Living the Epilogue

Chapters

Chapter One: We were never here to save the world
Chapter Two: Complications of a Misunderstanding <Revision>
Chapter Three: The things that go clop in the night

Chapter One: We were never here to save the world

Lush. Clean. Clasped in blue high above and over much even below. It's people, strong in the billions, pushed into an new age of wonder and understanding of both themselves and all that lay around them. Resolved to an more technical marvel, they would push the boundaries to the edge many times over in their pursuit of an never ending curiosity. Prone to mistakes, and even more so to repeat but a few, all came together the day the answer to the question of their solidarity left them with just enough to still do so.

Through their ingenuity fueled by desperation, and costly reverse engineering, they would in turn reverse course as the technological could no longer march alone. Some called it faith, an act of their supposed god to their plight to aid them, while others simply came to call it something akin to the once imagined but never considered; magic. Held back by fumbles and lack of understanding with that which their nearly invincible enemies so easily wielded, they would be forced underground and towards closer quarters to survive.

Age old practices, some of foolishness while others progressive, resurfaced and reinvented into something modern. With the help of technological and spiritual augmentations, men and women adorned both inside and out finally began to hold their ground against the invasion of demonic like creatures. But one would need not look any further than the droves of mindless abominations serving as the forefront of the demonic invasion for the double edge, as each and every one once stood and fell on the side of man across the struggle three decades strong.

But the day finally came when push came to shove, only to fall forward on it's face. The demons were, for better or worse, dwindling through no real understanding of those whom they so easily hunted. But it is said only through an understanding can one come to terms with an choice, and of whose numbers once numbered in the billions to but a few million at best, the choice would simply be to rejoice.

"So that's it? We're just going to stand here and raise our hands in the air?" The man smashes his maces together near the end to grab even more attention, their damaged heads no worse for wear when all said and done. "Did I say something funny?!"

The man's scaled breastplate shimmers from the bright blue vortex still swirling just before, letting his hands grip the handles even tighter as flashes precede each shift towards that of smaller diameter. Growling out an curse, he slams his foot to stop his twirl towards the many just behind. Beaten, tired, and few in number does little to liberate the tension of one's declaration for even more.

"It's over, Seeker." Another, much to the hesitant clamoring of those farther behind, makes approach. "It isn't fair to them."

"Fair?" The Seeker takes half a step forth to the full one taken back, "Fair? Since when has anything from this been fair? You know the reports as well as I. They're not retreating, nor are they regrouping. They're just moving on to the next to do the same as here!"

"But it's not our fight! What would you have us do? Rush in after them to our assured deaths that none would even acknowledge?" The other man attempts once more to make reason, his hands open palm's up to further encourage. Unable to convey expression from under metallic cover, he can only keep his hands open to the ever disgruntled grumbling and head shaking displayed before him. "We have our own to deal with now."

"And maybe we wouldn't had something came and warned us." The seeker's helmet creaks and grinds to it's rigid and slow rise, "Right now those things are making incursion elsewhere who may have no hope to adapt in time. But they might if we give them what we were not!"

"That's not why you're going." An voice off to the side begins in solitude, "We know about your kind, Seeker."

Given bolster from the growing ensemble of further encouragement, the man points an finger as he begins to walk before something almost as tall but even wider impedes him in life ending threat. Reduced to an living statue for but a few deathly seconds, he finally falls backwards before flipping onto his hands and knees in order to crawl away in utter fright. With the once turbulent battlefield ushered back to silence, the behemoth of an man in smooth edged plate continues to hold his tower shield as the purple electricity continues to snap and cackle off it's front face.

"Brother." Seeker gives the new arrival his full attention, "I am glad to have you." Reserved to remain in an more relaxed posture, weapons still drawn, even as taller and fuller armored comes up towards him with not an word, opting to stand shoulder to shoulder.

"You shouldn't of tried to guilt them." The well armored man's words are deep but thoughtful.

"I shouldn't of needed to." The Seeker returns one of higher pitched annoyance.

"Teams have been sent through each of the others before their closing, save for three." The well armored man continues with the same tone of voice as before, "They must have been killed in the battle for this one, too." Before taking an ever long breath, "We've been promoted."

"I have no need for an Title to do what's...!" Seeker shutters his words to the glow of violet liquid swirling within an large cylinder revealed in the rising hand of his brother, "...the hell is that?"

"Life support." The brother casually elaborates, his hand twisting up to down in order to place it in the Seeker's now extended palm, "It was originally meant for something far more drastic than this, and there was only enough supply to make due for what now shall be."

"What's it going to do...?" Seeker asks in an much softer tone, seemingly oblivious to the the receding presence of one who now travels towards the men and women of different caste, keeping their distance still. "You did something to it, didn't you!"

The brother, giving hearty chuckles to the theatrics of one so eager to follow in pursuit to his very possible death showing such reservation, continues his trek towards the closest whom continues to hold his ground. Flipping his tower shield upside down, he lops it over his shoulder to the distinct clank of latching in order to further garner the atmosphere to his intended favor.

"You shouldn't fear your allies, soldier." He uses his softer voice, but still deep in tone, to help convey what his eyes cannot.

"We're just tired, Guardian." The soldier uses once more the caste before that of unknown personal name in address. "The Seeker may thirst for more, but we're just tired. Of all of this. Why should we feel bad about wanting to just go back to whats left of our homes!"

"Because you've suffered, and only those here can understand what it truly means to say such words. He only sought to rile the good inside you, and while he may have succeeded, it is not your place to bear nor of his to ask. But do not think ill of him, for he doesn't of you."

"He basically called us cowards!"

"He sought to motivate through angering you, because he knew you we're capable of answering the call." Guardian pounds his open palm onto his left breastplate, "He only reminded that you still had one of these."

"That would've sounded pretty awesome if we were twelve, dumbass!"

"Well... I.. I guess that makes sense..." The man gives a few subtle nods of his head, followed by most of his peers all about, to the otherwise heartfelt words from an caste known for their seriousness both on and off the battlefield. "But what.. would you have us do, then?"

Guardian just lets his arm slowly fall back down to his side, granting his audience but a few brief moments to ponder both what has been asked, and what may yet be. Much to their dismay, Guardian merely turns about and begins to walk back towards the awaiting Seeker, whom if any could see wears the same expression of confusion towards actions taken. He finally comes side by side to the Seeker, no words to be given, before turning backwards the several dozen men and women still awaiting their orders.

"I like that." He finally speaks, of his soft tone now filled with something even lighter than before. "Always wanted to paint something I could be proud of. Tried using myself but didn't get very far!" Nudging Seeker who nary whispers an sound, "But I like think that'll work, just fine."

"You're such an god damn idiot..." Seeker grumbles before taking stride in the wake of his brother, whom already leads the way to just before the nearly collapsed portal. "Still glad to have you, nevertheless."

