Tale of the Nether Drake

-Chapter 5-

Heat

“Everypony ready?” Twilight asked to the group as they all took their place inside the basket of the hot air balloon.

        “Yeah!” They replied collectively, aside from a few individuals who either said something different or didn't acknowledge that Twilight was even talking.

        Twilight's horn surged with magic as she re-powered the enchanted balloon, allowing it to hold more intense temperatures yet again. Spike walked under the balloon and took a deep breath, following up with a large plume of fire flowing up and into the balloon. Moments later the balloon was up and off the ground, soaring towards the sky just like it had done before.

        In a few minutes the balloon was at its destined altitude and the group took up their usual spots as Twilight changed directions, shifting the tilt of the balloon so it would head to the north east towards the dragon domain. With everything set, the only thing the group had to do was sit and wait for their craft to take them across the land.

        Inside of the basket Rarity was rummaging through some of her things, making sure she still had everything she came with. Before long she eyed Twilight Sparkle's saddlebags and got a sudden desire to closely inspect the diamond they had recently acquired.

        “Oh, Twilight,” Rarity called to her friend with a wave of a hoof. “Do you mind if I take a closer look at that wonderful jewel?”

        “You mean the diamond?” Twilight replied, glancing over at the object of the white unicorn’s interest.  “Sure, go ahead.  Just be careful with it, alright?” And with that, she walked off to another corner of the basket, a book titled “Lodestar’s Essays on Navigation” in tow.

        Rarity nodded and smiled as she turned back to the saddlebags, her magic already working them open. She attempted to feel through the bag to pull the diamond out with her magic... but didn't feel it there. A bit of worry hit her as she tried again, but she couldn't feel the diamond in the bags at all. Panic started to well up inside her as she quickly looked into the bags herself to see that... it was still there.

        “That's odd...” She said with a quirked eyebrow.

        “What's odd?” Twilight asked as she looked over to see Rarity pick the diamond out with her hooves.

        The diamond was there just as it had been, but only without its bright glow. For whatever reason the emanation of light from the gem had completely ceased, and in her hooves appeared to be just a regular diamond, albeit a slightly different hue.

        “This gem, I don't know why but I couldn't feel it with my magic at all!” Rarity inspected it closely, holding it with one hoof as the other rubbed her chin. She eyed the diamond closely as if trying to look inside of it. “It's like it's invisible to my magic or something...”

        “Well that sounds very unorthodox,” Twilight commented as she got up and moved moved closer to inspect the diamond herself.

        “Try for yourself dear, I'm not making this up.”

        Twilight focused her magic onto the diamond and... couldn't grab hold it. She did a double take and then tried again, but her attempt yielded the same result. She swung her head around the diamond to examine it from different angles as she poked at it with her hoof.

        “I... I don't get it!” Twilight said as she stared dumbfounded at the diamond. “Gems aren't supposed to be immune to magic! We've all moved around rubies, sapphires, emeralds, and of course diamonds before.. what makes these so different?”

        “Probably because they're magical diamonds? Remember?” Spike said as-a-matter-of-factually from where he sat on another side of the basket.

        “Oh, right, um,” Twilight blinked a few times as she looked even more closely at the diamond. “I guess I need to do more research on this thing...”

        “Don't waste your time,” came Tazer's voice from across the basket as he was laid back apathetically against the basket's side. “That thing has already been studied all over, but all the notes are just put into different freakin languages in that book. Pretty dumb to do that if ya ask me though.”

        “Hmmm...” Twilight poked at the diamond a few more times, then sighed in defeat as she lowered her head. “I guess we'll just have to figure out what the rest of that book means...”

        “Don't worry dear,” Rarity said in a comforting voice as she placed the diamond back in the bag. “We'll solve the mystery of these diamonds soon enough.”

        “Yeah, I hope so, it's kind of getting to me how I can't properly study these things... especially with the only notes on them being written in different ancient languages, ugh.”

        “Humph, ponies...” Tazer scoffed as he turned around to stare outside of the basket.

        The dragon domain was many miles away, and though the balloon was traveling at a relatively fast pace, it would still be several hours before the group would reach their destination.

        Time progressed, as did the amount of boredom the group began to feel. Though some were occupied with just sleeping on the top of the balloon like Rainbow Dash or reading through a book like Twilight Sparkle, others like Pinkie Pie and Shuske were feeling restless with so little to do. It was very taxing for them to keep themselves as still as they possible could, even though that wasn't very still at all, just until they reach the Dragon Domain and settle down to solid ground.

        Even so, the two in particular were very much in distress from the lack of mobility. At one point Pinkie Pie tried to tie her own balloons around her waist so she could lift herself into the air to push the balloon on faster. Even though it ended up not doing anything, even Shuske decided to try and help by pushing himself. There was a little nudge difference in speed, but nothing major by any stretch. Feeling defeated, the two floated around the balloon the rest of the time trying to entertain themselves any way they could.

        Meanwhile, Spike was lazily sitting back against the basket's edge as he stared upwards to nothing. Though his eyes were directed towards the balloon, his mind was far from there. He was thinking about his home in Ponyville, as well as in Canterlot. Though as he thought about home, his mind drifted to his situation about being away from home... and not only that, but the few other times he'd been away from home.

        Going off on official business to Canterlot while living in Ponyville was one thing, because Canterlot used to be their home for a very long time. But going away from there to lands strange and unknown to him... such things made him remember the time he had ran away. He began to feels similar to how he did back then, feelings like loneliness, sadness, and essentially what made up being home-sick. Though he was out on an adventure with all of his friends close by, he still couldn't help but feel distant from them... especially sitting by himself inside the balloon basket.

        He looked over to Rarity, seeing her trot across the basket to resume her chat with Fluttershy that they had been having earlier from atop the balloon. Spike contemplated going over and talking with her as well, after all, it was one of the things he would have hoped to have an opportunity for. Being on an adventure with Rarity as a member of the party meant more time to spend with Rarity... right?

        But just like in the past, he could never find the courage to actually go up to her. It really just wasn't in him... he didn't have enough of a drive to do it, he didn't have enough of a desire for her that he would suck up his fear of being rejected to just ask. He merely stared at her sadly for a few minutes, wondering what his question might have brought him. But alas, Spike soon became overwhelmed with the negative emotions and desired comfort more than anything. Even though he didn't feel like talking to anypony around about his issues, he knew there was always one he could at least find solace by being around.

        Spike got up and slowly walked towards Twilight Sparkle, keeping his head low as he approached her. Though Twilight had returned to busily reading her book, she still noticed Spike as he came up beside her and sat down with his side leaning on hers, snuggling into her coat. Twilight smiled warmly as she looked back at her young assistant, though was careful not to move too much so he would not be disturbed.

        Twilight had always been there for Spike, and even though he may not have talked to her about everything, he knew her as a place of comfort and, most importantly of all for the situation, familiarity. When he was with her, Spike felt like he was home... like he was at peace.

-|-

        Finally after what seemed like forever to two individuals in particular, but really only about a total of five hours, the balloon was soaring overhead of some definite Dragon Domain territory. Large smoky volcanoes dotted the landscape with their smoke turning the sky a sort of light red and tannish color as the ground was a mix of red and brown with some dark gray rocks. There were caves spread throughout some mountains, as well as some sort of village or cluster of rocky mounds that would represent buildings with holes going through them.

        And of course, the most noticeable feature of all was the plethora of dragons roaming around the land. All sorts of dragons in all different colors, shapes, and sizes. There were some with wings, some without, some with large tails, some with more than one tail, some that even looked so crazy that they made Crackle seem normal. Twilight looked over the edge of the basket in hopes of finding a safe spot to land, and hopefully one where no dragon would just happen to come around and destroy their balloon. Then she saw it, a large plate-like rock that branched out on top of a hill that seemed to hold just a big enough area to hide the balloon under.

        Twilight adjusted the course of the balloons and then began to undo the magical binds on it once more, triggering its descent. In a few minutes the basket touched onto the ground and was secured by Twilight's magic. The group got out of the balloon with their bags and any other equipment, stretched out a bit, and gathered around Twilight to see what to do next.

        “Alright, we've reached the Dragon Domain,” Twilight stated as she looked at everyone. “It can be pretty dangerous here, especially for us ponies, seeing how some dragons may not like us just randomly showing up in their territory like this.”

        “Save it Twilight, you're in no danger,” Tazer spoke out as he stepped in front of the group.

        “We're not?” Twilight asked as she stepped aside for him.

        “Just cuz we're dragons don't mean we're just out to screw some crap up and act like total re-re's that need a leash. We're a proud and ancient race, so most dragons wouldn't lower themselves to just picking on a group of ponies unless they really had a reason to.”

        “Well, we've kind of had a few bad experiences with dragons in the past, and they usually weren't very friendly...”

        “Then you either hit' em, disturbed their sleep, walked into some sort of special territory like during the great migration or something, interrupted whatever they were doing, or tried to steal some of their gems. Am I right?”

        The six ponies and Spike all exchanged looks, remembering back to the times they had confronted dragons. The red dragon atop the tower was provoked, the green one in the forest had Spike eating its gems, and the teenage ones from the migration had their nasty plan interrupted by them. And the main reason they dressed up as a dragon during the migration thing in the first place was so they wouldn't be seen as invading special territory.

        “Uh, well... kinda...?”

        “Mhm, thought so,” Tazer deadpanned as he crossed his arms. “freakin rejects...”

        “So then it's alright if we just up'n stroll on int'a there?” Applejack asked. “I mean, as long as we ain't causin no trouble we'll be fine, right?”

        “I'm pretty sure that's what I'm saying. I've lived here my whole life, I know how things go. Just act with some sense and you'll be fine.”

