Demon's Crest: Harmonic Affinityby Dragonborne FoxChaptersIntroA Challenge of the DevilsBeige MoonlightIntroDemon’s Crest: Harmonic Affinity Written by Dragonborne Fox Eons ago, many fiends fought tooth and nail for sacred objects called ‘crests.’ These objects, six in total, are said to grant the owner unimaginable power through a seventh said to appear when the six were brought together. Eventually, the fiends became extinct, save a notable few fiends who forgot about the crests much like time did. Humans perished as well, and a species of equine—ponies—took over in their stead, rebuilding the world as they—and a few other nations consisting of zebras, gryphons, and the like—saw fit. The Ghoul Realm, aptly renamed Tartarus by the ponies, served as little more than a prison for beings who had done unimaginable wrongs. Tirek was a prime example of this, having been re-banished after being defeated by the ‘most powerful magic of all’ despite having absorbed all known magic prior. Things weren’t all that peaceful after that, however. The Tree of Harmony—the very thing that held the beloved Elements of Harmony—had been destroyed, and the Elements themselves were nowhere to be found. There was no known culprit; nobody even really knew what had happened or why. ‘Who was responsible for such a thing?’ Many asked as they were told of the horrible news. There had been no answers, no leads, no anything regarding the incident. At least, until the newest princess, one purple alicorn named Twilight Sparkle, was brought a most peculiar book by a purple-and-green dragon by the name of Spike. The two stood in the Friendship Castle, a marvelous building made up of crystal a deep violet-blue in hue. “Twilight! You gotta check this out!” Spike cried, holding the book above his head. The cover was made of black leather, a most unusual choice for such a book, and it had a series of aged, dull yellow pages between front and back. Surely, the book had been old, perhaps a few centuries at least. “What is it?” Twilight asked, horn lighting up in purple. A similar aura grasped the book entirely, and it lifted out of Spike’s little hands and flew to her. The book had no title or author—if it did, then those were simply no longer on the book's cover. “Owlicious gave it to me. I don’t know where he got it from,” Spike explained, scratching his head with a single digit. Twilight opened the book slowly, and she found nothing pertaining to its origin on the first page, for much of the writing had been made illegible. She shot a glance at Spike. “What does this have to do with the current situation everypony’s going bonkers over?” she asked, blinking. “Nothing that I know of. I only read the first two pages,” Spike answered, shrugging his arms. Twilight sighed, and flipped to the second page. It was basically like the first page, except with black smudges dotting its frame here and there, and a big smudge making up the lower left corner entirely. The third page had nary a word on it. The alicorn sifted through the book quickly, finding either ink smudges, illegible words, or empty pages throughout. “Why would a book contain something that can’t be read?” the mare asked, sifting through the book again. “Hay, why doesn’t it even have a title?” “I’m not sure. It looks pretty old, though. I think it didn’t age properly,” the little dragon stated, walking until he stood at Twilight’s side. “You could have a point. I think we should send it to Celestia and see if she knows anything about it,” the winged unicorn agreed with a nod of her head. Spike ran off somewhere, and Twilight turned around to follow him in a collective trot. “Who knows? Perhaps we should keep the book or something,” the small reptile said as soon as he was done running back to the alicorn with a piece of paper and a quill in his hands. “I dunno, Spike. It’s practically half-empty and unreadable,” Twilight pointed out, sighing afterwards at that fact alone. “It didn’t even give me a hint of what it was supposed to be.” “Alright, if you say so,” Spike replied, blinking as the quill and paper were enveloped in a purple aura that pried them from his hands and caused them to float to the alicorn. She began to write on the paper with the quill, hasty but calculating movements making sentences and the like describing the situation involving the book. The quill stopped, and Twilight rolled the paper up. She then returned it to Spike. “You know the drill,” she sighed flatly. The dragon nodded, and took a deep breath before exhaling green fire all over the paper. As the paper burned, wisps of smoke emanated from it and seemed to have flown away in a nonexistent breeze of some kind. Just then, a howl mixed with a shriek permeated the crystal hallway. Twilight turned around to its source, a beast with a horned head, sharp beak, wings of feathers making up its forelimbs, and bulky back legs ending in fearsome talons. The whole thing was dull brown, save for the tips of the feathers, which were a stark light grey in color. Its beak and talons were yellow, as were its narrowed and piercing