"Likewise, brother." Guardian states both in words and of his long arm holding onto the encased bicep of Seeker, careful not to let go as they are slowly enveloped by the licking strands of energy. Blinded to the vibrant foray of colors and flashes turned painful white, he only grips tighter while attempting to shield above his visor with the other, the hairs in his ears vibrating to the echoing rumble slowly overtaking them.

With but another flash and almost instant rumble, Guardian lingers in his grip for but a few moments as the subtle sound of hundreds of objects pelting his armor comes to the forefront of realization. Forced into letting his visage scan frustratingly slow, he finally releases his grip as Seeker moves up and past. Doing much the same as his brother, but instead towards ground below, Seeker opts to take an deep breath with the light shake of his head.

"You knew, didn't you."

Guardian moves forward and then a bit up before stopping once more. "We have some time before it's decided."

Seeker slowly raises his chin to lay hidden eyes towards Guardian, as if to remain in silent vigil for an answer while ignoring the ever encroach of water rising past his ankles. When nothing but the rumble and pelting droplets of rain ensues, he begins to lower it once more.

"We were never here to save the world, brother." He reaches his arm back to behind, taking grip before jerking loose that which has stood by his side like no other. Bringing it out and about, the towering cast of metal that carries as many scars as it's user swivels to and fro before finally locking into a matching orientation alongside his forearm just as the distant screaming finally begins to bleed through.

"You..." He lets his words linger, having given no reaction to the rush of air encircling him as not even the flash above can catch what has already past through the thick undergrowth. Casting aside the way forward, he shifts his right foot back and about in order to look back upon what has already been so casually left behind. Taking in what slowly continues to fill with water, he can do little but give an consideration to the sounds behind him.

...still can't understand that we had to leave, can you.

Of yet an ever increasing downpour, much to the ever increasing pace towards the nearing cry of terror, done who needn't anything more in order to act reaches down to swing loose those that have stood by his side like no other. As if to bare their claws, jagged glass like shards of bristling violet begin to spit vapor as they rip from the heads of each mace, hissing in kind upon each droplet of rain.

But I guess that's also why I thought you deserved a chance to prove me wrong.

As if blinded to what he sees through the vast darkness on his approach, his shoulder clips the side of a tree much to the shattering of bark and trunk as his arm and then mace drags along the side to the violent meet of violet static discharge. Taking notice to the sudden attention given his way by that which burns both vision and blood, he crouches down into an turning slide just as his right mace flies forth with deadly accuracy.

I do not know whom we may find. But surely, given that we're here, they cannot be so unlike that which we've just left behind.

Taking advantage of the newly created passage through thick undergrowth, he rushes to meet head on another of even greater stature. Letting only the very tip of the metal tearing claws graze his helmet, he lets both hands clasp the hilt of his only mace as the jagged glass cleaves into the heavy forward momentum of an passing giant. Never one to pass up an offering, he releases one hand in order to grab the long forearm on the tumbling giant, kicking himself up and pulling in as the mace swings up and down all the way to the ground.

Did you seek redemption? Perhaps, that if you burn yourself once more in the fire, someone might actually try and pull you out?

Of an four legged scaled monstrosity, it's gaping maw ready to envelope that which now lay upon the wet muddy ground clamped into a ball, does the hardened ball of metal shatter many a sharp tooth. Sent to the ground in a rage inducing tumble, the four legged creature thrashes about with tooth and claw, whipping it's similarly maxed tail as it connects with several unfortunate timber. Standing between it and it's prey, the smooth end of the mace shoots forth straight down past the serrated, slowed only by the screech of tearing metal to just below the shoulder.

But they will only know you from the ones you failed to save.

Opening his own mouth with a shout, the gagged maw of the scaled quadruped begins to convulse and shake as violet highlighted smoke begins to flick and lick up the mostly swallowed arm, the nostril cringing smell of burnt waste filling the air. With a whimpered cry, the beast pulls back with all it's pain riddled might to the sudden crackling eruption serving to end it's futility. Holding his arm straight and narrow while what's left separates in two while sliding off onto the ground, his nostrils flare to the sudden in take of duller senses once more brought into focus.

His eyes slowly drift about, taking in the lighter hue of a darkness adapted to, as he finally takes hold of his thrown mace still planted inside winged creature and tree. Moving to make casual retrieve, he no sooner takes hold of the hilt before the realization of something far too normal fills his ears once more. Acting almost surprised, he turns his head towards what his instincts never sought to know with his mace finally broken free.

Nestled inside an hollowed tree trunk, extended in appendage with an flattened end pointed his way, was an creature still screaming. It's other upper appendage, seeking to seemingly hide something of an different shade in the lighter darkness, quivers and shakes even as the stilled figure of an even larger one still lays partially entombed in the trunk as if you try and deny entry. It's fur, top to bottom, matted and uprooted.

"...and we shall become legends, once more." Guardian mutters to himself in an overly melodramatic low tone, just as his emergence from the dense undergrowth is entirely unnoticed in comparison to the stilled destruction basked in rising lunar glow before him. "All of them?"

"I found the girl!" Seeker yells, knelt in front of those still entombed in the hollowed trunk, careful to keep his distance nonetheless. Giving Guardian a quick look, whom still only stares under concealment in return, before grumbling himself. "Could you come a little closer?"

Taking a short but painfully slow journey, as if crossing a long rugged battlefield, Guardian seems to purposely give extra weight to each step as his bulky shield turned weapon continues to shift back and forth between the horizontal and vertical. Just he comes to the crest of the short incline, coming to an stop just before the still knelt Seeker, he seems to purposely leave the root of his agitation wedged in his throat.

"I think they got one." Seeker nods his head towards the trunk, of deathly silence, still shivering uncontrollably from within. Starting to give rise, he instead is forced to duck under the sudden rush of metal falling but a mere inch before his face into the ground below. Blinded for but an moment, and letting his nerves get the best of him, he shoots up just as the last begins to fall down. "What are you...!"

Guardian, seemingly unfazed by the seeping dark liquid that once stood as his outer shell, finds kneeling before the frightened and dying harder than the stretch of denim jeans or ripped cotton flannel. His brown hair, mattered and oiled, reflect just enough along with his light green eyes to give the creature inside ample view of what once was concealed under an most frightening display.

"Feels about right." He softly states in a sigh, seemingly oblivious or of no care to the stares of confusion and fright from back and front. Slowly, but steadily, he reaches but one hand forward to just within the opening of the tree, as if to entice the expectation of an pressured clamp. Acting like he couldn't even be bothered by the act of desperation, he instead applies gradual pressure until he gently slides free. Watching as the creature seems to dip what appears to be a short muzzle down towards what it still attempts to conceal, it hunches forward with eyes tightly shut.

His hand now gently laid upon the top of the creatures head, of no childish rustle or force to be had or felt, aside from the light pressure now resting upon his own shoulder from behind free of the same bindings like himself. Turning his head but an few inches in order to catch Seeker in his peripheral, he only allows for but a moment of acknowledgement to the act before turning his head forward once more.

