spell that I sent them into shock. And as they lay there, twitching on the ground, my dad emerged from the darkness. "Good. Now, you will take their pain away." He stated with an unsettling amount of calmness. "H-how?" I stammered, unable to tear my eyes off of the convulsing thugs. "You will focus your power onto your hands, and say these words. 'Tactus Mortem'. Then release your magic, understand?" He ordered, placing his hand on my shoulder. This snapped me out of my dazed stuper and made me look up at him. I knew that this was his way of teaching. Cold hearted, but effective. Ironically, I think it was in those moments that we were the closest. He was passing down his knowledge onto me. The knowledge that would grant mastery of life and death. I looked back down to see the fruits of my outburst. They had attempted to kill me. And father was standing close by. He would've kept me safe. I now knew that they could not hurt me, but their attempt on my life would not be ignored. It was in that moment that all hesitation in my mind was washed away, and I knew with absolute certainty what I wanted to do. I raised my then scrawny arms and opened my hands. "Tactus Mortem..." They died in agony, and they would only be the first. As I reveled on the screams of those moronic rats, my mind drifted and came to contemplate my reasons for being out on that fateful day. The spells of death and pain were not the only thing I learned that day. My father had left out home along with me to a remote village near the base of the Black Mountain of the East. He disguised us to travel relatively unnoticed using an illusion spell of my mother's arsenal of spells she's crafted over her long life on us. He used the alias of Elijah Gustav, a wandering human healer of Ahr City that traveled with his adoptive son, Fentazan being my own alias. The first spells I learned were spells of healing and restoration. And my father would use these visits to the village under the Black Mountain's shadow to teach me, as much as he would use them to trade and earn coin for services or materials. The village, though still apprehensive about me, did not want to slit my throat every time I went there after putting my gifts to good use. I healed the sick and mended the injured with magic. Argent energy allowed me to save those on the brink of death, and in one occasion allow those that were too far gone enough time for them to say their goodbyes. I only did that once... and I don't know if I'll ever do that again. Holding someone's soul in a body that's begging for death's release... It felt... wrong... As the memories now formed part of my train of thought, they too materialized and began to happen before me like a play. "How in the nine hells can you be a necromancer and not know how to cast a simple healing spell!?" I heard my father's voice echo through my mind as the pleasant memory soon faded away and bled into the night of my parent's murder. The world began to take shape around me as familiar sights and sounds began to materialize. A beautiful night sky with a full moon and a masterful tapestry of stars and constellations. They painted the sky and illuminated the small clearing I like to go to so I could stargaze. The sound of the gentle breeze caressing the trees and ruffling their leaves accompanied by the gentle chirping of crickets and other insects played nature's ballad. A song of birth, life, and death. I would sit by myself or with my mother and enjoy the stillness. As the world finished taking shape, I too wanted to have form. However, something was restraining me, I couldn't take shape. I began to focus harder on my body, and visualized my appearance. Magic was trying to stop me, and when I realized it, I became frustrated. That frustration soon turned into anger. And that anger gave me the strength I needed to form my body. I began with a humanoid build. A torso, a head, two arms, and two legs enveloped in a bright red on their knees. As I tried to assume my more demonic features, I felt the magical force trying to restrain me grow stronger. It was crushing me from all sides with the weight of an elder dragon. The pain that coursed through my body was not enough to incapacitate me, it only fed my growing fury. I forced myself into existence with every last ounce of will power I had, eventually overcoming the force enough to finish forming my rough shape. My inverted wings, my tail and horns shot out from my radiant frame as crude silouhettes of hellfire that contrasted the rest of my luminous figure. The magic quintupled in strength, now having eyes of my own, I saw a golden aura that I recognized all too well. The mere thought of Celestia sent me into a frenzy of hate fueled rage that forced my body to take it's usual appearance after shattering the magical grip that bound my body with a blast of argent energy that erupted from my fully formed form in every which way. Once free, I began to look around in a wild attempt to find something or, preferably, someone to take out my anger on. After wheeling around, I saw the whore of the sun standing there with a stoic face that simply demanded I burn it off. Focusing my pent up aggression into an unholy jet of hellfire on the object of my ire, I let loose a torrent on the traitorous bitch until I could no longer hold my flames. She did not attack or try to defend herself, she only closed her eyes and let herself be destroyed. To be honest, I could not have been more ecstatic over burning something if I wanted to. As a final show of strength I let out a roar of demonic fury that would've made my mother proud. "A demon's roar is their testament to the world. You have power, and you are not afraid to use it. If you're going to roar, whether it be to blow off steam or to show off, let those who hear you cower by it's power!" My mother's words reverberated in my head as I let out my primal war cry. As the smoke and dust cleared from the targeted area of my flames, I saw an equine form, albeit smaller than Celestia. I stood there, waiting expectantly to see her charred remains. As hellfire destroys the soul of those burnt by it, it can sometimes result in the hollow shell of the victim being left frozen in their place as a statue. However this only happens with beings of great magical power. Weaker life forms tend to be completely obliterated by my fire. To my horror, before me stood a living being. Unscathed by my fury, stood the princess of the night where her sister should have been. Her eyes were closed and her horn was glowing with a powerful azure light. My confusion as to how she survived the attack was only doubled when I saw the grass beneath her hooves. Her immediate area was left untouched, a green circular patch of still living grass in a larger, cone shaped stretch of dead flora. Her magic dropped and she began to walk towards me. "Azazel. Please do not-" She tried to ask in a polite, yet firm tone. She didn't get very far as I had already charged another stream of hellfire. "T̸̻̃R̵̭͠A̵͈̓Ạ̷͛A̵͓͊Ȁ̶̖Ȁ̷͕A̷͖͆I̵̻̐Ḭ̴̌Ị̸͂Ǐ̴̬I̵̗̊Ì̴̠Ì̷͍Ȉ̷̫Į̸̕Ṭ̸͆Ö̵̺O̸͔̎O̶̤͋Ö̸̬́Ô̴͚R̷̘͒R̴̦̀R̴̖̚R̸͕̍R̸͓͘Ȑ̶̩!̶̝̄!̵̧̏!̶̥̈́!̴͉̍!̵̹̈́" (TRAAAAAAIIIIIIIIITOOOOORRRRRR!!!!!) I tried my best to out roar the torrent of pure malice leaving my throat. Now having my full attention, she raised a shield that encompassed her body and she walked through my flames like a breakwater parting an onslaught of waves from the Western Sea. My disbelief of the scene before me only enraged me further. My flames grew in power, and the fire being deflected by her magic began to destroy the trees and subsequent forest around me. Soon, the once beautiful land around me resembled the charred wastelands my mother once called her home. The sky above us was obscured by the ash and smoke that rose from the blazing inferno I had created. When the princess stood two or three meters in front of me, she unleashed her own magic against me. She fired a blast of magic at my face, and a muzzle made of a silver metal that burned to the touch materialized onto me. Distracted by this, she enveloped me in a cool indigo magic. I was hoisted onto the air, forced onto a position on my knees with my arms and wings pressed firmly against my torso and roughly lowered down to the ground. When I caught my bearings I saw her, looming over me with a silent glare that reminded me of my father. "Do not make us do something we will regret Azazel. Still your anger or we will use force. Please... we simply wish to know what happened." To say I was furious would have been an understatement. For the second time in one day I had been prostrated and treated li- Wait. This place... We were in my head again. I must've fallen unconscious after freeing the manticore of it's flesh or having completely exhausted myself running from whatever atta- "...do we have a parlay?" She was standing before me with a look of apprehension seeping through the cracks in her mask of stoicism. I remained restrained, but the spell binding my mouth shut faded away to nothing in a matter of seconds. Whatever she had said beforehand I did not hear. Frankly, I was too irritable to care either, so if she wanted to talk, she would get little out of me. After some time of me trying to kill her with my glare alone, I thought it best for it me to stall for time so I could free myself and break her neck later. "W̶̫͌h̷̤͑a̸̩͠t̸͉͊ ̸̝̑d̵̞͋ó̸̦ ̸̪͂y̷̺̌o̵̠͑ú̸̜ ̷͔͌w̵̼͛ą̷͆n̸͙̓t̷̥̄?̸̧̀" (What do you want?) I asked, pouring as much malice as I could muster into those four words. "We want to know what happened from your point of view." She stated. Try as I might, I sensed no malice in her. For all I knew, this dream world could have been interfering with my senses. She had not lied to me yet, but my trust in these sentient, chromatic horses was non existent. I was in no mood to confide anything with her, much less be polite. "A̴n̴d̷ ̶w̶h̵y̶ ̸w̸o̵u̸l̷d̶ ̵y̶o̵u̴ ̶c̶a̸r̷e̸?̸" (And why would you care?) I asked skeptical of her intent. Seeing that I was not immediately attempting to maul her to pieces she relaxed and assumed a posture befitting royalty. "Because our sister told us you attacked her without reason." She explained. The anger that one sentence produced in me gave me the will to ignore my magic bonds. As I rose to my feet, I could feel the familiar heat of hellfire charging within me. I was tempted to open fire on her again, but this time I would test her shields ability to withstand my grip as I strangled the life out of her. Luna's eyes went wide at the sight of me standing up. I felt her magic trying to force me back down to my knees, but after hearing of Celestia's continous acts of treason, I would not be subdued so easily. "W̷̮̿ï̸͚̦t̵̲̺̊̆h̵̛̞͎o̴̪̐ủ̷̡̂t̴͎͒ ̷̠̰̌r̸̢͈̐ẽ̶̞ͅa̷̛͎̍ṣ̸͘ơ̵̙̭̇n̷̜̈́!̶̙̗͐̓?̵̤̈͆ ̴̹̤͠T̶͓͍̎͝H̴̪͗Á̸̩Ť̶̜̬ ̶̳̬̋͒L̷̝̑͗͜Y̶̲̔̕I̷͋͜Ṇ̵̓̈G̴͍̿̉͜ ̵̥͕̓͝W̶̮̳͒̓Ṛ̸͖̆Ê̷̥͒T̸͖̮̚̚C̶̪̀̊H̶̫̩̃͠ ̶̫͛T̴͖̖̅R̵͚̀̂I̶͛̅͜E̶̫̍D̵̖̎ ̷̼̑̽T̶͕̫̽Ỏ̴̗̒ ̷̲̌K̷͍̈́Í̵̯̓L̶̗͈̎̉L̸̢̜̆́ ̷̗̑M̴̰̈E̸͇͑̓!̸̡͖̒!̸̲͎̓̀!̴̝̅̑" (Without reason!? THAT LYING WRETCH TRIED TO KILL ME!!!) I roared furiously as I directed my magic onto my hands. Luna tried to back away, but I was already upon her. Just as I was about to wrap my claws around Luna's neck, I felt something cold clamp down on my wrists. //////////Luna//////////// It was foolish of us to think that Azazel would be willing to speak just after fleeing for his life. It took us little time to find his mind in the dream realm. It was clouded by anger and tormented by fear. If he were a pony, he would be having nightmares that would scar even the most battle hardened creatures. But Azazel... He was a creature that grew stronger from feeding on fear and suffering. Granted, the fear and suffering of despicable souls, but still. Just as his claws were about come down on us, he stopped. The magical flame that surrounded his hands discipated as his arms were being held back by something. We moved back in shock to find shackles of ice and metal. Electrical bolts of teal, cyan, and electric blue magic coursed through the chains with a vicious crackling sound. Azazel noticed the shackles too late, and before he could react, the bolts of unstable magic ravaged his body. He screamed in agony as his body tensed and convulsed, his bones were visible for as the energy seeped deep inside and revealed his skeleton for brief moments in flashes of blue and white light. After a few seconds of this, the energy ceased it's onslaught of the half demon's body. He fell backwards, and when he did, I received an unobstructed view of who was responsible. A bipedal figure dressed in black and face identical to Azazel's that seemed to be made of polished marble was looking right at us. It's glowing turquoise eyes scrutinized my very soul. I froze under it's gaze, but not because of it's sudden appearance, but rather because who this creature was to me... It raised it's hand and pointed at me with one of it's ice covered fingers. With a flick of it's finger and the pulling of it's outstretched arm, I was raised from the ground in an invisible aura of magic and was levitated towards the creature. Once we were close enough that our muzzle was within it's reach, we took a better look at it's face. It's "face" was actually a mask, the furless flesh around it's small eyes was visible through it's cracked and splintered eyeholes. It wore a crown with shimmering white runes bound tightly around it's hooded head. The creatures "jaw" moved separate from the top of it's flat face for a bit as if stretching after not being used in Faust knows how long. "Mother..." It spoke in a near whisper, their voice reverberating unnaturally so. We... I had not made the connection until it spoke. I know this creature, one I raised as my own in secret and saw die... it... no, He... He was my son... but how was he her- "Forgive us..." He whispered, wiping tears that were streaming down my face. I didn't know when I started to cry, but I could not restrain myself. My train of thought was abruptly stopped as I was hurled backwards at breakneck speed. In the few seconds I had a clear view of my son's apparition, he shot bolts of lightning that impacted Azazel's prone form. As I sailed through the air, I saw Azazel begin to glow and then light up in a bright flash that put my sister's sun to shame. I heard a deafening explosion as I was surrounded by a swirling mass of black and red smoke with bolts of azure lightning, forcing me back to the land of the living. I awoke screaming and drenched in sweat. Our thestrals barged in, spears at the ready to defend us. We were taking shaking lungfuls of air as we tried our best to not break into tears before them. The captain of my guard, a young and dedicated thestral mare named Silent Breeze came closer to us and looked us over. "Princess, are you alright? Is there anything we can do to help?" She asked in a concerned tone. "We are fine... P-please leave the room.. We... We need a moment." We managed to say. Silent Breeze nodded and ushered the rest of my night guard out. Once my door was closed, welet out the painful tears we had been holding in. There is no way or reason for my son to have appeared in the dream realm, much less Azazel's dream unless he were alive... If our son still lives... Then our dearest sister has a great many things to answer for... //////Azazel////// Fear... I have experienced it before, just like anyone else. But it was at that moment that I felt true fear. Very rarely do I have nightmares. Seeing the planes of hell at a young age and the never ending torture of souls and the monsters that lived there while traveling with my father and mother had desensitized me to many things others would find horrifying. However, this was different. The fear I felt... it was... familiar somehow... As my mind raced to find out why I was so scared, I remembered the day my mother taught me how to cast Aura di terror, a fear spell. Whatever did this was enough to apparently scare Luna half to death. I would need to find a way to isolate it. "People have a tendency to project a false sense of superiority when they don't know where they are on the food chain. It is our job as the architects of fear, to show mortals that do not know their place. While a mirror can show you what you look like on the outside, fear allows us to see the souls of those we terrify for who they are." My mother's voice resonated in my head as I was now in another void. Simply existing, the only sound being that of an incoherent whispering. Not unlike a soul driven to madness... I've heard of their kind, and had the chance to encounter one. As my mind began to recollect the memory, the void around me was replaced with a medium sized hut. I saw my younger self inside a bedroom. It was the soul of a human... the orphaned son of a mother who was dying. I had to keep her soul tethered to her body while numbing her body enough for her to say her goodbyes to her son without going into shock... "I love you... I always have... and I always will... I'll... always... be with you..." She spoke, taking weak and shaky breaths. Those were her last words as I could no longer sustain her body. The woman's soul travelled to my hand as it condensed into a sphere of white light that almost resembled to be made of silk. I found myself captivated by it's beauty. And to this day, I have yet to see another soul so pure as that human mother. My trance was broken by the muffled sobs of her son. He was crying into her chest as he held onto her lifeless form. Seeing his soul... it made me feel awful. The soul of any one creature will manifest in one of two ways. It will either encompass the owner in the color of their aura, or it will condense into a sphere made of "silk" somewhere in their body and resemble a bright star. The boy's soul, it encompassed his body... but it was broken. Through the cracks in his silhouette I saw his life force leave him like a glowing mist and cover his mother's lifeless body. I didn't understand why that was happening then, but I know better now. He wanted his mother back more than anything in the world. The strain he was placing on his soul to try and wish her back to life was breaking him, the life force that once dwelled within him was being transferred to the body. Unbeknownst to him, it is possible to die of a broken heart and a deficiency in life force. He was going to die of grief and I could do nothing about it. A fracture so deep into his being that no godly amount of magic could put the pieces back together again. The loss of one's parents... I understand it. The human woman, who appeared to be in a peaceful sleep, had nothing on her but her clothes and an earing. I saw a smaller version of myself with shorter hair and a robe that covered my body. My wings, horns, and tail were all still there, though to the unaided eye, one could say I looked about as normal as any other human, save for my legs of course. My younger self could only shed tears at the sight while my father stood behind me with a calm and solemn expression. He took the soul from my hand, and walked over to the boy. He then gently pressed the mother's soul through the boy's back. The child's pained sobs begin to die down as the mother's soul fused with her son's. The cracked and splintered soul began to repair itself, and the boy, now with a face of serenity, fell into a deep sleep. My father turned to face my younger self. "Stay here. I'll let the village elder know so we can bury her." He ordered. Wiping his tears, my past self nodded and watched my father leave. I had been so fixated on this small exchange that I didn't notice my body was given form. When my father closed the door to leave, I stood there, silently mulling over the things I witnessed. I had no concept of time, so to say that I was there for a few minutes could be equally valid as saying that I stayed there looking at the wooden door, frame and wall of the small, empty room I was in for hours. As I stood there, I could vaguely pick up the sound of... whispers... Familiar, but not quite. It wasn't the souls within me. The incoherent whispers came from one voice alone... a voice that was behind me. I turned around to see the source of the sound was casually sitting on the bed where the mother and child should have been. It seemed to be a human of average height and judging by it's relatively flat chest and broader shoulders, it was a male. Dressed in a dark blue shirt with a white design in it's center, vaguely resembling the sun with it's center being a crescent moon. It had black trousers that I only noticed because the worn onyx cloak that he wore over his shirt parted enough for me to see it. The human was wearing crude sandals made of wood and fabric that wrapped around his feet, ankles and disappeared further up his calves. His hood hid most of head from view, and the cracked porcelain like mask he wore obscured his face, only his cream colored neck with mild stuble on the underside of his jaw was visible. His turquoise eyes glowed with more power than I sensed he possessed. Noticing this, I looked him over to find his soul, and sure enough it was a splintered orb resting just above his heart. Were his soul intact, I would have been VERY afraid, but seeing as how broken souls are not very pow- "You elude us..." He spoke, his voice a echoing unnatural around me in a posh, and cultured baritone. Not enough for it to be annoying, but clearly there. His sudden comment caught me off guard, and he noticed. "You are a being that thrives off the suffering of the souls you consume... And yet... when you see innocents in pain... you shed tears... Hmm. We mean you no harm creature. There is no need for violence here." He explained, cocking his head to the side. He was making no attempt against my life, but I would have to make sure if his words could be trusted. Grasping the medallion that senses lies in my hand, I made my question. "Who are you?" I asked. "Who? Who is but the form, followed by the function of "what?". And what I am, is a creature in a mask." He knew what I was doing, and by avoiding mentioning of his name, made me wary of him. "I can see that creature. Tell me your name." I deadpanned. He didn't even flinch, simply looking at me with those eyes... He was casting Aura di terror. He was trying to intimida- "Of course you can, but we are not questioning your powers of observation. We are simply contemplating your reasoning for trying to ask the paradoxical question to a masked creature, who he is." He answered quickly. I must think fast lest he try to confuse me further. I squinted my eyes at his proposition, which made enough sense for me to keep my composure. "Riiiiight..." I muttered, more to myself than anything. He then stood up, brushing non-existent dust off of his cloak. "And on this auspicious circumstance that we find ourselves, we ask that you allow us to answer your query regarding my name with a tale of who we once were and how we came to be what we are now." He explained with a small bow. In any other situation I would've found this amusing, but frankly I was not feeling sociable. However, my current understanding of my situation was very limited, and this human was my only good lead. With a heavy sigh, I looked him in the eye and nodded. He raised his hands together and clapped his hands twice. Only now did I realize that he had wrappings of a strange blue fabric that bore stars and constellations that shimmered with the same turquoise light of his eyes. As the figure clapped his hands, the world around us exploded outwards and left us standing in a forest. Unlike the Everfree or the Ursan forest that surrounded my family's plot of land, this one was much more inviting. There was no sense of dread or danger to be felt, it was peaceful. It was early in the morning, the sun had risen high enough to let me know it was around seven in the morning. The cool breeze of the night resisted the morning sun's warm rays, but that would not last. Birds we chirping and off in the distance, through the trees I spotted something. It looked a navy blue wagon with no horses or a place to tie them on. The human walked towards the vehicle and I followed behind him. As we drew closer, I could make out it's streamlined shape, it's glass windows, the metal hull that looked to have been crafted by the gods themselves. The sides of the carriage had written text on a language I did not understand. It had wheels with ridges for a better grip and it was made of an unfamiliar material that seemed to bend and flex to provide better stability. The front and back of the vehicle had black ridges that shielded the metallic sheen that the alien wagon was made of. I circled towards the front of the strange carriage and found it had a grate with more of the strange writing from before. On either side of the grate, were strange objects that vaguely resembled eyes protected by a transparent shield made of something that felt like glass. Walking around to the middle, I took in the inside of the carriage through the window of what I would later find out to be a door to then find two leather chairs, buttons, levers, a whole menagerie of strange contraptions that I did not understand. Walking towards the rear, I gazed upon the box shaped area that seemed to be used for carrying cargo. It was large enough to fit me and two more people comfortably and seemed to be carved out of rock into small grooves and patterns that allowed for a relatively decent grip on whatever was placed inside it. On the walls to the sides of the vehicle were two large bumps the formed part of the space where the wheels on the rear were. "You are looking at the cargo bed of a Toyota Tacoma 2017 pick-up truck. An invention by a nation from our world known as the USA. Vehicles like this were the kind our father adored, and as such bought one like this. This machine can carry the driver and approximately five more people if you count the cargo bed. It can travel for hundreds of miles before it needs to be refueled. It's... one of the few things we remember from our old home..." He explained. As he began talking, I wheeled around to find him standing behind me, running his hand along the metallic machine until it came to a stop on a handle of the same blue coloration as the rest of the strange machine. He pulled on the handle and with a muffled click, the door to the side of the vehicle opened. He looked over to me for a moment before shutting himself inside. I looked down at this "cargo bed" and hesitantly clambered on. The carriage dipped down and bounced a bit as it suddenly accepted my weight without breaking. Whatever this thing was, it was sturdy. As I settled down and coiled my tail around my crossed legs, I folded my wings as closely as I could. I looked over at the figure inside the azure contraption I was on through darkened glass. The wide window on the back of the box where he sat had an opened, rectangular space in the middle. "Are you comfortable back there?" He asked, turning around to look at me. I was more confused than anything, but seeing as how this person was not hell-bent on killing me or treating me in any disrespectful manner, I nodded. "Good, now do not be alarmed. What you are going to hear is the sound of the engine. We would appreciate you don't destroy our truck, it takes a while to create them from scratch... even in here." He explained, turning back around and inserting a strange metallic rod into an unseen orifice underneath a ring held my a "mast" with levers. I furrowed my eyebrows in confusion only to then have them be raised as a sound unlike anything I had ever heard caused the vehicle to vibrate and shake with life. I gripped on firmly into the sides, digging my clawed fingers into the metal for better support lest the thing decide to throw me off. The loud roar that came from the machine's front died down and settled down on a low rumble. I turned my focus onto the figure who was now working a lever onto a labeled glyph. The lever slid down with two heavy clicks and the machine's rumbling slowed down considerably. He pushed another lever directly next to his chair before the machine rumbled loudly and we suddenly lurched forward, beginning our traversal over to a dirt road not so far ahead. Once we were out on the dirt road, the figure gave me a sideways glance before focusing back on piloting the odd vehicle. "If you would be so kind as to give us your name, we would gladly give you ours." He explained. Weighing my options for a few moments, I relented. "My name is Azazel. What is yours?" I stated. He stayed silent for a moment before answering. "You may refer to us as Saros Cycle. Now-" He started, throwing his right arm onto the head rest of his neighboring chair while his left hand steered the helm of the self propelled carriage. "Time for a story." > Chap. 10 Time for a story! part 1 > -------------------------------------------------------------------------- ////////Azazel//////// "Time for a story." The figure that called himself, "Saros Cycle" stated. As we silently traversed through the woods on a dirt road, Saros spoke again. "Once upon a time, there was young boy who had a family. This boy came from a family of four. He came from a world devoid of magic and monsters." He explained. As I listened to the beginning of his tale, I noticed something was following us. It was another vehicle much like the one I was riding on. He slowed down the machine to ride side by side the identical truck. "He had a father, a mother, and their two sons." When he spoke, I could make out the humans inside the vehicles darkly tinted windows. A human male of caucasian skin color with short blonde hair and blue eyes sat in the same chair as Saros and drove the identical vehicle in the same position as he did. Their right arm on the head rest of their neighboring chair and their left on the helm. On said neighboring chair, sat a human female with a muddy brown color of skin, jet black hair and green eyes. My eyes nearly popped out of my skull in surprise when I saw two children bearing a vague resemblance to their parents sitting across from each other in the back. One brother was slightly bigger than the other, and the smaller one had a slightly lighter creamy brown skin, long, dark, wavy hair, and brown eyes. He had a navy blue shirt and trousers made of a tough, sky blue fabric. The larger of the two wore glasses made of a glass like material and was dressed in a shirt with floral patterns and pants made out of the same tough looking fabric. The boys in the cargo bed were seated in between large bags. A box like wagon that was chained and towed by the larger blue vehicle I had not seen before caught my eye. "While they had their good and bad moments alike, the boy did not complain, as he was content with the family he had. His life was simple and he cherished that." As the masked narrator told his story, the truck besides us picked up speed and left us in the dust. Soon after, we were once again alone on the dirt path. "His family would go on camping trips every year on the day of the older sibling's birth. They would go to a place in the far north and camp at the foot of a large hill that oversaw a sizeable lake born from a nearby river." The sun had gone down only a bit and once we cleared the forest, the dirt transformed into a flat road paved out of some form of volcanic rock. We were riding along the side of a mountain, as I could see we were at a very high altitude. In the distance, I could see mountain tops blanketed with snow. I could see an endless expanse of trees, and at the center of it all, was a lake of irregular shape, easily a mile wide and three miles long. On the far side of it I could make out the small river that fed the lake with another on its opposite side draining it. I could only admire nature's beauty and scale with a slacked jaw that only accentuated how small I felt. Paying no mind to this, Saros continued. "Little did the boy know that this camping trip would be his last. His family arrived by noon at their preferred camping grounds and set everything in order and had a wonderful day." He stated. My remarkable view of the landscape before me was suddenly obscured with a grey stone wall and darkness as I failed to realize were had driven straight into a tunnel. The vehicle we were on shot from two cones of light that illuminated the otherwise pitch black abyss were in from the glass covered "eyes". "After having everything in order, the father and older son would go to catch fish by the lake while the mother and younger son went looking for something to capture in the form of a painting. The mother would bring her brushes and paints along with a canvas to paint and teach the younger son how to make art with a few buckets of paint and a brush." As we traversed through the winding tunnel, the air got noticably colder. Not enough for it to warrant serious concern, but enough to unsettle me. Some time later, we came out of the tunnel to find that the sun was setting at an alarming rate. We drove in silence for a while longer before reaching a clearing. The blue truck from before was there, though the contents in the back were gone. Saros drove the strange wagon besides it's doppelganger, and after pulling a few levers and twisting something beneath the helm, the engine ceased it's rumbling. The machine stood deathly still until Saros opened the door from before and stepped out, causing it to sway and jerk slightly when he shut the door. I shifted uncomfortably, as not knowing what he would do or say next had me on edge. He walked for a few more steps before stopping. He stayed motionless for a few seconds before turning in my direction. "Come." He ordered in a soft, yet firm tone. I hesitated, but after a few moments of indecision I climbed off the cargo bed and stood before him. We walked for a bit, seemingly with no specific destination. However, that theory was proven to be false as we soon came upon a pair of strange looking tents and a bonfire. I stopped to take in the sight before me. The father and older son were cooking fish over the gentle embers on a metallic skillet. The display made my heart sink as I was reminded of the fact that something like this would never happen to me. Saros, who had been standing nearby, tugged on my arm with hands that were as cold as ice. "Come. We will only show you this once." He said in a voice that projected indifference, but turning to see his soul, I saw pain that's been buried for a very long time. "Show me what?" I asked, my face contorting in accordance with my growing confusion as to what could possibly be the reason for showing me whatever would happen next only once. "The moment the boy died... And we were born..." He said, his voice a near whisper. My face relaxed and then showed the embarrassment I felt for being so blunt. It didn't take much for me to realize it would be better if I simply let him show me, than to prod for more verbally. I nodded and with that we walked out of the small encampment and headed eastward. Silence took over as we reached the foot of a steep hill. It loomed at much the same height as the rest of the mighty pine trees. Saros took to the air without so much as a simple gesture of his hands. The star filled wrappings around his arms glowed and shimmered with arcane power. He floated several meters off the ground before gesturing for me to follow with his hand. I've flown before, but I had never attempted to hover in place. Nodding, I stretched my wings and and pulled in the surrounding air with my magic. After a minute or two, a swirling vortex of leaves, dust, and odd pine cones began to swirl around my body as I was slowly lifted off the ground by the wind. With much effort I followed him up the steep incline and reached the top. As I released the air holding me aloft, I fell only a foot or two on my feet with a muffled thud. Saros who had already made it to the top, was standing a small ways away with his back turned to me. Now that I stood at an altitude, I immediately assessed my surroundings. The oddly steep hill had a beautiful vantage point that allowed one to see the expanse of trees without feeling overly distant. The mountains in the distance looked larger and much more imposing than before as their darkened forms cut into the beautiful sky just before nightfall. The orange-yellow sky surrounding the crimson sphere of the sun was layered with tones of red, periwinkle, lilac, and muave that accentuated the dark greenery of trees that surrounded us as of we were one of these of these peaceful giants. I walked over to Saros and in front of him, was a small boy of creamy brown skin color, and black wavy hair with his back turned to us trying his best to recreate nature's masterpiece on the canvas. Behind the boy, stood his mother, the human female from before. "The boy did not know chaos had other plans... plans of nonsensical insanity for his amusement." Saros explained, sounding weary and bitter. He struggled to make himself seem indifferent to this story, but I could bet my life on the chance that under his mask he was shedding tears. Just as I was about to see if my theory was correct, I felt something that made every part of my body collectively scream "DANGER!!!". A few meters away from us, the fabric of reality was torn, and simply looking at the portal that was created from that tear gave me a migraine that forced me to take a knee. "MOM!?" I heard the voice of a worried child say before I felt a telekinetic grip clutch my torso. I was then knocked off my feet and was pulled towards the portal. Acting on instinct alone I buried my talons into the ground. Saros, grabbed onto my arms without saying a word and held fast. The pulling on my body was getting stronger and stronger, and eventually the ground beneath my feet gave way. I was suspended in the air, holding on only by Saros' hands on mine. I struggled to hold onto Saros' hands, and I nearly lost my grip when I saw that the mother was standing a few feet away from my anchor. They were standing in the exact same manner and she moved exactly the same way he did. The boy was holding onto his mother for all he was worth and was screaming his head off out of fear. "MOM!!! PLEASE!!! DON'T LET GO OF ME!!! MOM!!!" The boy cried as his hands began to falter. After a few seconds of the magical grip tugging harder and harder, I knew I would not be able to hold on for much longer. The moment I lost my grip, so did the boy. "MATTHEW NOOOOOOO!!!" The mother screamed as she lost her footing and fell on her back. Saros mimicked the motion as I lost my grip. "MOOOOOM!!!" The boy's screams were the last thing I heard before I was hurled through the portal with the boy not so far behind. As I sailed through the edges of two planes of existence, I lost all notion of time, direction and nearly lost consciousness from the overwhelming of my senses when I made it through to the other side. I sailed through the air for a bit more and crashed into something hard. When I stopped feeling queasy, i looked up to behold a creature that forced me to question the odds of me hitting my head so heard and not feeling pain. It was... a living miscellany of animal parts. It had the head and neck of a goat, yellow eyes with red irises, and mismatched horns. It had a long, snake like body covered in fur and seemed to be standing upright. It's right... paw resembled that of a mountain lion while it's left... appendage was more of a chicken leg. It's right leg was much like my own legs, with the exceptions of it being covered in green scales and being much smaller. It's left leg resembled that of a ram or a mountain goat. It's tail was by far the oddest of it's limbs. It looked to be that of a velvet dragon tail, but it had a rather large tuft of white-ish hair. It was levitating a few feet off the ground with the boy suspended just in front of it. "Hmmm, that's odd... I could've sworn I was summoning an Eldritch horror from Lovecraft's world. Not... whatever this monkey thing is." It... no, HE said with a haughty chuckle. "Oh well, when life gives you lemons-" He started, charging up his magic into his arms. "You turn those lemons into an eldritch lemonade!" He stated with an evil grin plastered on his face. The living hodgepodge unleashed bolts of white magic onto the boy which made me wince away. I felt power in this creature. Power that felt akin to that of argent energy, but... much more refined. As the creature was unleashing it's magic on the now convulsing boy, I saw two blurs, one of dark blue and another of white land before me. Shakily rising to my feet, I found myself standing behind Princess Luna and Princess Celestia. Luna was clad in silver boots and armor that surrounded her barrel while also allowing her to use her wings. Celestia wore a similar suit of armor but made of the same golden metal as that of the guards in her palace instead. "Discord! You're reign of terror ends tod-" Celestia began before being interrupted by the creature letting out loud groan of annoyance. "Oh Celestia. I really do enjoy watching you take yourself so seriously, but now I'm a little preoccupied. Can we reschedule our weekly confrontation for next Tuesday?" The strange creature who was apparently named Discord, explained as he dropped the now conscious boy to the ground. He seemed to manifest a small journal, an inkwell, and strange multicolored feather that was far to big to be practical along with a pair of comically small glasses with a magical "poof" out of nowhere. "His body aching with pain and his mind plague by fear, the boy took the opportunity he had to flee, and ran for his life." From my right a familiar voice appeared. I turned to my right and saw Saros standing beside me. As the princesses dueled the strange creature with magic, the boy scurried to his feet and ran into the trees until he disappeared from sight. Saros suddenly bolted after the him, and not long after did I do the same. Following Saros, I ran for what felt like an hour, all while the sound of explosions and magic were errupting behind us. Once I gained enough distance that the sound of magical warfare could not be heard, Saros stopped a small ways away from the boy who had apparently fallen and had the wind knocked out of him. Halting besides my masked tour guide, I tried to catch my breath. When I could finally breathe normally, I saw the boy get up, rub his head and begin to look around for something. The boy's eyes now glowed with an unnatural turquoise glow that seemed out of place and unsurprisingly, very familiar. "The boy was alone, scared and transformed. Not knowing what to do, he picked a random direction, and began to walk." Saros explained, the boy doing exactly as he had foretold. "He wondered the wilderness for days, surviving off whatever fruits he could find. He hid in the trees and stayed out of sight. Lest he be devoured by wolves of tinder and chased by a mighty manticore." What felt like whole weeks going by flashed before my eyes as the world sped up to ludicrous speeds around us. We followed him through the forest and I saw him take refuge in the branches of a large oak tree. As the days went on, the boy got thinner and more malnourished. He seemed tired and when the world returned to it's normal speed, he spent most of his time, resting against the tree's root. "Then one day, a familiar creature came by and instead of death, offered her friendship." As he spoke an apparition of Luna walked right through my back and out my chest towards the boy. The boy then grew fearful, but remained still on the ground. Luna simply looked at him with an expression of pity on her face. She then proceeded to offer her hoof with a friendly smile. The boy hesitated, but he weakly clambered to his feet and hobbled over to the princess of the night. The two then walked away, leaving me alone with Saros. "The creature that saved him from death by starvation was a dreamwalker, a slayer of nightmares, and the mistress of the night." He explained, his turquoise eyes fixated on me. "She nursed him back to health in secret and raised him as her own foal after he told her everything. As the days turned to weeks, which then turned to months, and then to years, the boy came to regard the princess like a mother. The best he could ever ask for in a world that was not his own..." Saros' gaze did not break away from me as he clapped his hands. I felt a wave of vertigo come and go as we were teleported into a large building made of stone and hidden in a deeper part of the same forest. Luna was sitting on the ground, now watching a slightly older version of the boy try to recreate the beautiful tapestry of stars and constellations the was above him. She seemed happy. "Deep in the heart of the Everfree, the princess of the night had somepony that admired her and loved her night. This kept the resentment towards the subjects that neglected her and her beautiful night at bay." Saros continued, turning to look at Luna with longing in his eyes. "As time went on, the boy's power grew unstable. Fortunately, with the help of Star Swirl the Bearded, the boy learned to hone his power and became the most powerful stormcaller in Equestria." Before I could even register it, Saros clapped his hands again. The same disorienting sensation came and went in an instant. As the world stopped spinning, I realized we were standing in a closed stone arena about sixty feet in diameter with a dirt floor. The boy, now clad in light armor, was dueling Star Swirl. The boy would bob and weave around Star Swirl's blasts of magic. Ducking under one blast of Star Swirl's, the boy extended his hand, releasing an arc of sustained lightning from his finger tips slammed into a shield Star Swirl was able to conjure up at the last possible second. The arching bolts of raw electrical magic crackled and screamed with power as they struck the translucent, alabastor dome of magic that protected Star Swirl. After the boy stopped the pattern of dodging magic bolts and waiting for an opening resumed and repeated itself two more times before I noticed Princess Luna was sitting nearby, watching the boy fight. I missed the moment the boy was caught off guard, as I heard the boy yelp in pain before hitting the ground with a resounding thud. I turned to find him on his knees, clutching his abdomen. "Ow..." The boy groaned. "You've improved young prince, but you need more practice." Star Swirl stated, walking over to him and offering him a hoof. Taking it, the boy rose to his feet and looked in my direction. It caught me a bit off guard, but not as much as Luna's form phasing through me to walk over to him. "Thou ar't doing well, son. We are very pleased to see you come so far." She proclaimed lovingly, nuzzling her head under his chin. The boy, who stood at much the same height as Luna, wrapped his arms around her and embraced her. "I should get going. I have finish preparing a certain lesson I have for you and your sister your majesty." Star Swirl explained with a warm smile and small bow. Luna nodded and with the boy and the wisened pony wizard in tow, they left the arena as a wall seemingly made of solid bricks began to disassemble itself to reveal a passage way. I was left alone with Saros looking out at empty space. He did not move at all and the silence that filled the now baren arena was making me very uncomfortable. "Saros?..." I hesitantly asked. Saros said nothing as he slowly raised his hands and clapped twice. After one more nauseating teleportation, we stood in a bed room that housed a single bed, a desk with packed bookshelves lining the walls and what I assumed to be a walk-in wardrobe. The room was vacant, only me and Saros were in the room and I began to look around. The near endless supply of book on the shelves had writing on their spines in a language I did not recognize, most likely the common written language of Equestria. I then walked over to the desk and found the same mask Saros was wearing, but in a much better condition. The mask was of a pure white, the eyeholes were not cracked or splintered, and the floral patterns around the edges were still unpainted. Besides the mask, an inkwell, and the odd paint brush, there were scrolls of varying sizes. I tried to grab one of the larger ones and to my delight, it was tangible. Unrolling the parchment I found it to be a map of constellations. Before I could investigate further, the door leading outside the room opened with a very irate looking human on the other side. The boy stormed in, his turquoise eyes flickered with the wrath of a god of thunder that froze me to my core. I moved out of his way, "allowing" him to sit down on his desk and begin to ventilate his frustrations by slamming his fists onto the desk and unceremoniously sweeping everything that was on it to the floor. As he breathed heavily through his nose and stared at the wall emptily I heard the sound of hoof steps drawing nearer. Shortly, Luna appeared through the door. "It is all right my son. It does not matter if Tia does not wish for an equally divided day and night cycle. It matters little to us." Luna explained. I could tell by the look on her face that she was lying, and so did the boy, despite having his back turned to her. "YES IT DOES!!!" The boy angrily shouted. There was silence for a moment, before I heard the pitter pattering sound of tears hitting a wooden surface. The boy turned to look at the diarch of the night with tears flowing down his cheeks. "Mother... Why can't you see that Celestia is using you?..." He began, visibly straining to keep his sobs in check. "Celestia is adored by all of her subjects while you receive nothing when you have to face things that are deadlier a hundredfold! She does not values the hard work you put in to make a unique design of stars EVERY NIGHT! It is a miracle she spared our life when she discovered you and Star Swirl were raising and training us. She treats me like a weapon without a heart that can be broken and a mind that can't be scarred! Celestia wants us dead and to be stripped away from you... I know the horrible nightmares you have to fight every single night by yourself for ponies that take you for granted... I... I can't bear to live like this anymore... I can't bear see them treat you like this... I can't lose you... I..." Falling to his knees in defeat, the damn of pain he had been repressing with his anger finally broke as he wept openly. Luna, who had been trying to keep her composure as well, sat besides the boy, wrapping a wing around him. The boy instantaneously latched onto her barrel for dear life and drenched her coat with fresh tears. If Luna noticed, she did not care. She held him close and whispered sweet nothings into his ear to ease the burden they shared. The sight of those two forced me to my knees. It took me a bit to realize that I too was crying at the display of affection before me. Before me was a child, feeling impotent to help the one and only person he cares about while she holds him in a loving embrace... "You have made our life so rich in happiness. Know that you are loved, and nothing will ever separate us. We promise you this." Luna stated, while tears flowed from her eyes, they were not of pain. They were tears of joy. She kiss her son's forehead and with a flash of blue magic from her horn, the two now held a serene expression on their faces. "On that fateful evening, the mistress of the night taught the boy how to dominate the dreamscape as she did. For countless nights thereafter, the boy would be by his mother's side. Fighting the nightmares of Equestria's ponies. Day in... Day out..." Turning to look at Saros, he was sitting on the bed looking at the pair. His mask continued to obscure his face, but his soul... it was slowly cracking and splintering at the apparitions before it. "The ponies of Equestria would soon call the boy by a new name, the Nightmare's Bane. Once this new title was given to nightmare slaying dreamwalker and the diarchs presented him to the public. One diarch was excited for this, the other was not. Celestia's most loyal instilled fear into the hearts of ponies, and soon, the sweet promise of a life out of the shadows, revealed themselves to be naught but ash..." Saros spoke in a quiet tone, shame and melancholy present in his voice. I got up and stood beside him. I placed a hand on his shoulder, as it was the only thing I could think of doing. > Chap. 11 Time for a story! part 2 > -------------------------------------------------------------------------- /////////////Azazel////////////// To my unpleasant surprise, Saros shrugged off my hand and rose to his feet. He turned to look at me, his body now surrounded by a swirling mass of frost. The air around us began to grow colder as we stared at each other in silence. The wind around him began to grow in intensity, and soon, I was blinded by the freezing fog that enveloped us both. I wrapped my wings around myself in a vain attempt to shield my bare chest from the freezing air. When the magical haze dissipated, my wings parted to reveal we were left standing on a slope surrounded by what seemed to be a barren wasteland, shrouded by dark clouds. There was a strong, dry wind throwing up dust and dead twigs into the air. I looked around and saw nothing other than myself, the odd dead tree scattered about the barren wasteland and Saros, who was seemingly unaffected by the sudden change in scenery and temperature. "Where are we!?" I asked, using my arms to shield my face from the dust pelting it. "We are standing on the outskirts of the crystal empire." He stated, turning face and walking up the slope. Before I could ask what the "crystal empire" was, a loud explosion that shook the earth beneath my feet resonated from somewhere behind the hill. Squinting my eyes in skepticism, I made my up way to the cold "peak". Saros had already reached the top, and I was not prepared for what I saw next. As I walked towards the summit, I could see a massive crystalline tower looming in the distance. Drawing nearer towards Saros' side, I could hear the sound of... wait... Is that screaming!? I quickened my pace and once I stood beside my masked companion, I gazed upon a raging battlefield. Ponies clad in armor similar to that of Celestia's royal guard clashed with even more diminutive, multichromatic horses that wore a strange black and red armor with menacing helmets covering their faces. Unicorns engaged in duels of magic. Pegasi soared above and around us like a wyvern scuffle, but a lot less... vicious. And earth ponies brawled, pushing their superior strength to the limits. "Five years after the events that you've witnessed, a pony who's heart was consumed by greed and a lust for power waged war on Equestria. A monster who's very name represented the darkness that corrupted his soul. A monster we inadvertently created... The self proclaimed ruler of the Crystal Empire, King Sombra." Saros explained, pointing a finger somewhere off to his left. Following his finger, I saw a grey unicorn wearing black armor, a crown with three large spines and a red cape standing a short distance away from the slope we were on. He had slitted eyes with red irises that were indicative that he was the supposed evil tyrant my masked narrator was talking about. Because anything that resembles dragons or demons is evil by default in this realm. Fantastic... More prejudice to deal with.... The ashen unicorn trotted forward with an unamused expression and a confident stride. As he walked, golden clad ponies from all sides tried to rush him. Just as I believed they would dogpile him, He rose a considerable distance on a rapidly ascending pedestal of mulberry colored crystals. The ponies that rushed him were promptly thrown back from the small shockwave of magic, effectively avoiding certain impalement. "When Sombra's forces were driven to their capitol city, a decisive battle for the crystal empire took place. Sombra fought by his soldiers, the inhabitants of the crystal empire who had been turned into mindless slaves through enchanted helmets that controlled their minds." As Saros spoke, the army of soldier's belonging to Sombra began to disengage from their current opponents and began stampeding towards my right side. Following their trajectory, I spotted the diarchs of Equestria and a near identical replica of Saros fighting an incoming horde of ponies. "The boy had given Sombra far too many chances to change his ways in the dream realm, but his friend was long gone. Amiable Dusk was gone... and only Sombra remained... If Sombra wanted war, he would get it. After many months of bloodshed and a lot of convincing, Celestia allowed the boy to fight for his home. The boy told himself that his would be the day he would make his mother and her kingdom proud. No longer would the ponies mistreat him and ignore his mother. They would revere both him and his mother like they so rightfully deserved." Celestia and Luna fought in perfect harmony, protecting each other above actually killing those that would harm them. Meanwhile, the other Saros would use blasts of thunder magic to repel attackers from the rear. The diarchs of the sun and moon would send waves of the horde flying into the air with a flaming golden halberd and a silver sickle that radiated astral power. As the soon to be dead forces of the crystal empire swarmed the trio from all angles, threatening to overwhelm them, I learned why the boy was called a "stormcaller". He raised his hands and yelled something I didn't quite understand over the roar of the battlefield. The dark clouds of ash and smoke looming over the hellscape we were standing on began to spiral above him and my skin began to tingle. An unexpected and unnerving silence drowned the area surrounding us for a second before powerful bolts of lightning discharged energy into the human. I reflexively wrapped my wings around my body and hunkered down to protect myself. Once it stopped, my wings parted for me to see Saros' apparition standing in the center of an awe struck crowd of baffled warriors and two very startled looking princesses. With bolts of raw energy coarsing through his arms and chest, I could see the two star like eyeballs scanning the crowd before him. He extended his arms forward, and the entire field became a light show of blue, teal, and turquoise lightning that leapt from pony to pony in a fraction of a second. Followed by a deafening thunderclap, a blast of wind knocked me off my feet and I rolled down the slope. I fail to understand how within a dream one can experience pain. Then again, I was at the mercy of a dreamwalker. After the painfully loud crackle of lightning stopped, I rose to my feet and walked back towards the summit. "Damn..." I muttered to myself in morbid awe as I saw the charred bodies of hundreds... no... thousands of ponies. Both sides had been struck down by a fury akin to that of a god, A carpet of gold and black corpses lay dead around the princess of the sun and moon. The king of the crystal empire could only watch in horror and awe at the massacre that had just transpired. "Y-you... I WILL DESTROY YOU YOU TRAITOROUS MONSTER!!! I WILL NOT ALLOW YOU TO DESTROY MY KINGDOM!!!" Sombra shouted, summoning a growing sphere of magic just above his horn and levitating off of his crystalline pedestal. He hovered there, charging up a spell of dark magic while surrounded by a black aura that surged with purple and green bolts of malicious energy. The princesses, who had finally come to their senses, focused their magic and cast a domed shield. With a warcry of pure hatred, Sombra unleashed a gargantuant beam of magic on his enemies. The bodies that were in the spells path were immediately desintegrated, while those nearby were cooked and singed to the point where my nose could pick up the stench of fur and metal being subjected to... necrotic energy?.. My eyes widened in shock at the prospect of the princesses facing a necromancer, especially a competent one. Time suddenly slowed down and came to a complete stop with the exception of me and, as I would find out in a few seconds, Saros. "You seem distracted." He stated, cutting through the deafening silence. I snapped out of my stuper and looked over to see him looking at me. I couldn't see his face, but his eyes spoke volumes. "The smell. It reeks of necromancy. The aftermath of a putrification spell to be precise." I explained. Saros' unamused gaze turned to one of disbelief and... horror? "Necromancy? But that is not possible. The dark arts were outlawed centuries before the..." He stopped mid-explanation wide eyed as he seemed to have discovered something he hadn't thought of before. He then looked towards the unicorn tyrant, frozen in time. "Saros?.." I asked, now a bit concerned. He said nothing for a long before slowly raising his right hand, snapping his fingers. Right on cue, time resumed once more. The spell Sombra had charged slammed against the shield and assaulted it relentlessly. The shield cast by the princesses held, but it was beginning to splinter and crack under the pressure. Celestia and Luna poured everything they had into the shield, but it was evident it would not be enough. "The evil of Sombra could only be vanquished through team work. Putting aside their differences, if only for a few moments, the diarchs and the boy fought Sombra in a duel for the fate of the Crystal Empire." Saros' doppelganger placed his hands on Celestia and Luna's shoulders and began to pour magic into them. The rulers of the sun and moon's bodies began to surge with electricity while the masked human's celestial wraps burned with purple, blue, and white magic. The princesses eyes, along with the human's glowed like stars as the shield folded out and in on itself to then produce a beam of equally destructive energy. The streams of magic collided and destroyed everything in the near vacinity with a massive shockwave. Refusing to be hurdled off the slope again, I crouched and hunkered down with my wings wrapped around me. With my talons firmly buried into the ground, I braced for impact. Surely enough, there was a very large and powerful blast of magic and wind that made the air get noticeably ho- wait... WHY IS THE AIR SO COLD ALL OF A SUDDEN?! "The battle between Sombra and the Diarchs of Equestria drained the verdant valley that surrounded the Crystal Empire of all it's ambient magic, forever condemning it to the wasteland of ice and snow that exists north of Canterlot..." Saro's stated just after my ears stopped ringing. I unfurled my wings and looked towards the aftermath of the magical duel. Luna, Celestia, and the other Saros lay on the ground to my right, while Sombra was shakily getting up on my left. A smoldering crater and a pillar of slowly dissipating ash and debris. "Sombra, nearly depleted of all of his magic and at the end of his time as king, let his pride guide his actions to the very end. Sealing his fate... and that of the Crystal Empire..." Saros stated coldly. His hood now removed by the wind, allowed me to see his head. Something about him caught my eye, his hair was a snow white, while the one the was now struggling to get on his knees beside an unconscious Luna and an exhausted Celestia who clambered almost drunkardly to her hooves had jet black hair. The odd detail perplexed me until Saros suddenly move towards me. I took a step back in apprehension, but he was already upon me. His arms crackled with magical electricity as his hands latched firmly onto my horns. Before I could even react, I was overwhelmed by pain as he electrocuted me. "AAAAAAAAAAAGGGGHHHHHH!!!" I roared in agony as bolts of magical energy ran through my entire body. When the pain finally stopped, I opened my eyes to find I was standing just behind Luna and Celestia. I tried to open my eyes further in confusion, but they would not obey. I was instead a passenger in my own body, or rather, the boy's body. I knew as much because he looked down at his arms and saw that the constellation ridden wrappings around his arms had been burned and heavily damaged, exposing his singed and bleeding arms. "The Stellaris, wrappings made from a living tapestry of stars , was a weapon created by Starswirl the bearded. A gift that would grant the boy the power to save his beloved mother." I heard Saros' voice reverberate in my head as Celestia hurried to Luna's side. She was unconscious, mostly likely driven to it by fatigue. "Seeing her sister laid low made something within the princess of the sun snap. A monster of hatred that burned as hot as the sun was breaking free of it's chains within her. The boy... knew not what was happening to her, but soon he would." As my guide spoke, I saw Celestia's eyes turn a dark amber brown and her pupils become sharp slits out the corner of my eye. My sight shifted towards Sombra, he was looking at us with an angry weariness that made me admire his persistence. "You have lost Sombra! Surrender and we will show you mercy!" Celestia proclaimed, though I, like Sombra, could tell she was lying. She sounded mildly annoyed, but the anger with which she seethed was felt like the sun at high noon on the hottest day of the year. "Never! I am the rightful ruler of the Crystal Empire! NOT THAT USURPER AMORE!!!" He exclaimed angrily. The boy looked down at his arms and shut his eyes. I felt a strange tingling in my arms before my eyes opened again. The boy's arms had been completely healed, only the blood that stained his damaged wrappings remained. "You will release her from the stone you are holding her in and surrender! You are outnumbered and outmatched! Do not force us to destroy you Som-" The boy was cut off as Sombra fired a blast of magic his way. He outstretched his hand, and formed a crude shield that barely held against the vicious attack. "ENOOOOOUUUUUGH!!!" Celestia roared as from her mouth, came a focused blast of fire, not unlike a fire drake. Sombra cast an opaque mulberry shield of magic that crackled with dark magic. The boy lowered his shield and could only stare at the display in shock. When Celestia could no longer hold the flames, she fell to her knees and coughed up smoke from her cindering maw. When Sombra dropped his shield, the boy ran and got between the rulers of Equestria, and the dark sorcerer. Seeing this, Sombra let out a growl of frustration. "If I cannot rule the Crystal Empire! NO PONY WILL!!!" He proclaimed, transforming into a looming pillar of darkness with vibrant green eyes and red irises that radiated purple malice. The pillar bolted into the air and headed towards the massive tower of crystal. The boy turned around to find Celestia with her ears pressed against Luna's side. He then, ran towards her and knelt down. He ran his fingers through her hair moved his left hand just shy of her nose. I felt warm air hit the back of it, and I felt a wave of relief wash over the boy. "She is still breathing, stay here so that I can-" She began before the boy interjected while standing back up. "No. You and mother are in no condition to be fighting." Celestia flinched as if hurt, her eyes now having reverted to their original state. "You seriously cannot expect me to-!" She tried before getting cut off again. "To protect your sister!? Yes! Don't be foolish. Now get her to the barracks so you two can receive medical attention! I will stop Sombra." The boy stated in a very annoyed tone. Celestia looked absolutely livid, and her hair began to writhe like fire as her eyes began to retake their malevolent appearance. "I will not be insulted by a snob nosed child at a time like thi-!" She exclaimed indignantly, rising to her hooves and her horn flaring up with flame like magic. The boy, refusing to be intimidated, got in her face, the area around his eyes being enveloped in a blue haze and my loaned ears could pick up an electric buzzing and crackling. "AND WE WILL NOT LOSE HER BECAUSE OF YOUR DAMNED PRIDE!!!" He roared angrily before continuing. Celestia's anger turned to fear the instant he started screaming, her eyes turning back to their normal appearance. "We will stop Sombra. And if our mother is not getting any treatment when we get back..." He stated with an unnerving calmness as he glared at her with murderous intent. He let his words hang in the air before turning around and walking towards the crystalline monolith. "I will have your head." He stated darkly, giving her a sideways glance before disappearing in a powerful lightning strike. As he soared off into the distance, I felt a mind-splitting migraine take over me as my world turned to white. I was then granted control over my body as I fell on my back. When I could finally think coherently and my body stopped aching, I realized I was in my own body; exactly where I had last left it. Looking myself over, I reached up to see if my horns were intact. Fortunately, they were; though they were very sensitive to the touch. Saros, who now loomed over me, stretched out his hand for me to take. After being subjected to that obscene amount of pain, the word "apprehensive" would've been a gross understatement for how I was feeling. "Forgive us. But we had to show you... You needed to see it through our eyes." He stated, gesturing for me to take his hand. My eyes went from his hand and back for a bit before I made up my mind and decided to trust him. He hoisted me up and helped me to my feet. "See what?..." I asked hesitantly. "The darkness in Celestia's heart. That was the only first time it has manifested physically..." He answered, looking at me with his pleading, turquoise eyes. He wanted me to believe him, and frankly, I did. Not Because I wanted to, but rather because it made sense. Every pony I had met up to this point was, by my world's standards, worthy of entry to the heavens. But Celestia and her guard? She had noble intentions for sure, but... I knew there was darkness in her. From the first time I saw her soul, to the last where she... "The darkness... is it Sombra's doing? Can necromancy truly corrupt the soul of an alicorn?" He asked. I could tell he was scared of the notion. I am well versed in the art of necromancy to the point where I know enough to know that I know close to nothing of it's true extent. However, I do know that souls could not be corrupted in the manner Celestia was. I began to dig around my mind for an answer, and then I remembered something Celestia said a while back... "...it was A NECROMANCER WHO ROBBED US OF OUR PARENTS! I REFUSE TO LET HISTORY REPEAT ITSELF WITH HIM!" The alicorn's voice reverberated like a faint echo in the distance growing louder and louder until it eventually could be heard by my physical ears. Saros, who had left wanting an answer, took a step back in shock. Not being able to see his face did not impede me from reading his body language. To say he was horrified... would be accurate... "She attacked you... didn't she?..." Saros asked in a conspiratorial manner. He sounded... hurt? No, it sounded more like indignation. It took me a bit to speak, but eventually I did. "Yes. That is why I am in the Everfree forest. I was running from her." I stopped myself from asking anything else to ponder something that popped into my mind. How was this human even in my mind in the first place? "Where is my body now?" I asked firmly. Saros seemed irritated, but answered my question in a sullen, yet polite manner. "You are in the ruins of what use to be my mother's and Celestia's home. Did she attack you?" He pressed. The memory of the attack came to mind, and my own anger began to rise. "One of her soldiers tried to kill me. When I attempted to defend myself she prostrated me. I broke free from her magic and caused a diversion for me to escape. However, she has captured my... caretakers, and I know not what has become of them." I explained. Saros looked away from me and towards the large crystalline city the lay in the distance. He seemed to be mulling over what I'd told him, but before I could ask anymore questions, he raised his hands and clapped them twice. The now familiar sensation of vertigo came and left in an instant as we now stood on the roof of a building just shy of the massive crystalline castle. On the streets just infront of the monolithic castle at the city's center, Saros' younger doppelganger was fighting Sombra in a duel that resembled his training with Starswirl. "We could have ruled together you and I! We could have made the Crystal Empire a land where every creature could live freely! AND INSTEAD OF A PARADISE, YOU CHOOSE A PRISON!?!?" Sombra roared as he fired bolts of magic at the nimble human, sidestepping and leaping over the unicorn's attacks. "A kingdom ruled through cruelty and callousness?! That is not a paradise Amiable!" The human countered verbally and physically when an opening presented itself. Firing lightning from his outstretched hands. The human's attack was caught in the telekinetic grip of the evil king and promptly deflected to the side. "THAT NAME... MEANS NOTHING TO ME ANYMORE!!!" He retorted furiously, casting a continuous beam of dark magic the flared with green and a deep purple fire. Saros' dopple rolled out the way just in time to avoid the incoming beam, which then cleave through one of the pillars holding the massive structure up. The castle shook and debris fell from the roof and a small rock about the size of my fist hit the other Saros on the head. He tumbled to the ground and skidded to a halt, a small amount of blood began pouring through his right eyehole from the impact. Sombra then turned his attention to a heart shaped jewel that radiated with magical energy hovering in the center of the large area underneath the elevated castle. "If you and the princesses refuse to make this kingdom a place worth living in, THEN I WILL DESTROY IT!!!" He exclaimed firing a spell of dark magic into the crystalline heart. The injured lookalike saw this and immediately got to his feet. "NOOOO!!" He yelled, firing a hasty blast of raw electricity at Sombra. The ruler of the Crystal Empire was struck by the bolt and hurdled across the air while convulsing in a pain I was all too familiar with. The boy ran towards the rapidly spinning heart and looked at it in horror. "Sombra had infected the Crystal Heart, a construct of crystalline love, with hate. With the Stellaris damaged, he could not purge it from the darkness in time. It would rupture and decimate the entire kingdom... That is, of course, until the boy got an idea..." As Saros spoke, the boy charged his arms with a magic, but instead of lightning, it was a turquoise, purple, and teal magic like that of a pony's. He then poured magic into the heart. "The boy thought of his mother... He though of the happiness she brought him and the love he had for her. That love gave him the power to change the fate of the Crystal Empire... forever." Saros explained with a serenity that pulled at my heartstrings like an angel to their lyre. It was then that I saw Sombra stand up and try to approach the Saros' dopple, but something was wrong. The intense light from the crystal heart was burning Sombra like the sun burned vampires. I could see him struggle to keep his form as the light grew stronger. The dark crystals that had grown everywhere around the city began to disintegrate as the radiant light of the Crystal Heart burned away the impurities in the Crystal Empire. "NOOOOOOOOO!!!!!" Sombra wailed at the top of his lungs as he was evaporated like water over a raging fire as the light consumed everything in sight. I shielded my eyes as a magical hum soon overpowered my ears and I was forced to cover them. When the humming stopped, the ground below me suddenly vanished and I began to fall. My instinct took over and I hurriedly tried to gather wind pressure onto my wings and take flight. Much to my horror, there was nothing for me to take, as all the air around me was gone as well which made it impossible to even breathe. I fell in dead silence for about five seconds before a powerful gust of air slammed into me and made me spin uncontrollably. I fell for about ten more seconds before I hit the ground, hard. My entire body was in pain, and I genuinely wished I was dead. When the pain seceded enough for me to lift my head up from the sandy ground below me I saw I was inside a massive crater that went on for miles. I could only look in horror as I weakly clambered onto my haunches and remained seated. "The boy had altered the spell to transport the crystal empire into the aether rather than to destroy it. Magic born from love would give the crystal empire another chance to return and rebuild itself. Unfortunately... Celestia did not see it that way." Saros stated, appearing seated besides me seemingly out of nowhere. Before I could ask for what he meant, five shadows flew over us and landed a short ways away, raising a small torrent of debris. When the ashen dust settled, I saw Celestia without her battle armor and bandages wrapped around her barrel and forelegs with an entourage of pegasi clad in golden body armor and saddlebags. As I gawked at the ponies before me, Saros stood up and dusted himself off. "Come, the final chapter of our tale is about to unfold." The masked man stated with an outstretched hands. Taking it, I rose to my feet and hobbled behind him as he followed the diarch of the sun down towards the center of the crater. After walking for a few minutes, the dust filled air had finally settled to reveal the sky above us. The clouds overhead were that of stormclouds, an omen of the fate that would await this wasteland. We all came to halt a small distance away from Saros' double, who stood at the epicenter of the massive crater with his back turned to us. He had his right arm out stretched with his palm held skywards, as if waiting for something to fall into his palm. His hood was removed, and the snow white hair on his head mirrored identically the masked story teller. My guide and I circled around the group and stood so that the double would be to our right, and Celestia would be to our left. "The ruler of the sun approached the boy when he was weak, and let her fear dictate her actions. The boy knew this betrayal would come sooner or later, but a punishment so cruel... he did not expect." Saros stated as Celestia drew six gems that glowed with power from the saddlebags of her escort. The gems began orbiting her with the exception of the largest one, seeming to be an amethyst, star shaped focusing