Displaced Soul

Third Person PoV

A cloud of ash and smoke erupted from the bonfire in Majula, heralding the arrival of four beings, three of which were familiar to the land. Celestia and Luna summoned their age old battle gear. Celestia's consisting of a morning star and a short sword, along with heavy duty brass like armor Alvis had gifted her, one used by the Primal Knights of Drangleic Castle. Luna was using the transparent, imperfect interplanar katana and bone fist Alvis had given her, and a customized set of Raime's Armor, also from Alvis.

    Around them lay a decrepit, and very small village on a hill with dead grass, mud, and jagged rocks. Behind the bonfire was a monument to the war with the Giants, and to the right lay a crumbling, cobblestone house with one room, full of blacksmithing tools, a torn canopy stretching outwards from the front door with a crumbling cobblestone wall in front of it.

To the left was a sheer cliff with a man made brick tunnel leading elsewhere, another large, crumbling cobblestone wall, an archway to the north connected to it. To the northeast were three crumbling cobblestone buildings, two of them with two stories and one which looked to have a single room. In the middle of all the buildings was a great, gaping pit, slimy with mold and mildew. To the right of the buildings was another man made tunnel. It was morning, as always, in Majula.

Mister Cee reached over and grabbed a valve on the back of his helmet, giving it a quick ninety degree turn, he shut it and repeated the action to a similar valve on the opposite side. "*I got three hours of air, so let's find that little punk quickly, this place smells worse than that time I left a deer in my cooler over the weekend with no ice.*"

Walking towards the blacksmith's shop, Mister Cee took notice of the woman in a black dress with brown hair and a long ass ponytail, calmly sitting on a rock in front of the shop examining what he guessed to be an ankle bone. She perked up once she heard the heavy footfalls of Mister Cee's armoured dive suit.

    "Oh, hello there. Who are you?" she asked.

    "*I could say the Easter bunny, but I doubt my friends would get that joke even if they could understand me.*" He replied, his deep, metallic groan echoing slightly.

    "Are you alright? You don't sound too good." she asked, unperturbed by his groans thanks to having seen hundreds of groaning Hollows before along with countless beasts. Looking around, Mister Cee waved Alvis over to talk to the suspected witch doctor or some other bad juju shaman. Alvis and his wives walked over. The woman brightened at the sight of Alvis, Celestia and Luna. "Oh! It's you two! And if it isn't Alvis! How are you?"

    "We art faring well, Chloanne. Have thee of chance seen another pony pass through?" Alvis asked.

    "That's good! And I have in fact seen one pass through with Benhart. He practically dragged the poor sod to the tunnel to the north. Said something about, 'a man's journey'."  Chloanne replied. "So who is this? A new companion?"

    "You could say that." Celestia answered. "His name is Charlie, though he also goes by Mister Cee."

    "I see. Is he...alright? I don't think I've ever heard someone groan like that." Chloanne asked, concerned. "He's not touched in the head, is he?"

    "*Did, did this bitch just call me retarded? Well let's see what you're like after a morales scientist cuts up your throat, stuff you full of more drugs than aliens that worship Charlie Sheen, hypnotize your ass and shove the remains into a gigantic, armoured dive suit. Honestly, I think aliens would be nicer than what those pricks in Rapture did to people, and me by association... At least, I don't think I went through that... I'll ask Discord. Long story much shortened you old bat, I'm cursing you out and you don't even know it.*" After his rather long groan in reply, he raised both of his hands and flipped her off before walking a few feet away, lest she really was a voo-doo witch.

    Celestia sighed. "I grow tired of not being able to understand you, Charlie. One moment." Celestia's horn glowed, and so did Charlie, before it subsided. "There, now try talking."

    "HelLO? Dah FucK? Why is MY VoiCe JuMpINg and DroPPinG in VolUme? Also, Did DAt BitCH jusT caLL me RetARded?" He asked, a slightly deep voice offsetted by it's volume changes. His porthole light changing to a light, yellowish orange.

    Celestia tried to hold back a giggle, whilst Chloanne gasped. "How dare you!? I'll have you know I am a very reputable woman!" she raised her head in an imperious manner and crossed her arms.

    "I suppose that means something was done to your vocal chords, Charlie. The...sporadic, change of volume usually only happens to those with significant speech impediments." Celestia failed to hold in her giggles. "Though I must admit it is most amusing." Alvis was shaking with silent mirth, along with Luna.

