Legend of Silva's Gate

FIVE YEARS AGO:

"So you're just going to abandon us to our fate? Just so you can chase down Angel and kill him in revenge? It won't change anything! Stay and help us with the planet!" a young woman shouted at a similarly aged man. The young man remained silent as she stared at him.

"I'm the one who let him live in the first place. He needs to die, not for my sake, but anyone else he might harm." The young man finally replied, the tone of his voice unwavering and unmoving.

"Oh please. Save me the crap. Be straight with me for at least a few moments. All you've been feeding me for the past 5 months has been crap!" The young woman shouted at him. Her frustration peaking, she let loose words of which she would regret years later. "Ugh, you know what? Fine. Ditch us, run off and get your precious 'revenge'. Once you finish, STAY lost in space. Don't ever come back, because if I see you coming back...I won't hesitate to kill you as a traitor!"

PRESENT DAY:

"Oh, it was so nice of the Princess to bring us on a vacation to the sea!" Twilight Sparkle exclaimed happily, as she stared out at the vast, sparkling tropical sea before her. Closing her eyes and inhaling deeply, she could smell the salt in the air as waves crashed onto the shore in a rhythm. In the background, she could hear her friends Applejack and Rainbow Dash talking to each other as they set up a volleyball net. Opening her eyes, she could see Fluttershy and Pinkie Pie playing with a Turtle that had swam up into the shallow waters near the shore to see them.

"Yes, dear, this is quiet heavenly. You absolutely MUST give the Princess our thanks!" Rarity exclaimed, finishing with a relaxed sigh as she adjusted her beach hat with a hoof to shade her face. Twilight smiled, happy that her friends were having a good time. As much as she hated to admit it, she had been neglecting her studies while on this vacation with the Princess (and her friends, of course!).

Thinking back, it was when the Princess arrived in the middle of the night unannounced last week that the vacation was decided upon. She had mentioned that her sister, Princess Luna, detected immense objects, still deep within space,  moving at incredible speed towards the planet. Princess Celestia wanted to monitor the arrival of the objects, should she need to intervene. That the Princess was uneasy, and uncertain, is what made Twilight Sparkle uneasy herself, not giant objects from space. That's happened a number of times in the past, as her many books on astrology told her so. The more she pondered about it, the more uneasy she herself became. 'What has the Princess so worried?' Twilight thought to herself, straining her mind to try and figure it out.

"Hey, Twi? What's got your mind a'buzzin? Looks pertty serious." Applejack asked Twilight suddenly, surprising the purple pony.

"Oh, sorry! I was just trying to recall something from my books is all. Nothing serious at all!" Twilight lied, determined not to worry her friends and ruin an otherwise incredible vacation.

"Twilight, can you stop being an egghead at least once on this vacation? We're here to have fun, not to do math problems!" Rainbow Dash grumbled at Twilight as she fluttered over, a scowl on her face and front legs crossed in-front of her.

"Oh, come off it, Dash! It's who Twi' is, no getting around it. She'll at least be able to read the definition of fun from a dictionary." Applejack mock berated Rainbow Dash, while simultaneously poking fun at Twilight, who scowled back in response.

"I know how to have fun, I was just...thinking about...things." Twilight haphazardly replied, trying not to spill the Princess' secret, which garnered her a couple of raised eyebrows from Rainbow Dash and Applejack.

"Wow Twilight, you should really work on lying! You're really bad at it!" Pinkie Pie exclaimed happily as she bounced up the beach, seemingly oblivious to the small octopus attacking her poofy mane.

"Gee Pinkie, thanks for the vote of confidence." Twilight replied sarcastically, as she magicked the octopus off her friend and flung it into the sea again, much to the dismay of Fluttershy, who was still in the water.

"No problem!" Pinkie replied happily, as she plopped herself down onto the large blanket the six mares had laid down on the sand earlier.

"Ugh, well...yeah, I suppose I've been too much thinking on this trip. What did you girls have in mind, that we can do for fun?" Twilight relented, while simultaneously redirecting the conversation.

