Making choices

" I'm afraid I'll have to take Hase away from you, Rainbow Dash. " somepony spoke. The cyan mare turned around and saw it was Vortex, who had also stayed behind the main part of the group.

" I know your current greatest desire is to learn how to use your wings. " the alicorn told his son.

" I would have let you two months break to do so before our lessons proceeded. However, things have changed, and our group is in dire need of as many defenders as it can get. So, I'm afraid, we'll have to continiue with our lessons as soon as possible. "

Hase was a bit dissappointed, but he had to agree. From the group of 18 members, many could protect them from physical threats, and in an emergency, even Formidon could show up and defend them, but from a magical point of view, the only ponies skilled enough were Vortex, Twilight and the two Princesses. Even though their magical guards included the three most skilled magical users of Equestria, their quantity was too low. A fifth memeber would come in handy, even if it was an absolute amateur.

Rainbow Dash and Fluttershy nodded and flew forward, to join the rest of the group, leaving the inventor alone with his father. It was first than Hase realised, that chaotic magic required much more concentration than flight, and that he might not be able to do it while walking. A sollution to this problem soon appeared in his head.

" Formidon! We need a little help here! " he called.

It didn't take long before the giant black dragon landed in front of him.

" Look, dad says we'll have to train my chaotic skills, and I'm not sure I can concentrate enough to do so while walking yet. Would you mind if we use your back as a training field? " Hase asked his friend.

" Are your spells powerful enough to pierce a dragon's hide? " the black dragon responded with a question.

" We're far from practicing such spells. And when we do, I'm sure Hase will have no problems concentrating while on hoof. " the former emperor of Equestria assured him.

Formidon nodded. He spread his claw, so that he'd lift the duo to his back. When they were set, he took off the ground and flew right above the road, soon catching up with the group.

" You will be distracted even more from the vibrations if I walked. " the dragon expleined them.

" So... what did we do last time? " Vortex officially opened the lesson.

" You taught me chaotic telekinesis. " Hase answered.

" That's right. " the black alicorn recalled.

" He also uses summoning and portals. The very basic form, of course. " Formidon told him.

The pegasus' father raised an eyebrow.

" I think I told you something about two- way Void portals? " he rebuked the scientist.

" It was urgent! Or at least I thought it was. " the amateur chaotic tried to excuse himself.

" Apparently you were lucky. I didn't feel any nearby Voidians, while we were back in Equestria. You probably shut it right in their noses and thought that's the trick? " the millenia- old stallion sounded dissappointed.

" You might have been quick enough this time, but you won't always be. I had planned something else for today, but since you have already began " portalling ", it is neccessary that we first make sure your portals aren't a threat to the dimension we're in.

" Blockscreens ", as the admittance- limiting spells are commonly known as, aren't that much of a deal. They are the most easy part of the first year mid- term test in the School for Gifted Unicorns. Nothing hard. All you have to do is imagine a barrier, which is invisible by default, define its boundaries and than define the ponies or things, the entrance of whom or which is permitted. You can also do it the other way around, define the things or ponies, who or which won't be able to enter. Ponies allowed won't even know it's there. Ponies blocked will be stopped, as if from a glass screen. Blockscreens can only be broken if the power level of the spell is surpassed by another one, targeting the barrier.

Your power level is still very low... "

" I thought you said chaotic magic has no limitations in power? " Hase was befuddled.

" For the ones, who have concluded the 20- year training. " Vortex noted. Hase frowned. He wasn't going to be of much use on the field.

" Your body gradually gets used to chaotic energy flowing through it. If you surpass your current maximum, there may be tragic consequences. Eventually, that maximum will vanish, but first you have a long way to go. You start weaker than any unicorn, until you become powerful as an alicorn.

Let's try to define your level. You casted a few telekinesis spells, probably opened 2 or 3 portals - nothing, that could raise your level significantly. Telekinesis is the spell, that requires the least energy out of all other chaotic spells, and since you didn't have enough energy to cast a normal portal, leading from one place in a dimension to another, your portals probably had a detour to the Void, its natural energy, which is trying to breach the dimensional wall, significantly facillitating the portal spell. Am I right? "

The astounded pegasus nodded.