        “Alright then,” Twilight began as she looked towards the direction of the dirt village. “Let's get going then.”

        The group gave their collective nods in agreement, though some more hesitant than others, and proceeded towards the village.

        As they walked around a sharply sloped hillside and got the village in their full view, the first thing they realized was the feel and smell of the air. It was significantly thicker, as if it was humid, only with some strange volcanic musk instead of moisture. The air had the slightest hint of sulfur in it as well as the more dominant smell of iron and smoke. Twilight figured the iron smell must be coming from the dirt, the reddish tint a tell-tale sign that the soil was rich with it.

        Some dragons passed by them on their sides, not even taking notice of the group mainly composed of ponies. Even if they did notice, they seemed to not care at all as they went about their business. A few ended up shooting them curious or even suspicious looks, but ultimately shrugged it off and went on their way. It may not have been every day they saw ponies, but it certainly didn't seem like a big deal to them either way.

        As they drew closer to the village they noticed one large red dragon in particular settling down atop a mound of dirt and looking around the area. He looked like a regular red dragon to most of the ponies in the group, but Fluttershy immediately perked up in delight as she recognized him.

        “Ooh, it's him!” she almost squealed in delight as she suddenly raced off in front of the rest of the group.

        “Fluttershy, wait!” Twilight called out before the group raced towards her.

        Fluttershy had a big grin on her face as she fluttered in front of the large red dragon, quickly gaining its attention. It reared its head back in surprise and, for a split second, anger at being interrupted, but its mood quickly shifted to one of delight as it recognized the yellow pegasus hovering in front of his muzzle.

        “Why, is that Fluttershy I see?” he said as it tilted its head with a smile curling onto his face.

        “Yes, it's me. It's so good to see you again Draco,” Fluttershy leaned forward and wrapped her legs around the dragon's nose in as much of a hug as she could give. The dragon simply smiled wider and scrunched his nose in return.

        “Fluttershy!” Rainbow Dash called out as her and the group caught up. “What are you- hey, it's you!” Rainbow Dash shot an accusing hoof at the dragon.

        The dragon gasped and pointed a claw back at Dash. “I know you!” it gave an angry growl as it glared at her.

        “Um... you all know each other?” Twilight asked as she walked below the scene.

        “This is the same scaly punk that caused the trouble in Ponyville last year!” Rainbow Dash yelled as her eyes glared right back into the dragon's.

        “You're the troublesome little pony that came in and just kicked me in the snout!” Draco growled back as he reared up onto his hind legs.

        “Quit it, both of you!” Fluttershy demanded as she let go of Draco and and glared side to side at her two friends. “No more arguing, we're going to be nice from now on.”

        “But Fluttershy, that big jerk blew a big puff of smoke on me and the rest of our friends!”

        “You all tried to interrupt my napping!”

        “Your smoke was causing trouble for the town!”

        “You ponies think you can boss us around huh!?”

        “STOP!” Fluttershy yelled out in a tone of command as the other two immediately froze and shrunk away a bit. Fluttershy looked at each again, her eyes peering to each with almost as much power as the stare. “You both are going to make up and forgive each other for what you both did, do you understand?”

        “Well, but I-...”

        “But, uh I don't-”

        “Understand!?”

        “Y-yes ma'am!” They both stuttered simultaneously before looking at each other. After they both gave out their own disgruntled sigh they approached one another and exchanged apologies, even if they weren't entirely sincere.

        “There...” Fluttershy smiled softly at the two.

        Down on the ground, the rest of the group stared at the scene in awe as Fluttershy apparently had the power to tame a fully grown dragon, and a wild pegasus like Rainbow Dash.

        “Wait wait wait, I don't get it,” Shuske blurted out as he scratched his head. “I thought Fluttershy was always quiet and shy and stuff! This is nothing like how I knew her.”

        “Um, how should I put this,” Rarity began as she put a hoof to her chin. “She can get really... well, protective of her friends, especially when they might be arguing with each other. Apparently Fluttershy made friends with the dragon that visited Ponyville last year and... this is him.”

        “Huh...” Shuske cocked his head and scratched at it more, still staring at the three up above. “Alrighty then...”

        Fluttershy came between Dash and Draco and wrapped a foreleg around each of them, with the one to Draco just going against his snout. Draco and Dash sighed and smiled a bit, each glad that they could at least find some sort of bridge to bring some sort of peace between the two.

        As the group continued to observe the scene before them, an idea suddenly popped into Twilight's mind. She quickly trotted up almost directly beneath the dragon's head and called up to it. “Excuse me, Mr. Dragon!”

        “Huh?” Draco looked down, noticing the lavender mare first and then the others below him. “Hey, Fluttershy, aren't these the other ponies that were there when we met?”

        “Oh yes, those are all my friends, Draco. Though you haven't met the other three yet,” Fluttershy gestured towards Spike, Tazer and Shuske. Shuske waved at him enthusiastically, Spike waved hesitantly, and Tazer just stared off into space with an apathetic look on his face.

        “Ah well, it's good to see you all again, and meet some of you as well,” he nodded his head towards the group.

        “Draco? Is that your name?” Questioned Pinkie Pie as she tilted her head at the dragon.

        “Yes, it is indeed.”

        “Ooh, yay! Now that I know your name I can be your friend and throw you a party!” Pinkie suddenly zipped out of sight and suddenly reappeared on top of Draco's snout. “I'm Pinkie Pie! I love to throw parties and eat cupcakes and I work in a bakery and though I help make a ton of sweets I sometimes end up eating them which is kind of silly but I make the best stuff in all of Ponyville so it's okay cuz everypony loves my sweets and treats because I always share them with my friends and I got a lot of friends in fact I know everypony in Ponyville and also some in Canterlot and Trottingham and Hoofington and Salt Lick City and now I can have one in the Dragon Domain too even though you kinda tore up my outfit when I first met you to make you feel better but you were just being grumpy and wanted to take a nap and I totally understand that and I'm just happy that you and I can be friends now!”

        “Uhh... that's, nice?” he smiled awkwardly at the overcharged pink fluff staring at him for a few seconds before looking at Fluttershy, his eyes pleading.

        “Oh, um, Pinkie,” Fluttershy began as she got the hint and hovered over to her pink party friend. “Maybe we can have the party later... is that okay?”

        “Oh, okay!” Pinkie smiled at her friend and then zipped off of Draco's snout the same way she zipped onto it, and then appeared just as suddenly back on the ground below him.

        “So, uh,” Draco began as he looked at everyone in the group. “What brings you all to dragon territory anyways?”

        “Well actually, we're on a quest,” Twilight replied as she floated out the large tome. “We need help translating the words in this book so we can find the location of a very special set of diamonds. Do you by chance have any knowledge in Dragontine?”

        “Dragontine you say?” Draco's eyes widened with curiosity as Twilight opened the book and brought it up to his view. She also levitated up a quill to point to the parts throughout the book that she had identified as Dragontine earlier on. “Hmm... ah, I see, yes this is definitely Dragontine alright. And it looks like...” he reached up and gently felt a claw against the pages of the book. “Huh, it appears that these pages are made out of Coalparch. Interesting, I haven't seen this type of paper in many years!”

        “So, you can translate the Dragontine for us then?” Twilight smiled up expectantly at Draco, who after a few seconds slumped his shoulders.

        “I'm sorry little pony, but I don't have any real knowledge of how to read the language... I can only identify it.” Twilight's figure slouched at this, her head and ears lowered while her eyes fell towards the ground. Draco winced a bit at this, not liking to see a close friend of one of his friends disappointed. Then, an idea came to him. “Although... I think I know someone who can read it for you.”

        “You do!?” Twilight shot right back up at hearing his last statement, her eyes filled with hope.

        “Yes, actually. I know of an inventor around here by the name of Gizmodo. He's apparently some sort of super genius, but...” Draco's voice became hushed as he leaned closer to Twilight. “He's not exactly straight in the head... if you know what I mean.”

        “I... think I understand,” Twilight said as she nodded at him. “Though I'm certain it shouldn't be too much trouble, I deal with crazy pony stuff all the time,” Twilight gestured towards Pinkie Pie at that, who was at the time working on tuning a trombone that she just happened to bring out of nowhere.

        “Heh, I get ya,” Draco sat back up and then turned his gaze to his left. “His nest is a bit of a ways in that direction. You can't miss it, it's a mound of dirt with a whole bunch of crazy metal trinkets poking out of it from almost all sides.”

        “Well, that sounds simple enough,” Twilight said aloud as she turned to the others. “Lets go then everyone!”

        With that, the group agreed and started on their way directed by Draco earlier. The last one to leave was Fluttershy who spent an extra few seconds giving Draco one last hug before leaving. Draco waved goodbye at the group as they disappeared around another dirt mound.

        It only took a few minutes of walking for the dirt mound in question to come into view. It was just like Draco had said, they couldn't miss it. Strange metal designs were protruding from all around the mound along with wires and an assortment of different colored rocks that were dug into the surface. There was one big hole at the front, which was obviously the main entrance, as well as a plethora of other smaller holes, making the mound somewhat resemble swiss cheese.

        As they drew closer, they could hear the sound of mindless babbling about one topic, then changing periodically to another thing while the sound of metal clanging against metal was also heard. Some things fly out of one window on one side of the mound, and on the other side a brown, scaly arm reached out and pulled another thing in that just happened to be sticking out of the mound. It was essentially a scene of utter chaos... or in some dragon's mind, perhaps a well organized mess.

        As they made their way to the entrance, Twilight stopped in front of a wooden slab that just happened to be leaning against the side of the hole. She hesitated for a moment, but then raised up her hoof and gave a few hard knocks. Almost instantly a dragon's head popped out from the hole closest to the entrance and looked at the group at the door. The head had some sort of light gray fuzz on the top and on the chin, and its ears were long and curly. Its scales were tan, its eyes were green, and its spines were an orange color with a slight red tint. Also, its neck seemed to be twisted backwards judging by the way it was seen bending.

