Rise of the Angel of Death

After Luna finished her hours long yelling binge an obnoxiously loud sip was heard. Discord was right behind her drinking a soda and munching on popcorn. "Sorry I wanted to see your reaction so badly."

Luna charged up a beam and blasted Discord into the wall. Luna walked up to the rubble that was where she blasted Discord. "Serves you right for defacing our moon with your image you foul… ack." Discords hand shot out and grabbed her throat. Discord appeared without a single injury however his eyes had one difference, they were on fire.

"Ok one, if you do that again i will destroy you, I am powerful enough to bend reality, travel through time and outright defeat you and your sister with little effort. Two, that crater was from me saving Equestria from having its border turned into a crater with war form the nearby nation not to mention the Elements of Harmony themselves from a cult that worships me way too much so excuse me for being a hero for once."

"We art sorry Discord, we did not know the scope of your actions. We simply assumed that thee had pulled one of your ill begotten pranks."

"Hmm, yes well, I suppose I'll forgive you just this once." Discord said turning around, and waving a claw lazily in the air. "Next time, ask a few questions before you start blasting someone through walls. You'll save yourself a lot of trouble that way, especially from me." He finished with a wry chuckle before poofing out of existence.

Luna herself gave a huge sigh. She had, amazingly been picking fights a lot lately. 'First Malthael who could remove my soul and is somehow immune to the elements, then Discord who I know could kill me... I'm stressed out.' Luna thought. She was going to need a bit of a break soon. 'Maybe a trip to the spa would do me good.' Luna thought to herself. She chose to let her sister deal with the mess in the morning she needed to take a nap.

In the house, Moon herself was not so much sleeping as dream walking. Strangely she usually ended up dream walking while she slept. Suddenly she felt a strong pull in the dream world’s currents. She found herself standing in a moonlit field she could immediately tell it was a dream. "Thou has got to be kidding me." She heard behind her. Amazingly she was in her old pony form as she turned around to see Luna.

"Oh come on, is that really any way to react to seeing your better half?" Moon said with a smirk.

"Thou caused us nothing but trouble. Thou caused us to be banished inside our moon." Luna said, fighting the urge to grit her teeth.

"Ah, ah. ah. That wasn't me, Luna my dear. I was merely all the jealousy and bile that you had let build up over the years, among other things. Tell me, are you still hiding the fact that you're attracted to mares and stallions?" Moon asked, causing Luna to blush. "Our punishment was just as much your fault as it was mine." Moon explained.

"But I'm not here to blame you. I've turned over a new leaf. I'm travelling with Malthael, turning my followers into productive members of society, and hopefully I'll be moaning out a few names in the thralls of passion very soon." Moon finished with a chuckle.

"Have you no shame?" Luna growled still blushing.

"I'm just a mare who knows what she wants, you should try it sometime." Moon gave her a look. "Besides who are you to judge, you fantasized about your sister, Twilight and your niece that one time." Luna blushed. "Yes I know your dreams we were basically the same person back then." Moon said with a smile. Luna simply looked at her.

"I hate you.”

Moon giggled. "Perhaps but that means you once hated yourself

---------------The next morning, Sunset woke up first, still lying on top of Mal. She looked down at Mal's sleeping face and smiled, though it felt like it had been permanently plastered to her face. She thought about leaving him like that, but decided against it. She gently shook Mal's shoulder and whispered, "Come on Mal, it's time to get up."

Mal sleepily mumbled for a few moments before his eyes fluttered open and had a smile that matched Sunset's. "Morning beautiful, get a good night's sleep?"

"The best," Sunset answered, kissing the tip of Mal's nose. "Last night was wonderful by the way."

"Thanks," Mal returned, sitting up, "I didn't know how I'd do, that was sort of the first time I've done something like that." Mal admitted nervously, rubbing the back of his head.

"Mine too, if you didn't notice." Sunset replied, giggling. Mal's smile widened at hearing her words, worries that she'd think he was pathetic instantly alleviated.
"Now come on, as much as I'd love to stay in bed with you all day, we've got things to do." Sunset said getting up out of bed and stretching, hearing a satisfying popping of joints.