eyes. It had a lion’s tail, so thin in comparison to the rest of its bulky frame. The horns, two in total, were curving upward on its head, and there were elongated ears at the sides. Spike shrieked in surprise, watching as Twilight flared her wings as wide as they could go. Her horn lit up in purple, and the monster let off another shrieking howl before it flared its own wings. They were a little bigger than the alicorn’s set of wings, and it began to flap them quickly. Twilight flapped her wings too, and before long, both beings were airborne. Twilight fired a blast of energy at the beast, and to her surprise, the bulky brute dodged with ease and grace—something that should not be possible for it, considering its unusual frame. The beast roared again, briefly shielding itself with its wings before spreading them again, firing an array of feathers at the alicorn. Twilight dodged, one feather barely making a cut on her left cheek, before the feathers impaled themselves into the wall behind her. The alicorn shot a glance at the anomaly, eyes widening as she quickly realized the feathers were razor-sharp as knives. She glanced back at the beast, only to find it rushing at her whilst preparing those talons it possessed. Twilight’s horn flared up, and she vanished in a flash of light. The beast stopped, flapping its wings whilst darting its head every which-way to figure out where its opponent had gone off too. Twilight reappeared above it, firing another blast of energy at it. It hit the beast right on top of its head, and it roared before flapping its wings uselessly as it descended to the ground. A white aura bathed it as it slowly turned to stone then and there. “What was that?” Spike asked as the beast began to crumble into naught but dust. Twilight couldn’t answer, for she didn’t have an answer. A Challenge of the Devils“Spike, send the book to Celestia immediately,” Twilight commanded, turning to a large nearby window. She trotted to it and looked outside. Night had graced the land, but the moon was an eerie beige this time. Much of the land was bathed in its light, this odd but glorious full moon sending a single chill down the alicorn’s spine. Spike did as told, then ran up to the mare. “Something wrong?” he asked. “I dunno. Something doesn’t seem quite right, though,” Twilight answered, shaking her head. She flared her wings wide, as if about to take flight. Spike clambered onto Twilight’s midsection, making sure to avoid her wings. “Well, we won’t know just by sitting around here,” he pointed out. “You’re right about that,” Twilight agreed with another nod. She took to the air, her form bathed in the shimmering moonlight. The mare scanned the landscape below, but nothing seemed out of place. Aside from the monster that attacked her earlier and the moon, what was it that was not quite right here? “Land near the town hall,” spoke a voice, a deep masculine that sounded like it came from everywhere and nowhere at once. A deep, demonic, ethereal tone that faded as quick as it had come. Twilight arched a brow, glancing around at her surroundings once. Who was that which had spoken to her, and where was it? “Land,” the voice repeated in a stern tone, once more fleeting into the night like a gust of wind. Twilight sighed, doing just as told. Next to the town hall, bathed in moonlight, stood an apparition of some kind. The figure was bipedal, hands and feet ending in talons. Bangles on the shins and wrists shone brightly, and bat-like wings of blackest hue were folded behind the muscular frame. The skin was toned and crimson, almost as if caked in the blood of thousands. The head was the oddest feature of all, sporting a protrusion that made it appear vaguely cone-shaped. “Who are you?” the alicorn asked, approaching the figure. Spike hopped off her back to get a better look at the biped. “My name is Firebrand,” replied the figure. His eyes, gold in hue, twinkled in the dark. “And I’m not going to the afterlife right yet.” “Why?” Twilight asked, blinking. “Because…” Firebrand trailed off, spreading his wings wide, “...I need to have one final worthy opponent.” Twilight gawked. “You want to fight?!” she protested, her eyes widening. “Verily,” Firebrand replied with a hellish sneer. He began flapping his wings, lifting himself off the ground with ease. “I’ve watched the world turn. I’ve watched you, Miss Sparkle—who better to have a worthy opponent than a princess of this land?” With that, he charged at her, claws ready to strike at the alicorn. Twilight backed off, flapping her own wings to fly in order to dodge. Firebrand kept coming for her, delivering a swift series of punches, clawed kicks, and swipes of his feet-talons. Even a headbutt or two with his misshapen head was thrown into the mix. The alicorn, to retaliate, threw bolts of magic at him, but they phased right through him as if he weren’t even there. She teleported out of the way, appearing behind the creature, but he turned right around and flashed her another dark smile. “I’d expected no less from the princess of magic and friendship,” he