Legion's Plague

Chapters

Hell's Bells (edited)
Fog
Balthor?
Um...
WTF?
Organ Jaws
So....What Now?
One Thing to the Next
Insanity
What's Going On Here!?
London Bridge is Falling Down~
Awkward....
Journey Into the Frozen North, Part II: Vision
Journey Into the Frozen North, Part III: Dark Crystal Shards
Wrath
King of Shadows
Dark Reflections
Fighting Mirror Images
Crystal Tragedy
Well, then!
Ghost Town...?
Into Combat!
Nightmare's Return
Intermission 2: What Are...?
To Cloudsdale...?
Draconic Fight
No Longer Safe?
Freezing
Frickin' Finally!
Intermission 4: Let's Try This Again
Everfree's Unicorn
Mineshaft
Horse-men?
An Old Equestrian Terror Revived, Part One
An Old Equestrian Terror Revived, Part Two
An Old Equestrian Terror Revived, Part Three
Out of One Hell, Into Another
Fleeting Twilight, Impending Darkness
A Fortress of Golden (Cage) Doors
Punishment of Sin, Part One
Punishment of Sin, Part Two
Ruins (edited)
Of All The--!
Journey Into the Frozen North, Part I: Blizzard

Hell's Bells (edited)

Hell's Bells

"Explain!" Scootaloo bellowed again, spreading her wings and stomping a hoof onto the carpet.

"Scootaloo!" Cried another mare with a white coat, green eyes, purple-and-pink curly mane and tail, and swirled heart cutie mark. She was a unicorn. "If it's hard for her to explain, then leave her alone!"

"Alright, Sweetie Belle..." Scootaloo sighed, letting her wings drop. Her ears dropped flat as well, but quickly perked up as another bloody shriek shook the entire house.

"I hope for the love of GodCat that isn't my own mother." Fang snarled as yet another pained cry hit his ears.

"It isn't, because by now all the windows would break," Rarity pointed out.

A blue cat that had no legs and two tails instead of one meowed with a sad sigh.

"NoLegs, we're doing our best. It's gonna be OK." Sighed a pegasus mare with a creamy yellow body, long, pink mane, and three butterflies for her cutie mark. NoLegs meowed again as tears snaked their way through his fur. The pegasus picked him up and held him in one foreleg and stroked him with the other. He began purring very faintly as a small cat's grin found itself on his face. Another Changeling, this one with green eyes and the lack of extra horns, buzzed into the room next to the pegasus.

"Mom, why don't Changelings get cutie marks?"

"Your father died before he could explain it to me, Umbralina. I do apologize, but I'm not the one with all the answers of life in general." Answered the pegasus as she continued to hug NoLegs.

"I can answer that," Called the triple-horned Changeling, "I remember when I was still a nymph: I got made fun of in school."

"How much?" Umbra asked, tilting her head to the side.

"A LOT." Answered the elder sternly. "I had three horns whereas half of my classmates had one, for starters. They also heard about Chrysalis and her iron holey hoof."

"Holey hoof....that sounded wrong." Alexis commented with a chuckle.

Fang rolled his eyes. "Sadist," He murmured under his breath.

The elder Changeling snorted at the comments from the peanut gallery before continuing, "And it was just prejudice for my being different in general. Alexis, I hope I remember this correctly, but YOU were also made fun of for having freaking wings, right?!"

Alexis froze stiff as a barrel and her mind flashed back all the way to when her hair was pulled. She stood there, seemingly petrified by the sudden prospect. It was as if her body shut down right then and there, and it was exceptionally hard work to simply nod her head. It was like lifting a damned clock tower with harpies flying in and out and one mishap killed them one by one with a pocket knife at the bare minimum!

"We're closer to ponies than gryphons, Umbra. But I saw this one Changeling mare with a blue carapace turn into an alicorn that looked like Lance's mother in terms of fur coloration, and we've all seen what a red fox looks like thanks to her. No offense, Fang, but that's the best way I can describe her. She even had a mask and orbs of fire for a cutie mark! I asked her about it and she said that it was only a coincidence before flying off into the night. So, we can get cutie marks, but we have to transform first. And our transformations are, more often than not, illusions." Sighed the elder.

"I understand now." Umbra said, a grin on her muzzle.

"I've been told that we Changelings cannot--or, rather, aren't supposed to--feel emotions. I call bullshit on that. If we aren't allowed to feel emotions, then why the hell do we like procreating? That requires emotion!" Grinned the elder, flashing her teeth.

"That explains how I was born!" Alexis suddenly commented, pointing at the elder Changeling. "That explains everything!"

"Are you implying you finally know how sexual intercourse works when done correctly?!" Fang shrieked, sounding like a female werewolf with a frog in her throat.

Alexis gave him a sadist's grin and her eyes twinkled. A sort of demented chuckle flew out of her mouth.

"Oh, my, someone's enjoying herself." Commented the yellow pegasus as her eyes went wide.

"And this is why--" Anna started before coughing again. Once a wad of mucus got expelled from her throat and sent into the waste bin, she resumed, "--I haven't sent them to sex ed. They'd figure it out themselves."

The murky-haired man could not believe his ears. His face curled up into a mixture of embarrassment, disgust, and horror.

"....did I scar my son for life?" Anna asked before another coughing fit ran its course.

The murky-haired man nodded slowly. "E-Excuse me...." He murmured before running up the stairs and into the bathroom as the door slammed shut quite loudly.

Twilight Sparkle came down the stairs with a book in her magical grip. "I think I have the...cure."

"Spit it--" Anna coughed yet again, this time with her face turning blue in the process, "--out already."

"I'm getting to it." Twilight scoffed with a sigh. "Anyway, I've found out what's wrong. You are all aware that pretty much everyone in this house has some degree of magic power, right?"

Everyone nodded.

"Take their magic power away...in full, I might add, and compress it into an object and then hide those objects away from them. This is what you get for them not recovering. I am still unsure about the illness running rampant through the Royal Guards, though." Twilight sighed.

A bat-pony guard who had paws in place of hooves, a canine muzzle and tail, and lots of fuzz woke up from his sleep and yawned. Thankfully, he wasn't afflicted with the illness at all...though he had a constant erection that drove everyone bonkers.

"What would the objects look like?!" Alexis demanded, stomping her foot.

"The book says the appearance of the object will correspond to the powers of the person or pony who uses them. But the objects will also be...as small as earrings." Twilight sighed again. "Think of Fang's Full Moon Charm around his neck."

"What happens after we give them the objects?" Fang asked, rubbing a finger along his Charm.

"That's where I come in...though they have to be naked." Twilight sighed once more, this time rolling her eyes.

Another man, this time with a lot of spiky brown hair that hid a great deal of his face, descended the staircase. On his back was a ginormous red cannon that had e-Bay on it in colorful letters. On his forehead was a white bandana with a red circle on it.

"I really hope this alleged 'Cult of Blueblood' can't withstand my hax." Said the man, clenching his hands into fists.

"We don't know what they'll be packing, Lazarus." Alexis pointed out sternly. "For all we know, they could be torturing Luna so the world would end!"

"She's got a point. So...err...I guess expect the unexpected?" Twilight sighed, darting her eyes back and forth with a nervous grin on her face.

"Twilight," Said another mare whose coat was orange and mane blond, "I would ask ya ta quit goin' inta heat, but, ya know, that's kinda impossible."

Lazarus shrieked. His jaw dropped to the floor and his eyes widened by a mile.

"APPLEJACK!" Everyone, Anna included, shouted accusingly, "DON'T SAY THINGS LIKE THAT!"

Fog

"EVERYONE!" Alexis bellowed, granting her the undivided attention of everyone in her immediate vicinity. "Calm the fuck down!"

"I think we all need some shut-eye." Twilight commented.

"Anything about the objects we need to know or go over?" Lazarus asked, tilting his head to the side.

"The book says the objects can be hidden anywhere and be misused by anyone that isn't their owners. So, we have to act fast if we are to stop this." Twilight answered, worry in her voice.

"So, until we find the objects, we're simply fucked?" Fang asked, crossing his arms.

"More or less." Twilight answered again, letting her wings drop and another sigh escape her lips.

=============

Alexis woke up under the light of the fog-concealed dual moons.

This wasn't right, she just fell asleep in her own bed literally five minutes ago.

Ugh, her own sadistic mind was fucking with her again.

She hastily got up onto her feet and glanced around. The fog lifted, though only a hare, to reveal a dirt path along hills of grass. But the fog concealed the hills themselves. Lovely, it was leading her somewhere. Just great.

Then, silhouettes of those guards came shambling towards her. There were at least eleven of them.

"Okay, now I know I've played too much Silent Hill while listening to Katie, who was drunk off her ass." Alexis commented as her eyes became white with small black dots. A bead of sweat found itself on the side of her head as she drew her heavily-modified Hallowed Demon Staff--now, Scythe--from thin air.

More body parts were sent flying every which-way. The entire road was stained in blood for some reason, not just that one patch where Alexis committed the massacre. But the blood she spilled was red and fresh while the rest of what was on the road was black, dry, and aged with the elements raging against them. She wondered if a Fire Elemental set foot here, for GodCat's sake.

"Now that I think of it, speaking of GodCat, where is she?" Alexis asked out loud with wonder as she followed the blackened trail before her.

She suddenly felt sick to her stomach, as if the butterflies in her stomach had butterflies in their stomachs. Nonetheless, she kept walking down the trail but couldn't notice the fact that it was just that small band of eleven or so guards that she killed. She stopped before the body of a white unicorn mare that was between the heights of Luna and Celestia. What's more, her mane and tail were wavy like the aforementioned Princesses, but it lacked the anti-gravity and sparkles both shared. The mane and tail also shared the same light-sky-blue, and this mare didn't have a cutie mark--she was, to be blunt, a blank flank. Not one drop of blood or ick touched her coat, and if it did, then it was on the mare's other side--the one she happened to be laying on. Her horn was sleek and smooth, yet it also showed that she was a good 30 or so years old.

Alexis blinked but once and found herself landing on her ass as the mare, now awake, stared her in the face right in the eyes.

"U-Um....hello?" Alexis squeaked as she got up and regained her composure. The mare said nothing; instead, she suddenly and mysteriously turned into a cloud of sparkling dust that was in her unicorn shape. The cloud wavered as a breeze blew past, and soon enough, that breeze carried her form away.

"Okay, this is getting awkward." Alexis commented with a sigh as she continued to follow the blackened trail.

A sound hit her ears, and she immediately stopped to listen.

Slashing. Blood gushing. Things landing onto the grass with a soft thump that full-fledged humans couldn't hear from afar. More slashing.

She followed the sound slowly, her feet suddenly aching worse than that one time this bastard beat her up in school. Speaking of which, he actually was able to summon a body double to cover for him. This caused her parents to go wild with fury, and it irritated them worse than rabid baboons that the true culprit was never found when the news hit their ears. Good thing she wasn't a teenager then--she'd probably have a kid of her own then and that would make Katie extra-furious. Fucking child rapists. They deserve to die a slow and painful death before crawling into bed with Satan himself. Fucking with the daughter of one Natalie Redwing is perhaps the second-biggest mistake anyone could make.

That one memory infuriated Alexis. If that bastard was still alive, she'd make him into stew.

She shook her head. Cannibalism wasn't good enough for the sorry sap.

Fuck biscuit, what was good for him aside from being raped by Satan?

The Valkyrie running his ass over? No--too quick a death.

That sound of slashing and gushing hit her ears again, and she snapped out of her stupor. She didn't realize by now that she was running as fast as she could go. It came from all directions--yet, it didn't at the same time.

A building's silhouette soon came into view. She broke out of her other thoughts as if they were chains and focused on that building. It now looked more like a castle--an Equestrian one, no less.

"Canterlot?!" Alexis almost shrieked as the vivid image of the ruined town presented itself to her. The stench of death and destruction and melancholy echoes that were previously war-torn screams of agony and victory hit her harder than the Rafflesia did in her younger years.

The slashing came back, and Alexis ran towards the castle whilst jumping buildings, ruined shopstands, and many bodies like Hell was quite literally on her heels. She dared look over her shoulder after jumping a pile of support beams.

A large shadow with an assortment of gold cages around its neck was just behind her, its humanoid shape and glowing eyes giving her quite the fright.

"Sinner...Child....of Sinner...." Bellowed the beast with its hideous, ogre-like voice as a hand crushed half the already-ruined town into piles of petty pebbles. "You are....a mage's sin. Your essence is sin--your body, your mind. All sin....!"

Alexis was unable to deny what he said--he was right; her mother technically sinned left and right before she was born. And Alexis herself sinned not too long ago, given what she made the zombies perform. She hated being unable to argue against the damn truth.

"I will....kill that wretched whore....and then...I'll enjoy you!!" Bellowed the monster, his voice now like that of a dragon as the air around his entire figure seemed to shake under his might.

The earth was giving way under the beast. Alexis broke into another run towards the castle, knowing that if she stood there like a fucking idiot, she'd go with this monster into Hell itself.

"SINNER!!!!!!" Bellowed the fiend as he fell into the hole his body created.

The hole was getting larger, and now Hell was truly on the necromistress' heels. It crumbled and fell into the lava that made the center of the planet.

A foot slipped. She fell backwards and braced herself for the inevitable when that dust cloud caught her in its swirling mass. Quick as a whip, the cloud turned into that oddly familiar unicorn mare and a bright flash of light-blue light occurred. The next thing Alexis knew was that she stood on one of Canterlot Castle's balconies.

"Thanks." Alexis said as she eyed her surroundings. Same as it was before the monster fell into the void.

"Anytime. Oh, you may call me Kelpie." Answered the unicorn with a smile. "But, I have to leave now, so I guess it's see you later." With that, she turned into a dust cloud and was yet again carried off in a breeze.

Jumping down into the ruined courtyard from the balcony, Alexis heard those sounds again--and was this time able to detect another person-like silhouette slashing at the guards with...a something.

Drawing closer to the figure whilst keeping a reasonable distance, Alexis nearly gaped. The man was bulkier than Fang on steroids. Dashing blond hair was on his head, indicating he at least could pass for a human. A jet-black chiton with a silver belt around his waist remained untouched by the flying blood somehow. One by one the guards were felled with...a silver sword?

Alexis lost all strength to move right then and there. Her body was grasped in the clutches of fear yet again, and all she could do now was watch.

A guard tried jumping the brute from behind, only to be slashed clean in two. Silver bracers and shin-guards were now visible, as were those fearsome, piercing blue eyes. He was also wearing Greek sandals for some reason. W-Who the hell was he?

He grabbed the last guard and with a mighty fist crushed his skull into the pavement. He stood up and looked at his surroundings before hearing a loud clatter of something being dropped. He turned towards the sound and spotted Alexis, who had just dropped her weapon.

"I am Kaleb, son of Balthor. Meet me at the graveyard. Bring friends." Said the brute as he rose his silver, blood-stained sword right over Alexis' head.

==========

Alexis woke up screaming so loud she nearly broke her own eardrums as she curled up into a ball under the blanket. Her eyes were wide, she was having a cold sweat, her throat was dry, and she could've sworn she was choking on a lemon in her sleep.

"Graveyard...." She whimpered over and over again as Lazarus yanked the blanket off of her to see if she was alright.

Balthor?

"Who is....Balthor?" Lazarus asked as he clutched the quarter-demon tightly.

"D-Dad said h-he was....a-a d-demon-slayer. O-One of t-the best, t-to be a-accurate." Alexis whimpered as she wept.

Lazarus was bewildered, but soon understood that he shouldn't be--Balthor slayed all kinds of monsters. Dragons. Vampires. Manticores. You fucking name it, he had a trophy on his wall for each individual species! No wonder Alexis was scared witless--her dad said monster slayers were bad, though he did make note that there were good ones. After all, Katie was a monster slayer before she realized that she herself was a monster. Of course, that didn't stop her from hunting and slaying, though it did narrow her horizons to only the bad ones. Heck, Katie actually had a run-in with Balthor in a past life and barely survived the encounter...only to be soon murdered afterwards by a man who was told to bring the body of a fox before a king. In fact, Lazarus himself would probably shit a mountain of bricks upon seeing Balthor.

God of the Winds. Monster-slayer. Not a very good combination.

"D-Don't w-wanna g-go n-near graveyard..." Alexis chanted over and over.

"Didn't Balthor and his son die hundreds of years ago?" Lazarus asked.

Alexis frantically nodded. Her entire body shook like a leaf.

Thunder shook the house as its rumble ran its course.

"Something tells me the Greek Gods are up to something...but what?" Lazarus asked as he looked outside and witnessed lightning dance savagely across the sky and tear the darkness to shreds for brief moments.

"I-I'm scared..." Alexis cooed as more tears fell off of her face.

Thunder crashed once more.

"I am going to wake everyone up that isn't sick. Just stay put." Lazarus said before he let Alexis go and ran around the house screaming at the top of his lungs like a headless chicken with a megaphone attached to the neck.

Kaleb's voice rang in Alexis' head like a broken record found in a wasteland. What did he want? What was he going to do once she complied with his request? So many questions pounded the inner walls of her skull furiously it was as if her brain was stuck on replay.

============

"A WHAT?!" Fang shrieked, jaw agape.

"Yeah. And now you understand why Alexis more or less pissed herself." Lazarus sighed as he heard thunder rip the sky and the winds outside howling in rage. "Fang, get Alexis now, I've the feeling that if we keep the Greek Gods waiting any longer the world will get flooded."

Fang immediately went into Alexis' room, scooped her up out of bed, and carried her out of the house where the female werewolf, the Wind God, dragoon, strawberry and pinkish-blonds, and murky-haired man had been waiting despite her reasonable protests.

"PUT ME DOWN, HAIRBALL! I AM NOT GOING!" Alexis wailed as she fruitlessly struggled to get out of Fang's grasp.

The thunder sounded so loud it was as if it were right next to her ears. As a result, she simply shut up and whimpered.

"Words of wisdom: Don't offend the Greek Gods lest you wind up like soooooo many others before you." Lazarus commented, "Fang, if you have to, strap her onto your back. Do not suffocate her, though."

"I don't think that's needed at the moment." Fang replied with a sigh.

"Where's the graveyard again?" Lancelot asked as he donned his spear. "Wing, scout the area."

Wing, the female werewolf, shook her head. "Not with this storm. Mom said she flew into one once and a lightning bolt hit her right in the face."

"Ouch." Lancelot sighed, his shoulders visibly tensing up. "What was she doing?"

"Flying away from another demon." Wing answered with a sigh.

"Nick, why are we going to meet this big brute?" Asked the strawberry blond.

"I dunno, Jaden." Nick, the murky-haired man, replied. "Amelia, don't ask."

Amelia, the pinkish-blond woman, nodded.

The thunder roared again and many sharp, jagged veins of purple lightning tore the sky asunder.

Lazarus looked up before shouting "We're getting a move on, it's just that we're having difficulties! Please, calm down!"

The lightning faded. Only the cold rain kept hammering away at the group.

"Let's just find the graveyard before Zeus says we're being too slow." Lancelot stated.

Everyone agreed with a nod.

===========

The group of eight stood in the graveyard's center, and so far, no infected guards gave them any trouble. The graveyard was desolate and gloomy, and many tombstones had lots of moss and vines covering their framework. The rain seemed to accelerate the overgrowth.

"It's getting cold," Amelia complained as she kept walking alongside the group, her hands on her arms. She shivered a lot.

"It's supposed to. What, are you expecting the rain to be warm?!" Jaden counter-complained as he took note the party was now under some sort of roof, seeing as it suddenly got dark.

By now, they unwittingly took refuge in a cave that had mysteriously appeared very near to the graveyard's heart, and it was surprisingly dry as a fire was quickly made. Everyone at this time, save for Fang and Wing, was wrapped up in a quilt.

Lazarus sneezed.

Lancelot kept rubbing his eyes like they itched.

Alexis shook like a leaf from both being cold and afraid.

Amelia was drinking a lot of water.

Jaden was tired.

Nick was fiddling with a metallic crossbow.

Fang was preening his sister's wings. She had the same problem mom did--lack of adequate reach and flexibility.

Suddenly, a muscular figure stood in front of the cavern's mouth.

Everyone stopped to look at the figure. Alexis felt her heart physically stop in her chest immediately. Her mind flew into a frenzy as the figure drew closer to the group.

Now, her heart was running two miles a second in her throat.

Same blond hair, same piercing eyes...it was him all right. The butterflies returned.

"Are these your friends?" Asked the brute, his gaze focused entirely on Alexis.

Alexis nodded weakly as more tears ran marathons down her cheeks. In addition, a raging blush swept the length of her face and her eyes went wide.

Fang glanced at Alexis, then towards the brute. He stood up and found out the brute was a head taller than he. A snarl escaped his lips as he said 'stay away from my woman.'

