The coming of the Shade

Chapters

First meeting.
Quagmire
Arrivals
Surprises
Differences and similarities
Decisions and the bargain
Home again
Situations
Plans and trust

First meeting.

He stepped out of the Everfree and took in the view of the quaint little town he enjoyed visiting. All but unknown to its inhabitants he often visited the town of Ponyville but the town never truly knew who he was. Until today he had always come in disguise for fear that the inhabitants and its resident princess might take a strange Alicorn entering their town as a possible threat. His usual disguise was that of an old elderly earth pony that enjoyed traveling Equestria. Today he decided to forgo any disguises and let Equestria know him as he truly was, a male Alicorn from beyond the Everfree forest named Camo. As a young colt he had heard tales of Equestria from his adoptive parents. He never knew his true parents. Only days after he was born his parents had left him wrapped in his swaddling in the center of Shadows Peak’s town square. His adoptive mother was taking her usual midnight stroll through then town when she happened upon him. The only thing she found of where he came from was a note.

To whoever finds our son,

Please take good care of our child for we fear that very soon we may not be around much longer to do so ourselves. We wish there was another way to ensure his safety but alas we cannot find one. We entrust our son to you in our absence. Please make sure he knows how much we truly love him and hope to live to see him someday. Be warned that his Alicorn powers are very unstable at this time and need to be controlled. The doctors could not find him for 3 hours after he was born because of his ability conceal himself in plain sight. They must be kept under constant control until he is old enough to control them on his own. His name is Camopony Shadewings. Please take care of our beloved son.

His mom had kept that note and had given it to him when he turned 12. After he turned 20 he finally decided to leave home and try to find out what happened to his parents. He never did.

His mom had told him of how the two princesses Celestia and Luna that ruled the Everfree Forest. For almost a millennia they had ruled before jealousy and anger took hold of the younger sisters heart. Every pony knows the story for it happened almost 3,000 years ago. After 1,000 years the sisters were reunited and ruled Equestria for another 50 years before stepping down and letting their successors Princess Twilight Sparkle and her husband Prince Flash Sentry, Princess Cadence and her husband Prince Shining Armor take over the rule. From what he had heard the two Princesses were still doing a very good job of ruling Equestria together after both Armor and Flash had past almost 500 years ago. He had always thought twilight was a beautiful pony even before she became an alicorn but he had never expressed his feelings.

It was still early morning in Equestria when he walked into town, Luna had not yet fully lowed her moon and neither had Celestia raised her sun. He figured the best way to appear friendly while making sure everypony noticed him was to lay down in the busiest part of town and just wait for everypony to wake up. It was the best plan he could come up with. All his other ideas sounded like they would cause a panic or get himself attacked. He found his spot and got comfortable. He didn’t have to wait long before he started seeing ponies going about their day, but as expected due to his unfortunate coloring he wasn’t noticed for a good while.

After an hour of waiting for the early risers to notice him he decided to stretch his wings and flash they’re brightly colored undersides to get someponies attention. It worked. Several ponies saw him and stopped dead, confusion slowly giving way to fear and finally terror as they bolted away no doubt going to find some royal guard and report his presence. Within minutes he was surrounded by centurion guards with pikes pressed against his throat.. “Well hello every pon...”

“Quiet” one of the guards said as he pressed his spear a little harder against his throat “Not another word, we will see what the first captain wants to do with you.”

As the guard was talking Camo could see a multi colored main coming towards him and his necklace of guard spears. He wasn’t surprised to see the pony it belonged to for he had meet the captain on several occasions for she was a resident of the town and frequently to meet up with her friends.

As the captain walked up she turned her attention to him and introduced herself, “Hello I am first captain Ra…”

“Rainbow Dash” He said finishing her sentence and was slightly amused by the expression of confusion that showed on her and the guard’s faces.

“How do you know who I am?” she said.

“We have met before on several occasions in town here”

“No I don’t think we have, I would have remembered meeting… somepony like you.” She said looking even more confused and just a dash uneasy.

“We have, just about a month ago we had a lovely conversation in the park as we lay on the grass and watched the birds fly about. You just don’t recognize me because I didn’t look like this then. . This is my true form.”

“You’re a CHANGELING!? We had thought that they had been forced out of equestrian completely?”

“No I am not a changeling, I ca...”

“SILANCE! We shall see about that. Bring him we are going to see the princess. She will get to the bottom of this. Sergeant Broad-shield, go and get the others, tell them to meet us in the throne room.”

“Yes maim!” He replied with a salute just before he took flight to go gather the others.
Rainbow Dash turned back to him “No we are going to bring you to the castle and we shall see what kind of CREATURE you really are. Until then be silent and no funny business, I don’t want to have to kill you before we get some answers.” With that she turned around and started to walk off.

One of the guards motioned for him to get up and follow with a stern warning look that clearly said he would have no problem skewering him if he did try anything. Camo just sighed as he stood up and trotted along with his ‘escort’ still surrounding him. It didn’t take long for them to reach the castle from where he decided to make his presence known. He was still in awe of the castles sheer beauty. As he entered the castle he was shocked to find the inside was just as beautiful as the outside if not more so.

As they entered the throne room rainbow dash started to say something but before she could get a word out he yelped in surprise and was suddenly hit with a spell that sealed his alicorn powers away leaving him unable to use them and was lifted by a purple hazy field of magic keeping him from moving a muscle even in the slightest.

Quagmire

“I presume this ‘shield’ is of your design princess twilight? Very useful indeed, but not necessary. I have come here on my own free will and mean no harm to anypony. I would bow but I seem to be a little ‘tied up’ at the moment. Please forgive my lack of mobility.” He gave her his best disarming smile he could manage.

Her eyes betrayed the small amount of shock when he called her by name using the proper amount of respect and the correct titles with just a hint of sarcasm at the end. He could clearly see she had no idea what to think of him. She probably thought he was going to put up a fight at being shielded and held in a forcefeild or try and cause some sort of trouble and when he did neither it stunned her.

“How do you know my name? For that matter I have been informed you know my first captain as well. But seeing as how nopony here knows who you are, I don’t see how that is possible.”

“It’s very simple your highness. We have meet before though you and I never actually spoke, you just have not seen me in this form. I have me…”

“You’re a CHANGELING!?” She shouted as he was yanked roughly across the room towards her “I thought we had run all the changelings out of equestrian and off the continent! How did we miss you?”

Before he could respond she blasted him with a spell that made his whole body tingle but had no other effect on him. He assumed it was her spell that removed all forms of concealing magic from one’s body so that the ponies’ true form would be seen.

“As you can see I am no changeling. I am an alicorn just like you. Though I hardly doubt that even Celestia or Luna knew of the existence, or even the possibility of a male alicorn being born into this world. Seeing as how nopony in Equestria has ever seen a male alicorn before. Until me that is anyway. Where have the two sisters gone anyway? After they had retired they just disappeared.”

Another round of shock and gasps ran through those in the room as he said this.

“Everypony please leave now. Rainbow Dash you stay here. We may have need of our powers and I want all of you close at hand. How long until the others arrive?”

“It shouldn’t be long now Twilight. I sent one of the guards to go tell them to meet here shortly after I encountered this one.”

“Good”

“If I may say something?” I ask.

“You may. But be careful what you say.”

“The Elements of harmony won’t be necessary. I came to Equestria in peace and I intend to reside or leave the same way. If I have to I will fight you to protect myself but I really do not want to have to do that.”

“Are you threatening me? Because if you are you WILL regret it! How do you know that we are still attached to the elements?” Twilight said with just a touch of anger in her voice.

“Of course not, besides how dangerous am I to anypony right now being hogtied a trussed up like this? It was simply a friendly warning not to threaten me or I will have to defend myself by any means necessary. I am more powerful than you know. I have 1,500 years of experience on you in the uses of magic. If I really wanted to I could remove both your magic blocking shield and this force field with minimal effort, but it would take a very hefty toll on you if I did so. As for the elements, that is a no brainer. Why else would you want the others here?”

