Equestrian Souls: Fires of War

Chapters

Chapter one: awake
chapter two: friends
Chapter three: into the depths
Chapter four: lost
Chapter five: corruption
Chapter six: for everfree
Chapter seven: unexpected homecoming
chapter eight: beware of toads
Chapter nine: allegiance
Chapter ten: a nights respite
Chapter Twelve: Entangled Hearts
Chapter Thirteen: Ponyville
Chapter Fourteen: Last Will
Chapter Fifteen: Return to Asylum
Chapter Sixteen: Hero's Ending
Chapter eleven: royalty

Chapter one: awake

EQUESTRIAN SOULS
Written by TheCrimsonDM
Introduction: sleep

“Dear Princess Twilight Sparkle.
You already know me by the name Light, although at this point you probably have some nasty nick names for me, but that is not why I am writing you today. I am going to tell you my story. This is not the story I wanted to tell, this is the story I needed to tell. Hopefully by the time you have read everything I have had written, you will understand why I have done all these things. The good, the bad, and the…mistakes I’ve made. Yes I would change a few things, if I could go back in time. Sadly that is not possible. Okay, enough of me being a sap, it’s time to begin. It all started a long time ago…”

***

I sat in the middle of a medical room; the window was open allowing the cold air to breeze in as the storm outside began to pick up. I was not alone in here; my best friend was pacing back and forth in front the window. Reed was such an odd stallion; he preferred to walk on his hind legs. Although Reed’s small stature made him only stand a little taller than me even after rising on two legs. Reed wore long red robes and had a yellow ribbon tied to his right foreleg. He was an earth pony with a light brown coat, and a long dark brown mane.

Reed continued pacing a few more moments as I quietly sat on the cold floor staring at him. He finally stopped throwing a hoof into the air and shouting, “I have it!”

A smile grew on my face as Reed said this, I always trusted him. He grabbed a small jar on the table in the corner and walked over to me. Reed passed me the jar and said. “If we want to stop this, you’re going to need to drink that”.

I held it precariously in my hooves, inside was a dark grey liquid that didn’t smell quiet right. I looked up at him skeptically, asking. “Are you sure?”

He looked at me and smiled. “Of course I’m sure; this potion will help us solve everything.”

“But, how.” I asked a little worried, I trusted him but I did not believe our problems could be solved so simply.

Reed looked outside at the night sky, then back to me. “This war needs to be stopped, if only I hadn’t failed…”

I place my hoof gently over his mouth and gave him a reassuring smile. “It's not your fault, you did your best. It’s just that stress has been rising for a long time now, everything finally exploded, I guess.”

Reed leaned over and kissed me, my entire body began to quiver with excitement before he pulled away. I looked into his deep brown eyes, and he looked into mine. I could have stayed like that for an eternity. Finally the silence was broken when he began speaking again. “Light, you need to drink that potion. It’s the only thing I can think of to help us.”

I looked at him in worry for a few moments before I finally agreed. I opened the jar it smelled worse than I had thought. My long light purple hair fell in my face before I could lift the bottle to my mouth. That was always annoying. I felt his hooves brushing my mane back into place. I drank the potion as he tied my mane into a ponytail with his yellow ribbon.

The liquid substance actually had no flavor, but it had the texture of sludge, and made my head feel weird. “Shh,” Reed whispered into my ear, “you’re going to sleep now, and you won’t wake up for a while, but when you finally do wake up, everything should be in place for our plan. Good night Light”.

I closed my eyes feeling myself fall into his warm loving embrace, as I said, “good night Reed.” Then my world faded to black.

***

Chapter one: awaken

I awoke feeling weak, my muscles ached, and my head hurt. The room I was in was very cold and smelled of mildew. I could hear the sound of dripping water. I opened my eyes and sat up on the old bed had been sleeping on. The entire room was covered in a thick layer of dust. There were water stains on the walls, and an old half rotten nightstand by my bedside. There was also a bundle of rags in the corner of the room, the bundle had hooves.

I sat there feeling numb inside as I stared at the bundle of rags, it was lumped over with 4 hooves sticking out from underneath it. I found myself staring at the body of a dead pony, the rags covering it must have been used in an attempt to keep warm at some point.

I wondered how I could have fallen asleep in a room with a dead body without noticing it, and a sudden pain surged through my skull. I couldn’t remember how I got here or much of anything for that matter, I could remember Reed kissing me, the grey liquid potion and that was about it. Every time I tried to focus on my memories my head hurt, so I decided to stop. I guessed that for now I would simply have to deal with my amnesia, and hope my memories returned soon.

I looked around the nightstand and found a note; the note was very old and yellow with red writing. The note was sitting on top of a blue sword handle, the blade had long since broken off, disappearing to Celestia knows where. The note read
“Hey Light, glad to see you’re awake. Anyway it’s dangerous to go alone, so take this. R.”

I looked down at the handle; this pathetic thing couldn’t do anypony any good. I gave a small laugh at the broken weapon before returning to the note. It was written by R. that must have been Reed, and that must’ve mean that Reed was here as well. I really hoped that I could find him soon.

Looking at the note I decided to pick it up with my telekinesis, it was written by Reed, and that’s enough for me to want to hold onto it. As the note floated in the air before me I noticed some writing on the back. This message read.

“We have something important to do, don’t forget our purpose. W-“ The last word had been a name of some sort, but it was too smudged to make sense of.

I stared at the note for the longest time, my brain would hurt every time I tried to recall my memories, but I just couldn’t shake the idea that something horrible had either happened or was about too. I also wanted to know who this W was. I looked at the dead pony in the corner with guilt, I had seen too much death, or at least that’s what I felt like. I walked to the door, and with a sigh pushed it open.

On the other side was a long hallway filled with pools of stagnant black water. The mildew smell was even stronger here, and it was getting even colder. To the left side of the hallway were a series of rooms much like the one I had just come out of, all of them locked, all of them held a corpse or two that I could view from the bared windows on the doors.

On my right side was a series of bared windows that allowed me to peer into an even larger room just beyond, inside was a mound of gold bits. I really wanted those bits. Something moved underneath the pile of gold, shifting the shiny coins, and as soon as it began moving it stopped. I decided that stealth was a virtue in this place. I really didn’t want to meet whatever was sleeping underneath the gold.

I made my way through various hallways, into tunnels, and out of them again. Finally I climbed a ladder that lead into a small room just outside of a courtyard. The courtyard showed me the bright blue sky. There was also a light covering of snow layering the ground. There was also a sword sticking out of the earth, stabbed into a pile of bones. This must have been a memorial to some fallen soldier, I have seen these things before but I wasn’t sure where at. This memorial however looked very old.

I walked past it; this place was making me feel paranoid, and lonely. There were dead ponies, something sleeping inside a giant pile of gold, and it was way too quiet. I needed to get out and find Reed soon. I walked to a large set of wooden doors, I tried pushing it, and although it was moving slightly I still needed more strength to open it. I added my telekinesis to the door as I pushed, and finally something snapped, and the door opened with a loud creaking sound.

Just past the door was a large room, some kind of grand entrance hall or something, the ceiling was gone, along with the second story walkway. Walking along the room I felt like something was watching me, there were two other doors. One door lead to an upraised cliff face covered in snow the other one lead deeper into this building. The snow crunched beneath my hooves making me feel skittish with every. Single. Step.

A horrible howl sounded from somewhere above me followed by a loud earth shaking crashing sound exploding from behind me. I could feel the ground shake beneath my hooves nearly knocking me over. I looked behind me to see a giant creature with gray bulbous calloused flesh standing on two legs, and holding a giant axe.

The creature’s head was higher then what used to be the second story of this room, stood right behind me. For a second I froze in absolute terror. Then it charged at me and I ran. Not the towards the cliff face. I needed the other door. Opening it with telekinesis I ran inside. An explosion of earth from behind forced me up into the air. I hit the stairs and rolled down them. I finally landed with a splash, right into the knee high water.

Rising to my feet I notice another dead pony besides me, this one however was wearing Platemail armor, and had dropped his broadsword. I picked it up with my magic, the amber glow from my magic somehow made this weapon more ominous. It also allowed me to notice the three other ponies surrounding me. There flesh had somehow mummified, and their bodies’ skinny, as though they were dying of starvation. They held swords which were broken in half. They held the sword hilts in their mouths. One of the ponies was down here in the water next to me; the other two were standing on the raised walkway in front of me.

The two on the walkway began walking towards me. I would have screamed if I had not just seen a giant monster, still this was exceptionally terrifying. I backed away from the two in front while the one behind me moved just out of sight. I ducked just in time as his blade cuts the air where my neck had previously been. And in his attack he left his underside open; instinctively I swung the sword still held in my telekinetic grasp at his torso. A large gash opens up in his chest as the blade cut neatly through his bones.

I just looked at him for a moment before he fell over. I faced the other two who were still slowly advancing towards me. I knew it was crazy, they couldn’t be dead, maybe it was some kind of disease, or worse. I don’t know why but after the first one fell, something inside me took over, some primal force that had me moving, and fighting. I was surprised at just how good it felt to fight.

I dodged another slow moving attack. And I retaliated with a swipe to the neck. The attack hit, lopping off the head. Dark red, almost black liquid fountains out of his neck as I refocused on the last one. The final enemy lunged at me, swinging his weapon furiously. I rolled to the side dodging just in time as he lunged past me. I got up and stepped behind him, and plunged my sword down through his back.

After the last one fell to my blade I stood still and unmoving for a few moments. I just watched as the water I was standing in reddened from the blood, but I could still see my reflection in the water. My dark pink coat was dirty, my long purple hair, with its single red streak was still tied in that ponytail with Reeds ribbon. Pulling the sword free from the body, I move onward.

I looked back at these creatures I had just slain, and felt my hart skip a beat. I just killed three pon- monsters with a sword, and I did so like it was nothing. I shook my head trying to shake loose some memory that would explain how I could kill, and not care about it Maybe a memory on how I even got here. When nothing came to me I guessed that the answers would come in time; right now I just needed to get out of this crazy place.

After a few minutes of walking I found an uprising staircase, and hoped that it would take me out of here. About halfway up I heard a loud clanking sound behind me. Turning my head around I see a creature with a pony body, and an ape like torso. The entire body was covered in black armor, lastly he held a long sword in one hand, it was as big as my entire body, and a shield that covered his torso and nearly touched the ground in the other. I quickly decided that running was in my best interest right now.

Running as fast as I could up those stairs I dared not look back as I heard his clanking armor chasing behind me. Finally I got to the top and into a hallway witch lead to another staircase. This time some bucking genius decided to push a barrel down the stairs towards me while I ran. It bounced on the stairs looking for a target to crush. I decided to give it one.

I grabbed the barrel with my magic and heaved it over my head and behind me. It crashed into the black armored thing, and exploded. Splinters came off of it, and peppered my tail end. I continued running forward at a full gallop. At the top was another dead pony holding yet another broken sword, I paid him no heed only running past him.

A door frame opened up into a balcony overlooking the cliff face, and a sharp L turn. I took the turn and saw a line of dead ponies holding crossbows pointed at me; I saw another door frame leading back into the building. I dived into the door frame as the archers opened fire. The arrows made a clinging sound as they simply bounced off the armor of the black pony ape thing behind me. I got up and ran. Just in time too, as one giant sword swing later. The spot I had just vacated became rubble.

The door frame opened up into the large entrance hall below, but no walkways or anything on the second floor. With one evil monster behind me, I had no choice. I jumped down below rolling as I hit the crushed stone tiles on the ground floor beneath me. I looked up at the Black armored thing. It jumped as well, going further then me and over towards the courtyard entrance.

Then the giant monster with the giant axe jumps down to the floor in front of me causing the earth to shake with his landing. Side by side with the black armored monster they began advancing. Finally I noticed a horde of the dead ponies walking in from the courtyard, some of them even fell off the second floor entrance landing with a crunch.

I had no idea where any of these monsters came from or where I would go now.. I stood up and I scream in frustration and fear. I turned around and ran towards the cliff. As I approached the ending of the cliff, I heard a stallion shouting above me. “Jump, I’ll catch you”.

I didn’t have much choice, I either died here by the monster horde or by falling to death. So I jumped off the cliff. For a second I felt like I could fly, that feeling was gone the second I began falling. The thick white clouds below me threatened to eat me, they lust for my death. Suddenly I felt something wrap around me, jerking me to a stop and then accelerating away from the building behind me. I looked up to see a brown feathered griffin holding me, flying me to what I hoped was safety. I was about to say something when a sudden surge of pain hit my skull, and blackness became my world.

***

I found myself standing inside of a castle made of gold, the night sky was shining through the mural’s on the walls. An empty throne sat in front of me, and I heard something growling off in the distance. I couldn’t place exactly what it was but it had me scared.

I waited quietly for a few moments, a black dagger was being held in my mouth. I knew the monster was coming for me any moment, and I was determined to be ready for it. I waited as the growls increased. Finally I saw something in the shadows moving. After a few seconds I realized that it wasn’t in the shadows, it was the shadows!

The shadows took the form of an alicorn and charged me, the monster was taller than me but I wasn’t going to let that stop me. I prepared my dagger and charged.

***

I woke up finding myself lying on a bed inside of a dark green tent. I must have passed out, and I found that that was concerning. First I had amnesia, and now I am having painful blackouts. I really hoped that this would get better. I examined my surroundings; I could see a pack lying on its side in the corner, and some sun light coming through the crack of the tent flap.

There were two voices talking just outside, the first one was very young sounding. “I don’t see what the problem is; she was in trouble so I helped her.”

The second voice which sounded much older began speaking with some resentment in his tone. “You can’t just run around doing these kinds of things. From your report, it sounds like she was being attacked by both a black knight, and a demon. A demon, Storm, I mean why would anypony even want to mess around the asylum in the first place. She is dangerous; she can’t stay here.”

Well it sounded like I was welcome. I got off the bed, and began to head towards the front flap of the tent. I stopped as the head of a brown feathered griffin poked inside the tent. He took one look at me, and smiled brightly. Judging by the lack of other voices outside I assumed his conversation with the other guy was over. “Hello,” he introduced himself, “My name is Storm Feather. How are you feeling?”

I sighed, not sure if I was doing better or not, my head wasn’t hurting at the moment, and that’s a good start. I straightened up and introduced myself. “Much better. It's nice to meet you, my name is…Light” I felt like I was missing something when I said that, like some part of me was gone. I really didn’t like amnesia.

“Well I am glad to see that you are up and about Light, some of the others do not like having a new pony here. Though if you were to join the Crusaders I am sure they would change their minds” he explained.

“What are the Crusaders?” I asked hopping to get a better picture of my situation.

He rubbed his chin for a moment with his talons before answering. “There kinda like an adventurer guild, ponies go out into ruins and find cool stuff to bring back so that our merchants can sell it. Of course we are allowed to keep whatever we find, but if we kept everything we wouldn’t make any bits.”

I could understand the concept, looting the old castles and ruins had become a profession, not a bad thing either. A lot of nobles would pay dearly for paintings and such, or so I guessed. Either way I had more pressing concerns, I needed to get to Reed and the sooner the better. I walked out of the tent alongside Storm Feather.

Storm Feather was wearing some platemail armor, and had a battle axe equipped to his back, along with an old plain looking shield on his side. I wondered just how he could fly with such heavy looking armor on. He also stood quite a bit taller then me, and I was a little big for a mare.

During our walk I noticed that there were a few old buildings that looked like they had recently been repurposed; there were also a lot of tents surrounding the road we were walking along. “Where are we?” I asked.

“Welcome to Camp Hope, where we try to rebuild civilization one step at a time” he said matter-of-factly.

“What do you mean rebuild civilization?” I asked again, very curiously.

Storm Feather looked at me skeptically for a moment but then answered. “Ever since the demon war, when everything went to Tartarus, there have been problems trying to rebuild. We have the Princess somewhere off in the old castle building an army, then other groups like ours who are trying to build small villages.”

A Princess building an army, that sounded so familiar, had I seen something like that before? I began to open my mouth to get more details when he spoke again cutting me off. “So as you can probably tell, when I brought you here, it caused a bit of a stir,” he said as he gestured to a few ponies around us. Some of them looked angry, others scared, and still some more curious, and all of them looked at me.

“Why” I asked softly, trying to avoid there gazes?

He rolled his eyes as he explained “No pony ever comes out of Asylum, but you did”.

I looked at him feeling a little confused, but also somewhat intrigued. “So that place I woke up in, that was Asylum?”

He looked confused for a moment, then gave a short chuckle, and explained. “Yes that place is called Asylum, its chalk full of Demons, black knights and hollows. It’s nothing but a death trap now, although I have always wanted to explore it. Could be an adventure, whatdya say. Want to go adventuring in Asylum with me?”

I looked at him with as stern an expression I could muster for almost a minute before he sighed and said lamely. “No pony ever wants to do go adventuring with me”.

“Look I have nothing against fun adventures, but I don’t ever want to have to face a demon again. That giant monster with the axe, that was a demon right?” I asked.

“Yep, not a very tough demon, but still a demon none the less. And asylum is full of much stronger ones then that” he explained. I gasped at the thought of that giant monster being a weak demon, if they got worse than that then I never wanted to see them again.

We had stopped in front of a small 2 story house built with white painted wood, a matching awning stretched out covered in green vines. The entrance was too dark to see inside properly but it seemed so inviting. Storm Feather began talking to another griffin about some aerial moves they were practicing. That was the first time I noticed it.

The world felt different here, odd, more powerful. I wanted to reach out with my hooves and touch this force that was inside of me and outside of me at the same time. I had been so tired before but now I felt invigorated. I believed this was raw untamed magic. It’s hard to describe what raw magic feels like to outsiders, but for me it feels…similar to walking through water. It also feels kind of like an Orange purple color, yes when it comes to magic you can feel colors, and sometimes a whole lot weirder sensations.

I approached the buildings front entrance, and the feeling increased, I felt a warmth run through my entire body. I kept walking forward until I ended up inside the building. Then all of a sudden the feelings of magic had all but vanished.

Inside the little building seemed to be a shop, there were a lot of books on the shelves, and some scrolls behind the counter. I didn’t see anypony at the counter, but there was a little bell that had a small sign in front of it. The sign read.

“Do not push unless, 1. The world is about to be destroyed, 2. You are mortally wounded, 3. You’re a really cute young mare and are seeking love”
I couldn’t help but laugh a little bit when I read the sign, but regardless I was curious so I pushed the bell. After a few jingles a stallion came out. He had a blue fur coat, and a long red mane. He also wore a masquerade mask of blue and gold. I noticed only after he appeared, that there were all kinds of masks on the back wall, he seemed to be a collector.

“Yes my dear.” He said in a soft warm voice, almost seductive. Despite not being able to see his face, I found him quite attractive; maybe it was the mask adding a mysterious factor that made him alluring.

I could feel myself blushing as he looked at me, or at least I think he looked at me it was kind of hard to tell with his mask on. “I, um...” all of a sudden I couldn’t find the words I needed and blushed harder feeling like a foal.

He gave a small laugh and asked “is the world about to end?”

I shook my head.

“Are you mortally injured?”

Again I shook my head.

“Ah so you are looking for love then?” he asked in a very appealing voice, a tone that also offered a proposition.

I was about to shake my head again, or nod maybe, just to see what would happen. When I remembered what I was supposed to be doing. “I need to find Reed” I said to myself trying to focus on my task.

He rubbed his chin after I said that and his ear twitched, I didn’t know what that meant, but for some reason I felt like it could be important. “Well I haven’t seen that boy in a long time, last I checked he went up to Clippers for something important”.

I stared at him for a few moments in shock, he actually knew Reed, better he just gave me direction to find him. I smiled as bright as I could before saying thanks. He stopped me as I was about to turn and asked “Are you going to follow him, like that?”

I looked down at myself, then back up to him. “Like what exactly”?

He smiled and said. “Here, let me give you a few things before you head up there”.

He reached down and pulled up a long sword, and a saddle bag. He set them on the table and pushed them towards me saying, “Here you are my dear.”

I looked at him skeptically for a second before asking. “So you’re just giving me these things, for free?”

He gave a small laugh before saying. “Of course, I wouldn’t want a cute mare like yourself to go get hurt”.

I smiled, and blushed. I wasn’t used to getting such treatment, or at least not that I can remember. I thanked him before trotting out the door, he waved his hoof at me saying. “Good luck, and stay out of trouble Light”.

I was smiling and happy as I went out the door, then it hit me. He knew my name, yet I had not given it to him, maybe he knew who I was? Or how I ended up here with amnesia? I turned and went back inside, only to find that the entire building was empty. From the amount of dust that had gathered on the floor, this building has been empty for a long time now, not even any hoof prints, even my hoof prints were missing. It was almost like I had never been inside here before.

I backed out of the building really slowly, I don’t know what just happened but I was sure it was not good. I noticed the strange feeling of raw magic was now completely gone, maybe there was a connection. I was both angry that he was gone, and very worried, I decided to forget that this every happened.

I met up with Storm Feather again just in time to hear him finish talking with the other griffin. The two said good bye and the other one left. Storm Feather looked at me with a little bit of worry, he then asked. “Are you okay; you look like you just saw a ghost?

I nodded and smiled at him, he relaxed a little, and then he admired my sword. The sword was old but not broken, a few chips on the blade where contact had been met before. There was also a mark on the bottom of the handle. The mark was that of a blue star, with a gold crescent moon inside it. It was still surprisingly sharp and that was very useful. I slid the sword back into its brown leather sheath before we continued onward.

“So,” I began to say, “I need to get to Clippers”.

I heard the griffin walking next to me laugh before saying. “You don’t want to go to asylum, but you want to go to Clippers. Why would any sane pony go there?”

I looked up at him; he was about a foot taller than me after all. I sighed and said. “Because Reed is there.”

He looked a little disappointed when I said that, then he asked me. “So this Reed guy, is he your special Somepony?”

“I don’t know, I mean we kissed, but I don’t really remember much of anything. I just woke up in the asylum, began running for my life, and you saved me. That’s all I really remember, thanks for saving me by the way.” I explained.

He smiled and said, “no problem”.

“So,” I asked him “where is Clippers, and what should I expect to face there?”

He scratched his head with his talons while he answered me. “It's just up the old mountain, near enough to the Great Grays to be filled with Hollows, far enough away to not be filled with Demons, so we should expect a bunch of hollows, hopefully no demons, a quick in and out and we will be fine. Sounds like an awesome adventure to me”.

“What is a hollow” I asked, I had heard that word several times now.

He smiled and explained. “A hollow is an undead pony, there not dumb by any means, but they are murderous. I hear they want to kill the living because they envy us.”

I took that in for a moment; I guess undead ponies were real. It must be some sort of dark magic. Then I realized what he had just said. I looked at him curiously and asked. “We?”

He gave me a childish grin before saying. “Of course, I can’t leave the damsel in distress. It’s against my code of honor.” I didn’t care why he was going to fallow me, I was just glad to not be all alone.

We approached the end of the village, the tents had become sparse, and a small booth sat at the end of the road. A pale green earth pony with a dark green mane was sitting behind it, he had a box next to him and looked vary board. His cutie mark was a turtle sitting on top of a tree, or a tree that was growing a turtle? It was an odd mark. We approached his table, and he looked at us. In a somber voice he regarded Storm Feather “Out on another adventure Stormy, be safe now, not that you will listen”.

Storm Feather looked at him, then back to me, then back to him before saying “Actually T.G., I was taking this girl here out to Clippers today. I’m going to be her personally body guard” he then pointed at himself while grinning.

I nearly face hoofed.

“Going to Clippers are you, and without proper equipment. Might as well take this, hopefully it will make your journey more painful” T.G. said in a dull boring monotone, as he handed a red and gold trimmed flask to me. I picked it up and eyed it with a little concern.

“More painful” I wondered aloud.

“Yes” T.G. explained” it will heal you, that way you can suffer twice as much pain before dying”.

I was a little more concerned now about this pony’s point of view on life, but I took the gift anyway. If things were as bad as I have heard so far, then I could do with a little bit of healing. As we began walking away T.G. said something else that chilled me to my bones. “Be safe out there, I wouldn’t want to see you go hollow” and then he let out a dry creepy laugh. I was glad to get out of that village after all the weirdness I had seen in there.

***

We continued walking for about an hour before we arrived at the foot of the mountain; the surrounding country side was covered in rolling hills of pale green grass, and a river ran alongside the plains. The mountain however stood imposingly as it rose sharply into the air and pierced through the clouds. There was an old cobblestone road going up the side of the mountain as it wound its way around. In the far distance I could make a small village built alongside the mountain inside a large crevice.

There was a small camping area near us, and although the clouds were covering the sky, Storm Feather had convinced me that they were not rain clouds. Apparently the sky here was not maintained by any pegasi, so the mountain just collected clouds.

We took a break at the camp site, a few logs had been placed around a campfire, the so called camp fire was actually a sword sticking out of a pile of bones, and ashes. I felt a ping of guilt as I looked the bones, another warrior had died here, and I guessed that was all too common in this place. I noticed my companion looking at me with a little worry in his face. So I explained,” I am a little saddened by these grave markers, it’s a shame that ponies have to die in battle.”

He shook his head at me. “These are not graves or anything, or at least not anything recent. These things have been here for a long time, a few hundred years I think. A lot of ponies use them as resting places while on adventures, of course that makes them targets for the occasional bandit. No idea what they’re here for, maybe they used to be for the Solar Legion, most ponies call them Altars” he explained.

A few hundred years, that’s a long time to just be sitting here. The bones should have been gone a long time ago, and the sword shouldn’t still be standing, unless magic was involved. I was curious about why these things were still here, so I reached out with my magic to pick up the sword and examine it. As soon as my magic connected with the sword, the entire sword caught aflame burning with magical fire. The bones now seamed to look almost like wooden sticks for a bonfire.

From the surprised look on Storm Feathers face I imagined that this didn’t normally happen. “So uh…what does it mean if it’s on fire” I asked a little worried myself?

He looked at me and then back to the fire asking. “Did you do that?”

I wasn’t sure, but I told him what I had tried to do and he seemed as puzzled at this now flaming…bonfire as I was. We sat there for a few minutes, admiring the Altar while I explained my amnesia to him. I explained that the only memory I had was of Reed giving me that potion so that we could do something, ending a war was my guess.

I left out the passionate kiss, he seemed to get depressed when I talked about it last time, and I guess he was really hoping I was single. I looked the griffin from top to bottom; from his powerful physique I kinda hopped I was. For some reason I couldn’t explain, I felt a deep attachment to Reed though, like we were connected in some special way, so I needed to find him first. And then I would know what to do about my fine feathery companion.

I felt my mane and found the ribbon that had been in my hair holding my ponytail, Reed had given this to me, a golden yellow ribbon. I retied my ponytail, and drank some water from one of the canteens that were in my saddle bag, there was a surprising amount of free stuff in here. Food, water, some bandages, and even an empty journal were in here amongst some other stuff.

I looked at my rump after finding the bandages, remembering the splintered wood that peppered my uncovered hide. I found that there were no marks to show for what happened, I could have sword that I would have had at least some bruising. I caught the griffin looking at me a little oddly, which made me blush. I guess examining one’s own hindquarters does look a little weird without explanation. We continued up the road after our rest.

***

It took another hour but we finally arrived at the small village of Clippers. Clippers was a small village built into the side of the mountain. The village rested inside a crevice that rose slowly towards the cliff wall in the back. The entire town was surrounded by sheer cliff walls extending upwards, except for the front end of the little town.

There was one main road that led straight through the town, rising upwards towards a large church at the very back surrounded by tall iron gates. The buildings were mostly made of grey stone brick, and dark wood. Abandoned wagons littered the place, and a few barricades had been hastily erected. This place was also very quiet.

Storm Feather looked at me for a few moments, making me feel a little bit odd, finally he began explained. “Okay, I am now a little worried about not having given you armor. Are you good at fighting?”

I remembered how I fought in the asylum, it seemed to me that I was pretty good at it, although I wondered how. I must have been trained before I lost my memories and been reacting on muscle memory. “Yeah, I took out three hollows by myself, at the same time in Asylum,” I said proudly.

He then frowned at me which made me worried. “We may have to fight a lot more than three of them at once.” He was quiet for a few moments as he thought to himself, then he began smiling, and explained a plan to me. “Okay, you have at least one really good advantage here. Your quiet, not wearing armor makes you light on you hooves and quiet. So the plan is that you can sneak around the hollows, there kinda dumb so it’s not hard. If we do get into a confrontation, just keep moving, you’re fast and light so agility is your best friend here. Stealth and speed, think you can do that?”

I nodded and grinned, this may not be the wisest thing I have ever done, but sneaking into a town full of undead monsters was probably the most entertaining.

We were moving up the road, heading towards the church as it was the largest building, and would offer us a good view of the surrounding area. We hadn’t gotten very far when we came across an abandoned wagon, left here when the town’s population had left. Storm held out his arm stopping me from moving forward, I looked at him feeling a little worried at his serious expression.

He nodded for me to go next to a wall just behind us, and around the corner. After I had moved there I watched him jump into the air, his wings flapping powerfully as he flew into the sky about twenty feet. He then came back down in a dive, landing behind the wagon. I heard a crashing sound and watched as a hollow came flying through the wagon towards me.

With the wagon now destroyed I could see the three hollows that had been hiding just behind it, excluding the one thrown towards me. All of which held the same broken swords from before. The one that was thrown towards me had a large gash in its face, where I assumed the griffon’s axe had smashed it.

My companion was now facing the other three hollows with his axe in one hand the shield in the other. He was half flying around his opponents, using his wings to help him keep balance as he stood on his hind legs, and dodging with a wing propelled jump. Despite his heavy armor he moved with great speed.

He would block one attack with his shield, and attack while his opponent was recovering, devastating whatever he hit with that battle axe. One of the hollows managed to hit with an attack, although there weapon simply pinged off his armor.

After a few seconds of this Storm Feather had taken down all of his opponents, none were left standing. He smiled at me as I approached him, and his blood soaked armor, and weapon. “Told ya, adventuring is fun,” he said with excitement.

We continued onward moving a tad more slowly, and a lot more cautiously. As we continued moving Storm Feather explained that Hollows always tried to set up traps, and ambushes. Apparently they could wait in ambush for years before moving, they didn’t have any need for food, drink, or sleep so they were really good at sneak attacks. Of course they were also slow moving and not very intelligent, so they tend to set up really obvious traps, and were easy to kill individually or in small groups. A Hollow’s real strength was in there large numbers, I was beginning to feel like I was in some sort of horror movie.

After about ten minutes of walking we found ourselves in the crossroad just in front of the church gates, there was another Altar in the middle of the road, surrounded by a barricade of wooden crates, and bushels of hay. The barricade was set up in a box shape around the Altar. It looked like this barricade had been sitting here for a long time now, and several skeletons were laying about wearing armor.

I could imagine that this was someponies final stand against the undead, and the demons. I found myself both pitying them, and honoring them for their brave sacrifices. Not many ponies would be willing to die for a cause, especially in the face of such great peril. I realized now that I didn’t know much about what had happened to Clippers, and after seeing this old barricade I wanted to know more. Was I right in assuming that the demons and hollows attacked the town, or was there something else, and hollows simply moved in afterwards?

I was about to ask when I noticed that there was something moving behind the barricade, quickly me and Storm took cover behind one of the wagons on the side of the road. Five different hollows walked towards the barricade from the street left of us, while another hollow walked out from behind one of the bushels of hay on the barricade to greet them.

They hissed at each other, and made some gestures to the barricade; I assumed this is how they spoke to one another. There was one that seemed to be giving the orders, he was wearing some rusty chainmail, and had a red cape on his back that was baring a gold colored symbol of the sun. The other hollows were wearing chainmail as well, but there’s was in far worse shape, full of holes and such. The one with the cape had a long sword at his side, three others had short swords, one held a spear, and the last one had a loaded crossbow in his mouth, and quiver on his side. All their weapons looked to be in rough condition save for the long sword, and the crossbow.

They began moving into positions around the barricade, and the thought struck me. Maybe not all of the defenders of this barricade had not been the skeletons, what if the hollows before me, were the actual defenders? Feelings of sorrow, and remorse ran through me at the thought. These brave soldiers were probably still trying to protect their home, even after death. I no longer wished to fight them, would they listen to us if we tried to talk to them, could we even understand each other? T.G.’s words echoed through my head. “I wouldn’t want to see you go hollow”.

I looked toward Storm Feather for some idea on what we could do, but he was looking very serious at the situation before us. He was examining the enemies and trying to figure out a strategy while I was feeling hart broken for these creatures. I looked back at the hollows before us, now I knew they couldn’t simply be monsters, but rather they were cursed.

Cursed with un-death, and cursed to hate the living. The only thing I could offer them now was the death that was so cruelly stolen from them in the first place. An honorable death in battle would be the greatest gift these ponies would probably ever receive.

I was about to ask Storm for ideas on how to deal with them, when I noticed a building across the street. It was small bar from the looks of it, some stairs lead downward into the sub street level building. What made it stick out to me was the old banner that was drawn up and pined to the side of the building just above the door. The banner was red and had six symbols in a circle around the symbol of the sun; the symbols themselves were of six elements.

At the top of the banner was a white circle for light, and in clock wise rotation were, on the right side were, a small flame for fire, and a droplet for water just underneath that. At the bottom was a black circle for dark, then on the left side some wavy lines for wind and a mountain for earth. I remembered this symbol from somewhere, and the more I looked at it the more familiar it felt.

***

Suddenly I was no longer standing by Storm Feather, but rather I was standing in a dark circular room. The windows around me showed a city underneath and a dark night sky, the moon shone brightly upon the beautiful city of white stone buildings. I stood at the edge of a table, Reed stood across from me looking down at a banner exactly the same as the one from before. He was smiling as he stared down at it. “So are you happy with the new guild?” I asked him happily.

He looked up at me, and replied with excitement in his voice. “I can’t believe it, the elements of nature. She actually made our guild official. Now we can help fight all the evil that threatens our Equestria.”

I smiled at him, but I felt a little sad as I explained. “Not we. I’m not part of the elements remember.”

His happy smile faded a little bit, and then he looked back at the banner saying. “You should be happy that you’re not part of this. It’s not always as much fun as I make it sound. I’m just crazy enough to love this job, but you would hate it. You were always better at leading from afar, then at getting in the middle of everything. When stuff gets messed up in our group, it’s my job to fix. I can’t count how many injuries I have sustained by simply protecting them from harm. If I ever lost someone, Light…the blame would be on me…I think it would destroy me.”

I walked around the table, and sat next to him. I laid my head down on his shoulder nuzzling his neck. I sighed before saying. “Yeah, I think your right. I always envied you a little bit for being able to go out and fight. But I’m an egghead not a fighter, as Blackout would put it.”

He wrapped his leg around me, pulling me in closer asking me. “Has she been giving you trouble again?”

I closed my eyes and murmured something that was supposed to sound like a yes, I was quite tired. He kissed my forehead, and said. “Don’t worry about it, she is just jealous, I am the only one of us to have such a special Somepony after all.”

I began nodding off to sleep, I didn’t get very much sleep with my work keeping me so busy. My studies and research were all a jumbled mess in my head. The last thing I heard from Reed before I fell asleep was him singing poorly. “Hush now quiet now, it’s time rest your sleepy head.”

You’re singing it wrong, I thought to myself

***

With as sudden as it was the first time, I found myself standing next to Storm Feather again. I thought for a few seconds about what had just happened. I had been standing next to him, and suddenly I was somewhere else with Reed. The only explanation I could come to at this moment was that I had just experienced one of my memories. I guess I might be prone to black outs while this happened, I hope it doesn’t end up causing trouble.

The memory was happy one at least, but I felt a sad feeling inside me. a feeling guilt that I couldn’t quiet place, but maybe that would be explained soon. I felt a tear running down my check; I quickly rubbed it off with my dirty pink hoof.

I looked at Storm who was still examining the situation in front of us. I asked him. “How long was I out?”

He spared me a slightly confused glance for a second before saying. “What are you talking about; you have been standing here the whole time.”

At least my memories were not putting me in danger, yet anyways. I looked at the hollows before us, and back to the bar with The Elements of Nature banner on it. Reed must have been in that building at some point, maybe he made that into a safe house or something. I had to get in there, but at this point if we left our wagon to cross the street, the hollows would see us. These hollows looked rather dangerous and I did not want to mess with them.

I sighed and told Storm Feather about the building across the street, and how it was related to Reed. After a few moments of discussion we only had one plan to deal with the hollows, we attack.

Storm Feather again jumped into the air flying upwards, before diving back down straight into two of the enemies. His armored body knocking them to the ground where he easily finished one of them off with his battle axe. I watched as the one with the spear charged Storm, spear in his mouth, and jabbed at him. Storm deflected the spear, and swung his battle axe at the spear hollow. Taking off its head! The head fell to the ground still holding the spear, as a dark red spray erupted from its body.

I noticed that the short sword wielder was sneaking up behind Storm, I had to do something. I snuck out from behind my cover while drawing my long sword with my amber colored telekinesis. I got right behind the short sword hollow. And thrust my sword into his back! The Hollow I stabbed went down.

There were two more hollows to deal with now. The long sword hollow had now engaged Storm in melee, the two of them were attacking and dodging each other. Wait where was the crossbow hollow? I looked around and found him standing on top of the barricade aiming his crossbow down at Storm; I was not going to allow that. I charged up to the crossbow hollow, jumping on top of the bush he was standing on and plunged my sword into his side. The hollow let out a rasping scream before falling off the bush, I grabbed his Crossbow with my magic before he fell.

I looked over to see the long sword wielding hollow being beaten down by multiple axe blows. I also noticed that one of the hollows knocked down by Storm was getting back up with his sword drawn. I aimed the crossbow at the hollow as it got up. And pull the trigger. The bolt flew true, hitting the hollow in the skull, and continuing its trajectory out the other side. Stopping only after it hit the ground behind the hollow. The hollow simply stood there for a few seconds looking clueless. Then he falls over dead. The last hollow, the one with the long sword was now lying in a pool of dark red liquid. I looked at Storm and felt a smile grow on my face, as he smiled back at me covered in hollow blood.

After taking the crossbow and bolts, we made our way after that into the old building; I avoided the unlit Altar because I didn’t know what it did. Better to avoid a potential problem if I could. The inside of the old bar looked the way you would think a bar should. There was a counter with multiple stools sitting in front of it, bottles of various alcohol hid behind the counter.

I was a little surprised that Storm was completely avoiding the liquor. I of course have no such reservations, as I grabbed a few bottles of dark liquid and placed them not so carefully into my saddlebags. There was also a light brown cloth cape, complete with hood. After poking at it for a few seconds I decided it would offer at least some protection from attacks, for the next time we fought some hollows.

I put on the hooded cape, and noticed that it covered my cutie mark and tail. My tail had a strip of red running along the top of it, while the rest of it was purple. My cutie mark was a purple rose, with a black stem. I couldn’t remember how I got my mark, and that bothered me deeply. I knew that a cutie mark was a sign of who you are, and what your special talent was. What was my special talent, did I have a green hoof? I wish I could remember, but maybe that will come to me in time. It seemed like I was getting my memories back one at a time.

In the corner of the room was a wall decorated with various pieces of paper. Thumb tacks and strings were drawn across the pages of hand written notes as they stuck to the wall. I was not sure what they were for, maybe if I had time to study them I could figure them out, but right now I needed to find out more about Reed.

I found some of the notes on the wall had his signature on them; the most recent looking one actually had a drawing of two bells. The writing on this page was talking about using the two bells; it said that ringing them would grant access to some fortress full of artifacts. I actually had a hard time trying to read them because a lot of the writing was faded, but I began to see a picture of what he was doing here.

He was trying to ring these two bells, so he could get into this fortress. I didn’t know why he was doing this, or even where this fortress was, but I did find out where one of the bells was located. There was a note, and a map of the town. And a circle was drawn around the church here. I looked out the window at the church, and at the top of it was indeed a bell tower. If I could simply get up there maybe I could find out more about where Reed had gone next.

I walked over to the window overlooking the street we had just gotten off of. Storm was keeping a lookout using the windows. I looked at the orange sky, and realized that it would be dark in few hours; we may not have time to get back to camp before dark. I pointed this out to him. He sighed before looking at me, and saying. “You know the reason why ponies use Altars as resting areas is because they seem to ward off the evil monsters. Hollows can get close to them, but only if there in small groups, I think. There are far worse things out there at night then one can imagine. If the sun ever left us…we would be so screwed.”

I shuddered at the thought of a world with no sun light; than I thought I would try and cheer him up, now that he was being all serious. I looked at Storm Feather, and grinned as I asked “Do you wanna go on a crazy adventure?”

He looked at me for a second before he began grinning back at me and nodded. Oh this was going to be fun.

chapter two: friends

EQUESTRIAN SOULS
Written by TheCrimsonDM
Chapter two: friends

While we had taken a short rest at the old bar, I explained my plan to Storm Feather. We were going to go inside the old church, and make our way up to the bell tower. Hopefully there would be some more clues along the way as to what happened to Reed. And if I had too I would ring the bell myself, and follow him into whatever dark places he was heading. We moved past the unlit Altar where the fight between us and some hollows had taken place before. I did my best to avoid looking at the corpses. We made our way to the front gates of the church pretty quickly. The church gates were cast iron, and stood nearly ten feet tall. I found a sturdy looking lock on the gates themselves preventing me from entering. I turned to Storm Feather and sighed saying disappointedly. “I guess we will need to find another way inside after all.”
He gave me an odd look so I explained to him that the gates were locked, and I wasn’t going to attempt climbing over them. He then laughed saying. “Did you forget I could fly?”
I was about to ask him what that had to do with anything, and then I realized what he meant. I face hoofed. “Okay, so you can fly me over the gates.”
He nodded.
“And you aren’t going to drop me?” I asked feeling a little nervous.
He smiled and bowed his head to me saying. “I swear on my honor, that I Storm Feather the griffon, member of the crusaders. Shall not let go of you, nor shall I let harm come to thee this day.”
I began laughing at the display of chivalry, this was not something that I was used too, it was also kinda cute. After that he wrapped me up in a tight embrace, and together we lifted up into the sky, and over the gates. After landing on the other side I began to have a new found respect for this griffon’s strength. I asked him if he could fly us to the top of the church, but he explained that it would make us exceptionally easy targets for everypony. I suppose that means exploring inside would be the best bet, it shouldn’t be too bad. The old church was only two stories tall, with the bell tower being just above the roof. Stealth and speed were still the plan for this part of the mission.

