The Legend of Fauna

The air around the cottage was hot. Much more so than it had been anywhere else in this gods forsaken town. Unlike the dry air of Pony Ville, the air around the pink haired girl's cottage was full of humidity. And the girl herself was wearing a long coat like Zephraim's. Twilight couldn't believe either of the two could manage with all those clothes on. But then again, she herself was wearing a jacket, a t-shirt, and cargo pants. There's a good chance their clothes are just as enchanted as her were.

However, more so than all of this, she was wondering just how the two knew each other in the first place. Zeus only mentioned one sister, yet here Zephraim is asking this girl why she ran away from home. Whose home? His home? Hers? And another question; why did she just up and attack him? The line of thought was quickly interrupted by the duel being started between the Monochrome Angel and the pale yellow Angel.

“I caught the dagger, so I go first!” The Angel girl only seemed to nod in response, which brought Twilight to another question. Has this happened before? Zephraim was kind of expecting all this. On top of that, so was the girl. Just who in the world is she? The Mage was beginning to make her own head spin when the Terran tapped her shoulder. “You okay Twilight?” The Mage shook herself.

“Oh, me? Yeah, I'm fine. It's just... this doesn't make sense to me. The way they move suggests that they've know each other for a long time, but I can't even begin to think of why.” The Terran shrugged. “If ya ask me, that looks like a brother-sister quarrel. I cain't count the number of times Ah've been in one myself. But yer right. It is kinda weird. However, if this goes the way Ah think it is, then we'll know soon enough.” Twilight scratched her head. As bizarre as it was, Applejack was probably right.

“It's been three months! Do you know how worried they've been!?” The opposing duelist bit her lip and lowered her head. If she was trying to hide her emotions, she was doing a pretty terrible job. She didn't say anything. “That's what I thought. Fine. Keep to yourself. We have a mission here, but the minute that ends, we are going home.” The man swiped five cards off the top of his deck, and the girl followed suit. “First, I summon Emerald Outside the Grayscale.”

The man slapped a card on his matterwave, and in a pale green light, a monster was summoned. It was a girl, more or less the same size as Twilight, carrying a sword in one hand, and an ornate shield in the other with Zephraim's mark on it. Like the other Grayscale monsters, this one was simply black, white, and green in color, where every detail on the girl looked as if it were done with a pen. She wore a tunic, had a long windsock like hat, a belt, boots and gloves. She had a boomerang tied to her belt, along with what looked like a various assortment of items found in a dungeon crawler video game.

“Then you'll activate shading apparatus, discard a level 3, and summon Hue, right?” The man scratched at his head. “You already know how this is going to go! Why even bother with a duel? Why...? Why won't you just come home?” Twilight was shocked. He looked... hurt. Something in the back of her mind was screaming at her, but she couldn't place what it was. “Do either of you know what exactly is going on here? It seems like they know each other, but from what little Fluttershy has told me about herself, she was an orphan.” Twilight turned back to look at the tailor.

“An orphan?” Rarity nodded. “The conversation didn't last long, but she said her father was caught in an explosion, and her mother died of illness when she was young. However, she sort of ran away after that...” Alarm bells were beginning to ring off in Twilight's head. Died in an explosion!? There's no way... Twilight frantically grabbed Rarity by the shoulders. “What the?” The tailor paused after looking into the slitted pupils in the violet eyes of the Mage. “What was her last name?” The tailor released herself from Twilight's grip. “Unhand me! I don't know what has you so riled up, but there is no reason to grab me like that.” The tailor straightened her t-shirt sleeves. Once again, Twilight felt it odd that her own clothes were so... casual.

“It's Heron. Her name is Fluttershy Heron.” Twilight felt like she'd been hit by a brick wall. This is... this is impossible! Not one, two, three, but four people are tied to this crap! My father, Applejack's cousin, Rainbow's cousin, and now this girl's father? She knows Zephraim, and Applejack thinks they act like siblings... the only two that aren't connected to the blast seven years ago is Rarity and that other girl... as far as I know... “What's her problem?” The rainbow headed Angel asked the Terran. “Ah'm beginnin' to suspect that she knows more than we do.” Rainbow let air out of her mouth. “Pfft. That's a given. Friggen brainiac Mages like her always do.” The Terran girl turned her head at the Angel.

“Really? Come on now. Yer just mad that she beat ya.” The Terran smirked and leaned down to make eye level with the Angel. Rainbow Crossed her arms and looked away. “Yeah whatever.” Applejack stood back up and focused her attention back on the duel. “Uh-huh. Sure. In any case, she is Queen Celestia's prodigy, so ya might be right, even if ya are stereotypin' her. But my reasonin' is that those two seem an awful lot closer to the heart of this matter than we are. And don't get me wrong, but there's just somethin' about that guy Ah cain't put my finger on.” Rainbow returned her own attention to the duel which had moved forward again.

“Talk to me damn it! I activate Grayscale Shading Apparatus!” Every move he made had anger in it. Somehow, he placed his cards almost violently. “I target Emerald and send Garnet from my deck to the grave, adding Garnet's 3 levels to Emerald!” The yellow Angel yelled at her opponent. “Garnet!? What do you think you're doing? Last time you used that card you got hurt!” Her eyes and voice were filled with concern. Her words didn't seem to reach the man. He picked a card from his deck, and placed it in another slot on his disk. With what little time Twilight had to see it, she could see that something about that card was off. It had a faint, but present dark red glow to it. Almost like a smoke. Oh no. The Mage thought to herself. That was soul art. Quickly, she rounded up the three other girls and her brother.

“When he said we should get behind a wall, I don't think he meant during the fight, I think he meant to move during the duel. I don't know what's going on, but I've got a bad feeling about this.” The other three looked to one another, then back to Twilight. “I don't know about you guys, but if Twilight is afraid of something, I'm pretty sure we should be too.” The dragon boy backed toward the bridge that crossed the small stream that ran through the Cottage's yard. He found a spot in the bank and sat, but continued to watch the duel. The tallest girl looked back at the duel then crossed her arms.

“Now y'all up and got me worried. Let's hang back. Somethin' ain't right here.” The other three girls nodded and followed Spike's lead to the stream bank where spike was. The green clad girl on the male Angel's field was given three stars by a shadowy figure that was obscured by a dark red smoke. All one could see was it's outline. “Because Emerald was targeted by a card effect, I get to special summon a level three or lower light or dark Grayscale monster from my hand! I summon Grayscale Hue!” The girl raised her sword, and then a bright green light shot from it. The man placed another card on his disk, and then the green light returned with a small, black and white spherical robot that had less shading than most of his other monsters, but much more detail to it. Just looking at all the mechanical parts to the orb made Twilight's hand hurt.

“Now I tune the level 1 Hue with the level 6 Emerald! The scales of color flow vibrantly in the wind! Wrap the world in the pallets of light, Saturadiation, the Grayscale Hero!” The adventurer girl turned herself into six stars, and the Sphere transformed itself into a single green ring. A bright light shot through the aligned stars and filled the air with color. From it appeared what looked like a male version of Emerald. He wore almost the same attire, save for the cape and shoulder plates, and carried a shield with the same marking on it, only now, he had a beam sword instead of a regular one. The sword, the shield, and the back of his cape, like his other extra deck monsters, had the color spectrum moving inside them. His skin was normal, and his clothes were black and white like his other monsters.

“Because Emerald was used for the summon of an extra deck monster, I get to add a Grayscale spell card to my hand. As such, I add Grayscale Stability Apparatus. With that said, I end my turn.” The man looked to relax his body. His lighter hair fell over his left eye and covered half of his face. It's winding curls bobbed with the dusty wind of the desert in this little oasis. “Oh, no, they told me what happened to you last time you did this! Don't you hide your face from me! Let me see your eyes!” The man pushed his hair back and then yelled back at the girl.

“And now you talk to me!? Over concern for my well being!? You either tell me what happened or keep to yourself! The entire family has experienced every emotion over you! You don't get to worry about me!” His left eye was... weird to say the least. At it's end, it looked like his sclera was turning a dark green color, and his iris was half colored that same dark red as his soul art. Strangely enough though, the green part of his sclera was letting off some kind of smoky violet aura. The pink headed Angel covered her mouth with her hands. “It's already started...! Zeph, please, stop this... just go home... don't hurt yourself over me...” The man's iris turned ever so slightly more red.

