The Dead Stallion's Hand

by Lord Zalgo

Rating: teen
Tags: Main 6, Princess Luna, Original Character, My Little Pony: Friendship is Magic, Romance, Adventure, Princess Celestia, Alternate Universe
Length: 21406

Filled with guilt over the loss of their friend, Celestia and Luna attempt to reconcile with some old friends. With an unforeseen outcome...

Filled with guilt over the loss of their friend, Celestia and Luna attempt to reconcile with some old friends. With an unforeseen outcome... Death isn't always the end... Sometimes, its just the beginning.

Sequel to The Jack of All Trades. I highly recommend that you read that first.

Published 2014-09-13 22:20:07 UTC
Last updated 2015-06-06 21:37:52 UTC

Prologue- The Council

"Tia, Are you sure that this is the best course of action?" Luna asked her big sister as they walked towards the Chamber of the Council.

"I am, Luna. It's high past time that the council's dissolution was brought to an end." Celestia replied. Celestia opened the giant doors to the chamber and took a seat in front of the giant pentagram engraved on the floor. Luna sat next to her and they both began to focus their magic onto the pentagram. The symbols on the pentagram began to glow bright violet before all of the pentagram followed suit. The light grew almost blinding as it filled the entire room. Moments later, translucent avatars of the princesses appeared in a bleak environment, surrounded by stone and small amounts of black fire in random places, mainly used in torches.

"Tartarus. It isn't as hellish as I would have imagined." Luna commented. Celestia nodded and was about to reply before an alicorn appeared before their avatars. He was slightly taller than Celestia, had black fur, a red mane and tail that flowed in random directions; giving the illusion that they were tentacles, a cutie mark of two overlapping ovals with a circle inside both of them and most noticibley: a face like a devil. Jagged teeth and red slitted eyes that seemed to glow with evil.

"Zalgo..." Celestia said under her breath. Zalgo said silent for a moment before giving a friendly smile and walked towards the princesses.

"Celestia! Luna! It's such a joy to see you two again! How long has it been? Nearly one thousand years?" Zalgo asked in a very low pitched voice.

"Indeed, Zalgo. Sorry it's been so long, but we have decided to try to reform the Council." Celestia said. Zalgo looked a little surprised before smiling again.

"I'm sure my chamber is still operational. I would be willing to rejoin. When we are allied, the Underrealm does nothing, but thrive." Zalgo said cheerfully.

"Could you please use your chamber to come with us to Elysium?" Luna asked, happy that Zalgo had accepted.

"I'm a little surprised you didn't ask her first, to be honest. You two go there, I'll catch up with you." Zalgo said with a smile. The princesses smiled back and bowed before disappearing. Celestia and Luna awoke back in their chamber and shared a smile.

"I was hoping that he would be happy to see us. It made him rejoining the Council much easier." Celestia said with a slight amount of relief. Luna simply smirked.

"You were just hoping he'd be happy to see you, Tia. Admit it." Luna said teasingly. Celestia blushed slightly before replying.

"Shut up, Luna. Let's just talk to Faust." Celestia said quickly as she focused her magic once more, causing Luna to follow suit, her smirk never leaving her face. The blinding light returned before subsiding, leaving the princesses in a bright, clean environment with a small amount of somewhat etherial mist floating around. They didn't have a long time to look around before Zalgo's avatar appeared before them. He looked around in disorientation for a moment before spotting the princesses and smiling once more. Not a moment after, Faust appeared before them in all her glory. She was a tall alicorn with a crystal white coat and a bright red mane and tail with bright blue eyes. Her cutie mark was a large quill in an inkpot. She walked forward with a large smile as she watched the three of them.

"It's been the longest time since I've seen the three of you together like this! I think I might start crying!" Faust said with tears beading up in her eyes.

"Hello, Faust. The Overrealm has been in good condition, I presume?" Zalgo asked with a smile.

"As well as it can be. What about the Underrealm?" Faust asked quickly. Zalgo and the princesses looked a bit confused before asking what the three of them were thinking.

"'As well as it can be'?" The three of asked at the same time. Faust sighed, but before she could reply, some kind of alarm began to sound.

"Well, he let everyone sleep this time." Faust said under her breath.

"What's going on?" Luna asked.

"Well, for six months now, a particular pony has been rebelling, fighting the guards and causing chaos as he tries to escape. Anypony that comes to Elysium is always comfortable, because they can have anything they want. But, not him. He just tries every day to get out. He just fights and fights." Faust said tiredly.

"Every day?" Zalgo asked incredulously.

"Every single day of the last six months. And what's worse; he's been training himself as he fights. He's developed his own way of fighting and has only gotten stronger over the weeks and months." Faust continued.

"How could he train every day without simply collapsing from exhaustion?" Celestia asked.

"It's the magic of Elysium. Everypony always feels vitalised and energised here. That's why he never stops until he's subdued. Which has been getting harder and harder." Faust replied.

"You mentioned that he wanted to get out of Elysium?" Zalgo asked.

"Yes. He said that he didn't want to die and nothing could make him happy again until he would return to the realm of mortals. Unless you two would take him back to the Middlerealm or you would lock him away in Tartarus, I have no idea of what to do." Faust said sulkily, meeting her limit. Celestia, Luna and Zalgo exchanged looks before looking back at Faust.

"Can we see this stallion?" Celestia asked. Faust looked at her in silent gratitude before leading them towards a beautiful courtyard filled with every type of flower one could imagine and a few that one couldn't.

And a few dozen of unconscious angel guards.

The four alicorns watched as a single stallion was outmanoeuvring the guards, dodging their attacks and countering others, causing them to fall unconscious. After a few minutes of watching, all of the guards had fallen before the stallion. Faust turned to Celestia and Luna desperately.

"Well? Will you take him?" Faust asked. Celestia and Luna didn't respond immediately. They simply stared at the stallion who was ensuring that all of the guards were unconscious.

"We know him." Celestia said.

"The beard is new, though." Luna added. The stallion had a light grey coat, his muscles were not large like more athletic stallions, but they were noticeable still. He had a long, unkempt, black mane and tail with a bushy black beard. His eyes were piercingly bright blue and his cutie mark was a pair of playing cards: an Ace of Hearts and an Ace of Clubs.

"Who is he?" Zalgo asked curiously as the princesses continued to stare. The princesses then turned to him and spoke at the same time.

"...Phoenix Fortesque."

The Syndicate

Darkness fell over the land of Equestria as ponies around the country fell into a peaceful slumber. However... had they known the evil that was growing in power among them, their sleep would be far more restless. A mare and a stallion stood at the entry to their don's office. The entire room was shrouded in darkness and even with the mare's heightened senses, she could sense the stallion inside. The stallion had a forrest green coat with a bright green mane and tail. His cutie mark was a single leaf and his eyes were sky blue. The mare had a pink coat with a pitch black mane and tail. Her cutie mark was that of a harp, but her eyes were blood red and were similar to that of a cat or a dragon.

"B-Boss? Are you in there?" The mare asked hesitantly, her teeth almost glistening with excess saliva from her nervousness. There was no response.

"I brought the... rat." The mare looked guiltily at the stallion who looked terrified. A small lamp slightly illuminated the room as the shillouette of a stallion sat behind a large desk.

"...Good work, Valliere." The Boss said before standing and walking towards the pair of ponies.

"So, it was you, Mint. I'm disappointed." The Boss said down at the stallion who was cowering before him.

"P-please, Boss. I-I'm so sorry!" Mint said, on his knees in a begging position.

"Apologies won't save you. You betray me, you betray the syndicate. And you know what happenes to traitors..." The Boss replied, his horn shimmering gold as he brought a gun to his side.

"No! No! Please! I-I'll do anything!!" Mint screamed. The Boss seemed to pause as he stared at the cowering stallion for a moment.

"Anything?" The Boss asked.

"Yes! Yes! Anything!!" Mint promised.

"Can you tell me anything about the ponies you revealed the information to?" The Boss asked, returning to his seat.

"Yes. Well. The ponies were-." Mint couldn't finish as there was suddenly a hole where his forehead should have been. Smoke slowly rose from the barrel of the Boss's gun as he placed it back on the table. Valliere recoiled at the sound and the sight that lay before her as Mint's blood began to pour into the carpet he collapsed upon.

"Oops. I shot Minty in the face." The Boss said sarcastically, clearly intending to shoot the stallion.

"Why did you shoot Minty in the face?!" Valliere screamed in shock.

"There's no room for traitors in my syndicate. Besides, he was all too eager to reveal information about his contacts. He clearly had no loyalty to anypony. Animals like that should be put down." The Boss said as he turned the chair to look out of the window.

"So... What's next, sir?" Valliere asked.

"Simple. We've been getting more and more recruits since the previous boss'... abdication. Soon, we take down the other syndicates, families, mafia and any other gangster low-life in this city. After that, we will be pulling the strings and we will control Canterlot." The Boss answered without turning around.

"...All of Canterlot? But, what about the Princesses?" Valliere asked. The Boss lifted his gun once more and waved it around casually.

"What about them?" He replied.

"If they ever find out about the syndicate and track us down, I'm sure they'll repeal the law against cruel and unusual punishment after what we're planning on doing." She said.

"...Then, they won't find out. ...Having second thoughts, Valliere?" The Boss said as his magic began to grip a wooden object on his desk.

"No... No... Not at all. What do you want me to do now, sir?" Valliere replied quickly.

"Leave. I've no further need of you tonight. Your suppliment is on the table next to you. Wouldn't want you dying on me, now would I?" The Boss said evenly. Valliere looked to her left to see a small jar on the table which she grabbed quickly, uncrewed it and began to drink the liquid inside it with almost animalistic gusto. The slightly thick red liquid mostly went down her oesophagus, but a small amount of it began to dribble down her cheek as she finished the small vial. She then ran her hoof across the liquid on her face and licked up as much as she could, like a savage.

"I suppose hungry dogs may be the loyalest of all." The Boss said with a slight amount of disgust, but a large amount of mocking. Valliere glared for a moment before turning to leave. After she left the office, she walked through the corridor towards her room. Even in her own room, she didn't feel safe. She didn't feel safe anywhere in the entire building. The syndicate used to help ponies. They didn't used to be hitponies. Ever since the current boss's takeover, all the goodness, all the joy and all the innocence was drained from the organisation. She wanted to leave, but her condition was too great. She knew that the Boss was the only pony in Canterlot who could give her the fix she needed. But, he never gave her enough. He knew she needed more. But, he also knew how to keep her 'loyal'.

She collapsed onto her bed as she stared into the darkness. She felt far from nourished. The vial was enough to keep her alive. But, never enough to quench her hunger. She needed more.

She needed blood. She hungered for it...

The Return

"Celestia! Luna!" Phoenix yelled in delight as he leapt towards the princesses' avatars and embraced them both. They shared a look of surprise before embracing the stallion.

"We've missed you, Phoenix." Celestia said sweetly as a small tear trickled down Luna's face. Phoenix pulled back to look at them.

"Ha... You don't look a day older... Well, what have I missed in Equestria? How's... How are my friends?" Phoenix asked.

"They... They still miss you greatly. Twilight Sparkle still mentions how much things are different without you in her letters." Luna replied.

"...She also says that Applejack has grown more distant since your... passing." Celestia continued sombrely. Phoenix slightly flinched a her name and looked to the ground, trying to hide his emotions.

"...Is she alright?" Phoenix asked, small tears beginning to form in the corners of his eyes. Celestia slowly shook her head.

"No. I'm afraid she isn't." Celestia replied. Faust chose this moment to come forward.

"Is this... 'Applejack' the reason why you didn't want to stay here?" Faust asked Phoenix.

"The main one. Yes." Phoenix replied sombrely. Faust didn't comment further. Silence fell until the final alicorn broke it.

"Is it possible to take him back to the Middlerealm?" Zalgo asked the princesses.

"The spells exist, but they will need to be refined. Not to mention, we'd all have a lot of paperwork to complete." Celestia replied.

"B-but, you're going to take me back?" Phoenix asked hopefully.

"Well, we all hate paperwork. But, after all you've done for Equestria and all you've lost; I think it's only fair if we allowed you to return." Celestia replied with her usual sweet, heart-melting smile. Phoenix gave a slightly teary smile as he thanked the four alicorns and apologised to Faust for his actions. After she forgave him, she said he should go and get some rest. After Phoenix left, another avatar appeared next to Zalgo. He was just as tall as Zalgo, had a pure white coat with no mane or tail, dressed in a clean black suit, with a swarm of black tendrils emerging from it's back...

...And no face at all.

"Slendermane? What is it?" Zalgo asked Slendermane. Slendermane's avatar slowly walked to Zalgo and whispered something into his ear.

"...Hmm... That could be useful... Okay, I'll be right there. I'm sorry, everypony, but my attentions are needed in the Underrealm." Zalgo said to Slendermane and then to the alicorns before both his and Slendermane's avatars vanished from the Overrealm.

"And that's all you know?" Zalgo asked the frightened stallion.

"Yeah. I'm sorry I can't tell you more." Mint said, wary of Slendermane and the other stallion watching him. The other stallion had a white coat just like Slendermane, except he was the height of a normal stallion with a long, greasy black mane and short tail. His eyes were as black as the winter night sky and his mouth had scars on either side; locking it into a permanent smile. A sadistic, cruel smile.

"Very well." Zalgo said as he turned and began to walk away.

"Wait! You said if I told you everything, you'd get me into Elysium!" Mint called after him. Zalgo turned back to him.

"Yes, I did, didn't I? Drop him." Zalgo said. Not one second later the second stallion grabbed Mint and threw him into Styx, the River of Souls. To remain there for eternity.

"Thank you, Jeffery." Zalgo said as he continued to walk away.