We entered the church via the front doors; I realized then, that this was more of a cathedral. We found ourselves inside the atrium. Inside were several sets of pew’s which were aligned with one another, with a break in between them for a walkway. There was ceiling over the pews that opened up into the atrium. My hooves clopped quietly along the stone floor. The walls were made of similar stone bricks. There was a staircase at the end corner of the room.

At the end of the atrium was a pedestal with a small metal box, the box was red with gold trim that shined in the afternoon sunlight. The second thing I noticed though was the black knight that stood just in front of the box; the black knight was not as shiny. This black knight stood completely still, holding a double sided sword, again each side was larger than the length of my body. I didn’t have time to appreciate the size of these creatures during my last encounter with one. This time I took a good look at it. This one stood at least ten feet tall, and holding his huge weapon at his side, I could only imagine him wielding it with great expertise, and little effort in combat.

I quickly hid behind one of the pews pulling out my crossbow as I moved, I did not want to fight this thing, but I refuse to run away now that I am so close to finding out where Reed went. I looked at Storm Feather who just stood there looking at me with a slightly worried expression. He then asked me. “What are you doing?”

“That black knight is going to try killing us, and I am going to fight back” I explained while glancing around the corner of my cover. The Black Knight had not moved an inch.

I heard Storm sigh before explaining to me, “In my experience most Black Knights don’t just attack without reason. They usually guard objects, and only fight when you try to take them. That being said, the ones in Asylum have always been more vicious. Either way if we be careful and quiet we should be safe from it. Just don’t provoke it.”

I looked the Black Knight again, it hadn’t moved at all maybe he was right, and I was being paranoid. We continued moving forward cautiously.

We made our way towards the stair case that lead up to the second floor, located in the corner of the room. This entire place had been abandoned for a long time now dust had settled on the stone work floors, I then noticed a mural on the wall behind the knight, it was a depiction of the sun. When we walked up the stairs they creaked with every step.

After getting onto the second floor, we found ourselves in what looked like a dinning area. Wooden tables were placed about, a few of which had fallen onto there sides, most of the tables had chairs adjacent to them. There were some bits in a pile on one the tables, with cards strewn about the floor; I suppose Somepony had been up to a card game once long ago. I pocketed the bits, and collected the cards off the ground; I could only hope we would have enough to cards to play a game.

The second floor of the atrium was visible from the dining area. The walkway lead all the way around the sides of the atrium and into a hallway on the other side of the room. On our side of the room there were shelves lined up against the walls full of canned food, although from how long abandoned this place looked, I wouldn’t be the first one to try eating it. Lastly there was a doorway leading up into another staircase. Presumably it went to the bell tower.

I began walking over to there when I heard some hoof steps coming from the stairs. Before I could even react Storm had grabbed me, and we took cover behind one of the knocked over tables. I was a little surprised that this table was able to provide decent cover for the griffon. I took a peek around the table to see what was coming up the stairs behind us. I saw three hollows wearing chainmail, red capes, and holding long swords with their white colored telekinesis. These hollows were unicorns, and they still had magic.

I examined Storm Feather’s face as to judge his reaction to this, and he frowned with worry. We stayed vary quiet, and vary still for almost two minutes. After the unicorn hollows moved onward to the other side of the room and into the hallway we relaxed. “So,” I asked,” why didn’t we just fight them?”
He rubbed his forehead answering. “Magic users are simply not fun to fight. Magi and necromancer’s are far worse, but you never know which unicorn hollow is going to light your tail feathers on fire.”
I looked at him, and back to the hallway the hollows had left to. I didn’t want deal with any more monster ponies. I sighed and asked, more to myself then at him. “How did this all happen?”
Storm answered me, striking a tone that felt somewhat like a teachers tone to me. “It all started after Equestria lost the war, Celestia and Luna disappeared, along with the other princesses. Demons began to run rampant, and undead began to rise. It was far worse a few years before I was born, but it got much better after the eclipse was over. Clippers itself was too close to the Grey’s, that’s why the ponies here had to abandon the town, demon invasions became too much too handle. The undead moved in after that, they tend to move in to abandoned places.”
I stared at him for a few moments, there was a part of me that just couldn’t accept the idea of Equestria losing the war, I couldn’t even pinpoint why I felt this way. I sat down, and tried to find out why. I was mentally trying to find a reason, a memory, something to explain what was going on. The demons, the undead, and black knights, why did this all feel so wrong. My head began to hurt a little, but just didn’t give up, I kept trying to find an answer. I pushed through the pain that was quickly building up inside my skull. I closed my eyes, and concentrated on what he had said about Celestia disappearing, and everything stopped hurting all of a sudden as I slipped into another memory.

***

I found myself standing inside of a library in front of a large wooden table; there was a map of Equestria sitting on top of it. Little white pieces marked locations of Equestria’s troops stationed at different locations, while a much larger force of red pieces were scattered throughout the map. It looked like we were losing. Across from me sat a large white pony nearly three times my size with both the wings of a Pegasus, and a unicorn horn. Her cutie mark was that of the sun. She stared outside the window at the rain falling over the city. She looked back at me here mane of blue, green, purple, and pink strands flowed around her as though a breeze was carrying her mane. She was wearing such a sad expression across her face. I looked down at the table again frowning, this was wrong; we could not be losing to a bunch of rebel’s.
I sighed, and began telling her my assessment of the current situation. “I don’t see any way out of this situation without bloodshed. I am sorry Celestia, I have replayed the situation in my head a thousand times over, and there is no hope for a peaceful solution.”
I dared to look her in those sad eyes again, she looked hart broken. I suppose that after a peaceful rule lasting over a thousand years, when your citizens decided to revolt it would be hart rending. She looked on the verge of tears, her eyes all watered up. I had to look away; I was not able to look into those eyes a second longer, just seeing her like this made me want to cry. I know she always made herself appear strong to everypony, I am not entirely sure why she has been so trusting with me, as too allow me to see who she really was underneath.

She was not as strong as other’s had always viewed her, she was fragile inside, and growing more so with every passing day. I had come to the conclusion that after a thousand years of keeping her stuff together, locking away all her pain, self doubt, and torment she was bound to explode one day. I first noticed how she felt after the first rebel attack, she simply could not handle the thought that she had been a bad ruler, that she had somehow wronged her citizens. Although that’s all she worried about anymore it would seem. She was a good ruler, neigh she was the best ruler for Equestria. How dare those low life rebel scum cause her such torment, they should simply bow their heads in shame, and leave forever. I was not naïve enough to believe they would do this, these ponies were obviously power hungry.

Celestia’s soft voice broke my train of thought. “I was afraid of this. Eventually the battles will become worse. I didn’t want this to happen; I would simply give up the crown if it would satisfy them. Why does it always have to end in fighting?”
I knew she was serious about giving up her crown, she would give her all to protect her people, but these ponies made their choice when they decided to rebel, they are no longer her people. Even if she did give up to them they would not be happy, not until she was dead, and our entire country in disorder. I would have blamed discord for this rebellion if he had not been instrumental in helping us root them out. I knew there wasn’t much more we could do here, the plans had been made, the pieces put in place, all we could do now was ride this out, and hope for the best possible outcome.

After another ten minutes of going over troop position again, we decided it was time to head out. Celestia donned her strong, kind, and motherly expression. She could not afford to let any pony see her weakness, for fear of others loosing strength in their belief in her, although I found strength in it.

Outside in the courtyard we found a group of five pegasi guards wearing the traditional golden suits of armor, if we were attacked these ponies would be able to protect us. I still felt angry inside at how the rebels have hurt the princess, I felt angry way too often anymore, but I smiled as best I could at the guards on our approach. I got a sickening feeling all of a sudden. Nausea and dizziness hit me, and I felt like something was wrong. I was terrified but I wasn’t sure why. I looked at the guards who seemed to be looking around with worried expressions, I felt like they might be experiencing this as well. Celestia too looked worried. There was nothing in the courtyard except the statue of Celestia which resided in the middle of the area. Then I heard one of the guards shout. “Its above us, move. Move. Move!

Celestia and I walked backwards away from the statue, and the ball of purple fire that was heading right at it. The ball of fire crashed into the statue, exploding in a dark purple light. The ground shook violently, and I was barely able to catch myself from falling. After a few seconds I looked up from my hooves towards where the statue had stood. Now there was nothing but a giant crater where the statue had stood along with specs of purple flame scattering the ground. The guards all looked serious, and Celestia looked paralyzed with fear. Then I heard the terrible sound of deep breathing, and I looked closer at the crater. A giant grey hand sticks out of the crater, and grabs the ledge of the hole; this hand alone was larger than any pony here, even larger then Celestia. The sickening feeling became even worse as this hand pushes on the ground, cracking the stone around it. A giant arm appears from the crater along with the monsters head. The head had two horns on top of its bald skull. The rest of the giant’s body began to pull itself from the hole, stopping only at the waist which looked almost stuck inside the crater.

The grey being loomed over us its black shark eyes. And for a few dead silent seconds, everything quiet save for the rains pitter patter. The giant monster began moving its arm slowly towards us. I was frozen completely out of fear. Celestia however regained her composer faster than me, and ordered her guards to attack the monster.

She then started shooting beams of golden energy at the creature which would cause small fires to start across its body, as well as opening up wounds in its flesh. The guards had flown upwards above the monsters height far into the sky. I watched as the guards, now only appearing as little dots in the sky turn around, and come rushing downwards toward the monster before us. Their wings extended they fly downwards along the back side of the monster, blood trails spurting out of the beast from where the guards armored wings had sliced its flesh.

The giant monster did not like that much letting out a horridly loud howl that sent shivers down my entire body. His arm moved to the side with speed that I would not have thought possible for such a large beast, and with his arm he swatted one of the guards out of the air, the guard hit the ground with such force that his body bounced off the stone, and into the air a few yards before hitting the ground again. The guard lay in a bloody pile of broken metal, his armor completely destroyed from the attack. I looked away feeling numb save for the fear that had taken control.

I spotted a brown earth pony wearing red robes running on top of the building next to us, and from the way he ran on his hind legs, I knew it could only be one pony, Reed. Reed leapt from the roof top, heading towards the monsters face with great speed. In mid air Reed moved his body so that his hind legs were facing the monster. When Reed collided with the beast’s face, he used both of his hind legs to produce a powerful kick; the kick forced the monsters face backwards. Reed landed on the creatures shoulder, and jumped backwards doing flips in the air before landing in front of me. He looked back at me; his expression was serious, and worried. He then looked back at the monster and said in an angry tone. “What are you doing Celestia, teleport her out of here, NOW!”

I felt a wing wrap around me and then my vision went white. I struggled with my blurry white vision for a moment before it cleared, and I realized where I was. I now stood inside the Library again, the table undisturbed from before, still held the map and colored pieces. I saw Celestia looking more than just a little tired as she slumped against the wall. I shook my head trying to clear myself of the terror that had me frozen from before, and with a little effort I managed to walk forward towards her.

She sat next to the window looking outside of it, she must have teleported me inside, and from the looks of it she was exhausted from the effort. Was it just me, or was she getting weaker than she used to be? She began trying to stand before giving up and continued using the wall adjacent to the window for support while taking quick shallow breaths. I couldn’t think of anything to do, so I asked the only question that came to mind. “Are you okay?”
She looked grateful for my concern, and smiled. She nodded as she said in near whisper. “I am fine Light, thank you for asking though.” She looked outside the window her face turning grim. “I can’t believe it, they summoned a Demon.” There was a pause of silence as she caught her breath before she stood up, this time she succeeded. She looked at me and said in a protective tone. “Stay inside this building, it’s protected by magic wards. It should shield you from the danger outside.” She allowed a moment of silence to pass between us. She closed her eyes, and her horn began glowing with concentration. She said one last thing to me before teleporting out, she said in a sorrowful voice. “I no longer believe there is a peaceful solution to this war, you were right.” She then teleported out of the library in a flash of white light, leaving me alone.
I stared out of the window watching the fight go on outside. Reed, Celestia, and 4 guards were not enough to defeat the demon. The monster then grabbed a Pegasus out of the air, and proceeded to throw him at the window I was watching from. I shrieked and fell back on my haunches as the guard’s body slammed into a wall of red energy that appeared in front of the window only at the last second. I stood back up only after the body fell to the ground, the red energy wall disappeared a few seconds later. I watched the fight go on. The battle continued for another minute or so before a red flash appeared in the air behind the demon, and the purple alicorn that came from it was now hovering there in mid air, she looked ready to put an end this battle. A beam of Red energy coming from the purple alicorn’s horn sliced down the creatures back, and the demon let out one final howl of pain as blood sprayed out of its back and covered the courtyard in red.

I sat there feeling numb, this monster had appeared in the middle of the courtyard, it began killing without mercy, and no one pony could bring it down. It took five pegasi soldiers, Reed, and two alicorns to take it down. The battle probably would have continued if she hadn’t shown up. I had never fully appreciated Twilights magical ability until that moment. Then again I had never really seen her use much magic before. I now realized though that I was useless, the demon appeared and I was so completely useless…all I could do was come up with strategies, and even those were failures half of the time. I felt hot tears run down my face; my emotions were a wreck at the moment. Should I have been scared, mad, ashamed, because I felt all of those things.

***

I opened my eyes only to find myself laying on my side on the dirty ground, Storm was sitting next to me, and looking around with concern before looking back at me. When he saw my eyes opened he smiled, but as the tears began running down my face again he looked more concerned than before. I didn’t know what to do other then cry, so I wrapped my forelegs around him and cried as silently as I could into his chest. He didn’t push me away like I was afraid he would, instead he wrapped his arms around me and held me. He held me in a tight embrace that was also very tender. I began to see that although he was exceptionally powerful he was also capable of being very gentle. I am not entirely sure how long we sat there, or how long I cried into him, but it took long enough that I somehow managed explained to him what I had just remembered. I was glad to have a friend like him.

We moved onward towards the door on our side of the second floor, this door lead to a staircase that wound around the outside walls of the room. It was a little darker in here than in the atrium due to the lack of any large windows. As we made our way up we passed by several jail cells, which begged a new question. Why did a church need jail cells? I pondered this question while we passed the second cell. We stopped at the second cell, looking up at the staircase. The staircase had not only collapsed before reaching the top, there was a ceiling in here made of wood. I guess this was not going to take us to the bell after all. I heard Somepony in the cell cough and speak as I turned around. “Hey, any chance you could help a pony out?” the stallions voice was rough and dry.
I got closer to the cell, and peered through. It was even darker inside his cell; there was a bed in the corner although it had rotted away a long time ago. There was a pony inside this cell; however he had been chained to the wall. A collar around his neck was chained to the wall, as well as his forelegs in similar fashion. I felt pity for this pony, although I didn’t know who he was, I knew he was suffering. This was no way to keep prisoners. I floated out my canteen, and brought it towards him, his horn began to glow as he grabbed the canteen from my grasp. His telekinesis felt weak. He brought the drink to his muzzle, and while he drank from it I asked him. “How long have you been in here?”
I noticed Storm looking at me, and towards the prisoner with suspicion. “Its okay, I’ve got this” I tried to reassure Storm.
After his drink the prisoner began speaking again this time his voice sounded much smoother. “Thank you for your kindness.” He thanked me before explaining further. “I have been in here for a long time now, couple of years I think. My care taker hasn’t brought me any food or water in a while. I was afraid I would die in here. I don’t want to go hollow.” There was a resigned tone in his voice that supported his fear. It was like he had already given up on any chance of living. I didn’t like hearing that tone, it made me feel sad for him, but at the same time some part of me was angry. I wasn’t sure whether I was angry at him for giving up on life, or at the pony who had locked him up, and left him here to die.

“Why are you here?” I asked him with a gentle tone in my voice.

He took his time before answering me, and when he did continue there was a sense of resentment in his voice. “I choose loyalty towards my friend, and that got me locked away. My care taker has been trying his best to coax me to his side, but I refuse to betray my friends.”

I stared into the dark room at the pony chained up to the wall for a few minutes, he was loyal, and I respected that. Judging by how long he has been here and in this condition, I can’t see any reason to expect the pony holding him prisoner was a good pony. I knew what I was going to do, despite the fact it would probably lead me into more trouble. I sighed before asking. “How do I get you out of here?”

Storm Feather looked at me, and warned me. “We don’t know anything about this pony; he could be an evil murderer.”
I knew the risk but I was not going to give into maybes and what ifs, not when this pony was suffering like this. “I won’t let him die like this; if he truly is an evil pony then let him redeem himself by fighting. No pony deserves to starve to death. That is not the warrior’s way, not the hero’s way.” I looked Storm Feather directly in his cool blue eyes; I was determined to set this prisoner free. Storm held his stare at me for a moment before he looked away; I had beaten the griffon’s will with that of my own. Now I just have to find a way to free this pony.
The pony inside the cell coughed a few times before talking again. “There is no way to free me; you should take a look at the lock on my cell.”
At his advice I did so, and found something a bit odd but very familiar. Instead of a normal lock, like one that would have used a brass key to open, There was no key hole, only a dimly glowing rune, the rune was shaped ironically enough like a key hole. I recognized this kind of lock, it was magic seal, no amount of magic, or skill could break these locks, as far as I knew. Instead one would need the rune stone that had an identical symbol on it in order to unlock the door. We could try to break the door down with physical might, or destroy the wall surrounding it if we had the material, but either plan would be noisy and take too much time. My best bet would be to find the pony that had the rune stone and take it. I looked at the pony in the cell again and asked. “Where is the pony that has the key?”

“They have an office at the end of the hallway on the other side of the second floor atrium; I have been brought there for…treatment.” He explained. I really did not the way he said treatment, whoever was keeping this pony here must be an evil pony.

Storm Feather and I walked back down the stairs towards the second floor, but stopped when we heard the sounds of hooves walking about just outside the doorway, we had left the door open as well. I was a little worried that the possible hollows outside the door would notice the door had been opened, so we waited in silence for a few moments. After a while nothing happened, the hollows were still outside hissing at each other now and again. Looking at Storm Feather I began to realize his armor was very heavy, and very loud. Daring a peeking glance outside the door revealed five hollows on the second floor, three of them were unicorns, and on our side of the atrium. The other two were on the far side of the room, standing on either side of the hallway.

I whispered to Storm Feather that he needed to stay here, and to stay hidden. He did not like my plan, but only one of us could get by with sneaking; besides only one of us had a lucky crossbow. Crossbows were exceptional weapons of stealth. ‘These hollows were already dead they just didn’t know it yet’ I thought to myself. I remembered the hollows guarding the barricade just outside of the church, and felt very guilty for using that reference.

I managed to sneak past the hollows fairly easily; they did not move very much or even look in directions other then ‘straight ahead’ often. All that was needed was for me to crawl low to the ground, using the tables as the perfect hiding spots. I did come to a crossroads though. There were two hollows on the other side of the atrium, standing next to the hallway. They were going to see me no matter how quiet I was, there simply was no hiding places between us, but I had a crossbow.

Aiming very carefully I sighted around the two looking for a distraction; I found a flower pot on a table near a window. One bolt went flying towards the flower pot with hell bent ambition to destroy its target. Upon contact with the bolt the pot shattered on the table and dirt went flying everywhere. The two hollows standing next to the hallway looked over towards the window, and began walking to investigate the loud noise.

I crawled out from beneath the table, and continued making my way towards that hallway. I snuck around the side of the second floor atrium; the walkways were on the side of the room, allowing the middle of the room to be an open air drop to the first floor, a good thirty, or so feet down. Why did they make this church so darn huge? I managed to sneak by the two hollows, which simply stood in front of the flower pot staring at it, as though it was the most interesting thing they have ever seen. Then again this may very well have been the most interesting thing to happen all day, hell maybe all week.

The hallway had four separate rooms, two on each side. I checked the one on my close right first, and after poking my head inside I found a ladder going upwards. This may be my next target location after rescuing the prisoner. We had to try something to get to the bell. I left this room alone for now.

The door on the left was a small bed room. I walked inside and closed the door behind me as quiet as a mouse. The bedroom had a ratty old bed with a quilted blue blanket full of holes; there was a lot of clutter on the floor, and a hole in the wall in the corner, big enough for a pony to fit inside. There was also a door, but I figured the door would just alert whoever may be in there to my presence. I decided to check out the hole instead, just in case there was something in there. It was a little bit of a tighter fit then I would have enjoyed, there was also a step mound of rubble that l had to climb up and over to get through the hole.
The hole itself lead into the bathroom which was adjacent to the bedroom, inside the bathroom was a toilet full of nasty black…sludge. The smell in this room was toxic, and I wanted to throw up from the scent, but I toughened up and decided to simply live with it. There was also a bath tub with a curtain still hanging from it. Other then these things, there wasn’t much else, and I began to wonder how wise it was to crawl into a useless smelly bathroom.

I turned towards the door about to leave, when I heard some hoof steps coming from the other side of the door. They fast paced, and were getting louder. I looked around, wondering if hiding would be my best bet. I decided that I didn’t want to get into a fight with a magical hollow, so I jumped into the only hiding spot in here.

From my secret hiding spot inside the tub, complete with the curtain pulled across the side to help conceal me, I laid on my back with my crossbow held against my chest. The door opened to the bathroom with a creek, and Somepony took a few steps inside before gagging. “Buck this,” the mare said, “It smells horrible in here, and I don’t even want to know what’s inside the toilet. I’ll just use one of the other rooms.” After that I heard her hoof steps go out the door, along with the door shutting behind her. I don’t know who was just in here, but I didn’t feel like trusting them for a second without my powerful griffon companion. I guess I really didn’t like being alone, the faster I got back to Storm Feather the better.

I left the bathroom behind, and made my way back into the hallway very silently. Just past the bedroom inside the hallway I found three dead hollows lying slumped on the ground, their helmets had been dented inward, blood trickled down their faces, they had not been here before. I didn’t even hear any fighting, whoever this mare was, she was indeed both a talented fighter, and a quiet one. I moved onwards towards the last two doors, the one on my left this time was slightly ajar, I could hear some water trickling from inside the room. The other room was closed but had the word office written on it.

I decided to go inside the office, being very quiet, and closing the door behind me after I entered. Inside was a small table, with a dead unicorn lying on top of it, this one however was not hollow, he had yellow fur, and wore a brown jacket. He was beginning to smell bad which indicated that he was starting to decompose. I studied him for a few moments, and found myself thinking about how I found myself feeling happy that this one was not a hollow. I guess you can still die as pony, and stay dead after all. How did hollows come about though, that was now something I was very interested in? I decided not to think too much on the subject and instead redouble my efforts for finding the rune stone.

I searched his body for a few seconds before finding it; it was located inside his jacket. He also had a more normal kind of key on his person. There was not much else on him though, and this room although once filled with lovely stuff, now had books which were half rotten, and book shelves that had begun to decay. This room aside from smelling like death also smelled like mildew. I decided it was about time to return to my friend. Before I left I considered taking his jacket, and mentally smacked myself for the thought. I may be forced to kill undead ponies, but I will not steal from a corpse for self gratification.

I snuck out of the room very carefully, and found the door across from the office no longer ajar, it was now fully open. Inside I could see it was a supply closet, with a chest inside it. I fancied the idea of it being a treasure chest, and entertained the idea by walking up to it with the key held aloft with my telekinetic grasp. I arrived at the chest; it was made of wood, but still looked to be in good shape. I took one more step forward so that I could get a better grip on it with my hooves, and stepped into a puddle of water on the floor.

I looked down at the puddle, it was warm for some reason, and smelled…off. I then looked around to make sure there wasn’t another water hazard around here. There wasn’t another hazard; in fact I couldn’t even see the source of this puddle. The trickling sound was also gone. I remembered then about what the mare had said, about using another room. “Oh sweet Celestia, did I just step into, what I think I stepped into?” I said as I jumped up onto my hind legs, nearly shrieking with disgust, thankfully I stopped myself from making too much of a ruckus.
I tried to calm down by focusing on the chest, if I was going to step in a puddle of…ugh, then I deserved a reward for it. I opened the chest with the key; using my magic I opened the chest. Inside were two crescent moon daggers, they were curved blades with a symbol on their sheaths. The moon was on one of them, and the sun on the other blade. They looked to be part of a pair of weapons; you wouldn’t simply use just one of them, they went together. I took them with me and left the horrible little, disgusting supply closet behind, making sure to wipe my hoof on the floor before leaving.

I found the other hollows on the second floor dead as well, but kept quiet just in case she was still here. I made my way back to the jail cell where Storm Feather had been waiting for me. I showed off the rune stone, and he looked relieved to see it, or to see me maybe, I hoped. I placed the rune stone with the keyhole symbol down upon the ward, the two faces touched and glowed for a second, and then the lock made a clicking sound. I opened the cell, and let Storm go to work on the chains inside. I guess we would have to find a way to break the collar and cuffs off later. The prisoner stepped outside of the cell; he was a unicorn with bright green fur, covered in dirt though, and a soft purple mane which was long and messy. His face had several scars across his muzzle as though claws had once been raked upon it, his body had collected numerous scars as well. His cutie mark was a two bladed shuriken.

He looked up at the window in the stairway, and even though you could just barely make out the orange sky beyond He was smiling. He looked at me, and with a tear running down his face, he smiled at me saying. “I can’t believe it, thank you so much.” He sniffed and wiped the tear off his face with a hoof. He then looked a little confused as he continued looking at asking me. “Light…Altar Light is that really you?”
I felt dumbstruck to say the least, this pony seemed to know me, and I was about to ask how, when it happened again, this time I could feel it coming though. Like something tugging at my conscious, before dragging me away completely into another memory.

***

I found myself standing in front of a portcullis with two levers one of either side of it. I walked to the one on the left, while my bright green companion went to the one on the right. We each lifted a hoof placing it on our respective levers. I looked at him; he was wearing a black leather jacket with the two crescent moon blades at his sides. He grinned back at me. “So,” I began saying, “Moon Shadow, when we are done with this, what’s next?”
He looked at me, and his grin faded a little bit as he seemed to contemplate my question before answering in his bright and cheerful demeanor. “I guess since we rung the bells and all, we can get the legendary artifact of the sun. That way we can complete our plan, unless you got any idea’s Altar Light.”
I shook my head, then sighed, and nodded at him. Together we pulled the lever’s and the portcullis began rising upwards. We were going to do this, and this time we would succeed. We walked together through the entrance way, into the Grey’s.

***

I sat down hard, feeling a little dizzy after that memory. Was it just me or were these memory flashes getting worse. I think they were. I simple looked up at the two worried people in front of me. I shook my head, and apologized “Sorry, another memory flash. How are you holding up Moon Shadow?”
Moon Shadow looked at me, and grinned, his grin had lost most of the energy it once had, I found myself noticing how much older he now looked. “I am free now because of you Light, after our plan worked we kinda split up, I guess. Anyway I was captured before that happened by this crazy mare and old unicorn. Been here ever since, stuck with those two as they tried to take my memories from me. I still have enough of them to stay loyal to Reed though, and to you.”
I looked up at him, chewing on my lip as I felt fear creeping up; what if he knows what happened to Reed, what if Reed was dead? I took in a deep breath, and facing my fears I asked. “What happened to Reed”?
He looked at me a little worried and answered. “I don’t know, I can’t remember what happened after we got inside the Grey’s. I think something bad happened, but I was told that our plan had worked…so I guess its all okay”. He didn’t sound too sure himself but after being stuck here, tortured for a few years I can see why.

I noticed him eyeing the daggers I had found in that chest. I realized that they were his, and I blushed a little as I lifted them up and gave them back to him, I was going to keep them as loot. But now that seemed kind of inappropriate. Of course his captors would stick whatever property they found on him in a chest. Now I felt silly, and a little bad for trying to steal his weapons.

I explained to him about my amnesia, and how I woke up at Asylum. My frightening escape and heroic rescue by Storm Feather the griffon. Finally I explained that I was retracing Reed’s steps, hoping to find him that way. I offered to let Moon Shadow join us, and he accepted. I guess everypony felt a little lost without Reed. We decided it was time to head up to the bell tower now.

We made our way across the second floor, and into the room with the ladder. We would have to climb over to the roof access since the stairs had been destroyed. No pony enjoyed walking past the dead hollows, something felt wrong about them even before I explained that I was not the one who had slain them. The ladder lead up to a small room and outside that room we found ourselves standing on the rooftop. The roof was flat with a two foot high guard rail, the bell tower was across the way from us, and all we had to do was get to the bell.

About half way across the bell tower we began to hear laughter and a mare say. “So your still alive Altar Light, I knew you wouldn’t die so easily.” Then she stepped out of the bell towers entrance, she was walking on her hind legs. She was a zebra with black fur, and white stripes, her mane was jet black, and curly. In addition she wore a black jacket; she clapped her hooves together as we looked at her. She also didn’t have any weapons on her person.

Moon Shadow hissed in a near whisper. “That’s the crazy mare who kept me locked up here.”

Storm Feather looked at her and said in confusion. “Void Runner, what are you doing here?”

She looked at him for a few seconds before answering. “Crusader huh, well I am here to finish my task. Silver has been kinda pissed off that she might be alive, and after I saw the lit up Altar, I knew she was here.” She looked at me again before continuing.

I looked at Void Runner, and how she walked, it bothered me deeply, she walked the same way that Reed used too. I pulled out my crossbow and aimed it at her, this only made her smile. “Back down, and leave here now, this is your only chance.” I warned her. I didn’t think she would go for it, but if I could avoid a fight, then that would be good. I couldn’t help feeling some primal energy flow through me at this time though; I was scared, but excited. I really wanted to fight her.

She grinned at me, she looked almost manic her smile reaching from ear to ear. I had seen an expression like this before, I knew it, and it scared the crap out of me. She began advancing slowly towards us saying. “There is no chance for any of you, I only want to kill Altar Light, you guys can leave here alive…if you abandon her.”

Storm Feather pulled out his axe, and shield. While Moon Shadow pulls his two crescent daggers out with his telekinesis. I fired my crossbow at her, watching as the bolt flew towards her face. She deftly dodges the bolt, and turns into a full on run, while still standing on her hind legs. Time seemed to slow down as she rushed us. Storm Feather charges her, only for her to slide underneath him. She bounces back to her hooves after passing him, and Moon Shadow jumps in front of me. He swipes at her with his daggers, and she dodges expertly before upper cutting him in the face with her left foreleg. The green unicorn sails into the air a foot off the ground from the force of the blow! She then looks at me, still grinning before kicking my legs out from under me, and while I fell she used her other hind leg to kick me in the chest sending me sliding backwards on the ground a few feet.

I watched Storm Feather standing behind her swing his axe sideways. She jumped into the air doing a back flip before landing on his back; she then jumped off his back sending him down into the ground hard. I stood up pulling out my sword with my magic at the same time. My friends were down for the moment but not out, however my opponent was going to be a challenge no matter what we did. I wished I knew some attack spells for times like this, but I did have my sword maybe I could do something with that.

I charged her swinging my sword at her as I approached. She ducked underneath my blade. I swung again, and again, and again. But every time I did so, she would dodge like she already knew what I was going to do. Eventually she stopped dodging and grabbed me by my foreleg and swung me, over her head, and hard into the ground behind her. Before I could even react, or think I found her sitting on top of me hoof raised high, she then struck me in the face. The pain was horrible, I could feel my skull fracture, and the pain sent shivers of even more intense pain down my entire body. The pain stopped right after that though, as she pulled her hoof back for another blow. A purple glowing shuriken made entirely of energy flew at her from out behind her, forcing her to jump off of me in order to dodge it. She then looks at Moon Shadow, whose horn was glowing as it summoned another glowing shuriken, his scared face showed his anger towards her. She charged at him, dodging another one of his attacks in the process. I simply laid there for a few seconds. My entire body had gone numb, but I couldn’t just let her hurt my friends, I couldn’t die here, not before I find Reed.

I rose slowly to my hooves, and I picked up my sword in my mouth. I looked at her just in time to see her striking blows at Moon Shadow, but he was almost as good at dodging as she was, almost but not quite. She landed one of her blows on his side, and he screamed in pain as he fell to the ground. She stood over him preparing to strike the final blow. I wouldn’t allow that, I charged towards her. Or at least I tried to do that, my right leg took a step forward, but my left leg forgot how to work and I fell to the ground. Blood was beginning to obscure my vision; the left side of my face was covered in my own blood, forcing my left eye to close.

I looked up and saw Storm Feather had begun his assault again. She dodged his powerful axe blows, one direct hit from one of his attacks, and I doubt that even she would be able to move again. Eventually he over estimated his swing and she took this opportunity to slip under his arm, and punch upwards at his elbow. I heard a horrible cracking sound, and winced at the sight of his armor as it dented in that spot, before bending in the opposite direction. Blood began soaking out of his armored elbow. But even though his arm was now broken he refused to give in. He began swinging his shield like a bashing weapon; she was forced to block the first attack, even with her blocking it she was sent sailing into the air. She corrected herself mid air and landed on her hind legs though.

I looked around myself, and found my crossbow, unloaded but I had bolts on my person. I fumbled with my magic for a few seconds before finally grasping the crossbow. I looked up again, seeing her knocking Storm Feather down to the ground. She took the time to smash her hoof into the back of his head, I had felt that hoof, and it was very bad. She walked over to Moon Shadow, preparing to do the same thing to him. As she pulls her arm back I take to aim at her with the crossbow, and I fired the bolt. She was barely able to dodge the bolt as it flew past her face. She turns her head to look at me, and I see a red line start to bleed across her face from where the bolt scratched her. She stopped grinning, and looked at me with anger.

I managed to stand up just in time for her to run to me. Grabbing the crossbow with her hoof, she throws it behind her at the far wall. I tried taking a swing at her with my sword using my telekinesis. She simply put a hoof out, stopping the blade with her bare hoof this time. She then head butts me! I fall down to the ground my vision flashed black for a second. I watch in fear as she raises her hoof, preparing to strike me with the powerful attack again, when a crescent shaped dagger fly’s right into her arm. She screams before pulling it out with her teeth. She looks behind her to see Moon Shadow standing up again, and she spits the dagger out.

She charged towards him, jumping over him as she approached. She lands behind him. He turns to face her with only one dagger left, and before he can react she drops to her forelegs using both of her hind legs to kick him square in the chest. Moon Shadow goes flying into the air, and He hits the ground rolling over once.

I looked at him, blood dripping out of his mouth. His eyes were closed. Storm Feather didn’t look to be in any better shape, I knew it was over. All three of us were going to die here. But some part of me did not accept that. I could hear some mare screaming at me, but it was far away, and echoed. The mare’s voice was commanding me. “Get up; I know you can still fight. You’re not a filly anymore, time to get up, and show me what you’re made of.” Her tone became a little softer, and more arrogant as she said. “I know you can beat her, in ten seconds flat”.

Something deep inside me began to stir, my vision began flashing red. My breathing became shallow, and fast. I stood up, ignoring all of my injuries. My mouth began moving but it took a second for me to hear what was coming out of it, I was singing.
“I fight for the sun, and I fight for the moon. I fight for myself, and I will not lose. I carry your doubts, I carry your fears. There all on my back, your burdens I bare. The fires are stoked, the fires are hot. The fires of war are all that I got”.
A look of panic was spreading across Void Runner’s face, but then again seeing your enemy, who was practically breaking and entering into Deaths house; stand up and start singing might scare the crap out of anypony. I must have been completely cracked to even start singing in the middle of combat, but I don’t think I was in complete control at that time. I kept singing this song as I walked towards her. To make matters worse by the time I had closed half the distance between us, I had grabbed my sword with my magic again, and I began walking on my hind legs. I had no idea how I was doing it, this felt almost like a dream.
When I finally got within melee distance I began swinging my sword, the amber glow of my telekinesis cast light on her as she of course kept dodging me. I kept advancing with every swing, and Void Runner kept backing up. She hit the wall with her back pretty quickly, and I took the time to cut her across the chest. She was now bleeding pretty badly. She still stood though, and now trying to fight back. I found myself dodging almost as well as Moon Shadow had been dodging her. She got one lucky strike in on my face, and I swayed back from the hit, but I rolled with the motion, and I grabbed her arm with both of my hoofs as I swung around. I locked her arm into place, and with strength I did not think possible I began swinging her around myself in a circle. Once around, then I spun faster, twice around me, and faster still, the third time’s the charm, and I let go of her then. Her body went over the edge of the roof and fell into the graveyard bellow, she screamed the whole bloody fall. Then I collapsed.

I didn’t fall asleep or anything I just could not keep moving like this, injured as I was. If Somepony didn’t do something soon we would all die from our injuries. I then remembered the healing flask in my saddle bags. I used my magic to reach out for it, I found it quickly. I brought it to my lips using my magic, I found myself saying. “It will make it more painful”. Before I unfastened the top with telekinesis, and I took a drink from it.

The feeling I received was like Somepony had breathed into my entire body with warm fuzzy air. I opened both my eyes, and stood upright. My entire body seemed to have been healed, although I was still covered in blood. I quickly tried to give a drink to Moon Shadow, although he informed me that it was empty. I guess it was a single use potion. Together we were able to drag Storm Feather’s exceptionally heavy body complete with armor over to the bell tower.

Right inside the entrance was another Altar; Moon Shadow told me I should light the fire. I didn’t see why I should, but I trusted his judgment. I focused my magic on the Altar and the sword caught on fire again. Storm Feather sat up at that instant looking around with a little confusion, and Moon Shadow seemed to be a lot better too. I was a little more than confused to say the least, but Moon Shadow informed me that the Altars were able to do all kinds of things when lit up like this, one of those things happened to be healing injures.

I had the feeling I should take a look at my healing flask out of curiosity, and I found a glowing orange light inside of it. Moon Shadow explained at my curious look, that the Altar’s could also refill certain items of their magic properties, healing flasks included.

I stepped away from the group after a few minutes, making my way up the stairs to the actual bell itself. I took a hard look at the bell, nothing special about it, except for the engraving of the sun that was on two of its sides. I looked over the town bellow us, it was getting darker outside, and the sky was now a purple hue. The town itself was too dark to properly see any details, but I had the feeling that there were hollows walking around, and possible something far worse. I looked at the mountains around us, and could make out between two of the mountains around us the top of some buildings in the far distance, the buildings were grey and square shaped. I heard Somepony coming up the stairs, but I didn’t really feel like talking at the moment. Instead I looked at the bell again. ‘So this is the bell that began our journey last time…I wish I could remember that’ I thought to myself.

“Hey, you should come back inside before it gets too dark outside” Moon Shadow said from the door way.

I nodded at him, and started to go to the door, but I had one thing I wanted to do first. I grabbed the clapper of the bell, and swung it back and forth several times, causing the bell to ring. Really loudly, in fact it was so loud I bet that the ponies all the way over at Camp Hope could hear it. My ears rung, but I found myself smiling at Moon Shadow. He scrunched up his face at the noise. Then he looked at me and hissed, like a cat. I found myself laughing at him, and after a moment he laughed back. It was nice to have friends.

Chapter three: into the depths

EQUSTRIAN SOULS
Written by TheCrimsonDm
Chapter three: into the depths

The three of us sat around the Altar, its light cast upon us, creating dancing shadows behind us. This night was a little chilly making the Altar’s fire more attractive. Although the fire emitting from the blade did not give off any actual heat, there was a warm feeling spreading through me as I sat in front of it. The warm feeling was most likely due to the healing magic that these Altars gave off, but it was keeping me warm, and that’s what mattered.

I looked at Moon Shadow sitting across from me, he looked tired but I would catch him smiling at me every now and then. It was nice being with somepony who actually knew who I was, somepony who had been my friend before my amnesia, and who was still my friend. I had so many questions for him, but I needed to focus on finding Reed first. My questions could wait until after we found him.

For now I needed to know where the second bell was, I yawned as I asked. “So where is this second bell?”

Moon Shadow, my unicorn friend studied me for a few moments before saying simply. “It’s in the Malignant Mire”.

That name sounded simply horrid, and I really didn’t want to know more about this place, but if I was going to trot into some place called the Malignant Mire, then I was going to be as prepared as I could possibly be before hoof. I began to ask what that place was like, when a wave of exhaustion crashed into me. I wobbled to my side and fell against Storm Feathers shoulder. His plate mail armor was not very comfortable, but to was something to lean against. I found myself yawning again. A few moments passed with me nodding off against the griffon’s shoulder, before I heard Moon Shadow say my name.

I looked over to my side to see my saddle bags laid out like a pillow next to me, it looked much more comfortable then Storm Feather’s shoulder. After I laid my head down on top of the bags, I closed my eyes feeling sleep come closer to me. Even with sleep coming down upon me I managed to ask. “Is it safe to sleep here?”

I heard Moon Shadow reply softly. “The Altar has been lit. We do not have to worry about any monsters attacking. Besides, you have two body guards now. You will be fine.”

I nodded off to sleep listening to my friends talk to each other in soft tones. I was really happy to have them here with me.

***

The ground beneath me became smooth, there was a slight chill to the wind around me, and my head was feeling…fluffy. I opened my eyes to find myself in a completely new location. The sky was pure white with no sign of blue anywhere; there weren’t clouds in the sky though. The sky was simply white. The ground had become smooth green marbled glass, with strands of darker green in it. There were a set of ruins made of the same material behind me. Lastly I noticed that although it was bright, there was no sign of the sun anywhere. To say the least, I had no idea where I was.

I searched around the ruins a little bit trying to figure out where I was, after finding no clues I decided to sit down with my back against one of the marble walls. I let out a sigh of frustration, why did this place have to be so strange. I wondered about where my friends could be and remembered that they had been by the Altar as I fell asleep. ‘Could I be asleep,’ I wondered to myself. The answer seemed to be instinctive then, and I knew for certain that I was asleep.

This place I sat in was a dream, a lonely, strange dream, but a dream none the less. That made me smile to myself, knowing that this was a dream eased my confusion, and worry. There were no signs of life anywhere though, and the only thing I could see in any direction around me was the ruins I was standing in.

An adolescent mare’s voice began speaking to me as I sat there. “So,” she began speaking, “this is where you were”. I looked around for the voice, and found a teenage mare sitting next to me. She was an earth pony with deep blue fur, and a glowing green mane and tail. She looked at me with her luminescent green eyes and smiled worriedly. “Are you okay Light,” she asked me?

I nodded feeling very confused, I did not recognize this mare at all. Was she somepony I knew in real life, or just a dream apparition? She began to frown in worry, which prompted me to explain. “I am feeling okay; I just don’t know who you are. I have amnesia.” I felt that my explanation was somewhat lacking.

She shook her head saying. “I told you that something like this might happen. I am simply glad you’re alive.”

“What Happened?” I asked without hesitation.