remarked, eyes glinting once more, “But I’m only getting warmed up.” Cracking his knuckles and popping his neck for a moment, he then rushed at the alicorn once more, preparing his claws for another series of deadly swipes. He was moving faster, as if with renewed vigor, a single swipe of his claw landing on Twilight’s cheek and causing her to get sent a ways back. Blood trickled from the shallow wounds, and the alicorn simply shrugged it off. Firebrand rushed at her once more, but she stood still this time. When he was close enough, she turned around and bucked him with her back hooves mid-air, and the hit connected. The bipedal creature backed off, merely shaking his head to shrug off the bout of pain he had just received. “Changing tactics, are we?” Firebrand asked, smiling again. Twilight turned back to him and smiled back. “That was a good kick, for one not adept at such a feat. But it’s going to take more than that to shake me off.” He lunged at her once more, head positioned as he was preparing to headbutt the alicorn. She flew around him and quickly bucked him right between the wings. Firebrand let off a surprised yelp, plummeting to the ground for a moment or two before being airborne again—mere inches from the ground. Before he could even react, Twilight teleported to him quick as a whip and bucked him square in the stomach. The creature collapsed onto his knees, looking down at the ground. Twilight landed before him, watching as he looked up at her with yet another grin adorning his face. “That was...a great battle. The greatest I’ve had since so long ago,” Firebrand said, a light beginning to envelop his form. “Do you know anything about the disappearance of the Elements of Harmony?” Twilight asked with a frown. Firebrand shook his head. “I’ve not seen them vanish,” he replied flatly, “I watched you all this time instead.” The light around him began glowing brighter. “What do you know about the monster that attacked me?” Twilight inquired, her wings shifting. “A fiend from my homeland. Hippogryph, if I recall correctly,” Firebrand answered, closing his eyes briefly. “I’m not sure why it went after you, though, or why it was alive. I’m pretty sure I slayed it and its kin.” “You...killed it?” Twilight asked, eyes wide. “Had to. I did not have a say,” Firebrand replied with a nod of his head. "Back in my days, it was kill or be killed." “And what about the black book?” Spike pointed out as he approached the two. Firebrand looked at the dragon and his smile faded. “That tome—if it could be called that now—held scores of information that you and your friends wouldn’t begin to comprehend. As time passed, those scores of information had been mangled…” he replied, the light glowing brighter still. “I know not how to restore it, sadly…” the biped added flatly, once more shaking his head. “Do you know how to get the Elements of Harmony back?” the alicorn asked, worry lining her voice. “I know of only one so far,” Firebrand answered. He gestured towards the Everfree Forest with a hand. “The ruined castle may hold answers which escape me…” Before he could finish speaking, the light glowed so bright it blinded the alicorn and dragon for a moment before dissipating. When it vanished, Firebrand was no longer there. Twilight looked in the direction of the forest, eyelids slanting in worry. Spike clambered onto her back again, also looking in that direction with worry on his face. “I think we may need to get the girls…” the alicorn murmured, ears falling flat on her skull. Beige MoonlightThe alicorn and her assistant shuddered as they hesitantly approached Fluttershy’s cottage, and not because it sat dangerously close to the Everfree Forest. The scar that blemished Twilight’s face had scabbed over, the dried blood lingering as though a stain that would not leave a carpet no matter how much cleaning solution was applied. The pony and dragon duo paused, warily glancing around. Since that hippogryph or whatever-it-was that Firebrand called it had attacked them from nowhere for seemingly no reason, they were tense. To lose one’s guard with these most peculiar circumstances was just asking for trouble this night. A chilling breeze blew past, which was odd because the night air was very warm. The mare shuddered, a feeling of dread sinking in her gut as her mane billowed in the brief gust of wind. Spike frowned, worry flashing in his cat-like eyes as dread sank in him just the same. “Twilight, why is the wind cold?” he asked, getting a glance from his companion. Twilight frowned, eyelids slanting. “I don’t know, Spike,” she paused to glance at the sky for a minute. It was empty, save the stars, beige moon, and sparse clouds and cloud-homes already present. “I don’t see any pegasus ponies out this night,” the mare answered with a sigh, turning back to the dragon. “If it was one of those big gnarly hippogryphs who made the wind cold, then I don’t want to know what else they can do,” the reptile murmured. An image of the wretched creature feeding on a fresh carcass ran with reckless abandon through the alicorn’s mind, and she