matrix. Her eyes had transformed into their malevolent form and for the briefest moment I could've sworn her mane and tail were made of fire. As the spell charged, the boy turned around to see his assailant all too late. The boy was then enveloped in a rainbow of power which blinded me for a few seconds. "NOOOOOO!!!!" The doppleganger screamed before he was drowned out by the deafening humming of the spell being cast on him. When the spell ceased, I lowered my hands from my face and saw the boy had been turned into a statue that displayed fear... Celestia fell to the ground along with the gemstones, that were now slightly dulled in color. As I stared in disbelief at what I had seen, Celestia's guard helped her to her hooves. They hoisted the petrified boy in a mint green magic and began to walk away with him. Saros and I were left alone "This act of treason would weaken Celestia and the Elements of Harmony, Equestria's most powerful weapon, forever... The Elements would only be used once more by Celestia, before rendering them useless in her hooves as the darkness within her would deharmonize her connection to them." Saros stated while he clapped his hand, and we were transported into what seemed to be a massive vault or storage room. As expected, I was assaulted by a wave of vertigo, only now I barely recognized it even happened. I looked around and found the room barren, with the exception of a stone pedestal that rose up to my knees. "The boy would be deep inside the castle of the two sisters, imprisoned inside his own body for over a thousand years... Never to see his mother again... Never to see her beautiful night..." Saros stated from my left, walking slowly towards the statue. He then turned to look at me while hovering onto the pedestal. "We have been trapped here for so long... We believed that all was lost when mother... was consumed by the Nightmare... A new city was built years later... and this castle was abandoned. We believed we would remain here alone... forever... Then... you come into what remains of our abandoned prison. You can set us free... You can help us set things right!" He proclaimed with a hopeful joy that concerned me greatly. A soul enduring the things this human has would have driven him to insanity. Not to mention that there is a risk that everything that I've seen from him is a lie. If I was to get answers, I'd have to interrogate him while free of this dream. I'd use my amulet of lies to determine whether he could be trusted or not. "Let us suppose that I trust you. How exactly do I benefit from this?" I asked firmly. "I have seen your memories, demon! I know of the cruelty you've shown those who would harm you." He stated with an accusatory finger pointed right at me. I did not welcome his implicit hostility, and I reciprocated it with a low growl and by bearing my teeth. "I also know that you show a ferocious loyalty to those you care about. Celestia has imprisoned your caretakers, and will likely use them to draw you put of hiding." He continued. If he was afraid, he did not show it, but he did become much more... polite in tone. "If you set us free, we will help you save them. We will give you a chance to have that which you've been denied of since you came to this world." I squinted my eyes at his offer. He is the second creature to have delved into my mind. I'd have to look into how to shield it in the future. "And pray tell, what would that be?" I asked skeptically. "You want to keep your family safe. Those that you care about were taken from you... We cannot undo that which has been done... but we can help you start anew..." As Saros spoke, memories of the night my parents died flashed before my eyes. I felt nothing... nothing but rage as the bastard that killed them came to mind. "Free us... And we will help you save your family..." He promised in an ominous sounding whisper as he took a familiarly frightened stance and slowly turned to stone. I was left standing in that room with sinister whispers whispering sinister sounding nonsense into my ears. I covered my ears to make them go away, but they just got louder and louder until my hands could no longer stifle their incoherent ranting. As I became disoriented by the loud and painful ringing in my ears, I found it difficult to stand. I staggered and fell to my knees from the fever rising in me. I collapsed onto my back and shivered in agony as the throbbing pain in my head ravaged me. I felt... cold. > Chap. 12 Ticking Time Bomb > -------------------------------------------------------------------------- ////////Avalon//////// When the sun's rays peeked through the dirty windows of the ancient library, I sent out Silver Lining and Cherry Wing to find a water supply within the hour and I sent Scarlett Stream with Honey Blossom to forage for food. The rest of the group were ordered to scavenge for any and all tools, materials, or artefacts they could find within the castle with the exception of Spectre Luamoon, Blazing Shot, and Savant Dancer. Blazing had dedicated himself to finding weapons and armor to outfit the other ponies, and so far, he'd found several suits of armor in relatively good condition, so there was that. Spectre was helping out Savant Dancer with relearning of old spells long since forgotten, and hypothesizing on how to be able to cast magic again now that they were undead. Speaking of which, I'd have to make a mental note to remind Azazel of that. Hopefully, he would be able to bestow upon them the gifts of magic much like Anvari. By daybreak, they had already catalogued and read through half of the library and were steadily making progress. The information would be copied out of their memories and absorbed for my master's later use. Much of the geographical, arcana, and limited information pertaining to the wildlife in this forest was concordant with Trephor's research, but there were odd bits of what little history he could research that didn't quite align with the contents of Savant Dancer's mind. The only prominent difference between Canterlot's archives and this ruins' seem to be everything pertaining to a place known as the Crystal Empire. According to Canterlot's archives, the first ruler of the empire was a mare named Amor- "...uuuugggghhh..." A pained groan from my master tore me from my thoughts. I turned around to see him holding his horns in what seemed to be pain. I quickly got up from the stool I was sitting on and ran towards him. As soon as I got within arms reach I pressed my boney hand against his forehead. He had a steadily growing fever, but was still entrenched in a deep sleep. I looked around and saw that the ponies I sent out still hadn't returned, so I broadcasted an immediate signal for all the skeletons to come back with whatever they had. I pressed my hands against Azazel's forehead and chest, then focused. There was a foreign presence in his mind, and it was tricking Azazel's body into thinking it was freezing. Azazel's body would overheat and send him into shock if I didn't forcefully remove it. Shutting my "eyes", I felt around for the presence and found it trying to wrap around his mind and encompass it. I began to pry it off, only for it to try and latch on with greater ferver. As I worked, I heard the sound of hooves hitting the ground and the sloshing of a liquid spill ever so slightly and pitter patter against the stone floor. "Sir Avalon! The scouts have returned with water and some apples. Why did you summon them back so quickly?" I heard Blazing Shot call out from behind me. "Bring me water! I have to cool him off!" I explained, returning my complete attention back to Azazel. The entity was struggling to keep it's hold on my master, and if I kept on pulling on it to come off, it soon would. As I worked, I felt something wet run down my hands and all along Azazel's body. The liquid then sizzled into steam as it came into contact with his skin. I immediately felt the presence "lose its footing" and with much effort, Azazel's mind was freed from it's grasp. My master's eyes shot open and he began taking massive lungfulls of air while his wild eyes scanned his surroundings. We gave him some room to breathe, and after regaining his breath, my master spoke. "What in the nine hells happened?..." He asked out of breath. "We have taken refuge at the ruins I mentioned to you yesterday. As for what happened just now, something was trying to force your body to overheat." I explained. "hmm..." He hummed before continuing, looking around the library we were in. He saw Anvari "sleeping" peacefully by his side and let out a small sigh before sitting up. "Actually, We are currently in one of Equestria's oldest archives. This entire structure is part of what's left of the castle of the two sisters." Savant Dancer explained with fascination on his voice while popping his head out of a mound of books he had buried himself under. He climbed down the small pile of books, trotted over to us and sat down beside me a little too much giddiness for my liking. Azazel was deep in thought, mulling over what I assumed had been the events of the last two days. "Avalon?" He asked, looking off into space. "Yes?" I asked. "Have you explored this castle?" he asked. "We have sir, every last nook and cranny, though I believe that there is something that requires your attention." Spectre answered for me. "Is there an area in this ruin where it's unnaturally cold and whispers can be heard?" He asked, his demonic eyes locking onto mine with an unwavering focus. To say me and Spectre were taken aback by how specific he was would have been an understatement. "I... uh..." I tried to answer, but the words would not leave my mouth. He looked down, then his eyes began inspecting us. He began to search the room for something before looking back at us. "Where are the others?" He asked me with weariness on his face and tone. I hesitated, unable to find the best way to tell him without infuriating him. Fortunately, Blazing Shot answered for me. "Sir, we endured heavy losses on our way here. We are all that is left." He explained. To this, Azazel let out a groan of frustration while holding the bridge of his nose with a clawed hand. He stayed like that for a moment before taking a deep breath. "Avalon, the area I described earlier, does it exist?" He asked, now looking at me. I nodded, and he looked to be a little more at ease. "Alright... Is there anywhere where I can bathe?.. I need to clear my head so that I can figure out our next move." He stated, his shoulders sagging a bit in resignation. I looked over to Cherry Wing who was holding an empty old wooden pale. She set it down before speaking. "Yeah. There's a waterfall and a shallow river south of these ruins. I can take you there if you wish." She explained. "Alright. For now, everyone stay here. Avalon, see if you can contact Trephor and Mia from here. I want to know what's going on on their end." He ordered, weakly rising to his feet to then fall back onto the makeshift bed. "Master, please take it easy." I placated, gently keeping him from standing up again with my hand on his shoulder. He sighed and stayed put for moment before turning towards the sleeping, undead manticore. He whistled, and the manticore's eyes lit up, signifying it was awake. The creature rose from it's position and walked over to Azazel, moving it's head under his hand. It received gentle scratches before I realized what he wanted to do. "Help me up Avalon." He commanded, and I obeyed. Climbing onto the undead feline, he let a victorious smirk spread onto his face. "What is your name, pegasus?" He asked, looking at Cherry Wing. "My name is Cherry Wing, sir." She answered. He nodded before speaking. "Very well, Cherry Wing, lead the way." He ordered, and with that, I escorted them out of the palace and watched them disappear southward into the trees of the elusive Everfree. I walked back inside, and passed by the hallway leading to the aforementioned area of cold and ominous voices. I was tempted to go there and explore it, but I knew better than to head into potential danger by myself. I headed back to the library and found the undead ponies gathered around Anvari, who was unsurprisingly uncomfortable with all the attention on her. "Alright, our master has left. Honey Blossom, Scarlett Stream, I presume you found some apples for Azazel?" I asked as I walked towards them. They nodded and presented a burlap sack that seemed to be stuffed with apples towards me. "Where did you get these?" I asked. I received no answer and it was only when I looked up from the inside of the burlap sack that I saw Honey Blossom and Scarlett Stream looking at me. The former looking utterly mortified while the latter was pointing with a hoof somewhere above me. Looking up, I saw an eight legged silouhette land on my face and latch on with said appendages with a grip of mild strength. I then looked forward and pulled off what had just latched onto my face. Upon closer inspection, it seemed to be a spider with a body the size of my skull with a star shaped coloration on its abdomen that sparkled like a shiny gem. What surprised me the most about it was how calm the creature was, even as I looked it over. "Sir Avalon! Get away from that thing!" I heard Honey Blossom's voice call out from ahead. Looking away from the oversized insect, I saw the ponies were all hiding behind a table turned on its side. I cocked my head to the side in confusion before setting the harmless arachnid on the ground. It looked up at me for a moment before scurrying away behind a bookshelf. As I saw the little creature vanish from sight, I heard the unmistakeable sound of a jaw bone falling to the ground. Turning to look over to the ponies, I saw that Honey Blossom had just dropped her jaw. I got up and walked over to her. Taking the jaw bone in my hand, I then moved it close enough to her skull where it would gravitate back into position. "I- I don't understand... why didn't it try to maul your face off?" Scarlett asked, looking at me with utter bewilderment. "I don't know, and frankly I don't care. If it isn't hostile, it is of no concern. For now, keep those apples safe for when our master returns. I'm going to see if I can reach Trephor and Mia." I ordained and with that, I left the room to search for a place to meditate and hopefully reach my friends. ///////////////Meanwhile, in the Everfree forest...////////////////// The unsuspecting half-blood spawn of hell and Death itself, had been showering himself off under a small waterfall that fed a shallow river that dug into a ravine which was swallowed by the Everfree. Alone to collect his thoughts, he began to think on just how to get Mia and Trephor back from the Solar bitch's clutches. Erm... hooves. His memory of the castle's layout was limited, and try as he might, he couldn't think of a way to save them. After about an hour of chastising himself and being angry at Celestia, he calmed down and did his best to get his mind off of it for the time being. He scrubbed his troubles away as a memory of his earlier years with the skeletons he called his family resurfaced. Closing his eyes under the stream of cool water, he began to visualize the day he tried to wear pants. After Mia had spent days making him simple leggings so that he could go out in public looking a little more inconspicuous with his father, Azazel had worn them on an excursion to the Black Mountain. After an incident with a fire drake, It was no surprise to see the two come back with a cartful of gems and gold from the beast's hoard, covered from head to toe in ash and soot, with small cuts and bruises grazing most of their bodies. While the two were completely naked, their clothing burned to a crisp and discarded, and giggling like a bunch of drunkard idiots they sauntered inside their hidden abode. Being in the nude was something Azazel was relatively comfortable with. Something about being raised by the most infamous succubus of the nine circles might have something to do with it. Speaking of which, she was not at all happy to see her husband and her son grazed with injuries and naked to boot. Not to mention Mia's distress over the destroyed leggings. He smiled at the memory before becoming sour at the thought of his parents. He sighed and moved out from under the stream of water that had cleaned his hair. Brushing back the long locks of brunette hair out of his face, Azazel waded out of the knee deep river and towards the shore. As he trudged onward, he charged hellfire in his chest. His body temperature rocketed, and the water on his body and hair began to sizzle and evaporate off him. He stood under the shade with his eyes closed in a sort of sleepy contentment, enjoying the sounds of nature as he dried himself. Just as he finished and let his body temperature drop back down, he heard a magical pop off to his right. His eyes shot open and scanned the immediate area for danger. On a rock conveniently placed next to the tree where his loincloth and belt hung on a low branch of an odd looking tree, lay a rolled parchment held closed by a red ribbon and a golden broach with an odd looking emblem on it. Seeing it, he immediately grew even more uneasy. He glanced around and saw nothing but the river and a near impenetrable thicket of trees and shrubbery. He shut his eyes and poured magic into his keen ears to enhance his senses. The manticore that carried him on its back was resting a short distance away while his escort made laps around the perimeter to make sure nothing would catch him by surprise. Not sensing anything else, he relaxed a bit and took a deep breath to try and calm himself down. With a shaky sigh, he took his garments and put them on. The amulets and trinkets clinked and clattered together on his belt as he strapped it on over the worn, jet black fabric which fluttered down to his knees at the front and draped down to the floor as it reached towards his back. A hole made for his tail allowed it near unhindered movement while also keeping clear of the leather and metal belt. Having made sure his sex wouldn't be unceremoniously exposed due to a sudden movement, or an inconvenient breeze decided to give anyone standing around a gander at his family jewels, he took the parchment and opened it. 𝒯𝑜 𝒷𝑒 𝓌𝓇𝒾𝓉𝒾𝓃𝑔 𝓉𝒽𝒾𝓈 𝓉𝑜 𝓎𝑜𝓊 𝓃𝑜𝓌 𝒾𝓈 𝒶𝓃 𝒶𝒷𝓈𝑜𝓁𝓊𝓉𝑒 𝓅𝓁𝑒𝒶𝓈𝓊𝓇𝑒, 𝑒𝓈𝓅𝑒𝒸𝒾𝒶𝓁𝓁𝓎 𝓉𝑜 𝑜𝓃𝑒 𝓌𝒾𝓉𝒽 𝓈𝓊𝒸𝒽 𝒶 𝓇𝑒𝓅𝓊𝓉𝒶𝒷𝓁𝑒 𝓁𝒾𝓃𝑒𝒶𝑔𝑒, 𝑜' 𝓈𝑜𝓃 𝑜𝒻 𝓉𝒽𝑒 𝒢𝓇𝑒𝓎 𝒢𝑜𝒹 𝑜𝒻 𝒟𝑒𝒶𝓉𝒽. 𝑅𝒾𝑔𝒽𝓉 𝓃𝑜𝓌, 𝓎𝑜𝓊 𝓂𝒶𝓎𝒷𝑒 𝓌𝑜𝓃𝒹𝑒𝓇𝒾𝓃𝑔 𝒿𝓊𝓈𝓉 𝓌𝒽𝑜 𝑜𝓇 𝓌𝒽𝒶𝓉 𝒾𝓃 𝓉𝒽𝑒 𝓂𝓊𝓁𝓉𝒾𝓋𝑒𝓇𝓈𝑒 𝐼 𝒶𝓂. 𝐹𝓇𝑒𝓉 𝓃𝑜𝓉 𝓂𝓎 𝒽𝒶𝓁𝒻-𝒷𝓁𝑜𝑜𝒹𝑒𝒹 𝓇𝑒𝒸𝒾𝓅𝒾𝑒𝓃𝓉, 𝒻𝑜𝓇 𝐼 𝓂𝑒𝒶𝓃 𝓎𝑜𝓊 𝓃𝑜 𝒽𝒶𝓇𝓂, 𝒷𝓇𝒾𝓃𝑔 𝓎𝑜𝓊 𝑔𝑜𝑜𝒹 𝓃𝑒𝓌𝓈, 𝒶𝓃𝒹 𝒶𝓃 𝑒𝓍𝓅𝓁𝒶𝓃𝒶𝓉𝒾𝑜𝓃 𝒶𝓈 𝓉𝑜 𝓌𝒽𝓎 𝐼 𝒶𝓂 𝓌𝓇𝒾𝓉𝒾𝓃𝑔 𝓎𝑜𝓊 𝓉𝒽𝒾𝓈 𝓁𝑒𝓉𝓉𝑒𝓇. 𝐵𝓊𝓉 𝒷𝑒𝒻𝑜𝓇𝑒 𝐼 𝒷𝑒𝑔𝒾𝓃 𝓉𝒽𝒾𝓈 𝒷𝓁𝒶𝓉𝒶𝓃𝓉 𝒷𝒶𝓇𝓇𝒶𝑔𝑒 𝑜𝒻 𝓋𝑒𝓇𝒷𝒾𝒶𝑔𝑒 𝓌𝒽𝒾𝒸𝒽 𝓌𝒾𝓁𝓁 𝒷𝑒 𝓂𝑜𝓈𝓉 𝓋𝑒𝓇𝒷𝑜𝓈𝑒, 𝐼 𝓌𝑜𝓊𝓁𝒹 𝓁𝒾𝓀𝑒 𝓉𝑜 𝓅𝓇𝑜𝓋𝒾𝒹𝑒 𝓎𝑜𝓊 𝓌𝒾𝓉𝒽 𝓈𝑜𝓂𝑒 𝒸𝑜𝓃𝓉𝑒𝓍𝓉. 𝐼 𝒽𝒶𝓋𝑒 𝓁𝒾𝓋𝑒𝒹 𝒾𝓃 𝓉𝒽𝒾𝓈 𝓁𝒶𝓃𝒹 𝒻𝑜𝓇 𝓆𝓊𝒾𝓉𝑒 𝓈𝑜𝓂𝑒 𝓉𝒾𝓂𝑒 𝓃𝑜𝓌. 𝒜𝓅𝓅𝓇𝑜𝓍𝒾𝓂𝒶𝓉𝑒𝓁𝓎 𝓉𝒽𝓇𝑒𝑒 𝓉𝒽𝑜𝓊𝓈𝒶𝓃𝒹 𝒻𝒾𝓋𝑒 𝒽𝓊𝓃𝒹𝓇𝑒𝒹 𝓎𝑒𝒶𝓇𝓈 𝓉𝑜 𝒷𝑒 𝓅𝓇𝑒𝒸𝒾𝓈𝑒, 𝒷𝓊𝓉 𝓉𝒽𝒶𝓉'𝓈 𝒶 𝓈𝒾𝒹𝑒 𝒻𝓇𝑜𝓂 𝓉𝒽𝑒 𝓅𝑜𝒾𝓃𝓉. 𝒯𝒽𝑒 𝓇𝑒𝒶𝓈𝑜𝓃 𝐼'𝓂 𝓌𝓇𝒾𝓉𝒾𝓃𝑔 𝓉𝒽𝒾𝓈 𝓉𝑜 𝓎𝑜𝓊 𝒾𝓈 𝒷𝑒𝒸𝒶𝓊𝓈𝑒 𝒶 𝓁𝒾𝓉𝓉𝓁𝑒 𝓊𝓃𝒹𝑒𝓇 𝒶 𝓌𝑒𝑒𝓀 𝒶𝑔𝑜 𝓎𝑜𝓊 𝒸𝒶𝓂𝑒 𝓉𝑜 𝓉𝒽𝒾𝓈 𝓌𝑜𝓇𝓁𝒹 𝒷𝓎 𝒻𝑜𝓇𝒸𝑒𝒻𝓊𝓁𝓁𝓎 𝒷𝓇𝑒𝒶𝓀𝒾𝓃𝑔 𝒶𝓃 𝒾𝓃𝓉𝑒𝓇𝒹𝒾𝓂𝑒𝓃𝓈𝒾𝑜𝓃𝒶𝓁 𝒷𝒶𝓇𝓇𝒾𝑒𝓇. 𝒩𝑜𝓇𝓂𝒶𝓁𝓁𝓎 𝐼'𝒹 𝒽𝒶𝓋𝑒 𝒶 𝒻𝑒𝓌 𝒸𝒽𝑜𝒾𝒸𝑒 𝓌𝑜𝓇𝒹𝓈 𝒻𝑜𝓇 𝓎𝑜𝓊 𝒶𝒻𝓉𝑒𝓇 𝓎𝑜𝓊 𝓂𝒶𝒹𝑒 𝓉𝒽𝑒 𝒷𝑒𝒶𝓊𝓉𝒾𝒻𝓊𝓁 𝓂𝑒𝓈𝓈 𝐼 𝒸𝒶𝓁𝓁 𝒽𝑜𝓂𝑒 𝓇𝑒𝑜𝓇𝑔𝒶𝓃𝒾𝓏𝑒𝒹 𝒷𝓎 𝓎𝑜𝓊𝓇 𝒻𝓁𝓎-𝒷𝓎, 𝒷𝓊𝓉 𝒾𝓉 𝓌𝒶𝓈𝓃'𝓉 𝓊𝓃𝓉𝒾𝓁 𝒶𝒻𝓉𝑒𝓇 𝐼 𝒹𝒾𝓈𝑜𝓇𝑔𝒶𝓃𝒾𝓏𝑒𝒹 𝑒𝓋𝑒𝓇𝓎𝓉𝒽𝒾𝓃𝑔 𝓉𝒽𝒶𝓉 𝐼 𝑔𝑜𝓉 𝒶 𝑔𝑜𝑜𝒹 𝓁𝑜𝑜𝓀 𝒶𝓉 𝓎𝑜𝓊. 𝒜𝓈 𝒶 𝒸𝓇𝑒𝒶𝓉𝓊𝓇𝑒 𝓌𝒽𝑜 𝒹𝑜𝑒𝓈 𝓃𝑜𝓉 𝓉𝒶𝓀𝑒 𝓀𝒾𝓃𝒹𝓁𝓎 𝓉𝑜 𝑜𝓇𝒹𝑒𝓇, 𝐼'𝓋𝑒 𝓈𝑒𝑒𝓃 𝓉𝒽𝑒 𝓉𝓊𝓂𝓊𝓁𝓉𝑜𝓊𝓈 𝓂𝑜𝒷𝑜𝒸𝓇𝒶𝒸𝓎 𝓎𝑜𝓊'𝓋𝑒 𝒸𝒶𝓊𝓈𝑒𝒹 𝒾𝓃 𝓉𝒽𝑒 𝓉𝓌𝑜 𝓇𝑜𝓎𝒶𝓁 𝓈𝒾𝓈𝓉𝑒𝓇𝓈. 𝒲𝑜𝓊𝓁𝒹 𝒾𝓉 𝒽𝒶𝓋𝑒 𝒷𝑒𝑒𝓃 𝒶𝓉 𝒶𝓃𝓎 𝑜𝓉𝒽𝑒𝓇 𝓉𝒾𝓂𝑒, 𝐼 𝓌𝑜𝓊𝓁𝒹'𝓋𝑒 𝒶𝓅𝓅𝓁𝒶𝓊𝒹𝑒𝒹 𝒾𝓉 𝒶𝓃𝒹 𝓂𝒶𝓎𝒷𝑒 𝑒𝓋𝑒𝓃 𝓁𝑒𝓃𝒹𝑒𝒹 𝓎𝑜𝓊 𝒶 𝒽𝒶𝓃𝒹. 𝐻𝑜𝓌𝑒𝓋𝑒𝓇, 𝐼 𝒻𝒾𝓃𝒹 𝓂𝓎𝓈𝑒𝓁𝒻 𝒾𝓃 𝒶 𝒷𝒾𝓉 𝑜𝒻 𝒶 𝓅𝓇𝑒𝒹𝒾𝒸𝒶𝓂𝑒𝓃𝓉 𝓌𝒾𝓉𝒽 𝓎𝑜𝓊. 𝒴𝑜𝓊 𝓈𝑒𝑒, 𝒶𝓈 𝑜𝒻 𝓁𝒶𝓉𝑒, 𝐼'𝓋𝑒 𝒽𝒶𝒹 𝒶𝓃 𝑒𝓅𝒾𝓅𝒽𝒶𝓃𝓎 𝒾𝓃 𝓇𝑒𝑔𝒶𝓇𝒹𝓈 𝓉𝑜 𝓉𝒽𝑒 𝓉𝑜𝓅𝒾𝒸 𝑜𝒻 𝒸𝒽𝒶𝑜𝓈 𝒶𝓃𝒹 𝒽𝑜𝓌 𝒾𝓉 𝒶𝒻𝒻𝑒𝒸𝓉𝓈 𝑜𝓉𝒽𝑒𝓇𝓈, 𝒶𝓁𝑜𝓃𝑔 𝓌𝒾𝓉𝒽 𝒶 𝒸𝒽𝒶𝓃𝑔𝑒 𝑜𝒻 𝒽𝑒𝒶𝓇𝓉 𝓉𝑜𝓌𝒶𝓇𝒹𝓈 𝓉𝒽𝑒 𝓅𝑜𝓃𝒾𝑒𝓈 𝑜𝒻 𝐸𝓆𝓊𝑒𝓈𝓉𝓇𝒾𝒶. 𝑀𝒶𝓃𝓎 𝓂𝒶𝓃𝓎 𝓂𝒶𝓃𝓎 𝓂𝒶𝓃𝓎 𝓎𝑒𝒶𝓇𝓈 𝒶𝑔𝑜, 𝓎𝑜𝓊𝓇'𝓈 𝓉𝓇𝓊𝓁𝓎 𝓇𝓊𝓁𝑒𝒹 𝓉𝒽𝒾𝓈 𝓁𝒶𝓃𝒹 𝒶𝓃𝒹 𝓈𝒽𝒶𝓅𝑒𝒹 𝒾𝓉 𝒾𝓃𝓉𝑜 𝒶 𝒸𝒽𝒶𝑜𝓉𝒾𝒸 𝓌𝑜𝓃𝒹𝑒𝓇𝓁𝒶𝓃𝒹 𝓌𝒽𝑒𝓇𝑒 𝓃𝑜𝓉𝒽𝒾𝓃𝑔 𝓂𝒶𝒹𝑒 𝓈𝑒𝓃𝓈𝑒 𝒶𝓃𝒹 𝒶𝓃𝓎𝓉𝒽𝒾𝓃𝑔 𝓌𝒶𝓈 𝓅𝑜𝓈𝓈𝒾𝒷𝓁𝑒. 𝐻𝑜𝓌𝑒𝓋𝑒𝓇, 𝓉𝒽𝑒 𝓉𝓌𝑜 𝓇𝑜𝓎𝒶𝓁 𝓈𝒾𝓈𝓉𝑒𝓇𝓈 𝓉𝒽𝑜𝓊𝑔𝒽𝓉 𝒾𝓉 𝓅𝓇𝓊𝒹𝑒𝓃𝓉 𝓉𝑜 𝒾𝓂𝓅𝓇𝒾𝓈𝑜𝓃 𝓂𝑒 𝒶𝓈 𝒶 𝓈𝓉𝑜𝓃𝑒 𝓈𝓉𝒶𝓉𝓊𝑒 𝒻𝑜𝓇 𝑜𝓋𝑒𝓇 𝒶 𝓉𝒽𝑜𝓊𝓈𝒶𝓃𝒹 𝓎𝑒𝒶𝓇𝓈. 𝒯𝒶𝓁𝓀 𝒶𝒷𝑜𝓊𝓉 𝒷𝑒𝒾𝓃𝑔 𝓈𝑜𝓇𝑒 𝓁𝑜𝓈𝑒𝓇𝓈... 𝐿𝑒𝓉 𝓂𝑒 𝓉𝑒𝓁𝓁 𝓎𝑜𝓊, 𝑜𝓃𝒸𝑒 𝐼 𝒻𝑜𝓊𝓃𝒹 𝒶 𝓌𝒶𝓎 𝓉𝑜 𝒹𝒾𝓈𝓅𝑒𝓁 𝓂𝓎 𝓌𝒶𝓎 𝑜𝓊𝓉 𝐼 𝒽𝒶𝓋𝑒 𝒽𝒶𝒹 𝒷𝒶𝒸𝓀 𝓅𝒶𝒾𝓃𝓈 𝓉𝒽𝒶𝓉 𝐼 𝒻𝑒𝑒𝓁 𝑒𝓋𝑒𝓃 𝓉𝑜 𝓉𝒽𝒾𝓈 𝒹𝒶𝓎. 𝒮𝓊𝒻𝒻𝒾𝒸𝑒 𝓉𝑜 𝓈𝒶𝓎 𝓉𝒽𝒶𝓉 𝒶 𝓉𝒽𝑜𝓊𝓈𝒶𝓃𝒹 𝓎𝑒𝒶𝓇𝓈 𝒾𝓃 𝓈𝓉𝑜𝓃𝑒 𝒽𝒶𝓋𝑒 𝓁𝑒𝒻𝓉 𝓂𝑒 𝓇𝒶𝓉𝒽𝑒𝓇 𝓅𝑒𝑒𝓋𝑒𝒹 𝒶𝓉 𝓉𝒽𝑒 𝓅𝓇𝒾𝓃𝒸𝑒𝓈𝓈𝑒𝓈, 𝒹𝑒𝓈𝓅𝒾𝓉𝑒 𝓂𝓎 𝒸𝓊𝓇𝓇𝑒𝓃𝓉 𝓅𝑜𝓈𝒾𝓉𝒾𝑜𝓃 𝓇𝑒𝑔𝒶𝓇𝒹𝒾𝓃𝑔 𝓉𝒽𝑒𝒾𝓇 𝓈𝓊𝒷𝒿𝑒𝒸𝓉𝓈. 𝐼 𝒶𝓉𝓉𝑒𝓂𝓅𝓉𝑒𝒹 𝓉𝑜 𝓇𝑒𝓈𝓊𝓂𝑒 𝓂𝓎 𝒶𝓃𝒶𝓇𝒸𝒽𝒾𝒸𝒶𝓁 𝓇𝓊𝓁𝑒 𝓊𝓅𝑜𝓃 𝑒𝓈𝒸𝒶𝓅𝒾𝓃𝑔, 𝓉𝒽𝒶𝓉 𝒾𝓈 𝑜𝒻 𝒸𝑜𝓊𝓇𝓈𝑒 𝓊𝓃𝓉𝒾𝓁 𝓉𝒽𝑒 𝒸𝓊𝓇𝓇𝑒𝓃𝓉 𝒷𝑒𝒶𝓇𝑒𝓇𝓈 𝑜𝒻 𝓉𝒽𝑒 𝐸𝓁𝑒𝓂𝑒𝓃𝓉𝓈 𝑜𝒻 𝐻𝒶𝓇𝓂𝑜𝓃𝓎, 𝓇𝑒𝓁𝒾𝒸𝓈 𝓉𝒽𝒶𝓉 𝒶𝓇𝑒 𝒾𝓃 𝑒𝓈𝓈𝑒𝓃𝒸𝑒, 𝓅𝒽𝓎𝓈𝒾𝒸𝒶𝓁 𝓂𝒶𝓃𝒾𝒻𝑒𝓈𝓉𝒶𝓉𝒾𝑜𝓃𝓈 𝑜𝒻 𝓉𝒽𝑒 𝓉𝒽𝒾𝓃𝑔𝓈 𝓇𝑒𝓆𝓊𝒾𝓇𝑒𝒹 𝒻𝑜𝓇 𝒻𝓇𝒾𝑒𝓃𝒹𝓈𝒽𝒾𝓅 𝓉𝑜 𝑒𝓍𝒾𝓈𝓉; 𝒸𝒶𝓂𝑒 𝒶𝓇𝑜𝓊𝓃𝒹 𝒶𝓃𝒹 𝒾𝓂𝓅𝓇𝒾𝓈𝑜𝓃𝑒𝒹 𝓂𝑒 𝒶𝑔𝒶𝒾𝓃. 𝒯𝒽𝒶𝓉 𝓈𝒶𝒾𝒹, 𝒶𝓈 𝓎𝑜𝓊 𝓌𝑒𝓁𝓁 𝓀𝓃𝑜𝓌 𝓉𝒽𝑒𝓇𝑒 𝓂𝓊𝓈𝓉 𝒷𝑒 𝒶 𝒷𝒶𝓁𝒶𝓃𝒸𝑒 𝒷𝑒𝓉𝓌𝑒𝑒𝓃 𝑜𝓇𝒹𝑒𝓇 𝒶𝓃𝒹 𝒸𝒽𝒶𝑜𝓈, 𝑔𝑜𝑜𝒹 𝒶𝓃𝒹 𝑒𝓋𝒾𝓁, 𝒶𝓃𝒹 𝓌𝒽𝒶𝓉 𝓃𝑜𝓉. 𝒜𝓈 𝓈𝓊𝒸𝒽, 𝓌𝒽𝑒𝓃𝑒𝓋𝑒𝓇 𝓉𝒽𝑒𝓇𝑒 𝒾𝓈 𝒶𝓃 𝒾𝓂𝒷𝒶𝓁𝒶𝓃𝒸𝑒 𝒾𝓃 𝓉𝒽𝑒 𝒹𝓊𝒶𝓁𝒾𝓉𝓎 𝓉𝒽𝒶𝓉 𝑔𝑜𝓋𝑒𝓇𝓃𝓈 𝓉𝒽𝒾𝓈 𝓌𝑜𝓇𝓁𝒹, 𝓉𝒽𝑒 𝓋𝒾𝓇𝓉𝓊𝒶𝓁 𝑜𝓅𝓅𝑜𝓈𝒾𝓉𝑒 𝑜𝒻 𝓉𝒽𝒶𝓉 𝒾𝓂𝒷𝒶𝓁𝒶𝓃𝒸𝑒 𝓌𝒾𝓁𝓁 𝒸𝑜𝓂𝑒 𝒶𝓁𝑜𝓃𝑔, 𝒶𝓃𝒹 𝓎𝑜𝓊 𝑔𝓊𝑒𝓈𝓈𝑒𝒹 𝒾𝓉, 𝓇𝑒𝓈𝓉𝑜𝓇𝑒 𝓉𝒽𝑒 𝒷𝒶𝓁𝒶𝓃𝒸𝑒. 𝒞𝑒𝓁𝑒𝓈𝓉𝒾𝒶, 𝒽𝑒𝓇 𝓇𝑜𝓎𝒶𝓁 𝓈𝓊𝓃-𝒷𝓊𝓉𝓉𝑒𝒹𝓃𝑒𝓈𝓈 𝒽𝑒𝓇𝓈𝑒𝓁𝒻, 𝒸𝒶𝓂𝑒 𝓉𝑜 𝓉𝒽𝑒 𝒾𝓃𝑔𝑒𝓃𝒾𝑜𝓊𝓈 𝒸𝑜𝓃𝒸𝓁𝓊𝓈𝒾𝑜𝓃 𝓉𝒽𝒶𝓉 𝒾𝒻 𝓈𝒽𝑒 𝓇𝑒𝒻𝑜𝓇𝓂𝑒𝒹 𝓂𝑒, 𝓉𝒽𝑒 𝒷𝒶𝓁𝒶𝓃𝒸𝑒 𝒸𝑜𝓊𝓁𝒹 𝒷𝑒 𝓅𝓇𝑒𝓈𝑒𝓇𝓋𝑒𝒹, 𝒶𝓃𝒹 𝒶𝓁𝓁 𝓅𝒶𝓇𝓉𝒾𝑒𝓈 𝒾𝓃𝓋𝑜𝓁𝓋𝑒𝒹 𝒸𝑜𝓊𝓁𝒹 𝒷𝑒𝓃𝑒𝒻𝒾𝓉 𝒻𝓇𝑜𝓂 𝒾𝓉. 𝒮𝑜 𝓈𝒽𝑒 𝒸𝑜𝓂𝓂𝒾𝓈𝓈𝒾𝑜𝓃𝑒𝒹 𝓉𝒽𝑒 𝒷𝑒𝒶𝓇𝑒𝓇 𝑜𝒻 𝓉𝒽𝑒 𝑒𝓁𝑒𝓂𝑒𝓃𝓉 𝑜𝒻 𝓀𝒾𝓃𝒹𝓃𝑒𝓈𝓈 𝓉𝑜 𝒹𝑜 𝓉𝒽𝑒 𝒿𝑜𝒷. 𝐼𝓃 𝒽𝒾𝓃𝒹𝓈𝒾𝑔𝒽𝓉, 𝐼 𝓌𝒾𝓁𝓁 𝒶𝒹𝓂𝒾𝓉 𝓉𝒽𝒶𝓉 𝐼 𝓌𝒶𝓈 𝒶 𝓇𝑒𝒶𝓁 𝒿𝑒𝓇𝓀 𝓉𝑜 𝒽𝑒𝓇, 𝒶𝓃𝒹 𝐼 𝒶𝓂 𝒶𝓁𝓈𝑜 𝓌𝒾𝓁𝓁𝒾𝓃𝑔 𝓉𝑜 𝒸𝑜𝓃𝒸𝑒𝒹𝑒 𝓉𝒽𝒶𝓉 𝓉𝒽𝑒 𝓂𝒶𝑔𝒾𝒸 𝑜𝒻 𝒻𝓇𝒾𝑒𝓃𝒹𝓈𝒽𝒾𝓅 𝒽𝒶𝓈 𝓂𝒶𝒹𝑒 𝓂𝑒 𝒶 𝓂𝓊𝒸𝒽 𝒷𝑒𝓉𝓉𝑒𝓇 𝒸𝓇𝑒𝒶𝓉𝓊𝓇𝑒. 𝐼𝓃 𝓉𝒽𝑒 𝓋𝑒𝓇𝓎 𝓁𝒾𝓀𝑒𝓁𝓎 𝒸𝒶𝓈𝑒 𝓉𝒽𝒶𝓉 𝓎𝑜𝓊 𝒶𝓇𝑒 𝓌𝑜𝓃𝒹𝑒𝓇𝒾𝓃𝑔 𝓌𝒽𝑜 𝓈𝒽𝑒 𝒾𝓈, 𝓉𝒽𝑒𝓃 𝐼'𝓁𝓁 𝒷𝑒 𝒽𝒶𝓅𝓅𝓎 𝓉𝑜 𝒾𝓃𝒻𝑜𝓇𝓂 𝓎𝑜𝓊 𝓉𝒽𝒶𝓉 𝓎𝑜𝓊'𝓋𝑒 𝓂𝑒𝓉 𝒽𝑒𝓇 𝒶𝓁𝓇𝑒𝒶𝒹𝓎. 𝐻𝑒𝓇 𝓃𝒶𝓂𝑒 𝒾𝓈 𝐹𝓁𝓊𝓉𝓉𝑒𝓇𝓈𝒽𝓎, 𝒶 𝒷𝑒𝒶𝓊𝓉𝒾𝒻𝓊𝓁 𝓅𝑒𝑔𝒶𝓈𝓊𝓈 𝓂𝒶𝓇𝑒 𝓌𝒾𝓉𝒽 𝒶 𝓅𝒾𝓃𝓀 𝓂𝒶𝓃𝑒, 𝓎𝑒𝓁𝓁𝑜𝓌 𝒸𝑜𝒶𝓉, 𝒶𝓃𝒹 𝓉𝒽𝓇𝑒𝑒 𝒷𝓊𝓉𝓉𝑒𝓇𝒻𝓁𝒾𝑒𝓈 𝒻𝑜𝓇 𝒶 𝒸𝓊𝓉𝒾𝑒 𝓂𝒶𝓇𝓀. 𝐻𝑒𝓇 𝓊𝓃𝑒𝓃𝒹𝒾𝓃𝑔 𝓀𝒾𝓃𝒹𝓃𝑒𝓈𝓈 𝒾𝓈 𝓌𝒽𝒶𝓉 𝓈𝒶𝓋𝑒𝒹 𝓂𝑒, 𝒶𝓃𝒹 𝓈𝒾𝓃𝒸𝑒 𝓉𝒽𝑒𝓃 𝐼'𝓋𝑒 𝒹𝑒𝒹𝒾𝒸𝒶𝓉𝑒𝒹 𝓂𝓎𝓈𝑒𝓁𝒻 𝓉𝑜 𝓀𝑒𝑒𝓅𝒾𝓃𝑔 𝓉𝒽𝑒 𝓁𝒶𝓃𝒹 𝓉𝒽𝒶𝓉 𝓈𝒽𝑒 𝒸𝒶𝓁𝓁𝓈 𝒽𝑒𝓇 𝒽𝑜𝓂𝑒 𝓈𝒶𝒻𝑒. 𝒜𝓁𝑜𝓃𝑔 𝓉𝒽𝑒 𝓇𝑜𝒶𝒹 𝓉𝑜 𝓇𝑒𝒹𝑒𝓂𝓅𝓉𝒾𝑜𝓃 𝐼'𝓋𝑒 𝓈𝑒𝓉 𝒾𝓃 𝓂𝑜𝓉𝒾𝑜𝓃 𝒶 𝓋𝑒𝓇𝓎 𝒸𝒶𝓁𝒸𝓊𝓁𝒶𝓉𝑒𝒹 𝒶𝓃𝒹 𝓅𝓇𝑒𝒸𝒾𝓈𝑒 𝓅𝓁𝒶𝓃 𝓉𝒽𝒶𝓉 𝓌𝒾𝓁𝓁 𝒸𝒶𝓈𝒸𝒶𝒹𝑒 𝒾𝓃𝓉𝑜 𝓉𝒽𝑒 𝒻𝓊𝓉𝓊𝓇𝑒 𝓉𝑜 𝒶𝓈𝓈𝓊𝓇𝑒 𝓉𝒽𝒾𝓈 𝓀𝒾𝓃𝑔𝒹𝑜𝓂 𝒽𝒶𝓈 𝒶 𝒷𝑒𝓉𝓉𝑒𝓇 𝓉𝑜𝓂𝑜𝓇𝓇𝑜𝓌. 𝒰𝓃𝒻𝑜𝓇𝓉𝓊𝓃𝒶𝓉𝑒𝓁𝓎, 𝓎𝑜𝓊𝓇 𝒶𝓇𝓇𝒾𝓋𝒶𝓁 𝒽𝒶𝓈 𝓃𝑜𝓉 𝑜𝓃𝓁𝓎 𝒸𝑜𝓂𝓅𝓁𝒾𝒸𝒶𝓉𝑒𝒹 𝓉𝒽𝒾𝓃𝑔𝓈, 𝒾𝓉 𝒽𝒶𝓈 𝒸𝓇𝑒𝒶𝓉𝑒𝒹 𝒶 𝓈𝑒𝓇𝒾𝑜𝓊𝓈 𝓅𝓇𝑜𝒷𝓁𝑒𝓂 𝓉𝒽𝒶𝓉 𝒾𝒻 𝓁𝑒𝒻𝓉 𝓊𝓃𝒸𝒽𝑒𝒸𝓀𝑒𝒹, 𝓌𝒾𝓁𝓁 𝓂𝑒𝒶𝓃 𝓉𝒽𝑒 𝑒𝓃𝒹 𝑜𝒻 𝐸𝓆𝓊𝑒𝓈𝓉𝓇𝒾𝒶 𝒶𝓈 𝓌𝑒 𝓀𝓃𝑜𝓌 𝒾𝓉. 𝐹𝑜𝓇𝓉𝓊𝓃𝒶𝓉𝑒𝓁𝓎 𝒻𝑜𝓇 𝓎𝑜𝓊, 𝓉𝒽𝑒𝓇𝑒 𝒾𝓈 𝒶 𝓌𝒶𝓎 𝓌𝒽𝑒𝓇𝑒 𝑒𝓋𝑒𝓇𝓎𝓅𝑜𝓃𝓎 𝒷𝑒𝓃𝑒𝒻𝒾𝓉𝓈 𝓉𝑜 𝒻𝒾𝓍 𝓉𝒽𝒾𝓈, 𝒷𝓊𝓉 𝒻𝑜𝓇 𝓉𝒽𝒾𝓈 𝓉𝑜 𝒽𝒶𝓅𝓅𝑒𝓃, 𝐼 𝒽𝒶𝓋𝑒 𝓉𝑜 𝓀𝓃𝑜𝓌 𝒾𝒻 𝓎𝑜𝓊 𝒶𝓇𝑒 𝓌𝒾𝓁𝓁𝒾𝓃𝑔 𝓉𝑜 𝒹𝒾𝓈𝒸𝓊𝓈𝓈 𝓉𝒽𝒾𝓃𝑔𝓈 𝒻𝒶𝒸𝑒 𝓉𝑜 𝒻𝒶𝒸𝑒. 𝐼'𝓂 𝒶𝓁𝓈𝑜 𝒶𝓌𝒶𝓇𝑒 𝑜𝒻 𝓎𝑜𝓊𝓇 𝓂𝑜𝓈𝓉 𝓇𝑒𝒸𝑒𝓃𝓉 𝑒𝓃𝒸𝑜𝓊𝓃𝓉𝑒𝓇 𝓌𝒾𝓉𝒽 𝒶 𝒸𝑒𝓇𝓉𝒶𝒾𝓃 "𝒮𝒶𝓇𝑜𝓈 𝒞𝓎𝒸𝓁𝑒." 𝒯𝒽𝑒 𝓁𝒶𝓈𝓉 𝓉𝒾𝓂𝑒 𝓌𝑒 𝓈𝒶𝓌 𝑒𝒶𝒸𝒽 𝑜𝓉𝒽𝑒𝓇, 𝓌𝑒 𝓌𝑒𝓇𝑒 𝓃𝑜𝓉 𝑜𝓃 𝑔𝑜𝑜𝒹 𝓉𝑒𝓇𝓂𝓈. 𝒮𝑒𝑒𝒾𝓃𝑔 𝒶𝓈 𝒽𝑜𝓌 𝐼 𝒻𝑜𝓇𝒸𝑒𝒹 𝒽𝒾𝓂 𝒾𝓃𝓉𝑜 𝓉𝒽𝒾𝓈 𝓌𝑜𝓇𝓁𝒹 𝓉𝑜 𝓈𝒶𝓉𝑒 𝓂𝓎 𝑜𝓌𝓃 𝓁𝓊𝓈𝓉 𝒻𝑜𝓇 𝓅𝒶𝓃𝒹𝑒𝓂𝑜𝓃𝒾𝓊𝓂, 𝒾𝓉'𝓈 𝓇𝑒𝒶𝓈𝑜𝓃𝒶𝒷𝓁𝑒 𝓉𝑜 𝒶𝓈𝓈𝓊𝓂𝑒 𝒽𝑒'𝓈 𝓃𝑜𝓉 𝓋𝑒𝓇𝓎 𝒽𝒶𝓅𝓅𝓎 𝓌𝒾𝓉𝒽 𝓂𝑒. 𝐼𝒻 𝓎𝑜𝓊 𝒶𝓇𝑒 𝓌𝒾𝓁𝓁𝒾𝓃𝑔 𝓉𝑜 𝓃𝑒𝑔𝑜𝓉𝒾𝒶𝓉𝑒, 𝓉𝒽𝑒𝓃 𝑜𝓃 𝓉𝒽𝑒 𝒷𝒶𝒸𝓀 𝑜𝒻 𝓉𝒽𝒾𝓈 𝓁𝑒𝓉𝓉𝑒𝓇, 𝓎𝑜𝓊 𝓌𝒾𝓁𝓁 𝒻𝒾𝓃𝒹 𝒶 𝓈𝓅𝑒𝓁𝓁 𝓉𝑜 𝓈𝑒𝓉 𝒮𝒶𝓇𝑜𝓈 𝒻𝓇𝑒𝑒. 𝐼𝒻 𝓎𝑜𝓊 𝒻𝓇𝑒𝑒 𝒽𝒾𝓂, 𝓉𝒽𝑒𝓃 𝐼 𝓌𝒾𝓁𝓁 𝓉𝒶𝓀𝑒 𝒾𝓉 𝒶𝓈 𝒶 𝓈𝒾𝑔𝓃 𝓉𝒽𝒶𝓉 𝓎𝑜𝓊 𝒶𝓇𝑒 𝓌𝒾𝓁𝓁𝒾𝓃𝑔 𝓉𝑜 𝓉𝒶𝓁𝓀. 𝐼 𝓌𝒶𝓃𝓉 𝓉𝑜 𝓇𝒾𝑔𝒽𝓉 𝓂𝓎 𝓌𝓇𝑜𝓃𝑔 𝒹𝑜𝒾𝓃𝑔𝓈 𝒶𝓃𝒹 𝒶𝓉𝑜𝓃𝑒 𝒻𝑜𝓇 𝓂𝓎 𝑒𝑔𝓇𝑒𝑔𝒾𝑜𝓊𝓈 𝑜𝓋𝑒𝓇𝓈𝒾𝑔𝒽𝓉𝓈. 𝐻𝑜𝓌𝑒𝓋𝑒𝓇, 𝐼 𝒸𝒶𝓃𝓃𝑜𝓉 𝒹𝑜 𝒾𝓉 𝒶𝓁𝑜𝓃𝑒, 𝒶𝓃𝒹 𝓇𝒾𝑔𝒽𝓉 𝓃𝑜𝓌, 𝐼 𝒶𝓂 𝓎𝑜𝓊𝓇 𝒷𝑒𝓈𝓉 𝒷𝑒𝓉 𝒶𝓉 𝒶 "𝓃𝑜𝓇𝓂𝒶𝓁" 𝓁𝒾𝒻𝑒 𝒽𝑒𝓇𝑒. 𝐵𝑒 𝓉𝒽𝒶𝓉 𝒶𝓈 𝒾𝓉 𝓂𝒶𝓎, 𝐼 𝓌𝒾𝓁𝓁 𝓅𝑜𝒾𝓃𝓉 𝑜𝓊𝓉 𝓉𝒽𝒶𝓉 𝐼 𝒹𝑜 𝓉𝒽𝒾𝓃𝑔𝓈 𝓂𝓊𝒸𝒽 𝓁𝒾𝓀𝑒 𝓂𝓎 𝓃𝒶𝓂𝑒𝓈𝒶𝓀𝑒 𝓌𝑜𝓊𝓁𝒹 𝓈𝓊𝑔𝑔𝑒𝓈𝓉. 𝒲𝒽𝒾𝒸𝒽 𝒻𝓇𝒶𝓃𝓀𝓁𝓎, 𝐼'𝓂 𝒶 𝓁𝒾𝓉𝓉𝓁𝑒 𝑜𝒻𝒻𝑒𝓃𝒹𝑒𝒹 𝒶𝓉 𝓌𝒽𝒶𝓉 𝒾𝓉'𝓈 𝒹𝑒𝓋𝑜𝓁𝓋𝑒𝒹 𝒾𝓃𝓉𝑜 𝑜𝓋𝑒𝓇 𝓉𝒾𝓂𝑒. 𝐹𝑜𝓇 𝒾𝓃 𝓉𝓇𝓊𝓉𝒽, 𝒟𝒾𝓈𝒸𝑜𝓇𝒹, 𝒾𝓈 𝒿𝓊𝓈𝓉 𝒶 𝓂𝑜𝓇𝑒 𝓈𝒾𝓃𝒾𝓈𝓉𝑒𝓇 𝓈𝑜𝓊𝓃𝒹𝒾𝓃𝑔 𝓈𝓎𝓃𝑜𝓃𝓎𝓂 𝒻𝑜𝓇 𝒸𝒽𝒶𝓃𝑔𝑒. 𝒜𝓃𝒹 𝒾𝒻 𝒶𝓅𝓅𝓁𝒾𝑒𝒹 𝓌𝒾𝓉𝒽 𝒸𝒶𝓇𝑒 𝒶𝓃𝒹 𝒶𝓉 𝓉𝒽𝑒 𝓇𝒾𝑔𝒽𝓉 𝓂𝑜𝓂𝑒𝓃𝓉, 𝒸𝒽𝒶𝓃𝑔𝑒 𝒸𝒶𝓃 𝓈𝒶𝓋𝑒 𝓉𝒽𝑒 𝓌𝑜𝓇𝓁𝒹. 𝒯𝒶𝓀𝑒 𝒾𝓉 𝒻𝓇𝑜𝓂 𝓂𝑒! 𝒴𝑜𝓊𝓇 𝒻𝓇𝒾𝑒𝓃𝒹𝓁𝓎 𝒢𝑜𝒹 𝑜𝒻 𝒞𝒽𝒶𝑜𝓈, 𝒟𝒾𝓈𝒸𝑜𝓇𝒹 𝒫.𝒮. 𝒫𝓁𝑒𝒶𝓈𝑒 𝒾𝓃𝒻𝑜𝓇𝓂 𝒮𝒶𝓇𝑜𝓈 𝑜𝒻 𝓉𝒽𝒾𝓈, 𝒽𝑜𝓅𝑒𝒻𝓊𝓁𝓁𝓎, 𝒽𝑒 𝓌𝑜𝓃'𝓉 𝓉𝓇𝓎 𝓉𝑜 𝒷𝓁𝒶𝓈𝓉 𝓂𝑒 𝓈𝓉𝓇𝒶𝒾𝑔𝒽𝓉 𝓉𝑜 𝒯𝒶𝓇𝓉𝒶𝓇𝓊𝓈 𝓌𝒽𝑒𝓃 𝒽𝑒 𝓈𝑒𝑒𝓈 𝓂𝑒. 𝒫.𝒫.𝒮. 𝒪𝓃𝒸𝑒 𝒮𝒶𝓇𝑜𝓈 𝒾𝓈 𝒻𝓇𝑒𝑒𝒹, 𝐼'𝓁𝓁 𝑔𝒾𝓋𝑒 𝓎𝑜𝓊 𝑜𝓃𝑒 𝒹𝒶𝓎 𝓉𝑜 𝓈𝓅𝓇𝓊𝒸𝑒 𝓊𝓅 𝓉𝒽𝑒 𝓅𝓁𝒶𝒸𝑒, 𝒶𝓈 𝐼 𝓌𝒾𝓁𝓁 𝒷𝓇𝒾𝓃𝑔 𝒾𝓃 𝒶 𝑔𝓊𝑒𝓈𝓉 𝓉𝑜 𝒽𝑒𝓁𝓅 𝓈𝓂𝑜𝑜𝓉𝒽 𝑜𝓊𝓇 𝓃𝑒𝑔𝑜𝓉𝒾𝒶𝓉𝒾𝑜𝓃𝓈. 𝒞𝒶𝓃'𝓉 𝒽𝒶𝓋𝑒 𝒶 𝒻𝒶𝓂𝒾𝓁𝓎 𝓇𝑒𝓊𝓃𝒾𝑜𝓃 𝓌𝒽𝑒𝓃 𝓉𝒽𝑒 𝓅𝓁𝒶𝒸𝑒 𝒾𝓈 𝒾𝓃 𝓈𝒽𝒶𝓂𝓈, 𝓃𝑜𝓌 𝒸𝒶𝓃 𝓌𝑒? 𝒫.𝒫.𝒫.𝒮. 𝒟𝑜𝓃'𝓉 𝒻𝑜𝓇𝑔𝑒𝓉 𝓉𝑜 𝒸𝓁𝑒𝒶𝓃 𝒷𝑒𝒽𝒾𝓃𝒹 𝓎𝑜𝓊𝓇 𝑒𝒶𝓇𝓈. 𝒴𝑜𝓊'𝒹 𝒷𝑒 𝓈𝓊𝓇𝓅𝓇𝒾𝓈𝑒𝒹 𝒽𝑜𝓌 𝒹𝒾𝓇𝓉𝓎 𝒾𝓉 𝒸𝒶𝓃 𝑔𝑒𝓉 𝒷𝒶𝒸𝓀 𝓉𝒽𝑒𝓇𝑒. 𝐵𝑒𝓁𝒾𝑒𝓋𝑒 𝓂𝑒, 𝓎𝑜𝓊 𝓌𝑜𝓊𝓁𝒹𝓃'𝓉 𝒷𝑒𝓁𝒾𝑒𝓋𝑒 𝒽𝑜𝓌 𝓂𝓊𝒸𝒽 𝑔𝓊𝓃𝓀 𝑔𝑒𝓉𝓈 𝒷𝒶𝒸𝓀 𝓉𝒽𝑒𝓇𝑒. 𝒪𝓃𝑒 𝓉𝒾𝓂𝑒 𝐼 𝒻𝑜𝓊𝓃𝒹 𝒶 𝓌𝒽𝑜𝓁𝑒 𝒷𝑒𝒶𝓋𝑒𝓇 𝒾𝓃 𝓉𝒽𝑒𝓇𝑒! 𝐻𝑜𝓃𝑒𝓈𝓉! (To be writing this to you now is an absolute pleasure, especially to one with such a reputable lineage: The son of the Grey God of Death. Right now, you may be wondering just who or what I am. Fret not my half-blooded recipient, for I mean you no harm, bring you good news, and an explanation as to why I'm writing this later. But before I begin this blatant barrage of verbiage which will be most verbose, I would like to provide some context. I've lived in this land for quite some time now. Three thousand, five hundred years give or take, but that's aside from the point. The reason I'm writing this letter is because you came into this world by breaking an interdimensional barrier a little over a week ago. Normally I'd have a few choice words for you because you organized my home in space between worlds, with your little fly-by. But it wasn't until I disorganized everything again that I got a good look at you. As a creature who doesn't take kindly to order, I sensed the chaos you would brought upon the royal sisters. And while at any other time I would've applauded and maybe even helped you; however, I find myself in a bit of predicament with you. You see, about two years ago I had an epiphany in regards to the topic chaos and a change of heart towards the ponies of Equestria. When I first came here, I ripped the fabric of reality itself so that I could transform this world into a wonderland where everything and anything was possible and nothing or anyone had to abide by any rules. HOWEVER, Dear Celestia and Luna didn't appreciate what I offered and turned me to stone for it. Talk about sore losers, am I right? Let me tell you being petrified for over a millennia has left me with some serious back pains. Regardless of this, I tried to reconquer Equestria for myself and failed thanks to the bearers of the Elements of Harmony. Fortunately, Celestia quickly realized that in order to preserve peace, there must be balance. Whenever that balance is threatened, the universe will create or summon something restore that balance. Celestia, for all her faults, realized this simple premise and gave me the chance to be reformed. She commissioned the elements bearer of kindness to do the job, and I can proudly say she did an outstanding job. While in hindsight, I was a real jerk to her and I'm willing to admit that the magic of friendship has changed me for the better. Along my journey to redemption, I've set in motion a complex plan to keep the bearer of kindness and her home safe for generations to come. Unfortunately, your arrival has not only complicated things; it has created a problem that if left unchecked, will result in everything that I love about this world to be destroyed. Fortunately, there is a way to fix it where everyone benefits from it; but for this to happen, I need to know of you're willing to discuss it face to face. I'm also aware of your recent encounter with a certain Saros Cycle. The last time we saw each other, we weren't on friendly terms. If you're willing to negotiate, on the back of this parchment, you'll find the spell I used to escape my stone prison. If you free him, I'll take it as a sign that you want to talk. Hopefully now, I'll be able to atone for my egregious actions against him and all those I've harmed. I will warn you of one thing in advance, I do things much how my name suggests. Which I'm a little offended by how it's devolved in the last few centuries. For in truth, Discord is just a more sinister sounding synonym for change. Your friendly spirit of Chaos, Discord. P.S. Be sure to inform Saros of what's going to go down, I don't want him trying to blast me straight to Tartarus. P.P.S When you free him, I'll give you a day to spruce up the place. Can't have a family reunion in a pig sty can we now? P.P.P.S Make sure you scrub behind the ears, you'd be surprised at how much gunk gets stuck back there. One time I found a whole beaver back there, honest!) Reading the letter, Azazel's eyes gaped open and he had to read it a few more times to make sure that he'd read it correctly. When he was sure he got it right, he began to scheme in his mind as the prospect of saving his family and getting retribution from Celestia dawned on him. A wicked smile that could only form on a demon's face graced his lips. He whistled for his ride and escort to come back, and in a few moments, they appeared before him through the vegetation of the Everfree. Their crimson eyes piercing through the darkness with hellish fealty. "Master? You called?" Cherry Wing asked, standing at attention. Her master looked at her with a confident look as he rolled the scroll back into it's more compact form. "I did. Let's go back to the castle. I think Avalon will want to hear about this." He ordered while showing the rolled up parchment. And with a nod from Cherry Wing, Azazel climbed onto his unconventional steed and rode off towards the castle. After a few minutes of jogging around the trees, they found their way back to the clearing of the familiar ruins that now served as the young necromancer's base of operations. Reaching the stone steps of the main building, he climbed off the manticore and walked with his escort back towards the ancient library. Unbenounced to the young Half-blood, his servants were enduring pandemonium of their own. Azazel opened the old wooden doors of the old library to then see his skeletons chucking whatever they could get their hooves on at what seemed to be oversized spiders. He could only look on in bewilderment at the odd spectacle. The familiar pony unicorn with the attitude of an old soldier was swinging what looked to be like a makeshift short axe made from stone and wood at the spiders that were trying to get close to the ponies huddled behind the warrior. They were holding onto what seemed to be a large sac that contained what Azazel would later discover to be apples. This revelation came about when one of the spiders descended down from the ceiling and tried to pluck one of the crimson fruits from above. An earth pony of the group wheeled around to check on the apples to find the spider on top of the sac looking at her like deer would often look at their predator in those last few seconds of their life as they realize they were about to die. The mare screamed in terror and proceeded to run in the opposite direction in a wild frenzy before bulldozing her skull right into a particularly large spider that sat harmlessly on her head. She then proceeded to try and run away from what was latching onto her head. "SWEET CELESTIA GET IT OFF! GET IT OF MEEEEE!!!" She wailed in horror, slamming into every wall, bookshelf and spider in her path before a considerable amount of books fell from the impossibly tall bookshelves and promptly buried her. The chaos was then cut short as the door to the library swung open and the sound of a demon cackling manically after a loud thud echoes through the walls of the library, now a lot worse for wear than an hour prior to this. As the majority undead looked on, paralyzed with confusion, at their master who was on his knees rightfully guffawing the stress of the last few hours off at the hilarious display. As he laughed, the spiders froze upon seeing him, and immediately made themselves scarce. After looking at their master in confusion for what felt like an eternity, the skeletons pried their eyes off the giggling demon and took stock of the sudden lack of eight legged monsters. After looking rather embarrassed, they all approached their master, all except for Cherry Wing. Who proceeded to gallop over to the small mound of books to help her friend out of her current predicament. Wiping a tear from his eye, Azazel looked over his unconventional creations. "Alright, I'm sure that there's a reasonable explanation as for why all of you were losing your minds earlier and I will hear it in due time. But for now, where is Avalon? And where is Anvari for that matter?" He asked. Just as he did, he felt a gentle tugging on his loincloth. He looked down to his left and found Anvari, giggling to herself. He immediately understood why as he looked over to his horde. The smile he had on his lips slowly died down after none of them answered and they took stock of the absence of a certain black skeleton. "I... don't think he could've gone far. He said he was going to contact Trephor and Mia. I haven't seen him since those dreadful creatures came in here." Scarlett spoke, swerving her head around as she searched for Avalon. The rest nodded in agreement to what she stated. Sighing, Azazel shut his eyes, and reached out with his senses. His keen ears began to pick up on faint muttering from the outside, and echoes of the wind blowing through the gaping holes of the ancient castle's halls from behind him. Having a lead, Azazel turned face and began heading out. Before he could take more than two steps, his ears were overwhelmed by the pleas of his skeletons. "PLEASE DONT LEAVE US!!!" They shouted, making Azazel wince. Looking back towards them, he found them all huddled down as closely as they could to him. "Can you all be quiet?!" He shot back angrily, rubbing his sensitive ears. They winced at his retort, shortly after, they nodded eagerly if only to get away from the bugs they feared so. Their master, now taking deep breaths to soothe his annoyance, reached out with his senses to find his second in command. The half breed's ears isolated the echoes of humidity condensing and falling on the cold stone floor as it tapped and reverberated in a rhythm that seamlessly blended with the ambient. The gentle wind that kept these ruins cool and moist even under the morning sun would gently push on torn banners, their fluttering rebounding off the walls and reaching the young demon's ears. The sound of bones rubbing against each other coalesced and merged with his breathing to create an atmosphere of morbid calm. Like the sound of undead who aimlessly wander in some crypt, not making a sound save for their movements across the empty halls. Azazel stayed like this for a small while until his ears picked up Avalon's voice. "...have no idea what you are unleashing..." It was faint, but Azazel recognized his voice. Avalon was nearby, and his tone seemed cold and harsh. Opening his eyes, Azazel followed the voice which was growing as he rounded a corner. "...take everything away from you..." Avalon's voice was muffled and interrupted by the clip clop of hooves of the undead that followed Azazel in relative silence. It would stop for a minute or two before appearing again. Azazel passed several rooms that had their ceilings caved in or shrouded in cold darkness. In the darkness of the halls he walked, he saw a faint red light emanating from a door cracked open only slightly. He quickened his pace and opened the old door. In the middle of what seemed to be an armory filled with rusted full body armor for ponies and old weapons subjected to the passage of time, sat Avalon with his legs crossed. His eyes were lit ablaze with hellfire, wisps of the unholy flame dispelling into the aether with the burning of restrained anger and... sadness. From his eyes, small purple embers fell, and as they fell shifted to a deep blue which would flicker out once they reached the floor. He was sitting silently, with his hands held as fists with so much strength that I could hear his metatarsals groaning and creaking from the stress they were being subjected to. Immediately, Azazel knew what he was doing, but something was clearly wrong. The sight was familiar to him, as Avalon's was the power of telepathy, particularly, telepathy over the dead. Azazel walked inside and towards Avalon, his curious expression shifting to that of concern. He gently placed his hands over Avalon's skull and shut his eyes. Sensing his master's touch, the onyx skeleton relinquished his mind to Azazel. Now seeing through his second in command, Azazel could see that Avalon was linked to Mia. Before her stood a figure that elicited only rage within him. The pony in front of Mia had two guards clad in golden armor lying on the floor and badly burned. The Mare herself was surrounded by smoke and smoldering ash that fluttered around her. She wore golden regalia that accentuated her large, yet fit barrel and hooves. Her mane no longer flowed in a non-existent breeze. It instead danced like the flame of a bonfire with a "rainbow" of pale turquoise, mint green, sky blue and pink colors. Her tail bore the same color scheme and atop her head sat a golden tiara with an amethyst gem on its center, much like the one on her chest plate. However, what angered Azazel was not her presence, but rather her eyes. The lavander color that showed motherly love was gone. Instead, her eyes were that of a demon. Black and hateful with a burning anger that none could rival. Those eyes were that of the monster that imprisoned Saros, the same one's he believed to have been naught but the lies of a deluded spirit driven to madness. ///////////////Mia, about twenty minutes ago//////// Trephor and I had been sitting in that damned cell for a long time. I have to say that it's an odd experience that in the place where I would hear the words I have yearned to hear for years, had been said to me in a place that made me feel nothing but dread. Not to mention that being this far from Azazel means that we don't have a continuous supply of necrotic energy to feed us, which is a serious problem in and of itself. We "slept" through most of the night, though we did wake up once in the middle of the night as Twilight came down to the dungeons to try and get Starlight out. Apparently, Celestia had ordered that the prisoners would be interrogated by her personally, and as such Starlight was to remain imprisoned like us until she could determine what would be the best course of action. Twilight tried to ask us for what had happened, but I was too tired to think straight after the day we had. She stayed with Starlight through the rest of the night in that cold cell, using her magic to summon quilts and pillows for her to lie besides her pupil. If there was anything to be respected of these ponies, it was their sense of kinship. These being the thoughts that ran through my mind along side the occasional thought of dread. When morning came, I was greeted by the sight of Trephor looking off to the left like he had seen a ghost. Turning to look at what was making him so uneasy. Sitting with his legs crossed infront of us and his eyes snuffed out was a slightly transparent apparition of Azazel's most loyal creation. "...Avalon?" I muttered. To this, Trephor's jaw slacked open before he spoke up. "Y-you can see him too right?.." He asked hesitantly. I looked up at him and nodded. Our gaze locked with the apparition, and just as we did their eyes lit ablaze. It looked around and locked onto us, letting out a small sigh of what seemed to be relief. "Thank goodness I finally found you. Are you two alright?" It asked with Avalon's voice. My eyes widened at the realization of what was happening. "Avalo-?" I started before he cut in. "DON'T SPEAK! Twilight Sparkle and her student are next to your cell and I'd rather not alert them of my presence." He stated firmly. "But how-?" Trephor tried before Avalon cut in again. "BE QUIET!!!" He shouted, making me and Trephor wince away from him. He sighed, placing his bony fingers on the bridge of his nose before speaking again. "I'll explain everything, but for now you need to stay absolute quiet and pretend like I'm not here. If Celestia or anyone finds out they will destroy you." He explained, causing Trephor and I to gulp down nervously. He got up and walked closer to us before sitting back down. "I'm contacting you to let you know that everything will be alright. Azazel is already looking into how to get us to safety and you two out of Canterlot. I'll be asking you some questions and I need you to answer without speaking. So nod for yes, and shake your head for no. Got it?" Not being in the mood to get yelled at first thing in the morning, we nodded before he continued. "Alright, Have they hurt you damaged you in any significant way?" He asked. We shook our heads. "When they dragged you into this cell, were you awake?" Nod. "Have you been interrogated?" Shake. "Do you see anyway you two can maybe escape?" He asked, causing us to get up and look around our cell. "No." I answered after inspecting the window. "Mia be quiet! You're gonna-" Avalon chastised before being cut off by a feminine voice. "Hey.. Um... how did you two sleep?" Turning around I found Twilight standing behind the bars to our cell. "Pretend like I'm not here!" Avalon urged, causing me to look at Trephor. He was looking back at me and we redirected our gaze towards Twilight. We walked past Avalon's visage and stood in front of her, separated by the old metal bars. "We don't sleep. What do you want?" I asked, trying to bury my nervousness under a genuine dislike for her with a harsh tone. She flinched back a bit before answering. "I... I wanted to know what happened." She admitted, letting out a little sigh and lowering her head a bit. If I had had eyebrows to scrunch, then I would have scrunched them in confusion. "What are you talking about?" Trephor cut in. Being a walking bag of bone related jokes and bad comedy he's a very good actor. As such, he came across as a lot more imposing than me. This caused Twilight to take a step back, her ears folding back in apprehension. "Starlight isn't awake yet and I couldn't get her to tell me what happened without being insensitive. The guards are under orders not to tell me what's going and if your Azazel is reasonable we could sort this whole situation out without having to resort to violence!" She explained. I felt conflicted about her response. Back home, not only could I tell when someone was lying. But if anyone told me this back home I could've bet my life that they were lying. But this world... It was different. Good and evil aren't so easily concealed, and the "evils" of this world are very tame compared to the vile, two-faced world we once called our home. In the days that I've known her she had not lied to me, and judging by the way her body moved and spoke, she was telling the truth. I decided to stay quiet, thinking of what to reply with or ask. Before long, I heard an odd combination of voices. "You may have a noble heart Princess, but I doubt Celestia would be lenient with us..." Turing to my right, I saw Trephor standing besides me with a dark haze surrounding his skeleton. Avalon was nowhere to be found, and both Trephor and Avalon's voices spoke as one. "She's imprisoned us after she failed to kill Azazel, and will be using us as hostages to lure him out." They continued. As he spoke, Twilight's eyes shot open in horror at the accusation. "WHAT!? But why would she do that!? Celestia would never-!!" She exclaimed before being cut off by Trephor slamming his fist into the iron bars. "SHE TRIED TO KILL HIM AND US BY EXTENSION!!!" They practically screamed, Trephor's eyes burning like two red hot ingots in a blazing forge, seething with anger. "B-but sh-" She tried again only to be silenced by Trephor screaming again. "WE TRUSTED YOU WITH OUR LIVES AFTER THE HELL OUR MASTER HAS BEEN THROUGH AND YOU HAVE THE GALL TO TRY AND KILL US EVEN AFTER WE OFFER TO LEAVE YOU BE!!!" He roared, causing the purple pony to back up considerably. I was angry with these ponies, but Avalon's short temper was uncalled for. I took his arms and shook my head, pleading silently for him to drop it. Fortunately, Avalon let go of Trephor's mind, the translucent onyx skeleton phasing out of Trephor's body and standing behind us. Trephor was use to it by now, but I don't think he's ever been that mad before. Although that was probably Avalon's do- "Twilight, step away from the undead." My train of thought was cut off by the sound of a firm, yet maternal voice. I immediately recognized it and so did Trephor. We backed away from the bars and stood as closely as we could to the opposite wall. Twilight looked to her right and lowered her head while stepping further away from the bars. The sound of hooves could be heard reverberating around the damp walls of our cells. Then came the sound of a jail cell opening to our left. As soon as this happened, the voice of a stallion was heard. "Miss Glimmer, by order of princess Celestia, you are free to go." He stated, Starlight Glimmer bolted out of the cell and practically tackled Twilight as she ran into her and hugged her with a vicious death grip. The clip-clop of hooves resounded again and into view came the diarch of the sun, Princess Celestia with two guards by her side. She carried herself with authority and grace infront of her cell with two guards by her side. One of her soldiers was an ashen grey and the other a pale green. Celestia's eyes... the beautiful magenta they once had was now a bright orange. She looked at us with a stern and determined look. "Hello again Mia, hello Trephor." She greeted. We said nothing and for the longest and most uncomfortable five minutes of my whole life there was nothing but silence. After managing to pry Starlight off herself and sitting her down by her side, Twilight quietly sat, listening to the eerie silence that filled the dungeon. Not long after this, Trephor spoke up. "What do you want?" He asked, sounding a bit winded. "Where is Azazel?" Celestia asked firmly. "Even if we knew, what makes you think we'd tell you?" Trephor, who was resting against the wall retorted with his arms crossed. "Because the lives of my guards were threatened without provocation. That is not something I can't let slide." Celestia answered, staring daggers at us. "LYING WRETCH!!!" I heard Avalon scream to my left, causing me to look in his direction. His fists were clenched and his entire form was encompassed in an even more translucent red aura that radiated from him like whirlwind. Turning my attention back towards the Diarch of the sun, I brought up a question of my own. "Why?" I asked. Celestia looked at me and scanned me, clearly not understanding my question. "Why do you want him dead?" I clarified. Celestia stayed silent for a bit before answering. "Necromancers are a scourge on Equus. They bring nothing but pain and suffering wherever they go. Azazel poses a threat to my ponies that I can't allow to exist." She stated coldly. "A threat that you brought on yourselves." From my right, I heard Trephor speak up. "What are you talking about?" Asked the Diarch of the sun, sounding a tad offended.. "Azazel told you we'd leave in peace so long as you didn't hurt us or try anything. And just as he promised, no pony has been harmed... yet." He answered. Celestia's was taking deep breaths while she stayed quiet for another minute before speaking. "I'll ask you again. Where is he?" She asked with venom in her voice. She wasn't going to budge, and that was bad. "Azazel is a man of his word. What do you think will happen when he finds out what you're doing to us? Not to mention the fact that you've outed yourself as nothing but a chronic liar." Trephor stated with a bit more confidence than before. Celestia on the other hand was now clenching her teeth under her lips with a fury so powerful it sent audible shivers down my spine. Before I could interject and hopefully defuse the situation, Both me and Trephor were enveloped in a golden Aura and sent flying forwards. "Princess what are you doing!?" Twilight shouted before we collided with the iron bars with a resounding "clang"! Me and Trephor were being pressed against the bars with enough force to make the bars creak and groan along with our own grunting and struggling to break free from her magic. "Stay out of this!" Celestia boomed while turning to look at her angrily. Twilight and Starlight backed away from her and only stopped when they came into contact with the wall. It was only then that I noticed the room get considerably warmer. She turned to look at us and for the first time in years, I saw unadulterated anger with murderous intent glaring at me with a stare that could kill if I wasn't already dead. Just as I thought we would meet our end, another voice spoke. "Celestia! Stop this very instant!" Just as the voice rang out, Celestia's grip weakened enough for me to turn my head and see Princess Luna walking towards us with a being that defied all logic, standing behind her with a stern look of concern on it's face. Looking back to Celestia, I could tell she was not at all happy to see her sister or whatever that creature behind Luna was. "What's the meaning of this!?" The solar diarch demanded. "We are here to find truth. And it seems we made it here in the best possible moment." Luna answered, not showing any fear towards the raging alicorn. "Good, I was just having a friendly discussion with our guests regarding Azazel's whereabouts." Celestia quipped while turning to look at us. Her malevolent gaze weighing down on me like the sun on high noon. "I'm afraid you're making an erroneous assumption Tia." Luna stated firmly, but respectfully. This caught Celestia off guard, making her malevolent eyes revert back to their magenta hue, if only for an instant. "I'm going to have to agree with Luna here." The living mishmash of animal body parts started. "You see, given any other circumstance, I'd sit by with a nice bucket of popcorn and enjoy the show on my lazy chair." He, and I assume it was a he due to his masculine voice, produced a red bucket with white stripes, filled to the brim with a strange yellow looking food and a pair of odd glasses with red and blue lenses respectively. "But frankly this is a little too cruel for my liking and everypony's general well being. I genuinely don't know what has gotten into you, and I won't let you do this. It's wrong and you know it." He said, taking off the glasses and assuming a more serious tone and posture. Celestia simply scowled in his direction. "What I'm doing is necessary for everypony's well being! A necromancer is running free in Equestria's borders while threatening to destroy us all! This is a threat that the magic of friendship alone can't solve. If Equestria wants to survive Azazel must be destroyed! His undead are the only way to find him, and I will do whatever it takes to make them tell me where he is." Celestia argued, stomping her metal clad hoof on the stone floor. "What has gotten into you Tia!? This isn't like you at all!" Luna placated with mournful disbelief. "I'm doing what needs to be done Luna, and that is final." Celestia stated while turning to look back at us. The fire in her eyes was now more intense than ever, darkening to an amber brown and her irises turning into sharp slits. If her gaze was terrifying before, now it was mortifying. Just as I thought it that worst had come, the magic keeping us pressed against the bars of our cell suddenly vanished. Landing on our faces, we fell and immediately scrambled to get away from our aggressor. Trephor and I sat panting, more out of habit than a need to breathe, looking at a perplexed Celestia, a concerned Luna, and the mishmash of creatures from earlier looking at us. "Mia..?" From my right, came Trephor's startled voice. I looked over to see him looking at me with great fear, his eyes burned with a deep blue. Before I could even ask him what was going on, I lost all control of my body. I wanted to speak and look around, but my body did not obey. Instead, I stood looked forward and stayed quiet. From the corner of my eye, I could see my legs wreathed in the same reddish haze Trephor's had when- "You have no idea what are unleashing on yourselves..." I spoke, but Avalon's voice spoke in unison with my own. Avalon was controlling me like a puppet, and I was helpless to stop it. "Who's talking to us?" Celestia demanded after a small silence passed. Wait, could she hear Avalon? Avalon stayed silent for a few seconds before answering. "It does not matter who I am. What matters is that you listen to me very carefully. Understood?" He stated firmly. Celestia grit her teeth, but withheld whatever she was planning on doing for the moment. "Then speak." She ordered through gritted teeth, taking deep breaths to calm herself. "I don't like you. None of us do, but if we let our differences drive us to further conflict I'm afraid I won't be able to persuade Azazel from taking everything from you. You know better than anyone here what that entails. Innocent lives will pay the price of both of your boundless rage." Avalon started, sitting up right and crossing my legs. Celestia squinted, skeptical of his words. "Necromancers are plagued by a desire to consume and destroy all life they come across. Their ambition drives them to paths of darkness which drives them mad and seek the destruction of every living thing they can kill. They are nothing but vilest filth to ever exist should be slai-!" Celestia argued, only to be cut off by Avalon. "Maybe here that is the case, but Azazel is not from here. Making your argument mute, not to mention that he is more than just a necromancer. If you do not believe me then ask your sister! She has seen his mind and can show this to be true!" Avalon retorted, never taking his eyes off Celestia; who growing more and more furious by the second. As her fury grew, the room temperature slowly rose. She was taking shaky breaths as the damn keeping her anger in check threatened to break. Her mane and tail began to lose their pastel colors and glow with a flaming orange. "Sister, he speaks true. Please, we are begging you! Believe us! Azazel is not a-" Luna's plea fell on deaf ears and was cut short by a thunderous explosion. Celestia had shut her while her sister spoke. And in the brief instant before the explosion I could've sworn I saw tears welling up in Celestia's eyes. I then saw a green blur leap in front of me before a deafening blast of fire, smoke and hot air hit me like a battering ram. My body slammed into the wall and the impact nearly shattered my skull. Two of my ribs were broken and I couldn't feel my left foot. When I regained my bearings and the throbbing pain in my head subsided enough to see again, I regained control of my body. I waved off the smoke around me to find every bone that made up my left foot up to the ankle were imbedded into the wall just shy of my spine and miraculously having missed my spinal column. Upon this realization, I let out a sigh of relief, before seeing something besides my leg. It was hard to see at first through the smoke, but it looked like... IS THAT A FEMUR!? My eyes would've widened in abject horror at the thoughts that ran through my mind as I stared at the soot covered leg. I immediately looked around and not far from the femur was what I recognized to be three fourths of a pelvis bone. Further to my left I saw rubble and... "TREPHOR!!!" > Chap 13. The Beginning of the End > -------------------------------------------------------------------------- Only seconds passed after Princess Celestia's body shone brighter than the sun itself, and subsequently exploded outward in a blazing inferno. In a blast of fire and smoke so violent that shook the castle and nearly killed everypony inside, Twilight and Luna cast domed shields to defend themselves and their partners. We're it not for the princesses' quick reflexes, they, along with Starlight and Discord would have been burned to a crisp. As Twilight opened her eyes which had been shut tight out of fright for her life and Starlight's, she was very relieved to see the shield had held strong despite the ferocity of the explosion that had just occurred. Her mind began to race with possible explanations for the sudden outburst. As her mind failed to produce a feasible explanation for the deflagration that nearly killed her and her student, the ash and dust that had gathered over the shield obscured all vision outward. She looked over to her student, who was understandably holding onto her with a vice like grip as she shuddered in pure terror. Twilight wrapped a cautious wing around Starlight, who then looked up at her mentor with eyes that were too dry to cry anymore. "...is it over?..." She asked, her strained voice just above a whisper. Twilight looked at her student with a much more composed, yet frightened look. turning away from Starlight, she let the magical shield dissipate into the aether; the ash and soot that stained it and obstructed the princess of friendship's view cascaded off it and blew back towards the wall. She immediately regretted her decision as the heat of a furnace threatened to cook them alive. Twilight restrengthened her shield and cast a cleaning spell on the shield instead. As the debris slid off the domed shield She saw a sight that horrified her. In the midst of the cloud of dust that was now settling, stood Princess Celestia, but something was really really wrong with her. Her white coat seemed to glow with a red and white aura that radiated power and heat like that of the sun. The once beautiful regalia that adorned her body had darkened into a deep orange and assumed a shape akin to fire that hugged her body closely. Her wings had also been covered with armor and her crown was emblazoned with spikes. Her mane and tail no longer looked like the pastel rainbow that waved in a magical breeze. They were a raging fire that crackled and hissed menacingly. Celestia was facing towards the cell with her wings folded against her barrel. The bars had been melted and smoldered on the ground as red hot blobs of metal. Only when the last of the dust settled did Twilight hear something other than the low rumble of the heat pressing against her shield. "TREPHOR!!!!" Shifting her gaze towards the inside of the cell, she saw Mia get off the floor and hurriedly run to Twilight's right with panic in her voice. Her vision blocked by the terrifying visage of Celestia's new look, she and Starlight shared a knowing look before shuffling to the side so they could get a better look. As they circled around Celestia, who was seemingly lost in deep thought, Twilight and Starlight began to see what looked to be charred bones that were still smoldering with... are the bones green? Twilight thought to herself as she then saw Mia holding something while breathing heavily. It was only when she took a closer look did she realize what... or who Mia was holding. In the flower adorned skeleton's arms, lay Trephor missing his entire lower half and the right side of his body darkened with soot. Twilight and Starlight Glimmer's eyes widened in horror as they could see him leaking some form of black smoke from his broken spine, and only when he tried to move his right arm did they notice his right hand was almost completely gone. He weakly raised it towards Mia's shoulder and latched on with his two remaining fingers. Mia's eyes were blue dots that let even smaller blue, purple and pink embers fall as tears for her beloved. She held him close to her chest, looking deep into the waning green flames of his eyes. "Hh.. h-hey..." He started, his voice was distorted and just above a whisper. "H-how's my hair?..." He stated before giggling to himself, causing a bout of coughs and more of the red miasma to seep out through his broken back. After hearing this, Mia's eyes turned into a blueish lilac as she looked at him. The pain in her heart of what she hoped not to be true was dulled, if only because of his stupid joke. As this happened, Twilight noticed the large crack on the back of Trephor's skull and the small pieces that occasionally fell off. "M-Mia... This..-" He began, only to be cut off by another fit of coughs, causing more fragments to detatch themselves from the back of his skull. From within Trephor's skull, a viscous dark red liquid began to trickle down and evaporate into a black mist upon hitting the dangerously hot floor. "This... isn't your fault..." He assured her, his eyes flickering out for only a split second. Mia's once lilac eyes returned to a deep blue as she held Trephor's delicate frame even closer. The stream of azure embers that fell from Mia's face flowed down with even more furvor her darkest hour loomed over a soul she didn't even have. "Give... give Azazel my thanks..." He wheezed out in between coughs, struggling to get air into his non-existent lungs. Mia's sorrowful "expression" changed upon hearing that. "...what?..." She asked hesitantly, her barely restrained sobs being forgotten. "For you... I never saw how you really felt for me... I-" He was cut off by another fit of coughs, after which he continued. His eyes flickering out before relighting themselves, though dimmed. "I... I'm sorry I was too much... of an idiot to see it..." He admitted, struggling to think straight. To this, Mia simply she shut her eyes, becoming blue lines, unable to look at him lest she break. "You... are the greatest gift... Astoshan and Azazel... have given me..." The flame in his eyes began to die down even more, now an impossibly small scintillation of pink and green. "Please Trephor... don't... Azazel can fix you... just hang on... please..." She begged him, her sobs now audible as she spoke. Her left hand moved over his right cheek bone as she brought her forehead down to his and stayed there. He then moved his right hand and held hers. As this happened Twilight heard a gasp from her right and saw Luna with a horrified expression on her face as she looked on in disbelief at the visage of her sister before her. Tears began to form in her eyes, as the gentle and loving sister she once knew was nowhere to be found. Before her stood a well of a dark and primal hatred, one she was all too familiar with. Luna's legs faltered as she stared in abject terror at what her sister had become, the memories of the Nightmare's reign flashing before her very eyes. Discord, who had been silently watching from Luna's side the madness unfold, felt nothing but shame. This was the chaos he once brought about and yearned to see, and now that he was putting his power to good use, he was witnessing the one thing he wished he would never see. A paragon's descent into darkness. Discord's grim state worsened tenfold upon seeing the skeletons he had been keeping an eye on since their arrival in Equestria showed more life, love, and pain than most ponies he's ever seen. He gasped when he layed eyes on the green skeleton he'd grown so fond off as he saw the magic within him slowly drain out of him. He then saw the skeletons exchange a glance, and their eyes turn into a lilac pinkish hue. The two shared a silent kiss before the fire in Trephor's eyes snuffed out for the last time and his body disassembled in Mia's arms. For the first time in millennia, he'd seen the destruction of an undead. But never once did he ever think he'd see something like this, something so unnaturally tragic. He scowled at this and snapped his fingers, hoping to use his chaotic magic to revive the undead. In a magical poof, Trephor's skeleton was reconstructed, and everypony in the room gasped in shock, save for the unmoving Solar Diarch. Not once did she say anything, and to Luna's further unsettlement, Celestia wasn't even breathing. She stood there, unaffected by the passage of time or the view before her. She stared with an indifferent neutrality at the sobbing skeleton who was checking over her lifeless lover. "Trephor! Please wake up! Trephor please! I'm begging you don't leave me!" Mia begged through her incessant weeping. Twilight and Starlight, now able to take their eyes off Mia, looked at Discord. He was looking at his paw and claw respectively. He then looked over to the undead pair, then back at his clawed hand. "I don't... understand... That should've worked!" He stated, sounding worried. His mismatched face bore concerned bewilderment as he snapped his fingers again. A magical poof went off inside the cell and the girls turned their attention to the sound. In the cell, Mia was still trying to get Trephor to wake up with no discernable change having occurred. "Trephor please! I'm begging you! Come back to me! PLEASE!" She wailed, her heart that had ceased to beat and even exist years ago, was being crushed with every second that went on and Trephor lay irresponsive on the ground. The princess of friendship and her student looked over to see the god of chaos... crying!? Discord was silently shedding tears at the sight of Mia and Trephor. "Discord can't heal Trephor!?" Ran through Twilight's mind as she came to the grim realization that... no... it couldn't be... "I've seen enough of this farce." A stern and distorted voice spoke. Twilight looked at Celestia to see that she was scowling at Mia. "Princess Celestia?..." Twilight muttered, immediately wincing away when the eyes of a demon stared back at her. The white of her once beautiful eyes were now a dark amber brown and her irises were no longer the magenta hue she recognized as that of her mentor. Instead, Celestia bore sharp and jagged irises that glowed with a sickly yellow light. In her eyes, Twilight saw nothing but distain and a nigh endless supply of pent-up abhorrence. The sight of that malevolent glare was something she'd only seen three other times in her past. When Nightmare Moon returned from her banishment, when she dueled Tirek, and when she first saw Azazel leaving Canterlot's mausoleum. Those eyes boring into her very soul were worse. So much so that Starlight ceased being scared herself upon seeing her mentor shivering in an immobilizing panic. As Twilight's breath began to shake and quiver, Celestia turned her sights back in her target. She charged magic into her horn, but instead of it's usual ethereal sound and appearance, Celestia's horn burned with a crimson aura and rumbled with dark power. As she did so, Twilight's shield began to crack and splinter as the heat being radiated off of Celestia's form now threatened to shatter it under the pressure. Twilight then heard Mia begin to... growl? She turned to see her with her fists clenched firmly over Trephor's body, the embers of her eyes lit ablaze with a bright red flame. "HOW DARE YOU!?" Mia roared as she got to her feet. She charged at Celestia with her left arm pulled back. When Mia closed the gap between the two, she swung with every ounce of animalistic rage she could muster. With a resounding thud and cracking, Mia's blow caused her to break three of her fingers off after a small explosion erupted from the point of contact and desintigrated what was left of her hand. The blast sent her stumbling backwards and onto her back. While all of this happened, Celestia remained unflinching and acted as if she had just now noticed Mia was even there. "How cute. Avenging the loss of the one you love. You almost had me convinced... Azazel." Celestia stated with venom in her tone. Her voice sounded as if layed with another. The other voice sounding like a low gurgling voice, almost masculine in tone, but not quite. Mia then looked at her in shock. "That's right... I can see you hiding behind your puppets. I see you... for what you are... a coward who runs from what he knows he can't beat with brute force. Just like you ran away to save your pathetic life from whatever was really threatening it back in your own twisted world." She mused with a triumphant smile, which bled into a a manic laughter that dwarfed the memory in Twilight's mind of Nightmare Moon's first appearance. Her magic fully, she lowered her horn and aimed at Mia. "YOUR WEB OF LIES ENDS HERE WITH YOUR DISGUSTING UNDEAD!!!" Celestia billowed as she prepared to fire. Just she was about to, Discord's sorrowful attitude about this entire situation had taken its toll on him. Donning a serious expression on his face, he spoke. "No you don't!" And with that, he snapped his fingers once more. Celestia seemed to flicker in and out of existence with a low rumbling that then became a high pitched scream. A multicolored shockwave expanded outwards, phasing harmlessly through everything with an ethereal hum. As the unnatural sound filled the room, Celestia warped out of sight and Discord began panting heavily as he fell to his knees. As did the heat that once plagued the room vanished with Celestia and silence reigned for the longest while. Twilight tentatively dropped her shield feeling the intense heat vanish with Celestia. "W-what just happened?" Starlight asked, looking at Twilight with a frightened tone. Twilight said nothing as she alternated between her student, the place where Celestia once stood, and Discord. No one said anything until a few seconds passed, and Luna spoke up with restrained tears and anger in her tone. "What have you done to our sister?" She demanded, looking at Discord. The god of chaos shakily stood upright and looked at her with a cold sweat running down his brow. "Sh-she's... safe. I just-" He stopped to take a breath and gather his bearings. "EXPLAIN YOURSELF DISCORD!!!" Luna shouted, tears now streaming down her cheeks as the fear of the worst plague her. Once Discord caught his breath, his eyes locked with princess' in a gentle, yet stern gaze. "I dispelled her into the aether." He admitted. And with a resounding: "WHAT!?" From everypony he winced slightly before speaking up again. "Celestia is alright, but I had to place her somewhere she wouldn't be a danger to herself or others for the time being." He explained. Luna looked like she was about to blast him straight to Tartarus, before Starlight spoke up. "What's wrong with the princess? I've never seen her like that!" She asked, her hoof still on Twilight's back. Twilight was looking into empty space, taking shaky breaths while a steady flow of tears trickled down to the floor. Discord simply turned to his right and stared into the inside of the disheveled jail cell. Mia was too preoccupied with praying her non-existent heart out for something... anything to bring Trephor back. Discord's now saddened expression became one of resolve as he turned to look at Twilight and Starlight who were looking at him with pleading and concerned expressions respectively. "I'll explain everything, but not here." He raised his bird claw and with a snap of his fingers, disappeared with everypony and undead in a magical "poof". The now empty dungeon only housed two smoldering corpses and a destroyed jail cell. Pony guards stationed outside had heard a loud commotion from below, but wouldn't dare disobey Celestia's direct order to stay out and keep anypony from getting in or out unless it was her and her guards. That is of course, until a certain alabastor unicorn with a navy blue mane and purple armor showed up with four more similarly purple clad soldiers came to the entrance of Canterlot Castle's underground dungeon. "Open the doors!" He ordered. "Sir, we have orders from Princess Celestia to make sure that no pony enters the dungeons, Sir!" The Guard on the right side of the door stated with a salute to the Captain of the royal guard. "I don't have time for this!" He stated through gritted teeth. He stepped forward only for the guards to huddle closer, standing between him and his destination. "We're sorry sir, but we can't let you thr-" The guard only the left started, only to be cut off as he was violently thrown to the side by the unicorn Captain's lavander magic along with his companion in opposite directions. He then used his magic to try and open the door, only for the lock to stand in his way. He let out a groan of frustration before he decided to simply tear the door off it's hinges, which proved to be difficult, yet possible. He then broke into a mad dash as he flew down the stairs and sprinted the cellblock; finding the destruction left by events he was as of yet unaware of, leaving his soldiers in the dust. "Twili!? Twili!?" He called out with fear in his voice. Upon seeing the two dead guards, he became angry and chastised himself for not being here sooner. The sound of hooves clip clopping over to him from behind echoed through the dungeons. "Captain Armour! What are your orders? sir!" A mare clad in purple and golden armor addressed her Commander in Chief. With a determination stronger than steel, he looked back at his brothers and sisters in arms. "Lockdown Canterlot! No pony gets in or out! I WANT EVERY INCH OF THIS CASTLE SEARCHED! OUR PRIORITY IS FINDING THE PRINCESSES!!!" He ordered furiously marching back toward the stairs, but before they headed out, another guard, a stallion spoke up. "What about the monster that did this?" He asked sternly. The captain of the royal guard thought about it for a moment, but his once his mind was made, it would not be undone. "It's probably holding the princesses hostage. It is an enemy of Equestria and threatens the lives of everypony near it, as such, you are to kill it on sight!" /////////Azazel/////////// Having seen the cruelty Celestia was capable of, I snapped... While in control of Mia, I lashed out at her in a blind fit of rage. After I failed to even scratch her, I couldn't bare to see Mia be destroyed as well. I took my hand off of Avalon's skull and staggered back, falling to my knees. I sat there in that dark and damp armory, trying to keep my already broken heart from imploding. Avalon, who had seen the events alongside me unfold, shuffled over to me. The blue embers of his eyes reflected by the tears flowing down my cheeks. "Master... I'm so sorry..." Avalon stated, struggling to keep his usually stoic composure. I shut my eyes in a vain attempt to keep myself from shedding more tears. I tried to think of something, anything else so that I would not have to bear that pain again, but it was not use. The voices of Mia and Trephor's last conversation along with flashes of the night where I lost everything reverberated in my mind; driving me ever closer to madness. Subconsciously, I began to charge unfocused magic within me. I failed to save my mother and father... and now... I couldn't save two of my closest friends. The strain of keeping it all in was finally released when the skeletal ponies, who had stayed just outside while I searched for the two skeletons they knew as Mia and Trephor, walked up from behind me, and wrapped me in an embrace as warm as dead bones could offer. The gesture of concern was the final strike to my heart, sending me into a frenzy of animalistic belows and sobs that echoed through the empty castle and we're heard throughout the Everfree. "N̵̼̙̆O̷̘̥̐Ỏ̵͇̮͊O̴͈̚O̵̝̔͊O̸̢͒ͅÕ̵͈͠Ö̷̖̖́̕Ò̷̰̞Ő̵̻̖O̷̹̬̍͛O̸͑̔͜Ó̸͖̲O̸̙̚O̸̜͐̑O̶͇͈͑̆Ö̵̻́̄!̸̳̆!̵̝̖͋͑!̴͚͒!̵̫̂͐!̷̧͔͆̚" I screamed while slamming my fist into the ground with enough force to shatter the old stone floor. As I did, the magic that I had charged within me was released as an expanding sphere of necrotic energy. The equid skeletons around me backed away in fright, and upon getting struck with necrotic energy, they were embued with power and strength unlike ever before. The skeletal ponies were enveloped in the black fires of hell for a few moments, and once the flames receded, their clothing now shimmered and flared as if made of the unholy fires of hell. Their eyes no longer resembled small candle lights, for now they burned like red hot stars. Avalon stayed much the same, though now, he truly seemed like a wraith. His bones smoldered with a sickly black miasma and his red colored accents glowed like billets of of red hot metal freshly pulled from a burning forge. I stood to my feet, the pain that was breaking me only a few moments ago had been redirected and channeled to serve one purpose, and one purpose alone. "I̵̥͒'̵̣͈̾̏L̸͕̓Ḻ̵̃͌ ̸̟̭̉̕P̶͇̝̓͒U̶͓͋T̴͎̤̀ ̴̫̰͆Ȟ̴̰E̵͓͕͒Ŗ̵̎ ̶̪̼͝T̸̫̊E̴̲͋͘Ē̸͎̭͂T̶̹̥͊͂H̷̲̐ ̷̠͂Ŏ̷̩̻N̷̪̙̋ ̵͓̠̇̽Ą̷͋̓ ̶̩̟̓G̴͎̈́R̷͓̻̀Ḭ̸̩̿N̷̥͔͆D̸̛̻̓S̸̺͇̚T̴̗̑͘O̷̧̫̔N̸̢͒E̵͉̩͠ ̸̥͐͛A̵̭̠̒͊Ñ̷̰̻̽D̵̻̝̓ ̵̠̕Ș̷̇̑K̸̻̓͒I̸͖̎̕N̷̢͙̋̿ ̴͕͓̅͐H̷̰̓Ȩ̶͎̎R̴͕͐ ̶͔͇͐͑A̸̺͓̅L̷͉̋̎Ị̷̐V̴͍̘̇̀Ë̵̛̙́!̴̫̔́ͅ!̵̳̃!̸̛̭͉̅ ̸̲͌H̸̡͌Ȩ̵̓̆Ḻ̸̆̔L̷̞͔̕ ̷̳̗̏͗Ẁ̷̻̟́Ȉ̴͔̀L̵̯̏L̴̬̑͝ ̴̺́S̴͓̀E̸̬͝E̵͓̳̍͘M̸̪̚͝ ̷̠̓L̴͉̎I̵̮̱̽K̷͉̱̽E̵̫̘͗ ̸̘̼̔A̴͖̿̃ ̶̛̫͋Ṕ̶͙Ȃ̷̞̕R̷̯͆À̷͓D̴̤͗I̷̝͎̐͘S̷̪̽E̶̟̽ ̵̮̔̌T̴͈̘͛͑O̷̜̯̎ ̸̩̻̒͝H̸͉͇̉Ḙ̷̈́R̶̤̍̅ ̶͉̆̂W̶̻͛H̶͉̝͝E̷͙̖̽̃N̸̡̏ ̵̼̒I̵̲̐ ̸̦̾Ċ̸̛͖O̷͙̟̿̓N̵̠̚͜S̷̜͈̈́́Ȕ̷͉͈M̶̭̻̓̓Ẻ̷̱ ̸̼͙̿̐Ȟ̷̼̑E̷̜̲͌Ṛ̶̀́ ̷͔̽S̵̥͔̀̔O̶̭̺͂Ũ̴̜̍L̵͓̓̿!̵̲̇͘!̴̛͉͓!̴̡̐̚ ̶̜̋̏À̴̱̲͐N̴͔̏͝D̴̬̲̈̔ ̶̫͐͘N̶͉̓ͅÒ̶̤ ̸̱͘Ğ̸̟̇O̷̡͝D̷̫̖͒ ̵̥̀̽I̵̳̟͒N̴̍͜ ̷̱̈́̈́T̸̯̗͒H̴̪͋E̸͔̊͆ ̴̙̺̓̒H̵̫̃E̵̬͌Ä̵̱͈́͘V̷̜͂̾E̴͚͐N̵͚̾͋S̴͕͠ ̵̮͠O̸̥̔̃R̷̹̹͗̆ ̶̡̥̃E̸̳̎͛V̷̦̉E̷̝͍͋N̸̫̭̈́́ ̴͙̞̈̋M̴͇̈́̚E̷̫͒͝P̴͓̈́H̶͔̭̐̄Ỉ̵͚S̶̰̱̉T̴̩̖̀͝O̴̧͓͌P̷̖̤̈́H̵̛̫͇͝Ë̷́̽͜L̷̺̯̂E̶͙̮͒S̶͙̐ ̶̖͇͗͋Ȟ̵̨͈̔I̸̻̫͛̕M̴̞̫̀S̸͈̔͑E̸̛̲͇̽L̵̘̎F̴̦̰͑͝ ̶̡̠͑͊W̷͎̕Ȉ̴͉̖͑L̴̲̆L̴͎̈͝ ̶̰͎̊͌S̸̱̯̀T̴͖̺͝Ō̷͖͗P̵͍͒ ̷̏ͅT̷̘̚Ḧ̵̭́Ȩ̶͙̚ ̴͚͝ͅD̴̩́̆Ȩ̴̫̈́S̵̯̽T̴̝͋̕R̶̺̿U̴̞̺̎C̸̛̼̩̅T̷̗̖̓̃I̴̜̰͠͝Ò̸̤ͅN̸͈̝͆͛ ̵̦̀͛Ṫ̶͍͙H̴̜͕́A̴̲͑̿Ť̶̲ͅ ̵̼̙̊̂W̴͚͝I̸̾͜L̴̪͓͂̔L̶͙̘̀́ ̵͎́F̴̣̾A̸̙̺̕L̸̻͈͆̂L̴͓̈́ ̷͓̉͝Ȯ̴̰̥N̸̢̆͜ ̴͔̫̀͠H̶͇̩̏Ẽ̴̥̅R̴̨̚̚ ̴͚̇̌Ä̵̹̈́N̸̦͂͝D̴̮̖͝ ̵̛̫̾H̵̦̿Ě̵͜R̴͎̒̂ ̸̱̆K̴̮͉͗I̵̘͙̎̌Ń̸͔̜Ǧ̷̝̥̈́D̷̝̾Ő̸̪M̵̢̝̆!̷͓̆!̶̆͜!̶͈̘̑" I screamed between roars of an animalistic fury reserved only for when I am truly angered. The once cool and damp room became a dry and hot furnace as hellfire attempted to get passed my teeth, which were held shut with so much strength that my teeth groaned and threatened to shatter. The souls of damned within me shared my rage, screaming at the top of their non-existent lungs for bloody murder. After I calmed down enough to think semi-rationally, I turned to Avalon. "Ṱ̸̀̆ḣ̷̻̗͌e̷̛͎̳ ̸̝̈́͜͠r̴̮͆o̵̺͑ọ̵̈̎m̷̬̋̏.̴̗̩͘ ̸̳̯͌W̷̢̯̉͘h̵͓̍̇é̵̘͠r̴̘̖̀é̷̢ ̴̠̖̓w̸̮̿̏h̷̝̀i̵̞̺̚s̷̢̈́p̷̡͌̅ě̶̫r̶̰̉s̴̙̼̈̇ ̶͍͌a̶̭͓͋̿r̴͉̟̋ẹ̷͂̇ ̷̘͒̔h̵̛̠̀e̷̢̅a̵͓̿ͅr̸̥͉͋d̷̦͚͠͠ ̷͍̼͆̔a̷̼̬͌n̸͉̜̅̓d̷͇͑ ̴̨̮̐̾ṱ̴̖̾ḧ̷̪̫ë̵͚́ ̴͚̀͛a̸̫̖͋̒i̴͖͠r̶͔̿ ̷̛͐ͅi̶̳̯͌͊s̵͎͆ ̶̮̍͑c̶͕̈́o̷̢̜̾l̶̤̫͆̃d̷͖́.̷̰͎̿̐ ̵̠͊T̵̼̺̆a̸̟̾ḳ̷̃̉e̴̳̍ ̸̢̈́̓m̴̹̭͌ḙ̸̋ ̶̟͈̅t̵̟̉h̶͎̼̽e̷̼̕r̷̝̒ȅ̸͇͉!̸̭̄̾" I ordered harshly, my voice bent and distorted, showing the dark thoughts that directed my actions. I felt Avalon wanting to suggest otherwise, but I was not going to be denied, not now. "N̶̥͋O̸͇͑Ẅ̴̼̪́́!" I shouted, a very small plume of hellfire ejecting from my mouth as shut my maw of teeth with a resounding "clack". "Sir, whatever is down there is likely beyond our con-" He tried, only for me to look away from him and lock onto ten suits of equid armor around us and cast a spell of my own design. "P̶͈̓̋I̸̹̙͋E̴̙̯͗̋R̷̮̩͒̈́ ̷͈͗T̴̮͈͋̒Ŏ̵͖̹T̷̬̂ͅE̷̡͑ͅṂ̷͠,̵̛̪̳͆ ̷͕͘C̴̻̍̕Ȍ̵͔̹͐R̴̙̜͋Ṗ̷͚͉O̵̮̍R̸̢̃̊A̵̗͈͛͛ ̴̲̈́̀L̷̟̠̆Ỏ̴̠̪͌C̴̣̋̚O̵͎̔̔M̵̧̿Ò̸͍̋T̸̝̟̐Ö̷͖̗̀Ŕ̶̝ ̴͎̇Ȉ̵̡͎̇N̴̼͔̕F̸̲̰̽̈́E̷͉͂̚Ȑ̸̠͝N̵̺̾Ṳ̵̖͛M̸̐͐͜!̶̺̔͌" I shouted, prompting Avalon to shut up and stagger when a shockwave of blood red magic erupted from my chest. Silence reigned for a few short seconds, before the suits of armor began to shake. With the sound of muffled bells, the eye slits in the helmets of the full sets of pony shaped armor exploded outward with hellfire. They marched off their pedestals, and with a wave of my hand, ancient swords and warhammers flew off the wall they were hung on and proceeded to levitate beside the animated golems. "I̵ ̸w̴i̵l̵l̸ ̴n̸o̵t̷ ̸r̵e̵p̷e̷a̴t̴ ̶m̶y̴s̷e̶l̶f̸ ̵a̵g̴a̷i̸n̵ ̴A̸v̴a̵l̸o̴n̶.̶ ̸T̸a̷k̵e̵ ̸m̴e̶ ̶t̷h̶e̶r̵e̸.̴.̵.