She looked sternly at me with her glowing eyes, and I felt a little intimidated from her. “You got into a fight, a bad one. You’re still alive, and that means that I can still help you achieve our goal.”

“And what exactly is our goal, does it involve finding Reed?” I asked hoping to find out more about Reed.

She looked at me her eyes softened, and started to become sad before she looked away saying simply. “We are going to stop the demons, once and for all…and you will meet up with Reed again, I promise.”

I wanted to ask her why she looked sad, did it have something to do with Reed, or was there something else to this stopping the demons thing? I began to ask her when she cut me off by saying. “I know you want answers, but I can’t be the one to give them to you. I can only give you choices on what to do next. I am the Dream Weaver, this is my task.”

Dream Weaver is an odd title, maybe she had something to do with talking to ponies in their dreams. And if she can only give me choices; then I only had only one question I could ask her. “Okay Dreamer, what can I do next?”

She quickly turned her head to look at me she tilted her head to the side looking very confused. She then asked me. “What did you call me?”

A smile grew on my face as I explained. “Dreamer, it’s your new nick name. After all what kind of friends would we be without nick names for each other”

Her bottom lip began to quiver as she asked me dumbfounded. “You want to be my friend, but why?”

My smile grew wider as I answered her question with another question. “Why not?”

She smiled a little as a tear began to roll down her face as she explained. “We didn’t used to be friends, in fact you hated me. We had to work together to stop the demons, but that didn’t stop you from hating my guts,” she paused for a second seeming to ponder something before saying, “I don’t think that term actually applies to me anymore.”

I was a little more than confused by what she meant by that last part, but I decided to let that go for now. I wrapped a leg around Dreamer, and hugged her close to me saying. “I can’t remember any of that, in fact I scarcely remember anything at all. So even if the old me didn’t like you, I don’t see any reason the new me can’t be your friend.”

I found her smiling at me, with any luck I just made a new friend. She then cuddled into me before saying. “It’s been so long since I have had any friends. Even if your friendship only last a little while, I will cherish it for an eternity.”

We sat there just enjoying the breeze that was in the air, it seemed to be getting slightly warmer, turning the once chilly breeze into something pleasant. She then began to speak again. “I know your trying to get back into The Grays, and that you have already rung one of the bell towers. Now you need to ring the other one, but it’s located in a very dangerous spot. You will need to travel to the Malignant Mire, and there are only two…decent options for that.”

I nodded to let her know I was paying attention before she continued explaining. “Option one, you can go all the way down to Dark Town, and travel through the Everfree forest, but that would take a long time a few days at best, more likely it would take a week…probably. The second option is for you to travel through the Sewer system in Clippers called The Labyrinth, it leads to the Mire, but it’s filled with danger. It would only take a few hours at most to get through that place though, and if you can’t survive the sewers, then there would be no chance for you to survive the Mire.”

I sat there and thought about the two options she had just given me, neither one sounded very good, but this Malignant Mire sounded far worse. I would love to have more information on this place, but I knew that those questions could wait for Moon Shadow in the morning. I looked up at the white sky, and I asked. “Is this place your home?”

She took a moment to answer me. “No not usually. This is actually your mental plane. We all have one, and each one is unique to their owner. It’s beautiful here though. Although it used to be a much nicer place, back when you were stronger.”

“What do you mean by stronger?” I asked, I did not think that getting weaker sounded like a good thing.

She took a moment to answer me, I felt like she was trying to find a way to explain it to me, without telling me too much about my past. That was a little infuriating, but I imagine she may not have a choice in that matter.

She finally began explaining, although she sounded sad as she did so. “You…have forgotten a lot of your training, right now you are functioning on muscle memory for your fights. I am surprised you’re doing so well actually. Eventually you should gain some of those memories back, hopefully you will regain all of your memories and your mental plane will be whole again…even if you stop being my friend after words. I don’t like seeing broken ponies.”

She sounded so sad and lonely, that I didn’t give much thought to her calling me a broken pony. Although I agreed with her, not remembering sucked, and it made me feel broken. I could identify with her sadness, I felt lonely when I first woke up in asylum, and I felt like I have may have been lonely even before that.

I held her a little tighter, hoping that somehow I could make her loneliness go away. If I only I knew how to make her happy, I would. Sadly I could feel that my time here was drawing to a close.

I kissed Dreamer on the forehead before promising. “No matter what I remember about you, I promise I will always be your friend.” I gave it second before adding. “Please come visit me again, I would love to talk with you some more”. She looked up at me, and smiled with tears rolling down her face, I really hope that she felt at least a little less lonely now. My vision began being filled with a blinding light, it soon got so bright that I tried to close my eyes, to no avail.

***

I woke up with my back feeling a little bit sore from where I was laying on it, and half of my face was wet from where I had been drooling in my sleep, eww. Moon Shadow was standing by the doorway looking outside at the sunlight, he looked a lot older then he did in my memories. Although he did look pretty cool in his new brown leather jacket, actually that jacket looked awfully familiar to one I had been rummaging through yesterday to find the key to his cell. I found myself a little appalled by the fact that he stole it, but I couldn’t really blame him for it. After all he had been tortured here for years, he was well within his rights.

My eyes traveled towards the right, away from the doorway. I saw there were now two packs full of canned food, and a few canteens lying against the wall. I also saw a suit of platemail that had been set neatly in the corner stained with dry blood, along with it was some cloth underlining.

I continued panning right until my eyes fell upon the sleeping form of Storm Feather, and he was naked. I began blushing wildly as I found myself enamored with his powerful physique; he was in great shape, probably from wearing that armor all the dang time. My eyes began to wander from athletic arms down to his chest, and stopped there at the sight of a tattoo of the sun on his chest. I had to say normally tattoos did not appeal to me, but in this case I could make an exception. My eyes continued to wander a little lower before a coughing noise snapped me to my attention. I realized then that Moon Shadow had been staring at me, with a slightly agitated expression. I felt like my checks were on fire, with how intense my blushing had been right then.

I decided to change the subject before said subject even came up. “I, uh, need to use the little fillies room.” I stood up, and began trotting towards the staircase going up to the bell.

“I wouldn’t go up there if I was you.” He said.
I looked back about to ask why, when he answered me by saying. “The ceiling here might be leaky. You should just go out on the roof of the cathedral.”
I began to imagine the worst possible thing happen, with a leaky ceiling and ponies right below it. Then I stopped thinking before I became too embarrassed, and began heading outside the door. I looked back at Moon Shadow who looked very serious, and I said. “No Peeking”. He rolled his eyes, and shut the door to the bell tower after me.

It was absolutely beautiful out here; the sun was shining down upon the town with warm rays of protection. Even if the sun didn’t stop Hollows I had it on good belief it stopped the worst things out there. There were no signs of Hollows down bellow in the town, and that made me happy. I did not want to have to fight any more before deciding our next course of action. I was also pleased to hear the sounds of birds chirping off in the distance.

After my business was concluded outside I walked back inside and found that Moon Shadow had begun cooking some food. He had started a tiny fire near the corner of the room, near a window. The fact that the Altar’s fire was merely an illusion forced him to make a new fire for cooking. When he had gotten done cooking he handed a bowl of white mush to both me, and Storm Feather. I looked at it for a few seconds wondering what he had just made for us, and then I looked at Storm Feather who had not yet touched his food. I was pretty sure that this food was from downstairs, ironic that I was going to have to be the first one to try it.

I really hadn’t wanted to eat this food because it was probably more than a few years out of date. After a few more moments it was plainly obvious that Storm was not going to take the first bite, and I think Moon Shadow was snickering in the corner. I finally bucked up, and took a sample bite from the food. It was tasteless; I guess that was okay, it could have been a whole lot worse than just being tasteless.

After I took a few more bites Storm Feather began to dig in as well, he however seemed to really enjoy the food we were eating. Moon Shadow was eating very quietly in the corner, I suppose he did not want to bother us, or maybe he was having a hard time adjusting to the company.

I begun to wonder about how hard it must have been for him to be free now, he had been locked up for a couple of years, perhaps longer. Now that he was free, he was following me in my quest to find Reed. He might be worried about getting close to anypony after having been alone for so long, I really hoped he would get over that soon.

While we ate I decided to bring up the topic of what we were going to do next. “So we need to head to The Mire, how should we go about getting there?”

Storm Feather sat quietly eating while looking at Moon Shadow over in the corner. Moon Shadow then walks over to where we were sitting and joins us. He then explains. “I was talking with Storm Feather last night about this, there are two ways to get there, one of them takes far too long, and the other one is more dangerous. We can take the Clippers sewer system to get there although that is the dangerous one, and it should only take a few hours or so. That was the path we had taken last time after all.”

“Did I go with you last time?” I asked with a little bit of hesitance to hear about what might have occurred.

He let out a sigh before shaking his head and explaining. “Sorry, I didn’t mean to imply you had gone with us. You and dust were busy up here. Reed decided to take only his strongest fighters down into the Mire. Blackout, Snowflake, Valiant Hart, and I. Together we descended into the sewers.”

I wish I could remember who those ponies were, I had remembered hearing the name Blackout but the other four were a complete mystery to me. “Who were all those ponies?” I asked feeling a little guilty for not remembering them when they had been friends to both Reed and Moon Shadow.

Moon Shadow looked a little confused for a moment, and then he seemed to remember the fact that I had amnesia. Thankfully he decided to explain who they were to me. “I will try to keep this short; it would take hours to explain who they were individually in great detail. Dust is an earth pony mechanic; he used to build all sorts of cool things. Blackout’s a Pegasus who loves flying fast, faster than any other pony. I still remember all the times she would challenge Rainbow Dash, determined to be faster than even her, I can’t recall her ever winning against her though.” He stopped speaking for a moment, his gaze drifted upwards as though he was lost in thought. He continued after a moment, looking a little embarrassed at him losing his train of thought. “Snowflake was probably the most powerful unicorn I ever became close friends with, she is also a beauty beyond words. And finally we have Valiant Hart, she was the innocent one of the bunch, she should never have been brought with us to the Mire…it changed her, but without her help we would have died. Reed was our leader, our guild captain. Together the six of us were the Elements of nature, we would have died for Equestria…instead we lost everything, save for our lives. At least Reed managed to save you, without you he would have gone crazy.”

They had all fought bravely in the war, while I was useless. After losing the war we were left in a world full of undeath, and demons. I wish I could remember how much had been lost, how much we were fighting for now, or how long ago this all was. If I could only remember it all, maybe then this world would make sense. I sighed at the uselessness of it all, trying to remember things would only hurt me and probably wouldn’t do as much good as I wanted it too anyway.

“So,” I began asking, “What should we expect in the sewers, and in the Mire?”

Moon Shadow just sat there for a moment thinking to himself, I gave him time to answer but he sat still for several more seconds, and an awkward silence began filling the room. Finally he decided to answer me saying. “I can’t remember what happened in the sewers, I remember the blue prints I had memorized, but what events unfolded in there is a mystery to me.”

“What about in the Mire?” I asked hoping to keep him talking.

“The Mire I remember, although I wish that I didn’t. The place is dark, and filled with death. But more then all it is filled with creatures that make The Black Knights feel like kittens. Nopony that entered the Mire came back out the same. Even Reed had changed down there. We got lost and fought tooth and hoof every step of the way. When we go back, I will bring you guys directly to Quelaag’s domain, that way we can go in and out within hours rather than days.”
“It took days to get out?” I exclaimed!
He looked at me with his tired eyes, they almost looked broken. “Like I said, the place is dark, and we got lost. It could have taken a mere few hours…”
I wasn’t going to push him for any more details right now, whatever happened down there had broke him, and yet he was still willing to take us down there to keep us safe. He was a good pony. We talked some more about the sewers, Moon Shadow had explained that there was a door, which lead to the sewers. He knew where it was, and soon enough we would be going there.

A few minutes later we packed up, Storm Feather finally decided to get dressed in his armor again, thank Celestia, I don’t think I could keep my composer around him a moment longer. Moon Shadow lead us out of the cathedral, on our way out I glanced over at the graveyard where I had tossed Void Runner yesterday. I found it worrisome when I realized her body was no longer there, but then again maybe something had decided to eat her in the middle of the night…or at least I really hoped that was what happened. I don’t think I could handle another fight with her.

It took some time to get to the sewer entrance, but at least we didn’t have any trouble on our way. The entrance he spoke about was actually a giant sewer tunnel that was blocked off by a thick metal grate; there was a door next to the tunnel which would lead us inside the sewers. There was some water pooling at the base of the tunnel, it was black and offered us a glimpse at how badly the sewer was going to smell. I was really beginning to hate black stagnant water now. Moon Shadow spent some time lock picking the door, but eventually he managed to get us inside, and so we made our first steps into the depths of the Clippers sewer system.

***

The Clippers sewer system is apt described as a maze of stone worked hallways, and foot high black smelly water. The only sources of light came from both mine and Moon Shadow’s telekinesis, and also from a torch that Storm Chaser had light up. The reek of the sewers was terrible. The smell of mold, waste, and rot built up the further we went in. I know that sewers weren’t supposed to smell nice, but this was horrible. As we traveled deeper into the sewers the walls became more damaged, it took us nearly an hour before we hit what Moon Shadow had called the Labyrinth.

According to the maps he had memorized, the Labyrinth was the place that connected the town of Clippers, to the horrible place called the Mire. If we can survive the Labyrinth we will make it to the second bell. I just hope that we did not have any trouble down here, but so far I have not been given a single sign that this would be the case.

We found ourselves being forced into ever smaller corridors, until we finally were funneled into walking in a single file. Moon Shadow stalked ahead of us, making sure to stay in our line of sight, but being just far enough to scout ahead in case there was danger. I was in the middle with Storm Feather at my rear, if not for my cloak covering my tail I might have gotten embarrassed. Our heavy armored friend would protect us from behind in case we were to draw unwanted attention.

There were far too many intersecting corridors, causing a sense of dread as we approached each one. Without Moon Shadow we would have gotten lost in here, and far worse I felt like there was something watching me from around every corner.

We walked past yet another corridor intersection, and that was my first experience with the most disgusting creature I had seen so far. A giant Rat. The Rat stood half my size with mangy fur, and open sores all over its body. The creature was standing in the corridor to my right. It simply stood there staring at me, its eyes were completely white, and if not for the light from Storms torch I would never have known the creature was there.

I was about to scream, and probably shoot it full of bolts, if not for Moon Shadow using his magic to keep my mouth shut, I would have. I looked at him feeling both scared and angry at him for having stopped me. He shook his head saying very quietly. “Rats don’t usually attack living pray. They prefer to feed on carrion. Although if desperate enough, they might try to bite you. If that happens tell me right away.”

I looked at him feeling a little worried, I tried to ask him to explain further but his magic was still keeping me quiet. He did go further into what he meant though. “They eat dead flesh; these creatures are filled with sickness, and disease. So if you get bitten, tell me so I can take care of it.” he finally let my muzzle go free from his telekinesis, and I worked my mouth back and forth making sure I could move it again. We continued onward.

We finally found ourselves entering a larger corridor, where we could all move about freely again. This hallway was long and open. The end of the hall turned left. About half way through we began hearing Somepony coming towards us from around the end of the hallway. I looked around for some place to hide, but there weren’t any hiding spots in here. It looked as though we were going to have to fight. Storm Feather brought his favored battle axe to bear, Moon Shadow slid out his daggers, and I brought my sword to the show. Together we stood firm, and ready for anything this place could throw at us.

The first thing to come around the corner was a single hollow wearing no armor, and holding a broken sword in his mouth. That hollow went down from one of Moon Shadows magical shuriken. That must have been the trigger though because suddenly we found ourselves watching as a much larger group of Hollows came rushing towards us from around the corner.

Moon Shadow began firing his magical shuriken at the advancing hollows, meanwhile Storm Feather charged up meeting them in melee, his oppressive form bearing down on them. Meanwhile I pulled out my crossbow, now dual wielding my sword and crossbow. Of course I could only concentrate at aiming one of them at a time. I took aim and fired at one of the hollows who were getting too close for comfort. I took him down with a single shot to the head. I seemed to be pretty good with this crossbow. The battle continued only for a few moments, Storm took out most of the enemies by himself, while me, and Moon took out enemies from range.

After the battle we took a little rest, this place was filled with hollows from my understanding, and worse things resided here as well. While we sat down on an area raised just higher than the water level, Moon Shadow decided he would speak with me some more. Storm was on look out for the moment, making sure we don’t get ambushed. My fellow unicorn was looking worn down with his tired eyes and messy hair. When he spoke his voice did not sound tired, rather it sounded a little dull.

He began speaking and even though he sounded drab I could also make out some regret in his voice. “I should have been able to take those hollows out with ease, and you used to charge head first into combat like that. Or at least that’s how it used to be.”

I sighed; I didn’t like not remembering my past. I wondered if I used to be like Storm Feather, charging in with a full suit of armor slaying hollows with giant swords. I lamented about memories I no longer owned before saying. “I don’t remember hardly anything, especially anything about fighting. And you’re still recovering yourself. Yet we have come this far, we have to continue.”

He looked at me with regret in his eyes, I didn’t know what he was thinking, but I wanted to help him. Putting a hoof on his shoulder I smiled softly, saying. “We will be okay, there are three of us, and we are pretty darn tough.”

He smiled a little before pushing my hoof away with his own. He sighed and said with a little more energy. “Okay, but if we are going to do this, we need your magic. I am going to teach you something.”

I grinned with excitement; I really liked the idea of shooting magic shuriken at my opponents. He then led me out into the hall facing me towards the far wall. “I guess we can start at the beginning. Magic is unique to everypony, and to ponies like me, and you. It’s both easier and harder at the same time. Now I want you to take all the anger that you have inside of you, and force it into a ball.”

I closed my eyes, and focused on everything I could that made me angry. It was hard to be angry when I couldn’t remember anything, and that got on my nerves. So I took that and shoved it into a mental ball, then I took my anger towards being useless and shoved that in there as well. I took the anger I felt at the ponies who locked up Moon Shadow, and the Zebra who hurt my friends, and shoved it all into that ball of hate. “Open your eyes.” Moon Shadow instructed me.

When I opened them, I found myself staring at a ball of fire floating just a few inches from my muzzle. The heat off it was burning me a little, I moved my head back from it, but the ball of fire followed me.

“Okay, now grab the Fireball with your telekinesis and toss it at the wall far away from us.” Moon Shadow explained carefully.

I grabbed it with my magic, and although it didn’t have an aura around it, I found that I could move it around freely. I gave it a toss at the far wall, and watched as it collided with the wall. And exploded!

The explosion was not huge, but it did take out a chunk of the stone wall, sending bits and pieces into the water around it. I wondered just how many times I could do this before becoming exhausted, or if I could just keep doing this without worry. I found myself smiling I looked at Moon Shadow who was smiling along with me; I began bouncing on my hooves in a circle around him, chanting to myself. “Yes, yes, yes, yes, yes, yes, yes, yes.”
I only stopped after Storm Feather began laughing. I began blushing at the realization that I was acting like a filly, and tried to regain my composer. Striking a hard stance along with as stern a face as I could while saying. “It was just a fireball, anypony can do that. Humph.” I made sure to pout for emphasis. Storm began laughing even harder at me, and I couldn’t help but join in with him at this point.

After our laughing was over I thanked Moon Shadow, and asked him. “So where did you learn to make fire balls.”

He smiled before saying. “I don’t. When I was younger I didn’t know how to control my magic. I actually exploded once…from sneezing too hard. Twilight broke out laughing at me so hard I thought she would pass out.”

Tilting my head to one side in confusion I asked. “Wait, you exploded?” after second I added. “And twilight laughed at you?”

He was smiling a little more and even blushed a little as he explained. “Well I was getting angry at a certain pink Somepony over something silly they had done. Then I sneezed, and exploded with fire. Apparently my mane and tail actually caught on fire for a second. I bet I looked ridiculous. After that though I learned how to begin controlling my magic, and the reason why Twilight found it so hilarious.”

“Oh yeah why was she laughing at you?” I asked feeling a mixture of curiosity and a little protective over her, although I couldn’t explain why.

He sighed and continued explaining. “Apparently when she was younger, she did something similar once. So I guess she never realized what she looked like when exploding like that. Although thanks to that event I learned that my emotions were a huge part of my magic, specifically passion.”

“Oh,” I began saying feeling less protective, but still very curious, “So Twilight taught you how to use your magic.”

He shook his head before saying. “Nope, Twilight was unfortunately too busy that day, so she had Somepony else teach me… that pony was you”.

I sat down hard in shock, and instantly regretted it as my entire rump splashed in the disgusting water. I was going to smell bad for a long time wasn’t I? I stood back up, giving a shake while Storm snickered at me. Then I said. “Wait, so I taught you how to use your magic?”

He nodded saying. “Yeah, Reed had introduced us once before, although we didn’t become close friends for a long time. I still admired you for tutoring me; you spent at least a week teaching me basic things to do with magic. I guess you could say that you became my teacher for a while.”

I found my checks warming up from all this praise. I guess I wasn’t really used to being praised like this. I would have loved to continue this dialog about my past, but we needed to continue moving forward. Time was of the essence, or at least I got this feeling deep inside of me, like I was running out of it. Maybe it was my paranoia about the Zebra girl Void Runner, or perhaps the Labyrinth was making me feel this way. Either way I found myself wanting to leave here more and more by the second.

After a little while of walking, Moon Feather pointed a hoof forward while saying. “Okay, there should be another Altar just a few halls downward. We should rest there, and make sure we have all the stuff we need for entering The Mire”.

We continued deeper into the Labyrinth, my two companions walked a few paces ahead of me. To my sudden surprise Moon Shadow fell to his knees without warning. He started looking very ill, and Storm Feather was looking almost as bad, but the griffon managed to stand his ground. I dragged Moon Shadow back by yanking on his tail with my teeth, while Storm Feather walked with me. We moved backwards about 3 meters before the two started looking any better. I had no idea what had just happened and that was making me feel a little scared. Seeing my friends become sick like that without warning worried me. Moon Shadow looked towards the hall where he fell with a scowl saying. “Not here, not now. We aren’t supposed to be facing these yet.”

I looked at him still worried asking. “What do you mean; do you know what that was?”

He sighed before looking up at me and explaining. “The Altar over there is corrupted by Pestilence. It was something that only happened inside the Mire. Only Valiant Hart was able to cast the spell that protected us from its effects. Although this is another reason why I wanted to bring you along the first time we went down there. Altar, you are immune to these things. And I am afraid you will need to go ahead of us alone. You need to find the Altar, if you can use your magic to light it, then we can proceed unharmed.”

He must have been joking, how could he actually want me to go through this maze of tunnels by myself. I was bound to get lost, and eaten down here without him to guide me. I also really disliked the idea of leaving my friends alone, that Zebra mare had nearly killed them. I couldn’t handle losing them down here. This was crazy, and I did not want to do it. “There has to be another way around, maybe we can go some other way to the Mire.”

He looked at me his eyes filled with sorrow shaking his head as he said. “I wish there was, but you have to do this for us Altar.”

I bit my lip, and looked down the hallway, it was dark and scary. There were giant rats, and a whole lot more hollows down here than expected. Worse yet I felt as though something even more terrible was waiting for me in the depths. I backed up away from Moon Shadow shaking my head back and forth saying fearfully. “I don’t want to go, there are giant rats, and hollows, and, and I don’t want to go.”

His eyes turned hard, and he looked at me with a stern gaze while asking me in very even tones. “That is not why you don’t want to go is it; tell me what the real reason is?”

Clenching my eyes shut I thought about this for a few seconds. The rats didn’t bother me that much, even the hollows I could probably take care of by myself now, and my friends could take care of themselves while I was gone I knew this much too be true. The last time I was in a place like this alone though, I was in Asylum facing down a demon. A hot tear streaked down my cheek as I admitted. “It’s just like Asylum down here. What if there is a demon down here, I don’t want to face that alone.”

Moon Shadow moved next to me before talking to me in a soft caring tone. “I…don’t want you to do this, it is not fair. I finally got you back, after all this time I finally meet up with the only friend I know to still be alive. But Alt- I mean Light. We need you to do this. Even if we did choose to head back now, I may be too sick from the poison to get back to another Altar in time.”

I opened my eyes and looked at him; I could feel hot tears running down my face. He was poisoned, from that little time he spent in the corrupted Altar’s effect radius. These things were extremely dangerous, and on top of that he needed my help or he could die. I won’t lose him again, I won’t lose anypony.

I sucked in a breath before saying in a tiny voice just above a whisper. “Okay, I’ll do it.” I then raised my voice a little, attempting to sound more confident as I said. “But I don’t want you to wait for me, if the Altar gets fixed before I come back for you guys, I want you to get to it as fast as you can. That means both of you guys.”

I made sure I had Storm Feather’s attention as I said that last bit. I knew he would listen to my orders, but I was still afraid that he might do something silly, and heroic. This had to be hard for him though. Letting the mare he swore to defend run off alone into the scary dark tunnels to save him. That was of course assuming he was poisoned as well, and from his expression earlier it was safe to assume he was. He was acting tough now that he was away from the corrupted Altar’s effect, but Moon Shadow was still looking in bad shape. That led me to believe that this corrupted Altar’s effect wasn’t temporary. Moon Shadows weakened body probably couldn’t endure the poisonous effect as well as Storm’s could. I walked down the hall a little before turning to face them. I nodded at them, letting them know I would be okay.

I continued walking until I was out of sight of my friends, and that was when the troubling thought came to me. This might be the last time I see them for a long time. I wanted to run back, I wanted to give them both a hug before going onward alone, but I knew that if I did, I would not be able to continue onward by myself. Besides time was of the essence now, my friends were sick and I was their only chance at survival.

Taking a deep breath I readied myself for whatever dangers I was about to face down here in the Labyrinth. At the very least I did not feel weak or sick yet. With great care I continued onward into the dark tunnels ahead. I was going to save my friends, and I would allow nothing to stand in my way, not even my own fears.

Chapter four: lost

EQUSTRIAN SOULS
Written by: TheCrimsonDM
Chapter Four: Lost

I was thankful for not suffering any of the poisonous effects from the corrupted Altar. Although I was now very interested in why I was the only one who was immune to it. I really wished that there was a memory locked away inside my head that could explain all of this, but hopefully it would wait until I was somewhere safe.

It was dark down here with no natural lighting, and although there existed sconces on the walls where torches would go, most of them contained no torch, and none of them were lit. I decided after only a few seconds after seeing the second unlit torch that I would pick it up. I lit the torch with my magic, and then I got a clearer picture of how alone I really was down here.

The halls I walked down twisted left and right. The twisting hallways had an effect of causing one to feel lost, confused, and even more alone then they probably were. There was good news however, there had not been any crossroads ever since my last encounter with hollows. Many alcoves were built into the sides of the walls, where anything could easily hide in ambush. I needed to keep my eyes open, and my guard up.

I finally arrived at the end of the twisting halls, where I found a wooden door built into the wall at the end of the hallway, and a staircase leading down to another door this one being made of iron. There were also two hollows standing guard at the wooden door, each holding a broken sword hilt in their mouths. I wondered why they would continue using a broken sword like that. Maybe these were the weapons they had used in life, creating some kind of connection between the undead hollow and their broken sword.

Although I could probably take them out with my sword easily enough, I went with caution, and drew my crossbow. I walked a little closer keeping my hooves low trying not to make a splash. Taking aim carefully sighting down my crossbow, I took the time to set up the perfect shot.

With sudden force I felt something ram into my right side, along with a burning line of pain dance down my side. Quickly I look to my right to see the hollow that had pushed me and cut into me with his blade. I pulled my sword free from its sheath with my telekinesis, and I stabbed the hollow in the chest. My sword glanced off of this hollows broken armor, sending the blade upwards into its throat. The hollow began making some horrible gurgling sound before he fell limp.

I took a step forward wincing at the flaming pain in my side. Taking a quick look at the wounded area I found a gash running down my side. Blood was running down my side dripping into water and pooling into the water around me.

I noticed then that the hollows standing guard at the door had began walking towards me with violent intent. Worse yet I noticed only than the group of hollows that had began filling the hallway behind me. That was the same direction as Storm Feather and Moon Shadow; I really hoped that they were okay. I couldn’t focus on that right now though. Because I was in trouble right now and I had to get moving.

I charged at the two nearest the door, and the ones behind me began galloping. My open wound felt like it had been set on fire, and the pain was hindering my ability to run. I could move barely faster than a trot. The splashing of hooves behind me was quickly catching up. Looking behind me I saw one had gotten close enough for an attack. I rolled away from one of his attack dodging underneath his blade just in time. The water splashed into my wound causing the burning sensation to intensify with its contact.

I swing my sword at the one behind me bringing the blade across his chest, the chest cavity crunches beneath the blade as it tore through the hollow. Two more attacked me in tandem. I tried to roll out of the way of their attacks, but was too slow. The two managed to cut lines down my back. Pain streaked down my back causing me to scream. I was now sure that their weapons had been soaked in the filthy water from down here. The broken swords probably had disease covering them. Praise Celestia if I don’t end up sick from all this exposer.

I turn to face the two who had been guarding the door swinging my sword as I did. The blade tearing open one hollows back, and ripping open the others side in the process. The two were hindered for a second but continued assaulting me as though nothing had happened. Even more hollows were filling the tunnel. I parried the attack of one of the hollows I was engaged with. I managed with my second swing to cut the head off of one of them. The other one took another swing at me, forcing me to take a step backwards to avoid being hit. With another attack I successfully rend his head from his body. Wounds to the head, neck, and chest areas seemed like the most effective way of killing them.

The hallway just behind me was now filled with hollows at least a dozen had now arrived. Several hollows had gotten really close, and although they had numbers in their favor, I still had a trick up my sleeve. Pouring all my pain and anger into an explosive fireball, I send it at the mess of hollows. The explosion knocked the ones up front backwards into the ones behind.

With their advance was temporally halted it was my time to escape. I half trotted half limped toward the wooden door. With ever step my wounds would surge with new fiery pain. When I got to the door I pushed it open with my hooves while turning the handle with my magic. I slipped inside just in time to shut it behind me as my pursuers began recomposing themselves.

I now found myself in a narrow hallway, but unlike the others this place dry. There was a dark brown light being emitted from the room at the end of the hall. Painfully I limped toward the light; my own blood had coated my sides in crimson. The pain was intensifying. The closer I got to the dark light the heavier the air felt, and the more painful my injuries became. If I had not been scared before, I was surely terrified now.

The room at the end of the hallway was a small circular chamber with a door at the end of it. There was small mound of brown sludge, the sludge was coming out of the top of this thing and dripping down the sides. The mound was giving off a dark brown light. The shape of the mound was a little bit off, it looked like there may be something sticking out of the ground underneath it. This room felt heavy, and my open wounds burning grew more painful as I approached. I suddenly began to feel sick, I wanted to vomit, and my head began aching. This brown goopy thing had to be the corrupted Altar.

I looked at the Altar and concentraited on it, I used every ounce of focus I had. I could feel the Altar, it was almost like a person was there only hiding from me. I reached out further with my magic searching for the Altar. After a few more seconds of looking I managed to find it, and with some focus I managed to connect with the Altar. It was strange though, this time I felt like there was a person their instead of an Altar. I then heard a mare say very quietly the words. “Thank you.

The Altar then lit on fire burning brightly for a few seconds as it destroyed the brown sludge that had coated it before. When the fire died down I saw the familiar looking Sword sitting before me. The heavy feeling was gone replaced by the warm feeling of healing energy. My injuries knit themselves back together again, and all burning sensation extinguished. I lay there next to the Altar’s warm healthy fire with my eyes closed for a good few minutes, simply recovering from the exertion of battling hollows.

Laying there on my belly I couldn’t help but to allow my thoughts to creep into more depressing territory. That horde of hollows had nearly killed me, their weapons were covered in sewer water, which had a burning effect that I could only assume was due to a rapidly spreading infection. Thankfully the Altar could heal my wounds and the infection caused by the hollows. Even had their weapons not been infectious I could still have easily bleed to death if not for the Altar here.

The Altar would keep the hollows away from me while I rest, but what about the other monsters down here. I no longer believed this too be a good idea, it was time to leave here. Maybe after we regrouped we could go back up to the surface, get some better equipment, and some more allies. When we were prepared we could come back down here, and try again. I wanted to find Reed, and figure out why I have amnesia, and why I woke up inside Asylum of all places, but all of that would have to wait. I let out a depressed sigh at these thoughts. Well the others would be arriving soon to alleviate myself from loneliness.

That’s when it hit me like a wrecking ball. Those hollows that had attacked me came from behind me. I didn’t notice any particularly good hiding places for them, and even with how long I have walked I didn’t see any other tunnels they could have come from. So that means they had to of come from the tunnels near my friends. My friends may be in trouble, and I was the only one who could help them. I stood up with new found determination, I was going to get to my friends, and together we would get out of here.

The hollows outside the door were simply standing there looking at me when I opened it. I expected them to jump me all at once, not stand there like brain dead...zombies. I guessed it was the Altar’s effect was keeping them at bay. I couldn’t reach my crossbow, even with my telekinesis. So it was time to practice my fire magic. I stood out of both their, and my own fireball’s range, while lobbing said fireball’s at the hollows. After five fireballs they were all on the ground dead, some of them had exploded into pasty bits.

I felt light headed after that much magic use though, and noticed my nose had began to bleed a little bit. Using my greater judgment I went back, and allowed the Altar to heal me for a few moments before continuing onward in search of my friends.

I found my crossbow laying inside the water on the way out, and searched the dead hollows for anything useful. Unfortunately these hollows had nothing of any real use. Aside from there broken sword, they had tattered pieces of rags that might have once been part of their armor.

I retraced my steps back to where my friends had been waiting for me after that. However they were not there when I returned, and that worried me because I did not remember the layout of this place at all. I took in a deep breath and decided I would try to follow them anyway.

It took an entire five minutes before I found myself completely lost in the maze of stone work tunnels. On more than one occasion I was forced to go back looking for another way due to dead ends, and various holes in the floor. There was also this rat, I know that it had to be the same rat too, but this rat was following me. I tried following it once, and nearly fell into a deep hole, I think it was trying to trap me.

I began to feel really lonely after this, and something felt off about this whole area. The place was designed like a maze, and the giant rats were not attacking me, not to mention the fact that I hadn’t seen any hollows in a while. I knew that something was going to find me soon, and it was going to be terrible. I kept moving forward regardless, I had to find my friends.

I continued walking down one of the tunnels, and began hearing the horrible creaking sound of splintering wood. I stopped dead in my tracks, looking both ways down and up the tunnel. There was no sign of what was making the sound though. Then I heard the sound again. I took another step forward cautiously, and then I heard the creaking again, only louder. A sickening feeling spread through me as I realized I was standing on a wooden floor covered in inch thick deep water. Before I could do anything else the floor beneath me collapsed, and I fell down the dark shaft beneath.

I landed on my hind quarters in a pile of mud. Thankfully it broke my fall but now I was looking at a whole new set of tunnels. With a portcullis blocking one of the tunnels I had only two options as to where to go, left or right. I began heading to my right before I heard an un-equine sound from that direction. I watched in horror as a pony walked out from around the corner, his fur was gone, and his skin was cracked with glowing blue lines. His eyes were all white, and his mane was matched. The pony thing snorted out some blue gray smoke as it looked right at me. That was all I needed to see before I took off in a full on gallop in the opposite direction.

The tunnels turned, and twisted, but eventually I found a staircase and hauled flank up them. At the top I found a large flat tunnel that was mostly dry save for the two water runoffs that lead downwards even deeper into the sewers. There was a single pony wearing mahogany robes sitting against the wall at the end of the tunnel. He sat next to a blanket rolled out with an assortment of different items lying about.

I walked up closer to him warily, I couldn’t tell if he was a hollow or not. I examined the items on the blanket though. Most of them looked like useless junk to me, but there were a few things that caught my eyes. Such as the set of throwing knives, with black handles.

“See anything interesting” the robed stallion said with a horse voice.

I guess he wasn’t undead after all, that was good at least. “Yeah, uh how much for the knives?” I asked him.

He gave a small chuckle before saying. “Ten bits.”
I may not know how much the currency was worth here, but that did not seem like a high enough price. “Only ten bits?” I asked curiously.

He chuckled again. “Yes, only ten. Chances are that I will be getting them back soon enough anyway.”

I did not like the way he said that. “Why do you say that?” I asked feeling a little worried.

His face was obscured by the rags wrapped around his muzzle but his eyes looked tired. He explained. “Most ponies come down here and die. I make a simple living by repossessing their things. Bob has killed most of the ponies, and it’s hard to get things from him.”

“Who is Bob?” I asked cautiously.

“He is a giant rat you will know him when you see him. He still has my old axe” he explained.

I found it hard to believe that a giant rat would have use for a weapon, but I just saw something much weirder. A giant rat using melee weapons would be a kindness at this point.

I had some other questions for this pony though, as my curiosity grew. So I asked him. “Why are you down here?”

He looked to a barred door to his right saying. “Some ponies like me can’t live on the surface very well. So we find the dark places to take us in. I am also known as the Junk Collector. As you can see I wear that title well.” He said the last part while gesturing to his junk collection.

He did seem to have a lot of junk here for sale. “I suppose that if I find any junk out there you would be interested in it.”

He nodded. I smiled, even if this pony was a little more than just creepy it was nice to have Somepony to talk to. It was lonely down here. “Do you know anything about the Mire?” I asked him.

He sighed and said disappointedly. “I have seen far too many ponies come down here with the intent on going there. Too many ponies have died trying just to get there, but the few that do don’t return. If I was you, I would try to make my way up and leave here.”

I shook my head saying. “I plan on doing that, but first I need to find my friends.”

“I don’t blame you. I hope you find them soon. Being alone is a curse worse than death itself.” The Junk Collector said all too knowingly.

I gave out ten bits and found myself with a new set of ten throwing daggers. I was pretty good at shooting things. These should be a breeze to use as well. Maybe these would be helpful for when I ran out of crossbow bolts, those of which I was running awfully low on. After thanking me the stallion gave out a chilling low chuckle, needless to say I left as quickly as I could.

I found some stairs that lead back up to the tunnels I had fallen down from, and I continued moving forward. Finally I found a large tunnel opening. I walked into it looking down the tunnel. At the end was a staircase leading up to a metal door, hopefully it would lead to a dry place with hard ground. The water in this tunnel was only a few inches deep thankfully. I walked forward a few steps before noticing that there was a warm breeze behind me, and it smelled horrid. The breeze stopped, then continued, then stopped, it was almost like breathing.

I looked behind me feeling a little scared. Behind me I found myself staring into a milky white eye that was the size of me. The eye belonged to a giant rat, actually the word giant didn’t cut it here. It was a humongous rat! Its disease ridden fur was in no better condition than its brethren. Seeing the open sores on its large body was making me feel sick. Its teeth were chipped and cracked, but it could still crush pony bones I imagined. Finally there was a battle axe embedded into its left eye socket. This giant rat must have been Bob.

I took off in a full gallop towards the metal door. I did not wish to fight this giant thing. The huge monstrous rat was at my tail while I ran. He was fast for being so huge. I ran up the stairs, and tried to open the door with my magic, but it was locked. “CRAP!” I yelled as the Rat hissed at me.

The Rat stood on its hind legs, and clawed at me with his giant sharp claws. I ducked in time to be missed by a hair. I now knew that it would not be possible to run away from him, so that left only one option.

I jumped off to the side of the beast, and jabbed my sword into its soft side. I wrapped my hooves around the blade trying to get a grip on it as Bob thrashed wildly. I lost my grip though, and went sailing in the air away from it. I landed in a roll covering myself in the disgusting water.

The monster rolled over on top of my blade in an attempt to get it out of him. He only pushed it in deeper, before the blade snapped in two. I quickly whipped out my crossbow, and fired a bolt into the rat. Bob did not even notice the bolt now sticking out of his side. It then looked at me with a glare of pure rage, and charged at me. I knew my knives would be completely useless against him, but what about my magic. I sent a fireball at the rat, the ball exploded on its fur causing some minor damage to the rat but also lighting the patch of fur on fire. The rat paid no attention to the attack though.

When he got within range he opened his giant mouth, and attempted to swallow me whole! I couldn’t dodge his mouth. As I was swooped into his mouth, I stuck my legs upwards. Now lying on my back on the creatures wet slimy tongue he tries to close his mouth on me. I was not sliding down any further, but he was trying to crush me with his mouth. I pushed with all of my strength against the top of his mouth with my hooves.

I felt my hooves being forced downward. I wasn’t strong enough to keep his mouth from closing for long. I had to do something right now. There was only one thing left to do. I started screaming as I forced my anger, rage, and fear into a ball of fire. I sent the fireball down the rats throat. I didn’t hear the explosion so much as felt it, but I wasn’t going to give it a second chance to eat me. I sent another fireball down as well.

I was sent flying with the explosion backwards while turning end over end. I landed on my side, and slid a few feet before coming to a stop. My ears were ringing, and my entire body hurt like Tartarus. So I just laid there for a few moments waiting for the pain to subside.

After my head stopped ringing, I took out my healing flask and took a drink from it. I felt much better after the healing effects kicked in. I was covered in red blood, and meaty rat chunks. My mane was stained a solid red, you would never know that my hair was mostly purple now. I really didn’t want to see what I looked like in the mirror. Looking at where the huge rat had once been I saw the huge chunks of him all over the tunnel, and a lot of little chunks everywhere.

I stood up, and walked around looking through the gore for a few minutes hoping to find my equipment. Finally I found both my crossbow and my broken sword. The blade had almost entirely been broken off, and only a few inches of it had been left attached to the handle. Before I could put it away the swords blade exploded. I don’t know how that happened, but it did, and I could only wonder if the rest of the sword exploded inside the rat as well. That could explain why there was pieces of Bob everywhere.

Now that I was left with only a sword handle, and a crossbow I could be in trouble if I got in trouble. I found my torch lying down near the metal door, and decided that it would serve as an acceptable club. Despite nearly being killed by the giant monster I felt strong, energetic, and simply awesome. I felt like I could take on the whole wide world and win right now.

After walking up the stairs again and breaking open the metal door by shooting a fireball at the handle I found myself inside the same hallway from earlier, the one where the hollows had swarmed me. The dead hollows still lined the tunnel, or at least pieces of them lined the tunnels. Inside the Altar room I heard both Storm Feather, and Moon Shadow talking.

“We need to find her, she could be in trouble.” Storm Feather said with worry and the slightest hint of anger in his voice.