    "I'Ve SeEN moRe RePutAble CaMP FoLloWers LadY. WhAt diD yoU tHInk The SCar on mY NeCK waS For? AnD diD TheREsa sKIm oVEr a PArtinG GifT OUr dIScoRd GaVe Me?" Charlie replied to the upset women and the rulers who were barely holding themselves up.

    "Well, I never! I can hardly believe such refined people as Alvis and his wives are friends with such a brute as you! You'll get no services from me!" Chloanne replied with a huff.

    "I don't think she did." Celestia responded, having calmed herself. "And calm down, Chloanne."

Chuckling, Charlie raised a single hand and snapped his fingers. "*Revenge is like chocolate milk, it's better served cold, but can still be satisfying when it's dished out hot.*" He groaned, with that, everyone looked at him funnily until he pointed up... at a pink, cotton candy cloud. Which immediately started raining sour chocolate milk onto all of them. Charlie, being in a dive suit with the windows up, didn't mind a bit.

    Celestia frowned, along with Luna, whilst Chloanne just gaped at the pink cloud raining sour chocolate milk on her and the rest of the group.

    "So you have Discord's powers. How...interesting." Celestia said.

    "I might have forgotten to mention that to thee, dear." Alvis added.

    "Art thou alright, Chloanne?" Luna asked.

    "What...? How...? What sorcery is this?" she asked to no one in particular, amazed at the feat of chaos magic.

After Charlie calmed down enough to talk again, having doubled over at the sight of everyone's expression, he said, "CHaos MaGIc, i Ain'T gOTTa exPlAIn SHIT! IT's prEttY mUCh lImiTEd to fOOdstuFFs, caNDy or musIC, I'm LiMitEd to TwenTY-fiVe PerCEnt, thIRty nOW thAT I pRANKed yoU CeLEStia, of DiscORD's pOWer. Oh and I lEft a trAIL of Pink ClOUds on OUr way to CanTERlot."

    "Oh no...looking up at the sky is going to give me such a headache now..." Celestia said with a sigh and a facehoof.

    "Oh lighten up, my radiant sun, twas only in jest." Alvis replied.

    "Am I the only one wondering how in the world this has happened?" Chloanne asked, gesturing to the confectionery cloud. "And my dress is getting soaked and sticky."

    Shrugging his shoulders, Charlie snapped his fingers again and dispelled the cloud and all evidence that it ever existed, "ChAOs, I AIn't goTTa expLAIn shIT, BEcAUse it mAKEs my hEad huRt juSt thINKing aboUt IT."

    "Anyway, Chloanne, couldst thou spare a few twinkling titanite? I am willing to pay a hefty sum of souls." Alvis asked.

    "Certainly! But I only have three, sadly." Chloanne replied.

    "Tis all I shall need. I trust this, shall suffice?" Alvis said, offering her a pouch full of white, flame like orbs.

    "These are more than enough, thank you!" she stuck her hand down her breasts and pulled out three glowing, shimmering white rocks and handed them to Alvis. Alvis took them without hesitation, to the befuddlement of his wives and Charlie.

"OKay, I've nEVer beEN marRIEd, but I'm PRetty sURe acCEPting sOMe whItE rOCks that sOmE laDy was carRYINg around StRIPper StYle isn't someTHing yoU wANt yoUR wIfe, or wiVes, to sEE, I'm jUSt gONna SaY it, tHAt jUst lOOks bAd bRo, And I've sEen BaD..." Charlie told Alvis while slowly backing away from the princesses. Celestia and Luna's eyes were twitching.

    "Dear, what did we say last time we came here about accepting things from this woman?" Celestia asked, her voice rising with anger.

    "Did I not say she hath no other place to put them? I thought I had made that clear." Alvis replied calmly.

    "My love, we told thee countless times to not accept things from this woman." Luna said, irritated.

    "What? What did I do?" Chloanne asked, confused.

    "Lulu, Tia, I love thee, but thou art overreacting. This woman simply hath no other place to put her things. I waver not to question why." Alvis sighed and mumbled, "mayhaps I should not have explained human sexuality and courtship..."

Celestia gave Alvis a stern look. "We shall speak of this later." Alvis sighed in exasperation.

"Yes, dear..." he grumbled out.

"Now, dear Alvis, what ever do we need twinkling titanite for?" Luna asked.

"To reinforce Sir Charlie's armour, of course. That is, if he so wishes." Alvis replied.