̶ ̵̵N̶o̷w̵." I got in his face and spoke with a lethal amount of malice in my voice. Avalon lowered his head in submission and followed my order. "As you wish sir..." He acknowledged, fear lacing his tone. We walked through halls of the castle in silence, the synchronized hoofsteps of the golems and the clattering of metal plates and chainmail drowning out any other sound that would dare oppose my squadron of soldiers. As we drew closer to our destination, I felt the air get colder and incoherent whispers could be heard. "M-m-m-master?..." One of my skeletons asked. I didn't know which one and frankly I was too angry to care. My fists were held firmly and with the desire to be crushing something. We descended down several staircases, and went so deep that the sun's rays no longer reached us. Although such darkness was little more than a nuisance for me, my skeletons were bumping into walls and tripping over random debris lying around. I wordlessly ordered everyone to stop with a wave of my hand, and grabbed several planks of old and broken wood lying about. Using a prestidigitation spell, I lit them and began using them as makeshift torches. Now illuminated and being able to see a lot better, we continued to head down. The air was now getting very cold and damp. The torches I had lit only moments ago were threatening to be extinguished. We turned a final corner and before me stood large and imposing twin doors decorated with glyphs and floral patterns. As I got closer to the door, the whispers in my head were becoming louder and the souls within me began urging to get away. The doors gave off a powerful and ancient magical resonance. Upon closer inspection, I could sense layers upon layers of magical spells and wards meant to keep the door shut. "This is the place, sir." Avalon started, explaining the obvious before continuing. "If I may ask, what exactly is behind this door? Is it what tried to attack you this morning?" He asked. Getting closer to the door, I placed a hand on it and was immediately shocked with a small bolt of static electricity. I pulled back at the sudden sound and tinge of pain. I turned towards Avalon and answered his questions. "L̴a̴s̶t̷ ̶n̵i̸g̷h̷t̶,̶ ̶m̷y̷ ̶d̷r̵e̸a̵m̵s̴ ̵w̸e̸r̴e̴ ̷i̸n̷v̴a̸d̶e̶d̶ ̵b̷y̸ ̵a̸n̵ ̶a̶n̸c̵i̶e̷n̷t̷ ̵b̷e̶i̷n̸g̴.̶ ̸T̸h̴e̵ ̸l̷i̸k̷e̵s̸ ̷o̷f̵ ̶w̶h̷i̷c̴h̵ ̵h̷a̷s̸ ̷s̸c̴o̶r̶e̶ ̷t̶o̸ ̸s̶e̴t̵t̷l̸e̴ ̴w̸i̵t̷h̶ ̷C̶e̴l̵e̵s̵t̷i̷a̸.̴ ̴H̴e̶ ̵w̵a̸s̴ ̸i̸m̸p̴r̷i̷s̷o̵n̶e̷d̶,̸ ̴a̵n̷d̷ ̸h̵a̶s̵ ̵l̸a̸i̶d̷ ̶f̴o̶r̸g̴o̸t̷t̸e̴n̵ ̸i̸n̵ ̵t̵h̷i̷s̵ ̴c̴a̴s̸t̵l̶e̸ ̶f̶o̴r̸ ̸c̶e̶n̸t̶u̵r̶i̸e̶s̸.̸ ̴H̴e̵ ̸w̴i̷l̴l̷ ̶b̵e̴ ̵t̸h̵e̸ ̸s̵w̵o̸r̵d̵ ̴t̴h̶a̶t̸ ̵w̶i̵l̶l̸ ̸c̵l̵e̴a̸v̴e̶ ̵E̷q̶u̵e̵s̶t̸r̶i̴a̴ ̶i̵n̶ ̷t̶w̶o̴ ̶o̵n̷c̵e̵ ̶h̸e̷ ̴h̸a̸s̶ ̴b̷e̴e̶n̸ ̸f̵r̶e̸e̶d̵.̴" I explained, turning back to the monolithic twin doors that towered over me as I tried to think of a way to open them without making the whole castle collapse on our heads. "Sir, You can't be serious!" A masculine voice called out from behind me, causing me to turn around and glare at the speaker. It was the soldier stallion. "Sir, you would condemn thousands of innocents to a bloody war over one pon-" He began and was cut off when I stormed towards him and grabbed him by his spine at the base of where his neck should be. "L̷̯̄͘ḭ̷̉͠ş̷̜̂̿t̸̟̤́͂e̸̝͌̀ͅǹ̶͔ ̸͍͕͝t̵͖͚͑͐ö̷̤́́ ̵̦̭́͘m̴̢̓̋e̵̟͚͐ ̴̖̓̈ẙ̵̥́ō̴̬u̶̪̦̅͝ ̴̯͖͆z̴̟͊̚ę̴͉͒â̸͜l̷̠̯̽ö̷̺̖́̋u̷̙̠̎s̵̝̚ ̸̥̑͊i̶͖̙̍m̴͍͍̏p̷͖̗͌͐,̶̛̜͗ ̸͖̕͠Ą̴̤͝N̸̹̑̌D̴̮̠̅ ̴̠̉̄L̸̫͆I̵̟̚͜S̸͓̎T̷̡͚̀͛É̴̦͐N̴͓͠͝ ̶̨̣͂Ẅ̸̢̹́Ě̵̜L̷̨̇̽ͅL̶̲͂̎!̶͚͑!̷̱͍̎!̵͍͛ ̶͉̠̃C̵̢̉ḙ̵͂l̴͓̺̏e̴͖̼̾͂s̴͚͑ť̷̟͈i̵̙͕̅̓a̶̲̕͠ ̷͚͆ͅȋ̵̥̈́s̴͍͒͝ ̴͎̮̎̓ä̵̘́̚ ̵͙͓̎̃p̸͎̱̏͂ȓ̵̗̀é̵͉̤́j̶̜̾ũ̸̞͝d̵̘̒̐͜i̴̛̮̣͆c̶̞̍̏ḭ̶̭̑a̷̹͓̚͝l̸̯̝͒ ̶͖̈͌i̸̳̜̐m̴̺͍͑b̵̨͙̍̐ẹ̸̳͌̀c̴̥͝i̵̦̙̊͘l̶̈́́͜è̵̻ ̸̣̪̓w̴͈̬͑͐ḫ̶̘̑o̸̲͠ ̶͓̆͑f̵͇̾͛e̸̛̤͓ḁ̵̲͒̀ř̶ͅs̵̤̝͝ ̷̼̈́w̴̼̅h̶͙̍͠ã̶̼͝t̵͇̲̅ ̶̥̄s̷͓̉̄h̶̥͖͊e̷̋͛ͅ ̸͔̅̒ḍ̷̦̂̈́ŏ̷̧̥è̵̖ͅs̴̝̝̃̂ ̴̯̤͑n̷̦̟͠o̸̘̿t̸̡̍͊ ̴̻́u̴̧̿ņ̵̞͊̓d̵̡̤̈́͝ȇ̶͍͒r̸̟̥̈́̃s̸̞͘͠ț̸̅̋a̴̯̮͗͗ṋ̶̭̑d̶̮͊̏ ̵̰̜́̿o̸̟̙̎r̸͉̄͂ ̴̫̩̊͆c̴̟͇̉͠ȧ̶̢̖ň̸͈̭ṋ̴̢̅ȍ̷̡̹́t̷̻̔͛ ̷͖͚͐c̶̯̼͂͝ǒ̵̳͗n̶̠̺̆t̶̫̣͌̇ŕ̸̹͓ò̶̮l̷̟͑̑!̷̫̜̾̆ ̷̩͐I̵̻͗͜f̶̙̙̕ ̵̳̤͊̅Ĭ̶̩͔ ̵͕͓̋ḋ̸̦o̵̢̓̆n̵̝͗͑'̴̡͎̆t̷̖̫͗̑ ̵̳̯́d̷͎͇̅e̶̻̓s̸̱̈͋t̸͎̆r̴̗̒õ̴̤ÿ̷̨́ ̶̳̫͐͝h̶̤̤̀̚ę̴͂̀ṟ̶̕,̵̱͉̅͒ ̵̥͖̽̌Ș̷̫̿Ḩ̷̺̀̍E̶̠̝͠͝ ̴̧̜͐W̵̨̰̓I̷̢̠̍L̸̬̉̅L̸͔̍̐͜ ̴̲̎͒D̴̬͈́͒Ê̸̳̗̕S̸̥̀T̵͈̠̍R̶̬̆͘O̵̺͆͊Y̶̩̝̅ ̸͙̼͊U̴͖̽̃S̴̻͎̎͆!̵͑ͅ ̵̺͝W̵̟̟̍̆i̷̛̭͝ẗ̵̼́͜h̸͉͂ ̷̺̆̅S̵̹̝͊ǎ̸̻r̴̬̾́o̸̭͌̒s̷̗̠̽ ̵̠̋͠b̶̄̈́͜ỵ̸̙͋ ̴̛̳̼͠m̵̬̤̀̿y̷̺̔͂ ̸̞̜́̍s̷̜͗ḯ̴̳d̵̬̔̓ė̴̟̣͛ ̷̼̻͛I̵̳͗͝ ̶͎̘̊͆w̸̬͋̕i̴͎͚̕l̵̟̈̈l̸̛͇͠ ̷̱̇r̷̗͗̆ä̸̗i̸͎̜̐̆s̶̰̄͝è̵̲ ̷̡̟̋ã̶̙n̶̼̈́͝ ̶̗̇á̸̖̦̈r̶̫͉͘m̵̨͍̓ỳ̶̝͓ ̴̠͋f̸̨̭͌r̶̥̲͐͛ọ̴̼̏̅m̷̹͝ ̴̲̃͘t̵͎͇̔h̵͖̱̄ë̸̟̆ ̶̮̥̇ḑ̷̠͋̏e̷͚̩͛p̸̢̘̓t̸͛͜ĥ̷̜ş̴̍ ̶̰͎̇o̵̬̯̅̚f̷͈̽ ̸̯͕̎h̸̗̥̑e̴̛͚̜̋l̶̬͐l̴̜̚͘ͅ ̸̨̐͝į̶̿ţ̵̪̈́s̶͖̗̎͠e̴̺͝ͅḽ̴̈f̵̐͒ͅ!̵̩̀͝ ̸͍̂̓͜A̷̙͆N̶̨̒D̷̦̓ ̶̡̜͑Į̷͛̉ ̷̛̻Ẃ̵̠̟I̵̧͐͘L̴͇̽͌L̶̘̞͂ ̷̖̾͗U̸͎̙͆̈́S̶͉̩̽E̶̼͋ ̸͙͉͂̋I̷̠͒̽T̵̄͂͜ ̸̲̓̀T̶̖̍ͅO̸̢̚ ̴̣̎R̴̨̤͝A̴̼̿̕I̴̖̓N̸͈̯̽ ̷̲̇̓H̷̢̰̊E̸͕͗͛L̶̞͓̂L̶͎̣̎̄ ̸̘̏̀O̴̬̹̿N̸̦̗̅ ̵͛̚ͅC̸͖̀È̷̲͇͠L̷̤̈́Ė̸͕S̵̨̆T̷̗̅̓I̸̺̮̾͒A̸̜͋ ̸͎̙̀F̷̬͓̎Ö̸͎̩R̴͇͝ ̷̗̩́W̶̨̪͑̋Ĥ̵̘A̸̢̙͛T̷͖̈́̾ ̴͓̔S̷͈̒H̷̢̫̄͊E̷͉̐́ ̶̬͑͜H̴̼̘̃̾A̸̯̺͋̍S̷̯̦̓͝ ̵̩͎̐T̴̙̓A̸̖̺̾͝K̴̲͐̕E̴̬͔͊̅N̴̯̩̄ ̷͈̐͂F̴̛͙̑ͅR̶̲̈́O̸̖̦̽͝M̵̞̄ ̴̗̭́M̸̪̳̃Ḙ̴͗̅!̶̛͚̈́!̶̼́͌!̶̗̈́!̸͙̈́" I roared angrily at his face, only barely keeping myself from crushing the stallion's spine in my grasp. As this happened, he struggled in vain to free himself from my grip, gagging as if he needed air. I let him go once my rant was over and glared at him with woefully contained anger. He then looked up at me as the two red spheres of flame turned into a pale yellow and shrunk to the size of pinpricks. "D̷̬̜̍̕o̸̡̪͗̇ę̵̛̟́s̸̢̩̈͝ ̴̢̻̊ă̷͖̼n̷̹̼̎̂ỳ̸̠͝ȯ̸̠͈n̵̛͇̮͠e̵̮̱͑ ̵̼͂͝ẹ̸̡͆l̸͍̠͆s̸͇̈́̊e̸̩͐ ̸̫́͠h̴͕͝a̷̗͙̋v̶̳̏̕e̴̖͈̔ ̶͕̯̃à̶̻ņ̸̥́̈́y̴̺̲͐t̸̢̅h̷̟̀ī̵̞̞ṅ̸͈͠g̶̡͚̉̿ ̵̥̀t̷̬͎̍̎ḣ̶̙̠ȩ̴͎̀y̶̦̐͌ ̵̣̬̏̀w̷̲͎͛a̴̢̙̋͝n̸͖͘t̸̢̰̄̾ ̷̳̩̋t̵̜͈̐́o̶͎̼͑ ̶̡̘̋͘c̵̜͒ò̴̼̰ň̵͎t̸̹́̆r̸̰̕i̴̺̘̎b̴͔̥̌̈u̸̳̿t̷͍͋ė̴̤!̴͇̽̂?̴̗̈́̾" I asked with as much malice as I could use without screaming. Fortunately, they got the message and stayed quiet. Straightening myself, I looked over at the door and decided to put my anger to good use. Within seconds, my chest was primed and glowed an evil red as I unleashed a stream of hellfire onto the doors. A magical barrier that had remained invisible till now, began to unravel as my files laid waste to it. After a minute and a half, the wards keeping me from my prize broke down and that doors were now free for me to open. Without wasting time, I made a beeline for the door and tried to open it. The doors had simple lock, but me being impatient led to me ramming the doors open. As the twin gates flung open, dust within the room that had been untouched for centuries scattered with the sudden gust of wind. Upon opening the door, I felt as if I was standing naked in a freezing tundra. Stepping inside I saw various stands and racks along with the odd pedestal, all of which were barren and empty; save for one pedestal in the far back. I immediately recognized the statue, and I felt an odd tingly feeling all around my skin as I drew closer to the horrified visage of a masked human. Remembering the letter I had received from the self proclaimed Spirit of Chaos, I took out the letter from my bag and read it over again. Turning the page, I immediately recognized the abyssal glyphs in the back and read aloud the inscription. "Channel your magic into the statue and say these words..." Looking up at Saros, then back down at the letter, I hesitated if only for a moment to raise my hand towards the human prisoner and uttered the spell while imbuing it with a gentle stream of magic. "Sicut cortex mali mortuus lignum... ex lapis, eris liberos..." At first, nothing happened, but just as I thought that I had failed to cast the spell correctly, small cracks began to spread from his face and spiderweb their way through his body. Stone began to chip off of him as a low electric humming resounded, only stopping once the last of the pieces of stone fell off of his form. Having remained motionless the entire time, he then went limo and fell forward. I caught him and tossed his relatively light form over my shoulder once I realized he was unconscious. "Alright everyone, head back to the library and prepare a suitable bed for our guest." I ordered, turning around to look at my small entourage. They all nodded hesitantly, save for Avalon and the mare besides him. As my skeletons left, I turned to Avalon, who was looking at me with what I knew to be concern. Saying nothing, I gave him the letter I had received while bathing and began to walk away. "I will be in the library should you need of me." I explained, leaving the two to read the parchment. I retraced my steps and found the library rather quickly. Stepping inside, I saw my undead finishing up on cleaning the area around the tree trunk, and a sight that warmed my heart enveloped in a dark hatred for Celestia. Anvari was playing with the manticore like that of an oversized cat. Using a prestidigitation spell to create a small ball of intangible green light, which the manticore then tried to catch in it's paws. Despite her child like demeanor, she's comedically intelligent, and has the tact of mind to not have the large beast ram into any of the towering bookshelves and destroy everything. I walked inside and placed the unconscious human on my "bed". I was tempted to remove his mask, but thought better of it and let him sleep. Taking a deep breath to clear my head, which was developing a steadily worsening headache, I walked over to a mound of the discarded books to badly damaged for use and sat down on it. I shut my eyes and decided to simply sit and do nothing for a bit, only for that plan to be obstructed by Avalon coming in, parchment in hand, with the mare from before by his side. He immediately saw me and rushed towards a burlap sack I hadn't noticed up until now, propped up on a table. He pulled out two apples from it and came towards me. "Sir, please take this and eat." He handed me the apples. I shuffled to the side, and understanding, Avalon came up and sat besides me. I ate quietly as a few moments of silent tranquility filled the air. That is of course, until Avalon spoke up. "Sir?.." He asked hesitantly, turning to look at me. I didn't say anything, I just looked at him and let him see the bags under my eyes. The undead don't bare any facial features that can give away how they feel, save for their eyes. And Avalon, though a little too eager to serve, always means well. "Azazel, I'm here for you if you need me, but you need to tell me what's going on. I can't help if I don't know." He asked, his normally stern and imposing voice now taking a concerned tone. This line of conversation normally goes down a spiral of nonsensical arguing about my double standards for him reading my mind. Recognizing the stupidity I am capable of sometimes made a small smile graze my lips and a hollow chuckle escape my lips. "Normally we would argue about you being allowed to peer inside my mind... but I don't feel like fighting..." I stated dejectly. "I don't want to fight you Azazel. I just don't want you to do something wreckless and get yourself killed." Avalon explained putting a hand on my shoulder. I let out a sigh of resignation and shut my eyes as I mentally braced myself for a long explanation. "Do you see that man, on the tree trunk?" I asked Avalon. I heard the bones of his spine rotate towards where Saros lay asleep, then back at me. "I do, sir." He affirmed. "Then let me tell you a story..." ///////Several hours later in Ponyville/////// The element bearers, Princess Luna, and Spike were sitting around in the Crystal Castle's library after being teleported there by Discord. The tired looking God of Chaos and Master of Anarchy had been informing the elements of everything that had happened in Canterlot Castle and what he had been doing for the last few days. "So what yah tellin' us is that Princess Celestia has turned into a... Dark Alicorn was it?" Applejack asked Discord with confusion lacing her voice. "Yes... Much like what happened to us..." Luna spoke for the first time in the long while she had spent in the library, in a quieted whisper that almost went unnoticed. Everypony then looked to her, and a sorrowful silence fell on the room. After a bit Discord spoke up again. "I would agree with you were it not for something I noticed when she transformed. Which is why I wanted to talk to you all here, away from Celestia and any pony that might side with her simply because she is Celestia." He stated, rubbing the space between of his eyes with his paw while squirming deeper into the large couch he manifested onto a vertical wall with him upside down. His statement caused everypony to look at him, including Luna, prompting him to continue. "When dear old Celestia decided it would be fun to become a firecracker and get her make over, I saw something inside her... something I've never seen before." He stated while getting off of the couch and hovering down to ground level, the couch disappearing with a magical poof. Discord looked over to Luna then over to Twilight. "Pop quiz Twilight. Why are mind controlling spells part of what Equestria considers part of the dark arts?" He asked, attempting to lighten the mood. Twilight, being oblivious to this, immediately perked up looked at him; read to answer his question. "Spells such as the Indominus curse are considered part of the dark arts because they are a negation of a pony's free will. They allow the caster to control a pony's actions against their will while the victim is forced to simply watch helplessly as they act without autonomy." She explained. "Correct, and I initially thought that was the case for Celestia's strange behavior recently. However, after what happened today I'm afraid it's something much worse." Discord replied, which was then followed by a long groan of frustration to come from Rainbow Dash, who had been hovering near Fluttershy. "Can you please just tell us what it is!? The suspense is killing me!" She complained with worry in her voice. Discord shut his eyes and took a deep breath before answering her. "I'm not very well versed when it comes to what necromancy has to offer, but I am aware that it encompasses the manipulation of souls. My chaos magic allows me to percieve the movements of spirits and souls among other things. However, I can't directly interact with said things unless I mess with how reality works." He started. Only for Rainbow Dash to chime in. "But isn't that, like, your thing?" She asked unimpressed with where the conversation was going. Discord simply looked at her and deadpanned. "It is, and unless you want me to make your mouth disappear you'll cut it out with your snarky remarks." He threatened in a very calm, yet stern manner. Rainbow Dash winced at this and gave him a nervous chuckle while looking away. "Anyway, the way that I use my chaos magic is very minimalistic. Like shifting gravity and transmutating air into say, I don't know, a piggy bank?-" He began again, hovering in the air for a moment then dropping back down, and spontaneously creating a living piggy back into his claw. The living piggy bank oinked for a bit before Discord popped it like a balloon and out of existence with the talons of his lion paw. "However, it becomes harder to mess with reality as you know it when the things that I want to mess with exist in an entirely separate plane of reality. With all of this in mind, I saw something latching onto Celestia's soul. It was... similar to Azazel but in terms of magical resonance, but whatever is clinging to Celestia is much more concentrated and is made almost entirely of the same strange magic that makes up his soul. Not only that, it's incredibly powerful, which shouldn't be possible, even with Azazel's ridiculous mana pool." He explained, causing Fluttershy to gulp as she visualized Azazel devouring her animals. "How powerful is he really?" Twilight asked. Discord began stroking his goatee with a pensive expression on his face. "Well... If he was a pony he would have a mana pool on the same level of not slightly more charged than Starlight. Everypony stayed quiet for a while until Luna spoke up. "Azazel... did he do this to my sister?" She asked, a hateful wrath beginning to seep into her voice and distort her face from a tired sulleness to a vengeful grimace. Her breathing had become heavy and seemed to be growing angrier by the second. Twilight and the girls immediately backed away from her, and Spike, picking up on the tense atmosphere decided it to be prudent to make himself scarce. "I'm gonna go get Starlight." He said, before bolting it out of the room. "While your anger at the situation is completely justified, I don't believe he's the one responsible for Cely's current predicament." He proposed, teleporting to her side and placing a claw on her shoulder. She looked into his eyes, letting him know he could continue. "Do you remember what we talked about before we confronted Celestia?" She nodded. As he spoke, an translucent chain and padlock of a golden magic began to materialize around Discord's mid section; making everypony's eyes widen. "You told us that there was something that you needed to tell us, but couldn't because our sister made you swear yourself into secrecy in exchange for your freedom and promise that you'd genuinely try to take a step towards learning the magic of Friendship." Luna reasoned, causing Discord to nod. "I can't tell you directly because the spell would cause me to experience ridiculous amounts of pain that I have no intention of enduring." He began, standing up and gingerly walking over to where everypony could see him. "However, I think I may have a way of getting the message across without potentially ripping myself in two." He finished, as he gave his explanation another Discord stood in the girls midst clapping and cheering while wearing a cheerleaders outfits. It wasn't until Discord said what would happen should he say whatever it was he wanted to say, that Twilight's eyes widened and her mouth was left hanging. Yet again she had witnessed something she never thought her mentor was capable.The other Discord pushed her jaw shut with a claw with a knowing smile on his face. "And how exactly do you plan on doing that darling?" Rarity asked. Discord chuckled as his double seemingly vanished as he took out his eye balls and began to juggle them. "Well, the spell only prevents me from saying a certain word and the location of said word. However, I'm not restrained to describe what he is doing, or his current state of being." Discord explained, throwing his eyeballs into the air and bending to catch them in his eye sockets. Blinking a few times, he returned to his more relaxed stance while upright. "Him?" Asked Fluttershy meekly. As she said this, Discord opened his mouth to answer on reflex, only for the chains around Discord's abdomen to coil themselves even tighter than before and hum with a dull whining sound. He immediately shut his mouth and the chains returned to their original tautness. "I'm in hot water as it is, so I cannot say his name. My magic, although quite powerful, but it has its limits. I can't dispell this stupid padlock and it will change accordingly to fit my body should I wish to shapeshift. Only when Luna figures out who I will be hinting at, will I be freed from Celestia's spell of secrecy." He explained sullenly towards Fluttershy. Pinkie Pie gasped with eyes that spoke of her boundless joy and excitement. "I love charades!" She cheered happily. Save for Pinkie, everypony's eyes locked onto Luna as she nodded in agreement. Discord then took a deep breath and raised his right paw. Snapping his digits, he was then draped in a ragged black hooded cloak. "And there's your first clue." He explained with a forced smile, the golden chain links clattering together as they tightened their grip around Discord. Everypony stayed silent, looking amongst each other; save for Princess Luna. She was ogling him with a perplexed look; Discord trying his best to look as calmly as he could while the anxiety the chains ravaged him. "Forgive us, but we do not know who that cloak belongs to." She apologized. "Then another clue might help." He said, raising his claw again. He took a deep breath before snapping his fingers once more. In a magical poof, a navy blue shirt materialized onto Discord's body and under his cloak, seemingly fazing through his chains. When Luna laid eyes on the shirt, she squinted her eyes, looking him over. As this happened, the chains groaned and clattered together as they wrapped tighter against his form. Fluttershy looked more and more concerned for Discord as she could see through his bravado the panic he was feeling. Twilight picked up on this, and looked towards Luna. The diarch of the night's face went from confusion, to a terrified realization when she saw the shirt. As tears began to well in Luna's eyes, Twilight looked back over to Discord, and had just noticed the black crescent moon design just bellow the golden padlock. "Discord... you don't mean..." She began through a cracked voice that indicated she was on the verge of tears. As she asked, the chains around Discord's body tightened even more, and were now heating up to a painful degree. He shut his eyes and scrunged up his face to keep himself from shouting or spouting some form of profanity. When the initial shock became bearable, he nodded hurriedly. As Discord nodded vehemently, the chain around his body began constricting his breathing and was painfully crushing his chest. "His name! Say his name!" He pleaded, desperately pulling at the chain and padlock. Luna's tears began to flow freely as she uttered the name of the she believed to have died. "Saros Cycle..." She said quietly. Discord who had fallen over and was struggling to breathe, was more than relieved to discover that once Luna spoke, the padlock shattered and vanished. The mane 6 had gathered around him and gotten extraordinarily worried, Fluttershy chief among them. She wrapped him in her hooves in a living embrace that would put mister bear's strength to shame. Once Discord was allowed to breathe, he hugged her back and the group enjoy the tender moment for the moment that it lasted. As everypony now held smiles for Discord's renewed well-being, it was quickly made null and void when a sniffling sound came from behind them. Luna was looking at the still clothed Discord with tears running down her face. "Discord, please... don't tell us Tia has lied to us... tell us this is all a cruel joke... please we are begging you..." She pleaded, barely keeping what little composure she had left. Discord broke the hug between him and Fluttershy and walked over to Luna. Sitting by her side, he placed his paw over her shoulder. "I'm sorry Luna... I would've told you sooner, but if I had opened my mouth, your sister would have ended me to keep you from the truth." Discord's gentle voice made Luna breakdown and wrap her hooves around the chaotic draconequus. Not wanting to deny her need for something to hold onto, he picked her up and let her cry into his shoulder. The two remained like this for a long while until Twilight spoke up. "None of this makes any sense! Celestia would never want to cause any of this! Even before Azazel came here to Equestria she would never do something so cruel! And who is Saros Cycle?" Twilight argued, disbelief filing her voice and curiosity driving her question. Discord raised looked over at Twilight with a look that caught her off guard: pity. "The Celestia you know is a very different mare from who she was a millennia ago..." He began, sadness dripping from his every word. "Celestia has had to endure and cause a lot of pain and suffering to get to where she is now. Facing monsters, losing loved ones, entire cities demolished and torn to shreds to ensure the age of relative peace in which you live." He continued. As Discord spoke, the girls huddled around him to listen more closely. "To answer your question Twilight, Saros Cycle is Luna's adopted son." Everypony's eyes, including the pink menace herself, went wide at the revelation. Luna's outburst of tears suddenly made sense. "Hold on just one second. There's somethin' I don't understand. What did Princess Celestia lie to Princess Luna 'bout?" Applejack asked, causing Discord to check on Luna. She was still holding onto him, but she had fallen asleep. As if on cue, another Discord walked into the room and tapped the shoulder of the former Discord. They exchanged a knowing look before the doppleganger spoke up. "I'll keep you covered here, go get Luna Twilight's bed so she can rest." He offered in a hushed tone. The original Discord nodded and made his way out towards the master bedroom. The doppleganger sat down and smiled sheepishly before his expression changed to that of somepony remembering something they had forgotten. "Oh I almost forgot to ask you Twilight. Is it alright if I lay Luna down on your bed while she's having a heart to heart with Saros?" He asked, happily. "Of course." She deadpanned with a small roll of her eyes. Just as Twilight said this, Spike and Starlight came into the room. The pair were invited over with a series of waves from Pinkie Pie. "I managed to get Mia to calm down, but she won't leave Trephor's side." Starlight explained, sitting next to Twilight. Spike went around the girls and sat next to Twilight, resting his head on her shoulder. "I use to think that skeletons were really scary, now I just feel bad for her. Whatever happened in Canterlot has her friend in a really rough shape." He mused. Twilight picked up on it and held Spike close in an almost maternal show of affection. Discord smiled, content that the third hardest part of this whole ordeal was behind him. "Alright, now that we're all here I'd like to make the disclaimer that this isn't a very happy story, but it will give you insight as to what really happened in Equestria's past. ///////////Meanwhile in the Castle of the two sisters deep in the Everfree////////////// The son of the Grey God of Death sat with onyx skeleton, having just finished a retelling of his most recent dream. "How do you know if he can be trusted?" Avalon asked, looking over to the unconscious human. Azazel looked over to his bag, which lay on a table with some books pertaining to Equestrian magic and smiled. "I will interrogate him when he rouses from his slumber. You see, it seems he has remained in the same weakened state he was when Celestia imprisoned him." The half-blood necromancer explained as he rose from his seated position. His heavy footsteps reverberated around the library as he walked over to his belongings. He opened the bag on the table and pulled out the necronomicon left by his parents. He set the book on the table and continued to search the bag. "Sir, I feel like I should inform you that what is left of your gauntlet was placed in the bag." Avalon commented, and right on cue, Azazel found it. He pulled out the relatively clean gauntlet and looked it over. The metallic plating was warped and stunk of holy fire to the demon's sensitive nose. Taking a deep breath, he unleashed a small plume of hellfire from his mouth and used it to heat up the metal. Bending the metal back into place, the now blackened gauntlet lay enveloped in smoke on the table on the opposite side of the bag. He then closed the satchel and took the book and gauntlet, walking towards the slumbering human. "I'm not so foolish to think that there is not a possibility he would betray me. And as such I have a counter to any form treasonous behavior." Azazel explained with the tome in hand. Avalon moved towards his master as the book was suspended in the air by a telekinetic spell. The book opened and pages fluttered by until finally settling on a page towards the middle. Written the language of demons, Avalon found it impossible to read the abyssal text. "Master? What is this?" The onyx skeleton asked. "Indominus Kor' Meum. It is a variation of my mother's mind control spell." The demon explained with a confident smirk on his face as he pointed towards a drawing of his sigil. "What does it do, exactly?" Avalon asked. "Although it does not grant me the ability to dominate their will completely, I can force the victim to perform or abstain from any action I desire without robbing them of their conscious thoughts and actions. The name of the person casting the spell must be carved into a control point, then it must be infused with Argent energy while I say the spell's name and focus on the target. Once that is done, the name of the caster will appear over the victims heart as a permanent scar that can only be removed if the control point is destroyed or the spell is uttered backwards by the caster." Azazel disclosed, the tome floating to his side and promptly closing once in his free hand. "I see. What about the God of Chaos who sent you the letter?" Avalon asked. "Once Saros is at full strength, we will have the strength to challenge him and win." Azazel clarified. "And the Elements?..." The ashen undead countered, fearing that his master wouldn't have a plan for the heroes of Equestria. "They are bound to the bearers, without one of the bearers, the set becomes useless. We have nothing to fear." The young demon stated, confident that his plan would work. Seeing that his master, much like his father before him, was one step ahead! Avalon let out a sigh of relief before speaking up one last time. "Is there anything I can help you with then?" He offered. "Find something sharp and hard for me to use as a chisel." Azazel ordered. With a nod, Avalon left to find the requested item, leaving Azazel to look over at the human lying out cold on his impromptu bed by himself. Seeing the slumbering human made him question what he was doing, but the doubt in his mind was soon drowned under the memory of what had happened to the human and his friends. He would not let another one of his caretakers be destroyed, and with a will stronger than steel, his mind was made and his heart was set. > Chap. 14 The Prodigal Son pt.1 > -------------------------------------------------------------------------- ////////Azazel///////// I had just finished etching my sigil over the plate of my gauntlet's hand with what remained of an old and rusted spear head when Avalon came back with what smelled to be food. "I found a rabbit's den a small ways away from the castle. It took me a bit to get them out, and a lot longer to skin them just how you like them, but I was able to make it happen with what we had." Avalon explained, his voice coming from behind me. I turned around from the table I had been working on to look at the onyx skeleton standing behind me with eyes that shimmered with red and green wisps of helfire. He was holding a large plate with rabbit meat and sliced apples and what seemed to be a glass of... HE EVEN GOT ME A GLASS OF BLOOD! "Avalon, you are a godsend." I acknowledged with a smile gracing my lips, but it faded away as soon as I took the dishes. Avalon noticed my change in mood and placed a hand on my shoulder. "Sir?.." He asked in a gentle and concerned tone. I took a deep breath and looked him in the eye. "I will eat when Saros is secured under my control. I feel uneasy having him unrestrained. We should place him under the spell now while he is unconscious." I explained, setting the dishes on the table. Avalon tilted his head before speaking. "But sir... He's unconscious, and you said he was weakened. Why are you uneasy?" Avalon calmly contested. "I did say that, but while he may not have the power he once had in the real world, his telepathic abilities have me concerned." I began with a sigh escaping through my nostrils. I took the gauntlet from the table and put it on my right arm, securing the straps on my forearm as I continued to talk. "I do not know the full extent of his power, but if he can reach Princess Luna through the dreamscape; any hope of me freeing Celestia's disgusting head from her miserable shoulders will vanish along with any chance of us surviving." I finished, securing the straps and looking over the roughly etched rune that read "Sacrifice" or "Ah-zay-zel" in abyssal. Content with the result, I began to make the small walk towards the slumbering human with Avalon and a hovering necronomicon close behind. I stood by Saros and looked him over. I took in every detail on his body and soul and braced myself mentally for the spell I was about to perform. I turned to Avalon, who stood by my right before I gave him his task. "Keep him from waking up, the spell will cause him pain and I need to be completely focused on what I'm doing." I ordered, gaining a nod from Avalon. My most loyal knelt down over Saros and placed his skeletal hands on Saros' temples. Avalon's eyes became red lines no thicker than a strand of hair as his eyes "shut" to focus. Seeing this as my cue to begin, I waved my hand before the tome of spells gifted to me by my parents, causing it to opened. The pages flipped and fluttered until stopping over the spell that dominates the heart of it's victims. At the foot of the page, I noticed my mother's written signature at the bottom. The sight of her sigil strengthened my resolve and my eyes narrowed as I turned to look at Saros. I could see his eyes were shut through the eye holes in his mask, and out of the corner of my eye, I saw Avalon's closed eyes turn yellow. That's not good... "Sir, there's a foreign presence in his mind. It doesn't seem malignant, but I can't separate it from Saros' mind!" Avalon exclaimed, his voice strained. My eyes went wide at the implication Avalon was making, and one name rushed to the forefront of my mind. "Luna... How long has she been in his head!?" I asked, heavy amounts of trepidation dripped from my every word. "She appeared just now, sir. Whatever you're going to do, you need to do it now while I distract her!" Avalon warned. I took a shaky breath before outstretching my right hand and placing it over Saros' heart. I shut my eyes and began channeling magic first into the gauntlet. My mother made the spell to ensnare mortals and seduce them into doing what she wanted. It was her Magnum Opus, the flagship of her demonic arsenal. A spell that robbed the victim of his or her ability to act of their own volition, while retaining full consciousness. Making them a prisoner in their own body. I would not fail to cast it on my first attempt, I couldn't. The price of failure would mean the destruction of what little I had left. I would not lose Avalon or Anvari, I SWEAR IT!!! "Indominus..." I began the first half of the spell, and it began it's brutal manifestation. My mother was known by many names, the right hand of Mephistopheles, the demon with a thousand faces, and more relevant to the spell I was casting, The blood queen of hell. My mother was the inventor of blood magics, and by the time she met my father, she was like a goddess in her own right. Because of the spell's nature, I kept the majority of the way it would manifest from Avalon to keep from him from worrying. Fortunately, he was too focused on whatever he was doing in Saros' mind to see that I had made a deep cut in my bicep by tearing at the scale covered flesh with my left hand. My blood flowed from the wound, and upon uttering the spell, the deep red liquid rapidly snaked it's way over my forearm and onto the plate where my name had been engraved. My eyes rolled to the back of my head as I was linked to the gauntlet. "...'Kor..." I uttered the second word of the spell, and the rune was then filled by my blood, which boiled and sizzled as it was fused with the metal. Regaining control of my eyes, I looked down at the now glowing rune that burned with the same crimson hue of my aura. I shut my eyes and uttered the final word through gritted teeth. "...Meum!" The area where my hand met Saros' shirt felt hot, and I could hear Saros' grunting and breathing heavily as the final phase of the spell took hold. My name was being carved into his flesh by tendrils of boiling blood, leaving him marked as mine to control. All I had to do was overpower his will long enough for the spell to literally take root in his heart. Once his body was under my control, I would be one step closer to not only avenging the deaths of my friends; but I would also be one step closer to ending the one who would sooner have me killed than to live by her own code of "Harmony." ///////////The dreamscape///////////// Luna had forced herself asleep to enter the dream realm. She was a mare fueled by the fire of maternal love to protect her foal. In the void of the dreamscape, very few ponies were asleep at noon, making the task of finding the mind of her target a lot easier than it would be otherwise. Eons before Celestia had lied to her sister and declared her adopted son dead, Luna had come to learn by heart her son's magical resonance born from their bond. It was this magical resonance that allowed Luna to find her son's mind. As she hovered towards an orb of light larger than the rest, scattered about like distant stars, she peered into the dreams of the human child that she saved so many centuries ago. Saros was in what seemed to be the side of a large mountain overlooking a vast expanse of dark green pastures with odd trees dotting the landscape. Her boy was chained and suspended in the air with black chains that brandished small cracks and crevices that expelled a dark red mucilage she was somewhat familiar with. Saros' restrains were tethered to two large pillars of ancient marble, covered in dirt and moss. Luna's resolve granted her the ability to act, letting her fear dissolve and transform into a stoic determination that manifestef in her face. She angled her horn and with it's tip, tapped the orb, which then expanded outward with lightning fast speed, a flash of light, and a low magical hum. Once she was inside the mind of her son, she looked up at him. Concern for the human overwhelmed Luna and she flew up to him and examined him more closely. The human did not have his mask, exposing his tired and wounded face. The same wounds he obtained the day she thought she had lost him forever. His cloak and shirt were ripped to shreds and the chains that coiled around his arms like a snake were releasing a dark and viscous liquid that was snaking its way towards Saros' chest. Luna tried to extend a hoof towards his chest, but was quickly stopped by a translucent red barrier that kept her hoof away. When her hoof tapped the shield, it let out a sound similar to striking a metal cauldron. The sound caused the human to jerk and weakly raise his head. "M-mother?.." He asked, his breathing strained and shaking. "Saros! Are you alright?!" Luna asked, her hooves pressed against the unseen barrier. The human looked at his restraints and began to struggle, doing his best to see if his bonds were in anyway slack. The only sound heard was the wind blowing by for the brief moment Saros struggled with his restraints. Then, as the wind suddenly stopped and the clear azure sky that gave color to the land bellow it was obscured by grey thunder clouds. Luna was too focused on her son to see that a large bipedal figure was standing a small distance away. "Fear not Saros, my master does not wish to kill you. But those chains must stay on for the time being." A baritone male spoke from behind Luna. As Saros stopped struggling, the mistress of the night turned to see who was speaking to her boy. A small distance away, stood a tall male human much like Saros. Unlike Saros' milk chocolate coloured skin, this human had pale, creamy flesh and had freckles all over his face. He had a well maintained short box beard of an orange color. His hair was short and of the same color as his facial hair. He was wearing loose trousers that covered his thick, and muscular legs. He had a dirty under shirt and a chestplate that seemed battle worn. In his right hand he held a spear made completely of a dull black metal. The spear head seemed to be split down the middle, and from the two beam, a helix that sharpened into a fused blade that adorned the strange weapon. His spear was aimed at the ground, and although he did not seem hostile, his stance indicated he was tense. "Please step away from him your majesty, there is no need for violence." The man ordered with a calm and collected, yet firm tone. "What are you doing to him!?" Luna asked, worry and anger lacing her voice. "Azazel is ensuring he doesn't try anything once he is awake. Be at peace Princess, your son is not in danger." The man explained, the blunt end of his metallic weapon hitting the ground as he switch his grasp to hold it like a walking staff. "Yet..." She seethed, mistrust in her voice. The man's red eyes burned with indignation as he drew closer to the mistress of the night. "Not once have any of us lied to you. Why start now?" He challenged, before taking a breath to steady himself. "Princess, I swear to you that I speak true. All my master wants, is to be left alone." The man stated. Luna's grimace softened, and she turned to look at her son. The human seemed relatively unharmed, save for a few cuts around his arms and the obvious black liquid flowing from the chain, over his arms, and under his shirt towards his neck. Saros seemed frightened and out of breath, but otherwise untouched. Luna turned back towards the imposing human, and slowly descended to ground level; never taking her eyes off of him. "Avalon, we presume?" She asked in a calm, yet stern manner. Avalon's stern gaze softened as he visibly relaxed. He gave her a warm smile and a small bow, leaning heavily on his spear. "At your behest Princess." The action seemed to make Luna's nerves die down enough to relax herself. There was an odd silence between the two of us that endured for about a minute before Saros spoke up. "Our chest... It hurts to breathe..." He stated, only now we're his small grunts being picked by his mother's and his "captor's" ears. Both Avalon and Luna looked up at the bound human with indifference and concern respectively. "The pain won't last for much longer, don't resist the spell and let it take hold." Avalon calmly ordered. This gained a look of shock and fright from Luna. "What is Azazel doing him!? Make him stop!" She demanded, the anger that had been quenched a few moments ago was rekindled by the now living Avalon's command. Avalon barely flinched, simply turning to look at her with a face that screamed, "please stop looking at me like that, You scare me." "As I mentioned before, Azazel is making sure Saros won't try anything once he is awake. Your son will be left unharmed by the end of this, but I cannot interfere with my master's spell casting." Avalon reassured Luna, who was fixated the now panicking stormcaller. He was hyperventilating and struggling against his chains. "Wh-... Wha-.. I can't... breathe..." He managed to say between panicked breaths. Luna was now terrified for her son. While the sight of him desperately trying to wriggle out of the chains around his arms was enough to frighten Luna, what truly worried her was the look on Saros' face. His normally muddy brown skin had become pale and dull, and he was sweating profusely. "Saros!" Luna exclaimed as her wings flexed outwards and she began moving towards him. Avalon looked at the display and quickly noticed that the pillar was starting to sprout new chain links up and down it's length. Getting a vague idea of what was about to happen, Avalon's stoic expression turned to one of concern for the young human. "Saros! You need to relax and stop fighting Azazel! If you keep resisting it will only hurt more!" Avalon shouted at a delirious Saros. The chains that had sprouted from the pillar shot out and wrapped themselves around Saros' legs and torso respectively. Like snakes, they coiled themselves around his form and constricted him further. While her maternal instinct sending a flood of adrenaline through her whole body, Luna fired a volley of magical bolts of azure magic at her son's restraints. The bolts hit their mark and four of the seven chains that were strangling Saros fell off of his body in a broken and smoldering mess of black chain links. The clouds around us began to rumble with the sound of distant thunder as more chains sprouted from the pillars and the surrounding ground. Luna began to open fire on the growing chains, but for every one she would destroy, two more would rise in its place. Avalon sprinted over to Luna and harshly turned her around. "LUNA STOP!" Avalon shouted as he tried to keep her from getting a clear shot at Saros' restraints. Luna kicked and struggled against the human as he grabbed her by her barrel, wrapping his arms around her waist and keeping his chest firmly placed against her back, pinning her wings. "NOOO!!! SAROOOOS!!!" She screamed in terror, struggling to free herself from Avalon's fierce grip. Just as Saros was completely cocooned in a thick mass of onyx metal and dripping black goo, his eyes shined like stars and the clouds in the sky above began to surge and rumble with power. In a violent blast of ionic power, lightning came down from the sky and struck the cocoon of chains with sustained arcs of teal lightning. The metal shell exploded to reveal Saros floating in the air, his body glowing and shining with ethereal lightning, giving him the appearance of a thunder god. His shirt vaporized and his upper half now exposed to the elements. His odd sandals were gone, and bolts of electrical magic arched down to the floor bellow him. His snow white hair waved about in the wind that blew across the mountainside they were all on. As lightning struck around the mountain, shattering stone and ionizing the air, Saros levitated toward the now terrified Avalon. Luna could only watch in awe as her son showed the true power he had been bestowed by Discord, the power of an angered sorcerer. "Let. Her. Go." Saros ordered in a stern and imposing voice that rumbled like thunder. Avalon, now finding himself utterly mortified, braced himself for the wrath of the human turned thunder god; for he knew that his compliance would be his master's damnation. Saros extended an open hand with his palm forward and began to charge his magic. Just as Avalon thought he would either die or endure an obscene amount of pain from Saros, a massive vortex of hellfire erupted from where the pillars once stood. The swirling mass of black and red miasma roiled and churned with a malevolent roar that caused everyone to stop what they were doing and look in it's direction. It finally stopped spinning and opened like a parody of a blossoming flower, sprouting inverted wings of demonic proportions. The silouhette of darkness formed Azazel's body with his wings outstretched. The only other distinguishing feature on the apparition's shadowy form was it's eyes, snow white orbs that were lit ablaze with the crimson fires of hell itself. Saros immediately redirected his outstretched hand and fired a deafening lightning bolt on the horned menace hovering a few feet off the ground. The demon outstretched it's hand and caught the bolt, reducing it to a blue orb that hovered harmlessly over his hand before being crushed in it's fist. Saros was taken aback by this, but did not waste time in charging up another volley of magic in both his arms. "I AGREED TO HELP YOU, DEMON! NOT TO BE YOUR SLAVE!" Saros shouted, firing even more concentrated discharges of thunder magic. Avalon, who had been watching the spectacle from a distance with Luna in his arms, set the lunar princess on the ground. They watched in awe and horror respectively as the two beings clashed for control over Saros' soul. Azazel outstretched his hands and caught the bolts of magic as they were being drawn to two spheres of darkness that hovered over his palms. "Your will is strong..." Azazel commented, his voice indicating that the act of challenging Saros' elemental might head on was placing a strain on him. "...but you..." He grunted, as his flaming aura grew in size, and the air around the group grew warmer and warmer. ".̸.̵.̷W̸I̵L̸L̶ ̵N̴O̸T̶ ̵B̸E̷ ̸T̶H̷E̴ ̵E̴N̶D̵ ̷O̵F̴ ̵M̷E̴!̷!̶!̸" Azazel roared, as he unleashed a powerful shockwave that forced Saros to break his concentration. This window was what Azazel needed to be shot forward in a blast of wind, tackling his opponent. The two flew out and over the clearing in the large expanse surrounding the mountain they were on. "SAROOOS!!!" Luna shouted as she spread her wings and leapt into the air with a running start, leaving Avalon to simply watch the madness unfold from a distance. She flew in their general direction, but they had seemingly vanished from sight. The lunar diarch looked around for her son and was surprised by the sound of a thunderclap a small distance above her. Looking up, even the magically enhanced eyes of an Alicorn could not keep up with the blurs of red and blue as they collided with each other at breakneck speeds before disappearing and reappearing a short distance away. The sounds of strikes and impacts of ludicrous strength and speed could be heard all for miles within the mind of the stormcaller as he and the demon fought. Punches, kicks, blasts of hellfire and lightning respectively were the weapons these two beings used against each other with speed and precision that could only be achieved within dreams. As the duel continued, rain began to fall, and despite Luna wanting to stay in the air, she was aware that Saros' mind was prone to creating hyper realistic constructs. If she was too high up and her wings got wet, she would fall to her death. She flew back down and landed in a patch of moist grass, never taking her eyes off of the general area where her son and the demon that had perplexed her, in a duel that would determine the fates of not just themselves, but potentially... all of Equestria. The skirmish dragged on for ten more minutes, neither side being able to land a decisive blow to the other. That is, until the two exchanged a blow that knocked both Saros and Azazel apart. The two orbs of light, cyan and crimson hovered in the rain filled sky several hundred meters away from each other. They had both expended a lot of power in their duel, and exhaustion was beginning to take a toll on both of them. As lightning crashed down in the distance, the two warriors centered themselves, and with a warcry from both sides, they charged towards each other with every last ounce of power they had. A bolt of blue cut through droplets of water at breakneck speeds towards an unstoppable meteor of black and red fury. For the briefest second, just before the moment of impact, there was silence; and that silence was then replaced by the deafening roar of winds that put hurricanes to shame. Luna and Avalon, who had been watching the skirmish, stood frozen and unfazed by a blast of air so powerful that pushed all the water droplets over a mile away. At the point of collision, a sphere the size of a modest house of smoke and lightning remained, obscuring the end result of the collision. Luna, who was now shedding tears born from fear and impotence, shuddered with every deafening second there was no sound other than the wind in the distance rushing back from where it was pulled from. Then, something fell through the dense cloud of ash and crashed down with a sickening crunch. The figure was obscured by smoke, but the revelation of who had lost came as the victor emerged from the sky. Azazel flew down, his powerful wings flapping slowly to allow a gentle descent. When he landed, the rain that had been blasted away finally began to trickle down little by little until a sudden torrent of water drenched the entire area. When she brushed her mane off of her face, Luna saw Azazel looming over her defeated son. Saros lay on the ground with his eyes closed, seemingly dead, while the demon he fought mere moments ago was pouring crimson magic into Saros with a clawed hand pressed against Saros' chest. Luna ran to her son, not noticing that his right arm, which was bent and broken at an unnatural angle, was being restored. When the last of his phalanges popped back into place, and the bleeding had stopped Azazel felt a sharp pain in his side, along with something bulldozing him a few yards away from the human he was healing. As Azazel was sent flying, the dark aura that obscured his features was dispelled as he drove his talons and claws into the earth bellow him to find some traction. When he finally stopped, he looked down to the area where the pain was and saw he was bleeding profusely. He covered it with one hand, and began to pour magic into it. "Sanitatem..." Azazel muttered the incantation, causing the spell to begin and work on his wound. He felt the wound heal and his pain fade, eliciting a sigh of relief. Looking towards his attacker, he found a drenched and distraught Luna helping a very dazed Saros' from the ground. The two exchanged a look of odd realization and wrapped each other in a bear hug. The reunited mother and son cried tears of joy over them being together again. From a short distance away, Azazel watched the show of affection; and within him, a sickening sensation was tying his entrails into knots. He felt rage, sadness, longing, and all of these emotions were felt all at once. time and time again, the deaths of his parents would haunt him. He couldn't stop seeing them in everything he did or experienced. He saw them in their gifts, in their teachings, and he even saw them in his enemies and it was driving him mad. In that moment, the night his parents died flashed before him and a cacophony of their screams and the roar of holy fire made him lose his focus, severing his connection. //////////Luna/////////// For the first time in a very long time, I felt joy; pure and unadulterated bliss. Holding my baby once again in my hooves, and him holding me close to his chest where I could hear his heart beating... To even try and describe it would do my son a disservice. The sky had cleared and a cool setting sun illuminated the sky. Those few minutes I spent with my eyes closed and my son close to me was soothing me to no end and healing my broken heart. The peaceful silence was replaced by the sounds of pained screaming from our left. Saros and I turned to look in the direction of the sound to find that the monster that had been trying to hurt my boy was on his knees, his hands firmly clasped over his head in what could only be described as agony. Azazel continued to wail and groan before letting out a loud shriek and vanishing in an unstable burst of dark red magic. We were left alone in the field, looking out towards the now empty space where Azazel once was. It didn't last however, and as our eyes met once again, Saros gave me a tired smile. "...I've waited for so long... ...Is this real?..." He admitted between quieted sobs. Tears ran down his cheeks and fell on my forehoof. And that alone gave me an inkling of just how much my son had suffered. With a kiss on his forehead, I answered his question. "M-Mother?.." He asked, hesitation in his voice. This made me stop and look into his eyes. Those blue, loving eyes that I never thought I'd see again stared back at me with longing. "Where are you?..." His question made a smile and tears to form again on my face. "There is a town by the name of Ponyville. It is on the northern edge of the Everfree, there you will find a castle made of crystals. Once there, the bearers of the Elements of Harmony will take you to us." I ordered, foalish glee seeping into my tone even as I tried to keep some semblance of formality. He nodded happily before planting a kiss on my forehead, just under my horn. "Be ready mother, I'm coming home." He said to me before rousing from his sleep. As I was ejected from his dream, I woke up in a room completely different to the one I had fallen asleep in. I was taken aback, not by the change in scenery, but rather, by the teeth grinding sound of Discord filing away at one of his claws with an oversized file that looked like a beaver tail. I simply looked at him while he sat idly in a chair filing away on the opposite side of the room facing me. A minute of this passed and then he raised his claw towards his face to inspect it. Only when this happened did he notice me looking at him. His expression wasn't that of being startled, more so of surprise. "I'm sorry, did I wake you up?" He asked, sounding rather guilty. This confused me even more. The anarchical trickster was never this serious for so much time in row. "No, we are fine. We are actually concerned for you. You're never this serious." I asked, genuinely worried. This prompted Discord to let out a sigh of annoyance and to facehoof, stretching his face like a balloon before snapping back to its original shape. "Ughhhhhh, I know. Normally I'd let the girls handle this like they handle everything, letting me be the chaotic mess I am. But a giant rainbow beam of magic won't fix this, and my chaos magic is useless here. That's why I'm trying to think of a way to convince our demonic guest to lend us a hand." He said looking downcast and pensive. This got me thinking, and I decided to voice my query. "There's something we don't understand. Why must Azazel be the one to save Tia? What exactly is it that's plaguing our sister's soul that the Elements of Harmony can't fix?" I asked, my tone raising slightly with Discord's insistence. Discord took a deep breath before standing up and walking over to the bed I was on. "Luna, you've been in Azazel's mind. You know what he is, right?" Discord asked, sitting at the foot of the bed. "We have seen pieces of his past, his memories reflected in his dreams. He is troubled- I started, reminiscing on the things that I had seen; only for Discord to cut me off. "No no no! I'm not talking about his psyche. I'm referring to WHAT he is. Do you know?" He asked, his tone vehement and denoting his lack of patience. With a mild glare I let him know I am not fond of interruptions; but I nodded to answer his question, making him continue. "Azazel is the son of a runaway queen of a realm known as hell. The place is run by demons of all kinds, from small and insignificant up to abominations that would make me, ME of all creatures, sick." He began, placing a paw over the bridge of his snout while he explained. "The thing inside Celestia is not only from that realm, but is feeding on all the pain she's kept to herself over the many years she's ruled. Azazel might be our only hope of getting Celestia back to normal because he's the only one with enough knowledge of hell and it's denizens to help get rid of the problem." He stated solemnly. I stayed quiet for a bit, mulling over his words. Then, a question I had never bothered to consider came to mind. Something very odd that I had brushed off as an oddity that didn't matter, and only now, for some reason, it bugged me with the mention of Tia. "Discord?" I asked. "Yes?" He asked, his eyes now fixed on mine. "Sometime after Tia set you free, and the bearer of kindness befriended you; you asked us to stay out of your dreams. Why?" I asked, my curiosity overriding my weariness of Discord's sour mood. The God of Chaos was a very easy going creature, however, I knew all too well from an encounter millennia ago with him the true power he wielded and the destruction that ensued when Discord reached his limit. "Because I've been having visions." He began with a sigh of resignation. "Me cooperating with order to create the balance of Harmony that keeps Equestria safe, has granted me a crude form of foresight. The visions are not one hundred percent accurate, but their enough to get a pretty consistent view of chaos that I don't directly cause. I can't control when they appear and I was afraid that if you found out, you'd tell Celestia and that would get me stuck in stone again." He said, turning away from me. "What could possibly be so foreboding that to tell Tia would mean you could lose your freedom?" I asked, now questioning what my sister was truly capable of. Discord stayed silent, never meeting my gaze. "Discord, please. I've had enough secrets be kept from me. I can't help you if I don't know what's going on." I urged. We stayed in silence for a few more moments before he looked at me, and I saw fear and... sadness...? "Luna... I... I saw Canterlot burning... Ponies screaming for mercy as they were butchered by something... You and Celestia were on the ground in a pool of your own blood... and standing over you was a being of darkness... It would bring an end to everything I love about this world... and I am powerless to stop it..." He began, tears beginning to flow from his eyes. This revelation left my mouth agape and wide-eyed, understandably, of course. "Celestia has a noble heart... but sometimes... she tries to control things that won't be... and innocents suffer because of it..." Discord confessed. My shock was immediately made meaningless in the face of a friend in need. I got out from under the covers and scootched over to Discord. Wrapping a wing around his back, I gave him a gentle hug, which he happily reciprocated with a smile and hug of his own. "We will do this together. All of us." I assured, making Discord hum in agreement and gratitude. That is of course, before his face reflected that of a sudden realization. "I almost forgot, how's Saros?" He asked, his usual spunkiness returning. A smile creeped onto my face and spread across my cheeks as I spoke. "He's on his way to Ponyville as we speak!" I answered giddily. To my surprise, Discord's eyes went wide and he looked like a colt realizing he was about to be scolded for some unspoken shenanigan. "What?" He asked in a calm tone that was betrayed by his facial expression. "I told him where we were. He should be on his way here and will arrive at any mo... ment..." I was derailed from my train of thought as the room got noticeably darker. I looked to the side and noticed that the once beautiful midday sun had been obscured by an odd storm cloud in the distance. Discord noticed this and turned to see what I was looking at. "Oh dear..." He said, wincing as the sound of distant thunder rumbled reached his ears. Hearing the sound, I clambered onto the floor and began making my way out of the room. However, before I could make it to the door, Discord teleported infront of the bedroom's exit; using his body to block my path. "Before you leave to see him, can you do me a really big favor?" He asked nervously. I stopped in my tracks amd tilted my head in confusion. "And that favor would be?" I inquired. "I'm not very confident in Saros playing nice around me, seeing as how... uh... y'know." He began, rubbing the back of his neck sheepishly. "Can you tell him that I'm reformed? I don't want our reunion to end in me getting struck by lightning. Keeping Celestia in check has left me rather defenseless." He confessed with a nervous chuckle. This made a fit of laughter come over me as I remembered how Saros could get when he got mad. "All will be well Discord. Stay in this room, I'll speak with him when he gets here so he won't do anything." I said through a chuckle, causing Discord to sigh in relief. "Thank you." He said, moving out of my way and opening the door for me to leave. With a nod, I exited the room and made my way towards the room where the cutie map lay. I knew not where it was, but considering the Castle's relatively small size, I was bound to find it eventually. As I trotted down the long corridors of crystal, I heard a voice from a room nearby. "...if I had it in... my power..." The feminine voice sang quietly, the harmonious sound coming from a room to my left where the door was cracked open. "...I would arrange... for every guy... to have your charms..." I recognized the voice to be Azazel's flower spangled skeleton, Mia. I approached the door slowly, as to not startle her. "...Then... every minute... of every hour... every girl could find what I found... in your arms.." As she sang, I could hear the strain in her voice. She was holding back her tears. When I closed the distance between the door and myself, I took a deep breath before peaking inside. The room itself was nothing out of the ordinary. In it, there was a bed on the far left side of the room, a closet on the opposite end, a small desk and chair against the wall opposite to me under a window, and a nightstand near the bed. On the bed proper, was the source of the beautiful song I had heard. Mia was sitting on the bed next to the inert body of her beloved. Trephor's body was lying on the bed under the covers while Mia caressed Trephor's skull. "...everybody... loves somebody... sometime..." With blue and pink embers falling from her eyes, Mia continued to sing. I backed away from the door, the giddy excitement I once had to see my son had been replaced with a deep concern for Mia and a tinge of guilt for being intrusive. With a huff of determination, I refused to allow Mia to grieve alone. I knocked on the door, causing Mia to go deathly quiet. After a bit of silence I spoke up. "Mia? May we come in?" I asked, to no avail. I knocked again, refusing to give up. "Mia, please, we need to speak with you." I said, my tone as kind as possible. Silence reigned again for a solid minute. Before I could raise my hoof to knock again, I heard the unmistakeable sound of a gentle kiss and the sound of bones hitting the ground. As the footsteps got closer, I prepared myself to speak with the grief stricken undead. The door before me was opened just enough to allow Mia to poke her head out. "Yes?" She asked in a quiet and timid tonality, her dark blue eyes locked with my own "Mia, we are terribly sorry for intruding... but we wish to inform you that we are here for you." I offered humbly with a small reassuring smile on my face. Mia's head seemed to get heavier as we broke eye contact and she looked down. "Thank you Princess... I appreciate it..." She stated sadly as she began to retreat back into the room. My eyes widened at the realization that she was about to shut me out, and just as her head was clear of the door she slowly closed it. I quickly jammed my hoof between the door and it's frame while speaking up. "Mia wait! please." I pleaded, my hoof being gently squished by the door. When I asked Mia to wait, I felt the pressure on my hoof slacken and the door was reopened. Mia looked at me, the azure embers now threatening to start "flowing" again. With a heavy sigh, I bought myself time to think on what else to say. In an instant, the memory of what had happened just a few hours ago came to mind, and the realization of something made my eyes water. "We are sorry..." I said, lowering my head in shame. There was a few seconds of silence before Mia spoke up. "For what?" She spoke, her tone denoting genuine confusion. At the time, I didn't realize this, but I answered her question anyway, despite me thinking it was sarcasm. "We stood idly by as you were forced to watch our sister take Trephor away from you... We should've stopped Tia... We sh-" Tears had begun flowing freely as I confessed my sins towards her. However, because I had my eyes closed, I didn't see her come up to me and while kneeling down to my level, she embraced me like a long lost friend. "Princess, you don't have to apologise." She began, and for the first time since the tragic event that had seemingly broken her, I heard... hope. "What happened to Trephor wasn't your fault. Sometimes things that are our beyond our control happen. While some make you happy, others break your heart... Celestia's actions are her own, not yours. Trephor wouldn't have held you responsible for it, and neither will I." She said to me, pulling away from the hug and looking into my eyes. The once blue pinprick sized orbs she had for eyes had grown and become a green-ish blue. "Azazel's mother once told me, that all hardship is temporary. Most of it is inevitable, but it's always temporary. I'll be with Trephor again... sooner or later... dead... or undead." She explained, her eyes turning to fuschia at the mention of Trephor's name. I was left speechless as all I could do was gawk in awe with tears of sadness now turned to tears joy. As I wrestled with my mind to produce something to say to this wise creature, I decided to say nothing and nod; a small smile donning on my lips. With a nod, Mia got up and walked back inside the room; quietly shutting the door as she went in. Now left sitting on my haunches in the middle of an empty hallway, I silently admired Mia for her wisdom. My contemplation was cut short, as then heard the unmistakeable sound that heralded my son's return. Thunder was rumbling over the castle far too frequently for it to be normal. I got up and sprinted as fast as my hooves could carry me before leaping into air and taking flight. As I flew down the halls like a crazed dragon, I reached the stair case the led to the castle's lobby. There I found the girls calmly heading towards the door. As I swooped down the stairs, Rainbow Dash saw me coming towards them and in the blink of an eye, realized my trajectory and what she needed to do. She zoomed towards the large twin doors of Twilight's castle and hurriedly opened them both. Just in the nick of time, I flew over a group of five stunned mares and past one very startled pegasi. As I rushed through the doors, I immediately noticed the sky over the castle was over cast with grey storm clouds. I slowed down and skidded to a halt on my hooves as I looked up at the clouds from a good thirty meters away from the castle. I only noticed the girls had come running after me because I heard the voice of my sister's protege. "Princes Luna! Wait! What's going on!?" She asked, now much closer. Panting slightly, I stayed fixated on the dark clouds looming over the castle for a whole before looking down at the mane six. All of them bore expressions of worry and confusion on their faces with varying degrees of intensity. "He's here" It was all I could say before the clouds over the castle began to swirl and converge a few feet away from the castle of friendship's entrance. The rising hum of thunder magic began to drown out every other sound that resonated around us. When it reached it's peak, lightning struck the ground in a blinding flash of power. The brightness of the lightning bolt striking forced me to cover my eyes with a hoof. It took a few seconds for my eyes to readjust back to normal daylight, but the sight before me was worth more than gold. Standing with his back turned to us, Saros was facing the castle of friendship and looking about, presumably for somepony he could ask for directions. Just then, the dark clouds that shaded the crystal castle from the sun's rays dissipated, returning the monolithic monument to it's radiant beauty. "SAROS!!!" I screamed, no longer able to contain myself. My shout was registered, but I wouldn't give him the chance to do anything other than turn around and see me charging at him at full speed. "MOM!!!" He shouted, opening his arms as tackled him to the ground. We held each other on the dirt, not caring who saw us. This moment meant too much for what other ponies thought of me to matter. My son was back in my arms again, and that's all that mattered. > Chap. 14 The Prodigal Son pt.2 > -------------------------------------------------------------------------- /////////Avalon, several hours ago///////// As Azazel lost his grip on Saros' mind, the tendrils of blood that linked them to one another violently pulled away from the human's chest and recoiled. My master yelped at the sudden jolt of pain that ravaged his arm, stumbling backwards and taking a knee. Severing my connection from the now waking stormcaller, I turned my focus on Azazel, and I panicked when I saw his right arm drenched in blood. "Azazel!" I exclaimed, running towards him. Kneeling by his side to check on the injury that was slowly stitching itself back together, Azazel turned his attention towards me. "R̶̯͛E̸̛͉͐S̸͍̠͊̿T̷̫̉̆R̶̼͉͌̍Ȃ̴̪͔͠Ï̸̜͝ͅN̴̜̉͘ ̶̱̩̏H̵̨͍́I̷͈̰̕͠M̴̫̆̆!̷͇̂" He roared, clearly in pain. It took me a second to register what he had ordered, but by then it was already too late. As I turned around, I saw a masked human sprinting towards me at full speed. His turquoise eyes crackled and flared with small trails of arching lightning as he ran. "ACCELERATE!" Saros said as I got to my feet and tried to grab him, but he simply leapt off the ground and used me like a stepping stone to leap over me. As I was pushed down by his weight, I hit the ground with a resounding thud. It took me less than a second to regain my bearings and scurry to my feet. As I turned around, I noticed the familiar sound of a manticore's roar. From behind one of the monolithic bookshelves, the undead manticore my master had revived and Anvari had tamed lunged towards the human in midair with it's claws and teeth bared. At speeds that I struggled to keep up with, Saros' body was enveloped in blue bolts of lightning as he proceeded to unnaturally pivot in the air and roundhouse kick the manticore off it's path with a direct hit to it's skull. The beast was sent hurdling through the air and crashing onto a table. When Saros' finally hit the floor, he was surrounded by five of the ten armored golems stationed around the library, their halberds and swords at the ready. As I began to charge towards him, I didn't realize that he was still enveloped in the blue lightning from before. The golems brought down their weapons a second too late on the stormcaller, as just when they were about to strike, Saros' maneuvered around the golem directly in front of him. "THE WORLD SLOWS DOWN!!! LIGHTNING BLUE!!! OVERDRIVE!!!" The human shouted as he proceeded to unleash a flurry of electrically charged punches at the unsuspecting golem. To my knowledge, golems are among the most difficult constructs to destroy. In order to truly beat them one would have to bend or break the material they are made out of to enough of a degree that if the golem tried to reform, it could no longer use those parts to reconstruct it's body. However that may be, the human's speed and surprising power made quick work of the living suit of pony armour, punching through it's form as if it were paper. He sent a barrage of metallic shards and lose pieces of scrap flying with his fists. Before I could even react, my master rushed behind me and used his scale plated wings to shield me and himself from the incoming barrage of metal shrapnel. This went on for five more seconds before the sound of Saros' war cry and metal shards bouncing harmlessly off of Azazel's wings was interrupted by a familiar voice shouting from my right. "SHIN RATENSEI!!!" The voice of Anvari rang out along with the tell tale sound of a concussive blast hitting an unsuspecting human. Azazel parted his wings in time for both of us to see Saros be sent hurdling through the air and smash into one of the titanic bookshelves with enough force to make them sway back and forth as they threatened to fall over. My master outstretched his hand, and using a telekinetic spell, stopped the massive bookshelves from tipping over, leveling them out. As the stormcaller was dislodged from the crater he created, he fell several feet to the ground as books he knocked over began to fall on him. A bestial growl rumbled behind me, followed by the sound of clawed feet of demonic proportions stomping over to the fallen human. Azazel walked past me and I swiftly followed, standing beside my master as he hoisted up a dazed Saros by his left arm. He then inspected a hole in the stormcaller's shirt, revealing a newly formed sigil burned onto his flesh. "It worked." He said with a relieved chuckle. Azazel took off the human's mask and let him fall onto his back. He inspected his gauntlet, the once matte sable finish of the metal now gleamed with a red aura of blood magic. The dorsal plate of his clawed glove now bore a blood red luster in the form of Azazel's sigil. My master looked between the human, trying to get up and his gauntlet. "What did you do to us!?" Saros demanded, extending a hand forward and charging his magic. Azazel raised his arm, and clenched his fist so that Saros could see the mark on it's plating. "Ś̶̗t̷͇̑ă̴̗n̶̗͝d̷̥́.̶͙̾ ̵͕̽D̵̝̍o̶͚̍ŵ̷̟n̷̢̊.̶̭̏"̷̗͛" My master ordered, his voice calm yet stern. As he spoke, the gauntlet made a low whirring sound that resembled the humming of a large bell. The sigil on the dorsal plate began to glow more intensely, and where the engraved symbol was carved on the human's chest, the same sound and change of light blossomed. To Saros' further horror and confusion, his magic was dispelled. As the crackling and hissing bolts of lightning dissipated, he lowered his arm. He tried to keep it aimed at Azazel, but his own body betrayed him. I looked back towards my master, and saw a smirk I knew all too well. It was the same shit eating grin that he inherited from his father. "Tell me Saros. Did you really think I would let my one chance to reap vengeance slip through my fingers?" Azazel asked the beaten stormcaller, his grin dying down to a more reserved smile. "Fuck you! You sick son of a bitch!" The human snarled with venom in his words. This insult would prove to be a serious mistake, as my master's smile became a frown. The once cocky expression on his face became one of controlled rage. As Saros realized what he had done, his defiant look faltered. Azazel closed the small distance between them and pinned him to the ground by stepping on the stormcaller's chest. My master then lowered himself so that their faces would be only inches apart. "I have no desire to kill you human, but if you force my hand I will not hesitate to mame you. I will make this as simple as possible for you to understand. You are mine to do with as I wish, until I no longer have need of you." Azazel stated with a chilling calmness as he put more of his weight on the human. Saros was now finding it impossible to breathe. He tried to push the demon's foot off, but that proved to be fruitless. This went on for a bit more, the stormcaller punching my master's leg and squirming desperately to get some much needed air in his lungs. My master got closer to Saros's right ear as the human began to lose consciousness. "C̷o̸o̵p̴e̶r̶a̷t̵e̵,̴ ̵a̵n̵d̶ ̸y̶o̶u̵ ̸w̷i̸l̶l̵ ̶l̴i̷v̸e̷ ̷t̴o̷ ̶s̷e̸e̴ ̸y̴o̴u̸r̶ ̶m̷o̶t̷h̵e̷r̵ ̶a̶g̵a̷i̵n̷.̵ ̶T̵h̴a̶t̶ ̷i̵s̷ ̴a̷l̶l̶ ̶I̸ ̵a̶s̴k̸.