The man who was evidently Kaleb shot a glare at Fang, his voice deep and king-like. "I have no intention of mating with any sort of monster so as to tarnish my family honor. I am not killing you all, so you lot had best be lucky. I was awoken from a deep slumber of the coldest ice that the god Poseidon placed me in over five hundred years ago. When I questioned why he woke me so suddenly, he said that I was needed to aid a group of people who could rival my clan. I see that the world around me has fallen into turmoil, so I am here to help repair the damage done."

Fang sat back down whilst grumbling about something.

"You, with the mysterious device on your back." Kaleb spoke as he looked at Lazarus, "Are you the leader of this group?"

"No, I am merely the strategist." Lazarus answered quickly.

"Then who is the leader of the group? I have been told by Poseidon to do as they say regardless of their request unless I deem it too irrational." Kaleb asked, raising a brow.

The last thing Alexis needed was for all fingers to be pointed right at her.

Um...

"So," Kaleb said as he seemed to glare at Alexis all over again, this time crossing his Herculean arms and tapping a foot, "Tell me what we must do."

Alexis felt a lump in her throat. She gulped hard before speaking in a series of squeaks, "W-We need to f-find objects...that contain the p-powers of members of our f-family so they can recover."

"Anything else?" Kaleb asked, his glare unwavering, "Tell me." he added.

"Not m-much. B-But I think an a-alleged c-cult that Prince Blueblood c-created has something t-to do with this." Alexis squeaked.

Kaleb seemed to understand what Alexis was trying to talk about. He pulled a small wooden box attached to his silver belt via string and opened it. From that box, he produced an earring.

"May I see that?" Nick asked, pointing to the small object between Kaleb's fingers.

Kaleb tossed the object to the murky-haired man, who caught it with ease. Nick studied it--traditional earring loop, a small, silver vein contrasting a nigh-black background in the form of a thorned sword....

"Where did you find this?" Nick asked, bewildered as the small earring seemed to radiate a sort of unearthly power; a power that seemed to have been hand-crafted and refined over and over again solely for the mass destruction of many places. It then felt warmer than the fire he and his friends crafted, but it didn't burn him--even though it should.

Something clicked in his brain.

Machine.

Fire.

Destruction.

He knew who those three words described. Whose weapon the earring was carved after. Whose colors coincided with his former occupation.

He stomped the fire out, much to the objection of everyone else.

"Don't!" Wailed Amelia.

"What the?!" Jaden caterwauled, clearly distraught.

"Quit it! We need the fire!" Wing exclaimed, shocked.

"I think I inherited mom's fear of the dark!" Alexis shrieked in terror.

"I thought we were gonna camp here!" Lazarus yelled, his voice echoing off of the walls louder than everyone else's.

"Great. We're gonna need more wood." Lancelot stated as he glared at Nick.

"Why did you do that?! It's fucking cold!!" Fang screamed as he grabbed Nick by the shoulders.

"There's no time. We have to get to Twilight now." Nick replied as he showed Fang the earring. Fang's jaw, needless to say, dropped.

Wing looked at Kaleb. "Where did you get that?!"

"I went to this town called Canterlot. I saw a castle and decided to investigate it. After slaying some....strange, zombie-like equine creatures, I saw one of them had that piece of jewelry stuck in its hoof." Kaleb sighed with a shake of his head.

"I ain't moving until Alexis takes a whole bottle's worth of chill pills." Lazarus commented, pointing a finger at the quarter-demon.

"What's this?" Kaleb asked as he glanced at Alexis yet again while putting a hand on his chin. "A monster...whose family has been blessed by Hades himself? No wonder Poseidon deemed that I aid her." He then looked towards the twins. "And you two have been blessed by Ares, the god of war??" Now, Jaden was being looked at. "And you, blessed by Hermes, the god of speed and thievery?"

"I guess I'd be blessed by both Hermes and Pan, the god of music, right?" Amelia asked, pointing accusingly at Kaleb.

The brute nodded. "It's too dangerous to stay here." He said as thunder shook the cavern like an aerial earthquake.

Everyone that was sitting down stood up, though Fang had to grab Alexis by the wrist and yank her upright because he thought she was petrified for some reason. They all ran outside of the cavern and found hailstones raining from above. Alexis, by instinct, cast a barrier above everyone's heads and the hailstones started to bounce harmlessly off and away.

"Hooray for makeshift umbrellas!" Chimed the quarter-demon with a cat's grin.

The ground began shaking as a roar reverberated throughout the cemetery.

"I don't think we can celebrate just yet!" Jaden called as he held a hand out that was encased in a scarlet glow. A runic circle of the same color appeared just in front of his feet, and its outer margins were lined with spear-like thorns. Emerging from the center of the circle was a sword with a black, bat-winged hilt, demon-eye-like gemstone between said wings, and silver blade with a red vein running down the middle of the entire aforementioned blade. He took the hilt of that sword and hoisted it the rest of they way out of the circle as the blade pulsated with a dark and seemingly forbidden power. The circle then vanished, leaving just the sword that Jaden held.

The ground shook again with much more force and so did another roar. It was as if something was underneath the party.

Amelia's forehead had a crimson glow...she reached a hand up to it and from it she produced a red guitar. The glow vanished, and Amelia got into a position to either play the damn thing or hit something upside the head with it. Nick drew his crossbow and on his back appeared a mysterious quiver filled with rounds of both metal and wood.

The ground shook once more, this time knocking everyone except for Kaleb off-balance.

"When did you grow roots?!" Fang yelled as he produced a set of metallic knuckles. He got up onto his paw-feet and stood on all fours.

Alexis drew her Scythe before using it to support herself as she got up. "Dammit! What did we piss off this time?!"

Lancelot mimicked Alexis using his spear. "Fuck if I know! But I know it sounds like it has a stomachache!"

"I. HATE. Worms that are really giant, mutated penises." Lazarus sighed bitterly, now hovering with his cannon in tow.

"It couldn't be a giant, mutated penis, Lazarus! They don't make tremors like this, even if it's thirty of the bastards at once!" Lancelot screamed, waving one arm like a lunatic.

Wing had extended her wings so that she could fly. "I do not like this." She commented, crossing her arms. "Not one bit."

"Fuuuck!" Jaden cried as a giant, skeletal claw emerged from underneath him and almost grabbed him. He dodged out of the way.

"What did I do now?!" Alexis wailed as she looked at the giant claw.

"That, I cannot answer, for you aren't the cause of this anomaly." Kaleb said, still standing straight. "But, I can say this is an issue we need to deal with now."

Another roar sounded. The ground where the claw still was began moving up and up, as if something below was pushing the dirt, tombstones, and moss out of the way. Yet another roar sounded and the next thing everyone knew was that the claw's owner emerged from the ground and was now flying above them with massive wings.

"Ooooooh shit." Alexis, Jaden, Fang, and Lazarus said simultaneously, for they all stood there staring at a zombie dragon, the flesh of which only consisted of the wing membrane, vital organs, and dangling, rotten scales dotting its body here and there.

"Fuuuuuuck." Wing, Lancelot, Amelia, and Nick said all at once as well. Their eyes went wide in morbid wonder.

"I think the dragon has some sort of grudge against me." Kaleb commented, still standing tall and proud.

"Don't you mean us?" Asked the rest of the party accusingly as the dragon roared again.

WTF?

"So, how do we go back home?" Jaden asked, noticing a very solid wall of undead Royal Guards between his pack and the cemetery gate.

Alexis rolled her eyes. "Simple," she said with a ghoulish grin as the jar opened. Next thing everyone knew, the zombragon was back--and it obeyed her. Or, rather, it seemed to. "I do this."

Kaleb looked at Alexis in such shock he actually went cross-eyed as a result. How did she control the damn zombragon? That question ran marathons in his mind as the beast crushed the very wall of undead Royal Guards and devoured them one by one. The Guards retaliated in the only way they could--swarm like ants and attempt to rape....'attempt' being the key word. The beast roared and brushed them off with a mighty claw before squishing them like miserable bugs. The Guards came relentlessly, and it seemed that Mommy Alexis would have to help her pet out quite a lot. It was becoming too much for her zombragon (whom she named Draco) to handle such a mass attack of guards. A smile crossed her lips once more as she was flanked by her humanoid skeleton, Chuckles, and her wolf-skeleton, Lupus. That smile meant one thing and one thing only.

Hell was going to break loose. Nothing but.

Jaden stood there. Dark weapons. Dark-affiliated enemies. Not a good combo. He made the swords disappear before taking hold of another silver-bladed sword with two small red veins in the blade--the first of which bore Russian insignia. Gold angel wings--six in total--and a red, oval ruby decorated the hilt that was wrapped in red bandages. The blade was jagged but straight, as if it had the sleek, delicate thorns of a rose. It was considerably larger than both the Devil's Sunrise and the Bloodsword combined.

Amelia clutched her guitar with one hand while the other slid into her pocket to retrieve a pick.

Lazarus strapped his broken and currently-useless cannon on his back and drew forth a slender sword. It had a simple red hilt, fiery garnet, and double-edged blade. In short, a personal longsword.

Lancelot drew his spear again and imbued himself with Rage. His dexterity and attack skyrocketed, but his intelligence was traded off as a result. In short, he was now berserk, and those who are berserk usually don't think too well due to their inherent anger.

Fang and Wing stood motionless. Their jaws had dropped.

Alexis, Lazarus, Jaden, and Lancelot began mindlessly swinging their weaponry and more limbs and guts were sent all over the place. Soon enough, the wall of undead reinforcements was no more.

The party began their trek to Ponyville, making sure Draco was put back into his little jar to avoid drawing a crowd. "How many safe places are there?" Kaleb asked, his mighty voice having subtle hints of worry.

"I dunno. All I know is all the houses, ours included, are boarded up." Alexis answered with a shrug of her shoulders.

"It makes finding food hell." Jaden added, his cockiness dissolving into concern.

"At least we're alive." Amelia commented, to which everyone nodded. They then stopped and saw a unicorn approach them. Getting close enough, they saw that the unicorn was a stallion with a green-blue mane, green eyes, and blue coat. Getting closer still, Kaleb could see an evergreen forest dotted with cerulean tiger lilies for a cutie mark.

"Hey, Glory." Nick said, patting the unicorn on the back.

The unicorn, Greenwood Glory, gave a smile. But it quickly became a frown. "Come to the town square, something weird is happening to the zombies."

"We'll kill them after....wait, what?" Alexis said, shaking her head in bewilderment.

"J-Just follow me." Glory sighed as he turned around and led the party to the town square. The zombie guards were wallowing on the ground and writhing in pain. Hoarse screams that slowly sounded filly-like escaped their decaying throats. Furthermore, their flesh-sticks were quite literally falling off and so were their tennis balls. All three of which soon turned to ash. Folds....feminine folds began developing just beneath where the testicles were.

Then blood began slowly trickling downwards from those folds. And the Guards' groans became more and more woman-like...very much--no, too much--like a woman having sex. And one Guard even sounded as if there was a glob of masculine seed in the back of her throat.

"Who modified the wolbachia virus* into this shit?!" Lazarus asked in a shriek, his eyes wide and a blush on his face. He was also....getting turned on by what was unfolding before him.

"Aphrodite and Eros are messing with you, young Godling! Control yourself!" Kaleb yelled with a face-palm.

"You are a sick fuuuck." Lancelot teased, poking Lazarus just underneath the arms with both index fingers. The God of the Winds jumped and his eyes bugged out further.

Alexis rolled her eyes and shook her head. She was going to draw her Scythe again and put the Guards out of their sexual torment and misery when a familiar....sound that could be best described as poots from some engine hit her ears.

Fang heard it too. As did Wing. Both of their ears were perked sharply.

Nick gave Glory the earring. "Take this to Twilight Sparkle immediately." He said. Glory took the earring and galloped off into the distance.

The engine's ludicrous noises continued to sound. They got closer....and closer.....and closer still.

Lazarus....somehow knew the sound. Lancelot did as well.

Amelia and Jaden looked at each other, and then turned their glances to Kaleb, who, in turn, shrugged his mighty shoulders. One could say that, out of the whole lot of unlikely and not to mention amateur heroes, they were the ones who were dumbstruck by the sound. All they knew was that some clunky machine produced it, and it wasn't the Valkyrie Tank.

In the distance, a clusterfuck of a machine was fast-approaching. And it strangely sounded like it raping innocent hens as it drew even closer still. Perhaps that was the engine?

Next thing everyone knew, a big, red machine that was crossed with a train, cider factory, and science experiment ran over all of the Guards and circled the party thrice before the trainfront stopped short of Alexis' nose. She looked up and saw a podium, and behind that podium were two unicorn stallions.

Tan pelts on both.

Green eyes.

Red-and-white manes...and one of the two having a red mustache on his muzzle.

An apple slice and the rest of the otherwise-complete apple.

And not to mention those ridiculous barber outfits and mini-hats.

A giant, gold-plated funnel was encased in a green aura and it quickly sucked up the bodies. Barrels of rotting flesh-juice were soon unloaded and catapulted from the rear of the machine before being magically placed on the open area behind the podium.

The moustachioed stallion suddenly stood next to Alexis and scared her so much she landed on her ass.

"I do believe we met before...." Started the stallion.

Alexis blinked a few times....then it came back. A cider contest was held some time ago--a few years, to be accurate. This stallion and a look-alike of his challenged her mother. And lost. That was the start of Lazarus and Lancelot's friendly relations with the family.

The stallion looked at Nick. Then, at the twins.

"As yes. Your mothers....whores, I believe, defeated us because Discord was on their side." Sighed the stallion. "Me and my brother Flim want to pay you in full...with your deaths."

"And your....defilement. We will make your bodies into cider!" Declared the other stallion angrily.

Everyone drew their weapons right then and there.

Organ Jaws

Alexis shot up angrily. This stallion was practically running around calling her mother a whore? Unless she was sold way back when (which wouldn't count, even now), this.....great big flaming bazooka of a cockhead was all sorts of wrong. She put her staff down firmly into the ground and held her fists before the stallion's face, making sure the knuckles of her right were pointed up and the ones on her left facing downward. She moved her left hand as though she were cranking a jack-in-the-box. Lazarus had a music box version of Pop Goes the Weasel playing and, on cue, Alexis' middle finger shot straight up and was quickly thrust into the stallion's left eye. He bled and screamed like he traded places with Oedipus right then and there. Immediately, a flash of emerald green magic send both necromancer and scythe flying quite a ways back. Alexis crashed into a door that held firm. She stood up without so much as a wince of pain, let alone a mere second of stalling.

"I WILL KILL YOU!" Shouted the stallion as he reared up on his hind legs and clutched his wound with his forelegs. Strangely, another flesh-stick quickly emerged from its sheath. Lazarus was yet again turned on by the sight.

"Punch me, Lancelot." Lazarus practically begged as he spoke those words. The red-haired lance-master did as he was told, being extra-sure to punch his friend right into his...problem point. The God of the Winds yelped in a sort of pained pleasure as his ass landed onto the ground. The member dropped down obediently, and Lancelot punched again to make sure it would stay down for once. Lazarus yelped again.

The other stallion helped the first to the pedestal. "What you've done to my brother Flam wasn't exactly the best course of action to take, missy," Snarled the stallion, Flim, in a feral growl, "And the same goes for Lancelot and Lazarus," he soon added as his horn flared a sickly green.

Lancelot and Lazarus suddenly recalled everything. Something about a cider-making contest in which they lost.

Happy times, no?

They knew it was happy times for them...but about the infamous cheating, no-good scumbags, overzealous Flim-Flam Brothers? Oh, they knew that, for said Brothers, it was an entirely different story.

But they didn't know how the Brother's story exactly played out in the years after the God and Dragoon were integrated as a sort of branch to the very famous Wandering Heroes (or infamous, depending on who you asked.)

Kaleb raised an eyebrow at the mess quickly unfolding before him. In fact, he couldn't even comprehend why Flam got hard after literally having his eye poked out. "Eros must've cursed these poor siblings, but one very clearly has it worse than the other..." He murmured under his breath, shaking his head sadly. And then there was Lazarus, who also got turned on in in turn from merely seeing Flam's unhealthy-looking, twig-like penis. Then again, it was considerably healthier than the Guards running amok, so Kaleb really couldn't say much on the issue. Poor Lazarus, also being cursed by Eros. It was a safe bet that the god of unfair love (whose counterpart is Cupid, mind you) was playing pranks on absolutely everything on this fine and dandy evening due to boredom.

No, literally, that could explain it all, according to Kaleb. That was his logic.

Wing could not help but blush through her black fur. It was a mixture of appalled confusion and sheer demand for the meat-stick. If she were a unicorn with the 'Want It, Need It' spell on hoof, she'd use it instantly. Sadly, she couldn't in the battlefield. A sharp pang hit her furry nethers and she yelped in surprise. Her wings shot out to full length and remained stiff as boards. Kaleb looked at the werewolf and raised his other eyebrow. His face then curled into disgust. He was frowning, his eye was twitching, and it stayed that way. "Not her too..." He whispered with a sigh.

Now this was getting too out of control. It seemed as if even Zeus wouldn't do anything about it.

The funnel of the machine whirred to life again. It sucked up several barrels at once and then fired them at the party like bullets from a gun. This caused everyone to literally scatter quite a few feet away from one another in order to avoid the barrels, which spontaneously exploded into a horrid mixture of burning flesh and wood. The next round of barrels were aimed right at Alexis, who quickly shoved the foot of her staff down into the ground and inexplicably cast a spell that caused hollowed-out, golden stars to rain onto the volley of barrels and deflect them away. More explosions occurred, and thankfully, nobody was hurt.....

.....Yet.

"If only we knew how to stop them!" Fang shrieked in complete surprise as he was outrunning a machine-gun volley of barrels. He ran in circles around the machine, but it didn't spin like he had predicted it would. Rather, that damn funnel was spinning like it had a hawk's eye on him. It was firing barrels seemingly non-stop, and Fang was getting a bit tired.

"You can't stop us, horrid mix-breed!" Flam bellowed in response with a sinister grin on his muzzle. He was enjoying this sight alright. "Just because I have one eye doesn't mean that I am finished!" He added.

Wing yelped again, this time in disgust. This stallion sounded like he was jerking off to the sight of her brother being hammered by exploding, corpse-filled barrels. Even his foreleg was moving in that fashion. If Rarity were here, she'd bitch to high heaven and back. Breathing in deeply and exhaling over and over to calm herself, she felt her wings loosen a lot.

And now, they were functional.

She started flapping them and suddenly shot into the sky like a rocket. Her wings flared down the length of her backside and didn't flap again until she was just under the clouds. She opened her mouth and a white glow sat between her jaws, getting larger and larger.

All grew dark and thunder clashed whilst lightning danced in the sky.

The dual, crimson half-moons appeared. Just below, a rather thick layer of glass followed. The moonlight was divided into seven colors of the rainbow, and these bits of light danced in such a way spirals were being formed.

Alexis covered her ears as the funnel stopped firing volleys at Fang. The male werewolf had a pair of earmuffs on his head.

The Brothers looked up at Wing. A white circle appeared underneath where she had been flying. It shot a beam and so did the scattered rainbow prisms which quickly became a part of the main beam. Wing let off a scream of anger and agony mixed together that broke the glass layer underneath the moons as everything went dark.

More screaming of anger followed. And the sounds of things cutting other things.

It quickly ceased.

Then, light was restored. The funnel had been sliced off with a piece of glass. The machine had been sliced cleanly into eighths. The Brothers, having had a magic force-field which ate half the glass, remained unaffected.

The machine was repaired good as new in two seconds by the Brother's magic. Now, their horns flickered with red, sparking arcane energy. The engine whirred to life and the funnel began firing more barrels at the rest of the party.

One hit Kaleb smack in the face with such force he landed flat on his back. He stood up roaring like a soldier in ancient Greek times. He then drew two swords, one turned into a spear and the other into a Spartan shield as more ancient armor, complete with decorated helmet, cast of beautiful silver appeared to replace the armor he already had. He roared once more and charged straight towards the machine as fire imbued the spear with the hate of Hades. Again and again he stabbed and smacked the machine with the damn thing whilst roaring non-stop. He even pushed the Brothers aside as though they were but twigs.

Everyone watched as the apparently Spartan soldier wrecked the machine into its most basic components...and then turns those components into ground ash. The armor and weaponry soon reverted to what they had been before the barrel hit him.

"That explains his bulk." Alexis scoffed in shock. "He's a goddamn Spartan, and mom said that goddamn Spartans weren't to be fucked around with!"

Kaleb soon turned to the Brothers, rage still quite evident on his face. The Brothers repaired their machine quick as a whip.

"Come here and pound us, you sexy meanie!" Flim taunted, actually shaking his flanks in a suggestive manner towards Kaleb.

"I envy our machine because you punished her, not us." Flam teased, doing much the same thing as his flesh-stick smacked his belly.