cringed before shaking her head as if to rid herself of the horrid thought. “Yeah, I don’t want to know either,” she agreed with a hesitant nod as they resumed on their path to the yellow pegasus’s house. “What if Discord’s behind all of this mumbo-jumbo?” Spike questioned, rubbing his chin with a claw as the idea bounced about in his head. “If he is, me and the girls would have talked some sense into him by now,” Twilight retorted, once more shaking her head as the cottage came into view. “And besides, he’s changed since Tirek drained him of his magic. I don’t see why he’d send that thing after me.” “I suppose you’re right,” the reptile replied, jumping onto Twilight’s backside like there was a saddle between her wings with his name written all over it. He glanced around, finding nothing within the moon’s eerie light that could betray a possible threat. Within moments, the two were in front of the cottage door. Twilight rose a hoof and knocked a few times, pounding fast and hard. “Fluttershy! Can you come out here? It’s urgent!” she cried. There was no answer to be had. Was the pegasus still asleep, or was she elsewhere? Twilight knocked again, this time harder and faster. Still no answer came to her. Another chilling breeze blew past, once more lifting the alicorn’s mane in its breath as it came and went. “Maybe we should get the other girls and then come back?” Spike proposed, scratching his head a bit. The mare nodded, and as she spread her wings and prepared to take to the air, she heard the sound of hooves hitting the wooden floor coming from behind the door. After a few moments, the door opened, and behind it stood Fluttershy. The pegasus’s mane was frazzled and tangled, as if she went to bed immediately after taking a shower without bothering to towel off first. “Twilight, what are you doing at this time of night?” she asked, her heavy eyelids blinking a bit. “It’s urgent, Fluttershy. Some...thing told me that he knows where one of the Elements of Harmony disappeared to,” the alicorn answered, her wings closing and shifting awkwardly. Fluttershy blinked again, her eyes widening as the words of her friend registered in her mind. “Who did?” the butter yellow mare questioned, wanting to know more of this ‘something’ that Twilight spoke of. “There’s no time for that; we need to get the rest of the girls. It’s…” Twilight paused, eyes averting this way and that as she searched for words. “It’s in the Everfree Forest,” she finished, looking back at the pegasus. The pegasus gawked, shaking her head as her eyes widened further. “In...the...Everfree?” she squeaked, her jaw dropping open like a loose trapdoor. “This is why we need to get the others, Fluttershy. Let’s head to Sweet Apple Acres and get Applejack,” Twilight replied with a nod of her head. She turned around, briefly glancing at the pegasus. “And stay close; something attacked me from out of the blue earlier.” The mare left the cottage with slow, cautious movements, making sure to close the door behind her. “What attacked you?” she murmured, only now noticing the wound that had healed upon her companion’s face. “I don’t know,” the alicorn replied, shaking her head. “But we gotta keep going,” she added, turning to the trail and starting to trot back into town. Reluctantly, the pegasus followed her, heeding her advice and staying close by. The two were, eventually, back in town. The streets were silent, bathed in a veil of moonlight. The two mares and dragon warily glanced around, with Twilight spotting a strange figure lurching its way towards their intended destination. It didn’t look like a pony; if anything, it was far from equine in shape. It looked like a tattered, dirty white cloak concealing whatever was shambling about. “Excuse me, what are you doing here?” Twilight asked, trotting up to the creature. It turned to her, revealing eyeholes in its all-covering garment. It turned an appendage to her, similar to those of Firebrand in fact, except blue in color and the claws were dull and not well-cared for. “Flesh…” the thing moaned, a hollow voice echoing as it tried to snatch the alicorn with its hands. Twilight jumped back before it could touch her, now sensing ill intent from this...thing. It lurched towards her, the eye-holes aglow in vivid crimson as the hands shifted forward. Before it could get any closer, the alicorn lit up her horn and fired a magic blast that caused it to turn into little more than dust. “What was that for?” Fluttershy asked, trotting up to her fellow mare with ears flat on her skull. “It would’ve harmed me, Fluttershy. And besides, I didn’t know what it could do,” the alicorn replied with a frown on her muzzle. “I’ve...been on edge lately.” “That’s not good,” the pegasus sighed, now frowning herself. “Exactly. If it could hurt me, then it could hurt you too. I don’t want that to happen,” Twilight nodded, starting another slow trot to the Acres. The pegasus followed her every movement, worry flashing in her eyes as she did. And both mares froze as a loud scream echoed all around them, one that was ear-piercing and shrill and accompanied by another cold gust of wind.
