Legacy of Kain: Harmony's Rise

Chapters

Chapter 2: Unforeseen Consequences
Chapter 3: True Danger
Chapter 4: A Spectral Revelation
Chapter 5: The Wrong Enemy
Chapter 6: The Hidden Enemy
Chapter 7: Building Friendship's Foundation
Chapter 8: An Unmissed Nostalgia
Chapter 9: A Meeting In The Dark
Chapter 10: Preparations for the Inevitabile
Chapter 11: Fateful Encounter
Chapter 12: Fateful Meeting
Chapter 13: Interview with a Soul Reaver
Chapter 14: Memories of a Decayed Lieutenant
Chapter 15: Questioning an Unicorn
Chapter 16: The Grandiose Gathering
Chapter 17: The Galloping Encounter
Chapter 18: The Gala of Friendship
Interlude: The Dark Allegiance
Memories I: Diving In
Chapter 19: A Chaotic Encounter
Chapter 20: A Chaotic Deal
Memories II: Ozymandias
Memories III: The Necropolis
Prologue: A chance for Salvation
Chapter 1: The Return of the Reaver
Memories IV: The Vampire King of a Corrupt and Falling Empire

Chapter 2: Unforeseen Consequences

Ponyville and Equestria was saved, the danger of Nightmare Moon was stopped thanks to the work of Twilight Sparkle, Rarity, Rainbow Dash, Applejack, Fluttershy and Pinkie Pie, the new Elements of Harmony who purified Nightmare Moon and turned her back into the Princess Luna but, to the few ponies aware of it, the return of NIghtmare Moon wasn't the only thing that happened that especial day at Ponyville. Indeed, something else happened that day, something that went unnoticed by many ponies and the few that did noticed it, preferred to not say anything about it (at least until they could tell what exactly was that current "something") but to explain it better, we must first understand what they saw, or at least, what they understand to have seen:

The first pony to ever notice this other event was the princess of the Sun herself, Princess Celestia, in the middle of the night and when the return of her cursed sister was close to begin. While she was waiting for the return of her corrupted sister, Celestia saw a creature like no other: its wings were broken and rendered useless, it stands in two legs, its extremities ended in claws (with 3 claws each extremity), it looked like it didn't had a skin and for some reason its muscles were blue. It certainly was something like never seen before but what she noticed the most, and what she feared the most wasn't the creatures appearance, it was what she felt around the creature: the closer she got to the creature, the more she would feel its power (high to the levels of herself or even those enemies that should not be named) and the aura it emanated expelled a sense of dread, decay and death. The discovery of this being lead a series of questions to Celestia that which answers she really needed: had this creature been lurking around Canterlot or was it something new? If it was lurking around Canterlot, for how long and why? How could it be that her little ponies hadn't noticed it? But the question that plagued Celestia's mind the most (almost as much as her Sister's return) was the entity's motives. To put it simple, What were this creature's objectives?

Celestia would never know for it disappeared as fast as she discovered it and Celestia wouldn't know anything else about it until hours later. It was while Celestia was celebrating the return of her sister. While Celestia was brimming with joy for the return of her sister, while she was in ecstasy for seeing the smiling faces of her little ponies, while she was seeing the ponies being so cheerful for the new princess and the 6 heroes that saved the day. It was during that huge party that Celestia would feel again that sense of dread. It was too distinctive and specific to not remember it and, to her worries, that foreboding aura was coming from the Everfree forest. The White Princess of the Sun, ruler of the day, felt fear for this, she didn't know what was this apparition neither what could this creature be doing in the Everfree Forest or if it was involved with the return of her sister. Could that terror decide to transform the forest into its new residence? If so, in how much danger were her ponies with such creature lurking so close to them? Celestia would try to do something about it, but not right now. She was celebrating the return of her sister and the victory of her student with her new friends, she would not ruin the moment of her beloved ones neither potentially scare the town that has just come out of one fear. Granted The Alicorn Princess would keep an eye on the forest during the party and, hours later, she would later send a letter to Twilight warning her that she felt something in the Everfree of unknown danger and that, unless extremely necessary, she nor anypony else could enter the forest until she could be certain that it was safe again to the ponies or, at least, as safe as the Everfree Forest could be.

The biggest sign of distrust from Celestia to this creature would be reflected through sending tickets to Twilight for the Grand Galloping Galla so at least she and her friends could be safe from that creature for a day, but until that day happens, she would have to figure out what was that creature and what were its intentions.

While Princess Luna wasn't the second pony to notice the creature, she is the second most important pony that noticed him. She is also one of the two ponies (the other one being Twilight Sparkle) that knows the name of the creature, Raziel, and it's identity:

"The Angel of Death" she muttered in her personal room while remembering her fight with Raziel during her moment as Nightmare Moon. In that moment, Princess Luna thought that the title "Angel of Death" was just that, a title, but seeing him while Ponyville was celebrating the defeat of Nightmare Moon (when Luna perfectly remembered having vaporized him) sent shiver down her spine. She could still remember his power and his craftsmanship during the battle. The Soul Reaver was just as strong as her in terms of raw power, Luna could still remember the pain inflicted upon her with that magical sword, and the Princess of the Night couldn't ignore the possibility that the wraith was just containing himself. This lead Luna to have a huge fear over it, to the point that she didn't want to mention said creature to Celestia just to avoid the possibility of have her sister fighting a creature that could end her.

But his craftsmanship, the second thing that made him so dangerous, couldn't be ignored. Raziel showed a lot of intelligence and strategy by always managing to find a way to counter any trick or move Luna tried to do against him and he even managed to trick her in the fight, he had a very bright mind to fight under any circumstance, whether it was having the advantage or having a disadvantage on the encounter with danger, and who knew what other tricks was holding the Reaper during that battle (if Raziel was as brilliant on the battle as he was talking, then Luna was, kinda, glad to have ended the fight so fast on that first encounter) which was just another reason to not tell anything to her sister, Luna didn't wanted to risk the possibility of losing her sister on a fight against such a dangerous individual.

And now that Luna knew of Raziel's immortality she was even more afraid of him. this meant that no matter how much could Luna try to finish him, the Reaver of Souls would always come back from the death. He had enough power to face her and he was capable to keep the fight until she died of exhaustion or until he could find the right tactical move to fight her, In other words, Raziel would always win any fight on the long run, he always had the upper hoof, and now Luna didn't wanted to know if the "Soul Reaver" part was actually true, just thinking about it made shivers run down her spine.

But did she really had to fight or be afraid of him? He already said that he fought for the good of Equestria, and the fact that he didn't engage her in the party could have been proof enough of that, on the other hoof, maybe he just didn't recognized her due to her appearance being so different in the party compared to how she looked as the Nightmare... regardless of which part it was the reason of him not engaging her, Luna would be wary of him for now and, if possible, she would try to be on his good side the next time they met. After all, who wants to be an enemy of death itself?

There were also others who, while not as important in our story (for now), they also noticed Raziel, but not directly, such as Fluttershy:

The shy pegasus, while never saw, interacted, or felt the direct presence of the Soul Reaver, she did felt his presence in the forest. Fluttershy never told anypony about it, but she noticed that there was something else besides Nightmare Moon while she and her friends were exploring the Everfree Forest. She never traveled to the forest due to how dangerous it was, but the animals of the forest did came to her for her medical and food care, and Fluttershy always had an easy way to understand the animals. So Fluttershy was aware of how the animals of the Everfree felt on a daily basis and her animals were showing her great fear regarding the forest, as if something foreign decided to live in it. But this was just the assertion that she needed, the butter colored shy pegasus could still remember when she and her friends entered into the Everfree Forest and while Fluttershy felt the dread of the forest, she also felt a different kind of dread.

This was the kind of dread that any animal feels when they were being chased by a predator. Of course, it was natural to detect this kind of dread being a pony inside the Everfree Forest, but what wasn't normal is that even Manticores were feeling that same kind of dread, Fluttershy still remembered the warning she received from that Manticore she helped by taking out a splinter of its paw. If Manticores were among the most dangerous creatures on the forest, then why would Mr. Manticore be so afraid that (after getting the splinter out of his paw) he would urge her and her friends to run? What would be capable of making Timberwolves to run? What would be capable of making a the Forest look so much more dangerous without even being so noticeable?

Whatever it was, it was also capable of burning Timberwolves down to a crisp. And that wasn't even mentioning the chills that run down her spine in the moment she entered into the forest the day she and her friends went to confront the Nightmare or that, days after the defeat of Nightmare Moon, each day there were more and more animals from the Everfree trying to migrate to other places of Equestria. She only hoped that said animals didn't caused any problem in their new homes.

"What was going on?" She wondered in her cottage that was being filled up with, each day, more and more animals.

She once tried to mention this to her friends, but Pinkie Pie didn't seem to understand her worries and just told them that "a cupcake would fix the situation soon"; Applejack shrugged it off as "more reasons to get away from the everfree forest"; Rainbow Dash said that it didn't mattered because She "would handle it and, whatever it was, any danger that dared to enter Ponyville will meet the hooves of the fastest flyer in all of Equestria", Rarity said that "that's not something ladies talk about in the open, perhaps in a more... private place..." But said conversation would never come with Rarity diverting the conversation on any gossip she could find out and Twilight... well... whenever it was mentioned the Nightmare Moon incident to Twilight, she would always get very sad, Twilight would try to fake it, but it was too evident. Fluttershy wanted to help her but she didn't wanted to pressure on the matter, she would wait until Twilight decided to open up.

Fluttershy wasn't sure of what to do, but she hoped that whatever it was, it wouldn't be dangerous for either her, her friends or her animals, and that, for now, she would try to spend more time with her friends while helping as many animals as she could and she would try to stay away from the Everfree Forest as much as she could (and maybe prepare for the Grand Galloping Galla).

Applejack was perhaps the only pony of the elements of harmony who didn't notice Raziel's presence at all (with the possible exception of Pinkie Pie whose mind is too complex to understand) even though there were signs telling her that something was going on: she shrugged the chills that she felt when entering into the Everfree Forest thinking that, either, Nightmare Moon or the Forest itself were trying to scare her; she ignored the warnings from the Manticore and the Snake River and not even the ashes of the Timberwolves convinced her that something was going on; she hadn't thought anything was wrong when the cows told her that "something" scared them and caused them to go into a stampede; the only thing she was worried about was about her friend Twilight who was getting each day more and more depressed and she didn't knew what to do about it.

Applejack already had a lot of chores on her lately (the Applebuck Season took a lot of time for her, and while she was thankful that Twilight decided to help, it would have been better if Twilight also decided to search for help) and now she had to worry about her best friend getting saddened by something, Applejack would later reunite with her friends to try and ask Twilight why she feels so bad but, for now, she would try to help her friend to feel better doing whatever she could, maybe the Grand Galloping Gala would help her to feel better.

Rainbow Dash and Rarity were more in between, when it came to notice the presence of Raziel:

On one hoof, they shrugged off the chills when they entered into the forest, but they did noticed that something was off in the Forest through other means: Rarity through the River Snake, who told her and her friends that "The Forest has become more dangerous than ever before", Rarity (and probably Fluttershy) took the hint while the others didn't seem to understand it while Rainbow Dash noticed it through her Ex-Friend Gilda who told her about a little experience she had when passing through the Everfree just before getting to Rainbow's house.

Both of them decided that maybe it wasn't something big: Rarity thought that it probably was a new monster that decided to take a residence in the Everfree (which she wouldn't have to worry about just by not going into the Forest) while Rainbow Dash decided that any monster that tried to hurt her friends would meet her hooves.

But Twilight Sparkle was the one that was the most affected about Raziel:

After meeting him she started to backtrack her steps from the moment when she entered into the Everfree Forest and realized that Raziel was behind everything:

He was the cause of the Forest's dread as the River Snake and Fluttershy told them in their journey. Twilight never felt chills like that in her life and, while she originally thought that it probably was either the Forest or Nightmare Moon herself, she learned that it probably was the creature that claimed to be death itself the one causing something like that. The manticore was probably scared of Raziel and Twilight was very sure that (while she didn't saw it during his fight with Nightmare Moon) Raziel was the one who burned to a crisp the Timberwolves deducing that, if Raziel was capable of using telekinesis on Nightmare Moon, then he should have known a fire spell.

And now he was dead...

On one hoof, it kinda sucked that the creature that claimed to be the living embodiment of death was murdered, it didn't helped a lot to his reputation.

But on the other hoof, he was a good... thing... he not only tried to help her to defeat Nightmare Moon, but he even gave his life for her, a complete stranger that, along with the fact that Twilight did nothing to stop his death, was part of the lesson she learned that day: to trust others and accept the friendship of those who wants to give it. And so Twilight decided to make an oath of never judging a book by it's cover, always give anypony a second chance and to never again be useless.

She only hoped that wherever Raziel was, he was in a good place.

Raziel was in a very good place, this castle reminded him of Nosgoth, if only because the conditions of the castle (ruins and in the middle of a forest, a mixture of Vorador's mansion and the ancient Vampire's Citadel but with a touch of his own clan's citadel) and because of the library that it held. With said library, Raziel had something to do in his free time like investigating the past of this land, discovering locations that could hide the Elder God or just have a better idea of what creatures lived in this land and how to deal with them.

In the last days, Raziel has spend his days exploring the forest so he could learn how to move around better, this helped him a lot to know the best routes to get to other towns through the forest: Ponyville was in the northwest, there was another town at the south, another one at the east and a Gorge at the west and the capital of the kingdom was at the north in the top of the mountain.

In his exploration beyond the forest, Raziel managed to find a route to the northwest of Ponyville, he accidentaly caused a herd of cows to enter into a stampede and he hoped nothing bad happened to the nearby town of Ponyville, but such was the cost of exploration and looking like a demonic creature. Still, he finally knew how to move through the forest and his surroundings, now all he needed was a modern map to know the name of the new locations that must have spawned over the course of the centuries, perhaps the library of Ponyville may have one.

The Everfree Forest

A blue unicorn mare was travelling, in the middle of the night and with the Moon being covered by the clouds of the Everfree. The forest's darkness sent chills down the mare's spine, the feeling of dread, the sensation of being watched, the imminent danger of being attacked by a Manticore or, even worse, a Chimera. The Azure Blue Unicorn mare was deeply afraid of being attacked, all she had were her stage instruments and her bandwagon, all she could hope was that nothing happened while going towards her new destination: Ponyville.

It has been a tough journey so far, for every town she managed to do bits she would find another 3 that gave her almost nothing, was it (perhaps) her performance? It couldn't be, it worked last year, so why it wasn't working now? Perhaps she would have to up the ante, but with what? She already claimed to be the greatest unicorn in Equestria, how to make the story even bigger?

It was in that moment she heard something in the Everfree Forest that was very disconcerting, she heard the sound of a battle between two creatures, she saw in the direction of the battle roars but the darkness was clouding her sight, only allowing her to see fire, and what the fire managed to illuminate, like the Ursa Major causing said roars, and some rocks being thrown at said Ursa Major.

The mare was surprised, what was capable of fighting an Ursa Major? She was very curious about it and wanted to go and look the battle for a better perspective but then, she heard a big moan (like a wail coming form a creature meeting the end of its life) and, to her surprise, the Ursa Major felled backwards in the mare's direction, landing just a few inches away from her.

The mare was clearly scared of the Ursa Major and stayed quiet for a while, hoping that it wouldn't notice her when it decided to stand up, but it didn't. No matter how much the blue mare waited, the Ursa Major didn't move. The waiting got to a point that the blue mare got tired and decided to get closer to the Ursa. As she got closer and closer, step by step, and touched the Ursa Major to check if it was alive, to her surprise, it was dead. The mare couldn't believe it, an Ursa Major was dead, it was defeated by something, something that was still close to her. When the mare realized that, she decided to look at the forest in search of the creature that defeated the Ursa Major but the darkness didn't allowed her to see beyond a few inches. As the mare tried to find the creature, she managed to find two blue glowing eyes looking straight at her. As the pair of eyes were looking at the Azure Blue Mare, a chill ran down her spine, she was wondering how fast she could run from the thing, or if she knew of any spell capable of distracting it long enough to run but, before she could think of something, the creature's eyes disappeared. A few seconds later, the clouds moved and allowed the Moon to illuminate the place only to show the carnage of the battlefield where the Ursa and its assassin fought just a few minutes ago but with no assassin in sight.

After feeling how the chill was leaving her body, the mare looked at the Ursa Major and took note of the teeth coming out from its mouth and she had an idea that may give her more needed bits for her lifestyle.

A few hours later in Ponyville

It was being a normal day in Ponyville, at least as normal as it could be in a town where something interesting was happening everyday, whether it was the Nightmare Moon incident, the Ticket madness, the apple destruction, etc. Something was always happening in Ponyville and today was no different, for a blue unicorn mare wearing a magician hat and cape appeared in Ponyville and decided to use her magic to create a show while boasting about being "The Greatest Unicorn in all of Equestria".

This, of course, created alienation from Rarity, Applejack, Rainbow Dash and the rest of Twilight's friends:

"So Great and Powerful Trixie" -, said Rainbow Dash, - "what makes you think you're so awesome anyway?" - The Unicorn simply laughed at the Pegasus and responded with her stage voice: - "Well, The Great and Powerful Trixie has magic strong enough to vanquish the dreaded Ursa Major". - In that moment a couple of fireworks shot up from her wagon and made the image of an Ursa Major for the astonished citizens of Ponyville. - "The Ursa Major was attacking the town of Hoofington and when all hope was lost, The Great and Powerful Trixie appeared and with her awesome magic she vanquished the Ursa Major and sent it back to its cave, deep in the Everfree Forest". - In that moment the fireworks showed and blue cartoon of a mare using a wand to throw a barrage of magic at the image of the Ursa Major, which made it explode in multiple particles. After that, and with a smug smile, Trixie decided to bring up something that she found last night to strengthen her story -. "And if you think that The Great and Powerful Trixie is lying, here".