Sunset and Mal got ready for the day and headed down to the kitchen for breakfast. Both of them decided to have cereal, but the two of them chose very different kinds. Sunset picked a healthy multigrain kind, while Mal picked a sugary, fruit flavored one. Sunset regarded Mal's choice of breakfast with a slightly disapproving frown. "Seriously Mal, that cereal's for kids."

"Hey, this is a breakfast that can be happily enjoyed by all ages." He said with an indignant huff.

"Is that why it comes with a toy inside?" Sunset retorted with a smirk.

“Madam, I fail to see how bringing up their marketing technique proves anything.” Mal said, his arms crossing over his chest. Sunset groaned and pinched the bridge of her nose with her eyes closed.

“Ugh, I can’t believe I just gave my virginity to a goofy idiot.”

Mal looked hurt for a second. Sure she had called him a goofy idiot the night before, but there had been a playfulness and love attached to it, definitely not with any hint of regret. Suddenly, a wicked grin worked its way on his face. Mal then picked up his chair, sat it down next to Sunset's, and pulled her into his lap so that she was straddling his waist. "A goofy idiot who would do anything for you, and loves you with all his heart." Mal said, running his hands up and down Sunset's sides, his confidence skyrocketing after the previous night. "And the only thing he asks of you," He continued his breath washing over her neck, "Is that you love him back.”

Warning: The following contains heavy sexual situations, move to the next marked location if you do not wish to see such things.

And with that, Mal pressed his lips against her neck, biting and sucking on it softly, while his hands slid onto various parts of her body. His left hand worked underneath her pajama top and lightly kneaded her breast, while his right snaked into her pajama bottoms and slowly teased the lips of her now dripping sex. Sunset moaned and squirmed under Mal's ministrations, not sure if she wanted him to stop or go further.

Eventually, Mal's left hand pulled up her pajama top, revealing her perky, hand-filling breasts. Mal gave her another wicked grin and wrapped his lips around one of her nipples, teasing it with his tongue and occasionally grazing it with his teeth. Somehow, Sunset found her voice and pushed Mal off of her. "Wait, what if those two see us like this?" Sunset asked, panting.

"Well, Moon would probably ask to join us or stay and watch; and Trixie would probably run back to her room." Mal answered, his right hand gripping Sunset's pajama bottoms to pull it down.

The sexual scene is now over... I couldn't think of jokes for these this time around.

Before the two of them could continue a loud voice called out, "Someone help Trixie!" Mal and Sunset instantly sprang up and headed towards the source of the disturbance.

‘She had better be dying.’ Mal grumbled in his thoughts

"Trixie what’s the matter?" Sunset asked. The magician girl was acting hysterical.

"Trixie’s bleeding, that's what's the matter!" Another scream was heard.

"Impossible, something happened to me!" Moon screamed. Malthael was many things. He was the Angel of death, former Archangel of Wisdom, an immortal godlike being like the rulers of many nations of this world (except Discord, who was firmly a god in this universe) a human turned Malthael, but he was still a man. He also somehow remembered his little sister was like with this.

"Sunset..... You think?" He started, and Sunset nodded.

"Yes I'm sure."

"What is it? Stop talking like Trixie isn't here you buckers!" Trixie yelled, stomping with one of her feet. Mal sighed and looked back at Trixie.

"We'll tell you once we get Moon." The three made their way to Moon's room and slowly opened her door. "Hey, Moon, Sunset and I need to have a talk with you and Trixie. We think we know what's going on with you." Mal said, trying to be soothing.

"Oh I know exactly what happened!" Moon growled. "I teased Luna last night and now that bitch has placed a curse on me! Once this bucking pain dies down a bit you and I are going to beat her within an inch of her life!" Moon boomed, her eyes burning with rage while her face contorted in pain.

"Oh boy, this is gonna take a while." Mal said, shaking his head.