" Luckily for you, blockscreens also have low energy requirement. So, today we'll learn how to conjure limited- access Void portals, which are also the essentials of Summonning. "

Vortex demonstrated by opening a portal, which Hase could tell led to the Void. The black dots contrasted with the grey land bellow.  They grew in size.

" Since the Void is endless, any type of landscape exists in it. Of course, there won't be water or colours, or any normally looking trees, so it will seem a lot different than the landscape one has in mind. But you might find it quite useful. It saves you the time falling from the edge of the world. "

When the former emperor had completed his sentence, the first Voidian was smacked against the invisible barrier the alicorn had apparently put on the portal.

" I've limited this portal to permit entrance to me and me only. You can make sure my words are true by trying to pass. Go on! " the stallion urged his son.

Quite unsure, since the Voidians on the other side were now one very unhappy pile, Hase spread his hoof. It stopped on the edge of the portal, as if there was a wall.

" I thought you said only unprotected portals sucked in Voidians? " the inventor asked.

" That's correct. I summonned some to demonstrate the barrier's effectiveness. " Vortex noted.

" But... my barriers will be a lot more weaker than yours. " the pegasus was concerned.

" What if some magic- using Voidians manage to breach them? "

The violet- maned alicorn smiled. He was waiting for that question. The stallion closed the portal, since there was no further use of it, and turned back to his student.

" That's the first thing you should have asked yourself. And you did. Well done. "

The alicorn seemed to feel great content from the fact, that his heir was starting to think the way all chaotics should. For him, this was more importrant than any spell he'd teach the inventor - to put the world before yourself.

" However, " he began explaining.

" ,even though many Voidians are capable of using magic, none of them have the sufficient energy for it. Do you remember what I told you yesterday? A small piece of unbound chaotic energy is all the energy any Voidian would have. Any other energy is quickly dispatched. Voidians cannot use magic, unless you enable them to by using the Energy Transfer spell when one of them is under your control and use the chaotic energy to compensate for their natural inability to use magic and charge them up. I'll leave that lesson for another time.

Now, let's see how good are you with barriers. "

Hase was a tad excited. It was finally time to show what he could do. The blue- maned pegasus cleared out his mind and imagined a portal leading to a big plane with a giant mountain on the horizon, in the Void. But that wasn't everything. He imagined a fisherpony's net, covering the whole portal, only letting him through. When he decided the image was clear enough, he felt the stream of chaotic energy flow through his body. A portal opened mere inches away from the spot in the air the one of his father had been. A big gray plain and a rocky mountain on the horizon could be seen through it. The inventor sighed from relief.

Until a buffalo appeared. It was standing probably about 300 feet away from the portal, so the pegasus only recognised it as one because of its size. The Voidian didn't hesitate. The beast ran in their direction, with an unimaginable speed. Covering the distance in 30 seconds, the buffalo took the final 15 feet with a jump. His horns slammed aginst the portal...

... and the power of the ricochet threw him 6 feet back. The buffalo shook its head, snorted angrily and ran in another direction, dissappearing from the part of the plain, that could be seen through the portal. Amazed, Hase spread his hoof, and it passed through the portal, as if it was one of the portals without any protection he used a day ago.

" Remarkable. " his father commented.

" But don't get cocky. Any chaotic trainee can do that the first day of their training. You did it on the second, so you're actually behind. " the alicorn spoke in a tonality, that indicated he was joking.

" Now we'll have to get started with some attack magic. It isn't normally studied until the second year of training, when one's level is high enough for these attack spells to actually do some damage. Yours isn't yet, so your attack spells... will have an enormously high chance of missing and even if they hit, the worst thing they would do is make your opponent dizzy for a second.  " the former emperor's expression was indicating how awkward he felt about saying that. If something could completely annihilate the feeling of self- confidence Hase had had a minute ago, when his barrier had stopped the Voidian buffalo, this comment was it. The inventor frowned.