In that moment, Trixie's horn started to shine and caused a bright light to came out of nowhere and, once it dimmed down, the ponies saw a tooth floating in the middle of the stage -. "This. Is the tooth of the Ursa Major." - She waited until the audience stopped the oooohhh and proceeded -. "In the middle of the fight against the Ursa Major, one of its teeth felled off from it, and The Great and Powerful Trixie decided to keep it as a proof of her might". - At this, Twilight's friends had their mouths hanged, they couldn't argue with that, but when two unicorn colts decided to call her the greatest unicorn in Equestria, a little dragon decided to step in -. "No way, Trixie may have defeated the Ursa Major, but Twilight has also faced dangers just as great-" - but before he could finish his sentence, a purple aura shut his mouth and Twilight took him back away from the crowd. It was at this moment when Trixie decided to use her newest card.

"Oh, really?" - asked her with a sly smile. - "Did she survive an encounter with..." - At this moment she decided to pause to give a dramatic moment -. "The Everfree Beast?"

Many ponies froze when she said this words.

"Don't you know of the Everfree Beast? It's a creature that has recently decided to take residence on the Everfree Forest. All the beast of the Everfree, including the Ursa Major, has become its prey, and The Great and Powerful Trixie happens to be the first pony that has ever encountered and survived said beast."

Rainbow Dash was about to roll her eyes when Trixie decided to challenge everypony (while boasting about her amazing skills) to determine who was the most talented pony in Equestria, unfortunately Twilight' friends decided to accept the challenge. Sadly, or luckily depending on how you looked at it, and what none of them realized (except for a little chill that was confused with the wind), was that "The Everfree Beast" decided to enter into Ponyville, right under the ponies radar by staying invisible, and took advantage of The Great and Powerful Distraction known as Trixie to enter into Ponyville's Library to search for a modern map of Equestria. After finding said map, The Everfree Beast would sneak away just in time before certain purple Unicorn and her dragon went back to the Library.

The only pony that would realized this intrusion in Ponyville would be a pink pony who felt something entering Ponyville and she didn't greeted nor gave it a surprise Party because she also felt that her that it was a bad idea to get close to said intrusion at this moment. The pink mare, to her shame, would have to wait a while longer to make said party. Of course, she would be very sad for not making a party to somepony new to Ponyville, but she also wondered why it would be so bad to find it, then her mind started to ramble in how well can you spook and greet a newcomer at the same time, almost forgetting what had just happened.

A few hours later in the night, a couple of colts were exploring the forest, they were searching for the cave that housed the Ursa Major, not realizing that in any given moment, they could have been pounced by a dangerous creature. Luckily for them, the most dangerous creature in the Everfree was actually protecting them.

"uhm, Snails" - said a chubby, light blue unicorn colt.
"Yes Snips" - responded his taller and less bright partner, also a unicorn.
"Where do you think the cave housing the Ursa Major is?"
"Uh?, I thought we were searching for the beast of the Everfree Forest Snips".
"No Snails, we're searching for a cave that houses an Ursa Major, we'll bring it up to Ponyville so The Great and Powerful Trixie can vanquish it again, that way, Spike will have to shut up".

In that moment, they heard a voice coming from the forest, they tried to find it's source but the task was almost impossible for it was too dark that night and they couldn't see anything beyond their faces.

"Excuse me" - Said the voice.

The colt known as Snips decided to respond to the mysterious voice, with a big hint of fear.

"Yes, uhm, who are you?"

The voice, never losing its calm state, simply responded.

"I'm a traveler in the forest who couldn't stop from listening to your conversation, explain me, why are you so interested in finding a creature that could so easily destroy you?"

The two colts looked at each other with utter confusion at the voices words, at which the voice simply explained (again, never losing its patience)

"Why are you searching for the Beast of the Everfree Forest?"

While Snips and Snails understood now the question, they were a little bit confused at this voice's concern, but decided to comply:

"Uhm, well, there's this amazing unicorn in town named Trixie, and she is the best Unicorn of all Equestria" - said the chubby Snips - "Yeah" -. Complemented Snails while having his eyes shining in the remembrance of her beloved Trixie. - "She is so awesome that she vanquished an Ursa Major and survived an encounter with the Beast of the Everfree Forest"

For a while the voice didn't said anything but before the two colts could begin to think that said voice was gone, it responded:

"I see, and tell me, how does this Trixie looks like?"

Snails then got excited and started to tell as fast as he could.

"Oh, she is the greatest Unicorn mare in Equestria, she has the most beautiful purple eyes, the best blue color coat and a silver hair." - "yeah, yeah, just what he said" -. Complimented his overly tall an excited friend but at all of this, the voice remained calm and continued on his research, - "and she claimed that she defeated an Ursa Major? What are those?" - The two colts decided to open up a bit more to the voice and continued on their recollection of Trixie's words, - "Don't you know sir? an Ursa Major are this BIG bears" -, said Snails while stretching his arms as big as he could, - "and they're very dangerous."

"Yeah" -. responded the chubby colt. - "But The Great and Powerful Trixie defeated one" -. The voice then asserted his question on why they were still in the search of one and not this Trixie, the Chubby colt then looked irritated. - "Well, since Spike doesn't believe her, me and Snails are searching for one so Trixie can defeat it again" -. And for the first time, not that the colts could notice it, the voice talked with a hinge of anger.

"Oh" -, it responded the voice and then said on a very low tone. - "So that's why that unicorn pulled out the tooth from that bear". - the little colt did manage to hear the murmur - "You said something sir?" - asked Snips.

The voice quickly responded, - "nothing important little pony, you and your friend don't have to worry about that. Now tell me, what do you know about this... Everfree Beast..."

1 Hour later, Ponyville

Trixie was having a good day: She finally had a good amount of bits to live for a while, she showed how good she was to the public and now she may be able to live in this town for a while. Of course, those ponies were a bit insufferable (especially those two colts) and she had to make up that lie with the Ursa Major and the Everfree Beast to make a big enough impression to earn her stay, but it wasn't that bad. It was only a white lie, there was no way anypony could get hurt with that, right?

*knock* *knock* *knock*

"TRIXIE!" "TRIXIE!"

Agh, it were those two colts again, what do they want now?, couldn't they see that Trixie needed her beauty sleep? Trixie opened the door of her wagon, looked down the two colts (who looked kinda excited for some reason) and told them:

"Trixie thought she said to wait to tomorrow to see more of The Great and Powerful Trixie."
"Yes you did" -, said Snips, - "but something came up" -. In that moment Snails decided to continue. - "You see, since nobody believed your story about the Ursa Major, we decided to go to find one in the Everfree so you could vanquish it in front of everyone" -, he then got saddened, - "but we couldn't find one."

At this little revelation, Trixie widened her eyes and almost screams at the two colts. - "You what? Don't you know how dangerous the Everfree is? It's a good thing that nothing happened to you. You would need, at least, Trixie's protection if you ever decided to go into that forest."

"Yeah" -. Said Snails. - "But we found something else" -. The Powerful and Annoyed Trixie raised an eyebrow. - "Yeah" -. said Snips, - "we found someone in the forest who told us where to find the Ursa Major you vanquished."

This information made The Great and Powerful Trixie into The Great and Fearful Trixie, who quickly asked:

"What?" - Those words were all Trixie could think off right now, in the moment she heard those words, she started to feel how her world was starting to shatter.

Meanwhile, the two colts continued to talk with happiness and not noticing the concern on her idol.

"Yeah" -, continued Snips. - "He said that he knows the location of the Ursa Major you vanquished, all we have to do is guide you and those who didn't believed you there."

Trixie was starting to get very nervous, the only thing that possibly knew where was the Ursa Major that she 'vanquished' was... crap... the revelation of who talked with the two colts made Trixie's spine to shiver and quickly tried to avert any possibility to go into the Forest.

"Uhm, I-Trixie is very tired to do that now, maybe tomorrow-"-, in that moment Trixie was interrupted by a very familiar Pegasus mare.
"What's the matter Trixie? Too scared of being shown as the fraud you are?"

Trixie turned around and saw Rainbow Dash, Applejack, Rarity, Twilight Sparkle and Spike looking at her. All of them, except Twilight, were making a very smug smile. Trixie started to shine from the nerves she was getting. She couldn't go there, it would be the end of her, but she couldn't let them call her a fraud. She would have to face them.

"Of course not, The Great and Powerful Trixie is not afraid of anything, I will go with you and show you how great Trixie is."

Snips and Snails shouted in happiness and started to move into the forest. Twilight's friends started to frown (since they hoped that Trixie could have stopped pretending here and now) and decided to follow Snips and Snails into the forest, they would later tell their parents of the big trouble they got into. Meanwhile, Trixie would start to see the Everfree Forest with a sense of Dread that she never felt before in her life.

As the little ponies went into the entrance of the forest, Trixie started to question if the fake reputation she made was worth enough to face a creature capable of defeating an Ursa Major. As she saw the beautiful and safe Moon and the peaceful life it brought to her, she remembered how dark it was that night in the Everfree Forest when she saw the Beast, there was no safe light, nothing out there that could make her feel safe and as she got closer and closer to the Forest, the more The Great and Powerful Trixie wanted to avoid any chance of going back there. When the group of ponies were close enough to the entrance, Trixie stopped right below the entrance of the Everfree Forest, knowing full well who, or rather what, was waiting for her. If she entered there, she would be at the mercy of the Beast of the Everfree, a beast strong enough to kill her. Trixie was starting to doubt if all of this was a good idea to begin with, perhaps she should drop the facade.

"What happened Trixie? Scared of the forest?" - Taunted that annoying Rainbow Dash.

Trixie then remembered who were the ones trying to ruin her life and frowned (keeping her facade) while responding:

"Trixie isn't afraid of anything, just look how The Great and Powerful Trixie enters this forest without any problem whatsoever" -. Trixie then started to enter into the Everfree Forest, and the more she entered, the more she started to hear something. She wasn't sure what it was, but she was sure of hearing something.

*BUMP* *BUMP*

Trixie advanced each time more and more with the rest of the ponies, - "Are you sure that you're going the right way?" - asked a Powerful and not Scared Trixie. At this, Snips responded jovially.

"Sure, those indications were very specific, we almost get to see the Ursa Major, but then he told us to go back and retrieve you guys" - Said Snips. This didn't comforted Trixie - "Yeah" -, continued Snails, - "for some reason that voice said that Trixie may not come if she had to be alone and that she would need a support group" -. Added Snails. The fact that the 'Beast of the Everfree' managed to predict Trixie's moves were putting her very nervous.
"That reminds me" -, said a very concerned Twilight, - "you went into the Everfree Forest searching for an Ursa Major (which could have caused a lot of damage for Ponyville), listened to a stranger's voice and you may be bringing us into a trap" - Remarked Twilight Sparkle, - "the only reason I haven't told your parents yet is because we must find this mysterious pony and question him".
"Yeah, and to show Trixie how wrong she is" -, added a very cocky Rainbow Dash to which Applejack and Rarity added respectively. - "Well, while ah' want to see Trixie getting embarrased, ah' do think that this may be a bad idea". - "Oh, I agree AppleJack, the Everfree Forest is a very dangerous place" -. Complimented a very worried Rarity.

Trixie could barely listen to them. All she could do was to look at her sides from time to time, trying to see if the Beast was close, to run away from it if she saw it and the more she advanced into the colts's direction, the more she would hear that sound.

*BUMP* *BUMP* *BUMP* *BUMP*

"Oh please, are you saying that for the story of the Everfree Beast?" - Asked a very skeptical Spike. - "Please Rarity, don't tell me that you believe those stories".
"I'm so sorry Spike dear, is just that you weren't here when we went against Nightmare Moon, there were very clear signs that something was off in the forest. Which is why I don't want to be here for too long, the only reason I'm here is because I don't want to leave you alone in such dangerous place... and I would really enjoy to see Trixie being shown off."

Did they said something? Trixie was starting to feel the anxiety running on her body, she could barely breathe, she could barely see (it was getting darker or it was just her?) and that sound...

*BUMP* *BUMP* *BUMP* *BUMP*

That sound...

*BUMP* *BUMP* *BUMP* *BUMP*

How could they not hear it?

"I'm not scared of any beast, if something appears, I will show them how fast I am with my hooves" - said a very confident Rainbow Dash while doing the common 1-2 gesture for fighting. But Applejack was started to get tired about that story. - "Rainbow, Rarity, could you please stop sayin' about that 'Everfree Beast'. That's jus' another story that Trixie here invented, right Twilight?"

Applejack was appealing to Twilight in the hopes of her finally bringing logic to the place, but she was disappointed with her response.

"I don't know Applejack, I suppose I should tell you about what I saw when I faced Nightmare Moon" -, when Twilight said this, all her friends started to listen to her in the hopes of her finally going to talk about what was troubling her but all of that was interrupted by two colts that everybody almost forgot about.
"We're here!" - Said Snips and Snails at the same time.

Trixie can't breathe, Trixie can't think, Trixie must run, Trixie must find silence.

*BUMP* *BUMP* *BUMP* *BUMP* *BUMP* *BUMP*

What nopony expected was to find an eaten Ursa Major on the ground with a destroyed battleground a few hooves away form it. Rarity and Applejack quickly shut Snips and Snails's eyes respectively and looked away from the Ursa to avoid trowing out from the disgust. Spike almost see the carnage but Twilight quickly used a spell to shut his eyes.

The battlefield was astounding, the destruction in the place made it very hard to tell what actually happened. Only Twilight managed to detect a few details, like the amount of charcoal around the ground and woods, some rocks were smashed or were broken in very weird shapes that wouldn't be possible if they were by accident, but the one thing that worried her the most was how the Ursa looked like if parts of it's body were constricted to such levels that the bones almost become dust. Twilight was really wondering what kind of creature could have the abilities to use fire and to cause so much damage to an Ursa, Twilight was very worried about it and she would have to do something about this, but that wasn't the only thing that Twilight picked up.

"This isn't an Ursa Major, it's an Ursa Minor".
"WHAT?!" - Screamed everypony but Trixie, Spike then asked. - "But then, how big is an Ursa Major?"

A few miles away

A Bear of the size of a mountain was crying, her child was death and she couldn't do anything about it. All she could hope was that her child was resting in peace while swearing to destroy the creature that dared to mess with her child.

Dead Ursa Minor Location

"Trust me Spike, you don't want to know"

It killed an Ursa Minor, not an Ursa Major, that's good, it's not as strong as Trixie thought... but it can still kill Trixie... it can still kill me... it.. can...

Snips managed to put his eyes out from Applejack's hooves and managed to look at the Ursa's jaw and claimed - "Wow, look at its tooth, it's missing one" - said Snips before Applejack managed to put her hooves back to cover his eyes.

"That means that Trixie defeated it, yeah!" - completed Snails, still having his eyes shut by Rarity.

At this everypony got annoyed, they wouldn't stop hearing the end of it. By this point, all of them wanted to leave but there was something that Twilight needed to know before that.

"Trixie, how did you defeated this Ursa Minor? What kind of spells did you used to cause this kind of damage on something as massive as an Ursa Minor? I mean, just look at this fight scene, how could you defeat this without getting extremely tired?"

When Twilight and her friends looked at Trixie and how zoned out she was, how scared she looked like, how worried she looked like, they started to worry about her.

I must run... I must Run... I... Must... run...

*BUMP* *BUMP* *BUMP* *BUMP* *BUMP* *BUMP* *BUMP* *BUMP*

"Trixie? are you alright?" - Asked a concerned Twilight to a Trixie that didn't look good. Trixie looked exhausted, she was sweating, she looked... afraid?... but from what? - "Trixie, what's going on?"

In that moment, Trixie felt a chill behind her, a very familiar chill. The Scared and Weak Trixie slowly turned around behind her and saw 2 glowing blue eyes. Looking at her. Waiting for her to run. She could feel it, it was waiting for her, taunting her, asking for her to run so it could go and get her...

*BUMP* *BUMP* *BUMP* *BUMP* *BUMP* *BUMP* *BUMP* *BUMP* *BUMP* *BUMP* *BUMP* *BUMP* *BUMP* *BUMP*

And it was in that moment, that Trixie broke herself up.

"AAAAAAAAAAHHHH!!!!! TRIXIE CONFESS! TRIXIE DIDN'T VANQUISH THE URSA MINOR! SHE JUST FOUND IT DEAD AND TOOK THE TOOTH, TRIXIE IS SORRY FOR BOASTING BUT PLEASE TAKE TRIXIE OUT OF HERE, TRIXIE DOESN'T WANT TO DIE PLEASE!!!!"

Everypony was shocked at this piece of development, so shocked they were that they decided to take Trixie back to Ponyville and (to Twilight's petition) they would only say that she didn't defeated the Ursa Minor, but they wouldn't mention how she suddenly broke to anypony.

The biggest sign that Trixie was really scared could be seen for how fast she ran from the entrance of the Everfree to her wagon and sped out of town as fast as she could.

"What was that about?" - Asked Rainbow, too confused to act as usual (like boasting of how brave they were compared to Trixie).
"I don't know Rainbow, but I feel that Trixie's story about a Beast in the Everfree wasn't as false as we thought it was" -. Responded Twilight.
"You sure about that Sugarcube?"

Twilight looked at her friend with big certainty and determination - "Yes, I'm Sure of it. For now I will make some research on the Everfree and later tell you about what I can find" -. Her friends nodded, they said their goodbyes and departed.

"Spike" -. Said Twilight in her way home, - "I want you to write a letter to Princess Celestia, I have a lesson of what happens when boasting gets on top of you and how that can affect your friendship".
"Sure Twilight" -. Answered Spike. After getting home, Spike started to search for a scroll and a quill to write the letter. Meanwhile, Twilight would give another research to her book of the Everfree Forest. The section with the Ursa Major was interesting and if it could give her so much information about one creature, then she would find out what was inside the Everfree Forest that could fit as the "Everfree Beast", she only hoped that, whatever it was that Trixie found on the Everfree, it wasn't as dangerous as she made it sound like.

Meanwhile, on her road to the next town, Canterlot, Trixie was starting to calm down. She learned her lesson, not to boast again nor invent a huge story like that one, maybe her last story wasn't as good as the newest one, but she was very sure that at least the other story wasn't going to get her killed by a dangerous beast.

In that moment, Trixie felt a chill followed by a very sharp claw on her jugular. As Trixie was starting to shiver and wonder what was beyond life, she heard how the presence surrounding her decided to speak to her ear on a very clear and low but still menacing tone of voice.