"AW MY GAAAAWD. NO. THEY DIDN'T!!" Lazarus shrieked in complete jealousy, arousal, and shock. His hands went and grasped the sides of his head as though he were going to rip some hair out.

One thing leads to the next with him, don't it? Lancelot thought, glaring at Lazarus with a contorted expression.

Everything suddenly went dark again. The moons returned and more lightning danced. This time, the howl of a man stuck in World War II sounded not too far off in the distance. Metallic wheels sounded soon after, but this time these wheels sounded as though they were attached to a tank--that is to say, much smoother and more discernible.

A masculine, low-singing chorus singing in unison faded out and bells started to toll.

Dong.

Dong.

A sinister organ began playing, and a feminine chorus soon joined in for reasons unknown.

A shape drew closer...and closer....and closer until a huge but slim gun's barrel stared down the Brothers at point-blank range. Two machine guns, another set of huge drills, and lots of spikes had decorated what was a tank.

But not just any tank, for this was the Valkyrie. And sitting on top was a half-pony man in a Nazi suit. His scarlet-brown mane reflected so dully in the moonlight that it nearly became black, save a small silver vein. His piercing red eyes shot right into the souls of the Brothers with malicious intent. Pony legs of a dark grey-orange color that ended in dark red hooves were crossed, and on his flanks was a nuclear bomb painted red and grey with an inverted swastika. Metallic wings with steel joints and copper feathers spread out full length, and tufted pony ears were on the sides of the man's head. Other than that, he was indeed human....wasn't he?

Lightning danced, further revealing his darkened form. A black hat of Nazi origin sat between his ears and a long, black trenchcoat of the same era of sorts covered most of his otherwise-nude body. A black loincloth covered his essentials, thus keeping them hidden from the eyes of all in the immediate area. His human features showed a lack of health and pale skin, but he did seem to be recovering. A tail the same color as his mane wavered in the breeze, and it almost seemed as if it were ghostly, given the poor moonlight reflection.

The Brothers instantly recognized him, despite his obvious changes. "It's the Nazi who plays Yahtzee!" They taunted, pointing rather accusingly at said Nazi with smiles on their faces.

The man drew a black, thorned sword very similar to the earring Kaleb had found. In a single motion he jumped to the Brothers, who soon found themselves screaming in agony and hatred. Their foreheads were bleeding, and their now-detached horns were tossed to Alexis, who snatched them out of the air and put them in her pocket. The funneled machine became the same ash Kaleb created only moments before. Both stallions hurriedly backed into a corner as the Valkyrie drew closer to them.

Closer....closer....and closer still, stopping short of their hind legs. The man's shadow loomed over them, his face plastered with sinister intent.

"Forgive us, Lance!" Cried the Brothers fruitlessly, shielding their faces with their forelegs.

"Were you saying you'd do bad things to my son and little siblings, you sick bastards?" Lance asked, almost hissing each word out in demonic fury. His face curled into a snarl.

Darkness returned. And the Brothers screamed so loud it echoed in the town for what seemed to be an eternity.

So....What Now?

The light returned to show what exactly became of the Brothers: both were eviscerated cleanly and both had their decapitated heads literally tied to their shaftless dicks. The shafts were stitched into a crude mockery of unicorns everywhere and plastered on their foreheads. The bodies were hung on a tree and a swastika made of blood was painted underneath the bodies as a warning to all whom would dare imply such things as raping Wing within so much as earshot of the now-half-pony man whose name was Lance.

Speaking of which, the winged, Nazi-esque, man-turned-non-horned-satyr was drenched in blood from head to hoof. His sword was covered in small, trickling rivers of blood that fell off and patted the soft, dry earth. He heaved at the God-forsaken that he himself created with his own hands.

All at once, he landed on his knees and began to tremble. The twins ran over to him and grasped his shoulders in a frantic attempt to get him back onto his hooves.

"I....I vowed never to kill again......th-that's just what I did....I killed...." Lance said, his voice beginning to crack and his eyes going wide.

"You had to, brother." Fang replied with a reassuring voice, "Who knows what they would've done after we were 'made into cider...' for all we know, they could've gone after Twilight and the others next," he added slowly.

"They also mentioned defilement. Big brother, you never answered that question I asked before you were sick, so I'll ask again: What's rape?" Wing sighed with concern.

Lance nodded weakly. Fang was right, he only did what was needed to be done, even if he did go a little overboard with it. Upon hearing Wing saying 'what's rape?' so blatantly, his face curled into disgust.

Pure disgust.

Alexis felt herself about to throw up and give birth simultaneously upon hearing those two words fly out of the werewolf's maw. She stepped towards everyone else, clutching her scythe as if for dear life. Lance looked at her, as if asking for a way to weasel out of answering that question with a looooong talk.

"Remember when I got beat up in school? Had a broken wrist or something like that?" Alexis asked, her own voice cracking.

Lance nodded. "Your parents went frantic. They were bat-shit pissed about it." He replied.

"I....left some details out." Alexis sighed. "No, scratch that, I left a lot of details out."

Lance's eyes widened further. "You can't mean that....you were....?" He asked, his throat dry because his voice cracked so much.

Alexis only nodded. "Yes....I was......raped." She said, softly.

Kaleb went aghast with shock. "Please, fill me in on the details since you just came forward." He said.

Alexis walked up to him and raised her hand.

SMACK

"If it were that simple, I would!" She yelled, tears now falling from her eyes. "I-I can't j-just tell you everything!!" She knelt down to the ground and began to sob uncontrollably. Her hands curled into fists and she slammed them over and over into the ground whilst screaming in animalistic cries.

"I knew I shouldn't have kept it a secret from my parents! It caused me all this pain for so long! WHY WAS I STUPID?!" She shrieked as she pounded the ground for the last time. Now, her hands clutched her arms, as if she were cold. She was shaking like a leaf and tears were still falling.

Chuckles put on a frown somehow. He walked slowly to his master, as if able to understand her pain. When he stood next to her, he knelt down and hugged her.

Then, Lupus trotted over and licked the tears away with a ghostly tongue. He whimpered sadly.

Amelia and Jaden looked at each other and simply shrugged. Nick raised an eyebrow.

Kaleb backed away, knowing full well he was staring down the nervous wreck of a leader. Then again, his sister was raped and brutally murdered, but the assailant was never found--at least, when he was a child. He himself found the monster who did the foul deed and gave him just retribution so his sister would be at peace. The monster was, strangely enough, a necromancer as well, and he began to ponder if Alexis shared any connection with this fiend other than knowledge and practice of the dark arts.

"Before I answer some questions, might I ask, who the hell is that guy?" Lance asked, having regained his composure somewhat as he pointed a finger at Kaleb.

The Spartan sighed, letting his head and broad shoulders drop in annoyance. A black scribble appeared above his head and stayed there as if to mock him.

Lazarus grabbed Lance by the back of his head and yanked his ear close to his mouth.

"OUCH!" Shrieked the Nazi.

Lazarus held a hand before the ear and began whispering into it.

Kaleb....son of Balthor....monster-slayer.....crazy Spartan guy....

As Lance got the explanation, he nodded. Once that was said and done, he said "Let go of my ear please." The God of the Winds did as he was asked.

Lance took a deep breath, now standing straight up. "Before I continue, someone for the love of GodCat give her sleeping pills." He said, pointing towards a still-sobbing Alexis.

=========

Lancelot climbed out of the Valkyrie and ran towards everyone else. He had just finished putting Alexis inside the tank to rest.

"So.....mother....she...?" Wing asked fearfully.

Lance nodded. "Left and right before I was born. I was one of the few she kept....and I dunno where our other siblings went....well, the ones that lived, anyway." He answered, rubbing a hand on the back of his head nervously.

"But...weren't you abandoned?" Fang pointed out, crossing his arms.

"She had to. Remember that Isabella lady? Old, crazy bitch?" Lance retorted, spreading his mechanical wings.

Fang nodded.

"Yeah. Whole village went on a fox-hunt. They would've killed me as well." Lance sighed.

Kaleb picked Lance up by the back of his jacket.

"Whatdya want?" Lance asked, raising a brow. He seemed to be rather annoyed by the sudden invasion of personal space.

"I went to a statue garden in this town called Canterlot....when I looked at the empty stone pedestals, I saw one such monolith inscribed with "Isabella, Former Leader of Valleywood." Is this the same elderly woman you speak of?" Kaleb replied, his face curling in disgust as if Lance disrespected pretty much everything.

Lance nodded, then his eyes went wide. "She wasn't there?! But she was petrified over fifteen years ago for crimes she did to Valleywood Village and its inhabitants--me included since I was born there!" He answered frantically as his ears twitched. He started to struggle wildly, his arms flailed up and down and his legs flailed back and forth.

Kaleb unceremoniously dropped the Nazi, who landed on his ass.

"Wait waitwaitwaitwait." Lazarus said, stepping in between the two. "Did you say....the gardens...were empty?" He asked, his eyes wide.

Kaleb nodded. "So was the throne room of the alleged Sun and Moon of Equestria. All I found was this..." He stopped, producing a piece of paper from his chiton. He unfolded it and showed it to the Godling.

The reign of all four Equestrian Princesses are over.

Now, I must somehow eradicate the Wandering Heroes from the equation, lest they get in the way of my completing my ultimate goals.

But how...? How is one able to perform such a feat when they have bested things that to which the Heroes themselves are capable of merely possessing a fraction of the strength of these things such as GodCat and Akron?

I think....I have an idea.....

But I know that, for it to fully work, that damned fox has to fall for my ruse.

One Thing to the Next

"Wait a second!" Twilight nearly shrieked, spreading her wings. She was aghast, "You plan to go where?!"

"I was thinking about going to Manehatten. You yourself said that the 'precious objects' are as small as earrings, right?" Lazarus pointed out, his eye twitching. "Well, not only does it increase our chances of finding those objects if we just didn't stay put in Ponyville, but it also gives us a broader perspective on what happened in the other cities. So far, all we've heard about is Canterlot from Kaleb." He added, sounding rather annoyed.

"And besides," Lancelot started, circling Twilight as he spoke, "If we get even more help, it'll go quicker. Also, if we're dealing with an alleged cult, then we're gonna need all the help we can possibly get. Cults tend to start small, and then skyrocket on scales seldom seen before!"

"Ah got one question," Applejack stated as she trotted into the room. "Since Lazarus came up with this fine idea, who's gonna go with him?"

Lancelot raised his hand.

"Just ya, Lancelot? Are ya serious?" Applejack asked, raising a brow. An orange-coated, white-maned, green-eyed pegasus stallion came into the room, and his cutie mark was a tornado that had three apples scattered about in it.

"I'm going too, Ma." Said the stallion, flaring his wings.

"Alright, Apple Leaf, ya can go with. Just don't give them no grief, and don't let those Royal Guards with the bloodshot eyes touch ya, ya hear?" Applejack replied, sternly.

"Yes, Ma." Sighed Apple Leaf, letting his wings drop.

"I'm going as well," Said a fanged unicorn stallion as he also trotted into the room. His gold pelt, poofy pink mane, and sterling silver eyes caught the attention of the dragoon. His cutie mark was a bundle of gold streamers outlined in silver.

"No offense, Golden Streamers, but who the hell is your daddy?" Lancelot asked, raising an eyebrow in bewilderment.

"A vampiric unicorn who, for some reason, disliked parties. At least, until he met mom. Let's not get into that..." Streamers replied with a mixed tone of solemn and scorn.

Pinkie Pie too? Lance thought, the palm of his hand connecting with his face. Or was it the other way around?

A pink pony with a darker shade of pink in her mane entered the room. Her mane and tail were flat, and her colors were dulled in such a way she looked like she was greying with age. Sapphire blue eyes shed tears as they scanned the room. Lance looked at this pony with a worried look on his face.

"He's still running around..." Heaved the mare, her voice cracked, "but I didn't kill his child for what he did....unlike someone whom we all know....sure, she had her reasons, and I can understand..." She broke down, holding her head in her forelegs. "....but...I keep asking if he's hurt anypony else....if you two see him....please....show him what for!" She wailed, now fully on the floor crying in agony. Her colors, blue-and-yellow-balloons cutie mark included, faded further.

Lance felt his gut wrench in disgust. His arms were shaking. He slowly walked over to the pony and lifted her off the ground and towards his chest, which was still caked in dried blood. He began stroking her mane with one hand. "I'm not sure what to say....the one thing that can come to my wrecked mind...." He started, slowly, making sure all heard him clearly. "....is that we're all victims of something."

Alexis looked away, tears once more pouring from her eyes.

Kaleb couldn't speak. Very sadly, Lance was right. Everyone's had a bad experience at some point in time, but those experiences have a wide arrange of outcomes and effects. This could explain all of those seemingly-pointless wars humanity has had, and potentially, ponykind as well.

The pony looked up at Lance. "R-really...?" She asked, softly. Lance simply nodded.

"I....killed a bunch of innocent people....before I met Matt and Natalie." He answered in a hushed whisper. "And before that.....I can say that mom was no better. Is....there a curse on the world?" He asked, faint sparkles glinting in the corners of his eyes.

Lazarus looked at Lance. His face curled into shock as his jaw slowly dropped like an elevator. Kaleb couldn't help but allow his jaw to drop as well. The Spartan held his hands out and began shaking his head in sheer disbelief.

Twilight couldn't believe her ears. Then again....she couldn't argue either.

Lance gently lifted the pony as he stood up. He then walked to the couch and lowered her onto it. The mare fell fast asleep as the Nazi removed his jacket and put it on the mare. He then looked towards Lazarus and Apple Leaf.

"We have a promise to keep to Pinkie." He said quietly. Both nodded. Out the door the four volunteers went. Strangely, the Valkyrie's engine and wheels weren't heard whirring.

==========

Lazarus returned to the group stationed outside of Manehatten. He landed on his feet.

"Town's heavily fortified, and there don't seem to be any infected running amok." Said the Godling with a sigh.

"Did you get close enough to be certain?" Lance asked, his mechanical wings stretching.

"There are fucking tanks by the dozen in all the streets. I ain't getting that close." Lazarus replied sternly.

"Jesus Christ, now we have a military state." Lancelot commented, pushing Lance's shoulder. "World War III, anybody?"

Lance sighed, his eyes narrowed low. His eyebrow twitched, and his wings stiffened. At once, the half-naked Nazi took to the skies effortlessly, but he was considerably slower than Lazarus. Lancelot simply said 'fuck it' and jumped the barricade with ease. Streamers climbed onto the Godling's back and clung tight. The Godling levitated and then flew to follow Lance. On closer inspection, there were human soldiers and pony guards alike, and all were heavily armed. It was good that Lancelot found himself behind a dumpster.

A human soldier glanced in the alleyway with a confused look on his face. He began approaching that alleyway.

Ohshitohshitohshitohshit..... Lancelot thought, letting those two words run marathons in his mind as panic began grasping him. The soldier kept approaching, his footsteps drawing closer. Eventually, he was right next to Lancelot's hiding spot.

All was still.

"Nothing here." Shouted the soldier to his fellow comrades as he turned tail and walked out of the alleyway. Once in the clear, the dragoon let out a silent sigh of relief. He tiptoed to the end of the alley, making sure to keep to the shadows. He jumped the wall blocking him and ended up on another street. He quickly hid behind a wall, thinking he heard the soldiers shout at something. He caught sight of the Manehatten Asylum, which had been abandoned even before this gargantuan mess started. The dragoon found himself breaking into a sprint towards the wrecked building, his legs pumped with adrenalin.

Running through the missing door, he was greeted by darkness and more shouting echoing in the decrepit walls. Now, he heard very creepy laughter.

His eyes having adjusted, he saw ruined chairs. Electrical ones.

The laughter sounded again, making the dragoon tense.

He walked towards the chairs, then stopped to look down a tarnished hallway. The lights flickered, briefly revealing a form on the other end of the hall. They flickered again, and the form vanished.

The creepy laughter sounded feminine. Lancelot was even more tense now. His breathing started to go faster and so did his heartbeat.

The lights flickered again. The figure seemed to have either grown bigger or gotten closer. The young man could make out some kind of bonds on the thing's legs.

Then, it disappeared, and more laughter sounded.

Lancelot held a hand on his head and shook. Asylums were meant for crazy people....so was he crazy?

Then, the figure appeared again. Right in front of him.

He landed on his ass in complete shock. Staring back at him was a little girl in a straightjacket. Her brown pigtails were unkempt, but held surprisingly well. Eyes of ice stared back with a crazed glow.

"Don't be afraid, mister. Follow me." She said, her voice eerily childlike. Lancelot noticed shackles on her ankles and a tattered hospital gown just jutting out from under the jacket she had, exposing a small slit between her legs where her underwear should've been. She turned around and started walking, and Lancelot followed. He gulped hard.

Half-naked child in a straightjacket. In a wrecked asylum. In a town apparently under military control. In a world slowly succumbing to some disease. With a cult at work. Lancelot figured the world couldn't have gotten any crazier than this.

She walked to the end of the hall, stopping before a door meant to be a cell for the insane. On it was a piece of paper with the patient's name, affliction, age, and all of that good stuff.

Name: Rachel, last name unknown

Treated for: Dementia and paranoia; also afflicted with a rare, unidentified anti-aging disease

Age: 29 despite the fact that she looks 5

Patient's family has a history of mental illnesses. We tried enlisting the mother here, but that failed.

He took the paper off the wall, folded it, and stuck it into his pocket, then looked at who was evidently Rachel. He knelt down and put his hands on her shoulders.

"What happened to you?" Lancelot asked, concerned.

Rachel laid down on her back and spread her legs. "They played with me, and I liked it. I want another playmate!" Rachel declared with a grin.

Lancelot stood up, yanking the girl to her feet by the collar of her jacket. He then hoisted her off the ground with a blush on his face and the widest eyes anybody had seen. "They WHAT?!" He asked, his voice sounding girly.

"You make funny faces!" Rachel commented with another careless smile.

He looked away, but only briefly. "I'm getting you out of this hellhole. What those people did to you was.....wrong on so many levels!" He declared.

"Nobody said anything." Rachel retorted, her smile replaced with a pouting frown.

"That's because they were bad people." Lancelot counter-retorted as if he forgot that the girl was really a twenty-nine-year-old woman.

"And what do bad people do?" She asked softly.

"Make it so good people suffer....there are so many examples of this I have no fucking clue where to start." Lancelot admitted.

"I wanna have fun!" Rachel declared, struggling fruitlessly.

Lancelot put her down onto her feet, then knelt down himself. He grabbed her shackles. "I am setting you free, just hold still for a second or two.." He said, breaking the binds on her ankles and tossing them aside. He then turned her around and slowly untied the straightjacket. Once the knot was undone, he tore it off of her and threw that in the bin where it belonged. She moved her hands and arms around to get a good feel for them for the first time in years. Many old scars decorated her body like a psychopath's Christmas tree. The tattered gown fell off, exposing even more scars. The dragoon grabbed the girl by the arm and pulled her deeper into the asylum through the double doors at the end of the hall. This room was the only other room still standing, and there were holes leading to the vast outside dotting the otherwise dark ceiling, allowing bits of light to shine through.

And there on the other side of that room stood a silver-eyed, gold-gold pelted fanged unicorn stallion with a blood red, jagged mane.

Insanity

The stallion looked at the very odd duo that had entered the room. He approached with caution--just because he had yet to see weaponry didn't mean that the little girl and young-looking man weren't armed. Lancelot could see that there was another flesh stick dangling from the stallion and a pair of wet forelegs.

Did I really walk in with a little girl in tow just to see a stallion after he finished jacking off?? Lancelot thought, a blush on his face.

The stallion saw the blush on the man and blinked a few times. His silver eyes soon moved from the red-head and to the little girl next to him. He licked his lips hungrily.

"Normally, a colt or filly would suffice." Started the stallion, sounding like a seductive Englishman, "But on occasion I'll take a human child's flower....and then their life. That pink party mare was only my....starter kit." He continued, letting a small beam of light hit his flank, revealing his cutie mark to be a hoof plucking a blue-and-pink flower.

Lancelot stepped in front of Rachel and materialized his trademark halberd of sorts. He pointed the sharp tip at the monster before him. A defensive snarl, almost wolf-like, sounded from the dragoon's throat. "You think I'd just let you ravage everything and get away with it, even when the world is falling apart as we speak? I would say 'fuck you,' but that'd imply that I'd actually want to do what those two words mean." He growled, shifting into a fighting stance.

The stallion stopped, his face now filled with wonder. His eyes went wide, but briefly, and he opened his mouth to speak, but soon closed it. His ears perked straight up. He eyed the dragoon and his choice of weapon as if to question what he was seeing.

"Make one more move. I'll slice that horn clean off." Lancelot hissed ominously, gripping the lengthy shaft of the halberd tighter.