“You stop it! You go home! That's the same place where everyone you care about is waiting for you to return to!” The girl began to shake her head. “I... I can't...” The man's iris was now three quarters red, and his sclera was about one third dark green. “Then shut up and play! You're going home whether it's by your choice or not!” The girl bit into her lip again, then drew a card. “Fine! If you won't listen to reason, then I'll take you out before you can do something stupid again!” The five on the bank looked at each other.

“I don't have them, but I'm pretty sure that that was a brother sister kinda thing.” Said the Angel on the bank. The other three girls simply nodded. “They're uh... kinda acting like kids, aren't they?” The Terran to the Angel's right nodded. “Really, all we are is kids with adult problems. Ah mean, Ah feel like this is some heavy stuff they've got goin' on.” the indigo headed Mage to her left nodded. “You guys don't know the half of it.” The Mage to her left entered the conversation. “Oh really? What half don't we know? I would very much like to hear it if you will.” Twilight paused for a moment. She tried to look away from Rarity, but then the other two were just as close and unavoidable as she was.

“Um... that's not... uh... I really can't say...” Running wasn't an option here, and with Zephraim the way he is now, it could just cost her a few days in the hospital too. “Yeah, come on, tell us what you know. If I know anything, it's the Faunan military, and those two are both wearing Eclipse core coats.” Rainbow said as she pointed to the duel. Rarity turned to quickly look at Fluttershy, then back to Rainbow. “You mean to tell me she isn't wearing a desert operations uniform?” The Angel nodded. “I didn't notice when I first saw him, but just under his neck is a little silver emblem that has the Core's EC logo on it. The girl, or stutter fly or whatever her name is, after she and him started to fight, her coat kinda unbuttoned it's self. And if you look, she has the same symbol on her shirt in the same spot.”

The three girls tried to look at the little silver, almost button sized emblem on the two Angels dueling, but out of them, only Twilight could. Just as Rainbow said, there it was under each of their necks at the start of the collar bone, was a small silver button that had an EC on it. “Oh my gods, she's right.” The blonde was still looking for it. “How'd y'all even see that thing? Ah can barely see the button to begin with.” The violet headed Mage agreed. “I'm with Applejack on this one. I'm not sure what I'm even looking at, save for perfect collarbones. Ooh, how I envy her!” The other three girls simply looked at the tailor with dead expressions. “What? Her figure is a girl's dream.” Everyone rolled their eyes.

“So, that's only a little dykey, but whatever.” The tailor scoffed. “Hmph. Rude.” Rainbow tried to bring the conversation back. “Anyways, tell us what you know. This isn't just some ordinary fight, that Angel guy is doing magic or something, and this chick is probably only sixteen or so and has an Eclipse uniform. How is any of that even possible?” Twilight was drawing a blank. How? Of all times, now was the one that she needed a good lie, but she didn't have any. The Mage scratched at her head until finally she decided she'd give up some of the information she knows. “Okay fine. But he will kill me if he finds out I said anything, alright?” The Angel shrugged. “Whatever. What's up with them?” Back at the duel, Fluttershy had summoned Round Spirits Pendragon and Hectolf.

“While I control two or more monsters, I can special summon this card from my hand! As the stars fade in the black sky, rise again to end the war! Knight of peace, defender of the weak! Bring back balance to the world! Monarcha, Defender of Kindness!” Back on the bank, the four girls at the stream all saw their duel disks start to glow and vibrate. A single card in every disk was shining, and each of their respective incarnations retrieved them. When out of the disk, each card rang out a single note tone. From Applejack, a C. from Rainbow, an E. From Twilight, a G. and from Rarity, a B. “What in the world!?” On the field in a bright blue column of light, the Armored Angel appeared in the center of the mist creatures, Fluttershy's Round spirits. As soon as the light faded, all four cards returned to their normal state.

“Twilight, darling, would you mind telling me what that was?” Twilight almost let out a sigh of relief that their previous conversation had been interrupted so strongly. Instead, she bit her tong, and then replied to Rarity. “To be honest, I don't really know, but this is the third time this has happened today. And with you here, we make a major 7th rather than a C major chord. The more Harmonians we find, the more notes we get, and the stronger they resonate. I don't know what this means, or what happens when we find them all, but this just keeps getting weirder by the second.” Before more could be asked, the monochrome Angel started to speak again. However, something was different about his voice. It was deeper than usual, and his whole iris was blood red, and his sclera was half dark green. The violet tinge on the edge of his eye had also grown larger.

“Well isn't this refreshing! This is the only one of the six I've never met! Tell me, dear sister, what does she do?” The five on the bank in unison said “Dear sister!?” The Angel dueling nodded. “Fine. First, she can only be special summoned by her own effects. Second, once per turn, I'm allowed to normal summon again this turn. That said, I summon Round Spirits Lioncelot!” The girl placed a card on her matterwave, and on the field to the left of her Pendragon, another ball of mist appeared. From inside, a beast of light blue coat and dark blue mane ripped through the ball completely. Like the wolf and the dragon, this creature was wearing armor, only his was a metallic teal blue color, as if it were made of bronze, and this creature carried no weapon. Instead, it's largest fangs were adorned a bronze sheathing and had silver blades that extended just past it's jaw. A bite from this would likely do more than just injure a man.

“If Lioncelot is summoned while I control another spirit monster, I get to add one Round spell or trap to my hand. As such, I add Oath of the Round. Sir Lioncelot, if you would.” She's asking the card if it will do what she wants? I could understand Monarcha, but that's just a normal card... isn't it? Twilight thought to herself. However, breaking her expectations, the Lion turned it's head and bowed to the girl, then materialized what looked to be some kind of brass instrument made of the same bronze color as it's armor, and tossed it at the girl. It flew into the disk, and out of her deck, a single card slid into sight. She grabbed it, revealed it to her opponent as per the rules, and placed it at the left edge of her hand. “That's going to do a lot for you. You actually think I'm going to let you have another turn?” The pink headed Angel shook her head.

“That would be highly unlike you if you did. But you don't get that choice either. If I have to take more turns to keep you from losing to yourself, then I will. However, I'm going to start by trying to end this now! Monarcha's third effect! As long as she remains in defense position, my other monsters can attack directly! Pendragon attacks!” The man began to laugh, and as he did, he brought his hand to his face. “So she's another Perceagel is she? But only when she's in defense? That makes this easy!” With a single movement, he uncovered his ever darkening eye. “Since I control a Grayscale extra deck monster, I can activate the effect of Grayscale Rotation Apparatus from my hand! All monsters you control switch position!” The pale yellow angel gritted her teeth. All three of her round spirits joined Monarcha defending.

“I figured as much. I knew you didn't add it to your hand when you had the chance, so I suspected you had it this whole time.” The man shrugged with a smile on his face. Twilight could see his teeth, and they looked oddly... sharp. “What can I say? As many times as we've played, you've managed to pull that trick on me once. But mother always said...” The other girl finished his sentence. “Dirty tricks only work once.” The man laughed again, but then his mood changed immediately. “You haven't forgotten, after all these years! And yet you still ran away from us... What... what could you have thought to make you disappear? That what ever happened would make us reject you? That she wouldn't love you like her own anymore? That you were a disgrace to us? Why? Why did you leave?” The air whistled as the desert sand filled the silent cottage yard. The girl remained silent.

“Still nothing? Fine! I'll take this as far as I have to to get you to talk!”  The girl lowered her pale pink eyebrows. If they weren't as thick as they were, she might look as if she didn't have any. She closed her eyes and turned her face away from the monochrome Angel. “I set three cards and I end my turn.” The girl looked back at the man, eyes filled with fire. Twilight thought she'd seen that look somewhere before, but at the same time, couldn't think of any time she'd seen someone receive it before. “Whatever you do next, just keep in mind that you are not who your father used to be.” The man blinked, and looked to lose some composure. His left iris half reverted to it's normal green color where the gold flecks inside shine there best. His right looked even a little misty.

