After That Fateful Night- The Angel's Story.

Loyal was going to Ponyville. His thoughts were a myriad of cruels taunts and jibes. He may not know the Rainbow Dash of this world, but watching her always calmed his thoughts.

Thane and Laryia talked to Snowberry and Elder Lyons. The plan was to get a spy into the castle and see what was happeining. It wouldn't be easy of course, but it would be manageable if they were cautious.

"Summer, if we sent one of us in as a soldier, yould that work?"

"No, Snowberry. The soldiers go through rigorous mind scouring." wheezed Elder Lyons.

Loyal mingled in the crowd, amazed at all the hubbub. From what he understood, there was a draft in place to pull together as many soldiers as possible.

He eventually found his Dashie in line, waiting with a pony he recognized from his own world as Raindrops. She was a kindly mare, hard worker, pretty fun at a party.

Dash was fidgeting before whispering something to Raindrops and taking into the sky. He looked at Raindrops eyes as she followed Rainbow mentally.

'Ah yes, 'that look', I had one of my own with that same mare Raindrop. At least this Dashie has someone to love her as I love my own Rainbow.

Loyal watched as Rainbow soared around, just doing everything she knew how to do with her usual style. It brought a wave of calm over the haunted stallion, forcing the slaughtered from his mind and bringing up all the good things he's done. Lost in his own thoughts, Loyal didn't even realize what was happening until Raindrops tore into the sky after Rainbow. Following her trajectory mentally Loyal gasped in horror as he saw a griffon ready for the attack.

Raindrops slammed into a griffon as all Tartarus broke loose. Griffon's began to pour from the sky.

Loyal immediatly took up an assault. He flew straight into a group and stalled three of them. Working hard to dispatch them he felt a burst of pain erupt from his back and out of his stomach.

'Damn, again!' he mentally growled. Pulling the spear throguh his body he found it was not like the conventional spears meant for throwing. It was a well made, balanced melee spear. Twirling it in his feather-tendrils for a second, Loyal dropped the three stunned griffons before him. Finished with that he quickly scanned for the tell tale chromatic mane of Dashie. When he caught sight of her his heart felt as if it was being ripped from his body.

Rainbow stood over Raindrops, who had a lance driven through her. He saw the hurt on Rainbows face, it was similar to what he'd seen of his own Dash before she attempted to take her own life.

Roaring in anger Loyal tore into the nearest group of griffons.

"I WILL NO LONGER TOLERATE YOUR FILTH!"

Loyal struck with skilled precision, dropping two griffons that had arced down to follow Dash. After removing them from the equation he turned in time to see a cowering stallion take a spear through the plot, pinning him to the ground.

'Foal!" Loyal mentally spat. Sharging the griffon that had done the deed the slashed it's wing, shearing half of it's length clean off. the griffon dropped to the ground, immediatly rounding upon the stallion before finding it's throat torn open by a furious slash from his spear. He turned to aid Big Mac, who was fending off two griffons on his own, when a third sharged in with a halberd. Loyal was seconds from taking off when he realized it was Dashie's friend Gilda.

With brute ferocity that could rival himself, he watched her tear another griffons face open with her claws.

'Good girl, she joined the right side.'

It hadn't been much longer before the griffon's tore off into the sky in full retreat, only a hooful left to tell the tale of thier defeat. Hitching his spear on his back Loyal started to trot through the crowd, aiding where he could. It was gruesome work moving bodies. The griffons were being sepperated from the ponies, and the ponies were obviously being handled with more care than the griffons. It didn't bother him too much until he saw two Lunar soldiers urinating on a griffon corpse laughing.

"Hey, the eck are you two doing!" he shouted. The two soldiers in question froze, thinking that they'd been discovered by a superiour officer. When they noticed it was 'just' a regular stallion they yelled right back.

"We're having fun, what, you feel sorry for the birdies?"

"No. the 'birdies' don't respect the dead! And look at what your doing!" Loyal yelled right back.

At this point they'd drawn a rather large crowd of ponies, not that Loyal noted their presence until on shouted out.

"Yeah those griffons don't care so why should we!?"

"Simple, because we aren't griffons! We are ponies, we know better than this! I myself saved an infant from a griffon, but does that mean that I would turn around and strike down and griffon hatchling?! Would any of you dare strike down a griffon hatchling?! Would you?!"

The ponies all around him froze, the soldiers, the civilians, everypony froze. The only noise to be heard was the moans of the wounded and screams of the dying.

"Now stop staring at me! Get help to those that need it and do it now! And you two!" Loyal roared as he rounded back upon the soldiers desecrating the corpse, "Take this body CAREFULLY to the rest. If I catch you doing this again, I'll kill you!"

The two soldiers left him, thoroughly ashamed of their actions. Loyal made to leave when he heard a voice behind him.