"Perhaps it is best if we..." Seeker's words drift along the wake of an wayward strong breeze at the renewed reflection of not one, but two pairs of eyes from within the rotting improvised haven. Following their downward gaze of ever widening eyes and flicker of long pointy ear, the faint moaning and rustle of fallen would be protector basked in rising red rain brings only further confusion. "You're injured?"

"Never expect a mother protecting her young to take anything less." Guardian continues to lay his uninjured hand upon the still severely injured creature, careful not to move save for slowly retracting his other bloody hand having served it's purpose. "Big eyes, aren't they."

"If it's been infected...."

"Head of hair going down their neck to the shoulder, and then their tail is quite full as well. Did you notice the hooves aren't split?"

"Aren't you listening to me?"

"Given what I felt when I was bitten, I'd definitely error towards saying that's more like a muzzle, than a snout." Guardian continues his vocal observations much to the frustrated growl from behind. "I don't have a damn clue on what to relate it to."

"Does it really matter what it reminds you of from Earth?" Seeker moves around and about in order to stand alongside the injured creature to get a better look, "More will be coming from the noises and if we're noticed then that will only complicate what we need to do."

"Simplify, actually." Needing not to even make eye contact to know if to continue. "Humans make things easier for themselves. They shape the world to fit their needs, and if anything is above them, they bring it down in size or make it their own. There's limitations to what the demons could really do with that, given the circumstances. But maybe the hurdles are not so high here."

"But even if the place does not, the same cannot be said of all creatures that exist there themselves." Seeker continues to fiddle with the lack of proper latches upon more formal wear for such cumbersome weapons, "The demon's limitations are also our own, are they not?"

"Humans are limited by the rules, of which I'd think were pretty strict. If this place is far more relaxed and bendable to the will rather than the way it was on Earth then we may very well find that our worst enemy lays just before us." Taking notice to the shimmer of dissipating rain as the creature begins to stir even more. "The demons will seek to adapt, and these creatures may very well teach them all there is to know."

"I wouldn't of thought such information to cause you such worry, brother." Seeker kneels down, "Are we not in this together?"

"That might depend on what's been watching us since the moon came out." His words, coming just as the reaction of jerking backwards to the sudden wild buck of rear hooves from the third set of wide fearful eyes, takes away earned focus onto what still has yet to make tribute.

Standing rather relaxed, unlike Seeker whom begins to angle down for better footing, Guardian keeps a rather curious expression to the similar in shape but much larger in proportion quadruped watching intently from an not so distant rocky outcropping. With the cast of lunar light from an almost perfectly positioned moon above, the quadruped, more closely in resemblance to an horse, crushes stone with the stomp of it's foreleg.

"<Step away from our subjects, shadows, or we shall have no leniency!>"

"We need to get a move on." Seeker whispers harshly, only to hesitate upon the madness before his eyes. "Brother!"

"You go on." He replies in a tone known all too well by the one to his side, with an exasperated expression slowly forming on Seeker's face. Taking care to step back but a few more feet in order for the smaller creatures to find the courage to make haste towards the way of the larger one, he reaches down in order to relieve the ground of it's impaled weight. "Not going to pass this up."

"<You are mistaken, spirit, to think so little of ourselves.>" The equine creature appears to momentarily focus in on the carnage left Seeker, narrowing the burning white of it's eyes in the process. ""

"Something's off about this one." Seeker takes notice of the long protruding horn and flared wings, masked only by the glow of white emanating from it's eyes with growing intensity. "It's not like you to take such a risk against something you know nothing about!"

"We're both here for different reasons." He gives a sideways glance back as the shield rotates into place alongside the forearm once more, casually raised and straightened towards Seeker with no hesitation in hand or iris. "Don't make me say it again, to a brother."

"<For the murder upon the soils of our home, there can be no pardon. For the attempted ruination of even more you shall find no quarter even at the darkest hour of the night. You are now in the presence of the Princess Luna, and you will yield.>"

Chapter Two: Complications of a Misunderstanding <Revision>

"....estia slumbers, and is to not be..."

Of words not her own, does the faint commotion before her bedchamber doors begin to stir her out of an just begun slumber. Taking but a small sigh, she rolls in her bed with but one ear lightly raised. With but a few seconds to nothing more, her pillow begins to fluff out once more.

"...have important..."

Eyelids aflutter, she breaths in deeper while shifting once more to the high elevation of cover in a less than lady like position. Tilting her head slightly to the right, she frees just enough from the confides of her ever so cushy pillow to catch but just a bit more.

"...contact Princess Luna..."

Nodding groggily in agreement, she quickly rolls onto her right side with the flush of warm air escaping her quilt causing her to shiver in return. Shifting and lightly kicking to and fro, she fidgets until once more all but a pleasant thought surrounds her weary and tired mind.

"...sent me! She's been injured and sheeeeaah!" The guardpony jumps back as the royal bedchamber doors swing inwards to reveal a less than presentable Solar Princess of horrendous wavy bedhead. "P-princess Celestia! P-Princess Lu..."

"She has refused medical attention?" Princess Celestia's words, while with a slight croak in her voice, come soft but fluent.

"Princess Luna resides within the Throne room, your highness." The guard, barely given enough time to kneel in her haste, does so just as she is forced to close her eyes on instinct to the vibrating pop of an less than thrilled Alicorn. "I hope they don't end up fighting again."

"Princess, I must protest this behavior. You're injured and...!"

"Has word been sent to our sister?" She seems to simply ignore the guardpony hesitantly chasing her with a aid kit held in his magical grasp, still held back to older days when her dialect was not only favored, but expected. "We have no time to mend what is already doing so."

"But...!" The guardpony once more attempts reason, raising his foreleg to point his hoof across many matted areas of the Princess's coat, along with an area directly along the front chest swollen enough to cause a light limp in her stubborn trotting. "You're injured!"

"To act as if this is the first time is to merely forget what history has tried to teach, and all the more reason to make haste!" Turning her attention towards one of the many guards standing in wide eyed, if failing in attempt to remain unfocused, whom begins to wilt. "What of them?"

"..." The guardpony's eyes grow even wider to the confusing question awaiting an answer. "I'm sorry, Princess!"

"What matter of... We inquire on the status of the three citizens whom accompanied us back from the White Tail Woods." Princess Luna's disposition growing ever more agitated. "We ordered their well being secured in all things. We wish to be updated."

The guards, weary to the question even more, all begin to show signs of teetering nerves under the ever intense stare of the Princess. Trotting to before of what assembles but a few dozen having been assembled from the slumbering barracks, her eyes slowly widen upon the passing of each one who refuses to look directly into her own. Nearing halfway, her eyes can no longer hide her surprise as they narrow in her disappointment.

"They were with foal! Are you to inform us that none of you know where they are within the walls of the castle?"

"They were dispatched to the closest hospital for treatment, your highness." Comes the flat tone of one ever brave guardpony whom almost makes it close enough to be hit by a sudden burst of magic coming from the teleporting Solar Princess, to which he takes but a few clops back."Your highness!"