“You... In so many years, you've become so much like her. How could you ever run away from her then? Or is it because you're so similar that you left?” Once more the girl remained silent. This only seemed to make the man more angry, but in the midst of it all, for less than a second, he flashed his eyes directly at Twilight. What does that mean? It was just for a second, but those eyes didn't have the same fire that hers did... those were the eyes of a trickster... just what is he doing?

“Still, you've no words for me. If you wont talk to a son of the light, then you can yell at the son of the darkness!” He drew a card, and just like his garnet, this card was covered in dark red smoke, but far more visible than on the last one. His left iris turned back to red, and the rest of his sclera turned dark green. His eye radiated a violet smoke from it's side and dissipated into the air. The cloud was so thick that it wasn't even lightened by the almost snow white hair on that side of his head. At the very edge of his right eye, the faintest hint of dark green and violet was beginning to form. “You would do this to yourself!?” The man took the card and pointed it at her. “I would do anything for my family! Even if it meant killing myself in the process! Hell, if my siblings were in trouble, I'd even go get Soulbrandt from Tartarus if I had to.”

The other Angel gasped. Tartarus? Was... was Tartarus real? Only stories are spoken of the hell on earth that Tartarus is described as now a days, but that was mostly to scare children on nightmare night... wasn't it? Then again... he was talking about a very specific weapon that the northern Demon Queen had over two thousand years ago. Supposedly, when Celestia and Luna fought the Black Demon King Sombra around 1900 years ago, the weapon he used to fight them was said to be an ax. But as his final attack on the queens after they had him beat, he took a sword that he'd been hiding from under his cloak and drove it into the ground to erase the Crystal city from time and space. It was believed to be an ancient form of a reverse pocket dimension done with an odd kind of even more ancient magic, which Twilight now knew as soul art.

When the empire returned 1400 years later, the sword was still in the heart of the city where a relic once was that had the power to repel the Black Demons from the city. After subduing the fallen king, the Queens retrieved the sword and took it back to their castle to study. When later asked about the weapon in a public setting, the Queens stated that the weapon was far too dangerous for anyone to possess, and had been locked away in the pits of Tartarus. Save for some ancient fairy tales about the place being like a living nightmare, this was the first mention of Tartarus recorded in nearly two thousand years, and the third overall. The pale yellow Angel didn't respond with words, but a simple horrified look.

“That's right! That means you too! And don't you ever forget that!” He swept the foggy card onto his disk, and a pool of black liquid appeared next to his other monster. From the spot, the almost shiny liquid began to turn into spikes, that pointed and spun in every direction, like mercury to a magnet. When it stopped spinning, the spiky orb had two small spheres of white light equidistant to each other just above the center of the ball. Like his other monsters, it was just black and white, but somehow, it still managed to capture a metallic appearance. Even going so far as to reflect images in it's surface, without color of course. The orb looked to drip it's slimy black substance to the ground every now and again.

“I summon Liquid of Grayscale to the field. It has no attack or defense, yet you can't destroy it. Once per turn, Liquid allows me to target one non extra deck Grayscale monster in my graveyard and special summon it. Naturally, I'll be summoning Garnet outside the Grayscale.” The liquid creature fell to the ground and returned to it's puddle state, and the monochrome Angel took a card that was produced from the grave slot on his disk. Like the liquid, this card retained it's dark red aura, but unlike it, this one looked to burn with it. Even the girls to either side of Twilight noticed the color flaming from the card.

“That doesn't look healthy. The card, his eyes, none of it.” The blonde to her left nodded. “Ah don't know why, but Ah'm feelin' a chill run down my back. Ah said it before, and Ah'll say it again. Somethin' ain't right here.” The man placed the card on the matterwave, and out of the puddle formed another humanoid shape. The liquid dripped off the shape revealing another girl. Like the other 'Outside' cards Zephraim had, this one was done in a single color, black and white, however, that color was a dark blood red. She wore a trench coat that looked to be stained in a kind of splatter pattern around the edges. She had heavy looking pants and boots, and gauntlets with a kind of metal protecting her forearms. Her eyes were hidden by a top hat, and her hair draped down her back and the sides of her face in some scraggly, curly, wet looking shape. In her left hand she carried some form of fire arm, and in her right was a sword that looked like there was more to it somewhere else. She was smiling, and those teeth were about as sharp as the man's had become. At the right edge of the group, the Angel chirped up.

“Is it just me, or does this guy remind you guys of the Black Demon King? You know, like from the history books?” Twilight slapped her mouth to hold the gasp in. “Oh dear shit!” Dots in her head were beginning to connect, one after another. How could I not have noticed this? All four of them were named after him! Sombra, Black, Black, Sombra. You wouldn't even bat an eye if you didn't know that they were middle names! There is no way she married a man she allegedly threw in a cell 500 years ago... but... wasn't King Sombra unkillable? The records said that the Queens fought with him for days! Compared to the power Celestia has, a normal human wouldn't last an hour! And He fought both of them off! Then, when it finally ended, he left as a prisoner! Zephraim said there were three people in the world that couldn't die, and that two of them were his parents... Sombra Black... Is the husband of the Day Queen... Oh sweet Divinity...

“Y'all okay Twi?” The girl tried to recompose herself. “Oh yeah, no, I'm fine. Just having my world turned upside down for the third time today.” The blonde furrowed her brow. “Turned upside down? What'd ya mean by that?” The indigo haired girl put her hands to her face to try and get her head to stop spinning. “Don't worry about it, I'm sure you'll figure it out later.” to the left of them, the Angel started to shush them. “Hey, keep it down, I wanna hear this! Another card in the dude's hand started burn after he touched it!” The girls quickly turned to look back at the duel. Like rainbow had said, he'd picked up another card. Just like the one before it, the card looked like it was on fire with dark, blood red flames.

“From my hand, I activate the effect of Grayscale Stability Apparatus.” When he played the card, a white light surrounded the metallic liquid. After what the girls believed to be the sound of a system check completed, the light moved off to the side of the liquid, and an inverted white version of the black spiky orb rose from the ground. “When this card is activated, It becomes a copy of another non extra deck Grayscale monster I control. It can't attack, and It's destroyed during the end phase, but it keeps the abilities of the other card. As such, I activate the effect of the Liquid of Grayscale copy!”

If he does what I think he's about to do, He'll end up with four level 3 monsters on the field... this doesn't look good. The inverted color Liquid did the same as the one before it and dropped into a puddle. Zephraim took another blood red burning card from his disk, and placed it on the matterwave.  From the white puddle, Emerald appeared in her green glory, but even so, she looked... different than before. Her eyes had reversed. They were white irises in a black sclera with green pupils. “Stop...” The pink headed Angel said something, but the man didn't seem to notice. “Finally, the stage is set...” The girl shook her head. “Please, don't do this...” The man smiled even wider, all of his sharpened whites showing, his right iris beginning to turn red.

“I create an overlay network with my four level 3 monsters! From the darkest blacks to the deepest reds, the bloodstained hunter takes the soul of another! The deepest end of the color spectrum returns for the second time! Appear, Contrastor, the Grayscale Hunter!” The entire sky over the cottage had darkened to almost complete blackness. A swirling cloud of energy appeared over the field in the colors green, violet, and orange. All four monsters shot up into the center of the vortex, and then a bolt of orange colored lightning struck the ground with blinding light. When the field could be seen again, standing proudly next to the Hero, was a Hunter. Like Garnet, this man was holding a firearm in one hand, and a weapon in the other, however, this weapon didn't look quite right. It was a large blade that was curved, but it didn't look right. It had a very small hilt, like it was meant for one hand, but the blade was almost as long as his arm. Another thing wrong with it was the fact that the side pointed to himself was sharper than the side he was using as a weapon. On the back end of the unusually short hilt was a metallic piece that looked like it fit into something.

In his other hand, it wasn't so much as a normal gun, but more of something used to ward off enemies rather than kill them. It's trigger was a long mechanism that could be gripped by his whole hand if need be, and something to be used quickly, not accurately. It had two barrels, one on top of the other, and it almost looked like a cane from one end. On his back was a large stick that was folded where it came from his shoulder. It didn't look like it had a purpose, but... something about it put Twilight on edge.