̷" He whispered almost sensually into the human's ear. As Azazel backed off, Saros was allowed to breathe. After a fit of coughs, the human flinched after hearing my master speak again. "Sanitarem..." With his wounds now healed, he sat up and glared at Azazel, as if trying to kill him with his gaze. "Now. I have questions for you to answer." My master said, unfazed by Saros' attempt to remain defiant. A devious smile returned to Azazel's face as he used telekinesis to lift Saros' mask off the ground and levitate it towards him, tempting him to take it. ///////Ponyville General Hospital, present time/////// "Ow!" Saros protested through gritted teeth as a unicorn nurse poked and prodded his bruised body with her hooves. She inspected his body with a trained eye, and scribbled notes down on a clipboard suspended in a gentle teal aura. In the emergency room where Saros was, the Princess of the moon and the mane six were huddled around the shirtless human while leaving enough room for the nurse to work unabated. He had not said much when he first arrived, and Luna had insisted he be checked physically to ensure he was ok. "No bones seem to be broken, but you have some bruising. A few nights of good sleep should take care of it. I can't say the same for those burns you have on your chest. How did that happen?" The nurse asked, standing before the stormcaller and with a clipboard and quill at the ready in her magical grip. "A spell was cast on us. We do not know what it was exactly, but we know it to be some sort of mind controlling spell." The human explained, looking over the dark red symbol etched into his skin. "Okay, I'll have doctor Scalpel run some scans on you and we'll see what we can do about that." She stated with an assuring nod and a polite smile. Giving his thanks, Saros watched the nurse leave the room. As he stared at the door while spaced out, Twilight looked over the strange being sitting on the hospital bed. He was tall, easily as tall as Celestia, but not as tall as the demon she had met only a few days prior. His body seemed to have the same build as that of Azazel's skeletons. He stood straight up and walked on his two hind legs. Saros seemed similar to an ape, but had no fur anywhere aside from his medium length mane of messy white hair. The strange biped had blue eyes that seemed to glow with power, and he bore small scars all over his body, particularly all over his arms and paws. He wore worn clothes, mostly black, and an eerie mask he carried with him lay face up next to him on the bed. As he looked off into the distance, seemingly at nothing, Twilight's gaze was fixed onto the mark on Saros' chest. "I don't get it..." She muttered to herself, garnering the attention of everypony. "Get what Twi'?" Applejack asked. "Why would Azazel cast a mind control spell over Saros and send him here?" She asked, her gaze shifting to the element of honesty. "Maybe he's here to spy on us." Rainbow Dash asserted, eyeing the human skeptically. Silence reigned for a few moments before Luna spoke up. "Saros?.." She asked, concern evident in her tone. This made Twilight look at the human, who had remained completely still, but was silently shedding tears through a mask of practiced stoicism. Luna walked over to her son and placed a hoof over his right hand. She now stood in between the girls and him, with Saros to her left and the mane six to her right. He turned to look at her, and realization hit Luna like a wrecking ball. The tears he was shedding were not of sadness... they were of fear. "He showed me the true meaning of hate, mother... He showed me cruelty unlike any I've ever seen... He-" He began, gradually losing his composure. His explination was then cut short by an azure hoof gently pressed against his lips. As a distraught Saros looked into his mother's eyes, he saw fury; stocked by maternal instinct, and tempered by countless years of nightmare slaying. "One thing at a time. What happened? What did he do to you?" She asked in a calm tone that contradicted the rage behind her eyes. Wiping away his tears, he regained some of his composure. "When I awoke, I tried to escape; but Azazel had already placed me under his spell. I am still in control, but I am still bound to him... compelling to do his bidding... whether I want to or not..." The human began. "He asked me things about the castle and the Everfree. He then forced me to show him the castle... and where the dead were laid to rest." He continued, his gaze shifting away from his mother and down to her hoof on his hands. "...He found something... something that angered him... something... vile..." He explained, pouring as much disgust into the word 'vile' as possible. This got the attention of Twilight, who then stepped forward. "What did he find?" She asked, the human now looking at her. He hesitated, but eventually, he opened his mouth and began to explain what happened. /////////The Everfree forest, several hours ago////// After a well deserved meal to celebrate his achievement of successfully casting a complex blood spell. A small entourage of four golems accompanied Azazel and Avalon as they were escorted by their unwilling guide through the Everfree. They had explored the castle's ruins and had acquired a substantial amount of resources. Mainly tools and old stone building materials left behind from when the castle had been abandoned centuries ago. However, the ancient burial grounds proved to be a waste of time, as the bones of those buried there had long ago become naught but dust. The group of seven explored the virtually non-existent remains of houses and buildings that had been swallowed by the Everfree. The remains of a large village that once surrounded the castle... "Why did the ponies leave this place? Wasn't this their only home?" Avalon asked, contemplating the remains of what he assumed to be a house; while a massive tree grew and continued to tear the house's foundation asunder. "This was not the only city within Equestria's borders, but to answer your first question. The palace and subsequent city of Canterlot was finalizing it's construction at around the same time my mother... became the nightmare..." Saros began, placing a hand on another tree as he looked on at unrecognizable forest around him. "But what I fail to grasp, is how the Everfree became this way." He finished, now looking at the sickly dark brown bark of the trees and dull green vines that grew between and over the trees. "What was it like before?" Azazel asked, squatting down to inspect the ground below. "The Everfree was once a lush and beautiful forest. It had always had a "wild" appearance, but it has become... um..." The human replied, struggling to find the right word. As he did, Azazel pressed his left hand against the dirt floor. "Revelio..." He muttered, casting a spell of divination. As green wisps of magical energy flowed down from his arm, they sunk into the ground below before looping back around and phasing through his forearm. Azazel felt the familiar presence of magic. It was, unsurprisingly, wild and formless. However, it bore a familiar residue, not unlike... soul energy!? His eyes shot open at the sudden realization and pulled his arm off the ground. His hand however, was being ensnared in dark root-like growths with sky blue spines. He reflexively charged magic into his hand. Manifesting it as necrotic energy, caused the dark tendrils to pull away and bury themselves underneath the ground with a high pitched shriek. Seconds later, the ground began to shake and from the earth sprouted more of the same black roots with blue spines. The ends of each sprout had a cylindrical head, which then opened to reveal a pair of vertically split mandibles with a wall of blue skin on the inside and a sizeable quantity of asymmetrical rows of teeth. The strange plants growled and shrieked while spewing a dull blue gas from their gaping maws of spike like teeth. Immediately, Saros began firing arching lightning bolts which destroyed four of the aggressive flora. His attempts to destroy the threat was immediately rendered pointless, as eight more of the plants emerged from random points around the group. As the golems surrounded Azazel and Avalon to defend their master, Azazel unleashed a roar that caught the attention of the massive plants. "Stop!" He ordered, causing the crowd to halt. Azazel stepped out of the golems formation and outstretched his hand as he approached the plants. "Azazel! what are you-!?" Avalon started, before being silenced by a very passive aggressive wave of Azazel's hand. As he drew nearer, the plants began to hiss and bare their blue "teeth". "If you can understand me, then know that I bear you no ill will. Your souls have been corrupted, but they are not yet lost. Let me help you." He stated as calmly as he could, despite the tinge of instinctual fear he felt while walking towards the carnivorous plants. Although the hissing and growling had decreased, the plants were still being very aggressive. Azazel stopped a few feet away and took a deep breath. "Let me help you." He said, his voice a mere whisper. The plants ceased their aggressive hissing and stayed still for a few moments, before one hesitantly moved forward. The maw of the deadly flower was visibly fighting the urge to chomp down on the demon's hand as it layed it's now closed "head" on Azazel's hand. With a comedic creak, the jaws of both Avalon and Saros swiveled open in disbelief. "Fracti meam ego regena quod est conprobabit... Nunc quoque iternum te..." Azazel muttered in the arcane tongue of sorcerers long since past. As he did, his eyes became to white orbs of light, which then expelled a blue mist that dissipated into the aether as he spoke. From the point where his hand made contact with the plant, a wave of sky blue magic spread over the plant's body and enveloped it in a blinding flash of magic that hummed with an ethereal sonorousness. When Avalon and Saros could see again, they immediately noticed the plant was gone, and only a patch of healthy grass and the odd blue flowers remained. As Azazel then moved his hand with his palm facing upward, he spoke up again, his voice sounding like that of a multitude speaking as one. "Let me help you." He boomed. The plants looked at the place where their vanished comrade once was, then back at the demon. To Avalon and Saros' further bewilderment, they all lurched forward; and the healing continued. After twenty or so times that the spell was repeated, Azazel stopped, much to the ire of the multitude of similar carnivorous plants that had emerged all around the group. "There is much that I do not know and that greatly annoys me. I will heal the rest of you when I get answers to my questions." Azazel stated, seemingly at one of the patches of blue flowers surrounding him. This made an already confused Saros and Avalon to exchange looks and shrugs that implied mutual unawareness of the situation. The demon looked around, his eyes darting about the several patches of overly fertile ground. Azazel continued searching until he stopped on one to his far right. "You, come here." He ordered, presumably at nothing. However, from the patch of grass where Azazel was looking at, a trail of small flowers began to emerge. The blossoming path of daisies, daffodils, and poppies stopped just shy of where Azazel sat with his legs crossed. His tail was expectantly swaying from side to side, and his wings were folded against his back as compactly as their bulk would allow. He turned around and looked in the direction of the golems, his undead and his prisoner, motioning for them to come with a wave. After a bit of hesitation and the plants giving them room to pass, the group sat around Azazel; avoiding the flower patches at all costs. Focusing on one of his golems, Azazel wordlessly ordered it to come around and sit directly in front of him. "You may borrow this golem so that we can speak." Azazel offered, to which there was no audible reply, save for the odd cracking of wood and the movement of foliage by the carnivorous flora waiting patiently around the necromancer. Avalon sat by Azazel's right, but Saros opted to stay standing near the other golems. Silence continued for a moment before the sound of a whispering voice slowly became audible. "...I... ...am most grateful... allow me... to introduce myself... I am called... Jaunty Wisp..." The voice came from the golem, it's once menacing orbs of crimson fire became two wisps of sky blue magic. The voice was distinctly feminine, but it carried a cult accent the demon could not quite remember from where he had heard it. Azazel smiled politely and bowed his head a little. "I am Azazel, son of Astoshan the Grey God of Death, and Lilith the former queen of hell. I've been through a lot of things these last few days, and I have not been able to sit down and have a friendly conversation. Besides, I wish to understand you." He explained, the final sentence directed at the floral crowd around him. "What about me... do you wish... to know?..." The voice asked. "Do you remember who you were? Before you died." The demon replied with a question of his own. It was this question that made Saros and Avalon realize what Azazel was talking to. Their reactions, of coming to a mild understanding and being shocked respectively were visible on their faces. While Avalon sat next to his master, listening idly to the conversation; the stormcaller's mind raced a thousand miles an hour as he connected the dots and he became acutely aware of where he was and what surrounded him. The voice took a moment to answer, as if pondering how to best elaborate. "I... remember it... like one remembers a dream... I can recollect pieces of it... but never the entire play... Does that make sense?..." The feminine voice asked, it's tone indicating uncertainty in it's own logic. "It does. What do you remember?" Azazel asked, his head tilted to side as he focused all of his attention on the possessed golem. "I was... a scholar...." She mused. "Really?" He questioned. "I was..." She began by confirming his question. "I learned... in the city of Everfree... but I think... that was a long time ago..." She said, bringing a hoof to her chin. "What did you study?" Azazel asked. "I was... a philosopher..." Jaunty answered. "And what happened to you?" The demon asked. "I was a mother... that lived shortly after the defeat of Nightmare Moon..." She began, her speech was slow and deliberate. "It was a time... in which many things changed... along with the laws that governed Everfree city... and a religion was born from Princess Celestia's victory... over the Nightmare... I believed philosophy to be the study... of the systems of the world... and our purpose within them... and yet... discussion of the arcane... and the Princess of the Sun was considered... heresy... a crime..." She seethed, the flame of Jaunty's eyes becoming slightly darker. As she spoke, the flowers that bloomed around her began to wilt and whither away at a snail's pace. "Who declared this a crime?" Azazel asked. "I... do not remember the exact name of the order... But I think they called themselves... Solarians..." The ghost began again. The mention of the ancient order's name began a cascading chain of emotions that began to writhe and churn within Azazel's very being. "I remember... one of their leaders... He said to me... that faithful servants... of the goddess of the sun... should hunt down heathens... and drive them to enlightenment... like a manticore hunts it's prey... and drives them to traps." As the unaware spectre explained away her past, the plants around the group and the demon interviewing her began to grow restless. While the plants had begun to drool and emit quiet hisses, Azazel sat with his fists clenched firmly and his face denoted the steadily worsening condition of his self-control as it deteriorated with each passing second. "One would think that such a thing would not be bad in her eyes. Wouldn't you agree?" He offered, his politeness towards the ghost being the only thing keeping him from flying into a murderous tantrum. "Yet... Here I am... murdered..." The spirit stated, sounding dejected. Silence reigned again for a few moments before Azazel spoke up. "Who murdered you?" Azazel asked, whispering his question to keep himself from shouting. His fists were clenched so tightly that his gauntlet began to creak and groan with the sheer strength with which he squeezed at nothing. "I was hunted... taken from my own home... to the palace of the princess... before her highness... I... I was beaten... forced to lie... and... to give up others... under the promise... that me and my son... would be spared..." Jaunty confessed, the desire to cry and sob was denied by the mere fact that she was physically incapable of doing so. Azazel looked into the blue embers of Jaunty's eyes as he spoke. "And?" He shot back a facade of mild disgust that hid the raging turmoil within. Jaunty stayed quiet for a moment before speaking, the vines from before starting to wrap around the golem's legs as he spoke. "I... did not want to... but they had my baby..." She said, her head hung low in shame. "What happened after you betrayed your own people?" The half-breed asked with a demonic disdain. "I was killed anyway... I know not... what became of my little one... but his soul is not... here... in this forest... at the very least... he was not condemned... to my same fate..." She began, her voice carrying an unspoken amount of pain. "My soul... became one with this cursed forest... because this world... is insane... but my death... taught me something..." She explained, the vines now crawling into metallic suit of armor and piercing it with azure spines if eldritch power. "What did you learn?" Azazel asked. "I learned... the true nature of hate... and I learned... to like it..." She hissed, a blue miasma pouring out from within the helm. Azazel said nothing for the longest time, until eventually he spoke up. "You had no choice... but to damn your soul. All because of her..." Azazel began, standing to his full height. "Tell me spirit, do you wish to avenge your death?" He offered. "Yes... if only so that I may rest... knowing that Equestria's false idol... will reap... WHAT SHE HAS SOWN!!!" She answered, the vengeful wrath within her finally over powering Azazel's spell. Before anything could be done to stop it, the Golem was viciously torn apart by tendrils of dark vines. The plant's soft flesh hardened into a semi-rigid bark like root that intertwined itself to form a new carnivorous plant, rising to Azazel's stature. The large shoot of intertwined bark "looked" itself over, before turning to Azazel and begin to hiss angrily. "The spell I used is not permanent. The only way you will be free of this is if you sever that which binds you to this place." He started his explination while closing his fists with mild annoyance. "Do not test me, Jaunty. Stand down before I torch your soul to hell!" He threatened, raising his hands as they were wreathed in hellfire. While the rest did not make a move to attack him, a corrupted Jaunty roared at him and attempted to swallow him whole. As she lurched forward, her maw of razor sharp teeth were beared. Azazel caught her jaws and held them in place while scorching them with his hellish touch. As the oversized piranha plant roared it's noxious fumes into the demon's face, he grew more and more furious with each second. He then spewed a jet of hellfire fly down it's gullet, causing the beasts lower half to be incinerated. With ravenous savagery, he tore the two mouths apart and roared angrily as a black and red aura enveloped his body. The other plants and the stormcaller winced away in fear at the dark well of white hot fury that looked like he was about to explode. And explode, he did. A shockwave of crimson magic expanded outwards with such power and ferocity that Saros' very soul was momentarily separated from his body in a disorienting wave of pain that left as quickly as it came. The human saw the stifling number of unnatural plants all around him whither and die, as blue wisps of ethereal light fumed from them and filled the surrounding area with a dense sky blue fog. As Saros soul slowly realigned with his body, he saw Azazel's tooth filled maw gape even wider than before as it split down the middle. With a sound akin to a dragon taking in air to unleash a torrent of fire, the half-breed began to shred and consume the souls of those around him. The ethereal miasma began pulling Saros' soul along with it, and try as he might, he couldn't find something to grab to keep himself from being consumed as well. As Saros' soul was completely detached from his body, he hurdled towards the demon that inhaled the destroyed souls of those he would condemn to eternal servitude. Just as Saros believed it to be his end, he was stopped by Azazel catching him midflight and violently slamming him back down into his body. Now awake in his corporeal form, Saros stared wide eyed at the demon that loomed over him. His eyes were menacing before, but nothing he had seen thus far topped this. Azazel's entire body was wreathed in black and red fire thar sizzled and roiled with a malevolent rumble. "Ị̵͝ ̸̝̏d̶̮̚ó̶̙ ̷̺̌ť̶̪ḧ̴͎́î̶ͅs̸͇̈ ̸̘͠l̷̡͐a̶͚̓s̶̡̚t̴̝͛ ̷͔͠a̴̳̕c̵̛ͅt̶̃ͅ ̵̼̅o̸̼͐f̷̰̀ ̶̘̉k̵̖̈́ï̴̤n̶͔͒d̵̙͗ṋ̶̅è̸͖s̵͚͠s̸̛̖,̷̝̕ ̶͎̐f̸̡̉ỏ̷̜r̶̙͘ ̴͉̿ÿ̵͈́o̸̳͆ụ̶̾r̴̖̚ ̷͖̍m̴̭͑o̷̰̍t̵̥̋h̸̹̆e̸̦̐r̴̺͝'̵͍͆s̴̖͘ ̵̛͇s̶̘͐ä̸͚k̸̺̓ë̵̟́.̶̫̓ ̸̛͙S̷͙͝h̴̯͌ȅ̶̗,̷̢̓ ̷͕̕w̴̑͜h̴͉͐o̵͎͐ ̷̟̍s̶̨͝h̷͕̓o̷͎̽ẇ̶̘ě̷̺d̴̰̔ ̴̡̔m̸͇͐e̵͙͌ ̸̕ͅk̴̨̾i̷̅ͅn̴͑ͅd̸̟̓n̷̲͗e̶͓̊s̷͕͌s̵̼͛ ̶͈̀w̶̱̄h̸͔̎e̶͎̔n̵͇͋ ̴̰́n̸͓̈́ö̶͉ ̶̝̈́o̶͉͐n̷͉͒ę̵̒ ̴͙̌e̵̩͝l̴͚̋s̶̨̃e̴̻͊ ̸̞͗w̸̧̌ò̷̬u̵͚͐l̵̪͂d̶͍͑.̸͓̇ ̴̳̈́S̸̼͌h̵͖̓e̵͖̓,̴̬̓ ̸̬̏w̵͓̋h̵̻̉ŏ̴ͅ ̵̝̀p̷̨͗ṷ̶͛ȑ̵̩g̴̺͠e̴̞̊d̵͙͂ ̴͎͌t̸͒͜h̶̐ͅe̷͗ͅ ̷̡͗d̶͎̅ŕ̴͜ẽ̶̦a̶̩͝m̵̲̃ș̷̊ ̶̫͊o̵̜̓f̷̥͘ ̸͎̃h̷̭͛e̴̩͐r̸̪̉ ̵͕̊ũ̷̦ń̷̗g̸̝͗r̸̘͌a̸̗̎t̷͔͋ȅ̵̙f̷̝̽u̶̹͝l̷̻̍ ̶̥͋s̶̖͌u̷̟̎b̵̰̀j̵̲͑e̸̺̽c̸͠ͅţ̴͠s̸̞͆.̶̖͠ ̵̲̐S̷̮̅h̵̝̚e̸͙͊,̴̰̉ ̶̺̅w̶͔̏h̶͈̆ọ̸̓ ̴̯̓l̴̝͠o̸͚͋v̶̟̌ȇ̵͎d̵̀͜ ̴̛͕y̷̱̆ơ̵̰u̴̩̐ ̵͙͆s̷̛̘ō̸̱ ̷̠̈m̵̭͊ų̸̍ċ̷̙h̶̡̽ ̴̖̾y̸̹͋ơ̵̠u̶̠̒r̸̜̀ ̸͉̍a̸̮̿b̴͎̑s̷̡̀ě̸͇ṋ̸̈́c̵̣̎e̶͕͝ ̸̞͘l̴̖̉e̸̲̅t̵̼͒ ̸̟̇h̴̼̋e̷͎͋r̸̦̔ ̶͖̔f̵̫̽á̸̡ĺ̸̘l̵͈̋ ̴̫̈ṭ̵̓ö̷̘́ ̴͇͑m̶̘̀ȃ̴̲ḍ̷̎n̴̞͒e̶͉̚s̷̹̋s̶͇̄.̴̳͂ ̸̞̕T̷̰̑a̸̲̾k̵͚̀e̶̹̋ ̷̳͝y̴͇̓o̴̱̓ư̴̗ŗ̸͋ ̵̘͆m̸̰̈́o̴̠̽t̷̘͌h̸͇͘ê̶͕r̸̮͑,̸̡̂ ̶͐ͅa̶̹͋n̴̤͠d̵̰̆ ̴̘̈́l̸̜̀ë̴͈́a̶̬̾v̵̻̄e̷̠̐ ̵͙̽t̷̛̠h̸̛̬e̷̟̅ ̵̑͜l̶͙̎a̶̟̋ń̶̮d̵̜́ ̷̖́o̷̿͜f̴̠̉ ̵͍̚È̷͉q̶͉̏u̶͖̇ë̵̞s̶̥̎t̵̝͒r̵͖̅ȋ̶̲a̴̼͒ ̵̥̇t̸͔͛o̸̗̅n̶̲͊ĩ̴̘g̴͓̓h̶̺͘ť̴̖!̴̦͛ ̵̰͌P̵̤̎a̸͐͜c̸͉̾k̶̖͒ ̸̨̐a̸̰͊n̴͒ͅḏ̶̐ ̷̜̃g̸̩͝ő̸̬.̸̞͝.̵̡͝.̸̜̔ ̸͚̇a̷̠͝n̷͉̒ḍ̴̔ ̶͉͊d̵̄ͅȍ̴͔ ̶͓̈́N̴̟̾O̵̞̓T̷̲͘.̷̩͗ ̶̠̈L̵͕̀O̴̻͠O̸͔͛K̵̮̓.̵͎̿ ̵͎̃B̸͎͗A̸͈̐C̸̩͛K̸̹͊.̸͇̊" He threatened, his barely restrained tone and distorted voice showing a fraction the maelstrom of hate with which he seethed. Every last fiber in Saros' body screamed for him to get away, and he was all too eager to obey his instincts. Saros scrambled to his feet and leapt into the air, charging up magic in a desperate frenzy to get away. A bolt of lightning crashed down through the foliage, miraculously missing all of the trees and avoiding a forest fire, taking Saros with him. His body now converted into Ionic energy, he hopped from cloud to cloud as they hovered peacefully through the sky. His thunderclaps disoriented birds flying nearby, and startled a pack of manticores that had been sleeping after their last meal. The stormcaller used the sun as his compass to find his way north, when calmed down enough to not feel as if death itself was chasing him. /////////Present time, Ponyville General///////// With an unbelieving gasp, the mane six recoiled in shock at the stormcaller's retelling of what happened before he arrived in Ponyville. They looked among themselves, nopony having a clue of what to do. That is, of course, until Luna spoke up. "Where is he?" She asked her son, her tone firm, yet kind. "He is taking refuge in your old castle. If we make haste, we can rally a large enough battalion to overwh-!" He started to reply, only to be cut off by Luna. "No. We are not going to send an army into the Everfree." She stated firmly. "Mother! Do you even know what he's capable of!? He'd-!" Saros protested, to then be cut off again. "Yes! We do! And it is because of that that we will not send an army to attack him!" She countered, giving no room for debate. With a heavy sigh, she looked down, then away from him and shut her eyes. "Our sister is responsible for this. Manipulated or not... her hate will condemn thousands to a fate worse than death if we allow Azazel to fall down that same abyss. We must help him, or innocent will die." She began, her eyes now opened with a resolve of steel. She turned to look at the girls around, her focus shifting between them all, seemingly at random. Fluttershy was the first to see it. The pain behind the wall of trained stoicism that was beating like a drum in her head and undoubtedly like a drill at her heart. "We have the beginnings of a plan, but we need everypony to be present; that includes Mia and Discord. Bring them here so that we may discuss our next mo-" "DISCORD!?!?" Saros interrupted Luna as she explained with wide eyes and the unmistakeable expression of disbelief warping his facial features. With small sigh to level her temper, she looked at her son. "You will be brought up to speed in due time, my son." She replied calmly before turning back to the girls. "Please, make haste." She politely ordered, causing the girls to all nod and do as told. Once the last of the group had left, only Luna and Saros remained. The human, solely focused on the lunar diarch, broke the silence that filled the room. "Mother? Is there anything I can help you with?" He asked. Granting him an appreciative smile, Luna trotted closer to Saros and lowered her head. Once it rested on his lap, she let out a sigh of relief. Understanding what she wanted, Saros' confused expression softened to one reminiscent tranquility. He brought his right hand towards her and began to lovingly run his fingers through her mane. As his digits untangled the astral mane of his adoptive mother, the two sat in silence; enjoying each other's company. > Chapter 15. Broken minds crush a broken heart. > -------------------------------------------------------------------------- //////////Everfree forest, present time////////// Azazel sat on his makeshift bed with his legs crossed and his tome in hand. The ancient library was relatively quiet, only Anvari's occasional giggle or simple command to the undead manticore audible. Blazing shot had been delegated four of the armoured golems to patrol the castle while Avalon, and the rest of the golems hunted for food. Cherry Wing, Silver Lining, and Scarlett Stream flew laps around the perimeter to keep an eye from above and on the sky. Savant Dancer, Honey Blossom, and Spectre Luamoon had been ordered to search the castle for anything of value or artefacts that could provide a strategic advantage. The demon shifted his gaze from the book in his hands and looked at the laughing skeleton and her over-sized cat. The skeletal feline had been learning simple tricks on Anvari's beck and call. And at the moment, the beast was "playing dead" while on it's back. "Good! Now, shake my hand." She ordered happily, the chimera doing as instructed, much like a dog. With the beast's paw in her hand she pressed her jaw against it, emiting a resounding smooch. This made a smile grace Azazel's lips, however, it was not to last. As Anvari's gleeful laughter filled the ancient library, a tidal wave of memories of a simpler time began to drown his heart. A painful scowl slowly replaced the gentle simper of a smile he had as a result of this. He shut his eyes, and did his best to stop the inevitable. The only sign of his internal conflict were the bitter tears welling up in his eyes. //////////Five years ago///////// Deep in the Ursan forest, in the humble keep that Azazel called his home, he sat on the floor of his moderately sized room. In this room, Mia combed and braided the wild mane of hair on Azazel's head. She sat on the large bed while she labored away at the wild mess of brunette hair that adorned Azazel's head while he sat on the floor with his back and wings uncomfortably pressed against the side of the soft matress. Or at least... she tried to. "CAN YOU STOP TOUCHING MY HORNS!?" The demon that barely reached up to Mia's clavicles whined, swatting her hands away from his head and covering his growing crimson horns. His tail swaying wildly and whipping the floor as he could no longer sit still. "But you look handsome with your braids! Just let me make a few more so we can-" Mia began, only for Azazel to lurch his torso away, his cheeks burning with a furious rosey hue. "I do not care if I look handsome with my hair braided! I do not want you touching my horns! It is uncomfortable enough that you are making me wear these ridiculous trousers underneath my loincloth! I look like leprechaun from hell!" He protested while standing up and walking away from her, his back now pressed against the wall and his wings spread into a concave semicircle. Undoing the finished and unfinished braids with irate abandon, Azazel let his wavy hair drape down the back of his head and down to the nape of his neck. "Goodness Mia, I didn't know you were a kiddie fiddler!" Trephor exclaimed with a gasp, faux shock and a cultured accent lacing his words. This comment resulted in everyone, save for Azazel, present in the room to look at him and in nigh perfect synchronization, shake their heads and let out a cringe induced sigh. "Not helping Trephor!" Azazel chided, rather annoyed that his cheeks got warmer and that his nether regions were growing more and more uncomfortably constricted thanks to the lascivious implication. "Oh, fuck off. That was a good joke" He pouted, crossing his arms and tapping his foot rapidly against the stone floor. This ilicited an angry growl from Azazel, the sound akin to that of an angry wolf. "Hey! hey! Look at me. Take deep breaths. Last time you flew into a blood rage, it took us weeks to rebuild the kitchen. And you know how Lilith got after she saw that." Mia asserted, standing up and walking over to him. She placed herself directly in front of him to obstruct Azazel's vision of the undead who's body and eyes brandished a verdant hue. The reminder of being on the receiving end of the Blood Queen's fury made Azazel shut his eyes and shudder, taking a deep and slow breaths to calm himself. "More like a rabid dog going on an hour-long rampage against Astoshan..." Trephor muttered under his breath. In the deathly quiet of Azazel's room, this comment was easily picked up by everyone present. A bout of poorly contained snickers from Mia and a single snort from Avalon lit the fuze to Azazel's short temper and made his attempts to calm himself all for nothing. "You know what!? All of you can eat a steaming pile of dragon shit and die! I've had it!" He snapped, turning towards the door, kicking it free of it's hinges and storming out of the house. "Kinda hard without a stomach!" Trephor shot back, his eyes burning with verdant amusement. The green undead's comeback was clearly enough to cause Azazel even more discomfort, because the sound of something made of wood being broken rang out; swiftly followed by the sound of the front door being forcefully opened. Once the trio of undead heard the front door downstairs slam shut, they took the opportunity to let out the tsunami of laughter they had been woefully trying to contain. After a few seconds, Avalon had gotten the last of the giggling out of his system. "You're an asshole, but I will admit, that story cracks me up EVERY time." The onyx skeleton confessed, wiping a green ember from the corner of his left eye socket. Mia and Trephor stopped laughing a few seconds after, and the green undead was the next one to speak. "How long do you think he'll hold it against me?" Trephor asked, turning to look at Avalon who sat on a nearby window sill; keeping a watchful eye over Azazel as he stormed off into the woods cussing and cursing at Trephor's name with every profanity his vocabulary could produce. "I'd give him a week." He estimated. Azazel disappeared into the forest, and a minute passed before the sound of a tree being violently uprooted resounded. From atop the canopy of trees, a sizeable birch wood sapling flew into the air in an Eastward direction, only for gravity to pull it back down and make it disappear under the foliage of leaves and startling a flock of birds that flew away to safety. "...maybe two." Avalon added, garnering another round of laughter from Trephor. Mia rolled her eyes and let out a sigh of resignation. "You two are the worst. Alright, let's get everything in order before Astoshan and Lilith come back. Hopefully, by the time we're done, Azazel will have cooled off." Mia ordered, walking out of the room. Not long after this, Avalon and Trephor followed her and they began to repair the disheveled door. While all of this was happening, Anvari had been sitting under a tree in the Ursan forest, quietly watching a doe and her foal resting under a glade of trees five or so yards away. As she enjoyed the tranquility of nature, that same stillness was abruptly ended by the sudden intrusion of a tree falling out of the sky. The cacophony of leaves being rustled, branches being torn apart, and a small tree trunk hitting it's floral brethren before impacting the floor with a weighty thud startled the doe and her foal. As they fled the area, Anvari was left thoroughly startled and disappointed that her peaceful afternoon had been so rudely disrupted. She got up from the ground and inspected the fallen tree from a distance. She deduced the trajectory in which it came from was westward, and her curiosity urged her to go in that direction. After walking for several minutes, she picked up the sound of quiet sobs. Following the sound, she came across a sight that only she was familiar with. Although she had been given undeath only a year ago, she had been the only one to see Azazel in this particular spot and state, save for Lilith, of course. He would go there every time he got angry to try and relax. However, that usually ended with him getting even more furious. He was sitting on the ground in between two roots branching from a mighty deciduous tree. His large inverted wings were wrapped around his body, but failing to muffle his lament. His long tail was coiled around him, laying limp on the grassy ground as the joy that would make it sway was nowhere to be found. Scattered around him were the remains of some form of a green fabric she recognized was a pair of trousers Mia had been sewing a few days ago. She knew that he would wail himself to sleep eventually under the tree's shade and the Ursan forest's gentle breeze. Anvari knew his mother would come looking for him, and normally, she would just leave him be and let Lilith deal with him. However, today was different. Today was Lilith's birthday, and he and Astoshan had been planning a big surprise for the Arch succubus that demanded Azazel be focused and centered to make it happen. Steeling her nerves, she walked closer, using the massive tree as a barrier should he attack her. "Red?..." She asked, fear lacing her voice. Azazel did not flinch at the sudden realization that he was not alone, but rather at the nickname. He would've blasted with hellfire whoever dared invade his "happy place", but not Anvari. She was... different from the rest. Avalon was very helpful and could be fun to be around, but he could not have a profound conversation with the loyal, though hard headed skeleton. Trephor meant well, but his antics and propensity to drive Azazel up the wall made it difficult to stay near him for too long. Of the original three, Mia was the heart that kept the strange trio together since their "resurrection", but even she could be overbearing at times. Anvari, however, had gained a special place in Azazel's heart. While Mia, Trephor, and Avalon were like older siblings, Anvari was the only one Azazel really considered a friend. When Azazel wasn't traveling or learning new spells with his father, building things with his other undead, or learning how to hunt with his mother, she was by his side. "...go away..." He said, trying to make himself smaller by bringing his wings closer together. Anvari would have followed the order, were it not for the fact that she knew what was at stake. "N-no." She began, doing her best to not succumb to fear. "Let me help you. Tell me what's wrong." She ordered, coming out from behind the tree. Azazel said nothing, the only sound coming from him was the occasional sniffle. Anvari hesitated only for a moment before walking over to him. As she knelt down before him, his wings seemed to wrap themselves even tighter around his body. The dwarven undead gently placed her left hand on the brim of one of scale plated wings. "Azazel... please..." She asked, her voice barely above a whisper. Anvari gently tugged and spread The demon's wings apart, revealing his body to her. Azazel sat with his legs held close to his chest, and his head was held low. Anvari could see the stream of tears that had been steadily trickling down his cheeks. The vulnerability Azazel felt was more than obvious, as he was fighting a losing battle to not shake like a leaf. The small undead closed the gap between the two and sat on his left side, their bodies as physically close as comfort would allow. She then rested her head on his shoulder, causing him to look in the opposite direction. "Red... was Trephor being mean again?.." She asked, hoping she wouldn't set him off. After a few moments of silence, Azazel let out a sigh in defeat. "He is right..." He confessed, his voice almost inaudible. "Right about what?" She asked, now less hesitant and more curious. "I'm nothing but a rabid animal..." He answered, shutting his eyes in a vain attempt to make himself disappear. Anvari, on the other hand, lifted her head to look at Azazel. There was silence for a moment, before Anvari set her head back down on her friend's shoulder. "You may think little of yourself..." She began, her eyes smoldering with red and blue wisps of magical fire. "But I don't think you're an animal. You may get angry sometimes... but... I know for a fact that your anger is not the whole of who you are." She said with a gentle finality. Azazel did not contest this, mulling over her words instead. Anvari could feel the little movements of his wings and see the small twitching of his tail as he contemplated her words. Wasting no time, she spoke up again. "An animal wouldn't practice for months with his friends songs for someone he cares about. An animal isn't smart enough to learn new spells and teach them to their friends. An animal doesn't stick up for their family and show them how much they are loved!" As she finished, she let out an exasperated sigh. Anvari closed her eyes only for a moment, but upon opening them, she was startled to find Azazel looking at her with longing in his eyes. "Do... do you really think so?" He asked, letting her know that her next reply would either make him or break him. Anvari would have smiled if she had lips to do so, so instead, she reached out with her boney hand and ever so softly wiped his tears. "I do." She replied, her words sinking deep into Azazel's heart. He sniffled once, and couldn't help but smile. This gave Anvari a risky idea, the likes of which she hesitated only for a moment to take said risk. She wrapped her arms around his torso, forcing herself in and under his arms so that she could nuzzle under his neck. At first, the demon was shocked by the show of affection, but soon gave into it and reciprocated. The two remained like this for several minutes before Anvari spoke up. "Are you ready for our show today?" She asked innocently, her soft voice adding to the serenity of rustling leaves in the gentle summer breeze and chirping birds.This made Azazel chuckle, which caused his undead friend to laugh with him. After a minute or so, he finally spoke up. "I am extraordinarily nervous." He answered still holding her in his arms. "Why?" She asked, glad they could move onto a much less loaded topic. "I'm worried I will have wasted your time for something mother won't like..." He explained, sounding a bit dejected. This caught Anvari by surprise, making her move infront of him and kneel down to his eye level. "What!? Lilith loves your songs, why wouldn't she like your the new ones?" She asked in disbelief. Azazel tried to hide his flustered expression by looking away, but his cheeks and pointy ears betrayed him. "I-I don't know! I just-!" He stammered, trying to think of something to say; only to be cut off by Anvari. "Red, you spent four nights coming up with our performance. You made me, Avalon, Mia, and Trephor practice it for WEEKS! Hell, you even asked Astoshan to help you out with some additional voices!" She pointed out with the utmost vehemence. The undead's reasoning and tone left no room for debate, no matter how much Azazel wanted to. As he sat there, unable to look his friend in the eye, she gently clasped his cheeks between her hands and reoriented him to face her. "You did all that for her and you made sure that this would be the best gift ever. An animal wouldn't do that. You're the kindest, and most generous person I know. And Lilith will be reminded of that tonight. Ok?" She added, her eyes now glinting with red and green. The colorful display rapturing the young demon, making it impossible to look away. As a single tear of liquid joy rolled down his cheek, the slitted pupils of his eyes relaxed; letting him take in the light of her eyes while he nodded. Anvari used her thumb to wipe away that single tear, and let her hands slide down his neck and onto his shoulders. "Let's go inside, we can practice for a bit more if you still don't feel sure. Ok?" She asked, her voice acting as a soothing tonic to the young demon's ears. With a smile and a small nod from Azazel, the two got up, and walked together in a peaceful silence towards their woodland home. /////////Azazel, present time/////////// I don't think I've ever felt as miserable as I did that night. As I sat there, wanting nothing more than to hear one of Trephor's stupid jokes, Mia getting mad at me for destroying a pair of pants or some other uncomfortable piece of clothing, my father lecturing me on the importance of basic healing spells, or even to be held by my mother again; I felt the tree trunk I was on jerk slightly. Before I could pull myself together, I felt the familiar phalanges of my little one gently brush against my left cheek. The sudden contact with my skin made me flinch, my eyes opening on reflex. "Red?..." Anvari asked in a reserved and hesitant tone. As I looked down to my left, I saw her kneeling on the bed besides me. The manticore was sitting patiently by the foot of the bed, looking at me with it's head tilted slightly. Her hand was retreating back towards her side as she looked into my eyes, her blue embers being the tell tale sign of concern. "What's on your mind?.." She asked. This was not the first time she's been there for me, but now more than ever, I felt unworthy of even being in the same room as her. I averted my gaze, steeling myself in order to tell her I was fine. However, she didn't give me the chance; moving my head with her hands for me to look at her. "Red... please... I don't like seeing you like this... what's wrong?..." She asked, her voice was but a whisper. Whatever emotional fortitude I had managed to conjure up was immediately demolished as a nigh endless waterfall of tears began to pour from my eyes. I shivered and clenched every muscle in my face in a vain attempt to keep it together, yet no matter how hard I tried, I couldn't force myself to stop. I cried... hard... so much so, that time had lost all meaning as Anvari held me. "They're gone... Mia and Trephor... I ran out on them... They're dead because of me..." I said between sobs after who knows how long of me babbling incoherently. "Azazel, it's not your fault." Anvari denied. I wanted to believe her... I really did, but the souls within me screamed and howled otherwise... "YOU DOOMED THEM!!!" "TRAITOR!!!" "YOU DO NOT DESERVE THEM!!!" "YOU BETRAYED THEM!!!" They wailed, their incessant assault on my heart hammering away at what remained of my sanity. I began to sob and condemn myself with even more fervor, while my little one's concerned voice was being drowned out by the cacophony of voices in my head. "I left them to die... they're gone... Trephor and Mia... They're gone because of me..." I managed between sobs. As I clutched my head in a desperate attempt to make them stop, I failed to notice Anvari had let go of me. She had somehow managed to breakoff one of the sturdy branches off the trunk's side and wielded it like a warhammer. This impromptu weapon was then used to literally and metaphorically beat some sense into my skull. With a solid hit to the left side of my head, I was left dazed and with a throbbing headache after flopping to my side. On the bright side, the voices had all gone silent, if only for a moment. "AZAZEL ASTOSHAN LILITH!!!" Anvari shouted, causing me to panic internally as if I was about to be mauled to death by a mighty dragon. Immediately, I turned in the general direction from where the attack came from, and was left speechless at the sight before me. Anvari was standing at eye level infront of me, Her eyes were deep crimson embers which shifted to blueish lilacs in a mesmerizing spectacle light. I tried to open my mouth to say something, but whatever I was going to say was made mute by Anvari speaking up again. "DON'T YOU DARE SAY SOMETHING LIKE THAT AGAIN!" She ordered furiously, wordlessly threatening me by raising her weapon. The manticore seemed to pick up on Anvari's threat and proceeded to roar, then growl at me in agreement. "Listen to me! Trephor and Mia are gone because of Celestia! SHE'S THE ONE WHO KILLED THEM!!! Not you! Don't you DARE put their blood on your hands!!!" She said, teetering on the edge of tears herself. "I love you too much for that..." She confessed, lowering the club in her grip. The manticore stopped it's growling to look at her. As the branch fell out of her grip and clattered to the floor, she brought her hands to her face to cover her eyes and cry. Sitting up right, I know not what left me more flabbergasted; her sudden, yet understandable mood swing, or her last statement. Never once had she said she loved me. She made it obvious that she cared, but never had I been told I was loved. Or at least... in the way that I assumed she meant... The manticore, who had been standing at the ready to defend my little one, moved towards the bed. The undead feline placed it's forelegs on the bed and let out a small whimper as it closed the distance between it and Anvari. As my little one sat down, still covering her face out of embarrassment for her outburst, the manticore let out another small whimper as it gently nuzzled against her side in an attempt to make her feel better. "...wh-what?..." It was all I could manage to say, finding myself at a lack for words. "I love you! Alright!? I've heard you blame yourself for things that you have no control over for years... And I don't know what to do anymore! I don't know how else to make you understand..." She confessed angrily at first, letting her hands fall to her sides. The reality and harshness of her words hit me harder than the branch from earlier. The thumping in my head was forgotten as my gaze was cast downward in shame. "I'm sorry... but it's true..." I began, the unintelligible whispers of the damned babbling what I could only assume to be assurances of my sins. "I... I am poison to anyone who dares to care about me... especially you... I-" I was cut off by Anvari standing up, grabbing my horns and pulling me closer to her. Though small, dwarves were remarkably strong and she was no exception. As she roughly oriented my head so that I was forced to lock eyes with her, she bore into my very soul with twin stars the burned with outrage. "STOP IT DAMNIT!!!" If there was anything I could've said, the words never escaped my lips; as I was yet again yanked out of a spiral of self damnation. After a few moments of gut wrenching silence Anvari let go of my horns along with a sigh of exasperation. She moved her hands down to my cheeks, holding me in place so I couldn't look away. The near murderous fury that emblazoned her eyes had softened to a fuschia flame I'd never seen in her eyes before. "You are NOT going to use me as an excuse to avoid dealing with what is behind all this!" She began with an order, her firm tone leaving no room for dissent. Never had I seen this side of her, so in control of a conversation. My one and only friend, who I had always believed to be reserved and quiet her down to her last metaphorical breath, was now leaving me verbally disarmed. "You always talk about how much you hate being blamed for things you are not responsible for. Yet here you are, plunging a knife into your chest because you've let a delusional pega-corn mongoloid and insane souls fill your head with lies! And I think I know why you let them." I was so focused on her words that I didn't notice my eyes had resumed their incessant leaking of bodily fluids until Anvari's tone became a lot less firm and she wiped more tears from my face. "You punish those that hurt you and torment those that hurts us. And deep down you blame yourself just as much as you blame them... if not more... Azazel you need to forgive yourself... If you don't you'll never stop punishing yourself for it." She warned. I once believed that only mother truly understood me, but here I was, sitting in front of a dwarf who knew me probably better than anyone alive or dead. As her words finally sank in, I found it near impossible to breathe. It was all too much, the emotional dissonance coupled with a violent barrage of flashbacks of Mia and Trephor's deaths... along with mother and father... My heart began to pound away in my chest with such force I feared it would burst. I felt nauseous, my sight became blurred, and I felt like I was being cooked alive. The abhorrent overwhelming of my senses only stopped because Anvari noticed it and came to my aid. The indicators of this were the slow, yet much needed dampening of the nausea and the sensation of a cool and soporific spell being cast on me. "Red... please... you have to forgive yourself..." She begged, her eyes now alternating between lavander and navy blue. She was... running her fingers through my hair... For as simple as it was... it gave me peace. "I... I can't..." I said, my nausea vanishing completely as she kneaded away my pain. My head felt heavy, along with everything else. I was tired. Tired of fighting. Tired of everything... "Why!? Why can't you let it go?..." She pleaded, her tone leaving no room for doubt that she needed an answer NOW. I wanted to disappear, but I forced myself to answer her anyway... with the painful truth... "I don't know how!" I replied with my throat dry and irate. I wanted to cry even more, but my body had no more tears to give. Hell, if it were possible, I would've forced my body to use my blood as tears if only to rid it of the heartache I felt. "I-... I don't even know where to begin... b-but..." I started again, but struggled to get the words out of my throat. "...but what?..." Anvari asked, her hands clasping my cheeks. "YOU DESERVE TO SUFFER!!!" "SHE LIES!!!" The souls within me struggled, fighting against my will and forcing me to remain quiet while I struggled to subdue them. I shut my eyes, they... burned with how dry and irritated they had become after opening the flood gates. It was only through sheer force of will that I said what my heart felt. "...I want to..." I said with trepidation. I opened my eyes after a long and unsettling while where my little one said nothing. I saw Anvari looking at me, her eyes lighting up like fireworks with embers of blue, green and even more pinkish colors shooting out from the wisps of her eyes. She gasped with her hands covering her mouth. She let out an excited chuckle as her eyes flared with a gallant green and hot pink. If she had a face with skin, I could've bet my horns that she would look like a castaway seeing dry land after who knows how long of being floating aimlessly through the sea. "Red... You just took your first step!" Anvari said excitedly, her tears now gone as she got to her feet and leapt onto me with the intention of squeezing me half to death. I caught her mid-jump, and corrected her trajectory for her to land on my lap. She wrapped her arms and legs around me as much as her small frame would allow. As we held each other, I felt an odd feeling growing in me. At first I was partially aware that it was there, but as seconds turned to minutes of holding my little one, it was becoming more and more intense. With her head nuzzled into my neck, I backed away slightly so that I could look down. Her green embers... I'd seen them a thousand times before, but... never like this. Here was someone that... loved me. Not because they were obliged to, but because they saw something in me they liked. The feeling in my chest grew stronger, and soon, I felt my lips pull away towards my cheeks, forming a humble smile. As we gazed into each other's eyes, my eyelids grew unbearably heavy, and I hesitantly moved my lips closer to her as my eyes were shut. I will admit that I was too wrapped up in the heat of the moment, because I failed to notice the very rapid flicker from green to yellow in Anvari's eyes. I was hoping to plant a gentle kiss on her... but instead, a small hand pressed against my lips, stopping me from moving forward, along with my little one putting some distance between my body and hers while remaining seated. Contact with her hand snapped me back to reality, making my eyes open and lock with- Why are her cheekbones pink while her eyes are yellow!? "Red?... W-What are you..?" She asked, sounding startled. At around this time, Anvari released my mouth. To say that I was caught off guard as well would have been an understatement. My face became hot with the familiar and inconvenient rush of blood towards my brain through my cheeks, resulting in me looking like a druidian beetroot. "I-I thought that... you and... and I..." It was all I could stammer out, unable to look anywhere other than her eyes. Those red embers had been shifting between blood red and a golden hue, but it wasn't until I stuttered that my little one's eyes shrunk... and shifted to blue... "Dear Gods... ...Red, I... I'm so sorry... I didn't mean to mislead you! Please don't be angry! I swear I didn't mean to!.." She pleaded, standing up on my left while holding my head against her ribcage. I was vaguely aware that she was stroking my hair, and that she was still talking. I was... I don't even know how to describe it in a single sentence. My chest felt like it was trying to implode, the souls within me had gone so quiet that for the first time in a very long time I knew what true silence felt like. Every muscle in my face relaxed and returned it from whatever expression I once held to one of neutrality. All thoughts ceased; and soon, the dull pain in my chest I had only become aware of because of it's absence, was replaced by something else... I felt... empty... How much time passed, I'm not sure, but I was eventually brought back from limbo by the sound of a whinny, yet distinctly masculine voice. "S-sir?... Is this a bad time?..." ///////////////////// Despite the stutter, Azazel recognized it as Savant Dancer. His head was downcast and his eyes out of focus, and after a few seconds, the world came back into focus. The half-breed raised his downcast gaze to meet the yellow orbs of fire in Savant Dancer's eye sockets. Azazel then realized that Spectre Luamoon was also standing before him. Their black and red attire would have brought on a small tinge of pride whithin the demon, yet he felt nothing. "No. What is it?" He answered, his voice hoarse and quiet. "Avalon has returned from his hunt and requires your presence. He's out by the Castle's entrance." Spectre began with a polite and professional tone. "Sir?.. pardon me, but are you alright? You look... ill..." She hesitantly finished, the underlying concern for her master's well-being surfacing through the cracks of her professionalism. This concern was not without merit, for the young necromancer did in fact look very unwell. His skin seemed even more pale than usual, and dark veins streaked outward from around his eyes. Unbeknownst to Spectre and Savant, the first symptom of the first blood rage he had had in years had already manifested itself. "I'm fine. I will go see what he needs me for." He replied, now looking around his environment. "What time is it?" He asked, taking note that Anvari was nowhere to be found. "The sun should be setting in a few minutes, sir." Spectre explained, her head tilted slightly to the side as she scanned his face for any indication as to what he was thinking. Azazel said nothing as he stood up, making Savant and Spectre move aside. "Did you two find anything of use?" The half-breed asked while he idly stretched and popped his joints. This made the golden embers of Savant to light ablaze with verdant fire. "We did! We found a private suite in the eastern tower that housed several tomes and books on old Equestrian magic! It was a little difficult to read them all without magic to move them around, but we managed." He happily answered, Savant's giddy demeanor causing his undead compatriot to roll her eyes. "Shall we bring them here?" Spectre asked. Azazel simply nodded and continued to stretch and take deep breaths. As the half-breed stretched, the undead pair left the room to begin their assigned chore. Now by himself in the library, he walked towards the exit. "Red? Are you feeling alright?" A feminine voice asked from Azazel's left as he opened the door to leave, causing him to stop and shut it. He slowly turned to his left and locked eyes with the dwarven undead. The two stared at each other for a few moments, until of course, Anvari's gaze landed on his eyes. "Azazel... Your eyes... What is that?" She pointed out before asking with worry in her voice. While Anvari was unaware of the looming danger, Azazel became acutely aware as the edges of his vision slowly came out, then back into focus. "You left them to die..." "Traitor..." "You failed them..." Voices in the demons head whispered with sensuous malice. Recognizing the danger, he shut his eyes and focused on silencing them. Soon, their voices became nothing more than the occasional incoherent babble in Azazel's ear. As this happened, the dark streaks branching out from his bloodshot eyes began receding, whose dark sheen was violated by veins and capillaries of liquid malice of the glowed with an angry red. By then, the only indicator of him being unwell was his unnaturally pale skin. Feigning being slightly tired, he left his eyelids droop slightly as he looked at his dwarven friend. "I am fine little one. Everything will be alright soon." Azazel lied, a humble smile grazing his lips. "Red, you haven't said a word since you came back from the forest with Saros. Matter of fact, he didn't even come back. You've been staring off into space for hours and you look like you have a fever. Are you sure you're alright?" Anvari asked, drawing closer and taking his left hand in hers. Holding her hand, Azazel tightened his grip and said nothing, opting to nod instead of saying anything. Her red eyes lit to green if only for a moment, before walking away towards the sleeping manticore resting on a mound of damaged books a short walk away and letting him leave. As he walked out and through the corridors of the abandoned castle, the souls within the half-breed began to stir once again. "Too late to save mommy and daddy..." "Too late to save Mia and Trephor..." "You will kill her like you kill your brother and sister..." "You are unworthy of their love... And soon... No one will be able save you... FROM US!!!" Several voices hissed. Azazel said nothing for a while as the rest of the voices inside him echoed their insults, that is of course, until he reached the massive twin doors that led to the castle's front. The cacophony of jabbering abruptly silenced itself when Azazel placed his hands on the twin doors. He stood there, with his eyes closed and struggling to keep his breathing steady as he strained himself to stay as calm as possible. The dark veins began bulging outward from his eyes, spreading and receding erratically. This went on for about a minute before the streaks receded completely and the bright red capillaries that pierced through the black of his eyes faded. "I know..." He muttered under breath before pushing the doors open, and walking pout into the cool evening as the sun slowly set over the Everfree's canopy of trees. > Chapter 16. Hope > -------------------------------------------------------------------------- ////////////////////// Inside a cobblestone cell in the highest tower of Eclyptus Prison, north of Tamriel, lay a man in captivity under heavy guard. The cell itself was fairly large, but it had nothing save for a single barred window that let in the gentle autumn breeze. Prostrated on his knees in the center of the room and bound by chains of mythril and silver that held his limp arms aloft, was a man wearing only a pair of worn trousers. His skin was broken and bruised, and several lacerations decorated his emaciated body. After days of being in either total isolation or being brutally tortured, the man responsible for the prisoner's incarceration peered through the hole. The rattling of keys and the clicks of several locks being unlocked resounded before the door was opened. The only illumination inside that room was the man's eyes, as the night sky outside was covered by ominous clouds. Those eyes glowed with a malevolent green, as they were transfixed on a single point, a small rectangular slot on the metal door leading into his cell. "Come to confess your sins Deus?" The chained man asked in a blatantly sarcastic tone at the captain of the Astral Guard as he entered with three more silver clad warriors who then surrounded the prisoner. The torch-lit hallway illuminated the interior of the cell for it's prisoner to be seen by all who dared to come near. Two soldiers brandished crossbows with enchanted arrows, which were then aimed at their prisoner. The third warrior carried a massive greatsword on his back that further punctuate his massive size, standing easily a whole foot and a half taller than the 6'0 that Deus boasted. "Be silent filth!" One of the soldiers wielding a crossbow reprimanded the bound man after smacking him in the back of the head with the butt of his weapon. The soldier was then met by the silent wave of Deus' hand, informing him to stay quiet. Not even for a second after that did the prisoner's and his captor's eyes part, the two being hyperfocused on each other like a predator looking into the eyes of it's prey before it lunging forward to deliver the killing blow. "Leave us." The captain ordered after a solid minute of being deathly silent. This caused his soldiers to exchange worried looks amongst themselves. "S-sir?" One of the three asked, looking right into Deus' eyes. "Go." He replied with a forced calmness that let his soldiers know they needed to get out, NOW. Without another word, the three guards left the room and shut the door while they waited outside for their captain. Now alone, the warrior knelt down on one knee to be at eye level with his prisoner. "Why did you let yourself be captured Astoshan?" Deus asked, scrutinizing the chained necromancer's face. Astoshan tilted his head slightly with mild confusion, his dirtied brunette hair being flicked to the side after it threatened to get in the necromancer's eye. "What makes you think I'd do such a thing?" He replied with a question of his own. The captain of the royal guard stood back up and began pacing around the cell as he answered Astoshan's question. "I've read about you. Across the realms you were feared and revered as a God of Death and a force of nature, not to mention that if the war with the orc tribes ten years ago is taken into account, you could have slaughtered me and my men with no more than a wave of your hand... even with the power of the Axelion, you could've taken us like it was nothing." He began explaining, having stopped at the window behind Astoshan to admire the world beyond. In the distance, verdant planes stretched for miles on end before the capital of Tamriel could be seen off in the distance, with the peak of the black mountain rising over the horizon and piercing the heavens. However beautiful the scenery may have been, the first rains of Autumn had begun to fall over the empire; and the skies over the Eclyptus compound were shrouded under the shadow of what probably be quite the rainstorm. "Yet here you are, in chains and on your knees before mere mortals. However that may be, I did not come here to mock you." He continued, looking on as a flock of birds migrated past the complex and further south, towards the Black Mountain. "All I want, is the creature that killed my men, where and what is it?" Deus finished his question after letting out a sigh and circling back around to kneel before the bound master of undeath. Astoshan was looking down at the floor while Deus Vult spoke. "It is mind-blowing to think that I was like you once..." Astoshan began, almost sounding as if he was musing to himself. "...I spent so many years trying to rid myself of my humanity... ...that I failed to see that it wasn't my humanity that made me a monster..." He continued, now looking up at Deus. "And it is so strange to me to think that despite the centuries of... running, hiding, learning, and slaughter... that even a few days ago I still clung onto the most human emotion... Do you know what it is?" Astoshan's voice was nearing that of a whisper and the look he gave Deus was one of pity. The captain of the royal guard struggled to keep a mask of stoicism on. Inside Deus' mind, two conflicting attitudes clashed with each other, causing a strange dissonance that the battle hardened warrior was not at all comfortable with. Eventually, the choice between sympathy and duty directing his next words was soon cemented. After a few minutes of the two sitting in silence with each other, the captain spoke up with his brow furrowed in determination. "You did not answer my question, Astoshan." The change in Astoshan's expression made it clear that that was not the response he was looking for. The face that now stared back at the captain was not one of pity. It was one of a calm and collected neutrality that rivaled that of a warforged, the one odd detail that Deus did notice, was that he was sweating profusely. However that may have been, the necromancer's eyes told a completely different story, for if they had an evil look before, now they were truly terrifying. The white of Astoshan's eyes had turned to black, and his irises along with his pupils constricted to such a degree that they now resembled green dots amidst a soul sucking void. "And you have not answered mine." Before the necromancer even opened his mouth, all external sound suddenly went deathly quiet. The sound of the guards' armor moving around and talking outside, the sound of the wind blowing through the window ceased, even the sound of the captain's and Astoshan's breathing stopped, while the necromancer's voice was seemingly magnified and dropped a whole octave deeper. It reverberated around the room and seemed to blend with the rumble of a distant thunderclap that came after a brief flash of light from outside. With a heavy sigh to stave his anger, Astoshan spoke up again. "You have until the rain hits this tower." He warned, letting his gaze drift downward once more. For as terrified as Deus was at the necromancer's threat, he reassured himself like he had done so on the way inside this dreadful place. "You are bound by restraints of mythril and silver, and the chamber you are on is covered in runes to prevent your foul magic from hurting anyone. You have no power here and will be executed once you tell me the location of the beast! Don't you understand!? It's over! YOU'VE LOST!" He began, grabbing Astoshan's face roughly so that the two would be facing each other. "Now... is there anything you'd like to add to the subject I just raised?" Astoshan said nothing for the longest while, until a sound from outside caught the attention of Deus. As the captain's gaze drifted towards the window, the gentle tapping he could hear echoing through the cell's roof became a faster pitter patter, then it became- "Time's up..." Astoshan said, his voice sounding like that of a strained whisper. In a reflexive panic, Deus drew the Axelion from it's sheath and readied himself to cleave the master of undeath in two. What Deus had failed to see in the time that he was in that cell, was that Astoshan had been draining the life force that radiated off the astral paladin and focusing the magical energy into a particular spell. Said cantrip increased the acidity of the bile in his stomach, his innards were begining to melt away into a thick and viscous mess of gore, which in turn triggered a natural response in his body to expell the harmful substance from his body. Much to Deus' shock, just as he raised his arms over his head to swing down at Astoshan with his holy weapon, his face was greeted with a green and red sludge that slammed into him. The disorienting wave of searing pain that rippled through his body as the highly acidic bodily fluid that was hurled into his face burned at his skin was the window Astoshan needed. With his organs reduced to mush and with little left inside, he would have to act quickly lest the pain he felt be too much for his undead tolerance to dampen. He regurgitated what was left of his innards onto his arms. Slowly, but surely, the skin and tissue that remained on Astoshan's arm began to burn away and with two heaves on each side, his arms were freed from their bonds and their flesh. Just as he thought he could catch his breath, the door to the cell exploded inward, revealing half a dozen soldiers wielding a variety of weaponry. They would have charged in immediately and apprehended their latest escapee, were it not for the Astral Captain Deus Vult screaming, gurgling, and crawling towards them with most of his face melted off before collapsing dead on the floor. The disturbing image was only made worse when they heard the sound of chains clattering and swaying in a cold wind that now flowed into the cell. As the soldiers looked up, they saw an almost skeletal silouhette of a man with verdant dots of dim light for eyes staring directly at them. However, that wasn't the most frightening part... it was holding a flaming sword the guards knew all too well. "SIDUS IGNE MAXIMA!!!" The figure shouted with the Axelion held high over it's head in it's right hand. The flames surrounding the blade began to spiral and shift from a bright yellow to a bright sky blue. With an ear splitting shriek, a beam of blue light burned through the roof and a magical barrier that was once invisible to the naked eye shattered. As the barrier crumbled away, and the runes that were once hidden in darkness began to glow with a blue light that illuminated the room as they lost their magical cohesion. The soldiers looked on in abject horror as they could now see it in all it's grotesque glory. Standing under a shower of unimpeded rain was a man with skin that was as grey as ash and wounds littered over what remained of his flesh. The muscle and skin around the hands and lower forearms were completely gone, exposing bone that should not be moving like that of a living hand. It's face was even more chilling than the rest of it's body, the upper part of it's face was relatively fine and was even adorned with a nice head of brunette hair that was being brushed back by the undead's skeletal hand. The undead's cheeks were gone along with it's lips, leaving it's teeth exposed along with part of the muscles that worked it's jaw. He looked up and let the rain wash over him as he took a deep breath through his nostrils before looking back at the stupified guards. "Allow me to alliterate all that will terrifically transpire with the appropriate application of perfected parlance like the delectable derriere of a sensuous succubus." He began, stabbing the holy blade into the ground and freeing his hands. The Axelion's holy fire was extinguished upon being impaled with a loud whoosh. "I hereby revoke you of right to raise arms against me. Lest you lie deader—in lieu of a less lascivious term to lean on—than a deva drowned in it's own depraved delirium." Astoshan challenged, his hands being wreathed in a sickly green magical aura that danced around his palm and fingers like fire. With the cell's syphoning runes gone, his cuffs removed, and his masterful art of bullshittery; he had bought enough time for his magical reservoirs to recharge to a fourth of their usual strength. And just in the nick of time as well, because two of the guards at the door charged forwards. One of the guards aimed his crossbow at Astoshan before letting loose an enchanted arrow. The necromancer had already predicted the long range weapon would hit him first, and thus had already determined how he would end his opponents and survive a near point blank shot from a crossbow. "ZA WARUDO!!! Tokiwa Tomata." The grey god of death screamed at first, then said calmly once the spell's effect took hold. In a flash of verdant light, the world had suddenly slowed down to a halt and only the brightest of colors remainef whilst everything else became a grey scale of it's former self. Astoshan smiled as he realized the hurriedly cast spell worked, enhancing his reaction time to the point where it seemed like time had stopped. The arrow that had been fired at him was hovering in the air mere centimeters from his neck. He offhandedly plucked it from the air and inspected it. "Hmm... Frost arrows, they're learning..." He said, admiring the miniscule runes. His gaze then shifted towards his unmoving assailants. The absence of all sound and the faces of warriors forcefully burying their fear under anger made the lord of undeath chuckle before letting out a sigh of relief. "But ultimately useless." He began again, walking towards the guards. "Useless. useless. useless. useless." He muttered to himself with a sing-song tonality and a playful bounce to his step. One by one, Astoshan delivered a quick stabs to the necks of the frozen guards with the frost arrow meant for him. He continued doing this action as he exited the room, stopping after only one guard remained in the hallway. When he was about to deliver the killing blow to the last guard in the hallway, he noticed something odd. Unlike the others, who had their weapons drawn and charging for the cell. This one was held panicked expression on his face. What made Astoshan stop was not the distress in the man's face, it was the fact that he was clasping something in his hand. Whatever it was, it was hung around his neck with a simple chain of golden links. He reached out with his free hand and opened the frozen man's hand to reveal a small locket pendant. The pendant itself was unremarkable to the naked eye, but to the necromancer's honed senses, he could feel a magical resonance within. Lowering his raised arm and letting the arrow be suspended in the air, he pondered on what to do. This guard was, for lack of a better word, expendable and was paid very little judging by the simple armor and sword sheathed on his belt. "Instead of taking arms and charging, he chose to flee..." Astoshan mused as he grabbed the pendant in his gnarled hand and uttered the verbal trigger to a spell slightly more complicated than the he had once taught his son. "Revelio... Shuthoerin..." He said, and in doing so, several tendrils of a verdant ethereal miasma began to swirl and writhe in and around the necromancer's arms and the pendant. As this happened, visions in rapid succession began to flash before Astoshan's eyes: A young elven girl that seemed to be no more than eight years of age drawing a small heart with blue ink on a small parchment, an elvish woman selecting a golden chain at a jewelry shop along with... the pendant... The final vision was of the young girl handing the pendant to the guard at a dinner table with the woman from before. "Happy birthday daddy!" The girl's voice echoed around in Astoshan's head until he let go of the piece of jewelry. The necromancer stood there for a few moments, processing everything he had witnessed before making up his mind on what to do next. He went to the end of the hallway where the door leading down to the rest of the facility and barricaded it with some of chairs and a table that was where the guards could sit and dawdle amongst themselves. An indicator of this was the cards that once lay on the table; now they hovered in the air, motionless. After ensuring he would not be disturbed, Astoshan stood a few feet away from the guard and took a deep breath before making himself invisible. "...Tokiwa Umokidas..." He uttered his next spell, and the world began to move again. The guard was confused to see the door leading away from certain doom was closed and barricaded. He ground to a halt just as he heard from behind him the sound of gurgling and multiple objects hitting the floor, and he turned around to a horrifying realization. The guards that weren't writhing on the floor while choking for air, lay limp on the floor with shards of ice perforating their neck and shredding them asunder. The guard's face became pale and his breathing eratic as he saw the sickening display before him. If he wasn't afraid before, now he would be. "Don't move... and don't scream..." A deep voice ordered behind the mortified human. Even if he wanted to, the scream in his throat was held hostage by the sheer terror that paralyzed him. "Do not panic, and I'll let you live." Doing as instructed, the guard held his stance and did not move an inch save for the cold shudder running down his spine. He prayed to any god or goddess that would listen, he begged for his life to be spared. He shut his eyes, more out of a need to do so lest he panic and ensure his demise. As a cold sweat trickled down his brow, he could feel the God of Death moving around him; the sheer amount of mana flowing around the necromancer weighed down on the guard. He felt the putrid smell of bile and melted viscera flow into his nostrils as the necromancer's visage was no more than a few centimeters away from the guard's face. Astoshan's bony hand reached up and grabbed the pendant that hung around the man's neck and tugged on it to make the chain go taught. The necromancer's