"Volleyball, duh! What else can you do at a beach?" Rainbow Dash answered hastily. When she realized that she made herself seem silly by forgetting about swimming, amongst other things, she looked at grumpily at Applejack (who was giving her a mocking smile when she saw Dash's realization) and said "Shut up."

"Yeah, we brought the Volleyball kit. Just finished settin' 'er up, actually. Might as well make use of it." Applejack explained to Twilight, who nodded, excited to play a game she had only ever read about. It wasn't long before an intense game was underway, with Rarity and Fluttershy watching from the sidelines.

"Com' on, Twi'! Watch Dash's smashes, they're throwin' us off." Applejack said in a one-to-one huddle with Twilight, as they discussed strategy, with Rainbow Dash and Pinkie doing the same. "I'll set it up fer you, then you send it towards Pinkie's back end of the court, which ruins Dash's chances for another smash. Once Pinkie sets it, Dash'll hafta lob it over, settin' me up fer a classic Apple Family smack-down!" Applejack explained to Twilight, finishing with a smirk as she imagined the look on Rainbow Dash's face afterwards. Twilight nodded, antsy to execute their strategy. Throwing the ball into the air, Twilight quickly turned around to serve it with a buck, ensuring it would end up in Pinkie's end zone as planned.

"Oh! I got it Dashie, I got it!" Pinkie said to her partner excitedly, as she backed up quickly and got under the ball. Rainbow Dash wasn't in the correct stance as Applejack had predicted, and had to scramble to sloppily lob the ball over the net, which as promised, Applejack met with a midair buck. Unfortunately, she put a little too much strength into the ball, which caused it to land just out of bounds.

"Oh, hogwash! That was perfect, too..." Applejack lamented, putting a hoof over her eyes in frustration.

"Hey, you still made me all messed up that time, I'd say that it was still an awesome play." Rainbow Dash complimented her, trying to get her to lighten up slightly. Just as they were about to go for another play, the four mares heard Princesses Luna and Celestia calling for Twilight.

"One moment girls, this shouldn't be too long." Twilight promised the girls, flashing them a fake smile. As she approached, Princess Luna wasted no time in explaining information to her.

"It occurs tonight. If your friends and you wish to witness the objects, I suggest you set up after 5:30, and do not wander further down this beach. Doing so could warrant severe consequences." Luna explained sternly. Though she has made much progress in adjusting herself to the new ways of greeting her subjects, she still hadn't calmed her overbearing demeanor. Twilight took no offense, nor did it make her nervous. It was simply who Luna was.

"Severe consequences? Like injury?" Twilight asked, wanting to know full details.

"Yes, Twilight. See that point further down the beach where the Palm trees are closest to the water? Anywhere past that, we've determined, should be the impact zone. If any of your friends or you should wander near or past that point, you could be pelted by burning debris." Princess Celestia explained in a lighter mood. Princess Luna walked on up the beach, and began magicking astrology devices out of thin air, and set them up to the sky. Rainbow Dash noticed Princess Luna setting the devices up, and looked towards the sky, squinting.

"Say, Applejack...do you see that speck in the sky? No, follow the angle that those telescopes are being set, now look." Rainbow Dash pointed with her left hoof towards the sky, as Applejack squinted.

"Gosh, ah do see it! What...is it though...?" Applejack asked, though knowing that Rainbow Dash was probably as clueless as she was.

"Maybe it's aliens from outer-space! OOOoooOOhhhhHH!" Pinkie Pie joked, causing the other two mares to snicker.

"Well, if we come back around 5:30, we should have an answer. We'll be able to have a close up look at what it is through those telescopes. Whatever it is, it should burn up as it enters the atmosphere. All we'll get is small parts of it, at the most." Twilight explained, excited to see a large asteroid up close.

"Well, now that you're back, lets get back to playing volleyball! Both sides agree to clean slates?" Rainbow Dash asked, to which everypony nodded. "Alright, serves up!"