        The dragon cocked his head as it stared at them for a few moments with its eyebrow quirked and a skeptical look on his face before pulling back inside. Immediately it emerged again, only that time with a full body to it as the dragon came to the entrance. Its body was more a bit more elongated than most dragons, and it was only about twenty five feet tall at total height.

        “Guhuhu! Well hello there pony and griffon and other dragon travelers!” he greeted with a wide smile and open arms as he stood on his back legs. His voice reminded most of them of an old pony they knew back in Ponyville that had gone crazy. “My name is Gizmodo, how may I be of help to you today?” He turned his body around and bent backwards, looking at all of them from an upside down angle while still keeping the same smile.

        “Hello there,” Twilight began in the same professional voice she used when she first meets ponies. “My name is Twilight Spa-”

        “HOLD ON A SECOND DON'T TELL ME!” Gizmodo suddenly shouted out at the top of his lungs as his neck twisted in a weird angle. “Okay, Twilight... oh I know I heard that name before! Oh, oh, and yes... ooh looky here!” He leaned backwards towards the group after he straightened his neck, pointing a claw at Pinkie Pie. “We gots ourselves a Nerf!”

        “A what?” came the collective question of several individuals.

        “A Nerf!” he exclaimed cheerfully. “This pony is obviously a Nerf, I can tell from seeing many Nerfs in my day, ya know? Guhuhuhu...!”

        “Uhhh...” Twilight Sparkle looked back at their friends, who wore the same confused face as she did. When she turned back to look at the obviously crazy dragon, she noticed he was actually facing them normally. “Well, uh, anyways, I'm Twilight Sparkle, and these are my friends behind me,” she motioned to the rest of the group, some of which gave greeting waves while a few others simply stared at him awkwardly. “We're currently on a quest right now, and we would like your assistance.”

        “A quest?” He perked up with interest before reaching behind him and pulling out a long, sharp piece of rock and began using it as a toothpick. “Sounds like quite a task for a few little ponies and young griffon and two baby dragons, if I do say so myself, guhu...”

        “Right...” Twilight trailed off, wondering what to do next for a few moments. She then got an idea as her magic activated, floating over the tome they had. “Well, if it isn't too much trouble, we would greatly appreciate it if you would-”

        “Oh look a balloon!” Gizmodo interrupted suddenly before he quickly reached back inside his home and pulled out a sporadically crooked telescope, using it to look in the general direction of the balloon. “Ah, and someone brought cupcakes with them, too! Guhuhuhu!”

        “Ooh, that's me, that's me!” Pinkie Pie announced as she bounced with joy. “I made them special with extra cinnamon and sprinkles!”

        “Cinnamon you say?” Gizmodo twisted his body into making a 360 degree turn before bending down to bring his face to the pink pony. “You know, Pink Nerf...” he whispered in an ominous tome. “I must admit... I certainly do love cinnamon.”

        “You do!?” Pinkie beamed. “Oh my gosh, so do I! That's why they're so special because I know everypony loves cinnamon and now I know a dragon that likes cinnamon too!”

        “Guhuhu! Oh yes!” Gizmodo twisted his body back to normal before he put on a strangely serious face while striking a dramatic pose. “You should have seen me so long ago, crossing the fields of the alpintine valley, when I suddenly came upon a cave.... filled with cinnamon!” Everyone looked at him in a strange way, except for Pinkie who gasped dramatically before he continued. “I had never seen so much cinnamon in my life! And I tell you, I went down to the deepest parts of that cave and fought the boss itself.. the Cinna-Monster!”

        “Dun Dun Duuuuun!” Pinkie exclaimed for dramatic effect. “Ooh, did you beat it, huh huh huh?”

        “Why of course I did!” Gizmodo boasted. “I got it to sit down at the table, and then I wiped the floor with him at a very intense game of checkers!”

        “ENOUGH!” Tazer suddenly yelled at the top of his lungs, his teeth gritting together in anger. “I have had it with your freakin re-re babble about stuff I gives a crud about!” Tazer looked between Pinkie Pie and Gizmodo, giving them both a hard stare. “Both of you knock off the freakin cluster-buck conversation so we can make some freakin progress and not be stuck here all day, wasting time doing dumb crud!”

        Everyone in the group, including Gizmodo, stared wide-eyed at Tazer's sudden explosion. And by the looks of it, Tazer held no shame or embarrassment in doing so.

        “Yeesh, he mad. What crawled up his scales?” Gizmodo whispered as he leaned down beside Pinkie's ear.

        “He's always like that,” Pinkie whispered back as she leaned close to his ear. “That's Tazer, he's a bit of a grumpy grumpleson.”

        “Ah, I see what you did there...”

        “Twilight,” Tazer spoke up as he shot her a look. “The book.”

        “Uh, right...” Twilight hesitated, not at at all comfortable with Tazer's commanding tone of voice. But, in an effort to avoid conflict and to get done what they needed done, she floated the tome up once again and positioned it in front of Gizmodo for him to grab a hold of. “We need help translating some words in this book, and we were directed to you by a dragon named Draco who claimed that you would be able to help us.”

        “Ah yes, Draco,” Gizmodo took a few moments to let a few memories flow through his mind as he grabbed hold of the tome. “I remember him, yeah, a pretty well-rounded fellow if you ask me, though he likes to nap a bit more than usual... oh well. I'm surprised you caught him while he was awake.”

        Gizmodo shrugged his shoulders before looking down at the book in his hands that was just about the right size for him, flipping over the cover to the first page. He tilted his head quizzically as he skimmed through it, and then flipped to another page. He did this several times before he raised up his head to look at Twilight with a small smile on his face.

        “Aha, I bet you ponies and dragons and one griffon are curious about the Dragontine in this book, am I right?”

        “Well, yes, actually!” Twilight perked up as she knew he recognized what needed translating.

        “And I see you even have some Griffonish in here as well, guhuhu!”

        “You recognized the Griffonish?” Twilight was brimming with excitement, the crazy dragon might be more help than they imagined! “Can you translate that, too!?”

        “Guhuhu! I... no, no I can't,” he replied flatly as he flipped another page. “However, I can identify what several of these languages are, in case you didn't already know, and I can also translate the Dragontine for you, too!”

        “Well, that sounds like it would save us a whole hankerin of trouble,” Applejack commented. “We would be mighty grateful if ya could do this fer us!”

        “Think nothing of it dear adventurers,” Gizmodo waved a hand dismissively before reaching into his home and pulling out a monocle. “Gizmodo here will take a closer look at your book to see what he can decipher, guhuhuhu!” he began walking into his home, but stopped before fully entering as he looked back to the group. “You may follow me in if you wish, but you may also stay out here to wait. It's up to you, really, but just know this may take a while.”

        The group gave their own acknowledging responses as Gizmodo headed inside with Twilight, Shuske, Tazer, and Spike behind him. The others waited patiently outside the entrance for their friends to return.

        Inside, the group that went in noticed that it was even more chaotic than the exterior. Crazy glass tubes and containers were strewn about filled with all sort of strange liquids, metal mechanisms spewed steam and smoke as they went back and forth across the ceilings and walls. Oddly enough, the places smelled like Twilight's basement did when she would be conducting her experiments, only with the smell of smoke and ammonia more prominent.

        They passed first through the main chamber, housing most of Gizmodo's crazy experiments and gadgets. They went to the very back, passing through one of the three available passageways and arrived in a room lit by four glowing rocks that revealed a large table, a chest on the side with a lock, and multiple random scraps and dew-hickeys all over around the walls. Gizmodo moved to the table, setting the book on it as he fixed his monocle on his left eye, peering into the pages inquisitively.

        “Hmm, guhu...” he muttered as he went through page by page. “Well, this is perplexing...”

        “What is it?” Shuske asked as he flew beside him and hovered next to the book.

        “This writing... I know I've seen it before,” he tapped a claw on his chin as he inspected the book even more closely. “Quite peculiar if you ask me.”

        “Whatever, can you just translate it?” Tazer huffed as he crossed his arms.

        “Oh fine fine, let's see...” he pulled out a notepad made of stone from underneath a table as well as a slender piece of charcoal. “I will begin from page 1, and proceed to translate what I can all the way to the last page, which appears to be number five... but since these pages are front and back, I guess that makes ten, guhu.”

        “Great! And thank you again so much for helping us!” Twilight said as she smiled up at him.

-~-

[The Finished Translations, by page where text was translated]

Page 1

Page 2

Page 3

Page 4

Page 7

Page 8

“All Done!” Gizmodo announced as he leaned back to admire his work. “I have everything that was written in Dragontine in this book put into this here collection of stone slabs for you to take with you, Guhuhuhuhu!”

        “Thank you very much, Gizmodo,” Twilight said happily as she finished writing down on a scroll. “Though I think those stone slabs might be a bit too much to carry with us, I took the initiative and re-wrote what you wrote onto this sheet of paper.”

        “Ah, smart thinking there lass,” He complimented before looking back through the book. “I'm glad I could help, I can tell that whatever these diamonds you're looking for are, they seem to be quite special, like that one time I found a crystal ball that told me when my next meal would be, Guhuhu!”

        “Yes, your help is very much appreciated,” Twilight's magic rolled up the scroll and stuff it back into her saddlebags as she also took back possession of the book.

        “So, Gizmodo,” Shuske began. “Do you know anything about the diamonds it talked about?”

        “No, but I can tell you about the mountain that it said one of these diamonds was in!”

        “Ooh, neat, you mean that Balorn Mountain it talked about next to the picture of a lava cave?”