action made something blossom within the heart of the guard. It was... rage. Born from the indignation of allowing such a vile being to touch something so precious to him. He swore it on his wife and daughter's name that if he was to die here and now, he'd die fighting for those he loved. Without opening his eyes, the man grabbed the hilt of his sword. He drew his weapon and let out a warcry, before swinging his sword with every ounce of strength his body could muster. "RRRRRAAAAAAAAGH!!!" *CLANG* His blade hit something and was firmly held in place, but with his eyes closed, he couldn't tell what happened. So after taking a deep breath, the man opened his eyes and witnessed something... odd. Before him stood the half-melted visage of the necromancer, the dark void of his eyes boring into the guard's very soul. Astoshan had caught the blade between his pinched phalanges, which was now being held in place with super human strength that defied logic. Said strength proved to be unnecessary, for the guard did not try to free his weapon from the ghastly figure's grip. The two simply stared at each other, neither making a move against the other. Then the odd thing happened. Astoshan's deliquesced face began to heal, and the darkness in his eyes began to retake it's alabastor luster. The nigh microscopic coruscations of jade malice that were his eyes unconstricted into that of a healthy human eye with a gentle viridian glow. "There it is..." Astoshan began, his cheeks and lips having healed and formed a gentle smile. "The thing that gives us our humanity..." He softly continued, letting the guard's slack grip and gravity pull the sword in his grasp fall to the floor with a metallic rattle that echoed through the empty hallway. The guard's terror had melted away in the stillness of this moment. He was still acutely aware of who was talking to him, and he could still see the corpses behind the necromancer, but oddly, Astoshan's delivery had brought an odd peace to him. "You are like me... driven by the most powerful force in the multiverse... willing to die for those we hold dear to our hearts." Astoshan finished, his smile being brought about by memories of his own past. "Tell me, what's your name?" He asked nonchalantly after a minute or two. It took a lot of effort to speak, but the guard did eventually answer. "G-Galen... Galen Rose..." Galen timidly replied. Turning face, the undead necromancer began to walk back to his cell with an amused chuckle. "You have a good soul Mr. Rose." As Astoshan spoke, the guard was caught off guard by the sound of the door leading into the hallway being struck repeatedly. The man turned around to see debris being ejected from the door frame with every consecutive strike. "Resurectum inmortus..." The voice of the necromancer reverberated around the hallway as the bodies of Galen's deceased comrades and captain clambered to their feet. He stared at the door as it threatened to burst open, each strike further dislodging the door from it's hinges and frame. He knew he had nothing to fear from the other guards in the prison, but what would Astoshan do to them should they- "SIDUS IGNE MAXIMA!" The voice of Astoshan broke out from somewhere behind Galen, and a torrent of flames roared past his left. The jet of white hot holy fire punched through the door like it was nothing, shrieking so loudly that it threatened to make Galen's ear drums burst. When the ringing in his ears stopped, he turned to see Astoshan and a half dozen undead standing behind him with weapons at the ready. The master of undeath had claimed one of the undead's armored chest plate and some boots to dress himself. He hid his face under a star spangled, midnight blue hooded cloak, which had been torn off Deus' armor. With the Axelion wreathed in blue fire, he aimed it towards the exit and the undead charged through killing anything that got in their way. Astoshan began walking away, but stopped at the door before turning to a bewildered Galen. "Come, or I won't be able to guarantee your safety." He ordered casually. Galen did not speak, opting to simply follow the Grey God of Death and let him talk as the two walked pass the pulverized doorway and down the stairs that led to the central level of the prison. The guard was curious of the necromancer's intentions, but it took a great deal of will power to override his instinctual fear. "Why are you doing this?" Galen asked in a hushed tone as he saw Astoshan raise the fallen guards from the dead. The dark sorcerer said nothing while he worked, but once his spell was completed and the dead rose up to take arms against the living, he turned to the perplexed human on his left. "Doing what?" The necromancer asked. "Keeping me alive." Galen replied, much to Astoshan's amusement. "I need you to run an errand for me, and I like you." Astoshan answered with sincerity in his voice. "It's a shame there aren't many like you in the Empire" Astoshan's more assertive tone let the human know that he was being serious. "But this country was given its chance. Which was forfeit when it separated me from my family." He continued, wordlessly raising more fallen soldiers and mages from the dead as the two reached the main cell block. Galen's eyes widened at Astoshan's remark. Galen had been told that this monster was heartless and incapable of love and empathy, yet here he was, talking about his family... He had heard the rumors a few years ago that the Ursan Forest had been cursed by the necromancer, which explained why it was one of the few places that was forbidden to travel into. The two continued to walk in silence, the sound of rain outside and carnage on the inside being the only sound the two could hear. "You had a family?..." Galen asked, hoping the question wouldn't anger him. Astoshan said nothing for while, but as they neared their destination, he gave Galen an answer. "My wife and son... The last shred of humanity I had left." He replied sullenly, stopping some distance away from a set of large twin doors. The fifty-ish undead that were currently trying to claw the door open had had little success in progressing without assistance. As Astoshan raised the Axelion towards the door, the horde parted so that their master could give them a path. The yellow flames began to swirl and writhe as they began to shift to a blue light. "SIDUS IGNE MAXIMA!!!" Astoshan shouted, trying to outroar the Axelion's blast of holy pyre. The door's surprising durability ensured that it wouldn't shatter upon being struck, so it was blasted off its hinges and sent hurdling through the air. "Ugh... I hate verbal commands on magical weaponry. My throat hurts." The necromancer complained as he lowered his sword, his eyes never leaving the slowly dissipating mass of dust and ash. When the dust settled, Astoshan could see that the remainder of the Solarian guard stationed at Eclyptus Prison—approximately seven-hundred-fifty human, veldaken, elven soldiers and the aasimar elite—had all gathered in the central holding block to make a last stand against him; the same room said Grey God had unceremoniously barged into. The doors had impaled themselves on the far wall of the room, barely missing the soldiers on the far left of the blockade. With that as their cue, the living charged forward, only for the horde to take them head-on. The necromancer knew his small army wouldn't survive the onslaught, so he took a deep breath before letting it out slowly. He reached out with his skeletal hand and cast a spell he had once used to decimate a legion of orc marauders. "Seidlas... Notonde!" He uttered the incantation, and before anyone could react, it was to late for those under the necromancer's gaze. With his palm held flat, he jerked his arm forward and a shockwave of nigh invisible green magic spread outward from his hand. As it traveled through the air and the soldiers fighting the undead, their souls were ejected from their bodies. As the silhouettes of people made of a sky-blue miasma looked themselves over before being pulled in by hurricane like winds in the direction of the necromancer. As they drew closer, the souls were ripped to shreds and was condensed into a white sphere made of some ethereal silk that hovered over Astoshan's gnarled hand. When the last of the bodies fell limp on the ground, the Grey God of Death crushed the sphere in his hand; resulting in the almost white energy diffusing into his body. Taking a deep breath, he let out a sigh of mild exasperation. Galen's mortal eyes could not see the spectacle of light, so all he witnessed was an entire batallion of healthy and trained soldiers fall dead on the floor with no more than an odd phrase. The instinctual fear that he had managed quell a few moments ago had returned and multiplied tenfold as his mind began to reassess his chances of survival. The undead army didn't stop trying to kill the already dead soldiers until Astoshan spoke up again. "Round up any inmates from the surrounding wings here. Kill anything that tries to stop you." He ordered, and without the slightest hesitation, the horde stormed out of the massive chamber. The stone walls of the complex were lit by a combination of torches and magically charged lanterns. The room Astoshan and Galen now stood in was a multiple story prison block with four floors and with as many cells as architecturally possible crammed with as many as five inmates per cell. "It's him!" "Death has come for us!" "Get away from the bars!" Thieves, murderers, and the other prisoner's muttered and mumbled to themselves in fear as Astoshan passed by the cells of the first floor. All at once, the inmates became silent as Astoshan and Galen when they stopped in the center of the massive chamber. Rain from the outside and the odd explosion from the chaos the necromancer's undead were causing in the lower levels was all that could be heard. Galen could see the sheer terror in their faces, but then he directed his attention to Astoshan. The Grey God of Death looked at each of the prisoner's, the dark malice that once plagued his eyes had now returned. "Galen..." The necromancer called to the guard, making the two lock eyes. "Where is my phylactery?" Astoshan asked, his voice a few octaves lower than before and now reverberating off the walls with such force that he subconsciously feared they would crumble under the pressure. Steeling his nerves, lest he anger the visibly upset necromancer, he answered him. "It's in the main vault of the Eclyptus compound, in sublevel twenty two. But You won't make it in their by yourself, the area is being protected b-" "An astral shield." The necromancer cut in, startling the terrified guardsman. Astoshan walked over to Galen and looked him over before holding out the Axelion for the guard to take. "Take it. You will need it." The necromancer said after a brief pause. With a bit of hesitation, Galen took the holy blade in his hand and looked over the crusader sword's elegant design and the runic markings covering almost all of the sword's faces. "Get out of here before the Queen's army surrounds this place. Take your family and go into the Ursan forest. If my home wasn't destroyed, you may stay there. Do not leave the area, I will have someone send you food and supplies. That sword is what will let my undead know not to harm you, so don't lose it." Astoshan ordered, his tone calm and reassuring enough so that Galen would calm down; if only a little. Looking up from his weapon, the guardsman locked eyes with the undead necromancer. With a hundred questions racing through his mind, he quickly picked one and asked. "What will you do when they show up?" Astoshan said nothing, but the small smile that continued to grow into a shit eating grin was all Galen needed to realize that he needed to get the hell out of dodge. //////Canterlot castle at around eight o'clock////// On a balcony in Luna's tower, Saros Cycle stood with his eyes closed and his hand outstretched and bathed in a teal ethereal light. Beside him, Luna stood with her eyes shut and her horn enveloped in an azure aura of magical energy. The two had been using their magic for the last half hour to set the sun over Equestria. It's descent was slow, but after much effort, the sun finally sunk under the horizon and the moon was raised shortly thereafter. Falling to his knees panting, his brow slick with sweat, he looked over to his adoptive mother. "How does... *pant* how does she do this every day?" He croaked. While Luna was equally drained, she mostly maintained her composure thanks to the years of exposure to noble etiquette. "Our sister's duty binds her to the sun. It bends to her will, much like how the stars and the moon bend to mine and the weather to yours." She answered, still taking deep breaths through her nostrils. Turning to face her son, Luna smiled. "Do you remember when you would ask me to help you paint the stars?" She asked. As the human sat there on his knees, he met her gaze and chuckled. "We'd make a mess on the canvas and you'd blow it out of the water by re-creating it on the sky." He complemented, gaining a mild blush from Luna. "I haven't changed it... the stars are still aligned in the last pattern you drew. Not that any pony would know..." She reminisced with a tinge of pain, as she looked up at her night sky, illuminated by a galaxy of stars in a pattern she memorized during her millenium on the moon. Seeing this, the stormcaller got to his feet and placed a hand on her shoulder. The two shared another glance and enjoyed the stillness of the night. That is, of course, until a knock at the door leading into Luna's quarters broke the peaceful quiet. "Enter." Luna ordered, and the door was cracked open just enough to allow the visitor to poke his mismatched head through. "I didn't come in at a bad time did I?" Discord timidly walked in. Luna had been so use to Discord being random, that seeing him come in so normally through her for a loop, but after a few seconds, she trotted over to greet him leaving Saros in the balcony. "How are you feeling Discord?" Luna asked with a gentle smile on her face. "Ugggghhh... Miserable. I haven't had to walk this much IN MILLENIA! I must admit I've found a new appreciation for teleportation and the ability to fly for long periods of time." He complained, his eyeballs literally rolling back into his head as he collapsed backwards, holding his hooved leg in the air. This got a hearty chuckle from Luna, but Saros on the other hand, was fuming. Even after being assured countless times by the element of kindness and his mother that Discord had truly been reformed, he had been finding it increasingly difficult to even stand in the same room as the god of chaos and mischief. As the seconds passed, his anger continued to escalate; eratic bursts of a celeste, static electricity bolted around his arms and his fists were slowly being encased in a very thin layer of frost that diffused into steam upon coming into contact with the air. To keep himself in check, Saros turned around and rested his hands on the white marble railing; trying to think of anything else to get his mind o- "Saros?" Luna's voice broke Saros free from his own thoughts with such force that he accidentally ejected frost magic from his hands, binding him to the railing with dense masses of ice. He pulled and strained for a bit, but his attempts to free himself were in vain, as the ice didn't budge in the slightest. Turning around clockwise as much as his new restraints would let him, he could see Luna covering her mouth with her hoof as she giggled. Thrown slightly off by this, he completely missed Discord, who was silently stargazing to his left. "You know, the more I look at the bugbear constellation the less I see a bugbear and the more I see an upside-down koala. Is that just me?" Discord's voice sent Saros into a panic frenzy after he whirled counterclockwise and his eyes locked on to the draconequus looming over him. After a minute of struggling manically, the delirious stormcaller settled on concealing his panic under a death stare directed at the mischievous spirit. At any other time, this would've been hysterical for Discord; but what he was to do now had been weighing on him ever since the demon that set Saros free wandered into the Everfree. He took a deep breath to jumble his collected thoughts, and summoned a tiny wooden gavel from thin air. He then proceeded to ever so gently tap the ice restraining the startled human. With a comedic *dink* the basketball sized masses of frost shattered like glass and fell to the floor and off the side of the balcony overlooking the city of Canterlot. Rubbing the cold off of his hands, Saros looked away from the master of mischief and spoke. "What do you want?" He said, the strain to keep his composure was blatantly audible in his tone. Discord's gaze fell and hovered over the castle's garden below. He could see the place where he had been petrified for over a millennia, and a wave of guilt washed over the deflated draconequus. "I know you don't want anything to do with me Saros. But please le-" "DON'T!!!" Discord began, only to be cut off by Saros as he wheeled around to look at him. The god of Chaos's heart sank the moment he saw the tears flowing down the human's cheeks. There was a second of silence before the aggravating stormcaller spoke up again. "Don't... don't call me that..." He continued, his entire body was trembling, and the arching bolts of lightning coursing through his arms were crackling with reckless abandon. Discord said nothing, letting the human release everything he had clearly been holding in. "I don't remember my own name because of you... I don't even remember what my parents look like BECAUSE OF YOU! YOU TOOK EVERYTHING AWAY FROM ME AND TURNED ME INTO A FREAK!!!" The human angrily shouted, as he lunged forward and grabbed onto Discord's fur. He pushed Discord to the edge and held him there as he screamed, with icy tears pouring down his face. "Samuel!" Luna interjected. Thankfully, it got the reaction Luna was hoping it would get from her boy: confusion. "W-What?" Saros asked, his brain having short circuited from the famili- "Your name is Samuel, Samuel Hayden. You had a brother named Matthew, a mother named Tanisha and your father was named David." Luna explained, her horn was encompassed in her magical aura. With every name she brought up, Luna began planting images in Saros' mind. As his mind began to recall them and their faces, his grip slackened on Discord, who was understandably scared of getting thrown off of a fifty story tower without the sufficient magic to catch himself. "I know that I will never be able to replace them in your heart. But I swear to you that I'll help you to never lose sight of who you are again." If Luna's words did not quell the pain Saros' heart, then oddly enough, it would be Discord to put out the human's fiery rage. "S-Samuel... I've spent many nights wishing I could take it all back... I know that I may never be able to atone for all the pain I've caused. so... I tried to find a way to let you know that I really have changed..." The now teary-eyed lord of anarchy snapped into existence a letter which hovered over his lion paw. Taking said letter, he eyed it for a bit before giving it to Saros. The human let go of Discord and inspected the letter, and he felt his whole world shake once he saw the hand writing that read, "For Samuel Hayden". "I can't send you back to your world or even back in time... you wouldn't survive having your magic taken from you... so a few days ago, I went to earth... and told your family of everything you did for this kingdom, and the great man you've become." Discord finished, humbly waiting for Saros' response. Saros opened the letter and pulled out two pieces of paper. One was a folded manuscript and the other was a four by four inch picture of Samuel and his family. He couldn't even unfold the manuscript, as he fell to his knees to cry. Seeing her son in tears, sent Luna's maternal instinct into overdrive, prompting her to come closer and wrap a wing around him. Refusing to let the human suffer anymore, Discord quietly placed a paw on his shoulder. After sometime, Saros regained enough control over himself to pull in Luna AND Discord for a hug. "Thank you..." Samuel said, holding the pair of ancient beings as if they were long lost friends. With their bitter tears having turned to tears of joy, the three beings who had once been hated by all of Equestria found peace, love, and friendship. > Chap. 17 Succumbing to Darkness... > -------------------------------------------------------------------------- ////////Avalon, just before sundown///////// Having returned from my hunt, I knelt down to inspect the last of the golems I had been assigned. The armor was dented in some places and part of the faceplate was missing, exposing it's hollow interior. With a sigh of disappointment, I stood upright once more. "This forest is gonna be the death of me... I left this castle with fifteen golems, and now I have only eight!" I complained to myself as the golem returned to the others that stood perfectly still. The sound of large doors being opened resounded, and I turned around to see my master exit the castle and walk towards me. I braced myself to brief him while standing at attention, not really knowing how he'd react to the news of how the hunt went. As the sun descended over the treeline, Azazel's heavy footsteps stopped in front of me. "Report." He ordered, and on pure instinct I obeyed. "Our hunt was unsuccessful, sir. We encountered a pack of manticores that scared off the game we were chasing. We killed five of them before the remainder decided to retreat, and unfortunately it cost me a few golems. I was hoping you'd come with me to retrieve the bodies. They could prove useful as hunters or guards." As I explained, I could see my master examining the golems and he could clearly see the damage to the survivors. I searched his face for any indication of anything, but his expression was giving me nothing to work with. After a bit, his eyes locked back onto mine, and he spoke. "Then let's go." He ordered monotonously, looking off into the forest. As I looked into those eyes that would've frightened anyone else, there was something in them that was... off. Aside from the bags under those demonic eyeballs, his slitted pupils were dilating, but only a little. And I could've sworn I saw the blood in his capillaries glowing faintly. "Sir?.." I asked with some hesitation. His eyes zeroed in on me, scanning my face—or lack thereof—with an unsettling intensity. He seemed to pick up on my concern, and did something I wasn't at all pleased with. "Let's go. Scavengers will find the bodies if we don't-" He began, looking away from me and trying to walk around me in no particular direction. He was caught off guard when I grabbed his arm, effectively cutting him off and startling him enough that he stopped his march. "Azazel... Is something on your mind?" I asked, turning to look at him. He was facing forward, and I could tell by the sudden grinding of his teeth that he was trying and failing to hide something from me. He said nothing for a while, but he did eventually speak up. "Avalon, I'm fine. Let's go." He urged, grabbing my hand and gently prying it off of his arm. Now peeved at my question being met with a lie, I took a deep breath and looked him right in the eye as I turned around and we began our march towards the site of our hunt. We walked for a few minutes before the urge to voice my concern became to much to repress. "Master, you are to the art of soulmancy as Mistress Lilith was to the art of deception and Lord Astoshan to necromancy. You're a very skilled healer and I do not question your abilities as a hunter and a sorcerer. But unlike your mother you are a terrible liar. And unlike your father, you didn't make a mindless undead construct that follows your every whim blindly." I pointed out with my frustration slowly seeping into my words. And I ensured he wouldn't escape by placing myself in his way. He put on a mask of stoicism that seemed to have been practiced, but by the narrowing of his slitted eyes; I knew he wasn't prepared for my bluntness. Now that I had his attention, I continued. "Sir, If we want to survive, there can be no secrets between us. I will follow you to the ends of this world if you need me to, but I can't help you if I don't know what's going on. So I'll ask again. What's on your mind?" I finished, confident that he would cave in and answer me... oh how wrong I was... He didn't say anything as our eyes locked once more. His pupils had constricted even more so than before, now being two black lines amidst a pair of crimson eyes. I could tell he was getting nervous by the slight quickening of his breathing and his inability to unclench his fists. Our focus was then broken by the sound of a loud, gutteral roar bellowing from behind the trees. "Shit... They found us..." I muttered to myself as I turned around to face the noise. As the sound of debris being broken, stomped on, and violently thrown out of the way drew closer, another sound I was much more familiar with rumbled behind me. Wheeling back around, I turned to see Azazel's maw of sharp teeth laid bare as a growl that could've been confused for a hiss escape his lips. His ribcage was visible through his chest as the red light of hellfire lit up his torso and throat. As he walked around me, wisps of a black miasma began to eminate from between his teeth like an angry chimney. I had been the only one of Azazel's undead to travel with him when he was younger, and seeing this display of territorial behavior filled me with a hint of nostalgia that abated my nerves, if only a little. As my master stood between me and the direction of the incoming beast with his wings outstretched, the interlopers made themselves known. As their massive paws carried their muscular bodies forward, the alpha manticore with an entourage of four males emerged from the trees. With their teeth bared and a sneer on their faces, they roared at us. The beast's collective roar shook the leaves off the trees and forced me to cover my... well I don't have ears, but you get the idea. Once they stopped, I made the mistake of uncovering the sides of my skull to stop it from rattling open. My master let out a demonic warcry of his own; causing the floor to rumble and trees to rattle from the sheer volume. The alpha, who had a comedically square face, didn't back down or flinch; the same could not be said for it's pack. Instead, he looked back to his cohorts and growled in what seemed to be annoyance at their flinching. But just when I thought Azazel and the beast were going to rip each other apart, the ground began to shake. From the earth, hundreds of black, vine-like tendrils with blue spines erupted outward and towered over us as they rose higher and higher. Weaving together and fusing into the plants we had seen before, their maws opened and hissed at the manticores. The beasts tried to fight back, hacking away with their sharp talons and stabbing the massive plants with the stingers, but it was futile. For every plant that went down, two more would grow to replace it; if they did not outright regenerate. Before long, the manticores had been knocked out by the noxious fumes they spewed out. The ground then split open to reveal a massive maw of blue, crystalline teeth that glowed and was slick with what I could only assume to be digestive fluids. The unconcsious monsters were then dragged into the small abyss, and disappeared out of sight as the earth returned to it's previous state without signs of any change having occurred. While this happened, the golems had formed a defensive line in front of us to defend my master, but to my utter shock proved to be unnecessary. As the massive plants faced us, they lowered themselves... almost as if bowing... "What are they doing?.. Why aren't they attacking us?.." I muttered, mostly to myself as I continued to watch the once hostile flora lay their bodies close to the ground and make small hisses. My master said nothing, but his stance became less defensive and his large wings were tucked onto his back. He stepped forward, and placed his left hand on one of the larger flower's "head". "Fracti meam ego regena quod est conprobabit... Nunc quoque iternum te..." He muttered, causing a quiet flash of blue light that blinded me momentarily. Once my vision came back into focus, a patch of grass formed infront of him with small blue flowers decorating the earth. With a gesture from his hand, Azazel wordlessly ordered one of the golems to step forward. Just as the last time, the golem's crimson "eyes" turned blue and around the golem's feet a slue of blue flowers blossomed. "Ŷ̴̩̲ͅo̴͇̪̯̿͌ú̴͉͚̏̑'̵͕̈́d̴̢͈̂ ̵̭̒b̷̯͙̳̀̊̐ȅ̴͔͓̭͌̂t̴̛͖̬t̸͓͙̒̃ë̴̹́͛̕r̵͎̖͚̚ ̷̤̐͌h̵̨̠͌a̷̟̤͂͠v̷̢͕͈͋͝e̵͕͗̓̚ ̷͎̼̊ą̴̞͉̓͂ ̵̟̑g̵͖͌ô̸͕̊̕ȏ̴͙d̸̦̑̕͠ ̵̨̛r̶͙͆̎̓ḛ̵́̇̄a̷͖͙̲͂̈͑s̸̪͇̚o̷͈̻͑n̷̺̱̦̾ ̵̯̂͌̂f̷̗̎̑o̵̱̘̓ŗ̷̜̳̊̅̍ ̴̩̤̃̇ͅc̵̯̗̫̚ȯ̷̠̺͜͝m̵̬̔i̶̝͚̭̇̐͠ň̷͍͉̘̀̕g̵̢̯̰̋ ̴̫͇̂̍b̸͖̥̿a̸̝͝c̷͉̈͋k̷̘͙̃,̶̯̮̌ ̸̺̀͑b̶̤̀ê̴̦̯̟ć̵̢̮̠͋̚a̴̛̠̻͉u̸͓̍̏ͅş̵͙̥̌̃̎è̵͔̦̆̚ ̴͕͖̯̒̉̋ạ̸̦̟͂̐̚s̶̨͐ͅ ̸̧̖̤͝ȉ̸̮̣̒̀t̷̮̖͝ ̷̛͓ş̵̋̃ț̶̄̒̚a̸̖͚͆n̵͚͖̺̅̈́d̸̠̩̄s̵̻͗̄ ̸̼̑̀͠ṋ̸͛o̸̜̗͜͝w̷̼̥̐̽;̵̻̍̽ ̷͎͎̘̀̋I̷̗̩̐'̸̝̫͋͋m̴̳̟̂͑ ̴̧̢̺̚i̴̮̓ñ̷̞̥̦̍ ̴͉̞͊d̵̻̋̓͐ḙ̶̖͇͐̂͋s̶̺̻͌͘͜ṗ̴̭e̵͕͎͛̂ř̷̤͙͚̅̆à̴̤͇̤t̴̤́̄͜ḛ̴͓͋̋ ̵̨͓̹̂̚n̸̞̥͇̐ę̸̦͝ͅe̷̡̫͆ḓ̷̱̟͂ ̸̬͐͝ò̷̙͘f̴͓͈͒̎̕ ̸̯̅́͠s̵̔ͅo̵̖̎̏͜m̴̧̡̤̔̕e̷̡̼̓̐t̵̜͠h̸͇͇̆̆͝i̵͚͂̓͗ṉ̸̔̏g̴̰̮͈̀ ̷͎̙̄t̷̡̨̃̽o̴̭͚͎͘ ̶̘̉t̶̞̯͇̔́e̴̛̦̍͌ȃ̸̰̤͘r̶̲͑̑̍ ̶̩͔͠͝ḁ̸̟͑̏p̷̼̈̓a̴̫̗͇͊̌̓r̶̟͔͇͒͐͝t̶͔͖̹̏!̶̺̺͠͠" (You'd better have a good reason for coming back, because as it stands now. I'm in desperate need of something to tear apart!) My master threatened angrily, giving her a harsh glare tha- HIS EYES!!! They were surrounded with the dark streaks of a- "Please forgive me and my kin! Jaunty lost control! I swear it won't happen again!" The spirit pleaded, it's voice feminine and of a higher pitch than that of the late Jaunty. As the spectre spoke, it knelt down as best as it's body would allow while shaking in fear. "For your sake, I hope she speaks for the rest of you as well." My master spat out the words like a spoiled cut of meat, turning to look at the rest of the damned spirits. The oversized plants flinched and "whimpered" as he threatened them. The entire time this happened, I was transfixed on my master's eyes. That's what he was hiding... Those dark streaks are the second stage of a blood rage, and if it were allowed to fester in Azazel's current state... may the gods have mercy on this world... "W-we've c-c-come out of desperation... S-Son of D-Death... W-We humbly ask th-that you please hear us..." The possessed golem stammered, the loose plating rattling and threatening to become undone. My master said nothing for a moment before finally replying with a tone colder than death. "Speak." He ordered. "Y-you command the living and the d-dead... a-and you have the power to free us from our curse." The spirit began, now looking up at Azazel. "Th-this forest is plagued by an ancient evil that took here during the age of chaos... it won't let us rest..." She continued, at first sounding dejected, but now she sounded... tense. "We feel nothing! not the air brushing against our cheeks... the food we ingest feeds the growth, while we are left to starve... and the screaming... day in! and day out! IT WON-!!" As the spirit grew more and more agitated, dark vines began to grow between the golem's legs. Unlike the last time, my master knew what was to come. Charging his right foot with necrotic energy, he raised his leg and slammed it down in front of the distrought spirit. When a shockwave of black and red magic spread through the small crater Azazel made with his clawed foot, every single plant in a two meter radius began to whither away and turned to ash. With his wings outstretched and a weak vortex of wind forming around the pair that raised said ash off the ground, my master growled angrily before speaking once more. "Stay. Focused." He ordered, a ravenous mirth filling his voice and the streaks around his eyes began to spread further. The spirit began to shudder with even more furvor than before under Azazel's gaze. The spectre couldn't bring itself to speak, and that was making Azazel's irritated mood to worsen. As the spirit buckled under the pressure, it balled up into a fetal position and made itself as small as possible. Seeing this the other plants began to hiss, but not at my master. This went on for a few more seconds before the possessed golem looked towards it's distressed brethren. There was an awkward silence that ended when the spectre looked up at the unimpressed, yet less menacing glare Azazel was giving her. With an audible gulp, from a throat that did not exist, the spirit spoke once more. "You offered us your help... Does that offer still stand?..." She said, her fear being abated slightly by my master's less threatening posture. My master didn't speak right away, but by the lulling of the wind swirling around him and the streaks around his eyes retracting slightly; I could tell what his answer would be. "Is there anything of use that I could gain from this?" He asked, sounding mildly interested. The golem began to stand, though still somewhat nervous. "If you destroy the heart of the great evil, we will be free to roam the Everfree in peace and to rest. Those of us that stay can provide you with the location of valuable treasures that lie deep in this forest." The spirit replied, now sounding hopeful and it's dreadful shaking had stopped. "If you lead the way, I will follow. But make no mistake spirit, betrayal will free you and your ilk from your prison... only to be condemned to an eternity of torture within me. Have I made myself clear?" Azazel said, his fear aura flaring for only a second to punctuate his threat. With a slight flinch, the spectre bowed it's head and the other plants began bobbing up and down in a funny manner. "Crystal clear." She replied before turning to the large plants and nodding. The sentient greenery burrowed int the ground and out of sight, leaving only my master, the spirit, myself and the golems. "Follow me, I will take you to a cave that leads directly to the evil's heart." The phantom said as it began walking in a northeastern direction. Without missing a beat, Azazel followed; forcing me to run after him to catch up. "Azazel wait!" I pleaded, getting between Azazel and the spirit. "Sir, you have to stop. You're not thinking straight. This could very well be a trap, not to mention that what you're doing is starting a war with an entire nation!" I urged, making him stop in his tracks for a third time today. Unfortunately, my master's brow furrowed in anger as he retorted. "Start a war? Avalon, Equestria declared war against us the moment Celestia and her assassins tried to murder me!" He said angrily. "But sir, what you are proposing is madness! We can't challenge an entire kingdom on our own!" I countered, hoping he would listen to reason. "I don't intend on doing it alone." He stated matter of factly, catching me off guard. Noticing this, he continued. "T̴h̷i̵s̸ ̷w̴o̷r̷l̸d̴ ̸h̶a̴s̶ ̴a̷n̸ ̴e̶n̷t̷i̸r̸e̸ ̸n̸a̶t̷i̷o̸n̷ ̸p̷o̷p̶u̷l̵a̸t̶e̸d̷ ̷w̵i̵t̴h̵ ̷d̵r̵a̷g̷o̴n̵s̶,̸ ̶n̶o̷t̷ ̸t̴o̷ ̷m̷e̴n̵t̸i̷o̴n̷ ̵t̷h̸e̵ ̵m̸e̵n̵a̶g̷e̵r̶i̶e̷ ̷o̶f̴ ̸o̸t̸h̵e̴r̶ ̵b̵e̸a̶s̸t̷s̶ ̶b̴e̵t̵w̶e̸e̶n̸ ̸h̷e̶r̸e̵ ̸a̸n̶d̴ ̷t̷h̵e̶ ̶d̶r̷a̶g̸o̷n̶ ̴l̸a̸n̴d̷s̸.̸ ̵I̶f̵ ̷t̴h̸i̸s̴ ̵"̸e̶v̵i̶l̶"̸ ̷t̶h̷a̶t̸ ̷t̶h̴e̶ ̸s̵p̸i̶r̴i̵t̵'̵s̶ ̷t̸a̷l̷k̶ ̴a̸b̴o̵u̶t̶ ̴i̶s̵ ̴f̷e̷e̶d̵i̵n̵g̷ ̵o̶f̷f̸ ̸o̸f̸ ̶s̶o̵u̷l̶s̴ ̸a̵s̴ ̶I̶ ̵d̵o̸,̴ ̵t̶h̵e̸n̷ ̷I̶ ̶c̴a̴n̸ ̸c̶o̷n̶s̸u̶m̶e̴ ̷i̷t̶ ̸a̴n̷d̴ ̵g̶r̷o̴w̷ ̷s̸t̷r̸o̵n̴g̶e̷r̵.̴ ̵T̴h̷i̸n̶k̷ ̷a̷b̷o̸u̷t̵ ̵i̷t̸!̶ ̸A̷ ̸b̸e̷i̴n̸g̶ ̸w̸h̷o̴'̴s̷ ̴p̵o̵w̷e̶r̸ ̵r̵e̷a̶c̷h̵e̶s̷ ̴a̸c̵r̶o̴s̷s̷ ̷a̸n̸ ̵e̴n̶t̷i̵r̵e̵ ̸f̶o̴r̶e̶s̶t̸ ̴a̷n̶d̷ ̸p̶r̵o̸b̷a̴b̵l̷y̸ ̵h̴a̸s̸ ̷h̴u̵n̸d̶r̴e̷d̸s̸ ̶o̸f̴ ̶s̵o̶u̵l̵s̷!̶?̸ ̷I̴'̵d̷ ̵h̵a̵v̶e̴ ̶e̴n̵o̷u̵g̴h̶ ̴m̶a̸n̸a̶ ̴t̴o̷ ̴r̴a̴i̷s̸e̶ ̵a̸n̵ ̸a̸r̷m̵y̵ ̸t̵h̵a̸t̷ ̶c̶o̶u̴l̸d̸ ̷R̸A̴Z̷E̷ ̶t̵h̷i̵s̴ ̵p̵l̸a̵n̸e̵t̸ ̶t̶e̴n̵ ̶t̸i̶m̷e̵s̵ ̵o̴v̷e̸r̶!̸ ̴I̷t̶'̸s̸ ̶p̸e̶r̸f̸e̵c̴t̵!̵" (This world has an entire nation populated with dragons, not to mention the menagerie of other beasts between here and the dragon lands. If this "evil" that the spirit's talk about is feeding off of souls as I do, then I can consume it and grow stronger. Think about it! A being who's power reaches across an entire forest and probably has hundreds of souls!? I'd have enough mana to raise an army that could RAZE this planet ten times over! It's perfect!) He exclaimed, hoping it would be enough. "But what of the Elements of Harmony? If what Celestia and Luna said is true, we'll lose! They've faced threats WAY stronger than you!" I countered, genuinely afraid Azazel would persist down this path. Azazel's mood took an immediate nose dive upon the mentioning of the diarchs. "You've seen what their promises are worth; or have you forgotten what happened to Mia and Trephor!?" He questioned, the dark streaks around his eyes growing more pronounced and his fear aura flaring eratically. The effects of the spell kept me from answering; my eyes going from a deep red to a bright yellow. Picking up on this, Azazel backed off and took a deep breath to calm himself, achieving minimal amounts of success. "You are asking me to wait for them to come for us and do nothing! its... it's..." He continued, struggling to get the word out with his fists clenched tightly and his gaze averted. With the fear aura gone, I could think somewhat clearly again and with an almost knee-jerk to peer into his mind, I learned the reason for his indignation. "...say it." It was all I said, letting my head drop as the weight of the implication filled me with shame. "Cowardice..." Azazel said, the word leaving a bad taste in his mouth. We said nothing to each other for a while, and it wasn't until my master took a deep breath, that our exchange continued. "A demon is only as good as their word... and I will keep my word." He threatened ominously, walking around me and continuing his journey with his guide. I stood there unable to go through with what he was asking. As I shut my eyes to try and rationalize his demand, one of my first memories as an undead came to the forefront of my mind. ///////nine years ago in the Ursan forest/////// With two scaly fingers from each hand pressed against the side of his head, a young nephilim was trying to exert his will over a tall skeleton that was looking at him blankly. When his face turned red from the exertion, he fell onto his rear and let out groan mixed with a growl of frustration. "Why won't you do as I ask!? Can you PLEASE open the door!? I have been stuck here for hours!!! PLEASE!!!" He begged at the silent undead with his arms outstretched before letting his head fall onto his knees. With his wings wrapped around himself, he failed to notice the skeleton had turned to stare at the door. After a bit, it took several steps towards the door and placed it's bony fingers on the doorknob. The sound of bone touching metal caught the nephilim's attention, making his wings part and his head to rise. With a shocked look on his face, Azazel locked eyes with the undead, who looked at him in a dead silence. An idea popped into his head, and decided to try it. "Can you open the door please?" The nephilim's voice was quiet and barely above a whisper. The skeleton glanced back and forth between the doorknob in it's hand and Azazel, making the young nephilim to nod excitedly at the prospect of his punishment/lesson being over. After a few more seconds of this, the skeleton twisted the doorknob and the door was opened. As the door was opened, an exasperated Azazel began to cheer and jump in place as he celebrated his victory over the door. "I DID IT!!!" He shouted with a toothy grin on his face, on the other side of the door, two beings stood with smiles on their faces. The taller of the two let out a giggle at her son's celebration. "Who would've thought he would make undead that only obey when asked nicely." Lilith remarked, looking down at her husband. She immediately noticed he was covering his mouth and was jerking eratically. "Astoshan?" She asked, hoping what she was seeing wasn't what she was thinking. Unfortunately, it was; the Grey God of Death was trying and failing to keep his composure and his shit-eating grin in check. Catching her face with her clawed hand and rubbing the bridge of her nose, she let out a disappointed sigh along with a small plume of smoke. "Please tell me you weren't interfering with Azazel's ma-" That's as far as she got before Astoshan burst out laughing like a madman. His outburst forced him to prop himself against a wall, and after a bit, Lilith caved in and joined in on the laughing. When the two finally gathered their bearings, the arch-succubus spoke up. "And then I am the evil one." She said wiping a tear from her golden eyes. With their laughter reigniting, Azazel looked on as his father guffawed at his struggle; causing his chest to heat up and a frown dominate his face. This however did not last long, because after a few seconds of trying to kill Astoshan with a glare, the half-breed looked up at the skeleton he had just now learned to control. After the gears in the demon's head finished turning, a devious smile creeped onto his face. "You and I are going to get along juuuuuuuust fine.~" Azazel mused to himself in an almost sensual manner. /////////Several days later////////// As Lilith sat on the kitchen reading a book while gingerly eating a bowl filled with an assortment of eyeballs. The silence she was enjoying was abruptly stopped when an explosion was heard outside. As the dishes were rattled and the silverware jumbled in their drawers, she looked around and prayed to no one in particular for the earthquake to pass without breaking anything. Fortunately, her prayers were answered. Quickly eyeing the furniture around her to make sure nothing was broken, she sighed in relief when she found nothing was amiss. "What is my husband up to now? I told him to keep his experiments out of the-" She began to mutter to herself in an irate tone as she walked towards a window in the direction of the assumed explosion. Her complaint was cut short when she spotted the pillar of smoke rising over the trees. She was not terrified, just confused; staring at the growing mass of dark clouds rising higher and fazing through the now visible shield. "What the...?" She mumbled, trying to imagine what in the nine hells could've made that happen without starting a forest fire. Shortly after, the sound of the front door was heard and the sound of her son laughing manically was drawing near her. She turned around and made her way back to her seat, now curious as to what her son was up to. "Quickly Avalon! Hide yourself in my closet! I'll keep him busy!" The nephilim said while running into her view with his undead lackey, now painted entirely black and radiating smoke. With a raised eyebrow, Lilith saw the undead sprint down the hallway leading into the rooms. Without missing a step, Azazel turned to look at her with an ecstatic smile on his face. "Mom quick! play along!" He said hurriedly, just as the door downstairs was opened and thrown shut harshly. Thinking on her feet, the arch-succubus took her bowl of eyeballs and took one in her hand. "Sweety, catch!" She said playfully. When she did, she lobbed the eyeball towards Azazel. Seeing what his mother was doing, the half-breed opened his maw and effortlessly caught the tasty treat in his mouth. After catching it, he raised up his arms victoriously. Just then, Astoshan came barreling into view; sliding to a stop once he saw his wife and son minding their own business. "Did a cinder wraith pass through here?!" He asked worriedly. The question made Azazel's resolve falter for a brief moment, forcing him to swallow the eyeball in his mouth to play it off as shock. Wheeling around, the half-breed took a good look at his startled father, and immediately regretted his decision. The lich's face was covered in soot and a the top most part of his hair was still smoldering away. Astoshan's simple shirt and trousers were burnt around their edges and covered in dirt. The hilarity of it all was too much for the young trickster, causing him to keel over and guffaw his heart out hysterically. Lilith, finding her husband's current state quite amusing, covered her mouth to staunch her desire to laugh as well. "My love... *snicker* What happened to you?" She asked, struggling to keep her composure thanks to her son's infectious laughter. Oblivious to Azazel's hysteria and it's implication, the Lord of undeath gave his wife a brief description of what had happened and his latest project: finding a way to make wraiths of gigantic proportions. While Astoshan lectured away, the short nephilim got to his feet and walked over to his mother. He then proceeded to bury his face in her side to keep himself from looking at his father and start laughing again. By the time Astoshan finished, Lilith had managed to regain her composure and was currently running her fingers through her son's hair. "None have passed through here. I'll let you know if I see anything." She said, which somewhat relieved the stressed necromancer. "Alright, I'll make sure it won't escape the barrier and hopefully catch it before it gets in the house. Azazel stay close to your mother and call me should you see a ghost that looks like a black skeleton made of hellfire." He ordered. "Y-yes father." The half breed stammered, his tail swaying anxiously from side to side as he used every last ounce of will power to not laugh. With a nod and a determined smile, he headed outside to hunt down the apparent threat. Once her husband was gone, the arch-succubus looked at her son with a knowing smirk. "Would you care to explain to me why you are messing with your father?" Lilith asked, making Azazel lose his composure and begin to laugh once more. Some time passed before he could speak coherently, but the half-breed was eventually able to explain himself. "I had Avalon jump down from a tree and scare Dad when he was in the middle of a ritual... heh.. heheHEHAHAHAHA!!!" He managed to say before his legs failed him. Letting go of his mother, the demon flopped on his side while holding his stomach in pain from splitting his sides. "You- heheheh... You should have seen his face when Avalon leapt in front of him!" He said between bouts of wheezes and laughter. Seeing it was pointless to resist, Lilith allowed herself to visualize her husband screaming like a bitch while a summoning circle exploded in his face, then to laugh at it's sheer stupidity. In no time, the two hellspawns were roaring with laughter and enjoying themselves. Sometime after the two finally caught their bearings, Avalon poked his head out from the adjacent hallway. "Sir?" The onyx undead called out, gaining the attention of his master and her mother. "How did I do?" He asked meekly. Looking over to her son, Lilith could see a proud smile on her son's face. "You did admirably Avalon. Thank you for helping me do that, I haven't laught like that in a while." Azazel complimented his undead friend, causing the red embers to twinkle with green scintillations and sparks. Shaking her head, Lilith began to question whether or not this was her lineage, or Astoshan's unorthodox parenting that had created such a devious child. //////////Present time///////////// The undead had flashbacks upon flashbacks of his time with the boy he helped raise, but at the end of each one, he was faced with a bitter, and sullen nephilim that he didn't recognize. As his azure eyes closed, his bony fists were clenched as he forced himself to utter one word. "N-No..." The undead's word was nearing a whisper, but Azazel's sharp ears picked it up easily. The demon barely moved a few steps before he was frozen in place with a single word. He slowly turned to look at Avalon, his eyes showing equal parts of anger and shock. "W̶̻͆͑h̸̝̃̊a̴͈̜͋t̶̪͔̊̿ ̷̘̂d̶͍͍̏̄i̷̖̯̅d̸̛̟̱͗ ̸̡̬͑̀y̴̖̎̃o̶̞̹͋ũ̸̱̖ ̷̙̥̅͗j̶̪͑ù̴͖̜ś̵͕̖̕t̵̥̼̿ ̵͚̑͘s̴͓̎̂a̴͎͉̔̽y̷̺̟̾?̴̢͊" (What did you just say?) He asked, the strain on what little remained of his patience finally reaching it's limit. At first, Avalon wasn't sure if it was his master casting a fear aura on him or it was the look in his eyes, but to him; it would be irrelevant if he let Azazel fall any further down the abyss he was being dragged into. "S-sir... You're going down a path I cannot follow. Please Azazel, I'm begging you. Stop this madness while you still can! I don't want to lose you too..." He pleaded, desperation seeping through the cracks of his broken composure. Azazel seemed frozen to the outside world, but on the inside, he was struggling to keep the souls within him in check. "DO NOT LISTEN TO HIM!!!" "TAKE YOUR REVENGE!!!" "DON'T WASTE THE ONE CHANCE YOU HAVE TO AVENGE MIA AND TREPHOR!!!" They screamed, slowly overwhelming Azazel and forcing him to take action. "Then go back to the castle and keep Anvari safe. Do not leave until I return." He finally spoke, causing the seething souls within to grow quieter and the migraine he was developing to lessen. Avalon felt as if his heart was being crushed with the coldness of his words, causing blue cinders to fall from his eyes. When Azazel turned around to follow the spirit, who had been patiently waiting for him to continue; Avalon quickly caught up to him and pulled on Azazel's left forearm. "Azazel sto-!!" It was all Avalon could say before the same arm he was holding swung up and around, slapping the undead's skull with a back hand so powerful that he was launched back several feet. When the sable skeleton regained his bearings and looked up at his master, abject terror washed over him. Azazel was glancing at Avalon over his shoulder, and the only thing that stood out, were Azazel's eyes. The once black eyes with red irises had ignited into orbs of a scarlet fury that burned with hell's wrath. The half-breed had lost control of his body, if only for a few seconds, giving the damned a chance to speak their collective mind. "D̴̡͈̬̖̽̃ö̷̭̥̝͎̩̙́̍͆̀̉͘ ̶̹̙̜̠̱̓͝n̸̢̫͎̉́̾̿̂ö̸͚͚̜̥́̒̾̾t̶̢̨̺͎̠͇̐̊.̸̛͕̫̰͖̳̓̈́̉̉̍.̴̡̧̡̰̠͑͗̄͆͘.̷̜̮̥̖̔ ̷͖̱͕̱̣̯̆̽̿́͝ì̴̧̛̟̣̦͈̯͊̀̓n̷̡̡̤̥̜̄̽̑̇̆̈t̷͎͒̒̒̽̆ȩ̶̝̮͛͂͆̕̚r̷̯͍̖̥̂f̵̡͇͎̭̈́̕̕ȅ̸̦͖̬̖͇ŕ̸̨̨͍͈̩͔̍̃̕͝e̵̛͕̋̐̆͝.̷̘̥̲̙̙̓̈̕.̶̛͍̣͚̮̅.̷̪̼̼̮̥͚̅̿̄̐͑" (Do not... interfere...) The demon hissed, his voice being buried under the hundred or so souls within him. The same ravenous fire he once held passed like a fleeting shadow, and Azazel regained control of his body. Turning around to continue his journey the golems began to follow the half-breed, only to be stopped with another order. "Take Avalon back to the castle and lock down the area. No one enters or leaves until I return." It was the last thing he said before he disappeared into the forest. Whilst a defeated Avalon was escorted back to the ruins without resistance, Azazel followed the possessed golem in silence for the remainder of the trip. The Everfree, though intimidating to Equestria's denizens, was deathly quiet in the path where the demon walked. As he marched on, the souls within him were making the half-breed consume the life force of the grass and surrounding trees. While the grass whithered away, the few trees he passed began to turn grey and their leaves began to fall. The animals in his path were struck with terror as he drew closer, making them run away or hide in their dens. The migraine Azazel was feeling was getting gradually worse, but he had to push on before the souls within him got full control of him. After that, he could rest. After Celestia was dead, he could mourn those he had lost. And once this world was dead and silent, he could be at peace... For now, all he could do was push on and ignore the growing swell of regret forming in his chest. As the silent pair reached the mouth of a cave, the spirit stopped dead in it's tracks. Azazel stopped a short distance away, before looking into the assuming cave and the surrounding area. The forest had become darker and more wild, and the crickets and other insects if the night were nowhere to be found. The wind rocked back and forth through the gaping maw of stone stalactites and stalagmites further into the cave like the breathing of a sleeping leviathan. Whilst this was happening, the souls within the demon had gone quiet. Their attempts to seize control had not stopped, but they were... distracted. Through Azazel's senses, the damned and their warden could feel the life force of hundreds... no... thousands of souls flowing through the ground on which they stood. This flow of energy was amassing somewhere deep under ground, and circulating back out into the forest. "Why have we stopped?" The demon asked. Looking over to his guide, he noticed that root like growths were starting to grown around the golem's feet again. "Please! help me! I don't want to be dragged in again!" The spirit pleaded as it tried to get away, but the growths had pinned the suit of armor down. Acting quickly, Azazel reached out with his hand, and placed it on the golem's back. Pulling his hand up and away from the suit of armor, the spirit was pulled free from it's loaned body and condensed into a glowing sphere in the young necromancer's palm. Just as the last of the spirit's essence was pulled free, vine-like growths grew in and around the suit of armor, which was then impaled by familiar blue spines of crystal that shot out from the vines. The soul in Azazel's hand made the sound of a nervous gulp before speaking, it's glow intensifying with the volume of it's voice; a voice only the nephilim could hear. "That was close... Thank you." The spirit said gratefully. "What now?" The young necromancer asked, looking into the cave. "Head inside and follow the stream of souls. The evil's heart is in the central chamber of this cave system." The spirit instructed. Azazel hesitated, but with the souls within him urging him to go, he relented and walked into the dark cavern. Using a spell of prestidigitation, he left glowing runes to mark a way out should he need to find an exit quickly through the winding tunnles of earth and stone. "This great evil you speak of... do you know how it came to be?" Azazel asked the spirit in his hand. "I do not know for certain... all I know is that it traps the souls of anything that dies in the Everfree... and feeds off their suffering..." The soul answered. That last part caught Azazel off guard. As the implications of the spirit's statement turned the cogs in Azazel's head, the fairly consistent walls of rocks and dirt began to exhibit more and more of the dark vines. Spikes and shards of the same teal crystals illuminated the walls of the cave and the deeper they went, the less magical illumination was needed to see. The rest of the trip was relatively quiet, save for the odd whisper or babbling from the damned within the young necromancer. Then he reached the central chamber. It was a massive opening in the earth, easily ten acres across and it's roof was so high up that it couldn't be seen due to the poor illumination. But there, at the center of this massive area was the alleged "heart of evil". Wrapped in vines thicker than houses and made of what seemed to be ancient bark was a massive crystal about as big as a small fortress, that glowed with a blinding azure luster. While the sight was impressive to the naked eye, to Azazel's trained eye, he could see what that massive structure was doing. Inside the gigantic crystal he could see thousands upon thousands of souls being churned, grounded, and reassembled in vortex of chaotic torture. The nephilim could feel their agony from where they stood, feeding his power and granting him the strength to silence the souls within him completely. Though freed from the ailments of his blood rage, the apparent "cure", sickened him to no end. While the damning of souls was nothing new to him, the sheer scale of the root system made Azazel question whether or not he was dealing with a leviathan; and if he had made a wise choice in even coming down here in the first place. Not to mention the fact that there were probably innocent souls suffering along with the guilty... Unfortunately, being entranced by the great evil's size did not give him the time necessary to reconsider his life choices. In his utter bewilderment, Azazel failed to notice that there were vines slowly growing around his feet and ensnaring him. It wasn't until the growths had reached his right thigh that he looked down and saw what was happening. In an instinctive act of panic, he let go of the spirit, and discharged a shockwave of necrotic energy to defend himself. "NOOOOO!!!!! SAAAVE MEEEE PLEEEEASE!!!!" The spirit screamed in terror as it was violently pulled towards the gargantuant crystal, disappearing from sight. The vines around Azazel's legs died and became brittle once they were struck with necrotic energy. The cave seemed to roil and writhe to life as the vines that grew from the walls began to sprouts tendrils barbed with blue blades of crystal. Breaking free of his restraints with ease, the necromancer braced himself for whatever would come next. He did so just in time as well, because several of the tendrils rising up to surround him began to lash out at him like living whips. Using his scale-plated wings and arms he was able to block several strikes, but as more and more rose to attack him at once, they began to lacerate his back and chest, and slowly overpower the young demon. After getting hit twice in the face, he heard the souls within him scream as one. "BURN IT WITH HELLFIRE!!!" Taking their advice, the young demon took in a deep breath before unleashing a torrent of hellfire. Because the vines were being fueled by souls, the dark flames spread and destroyed them with deadly efficiency. While at the moment it seemed like a small victory, it proved to be a grave mistake on the necromancer's part. The entire chamber began to shake while a deafeningly loud shriek of pain unlike anything Azazel had ever heard disoriented the young half-breed. As he covered his ears to shield them from the awful noise, the demon failed to see that debris was falling around him. A large rock fell from the ceiling, and the nephilim was unable to shield his head in time to prevent it from falling on him. Having received a devastating blow to the head, Azazel fell face first to the ground, only to be wrapped in the coils of a massive vine-like tendril that dragged him high into the air and brought him closer to the massive crystal. From the massive bark, sprouted a large stalk with a bulbous head that snaked its way toward the bleeding head of the dazed necromancer. The head of the plant opened to reveal a gaping mouth with four mandibles and rows upon rows of jagged blue teeth slick with acidic "saliva". The stalk was then ridden with glowing vein-like streaks up it's length before the "flower" latched on to Azazel's face, burying it's teeth into hiss skin. While the jagged teeth had miraculously missed his eyes, the stinging in his face would be the least of the nephilim's worries. The entire cave began to rumble and hum as a sound akin to a powerful spell charging filled the chamber; and that is when the true horror began. In an instant, Azazel began to feel the souls within him being violently uprooted and torn out from his very being. The sensation far surpassed any form of physical pain he had ever experienced. His mind was being torn asunder by the overwhelming paroxysms that ravaged his body. As the damned were ripped away from him, his consciousness drifted towards his memories, and the events of the last few days began to flash before his eyes. The hunt that began this nightmare, the shattering of the barrier over his home, the appearance of the Astral guard and their captain, the slaughter of the human soldiers, the sting of holy fire against his body, his parent's final words... and the death of Mia and Trephor... That last memory... it began to fill him with something... something that overrode the mind-numbing agony he was in. He was angry... He was angry at Deus for taking his mother and father... He was angry at Celestia for taking Mia and Trephor... And he was angry that he was going to die here... Alone in some godforsaken hole while what remained of his family whithered away in some ruin... "No..." He thought, and that's when he heard it. The last few souls that remained in him were calling to him. "ARGENT!!!" They screamed. One word, that's all Azazel needed... to have his revenge... With the last of his strength, he pushed out a piece of Argent energy into the stream of souls being drained from him; which began to corrupt the souls within the great evil... transmutating it into more Argent energy. A domino effect of Argent transmutation spread through the roots and heart of the leviathan like wildfire, turning every root, crystalline shard, and soul into the miasmic plasma of hellfire and ash. The great evil tried to purge itself of the infectious poison by pouring it all into the young demon, but it only succeeded in hammering the final nail in it's Titanic coffin. As Azazel thought he could finally escape into the sweet release of unconsciousness, he felt an unending tsunami of power flow into him. With every cell in his body overcharged to their absolute limit with the hellish energy, the souls that remained within did the only thing they could to preserve their host from a critical overload and it's subsequent self destruction. "RAGE!!!! RAGE!!!! FUCKING RAGE!!!!!" They chanted into the demon's ear. As if having been injected with an ocean of adrenaline, the young necromancer had no choice but give in. He let the souls within him take charge, and all hell broke loose after that... > Chapter 18. Unity and Fear > -------------------------------------------------------------------------- ///////Ponyville train station at noon/////// After escorting the lunar diarch and her adopted son back to Canterlot, the mane six along with Discord arrived at the train station in Ponyville. As the group unboarded the train, Discord began to stretch his body with the sound similar to metal groaning under immense stress. "I swear, this level of normality is gonna give me arthritis. My joints are KILLING me!" He complained while continuing to stretch, bend, and contort in odd ways before wiggling about as if there were no bones inside him to limit his movement. "I'm just glad we got there when we did. If we'd spent another minute here in Ponyville Shining Armor would've ordered the whole of the royal guard to march into the Everfree!" Twilight said with slight exasperation. She would've opted to simply teleport everypony to and from Canterlot Castle, but she knew that teleporting with a jumbled mind was dangerous; especially when teleporting multiple living creatures. All of that aside, she couldn't help feel a little responsible for everything that was happening. While it was true that she had been teleported away on a moments notice, she should have at least sent a scroll to her brother to let her know she was safe. Twilight gathered luggage and waited for everypony else to be ready, then they could head back to the friendship map to discuss how best to tackle the issue of the runaway necromancer. While the princess of friendship waited for her friends, she couldn't help but feel somewhat responsible for her brother's current predicament. Ever since he was charged with the security detail on Canterlot, Shining had made the mistake of researching all he could about necromancers. While at any other time that would've been something Twilight would consider wise, the paranoia that was born from said research proved to cause the opposite of the desired effect. Clear off of that was the guardspony who apparently be- "How many beauty products did you bring!?" The voice of Rainbow Dash ringing out forced Twilight's train of thought to come to an abrupt stop. Looking up from her pensive state while spaced out, she found her Rainbow-maned friend looking impatiently at an indignant Rarity. As the last of the suitcases came gently hovering to a stop on a small pile of bags and luggage. "I brought only the bare essentials! What are you talking about?!" She asked indignantly. "You've got like fourteen dresses in there and an ENTIRE SUITCASE JUST FOR MAKE-UP! We weren't even going to be in Canterlot for more than A FEW HOURS!!" Rainbow Dash pointed out as she walked over to the top most bag and opened it to reveal the colorful assortment of beauty products, ranging from bases to eyeliner, to lipsticks and eyelash extensions all bundled up in an orderly manner. The sight made Twilight giggle a little, mainly because she knew what it looked like when Rarity wanted to bring EVERYTHING with her. "You never know when you need to look glamorously presentable darling. Besides, I would've brought more were it not fo-" The alabastor mare caught herself mid sentence when she realized she wasn't helping her case; which in turn caused the rest of the mane six to burst into laughter. While the group walked back towards the castle of friendship with light-hearted smiles on their faces, an odd melody being played on a xylophone could be heard. The sound was muffled, as if it was under thick fabric, and it was coming from Discord. With mild confusion on his face, he looked down at his midsection before opening it; his fur covered belly swinging to the side like a pantry door with a fitting creak. Those who looked into the cavity, could see what could only be described as everything and nothing at all. As the Lord of chaos reached into his incomprehensible interior, he pulled out a blue pocket planner with yellow polka dots and a pen clipped onto it's side. The book itself seemed to be producing the sound, that is of course until Discord pressed down on the pen's button. After the click, the music stopped and what the girls could only vaguely understand to be gibberish came out from the pen which was being held close to the Lord of Chaos' ear. While his eyes widened with worry, he let out a small gasp of shock. "Oh dear... I'm gonna be late for my meeting with Azazel." He said, mostly to himself. This caused the girls to stop their confused staring and blink as the implication of what Discord just said to settle in. With varying levels of worry, the girls voiced their collective concern. "What!?" They all asked in unison, causing the master of mischief to wince and promptly rub said ears. "Honestly, hyperbolic shock is only fun once or twice per chapter; now this is just obnoxious." He complained. "You mean to tell us that you were going to see him all by yourself!?" Fluttershy exclaimed, her forehooves being used to cover her mouth out of an instinctive reflex to shield herself from danger. This made Discord burst into a small fit of laughter before answering the distraught pegasus. "Goodness no! Oh you crack me up Fluttershy." He began, wiping a tear from his eye. After doing so, his arm spontaneously broke off like the handle of a tea pot and clattered to the ground. "I wanted to take those two skeletons of his back to him. Hopefully it will get him in a more negotiable mood, considering the... mood he was in when I last saw him." He explained, taking his dismembered limb and popping back into place with a small "clack". After a brief pause, the Mane six continued their march towards the castle. While the girls looked amongst each other, Twilight began to mull over the Chaotic Spirit's reasoning. "It could work... Do you think we should bring the Elements of Harmony just in case?" Twilight said, looking up at the attentive draconequus. The mention of the Elements evoked conflicting attitudes within Discord, the likes of which he was not fond of. "Hmm... On one claw, it would be nice to have a back up plan should things go south. Unfortunately, on the other claw there's the possibility that bringing the Elements could trigger the same reaction we're are trying to avoid." The draconequss pondered aloud as the group reached the castle of friendship. "I still think we should just turn him to stone..." Rainbow Dash muttered under her breath, the memory of being under the effect of the demon's fear aura souring her mood. When the group climbed up the crystalline stairs leading up to the castle's twin doors, the girls were greeted with a concerned looking Starlight exiting the castle. As the two locked eyes, Starlight approached Twilight with a quick pace. "Thank goodness you're all here. We've got a problem." Starlight said, stopping infront of her mentor. "What's wrong?" The princess of friendship asked, her tone mirroring the growing worry on her face. "Let's go inside, Zecora and Spike are waiting for us in the map room. I'll explain on the way." The lavander mare replied, ushering the group inside. As the party of ponies made their way through the crystalline tree-castle's halls, Starlight began to unveil the problem of which she spoke. "At some point after midnight while the sun was still down, there was an earthquake that woke me up. After it stopped, I went back to sleep thinking little of it; but then a few minutes later I was woken up again by Spike saying that he saw Mia in the kitchen with a sack and a knife in her mouth. When I went to confront her she had vanished, and she took Trephor's bones with her." She said, approaching the twin doors of the map room. As the group listened intently, their gazes were turned towards the map of friendship. Sitting on his throne Spike's conversation with the Zebra shaman of the Everfree was cut short at the sound of the twin doors opening. Turing around to see who had arrived, Spike was more than relieved to see his big sister safe and sound. "Twilight!" He exclaimed happily as he jumped out of his chair and ran to embrace her. While the two exchanged a warm hug, Starlight continued. "I followed the trail of footsteps she left while running into the Everfree when I was stopped by Zecora. She wouldn't let me go any further, and asked to speak with you urgently." She explained, gesturing to the approaching Zebra. Zecora had a gentle smile on her face, but one could tell by the small bags under her poignant cyan eyes she had been rudely awakened and/or had slept little. "Though I would've wished to meet under a better circumstance; I assure you, my presence here is not by pure happenstance." She began, her usual way of rhyming as she spoke being normal to the Mane six after a period of adjustment. "Something terrible has happened to the Everfree, and if nothing is done about it, I fear it will come back to haunt you and me." She finished, her tone denoting urgency. With Spike still holding her barrel, Twilight's forehoof held the little drake closer. "What happened?" She asked, prompting Zecora to take a deep breath. "To you this may seem strange or even wrong, but ever since I moved to the Everfree I've... learned much from those that have not yet moved on." She began, her tone reflecting her aprehension of the topic. While the rest of the girls looked amongst themselves in mild confusion, Twilight's eyes opened at the realization of her implication. "You don't mean... you..." Twilight struggled to speak calmly, as she began to visualize the Zebra shaman using some profane ritual to control the undead in her home to harm her loved ones. Noticing the alicorn's worried glance was turning into an angry glare, and her grip tightening around the little drake, Zecora hurriedly began to explain. "I know what you're thinking, and no, it was not me. I'd never want to bring harm to you or your family." The zebra assured. After being wordlessly reassured by Spike, Twilight nodded; prompting the shaman to continue. "When I first moved to the Everfree, I knew something was awry. Because as I made it my home, I learned the forest was alive. The forest's strange flora and creatures are birthed from the it's center. A dangerous place that I would not dare enter. From there, the spirits of ponies, griffins, and minotaurs abound; and buried deep beneath earth and stone, their warden can be found. An ancient system of malignant plants has grown and melded together, dooming those that perish in the Everfree forever. Feeding off their sorrow, the plunder roots have endured, even after the Tree of Harmony threatened to destroy the vile mess of vines and wood. However, these poor spirits would get some respite. When the sun vanished and the moon bathed the forest in it's light they'd come to me spend the night if that I'd granted. Though most cannot see them, the spirits of the Everfree were there. And even before I met you all, I helped them by lending them an ear to show them I care. But something has happened to the plunder seeds and the spirits they carried. As I chatted with one such spirit near my home, a dark and powerful magic uprooted the evil plants from where they were buried. The spirits then screamed and vanished into thin air, leaving me alone and in despair. I would've gone to investigate, but to go into the heart; I would not dare. I came here hoping it would prove to be prudent. Fortunately, I encountered none other than your faithful student. I stopped her from heading towards the places that gave me a dreadful chill. So here we have been; hoping the ground would stay still." The striped zebra explained. As this happened, Discord's eyes widened at the mention of "dark and powerful" magic. "Oh dear..." Discord muttered, his voice nearly a whisper. Fluttershy, with her keen ears for listening to her animals, caught the verbal expression of worry in her hearing. Turning to look at her friend, she could see he was very distressed. "Discord?.." She asked, her voice equally hushed as that of the draconequus. With a gentle tap of her hoof, she gained his attention. Though most found it difficult to discern Discord's true state at any given time, Fluttershy had become familiarized with the indicators of her friend just joking around. To her dismay, she found no such indicator, only serious concern. One by one, the mares and dragon turned to see what the worry was about. "Uhhh... Discord? what's wrong?" Spike asked with his own swell of concern growing. Taking one last look at the yellow mare with a pink mane for reassurance, he turned to the group and spoke up. "Do you girls remember I when gave you a lesson on the Elements of Harmony and the Tree?" He asked, somewhat embarrassed. "You mean the time the Everfree tried to destroy Ponyville and the tree of Harmony?" Applejack deadpanned, unimpressed at the fact that despite the severity of the situation, Discord was still his obnoxious self. Brushing off the blow to his ego, he continued. "Those plunder seeds I planted feed off of the pain of souls, and if what Zecora just described is accurate; we're in serious trouble." He spoke, his tone continuing to increase in worry. "UUGGHHH! CAN EVERYPONY STOP BEING SO VAGUE AND DRAMATIC?! What are we up against? What world ending calamity do we have to deal with now?!" Rainbow Dash complained loudly, a strong desire for this debacle to be over superceding any restraint she had left. Though her tactlessness didn't quite sit right with the rest of the girls, they would appreciate a more straight forward answer. Discord took a deep breath before speaking, as the mere thought of what they would now have to face sent shivers down his spine. "I fear that Azazel found the plunder seeds and did something to them... as a necromancer, he's drawn to the suffering of souls. Much like a demon." Discord confessed, only barely keeping his shudder in check. "And that's a problem because...?" Rainbow Dash pressed on with the roll of her hoof. "The problem, is that in a best case scenario, he was consumed by the plunder seeds and died along with those evil weeds!" He shot back angrily, the tension finally taking a toll on his nerves. The harsh reaction caught the element of loyalty by surprise, keeping her from asking anymore questions. Though the same could not be for the element of kindness... " ...w-what would the worst case be?" She asked timidly. Discord's fearful glance at her made Fluttershy regret asking. "That he may have just acquired the power he needs to keep his promise to Celestia..." He began, now turning to the spooked group of ponies. "...and burn this world to cinders..." ////////Meanwhile, in the Everfree Forest/////// In the ancient library within the disheveled castle the two sisters once called home, a pair of humanoid skeletons stood around a circular table across from two equid skeletons. On the table, there was an old map of the land of Equestria sketched onto a very old and musty parchment. The map had several places marked with rocks being placed in a semi-straight line heading diagonally downward. The stones had been placed there by Spectre Luamoon, who had gathered them whilst awaiting patiently for more instructions from a tall, onyx undead. "His course hasn't changed. Still going southeast, a-... AAAGHHH!!" Avalon began explaining, before feeling as if his head was being pushed into a bonfire; prompting him to scream in tremendous pain. Disconnecting himself from his target, he lost balance momentarily before stabilizing himself on the table. As the haze around his mind cleared, his now deep blue eyes refocused to reveal the sight of Spectre Luamoon, Savant Dancer, and Anvari looking at him with concern in the embers of their "eyes". "He's... *sigh* He's left my range... but if nothing gets in his path that he can't immediately kill, he'll continue going in a straight line." He said, trying to difuse the tension. The group's gaze then turned to the old map. At it's center, there was a small sketch of a castle in the center of what seemed to be the Everfree forest. Surrounding the forest were vast plains to the west, lightly wooded areas further south, a coast line to the east that led down to what seemed to be a depiction of a volcano, and a mountain to the north with the words "Mount Canterlot" written in Equish. "I'm not seeing any reason as for why he keeps moving south east... does he intend to cross the ocean?" Savant Dancer asked with an innocent curiosity that made it sound cuter than the present situation required. As Avalon's eyes drifted along the crooked line, something popped into his mind as his gaze landed on the volcano. "There is an entire nation filled with dragons... ...with that much Mana I could build an army to RAZE this world ten times over!" Azazel's statement resounded in Avalon's head as he