"You're lucky that I'm trying to avoid any unnecessary murder, but next time you do something that could endanger the life of others, I will give you a real reason to scream."

And as soon as she felt that presence, it disappeared. Trixie looked back and saw nothing on the distance... only plains and (a few kilometers in the distance) the Everfree Forest under the light of Equestria's Moon.

Perhaps this showsmare business was getting too dangerous for Trixie's taste, perhaps it would be better if Trixie search for another job... maybe the Royal Guard, Trixie heard that they give a good pay...

Author's Note

Explanation: the events of the episode "The Ticketmaster" happened like in the episode, but the main reason why they happened were altered.

The events of "Applebuck Season" remained almost unchanged, the only change was that Raziel was the one who caused the cow's stampede.

The Events of "Griffon the Brush Off" also remained unchanged, the one thing that changed was that, in her journey to Rainbow Dash's home, Gilda passed through the Everfree Forest and saw a Manticore "mysteriously" dying and decided to tell Rainbow Dash.

Raziel is capable of hiding his presence, the thing is that he already has an aura of dread (and death) surrounding him, so unless the individuals get used to him, it's kinda hard to not feel it at the beginning, but eventually it will become harder and harder to find him through that the more the ponies get used to his presence.

I'll also need to remember what I just did to Trixie because I may or may not use her again later depending of how the story goes.

Also, please, if you see a grammatical mistake in the chapters, please notify so I can fix them as fast as possible, otherwise it will be a long time before I make needed edition to fix it, thank you.

EDIT June 2nd of 2019: If you like this and you want to support me, you can do it through my Ko-Fi. Feel free to check it out.

Chapter 3: True Danger

If there's something whose importance can be very relative for Raziel, that must be time. Raziel has seen how time can be changed over and over again through time travel and time paradoxes, he has also been on a realm where time can be as meaningless, as food can be meaningless to a vampire or blood can be meaningless to him. But for all of this, Raziel really understood the importance of time overall: He knew it when he tried to save Janos Audron while he was being slaying his past human self and he knew it when he was trying to recover Janos's heart once he got the chance to do so. But Raziel also understood that going on a haste would only bring failure the same way he only brought a worse fate to Nosgoth by bringing back Janos from the dead without even thinking of the consequences of it. So Raziel understood the importance of time and the importance of taking things slowly, Raziel knew that he was on a time limit and that he had to find fast the new location of The Elder God and befriend the Ponies, but he also knew that he had to be careful on his approach, otherwise things could go in the wrong direction very fast. But there was a problem that Raziel still hadn't solved yet: How he would do both of those things?

The Elder God was too weak to influence in the land, even less to be detected. There was no way that Raziel would find him very soon and even if he had an idea of where he might appear, he still needed the help from the Elements of Harmony to vanquish him from this realm. Without a physical mean, his Spirit Reaver was just a wraith incapable of harming it. And then we had the ponies who barely knew about Raziel himself, and what little they did know about Raziel scared them (since they now considered him a beast). To fix this issues he would need help and quickly, but how to get it when the only ones capable of helping him are scared of his presence alone? Well, there was a possible solution for that: Twilight Sparkle.

The Element of Magic and the princess protegé was a very proficient mare: she knew who he was was, she had the means to allow the rest of Ponyville to accept him and she was the one that would most likely accept his request for help. Sadly, she lived in Ponyville and she never wandered off from the little town. The only time she has journeyed to the Everfree in recent time was for that stage player and Raziel couldn't contact her because of the other ponies, he needed to find a better way to contact her, one that would allow him to tell her that he needed her. But how?

In the meantime, Raziel decided to analyze the other elements based on what he has seen the last days he has been in this land. He looked at the pictures of the elements and thought of their new bearers:

Applejack, The Element of Honesty: true to her friends, close to her family, protective of anything she holds dear and determined to prove herself to others through hard labor and constant work, with Her honesty being shown through her actions rather than her words. Her stalwart personality is a primordial evidence as to why the Element of Honesty chose her. The difficulty of befriending her would come by the challenge of deceit, any attempt of deceiving her would result in the creation of a schism or (in other words) make it harder for me to befriend her, I must go to her clean as crystal. But how to tell her the abysmal truth of who I am and why am I here without wrecking her world apart? How to explain her that the fragility of her world may be shattered unless she trust a monster that she doesn't even know about? How to prove her that my demonic abilities will be used for the good of this realm when She can have any right to doubt me? So far my questions were lingering in a zone of doubt that would have to be fixed soon, or else this world would meet the deviousness of Nosgoth and how far it can destroy the trust of even the closest of friendships.

Fluttershy, The Element of Kindness: lover of the animals, keeper of nature and a social hermit. While in Nosgoth she could have easily been the Guardian of Nature, here she represent something that would be considered nonexistent in Nosgoth, the capability of treating others with affection without expecting anything in return, and she has a personality that would make her a perfect target for any monster in any other realm, a fearful creature that prefers to live by herself and would rather live under a rock instead of facing the harsh world that would eat her up if it weren't for her friends (ready to protect her). The second hardest befriend for we are of opposite natures, she's a pacifist while I'm a warrior; she loves and breathes life while I am the embodiment of death; she protects those who cannot defend themselves while I destroy those who dare to abuse of the weakest. While we're both of altruistic minds, we have different natures and nothing will ever change that.

Rarity, The Element of Generosity: the perfect representation of the old human nobles and high ranking officials among the vampires. Prideful, boastful of their wealth, and always worried of their appearance to the rest of the world. But, unlike those nobles of Nosgoth, she's willing to help others and sacrifice parts of her wealth (or appearance) so those who need help can advance in their life and surpass the obstacles that only the coin can destroy or, in other words, generous. What a better way to prove your worth than having so much in your hands and still have the will of letting it go for others who may never be able to repay you? Someone who I respect and hope to befriend very soon, for there are certain things that only certain groups can talk about.

Pinkie Pie, The Element of Laughter: having the capability of laughing at uncertainty and danger to the face is a proof of bravery, will and strength. Someone who could easily fool anyone both here and Nosgoth with her friendly nature and deceitful attitude, and while her abilities to bend the will of the world to her favor are there, she doesn't look like the type of creature that would be using her abilities for evil. A true wildcard who might be either the easiest or the hardest one to win.

Rainbow Dash, The Element of Loyalty: not even a dog could defeat her in loyalty, but her brashness and pride could be harmful to her or her relationship with her friends and I've seen others using that mask of confidence being crumbled away when the test comes. Thankfully, I Am sure that she'll be able to survive any obstacle that dares to face her with the help of her friends. The hardest one to befriend for she'll never trust me until I manage to prove how far I'm willing to help them.

Twilight Sparkle, The Element of Magic: the one that joined them all together and the only one that may jump immediately to my aid when I ask her for help to find the Elder God. But I still have to find a way to contact her for, unless I manage to gain her friendship, I'll never be able to succeed in this land by my own.

The Six Elements of Harmony, like the pillars of Nosgoth, they represent what keeps the land intact and pure. The only thing that worries me is that they need each other to survive, should someone manage to take them down one by one or turning them apart from each other, then this whole world may befall in danger. Nonetheless, I am here and I will make sure that none of it happens.

Raziel looked around at the castle he was now living in, he looked at the bookshelves filled with knowledge long forgotten and how the walls were starting to crack as time went on. This castle was a specter of a time long gone and it saddened him that he would never see how glorious it once were. But as of now, this was the residence of another specter who would treat it with the respect it deserved.

As Raziel went to the main entrance of the building, noticing the fungus and webs forming in the windows and walls close to the exterior, and after looking back at how far he has come. He decided to explore around to see if there was something he could do, he then looked at one of the nearby mountains and noticed that it was smoking. Now he had something to do today.

Fluttershy's Cottage, border with the Everfree Forest

This was starting to be a wonderful day for Fluttershy: she was feeding the otters with fish, the birds in their trees with [nasty tasting] worms, but Angel Bunny was giving her a hard time because he didn't liked to be told how to eat (she just wished that he was a teeny bit more obedient) but sadly that wasn't all of it. Over the course of the days the animals in the Everfree has been each day more and more scared, they're now trying to live outside of the forest (Mister Manticore started to live with her now) and many ponies are worried over the possibility of an invasion. Twilight Sparkle has been trying to make some research on the matter, but she hasn't found anything of value. All that would be left for them is to go into the Everfree and see what it's scaring the animals, that was the original plan, but then came Trixie...

Trixie's story about "The Everfree Beast" was originally heard as another way to boast, something that couldn't be taken seriously, but after that night and how fast she left the town many in Ponyville has started to grow anxious over the possibility of a beast living in the Everfree. Fluttershy was now speculating that perhaps this beast was scaring out the creatures in the forest, but what could be so dangerous that it was capable of defeating an Ursa Minor and cause a massive emigration in the Everfree? More importantly, when did this creature came and what was it's purpose? Fluttershy was so immersed in her own thoughts that she almost miss that Angel Bunny, trying to run away from his food, started to cough. - "Oh, goodness, are you ok?" - She noticed that Angel Bunny was starting to look at the sky with worry while coughing a bit more.

"Are you coughing because you have a carrot stuck in your throat?" - Angel Bunny just cough stronger while looking cautiously at the sky. - "Because you need some water?" - At this point Angel Bunny got annoyed and decided to give a big cough while pointing at the sky, he then took her head and moved it up so she could see what was Angel Bunny looking at: One of the mountains was smoking. At this Fluttershy gasped. - "Because of that giant black smoke!?" - A piece of carrot was hurled at her, when she looked down, Angel Bunny was giving her a mean glare. Fluttershy made a sheepish smile and assumed. - "I'll take that as a yes".

Fluttershy looked at the smoke and tried to think what it could be: There was a chance that it could be a volcano, she heard of those, they tend to be very destructive but there aren't volcanos near Ponyville. It could be a fire, but how could a fire be made in a mountain? But if it weren't a volcano nor a fire then it could be a dragon. After thinking on the three possibilities, Fluttershy started to prefer it to be a fire because at least those weren't dragons. Fluttershy now had to go to Ponyville and warn everypony, but first she was going to take Angel Bunny home. - "Come on Angel Bunny" -. But when she looked at Angel Bunny he was now looking at the distance while shaking in fear.

"Angel Bunny? What's wrong now?" - This time she decided to look at the same direction Angel Bunny was looking at and she saw the Everfree Forest on a terrible condition. The animals were running, once again, from the forest and even though manticores, chimeras and some monsters she has never seen before were crossing her, they either didn't notice her or they just ignored her. At this Fluttershy was starting to get anxious, could it be - "The Everfree Beast"? - Fluttershy started to move closer to the forest.

As the animals were running out of the Everfree Forest, Fluttershy started to get near the forest, mainly for curiosity, she wanted to meet this creature, perhaps it wasn't that bad, perhaps it was just a new creature claiming its territory. Perhaps it was an Ursa Major, perhaps it was a giant golem. Fluttershy, trapped in her own mind, didn't noticed when the animals stopped flowing out of the forest. By the time she finally did noticed, she realized that she was a few hooves of distance from the Everfree and that now she was at the mercy of the beast, if it was actually it.

Fluttershy looked at the forest with fear, she started to realize that she didn't want to meet the beast (even though she wanted to know what it was), her friends would be very happy to know and perhaps through knowing what it was they could figure out how to stop it from scaring the monsters in the Everfree. As each second passed, with nothing happening, her body was each time screaming more and more the desire to run but her legs and wings were frozen, she was incapable of running and now she felt dumb for putting herself at risk of some unknown creature without the protection of her friends but then, she heard a crack. Whatever it was, it was here.

At this point Fluttershy got even more scared, she didn't think the possibility that this creature could be a very hostile creature desiring to eat anything it could encounter, like a dragon, Fluttershy was really hoping it wasn't a dragon. She kept looking at the forest, the anxiety was eating her alive, she was starting to hold her breath, Angel Bunny (who managed to get out of his stupor) was trying to take her out of there but she was too heavy for that. It was getting closer, Fluttershy could feel its presence (like a chill) getting closer and closer, it was suffocating her, she didn't knew if she was capable of holding out anymore and, suddenly, the feelings were gone. She felt nothing anymore, like if there wasn't a creature to begin with. Fluttershy was about to leave when something spoke to her from the forest itself.

"Good morning lady pegasus, how are you?"

At this Fluttershy almost jumped out of fear but, before she did, she tried to look at the forest to see who, or what, was talking to her but she couldn't see nothing. She tried to use the best her sight could give but she couldn't see anything, she was about to surrender when she got to see something, a pair of blue shining eyes, in the middle of the shadows of the Everfree. That it was probably it.

"Are you feeling well?"

The voice asked again. Fluttershy quickly realized she was being spoken to and decided to respond. -

"Oh, sorry, I was trying to see where were you, mister..." - She left her voice hanging, expecting him to catch on what she meant. When the eyes opened up a bit more, she knew that the voice understood her.

"My apologies for not introducing myself lady, but courtesy dictates that when somebody asks your name, you must first give yours."

At this Fluttershy realized that he was speaking in the same way Rarity did, with class and distinction. Perhaps this wasn't the beast, perhaps this was just somepony that got lost, but first, she had to respond accordingly (she wasn't going to be rude to somepony who was treating her nice).

"Oh! My apologies, my name is Fluttershy. And you are?" - She said with a bit of shyness while looking at the pair of eyes and how they were looking at her, almost like if they were analyzing her.

"Raziel, my name is Raziel" -. He said in an even tone, not too loud, but not too soft, just enough for her to hear clearly. Before Fluttershy could ask about him, Raziel asked - "And what are you doing here so close to the Everfree Forest, dear Fluttershy? This forest is dangerous and you could find something that could hurt you" -. Fluttershy gave this a thought and responded:

"Well, there's a big, black smoke that's coming from the mountain and it could endanger the lives of the ponies of Ponyville, in case you haven't noticed..." - while saying the last part in a lower tone, Raziel decided to look up and saw how the smoke was growing above the town.

After taking a quick glance to the smokestack, Raziel responded to Fluttershy: - "You're right, but the smoke would be dangerous not only for the town, but also for the whole territory."

When Fluttershy heard this, she got shocked, now she was starting to get anxious.

"What? How do you know?"

She looked at the pair of blue eyes, trying to see a reaction or something (in the middle of that darkness that covered him) that could tell her how he looked like. But as much as she tried to find a figure, all she could find were those shining blue eyes. It was almost as if Raziel were just a pair of blue eyes with a nice voice.

"I've seen smokestacks like that one before and, provided of enough time, they tend to increase their size until they can cover the sun itself."

Now Fluttershy was getting more scared. - "Oh dear, I have to warn my friends in Ponyville" -. She was starting to move to the town when she realized that she didn't thanked or said goodbye to Raziel, so she turned around. - "Oh, thank you Mr.Ra-" - When she looked back, the eyes were gone (along the chilling feel) like if they never were there. Fluttershy tried to think on this, but the smoke reminded her of the danger that was growing more and more and decided to first warn the town about the dangerous smoke.

Sadly, she wouldn't be listened for her soft speaking and being too shy to actually try to be noticed by the town. Only when Twilight came and warned everypony of the situation (and announce that it was because of a dragon) would the ponies realize the weight of the situation; at the same time, the announcement of the dragon, and Twilight's decision to add Fluttershy in the journey, made the pink maned pegasus to forget about her encounter with a creature that was almost as dangerous as the dragon.

Mountain close to Ponyville, close to the smokestack

Raziel was now moving towards the smokestack to put it out, it didn't looked too far neither too difficult for him (if it were a fire he could easily turn it off, if it were something else he could easily take care of it). He took a look at the smokestack in the mountain.

And now, I was on my way to stop the smokestack that looms on destroying life in Ponyville as they knew it, the irony of this action wasn't escaping me.

Raziel advanced through the forest, with the animals (now fully aware of who he was and what he was capable of doing) stepping away from him, only one or two chimeras tried to stop him now from time to time. But just by evading their fireballs and a good swing of the Water Reaver was enough to shatter them to pieces and put out the fire that they could create.

When I was a Vampire Lieutenant, serving for Kain, along the help from Turel and Dumah, I was involved with the conquest of the northern mountains to start the creation of the smokestacks that would eventually doom Nosgoth to a life of Sunless existence, an eternal night if you will. Now I was going to ascertain that this land wasn't deprived of the one thing that could destroy any vampire, irony at it's finest.

By this point, Raziel was now at the feet of the mountain, looking up at the growing smoke he had memories of multiple times: When the smokestacks started to produce the clouds that would protect his clan from the scorching murderer in the times of his vampire servitude, when he started to move to Dumah's territory to kill one of the brothers that threw him into the abyss when he started his crusade of revenge, when he was starting to climb Janos retreat in his search of purpose. All of those times something meaningful, or at least important for his quest, happened to Raziel and he was expecting that this would also be the case. He didn't even moved when suddenly a big noise came from the top of the mountain.

What was that monstrous sound? Something is telling me that the origin of that smoke isn't normal, or at least, not normal to my standards.

And thus he started to climb the treacherous mountain and, thanks to his claws, he took the steep path, allowing him to climb the mountain faster than he normally would on foot. The climb was long, but every certain amount of time he would find a stop that would allow him to take a break and look at the land, he mourned for Nosgoth (for he left it in such a disastrous way) and hoped that one day it would find a prosperous future, one where all of it's inhabitants could live peacefully under the dead sun (in case the smokestacks were never removed). Eventually he reached the top of the mountain, he could see how the smoke was coming from a very large cave.

As I entered the cave, I began to wonder what kind of creature could be large enough to both inhabit and be a source for smoke equivalent of one made by a volcano. The only creature that I was sure could do something like this would be a dragon, but the only one I've seen so far is the young Spike. Perhaps I'm about to see how big can dragons become, I hope an agreement can be reached peacefully regarding his stay in this mountain or else this could turn into a very violent encounter.

As Raziel got more and more inside the cave, he started to see a golden splendor, it was shining each time more and more until he found that it was actually gold and, on top of that gold, was one of the largest creatures he has ever found. It was a surprise that the cave was large enough to fit it, it had red scales and crimson spikes in it's back, it's mouth was big enough to swallow Raziel completely and it's nose was producing the toxic smoke that was causing a vampire's dream.