"That blade isn't even sharp enough to slice paper." Taunted the stallion as he walked closer to examine the weapon, levitating a piece of paper next to him. He soon lined the paper up with the sharp end of the blade and quickly whizzed--then forced--the flat sheet along the halberd's edge before yanking it to the other side. He hastily recoiled in shock as the sheet was sliced cleanly in two, and retreated back to the shadows.

Lancelot shook his head, rolled his eyes, and tsk-tsked the stallion. Rachel let off a creepy giggle.

The stallion emerged from the darkness once more with that same lustful look in his eyes. His member's head pointed right at Lancelot. The dragoon shifted in disgust.

"Lancelot? Where'd ya go?" Called another stallion's voice from outside the room.

"Hey, Mr. Fuck Up! Are you here?" Called the voice of a man.

"I hope it isn't hide and seek!" Called yet another masculine voice.

Lancelot's eyes widened a bit. Whoop-de-fucking-doo, backup's arrived. He thought before shouting, "I'm in the room at the end of the hall!"

Hoofbeats and footsteps reverberating in the hall echoed and got increasingly louder. Soon, three more figures emerged from the double doors. The stallion looked at them.

A brown haired man who had a sword and a cannon.

Another man, this one part pony, with mechanical wings and a Nazi hat. He was mostly naked, save for a loincloth covering his member and set of tennis balls. A black, thorned gunblade was perched in one hand.

A pegasus stallion with apples and a tornado on his flank.

The figures, in turn, looked at the little girl. The half-pony man grabbed Lancelot by the back of his head and yanked the dragoon towards him.

"What happened here?" Lance asked, hissing.

"She was like this when I got here. I just removed her binds and she offered herself to me. She's a mental patient and I turned her down." Lancelot replied, showing the almost-naked man the piece of paper he obtained moments ago. He read it and then nodded.

"Next time, don't be so quick to judge, Sergeant." Lazarus commented coldly, poking Lance in the shoulder with his index finger.

"Fiiiiiiine." Lance groaned in annoyance, his ears twitching. His red eyes soon caught sight of the stallion and he quickly let go of Lancelot and hastily loaded six bullets into his gunblade's barrel. "Is that who I think it is?" He asked.

Lancelot simply nodded.

Rachel walked up to the stallion and grabbed his member with her small hands.

"GET HER OFF HIM!" Lazarus shrieked in disbelief at what he was seeing.

The stallion recoiled and tossed Rachel into a wall using magic. She soon landed to the floor on her bare ass. A sickening crack didn't sound, oddly enough.

"What kind of patient is she again?" Apple Leaf asked, raising an eyebrow.

Rachel got up and looked at the unicorn with her own lusty look. Her eyes flashed white for a second. "I thought you wanted to play with me." She said in such a tone of voice that Lancelot felt guilty for turning her down despite it being the right thing to do. She soon began walking towards the unicorn.

Lance shook his head and his eyes were wide. He unloaded his gunblade without firing.

Lazarus took a step back as if he himself were the one recoiling.

"Stay back. It's all I ask." Said the unicorn, finding his flank against a wall. He cast a light spell to see.

Rachel drew closer still, a sick smile on her face. She soon jumped on him and in that instant the light spell dissipated.

Darkness was all the men could see, and soon the stallion was screaming in pained pleasure. This time, Lazarus put on a pair of earmuffs to keep his inner sadist from being aroused as the wicked unicorn wailed and wailed as though one minute suddenly became an eternity.

"It burns! It burns and I feel like I've been afflicted with the itchiness of poison ivy!" Shouted the stallion fruitlessly as a splurt sounded soon after. Rachel's insane giggle was heard and it evolved into demonic laughter as the sounds of the stallion being beaten,hurled, and whipped against walls drowned out almost all else. The little girl was clearly throwing the stallion to and fro like a lasso.

The sounds soon ceased, but then the stallion began wailing again. Now, his horn was lit up once again and scars, still bleeding, were on his dick. Bruises decorated the rest of his body as he was lowered onto a very thick piece of 2x4 standing upright. Its bottom was nailed to a wooden horse. The plothole was soon stretched to accommodate its violator. Another piercing wail of agony escaped the stallion's throat. Now, Lazarus saw shackles on his forelegs and, you guessed it, was aroused once more. The stallion's bleeding member poured out more blood and released another load of seed. The volley landed behind the sadistic little girl as she yanked the chains up and down, making the stallion move in agonizing sync.

With one final yank, the stallion wailed one last time before his head dropped and his eyes became glossy. The girl climbed onto the wooden horse and ripped his horn and a good chunk of forehead off barehanded. She soon pranced to the group of men and bounced around them. She was shouting "Look at what I did!" over and over before hugging Lancelot.

Lazarus smacked himself in the face. No, scratch that, he punched himself in the face for thinking about doing all sorts of horrid things to a little mental girl.

Lancelot's jaw dropped and stayed that way.

Lance's palm connected with his face. He had nothing more to say.

"What the hay are we dealing with?" Apple Leaf asked.

"The doctors made me put glass in my private." Rachel said with an eerie grin.

What's Going On Here!?

Rachel was hugging Lance, who kept trying very desperately to shove the insane little girl off. Suddenly, all froze stiff as the sounds of gunshots echoed from outside.

More gunshots soon echoed.

Lance's eyes went wide. Lazarus looked around the room because the echoes sounded far off, and yet so close.

"I hope we don't have to take cover." Apple Leaf commented.

At once, everyone that was currently alive nodded. Well, everyone save Rachel, who was now on Apple Leaf's back complete with a saddle shouting "Giddy up horsey!"

Apple Leaf groaned and flattened his ears in annoyance. "Ya are worse than I thought. A lot worse." He said, sternly.

"Am not!" Rachel complained.

"Then why do you keep glass shards in your privates? Why'd you kill that stallion?? Hell, why'd you want me to play with you when it was very clear that I had no intention of sticking my little friend in there???" Lancelot pointed out, his hand already having connected with his face.

"He's very much right," Lazarus agreed as he approached the insane girl with a very reasonable amount of cation, "What's he is trying to say is that.....your mind has been corrupted by the.....um....whoever was supposed to take care of you before this place became run-down," he added as he got up to Rachel's face.

"Can I ask a question?" Apple Leaf asked, a frown visible on his face.

"You already are. Continue." Lance retorted, the corners of his lips beginning to twitch upwards.

Apple sighed, giving Lance the stink-eye. "Insane girl, do ya know who your parents are?" He asked.

"My dad was a military man of some black president. He and mom never got along, and he was strangled." Rachel answered.

"Tell us about your mommy..." Lazarus sighed, crossing his arms and tapping his fingers.

More gunshots rang out.

"Dad said they were married, but mom said she'd burned those documents. I saw her burn dad without using a lighter after she killed him. The fire kinda formed in her hands, and I saw wings." Rachel answered again, having waited for the gunshots to shut up.

Lance was suddenly wide-eyed and his jaw was practically on the floor. "D-Did she have blue eyes and dark red hair?! A fox tail?!" He asked frantically.

Rachel slowly nodded. She pulled something from her hair....a small earring in the shape of a brown wooden bow, complete with small leaves.

Apple Leaf saw this earring and took it from the girl. Lazarus picked her up and Apple tore through the ceiling whilst creating a fearsome tornado. As he ascended, the tornado seemed to lift with him. Next thing everyone knew was that he took off to the direction of Ponyville quick as a whip.

Lazarus put a hand on Lance's and then patted. "We found a sibling....wonder how many more there are." Said the Godling with a smile that pretty much mocked the poor Nazi.

Lance slowly turned his scornful glare to Lazarus and simply said "Shut the fuck up." Lazarus laughed heartily but soon silenced himself because more gunshots rang out.

Rachel squirmed out of Lancelot's grip and ran to the half-pony man with arms flung wide. A hug to his waist soon followed. "Big brother, why were we separated?" She asked.

"We have different fathers....why wouldn't we be?" Lance quickly countered, his wings spreading wide.

Rachel's smile grew wider. "OK." Was all she said.

"Wait till Mom hears....she'll flip." Lazarus sneered with another smile.

"And not in the good way." Lance said, sternly. His eyes had narrowed and his ears twitched.

Gunshots sounded once more. This time, they were louder and sounded as though they hit something.

Lance picked his sister up and was the first to bolt out the double doors. The other two stooges followed him.

Soon, they were outside the ruined asylum. They saw military men with AK-47s firing at a plane with two pilots that were firing back with machine guns. More gunshots rang out as a military tank raised its barrel and opened fire. A wing of the plane was shot clean off and the damn thing was still flying!

"Who the hell is crazy enough to drive that thing?!" Lance asked in sheer disbelief. His jaw dropped again.

The plane swerved out of harm's way, but because it had one wing left, it soon crashed into the opposite side of town. A thick cloud of smoke rose from the site of the crash.

"Not good." Lance sighed, his ears flat.

Lazarus grabbed both men and hastily led them to a nearby alleyway. Rachel was on Lance's backside now in piggyback formation.

"How the hell are we gonna get over there?" Lancelot asked, a look of worry on his face.

Lance loaded bullets into his gunblade once more. "We fight our way through. And since we don't know where exactly the crash site is, we split up." He answered as more gunshots rang out. Now, the poor Nazi was covering his ears because pony ears heard better than those of humans.

"Let's not split up. They have tanks." Lazarus replied sternly. His face darkened.

More gunshots rang out. This time, the soldiers were shouting "shoot that pegasus and that weird thing on his back!" very close by. Lance saw that one by one--or in a rare case, three by three--the soldiers were felled. Not with bullets, but with arrows of wood. The soldiers kept shouting as some died instantaneously due to the arrows piercing vital organs and others wailed about becoming weaker once the arrows hit them in the arm. Others still kept demanding that the mysterious attacker be gunned down.

More arrows, this time thousands of them, hailed from the sky as though a hundred Mongolian archers fired them simultaneously and rapidly approached the earth and the idiotic soldiers standing on it. One particular arrow with a white band on it missed Lance's right ear by mere inches. He dislodged the arrow from the wall and found it had a scroll attached to it, so he unraveled it.

This is an entirely new sensation. I heard all about your supposedly insane half-sister. Have you found out why Manehatten is in a coup? I'll meet up with you once I've taken care of these soldiers. These guys sure are dumb for not having a single unicorn among their ranks, let alone a pegasus....

Once he finished reading the letter, Lance had a smile creep up on the corners of his mouth. And then, he burst out into such a hearty laugh the captain of the fabled Titanic would be envious. He soon looked back at the soldiers fruitlessly trying and failing to shoot the aerial archer down with their evident panic affecting the very tides of battle. Another laugh escaped his throat, for he was enjoying himself. This sight made the soldiers look like a bird picking at earthworms--in other words, downright pathetic.

One resilient soldier, however, kept firing after a good percentage of his body was impaled with arrows. He was limping on a broke leg and had a hurt arm and not to mention a clunky gun on his person. There was even an arrow in his eye and he still kept firing at the mystery assailant.

"Such a pity that a fellow like him has been wasted to the world, considering his balls of fucking titanium." Lance commented with a hint of a sad sigh. "I feel like he needs a proper funeral."

A familiar orange pegasus stallion landed on the bloodstained street. Perched on his back, however, was a half-pony woman in a brown dress. Her tan-brown pelt covered all of her hooves, and her sickly pale hands were recovering. Her green hair was still messy, but the tangles looked as if they'd been brushed out by a drilling comb. Pony ears perked up. A tan-grey, five-segmented horn protruded from her forehead. A green tail was settled under the dress, and green eyes scanned the landscape. She got off Apple Leaf's back and stood effortlessly, keeping her ears perked should she realize that she missed another soldier.

The quartet emerged from the alleyway. In response, the pony-woman ran to them and hugged Lance with a wooden bow clutched in one hand.

"Lance, I wonder how being half-pony's gonna work out." She sighed with a sad smile.

"Anna, I know the world is crumbling again, but even so, you're worrying too much about little things. Focus on the big things first, and get them done." Lance replied with a sigh as he stroked the woman's hair with one hand.

London Bridge is Falling Down~

"You're right. I should stop worrying about little things." Anna sighed, ears flat on her head.

"It was the damn illness and the fact that your lungs are recovering. You're simply unable to think perfectly straight." Lance pointed out. "Your body isn't at its prime because of it."

Anna sighed again, taking a single moment to think about it. "Again, you're right." She said, softly.

"I'm also willing to bet it's the lack of sex between you two." Lazarus sneered. In that instant, Lance let go of Anna, turned around, and flew towards the Godling. The next thing everyone knew was that Lazarus was sent flying into a wall with the imprint of a fist on his face.

"You really need to shut up. What Anna and I do when we're alone is none of your fucking beeswax." Lance hissed, his face darkened by the shadows of his hat.

Lazarus pried himself from the wall he landed in. He rubbed his eye. "Alright, alright, I'll shut up about everyone's love lives." He said, still recoiling in pain.

"Good." Lance hissed.

"Next time I shoot him." Anna sighed, a look of disapproval on her face. "With a Spark Arrow in the ass."

Lazarus was turned on once more upon hearing Anna's words.

"Please, he's had a problem. A masochist and sadist problem. Don't threaten torture because his....how the hell do I say this....his little 'friend' decides it's time to get up. And it leads to more problems." Lance sighed as he spoke. His eyebrow was twitching and now he was getting a bit antsy about the whole ordeal.

Anna groaned. "I take back what I said." She sighed, sounding as if she were complaining about something.

Lancelot was, strangely enough, the first to notice Anna's sudden change in her tone of voice. And yet, he didn't say anything. He didn't even want to.

Anna turned around and looked up, seeing the trail of thick, black smoke. "What happened here?" She asked, pointing to said smoke trail.

"We saw a plane crash after putting up a hell of a fight with the soldiers." Lance answered. "I think now's the time to check it out."

"We done wasted enough time as is." Lancelot added, crossing his arms.

"He's right. Let's get going, people." Apple Leaf sighed, spreading his wings.

Anna clambered onto Lance's back....or rather, she went to do so and found Rachel in her way. "I know, he's your younger brother. But he's also my husband, so could you please bother Lazarus?" She asked, ears twitching.

Rachel immediately did as told. Now, Lazarus was carrying the insane girl on her backside. "Why me?" He groaned as if complaining.

Anna shook her head and rolled her eyes. "Pshhhh" was all that came out of her mouth. She climbed onto Lance's back afterwards, nearly causing the poor Nazi to fall over in the process.

"Confound these awkward pony legs." Complained the Nazi with a sigh as he righted himself. He spread his wings and began flapping them.

Lancelot sat on Apple Leaf's back, making sure to keep his legs away from his wings. Lazarus began to levitate (which, mind you, has been his method of aviation.) All three of them at once took to the skies and flew next to each other as they followed the smoke trail. Once they got to the source, they circled the skies above it.

It was a hotel set ablaze. It was now equally as wrecked as the asylum, more or less.

Lazarus was the first to get closer to the sight. Lance and Leaf followed. There imbedded in the former and now-burning rooftop was the pile of ruins that was once the one-winged plane. The pilots were nowhere in sight.

Lance was the first to enter the fiery wreck as he flew headfirst into the smog. He flapped his wings rapidly to clear some of it away even after he was officially in the building. In the ember glow he could make out two silhouettes in the smoke--one a man and the other a unicorn. Both silhouettes tried to scurry away, but they were limping.

"Hey! I won't hurt you! Please, come with us and get out of this burning building!" Lance called out, still flapping his wings to clear more smog away. The figures didn't listen--or perhaps they heard him loud and clear, but weren't too sure about how much truth Lance spoke with those words, and so kept fleeing further into the burning building.

"Don't be scared! He truly means well! Believe me, I put up with him for over thirty years or so!" Anna wailed, watching the smog seemingly bounce about the room.

The Nazi kept clearing the smoke away and could see the figures limping all over the room and frantically grasping at the doors, trying desperately to pry them open. No dice. All doors in the room were either locked or blocked off with burning plane pieces.

Finally, the figures gave in and approached the wing-flapping Nazi and the archer slowly, cautiously. One was a very bulky unicorn stallion with a dark titanium pelt and mane the color of icy water. His red, adamantine eyes seemed to have a slight hue of orange around the margin of his pupils. Because of the smog, his cutie mark--an anvil and hammer--was concealed. Standing next to him was a man with platinum blond hair (which was really black hair that had been dyed as evidenced by the color not going to the scalp) and a green eye and a blue eye. In short, this man had heterochromia.

"You two are...?" Asked the man, raising a brow.

"Name's Lance. This is my wife, Anna." Replied the Nazi.

"Hi." Anna said with a grin, which soon turned upside-down upon noticing that the man's twisted leg and the fact that he was leaning on the unicorn for support.

A burning support beam--no, several of the fuckers--fell down and caused the floor to shake too much for comfort.

"Lazarus, Apple Leaf! Get the pilots, they're alive!" Lance frantically called out. At once, the Godling and Pegasus descended into the burning wreck of a hellhole with a hammock being hoisted between them. Once lowered just enough, Lance and Anna helped the pilots onto the hammock and then climbed in themselves.

"You have wings! Why aren't you flying?!" Asked the unicorn stallion.

"Even clunky metal has its limits!" Lance retorted. More beams fell. He looked up at Apple and Lazarus. "HOIST US UP ON THE DOUBLE!! THIS PLACE IS GOING TO KILL US IF WE DON'T!!"

The Godling and Pegasus lifted the makeshift transport vehicle as quick as they could, making sure to avoid the splintered wood planks that made up the part of the ceiling where a gaping, burning, smog-filled hole was. More of the ceiling caved in on itself as more support beams fell below. By the time the hammock was lowered onto a roof a few buildings away, the hotel was fully ablaze.

The unicorn was the first to clamber out of the hammock. He used magic to lift the hurt man out and sat him down against a short wall of the roof. Anna and Lance climbed out afterwards, and the God of the Winds and Apple Leaf landed, allowing their living backside cargo to be unloaded.

"What're your names?" Lazarus asked as he ripped a lengthy piece of the hammock off to tend to the man's wounded leg.

"My name is Zack. And that unicorn over there is my mentor, Iron Hoof." Replied the hurt man.

Awkward....

"So....er.....Iron Hoof?" Lance asked, blinking a few times.

"Yes?" Replied the unicorn, turning around and revealing that a good chunk of his foreleg was charred and amputated.

"What.....what happened in Canterlot...?" Lance said, sounding like he had a lump in his throat.

"Whole town went out of whack. I took Zack and galloped to the castle." Iron replied, the corners of his mouth twitching into a frown that he tried holding back.

"What....happened when you got into the throne room? That's where you went, right?" Lance continued, gulping hard. His ears fell flat.

"All I saw...." Started Iron rather somberly, "...was a black shadow. A bunch of black crystals concealed the room and this....demonic laugh rang as Zack and I fled. He saw red eyes emanating with purple smoke. We hid in the Everfree and......saw the guards..."

"Enough." Anna cut him off. "Please....say no more. You and Zack are in no condition to even be speaking for more than five minutes. I ain't no doctor, that I can say. But I can say that you two need to rest." She added, sternly.

Iron took a deep breath and sighed. Zack, his leg having been wrapped by Lazarus, fell asleep.

Everyone froze as they heard more soldiers shouting....as if in panic. Anna walked over to the building's makeshift fence margin and peered down onto the street. Her keen eye caught a sight most unusual: there was a snow-white beast mercilessly killing the soldiers. At one point, it even looked like it was raping a human in the face. It wasn't a werewolf or a yeti, as it didn't have their hand-like features, much less their mannerisms. If anything, it appeared to be an albino silver-back gorilla horrendously mutated running around killing shit. But it was moving too quickly for even her to be able to tell properly.

Lance grabbed Anna by the end of her tail and yanked her away from the sight. She tumbled backwards into him, and both were on the floor of the building's rooftop sitting on their rear ends.

Iron had already curled up next to Zack. He too had fallen asleep. Rachel also snoozed away next to Zack with her head in his lap. Lazarus and Lancelot were striking up a brief conversation with Apple Leaf about something.

"Let's move the sleepyheads into this building." Lazarus said, breaking away from the conversation and hoisting a sleeping Rachel into his arms. Apple hoisted Zack and Lancelot picked up Iron. Lance got up and helped Anna onto her hooves.

They descended rather lengthy stairwells (via another hole in the roof) and found a door with three king-sized beds and a queen-sized bed. The group entered, making sure to lock and barricade the door behind them. The sleeping triad were then placed on a bed and tucked under the covers. Lazarus and Lancelot sighed as they took another bed for themselves. Soon, the Godling fell asleep with his hands on his stomach. The dragoon sat on the edge of the bed with his entire torso slumped forward as his hands hung lazily between his legs. Apple Leaf sandwiched himself between the two on purpose to keep anything that involved lewdness from happening.

"Any plans?" Lancelot asked, taking a deep breath. The air was stagnant and hung heavy in the room.