"*If this place has the same morning in the east, than that must be north and- What? Oh, you guys made up. No glowing eyes? Okay*" He groaned before switching to speaking, "WHat DId i mISs wHIle I Was plaNNing my eScaPe rOuTe?" He asked after turning around and noticing everyone look at him.

"My husband was wondering if you would like to have your armour further reinforced. Knowing this land, it would be best if you take the offer." Celestia explained.

"SOuNds gOOd, I cOuLd alWaYs uSe bEtTer aRmOur, thIS isN't goNNa douBle my suIt's weiGHt is iT? BeCauSe at hALf a Ton, I Can sTiLl MoVe aRouNd seMi noRmaLLy." He replied, "BesIdEs, I gaVe tWo of yOur guARds a tOnic apIEce, and All thEY haVe to Do is baBySit, i JusT havE to HeLp You guYs FiNd SomE PriCk, seEMs liKe a fAIr eNoUgh tRAde."

"Nay, Sir Charlie, a blacksmith merely etches the titanite onto the piece of equipment. It would barely add any weight at all." Alvis answered.

"THen leT's go Get a taTToo." He replied, "BUt this tIme, thINgs are goNNa be diFFerEnt, i'LL be sOBer and bOrEd inStEad of dRunk and exCiTed. Oh, and it won't be somEThing racISt eiTher. UnlEsS I can gEt a coPy of my taTTOo on my aRmOur, tHen it's raCiSt."

"I do not know what this, 'tattoo', thou speak of, is. But it sounds troublesome." Alvis replied.

"YeAh, thINK a bastArd loVe chiLd of an iNk Pen and a nEEdle, than geTTing StABBed by sOmEone uNtil A niCe piCtUre foRms. miNe is of a hOrSe my moTHer hAd as a chIld, the hORse's naMe was prEtty rAcist thOugh, So I coVerEd that paRt up."Charlie shrugged at their expressions, "It's not someTHing I waNt to tAlk aBout tOO muCH."

    Alvis nodded and they walked towards the blacksmith's shop, where they could clearly hear the sound of a hammer on an anvil. When they got inside, they saw a stocky and stout man wearing a faded blacksmith's apron and gloves, his skin rotting away and his eyes pits. On his bald head was a strange circlet with a gem set in it. He had a magnificent braided beard of dark brown hair.

    "Fere Lenigrast! Couldst thou spare a moment?" Alvis asked.

    "What do you want!? Can't you see I'm busy!?" yelled the old blacksmith, stopping his work to speak.

    Charlie simply groaned, "*Whatever you dwarf sized ghoul, us smoothskins just want an armour tattoo.*"  Looking around his shop, he took in the impressive amount of blacksmithing tools and the few intricately decorated weapons. "You Seem tO hAVe quITe the sKILl wIth yOur woRk, miNd heLPing sOme pEoPle out?" He asked.

    "Fine, fine. Just give me your equipment and the orestone and I'll get to work." Lenigrast complied grumpily. Alvis handed Lenigrast the titanite and everyone looked to Charlie.

    "I'll jUst sit dOWn over hEre uNtil yOu nEEd me, tHis sUIt is FuCking HeaVy." He told them before walking over to a corner with the least amount of stuff.

    "Um...Charlie, you're the only one here who can have their equipment improved. So...if you could..." Celestia said, making a  'come on' gesture with her hoof.

    "Hurry up!" Lenigrast urged.

    "WEll eXCusE me fOr thiNkIng you nEeDed to prEpAre the tiTan-soMeThing fIRst." Charlie grumbled, the effect lost due to his shifting volume. With a unseen roll of his eyes, even if his helmet was off, they probably wouldn't have notice anyway, he walked over to the angry zombie dwarf blacksmith.

    "You'll have to take that armour off for me to get any work done. And I'll need you all to leave so I can work in peace. I don't need some flirtatious vagabonds breathing down my neck while I work." Lenigrast said, tapping his foot impatiently.

    Groaning, Charlie reached behind his head and twisted the emergency valve. His helmet hissed as the suit's air pressure equalled the outside and he reached up to take it off. Holding onto the helmet with one hand, he pulled the air tanks off and settled both of them down somewhere with some space. Removing his drills, they followed the rest before he reached up with both of his hands, he removed the valve and pulled the collar apart followed by him pulling the suit down around himself. After screwing the valve back in, he wouldn't be happy if he lost it, he stretched as the comforting restriction on his movement crumpled onto the floor.