Raziel knew what to do: he first got close to the dragon (Reaver blade guarded as a sign of diplomacy) and tried to wake him up by using his scales and a soft tone.

"Good afternoon" -. Said Raziel in a courteous tone, the dragon was waking up but he wasn't in a really good mood. He tried to shush away whatever it was that was trying to wake him up, but three things happened that he didn't saw coming:

The first one was that his tail didn't hit anything, the second one was that the air seemed to get higher and the third was the smell of molten metal. The dragon opened his eyes to see that some of his coins were melted and, seeing his treasure (his precious) being damaged by another dragon, that woke him up to his fullest. The dragon searched on the cave, trying to figure out, where was the creature that dared to trespass his new sleeping room and attack his precious gold. Seeing no one, he decided to speak with a deep and resounding voice that, far below, would be heard by a group of ponies that were trying to scale the mountain but they were taking too long for a certain scared yellow pegasus. While the ponies would hear his voice, they wouldn't be able to understand the conversation since the dragon was too high above, so only the dragon would be listened properly but not the one he was speaking to:

"Who dares to enter my domain?"

He sought in the cave with his huge and penetrating eyes, but he couldn't find the intruder; it didn't stop said intruder from, suddenly, and out of nowhere, to respond.

"Someone that, although apologizes for what happened to your horde, needs to speak to you."

The dragon tried to search for the source of the sound, but it seemed like it came from everywhere within the cave, creating the illusion of the voice being the cave itself. Seeing that the intruder wouldn't continue talking, the dragon decided to respond while adding literal heat to its words.

"What reason could an intruder has to wake a dragon with a sleeping need? Don't you know, intruder, of the consequences of waking up a dragon from his sleep?"

The Dragon stood quiet and waited for his new prey to respond.

"A town in danger is what drives me into the precipice of confrontation with you, mighty dragon. Your snores are causing a smokestack that will block a town of the sun and I cannot abide that, so I have now come here to kindly ask you to take your horde with you and move away to another place."

Before this ridiculous petition, the dragon couldn't start but to laugh:

"HAHAHAHAHA. You're too brave or too foolish to dare to come here and demand me that. I have enough strength to burn the whole settlement should I desire and even give a fight to princess Celestia herself."

And the next sentence was said with the coldest and most threatening tone the dragon could ever produce.

"Who do you think you are, to come here and demand me like if you were a creature of a higher level? Have you seen the dawn and fall of empires and kingdoms? Have you seen the born of constellations? Have you seen the passage of time and generations pass in the blink of an eye? Have you collected treasures as reminders of the achievements of your life? What have you done to come here and demand to a mighty dragon to move just because a town that nobody cares about could suffer? And what if I say no? Will you try and force me or just stare me until I cry like a toddler?"

Silence is what the Dragon met, he waited and waited, but he wasn't getting a response. The entrance to the cave was just in front of him and nothing has passed it, it couldn't be gone. Whatever it was, it must have been debating if responding or not.

After a big amount of silence, he heard a response right in front, and a little below, of him.

"To respond you in order:"

There was nothing there that could cause the sound when, suddenly, something appeared. Something whose appearance made the dragon shiver, for it was no common creature, it was a creature that could have easily came out from someone's worst nightmare. What it had, and what it didn't had, showed just what kind of demon was talking to him and the dragon was now wondering how much of an advantage it had against it considering that it was small.

"I'm Raziel The Soul Reaver; While I don't consider myself of a higher level I do consider myself of enough power to confront you. I've seen the dawn of empires and the destruction of kingdoms at my own hands. I've seen countless generations pass away as I stayed young. I used to be the most powerful and richest Lieutenant, only surpassed by my king himself. I've fought demons and monsters that could come out of your worst nightmares and surpassed trials that you wouldn't even dream on; and I demand you to move because I. Care. For that town. And if you say no".

The creature's right arm created a light blue sword that moved like a flame (deep down, the ponies would barely feel the magic coming from it) and the dragon knew right away that he better avoid to be touched by it.

"I will try to force you out".

At this threat, the dragon decided to breath in all the air it could inhale and expelled fire from his mouth towards his new victim.

Middle of the Mountain, below the cave

Twilight was a having a hard time right now, she was trying her best to not dismiss Fluttershy (especially considering how up in the mountain they were) but she was dragging her party so much. It was a good thing they survived the rockslide that the dragon caused, but she was wondering how much worth it was to bring her (no matter how much skill she had with creatures in Equestria) if she was going to delay them so much.

And suddenly, a big fire came from the top of the mountain. The dragon was awoken now and the smoke was no longer coming out, but if the dragon was awake and spewing fire, that meant that something woke it up and it may be in danger, perhaps it was whatever it was speaking too? Now, more than ever, Twilight and her friends had to go up there.

"Wow, what it's that?" - said a chromatic pegasus, - "I better check it out" -. She was about to speed up when her tail was grabbed by applejack's mouth (once again).

"Oh no pardner, it's dangerous right now an' you might get hurt if you go alone."

"Applejack is right" -, responded Twilight. - "But we must hurry, something definitely woke the dragon if the dragon's voice wasn't enough evidence of it a while back, and now it must have made it angry, we must speed up and help whoever it was that decided that Rainbow Dash's idea was good" -. All the ponies, including a worried Fluttershy, sped up and tried to get in time to the top of the mountain.

"Hey, my idea isn't that bad, at least the smoke is gone."

Inside the cave

The dragon stopped spewing fire and decided to wait until the smoke could go away to be certain that the intruder was burned down. He was certain that the destroyer of gold would be gone but, to his surprise, he wasn't burned at all, everything surrounding the creature was blackened, but not the creature itself.

The creature was just aiming his blade at him, like if the sword had just blocked all the fire (which should be impossible since he wasn't an unicorn), leaving it fresh and cool. The creature kept its aim at the dragon, this was followed by the sword starting to concentrate energy that was quickly released into a single shot that went directly into the dragon. The dragon decided to block the attack by raising his right arm. The shot (originally aiming at the dragon's face) was blocked by the dragon's arm but, rather of feeling some type of pain, the dragon felt nothing. The dragon got mildly concerned over the idea of not feeling anything on his arm after getting shot at, so he looked at his own right arm and noticed that it was releasing something that resembled a lot like frosting. Then he noticed that, as much as he tried, he could not feel his right arm nor move its claws.

"What did you do to my arm?" - Demanded the furious dragon, the creature just kept his sword aiming at him and concentrating another shot. The Dragon wouldn't allow it, he wouldn't risk the possibility of getting such attack on his body.

The Dragon moved his tail and swung it against Raziel to stop the incoming attack, Raziel jumped away from the dragon and, to the dragon's surprised, changed the color of his Reaver from blue to green. The dragon thought nothing of this and moved his right arm (the one that was numbed down) against Raziel. The dragon prepared himself as Raziel swung his reaver blade against the dragon's arm and, instead of a powerful crash of swings as the dragon expected, the frozen arm got shattered into multiple pieces leaving only a stump right after the elbow. It dawned in the dragon in that moment what happened to his arm and what had this creature done to him. It froze his arm with his sword; his sword, somehow, had the power to freeze individuals. The dragon looked to the creature (now using the blue sword) with anger and hatred, he underestimated it but he wasn't going to commit the same mistake again. The dragon started to breath fire to the whole place, not leaving a single place where the creature could use his freezing sword, and nothing, not even his gold, would be spared.

The fire spread in the whole chamber as the dragon intended, all the ground was being charred by fire just to make sure that the evil intruder could be burned to death. The fire was going so strong that, way under the mountain, the group of ponies could see the fire going to the air in distances that nopony expected to be possible. Twilight was starting to worry about whoever could be facing said dragon and, as much as she wanted to rush into the mountain, she couldn't leave Fluttershy behind. Meanwhile, in the cave, the Dragon was keeping his fire going for more time that he had ever done in many years, he was going to make sure that all that would be left of the gold burner couldn't be distinguished from the rest of the ashes staining the walls and his now burned gold but, little did he know, that he was so focused on throwing his fire, that he didn't noticed that there were no screams of pain neither smells of flesh burned. Raziel had managed to survive the living inferno for the moment by going to the roof of the cave.

As Raziel was now holding himself in the cave's roof, turning himself invisible of course, and his mind was figuring out how to defeat the dragon quickly before he could, not only burn Raziel to a crisp but, start a real fire. Raziel had his wings already scorched and the heat was weighing in his body as he tried to avoid falling into the hellfire for physical exhaustion. There had to be a way to stop the dragon, but how? In that moment, he looked at the roof and noticed the stalactites above the dragon, now he knew what to do.

The dragon kept his fire going, if he wasn't going to find him then he would scorch him to death, not sparing anything in his sight. His gold was getting melted, his diamonds and rubies were getting scorched like charcoals, his arm's remains were already pieces of charcoal being consumed by the infernal heat, the cave would no longer be habitable and he would have to leave and, heck, he wasn't sleepy any longer. All the dragon cared for was the elimination of this trespasser, this danger, this monster that was willing to kill him for nothing. The dragon stopped expelling fire in the moment he noticed that the cave was shaking - "an earthquake?" - he wondered, but he noticed that the ground wasn't breaking at all, it was the roof. The dragon noticed the trespasser in the roof (holding himself through one of his claws) and with his green sword crushing the roof with a strength that only himself could match. It didn't took him too long to realize what he was trying to do but, alas, the roof started to collapse on top of him before he could do anything and very soon he found himself with his body entombed by the mountain of rocks and only his head was capable of being mobile.

Mountain High, hour away form the cave

The tremors were felt by anyone who was in the mountain, including Twilight and her friends. As they were keeping their march upwards, they had to stop for a moment to try and keep their balance, the rocks were (once again) falling down and they had to evade them again. This time it was Applejack who showed concern for the current situation.

"What in tarnation is going on up there? Why is that Dragon causing a tremor?"

But before Twilight could respond, the tremors ended and the mountain calmed once again. The group of mares looked at the top of the mountain and they were now very curious to know what was going on up there. They continued their travel, this time with a faster pace.

Inside the Cave

When everything got calmed again inside the cave, all that was left of the treasure were mountains of molten gold that would, eventually, cool off and become a part of the mountain and, a few centuries later, a group of diggers would go there to take it for their own sake. The dragon was now trapped under a literal mountain of rock and crumbles that would asphyxiate him in a matter of days and, should the cave be closed down, the dragon would be dead very quickly due to air deprivation. Nobody would even know of this fight until someone decided to clean the entrance. Raziel then decided to get close to the Dragon, Water Reaver in hand and being charged, and asked one last time:

"If I ask you to leave now, will you do it?"

The Dragon looked at Raziel and, in a one last ditch effort (drowned in a mix of desperation and rage) he tried to burn Raziel with his fire. As he began to breathe in the fire, his attempt was quickly shot down by Raziel with an ice blast that went directly into the dragon's mouth, entering his mouth and going directly into his lungs, freezing him on the inside and giving him a slow death. During his last moments, the dragon pondered into his last action and, had he got enough time to be alive, wondered what would have happened if he had said yes from the very beginning. He died too fast to even try to wonder in that possibility.

Raziel saw how the soul belonging to a now dead dragon was going out of it's body and, for a millisecond, he debated under the necessity of eating it but this was solved in the moment Raziel decided that absorbing it would be better for him (since, being a reaver of souls, he needed them to stay in the physical plane) so he opened his scarf and sucked the frightened soul of a dragon that would never know eternal rest and, for a moment, Raziel felt how the fire breathing dragon could empower him but he would realize how much later. Now that everything got calmed, Raziel had to think on his next step:

The danger was gone. The dragon, now dead, would no longer cause harm to anyone else in this world. Sadly that didn't meant that I would be accepted. In this world of peace and friendship, this kind of approach (even though I tried diplomacy at first) would never be condoned or approved by anyone, so what should I do?

Raziel went out of the cave, now a murder scene, and decided to look down the mountain to reflect on his actions and gaze at the beautiful landscape (that went even beyond Equestria itself and allowed him to enjoy the beauty of all of this, for who knew how long it would last and when he would have another chance to see this spectacle) and while this allowed him to relax after his most recent confrontation, it also made him realize two things: One was that, in this moment, all he could do was to protect the land from any danger he could see and he would try to validate his case once the ponies could get to know him better. The second was that the six ponies that he should befriend with were getting close to his location and Raziel knew that it wasn't a good idea to present himself like this.

It aches me in my dead heart to leave this place under this conditions, but it's never a good idea to try a friendly approach on a murder scene. I only hope that I can find a moment to meet them under more peaceful terms and that I don't find myself forced to talk to them, for that would be very inconvenient for all of us.

Raziel used the Dark Reaver to become invisible and jumped into the air, using his wings to glide himself down into the ground, passing just on top of the Mane Six (and almost touching Rainbow Dash in the process). He would later touch the ground in the middle of the Everfree and wonder, could there have been a better approach if he had the ponies friendship?

Inside the cave, a few minutes later

Twilight and her friends were trying to understand what just happened inside the cave. All they could see were mountains of molten gold, charred gems and a dead dragon. Nopony knew how to properly react to this, for it was unprecedented the idea that something that weren't an alicorn could defeat a dragon and that wasn't even counting the carnage of the battlefield, with the whole ground burned down and the dragon's empty look as if he saw death while being alive.

For Twilight Sparkle, this was just like the Ursa Minor: signs of magic and a struggle everywhere with clear indications that the victim (in this case, the dragon) died under very weird circumstances with, in this case, the dragon being frozen to death from the inside. The main difference now was that this happened just a few moments ago, the burns were too recent, the gold was still hot and she and her friends saw the fire coming from the top of the mountain, twice, felt the tremors and heard the dragon speaking while they were climbing the wall, there was no other conclusions that this was a recent event. So how was this possible? What creature could do something like this and how could it be possible to leave this scene without her or any of her friends noticing it? She didn't had a clue because, well, the only clue she could have died long ago so she wasn't sure for now. She would later send a report to the princess and ask her to make a more proper research on the area. Although she did noticed another similarity between the Ursa Minor and the Dragon that she preferred to not mention to her friends, perhaps for now.

For Applejack, this was unnerving: what could possibly kill a dragon? There were no signs of being an alicorn and they never saw what killed the dragon going out. It may even still be here, but she wasn't sure of it since they haven't been attacked yet and Twilight already confirmed that the cave was empty, but that wasn't everything. Twilight was hiding something from her friends and it wasn't just the usual stuff of the events with Nightmare Moon, she noticed something here and she wasn't telling what it was. She wasn't going to pressure her now because of Fluttershy and Pinkie Pie, but she would try once she could be in private with her.

Rarity was totally saddened, this was a catastrophe of terrifying proportions. Nothing like this have ever been done before in the history of Equestria and whoever did such monstrosity should be disciplined very hardly. A banishment to the sun or moon wouldn't be enough for this type of vandal act that should never be forgiven. How could somepony be so vicious to melt all of that gold and burn those beautiful gems. Oh, the horror!

Pinkie Pie was feeling down for she was expecting this to be a great moment to have fun with the dragon, showing how much you could enjoy to be awaken and maybe that way stop him from sleeping near Ponyville for a few years (or at least convince him to leave after a departure party), but now she wouldn't be able to do it because the dragon was dead and, to make things worse, her pinkie sense was telling her that something else happened, something very bad that she better wasn't sure of what it was for it would depress her too deeply.

Rainbow Dash was feeling kind of awesome. It was proven that her approach was the right one (for now there wasn't any problem in Ponyville) but she didn't want the dragon to be dead (which wasn't very cool at all) but it doesn't take away the fact that she was right. Granted, she wasn't sure how to react to this when it happened, but it didn't went the way she wanted it to happen and that was already bad. She would later try to forget the face of the Dragon and take away from her nose the smell of ashes.

Fluttershy was trying to get a grip on the situation. The dragon, what she feared the most, was dead, but that didn't made her feel safe or accomplished. She only felt responsible because if she hadn't been delaying her friends, perhaps she would have stopped the battle or, even better, made sure that it never happened in the first place. Now, with all of this, she wanted to go back to her animals and try to relax so she could finally have enough time to think properly. She knew that this was her fault somehow, but she didn't want to voice her opinion just to not worry even more her friends and the best thing she could do was to stay quiet and shut.

During all of this, Applejack got close to Twilight Sparkle and decided to ask a bit more.

"Twilight, sugarcube, are you sure that this here is everything you can come up with?"

Twilight looked at Applejack with a curious face - "What do you mean?, the scene? Yes, I'm sure that this is all I can get. The dragon started to breath fire to burn down whatever it was fighting against and he ended up getting frozen."

Applejack looked at Twilight, trying to figure out what was it that she was hiding.

"Sugarcube, how is it possible to freeze a dragon? And from the inside? That doesn't make sense" -, Twilight looked back and responded with the best she could understand at the moment, - "I know Applejack, but that's what I can figure out by seeing the dragon. And looking at the dragon is too hard already. I'm feeling sick just by standing here."

"You and I both darling" - interjected Rarity - "it's so disgusting that this situation had to end in such a way. So uncouth and barbaric, and now I need a shower to clean my fur from all of this ashes" -, and then added in a much lower voice, - "and not a single gem survived."

She then looked at Fluttershy and asked - "Fluttershy, dear, are you ok? We're sorry for having to force you to this trip only to see this disgusting situation."

Fluttershy looked at her and, after thinking a lot, she added: "Don't worry, it was actually my fault because I was delaying you with my fear over dragons and-"

"Wait" - interrupted Rainbow Dash - "You're afraid of dragons!? Well, that explains why it was so hard for you to come up here, and why you didn't told us before!?" - After that, the conversation went, albeit slowly, changing the topic from the dead dragon to Fluttershy's fear.

But both Twilight and Applejack would never forget what they were about to talk about, for Twilight didn't liked being interrupted and Applejack knew that Twilight must have analyzed the situation with more than just her eyes.

Author's Note

1.- I'm so sorry, I wanted to release this last week but between me getting distracted and other personal issues I just couldn't finish it on time.

2.- I was also going to add more to this chapter, but then it started to get too long so I prefered to cut it out and add the other part as the next chapter (which I'll start writing right now before I lose the esteem) which shouldn't take too long.

3.- Once the next part is written, I'll start to write the next Chapter of Living Insane.