So Sunset and Mal, mostly Sunset, had to tell Trixie and Moon about their new bodies. It was a very hard thing for them to do because they both asked a lot of questions. After about an hour the two ponies turned humans finally got the gist of it. "So basically this is normal, I don't have to rip Luna apart?" Moon asked. Trixie was horrified. Heat seemed a bit better than this.

"What kinda creature goes through this kinda thing?" She asked.

"A mammal." Sunset answered while she rolled her eyes.

"What kind of mammal then, Trixie’s afraid to ask." Trixie screamed.

"Well humans I remembered were the spawn of demons and angels, but I'm guessing an ape." Mal said after a fake thought. The three girls glared at Mal, not in the mood for one of his jokes. "Sorry, um... Wait a second, Sunset, shouldn't you be going through this too?" Sunset's glare softened, and shook her head.

"I had mine right before we met, so I won't have it for another week or two. Still, you should go out and find a town. These two are gonna be out of commission for a few days and I don't want to run out of supplies."

"Okay, are you coming with me?"

"No, I'm going to stay here, and help these two as much as I can. The first one is always the worst."

"Alright, I'll try not to take too long." Mal said giving Sunset a quick kiss on the lips. "Moon, be good for Sunset, and try not to get too handsy." He playfully chastised before walking out of their home.

Mal flew in the air looking for some kinda outpost or anything. As he moved a few arrows suddenly were launched at him. "What in the…" He dodged them and landed on the ground. His hood up as he heard voices.

"I heard it over here." He heard a voice say. It was a kinda mixed accent, one he recalled form dwarves from Warcraft. He turned to see beings In Viking like armor with axes they were kinda human looking but had more blueish skin. "Bloody hell, what in the names of the ancestors is that thing?" One dwarf said. Malthael pulled out his sickles.

"No one moves and no one gets their soul ripped out." He said.

The dwarves didn't falter and instead laughed at the Angel of Death. "And what, you're going to do that with those puny farming tools?" The leader joked, pointing at Malthael's weapons.

"Oh you did not just make fun of my sickles." Malthael growled. He used his wings to propel himself across the ground, reaching the two closest Dwarves in an instant. Before they could even react Malthael placed his sickles on their chests and the familiar blue light surrounded them.

He tossed them away and a fight soon broke out. Back in the home the three girls suddenly got a strange feeling. "Do any of you think that Mal’s doing something stupid right now?" Sunset asked. The other two raised an eyebrow at her. "Forget what I said.” She sighed.

Malthael soon returned the souls of the dwarf like beings after the fight was over. "Bloody hell, you sure showed us." The dwarf being said walking up from the forests. "Name’s Ottio Brozenbread I'm the local Earthern leader I must say I never seen one of you before in the isles, only foreigners I've seen are the ponies."

"The name's Malthael, Angel of Death, and why the hell did you attack me?" Ottio chuckled for a few moments.

"Angel of Death huh, you sure do live up to that name. And as for why we attacked you, Ponies from some place called Prance have been trying to invade for the last few nights. We didn't get a good look at you and assumed you were one of them."

"Look, I'm not here to invade, I'm just here to get some supplies for my... friends and I’ll be on my way." Mal paused, not sure what to consider Moon and Trixie yet, the little incident that morning interrupting the important talk he and Sunset were going to have with them.

"Well the town's not too far from here." Ottio said as the other earthern got up. "Come on men, we best get back to town" With that Mal followed the earthern to their town which wasn't all that far. The town had a simple wooden wall around it with a stone and wood fort.

"Here we are, this is the town where I'm chief, or lord as the ponies call it." The earthern town was mostly one with farmers and a few local jobs. It was almost like Feudalism in Medieval Europe. Mal turned to the chief. "So who rules this nation or kingdom?" Mal asked. The earthern gave him a look.

"Well sure, we kinda are a very local ruled lands best we do is a loose groupings so we honestly can't form what these prance invaders call a nation." The earthern leader said. Shortly after a scout came running in.