"WhERe do yoU wANt this? THe sUit alONe wEiGhs arOuNd seVen HunDred pouNds, so I doUbt yOu'Re goNNa wAnt to mOve it youRSelf." He asked as he took out a cigarette from his pack.

Lenigrast laughed. "Seven hundred pounds is nothing around here, boy! Why, most Undead can lift three times that or even ten times that! Myself being the former! Just leave it there and I'll get to it." he replied.

Charlie's glowing yellow eyes widened, "*Fuck, these guys can make brutes feel inadequate.*" He groaned, "Damn. WEll, pLEase take gOOd cARe of it, tHat sUit hAs kEPt me aLIVe for thREe moNThs stRAiGht, I wOuLd hAte to See it get tuRNed frOm a towERIng VisAGe of RaPtUre inGeNuity and cRuelTy and tUrNed into sOme rhinEsTone coVEred, beDaZzled inSult to my MANlineSs."

"Oh, don't be such a child! Besides, I strive to make sure each piece I work on stays as pristine as ever! Now get out! I have work to do!" Lenigrast said as he shooed them away. "Go wander around like you vagabonds always do!" With that, they were all pushed outside the iron barred door as it shut behind them.

"Twas good to see thee again, fere Lenigrast!" Alvis shouted through the window, before ducking as a hammer nearly hit his head. Alvis chuckled at that. "He's actually quite the caring man once thou gets to know him." Alvis assured.

Charlie just lit his cigarette with his flaming finger and took a deep drag before asking, "wHaT nOw?"

"We wait. Should only take...half an hour." Celestia answered.

"WeLl, no OFfenSe TiA, but I'M goNNa tRy anD fiX My vOice."

Meanwhile, back at Canterlot, Theresa and her temporary guards were walking around the city. Every now and then a mare, with the occasional stallion, would come up and ask if they could hug her. Most of them received a quick hug and a few were quickly shoved off. One even had to be dragged away by the local guard after he started yelling at her because of her denial.

"Freak, something just ain't right with some people, you know... that 'do not approach under any circumstances' kind of feeling." She explained to Cloud Skipper and Midnight Blossom.

"I hear ya, girl! This one time, I got hit on by some stallion in a bar, and was so pushy I had to give the old one two!" Midnight said with a nod of understanding. Cloud Skipper facehoofed.

"Who says that anymore..." he mumbled with a groan.

Theresa just smiled as they walked down the street. The little girl drew eyes from everypony, whether it was because of her or her mixed guards wasn't something she was considering. What she was considering, was where she could find something specific. Upon turning a corner, she lit up.

"Come on, let's get some donuts!" She said with a happy grin. Skipping down the street, she opened the door and walked in. The scent of delicious pastries and fresh coffee filled the small cafe and brought an even wider grin to her face. After the group sat down at the counter, a stallion walked over and smiled.

"Well, nice to meet you, the name's-" he started.

"Donut Joe." Theresa interrupted, "I've heard great things about you sir, could you bring me a small hot chocolate and a Bavarian creme filled donut please." She excitedly asked with an adorable smile on her face.

Donut Joe smiled after a moment, before nodding and writing the order down on his note pad. He turned to the other two.

"What about you two?" he asked.

"I'll have five chocolate filled croissants, with some black coffee, please." Midnight answered.

"I'll have a flat white with a dozen glazed donuts, please." Cloud Skipper replied. Donut Joe nodded and wrote the orders down before smiling.

"I'll have your orders ready in a bit!" Joe said before walking off to fill the orders.

With a quick thank you, Theresa looked around and smiled. After a moment, she started snapping her fingers, slowly at first before picking up speed. After a few seconds, she started slapping her hands together while keeping her eyes on the wall in front of her. She switched directions and speeds seamlessly, the noise filling the silence as she kept a high tempo. After a little bit, Donut Joe came back with their orders and she stopped to take a drink of her beverage.

Midnight dug into her food like a pig, eating the croissants whole and finishing her drink in record time. Cloud gave her a deadpan look.

"What?" she asked obliviously.

"Could you at least try to act civilized? You are in the presence of a child, you can endeavor to act like a mature adult for once." Cloud Skipper scolded.

"This again? I'll act the way I want, when I want. I'm a grown mare!" Midnight retorted.

"Then act like it for once. Honestly, you're such a pig." Cloud Skipper shot back.

"What did you say!?" Midnight exclaimed.