Thank you all for reading and have a nice day.

EDIT June 2nd of 2019: If you like this and you want to support me, you can do it through my Ko-Fi. Feel free to check it out.

Chapter 4: A Spectral Revelation

From: Twilight Sparkle
To: Princess Celestia

Dear Princess Celestia, I'm sending you this letter separately from my friendship report because of:

A) While the letter is related to the events that spawned this week's Friendship report, it's content is unrelated to it.

B) This letter contains gruesome information, to the point that I'm writing you this letter directly instead of asking Spike to write it, I had to wait until he departed from Ponyville to Canterlot for I do not desire for him to hear the information I'm about to tell you.

C) This letter is more related to the Ursa Minor incident, in which I asked you to send an investigation team so they could make a proper research since I lacked both the time and equipment to make a proper investigation on the battle zone.

With that said, I'll start to write you all the information I managed to gather from the dead dragon which my friends and I found a few days ago:

The first thing I managed to notice was the way the Dragon was found: he was trapped under tons of rock, this can be explained by the fact that. before we arrive there, we felt a tremor on the top of the mountain. The problem with this is that it's impossible for a mountain to tremble on its peak, because tremors and earthquakes starts on the bottom of the earth and not from the top of a mountain. I can deduce from this that, whatever fought with the dragon, had enough strength to start the rockfall that entombed the dragon. I find this concerning because the amount of strength needed for this is inmensurable, only dragons have the strength needed to cause tremors.

I also noticed that the dragon was frozen from the inside, not only that, but it looked like the freezing started in the lungs and expanded from there. The only conclusion I can get from this is that the dragon was going to throw his fire when a freezing spell entered into his mouth, a freezing spell strong enough to end his life almost immediately. As you can see, there are some problems from this possibility when taking in consideration the fact that the rocks were collapsed on the dragon, but I'll go over it later.

The third thing I managed to notice was that the gold was completely melted while the ground and walls were completely marked black because of the heat, for a moment I thought that the gold was melted by whatever it was that engaged the dragon but, after some analysis, I saw that the source of the heat was the dragon himself. But this also enters in conflict with the idea that dragons wants to protect their horde and will always make sure that nothing happens to it, perhaps you could enlighten me in that regard? Why would a dragon endanger its own horde?

Here also comes he mystery of the assailant. As I said, the dragon was trapped by all those rocks, it wasn't capable of fighting but it still tried to fight back and, whatever was fighting it, decided to finish it by freezing it to dead. This implies that the attacker has intelligence, strength and is capable of using magic but I cannot be certain of how far does it's magic goes without a closer analysis to it, which is something I find hard to achieve until we find the culprit for the dragon's death.

And, lastly, the one thing that I detected in the dragon (which also was the one detail that scared me the most) was its lack of magic. I don't mean magic like the one we use for spells or the weather, I mean the magic that keep us alive, that inner magic that makes all the species in Equestria the same, but also different: the soul. I know it sounds weird to say that, but I never thought something like the lack of something could be detected until I saw both the ursa minor and the dragon. I could try to give you an explanation of how I detected that, but this letter would be too long and I would be sidetracking and, as much as I would desire to explain it to you, I'm trying with the best of my efforts to not sidetrack right now.

I have a theory around this, but I require a few things first:

1.- More time to research: since I'm already researching friendship, which I still hold into priority one, I don't have enough time to make a proper investigation on this, once I have enough time I'll try to make a better analysis on the situation and send you an update on this.

2.- The results of the team sent by you around both the ursa minor and the dragon (which I also kindly ask you to research, please) for those results would give me a good amount of details to further understand what I'm dealing with.

That is all for now, thank you very much for allowing me to make this research and I won't disappoint you on this either. Your faithful student:

Twilight Sparkle

Canterlot Castle

Princess Celestia was on her room reading, with great concern, on the second letter sent by Twilight. She already had the results of the team that researched the ursa minor and she was going to prepare a second team to research the dragon that Twilight mentioned on her report. But both her report and the team's results were bothering, with what they described, Celestia wasn't sure if she should allow Twilight to keep on researching this mystery, she wasn't sure of what it was neither how it could affect her student. Twilight may be trying to fake it, but she wasn't capable of cover her problems with whatever happened with Nightmare Moon and, while Celestia tried to ask her sister what happened, Luna's face just showed that something happened but that she wasn't willing to speak about it. Luna promised that Twilight wasn't harmed but they both prefer to not speak about it (unbeknownst to Luna and Twilight, Celestia detected a faint difference, while Twilight showed signs of disturbance for seeing something that she shouldn't had seen, Luna showed signs of disturbance for seeing something that terrified her to her very soul) so Celestia would try to not pressure them for now, but if things got too out of control, then she would step in. For now, Celestia would send the new team with all the information they needed and, once Spike was returned to Ponyville, she would send the first results to Twilight.

For now, she would have to think around all the variables that she has seen so far: her sister's fear, Twilight's perturbation, the mystery in the Everfree and now this dragon. Celestia couldn't stop to speculate how all of this could have been related to that thing that appeared in Canterlot the very same night that her sister returned. But she couldn't jump to conclusions, she would have to wait.

But now thinking on more healthier things, Celestia was glad to see Twilight being so eager to learn about friendship (perhaps now Twilight wouldn't make the same mistakes she did when she was young), her friendship reports were always something beautiful to read and always lifted up her mood (granted, the last report was a bit sad, considering that they witnessed a murder scene, just like the ursa minor, but at least Twilight managed to find a lesson there) and now Celestia was wondering what kind of lesson she would be sending to her soon.

Ponyville a few hours ago

Twilight has just sent her letter to Princess Celestia through the special mail (advantages of being friend with The Princess, you can send her the mail and she will receive it in one day or less) and was now pondering on what she just saw a few days ago. She never expected to see a dead dragon, not that death itself troubled her as much now but still, Equestria wasn't a land known for murders (unless speaking of the Everfree, where animals hunt each other out for survival) so anything like that was unexpected. On the other hoof, this case was too similar to the ursa minor incident, including the lack of a soul. Trixie's reaction to whatever she saw only strengthen the idea that there was something else in the Everfree, but what? The only suspect she had was gone and before she could venture into the Everfree to investigate she would need Celestia's report on the ursa minor.

All of this was troubling, especially because she would have to wait until Spike arrived, but it would do. For now, she would have to figure out for ways to spend some time with her friends, both to make sure that her friends were fine and to just relax. She didn't had a specific idea, but she has always wanted to make a sleepover, those always sounded like fun. The only problem Twilight had was that nopony has ever wanted to pass the night with her, either because she was too enthralled in books or because she was Celestia's pupil. Perhaps if she could ask one of her friends, who could she ask to spend the night with her?

Twilight looked at the sky and noticed that the coming storm was going to be very strong, she was glad for having her tree protected, and she hoped that nopony get trapped in it. In that moment she saw her friends Applejack and Rarity trying to find a place to hide from the storm.

"Applejack! Rarity! Over here!"

Both mares saw Twilight and decided to go to her house for shelter, as they went, Twilight realized that she now had the perfect excuse and reason to spend the night with her friends and get out of her bad mood for at least a night, she was now hoping things could work as intended.

Everfree Forest

Feeding is a very important thing for every living being. Food brings energy so the individual can maintain itself for a day, that is a fact that doesn't change in any way whatsoever, but what can change is the type of food the individual need. For the plants, they need sunlight (which they transform into food through photosynthesis), for the bunnies, they need carrots, for the bugs, they need plants, for the herbivores (like ponies) they eat things like hay or eggs, for the carnivores (like a manticore or a griffon) they eat meat which is the synthesis of the sunlight through a plant and through a herbivore. All of this living beings uses the sun to get the energy they need to survive and stay alive, for Raziel though, he feeds through the last part of the way of life (death) by taking the souls of the deceased and using it to keep his physical form. For him, a soul is the most precious part of an individual, it represents his life and everything they did, their efforts, their adventures, their struggles, their most precious memories are embodied in that soul and (again) for him, the fact that he must feed on that to stay among the living felt like the most horrible curse any creature could have ever gotten and he felt disgust over anyone who could have ever felt good on that way of life.

That was why Raziel never tried to go after innocent lives or conscious beings, unless they were an obstacle or Raziel completely hated said creature, so, during his stay on Equestria, he would try to feed on the creatures of the Everfree (for they lacked a conscience and he didn't felt bad in any way whatsoever for eating animals) and the only exception for this rule so far was the dragon and that was because he had no other choice. And now, in this rainy day on the Everfree, Raziel was going to eat his daily creature (a Chimera this time) or at least he would have if it weren't for the mysterious fact that the chimera's soul disappeared.

The thing is that Raziel was the only creature that could feed on souls, and souls can take a while before they pass from the physical realm to the spectral realm, so the fact that a soul disappeared almost immediately was beyond Raziel's comprehension. Or at least, it would, if it weren't for the fact that there was only two ways he knew for this to happen, and since one of them was downright impossible that left the other choice.

Fearing for the worst, Raziel phased through realms. With the twisting of the trees, the disappearance of the bodies, the lack of air and how everything looked like shadows, Raziel quickly remembered why he always preferred to live in the physical realm, even if there was no concept of time in the spectral realm. Raziel looked around the new but, at the same time, old environment and he could not detect the soul. But then he heard a sound that creeped him out, not because he feared the sound itself, but for what it implied to listen to it.

The sound wasn't natural in any way (even for the spectral realm), it sounded like if somebody was making his last attempts to ask for help while being sucked into a compressor that didn't murdered it's victims, a sound that it belonged to a creature that Raziel hoped to never see again but considering his own objective in Equestria, he knew that he would meet it eventually. It had crab-like claws, no legs (although it could travel through the streams of the spectral realm as if it were flying), purple robes, blue eyes (just like Raziel) and the mouth of a shark. Raziel knew what they were:

Archons, the servants of the Elder God, creatures that lacked will and mentality but still managed to retain intelligence. Whenever they fed, they fed the Elder God at the same time and, unlike me, they never hold back in how much they eat. The more they eat, the more they give to the infernal divinity that has them tied down to this world. But as much as I dreaded to meet this creature, I was actually happy, for I now had something to feed on that wasn't a living creature and I didn't minded how many I would have to eat of them, for I didn't cared how many of them were in existence. Life can be a very fickle thing some times.

Raziel aimed his Spectral Reaver towards the archon and shot a volley of reaver blasts to it. The Archon felt the attack and, after quickly realizing who it was, attacked Raziel with all the voracity you could expect of a skilled hunter, but said hunter was going after a being of a higher hierarchy and was quickly brought down by a strike from the reaver. After eating it with gusto, Raziel decided to find one (of the many) bodies he left rotting in the Everfree so he could respawn.

With the Archon filling my spectral bowels, I could no longer waste my time. Those creatures could only be created by The Elder God, and if he could create them, then his powers were increasing. Who knows how long it would be before he started to have an influence over this world's timeline, it wasn't time to prepare my grounds, I no longer had time to wait, it was time to move.

Meanwhile, in the Physical realm of the Everfree, a Zebra was going on her duties when she was suddenly surrounded by a pack of Timberwolves. The Zebra was ready to fight back when, suddenly (and after feeling a temporary chill), the Timberwolves moved their heads to their left. The Zebra was wondering what they were doing but, in the moment the Timberwolves started to squeal and run scared, she knew what they were sensing. She quickly hid in one of the bushes and in that moment she saw what she feared so much: a chimera came out of the ground and (in a very revolting way) started to transform into the nightmare that was living in the forest. The Zebra was aware by this point of what the Beast did to the bodies and why it needed them, she also tried to figure out how she could get rid of it, but she then preferred to do nothing at the moment considering that she could not fight that thing any way whatsoever. The best she could do was to try to create a new potion, but that would take a while.

The Beast looked at its surroundings and started to move towards Ponyville, The Zebra hoped that nothing bad could happen to whoever met it.

Ponyville's Library

This has been a very disappointing night so far for Twilight Sparkle. Her friends were fighting during the whole night and it didn't looked like if they were going to improve on anything, by this point she only wanted to sleep to forget this night even happened. For trying to have a better moment with her friends, this was being a failure so far. Perhaps the reason this night was being such a disappointment was because of Applejack and Rarity's clashing personalities; Applejack was raised on a place known for keeping the hard work and that didn't have a problem with getting dirty while Rarity grew up with the idea of staying clean and doing anything with the least amount of work as possible. Applejack never liked to do anything related with "frilly" stuff while Rarity loved those things, this and many more differences made Twilight put in doubt if it was a good idea to have such different friends in one place and that doubt brought a wave of anxiety and worry to her mind. anxiety because Twilight always thought that friends shouldn't have secrets from each other, but she now wasn't sure if it was a good idea to tell them to her friends under this circumstances, or if she could tell them in any moment whatsoever.

"Um, Twilight, sugar cube. Are you awake?"

Hearing Applejack brought a certain feeling of unrest, after the fighting made between her and Rarity, all Twilight wanted was to rest, but Applejack was her friend and she was indeed awake.

"Yes Applejack, I'm awake, what is it?"

Applejack saw this as an opportunity to apologize. She debated for a while on her way of acting and she was feeling a bit guilty for ruining Twilight's sleepover (granted, it was mostly Rarity's fault, but she still felt bad nonetheless) and after remembering that Twilight has always been on a bad mood ever since the Nightmare Moon incident, Applejack felt even worse because she wasn't helping on the situation, so she now wanted to apologize.

"Look Twilight, I was thinking a bit about my attitude tonight". - She said on a sad tone. But this didn't affected Twilight so far.

"So?"

"After thinking for a moment, I realize that I didn't help on the situation here and I wanted to apologize."

This brought Twilight's attention, and after thinking for a brief moment, she responded - "Well, apologize accepted Applejack, is that all?"

Applejack didn't saw this as a good sign, but she decided to keep going.

"Its not that simple, is just that Ah know Ah haven't helped much on this night and Ah feel Ah made things worse for you, especially considering what you must be going through"

And here Twilight's attention raised to curiosity.

"What I must be going through? What are you talking about?"

This question made Rarity raise from her bed and join into the conversation, - "Twilight, dear, its no secret to anypony that something affected you during your encounter with Nightmare Moon" -. After seeing Twilight's shocked face, Rarity continued, - "the only reason we haven't said anything is because we didn't wanted to invade your privacy. But there are times when it becomes too obvious that something affected you."

Before Twilight could deny it, Applejack decided to continue Rarity's speech.

"Yeah, like when we saw the Ursa Minor. We were all disgusted and it was impossible for us to see that corpse, but you had no problem whatsoever as far as we could see."

And then Rarity decided to give the final part in their questioning, - "and if it was just our imagination, that possibility was shattered when you got close to the dead dragon and saw his-" - before continuing, Rarity was interrupted by her own stomach trying to puke, but she quickly controlled it and continued - "-dead body and lifeless eyes. We couldn't see the Ursa or the Dragon, dear, but you managed to see them with no problem. So we would like to know, what did you saw or what happened when you faced Nightmare Moon? We cannot help you unless you don't speak to us".

At this offering, Twilight felt happy. The fact that her friends were putting their own problems and differences aside to help her so she decided to accept their offering:

"Thank you very much, it makes me glad to know that you worry so much about me. In fact, I've always wanted to talk to you about it but I never got the courage to do it fearing that you wouldn't care. But hearing you makes me glad because now I can say that I got nothing to fear. And to inform you, yes, something did happened when I faced Nightmare Moon" -. At this, both Rarity and Applejack got more interested and moved their heads closer to Twilight. - "Its not that I want to talk about because its already too incredible to hear but if you want to hear about it, then I will talk to you. Its just that I don't feel ready for it yet and I would prefer to tell you all together about it, ok?"

Both Applejack and Rarity listened to this and, while glad that Twilight opened to them a little bit, they would have liked for her to open up more, so instead of giving her time to open up, they would play truth or dare and take out the information out of her (since somepony like Twilight would always respect the rules of a game like Truth or Dare).

Border between the Everfree and Ponyville, Fluttershy's cottage

Fluttershy was feeling down, after the incident with the dragon she was wondering how things could have changed if she had been a bit more valiant. Perhaps the Dragon would have stayed alive? She wasn't sure, but she knew something would have been different. Her animals were trying to cheer her up but to no avail, her animals just couldn't help if the reason for her sadness was beyond their control.

She went outside of her cottage to feel the rain, the water drops touched her butter coat and sympathized with her feelings, she wanted to stay like that for a while, but life wouldn't be so easy on her, the rain started to diminish (albeit slowly) until it was gone. Fluttershy was wondering why life could be so hard sometimes (you cannot live in fear, but you don't want to get out of your comfort. Why the dragon had to die?) and she was going to keep on mourning on this things when her animals went outside and started to hug her. Fluttershy saw her animal friends and, while they weren't' her equestrian friends, she was glad to have them. Sadly, this wouldn't take out her questions, questions like: why did the dragon had to die?, why she was so easy to scare?, why she couldn't take the initiative all the time?, just why? When would life give her a moment to be something that she could feel proud about?

In that moment (although an extremely fast one), Fluttershy felt a chill that went from the Everfree to the rest of Equestria. Her animals felt the same chill and were shivering, nobody knew what that meant but they feared it anyway for everybody fears the unknown. Fluttershy was going to try to help her animals to feel better when they immediately started to run inside the cottage, Angel Bunny was trying to push her into the safety of the cottage when he was paralyzed; the paralysis wasn't one caused by electricity or magic, it was caused by fear. Fear of something that was so dangerous that just by being there it destroyed his capabilities of moving, he couldn't help or warn her master and friend and he would have been frustrated by that if he weren't so scared right now.

Fluttershy looked to the forest (the source of the chill) and saw nothing at that moment, not too long after that, two blue eyes starting to appear in the distance (she knew who they belonged to) and she was wondering what was Raziel doing at this [relatively] late hour. She waited until he was close enough to meet her face to face but Raziel stopped once it got right at the border of the Everfree. She thought for a moment that he was shy like herself but before she could say anything, Raziel greeted her:

"Hello dear Fluttershy, tell me, what are you doing so late on this hour?"

Fluttershy pondered on this and answered with as much honesty as she could muster.

"Hello mister Raziel, I was just... trying to think in nice things."