“That’s none of your business. And what do you mean by hefty toll?” Twilight asked cautiously.

“Have you ever experience a spell rebound?” Twilight nodded “Yes, well it is basically the same affect only ten times worse because I would be forcing the spell to rebound not just having it happen. Depending on the difficulty and power of the spell it could kill you. Frankly I don’t want my first true encounter in Equestria to be the death of one of its rulers on my hands.”

“I see. Is there any safe way to prove what you say is true?”

“Yes there is but I can’t show you like this. If you would be so kind as to set me down and remove your spells I would be glade to show you while we wait for the other four.”

"Not gonna happen, you think I would just let you go free without knowing if you truly are not a threat to us? I think not.”

“Well at least can I please stand on my own? I am starting to cramp up from being held in this force field. I assure you I mean you no harm. If it would make you feel better you could blind me so I can’t see that way you don’t have to hold me in this field.”

At that moment the door opened and a tiny little purple dragon entered the room.

Arrivals

“Twilight I came as soon as I heard. Whoa now that is something you don’t see every day. What is he?”

“He says he is an alicorn” replied Rainbow Dash

“Ah yes spike. I had forgotten that your assistant was still around as well seeing as he doesn’t leave the castle much. Spike would you be so kind and send a letter to Celestia for me telling her about this situation?” I ask.

“Um Twilight? How does he know about Celestia? How does he know who I am for that matter? We have never met before.”

“I don’t know spike that is what we are trying to figure out. But…” she turns to me “That is the first thing you have said I have agreed with since you have been here. Spike take a note, dear Celestia. I formally request your presence in Ponyville for there is a situation that has come up that has proven to be beyond my knowledge. It is difficult to explain. The situation will become much clearer when you see for yourself. Always your faithful student Twilight Sparkle.”

Just then the door opened again and in walked an orange earth pony being tailed by a yellow Pegasus.

“Howdy Twi, we came as fast as we could the guard that Rainbow had sent made it sound very important that we get here right away. What was it yo... Whoa nelly, now that is important.”

“Honest Apple Jack, you are actually the pony I had hoped would show up next. Though I’m surprised to see Fluttershy with you. But that is of no matter; I would really like for somepony to actually know I am speaking the truth when I say I mean no harm to anypony. Seeing as how your element is honesty and over the last 500 years it’s power has grown so you can now sense when others are being dishonest.”

“Um Twi? Did you tell him about me? Then how does he know me and my talents?”

“I honestly don’t know Apple Jack. He seems to know all of us somehow. The 'how' I haven’t been able to figure out.”

“Apple Jack could you please come over here so you can tell Princess Twilight that everything will be just fine if she releases me from her spells? I would really like to stretch my hooves out.”

Apple jack looks over at Twilight who nods for her to go ahead. “So the first thing I would like to know is what in the hey are yah? Where do you come from? Why should we let you free?”

“Well first off as you can see I am an alicorn male, though I am not the first but I am currently the only living male alicorn to my knowledge. Second I come from the lands beyond the Everfree, from a small town called Shadows Peak. As to why you should release me from this shield, it is extremely uncomfortable being bound like this and I mean you no harm. I came to Equestria in peace and I intend to either leave in peace or stay in peace. How this all turns out will decide whether I stay or go.”

“Um Twi, he is telling the truth as far as I can tell. You did put your magic sealing spell on him right? Well just to be safe I wouldn’t remove that just yet. He is after all unfamiliar to us so he may be able to counter my abilities. But I do believe it would be safe to remove the forcefeild and let him move on his own. I sense no bad intent in him right now.”

“Thank you Apple Jack. Twilight if you would? This is really uncomfortable. Fluttershy you can you can come out from behind Apple Jack now I’m not going to bite. Where are Rarity and Pinkie Pie? They should have been here by now.”

“How do you know about… oh never mind I’ll find out soon enough.” Apple Jack said after realizing it was a pointless question.

“They should be here any moment now. Speaking of witch here they are now.”

“Hey Twilight I stopped over at Rarities because I could feel in it my pinkie sense that’s there was going to be a dozy at the castle that would require all of us and before we could leave to get the others a guard showed up and told us to meet here right away and everypony else was on their way and boy what a dozy this is!” Not even sounding winded Pinkie giggles upon entering the throne room while bouncing like she does when she gets excited.

“My, what garish colored coat you have my friend. How unfortunate for you, you don’t look very friendly with that color scheme.” Rarity as usuall seeing only the ‘fashion’ standpoint of things.

“Other than the obvious fact I am a male alicorn, why else do you think I am trussed up like this? I have a very unfriendly looking stature. Twilight could you please put me down now?”

“I think it is safe to at least let him walk around. All six of us are here now so I think we can handle him if he gets out of hand.” The first thing Rainbow Dash has said since shortly after they had arrived.

“I suppose your right,” she turned to me “remember I will not hesitate to protect those that I love.”

“I understand, I would do the same thing in your position.” Stretching soar and stiff muscles from being held immobile for so long. “I promise you there is no need to fear me. I am not Tirek or king Sombra. I have come to know most of you over the last 500 years; I know your strengths and you weaknesses. I know each and every one of your personalities first hand with the exception of Apple Jack. I’m sorry but you I avoided because of your talent of reading when people lie. And I had to lie about who I reaIly was in order to get to know you ponies and Equestria. For I knew my physical appearance would have this very reaction. So I had to lie and I’m not proud of it but it was necessary. I hope you all will forgive me?”

“Why should we forgive you? For that matter why should we trust you? Hey Twi why don’t we just turn him to stone? After all we re-imprisoned Tirek and he escaped a second time so we turned him to stone so he couldn’t harm anypony again. Why take the chance with this guy?” Rainbow’s usual brash and rough solution for everything difficult.

“I think we should wait for Celestia and Luna to arrive. They should know how to deal with him. After all she taught me that if I didn’t think we could or we couldn’t handle a situation always ask for help. Who better to ask than her?”

Everypony in the room started fidgeting nervously while trying not to look like they were watching my every move. Finally after stretching out the soreness in my limbs I sigh and lay down causing every eye to turn towards me as I do so. After a short time the six gather together and start to whisper just soft enough that I can’t make out what they are saying. After what felt like hours the door opened and in walked Celestia and Luna.

“So my dear twilight what is this strange situa…?”

Suddenly in a flash of light Solar Flare and Nightmare Moon are standing were Celestia and Luna just were. Both of them were staring at me so hard it felt like I should be riddle with holes. For the second time today I was wrapped up in a forcefield before I could sneeze. Suddenly I was flying across the room so fast that when I hit the opposite wall there was a very loud crack. It sounded like the stones or something in me broke. The last thing I heard was Twilight shouting;

“Celestia stop! Control yourself! This is…”

Then everything went dark…

Surprises

Ugh my head. Why does my head hurt? I can’t move! Why can’t I move!!! What’s going on!?Oh that’s right; I’m in Princess Twilight’s throne room being held against the wall by Solar Flare’s forcefield. I think my scalp is split open but everything else seems fine. Doesn’t feel like anything is broken thankfully but seriously I really hurt. As I look around I can see Twilight arguing and yelling back and forth with Celestia. Thankfully Celestia and Luna have calmed down enough to resume they’re original forms. I did not want to tango with one of their alter ego’s let alone both at the same time.

“Um hello? I think I need some medical attention over here, I think my head is split open pretty bad. But seeing as I can’t move I really can’t tell you.” As Everypony turns towards me suddenly I see Fluttershy right in my face trying to look at the back of my head.

“Twilight he really does have a pretty nasty cut in the back of his head that needs to be taken care of right away. With him like this though I can’t even get to it to fix it.”

“I am not putting him down.” Celestia growled trying to drill holes threw my brain with her eyes. “He is a danger to us all; I will not threaten Equestria by letting him loose.”