"You heard me." Cloud Skipper replied calmly, giving her a condescending look. The two glared at each other, and it seemed like sparks were flying.

Theresa winked at the confused stallion in front of her before turning around and loudly asking, "Could everypony turn around, we got a lover's spat going on. They might start fighting or simply skip the foreplay and mount each other on the counter so if everypony can please give them a little privacy, I'm sure they'll thank you." With that done, she turned around and smirked at the two bright red faces of her escorts.

"That was mean, kid." Midnight responded, before mumbling, "Besides, it was just a one time thing..."

Cloud Skipper quickly regained his composure, and with an awkward cough, said, "My apologies, Miss Theresa, we got carried away. It won't happen again."

Theresa giggled, "I don't know what's funnier, someone who's probably a twentieth of my age calling me kid, the fact that you two have bumped uglies, or your faces when I tell you I've seen at least a dozen couples fucking not ten feet away." Theresa grabbed onto her stool as everypony stared at her. "And the first time it happened, I had to get The Talk from my uncle, do you know how messed up that was?"

"Wow...I can't even imagine something like that happening to me. I mean, sure, my mother was a whorse, but that just takes the cake." Midnight replied.

"To think that your innocence was ruined at such a young age...I can't begin to think of how awkward that must have been. I'm sorry." Cloud Skipper said. "And we did not, 'bump uglies'."

Calming herself, Theresa grabbed her drink and took a sip before replying, "Okay, you two made the six hooved beast. And yeah, it was awkward. Especially considering we didn't even notice until they were almost done." At her companions confused expressions, she continued. "Look, it was barely a week after getting our memories back, I pretty much spent a decade crying about what I did and saw and Charlie... He just kept himself together until I pulled myself back together. You don't know crazy till you spend a thousand years holding off two people's insanity while your only help is the literal god of crazy. I'm surprised I remembered it when I finally did stop crying."

"Wow...I...I'm sorry..." Cloud apologized.

    "Yeah...nopony should have to go through that." Midnight added.

    "Thanks, but I got over it about eight hundred years ago. Heh, you know what's funny? When Discord unlocked our memories, it was like we had photographic memories. I remember everything from around my third birthday before Charlie moved in with us, to what colour dress my first teacher wore on the first day of school. But that's not what I was talking about... My uncle has killed at least four hundred Ponies, Griffins, Minotaurs, you name it, he probably killed it. But out of all of those he killed, only one was he ever directly responsible for. And he wasn't even a big daddy back then."

Taking a deep breath, Theresa downed the cold remains of her drink, "It took more than seven hundred years before I got his history out of him. Back home, he lived in a different state and was on the wrong side of the law. Basically, his job was to carry a backpack full of illegal drugs or dirty money."

"He worked for some bunch of mexicans, a cartel, if he fucked up, they'd go and kill his whole family... He got cornered one day, shot some punk who thought he could rob him, dropped off his bag and fled the state. Never told my mom and dad why he agreed to move down to Texas, they just thought he was unemployed and lazy. After two years, he was back in another city, thankfully on the right side of the law. Every now and then I'd go over and stay the night, he's a great man, with a dark past... If there is a threat, he'll kill it. He doesn't need to be super strong, he's already a bulldozer." Turning away from her empty cup, she took in her companions faces.

    Midnight was on the verge of tears, as well as Cloud Skipper, but he held them back fairly well. Then, without warning, Midnight pounced on Theresa, squeezing her and blubbering like a foal.

    "You know Miss, I may be just a guard, but I am always here for you if you need. Always." Cloud Skipper said softly.

    Giving a grateful smile, "Thank you, but as I've said, all of that happened a thousand and some odd years ago. It took a while, but we had plenty of time to get over it." She replied, pulling herself from Midnight's death grip, she asked if everyone was done.

    They nodded, but just as they paid the bill and were about to leave, Theresa felt a tap on her shoulder. She turned around to see a gray unicorn stallion with a brown mane done up in a mohawk and short tail, along with mutton chops, aviator glasses, and a strange shirt with metal plates in the place of areas where his abs would be, smiling at her.

    "Yes, can I help you sir?" Theresa asked with her hands behind her back.

    "No, but maybe I can help you." he answered, his Swedish accent very obvious. He summoned a business card with the name, 'Powerful Ruler' on it, stating that he was the lead Singer of a band called Sabaton. "I would like to write a song about your uncle and his life. But you don't have to answer right now if you don't want to, but if you ever wanna talk, just look for the address on the card and find me. Ciao!" he said as he walked out the door without another word.