"Not right now." Lance answered with a sigh. "I feel like my wings are going to fall off and take my spine with."

"Understandable. I'm about to fall asleep, so don't make much noise. I know you two...a bit too well." Sighed the dragoon as he shifted onto his backside, covered up, and got cozy.

Anna shook her head and rolled her eyes as she barricaded the windows with logs. The vents she'd left alone simply so everyone could breathe.

Lance quietly opened the door next to the bed that the three injured stooges were sleeping on. Beyond the wooden, rectangular, hinged frame was a simple bathroom. It wasn't touched by anything other than dust for at least a good ten years. The toilet seat was closed, the tub was a light brown with a layer of dust, the sink was surprisingly unscathed....the Nazi could keep rambling on and on here. He motioned for Anna to come to him with his hand, and the archer immediately complied. She then took out an ocarina (which she stored in her tail) and blew in a few soft, somber notes. The dust was blown away into the ventilation shafts by a simple yet hasty breeze, as was the stagnant air. It was then replaced with the scent of fresh meadows. The ocarina was promptly put in the sink afterwards.

"We need a blue moon with a lunar eclipse and meteor shower while the planets align perfectly on Friday the Goddamn 13th." Lance commented in a whisper, his tail twitching a bit. He and Anna dove deeper into the bathroom, making sure to close the door behind them. His hands slid under Anna's arms before taking her by the stomach and pulling her close to his body.

Anna tensed up a bit, and small green sparks flickered faintly around her horn. The mirror caught this brief moment, and Lance took that as his cue. His chin was placed on her shoulder and rested there for five seconds. Another series of sparks fluttered about her horn. Lance moved his right hand and brushed Anna's hair away from her neck. "It's been so long since I last spoke to you using words." He murmured into her ear before sighing through his nostrils. He moved his hands to the lower margins of her dress and lifted them slightly. He kept tugging gently until the entire thing could be hoisted above her tail. Another series of sparks flared around her horn, this time much brighter and more noticeable.

"Excited, ain't ya?" Lance asked with a devious grin plastered on his face.

"I...uh......I um...." Anna stuttered, her breathing rate picking up a bit of a pace as a blush formed on her cheeks, giving her face a nice rosy hue. "W-Well....it's been a l-long time." She said.

Lance nodded. "I can see why you'd say that." He replied in another whisper. His hands moved under her dress and rested on her thighs, just an inch short of her cutie mark--a loaded bow with three arrows that had a raindrop, ice cube, and yellow sparks of electricity.

"Ah...." Anna started, only for Lance to remove one hand from under her dress and put it on her cheek. He raised his head, turned hers towards his face, and put his lips on hers. Anna's eyes widened a bit before she closed them and embraced the kiss. Her horn ceased sparking for the moment.

Anna jumped slightly and tensed a bit as she felt slim, firm objects invade her labia. "Mmph..." was the only sound that escaped her throat and was muffled because she was still locked in a kiss. Her legs shook in anticipation.

Lance broke the kiss. "Here....let's take off the dress. It's getting in the way." He said, softly. His hands quickly moved to the ends of the dress again and grasped them with a firm, yet gentle, grip. He started to tug while Anna raised her arms upwards as straight as she could manage.

The dress slipped off with relative ease. It was put in the sink on top of the ocarina. The archer sat on the floor, keeping her hands next to her thighs...or were they called flanks now that she was more or less a satyr?

The Nazi presented another devious smirk as he untied his loincloth from just above his tail and put it on top of Anna's belongings. He then knelt down, his body just inches away from that of Anna's torso.

The two hugged and were just about to kiss when the door flung open behind them, causing both to jump out of their skins in shock. There standing in the doorway was Lazarus, and his face quickly curled into embarrassment. His little friend sprung up at the sight.

"I just wanted to use the bathroom and this is what I walk into? GodCat help me!" Lazarus exclaimed before he shut the door.

Anna and Lance blinked a few times. "Let's save this for another time..." Anna whispered, to which Lance nodded.

Journey Into the Frozen North, Part II: Vision

Anna broke out into brief hysterical laughter upon seeing the snow melt off the tank thanks to the flamethrowers. In addition, she was jumping around whilst prancing like a lunatic. After her little fit ended, she sat back on the stool with a very large grin on her face. A sigh of relief soon escaped her lips, and her eyes closed as if in a dream.

Lance held his chin up using the knuckles of his hands. A faint, very devious smirk crossed his lips. It quickly turned into a frown as his eyes widened. "Ah hell, I forgot the coats!" He cried desperately as he looked at the snow-laden screen.

"About that..." Anna said, still smirking as she pointed to the coat rack. Hanging on its racks were precisely three coats, one of which being the same exact one that Lance gave Pinkie before leaving for Manehatten. Underneath this coat and hanging on the same rack was a layer of black fur, which would provide warmth. Another coat hung on a separate was a light brown with tan trimmings around the neck and wrists. It was made entirely out of forest bear fur, and the trimmings were made from dyed chimera bear fur. The last coat, built for a pony, was made of a combination of wool and more chimera bear fur. There were small holes on the backside to allow wings to slide through with ease.

The palm of Lance's hand connected with his face as a wry smile crossed his lips. "Derp," was all he said as horselaughs escaped his mouth.

"We all derp sometimes, so don't take it too hard." Anna sighed, leaning towards and wrapping an arm around Lance.

For some reason, the flamethrowers stopped altogether. Rainbow put her coat on before trotting over to the couple. She eyed the screen that showed what was before the tank and her jaw dropped. A gasp of horror escaped her mouth. Lance and Anna looked at Rainbow, and then slowly moved their gazes towards the screen. They too gaped in horror, for the screen showed the feet of a creature whose pelt looked as though it were made of the cosmos. Small white stars dotted a dark blueish-purple landscape, and other colors and shapes of stars were present.

The tank shook as if it were being lifted high into the air by a crane. Rainbow was frantically flying around as she gave Anna and Lance their jackets.

"Bucking hell, bucking hell, BUCKING HELL!" Rainbow shrieked as she circled the inside of the tank. Her hooves were on her head and her rear legs kicked frantically in the air. Now, the screen was showing a dark blueish-purple bear's face. Yellow sclera and blood crimson irises greeted all three. A blue, eight-pointed star sat just between the eyes and its points aligned perfectly. What's more, the monstrosity was partially transparent, making the snow blanket behind it appear to be lost in space.

"What. The. FUCK?!" Anna and Lance shrieked simultaneously as their eyes went wide and their ears fell flat.

The beast roared angrily at the tank, as if its presence offended its very magnificence. The action also revealed teeth seemingly made of gold that were dripping with quickly-cooling saliva.

"WE PISSED OFF AN URSA MAJOR! IT'S GONNA EAT US ALIVE!!!" Rainbow yelled in such fright she sounded like a little filly.

The Ursa Major roared once more, and it was still angry. But Anna picked up something else in the monstrosity's voice...

Sadness. The creature was sad. But why?

Anna got off her stool and climbed to the hatch. She began to quickly pry it open.

"What are you doing?!" Rainbow yelped in surprise as her wings snapped open.

"I wanna try something." Anna replied, opening the hatch and climbing out into the howling winds that kept trying to remove her dress and coat. It was nipping at her skin and hooves, and not in the good way. The beast roared yet again right into the archer's face, and this time it scrunched its eyes shut in doing so.

Anna's horn was flaring up again. At the same time, the eight-pointed star seemed to glow and resonate as well.

My child....

Anna's ears perked up. Whose child was what speaking of? Her horn flared brighter now, and leaf-shaped sparks danced about to and fro.

My baby....my sweet little baby boy...

The eight-pointed star kept giving off a faint glow. And then, Anna's eyes went blank white as she entered a trance.....no, not a trance.

A vision. A vision of a small, human sized blue bear cub with a white star on its forehead. Approaching the hapless creature was an entire group of ponies with knives in their mouths.

Skinning knives.

The bear cub wailed in agony and all sight went to darkness. The sounds of ripping, tearing, and slicing flesh were heard and they rang in Anna's ears. And then, the vision showed a brown-grey stallion with a black mane and a red horn protruding from his forehead. This horn had no segments, and was curled inwards. He wore sinister silver armor around his horn and makeshift crown and silver, bladed horseshoes. On his back and concealing his cutie mark was a long robe ending in royal white trims. The interior of this robe appeared to me made of the same material as the fur of the bear cub, and it was translucent to boot. In front of him on a gold platter was cooked flesh with stubby legs. And behind him on a platter of copper was the cub's head, a look of horror and pain forever frozen on its once-living frame.

The vision ended. Anna's horn ceased sparking. She blinked and was staring at the Ursa Major again.

Tears fell from the mother bear's eyes and solidified onto the snow blanket below. The Ursa Major was....crying. She let off a low growl, as if she couldn't shake off her grief.

Another piercing howl of agony sounded from the bear's throat and was carried far and wide by the winds of the raging snowstorm. She then looked at the archer somberly, and blinked a few times as more tears fell onto the cold world below.

At last, Anna's mouth formed words. "I.....I want to help. It....it won't get your baby back, but it's the best I can do."

The beast looked at her, blinking a few times again. She was somewhat shocked, but seemed intent on listening.

"I.....I'll get what's.....what's left of your child and......find a......find a nice place to bury it in. I'll....make sure it's warm. I'll make it warm so its afterlife won't be a cold hell!" Anna wailed, scrunching her eyes closed as she tried holding back her own tears.

The Ursa Major nodded and let off a soft growl that sounded sad, but her sorrow seemed to have been softened somewhat. She slowly lowered the tank onto the snow blanket and a white glow soon encompassed her form. It soon flashed very bright for a moment before fading away. Anna opened her eyes and felt something in her hand. She lifted it to her face and saw that it was a rock.

A rock the same blueish-purple as the Ursa Major. It even had her star on its frame and smaller, white dots on its frame. The archer then looked ahead of the tank as the winds kelp howling in her ears and caused her attire and tail to billow viciously.

There in the distance stood an irregular structure obscured by the raging snow.

Journey Into the Frozen North, Part III: Dark Crystal Shards

The tank stopped short of a crystal gate that looked as though weather and war had tore it down. Beyond that was a palace consisting of dark purple--almost black--crystals sitting in the center of the town. Irregular, sinister structures jutted out in unusual places throughout the entire landscape but were noticeably larger as they got closer to the castle. Houses made of varying colors of crystal looked as though they'd been turned into jailhouses, judging from bars having been implanted in the windows. Other houses lay in shambles of their former glory.

Anna sat on the tank, her hooves freezing and demanding warmth as she eyed the landscape. In the distance, quadruped, erratic shapes lumbered their way through the town and had what looked like chained beings shambling in single file behind them.

Beings shaped oddly like ponies.

Her ears twitched as the frost continually nipped at them. She heard sounds that were barely discernible from the raging blizzard happening all around her. Sounds of moaning, groaning, whining, crying.

And then, something clicked in her head. "Rainbow, Lance, get out pronto. We have a problem." She yelled, peering down into the hatch. Instantly, both climbed out and sat on the top of the tank as well.

"What exactly is the issue at hand?" Lance asked, ears twitching. He strained his eyes to see past the blizzard. He saw glimpses of the shambling silhouettes. And then, he too heard their cries.

"Oh no..." Rainbow groaned as if finally catching on to what Anna meant. The archer only nodded once.

Lance's eyes went wide, but only briefly. He shook his head. "You serious?" He asked, glancing at the archer. Anna nodded yet again. Everyone got off the tank and walked past the war torn gate. Looking around to ensure that nothing would ambush them, they ran along the snow-laden streets with haste toward the palace in the distance.

Suddenly, the sounds of the earth ripping and tearing caught everyone's attention and they turned around, skidding to a complete halt in the process. Dark crystals were quickly growing and expanding in such a way the gate and access to the Valkyrie were cut off. The damn things were growing like weeds and soon all light from the skies above was extinguished.

"Not good....gimme a sec." Anna sighed in annoyance, allowing her eyes to adjust to the darkness. Even with her keen sight, she couldn't discern a single shape beyond the radius of herself and the other two stooges who went with. She sighed and closed her eyes to calm herself and think a little bit clearer. Her horn began sparking once more as she stood there, seemingly lost in thought (or, as Lance was more prone to calling it, the deep, vast jungle of a woman's mind.) It kept giving off miniscule flickers that briefly illuminated a bit of her own form. The dancing sparks glowed brighter and lasted longer as she stood there doing nothing else.

And then, her eyes opened and her horn was now glowing a very bright white-green. Now the houses and everything else were discernible from the darkness, but only to a given radius. She looked at Lance and poked her head with her index finger as if to say "At least I came up with a genius idea for the time being." Lance simply smiled back.

"At least we won't freeze to death." Rainbow chimed in, flapping her wings a bit. She was right, because the wall basically blocked the snowstorm and made things a lot more bearable.

"True that." Anna said, glancing around her surroundings and, in effect, causing shadows and crystalline shimmers to dance about as she moved her head.

"I wish I had a horn." Lance sighed, very clearly envious.

"And I wish I had wings." Anna quickly retorted with a smile.

The ground started to shake as if a monster was approaching. The melting snow blanket cushioned this phenomenon so that the group wouldn't fall on their rumps.

"Guys, I think we got company!" Rainbow exclaimed as a figure was hastily scurrying around the bare perimeter of the light's radius. What could be seen of the thing was that its body was made of stone.

The snow-laden ground continued to shake and vibrate. "Thank you, Captain Obvious!" Anna replied, struggling to keep the thing in her light so she'd see it.

Suddenly, the thing charged headlong into the party. Thanks to sheer reflex, Rainbow and Lance were now airborne. Anna merely jumped out of the way right as a stony mace whose spikes were black crystals hit where she originally stood. It then retracting, giving Anna a full view of its owner: A quadruped beast of stone whose eyes, teeth, and claws were made entirely of dark crystals. It had a small, semi-trapezoid-like head, a big, semi-circular body, gargantuan forelegs that seemed to be carved into squares, and slim hind legs made of round rocks. On its backside was a singular crystal mass in the shape of a unicorn stallion in armor raised on his hind legs, as if about to stomp and crush all opposition with his hooves.

"Holy shit...." Lance said, awed by the sight of the behemoth as he drew his gunblade. "The Arch-Vile was busy."

"Very!" Anna replied, loading her bow and taking aim. She shot an arrow at the beast, hoping to hit it in the eye. The arrow was swiftly grabbed by the maw of the thing mid-flight and promptly snapped in two.

"It eats arrows for breakfast?!" Cried the Nazi as he loaded six bullets into his gunblade. He quickly fired one right after another until all six were rushing towards the monster at the speed of sound. Again, the bullets were taken out of the air and eaten.

"It's a hungry, hungry hippo made of stones!" Rainbow frantically shrieked while face-hoofing.

Anna face-palmed and groaned. She then grabbed her bow with both hands and impaled its bottom into the ground while her horn glowed a vibrant evergreen color. Thorned vines quickly grabbed and overtook the Dark Crystal Golem, causing the monstrosity to make a sound that could only be assumed was a sound of surprise. Its eyes then emanated wisps of purple shadows and so did the eyes of the unicorn statue on its back. The vines became crystallized and easily broke away as the behemoth reared on its stubby hind legs and pounded the ground thrice with its claws in a very quick, fluent motion that shouldn't have been possible of a creature of its bulk and size. Three Dark Bits--floating rocks with dark crystals growing out of them--soon appeared to aid their ally.

"This isn't good!" Lance cried as he landed on the ground.

"How do we beat this thing?!" Rainbow yelped as she was flying away from the Bits. Some were gaining ground, only to be dodged and find themselves exploding upon impact with a wall like the kamikaze of World War II. One managed to catch the pegasus off-guard and coerce her into a crash landing. She felt a stinging sensation in her hoof and scrunched her eyes shut in pain because she landed on her head. More Bits were forcing Lance into flight yet again and he was circling the current battle zone because of it. Even more Bits threw Anna's aim off like no tomorrow--it was straight up chaos.

Rainbow groaned in pain and opened her eyes, seeing a thing on a curved hook impaled just above her hoof. It...looked slender and red with a blue, crystalline tip at the end, and it seemed to have a little red bow just under the aforementioned blue bit. Her eyes widened in shock, and then she looked towards a hole the Bits had made when they exploded rather violently. She flapped her wings and launched towards the hole, leaving Lance and Anna behind.

"Dammit! Where's she going?!" The Nazi yelled in annoyance while gunning down Bits.

"I think she found something--but what that is, I don't know!" Anna replied as she kept deflecting more Bits with her bow. Her horn was sizzling out already, and that sure as hell wasn't a good sign. She had no choice but to run at this point, but she couldn't flee from the fight at the same time. Oh no, she had to keep her promise to the Ursa Major. She took out the stone and held it high in the sky. A white glow encompassed the area and said Ursa Major appeared. She started swatting the annoying, troublesome Bits away. Some were sent into walls and others into house--they exploded regardless of where they landed, nonetheless. After that was said and done she raised a mighty paw and slammed it right into the Dark Crystal Golem....five times in total. She then returned to her little stone, which Anna put away in her tail. The beast fell apart, but the crystals didn't shatter. In fact, it simply came back together through some telekinetic force as if it were just being created all over again. It roared, now more pissed than ever as evidenced by the wisps around its eyes intensifying to such a degree that the crystals themselves became blood red.

Suddenly, a massive thunderbolt hailed down through the holes in the wall and landed right on the horn of the stallion statue. This caused the stone beast to convulse as though it were made of flesh. It howled in pain.

"I do believe I need to kick some ass with magic? I ain't got time to take names, you know!" Called a female's voice from above that soon echoed off the walls. Lance and Anna stopped and glanced around before spotting the holes again. In one of them stood a long-haired figure that was holding some kind of unusual staff in one hand. It stood on what was clearly a set of hooves. In a flash, the being disappeared and then reappeared next to Anna, who nearly fell flat on her ass in shock.

The being wore a red dress that just barely hid her large bust. The detached sleeves reached down to her wrists and long, fiery red hair flowed down all the way to the back of her waist. It was wavy and somewhat curly, and short bangs stopped short of her sapphire blue eyes. A long, light grey horn was on her forehead, and it crackled with golden electric sparks. Her legs, ending in hooves, were light grey, and pony ears the same color were in the right places on her head. In her hand she held a red staff whose top ended and curled in a flame-like pattern. A fiery red tail's tip was poking out from under the dress and behind her legs. Dark red roses hanging on ribbons were in her hair just above her ears, and this woman looked super-mega pissed off. A golden aura encased her form and four wings of the same arcane energy--two wings larger than the other--sprouted from her back.

The beast roared its final death throes as the entire town and dark crystalline wall were encased in a bright, white light.

Wrath

The light faded. When the light level returned to Anna's horn-lantern level, both Nazi and archer looked at where the Dark Crystal Golem stood....the monster lay in pieces of stone and shattered crystal shards. They then glanced at the red-haired, staff-wielding, single-horned satyr who unleashed the very light that pretty much blinded everyone momentarily.

"Uh.....Natalie, I have to ask, but when the fuck did you learn how to teleport?" Lance asked, pointing a finger at the woman's horn. His entire being shook, but just slightly.

"I knew how to do it when I was a kid and I apparently forgot all about it until my transformation happened." Natalie answered with a sigh. Traces of that ghastly aura still lingered around her horn and staff. The ground shook again, this time from behind. Things sounded as though something were pounding against them. Pieces of crystal rubble began falling from the ceiling-wall above. Anna and Lance glanced around again.

"If it's another Golem, I'm gonna--" Anna started, only to be cut off as a whole chunk of the wall broke off, revealing another bipedal silhouette. This one was, quite frankly, like a cube on legs. It lumbered its way to the party, and behind it was the Valkyrie. The bipedal thing was made of mostly wood, but there were chunks of exposed metal here and there, such as one hand being a drill for starters. It had round holes where eyes would be, and the top of its head was flat and smooth. There were a few tree branches sticking out here and there on its entire frame.

"You brought the Mighty Oak here as well?" Anna asked, turning her gaze back to Natalie.

"Might as well." Natalie answered with a shrug. Something seemed to click in her head briefly, and she let off a giggle. Lance and Anna also chuckled briefly before turning their sights on the palace in the distance.

"So....uh, what happened here?" Natalie asked, tilting her head to the side.

"A lot." Anna retorted, crossing her arms in frustration.

Suddenly, more Dark Crystal Golems stood in the way between the entrance and the palace. There were at least thirty of them.

"Well, shit." Natalie sighed, her eyes narrowing low. In an instant, her horn was crackling to life yet again, this time in a white glow. It was then that she noticed on one stallion statue had a hapless Moogle chained onto its horn. The poor thing had its wings cut off, as well as the trademark pom-pom. Before doing anything, she used her magic to break the Moogle's shackle and quickly carry the poor thing to Lance. Natalie then turned back to the golems, her horn crackling more fiercely than ever. Her eyes took on a glow of sinister intent.