"Sir we have a problem, I've spotted a small band of armed Prancers with some mercenary creatures called Diamond Dogs, they’re most likely coming to lay siege to us."

"Shite, we're not ready for another attack. Tell all able bodied men to suit up and fall into formation. We have to defend our home!" Ottio called out motioning with his arms.

"Hold on there Ottio, I think I might be able to help here." Mal interrupted before looking to the scout. "How many of them are there?"

The scout looked confused and scared as he stammered out a response. "A...about 20-30 of them. They're mostly Earth ponies and pegasi, with one spellcaster Unicorn, and a few of those Diamond Dogs." "Malthael laughed at the scout's response.

"Oh man, this is gonna be way too easy. Point me in the direction you found them, give me about an hour, and you won't have to worry about these guys anymore." Ottio looked at Mal in disbelief, and allowed the scout to lead him out of the village.

"Sir, what do you make of this Malthael?" One of Ottio's men asked.

"I don't know, he might just be a fool to think he can take on a force like that with only a scout as backup. Still, he might be able to buy enough time to form up defensive positions around the town. Gather the town, and if we survive this battle then we shall hold a feast in honor of the great fool, Malthael."

Malthael followed the scouts there they found the Prench ponies. They amazingly had a bit different armor on, it at least was magically enchanted and made out of iron rather than Equestria's gold or silver or even bronze armor. Another thing they seemed more battle hardened most likely due to them being a separate nation from Equestria or at the very least very independent. "So what’s your plan?" The scout asked. Malthael simply held his blades up.

"I'm simply going to walk right up to them." He said. The scout gave him a look of insanity. Malthael walked up causing the Unicorn commander to look at the being.

"Halt strange being you are in the way of Prance’s finest, you will drop your weapons and surrender now!"

Malthael’s face was gone in his hood’s darkness. "None can stop death!" He said with the echoey voice. The Unicorn commander glared at him.

"Suit yourself, guards charge!”

'Idiot.' The scout and Malthael thought to different people. Malthael wings shot up as his cloud of death whipped out. The unicorn put of a barrier around him. When it was over the commander and the scouts eyes widened, a force of 50 was now down to but five!

The commander's eyes widened in horror, he was used to death, it came with being in the military. But this, nothing could prepare him for what he was seeing. Nearly all his men, and all of the Diamond Dog mercenaries that he had painstakingly bought, were decaying before his very eyes. Large chunks of their flesh fell away, revealing the muscle and bone beneath, as they screamed in unfathomable agony. The Commander looked over his remaining forces. Including himself there were three earth ponies and one young pegasus mare. Their only hope was for her to rush back to the camp they had come from and send orders for reinforcements. The Commander couldn't do it, his talents lied in offensive and defensive magics, not teleportation.

"Go, tell the others about this new ally the beasts here have found." The commander told the mare. She hesitantly nodded as the Commander dropped the barrier to their rear. The mare didn't make it very far before Malthael was on top of her, touching her with his sickle. With her soul sucked out, the mare fell to the ground in a crumpled heap.
The unicorn looked on in fear. "What are you?" He asked in fear. Malthael walked up to him.

"I am Malthael, the end of all things, I am the Angel of death." With that the earth pony fainted. The unicorn’s sanity was soon being thrown out the window.

"No I refuse to Die!" He screamed. The scout soon watched as Malthael cut into the pony, stabbing him though the heart.

Back at the town a gate keeper turned to the Chief. "Sir the scout has returned..." Ottio gave a sigh. "Malthael is with him as well." The chief stood up.

"Well this is unexpected. The scout ran up to the chief as he looked at Mal.

"Sir you won't believe It he took them all on and won, it wasn't a battle but a slaughter." the scout said.
Ottio's eyes widened in disbelief. "That's impossible! Even when we were at our strongest we'd have a hard time defeating a force like that." Mal in response, made a dismissive noise with his lips and waved a hand at the shorter man.

"Oh please, those guys were nothing. You should've heard their leader, ‘No, I refuse to die! Please don't kill me Malthael. Even though I'll never be as handsome as you, I have so much to live for!’" Malthael stated, imitating the unicorn commander in an exaggerated French accent.