He wore a dingy long coat covered in crosshatching, making it not quite black, but very close. Over that, he had a tattered cloak that looked like it's been through hell and back, but kept it's color spectrum inside, however tattered it may be. He looked old. Older than any of the other monsters Zephraim controlled, yet he also looked more dangerous than any of them. He had dark colored pants and one boot, however the other leg was a peg, like it'd been amputated as some means of prevention. He wore tattered gloves that resembled Garnet's and a Top hat that was the same as hers and covered his eyes. While his skin was pale, there was specks of dark red on it, even if it was just a little. Around him orbited four orbs, one white, one orange, one violet, and one green. He seemed to glow with that same dark red as the cards had before he was summoned, and now, both of Zephraim's eyes had changed: red irises, dark green sclera, slitted pupils on a greater scale than even hers and Spikes, and finally, a dark violet mist was radiating from each side. The man smiled at the Angel, his now dagger like teeth flashing. He then looked over at the terrified girls on the bank, laughed a little, then back to his opponent.

“And for the second time, my heritage shows. Once upon a time, there was a tyrant who had the eyes I have now. He used a single card to take over an entire city, combined with his magic, might, and incredible soul arts! This card of legend was known as Hunter, the Black Demon! But this you already know. That hunter has grown old, and was passed down through his blood. Now, he resides with me, and all the blood he's been soaked in mires my soul. Like my father before me, I have the blood of a conqueror. And like my mother before me, I'll bring an Angel home.” The pale yellow angel was almost in tears, her face bearing a horrified look. The girls on the bank were all but shocked.

“Y'all don't think he's serious... right?” The blonde said nervously. “S-surely the Queens never let that man escape... A-and he... couldn't have lived this long, that was nearly five hundred years ago... wasn't it?” The silence in the air was deafening. One of the girls on the bank swallowed, and the five of them heard it. “Geez, and I though his eyes were scary to begin with...” The Dragon boy said in a muffled tone. “I hate to break it to you guys, but Sombra Black was never recorded dead. On top of that, he was executed... like six times. Burned, drowned, chopped up into little pieces, electrocuted, beheaded, and shot thirty seven times in the chest. After every attempt, the guy would just be back to normal all in one piece after an hour, regardless of what happened.” Spike, Rarity, and Applejack all turned to look at Rainbow.

“How is that even possible!? He's wasn't an Ascended!” Rarity agreed with the boy. “There are only two. There isn't any way that vile man was one. He was also missing a very important set of limbs to be one while we're at it. But... all the same, He clearly is still kicking out there somewhere, those eyes are the same, there's absolutely no mistaking it. Although... if Sombra is Zephraim's father, who is his mother?” Twilight immediately felt her mouth dry up. “And... why would she just take in an orphan?” The group was silenced by the continuing duel.

“Contrastor has several effects, and gets each one based on what attributes he has attached to him. Right now, he has dark, earth, and wind. The spell card is treated as having no attribute because of it's own effect. Because there is a dark attribute monster, he gains 400 attack, putting him at 3000. As for his other effects... you'll just have to wait and see.” Another large smile from the fanged man. His opponent didn't react well to it. A mixture of fear and shock crept up her face as she fought to keep her composure. “W-well, get on with it!” She stuttered at him. The man took a bow. “I only aim to please... then let us begin. First, I will activate the earth effect of Contrastor. By detaching Garnet and Stability Apparatus, I can target one monster you control, and attach it to him. Come, Monarcha.” The Hunter raised his gun, and inside it's two barrels flew a bright white orb and an orange one. girl simply closed her eyes. When she opened them again, her fear had melted away.

“I refuse to let you have Monarcha! I activate my trap, High Ground of the Round, and then to that I chain Order of the Round! When a spirit monster I control is targeted by a card effect, I can special summon one Round Spirits monster from my hand, and switch your target to that monster!” As she said, Hectolf appeared in a cloud of mist on the field, then her other card went off. “Next, I get to search my deck for a Round spell or trap card, and activate it in this card's place when resolving the chain! The card I activate in it's place is” A new turn of events, the pink haired Angel's card was burning with a colored smoke now, however, hers were a bright blue, much like her irises. She took the card, and slammed it into her disk. “The Round Strikes Back!” The man took a step back. Bright blue lightning shot from her Hectolf's ax and struck the hunter, removing the dark red aura from him. Her opponent smiled.

“So you've finally found a way to get around letting me know what you're planning... well played, dear sister. Well played.” The girl yelled back at him. “That's right! And now your Hunter is nothing more than that! The Round Strikes Back negates the effects of the target monster as long as I control a Round Spirits monster, and because It's summon conditions were ignored, Hectolf doesn't return to my hand anymore!” The man flashed his bladed grin once again. “Wait... what do you still have in your hand!?” The man placed a card in his spell and trap slot. “Ah, so glad to see that you noticed. I activate the effect of Grayscale Erasing Apparatus. It's unfortunate that I have to use it though. At the cost of one Grayscale monster I control, I get to banish one monster you control. Hectolf will be going away now...”

The Hero then stabbed himself with his own sword. Everywhere the blood fell on his clothing simply turned it black, and the red liquid returned it's color when it reached the grass below. He then removed the sword, and it was glowing with a fiery aura of dark red. Clutching his wound, the hero rushed the Wolf and stabbed it through the back. The poor beast yelped, and then dissipated into mist. “Hectolf!” The angel screamed. After it was done the Hero fell on one knee and disappeared in a pale green light. “Now then... You have Oath set, and you won't be doing much with that. Your Harmonian is in attack position, and she has the lowest attack of the six of them. So what's say we have the hunter give her a lesson?! Contrastor attacks Monarcha!” The hunter reached for his back with his left hand, placed the gun in his belts and took the stick. He jammed the metallic end of the blade he was holding into it, and it folded down into a scythe with a resounding click that filled the air. He took a step back and reared the scythe in his hand, bringing the blade far behind his left. With a leap that left footprints in the ground, the hunter dashed toward his target bringing his scythe with him. The armored Angel tried to block the scythe with her shield, but the blade wouldn't be stopped. She managed to catch his staff, but the blade pierced her back. The Angel jerked forward and let out a scream.

The hunter then released his left from the scythe and promptly brought all of his fingers together to form a cone. He then pierced her stomach with it, and brought it back out, taking as much of her blood as he could. The armored Angel coughed, and then the hunter removed his scythe, and covered the opposing duelist with her monster's blood. The girl simply sank to her knees as she watched her monster fade into mist. “What kind of monster...” The man said nothing in reply. The air was silent for a moment.

“As I no longer have the power to finish you this turn, I'll simply have to end here. But, as powerful as he is, he's not one be loyal to his boss. During the end phase, I take 1000 damage times the number of Xyz material he has attached to him, which would be two, in this case.” Fluttershy shot up after hearing that. “You what!?” The hunter had already replaced his staff on his back and drew his gun. He turned to his master and raised it. The violet orb and the green orb flew inside of each barrel, and then he pulled the trigger. “Gah!” The two orbs turned to bullets, and shot through the monochrome Angel's knee. He quickly clutched the now bleeding area of his body, and then took some gauze out of his coat and wrapped it up tightly. The hunter's orbs flew back to orbiting him, and then he returned to facing the girl. “Zephraim!” The girl took one step forward, and then the male Angel snarled at her.

“You stay back! If you touch me, then this curse will spread even further than it already has, and then it will infect you! I can control it well enough, but you will lose your soul to it! If you want to help me, then surrender and end this duel! You have nothing left, and your Harmonian is dead! Give up this ridiculous seclusion and just come home already!” The girl was in tears. She bit hard on her lip to the point where it bled. When she realized what she's done, she stood tall and wiped at her face. She looked at the ground, new tears replacing the ones she tried to remove. “I can't! I can't face her again! I did something horrible... I... I killed a woman with the sword she gave me! I can never go back for committing a sin like that! I swore on my life when I decided to even train with your father that I wouldn't ever kill! And now... now I've become just like the monsters I swore to fight...” The man's face looked as if he'd completely forgotten about the pain in his leg. For the first time in the duel, he was the one that looked horrified. “But...” The girl turned her eyes back to the man

“But that doesn't mean that I can't still save you from yourself! Even if I've sinned, I'll never give up on my brother!” At the top of her deck in her duel disk, a single card started to shine brilliantly. A smell began to fill the air, one of lilac that felt familiar to all, yet none of them could place. The pulse of the pink haired Angel's heart beat started to synchronize with all seven of the others present. From the card, a song started to play, one that none of the others could place. It sounded sad, yet soothing... like a lullaby from ages ago. At first, it sounded like a music box, but as it grew in volume, it became more and more complete with strings then brass with percussion and choir. Congratulations Fluttershy. The Harmonian had started to speak directly into her mind. Your heart has resonated so strongly with your desire to help your brother, that you've gained a new power. Go on. Save him from himself.