"What do we do now, master?" Slendermane asked in a voice almost like a loud whisper.

"We warn Celestia and Luna. They need to hear about this." Zalgo replied.

"We didn't exactly learn a lot from him." Jeff said in a gravelly voice.

"No, we didn't. But, that doesn't matter right now. We get this information to the princesses before it escalates further. We can't go into this blind." Zalgo said.

"'We', boss?" Jeff asked. Zalgo finally turned around.

"Get everypasta ready to mobilise. The second we're needed, we need to be there." Zalgo said before walking back to his council chamber.

The Calm...

Sunlight illuminated the city of Canterlot as a shadowy figure looked out of his window, watching the city begin to fill with life. He waited impatiently as time seemed to tick by at a snail's pace. He growled quietly in annoyance before a knock came at the door.

"Enter." The Boss instructed. The door opened to reveal Valliere with a number of ponies entered the office behind her.

"I've brought the recruits that you wanted. They say they're spies." Valliere said. The Boss rose from his seat with an unimpressed scowl on his face.

"It took you long enough. Why would it take you three weeks to track them all down?" The Boss complained.

"...With all due respect, sir; they're all spies." Valliere emphasised. The Boss simply growled softly before turning to the first spy. He was a unicorn stallion with blood red fur, a ginger mane and tail with bright green eyes. His cutie mark depicted an explosion from a firework.

"Well? Are you any good at what you do?" The Boss asked sceptically.

"To put it plainly, lad; I'm the best in all of Coltland. I can't say for the rest o' this lot, but I'd like to say that they're as good as me." The stallion replied with a thick Coltic accent. The Boss, Valliere and the rest of the spies watched him in slight shock at his boldness. The Boss then walk forward and pushed his face against the stallion aggressively.

"Who do you think you are?!" The Boss said aggressively.

"...I'm Tartan Pepper. And I suggest you back up, laddie." Tartan replied, his horn glowing black with a small dagger that was ready to pierce the Boss's abdomen.

"You would threaten me? Are you that foolish?" The Boss asked.

"I could ask you the same thing, buddy boy." Tartan replied in kind. The Boss finally backed off before turning towards the next spy.

"Name." The Boss said simply.

"Fen Seed." Fen replied. Fen had a lime green coat, with no mane or tale, green/yellow eyes and a flower cutie mark. He had several bottles strapped to a bandolier on his chest, each labelled with a different poison. The Boss moved onto the next pony.

"Cinnamon Apple." The stallion said with a strong Appleloosian accent before the Boss could ask. He had a bland, orange coat, a bright brown mane and tail and dark green eyes. His cutie mark was that of an apple and a single cinnamon stick. He also appeared to have some form of braces on his hooves and some kind of eyepiece in the form of a scope. The Boss paid them no mind as he moved on.

"Star Spice." The last stallion said in a muffled voice, but it was still understandable. He had a bright grey coat, a black, spiky mane and tail. However, his entire face was covered by a gas mask and the rest of his body was covered by the full-body, black, fireproof suit he was wearing. The Boss shrugged off a little uneasiness as he walked past and looked at the final spy and the only mare in the room, other than Valliere.

"And you?" The Boss said. The mare didn't reply. She merely stared back at the Boss. She was completely clad in a black karategi and a ninja mask with a long, black headband; but her body was still visible. She had a blue/grey coat, a black/brown mane and tail that were tied up into ponytails, her eyes were dark grey and her cutie mark was that of a shuriken. In fact, she had several shuriken and kunai on a bandolier strapped to her karategi.

"Answer me!" The Boss demanded. Valliere stepped forward.

"Sir, she's taken a vow of silence. Her name is Clover Evergreen. She is one of the most skilled ninjas in Equestria." Valliere explained.

"None of you seem to be spies." The Boss said, annoyed.

"Well, we're closer to... assassins for hire. But, we tend to infiltrate places in our line of work. What do you need us for?" Fen asked. The Boss walked back to his seat and sat down.

"I need you to keep me informed about specific targets. And... later down the line... if any of them discover our plans... you take the fuckers out." The Boss said, his back turned to everypony.

"Well, that's right up our alley, partner. Who're the targets?" Cinnamon asked. The Boss turned back to them and turned to each of them, giving them their individual targets.

"Cinnamon, you appear to be some kind of sniper. I want you to keep track of Fancypants Von Trottingham, one of the most influential ponies in the business world currently living. He is surprisingly observant, so keep your distance." The Boss instructed.

"That's mah bread and butter right there." Cinnamon said with a smile.

"Fen, you will keep track of Golden Badge: the chief of the Canterlot Police Department. He's an alcoholic, so if he begins to suspect something, you can always poison his brandy." The Boss instructed. Fen simply nodded as the Boss moved on.

"Star, I want you to watch the mayor, Cloud Fortesque. He is a particular loose cannon. Should this plan turn sour, we still have a chance to manipulate him, but only as a backup plan." The Boss said, to which Star nodded in response.

"Clover, you have one of the most difficult tasks. You must keep track of Shining Armour. He is a top choice to be made Captain of Celestia's royal guard. We cannot risk being in the dark about such a position. Make sure you are not spotted once. He is a legend in the making when it comes to his skills and abilities. Be very wary." The Boss warned. Clover bowed as a sign that she understood. The Boss finally turned to the final spy.

"Tartan. You do have the most difficult task of all. You must keep track of... Twilight Sparkle and her friends. They are the most uncontrollable variables in our plan. They have undying unity to each other and undying loyalty to the Princesses. We cannot allow them to make a move without our knowledge. Understood?" The Boss said seriously.

"Aye. I get it. And, don't let them discover why I'm there?" Tartan asked.

"Precisely. Sparkle has a quick, untraceable and unstoppable message link with Princess Celestia. You would be kissing the surface of the Moon before you could utter a single fucking syllable." The Boss said in a raised voice.

"Right. No pressure." Tartan replied. The Boss motioned for them to leave, causing all six ponies to comply and the five spies to prepare to move to the locations in which their targets resided.

"Tia? Do you think it went well?" Luna asked.

"I believe so. The spell says they are still alive." Celestia replied.

"...Maybe this wasn't a good idea. We've sent a mouse into the lion's den and asked them to come back in one piece." Luna said, worriedly.

"Well, more like a rat, really." Celestia replied.

"The rodent doesn't matter, Tia. We've sent a pony into a situation where death could come at them in any minute!" Luna replied, her worries elevating.

"What choice did we have, Luna? We needed evidence and sending in an informant was the only option we had that would allow them to catch on immediately. We will protect them, should their cover be compromised." Celestia said, trying to calm her sister. Luna took a few deep breaths before sighing.

"Alright, but should we need to extract them, we are to do it immediately. No exceptions." Luna said.

"Agreed. May the Sun and stars watch over them." Celestia replied and added a small prayer for their mole.

Author's Note

So, the Boss has recruited ~~five spice~~ five spies. But, there is a double agent in their midst. Who is it?
The Spy?
The Chemist?
The Sniper?
The Pyro Technician?
The Ninja?
Or... Is it deeper than that?

Scoped

"Thanks for standin' still. Bang, bang, bang, bang." Cinnamon sang under his breath as he sat on a taxi cart rushing towards the Fancypants Accountancy building. As the building came into his sights, his flicked his bag onto his back and waited for the cart to stop. Seconds after stepping off the cart, he paid the driver and the driver sped away in the blink of an eye.

"City folk're so busy. Ah don't think they know how useful stayin' in one place can be." Cinnamon said to himself. He turned to see the large building in all of its glory. He turned again to see a small park directly opposite it.

"Well... Their loss is mah gain." Cinnamon said as he walked towards the park and took a seat on a nearby bench. He placed his bag next to him as he simply watched the building. Immediately drew his attention to the surrounding buildings, vantage points, windows and possible routes for police carts.

"Ah suppose ah'll have rely on Fen doin' his job and warn me if the pigs start squelin'." Cinnamon said as he gave his walkie-talkie a quick glance. Suddenly, he heard quiet crying coming from his right. He turned to see a young filly in tears as some other fillies were laughing at her.

"Well, what's goin' on over there?" Cinnamon strained his eyes and ears in order to find out. He saw that the crying filly had an orange/brown coat, a dark pink mane and tail and bright green eyes; one of which was covered by the fringe of her mane. Cinnamon focussed on the other two fillies laughing at her and discovered they were chanting something.

"Blank flank! Blank flank!" The fillies chanted with thick Canterlotian accents. Cinnamon looked at the crying filly once more and his eyes darkened slightly. He turned his attention to the ground and grasped a moderately sized rock with his hoof. He reeled back and aimed his shot perfectly. He threw the stone with a fair amount of force and it collided with the crying filly's face, bruising her eye ad making her nose bleed. The bullies recoiled in shock and ran away from her, out of the park entirely. The crying filly's tears intensified as she stumbled back onto her hooves and rushed out of the park as well, grimacing in pain. Cinnamon watched as the fillies and then sat once more.

"Cousin or not, she's just blank flank shit." He said to himself, regarding Babs.

Babs ran home as her blood left a small trail on the pavement. Once she made it to her apartment, she slammed the door behind her and ran up to her room. Her sister, Sunflower watched the stairs in surprise from the kitchen as she'd seen a blur that was Babs for merely a second. Sunflower had a pink coat, a golden blond mane and tail, bright green eyes and her cutie mark was that of a sunflower. She walked to the bottom of the stairs.

"Babs?" She called up in her Hooflyn accent that her sister shared, but received no response. She was about to call her again, but she suddenly noticed the small trail of blood drops on the stairs leading to Babs' room.

"...Babs?" Sunflower called out louder, her voice filled with concern as she ascended the stairs, towards her sister's room. Upon receiving no response again; Sunflower knocked on Babs' bedroom door.

"Babs, please, let me in." Sunflower said.

"No." Babs quietly replied, trying to hold back tears.

"Then, will you please come out?" Sunflower asked, her voice raising a little.

"No!" Babs repeated louder, clearly liking that idea even less than the first.

"Barbara Seed, please, get out here right now!" Sunflower yelled through the door. Silence fell for a few moments before the door slowly opened to reveal the wounded Babs Seed. Upon seeing her sister, tears beaded within Sunflower's eyes as she wrapped her hooves around Babs. The two sisters simply held each other for a few minutes before Sunflower took Babs to the medicine cabinet to treat her wound.

'Somepony's gonna pay for this. Nopony hurts my sister. Well... nopony hurts my sister and gets away with it.' Sunflower thought to herself.

Cinnamon watched as many different ponies began to leave the building as the sun had almost completely set in the sky. He crowd watched, but saw no sign of Fancypants. Cinnamon couldn't help but think back on the Boss' words about the target being observant. Cinnamon decided to try to outthink Fancypants as well as track him. Cinnamon quickly left the park and slipped into a neighbouring building. He quickly ascended the building's floors until, he took the fire escape onto the roof. As the moon began to slowly rise, the light of day had almost completely faded, allowing Cinnamon to hide on the rooftop. He continued to watch the entrance to the building as a few ponies were looking in several different directions, until Fancypants finally emerged with a mare by his side. Fancypants gave a small signal to the mare and she quickly followed him when he began to move.

"Guess the bastard's more cautious that Ah thought. If Ah can't be spotted, Ah've gotta keep changin' mah perch. Hopefully, this plan the boss-man has don't take too damn long. If it does, either Ah'm gonna go stir-crazy or Ah'm gonna get trigger-happy." Cinnamon said to himself before looking into his bag to reveal a disassembled sniper rifle. He looked at it almost lovingly before watching Fancypants quickly move along the pavement. Cinnamon raised his hoof, miming the action of holding his rifle.

"Boom. Headshot." Cinnamon said quietly with a devilish smirk on his face.

Author's Note

To celebrate The Jack of All Trade reaching nearly 300 views, I'm going to write a special chapter, just for you guys.

What about? Well, you guys can decide. Leave a comment below about what you want to see. Canon or non-canon. And, if I don't get any replies (or reasonable replies) I'll just write another chapter for The Dead Stallion's Hand. So, you guys will get a new chapter soon, regardless.

Thanks for everything, guys. I hope you enjoy.

Observe and Protect

"Chief, we've got somepony here who's interested in the secretary job." An Earth Pony stallion wearing a police uniform said to the stallion behind a large desk.

"Oh? Well, send 'em in." Chief Golden Badge replied. After a few seconds a stallion wearing a royal blue, pinstriped suit entered the office. He quickly offered a hoofshake to the Chief.

"Hello, Chief. I'm Fen Seed." Fen said as Badge shook his hoof.

"Hello, Fen. Why are you interested in the secretarial job?" Badge asked.

"Well, with most other officers, I want to protect and serve. Unfortunately, I'm a scaredy-pony. So, I thought I'd protect and serve another way. By serving the police force in some way. The secretarial job was the only one I can qualify for currently." Fen replied.

"Well, I like your enthusiasm, but I don't think we need your services, thank you." Badge replied. Fen froze for a second before replying.

"Why?" Fen asked.

"I'm sorry, but we've had other applicants and they're simply more qualified. I'm sorry, please show yourself out, we're really busy." Badge said.

"But... I... really need this job." Fen said weakly.

"And I really don't need you on the job. Goodbye." Badge said with finality before returning to his work. Fen lingered for a few seconds before standing and slowly leaving. Badge looked up to see if he had actually left before turning to the shadowy corner of his office.

"He matched your description perfectly. You sure he was one of 'em?" Badge said to the darkness.

"Certain. Poison specialist. I wouldn't touch that brandy." A voice replied. Badge looked at his glass of brandy before pushing it slightly away from him.

"So, he was sent to kill me?" Badge asked.

"I wouldn't say so... yet. After just being rejected the perfect opportunity to spy on you, he'll have to think of a new plan. He might go for a more... fatal approach." The pony replied.