"YOU." She started, flinging a ball of raging fire at the beast which the Moogle was attached to. The beast roared and ate the fireball before spontaneously exploding.

"DO." She scowled as she flung shards of ice at another. The creature froze and then shattered instantaneously.

"NOT." She yelled, calling down heavenly thunderbolts on another still. The stone monster convulsed so much the crystals broke, leaving a sad stone shell behind as it died.

The Moogle wailed "Kupo" in horrendous agony. It clutched Lance's arm frantically. The Nazi and archer rushed inside the Valkyrie tank and sat down watching the screen.

"EVEN." She hissed in seething, loathing anger as a white orb encased another and caused its pieces to be flung everywhere.

"THINK." She shrieked, flinging a shower of golden, hollowed-out stars at ten more monsters. They fell on their backs in shock, causing their statues to shatter and death to take them away.

"ABOUT." She snarled as a white beam suddenly shot out from another golem, causing it to disintegrate in its glow.

"HURTING A DAMN MOOGLE!!!" She screamed in fury as the remaining golems were encased in a furious storm of fire, ice, and lightning. The furious storm from hell continued to swirl around the twelve or so monsters and then coalesced in a single fluent motion. The resulting explosion collected what remained the monsters into another corporeal form and then turn them to ash. The ash, still glowing, was then scattered across the entire battlefield as a sort of warning to those who would dare harm another Moogle. A group of ponies chained together witnessed all this and approached the mysterious satyr who caused the monsters to die in a rather spectacular display of raw magical power.

"Free us..." Said a mare.

"Mommy's dead....this bad stallion hurt me..." Cried a filly.

"The golems killed my family...." Wailed a stallion.

"Make it stop..." Sobbed a colt who had three legs.

Natalie shook, newfound anger sprouting in her like a seed of sin. Looking at all these hurt ponies--especially the three-legged colt--made her anger almost impossible to contain. But through some miracle she didn't let it loose; she kept it under control.

She looked at the Valkyrie with teary eyes and nodded once. Returning her gaze to the hurt ponies with horn aglow, she fiddled with the shackles for a bit. The troublesome binds were encased in a soft white glow as they jiggled and had their inner workings deciphered.

A series of loud clicks sounded soon after as the chains were unlocked. They fell onto the snow blanket soundlessly with ease. One by one, the ponies climbed into the hatch of the tank. Old, young, male, female, sick, healthy....you name it. But the three-legged colt didn't follow them--instead, he looked at the satyr with a pleading look. She looked back at him.

"Make the pain stop...." He repeated, half-hobbling, half-shambling towards her. His flanks were raw and red, and there was exposed flesh where his cutie marks should've been. The satyr knelt down to his level and held him upright with both forelegs in her hands. She turned him at every angle to study the rather horrific abuse before making her judgement.

She picked him up and ran with him towards the tank with her horn glowing. In a flash, she disappeared off the street and reappeared in the tank. She saw Lance patch up the Moogle before wrapping it in a fuzzy blanket. She began casting a spell on the colt. A white glow bathed his form as about twenty glowing star-like orbs surrounded him before slowly, softly wrapping his wounded body. In a flash that ended as quickly as it had come, the wounds of the colt were closed off and healed as if nothing happened. Of course, the leg didn't regrow. The cutie marks--a shield and sword--were restored, however. "Lance, get a damn prosthetic." Natalie sighed, her horn ceasing its soft glow.

"Roger." Lance replied, passing the sleeping Moogle off to Anna before digging around in a box behind him. He then pulled out a leg made of metal and plastic with a cup fitted for all shortened limbs. He looked at the leg and then the colt and gently slid it onto the thigh. It matched up with the length of the other legs perfectly, and the fact that it was shaped like a regular pony leg made it that much better.

The colt was carefully put on all fours. He moved his new leg carefully to ensure that it worked. Wearily, he began walking around slowly before finding a nice spot to curl up on and fall asleep.

A bulky figure dropped down from the hatch. Over silver armor he wore a thick coat of Ursa fur that had white spots with padding underneath. Ivory shin guards and bracers the color of snow decorated his arms and legs. Sandals of Ursa leather were on his feet. In a sheath he was carrying a sword of ivory, and his robe contrasted his blond hair.

"How'd ya follow us, Kaleb?" Lance asked the brute. Natalie walked up to the fur-wearing blond and grabbed his arm. This caused Kaleb to look at her.

"What the hell have you taught my kid?" She asked sternly.

King of Shadows

"I......I haven't taught anything to your child. What is it that you are trying to ask?" Kaleb stuttered, completely dumbstruck by the question.

"Have you even met my kid? Long, dark hair and horns on her forehead? Carries a cross everywhere?" Natalie asked again, now getting irritated.

Kaleb took a moment to think about it, and then exactly who the satyr spoke of registered in his head: Alexis. "I have indeed met her." He replied with a slow nod.

"I was told--quite clearly by Lazarus, in fact--that you offended her. It's why I asked to begin with!" Natalie hissed, clenching her fists in anger.

Kaleb recounted the events that happened so far. Waking up from stasis. Finding a bunch of crazies in a cave. Fighting a zombragon. A pair of insane twin brothers. Being smacked by a woman's hand because....

"I did indeed offend her, but I didn't mean to. I was only trying to help." Kaleb said solemnly, regretting that he had yet to apologize to the offended.

Natalie raised her clenched fist and threw a quick jab--only for Kaleb to catch it. "There is something that she hid from you. Something you should be aware of by now."

"That being...?" Natalie asked, raising a brow.

"Your child....wasn't just beaten up. I am only going by what I have heard of the issue, and pardon me for my uncouth choice of words, but she......was deflowered." Kaleb answered, not even looking anybody in the eye at this point. His face darkened to such a degree that his eyes were bathed entirely in shadow.

"She.......what....?" Natalie asked, ears perked straight up.

"After I got healed and tore the Flim Flam Brothers several new assholes........Alexis came forward." Lance translated, removing his hat and holding it to his chest.

"Say......huh....?" Anna said, slack-jawed.

"....." Something seemed to register in Natalie's mind. She stood there blinking a few times with quivering lips to boot. Her eyes darkened and began radiating a sinister white glow. Heaving and shaking a bit made her look as if she were about to kill someone using a sledgehammer. On their face. Repeatedly. Until she sent them TO THE MOTHERFUCKING *MOOOOOOOON* or some shit like that.

Kaleb raised both eyebrows as he looked into the satyr's glowing eyes.

Anna stomped a hoof onto the metal floor of the tank, causing a dull echo to resonate throughout the mechanical behemoth. She put a pair of earmuffs on the sleeping Moogle before taking in a deep, long breath. What she shouted next summed up exactly what was going through Natalie's head at the moment.

"YOU CANNOT BE FUCKING SERIOUS!!"

"When we get back home, I'll have a long talk with her." Natalie hissed with a single nod.

"Just make sure Mom doesn't hear it. Just because she's sick doesn't mean she can't lose her shit." Lance sighed, putting his hat back on.

"That, I'll keep in mind." Natalie replied before prying her hand from Kaleb's grasp.

Lance walked up to the control panel and began typing in random letters and numbers. "I hope the Mighty Oak can keep up. I really do." The Nazi commented as his fingers seemingly moved with the wind.

Anna grabbed Kaleb by the ear and pulled his head to her eye level with surprising ease. "And just who are you?" She asked, raising a brow.

"I'll explain later." Kaleb replied, gently prying Anna's iron-like gripping hand from his ear before standing straight up again. "I do not wish to anger her further."

"The hell does that have to do with anything?" Anna asked, crossing her arms.

"It is a mixture of who I am and what my profession of choice is.....as well as my offending her child." Kaleb replied, pinching his index finger and thumb together before moving them across the front of his lips. He was, to be blunt, zipping his lips shut.

"Alright, people. Quit fighting." Said a stallion as he stepped forward and pushed the brute and the archer apart.

"Alright, alright." Anna sighed as she backed off.

"We were only having a discussion." Kaleb said, being forced to back off as well.

The wheels of the tank whirred to life and the entire damn thing moved straight towards the castle ahead. The Mighty Oak ran close behind, his footsteps causing the town to shake slightly as he passed houses. This, as always, was dampened by the snow blanket.

The sleeping Moogle slowly awoke with a yawn and removed his newfound earmuffs. It got up from its blanket and walked around saying "Kupo" at everything. Kaleb looked at the fuzzy critter and picked it up. He took a hand and curled his fingers so that the index would be extended more so than the others and stroked the Moogle's cheek.

Lance stopped typing in seemingly pointless commands into the panel just long enough to witness the rather--and surprisingly--adorable sight. It made him smile. Hell, it even made him warm and a little fuzzy inside seeing a big, hulking brute handle a creature so delicate with utmost care--especially considering this Moogle's horrid set of circumstances. He quickly returned to the panel and saw that the Valkyrie was very close to the palace indeed. In fact, it was entering the palace gates.

Kaleb put the Moogle down and pet its head with an index finger before gently nudging him away. The Moogle said "Kupo" as usual and went back to his blanket-bed. The brute eyed Lance as he kept typing in numbers and letters.

Natalie was checking the ponies over for injuries. Each time she saw even one scratch, no matter how severe, her horn bathed in a white aura and glowing orbs would gently wrap the wound in light. When the orbs faded from sight, the wound was closed off as though it were never there to begin with. She would then move to the next pony and repeat the process once she saw a wound and skipped the ones who didn't have any visible scratches. There were a total of exactly two elderly mares and an elderly stallion; five middle-aged stallions and seven mares; thirteen young mares and three young stallions; and four fillies and the three-legged colt who recently got his prosthetic leg.

Anna was cleaning her bow. It had been too long since she last cleaned the damn thing, and the fact that she had noticed specks of dust as she unloaded arrows during her recent fight with the Dark Crystal Golems made it mentally kick herself. She took a slightly damp cloth and gently rubbed the entire surface of the bow down to the last square inch.

The tank came to a sudden screeching halt that happened so fast nearly everyone that was standing up fell over. Kaleb caught himself by swiftly shifting into a kneeling position. Lance, having the support of the control panel, didn't even lean forward an inch. The screen showed a swirling purple-black mass that had eyes with green sclera and blood crimson irises that had slit pupils.

"What the hell is this?" Lance asked, noticing the shadowy mass producing those same, black crystals from its very form. These crystals appeared darker and seemed to be spreading all over the damn place, which caused the exit to be blocked off.

One mare looked at the screen and raised her hooves to her head in panic. "It's King Sombra!" She wailed. The ponies suddenly huddled in the back of the Valkyrie in a frenzy before somehow becoming glued to their seats cowering in fear.

"Yes, my little slaves. I see you've brought me rather....exotic creatures this time around." Hissed the shadowy mass, revealing jagged teeth, a black mane, a scarlet horn whose base was covered in an armor-crown, and a brown-grey muzzle.

Dark Reflections

"King.....Sombra?" Anna asked, raising both brows as she cautiously walked to the screen. The beating of her hooves against metal made a dull echo that resonated through the tank.

The dark head in the cloud of shadow seemed to lean forward a bit as it nodded slowly. "I see you much the same as you see me. So, exotic ones, why don't you come out to play?" He asked, his voice wry and sinister with a very miniscule echo to it.

Anna and Lance exchanged glances. Kaleb stood up and tilted his head to the side upon seeing the shadow-clad head. Natalie crossed her arms and tapped an index finger.

"And why do you want to see us specifically?" Asked the mage.

"A rather nosy little wizard, no?" Sombra asked, grinning. "You'll see for yourselves once you climb out."

"I am not moving until I find out about how you treated this poor thing!" She retorted, picking up the Moogle for him to see. Upon seeing the shadowy king, the Moogle started wailing and moving his little feet as if he were running.

"Oh.....that little rodent?" Sombra asked, raising a brow in curiosity.

"He's not a rodent!" Natalie shrieked, putting the terrified Moogle down. It ran and hid behind the legs of a pony, only peeking out occasionally to look.

"'He isn't a rodent,' so says a grade-A whore. I am not responsible for what my creations do other than to gather up slaves." Sombra taunted, grinning again.

Natalie uncrossed her arms and clenched her hands into fists. Her eyes narrowed low and her lips curled into a snarling frown. "Grade-A WHAT?!" She hissed in complete fury.

"And by the way.......the 'human' that deflowered your child was really me." Sombra said, grinning ear to ear.

Natalie fell silent, processing what Sombra had just said. Her ears twitched thrice.

Kaleb grabbed Lance by the shoulders and yanked him out of his way as he took his place before the screen. He was heaving as if steam was emerging from his earholes. "You.....you....you......you depraved monstrosity! How dare you......!" He lost all strength to finish that sentence as his hands curled into fists as well.

"You read my mind. Either that or you're thinking what I'm thinking." Natalie commented, her voice with a snarl to it.

Sombra's grin didn't waver. Not one bit. "Come out and fight me if you are so hellbent on vengeance. I know full well it's what you desire." He taunted, grinning so wide now his teeth gleamed.

The satyrs and brute climbed out of the hatch, making sure to secure it behind them to keep the ponies and Moogle safe. They then hopped down and Sombra's shadow cloud seemed to back away as the mini-mob approached his very being. But he grinned nonetheless the entire time.

"Before we start pounding you for pretty much everything," Anna started, stomping a hoof in anger, "Are you a masochist?"

Sombra shook his head, grin unwavering still. "You can't hurt darkness when it flees the light. The same is true for my current form." He answered.

His horn started emanating some black sparks of what seemed to be darkened electricity.

Lance raised a brow, his wings twitching a bit.

Anna shifted backwards an inch, raising her bow in the process.

Natalie clutched her Flameheart with a tight grip.

Kaleb's muscles tensed up, especially the shoulders and wrists.

Sombra's wispy shadow grew precisely three wriggling tendrils that touched three spaces of the ground around him in such a way a triangle was formed should one happen to literally connect the dots. Then, three slim columns of dark crystals shot straight up and touched the ceiling. Said columns broke in two pieces each, then four, and then it became literally millions miniscule pieces. The pieces collected into bizarre shapes--one a sword, one a bow, and one some kind of bladed staff--before levitating to three places again, this time upon runic circles lined up single file, one next to the other.

The evil king began chanting aloud in some ancient, Equestrian tongue that nobody could comprehend. His own horn was bathed in darkness that shot out and bathed each bizarre shape in a sinister anti-glow of collected shadows. More sparks, this time larger and outlined in a deep green, red, and orange danced around these shapes as they were lowered onto their sides directly on the runic circles that had begun rotating.

A shadowed arm shot out from the rightmost circle and grabbed the bladed staff with such speed the group took a step back. Then, the same happened for the sword and bow. Another arm shot out of each occult symbol and pulled their owners out of the blackness. These.....things were soon standing with their backs turned to the group, and all three were bipedal. Each held the weapons at their sides, and the middle one seemed to have broader shoulders than the other two, whose shoulders were more rounded in shape.

The shadows lifted off the beings and showed zombie-grey skin on their upper bodies and black hair on their heads and lower bodies, save the leftmost one which had red instead. The rightmost figure's top, save the arms, were covered in a black thing still. Their tails were only a few meager strands of long-since-dead hair, the rest having been ripped off sometime back. The middle being had bleeding holes where wings would've been present, and the right one had wings with the leathery holed frame belonging on Changeling queens. The hair on their heads was filthy and hung perfectly straight thanks to dirt, crystals, and other residue. The beings, who were satyrs as well, lacked cutie marks for some odd reason.

Then, slowly, the rightmost figure turned, revealing a torn, black dress that barely hid her privates.

Natalie immediately went wide-eyed, for she was staring at what was best described as a dead-looking version of herself. The look-alike had a stitched smile that went ear to ear, and where eyes should've been were black, bleeding voids of darkness that had meager glowing red dots in place of irises. On her forehead was a gnarled and black horn forged of solidified darkness. A cutie mark, now present, was an inverted cross with demon wings that had multitudes of holes that sat on her thigh....or was it flank? The staff fully materialized, revealing a slender black handle with a skull's face at the backside of the top. Black spikes extended from the protrusion as a silver, curved blade dripped with hints of blood. The look-alike was holding a crystal scythe. A strange, red symbol was just above her cleavage line, and it looked like a thorned cross with a snake on it.

The middle figure turned. It had the same eyes as Natalie's doppelganger and he was missing his entire lower jaw and a good portion of skin on his upper jaw, revealing the skull a bit. He had many scars on his upper frame, and a shredded loincloth didn't hide the fact that this satyr had his junk brutally torn off. The creature had blood red hooves that appeared to have been recently dipped in the aforementioned substance rather than ruffs of hair separating the two regions. His cutie mark was a blood red mushroom cloud, and his weapon was an exact crystalline replica of Lance's gunblade.

The last figure turned, revealing no clothing whatsoever on her emaciated frame. She shared the eyes of the other two, but her mouth was perfectly normal for a zombie. She had stitched scars on her face and chest, but they were miniscule. Unlike Natalie's doppelganger, who had seemingly perfectly fine breasts, this one's chest was flat and lined with many more gruesome stitches where they would've been. Where a horn should've been on her forehead was a crystalline stalactite impaled into her skull. Her cutie mark was a black blood pool and three red arrows in its center crossed over like swords. Her crystalline bow was black and it had red eye-like pieces, making it look like it had spider eyes, and the bow itself was elongated and curved in such a way spider legs was the first thing that came to mind when one was looking at it.

"How would it feel to fight your dark desires in such pain given form and evil given life?" Sombra taunted, smiling.

Fighting Mirror Images

Natalie's look-alike kept grinning--she had to, given a good portion of her face was stitched that way. She seemed to be raising a brow as her scythe was held horizontally behind her, as if she were saying "What? I'm not doing anything." Anna's doppelganger tilted her head to the side while holding the bow behind her. She lifted a hand and pointed an almost skeletal finger at Kaleb and, from the looks of it, was quite curious as to why he was there. Lance's evil, undead twin scratched his head behind the ear using one hand and impaled the gunblade into the ground with the other. The other hand then pointed at Kaleb as well, then swiftly flew to his nonexistent chin. He seemed to be trying to ask something, but given his lack of a lower jaw and tongue, he had to resort to literal sign language. A crystal sign appeared and he held it in both hands like he was protesting, and it read "To whom might I assign responsibility of that brute being here?"

Kaleb looked at the Darkened Mirrors of the three living satyrs before him, then met the gazes of the living Anna, Lance, and Natalie.

"What is going on here?" Anna asked, pointing at her look-alike.

"No comment." Lance sighed, shaking his head.

Natalie remained speechless.

"Take your time, I am in no hurry." Sombra said, smiling. "My minions are in no rush either."

Kaleb looked at the dark king briefly, then returned to meet the gazes of the satyrs. The Darkened Mirrors looked at their living counterparts with some sort of interest, then back to Kaleb.

Anna turned to her counterpart. "Your mouth is most normal out of all you three," She said, pointing at her look-alike, "and I was wondering if you could speak."

The counterpart immediately pointed to the scars on her chest with a disapproving frown on her face.

"Okay! I was just wondering! Geez!" Anna sighed, holding her hands up before her.

The counterpart sighed, shaking her head. It had no tone to it; merely being a gust of breath and nothing more.

Kaleb looked at Sombra and could've sworn he was twiddling his hooves like they were over-sized thumbs.

Lance's counterpart took his crystalline weapon and lifted it out of the ground....before loading six crystal bullets into the barrel. He aimed and fired those six shots in such a way the living Natalie's dress practically flew off, revealing her smooth-skinned, huge breasts and cunt in the process. It also revealed her cutie mark: a gold cross with four silver angel wings sprouting out from behind it.

As expected, she screamed like a filly and ended up conjuring censor bars from her greatly-sparking horn to cover the sudden mishap. The dark counterpart was now holding a sign with a smiley face on it.

"I never expected a grade-A whore to look that fine. That, even I can admit." Sombra said, smiling wider.

By now, the living Lance was not only plugging his ears in and wearing a blindfold, but he was trying desperately to stop a sudden nosebleed.

Kaleb's palm connected with his face as he groaned in annoyance.

"Oh.....I forgot.....have I got quite the treat for you. Yes, I am speaking of the naked redhead." Sombra said, grinning so wide a dinner plate could fit into his mouth. He began chanting in ancient Equestrian tongue again and his horn was sparking beyond compare. Soon, another runic circle appeared and from it emerged a crystal being of blackest hue. It had red eyes and spikes, very flexible tendrils, and literally five eyes--each with three pupils and irises with the middle pupil spiked like the north and south poles-- made of amethysts and rubies. It stood on more tentacles that acted like feet, and the main body was teardrop-like in shape.

Natalie's eyes went wide and her jaw hung open, quivering. Her ears fell flat. She began to hyperventilate, shaking her head slightly.