“Celestia I think you may be wrong here. So far he has done nothing to suggest he means us any harm. From the time he was spotted in Ponyville he has done everything he has been told to do. He has not tried to escape or attack anypony. According to the guards that found him in town he was just lying in the center of town doing absolutely nothing. The ponies that first saw him said they didn’t even notice he was there until he stretched his wings out. They said it looked like he deliberately did it to get they’re attention. He has been nothing but calm and cooperative even after I attacked him.” She turns to me “I am sorry for that by the way. When I first saw you it terrified me. My first thought was that Sombra somehow had survived and had become an alicorn, but then you mentioned your change of appearance and it made me think of a hidden changeling but that idea was also wrong.” Twilight looked slightly ashamed but covered it up rather quickly.

“I believe Twilight is right sister, usually we are the one to suggest drastic measures but in this case we believe it to be safe to allow him to at least move about.”

“What are you saying Luna? Are you disagreeing with me?”

“Yes sister, while you have been arguing with Twilight we have been talking with the others and even had the guards and civilians come in and give they’re sides of the story. Every one of them confirms what twilight has just said. He has showed no signs of aggression or threating the safety of those around him. Other than what he is nothing about how he has acted thus far has proven to be threatening. While he was unconscious we delved his mind and found nothing but found feelings for five of the ponies in this room. He also has very fond feelings for one pony in particular here in Ponyville. We see that my knowledge of this worries you, don’t worry Camo we will not say to whom it is, we will let you do that on your own time. But the only pony we did not find any found feelings for was Apple Jack, we found fear when his thoughts turned toward her and we believe it was for her ability to tell if a pony lies. Upon further investigation of this Apple Jack confirmed this theory for me when she told me he had come right out and apologized for avoiding her for that very reason. we also found many memories of his visits into Ponyville over the last 500 years; he is almost as old as we are sister. His magic is powerful; it may even be stronger than yours my sister. Of this we am uncertain, but we are certain he is of no threat to us here in Equestria at this moment. As for his intentions here though we are also uncertain as to what they are.”

“What are you saying Luna? Are you saying we should let him go free?”

“No, but we think we can let him move about as he pleases without the spells currently on him. Yes Princess that does include your sealing spell. Don’t argue with me either of you that is what we think based on both Apple Jack’s talent to detect when people lie and our ability to delve into the unconscious mind. Neither of us sensed any attempt at hiding anything. But we do suggest we set a guard to keep watch on him to make very pony feel better and escort him about our lands. But we think that is a bit far seeing as how he has been here off and on for 500 years. Though we would like to speak to him alone for a few minutes before we continue. That is if you would oblige us Camo?”

“I don’t see why not Luna, seeing as you seem to be on my side at least a little anyway. What is this about?”

“We would rather not say right now, we would like to have a question answered first. If it would be ok with you Princess could we use your briefing room over there? Thank you this shouldn’t be long. Don’t worry we’ll be fine. He's not going to hurt me are you Camo?” I shake my head “see nothing to fret over. In the meantime sister please try to calm down. Your mane is still slightly aglow and your eyes still hold a small amount of Solar Flare’s fire in them. We understand your worry but it is for not.”

I followed Luna into a room adjoining to the throne room that I never even noticed because the door blended so well into the rest of the wall. As we entered Luna shut the door then cast a spell that blanketed the entirety of the room. I looked over at her with a quizzical look.

“It is a sound barrier, it only allows sound through in one direction, Inwards. It’s so we can talk in private. No one can listen in without our knowledge of them eavesdropping. So our first question, and probably the most pertinent question, how under control is your alto ego dark fire? Yes we know about him and we know when he first manifested himself. Remember we can enter your dreams and your mind while you sleep, but only the active portion of your mind. We cannot enter your subconscious or your memories that are not active. We have known about your existence for a long time, before you ask let us explain, we also can sense a pony’s presence in the cosmos.”

This fact she is revealing this secret to me is shocking because I was completely unaware that she had that kind of power, or the fact that she could sense my presence just as I could sense hers.

“Over the centuries we have honed our dream walking skills so well we have sectioned off the dreams of all of those that live here in Equestria from those that do not. The first time you entered Equestria and slept within its borders is when we first felt your presence; we first thought it was just a regular unicorn stallion dreaming himself to be an alicorn. But after 150 years your presence hadn’t aged or changed in its viewpoint. So we became intrigued. We did not inform my sister of this fact because at the time we were still imprisoned in the moon, but we still were able to enter the dreams of others but we could not interact with them. So we watched you closely hoping that when we finally escaped our imprisonment we would have an ally to help us defeat our sister. We have been watching you and studying you for quit a long time, that is why we know so much about you and yet we only met today. We knew you were not a threat from the start but we had to act like we didn’t know you at all to keep my own powers hidden from the others. We do not wish to alarm them. So if you would keep everything we have just told you between us we would appreciate it. Otherwise we can make things very difficult for you here if you know what we mean.”

“Now back to my original question, how much control do you have over your alter ego? That information is one of the few things e could not glean from your mind in the dreamscape.”

“He is completely under my control, after the first couple of times he appeared I was able to overpower him and take complete control. He is not a danger to anypony unless I wish it. But there is something that even you can’t glean from my mind no matter how hard you try even if you knew where to look. Male alicorn’s are not the same as female alicorn’s; we don’t have just one alter ego. We have two.”

A very shocked and scared look flashes across her face and is gone an instant later.

“The first is what you’d expect from and alicorn, a completely rage induced version of ourselves. The second on the other hand is much different, much more powerful, and much more dangerous for both the alicorn themselves and for anypony around them. The second alter ego is a combination of the original pony’s personality and his alter ego’s but with one very major difference, it is of the other gender. The female alter ego is extremely hard to gain control of. It is like you trying to take complete control of me, or me of you. It can be done given enough time and effort but few have achieved complete control of their alter gender. The other major difference between the alter ego and alter gender is that she cannot take over the original pony except under certain emotional circumstances. I have to be aroused in order for her to come out and either be allowed to take hold or for her to forcibly steal control. She can be pushed away again to the back of my mind but it is no easy task. That is why they are so hard to control. I have not gained complete control over her but I have gained enough that I hold sway in what she does and can interfere with her actions just enough to get her to grudgingly do what I want her to. She is not an immediate threat to anypony, but when she gets out she can become a danger if I let her have too much control. My alter gender is called Diamondfire Shadewings. She looks very similar to Dark Fire in body and mane but the cutie mark is different and so is the gender of course.”

“Why are you telling us this? If we can’t get the information for ourself then why not keep it hidden? Why entrust us with this piece of information?”

“Because now we both have something the other does not want spread around. Balance, there has to be a balance for harmony to exist. It is only right that if I know your biggest secrete then in turn you should know mine. That is the only fair way to go about things don’t you agree?”

“You make a very good point; harmony is balance between light and dark. Neither of us wants the other to tell what they know about the other so in order to keep their own secret quiet they in turn must keep the others quiet. Very clever, we did not expect that amount of cunning from you.”

“Thank you. When you become as old as we are you become good at a few things. Now was that the only thing you wanted to talk to me about? Or was there something more?”

“There was one other thing, why her? Most stallions’ either fawn over Rarity or Fluttershy, But why her? And has there been other pairings of that kind before? That has remained a mystery to me.”

“There is no direct way to answer that question. And we do not have enough time right now to go through the whole explanation. I just do. Maybe another time I can try and explain. And yes there has been pairing of that kind in the past and its results are the same as any other pairing. There is nothing different in that aspect.”

“That is a relief to hear, as long as we don’t wind up with another discord we are ok.”

“You don’t have to worry about that. Are there any more questions you have for me? If not I think we should head back out before some pony decides to come in a check if things are alright.”

“We believe you are right, it is about time for us to return. If we have any further questions for you we know how to find you…” she points to my head “You do have an easy to recognize dream bubble.”

“Hmm. I never knew that.”