"What do I do?" Badge asked.

"Stay alert. Stay alive." The pony simply replied.

"Right. And if that doesn't work?" Badge asked, slightly worried. Silence fell. Badge stood and walked over to the corner only to find out that it was empty.

"...Sneaky bastard." Badge said under his breath.

Hours passed after the mysterious pony had disappeared and Badge was ready to take a break.

"Hey! Miss! You can't be back here!" A voice sounded through the station as rapid hoofsteps filled the air.

"I have to see the chief if you won't listen to me!" A mare's voice called back. Badge stood in her way and she collided with him, making him flinch but stay on his hooves. She, however, fell onto her backside.

"I'm sorry, chief. I tried to stop her." The officer that was chasing her said.

"I'll take it from here. Follow me, miss." The chief said, returning to his office, the mare in tow. He instructed the mare to take a seat as he sat at his desk.

"What's the problem, miss...?" Badge asked, silently asking her name in the process.

"Sunflower. My sister was assaulted. Somepony threw a rock at her face." Sunflower replied.

"Do you know who did it? What they looked like? Where we'd be likely to find them again? Absolutely anything could be useful." Badge asked.

"No. But... Babs told me that there was nopony near her that could have thrown it." Sunflower said, slightly confused about the point she brought up.

"Unless they didn't have to be nearby." A voice said from the corner of the room. The mysterious pony was back as his silhouette was pouring some whisky into a glass. Sunflower and Badge jumped at the sound of the new voice, but Badge quickly recovered from the surprise and calmed down.

"You mean they could just be a good shot..." Badge began to ask, but trailed off as a realisation began to hit him.

"I see you're catching on." The pony replied.

"The sniper you described. Cinnamon Apple, right? He's gotta be somewhere in the city. Who was his target?" Badge asked.

"...Fancypants Von Trottingham." The pony replied. Badge instantly stood in shock.

"What?! We've gotta get to him before he does!" Badge said frantically.

"There's no need. Mr Von Trottingham would be dead if Mr Apple had the opportunity to kill him. Either he didn't have the chance or he didn't want to." The pony replied calmly. Badge exhaled slowly before sitting back down.

"So? How do we catch him?" Badge asked.

"You find him. Think like an assassin. He needs to keep track of Mr Von Trottingham. Search for vantage points where one wouldn't be seen." The pony replied.

H-hey! What about my sister and me?!" Sunflower asked frantically.

"'My sister and I'. Where do you live?" The pony asked.

"Well, my sister and I live in Manehatten, but we're visiting some relatives here. We can just go back home. Would it be safe there?" Sunflower asked.

"It's most likely that your sister was... in the wrong place at the wrong time. For whatever reason, she was attacked, but not killed. It's highly unlikely that you'll be followed. If you just remain calm and return to your home, I'm sure you'll be fine." The pony replied. Sunflower seemed to calm down at the pony's words, despite not being able to see them and not knowing who they were.

"And you'll catch the guy who did it?" Sunflower asked.

"...There's more to this than we realise, Miss Sunflower. But, we will catch this guy. Ain't that right...?" Badge asked, but trailed off once he realised that the pony was once again gone.

"How did...?" Sunflower asked in shock.

"...I don't know, but it's pissing me off." Badge replied evenly.

Author's Note

So... No replies, then...

...

...This idea really didn't work.

Counter-Attack

Fluttershy was quietly humming a tune to herself as she was walking towards Ponyville to do her shopping and the sun began to rise across the town. The saddlebags on her back contained her shopping list and a generous amount of bits in case the clerks raised the prices without telling anypony again. She reached the edge of town as she saw ponies beginning o set up their stalls in the distance. However, before she could get far enough into town for anypony to spot her, a hoof wrapped around her muzzle and pulled her into an alleyway. She tried desperately to scream and escape, but the pony who grabbed her was a stallion and easily overpowered her. She couldn't even see who it was. Suddenly, a muzzle came close to her ear.

"I think you're gonna be very useful, lassie." A deep voice whispered with a thick Coltic accent.

Celestia and Luna watched as the mysterious pony approached their thrones, knowing what it was that he wanted and why he was there.

"It's done. Everypony has been warned. Everypony except one. Let me go to Ponyville. Please." The pony said.

"...We know why you want to go there and we understand. We really do. But, we're unsure on whether or not we should reveal you too soon." Celestia said with a hint of guilt in her eyes and voice.

"I'm nopony's trump card, Princess. I've done as instructed and all the necessary steps have been taken. Cloud's been warned and now he's up to his eyeballs in protection and you yourselves are keeping an eye on Shining Armour. You know what Tartan is willing to do and you know that there is nopony in your military that can match him. Nopony you can spare, anyway." The pony said.

"...But, you can." Luna replied, more like a statement than a question.

"You know I can. It will only reveal me if I'm caught. Not you, not our mole, just me." The pony said with finality. Celestia sighed after a moment of silence.

"As much as I dislike it, you are best suited for the mission and... I just want Twilight and her friends to be safe. Especially after last time..." Celestia trailed off at the end.

"There was nothing you could do, Tia. It happened nearly a year ago. Please, let it go." Luna implored. Celestia nodded weakly as the pony slightly bowed and walked out of the throne room.

The pony walked off of the train onto the platform of Ponyville Station and scanned the crowd for any kind of abnormality. He threw his hood over his head as he was wearing a hooded jacket under his trench coat. Scanning the crowds and looking through the town, the pony then began to think to himself.

'He hasn't revealed himself yet. What's taking him so long? ...Maybe he's been gathering up his supplies. Regardless, I have to wait for him to make a move.' The pony deduced in his mind. After another look around, he saw a tavern with a sign saying 'The Prancing Parasprite'.

'Well... One drink won't kill me.' The pony said as he walked towards the tavern and entered. He walked straight to the bar and took a seat.

"What can I get you, sir?" The bartender asked politely.

"Just a shot of whiskey, please." The pony replied in kind in a gravelly voice. Whilst waiting for his drink, a mare sat in the seat adjacent to the pony. She had a bright orange coat, blonde mane and tail that were tied into ponytails, green eyes and a cutie mark of three red apples. She was also wearing a black fedora with a brooch pinned on it. The brooch was a large red jewel in the shape of an apple. The hat's dark colours clearly clashed with the mare's bright colours, but the mare didn't seem to care. She had bags under her eyes and a slight gruffness to her voice as she ordered some cider. The pony turned his head slightly to talk to the mare.

"That hat seems out of place on you." The pony said simply. The mare looked at him and glared slightly.

"This hat is one of mah most treasured possessions. Go to hell." The mare replied simply.

"Why's that?" The pony said, his throat closing up slightly as he spoke.

"...It used to belong to the only stallion Ah ever loved. Who ah ever will love." The mare replied.

"I'm sorry. How did he go?" The pony asked.

"Ah don't wanna talk about it."

"Do you ever wish he could come back?" The pony asked. The mare turned to him.

"What kinda question is that?!" She asked him incredulously.

"I know what you're going through. I was separated from my true love for what felt like the longest time. But, now that I could actually see her again... I've been gone for so long, I don't know if she'll be happy to see me." The pony explained a little pathetically.

"...Well, if she really loves you, then she'll always be there t' welcome you back." The mare said earnestly.

"...Thank you. That brooch suits you, though." The pony changed the subject.

"Thanks. It was a present given to me before... y'know." The mare said, sighing.

"I know. I was there when I bought it." The pony replied in a different, non-gravelly voice. The mare turned her head so quickly to him, one could swear she nearly broke her neck. The pony slowly lowered his hood to show the unkempt, unshaved face of Phoenix Fortesque. He fully turned to the mare as she stared at him so hard, her eyes were practically bulging.

"I'm sorry it took so long to come back, AJ." Phoenix said with a hint of shame. She slowly reached a shaking hoof forward, her expression not changing, until her hoof delicately met his face and ran it lightly over his jaw.

"It's... It's really you..." Applejack whispered in disbelief as a wide smile was starting to spread on her face.

"Yeah... I couldn't get out of where I was. It took the princesses a few months to-." Phoenix's words were cut off by Applejack's lips pressing themselves to his own as tears streamed down Applejack's face. Tears began to bead in Phoenix's eyes as he kissed her back, releasing nearly a year of longing in one simple action. A minute or so later, they pulled away for breath before wrapping their hooves around each other as if there were no tomorrow. Both of the thinking the exact same thing. It had been a long time since either of them had felt so...

Complete.

They pulled away from the embrace to look into each other's eyes with wide, loving smiles; but the moment was interrupted by a loud voice coming from outside.

"Never was one for discretion! Twilight Sparkle! Where are ya, lass?!" Phoenix and Applejack looked outside to see Tartan Pepper standing next to a large pile of explosives.

"If ya don't come out, your friend goes bye-bye!!" Tartan yelled, drawing attention to the mare who was strapped to the explosives.

"Fluttershy!" Applejack said in shock.

"We've got to get her away from him. He's enough of a bastard to kill her for the fun of it." Phoenix said seriously.

"What does he want with Twilight?" Applejack asked. Phoenix closed his eyes for a second.

"He plans to deliver her to the Boss." Phoenix replied after reading Tartan's mind.

"Who's-?"

"I'll explain later. Do you think you can distract him and keep him talking?" Phoenix asked.

"Yeah. It looks like the others are comin' anyway. What're you gonna do?" Applejack asked as the rest of the girls were running from the distance.

"I've learned a few tricks. I'm going to get Fluttershy." Phoenix replied. Applejack nodded and ran from the tavern and joined up with the girls to confront Tartan.

"Invisium." Not one second after Phoenix said that word, he vanished from sight completely. Now completely invisible, he silently moved toward Tartan and Fluttershy. He kept his distance at first, but slowly started to edge closer.

"Who are you? What do you want?" Twilight demanded as she reached a suitable distance from Tartan.

"I want my pay. And if I have to drag you to Canterlot meself to get it, I'll bloody do it." Tartan replied antagonistically. Phoenix finally reached the pile of explosives to see the crying Fluttershy strapped to it. Phoenix couldn't hear her due to the fact she was gagged, but he could plainly see the tears streaming down her face and the terror in her eyes. Phoenix made himself visible again once he was hidden by the pile. Fluttershy turned her head to see Phoenix and her eyes shot wide open. Phoenix motioned with his hoof for her to stay quiet as he reached into his pocket and pulled out a seemingly normal pack of playing cards. However, when he removed one from the pack, they were clearly different from regular cards. They were made of Darksteel and were just painted to look like playing cards.

He then started to use the card like a knife to cut the rope that was binding her. He quickly glanced to see everypony still distracting Tartan. Once he cut one of the ropes, Fluttershy was able to move her forehooves, allowing her to help Phoenix with the remaining ropes. After the ropes fell to the ground and Fluttershy moved; Phoenix then turned his attentions to explosives. He looked over the pile studiously for a moment before deducing that every explosive was connected by a single signal receiver in order for them all to detonate at once. Repeating his previous action, Phoenix began to cut through the wire connecting the bombs to the signal receiver. Once he cut through it, he turned back to Fluttershy with a smile. After a few seconds for dumbfounded disbelief, she smiled back at him. He then took her hoof.

"Instantarium" Phoenix said. Not one second later, both he and Fluttershy disappeared. In the same instant, both of them reappeared behind the girls, meaning Tartan was the only one that noticed.

"What the?! But-! How the hell did you do that?!" Tartan yelled. The girls all turned to see who he was talking to only to openly stare wide-eyed as Phoenix walked past them and stopped in between them and Tartan. Tartan tried desperately to detonate the explosives, but no matter how many times he hit the transmitter, the explosives were completely disabled. Suddenly, a black aura surrounded: Tartan, the ropes that held Fluttershy and the pile of bombs. Phoenix then tied Tartan to the pile of bombs in the same way that Fluttershy was.

"I'm a Fortesque. It's what we do." Phoenix said as he lifted the pile of bombs incredibly high in the air.

"Crepitus." Phoenix said before a fireball was emitted from his horn and shot towards the floating bomb pile and caused it all to explode in the sky, not harming anypony in Ponyville. However, Tartan definitely didn't make it out. Phoenix finally turned around to see his friends gawking at him, clearly in shock about many things.

"I suppose I have to explain now, don't I?" Phoenix asked them sarcastically, already knowing the answer.

Author's Note

Darksteel is an indestructible metal from Magic: The Gathering. I've never played it myself, but it sounded cool so, I used it for the cards.

Attracting Trouble

"That fucking idiot!" The Boss yelled as he slammed his hoof against his desk, causing everypony in the room to flinch. The remaining spies stood with their heads lowered.

"What the fuck was he thinking?! He not only failed, but he's put the entire plan in jeopardy!!" The Boss yelled once more.

"Sir, with all due respe-." Fen began, but was cut off.

"You're far from off the hook! You failed before you even began! All of you were found!" The Boss yelled.

"Well, there was more security than we first saw an'-." Cinnamon began to explain.

"I don't give a shit! The only one of you that wasn't spotted and identified was Clover. And she was stationed in the actual royal palace!!" The Boss cut off once more. Clover looked slightly self-conscious before returning her eyes to her hooves. The Boss sighed before looking out of the window.

"Regardless. We can't just sit here with out tails between our legs. We just have to have a slight change of plans. Heh... In fact... I'm almost glad of this little predicament." The Boss said.

"Why's that?" Star asked, his voice muffled by his gas mask.

"...The one who killed Tartan. He's the brother of Cloud Fortesque. We can use him to manipulate the mayor rather than his sister like I originally intended. Besides... I have a score to settle with Mr Phoenix Fortesque." The Boss replied.

"Okay... But, what does have to do with u-?" Fen began to ask.