        “Yes, the very same, Guhu,” Gizmodo began towards the exit of his home as he beckoned for the others to follow. Outside he climbed up onto his home and on the hill it was against, looking around all the while for something in the distance. He then perked up and pointed his claw in one direction to the northeast. “There, in that direction! See the pillar of smoke?” he called down to the others. “Over there you will find Mt. Balorn, a very active volcano that is notorious for its many caves.”

        “An active volcano...?” Twilight asked as her other friends' eyes widened a bit in surprise. “That sounds like it would be very dangerous...”

        “Oh don't worry about it Twilight,” Rainbow Dash spoke up as she flew up and puffed out her chest. “As long as we get in and out of there really fast, then we won't have to worry about being burnt to a crisp! I remember one time I read about Daring Do having to go through a volcano, and all she did was move really fast so she wouldn't overheat.”

        “Rainbow, you know that them Daring Do stories are just a bunch'o fiction and nonsense, right?” Applejack looked at her friend skeptically.

        “Yeah yeah, but I think they had the right idea when they wrote that book, for sure.”

        “Well, at any rate,” Twilight began as she saw Gizmodo climb down to join them. “We really have to be going now, I would like to get this next diamond out of the way before sundown.”

        “Now that's what I'm talkin about,” Tazer said as he already began walking. “Let's go.”

        “What's all the rush anywho?” Gizmodo asked as he looked at Tazer walking away while scratching his head.

        “We need these diamonds to stop a great catastrophe from happening,” Shuske explained as he hovered up above the rest of the group.

        “Great catastrophe? Like what?”

        “Well, we don't really know, but we're going to find them and move them so whoever might come across this book or something like it can't use these diamonds for evil.”

        “Hm, alright then. But why not try to track down the author for the diamond locations then?”

        “Well, we would,” Shuske sighed a bit as he looked off to the side. “But we don't know who did it. This book apparently was written over a thousand years ago, and although Twilight was able to discover that it was most likely a dragon that wrote it, they may have already passed on, or might be in the middle of a hundred-year nap in who-knows-where!”

        “A dragon wrote that book you say?”

        “Yeah, we're pretty sure of it. We can tell because the paper is Coalparch, and the ink is made from volcanic sediments.”

        “Coalparch!? Well that was... aha!” Gizmodo gasped loudly as his face lit up. “I knew I remembered that writing! It was written by my brother!”

        “Your brother?” came the collective voices of the rest of the group, except for Tazer who actually stopped walking to hear what Gizmodo had to say, thinking he might be on to something.

        “Yes! My brother was always so smart, so talented! Guhu, of course he would write in different languages when taking notes, he does that when he's in a certain area. He writes notes in the native language of the area he's in, guhuhu.”

        “Do you know where we can find your brother then?” Shuske asked, his face also lighting up with excitement, as were a few others'.

        “Aha, I--” Gizmodo stopped cold with his finger in the air and his face ready to talk. After a moment his face twisted, losing its happy demeanor and changing to one of fear, sadness, and regret. “I... n-no, no I can't... I can't talk about it.” Gizmodo backed up as he curled up a bit.

        “What?” Shuske asked, suddenly concerned by the abrupt change in mood as he flew closer to him. “But why? Did something happen to him or--”

        “I can't talk about it!” he shouted back, his eyes straining. “I have been ordered by the Dragon Lord to keep silent ever since it happened, and I cannot say anything more about it.”

        “Since what happened?”

        “Nothing!” Gizmodo turned around and headed inside out of their sight. “Go now and continue on your quest my little ponies and dragons and one griffon,” his voice came from inside. “I cannot be of any further help... just, just go! Please, guhu...”

        The group exchanged worried glances. The entirety that they knew Gizmodo he had been a random, yet overall cheery dragon, somewhat similar to Pinkie Pie. Yet with this top he suddenly turned sad and afraid... why? None of them knew, but with his insistence on leaving him alone, and their desire to get the next diamond quickly, they hesitantly began towards the volcano in the distance, with some ponies glancing back at the house along the way.

-|-

        The trip to the volcano took them almost an hour. By the time they reached the slopes, the sun had already made it three-fourths the way to the horizon, signaling that there were only a few hours of daylight remaining. In order to get through the volcano and get back to the balloon in time, they would need to hurry.

        The volcano was not spectacularly big, but it was very obviously active. Slight rumbles could be felt through the ground as a constant plume of smoke rose from the crater. The air was thick with the smell of smoke and sulfur, and they could hear steam and rumbles from all around them. The volcano looked like all the others, only this one had a plethora of holes in it, obviously a sign of many internal caverns.

        As they approached the first cave, they noticed that it was dark inside, save for further down the hole where it appeared to be lit up by an orange glow, assumed to be emanated by lava. Twilight got up in the front of the group, taking charge like the natural leader she was.

        “Alright, these caves look like they are very dangerous, and probably dark at times too, so we're going to need to stick together just like in the Crystal Caves beneath Canterlot.” Everyone in the group nodded in agreement. “If it gets too hot, say something and me and Rarity will try to cool us down with a cooling spell.”

        “Actually, Twilight,” Rarity spoke up hesitantly. “I'm, er, not very good with temperature based spells... so I really can't help on that.”

        Twilight sighed. “Alright, I'll help keep us cool then if we need it, but just remember to stick together and don't get too close to any magma.”

        “What's magma?” Pinkie asked as she tilted her head.

        “Magma is the same as lava,” Twilight explained, “only it's called magma when it's underground. Since we're going into a cave we will technically be underground and-”

        “Oh for the love of--” Rainbow Dash interrupted. “Twilight, it's lava. No need to be fancy sciencey, just lava. Okay?”

        Twilight sighed, again. “Fine, just lava...” Twilight paused before continuing again. “Anyways, just stay away from it, alright? It might take us a while to find the diamond with all these caverns though...” Twilight trailed off as she looked back into the cave, a worried expression on her face that was shared by others in the group.

Or so she thinks...

        Tazer and Shuske froze, hearing that all too familiar voice. They looked at each other, and then towards the cave where some ethereal fires began to light up, making a trail.

Same as before, my students. But take heed of the purple unicorn's warnings, and stay away from danger.  La nu Joonmor... I will be watching.

The ethereal trail faded away just like before, but were visible to the two in the same way as last time.

        “I think I'll take the lead,” Tazer said as he stepped up beside Twilight. “If you all want to get through this cave system all high-speed and stuff, then follow me. I got a knack for navigating lava caves like this.”

        “Are you sure you can lead us through it?” Twilight asked, skeptical.

        “Hey, I came from the Dragon Domain, alright? I wasn't raised by little ponies like Spike was, so I've been down a bunch of lava caverns before. Isn't anything hard to 'em.”

        “And I'll help!” Shuske announced with cheer.

        Some ponies began to think up objections, but then they each remembered the last time Tazer and Shuske led the way through some caves, and they actually found what they were looking for. They hoped that their senses would once again be correct, and overall agreed to follow their lead.

        The group began their walk into the caverns, the smell of smoke and sulfur becoming stronger just by entering. The tunnel curved only a short ways in, and in the curve was the source of the orange light they noticed from outside. They came upon a large circular opening with lava flowing down from the left wall and into a small tunnel for its flow. All in all, it posed no real threat, yet they were intimidated by the radiant heat it let off. With no place for the heat to easily escape to, even the first parts of the cave were making some of them begin to sweat already.

        They continued on down the tunnel, coming upon a large room with, just like in the crystal mine, large openings. Shuske and Tazer again used their vision of the ethereal flames and lead the team down the correct path. They did this a couple more times until they came upon their first real obstacle.

        “Hold up,” Tazer warned as he held out one of his arms, looking at the glowing mass in front of them.

        In a large room almost the size of a football field was a large cluster of lava holes scattered around the room. What was the difficult part, however, was the fact bubbles would often surface from the holes and spew lava around over the edges. The bubbles were randomly timed and placed, making any step a possible death sentence... that is, except for Spike and Tazer.

        Twilight looked at everyone in the group, concerned over the dangerous obstacle. She contemplated rushing through as fast as they could, but that would prove extraordinarily hazardous... she needed a plan, and in a few moments, she got one.

        “Everyone, I have an idea!” Twilight announced as she stepped forward dramatically, only to take a step back when a little spit of lava bubbled out and landed in front of her. “Wah!”

        “Uh, I hope it's a good idea,” commented Spike as he gave her an awkward look.

        “Yes, it is a good idea, just... everyone come near me, I'll create a barrier with my magic and lead us through to the other side.”

        “Whatever,” Tazer said as he casually began strolling across, not caring about the lava bubbling up around him.

        “Sure thing Twilight!” Shuske said as he huddled close to her.

        “Everypony on Twilight, wee!” Pinkie cheered as she too got up on her side.

        “C'mon y'all, let's get this over with,” Applejack also joined her side.

        “Eh, no biggie, watch this!” Rainbow Dash boasted as she simply flew above the splatter range of the holes, making it to the other side with ease. “C'mon Fluttershy, you come over too!” she called from across the room.

        “Oh my goodness, this is scary, this is scary, this is scary...” Fluttershy repeated as she hovered up through the air, staying as close to the ceiling as she could as she made her way across.

        Unfortunately for her, her slower speed meant that she felt the rising heat from the lava holes much more that Rainbow Dash did, and by the time she was on the other side she was practically drenched in sweat and breathing hard.

        “Wow ‘Shy, you should really get moving when the place gets hot,” Dash commented.

        “I... huff, puff, I'm sorry...”

        Shuske, back on the other side, flew up to the ceiling as well and began making his way across. “Oh yeah, I forgot I could just do that too, hehe!”

        That just left Rarity, Twilight, Pinkie Pie, Applejack, and Spike at the start.