“This isn't over yet! I Draw!” The girl took the singing card from her disk, and then all had stopped. The sound, the light, the pulse, the smell. Everything, gone. When she looked at the card, she didn't recognize it. It looked like one she'd had before, but that card was a simple monster with no effect. She then noticed something different with her menu. To the left side of her field, the extra deck count had changed. When she was young, and the deck first appeared, she received exactly forty soul cards from herself. No more, no less. But now? There was one. A card that was new. One that had the name Monarcha in it's title. The girl smiled. “Thank you, my friend.” The man had started to breathe heavily. “What... What was that? Did you... did you just... what did you do?” The girl looked at him with eyes of new found hope.

“It's not what I did. It's what we did. From my hand, I summon Round Spirits, Goddess of the Lake!” The blue burning card hit the matterwave, and from a column of glowing mist appeared a woman with pale blue skin, dark blue hair, and violet eyes. She wore what looked to be some form of ancient tribal clothing. It was a short dress that was mostly white and adorned with gems in every hue of blue under the sun. She had a belt that crossed her waist that was covered in ornate gold and all of her blue gems. She carried a lyre that was silver, and on her chest was a rune that was bright blue and shining. The man recognized the rune, and his eyes widened. “This... this is Mizuli...” The girl nodded.

“The goddess's effect activates when she's normal summoned. I can target one level 7 monster in my graveyard and special summon it to the field, ignoring it's summon conditions.” On the field, the water goddess began to play the same song from earlier on her lyre. As the sound echoed through the air, a hole in the ground appeared and filled with water. The girl took another blue glowing card from her disk and then placed it on the field. A bright blue light shot out from the pool of water, and the Harmonian arose. Unlike what the other girls were expecting, their own Harmonian cards didn't resonate or glow this time. “Then the next part of this card's effect activates. Immediately after I summon her, I then perform a synchro summon with these two cards.” The man managed to struggle to standing up straight. “But you didn't have...” The girl shook her head.

“And now I do. I tune the level 1 goddess, and the level 7 Monarcha! From the depths of the lake, a new hope arises, the goddess delivers the key to victory! The heart, mind, and soul resonate as one! Come forth, Monarcha, Emissary of the Ocean!” At the bank, the four cards began to vibrate, glow, and sound out even stronger than before. Not only did they play the notes they did earlier, but each card added a new part to the lullaby that the goddess was playing, and the only thing it was missing now was percussion. The goddess transformed herself into a ring of water that shone out with a bright blue light. The armored Angel began to hover and turned herself into blue stars that aligned inside the ring. A flash of far stronger blue light than before illuminated the air. When the field was visible again, the Angel had returned with a completely new look. As if she'd traded clothes with the goddess, she was now wearing the same outfit that the goddess was. On her chest was the same glowing rune, however, with it was another mark, the very same one that Fluttershy had on her right shoulder. The lyre was also different now. It seemed that it and Monarcha's shield had fused to form a full sized harp, and with her, it floated in the air. The Harmonian had finished playing, and just like that, the other cards stopped as well.

“Much like her previous form, Monarcha retains her 3500 defense, but gains 1000 attack, putting her at 2000. However, now that no longer matters. Once per turn, I can discard one monster from my hand to return all cards you control to yours, meaning that it doesn't target.” The man looked as if he'd been awestruck. “Which means I can't stop it...” The girl nodded once again. The girl sent one card to her grave, and then Monarcha's harp started to glow. She strummed exactly five notes off of her instrument, and a giant wave of water shot from it. It crashed with the hunter, and then the hunter faded away. The man's right eye reverted to it's normal state, and his teeth straightened a little, becoming much less like fangs than they were.

“Finally, When Monarcha is in defense position, she can attack using her defense points instead of her attack points. With this final attack, you will be saved from yourself. Monarcha attacks you directly!” Once again, the music box lullaby melody played out from the harp the Harmonian now held. From the ground after her last stroke came a wave far larger than the last, and rushed onward toward the man. He was swept away in the current, and taken out of the MR field's range. The hologram of the word Winner shot from it's display, and then the girl's name was put on screen. Fluttershy Heron – Iscandor. Twilight immediately felt the need to bang her head against something. Not only was she likely raised by Celestia, but she was legally adopted by her. Luckily though, it didn't look like anyone else saw it. The others were too busy examining their cards. It wasn't until the pink headed girl yelled out “Zephraim!” did Twilight remember that he got shot in the knee. Quickly, she got up and ran to his side with the other girl.

“Oh gods, the bandage is soaked through! We have to get you to a doctor!” Twilight managed to reach them before the girl picked Zephraim up. “No... we don't. Move... I can... take care of this.” She said as she panted. Running was hard. The girl sort of yelped and kind of hid herself after she noticed Twilight. “Ah! W-who are you?” The Mage rolled her eyes.  “Twilight Sparkle, Mage, Apprentice to Celestia and Luna Iscandor. Nice to meet ya, now will you get out of the way? Wait, better yet, just hold his leg up.” The girl's expression went from almost fear to apathy.

“Oh. So you're Twilight. Okay, here.” Her tone was suddenly dripping with negativity. Twilight almost tried to pick at that, but then decided that her body guard's injury was more important. She quickly removed the gauze from Zephraim's knee, and then tried to heal it. Being the third attempt today, the Mage girl had just about gotten a hold of this whole soul art healing thing. She recalled the feelings she knew that worked, and sure enough, her hands began to emit her violet smoke. Like the last two times, the wound began to seal itself immediately, as if what she did was turn his regenerative capability up to ten fold it's normal speed. She watched as the bone, muscle and skin all healed at the same time, until finally, the whole wound was returned to normal. She shook her hands and let the vapor they produced dissipate away.

“Oh thank gods.” Said the Angel girl. “You took the words right out of my mouth.” Said the Mage as she leaned back. She was tired. More so than she thought was possible. She felt so weak that it was almost like she had anemia. As soon as the thought went through her head, she realized that now she really was low on magic. “You... wouldn't mind if we went inside do you?” She said as she looked back toward the girl she'd been sitting next to. However, now there was no on there. Not even the body she'd healed. The Angel had already picked up the man and started toward her cottage.

“Hey, wait a minute! That's my body guard!” The pale Angel stopped and looked at Twilight. She seemed irritated now. “Do what you will.” She then continued walking. Geez, what's her problem? Twilight got up, tried to run, failed to do that, and then started to walk toward Fluttershy's cottage. She managed to catch up when When the pink haired Angel was stopped by Rarity. “Fluttershy, darling? I think it's time we had a little chat again, do you mind if we come in?” The girl rolled her eyes and sighed. “Fine. I guess I'll go make tea...” The angel girl grumbled as she walked to her door. She traded her left wing and her arm to hold up Zephraim, and then opened the door to her cottage. Once inside, she walked up a small winding staircase, and the rest of the group followed.

Inside the building, it was relatively well lit naturally. To the right of the doorway was a small living area with a single couch, an arm chair, and a coffee table. Under the table was a rug that could honestly be described as a tapestry. It was mostly violet decorated with ornate gold trim all around the edges, and white patterns that curved and weaved all around inside it. Definitely something Celestia would own, thought Twilight. Above the couch was a large window that let most of the light from outside into the room. As far as she could tell, there wasn't any electrical lights in this room, so she wondered how old this place actually was. On a small table next to the couch was a kerosene lamp, and over near the entrance to the living room was another, much larger one. The floor was done in wooden planks, and the interior of the house looked more like it was built out of a tree than anything else. On the opposite end of the living room, close to the door was a simple brick fireplace that was hidden by the outer wall.