A few hours later, the 6 Ponies found themselves sitting in the fancy, high class dining room of the resort that Princess Celestia had booked for them all, each of them grabbing anything that caught their eye from the buffet. As Rarity looked around the table to see which of her friends she might start a conversation with, she noticed most of them being otherwise preoccupied. Rainbow Dash and Applejack were in a horrifically undignified eating contest, which garnered a few disapproving glares from high society ponies and caused stains on the fabulous table cloth. Looking to her right, she noticed Fluttershy and Pinkie Pie in the middle of a conversation of their own, mainly to do with the Turtle they played with earlier. Finally, looking directly beside her, Rarity noticed that Twilight had her head inside another astrology book. Desperately wanting to have some sort of pony contact during dinner, she asked Twilight a question.

"Say, Twilight, what has you so deeply engrossed in that Astrology book? The entire time we've been back at this FABULOUS resort you've been leafing through that dusty old thing." Rarity asked, expertly locking Twilight into a conversation.

"Oh, just...you know...wanting to read up on my, uhhh, astrology! For tonight!" Twilight replied nervously, as she danced dangerously next to lying again. Rarity frowned and raised an eyebrow.

"Dear, I wouldn't be a good friend if I didn't see if something was troubling you, similarly if I didn't try and help you with it. Now please, let me know what it is that's troubling you." Rarity said to Twilight, flashing her a comforting smile as she placed her right hoof on Twilight's withers.

"Well...keep this between us, but...something about the 'meteor shower' has both the Princesses on edge." Twilight finished, moving her front hooves in a fashion to signify a falsehood when she mentioned 'meteor shower'.

"You mean it's not a meteor shower? What is it then?" Rarity asked in a hush, her curiosity getting the better of her. Twilight simply shrugged.

"I don't know. And I get the feeling that the Princesses don't either. Just that these things are very large. They can't even seem to confirm if they'll actually burn up completely, or if they'll be a threat to Equestria." Twilight explained, worry growing on her face. Rarity became nervous, hesitant to ask her next question.

"And, uhm, Twilight. If it is...you know...a threat. How large...will it be?" Rarity asked nearly in a squeak.

"Based on how we were able to see as a sizable dot in the sky at noon hour, we can estimate that the objects are massive. If the weight and size are proportional..." Twilight trailed off, not wanting to speak her mind, and instead resorted to hoof motions signifying an explosion and made a 'Boom.' sound-effect. Rarity was numb, and felt cold. Slumping back slightly in her chair, she was silent for a moment.

"Wow....that really is the worst. Possible. Thing." Rarity said quietly, suddenly aware that everything she cared about was under threat of annihilation. As her mind began racing, Twilight snapped her back to reality.

"It's also the worst case scenario. Many of the objects burn up in the sky over our land, because most of it is hollow, according to Equestrian history. Not only that, but we have the Princesses of the Sun and the Moon her to monitor the breach of our atmosphere. I doubt Princess Celestia is going to let a couple of asteroids ruin Equestria after she's worked so hard to protect it for over 1000 years." Twilight explained, calming Rarity.

"Well, I suppose you're right. Nothing has stopped the Princess so far...shouldn't worry about it too much." Rarity said in a hushed voice, mostly to herself. The two mares were silent for a moment, which was broken when they both sighed. Silently, Rarity suddenly wished she had kept to herself. 'I would have definitely been MUCH happier being completely oblivious to all this.' she thought to herself, something she suspected Twilight thought as well.

"For the last time, I do NOT have the hots for your Brother, Applejack!" Twilight moaned, as the subject on their trip back to the beach had mercilessly fallen upon Stallions. Smirking, Applejack pressed on with her grilling, her entertainment fueled by Twilight's embarrassed denials (and, admittedly, from the amount of sarsaparilla she drank at dinner).

"Oh, please! Ah-Ah've caught you starin' at him before, so don' trah and lie. I'm the...form of honesty! ...Or summat." Applejack slurred slightly.