“If we leave this location, she will not know where to find us. And then she would be stuck looking around even longer for us. That would put her in far more danger. Besides I have seen her fight, when she wants too she can be the most ferocious warrior I have ever seen.” Moon Shadow explained. “I am sure she is fine.”

I walked in after that saying. “Hey guys.”

The two of them looked at me, and both of them wore a shocked expression on their faces. I smiled at them while fighting back tears, I greeted them by saying. “I guess wearing the blood of the monsters you kill is new fashion statement.”

For a few moments the two of them were completely silent, than they looked at one another and burst out laughing. I was so happy that they were laughing; I had been alone in this dangerous place, fighting monsters and getting hurt. And then I almost got eaten, and I was covered in gore. And I was lonely.

They had stopped laughing now they’re happy expressions replaced by worry. That’s when I realized that I was now crying. I ran to Storm Feather, and wrapped my forelegs around him, crying blood soaked tears into his armored chest. He held me in an embrace while I cried for the next while. When I finally pulled away his armor was covered in blood from where my face had been.

I hated this. It felt like all I did was fight, kill, and cry. After we find Reed I was going to stop all of this adventuring, and find a quiet place to live with him. That should be more then possible especially if he already finished his mission.

I let Moon Shadow lead us through the sewer system for the time being. I was still feeling upset. Although on the plus side I had managed to stop crying. Storm Feather explained to me that the reason that we were separated was due to the fact that the hollows had attacked in massive numbers. They were forced down another path, and nearly got lost. But thanks to me lighting the Altar they were able to get healed in a safe place. They had barely gotten there in time though Moon Shadow was in really rough shape before they managed to get there.

At least I did do something good for once. Maybe I wasn’t so useless after all, and that realization made me feel good. Finally we arrived to a large iron gate, the door of which had been missing for a long time now. The doors metal frame was bent, as though some powerful force ripped the door off its frame. Just beyond the gate we could see a dark cavern wall, and a river flowing by the gate. There was a walkway leading to the left.

Moon Shadow stopped in front of the gate, and sighed saying darkly while mocking a tourist guide. “Welcome to the Malignant Mire where horrors await in the hundreds, we hope you enjoy your stay.”

Chapter five: corruption

EQUESTRIAN SOULS
Written by TheCrimsonDM
Chapter five: Corruption

We had finally arrived at our destination. It took us fighting a mess of hollows, and me personally killing a giant rat named Bob to get here. Now I stood at the end of a wooden walkway built into the sides of this large cave. From the end of the tunnel I could see that the cavern opened up into a much larger area, there was some light shining down into the area beyond, but it was still too dark to see properly. Moon Shadow was leading us very cautiously along the wooden walkway. Storm Feather followed at my side, I was holding the torch shining light for my comrades.

The walkways were designed to snake around in a slightly confusing manor, with other levels of wooden walkways both under and above us. There were tunnels dug into the walls leading off to other places, places that I did not want to visit.

The smell here was different than in the sewers but almost as terrible, something keen to the smell of rotting flesh perforated the air, as well as mold, and a heavy smell of unclean animals. I decided to take a whiff of my own fur, maybe that last smell was coming from us instead. I could swear that there were shadows moving in the distance along the walls, but I couldn’t pinpoint them when I looked at them directly.

We approached the exit to the cavern we were in, and the smell was increasing in intensity. I looked up at where the light was pouring in from, and saw a large opening in the roof of this cavern. I suppose that means we were inside of a large chasm. There were spikes along the top ridge of the opening, and along the walls. These spikes looked almost like tree roots, but they looked dead. We had stopped moving, Both Storm and Moon were staring forward in horror at one of the large wooden structures ahead of us.

My vision had to readjust to the darkness, and when it did I really wished it hadn’t. Just ahead of us were crude wooden pikes sticking out from the sides of the walkway, and placed on the pikes were the desecrated bodies of ponies. Some of them were simply heads, others were torso’s with, or without the head. The pikes had been stained red from the blood running down them. Most of these bodies had been up here so long that they were terrible rotten. This explained the smell needless to say I spent the next few seconds vomiting violently off the side of the walkway.

As I regained my composer I heard Moon Shadow saying. “This is not possible. We killed them all…we have to leave.”

I stood up shakily nodding in agreement. Storm Feather turned around first, and pointed behind me saying. “There’s something coming.”

I looked at where he was pointing, and found myself watching as two huge muscle bound black furred creatures walked towards us. They walked on their hind legs, holding crudely made clubs in their strong arm, the weapon was bigger than I was, and was being dragged behind them as they walked. They had dog like heads, with pierced ears.

We backed up towards the structure as they approached us. I began seeing more shadowy figures stepping out of the tunnels on the sides of the walls, a lot of them. “Run” hissed Moon Shadow as he turned around. We followed him into the structure.

There were no doors inside, or even a proper roof, the floors had missing sections forcing us to move along crude paths. After a few moments we came across a ladder leading down, with a tall but skinny dog guarding it. This dog was holding a broad sword his sword had extensive damage done to it. Moon Shadow created another magic shuriken, this time made of red energy and he sent it flying at the creature. The blade got stuck in the dog’s chest, making it wince in pain but not really doing much to it. Storm Feather then shoves the dog off the edge of the ladder with his shoulder. The dog hit the wooden floor below and nearly broke the boards underneath him but not quite, than the red shuriken explodes with enough force to send the dog through the floor, and into the darkness below.

We climb down the ladder as fast as we possibly could. Storm Feather glided down along side us. There was a large hole where the dog had fallen through, and I dared to take a peek down. There was only blackness down below. I really didn’t want to fall.

We moved down what resembled a hallway, half of the walls were missing allowing me to see more of The Mire. There was a giant tree to our left made from what I could tell of petrified wood. I think the tree was at least a few miles from our current position. To our right a mile away was a large white hill with a cave entrance at the top.

The Dogs were still chasing us, and from the sounds of it, they were getting closer too. Another two dogs stood in front of us blocking our exit. Moon Shadow nearly shouted. “We have to get to the bridge, there is an Altar there. It’s our best chance”.

Storm Feather charged right into the nearest dog bringing his axe down upon its shoulder with great force. The Dog Yelped, and howled in pain as he attempted to beat the griffon back with his damaged sword. The sword bounced off the armor the first couple of times, but as Storm Feather swung his axe towards the dog’s neck. The dog managed to stab the blade upwards in between some of Storm Feather’s armored plates. I heard him yell in pain before taking the dogs head off completely with his axe.

The other dog meanwhile was attempting to strike down Moon Shadow with his own blade. But Moon Shadow was dodging his attacks with practiced ease using his daggers to rip into the dogs flesh at every opportunity. I charged up and using the torch held by my telekinesis I swung at him. The torch smashed into the creature’s side knocking it down to its knees, where Moon Shadow used the opportunity to slash at its throat. Blood began seeping out of its neck, and the dog fell over making a terrifying gurgling noise.

I looked behind us only to see five more dogs behind us, two of them were the big muscle bound kind, the other three skinny and tall, and all of them athletic. The one in the lead though was carrying a spear, which had a pony’s skinned torso stuck on it. The bucking monster was using a pony’s corpse as a weapon!

We continued running for our lives. After exiting the building we could easily see the bridge ahead of us. Moon Shadow yelled to me. “Run Altar Light, you need to Light the Altar before they can surround us.”

I went into a full gallop ahead of the others, I noticed while passing Storm Feather though, that he was moving slower, and with a pained expression. I quickly managed to get onto the old stone worked bridge, seeing a wooden shelter build in the middle of it. the door to the shelter was open and inside was an Altar.

I got inside the shelter, and quickly used my magic to light the Altar. Outside my friends were running after me, with a pack of over a dozen dogs after them. The dogs were chasing after them, but stopped suddenly at the bridge. One of them took a step on the bridge, and screamed in agony as his leg caught on fire, he pulled his leg back quickly. As my two friends entered the shelter with me, I looked at the Lead dog wielding the pony corpse weapon. He pointed a clawed finger at me, and gestured with his thumb pointed downward. I guess he was planning to bring me down. I did not like fighting intelligent enemies.

We sat around the Altar although the warmth of the healing magic did little to sooth my nerves. We were trapped in enemy territory, surrounded by dog people who used weapons, and were smart. I was sure that we still had not seen even a fraction of what they were capable of.

Storm Feather was thankfully healed from his injury, but the fact that these things had managed to hurt my armored friend scared me. We were in some pretty deep trouble here. Moon Shadow was looking both worried, and angry. After a few minutes of dead silence, I was feeling my nerves perk up, and fear beginning to rise in me.

I looked at the Altar’s flame asking. “What were those things?”

Moon Shadow looked through the door of our wooden shelter, through a peek hole built in it. I was sure that he knew that they were out there waiting for us as well. He didn’t look away from his peek hole but he did answer me. “Those are the Black Dogs. They are a tribe of diamond dogs that have been corrupted by the Mire. We fought an army of them for days, we thought them wiped out. I can’t believe that we left so many of them alive.”

He did finally look away when he went to sit down next to the Altar. He then apologized. “I am sorry Altar Light, I have failed you.”

“You have not failed me, you couldn’t have known that they would ambush us like this.” I said in an attempt to consolidate him.

“No Light, I should have known that they would try something like this. I just wanted to help you so much...” he explained.

Storm Feather spoke then. “All that aside, we still need you to guide us to the second bell tower, and then back out of here. You can still redeem yourself.”

I didn’t like the way Storm Feather implied that Moon Shadow had failed me, or done something wrong. But When Moon Shadow smiled and nodded at him, I found myself respecting the griffon for being able to bring our friend out of his stupor.

“So where do we need to go” I asked him trying to change the subject.

He seemed to think for a moment before saying. “There is this hill. It looks like it’s made of white sand from afar, but in reality it’s made of spider webs. The second bell is inside there.”

Storm Feather looked in the direction of the white hill before asking. “What kind of monster could make such a large web?”

Moon Shadow snickered before explaining. “A giant spider of course. Although to my shame we killed it the last time we were here. The giant spider pony known as Quelaag was simply defending her lair, trying to protect her dying sister.”

I felt sorry for Moon Shadow, and the other ponies who had gone with him. I knew that I probably shouldn’t have asked, but I couldn’t help it. “How did Reed handle that?”

Moon Shadow avoided everyponies eyes as he answered. “Reed didn’t handle it very well, and I think that this was the event that changed Valiant Hart. She managed to heal Quelaan, but sadly the damage was already done.”

I didn’t want to know anymore about this, it was sad and depressing. I still wanted to know about a few things, though they may have to wait. I got the feeling that even with the Altar lit up. We could be overrun soon. I had an idea although it was risky I had to voice it. “Could we drop down into the water from up here?” I asked.

Both of my friends looked at me quickly with Moon Shadow explaining. “The water down below is toxic to flesh. Even if we were not shot down by the Dogs we would die in the water. We need to follow the walkways to the bell, with minimal exposure to the water below.”

Storm Feather nodded in agreement, I knew my plan wouldn’t work, darn it. I stood up then and stated. “Okay gang, if we can’t fly down there. Then that means we need to traverse the Black Dogs territory. We need to leave now, before they can impede us any further. It’s going to be hard, but if we keep an eye out for each other than we will be okay.”

I looked at Moon Shadow who was now grinning a little, probably at my somewhat ridiculous speech. He stood up shaking himself before saying. “I’ve missed this side of you Light. I will lead you two safely to through here.”

Storm Feather stood as well, my griffon companion’s height made him imposing compared to both me and Moon Shadow. He gripped his trusty old battle axe saying. “I guess it is the time for adventure, lead on my friends for as we march into hell itself, I shall guard you.”

I could feel my checks heating up as he spoke. As egg headed as it was for him to speak like that, something about his heroics made him very cute. Moon Shadow took the lead as we began our track back out into dog territory.

We left the shelter, and traveled around the side making our way towards the other side of the stone bridge we were resting on. The entire area was far too quiet for my taste. The stone bridge ended at the base of a set of half built structures, either missing walls, roofs, or all of the above.

I wondered how they had gotten there…paws on all this wood. We were at least a couple of miles underground, and in the dark. No trees grew here naturally, and the one that was here was petrified. I guessed that they had imported the wood from elsewhere, or scavenged it from somewhere.

While we walked through the building taking great care to be stealthy, although that was somewhat dispelled by our platemail wearing griffon. I noticed that at the base of another ladder was an old wooden sign. The sign was barely legible but I could make out the words, Equestrian Mining Company. Maybe the Dogs had repurposed the material’s found in the mine. That would explain how they had gotten the wood.

We found ourselves climbing up, and down ladders all over the place, even being forced to leap over a few places where the floors had fallen down into the darkness below. I kept hearing things behind us. I did not like that at all.

Pretty soon we found ourselves entering a tunnel dug out by the dogs, the tunnel was dark and only the light from my torch allowed us to see where we were going. We were heading downward entering a large well. The bottom of the well was not visible, but there was light coming in from far above us at least. The well was probably thirty or forty feet in diameter, and filled with ladders and wooden walkways all leading down into the depths. I looked up again at the light coming down. I wondered what was up there, who had built this well, and why.

My thoughts were interrupted by the sound of something was being dragged behind us, I looked to see what it could be. And I found myself staring at two of tall skinny dogs, one of them was dragging their claws along the side of the tunnel while grinning menacingly at us. I pulled out the crossbow and quickly shot at the one grinning. The bolt lodged itself into its shoulder, and he howled from the pain. The other one bull rushed us, tackling into Storm Feather and the two fell off the ledge we were standing on, into the well below.

I screamed in horror as I watched the two falling into the darkness below, and turned my attention towards the dog that was left. The dog was running towards me with his arms extended ready to swipe at me, but I didn’t care. I was too angry at this monster for taking my friend away. I barely even noticed that Moon Shadow had vanished from my side as well, I didn’t care. Storm was gone and it was my fault for dragging him down here.

I roared in anger as I charged the dog in front of me, the dog swiped at me, hitting my cloak. I on the other hand stabbed my horn inside the dog’s soft belly, and focused all of my new found anger into a ball. The dog exploded with blood and gore flying everywhere. I was now covered in red meaty chunks.

I turned around looking towards the hole that Storm had fallen down. There was no bottom to this hole, only blackness. Where did Moon Shadow go off to, there weren’t any more dogs here, were there? I really hoped that Moon Shadow in the least was still here, I couldn’t do this alone. I sat down hard with my eyes beginning to water, making my vision blurry. I cringed trying my hardest not to cry, but the tears began to flow anyway.

I felt a gentle hoof on my shoulder; I looked to my side to see Moon Shadow looking very concerned. I looked toward the well again, then back to him. I tried to tell him what happened but my words were caught in my throat, and all I could do was whimper.

I heard a hard thump from behind me, along with the familiar sound of metal clinking together. Turning my head I found myself frozen in shock for a few seconds. Storm Feather was standing right behind me, he looked a little tired, but unharmed. “But but…you fell.” I managed to say.

He smiled gently at me before saying. “Griffons can fly so falling’s not such a big deal to us.”

I jumped up wrapping my legs around his neck. I didn’t allow myself time to cry into his shoulder like I had in the past, but I did make sure to give him the biggest hug I possibly could. I was so happy that he was a flyer, I wasn’t sure I could handle losing him. After I was done hugging him, I noticed that he was blushing. I made the mental note that he had a cute blush, and it would be a shame if that was taken from this world.

We climbed down some ladders following the advice of Moon Shadow, who had apparently been scouting out the next area for us. Luckily for me no pony asked me about why I was covered in blood, and kibbles of dog. I felt like I had done something barbaric, something that no unicorn should ever do. I used my horn like as a weapon, like some kind of animal. The fact that I proceeded to blow the monster up from the inside with magic didn’t help.

We had gone down a few levels, before hearing some dogs above us. They must have been moving after us now, and that means we needed to hurry. We began descending faster until we got to a point where there was another tunnel leading out of the well.

We had begun moving up the tunnel before seeing a familiar face, along with his giant dog companion. The Dog who used a pony shish kabob for a weapon was standing in front of the tunnels exit blocking it. I noticed some minor details about this dog then. Some of his ear was missing, almost as though it had been chewed off, and his left eye had a patch of fur that was white. It almost looked like a white spot on the Black Dogs fur. I would call him Spot from now on or at least until I learned his real name.

Spot stood in front of his bulky companion, the fact that they stood on their hind legs in such a natural fashion bothered me. Spot looked at the three of us actually Moon Shadow had run off again so it was only the two of us. He then began chanting in a low growly voice. “Little pony, Little pony, has entered dogs home. Little pony, Little pony, made a no no. Little pony, Little pony, should’ve learned. Little pony, Little pony, now has to burn.”

I could feel goose bumps rising on my legs, all four of them. It felt like my mane was standing on end, and worse yet Spot was walking away from us now. He had left his big bulky friend to deal with us, and the big one was now advancing towards us.

We had no choice but to retreat back into the well, where the sounds from above were getting closer. There was a platform on the other side of the well but no bridge connected to it. There was a small ledge that rung around the side of the well which would lead to the platform, but I had a way to cheat.

“Storm, fly us over to there.” I commanded as I pointed with a hoof to the small platform.

Storm embraced me tightly, and quickly took us across the pit to the other side. After he landed I looked back at the muscular dog, who was now attempting to inch his way around the well towards us. His chest was hugging the wall as he scooted along. I wasn’t going to give him the chance to get to us.

I pulled out my crossbow. Reloaded, and fired. The bolt flew true into the monsters muscles, but only the tip penetrated. The beast of a dog was still advancing towards us, I wasn’t even sure he felt the bolt hit him.

I then took a throwing dagger from the belt wrapped around my chest. I aimed it tip pointing at the dog. I flung the dagger with my magic at high a high speed. The tip of the dagger got through the dogs muscle but then it bounced off of him.

The dog was getting to close for comfort, and I only had one ranged option left. I aimed a fireball at its back, and shot it at him. It exploded on the creature’s skin, causing it to yelp in pain. But other than a few burns on its back and arm, it was still advancing unhindered.

Storm Feather then flew into the air, axe in hand. He came back down with increased momentum, and with a mighty swing attacked the giant dog. The axe got stuck inside the dogs back, but with Storm Feather’s momentum added, the axe worked its way down the dogs back, knocking it off balance. Storm pulled his axe free just in time to dodge the dog, as the dog fell backwards into the well, nearly taking Storm Feather down with him.

Storm Feather landed down next to me. That’s when the noises from above became loud and furious howls. I looked up to see at least seven of the dogs, climbing down the ladders with great ease. All of them wielding some sort of weapon, and looking enraged.

“Hey you two, come down here.”Moon Shadow shouted from below us.

I looked down to see Moon Shadow standing on a stone walkway, that looked as old as the well, it also looked like it was build into the well as a part of its design. I don’t know how he got down there, but there was another tunnel next to him. This one was part of the well itself. I had Storm Feather fly me down there, since there was no other obvious means to this location.

Once down there the dogs began throwing rocks at us, we scurried down the tunnel before any of them could hit us. The tunnel lead back out into the Mire, only we were now much lower. I could see the brown water below us, and various torches were lit along the wooden half structure accompanied to this tunnel.

I could see the white hill out in the Mire, it was an awful lot closer now, and as being such it offered me a view of the black twisting spires that stretched out from it. There was also something else out in the Mire, in the water it looked like a giant mound of brown mud. I could make out boats with lanterns equipped surrounding the mound of mud, dogs were stationed on the boats, and I believed that they were wielding weapons. I didn’t know why they would be gathering around a giant mud pile, but maybe they had some kind of fetish for mud.

We walked around this structure for a bit, before we found some ramps leading down. It looked like a series of ramps that lead right to a small harbor, we could steal one of their boats and run off. Then I noticed Moon Shadows horn glowing, I looked to my left and found a small black dart floating next to me with a viridian glow surrounding the object. Moon Shadow had just stopped a dart probably laced with poison from hitting me.

We tried then to go down the ramp only to see a pack of Black Dogs coming up the ramp at the same time. They saw us, and the chase was on. We ran back to where we had entered but the tunnel was also filled with the dogs, it wouldn’t have allowed us to escape anyway.

We continued running until we reached the edge of the walkway. I could hear the dogs approaching us from behind, we could not stand and fight that many. Moon Shadow was staring down into the dark bellow for several seconds before pointing a hoof at the darkness and saying. “Storm Feather, I need you to take us down there. It’s our only escape, we don’t have to land softly we just need to get there, right now.”

I trusted in Moon Shadows judgment, and I could tell that Storm Feather did as well. He grabbed us, one arm wrapped around each of us. He spread his powerful wings behind himself before saying. “This is going to be a rough landing. Try to roll if you can.” Then he jumped off the edge, and together, all three of us fell down into the darkness below.

We landed inside of a dark room, okay it was more of a soft fall. This room was another one of these half built structures, although it looked like it was in far worse condition than the others had been. There were no lights in here, not even unlit torches, and I had left my torch up their when we jumped.

I guess the dogs didn’t need the torch light, but still it was dark. If not for me summoning a fireball I would not have even realized that we were inside a building that was only a few feet above water level.

Storm Feather was lying on his side in the corner, while Moon Shadow was just beginning to use his telekinesis to create some light. I was now painfully aware that leaving my torch behind had left me without any decent melee weapons. Ever since I lost my sword I had been feeling a little naked, and now that feeling was complete. The ranged weapons on my person did not help me feel better, and my throwing daggers had proven to not be as useful as first hoped.

“Hey Moon Shadow, are we close?” I asked quietly.

He was quiet for a second as he poked his head out of the doorway of our little building. He then said. “Yeah, we are. And we are on the other side now, so we have a boardwalk here. It looks like it leads all the way to the hive.”

That made me feel a little better, or at least until he said the words “the hive”. I didn’t know what it was exactly, but that sounded like a terrible place to go to. “the Hive, that’s the where the second bell is, right?” I asked a little nervous.

Moon Shadow simply nodded. Of course the bell would be in a place called the Hive, this was going to be fun. I could quit now, but we were so close, I had to ring the bell.

We stepped out onto the boardwalk, and I realized that it wasn’t just dark inside that building; it was dark everywhere down here. I could see the dog’s boats, surrounding the mass of mud. As we walked a little bit I kept looking at the mud, and I think I saw the mud move.

Ahead of us on the board walk we noticed there was pony standing still with his head hung low. He stood between us and The Hive. The pony began walking toward us, but something was strange about its movement. Its legs seemed to jiggle as it walked; in fact its whole body was jiggling. When it finally got within our light, we saw it for what it really was.

The pony or at least what used to be a pony was now a monster. Its legs, although holding it up right, were moving almost as though they were rubber. Its entire body was covered in puss sores which were continuously oozing out black goo. This pony had an expression of pure agony as well.

It tried to jump on Storm Feather, but he dodged out of its reach just in time. Its entire body for a second became black liquid ooze. This thing was attempting to grab any creature it could, and then it would become ooze while had them grabbed. This thing was probably poisonous or far worse.

Moon Shadow sent a few magic red shuriken into its body; it exploded a few seconds later. It splattered black ooze all over the boardwalk, but thankfully none of us were hit by it. We continued onward, past the now dead slime pony.

As we got closer to the hive, we began seeing dead dogs, in the water below. I guess they might have been busy with something else while we were running inside their territory. I wondered if these slime ponies were causing them a lot of trouble.

I looked back at the mound of mud, and that’s when I realized what they were focusing on. The mud began taking the shape of a pony’s upper torso, head, and forelegs. The dogs were throwing spears into it, and tossing small things that exploded on contact with the mud. But the mud pony didn’t react to their attacks. Instead it simply swept its large foreleg across the water taking down three of the dogs’ boats in one fell swoop. This mud pony’s hoof was larger than any of the row boats being employed by the dogs.

We ran as quickly as possible to the hive. Despite the fact that it was made out of webs, it was actually pretty easy to climb up it. We reached the cave near its top as quickly as possible. Inside we made our way past several pony skeletons, and into a vast chamber of web. Inside the middle of this chamber was the skeleton of a giant spider, but instead of a head, there was the top half of a pony’s torso.

Moon Shadow took a few steps forward before saying somberly. “Quelaag…I’m sorry.”

“So this is the body of Quelaag.” I wondered aloud.

Moon Shadow looked back at me. His eyes were watering up as he said. “She was just trying to save her dying sister. If we had known, we could have helped them both. But instead, we came in here headstrong and we mur- we killed her”.

My heart ached for him killing Quelaag was weighing heavily on his heart, and I don’t think there was anything I could properly do to help him. All I could do was give him a hug and say. “You saved her sister, I am sure that she would have given her life for that.”

He sniffled; I could feel him beginning to shake in my legs. He was on the verge of breaking down, and it was because I brought him here, to this place where he had committed his worse sin. I would do anything to get him out of here, and help him recover from this wound of his heart.

“She was a bad pony,” Moon Shadow begun saying in a near whisper, “she killed ponies, in her attempt to help her sister. I just feel so badly about this, in the old days we could’ve saved her but now.”

I held him in my legs for a few more moments before he pushed me away, he wiped his eyes clean with his hoof saying. “I’m sorry, I can’t break down here. We need to continue moving forward. When we get out of here and get somewhere safe, then I can do this, but not now.”

He stood up straight and was the first one of us to begin walking forward. I looked past the body, and saw a small stone archway at the far end of the vast chamber. I could glimpse the bell through the opening. We were so close to reaching the second bell.

I walked over to the skeleton of the fallen Quelaag, the creature before me was huge, I wondered how they had defeated her. While I examined the skeleton, both Storm Feather, and Moon Shadow walked around her. That’s when I heard something moving from behind the skeleton.

Suddenly a Zebra mare with a black leather jacket, and a curly black mane jumped over the skeleton’s body, and kicks me in the face with her rear hoof. I found myself reeling back from the blow while she prepared for another strike.

Void Runner had come at me when we arrived at the first bell, and now she was at the second one as well. I was seeing a trend, and I was getting sick of dealing with this crap. I couldn’t see a reason not to treat her like I would any other enemy, or any other dog.

I charged up another fireball as she closed in to hit me again, and I shot her square in the chest. The explosion sends her flying backwards into the skeleton! I was deafened by the sound of the blast.

Her back slammed hard into it crunching the old Quelaag’s skeleton. She fell to the ground, and I prepared another fireball with ease. She tried to get up, and I shot her with another one. The explosion sent her rolling over a few times onto her side. I walked over after creating yet another fireball, and then my ears began to clear so I could hear her.

Void Runner was pleading with me. “I’m sorry, please don’t kill me. I don’t want to die.”

It was the same plea everypony said just before their death. But unlike the dogs, and unlike the rats, or even the slime ponies, she valued her life enough to plead for it. I lost my concentration, and the fireball vanished. I sighed then, I couldn’t kill her, not like this.

I noticed Moon Shadow moving in on her with his daggers drawn, and I instantly shouted. “NO.”

He stopped looking confused. I looked at her and said. “I won’t kill you like this, I won’t sink that low. But should you ever involve my friends in this stupid thing again, I won’t hesitate to finish you.”

She tried to stand up, but couldn’t due to the injuries on her side and back. I looked at her jackets side pocket, and could see a healing flask. I took it out of her pocket, and levitated it too her mouth. She took a drink and the injuries began healing.

I took one hard look at her, as she lay there shaking a little. I noticed that she was a little smaller than me, and her eyes were closed tight. She sounded a little younger than me, which made me wonder.

She began speaking again. “I just wanted to make Silver proud. I didn’t think you would be this strong.”

“How old are you?” I asked her.

“Fifteen, I am still in my training.” She said fearfully.

‘Great job Light, you nearly killed a teenage girl who is weaker then you.’ I thought at myself. I shook my head at myself. I can’t believe I was so willing to kill her. Maybe I was no better than Moon Shadow was when he killed Quelaag.
I then say to her gently. “You can go now, but please don’t try and attack us again. It won’t end well for you if you do.”

Her voice was shaking as she asked me. “Am I really free to go, just like that?”

“Yes you are, go on kid. And don’t do anything stupid. This place is dangerous after all.” I told her.

She stood up very slowly and very carefully before nodding. When Moon Shadow took a step forward she jumped away from him, and ran off in a full fledged four legged gallop. She was terrified now, and hopefully that would make her think twice before trying this again. I also found myself hoping that she would make it back to safety.

We continued to the bell itself now. The bell was located inside of a small stone room with carvings on the wall. There was a window that showed a view of something quite new to me. Beyond the window was a huge underground cavern filled with lava, stone buildings, bridges, and even a huge metal building. The building was shaped like a sphere. The metal Sphere had breaches in its sides however where something had destroyed it. Gouts of Fire were repeatedly coming out of the buildings holes.

We heard Somepony from the corner of the room cough just then. We all looked over with sudden interest. In the corner of the room stood a blue mare, she looked like an earth pony, only she was made completely of slimy transparent goo. She looked scared of us, as she continued trying to back away from us squishing her hind quarters against the wall.

She then began speaking surprising us. “Um, please don’t hurt me.”

I was not really sure what to do here. I didn’t expect anypony to be in here let alone a slime pony who was scared of us. I decided to try diplomacy. “Hello there, my name is Altar Light. Were only here to ring the bell, we won’t hurt you. Promise.”

She calmed down a little bit, and said in a soft voice. “My brother won’t like it if you do that. He doesn’t like the sound the bell makes, although I really like it.”

“Where is your brother?” I asked her.

“His name is, uh Pestilence. And he is outside, he is fighting the dogs, he doesn’t like them because they can’t be fixed.” She explained.

“Fixed? Fixed how?” I asked her with some concern.

“Um, he says that all ponies and life is normally broken, or not complete. He tries to fix it by making them into us. But it hurts them to be like us, so I try to fix it. I can heal ponies.” She explained timidly.

I guess that means her brother was the giant mud monster outside killing all the dogs, and I really hoped that the thing we fought earlier was not the result of her trying to fix their pain. I didn’t really have a choice about the bell however. “Everypony, were going to need a new exit.” I said to them.

Moon Shadow then explained. “We can take the lifts and leave that way, should be easier to escape that way anyway.”

I didn’t remember seeing any lifts, but then again this place was so dark that it was hard to see in most of it, even with a light source. I grabbed the clapper with my magic, and said. “Happy birthday, girl.” To the mare in the corner than I rang the bell as loudly as I could several times before letting go. She bounced with glee as I did so causing her entire body to jiggle in a sorta cute way. We ran out of there after that.

On our way out I saw the giant mud monster looking towards us, the dogs seemed to be cradling their heads while howling in pain. The Giant mud monster known as Pestilence took the time now to slowly crush individual dogs, but he never stopped looking at us the whole time, I felt as though he was only looking at me.

We made our way across the boardwalk and towards a cavern wall where an old wooden elevator was sitting, we stepped onto it. Moon Shadow pushed the lever up, and we ascended. After what felt like forever we made it to the top. On this side of the cavern wall was a cave with some train rails leading down it, and I could see light coming from down that way.

We made our way down the cave, and found ourselves exiting into a long valley. There was grass growing all around us, and the sun was never as beautiful to me as it was right then. There was also a river running nearby. I sat there basking in the sunlight for several minutes before I took a better look at each of us. Now that we were in good lighting I could see how much blood, and gore was on us. The exception of course seemed to be Moon Shadow who was fairly clean compared to me and Storm Feather.

“Now what do we do” I asked before taking a mouthful of grass and chewing on its delicious goodness.

Moon Shadow smiled at me and explained. “We need to go through the Everfree woods. And walk around back to the Clippers side of the mountain, it will take some time but we will make our way back up to Clippers, and then we can get into the Grays.”

I swallowed my mouthful of grass before saying. “Actually before we do that, we need to stock up. I don’t have a proper weapon, and neither of us have real armor. We could also use some food.”

Storm Feather spoke then. “We could head to Ashwood, it’s only about a day’s journey from here, and the Crusaders have an outpost where we can get some of that stuff.”

I grinned as I said. “Alright, we have a plan. First we head to Ashwood and get resupplied, when we are ready, and not a moment before, we can go into the Grays and find Reed.”

Everypony nodded in agreement. I really enjoyed the idea of getting supplies, and maybe some down time as well. A rest is something that we all desperately needed after this. I laid my head down on the soft and warm grass before saying to myself. “Were another step closer to finding you Reed.”

Chapter six: for everfree

EQUESTRIAN SOULS
Written by TheCrimsonDm
Chapter six: for Everfree

The three of us sat next to the river which ran down the valley we were in. The hills next to us raised high up, grass continued to grow on them until near the top where it died out, and a dark earth took over. After hearing about the drakes that roamed the top of the hills around us, I decided that staying at the bottom of the valley was in our best interest.

Thankfully the river here was not connected to the Clippers sewer system, not to mention The Mire’s filth. The water was fresh, clean, and tasted wonderful. After taking one look at how dirty we all were, it was a unanimous decision for us all to clean ourselves.

As I lay in the water soaking myself while the water flowed by me, I thought about the journey ahead. We would need to find some new weapons and armor. Or rather I would need to find a new weapon. The only one out of the three of us who had actually been prepared for everything was Storm Feather. Both me, and Moon Shadow were completely unprepared.

I was mad at myself for dragging them into such a hostile place without being prepared, it would have been tough either way, but this was pure madness. I watched Storm Feather who was further down the river then me carefully washing each piece of his armor scrubbing the plates with a cloth. I nearly lost him down there in the Mire, and it was my fault for being brash. I was going to have to get better starting now if I wanted to keep my friends safe.

All in all though, it was going to be nice to go on a simple journey through the Everfree Woods, although it was still dangerous it was less so then the Mire. Hopefully we can get to somewhere safe quickly; I really felt like I could lie down and sleep for a few days at this point. My muscles still ached from all the running, jumping, and fighting. My horn was still aching a little bit, but at least no nose bleeds.

After dunking my head underwater and pulling it back up, I took a good hard look at my reflection in the water. I looked much cleaner now, in fact my fur now held a light pink tone, and my hair had taken an almost blue purple hue, with the bright red streak running down the middle of it. I suppose that meant I had been so dirty that both my mane and fur were darkened. I guess I had needed a good bath since before I woke up at Asylum.

Seeing my horn reminded me of that Black Dog, and how I had stabbed him. Maybe it was the only way for me to kill the beast, but that didn’t seem to matter. I used my horn as a stabbing weapon in anger, and that made me feel dirty, ashamed. I didn’t ever want Storm Feather to know what I had done, he would be so ashamed of me, I just knew it. I wouldn’t mind so much if Moon Shadow found out, maybe that was because he was a fellow unicorn.

I let out a groan of frustration at my brain for thinking about this horn thing too much. And then I splashed my reflection with a hoof, trying to squash the thought out of my head. My friends were looking at me funny, and I felt myself beginning to blush again. I didn’t like being the center of attention.

Storm Feather then hollered over to me saying. “You need any help over there?”

I suddenly found myself blushing even more. I then dunked my head underwater again trying to hide. I pulled my head out of the water after a moment and said. “I am glad were out of the Mire, Things should be easier now.”

Storm Feather was now putting his armor back on while he yelled back to me. “It won’t be as bad as The Mire was, but that doesn’t mean things will be easy. It’s just going to be survivable now.” I didn’t really like that answer either, but it was definitely better then The Mire. I hope that I never have to go there ever again.

After my bath was concluded I joined up with the others, my hooded cloak had been covered in blood as well. I had also noticed some tearing on it. This cloak was not very protective after all. I decided while we sat on the grass I would wash some of the blood off of it. It may take some time for it too dry but we needed the rest.

We found ourselves resting for about an hour, basking in the sun, and in my case eating some of the grass around us. I didn’t know how hungry I was until I had begun eating. Moon Shadow had offered to cook for us, but I would rather eat the grass, at least the grass had flavor.

After eating we walked alongside the river leading out of the valley and into a forest nearby. This was the Everfree woods, a large woodland area covering the lower half of Equestria. The Everfree woods didn’t used to be so large, in fact at one point in time it was supposed to have been small, and contained. Now though it seemed as though nothing could stop the rampant growth of these woods, and the dangers that lurked inside them. We were going to have to traverse the forest if we planned on getting to Ashwood.

Surprisingly the forest itself was not as dark or hard to navigate as I believed it would be. In fact there were roads we were able to follow, albeit some of them very old and obscure. Some hours later we found ourselves walking along a very old trail, a trail that was very familiar to me.

I couldn’t explain why but for some reason when I got on the road I felt a sudden urge to start galloping, and to the shock of my friends I did. The longer I ran on this road, the more I felt like I knew this place.

I began to remember what this place was once used for, and where I was. No memory flashback this time, instead the memories simply came to me freely. I could remember the other ponies running besides me down these roads during autumn. We used to race here once a year. The road I was on was used for the Running of the leaves marathon, this road lead straight to ponyville. Ponyville was my home town, where I was born, and where I was raised.

If only I followed the road I could get home, I could be back to somewhere I knew, someplace normal, and safe. Suddenly I could remember my mom, the memory was blurry, but I could remember her blue fur coat, and her long silver mane with the blue streaks running through it. She was waiting for me, she had to be. Now I was galloping even faster than before, determined with purpose.

Storm caught up with me first and asking me. “Where are we heading?”

I gave him a momentary glance before looking back ahead of myself. I couldn’t help but smile as I said excitedly. “I’m going home.”

Moon Shadow had caught up now, he looked a little tired from all the running but he still managed to say. “Are you sure this is a wise decision?”

I didn’t bother dignifying him with a response, I was going to go home, and see my mom. Even Reed was going to have to wait for this. We continued moving at this pace for a little while longer before we came to a large hill. At the top of the hill I got my first glimpse at my home town, and stopped dead in my tracks.

Ponyville was my home town, once a bustling place where ponies were always friendly to each other, and the home of Princess Twilight Sparkle. Now lay in ruins. From our vantage point we could see all of Ponyville. Ponyville rest in the middle of a large meadow which was surrounded by dense thick woods.

The buildings now empty, and covered in plant vines. Where dirt roads once lay was only grass. A few of the old buildings themselves had crumbled. The furthest building from us stood in front of a small lake, the large crystallized tree house belonging to Twilight Sparkle. My house had to be one of these smaller buildings around it. As I searched I felt something pulling myself away, and suddenly I was lost in another memory.

***

I was very small, the size of a small filly. And I found myself standing at the foot of my mother’s bed, even on my hind legs I could barely see over the top to see my mom sleeping. She had a soft blue fur coat and a long silver mane. Her room was very homey feeling, with pictures of the two of us on the walls. There was also a poster of my mom when she was a young mare on the wall. It read. “Welcome to the greatest show in Equestria. Staring the great and powerful Trixie.”

I was eight years old and I didn’t even have my cutie mark yet, and I was scared. It was dark, and I was sure that the monster in my room was going to come and get me. I tried to be quiet and stealthy as I crawled into bed next to my mom. She worked hard at the local school as a teacher, I knew how hard life had been for her lately. I didn’t want to worry her. I knew about her her crying at night, she must have been really sad.

Just as I got comfortable underneath the blanket she wrapped me up in her legs embracing me. Her voice came softly as she spoke to me full of love. “Shh Light, Mommy has you, your safe now honey.”

I cuddled into her chest letting her hold me, than she began singing me to sleep. Her singing voice although rarely heard by other ponies was exceedingly beautiful. I could only hope to sing like her one day when I grew up.

She sang to me in a near whisper, her words a little muddled but very soft again love was covering every word.

“Hush little pony, let sleep take you away, into a world of adventure. My little pony, small and sweet, let me take your dark dreams away. Sleep little pony, your hart I keep safe, as I hold you until the dawns break.”

It was a unique twist on a common lullaby that was sung around ponyville. I was pretty sure she continued singing but I lost track as I drifted off happily to sleep.

***

I snapped back to focus without missing a beat this time. That was a relief but the state of the town was not. The whole town looked as though it hadn’t been touched for years, it looked even older then Clippers did.

How could this be possible, why would my home look so old, so empty, so…lonely? I couldn’t think straight, I didn’t want to think straight. I continued running, even if this much time had passed my mom had to be here, she had to be. I just had to find my home.

I could hear my companions shout in protest at my running forward, but even so I noticed Storm Feather had joined me. We had gotten all the way to the base of Ponyville before we were attacked. An earth pony jumped off a rooftop near us landing on top of Storm Feather. This pony wore a black gas mask which covered his head including his muzzle except for his mouth, even covering his mane was covered. He also wore a black leather duster. I could see some leather armor underneath the duster as well. He was holding a double sided dagger in his mouth.

With a mighty kick the earth pony jumped off of Storm Feathers back, forcing my griffon ally belly first into the ground. The earth pony landed in front of me his goggles were tinted red, giving him a sinister appearance. I backed up slowly from this pony as he advanced toward me.

I tried to pull out my crossbow first, but the earth pony tossed a dagger with his hooves at lightning fast speeds into my crossbow. I couldn’t use my crossbow with a dagger sticking through the side of it blocking the trigger. Now with no melee or ranged weapons, I was in trouble, but far from helpless because unlike my opponent I had my magic.

I began to summon a fireball, but my opponent moved to quickly for me, and he slashed at me with his dagger. I barely managed to move my head out of the way before he cut it off, but he still cut a burning line down the side of my neck. I tried to get some distance between us but my opponent refused to back down.

I would have been in big trouble if not for Storm Feather grabbing the earth pony by the tail with both of his talons stopping his advance. Storm Feather then swung the earth pony around, and tossed him behind us and through one of the buildings walls. Hopefully that pony would decide to stay down.

Unfortunately I noticed three more ponies approaching us from deeper inside the town. There were two more of these earth ponies with the gas masks, and in between them stood a cloaked white coated unicorn, his long red mane was falling down in front of his face. He then spoke to his allies. “Slayers, keep the griffon busy I will deal with the unicorn.”

The white unicorns horn began to glow a dark blue, I quickly summoned up a fireball tossing it at my opponent. The unicorn I faced created a wall of ice between him and the fireball. The fireball exploded on the wall with enough force to send chunks of ice flying in every direction. I didn’t waste the opportunity and charged toward him, pulling a dagger out as I ran.

Storm Feather was having a very difficult time with the hunters though, the three of them were far faster than my armored friend could handle. I couldn’t see where Moon Shadow was hiding; I really hoped he was able to help Storm Feather.

I got within melee range of the unicorn and took a swing at him, but he jumped backwards. I tried to close the distance again. And he sent a barrage of icicles flying at me. I rolled to my side attempting to dodge them. Almost all of them missed me, but a few had managed to cut lines down my legs, and one of them had gotten lodged inside my right leg.

I howled in pain as I ripped it out with my magic. The unicorn stood in front of me, I could see his face underneath his hood now. He had red eyes that matched his hair. He looked disappointed.