Just before we exit the room she stops and looks at me “Remember what we said…” she doesn’t finish leaving me to fill in the ominous gap. She takes down her spell and opens the door and to my relief Celestia has calmed down and the others are sitting around doing what they usually do when waiting on something. The first one to notice our approach is obviously Celestia, I can tell she is worried about her sister having been alone with me even for that short amount of time.

“Did you get the answers you were looking for Luna? Would you be so kind as to let us all know what it is that you have found?” Celestia says with just a touch of annoyance at having to ask for the information.

“Yes we did sister, Camo proves to be no threat to us at this time and he has been here many a time before today as he has stated earlier. We think the rest would be best if it came from Camo, if you would be so kind Camo?”

“Well for starters I am an alicorn as you all know and with that come's the possibility of an alter ego manifestation like with Luna and Celestia. But there is one large difference between male and female alicorn’s. Females can only have one alter ego manifest itself. Males have two. One is the normal rage induced personality but the other is a combination of the first 2 personalities. And it is not just an alter ego but a alter gender as well, in other words female alicorn alter ego. She is much more dangerous and harder to control than the male alter ego. She can only take control when I am either truly aroused by my surroundings or by my own thoughts.. Without that, she will not be able to manifest herself, only the male alter ego will force itself into reality. I have complete control of my male alter ego but the female is much harder to control, I have gained primary control of her powers but she controls the body as of yet. I find it rather important to have control over the magic rather than the body for without the magic she is as harmless as any pegasi.”

As I explain more and more I see every face go from shock to horror with every word I say.

“So what you’re saying is that you have two different powerful personalities that can take control?” Pinkie Pie asks sounding kind of excited

“Yes, I do. Though now come to think of it I can show you my female alter ego if you would like, but only under one condition.”

“And what is that?” Celestia asks with a large amount of suspicion.

“That Princess Twilight removes her spell from me so that I can take control of her magic.”

Differences and similarities

“I fear Twilight is not strong enough to handle her kind of power as of yet. Seeing as my alter ego has almost 15 hundred years of experience on her and the fact I know how to control her magic and none of you do. I think it’d be wise to let me have control. I would also ask that the Princess place me within a barrier so that when I she comes out she can’t run off. That is if you want to meet her? I will leave it up to you all to decide. Oh by the way Rarity I think you would like her, she is very much like you in a small way.”

I move off to the side as they all look from one to another no pony wanting to speak first until Luna steps forward.

“We for one want to see this female alter ego of his. we accept his terms for us to do so. we have delved his mind and seen his actions first hand. There is no threat for us to abide to his terms.”

“I can’t believe I’m saying this but I agree with Luna on this one. He can’t be bad from what I have seen of em. And I have not sensed a single lie come from em thus far. On top of that I’ve never seen a stallion turn into a mare. So this ought to be fun.” Apple Jack walks over to stand beside Luna.

“If Apple Jack is up for it then so am I. This is going to but fun, besides nothing has happened around here in ages. I need some excitement, and if she gets out of hand well it would give me a chance to kick her but.” Rainbow Dash doesn’t even wait to finish talking before she flies over next to the other two.

“Well I hate to admit but if both Apple Jack and Rainbow are ok with it and with Luna being the first to step forward, then I guess I’ll go along with it even if it does mean I have to remove my spell.” Princess Twilight grudgingly walks over, looking the least enthusiastic of the bunch.

“If Twilight is willing to go along with it then I will too.”

“Me three!!!”

Both Rarity and Pinkie Pie move over to the group now standing opposite of Celestia.

“Um, I for one do not think this is such a good idea. I mean he is a strange creature after all. What if somepony gets hurt? I don’t want to see anypony get hurt. That would be just awful.”

“Fluttershy really? You’re going to stand against this? You were the only pony who thought to give discord a chance and look how that turned out? It turned out great! On top of that you were the first pony to actually touch him when you fixed his head! I would have thought you would have been before Twilight in agreeing with this.” Rainbow Dash said in exasperation.

“Well um I normally would of but um he looks kind of scary don’t you think?”

“Darling I know he does have a ghastly appearance but you can’t judge a book by its cover. Remember when we had that run in with poison joke all those years ago? We all jumped to conclusions because Zacora looked different from us. All of us looked right past the book that had all the answers just because of the cover and made assumption about Zacora being behind it all.”

I am a little insulted by the way Rarity answered that question but I let it go because it wasn’t the first time I have heard something like
that. After 2,000 years you kind of get used to hearing it.

“Rarity is right sugar cube. We have to give em a chance because it’s what’s inside yah' that matter'. He seems to be an all right pony.”

“All of you think this?”

“Umm hmm” the other five say in unison.

“Well I suppose I can go along with it even if he does look (gulp) scary.”
They all turn to Celestia standing by herself. She has a look of somepony that has just bitten into a rotting lemon.

“I still don’t think this is a good idea.”

“Celestia if there has been anything that I have learned from you over the last 500 years it would be to follow my instincts. My instincts are telling me to go along with this even though it goes against my better judgment.”

“Fine do what you want but keep in mind I am still against this idea. You and I are going to have a very long talk later about this Luna.”

“As we expected sister.”

“So I see you all have agreed to this. Before we get started Twilight would you be so kind.” I point to my horn. “Only I know how to control her magic but only just. She is much more powerful than I. Thank you now the barrier? Good that should do. Ok everypony here it goes. You may want to turn aside or shield your eyes.”

I reach deep within the recesses of my own mind and move aside for the one that is so beautiful and yet so very dangerous. My fur begins to glow, my mane and tail is set afire with a black heatless fire. I begin to glow brighter and brighter to the point I have to close my own eyes. I start to lift off the floor as the magic transformation takes hold. With a sudden flash the transformation is over.

Decisions and the bargain

I am curled up on the floor with my muzzle tucked under my wing and my tail wrapped around my flank. My mane and tail are dark black fire. My coat shimmers in the light as I breathe; it looks like thousands of diamonds are speckled across my coat. My eyes are a deep liquid crystal blue, I can hear the voices of the others standing nearby. It feel so good to be out in the open again, it has been way to long.

“Um Camo are you ok there sugar cube?”

“My name is not Camo silly little pony. You may call me Diamondfire for now.” I reply in a high and airy musical voice. “Camo is still here he can hear every word you say but I am in control of this body for now.” I uncurl myself and stretch my body for it has been so long it feels good to stretch. “Would you be so kind as to drop your barrier? I know what Camo told you but it is really unnecessary. How far do you think I can get without the use of my magic? There are four of you after all that could wrap me up before I could get more than a dozen steps. Rarity I am not a bowl of ice cream so stop staring at me like that.”

“But your coat is so beautiful. It shines so perfectly and your voice is just dazzling. How can I not admire true beauty?”

“Just stop staring at me ok? It gets very annoying him keeping me locked away like that. He never lets me have any fun.” A broad maniacal smile spreads across my face “I do really wish he would let me have my magic after all it is mine but alas he won’t let me.
Not after…”

“Not after what?” Celestia asks hinting that if I say the wrong thing this will be all over in an instant.

“Oh nothing, I was just thinking about the time I put fire ants inside of some ponies’ gown. No harm done, just a harmless joke.”

“That’s terrible! That is just down right mean, picking on a pony like that. I hope they were ok?”

“Yes they were fine. A couple of bites but that was it. I only used 10 ants. Just enough for a chuckle but not enough to really harm anypony. Do any of you have any questions for me before Camo decides he’s had enough and takes control again?”

“How do we know that he can hear anything we are saying right now? He never told us that, just that he can control your magic.”

“Somepony give me a phrase or a word that only is going to be said now that is easy to identify.”

“Oh, Oh, Me, Me, I got one! picklebarrel!!!”

“Of course only you could be counted on to come up with something really ridiculous Pinkie. That will do, the first word he will say when he returns will be Picklebarrel. Will that satisfy that question? Any others?”