The many guards, following in line, shout aloud before kneeling. Paying no heed to the groggy but still quick craning of Princess Celestia's neck as she looks in and about for whom she truly seeks, having come about before catching the battle ridden sister whose narrowed eyes cannot be seen.

"Luna! Are you...?"

"Busy!" Seemingly caring not to the influx of magic in her not so condense teleport that also grabs the last two guards in the front row, the only sound after the crackle being the low growl of a tired, confused, and worried Alicorn with bedhead from Tartarus.

"Number 97! The Doctor will see you now." The mare, with a cheerful smile draped in nothing but a old fashioned nurse cap, seems to patiently await the next patient before a wayward hoof comes and bonks her atop the head. "Hey! You're going to damage it!"

"Then stop goofing around and help me file all this paperwork." Another mare wearing absolutely nothing at all rolls her eyes towards the cap, shaking her head before trotting back to behind the desk. "Why'd you even buy it anyhow? Nopony even wears them anymore."

"But it's symbolic! You know, back when nurses traveled from settlements and out of the way family farms?" The mare follows suite and trots to behind the desk, before slowly shifting her eyes from the single piece of paper on the desk to her coworker. Locking eyes, they sit there wide eyed for but a few precious moments before both letting out a deep sigh with downtrodden expressions.

"Wish something hap..." Cut short by the air vacuum of an impending group teleport, she hasn't even the time to try and catch that which flies off her head upon the back wall as the Princess of the Night and two guardponies pop onto the waiting room tile. Cast in an wide eyed stare, not even meeting the eyes that seems to hold patience no longer, "P-p-p-p... Patient inbound!"

"We are no patient. We are here to find..." Princess Luna nary gets her sentence halfway done before a hoof slams upon a red button upon the desk, causing alarms to go off with a almost pathetic beep in comparison to the flashing blue lights. Taking a clop back, she is quickly enclosed by numerous ponies answering to the call made for a pony in need.

Her guards pushed aside as if not even worth having, she almost loses more of her temper before the absolute look of surprise on all the ponies faces causes her to shift to more of the same. She begins to open her mouth, to make in observation to the lack of name given for such a parade, until she gently closes it instead onto what would surely have been heart felt. Instead, to the display given, does it seem to put her at ease.

"We are..." She begins, before giving a pause in order to try and return to something that requires more focus than normally expected. "I am here to find three ponies whom were put in danger earlier this night. It would appear that the decision to send them to where they would receive the best care was well placed. There was a stallion, mare, and a foal. I would like to meet with them, if they are willing."

"Actually they have been asking of you, your highness." One of the doctors steps forth after having done her best to kneel in respect. "The mare has not spoken much since their arrival, and the stallion seems to be in an state of confused shock. Their filly, on the other hoof has been very talkative, if even far too much so from the accounts given by the parents."

Ushered forth, by the leave of the lead mare doctor, Princess Luna lightly clops across the sparkling white tiles past the next set of double doors into what accounts for an all too soundless journey down several connecting corridors. Followed by her two guards, and even more farther behind, she takes further notice to the subtle body language of the doctor leading them without another word made in sound.

"You are a testament to your caste, Doctor... ?" She leads off in attempt to bring knowledge to the tension.

"Willow." Doctor Willow hesitates before responding, "Doctor Whispering Willow, actually. And thank you, your highness."

"She's very good at calming a patient down, even when they're in a lot of pain." A voice barely catches up from behind.

"You made mentioned to the little filly being talkative?"

"Yes, very. At first we just figured it was a foal's way of coping given her young age. She started off with things that made little sense, much to the light hushing of her mother, until things became more unbelievable and too silly to take as anything but foalish imagination." Doctor Willow pushes open another set of doors with her magic, caring not to look behind her. "Foalish enough to get a light giggle out of some of us."

Princess Luna tilts her head in light confusion to the notions of the conversation, narrowing her own eyes while trying to make some sense of the ever growing gloom in the air threatening even to bring her down as mumbles and whimpers murmur from behind.

"I do not understand. You mentioned how she lightened the obviously disheartened. It is so wrong to enjoy such innocence?"

"She said you were dancing with a cloud until you tripped and fell out of the sky." A pony almost in tears from behind confesses. "We're sorry!"

"...a cloud? What matter do you..." She cranes her neck to look back to the foray of shame riddled expressions of her subjects on the verge of tears of their unintended mockery. "Why do you shed tears as if you've done me untrue?"

"Because she said you got hurt and we laughed!" A stallion ushers in next, as if almost eager to entice punishment from a Lunar Princesses who merely continues to clop past the now standstill Doctor Willow, echoing through the halls without even a breath for disturbance.

Without looking back, but carrying now a more thoughtful expression. "Then all is as it should be, for which I am grateful."

Beginning her clops once more, Doctor Willow almost scampers forward in order to catch up while the others all merely stand back an watch as the two slowly round another corner and out of sight. Without even a whisper, they all let their unfocused stares drift to the floor instead.

"As are we." Comes the soothing motherly voice from just behind, to which cries of surprise and slipping hooves as a few crumble to the tile floor does it's very best to remain perfectly in tune. "You must forgive me, my little ponies, for my unintended ease dropping. I merely felt that it would be best to not intrude on what was something of such importance. Please accept my apologizes for frightening you."

"Princess Celestia!" The ponies who fell get to the hooves before sliding down on them once more in respectable greeting. Rising once more, they all catch the glimpse of the downward crane of Princess Celestia's neck in return, before rising it above them once more.

Taking notice to her slow but distinct clop on her left front hoof, they part between their ensemble in order to let her pass as they in turn watch her patiently clop down and past the same corner. With visage limited to only her own, the Princess quickens her pace as to keep just within sight of who would lead her both in destination and intention.

Losing sight past the slam of two double doors, she uses her magic to cushion the clops now pounding down into the tile against her almost rampant pace to not be left behind once more. Making her approach to the double door, she forgoes subtlety with her magic nearly bursting them open to the wide and agitated eyes of lunar might. "Luna!"

"If you're quite done sneaking around like a foal, then follow us. I will explain what I can when we find more suitable arrangements." Turning around only to find Doctor Willow giving off the most nervous of hums, turning in kind as she leads them once more. They get but a few clops forward before they are encased in the golden barrier of the Solar Princess, whom continues to stand where she had been.

"I trust in our dear doctor to hold what may be said here in the strictest of confidence, given that she has already heard enough to bring alarm for the faculty." Only now does she clop but a few to stand alongside her sister. "Along with myself."

"I do not know what they are, nor what they were." Luna's words, no matter how seemingly cryptic, forms a riddle for one while an even higher cause for concern in another. "Whether by purposeful concealment or by my own mind's ignorance, their true forms were never revealed."

Celestia looks towards her sister in the same manner as her hooves trailing but just behind in stride.

"I had been waiting for the storm to clear in order to look upon our kingdom once more, having felt something reminiscent to an earlier age. With my presence once more unhindered, I left with haste, and upon my arrival I acted swiftly and protected a pairing and their foal." Letting out an unladylike snort. "And had all been true, then for what reason would you have been awoken from your slumber?"