connected the dots of his master's trajectory and intent. "Oh gods... He's actually gonna do it..." Avalon muttered to himself as he began to visualize what would an invasion of undead be like on a land like Equestria. "Do what?" Anvari asked, becoming increasingly uneasy with Avalon's ominous tone. Just Avalon turned to answer her, he felt the call from one of the pegasi outside in his mind. Connecting to Silver Lining, he shut his open mouth and pressed two of his phalanges on his temples. "What is it?" He asked, worried something else would make their already pessimistic morning worse. "Sir! It's...! It's Mia!" Silver Lining's statement caused Avalon to short circuit. "Sir, should I intercept?!" Silver Lining called to his commanding officer, but there was no response. "Sir!!" He called out again, but this time; he got an answer. "Where is she?.." Avalon asked, his tone being hesitant and skeptical. "She's a few hundred meters due north and heading in our direction, but she seems lost. She's carrying a sack of... something, and she has a weapon in her mouth. A knife, I think." Silver replied. It took a second for Avalon to reply, but when he did, he said only one thing. "Wait." After Avalon gave the order, he reached out with his mind. He sensed the magic of the other undead nearby, moving about through the ruins and the golems, who stood watch at the entrances and exits. The onyx skeleton then felt her... one of his closest friends. Her thoughts were unmistakably this of the Mia he knew. "I have to find the others. They're somewhere in this godforsaken forest... THEY HAVE TO BE!" Mia's voice echoed in the telepathic skeleton's head. He wanted to believe what he was hearing, but he saw Mia be destroyed... there was only one way to know for certain. Reaching out with his mind, he cast a single word into her mind. "Mia..." ////////Mia//////// As I wandered around the forest looking for any sign of Azazel or the others, I felt a familiar presence coming from every direction. "Mia..." A deep voice boomed inside my head. After so many years of hearing his voice, I'd never appreciated just how much I'd missed his company. "Avalon!" I nearly shouted, forgetting I had brought a knife with me to defend myself. As the blade impaled itself against the floor, cleaving a small fern in two, I looked around in every direction to try and find my sable friend. "Where are y-!?" I tried to ask, only to be cut off by Avalon's voice. "What's the type of clothing Azazel hates the most?" He asked, his tone harsh and untrusting. Taken aback by the question, I stopped my head from swiveling around a full 360 degrees. "What kind of a question is tha-?" I asked, mostly to myself. "WHAT KIND OF CLOTHING DOES AZAZEL HATE!?" Avalon shouted angrily. Though I knew the forest around me was not being affected in the least, Avalon had picked up a thing or two from Azazel. I could see the trees and greenery spontaneously combust into flames and an innumerable amount of voices screaming in what I could only presume to be a combination of horror and anguish. To say that the sudden cacophony startled me would've been the mother of all understatements. "PANTS!!! HE HATES WEARING PANTS!!!" I... exclaimed... yeah, let's go with that. As quickly as the hellscape manifested around me; it vanished in a torrent of smog and wind. As I looked around, I found that the peaceful wilderness I had trudged through in the middle of the night had returned to it's verdant beauty. "I'm.. I'm sorry... I needed to make sure it was you." He apologized. "Where are you?" I asked, momentarily hell-bent in giving him a piece of my mind in person. There was no verbal reply, but what seemed to be a stream of light hovering in middair materialized and snaked its way out of sight through the trees. "Follow it." Avalon ordered. Taking the crude bag I was using to carry Trephor off the ground along with the knife, I complied. Following the path charted for me in my head was a bit difficult, considering that the entirety of the Everfree's floor was uneven. With cracks, crevices and chasms ranging from simple dips and bumps in the earth to craters filled with broken trees and a mild stench of decomposition rising from therein. A few minutes after this, I came to a stop at the edge of a large clearing. Right in front of me there were the vestiges of an old, rickity, wooden bridge stretching over a wide chasm. It seemed to run so deep that it's bottom was obscured by the angle of the sun and what seemed to be a thick fog. Across the massive tear in the earth stood what seemed to be a massive, and ruined castle. The untended overgrowth, and crumbling walls of the monolithic fortress loomed over the treeline with equally ancient statues being over taken by the underbrush. Like crows circling a potential meal, a triad of skeletal pegasi were flying laps around it's broken towers. As I stood there, wondering how to get across the massive fissure, I heard the sound of what seemed to be massive hinges join into the natural sonorities of nature. Zeroing in on its source, I saw a dark silouhette in the shape of a skeleton come out of the front door. Just as I realized who the silhouette was, the undead pegasi dived down and flew towards me. Raising up small puffs of dirt, they landed with resounding "thuds". "Lady Mia! We're relieved to see you're alri-.." One of them spoke, her mildly posh accent being cut short when her eyes locked onto my missing forearm. Truth be told, it still hadn't registered that half of my left arm was completely gone. "Hi, uh.. can you guys help me across? I don't think its possible to cross that bridge." I spoke after taking the knife out of my mouth and pointing at the alleged bridge. It took the trio a hot second to snap back to reality, but eventually they did came back to their senses. "O-of course!" Another one of the pegasus spoke, a stallion, stammering with an almost imperceptible tinge of a rosey hue glazing his cheekbones. While one of them picked up the bag in it's jaw, the other two hoisted me up by my arms. With a bit of effort, the rapid flapping of boney wings echoed across the cliff side. Upon landing, I was set down very gently, though the same could not be said for Trephor... With a resounding "thump", the bag fell to the floor. "Be careful with that!" I complained, turning to the stallion who dropped it with a huff. He flinched at the harshness with which I spoke. Turning back towards the monolithic fortress, my stygian friend came walking down the ancient staircase with what seemed to be two pony... "knights", if one could call them that. Once he reached ground level, I got a good look at his eyes. He was in pain... and I could tell he'd been bottling it up. "Avalon?" I asked tentatively, drawing nearer to him. He stayed absolutely silent, that is of course, until my eyes wandered toward the right side of his jaw. His cherry red molars were cracked. "What happened!?" I asked, quickly looking him over for more injuries, but his voice stopped me. "I tried to stop him... I..." His voice was barely above a whisper, and was half choked. When we locked eyes again, I understood the severity of the problem. The stone-faced Avalon I knew, who rarely showed any kind of emotion, was holding back tears and failing. "I'm... so sorry... I failed him..." He managed, all while scintillations of an azure hue trickled down like water; only to disappear into thin air before making it anywhere near the ground. He tried to say something else, but I stopped him by placing my right hand near the damaged part of his jaw. Once his train of thought was brought to a screeching halt, I told him what he needed to hear. "This is not your fault. So don't throw this on yourself, because it isn't your burden to carry. We will make things right. I just need you to focus. ok?" I spoke as calmly as I could. And it seemed to work, because the "waterworks" stopped flowing down Avalon's face. With a deep breath and quiet nod, the sable skeleton's resolve regained it's strength; his eyes igniting with a bright red blaze that made the dull blue disappear. "AVALON! DONT RUN OFF LIKE THA-" A familiar voice complaining from the entrance to the ruins came whithin earshot, and as our eyes met, my eyes shone green with joy at the sight of the little sister I never had. She on the other hand, stood frozen at the door with her jaw held agape. As two unicorn skeletons walked passed her and laid eyes on me, the on dressed in what seemed to be a simple black and red suit spoke up; the other one, a mare, seemed to be in just as much shock as Anvari. "Lady Mia! You're alright!" The stallion said, sounding as of pleasantly surprised. I chuckled slightly at the... oddness of the moment, only for it to be cut short by the sound of restrained hics and sniffles. Quickly focusing on its source, I discovered it was coming from Anvari. Whilst Avalon was clearly more skilled at keeping his emotions in check, Anvari was not. It only took a few seconds for her to crack, and when she did, the waterworks began as she sprinted towards me as quickly as her legs would allow her. Just before the she-dwarf could close the distance, I knelt down so we would be at eye level. "MIIIAAA!!!" She wailed, wrapping her arms over my shoulders and around my neck. As I held her in my arms, I was forced to stand up to stay balanced; seeing as how she nearly tackled me to the ground. I had held her in my arms in the past countless times... but the way her body trembled... it wasn't fear that ravaged her. It was as if a damn of sorrow had finally broken as I whispered sweet nothings into her... well you get the idea. I don't know how long I stood there with my eyes closed and Anvari in my arms, but my attention was directed behind me when the sound of bones being shuffled about broke the peaceful ambience of the forest. Turning around, I saw Avalon and the pegasi that carried me here all huddled around the bag I brought with me. No one was saying anything, as their eyes were locked onto Trephor's skull; which was being held like a delicate flower in Avalon's hands. Though no sound came from him, I could tell he was relieved, distressed, and sad all at the same time whilst he inspected the green skull in his hands. After a minute or two of this, he turned to look at me. "H-how?... I thought-" He managed, until I cut off his train of thought, of course. "Its a long story." I replied sheepishly, causing Anvari to stir from her half asleep state; the little one having nearly dozed off while being carried. It didn't take long for her to pinpoint what we were talking about, and with the same silent shock as the sable undead before me; her jaw swivelled open in disbelief. Setting her down, she walked over to the bag and began to rummage around it; finding that every bone was intact and with no apparent damage. As this happened, I remembered why I had even made the trip to this place in the dead of night. "Where's Azazel?" I asked Avalon, who had been helping Anvari take out and methodically arrange Trephor's bones on the ground. He stopped what he was doing, freezing for only a second before turning to me. With those same azure eyes and a weariness that chilled my bones, he gave me the answer I'd given him only moments ago. "Its a long story..." > Chapter 19. Monster Among Monsters > -------------------------------------------------------------------------- ///////The dragon lands//////// Upon the seemingly barren wastes of the dragon lands, life had found a way to flourish. It's volcanic soil was rich in crystalized minerals that manifested as either colorful rocks or dark spires that hid the beauty of their geode's interior. While inhospitable to most other creatures, the hot temperatures rising from the ground, massive volcanoes, pools and rivers of lava flowing from deep within the earth, and an unnatural excess of gems was the perfect place for a dragon to call their home. That is of course, until about a few hours ago... At the moment, a trio of teenage dragons soared across the sky towards one relatively inactive volcano. The dormant mountain had become an elder dragon's home some centuries ago, looming silently among the more active volcanoes surrounding it. As the group flew through a narrow tunnel and into a massive, and hollowed out chamber; their arrival seemed to go unnoticed by the titanic, crimson elder dragon slumbering peacefully in an equally vast and tall mound of gold, gems and a wild assortment of weapons and armor far too small for it to wear. "DAD! WAKE UP!!!" One of the young drakes shouted. Like his father, this young dragon had a moderately sized snout, a pair of proportionate wings, and a barbed tail. It's scales were of the same crimson hue as that of his father, and the webbing of his dorsal fin, wings and the barb of his tail was a bright orange. Upon being woken up from it's peaceful sleep, the massive dragon's eyes shot open. The sharp pupils in it's golden eyes constricted with annoyance as the beasts right eye locked onto the smaller trio. The draconic giant lifted it's head slowly, pieces of gold that were stuck between it's scales coming loose with the sudden motion. With an huff of annoyance, the monstrous elder dragon let out two plumes of smoke from it's nostrils as it towered over them. "You'd better have a good reason for waking me up Garble. Because I'm still mad at you for that prank with the molten gold statue!" The dragon's powerful voice shook the cave itself, it's breathing alone sounding like the wind rushing past a glade of trees. "It's not a prank, I swear! There's a giant monster heading towards the hatching grounds! It's killing every dragon in it's path!!!" He proclaimed, the look of terror in Garble's face and that of his friends grabbed the elder dragon by surprise. The gargantuant being blinked as he looked at his son with a skeptical glare. Garble was infamous among the youthful dragon's for being a devious prankster, but some months ago, his father had procured a certain relic from an ancient pony wizard that could help him with such minutia. This relic was a glowing, basketball sized, crystal ball, that could show the memories of anyone who held it. Turning around, he scanned his horde from above in search of the artifact. After a minute or two, he found it; half buried in one of the many mounds of gold coins. With dexterity that one would think impossible for a being of his size, the elder dragon plucked the ball like a grain of sand and shoved it into Garble's arms. Lowering his head, the elder dragon got close enough for his keen eye to make out the image being shown by the crystal ball. As the smaller dragon took the orb, the sphere's ethereal light of a creamy white morphed into a swirling grey cloud with red lightning crackling inside it. The cloud then parted to reveal a sight that perplexed the scaley giant. In the midst of a plain where the feet of multiple volcanoes met, stood a being so grotesque that the elder dragon had to blink a few times to make sure he was seeing properly. It stood upright, several hundred meters tall; maybe even bigger then him. It was almost entirely composed of an odd mixture of what seemed to be a jet black tree bark with cracks all over it's form and torn flesh. From those cracks, black and red flames fed the growing tower of fire that acted as it's "hair". The top part of it's body resembled that of a minotaur, while it's lower and longer half resembled that of a snake. It's head seemed proportionate to it's wide chest, which had black and red markings that resembled eyes. No... they WERE eyes! Darting about by their own accord. The titan branded muscular arms with claws made of a black, volcanic stone that glowed with an angry reddish orange luminescence. On it's back, the monster had alien looking protrusions that causef the elder dragon to struggle to discern their function. Maybe vestigial wings of some kind... It's face was covered by stone like scales, save for the gaping maw of hundreds of sharp teeth seemingly made of glowing crimson crystals bigger than broadswords. It had two pairs of massive horns that expelled smoke like chimneys. The largest pair sprouted from a scale-lke plating that covered the area where it's eyes should be. They grew over and towards the back of it's head, disappearing into the maelstrom of fire that made up it's "hair". The second pair sprouted from the side of it's head and curved towards the front; similar to that of certain dragon he knew. The elder dragon was barely able to see the tiny images of dragons swarming around the titanic monster like a bunch of angry locusts. Though no sound could be heard, the monster roared and swung it's open claws at the dragons flying around it, swatting them away like gnats. The elder dragon growled at the visage before him, but what really angered him was the following exchange of words. "Baron Cinder! He's telling the truth! Please, we need your help in keeping the monster busy while the other barons and Dragonlord Torch get the eggs to safety!" The stout, moss green dragon to Garble's right said. The dragon baron Cinder, one of Lord Torch's oldest friends, listened intently to the teenager's plea. "Dad, please! Smolder's down there!" Garble begged, his worry for his little sister overpowering his usually cocky demeanor. At the mention of his youngest daughter's name, Cinder's eyes narrowed, and a furious snarl left his smoldering maw of teeth. "SHE'S DOWN THERE AND YOU DIDN'T TELL ME!?" He shouted, his parental instinct kicking in. "THATS WHY I'M HERE AREN'T I!?" Garble shot back indignantly. With his anger now channeled and focused into one singular goal, Baron Cinder rose from the mound of gold and stone he had half buried himself in. Unfurling his massive wings, the loose coins of gold under him spiralled up like a golden dust devil as he took flight. Flying out of the dormant volcano's mouth, he shot himself thousands of feet into the air before diving back down. Cinder soared through the sky at breakneck speeds, intent on breaking the neck of whatever that monster was. He would bring down his wrath on anyone that endangered his children. In mere minutes, the gargantuant wyvern reached the peak of the dead volcano upon which the hatching grounds lay; perching himself like a bird on the mountain's peak. At the foot of the mountain, Cinder could see the foul beast. He could see that it had left a trail of death and destruction where it had passed by, as countless corpses of dragons, wyrms, wyverns, and other denizens of the dragon lands lay crushed, scorched, or broken beyond recognition as mounds of broken flesh, blood and gore. On the side of the mountain several hundred stories above ground level, other dragon barons, and their offspring, aiding in the evacuation. Cinder could see that most of the eggs had been moved, but if the creature decided to make a beeline for the hatching grounds, the remaining eggs would be in danger. His eyes darted about the lava pools in search for a small orange dragoness, and soon enough, he found her. Letting out a sigh of relief, and a plume of smoke from his mouth, Cinder leapt into the air and glided down towards the hatching grounds. As his cut through the air, a torrent of dust and wind was stirred; landing with such force that the earth itself shook. The dragons who had been transporting the eggs into containers made from broken pony carriages and small boats noticed Cinder's arrival, but quickly got back to work. All except one... "DAD!" Smolder called out for her dad after carefully laying a blue egg with green dots scattered across the shell into a padded box with five other eggs. She flew towards her father as quickly as her wings would take her. She landed on his snout and gave him an assuring smile. "It's good to see you're alright." He sighed, closing his eyes to calm his speeding heart. He got close to calming himself down, but he was startled when a powerful and clearly irate voice called out his name. "CINDER!!! GET OVER HERE, NOW!" Opening his eyes, Cinder found himself under the gaze of the Dragonlord himself. Knowing he could not disobey, he looked back towards his daughter, who had flinched and turned to look at Torch. "Smolder, go to my cave and hide with your brother there. Don't leave until I or the Dragonlord summon you. Understood?" He ordered, his tone weary of the uncertainty of what awaited him. "But dad! I wanna make sure the eggs get to safety!" She complained, stomping her foot against his snout and pouting. In that moment, the dragon Baron was reminded of Garble and Smolder's mother. A dragoness who was as ferocious as she was loyal to her kind. The memory reminded him of why he was sending them to hide. So that he could honor his spouse's memory through them. "You heard me Smolder! Go!" He ordered, now with a stern look and an even sterner tone. Smolder huffed, blowing plumes of fire through her nostrils in protest; but she obeyed her father's command. When she flew off and disappeared behind the mountain, Baron Cinder walked towards the Dragonlord. He expected the hulking elder dragon to be angry, but the look on Torch's face was one of... stoicism. As the two giants stood next to each other at the edge of the hatching grounds, they had a perfect view of the battle below. They watched in silent awe as the giant abomination swung at the dragon's flying around it, most of the drakes barely dodging it's fast and feral movements. The beast then let out a howling roar that sounded like thousands of voices screaming in anguish. "Did you receive my summons?" Torch's voice broke Cinder's focus on the slaughter happening at the volcano's foot. It took Cinder a bit to reply, but eventually he did. "My son informed me of what was happening. If you summoned me, I did not feel your scepter's call." Cinder explained, half hoping his explanation would suffice. Torch hummed while closing his eyes and rubbing the bridge of his snout. When he opened his eyes again, Cinder saw for the first time in his LONG life one of the mightiest Dragonlords to have ever lived, look hopeless... "Then it is as I feared..." Torch sighed, mostly to himself. "That thing's presence is interfering with the Bloodstone Scepter's magic. I couldn't warn the others in time..." He continued, his head hanging low with shame. With the same motion, he looked down to his chest, eyeing the spot under his chest plate where the scepter was hidden. Cinder didn't like what he was hearing, but he wanted to be sure he wasn't misunderstanding the steel blue elder dragon. "What happened Torch? Speak plainly." Cinder demanded with a stern, yet respectful tone. "Skyquake, Dreadwing, Brimstone... They all challenged that thing when it came through their territories." The Dragonlord began, his rising tone informing Cinder that the mere thought of it all was slowly stoking the fire of his rage. Cinder said nothing during Torch's small pause, seeing as how he needed the relative silence to stave off the urge to hit something. But try as he may, Torch couldn't pry his eyes away from the monster. To think that dragons who he had grown up with, formed bonds with, and fought by their side were all murdered by a beast so hideous. "When I fled... Skyquake and Dreadwing were already dead... it ripped Brimstone in two for Tartarus' sake! No matter how much fire we breathed on it, how many times it was struck, slammed and battered against the ground... it JUST KEPT GETTING BACK UP! IT KILLED THEM AND FORCED ME TO RETREAT! ME!!!" The Elder dragon's fury had finally boiled over, roaring the second to last part of his rant. "All we can do now is keep that thing distracted long enough to get the last of the eggs out of it's path and lead it out of the dragon lands." He finished, his tone shifting into something more akin to that of a capable leader. Never once had Torch been forced to flee from a fight, especially against something that was smaller than him. The humiliation caused his eyes to narrow, and tongues of fire danced through the small gaps between his massive teeth. Cinder, who had been listening intently to his leader and old friend, also had his blood boiling over the news. Fortunately for them, they would get a chance to ventilate their fury. Because of Torch's loud rant, the beast had noticed the two elder dragons, the myriad of eyes on its chest looking up at the red and blue dragons staring daggers at it. The titan stopped swinging it's claws around to shoo away the pests that flew around it. The hulking beast issued a challenge in the form of a powerful roar. The shockwave produced sent the swarm of smaller dragons hurdling away from it, and the volcanically active areas around it to bleed magma. The two elder dragons let their instincts take over, and replied with an equally earth shaking warcry. With it's long, smoldering body, it began to slither its way up the mountain as quickly as it's tail could push it forward and it's arms could drag it. Pillars of stone and rock formations that had withstood the test of time for millennia were reduce to rubble as the titan trampled anything and everything unfortunate enough to be in it's path. As this happened, Torch and Cinder took flight and glided down towards their opponent, leaving a hurricane of dust and volcanic ash in their wake. The two elder dragons and the titan raced towards each other, each one roaring with animalistic fury at the other. When the Elder dragons finally came upon the beast, their plans to bash it's face in were abruptly and violently brought to a halt. While Cinder's and Torch's fists did punch the beast's head clean off; it's body kept stampeding under them. The headless torso lurched up from under them with it's arms outstretched, and with a vice-like grip, latched onto the elder dragons' necks. The titan howled while it used it's momentum to force the dragons back and it's weight to slam them down into the mountainside. The violent exchange let out a shockwave that echoed across the entirety of the dragon lands. Though it's sharp claws couldn't pierce the scale-plated throats of it's victims, the beast made an attempt nonetheless. Torch and Cinder were currently clawing at the monster's arms, but for every vine, rock and wad of flesh they ripped out; a new piece would regenerate in a bubbling blast of a foul smelling steam. Slowly, but surely, from the flaming stump of it's neck, a horned skull began to form from the black, sap-like fluid oozing from it's neck. It then hardened, allowing for vines resembling muscle to spread across it's form. It's upper "face", was then covered in a complex pattern of scale like plates that glistened like newly formed obsidian which glistened in the maelstrom of it's fiery hair. It's horrid maw was then covered by lips of what seemed to be emaciated flesh. Those lips then parted to reveal the monster's sharp, blade like teeth in a feral scowl. "K-kick!... Kick it!..." Cinder croaked out, struggling to get any air in his lungs. Torch almost missed his comrade's call-out, but it was enough to know how they were to free themselves. In almost perfect sync, the two elder dragons kicked the monster's chest with their hind legs with as much strength as their oxygen starved bodies could generate. The blow was enough to force the titan back, letting a choked shriek escaped it's lips; seemingly having the wind knocked out of it. The two elder dragons didn't waste time, getting up as quickly as they could and landing as many haymakers, bites and kicks in an attempt to push it back. Just when Cinder believed that they were winning, the titan's tail coiled around Torch's right arm; stopping it from landing another sucker punch that would have likely ended in the creature's horns being broken. It's tail continued to coil around the Dragonlord's body effectively keeping his arms bound. Now with the titan's full attention, all cinder could do was block and sidestep it's relentless assault while the blue elder dragon could do little more than struggle to free himself. The monster's horrid babbling never ceased, unnerving Cinder more with every second that passed. Torch and his Baron were eventually both pinned and sent tumbling down the mountainside with the beast serving as a living restraint. The earthquakes created by the giants fighting could be felt for over a mile, and their screams of rage and pain were heard in the farthest reaches of the dragon lands and beyond... //////////Everfree forest//////// Deep in the accursed recesses of the Everfree, the mane six, Discord, Starlight, Spike and Zecora made their way over toppled trees, through deep crevices, and under newly formed rock formations, while crossing through the disheveled forest. While Zecora was somewhat familiar with the recent devastation in the mysterious forest, the girls, draconequus, and baby dragon were dismayed upon seeing the once indomitable beacon of nature reduced to a mess of unearthed roots, broken trees, and a steady breeze that whistled past in a northwest direction. While the zebra shaman had become use to the sounds of birds and the rustling of leaves, the dead silence that now replaced it was as unnerving as it was deafening. Miraculously, the Tree of Harmony and the surrounding land had been untouched; so retrieving the Elements wasn't difficult. However, getting to the old castle of the two sisters was another matter entirely. The path leading to it was now indistinguishable from the rest of the forest, and caused them to lose their way. On their journey, they didn't encounter any of the hostile creatures of the Everfree, or at least, none that were alive... The foul smelling remains of Timberwolves lay crushed of half buried under the soil. The stench of blood and death was everywhere, however faint it may have been. After some time of trying to reach the ruins, the group came across a massive crater that stood out like a sore hoof. Easily stretching over a mile in diameter and with a depth of a few hundred meters; the relatively colorful palette of the forest was marred by a straight line of smoldering decay heading southeast of the crater's epicenter. "We've arrived at the Everfree's center... the place I dared not enter." Zecora said to the group with a tinge of fear. As the group looked on, Rarity was the first to voice her shock. "Goodness... what happened here?" She asked, mostly to herself but no one answered. The silence was only broken after a few minutes, when something tapped on Fluttershy's shoulder. As the pale yellow mare looked up to her friend, she could see a comedically long telescope in the draconequus' grip. He was dressed as what could only be described to be a pirate's outfit with a fittingly oversized hat with a large pink feather adorning it. Only moments after Fluttershy's mood improved from the funny spectacle that was Discord, did she notice what he was looking at. Slowly marching towards the epicenter of the crater, was a colorful group of undead she recognized from her stay at Canterlot. She huddled closer to the god of chaos, finding his presence oddly comforting. Rainbow Dash had seen the exchange between her pegasus friend and the draconequus, and after hovering over her friends to get a better look, she spotted the small entourage of skeletons heading down the crater's incline. "Over there!" She called out while pointing in the general direction of the living dead. The group's gaze locked on to the menagerie of what any other pony would have considered to be monsters. Meanwhile, the aforementioned group of undead were being led by the tall onyx skeleton who had refitted the remains of a destroyed golem into simple vembraces and a chest plate that was a little too small for him. He was branding one of the spear-tipped halberds the golems he'd been forced to destroy carried, along with a worn shield strapped to his back. As the hulking undead led the group behind him, something caught his eye. A glinting, silverish light was piercing through the blackened rot of the path near the center of the titanic crater. He quickly moved towards it, kneeling down once he was on top of it. Brushing off the dirt that was on the shiny object, Avalon found a belt buckle he recognized. Taking it in his hand, he pulled it upwards. Behind him was a small group of skeletons, all of which were wearing some form of armor and they were all carrying weapons ranging from rusted short swords to makeshift pikes to small hammers held in improvised holsters wrapped around their sides. While most were that of ponies, a few were bipedal and ape-like. Having been revived and reunited with his new fiance, Trephor walked by Mia's side; their boney hands intertwined out of a mutual need to be holding each other. The smaller skeleton who had revived the verdant undead was currently riding atop her trusty feline steed. When the entourage closed the distance between themselves and the onyx undead, they saw him rise to his full stature and pull a familiar piece of clothing that look like a torn flag with a macabre menagerie of mementos muddled with muck dangling from a leather belt. "Well, we have the nephilim's belt and loincloth... but where's the nephilim?" Trephor said to no one in particular. The rest of the undead then began to look about for any signs other than the very obvious trail of decay and desolation heading southeast not too far from them. As Anvari looked on with her slightly dulled eyes at the devastation around her, she heard a high pitched voice calling out to her. "HEY ANVARI!" The voice of Pinkie Pie echoed through the slope, getting the attention of the band of undead. While the girls all looked at Pinkie Pie with a variety of emotions ranging from mortal shock to the classic "ARE YOU KIDDING ME!?" face, the element of laughter was gingerly waving at the small undead in her usual cheerful manner from a distance. Contrary to the others around her who tensed up, the she-dwarf was more confused than shocked; resulting in a delayed, but polite wave from Anvari's part. As the group silently eyed the other down, Avalon assessed the threat they were dealing with. "Sir Avalon? How do we proceed?" Blazing Shot asked, his voice barely a whisper. The onyx undead took a bit to respond, but eventually he did. "I'm seeing the Elements of Harmony, Discord, Starlight, a... purple salamander and someone else... Azazel was right... they came to kill us with their Elements..." Avalon stated with a grim acceptance in his tone. The last time Azazel had been right to challenge him or anyone's council... innocents died... Purging the painful memory, he instead focused on his main objective. "I can keep them distracted long enough for all of you to get a head start and reach the dragon lands befo-" "I've heard some stupid shit in my time, but that's the dumbest thing you've said by far." Trephor cut his sable friend off in an almost joking manner. Walking towards Avalon, the green skeleton continued. "You're not playing the hero; not on my watch. Lets go before the friendship horsies teach us about rainbows, and friendship." He asserted coyly, placing his hand on the undead's shoulder. Avalon didn't move, his focus being almost entirely directed at the group of colorful creatures looking at him. "Blazing, Scarlett, Silver; You're with me. The rest of you follow Azazel's trail. If you hurry, you might stay ahead of them the entire-" Avalon began again, having formed a crude plan of attack in his head. He was cut off yet again by Trephor; pulling his shoulder around so that the two would face each other. While normally, Trephor wouldn't have the strength to do such a thing, Avalon allowing himself to turn face and stare right at his green friend. The verdant undead's eyes were burning with red cinders, his tone reflecting the ire he felt at being ignored. "What part of "we're not leaving you" did you not get?! We take them all on together or we run! Those are our options! Pick one!" He stated with vehemence. Avalon stayed silent for only a few moments before speaking his peace. "We won't be able to take them. Mia's injured and Anvari has expended most of her magic already. You're the best chance we have to save the kid you and the others helped me raise. If there's even a chance you can make it to Azazel before those ponies do, then we have to take it." Avalon countered with a stern, but calm tone. Trephor was left speechless at his friend's stubbornness. The green Skeleton tried to think of something else to say, but try as he might, he couldn't. Seizing the opportunity to get his point across, he placed a hand on Trephor's shoulder and gave it an assuring squeeze while getting a little closer. "I lost you once already. I refuse to lose you again." He whispered, his eyes shifting to blue; if only for a second. As the onyx undead spoke, Trephor's eyes began to shift to a bright blue. Though he would never admit it, sentimental rabble like this was Trephor's weakness; and it infuriated him that Avalon was using it against him. "Stop being an ass and don't do this..." He croaked out, barely keeping it together. Taking a deep breath, Avalon impaled the butt of his halberd into the ground before doing something that Trephor thought impossible. The onyx skeleton pulled in his best friend into a bear hug, which then Trephor reciprocated. After a few seconds, Avalon broke the hug to find Trephor on the verge of a breakdown. Rolling his eyes at the sight, he pulled out his weapon from the earth. "Go forth, weepy prince. Your shining knight awaits to escort your bitch ass to safety." Avalon said in a mock voice while shooing Trephor away with his hand. This caused the jade skeleton's somber mood to lighten, his eyes shifting from a dark blue to a light green. "Not bad... Try not to die out there, alright? I still want to do that musical number with you..." Trephor said, feeling a little better as he laughed at the sable undead's spontaneity. Avalon didn't say anything, choosing instead to simply nod. With the promise of seeing his favorite victim to annoy again, Trephor began walking back to Mia and Anvari to debrief them. The onyx undead was pleasantly surprised with how easily it had been to convince the others to take on his responsibility should he not make it. With only one thing left to do, Avalon made a wordless gesture for everyone to get going; a small nod. The entourage of skeletons began following the blackened path of destruction at a jog's pace. Seeing them leave, Avalon tried to smile; only to remember that he didn't have lips. Gathering his wits, he turned to face the ponies and began to march in their direction with his halberd at the ready. "To me!" Avalon ordered, his eyes glinting with green embers at the prospect of his friends actually accomplishing their assigned task. When he gave the order, Scarlett Stream, Silver Lining, and Blazing Shot readied their weapons and began marching with him. "Permission to speak freely, sir." Blazing Shot asked. "Permission granted." Avalon replied. "While I may not agree with everything our master does, it's been an honor to serve with a fellow soldier again. If I'm to die again, then it will be for something greater than myself." Blazing stated, seeing the cyan pegasus and the orange earth pony get infront of the group in a defensive manner. Avalon took a deep breath as memories of his time as Azazel's first and oldest unliving creation tried to force themselves to the forefront of his mind. Forcing them back to the rear of his subconscious, he exhaled and uttered one word before his speed walking turned into a mad dash. "Likewise..." He said, leading the charge of skeletons behind him. As Silver Lining and Scarlett Stream took to the air, Avalon closed the distance between the group and lept into the air with a warcry, hoping to cleave the farm pony first. Fortunately for everyone, a certain draconequus had produced a television remote in his bird claw. With the press of the pause button, the undead were suspended in middair. Avalon and his fellow skeletons struggled to move, but found it to be impossible to move or even make a sound. "Uh.. Hi. It's nice to meet you in person Avalon." The draconequus began, coming into Avalon's view. "I know you may not believe me, but we're not here to harm you. You see we're actually here because I have an appointment with your master." He stated, pushing to the side with very little effort the halberd in Avalon's hands to the side so that it wouldn't land on his head. As the mane six and company watched the frozen undead levitate in the air, something odd happened. As they hovered in place, the skeletons were suddenly obscured by a visual snow akin to an old television's white noise flickering around them. "If you could point us in the right direction that would be greatly appre-" The draconequus began, but his train of thought was cut short when he noticed the spell he'd cast on them was losing its power. In a flurry of movement too quick for Discord to react to, the magic holding Avalon aloft faltered and disappeared; letting him fall to the ground and his weapon's axe head to bury itself in the ground. He swiftly swung upward and tried to impale Discord's neck with the spearhead of his halberd. Before the blade could pierce the god's throat, a teal aura of magic enveloped the blade and kept it at bay. "STOP! We don't want to fight you!" Starlight exclaimed, her own horn lightning up with magic. As this happened, the other undead were released from their bonds. Seeing as how their commanding officer was trying to force his weapon through the mismatched monster's mug, they took it as a sign to attack. The charging skeletons were, unfortunately, woefully unprepared for Applejack and her trusty lasso. Before they could get far, the orange farm pony had pulled out a lasso she always packs underneath her Stetson hat. The trio were all ensnared and thrown towards a nearby tree with a resounding "thunk". They tried to break free, but quickly found their attempts to be futile. A small smirk spread across Applejack's muzzle at the sight of her small victory. Unfortunately, the small victory would be short-lived, as the undead that was trying to force the large halberd in it's hands to perforate Discord's neck switched tactics. Finding Starlight's magical grip too strong to over power, Avalon opted to use the same force that was pushing him back to use the hammer portion of his weapon. Without removing his feet from the ground, the sable skeleton's upper half performed a full 360 degree spin using the telekinetic grip on his weapon to propel it even faster in the opposite direction. With a loud *thwack* and a teeth grinding *crunch*, the hammer of Avalon's halberd struck Discord's midsection and sent the draconequus hurdling into a fallen tree. "DISCORD!" Fluttershy cried with a gasp of horror and with tears in her eyes. Discord hit the tree and fall limp on the ground. With varying expressions ranging from fear to anger, the mane six and their friends' attetion split between the injured spirit of chaos and the hostile undead before them. He stayed unnervingly silent as he assumed a combat ready stance. While this happened, the yellow pegasus hurriedly flew towards her fallen friend. "Fluttershy wait!" Twilight tried to stop her friend, but it was pointless. Having a new target, the undead lunged toward the pegasus to intercept her; hoping to use her as a hostage and buy the others more time. Rainbow Dash, who had been itching for a go at the monster threatening her friend, rushed to Fluttershy's aid. Bolting forward with her hooves outstretched, she collided with the onyx undead and sent him tumbling to the floor. "DONT EVEN TRY IT!!!" She yelled while looping upward and coming down with her hind hooves ready to deliver a mighty stomp. Avalon was only barely able to keep up with the rapid assault the rainbow-maned mare was dishing out. Though the strikes themselves weren't very strong, her agility made it impossible to counter attack directly. That is, of course, until Rainbow Dash tried to pry the halberd the undead wielded from his grip. The brief pause was all Avalon needed to tip the scales in his favor. With a grip like iron, he used Dash's pulling motion against her and bashed the pole of his weapon against her snout. The impact drew blood and disoriented the mare long enough for the undead to grab her by her hoof and throw her to the ground. With her back pressed against the soil and a stinging pain in her muzzle, Rainbow Dash could do little to stop the undead from attempting to drive the spear-tipped halberd through her skull. Fortunately for the element of loyalty, Applejack came to the rescue. Slamming her hind hooves against the shelf on the undead's back, the element of honesty bucked the onyx skeleton with as much strength as she could muster. As if being rammed by a stampeding she-orc from behind, Avalon was sent flying through the air and into a large tree that cracked and threatened to fall over him upon impact. The impact caused him to let go of his weapon, falling harmlessly next to a very upset Rainbow Dash. "MY NOSE!!" She shouted in anger and pain. The mare had broken bones before along with her nose, but the true strike had been to her pride. She'd be damned if anypony would fight dirty and not pay for it. "Alright buster! NOW YOU'RE GETTING IT!" Rainbow Dash shouted as she charged at the recovering skeleton. ///////Avalon////// Before I woke up in a world of pastel colored ponies, before I had been revived as an undead; my old self was a city guard for the small city of Aurorea. If you've never heard of the city, it's because it doesn't exist anymore. Over four hundred years ago when the Solarian Empire was still growing, Astoshan had traveled into the city and was recognized. The crudely formed squadron of fairly trained soldiers didn't stand a chance... When I was resurrected, centuries had passed and was provided with extensive combat training by Mistress Lilith; the long presumed dead queen of hell. This training provided me with the tools to keep Azazel, my master and... well... for lack of a better comparison, little brother safe. Despite this, I now find myself in a situation so odd it would be completely understandable if one mistook it for a fever dream. After being frozen in the air, my... well I don't have the glands or blood vessels for an adrenaline rush, but you get the idea. After disorienting the major threat Discord posed, I readied myself for anything. Unsurprisingly, the rainbow maned pegasus by the name of Rainbow Dash attacked me. The ferocity of her attacks caught me by surprise, so I had to improvise and use every opening I could find; regardless of how dishonorable it may have been. Said dishonor was met with getting rammed into a tree for the second time in the span of a few days. As I clambered to to my feet to try and take control of fight, I was struck again by the cyan pegasus and was pummeled against the tree. That second blow seemed to have finished breaking the tree, because something big fell on me. The loose soil prevented what I could now confirm to be a large tree trunk from crushing. I tried to lift it off me, but it only served to bury me deeper into the loosened dirt. I was eventually able to wiggle halfway out under the tree, but when I resurfaced, I was met with the Elements of Harmony glaring at me... Well, most of them anyway. Now that I think about it, where's the yellow pegasu- "Step away from the big black dunce, NOW!" A familiar voice called out... a voice I'd hoped I wouldn't hear. The elements and company turned around, letting out a collective gasp of horror as they locked on to a terrifying sight. As I too locked on the visage, the sentiment that dictated my actions from here on out, would be anger. "I GAVE YOU AN ORDER!!!" I shouted furiously as I slammed my fist into the dirt. The sudden scream made the mares before me spread apart and away from me, granting me a full view of my... "saviours". A few meters away, the group of undead who I had just sent off were standing around a dazed Discord, and a very terrified pegasus with a pale yellow coat of fur. The element of kindness if I'm not mistaken, was currently balled up on the floor making herself as small as possible. Meanwhile, the undead standing around them were all aiming their daggers, short swords, and hammers at their hostages. The only one not doing this was Anvari, who sat upon her growling, undead manticore with her arms outstretched and primed to fire magic at them. The reactions of the Equestrians present were fairly homogeneous; fear for their friend stopping them dead in their tracks. The only outlier was Rainbow Dash, who had to be physically restrained by the apple farmer, Applejack. Whilst the undead stared at the ponies intently and vice versa, Trephor and I were having a stare down while we bickered... "AND I TOLD YOU THAT WE WEREN'T LEAVING YOU, YOU SELF RIGHTEOUS PRICK!!!" He shot back with a blistering rage similar to my own. "ENOUGH!" Mia shouted at us both, causing everyone who had been either arguing or staring daggers at their respective enemies to focus on her. After a few seconds of silence, the star spangled skeleton took in a deep breath before letting it out slowly through... she doesn't have a nose... I've got to stop doing that... "Step away from Avalon, and I promise Fluttershy and Discord won't be harmed." Mia assured, trying to seem as genuine as possible. The ponies all looked amongst each other, confirming wordlessly with each other as for what needed to be done. To no one's surprise, the colorful ponies stepped a good distance away from where I was. As I wiggled my way out from under the tree, the striped pony broke the silence. "While I know this may not be the best time to inquire, but to know what happened to the Everfree is my desire." She began... did she just rhyme? "Our master found a source of great power buried deep underneath this forest. A deep system of roots and vines that preyed on the souls that died in the Everfree. What happened to this forest is but the aftermath of Azazel absorbing the leviathan's power." Trephor answered, lowering his weapon away from the draconequus with... are those miniature versions of Discord with pink dresses circling over his head. As this happened, I was able to scurry my way out from under the tree. Brushing as much dirt as I could off me and readjusting my now splintered shield, I moved away from the group of equines. If they noticed me moving towards my weapon and picking it up, they said nothing. "But why would he do that?" Twilight asked, her inquisitive nature shining through her fear. "Because Azazel is a particularly vengeful nephilim. If I had to guess, I'd say he's desperately looking for magical power that would allow him to take all of us on by himself." The voice of Discord rang out. I turned to look in his direction, but he was nowhere to be found. Apparently, no one had seen him vanish and reappear in hammock gently swaying from side to side betwixt two trees a small distance away from me. "And by the way Avalon, that was a nice try. It's been a while since anyone has landed a solid hit on me." He admitted, discreetly rubbing his side with a forced calmness plastered onto his face. Wheeling around, I readied myself should he decide to attack. "Can you please relax? I'm not gonna hurt you." He said, sounding annoyed almost. "You've given me no reason to believe you." I retorted, eyeing the ponies behind me, who were divided between keeping an eye out for Discord or Fluttershy; who was still on the receiving end of several blades and hammerheads aimed at her. "And the fact that I haven't reduced you to bone meal isn't reason enough?" Discord deadpanned before raising his lion paw and snapping his fingers. At first nothing happened, but after a few seconds of awkward silence, the halberd in my hands shot out wards and flew off into the distance whilst... uh... how do I even describe it... flatulating out of sight. Let's go with that. Acting purely on instinct at this point, I drew my shield and held it in a defensive stance. Discord remained unfazed as he snapped his fingers again. This time, my iron shield was transformed into- WHY IS MY SHIELD A CHEESE WHEEL!? AND WHY DOES IT HAVE THE NAME "AVIPOO" WRITTEN ON THE SIDE!?!? WHAT THE F-!?!? "Ooooo~" The pink mare that had befriended Anvari cooed behind me. I turned to look in her direction, but she was nowhere to be seen. I only turned back around because I felt my shield jerk forward slightly, and lo and behold there stood the pink pony. Her cheeks were puffed up in a ridiculous manner while she chewed away at- SHE JUST TOOK A BITE OUT OF MY SHIELD! "Mmmm~ Asiago. Nice choice of cheese Discord." She said after swallowing with a gulp and wiping her muzzle. I was too confused to do anything other than stare into empty space as what little notions of consistence in reality I had were thrown down a proverbial abyss from whence only madness and delu- "Avalon, I'm sorry for cutting your edgy, internal monologue short, but I do feel we should get going before your master does anything particularly harmful to himself." The draconequus said, causing Trephor to laugh at it his quip. I said nothing as I unequipped my cheese shield and passed it onto the party pony. She happily took it and resumed eating it as if nothing had happened. I sat down on cool soil of the Everfree, and I tuned everything out as I crossed my legs. I shut my eyes, took deep breaths, and fought off the urge to simply punt my skull halfway across the forest. //////Trephor//// From what Mia had told me after I was revived, Discord had been the one who saved me from the dark oblivion that I thought would be my eternal fate. I had been anxious to meet him properly, and thus far he didn't disappoint. Witty, smart, and for being a taxidermist's and a lunatic's love child; not as disturbing as I he would look like. Unfortunately, he was too much for my dear friend Avalon; who I could tell was one million percent done with everything. "He's right, we have to get going." Mia chimed in, breaking the awkward silence that insisted on staying. Seeing this as the perfect opportunity to remedy of my sable friend's egregious first impression. "Also, I would like to apologise for my friend Avalon's rude behavior. The last few days have been quite stressful and he hasn't had his morning coffee yet." I explained, humble as ever. Fortunately, I got a response from Discord that I couldn't have made up no matter how hard I tried. "Oh it's fine, I can get pretty bent out of shape myself when I wake up on the wrong side of the be-eeEEWAAA!" Discord began, with a nonchalant smile. As he explained he began to stretch and bend his body in odd ways that shouldn't be possible with bones. What assumed would be punchline of the joke was cut off when gravity betrayed him and topped off of his hammock and onto the floor hitting the ground with a "thud". "I thought I turned off my gravity..." He complained, mostly to himself as he literally reeled in his own body to it's original length. At this point, I'd lost what little composure I had, and fell to floor guffawing my ass off. Shortly after, I heard the other undead around me begin to snort and chuckle at Discord's display; and not long after that, so did the elements of Harmony. After a bit of this, the tension was released when everyone, save for Rainbow Dash, Fluttershy and Avalon, was laughing off the tension. As I looked over to the yellow mare, I found that the spot where she once was was evidently... Fluttershy-less. Looking around for her, I found her huddled next to the god of Chaos; the hammock from before having disappeared as some point. I had also noticed Rainbow butt's adorably intense glare boring into the back of Avalon's head, though I doubt he cared about it. While her nose had stopped bleeding, the red streaks that stained her muzzle were difficult, if not impossible to hide. Before I could get in some quips, Mia's voice cut through the persistent fits of giggles from the mares and stallions, living and undead alike. "I hate to be a prune, but we really have to get going. If we hurry, we can make it to the dragonlands before sundown." She urged. "I got it." That was the last thing Discord said, before closing his eyes, drawing a deep breath and snapping his bird claw. ///////////// With a magical poof, every creature present vanished in a flash of light and magic. Returning the broken Everfree to it's haunting silence. > Chap. 20 A Deal With A Devil > -------------------------------------------------------------------------- //////Southeastern border of the Everfree///// With a magical poof and a flash of light, an odd party of creatures appeared out of thin air. Seven ponies, a zebra, a baby dragon, several undead of various species, and an initially tired looking draconequus. "We're-" Discord groggily began, before feeling a sudden surge of strength rejuvenate his very being. "Here..." He finished, looking himself over and at the area surrounding him. He, along with his friends and the undead he'd teleported, were at the edge of the Everfree's reach. The surrounding soil had randomly spaced patches of blackened soil marring the grassy green beneath and behind them. The few trees that tried to grow further south seemed weak or dead and brittle all together. Beyond that, a looming dune of volcanic ash and darkened sand shrouded the beginnings of the dragonlands. The skies were overcast with smog, and the stench of sulfur and brimstone was faint, but suffocating nonetheless. "That can't be right..." The spirit of chaos mumbled to himself as he looked at his claws; bolts of multichromatic light surging erratically between his fingers before subsiding completely. "What can't be right?" Fluttershy asked, her question breaking the silence that surrounded them. Discord didn't answer immediately, but his tone reflected the sheer confusion inside him when he spoke up. "I should be exhausted right now, but I feel fine... better than fine, actually!" He explained, stretching his joints with a smile of relief creeping onto his long face. "And that's bad because..." Rainbow Dash asked with an eyebrow raised. "Um... Discord is a being fueled by chaos, the more of it there is in any one spot; the stronger his magic becomes." Fluttershy meekly added. This however, did not answer the rainbow-maned mare's question. Fortunately for her, the onyx skeleton who had been sitting on the ground with his legs crossed and his eyes shut, would answer her plight. "It means we need to hurry. Azazel's blood rage has already gone past it's third stage." Avalon began as he stood up, letting out a small grunt as he rose. "We have to calm him down, before his rampage gets him killed. Let's move." He finished, looking towards his undead companions and signalling them to follow with the wave of his hand. Without missing a beat, they nodded in affirmation and began to walk up the hill. After a bit of shock, the mares and the draconequus began to follow the small horde of undead. The group marched, listening to the distant rumbling and explosions of what was believed to be the volcanic activity of the area. The only thing visible past the dune's peak was the very tops of active volcano mouths and the ominous towers of smoke and ash that rose up miles into the air. The sound of foot and hoofsteps was drowned out when Twilight spoke up, her curiosity surpassing the awkwardness of the situation. "Mia?" The alicorn asked the undead just ahead of her. Mia didn't turn to face her, but she replied with an "mhmm?" There was a bit of hesitation, but Twilight was able to make her question after a bit of deliberation of whether or not it would be wise to even ask. "What is a blood rage?" She asked. Somewhat surprisingly, the answer to her question came from the green skeleton holding Mia's remaining hand. "Succubi and Incubi are emotionally fueled shape shifters. When they are really angered or placed into stressful situations, their bodies transform to show said distress while flying into a state of blind, animalistic fury." Trephor began, only for Mia to finish his explanation. "But Azazel is only a half succubus... The transformation aspect tends to be minimal, but getting him to calm down once he's angered is.... complicated... The souls within him don't help either; they create hallucinations and torment him constantly... the last time he got like that... w-we... he almost..." She spoke, with more and more buried pain being unearthed; she couldn't even bring herself to finish her explanation. The azure embers in her eye sockets had the slightest tinge of fear, the likes of which she wanted to rid by seeking solace in her beloved. Trephor could feel Mia's dread, as he knew what she was referring to. He didn't say anything, opting to instead give Mia a reassuring glance and a gentle squeeze to her hand. "..What did he do?" Twilight muttered to herself, the small gesture from Trephor's part not going unnoticed. She had so many questions, most of which had only seemed to raise even more questions. Either by chance or fate, her question would be answered... but not by any of the undead. "Mmm.. My knees are getting pinchy all of a sudden..." Pinkie said mostly to herself, causing everypony to look at her with concern. She was stretching her joints whilst looking around with mild paranoia. The sound of distant rumbling had been growing, but the princess of friendship had surmised it to be the fact that they were getting closer to the top of the mound. But as they drew closer to the top, a sound Twilight didn't think even her darkest nightmare could produce drowned out every other sound and thought she was currently holding. It was... terrifying... Due to the sheer volume of what she could only imagine was a roar that caused the very earth to quake in terror. While Discord and the undead seemed mostly unfazed by the howling scream of a monster that could only hail from the deepest, darkest pit of Tartarus; Twilight and her friends had been frozen in place. A vestigial instinct from the distant ancestors of pony's caused every fiber in the mane six and company to scream at the top of their proverbial lungs to run in the opposite direction. Turning to look at her friends, Twilight was amazed that despite how afraid her friends all seemed, nopony had moved an inch from where they stood. The only exception to this was Fluttershy, who had latched onto Discord and was practically vibrating in his mismatched arms with fright. Spike had latched himself next to Twilight, shivering in fear as his reptilian eyes darted about in search of the horrifying sound. There was a few seconds of silence followed by a loud explosion going off in the distance and another roar, except this one wasn't so... evil. The sound was more bestial, and a lot less scary by comparison. The adrenaline coursing through Rainbow Dash at the moment had left her completely paralyzed. She was vaguely aware that the undead ahead of her had already reached the summit and we're looking at what she presumed to be the origin of the terrifying sound with slacked jaws; but that wasn't what had her rooted to her spot. It wasn't the noise itself that terrified her, it was... something else; something she had been exposed to a few days ago. It was as if every negative emotion she had ever felt was screaming at her in a boiling crescendo that gnawed away at her very soul. She was afraid, and try as she might, she couldn't hide it. It took a teleportation spell from Discord to move everypony up to the top of the large dune, and what they saw left them speechless. Amidst a wasteland caked by ash and unrecognizable gore, were three gigantic beings caught in a vicious dance of death inside what seemed to be a massive tornado of smoke and ash. Twilight could not discern exactly what they were, as they were mostly obscured by a swirling pillar of debris. Every now and again, a massive steel blue, red, or jet-black claw, tail, or wing would swing past the smoke before disappearing into the maelstrom. Chunks of necrotized flesh and the odd spray of hundreds of gallons of a viscous, black liquid would shower the as of yet unnoticed spectators. Surrounding said tornado, was a school of hundreds of dragons ranging in size, proportions and even color from nigh invisible due to their relative distance to the group, to unmistakably huge; observing in horrified awe. They were all flying low to the ground or stood by, simply listening to the earth rattling blows of the three titanic creatures. The undead that had tagged along with Discord and his friends gawked in morbid awe at the destruction before them. Avalon, who had now regained a semblance of his composure, had his trance broken by Anvari. "Red transformed... H-how is that even possible...? How do we stop this?!" Turning to look at her, the onyx skeleton could only cringe at the sound of her voice. Dull, yellow eyes stared back at him with a desperate need for some good news. Taking a deep breath and letting it out slowly, Avalon turned back towards the battle. Try as he might, he couldn't think of a way to stop Azazel's rampage. That is of course, until a roar... no, a scream of unquantifiable agony shook the earth and nearly left those present deaf. The swirling mass of smoke parted to reveal the origin of the sound. Standing over a hideous, horned serpent like creature adorned with dying flames, was a large steel blue dragon with orange webbing and spines. Aside from it's charcoal armor, the most prominent feature it had were it's two curved horns. It was standing on the ashen one's back and pulling at two horribly disfigured wings. Not too far away was another dragon of equal size and similar build, pinning down the dark titan's tail with it's whole body. Both dragons were visibly battered and bruised, having bloody gashes and cuts. "DIE ALREADY!!!" Torch roared as he pulled up as hard as he could. A sickening squelch was followed by another howl of pain from the monster. Mid-scream, the smoldering horror flailed about, desperately trying to throw off the dragons pinning it down. "They're gonna tear him apart! We have to do som-!" Mia exclaimed turning to Avalon, but was cut off when a sound similar to two large trees being torn in half caused her to freeze. Slowly forcing her head to turn towards the sound, she shivered in fear as her mind overwhelmed her with images of the adorable little boy she made clothes for, taught how to clean and dress properly being mangled and maimed. Holding the strange appendages high over his head, the blue dragon triumphantly roared and threw the misshapen wings to the sides; raising up a small dust storm in the process. The monster let out a breathless scream of pain before it's arms went limp; greedily taking ragged breaths that almost sounded like... whimpering. Torch noticed this and let a toothy smile, the dragon let out a sadistic laugh before stomping down on the monster's head, the once raging maelstrom of flames that made up it's hair having been reduced to a faint cinder that barely released any smoke. "Aww, what's wrong? Can't fight anymore? You were fine a minute ago." The mocking tone of the blue dragon caused the monster to growl angrily. As the titanic reptile put more and more force down onto the creature's head, the plates around the top-most part of his head began to crack and splinter off. The beast let out a breathless plea for mercy before going limp. Cinder, who had been pinning the monster's tail, had noticed the creature had stopped resisting and was staying completely still; it wasn't even breathing. The dragon let go of the serpentine body and looked up to find his boss was pressing his foot down against the creature's head. Eyeing the creature's upper half for any form of movement, the red elder dragon failed to notice the onyx tail, discreetly moving towards it. In a flurry of motion too quick for Cinder to react to, his head was wrapped in the monster's dexterous coils. With a violent jerk and a muffled crack, the dragon baron died before he even hit the ground. Torch heard the noise, and his once cocky expression became one of confusion. Turning around, his heart dropped when he laid eyes on the lifeless corpse of his comrade just... lying there. He was so stunned by it, that he let the pressure on his foot falter; just enough for the titan beneath him to find an opening. Pushing Torch off itself, the titan tackled him to the ground and coiled it's body around the Dragonlord. Torch tried to retaliate, but it was too late, with audible pops and cracks, the monster constricted itself around the elder dragon with all of it's might. The Dragonlord started going into shock from having his wings and legs crushed, the wave of pain being too mind numbing to even scream. The monster drew it's disheveled head closer towards Torch's neck, and slowly opened it's mouth. It's jaw began to unhinge with equally moist, gut wrenching pops and cracks. Exposing the hundreds of sharp, cyan, glowing teeth, The monster bit down and latched onto the dragon's neck like a starved vanpire. Though not all of the blade like teeth penetrated the hardened scales on the elder dragons' skin, that was never the beast's intent. To the naked eye, it seemed as if the beast had simply bitten Torch, but to Discord, Zecora's, and Anvari's magically enhanced sight, a more sinister truth was revealed. The monster was sucking out Torch's soul like a leech. The steel blue dragon weakly resisted, if only for a few moments, before he too, was taken by death's cold embrace. The titan uncoiled itself from the Dragonlord and raised it's damaged, wingless body for all to see. The dragons who had seen the massacre of their leader's had long fled for their lives, if not having been killed by the debris that was thrown about in the battle. The titan turned it's head up towards the sky and let out a victorious howl. The being's hundreds of voices shouted as one in a defiant and glorious warcry; a testament to any who would challenge it. The sound was as per usual, obscenely loud, but fortunately for the ponies, zebra, dragon and undead present to see the violent show; they had been protected from the harmful sound by an invisible shield, a shield that Discord dispelled the moment the giant stopped it's howling. "I gotta say, the fight is a strong seven in my book. Clever usage of anatomy for interesting attacks, and the grand beginning was a nice touch. But there's too much screaming and the one-sided dialogue with the blue dragon seemed to have been written by a monkey on a type writer. However, if there's something that I can truly appreciate, its the havock those three caused. The pick me up was just what the doctor ordered." He commented happily, causing everyone to look in his direction. The spirit of chaos had been sitting in a red beach chair with an umbrella impaled on the ground next to him. He wore red swimming trunks and had a foldable tanning mirror which was reflecting a rainbow of light towards his face. Diagonally to him there was a medium sized cooler. Everypony seeing this had at one point wondered where their meek mannered friend had gone. That is of course, until the lid of the cooler popped open. Fluttershy timidly pushed her head up with a look that danced between scared and confused in her eyes. "Is it over?.." She asked, her voice was so quiet that it almost went unnoticed were it not for Discord reacting. If Avalon had had eye lids, they would have been twitching from his fury. Discord's blatant disregard for what could have very well been the end of Azazel was driving him up a proverbial wall. "Almost. I still have to pitch our soon-to-be friend a deal I know he simply won't be able to refuse." Discord stated happily as he got up from his beach chair, dusting his body in the process. With a snap of his lion paw, the chair, umbrella and trunks he had been wearing were gone. He opened the cooler completely and picked Fluttershy up by her sides. He gently set her down and gave her a gentle pat on her head; causing the meek pegasus blush and make herself smaller with embarassment. Looking over towards the now silent titan, Discord could see that it was running on fumes. After it's warcry, the monstrosity began to sway precariously from side to side; struggling to stay awake. The myriad of eyes on its chest were half lit and the titan's remaining embers began to die. The group continued to watch as the giant began tipping over, it's descent appearing to be in slow motion before falling onto it's back with a thunderous "boom". Looking back to the group he brought with him, Discord pulled on the fur of his chest as of it were a shirt. With his bird talon he rummaged around inside it for a bit before grabbing onto a seamless zipper and unzipped his skin off. Underneath, there was a Navy blue coat with a white button shirt and a stripped tie with various shades of blue. Upon removing the rest of it he was revealed to have similarly azure pants. Discord then balled up his skin and reduced it to about the size of a golf ball before throwing it in his mouth. After a few bites and swallowing his latest meal, he pulled out a teal coloured flip phone from his coat. Flipping it open, he hit speed dial and put it close to his ear. "Yo Anon, I need you to reschedule my two o'clock with Lulu and Sammy. I'm running a bit late with the deal I'm working on here, ya see? So I'll be heading back home to seal the deal with my client. Ya got that?" He said in a gruff voice with a very thick, brooklyn accent. "Right away boss. By the way, that lazy eyed mail mare came through my window 'bout an hour ago with a package from a.. I'm not even gonna try and pronounce whatever this fockin' mess is. Anyway, I'll put it on ya desk." A pronounced male voice replied with an equally thick brooklyn accent. "Thank you Anon. Oh and one more thing, feel free to take the rest of the day off when your done. You earned it." He said with a mischievous smirk on his mismatched face. "Thanks bo-... *crash* *roar* WHAAA-" The voice exclaimed before being cut off as Discord chuckled to himself, hung up, and closed the phone; putting it away in his coat shortly after. He chuckled as he raised his paw and prepared to teleport away, that is of course, until he was stopped by a question from a certain animal loving pegasus. "Um... Discord, Who's Anon?" She asked, her apprehension being all but adorable to the draconequus. "He's my secretary. He has a bit of a potty mouth, but helps me keep track of things. You'd be surprised of the mayhem humans get themselves into just to pay for their education." With a gentle pat to her head and hearty chuckle, Discord began. "Now if you'll excuse me, I've got a necromancer to hire!" He finished jovially, preparing to snap his fingers; only to be interrupted again. "Wait! We go with you or you don't go anywhere! I'm sick and tired of your nonsense and I'll not have you mess wi-!" Avalon spoke up, walking up towards the well dressed draconequus. Discord literally deflated as his face, then his body was reduced into a hollow, crumpled, frowning blob of brown, and blue. With a deep breath and a sigh of annoyance, he reinflated his body and literally pulled himself back together with sounds akin to a rubber balloon. Unfortunately for the upset undead, he was cut off mid-sentence. Discord said nothing as he snapped his fingers, causing a massive cage to poof into existence; along with all of the undead being teleported inside it. Turning towards the spirit of chaos, the undead horde complained with a collective, "HEY!!!" "Sorry, but I can't have you guys causing trouble while I'm gone. I need you all intact to bribe Azazel. Soooo... bye." He admitted, letting a coy smile grace his face towards the end of his farewell. And with the snap of his fingers, Discord vanished along with the cage. //////Azazel/////// After what had felt like an eternity, the thousand or so souls that remained whithin me halted their seemingly incessant screaming. They were still there, but they had been exhausted to the point where they weren't even muttering to themselves like they usually do. When the fog in my mind cleared and I could hold a coherent train of thought, I tried to orient myself and remember what happened. Unfortunately, everything just after I nearly died in that accursed forest of this damned magic horsey land was a haze... If I wanted answers, I wasn't going to find them while sitting on my rear. As these thoughts ran through my mind, I made an odd realization; something was poking my face, painfully so. My eyes felt like they had been glued shut, but it wasn't exhaustion that was keeping them closed. Whatever was on my face, it felt odly like... skin?... wait... Before I blacked out the leviathan tried to consume my souls, with... Holy shit, that thing tried to EAT ME!!! I tried to move, and that's when I realized I was suspended in a very warm and gelatinous... fluid. Overcome by the groundbreaking revelation that my lungs were on fire and I needed to breathe, I desperately swam up despite the protests of the muscles in my arms and legs. Much to my growing anxiety, I was met with a wall of something tough and elastic. In a state of panic, I clawed away at it until two of my fingers poked out of my prison. I felt a hot and dry wind brush past them, and I began to rip out more of the wall with the strength brought about through hope. At this point, I couldn't hold my breath anymore, and I couldn't stop myself from trying to take a lungful of air. The vile substance I was submerged in poured down my pharynx and into my lungs, sending what felt like magma into my irritated chest. I was losing my strength, making the act of merely pushing my head out of the small hole I carved out a herculean feat. Once I felt the same hot and dry air hit my head, I pulled my right shoulder and arm free of whatever I was in and clawed at whatever was latched onto my face with the last of my strength. I was too dazed and confused to realize that whatever I had just torn off my head, had taken chunks of skin along with it. Discharging the invasive liquid from my body, I did my best to not lose consciousness while recuperating my strength. When I finally caught my breath, I wiped what remained of the muck from my eyes and looked around. I was in a desolate wasteland, the air stank of sulfur