"You're going to get him and bring him back here!! If you fail me again, I'll be forced to feed you to the nearest carnivorous creature that I find!!!" The Boss yelled, causing the four spies to flee the room. The only two ponies left in the room were the Boss and Valliere.

"Valliere, I want you to go with them. Out of everypony, you seem to be one of the only ones competent enough to carry out a task such as this." The Boss said, much calmer than before.

"Yes, sir." Valliere replied before beginning to walk out of the office.

"Valliere. I want you to get him back here by any means. If that means draining his blood until he collapses, then do so. But, I want him alive." The Boss called out to her. Valliere stopped for a moment, seemingly frozen to the spot.

"Understood. Thank you, sir." Valliere replied with an evil smile and devilish glee.

"Well...That's a lot to take in." Phoenix said as he sat with everypony in Sugarcube Corner.

"Well, you were gone for nearly a year, darling." Rarity replied.

"Yeah, you missed nearly all of season 2!" Pinkie added. Phoenix chose to ignore her as he reviewed what he heard in his mind.

"So... The Cakes had kids- Congratulations on that, by the way." Phoenix cut himself off causing the Cakes to thank him.

"Rarity momentarily forgot that most Canterlotian nobles are douchebags, Spike went on both a rampage and a quest, Fluttershy helped with a typhoon and put a self-help minotaur in his place, Cognito can actually show any expression, I missed Hearth's Warming and Rainbow and Cheerilee got laid. Wow." Phoenix listed with a hint of astonishment and exasperation, but the last comment caused Rainbow and Hoops to turn bright red.

"Phoenix! We haven't... Y'know! We've just... started seeing each other." Rainbow replied, trying to control her sudden shyness.

"Damn... Dying really does suck." Phoenix said.

"You're telling us! They put a plaque on your house after the repairs were made to Ponyville!" Pinkie said excitedly.

"Oh? Why's that?" Phoenix asked.

"You were seen as a fallen hero. All of Ponyville came to your funeral. Your brother spoke and both Applejack and Apple Bloom sang." Twilight explained. Phoenix didn't reply for a moment.

"Phoenix? What is it?" Applejack asked.

"Faust showed me my funeral. I saw the eulogy. I... Thank you all. I... I just felt so loved in that moment. More than any other time in my life and... and the fact that I couldn't... couldn't let it show... I think that's what drove me. I just... had to see you all again." Phoenix said, but seemed to have more trouble speaking as he continued. Slowly, everypony minus Applejack, Hoops and the Cakes were group-hugging Phoenix as if there were no tomorrow. As they dispersed, Applejack quickly wrapped her hooves around Phoenix's neck and kissed him as deeply as she could. An hour or two later, the sun had practically set in the sky and the Cake twins had been put to bed a long while ago. As everypony began to disperse, Applejack stopped Phoenix.

"Can you stay at the 'Acres tonight? Ah know everypony'll be happy to see you." Applejack asked.

"Even Macintosh?" Phoenix asked.

"Eeyup. After... what happened, he didn't talk to me for a while. To be honest, Ah kinda distanced mahself from everypony. But, not long after, he came up to me and said that he wished he could've apologised to you." Applejack said with no small amount of pride. Not for her, but her brother.

"Wow. That's quite big of him. ...I think it would be nice to see Bloom again. I don't see a reason I can't stay one night." Phoenix replied happily.

After ten minutes of walking, Applejack and Phoenix reached the farmhouse. As they entered, Granny Smith looked up to see the pair of ponies and her eyes flew open as she rose from her chair.

"Hey, Granny. Guess who's back." Applejack said happily as Phoenix waved.

"Great Starswirl's ghost..." Granny Smith muttered in awe.

"Where is everypony, Granny?" Applejack asked, snapping Granny out of her trance.

"Oh. They're all asleep, young'un. But, how did...?" Granny trailed off.

"Long story short, I was allowed back by the princesses, god and the devil." Phoenix summarised.

"Well, that's a real simple way to put it, Phoe-." Applejack was cut off by Phoenix grabbing the two of them and pushing them to the ground, one second before one of the windows shattered and a bullet imbedded itself into the far wall.

"Sniper. Stay down." Phoenix told them seriously.

"How didja know that?" Applejack asked in shock.

"The moron thinks 'boom, headshot' before he takes his shots." Phoenix replied.

"What're we gonna do?!" Granny asked in a panic.

"Stay calm. I've got to take that sniper out, but I've also got to stay away from here until they're all taken care of." Phoenix explained.

"'All'?" Applejack questioned. Phoenix turned back to her.

"...They've all come for me. I'm not risking all of you." Phoenix replied.

"No! Ah'm not losin' you again!" Applejack replied. Phoenix simply let out a single chuckle.

"With you around to save my arse should things go bad? I'm not worried." Phoenix said before giving her a quick kiss on the lips and turning back towards the window. He closed his eyes for a moment and located the sniper in the CMC's clubhouse.

"Instantarium." Phoenix said before vanishing. Phoenix reappeared behind a tree about a minute or two's walk away from the clubhouse.

"Invisium." Phoenix said, vanishing from sight as he approached the clubhouse. Once there, he spotted the sniper and silently teleported behind him. Phoenix promptly kicked him off, causing him to yelp and fall flat onto his face in the dirt below. Cinnamon started to pull himself back up, but Phoenix jumped down and landed on him.

"You're a bit low on the pecking order to be kissing the dirt, mate." Phoenix said as he delivered a strong punch to the back of Cinnamon's head, knocking him unconscious. He looked up to see the remaining three spies. Fen looked completely terrified while Star and Clover looked ready to reach for their weapons. Phoenix stood in a battle stance as he stared them down.

"Who's next?" Phoenix said intimidatingly.

"You are." Came a voice from behind Phoenix, immediately causing a look of complete shock to come onto his face. Before he could turn however, excruciating pain flowed through him, originating from his neck. He moved his eyes to see that a mare was furiously biting down on his neck and lapping up the red fluid that he was losing at a rapid rate. Phoenix called out in pain as he was brought to his knees and the colour was beginning to drain from his face. He tried to struggle to get the presence behind him away from him, but whoever it was had incredible strength in their jaw. Valliere continued to feed with her red eyes seemingly glowing in the dark and a look of complete bliss on her face while a look of disturbed horror was on the others'. After a minute or two, Valliere delivered a sharp and hard blow to the back of Phoenix's head, knocking him to the ground only barely grasping onto his consciousness.

'How? ...I... I can't read her at all... How... is...' Phoenix thoughts ceased as he finally collapsed completely.

"Is he going to be alright? We do need him alive, remember?" Fen asked. Valliere turned to look at him with Phoenix's blood dripping from her chin.

"It's only a class 2 haemorrhage. Calm down." Valliere said before Star draped Phoenix onto his back.

"Well, back to base, then?" Fen asked.

"Actually... there's one last stop. I'm sure the Boss will appreciate it." Valliere replied.

Phoenix awoke in a darkened room with his entire body restrained and a magic lock on his horn. He looked around for a way to escape, but saw that there was somepony else tied up next to him. He looked at their unconscious figure in shock before looking around as much as his bandaged neck would allow. Moments later the door opened as some silhouettes walked in.

"What's she doing here?" The Boss asked.

"We knew that they'd know we took Mr Fortesque, so we took her too. We thought you'd like it." Valliere replied. The Boss turned back to her quickly, causing Valliere and the spies to instantly get nervous.

"Oh, don't misunderstand. I do like it. I was just surprised." The Boss said with an implied thanks. Phoenix decided to keep the conversation serious as his eyes started to adjust to the light.

"So, it was you behind it all." Phoenix growled.

"Yes. I believe this is an apt revenge." The Boss replied slowly approaching him.

"For what, you bourgeois arsehole?" Phoenix asked levelly.

"You and those princesses ruined my life! And I'm going to make everypony pay!" The Boss yelled, gripping Phoenix's throat with his hoof. Enough to look threatening, but not enough to choke him.

"You're still a pussy with a dick. If that. The only change is that you're even more idiotic, Blueblood." Phoenix said with a scowl. Blueblood released his grip and looked at both Phoenix and Rarity next to him.

"Make yourself comfortable, you little retch. Tomorrow is going to be a wedding to remember." Blueblood said with a devilish smirk and a deep, throaty chuckle.

A Lot At Stake

"Phoenix, dear? Where are we?" Rarity asked when she and Phoenix regained consciousness.

"Just a second, Rarity. I'm trying to pull a Hoofdini here." Phoenix replied as he continued to try to wriggle free from his bonds.

"The last thing I remember was a pair of glowing red eyes before... unimaginable pain." Rarity said with difficulty as her eyes met her own bandaged neck. Phoenix turned to her with empathy in his eyes.

"Unimaginable for most." Phoenix replied softly. Rarity looked back at him and remembered that his neck was bandaged too.

"Oh. I'm sorry, darling. What happened to us?" Rarity asked. Phoenix stopped struggling to give her his full attention.

"I don't know everything, but the mare who took us seems to be some kind of vampire. She weakened us by taking our blood before knocking us out." Phoenix said.

"Well, she took me while I was sleeping. I woke up and then... How did she get you? I thought you were untouchable to nearly everypony." Rarity said in mild surprise.

"I couldn't read her mind. The only other pony I know that I can't read is Cognito and that's only because he can read-... Oh." Phoenix stopped suddenly.

"Phoenix? What is it?" Rarity asked.

"The only reason I can't read Cognito's mind is because he has the abnormality in his brain that allows him to read minds. I think that vampire has the ability to read minds. Whether she knows how to or not, I don't know." Phoenix explained.

"So, if you were to fight her, you wouldn't be able to predict her moves like you do everypony else?" Rarity asked with a hint of worry.

"Nah, I was able to predict moves before I could read minds. I'll be alright. Say... What did you mean by untouchable by 'nearly everypony'?" Phoenix asked. Rarity suddenly giggled.

"Well, Applejack can touch you, can she not?" Rarity asked with a smirk. Phoenix's face took on a slight red hue as he gave a soft glare.

"...No comment. Hey, Rarity, you're definitely slimmer than I am. Can you see if you can wiggle free from your bonds?" Phoenix asked. Rarity nodded before beginning to wiggle her body as the ropes seems to move with her, albeit loosely.

"Phoenix! I... I think I can get my hoof loose!" Rarity said excitedly.

"Nice one! See if you can do it." Phoenix replied supportively. Rarity continued to struggle for about a minute before her forehoof shot out from the top of the bindings and immediately removed the magic lock on her horn. She then used her magic to unbind the ropes around her and Phoenix, who proceeded to remove his magic lock too.

"That was brilliant, Rarity. Now you can ask me your original question." Phoenix said.

"Um... I don't seem to remember it." Rarity replied.

"Where the hell are we?" Phoenix asked rhetorically as he looked around at the crystalline walls.

Phoenix and Rarity continued to wander through the crystalline cave, growing evermore lost as everything looked the same.

"Phoenix dear, sorry to sound like I'm complaining, but do you have any inclination as to where we're going?" Rarity asked, trying to sound like she wasn't annoyed or worried.

"I was going to try to find a way out of here, but I can sense somepony else down here somewhere." Phoenix replied.

"Oh. Do you know who it is?" Rarity replied. Phoenix didn't reply for a moment.

"...Nopony I recognise. But, we can't leave her here." Phoenix replied.

"'Her'?" Rarity asked. Phoenix looked around before walking towards one of the walls of crystal. He raised his hoof and tapped the wall three times in succession. Rarity jumped in surprise when she heard three knocks in the same rhythm, seemingly replying to him.

"Stand back!" Phoenix shouted before his horn began to glow. Seconds later, a fireball shot from Phoenix's horn and it exploded on contact with the wall of crystal, reducing it to mere shards. Behind the wall, cowering from shock, was a mare. But, no ordinary mare. She was an alicorn. While she didn't seem as tall as Celestia, Faust, Zalgo or even Luna; she was definitely taller than both Phoenix and Rarity. She had a bright pink coat, pink wings while the tips of her feathers were purple and purple eyes. Her mane and tale, while complete disarray; were a mix of three colours: dark purple, dark pink and beige. Her cutie mark depicted a heart made of a type of blue crystal.

"A... princess?" Rarity asked in surprise, due to the mare's anatomy. The mare stopped cowering to see the two ponies watching her, before she shakily stood and wrapped her hooves around them weakly.

"Thank you... I didn't how long it would be before somepony found me." The mare said weakly, yet gratefully. Phoenix then put his hoof to her forehead as his horn began to glow once more.

"Reviviscat." Phoenix said. Suddenly, the mare felt a warmth overcome her body and all the pain and discomfort she was in faded away.

"Feeling better?" Phoenix asked. The mare took a few seconds to recover from her shock.

"Y...Yes, I am!" The mare exclaimed in pleasant surprise.

"Good, 'cause I'm not." Phoenix said with a grimace as he put one of his forehooves to his forehead.

"Phoenix, are you alright?" Rarity asked in worry.

"I'll be fine. That's the spell that really takes it out of me." Phoenix replied.

"Yes, I'd been meaning to ask, where did you learn these new spells?" Rarity asked.

"Starswirl the Bearded is in Elysium." Phoenix replied simply as his headache was beginning to subside.

"So, who are you?" Phoenix asked the mare.

"I'm Princess Cadence. An imposter's taken my place and the wedding is a plot for something!" Cadence exclaimed. Rarity and Phoenix looked at her with blank expressions. They looked at each other for a second before returning their attention to Cadence.

"Wedding?" The pair asked simultaniously.

"...How did you not know about the wedding?" Cadence asked.

"We were taken here as well. We haven't exactly been keeping up with hot gossip and who's marrying whom." Phoenix replied dryly.

"...Well, it doesn't matter! We've got to stop the imposter!" Cadence said urgently.