I closed my eyes focusing all of my energy into another magic attack; I did not like this stallion who was keeping me from going home. I heard him ask. “What are you doing here?”

I screamed as loud as I could manage at him. “I AM GOING TO SEE MY MOM AND YOU’RE NOT GOING TO STOP ME”.
I unleashed all the magic I had built up towards the stallion in a spray of liquid fire that covered a large area in front of me. The stallion brought up a shield of ice around himself. It resembled a crystal ball with him inside of it. The liquid fire began melting through the shield of his before my horn stopped spraying flames at him. I then noticed the ground at my hooves had been covered in ice, along with the bottom parts of my legs. I was unable to move no matter how hard I tried.

I looked at the unicorn that was protected by his icy bubble shield; I wanted so badly to hurt him. Storm Feather was on the ground, pinned down by the Slayer’s from earlier. Another few seconds passed before Moon Shadow was dragged out from behind a building by another Slayer who said. “I found this one hiding on the roof. He was lining up a shot at you Archmage.”

The white unicorn examined my friend who had his hooves tied before looking back at me. He then offered in a calm tone. “I will let all three of you go, if you promise not to come back here. Princess Twilight Sparkle has made this place off limits to anypony. If I catch you down here again then I will have no choice but to deal with the situation. Do you understand?”

I bit my lip as I contemplated my chances of hurting him before he killed me, it didn’t look good. I nodded shamefully. He had us beat, for now we will leave but I vowed to myself then and there that I would return here. And when I did he would be hard pressed to stop me than.

We were well out of the ponyville ruins before a few questions began appearing in my mind. I decided I would voice them out loud for the group to answer. “Okay everypony, I am really confused now. Why was ponyville in ruins, and why does Twilight now want anypony going there? Is she some kind of villain now?”

Moon Shadow let out a depressed sigh before explaining somberly. “Ponyville has been gone for a long time now, and The Princess was forced to change after the demon war. Altar Light, it’s been a long time since you last lived in ponyville.”

Storm Feather looked at us and asked with some confusion in his voice. “Wait the Demon war was over 300 years ago, how could you know what the Princess was like back then?”

I looked at Storm Feather as I felt even more confused now. I looked at Moon Shadow hoping for an answer that would make this all… make sense. He gave me an answer after a few moments of silence. “Me and Light are three hundred years old, near the end of the war, everything went to Tartarus. Reed used his alchemical skills, along with his cocoon things to preserve us. There was supposed to be quite a few ponies preserved in case the war was lost. That way we could rebuild after a long period of time, sadly only seven of us had made it too the evacuation chamber. Worst yet Reeds cocoons only kept us asleep for three hundred years, that’s one third of the time we were supposed to be asleep for. Things only got worse from there, but we tried our best to rebuild what we could.”

I sat down hard and I didn’t move for a good while. I began to realize a few things now. The worst thing though was something that hurt. My mom couldn’t have been one of the ponies in the cocoons, meaning she was…gone. I barely remembered her, and I was never going to see her again.

Tears began flowing down my face, the kind of tears that could not be helped with a hug. Storm tried to comfort me, but I refused to let him. I lead my friends into ponyville where we could have very easily died, and I now realized why everything here felt so wrong. This world was my Equestria but it was corrupted and changed. If I didn’t become stronger then my friends would die, and at this point they were all I had left.

I stood up after a while, the sun was beginning to set between the trees, I spoke softly. “We are going to find a safe place to rest for the night, we will continue towards Ashwood tomorrow.” After that we continued walking together, although it was far quieter than it had been before.

Storm Feather was able to lead us after we got away from ponyville, but we were forced to retrace our steps until we found a bridge leading across the river. After that we had walked down alongside the river bed for a while before the sun was all but gone in the sky above. The woods were dangerous without knowing where to go, and they were far worse at night. Worse yet was the fact that there was not an Altar to found.

We set up a small camp near the beach, and started a campfire. I was exhausted both physically and emotionally. Moon Shadow reported remorsefully that our food supplies had been tainted by the Mire. I decidedly pointed out that we had plenty of natural grass to eat.

Storm Feather spoke up explaining. “Grass is good for you ponies, but I am a griffon. My diet is a little more…sensitive.”

I tilted my head to the side feeling a little confused. I had seen him eating that mushy stuff that Moon Shadow had made this morning before we entered the Mire. “What do you mean?” I asked curiously.

The griffon sighed before explaining with a sense of remorse. “Griffons are carnivores. We have to eat…meat.”

I found that to be disgusting. I didn’t want to imagine my heroic companion eating like some kind of monster. I really hopped that I wouldn’t ever have to witness that.

The griffon began disassembling his armor to expose his muscular body. I watched him for a little bit feeling somewhat naughty as he unfastened the last bits of his armor. I turned my head feeling my face warming up from embarrassment. “What are you doing?” I asked nervously.

Storm Feather replied with pride saying. “It is shameful for a griffon to use weapons and armor in a hunt. I will use only my talons and wits for catching my pray for tonight.” After that he gave me a wink while saying, “I will be back before the hour, please get some rest Light.” After that he jumped into the air, taking off at speeds I did not thing possible for him. He flew over the tree line and disappeared into the night sky.

“How did he move that fast?” I asked myself feeling a little shocked.

Moon Shadow explained it to me. “He wears that armor almost constantly, it keeps him in top shape just wearing it, so it’s only normal to think that without the heavy suit bringing him down he would be able to move at incredible speeds.”

I stared at the night sky for a few moments before I realized what he was doing right now, he was looking for meat, and he was going to eat it. A sudden feeling of nausea began rising inside me at the horrid idea. He may be a good looking griffon but his eating tastes were gross, to say in the least.

I laid my head down on the soft grass feeling tired. I looked at Moon Shadow who didn’t look sleepy at all and I said. “Keep an eye out on me, we will take shifts. Wake me up when you need sleep.”

He looked at me and smiled softly nodding. I could swear that he had a slight yellow glow to his eyes, but it was probably just the reflection from the fire. Closing my eyes I began feeling the sad feelings creep up on me, the loneliness waiting just out of sight. I fought against them for a few minutes before I finally drifted off into sleep.

***

I found myself now walking down a road formed from blue crystal. Trees made of dark purple crystal with leaves of pink gems hanging off their branches were lined aside my path. I continued walking until I found the old marble ruins with a familiar blue unicorn with green hair waiting for me. She was singing to herself, she was singing with a very sad voice.
“Come little sister, I’ll take thee away to a land far away. Come little sister, lets scurry away to a land free of hardships.
Times have been hard, but I carry thee away. Times have been rough, but together we have enough.
To face the coming storm, together we stand strong. To face all there scorn, together we fight on.
Hush now dear sister, listen to my words. Hush now dear sister, forever we stand together.”

I found myself entranced by her song, and found myself beginning to sing along. Together we sang the rest of this song while walking together through the old ruins. It felt as though the song was evolving as we sang, giving us both great strength to face the coming storm.

“Times will be harsh, but you carry my soul. Times will be rough, but you soon will know my love.
Now face the coming storm, let my sun be your guide. Now face the coming storm, let your moon be your strength.
Hush now dear sister, remember my words. Hush now dear sister, even though I leave, one day we will be back together.”

I found myself crying as we repeated the song from the beginning. It felt as though we had both lost something valuable. For some reason I could imagine a loving older sister singing these lyrics as she lay injured, and dying from a horrific wound. She was singing to her younger sister, one who was scared to be left without the older ones guidance. I don’t know why I imagined this to be the case, but I could feel the pain deep inside me telling me that maybe it wasn’t just my imagination. We continued singing for the rest of the night, the little Dream Weaver crying as she sang. We were both damaged, but maybe together we could become whole again. We sang until the morning came, and I woke up again.

***

The next day we continued walking forward towards the town of Ashwood. When we got there I had plans to get some new armor, and weapons for our group. It was an uneventful and quiet journey down the beach, until we came across an old road. The road continued on for a few miles, but eventually I could make out a small town built alongside the water. This town looked so familiar to me. I recognized it as being Ashwood. Now that we were here, I had some business to take care of.

Two griffons wearing Black armor dropped out from the sky above us landing a few feet away. These griffons had black feathers and lean bodies. One of them looked at Storm Feather and said. “Storm Feather, the flock has work for you.”

Chapter seven: unexpected homecoming

EQUESTRIAN SOULS
Chapter seven: unexpected homecoming
Written by TheCrimsonDM

We all stood completely still and silent for a few moments, it felt like I was waiting for something to happen. The first one to move was Storm Feather as he walked forward and greeted them saying. “Hello brothers, what business do you require of me?”

The two black griffons looked very similar to each other, but vastly different from Storm Feather. The black griffon on the right had a scar over his eye, his scarred eye was milky white. The other one had no scars but they both looked dangerous. So far the only one to speak was the unscarred one. The unscarred one continued to speak. “This is flock business only, no outsiders allowed.”

Storm Feather looked at us and said. “I will need to talk to them alone for awhile. Let’s all meet up at the Crusader guild hall shall we.”

I nodded in agreement and watched the three of them walk off into town. I looked at Moon Shadow and knew that he was to only one who could do this for me. I said. “I want you to tail them, make sure that Storm Feather is safe. I will meet you three at the guild hall.”

He nodded and walked off after them, I knew he was one sneaky pony and could get the job done. As for me I would take some time exploring the town, find a merchant who would have some supplies or something. I felt confident that I could find the guild hall on my own.

While exploring the town I found myself walking next to a set of abandoned buildings, when I suddenly felt something familiar. The air began feeling like I walking through water, and a powerful energy began rising inside of me. I was in another magic zone, and maybe that meant the merchant was here.

The closest building turned out to be a little shop with various masks and weapons hanging from the walls. I found myself interested in the various swords here. “Maybe I’ll buy one” I said to myself as I went to the counter. I couldn’t see the merchant anywhere but this place felt like the last shop. There was a little bell here too. As I reached for the bell with a hoof I stopped as I began hearing somepony singing in the back room, actually it sounded more like a chant.

“Bubble and boil, trouble and toil. With this elixir my plan won’t be foiled.” Was being chanted by a deep male voice, as I looked around to see the mask wearing shop keeper stirring a pot of glowing liquid with his magic. The shop keeper noticed me and smiled saying. “Ah so you have come back to me my dear.”

I found myself both curious and worried at what the pot contained prompting me to ask him. “What are you doing?”

He smiled and said. “Oh I’m just making soup, would care to join me for lunch?”

Although I felt a little better now that I knew he was only making diner, I was still angry at him. He was the earth pony who sent me into a death trap and I blamed him for not warning me of the danger. I stood up straight and said. “I didn’t come here for you. I’m her e for information.”

He stopped stirring the pot and began walking towards me he said. “Information is after all a commodity I trade in. what do you need Light?”

I stepped back as he approached, I couldn’t place the reason why, but for some reason my danger sense was going off. It could be due to the fact that he knew my name, or maybe everything after the Mire and Ponyville, everything was going to feel threatening. Either way I wanted to know what his deal was so I asked. “How do you know my name?”

He smiled at me, and although I couldn’t properly see his eyes with his mask on I could feel him winking at me. He then said. “Didn’t you give it to me dear?”

I was also still angry at Twilight for making my home town off limits, and this stallion’s lies were not helping. I then said with anger lacing my voice. “I did not.”

He smiled slyly at me saying. “Oh so you did notice after all. Not many ponies do my dear. You’ve earned some manner of respect from me.

“I don’t give a crap about what you respect or not. I want you to tell me how you know my name, and how you know Reed.” I ordered him.

His smile faded a little as he said. “It’s very simple Light. I have met both you and Reed before. Although I doubt you would remember.

I found myself really not liking him right now. Since he was being more or less forthcoming with information, so I decided to calm down a little before saying. “Well you know my name, but I don’t know yours, may I ask?”

He continued smiling before saying in a professional manor. “Welcome to Masquerade’s shop of mysteries. I am Masquerade.”

I wondered if he was really named that, or if it was some kind of alias. I didn’t care about that right now, I knew what I needed and it looked like he had it. “I need to obtain some armor and a new weapon,” I told him matter of factly.

His smiled left as he asked me. “What happened to my old sword?”

I pulled out the broken handle and set it on the counter with a thud saying. “It broke.”

He pouted his bottom lip out saying. “Aw that was a good blade.”

Looking at the sword now I realized that it really had been a good weapon, even if it looked like crap. I sighed before saying guiltily. “Sorry I broke it.”

My apology seemed to cheer him up a little. He then ducked his head underneath the counter grabbing a long sheathed blade from under the counter and placed it on the table gently. The sword’s sheath was made of oak wood and seemed to have been constructed by somehow twisting braches together into its current shape. The handle was made of dark gray wood, and as he unsheathed the sword I got a good look at the blade.

The blade was made of a shiny silver metal, with designs of swirls along the length of the entire sword. It was perfect. Masquerade than explained. “This is the legendary Madness sword, forged by ponies possessed by mad gods it was used to slay the god beast. This sword will cause any sentient creature to suffer hallucinations after being hit by it. Should you find the Madness mask and use the blade it could summon creatures of pure destruction to serve your bidding. And this sword can be yours Light, for the ultra low price of only one hundred.”

My mouth dropped, if this blade was truly as good as he said it was, and only cost one hundred bits…I needed this. I then said excitedly. “I have a hundred bits. Let me pull them out for you.”

As I reached for my money pouch I heard Masquerade explain. “One hundred thousand bits.

I stopped looking for my purse, looked up at him, and said in disbelief. “What.

He smiled saying. “You don’t think I could let a weapon this destructive go for any lower do you?”

“I don’t have that much. I only have,” I grabbed my purse and looked inside remembering the merchant from the sewers I continued, “ninety bits.

Masquerade gave a soft chuckle while he put the beautiful sword back behind the counter saying. “I don’t think you can buy anything for only ninety bits. But maybe we can still reach a deal.”

I didn’t like the way he said that, but I sighed and asked. “What did you have in mind?”

He started grinning before he explained. “One of my customers has requested a special item from me, but sadly I can’t leave the shop to get it. I had sent out a young huntress named Rainfall. But she has yet to report to me, so I would like you to go and get both the pony and the item back, if it’s not too much trouble.”

I actually had a lot of questions but I figured I could get the answers after I knew more about this mission. “What item is it, and where is it?”

He clapped his fore hooves together once before saying. “I am so glad that you’re willing to accept the mission, it’s a simple one to be sure. I need a small orb called the Soul of the Moonlight Butterfly. If you can obtain it from the old ruin’s just south east of Ashwood inside Froggy Bottom Swamp, that would be wonderful.”

I didn’t know anything about this place or the things inside it, but this sounded like a simple quest. “Alright,” I agreed, “what do I get for this?”

He dropped down behind the counter again before quickly popping back up with a bunch of stuff that he then proceeds to drop on the counter saying. “I will give you a short sword, and some leather armor for the adventure. When you’re done, if your successful I will give you something special for your trouble.”

I enjoyed the armor and weapons idea, and after seeing that Madness sword I could only imagine at what kind of cool stuff he could give me for this mission. I had to have him assist me in putting the armor on though, as it turns out I didn’t know a thing about it. After he was done teaching me about armor, how to wear it and use it effectively I felt like a champion.

I turned to leave but I remembered that I still had one important question left. “What is up with your shop? When I met you last time we talked for a bit, and after I left I found your shop completely missing not a second later. How did you do that?”

He smiled and said. “Ancient pony secret.

I tilted my head to the side to show my confusion before saying. “what?”

He sighed and explained. “My shop is special, that is I’m afraid about all that I can say on the matter.”

Okay that answer was going to drive me crazy, but I had the feeling that he may not tell even if I begged. I decided to ask instead. “What is Reed doing?”

He frowned at me and said in a remorseful tone. “Reed is alive, and you will see him again. This much I can promise you, but I am not able to tell you anything that could…interfere. Trust me it’s for the best this way.”

I didn’t like that answer, but at least I knew now that he was following some kind of rules, even if he made them up himself. I said my farewell before leaving his shop. I made sure to check and just like the before the building I had just exited was now completely empty, with no signs that any pony had ever been inside there.

I traveled around town a little bit after that before I finally found the Crusader Guild hall. The guild hall was actually an old wooden building that looked more like an inn than like an office building. A lot of the ponies exiting it wore armor, and had weapons which contrasted the majority of town’s folk here, who wore simple clothing. I also noticed a few town guards around here they had gold colored armor with the symbol of a six point star on their armored flanks, in the same place as cutie marks.

Storm Feather and Moon Shadow were standing outside of the Guild hall waiting for me when I arrived. They looked pleased to see me, and I was happy to see them too. The pair of them we’re admiring my armor and sword. Storm Feather then asked. “Where did you get those?”

I smiled and said. “An old acquaintance of mine gave me these.” The two of them looked a little confused so I added. “Doesn’t matter right now, how did your business go?”

Storm Feather looked away from me before explaining. “Actually about that, my brothers informed me that the flock needs me for something. After I am done helping them deal with the Rainbow cult I would love to rejoin you on your quest my lady.” He then proceeded to bow before me.

I felt a little silly with a griffon roughly twice my size bowing before me. When he stood straight again I said. “We would love to have you back when you’re done. I was planning on staying in town for a little while anyway.”

He grinned excitedly at me before saying. “Rejoice, than we shall meet up again tomorrow. I cannot wait for this task to be done with, as being apart from you is an idea I do not enjoy.”

I facehoofed at the silly knight of mine, although I had to agree with him, I did not like the idea of us separating any more than he did. I decided to keep my little quest secret for now I could tell him all about it when he got back after all. As his black feathered brothers approached us he looked at me saying. “You two have been given permission to stay in my quarters here, I have also left you a present in there. Moon Shadow will take you to it.”

He turned to face his brothers greeting them by name. “Darkwing, Darkfeather my brothers I am ready to take flight to battle.”

The trio then flew off into the distance away from me and Moon Shadow. I didn’t like letting Storm Feather leave like this, but he had a life that did not revolve around me. Hopefully he would come back soon, and then we can continue in our quest.

Moon Shadow looked at me saying quietly. “We should get that present he left you. I think you will like it.”

The inside of the guild hall looked much like an inn, there was a desk near the front door, two other doors and a staircase were inside the entrance. The left door led to a much larger area full of tables where a few ponies sat drinking and playing cards. The door to the right led to a practice room filled with straw dummies and a couple of ponies sparing in a ring. We however walked towards the stairs.

The stallion behind the front desk took one look at us before whistling and saying. “Damn, Stormy said you were cute but he didn’t mention how sexy you were filly.” I could feel my face beginning to turn red from his comment. Embarrassing as it was it was nice to hear, and it made me wonder if Storm Feather really felt that way towards me.

The stallion then said. “Too bad you look smitten with him. Well I hope you two have plenty of Hippogriffs.”

I had never heard that word before, Hippogriff sounded kinda like some kind of snack food. I wondered if it had chocolate in it? That would be really tasty. I suddenly found Moon Shadow pushing me up the stairs saying. “Come on, we need to get that thing Storm Feather left.

The upstairs was comprised of bedrooms where the members of the guild slept in. After entering Storm Feather’s room I found myself in awe at his wall of weapons. There were a lot of different kinds of weapons hanging on his wall, and even several suits of armor. His bed was a mess, and had a few of his feathers laying on it. I suddenly became aware of how much his bed smelled of him, and that made me miss him a little bit, along with a few other confused feelings.

Moon Shadow levitated a steel war hammer towards me before placing it gently on the wooden floor. Moon Shadow then explained. “He wanted to give this too you, it’s a pretty good weapon.

I lifted the hammer up with my magic fairly easily despite the fact that its head was as big as mine. This thing probably weighed a butt load, and yet I had no problems lifting it with my magic. I than picked it up with my mouth, and although the thing was much heavier in my mouth, then with my magic, I found myself able to still weld it somewhat effectively. I really liked Storm Feather’s idea of a present.

Moon Shadow let out a deep sigh as I played with my new toy. He looked depressed, and I wondered why. I decided to ask. “What’s wrong?”

He looked up at me, his eyes looked sad as he explained. “I lied to you Light, I’m sorry.”

Now I felt a little worried, what did he lie to me about? I trusted Moon Shadow with my life, for some reason I could remember how I felt about him, and I knew he was probably the most trust worthy pony I have ever met. If he lied to me about anything it had to be for a good reason…right?

I set my hammer down by my side and let him finish. “Light I told you that I didn’t remember anything past the time we entered the Grays. That was a lie. I remember a few more things than I let on. I just wanted things to be like they used to, but maybe it’s best for things to change after all.”

He shook his head slowly while explaining. “The last time you and Reed were together, I remember you two fighting about something. I can’t remember what about exactly but it was bad, in fact I remember you breaking up with him. I was really hoping that you were trying to make up for it, but after the way you act with Storm Feather I realize that maybe it’s best if we don’t go after Reed.

He seemed to be shaking a little bit and he sounded so sad. After I dragged those two into the Mire in my search for Reed, he must have been blaming himself for everything we went through. I walked over to my green unicorn friend and embraced him.

His shaking didn’t stop but it slowed down as I held him and whispered softly into his ear. “It’s okay I know you didn’t lie to me out of malice. You and I both love Reed in different ways, but we do share a deep respect for him. He saved my life from a demon once, I could never forget that. I haven’t wondered about why I feel…like I do for Storm Feather. Maybe you’re right and we shouldn’t go looking for Reed. I think I could start a little life here with Storm, and you.

Moon Shadow pulled back a little bit so he could look at me. There were a few tears running down his cheeks from where he had started crying. He then whimpered before saying. “I don’t want to lose you, and the Grays are filled with demons. You’ve always had a hard time with demons. What if something happened?”

I pulled him back into an embrace and held him close to me saying. “I still need to go into the Grays though. I need to know exactly what happened to make me forget everything. I know my answers are somewhere in there.

He began shaking again and said. “Please forgive me, I can’t let this be like Pinkie.

I was now a little curious about what he meant, and against my better judgment I asked. “What happened?”

He let out a small cry before saying shakily. “She broke a pinkie promise to me, so I yelled at her…I ruined our friendship over something so stupid. I stole something from the royal archives, and I made her promise not to tell anypony. She told Twilight anyway, and I got mad…I can’t believe I did that.

I found myself very curious about what he had done exactly but decided to leave it here. “I forgive you,” I told him quietly.

I waited until he was able to pick himself back up before we left. I took the warhammer with me as well. I explained to Moon Shadow on our way out that I needed to find a pony named Rainfall, along with the Moonlight Butterfly’s soul. He didn’t like the idea of adventuring without our armored friend anymore than I did, but we needed to do this today.

On our way out of town we passed by an old abandoned tavern, its sign plaque had long since been unreadable but I recognized this place. It was called the Lit Fuse, and it was my home. I could remember vaguely how I used to live here, and serve drinks and food to my patrons. I had been a bar tender.

I walked inside the old building finding most of the tables turned over or destroyed. All the alcohol on the wall was shattered, but I should still have a cellar full if I was lucky. Moon Shadow fallowed me inside. This place smelled like dust, and was covered in it too.

There was a stage in the corner of the room complete with piano where I would sing sometimes. Me and Moon Shadow moved upstairs where there were ten bed rooms. And a few bathrooms, although they didn’t look to be in working condition. The last two rooms had name plaques on them. One of them said “Moon Shadow”, while the other one said. “Owner. Altar Light”

I smiled at the sight of my name. Even without a proper memory of this place I knew it was my home now for sure. There was no feeling greater than knowing that I had a home. I opened the door and found myself standing inside a small bedroom, there was a double sized bed in the corner, and a small desk along with a bookshelf. On the desk I found a picture of me looking a little younger and standing right next to Princess Twilight Sparkle. We both looked so happy in the picture, although she was a lot taller than me. I picked up the picture and noticed that it had been folded before somepony put into the frame. I suspected that there may have been a clue there.

I opened the frame’s back and pulled out the picture, it read.

“To my dearest student
Never forget the most important lesson.
Friendship is magic.
With love Twilight Sparkle”

I won’t lie this message indicated something that I really didn’t want to think about. Unfortunately I was thinking about it anyway. Was I Twilight Sparkle’s student? Did she have more students or was I it? Maybe she was a teacher in ponyville?

The picture was slightly bigger than the frame was, so I had to fold the picture a little bit again to make it fit. I noticed a single word written on the inside of the frame as I replaced the picture. The word “war” had been written. I didn’t understand why, but it gave me chills to think about.

I wondered then about what my old life was like for me. Three hundred years is a long time after all. After leaving my old room behind I took Moon Shadow and left this place. I vowed that I would fix this place up one day. I won’t let this place be forgotten. Together we left for Froggy bottom swamp.

chapter eight: beware of toads

EQUSTRIAN SOULS
Chapter eight: beware of toads
Written by TheCrimsonDM

Froggy bottom bog was a dense forested wetland filled with deep pools of water, vast patches of mud, and twisted trees growing from islands of hard dirt. Me and Moon Shadow tried to stay on the hard ground as much as possible, and the few times we were forced into the mud we found it mostly shallow. We still kept out guard up and moved slowly though, there was no telling where deep pits of mud would be.

After half an hour of traversing the bog we came across a sign nailed to a tree. The sign was made of old wood. There was also a six point star painted on the bottom of it, indicating it came from Twilight’s kingdom. The sign read.
“Beware Toads ahead”

I looked at the sign, I was at a loss as to what to think about it. Could frogs actually be a threat? I looked at Moon Shadow who simply shrugged at the sigh. I gave a sigh before continuing onward. I don’t see why they would post a sigh warning ponies of frogs.

We continued moving for another half hour. The two of us had noticed that there were some creatures fallowing us from behind the tree line, keeping just out of sight. The numbers of these creatures seamed to simply increase over time, causing us to become very concerned. We may just be walking into some kind of ambush.

We found ourselves in a small clearing full of hoof deep muddy water, with the trees looming high above us. I didn’t like the look of this at all, it could be the perfect place for a set up.

Suddenly something wet and slimy shot out from behind the tree cover, wrapping itself around my leg. It looked like a long gray meaty vine, with sharp barbs digging into my flesh. With extreme force the thing pulled back into the woods yanking me off of my hoofs and onto my belly, and then dragging me forward through the mucky water.

Instinctively I pulled my sword free from the sheath and slashed at the thing that had me grabbed slicing through it neatly. The blood now coating my sword was a dark purple, and caused my sword to steam where the blood had touched it. Then I felt water covering my face and torso as something splashed into the water in front of me. I was surprised to find a pony shaped creature was now standing in front of me.

The creature had pale skin, bulbous black eyes, and a large mouth. A set of clawed fingers were attacked to its…hooves, and there was some webbed skin attached between the claws. It also lacked a mane, a tail, or any fur. This thing could possibly be a mutant of some sort. It opened its mouth, and I saw that this creature’s tongue had been recently been severed, what was left was a gray meaty vine, with barbs. The creature also had no teeth.

It began inflating its chest like a balloon and then it vomited purple goop similar to its blood in color. The vomit almost hit me as I jumped to the side. I looked down and found that my cloak had been hit by its vomit, and was beginning to dissolve where it had been hit. I screamed aloud to Moon Shadow. “They have acid blood and spit.”

The creature walked forward and swung its claws at me. I ducked underneath the claws. Using my short sword I stabbed its soft underbelly, and tore the blade out the creature’s side. The creature fell into a pool of its own acid blood and intestines.

I looked back at Moon Shadow who was dealing the same kind of creatures. He was maneuvering around them, and using his magic to cut them up. I noticed he was not using his explosive shuriken spell. Probably for the best considering they had acidic blood.

Another one of these things had just launched itself from a tree towards me at frightening speeds. He flew with the top of his round head pointed towards me. I quickly rolled out of the way, bringing my sword up for another attack as the creature flew past me. My sword drew a line down its side as it passed, and then it crashed into the mud behind me with a large splash.

I took a look at my new weapon, now covered in steaming purple blood. Then the blade broke in half leaving me with nothing but a handle. Damn it, how many of these things was I going to go through. I threw the handle at the nearest toad thing. Then it hit me, these must have been the Toads from the warning.

I pulled out my warhammer and using my telekinesis I began to smash the toad in front of me. I could hear its bones crunch with every successful hit. These things may be fast when jumping but they moved awkwardly when trying to walk. I took advantage of that, and didn’t let up until I smashed its head in. Very little blood had spilt onto the hammer, and I splashed the hammer through the water to quickly neutralize the rest of the acid. My idea seemed to work.

There were more and more toads showing up by the second, I found three of them jumping at me at once. They moved fast enough that there jumping tackle would hurt, but slow enough for me to dodge. I rolled into the water again dodging them. As they landed in the water behind me I stood up, and as they turned around. I unleashed two fireballs into their group, creating and firing both of the fireball spells at the same time.

The explosion destroyed their group, and I was thankful for that. I wasn’t sure how I made two fireballs at once, but now was not the time to think about it. Another toad inflated while looking at Moon Shadow who was fighting some more toads by himself. I couldn’t reach the inflating toad in time for melee so I unleashed a flamethrower from my horn. The toad sucked the fire right down his throat, burning his insides. After I stopped he stood there for a second before letting out a puff of smoke from his mouth, then he fell over dead.

I dodged another swipe attack and retaliated with a hammer blow to its face. It fell on its back and I unleashed another hammer swing down upon its skull which fractured with a horrific cracking noise. Then something crashed into my side sending me rolling in the water a good twenty feet. I dropped my Hammer as well.

I stood wincing at the pain steaming from my ribs. I think one of them might have broken from the attack. I saw a toad a few feet away from me begin to rise from the water. I unleashed another flamethrower on this one, burning its skin horribly. It took a swipe with its claws at me, and I ducked underneath. I then raised my forehooves and smashed the creature in the face with enough force to send it staggering backwards. I then unleashed a fireball onto the monster.

The explosion killed it, but I could feel a throbbing pain in my skull. My nose was also starting to bleed again. I couldn’t keep using magic like this, it was going to kill me faster than these monsters. I looked around us, and saw that Moon Shadow had killed a decent chunk of them himself. Though there were more and more of them surrounding us, the majority just waited at the edges of the forest, replacing the members that fell in battle. I couldn’t think of any way to survive this.

Suddenly I felt something sharp ripping through my armored barding and scratching my flesh underneath. The wound burned almost as bad as the sewer hollow’s weapons had. The toad next to me looked almost happy about the wound he inflicted. I was about to hit him when I felt something sharp and slimy wrap around my hind leg and pull.

I found myself being dragged towards the tree line where five of the toads were simply waiting to strike at me. I quickly pulled out a black dagger and cut the tongue off of my leg. The toad whose tongue I cut recoiled in pain as the other four toads pounced towards me at once. I rolled back onto my hooves and ran away dodging there jump attack by a second.

Suddenly another toad appeared next to me, and took a swipe at my side. This time the claws bit deeper into my armor and my side causing me to yell in pain as it dug into my flesh. I reacted by sending a fireball into its face, I was close enough though that the explosion knocked me onto my side.

My horn was now hurting as well, and my vision was getting blurry. We had to run, if it was even possible for us to escape. I tried to stand but something in my head began screaming in pain, and with a sudden force blackness enveloped my world.

***

I found myself standing on my hind legs wearing some kind of white lose fitting outfit. There was a black belt made from cloth wrapped around my waste, and I was standing in a sand covered ring. My mentor stood off to the side, her white outfit contrasted with her blue fur and rainbow mane. Her black belt was wrapped just under her wings. She blew a whistle and my opponent came in to the ring facing me. My opponent was older than me by some number of years, she had yellow fur and a bright red mane.

My mentor was named Rainbow dash, and she stood proud before the two of us saying. “Alright fillies, this is your final test. Whoever wins this is the new champion of the Ten second ring. Rules are simple, beat your opponent in ten seconds flat or less. Three…two…one…FIGHT.”

The red haired mare rushed me, and rolled to the side. She struck out with a rear hoof nearly reaching my face as I leaned back to avoid it. I then put myself on my forelegs and lifting my body I gave a mighty apple buck. My opponent obviously had dealt with this before, and dodged easily. She grabbed my rear leg and swung me into the air, and over her shoulder. She was trying to throw me out of the ring. I couldn’t allow that. I reached down with my free hooves and grabbed her forelegs the second she let go of me. I had stopped myself from being thrown out of the ring, but it wasn’t over yet. I than pulled her legs down, and got on her back, then I wrapped my lets around hers and kept her pinned underneath me.

She tried to struggle as the last few seconds went by slowly almost like minutes before Rainbow Dash said proudly. “We have a new winner. Light, you have become the new champion. And that earns you a fight with me personally. When you’re ready for it.”

I smiled and let go of my grip, and my opponent pushed me off her back. She stood up saying. “Aw shucks, ah thought ah would’ve had it this time for sure.”

I smiled at her saying. “I’m simply better then you Apple Bloom.” I then stuck my tongue out childishly at her.

She gave a huff and stuck out her tongue as well. We stayed like that for a few seconds before the two of us burst out laughing. We may be opponents and rivals but that didn’t stop us from being friends. Although seeing a pony nearly ten years older then you stick there tongue out like a filly was rather humorous.

***

I found myself standing on my rear hooves beating one of the toads in the face repeatedly with my bare hooves. That one memory had unlocked every memory of martial combat that I had learned from Rainbow Dash. I found several more dead toads lying around me. And my foreleg’s were sore from the blood splatter of the toads.

Another toad appeared next to me and took a swipe at me. I ducked and moved in closer to him. I then smacked it in the head causing it to stagger back, I struck again causing it to fall on its back. I jumped and landed with a rear hoof cracking open the creatures skull. These things could be killed easily enough, but there were so many of them. I quickly splashed my hooves through the water to neutralize the acidic blood as it began to burn.

Suddenly a series of arrows flew down and into the toads surrounding Moon Shadow. Moon Shadow looked exhausted and was covered in red scratches. The toads fell over dead from the flurry of arrows. Then a second flurry of arrows flew around me hitting the toads, most arrows doing head shots.

The other toads watching us left, leaving me and Moon Shadow wondering about what just happened. I saw a blue coated Pegasus with a bright purple mane, also wearing leather armor land in front of me. There was a spring bow attacked to her left foreleg, and a quiver of arrows on her right side. Her wings had a light covering of metal armor protecting the bones, the metal was so sharp however that it rivaled a sword.

She smiled saying. “Looks like you two were having fun.”

I knew this had to be my contact, so I said. “We have been looking for you, Masquerade sent us to help you.”

She grinned saying. “Awesome, I needed some help with the moonlit butterfly thing. The name is Rainfall.”

“I’m Altar Light, and this is Moon Shadow.” I introduced us.

She looked around quickly before saying. “We should begin moving, we killed enough toads to scare ‘em off for now, but that doesn’t mean they won’t return. “

I gave Moon Shadow a drink from my healing flask before the three of us continued onward. We needed to get away from the toads before they struck again. With a new companion our journey was going to feel a little less lonely now.

We had walked for a few minutes in silence listening for any trace of the toads. My wounds were stinging me with every step, we needed to find an Altar soon. I finally decided to try and take my mind off the pain with conversation. “So why don’t you tell us about yourself?”

Rainfall answered. “Well I am a Pegasus, and I used to belong in the Rainbow Cult. I’m related to Rainbow Dash after all.”

I exclaimed. “Wow.”

Moon Shadow had snuck off again. I was hoping that he was keeping an eye on us, or on our surroundings. I then looked at her and said. “I haven’t seen a pony using a bow and arrow yet. I’ve seen plenty of crossbows though.”

She smiled at me saying. “Yeah, bows are a little more difficult to use. But then again only a true markspony is capable of using them effectively.”

“You sure are good with that. How did you learn?” I asked.

She pondered this for a moment before saying. “I was taught by my father, Pegasi have always preferred using ranged weapons. We leave melee to the earth ponies.”

I had remembered seeing pegasi using those armored wings to tear into monsters before. So I could only imagine what she could do with her wings in addition to being an archer. She seemed to be the who was one leading us, and I now curious about our destination I asked her. “Where are we going?”

She looked back at me and smiled saying. “To the castle ruins, that’s where the Moonlit thing is after all.” She turned her head to the side and said to the forest. “You know I can see you there, you’ll need to hide better than that to fool me.”

Moon Shadow walked out from behind one of the trees, I would never have known where he was had she not reviled his position. He trotted up to my side before returning to a normal walking speed. I shook my head in disbelief at how good she was at spotting my sneaky comrade. I looked to Moon Shadow and asked. “Why were you hiding from us?”

He replied flatly. “I don’t know if she is a danger yet. Thought it best to hide until she proved otherwise, a sneak attack could end a hostile interaction quickly.”

My comrade was a strange one. He goes from feeling terrible about his past deeds, to being stealthy and dangerous. Then again, I was the one now punching monsters to death. I supposed I simply attracted odd company. I noticed that Moon Shadows eyes looked a little different though, they seemed…darker.

Moon Shadow then asked. “Do you know a griffon named Storm Feather?”

She seemed to perk up at that and said with a grin. “Oh yeah I do, he is one of the best fighters I’ve ever met. After a battle with him, I decided to quit the Rainbow Cult. He’s one of the few who shares my sentiment that the grudge between our two clans is stupid and old.”

Wow I guess there was a lot of history behind the pegasi and the griffons. I really hoped that he didn’t mind working with Rainfall. I don’t know why but I had a feeling that she might be staying with us for a little longer than just this little side quest.

We finally arrived to an old rope bridge that lead across a slow moving river full of dark disgusting water. The bridge was a little scary, but Rainfall simply flew across. Moon Shadow went first his hooves being much more careful then mine. After that I went across. The bridge swayed a little at my walking but it didn’t do much else. I was surprised considering the old rope bridge looked to be in terrible condition. Maybe it was magic keeping it up all this time?

The sun shone down on this old castle with persistent intent. The stone worked walls had lost their color over the centuries. I felt as though I recognized these walls though. The front doors were missing completely allowing us a view inside. The inside of the castle was lit up by a strange white light. I poked my head through and looked up to see the missing roof and beyond that the night sky and the full moon staring down at me.

I quickly pulled my head back out and looked up again to see the bright blue sky and then forced to look away as the sun began to burn my eyes. I stared at my comrades and asked. “Okay somepony explain this to me. How come its daylight out here, but its night time inside the building?”

Rainfall shrugged while Moon Shadow explained. “This area is steeped in fey magic. Some areas of the world have such strong magic attuned to them that they completely break the rules of reality. The entire Everfree woods is a little like this. It’s why Twilight built her kingdom outside of the area.”

I sighed and looked back to the castle before us. We were going to have to go inside and fight a giant monster. I felt like something was wrong here but what was it exactly. I searched for the answer before it finally hit me. This was the castle of the two sisters.

Chapter nine: allegiance

EQUESTRIAN SOULS
Chapter nine: allegiance
Written by TheCrimsonDM

We stepped inside the old castle and watched as the world transformed into a perfect night with a full moon looming over the ruins, casting them into a deep solitary light. The ruins actually looked to be in better condition on the inside. It felt almost like this was a place stuck out of time.

Rainfall flew around the large entrance hall searching the room for something; she then flew up and out of the hole in the roof. I looked at Moon Shadow for an answer as to what she was doing, but he seemed more concerned with the banners hanging from the walls.

I followed him as he walked up to one that looked almost brand new. He continued staring at it for a moment before saying. “This banner was repaired by Rarity, seeing this now…it’s almost like she was only here a few minutes ago.”

I looked at the old cloth woven banner depicting Celestia in all her ancient glory. Did Rarity really work on this piece? Is that why it looked newer then everything else here? I looked at Moon Shadow and said. “It’s a beautiful piece.”

Moon Shadow looked at me and with a sad smile as he said. “It really is.”

Rainfall swooped back down into the entrance hall and landed next to us saying. “Okay, this place is freaking huge. But it’s also completely abandoned. Splitting up may be the best way to find what we need here.”

I looked from her to Moon Shadow, I didn’t like being alone. but I contemplated what she had said for a few moments. We needed to find the Moonlit Butterfly’s soul, and if this place was truly abandoned. I closed my eyes not liking the idea, but said anyway. “Okay, we will split up. Come back here in an hour if you don’t find anything. If you do find something come back here and wait for the others. Now what exactly are we searching for?”

Rainfall put a hoof to her chin and pondered for a moment. She then explained. “I was told that the soul of the Moonlit Butterfly was a small orb, about the size of a hoof. Its brilliant white light illuminates the darkness, and that to find it we must look inside that which carries it. So we’re probably looking for a shiny inside a chest or something.”

I looked at the staircase leading off to the side and then asked. “How big is this castle, how many floors are there? And how big is each floor?”

Rainfall answered quickly saying. “Well there is the first, second, and third floors. There is also most likely a dungeon underneath us, and we have a big tower out in the back. Each floor is relatively huge with large sections either collapsed or damaged from time.”

I thought for a few moments and decided a course of action for the three of us. “Okay, Rainfall I want you searching the third floor, I’ll take the second. Moon Shadow I need you to take the first floor. Nopony is to enter the tower until after we all arrive back here. I don’t trust towers.”

The second floor was exceedingly quiet, and I didn’t like that. I found myself in the servants’ quarters, or maybe these were guest quarters? I couldn’t tell since most indications of what this area once was, had been lost long ago. I kept stumbling upon rooms with rotted furniture, and paintings that have been decimated from age. A few suits of old armor still stood proudly, but after closer inspection it was obvious that they had never been meant for battle. They were decoration, and useless.

I eventually found a hallway that overlooked a courtyard, though the entire wall overlooking the courtyard had long ago collapsed. You could see the rubble on the ground below. This hallway looked so familiar to me. As I stood there looking at the moonlit courtyard below I sat down. I knew this place from somewhere, but where…

***

I was sitting on the collapsed hallway with my legs dangling off the edge playfully as Reed sat beside me. He was staring longingly into the moon, and something felt different about this night for me.

Reed then said. “You don’t know how hard of an adjustment this has been for me. Everything I once knew is gone, everypony I know is gone…aside from Luna, I’m all alone.”

I looked over at him and could see the sadness in his eyes. I reached out with a hoof and placed it gently on his shoulder. He looked at me a little surprised, and then I said. “You’re not alone. I’m here for you Reed. I’m you friend.”

He smiled a little at me, just as a slight chill in the air made me shiver a little, and then Reed reached over and embraced me. I felt my face warming up as he did, but instead of pulling back, I nuzzled into him. His robes were warm and he was holding me so gently. We stayed like that for a few minutes before I finally looked up at him to see him staring at me.

Reed leaned over a little and whispered. “You’re right Light, I’m not all alone.” He then pressed his lips gently against mine. This was my first kiss, and it inspired both fear and excitement inside of me. As he pulled away I knew that I had just fallen deeply in love.