        “Alright, Spike,” Twilight said. “Just head on over, me and the others will begin once I get this barrier up.

        “Sure thing, Twilight,” Spike replied as he started his way across.

        He looked back several times as he made his way, noticing the purple bubble Twilight kept around her and her friends that stayed right up against her. They walked at a fast pace, but no quicker than that in order to keep from getting separated. Every now and then a pool right beside them would pop with a bubble, sending lava straight at them. But thankfully the shield held, flashing slightly from the impact of the lava and staying partially bright as it held the oozing molten rock until it finally slid off. This kept up for about a minute before the group finally made it to the other side, everyone accounted for.

        “Alright, that's everypony!” Twilight announced with relief.

        “Um, Twilight,” Fluttershy spoke up as she wiped sweat from her forehead. “Can you please, um, use that cooling spell... please?”

        “Oh, sure thing,” Twilight replied as her horn glowed with magic, sending a cool breeze through the group. There were collective sighs at the feel of cool wind against them, making them feel better.

        “Oh my, that feels wonderful,” Rarity commented as she inspected her mane, which was beginning to soak with sweat. “Too bad my mane isn't fairing so well against this heat... and this sweat, eww!”

        “Don't worry your pretty little head rarity,” Applejack snickered as she bopped her hoof against Rarity's back lightly. “You'll be just fine once ya get back to the balloon with all your hair care products.”

        “Oh I do indeed hope so, Applejack,” Rarity whined as she further inspected her haphazard mane. “Adventures can be a big pain for perfectly permed procures!”

        After a little more recuperating, the group continued on through the tunnels. As they pressed on they noticed the air getting progressively hotter than before, even though there was no immediate source of heat. The smell of sulfur was thickening as well, making the situation almost unbearable while they pressed on. Finally they came to another opening with multiple openings, except one of them was covered with a waterfall of lava.

        “Yup,” Tazer deadpanned as he looked at the waterfall of molten rock. “We need to go this way... dang.”

        “How do ya figure?” Applejack asked.

        “Well, isn't it obvious? The best place to hide something important is always behind the hardest door, savvy?”

        “Well then, I got just the solution!” Twilight announced as she fed magic through her horn, encasing the flow of lava in a purple aura. Though the mass of molten rock was heavy, she was able to push the entire stream from the bottom and hold it up at the top. Twilight was straining; there was a lot more unseen lava in the middle of flowing down, tons of pounds of pressure, and she was holding it all back. “Ah! I, I can't hold this for long... let's move!”

        The entire group quickly made their way through the reopened tunnel just in time for Twilight to make it through and then let go of her magic, allowing the lava to continue its flow. Yet again, the group pressed on from there, all of them beginning to sweat profusely from the heat save for the two dragons. Though the smell of sulfur had dissipated somewhat, the air was still getting hotter and hotter, as if they were in an oven that was in the middle of warming up.

        Finally they made it to their objective; the cave opened up to a very large room, even bigger than the one with the holes, with a large lake of lava all around them. But there was a path leading out from their tunnel to the center of the lava lake with a large rock on top with another lava-fall pouring down on it, just like the drawing in the book.

        Twilight took a couple steps forward, but then cringed as the heat became too intense, making her groan with pain before she backed up, using another tempurature spell to cool herself and everyone else down.

        “That is way too hot for us,” Twilight said as she looked atop the rock, able to see some small object glowing on it. “But, I think that's the diamond right up there!”

        “How are we ever going to get to it?” Rarity asked. “We can't grab it with magic and just float it over here!”

        “No worries,” Spike said nonchalantly. “I'm a dragon, I got this.” Unbeknownst to them all, Tazer was in the back wearing a large smirk.

        Spike walked down the path, taking note that it was indeed very hot in the room, even for him. He managed to climb up the rock and get up onto his feet, seeing the diamond just in front of him. As Spike went to pick it up, he hesitated suddenly, remembering what had happened when he touched the light diamond. Will that happen again? He thought to himself as he stared at the diamond. Only one way to find out...

        Spike grabbed the diamond and, just like before, his vision shifted from the real world to some place unknown. The smoky world of black and white returned, but only for a few moments. He looked up, able to see one of the six figures around him glowing red and orange right next to the figure glowing white and yellow. He knew then that when he touched the diamonds, they must have something to do with the dragons he saw and their glowing. Before he could take in anything more from his surroundings it all faded away, taking him back to the real world.

        Spike fell back onto his rear, shaking his head as it stopped spinning. He looked down at his hands, noticing the diamond of heat cupped between his claws. Satisfied with his work, yet still curious about the figures he saw, he got up and carefully climbed down the rock, careful not to drop the diamond as he did. After that he made his way across the path and back with the rest of the group, holding up the diamond with pride.

        “Got it!” he announced as he came back to them.

        “Great job, Spike!” Twilight said, along with similar praises from everyone else in the group.

        “Aww, it was nothing, really,” Spike waved a claw dismissively as he blushed a bit from the attention.

        With their job complete, the group made their way back out of the tunnel, passing through the same obstacles they went through earlier in the same fashion. Before long they reached the surface, all ponies and dragons and one griffon accounted for. After a short break, they then proceeded back the way they came, their destination being the balloon, and then out of the Dragon Domain.

        But as they walked away from the mountain, Pinkie Pie stopped suddenly, her eyes straining as if she was waiting for something.

        “Hey, hold up everypony!” She called to them as she turned around to face the volcano.

        “What is it, Pinks?” Dash asked as she hovered next to her.

        “Look!” Pinkie said, pointing her hoof at the volcano. “There's no more ground rumbling and the smoke from the crater is getting thinner!”

        Twilight look at Pinkie, and then at the volcano with a widely opened mouth. She couldn't believe it, the volcano truly had stopped all of its commotion and seemed to be dying down, pretty much just after they took the diamond of heat away from it. She magicked open her saddlebags and looked at the two diamonds they had inside, staring more closely at the red one. Just how much power do these things have!?

-|-

After returning to the balloon, the group got set inside or around the basket as it once more lifted off, the craft tilting to take them in a westward direction.

        “Alright everypony,” Twilight called out with audible determination,” next stop, The Griffon Kingdom!”

        “Yeah!” came a chorus of cheers as the group headed to their next objective. Two diamonds down, four to go, and only in one day! If they hurried, they might just make their previous one week assumptions.

        Applejack looked out to the horizon as they gained altitude, noticing the sun's position in the sky. “Uh, Twilight.”

        “Yes, Applejack?”

        “I think we should be fixin to set 'er down soon, the sun'll be settin and we should set up a camp for us to sleep in.”

        “Good idea Applejack,” Twilight nodded with approval as she looked out over the horizon in the direction they were headed. “Let's get out of the Dragon Domain first so we can find a nice forest or something to set up a camp in, alright?”

        “Alright then,” Applejack agreed. “Sounds good to me.”

(~Ponyville, around the same time~)

        A large dragon clad in armor suddenly swooped down from the sky, landing in the town square while most ponies were still out and about. Everypony there gasped and stared at the armored reptile, fearing there was trouble about to start.

        “Attention citizens of Ponyville!” the dragon bellowed in a low, stern voice. “By order of your kingdom and mine, we must search this village for an individual precious to our civilization! Your full cooperation is not only expected, but also required.”

        There were hushed whispers and conversations bubbling all around the dragon after he finished, making him look around to take in the first observations of the place. As he did two more dragons with armor came down as well, landing on either side of him and looking out in different directions.

        “Do not attempt to halt or slow our progress,” the dragon to the left of the first one warned.

        “Any attempts to sabotage our progress will be dealt with by force!” warned the guard to the right.

        “HEY! You three!” came a voice from above, gaining the attention of the three dragons. Nine griffons clad in their own set of armor flew down, with the one obviously being the leader of the group taking the lead. The leader hovered in front of the first dragon, staring at him in the face. “What are you dragons doing here, huh? We gotta conduct our own search ya know!”

        “Then you may search with us,” the first dragon stated as he looked over the lead griffon and the others behind him. “We know that your kingdom is also missing a very important individual, so if you wish, you are welcome to scour the town along side us.”

        “Just try not to get in our way now, ya hear?” the leader grumbled before turning to the townsfolk. “The same rules go for us, citizens of Ponyville! Do not interfere, and we will be gone from your town soon enough!”

        With that, the griffons and Dragons spread out to begin their search. While some began to interrogate ponies, others searched through houses and around the areas of town, checking shopping stands and carts full of hey, essentially anywhere one of the two princes could be hiding.

        But unknown to them all, there was a third party that had arrived at Ponyville, following the group of griffons all the way from Trottingham. The Great and Powerful Trixie strode through town, looking around at each building to look for any sign of something that might give her a lead. She decided to start her search by asking around through herself, seeing if she could pick up anything that way.

        Unfortunately for her, most citizens were too scared from the dragons and griffons to be in the mood to talk. After multiple instances of ponies claiming knowledge of nothing and then just rushing away, Trixie was just about to give up when suddenly...

        “Hey, I know you!” came an adolescent voice from behind Trixie. She turned around to see three small fillies pop out from underneath a bush, obviously hiding from the guards running around.

        “Hm? You know Trixie...?”

        “Yeah!” the filly with a red bow replied. “Yer the one that put on a show here in ponyville a long time ago!”

        “I remember that,” the orange pegasus spoke up. “That show was okay, but still nothing as good as what Rainbow Dash puts on.”

        “I thought the lights were really pretty,” the filly unicorn said.

        “Well, Trixie is flattered, but she must be going now to complete her mission.”

        “Ooh, are you on a quest too?” the orange pegasus asked.

        “A quest too?” Trixie's ears perked up as she raised an eyebrow.

        “Yeah!” the red bow filly began. “Mah sister and her friends started on a big 'ol quest this mornin. Said somethin about bringing that griffon and dragon we met with'em yesterday too.