IntroDemon’s Crest: Harmonic Affinity Written by Dragonborne Fox Eons ago, many fiends fought tooth and nail for sacred objects called ‘crests.’ These objects, six in total, are said to grant the owner unimaginable power through a seventh said to appear when the six were brought together. Eventually, the fiends became extinct, save a notable few fiends who forgot about the crests much like time did. Humans perished as well, and a species of equine—ponies—took over in their stead, rebuilding the world as they—and a few other nations consisting of zebras, gryphons, and the like—saw fit. The Ghoul Realm, aptly renamed Tartarus by the ponies, served as little more than a prison for beings who had done unimaginable wrongs. Tirek was a prime example of this, having been re-banished after being defeated by the ‘most powerful magic of all’ despite having absorbed all known magic prior. Things weren’t all that peaceful after that, however. The Tree of Harmony—the very thing that held the beloved Elements of Harmony—had been destroyed, and the Elements themselves were nowhere to be found. There was no known culprit; nobody even really knew what had happened or why. ‘Who was responsible for such a thing?’ Many asked as they were told of the horrible news. There had been no answers, no leads, no anything regarding the incident. At least, until the newest princess, one purple alicorn named Twilight Sparkle, was brought a most peculiar book by a purple-and-green dragon by the name of Spike. The two stood in the Friendship Castle, a marvelous building made up of crystal a deep violet-blue in hue. “Twilight! You gotta check this out!” Spike cried, holding the book above his head. The cover was made of black leather, a most unusual choice for such a book, and it had a series of aged, dull yellow pages between front and back. Surely, the book had been old, perhaps a few centuries at least. “What is it?” Twilight asked, horn lighting up in purple. A similar aura grasped the book entirely, and it lifted out of Spike’s little hands and flew to her. The book had no title or author—if it did, then those were simply no longer on the book's cover. “Owlicious gave it to me. I don’t know where he got it from,” Spike explained, scratching his head with a single digit. Twilight opened the book slowly, and she found nothing pertaining to its origin on the first page, for much of the writing had been made illegible. She shot a glance at Spike. “What does this have to do with the current situation everypony’s going bonkers over?” she asked, blinking. “Nothing that I know of. I only read the first two pages,” Spike answered, shrugging his arms. Twilight sighed, and flipped to the second page. It was basically like the first page, except with black smudges dotting its frame here and there, and a big smudge making up the lower left corner entirely. The third page had nary a word on it. The alicorn sifted through the book quickly, finding either ink smudges, illegible words, or empty pages throughout. “Why would a book contain something that can’t be read?” the mare asked, sifting through the book again. “Hay, why doesn’t it even have a title?” “I’m not sure. It looks pretty old, though. I think it didn’t age properly,” the little dragon stated, walking until he stood at Twilight’s side. “You could have a point. I think we should send it to Celestia and see if she knows anything about it,” the winged unicorn agreed with a nod of her head. Spike ran off somewhere, and Twilight turned around to follow him in a collective trot. “Who knows? Perhaps we should keep the book or something,” the small reptile said as soon as he was done running back to the alicorn with a piece of paper and a quill in his hands. “I dunno, Spike. It’s practically half-empty and unreadable,” Twilight pointed out, sighing afterwards at that fact alone. “It didn’t even give me a hint of what it was supposed to be.” “Alright, if you say so,” Spike replied, blinking as the quill and paper were enveloped in a purple aura that pried them from his hands and caused them to float to the alicorn. She began to write on the paper with the quill, hasty but calculating movements making sentences and the like describing the situation involving the book. The quill stopped, and Twilight rolled the paper up. She then returned it to Spike. “You know the drill,” she sighed flatly. The dragon nodded, and took a deep breath before exhaling green fire all over the paper. As the paper burned, wisps of smoke emanated from it and seemed to have flown away in a nonexistent breeze of some kind. Just then, a howl mixed with a shriek permeated the crystal hallway. Twilight turned around to its source, a beast with a horned head, sharp beak, wings of feathers making up its forelimbs, and bulky back legs ending in fearsome talons. The whole thing was dull brown, save for the tips of the feathers, which were a stark light grey in color. Its beak and talons were yellow, as were its narrowed and piercing eyes. It had a lion’s tail, so thin in comparison