Ottio didn't know what to make of Malthael. By all accounts he should be a fool, yet he was capable of so much. Maybe he was what the dwarves so desperately needed, a figure to rally behind and give their resolve strength. "Malthael, I cannot thank you enough, you have saved my home, and my people. Tonight, we should hold a great feast in your honor. You of course are more than welcome to join us." Ottio said, with all the gratitude he could manage.

"No thanks Ottio, I really just need some supplies so I can get back to my friends. If I don't get back soon, Sunset is going to kill me." Ottio's eye's widened.

"One of your friends is mightier than you?"

"You know what they say about a woman scorned, don't you Ottio?" Ottio smiled in recognition and laughed at Malthael's joke.

"Of course I do. However, you should bring your friends with you. Any friends of yours deserve our respect as well."

"Yeah, you might want to hold off on that, Ottio. My other two friends are going through, ‘feminine troubles’ and won't be in the best of moods for the next couple of days." Ottio nodded in understanding.

"I understand, our people know of the troubles that maiden's blood can bring to a woman. You will have what little provisions we can spare, and once your friends return to normal, we will hold you your proper feast."

"I'll hold you to that Ottio. It was nice meeting you and good luck in your fight against your invaders."

---------------In Canterlot however, Celestia was receiving some news from the kingdom. One thing she received was from Prance, however. 'What is it this time?' She thought. It was a letter from a guardsman about Prench forces with mercenaries moving with airships. Celestia herself put it down when the guard post demanded to check it out. The ruler of Prance was both independent and subservient to her. A part of their holdings were in Equestria and the rest were independent. Now instead of a war to claim the land they wanted she signed an agreement. To the other kingdoms nearby like the griffins, the zebras and minotaurs, Prance was under equestrian leadership.

Unfortunately it wasn’t completely under her dominion, she was mostly a ceremonial figurehead and Prance paid a special fee to the taxes but almost always acted as its own nation. The deal made it very much like the Crystal Empire as it was now. However, the Prench guard was vastly different from hers, and she suspected the rulers to be into shady business. However, any attack would basically turn her into a tyrant which is not good. 'Perhaps it’s time Twilight gets to do some diplomatic duties for once.' Celestia thought. In the newly crowned alicorn's home, Spike coughed up a scroll.

Twilight was in her library, she had been doing research on the nature of souls ever since she had learned about Pinkie's secret. Most of the material was speculative or religious in nature, but another part was tackled with at least a little scientific decorum. Twilight was just about to open another book on the subject when Spike ran into her study, a letter in his claw.

"Twilight, Celestia just sent you this. It's marked as urgent!" Spike yelled.

Twilight audibly gulped as she took the letter with her magic, and slowly started to read it. Once she was finished, Twilight had a shell-shocked expression on her face, and looked ready to panic. Spike rushed out of the room to get something to help with her panic attack while Twilight talked to herself. "Oh no! Celestia wants me to perform diplomatic talks with the Prench King? How am I supposed to do that?! I've never done anything like this before! What if I fail? Will all of Equestria be plunged into war? Or what if I cause a famine? There's no way that I can do this! I know, I'll just reply to Celestia and tell her that I need more time before I can handle delicate political situations."

"Wait, what if this is some sort of test?" If I don't take it would she turn me back into a unicorn? Or worse. what if she turns me back into a unicorn and sends me back to... Magic Kindergarten?!"

"Twilight, snap out of it!" Spike called out, handing her a paper bag to hyperventilate into. She took the bag and a few minutes later she had at least some semblance of wits.

"Thank you Spike, I don't know what I'd do without you."

"Don't mention it Twilight, it's what I'm here for. And as for the letter, Celestia chose you to do this because she trusts you. Besides you've fought giant monsters and ancient evils, there's no way the Prench king could be scarier than all that." Twilight giggled and rubbed her hoof on the spines on top of his head.