She saw the pair of eyes closing on, as if scrutinizing her, and Raziel quickly responded:

"That's something nice, but very easy to conceal. Tell me, what is troubling you for you need happy thoughts to fill your mind?" - Fluttershy felt amazed, how could he read her so easily when only her animals could do that by instinct? - "My apologies," - quickly said Raziel, - "I'm quite used to have conversations where you have to read your talking partner to know what it's up to and I forgot for a moment how rude it could be to someone you met a few days ago."

In that moment Fluttershy reacted faster than lightning and tried to disuade Raziel from his worries.

"No, there's no problem with that, it's just that I was surprised. Only my animal friends notice those things, not that I called you an animal, and I've been trying to hide that from my friends, although I don't know if you want me to call you a friend. But, answering to your question, my problem is that I found a dead dragon" - The single mention made Raziel to widen his eyes, Fluttershy noticed this - "hum, is there something the matter mister Raziel?"

Raziel was in a crossroad, should he tell her? Considering that friendship works with honesty, then he would have to:

"Yes, I do."

Fluttershy was surprised at this recent development, she decided to pressure Raziel for a bit more of information.

"You do? How so?"

Raziel was feeling dread, he knew where this was going and what could possibly be the consequences of it, but the long time reward would be significantly better than the short time price so he kept on.

"Indeed I do, for I killed the dragon."

There was a silence in the air, nobody and nothing made a sound for what felt like an eternity. Raziel didn't said anything, it was better to wait until Fluttershy could react. Fluttershy didn't made a sound, for she was in shock. After 5 minutes, that felt like 5 hours, Fluttershy regain her composure (and felt something weird inside of her) and asked.

"Hum, sorry mister Raziel, I think I misheard you. What do you mean by 'killed the dragon'?"

She innocently asked, hoping to have heard the wrong sentence or that he meant something else entirely but Raziel only confirmed her fears.

"After you went to your townville to warn your friends from the looming danger formed by the dragon's snores, I went onto the mountain to investigate what was creating the smokestack and I found the dragon. I attempted to ask him politely to leave but he refused to listen so I decided to force him out, hoping that a show of strength would scare it away.

The battle went sour, which the dragon trying to burn me with his fire, so I collapsed the mountain on him so he could calm down. Sadly, he still didn't want to listen and I had to finish him off."

Fluttershy was at a loss of words, she hadn't expected to hear something like that in her entire life so this felt alien to her.

"My apologies for following such brash and terrible behavior, I did not wanted to do such a thing, but I was forced to take out the dragon or else he would have caused a problem to your village."

Fluttershy then made the question [whose answer] would affect the relationship between her a Raziel for a long time.

"So, you feel bad for killing the dragon?"

There was a deafening silence in that moment, Raziel knew that this was going to be the moment that he didn't wanted to happen, but he would stick to his goal. Even if the price was so high right now.

"No."

Fluttershy felt something inside of her break.

"What? Why not?"

Everything was getting blurry surrounding those eyes.

"While I feel remorse for the way our interaction proceeded. I do not feel remorseful for taking the dragon's life, dear Fluttershy. He was a menace and he didn't want to listen the heeds and warnings, he did not care for this town neither its inhabitants. He decided to engage me for he preferred brutality and bloodshed to civility and prudence. I tried the nice way and he didn't accept it. I don't feel bad for taking the life of such a barbaric creature".

In that moment, something inside of Fluttershy embraced her. In the middle of her turmoil, a passionate flame raged and was directed towards the creature that thought of itself higher than any other, high enough to determine who could live and who could die. She would not accept that.

"How dare you to say such a thing!?" - Raziel saw the new Fluttershy talking to him, it was a different pegasus or, at least, that's what mostly would say if they didn't understood that this was only the part of her that always wanted to assert itself in her life but never found the necessity for it. Raziel understood this and he wasn't surprised to have enraged a creature that loved and protected life so much - "No creature deserves to die! No creature deserves to be killed in such a way, you monster, how dare you to say who deserves to live and who doesn't!? Life is the most precious thing somepony could have and nothing has the right to take it away. I don't know what brought you here, but I don't want you near me or any of my friends ever again. Understood!?"

Fluttershy looked at the monster with ferocity and she was prepared to face him if needed to protect her friends. But this drama wouldn't drive in such direction.

"Alright, my apologies for disturb you in this late hour. I wish you a great day" - Fluttershy would keep on pondering during the following days why he accepted so easily and once she understood (in the future), she would be constantly feeling embarrassed and would apologize to Raziel for talking to him in such a way. For now, she would just look at him with anger and wait until he left.

Raziel knew this was going to happen, he have seen mortals acting like that all the time. This wasn't going to stop him though, it would only be a delay. For now he would just guard the forest and make sure that nopony would ever get hurt and try again once somepony entered in the Everfree (or get close to him) on it's own volition. He looked at the sky and when he saw the sunshine clearing the clouds away, he knew he did the right thing.

Ponyville Library, morning

Applejack and Rarity felt sick, not because they were fighting (they already fixed that during the sleepover) but rather, because they never expected to hear the truth (or better said, that type of truth) from Twilight.

Who knew True or Dare could make you have nightmares?

Not only were they scared for the idea of something with the ability to take out your soul (if that title was literal and not just as saying as both mares expected), but to think that Twilight was feeling bad because she saw a murder. Why Luna acted like if nothing happened during the celebration? Was the guilt so heavy that she rather tried to ignore it? That's not fair. Applejack would talk to her once she had the chance and give Luna a piece of her own mind. Rarity meanwhile, felt just as sick as Applejack and wanted to do the same to Luna, but her mind was thinking more on the warrior that Twilight mentioned in her tale. How dashing he must have been to come and save her from Nightmare Moon, why Twilight didn't described him? To call him "indescribable" is no excuse, she would take the truth out of her other day. For now, Rarity just wanted to sleep well and then take care of Sweetie Bell, she must have been worried about her not returning home.

A few days later, Twilight would receive Celestia's response about her report from a very irritated Spike:

From: Princess Celestia
To: Twilight Sparkle

Dear Spike, if you try to read this letter before Twilight I advise you to stop. The contents of this letter aren't to be read by someone so young as you are. Please desist and give the letter to Twilight.

My faithful student, I have received your letter with great concern and, after much pondering, I have decided to send you the results of the research team sent to investigate the ursa minor. I do warn you that it's contents are quite worrisome so I'll send it to you once Spike gets back home. Send me a letter once he comes back so I can send you the results immediately. After you read the result, please read this letter again for I think you'll understand a bit more my orders.

Twilight Sparkle, as much as I would love from you to hear your results on this matter. I think this task could be too dangerous for you alone. Please don't drag your friends as well, I'm not sure if the elements could be the answer to this problem so until the results of the next team I have sent to investigate the dragon finishes it's job, I forbid you from entering into the Everfree for anything related to this problem at hand, but you can enter into the forest if something that requires your attention (like saving a friend trapped in the Everfree Forest). Once enough information is gathered, I'll write you new orders that could help you to take hoofs on this matter in a safer way.

Please be patient and wait for my next response on this. Thank you, your best friend:

Princess Celestia

Twilight read this letter with intention and wondered why would the Princess ask for something like this but she would trust her mentor and would not enter into the Everfree Forest unless she were forced to or the Princess said otherwise.

Author's Note

For those wanting a better image of the Archon, here you go:

This was going to be the last part of the previous chapter, but it would have made the chapter too long for my taste, so I made it a new chapter.

Thank you for reading and have a nice day.

EDIT June 4th of 2019: If you like this and you want to support me, you can do it through my Ko-Fi. Feel free to check it out.

Chapter 5: The Wrong Enemy

To: Princess Celestia

From: The Manehattan Science Expedition

Location: Everfree Forest

Subject: The Ursa Minor

Greetings, the following letter is being sent to you as a report regarding the murdered Ursa Minor located in the Everfree Forest. It will be mentioned our thanks for providing the necessary funds to the research team, this gave us much needed security to make the investigations with the proper time required to do the analysis on a proper way. With that said, it will be notified that we made the following autopsy and the gathering of evidence according to your orders and the procedure went exactly as you asked, step by step.

We first used magic scans to be sure that the place where the battle took place didn't had any special magic spell protecting the place or hiding anything of importance. We were surprised to figure out that no such thing was located in there.

This is both good and bad. good because there was no tampering on the scene but bad because it also worries us that an Everfree animal could have affected the place between the moment of the discovery to the moment we got there.

After that, we started to investigate the place itself, trying to search for any evidence that could indicate us what fought the ursa minor and what kind of spells it used. After some visual, magic and forensic analysis was made, we managed to come to the conclusion that, whatever fought the ursa minor, it had enough strength to grab heavy rocks and throw them at the ursa and that it was capable to use fire:

A) The rocks, after using the proper spells, were discovered to be rather big and heavy. The amount of pieces each rock broke into were very numerous, for this rocks to break on this level, they must have been thrown at very high speed. Considering that no tree was broken or shown signs of getting rocks hurled at, we can assume that all the rocks hit the ursa minor, which also tells us a lot of the creature's aim.

B) The fire was only found on small quantities on the scene, this isn't because there wasn't much but because it was very controlled. The scorch marks found on certain trees and in the ground are very low. As if they were burn by heat rather then being burned directly by the fire.

After making the investigations on the scene, we proceeded to investigate the ursa minor itself, here is where we found the biggest amount of problems because it shown signs of being eaten by animals, decomposition and tampering by external forces. This made it very hard for us to discover what damaged was caused by our mysterious creature. Regardless, we managed to find out some evidence after finding hints that could lead us to the murderer of the ursa, also taking into account your warn that one of the uras's teeth was taken by a unicorn mare that could have been a witness to the fight. Once we're done with this investigation we'll try to question her to have more determining information about it.

A) The bones of the ursa where shattered in some places, mainly its extremities and in the skull. We'll also explain that we came to the conclusion that the shattered bones in the extremities and in the skull was caused by the hurled rocks because of the way the bones were fractured. If the bones were shattered by an animal, they would have gotten cracks from both sides of the bones but the cracks in the extremities and the skull were started on a very specific place and the more to the center of the fractures we go, the more cracks we found. This kind of cracks are formed through hitting the bones with a blunt weapon with either an amazing strength or with an amazing speed, which also lead us to the conclusion that the murderer of the ursa had a really good aim and strength.

B) The flesh was in a very problematic condition because of the parts that was decomposed along the parts bitten by the animals but we managed to analyze the parts burned by fire. The burns were very concentrated, this were third degree burns, meant to destroy the skin and reduce them to char. Considering that the places that were burned were the same places where the rocks were thrown plus our previous knowledge on ursas having very thick skins to avoid superficial damages.

We can conclude that, whatever caused this first burned the ursa minor to weaken its skin and then used the rocks to destroy its extremities. Then, after immobilizing it, it hurled a last rock at the head to kill it once and for all.

The Manehattan Science Team isn't aware of any creature with such capabilities, there's no creature or animal in Equestria with enough cognitive skills to kill an ursa minor in such a way. The only possibility we can think off is a dragon, but a dragon doesn't require said methods to kill the ursa, we would like to ask for help to the History Team located in Canterlot and to the Academics of your school to see if you can provide us of more information on this subject.

That was all we could gather and, as I write this to you, your Highness, I'm receiving your request to go immediately into the cave located on the mountain close to Ponyville and research the dead dragon found by your pupil not too long ago. We're also thankful for the information provided by her, it will help us a lot on our future research once the team is ready to move. We'll also add that we cannot be sure if the Soul was gone or not, mainly because that's not our field and because the ursa has many days deceased, so it would be even harder to determine if the ursa actually lost its inner magic or not.

Signed:

Leader of the investigation team: Clever Find.

P.S.: As I prepare to send you this, the team has started to feel watched. Neither us or your guards have managed to find whatever was watching us, we're not sure if it were the animals of the Everfree or if it was the murderer of the ursa minor but it cannot be denied the sensation that something started to observe us.

Ponyville Library

This was the third time Twilight has read the letter and she was just as scared as the first time she read it. Now she understood what worried so much Princess Celestia. Whatever killed the ursa minor not only was strong, but also intelligent. Twilight's suspicions of the ursa minor's murderer being the same one as the dragon's only made it more worrisome. This also explained why Trixie was so afraid on the Everfree, had she felt the presence of the "beast of the Everfree"? The more Twilight thought about it, the more she tried to think of a plan to warn the town of Ponyville and make the proper preparations against this creature.

As Twilight entered into her own machinations, she tried to search in any book inside her Library, she wanted to see if she had a book that could help her on this new danger facing Equestria, and as Twilight was starting to lost herself in her own world of books, she heard a voice that brought her back to reality:

"Twilight, are you ok?"

Twilight turned around to find Spike with a curious face. She knew what he was going to ask about the letter, so Twilight quickly went to change the conversation into something that could take away his attention.

"Huh, I was..." - In that moment she quickly took a random green colored book and put with her while offering a very forced smile, - "wondering what this book was about" -. Spike gave her an skeptic eye, - "really?" - It was here that the, very awful liar, purple unicorn decided to see if there was something she could distract Spike with, - "yeah, and it remembered me that I have to go outside and check on my friends, would you like to come with me? We can see if I can buy you some gems" -. And with those magic words, the very gem-lover dragon decided to go with her and speak about the wonderful weather that Rainbow Dash made that day.

Everfree Forest, an Hour Earlier

Somewhere inside the Everfree Forest, there's a lone, carved, tree that has been used as a house for a mysterious amount of time. Its resident is a being as mysterious as the house itself, for it was not a pony, a dragon or a griffon, common creatures to find on Equestria, but rather, a Zebra. This Zebra has been living on the Everfree Forest, away from her home country for a time she would never tell to anyone and she, proving her great skills of adaptation, managed to adapt her life inside the forest so she didn't have to worry too much about the dangerous creatures that delves inside the chaotic forest. She lived alone, but always having her homeland on her heart, showing in with all the traditional decorations on her house and bringing with her the traditional books and knowledge that her ancestors passed down her family. While it was a mystery how long she lived inside the Everfree, all we could tell so far was that she managed to adapt to her stay on her new house. Until a few days ago.

When the new creature started to house the Everfree, the Zebra couldn't stop feeling how wrong this creature was. Its presence was always noticeable through the dreading feeling of the dead among the living, its corpse looked as if it was being forced to walk around the living while it actually desired death, it consumed the most sacred part of a being but it didn't seem to enjoy it, it had magic beyond her comprehension and its powers made it unable to be murdered. She has been trying to find anything about the creature, but she never heard anything like it on the stories told by her family or on any culture around the world, its disconnection to the world made it in a fearsome mystery that she was willing to figure out, and by figuring out its origin then she would figure out a way to defeat it, so she decided to make an attempt and go to Ponyville on the hopes of finding the herbs she needed to make a potion that, hopefully, would give her some kind of insight on the creature.

As the Zebra went on to Ponyville, she weighted her options: On one hoof, Ponyville's work hours were a mystery to her, they were never open when she got there; on the other hoof, she hadn't found any type of lead on her search for a method to defend herself against the creature, she had no other choice but to try with the Equestrians.

The Zebra couldn't stop noticing the changes done to the forest ever since the creature came to it, before it, the beasts of the Everfree were always on the move and there was no safe hour. Now, as much as the Zebra disliked to admitted, it was very safe to go around the Everfree whenever the creature left its residence on the cursed castle because the carnivorous and most dangerous beasts of the Everfree would hide form its presence. This didn't meant that the creature made things better when, in fact, everything has become worse; the Zebra could feel how the delicate balance of the Everfree Forest was being disturbed as all the animals were being hunted left and right, this was causing a migration that would harm Equestria as a whole, something had to be done to stop it.

As the Zebra was getting close to Ponyville, she saw on the depths of the forest a big shadow. She wondered what it could be, but the closer and closer she got to the shadow, the more the Zebra recognized the shadow as the creature. The Zebra became worried on the possibility of it discovering her so she started to move as stealthy as possible and, as she was sneaking around, she started to notice something odd about the creature that was quite interesting, it wasn't moving.

Indeed, as she got close enough to the creature, she managed to see that it wasn't moving at all, it was stationary on a very specific position: aiming one of its arms at a specific direction on the ground, with its torso slightly moved backwards in a attempt to make a better aim while its leg were positioned as a normal stance; and once the Zebra got face to face, she saw the reason why the creature wasn't moving: it was a statue.

As the Zebra saw perplexed how the creature she was fearing so much was now a statue, she also started to weight her new set of options: She could leave the statue there and let the creature become a part of the Everfree; she could destroy the statue on the hopes that it would destroy the creature once and for all or she could continue on her way to Ponyville and see what she could get to fight it off in case none of her previous options could work.

Seeing that, no matter how much she thought about it, she still needed to go to Ponyville, she decided to break the statue anyways, after all, the responsible of this was still out there and it could petrify the creature on another moment.

So the Zebra gazed at the statue, searched for its weak spots and, in a very graceful move, gave a powerful kick that pulverized the statue and dissolved it to pieces.

As the Zebra gazed at the statue being reduced to crumbles, she started to feel a chill filling her spine and moving around her. As the time seemed to slow down, the Zebra could feel how the chill moved around her and then disappeared into the forest. This message was quickly received by the Zebra and decided to move on towards Ponyville. This journey would prove to be ineffective as she would find all the shops closed and nopony in sight to receive her, so she would have to return to her house alone and, being followed by the least expected pony.

Ponyville, road to the Everfree Forest

Applebloom was having a hard time trying to approach Zecora, she didn't want the Zebra to realize how close she was to her and it really scared her the idea that she could do something to her. But it was better than hearing her sister going paranoid and shutting her off whenever she tried to say her opinion. She would admit that she was a little reckless for going alone but she was sure that nothing wrong could happen to her as long as she stayed on a safe place but those ideas started to dwindle as she started to get close to the Everfree Forest.

As Applebloom saw the Forest getting closer to her, she started to remember all the things said about it. What happened to Trixie, the monsters that lurks in there and, the worst of them all, the Everfree Beast. Just thinking about that creature made Applebloom shiver and, for a moment, she wondered if it was worth all of this following, she then got on the entrance of the Everfree Forest and saw the looming shadow of danger separating her from the deathly place that was the forest, a forest that housed a mysterious Zebra and a dangerous beast. Applebloom doubted for a moment if she could do it, but the brave filly decided to swallow her fears and follow the Zebra, after all, if she could live so close to the Beast and stay alive, then so could she.