***

I came back to my senses in a flash and now knew why this place was so familiar. I also began to miss Reed again. This was the exact spot where Reed and I had shared our first kiss. I didn’t want to stay here too much longer; it was beginning to pain me seeing this place again. So I moved on.

I continued searching the old castle for a little longer until I came across a small room filled with bookshelves and a table. There was a treasure chest at the end of this room, and this excited me. I walked over to it feeling energy rising inside of me as I approached. This had to be where the Moonlit Butterfly Soul was located.

A sudden force hits me from the side and knocks me off my hooves and onto my back. With my back lying on the cold hard stone I looked up at the zebra that was now holding me down. I opened my mouth to yell or shout, and Void Runner, my zebra nemesis prevented me from speaking by shoving her muzzle against mine and kissing me. I could taste her tongue moving around against mine as I lay there dumbfounded.

As she pulled away I couldn’t help but notice the trail of saliva stringing between us. She wiped it off while staring at me, her entire face now a deep shade of red. I worked my mouth trying to speak, but the words just wouldn’t come out. Void Runner then said. “I-uh…that didn't go like I had planned.”

I was about to ask her why she just kissed me when a sudden flurry of green energy shuriken began flying at Void Runner from the doorway. I rolled her out of the way a few moments too late as a few of them cut into her forelegs. After rolling her over with my back facing the direction of the energy shuriken I shouted. “STOP SHOOTING.”

Silence took over the room for a few seconds as I cradled Void Runner defensively in between my legs. Finally I heard Moon Shadow ask. “Are you crazy? She had you pinned and I saved you.”

I turned my head towards him and give him a harsh stare as he stood in the doorway. I then say very evenly. “You are not to shoot her again.”

Only after he gave me a nod did I let go of the shaking zebra lying in my legs. Void Runner was cut on her forelegs, and a small cut across her muzzle. I helped her up and noticed just how scared she looked. I give another look at Moon Shadow and asked him. “What are you here for?”

He looked away and said. “Rainfall found something important. I needed to tell you to meet us in the entrance hall.”

I gave him a nod and said. “Go on, I’ll meet you there.” He gave me a curious stare, and I gave him a stern look in return. He opened his mouth then thought better of it and skulked off.

I turn my attention back to Void Runner. Now that Moon Shadow was gone I instantly began scraping my tongue clean with my hooves trying to get the taste out. I've never been kissed by a mare before, and this was absolutely disgusting. I noticed Void Runner's worried expression and stopped over exaggerating. I forced myself to calm down and ask kindly. “Why did you do that?”

She shook her head and stammered. “I-I-I…j-just wanted…I like you…okay. You gave me mercy and I…I thought it might mean…something.”

I shook my head and explained. “I’m sorry but I’m not into mares. Besides you’re a little too young for my tastes.”

Void Runner looked away ashamed, and I gave her a hug and said. “I may not like you that way, but I don’t hate you either. We could still be great friends, if you promise never to kiss me again.”

Void Runner nodded before looking up at me with tears in her eyes. I then asked her. “But why did you have to tackle me, there must have been easier ways to kiss me.”

Void Runner then explained. “Oh…um I wasn’t going to do that at first, but then I noticed you almost open that mimic chest and I had to stop you.”

I found myself feeling ignorant so I asked her. “What’s a mimic?”

She looked back at the treasure chest and explained. “A mimic is a monster that pretends to be an object, like a treasure chest. Then they wait for their pray to get close enough to eat. And then snap, they eat you up, their very dangerous.”

I took another look at the treasure chest, and noticed that there was something off about the way it sat there. It looked like it wanted me to open it, in fact I thought I could almost see it moving. I decided it would be best to leave now.

On our way back I struck up a conversation with Void Runner. I asked her. “Why are you here? Are you following me?”

She looked away as she explained. “I was kicked out of the Silver Knights…I didn’t know what to do and I saw you in Ashwood. I thought maybe I could…I don’t know…fallow you maybe.”

I felt bad for her, all she wanted to do was impress this Silver pony and now…I looked ahead and asked. “So tell me about what you were doing before the Silver Knights.”

Void Runner looked at me sadly and said in a sorrowful. “I was a slave.”

I froze and looked at her. As she stopped next to me I asked. “What?”

She looked at me with the pain clear in her eyes as she told me. “I come from a small village called Void, my real name is Myst. When I was a very young filly, before obtaining my glyph mark, my village was raided and destroyed. I lost my tribe, my parents and my world that day. The…stallions who took me made me there personal slave.” She clenched her eyes shut as she added. “They did things to me, bad things. I was their…toy for years until Silver and his knights came down and killed my owners. They saved me and many others that day, although since I was the only child amongst the slaves I had nowhere to go.”

Her expression softened a little as a tear ran down her face as she then finished. “Silver took me in as his own kin. And he raised me, teaching me everything he knew. I became his daughter, and his scout. I had family and purpose. But since I broke his commandments when I chased after you, he abandoned me. Now I have no one.”

I couldn’t just let her go like this, she was a broken po-er zebra. I embraced her tightly and said. “You can stay by me, so long as you promise to get along as best as you can with everypony. I’ll be your friend, and so will everypony else.”

I pulled away and brushed some her black curls out of her face. She sniffled a little bit and said. “Thank you.”

We then continued to go and meet up with everypony.

In the entrance hall I found Rainfall hovering in the air next to Moon Shadow. Moon Shadow gave us a sour look and Rainfall rolled her eyes at him. Rainfall then said. “I don’t know what happened between you two, but I’ve found something important involving the butterfly thingy.”

I looked up at her ignoring the looks from Moon Shadow and asked her. “What did you find?”

She smiled and said. “I found a giant monster that kinda looks like a butterfly guarding the old tower. It was sleeping underneath the bridge leading to it. I believe that the Soul of the Moonlit Butterfly is being guarded by this thing.”

Void Runner then said surprised. “Wait a minute, are you three planning on taking the Moonlit Butterfly’s soul? Do you have any idea how tough those are without ranged combatants?”

I looked at her and asked. “Wait do you know what the Moonlit Butterfly thing is? How do we get it?”

She looked at me and said. “You have to kill the Moonlit Butterfly in order to get its soul. But those things are huge, and full of magic.”

Things were getting complicated now, like they always did.

The four of us advanced toward the tower located behind the castle. The only way there was through a bridge located on the third floor. The tower itself was very tall and very old. There was a stone bridge stretching from the third floor all the way to the tower. The bridge crossed over a deep gorge.

I looked at everypony and said. “Okay, we will need Range to deal with this thing. I have my magic, although I am still feeling a little exhausted from our earlier battle. What about you guys?”

Rainfall rolled her eyes and said. “I’m a huntress. I use bows and arrows duh.”

Moon Shadow said. “I’m still capable of using my energy shuriken.”

Void Runner looked shyly away as she said. “I…can punch things.”

I looked at her and remembered how she had fought us in the past, I suppose that she didn’t actually have any ranged combat skills. But surly she had something. I then asked. “Is there anything you can do?”

She looked at me and said. “I’ve been learning how to do alchemy, but unfortunately it’s really hard and time consuming. I don’t have anything else I can do at the moment.”

I let out a sigh before saying. “Okay, we need to bring it down onto the bridge to kill it anyway. We can’t risk killing it over that gorge. Once we bring it down with ranged moves, you need to crush its skull in.” after she nodded I looked forward to the tower and said. “Let’s do this.”

We stepped out onto the bridge together and walked across it. When we got to the middle I asked. “How do we get this thing out in the open?”

Rainfall gave me a sly grin before jumping into the air and flying over to the side. She then unfolded her bow and grabbed an arrow with her mouth. She lined the arrow with the bows string pulled back, and loosed the arrow. The arrow flew under the bridge. A loud humming sound began to emanate from under the bridge. I took a nervous step back and prepared myself for what was coming.

A giant butterfly with four teal colored wings and a dark green body flew up from underneath the bridge. Its antenna looked more like horns, that were spun around one another. The butterfly left sparkles in the air as it flew, the humming sound followed it. The hum almost sounded like a beautiful note being strung out. Its head was half as big as my entire body. This was the Moonlit Butterfly, and I was going to kill it.

Rainfall flew around the front of the Moonlit Butterfly firing arrows into upper left wing. Six orbs of blue light floated off of its horn and then quickly fired lasers of blue energy at the pegasus. She dodged them all easily enough. Moon Shadow fired a few of his green energy shuriken into the upper left wing as well, while I shot a fireball into the right wing.

The fireball flew in an ark before crashing and exploding across its wing. The wing caught aflame where the fireball had exploded, and the butterfly turned its attention towards us. It began flapping its wings at a faster pace in an attempt to extinguish the flames. A single large orb of blue energy floated of its horn and then became a large beam of blue energy aimed right at the three of us on the bridge.

I pushed Void Runner down behind the cover of the Bridge’s parapet. Moon Shadow and I both dropped to our bellies just as the beam raked the side of the bridge causing it to shake and shudder. After a few seconds it was clear that this monster wasn’t going to give up. I stood up and fired dual fireball’s at the Butterfly’s right wing.

As they collided and exploded the creatures note became sorrowful and it flew underneath the bridge. It rose up on the other side and shot the fast blue lasers at us on the bridge. The three of us ran towards the tower and took shelter inside; luckily none of us were hit by the beams.

Rainfall got its attention again by firing a series of three arrows into its left wing. We had to get the thing close so that it could die on the bridge. Otherwise we would lose the chance at getting its soul. I ran out of the tower and fired a single fireball at the monsters left wing, its right wing was still burning.

After shooting the fireball I suddenly felt dizzy, my head began to ache and my vision became blurry. The Butterfly began charging towards the bridge, but as I tried to move I nearly fell over. As it gained speed I felt something push me over onto my side. Just in time to miss being rammed by the Butterfly’s antenna horn.

Void Runner lay next to me, having just pushed me out of the way of the monster. We both watched in horror though as the Moonlit Butterfly began charging a large blue orb over its horn. Void Runner ran up to it and yelled. “NOT TODAY!”

She then apple bucked it in the face with such force that it was sent flying backwards off the bridge, and its magic disrupted. The Butterfly then flew up high and positioned itself over the bridge. As it began charging the large blue orb over its horn again, I shouted. “HIT WITH EVERYTHING YOU HAVE!”

I unleashed another dual fireball into its right wing, Moon Shadow sent a few green shuriken and a red one into its left wing. Moon Shadows explosive shuriken went off just as Rainfall swooped underneath the wing and then flew upward in a powerful spiral. Her serrated wing blades sliced right through the monsters wing as she flew through it.

The Moonlit Butterfly began falling towards the bridge and the three of us on the bridge ran away, towards the castle. Its large body crashed into the bridge hard. It lay there trying desperately to flap its broken wings. The song it was singing was very low, and very sad. Like a violin string. I felt pity for the broken creature.

Void Runner ran up, jumped into the air doing a flip and landed with her forehooves coming down on the monsters skull. There was a sickly crunching noise and with a sudden jerk the Moonlit Butterfly went limp, never to fly again.

Void Runner somersaulted off the head shouting excitedly. “We killed it, were so awesome.” She then threw her bloodied hooves into the air in triumph.

Moon Shadow wore a sad expression on his face as he said. “We just murdered it, a beautiful creature of magic.”

I looked at him and said. “I don’t necessarily like it either, but I promised the Soul to someone.”

Rainfall landed next to us and said. “Yeah, but we shouldn’t do this again. There aren’t very many of these things left. I don’t know what Masquerade wanted this for, but I don’t like killing these things. They say that Princess Celestia herself once made friends with a Moonlit Butterfly.”

I was a little shocked to hear that, I never would’ve thought about these things interacting with ponies in a social fashion. I really hoped Celestia wasn’t mad with me. I shook my head and asked. “So where is the soul?”

Void Runner said still excited. “Just watch, you’ll love this.”

We watched for a few seconds as nothing happened, I was about to open my mouth when the Moonlit Butterfly’s body began glowing a bright blue. The body then dissolved into motes of white and blue light, which then floated off into the distance. The only thing left behind was a white glowing orb. I picked up the orb and placed it inside my saddle bags. I now had the Soul of the Moonlit Butterfly, we could leave now.

Suddenly the bridge gave a horrible shudder, and the tower at the end was being enveloped in orange light. I looked up and noticed that the sky was quickly changing from midnight to afternoon. The orange light spread across the bridge like a tidal wave, and where it touched the bridge suddenly aged and fell down into the gorge far below us. Time was returning here and it was coming in with a vengeance.

We turned and ran for the exit. On our way out we had to dodge falling pieces of stone as the ceiling began collapsing from age. At one point a large piece of ceiling was falling over Moon Shadow, and Void Runner jumped up into the air and kicked it out of the way a second before it crushed him.

We got outside of the castle just in time as even the entrance collapsed and a tidal wave of dust swooped over us. We all stood still for a few moments panting, worried, and covered in dust. I finally looked back at the castle and was disappointed to see that almost the entire castle had now been leveled. The last three hundred years had not been kind in the slightest to this building.

Void Runner bounced up and down squealing. “That was AWESOME. We fought a giant monster, than we escaped a collapsing building. What are we gonna do next? Fight a dragon? Fight a demon? Sink a ship?”

I let out a sigh and then smiled at Void Runner, she really was a filly. I then looked at Moon Shadow and asked. “How did this happen?”

Moon Shadow stood up and said. “The fey energy that kept this place stuck in time is gone. It must have been the Moonlit Butterfly keeping this place alive. Congratulations, you killed a beautiful creature, and destroyed the Castle of the two sisters.”

I gave him a stern expression that meant for him to shut up, and he did. I looked back at the castle and said. “Well now we just have to return the Soul thingy to Masquerade.”

Chapter ten: a nights respite

EQUESTRIAN SOULS
Chapter ten: A nights respite
Written by TheCrimsonDM

We had arrived at my old home, The Lit Fuse tavern, in the late afternoon with little trouble. The four of us got to work cleaning the place up. We worked mostly on just getting the broken furniture out of the way and putting the door back up. Upstairs I gave everypony the choice of their own bedroom. Void Runner seemed to be the most excited about that.

It took a few hours but with a little help from my friends, and a nice a little song we got it done. My old bar was finally rebuilt. I was very happy about this to say the least. It was fairly late with the sun almost gone by the time we had finished though. I had really hopped that Storm Feather would be back by now, but I knew I would see him again soon.

I had tried to find Masquerade when we first arrived back in town, but I was unable to find him. So we cleaned the house instead. I decided I would give another try at finding Masquerade tonight before the sun got too low in the horizon.

In town I found a lot of ponies going about their daily lives, washing rags and clothing. Cooking delicious smelling food. Even found a group of colts playing hide and seek. Finally I came across the familiar feeling of magic coming off of an abandoned building. I went inside already knowing what I would find there.

Although the layout inside the building was different then the last time, there were plenty of familiar things. The masks, the weapons, and the handsome blue earth pony stallion wearing a mask. I walked up to him and said. “Masquerade. I got the Moonlit Butterfly Soul for you.”

He gave me a playful grin and said. “Oh, thank you my dear. And how was the little huntress?”

I was happy to tell him. “She’s doing great, it looks like I have two new additions to my team.”

Even though he was wearing a mask I got the oddest feeling that he was raising an eyebrow as he asked. “Oh, and who are they?”

I held a hoof to my chest in pride as I said. “Rainfall the awesome archer, and Void Runner the crazy hoof to hoof fighter.”

Masquerade looked a little serious as he said. “Crazy is right, you may regret bringing her along with you.”

I gave him a sour look and said. “My team, my friends, my rules. You can’t tell me what to do.”

He gave a small chuckle and said. “That’s just what you used to say to her.”

I opened my mouth to ask him who he was referring to but Masquerade cut me off by saying. “Now onto the matter of that soul you have with you.”

I looked at my saddlebags and began to reach for it with my magic, but stopped as he raised a hoof and said. “I’m sorry but another...adventure has already brought me one. I want you to keep that. Besides it will be important for this next part.”

I gave him a confused look for a few seconds, and then I remembered he now owed me payment for the quest. Even if he didn’t need the stupid soul thingy, I went and got it, so I needed pay. I looked him dead in the eyes, which was hard because his mask covered them almost entirely. I then said. “Alright, I need to be paid for the quest.”

He gave me a grin and said. “That is exactly what I expected from you. Alright, I can give you access to a rare and powerful sword. One that will not break from common use as you’re other two blades have done. There is only a small issue with this though. You will need to find it.”

I looked at him skeptically and said. “Oh really, you don’t happen to have the location of this sword do you?”

He continued to smile as he explained. “Yes I do, well to be precise I know both the places where the sword is located. You see it’s the sword you had been trying to find once in the past. The handle and the blade had been separated from one another a long time ago in an attempt to keep them safe.”

I looked away and muttered. “Great, now I’m going to be searching everywhere for a magic sword.”

He gave another small chuckle at me and continued. “The blade is protected by a great and powerful spirit, you will find it inside the home that is no more. The handle however is located up high, a place where you had once rested and awoke to a new life.”

I really hated cryptic advice like this, but at least he was going easy on me. I sat there for a moment and thought about what he had said. A home that is no more, that could be ponyville, maybe it’s in my old home there. The other one is up high, a mountain or a tower, a castle maybe. But it’s where I had once been resting and a found a new life. That one was hard because I couldn’t remember much of my life from before…The Asylum.

I looked up at him and asked. “Do you mean that I have to go to both Ponyville, and The Asylum?”

He smiled and said. “That’s a good girl, you will also need that Moonlit Butterfly’s soul to repair the old weapon. You best take care with gathering everything though, you could cross a line that cannot be undone.”

I nodded in understanding and left his shop. I was more then grateful for the information. I was going to go and get myself an awesome sword. What could be better than that?

***

Back at the my old bar the Lit Fuse tavern, I found myself sitting at a table drinking a little bit of the alcohol from the cellar. There was a distinct flavor of apples in it, I didn’t much care for apples. Moon Shadow was sitting across from me with a questioning stare. I tried to ignore him for a few minutes but eventually it became less awkward and more annoying.

I let out a sigh and asked. “What do you want Shadow?”

He continued looking on in silence for a few moments, and I could swear his eyes just looked…off. Almost like he wasn’t entirely there, but he answered anyway. “What are we doing next? We fixed up the bar, we got two more allies, and we will be getting Storm Feather tomorrow. What do we do now?”

I took another drink from what I’ve decided had to be Cider before answering. “We will be sneaking into Ponyville so I can grab something from my house, then we head for Asylum. “

He didn’t change his expression as he asked. “Why are we sneaking into Ponyville. You could just ask for permission from Twilight Sparkle.”

It was now my turn to give him the questioning stare. He explained further. “We could head to New Canterlot tomorrow after picking up Storm Feather. Since you have a connection to Twilight Sparkle she may be willing to allow you passage through Ponyville.”

I wasn’t sure about that, three hundred years of being a princess and a leader. That had too of changed her significantly, although I could hardly remember anything about her that could hurt my chances. But if she remembered me, she might be willing to let me pass. This could work.

I gave a small smile to Moon Shadow and said. “Alright, let’s do that. How long does it take to get there?”

Moon Shadow was silent for a few moments while he thought to himself, then he said. “If I remember correctly it’s about an eight hour journey from Ashwood on hoof.”

That was a good thing to hear. It was decided, tomorrow I would pick up Storm Feather, and then the five of us would head to New Canterlot. Hopefully everything would work out okay, otherwise I may have to ransack Ponyville in order to get the darn sword. I continued drinking for a little while before finally heading upstairs and going to sleep for the night in a soft wonderful bed.

***

In my dreams I found myself walking through a dense forest of crystallized trees, the trees were all made from various shades of blue. As I walked further along I became increasingly aware of the fact that I wasn’t alone in here. I could catch glimpses of things moving out of the corner of my vision, and hear things moving just out of sight.

I turned to see if anypony was behind me, only to find nothing. In addition the road I was walking on had vanished from behind me. I looked ahead and there was no read there either. I was scared, lost, and alone. I knelt down and began sobbing from it all. There was a deep sense of pain that I couldn’t understand, and the frustration only made me cry harder.

After what felt like an eternity I heard a gentle voice calling out to me. It was a mere whisper at first but as I listened in it became stronger. It increased in volume until it was a shout, and I could tell where it was coming from.

I ran towards the shouting, faster than I had ever done so before. I couldn’t be left alone in this forest anymore. The trees began to make terrible cracking sounds behind me as I ran. Something was chasing me, and it wanted me dead. I refused to give in though and pushed myself past my limits causing pain to burn through my legs.

I finally reached a clearing and as I entered it the noise behind me vanished. I stood there feeling safe, but I was still alone. I laid down on the blue grass beneath me, the blank sky offered no heat, but it wasn’t cold here either. I closed my eyes giving in to the loneness again.

The same voice from before, that of a young mare began speaking gently to me. “Light it’s okay, you’re safe now.”

I looked up to see the little blue mare with the green hair smiling down at me. She still looked like a teenager, but she made me feel like I was safe. I asked her. “What was that?”

She laid down next to me and said softly. “It was your own fears. You fear being alone so much that it is beginning to creep into your dreams.”

I sniffled a little bit as I said. “But I have so many friends now. Why am I still scared?”

Dream Weaver looked away for a moment as she contemplated my question. Finally she said. “Have you any regrets? Is there anything that you want to tell somepony but have been too afraid to say?”

I looked away from her and muttered. “Well…there is Storm Feather. But he’s on a trip with his family right now.”

Moon Weaver then said. “That must be it, you’re afraid that you will lose him before you can tell him whatever it is that you wanted too. You must tell him soon, or you’re fear will begin to eat you from the inside.”

I looked at her and said. “Thank you Dreamer.”

She looked away shyly and said. “It’s no problem…were friends after all. And this is kinda my thing.”

We stayed quiet after that as we rested in each other’s company. After awhile I felt myself beginning to wake up, so I gave her my farewell and said. “I’ll see you next time Dreamer.”

As everything began to brighten she said. “Good luck Light.”

Then I awoke.

***

We had Moon Shadow cook breakfast for us again, although he wasn’t alone. Void Runner decided to help him as much as she could. When we finally got around to eating we had pancakes sitting in front of us. I expected them to be bland and boring, but these were delicious and flavorful.

I looked up at Moon Shadow and said. “These are delicious. Thanks.”

Moon Shadow looked at Void Runner and said. “Actually I was destroying them, if not for Myst here we would have to eat more mush.”

I cocked my head to the side and asked. “Who?”

Void Runner looked at me and said. “My real name is Myst…don’t you remember? Anyways I want you guys to start using it, that old title is a bore anyways.”

I looked at Void Runner-er-I mean Myst and said. “Alright Myst, I’ll keep that in mind.”

After breakfast we went down to the Crusader’s guild hall and found Storm Feather standing outside. He was wearing some new armor, it was more shiny and had gold trimming. His armors chest piece now held the insignia of the sun on it. I couldn’t help myself as I galloped to him and pounced on him wrapping both of my forelegs around his thick neck and giving him the tightest hug I possibly could.

Although he was a little shocked at first he quickly returned the favor giving me a tight but gentle hug. After I finally let go I said. “Stormy I missed you so much. And I have an awesome story to tell you all about.”

He smiled and said. “That sounds wonderful, I can’t wait to hear it Light…I missed you too.”

I grinned widely at him. Then he looked at the ponies and zebra fallowing me. He pointed a talon at Myst and said. “Void Runner, what are you doing here?”

Myst looked away shyly and said. “I…um…I decided to join you guys.”

Storm Feather looked at me and asked. “Is this true?”

I nodded and explained. “She got kicked out of her home because of me, and then she saved me…twice. The least I can do is offer her a spot on the team. Besides that, her combat skills are impressive.”

Storm Feather gave me a stern look for a few seconds and then relaxed letting out a sigh. He then said. “So long as she stays good, then I will offer her a chance at redemption.”

I could understand why he would be upset, Myst had nearly killed us all once before, especially after how badly she hurt Storm Feather. I was glad that he was taking this a lot better than Moon Shadow had. Even after being saved by her he was still not okay with this. Hopefully his stubbornness would subside in time.

I explained to everypony the plan. We were going to head to New Canterlot and get Twilight’s permission to enter Ponyville. After that we were going to the Asylum. After I rebuilt my sword we would take a look at how we were all holding up, and then perhaps we could venture into the Grays. Everypony agreed with the plan, and after resupplying on food and drinks we began our journey to the kingdom of New Canterlot, Twilight’s kingdom.

Chapter Twelve: Entangled Hearts

EQUESTRIAN SOULS
Chapter twelve: entangled hearts
Written by TheCrimsonDM

The next day I found myself leading my friends into the woodland just north of Twilight’s Kingdom. The woodland here was actually part of a forest once called Whitetail Woods. The Running of the Leaves was held here in part once a year, a very long time ago. I doubted that we would ever see another Running of the Leaves. Looking up at the sun I just couldn’t believe that Twilight was left alone to take care of both the sun and the moon. Along with everything else.

We were simply looking for the Silver’s Knights base camp, when we find it we were going to destroy their supplies. We didn’t need to do anything too violent, if we could pull this off without being caught. It was imparritive that we did this mission without being caught.

I had both Moon Shadow and Myst in my team at the moment. Storm Feather and Rainfall were staying behind at the castle. I hated leaving Storm Feather behind even for a moment, but he was simply too loud for a stealth mission. Rainfall stayed behind to keep him company.

The base camp wasn’t as far as I had thought it would be and was fairly easy to spot. I looked down at the camp and could see around fifteen different soldiers all wearing silver armor. Most of them had long swords, but a few had spears or bows. I really didn’t’ want to mess around with these guys.

We moved around the outside of the camp keeping to the tree line and examining the camp. It looked like there supplies were being unloaded into a couple of different tents at the back, and this is where things were going to get tricky. It would be easy to destroy the supplies with my fire magic, but that would draw all sorts of unwanted attention. Moon Shadow had his red shuriken spell, but the timer on that wasn’t long enough for us to escape.

“So any plans on how to destroy the supplies and get out without too much commotion?” I asked the others.

Moon Shadow said, “I can do this, but it will be risky.”

Myst then added, “I could whip up some explosive chemicals.”

Me and Moon Shadow both looked back at her in confusion hoping she would explain further. Myst explained, “well I know alchemy, I’m not the best, but explosions are something I’m good at. I finally restocked my supplies while in the city.”

I would be lying if I said that I wasn’t excited to find out what my little zebra could do. Me and Moon Shadow watched from our hiding spot as Myst brought out some different powders from her jacket. She worked quickly to add various things together before finally adding a thick red liquid to a glass jar and sealing a lid on it tightly.

Myst then gave the glass filled with a red liquid to Moon Shadow while saying, “It’s not nearly as good as say…dynamite, but this causes fire to spread like crazy fast. You just need to place this somewhere near the goods and then puncture the lid, once you do that we have about sixty seconds to sneak away before it explodes.”

Moon Shadow nodded in understanding before sneaking off into the camp. We waited and watched as he sneaked into the camp, and go inside the largest tent. We watched him come back out after a few moments and he made his way back to us at a quickened pace. We were about to turn and run when fire erupted out of the tent and covered the nearby tents as well. The soldiers began scurrying towards the tents as we turned and left stealthily.

***

Our return to the kingdom was hastened by the fact that the soldiers behind us were approaching faster than I had expected. Traveling through the forest had us climbing, jumping and running through the heavy foliage. I didn’t want to be forced into a conflict with the soldiers, but the further we ran the less possible that seemed.

After galloping straight for nearly ten minutes we had slowed down from exhaustion by a great deal. I got my first look at our pursuers than. There was five ponies fallowing us, from my quick glance they all looked to be earth ponies. Wearing leather armor allowing them to move easily through the forest, they moved with practiced ease compared to us.

I knew we weren’t going to be able to outrun them anytime soon so I stopped and turned on them. Two arrows went flying right passed my head as I did. I charged towards them while pulling out my war hammer with my magic. The five of them separated on my approach.

One of them was too late to move and I smashed my hammer into his skull with a bone crushing thud. The earth pony before me fell limp before my hooves. His blood coated the top of my hammer where his skull had given way to its weight.

I froze as I stared at his body, I had just killed a fellow pony. I nearly dropped my weapon at the shock of my realization. I had killed monsters, dogs, and undead. But I had never killed a living pony before, not one of my own kind. This felt…wrong.

I stood still a little too long and felt a terrible pain cut across my side in an instant. I looked over seeing a new tear in my leather armor, and an earth pony staring at me while holding a whip in his mouth.

Rage took over and forced my fear away as I charged at him swinging my hammer. He dodged my slow weapon with deft ease. I looked to my right just in time to see something flying towards me. I managed jump back just as an arrow passed by my muzzle, missing by a hair. The whip pony took another swing at me causing me to move back even further.

He continued to attack forcing me to back away more and more. I looked behind myself just in time to dodge another pony who had set up an ambush for me. The pony tried to stab at me with a glowing dagger made of pure energy being held aloft in its blue magic aura.

I managed to position myself behind the unicorn just in time as the whip came cracking down a second time striking his ally and ripping a large section of flesh away from him. The unicorn fell to his knees screaming in agony and I took the opportunity to charge at the whip pony.

I didn’t use my hammer for this attack, instead I used my hooves and with lightning speed I began smacking the whip pony repeatedly in the face. After the third strike the whip pony went down and my hooves came back red.

I looked up and saw one of the archer ponies staring me down. He had a bow in his hooves as he stood on his hind legs. He loosed the arrow just as Myst jumped from a tree branch with a pair of deadly hooves aimed at him. I unleashed a spray of fire in an attempt to stop the arrow.

The ‘now’ flaming arrow hit me imbedding itself into my left shoulder. I screamed out in pain and quickly ripped the arrow out. I instantly regretted that as the pain tore through my shoulder told me that I just made a mistake. The amount of blood I saw coming out of my wound didn’t help either.

I quickly grabbed my healing flask and took a drink from it. As my body healed I saw Moon Shadow approach me, his daggers were held aloft in his telekinesis, stained with blood. Myst joined at his side and walked towards me. I turned to leave just as I realized that the unicorn was still alive.

I quickly walked towards the unicorn who lay on the ground, his back had suffered a grievous wound. This wound wouldn’t kill him so long as his comrades came to his aid quickly enough. I looked over to Myst and she began digging through her bags for her healing flask. I didn’t want to leave this guy wounded like this, not when danger lurked out there.

Moon Shadow stomped his hoof and said, “are you serious? He’s going to tell his friends who did this, and then there will be trouble for your old teacher. This could start a full blown war Light.”

Myst stopped looking in her saddle bags for a few seconds and looked to me for advice. I didn’t’ want to kill this pony, he didn’t deserve to die just for being on the wrong side. But at the same time he was going to betray us to his soldiers and Moon Shadow was right, this could start a war. I…knew what to do.

I closed my eyes and felt the weight on my hammer in my magical grasp. I didn’t want to do this, and I knew that I could just have Moon Shadow do it for me…after all he was better at this kind of stuff. I knew that I had to be the one to do this, because I was the one who brought everypony out here, because I was there leader.

I opened my eyes and looked upon the pained face of the unicorn. He had light blue fur and a gray mane sticking out between his violet eyes. His eyes were full of pain, and fear. I could tell he didn’t want this, but he already knew what I was going to do.

I swung my hammer down and felt the weapon go through the unicorn’s skull. I stared at the now limp body for a few moments before finally pulling my hammer free. I ignored the looks from both Moon Shadow and Myst, and began moving at a trot towards the kingdom. I don’t know how I did it, but I managed to stay strong and not cry all the way back to the kingdom. I think I earned some respect from the two of them for that action. But I found myself questioning whether it was the kind of respect that I wanted.

***

I couldn’t stay still while at the castle itself, so I decided to explore New Canterlot. Killing that soldier had upset me, and I wasn’t sure what to do about it. Moon Shadow had obviously appreciated the act but then again he was always more aggressive than me. Myst was a little bit off, and these people had betrayed her. I understood why she wasn’t upset with the unicorns death.

I on the other hoof wasn’t sure how to feel about this. I had just killed an injured pony, a defenseless pony. It felt wrong, but I knew that I had to do it. Even if I had asked Moon Shadow to do this for me, then it would have just shown a weakness that as his leader…I could never have again.

Memories of the Mire, and how I nearly got everypony I cared about killed by being unprepared and irrational were playing through my mind. I was their leader, I knew this was true but it didn’t help that even after the Mire I nearly killed them again by trying to fight my way into Ponyville. I’m glad that Moon Shadow had told me to come here to Princess Twilight and ask permission first. It was nice not having to throw my friends into the deep end for another crazy quest of mine. I often found myself wondering why they even followed me.

I knew that I needed to become tough, to become strong. That meant I needed to be able to handle any threat, and be willing to brave certain dangers alone. I would also need to take responsibility for my friends, their actions were my actions. I also needed to be the one who made the hard decisions, and did the hard things. I couldn’t let them do this. It was my burden to bear.

The city of New Canterlot was a little different from what I had expected. There were soldiers around every corner, all of them would give me their respects as I passed. Some of them told me how much of a hero I was too them for standing up too King Silver. Others however looked at me like I was somehow a villain, but they still gave me their respect. I guessed that I had earned it.

The civilian ponies around the city were usually found in the bustling markets doing trade, or at the restaurants making small talk. I found ponies playing games, and some making art. My favorite ponies were the ones who would sing. A few times I found the soldiers singing alongside them, this place was peaceful and happy, at least in the busy sections of the city.

There were a lot of places in the city where I didn’t see any ponies expect for the guards walking by. More guards seemed to be posted closer to the walls, and with more guards came less civilians. That worried me, I would’ve figured that ponies would be out and about all through the city. Not all huddled into the most popular spots, closer to the castle.

With the amount of guards I saw around the city. I could tell that Twilight truly was prepared for war. Should anything come bearing down her front door they would find themselves in for a world of hurt. I continued exploring the city until it got late in the afternoon when I finally decided to come back to the castle of gold and see my friends again.

***

On my way back I found myself pleasantly interrupted by my good friend Storm Feather. The brown feathered and handsome griffon landed next to me, his trademarked heavy armor was replaced by some red and gold colored robes. The symbol of the sun was embroded in gold on his chest. I could feel my face warming to his presence.

“Light, I have been searching for you since your return,” Storm Feather said in a worried tone.

I looked away not wanting to look into his eyes. I knew that I had been avoiding him. I just didn’t want to think about…things. I then asked, “Why, is something wrong?”

He approached me and said, “I was told about your stealth mission for the princess…and how it didn’t go quite as planned.”

I refused to look into his face as I said, “does anything ever go as planned.”

Storm Feather gave me a kind smile. I couldn’t help but look at him now. “No plan survives contact with the enemy. That’s something my father always taught me,” Storm Feather explained.

I looked around and noticed that the two of us were on one of those empty roads. There were a few soldiers walking by but other than that this road was quiet. I could tell what he was wanting to know, and to be truthful he wasn’t the only one.

“Light,” Storm Feather began saying in a kind and gentle voice, “My clan has been at war with the Rainbow cult almost all of my life. I have seen, and…done some things that I am not proud of. The second I was old enough I left out on a journey to find something better than what I had seen. I joined the Crusaders hoping to become a hero, or at least to find some adventure. But when my clan truly needs me I go back and aid them as best I can. I am one of their strongest warriors after all.”

I looked up into his eyes, and where I expected to find pity I found understanding. I asked, “what does that have to with me though?”

Storm Feather looked deeply into my eyes and explained, “I understand what doing hard things to protect the ones you love feels like. You are not alone Light.”

I could feel tears running down my face, those last words hit me hard and my emotional walls broke. I wasn’t supposed to falter and cry on him anymore, I was supposed to be strong but I needed him so badly. I couldn’t stop myself as I told him, “I killed a defenseless pony, there was no honor, no challenge, nothing good about it all. I murdered him so that Twilight wouldn’t be suspected.”

I felt Storm Feather wrap his arms around me and say, “you protected your friends, like you always do. You are a good pony, even when you do the hard things. By knowing that what you did was not just, but needed, you are able to keep your honor. I would be worried if you could do this, and not feel pain over it.”

I wrapped my hooves around him and cried into his chest. Storm Feather was the best thing I had going for me right now. Everything else was just so hard. Reed was completely gone, I was chasing his ghost if even that much. My other friends seemed to be more heartless or hardened then me. And I was still expected to be the leader. The only one who could help me when I broke was Storm Feather and I still couldn’t tell him the three words that I really needed to.

I looked up at him and found something that surprised even me, Storm Feather was crying. He stared at me with an expression of compassion, and understanding. He held me tightly and I felt warm and safe in his embrace. I knew why he was crying, he was a sensitive griffon, and he hurt for me. He understood and cried along with me so that I wouldn’t be alone. He was the perfect pony, even if he was actually a griffon.

We stared into each other’s eyes for a few moments longer. I was about to crumble into a puddle of goo from the feelings I got from his wonderful look. That’s when he closed his eyes and began leaning towards me. Maybe if I was in a more stable state I would have done things differently but right now I needed him, and I needed this. And I kissed him.

***

The night went a little differently then I had planned as we returned together. Storm Feather had wrapped a wing over me and held me tightly next to him. I wasn’t sure where this was going to end up, but I was willing to give this, to give us a try. I didn’t think that I would ever be able to let go of Reed, but I would try to move on.

Moon Shadow was the first one to pick up on what had happened between me and Storm Feather. He gave me a disapproving look at first, but as he studied us his expression softened and I even saw a smile from him. He wasn’t going to say a word, but he gave me his support through his expressions.

Rainfall didn’t notice at first, but after a while of watching me and Storm Feather I think she figured it out. I couldn’t stop from blushing around him now, even when I tried to be serious, and I don’t know why but every little thing he said made me happy. I really did love Storm Feather. Myst on the other hoof was completely oblivious or unwilling to accept my feelings for Storm Feather. Either way she wasn’t commenting on it. I felt like that was a small blessing.

At one point I had to painstakingly tear myself away from Storm Feather. I needed to speak with Twilight in person, and in private. At this time of night the throne room had emptied and Twilight was on a balcony that overlooked the entire city. The lights hung around the city were really nice, but after having seen the city I wasn’t sure that those lights belonged to actual ponies, or whether they belonged to ghosts.

Twilight didn’t look back at me as she stared out over her entire city. “Light, look at this place. At night it looks so lovely, but during the day…it’s so empty anymore,” Twilight said, not once taking her eyes off the city.

I walked up and sat next to her. Her height bothered the part of my brain that was happy about being a tall mare. I cleared my throat a little nervously before asking, “how come the city looks so full at night. I walked around today, and there are parts of this place that feel like a ghost town.”

Twilight looked down at me and explained, “a lot of ponies have left the city, most of them going to my southern towns. The threat that King Silver pose’s is a frightening one. I mean he couldn’t get into my city, but he could destroy my outlying villages if he wanted to.”

I looked up at her and said, “but if King Silver did that, than he would risk retribution. You and me would kick his butt.”

Twilight gave me an odd look before smiling and saying, “Yeah we would. We would go all Rainbow Dash on him.”

I smiled in agreement. We sat there quietly for a few minutes simply watching the sky. Twilight finally broke the silence by saying, “thanks for your help today. I have received word that Silver’s forces are suffering. They suspect the bandits, or me. They have no evidence it was me though so they won’t retaliate for now. Raising the sun and moon has been hard enough, but I don’t think I could handle another war.”

I looked at Twilight in disbelief, had she really been raising the sun and moon all by herself. “You have been raising the sun and the moon? By yourself? For how long?”

She looked at me with sad eyes. “I’ve been helping raise the sun for the past three hundred years. But the moon I’ve only been raising for the past twenty or so.”

“Why weren’t you raising the moon?” I asked feeling even more curious.

She looked at me with sad eyes before saying, “because until then Luna was helping me.”

I looked around and then back to her and asked, “what happened?”

“Luna had been using dark magic. Trying to keep us safe, and to keep her own powers strong. Eventually she became curoupted and we saw another Nightmare Moon, only this time without any elements of harmony…you were forced to…stop her. Now I’m the only princess left,” she explained.

Twilight gave a sniffle before continuing, “I just can’t believe she is gone. We were together for three hundred years. Just the two of us fighting against all odds, making a peaceful kingdom where we ruled in equal power. After I lost her, I just…It’s been so hard.”

There was something deeper in the way she talked about Luna. I could feel it, she had loved Luna very deeply and her lose was devastating. The worst part was I had been the one to stop her. I don’t know how Twilight could still care about me after something like that, I took away Luna…shouldn’t I be the evil one here?

Twilight looked at me and it was like she could read my mind as she said, “please don’t worry about it. I was the one who told you to finish it, actually I ordered you to stop her at all cost. You had asked me not to send you, but after what Nightmare Moon had done to me, my city, and my people I had to stop her. I sent you after her like a hound from Tartarus and you did your job exceedingly well. I’m the villain here, not you.”

I didn’t remember what had happened but I knew just how painful it was for her. I leaned over and gave Twilight a hug. Maybe I couldn’t fight he pain away with a hammer, but I could certainly shield her with my love.

***

It was a depressing walk back to my room but on my approach I saw Storm Feather walking down the hallway. Just seeing him quickly cheered me up. I quickly caught up to him and said playfully, “HI, what are ya doin?”

He looked at me and grinned before saying, “I was looking for you. It’s getting late and I wanted to see you off to bed. Who knows when we will receive time for peace like this again?”

I quickly gave him a kiss and said, “Yeah I bet you did.”

That made the griffon blush, which as I was finding out wasn’t as hard as one would believe. He looked away and said, “I was only-“

I cut him off with another and much deeper kiss. He didn’t have any choice. After all, he had said that we may not have time for peace again, so I was going to exploit the heck out of our time. After a few moments of kissing I pulled back and let him have a breather. I wasn’t sure that he knew exactly what to do. But with the warm spring air hanging around I did.

I turned around and began walking away as he stood there frozen. My tail swaying back and forth. About five feet away I turned and asked, “are you coming or not?”

He continued looking confused for a moment, which was cute, before he finally got the idea and began fallowing me. I lead him to my bed room, and decided that for tonight I would be willing to share it with him. He tried valiantly to argue about chivalry until I kissed him again and wrapped my tail around his neck. Maybe it was the kiss, or maybe it was his now unobstructed view on a certain part of my anatomy but either way he fallowed me willingly into my nest. That was a night that neither of us were going to forget anytime soon.

Chapter Thirteen: Ponyville

EQUESTRIAN SOULS
Chapter thirteen: Ponyville
Written by TheCrimsonDM

I found myself walking through the ancient castle of green marble. I was in my dream world again. The castle around me was looking in better shape than before. It was less destroyed, things were beginning to look whole now. I wondered if that was a sign of my mind repairing itself.