to the rest of its bulky frame. The horns, two in total, were curving upward on its head, and there were elongated ears at the sides. Spike shrieked in surprise, watching as Twilight flared her wings as wide as they could go. Her horn lit up in purple, and the monster let off another shrieking howl before it flared its own wings. They were a little bigger than the alicorn’s set of wings, and it began to flap them quickly. Twilight flapped her wings too, and before long, both beings were airborne. Twilight fired a blast of energy at the beast, and to her surprise, the bulky brute dodged with ease and grace—something that should not be possible for it, considering its unusual frame. The beast roared again, briefly shielding itself with its wings before spreading them again, firing an array of feathers at the alicorn. Twilight dodged, one feather barely making a cut on her left cheek, before the feathers impaled themselves into the wall behind her. The alicorn shot a glance at the anomaly, eyes widening as she quickly realized the feathers were razor-sharp as knives. She glanced back at the beast, only to find it rushing at her whilst preparing those talons it possessed. Twilight’s horn flared up, and she vanished in a flash of light. The beast stopped, flapping its wings whilst darting its head every which-way to figure out where its opponent had gone off too. Twilight reappeared above it, firing another blast of energy at it. It hit the beast right on top of its head, and it roared before flapping its wings uselessly as it descended to the ground. A white aura bathed it as it slowly turned to stone then and there. “What was that?” Spike asked as the beast began to crumble into naught but dust. Twilight couldn’t answer, for she didn’t have an answer.
A Challenge of the Devils“Spike, send the book to Celestia immediately,” Twilight commanded, turning to a large nearby window. She trotted to it and looked outside. Night had graced the land, but the moon was an eerie beige this time. Much of the land was bathed in its light, this odd but glorious full moon sending a single chill down the alicorn’s spine. Spike did as told, then ran up to the mare. “Something wrong?” he asked. “I dunno. Something doesn’t seem quite right, though,” Twilight answered, shaking her head. She flared her wings wide, as if about to take flight. Spike clambered onto Twilight’s midsection, making sure to avoid her wings. “Well, we won’t know just by sitting around here,” he pointed out. “You’re right about that,” Twilight agreed with another nod. She took to the air, her form bathed in the shimmering moonlight. The mare scanned the landscape below, but nothing seemed out of place. Aside from the monster that attacked her earlier and the moon, what was it that was not quite right here? “Land near the town hall,” spoke a voice, a deep masculine that sounded like it came from everywhere and nowhere at once. A deep, demonic, ethereal tone that faded as quick as it had come. Twilight arched a brow, glancing around at her surroundings once. Who was that which had spoken to her, and where was it? “Land,” the voice repeated in a stern tone, once more fleeting into the night like a gust of wind. Twilight sighed, doing just as told. Next to the town hall, bathed in moonlight, stood an apparition of some kind. The figure was bipedal, hands and feet ending in talons. Bangles on the shins and wrists shone brightly, and bat-like wings of blackest hue were folded behind the muscular frame. The skin was toned and crimson, almost as if caked in the blood of thousands. The head was the oddest feature of all, sporting a protrusion that made it appear vaguely cone-shaped. “Who are you?” the alicorn asked, approaching the figure. Spike hopped off her back to get a better look at the biped. “My name is Firebrand,” replied the figure. His eyes, gold in hue, twinkled in the dark. “And I’m not going to the afterlife right yet.” “Why?” Twilight asked, blinking. “Because…” Firebrand trailed off, spreading his wings wide, “...I need to have one final worthy opponent.” Twilight gawked. “You want to fight?!” she protested, her eyes widening. “Verily,” Firebrand replied with a hellish sneer. He began flapping his wings, lifting himself off the ground with ease. “I’ve watched the world turn. I’ve watched you, Miss Sparkle—who better to have a worthy opponent than a princess of this land?” With that, he charged at her, claws ready to strike at the alicorn. Twilight backed off, flapping her own wings to fly in order to dodge. Firebrand kept coming for her, delivering a swift series of punches, clawed kicks, and swipes of his feet-talons. Even a headbutt or two with his misshapen head was thrown into the mix. The alicorn, to retaliate, threw bolts of magic at him, but they phased right through him as if he weren’t even there. She teleported out of the way, appearing behind the creature, but he turned right around and flashed her another dark smile. “I’d expected no less from the princess of magic and friendship,” he remarked, eyes glinting once more, “But I’m only getting