"You're right Spike, if Princess Celestia trusts me, then I can do it! Come on, let's go get the girls and get ready for the trip. We've got negotiations to perform!" Twilight exclaimed with new vigor.

The trains moved them to an outpost town with Royal guards form Equestria and a few wearing the iron of Prance. Once Twilight got off she was greeted by the guard’s commander. "Princess Sparkle what can I do for you?" He asked.

Twilight turned to the guard. "First, just call me Twilight, second I was sent by Celestia to visit Prance’s king." The Prench guard gave her a chuckle.

"Ok First, Prance is not ruled by a monarch, at least not in your sense, we have ruling families who meet in the council, second you are in prance right now." the guard said.

Rainbow moved to the Equestrian guard. "Then why are they here?" She pointed a hoof at the closest Equestrian guard.

"Because while Prance is its own nation its rulings include part of Equestria border regions, we don't have a monarchy in your sense because of a deal with Celestia and the ruling houses Prance is equal and subservient to Equestria, but Celestia’s rule and law is nothing in the independent Prance, and she’s only ceremonial." the Prench guard finished.

"That is really weird." Rainbow Dash said. The Prench guards glared at the mare for a few moments.

"Rainbow Dash, their political structure is not weird!" Twilight admonished. "Prance has a strong economy and their leaders have always been quick to help settle disagreements in Canterlot's court." She lectured before turning to the guards. "Please excuse my friend here she didn't mean anything by that, she's just a little blunt."

"Don't worry Princess, no offense was taken. Just please let your friend know to be careful. Many Prench ponies are very prideful by nature, and can be quick to slight as a result. One of the guards explained. The group nodded and the guards led them to the turnover before they were on their way to the capital where their meeting would be held.

The mares gawked at the city as they made their way through the busy streets. Rarity in particular was extremely energetic. "Ooh, I've always wanted to come to Prance! The whole country is just chock full of culture and romantic atmosphere. Not to mention all the fashion! If I had some time to really explore here I could think of several new lines!" She squealed.

"I'm sure you'll have time between talks." One of the guards said with a chuckle. "The thing with having so many voices that need to be heard is that it can cause debates to be rather long. And with how important this matter is, there will be many differing opinions."

A group of Airships moved out of port. The mares looked on. "Where are they headed?" Twilight asked.

The guard looked on as the airships moved. "I'm not allowed to speak on the matters, the houses could however." They came up on a building. "This is where the houses meet and this is where the council rules." The guard finished. The mares walked in There was the council several crests were seen on the ruling houses, four of the normal and one of the guard finally was the crest of Prance where the current leader sat.

"This is a surprise." One of the house leaders stated.

"Quite, we’ll discuss this later." The military leadership said.

The Unicorn behind the crests rose. "I am Sambri The current Lord General of Prance."

"Hello, I am Princess Twilight Sparkle, and these are the other Elements of Harmony. It's an honor to meet you, sir." Twilight said with a slight bow. Sambri chuckled at Twilight's behavior.

"You do me too much honor Princess Sparkle. I am merely a general while you are a princess. Still it is an honor to meet you as well. I merely wish it was under better circumstances. And I see the stories about your beauty did not do you enough justice." The general said, kissing one of Twilight's hooves.

A blush spread across Twilight's face from the compliment. She collected herself and cleared her throat. "Yes, well... um Celestia gave me reports saying that your airship activity has increased rather noticeably recently. And it is believed that they were moving with military intent. Princess Celestia and I merely wanted to know what Prance is doing that would require so much military might." Twilight declared, unfurling her wings to seem a little more authoritative.

Unfortunately, the General did a complete 180. "I'm afraid that Equestria should not concern itself with Prance’s foreign policy or its military." The Lord General said. "I would be more concerned with the changelings to your south and the Zebra Empire. I heard reports form the griffins about them moving out of the badlands, the Zebras are starting to become angry with the pioneering in the buffalo lands, and no one knows about the Griffins, who have kept to themselves." He finished. "Doesn't help that we live close enough to the griffons you know." He finished.