I stumbled upon a new room in the castle, one that I had found interesting. Inside I found a round flat table with numerous indents on top of it. There were five lights on the table, glowing little orbs floating just above the surface of the table. One of them was an amber color, while the other four surrounding it were gold.

I wasn’t sure how I knew, but I knew exactly what this was. It was a representation of me and my closest friends. I was the amber colored light, while my friends were all the gold ones around me. I could make out the tiny face of each one of the lights as I looked deeper into the them. This table was a representation of my friends and who was close to me, although I had a feeling that this table had more to it then what I already knew.

I looked behind me and saw Dream Weaver standing there looking at me, she looked a little worried. I gave her a reassuring smile and said, “well I told him how I feel…kinda.”

She gave me an odd look prompting me to explain further, “I didn’t say it with words, I told him with actions. We…well you know, had a wonderful night.”

She stayed quiet for a moment as she tried to understand what I just implied. Dream Weaver then made a disgusted face and said, “ew, why did you tell me about ‘that’?”

I looked away feeling a little ashamed as I explained, “well you told me what I needed to do to calm my fears…so I just thought you would want to know that I…fixed it.”

Dream Weaver gave me a smile and said, “well I’m glad that you told him about your feelings, but please don’t give me details in the future. It’s kinda gross.”

I gave a little laugh at the adolescent pony, I then walked over to her and gave her a hug while saying, “I also had a rough day yesterday. I did something bad and learned about something else I did in the past. Something I’m not proud of.”

Dream Weaver looked up at me and asked nervously, “what happened?”

I looked away and said, “I had to kill a defenseless pony…if I didn’t Twilight would’ve been put in danger and I couldn’t let that happen. I also learned that I was the one who killed Princess Luna…I killed a princess.” It was odd how numb I felt to the idea of killing a princess, in fact I felt numb about having murdered the soldier pony.

Dream Weaver looked sad. She gave me a hug now and said, “life has become hard for ponies, sometimes the hard choices must be made. At least I can give you some solace by telling you that Luna doesn’t hate you for what you did. In fact she thanks you for stopping her from adding even more pain to this world already smothered in it.”

“How do you know that?” I asked.

“The same way that I know you can help fix things here, Light your story won’t be the one you think it is. Nor are you going to be the pony you think you will be. Your story will become darker as you fight, but you need to continue through the horrors. Only you can end the tragedy that is already beginning, King Silver is the reason that things are not exactly as they seem,” Dream Weaver explained.

I didn’t know what she meant by that, and I was going to ask more but my dream world was enveloped by a bright white light before I got the chance.

***

I woke up feeling physically exhausted, Dream Weavers last words repeated in my head. I didn’t know what kind of horrors I was going to face, but if I faced them with my friends I would surely survive. A sudden movement from under my pillow caused me to open my eyes and study my surroundings.

It wasn’t my pillow that had shifted, for my pillow was behind me. My head was resting on the strong and warm feathery chest of Storm Feather. I could feel his arm wrapped around me holding me tightly. I snuggled closer into his chest and took in his scent. He smelled heavenly, even through the smell of our late night deeds wafting in the air.

The sun was shining through my window reminding me that Twilight had rose the sun for us. I couldn’t break away from Storm Feather’s embrace, it was simply too hard to pull away from such a wonderful griffon like him. I looked up into his sleeping face, he looked so peaceful lying next to me. I couldn’t remember a time that I had been this happy. Storm Feather was my knight in shining, heavy, noisy armor.

I looked around the room and noticed that his robes had been laid down on a chair in the corner, his armor was not in here. So that meant his armor was probably in his own room. I wasn’t ready for everypony to know that I had been with Storm Feather the last night, and really hopped they wouldn’t find out yet.

I gave up on trying to worry about anything and simply stayed next to Storm Feather. He could hold me all day if he wanted to. I had no objection to the idea.

***

A couple of hours later we had managed to eat breakfast, pick up supplies, and gather our equipment in the short amount of time. We were ready to leave to Ponyville. We met outside with the two groups of Pegasi soldiers wearing golden armor. They were attached to two chariots and were going to fly us to Ponyville, after that we may need to hoof it. There were two pegasi per carriage.

Storm Feather and I shared one chariot, while my other three friend got onto the other one. The pegasi began galloping and then took flight. They were taking us to Ponyville and despite the fact that it took us nearly all day to walk here from Ashwood, it only took an hour to arrive in Ponyville. Pegasi flight was truly the best way to travel.

When we landed everypony got out and we were met by the White unicorn and his hunters. The white unicorn Archmage greeted us, “welcome to Ponyville, or what’s left of it.” he gave my group a serious look from underneath his red hooded robes and added, “only Light is allowed to follow me from here. My hunters will stay behind to watch over you.”

Rainfall gave a snort and said, “what you think we’re going to sneak around town while Light is doing whatever?”

The Archmage looked at her and said, “Yes.”

My group became a little more quiet, but just before I left them Strom Feather whispered to me, “if you need us, we will be here for you.”

I gave him a reassuring smile and then left them behind as the Archmage led me into the town.

***

About ten minutes of walking later he said, “I’m too take you to your old home, and any other location in Ponyville you want to visit. That is any location except for Twilight’s old castle.”

I looked at him and felt worried as I asked, “why is that?”

He didn’t’ look at me but he gave me his answer saying, “there are secrets there that you are not…ready for. Twilight has informed me that you will be told eventually, but that you need to finish your current journey before you can be trusted with this secret.”

I felt anger rising up inside of me, I didn’t know why he was telling me this. But knowing that you can’t know something is infuriating. I also found myself angry that Twilight couldn’t trust me with this, hadn’t I proven myself? Maybe not, I mean I don’t actually remember who I used to be so how could I be trusted yet.

I let out a sigh of resentment and accepted this for now. I decided to change the conversation. “So,” I began asking, “do you have a name other then Archmage? Or did your parents really name you that?”

That earned me a glare from the Archmage as he explained annoyed, “Archmage is a title, one that I pride myself for having. But if you must know my name, it’s Lamont. I cannot believe that you do not remember me.”

Amnesia sucked. I replied, “well sorry for not knowing who you are, I don’t remember much of anything. If I did things would’ve been easier.”

Lamont didn’t look at me but he said, “it’s fine, sometimes we have to make sacrifices in order to protect others. I guess yours was your memory.”

We continued walking for a little while longer around the edge of town until we reached the old single story house just down the road from the school house. This house looked a little small but was in almost perfect condition. Lamont stopped and looked at me saying, “well this is your home…I won’t follow you inside.”

I began walking nervously toward the front door and stopped as soon as I heard Lamont say, “be careful Light…I can’t promise what you will find in there but it could be…tragic. The loss of Ponyville was a tragedy back in the day, and I know that you never once came back to visit here in all the years you had to do so.”

I didn’t like the way he said that, it sounded like something was waiting for me in here. Something that could hurt me, physically or emotionally, maybe even both. I didn’t’ know what I would find but I feared it would be terrible. No matter what it was though, I needed to find the sword. Something told me that it was very important.

***

I walked inside and found myself standing in a living room/kitchen area. The kitchen was only separated by a wither high wooden wall that had several pots with dead plants sitting on top of. The kitchen was small with a small dinner table and four chairs sitting next to it. Something hit my heart with a sudden force, a deep emotional pain as I realized that the ponies who should be sitting in those chairs were most likely dead.

I looked away from the kitchen it hurt too much to look at it any further. I moved into the living room and was happy to see how well my old house had held up after three hundred years. It was possible that there was a magical spell keeping this place standing.

The living area had two sofa’s facing each other with a coffee table in between them. There were several book shelves against the wall, every book looked very old but still readable. Twilight may enjoy getting her hooves on some of these. I examined the books looking for anything to catch my interest and was surprised at the kinds of books I found.

There were soft core romance novels at the top, this didn’t strike me as being odd. The middle section of the shelves had various books about psychology, further down I found self help books. Most of them talking about cheering yourself up, or about how to keep a healthy relationship with your spouse. There was a section of books detailing monsters, myths, and some spooky stories. There were even a dozen or so books about geology here as well. The bottom section however had been lined with foal books, I could recall the story of each and every single foal book.

I decided to leave the living room and begin to search the other rooms of the house. I found an old washing room but it was empty. There was a bathroom, and a large bathtub. The stone floors of the bathroom room were lovely to look at. I also found the old storage room but the boxes inside were not what I was looking for, I could tell.

I stumbled upon the office space next and was intrigued. The small office room had an old wooden desk and a book shelf, along with a few filing cabinets. There were some documents on the desk. On closer inspection a lot of them were grade papers of various children. Half of them had been graded fairly well, the others were either left without grades on them or graded poorly.

I noticed a small portrait on the wall behind the desk and picked it up with my telekinesis and took a look at it. I saw a small school house with a bunch of unicorn fillies standing in front of it. Just behind them stood the happiest looking blue unicorn with a blue and silver stripped mane I had ever seen. There were tears in her eyes as she smiled. The mare was my mother and she looked so very happy in the picture. The portrait had a metal label that read, “Opening of Ponyville’s first school of magic, Trixie Lulamoon will guide these children to a brighter more magical future.”

My mom had been a teacher, I completely forgot about that…but now I could remember parts of it. She had been so happy as a teacher, all she ever wanted to do was make children happy and with Twilight Sparkle’s help she was able to open this school and teach young unicorns how to use magic. I couldn’t remember going to her school but then again I was apparently Twilight’s pupil so maybe I never went to Mom’s school.

I sat the portrait down on the desk and decided to leave the office room in peace. I still had two more rooms to explore. I didn’t want to spend too much time studying the past.

The next room I walked into was very dark, there was a black curtain drawn over the windows and I had to pull it to the side and let the sun light in to see properly. The room had a single twin sized bed in the corner, and a night stand next to it. There was a small book shelf with a lot of plastic figurines of ponies on it, along with a line of comics on the bottom shelf. I could only guess whose room this belonged too.

This was my old room. It looked like I lived here for all of my life. I looked around and found some interesting things on the desk. There were official reports, maps of Equestria, and a calendar that was filled with appointments. It looked like I had been busy every single day, although I had been using some kind of code for what the appointments were about. So I had no idea what I had been doing during this time.

There was a picture on the desk that was face down. I picked it up and sat on my rump hard as I looked at it. I knew the name of every single pony in the picture, and I knew how they were connected to me.

I saw a whole mess of ponies standing in front of a barn all of whom were smiling and happy. I was a little filly not even old enough to have a cutie mark yet. I was sitting in between my mom and her special somepony…essentially my other mother. While my mom was a blue unicorn my other mother was a gray earth pony mare with a purple mane, her name was Maud Pie. I saw my aunt Pinkie Pie standing behind me, along with Applejack who was also part of my family. There were a whole lot of other earth ponies standing in the picture, mom, and me were the only unicorns but we were still accepted and loved like any other member of the family.

Trixie and Maud…they were my parents, I couldn’t grasp my mind on how my birth worked out because they were both mares. Artificial insemination, adoption, or magic, all of those were strong possibilities.

I could remember some flashes of memories of them, like when Maud attempted to sing me to sleep one night when Trixie was out on business. Maud was always a horrible singer, she could only hit one monotone note, but her attempt was full of so much love that I fell asleep anyways.

The time when I tripped and scratched my knee, Trixie was freaking out and crying because I had gotten hurt, and she didn’t know what to do. Maud was there to bandage me up, and give us both a kiss. One for me because I was hurt and another for Trixie because she was scared.

I also remembered how they would simply cuddle on the couch for hours on end talking to one another. And when Trixie would tell both me and Maud a story to go to sleep to at night. Sometimes I would stay awake just a little longer then Maud did and feel victorious for staying up later then her.

Memories of dinners where Auntie Pinkie Pie would come and join, she did that almost every night. She was over for dinner so often that we always had food prepared for her, and a chair waiting for her to join us. I cried when Auntie Pinkie pie wasn’t there for dinner. She always had the craziest stories to tell.

The flashes of memories were all too fast, too sharp, and too fresh, and all of them were laced with emotional pain. I couldn’t fight it anymore, my family, my parents were both dead. I was the only one left out of any of us. My small family of four, Trixie, Maud, and Pinkie Pie were all gone. It’s been three hundred years there was no way that they could have survived.

I just sat and held the picture close to my chest while crying softly to myself. I couldn’t move, I couldn’t stop myself from crying. I couldn’t do anything but sit there sobbing. I wanted things to be fixed so badly, I just wanted to see my family again. But they were all gone. It took a half hour of crying but I finally got up and managed to force myself to walk into the last room in the house. My parent’s room.

***

The room was quiet and lonely. The bed was half nice and tucked in with a pillow setting right in place. The other half was messy with the pillow lying on the side. I looked at the bed and realized that Maud had been killed by the first wave of demons. Heartbroken and alone, Trixie must have not touched Maud’s side of the bed. Leaving it as a memory to the pony she loved more than the world.

I couldn’t remember how hard it had hit her, but I was thankful for that. I didn’t want to remember my mom being in such an emotional mess. They had loved each other so much that I could only imagine the feeling of loss…or maybe I understood it better than I thought I did.

I saw a small portrait on the nightstand next to the bed. A teenage me was standing in between Trixie and Maud, Pinkie Pie was looking over into the corner of the picture trying her best to get her face in it too. She succeeded with her face But I couldn’t see anymore of Pinkie Pie’s body and she looked kinda silly.

I carefully lifted the picture up and set it gently into my saddle bags. Even if I didn’t find a magical sword here, I at least had a picture of my family. One that I would keep forever.

I looked around the room and couldn’t see anything else in here. I turned to leave and that’s when I noticed something wrong with the wooden floor. There was a square shaped piece of wood that was cut separate from the rest of the floor. I carefully used my magic to lift it up and discovered a staircase leading into a basement of some kind. I didn’t even know we had a basement. I took in a deep breath and carefully began walking down the staircase into the basement.

***

I walked into the small little room underneath the house and was disappointed by how empty this room was. The only thing of interest in this room was the door leading to another part of our basement. I walked over to it and opened it with my magic. The next room was dark, and huge. I walked into it cautiously, something about this room just felt wrong.

The further I walked into the room, the darker it got, only my horn’s glow giving me light to see by. I quickly realized that this room was far bigger then should be possible. I looked behind myself and to my horror discovered that the door I had entered from was gone. I looked up, if there was a ceiling to this room it was so high up that I couldn’t see. This basement defied physical understanding.

A great blue light appeared from my far right and brightened up this gargantuan room. There was no ceiling, no walls, only a hard flat floor and numerous pillars of stone standing around. I walked towards the light instinctively trying to get away from the darkness all around me. I had no idea where I was, but it obviously wasn’t Ponyville, and I feared that I wasn’t even in Equestria anymore.

The blue light turned out to be a floating ball of blue fire, hanging in the air and illuminating all it could with its cold light. But even this giant flame, bigger than myself, was not enough to fight back the darkness all around me. The pillars around this area were made of completely square stone.

The sound of hooves clip clopping against the stone floor put me on edge. There was somepony here with me. That was when I saw the figure out of the shadow. A blue pony wearing a deep purple hooded cloak was approaching me. Her hood obscured her face but I could make out two red glowing eyes staring back at me. The purple cloak had gold stars across its design.

The pony then spoke with an arrogant mare’s voice. “How dare you intrude on our home. We are the great and powerful Guardian, and you shall be punished for breaking into our house and threatening the sanctity of this place. Prepare yourself, as you are about to face the most powerful guardian in all of Equestria.”

This Guardian, was strange, I didn’t think it was a pony. I could sense powerful magic at work inside of it, the kind that ponies should never be able to wield. The Guardian took one step forward and demanded, “state your name or die.”

I took a few steps back fearing whatever this creature could do to me. I spoke carefully saying, “I am Altar Light. I came here in search of something.”

The Guardian paused and looked almost frozen for a few seconds. It then began walking again and said, “That name is not familiar, you are an intruder and must parish in order to keep our family safe.”

Did she just say family? Unfortunately I wasn’t given time to think as her horn begun to glow. The only indication that the Guardian was a unicorn that I got, along with my only warning of what was about to happen.

A blue energy moved around the Guardian like water before expanding towards me at a rapid pace. I ran and dove behind one of the pillars just in time to avoid being hit by the spell. It splashed against the pillar causing pieces of stone to come flying off of it. I poked my head around the corner to get a good view at my opponent and saw three blue orbs flying towards me at a freighting speed.

I stayed behind the cover of the pillar and just as the orbs hit the pillar I ducked out and summoned forth a fireball. I saw the Guardian standing in the same position and volleyed the fireball towards her. She didn’t dodge as I expected she would, instead I watched as she covered herself in a blue energy. The fireball exploded against her but she didn’t flinch, it would seem the blue energy was protecting her.

I mentally reached for my hammer and charged towards her. I pulled my hammer out with my telekinesis and gave a mighty battle cry as I swung down at her. She rolled out of the way just as my hammer swung down. And as I was recovering from the missed attack she fired a blue energy orb at me hitting my side.

I screamed in pain as the orb burned through my armor and hit my flesh. She fired another one and I rolled forward and swung my hammer low at her legs. She was knocked over onto her belly from my attack. I stood up and swung my hammer low towards her head.

She rolled to the side just in time for me to miss and hit the ground. The stone cracked beneath the weight of my hammer. She stood up and summoned a wave of blue energy that rushed towards me. I couldn’t dodge this one as it hit me and sent my entire body flying into the air and sailing about twenty feet away. I landed on the ground on hard, my entire body felt like it had just been sun burned.

I stood up wincing at the pain and watched as she shot another set of blue energy orbs at me. I ran to the side towards a pillar and the orbs changed direction to follow me. I slid on my side just in time to duck underneath the orbs as they flew over me and into the pillar in front of me.

I stood and looked toward the Guardian who was further away from me then I had wanted. She fired another three blue orb spells at me, and so I returned the favor. I prepared my double fireball spell and felt a surge of new power inside of me. I unleashed three fireballs at the same time towards her. The fireballs and the energy orbs collided in the air and exploded with great force.

I charged forward through the explosion with my hammer in toe. I was going to win this fight no matter what. I had to win. I stopped dead in my tracks as I saw the Guardian charging up another spell. This time the air around her had began to crackle with blue lightning and a fierce wind blew around us. Whatever she was doing it was going to be huge, so I turned and fled.

I was too late though as my entire world exploded into blue light and I went flying into the air. Tumbling end over end until I smacked hard into the earth. My right side screamed in pain as I bounced a few feet into the air and then landed again. I laid there as my world began to fade into blackness. I could see the Guardian watching me though, she stood completely still as if trying to read the situation. I closed my eyes and felt my world fall away from me.

Chapter Fourteen: Last Will

EQUESTRIAN SOULS
Chapter Fourteen: Last Will
Written by TheCrimsonDM

I was hiding behind a wooden table as I watched the door very carefully. I was smaller than the table, I was standing on my hind legs to see over it. I decided to walk underneath the table and peer through the wooden chair instead. I was looking at the trap I had set up. A bucket of water was sitting on the top of the door and was balanced by the door that was only opened a few inches. Whoever opened that door next was in for a surprise. And I knew exactly who was going to open it next.

I stayed quietly hidden for a few more minutes as I watched very carefully feeling giddy as I waited for her to open the door. I was going to get revenge for my mom once and for all. This was going to be totally awesome.

The door finally opened and a tall purple pony walked through the door, she may have been as tall as a stallion but it didn’t mean she was smart. The bucket of water fell down splashing water all over the pony and the bucket landing on her outrageously long horn. I couldn’t help but brake out laughing as I saw the surprised look on her face.

The surprise quickly turned to anger as the purple alicorn saw me laughing from underneath the table. She blew steam out of her nostrils and said, “Why you little, that’s it. Get over here!”

I quickly turned and fled out from the other side of the table and ran through the kitchen. The kitchen had a back door that I ran out of and into the backyard laughing the entire time. I looked back towards the purple alicorn chasing me and teased, “Catch me if you can, egg head.”

Then I stopped suddenly as my entire front exploded into pain. I fell on my rump and looked forward seeing a tree. I probably should’ve been looking where I was going. I tried to stand and fell from how dizzy I felt. The purple alicorn stopped running as she now stood right next to me.

I looked up at her and felt fearful as my perfect plan was now completely destroyed. The towering alicorn was smirking at me with a look that said “serves you right”. She shook her head at me and asked, “why do you do this to me? Every. Single. day.”

I looked away and tried to cross my forelegs only managing to strike an awkward pose. I let out a huff and said, “You were mean to mommy, that’s why I’m going to get even.”

The purple alicorn looked down at me and gave me a little frown. I didn’t like the way she always acted better then everypony, just because she was a princess didn’t mean she could do this to me. She then said, “look here, I never meant to be mean to her. In fact I did everything I could to make up for it. Me and Trixie are good friends now, so why do you keep doing this?”

I looked up at her and said, “because you’re Twilight Sparkle, and that means your evil.”

Twilight Sparkle gave me a hurt looking frown and asked in a soft voice, “do…do you really think I’m evil?”

I stared at her with a hard expression for a few moments but her sad eyes had begun to water up and I felt really bad. I looked down at the ground and said, “well…your best friends with Auntie Pinkie…so you can’t be ‘that’ evil. But that doesn’t mean you’re nice either. You’re always acting better than anypony.”

Twilight sat down next to me and said, “I’m sorry. I don’t mean to act that way, I really don’t feel like I’m any better than anypony else. If I ever made you feel bad, I’m sorry for it.”

I looked up at her and realized that she was telling me the truth…probably. I stood up and said, “alright I forgive you.”

Twilight gave me a questioning look and asked, “does this mean you will stop your pranks?”

I looked at Twilight and winked saying, “nope.”

I turned to run off again when I sneezed. The sudden sneeze made my horn begin to burn in agonizing pain, and suddenly a bright amber colored light lit up the entire area. The pain disappeared as suddenly as it had began and I stood there feeling dumbfounded. The entire backyard surrounding me and Twilight for a good five feet in any direction was now covered in purple roses.

Twilight looked around us and said, “oh that’s so pretty.” She then looked hard at me and asked, “did you do this? All by yourself?”

I looked at her and opened my mouth to tell her that I didn’t know, when suddenly I felt my nose running. Twilight had a horrified expression on her face. I wiped off the snot with a hoof saying, “it’s only boogers. There not that gross. But that doesn’t mean you’re supposed to eat them.” I felt like I needed to add mom’s latest lecture in for extra measure. Then I looked at my hoof and realized that what I thought had been snot was actually blood. I stared in horror for a moment before collapsing.

I didn’t pass out but I felt dizzy and tired, my head was numb feeling. Twilight was looking around nervously for anypony to help her, help me. I heard mom shouting and following that I saw her run over. She quickly picked me up and held me close asking fearfully, “what happened? Twilight what happened to my little filly?”

Twilight said with a confused tone, “I don’t know, she used a magical spell to grow all these flowers. Then she fell over with a nose bleed. I haven’t seen anything like this before, not since you…oh dear.”

I began feeling my strength return to me and the dizzy feeling go away. Mom looked at me her purple eyes were filled with tears and she looked scared. I gave her a smile and said, “I’m okay mom. I ran into a tree is all.”

She brushed my mane softly and said, “oh Amber sweetie, you will be okay. I promise you.”

I smiled and began to sit up feeling a lot less dizzy now. I looked at Twilight and said, “I’m sorry.” I wasn’t even entirely sure what I was sorry for, maybe for bothering her.

Twilight gave me a smile and looked down at flank. She then smiled wider and said, “well isn’t that a surprise.”

I looked down curious as to what she had meant. On my flank was the picture of a purple rose, with a black stem and black leaves. I could feel eyes growing wider as excitement filled my tiny heart. I looked at mom and said, “Look, mommy I got my cutie mark. I GOT MY CUTIE MARK!”

The two ponies looked at me happily as I stared at my brand new cutie mark. Twilight then said, “Trixie, I would like to help your daughter learn how to control her magic. With your permission of course.”

Mom looked at Twilight, she looked shocked at first, and then she looked happy. Mom said, “I..of course. Does that mean she’s going to be…your pupil?”

Twilight looked down at me, but I could only give them a little attention as I stared at my brand new cutie mark. Twilight said, “I always preferred the term apprentice, it sounds more Starswirl like. But yes I think your daughter would be the perfect pupil, her playful nature aside.”

I looked up at Twilight and smiled. I had never thought about being a pupil or an apprentice of a princess before. I looked at her and asked, “does this mean you will make me a princess too?”

Twilight giggled a little bit before saying, “we will see. But if anypony has a chance to be the next Princess, I think it would be you. After all you are the daughter of the great and powerful Trixie, and of Maud Pie.”

I grinned wildly at her, and said, “awesome. I guess that I will stop playing pranks on you then.”

Twilight raised an eyebrow and said, “Oh I think a playful joke every now and then is okay. Just don’t make a habit of it. You aren’t in line for the next Pinkie Pie…I hope.”

Trixie looked at us with wide eyes and said, “pranks, what pranks. Darn it, what has Pinkie Pie been teaching you.”

Me and Twilight both started laughing. The secret prank war was now found out. After a moment mom joined in the laughter as well. Everything was so happy and peaceful. I was about to start an exciting life under the tutelage of Twilight Sparkle.

Twilight Sparkle then said, “okay Trixie. Take her home and get her some rest.” Twilight then looked at me and said, “and Amber Light, when you feel better come and see me. I have some fun plans for us.”

I nodded and said, “okay, but you have to call me Light. Only mommy can call me Amber.”

***

I opened my eyes feeling the pain come back to my right side. My right foreleg was in the most pain. I tried to move and yelped as I did. I closed my eyes and fought through the pain. I wasn’t feeling depressed however, I finally realized why my name had always felt a little weird. My name isn’t Altar Light. That was just a nick name. I kept my eyes closed and said to myself proudly, “My name is Amber Light.”

The room suddenly became brightly lit and warm. I opened my eyes and felt a warmth wash over my injuries. My injuries began to heal themselves before my eyes and I stared in confusion. The room had disappeared and I now found myself lying at the top of a hill against the base of a willow tree. There was nothing but clear green grass and rolling hills around me. This place felt safe.

A soft voice then spoke from next to me, “Amber sweetie, is that you?”

I looked over and saw the Guardian standing next to me, I flinched back expecting another attack but was surprised when the Guardian removed her hood. She was a blue unicorn, with a blue and silver stripped mane. Her gentle purple eyes looked into mine and she said, “I’m so sorry.”

I was staring at my mom. She was alive. And I just couldn’t believe it. I jumped up and wrapped my hooves around her saying, “Oh my Celestia. I can’t believe it, I thought you were…it doesn’t matter what I thought. You are here now and that means I am not alone anymore.”

She wrapped a leg around me and nuzzled my neck. Tears began to stream down my face. She held me for a few moments before saying, “you were never alone my little pony. I was always there in your heart, but this isn’t exactly what you think it is.”

I pulled away and looked into her eyes. Mom’s eyes were filled with both happiness and sorrow. I didn’t understand why she looked sad. We were finally together again, this was a time to be happy. I asked, “what do you mean?”

She continued to look into my eyes as she explained, “this place is an illusion. You are standing in an illusion I created to keep the things I left for you safe. This is the real me, I am really right here with you right now. But…I can’t follow you out of this illusion.”

I sat down hard. I couldn’t understand. This entire place was only an illusion. “But you said you were real,” I said feeling confused and worried.

Mom brushed my mane out of my eyes a little as she said, “yes I did. The war was harsh, and it hurt me when I lost Maud. It was the most painful thing that I ever felt in my entire life. When Canterlot fell to the demons, I thought I lost you too. But a friend of mine had told me the truth. That you were only sleeping until it was your time to save the world.”

I looked at her and said, “but, but that doesn’t explain anything.”

Mom wrapped me into an embrace and then pulled away. She looked at the tree and said, “he gave me a mask. This mask would allow me to protect the things I wanted to give to you. He told me that it would allow me to be able to meet you when you finally woke up and came to meet me. He didn’t tell me about how it would trap me here, in this illusion world waiting for you to arrive.”

Mom walked to the tree and placed a hoof on it. She then let out a sigh and said, “or how many intruders would try and steal from me over the years. I kept this place safe for you. I knew what you would need in there. So I kept it all safe from harm.”

I felt myself trembling. Three hundred years of being mentally trapped inside of an illusion. I don’t even know how she was still sane. But she was here with me, and I could save her. I had to be able to somehow.

I stood up shaking from fear and said, “how do I save you then. How do I get you out of here?”

Mom looked at me sadly and said, “Amber Light, honey. I’m beyond saving. The only thing you can do is free me from this curse. You can take the mask off and destroy it.”

I looked at her the fear was becoming unreal. How could I come so far, finally meet my mom again, and then lose her all over again. This wasn’t in the least bit fair. I closed my eyes and said, “no, there has to be something else.”

Mom wrapped her hooves around me and said, “listen Sweetie, I don’t have a lot of time. I need to tell you a few things first. You need to take the mask of my…body, and you need to destroy it. You also need to grab everything I put in the locker for you. The cloths I left you are magically enchanted, they will keep you safe. The sword I left isn’t complete but if you can find the handle then you will have the most powerful weapon I have ever seen. The sword is my father, your grandpa’s sword, the Tricksters Blade.

“Last but not least there is a red amulet that I left you. I had to rebuild it since it was destroyed, but it will give you unimaginable power. It might break after you use it though, and it is an evil artifact so use it with caution, and use it sparingly. If you ever need to use it wear it only as long as you have to and take it off as soon as possible.”

I nodded and nuzzled into her neck. Mom then said, “don’t be sad for me. I will always be in your heart, so will Maud, and Pinkie Pie. My life was always so hard, even after I met Maud at the rock farm. I nearly screwed up our relationship so many times. When we finally had Twilight help us with making you…well it was wonderful. When you were born I could see that Amber aura of yours. It was so beautiful. Amber you are the light of my life, the thing that pushed away all the darkness. There is a reason I named you Amber Light.”

I held her as long as I could. Tears were streaming down my face now. I couldn’t stop them, even if I wanted too. My vision began to brighten and it was like I woke up from a long dream.

***

I woke up and opened my eyes. Tears had been running down my face and I had a perfect recollection of my dream…or whatever it was. I looked around and noticed the skeletons in the basement, there were at least five of them. I stood up and looked at the door next to me. I sucked up a breath and braved myself to open it.

Inside the dark room I saw an ancient unicorn skeleton sitting in a chair with a blue mask on its face. The dream had been real, and I knew exactly what I needed to do. I took the mask off with my telekinesis and saw a dull blue glow from behind it for a second. After the mask was gone the glow disappeared. I then set the mask on the hard stone floor and stomped on it, smashing it into tiny pieces. A small orb of blue light appeared from the mask and floated off through the ceiling. That must have been mom’s soul, now it was finally free.

I also saw a locker in the back of the room. I walked to the locker and opened it. Inside I saw a thick blue sweater, a pair of blue socks, a purple cloak with golden six point stars and a gray diamond shaped clasp, a small metal box, and a sword sheath. There was a blade in the sheath but there was no sign of the handle. The sword’s sheath was blue with a jagged red stripe in the middle. The blade seemed to be similar in color. I quickly grabbed everything I could and left the basement.

Upstairs I got dressed into my new cloths, everything fit me fairly well. That was rare considering my size. I was a little too big for most dresses but these fit like a glove. It would be just like mom for her to make me clothing that fit me perfectly. The new cloak I felt was much nicer then the last one. And if these were really magically enchanted they should offer more protection than the old stuff.

I grabbed an old blanket from the closet and went down to the basement. There was one last thing I had to do before leaving. I carefully moved mom’s skeleton into the blanket and took the bundle outside. I ignored the looks I got from Lamont and began digging a hole in the backyard. After a few minutes Lamont came over and used his magic to help me dig the hole. After only a few minutes with his help we were able to bury mom properly.

I stood there crying silently to myself for a few minutes before I finally forced myself to go back to the wagon. We had spent enough time here for the moment. There was still one more place to venture to before I was done with this little quest. Now that I knew this blade was a family sword I had a good reason to fix it.

The others all looked intrigued by my new costume but I gave them a stern look that kept them from asking. The chariots were not going to take us to the asylum so I asked one of them to leave a chariot for us. I had two flyers willing to take us to Asylum. Everypony seemed to know that I discovered something sad, but no pony asked. Storm Feather was the kindest as he gave me a hug. We needed to leave though, while we still had daylight.

Storm Feather and Rainfall were saddled up and ready to fly us to Asylum. This was going to be a long trip, but it would at the very least be a prosperous one. We took off into the sky and I watched Lamont staring at me as we left. We were off to asylum and any questions about my past could either be found there, or left unanswered for now.

Chapter Fifteen: Return to Asylum

EQUESTRIAN SOULS
Chapter fifteen: Return to Asylum
Written by TheCrimsonDM

We rose just above the clouds and I could finally see the old ruins of Asylum. The Asylum was far larger then I had ever imagined now that I looked at it from above. The building sprawled down the other side of the Foal Mountains. The ledge that I had jumped off of and gotten saved by Storm Feather was just a tiny piece of land compared to the rest of this place.

The cold air was brisk upon my face, I found myself very thankful for the clothes mom had left me. Everypony thankfully had some article of clothing on, but that wouldn’t be enough to keep them warm for long. Once we got inside however, things should be easier on them.

“What was this place?” I asked.

“It was used to house the undead at one time, nopony knew what to do with them so they locked them all up…I would’ve just killed them all…but whatever. After a while Silver was unable to keep this place up and running, and it fell too ruin,” Myst explained.

Storm Feather and Rainfall began descending towards the same stretch of land that I had jumped off. I knew that there was a demon around here somewhere, and the fear began rising in my heart. I never wanted to see another demon, but I knew that one day I would have too anyway.

As we descended I was able to see the old ruins called the Grays to the east, that was our eventual goal but I needed my sword if I was going to go there. I also saw the northern half of Equestria, and was shocked to see it almost completely frozen over. I could only imagine how much of a death trap the north was.

***

After landing on the cliff edge we began walking towards the only door we could see. The snow crunched underneath our hooves; it was cold and was getting stuck to my exposed fur. Suddenly my hoof hit something hard; my curiosity needed sating so I dug through the snow. Just under a few inches of snow I found the old broadsword that had served as my first weapon, I now noticed how the steel blade was tinted pink. This weapon was a reminder of how far I had gotten and how much I had survived; I really liked it. I quickly tied the sword to my saddlebags; Moon Shadow let out a groan as he watched me. He didn’t enjoy weapons like I did.

We stepped inside the building; there were a few hollows stumbling around on the other side of the room. I pulled out my hammer and was stopped by Rainfall’s outstretched leg.

“Don’t, the center of this room is structurally weakened, any amount of weight on it will cause it to fall. It looks like a trap, and I have no idea what is down there,” she explained.

Taking her advice to heart we let her lead us around the edge of the room. She picked off the hollows with her bow before we even got to the courtyard. I was beginning to really appreciate having her on my team.

The courtyard was empty, save for the unlit Altar. We advanced cautiously keeping an eye out for any dangers, before I lit the Altar. The air became suddenly warmer around the Altar. These things were a gift from Celestia in cold places like this.

Rather than rest, we continued onward; I needed to get that Sword, before we encountered any of my old enemies. We moved into the building, down a ladder and into some wet corridors. There was snow outside, but for some reason the air inside here was humid, there was also the reek of still water, mold, and something worse.

We quickly found the hallway that I had escape from, and it was increasingly warm down here. It was still cold inside the building, but compared to the outside it was nice. I looked back at my friends and said, “okay, I am only taking one of you with me. There was something sleeping down here last time, and I want to be quiet.”

They nodded and Moon Shadow stepped up. He was our stealthiest member, so together we made our way down the hall. The corpses we passed by lay still in their cells. I was glad for that at least. And the mound of golden bit’s and gems from the chamber to my side, lay still and unmoving; the warm air seemed to be coming from inside there. That was not a good sign.

When we got to my old cell we moved inside carefully. The old corpse I had woken up with, was still there. I pitied the pony but there wasn’t much I could do. Moon Shadow went over to the corpse and dug through the rags it was wearing for a moment before pulling out a small stuffed animal. I wasn’t sure why he found it interesting but he turned around and gave the thing to me.

The doll was small and gray with a few patches of different colored fabric on it from where it had been damaged. It had one blue eye, and one red eye. Finally it had some blue and white polka dotted shorts on. I looked at the bottom of its hoof and read the name “smarty pants”. I wasn’t sure who this belonged too but it gave off a strange feeling. I decided that I would keep it for now, there wasn’t any reason not to. So Smarty Pants went right into my saddlebags.

I looked around the room and found the old sword handle. The one I had been looking for. I wasn’t entirely sure what to do but I pulled out my broken blade, and set it down on the old bed. I connected it too the old handle, the colors of the handle matched the blade. I then pulled out the Moonlit Butterfly’s soul. The orb was glowing softly as I brought it near the blade.

A sudden flash of bright light, followed by a high pitched humming noise caused me to drop the orb. I heard the sound of glass breaking and then everything went quiet. After a few seconds I looked again at the sword, the Moonlit Butterfly’s soul was nowhere to be found, but the sword was now repaired.

I stood there stunned for a moment before I slowly picked up the sword and drew it from its sheath. The sword came out smoothly and silently. The blade was blue with a red line running down the middle. I felt an odd, and powerful force emitting from the blade. I knew at that moment that this sword’s destiny was tied to my own, I could only imagine at how the blade had been broken, but now that it was complete I supposed that it no longer mattered. The Tricksters Blade was now mine.

I turned the Moon Shadow and said, “let’s go, before we encounter any problems.” He nodded in agreement and we left my old cell.

On our way back I noticed the pile of golden bits moving, and a bright red light began coming from inside of the gold pile. I took off into a full fledged gallop with Moon Shadow at my side. Our friends at the end of the hall were looking towards with fear drawn expressions. I heard a high pitched whine and then my ears popped. Suddenly the ground around me exploded and everything went black.

***

I stood in front of Rainbow Dash, feeling unparallel joy as I said, “so I have finally defeated The Rainbow Dash.”

Rainbow Dash looked around the ring we were standing in, she had a busted lip but she looked pleased with herself. “Well I suppose that means I can’t train you anymore. You’re as good as me in martial arts now, maybe even better.”

“Wait so I can’t learn from you anymore? But how can I improve…I need to be better, stronger. I can’t just stop,” I told her.

She gave me a smile and said, “pfft, you are a tough little…er tall pony. If you are serious about continuing your training, there is only one thing I can think of. I have never beaten my master in combat, not even once. I could send you to her, but I have to warn you…she is brutal. If she does take you on for training, she will be more ferocious then you can ever imagine. You could very well die from her training methods.”

I gave a mighty laugh and said, “there is nothing that will stop me from being the best, from being useful, from being awesome. I’ll learn from her and become the best fighter in all of Equestria.”

“You’re insane, you know that. But that’s what I like about ya kid. Alright I’ll tell you where to find her, she’s been on leave training for a few weeks now. I bet she would love to have a new student,” Rainbow Dash explained.

I bounced on my hooves and said, “yes, I am going to be awesome!”

Rainbow Dash rolled her eyes and said, “yeah, you will be. By the way I’m gonna be stopping by to visit your mom later, I promised I’d come by.”

I settled down a little and said, “thank you…she hasn’t been doing too well…and Pinkie Pie has been acting a little…weird as well.”

Rainbow Dash wrapped a leg around my neck and pulled my head down, she then began giving me a noogie while saying, “yeah well, I’m gonna be so awesome that everypony feels instantly better.”

***

I found myself walking through a dense forest watching with very careful eyes. I continued moving forward hoping that I could only find this legendary martial arts pony that Rainbow Dash had mentioned. I was slowly advancing towards a mountain hopping that I could find her there.

Eventually after a day’s journey through the forest I got to the base of the largest mountain I had ever seen. I had heard that at the top of this mountain there had once been an elder red dragon, one that Twilight and her friends had defeated. I was going up there to find that very same place, for that is where I would find Rainbow Dash’s mentor.

The climb was hard, but I eventually got to the top. Exhausted and beaten I found myself staring at the setting sun, and a silhouette of a pegasus. The pegasus stood on her hind legs while facing a boulder. She stuck her hooves out in front of her in some sort of meditative pose, and screamed. The scream was so high pitched, and loud that I had to cover my ears, but the sound was still extremely painful. I managed to keep my eyes open as I watched in fascination as the boulder crumbled under the presser of her scream.

The mare turned to face me, The sun was in just the right position so that I couldn’t make out any clear details on her, but she could see me fully. I didn’t hear anything as she ran, on her hind legs towards me at such speed that I couldn’t react. She was attacking me.

***

Something cold was dripping onto my forehead as I opened my eyes slowly. My entire body was in pain and everything was pitch black. I used my magic and summoned a small ball of fire and let it hang over my horn for a little. There was water dripping from the ceiling down my head.

I rolled over and out of the waters path. I looked to my side and saw a collapsed wall, a bunch of rubble everywhere. I was covered in scratches, but my saddlebags and weapons were here at least. I looked around and saw a doorway leading out, but I had no idea where I was, or where any of my allies were. I was alone again.

I wasn’t in bad enough condition to worry about my health, but I needed to find my friends. We were still in Asylum, only now we were underneath it. That sounded like a really bad position for us to be in. I left the small room I was in and prayed to Celestia that I could find my friends soon.

The halls were lonely, and dark; if not for my magic I’d be screwed. I continued walking forward slowly, and quietly. I could feel something else in here with me as I walked down these dark corridors. I didn’t know what it was but I knew it was here.

Eventually I came across a splitting hallway. I could go left or right. Without any good indication of where anything was I could only guess. I chose left; I chose wrong.

I came face to face with a giant black knight. He had a long black shield, and a black long sword; it’s blade was as long as me. I recognized this black knight from my last trip here. And judging from the combat stance he jumped into, he recognized me as well.

I turned and fled down the right corridor this time. I could hear the metal armor clanking as he galloped after me. He was still slower then I was, and now that I was in better condition than the last time I was here, I was running even faster. The corridor was long and dark. I soon saw a chain attached to the wall and the ceiling, I ran past it. I followed the chain with my eyes and saw it attached to a thick metal gate in front of me.

I looked behind and saw the Black Knight swing his sword into the chain. I heard the sound of gears turning and saw the gate beginning to slide down. The Black Knight was trying to trap me, but I wasn’t ready for a confrontation just yet. I ran harder and faster, pushing myself past my speed limits. The gate was closing fast. I finally got close to the gate and slid on my side the last few feet. I slipped underneath the gate just as it closed and I heard the Black Knight slam into the metal door behind me.