"Agreed. Phoenix, do you know the way out?" Rarity asked. Before Phoenix could answer a ring of green flames emerged onto the ground near the trio. As the flames subsided, the only thing that remained was an unconcious, but otherwise unharmed Twilight Sparkle.

"Twilight!" Cadence and Rarity exclaimed as Phoenix rushed over to check her vital signs.

"She's alright. Her vitals are normal. She's just taking a little snooze." Phoenix said soothingly before lifting her onto his back.

"Well, I may not be as skilled at magic as other unicorns, but I think I could teleport us out of here." Cadence said, quite unsure about her suggestion.

"Couldn't you have done so already, then?" Rarity asked.

"I was too weak. Luckily that spell your friend performed on me has given me enough power to do this." Cadence replied.

"It's the best plan we have. Let's do it." Phoenix said as they all gathered close to Cadence. Cadence clenched her eyes as she focused on a specific location. Once she had a mental image of Canterlot Castle, she activated the spell and the group disappeared in an instant.

The group appeared outside a darkened alleyway as night had fallen over the city of Canterlot.

"Well, it's not the castle, but it's definitely an improvement to the cavern. Nicely done, Princess." Phoenix said approvingly.

"Just 'Cadence' will do, thank you." Cadence replied kindly, albiet tiredly. Phoenix was about to ask if everypony was alright, but suddenly he clutched at his eyes, as if they were burning or irritating.

"Phoenix? What is it?!" Rarity asked worriedly as she placed her forehooves on his shoulders.

"My eyes feel strange. ...My body feels strange." Phoenix replied, worry beginning to fill his voice.

"How so, darling?" Rarity asked as Phoenix gently set Twilight down.

"It's like I can... sense... warmth. It's like I can sense... your blood." Phoenix replied, having a hard time explaining it.

"Our blood?" Cadence asked curiously. Phoenix looked over to the street where he could see other ponies walking by. He could sense their warmth as well. until he sensed somepony who wasn't as warm as everypony else. He looked over and saw Valliere walking with everypony else. Phoenix's eyes widened before narrowing in determination.

"Get me something wooden. Quickly!" Phoenix instructed. Rarity quickly handed him a plank of wood, which Phoenix snapped to a sharpend edge and began to follow Valliere, Rarity and Cadence in tow with Twilight on Cadence's back. Suddenly, as the group Valliere was in began to disperse, Phoenix launched the stake at Valliere and it impaled her straight through her back and through her heart. She gasped in shock as she remained frozen to the spot. However, Phoenix's smirk was short-lived as Valliere turned around and pulled the stake out casually. Her wound healed nearly instantly.

"Nice try." Valliere replied amusedly as she launched the stake back, impaling Phoenix straight through his heart, sending him flying backwards.

"PHOENIX!!" Rarity screamed as she ran to his side as he lay on the cold ground. Valliere however, suddenly transformed into a swarm of bats and flew away into the night. Phoenix suddenly got over his shock as his looked down at the stake and pulled it out with his magic. His wound healed nearly instantly.

"That... That pierced my heart. I-I felt it. What the hell's going on?" Phoenix asked rhetorically in complete shock.

"Phoenix, dear?" Rarity said, trembling in fear. Phoenix looked at her, only to be confused at her fear.

"Your eyes have turned red, darling." Rarity said fearfully.

Enemies and Allies

Phoenix froze at Rarity's words. He slowly opened his mouth and gently ran his hoof along his teeth, only to feel that two of his top teeth had become elongated and sharper than the rest. He felt numbness throughout his body as realisation started to set in. Phoenix simply slumped down into a seated position as Rarity began to slowly edge closer to him until she slowly reached her hoof out, closing the distance between it and Phoenix's shoulder. As Rarity touched Phoenix's shoulder in an attempt to comfort him, Phoenix's fangs returned to their normal state as ordinary teeth and his eyes returned to their regular light blue hue. Suddenly, they both heard magic behind them.

"Phoenix! Rarity! Help me with this imposter!" Twilight shouted as she held Cadence in her magic. Cadence looked at the three ponies, hoping that somepony would explain.

"No, Twilight! It's okay, she's the real one!" Rarity exclaimed.

"How can you be sure?!" Twilight screamed in response.

"Do you really think she'd fool me if she were an imposter?" Phoenix asked carefully. Twilight stopped. She seemed to be contemplating her friends' words. After a few moments, Cadence slowly lowered to the ground and the aura around her dissipated.

"So... you're really Cadence?" Twilight asked unsurely. Cadence simply smiled serenely, before crouching slightly and...

"Sunshine, sunshine, ladybugs awake. Clap your hooves and do a little shake." Cadence said with Twilight quietly joining in on the last line. Rarity and Phoenix stared blankly at the pair for a moment before turning to each other.

"Tease her later?" Phoenix asked.

"Tease her later." Rarity confirmed. After a quick moment of Cadence and Twilight catching up and Phoenix clearly being more distant than he normally would, Rarity asked a question that caused everypony's blood to run cold.

"Twilight, what do you know about vampires?" Twilight didn't reply immediately.

"...What is it you want to know, Rarity?" Twilight asked unsurely.

"Oh... Just the basics. How to spot them, what they do, how they can be killed." Rarity listed, trying to sound casual.

"Uh... Well, when they're angry or threatened, their fangs appear and their eyes turn red. I think it's obvious that they bite ponies, right?" Twilight asked.

"Yes. So, anypony they bite becomes a vampire too?" Rarity asked.

"No. Only a pony who is the opposite gender to the vampire biting them will turn. The pony also has to be a virgin." Twilight answered, growing ever more curious about this sudden questioning about vampires. Rarity didn't let it show on her face, but an overwhelming stream of relief flowed though her. However, she also felt a smaller stream of dread for Phoenix as well.

"Okay. What about how to beat them?" Rarity asked, masking the emotions she was feeling.

"Well, nopony really knows. Vampires have always been very secretive and all anypony can say about vampires' weaknesses are rumors at best. However, something we do know is that vampires are essentially invincible at night." Twilight lectured.

"'Invincible'?" Phoenix asked.

"Yeah. Any wound they sustain, even from things that seem like their weaknesses, will heal almost instantly when they're in contact with moonlight. As long as they're out of sunlight, their wounds will heal much faster than a regular pony's." Twilight explained.

"Well, what happens to them in sunlight? Is it like in the books? They burst into flame, right?" Cadence asked, growing ever more worried for Phoenix.

"Well... Nopony knows. Nopony's ever seen a vampire in sunlight before. Throughout history, nopony's ever seen it." Twilight said. Phoenix seemed to review the new information in his head before looking around and saw something that made his heart stop for a moment.

The sun was rising.

There was nowhere he could hide. No matter what within the next moment or two, the area they were in would be filled with light.

"Well... Looks like you three will be the first, then." Phoenix said fearfully. The girls looked at him curiously before they followed his gaze and saw the sun. The colour drained Rarity and Cadence's faces while Twilight still remained confused. Before anypony could react, the area around them illuminated in the golden glow of the sun with Phoenix standing in the centre waiting for a burning, scalding demise. After a moment, Phoenix opened his eyes to see his body still as it was before the sunrise. Silence fell for a few moments.

"Don't ever scare us like that again." Rarity said simply.

The group of four ponies turned a few heads as they ran through the castle, heading towards the room of the bride. The sight was so unusual that nopony could move until they were long since gone. As they reached the room, Twilight reached for the door handle, only for her hoof to be repelled from it by some kind of magic.

"Oh, no! We can't get to the fake Cadence! Now what?" Rarity exclaimed.

"The wedding's going to start soon!" Cadence exclaimed.

"Girls... I can teleport, remember?" Twilight said. Not a moment later, the four of them disappeared and reappeared inside of the bride's room. Where the bride... or somepony that looked like her was standing. The faux-Cadence turned around and looked at the ponies with a look of mild horror.

"W-what?! How did you escape the caves?!" Faux-Cadence exclaimed.

"Teleport. We can all do magic, you know." Cadence replied.

"Impossible! This can't be happening!!" Faux-Cadence screamed.

"I'm afraid it is, changeling. And you're going to pay for what you've tried to do!" Twilight exclaimed angrily. The Faux-Cadence simply scowled.

"Looks like he was right after all." Faux-Cadence said. Phoenix placed his foreleg in front of Twilight in order to stop her.

"What do you mean by that... Chrysalis?" Phoenix asked. Chrysalis showed a small amount of surprise before she dropped her disguise and continued to scowl.

"My... business partner told me that you ponies wouldn't help me and would slaughter me if given the chance. If I can't get love peacefully, I'll take it by force!" Chrysalis roared, preparing to attack.

"Wait-wait-wait-wait! 'Peacefully'? Who told you that wouldn't help you if you were peaceful?" Phoenix asked. Chrysalis paused for a moment.

"...I don't know. He didn't show his face. He was definitely a pony, though." Chrysalis replied, slightly confused at the ponies' non-violent response.

"Okay. What did he tell you?" Phoenix asked.

"He said that to get love from ponies, we'd have to take the capital by any means and take the love forcefully. Infiltrating the wedding seemed the most harmless way to do it." Chrysalis replied.

"I see. I think I might have an idea as to what's going on." Phoenix said.

"Wait. Why do you need the love?" Cadence asked.

"It's my people's food source. There's a famine back at our homeland. We're desperate... And that's why you won't stop me!!" Chrysalis roared again.

"No, wait, Chrysalis! We want to help you. As I was saying; I think you're being double-crossed." Phoenix said.

"What? By whom?" Chrysalis asked.

"The pony that talked to you. I think it might be Blueblood." Phoenix said.

"Prince Blueblood?! Why do you think this anything to do with that disgusting stallion?" Rarity said with disgust filling her voice.

"You weren't awake at the time. He's the one that hired the spies that brought us here." Phoenix explained.

"But... we all came on the train together. You two came with us." Twilight said with confusion.

"Replacements. Changelings, no doubt." Phoenix said.

"The pony did say that he would aid a few of my infiltrators in taking a role in the wedding." Chrysalis said, feeling more and more realisation that Phoenix may have been correct.

"Think about it. Why would he be so interested in taking down Canterlot? To take down the main power within it. The princesses. How much power has Shining Armour's love given you? You have been feeding on it, right?" Phoenix asked. Chrysalis focused her magic for a moment and her face suddenly filled with shock.

"There's... so much power! I... I think I could overpower Celestia with this much energy!" Chrysalis exclaimed. Everypony showed their surprise clearly on their faces.

"...Would you have attacked her?" Twilight asked, cautiously.

"...If the need to appeared. I never thought that I was a match for Celestia, so it never came into the question." Chrysalis replied.

"Maybe that's part of his plan. We escape, we reveal you, Celestia attacks you, you overpower her. All Tartarus would break loose." Phoenix said.

"But, why? Why would Blueblood do this?" Cadence asked.

"Intimidation. Distraction. Chaos. Destruction. ...Death." Phoenix speculated. Silence fell in the room.

"What do we do now?" Rarity asked. Phoenix walked to the window to see many guards down below. Phoenix turned his head to look at the girls.

"Blueblood wants a fight. We'll give him one." Phoenix replied, turning back to the window after he spoke.

"Here comes the bride..." Phoenix muttered to himself.

Holey Matrimony

"Princess Cadance and Shining Armor, it is my great pleasure to pronounce you–." Princess Celestia announced before being cut off.

"Stop!" Twilight yelled from the back of the throne room. Immediately, everypony began to murmur in confusion, however everypony at the front of the room simply watched her with shame on their faces.

"Ugh! Why does she have to be so possessive of her brother? Why does she have to ruin my special day?" Cadence said with annoyance before crying as she asked her second question.

"Because it's not your special day! It's mine!" Cadence yelled from the back of the room, standing beside Twilight. Everypony immediately gasped and looked between the two doppelgangers with confusion.

"What? But how did you escape my bridesmaids?" The Cadence in the dress demanded.

"What bridesmaids?" The Cadence beside Twilight asked with a smirk.

"Hmph. Nevermind. But you're still too late." The Cadence in the dress said aggressively.

"A-Ah don't understand. How can there be two of 'em?" Applejack asked, looking to Phoenix, who was standing next to her; only to see him shrug.

"She's a changeling. She takes the form of somepony you love and gains power by feeding off your love for them. And she's not the only one." The Cadence beside Twilight explained as two more ponies appeared from behind the Cadence beside Twilight. Phoenix and Rarity. The room filled with more confusion as ponies looked between the new pair of doppelgangers.

"Indeed, she is. But, I'm afraid you're too late!" A new voice filled the room. Suddenly, a magic-nullifying cage dropped on top of the group of four ponies at the back of the room. Blueblood, Valliere, Clover, Star, Cinnamon and Fen walked from the side of the room and looked down to the entrapped ponies.

"Chrysalis, would you kindly challenge Princess Celestia and kill the bitch?" Blueblood said with an evil smile as he continued to look condescendingly at the ponies in the cage.

"Sorry, partner. But, I don't work with traitors." Chrysalis said as her disguise disappeared in a flash of green flame, which was slightly blocked bar the bars of the cage. Twilight, Rarity and Phoenix's disguises disappeared as well, to reveal three changelings; much to Blueblood's horror. Before he could turn around, he was picked up by the golden aura of Princess Celestia.

"So... What was that about 'killing the lady dog'?" Princess Celestia asked with a slightly scowling expression. Suddenly, Cinnamon prepared his sniper and aimed for the Princess and fired. The bullet stopped a centimetre or two away from Celestia's face, suspended by her magic. However, the distraction allowed Blueblood to escape Celestia's grasp and run from the throne room.