"Sir, it is our concern when the image of Equestria is in jeopardy. We pride ourselves on being a country that promotes peace and acceptance. And I don't think we have to worry about the Griffons. Their king and Princess Celestia have been maintaining healthy trade agreements with each other for close to eight-hundred years. Now, Celestia and I can't tell you what to do, but if you plunge Equestria into war because of your actions, then that will change." Twilight replied fighting back her bile from the General's blatant racism.

The lord general let out a long, ringing laugh. "You passed my little test." He said. Twilight looked confused. The lord general waited for her to calm down. "Few from Celestia have the kind of resistance you do with these matters." One of the civilian council members shook his head.

"That Blueblood guy was the worst." Twilight was now more confused than before.

"Prance is much more open minded to the races around us; unfortunately most in Equestria are not like us so we test them about their world views." The lord general finished. "As for the reasons if you must know we have an ancient business from the time of Celestia’s early reign, mercenary guilds come and go from here, it’s not pretty but it amazingly helps the people be more tolerant plus it helps us keep taxes low, like I said it’s not pretty but it helps." The general got up. "Recently, guild rivalries have started to increase. We would prefer they stay peaceful so we don't have our ancient pacts broken and be forced to pick sides, many of our retired and dismissed guards have taken up work in the guilds."

"Well, that test was interesting to say the least." Twilight said not entirely convinced, but not letting the general know that. "Still, I hope you don't mind, but I'm going to stay in Prance for a few days and look at the ledgers for your airships. Princess Celestia wouldn't be happy with me if I just left it at this." She explained, managing to smile.

"Of course, Princess. I am very much aware of how thorough Princess Celestia can be. You will have full access to whatever you require. Please, make yourself at home in my country." The Lord General said with his own smile. I will have the guards that brought you here show you to where you will be staying. Go, get a good night's sleep and we can continue our talks tomorrow if you wish."

The Lord General looked to the council, regarding all of the members. "I've had it with Celestia." One of the house leaders said. The Lord General gave them a smile.

"Don't worry, I have a plan." He said with a smile, behind him were dark, glowing eyes.

-------------Mal had finally returned. "Sunset, Moon, Trixie, I'm back!” He called out.

"Mal! Thank goodness you're back!" Sunset cried, rushing down the stairs to where Mal was and wrapping her arms around him. Mal stroked Sunset's hair and smiled softly at her. He would never tell her, but she looked a little rough. He hated that he had worried her like this. But for now, he would be all smiles for her.

"Sorry, I was gone so long. I ran into a bit of a snag getting those supplies you wanted."

Sunset looked up at him and smiled, but was obviously still worried. "What kind of snag?" She asked.

"Don't worry about that for now, it was nothing I couldn't handle. Even if it was difficult, like I told you this morning, I would do anything for you Sunset."

"Yeah, you did." She said, blushing a little and her smile widening, probably remembering what he did right after telling her that.

"So, how was your day Sunset?"

Sunset's smile dropped and groaned in frustration. "Ugh, those two had me running around all day and doing everything for them today. And if I didn't do something fast enough Moon would snap at me! I think I like her better when she’s making passes at me. I was so fed up with them that I cast a sleep spell on them about an hour ago. I'm so glad I have my magic back."

"At least this might be good practice if we ever have kids." Mal offered. Sunset blushed and was about to say something but he interrupted her. "Still, for a rough day like today, there's only one surefire cure." He said, scooping her up in his arms, intending on finally breaking in the hot tub. Mal carried Sunset to the room containing the hot tub and let her down while he stripped down to his underwear and helped Sunset down to hers too.

“Mal, what are you doing?” She asked, attempting to cover herself up. Mal laughed a little at her actions considering what had happened last night, and what he had started to do that morning.

“Relax Sunset, this isn’t about that. I figured with how hectic your day has been some time in the hot tub together would be just the thing you need.” Mal replied, giving her a kiss on the cheek before turning on the tub and adjusting the settings. He held out a hand which Sunset hesitantly took and helped her into the tub before climbing in himself. Mal situated himself behind Sunset and affectionately wrapped his arms around her stomach, just letting the bubbling water try to relax them.