"Ha ha...uhm, Applejack, how much sarsaparilla DID you drink?" Rainbow Dash asked her, now a little concerned.

"Oh, uhm...abou' 10 bottles. Why?" Applejack replied, going slightly cross-eyed as she strained to remember. Rainbow Dash glanced over at Twilight for reassurance.

"Don't worry. She'll just feel terrible in the morning." Twilight answered intelligently. Stopping for a moment and looking over at Pinkie Pie (who noticed Twilight looking at her and perked up), Twilight made a smart suggestion. "Lets just remember to keep Pinkie away from her until she's had some time to recuperate."

"Why? I had lots of sarsaparilla, too!" Pinkie Pie announced, to which everypony else snickered.

"Pinkie, you always have lots of sarsaparilla. You're like...impervious to the stuff. We're saying Applejack is going to have a hangover." Rainbow Dash explained to the pink pony, who started to hop along the path to the beach. As they finally cleared out from the trees, they were greeted with a magnificent view of the sea being illuminated by the moon...and by the objects in the sky, which had grown much larger in the hours that had passed since they last saw them. As the rest of the ponies 'ooh'ed and 'ahh'ed at the sight, Twilight and Rarity simultaneously let loose nervous gulps.

"Twilight Sparkle, if you want a good look, you must hurry over to the telescope before it begins to burn in entry." Princess Luna urged, causing Twilight to gallop the short distance over. When Princess Celestia noticed Twilight's friends squinting and cupping their eyes with their hoofs to try and get a good luck, she summoned five more telescopes. The entire group, save for Rarity, zipped over to their telescopes happily, trying to get a good look themselves. Rarity, however, simply stared up at the sky, growing more nervous by the second.

"How can any of you not find this frightening in the least bit? Particularly when none of you know what, exactly, it is?" Rarity asked everypony in attendance, including the Princesses. Just as Princess Celestia was going to try and calm her down, Rainbow Dash suddenly shouted out.

"Hey, what are those weird blue shapes to the right of the asteroid thingy?" she asked, her one eye still firmly placed on her telescope. Everypony, this time including Rarity, looked into their telescopes. Sure enough, they saw a pair of creatures encased in huge misshapen blocks of blue ice.

"Oh shoot! I've seen creatures like that before in one of my books, did I bring it? Let me check, hold on!" Twilight exclaimed, in a frenzy to find the right book so as to try and impress Princess Celestia. A short moment later, she found the massive book she was looking for. "The Esoteric and Rare Creatures handbook!" Twilight explained happily, as she began leafing through the huge book.

"Handbook? Really? That's awfully LARGE and OLD to be any sort of USEFUL handbook." Rarity said disapprovingly, to which Twilight ignored and kept leafing through the book.

"Uhm, Twilight, I was just...wondering. I had a question, if you don't mind answering..." Fluttershy asked her friend in her typical quiet and shy demeanor. Twilight looked up, smiling and nodded, waiting for the question. "Those creatures, are they...friendly? They look awfully...angry with each other."

"Well, it looks like it depends on the Human, they have unique personalities like we do." Twilight explained. At the word 'Human', all her friends looked at her quizzically. "'Human' is the name of the species that are...wow! They've unfrozen! I've never seen things move at such a blurring speed!" Twilight shouted as she watched the Human's fighting. Even the Princesses swiveled back to their Telescopes and stared in awe. It wasn't long, however, before the two figures were obscured by a sudden red glow, along with an extremely unnerving 'Swheeeeee!' sound.

"Oh no...Sister, that won't burn up. It won't burn up at all! Whatever it is, it's been tempered to resist heat!" Princess Luna gasped, staring at the object fearfully as the fire of entry licked over it's entire surface. Princess Celestia turned to the group of ponies next to her and addressed them.