"Well I guess you aren't as lame as most of these ponies, where are you from?"

It was Gilda of course. Still covered in gore and looking rather edgy at that.

"I simply corrected thier errors. It shouldn't be a problem anymore."

"No, it shouldn't. But that still doesn't answer my question. You're a fighter obviously, you aren't with the rest of the drafted dweebs, you yelled at my squad like you earned their respect, and you're carrying a High Chiefs war spear. So then, who are you, and what are you doing here."

"Ahhh, Gilda, and yes I know your name. Chavon Lyons speaks of you highly..."

"What do you know of Chavon!"

"And Elder Lyons Agrees with Chavon. They told me that if i met you to tell you, 'The Pride hunts'. I'm assuming you know what that means."

"Heck yes. Good old Lyons has got the Pride together! We are so kicking some griffon butt! So when are they joining us?"

"Ahh yes, well, they aren't."

"What!" Gilda snapped.

"Hold fast young one! The Pride wishes for the war to end, but like I, they do not feel that Princess Lu- I mean Queen Moon, is fit to safely lead us. I feel that she can find her way to become a proper leader eventually, but now. Well even you must see it."

"Yeah, I do. Commander Hardass belts me if i ever bring it up though. Well tell them I said hi, but I gotta go deal with the rest of the losers."

"Of course, and Gilda. You never saw me."

"Saw who?"

Loyal smirked as the young griffon took off towards the airships.

"We've been debating the subject for most of the day now. We need to find somepony, er yeah actually, somepony that can get close to the queen." growled Summertides.

"Well we've discussed this long enough for one day, but I have a new question. Where is Loyal?" Elder Lyons wheezed.

"Ohmigosh! You're right, we're all so silly. We've been trying to get close to Queen Moon alllll day long and Loyal isn't anywhere around. Who saw him last?"

"I did Laryia, he went out on a scouting patrol and sent us to find aid from the minotaurs." piped Snowberry.

"Ah yes, you're right lass. So then that means he's been gone for a few days. You don't think he went home do you Laryia?" quested Thane.

Suddenly the air fell cold as Thanatos drifted in. "He did not leave us. I would've felt the rift in your worlds barriers. I have a good guess though. You say he tends to be at the center of the action. That means it would not surprise me in the least if he was in Ponyville today."

"Silly Death, what would  Loyal be doing in Ponyville, nothing ever happens there!" giggled Laryia.

"Alas it is not so. Ponyville was attacked earlier today. Out of my realm I couldn't garner an accurate count, but the losses we just over one hundred dead. More trickle in as some of the wounded don't make it."

This earned a gasp from all in the tent. Thane was quickest to recover.

"Well the good side is we all know Loyal can't die, so atleast that's going for us. Any other knews Thanatos?"

"None of too much importance Thane. I suggest we all get rest, or atleast you guys get rest. We will need our strength in the near future, of that I am sure." Thanatos drifted back out of the tent.

With him gone the chill lifted from the air as the others set about getting up to go about their business.

Laryia and Thane did what they'd done every night since her return at Death's hands(hooves, whatever). disappearing into their private tent they caught a glimpse of Snowberry as they closed the tent flap.

Snowberry trudged through the camp, making her way towards a small hill at the eastern side. Her thoughts were racing at the possibilties of who was harmed in attack on Ponyville. Making a slight detour she found herself wlaking up behind Thanatos. She was about to open her mouth when he spoke. "I know what you want me to answer. I don't mind helping you but.... I can't garauntee you will like what I find out."

"I....I know Thanatos... I don't want to bother you, but.... I need to know."

"I understand. Give me a moment." Thanatos cut a portal open with his scythe and stepped through. He returned mere moments later, but left the portal open.

Something in his demeanor, not that you could see his face or anything else, but a sagging in his cloak, told Snowberry all she needed to know.

"I can give you one last goodbye though. Would you like this?"

Snowberry nodded silently as her sister Raindrops stepped out from the portal. Snowberry immediatly broke into sobs as Raindrops came to sit by her.

"Big sister. Please, don't cry for me." sniffled Raindrops.

"I'm sorry, I shoudl've been there for you, I should've done something."

"No Snowberry. You did what you felt was right, and let me tell you something. That was the best thing you ever did. You were my inspiration 'Berry. You allowed me to do something that I'd never had the courage to do!"

"What was that?" Snowberry cryed.

"I saved somepony! Somepony special. You remember that other pegasus, head of the weather team, Rainbow Dash?"

"Yeas, you had a crush on her right?"

"I loved her 'Berry, and because I used you as a role model I saved her! I saved somepony I love because you taught me that! I love you 'Berry, and I want to to always remeber that."

"But can't you come back?"

"Ahhh Snowberry. Coming back is for ponies that didn't achieve what they needed to. Me? I'm content. My big sister is safe, and Rainbow Dash is safe. I love you 'Berry. Stay alive, fall in love, and never ever forget that I'll have your back."