To the left of the door was a kitchen that had some relatively basic cooking utensils, save for what looked like a cheap coffee maker. The counters were made of some kind of polished green colored stone, and the cabinets all had older looking brass handles to them. All of the wood in the house had a reddish tint to it, and most of the furniture was of an olive green color the matched the rest of the house well. All in all, this place looked like it walked straight out of half an eon ago, like it belonged in a museum. The sheer fact that it didn't have electricity was astounding. None of the group really knew what to do with themselves, and so Spike took the lead and sat down on the couch. After a while, one by one, the rest of the group followed, and eventually, they all had taken a seat somewhere in the room. Shortly after everyone had taken a place, they heard footsteps from upstairs, and then the owner showed up. Everyone in the living room looked at her, and she just kinda stood there.

“So... um... t-this is my house... um... m-make yourselves at h-home...” She sounded very uncomfortable and even more nervous. She quickly walked away and into the kitchen. The tailor then got up. “Oh, right. My apologies everyone, Fluttershy is very... well, shy. She doesn't adjust to new faces very well. Let me go talk to her.” The tailor then walked into the kitchen after the Angel girl. “Man, Ah've seen awkward before, but that takes it to a new level.” The Terran said as she relaxed herself in the couch. The rainbow headed Angel followed suit. “Same. I think I remember knowing somebody like her when I was real little, but that was like, six years ago. Ain't got a lot of memory left from back then.” Twilight leaned forward.

“Six years ago, huh? Everything seems to go back to then. From what Applejack's told me, we both got our marks on the day the sky split itself into color back in 3010.” The Angel girl shot back up. “Wait, for real!?” The Terran nodded. “Yeah... It was... the same day my dad passed away...” The girl sat back down. “Oh... uh...” The Terran shook her head. “Don't worry about it. Why's that a shock to you?” The Angel coughed to herself. “Ahem. Well, that's the day I got mine. In fact, I was the reason it happened.” Twilight lowered her eyes at the girl. “You wanna elaborate on that?” For whatever reason, Rainbow felt her fight or flight instinct starting to kick in, telling her to run.

“Okay... no reason to look at me like that, geez. But, anyways, that person I knew. You know, the one like her? Well, she was getting picked on by these bullies. Ya see, neither of us had moms at the time, so we kinda stuck together. And after a challenge was issued, we decided that a race to see who was fastest was the only way to solve it. So that's what happened. It was going really good, up until we reached the farthest end of the track. One of the guys pushed me out of the way, and I started to fall straight into the red forest below the city. I couldn't get control of myself, and I started hitting frozen clouds. By some kind of luck, one managed to knock me into just the right position to where I could start flying again. But where I was, I was never going to make it back to the city in time to win, or even before I would have ran out of stamina. So, I judged where I was, and I realized I was still about a mile from ground level, and then I remembered a story my grandpa on my mom's side used to tell before he kicked it.

A long time ago, back when he was a kid, his dad was one of the fastest fliers known to man. His name was Quasar Fly, and if you don't know his name, then you should because he broke every previous set flight record in Faunan history, and half of those records still stand today. At one point during his police days, he was sent on a routine patrol around Cloudsdale, when he noticed a bunch of kids at the park on the edge of the city. There were a bunch of Angels, and then there was a Terran. He was cautious because he knew that if that Terran kid made one wrong move, he'd fall right out of the city and either into the forest or the lake below, and either way, he'd be dead all the same. So a fight breaks out between the kids and this girl ends up being the victim that was picked on. The Terran kid had a crush on her, and so he stepped up to get the other kids to back off. He beat a few of em up, but there were a lot more of them than there were of him.

So what did they do? They pick him up and hold him over the clouds. The poor kid was so scared that he eventually wet his pants, and then all those other Angels got what the wanted. They were about to bring him back to the concrete when one of them lost grip. Out of the four holding him, that kid just so happened to be the strongest flier, and eventually, all of them lost grip, and that kid fell out of the sky. The girl he'd been protecting jumped after him, and so did my great grandpa. Quasar knew he was fast, but he didn't think he was gonna catch up to those kids. So he got the idea to try and beat them to the ground, and hope he could swoop fast enough to catch them. So, he dove, with a little under a mile of sky left before they hit the ground, and he sped as fast as he could. He said he remembered a cone starting to from in front of his head, and that he couldn't barely hear anything, like he was being pulled into a vacuum. But he still wasn't going fast enough. So he tried to make himself go faster by angling straight down, and then it happened. Just before he came within 500 feet, a huge wave of light and color split the sky into this green-yellow and blue-violet color and he'd broken the sound barrier. He managed to swoop up just in time to keep from killing himself, and he caught the kids without hurting them either. It was the first time anything like that had ever happened.

So I thought, in my young naivete, that if he could do it, so could I. So, I dove. I flew downwards as fast as I could. And when it was supposed to happen, it didn't. I then got worried, but I couldn't slow down, and I didn't know what to do. But then I realized, I was still angled, so, like my great grandpa, I turned my head toward the ground and went for it. That cone he talked about started to form over my head and I knew I was close. I only had about 200 feet left, but I just couldn't get enough speed. But then, suddenly, Somebody huge passed me, going faster than I was, and the opposite direction. I got pulled into their stream that had still split the air, and it was just enough of a push to break the sound barrier. I spread my wings out and shot up like a rocket. My hair was leaving this trail behind me, and the entire sky had split into the colors of the rainbow.

I made it back just before those other guys did, but my friend was gone. We tried to get her to race with us, but I didn't know if she came or not. We looked for her for days on end, but we never found her. When I got home that night, My mark had appeared, and the cards I had changed to what I have now.” From the entrance to the room, the other Angel girl almost dropped the tray of cups she was holding. “That was you!?” She said as tears came to her eyes. She threw the tray on the coffee table, almost knocking a small flower vase over, and then hugged Rainbow. “Hey, what the hell?” The girl didn't know exactly why she was being cried on.

“After all this time, I didn't think I'd ever see you again!” The Tailor took her seat again, and promptly took a cup from the tray. “Now I'm confused again. What exactly is going on?” The girl let go of Rainbow and stood in front of everyone. “You're Dashie Fume!” The rainbow headed Angel looked like a current had just run through her body. “How do you know that name!?” The pink headed Angel looked a little disappointed. “It's me! Fluttershy? Heron? I fell off of Cloudsdale that day.” The blue Angel slowly stood from her seat.

“There's... no way...” The girl started to look at the pale yellow Angel from every angle. When she circled around, she stopped to look into the girl's eyes. Fluttershy was taller than she was, she she stood on her tip toes to do it. “Hmph. And she called me a dyke.” Said the tailor, angrily. “Hey, will you shut up? I'm trying to figure out if this is the girl I used to be friends with!” The other angel giggled to herself. “Oh, come now Dashie, you don't need to yell.” Rainbow turned back. “Oh my gods, it really is you.” The girl hugged her back, and then stepped away. “What happened to you? We all though you died that day!” The girl looked like she was about to say something, but then bit her lip.

“I... uh... well... you see.” Twilight took the room. “That person you passed in the story... do you remember anything about them? Like maybe the gender? Or what color their wings were?” Rainbow turned to her, then put her finger on her cheek. “I don't really remember all that much to be honest with you. I think it might have been a she though. It was kinda like a blur of green and white in the shape of a woman when it did happen. I really don't know how she didn't break the sound barrier as fast as she was going. But what I do know is that she was literally twice my size. I might have been three, maybe three and a half feet tall then, but she was definitely at least two of me.” Twilight reclined.

“Well I only know one person like that. I'm sure you do too Fluttershy. Why don't you fill in the details Rainbow doesn't have?” She said with the most amount of smug she could put in her voice. “There is a reason I didn't think I would like you.” The girl glared back at the Mage. She Sighed, and brought out a folding chair from a closet next to the kitchen. “Well, As much as Twilight is a dick, she's right.” The Mage reacted to the statement. “Hey!” Applejack put her hand on Twilight's shoulder. “Naw, ya kinda earned that one. Go on, Fluttershy, we're listenin'.” The girl took hold of her yellow wings and nodded. “Um... thanks... you...” The Terran nodded. “Jaquline Apple, but most people call me Applejack.” she'd successfully pulled out a feather from the top of her wing and then began. “Right. So, the person you passed, was Celestia Iscandor.” All but one in the room was in collective shock. “WHAT!?” The group said in unison. The girl simply continued.