"Twilight Sparkle, Rarity! My sister and I require your assistance! Use ALL the might in your horn to push against the object! The rest of you, flee now!" Princess Celestia commanded in an authoritative voice. The remaining ponies began to run from the beach as the two Unicorns and the two Alicorns used magic to push against the object. They hadn't gotten far, however, as bits of the object had already begun to rain down around them. Grunting, the two Princesses formed a protective cocoon around the area of beach that they covered, straining to maintain the barrier while they also pushed against the object. The 4 ponies in the back watched in horror as the object continued to balloon in size, unabated by the 4 magic users attempts to slow it.

"Okay, ah'm definitely sober again." Applejack let out in a squeak of fear, as Fluttershy and Pinkie Pie shook on the ground, hugging each-other, and Rainbow Dash looked around frantically trying to find an escape route that everyone could use. As everyone began to outright panic, the 8 on the beach heard a male cry of confusion and anger scream out over top of them, as one of the figures passed by overheard, traveling at an abnormally fast speed. Just as the Princesses were about to abandon all hope of stopping the object, and magically evacuating everypony, the remaining figure in the sky suddenly darted infront of the massive object, which dwarfed him to an almost humorous level. Letting loose a warcry that was heard clearly over the massive sound being generated by the object falling from the sky as it burned, the Human shoved hard against the object, a blue fire erupting from his feet.

"It's...slowing! Princesses, it's slowing!" Twilight shouted over the sound.

"Keep pushing, Twilight Sparkle! Keep pushing!" Princess Luna urged her, struggling to speak as was she the barrier and the force against the object. It wasn't long before the fire around the object dissipated, but it was still traveling at an incredible speed. As the object neared, the magic users were forced back, ushering the 4 in the back away from the beach as well. The object was still moving at a decent speed when it and the fully visible Human slammed hard unto the beach's edge, letting out a sickeningly loud 'CRUNCH!'. The Human wasted no time in flinging the massive object into the sea, which caused some higher waves along the shove, but nothing major. As it stared out into the sea, a dark black stain appeared on the side of it's white cloak, prompting a groan to emanate from the Human, followed by it collapsing onto all fours.

"Main line...punctured by a buckled bulkhead. Not good." The Human seemed to speak to itself, as it looked at a blue light rising from it's wrist. Suddenly emboldened by a desire to befriend and this rare visitor to Equestria, and to help care for it's wound, Fluttershy cautiously wandered over.

"Uhm, hello? Mr. Human? Are you...hurt? Do you need help?" Fluttershy asked nervously, partially hiding her face with her flowing mane. The Human turned slowly and cautiously. When it caught sight of Fluttershy, it whisked down it's hood for a better look. Upon doing so, it stumbled up in fright.

"Wha- what the hell are you?" it shouted in fear. Glancing up the beach, it noticed the rest of Fluttershy's friends staring in awe, as the two Princesses simply stared as if seeing an old friend. "More of you? St- stay away, wh- whatever you all are!" The blond haired human shouted loudly, his vivid green eyes almost glowing in the dark night. As he stepped backwards, he grunted in pain and clutched his side.

"O-oh, please! Let me help you, you're hurt!" Fluttershy pleaded, approaching the human once more. Panicking, the Human got up and ran into the forest with a blinding speed. As everypony sat in the dark for a moment, dumbfounded and silent, they suddenly heard a loud angry shout from within the forest.

"Angel, you're mine!"

"What do we do? He was in obvious need of assistance, Sister. Shall we locate him?" Luna asked Celestia in private. As Celestia finalized some room service for her Pupal and her friends to help calm them, she turned to the Alicorn of the night.

"I'm not sure that really was Silver we were looking at, dear sister. Yes, the cloak matched, as did the shape of his face and the color of his hair...but much more evidence pointed to the contrary." Celestia mulled over the previous events, replaying them in her head as she closed her eyes in thought.

"I must admit, his reaction was...startling, to say the least. Thinking back as well, his eyes were colored incorrectly. Assuming he is a descendant, that would mean..." Luna trailed off, an unhappy thought entering her mind.