"Did you merely underestimate them?" Celestia asks in a softer tone.

"I would rather see it as not understanding them." Luna almost quips back, fluttering her eyes shut to the small shake of her head. "I'm not in the right frame of mind, I'm afraid. But that is no excuse to take my frustrations out of you. My apologizes, sister."

"May I see it?"

"See what?" Luna lifts the inside brow facing Celestia, before narrowing in realization. "It is nothing to be concerned over."

"You're putting more weight on the left hoof to the wound on the right side of your chest, are you not?" Giving her eyes a roll to non verbal response, "Do you really think shifting your weight back evenly is going to do anything but worry me more?"

"Coming from the mare that powdered her horn by day and withered in pain during the night for almost a month?" Craning her neck to give her sister's unfocused wide eyed stare one of harsher expression. "One that brought tears to your eyes because of how stubborn you are?" Stopping her clops in order to turn and face the side of her latest agitation. "I literally had to knock you out for you to let me apply the cream."

"What do you mean you had to knock me out?" She, too, comes to a stop before giving her sister her full frontal stare. Twitching her ear to the small cry of surprise, she takes opportunity to move her eyes down and left. Letting her head tilt but just a bit, much to the ever growing growl sent her, her horn begins to glow. "Luna...?"

"What?" With eyes narrowed, only to quickly widen before once more falling as slow as her body towards towards the floor, cushioned and then lifted back up while wrapped in a dull golden hue. "...damn...you..."

"Doctor Willow." Celestia's tone changes to something a bit more stern. "I know that we have already asked much of you and your staff, but I'm afraid that things have become far more serious than any of us may have assumed. While we all have our parts still to play, I will be counting on yours to lead me to answers that I do not have." Shifting her gaze towards the doctor dawning an ever worrisome one. "Can I depend on you?"

"Of course, your highness." Doctor Willow, with only a few cracks in her voice, answers without hesitation. "We have several specially designed rooms if you wish to have Princess Luna placed under our care. They are all private and spacious."

"It shall actually be in both of our best interests to head to the room with the family. I will be helping to mend her wounds while I talk to the family about what they saw this dreadful night." Moving up with Princess Luna in magical tow to just behind the Doctor. "Princess Luna has few weaknesses, but in my favor, one seems to lay in wait upon our destination."

"Lay in.... is the family in danger?!"

"What? Oh no, not them." Shifting her eyes but a bit to the low moan hovering along her side. "We should hurry."

Running his fingers up and down the front, he quirks an eyebrow or makes a huff upon each scuff or dent upon his most dependable of friends. Blowing on the knuckles on his other hand, he attempts to rub away that which robs the metal of it's shine while making inaudible chatter upon the futility of each attempt. Having crouched down during his inspection, he lowers his head in just the nick of time to the sudden impact just above, leaving only the rippling strands of blue and violet energy behind against the distant splash of water.

"Feel any better?" Guardian continues to crouch down, letting his forearms rest atop his knees with his hands hanging free. Staring out into the pitched blackness of the night under solid sediment cover, he takes further cue from the low growl off to his side. "Didn't think so, either."

"I'll feel better once you actually tell me what the hell that was all about." Who can only grumble to the long drag of air taken by he who has earned his ire, ever so casually crouched below. "Without the bullshit."

"Not too much to say without it, brother." Returning to his normally low monotone. "I made a choice, much like yourself."

"There isn't much choice when the screams come." Giving his head a idle shake, "You can come up with all the ways to say there is, but when it comes down the line, you either run towards it or away like a coward." along with a small shrug. "Ain't a choice there for me."

"And when you have no more screams to tell you where to run to? What then?" Guardian keeps continues with what keeps the atmosphere calmer than otherwise permitted. Letting but a few precious moments of silence to pass by before making further observations. "You're a predator. Just because something isn't on the menu doesn't mean that your suddenly not a threat. You'll always be one."

"Then business as usual. So what? Am I supposed to suddenly get cold feet?"

"You're supposed to play your part."

"I thought I was coming here with a brother to try and finish what we didn't start." Turning his head to look down with an less than approving stare. "But according to you we're not even here for the same damn thing, so maybe it's finally time that you told me what part I'm playing."

"The one you chose the moment you stepped foot in this realm. You're doing exactly what you said you came here to do. Kill demons." Lifting but one hand into the air, outstretched towards the watery crevice below, an even louder splash barely conceals the sound of impact upon his hand. Having leaned forward, he slams it down in time to anchor himself from being pushed back too far from his crouch. "So what are you again?"

"...annoyed." Seeker quips in all honesty, much to his sudden struggle against the overpowering neck hold of an equally annoyed Guardian who pulls down even harder than he rose up, seemingly surpassing any resistance with ease. "...n-not helping!"

"Then you're not looking hard enough!" Guardian ignores even the hard elbow into his side, shifting now upon one knee in order to align Seeker to face the inside of the towering slab of metal. Hearing only the hard breath of continued struggle, the inside of the shield begins to gleam of no outside light given, until he is no longer able or willing to hold Seeker against his will. "So, again. What are you?"

Scampering to his feet, giving but a spit or two, he wipes his mouth with his arm while still staring upon that which reflects nothing but the surrounding darkness. Still catching his breath, he switches his look of momentary fright to blistering anger. "That wasn't funny!"

"It's called making a choice, and the consequences of having done so." Guardian stands firmly upon both his feet while resting a hand atop the shield, softening his voice in the process. "The ones you killed earlier had a purpose, while you still had none. You changed that."

"I'm immune to the infection." Lifting his hands, finger spread, turning them front to back over and over. "That's the point!"

"You are the infection." Raising his voice just enough to get through. "This," Switching the point of his index and middle finger back between them several times, "is no different than the ones you killed earlier tonight. It didn't matter for you because you were still on Earth."

"I'm nothing like them." Seeker laces his voice with venom. "You're a brother, and you'd lay such a thing at my feet?!"

Reaching down in order to grasp and then lift his shield once more, taking but the slowest of strides towards Seeker, "You say you're here to save the ones who dwell here yet when it comes down to it, you're just fighting to be king of the hill." Coming up alongside, facing opposite ways. "Do you know what happens when you reach the top?"

Seeker, taking realization to the flicker upon the back of his neck, just continues to stare out.

"I'll finally know where I need to go." Stretching his own neck with a few low cracks, "If I didn't feel it, I wouldn't of brought you with me. But sometimes you have to let go of the anger and focus on what's truly important. You've made sure to let the demons know we're here, like I made sure the ones we're trying to help do as well. But there's a problem there."

Still looking away, he ever so lightly etches his head in towards Guardian.

"They will kill to grow. When they die, all that they've become will go back to it. We have nothing to offer them but death, and they will do everything that they can to avoid us while going after only the most potent now. At the same time we only know of one who'd be a target. We need to find out whose standing on that mountain and block anything but getting up the path."