warmed up.” Cracking his knuckles and popping his neck for a moment, he then rushed at the alicorn once more, preparing his claws for another series of deadly swipes. He was moving faster, as if with renewed vigor, a single swipe of his claw landing on Twilight’s cheek and causing her to get sent a ways back. Blood trickled from the shallow wounds, and the alicorn simply shrugged it off. Firebrand rushed at her once more, but she stood still this time. When he was close enough, she turned around and bucked him with her back hooves mid-air, and the hit connected. The bipedal creature backed off, merely shaking his head to shrug off the bout of pain he had just received. “Changing tactics, are we?” Firebrand asked, smiling again. Twilight turned back to him and smiled back. “That was a good kick, for one not adept at such a feat. But it’s going to take more than that to shake me off.” He lunged at her once more, head positioned as he was preparing to headbutt the alicorn. She flew around him and quickly bucked him right between the wings. Firebrand let off a surprised yelp, plummeting to the ground for a moment or two before being airborne again—mere inches from the ground. Before he could even react, Twilight teleported to him quick as a whip and bucked him square in the stomach. The creature collapsed onto his knees, looking down at the ground. Twilight landed before him, watching as he looked up at her with yet another grin adorning his face. “That was...a great battle. The greatest I’ve had since so long ago,” Firebrand said, a light beginning to envelop his form. “Do you know anything about the disappearance of the Elements of Harmony?” Twilight asked with a frown. Firebrand shook his head. “I’ve not seen them vanish,” he replied flatly, “I watched you all this time instead.” The light around him began glowing brighter. “What do you know about the monster that attacked me?” Twilight inquired, her wings shifting. “A fiend from my homeland. Hippogryph, if I recall correctly,” Firebrand answered, closing his eyes briefly. “I’m not sure why it went after you, though, or why it was alive. I’m pretty sure I slayed it and its kin.” “You...killed it?” Twilight asked, eyes wide. “Had to. I did not have a say,” Firebrand replied with a nod of his head. "Back in my days, it was kill or be killed." “And what about the black book?” Spike pointed out as he approached the two. Firebrand looked at the dragon and his smile faded. “That tome—if it could be called that now—held scores of information that you and your friends wouldn’t begin to comprehend. As time passed, those scores of information had been mangled…” he replied, the light glowing brighter still. “I know not how to restore it, sadly…” the biped added flatly, once more shaking his head. “Do you know how to get the Elements of Harmony back?” the alicorn asked, worry lining her voice. “I know of only one so far,” Firebrand answered. He gestured towards the Everfree Forest with a hand. “The ruined castle may hold answers which escape me…” Before he could finish speaking, the light glowed so bright it blinded the alicorn and dragon for a moment before dissipating. When it vanished, Firebrand was no longer there. Twilight looked in the direction of the forest, eyelids slanting in worry. Spike clambered onto her back again, also looking in that direction with worry on his face. “I think we may need to get the girls…” the alicorn murmured, ears falling flat on her skull.
Beige MoonlightThe alicorn and her assistant shuddered as they hesitantly approached Fluttershy’s cottage, and not because it sat dangerously close to the Everfree Forest. The scar that blemished Twilight’s face had scabbed over, the dried blood lingering as though a stain that would not leave a carpet no matter how much cleaning solution was applied. The pony and dragon duo paused, warily glancing around. Since that hippogryph or whatever-it-was that Firebrand called it had attacked them from nowhere for seemingly no reason, they were tense. To lose one’s guard with these most peculiar circumstances was just asking for trouble this night. A chilling breeze blew past, which was odd because the night air was very warm. The mare shuddered, a feeling of dread sinking in her gut as her mane billowed in the brief gust of wind. Spike frowned, worry flashing in his cat-like eyes as dread sank in him just the same. “Twilight, why is the wind cold?” he asked, getting a glance from his companion. Twilight frowned, eyelids slanting. “I don’t know, Spike,” she paused to glance at the sky for a minute. It was empty, save the stars, beige moon, and sparse clouds and cloud-homes already present. “I don’t see any pegasus ponies out this night,” the mare answered with a sigh, turning back to the dragon. “If it was one of those big gnarly hippogryphs who made the wind cold, then I don’t want to know what else they can do,” the reptile murmured. An image of the wretched creature feeding on a fresh carcass ran with reckless abandon through the alicorn’s mind, and she cringed before shaking her head as if to rid herself