“Can I touch your main? It looks so soft…”

“Um unless you want to get burned I would suggest not. It is actual fire. Just like Solar Flare and Burning Dawn. Hence my name Diamondfire, I shimmer like a burning diamond. On a side note Rarity you look absolutely radiant today.” I give her a sly grin and she lets out a little squee at the compliment “Any pony else got any questions? Camo is really itching to come back.”

“Yes actually just one. Why are you here? Camo gave us one reason but I want your reason why you are here in Equestria.”

“Well it’s as Camo said, we are tired of living in the lands beyond the ever free. We have come here in peace hoping to stay. But that is all dependent on those here in Equestria. If you all allow us to stay we will, if not we shall leave under whatever terms you set forth. Even with my intense scorn for my softer ego Camo I agree with his assessment of this situation in letting you decide under what terms our presence will be allowed. After all it is your responsibility to protect the inhabitants and maintain harmony. Plus I don't want to have to fight 3 alicorns and a unicorn at the same time. No offense intended the rest of you but in a fight using magic the 4 of you wouldn't be much of a fight.”

Now even Celestia looks taken aback at the calm and sincerity in my voice. They all look from one to another and back at me before grouping together and talking in hushed low voices that are just too soft for me to hear from within my bubble of confinement. Every so often Celestia looks up at me as if checking to see if I’m trying to do anything to escape or attack. It doesn’t take long before they all spread back out. Princess Twilight steps forward.

“We of the Council Of Harmony and its advisors have agreed you can stay in Equestria but under several conditions. Spike take a note.” she waits for him to get a quill and ink “Condition one; you are to be escorted every place you go in Equestria by two royal guards at all times until further notice. Two; if you decide to leave Equestria you must reenter here in Ponyville and must head straight to one of the following locations, the Carousel Boutique, the library , Sweet Apple Acres or the castle. From the other locations you will be escorted to the castle so you can have your escort assigned to you again. Three; if you are correctly identified without your escorts anywhere in Equestria and have not check in here in Ponyville your are to be brought straight to me and your prospects in Equestria will end right there. You will be removed from Equestrian lands and never allowed back under penalty of life imprisonment. Need I remind you of what happened to Tirek? Four; you are not allowed to use any concealing magic while in Equestria until further notice under the same penalty as stated in condition three. Five; your are to break no Equestrian laws and will be punished accordingly if you do so. Six; you are not allowed in any place of governance with the exception of the public arias of all the Equestrian castles. Seven; you will physically report to me when I ask it of you while in Equestria in the soonest physically possible time. Spike did you get all that? Good Now do you agree to these terms we have set forth?”

“I find them acceptable for the time being. But have just one question, when you say I must report to you when you call upon me do you mean me specifically? Or just this body whether it be me or Camo?”

“Whatever personality is in charge at the time must report to me. I am not going to ban your use of magic or ban your alter egos but keep in mind everything you do will be under close scrutiny. And I mean everything. The guards that will be escorting you around will report to me every night with your day’s dealings. And you will have a guard at night also so that whatever guards are with you during the day can rest. You will be permitted to move around during whatever time of day pleases you but only in a manner that allows both guards to follow you; in the event you want to go to a place that only one type of pony can reach such as CloudsDale for example, you must have two guards of that type of pony with you. I think that should cover everything. If you have no further question please sign here.” she points to the bottom of the page spike is holding out for me. “I will also have Camo sign as well but seeing as how Dark Fire is the normal alter ego brought out by rage I will overlook the lack of his signature. I don’t feel like dealing with another raging alicorn today.” As she throws a drowning glance at Celestia.

“Then it is settled I agree to your conditions but ask for one of my own. That we get to spend some quality time with all of you when you guys are not otherwise occupied with important matters. Do all six of you agree to this?”

They all nod one by one until Fluttershy is the only pony left to agree, slowly and reluctantly she nods. I sign the terms of my visitation to Equestria and Twilight Triplicates it and spike sends one to wherever Luna and Celestia are staying one she hovers over to me and the last she teleports to wherever she keeps all her important documents.

“Ok now that that’s out of the way why did you decide now was the time to finally show yourself? Why not do it years ago? That part is still a mystery to me. “

“That is a question better suited for Camo. If there is no more need of me then I will relinquish control back to him. I hope to see you all soon, especially you rarity…” I give her a sly little wink before letting the transformation begin. There is a slow building of light surrounding me as my form starts to change back. Then with a sudden bright flash it is all over. “Picklebarrel. She wasn’t lying when she said I could still hear every word you were saying. And Rarity she does seem to be somewhat taken with you a bit, to be honest I can see why. You too are very much alike. But I digress, back when I first started coming here Equestria was plagued with several bad characters, first it was Nightmare Moon breaking free of her imprisonment. Then it was Discord breaking free. Then it was King Sombra and the crystal empire returning. After that you had the rehabilitation of Discord. Discords seeds finally taking over. And finally you had Tirek twice. And that was just here in Equestria. That doesn’t count the several excursions you had in the other universe through the mirror. I saw all of this and thought now isn’t a good time to be a stranger in Equestria with all the chaos that is going on. Oh I almost forgot the two times Trixie tried to take over Ponyville as well. If you were me in that situation would you not have waited until things became stable again before coming out?”

“How do you know about the mirror? Oh that's not important right now. I see your point though, but why now? There was at least 300 years of peace and harmony before now? Why take so long?”

“Until about 100 years ago you were still grieving from the loss of your beloved Flash Sentury. I didn’t want to get tangled up in the emotional turmoil. I know how the loss of a loved one feels. I felt it when my parents died almost 2,000 years ago. It’s hard to think and even harder to make rational decisions in tough situations.”

“I see. I would have made the same decision in your horseshoes. Though the laying down in the middle of town and waiting to be noticed was a little unusual, but it was effective. I guess I’ll have to make an announcement like I did when I first met Zecora. I don’t want another town wide panic like that again. I might want to send notice to Canterlot as well; I presume you will be visiting there as well?”

“That’s probably a good idea, it’s bad enough I caused a ruckus this morning. And yes I do, Canterlot is beautiful. Celestia I do want to spend some time with you now that I’m going to be here in Equestria. That way we can get to know each other and Luna too of course but I suspect from your abilities that I’ll be learning more about you than you about me. Hopefully someday you will come to like me. Or at the very least not fear that I might be a danger and begin to trust me. Where is Discord? I would have though he of all ponies would have loved to see this whole event unfold. No matter, I’m sure we will meet eventually seeing as all of us here seem to have undetermined life spans its bound to happen. Now if you wish I will stick around for your announcement to the citizens but then I shall take my leave. I know it seems odd I just got here and now I’m leaving but I didn’t bring anything with me just in case you decided to do something rash like kill me or put me in the catacomb prison below Canterlot. I didn’t want any of my possessions to get taken from me.”

“Hmm, very smart of you. So when can we expect to see you back in Equestria after you get what you need from home?”

“Three days’ time. I will arrive at dawn on the third day. I shall come to the castle gates. I wish to spend some time with you first Princess after all you are in charge of the Equestrian Empire.”

Home again

To the groups surprise the whole town was just outside the castle waiting to see what was going on. Princess Twilight had made her announcement to the town. Apparently a strange alicorn showing up in town and being escorted to the castle followed by the hasty joining of the six members of the Council of Harmony and then the two former rulers of Equestria showing up and going straight to the castle caused more of a commotion than Twilight expected. Her surprise was evident if you knew what to look for. The others were less skilled at hiding they’re emotions. The speech pacified the town for the moment and they slowly drifted away to go about the daily routines of they’re lives. His leaving was met with many different responses from the towns’ folk; some were relieved to see him leaving others where in awe of him all-together. And yet some others saw him coming down the street and ran away in fear of him. Several shop owners shut the doors or drew the curtains as he passed by. It didn’t matter he had seven guards with him at the moment. None of them armed that anypony could see but all of them where unicorns. And several Pegasi were visible off to the sides just far enough away to look like they were just doing their rounds but they were just close enough that if they were needed they could get there in mere seconds.