Griffon AND dragon? Trixie's brain held up a red flag as she felt a hunch. Perhaps...

        “A griffon and a dragon? Do you know what their names were?”

        “Yes,” the unicorn filly nodded. “The griffon was named Shuske, while the dragon was, um, uuummm...”

        “Tazer,” the chicken pegasus finished.

        “Oh yeah, Tazer.”

        “And do you know where they went?” Trixie became more interested, and knew she would have to cross check the names with some of the guards to be sure, but only after she finished getting as much info from these three as she could.

        “Applejack didn't really say where they were gonna go, but I saw Twilight's balloon take them over in the direction of Canterlot this mornin!”

        “Twilight...?” Trixie said slowly, her voice seething with venom. “As in... Twilight Sparkle...?”

        “Mhm!” white unicorn nodded. “My sister Rarity is best friends with Twilight, and all her friends got together to go on the quest, even Spike went.”

Twilight Sparkle... I should have known... Trixie thought as her face twisted in anger, but then it turned to surprise as her memory hit her. Wait... a balloon!? Trixie saw one in Canterlot earlier today, but then that must mean... Connecting the dots wasn't hard for Trixie, and she immediately realized that what she saw wasn't an ordinary occurrence. She knew it was them. Grr... mark my words Sparkle... Trixie will be coming for you, and she will expose you for kidnapping the princess! And then Trixie will not only be a hero, but humiliate and imprison you as well! Just then Trixie broke out into a maniacal laugh, one that she quickly stopped as soon as she remembered the three fillies were still there.

        “Uh, are you okay miss Trixie?” the filly with a red ribbon asked worriedly.

        “Uh, ahem, yes, Trixie is just fine, but she also needs to go now...” Trixie turned around and began to trot off. “Goodbye ponyvillian fillies! And Trixie thanks you for the information!”

        “Bye Trixie!” the three said in chorus as they waved.

        Trixie needed to do one more thing before she could leave for Canterlot. She hurried around town, and it didn't take her long to find what she was after. To her luck, she just happened to find a dragon guard and a griffon guard within close proximity of each other as they questioned a few ponies. Trixie used this to her advantage.

        “Hey you two, dragon and griffon guards!” Trixie called out, quickly gaining their attention. “What are the names of the two you're looking for?”

        “Names?” the dragon guard ask as he leaned down towards her. “Do you think you have seen them?”

        “No, Trixie has not seen them, but she wishes to aid in your search any way she can... Trixie is an official detective from Canterlot after all,” Trixie lied.

        “Some detective if you don't even know the names yet,” the griffon guard scoffed. “But, if you insist, the one I'm looking for is a griffon by the name of Shuske.”

That's one...

        “And the other?” Trixie looked up at the dragon.

        “Tazer, his name is Tazer.”

Bingo...

“Alright... Trixie will be sure to keep that in mind on her search. Good day, gentlebeings...” Trixie turned around and trotted off yet again, leaving two oblivious guards behind her. She knew her destination... Canterlot, and Twilight Sparkle. Surely the latter would not be hard to find, but she just needed to get to them first.

All too easy...

~|~

        Sunset had come, and with it the feeling of fatigue that began to wash over everyone in the party. The balloon had just exited the Dragon Domain by the time the sun finished disappearing over the horizon, and a large expanse of hills and forest laying before it. With their desired setting reached, Twilight set the balloon down just beside a tall, steep hill, as well as deflating it to keep it below the treetops. This was unfamiliar territory, and they didn't really know what lurked there, so they did not want anything unnecessary finding them at night.

        “Hey, let's set up a campfire so I can cook us up some hot chow before bed,” Applejack offered.

        “Sounds like a good idea, AJ,” Rainbow Dash said. “I haven't had a snack since we left Canterlot.”

        “Agreed,” Twilight replied with a nod. “Some of us need to see if we can't bring some logs or large rocks around here to make a circle, I'll get a fire started up.”

        “Roger that Twilight!” Shuske gave a bit of a salute before flying off with Rainbow Dash, Applejack, and Pinkie Pie to find something to sit on.

        “Everyone else, start setting up some tents, I have some packed away in a few bags in the balloon's basket.”

        The rest of the group moved towards the balloon, pulling out tents, ropes, and stakes from properly organized containers. In the meantime, Twilight looked around the immediate area, using her magic to gather up randomly lying sticks, twigs, and even fallen down branches that just happened to be laying there. As she began to build up a pile she saw Dash, Applejack, and Shuske return caring a long, thick tree trunk with them that looked like it had just fallen over. Pinkie Pie followed behind them, bouncing forward with a rock on her head that looked heavy enough to make bouncing for the pink pony utterly impossible. Then again, it was Pinkie Pie after all...

        After one more trip through the woods, finding another log and another large rock, the group decided it was enough for everyone. About the same time Twilight had finished setting up a well organized pile of wood with the ones working on the tent finished up as well. With all the friends gathering around, and the darkness of the night quickly settling in, Twilight focused her magic on the bottom center of the pile, igniting the delicate tinder inside. It was a dim light at first, but the fire quickly expanded into a full camp-sized flame after only a couple of minutes.

        Applejack had her saddlebags with her, and inside them were a large supply of apples. She opened them up and brought up a stick that she had just found as she was walking to get her bags, taking an apple and skewering it with the stick. She held the stick in her mouth with the apple at the end as she approached the fire, sitting on the ends of the first log and holding the stick out to the fire with the apple just above the flames. The others quickly got the idea and followed suit, finding a stick and skewering an apple with it to cook over the flame. The only one that did something different was Pinkie, who pulled out a cupcake and – for whatever reason – stuck that on a stick over the fire.

        With all of them sitting down and enjoying their meals, or still cooking them, Spike took notice of who was where. Applejack, Rainbow Dash, Fluttershy and Pinkie Pie were on one log opposite of them of the fire, Tazer was sitting on one rock, Shuske on the other, and he was seated between Rarity and Twilight. Both the unicorns were holding their sticks out with magic, and because they didn't seem to be too busy focusing on much anything else, Spike made a decision. He was in the perfect spot, on a peaceful night, doing nothing in particular next to the mare he wanted to be close to the most. If there was ever a time... that was it.

        “So, uh, Rarity,” Spike spoke up as a looked up at her. “How have you been doing today?”

        “Hm? Oh, alright I guess,” Rarity replied with the slightest hint of sadness. “I was a bit disappointed that my mane got messed up earlier today, but luckily I had packed away the proper products to get it back to its perfect style.”

        “Yeah, it did get pretty messed up in that cave. Uh, good thing you had the right stuff though!”

        “A lady always comes prepared, Spike.” Rarity smiled lightly as she looked down at him.

        “Of course, and nopony is more prepared than you,” Spike said as he leaned sideways towards her just a bit.

        “Why thank you, Spike,” Rarity's smile grew a bit wider before she turned back to the apple that was slow roasting over the fire.

        “So uh,” Spike began again, not wanting to let the conversation end until he made some sort of progress. “What do you think of this whole quest thing we're going on? It's pretty silly, isn't it?”

        “Oh, why not at all!” Rarity said, not turning to see Spike's surprised expression. “I think it's a wonderful thing that we're helping those two fellows in need, and besides, those diamonds look absolutely amazing! I just wonder how they would work on an outfit, oh if only I got the chance to use one of them.”

        “Well, yeah, but...” Spike stammered, trying to think of a way to get his point across. “I mean, we're just helping two guys we hardly know anything about. What makes joining them on some long quest the right thing to do? For all we know they could be up to something!”

        Rarity perked up at this and looked over to Shuske and Tazer, looking to see if they had heard what he said. Though at first Spike thought Rarity was starting to think along the same lines he was, the scowl he got moments later banished that thought.

        “Spike, that is quite a rude thing to say!” Rarity whispered loudly as she glared at him. “As far as I'm concerned, those two have been a great help to us ever since they arrived in Ponyville. They saved the crusaders, they were a lot of fun at the party, and all they want is some help with a very benevolent quest to keep beings from harm.” Spike visibly cringed from Rarity's words, but she continued on anyways. “And then you come up out of nowhere saying they might be plotting something? That is unacceptable, Spike!”

        “But, but Rarity I--”

        “No, I will hear nothing more of it tonight,” Rarity humphed and lifted up her nose, refusing to look at him anymore.

        Spike’s heart sank as he realized he just blew probably one of the best chances he had with Rarity. His body slumped as he stared at the ground, barely even keeping hold of the stick with his apple. He looked over to see pretty much everyone else finished cooking their apples and already eating them, enjoying the taste of the fire-cooked fruit. As he gave his own apple an examination, he saw that it had begun to turn black on one side, with some cracks already spreading outward. He sighed and let go of the stick, letting the other end of it and the apple fall into the fire.

        “I'm not hungry,” Spike muttered as he got up and walked to one of the tents, his mood devastated as he only desired sleep from then on.

        As he walked away from the fire, Twilight turned her head to look at him, a sad frown on her face from overhearing what just happened, and though she shared Rarity's views on the duo, she understood why Spike thought how he did, and knew how much he was hurting from just being brashly rejected by Rarity. She finished her apple quickly and discarded her stick into the fire before rushing over to the tent Spike had gone into.

        There were three tents total, each big enough to hold three individuals. As Twilight entered the first one she noticed two blankets set out inside, with the third already wrapped around a curled up Spike in the corner. Twilight sighed softly, feeling Spike's sadness start to affect her as well. He was her assistant, after all, and the one being she had lived with for the longest duration of her life. He was always there for her, so she needed to be there for him as well. Rarity probably didn't understand that Spike was just looking out for their safety, but Twilight understood, and she needed to let him know.