of the horrid thought. “Yeah, I don’t want to know either,” she agreed with a hesitant nod as they resumed on their path to the yellow pegasus’s house. “What if Discord’s behind all of this mumbo-jumbo?” Spike questioned, rubbing his chin with a claw as the idea bounced about in his head. “If he is, me and the girls would have talked some sense into him by now,” Twilight retorted, once more shaking her head as the cottage came into view. “And besides, he’s changed since Tirek drained him of his magic. I don’t see why he’d send that thing after me.” “I suppose you’re right,” the reptile replied, jumping onto Twilight’s backside like there was a saddle between her wings with his name written all over it. He glanced around, finding nothing within the moon’s eerie light that could betray a possible threat. Within moments, the two were in front of the cottage door. Twilight rose a hoof and knocked a few times, pounding fast and hard. “Fluttershy! Can you come out here? It’s urgent!” she cried. There was no answer to be had. Was the pegasus still asleep, or was she elsewhere? Twilight knocked again, this time harder and faster. Still no answer came to her. Another chilling breeze blew past, once more lifting the alicorn’s mane in its breath as it came and went. “Maybe we should get the other girls and then come back?” Spike proposed, scratching his head a bit. The mare nodded, and as she spread her wings and prepared to take to the air, she heard the sound of hooves hitting the wooden floor coming from behind the door. After a few moments, the door opened, and behind it stood Fluttershy. The pegasus’s mane was frazzled and tangled, as if she went to bed immediately after taking a shower without bothering to towel off first. “Twilight, what are you doing at this time of night?” she asked, her heavy eyelids blinking a bit. “It’s urgent, Fluttershy. Some...thing told me that he knows where one of the Elements of Harmony disappeared to,” the alicorn answered, her wings closing and shifting awkwardly. Fluttershy blinked again, her eyes widening as the words of her friend registered in her mind. “Who did?” the butter yellow mare questioned, wanting to know more of this ‘something’ that Twilight spoke of. “There’s no time for that; we need to get the rest of the girls. It’s…” Twilight paused, eyes averting this way and that as she searched for words. “It’s in the Everfree Forest,” she finished, looking back at the pegasus. The pegasus gawked, shaking her head as her eyes widened further. “In...the...Everfree?” she squeaked, her jaw dropping open like a loose trapdoor. “This is why we need to get the others, Fluttershy. Let’s head to Sweet Apple Acres and get Applejack,” Twilight replied with a nod of her head. She turned around, briefly glancing at the pegasus. “And stay close; something attacked me from out of the blue earlier.” The mare left the cottage with slow, cautious movements, making sure to close the door behind her. “What attacked you?” she murmured, only now noticing the wound that had healed upon her companion’s face. “I don’t know,” the alicorn replied, shaking her head. “But we gotta keep going,” she added, turning to the trail and starting to trot back into town. Reluctantly, the pegasus followed her, heeding her advice and staying close by. The two were, eventually, back in town. The streets were silent, bathed in a veil of moonlight. The two mares and dragon warily glanced around, with Twilight spotting a strange figure lurching its way towards their intended destination. It didn’t look like a pony; if anything, it was far from equine in shape. It looked like a tattered, dirty white cloak concealing whatever was shambling about. “Excuse me, what are you doing here?” Twilight asked, trotting up to the creature. It turned to her, revealing eyeholes in its all-covering garment. It turned an appendage to her, similar to those of Firebrand in fact, except blue in color and the claws were dull and not well-cared for. “Flesh…” the thing moaned, a hollow voice echoing as it tried to snatch the alicorn with its hands. Twilight jumped back before it could touch her, now sensing ill intent from this...thing. It lurched towards her, the eye-holes aglow in vivid crimson as the hands shifted forward. Before it could get any closer, the alicorn lit up her horn and fired a magic blast that caused it to turn into little more than dust. “What was that for?” Fluttershy asked, trotting up to her fellow mare with ears flat on her skull. “It would’ve harmed me, Fluttershy. And besides, I didn’t know what it could do,” the alicorn replied with a frown on her muzzle. “I’ve...been on edge lately.” “That’s not good,” the pegasus sighed, now frowning herself. “Exactly. If it could hurt me, then it could hurt you too. I don’t want that to happen,” Twilight nodded, starting another slow trot to the Acres. The pegasus followed her every movement, worry flashing in her eyes as she did. And both mares froze as a loud scream echoed all around them, one that was ear-piercing and shrill and accompanied by another cold gust of wind.