"Yes, it would mean that the man we know is dead. We knew that this would probably occur. Human's have such a sort life span..." Celestia replied morosely. "No, for now, I'm more curious as to how he even arrived here. Additionally, just who was it he was so fiercely engage in combat with. And to make matters even more confusing, how a human, a member of a species so fragile, survived space flight, reentry, and slamming upon the surface of the planet carrying a heavy load and suffered only a moderate injury." Celestia strained her mind, pleading for something in her lifetime's experience to jump out and explain the recent happenings. "This also makes me worry, as I'm certain Twilight will have noticed this as well. I just hope she doesn't chase after that Human in search of answers."

"I wonder if he even is completely Human, with those oddities." Luna spoke her mind, and paused to think for a moment. "The figure in which he was locked in combat with, it appeared to land somewhere in Everfree forest, which is the same direction the unknown human has gone off in what I suspect is to settle a blood feud. I suggest we send the girls home and monitor the forest's activity from the castle." the dark blue Alicorn suggested, her fur and mane blending in with the night sky that invaded through an open window. After a moment of thinking, Celestia conceded.

"Man, I thought for sure that creature was going to get crushed! But he was like 'No Way.' and slammed into the ground, kneeling, while holding the asteroid thingy! It was so awesome!" Rainbow Dash recounted to Applejack and Twilight, the exact same ones who were with her that night, as they walked to Sweet Apple Acres.

"Dash, please, fer the love of Celestia, stop yelling! Yer killin' me here!" Applejack moaned, as she rode on the cyan pegasus' back and gripped her forehead.

"Hey, it's not my fault you got drunk! You just don't know when to stop!" Rainbow Dash replied, annoyance in her voice. "Besides, you sure teased Twilight alot last night, claiming she liked your Brother. Think of it as...retribution."

"Oh, yeah...abou' that...sorry, Twi'. I tend to turn into a real jerk if I drink enough Sarsaparilla. Can ya' forgive me?" Applejack looked at and apologized to Twilight, an ashamed look on her face.

"Don't worry about it Applejack, I forgive you. But, can I suggest you cool off on the Sarsaparilla? I'm worried you drink it too much when it's around." Twilight replied, concern in her voice.

"Oh, don' you worry about that. If ah'm going to constantly feel like this afterwards, ah'm done with the stuff. Pinkie can have it." Applejack promised, closing her eyes and rubbing her temples with the sides of her hoofs. As they got closer to the ranch, a little yellow colored and red maned filly came running over.

"Hi gals! How was the vacation?" she asked excitedly, wanting to hear the story of the asteroid in person. Just as Rainbow Dash was getting ready to retell the story again, Applejack moaned loudly in anticipation, which got the filly's attention. "Oh, Applejack, did you go an' get yerself smashed again?" the filly teased, smirking as her older sister grunted and nodded her head.

"Go on in an' tell Big Mac ahead of tahme, Apple Bloom, because ah'm gonna give him a good bucking if he asks the same thing when we get inside, even if it's a joke." Applejack asked her little sister, who was all too happy to oblige: she knew how much Applejack's bucking hurt! As she trotted off into the Apple family house, Rainbow Dash chuckled a bit.

"You know, your little sister is pretty cute." she complimented her hung over friend. Twilight giggled a bit, and then spoke up herself.

"Rainbow Dash! You already thinking about having a filly of your own?" Twilight teased, expecting an explosion of denials.

"Hah, me? Naw, I've yet to even find a single Stallion who can keep up with me. Besides, Scootaloo is enough little sister material for me, even if we're not related." Rainbow Dash explained, striking a pose which caused Applejack to fall over and complain angrily. "Oops, sorry Applejack..." Rainbow Dash apologized, slightly embarrassed.

"Naw, don' worry abou' it. Ah can make mah own way back into mah house now. Thanks fer the lift, Dash." Applejack thanked her friend, slowly ambling her way up the hill into her house. Rainbow Dash and Twilight bid her farewell, and proceeded to part ways themselves. As Twilight rounded the corner, she could faintly hear Big Mac's howl of pain that she had completely expected to hear, but it made her giggle nonetheless. By the time she had returned to the library, it was noon hour, which meant...

