The author strode into the main hall as both him and Dark entered from the front door. “Ah, it feels good to be back again.” Condemned stated as he slipped the hood off of his head, leaving it to rest upon his shoulders.

With a deep exhale, Dark looked to Condemned with a smile,“Yeah, that it does brother. That it does.” Dark reached into his pack and pulled out a small rusted watch and glared down upon it. “Do you know why Celestia asked for us to retrieve this? It looks like a piece of useless junk.” He chuckled.

“Well, I can’t say for sure.” Condemned said as he approached Dark to get a better look at the watch. “Does it do something magical like the rest of the stuff we find?”

“I don’t know. On the walk back, I was trying to see if I could find out what it does, or did, but nothing.” Dark continued to twist and turn the watch around to find anything of importance, but once again, nothing happened.

“Here, let’s see that for a second.” Condemned voiced. Dark tossed him the rusted watch and he began looking it over. It seemed like a normal pocket watch. The once ticking arms seemed to have stopped moving and its once rich, golden coat had long since faded. “You have to admit. It’s in pretty good condition, considering where we found it.”

“I thought we were on a wild goose chase trying to find this, but how did it wind up in that volcano of all places?” The elderly guardian called,“Seems like someone was really trying to hide it.”

“In either case, it’s here now. So, let’s figure this thing out before Chrys picks up that we’re..” A loud slamming door could be heard as Condemned tried to finish speaking. “..back. Too late I guess.”

“And where in the world were you two of to? Without telling me as well to top it off!” The ebony queen yells. “And in the middle of the night! A week ago! You two are in a hell of a lot of trouble!”

Dark tries to step in and calm his raging wife,“I’m sorry dearest, we got a mission from Celestia and Luna to retrieve an artifact of some kind. But we’re home now, we’re safe, and nothing’s gone wrong. Everything’s fine.” Dark reaches over and slowly pulls Chrys into a rather intimate hug. “I’ve missed you, love.”

Through half lidded eyes, the changling queen speaks,“I’ve missed you too dear.” Just before their lips could connect, Chrysalis placed her hands against Dark’s chest and pushed him away slightly. “But next time you two plan on going somewhere, you guys tell me instead of leaving an uninformative letter!” Dark looked to Condemned and gave a lopsided smile.

“I told you it would need to be more than that.” Condemned smiled.

Dark looked back to Chrysalis and raised an eyebrow. “I thought it would be enough.” With his words spoken, the ebony queen pinched the bridge of her nose. “What?” He asked.

“If you’re going to leave a letter telling me that you’re going on some random adventure and might be away for a few days or longer, tell me that rather than simply writing,‘We’ll be back’. Do you know how much I worried for the two of you? A lot! Next time Dark, next time!” Chrys seemed a bit steamed.

“Well, it’s good to know that you missed us Chrys but if you don’t mind... I have a date with a pretty amazing specimen.” A smirk cut across Condemned’s face as he was about to stroll into the dining hall.

“Off to go see my granddaughter are you?” Dark smiled. Condemned looked to him with a puzzled expression until he thought for a moment about what he had said.

The author gave a small chuckle and spoke,“Oh Dusk! I was actually thinking about paying a visit to the kitchen, but yeah! I should check up on her after I grab something to eat.” Condemned gave a few approving nods to his own idea. “Yeah, sounds like a plan.” The sound of his stomach roared as he place his hand across his torso. “Well, If you’ll excuse me.”

After getting some food, consuming, and then paying a visit to his beloved Dusk, the sun had set and the castle lay quiet. All were sleeping within the castle walls, all but one. Condemned sat within his room on his desk and continued to look over the pocket watch. Trying to find the secrets held within. What did it do? What was its purpose? How can it be fixed? These questions, he didn’t hold a single answer for.

“Well, the arms aren’t moving. Maybe the batteries are dead?” He assumed as he gazed upon the watch. The author turned the watch over and looked for a way to open the contraption, but couldn’t seem to find one. “Damn it!” He whispered to himself. “Well, maybe it doesn’t take batteries. Maybe it just needs to be wound up?” Once again, he turned the watch over and lightly placed his finger beside the hour hand. Very slowly, Condemned began winding the watch back. He wasn’t sure if it would work, or aid in its destruction further, but once he finished turning the hands back, it began to tick. “And the world can thank me later.” Condemned whispered to himself as he smirked, setting it down onto the desk.

He looked to the watch but saw that it was ticking counter clockwise. “And... this is the part where things go wrong. Damn.” Assuming that the watch must have been broken.. further, he picked it up from the desk once more. But as he grasped it, things began to feel weird. “What the..” His mind began to darken and things began to spin. “I hate my life...”

“Headache.. Great. I was wondering when I’d get another one.” Condemned said as he sat up from the morning dew grass. “What?” He looked around and found that he wasn’t in the Hive. “Where in the...”

“Hey! Are you ok?” Called someone across the field.

The author stood from his resting spot and tried to assess the situation. ‘What’s going on?’ He thought to himself. ‘I was in the castle, in my room, winding the pocket watch and then... wait a minute! The watch!’ Condemned frantically searched his pockets for the watch, but couldn’t seem to find it. “Oh, of course! How wonderful, this is just too perfect.” He was so busy lost within his own problems that he didn’t even notice that the strange from across the field was now mere feet away.

“Are you ok?” He asked.

Confused, Condemned looked to the voice and found him, stumbling back in the process. “Holy Shi....taki.. mushrooms.. Don’t go sneaking up on people like that. It could get you beat!” He grumbled.

“I was just checking to see if you were ok, but if you’re just going to be an ass about it... you know what. I’m sorry. It’s just that. I’m new here. But I’m thankful I found you though, at least I’m not the only one around.” The hooded stranger smiled.

As Condemned narrowed his eyes on the stranger, he asked,“What do you mean... ‘Not the only one’?”

The stranger took off his hood and held out his hand. “Well, human. The name’s John Dixon, but most around here call me Darkmoon’s Crescent.”

A large mix of feelings washed over Condemned. It was but a whisper, but he asked,“How old are you... Dark?”

“Twenty eight. Why?” Dark asked.

“So that’s what it did. Huh.” He quickly shook his head and took Dark’s hand and gave it a good shake. “Well Dark, It’s a pleasure meeting you. The name’s Condemned.”

‘This is going to be one hell of a ride.’ Condemned thought to himself.

“You’re strange... I like that. Nice to meet you Condemned.”

Author's Note

Back up and writing, Proud of myself... a tad. Anyways. Thanks for reading and if you enjoyed our time together thus far, leave a like, or dislike, comment, or not. Damn. I'm not the most sociable person, ok?

ANYWAYS.

Keep it cool, Condemned.