and the sky was overcast with volcanic debris. Getting a vague idea of where I was and that I was in no immediate danger, I began to burrow my way out of... what was I even in??? Getting out wasn't very hard, if you excluded my wings getting caught on the way out every two seconds. Once I was free, I looked around me and realized something; I was standing on top of a gigantic carcass. I needed answers as to how I got here and if in my wrathful delirium, I had made progress in obtaining an army. So as I shut my eyes again, I knelt down and pressed my right hand against the warm flesh I stood on. I wracked my brain for a spell in the necronomicon I was gifted, one that would grant me the information I needed. With the spell in mind, I cast it. "Revelio... Shuthorin..." Upon casting, I saw in brief flashes and bouts of noise what had transpired. I had made it to my destination and killed at least four elder dragons along with around six hundred smaller ones no bigger than a human. Part of me was a bit sad that the first dragon I killed wasn't on some noble quest for a fair maiden, but most of my was glad that wasn't the case. I got what I wanted, and all in a relatively timely manner; so I'll take what I can get. Looking myself over, I realized two things. First, I had WAY more souls inside me than I did before my fury took over. This would be good, I'd need the boost to raise so many undead dragons; especially the really big ones near the corpse I stood on. The second thing I noticed was that I was naked and the only thing on me was the gauntlet on my right arm. How it survived is beyond me, and as for my pride as a half incubus? Nothing a little shape shifting couldn't make disappear. With my dignity somewhat restored, I'd have to begin resurrecting my new army. Unfortunately, I barely got off my dead construct and landed on the rocky terrain before I heard a magical "poof". Turning to look at it, I was perplexed to find a simple oakwood door standing diagonally to me a few ways away. I scanned my surroundings, but found nothing other than the door to be out of place. I didn't know what to do or expect from it's sudden appearance. Fortunately, I didn't need to do anything; as the door opened and from it came a very startled human who then slammed the door behind him and barricaded it with his body. He was young, maybe in his early twenties. His skin was of a dark shade of brown and had fairly simple clothing. He wore a collared, lime green shirt made of a very soft textile with a question mark embroidered on his left breast. He wore cream colored trousers held neatly against his waists with a black leather belt. The human had shoes made of a very shiny and new looking leather of a sable hue. "This fockin' internship... *pant* is gonna kill me... *pant* before my professors do..." He managed to say with an odd accent while greedily taking lungfulls of air. His brow was slick with sweat, and it didn't take a scholar to realize that he had been running from something. Just when it looked like he could catch his breath, a monstrous roar rattled the door before being struck from the inside. At the moment he hadn't noticed me, and I couldn't sense any magic radiating off of him; so I decided to wait until he did. Looking around to see where he just arrived, he quickly spotted me. Eyeing me over, he looked like he just realized something. "What's your name?" He asked, scanning me from top to bottom with a quizzical look... almost as if he had seen me somewhere before... "Azazel" I said, discreetly charging my armoured hand with magic should I need to defend myself. His eyes widened with the realization of something. "Holy shit... he wasn't kidding..." He muttered to himself, his weight against the door slackening. Much to his horror, whatever was behind the door had doubled it's efforts in trying to tear it down. The surprisingly sturdy piece of wood was being struck, scratched and rammed and it barely showed any sign of damage. "Hey, uhh.. Azazel, right? You look like a tough guy. Can ya- *grunt* can ya kill this hornet-panda thing!? Its got a hellavu vendetta against me, I tell ya!!!" He asked, now pressing his body harder against the door. He was trying to keep his wits about him, but his fear was... intoxicating. Part of me wanted to simply enjoy the emotion radiating off of him, but I knew that if I wanted answers; I'd have to cooperate. I looked between him and the door, before nodding. "So how do we do this?..." He asked after taking a shaky breath in an attempt to calm himself. Taking only a second to think my strategy over, I decided to go for a simple yet effective option. Extending my left hand forward, I used a telekinetic spell to hold down the door for the human. "Get behind me, and be quiet." I ordered sternly, causing the human to obey without question. While fear is an emotion I can feed off of, I had to focus. Beyond the door could be anything, and it could very well have some form of magical resistance. In my right hand, I conjured a sphere of necrotic energy. When I felt I'd poured enough magic into the orb to kill a basilisk, I let the door go and waited. Much to my surprise, the unseen beast had ceased it's assault on the door. Second after nerve wracking second of silence passed as the door remained completely inert. Then, just when I'm about to go over to it and confront whatever lies beyond for myself; the doorknob began to turn. The door then opens, revealing a creature I... wasn't expecting. "Discord!? WHAT THE FOCK ARE YA DOIN'!? CLOSE THE GODDAMN DOOR!!" The human shouted, his voice cracking slightly as he cowered behind me. Discord... That was the name of the chaos spirit the princesses spoke of. And the figure that slithered out of the door and through the air was strikingly similar to the mosaic of stained glass I was shown. "Oh relax Anon, I don't mind a draft or two flying in; but your concern is appreciated." The being began nonchalantly, standing upright at about ten or eleven feet tall. He wore a blue and formal, but minimalistic suit and fitted trousers. He also had what seemed like a red box with a long, flexible tube at one end of it. Setting the strange object down on the floor and shutting the door to his left with a snap of his... bird talon? "I trust the amount of fear was to your liking Azazel?" He finished, setting the object on the floor and bending down to take hold of a nozzle at the end of the flexible tube. It took me a bit to answer, as the sudden appearance of the human now made sense. "Yes.." I answered, looking back at the now disgruntled human who bore the expression of indignation on his face. "That shit was you?! DISCORD!! I COULD'A DIED BACK THERE!!!" He shouted angrily, circling around me to get in the face of the supposed Spirit of Chaos. "First and foremost, language. There's kid's reading this fanfic, you know?." He began, producing a thick roll of written parchment and playfully smacking him a cross the face. Truth be told, the display of faux violence caught me so off guard I lost my concentration and the orb of magic I had been charging unravelled. "Second, you know better than to assume I'm going to kill you. There'd be no fun in that." He continued, his admission being delivered very nonchalantly. That was worrying. If the princesses spoke true of his power, I'd have to be careful not to invoke his wrath. Unless of course... "And third, I thought I told you to take the rest of the day off. Why haven't you gone home like you usually do?" Discord asked the human with a raised eyebrow and a knowing smirk on his elongated face. After getting smacked, the human had been rubbing his forehead and I could feel as his blistering rage reached it's boiling point. "BECAUSE I WAS RUNNING FOR MY GODDAMN LIFE YA FOCKIN' REJECT LOONEY TUNE BI-!!!" He screamed angrily while pointing an accusatory finger towards the living hodgepodge of creatures. Discord on the other hand, didn't seemed too pleased with the human's comment. Because before he could even finish his insult, Discord snapped his fingers; causing the human to vanish in a flash of light. Letting out a sigh and shaking his head in disappointment. "I'm sorry about my secretary, I hope he didn't cause you any trouble. Did he?" He said, almost as if that question didn't sit right with him. Unfortunately, my attention was not on Discord proper. Instead, I had found myself fixated on his soul. It was an ever changing mass of emotion and power, but there was something off about him. It was almost as if his soul wasn't all there, maybe the result of some gigantic reality warping or something of that ilk leaving him drained. "Hello? Operator? Can you please connect me to Azazel?... Yes, I'll hold..." He said, his voice coming from... my left? He hadn't moved or spoken. He was only looking at me with a confused expression. Being ripped from my thoughts, I looked to my left to find a duplicate of Discord standing a short ways away with... IS THAT MY HORN!?!? In a panic, I quickly reached for my horns; and much to my horror, my left horn was completely gone. It hadn't been broken off... it was like it was never even there... "Ah, there we are. Can we talk now?" The duplicate said as he nonchalantly PUT MY HORN BACK ON MY HEAD!!! I used my wings and propelled myself a good twenty feet to my right, effectively giving me some room to try and assess my situation before the adrenaline pumping through me made me act irrationally. Unfortunately, I made the mistake of taking my eyes off of the duplicate to make sure my horns were both accounted for and unharmed. I was in one piece, but looking back towards the duplicate I was mortified to realize that it was gone. By this point, I had forgotten about the fact that I was still naked and covered from head to toe in... monster innards... Let's go with that. As I looked around in a panicked frenzy, I completely missed the Discord that was dressed in blue standing directly behind me. I heard a sound similar to a spell charging, but it was much more mechanical than magical in tone. And for the next few seconds, I felt as if I was being violated by the viscous muck on me as it was violently REMOVED FROM MY BODY. I will concede, I may or may have not screamed like a bitch; but I digress. I had been caught so off guard by this that I reacted purely on instinct as I whirled around and punched what I would later find out to be the god of chaos with so much force that his head began to spin wildly as if it were a top on his torso. Unfortunately for him, I was frustrated that not much of anything was making sense. So taking a gamble on my previous observation of his weakened soul, I hurriedly charged a spell I knew would give me some time to think, Nervorum Ruptor. Discord barely had time to stop his spinning head before I extended my arms forward and from my finger tips, bolts of blood red magic shot through the air and struck him. He was sent flying and skidding several feet backwards before coming to a stop. Groaning, he sat up while rubbing his head with a nauseous expression; bolts of residual magic flickering around him before returning to the aether. "Ow... What was that for!?" He complained, before looking indignantly at me. At this point, I was on edge and ready to fly away as quickly as my wings would allow. Unfortunately for Discord, the fact that he had just toyed with my horns finally registered; tempering my fear with a steadily growing animosity. "TOUCH MY HORNS AGAIN AND I PROMISE YOU THAT NO GOD IN HEAVEN OR HELL WILL BE ABLE TO REASSEMBLE YOUR SOUL!!!" I roared, trying my best to ensure that the only emotion I was showing was rage. In a stroke of good luck, my outburst did the trick. His fear spiked if only a little, but what sealed the deal was my spell. At first, his legs held his weight as he stood back up; but it only took a few seconds before they began to tremble and ultimately falter. He fell on his side, the unpleasant surprise being very evident on his face. Looking himself over, he was trying to get back up, but his lower half wasn't obeying his commands. Then slowly, from his lower half all the way up to his neck, Discord fell limp against the ground. The fear and confusion radiating off of him... it was so exotic. It was almost as if fear at these extremes were new to him. It made my mouth water and did wonders for my irate mood. Taking a deep breath to steady myself, I decided to give myself an edge rather than try to take him on my own. Weakened and paralyzed as he may appear, someone with the power to bend reality to their will is not someone that should be underestimated. To my left, lay the corpse of a titan and two elder dragons; and if I hurried, I could reanimate my army as well. My confidence rocketed sky high as I watched the god of chaos, the master of anarchy the royal diarchs feared and saw as a superior magic wielder literally lose his color with fear at the sight of me. A wicked smile spread across my face as I began to charge as much magic into my arms as I could. The sight of such terror was near aphrodisiac in nature, and the sheer amount of souls multiplying my power was mind boggling. I FELT INVINSIBLE! With my magic beginning to overflow, a churning mass of dark, magical flames and crackling bolts of light sucking sable magic screamed through the air with a promise of hellish torment while enveloping my body. Turning to face the gargantuan cadaver next to me, I outstretched my right hand; focusing my power into a spell. Today would be the day I would make history, controlling an ARMY OF UNDEAD TITANS!!! With my magic ready to be unleashed, I took a deep breath before shouting to the heavens with an almost insane grin on my face. "RESURECTUM INMORTUS!!!" I roared, slamming my flame wreathed hands into the earth and conjuring tendrils of smoke and a crimson light that penetrated the titan before me and spread across the volcanic soil like an unstoppable, cancerous growth. For about a minute, I continued to pour as much magic as I could into the spell. I wasn't sure if I had poured enough, but I didn't want to stop. Normally, this level of exertion would've left me unconscious, but I felt fine. I stopped the flow of magic some time after, if only for me to contemplate how much power I still felt whithin me; but unfortunately, the fates find it amusing to impede me every chance they get... I sensed magic drawing closer... ancient, and powerful in nature... no... that could only mean-! "DISCORD!!!" A very distraught, very feminine... very familiar group of voices. Turning slowly around, I could see a herd of multicolored horses and a... is that a baby salamander on Princess Twilight's back? "Oh Discord! Are you ok?!" The yellow pegasus who Discord spoke of in his letter, quickly hovered over to his side; frantically looking him over for injuries. When she found none, she gently lifted his head and held him in a desperate embrace; no doubt whispering assurances that everything would be alright. While most of the ponies were focused on Discord, Rainbow Dash, the striped pony with golden jewelry, and Twilight's apprentice were all keeping an eye on me. Excluding Discord, there was something else that was making it increasingly difficult to keep up my stoic facade. The element bearers were armed with their fabled weapons, The Elements of Harmony, and I could sense that at least one of them was more than eager to fight. "What did you do to Discord!?" The apprentice asked, Starlight Glimmer I think was her name, in a harsh tone. I began taking cautious steps backwards as I answered her. "Nervorum Ruptor... It is a nonlethal paralysis spell." I hesitantly explained, doing my best to keep track of every little movement they made. This was bad... They were no doubt sent by Celestia to destroy me or take me prisoner. Or at least, that's what they thought would happen. The curse of undeath, for as useful as it can be, takes time to root itself in the soon to be undead corpses of my undead creations; much to my annoyance. The larger the body and the amount of bodies transformed into undead, the longer the spell takes to activate... "Then can you undo the spell?" She asked, much less aggressively... huh... I expected worse. "You've given me no reason to do so." I replied sternly. "How about I give you a reason then!?" The element of loyalty threatened. Her prideful tone irked me, but I said nothing. Fortunately, I didn't have to. I hadn't noticed it before, but there had been a distant ringing coming from somewhere behind me. The ringing of ethereal bells was distant, but it had been drawing closer and growing louder. A song that heralded ruin and misery, a singular note played by an undead the moment they awoke from death. A melody I knew by heart, and made the souls within me harmonize with malicious glee. And from the looks of the ponies in front of me, they heard it too. They knew not what was happening, and it terrified them. This was too perfect, I couldn't keep myself from smirking as I felt the titan behind me awaken; the back of it's head erupting with a raging maelstrom of fire. Hellfire to be exact. I mentally ordered the titan to rise, it's gigantic figure shaking the earth as it rose from the earth. As my largest creation to date rose ever higher, I realized that I wanted- no... I NEEDED to see the reaction of my soon-to-be victims. Turning to look at them, I could see their comedically large eyes had grown as wide as dinner plates and their pupils having become tiny dots amidst the white of their eyes. And as their gazes followed the titan skyward, their fear... oh gods, it was beautiful... "...hehehehehahahahHAHAHAHA!!!" I couldn't stop myself from cackling madly at the irony of it all, at how utterly doomed Celestia was, at the heroes of Equestria. My voice was twisted into a mangled bastardization of what it once was, as I laughed at the thought of what my mother would think of this. Looking over to my right, I turned just in time to catch a glimpse of my new army clambering over my titan's coils. Ranging from half skinned corpses to blood soaked skeletons, undead dragons numbering in the hundreds had come to my aid. Their eyes were a sea of red stars amid the steadily darkening sky, becoming overcast with smoke as volcanoes nearby erupted to announce the arrival of my army. Some of the dragons had taken flight and were hovering in middair. Other's had traversed over and around the titan surrounding the ponies from almost every direction. And as I thought it couldn't get any better, the two elder dragons I had just recently killed rose from the earth. The one who's neck I'd broke realigned his vertebrae and snapped it's head back into place. The blue dragon, whose soul now screamed within me for bloodshed amidst the multitude of souls harmonizing within me their song of malevolent victory, Rose to its feet and stood besides his crimson comrade. "So this is the feeling father spoke of... heh... ehehehahahahHAHAHAHA!!!" I mused aloud, quickly succumbing to the euphoric high of my newfound power shortly thereafter. The memory of my father telling me of his conquest for power across the multiverse filled me with the same pride I could see in his face... damnit all... Mom... Dad... I swear it, THE MULTIVERSE WILL KNOW YOUR NAMES AGAIN AND TREMBLE AT THEIR MENTION!!! //////////////////////////// Over the last few minutes, Discord had found himself paralyzed and afraid; not for himself, but for Fluttershy. The meek mannered pegasus who had given him chances he knew he neither deserved or thought he'd receive to be a better creature was overcome with terror. After his betrayal with Tirek, Discord had been having visions. Short and frightening nightmares, of fire and destruction that would cause him to wake up screaming in the middle of what passed for the night in his realm of chaos. At first they were random and inconsequential dreams, flashes of ponies bickering or causing some minor mess that would later become real before Discord's very eyes. But with every passing vision, an image that made Discord feal an emotion that was alien to him materialized from the confusing mess of his memory. In these visions, he saw Canterlot demolished and devoured in fire... hellfire... The bloodied, and battered bodies of the royal sisters laying on a shattered, brick road of their capitol city. Who despite imprisoning him for over a thousand years, had earned a place in his heart... or whatever passed for one. Behind them, stood a monolithic being of darkness. With massive, inverted, bat wings stirring the ash and smoke that seemed to bleed from it's bloated form. Two blood red points, smoldering with a silent rage that knew no bounds constituted the entity's eyes; which were situated betwixt two massive horns that crowned the skull of a bone white ram. As he lay in Fluttershy's arms, only now having been able to begin nullifying the magic keeping his body from obeying him; he froze at the sight of the construct rising from the dead. As the visions rapidly flashed before his eyes, he felt that same horrid dread attempt to paralyze him yet again. The titan's sized was truly brought into perspective when the looming giant raised it's fist and coiled it back with the intent of squashing the insects before it. With the many eyes in it's chest boring into Discord's chaotic soul, the draconequus struggled to pry his gaze from it; subconsciously fearing that if he did, he would be destroyed with no hope of escaping. After several seconds that seemed to stretch out into an eternity, he looked over to Fluttershy. The element of kindness... no amount of words could summarize the despair she was feeling. Tears were falling from her eyes and staining her coat, the liquid sorrow falling on Discord's coarse fur. Almost out of habit, Discord peered into her mind. She was thinking of her animals... She was sad she wouldn't be able to say goodbye to any of them, not even a certain white bunny that would at times irk Discord to no end. With control of his upper body now restored, Discord looked towards the nephilim with renewed determination. This would not be the end, much less at the hands of a novice nephilim necromancer. He was Discord! Master of Chaos and the Arbiter of Anarchy! He raised his lion paw to begin what he should've started a while ago instead of toying with the empowered half-breed. However, before Discord's middle finger and thumb met, Azazel turned away from his advancing army to look directly at him. The toothy smile the necromancer once had vanished upon making eye contact with the now startled draconequus. As the dark sorcerer's hair danced in the steadily growing breeze, the sudden sharpening of his pupils and the murderous glare made his intent clear. Discord hesitated if only for a moment, but his mind was made. "It's now or never..." The spirit of chaos muttered under his breath as he snapped his fingers. Several meters away from the group of creatures, a large, circular projection spell of a rainbow coloured screen materialized. The projection was displaying a live feed of the cage where the undead had been imprisoned in. The onyx, bipedal skeleton of the group had been pulling at the bars, grunting in frustration as the beams of metal refused to bend or break. Looking up from the bars of his prison, Avalon's projection looked up and right at Azazel. The other undead quickly noticed this and all stood besides their sable leader with an array of emotions displayed in their eyes. Fear, relief, and even joy was visible through the scintillations in their eye sockets. But the thing that rocked Azazel to his core, was the sight of his verdant surrogate twin brother, and the flower spangled older sister he never had. Thankfully, it garnered the reaction Discord was looking from the young necromancer: shock. What Discord was not prepared for, was how quickly that shock turned into anger. "WHAT IS THIS!?" The nephilim asked, his voice distorted by the flaring of his hellish magic. Carefully unwrapping Fluttershy's hooves from his body, Discord sat as best he could while rubbing his legs and harshly bitch slapping them awake. "Contrary to what you may think Azazel, I didn't come here to kill or fight you. I came here to talk, and as such I come to you with a proposal." Discord began, never raising his voice; though his tone left no room for debate. When Azazel didn't respond, the spirit of chaos took it as a sign to continue. "As you can see, I fixed Trephor and stopped Mia from becoming bone meal. So I offer you this; hear me out and I promise to return to you your undead unharmed. Sound fair?" He offered, a smile gracing his features as his confidence returned along with the feeling in his legs. Azazel's furious grimace never softened, not trusting the Lord of chaos for even a second. "And why should I believe you? For all I know, this projection and everything you've said is naught but a lie in a vain attempt to save your souls!" The nephilim asked, his magic having receded, though not the hostility in his tone. Discord's grin didn't falter as he raised a cocky eyebrow and snapped his fingers again. Before Azazel could react, the loincloth he once wore materialized around his waist; the rattling of medallions, chains and a slue of other trinkets announced their sudden appearance. Feeling the firm and comforting embrace of his belt, the half-breed looked down to find his singular piece of clothing. He immediately recognized every memento strung around it, but one of them was missing... "Because..." Discord began, garnering Azazel's attention once more. Looking up, the necromancer was able to catch in his telekinetic grip the missing accessory; his medallion of truth. The worn silver disc that branded the nephilim's symbol hovered in middair for a few seconds before being grabbed by the half-breed's armoured hand. Every groove, rune, sigil, and even the almost imperceptible amount of magic trapped whithin the medallion seemed real to the necromancer. Even after casting a quick revelio spell on the object in his hand, the nephilim refused to trust the spirit of chaos. "...you will be able to tell if I'm lying or if I'm telling you the truth." He finished, a faux humbleness dripped from his every word; and Azazel didn't like it. Discord's playfully obnoxious attitude was the most obvious and worrying trait he carried, second only to the sheer power he possessed. The nephilim had met one such trickster in the past, a reality warping, dimension hopping imp by the name of Rumplestiltskin. But even now as the necromancer wanted nothing more than to destroy the being before him, he knew better than to fight such a seemingly insurmountable force with brute strength alone. He'd have to be smart about this if he wanted to survive and beat Discord at his own game. Azazel mentally ordered the titan to lower it's fist, but to remain vigilant for anything out of place. Seeing the silently smoldering monstrosity lower it's fist, Discord snapped his fingers again; causing the projection to change. The circular projection reflected a still image of an unconscious Celestia, hovering in an endless void. Her flaming hair was the only light amidst the sea of darkness, and her golden armor exuded an aura of imperious regality. Azazel was shocked, but not by the projection itself. It was by the fact that he could see Celestia's soul frozen in time along with a very disturbing revelation... Her soul was powerful, bright like an invincible golden sun, but unmistakably shattered. But amidst the cracks of the alicorn's majestic horn, lay what seemed to be an ethereal tumor of darkness. It was small, but impossible to miss. In Azazel's mind, the seemingly foolish and hypocritical behavior of the diarch he wanted dead now came fully into perspective; his bewildered mind only allowing him to stammer at the implications of this image. "...it can't be..." He muttered. "As you probably remember, Celestia underwent a transformation not to long ago. Resulting in the destruction of Trephor and in the injuries Mia now has." Discord began again, standing back to his full height and dusting off his formal attire. Manifesting a small, remote controller in his bird talon, he pressed a big blue button protruding from one of it's sides with an audible click. The image was then magnified and the dark protuberance was moved towards the left of the projection screen; said screen being divided in two. On the right side, lay a silhouette of Azazel standing straight with his arms and wings outstretched to the sides. In the center of the silhouette, made seemingly of an ever changing mass of thousands of ghoulish faces, lay a nearly perfect orb of what seemed to be obsidian wreathed in hellfire. "Celestia, at one point or another seems to have been possessed by something of hellish nature. I have a vague idea of where it came from, but that's irrelevant. What matters is that I've managed to restrain her and delay the spread of the... infection. Now, what I need is your expertise in the subjects of demonology and exorcisms." Discord finished, looking intently at the nephilim. Though he portrayed a nonchalant expression for his deal, he was still nervous to some degree. Even with the considerable boost of ambient chaos from the titanic brawl, Discord knew that he was not exempt from the necromancer's magic in his current condition. His only hope was to keep the necromancer believing he was at a disadvantage. Azazel on the other hand, became angry once Discord's desire became clear. "So that's what this is about!? You want someone to punish! And your spinning this into some elaborate speech about how by saving her I can be "redeemed", AREN'T YOU!? AND FOR WHAT!? To save the bitch that lied to my face and tried to kill my family!? YOU'RE OUT OF YOUR DAMN-!!" The half-breed's furious rant was cut short when Discord calmly raised his lion paw in a polite, yet stern demand for silence. Azazel's magic had been flaring up as wisps of hellish lightning and fire began dancing around his form; only to suddenly snuff out at the sudden stop in thought. The draconequus' expression had hardened a little as he realized that convincing the dark sorcerer would be more difficult than he anticipated. "I'm trying here Azazel, don't test my patience. So stop acting like a child and listen." Discord said, sounding annoyed. The nephilim blinked once, before quietly straightening back up. While the threat didn't sit right with Azazel, he could sense sudden surge of power within the draconequus he hadn't felt before. Taking a deep breath the necromancer nodded, prompting Discord to continue. Before he continued, however, Discord pressed the button on his controller causing the projection to change again. Except this time, it was a live feed of Celestia floating an abysmal void; and the malignant darkness had spread... "I'll cut to the chase. You can do something for me that I can't, and I can do something for you that you can't. Nobody knows better than me that Celestia isn't perfect, but Equestria still needs her despite her actions towards you and the countless other she's hurt; you and me included. I need you to get rid of whatever abomination is inside of her before she's destroyed by it." Discord explained slightly exasperated towards his last statement. When Discord finished, Azazel had been left with only two questions nagging him. Looking away as he thought on how to best articulate his thoughts, Azazel looked down at the medallion in his hand. Not once had it glowed or hummed with the telltale sound of a lie. Looking back at Discord, he steeled himself to ask his query; clipping the medallion to his belt as he spoke. "Let's suppose I believe you, what's stopping you or Celestia from simply killing me once I've upheld my end of the deal?" The nephilim asked, his tone being a lot less harsh. On one claw, Discord was glad that at the very least; Azazel wasn't hellbent on killing him. But on the other, the master of mischief was disappointed with the fact that his next statement was an inconvenient truth. "Nothing. Because anything I say is worthless to you due to my ties to the elements and Celestia." Discord replied, disconcertment evident in his voice. "However, that doesn't change the fact that I am the only one who can grant you your deepest, darkest desire." He finished, Discord's tone intriguing the nephilim. "Which is?" Azazel asked, unimpressed and not expecting Discord to have anything other than his undead's release; which he would disembowel the chaotic trickster should he fail to keep his end of the deal. With the nephilim taking his bait, Discord smiled as he pressed the button on his remote. The image then changed to an image that made most of the ponies present gasp, if not gag in discuss at the visage being displayed above them. It was a very life-like depiction of the young necromancer standing atop a mountain of corpses. The visage presented Azazel letting out a victorious howl as he pulled a Solarian soldier in two. However, what caught Azazel by surprise was not the burning city behind him, the lumbering stormclouds or the scores of undead dragons flying over his depiction, but rather the identity of the regally dressed aasimar directly beneath his feet. Her flowing locks of hair and her majestic alabaster wings were tainted with the golden blood of angels; which also seemed to be trickling down her mouth. Her head was twisted at an unnatural angle and he clothes were torn and only barely preserving her dignity. The sight of the aasimar, brutalized as she was, caused the nephilim to be momentarily blinded with a red haze. Azazel's teeth grinded together as he growled out the name of the one who had taken his parents, his happiness, and his world from him. "SOLARIS..." The nephilim snarled. The combination between his magic and his fury twisted his voice into a sound so gutteral and hateful, that it made Twilight's skin crawl. She hadn't expected the dark sorcerer to still be angry after the non-stop, rage fueled bloodbath that rendered the monster from which he clawed his way out from dead; and despite all of that, he looked like he was about to kill something very... very brutally... Mia had spoken to her about what demons were, beings born from hatred, suffering and misery; but it was only now that Twilight understood what she meant. Azazel's eyes had been adorned with veins that radiated from his eyes like a spider web; and the homicidal glare that he was directing at the projection spoke in no uncertain terms of the untold atrocities he yearned to unleash upon the object of his ire. His dark eyes seemed to become burning pools of a crimson light so vile and hateful that it made the memory of even Tirek's imperious gaze seem like a minor fright in Twilight's mind. The princess of friendship was snapped from her catatonic trance by the snap of Discord's fingers. In a flash of light, the projection spell evaporated and the cage holding the undead materialized a short distance away from the nephilim. "As promised, your caretakers are unharmed." Discord said, his suit exploding off of him in a blast of confetti I'm every direction. While it startled most of the ponies present, Pinkie Pie couldn't help but giggle at the display; her beaming smile returning to it's usual place on her face. "Think over my offer, I'll give you till tomorrow so you can spend sometime with your fami-" "I'll do it." Discord was cut off by Azazel's blunt, yet monotonous statement. The nephilim looked up at Discord, the hellish miasma that fumed off of him seemed to ebb if only a little. Azazel's expression was blank, unreadable and unnerving to the draconequus. Then the half-breed began walking towards the chaotic spirit. The ponies around Discord couldn't stop themselves from taking a fearful step or two backwards; as that horrid feeling of an all encompassing, mortal danger made it more and more difficult to hold their ground. When the two beings, one of pure chaos and the other of unbridled hatred were face to face, the nephilim raised his unarmored hand and offered it to Discord. While the gesture was somewhat foreign to the ponies, the baby dragon looking on with an expression of terrified awe, recognized the gesture to be the offering of a handshake. Discord smiled cordially and took the hand before him and firmly shook it. However, when Discord tried to pull away, the half-breed's grip would not yield. Discord's expression faltered, and that tinge of fear Azazel felt jolt through the spirit's hand was all the assurance he needed to begin his next spell. "Do you, Discord, Lord of Chaos, swear to uphold your word of sending me and my army back home upon the restoration of Celestia?" Azazel's voice was distorted, and his tone though calm, demanded total compliance... or else... As if to accentuate this, an ethereal string of white light began to slowly weave itself around Discord's paw and Azazel's hand. "A-Azazel, let's not do anything hast-" "Do. You. Swear?" Discord stammered only to be cut off again, his will starting to break under the unrelenting wave of fear the nephilim was exuding. The half-breed's voice was powerful, causing the ponies around Discord to feel the rumble of his monstrous voice in their chests. Azazel's fear aura was steadily intensifying and affecting everypony's perceptions of reality, making it seem as if the soil beneath and the air around them was trembling in fear of the entity standing over it. Only Discord had noticed that an "X" made of a translucent white light had materialized and hovered just over the nephilim's heart. Looking down, the draconequus tensed as he saw the same ethereal projection manifest over his chest where his heart would be of he were a natural entity. It was at this moment that Discord realized what Azazel was doing. He met the necromancer's unwavering glare with a determination that equalized the urge to succumb to Azazel's fear aura. "I do." Discord affirmed. The nephilim said nothing, prompting Discord to pull away; this time with more force. Hoping he could free himself before the necromancer's oath could be finished. Much to Discord's dismay and subsequent panic, Azazel wasn't letting go. "And I swear to do everything in my power to free Celestia, goddess of the sun and ruler of Equestria, from whatever is possessing her. With this oath, I cross our hearts and hope to die..." The half-breed spoke, the white "X" above his heart shifting into a dark crimson. It was too late, and Discord knew it. "Azazel... p-please don-" "SAY IT!!!" Discord hoped with all of his heart that he could dissuade the nephilim from the rather drastic measure. Discord's request fell on deaf ears, as Azazel's outburst caused the earth beneath him to shatter and crack from a violent discharge of magic. That was the last straw for Rainbow Dash, she had given it her all and had remained strong for her friends. She began feeling light headed and the simple act of breathing had become laborious through the mind numbing fever she had developed. Discord chanced a glance towards his friends, and saw Rainbow Dash's eyes roll to the back of her head as she collapsed on her side. A short ways away, Rarity, Spike, and Starlight had lost their consciousness as well; though he couldn't tell when it had happened. Twilight, Applejack, and Zecora were still standing, but they were close to meeting their friends similar fate. Pinkie was laying on her side, her face contorted into a silent grimace of agony and tears streaming down her cheeks; her Pinkie sense making it feel as if she had broken her knees. Discord's frightened gaze returned back toward the nephilim, knowing that if he even spared a glance down at Fluttershy; he'd lose all semblance of self control. "...lest you stick a needle in my eye..." Having no other choice left but to swallow his pride; Discord uttered the final part of the spell. Right in front of his and Azazel's right eye; an ethereal needle about a foot long materialized before disappearing along with the vile magic that drove more than half of Discord's company to their knees. The spirit of chaos let go of a breath he didn't even know he was holding when the nephilim let go of his hand. With the last of the dark flames and bolts of hellish energy vanishing into the aether, Azazel gave Discord a much less harsh and professional look. "I will take my leave and not be followed. I still have work to do before I return to my stronghold and begin working on getting your monarch back." He explained, turning around and heading towards the cage that held his undead cohorts. "I'll send my heralds to find you once I'm ready to begin." The necromancer said dismissively with an uninterested wave. The spirit of chaos wanted to say something, but he had nothing. Much to Discord's surprise, the zebra who had remained silent untill now; walked after the nephilim on her shaking hooves. "Please! Don't go! There is something I must ask you! Something I must know!" She pleaded, the desperation in her tone causing her to almost trip and fall flat on her face. Azazel didn't know what compelled him to stop and look over his shoulder at the frightened zebra, but he didn't question it; finding himself to emotionally drained to question much of anything anymore. While Zecora could tell the nephilim's stare wasn't a malicious one, it was unnervingly intense nonetheless. After swallowing the saliva that had amassed in her mouth, she took a deep breath to steady herself before making her question. "The scourge of the Everfree made the souls it swallowed suffer through their worst nightmares. What have you done to the souls of the Everfree, the ones I gave my friendship and care!?" She asked, her attempt to sound unafraid was thwarted by the crack in her fearful voice. Scanning her form, Azazel couldn't sense any magic building up whithin her. Instead he felt... pain... Seeing as how he was in no imminent danger, he raised his left hand and began conjuring a small, pale, ghostly white sphere. While Twilight and Applejack were unaware of what was happening, Zecora's unveiled eyes grew wide as they were inextricably glued to the sight before her. She'd seen this same magical manifestation every night over the five years she'd lived inside the accursed Everfree. When the wisps of energy finished coalescing into a sphere no bigger than an apple, the nephilim lazily pushed it towards the zebra. The sphere then flew quickly in a similar flight pattern to that of a hummingbird, heading straight towards the entranced zebra. Almost instinctively, she raised her hoof once it got near her; hoping against hope that what she was seeing was real. Then, like snow falling from the heavens, the orb landed gently on the zebra's hoof. The familiar coolness of a spectre's touch felt soothing and welcoming; and after feeling as if death itself had tried to claim her, tears of unadulterated bliss began welling up in Zecora's eyes. "...hello again... *yawn* ...Zecora..." She heard a voice say in her head. The voice was that of a child, almost sounding as if it were sleepy. She simply stood there, admiring the slowly roiling mass of soul energy. Time, space, and most importantly, the fear she once felt no longer mattered. Only this, the essence of life itself silently hovering over her hoof deserved her attention. She had been so enraptured by the spirit she now held in her hoof that she didn't notice Discord had teleported her and the mane six back to Twilight's castle. She was only brought out of her trance by a gentle paw coming to rest on her left shoulder. Hesitantly looking away from the orb in her hoof, she turned to her left and found Discord standing beside her. "You know, I often wonder why soulmancers like you are hated so much. You have the privilege to behold some of the most beautiful things in the multiverse. But then again... there's... *sigh* Azazel..." He said, his tone begining as serene and sincere, only to then sour with lament. Zecora had to blink a few times in a vain attempt to understand his statement. When she failed to understand his reasoning, she asked in a near whisper her plight. "...What is he?" Much to the surprise and subsequent dread of Zecora and Discord, the spectre was the one to answer with a cold and foreboding finality. "Death." > Chapter 21. A Bond Restored, Another Defiled > -------------------------------------------------------------------------- /////////////////// When Discord teleported away with the mane six and company, Azazel turned towards his newly resurrected army. For the next few minutes, nothing but the howling wind could be heard as the young necromancer admired his handiwork. Never had he raised so many undead, and even then it had never been this easy... The sight reminded Azazel of his father's bedtime stories; the kind he'd hear on those awful nights when he couldn't sleep and the souls trapped within the young nephilim would twist his dreams into torturous nightmares and... things he'd rather forget... But try as he might, the damned within yearned for their warden to suffer. Now numbering in the hundreds, the damned howled and screamed for retribution; their voices becoming an almost unintelligible cacophony. On rare instances, seemingly at random, their voices would unite and shout like an army of trained soldiers rather than the writhing mass of pain addled souls that they were. "MAKE THEM SUFFER!!!" "DINE ON THEIR SOULS!!!" "SHOW THEM NO MERCY!!!" "BURN IT ALL TO HELL!!!" Flashes of holy fire screaming through the air and burning his flesh to dust overwhelmed his senses. The image of his parents shedding painful tears as they banished him to another realm for his safety was burned into his mind with brands forged from the nephilim's neglected affliction; a constant reminder from the damned of their disdain for him and an incentive to indulge in his demonic desires. And finally the face of the human dog that executed the solar goddess' command flashed before his eyes; his words being uttered with zealous contempt... "ANY LAST WORDS WRETCH!?!?" Deus Vult's voice echoed in the nephilim's mind, reigniting the smoldering embers of Azazel's vengeful wrath. Slowly, and without pause, he felt his fury grow. Much like the geologically active landscape around him, the young necromancer's heart began to accelerate; eventually pounding away so forcefully inside his chest that it sounded like an angry war drum. As dark streaks of ebon malice began to spread around his eyes, Azazel's darkened eyeballs were bathed in a crimson light with boiling blood coursing through his capillaries. His vision slowly became a red haze, as his mind began to fantasize of the cruel and horrendous ways he would torture those that wronged him. The nephilim's ribcage became visible as his bare chest was illuminated by the malignant light of hellfire building up inside his body. Wisps of smoke began to fume through his nostrils as he struggled to stay put and not explode then and there. "What are your orders, boss?" A throaty, masculine voice spoke up, breaking the eerie silence that plagued the dragonlands. Subconsciously thankful that he now had something to distract himself with, Azazel quickly turned to look over his shoulder. The undead who spoke up, a disemboweled dragon no bigger than the nephilim with scales, spines, and barbs of varying shades of brown, flinched as their new master's gaze fell on them. To think that the titanic abomination that killed them was but a construct, a puppet controlled by something unfathomably more powerful, sent an inescapable sense of hopeless dread through what remained of the walking corpses. And those eyes... Those unfortunate enough to see into them shuddered in an instinctive fear that made the few who had little to no flesh left on their bones nearly shake themselves apart. Those subjected to the nephilim's unsettling act of acknowledgement, witnessed the barely contained wrath of a beast from what they could only believed to be the deepest, darkest pit of Tartarus. Never once had they seen so much anger, pain and hate condensed into a single, soul shattering glare. And then... after a few seconds of heart rending silence that felt more like an eternity... it spoke. "My army is far from complete, there are more of you that I have yet to awaken into undeath. Go forth and bring me every bone, shred of flesh, and cadaver my terrible leviathan left in it's wake. GO NOW, AND LET NOTHING STAND IN YOUR WAY!!!" With his twisted voice and his armoured hand thrust forward, Azazel told them everything they needed to know. He hated the grass for growing, the clouds for floating, the birds for singing and the stars for shining. He was hatred incarnate and, if for even a moment they considered betraying him or disobeying him, the wrath of Tartarus itself would come crashing down on them with the force of a thousand suns. Without a moment's hesitation, the vast majority of undead nearly trampled over each other to do the necromancer's bidding in a fearful frenzy. The only beings that seemed to hesitate were the two elder dragons looking between their new master and the wingless titan that currently stood at more or less their own height; the ebon fire it had for hair unsettling the now undead Dragonlord and his trusted Baron. Eventually, the elder dragons regained their composure and gave each other a glance to ensure the other of their intent. The titans took to the skies, the sound of their monstrous wings and the torrent of wind they produced gave Azazel something else to distract himself with. Slowly, but surely, the young necromancer was able to get his emotions in check; the hellish magic coercing his body to change dissipating with the vestiges of his wrath. When only the titan and his master remained, the nephilim mentally commanded it to keep watch of the surrounding area for trouble. Azazel looked on as the aberration he had unintentionally brought into being slithered away, the earth shaking with it's every movement. After some time, the titan and the undead dragons had gotten far away enough that he couldn't feel their magic. /////////Azazel////////// I closed my eyes, and for only a moment, I allowed myself to enjoy the odd tranquility that had surrounded me. The distant vibrations of volcanoes rumbling away and spewing this world's insides tickled my aching feet. The smell of brimstone was strangely soothing as a colder wind from the Everfree poured into the dragonlands and numbed the burning pain in my chest. The sun's rays would occasionally poke through the smog and warmly kiss my scarred body. Aside from the souls within me, who were also oddly quiet; not a single soul yearned for my death... I was tempted to just lie down then and there and forget about it all when I heard a voice call out to me... "BOOOOOSS!!!" That voice... "HEEEYYYY!!!" that bastard... "CAN YOU GIVE US A HAND?!?!" My most annoying scribe and my brother at heart called out to me. It took every last ounce of will power I had to pull back the tears welling up in my eyes, as a tidal wave of emotions I had been repressing threatened to come pouring out. I took a shaky breath as I opened my eyes and began to march towards the cage; yet again shoving everything I felt back into the back of my mind. Every step was surreal, I... I could see them... My undead brothers and sisters were all looking at me with the emerald light of joy. My whole body ached, every step being a chore; but I didn't care. When I finally closed the distance, I latched onto the bars. Using what remained of my strength, I bent the metal poles and eventually broke them off one by one. The metal shafts groaned in protest at being deformed and broken, but I would have none of it. I continued to bend and break the bars, finding a subtle enjoyment in the action. Much to my surprise, I was tackled to the ground by a flower spangled skeleton after the seventh bar was ripped clean off of the cage. "AZAZEL DON'T YOU EVER DO SOMETHING LIKE THAT AGAIN OR SO HELP ME GODS I'LL KILL YOU!!!" Mia cried into my ear as she held me in a monstrous bear hug. Even with a part of her arm missing, she was holding me very tightly. Too tired to get up, too ashamed to look her in the eye, and too tired to fight with my emotions anymore; I simply laid there on the coarse floor, letting bitter tears stream down my face. I... broke... again... Even now, as my family worried about my well being rather than their own, I couldn't fight the feeling of unforgivable failure that was making me wish someone would just drive a sword through my chest. "I don't think he believes what he's hearing, hun." Trephor said, walking into view over by my left. It took about a minute to understand what Trephor said, and a whole other minute for the information to settle in. "Hun-... WAIT! ARE YOU TWO-!?" I asked not believing what I was hearing. The shock and subsequent anticipation causing me to bounce into a sitting position; my self loathing being completely forgotten. Mia unsurprisingly, was not ready for the sudden movement; as her lower back disconnected from her pelvis and her legs disassembled. "Woah! Easy Azazel, I'm a little delicate at the moment..." She said with a tinge of giddy embarrassement in her voice. My disbelief in the marvelous implication was dismissed as I held her to keep her from falling. With an awkward motion, I moved over her pelvis and with rapid clicks, her lower half reassembled itself. When I was confident she wouldn't disassemble in my hands, I indecisively alternated between looking at the two of them before coming to a stop on my beryl brother. "So you finally took a hint?" I asked, hoping I'd get something stupid in return. "I literally die, come back to life, and the first thing you ask me, is if I took a FUCKING HINT!?" The green idiot said, his voice dripping with faux exasperation; his arms being outstretched to further accentuate his indignation. Never once had I so much yearned for to hear Trephor's stupid voice, yet here I am... Unable to contain the sudden explosion of euphoria that stretched my lips into a mad smile, I hurriedly got Mia off of my lap. As I rose to my feet I pulled my flower spangled big sister along with me, using my wings to propel myself upwards. She squeaked from the sudden jolt, but was on her feet and composed shortly after. Wrapping the undead lovers in a bear hug, a stupid sounding giggle left my lips. A FUCKING GIGGLE!!! I SWEAR, I'M GOING BANANAS; IF I HAVEN'T ALREADY!!! "Someone's happy." Trephor quipped, making me laugh. Unbeknownst to him, father had educated me in the art of shitty quips and lame jokes during my brother's absence to better defend myself. "Only cause I get to be the best man~" I teased, wriggling my eyebrows and giving him a grin so stupid that it would have given father's a run for it's coin. The reply caused the two undead in my arms to tense up, avert their gazes, and their eyes to flare up with a rosey blaze. "Can I be your bride's maid?" My little one asked, coming out the cell atop her feline steed. She seemed drained, but her excitement was almost palpable. The question, however innocent it may have been, made Trephor's and Mia's eyes explode with lavender and magenta scintillations that sparked like dwarvish fireworks. The reaction finally made me lose it, sending me into a laughing frenzy that made my sides ache as I let go of the two flustered love birds. "Pleaaaase! I've never been to a wedding before, and Astoshan said his wedding with lady Lilith was super nice!" She said, the child-like innocence of her plea making it impossible to stop laughing. Mia, unsurprisingly, got flustered and flew into an indignant rant that was paired perfectly with Trephor stepping and trying to calm her down. The odd entourage of undead equines soon came out of the cell to watch from a better angle as the dramatic display of familial chaos I was used to seeing back in the Ursan Forest unfold. I probably would have fallen over laughing, had my gaze not drifted to the one undead that had stayed inside the metallic cage. His silhouette was accentuated by the dim sunlight poking through the clouds and those red stars I'd come to find more reassuring than the eyes of most other creatures. However, despite the shade he stood under and the unreadable nature of his skull, I could sense heartache, relief, exhaustion, and worst of all... fear. Avalon's eyes locked with mine, and my laughter began to die down. No thanks to the damned within, the memory of my last encounter with my most loyal was thrust into the forefront of my mind. It was then that my gaze drifted downward from his eyes to his jaw; some of his left most molars had been cracked and part of his jaw had minor fracturing. The sight began to fill me with the guilt that my newly betrothed caretakers had unknowingly suppressed. I knew it wouldn't take long for it to render me too emotionally distressed to act. Wasting no time, I cautiously approached the undead; tucking my wings in as closely as I could to not come across as upset. Despite his attempts to feign ignorance, I could feel a wave of relief wash over him, along with the telltale sensation of his telepathic bond leaving my mind. Seems he beat me to the punch... 'No. I have to make this right' I thought to myself as I closed the distance between us. I knew, that he knew what was coming... 'Damnit Avalon... why must you make this so diffi-' "It's alright sir, you don't have to apologize." He said, his voice though deep and menacing to most, was... reassuring; if nothing else. "...Avalon... I-..." I barely managed to say his name before he stepped into the light and wrapped his arms over my shoulders. The show of affection left me dumbfounded, but i dared not push him away. "But-..." "You and I have been through too much together for it to warrant any apologies... I'm just glad you're ok." Those words were spoken so softly that I almost thought it had been someone else who said it. But the sincerity of his words were only reinforced with firmness of his embrace. Avalon made it clear that this wasn't something he would debate. He wasn't letting me go, and to be honest... I didn't want him to... I wanted to say something, but nothing made it past my lips. Reciprocating the hug was the only thing I could do as tears began to well up in my eyes again. As I shut them and savoured the gentle yet firm embrace for all it was; the edges of my lips curling slightly in tired smile. For all that had happened... after nearly dying twice and believing I had lost it all... this moment was worth it; and nothing would change that. //////////////////// It had been about an hour since the now undead Dragonlord and one of his Barons had been resurrected. The pair had flown northeastward along the edge of the dragon lands in silence. Torch and Cinder had been wrestling with the idea of what they had been ordered to do. Were they really going to allow their new master to desecrate the bodies of their comrades? While the scorched and ash caked landscape was far from pleasing to the eye, for it's inhabitants, it was home. Unfortunately, the copperish stench of blood still in the air made the already unwelcoming atmosphere worse; a testament to the horrors that had happened a scant few hours ago. Spires of obsidian and volcanic rock had been reduced to gravel; the few that were still relatively intact bore scorch marks. As the undead Dragonlord and his baron landed, Cinder could only look on in horror at the grusome sight before him. A small ways away lay the unmoving body of a massive dragon; Dreadwing. Her body, though smaller than most dragons of her age, was in no way small. Majestic navy blue wings with yellow scales placed seemingly at random intervals in her webbing were the only part of her that hadn't been scorched and/or carbonized. The baroness lay dead on her side, the stench of charred flesh only now settling in. A few hundred meters away lay the mangled remains of Skyquake, twin brother to Dreadwing. All of his limbs were bent or twisted at unnatural angles, all save for his head; the lime green baron's face twisted into a silent scream of horror. But it would be Brimstone's corpse that would scar Cinder for as long as he lived on; or at least... what remained of his life. Only the topmost part of his chest and arms remained, a sticky crimson sheen of blood and shredded entrails tarnishing the ash ladened earth. It took Torch a while of scanning his surroundings to find his deceased comrade's lower half, a scaly leg and the purple barb of his tail floating on the banks of a nearby magma pool. "I can't do this..." Cinder breathed out, a cold shiver running down his massive body. Torch didn't look away from what remained of Brimstone's lower half as he spoke. "We have to do this..." The elder dragon stated monotonously. Though the crimson dragon couldn't see Torch's face, Cinder could hear the disgust his friend felt as he spoke. "We grew up together... We fought together, we pillaged and built up our hordes together for Tartarus' sake! Torch... I'm not doing this... Not to them..." Cinder protested, his will only granting him enough self control to sit and speak in a vain attempt to keep himself from dishonoring his brothers and sister in arms.The compulsion to obey the necromancer's command was becoming almost impossible to ignore for Cinder, but Torch was another matter entirely. The Dragonlord looked on at the fate of his deceased friends, with a practice mask of stoicism; seemingly unaffected by the strange compulsion that plagued his Baron. Even in death, the draconic relic nestled in his armor was unraveling the dark compulsion within. As a deafening silence surrounded the titanic dragons, Torch's sobering thoughts drifted towards his daughter... Then it hit him like a wrecking ball, causing his eyes to widen in realization, and his brow to furrow with determination. Turning to look at his comrade, Torch gave Cinder a look he knew all too well. "You have that look on your face Torch. What are you thinking?" Cinder asked, his miserable mood being cast aside at the renewed will of his lord. "I've ruled with ferocity, strength, and determination for centuries; and now we face our darkest hour." He began, his words though painful to hear, rang true. "Our new... "master", is something we can't beat with overwhelming force like we usually would. He wields dark magic and has dominion over life and death itself." Torch continued, his tone firm and unwavering. Cinder, on the other hand, was growing impatient for the eventual weakness or boon which they would exploit. "Where are you going with this?" The crimson dragon asked. Torch, much to his Baron's surprise, smirked as he continued to unveil his plan. "Eons ago, when my grandfather was the Dragonlord, a monster just like him appeared; seemingly out of nowhere. His name? Grogar." Torch explained, causing Cinder to go wide-eyed. "The Dark Ram? But he's just a legend made up by ponies!" The Dragon Baron retorted incredulously. "Oh, he was real alright. Just like the pony who defeated him. But do you know who gave that pony the magical artefact that banished the Dark Ram?" Torch asked, his smirk turning into a devious grin. Cinder paused to contemplate the question, but try as he might, he couldn't remember if there was any mention of anyone helping the sorceress in the old pony legend. After a few seconds, he looked at his grinning comrade with a perplexed shake of his head and a shrug. Much to Cinder's unsettlement, Torch's smile had become... unhinged. The steel blue Dragonlord leaned in close to his Baron's ear, and whispered the answer in an almost conspiratorial manner. "It was Tiamat..." He said. That was the last straw for Cinder, shoving Torch away and looking at him cautiously. "Madness! The God-Queen is not real!" Cinder snarled, flaring his titanic wings and assuming an aggressive stance. Torch on the other hand, seemed indignant. This however, passed very quickly, as he pulled on the collar of ashen breastplate and freed the Blood Stone Scepter from it's confines. He held it betwixt his pinched claws for Cinder to see, looking at him with an unwavering resolve. "The Blood Stone Scepter was distilled from her! SHE IS REAL!!! And she MUST be found if there's even a chance that we'll be able to destroy the monster that KILLED our brothers and sisters!!!" The Dragonlord explained angrily, his tone implying that this was beyond debate. Unfortunately, the undead Baron was unmoved. "Even if she WAS real, there's no way we'll find her in time! Legend says that she lives in the CENTER OF THE PLANET FOR TARTARUS SAKE! EVEN IF THAT MONSTER NEVER CAUGHT US, WE'D NEVER MAKE IT!!!" Cinder shouted, his disappointment only being rivaled by the insult of being given false hope. However, much to the crimson dragon's confusion and further surprise, Torch's devious smirk returned. "WE aren't making the journey." He clarified, sounding as if he'd been discussing the weather. The sudden change in tone blindsided Cinder, causing him to short circuit and blink several times in an attempt to process what he just heard. "...what?" The confused elder dragon blurted out, still left reeling from the cognitive dissonance this whole conversation was causing him. Seeing that he had regained Cinder's attention, if a little skewed, Torch unveiled the crux of his plan. "While I may not want to admit it, strength alone won't be enough to destroy that monster. He will need to be outsmarted, not overpowered; if we want to ensure dragonkind's survival." He began with a sigh, looking right into his old friend's blood red eyes. "Our children are incredibly smart for their age, if they can find Tiamat; they will either have her on their side or the God-Queen herself will destroy the demon. I know that they will reclaim our home and defeat that demon just as we did when we were younger!" Torch explained, his vigor returning and making him sound like the proud leader he was. While Cinder silently weighed the odds in his head, the Dragonlord took the crimson dragon's right claw and opened it. "Go to Coastal Spire and give Ember this. With any luck, every dragon left in the Dragon Lands will be there along with Starscream. She will be able to point them in the right direction and keep them from tearing each other apart." The Dragonlord said, placed the toothpick sized relic in Cinder's claw before continuing. "Tell her of our plan. I will stay behind to buy you time." Torch said grimly. At that last statement, Cinder's outrage was rekindled. "I'm not leaving you to die he-" "LISTEN TO ME DAMNIT!!!" The Dragon Baron began to protest, only to be cut off as Torch grabbed onto Cinder's shoulders and shouted; causing the earth to shake from the power in his voice. Seeing as how Cinder had shut the fuck up, the undead Dragonlord continued. "You and I are already dead, and whatever magic that demon used to bring us back won't last us forever. We cannot waste our only chance to ensure that monster will pay!" Torch's statement lingered in the air for a moment, before Cinder sighed in defeat. Turning around, the Dragon Baron walked away from his old friend and spread his wings. He paused for a moment, then glanced over his shoulder to find that Torch's stern face had softened. Cinder took a moment to let several centuries worth of memories wash over him. The many adventures he'd spent with his friends, the day he met the one and only dragon he'd ever fallen in love with, the day his children hatched, and finally the last dragon migration; the last time the Dragonlord and his Barons would be together. "It was an honor, Torch." Cinder said with grim resolve in his voice. Turning northeastward, the crimson elder dragon took to the sky when no reply came. The wind ceased, the sky darkened, and the former Dragonlord looked on for the last time as his friend vanished over the horizon. "The honor was mine." Torch muttered to himself, before turning face and undertaking his profane duty. The chains of the necromancer's binding the once proud Dragonlord to the demon's will. > Chapter 22. Devil's Den part 1 > -------------------------------------------------------------------------- ///////Ruins of the castle of the two sisters////////// Several hours after the plunder seeds had been removed from the Everfree, their absence was becoming more and more apparent. With the Tree of Harmony becoming the dominant force of magic in the once accursed forest, the sundered earth had slowly begun to heal; though the larger, more damaged areas had remained untouched. Many trees were still toppled over and the dangerous animals that would've normally been making their way through the wild forest were nowhere to be found. The usual chirping of birds was replaced with the howling wind and the rumbling fire of the serpentine titan; noisily slithering over a growing path being cleared by the smaller undead dragons. When the necromancer came riding on the shoulder of his flame-wreathed leviathan, he had expected for the wolves of timber that terrorized his creations when he first arrived to either flee or fight. What he was not prepared for, was their complete absence. He couldn't sense the wild magic that once saturated the forest anywhere, and it worried him. So when he finally arrived at his disheveled den, he spent over an hour and a half, sweeping the area around the ruins; casting wards around the castle's perimeter to stave off any would-be trespassers. After returning to his fortress and his paranoia being put somewhat at ease with Avalon's promise of ensuring he'd keep watch, Azazel had found himself in a desperate need to do something useful. He wandered through the halls, lighting torches with a prestidigitation cantrip and making torches out of broken furniture from the countless dilapidated rooms. The dazzling arachnids that had terrorized his undead ponies were currently being hunted by several dragons; dragons he would occasionally see struggling to keep up and capture the nimble creatures. The sight made Azazel stop to admire the show and smile; serving as a wonderful contrast to the chaos roiling inside him. After gods know how many turns, desolate rooms, and torches, he reached a hallway lined with suits of equine armor standing atop pedestals of dirty marble. What caught his attention was not the posing suits of armor, but rather, the singular doorless archway leading into a dark room in the far left. Azazel's heavy footsteps were muffled by the musty carpet lining the floor. Passing through the archway and into the massive room, he beheld a behemoth of an instrument. Innumerable pipes of polished copper towering into the black of an overtly high ceiling and burrowing seamlessly into the far wall. Nestled between twin statues of mighty pegasi, sat the main console of a massive pipe organ behind a mahogany bench. The once alabaster keys of the mighty instrument were caked with dust, yet seemed undamaged. After approaching the console, Azazel cast a spell to endow him with clairvoyance. "Revelio..." Wisps of crimson magic shifted to a leafy green as they snaked from the half-blood's hands and meshed with the pipe organ; spreading out through the room. When the spell ended, the nephilim could see in his mind's eye the organ for what it was; a master control for trap doors, supply tubes, secret passages, and several fail safes to seal the castle entirely. All of it being preserved with intricately carved magical runes along the pipes of the organ itself. 'Bloody hell... Mia's gonna love hearing about this...' Azazel thought. The temptation to test just how much of the castle was still functional was too much to bare; his hand moving over the large, dust-addled keys of the impressive marvel of musical, magical and structural engineering with indecisive glee. Deciding to test his luck, he placed his fingers accordingly on the keys and played a 'D major 5th'. When the keys were pressed, Azazel felt as though the ambient magic had been subtly displaced; followed by the powerful organ rumbling to life. The sound and acoustic design of the room would've been enough to leave the nephilim speechless, but a sound further down the hall caught his attention. Ancient stone and rusted gears moved unseen in the distance, and the young necromancer was thoroughly disappointed when his plans to see the impressive instrument's full potential when an unexpected disturbance stopped him. "My lord? May we speak to you?" The posh accent of the formal noblemare Spectre Lulamoon ripped the nephilim from his starstruck inspection of the chamber they were both in. With his scale plated digits hovering over the keys of the pipe organ, he turned to face the three skeletal unicorns standing in the archway that led into the torch lit chamber. "Approach, Lulamoon. You too Blazing. Savant." Azazel ordered, his gaze shifting between the respective unicorns as he spoke their names. However, the clattering of six pair of hooves was soon drowned out by a series of questions posed by the half-blood. "Have the retrieval parties finished bringing their cargo of flesh and blood? And what of Brimstone? Has he found the missing elder dragon?" He asked. "Almost sir, But Brimstone still hasn't returned and Cinder is still unaccounted for." Blazing Shot explained as the trio came to a halt at the bottom step leading to the raised platform harboring the organ's console. Looking away from the three and huffing in frustration, the nephilim pondered on what he had been told. Getting all the blood that had been spilled to the castle and then having it cryogenically preserved as cubes of crimson permafrost had been a chore, but a necessary one. The red essence of life would disgust the average spell caster; but to a bloodmancer, it was a priceless resource whose uses had no limits. But not having two of his five elder dragons guarding the castle had him on edge, and Azazel's undead creations could tell. "My liege, the three of us have reported this to Avalon as you initially instructed us to, but we feel that this matter has a certain degree of urgency. Furthermore I personally-" "Stop prefixing it and get to the point." Savant Dancer began to explain, only to be cut off when his master's waning patience reached it's end. Though he did not shout, Azazel's order was delivered with enough force to make Spectre speak up after taking a quick breath to regain her faltering composure. "M-master, we want you to give us the ability to cast magic again, like... um... miss Anvari..." She said, hesitating to even mention the irate necromancer's most treasured undead. The seconds passed on as the nephilim blankly stared at his undead, his blood red eyes glowing in the dimly lit room. "Why?" Azazel asked. "While we've managed to serve you till now without incident, we feel we would be of more use to you WITH our ability to cast magic." Blazing Shot explained, gesturing towards the pointy protrusion jutting out of his skull. Again the nephilim remained silent, as if waiting for further explanation. Seeing her opportunity, Spectre spoke up again. "When we arrived here, I noticed you enchanted several trees around this castle. Am I correct in assuming that you placed wards to stave off the beasts of the Everfree?" She asked, channeling her inner salespony to convince her new master as she once did the working class ponies of Canterlot in decades prior. Azazel nodding before circling around a small bench and sitting down. "I carved open several trees and, using their sap as a substitute for blood, engraved several runes that feed off their life force to force them to exude an aura of fear similar to my own." The young sorcerer explained, the relatively small bench on which he was seated creaked and groaned in protest of the half-blood's weight. "Well, with my prowess in illusory magic, I would be able to render this whole fortress invisible to not just the beasts of the Everfree, but to even the royal sisters! And with several rituals I know we'd be able to move those willey dragons silently and unseen to gather resources and information for you!" Spectre Lulamoon stated proudly with a hoof pressed into her ribs. "I still think we'd be wasting time on illusions that may not even work on something like timberwolves. Those magical beasts are relentless and nigh unkillable endurance hunters. Should we be given our magic, I believe we should redirect the resources and troops we have to properly fortifying this castle before we stake the safety of everypony on lady Lulamoon's 'illusory prowess' of parlor tricks." Blazing Shot protested, rolling his nonexistent eyes dismissively before turning to Azazel with his latter statement. The nephilim blinked a few times before shaking off the surprised look on his face; he hadn't expected the old soldier to be so rude. And while normally that would've solicited reprimand from the half-blood's part, the intrigue of Blazing Shot's plan to fortify the decrepit castle took precedence in the half-blood's mind. A mistake Azazel would come to regret when an indignant Spectre Lulamoon spoke up before the nephilim could even formulate a coherent response. "PARLOR TRICKS!?!?" She began, her eyes igniting into two red stars that burned with the rage of a noblemare's wounded pride. "I AM VERSED IN MAGIC YOU CAN'T EVEN BEGIN TO FATHOM YOU MOUTH-BREATHING BRUTE!!! The Lulamoon family has enriched the culture of equestrian society and served Princess Celestia with distinction for over nine generations!!! Don't you DARE compare the art of illusion which my family perfected FOR GENERATIONs!!! TO PARLOR TRICKS!!!" Spectre shouted, turning to look at the undead stallion before her face to face. She was shorter than him by a little under a hoof, but that didn't stop her from getting right in his face and harshly poking at his military uniform. If he still had facial features, they'd be the definition of unimpressed. "Even if that were the case, its still irrelevant! Our priority should be turning these ruins into a serviceable stronghold. We can't waste time on 'grand magical feats' that will offer us no real protection against the Everfree, or Celestia forbid, an attack from the capitol!" Blazing Shot challenged, swatting her hoof off of the singular golden medal attached to his uniform. "An attack from the capitol!? Have you lost your MIND!? With the army our master acquired in the dragonlands, we don't NEED any more protection! And why would her majesties even attack us!? That would be suicide!" Spectre retorted, the once blazing inferno in her eyes having died down with her mood; but that wasn't saying much. 