" We'll try the normal chaotic magical blast. All you have to do is build up some energy around one part of your body, use it to target something and then simply let it go. "

Vortex demonstrated. A big black oreol with sharp curling edges surrounded his hoof up to almost the half of his knee. He aimed for one of the biggest scales on the back of Formidon and fired. The blast flew accurately and hit the scale the former emperor had marked as his target. It exploded upon hitting it, resulting in a loud noise.

" Just don't fire at my neck. I'm ticklish there. " Formidon responded to the blast on his back.

" Now you try. " Vortex urged his son.

The scientist spread his right forehoof and did what the alicorn had told him to. Even though he felt he was at his maximum, he couldn't see any oreol surrounding his hoof. Confused, he looked at it from closer.

It was first then that he noticed it. A tiny black ball with curly edges, not biggger than the pebbles foals played with back in Ponyville. It stood there at the center of the bottom of his hoof, waiting for him to fire. Hase could not be more ashamed or dissappointed. He had hit the bottom.

Sighing, he turned around, so that he wouldn't watch the petty explosion, that would occur when this ball hit the same scale his father fired at. He let the ball go.

Strangely, his turning away actually made him watch the energy pebble. It fired about 45 degrees lower than the pegasus had intended it to and landed right next to his left forehoof, producing the sound a firework makes when somepony drops it in a puddle.

Now Hase was bellow the bottom. He moved to the edge of the dragon's back and sat down, his hindhooves hanging from the edge.

" I never said it was going to be easy. With time, you'll get better. " Vortex tried to cheer him up.

" That's not the point. " the inventor replied.

" Than what is it? " Formidon joined the conversation.

" It's just that... there's really no use of me. You can breathe out fire, that can devour a whole neighbourhood, " the scientist told the dragon.

" ,you, Celestia, Luna and Twilight can use powerful magic, " he looked back at his father.

" , Applejack can buck, Rainbow Dash can attack from the air, Rarity can probably use at least some useful magic, Spike can also breathe fire, if he's needed to, Fluttershy can probably ask some animal to defend the group, Pinkie Pie probably has some gadget hidden in her mane, " a faint smile appeared on the stallion's face when he imagined Pinkie pulling out a bow or something simillar from her mane, but it vanished the second after that.

" , and all the locals are either skilled warriors or good spellcasters. What can I do? "

" That doesn't matter. We all are your friends. We will protect you. " the black dragon answered.

" Formidon's right. If you're afraid you can't defend yourself... " Vortex began, but was interrupted by Hase.

" I'm not afraid for myself. I'm afraid for all of you. What will happen, if all your lives depend on me? I can't use chaotic magic good enough yet, can't lift myself higher than 1 foot above the ground, have no skills with any weapon whatsoever! I can't even buck the enemy, if I wished to! "

" Do you have any idea what they're doing up there? " Rarity asked.

" Caw! " was the answer of Hermes.

" He says they're probably still training. " Fluttershy translated.

The white unicorn nodded. Even though she had lived with Hase's bird for a month already, which had made her the third pony the phoenix loved the most after Hase and Fluttershy, the fashionista mare still couldn't understand what the phoenix was saying.

" Only 10 minutes have passed since they got up. I doubt they have finished already. The magic Vortex described sounds difficult. " Fluttershy thought Rarity was impatient for some reason.

" But of course! I was just wondering what does this training consist of? And what is this chaotic magic in general? We were never actually told! " the unicorn mare wondered.

" According to Princess Celestia, " Twilight, who was behind the duo, who were currently the first in their group, began explaining.

" , most of the times it's just like normal magic, with the exception of the facts, that it's not limited to unicorns, has no energy limit... aaand holds the chance of the world being destroyed. " the lavender alicorn, as all of Hase's friends, wasn't sure Hase should practice this kind of magic because of the last reason specifically.

" Isn't it rather dangerous to practice magic, when the energy you have is unlimited? " Rarity was now a bit worried.

" I doubt Hase will immeadietly have access to unlimited energy. " Twilight dispatched of her friend's worries.