"Then we need to bring more down to let us know where we need to stand." Seeker finally turns to look, even if not reciprocated. "But I can't make the promise to stand by and only watch if they make a showing. " Turning to face the same direction. "Don't have a choice, you know."

"Just make sure you get all of them, next time." Guardian seeks to make casual reprimand.

"...all of them?"

"Don't worry about it this time. I'll take care of it shortly." Of the slightest smirk, does Guardian elicit further concern.

"What the hell did you do now?" Showing his frustration in the ridge of his nose, smoothing out as confusion sets in to the slow rise of Guardian's arm as the shield once more rotates to be concurrent with the forearm. Taking but one step forward, he takes several back in quick succession as the shield begins to illuminate in violent blue energy, splitting apart wider at the base as a long metal rod slides out in between the space.

"Like I said, we're a threat." Guardian bolsters his voice to overcome the low but growing whine coming from his shield, "We need time to adapt to this place and you're in no condition to do so just yet." until at it's loudest does something slide and finally connect the right underside to left, causing Guardian to be pushed back as something shoots forward towards the entrance of their cave, bringing it all down. "Yet."

"And this somehow is connected to trapping us in a cave?" Throwing his arms up in the air. "Makes perfect sense!"

"It's to keep anything that lives here from getting in, not keeping either of us from getting out." Lowering his shield before turning to walk past Seeker down even deeper in the enclosed crevice. "Follow. There is much that I need to teach you if you're going to be of any real help."

Chapter Three: The things that go clop in the night

"...Tia!" She nearly screams in anger to whom cannot hear, forced to retain the expression upon her face long after the realization. Slowly closing her muzzle, she keeps her eyes narrowed while craning her neck to look all around of no white corridor to be found. Closing her eyes, she lets out a snort to the very notion of her situation. "You lack the skills, dear sister, to pull the wool over my eyes in my very realm."

Closing her eyes once more, she slows her breathing letting out but a few light hums of inaudible mockery. With but a twitch of her one eye, she stops her humming as if to concentrate further, putting ever more into her breathing. "What did you do..."

Passing but a few minutes, stilled with her muzzle dipped down and wings elevated, she raises her muzzle almost as fast as her rising eyelids. Looking around, to and fro, below and above, she even flaps her wings in her ever growing emotional state. "What did you do!"

Of her yell, clouded only by the rising bits of sand to her foreleg stomp directly below, she takes none the answer in return. Staring down upon the ground of sand, scorched into vibrant reflection by the unrelenting sun high above, she begins to trot with light grunts directly up the dune before her. Flapping her wings a few more times, she growls once more. "When I get done your horn won't be the only thing needing a cream you..."

"...you..." Her voice trails like her hooves in the sand at the crest of the dune, finally able to take glimmer or what reaches as far as she can see upon the other side. Going as wide as they can be, she can do little other than simply stare upon the stain of creatures strung all across the sand. Softening her expression, she takes away her sight's focus for but a moment while letting them shift about in a downward stare. Inhaling sharply, she closes them once more while putting her best hoof forward with the full expanse of her wings, clenching her teeth in the process.

"This isn't..." Finally adopting a bit of worry both in tone of voice and facial expression, she speaks softly before moving back up a few clomps to look back over the crest, finding the expanse of sand as barren as naturally assumed. Shifting towards hesitation, she takes very small clomps even farther while bringing a wing up and forward with the squint of her eyes. "...but there is no where else I could be."

"Could always be going crazy?"

"Don't be absurd." She uses her other wing to flap towards the direction of foreign voice, still holding the other between her vision and that of the blistering sun. Holding herself completely still, she finally takes but the deepest of sighs. "You're so dead when I get out of here, Tia!"

"You really should be careful on what you wish for there, pony girl." The voice's words are deep but thoughtful, stilled only by the same shown of the winged dark blue pony with her horn raised high towards the sky. Moving forward just a bit closer with a long stride of clomps from below, the owner of voice gets just alongside that which seems abnormally distracted. "You know, you're kind of tiny!"

"What matter of....!" She turns her head but a flinch towards the deep voice, widening her own as her eye begins to travel upwards to the long muzzle breathing down upon her own. Keeping her wings as they were, she says nothing upon the giant equine now standing far too close.

"What? Did you just realize where you pfff!" The equine sputters out near the end to the hard impact upon it's nose, it's vision catching only a eyeful of dark blue feathers before smashed along the cheek by it's opposing twin. Eyes closed, he awkwardly attempts to waddle back just as an impressively strong blow comes to his mid chest, helping him backwards and and then onto his back.

"Feisty little thing..."

"We are Princess Luna, and we demand you state your presence!" She puts as much as she can muster in her voice, making her stance of bending upon all four legs all the more confronting. "We will not be intimidated by such abhorrent theatrics!"

"You'd think I'd be better at this by now, huh." He whispers to himself, still upon his back with all of his feet bent down in a relaxing hang. "I'm getting up. You'd better behave yourself!" Of no sooner does he roll upon his side that the explosion of sand near his muzzle indicate no heed to his warning. Laying as if too lazy to care of what is now pointed his way, "It's not going to work here, you know."

"Where is here!" Luna holds her muzzle down, eyes pointed towards that which lays before her lowered horn. "Answer, Nightmare!"

"Here is I."

"We shall not fall for such riddles of game." Etching but a bit closer, "You may have changed your approach. Altered yourself for further mockery of ourselves. But you can never change what you are to us!" only to breathe even harder from her declarations. "Answer!"

"You know, back then, had you used even a fraction of the fury your showing right now I may have tried to kill you." Keeping himself entirely relaxed even as the other stabs forward in feigned threat. "That was a compliment, you little firecracker."

"Your mere presence is an insult." Relaxing her eyes but a bit. "If you wish to compliment, then vanish and never return."

"Here is I, and only I can be here. If you wish for me to leave you be, all you need to do, is ask."

"Even pushed back to the farthest reaches of our mind, would never be far enough. Chain and shackled, you would always be at the forefront of our worry and concern. There is no where within us for the likes of you, our truest regret to anything that we may have offered world."

"Still unsure if you want me to leave or..."Silence!"

"We shall not fall for the same trickery. We shall not set you free upon the world to once more reign torment upon those who live there." Rearing her head back and away. "We can only consider that our most recent confrontation with that of lesser quality has somehow riled you awake."

"Lesser quality?"

"If we must remain in slumber until our sister can summon the Elements to seal you away once more, then so be it." Clomping back quite a bit, ending only with her rump landing upon the gritty sand. "We may be powerless, but you cannot leave without word that we shall not usher."

Continuing with her defiance, she finally takes in what had first caused her to revert to that of lesser emotional states. "Just what did you wish to accomplish by taking such a disproportionate mockery of a proper stallion? Small eyes, long muzzle, and matching what flows from above your hooves by what also flows from neck and tail." Shaking her head with mock laughter. "Did you think being so large would frighten us?"