'For hell's sake... This is going nowhere.' Azazel thought with an almost bored expression plastered on his face. Sighing in resignation, Azazel began contemplating both Blazing and Spectre's propositions; his forehead being cradled in his left hand. Whether he liked it or not, Blazing Shot had a point. While the dragons should be enough to quell any small army sent his way, there was still the threat of divine intervention from this realms gods; or rather, elements. While Celestia and Luna had clarified that Twilight Sparkle and her friends were only the vassals of "Harmony"; their explanation of this power were concerning. Having a serviceable stronghold would, at the very least, slow down the elements should they decide to bring the fight to him. Then there was Spectre Lulamoon's proposal; to hide from the world right under their noses. It would be a great idea, but it had one gigantic flaw: the Equestrians already knew where his current hideout was. Unless he could make the castle unreachable by conventional methods or make it move around then there was no point in hiding. As these things went through Azazel's mind, the noblemare and the guardspony's argument only got louder and more irritating. "Take it back!" Spectre Lulamoon demanded, stomping her hoof indignantly. "I won't! And you know why!? ITS BECAUSE IT'S TRUE!!!" Blazing Shot replied harshly. Choosing violence over friendship, Spectre Lulamoon lunged towards the undead stallion and tackled him to the ground. For the next five minutes, Blazing and Spectre proceeded to beat the undying shit out of each other. Having been equally created, they wrestled one another without either one managing to gain a significant advantage over the other; throwing haymakers and jabs with the ferocity of two very pissed-off honeybadgers. Savant Dancer, who up to this point had remained a silent spectator to this night's impromptu brawl, noticed that his master's mind had wandered and was no longer paying attention. The demon's eyes were closed and his brow was furrowed; locked in a pensive expression of unshakable inner focus. The undead archivist hesitated as his two compatriots continued to bicker, but eventually built up the courage to move forward and gently tap on the nephilim's forearm. "Sir?..." He asked, half hoping Azazel had just been bored to sleep. Unfortunately that theory was disproven when the faint sound of an angry rumble of demonic magic and a nigh imperceptible flash of crimson light bursting from the half-blood's eyes made Savant Dancer recoil and take several fearful steps back. The sharp sound of an ethereal bell ringing forced the Spectre and Blazing to stop throwing haymakers at one another to look at their master in confusion. "PUT THOSE OBNOXIOUS MAGGOTS IN THEIR PLACE AND SHUT THEM UP!!!" A voice within the nephilim's mind roared louder than the unintelligible babbling of the other souls within the nephilim screaming for violence. With a jolt of Argent energy, the young necromancer plunged the errant spirit back into the deepest depths of pain; silencing the rest along with it... for now. "I'll grant you access to magic, but only under two conditions..." The nephilim began, straightening his posture and letting his hand fall to his thigh. "First you will cease this infantile squabbling. Celestia may have tolerated your prideful and ridiculous bickering, but I will not. Ụ̴͛n̷̗̋ḓ̶̉ȩ̷̈́r̷̻̔s̴̘̈t̷͔̏a̶̛̯n̷͖̄d̴̗̒?̵̖̍" Azazel asked firmly, his voice being mangled by the malicious power he held. The three undead nodded eagerly, if not out of fear then out of understanding. "And lastly, Anvari will teach you several spells to both defend yourselves and aid your comrades. If your magic will be used to serve me, then you will be taught properly. I don't care how talented you all claim to be, I will not tolerate incompetence under any circumstance. Is that clear?" He continued, getting more nods from his creations. Deciding he'd make the most of this opportunity to both work and feed, the halfblood stood to his feet; towering over the diminutive equines. With an upward wave of Azazel's hand, Blazing Shot was hoisted into the air by an invisible force. With his hooves splayed out, the undead soldier could do nothing as his master sauntered forward and firmly grasped his cranium; the once crimson dots that served as eyes turning a pale yellow. Spectre and Savant could only back away and look on in silent horror as the torches that lit up the hallway flickered, the blood red light of the nephilim's eyes piercing through the darkness. "MY LORD! PLEAAAaaa..." The terrified skeleton's plea for mercy faded into nothing as Azazel ripped the necrotic energy from Blazing's body. The glowing embers of his eyes fizzled out and the black and red uniform that once clothed the undead evaporated. As Blazing Shot's frame fell apart and his bones clattered to the floor, the phantasm of his perverse life-force coalesced and vanished into the nephilim's hand. "Now sit down and be quiet, I need to focus." The nephilim said, his already malevolent presence being magnified by a deliberate intensification of his fear aura. The remaining unicorns did as instructed, and while the half-blood prepared to work on Blazing's skull, Savant Dancer and Specter Lulamoon couldn't help but watch in morbid curiosity. "Ardenti tactus..." Azazel muttered, and in seconds, his right thumb began to heat up; the sharpened nail of his thumb began to glow like an unquenched ingot freshly pulled out of a burning forge. The sound of scraping and sizzling filled the pipe organ's chamber, and it was only making Savant Dancer's attempts to not shudder in fear more difficult by the minute.. Fortunately, the silence was soon cast out by the surprisingly soothing voice of his master humming a slow tune. Focusing on the melancholic melody, he found the half hour of watching the half-blood scorch tiny runes along the trim of Blazing Shot's spiraling horn to fly by in what felt like two minutes. Once finished with the engraving, Azazel raised up the skull slightly before letting it go; the lifeless cranium being suspended in the air by magic. Reaching for the hilt of his hellsteel hunting knife, the nephilim drew the obsidian blade and wrapped his free hand around the razor sharp edge. With a swift jerk downwards, the cursed blade cut through the young necromancer's flesh like a hot knife through butter; a considerable amount of blood leaking from the incision. Azazel took in a deep breath before channeling his magic to cast a spell he hadn't performed in years. "Et sanguis te stipendium hoc donum, vivo quas dedit tibi magicis serve graviterque ad me..." He muttered, his voice strained as the uncomfortable yet familiar sensation of the blood inside him and leaking out of his hand was manipulated by the spell. Tendrils of blood wormed, coiled, and writhed their way through the air before reaching the tip of Blazing's horn. From top to bottom, the runes began to glow with Azazel's crimson magic along the trim of the unicorn's horn. The low hum of magic stopped as abruptly as the light emanating from the runes. Taking a deep breath and straining slightly, the nephilim focused on his bleeding hand and willed it to mend itself. In seconds, the wound sealed; a puff of vaporized blood and the smell of copper in the air being the only indication that the young necromancer had ever wounded himself. "Now for the moment of truth..." Azazel said, pouring the necrotic energy he'd ripped from Blazing into a rapidly spinning orb of crimson magic. "Animum tuum ab óculis... Resurectum Inmortus." The nephilim spoke, and his spell began to manifest. The faintly luminous sphere levitated towards the tip of Blazing's lifeless horn. As it made contact, it ruptured and scattered like a mist over the cadaver; wisps of scarlet magic fazing through the skull and surrounding bones. The toll of a ghastly bell echoed through the chamber as the pile of jumbled bones rolled, jumped and clattered into place. In seconds, Blazing Shot was fully reassembled. His uniform reformed shortly after a wave of hellfire momentarily shrouded his body. Blazing stood still like a statue for several seconds, then bowed until his horn tapped the ancient floor. "I live again to serve, master." The undead unicorn said, his tone lacking any inflections; a detail that Savant and Spectre noticed immediately. "B-Blazing?..." Savant Dancer asked, unable to keep his fearful shaking in check anymore. The prostrated stallion didn't move, his head remaining pressed firmly against the stone floor. Seeing that his addition to the spell of undeath worked, Azazel took the silence as his cue to rid his servants of their ignorance and their desire to act out of line again. "B̶l̶a̸z̸i̵n̵g̸ ̴S̷h̸o̵t̷,̶ ̶a̵s̷ ̸y̴o̸u̶ ̶k̶n̴e̴w̵ ̶h̷i̴m̴,̵ ̵i̸s̴ ̵n̷o̷ ̵m̸o̶r̷e̵.̶" (Blazing Shot, as you knew him, is no more) The nephilim said, tilting his head slightly. "...What did y-?" Savant Dancer began his voice a shuddering whisper that was silenced when the undead's gaze fell upon the eyes of his master. Those malevolent, slit pupiled eyes were a window into a bottomless well of terror; and they were looking right at him. He had to look away, but his fear had frozen him in place. Azazel on the other hand, was beginning to enjoy Savant Dancer's internal screaming; but for as much as he wanted to simply sit back and soak up the unicorn's fear, he needed to make this impression stick. "Ẅ̶̳ḫ̷͘ǎ̴̺t̸̺͗.̸̬͆.̸̫̎.̴͈̀ ̴̭́d̵̛̰i̴̗̇d̴̪̉ ̸̧̏I̸̗̊.̵̥̌.̶͍̈.̶̞͑ ̵̤̅ď̷͚ǫ̴̽?̴̩̑" (What... did I... do) The necromancer asked, slowly enunciating every syllable as he walked around Savant and stood before the trembling pair of unicorns. The two were shaking in fear, as their master loomed over the two like an angry god ready to smite them off the face of creation. "I gave all of you an undying facsimile of life and a relative free will. Blazing Shot questioned my orders and incited discord among my creations, so I took his ability to question me and incite discord... by revoking his sentience." Azazel explained with an unnerving calmness, circling the terrified undead and standing directly behind them. Spectre Lulamoon couldn't think coherently, the unnatural fear her master was filling her with had paralyzed her physically; but now even her own mind wasn't a safe refuge. The walls were closing in on her, and the ringing in her non-existent ears sounded more like barely audible screams of anguish. "He can regain his sentience over time, and if he learns from this he will be fortunate enough to keep whatever sentience he develops." He continued, letting the satisfied smile of a demon who just got it's "dessert" manifest now that he was out of their line of sight. That smile, however, turned into a rancorous scowl as the young necromancer spoke his mind. "Let me make this abundantly clear, If you disrespect one another in my presence again, incite discord among my troops, or do A̵͂͜N̸͚̊Ỷ̸̗Ṭ̵́H̴̱͗Ḯ̸̢N̵͔͑G̵̡̍ to my caretakers; I swear it upon the black fires of the abyss... ̵̻̀I̴̖̓'̵͚͝l̴̮̀l̶͕̕ ̴̼̉m̶̫̈ạ̵͑k̴̟̚ḛ̶̛ ̴̭́ý̸̪o̵͂͜ư̷̘ ̴͖̈́u̷̗͂n̴̨͂d̴̬͂e̴͈̽r̵̬͛s̷͛ͅt̵̝͑â̵͇n̸̥̄d̴̩͆ ̶̙̈ẗ̷͉́ḣ̵̩ạ̶̕t̵̬̃ ̸̛̮ṙ̶͔i̸̝͋p̷̲͝p̸͉̽i̴̱̇n̵͕̈́ǵ̶̠ ̶̟̈́ŷ̵̹ô̴̧u̸͍͑r̵̯̀ ̵͇͛f̴͕̅r̵̰͆e̷͚͘e̶̥̾ ̴͉́ẉ̵͘i̴̡̚l̷͎̀l̸̫͌ ̴̝̀f̸̣̋r̶̟̎o̴̗̍m̷̮̽ ̶̲͋y̸̨͐o̴̤͘u̷͎̚ ̶̨̂ȉ̸̘ṡ̸̺ ̵̤̋a̵̺̎ ̶̠̃m̵̧͝e̶͈̓r̶̘̿ć̷̼y̶̤̽ ̷̜̓c̵̫̎ò̵͖m̷̤̏p̵͈̉a̴̧̿r̸͍͑ë̶̥d̸̟̆ ̸͖̆t̵̪̾ò̸̦ ̷̮̓t̴̯͂h̵͓͝ě̷͕ ̵̱̔h̶̦̕ó̴̮r̸̗͒r̷̪̃o̷̘͆r̷͙͑s̴̱̀ ̷̳́I̷̢̒'̶̺̈l̶̛̗l̵̹͋ ̸͇͂s̶̖̎ǘ̴͇b̸̲͋j̷̹͝e̸͚͂c̶͉̚t̷̰͐ ̶̖̍y̵͈͋o̶̠͂u̶̬̔ ̴̡̃w̴̔ͅo̷̞̕r̷̺͒t̷̤̾h̴̼͝l̵̲͝e̶̮͝s̷̤̓s̴̹̅ ̴̭͑m̶̳̋â̴̻g̶̙̾g̶͉͊ő̵̜t̶͓͗s̴̪̋ ̵̞̈́ṯ̶͛o̵̮̐.̸̡̅ ̴̡͊U̴̖̾n̷̙̏d̴̤͆ę̸͐ṟ̷̅s̴̺̈́ţ̵̈a̷̱̎n̴͙̐d̶̼͒?̶͇̂" (I'll make you understand that ripping your free will from you is a mercy compared to the horrors I'll subject you worthless maggots to. Understand?) Azazel threatened, his fear aura and hands had snaked around the nape of Savant Dancer and Spectre Lulamoon's necks; gently scratching the back of their skulls with it's thumbs. It would've been soothing for the pair of undead, had the literal hellspawn of death itself not threatened to strip them of their autonomy if they stepped out of line. "Y-yes... m-m-my liege..." Spectre affirmed while trying desperately to not shake herself apart. She couldn't breath, her chest being constricted with fear. "Good." The nephilim said, feeling satisfied with the amount of fear he had leeched off his creations. Fortunately for Savant Dancer, Azazel would relieve him of his understandable panic attack soon enough. With a sound befitting the terrifying sight, the unicorn archivist collapsed into a jumbled mess of bones as his foul life force was ripped from his body. Holding the unicorn's skull, Azazel walked back towards the pipe organ's bench and sat down; his fear aura evaporating shortly after Savant's return to the void. As the terror that squeezed the unlife out of Spectre's chest disappeared, she found herself taking in desperate lungfulls. 'No need to breathe... My flank Avalon!' The noblemare thought to herself as her non-existent lungs finally stopped aching and she let go of the breath she didn't know she was holding. "'Resurrectum Inmortus... ' Remember those words. They'll allow you to bring your comrades back from the dead." The nephilim began, his gaze being directed towards the only autonomous undead still in the room. "The magic I wield doesn't obey the laws of thaumaturgy as you most likely know them. And since your very life force is derived from my magic, you will only be able to cast magic as I do..." Azazel continued, his hardened expression softening as his attention was drawn slowly away from his "lesson". The nephilim's eyes scanned the lifeless skull before beginning his work on it. The nail of his right thumb glided across Savant's horn; idly tracing the runes over the more rounded trim of the archivist's horn. "...di res in esse a loqui..." Azazel finished, his voice getting quieter as his thoughts drifted to simpler days of prank wars and learning about obscure magic with the help of his undead caretakers and parents respectively. "P-pardon my lord?..." Spectre asked, her stutter betraying her. Her master turned to look at her, and found herself staring into those terrifying eyes that contradicted the almost mournful tiredness plastered on the nephilim's face. "..'By speaking things into being'... that is what separates mortal men... from the gods." He clarified, turning his attention back to Savant's skull. 'Ardenti tactus...' Azazel thought, his thumb lighting up in response to his silent casting. Again, the sound of sizzling and scraping paired with the nephilim's repetitive tune filled the organ's chamber. That is until just halfway up Savant Dancer's horn in terms of progress, that the young necromancer remembered where he was. As his concentration was broken, the magic heating up his thumb fizzled out. He blinked and let out a sigh of annoyance; had he been smarter, he could've used the pipe organ to further intimidate his creations into submission. '...perhaps I still can...' He thought to himself, almost forgetting to outwardly hide his mischievous elation. Just before returning to the task at hand, Azazel rose from his seat and mentally ordered Blazing Shot to take his place. The kneeling unicorn rose and clip-clopped his way onto the bench. Sitting down on the maroon carpet a small ways away from the rest of Savant's body, Azazel's mind listed off the sequence of chords he wanted Blazing Shot to play. 'A minor... A major... A minor... G major... A minor... D minor sustained... D major... A minor... G minor... C minor... C minor diminished... A minor diminished... A minor... then repeat the chord progression a semitone higher and stay there.' The repetitive chord progression played in the nephilim's head, and after several repetitions, Blazing's hind hooves pressed down on the pedals in a slow but steady tempo; laying down the melodic foundation for his master's next meal of fear. Azazel resumed his work on the skull in his hands; enjoying the increasing complexity in Blazing Shot's performance. Around the castle, gears and mechanical equipment began to rattle the castle into motion. Secret passages in caved-in rooms and false walls rotated and shifted layers of dust that had remained untouched for centuries; the pulsing cacophony reverberating through the ancient halls in time with Blazing's keystrokes to the beat of an unseen heart. When the task was complete, Azazel repeated his casting of the spell of undeath. Shortly thereafter, a very confused, very startled Savant Dancer fumbled backward as the last of his bones clicked into place. When the archivist was forced to stop due to Spectre standing in his way, his horn was enveloped in a translucent aura of crimson light that twinkled and sparkled like magical chimes. Before she could react, Lulamoon felt herself be lifted off the ground in Savant's newly bestowed magic and suspended betwixt a terrified Savant Dancer and her master. "Don't hurt me! Please! Take her instead!" Savant babbled in fear as he balled up on the floor; completely oblivious to the fact that he was using his magic. The former noblemare would've felt insulted and betrayed, were it not for the disturbing grin her master had on his face. 'WHY DOES HE HAVE SO MANY TEETH?!?!' She screamed in her mind as her master's mischievous smirk opened into a truly horrifying grin. While his diminutive equine undead cowered in fear, Azazel found himself unable to stop his lower jaw from splitting and the rows of additional teeth from sprouting. As Blazing Shot's performance got more elaborate, the haunting melody only grew in a crescendo that was paired perfectly with the erratic bursts of ephemeral fear his master was exuding. The sheer theatricality of the moment was too good for the nephilim to pass up, so he capitalized on it. " ̵A̴s̷ ̸y̷o̴u̸ ̸w̷i̴s̸h̶.̷.̴.̶" Azazel's twisted voice rattled the room as Spectre was slowly pulled towards her master. She struggled and flailed her hooves in a panic; the shadowy silhouette of the half-blood becoming exponentially more terrifying as his eyes seemed to explode into crimson novas. The undead illusionist screamed her non-existent lungs out when the demon's hand finally caught her; praying against hope that the sound of a thousand voices wailing in agony coming from within Azazel's maw was but a hallucination of this dreadful nightmare. In the blink of an eye, Spectre screamed her last as she met the same fate as her cohorts; her necrotic energy returned to his master. Taking a deep breath through his nostrils, Azazel enjoyed the last of Spectre's lingering fear. Idly tossing Spectre's lifeless cranium in the air and catching it deftly, the nephilim looked over his shoulder at the undead stallion still pushing the organ to it's limits; the once slow melody having reached a zenith of a rising and falling staccato that accentuated the lead melody in an ever-growing crescendo. 'Alright, that's enough. just stand next to Savant and make sure he moves two paces back from where he is.' Azazel ordered his undead organist mentally, strolling back to the bench of the massive instrument. Blazing Shot followed his master's instructions silently and mechanically, the last of the notes reverberate down the halls and out earshot. The grinding of gears and stone stopped as abruptly as Blazing's keystrokes; leaving only the sound of Savant Dancer's shivering bones to fill the void. 'This isn't happening... I'm just having a nightmare... I'm not dead... This isn't happening...' Savant Dancer repeated in his mind, this being the only thing he could do to stop his will and mind from breaking. This detachment from reality kept the terrified unicorn from noticing when Blazing Shot telekinetically dragged him backward, when his master finished etching runes into Spectre's skull, and when the former illusionist was resurrected. The sound of Spectre's hooves stomping to a halt before the shivering unicorn forced Savant to look up. He wasn't sure how, but the undead archivist was certain that she was, without a face to contort, scowling. Vaporized moisture in the air huffed out of her nostrils to let the cowardly stallion know of her fury; causing Savant to flinch. He would've taken the opportunity to flee were it not for the other unicorn standing behind him; blocking his only means of escape. The already dire situation was only made worse for the cornered undead when the nephilim began playing the pipe organ. *A minor... A major... A minor... G major... A minor... D minor sustained... D major... A minor... G minor... C minor... C minor diminished... A minor diminished... A minor...* The half-blood necromancer continued on Blazing Shot's performance roughly from where he had left off, by using the staccato to rise and fall seamlessly back into the melody's resolution. Savant prepared himself for a beating and covered his eyes; too afraid to look Spectre in the eye. The smackdown the mortified unicorn had been expecting never came. As Azazel played the final, dissonant chord... the room went silent, the distant menagerie of moving gears and stone ceased their racket. "Huh... I thought that would work..." The nephilim muttered aloud, looking down at the console's keys in bewilderment. "What were you trying to do master?" Blazing Shot spoke up, causing Spectre to look up in surprise at her once sentient comrade. Azazel didn't hear this; being more focused on the placement of his fingers on the desired chord. When said keys pressed, a trap door directly below the trio of undead flipped downwards. In true 'Looney Tunes' fashion, the three unicorns remained static in the air until they looked down then at each other. Once the nephilim's undead vanished into the tubes and their echoes were silenced by the trapdoor shutting, he smirked. "So dissonant don't work... gotta keep that in mind. Now... back to the library." Azazel muttered to himself, his new objective and course made clear. > Chapter 22. Devil's Den part 2 > -------------------------------------------------------------------------- Late into the evening, Azazel had been scouring the Necronomicon while a large part of his undead horde traveled to and from the dragon lands, retrieving as much of their treasure as they could carry. As the hours flew by for the studying nephilim, the ruins that had laid untouched for centuries were now bustling with activity as undead skeletons of draconic build moved their cargo to the ancient vault in the lower levels of the castle. Undead dragons of titanic proportions held sentinel around the structure, scanning the surrounding forest with a predator's territorial zeal. Nearing the midnight hour, Mia and Trephor found themselves sitting across from the tired, but visibly invigorated half-blood; dumbfounded over the nephilim's latest proposition. "We're turning the castle into a what now?" Trephor said with genuine confusion in his voice. "A 'Nekravol', or 'gore nest' in abyssal." The young necromancer repeated, turning the necronomicon around for Mia to see. Surrounding a sketch of a structure that could only be described as a intuitively grotesque, living castle, was the impeccable hand writing of the former hell queen. Whilst Mia began reading, the nephilim rose to the task of explaining what she was looking at. "When mother was still the Queen of hell, it was her army of Incubi and Succubi blood mages that constructed the dark spires and fortresses used by the dukes and lords of Mephistopheles' court, along with most of the ninth circle of the dark realm. They used the blood and flesh of those too weak to thrive in hell, dismantling them down to the cellular level and rebuilding them into sentient, self-sustaining fortresses that can defend themselves with a variety of magical and biological weapons. Paired with the dragons we acquired, I think we'll be a lot less exposed and will be at the very least able to stand our ground against a seige by an army no bigger than one or two regiments... by the Solarian Empire's standards anyway... I've yet to gauge the military strength of Equestria, but I intend to change that once the Nekravol is built." Azazel finished, placing his arms on the table. Intertwining his fingers, he patiently waited for his elven caretaker to finish reading and give him feedback. "Its a great idea, but I'm struggling with the logistics." She began, her analytically attuned mind helping her rattle off her laundry list of complications. "Aside from how complex this ritual looks, I don't think we have enough biomatter to do it. Maybe if we stripped one or two of those elder dragons outside of their flesh we'd have enough to jump-start the ritual, but we still need at least a thousand souls to generate the Argent energy it would use as fuel. And even then we'd still need something to store the souls and a conduit to filter their influence so that the structure won't fall prey to a mass Argent transmutation or, gods forbid, a blood rage." Mia finished flatly, placing the book down on the ancient oak table. Trephor, on the other hand, would've shat himself if he still could upon hearing the words "blood rage". "A WHAT!?!?" He shouted, looking at the nephilim like if he'd just grown a second head. As the beryl coloured undead unceremoniously took the necronomicon and scanned it's pages to confirm what he'd just heard; Azazel let out a long sigh, while letting his head droop down and his gaze to wander aimlessly along with it. "If I can get the items you need, can I leave the prep work to you?" The nephilim asked, seeming distracted. "What the fuck is a Gatling Belcher?..." Trephor mumbled to himself as he gawked in horror at the very detailed images in the following pages of the gore nest's biological defenses. "I can do it, but are you sure we have to do this now? It's getting late, and you need to rest. I can ask Avalon to-" Mia began, only to be cut off by Azazel raising his hand in a silent plea to stop. Once she did, the young necromancer spoke up. "Avalon is busy managing the recovery effort of the dragon's treasure hoards and the security detail here. And I refuse to have Anvari preserving the flesh mound by herself any longer. She may be undead, but even she can suffer from mana burn... and I'm in no mood to see any of you injure yourselves over me." The dark sorcerer said, standing to his feet and taking the necronomicon from Trephor's hands. He took one last look at the list of items to ensure he knew what he would be looking for. "The memories of the damned that were trapped within the "Great Evil" have yielded the locations of the two items we don't currently have. Once we're done here, I'll go to the courtyard and set up a macropreservation loop on the biomatter we have before I leave to get the most... dangerous of the two items we need." Azazel explained, looking over to Mia with a newfound vigor in his voice. "Azazel, I really think you should take a break and get some sleep. Can't you just send that big... snake thing to get what we need? Its much safer than having you go off on some wild goblin chase." She pleaded, waving her hands around dismissively as she realized she didn't know what to call the gorgon-like titan currently buried somewhere beneath the castle. Unfortunately for Mia, her words fell on deaf ears; unbeknownst to the undead couple, a surge of rage brought on by the tortured souls within the nephilim was approaching fast. "We're in danger..." "They'll kill them..." "Like your parents..." "The ponies..." "They scheme against us..." "They will betray us..." "They'll kill them again..." "IT MUST NOT HAPPEN!!!" "IT WILL NOT HAPPEN!!!" The damned jeered, snarled, and screamed in Azazel's mind. Their malevolent voices causing an ephemeral migraine to slowly befall the half-blood. "Can you just... stop... questioning me AND DO AS I ASK!?!?" The nephilim tried to suppress the urge to shout, but he barely managed to get a few words out before the damned sent a wave of unfocused anger through his being. His fist slammed into the table and his eyes briefly exploded with hellish magic; the malevolent miasma that poured from the half-breed's eyes evaporated into the aether as suddenly as it appeared. Too stunned to say anything, Mia and Trephor silently watched as their surrogate little brother began to ever so slowly relax his posture. A deafening silence fell upon the decrepit library, as the damned went silent; having gotten the reaction they wanted. A silence, which would be broken by the verdant, human skeleton looking at his master with a genuine concern reserved for moments such as these. "Boss?.." Trephor asked, his posture relaxing slightly when he realized he wasn't in any danger. "I'll sleep when I'm dead. Now get to work." Azazel ordered, his gaze directed towards Mia with his first statement, then towards Trephor with the second. With that, the nephilim stormed out of the library; mentally cursing every last soul inside him for the unsolicited outburst and the sour mood he was now in. Mia on the other hand, was still reeling from the outburst. "You ok?" Trephor asked, giving Mia's single hand a gentle squeeze to get her attention. "We've been gone for too long..." She began after taking a shaky breath, doing her best to keep her composure. Noticing the shift in tone, his gaze drifted down to his beloved. Mia tried to avert her gaze, but a skeletal hand cupping what should be a warm cheek gently nudged the elven undead to look at Trephor. Her eyes had shifted from a bright red to baby blue, and after a few moments of looking at each other, they wrapped one another in a hug. The only sound that could be heard was Mia's occasional sniffle as she did her best to keep her frustration from overwhelming her, resulting in bitter scintillations falling from her eye sockets. "Is... Is it wrong for me to be mad at him?" She asked, her voice choked with the strain of repressing the urge to cry, and scream at the top of her non-existent lungs. Trephor rested his head on hers and futilely rubbed her back, then took in a deep breath before answering her with a question of his own. "Why are you mad at him?" He asked, his voice gentle but firm. It took a solid minute for Mia to collect her thoughts, her verdant lover never stopping his affectionate caressing. "I feel like I don't know him anymore... Sure, Azazel could get mad, but he's never yelled at me like that before. I don't know what's gotten into him, we use to be a family! Now he's treating us like we work for hi-" "Mia?" The flower-spangled skeleton was jostled from her rant by Trephor taking in a deep breath and asking for her attention. He sounded... distant. She pulled away enough so that she could look her lover in the eye, the beryl undead's eyes were their neutral red; giving Mia nothing to read him with. "Can I be completely honest with you?" He asked flatly. Unsure of where he was going with this, Mia nodded to let him speak. "We've been gone for gods know how many years, were marooned in a land of multicolored magic mini horses that can talk... Astoshan and Lilith are dead. Like, actually dead. And for the better part of two days, Azazel believed that you and I were gone for good. I've got mixed feelings about how much he's changed too; but the fact remains..." He began, carefully unwrapping himself from Mia and taking the discarded necronomicon in his hands; wiping off the dust from the table off its cover. "Yes, we raised him. Yes he's family. But at the end of the day he's our BOSS, and he's not made out of stone. Our job, whether we like it or not, is to help him with whatever he needs. And while it is true that he needs sleep, what he needs more than that is a place to sleep where he can feel safe... Even if he's being a dick about it." He explained, handing the book to Mia. She took it and looked down at the rather heavy tome over before looking back up at Trephor with her spirits lifted and her worries put somewhat at ease. "You still haven't answered my question." She tittered, chuckling softly at the truth in Trephor's words. "Last I checked, the big party pooper doesn't have a rule against you being mad at him. That's kinda why I mess with him, helps me vent." His nonchalant tone returned with the admission; causing Mia's mood to improve as she laughed. "Just give him some time to cool off, he'll come around." The verdant undead said softly, taking the necronomicon from Mia's hand and putting it into the bottomless bag Azazel had pulled it out from. The flower-spangled, elven undead would've smiled if she could as she remembered a similar instance from years ago. The image of a tree being hurtled into the air followed by the voice of her young master shouting obscenities into the woods making her chuckle... "He always does..." She said, mostly to herself. The two then took a moment to enjoy the light-hearted mood before sharing a gentle kiss and exiting the library. As Mia and Trephor walked, they passed several skeletal dragons in a somewhat orderly line heading to the lower levels. One of which dropped a horned helmet that had been perched atop of a small mound of gold and jewels carried on the inside of a large, round shield. The dragon at first groaned in annoyance, but once it's crimson eyes locked onto the undead humanoids, it tensed up and did it's best to not panic; it's crimson eyes flashing to a sharp yellow. Both Mia and Trephor let out a sigh of pity at the sight. Ever since their master and surrogate little brother had indicted the dragons into his employ, they had become mortally terrified of them. The skeletal couple was present when the young necromancer explained to the dragons the chain of command, and while no one mocked them openly; a dragon by the name of Hotshot made the fatal mistake of muttering to his comrades how funny he thought the undead "monkeys" looked. Mia and Trephor were understandably concerned for the structural integrity of the ruins they were in as their onyx brother in arms issued out death threats so loudly that the walls of the ancient stone walls seemed to rattle in fear... Or maybe he was telepathically messing with everyone present with his drill sergeant-like demeanor. Speaking of which... "Baby Shark!" "Doodoodoodoodoodoo!" "Baby Shark!" "Doodoodoodoodoodoo!" "Baby Shark!" "Doodoodoodoodoodoo!" "Baby Shark!" The armored undead was marching with six skeletal dragons armed with spears in tow. His voice was loud and in sync to the beat of four pairs of feet marching towards the star-spangled skeleton and her verdant lover. "Mommy Shark!" "Doodoodoodoodoodoo!" "Mommy Shark!" "Doodoodoodoodoodoo!" "Mommy Shark!" "Doodoodoodoodoodoo!" "MOMMY SHARK!" Avalon shouted, and the draconic soldiers replied shortly after. No longer being able to keep still, the mortified dragon began to shake violently; coins and jewels clattering to the floor as the draconic undead shivered in terror. Quick on his feet and in no mood to hear the ancient soldier admonishing anyone, Mia and Trephor quickly took the helmet off the floor along with the vast majority of the dropped coins and jewels. In a hurried manner, they put everything back onto the dragon's pile and silently ushered it to get lost. Caught off guard by the sudden assistance, the undead dragon awkwardly walked back into the moving line of dragons and blended in just as Avalon and his small entourage rounded a corner and marched into view. "Daddy Shark!" "Doodoodoodoodoodoo!" "Daddy Shark!" "Doodoodoodoodoodoo!" "Daddy Shark!" "Doodoodoodoodoodoo!" The onyx undead sang with reckless abandon, paying no mind to his comrades as he continued his patrol through the ruins with his entourage. Their voices grew quieter and quieter as more distance was placed between the undead caretakers. "Remind me to have Avalon and a squadron of dragons sing that as Azazel's wake-up call." Trephor muttered with a mischievous cadence, returning to Mia's side with his eyes glowing green. The flower spangled architect took her beryl scribe's arm while giggling at his implied prank. "Sure, along with digging Avalon's grave while we're at it." Mia quipped, laughing at the mental image of her short-tempered, surrogate brother. The two resumed their stroll towards the ruins' courtyard, passing under a stone archway of questionable integrity. The pair looked around the remains of an overgrown and decrepit garden littered with broken statues and the overgrowth of plants covering the mounds of rubble that were cleared from the inside of the castle. In the center of it all, a sphere 40ish meters in diameter of blood-soaked viscera that resembled a tumor pulled from the body of some eldritch titan slowly rising into the air. Rings of blood slowly orbiting the central mass glistened in the moonlight like a cruel mockery of a planet. Beneath the orb of gore, a ring of magical light, accompanied by the almost imperceptible sound of a grandfather clock ticking away was being conjured from the aether. Between the undead and the sphere, two powerful sorcerers, one undead and the other half-demon knelt side by side; muttering in unison their unintelligible incantation. "...ut nostram voluntatem, et virtutem trahunt ex spatio inter mundos con..." The pair chanted in a hushed tone, their eyes closed and their minds focused. With their hands outstretched towards the magical ring on the floor, the air around the courtyard began to vibrate and ionize as the temporal flow within the ring began to slow. The ticking from before had gotten louder as it slowed, and Mia and Trephor watched in silent awe as the rings of blood slowed down mid orbit. "...Eotere non consistit in hon mundo." With the final verse spoken, the ethereal ring beneath the sphere hummed as clock hands and corresponding infernal runes formed a clock set exactly to midnight. The sound of ticking now cut through the sound of crickets and the twilight's gentle breeze; the magically charged area bathing everything in a rosy hue. The smaller one of the two sorcerers sat down with her legs crossed as she panted quietly, the exertion of the magical conjuration catching up with her. The nephilim however, rose to his feet and rolled his head with his eyes still closed, seemingly unfazed by the mental strain of using powerful abjuration magic. "Red?.." The pint sized undead asked, looking up to her comparatively massive friend. Once he felt he'd stretched enough, he turned to look down at her; the pale moonlight being opaqued by the hellish power that hid behind the half-blood's crimson eyes. Their eyes locked, and from the faint tinge of yellow in the little one's eyes, he knew what she would say. "...Are you sure you can't just send your titan?" She pleaded, carefully standing up to avoid stumbling from the exhaustion. The nephilim slowly knelt down so that the two would be at eye level. With the utmost care, he took her hands and his expression was of a weary seriousness "I won't be gone for too long little one. I'll be fine." He assured, the right corner of his lips curled slightly into a small smile. The dwarf, sighed as she looked down. She wasn't buying it, and the half-breed knew as much from the shift to a pale blue in her eyes. In a slow and reverent manner, the nephilim ran his thumbs over the dwarf's metacarpals; a silent plea for her attention. Hesitantly, she obliged him. Their eyes locked once more, and the half-blood's expression of determination let his undead friend know that his mind would not be changed. "I have to do this. I'm not losing anyone else." The nephilim said, his voice while calm and none threatening carried terrible finality. Ethereal embers began to detach and fall from Anvari's eye sockets as she lunged forward and wrapped her arms around the nephilim's neck. The two held each other for a moment before the little one spoke up. "...just... promise you'll be careful... I can't lose you either..." She said, sniffling a bit before speaking. The young necromancer returned the show of affection and caressed the back of her skull. "I will." He promised, breaking the hug and standing back up. Turning to leave, his eyes met with the undead couple now standing a few feet away. Not a word was said, the trio only recognized one another before the nephilim silently walked around them and left for his prize. /////////Azazel///////// While reading about the Nekravol in my father's Necronomicon, I had taken a moment to pull from the memories of the souls within me. But even after years of painstakingly learning how to utilize their power and draw knowledge from their fractured minds, the tortured spirits had become more efficient at pissing me off. My short temper and the explosive nature of my demonic fury give me the strength to push past mortal limits, but it is also a curse... The wave of anger that the damned had stirred within me refused to go away. I let them get the better of me... I had no doubt put a strain on my relationship with my remaining family; a problem I'd have to fix when I returned. But for as much as I wanted to destroy the damned for doing this to my caretakers, my dearest friends, I couldn't indulge such a desire; not yet. With the literal godsend of the necronomicon, several problems that I had encountered thus far had ingenious solutions that I would have never considered. In her entry, my mother spoke of something she discovered when she first met my father; which was by no means a "normal" experience for her. She spoke of something my father used to brave the dark realm and survive fighting her army of blood mages. Father had managed to construct a scepter powered by the crystallized opposite of Argent energy, the "Distilled Grace" of a celestial being. My mother described it to render even the mightiest arch-demons incapable of using Argent-based spells or, what I had the most interest in, unable to fly into a Blood Rage if they came too close; all whilst allowing him to use his own dark magic without restraint. With an item like that not only could I ensure my fortress does not suffer the wrath brought on by the damned that would soon fuel it; I would also be able to keep myself from losing control without inflicting lasting damage on my body. The catch is that the runic sequence needs to be etched into a gem strong enough to house over a thousand souls and the engraver filling must be the blood of a recently killed celestial being. And thanks to the damned within, I knew where the den of such a being lies. It was in a cave due West, near a place the damned referred to as Ghastly Gorge. As I would later come to learn and begrudgingly accept, the creatures responsible for naming most of this world's landmarks and cities were criminally unoriginal; but I digress. Armed only with a jet black hellsteel hunting knife pulled from my bottomless satchel of holding, I pushed the massive twin doors of my newly acquired stronghold open and leisurely walked outside; the gentle night air tempting me to lie down on the cool grass and fall asleep under the moonlight. It didn't take long to find the behemoth that brought me to my new home curled up at the bottom of the abyss near the castle. It sensed me approaching and rose to meet me head-on. The light of it's hellfire mane bathed the surrounding area in a crimson hue, and six and a half pairs of massive eyes looked down upon me like that of an obedient construct. "Its the only way..." "Must not lose them..." "Only they matter..." The damned hissed from within my mind. I hesitated for only a moment, but I found my voice shortly after I was reminded of my past transgressions, my eventual crusade, and what I was fighting to protect now. "Keep them safe until I return." I ordered. The titan made a sound that I assume was supposed to be a hum of acknowledgement, but it instead came off as a growl that rattled my body to it's core. And just as gracefully as it rose over the crevice's edge. It slithered down the stone wall and burrowed through it; presumably below the fortress itself. With a running start and a gale of wind anchored to my wings, I leaped over the crevice and walked about half a mile over fallen trees, slowly regenerating sinkholes, and the cadavers of what I could only describe as snake-chickens buried under a displaced boulder; which had apparently careened off of an impossibly thin cliffside before I remembered that I could fly. After chastising myself for being a dolt and shutting up the damned that laughed at my stupidity, my slow pace soon turned into a mad dash to build up speed. My feet thundered down on the fertile soil before I felt a familiar gale of wind, kiss my wings. With a sound like thunder, I rocketed past the disheveled treeline and continued to climb. Once I was level with several low-altitude clouds, I flew west; taking in the beauty of the moonlit night. A galaxy's worth of stars twinkled brighter than a chest filled with diamonds; a fitting masterpiece for the one who so graciously offered me peace upon my arrival to this strange world. It only took a few minutes to reach the massive crevice, and I began to fly laps around it. "Where is it?..." I muttered to myself as I scanned the lightly forested edge of Ghastly Gorge. Even with my keen vision, I couldn't see the bottom of the chasm just behind the violent show. It was shrouded in a veil of shimmering white mist that, despite the wind blowing through the forest, it seemed unaffected by it. A steadily growing suspicion told me that said mist was magically charged, probably residual wild magic from the "Great Evil's" millennia of saturating these woods. I slowed down and hovered in place, closing my eyes to concentrate. In my mind, I could hear the damned collectively lower their incoherent rambling and screaming to hushed moans and threatening whispers. 'Seems they've agreed to let one speak for the bunch.' I thought. "The celestial being you seek... lies beyond the veil of the Gorge..." A voice like nails on a chalkboard growled out the answer to my unspoken question in my head. "How do I draw it out of the veil?" I asked. There was a moment of silence, and for a moment, I contemplated sending a surge of Argent energy through my body to... incentivize them. Fortunately for them, it was not needed. "You won't have to..." Hissed out another voice, this one distinctly feminine, but in no way appealing. I was about to ask for clarification on the vague answer, but it was not needed. Wolves made of dead sticks and timber that reeked of rot and death, quadrupedle lizardfolk made of stone, countless packs of manticores, cockatrices, two titanic hydras, and other creatures I couldn't recognize were coming out of their dens or storming into the area around the gorge. At first, I was confused. None of the creatures below me seemed to be of celestial descent, some being more akin to beasts of the fey wild. And just like in the wild, multiple apex predators in the same spot always lead to only one thing: violence of savage proportions. Surely enough, the beasts got into a literal shouting match to see who would chicken out first; none left. I was pleasantly surprised to find myself with an aerial view of the ensuing brawl. Had I not been on the hunt for Celestial Blood, I would have love to have several wine glasses to sample the blood of the Everfree's beasts. As the carnage unfolded, I hovered in the air and waited. Minutes went by as I passively absorbed the pain of the beasts fighting below; that's when my prized showed itself. I felt it before I heard it, a massive amount of soul energy moving below me and the distant sound of movement. There was no doubt in my mind that it was a celestial being, the almost blinding light of it's soul poked through the fog like the sun's rays through thin clouds on a warm summer day. What caught me off guard was the lack of nuanced emotions; it was primal, like an animal. Shortly after, I heard it; or rather, heard it moving. It was bipedal, that much was obvious from the slow and rhythmic booming of it's impossibly heavy footsteps. "Is it-?" *BOOM* The earth and recently restored trees were rattled by a thunderous earthquake. *BOOM* It was getting closer, and louder. *BOOM* That's when I first saw it, the mist over the gorge began to glow, and magical bolts of eldritch power crackled and screamed through the air before a monstrously huge claw broke free of the heavy fog and slammed over the edge of the Gorge. It almost seemed as if it had materialized from the mist itself; a manticore and what seemed to be a combination between a wasp and a polar bear were crushed underneath the titanic appendage. I couldn't hear their bones being crushed, but I did feel a sudden and sharp wave of foreign pain disappearing under the blinding light radiating off of the beast; followed by a spray of gore and blood not too dissimilar from crushing a particularly juicy grape. A single one of its sharp claws was as big as me, biting into the earth like titanic anchors and finally gaining traction on hardened bedrock. The image of having walked onto an angry Terrasque after being rudely awakened was thrust to the forefront of my mind, but it was quickly dispelled when I noticed that the massive appendage... was blue. *BOOM* Another ground shaking earthquake later, and the beast showed its head. At first, I almost didn't believe my eyes; it was a giant bear! A giant bear made literally of the night sky and twinkling stars stared down at the comparatively smaller beasts with a tired, but livid glare; it's yellow eyes and red irises boring into whatever those animals had that passed for souls. *BOOM* The Ursidean titan pulled itself upward, the fog covering the chasm was pulled along with the rest of it's body; shrouding it in a cloak of ephemeral magic that hummed with eldritch power. The beast raised its other paw and brought it down with enough force to send a blast of loose dirt flying into the air, the pack of timber wolves and cockatrices that stood on ground zero only barely escaped being squashed like the last two beasts. *BOOM* Its other claw digged into the earth and pulled itself up. The two hydras battling a massive falcon that lay on its back seemed tiny compared to the galactic bear; the hulking beast standing almost six hundred feet tall. I was so stunned by its sheer size, that the damned within me panicked and filled me with fear. "URSA MAJOR!!!" The damned howled, their revenant fear of the titan before them distracting them from their torment; if only briefly. The beast scanned the area below it, and in slow motion, opened its mouth. I wasnt given a chance to properly register the sound... It didn't hit me until maybe a second passed, but once it did I found it very difficult to fly; seeing as the sound made my eardrums burst. With the sides of my head feeling as if I'd had holy water poured directly into my ear canal, I began to fall out of the air. In a vain attempt to lessen the sound, I curled myself up as tightly as I could while falling. With my wings being used as a meat shield, I dropped like a rock to the ground, slamming into the excessively fertile grass face first; a torrent of leaves and dirt shooting up in a gale of wind before half burying me in debris. Somehow, the beasts of the Everfree found it in their hearts to not trample me underfoot as the few that had been left unaffected by the massive bear's roar ran for their lives. I don't know how long I laid there, deafened and in pain; but once i was certain the earth had stopped shaking, I reflexively casted a simple healing spell on myself. After the cool wave of relief took away the throbbing pain, I slowly unfurled my wings and looked around me. The ground I laid prone on was marred with footprints of various shapes and sizes, all of which seemed to be heading away from the towering Ursa Major. As my gaze wandered up it's massive body, I could see the titanic bear was looking down; though not directly at me. I won't lie, in the moment, I understood the terror Princess Twilight and her friends felt back at the dragon lands. If it saw me, the Ursa Major didn't seem to care. It huffed, it's breath ripping the few leaves on the trees that had managed to survive the celestial giant's roar. Then, the giant surprised me by yawning and rubbing its eyes. Right, it had been woken up from its sleep... That explained the gesture, but I had no time to dwell on it; as the giant slowly turned heel and began making it's way towards the abyss from whence it came. My time was running out, but luckily for me, all i had to do was lure the beast back to my fortress. I hurriedly clambered to my feet and with a slight limp, jogged towards the beast. *BOOM* "Shit..." I muttered under my breath, my jog turning into a mad dash. The titan had only taken one step and it was already halfway back to the edge of Ghastly Gorge. "Shit shit shit shit shit shit shit shit shit shit shit..." I cursed repeatedly, almost losing balance as another earthquake shook the ground; my window was about to close itself. When I was about 20 or so meters away from its right hind leg, it began rising off the ground. I hurriedly flapped my wings and conjured a gale to propel me the rest of the way. Latching onto the bear's massive right calve, I had to stave off the urge to whoop in celebration over the small victory. It's surprisingly soft fur was long and numerous enough to latch on and hold my weight. 'Made it! Now for my insurance...' I thought, a victorious smirk stretching across my face. I was planning to use a remotely controlled incendiary spell to blow up it's ankle should running from it prove too difficult unaided; but being so close to the primal soul of the titan, I could sense it's drowsiness, and... confusion? Looking up, I could see the Ursa Major begin to look down; almost in slow motion. 'FUCK! It feels me on it's leg!' I thought, hurriedly casting an invisibility spell on myself. I shut my eyes and held my breath; if this thing found me... not being able to make the gore nest would be the least of my concerns. I felt gravity shift, I was moving up fast, and something brushed the fur near me. I didn't move, I couldn't. The sound of something bristling dangerously close past my face came and went before I heard the Ursa Major grunt in an almost dismissive manner. Gravity shifted again, but this time, it was down. *BOOM* As the titan's leg hit the ground, I let put the breath i was holding and got to work. I focused on the spell I wanted; the aptly nicknamed "Booming Touch" spell. "Ubi manu tetigerit exitium mox sequitur..." I muttered, weaving the spell unto the Ursa Major's calve. When the red glow of my magic stopped seeping through the azure, star-ladden fur, I let go and fell the ground; landing in a low crouch. *BOOM* The earth was shaken by the Ursidean celestial being taking another step and positioning itself to climb down into the chasm. 'I have to act now!' I thought, staggering before rising to my feet. I took in a deep breath and channeled the voices of every damned soul inside me to ensure the titan would not drown me out over the sound of it's own movement. In the brief seconds before I issued my challenge to the Ursa Major, I couldn't help but think of my mother. Only once did I hear her roar, I'll never forget it. I was fifteen when it happened. I made the fatal mistake of challenging her authority, even though I was right on... Anyways, from the almost seering heat of anger roiling off of her was enough to quell any desire to rebel. I was shorter then, so when she got in my face and told me to watch my tongue, she loomed over me like an angry giant; capable of turning me into a red stain on the ground with nothing more than their pinkie finger. That same feeling was making my stomach tie itself into knots as the Ursa Major stopped where it was, turned ever so slowly in my direction, and locked eyes with me. The roar I was stretching out died in my throat; the damned forcing the Ursa Major to seem shrouded in a malevolent darkness. Those twin stars of crimson light staring into my eyes. The titan pivoted right where it stood with a speed it didn't have two minutes ago. My fight or flight instinct took full control as I conjured the strongest gale of wind I could to jettison backwards. I was fortunate enough to avoid being stepped on like a gnat, but not enough to avoid being thrown off balance. The explosion of dust and wind sent me off course and tumbling into a cover of trees. I was able to brake my fall and land on my feet, though the leaf covered floor made finding traction a chore. Once I stopped, I looked up to see the titan slowly lifting its foot off the ground. 'It didn't notice me escape! Good." I thought to myself as the beast looked under it's raised heel, waiting for the dust to settle and see it's challenger squashed. I took the opportunity to catch it off it's guard and turned face. I fumbled at first, but was able to get enough speed as to lift off in a torrent of wind. I climbed ever higher, doing my best to keep the titanic bear in my line of sight. I circled around while ascending, I would only get one shot at this. I accelerated towards the Ursidean giant's and took in a deep breath; the malicious red glow of hellfire poured from my mouth out like a bright beacon. The glint of red caught the titan's attention, and I fired. "DIRECT IMPACT!!!" I shouted triumphantly as I tilted myself and narrowly avoided colliding with the Ursa Major's head. The pulse of hellfire struck it's left eye and exploded violently; causing the giant to recoil and roar in pain. The beast's wail of agony caused a sadistic grin to spread across my face. Circling back around, I noticed the Ursa Major had already recovered and was looking for me with one of it's massive paws covering the injured eye. It didn't take long for it to see me, hovering in the air with a cocky smile plastered on my face. I won't lie, I loved every minute of this. The rush was incredible! The Celestial Titan, on the other hand, was not so amused. Letting go of it's abused and bleeding eye, the beast opened it's maw and released another earth-shattering scream. This time, however, I knew what was coming. Conjuring a spherical barrier of Argent Energy, I braced myself for the incoming assault on my ears. I definitely heard the gigantic bear roar, though now it was much more manageable; my ears only ringing slightly as a result of this. Seeing it was only fair to respond to the Ursa Major's challenge, I roared again in defiance as I lunged forward with an awkward yet powerful flap of my wings. I soared towards the beast which readied itself by crouching slightly and widening it's stance. Quickly leaning and flying around it, ready to lure the gargantuan beast southwest of this place. The celestial titan tried to swat me out of the air. Having missed, the titanic bear snarled as it got on all fours and began galloping after me. "That's it! Follow me to your doom!" I said to myself just before realizing the Ursa Major was gaining on me. With a bit of alarm, I began pouring more power and magic into each wing flap and burst of wind I could muster. "Avalon... if you can hear me... be ready..." I muttered to myself, half hoping the onyx undead was hearing my thoughts. > Chapter 22. Devil's Den final part > -------------------------------------------------------------------------- /////////////Ruins of the castle of the two sisters////////////// "So... let me see if I understood..." The verdant undead began, pointing at a crudely made sketch of a top-down view of the fortress he and several other undead were currently standing outside of with a stick in his skeletal hand. "With help from the big dragons standing out here doing fuck all other than looking like oversized gargoyles..." Trephor continued while pointing at the nearest titanic dragon, the latter huffing and growling in annoyance as she shuffled backward with her index claw carving seven-foot-deep holes into the soil along the fortress' perimeter. Once she remembered she could do nothing about it without incurring the wrath of her master, she set down a massive gemstone in the hole she just finished digging and resumed her work. Seemingly ignorant of Dreadwing's apparently wounded pride, the skeletal scribe, translator, and dad joke enthusiast continued. "We'll dig out a seven-foot-deep summoning ring, bury those big gems Anvari and the unicorns have been carving runes into around the castle... and then what?" The undead asked, redirecting his preferred pointing stick at the ever-growing mound of multichromatic gems near the crumbling castle's front door. As if on cue, a group of five undead dragons no taller than he was walked into view, hoisting gleaming gemstone about as big as a fully grown manticore over their shoulders. "one, two, three, four! one, two, three, four!" The dragon in the back of the group repeated, the footsteps of his comrades impacting the ground to the rhythm of his voice. Trephor watched as they marched towards an eight foot tall mound of equally large gems and drop their cargo on said mound. Shortly thereafter, a massive claw covered in small patches of cartilage and the odd spot of steel blue scales grabbed one of the comparatively diminutive gems. Raising his claw to the glowing embers that substituted his eyes, the once-mighty Dragonlord Torch analyzed the shiny rock pinched betwixt his digits. Finally, when he was certain he was holding the right stone, he segregated it to the pile of agates, located between the rubies and the sapphires. It irritated him to no end being there, separating pebbles for the old bones of an angry god he neither respected nor cared about. But before repeating the mind-numbing chore he had been assigned, he looked down at the strange couple below him. The morbid realization that he couldn't physically smirk was overshadowed by the thought of his daughter leading a powerful army of magic-wielding dragons blessed by the god queen Tiamat herself against an uncoordinated army of undead. It was enough to bear the obscenely degrading task of sorting gems in silence. And just enough to miss the even more diminutive undead dwarf levitate one of the dazzling topazes over towards a waiting Spectre Lulamoon, eagerly waiting to use her magic once more. "We wait for Azazel to bring the last two components; we can't begin the ritual without them." Mia answered, looking up from the crudely drawn map on the floor to find Trephor's skull tilted to the side inquisitively. "Them?" The verdant scribe asked. "A Nekravol is as much a fortress as it is a living being. And since they are usually created in hell, they can metabolize emotions, souls, and the life force of it's environment into Argent energy. Normally, hell has enough ambient Argent energy to sustain and power the ritual..." She began, turning herself and the necronomicon in her hands to show her beloved what she meant. "...but we're working in a less than ideal setting, so we'll have to... improvise." Mia finished, awkwardly handing the dark tome to her betrothed, her still-missing hand threatening to drop the unholy text. It took Trephor a hot minute to read and then another minute to reread the page the flower-spangled architect had shown him. If he still had eyeballs, they would've popped right out as Mia's implication finally clicked. "...please tell me that roar we heard wasn't a Terrasque?..." Trephor asked in a hushed voice, fearing that if he uttered the terrible beast's name loudly, he'd summon it out of the aether. Mia was about to answer before another voice cut her train of thought. "Attention, everyone! Our master is coming in hot and is being chased by an Ursa Major! Dreadwing, Torch, and Skyquake stand sentinel due Northeast and await further instruction! Anvari, take your mages and raise a barrier to shield the castle! Mia, Trephor, climb the northern tower and meet me at the royal suite! Everyone else, get to the vault in the lower levels for cover!" The voice of the sable soldier thundered in the skulls of every undead in the area. The undead couple gave each other a knowing look before moving swiftly back into the castle. They ran, barely dodging the dragons in their path and paying no mind to the pillar of translucent red light suspending multiple spheres of flesh and an infinitely coiling mobius strip of blood in the castle's courtyard. They almost lost their balance as they heard that sound again; a powerful roar from an equally powerful beast reverberated off the walls and rattled the crumbling monolith. They rounded four corners before reaching the winding staircase that led to the top of the northern tower. As the undead lovers covered the last stretch of stairs before the north tower's highest chamber, they heard it before they felt it. *BOOM* *BOOM* *BOOM* *BOOM* Four massive impacts shook the ground, the ancient monolith, loose rocks, and puffs of dust were disturbed as the unseen titan shook the earth. *BOOM* *BOOM* *BOOM* *BOOM* Again, the rhythmic galloping of impossibly heavy feet rang out, growing louder with each thunderous impact. With the grace of a battering ram, the verdant scribe and flower spangled architect/engineer bulldozed through a pair of rotten twin doors decorated with what was once a beautifully carved depiction of the banner of the two sisters. The two spear-wielding dragons guarding the door from the inside were understandably startled when the undead couple stormed in. The large, circular chamber was lined with concave shelves housing a myriad of ancient books and tomes. On the far left sat the remains of a pair of queen-sized beds framed with gold and silver-lined wood; or whatever was left of the wood. Opposite to the skeletal pair stood the halberd wielding second in command of Azazel's army; Avalon. "Grab hold of something." The onyx corpse said, looking out towards the north-eastern horizon. As the couple stood beside their armored brother in arms, they saw the cause of the earthquakes from before. *BOOM* *BOOM* *BOOM* *BOOM* A massive bear made of a star-filled sky galloped after a black and red object, flying very fast towards the castle. Trephor could only watch in terror as his mind tried to wrap around the size of the beast chasing what he assumed was his master. Mia, on the other hand, had found solace as a dome of magical force materialized around the castle. She even allowed herself a sigh of relief when the three elder dragons Azazel had resurrected stood between her and the titan charging them. This would be quite the show. ////////////Azazel/////////////// Between the boost of power provided by the surplus of souls now within me and the adrenaline of being chased by a very angry celestial titan, I had managed to outpace the surprisingly fast beast. I had to shoot the Ursa Major with bolts of magic now and again to keep it angry and on task, something I was really hoping would pay off. Fortunately, it didn't take long for me to see the silhouette of my soon-to-be fortress. "Avalon, you glorious bastard! Thank you!" I muttered aloud, seeing the elder dragons I had resurrected move into position, ready to halt my pursuer in its tracks. "HOLD IT STILL!!!" I shouted, trusting my creations to cover for me while setting myself up for the lethal blow. Angling up, I missed the northeastern tower by scant inches as I began to ascend. The air was getting colder and thinner as I climbed at an almost ninety-degree angle. I burst through several high-altitude clouds before letting my momentum hurl me the remaining distance. "Sir, what are-!?" "MAKE IT LOOK UP AND HOLD ITS MOUTH OPEN!!!" I heard Avalon's voice cut through the deafening roar of the wind around me. Unfortunately for him, I didn't have time to explain. *BOOOOOOM* The sound of a nigh-unstoppable, mountain-sized bear meeting the stopping power of three fully grown, undead elder dragons informed me that the time was now. "ARE YOU MAD!?!?" "YES!!! NOW DO IT!!!" Avalon tried to talk me out of my admittedly dangerous plan, but I was already falling and gaining speed. I couldn't turn back now. My massive creations had managed to restrain the giant bear, but only barely. With every swing of its powerful arms, my dragons were pushed back and had to rely on one another to overwhelm their opponent by jabbing, clawing, and biting into its hide. With great effort, the draconic trio managed to pin the Ursa Major's arms and holding it's head up for me. Capitalizing on the beast's vulnerability, I crossed my forearms in front of me and focused on the Ursa Major's magically charged leg. When I pantomimed the action of sundering the titan's limb with my hands, the stars on the Ursidean giant's heel shifted to red. In a matter of seconds, the beast's leg shone like a small sun before exploding violently in a maelstrom of Argent fire. As expected, the beast fell to its knees. But just as i began to think I had won, a wave of untold anger filled the Ursa Major with strength; its soul suddenly igniting with a blinding white light. I couldn't see and was falling fast, but I could hear, right up until the beast let out another one of its earth-shattering screams. I was blind and deaf, but I was not alone. One of the few benefits of devouring souls without destroying them is that despite how much they hate me, they will do anything to preserve me; because in a way, they are me. "THE SNAKE!!!" "SUMMON THE BEAST!!!" "BECKON YOUR GUARDIAN!!!" The damned screamed over one another. Seeing no other alternative, I roared; hoping the beast I had inadvertently created would come to my aid. Surely enough it did. ////////////Avalon/////////////// It all happened so fast, it took me a minute after the blast to register all that had happened. The gigantic astral bear was firmly halted as Torch, Dreadwing, and Skyquake met its charge, creating a powerful gust of wind that slammed into the tower we were in. The same ferocity I had seen in the dragon lands was being used by the former dragonlord and his consorts. Punches, kicks, hooks, and bites were used to overwhelm the Ursa Major, but for every three or four strikes the undead dragons loosed upon the celestial giant, a swing with the force of a falling mountain needed to be avoided. This kept going on even as I tried to dissuade my master from performing suicide. That is of course until the Ursa major's lower left leg was enveloped in demonic magic. Another explosion, one of hellfire and dark magic rattled the shield and the fortress on which I stood. I looked down to see Anvari and those three unicorns Azazel had assigned her, standing on a hovering platform of stone and brick. Lashing out with tendrils of arcane power, the four sorcerors repaired cracks in the translucent shield as the earth threatened to crack beneath it. Having been knocked back, the elder dragons clambered to their feet just in time to see the Ursa Major lose its right leg to a vicious explosion of dark magic followed by the howl of a falling demon. The Ursa Major's face became if only for a moment, a visage of shock; as if it's life had been flashing before it's eyes. I'd seen the look in all those who met the end of a blade while I lived, but the Ursa Major displayed offense to this very notion. But just as the titan looked up and tried to challenge my master's suicidal dive with a world-cracking roar, the ground began to shake again. From the earth, massive vines of black ironwood and azure crystals exploded outward and began to coil themselves around the Ursa Major. These tendrils coalesced into the coils of a titanic serpent, swiftly followed by a humanoid torso with arms and a horned head wreathed in hellfire. The Ursa struggled, but with one of it's legs being rendered useless and the suffocating embrace of it's demonic counterpart; the beast could only below in panic as it's mouth was forced open. As my Master closed the distance between himself and the celestial titan, the gorgon-like giant made sure to align the Ursa Major's mouth with Azazel's trajectory. With a loud and almost comedic gulp, my nephilim lord was swallowed whole. "AZAZEL!!!" Mia and Trephor shouted in despair. I didn't blame them, I too was scared for my master's well-being, but I knew better than to assume the worst right off the bat. Reaching out with my mind, I had been quick enough to link myself to my master's mind just as he had gathered his bearings. "He's fine." I said, adding the pair to my telepathic link with our master. I felt their minds resist the initial intrusion, but they welcomed me in once they recognized my psychic touch. Our collective vision was thrust into darkness, the howling wind and the cacophony of titans clashing had been replaced by the muffled sound of a stomach rumbling so violently that a phantom shudder rattled down my spine. After a few seconds, the darkness was dispelled by a dim red glow on the lower side of my field of vision. As the crimson light's intensity grew, I could make out the glowing silhouette of my master and the voices of the damned he harbored. "FEAST ON IT'S FLESH!!!" "REND IT'S SOUL TO OBLIVION!!!" "FEED US IT'S POWEEEEEEEEERRRRRRRRR!!!!" The insane revenants howled, forcing me to terminate the connection. In a spectacle that, in life, I would've found horrifying; I bore witness as the Ursa Major's soul was devoured. The celestial twitched once before going limp. The serpent then suplexed it's opponent several hundred meters back and howled in a challenge; an evil plea for the violence to continue. For several seconds, the Ursidean giant did not move; lying on its side with it's back turned to us. That's when I heard the Ursa Major make a noise that filled me with pity. The once invincible giant was rolling onto it's back and groaning in pain. With it's massive paws, the galactic bear had been holding his stomach, and it wasn't until it rolled over in our direction that I understood why. At the center of the Ursa Major's gut an object that I can only describe as a black sun, swallowing the surrounding stars in the Celestial giant's fur. The Ursa major's eyes had been glued shut, but when they opened, my pity turned to horror. It's eyes, like golden suns crowned with glowing rubies, were slowly being shrouded in darkness. I'd seen beasts die before, but this thing was more than some "beast". It was intelligent, and it's slowly darkening eyes screamed louder than any sound it could've made with it's throat. It knew it was about to die, and it was afraid. As the dark sun in the Ursa Major's abdomen grew, the stars that remained upon the titan's celestial frame began to explode and "fall" into the evergrowing void. The beast's fur had stopped glowing with it's ethereal blue light, shifting to a matte coal-black that was only discernable thanks to the moon's light. The Ursa Major's eyes soon became no more than black pits, letting out a long and pitiful sigh as it breathed it's last. When the danger had passed, Anvari and her trio of sorcerers dropped the translucent shield. As it did, I heard my master's voice alongside a thousand others projected onto my mind. "My army... We stand on the precipice of our new beginning..." It boomed. "Azazel! Are you alright?" Mia asked, stepping so close to the edge I had to stop her lest she fall. Once I was confident she wouldn't fall, I turned towards the slithering aberration. The beast then circled behind the lifeless body of the Ursa Major, pried open the cadaver's maw, and shoved it's hand down the celestial's throat. "My parents believed that by hiding ourselves from the world... We would be free of persecution... That beings touched by the darkness of hell could defy their nature... And through sheer force of will! Have dominion over their own fate!" Azazel stated, the voices that accompanied him did so in hushed whispers and low growls. "He's fine. Just let him get the monologue out of his system." Trephor spoke with a disappointed tone that betrayed how he was actually feeling, walking over to stand at my side. I would've glared at him, but my attention was elsewhere. The gorgon-like giant fishing for Azazel in the Ursa Major's gut, stopped trying to shove it's whole arm past the celestial titan's dislocated jaw when it found it's prize. "And while their ideals weren't without merit, they were wrong to relinquish that which made them feared by gods and demons alike!!!" My master continued, the serpent slowly and almost reverently removing its arm from within the celestial's esophagus. Once the titan's hand was free, arcs of argent lightning and waves of spiritual pressure forced the serpent's hand to open. A crimson spire of swirling faces howling in despair surrounded the silhouette of my master. Wreathed in Argent darkness, his form only bore two flaming horns and two dots of white light that outshone the sun itself. "From the ruins of this fallen kingdom! Where Nightmare Moon failed to bring ancient Equestria to it's knees! I will usher in an era of brimstone and fire! That will char my name across the history of every world that was and will ever be!" As the conviction with which my master spoke grew, so did the wind around the castle. Dark stormclouds began materializing and exchanging thunderbolts from blood-red lightning. Rising off of the titan's hand, my lord levitated towards us. "For as long as the Heavens hate us..." With a wave of my lord's hand, the Ursa Major was raised into the air and levitated over the castle. The beast was then lowered onto a circle carved for it due West. Glancing towards the serpent, I saw it calmly slither into opposite circle to the Ursa; taking care to not damage the summoning circle with it's coils. "And the Hells hunt us..." Azazel continued, the tornado of souls engulfing him unfurled in a cruel mockery of a flower to hoist massive gemstones from the earth and rearrange them across the summoning ring below. "All of creation ..." He raved. Even if I had wanted to stop him, the amount of Argent magic saturating the area impeded me from securing a mental link with my master. "WILL FEAR US!!!" Azazel's proclamation was the last thing heard before everything went black. It lasted for... twenty seconds? I think. All I know is that I short circuited and was thrust back into the void that waited for me every time my magic was yanked out of me. What I do know... is that nothing could've prepared me what I saw upon being returned to the world of the living.