" I suppose, that just like it is with unicorns, you first start on a low magical level and slowly increase it. "

The group of three was unaware, that their conversation was observed by somepony but them three. Somepony hiding in the bushes in the forest they were currently passing by. A telescopic tube slowly slipped back inside the bushes, so that nopony would notice the flashes from its copper outer surface, and a noise, supposing the movement of an animal, sounded. However, the distance between the forest and the road being 300 feet in this part of the wood, it acted as a natural silencer.

" Well? " the Leader asked the Observer.

" We hit the jackpot. " the Observer smiled deviously.

While the band cheered, the leader didn't. His content was only marked by a faint grin.

The Gang with No Names was one of the most succesful ever. Not because its memebers were selected- on the contrary, anypony could join, if they abandoned their name - but because a part of the loot they yielded was given to the guards in Smith's Keep and Graywood, in return for information which groups are armed and which- not. That way the gang saved time equiping themselves heavily for unarmed groups. Also, nopony could catch them off- guard.

The oldest members of the gang were the Leader and his right hoof, the Observer. The Leader was a beige unicorn, with half of his horn cut off in some street fight a long time ago. He could only use telekinesis, but that was all he needed to hold his sword.

The Observer, who had earned his name for having the sharpest eye amongst everypony in the group, was a white- coated pegasus. One pink scar could be seen on his throat, indicating, that some inexperienced thief had tried to slit it with a blunt knife.

" Describe it to us. " the leader commanded his lieutenant once the gang had stopped cheering.

" A very large group, probably with a lot of money. Without much defenses. Aaand... one of the mares has a pet phoenix. You all know how much they cost on the black market! "

The grin of the Leader was passed on to the entire gang.

One of the reasons they were so sure was, that the guards in Graywood were sleeping when the Equestrian group had arrived. However, that wasn't the main reason.

The main reason the Observer had underestimated the group so much was the thick fog. Princess Celestia and Princess Luna were walking on the left side of the road, the one away from the forest, so they were beyond what the pegasus had seen. Dagger also couldn't be seen. With Hase, Vortex and Formidon in the air, nopony suspected of their existense. Twilight's wings were hidden by Fluttershy. In fact, the only visible threat was Forge's hammer - nothing too hard for a 20 member gang. Encouraged, the road robbers moved to the part of the wood, that was separated from the road with a small lawn, only 30 feet long.

However, they hadn't remained unnoticed.

" Come on, come on! "

The flintstone wouldn't start the flame. Just as Sharp Witt thought it was hopeless, one spark jumped on the dry moss he had somehow managed to find in the wet fog. The fire was finally ready.

Sharp Witt wasn't sure wheter to yell to make sure the group would be alert. After all, he was sure the mare, that had hired him, was in it. But than he decided not to. A fire would be a good enough signal. Also, the mare had paid him to remain hidden. As quickly as he could, he got away from the fire, hoping it would burn long enough for the group to notice it.

" Is that a fire? " Twilight's eyes stumbled upon a weak light, emitted from the end of the nearby forest on their right.

Rarity and Fluttershy looked in the direction their friend was looking in.

" It most certainly is. Who would stop to rest in such a dreadful... "

Rarity's sentence was interrupted by an arrow, that passed an inch away from the back of her neck and Hermes. Scared, the phoenix flew in the air.

" The pony, not the bird! It costs hundreds, you idiots! " a hoarse voice was heard yelling from the forest, now about 30 feet away.

Realising what was happening, Twilight pushed Rarity with her magic and yelled:

" Get down! "

Rarity fell down just in time to see the second arrow pass an inch away from her friend's muzzle. She screamed.

" I'm sure you can. Anypony can buck. It's in their genes. " Formidon told his friend.

" Yes, but I doubt my buck would actually do any dama... "

" The pony, not the bird! It costs hundreds, you idiots! " the yell was heard very well even from the back of Formidon, since he was only flying about 45 feet above the ground.

And than the scream was heard. A scream Hase knew the origin of very well.

" Rarity! " he yelled and jumped from the edge, without actually thinking what consequences this would have.