“I was really lucky to be where I was a the time, and honestly, If Dashie hadn't knocked me off the cloud when I tried to join that race, I'd likely be dead today.” A few hours passed, and Fluttershy told them her entire life's story. How she was rescued by the Day Queen, and later adopted by her. Getting to know her new family, her experience on the year of her twelfth birthday, learning how to fight, joining the core and finally, getting Monarcha. “And that's when I got her.” She said as she pulled out the card, showed it to everyone, then put it back. “I woke up the next morning feeling kinda like I got burned, So I imagine She possessed me to duel Celestia and lost. Which is right, right?” For a moment, no one knew who she was talking to, until her duel disk replied. “Yes, for the thousandth time, I'm sorry.” The others, save for Twilight were once again shocked by the talking disk, and out of Twilight's pocket, another voice popped up.

“Is that Monarcha I hear? Master Sparkle?” Twilight was tentative to look at the animated sorcerer. The last duel she had was... emotionally taxing. All the same, she took her disk and placed it on the coffee table, and let Andromeda display himself as a hologram above it's screen. “You're not gonna wig out and kill this one are you?” He bowed to the Mage. “Absolutely not.” From the pink disk in the girl's hands the voice of her Harmonian sounded. “You stabbed Valkyriana in the stomach, again!?” The girl placed her Disk on the table, and then the armored Angel materialized above it. “And you didn't let me watch? For shame, Andromeda. Please tell me she at least deserved it this time.” The sorcerer scratched at his head. “Actually, she really didn't. I felt bad about it this time... I wasn't quite myself when it happened... It's been such a long time, my sister.” The two embraced and then returned to their spots. They then examined the people in the room.

“Oh, Andromeda. Whatever are we to do with you?” Said the armored Angel as she hugged the Sorcerer. “I assume the one that has that pink stripe in her hair is yours?” The sorcerer replied to the armored Angel. “Yes indeed, she is. However, you and I will have to talk privately about that later. Ah, and this one must be yours! She's your spitting image!” He said as he turned to look at Fluttershy. “Marvelous. I am Andromeda, and you I have yet to meet. The Angel girl was only slightly weirded out by the sorcerer. “Oh, um, I'm Fluttershy... Nice to meet you?” She bowed to the sorcerer from her seat.

“This is wonderful. We've almost completed the entire set! Now If only we could get the rest of them into this group... Ah ha! Master Apple?” The blonde had pulled her hat over her eyes some time during the story, and now she was startled awake. “Huh, what? Ah'm awake!” She looked around and scratched at her head. “That one belongs to Ephraim.” The armored Angel said astutely. “Without a doubt. You're quite knowledgeable on these devices, are you not?” By now she'd straightened her hat and sat up straight. “Um, yeah. Why?” The sorcerer crossed his arms and nodded. “Very good. You can program them to accept a Navi yes? Would you mind doing this for the others?” The girl scratched at her sideburns.

“Uh, Ah guess. If they have the hardware to do it that is. Those disks are way above my pay grade, but the last thing Ah ordered fer mine was the Navi holster, so Ah can at least put Ephraim in. Do you two know what model yer disks are?” Rainbow shook her head and Rarity nodded. “It's a KCYDP 3 16. I actually bought it a month ago because I needed a more powerful one to run the shop. But all the same, even the old one I gave to Sweetie has a Navi holster. However, I wouldn't be able to program that myself. The most I know about this is that it does what I need it to when I need it to.” The Terran nodded. “That's fine, all Ah have to do fer that one is get the software on it. Rainbow, let me see yours.” The Angel shrugged.

“Sure, but I don't think it'll have it. My dad is too cheap to get me a new one, so I've got the same one I've had for like, four years now.” The Angel handed her silver pentagonal device to the Terran. “Hmm... Ah don't think this one does. We'll have to order that part, but they're not all that expensive. Thirty or so bits and Ah can put it together. And ya know what? Ah think that the shop back in town still has one since the part comes in packs of four and Ah only bought three. We can stop by on our way... wherever we go next lookin' fer pinkie, and then Ah can fix it up tomorrow.” The Terran returned the Angel's disk, and then took out her own. “Hand me yer disk Rarity, and Ah'll get started.” The tailor did as she was asked.

“Alright then. I suppose I wouldn't mind seeing her every now and again. I just hope she doesn't try and talk to me when I'm in public. I would think it odd if I saw someone talking to nothing.” Twilight nodded. “Valid point. So what happened next? Did you just sort of ignore it or what?” The pink haired Angel scratched under her nose. “Um... well, next... I dueled my older brother. He's Luna's first born, but we all treated each other as siblings because of how close we grew up together, and he and I are the closest out of the eight of us. I managed to beat him, and then I ended up waking up the next morning in my bed without actually walking there myself. That's when Celestia started to train me. The first thing she did was put me in a suit of armor just like hers.” The Mage girl turned her head. “You mean like what she wears to fight in right?” The Angel girl nodded.

“I haven't worn it since April, but I still have it here. The day I... I was wearing it when I came here.” It still looked like she was having trouble coming to terms with what she'd done. Twilight could understand that, considering she almost did it herself, and for a much worse reason. She felt sick and horrified seeing that bloody body on the ground. She could only imagine what Fluttershy would have felt after seeing so many. “I could go put it on if you'd like to see it.” Another voice came from upstairs. “How about another time, hmm?” The monochrome Angel had woken up and made his way to the living room. The Angel girl ran over and hugged him.

“Oh thank goodness you're awake. You passed out after the duel!” She released him, and he scratched at his newly formed bedhead. “I figured as much. It's damn near 20 hours. Geez, it's dark in here. How can any of you see? What have you lot been up to?” The girl realized that none of her lamps were lit, so she lit the three in the living room. After light was returned to the room, the others turned their eyes in all different directions upon seeing the man in less than he normally wears. Spike was the only one who answered. “Just some stuff about Fluttershy. Apparently, Rainbow here was the one who knocked her off the cloud city and into your mom's arms so many years ago. And now every body knows who your parents are, so no need to worry about that.” The dragon boy said with a smile on his face, like he'd just earned the favor of the man. The other four gave him a death stare. “What?” The man shook his head.

“It doesn't matter. As far as I'm concerned, I imagine I said something that would have given inclinations to that during the duel. After the curse starts, I don't have much control of myself. Enough to keep from hurting anybody, but not enough to think about what I say. Speaking of, what did I say?” He looked to the girls on the couch, but all of them were avoiding looking at him. After a moment, Fluttershy realized what was going on. “Oh. Zeph, would you mind putting a shirt on?” He then realized he was wearing his pants, and only his pants. “Oh, I see. They're up stairs right?” The girl nodded. “Yeah, I put them in the chair next to my bed.” The man smiled, said “Thanks” and ran back up the stairs.

“Oh my. He could give your brother a run for his money.” The tailor said to the Terran. “Aw keep yer trap shut. It's not like Ah ain't never seen a body like that.” The tailor smirked. “Sure you have, darling, sure you have. You also don't have any nervous ticks that tell me when you like someone. Like what you're doing with your hair right now.” Before she could stop doing it, everyone else in the room noticed that the Terran was circling the bottom of her hair tie with her fingers. “Shut up! This kinda shit is the whole reason Ah never come to see ya anymore! Every damn time Ah'm with ya, ya try an' set me up with somebody!” The monochrome Angel had started to come down the stairs when she finished talking. “Why are we yelling? And is this place sound proofed? I can't hardly hear a thing up there.” The pale Angel waved her hands.

“Oh, It's nothing. All you really did was yell about taking me home and talking up your father's hunter after you summoned him. However, you did specifically mention who your father was though. If your eyes weren't a big enough clue at that point anyways. I ended up telling them who everyone else was, so we don't have to hide anything from them anymore.” The man sighed. The girl pointed to her closet where she took the folding chair from, and the man grabbed one of his own. After he sat down, he began to question her. “Alright then. So how did you end up with this place?” He said as he motioned to the house around him.