    "That was... unexpected."Theresa stated, "Hmm, a song about a drug runner killing someone, at least it's not about some dumb drug dealer and his list of problems." Shrugging, Theresa handed the card to Midnight and they all walked outside.

    Midnight looked giddy as a schoolgirl when Theresa handed her the card, squealing like a fangirl over it. Cloud turned to her.

    "What's your deal?" he asked.

    "Do you know who that was!? That was the lead singer of Sabaton, the best band, ever! I love their songs! And all them are so hot!" Midnight was practically drooling as she thought of her and the lead singer together.

    "I didn't know mutton chops could be hot." Theresa smiled as they walked down the street, "So what are they? Rock, metal, punk?" Theresa asked.

    "Metal! They sing about past wars and battles, but nobody knows the battles they sing about. Still, they're really good!" Midnight answered.

    "Really?" Theresa giggled, "Girl, my uncle comes from a navy family. His dad was a medevac pilot for one of the most deadliest conflicts my country ever entered. His uncle fought for some pointless hill in the same jungle war, their uncle was killed by friendly fire when he was operating as a forward spotter for the ships that were half a mile out to sea. The Robertson clan can trace their family all the way back to ancient Greece simply by the blood trails they left over half of the planet." Theresa claimed, "Trust me, there's more than enough material in a half hour conversation with him for a album and a half."

    "Well, I mean, the battles they sing about never even happened, at least, not in Equus. When someone asked about where they got their songs, they said they bought a journal at some auctions that was from the Everfree Castle." Midnight explained.

    "I wonder... I'll have to ask Alvis, but do any of the songs mention noises like my gun made the first time you saw me?" Theresa asked as they stopped to look at a antique store.

    "Yeah! How did you know?" Midnight asked.

    "Everfree castle, which has stood for who knows how long, had a journal discussing wars that don't sound anything like what Equestria has been through in over a thousand years, on our side at least, Alvis is married to the princesses and has lost his memories, which he was aware of and would likely write down as many as he could, he's not from around here... Honestly, the pieces fit perfectly." Theresa finished with a small smile as the two guards stared at her, "What, do you think Charlie would be the kind to leave me as an uneducated eight year old?" She asked.

    "...Why didn't I think of that?" Midnight asked no one in particular.

    "Because you're intellect has always been lacking." Cloud snarked.

    "Screw you!" Midnight retorted.

    "No thanks." Cloud replied.

    "What's wrong, you didn't enjoy your time on the dark side?" Theresa asked, an innocent expression on her face, "Because I've always heard that once you cum to the dark side, you're strapped in for the ride."

    Midnight groaned, whilst Cloud sported a heavy blush.

    "That was uncalled for!" he shouted, his voice cracking with embarrassment.

    "Maybe, but totally hilarious reactions all around, am I right ponies of Canterlot?" She yelled as a assortment of cheer, whistles and stomps answered her. The two guards turned around and stared at the solid wall of ponies that were laughing at their embarrassment.

    The duo groaned and pushed their way through the crowd, covering their embarrassed faces. Then, the group came upon a hospital, Canterlot General Hospital, to be exact.

    "You know what they say about Karma, well... if you guys know what Karma is." Theresa said as she looked at the banner hanging over the door that informed her of the annual blood drive being today. Walking past her escorts, she walked inside and met a familiar face. "Scruffy?

Turning to regard the girl behind him, "I don't think we've met, but that's me. Scruffy, the janitor." He replied with a grunt after his introduction.

    "Scruffy! We need a cleanup in room 203!" yelled a doctor from down the hall.

    Giving a grunt, Scruffy turned around and headed towards the doctor. After a few moments, a familiar pegasus walked around the corner.

"Clean Sweep?" Theresa asked.

"Yes, do I or my husband know you?" She replied.

"Husband? You mean Scruffy?"

"Yep, been married happily for four years now, ever since the Gala when Blueblood was sent somewhere." Clean sweep answered, "Now, do we know you?"

"Uh, no. Just thought your husband was quite the conservationist." Theresa replied, a small smile on her face. "Do you mind leading me to whoever's in charge of the blood drive? I'd like to see if I can help."

"Oh? Uh... okay. But I don't know how you can help." Clean Sweep answered nervously.

"I think we can work something out." Theresa answered cryptically.