Camo knew he was being followed by rainbow dash from the start, but he decided to look as if he didn’t know. She took her role as the First Captain of the royal guard and the head of Equestrian domestic defense very serious. He looked back at Ponyville from the hill he decided to take a short break for lunch atop. So he let her do her thing and follow him. She had turned back just before he reached the hill. Most ponies wouldn’t dare stop and stay in one spot long enough to do anything in the Everfree if they were alone, but he was no ordinary pony. Most species that lived in the Everfree learned to be wary of him over the centuries. Some still had enough courage to chalange him but they were few.
________________________________________________________________________________________________________________

Twilight watched as Camopony walked away from the castle with the guards she had asked to escort him to the edge of the Everfree. She didn’t trust him as of yet but something in the way he said he wanted to spend time with her first made her feel a little less wary around him and slightly intrigued. She wasn’t quite sure what it was but something about how he acted towards her was different from the rest but she just couldn’t put her hoof on it. It was obvious that his alter ego Diamondfire liked Rarity in a special kind of way. But that was none of her concern. Rarity could make decisions for herself. After all she was a little older than Twilight was and it wasn’t the first time a mare had shown affection for her. Over the years stallions and mares alike have fawned over her and only a few had succeded in having those feelings returned. Her concern was for all of her ponies, every last stallion, mare and fowl was her responsibility to keep safe. She just wasn’t sure how to feel about having a male alicorn in Equestria. The likes of him have never been seen or heard of in this part of the world before. That was her biggest problem at the moment, gaining knowledge about something that has never been known, and he was her only resource. He could feed her false information and she would never know until it was too late, a disturbing thought.

________________________________________________________________________________________________________________

Rarity was the first to leave the castle after Twilight made her announcement. She had many orders to fill and this little incident had put her behind a full mornings work. She would have to ask her great granddaughter to help her catch up. She already had her great grandniece employed at the shop. Unlike her late sister Sweetie belle, Sweetie belle’s great granddaughter was very much a designer like Rarity. Only four out of the nine great grandchildren (3 of the nine were Rarity’s) had taken to fashion and had studied under Rarity. The other six took up various other skills; two were teachers of music like her sister had been. One had become an acto0,r one had joined a traveling circus and the other two had moved to the big cities and did some sort of banking stuff that Rarity never really understood.

Camo was a very strange pony, but he seemed relatively pleasant. His coat was a rather unfortunate combination of colors that made her rather uneasy, but he was charming and polite. Diamondfire on the other hand… that pony was magnificent. She was sweet and charming and absolutely gorgeous, her coat sparkled like a thousand diamonds were powdered and spread all across her body, and even the fire of her mane and tail sparkled. And that cutie mark, a blue diamond on fire… oh she was just divine. What is with you Rarity? You don’t have time to be thinking about her you need to focus and get back to your Boutique and get those orders done.

________________________________________________________________________________________________________________

Apple Jack waited for Camo to leave before Excusing herself to get back the farm. It was apple bucking season and she couldn’t afford to waste any more time than necessary. The other Apples were waiting for her to return; after all she was the best of the six at apple bucking. After 500 years you become really good at it. As she headed back to Sweet Apple Acres her mind was turning, her first impression of Camo was that he was a completely honest and open pony yet something seemed a little off. She wasn’t sure what it was but he was not telling everything. He was holding something back but she wasn’t sure what it was. This bothered her, she was going to have to ask him about it when he got back from where ever his home was. No point in worrying about it. If Luna wasn’t concerned then why should she be?

________________________________________________________________________________________________________________

Rainbow dash followed this Camopony all the way to the Everfree forest and into it for a good ways to make sure he didn’t turn around and sneak back into Equestria. She had stayed just far enough back from him so he didn’t see her but not far enough that she would lose sight of him. She was satisfied after a fashion and headed back to the castle. She didn’t trust him any further than she could throw him with magic and being a Pegasus that meant not at all. She knew he was not telling everything, and neither was Luna. Both of them were hiding something, something they both knew about. She could tell by the way they looked at each other, like they were worried that the other would say something that neither of them wanted said. She needed to talk to Luna about this and she wanted Twilight there to observe and if necessary protect her from Luna.

________________________________________________________________________________________________________________

Pinkie Pie was already planning a welcome to Equestria party for Camopony seeing as how no pony knew him she didn’t know how to theme the party. She didn’t know if he had any favorite songs or games he liked to play or even if he liked parties. She just didn’t know enough to throw the most awesome party ever. She could only throw a great party. What a shame.
________________________________________________________________________________________________________________

Fluttershy thought he seemed really nice but he looked terrifying. She knew deep down she should give him a chance but she was just too scared. No pony with a look like his has ever turned out to be good. Everypony seems to have faith in him not to cause trouble but she wasn’t so sure. Granted she had been wrong about Luna and discord at first but they were different weren’t they? Maybe she was just being a scaredy pony; she was after all the most gentle and weakest pony around. She would have to talk with some of her animal friends from the Everfree Forest to see if they had encountered him before and find out what they knew about him.

________________________________________________________________________________________________________________

After Camo had finished eating his lunch (consisting of a few dandelions, some grass, and a few apples) he decided he should fly the rest of the way back to his house. Hopefully for one of the last times. He liked the quaintness of his home town but he didn’t feel welcome there. No pony did. In the lands beyond the Everfree (no official names had been given to the individual areas just the cities and the surrounding land) there was no harmony. No pony would stick up for somepony they didn’t know, it was every pony for them self. He grew tired of being by himself. No pony had ever become fond of him, he had no friends just a lot of acquaintances. Every pony knew him and respected him but never truly liked him.

He had little to no possessions of value, shortly after his parents had died and he sold the house and had moved into a cabin he had built a little ways out of town in the mountain forest a group of thugs tried to rob him thinking he had stuff of value being an alicorn and having just sold his old home. They found out really fast that not only did he have nothing worth stealing they also found out he should not be messed with. It was the first time his alter ego Dark Fire had surfaced. The thugs had tied him up and gaged him while they ransacked his home. He became so distraught that Dark Fire was born. The heat from his mane had burned away his bindings, the rage he felt for these thugs he unleashed on them. When he was done they were all lucky to be alive. Badly injured, but alive. After that no pony tried anything of the like again, the thugs soon spread word that he could have massacred them all in mere seconds but held back. In truth Dark Fire didn’t know how to control the full potential of his powers and because he couldn’t use them to their fullest, the thugs had escaped with their lives.

He had taken to helping those who didn’t possess magic or couldn’t fly by offering his skills in both fields for hire he didn’t ask much and everypony was willing to pay the small amounts he asked for. But because of the environment and the creatures that lived in the area no pony really wanted to get close to anypony else. Ponies disappeared every now and then because of that ponies were afraid that if they got close to too many ponies somepony they knew would eventually disappeared. It had been this way for longer than Camo had been alive. His home was small seeing as he was the only one that ever went there. He had been fond of a mare once, when he was very young, he had dabbled with the idea of engaging in a relationship with her but he couldn’t find the courage to ask her. So over the years they flirted and hung out, but never did anything really serious. She passed long ago; so long he couldn’t picture her face.

It was just about sunset when he reached the wild edge of the Everfree. He was getting exhausted so he decided to land and find a place to stop for dinner. He was only a few hours from his home town. He found a nice alcove just below the top of a cliff so he flew up and started to assemble what was left of the food he had from twilight and settled in to eat. He finished his meal and started on his way again.
When he finally reached his cabin he noticed that something was amiss. His front door hung at an odd angle and there were gouges straight through the door that looked like axe marks from this distance. When he got close they turned out to be really large claw marks. That’s strange what creature would attack his home? Nothing in these parts ever bothered him. The Ursa where all in the Everfree along with the Timberwolves. No cat in this regain was big enough to leave marks of that size let alone yank the door off of its top hinges. He prepared a spell just in case the creature that had wrecked his door was still inside.