“Do you mind telling me why you had us get down to our underwear to do this?” Sunset asked, slightly annoyed.

“Well, I figured doing this without any clothes would send the wrong message, like I said this isn’t about ‘that’.” Mal explained. “Also, I don’t think there are any bathing suits around here, and looking for them might’ve killed the mood I was going for.”

“You mean one of your crazy schemes you’re always cooking up?” Sunset asked, starting to warm up to the idea.

“I prefer to think of this as a spontaneous act of romance.” Mal replied, a goofy grin on his face. “Plus, think of this as my way of apologizing for being gone so long.” He finished giving her a soft kiss on the back of the head. The two were quite for some time, just enjoying each other’s company for a time. That quickly ended when Mal decided to whisper, “I love you,” to Sunset.

“Why?” she asked.

“What do you mean?” Mal asked, confused.

“Why do you love me? I… I’ve been thinking about it for a while now, and it doesn’t make sense to me. I mean you know about what I did and who I was. So why do you love me?”

“Well, why do you love me?” Mal asked, trying to laugh the topic off. “That’s something that really doesn’t make any sense.”

“I asked you first.” Sunset stated firmly, looking up at Mal so their eyes could meet. One look into those cyan orbs was all it took for Mal to know that he couldn’t avoid this topic. He let out a deep sigh and closed his eyes at her.

“Fine, I’ll tell you.” Mal said an oddly serious look on his face. “When I first woke up in Tartarus I was really messed up. It was like there was some sort of fog hanging over my mind that wanted me to take the lives of those that had wronged me. So I found my way out of Tartarus, killing anything that tried to stop me, and headed out to find the alicorns that had imprisoned me. When I heard that they were already dead part of my self-control returned, but part of that fog still remained. I flew north for days my mind clearing slightly. My thoughts were all over the place though. I kept thinking about what had happened to me, asking why so many of my memories seemed to be lost. Asking myself what my real name was. It never came to me, so I really was Malthael now. Then I found you. As soon as I saw you the last of the fog hanging over my mind faded away.”

“I just felt drawn to you. You reminded me of everything I used to be. You made me think of the family that I had left behind. To put it simply, you gave me my humanity back. I still can’t remember anything really, but I have more of an idea than I did before. On top of all that, you’re a strong, smart, and beautiful woman who never fails to call me out on the stupid things that I do. So, that’s why I love you, Sunset Shimmer.” Mal finished his goofy grin returning. Sunset was quiet for a few moments before turning herself around in his grasp and pressed her lips against his. The two stayed like that for several moments before Sunset reluctantly pulled away.

“I… thank you Mal. I don’t know if I deserve all of that, but… it feels really good to hear you say those things.”

“Trust me, Sunset; you deserve all of that and so much more.” Mal said, stroking Sunset’s cheek. “So, now that I’ve lain bare my heart and soul, it’s your turn.” He finished with a goofy grin again.

“Fine, fair’s fair after all.” Sunset replied, sighing. “You know I was in a bad place when you found me. You heard what I said about deserving to die. But, you didn’t let me wallow in my despair. I’ll never forget what you told me that night. You were right; I had slipped into my own darkness, and was stumbling to find the light. And then you just did everything you could to save my life that night. It was hard to believe, there you were, claiming to be the Angel of Death, and yet you helped me so much. I think that’s when I started to like you, though I wouldn’t admit it to myself.”

“And after that I just couldn’t help but admire you.” Sunset admitted. “After all the things you’ve been through, between getting imprisoned for no reason, and never being able to see your family again, you just wore that goofy grin on your face and tackled the next day. I’m sure you’re holding a lot of pain inside you, but the fact that you don’t seem to let that define you just amazes me. I wish I could be more like you Mal.” Sunset finished.

“You’re pretty amazing the way you are, Sunset.” Mal said. The two shared another kiss, much deeper than the one before.