"Spike, it's noon! Time to reorganize the books according to the date of publication!"

"How did you...suddenly get...so strong?" The green-eyed human asked a figure in the shadows, as he struggled to lift himself up off the floor, a black fluid dripping and leaking all over the ancient stone floor.

"I met a pretty little thing called...Nightmare was it? Oh, you'd love to see her pow- oh wait. You have. Never mind. Sorry, insanity does that too you." The figure spoke in the same voice as the one of the floor, mocking him. "I told you before, Leo. I'm on a mission to eradicate all sentient robots. Whats with this vengeance concept you have against me? Because I achieved one main goal of killing the Cluster Queen?"

"Go fuck yourself, Angel." Leo had struggled to reply, spitting some of the sticky black liquid out from his mouth as he did so. The silence in the ancient stone room was permeated only the sounds of the forest and Leo's own body. As he stared at the shadowed figure called 'Angel', he decided that even though his chance for retreat had come and gone already, he wasn't going to allow this disgusting, twisted person in front of him the satisfaction of breaking his will.

"Leo, I've come to a decision. I won't land a killing blow on you. At this point, there would be no reason, as your systems are already shutting down." The figure stepped out, tapping the side of his nose. "It's something that we both know, no reason to hide it, right? Anyways, I digress...I won't kill you. However, I can place a variety of curses upon you, which I will do in a moment because you will, no doubt, somehow beat the odds and survive alone. You always have, and that's something I admire about you: Your ability to survive without friendship. No no, saying thrive would be going a bit too far. And- Oh, look at me! I'm going off-topic again! Sorry, Leo, let's not waste anymore of my time, shall we? I'm going to throw a nasty little curse upon you that'll weaken you nicely, so that if you do survive, you won't be able to attack me effectively. Because I've decided to alert Humans to this nice slice of land in this unknown section of the universe. Some of them want a new home, you know...particularly since it was an invention of ours when we were ONE that caused earth to...well, you know." Angel smiled widely.

"You seriously think I give a damn about the weird ass things that live here? My god, you ARE nuts!" Leo retorted, struggling to keep his mouth clear.

"Ahah, and you see! That's your downfall! Dishonesty, Disloyalty, Cruelty, Sadness, Greed, and most of all, Loneliness! You lie to yourself and everyone around you, you throw around alliances and friendships like toys, you put others in pain and sorrow to get your own ends, you're busy wallowing is sorrow to notice how awful you really are, you abuse people's need for items for personal gain, and you use all these things to isolate yourself, because you're afraid to express how you really feel!" Angel explained his view of Leo.

"Are you DONE getting off at the sound of your own voice? Where is this ooky-spooky curse you speak of? So far I only feel," Leo started to retort again as he pushed a finger into a hole on his arm, "a little holy." Leo had joked, chuckling more out of fear than at his actual joke. But he didn't want Angel to know that.

"My god, you are stuck up. Fine, hold still...little redundant to say that, because your injuries won't let you move, but..." Angel trailed off. As he began to mumble strange words, Leo suddenly felt himself lifted into the air. Black wisps of smoke swirled around him, and he began to see a green male-like version of the creatures he saw on the beach, which caused his fear to skyrocket. Losing his cool as the image came closer and closer, Leo let out a terrified yelp, and began trying to lean away from the image. The closer it got, the more frightened Leo became. When he finally realized that the image was suddenly copying his every move, he let out a blood-curdling scream of fear. With this last bit of terror, Angel felt happy enough to finish, and flicked his hands, causing Leo, and the black clouds spinning around him to fly off deep into the Everfree forest. "Nightmare, you beautiful creature. THAT was ABSOLUTELY astounding." Angel heavily complimented the air around him. The air replied, however, in a shimmering female voice.

"I aim to please, young Angel. Now, begin your preparations to contact your original species. They must be made aware of this fertile planet."