Situations

His living room had been turned upside-down, no animal would ever touch most of what he had in here. The kitchen was just fine, if an animal was breaking into his house it would have been for food. So what had broken into my house, or who? He went to his bedroom next and found that everything was completely destroyed. The mattress was shredded by what looked to be the same claws as those that had been used on his front door. His closet was a mess and every lamp was broken and tossed across the room. Whatever they were looking for they really wanted to find it. Just what were they looking for though? And who had done this? As if on cue he heard a slight scuffing noise behind him and felt a set of eagle claws at his throat.

“Let go of your spell and don’t move or I’ll kill you. Don’t even think of using magic again. Very good, now tell me where is all of your money and valuables? I want everything you have that has any value to it at all. And don’t even think about doing anything stupid I have a crossbow pointed at you as well.” The claws moved away from his throat as he backed away from Camo. “Turn around slowly and answer my question. Where is all of your money?”

Camo did as ordered and saw that it was a griffon that had broken into his home and destroyed almost everything he owned looking for anything he could sell. “I don’t have any money, and as for anything of value you destroyed it. I have been alive for 2,000 years and have found no need for either expensive things or the need for money. The only things I had that held any value at all were the lamps you so recklessly destroyed. They were hoof made 1,300 years ago by my uncle. No they aren’t worth a single bit.”

“Don’t lie to me, you have to buy food and all sorts of things, you have to have some money. Now hand it over or I will shoot you.”

“I told you I don’t have any money. I have some silver bars though. But there is only one problem in retrieving them.”

“And what is that?”

“They are under a section of floor in the corner and I can’t pull the boards up without my magic. So you see the problem right?”

The griffon looked at him in thought for a second before he said “show me the spot and I’ll get them myself.”

So Camo led him to the corner of the room and pointed “The first six boards out from the wall is where I keep them all.”

The griffon walked over and started to tear at the floor while trying to keep an eye on Camo. Camo slowly inched his way back towards the door centimeter by centimeter. He was almost to the door when it finally registered that he was much farther away from the griffon than had been only moments earlier.

“Hey get back here!” he shouted as Camo dashed out the bedroom door. He hoped that the griffon hadn’t found his daggers. As he ran around the corner into the living room a bolt lodged itself in the wall where Camo’s hind quarters had just been. He was relieved to find that his daggers were still hidden in the mantle place. He grabbed them and threw several just as the griffon came into the room.

They struck him right in the torso, one punched itself into the griffons shoulder and two more plunged deep into his chest. The griffons arm dropped and the crossbow fell to the floor. The griffon coughed and spit out a large amount of blood on the floor. He looked up at Camo and said “It seems I underestimated you.” just before he collapsed on the floor. He coughed several more times before his breathing stopped and his eyes glazed over.

I didn’t know griffons were in this part of the world? They usually stayed on their islands, and don’t venture any further than Equestrian control on the continent. What was this one doing this far from his home? He was thankful for the fact it took the griffon so long to notice Camo had moved and hadn’t caught on to the fact that Camo had lied about his hiding place for his metal bars. On top of his skill for camouflage he had learned how to work with metals. They were in the room but in a different corner. He had several gold and silver bars but most of the ingots he had where of other less valuable precious metals. He had found platinum and copper ores along with some tungsten. All in all they added up to a hefty sum of money but he only had them in case he needed to barter for something he desperately needed. Most of the time he traded his services for the things he needed.

He went back to his room and found that his saddle bags were emptied but otherwise unharmed. He then began to pack the few things he still owned that weren’t destroyed. He went over to where he had his valuables stored and removed the floorboards. He placed all his ingots in his bags along with the pictures he had of his parents. He then went into the living room and grabbed the rest of his knives and placed them in his bags. He walked over to the dead griffon and removed the three knifes he had thrown. After cleaning them on the griffon’s feathers he placed them alongside the rest. He then picked up the crossbow and removed the bolt from the wall and tied those to his bags as well. After all he didn’t need it anymore. In the kitchen he grabbed some apples and carrots along with some dried apricots and oats. After filling the remaining room in his bags with food stuff he went back outside.

In his front yard he turned around and looked back at his former home.

“It’d be a shame to let this place fall into ruin. I think I will head into town and give the deed to the mayor in the morning.”

On his walk to the town he worked on what he was going to tell the mayor in the morning about what had happened in his home. As he entered the town he turned down Wing Street and headed for the local Inn, The Waltzing Pony. He entered the tiny Inn and headed up to the bar and asked for a room and was meet with a funny look from the Innkeeper.

“Don’t you have a cabin just outside of town?”

“Yes I do but because of recent events I cannot stay there tonight. All I require is your smallest room available for tonight. I will be leaving town in the morning.”

“When are you coming back?”

“I’m not.”

“Oh, I see. Well then that will be twelve bits. Oh I forgot you don’t use coins, I’ll go get my scales. Be right back Camo.” The Innkeeper walked into the back room and came out shortly holding a set of scales in one hoof. “No then that will be three ounces of silver.” Camo brought out one of his silver ingots and sliced off a few pieces and placed them on the scale. “All right here is you key, the room is the second door on the left, second floor. Have a good night Camo.”

He left the Innkeeper and went to the back of the Inn and began up the stairs. He entered his room and found it was really small but that was just what he asked for. He placed his saddle bags under the bed against the wall and moved the dresser in front of the door. Where ever the griffon had come from he was bound to have a partner and Camo wanted as much security as possible. His partner would investigate why he hadn’t shown up yet and go look in Camos’ house. And upon finding that his partner was dead he would want revenge and come looking for Camo. So the dresser in front of the door would cause some trouble for any pony trying to get in that way. He cast a spell that shielded the room from magical attacks. He also placed a spell on the window that would rebuff anything that tried to come in that way. Some would say he was being paranoid but out here in the ‘wild’ states if you didn’t watch your back no pony else will. Camo arranged his stuff for the night and drifted out to sleep with the worry of what he was going to tell the mayor about the dead griffon.

Plans and trust

He was sitting in the mayor’s office after handing him the deed to his home and telling him about the dead intruder. It had been three hours since the mayor had sent the coroner to go collect the body. He knew there would be questions and he had planned for the time it would take to answer them. That is as long as they didn’t detain him under suspicion of murder. Eventually the mayor walked back in with the town sheriff.

“Well I went to your home with the coroner but we didn’t find any dead griffon just a lot of blood and a hole in the wall from a crossbow bolt. It looked like something drug the body outside and then took off with it sometime late in the night. We did find evidence of the struggle and damage you described to us. And so far your story checks out, with the exclusion of the body. We did find some griffon feathers and fur threw out your home however. Even with that there isn’t enough evidence to fully prove your story. We would like to hold you until the search crew can come up with either a body or some other evidence to prove your story. Do you have anything to say?”

“Actually yes, I would like to be put up in the room I had last night at the in. And when you check me in tell the inn keeper vague conditions of what had happened loud enough so that other patrons in the room hear it. Soon the whole town will be talking about it and if the griffon had a partner he will hear the rumors and come looking for me as soon as he hears them, he will be wanting revenge. Then we can nab him and you can get the location of the body from him.”

“That would prove your story if that happened. There is only one problem, how will we be able to capture this accomplice? If we set up around the inn they will know. If we set up in the inn they will know. I don’t suppose you thought of a way to accomplish this as well?”

“Actually I have, all you need to do is drop me off and tell the inn-keeper that I am not to leave the Inn until you release me, and if I try to leave he is to detain me with force if necessary, and then go home for the night. I will take care of everything else. Once I have the accomplice in my custody I will send for you so you can come and deal with him. I don’t want any of your people to get hurt by accident and I want to get this taken care of right now. I am due in Equestria in two days time, they are expecting me. I have a non-lethal plan to catch whoever is behind this.”

“How do I know you won’t just flee? What insurance can you give me that you will keep your word? How do I know you can defeat this accomplice?”