I let out a sigh of relief, I had survived another encounter with the Black Knight. Hopefully I wouldn’t have to deal with him anymore. I looked around the room I was standing in now and realized I was in some kind of storage room. There was a wooden door for me to use at my leisure, but right now I felt like I deserved a small rest.

As I rested there in that dark, cold room staring aimlessly at the mess of boxes around me I began to wonder; what was I really doing here. I mean I brought all of my friends up here to Asylum, a place that I knew had demons, a place that I knew was dangerous. Of course something bad was going to happen, that was just my life. But now I was all alone again…and none of my friends were here to help me this time.

I just wanted to break down and cry, but I couldn’t cry anymore. I was the leader and that meant that I had a job to do. I pulled up myself off the hard stone floor and shook myself. I was going to get my friends, and that was all there was too it. We were all getting out of this, and then we could discuss what to do next.

I opened the wooden door and took a deep breath. I had to be prepared for anything that awaited me out here. It was time for me to find my friends.

Chapter Sixteen: Hero's Ending

EQUESTRAIN SOULS

Chapter Sixteen: Hero’s Ending

Written by TheCrimsonDM

I had waited in that cold room for a long time trying to find my confidence to go out and find my friends. I just wanted to sleep, but I couldn’t give in…not yet. Eventually I found the strength to push myself up and walk towards the door. I opened it with my magic, casting an orange glow over the room around me as I walked out.

The hall was long and lead in two different directions, last time I went left and found a black knight, this time I went right. I continued walking through the quiet corridors for what felt like forever until I finally began hearing some noises. I quickened my pace.

I came across a large open room filled with large cages, most of them were broken open from the inside. It looked like you could fit dozens of ponies inside each one of these cages. I walked between the cages carefully, this room was giving me the creeps.

Around the corner I stopped as I saw something strange. Moon Shadow was standing completely still, amongst a crowd of hollows. The hollows didn’t even turn to face him, it was almost as though they had no idea he was even there. I waved my hoof and got his attention and he walked over to me.

Moon Shadow’s eyes were glowing a soft yellow in this dark room, and he looked upset. I lead him away and asked, “What was that all about?”

“I…I don’t know. Why didn’t they attack me?” he asked, his voice full of worry.

I wished I had an answer for his question, but sadly I didn’t. We walked on in silence after that, these halls were dark, but Moon Shadow had no trouble seeing, and thanks to my magic aura, neither did I. We came across another set of halls that lead to another set of large rooms full of cages. We found some stairs leading to an elevated platform and we jumped from the platform on to the top of a cage and rested there for awhile. This place was quiet, and dark, but it felt a little safer than the other places had.

***

“What do you mean there are no more alters here?” I asked, I tried my best to keep fear out of my voice, I hoped I succeeded.

Myst sat in front of us shaking her head, Storm Feather was sharpening his axe blade, and Rainfall was at the edge of the cage and watching the darkness intently. They had showed up only a few minutes after me and Moon Shadow had arrived, thankfully they looked unharmed, but they came with grave news about our situation.

“We haven’t seen any other alters in here, but we did find the exit,” Myst explained.

I tried my best to not show my fear, for without an altar our flasks would not refill. Storm Feather finally finished with his axe and joined me, he wrapped a warm wing around me snuggly. I felt my face getting hot as I leaned into his shoulder. I hated how his platemail kept us from feeling one another, even though I understood it protected him.

“So what’s the exit look like?” I asked.

Myst stared at Storm Feather, her eyes narrowed. She silently watched us, her teeth bared and she snorted. I could feel the tension in the air being drawn tight, I needed to relax the tension a bit.

I stomped my hoof down hard, Myst suddenly looked at me and shook her head. She finally replied, “There’s snow out there, we’re entering northern Equestria, where the windigo’s took over. I’m not sure what is waiting for us.”

I was about to pull away from Storm Feather but stopped as he leaned in and kissed me. I felt his hot tongue slip in and for a brief moment our tongues met and danced around one another. When he pulled away, I smiled like a goofball. I really did love him.

“I will protect you, no matter what sort of demon tries to get at us,” Storm Feather said bravely.

I pulled away successfully this time. I ignored Myst’s glare as I trotted to Rainfall’s side. The exit was just beyond our reach. I looked at her and asked, “What’s waiting for us?”

“I don’t know, but if I had to guess, it’s the demon. I just know that something is waiting for us, there is no way we can get out of here without a fight,” She replied.

I nodded. Then I looked at the others and explained, “It’s time for us to leave, we need to hurry. The black knight is here somewhere and I really don’t relish the idea of encountering him.”

The others agreed and together the five of us trotted off. We were going to escape this place, and then we would be free. We climbed off of the cages and walked with Rainfall in the lead, next to Myst. Myst however couldn’t stop looking back at Storm Feather, something in her eyes, the way she held intense anger and rage in them, reminded me of what Masqurade had once said about her. He had warned me not to let her join me on my quest, so far she has proven to be trouble, she was just a girl who needed a mom…

We eventually found another hallway, walked through it and up some stairs. When the light at the end of the staircase first shone, I felt my heart race. Daylight. I’d missed it so very much, but now we were about to escape, and I was more excited than ever before. We hurried up the stairs, and through the door, and onto the snow covered ground.

We stood on a ruined corpse of a building, the walls had fallen so very long ago, the roof didn’t exist, and the ground was cracked and broken. The mountain went down and headed straight north, but a dense layer of cloud prevented me from seeing how far it went or where it lead too.

I trotted out towards the mountain, my body was surprisingly warm with this blue shirt on. An iron bolt whistled through the air before slamming into the snow just a few feet in front of me. I stopped, looked up to the top of a ruined wall and cringed. There were several characters that I had not expected to see there.

Copper Axe, stood next to a pegasus with gray fur, and a black and white stripped mane. The hopped off the wall, their hooves crunching in the snow as they did. The pegasus held the crossbow in her forelegs, and took flight a few feet in the air. A third pony appeared at the top of the wall, he stood on his hind legs, his red robes were trimmed with gold billowed in the chilling winds, a silver crown sat upon his dark brown mane.

I stumbled forward, my mind went blank and I felt my body shaking. “Reed?” I called out, confusion filled my brain.

Reed smiled jumped down in-between his comrades and smiled. “So after all this time, after I nearly killed you and burned down your tavern, you still hold love for me in your heart?”

I stopped.

“Or is it because you have amnesia?” Reed asked?

I shook my head. “Wait, what?”

“You don’t even know why you got rid of your memories in the first place now do you?”

I looked back at my friends, Rainfall looked worried, Storm Feather was shocked, Moon Shadow simply growled, and Myst smiled. This was a disaster.

“What happened? Didn’t we used to love each other?” I asked kindly.

Reed let out a sigh. “Yeah, we did. It was great for awhile, you had your weapons, and your fights. I ruled my kingdom of silver, it was beautiful. It wasn’t until I decided to take on Princess Twilight that you got upset, I guess you were always just a student to her, and you never really got past that.”

“What the hay are you talking about?” I demanded.

“I am at war with your old teacher, and you didn’t like that. So what you betrayed me and defected to her side. I don’t even know how many years ago that was. But it still burns me,” Anger crossed not his eyes, and they changed color becoming black. “So I struck you down, burned your inn and you defeated me. I captured you later, and locked you up here, but I suppose that doesn’t really matter to you now does it?”

I hated it, I hated every single word of it. I loathed the things he was saying with every fiber of my being, I was disgusted by the mere thought of it, and I was mortified by the truth that I knew he spoke. I could vaguely remember what he was saying, I knew that it was true. Moon Shadow, Princess Twilight, and even Masquerade had known, but they had all lied to me.

It was clear that I wiped my own memories, in part to make sure he could never read my mind, and in part to make it possible for me to do what needed to be done. I needed to kill my old love, because if I didn’t , he would lash out and destroy the best chance of survival this world has left.

I looked hard into those black eyes, and was reminded that he was no longer there. He had become changed when we went to the Gray’s. it was like something else had taken over, and the stallion I once knew was gone. But what was it? What had possessed him so? And finally why did it do this? Those questions were just the tip of the iceberg, but I wasn’t sure that I’d ever receive the answers that I wanted. I wasn’t even sure we would survive this conflict.

Reed looked over to the pegasus. “Blackout, you remember the plan.”

“Yes, I do. And I’m finally going to show this brat whose the real top dog,” She replied coldly. “Guess some things never change, huh stretch?”

The nickname filled me with both anger, and sorrow. Stretch had been her nickname for me, I remembered that now. I think we used to be friends… well sort of. but now she’d chosen her side and I’d chosen mine. This was going to end, now.

Blackout launched a bolt free from her crossbow, it flew towards me but I whipped out my sword and deflected it. Normal ponies would not be able to block such attacks, but I was not normal, I was the perfect soldier.

I charged forward, my head low, my broad sword drawn. Rainfall unleashed several arrows at Blackout, but the pegasus flew away, Rainfall gave chase. Moon Shadow followed me, as well as Storm Feather, and we charged into Reed and Copper Axe. Copper Axe took on Storm Feather and Moon Shadow, leaving me to fight Reed.

He fought on his hind legs, and I stood to match him. My heart raced as the battle drew on, I would swing my sword and Reed would dodge with practiced ease. It almost felt like sparring with an old friend. He would lunge forward with a kick, and I would dodge his attack. It felt like we were evenly matched.

“You don’t understand why I can’t let you escape, do you?” He asked as I stepped forward.

“No!” I replied, swinging my heavy blade down.

He flipped into the air, missing my blade, and then he kicked my sword so hard that it was knocked away from my telekinetic grasp. He landed, and smiled. “You are one of the four, just like me. I am the Conqueror, it is my job to rule everything. You are war, and the only reason you fight me is because I would otherwise stop all fighting. You can’t have peace now can you?”

I charged, pulled my hammer free and slammed it across Reed’s chest. He hadn’t expected my hammer blow to be so utterly fast, but I was pissed. “Twilight was like a second mother to me, you could never understand that could you?” My mouth worked before my brain and I added, “Because you never had a family!”

He landed on his feet, blood dripping from his mouth. He pulled free a healing flask and drank greedily from it before tossing it into the snow. He wiped the blood from his lips and scowled. “I was a slave you dumb slut. I never got to meet my parents, chances are they died after I was born.”

He stepped forward, and moved so quickly that I could barely keep up with my eyes. Fear gripped my heart with icy talons as his hoof smashed into my face, then his rear leg swung up and caught me in the gut. I kneeled over, all the air washed out of my body and I struggled for air, another hoof came up and smacked into the head knocking me into the air. I landed with a hard thud in the cold snow.

My entire body ached, I could feel my broken ribs, and fire raced across my head. I rolled over, and coughed a few times. Blood came out. Breathing was hard to do, and blackness filled the edges of my vision. I reached out and grabbed at my flask, I brought it to my lips and drank.

My vision repaired, my bones righted themselves, and my pain vanished. I stood up on all fours and let out a dangerous growl. My hammer was in the snow, but I couldn’t rely on it to win now.

My horn lit up and I channeled magic through it. Three balls of fire were summoned forth and I tossed them all at Reed, he dodged, and leapt, and flipped out of the way of them and their explosions. Magic was clearly not going to work either, that left me with very little. He charged at me.

I looked down to my side, the Trickster Blade. It was still there, but what could I do with it? Well it was my last shot.

I pulled it free, and it held a faint glow to it. I smiled, and swung at Reed, he jumped back but a line of blue energy danced across the snow covered battle field and struck him. For a moment he stood still, his eyes wide, and his breathing rapid. There was clearly no damage done to him, and the second he realized this he grinned.

“Your last trick didn’t work, now did it,” he replied.

He took a step forward and I stepped back. Slowly he advanced, murder clear in his eyes, I knew that this was it. Suddenly the ground beneath him glowed with a blue light. He looked down, and his eyes grew impossibly wide. “The Trickster Blade, the sword of bad luck and ill omens… you re-forged it…” he looked up at me and smiled, his eyes relaxed. “Well played, Amber. I should have taken you more seriously. But it looks like King Silver’s reign has come to an abrupt and unfortunate end.”

The ground gave way beneath him, and two giant hands, reached out. The clasped around Reed’s body and he screamed, as he was dragged down into the pit beneath. I took a few nervous steps forward, and saw both of the demons standing down there. They were smashing the ground with their hands with so much effort that all I could was a cloud of dust, and their crimson stained hands. I looked away.

It was over. Reed, also known as King Silver was dead. I looked to my friends and frowned. Rainfall had returned, her left wing had a giant tear in it, and she was holding down Myst, while Myst screamed and laughed, her eyes were wide and her pupils were small. I looked around and saw Moon Shadow with a spear stuck through his chest, he was sitting in the corner, prodding it nervously. Where was Storm Feather?

I charged and slid to a stop in front of where I had seen Storm Feather fighting before. I looked desperately to Rainfall, she was had her eyes narrowed, the veins on her forehead and neck stood out as she held Myst down.

“What happened?” I asked Rainfall.

“I got back after that bitch took my wing out, I dropped her down a Cliffside. Myst was stabbing a spear repeatedly into Moon Shadow’s chest. She was laughing like a mad mare and Storm Feather is gone,” Rainfall replied.

I trotted over to Moon Shadow. He looked down at the spear, and then up at me, there were so many holes filling his chest and stomach that I couldn’t imagine how he was still breathing… he wasn’t breathing. His lungs were smashed, but yet he was still moving, looking around and moving.

“Amber,” he said, his voice was harsh and raspy. “I think something’s wrong…”

I grimaced. I didn’t know what to do, I mean what could I do. He clearly wasn’t going to die, but his body was a mangled mess. I grabbed the spear with my magic and I yanked it hard, it was stuck fast, I had to had my teeth and my magic before it pulled free with a disgusting crunch.

I looked over at Moon Shadow, and his eyes were glowing yellow. Slowly he stood up, and looked around. “I don’t feel anything. I’m hurt, but I can’t feel it.”

“No,” I replied sadly. I knew what he was now, and why the hollows didn’t attack him earlier. “You’re not hurt, you’re dead.”

He nodded. “That makes sense. I think I’ve been dead for a few years now that I think about it… it’s strange, I’m not scared, or sad… I’m actually relieved to know.”

I looked back at Myst and growled. “Where the Tartarus is Storm Feather?”

She stopped laughing, cocked her head to the side and grinned. “I think I killed him.”

I sat down, hard. Storm Feather couldn’t be dead, he just couldn’t be. He was around here somewhere, I just knew it. I looked around desperately but I couldn’t find him anywhere. I began screaming out his name, but I couldn’t find him. Eventually I also realized that Copper Axe was missing, but I don’t know where he was either.

After awhile we let Myst go, she giggled consistently, but she didn’t try and attack us so we left her to do whatever she wanted. She followed us, and I made sure that we all had our eyes on her while we moved, just in case she tried something. I couldn’t believe that she had killed Storm Feather, I just couldn’t.

Evenatually we found him, and I really wished that we hadn’t. He lay across some rocks, his wings were matted red, and a row of daggers were placed firmly in is back and around his neck. Copper Axe lay near him, his legs were bent in the wrong direction, and Storm Feather’s battle axe was stuck firmly in his back.

“See,” Myst said. “I told you that I thought I killed him.”

***

I couldn’t think, I couldn’t move, and I couldn’t feel. For awhile I just stood there, until Moon Shadow nudged me. We tied Myst up, and I dug a grave for Storm Feather in the snow and earth. We buried him, and after we were done we found some shelter. It was dangerous here, so close to the asylum ruins but there wasn’t anywhere else to go, and a snow storm was brewing.

“We have to travel back down by hoof,” Rainfall said. “That means a long trek to the north, and another long one back to the south. It’s going to be harsh.”

I stared at the fire that I had started from some broken chair pieces.

“There will be windigos, undead, frozen horrors, and if we’re terribly unlucky, we will have bat ponies,” Rainfall explained.

The silence was deafening. The only sounds we had were the gagged noises that Myst was making, and then Rainfall’s attempt at speaking, and finally the crackling fire. But I refused to speak. The one person who had been there for me since the beginning of my journey, the one who had kept me safe, saved my life, and loved me… he was dead. He was dead and there was nothing I could do about it.

I hated Reed, for becoming a monster, I hated Twilight for not telling me the truth, and I hated myself for not being better. Most of all I hated Myst, she was crazy, insane, and she killed the one person that I loved more that anything in the whole world. I hated her.

At the very least she was calming down, I couldn’t hear her any more. That was nice. Moon Shadow looked at me, and his eyes widened. I wondered what was wrong with him at first, and then I realized, Myst was far too quiet.

I spun around, saw the flash of steel bearing down at me, and I rolled out of the way. Myst was standing there, she had taken my hammer and swung it down at me. She was trying to kill me with the very weapon that Storm Feather had given me. She just signed her own death warrant.

I lashed out with my magic, drew my broad sword and swung at her. Fire raced down my veins as she blocked with the hammer. She wasn’t strong enough to stop me though, and I knocked the weapon away from her. She back peddled and I stepped forward. Her eyes grew wide, fearful, and I grinned.

“No, wait. I just wanted you to love me,” She said, her tone was pleading.

“And that’s why you killed my lover and tried to kill me?” I spat enraged.

“Yes!” She cried.

I had enough of her insanity. I had given her a final shot at living. I had tied her up instead of ending her after what she did, but now I didn’t care about morality, or justice, all I wanted was to make sure she paid.

I heard Moon Shadow’s horse voice as he shouted at me, and Rainfall joined in, I think they were telling me to stop. I don’t really know, because in that moment I swung my sword down into Myst’s neck as hard as I possibly could. She coughed up blood as the sword got stuck halfway through, so I grabbed my hammer, and swung at her skull sideways. When I heard the sound of bone snapping, and flesh tearing I knew that I had succeeded. Her head went flying to the side and her body dropped.

I grabbed her twitching corpse with my magic, and her head, and I tossed both of them out of the door of the small room we were occupying. Then I closed the door, returned to the fire and stared into the flickering flames. Nopony made a sound after that.

I vowed to myself that night, that I would never allow such a thing to happen again. That I would never allow my followers to betray me, and the rest of us so horribly that it ended up in misery for the whole group. It was that night that I learned the most important lesion of them all, the one that Reed had learned the hard way, that treachery can only be paid for in blood.

***

Six months later. I was at my newly renovated tavern, the name was changed to Storm Front, in part to remember my love. My belly had gotten rather big since then, and all I could do was smile as I looked rubbed it.

“Shh, it’s okay Stormy. Mama’s going to get some food,” I whispered at my unborn baby. I wanted cake, and he wanted ketchup, so we compromised. When Moon Shadow came out with a piece of cake with ketchup on it, I grinned hungrily.

He set the plate down and smiled at me. He was breathing again, but we discovered that his breathing was only an old habit, if he wanted to, he could stop breathing and nothing would happen… well until he tried to speak. He still needed air to speak.

“How are you two doing tonight,” he asked.

I smiled. “We’re hungry.” I took a huge bite of the cake, and it was like heaven descended into my mouth. He cringed in disgust as he watched me eating. If my eating habits could disgust an undead assassin, than I felt like I should have won some kind of prize.

“Six months,” I said as I finished the bite. “Now Twilight is gearing up to wipe out what’s left of Silver’s kingdom, and she wants me to lead the charge.”

“The battle won’t actually start for at least a year,” Moon Shadow said. “If you don’t want to help Twilight, if you just want to stay at home and relax. She’ll understand.”

I shook my head. “No, I need to do this. This war was something I could’ve stopped a long time ago, but I didn’t have the courage. I’ll stop it this time.”

“Have you given any thought to what Reed said about you being the pony of war?” Moon Shadow asked.

“Of course I have, but I suppose I don’t know exactly what he’s talking about. I mean, the dead have risen, demons have virtually vanished, and now there’s going to be a war between ponies for the first time in… well as far as I know that’s never happened,” I said. “Well not in Equestria’s history at least.”

Moon Shadow shook his head. “We found pestilence, and conquest. Now we just need to find death, because clearly he is not doing his job.”

I nodded and took another bite of cake. “Maybe he can tell us how to stop the undead, because honestly when the war starts, I’d rather not have the other teams soldiers getting back up and killing us.”

“I know it’s been hard on you two,” He offered. “But I’m here, as always to keep you safe.”

I smiled at him. He had sworn his fealty to me a long time ago, and since then he’s proven to be my best and closest friend.

Even Rainfall hasn’t gotten back in touch with me for a while. She went to go and get help from the Rainbow cult but failed, after that she’d only spoken to me once or twice. Her guilt over that might have prevented her from talking to me freely.

I really hoped not, because I don’t blame her for her failure, I blame Lord Rainbow for not listening to her and aiding me on my request. One day I’ll make Lord Rainbow bow to me, he could spur me now, but he will live to regret that mistake of his.

I looked back at my plate, it was almost gone already, and I was still hungry. “Moon Shadow, do you mind getting me another plate?”

He smiled. “Of course not.”

As he trotted off I added, “And add pickles this time.”

His face distorted as though he had just digested something sour. But he continued onward to the kitchen, only saying, “If you want.”

THE END

Chapter eleven: royalty

EQUESTRAIN SOULS
Chapter eleven: Royalty
Written by TheCrimsonDM

The first hour of our journey was filled with Storm Feather getting to know both Myst our reformed Zebra mare, and talking to Rainfall. He and Rainfall had apparently fought in the past on several occasions, but even so they had respect for each other and actually got along very well.

Rainfall had explained a little bit past her past. Rainfall had grown up in a religion called the Rainbow cult. She left it a while ago in order to find a more peaceful life. Storm Feather seemed to have a slight problem with this but he agreed with her that the Rainbow cult had become unsteady as of late. He only wished that somepony who was level headed could take over as cult leader, then they could actually prove to be asset to the world instead of a nuisance.

Myst hadn’t explained much of her past to anypony other than me, and I was not about to betray her trust by telling everypony about it either. She did explain that the title of Void Runner was given to her as a pony name, she never really liked it but her love for Silver allowed her use the name in pride. Until he kicked her out of course. With the way she spoke about this Silver I had a hard time imagining that he only kicked her out because of me. I expected that he was trying to keep her safe from harm, but then again he may just be a cruel pony.

After a few hours our group passed Ponyville, now that everypony had rested it seemed that we were all moving a little faster than the last time we were here. We continued walking west towards New Canterlot. The forest began getting thinner the further we walked westward.

***

We finally took a break at one of the Altars that were placed along the side of the road. Sitting down around the Altar everypony seemed a little tired but at least we all seemed to be enjoying ourselves. Except for Moon Shadow who was squinting every time he looked up. I sat down next to him and asked. “Are you okay?”

He looked up at me and then closed his eyes before looking back to the ground. He said, “It’s too bright out here, I’m having trouble seeing properly.”

I figured he may be having a hard time adjusting to life outside of that cell he was in, but he didn’t seem to have any problems before hoof. I placed a caring hoof on his shoulder and asked him. “Is there anything I can do to help?”

He shook his head while saying. “Not unless you have sun glasses or a hat in those saddlebags of yours.”

I may not have had either of those, but I did have something for him. I took off my cloak that was over my leather armor and gave it to Moon Shadow. He refused for a few seconds but then finally took the cloak and put in on. The brown hooded cloak gave him a more roguish look in my opinion, and I enjoyed that. He was silent for a few minutes while I ate some launch before he finally said. “Thank you Light, this really helps keep the sun out my eyes. I really hope I’m not going blind.”

I gave him a smile, but I felt like something was wrong with him. I prayed to Celestia that it wasn’t serious. I noticed that Myst was also sitting a little awkwardly in our group, she looked lonely.

I walked over and sat next to Myst. She looked up at me and smiled, a strand of hair from her black curly mane fell into her face as she said. “Sup Light?”

I smiled at her and said. “Not much.”

Myst began staring at me, and then studying me from head to hoof. If I hadn’t known about her filly crush on me I wouldn’t have began blushing. Unfortunately for me I knew, and I couldn’t help blushing.

“You know, you’re one tall Mare,” Myst stated.

I looked away saying. “I’m not that much taller than most mares…”

Myst gave a little laugh and said. “Yes you are, I mean you probably have a good five or six inches on every mare I’ve met. I bet you even make stallions look small.”

Okay I liked her child like nature most of the time but her honesty was honestly beginning to bother me. So I said. “I don’t like talking about my height very much. I mean I don’t usually feel any taller than normal ponies.”

The young zebra began laughing a little before saying, “You should enjoy it, it gives you an edge in combat after all. I mean you’re really strong Light. I had to learn zebra meditation in order to be as strong as I am now.”

I looked at her and asked, “What do you mean?”

Myst grinned at me as she said excitedly, “It’s called ki, something that Zebra’s have invented and mastered. Our warrior monks were some of the most powerful opponents you’d ever see.”

I found myself interested in these zebra warrior monks, it felt almost like I had heard of them before somewhere. I asked, “Is there anything else you can do?”

She grinned and bounced a few feet into the air as she exclaimed. “IS THERE?” Once she landed on all fours she explained, “Our master of ki gives us a unique ability to sense things around us, especially danger. That’s why it’s so hard to sneak up on a well trained zebra. I heard some zebra’s actually have a natural ability to sense things with their ki. But I had to train in order to learn it.”

I had to admit, zebra’s were a lot more interesting then I gave them credit for in the past. I wondered if there were any tribes of zebra’s left. If there was how would they live, how would they survive. There were a lot of things I just didn’t know about this world, things I really wanted to know. One day I would probably explore them, but for now I needed to focus on the tasks ahead.

I looked at everypony who was now done eating. They were all relaxing, I guess a break was needed after everything we had been through. That being said we had been here for a little longer then I had planned. I stood up and said. “Alright everypony, it’s time to go meet Twilight Sparkle.”

***

We continued walking until the sun began to set and the sky became a wonderful tint of purple before we finally saw it. Off in the distance we could see a golden castle surrounded by a town protected by giant stone walls. The entire town was bright and stood out like a shining beacon in the darkness. The road we were on wound around a large lake until it finally reached the front gates of New Canterlot.

We were finally here, and full of excitement we all began picking up the pace as we nearly trotted towards the wonderful town. Moon Shadow suddenly shouted. “STOP!”

We all stopped dead in our tracks as ponies dressed in silver armor ran out from the forested area to our right. Three of them went in front of us, four behind us. They all carried long swords and looked dangerous. Myst then spoke softly saying. “Those are Silver’s knights. What are they doing here? They can’t come this far into Twilight’s territory.”

One of Silver’s knights from in front of us then spoke to me. “Give us the zebra. We won’t ask twice.”

I could feel Myst shaking next to me, I suppose that the last thing Silver expected for her when he cut his ties, was for her to join me. I looked at the one in front of us and said. “There are five of us, and only seven of you. You are heavily outnumbered.”

He took a hard look at me, giving me a chance to study him. He had brown fur, and a rust colored mane. I could see that his armor was different than the others in the way that his armored boots had axe blades attached to the sides. His armor was also a little brighter than the others, it was nearly white.

He then said. “So you must be Altar Light. I am knight commander Copper Axe.” I stared at him hard, preparing myself to grab my hammer or summon my fire magic, which ever I needed more. He then said. “We cannot act so close to Twilight’s castle, but know this Altar Light. The next time we meet, if you do not give up the zebra then we shall destroy you ourselves.”

With that Silver’s Knights left heading north of our position, back into the forest. I only hoped that they were not going to some kind of base camp. This could spell all kinds of future trouble for me, but for now I was glad to simply have them out of our hair. I looked back at the still shaking Myst; her hair somehow looked a deflated, compared to her usually bouncy curly mane.

I wrapped a leg around her and promised. “I will protect you Myst, no matter what he throws at us.”We continued walking then, to New Canterlot.

***

We arrived at the front gates just as the two guards began walking into the towns gates. They turned and eyed us with suspicion for a moment, there golden armor reflected light from the lanterns causing them to look more menacing. A moment of silence goes on for a second before the green stallion on the left demanded, “Who are you and what is your purpose here?”

I stepped forward and introduced us, “I am Altar Light, and these are my friends. We are here to seek an audience with Princess Twilight Sparkle.”

The other stallion had a red coat. He stepped up and said. “Wait, are you the Altar Light? Princess Twilights apprentice?”

I wasn’t entirely sure about the apprentice part but I answered, “Yes,” anyway.

The red stallion escorted us into the town and we waited for a few minutes as the other guard came in as well. We watched as the front gate was rolled down over the entrance way, and a few new guard ponies replaced the few that were standing guard before. The red and green stallions lead us through the town.

The sun was gone from the sky now, and very few ponies were walking the streets. The town itself was actually very good looking, almost no buildings looked abandoned, and even the ones that did were actually being renovated. I found myself smirking as I thought about how frustrating it must be for Masquerade to not be able to enter Twilight’s kingdom.

The orange glow from the lit lanterns cast odd reflections off their gold plated armor. The red one began speaking to me then, “So miss Light, may I say how much of a pleasure it is too finally meet you.”

I felt my checks warming a little as I replied, “Oh thank you.”

He then added, “Me and Luck here have been posted to the front gate at least six times in the past two years, and we’ve never been so lucky.”

The green one replied, “Shut it Star, we were supposed to be off shift right now. But orders are orders.”

I felt a little confused as I asked, “What do you mean by orders?”

The red one then said. “By the way, I’m Star Charmer, and he’s Luck Ribbon.”

Luck Ribbon then answered. “Sorry for his behavior, he’s a bit of a fan of your…feats. We are under orders, like all the guards, that if you should ever come back here looking for anything. We are to direct you to the Princess so that she may aid you. Some guards feel as though she doesn’t necessarily trust us.”

I looked at the Luck Ribbon and asked. “What do you think?”

He answered. “I personally think that you are a dangerous hazard and the Princess is trying to keep casualties from any of your…plans, to a minimum.”

I didn’t really care for his attitude, but he was leading me in the correct direction so I ignored it. It took a little bit of walking but we finally reached the castle. The outside of the castle looked as though it was made out of gold, and the inside was just as outstanding. Neatly polished marble floors and gold trimmed pillars. Everything here looked like it was meant for a Princess.

We went through the main entrance hall, up an exceedingly long staircase and finally entered the throne room. The guards leading us spoke quickly to the guards at the door, and after telling them who I was they quickly opened the door for us. The five of us entered the long and spacious throne room. Murals of ponies adorned the walls, five of the murals stood out to me. Each one depicting a unique pony in some scene that seemed to make sense for them. I recognized the mural of Rainbow Dash soaring above the clouds, and guessed that the other murals must have been depicting the other elements of harmony. Twilight didn’t have a mural of herself up there with them though.

There were three mural’s standing behind the throne. One of Celestia raising the sun, one of Luna raising the moon, and one of Cadence and a heart in the background. On the throne itself sat a bored looking alicorn with a lavender fur coat, and long dark purple hair which nearly reached the ground. There was a red streak and an even darker purple streak running through her mane. She wore a mask of gold covering the right half of her face just above the eye. The mask had a slit where a glowing pink light was visible.

I noticed that there were no guards in here, and the ones by the door quietly closed them behind us. They left the princess alone with the five of us, or more likely they left the five of us alone with her. I began to feel heavily outnumbered.

The alicorn Princess before us was indeed Twilight Sparkle, but she was huge, almost as big as Celestia had been. I felt myself becoming a little scared and very intimidated by her. She finally looked directly at us, directly at me.

Twilight Sparkle then smiled, a very tired smile. She rose from her throne and walked towards me while saying. “Light, is it really you?”

I timidly smiled back and said. “Yeah it’s me, but my memory isn’t what it used to be.”

She got ten feet away before her horn began to glow and a pale pink light covered all of us for a few seconds. Then the light was gone and Twilight smiled even wider as she said. “It’s really you, I was so afraid you would be a changeling or something worse.”

I felt a little nervous about her using magic to examine us, but at least she was being cautious. Twilight Sparkle then did something very un-princess like and jumped on me embracing me into a giant bear hug. The meanwhile saying excitedly, “I was under the impression that Silver had killed you. You have no idea how happy I am to finally have you back. I…I thought I lost another friend and that hurt so badly.”

I gave her a hug back and said. “Well I’m back now, and I need your help.”

It took a few minutes of me explaining to Twilight everything that had happened but once I was finished she said, “I can understand why you are on this quest, but I fear that you may not see a happy ending if you continue like this.”

I couldn’t just wait around and do nothing, so I told her, “I need to do this. It’s important for me.”

She smiled at me again, with a very tired expression and said, “I know, and this time I won’t try and stop you. Ha I don’t know how Celestia used to do this. I mean…the last three hundred years have been so hard. The worst part was learning the meaning of death, but it taught me just how valuable life really is.”

I could understand how she felt, she is a virtual goddess among ponies. She didn’t grow old, she only got bigger. I bet she had to watch many ponies die from old age. I took another look at the murals on the walls now with new meaning. All of these ponies must be dead, and this was her way of remembering them.

Twilight looked a little saddened as she said. “I would love to help you out, I can give you access to ponyville, but I need your help first. There is something that I cannot do myself, but if you went in and did this as an outside party then it could work out.”

I looked up at her and asked. “What do you need?”

She smiled at me and said. “You really are the best apprentice anypony could’ve asked for. What I need is for you and your friends to go and…cause some trouble for me.”

I looked a little more sternly at her and asked. “What exactly do you want us to do?”

She tried to give me a trusting smile, but after a moment of me staring she dropped it into a sad smile and said. “I need you to find the Silver’s Knights base camp that’s located due north of here. Once you get there, you need to destroy their goods. If they lose resources they will be hard pressed to stay there. Hopefully it will cause them to retreat. If not they will still be weakened for when my soldiers go in.”

I liked her idea, and it didn’t sound too hard. I grinned as I said. “Alright, sounds like fun.”

Twilight wrapped a wing around me and said. “Thank you Light, and if you please. I’d love it if you and your friends joined me for a royal dinner tonight. After you all get cleaned up and rested of course.”

I had no objections, I was hungry and from the looks on everyponies face they were as well. Except for Moon Shadow who was hiding his face underneath his hood. I was worried about him.

We found ourselves escorted to individual guest rooms by Twilight’s personal servants. We had an hour before dinner was served so I made sure that I was cleaned up from the swamp, I hadn’t realized how much mud and dirt was still in my fur. I guess using the water pump and a bucket and a wash cloth over at the Lit Fuse wasn’t good enough.

The water was really very nice to soak in, and after I was done I dried off in the most fluffy and soft towel I have ever felt. I went back into my room and noticed green mare with a purple mane sitting in my room staring at me. She had lizard eyes and a scales growing on the underside of her neck. She simply continued to stare at me as I stood there frozen.

I didn’t know what to do, I would have liked to attack her, but she wasn’t doing anything to me…yet. I cleared my throat a little and said. “Um…hi, I believe you have the wrong room.”

She stared at me and let out a puff of smoke from her nostrils. Okay now that was creepy. I began walking very slowly towards the door, maybe a guard would know what to do about this. All of sudden the mare spoke in a rough voice saying. “Wait, please don’t tell Twilight…or dad. I just wanted to meet the famous Altar Light. I couldn’t tell if you were really her for a moment, you just seem so tame.”

I looked at her feeling strange and confused for a moment, before I got enough of my wits together to ask. “So you already know who I am, but who are you?”

She licked her lips with a lizard tongue, one that was uncomfortably long. She then raised a split hoof to her chest, the hoof was very sharp looking, and she said. “I am tge Dragon Pony awesomeness extraordinaire.”

I gave her a confused look and she amended, saying. “Okay…my name is actually Jade Heart…”

I sat down and asked confused as ever. “That’s a pretty name.”

She looked to the side and spat a small poof of fire out before saying. “Dad gave me that name, mum had a much worse name in mind. I decided I would call myself something different though.”

I began to imagine who her mom might’ve been, and if my poor memory serves well I knew who her dad was at least. I then asked, “Okay, what do you want to me to call you by then?”

She smiled her sharp tooth grin and said, “Pyro…dragon…awesome…pony.”

I was not about to call her that, so I decided to simply call her, “Pyro that’s a nice name.”

Pyro’s smile grew as she said, “Thanks, you’re pretty awesome.”

I turned and faced the door and asked, “And will you be joining us for dinner?”

Pyro answered with a bored tone, “Not tonight, Twilights a lot of fun to eat with, but dad said he wanted to spend some quality father daughter time with me. Blah, he gets so boring. I blame Auntie Twilight for raising him so boringly.”

That did it, this had to be Spike progeny sitting in my room. I didn’t have to wonder to hard to figure out who her mom must have been. I walked out the door and said. “Okay, just don’t make a mess while I’m gone. and I’d like to talk to you again when you’re free.” And then I was gone, going to a fancy dinner.

This dinner was anything but fancy. In all of three hundred years it would seem that Twilight had not only retained her simple tastes, but all of her disgusting eating habits. Twilight’s golden mask was missing, replaced by a white eye patch with a blue and pink butterfly on it. Her muzzle was covered in gravy and she was only getting more messy as she continued to eat.

Everypony was here eating except for Moon Shadow who was Celestia knows where at the moment. Storm Feather was eating very politely along with Rainfall and me. While Myst was eating almost as messily as Twilight was. I swear it looked like the two of them had gotten into a ‘who could eat the messiest’ contest. It was rather embarrassing.

When Twilight had finally finished she used the napkin to clean her face. While Myst only dug in for seconds, or thirds I couldn’t tell at this point. Storm Feather had been given a special stew for his dietary concerns…I assumed that meant there was animal in it.

Twilight then spoke saying, “I haven’t eaten like this in ages. I’ve been so busy lately. Thank you for coming over Light.”

I looked up and asked, “Busy with what?”

She looked a little tired again as she said, “Busy trying to prevent a war with King Silver. He has grown in power at a shocking rate over the past twenty years. But in the last three they have become frighteningly aggressive, around the time that I heard they had killed you.”

I didn’t like the sound of that at all. I took a drink from my tea and then asked, “Has it really only been three years?”

Twilight gave me a nod while saying, “Yeah, it’s been hard for me without you. It looked like they attacked you at your bar, and took both you and Moon Shadow captive.”

I looked up at Twilight and asked, “But what about my memories.”

Twilight looked a little happier as she said, “That was actually your doing. You’re a smart girl Light, you told me that you had a spell to wipe you of all your memories should you ever get captured by the enemy.”

That made me feel slightly less broken at least. I asked, “So we have been fighting against Silver’s Knights for a long time now I gather?”

Twilight answered, “Yes, and we were doing good. But with you gone we lost our most valuable asset. You were my secret weapon, acting as a mercenary for them for the longest time. Sadly they caught on to you selling out information. Thankfully King Silver can’t take any actions against me unless my soldiers do something first. So we have been using proxies and mercenaries to strike blows at one another for a while now.”

I looked down into my drink. I took another sip and then said, “Wow…so this war is only a hairs breath away from becoming serious.”

Twilight explained, “Yes it is, but thanks to King Silver trying to appease the political powers in his lands he has been unable to act strongly against me. I know he just wants me to bow to him, some ponies have taken to calling him Silver the conqueror for a good reason.”

Storm Feather then asked, “Isn’t King Silver’s territory on the opposite side of the Everfree?”

Twilight spoke answered, “Yes it is, and if we get into a real conflict the Everfree woods will be the main battlefield.” Twilight let out a sigh before saying, “I remember the days when we would just strap on some pretty necklaces and kick the bad guys flank. But with no more elements of harmony things are much harder.”

I let out my own sigh and said, “I guess that means you understand Celestia a whole lot more now.”

Twilight nodded in agreement. I began to feel that this dinner was less of a social engagement and more of a tactical one. Something inside of me both hated and loved this. There seemed to be something about the idea of a good fight that just really appealed to me. I began to wonder about why I found these things so engaging, and the more I wondered the more my mind began to slip into someplace else…

***

I stood at a table with Celestia, Luna, Cadence, and Twilight all at the same table with me. I was nervous about being around the four princesses all at once. I hadn’t been with them all like this before. Twilight was actually a little shorter than me and her hair was even shorter than mine. I secretly enjoyed being taller than her.

Celestia looked down at the table, it was blank map of Equestria. Celestia floated a few white round pieces over and placed them on the map at the largest cities in Equestria. She then said, “These are where the majority of the Equestrian Guard are located.” She then lifted a single red piece and floated it over to a small village at the southern most place on the map. She then added, “and this is the village of New Slate. Where the first and so far only demon attack has taken place.”

I looked at the map and said. “Wait…that’s where Maud is working, what’s going on?”

Cadence looked at Twilight and asked accusingly, “Didn’t you tell her what happened?”

Twilight Sparkle then said fearfully, “I only knew it was a southern village that was wiped…um attacked. I didn’t know which one.”

Cold fear rushed through my body, if Maud was there when it was attacked…it couldn’t be that bad. I felt myself shaking a little bit before I asked, “How bad was it?”

Celestia looked at me with such sad eyes and said, “The town is gone, our soldiers weren’t fast enough to stop the first demon from being summoned.”

I froze, it felt like my entire body was covered in ice. I could only stare down at the red piece sitting on top of New Slate. That little red piece looked like the end of the world to me. I somehow managed to ask, “Did you just say…a demon?”

Celestia then spoke in a very soft voice, “Yes little one, I did.”

Twilight wrapped a wing around me and I buried my face into Twilight’s neck sobbing saying.
“Please, there has to be something we can do…something I can do. I…didn’t even get to say good bye when she last visited me,” I pleaded to Twilight.

Twilight nuzzled the top of my head and spoke gently saying, “At least you still have Trixie.”

***

Returning to my body had me feeling like I had just been thrown into the deep end of the pool. I nearly fell out of my chair, my breathing became rapid and I felt tears streaming down my face from the fresh memory. I heard Twilight asking me if I was okay.

I looked up and explained, “I…just had another memory flashback…this one was…bad.”

Twilight looked worried as she asked, “Does this happened a lot?”

I tried to shake my head and felt dizzy from the effort. I instead said, “Not often, but when it does…it’s been getting harder on me.”

Twilight looked even more worried and asked, “Is there anything I can do to help you?”

I began feeling a little less dizzy and said, “No…I just need some rest.”

The dinner was over after that and we all retreated to our individual rooms. I was exhausted from the memory flash, and even more so I was confused. I knew that Trixie was my mom, but how was Maud connected to her, connected to me? I didn’t know right now, but I did know that I was going to get some sleep and then figure this stuff out later. I laid down on the soft bed and closed my eyes. Sleep came quickly to me, and I would get to spend some more time with Dreamer.