Vortex stood dumbfounded. Then he spread his wings and jumped from the edge as well.

From the sound all Hase could deduce was that Rarity had been hurt in some way. Then, midway to the ground, he realised what he had done.

The fog was a bit rarer on this spot, so Hase could see the ground, about 30 feet bellow him. He couldn't fly good enough. Vortex or Formidon couldn't catch him. He was going to die.

Unless...

Because the fog was rarer, Hase could also see Rarity, Twilight and Fluttershy. And the robbers, coming out of the woods. An idea appeared in his mind. One, that could just do the trick. The black pegasus spread his hoof, so that it pointed to a spot, about 3 feet to the right from the three mares. He imagined a portal, tilted slightly backwards, protected with a net only he could pass through. As he felt the surge of chaotic energy, it opened. Hase smiled. The ground was coming close rather fast. But just before he hit it, a portal opened in the ground, devouring him, then it closed right behind him.

Now he had a lot more time to think. As much time, as it takes one to fall from the edge of a world to the closest level of the Void. The portal he had opened to enter wasn't exactly protected, but since it had remained open for no more than one second, the black dots Hase expected would be falling ahead of him weren't there. In fact, he couldn't even notice one Voidian.

Which was good. Since the surface was no more than 30 feet bellow him now. It was a good thing he had managed to adjust himself to fall right where he fell. Since his protected portal awaited him bellow. Taking the most aerodynamic form he could, the inventor passed the last few feet and returned to Runcinia.

Things were happenning too fast for Twilight to comprehend. First, some armed ponies had appeared from the woods, apparently robbers, and they were running right towards them. The second afterwards, a black portal had opened on their right. Twilight was behind it, so she couldn't see where it lead too. All she could spot was, that it was tilted slightly backwards.

Then, just as the robbers had almost reached them, something black flew out of the portal, which closed behind it. The portal being tilted prevented it from hitting the ground. Instead, the projectile hit the fattest robber. The purple alicorn was so close she could hear the sound of the robber's spine breaking, a result of the incredible amount of kinetic energy, that was passed on by the black projectile. With a brief flap of wings the projectile managed to land on its four hooves and it was first than, that Twilight realised this projectile was Hase.

The scientist barely managed to dodge the first sword, and the second left an incision on his left cheek. He quickly understood, that the attention of the robbers, which were certainly more than 10, was all redirected to him. He rolled to the side, avoiding perhaps the fifth sword slash and tried to think what to do.

' My spells, or should I say spell won't do any more damage than a cup of water... ' his train of thought was interrupted by the sight of one of the robbers shooting an arrow at Rarity, but Hase couldn't see if it hit, since the three mares had been hidden by the blade of a sword, aimed for his head.

Nothing had ever angried Hase more in his life. His rational thought was blown away by his rage, the same way an overflowing river destroys a small bridge. Driven by rage, his mind soon came up with one extremely dangerous use of a cup of water he could use now.

The water jet cutter.

A devious grin appeared on Hase's muzzle, as he jumped back to avoid a sword slash. He summonned the energy, but this time, instead of forming it as a ball, it appeared as a rod, about 1 foot long, but thinner than a spider web. Knowing he controlled it, with his mind Hase threw it forward and yelled.

" NO! YOU WON'T KILL HER! I'LL KILL YOU! SHE'LL LIVE FOREVER! "

The thin rod was super effective. Even though Hase could only wield a tiny amount of energy, compressed in such a small form, that it could barely be seen, it cut through armour, skin, muscle and bone like hot knife through butter. The robber, that had pounced at Hase, holding an axe in his mouth, was sliced in half. Driven by rage and nothing else, Hase called back the stick. It returned as a boomerang, cutting the second robber, that had moved towards him, 's head, along with the forehoof he had spread. The other robbers, that had planned to attack, fearfully moved back, but it was too late. Hase's anger wasn't going to leave him, until all of the robbers were dead.