“That one was a little weird to be honest. When I first left, I'd taken 2000 bits from my account to buy one of those new computers that Apollo talked about when I was in Asgard. But... that's when it all happened, and so I flew away from Canterlot as fast and far as I could, which you know isn't very much. I actually made it here before I collapsed from exhaustion. I felt like the red forest would be the only place she wouldn't ever look for me, so I tried to get there. I didn't quite make it, but I got close. This place was abandoned and in much worse shape than it is now. I went around town he next day to ask about it, but my nerves got the better of me, and I didn't end up talking to anyone. I found a diner around the middle of town and got myself something to eat. That's when I saw the news story about the robbery.”

Now Twilight remembered this story. It was on for weeks after it happened. Six dead, and twelve injured, five of the dead were the robbers in question, four of them shot in the head with what looked like 1 centimeter magic rounds, and the other had been cleaved from the heart to the side. The only civilian casualty was a father of two, but every person who remembered anything was the girl that had saved them. There were several answers as to what race she was, and no one seemed to remember what she looked like, save for a few males that simply stated 'I could never forget a chest as big as hers.' The police report didn't state anything other than what was said on the broadcast, save for one officer remembering that she had light pink hair.

“I... kinda put myself into a depression after seeing the broadcast. That is, until this one girl who worked there decided to try and cheer me up. Eventually I managed to talk to her enough to learn about this town. She herself had ran away from home not too long before I did, for some reason or other, and most of the people here are really nice. The family that owns the diner took her in after she went around looking for a job, and now she works as a party planner and part time at just about every restaurant in town. I know that there's only like three, but still, that's three jobs.” The man across from her interjected. “And this pertains to how you acquired this house... how exactly?” The girl scratched at her chin. Apparently she didn't know either. At least until she snapped her fingers.

“Now I remember where I was going with this; she makes a lot of money, and she helped me buy it. As it turned out, this house was in fact abandoned, and the city owned it, but they didn't want much for it, only 3000.” The man's jaw dropped. “Th-three thousand? Just... Three?” The girl nodded. “I was just as surprised as you are. But at the time, this place looked a lot worse. The house was in shambles, the stream was still under ground, and it was almost more arid around this specific spot than anywhere else in town. After some work though, I managed to get this place in living order. At first there weren't any windows because they'd all been broken, but since the top floor doesn't have any, I was safe from the wind there. In secret, I managed to withdraw money from my account to fix the place up, but I guess she found out where I did it eventually. After I returned from the next town over on the other side of the lake, I started to work on this place. Now the Terran interrupted her story.

“Hold on a minute. Y'all don't mean ta tell me ya went all the way to Windmill just to withdraw some cash did ya?” The girl tapped her finger's against her lips a few times. “Oh, yeah, that's the place.” The Terran was shocked. “What the!? How did ya do that? It takes a day by car to get to the other side of the forest alone!” The girl crossed her arms and thought some more. “This is where it gets weird. Pinkie came with me when I went, and-” The man stopped her right there. “Pinkie? As in Pinkimena Pie?” The Angel girl was surprised by his sudden interruption. “Um, yeah, actually. Aside from meeting Rarity a few times after her shop opened, she's about the only other person I've had contact with since I got here.” Everyone in the room let out a sigh. “Oh, thank gods, now we can get my stuff back!” Twilight said.

“Wait, why are you all relieved? What's so special about me knowing her?... Aside from the fact that Pinkie is well... Pinkie...” The monochrome Angel replied to the yellow one. “She's got the last Harmonian card. She's one of the six.” The girl gasped. “Oh. That might explain this then. You're going to want to hear how we made it to that town.” The man leaned back in his chair. “Okay... go on.” The group listened intently. “As far as I can tell, Twilight is the only other person in the room with inherited powers. At some point, you made physical contact with your Harmonian right?” The Mage nodded. “Oh yeah, that did happen. From what Spike told me, My pupils are slitted now, and I can see in the dark like it was bright as day. I was honestly a little surprised when Zephraim said it was 20 because I didn't think the light levels had changed.” The Angel girl agreed.

“That sounds right. Yamirix was known for his visions that he would send in peoples dreams. My goddess however, is Mizuli, and that makes me hydro kinetic.” The girl raised her right hand and pointed it at her flower vase. Out of the vase, a stream of water started to float.  She circled her hand in the air, and the water collected itself into a ball. She then formed a cone with her hand, and the water did the same. She let go of her pinkie finger, and then the water trickled down into the vase until it all had returned to where it was. “So that's new.” The girl rubbed at her hand. Most of her veins were showing now, and they were a brighter blue color than they should have been.

“So, On top of being able to manipulate it, I can also walk on it. This is where pinkie comes in. When we first met, she said she had fire powers. It was obligatory and had no context like many of the things she says, so after a while I simply chalked it up to her being random. However, this was disproved after we tried to get the fire place in here running. There was a whole bunch of stuff growing inside it, and most of it was poisonous. Pinkie then had the idea to just burn it all, and while I didn't think it was a good idea, we figured out that it could be safely burned. Pinkie said she would take care of it, and sure enough she did. She put her hand in it, and flames started to spew everywhere, setting all of the fungi that had grown on the brick on fire. I was kind of afraid of her at first, but then she figured out what I could do with water, so we eventually got used to each other. So, the trip to Windmill. It took us exactly four hours going there and back, and we took two of them to rest.” The tailor interjected. “Excuse me, four? There isn't even a bullet train that can make that trip.” The monochrome Angel agreed. “Yeah, It took the Royal express that much time just to get here. How did you do it?” The girl smiled she was waiting for this.

“It's simple. We flew. Even though Pinkie is a Terran, she's extremely light, and doesn't weigh more than 120 pounds. Which I always find weird, considering how thin she is and how much sugar she eats. But anyways, She climbed on my back, and I tried to fly with her, but I couldn't lift off. Then she told me to jump, and we were traveling, and traveling fast. Because she can shoot them at such high speeds, Pinkie's flames sent us rocketing over the forest. We stopped so she could catch her breath after making it over the Everfree, and then we took advantage of my ability to walk on water. Once again, using her flames, we just surfed ourselves to Windmill and walked up on the dock. After I got my money and paid pinkie back, we ate at a restaurant and headed back here. All in all, it took about two hours to get there and back.” The blue winged Angel started to laugh. “Ha... ha ha... HAHAHA! I can't believe it... this is some kinda crazy dream right? This isn't really happening is it?” She said to the Terran. “Uh... Ah guess it is? Crazy enough, I believe her. What, with all the shit that's happened today.” The rainbow headed girl was clutching her head in her lap.

“Is... she going to be alright? I'm not too sure I can handle another emotional outburst today.” Said the tailor. The monochrome Angel responded. “She'll be fine. From what I've read about her, this happens occasionally. Apparently her dad is fairly pone to nervous break downs too, so I imagine It's just a family trait. So, our last objective today is to find Pinkie. Do you know where she is?” The girl picked her duel disk back up from the table and flicked it on. Monarcha was nowhere to be found, which she thought was odd, but decided to ignore it and search for her messaging application. Upon opening it and tapping the only text conversation there, she then read off some of her messages.

“Let's see. At around noon earlier today she said, 'I met somebody like us today, and so I gave her a reason to come find me. If you see her, tell her to go to the library.' Oh, wait a minute. This means you doesn't it? And here I thought it was just another random message from her.” The indigo haired girl put her head in her hands. “So... she's been at the place... I'm going to be living for half a year in... EVER SINCE NOON!?” The Mage immediately got up and stomped her way to the door. “Stripes, what are you doing?” The girl opened the cottage door “I'm gonna go beat up a thief, that's what!” The Mage girl then slammed the door shut after exiting. Zephraim just relaxed and took the last full cup of tea from the tray.

“Shouldn't we go after her?” Said the concerned Angel. The man waved his hand. “Just give it a minute. This tea is great by the way.” The man finished his tea, and sure enough, Twilight had come back. “Will... one of you hand me my disk... please?” The man stood up and picked it off the table. “And there it is. Come on kids, we're going to the library.” The Monochrome Angel walked out the door, and one by one, everyone else followed. Fluttershy had put out all of the lamps and followed the group from the back after locking the door. The night air was cool, the humidity was low, and the wind had died down, making tonight one of the most pleasant nights Pony ville had seen in almost two months. However, that was bound to change, sooner, rather than later.