"What did you mean by what you said earlier?" The misshaped stallion rolls over into a more comfortable laying position, giving his head a good shake from all the sand working their way. "All that stuff about nightmare, being woke up by that... lesser quality one from earlier?"

"I refuse to play these games, Nightmare."

"Was it something like yourself, but a bit more black in shade?" Taking notice to her light twitch.

"A little bigger as well. Loud booming voice of seething malcontent?"

Giving a small smile to the questioning expression in return, he first pulls one foreleg forward in order to plant his hoof upon the sand, lifting himself up a bit as the others all slowly take their place to his towering presence. Doing a little kick to all of the sand held within his heavy feathering, he notices the return of tension upon that which has also risen to all fours. "Do I look like Nightmare, to you?"

"I said I refuse to play...!" She went down fighting, if that makes you feel any better about it." He finishes what she had started, letting his rear plop down upon the sand much like that across the way. Waiting until her eyes suddenly widen, "Yeah."

Rising to her hooves, much to the tiresome expression sent her way, she hunches down once more.

"I'll hit back this time, so you know." Tilting his head just a bit, "But I'd rather get a few things out in the open first."

Readied in posture, she says nothing but keeps her unwavering eyes on the stallion with ears pointed forward.

"I need to get out of here." Taking a deep breath that leaves faster than it came. "Mind helping me out?"

"No." Showing more tension between her eyes. "I have seen what you would do to all who dwell here."

"Hey, we weren't the ones who went and tried to kill your little friends." Giving but a bit of snap to the point of his muzzle her way. "Contrary to what you may believe I'm not actually here of my own accord. I've got a job to do and you're keeping me from doing it."

"All the better, then." Taking heed from what little emotion she can take from it's expression. "Answer is still no."

"Well, what if I apologize for bashing you in the head with my shield?"

"The answer would still be... Wait..." Only to shrug her shoulders. "No."

"How about if I apologize for calling you a bitch when you blasted me through those trees?"

"..." Forced now to struggle under her stern expression, as an inner rage only barely remains contained. "No."

He sighs once again, albeit much slower in rise and fall. "You really are a bitch, I guess."

"Excuse me!?"

"I said your pretty mean." Rolling his shoulders to the best of his ability. "Haven't even given me a chance."

"You came and attacked our subjects in the middle of the night!" Unwilling to hold back what no longer need be contained. "You attacked me and somehow infected my mind with your poison to which you dare ask for pardon to your crimes in feign to commit even more?!"

"I was testing you, to see if you were worth a damn." He trots over through a long stride that forces her to put that much more in her own. "You came barreling through the night to defend what would of already been dead, had it been only on you. You put on your best show of force, and act offended when I called your hand?" Repeatedly lifting his muzzle up and down as he closes in. "But that's not what pisses me off the most."

"And what would that be?" She continues to awkwardly clomp backwards, weary of any upcoming words of trickery.

"I really, and I mean really, reaaaaaa..." Rolling his head until his muzzle hangs at high noon, "...aaaally need to get out of here."

"Acting like a foal won't change my mind, you annoying little..." Growing in anger to a smirk sent her way. "Quiet!"

"If I tell you why I need to get out of here, would it help?"

"Yes!" Catching her tongue too little too late. "No!" Bending her ears back to his invasion of her personal space, "I said no!" she whips forward the highest arch in her wing to no avail, his large muzzle coming just up and then past her own. "I'm warning you..."

"Anger." His tone, while filled with grit still carries a softness that seems to give her pause. "You let it carry you, like the wind. You think of me as an threat, and if so, you would be ever so right." Feeling the tension build once again. "But you are not what I seek to devour."

"Then what do you..."

"I am no righteous being. I am prone to fits of rage, holding a grudge, and can little see the difference between retribution and vengeance." Taking heed to the space still occupied next to his own. "You think that we sought to invade, when in truth we were only in pursuit. Something has found it's way into your home. We are here because we lost ours to the same that wishes to do now onto yours."

"Why should I believe you?" She keeps her eyes strained forward, slowing her breathing while solidifying her tone. "How can I?"

"You have a choice to make, like I have made so many times over, to the accountability you alone shall be forced to bare." Etching his muzzle so close to her upright and pivoted ear, his breath causes it to twitch. "It shall lay in wait, until the first slumber. Only one will wake up."

"Then, it is as I feared." Pulling her head away in order to look into his blackened vision. "You seek to take control of me, like she did once before to the shame and regret that that I can do nothing but carry alone." Softening her expression a bit more. "I have a question, then."

"Ask."

"Do you feel remorse, for the lives that you take in the name of whatever you wish to call your quest for vengeance?" Showing nothing under his direct, but continued stare in silence. "Do you feel the pain, in the taking of the most sacred of homes of those who might heed your call?"

"You misunderstand, little firecracker." He gives no reaction to the light flinch to his chosen nickname. "I am not here to take over your home, in either sense considered. I already have what I sought from here, and now, I need to leave in order to do the same out there."

"You... were after Nightmare?"

"I was originally placed here for when the stallion would be taken, and in turn, attempt to take hold of you. Since they are aware of our presence, they will take and bolster themselves through only the fittest in your world." Thoughtfully raising his brow. "But things changed."

"The father is infected?" Finally letting her eyes soften into ever growing worry. "My sister is carrying me to the room where they are."

"If she is like you, then it will go for her, instead. I am no longer dormant, and it will not take the bait that I had set."

"If what you say is true, and if you say you are here to help us, then let me wake and warn her." Lifting her muzzle to the sudden rise in her chest. "I swear if no trickery lays in wait, I will converse with my sister of your offer in assistance to this supposed blight upon our lands."

"We are both trapped here unless you release me from your bindings, or erase me from within them." Letting his eyes blink ever so slowly to the widening of her own. "I told you that you would have to make a choice, one that you will be held accountable."

"You're asking me to risk releasing something influenced by Nightmare herself, that might not be whom he says he is, or risk having you been telling the truth and putting not only my sister but all of my subjects at risk?!" Jerking her head to the words. "That is no choice to be had!"

"More of a gamble, I know." Sound off but a few mocking chuckles. "And even if I have told the truth so far, does not mean that I've been honest about the entirety of it all. You may very well regret setting me loose, even if you do end up saving your sister and country."

"But I..."

"But like I did with Nightmare, I am doing with you. I have never taken someone by force. To do that means that the other is entirely absorbed, as material, and not even part of their personality is saved in union." Looking her once more in the eye. "I would like to think that one such as yourself, having experienced this sort of thing before, would understand what will happen if your sister loses her fight."

Looking down, Luna stares intently upon the grains of sand that lay down upon and all around her submerged hooves. Narrowing her eyes, only to soften them just after, she shifts between several fold before finally settling on something a bit more confident and stern.

"You said just like with Nightmare, you're asking, correct?"

"Correct."

"That means she agreed to this?"

"Agreed would be a rather strong word, perhaps." His own, giving rising doubt across the way. "She gave me a criteria through which if met, she would agree to such terms that I set forth for her." Rolling one eye up in consideration, "But yes, she agreed to let me work for it."