"No...." She murmured. "No.....it.....it can't.....it can't......." Her legs shook as she spoke, and she dropped the Flameheart before rising her hands to her head. They clasped the sides of her head as she kept shaking like a leaf.

Sombra kept smiling, then fled deeper into the hallway. "Seize her! Seize them all!" He commanded in a threatening bellow that truly befitted a tyrant like he. The Darkened Mirrors and Demonic Beholder quickly took up battle stances, as did the quartet with utmost haste.

"This is REALLY bad." Anna commented, loading three arrows into her bow. She took aim and fired them at Lance's counterpart, who dodged two before the somehow slower third hit him dead in the heart. Or rather, where the heart would be considering he didn't fall right then and there. All he did was recoil a bit instead.

Natalie's counterpart began buzzing her wings at a rate only hummingbirds could achieve. She was now hovering inches above the ground as she twirled her scythe around using two fingers and two fingers only with shocking ease. She lifted the spinning blade above her head and pointed her index and middle fingers at Anna, whereupon a black runic circle with a six-pointed star appeared before her and sent a blackened star the archer's way. Anna deftly dodged the oncoming attack a split second before it would've impacted with her horn.

Lance removed his blindfold and earmuffs before loading his own gunblade with two bullets. He shot them at Anna's look-alike, blowing her a raspberry in the process. Both shots hit the Shadow Huntress in the chest, one on top of the other. The Fallen Comrade ran towards Kaleb raising his weapon above his head. Kaleb drew the ivory swords and ivory and crystal connected. The two were equally matched in strength, oddly enough, and stood there with swords locked for a brief moment before they were pulled away and slashed to and fro. Neither had any advantage or disadvantage, taking away bullets and GodCat knows what. The Demon Beholder slithered towards Natalie with blinding speed, only to meet up with an ice shard right in the central eyeball. It screamed a wyvern's pained cry and backed off posthaste. The Dark Seductress saw this and started whirling her scythe again, this time in front of her. She then flew towards Anna and the blade cut the archer's chest diagonally, the middle of the new wound right between her breasts. The archer dropped her bow as the Seductress backed off.

Then and there the archer fell flat on the side of her head and front of her body, her eyes having gone glassy in only seconds.

Lance saw this and his wings snapped open. A look of furious anguish now made itself quite clear on his face: His eyes narrowed as tears began to fall, and his lips curled into a frown unlike any other. His tufted ears fell flat as he began heaving. Slowly, he raised his gunblade and pointed it forward at the wrongdoers. He took a deep breath and shouted a cry of pain with but three words.

VALKYRIE TANK, CHARGE!!!!

At once, the wheels of the metallic behemoth began whirring to life. Kaleb grabbed the Fallen Comrade by the face and crushed his head using one fist. The pieces of the Comrade scattered all over upon impact and dissipated into darkness that quickly fled where Sombra had retreated earlier. He then rushed with haste to pick up the deceased archer and move her out of the way. Natalie grabbed her bow and stood next to Kaleb with her horn sparking in a golden glow. The tank moved forward with such speed a cheetah would've been envious....but it soon stopped as the Shadow Huntress held the hull with her bare hands. Her body was giving way, however, and her hooves slowly began slipping. In response, the machine guns on the hull pointed right at her and opened fire.

The Huntress's body shattered and dissipated into darkness. She was no more. The tank then turned one-eighty and rushed towards the Dark Seductress. The dark mage quickly ascended on buzzing wings, climbing higher and higher until she reached the ceiling. She began forming more dark runic circles around her frame and then she disappeared as a single red mini-sun appeared in her place. It shrunk twice.....and then enveloped everything and approximately a sixteenth of the planet in searing flames. While this looked like the planet would end, it was really a fire-based illusion meant only to harm Kaleb, Natalie, Lance, and everything in and around the Valkyrie tank.

Unfortunately for the Seductress, Natalie had formed a barrier spell around the tank and her small troop, greatly reducing damage to third-degree burns at worst. Said mage then grew two angel wings, then two more smaller ones. Her eyes took on that white glow and her horn was sparking with even more energy. Natalie then rose high herself to meet her doppelganger and grabbed her by the neck using both hands.

A white glow soon encompassed everything again. When it faded, Natalie was on the ground and her doppelganger had just shattered into mere fragments of darkness. The same was true for the Demon Beholder.

Anna stirred awake, fluttering her eyelids as she seemed to slip in and out of consciousness. When she came to, she was placed on her hooves and she plucked her bow from Natalie's hand.

Kaleb was looking down the hall. "We need to follow him. Now." He said.

Crystal Tragedy

The quartet and the Tank moved onwards down the hall, the Mighty Oak barely keeping up. Anna, though revived, was limping a bit and also struggled to keep her pacing.

Natalie came to a skidding halt, her hooves making quite the indention in the crystal floor while doing so. She turned around and noticed Anna stopping entirely, her hands on her knees and her body hunched over. The mage's pony ears caught the sounds of the archer gasping for air.

Lance also noticed this, and he turned around as well. He walked back to Anna and gently made her stand upright to inspect the scar that was still there from the battle which happened only moments ago. With his keen, military-trained eye, he saw why she was gasping a bit too frantically for her own good.

There was a cut in her left lung.

"Natalie, could you help, please?" Lance asked, making sure to look at the mage and use the most polite tone of voice possible.

"Sure thing." Natalie said with a grin as she walked to Anna with horn bathed in a white glow. Anna's body was soon embraced by a white aura and twenty or so glowing orbs surrounded her. They then homed in on her like a bunch of rabid pixies on Red Bull before the orbs and glow disappeared altogether.

The scars were gone.

Anna was still breathing a bit too fast, but her breathing rate soon returned to normal.

"Think you can make it from here?" Natalie asked, ears perked.

"Yeah. Thanks." Anna replied with a small grin.

"We haven't any time to waste. Let's move, people!" Kaleb called, already further down the hall than the satyrs. The three broke out of their stupor and ran to catch up with him.

For as long as I've known him, I have never heard him speak like that. Lance thought, keeping a lookout for anything else that would attack him and the rest of the group while he was running. Then again, he must be getting pretty pissed off at Sombra.

Suddenly, the group came to a halt as Sombra's shadowy body appeared in front of them.

"Persistent, aren't you?" He asked, his mouth curled into a snarl. Now, his armor-clad forelegs were present, and in between the hooves was a bundle wrapped in a white blanket. From it was a head with a square, pink muzzle and a blue curled mane which had highlights of yellow and lavender. On its forehead sat a horn nub.

It was a foal. A crying, screaming foal.

"YOU WOULDN'T!" Natalie protested, ears dropping as she waved her Flameheart frantically.

"Who says I can't?" Sombra taunted, lifting the foal high above his head as though he were going to play football with it. "Only one other has said those exact words to my face and he was hanged for it!" A tendril formed a hand and pointed right. The party looked the way the tendril pointed and saw a crystalline set of gallows. Hanging from one rope was a unicorn stallion, his body white and hooves pale blue from death. He had a spiked mane and tail that were also blue that shared a light blue highlight. On his flank was a blue shield that had three sparkles above it.

Natalie went white in utter shock. Her jaw hung open and tears fell from her eyes as memories flashed frantically in her mind.

"Who....who is this stallion? Someone please fill me in." Kaleb asked.

Natalie was now trembling. She fell onto her knees, arms slack against her sides. Uncontrollably, she began moving her mouth, yet no words formed.

"Oh, him?" Sombra asked, turning briefly to the otherwise-empty gallows. "He was Captain Shining Armor. Yes, that was his name. He was Captain of the Equestrian Royal Guard before he married one Princess Mi Amore Cadenza and took my empire from me. I had him and his wife jailed upon breaking free of my imprisonment, and then asked him about these strange, bipedal creatures who fled from my territory in literal flocks. He and Cadenza never said one word about any of them, so I took matters into my own hooves until he started talking non-stop about what he described as a redhead magician and blond pirate." He answered, the tendril now pointing at Natalie. "And I do believe we have SOMEONE here who fits one of those bills, so to speak."

The mage turned to the dark king, shaking in either sadness or anger. Which one of the two nobody at that moment could tell.

"So....the foal then....it's his?" Kaleb asked, raising a brow.

"You are indeed correct. Can't have an usurper of the throne now, can we?" Sombra asked, grinning horribly. Suddenly, a white light appeared in front of his eyes and blinded him temporarily. He screamed in shock and agony. When his little fit ended, he touched his hooves together.

No. The foal wasn't there anymore.

Having regained enough of his sight to ignore the colorful splotches dancing about, he saw a bundle in Natalie's arms. Her horn was glowing and so were her eyes. Her tears also radiated this energy for reasons nobody could comprehend. From her backside were four wings radiating with light.

"Enough. I'll take it from here!" Said a deep, angry voice from above. Everyone glanced around, wondering where it had come from. At last, they saw a figure above Sombra with a great red cannon that had the word 'e-Bay' charging with electricity and radiating a man-made, more potent energy. The figure himself had spiky brown hair that covered a great deal of his face and white bandana. What they could see of his eyes was a glowing blood crimson.

"Lazarus?! How'd ya get here?!" Lance asked in shock.

"I'm the God of the Winds! I have my ways, soldier!" Lazarus replied, his cannon still charging.

"FOOL! You can't defeat me!" Sombra hissed, his entire body turned towards the Godling.

"In that case, I'll gladly help! Free any other prisoners!" Kaleb bellowed, pushing the satyrs towards the tank. They hurriedly climbed in and found the Moogle on the control panel. He was hopping on numbers and letters, somehow making the commands work.

"Hey, hairball! Get off of that!" Lance called, rushing to the panel as the tank started moving. This made him fall on his face.

"Kupo!" Replied the Moogle, doing exactly what he was told. The Nazi got up, dusted himself, and resumed his trip to the damn panel. The furball ran towards Natalie and began hopping up and down. The tank swerved around the dark king right before Lazarus unleashed his PETA Flare. The shadows fled into the opposite side of the hall, just barely surviving the resulting explosion.

The tank flew down a series of crystal stairs, causing all inside to clutch to the floor because the ride was so damn bumpy at this point. Of course, everyone was also screaming. It lasted for quite some time now and nobody dared to look up at the screen once it ended, save for the Moogle who was now hopping about shouting "Kupo!" like it was going out of style.

Natalie was the first to look up. She saw a chained pink form on the screen. By instinct, she teleported out of the tank and ended up in front of said form. The foal was still crying but had seemed to quiet down a bit upon looking at the form.

Pink wings ending in lavender. Dark pink, lavender, and yellow curled locks of mane. Purple eyes. A horn on the forehead. A crystal heart of turquoise on her flank with gold swirls.

The pony, an alicorn mare, looked at Natalie with bloodshot eyes. A small smile crossed her muzzle. "It's....been forever. You've certainly.....changed." She said, her voice in a hoarse wheeze.

"Cadence....hang on, I'm gonna bust you outta here." Natalie said, her horn glowing as her magic gripped the alicorn's binds. The chains popped open with ease, and the mare was gently levitated onto the ground upon her side. The mage knelt down and hoisted the mare's upper body onto her chest. This made Cadence sit upright, though weakly. Natalie now noticed that the alicorn was filthy and decrepit, looking as though she ate just enough to get by.

"Is that....my child?" She asked, noticing the bundle levitating next to the mage.

Natalie nodded. "Sombra was gonna hurl it like a ball." She answered, still bitter about that recent mess.

"As long as my little Garnet gets out of this alive, I am perfectly content....." Cadence said, smiling as tears trickled down her face.

Lance and Anna climbed out and they rushed towards the mare. So did the ponies in the tank.

"The Crystal Princess is weakened?!" Shouted one stallion in shock.

"Cadence, can you hear me?" Anna asked, ears flat.

"I can hear just fine...." Cadence answered, her breathing shallow and scarce.

"Aren't alicorns immortal?!" Lance asked, shaking as if he were holding back tears.

"I....was.....but...the....Crystal...Heart.....got....destroyed......take....care......of....my.....Garnet.......make him......strong......I'll.....watch....you.....from.....above......" Cadence wheezed, closing her eyes as her body went limp. Tears crept down her cheeks and hit the old stone floor of the dungeon. The colors on her body, save the cutie mark, faded into monochrome grey. Then, her feathers fell off her wings and her horn shattered into pieces which became ash.

The Moogle slowly walked to the corpse of the fallen alicorn, a simple rose in his little paws. "Kupo...."

The dungeon shook as the battle above raged on. More explosions and shouting were heard, and all could've sworn that Sombra had picked up on foulest words. Bits of debris fell, but they weren't large enough to harm anything.

Lance tenderly moved a hand and grasped a lock of mane that was formerly yellow. He looked at it blankly. "Is this what happens when an alicorn dies...?" He asked somberly.

An elderly mare walked forward. "Yes. They lose color, except for their cutie mark.....their soul." She answered, ears flat. "Their soul resides on.....and becomes....something else entirely."

"What of the--" Anna started.

"We're not sure of the Crystal Heart." Said the mare, cutting the archer off. "I am certain we cannot hope to rebuild it."

Then, Sombra was heard shouting what was certain to be "no" in a long, pained cry. The dungeon shook again.

Anna took the foal and looked at it. It was a colt.

Kaleb and Lazarus made their way past the tank, dragging with them Sombra's dead body.

"Were we....too late?!" Wailed the Godling, pointing at Cadence's body.

"Only just....she wants us to make her foal strong." Natalie said, tears falling from her own eyes.

"It isn't safe here." Kaleb said, stomping on Sombra's face.

"I know that." Natalie retorted bitterly. Her voice was cracking and her horn was glowing. From thin air came a coffin with a heart inscribed into it. It had wings and a horn with feathers dancing about. The corpse and its feathers and horn ashes were gingerly placed within its frame. "We'll make your foal strong, I promise. We'll....tell him everything one day." She said sadly. The coffin was closed and horizontally placed in a hearse that was already prepared by the stallions. In it was another coffin with a shield and sparkles inscribed into the lid.

Slowly, it left the dungeon, and so did everyone else. The trip took forever and nobody said a word. Down the ruined crystal halls which seemed to lose their once-vibrant colors and out of the palace gates. The blizzard had long since subsided, and Twilight greeted the group as well as Rarity.

"Hey....you guys don't look so good." Twilight said, frowning at the change. Natalie, in response, silently pointed to the hearse. The lavender alicorn looked at it and her eyes widened.

"No..." She said, quivering.

"Darlings.....say it isn't so!" Rarity wailed, her ears flat.

"I'm afraid it is....." Lance said, his voice barely above a whisper. "The Crystal Heart....Shining Armor.....and Cadence are gone."

More crystal ponies that had lost their luster emerged from all of the houses with barred windows. Some saw the hearse and wailed in unspoken volumes of agony and others looked away. The hearse and tank, as well as the Mighty Oak, slowly made their way down the main street that led to the castle, which had begun to crumble. The satyrs walked alongside the hearse with heads hanging low, but not so much that they couldn't see where they were going. The Moogle, still holding the rose, sat on the seat of the hearse, looking up at the greying skies and black clouds above.

An elderly crystal pony with a tombstone on his flank led the march. Then, he stopped at a cemetery with two freshly-dug rectangular holes in the center. The coffins were unloaded and tenderly lowered into the holes. The Moogle threw the rose into the right hole and another into its fellow grave. Then, dirt was placed onto the coffins and the holes filled. The top was then covered in crystal to prevent a disparagement of the dead. Lance removed his hat and held it on his chest, looking up into the sky with a tearful salute. Rarity sat on her haunches, her head hanging in sorrowful shame. Twilight, unable to stop her flood of tears, made a conjoined tombstone with a heart and shield on it and placed it behind the crystal bed.

HERE LIE PRINCESS CADENCE AND SHINING ARMOR

A loving couple, loving rulers of the Crystal Empire, and loving parents of a beautiful foal.

Shining was a loving big brother. Cadence was a loving sister-in-law and foalsitter.

Rest in Peace, as your nation, friends, and family mourn your deaths.

You will rest in our hearts always, never to be forgotten.

Well, then!

The trip back to Ponyville was dull and disheartening. The Valkyrie moved slowly and so did the Mighty Oak. Behind the two were the citizens of the ruined Crystal Nation, all of whom were dressed in black garments. They were in mourning, and some wailed aloud that they had no desire to live because the calm, gentle Cadence and the brave yet considerate Shining Armor were gone, leaving the crumbling north leaderless. But the promise that Cadence wanted to be kept in her twilight hours reminded the troop that, someday, a leader will rise again and rebuild the nation--until then, they had to stay alive and possibly aid the ones who had impaled Sombra on a wooden stick and burned his corpse. The tank turned every once in a while to make sure everypony was alright. If there was a mishap, the tank would stop in its tracks, the hatch would open, and its pilot would right the issue, though it was normally through comforting a pony or two so they'd be on their way. Some other, more fit and healthier ponies, carried lances, swords, and bows and quills filled with arrows to defend the troop from robbers and the zombie guards they'd recently caught wind of. They were on the outskirts of the crowd, raising their chances of success. Many ponies had saddlebags upon saddlebags loaded with valuables and personal belongings, like a family picture or a chess board.

They had, after some time, found a fortified house--more like a mansion-- and the tank had stopped. The hatch opened and everyone within the tank either climbed out or was carried out.

"Everypony inside." Lance called out to the crowd with a wingless, pom-less Moogle on one shoulder as he pointed towards the door. The crowd, save the armed ponies, walked inside the door in single file to prevent congestion. No zombie guards came to hurt anypony, which was a good thing. Then, everyone in the tank went in, and finally, the armed ponies.

The hatch of the Valkyrie closed, and a garage opened so it and the Mighty Oak could enter. Then the garage closed.

The ponies unloaded their luggage and some sat down on the floor catching their breaths. Some more did the same with their luggage, pulled out sleeping bags, crawled in and began their temporary trip to Dreamland. One even said he hoped he could contact Princess Luna and ask what the hell was going on with the world these days, and the ones who took out their sleeping bags apparently had the same idea. Others still pulled out food and began eating since their stomachs growled so loud in unison it was heard upstairs.

Natalie sat on the couch with a simple blanket covering her body. She watched Rarity fix her dress attentively, as if solely out of boredom or post-funeral depression at this point. Lance double, then triple-checked everything to ensure that all was going well, more or less. Kaleb found a spot among the crystal pony foals and sat in a spot where they had formed a circle around him. The foals poked at his bulky arms and broad back, but he simply didn't appear to give so much as a damn. The Moogle was exploring the house, jumping on the stairs and on chairs and, at one point, on the kitchen table. Anna was holding little Garnet in her arms and stroking his nose with a finger. Garnet kept trying to use his hooves to grab at the finger whilst giggling. Lazarus sat on the bottom of the stairs with an elbow on his knee and his cheek on one hand, staring at everything and seemingly unaware of what was around him. Twilight lay on her side, seemingly distant lately. She was moving her hoof in circles on the carpet floor, and she didn't take any notice of a wingless Moogle on the side of her head looking at what she was doing. Rarity finished repairing the torn dress to picture-perfect standards and trotted upstairs past Lazarus to put it away.

"What should we do?" Anna asked, finally breaking the silence.

"Let's just.......well, uh....." Lance replied, quite clearly unable to answer. His eyes were wide and his ears perked.

Anna sighed, the events that transpired at the Nation flashing in her mind. "....Nevermind." She said, noticing Garnet had fallen asleep in her arms. The archer got up and walked upstairs, making sure to be as quiet as possible (after all, a crying foal wasn't a happy foal).

The foals that circled Kaleb began asking him random questions off the top of their heads.

"Why are you so huge?"

"Why do you wear armor?"

"Why do you speak like a king?"

"Why do you wear sandals?"

Kaleb let off a hearty laugh each time, and he answered each question as best as he could--without bringing the Greek Gods into topic. He simply felt that these kids were too young and scarred to be taught about foreign religion, especially religion that didn't make any sense whatsoever to them.

I never knew he was good around kids. Makes me wonder if he'll be a dad someday. Lance thought, impressed by the sight. Then again, who wouldn't have a discussion with kids every now and then?

Sarah descended the stairs and she looked around, apparently to see what the commotion was about. Greenwood Glory did the same.

"Mom?" Greenwood asked, looking at Sarah and pointing a hoof at Kaleb. "What's going on here?"

"I'm not entirely sure. But it looks like it's going along smoothly. The more, the merrier." Sarah answered with a shrug. She and the unicorn went into the kitchen.

"Is he adopted?" Kaleb asked, looking at Lance.

"No, he isn't. His dad's a unicorn who had somehow swooned his mom. Don't look at me, I dunno how it's possible, but it is." Lance answered quickly.

Kaleb was bewildered, and he blinked a few times. It was then he noticed a wingless Moogle in his lap looking up at him.

"Kupo." Said the Moogle with a cheeky grin.

Kaleb rubbed the Moogle's cheek with an index finger.