"Coward!" Celestia screamed after him as Valliere, Star and Fen ran after Blueblood, leaving Clover and Cinnamon in the room. Phoenix rushed forward and struck Cinnamon in the face, breaking his visor. Cinnamon staggered greatly from the strike before realising who had hit him.

"Oh, not again." Cinnamon complained before Phoenix's hoof reconnected with his face, knocking him unconscious. Phoenix stopped for a moment before catching a shuriken with his magic, seconds before it would hit his head.

'This shall be an interesting fight.' Clover thought, knowing Phoenix could hear it. Phoenix was surprised for a short moment before joining her in a battle stance.

"FIGHT!" Pinkie shouted as everypony watched in anticipation. Clover made the first move by throwing seven shuriken within a space of time that was less than a few seconds. Phoenix however, responded in kind by launching seven playing cards from his pocket on a direct course for the shuriken. When the projectiles collided, the cards' Darksteel nature allowed them to cut straight through the shuriken and remain on course towards Clover. She however, managed to react and dodge each one with relative ease as they imbedded themselves into the far wall.

'Impressive, but inadequate.' Clover thought.

"You've yet to prove that." Phoenix replied. Clover began to charge forward, causing Phoenix to do the same. Clover lifted her forehoof with the intent to strike Phoenix, only for it to be blocked. Phoenix took this opportunity to strike Clover, however his blow was blocked also. This back-and-forth between them increased in speed with neither combatant letting up for a second or gaining any ground. Suddenly, Clover reached onto her bandolier and threw down a smoke pellet. The momentary distraction it caused allowed her to disappear from sight. Everypony looked around in confusion and slight fear at where she could be. Phoenix remained unmoved as he closed his eyes.

Suddenly, he used his magic to hold Clover from the ceiling where she was hiding and threw her to the ground. She was momentarily overcome with pain before jumping to her hooves and resuming her battle stance.

'I did not predict that. I must say, another commendable feat for you.' Clover thought, the voice of her thoughts sounding a little strained.

"Stop it, you're going to make me blush." Phoenix said sarcastically as he took a stance too. Silence fell throughout the room once more for a moment.

'My tactics match yours. Prediction. Counters. Trickery.' Clover thought, trying to intimidate him.

"True, but your little disappearing tricks won't work on me." Phoenix replied. They charged once more, however, seconds before contact, Phoenix vanished and reappeared behind her. Only to be bucked in the face and sent flying backwards.

'Predictable tactic. Nice try, though.' Clover thought.

"Eh, I thought so." Phoenix said as he spat out a small amount of blood.

"Anypony know who he's talking to?" Rainbow whispered to the rest of the girls.

"Shh!" Applejack replied, fiddling with her mane in worry. The two combatants stared each other down once more before Phoenix vanished again. Clover once again swung her hooves behind her. Only to hit air and nothing more. Suddenly, she felt a damaging blow to her head and back as she was sent stumbling forward. Phoenix deactivated his invisibility and watched her slowly get up with a smirk.

"Not so predictable, huh?" Phoenix said, trying to agitate Clover.

'Wha-what are you?' Clover replied in thought. Phoenix only replied by slowly walking towards her. Suddenly, she pulled out some kind of claw that shot towards Phoenix on a chain. The claw grabbed him and pulled him towards Clover. When he was close enough, she bucked him, sending him flying the other way. She repeated that process twice more before bucking him so hard that the claw released him and he crashed against the wall of the hall, flying right through it. A moment or so passed before the doors opened and Phoenix walked inside and dropped in to his fighting stance again. Covered in several bruises, but still on his hooves.

'Funny. It seems you can take more punishment than you can give.' Clover thought mockingly.

"I'll show you what I can give." Phoenix growled, officially pissed off. Once more, they charged at each other and began to trade blows again. Both of them repeating their previous clash by gaining no ground and not allowing a single strike to hit. Both of them began to sweat (Clover more so) as the fight almost became a blur to everypony. However, as Clover was distracted by Phoenix's hooves, Phoenix levitated the remaining 45 cards from his pocket and made them loom over Clover. Suddenly, he disengaged and began to make them soar towards her at an incredibly fast rate. She did not dodge them, but she did grab two kunai and used them to block the cards. She nearly blocked them all, until a blinding pain filled her system that distracted her enough for the remaining cards to hit her. Smoke rose from Phoenix's gun as the bullet met its mark in Clover's leg. She laid bleeding on the ground, trying to gather her wits and recover, but simply couldn't break through the pain. She watched Phoenix approach, but made no move against him. She didn't have the strength left to do so.

'You... defeated me... I... simply could not best you.' Clover thought in defeat.

"You could have. You just didn't. Had you tried to overwhelm me and caused me to multitask too much and then strike the killing blow; that would have worked. The same strategy I used against you. Perhaps we'll spar again. But, until you rethink your strategies, I don't recommend trying again." Phoenix replied sagely, before kicking her in the face and knocking her out. Silence fell in the room before somepony broke it.

"K.O.!" Pinkie announced happily, causing everypony to cheer.

Blueblood Fued

Everypony ran to Phoenix and embraced him as Clover laid unconscious on the ground.

"Are you alright, Phoenix? Do you need me to heal you?" Twilight asked.

"No, I can shake it off. I'm fine." Phoenix declined before beginning to hug Applejack. Everypony looked over to the princesses to see that they were talking to Chrysalis. They began to walk over to them as they could eventually hear their conversation.

"That is undeniably his plan." Chrysalis finished. Celestia, Cadence and Shining Armour who was recently freed from the spell he was under seemed to be lost in thought.

"I never thought he'd do something like that. It's insane." Shining said.

"What's going on?" Twilight asked as Phoenix, the Elements and Cognito walked forward. Phoenix wanted to ask why he came along, but he just deduced that he was invited with everypony else.

"Blueblood intends to destroy Canterlot. The entire city." Chrysalis replied.

"What?! How is he going to do that?!" Twilight exclaimed in shock.

"We don't know, but it's obvious that he has a plan. We have to get moving." Shining said with finality. Chrysalis nodded as she walked quickly towards the balcony.

"Changelings! Track down the cowardly prince!" Chrysalis commanded. The magical dome around Canterlot shimmered as thousands of changelings became visible. Upon hearing her command and seeing the changelings, Shining quickly deactivated the dome and began to wonder if he and everypony else could trust Chrysalis. However, true to her words, the changelings flew towards and through the city at amazing speeds, but seemed to be dodging and avoiding every pony that they saw. They were searching for Blueblood.

Blueblood ran with Star, Fen and Valliere not far behind him.

"Come on! We have to keep moving or they're going to catch us! We have to get to-!" Blueblood's sentence stopped when his body did. He stopped running and ground to a complete halt when he laid eyes on the blockade of changelings in front of him.

"Oh, no..." Blueblood said with worry. The changelings were stoic as they stared the ponies down. They were ready to carry out their orders.

"Come on! Guard me!" Blueblood commanded the assassins behind him. Star and Valliere quickly jumped in front of him, but Fen was too afraid and stayed where he was.

"Get over here, you coward!" Star's muffled voice said to Fen. Fen shook his head erratically and ran in the opposite direction.

Only to be caught by a black tendril.

The tendril emerged from a black, ethereal portal on the ground and wrapped around Fen's neck to hold him aloft. Slendermane slowly rose from the ether and simply stared at Fen, face to... faceless. Fen had tears streaming from his eyes and sweat leaking from his face as his eyes couldn't move away from Slendermane's lack of eyes. Another stallion rose from the ether and immediately smiled at what Slender was doing. Jeff had his knives prepared for the situation, but one look from Slender made him start to sulk with annoyance and walk towards Blueblood, Star and Valliere. Three more ponies rose from the ether as Jeff surrounded the assassins and prince. One of them was Zalgo himself, standing in all his glory. One of the other ponies was a young stallion with a grey coat and brown mane and tail. His eyes were hidden by goggles, his muzzle was hidden by a scarf and he was wearing a navy blue hoodie. The other was a tall stallion that was dressed as a clown. A monochrome clown. His entire outfit consisted of black and white stripes, he had a messy black mane, but no tail and his eyes were a mix of black and white. He smile as soon as he arrived, revealing sharp, predatory teeth, ready to give nightmares to anyone who looked upon him.

"Tobias. Jack. Join Jeffery up there. Slendermane. You know what to do." Zalgo instructed. Ticci Toby and Laughing Jack quickly moved to join Jeff and Slender quickly used his tendril to snap Fen's neck, killing him instantly. After Slender casually killed Fen, he dropped his body to the ground and walked with Zalgo towards the ponies. Seeing that they were surrounded, outnumbered and vastly outclassed; Star, Valliere and Blueblood tried to think of a plan. Thinking on her feet, Valliere grabbed Blueblood and began to tap into her vampire powers.

"Try not to throw up." Valliere whispered. Before Blueblood could respond, both he and Valliere transformed into a swarm of bats and began to quickly fly away before anypony could catch them. Leaving Star where he was. Star looked around in complete and utter horror as everypony turned their attentions back to him.

"Slendermane, try to keep track of that swarm. Report back with their location when they land." Zalgo instructed. Slender nodded once before disappearing in a static-y way.

"What do we do with him?" Jeff asked. Zalgo turned away and began to walk towards the castle.

"Have some fun." Zalgo replied.

Star's death didn't come swiftly.

Zalgo teleported into the great hall, surprising everypony still there.

"Zalgo!" Celestia exclaimed before wrapping her hooves around him in a quick hug.

"Two of Prince Blueblood's conspirators are deceased. Blueblood himself and his vampiric cohort escaped, however. I have Slendermane tracking them." Zalgo explained seriously.

"Surely, they could be anywhere by now!" Shining exclaimed.

"That is unlikely. The vampire used one of her vampire abilities by transforming herself and Blueblood into a swarm of bats. In the sunlight, her powers will be severely weakened and since she is taking a passenger as well, she will not get far." Zalgo explained.

"Then, we just have to wait for Slendermane to return?" Celestia asked. As if sensing his cue, Slendermane suddenly appeared in the room with a slight look of dread on his faceless head.

"Slendermane? Where are they?" Zalgo asked, concerned at his friend's sudden dread.

"...They have barricaded themselves... inside the chamber of the Elements of Harmony." Slendermane slowly replied.

"I knew it would work!" Blueblood exclaimed.

"...What... would?" Valliere asked, exhausted.

"The spell my aunts used on this chamber is one that only royalty can break. She says that only she or Aunt Luna could do it, but as a contingency, any of royal blood can do it." Blueblood said with an evil smile as the Element vault slowly opened before him.

"...So? The Elements... aren't going to help us. We need... those girls..." Valliere replied.

"There is one Element that doesn't need the others in order to work. It will give me unfathomable power! More than enough to flatten this pathetic city to the ground!" Blueblood declared as he levitated the Element of Magic towards him...

The Ascension

As Slendermane finished his sentence, a giant pillar of golden magical energy with a mix of both black and white energy rising with it. The pillar stopped after about half a minute, leaving everypony in the great hall at a loss for words as they continued to stare out of the window that they were gathered in front of. When everypony finally regained heir senses, somepony broke the silence.

"That came from Canterlot Tower!" Twilight exclaimed. Everypony silently agreed as they all began to move and made their way individually towards the tower. Celestia, Chrysalis, Zalgo, Twilight, Slendermane, Cadence and Shining Armor all teleported away while everypony else ran as quickly as they were able. As the tower came closer into their sights, Applejack looked over at Phoenix to see an incredibly dark and angry look on his face.

"Phoenix? Are you-?" Applejack began.

"That bastard..." Phoenix muttered as he suddenly turned around and decked Cognito straight in the face, causing him to plummet to the ground. The group stopped to stare at Phoenix in shock.

"Phoenix! What in tarnation are you doin'?!" Applejack exclaimed.

"I should have known." Phoenix said angrily as he slowly walked towards Cognito. Rainbow started to move forward as well, ready to stop him.

"Phoenix, you might wanna start explaining right about now." Rainbow said threateningly.

"He must be working for Blueblood." Phoenix replied. Cognito started to get up as they spoke.

"Why do you think that, darling?" Rarity replied.

"Cognito can read minds. The only minds he can't read are minds that have the same abnormality that allows the mind reading in the first place." Phoenix said.

"Yeah, so?" Rainbow replied.

"If he can read minds, why didn't he warn anypony about Chrysalis' plan?" Phoenix asked.

...Ting...

That was the pin dropping.

...Ting...

And that was the penny.

Everypony slowly looked over to Cognito with suspicious looks as he finally stood up again.

"Yeah... Why didn't you warn anypony, Cog?" Rainbow Dash asked in a voice filled with suspicion.

"..." Cognito didn't reply.

"You had better start answerin', sugarcube or we're gonna beat an answer outta-." Applejack was once again cut off. This time, when she and the girls fell into unconsciousness in exact synchronicity. Phoenix looked around in a panic before turning back to Cognito.

"What the hell did you do?!" Phoenix yelled.

"...Given enough time and training, a pony with the gift that we both possess can learn to not only scan, but control the minds of others. Enough to cause them to sleep or even hypnotise them. I see that during your absence, you trained your body, but not your mind. How disappointing." Cognito explained condescendingly.

"Alright, shut it! I've had enough. My body was the only thing that needed to be trained. My mind's protected from yours. You've got nothing on me." Phoenix said as he began to walk forward again. Suddenly, Phoenix was pushed back by an invisible force. Quickly getting to his hooves, Phoenix looked at Cognito in shock.

"How the hell did you do that?! You're an earth pony! Something else you're not telling me?!" Phoenix asked angrily.

"Indeed. Unlike you unicorns who can alter the environment and move objects with your magic, I can do it with my mind. Perhaps you should surrender now. Save yourself the pain." Cognito explained again, not losing his condcending tone for a moment.