Applebloom started to move very slowly as she followed Zecora on the Everfree, she was very sure that staying away from the path would lead her into a dangerous creature which meant that she had nowhere to hide now. It was very clear that Applebloom was scared of this, but she was sure that nothing wrong could happen to her so far, all she had to do in case of something dangerous getting close was to follow the Zebra or speed through the Everfree back into Ponyville but, she did wondered, what sign could Applebloom get that it was becoming too dangerous for her.

In that moment a series of events happened at the same time that would have been hard to notice by Applebloom but they still should be mentioned nonetheless.

The First Event was that, both Applebloom and Zecora passed through a patch of blue flowers but, because Zecora avoided them and Applebloom was copying her step by step, they didn't touch them.

The Second Event was that Applebloom's sister, Applejack, found her and, by calling her, discovered her to the Zebra (who started to mumble something weird about the flowers) and ruined her plans of sneaking in to discover the Zebra's house.

The Third Event was that a chill started to get closer to them, easily confused by the mist embracing all of them. This chill was followed by a mysterious creature rising from the ground just in time to hear the Zebra's warning regarding the flowers and see the meeting between the ponies and the Zebra unfold.

Regarding this third event, Applebloom didn't notice the creature rising from the ground, but she did notice (as she was leaving the forest) a pair of blue eyes appearing out of nowhere and seeing her leave. Applebloom was sure that this was a beast from the Everfree that could try to kill her, like a Timberwolf, but after seeing it standing in place and not doing anything (maybe recognizing that it couldn't win on a fight against 7 ponies) she decided to stay quiet. She would later suffer a few nags from her sister after getting back to their house.

Royal Castle, Canterlot

Celestia was prepared for this night, she was going to ask her sister what happened while she was Nightmare Moon. It had been too long for Celestia's like, she wanted to regain her connection with her sister and she has given her enough time already to think on what she did, well actually, Celestia was just getting impatient and now wanted to see her dear sister, and she would try to help her in whatever it was troubling her. This wasn't just for Luna, Celestia herself has been taking all of this time to prepare herself for this moment and to start rebuilding her connections with her beloved sister, this was just as important to Celestia and she would treat it with respect. That is why Celestia decided to spend 10 minutes watching the doors to Luna's Chamber instead of knocking the door, she was just preparing herself and not being nervous.

Celestia saw the majestic doors that acted as an entrance to the place Luna would reside with her for a long time. Celestia prepared this room for centuries and was glad to see it being used at last, after so many years of preparation, she was now getting closer to recover the sister she lost so many eons ago and as Celestia's "readyness" were drowning her, she knocked the door that housed her nightly and moon lover sister.

As Celestia's hoof started to let Luna know that somebody was calling her outside, The Sun Princess decided to continue on this:

"Luna" -. She said with a bit of nervousness, - "it's me, Celestia" -. The white princess waited a bit and, after hearing no response, decided to knock the door once again. - "Sister, I've been waiting for all this time to talk to you again, please, I want to see the sister I missed for so long". - As much as Celestia waited, there was no response. - "Sister, please, I've missed you a lot and I want to reconnect with you to recover all the thousand years lost while you where away" -. For a moment, Celestia thought that she heard a faint gasp, but all she could hear was silence. Celestia started to get impatient and knocked again. - "Sister, if something happened while you were Nightmare Moon, its ok. We can talk it out, there's nothing a good talk cannot fix" -. Then, she finally heard something. Something that, luckily, was behind a door and didn't destroyed her ears.

"Dearest sister! While we appreciate thou attempts to reconnect with us, We feel it's not the most opportune moment to discuss of such a things! I pledge you to wait for tomorrow night and we'll talk to thou about the events of the despicable night We feel so ashamed off!".

Celetia meditated on the words and gave them a thought, that was the same response she gave her last night and the night before that. She was avoiding the issue and it was starting to get annoying.

"Sister, you said that yesterday and the day before that. Stop postponing this and let me in" -, she then held her breath as she tried to hide her anxiety, - "please".

It was a big silence what came next and, for a moment, Celestia thought that this night would be as unproductive as all the previous ones but then the door started to open, albeit slowly, and a small dark blue alicorn came out from the door looking at her sister with a slight hint of fear.

"Dearest Sister! We hope thou can forgive us for this inconvenience begun by us! We hope that this meeting enters into thou expectations!"

Celestia took a moment to check if her ears were fine and a second moment to think on what kind of help she could bring to her sister. After thinking for a while, she knew how to start the conversation:

"Luna, I'm so glad of seeing you after all these years, I thought I would never see you again. I now this must be hard for you, especially because of all the changes done on the last thousand years but I assure you that I'll do my best to help you adapt to this new age and, as a proof of that, I'll tell you that the Canterlot Voice was dropped a long time ago because it were making the ponies deaf".

Luna thought on this words and quickly blushed when she realized Celestia's message, she then moved out of the door to let her sister enter into her room and show that she also wanted to make amendments with Celestia.

As Celestia entered into Luna's room, she couldn't stop noticing how some things in the room were already being changed, the dark blue curtains that were covering the windows were thinner, which allowed the sunlight to enter and bring a dark blue coloring to her room, very different from the thick curtains she brought that wouldn't have let any type of light entering into the room. She also noticed how all the mirrors she put in the room were covered or turned around, making it impossible for any pony to see their reflections. This were the first things Celestia noticed on Luna's room, but she was sure there were more changes that she hadn't noticed, but that wasn't her reason here, she was here to talk to her sister, so she turned to the second most comfortable place on the room, she sit there and waited for Luna to get comfortable as well.

As Luna got close to a good spot to sit on, she saw her sister and noticed (to her happiness) the lack of hatred and resentment she feared so much and tried to make a conversation:

"Dearest Sister, it make us glad that thee have found somepony worth taking the responsibility of wearing the Elements of Harmony. It brings calm to our minds that such powerful artifacts have managed to find a wearer capable of keeping harmony on Equestria in the same way as we did back then. Tell me, where did thou found her?"

As Celestia gave a thought to her wording, she decided to respond very carefully to her sister.

"Oh, Luna, I'm also glad that the Elements of Harmony found suitable bearers that can help us to keep Harmony in Equestria, it also makes me glad that my personal apprentice, Twilight Sparkle, managed to figure how to use them and bring you back. It always worried me that it could've been too late for you.

As of where did I found her, well, I found her on a test exam. She had a surge on the middle of her exam and was throwing spells everywhere until I calmed her down. By the time she was calm, I noticed that she found her Cutie Mark and it was the same as the Element of Magic. I hope that satisfy your question and now I'll make one of my own and ask how do you feel? Are you happy to return to Equestria?"

Celestia and Luna looked at each other, trying to not hide their emotions as they spoke, and as the Sun's light shone on the Moon, all the Moon could do was to receive the light and reflect it for the Sun's light was always stronger than the Moon's shadow.

"Sister, We also feel happiness for our return, We have always wanted to be accepted for others and your apprentice did an outstanding job in recovering the Elements, We are sure that she will help us to bring a great time for Equestria but it worries Us that she could have been damaged for our last encounter" -. Celestia raised her eyebrows and only moved her head to let her sister know that she could continue, - "As We were saying, while We were corrupted by the Nightmare, Nightmare Moon would give it all to try and stop Twilight Sparkle from defeating us but She and her friends prevailed and even had their friendship strengthen. So We tried to stop her on our old Castle by taking her into a lone chamber and that's when we found it".

At this point, Luna stopped, Celestia wondered what did they found but, before she could interrupt Luna, the Lunar Princess decided to proceed.

"It was a nightmarish creature, not even Nightmare Moon would've been capable of creating such a ghastly monster. It's destroyed wings, it lacks of organs and flesh, it had all the marks of being a demon but, when We confronted it, it told us that he was a fighter for justice and that he was here to help Twilight. The Nightmare confronted it but to no avail, its magic (as weak as it may be) was used in such crafty ways that he always managed to take us unguarded. We were so afraid of it from defeating us that we decided to... Eliminate it" -. Once again, Luna made a big pause and lowered her eyes from her sister. Celestia could see how this was damaging her sister and she wanted to hug her and tell her that everything was fine, but she had to wait until Luna decided to allow it. - "The Night- We were so afraid of being defeated by this creatures that We decided to use a cheap tactic to extinguish it from the realm of the living. We were so glad of its defeat, We thought that there was nothing that could've stop us now, but your faithful student proved Us wrong. Now, as We're free from the Nightmare's corruption, We can only feel sorrow, regret and fear over our monstrous acts and for how deeply we could've scar Twilight" -. Luna then looked up again, with water on her eyes, and proceded, - "We will understand if thou don't want to speak to Us anylonger dearest sister. Please, just let us stay here and let me have this room as our new jail. It would be an appropriate prison for such a creature like me".

Luna closed her eyes and waited for Celestia's judgement but all she could feel was the warmth of Celestia's embrace and how her back was feeling tears that didn't belonged to her.

"Luna, I know you must feel terrible for what you did, please, don't let it trouble you. We'll figure out what to do and we'll talk with Twilight about it but understand that I forgive you for what you did and I'll do my best to help you here. You're my sister, my only sister and I will not judge you for doing something you had no control over".

Luna stopped holding her emotions and started to cry with her sister. The rest of the night would be about Celestia having more information about this creature she misjudged and Luna learning about what changes came to Equestria in the last Millennium.

Everfree Forest, The Following Day

Applebloom was starting to doubt if it was a good idea to leave her sister on that branch. Not because she feared the possibility of her being attacked by a monster but rather because Applebloom was really wanting some company, she wanted to find Zecora but she didn't have a clue of where to find her neither how to defend herself if the Everfree creatures decided to attack her.

Applebloom trotted more and more into the Everfree and saw the trees, she saw the shadows and feared for the creatures that may be waiting for her to drop her defenses, she was so afraid of being captured right now. She was a big filly, but that didn't made her immune to fear or worry. As she trotted more and more into the woods, she wondered how good of an idea was for her to enter into the forest, not because she wanted to find an answer about what was going on with Applejack and her friends, but because she wanted to prove how big she was. Applebloom could feel the woods mocking her decisions and was now preparing to attack her, she heard a sound coming from the distance, probably a Timberwolf, and her heart skipped a beat. They were coming.

Applebloom could feel the presence of the Everfree getting closer and closer to her, she could feel the air squeezing her body and suffocating her more and more, a chill came to her coat and she prepared for the worse, her ears could hear it so close to her as the branches were being broken more and more. By this point Applebloom just closed her eyes and waited for the attack, trapped by her own fear against the imminent danger.

"What are you doing here in this dangerous forest, young filly?"

The (apparently male) voice surprised Applebloom and made her turn around to the place were the voice originated, she tried her best to see the shape of the pony that was talking to her (she hoped it was a pony) but all she could see where shadows, bushes and trees that were so close together that made it impossible to see anything.

"Up here, young filly".

Applebloom looked up on the trees and managed to see a figure, the darkness and lack of sunlight didn't helped a lot, but Applebloom managed to see a very thin and tall creature with only two bright dark blue eyes looking at her. Applebloom was now trying to wonder in how much troubles she was, but the voice interrupted her train of thought.

"Little filly, why are you in the dangerous Everfree Forest? Aren't you aware that any of the creatures living in these place could kill you?"

This words angered Applebloom.

"I'm not a little filly! I'm a grown mare capable of doing grown up stuff."

She said with a hint of pride while raising her chest. The creature didn't show any signs of annoyance at this silly retort, but it did gave a simple reply that made Applebloom feel embarrassed.

"A grown mare wouldn't have ventured into this dangerous forest alone or without any type of self defense."

While Applebloom understood that he was right, she still wanted to retort him.

"Oh yeah? Then why are you here so alone and unprotected?"

Before Applebloom could even make a smug smile, a magic blast passed right beside her and blasted the road. Applebloom saw the road and noticed how black the ground got, she could even feel the heat of the blast and, then, the voice responded.

"I already have my protection. And you?"

Applebloom was now hoping this was a nice stallion, if stallions could get that high because, otherwise, she could be in a lot of troubles.

"Uhm, no. I don't have that type of protection mr..." - Applebloom looked back a the figure and realized she didn't knew his name yet, - "excuse me but, what is your name?" - The creature remained silent for a while before giving her an answer.

"Raziel is how you can refer to me as."

Applebloom could only raise her Eyebrow.

"Raziel? Well, that's a very weird name Mr."

Raziel didn't give any hints of problems at this, he just accepted her comment.

"Indeed it is, for its a foreign name that doesn't belong to Equestria".

This brought new questions to Applebloom.

"You're not from here? Like Zecora?"

Applebloom quickly got her answer from Raziel but not on the way she expected.

"Zecora? Who that could be young filly?"

Applebloom got very confused and tried to explain herself.

"Zecora, you know? The Zebra? A Pony but with white and black stripes? Haven't you seen her?"

Applebloom waited a bit for an answer and, to her delight, Raziel gave her a positive answer.

"Oh, yes, I am aware of her. She tends to journey through the Everfree from time to time. Sadly, I have never interacted with her because we tend to avoid each other's presence. Why are you searching for her?"

Applebloom got sad at this but she responded nonetheless.

"I've wanted to talk to her because mah sister and her friends were having a weird disease and Twilight couldn't find any cure, so I thought that perhaps Zecora could have it".

Applebloom was wondering what she could do, she didn't knew where Zecora lived but she needed her help, she was now starting to think this was a bad idea but, before she could do anything, Raziel gave her an answer that cheered her up.

"So, your sister and her friends are struggling with a strange illness. If that is the case, while I do not have any type of direct contact with the Zebra, I can escort you to her house so, hopefully, a solution of some sort can be produced."

Applebloom got really happy at this new turn and got excited to get the help she needed, - "really? Thank you very much Mr. Raziel."

"Just Raziel will suffice little Applebloom, just follow my voice and you'll get there."

On that moment, Applebloom saw Raziel's eyes moving on the direction she hoped would take her to Zecora and quickly followed him. As the two figures were walking together, Applebloom heard Raziel asking her:

"So, Applebloom, what's going on to Miss Twilight and her friends that requires you to come here?"

Applebloom decided to keep the conversation and responded.

"Oh! Well, something wrong happened to them last night and now they have some weird affliction: My sister Applejack is very small, Rarity is all hairy, Fluttershy has something weird on her voice, Pinkie Pie cannot speak, Rainbow Dash has her wings upside down and Twilight has her horn floppy."

Raziel's glowing eyes stopped and turned around to look directly at Applebloom.

"Floppy horn?" - Asked Raziel to Applebloom, - "yeah, floppy, its all falling down and she can't do magic with it."

As Applebloom said this, she saw Raziel's eyes turning around and going forward once again, she tried to follow Raziel's eyes, but he was far ahead and she couldn't see his figure well and this prompted her to make the nesxt question.

"Say, why are you hiding on the trees? It would be easier to follow you if I could see your whole body."

At this question, Applebloom only got silence as an answer, but before she could ask again Raziel changed the conversation.

"Applebloom, why did your sister sent you here on this dangerous forest? Even on her current conditions, Twilight and her friends are more than capable to defend themselves compared to you."

Applebloom's eyes shrunk at the dangerous question and, feeling cornered by a mysterious creature capable of either leaving or killing her at the spot, she decided to answer with the truth: "To be honest, they didn't" -. Then Applebloom lowered her head in shame, - "Ah' was tired of being called a small pony and decided to come here on my own. Ah' now it sounds silly but Ah' just want to prove everypony that Ah' can do grown up stuff."

Applebloom turned her head up and stopped right when she saw Raziel's eyes looking straight at her, with his answer making her flinch right away.

"What you just did was very immature. Brave, but immature, I'll aide you out here to reunite with Zecora but don't make this travels into the Everfree a common thing. There'll come a time where I won't be here to defend you or the other ponies and the Everfree is filled of dangerous creatures that could murder you. Understood?"

Applebloom nodded, feeling ashamed, and proceeded with Raziel and, not too long after that, they found the house of the Zebra. As Applebloom started to get happy for finding Zecora's house, she started to wonder how dangerous she could actually be and hoped all those rumors about her weren't true.

"Mister Raziel" -, said Applebloom, - "could you please stay here until Ah' finish talking with Zecora? It's not that I'm afraid, its just that ah' want to make sure she'll have the answer ah' need."

She looked at the place Raziel should be and saw his eyes looking at her and Raziel's voice quickly responding her.

"Applebloom, I know what the citizens of Ponyville thinks of her. I know you must fear that the rumors about her are true but you'll never know what is true and what isn't until you go and search for the truth. Perhaps then you could realize who's the wrong enemy and who's the right one."

Before Applebloom could ask what he meant with that, he told her once again to move to Zecora's house and ask. Applebloom moved forward and knocked the door of the infamous Zebra and looked back once again just to realize that Raziel's eyes were nowhere to be seen, Applebloom was about to ask Raziel where he was but the Zebra opened the door and invited her in. Once inside the house of the Zebra, Applebloom learned the truth of what caused the illness on her friends, the poison joke flowers, and helped Zecora produce the potion that would help Applejack and her friends. A few hours, and a big explanation, later Applebloom went back to her house with her sister and friends to have a proper bath and recover from the Poison joke's curse. It was during this little trip from Zecora's to the Library that the mares would talk to Applebloom about her most recent victory.

"I'm very proud of you Applebloom" -. Said a very happy and still cursed Twilight, - "you overcame fear and rumors, came here and asked Zecora for help."

A very small and concerned Applejack decided to continue on the conversation with an important reminder, - "yeah, but don't think Ah' forgotten about how you left me on that branch. You'll be on troubles once we come back Applebloom."

Applebloom sighted at this and tried to escape from punishment.

"Aw, come Applejack. Nothing happened to me."

The big, but now small, sister riding Applebloom rebutted the argument.

"Ah'll get none of that Applebloom. There are many dangerous creatures on the Everfree and you could have been attacked by something like a Timberwolf."

"No, Ah' wouldn't. I was protected by Raziel this whole time".