" DIE, YOU DOGS, AND ROT IN TARTARUS! " the pegasus screamed, as he jumped forward. The next ten minutes were consisting mostly of the almost animal- like Hase chasing the robbers across the lawn. They ran, but eventually they ended the same way their friends did - cut in two parts. Some tried to defend themselves, but the small rod of chaotic energy cut through steel about as easy as it cut through flesh.

At about the 13th kill, Hase noticed a mace lying around. It was a morningstar, about 2 feet long with a big spiky ball in the end. it was all black, with the exclusion of the red leather handle with some figures on it. Deciding he'd finish the job quicker, the pegasus grabbed the mace with his telekinesis and smashed the head of the pony, that had tried to attack him while he was picking it up.

The clear- minded Hase would have noticed, that when he unwillingly dropped the telekinesis spell, since the energy rod was using up most of his power, the mace was still levitating. He also would have noticed, that the mace felt connected to his mind in a weird way.

Everything the rage- driven Hase noticed was, that it's very effective at killing.

He moved his glance to the last two ponies on the lawn. As he smiled, they dropped their weapons and ran towards the woods. Hase sent out his rod to dispatch the first and jumped in the air. With a small hover, he fell directly above the second. The mace he had lifted up fell down, smashing the pony's head. Finally ready, the scientist dropped the energy spell and grinned.

" We're now... " Hase began, but the shock of what he saw mid- sentence, when he turned around to see his group, brought him back to his normal self.

Rarity and Fluttershy were both crying their eyes out, while the rest of the Mane 6 were trying to calm them down. The inventor suspected Fluttershy was crying because of the horrors she had seen, but Rarity was probably also crying because she had seen him do all of this.

' What's the big... ' Hase wondered, while he was coming closer to the group, until the last parts of rage vanished from his mind and he was left with the horrible truth of what he had done. He slowly turned around.

The lawn was covered with corpses, most of them cut in half. As if somepony had tried to paint it red. The inventor recalled the last few minutes. He had done all of this. Why? That was a question he couldn't answer.

The pegasus fell down on his knees and stared at his forehooves. They were covered in blood, making them slicky. Hase was horrified. He hit the ground with his right forehoof and yelled:

" NO! "

His mind was desperately trying to find what made him so angry he killed 16 ponies. He remembered seeing somepony aim for Rarity, getting angry... and slaughtering the robbers. Why had this made him so angry?

Realisation struck him sooner than expected. His friends, especially Rarity, were a symbol of something he had craved for his whole life. They were the symbol of a normal, peaceful life. The embodiment of the future he wanted to have. A future, in which he was living with Rarity and his friends back in Ponyville, without any complications like the ones he'd had in his past.

He had killed for Rarity. He had killed for his friends. He had killed for the future.

Wondering wheter they had come to this thought as well, wheter they knew how much they really ment to him, so much, that he'd do something against his nature to save them, Hase turned his gaze back to his group. Rarity and Fluttershy were still crying, although the rest of the Mane 6 had managed to calm them down a bit. He caught the accusing glances of Applejack and Rainbow Dash. He could see it in their eyes, that right now, for them he wasn't a friend, but a beast, more vile than any hydra, manticore or chimera. They quickly looked away, but it was enough time for Hase to feel the fear, the shock. He also caught Twilight's glance. Her shock was much bigger, aslo, something in her eyes made him feel incredibly guilty. She moved away, so that Hase could see Rarity, but the pegasus quickly turned away. He wouldn't be able to stand her eyes.

However, eventually he did turn around again. And she was staring right into his eyes. Rarity, unlike the other, wasn't even a bit afraid. But in her eyes, now bloodshot, the shock was one hundred times bigger than the one in the others' eyes. The guilt her eyes irradiated made him look, as if her eyes were magnets, and he spent the most painful minute in his life, looking at her accusing eyes.

Luckily for him, Rainbow Dash's body soon hid those eyes, and he could take a rest. Than he went on checking the eyes of the rest of the group.

The Sentinels of the Elements seemed rather indifferent, but perhaps it was because their muzzles weren't exactly best suited for expressing motions. Otherwise, Hase thought, they would reveal their shock as well. The Runcinians, apparently having seen a lot of blood, were not as shocked as the rest, but their eyes still emitted too much guilt for Hase to handle, after he had looked at Rarity.