    The four walked through the hospital until they came upon a room with a line of ponies waiting for their turn to give blood. Inside were some nurses and a few doctors, made obvious by their uniforms. There was one nurse Theresa vaguely recognized, a white earth pony mare with a short pink mane and tail. Though why she was here instead of Ponyville was a mystery.

    After the mare lead them up to the nurse, she was called to clean up some spill. "Excuse me, but are you in charge of the blood drive?" Theresa asked, "Because I'd like to talk to you a bit."

Turning away from her paperwork, she cast a critical eye over Theresa and her escorts. "I'm sorry, but the hospital is no place for children to play. I'll find somepony to escort you out."

"Lady, I'm over a thousand years old and suffer from a disease that requires me to drink blood. I don't think you can call me a child no more than I can call you a foal." Theresa replied quietly so that nopony else could hear her. "Now, I would like to help you, so that you can help me."

A few minutes in her office later, Theresa and the now named Nurse Redheart came to an agreement. It involved a roll of stickers, free hugs and one out of every fifteen donations. A few minutes later, Theresa finished hugging another pony who came out with a red raindrop shaped sticker that informed the world that the bearer of said sticker donated blood. Word spread quickly throughout Canterlot and Canterlot General Hospital had never had a more successful blood drive.

    Back in Drangleic, Lenigrast had finally finished with Charlie's armor, and to his relief and joy, it was not bedazzled. Charlie had gained another little picture on his glove, this one of a human throat with a line across it, while he was busy fixing his voice, and while they were waiting, Alvis explained that titanite was the material said to be used to forge the weapons of the gods and that it formed to the wishes of a skilled blacksmith. Once Charlie was back in his dive suit, they left the shop and went on their way through the tunnel to the north, which opened up into a strange, very overgrown and ruined coliseum, where half of it was long gone while the other half surrounded them on the right.

After getting out of the tunnel, they made it to a small pathway leading to what looked like very old ruins, what with a bridge above their heads and a strange circular room with a three inch thick steel door reinforced with Geisteel blocking off the path ahead. The brick room was musty with age and dust. Thankfully, there was a handle Alvis said would open the door, but he said to be ready to fight when the door opened.

    "What should we be expecting?" asked Celestia as Alvis approached the handle, ready to pull.

    "Poisonous creatures, a reptile that canst petrify thee, and overall grotesque beings." Alvis answered simply.

    "I'll take care of range combat, my Plasmids should be able to keep them from getting too close without a few burns to show for it." Charlie supplied, "What'll you guys be doing?"

    "Fere Charlie, range wilt not help thee here, this shall be solely close combat.  Did thou think thou couldst get any good shots in such close quarters as this?" Alvis replied.

    "Fair enough, I'll go with shield drill and my fire and forget Plasmids then. Ready?" Charlie replied while equipping his shield drill on his right arm, the other being placed on his left hip.

    The others nodded, Celestia and Luna going back to back, and Alvis pulled the switch. Immediately, seven grotesque humanoid creatures with sacks hanging from their stomachs and drooping slightly below their crotches jumped down from above, whilst two more appeared from doors on the sides of the room.

Three were wielding maces made of bones, a poisonous liquid slathered onto the crude weapons. As the door opened, it revealed a reptile with large, fake, bloodshot eyes with much smaller eyes below the first two large ones.

The reptile rushed towards Alvis and pounced on him, but Alvis rolled out of the way. The grotesque humanoids surrounded the diarchs and Charlie, two of the mace wielding ones preparing to strike the rulers, but the two diarchs parried them with practiced ease, and immediately riposted, Celestia slamming her morning star into the stunned creature's head whilst Luna stabbed the other in its bulbous belly.

One of the mace wielding ones charged Charlie, along with two unarmed ones. As it swung it's dripping weapon at Charlie, it found that it apparently lacked the necessary guts to complete said action. Charlie raised his left hand and flicked his wrist while snapping. The aberration on his drill mushroomed from the forces pushing into its chest cavity, splattering it's toxic poison over it's fellows.

Rearing back his recently unoccupied drill, Charlie delivered an cross to one of the thing's face and knocked it to the ground. The other got close enough to claw at Charlie's arm and received a heavy, ring covered glove back hand slap. With the one from earlier trying to get back up, Charlie performed a drill slam into the creature's head and felt a sharp pain in his ribs, followed by a blast of subzero air being sent at the other. A quick swing of his drill later and the small area where the fight took place was covered in a noxious blood, gore and poison slushie. Half off to all displaced, of course.

