From Beyond

“Just by barely reading through this thing, it pretty much exactly describes you.” Twilight said, looking over her notes.

I know. Celestia never even bothered to look at it, otherwise she would just tell them.

“So what are they going to do when they get you back?” Twilight asked, looking at the tablet again. The details of the back-up plans were mildly sickening.

I would guess put me into a vault. There isn’t a whole lot you can do with something like me.

“I have another question that’s been bugging me. You mind giving me a straight answer?” Twilight said, tossing the tablet onto her bed.

I might. Depends on what the question is.

“How are you immune to magic? You’re the only thing on the planet that can even claim that.” She asked, hoping to get an answer.

I’m not immune to magic. You just use the wrong energy wavelengths.

“What?” She asked, extremely confused.

Magic is just the manipulation of ambient energies. When someone tries using energy based weapons on me, I cast out a destructive interference wavelength that cancels it and makes it seem as though nothing happened.

“You’re very forthright with information today. Did something change?” Twilight asked, processing the information. This would revolutionize magic itself.

I feel like being nice today. Is it so wrong to help your student?

How Seed had said student made Twilight squirm.

“So what do you plan on doing?” Twilight asked, as she stood up and stretched.

That is a very interpretable question. Are you interested in something specific?

Twilight’s mind jumped back to her dream, when he first showed up in a form other than the silver blob.

“No.”

You know I can read your mind, right?

Twilight just blushed, as the image wouldn’t leave the front of her mind.

You do realize that I was pulling the information to create that body from your mind. It was designed to keep your attention. You succeeded quite well in keeping your attention on the game.

“I tend to ignore everything when I need to focus. By the way, can you do that with your real body or just in my head?” Twilight asked, putting her notes in order. She had gotten several pages of stuff, just from what she could read.

I can, but it requires a lot of energy to keep it up. Holding a shape when you’re normally shapeless is quite taxing.

“I guess I better go tell Celestia what they’re looking for.” Twilight said, sighing as she stood up and walked to the door.

Do you want me to reveal myself as well?

“If you really want to. You might want to wait a bit though.” Twilight said, leaving the room.

“To what do I owe this honor?” Aphrodite asked, staring across the table at her guest.

“I just wanted to talk. It isn’t everyday that you witness the most severe beatdown in history.” Discord said, sipping at his tea.

“Ah yes, the fight with Blueblood.”

“Was killing him entirely necessary?” Discord asked, deadpanning at her.

“He accepted the terms without asking the rules. It is his own fault he is dead now. If you were here to play on my empathy, you’re talking to the wrong person.” Aphrodite said, taking a bite of her now cold breakfast.

“I wouldn’t expect you to have any empathy. After the asskicking you gave Blueblood, who deserved it, I could never ask you to apologize. I’m here to extend an invitation to his wake and funeral. He fought you as best he could, and a warrior like you ought to recognize when someone tries their best.” Discord said, pulling a slip of paper from his coat. He slid it across the table to her.

“Do you really believe it is a good idea to invite me, his killer, to a wake in his honor?” Aphrodite asked, eyeing the paper warily.

“Not in the least. You see, I am a very chaotic being. While I am still respectful of the fact it is his rites of death, it would just not be me unless there was a little chaos. Hence the invitation.” He said, as he took a bite out of his glass.

“I’ll think about it.” Aphrodite said, picking up the paper and slipping it into her dress.

“That is all I ask. By the way, Tia is going to be stopping by soon to apologize and beg forgiveness. She is afraid for her ponies, and you’re a threat that not even I could fight.” He said, as he stood up and started heading for the door.

“I already figured she would. If you see her before she shows up, you can tell her that she doesn’t have to bother. As long as she does not repeat her actions, nothing will happen in retaliation.” Aphrodite said, finishing off her breakfast.

“You want me to play messenger?” Discord asked, his eyebrows rising far above physical means.

“I would rather not have to deal with accepting an unnecessary apology. Whether or not you tell her is entirely your choice though, it would just be easier on me.” Aphrodite said, shrugging.

“So where are we going?” Hades asked.

“I don’t know. I’m just looking for something strong to fight.” Ares said, looking around. They had walked into a forest, and had promptly gotten themselves lost.

“I vote we take them out. They already killed Blueblood, its only a matter of time before they go after someone else.” A voice echoed out from ahead of them. This instantly caught both of their attentions, and they dropped down into crouches to better blend in.

Hand signs passed between them before they split apart to go after the voices.

“According to Fancy Pants, Blueblood was the one that started it. He insulted the girl, and she retaliated. She was well within her rights to fight him, and he agreed to her rules without asking about them.”

Hades was the first to find them, using his eyes to follow after the sound waves and track the source. It turned out to be a group of twenty or so unicorns in a small clearing. He looked across the clearing, noticing that Ares was walking up just then.

“Do we take them out now or wait?” Ares asked, using the built in communicators in their helmets.

“We need to find out what they plan on doing first.” Hades replied.

“How do you plan on doing that anyways? The girl was a monster, and I would bet a thousand bits that the big one could take on Celestia and walk away.” One of the unicorns said.

“If we could surprise her alone, I bet all of us could take her out. She couldn’t possibly take all of us on at the same time.”

“These idiots really have no idea how strong she is. I think they would be greatly surprised to find out how easy she was going against blue boy.” Hades said through the communicator, suppressing his laughter.

“I agree, there isn’t anyone who can fight against twenty opponents at the same time and keep their cool. We need to avenge Blueblood.”

“Do you want to take them out now?” Ares asked.

“No. If they believe they can take out Aphrodite, they’re going to have quite the rude awakening. We will have to inform her though, so that she can decide whether to take it easy when they actually ambush her. I doubt anyone would want to see the bloodbath if she didn’t.” Hades responded. “Let’s fall back and report in. If she wants to tell our hosts, we’ll let her.”

“Are you sure I can’t take them out? It’ll be quick, and no trace will be left for them to say it was us.” Ares said.

“They’re likely nobles, they would be noticed missing very quickly. If they’re going to be taken out, it will be in self defense. Then the blame will not be on us for defending ourselves.” Hades replied.

“Fine. I’ll wait. When I’m off my leash though, there will be blood.” Ares said before disappearing off into the foliage again.

“May the Knights watch their path, because if they cross ours they will end up dead before they know it.” Hades said, before heading off to meet up with Ares.