He moved on to the Princesses and his father. They all had a simillar, if not the same, expression on. One Hase suspected Celestia and Luna had when they banished King Sombra.

When he met that cold glance, he realised all ponies looked at him as if he was a villain. All except the Sentinels and two other.

Metal Chord and Dagger were in front of the rest of the group.  Seeing that as an opportunity to end this all, Hase turned to the pegasus assassin:

" Kill me. "

The dark purple mare just smiled.

" Kill me! " Hase repeated, this time louder. As they heard that, his friends looked at him again. They seemed worried.

" Kill me! " Hase said for the last time. Dagger didn't move. Actually, nopony did. Nopony but a certain white unicorn.

Not even 5 seconds after Hase noticed her movement, Rarity was already hugging him.

" No. I don't want you dead. Don't leave me. " she spoke, her tone indicating, that she was still crying.

She than broke the hug. No surprise could compare to the one, that jolted through Hase, when in the moment he looked in her still bloodshot eyes, the stallion saw, that even after all he'd done, she still loved him. Confused more than ever, he looked at his other friends. Their initial shock wiped away by his deathwish, he could only see them as ponies, worried for a friend of theirs.

" I won't. " Hase hugged Rarity, trying to calm her down.

" But... I don't deserve to be forgiven. I killed those ponies with my own hooves. "

" Anypony can be forgiven, if they ask for forgiveness. " Celestia spoke, after the two lovers broke their hug.

A frown appeared on the black pegasus' muzzle.

" I suppose there's no use asking for it after comitting such a crime, but... can you ever possibly forgive me? " he asked.

There was a moment of silence.

" We will. " Twilight replied, half a minute later.

" But you have a lot to think about. " Luna looked at the stallion with a stern gaze.

The main part of the group left, after Rarity joined them. They had decided to leave Hase alone for the rest of the day, so that he could think over what had happenned. However, two ponies had left behind. Dagger and Metal Chord. They joined Hase, as he walked about 30 feet behind the rest of the group.

" Nice mace. " Dagger noted.

Puzzled, Hase looked around. It was first than he noticed the strange occurence.  The morningstar he had picked up on the battlefield and used to kill the last pony was still behaving, as if Hase was holding it with his telekinesis. The pegasus reached for the chaotic flow, so that he could move the weapon in front of his eyes, but the maze moved exactly where he wanted it to move the very second he thought of it. The confused inventor moved it that way several times, until he concluded, that it was bound to his mind in some way. Then he took a closer examination.

During the fight he couldn't notice the details. Now they were there for him to see. The spikes on the mace, each of them at least 3 inches long, didn't have the normal conical shape, but were designed to look like the nails of a dragon or a gryphon. There were at least 40 spikes, in 4 rows around the big metal ball on the top of the weapon. Since those nails were only effective in one direction, each nail going down was followed by a nail going up, so that the weapon would be equally effective both when swinging up or swiping down. This feature gave the mace a very bizzare appearance. Complete with the metal rod, that connected the ball and the handle, that should have been wooden, since it would be much cheaper, and the red leather handle ( Hase had no idea what use there is of a handle, when the weapon was " held with the mind ", if he could say so), the mace didn't look like a typical weapon one would scavenge from the corpse of a road robber. Such a weapon could only belong to a nobelty, and no robber would attack a nobelty, since the guards would be after them, and according to Arcane Bliss, most of the robbers worked together with the guard. The origins of the weapon remained unknown.

Hase moved the weapon several more times, but since he wasn't able to think of anything new about it, he instead chose to recall the events once more and think them over. The rage he had feeled... he remembered it very well...

His train of thought was violently interrupted by screams, yells and... were those battle calls?

Startled, Hase took a look around. Red light shone from the tip of the weapon he had found, but that wasn't the strangest thing. Semi- transparent red things were being fired out of the shining tip, flying in a straight direction, ignoring the laws of gravity. After he stopped walking and focused on that stream, Hase understood the things had an animal shape - occasional claws and wings gave it out. But the stallion couldn't put his hoof on what exactly they were. Until one of the things stayed in one spot for a bit longer.