Turning around, Charlie wondered why he seemed to get a weaker version of the princesses. Contributing it to him having a child with him, he silently thanked his lucky stars for not having to deal with war ready, combat capable princesses.

Alvis dodged another pounce from the reptile, before taking out his Sun Sword and slicing one of it's large eyeballs off. In retaliation, the reptile reared back, the sack by it's throat expanding, before releasing a pale yellow mist towards Alvis. Alvis rolled out of the way once more, and watched as one of the humanoids was turned to stone.

Celestia sliced the head off of an unarmed humanoid with her shortsword, before cracking open the skull of another with her morning star.

Luna, having noticed that all of the humanoids were now slain, turned to help Alvis. Leaping towards the reptile, she smashed it's other eye with her Bone Fist, or as she called it, Bone Hoof, and then sliced open it's scalp with her katana.

"Lulu! I almost had it!" Alvis whined.

Luna smirked and winked flirtatiously. "Thou shall have to do better next time, my love!" she said playfully.

Alvis whined a little more before Celestia cut in, "Dear, we don't have time to worry about who killed what, we have to save our adopted nephew!"  Alvis sighed and pouted under his helm, crossing his arms.

"Fine..." he replied grumpily.

Charlie wiped the gunk off of his drill and armour before walking towards Alvis, "That was a blast. What's next? A dragon? A flesh golem?"

"Nay, but many dragons canst be found elsewhere. They art dearth in nearly every land, but some canst be found hither and thither. And I have not heard tell of any 'flesh' golems, as thou say." Alvis explained.

"We have only seen a little of this land. We have not seen this path before, but I am sure Alvis will lead us through just fine." Celestia said.

"Indeed! I eagerly await our next bout!" Luna chimed in.

"Okay. Well, think of a golem, but made with necromancy and body parts instead of clay and a scroll. Personally, I thought that kinda thing would exist here what with all the 'undead' business." Charlie replied, "Lead the way, before I get bored and practice using Anam again. Which would be bad."

Alvis nodded, and the group walked through the doorway and into the next room, which was still circular like the last room, but had stone stairs leading upwards and out of the building.

'I really need to find religion, if only to thank someone for small favours' Charlie thought while looking at the stairs. After climbing up the stairs they walked through a winding path between rocks and hills, before coming upon a dead forest. After killing two more humanoids that were feeding on a decaying corpse, the group made it to a ruined, overgrown, crumbling stone courtyard filled with six more humanoids, two of them wielding maces or clubs made of bone and slathered with poison.

After swiftly killing them the group passed through what might have once been a hallway and into a decrepit stone tower that acted as a crossroad. A bonfire lay in the middle of the floor, two statues next to it, one of them crumbled and the other intact. Two stone stairways curved upwards to the next floor, where three paths lay. One to the east, one to the west, and one to the north. After climbing up the steps and just getting off the stone pathway to the east, Alvis spoke up.

"This is where we must be most careful, for there art countless invisible Undead here, waiting within the fog  and hiding behind the trunks of trees." Alvis informed.

"*Goody, it's the Chameleon mission from Resistance 2 all over again.*" Charlie groaned. Raising his left hand, Charlie released a swarm of killer bees that swarmed around him. After his safety net was circling, he switched to his incinerate Plasmid. "If you see a shimmer, swing first, poke corpses later. I'll set them on fire when I can to help keep track of them."

    The others nodded, and so they stepped into the aptly named 'Shaded Woods'. Countless trees and fog surrounded them, making navigation difficult. Too difficult for Alvis, in fact, as they eventually got lost. And just as they stopped so Alvis could get a good idea of where they were, they heard the sounds of crossbows being fired. Alvis instinctively rolled out of the way, but the others were not so lucky. Celestia and Luna were hit in their uncovered wings, and they cried out in pain, gold ichor dripping from the wounds. Charlie roared in rage as he released his bees, their ultraviolet sight giving them a better chance at finding his foes.

    Alvis, furious at someone harming his wives, rushed into what he assumed were the ranks of the enemy, chime at the ready, only to be hit with what felt like a boot to the head. Thankfully his helmet softened the blow very well, but he was still pushed back by the force. After recovering, Alvis growled. As far as he could tell, they were surrounded, and by the sound of the footsteps crunching the leaves below, they were closing in.

"It's times like this that reminds me; hey, some bitches can't help but be bitches, ya' know?" Charlie asked.