With that Raindrops walked back through the portal as it shut behind her.

Something snapped in Snowberry's mind as she suddenly flushed with fury. She threw herself upon Thanatos, striking and biting and wanting to hurt him, all the time screaming. "You could've saved her! You couldv'e saved her!"

Thanatos merely let it happen. Usually he yelled at the ponies that acted like this, but he felt differently about this one, as if he couldn't let her down. Shifting into the form of a unicorn stallion, black as void, he stood and let the beating continue. Eventually Snowberry fell to the ground shaking from the sobbing. Thanatos merely drew her into a hug.

They sat like this for roughly an hour before Snowberry spoke up.

"Why do you do this?" she whispered.

"Do what?"

"Why do you do this 'job', or whatever you would call it."

"It was a long long time ago."

"Can you tell me the story?"

"Well it's not a happy one."

"That's ok, I want to hear it." Snowberry smiled up at him.

"Ok. Well it happened back in the time where unicorns still raised the sun and moon. Back before Princess Celestia and Princes Luna, Nightmare Moon that is, ever existed."

The colt stared at the edge of the cliff his only remaing family member fell over. "Brother!" the colt yelled, watching in horror at the scene before him. His brother had fallen fifty feet to the ground and laid in a reddened mess. The colt's mind numbed and he sat like that for days before being found by some stray hikers.

It was three years later that it had happened. He was watching guards chase a thieving street urchin when the urchin slipped and fell from the parapets. The fall was fatal, and the memories that it brought back caused a now young unicorn stallion to remember the fall of his brother so many years ago. Magic  building up along with memories, the young unicorn stallion let out a scream as he released his magic.

Everything was suddenly different. the world was in more monotone colours and there were a few odd looking ponies trudging around.

One stood out more than the rest, it was the unicorns older brother. Ecstatic the unicorn rushed over to say hi, only to earn an unintentionally dirty look. His eyes teared up as his older brother screamed and screamed at him. It was all his fault that he was trapped here. Because his younger brother wnated him so badly, it had scrambled his senses and he'd missed his chance to go to heaven.

The young stallion was horrified of course, and in a nother burst of emotion and magic he tore a pair of portals open. One led to Heaven, the other to Tartarus. Using his powerful magic the unicorn filed each spirit he could find into the portal they belonged to. It pained him to see ponies that went to Tartarus, but there were not many, and the elation of the tormented spirits fianlly getting to go to heaven raised his hopes.

The Unicorn then set out to find more and more spirits that needed his aid. What he didn't realize was the more time he spent inbetween worlds the more he changed. His colours darkened to all black, as well as his eyes. His power's grew exponentioally and almost all semblance of time disappeared. He lost love for his job, the number of scared ponies he'd forced to move on wore heavily upon him. Eventually he'd had Princess Luna steal a peice of a soul from him. She hadn't specifically done it on purpose, but it annoyed him. After another unspcified amount of time the stallion found a spirit that had battled his way back through his realm to save the mare it loved. That spirit regained its life, and annoyed poor blackened unicorn greatly.

After another set of time the blackened unicorn found a chance to take down the Queen, at the cost of a second mare. Ofcourse this was Queen Moon and her slave Twilight Sparkle. The spirit from before stayed the unicorns hand though, angering it greatly. After stealing another two spirits from the blackened unicorns grasp, it came to a shocking revelation. It was tired of it's existence. It wanted to help ponies live! Not help them die. When presented with a chance to save one of the troublesome spirits friend the blackened unicorn did so with haste. Thus Death himself battled his own nature and saved someponies life.

"That was Laryia, wasn't it?"

"Hmm?"

"It was Laryia, you saved her and stayed here."

"Yes it was Snowberry. I'm sorry i couldn't do more for your sister."

"Don't be," Snowberry replied a bit more upbeat, "You made sure she was happy. You made sure she could move on without worrying about me. I'm sorry I hit you, and that I yelled at you. It wasn't your fault."

For the first time in a millienia Thanatos found himself fighting back tears. "It's ok Snowberry, it's rough losing family."

Snowberry nodded solemnly, then spoke up, "Thanatos?"

"Yes Snowberry?" he replied looking down to the mare, only to find her lips planted firmly upon his.

At first unsure of what to do, Thanatos suddenly found himself kissing Snowberry back. The two broke off their kiss, and Snowberry led him to the top of her hill. Kissing him again, Snowberry murmured into his mouth, "Time to live."

Loyal was tired, exhausted really. Sure he didn't have to eat or sleep, but he did still get hungry, and he sure as Tartarus still wanted to sleep. Loyal barely made it back to the camp, scaring the crap out of the griffons and ponies in the immediate vicinity, before collapsing.