The gryphon let out a scream. The other things, that Hase supposed were also gryphons, were going around it, but since the stream had the constant form, the gryphon was having difficulties staying in one spot. 10 seconds later, it was pushed by other gryphons, but this was enough for hase to have memorized its main features. The things, coming out of his mace, weren't exactly gryphons. More like gryphon spirits. Those spirits were all semi- transparent and red in colour, and for some reson, they were all very, very angry. The moment Hase thought of it, realisation struck him.

This mace had something to do with rage. He had found it, while he was more angry than any other time in his life, and had chosen to use it. Therefore, because of his rage, the magic of the mace had apparently chosen him for the owner. The morningstar was probably also haunted by the angry spirits of a gryphon army. Hase didn't want to have such an army trapped in a weapon, that is bound to his mind, so he patiently waited for the whole army to come out.

2 minutes later the spirits were still flowing. Hase heard somepony run, and suspected the group had stopped to wait for them and they had sent somepony to see what's up with them. Annoyed with the spirits, he shook the mace, hoping this would make them go faster. It didn't, but it had another consequence. Passing near Metal Chord, one spirit got out of the stream, swiped its ethereal claw at the grey unicorn and returned to the stream, less red in colour. The inventor initially thought nothing would happen, since the gryphon was ethereal, but he was very wrong.

A red wave passed through the unicorn's body. Metal Chord knit his brows, clenched his teeth, drew out his sword and yelled:

" WHAT ARE WE WAITING FOR? LET'S KILL THE BUCKER! " he almost jumped.

" What bucker? " Hase asked. He and Dagger backed off a bit.

"  MY CHEAP LYING FATHER, THAT'S WHO!!! " the stallion yelled, this time louder.

" Stop the stream and suck out the rage. " somepony was heard behind Hase. When he turned around, he saw it was his father.

" What do you mean? " the scientist asked.

" You are in control. Stop the stream and suck out his rage, or he'll start attacking us all! " Vortex warned him.

Hase was about to protest he had no idea how, but realised he would be lying. At least for the first one. Now he felt the connection in its full power. The mace felt as if it was a part of his mind, constantly concentrating on the memory of his anger. When Hase stopped to think about it, the stream of spirit dissappeared as quickly as it had appeared and the connection was limited to what it was before - the pegasus being able to move the mace with his mind. However, he had no idea how to suck the rage out of Metal Chord. Until he looked at the pony.

He was seeing things he shouldn't have been seeing. A red ball, constantly exploding like a star, spinning in the head of the swordspony, who was now threatening he'd kill anypony, who stops him from killing his father. Somehow knowing what to do, as if he'd always known it, Hase pointed the mace at this ball and called it back. For a brief moment red energy passed from the stallion's head to the mace, leaving Metal Chord very confused.

" Uhh... what happenned? " he asked.

" You shouldn't have done it that fast! " Vortex spoke.

" I thought you said otherwise he'd start attacking us? " the black pegasus turned to his father, confused.

" No. You shouldn't be able to do it that fast! Only he... " the violet- maned alicorn stopped mid- sentence, as if he couldn't speak about what he was about to say. He didn't remain silent for long though.

" I forbid you to use that mace in any way! " he spoke to Hase in a stern tonality.

" Alright, alright! " Hase backed off, a bit surprised.

" But can I just ask you a question, so that there aren't any more problems? I see you know that weapon. "

The tall black stallion nodded.

" Won't those spirits eventually run out? "

" No. When they are 100 feet away from the mace, they return in the mace and, if they have dispatched of their rage, charge up. "

" With what? " Hase was confused.

" With your rage. The memory of the most rage you've ever felt. You'll never forget it. It will make sure of it. "

" What? The mace? " Hase moved it around, and was surprised to see  his father back off.

" Yes. And don't wave it around. " the alicorn said, before he vanished in the mist, apparently going back to the main part of the group.