The Wolf and the Unicorn

Over the next several weeks, the group plotted and planned their attack on Yggdrasil.  Celestia was naturally concerned about her subjects, first and foremost, while the others had other things on their minds.  Strangely enough, Discord behaved himself rather well in this time period, spending his free moments either with the Princess or his long lost brother.  Many stories were traded between the estranged family, of passing life and things vital to know.  Since that fateful day, Luna remained close to Hex while being strangely aloof and quiet at times.  Nopony knew what was bothering her, as her moods ranged from intense passion to dreary boredom.  Then again, nopony expected Hex to collect some of his items from the palace vault and wordlessly leave the grounds altogether.

                At first, both the god and rulers of the land thought Hex needed some time alone to think.  As the missing hours flowed into days they began to worry, as there was no sign of him.  After the third day, the Night Guards were dispatched to scour the area around Canterlot and find the missing consort.  On the fourth, the Royal Guard began their search of the land, as well as distributing flyers to the towns, villages, and hamlets within several days walk of the capitol.  It seemed that the god had disappeared from the face of the planet without a trace.

                Eventually, the numbers began to add up as the ponies and guards began to notice things going missing from around the town.  It was small items at first, but they quickly added up to a stranger sum.  Chemicals, acids, and dyes from several different pharmacies and hardware stores.  Grindstones and polishing compounds vanished from an assortment of jewelers in one night.  At each incident a small icon was carved into the shelf where the missing items once sat.  To anypony but the Princess, it was a meaningless vandalism, but to those few, it was one of the many marks Hex was known for.  The fact that he was around, but in hiding still gave Luna hope for his return.

                By sheer coincidence one evening, as Luna watched the city from her spire, she noticed a slightly cracked door near an abandoned section of the castle.  A door that had a faint trickle of light crawling its way to freedom through the cracks.  With her interest piqued, she decided to investigate, as nothing should be in that area, let alone anything that cast light.  The wind whispered in her feathers as she glided to the ground from her parapet, landing as softly as possible.  Nary a noise was heard as her hooves touched the dew slicked grass below.  Step by step, she inched toward the door, hoping for a glimpse of her consort and friend.  The scene that greeted her eyes was not one that was expected.

                In the center of the room was a large bubble of pure energy.  It shimmered and twisted with the mad movements of the god within as colors flowed from one into another.  Through the rippling air, she could see her love working like a madman, canines showing through the rictus grin of sheer concentration on his face.  Sweat soaked fur was slicked down heavily and tinted black and crimson in spots, with a sickly looking pool collected on the crazed and cracked floor under the otherwise busy god.  Ash, burnt fur, and blood were randomly assorted across his full body, but completely unnoticed as he swung a glowing hammer against an unseen object again and again.

                Luna just stood there in awe, watching as sparks and flame flowed through the air around her consort as he madly worked.  She never even realized that she was slowly working her way into the room, closer to the wall of energy, closer to him.  Without a thought, she raised a hoof to poke the barrier and was completely surprised when it rippled slightly with the contact.  Any thoughts were quickly forgotten as her hoof exploded into agony before it was pulled back from the barrier.  Thin curls of steam and smoke rose from the small area of her hoof that pierced the barrier and entered the furnace heat within.  It took Luna a few moments to realize the hammering had stopped as the pain ebbed into nothing.  As she looked up, her eyes were met by the golden pair of her lover's.  Thankfully, she couldn't read his lips as something was spoken in the magic bubble.