        She levitated a blanket up as she curled up around Spike, holding her hooves around him as she set the blanket over herself. Spike shifted slightly as he opened his eyes, realizing somepony was holding him, and only able to guess one name.

        “Twilight?” Spike asked softly, his voice cracking as he tried to hold back tears.

        “It's okay, Spike...” Twilight cooed as she softly stroked his spines with her hoof. “I understand you're still suspicious about those two, and I don't mind.”

        “Y-you don't?” he asked with a sniff.

        “Not at all. If anything, you're just looking out for our safety, always keeping on your toes for any sort of problems, just as a number one assistant should...”

        Spike sniffed again, holding tightly onto Twilight's foreleg that was still around him. “Thank you, Twilight...” he whispered as he let himself get comfortable in her embrace.

        “You're welcome, Spike,” Twilight gave him a soft kiss on the tip of one of his spines, allowing a feeling of relief to wash over the young dragon.

        The two laid there the rest of the night, with Spike falling asleep soon after and Twilight staying curled around him the entire time. Eventually all the adventurers had finished eating and gone to bed as well, hoping that the next day would be just as, if not more productive and exciting than the one they just had. As the moon neared its highest point in the sky, everything in and around the camp was fast asleep...

        ...All except for one being that lurked in the shadows. It circled around the camp slowly, quietly, making sure its presence was never detected. Once it was sure all the adventurers had fallen asleep, it traveled to the top of the hill they were right up against and peered out into the darkness of the night, keeping watch like a vigilant sentry.

        The night went on as the creature continued without sleep or fatigue, feeling compelled by only the sense of duty, aided by an unlimited storage of patience. It was never the type to want to rush things. Thousands of years of being alive had taught it about patience, forbearance, and the ability to simply sit down and wait, be it for a few days, a few months, or even years. Just as it had waited over a thousand years for its chance to accomplish its goal, it could wait through a few more nights to ensure that everything went without disruption.

        But when disruption came, or it foresaw trouble coming, it would ensure that things would proceed his way. And this is exactly what he had to do as he spotted a small group of griffon guards traveling through the sky. If they found the adventurers then they would find Shuske, and what followed might very well cripple or even put a stop to his latest plans. That... Blaasz could not allow.

        Blaasz jumped out from atop the hill, spreading his wings for flight and swooped low just above the forest canopy at a fast pace. He headed straight for the small squad of griffon guards, and once he was sure they had spotted him, he turned and led them away from the group of adventurers. He flew faster as he noticed his pursuers gaining on him, ensuring that they would not catch him until they were far enough away to not be heard by the group of adventurers.

        “YOU THERE, HALT!” the squad leader yelled out from the head of the group.

        Blaasz did not stop, he continued flying faster, going as far away as possible before the leader eventually got right up on his tail, drawing his voice and calling out to him in a commanding voice.

        “Stop right now or you will be arrested!”

        Blaasz could have sped away from them. He could have gone fast enough to get away, but he did not want to risk the search squad returning to their previous path and finding the others. He had to deal with them, to ensure that they never reported anything that happened that night. In a sudden twist, Blaasz dipped low and flew through the trees, riding just underneath the canopy and swerving around trees and their branches. Though the guards were slowed by the maneuvering, they never fully lost sight of their target, still staying relatively close behind. The ground sloped upwards, leading them to a clearing atop a hill where it suddenly broke off into a cliff. There Blaasz flared up his wings, dragging himself to a stop and settling down on the edge of the cliff, facing outwards and away from his pursuers.

        The guards also came to a stop, setting down only a few feet behind him as they readied their claws on the swords holstered on their belts, ready for a conflict that they felt coming. The squad leader, his sword already drawn, took a few steps forwards on his hind legs as he stared at their suspect.

        “This is your last chance,” he warned, pointing the sword at the cloaked griffon. “Cooperate with us fully from here on out, or you will regret you were born.”

        There was a pause as Blaasz took in the words the griffon had said. The cool night wind blew against the cloth covering his artificial body, making it flap eerily while he continued to stare out to the horizon. His claws rubbed together as he contemplated his next moves.

        “Meslah, birth...” he said slowly, drawing out the end of the word with a breathy trail. “Mesdah, life... oh, how it feels to be alive.”

        “What!?” the leader guard barked, not satisfied that he was hearing anything that he wanted.

        “Regretting to be born is not at all a feeling one should get accustomed to, not in your world, at least.” Blaasz took a deep breathe with lungs that were not his, feeling the crisp night air around him. It was the calms before conflict like this that somehow left him at a sort of peace, leaving him feeling philosophical and able to think about the important things in life.  But he could not be calm, not as every breath burned his organs and left a dirt after-taste in his mouth. “Ultumito fubrusho'to kal und ul theer... destiny created you for a reason, so feel not regret for your birth, for you had no control of it.”

        “Cut the nonsense that you speak, covered one!” he growled as he took another step forward, positioning himself in a readied stance mere feet away from Blaasz. “If you are so unwilling to come with us then we will take you by force!”

        Blaasz turned around slowly, allowing his yellow eyes to those of the guards. They stared at his face covered by the shadow of his cloak, only making out the glow of his eyes. He stared at them for a few moments, allowing them to see nothing but the two small lights on his face and the claws which were uncovered from the cloth, hanging loosely on either side of him, ready to act on a moment's notice.

        “My will is not my own... laki hart jhit lakur, but that of a greater power you do not understand, and never will...” he took a deep breath, letting it out calmly as he saw the other guards slowly line up beside the leader. “My will is that of Destiny's command. It created you by a force you cannot comprehend, and I, acting as its living hand, will pull you back out of existence itself.”

        The lead guard had had enough. He gripped both claws tightly onto the handle of his broadsword, seeing the being before them as more of a threat than anything. He felt that if it was threatening them back, then it was indeed intent on causing trouble... and they would need to deal with him.

        In a burst of energy the leader lunged forward, his wings aiding him as he flew directly at the covered griffon. He swung out his sword, intending to wound his target with a moderately deep cut, but this did not come to pass. Blaasz was quick, and just as the leader swung his sword he lunged forward himself, grabbing a hold of the guard's wrist and twisting it hard, forcing the sword from his grip.

        The guard yelled out in pain before he was sent hurling backward from a firm kick. Blaasz quickly grabbed a hold of the sword, using it to block the swing from another guard that lunged right as the leader got kicked away. Blaasz was quick to maneuver around his swings as well, slicing into the griffon’s claw with a well aimed stab and disarming him, quickly snatching the blade away as the pained griffon retreated.

        With the second sword in hand the last three guards all charged together, their swords held high for a powerful swing. Blaasz flew back to avoid it, and then immediately pushed forward again just after the blades made their path in front of him, attempting to slice through two of the guards at once. But the guards were quick, and they were able to block the double swing in time.

        But Blaasz never paused or hesitated between moves, he simply kept going. He spun around and gave a firm kick to one of the guards, using both swords to again block the other two's attacks. The two guards and Blaasz fought for a few swings before the third guard came back in, throwing in an added bit of difficulty to the fight. The leader suddenly swooped in as Blaasz was in the middle of blocking multiple blows and threw a kick, but he evaded, albeit at the cost of having one of his swords taken away from him by the leader when he got a hold of it.

        With four guards on him Blaasz was being beat back to the edge of the cliff, the four guards relentless in their blows. But when one of them went for a high swing Blaasz saw his chance, and dove forward with a roll, crashing against his legs and making him fall over. Blaasz rolled and then got right up onto his feet, knocking his elbow into the head of the guard who had a large wound in his wrist, making him fall backwards and almost knocked him out.

        The other four guards charged again, engaging Blaasz even more ferociously than before. They weren't aiming to cripple anymore; they were aiming to kill. Blaasz was having much difficulty, even though he trained for many years with his griffon body it still would have been very difficult to take on four skilled swordsgriffons all at the same time.

        Through a stroke of luck one of them faltered in their moves, and Blaasz took advantage. He spun around as they stumbled mid swing and collided his side with him, knocking the sword from his grip as the guard was sent toppling over. With a well aimed swing and a skilled turn, Blaasz cut a gash into one of the other guards' shoulders as he simultaneously picked up the other sword, once again possessing two for the fight. He spun once more around the tight cluster of guards, catching his blade on the backside of another guard's shin plates and tripping him over.

        But the leader and the other guard were not thrown off by Blaasz moves, and with his back against the cliff yet again the pressed their attack once more. Blaasz was able to land a solid blow with his fist on one of the guards, knocking him back, but the leader took advantage of the brief opening and got a swing in. Blaasz reacted quickly enough to avoid injury, but one of his swords was knocked from his grasp, flying away from his reach.

        The leader swung in several more times, his strikes fast and powerful, and even lunged out with one of his arms to grab onto Blaasz's wrist and twist it, causing him to let go of the sword. Blaasz was taken aback for only a brief moment as the guard used the same tactic he used at the start of the fight to disarm him. But before he could react again the leader gave a firm lunge, his sword sinking a solid two inches into the left side of Blaasz' abdominal area.

        Blaasz was wounded, his artificial body had been damaged, and so was his real one. In a loud shriek of pain Blaasz flew backwards with a strong thrust of his wings as a previously unknown magical force thrust out in the opposite direction, sending the guard leader flying the other direction and into another guard, dumping them both onto their backs.

        Blaasz landed only a foot away from the cliff, his right claw cupped against his wound which oozed a dark purple mist, appearing black in the night. He groaned angrily, his eyes staring at the group of guards as they got back onto their feet, readying their weapons to attack again. He looked at the leader, able to see the look of satisfaction on his face from seeing Blaasz's wound. The only thing that did to Blaasz, however, was simply piss him off.