"Then I want your word, upon a name that if true, you should at least feel down to your very hooves." Luna hardens her eyes, as if in preparation for confrontation, along with her posture. "Promise upon Attendant Primrose that....!" Of words, drowned out by the sudden whirlwind of sand catching any and all in it's pelting fury, forced to use her wings to shield her eyes and muzzle while hunkered down against the drag.

"While I am quite impressed by how well you've caught on..." His words, bolstered to almost thundering levels even against the howl of wind and sand, containing a serene calmness that serves only to heighten the foreboding sense of dread. As the wind begins to equalize to the cloud of dust and grit, a vibrating stomp is enough to send away any concealment made from a cemented memory.

Standing before the Princess, in her most inner realm, is the very same large equine as before. White mane and tail, two tone coat of black and white in rounding pattern, along with heavy white feathering coming from above and all the way down onto the sand from all four hooves. Almost as if disappointed from expectations never met, she begins to lift that which heavily weights her down.

Looking down, she flickers her eyes wider to the water like movement of the sand streaming past her front hooves. Craning her neck to her side, she widens them even more to the unmoving mane that had flowed freely through the weightless air. Feeling but another vibrating stomp, she catches just in the time the lack thereof in movement from the one before her. Beginning to feel an ever rising pressure, she grunts in opposition to what wishes her to bow down onto her very abdomen, unable to concentrate as the light begins to fade.

"I must ask that while I do promise, I must also demand that you never mention that name so casually again." Seemingly now clenching his teeth hard enough to cause his teeth to grit against each other while letting only the deepest of agitated growls escape through. "I have this insurmountable urge to kill you right now, several times over."

"I can hear her when you speak." Luna makes through heavy breath in observation, if in defense to the very thought. "And yet you haven't."

Still struggling against himself, showing the strain with the jitter of his head when trying to force it down and away from she who stands before him. Of but a few more growls, and hard scuffs with his front hoof, does he look back up once again like that from across the way now free of her struggle. "...that was risky, firecracker. If you die here then so do I and so does she, even if only two of us might of given a damn."

"There lives not a single pony, griffon, minotaur, or dragon alive or dead who could do what that name can to Nightmare." Plopping her rear back down in the same, as if no longer threatened by anything at all. "The worst reaction was the only one I needed to see."

"You had one hell of a mean woman inside you." He admits, plain and simple.

"And now, so do you." She returns in kind.

"You don't seem particularly worried of that."

"What may set you free shall also shackle you." She tilts her head before looking away. "We may not know exactly how to deal with you, but we do her." Turning back to stare into his eyes. "Through me she was given life, and through me she found shelter when gleamed of it."

"I like that." Unable to hide the smirk growing on the corner of his muzzle, his form already beginning to fade like that of the world all around them, much to his only audience's slight confusion. "Just don't look too much into it, okay? It's something off the list she gave me."

"List? What list?!"

"P-princess! Something just came out of Princess Luna!" an unfamiliar mare yells in fright. "What is that!"

Of whom is to be concerned, finds it absolutely difficult to open her eyes, moaning out a hum to her futile struggle to summon enough strength to do anything but. Forced to listen, she hears far too much, too quick, making it only possible to latch onto only the closest voices.

"Evacuate the entire hospital!" Comes the voice of one audibly offset Solar Princess. "While it's distracted, get my sister...!"

"Hey little white pony. Any chance you know where this one's sister is?" The low grit of it's voice sending a shiver, as if ironically waking up to a nightmare, causing that which writhes on the hospital bed just behind to do so even more. "Wait... pearly white coat... sherbert mane..."

"Are you the one who dares attack my sister and our little ponies?!"

"Ah, good, it seems the stallion down there is one tough son of a bitch. Still hanging in there." Looking down upon the stallion, cradled by the shivering body of another on top while one of much smaller proportions peeks out but one frightened eye from underneath. "All here, huh."

"You will not come one hoof closer to them, abomination!" Turning her head while keeping her eyes up towards the much larger beastly mockery of her own kind. "Luna! Luna, answer me, please?" Flaring her horn even brighter, "I will not allow you any closer!"

The large equine, staring down upon the stallion twitching as if running in a dream, gives only a few slow blinks before turning towards Luna's sister. Seemingly paying little heed to the ever increase of golden light emitted from her horn, he shakes his head with a sigh. "That's it?"

"If you think I would...!"

"Ah, I get it now. You've been at the top so long that you've become bloated and lazy." Nodding his head as all around him, everything pony or otherwise, begins to float off the floor. "Does not bode well for you all, at all. Nor do I have the time to tell you why."

Drifting up ever so slowly, the Solar Princess loses but a brief moment of concentration to the confusion of her attempts to fix what she does not understand, failing again and again while the walls begin to creak and whine to the upending pull. Refocusing her efforts, she sends a beam of magical energy directly into the muzzle of he who stands in origin, gaining only the look of her surprise to it's continued bloody smirk.

"So how about I just show you!" His yell, almost concealed by the riveting shatter of tiles and edge of a bed, managed to get through just as the Solar Princess is hit by a rising unseen object the same moment she is violently pulled back down. As all that once continued to rise afloat begins to fall back to the floor, she who be taught but a lesson hurls up through the wall and towards the darkened night sky outside.

"Nnnngh... N..Nnnno...Wh..." She who now struggles upon the far back floor, still physically pacified, mumbles loudly.

"Don't mind her." He whips his head towards behind him, "Or her." only to nudge it towards the missing wall. "We have more important matters to attend to." Looking down to the mare who can only bury her muzzle in the side of her sleeping mate. "He's dying, so you know."

"Please leave us alone!!"

"I can't. But I'm not allowed to touch him until he's something else." Flickering his ears to the distant but quickly encroaching magnitude of clops. "When you were attacked in the forest, he was infected. That infection is slowly eating away at all that he is, until there nothing left so it can take over." Blowing hard on the top of the mare's head to force her to look up. "Hey, do you want to save him or not? I don't have much time."

"W-well I-I-I..."

"What is it with you ponies? Back on Earth all I had to do was say I could save him or her and they sometimes even threatened me for wasting the time to ask!" Holding a look most undignified to the empty space that once served as a wall. "Damn, the bitch is coming back."

"H-how can..."

"You tell me to save him, and I will. But he might not remember you." Doing the must subtle of etches of his head towards the filly underneath. "Or her." Slowing his breathing and his voice. "It will depend on what he held onto the longest. But you will still at least have the chance."

"T-then do it!"

"Already did." Letting his eyes focus on the one still looking up to him, giving but a slow wink in place of further words. Clopping backwards but a few, he turns to take one last look to the one who seethes with anger while still upon the floor, exchanging but a shrug to a stare. Walking towards the door, he meets chest to muzzle dozens upon dozens of room filling guardponies, of each and every one passing right on through in their determined but confused frenzy to capture an assailant long since having moved on.