"Alright, Crypto. I've had enough of you. Time to shut you up." Phoenix said as he lowered his body into a battle stance. Cognito didn't move from his position. He merely changed is expression to a small, evil grin.

There were many things that the group of seven expected as they teleported to Canterlot Tower. What they didn't expect was an alicorn that looked like he belonged in the deepest pits of Tartarus. His coat was blood red, his mane and tail were similar to that of fire and his eyes were a mixture of black and light blue. His demonic eyes were closed his devil-like wings flapped slowly to keep himself aloft. But, what caught everypony's attention the most, was the Element of Magic on his head. The demon that hovered before them was seemingly daydreaming, still in awe at his newfound power.

"Ah~... It's more power than I could have ever imagined! It's enough to conquer Equestria threefold!" Blueblood exclaimed in evil joy.

"Blueblood! Surrender now, or you will have to be on the receiving end of a literal 'royal beatdown'!" Zalgo shouted up at him as the group of seven flared their magic, ready for battle.

"I foresee a different outcome. You are all ants compared to me! You most of all, Twilight Sparkle!" Blueblood yelled, admittedly more intimidatingly than anytime before in his life.

"Why? What do you have against me?!" Twilight yelled back at him.

"You could have wielded this power yourself! You disappoint me greatly, filthy peasant." Blueblood said condescendingly as he descended.

"That's what you don't get, Blueblood." Twilight replied, unfazed by his insult.

"Hm?" Blueblood let out half-heartedly.

"I do wield the power within the Element already! What you're feeling now... is the power of friendship!" Twilight proclaimed proudly.

"It doesn't matter what kind of power it is, what does matter is that it's mine!" Blueblood screamed as he fired a beam directly at Twilight.

Only for it to be blocked by a magical shield of swirling, interchanging colour. Blueblood stopped and saw seven different types of magic fuelling the shield, making it nigh-impenetrable.

"You can focus your power all you wish! There is enough magic in this element to crack that shield and reduce you all to dust!" Blueblood screeched as he fired a continuous beam of magic at the shield. The shield held up for several seconds before it started to crack slightly. However, under the constant pressure from the beam, the cracks began to grow. The group knew that if the shield gave out, they would die instantly. However, none of them could think of a plan. Silently dreading, but waiting for their fate, they simply continued to enforce the shield as much as their depleting energies would allow.

Phoenix screamed as he was thrown through several walls and floor as Cognito threw him through several houses with all the force his mind had. Phoenix fell to the ground with an almighty crack. He had tried and failed numerous times to get close to Cognito, as Cognito had time and time again used his telekinesis to stop Phoenix from harming him in any way. Even Phoenix's magic and weapons were essentially useless in their battle.

Phoenix strained to open his eyes as he saw a puddle of blood slowly growing under him as he looked up to see Cognito ripping a bar of metal from a nearby wall, causing one of its ends to be uneven and incredibly sharp. Phoenix tried to summon the strength to stand, crawl away or fight back in the slightest. Unfortunately, the pain he was experiencing had drained his muscles of every ounce of energy that they had. All he could do was watch as Cognito walked closer to the bleeding stallion.

Cognito then raised the makeshift spear above his head...

Before plunging it straight into Phoenix's neck, piercing his throat.

The shield's cracks were slowly beginning to spread under the beam's constant force and minute amounts of energy were seeping through. Despite the beam slowly losing power, everypony knew that it was the shield that was going to give out first.

Dread had finally set into their minds...

Cognito left Phoenix choking on his own blood as he began to walk towards the girls, still unconscious on the ground.

"With your track record, you won't be dead as quickly as anypony else. What's say we make you wish for death?" Cognito said as he slowly ran his hoof along Applejack's cheek. Phoenix's anger flared instantly, but began to subside and changed into confusion as he was bathed in an azure light. Suddenly, his fangs grew, his eyes turned red and his wounds healed nearly instantly. Phoenix pulled the pipe from his neck with his magic and allowed it to heal. He looked at the azure glow once more.

Moonlight.

Not a moment later, Princess Luna landed next to Phoenix. He sent her a grateful smile as she continued to bathe the area in moonlight using her magic. Luna returned the smile before turning to Cognito with a scowl. Phoenix joined her in the scowl as they both charged their magic. Cognito suddenly noticed the change in lighting when it had spread to him, but it was too late. Suddenly, solid shadows grabbed Cognito by the limbs and hung him upside down.

"Now, Phoenix! Hurry!" Luna yelled. Phoenix wordlessly teleported right by Cognito and before he could react, Phoenix used the handle of his revolver to knock Cognito out cold. Luna dropped him to the ground as the girls slowly started to wake up, Cognito's powers no longer taking effect.

The shield suddenly changed colour into pure, blinding white as its magic shined incredibly brightly. After everyone regained their sight, there was a new figure standing with them fuelling the shield enough for the cracks to disappear instantly.

"Sorry to keep everypony waiting." Faust said with a pleasant smile. Everypony smiled back (if Slendermane had a mouth, he would be too) as they turned to see Blueblood finally starting to run low on energy. The beam was getting steadily weaker and weaker as the shield continued to remain fortified. The beam finally gave out as Valliere had finally recovered from her exhaustion and was standing right next to Blueblood. The group and the pair stared down once more as tension began to rise again.

Black and Blueblood

The group of seven stared down the duo as Blueblood was regaining his strength.

"As much as I'm willing to, I won't be able to stand up to them." Valliere said quietly to Blueblood.

"I will handle them. You are going to find Phoenix Fortesque and end him. If I'm to fail, then he shall fall with me!" Blueblood yelled as he emitted a blinding light that allowed Valliere to escape. As the group regained their sight, they saw that Valliere was missing.

"Where did the vampire go?" Cadence asked the group.

"Most likely after Phoenix. He was a target, after all." Celestia replied.

"What?! We have to stop her!" Twilight said with urgency.

"We have to stop Blueblood now. Phoenix can handle himself, as we all saw." Celestia replied. Twilight looked at Celestia pleadingly before lowering her gaze to the ground before finally turning back to Blueblood with a slightly teary glare.

'Phoenix... Girls... Please, be safe.' Twilight thought as she prepared her magic once more.

Luna moved her hoof in front of Fluttershy's face in a slow vertical, then horizontal movement; Fluttershy's eyes following after the hoof perfectly.

"From what I can see, there are no negative side effects to Cognito's manipulation." Luna said calmly. Everypony seemed to breath a sigh of relief.

"You sure you're alright, Phoenix?" Applejack asked. Phoenix replied with a smile and a nod as everypony began to compose themselves.

Only to be shocked again when Phoenix was tackled to the ground. Recovering quickly, Phoenix used the momentum to flip Valliere off of him. As Phoenix turned, their eyes locked.

"Well, hello again, handsome." Valliere said with a wry, flirty smile.

"What'd she say?!" Applejack yelled from behind Phoenix.

"The princesses should have known that you weren't on their side. I checked the information that you leaked to us and none of it checked out. I guess you just weren't their main concern. To be honest, you're not my main concern either." Phoenix said, ignoring Applejack's outburst.

"Oh, you wound me, darling. Are you gonna kiss me better?" Valliere said as she licked her lips.

"Okay, what the hell are you doing?" Phoenix deadpanned.

"I don't know what you mean, darling. You look so tasty I can't seem to help myself." Valliere replied and staring intently at Phoenix with hungry eyes.

"Stop lookin' at him that way, you whore!" Applejack yelled angrily, causing everypony to look at her in shock.

"Did you just call me a fucking whore?" Valliere asked quickly, voice suddenly filled with anger.

"What's wrong, whore? Can't hear her over your drooling?" Rainbow said mockingly.

"Well, if I'm a whore, then she's a bitch!" Valliere yelled back. Everypony froze.

"...Did you just call me a bitch?" Applejack asked levelly.

"So what if I did, biiiiiiiiiiiiiiitch?" Valliere replied, stretching the last syllable. Tension grew as Phoenix's eyes darkened.

"I'm going to kill you." Phoenix said simply.

"What?" Valliere asked in confusion.

"I'M GONNA FUCKING KILL YOU!!" Phoenix yelled as he charged forward, grabbing the pipe that Cognito used to stab his neck with his magic as he did so. Before Valliere could respond, Phoenix stabbed her in the forehead, the pipe going through the head and emerging out the other side. He then used the momentum to push her towards a nearby wall. Once they reached it, Phoenix stabbed the pipe into the wall, pinning Valliere in place as a large amount of blood had started pouring from the entrance and exit wounds. Her vampire healing keeping her alive, but her attempts to grab the pipe were in futility.

"See, you shouldn't have said that. 'Cause you needed that like you needed a hole in the head." Phoenix said as he stroked his beard and used his magic to twist the pipe, causing Valliere to writhe in pain.

"AAH! Please, get this out of me!!" Valliere screamed.

"Funny. That wasn't what you were implying what you wanted earlier." Phoenix said. Valliere's response was to glare at Phoenix.

"Fine. If you aren't going to free me, then kill me now." Valliere said.

"As long as Luna keeps this area bathed in moonlight, you're staying right where you are." Phoenix said as he reached into his jacket pocket with his magic and pulled out his gun and pressed it against her chest.

He then pulled the trigger.

"Shot through the heart!" Pinkie yelled as Valliere screamed. Phoenix turned away as he walked by Luna.

"Can you make sure she stays alive? I don't think she'll be moving from there. If she does, you know what to do." Phoenix said, causing Luna to nod in reply. Returning the nod, Phoenix motioned for the girls to follow him as he began to run towards Canterlot Tower.

Slendermane's body skidded along the ground before his muscles relaxed, spent of thier energy. Cadence, Shining, Twilight and Zalgo had shared the same fate as they looked on, powerless as Celestia and Faust continued to match their magic with Blueblood's. Covered in small wounds, Faust and Celestia had made many attempts to remove the Element of Magic from Blueblood, but to no avail. Blueblood, however had been showing signs of fatigue, despite having no visible injury. Sweat was literally dripping from his face, his muscles were twitching slightly as the moved from discomfort and pain and his magical attacks had been becoming more and more lacking as the fight dragged on.

Unfortunately, so had Celestia's and Faust's.

"There... There is no way you can defeat me!" Blueblood yelled, despite his exhaustion. Celestia and Faust looked ready to collapse as their breathes became more ragged.

"You won't survive one more shot from my magic, regardless of how weakened it's become. NOW DIE!!!" Blueblood screamed manically as he fired a magical blast towards the pair. They tried to summon another shield, bur even between them, they had no power left. Time seemed to slow down for Celestia and Faust as the blast drew ever closer. However, in an instant a stallion had materialised in front of them. They watched in silence as the stallion took the force of the blast and flew back several feet.

"No!" Celestia yelled as she and Faust ran to Phoenix who was lying on his back. As they approached, he stirred and looked at them as the rest of the girls had finally caught up.

"I'm alright. I'm alright. Go deal with him." Phoenix said firmly, but with a slight weakness to his voice. Twilight limped over to them as Faust and Celestia dropped to their knees, there exhaustion finally taking its toll.

"Well, what do we do now?" Rainbow asked, actually sounding nervous.

"Simple. You die." Blueblood replied as he tiredly fired one final blast at the girls. In a panic, all six of them gathered together and grasped each other for dear life as Phoenix was underneath them.

BOOOOOOOOOM!!

Suddenly, all six of them were covered in a shining purple aura. Twilight turned her gaze away to look at Blueblood with a determined expression as suddenly, as if summoned, the other Elements of Harmony materialised around the necks of the girls.

"You told me, Blueblood, that it didn't matter what kind of power the Element of Magic gave you as long as it was yours. That's your greatest downfall. The Element of Magic recognises those who helped create it. It wouldn't let them be destroyed by its own power." Twilight said defiantly as she shared a quick look and smile with her friends, the aura strengthening rather than subsiding.

"Wh-what?" Blueblood asked, sounding less confident after his failure to kill them.

"The power may be within you, Blueblood, but it's not yours to wield. You simply can't wield it. Because, you don't understand the nature of the power. Its magic is designed to be distributed to others. Strengthened by others. Amplified by others. That's why..." Twilight continued to speak as the Element of Magic began to shake until it pried itself from Blueblood's head before disappearing and reappearing on Twilight's.

"...That's why it's the magic... of friendship!" Twilight proclaimed as the Elements charged as one and fired the rainbow beam once more, colliding with Blueblood as he screamed in a way less dignified than a young filly. Once the beam subsided, the Mane 6 slowly descended to the ground and looked into the newly-formed crater where Blueblood had been hovering. Inside, they saw the twitching, dumbstruck form of Blueblood; seemingly not conscious, but twitching nonetheless. Slowly, large grins emerged on the faces of everypony present, until Pinkie started to laugh. Followed by Rainbow. Followed by Phoenix. And soon enough everypony was on their knees or their backs, laughing until tears were streaming from their eyes.

They had survived. They had won! They had kicked flank!

Author's Note

Sorry it took so long, everyone.

...Probably disappointing, right?

I can only apologise so much.

Just one or two more chapters and then it's done. The wait won't be as long as last time, I promise.

I Now Pronounce You...

It was a royal wedding that nopony was going to forget anytime soon. Not only because of the changeling invasion, not only because of the denizens of the Underrealm appearing, not only from the goddess of the Overrealm attending...

...But, because there was a day off work and a kick-ass party afterwards.