        “Zund linook... Bad move...” Blaasz growled in a seemingly demonic voice as his eyes suddenly shifted color, glowing blood red as purple mist began seeping out from under the cloth all around his body, swirling around his griffon wings and dissolving them away.  Anythihng else about his form that resembled a gryphon was also covered by the mist and quickly broken apart, reshaping under the dark fog that seemed to come out of the body itself.

        He did not wait for the transformation to finish, even as the mist continued to seep out and dissolve away the fake body, his magic had already began pouring through him, empowering him and feeding him with an abundance of energy. His right arm extended downwards and outwards a bit, his real hand opening up to allow magic to course through it how he wanted. His hand was not like that of a griffon, or anything else in their world. Its fingers were long and pointed at the end, all rough skin with no sort of nails or hardened material, simply pointy claws. A dark purple orb began expanding in its palm with shadowy energy swirling around it. The center began glowing blue as it gained strength in mere moments, getting to the size of his fully opened hand before he pulled it back and swung forward, sending the ball of energy flying to the guards.

        The leader brought up his blade to defend himself, but it did close to nothing as the otherworldly energies collided with him, pushing him back through the guards with great force and into a tree, making him fall forward while barely staying conscious. The magic attack did not just push him backwards, it also seemed to drain away his energy. Fatigue instantly took over him while all the nerves in his body screamed out in pain, making him twitch uncontrollably as a blue static traveled over him across all parts of his body.

        The other guards looked back at the leader, then back at Blaasz, stunned by the sudden change of attacks. But their surprise was quickly replaced with rage as all of them, including the injured one that held his blade with his other claw, lunged forward at the same time towards their enemy.

        Blaasz had had enough, and simply wanted to kill them all right then. With lightning speed he dashed forward, slamming into the first guard before he could react, knocking him onto his back as Blaasz's left arm extended out and grabbed onto another guard's face, gripping tightly and swinging him around like a bat to knock another guard away. The last guard tried to swing, but a swipe from Blaasz's free arm sent a thin wave of dark energy at him, cutting through the guard's blade and armor, leaving a devastating gash across his chest and biceps.

        That guard fell, yelling out in pain while the other one in Blaasz's grip struggled to get free, his sword knocked away from being knocked into the other guard. Blaasz raced towards a tree with the guard still in hand, smashing the back of his skull into the trunk as more energy began to feed into the palm of his hand. The guard tried to scream in pain as the corrosive magic burned away at his face, but his beak was held shut but the tight grip. After a few seconds Blaasz released a pulse of magic through that hand, blowing apart the griffon's head and half of the trunk behind it, gore spilling out around him with the tree stained with blood.

        There was nothing holding on to the rest of the body, and as soon as the explosion blew apart the guard's head the mutilated corpse of the griffon tumbled to the ground with a sickening, wet flop. With his hand still smoking from the charred blood that stained it, Blaasz turned to the other guards to see only two still on their feet, with one of them being the same one having the wounded hand. They stared at him with fear in their eyes while still keeping a readied pose, ready to defend themselves from what he could throw out. They were anticipating a close-up attack, but Blaasz decided for something different.

        He reached his arm back and gathered a new arrangement of magic in his hand, thrusting it out forward; in a blinding flash of light, a bolt of electricity exploded from the appendage, arcing through the air straight twoards one of the remaining griffons. The electrical attack wrapped around the guard while holding him in place, causing every muscle in his body to spasm uncontrollably while pain tore through his nerves in an unimaginable level. He tried to scream but simply couldn't, unable to control the simple muscles used for voice. The guard's eyes bled around their sockets, as did his beak from the nose and mouth. Every orifice leaked blood as the lightning pushed him back against another tree, staying constricted around him while it continued to wreck through his body.

        The last standing guard looked back at his comrade, and then at the being who he saw to be death itself just in time to see its next attack. Blaasz slammed his open hand against the ground, sending a shock-wave of magic through the ground that quickly made its way towards the remaining guard. But the guard reacted quickly, flying up into the air in time to escape the progressively moving arc of magic. However the guard who got hit with the thin wave was not so lucky, and his body that was still laying on the ground took a direct hit from the attack. It was over in an instant as he was blown apart into many pieces, the spell subsiding just after impacting him.

        “GALBIRD!” the guard cried out in terror at seeing his ally blown apart with bits of blood and flesh splattering onto his face and armor.

        He looked towards Blaasz again, but instead of finding him he saw a puff of mist travel through the air at high speeds, swooping around behind him and coming to a sudden stop. He turned around just in time to see the the creature lash out from the cloud of mist, grabbing onto his sword by the blade and burning it in half with intense magic. The guard tried to fly back, but Blaasz was too quick, lunging out again while still partially covered in the mist that kept him in the air and digging his pointed fingers into the terrified griffon's chest.

        He yelled out in pain and terror, his mind racing with what was about to happen next before all thought was abruptly cut off as Blaasz swung down his other hand, sinking his claws through the guard's helmet and into his head, with one of his fingers protruding out of his mouth. Blaasz fed energy through his appendages, lighting the body up from the inside with a blue flame. He let go a second later, letting the soon to be fully engulfed body fall back to the ground.

        The mist carried Blaasz back to the ground, and when he landed it faded away in only a few moments. He looked to his side, seeing the guard covered with his static attack still writhing against the tree, still managing to stand somehow even though his body was covered in large amounts of his own blood.. Blaasz reached his arm out, gaining control of his magical lightning from a distance as his fingers extended outwards. As he closed his hand the electricity began to gather at the top left of the guard's chest, on and below the surface all around and through his heart. When his hand was closed all the way, the only area that was affected by his attack was the griffon's left breast area.

        The guard focused his eyes and stared weakly at Blaasz for a few moments, his mind unable to fully comprehend much of anything anymore. He could see the alien-like hand that Blaasz held out to him, but nothing more of his body, his whole figure still concealed by the cloth, with only the red orbs he had for eyes being visible in the darkness. He imagined for a moment what exactly it was underneath that cloth, wondering if they had just awoken some sort of demon.

        Then, with a firm squeeze of Blaasz's hand, the dazed griffon's chest burst open, blowing large amounts of blood and flesh out in a cone before him. His body immediately slouched to the side and slumped over onto the ground in an ungainly heap.

        Blaasz took a moment to admire his work before turning to the last guard left, the leader, who had managed to get back onto his feet. He did not have his sword in his hand and was barely able to walk, driven only by his willpower as the effects of the earlier magic still somewhat affected his body. Blaasz approached his last target, dark magic already swirling through his left arm, ready to strike at any moment.

But then, Blaasz stopped cold.  The magic gathering in his claws dissipated as his body lurched, and with almost no warning a rush of thick fluid purged itself from his body as the creature itself groaned and gurgled from its throat.  The ooze that spilled onto the ground was a sickly mix of of dark purple with tiny grains of orange dotting throughout.  After it was expelled, the hooded creature moaned painfully as his claws gripped at his midsection.

        “What...” the leader choked out, desperate for answers after seeing the beast suddenly vomit before him. “W-what are you...?”

        Blaasz had two traits in which he was most proud of. One was his practically unending supply of patience, and the other was being able to put up with immense amounts of pain and torture for great lengths of time. It made him feel even more powerful than he already did, and gave him a sense of fulfillment in his actions, knowing that whatever hardships his foes may have faced, he has gone through worse.

        “I am a creature from another world,” Blaasz began as he regained his posture, large amounts of dark magic already beginning to swirl into his claws once again. “Every moment I spend in your realm tears away my body, mutilating it, burning it endlessly, even as I boosoo... sleep.  The more I exert myself, the more I feel my own body liquifying from the inside out."  He paused, gripping his midsection again with his free claw as he coughed up more bits of the odd fluid.  "Even a moderate output of my energies such as this forces me to expel my very own mesdah'presh... fluid of life."

It didn't take the guard very long to put the pieces together.  Even through his dissorientation from his weakened state, he quickly discovered just what it was the strange creature was puking.  As the realization dawned, his face twisted in disgust for a brief moment before he regained his composure.  "That... was your blood?  You threw up that much of your own blood!?"

"Ahn...  yes.  It is not uncommon for me to expel laku drehl, my own blood, because your world is always tearing away at my physical form... for my body does not hail from here.  Alas, I digress.  You wanted to know more about me, so here you go."  He raised up his arm, pointing the tips of his claws that channeled his dark energy through them towards the last remaining guard.  "I am the being that acts as the left hand of the ruling god, the one that overlooks your world... and mine. I have a mission I must complete, and you, were my first real obstacle.” Blaasz had long since built up enough energy to annihilate his target, but he continued to focus more energy, intent on making that blast send rumbles through the earth. “Realize now where Destiny has brought you, and accept what it is to be your fate...”

        With that, Blaasz released the built up magic, letting it crash into the guard leader with great force. The following explosion did not just blow him apart, it broke his body down into the smallest pieces possible, even ripping apart nearly every cell into countless fragments. All that was left after the smoke subsided was a large fan-shaped area of scorched dirt with the top layer completely blasted away.

-|-

        Luna's head reared back as she let out a sharp gasp, her heart skipping a beat. She took a couple steps back from the edge of the balcony she was on, trying to understand what exactly it was she felt.

That energy... she thought to herself as she lowered her head a bit to think, her eyes widened from shock. We have felt it before, but.... no, it can't be... Luna took a few steps forward, looking out across the land from her spot at the highest tower in Canterlot Castle. We have not felt that sort of energy since we were corrupted by the essence of Nightmare Moon. But, that was a spawn of our own greed and jealousy... was it not?

She closed her eyes, trying to think back to the sudden jolt of energy she felt through the air. Already it seemed that the recent even had drifted from her ability to study it any further, but what her memory allowed had told her enough. Why did we just feel the same energy that would come from Nightmare Moon? And... why is its source different from... me?