Suddenly, the door opened and closed in a second as a new figure entered the room. This thing had a Gryphon's face, wings, and eagle-upper-body, but the hind legs were that of a horse and a dragon. A long, tufted draconian tail was curled delicately behind this being and a fang stuck out from the lower beak. Its eyes were green with yellow sclera and two mismatched horns were on the sides of its head.

"Who--or rather, what--is that?" Kaleb asked, clearly amazed by the new creature.

"I am half Gryphon and half Draconequus." Answered the creature, its voice sounding like a cheery twelve-year-old girl. "My name is Havoc."

"A.....Draconequus?" Kaleb asked again.

Havoc produced a picture of a snake-like being with a Gryphon's talon, lion's paw, horse leg, dragon leg, goat head with mismatched horns, a pegasus wing and a bat wing, and a long serpentine tail encased in stone and handed it to Kaleb. "That was my dad before he was reformed. He controlled literal Chaos and his name is Discord." She said. "And then some illness killed him and mom! I have been traveling the world since, searching for answers!"

"Do you control any Chaos?" Kaleb asked, raising a brow.

"I have to! Dad said that he needed an heir for the Chaos Throne and he taught me the arts. It doesn't mean I can't help!" Havoc retorted, gritting her beak angrily.

Ghost Town...?

Twilight Sparkle stood up. She looked around and saw that things were going well....for once. Her mind was still numb from the loss of her brother and sister-in-law, but some feeling of joy returned. Perhaps it was the fact that their son Garnet made it out alive with no injury--a last remnant of Shining Armor, as it were. She sighed through her nostrils and thought things over, somehow tuning out Havoc and Kaleb bickering whilst simultaneously answering the foals' questions in the process.

She recounted everything that had happened over twenty-five years ago, but she didn't seem to have any reason why. Perhaps it was to get her mind off of the funeral, which was still bringing her mood down. Memories flashed in her mind, as if they happened only yesterday.

~~~~~~

She stood in one of the many clearings of the Everfree Forest in the middle of the night, waiting for Rainbow Dash, who had taken off into the skies because a crash resonated not too long ago. The full moon and its soft light eliminated the need for an illumination spell--at least, as long as the unicorn stood there.

A timberwolf lunged forward and a blast of arcane energy was all that was needed to deal with it. The wooden wolves and the manticores....hell, even some of the Gryphons began to act rather strange. Reports of atrocities spread throughout the Ponyville Newspaper like a pandemic, and she wrote about all of this to Celestia earlier in the day, who then, in turn, suggested that she take one friend and investigate the Everfree when the moon hung high in the sky. It was a glorious sight to behold, but the mare didn't have time to sit on her haunches daydreaming.

Then, out of the bushes trotted Rainbow Dash. Behind her, however, was a strange being in a brown, leather dress. The being had a slender, tall figure, and it didn't have hooves. In fact, it stood on two legs whose appendages were covered with brown boots. In its....what Twilight assumed to be a talon was a bow made of wood, with some leaves here and there. The creature's face was the strangest: it lacked a rounded muzzle, and most of the face was flat. A triangular nose and a pair of lips were on its face, and a green mane shaded quite nicely over the thing's right eye. Behind it frilled out more green hair like small pegasus wings for the neck. Two gold bangles were on the back of its head, and even more green hair shot straight up like sharply-frilled paintbrush tips. Behind that creature was another thing that stood on two legs, and this one was made almost entirely out of wood. Some parts, such as its drill-hand, were more machine-like. On its flat head sat a bush with eyes.

~~~~~~~

Twilight paused for a bit. This was when she first met Anna the archer. The literal first human in the world of ponies, to be precise...and one who quickly turned out to be a fearsome enemy in combat. Things escalated and returned to 'normal' in such haste it made the unicorn almost on edge.

More memories flashed, and she went over them. Things escalated too quickly once more.

And then....

A hand tapped the alicorn and snapped her out of her thoughts. She spun around in shock and saw a young man with murky brown hair looking at her worriedly.

"You scared me, Nick." Twilight said, sighing in relief.

"You look like you need a nap." Nick retorted, a frown on his face.

"You're right. I need a nap." Sighed the alicorn as she turned around and sauntered upstairs past Lazarus.

Greenwood Glory trotted back into the crowded living room.

"What now?" He asked, raising a brow.

"Why don't you two and I head to my mom's birthplace?" Havoc replied, a cheeky grin on her beak.

Nick ran upstairs and came back down five minutes later, armed with a crossbow and quiver full of wooden and metal bolts.

The trio rant out the door and shut it before anybody else noticed what had just transpired. Nick and Glory were running alongside a flying Havoc. She flew to the outskirts and took a sharp left, and the stallion and human quickly followed suit. They followed a trail and passed through a rather short cavern before setting foot on a vast open plain. It was so vast it would take at least an entire week to scan every square inch. To one side was an edge of what seemed to be either the Everfree or an entirely new forest, possibly Whitetail or some other wood.

"Where are we going?" Nick asked, stopping to catch his breath.

"We're going to mom's birthplace. That's the one place I've yet to visit, actually." Havoc answered as she sat on a cotton candy cloud like a grand Sphinx.

Glory also stopped to catch his breath as he sat on his haunches. "No wonder I'm tired. This place is huge!" He exclaimed as his voice echoed faintly around the entirety of the plain.

"At least we can take a breather here. I don't see any more of those freak guards." Havoc agreed as she began to preen her wings.

"Isn't there a quicker way to get there before nightfall?" Nick complained, noticing that the sun was setting.

Havoc, having finished her brief cleaning session, put a talon on her beak and closed her eyes in deep thought. Her talon rubbed her lower beak a bit, and then she moved it away. With a flick of the wrist and claw she made another cotton candy cloud appear. The human and unicorn clambered onto the fluffy, yet durable, form. It then floated up to Havoc's own cloud and fused with it.

It formed a body around them, and then took on the shape of a rectangle with a smaller rectangle for a tail. The candy became harder and smoother, and more rectangles appeared. The candy fully became steel, and, after a bit, the whole thing became an airborne helicopter. Havoc took the pilot's seat.

"And who says I can't do this?" She asked, grinning as she made the thing go towards the intended destination. "Dad always said that small communities grow great through harmony. And great communities fall through discord. Well, he used to say that before he was reformed, or so I was told."

"Apparently, that's what happened the world over. Canterlot especially." Nick commented, taking the second seat.

"I've seen it all. No need to remind me." Havoc retorted with a sigh. Below the helicopter was a vast city. It stretched twice the length of the plains, and no major damage was done as far as one could tell from above. Havoc landed the machine onto the very entrance of this city. The trio stepped out and began to walk alongside the ruined cobblestone walkway that had been stained with blood years ago. It was a wonder that Mother Nature couldn't clean this place as evidenced by falling houses and the presence of blood everywhere--some fresh and some old. A tumbleweed rolled past, a gust of wind propelling its rolling marathon.

"Holy shit. Mom never told me this happened." Havoc said, morbidly impressed by the sight.

"Mom told me some kind of war happened here." Nick replied with a nod. "Never thought it'd be this bad, though."

The group stopped at a sound. It wasn't a scream, but a sound made by a living creature nonetheless. They tensed up, but not necessarily in fear. They had to tread cautiously. They kept following the walkway in silence, weary that something might strike should a sound be made.

After a while, they saw it.

Multitudes of Gryphon bodies, most likely years old. Somehow, they didn't decay that much. Some had arrows, some were decapitated and some had their wings cut off. One had a stab wound and others had slash marks. One had bullet holes in its cranium and another looked black, charred, and mangled beyond recognition. Some even had bite marks on their horribly twisted necks, and black feathers lay scattered around only those bodies.

And the whole place reeked of death, smoke, and war.

Into Combat!

"This isn't war," Glory said, aghast by this sight. "This is carnage."

"The town has aged....these bodies haven't? What is wrong here?" Nick asked, crossing his arms as he scanned the landscape again.

"Apparently, everything is wrong." Havoc replied, wings spread wide. "This is one straight up mess that even dad wouldn't conjure without a damn good reason to do so first!"

Another gust of wind blew past, and this one felt magically imbued with sinister intent for some reason. Above, a thunderstorm was just forming, and loud booms resonated through the sky.

"Great. We have to floor it." Nick scowled as another, stronger gale of wind made his clothes billow violently. His hair billowed even more so, and some strands ended up in his mouth because of it.

"I think I know why Aunt Anna rambled about Kaleb being a polytheistic fanatic--because things like this are becoming more frequent!" Glory commented, his tail billowing in a straight line sharply to the west as he pointed a hoof towards the thunderstorm ahead.

The feathers, now glowing a soft ember red, gave way to the winds. In the process, they became ashes and each spec touched at least one body.

And then, those bodies stirred. A talon twitching, a flick of the tail, a chatter of the beak. You name it, each gentle movement signified life. The severed limbs soon slid to their masters and reattached themselves in the proper places. Gaping wounds were stitched shut, and the burnt bodies removed their black husks, revealing their original bodies, good as new.

"What the....?" Havoc began asking, but was soon cut off as the bodies stood on all fours and quickly armed themselves with lances, bows, and swords.

All heads were turned in unison with a sickening snap towards the trio. One who had bite wounds looked at Nick's weapon and quickly began shouting "Is he the gunman or is he the archer who wrecked us?!"

Another turned to the loudbeak and retorted, "His hair is dark, so he has to be the gunman!"

Another still called out, "He has a crossbow! He can't be the blasted gunman! See, he hardly looks like him! Open your eyes, you dumbasses!"

"Then he has to be the archer!" Replied the first.

"The archer was GREEN, you fucking moron! She was green and this man isn't her! Are you colorblind?!" Yelled the third, apparently getting agitated with his comrade's stupidity.

By now, Nick stood there slack-jawed. He heard each Gryphon soldier argue about who he was and many other things seemingly related to the war.

"He's the archer!"

"The archer was in a damn dress! Pay more attention to detail, you fucknut!"

"The gunman was in some black suit!"

"No, he wore something red!"

"That was our prisoner! The one wearing red had red fur!"

Glory stood there, tempted to sit on his haunches and and scream something along the lines of "You are all fucking stupid!" or something similar whilst holding his hooves before him.

The soldiers at once returned their gazes towards the trio.

"Nevertheless, these hideous creatures are intruding into our land like that damn quartet!" The leading soldier shouted, pointing a talon at the group, "And they must die a horrid death!"

"Death to the interlopers! Death to those who dare tarnish our sacred heritage!" Called another angrily.

"Death to those who do not submit to our glorious cocks!" Yelled another.

That did it. Nick loaded the crossbow with a single metal bolt that had a special feature: a bright red arrow blade. He took aim and fired the bolt at the leading soldier, and it hit him right between the eyes. He screamed in pain, but only briefly, as his head exploded in a mixture of brains, skull, and fire.

The other soldiers glared at the crossbow-wielder intently, as if he just offended that which was the God of the Gryphons in the rudest manner possible.

Nick loaded another bolt, this one made of wood and its arrow blade slathered in some green liquid. He had the "Go ahead, say something" look on his face.

Havoc lifted a talon--no, she lifted both talons and some energy began gathering between them.

Glory's horn began sparking in a faint sky-blue glow. His green eyes changed to the color of the horn-aura.

The crossbow user eyed the current scenario: him, his cousin, and his friend against perhaps millions of revived Gryphon soldiers. The odds were quite literally stacked in favor of the army, which wasn't a good thing.

A soldier with a halberd launched himself towards Nick, who then fired his bolt in response. The projectile hit the soldier in the arm, and he dropped his weapon and clutched the wound screaming "Motherclucker!" He began writhing in pain and soon fell on his side screaming until, at last, his body was limp.

"Cluck you and the chicken soup you rode in on." Nick taunted as he snapped his fingers, causing thorned, green vines to pick up the halberd and hold it next to him. It was then he noticed something just barely hanging on the spike of the damn thing: an earring that was a small sword with a gold handguard and red hilt. He took it off the spike and tossed it to Havoc.

"What's this?" Havoc asked as she caught the earring.

"Just take it to Twilight already." Nick answered as another soldier lunged forward, this time riding a hapless mint-green unicorn mare with a light mint-and-white striped mane that had somehow got caught in this mess. Havoc teleported away in a flash.

Vines overtook the soldier and flung him away as the unicorn ran into Nick.

"Find safety, and find it now, Lyra. Things are about to get really nasty." Nick said, patting the mare on her head. Lyra did as told, kicking her legs into full gear and running away from the violence that was about to ensue. The crossbow user then loaded another unique bolt: metal with leaves and feathers. He fired it, hitting another Gryphon who was aiming his arrow at Glory. It hit the Gryphon right at the head of his exposed cock, and then the ground shook underneath him. Three sharpened logs quickly silenced the cursing soldier whilst skewering him like a kebab in three different ways. In short, he was in three different pieces!

The other soldiers charged forward in that instant, and Nick was wondering why they hadn't done so earlier. They let of a battle cry that could've been for the seemingly-displeased Gryphon God. The cry was so loud and sudden it drowned out another voice that shouted, "Oi! I thought you'd stay dead! What's it take to kill you?!"

Glory's horn flashed in a single, bright light. More vines--this batch dotted with blue flowers here and there--overtook the first row of soldiers and mashed them into flesh pulp.

A soldier who dodged the flurry of vines pounced Nick and shoved him onto his backside. The crossbow user looked at the road behind the battle and saw Lyra coming back, this time with something else riding her. And that something held a large sword with one hand high in the air. The soldier kept his eyes on his prey and soon squawked as pain spread from his stomach. He looked at his belly in horror, and found blood-colored silver protruding just in front of his exposed member.

"Any last words?" Hissed a man's voice angrily. When the Gryphon failed to reply, the sword cut the beast nearly in half. The body was then kicked off by a hoof covered in silver armor. Nick looked at his savior and gasped. The creature was covered in silver armor and his helmet didn't cover his face. His face was white, and his eyes ocean blue. Blond bangs and braided locks peeked out under the helmet, just barely covering a short, sharp horn of stark white. Pony ears poked out of the top of the helmet. In his gauntlet-encased hand was a silver broadsword with a red vein that had gold Russian insignia. Six angel wings of solid gold and two rubies adorned the margin between red hilt and blade. A pony tail billowed out behind this man, and it was braided all the way from base to tip.

The soldiers stopped, and they gasped in unison. "What is that?!" One asked as the satyr helped Nick up before retaking his place on Lyra's backside.

"Oh, me?" Asked the satyr, grinning wryly as he pointed his massive sword towards them. "I am your envoy to destruction since all you think about is inserting your small cocks into whatever you find! And let me tell ya, that shit ain't kosher!"

Nightmare's Return

The satyr's small horn began glowing a crimson aura. Then, his body and sword began to radiate it too. It quickly grew in intensity as his eyes narrowed. Another gale of wind, this one strong enough to strip clothes off of human beings, blew past; yet the satyr remained firmly in place on Lyra's back. Nick and Glory struggled to stay in place, as if the wind was hellbent on toppling them. The soldiers couldn't keep a good balance either, and some were struggling just to become airborne.

Purple lightning danced and clashed in the quickly-dimming sky. The gale blew much more fiercely, this time with enough force to bring down buildings and tear trees asunder. Now the satyr and the unicorn he rode in on couldn't help but notice that something was waaaay too off, but neither could point out exactly what.

The soldiers were hoisted up by some force that certainly wasn't the gale. In fact, the raging thunderstorm grew bigger and bigger and swallowed everything up. Amazingly, Glory, Nick, Lyra, and the satyr were still awake and found that, for some reason, a good patch of the clouds could be walked on despite the lack of wings everyone shared.

"This is new." Glory said, poking at the clouds with his hoof. Everyone heard a shouting woman's voice, and that voice was angry enough to make a grown man cry like a child. Gryphon soldiers were being torn asunder by a swirling purple-blue mass dotted with white specks. Said soldiers kept charging forward at the source like a bunch of ants taking on an armadillo.

"What the hell is this?" Asked the satyr, his right eye twitching.

"Oh no..." Lyra said, ears folded back and tears welling in her eyes. "I know that voice...."

Suddenly, the owner of the dotted wisps showed itself. It had a black body and eyes of turquoise, and odd wings with bulky feathers came out from its back. It had a purple helmet, shows and armor that was adorned with the crescent moon. Another crescent moon against a purple splotch sat on the creature's flank.

"What the?!" Glory shouted, taking up his battle stance.

Thunder crashed below, shaking everything.

"IT'S NIGHTMARE MOON!" Lyra shouted, unable to take the stress anymore. She shook her head as if wanting to flee, but just as she slipped out from under the satyr, her tail was grabbed and she was pulled back.

"Oi, Lyra! Chill! We got this!" Said the satyr, sounding a bit antsy.

Nightmare looked at the satyr, seemingly curious. She folded her wings awkwardly for a moment, then unfurled them once more.

"You've....changed? I don't think there's any magic in Equestria that can permit such an anomaly to occur." She said, eying him still.

Thunder crashed once more, shaking everything slightly.

"Wouldn't Discord be forbidden to walk the realm of the living ethereal had that been the case?" Retorted the satyr, rather impressed by Nightmare's choice of words.

Nightmare put a hoof to her chin and rubbed it a bit. "And I dare ask if the same would apply to Sombra?" She said, raising a brow.

The satyr nodded once.

"Why aren't you...?" Lyra started, her voice barely above a whisper.

"Attacking you?" Nightmare finished for the unicorn. "The world around us is in too much distress for simple grudges to take root. For some reason, I cannot revert to my other form."

"Waitwaitwaitwait." Started the satyr, wide-eyed and ears perked as he finally took notice of her cutie mark. "Are you....Princess Luna's other ego?"

"More or less." Nightmare answered, folding her wings again. "And....why do you have pony ears?"

Thunder crashed yet again, this time with radiant highlights of lightning.

"Blame Twilight." Answered the satyr quickly.

"She's still alive?! After all these years of hell?!" Nightmare asked, aghast.

"So are the rest of the Mane Six. Right now, they're holed up at the base. As are a lot of other ponies." Answered the satyr once more, this time ears folded back. "But there's four of us that are bad sick."

"Anything else in this hellhole? As in, the town we were taken from?" Nick asked, raisin his hand.

"I found nothing except for this odd stone, which I have between my armor and chest." Nightmare replied somberly. More Gryphon soldiers charged at her and were sliced by her magic before being thrown into the thunderstorm below.

Lightning flashed below, this time brighter than ever before.

"I have created this storm solely to scout out survivors. Since there are none except for Lyra, we need to leave. Fortunately, with my magic, I am more than capable of aiding you." Nightmare said, grinning as her horn glowed with a very bright blue. When the light ended, all five beings were alive and accounted for in the living room of the base.

The crystal ponies quickly cowered in fear upon seeing Nightmare Moon. "Do not fret, dear ponies. I feel my other form is needed, given the situation the world is in." She said, softly.

The three-legged colt looked at her and stood up. He walked over, thankful that he was given his prosthetic leg earlier.

"What happened here?" Nightmare asked in a soft voice, kneeling to nuzzle the colt.

"He....err.....he was found with three legs, so they gave him another one. That's what I heard, anyway." Answered the satyr once more, putting his sword on his back.

"What's the plan now?" Havoc asked, holding the wingless Moogle in her talons like a baby.

"Even that, I am not sure of." Nightmare answered, finding a spot to lay down on.

Natalie descended the stairs, her hooves gently tapping the wood in the process. Anna quickly followed, and so did Lance.

Nightmare looked at the trio who came into the living room. "They've changed too?" She asked, raising a brow.

"Change is a part of life, no matter if it's great or small." Anna answered, a half-smile on her face.

"And some are what you want them to be." Natalie continued, a cat's grin on her face.

"And then there's the ones you didn't expect at all. As you can see, mine was." Lance finished, ears perked.

"And what of the Crystal Empire?" Nightmare asked, sounding worried.

"It's....." Lance's voice suddenly became very saddened and even a bit cracked. "...gone." He answered in a faint whisper.

"Gone? Care to elaborate?" Nightmare asked, unable to believe what she had just heard. The Crystal Empire, gone? Bloody preposterous! There was no way in Tartarus that could have happened. She thought, raising the other brow.

An elderly mare stepped forward. "Cadence and Shining Armor are dead. The Empire has literally crumbled." She said for Lance, harshly.

"W-What?" Nightmare asked again, completely dumbfounded at what she heard.

"You didn't hear me stutter. The Crystal Empire is no more." Repeated the mare, her tone unchanging. "Sombra is to blame." She added.

"We were....too late. We couldn't save the leaders..." Natalie said, quietly in defeat.

"But we did save their foal." Anna said, ears flat.

"Their foal...? They had a foal?" Nightmare asked, bewildered and nearly slack-jawed.

"Yeah.. He's perfectly fine. In fact, he's asleep right now." Anna answered, biting her lip as her ears perked up again.

Intermission 2: What Are...?