After the hectic events of the previous few hours, the ceremony was tried once more and went off without a hitch. Not wanting to miss out on a moment in the Middlerealm's history, everypasta and everyling remained present for it, to some ponies' discomfort, but to nopony's objection. It was certainly interesting to see such a diversity of creatures watching such a momentous display of love that the princess and the captain shared. Everypony seemed to have a different reaction as the newly appointed married couple kissed in front of the crowd. Many simply smiled, numerous ponies and changelings cheered, there were a number of ponies that began to cry. Laughing Jack wrapped his forehooves around Jeff's neck and dramatically sobbed into his shoulder as Jeff half-heartedly patted Jack on the back. Rarity began to tear up as Chrysalis gave her a handkerchief with her magic. And-

"Psst! Mister Author!" Pinkie Pie whispered, looking directly at me- wait, what?

"They're gonna be at this for a while, you might wanna move on." Pinkie whispered with a smile and a wink. Which is odd, considering she's never done this before in this story, making this scenario seem very tacky and forced.

"Well, you wrote me this way." Pinkie replied with a slightly smug smile... that I am choosing to ignore.

Twilight put the microphone down, slightly short of breath after her song.

"That was amazing, Twily! You've gotta sing more often, little sis!" Shining said proudly to Twilight, who blushed slightly at the praise.

"Yeah, out of all the times we randomly burst into song, Twilight usually takes the lead. She's got a nice set of pipes for an egghead." Rainbow said, earning a hard look from Twilight. Everypony continued to dance as the DJ played another song. Twilight was about to join in, but was stopped by Celestia.

"It's time." She said simply. Twilight and Celestia then began to walk towards a nearby forest. After five minutes of walking, they saw figures in the distance. As they drew closer, Twilight recognised the ponies as Luna, Zalgo and Faust. There were two pentagrams on the ground with one pony on each of them. The ponies were Prince Blueblood bound and gagged with ropes and the other was Phoenix, sitting calmly.

"You're here, Celestia. Miss Sparkle. Now we can begin." Zalgo greeted.

"Begin what? Princess? Phoenix, what's going on?" Twilight asked.

"Zalgo still owns my soul, Twilight. This is the ceremony to free me." Phoenix replied. Twilight remained silent, pondering what Phoenix said.

"...You said before that a soul still had to be taken. I assume that..." Twilight said awkwardly before nodding towards Blueblood.

"That is the intention, Miss Sparkle. We merely require your aid in focussing the spell." Zalgo said as he raised Phoenix's hoof with his magic and sliced into it with a small blade, Phoenix blood quickly leaking from the wound. Twilight gasped at the bloody sight as the princesses and Faust lowered their horns and channelled their magic at the two pentagrams, causing Twilight to quickly do the same. Both pentagrams suddenly shone with a tremendous, blinding light, engulfing the two stallions. Twilight, shocked at the sudden light, was about to stop her magic, but froze when a hoof touched her shoulder. She turned to see Celestia, her gaze not breaking from the light.

"It'll be alright, Twilight. Keep going." Celestia said calmly. Twilight gave a quick nod before returning to her original position. Suddenly, the two stallions began to scream. Blueblood's gagged cries were more severe than Phoenix's, but he was yelling nonetheless.

"Phoenix Fortesque! How are you faring?!" Luna yelled as a strong wind began to emanate from the light, drowning out many sounds.

"I feel like my soul is on fire!" Phoenix yelled back.

"Proves you still have it, though." Zalgo replied. The light and the wind began to slowly die down, until both stallions were as visible as they were before the ritual began. Both of them looked around in confusion.

"Did... did it work?" Phoenix asked. Zalgo simply raised his hoof and stomped lightly on the ground, yet the sound echoed as a portal opened up behind Blueblood and an incredible powerful wind-like vortex began pulling him in. He began to scream again as he desperately scrambled to get away, while everypony else was unaffected by the portal's pull. Suddenly, a demonic version of a pony leapt from the portal, grabbed Blueblood and pulled him through the portal which closed behind them. Silence fell. Phoenix and Twilight watched the spot where Blueblood had been in silent horror as everypony else was starting to recover.

"Well, that happened. I wonder if there's any cake left." Zalgo said before beginning to walk back to the party followed by Luna and Faust. Celestia bowed her head slightly and stayed silent for a moment before turning to Twilight.

"Are you coming?" Celestia asked kindly.

"I-I... I'll just be a minute." Twilight replied, shaking slightly. When Celestia walked away, Twilight slowly walked towards Phoenix.

"You alright?" Twilight asked softly. Phoenix slowly turned, horror still present on his face.

"...That could've been me, Twilight. That could've been me." Phoenix whispered in shock. Twilight wrapped her hooves around his neck and rocked him slightly to calm him down. What they were unaware of was a single pair of eyes watching their embrace from the trees before they stopped watching and retreated towards the party.

It had been half an hour since Twilight and Phoenix returned to the party, but after twenty minutes Phoenix had seemingly vanished. Applejack looked around the party with a small look of worry on her face. She saw Twilight standing with Celestia and Zalgo and approached them.

"Hey, Twilight. Have you seen Phoenix around? Ah can't find him." Applejack said.

"Uh, no, I haven't seen him in a little while. Sorry." Twilight replied.

"But, you could ask Slender over there. He can sense ponies. He'll know where Mr Fortesque is." Zalgo said. Applejack looked over to Slendermane and looked back at Zalgo a little awkwardly.

"Right... Thanks..." Applejack said as she began to approach Slender. When she was close enough, Slendermane turned to face her. At least she thought he did.

"Say... sugarcube... Do you where Phoenix is right now?" Applejack asked, trying to quell her nerves. Slendermane slowly nodded once before pointing to the roof of a nearby building, where she saw a figure sitting on the edge. She nodded her thanks before heading to the building. When she got there, she instantly recognised Phoenix and sat next to him.

"Hey." Applejack greeted.

"Hi." Phoenix replied.

"What're you doin' up here?" Applejack asked.

"I just wanted a nice view of Canterlot and a little break from the loud volume at the party." Phoenix replied. Applejack nodded.

"Ah suppose we all need some quiet every now an' then." Applejack said.

"Yeah. Makes you happy, though, doesn't it? Attending a wedding." Phoenix said.

"Uh-huh. Ah've always liked weddin's. They jus' kinda... perk you up, huh?" Applejack replied.

"Yeah, I get what you mean. Kind of puts a little meaning into our lives seeing two ponies so happy. So... connected to their special somepony. Almost to the level that they're addicted to each other." Phoenix said as Applejack leaned on his shoulder.

"Never heard it said like that before. ...Phoenix?" Applejack asked to get his attention.

"Hmm?" Phoenix asked, his attention on her.

"Would ya say that your addicted to me?" Applejack asked, a small blush on her face.

"I don't think I'll ever know." Phoenix replied, causing Applejack to look up at him.

"And what makes you say that?" A slight amount of anger on her face. She watched Phoenix's face as he looked down at her and moonlight illuminated one side of his face.

"You only know you're addicted to something when you try to give it up." Phoenix said with a smile. Applejack froze for a moment before beginning to nuzzle Phoenix's chest.

"Ah take back anythin' Ah said before. Ah did miss that damn silver tongue o' yours." Applejack said happily as a small tear beaded in her eye. Phoenix simply nuzzled her back as they both looked at the moon in comfortable silence.

Phoenix and Applejack re-joined the group just as Shining Armor and Princess Cadence were stepping onto a carriage. Shining froze slightly at the sight of Phoenix and scowled slightly at him before turning his head, smiling and stepping into the carriage. A few seconds later, Cadence re-emerged from the carriage as she leaned through the window, bouquet in hoof. She suddenly tossed it behind her rather forcefully, flying straight over a group of mares, including Rarity and falling into Phoenix's hooves. A moment passed before Phoenix realised what he had caught, which caused both Applejack and him to blush furiously as everypony else laughed and the carriage began to move and drove off into the distance.

Phoenix looked around at everypony laughing before wrapping his leg around Applejack, pulling her close, causing her to blush and giggle which Phoenix returned.

'Yup. It's great to be back.' Phoenix thought as everypony watched the fireworks shining in the sky.

Revelation

Silence fell after Phoenix spoke, confirming his presence and snapping the girls out of their trance. The girls slowly started to smile, tear up and laugh weakly out of the joy building within them. Except for one. Rainbow Dash suddenly zoomed towards Phoenix, hooves ahead, ready to collide with the stallion's skull. Phoenix quickly leaped backwards to safety as Rainbow recovered and hovered in the air, glaring at the stallion.

"Eleven months after we see you die right in front of us and you think you can just say THAT?!" Rainbow yelled in rage as the rest of the girls watched in complete shock.

"I suppose that's a 'yes', then?" Phoenix said with a smirk. Rainbow seemed to get angrier as she charged at him again. This time, moments before collision, Phoenix braced his body and performed a front flip over Rainbow, dodging the strike completely. As she recovered, she looked at him in surprise as he simply turned his head and smirked once more. Rainbow looked about ready to explode as she charged once more on hoof and threw one of her forehooves as the strongest punch she could muster.

Only for it to be caught in Phoenix's own hoof. Phoenix gave no other reaction after catching her hoof. Rainbow was left dumbstruck before pushing against Phoenix's hoof as much as she could, but she gained absolutely no ground.

"Why are you angry, Rainbow? And don't try to trick me." Phoenix asked/demanded. Rainbow's confidence seemed to shatter as she looked to her hooves.

"Why didn't you come back sooner?" Rainbow asked weakly. Phoenix gently left go of her hoof, letting it fall in line with her others.

"If I could have come back sooner, I would have done so in a heartbeat." Phoenix replied sincerely. The girls finally approached and listened in to the conversation.

"Where were you? You died." Twilight asked, signifying everypony's presence.

"Well... If I said Heaven, would you believe me?" Phoenix asked slightly sarcastically.

"...So... You escaped the afterlife?" Rarity asked in surprise with a hint of scepticism.

"I KNEW it! You ARE Haytos!!" Pinkie exclaimed suddenly. Nopony replied for a moment.

"...What?" Everypony said in the same instant. Pinkie also looked confused for a moment before her eyes widened in some kind of realisation.

"Oh! Wrong story. Sorry!" Pinkie said brightly before smiling widely and letting out a small squee.

"...Anyway... It's more like I was let out. I was a bit of a nuisance while I was there and Faust jumped at the chance to let me go back as soon as Celestia and Luna arrived. It took them a few months to bring me back and this was my first opportunity to come here and reveal that I'm ba- Pinkie, stop poking me." Phoenix explained, but cut himself off as Pinkie contined to poke Phoenix's foreleg with her hoof.

"I can't help it! You've got muscles now! It's kinda cool!" Pinkie said giddily as she continued to poke.

"Well, I trained every day for six months until I physically couldn't anymore. Some muscles were bound to- AJ, what are you doing?" Phoenix cut himself off once more as he felt Applejack lightly run her hoof along his foreleg, feeling his muscles, her face flushed and unfocused. Almost like she was in a trance.

"AJ? ...AJ. ...AJ!" Phoenix called to get her attention, to no avail.

"He's even sexier than before..." Applejack whispered to herself, causing Phoenix to blush profusely.

"I'll pretend I didn't hear that." Phoenix mumbled as the girls, minus Applejack giggled and Applejack herself seemed to snap out of her trance and gave Phoenix her full attention again.

"Anyway, Celestia, Luna, Faust and Zalgo managed to come up with a deal. There's a crime lord on the loose and he's got some pretty bad plans for Equestria. His only known alias is 'The Boss'. My job's to find him, drag him back to the princesses, stop his plans and let Zalgo drag him to Tartarus." Phoenix explained.

"That seems a little extreme, doesn't it? I mean, I know he's probably evil and everything, but doesn't taking him to Tartarus sound like a bit much?" Flutershy asked quietly.

"Maybe. But, his plans are apparently going to turn the country on its head. Not to mention... the deal states that a soul is forfeit for Zalgo to take within the next few months. If I don't find the Boss and bring him to Zalgo... he's going to take mine." Phoenix explained a little somberly. The girls all immediately flinched at his words.

"What?! If you don't beat this guy, you're gonna die again?!" Rainbow shouted while everypony else looked incredibly worried and Applejack looked almost heartbroken.

"No." Phoenix replied, replacing everypony's expressions with confusion.

"'No'?" Twilight asked.

"If we don't beat this guy." Phoenix replied with a friendly smile. Everypony precessed his words for a moment before smiling back and gathering in a group hug.

"Besides, I can't die yet! I've missed so much as it is. So, girls. What's new?" Phoenix asked. A few seconds passed as the girls all traded looks before nodding and starting to walk to Sugarcube Corner.

Mr and Mrs Cake were busy holding their children in the kitchen with two stallions waiting by the door with the intention of protecting them. As soon as they heard that there was a bomb threat in Ponyville and the explosion, the grabbed Pound and Pumpkin Cake and ran to the kitchen to act as a safe room. Hoops and Cognito who happened to be in the cafe at the time immedieatly ran in as well, but placed their backs against the sides of the door, ready to ambush any intruders. They both had a look of determination on their faces, however Hoops' was a lot more instantly recognisable the Cognito's. His expression was much smaller, but nevertheless it was there. Suddenly, the bell above the shop's front door jingled as the door opened and everypony in the cafe tensed until a bubbly voice filled the air.

"Mr and Mrs Cake~! It's safe to come out now! Olly olly oxen free!" Pinkie called out in a sing-song voice. As Pinkie spoke, everypony in the kitchen relaxed and exited the kitchen only to tense once more. They were more than used to seeing the girls who were present in the shop as they all saw them quite regularly. The stallion, however...

Phoenix simply stood nearly motionless in the middle of the room before shyly waving. His movement seemed to snap them out of their stupors.

"Impossible..." Cognito whispered in awe as he shared a look of surprise with Hoops and the Cakes.

"Well, I've been called worse." Phoenix replied casually.

"H...how?" Hoops asked. Phoenix ran his hoof through his mane.

"Long story." Phoenix replied.

Author's Note

Just a bit of filler/establishing scenes for the future.

Sorry.