“You don’t. You have my word and my word alone. I can’t give you anything more than that. You already own my home, what is left of it anyway, and once I leave this place I don’t intend to come back unless I am forced too. I killed the first one without so much as a single scratch so I think I can handle the second one. Now if you have no ideas to add and no objections I would like to get this plan under way as soon as possible. The sooner we get the rumor going the sooner we can get this whole thing solved. The sooner I can get my stuff back from you and leave this place.”

“Well you have thought this threw and so far as every pony can remember you have been a pony of your word so I guess I’ll trust you. Mark my words if you double cross me I will go to Equestria myself and ask to be allowed to arrest you. Do I make myself clear?”

“Crystal Empire clear. Now can I have my things back? You can hold the weapons for now but as soon as this is all said and done I want them back. All of them.”

“Well you seem to have this all played out so I agree to your terms shall we proceed?”

“Yes let’s proceed.”

______________________________________________________________________________________________________________

It was only early afternoon, the town mayor had just told the Innkeeper the short story of why Camo was back at the Inn and what had happened. So he sat in the corner of the Inn drinking some cider and listening to a handsome mare singing some reformed version of ‘The last stand of the stone king’. She had a lovely voice and could sing quit well but his mind was focused on other things (and his heart was tugging him towards another). He sat there and enjoyed his cider as he idly listened to the singer perform this eras renditions of the songs of old.

Several hours passed as he drank. He had just started his dinner when a pony he hadn’t seen around town before strolled in. He looked as if he had hastily combed his mane and fur and did a very quick clean up before coming in. He had a gruff and rough look about him that most would call ‘ruffian‘. Glancing around the room his eyes lingered on the singer for a moment with a clear dark lust in his eyes before moving on to scanning the rest of the room. As his gaze passed over Camo his right eyelid twitched and he was visibly fighting a grin. Camo watched as he walked over to a table and sat down so he could look at the singer but at the same time watch Camo without it looking like he was actually watching him.

Camo waved the Inn keep over and asked him just soft enough for his voice not to travel “Don’t look but do you know the gruff looking pony that just walked in? I didn’t think so, I don’t know who he is either and I think this is the guy that was working with the griffon that ransacked my former home. Treat him like any other pony. I want to see what he does, maybe I can leave town tonight if my hunch is right.”
Without asking any questions the Innkeeper went about his usual rounds talking with the patrons, bringing drinks and chiding his waitresses to stop the chitter chatter and get back to work. Camo sat for several hours drinking and eating while he studied the strange pony from behind his wall of illusion. Everypony in the room saw him enjoying his drink and food when in reality he ate his food with a lack of interest and stared at the stranger for some sign of what he was up to. He signaled the Inn keep after several hours of getting nowhere with his observation.

“I will be heading up to my room shortly” in a soft tone that was for the Innkeeper only “I am not going up to my room just yet but I’m going to make it look like I am. Tell all the waitresses that they are to leave my plates and drinks sitting here. To everypony in the room it will look like I have left for my room but I am leaving my wall of illusion in place so I can continue to observe our visitor. I want to know if the outsider is going to try and figure out what room I am in in some way.”

“All right I understand, and based on what the mayor told me I can deal with this for one night. Though it is a little unnerving that you have been hiding this whole time behind an illusion.”

“Well if you have no questions I shale take my leave. I do not wish to be disturbed until the town mayor arrives in the morning. Enjoy the rest of your evening.” As the Innkeeper walked away Camo made it appear that he had gathered his things and headed up to the second floor. As the illusion played out he took note that the new pony suddenly became very serious looking and followed the image out of the corner of his eye. Five minutes after the imaginary Camo left the room the stranger talked to the Inn keep got a key and left for the second floor.

He got up and followed the stranger up the stairs and just as he got to the top of the stairs he saw the stranger use a spell he assumed was to show him what room camo had gone to. As he passed Camo’s room he stopped, inspected the floor by his door, looked very pleased and released his spell before continuing on down the hall to his own room. After seeing this event Camo went back downstairs to talk with the innkeeper.

“My theory was correct, the strange pony that came in stopped to see what room I entered and after finding my room he went into the room you just gave him. Are any of the other rooms on the second floor currently occupied? No, good. Don’t rent them out, I will compensate you for the loss of revenue those rooms would have made you if anypony tries to rent them for tonight. Only on the second floor though, I don’t want any innocent ponies to get hurt if things get out of hand. Send a message to the mayor and tell him to send some pony to collect the accomplice. I will light two candles in my window when I have him secured. Under no circumstances are they to enter the inn until I light BOTH candles, make that very clear to them please.”

“I’m not your errand b…”

“Just do it, seeing as I can’t leave the inn you have to.”

“Ok fines sure thing, anything else? I’ll get right on it.”

“Remember two candles.”

“Got it.”

As the innkeeper left at a leisurely stroll Camo went upstairs hidden beneath an illusion in order to keep the trap set. As he got to the top of
the stairs he crept as quiet as he could to the door the strange pony had entered and placed his ear next to the door. He could hear some clicking and groaning noises of what he assumed was a crossbow being assembled. He crept back towards his room and entered dropping the illusion as soon as he closed the door. He placed several spells to alert him if somepony tried to enter his room from either the door or the window. He got comfortable and settled in to wait.

“… is there anything else I can help you with Fluttershy?

“No, I don’t have anything else at this time. Thank you Ironhoof for all your help.”

“Oh it was my pleasure to help out such a sweet and humble pony as yourself. I may not be as strong I was when I was younger but these old bones of mine still remember most of their youth-full strength. See you around Fluttershy.”

“See you around Ironhoof, have a safe journey home.”

“Don’t worry I will.”

A tinkling noise in his left ear brought him out of his daydream.

“I must have dosed off for a bit. Show time…” He said in a whisper that even a bat would have had a hard time hearing.

The tinkling continued in his left ear letting him know that somepony was trying to enter his door. He removed the spell he had on the door
so the warning noise would stop. He didn’t need any distractions. Camo got to his feet and stood ready and waiting for whatever the intruder had to throw at him. After what seemed like an eternity the intruder finally got the door unlocked and slowly opened the door. Once the door had reached about half way the pony slammed the door the rest of the way open launching himself into the room and coming to a sudden halt looking Camo dead in the eyes. He had a look of shock and disbelief on his face as he noticed his prey was waiting for him. It quickly vanished and was replaced by a look of rage.

“You killed my partner. Now it is your turn to die. Any last words?”

“Yah actually I do, do you feel lucky, punk?”

“Why you son of a!” with that he tossed his crossbow aside and lunged at Camo holding a wicked looking dagger in his right hoof. “You’re
a dead man!”

Camo and the intruder rolled around the room exchanging punches while struggling for control of the knife for several minutes. With an unexpected hoof to the chest winding the intruder Camo was able to knock the knife away. Several more minutes passed as the two struggled when Camo suddenly bucked the intruder into the wall. As he stood up he noticed that the intruder was slowly getting to his feet. Before he could react Camo landed one good solid buck to his head knocking him unconscious.

Camo searched him for any other hidden weapons then trussed him up tight enough that he probably would have bruises from the rope. Satisfied with his work he walked to the window and lite both candles. He watched out the window for a few minutes then suddenly he saw several figures running towards the inn. Within moments his little room was full of guards. The town mayor walked in with the marshal looking at Camo then at the trussed up pony lying on the floor.

“Well from the looks of you and him I’d say you decided to do things the hard way and have some fun.”

“When you have lived as long as I have you enjoy doing things the hard way for it has its own sort of thrill. His room is the last door on the
left at the end of the hall. I think you will find all the evidence you need connecting this stallion to the griffon that ransacked my former home.”

“Lightwing go check the room. Report back to me what you find.”

“Yes marshal.”

“Now what to do about this one…”

“Well I can wake him up so you can ask him a few questions right now if you would like.”

“Please do, seeing as things seem to have worked out a little too convenient for you I would like to ask him some questions.”

Camo performed a healing spell on the stallions’ head removing his concussion and causing him to wake up. As he glanced around the room his confusion grew into anger and hatred as he looked right at Camo.