Everypony stopped in the moment Raziel was mentioned and looked at Applebloom with very concerned eyes. All of them except two ponies, one of them being Pinkie Pie and the other being:

"Who?" - Asked a curious Rainbow Dash, being the only one not aware of the Soul Reaver's presence all of this time, with Twilight Sparkle ignoring her question.

"Applebloom, what do you mean with Raziel?"

Applebloom started to worry but responded nonetheless.

"Raziel, somepony I met in the Forest, he helped me to reach Zecora while protecting me from anything dangerous."

Twilight looked at Applejack and Rarity.

"Girls, who's this 'Raziel' you're talking about?" - asked once again an ignored Rainbow Dash while Twilight continued her interrogation to Applebloom.

"Applebloom, did you saw his figure? How did he looked like?"

Applebloom tried to remember but she couldn't answer that because she never saw Raziel's appearance, - "sorry Twilight, but I never saw him well. He hid behind the trees and Ah could only look at his glowing blue eyes."

Fluttershy quickly came into the scene and reprimanded the little filly.

"Applebloom, you can't trust somebody like that. He's not trustworthy and he's dangerous. You cannot be in contact with him again."

"Hey!" - Interrupted an angry Applejack. - "That's mah sister you're talking to, Ah'll be the one to decide who she can or cannot see!" - Fluttershy quickly apologized and before the situation could blow out of proportions, Twilight simply told them that this conversation would be hold until they were cured from the Poison Joke.

"Aw, come on, I want to know who is this 'Raziel'."

"Dashy, calm down. This chapter isn't focused on you, you'll have your answers when it becomes your turn".

And just like that, everypony moved forward to Ponyville but not before finding the place that held the poison joke flowers now burned and with only ashes left from them. They all got concerned and decided that this issue would be talked about later on another day, leaving Applebloom very confused on how could Twilight and Fluttershy, apparently, knew about Raziel.

It has been a long day for Twilight, all she wanted to do now was to rest on her bed and she wondered how she would talk about Raziel to the girls tomorrow and that wasn't even talking about how Fluttershy apparently knew him or if this 'Raziel' even was the one she knew about (it could be an impostor for all she knew) but that would be tomorrow. Today was a busy day, she sent her friendship letter to Celestia and was now going to rest, that was, until Spike came to her and gave her a letter from the princess. Twilight didn't know what this could be about and all Spike said about it was that "he wasn't allowed to see", but Twilight knew Celestia very well and she was sure that it must have been important.

As she read the letter, Twilight's worries started to grow once again:

To: Princess Celestia
From: The Manehattan Science Expedition
Location: The Mountain Path north of Ponyville
Subject: The Dragon

Greetings, the following letter is being sent to your majesty as a response to our research regarding the Dragon mentioned by your apprentice Twilight Sparkle. Once again, we thank you for all the help you've brought us and the economic relief to make a proper research on this place, we now send you the results of the dragon's autopsy.

Once the Team entered into the cave, we used scan spells to make sure that the cave was safe and to detect any type of lingering spells. We found the spells used by your student that kept the Dragon conserved for our analysis, we want to thank her for making our work easier considering that none of the spells used by her endangered the scene. Putting aside the spells used by your student, we managed to find some answers.

A) The whole cave was burnt, this made it hard for us to detect what was lying around the cave but we managed to trail the fire's origin towards the dragon. Considering how much was everything burnt and even the gold was melted, we can conclude that the dragon was desperately trying to burn something and, to not care about his own loot, this something must have been very dangerous to keep alive.

B) The Dragon was on a very critical condition, we managed to scan its body and we discovered that it's internal organs were severely damaged. Its bones were fine thanks to the scales protecting it from the boulders falling but that didn't stopped the kinetic energy and the pressure made by the rockfall from harming them, if the dragon hadn't been frozen, then definitely the damaged organs would have killed it. We also noticed that one of its arms was cut from its body before the rockfall, which means that the battle lasted a bit more than we actually thought, and from what we could analyze, the arm was severed through freezing and then smashing said arm, which also tell us a lot of the strength of our mysterious assassin.

C) Magic was used, we can asses that because there's still magic leftovers here. This allowed us to analyze and record the Magic Print of whoever/whatever did this. Sadly, since the ursa minor had no magic leftovers we couldn't get any magic print there so we cannot determine a 100% that the one behind the ursa minor and the dragon are the same one. But we did detected what Twilight Sparkle mentioned, the dragon's body is on the same condition as the ursa minor regarding its internal magic: there isn't a single piece in there.

From this results, we manage to reach to a very solid conclusion:

We can deduce that the creature behind the murder of both the ursa minor and the dragon, even if we're not 100% sure, because the one thing both scenes share is the lack of internal magic, had this been a different culprit then the dragon would have retained its internal magic (dragons tend to retain it for a longer time) but this isn't the case here. We can also verify that said culprit is capable of using both fire and ice magic (which means that this isn't a simple animal), have a great strength and is capable of sucking magic.

After this investigation is over, we'll head back to Manehattan and wait if the Academic teams of Canterlot can bring us more information regarding the Soul and how it works.

Signed

Leader of the Investigation Team: Clever Find

After reading the letter with much fear, Twilight found a second note with the letter. This one had Princess Celestia's writing style and was very specific with its content.

Luna told me about her moment with you and the entity that was murdered. We need to talk, it will be better if we talk with the elements considering they're your friends, and we must determine what kind of creature we're dealing with.

Princess Celestia

As things started to get more complicated, Twilight was wondering what to think. Was the creature she remembered so well the bad guy or not?

Author's Note

My apologies for taking so long, I hope you liked this chapter even if it needs edition.

Yeah, things are starting to get a bit hard but it will be a while before Raziel befriends them. Maybe protecting Applebloom will help his reputation, right?

EDIT June 7th of 2019: If you like this and you want to support me, you can do it through my Ko-Fi. Feel free to check it out.

Chapter 6: The Hidden Enemy

Ponyville Library, Ponyville

As a new day in Ponyville was beginning, Twilight Sparkle was making the final preparations to receive Princess Celestia for the Ponyville Harvest that would be tomorrow, she also was preparing herself to talk to both Princess Celestia and her friends about Raziel. While the first part was an easy one, since all of Ponyville have been preparing for this event and she made sure that everything went according to the list, the second one was still a hurdle for her to tackle. How was she going to explain about Raziel to Rainbow Dash, Pinkie Pie, Fluttershy and Princess Celestia? Should Spike attend the meeting? How could she talk about Raziel's possible links to the most recent events in Equestria, those being the Ursa Minor incident, The Dragon and now his encounter with Applebloom?

The more Twilight thought about this, the more fear penetrated her being and pushed her once again to postpone this meeting, but she wouldn't do it again. She would have this meeting and nothing would stop her, she was sure of it.

She started to formulate her case, she started to remember all the details she could about her encounter with Raziel, all of what he said, how he acted, how he helped her and how she saw him as. She was sure that, while the Ursa Minor and the Dragon would give her a hard case, she was sure that whatever happened with Applebloom could help her to prove that Raziel was a good friend they should trust. That is, if this was the same Raziel that she met on her encounter with Nightmare Moon. For all Twilight knew, this could have been a different being that was using his name but she wasn't sure how to prove it.

She saw her Library and remembered the first party Pinkie made there, she remembered her friends and how much they meant to her, she wondered how things could have been if she hadn't met them and, as the sunlight penetrated the Library through the windows and gave the wooden house a natural clarity that could only be treasured on the mornings, Twilight filled herself with that morning brightness to treasure her friendship with Applejack, Rarity, Fluttershy, Pinkie Pie and Rainbow Dash promising that she would never let anything nor anyone to disband it and that she would give her hardest to include Raziel among her friends, so they could see the great figure he was.

Twilight closed her eyes and took a deep breath through her nostrils, she smelled the essence of the morning mixed with books and well cared wood and with her lungs filled with the essence of her new home, she prepared for whatever the day could throw at her, after all, she decided to organize her books the day before so it could be easier for her to help the rest of the town for the Princess's visit.

36 Hours Later
Everfree Forest

The relative peace of the Everfree Forest was something that very few were capable of enjoying. The deathly creatures living inside the forest, the deathly plants, its ever changing weather, finding a moment of peace, a moment when you knew you could relax without a fear of being attacked by anything, was something very hard to do. For Raziel, this kind of moments were very useful to stop and think about his location and to prepare his next tactical step. He have read many of the books located in the ancient castle and he have come to the conclusion that he needed to purify the elements so they could harm the Elder God, which is why it was so vital to befriend the ponies, if the ponies were pure, then they would have the spiritual means to fight that monster.

The humid air of the forest along its dark atmosphere went through Raziel's features as he analyzed the situation at hand:

From what I could gather, the Elements of Harmony were somehow tied to its bearers. They could only be worn by those who represented their qualities and they could only be used to face creatures that represented the opposite of them, the logical thing to conclude is that said Elements would banish the Elder God from this world should the ponies find it. But how effective could they be?

It cannot be forgotten that both I and The Elder God doesn't belong to Equestria, for all I'm aware off, this world's rules doesn't apply to me or it. As such, The Elements of Harmony wouldn't be able to affect it if said possibilities are true, and said possibility leads to the conclusion that they would need of my powers to be capable of destroying It. The same conclusion can also be applied to me.

I can still remember how I couldn't even scratch its tentacles due to The Soul Reaver's nature as a wraith blade, those are heavy implications considering that my Spiritual Reaver was powerful enough to harm it when it was combined with the Physical manifestation of the Soul Reaver. Without a physical vessel that could harness the purifying powers of the Reaver, I was unable to give it a fight. In conclusion, without my powers and the elements joined together, there would be no way to defeat the squid that was trying to destroy this land.

But how do I proceed?

Should I purify the ponies so the Elements could gain the power needed to fight the Elder God or should I imbue my Reaver into the Elements so they could gain the Reaver's properties?

As Raziel was walking, he saw something very unusual: a big ball rolling into him.

Raziel wasn't sure of what it was or why it was coming from Ponyville, but he wasn't going to let it crush him, so he took out his Fire Reaver and, in a powerful swing, he sent an inferno towards the huge ball. As the sphere was burning, Raziel could hear the multiple screams of living beings dying out, burned alive and having the last moments of their life in total agony as Raziel wondered what creatures he have just murdered. Potential guilt washed over Raziel as he saw how the hundreds of creatures started to leave their souls, becoming in a spectacle that would have easily be confused with fireflies had he been in the middle of the night.

Nonetheless, Raziel decided to not waste their souls and ate them before they could be snatched away by any of the Elder God's underlings. But knowing that it came from Ponyville, Raziel had a very important reminder, he wasn't allowed to go into the town and if he wanted a chance to get in better terms with the ponies, it would be better if he stayed out.

I suppose that, in the time being, I won't be able to find out the former. As long as I'm not allowed to enter the town, any chance of purifying them will be met with serious problems.

That leaves...

In that moment, Raziel started to see back at the mountain containing Canterlot Castle. House of the two current princesses of Equestria and the place where, he supposed, were housed the Elements of Harmony. Raziel was sure that it would take him multiple journeys to Canterlot to figure out where the Elements where located and how to avoid the guards as well as its citizens, but this would have to do for now.

So, as Raziel started to plan out when he would go to Canterlot and which would be his fastest path towards it, he managed to take a glimpse of Princess Celestia going towards Ponyville, which meant that Canterlot only had one princess guarding it and said Princess supposedly worked at night. Raziel knew that this was a golden opportunity and he wasn't going to waste it, so he shifted the planes and prepared for a quick journey towards the city that originally received him when he first landed on Equestria.

Ponyville

Twilight was feeling very alleviated right now because, thanks to Pinkie Pie, Ponyville was finally free from the parasprites but Princess Celestia had to leave to Fillydelfia and she wasn't sure if she would have time to talk to her friends now that they had to fix Ponyville but, as she was trying to reschedule everything, she heard Rainbow Dash's voice giving her some hope:

"Hey, don't think you can use this as an excuse." - Twilight looked at Rainbow Dash with a questioning look, at which she explained, - "once we finish cleaning all of this. You'll be telling us about that Raziel dude." - Twilight smiled and nodded towards her friends, grateful to see that they could make such sacrifices for her and responded with a big and pure smile - "Sure!"

As Twilight and her friends were cleaning out everything with the rest of the town, a wave of eagerness flooded Twilight as she prepared to tell the tale of how she met Raziel to her friends. She started to remember her encounter with him and prepared herself for any type of questions her friends could've done about it, she tried to think on any reason why they could doubt of him but none came to her mind.

As time passed and the streets got repaired (the rest would take a few more days), Twilight and her friends went to the Library to discuss about Raziel and, as they passed through the devastated Ponyville, they took note of how quickly the village was recovering from something that would've devastated a city like Los Pegasus and how, even after such chaos caused by the parasprites, the atmosphere in Ponyville and its inhabitants felt calm and welcoming. This sensation stayed in their minds as they started to wonder how something like "Raziel" would be welcomed here, something else that would've to be discussed.

As Twilight and her friends entered into the Library, Twilight felt relieved of seeing it already cleaned up thanks to a very tired and sleepy Spike that was resting on a bench, waiting for Twilight. She was going to reward him for that, Twilight would make sure of that but, for now, Twilight would pick him up and let him rest on his bed as she put him on the embrace of softness and a warmth feeling with the same care and love as she gave him when he was a baby.

As Twilight went back to the meeting at the Library's entrance, with her friends waiting for her, she realized that it never passed through her head a way to start the conversation. Twilight was starting to feel uncomfortable but, as she was trying to see what to say, Rainbow Dash quickly asked who was Raziel and why did everypony reacted in such a way to that name. With an open path to start the conversation done, Twilight decided to begin:

"Thank you for the question Rainbow Dash, it's the best way to start this meeting" -. This made Rainbow Dash raise her chest in pride as Twilight continued. - "Now, to explain who Raziel is, or was, I first have to go back to our encounter with Nightmare Moon. You must be aware by this point that I came out of that a little bit affected, right?"

"A bit?!" - Said a very enthusiastic Rainbow Dash. - "You were so sad and depressed that it took us weeks to make you feel better, even Celestia had to send you those tickets so you could finally improve. Did that Raziel do something to you? Because I can go and kick him on the-"

"Thank you, Rainbow Dash dear, for your concern" -. Interrupted Rarity. - "But I think it would be better if Twilight could continue the story before we can make any type of judgement, right?" - In that moment, Rarity looked preemptively at Fluttershy with a look of 'this also goes for you', at which Fluttershy whimpered a bit.

After that little moment, Twilight decided to proceed:

"Yes, thank you Rarity. As I was saying, the reason why I was feeling so down was because of something that happened when I met Nightmare Moon in that room. That room where I and the Elements were transported contained something else that neither I or Nightmare Moon ever saw before: A Knight".

This brought the attention of Rainbow Dash and Fluttershy as they wondered what kind of creature was this that Twilight gave it such title and, as she kept talking about it, the more her eyes shone with a daydream feeling.

"This knight came to Equestria to defeat Nightmare Moon and help us to regain the Elements. In fact, he was actually defeating Nightmare Moon when-"

"Wait!" - Interrupted, once again, Rainbow Dash. - "He was defeating Nightmare Moon alone?! Was it that powerful!?"

Twilight quickly decided to respond and continue.

"No, he wasn't as powerful as Nightmare Moon, in fact, his magic was very simple. But what made him so amazing was how he used his spells: he made sure to use them when Nightmare Moon didn't expected them and then attacked her when she lowered her defenses. It was a tactical genius!"

"Wait!" - Interrupted a very energic Pinkie Pie this time around. - "Does that mean I have to use as a banner 'Welcome Tactical Knight that helped us save Equestria' or 'Thank you magical-tactical Knight that helped us save Equestria' for his celebration party! Because I don't think it would be fair to celebrate Princess Luna return and not make him a party because parties-"

As Pinkie was talking, Applejack shut Pinkie's mouth and said - "Pinkie, sugarcube, Ah' know you want to ask. But can you please wait until Twilight here finish her tale?" - After a very fast series of nods, Applejack let Pinkie open her mouth and allowed Twilight to proceed:

"Thank you Applejack. As I was saying, this knight was helping me by fighting Nightmare Moon as I was trying to figure out the spark to activate the Elements... but then Nightmare Moon decided to attack me instead, forcing him to protect me from the attack, and ending his life."

As Twilight said this words, which hung on the air like smoke and were as dense as ice, everypony (who wasn't aware yet of why Twilight felt so bad for all that time) finally understood and they all quickly went to hug her friend to ease her pain and hope that she could recover from that very soon.

"Yes" -. Continued Twilight, - "that's why was feeling so bad back then. I was feeling guilty and weak for not being able of helping more on that moment. Don't worry, I have already recovered from that and I'll let you know if I ever feel like that again" -. Twilight then took a deep breath and continued. - "And that is why I was so worried when Applebloom said that 'Raziel' protected her. Raziel is supposed to be dead, there's no way he can be on the Everfree Forest."

"Oh, that's so good" -. As Fluttershy said this words and felt a series of judging eyes looking at her. - "I mean, it's very sad that he's death, but that means that it cannot be the same Raziel I met back in the Everfree."

Those words, instead of easing Twilight, only made her feel worse. Was Raziel, somehow, alive or was this an impostor? She had to figure it out.

"Wait, Fluttershy, did you saw his figure? How did he looked like?"

Fluttershy looked down, trying to remember, but all she could recollect were his dark blue shining eyes and his smooth voice, which didn't helped much to Twilight, who never payed attention to Raziel's eyes and the voice wasn't enough to make the connections. Applejack would ask later to Applebloom about him and if she managed to see his appearance. Now, all that was left, was to hear why Fluttershy was so happy of not being Raziel.

"Oh! You see, when we were about to go to the Dragon and found him death. I met him first and told him about the smokestack, he then disappeared. He told me a few days later that he was the one who murdered the dragon. So, if he isn't the one who saved Twilight, then he must be an impostor, right?"

Twilight waged the options: Even if this wasn't Raziel, that didn't changed the fact that this was the same individual who killed an ursa minor and a dragon; this 'Raziel' was dangerous and it had to be stopped but they would need Princess Celestia's help to defeat him, she would send a letter to her during the night. The other option was that this was the same Raziel, that meant that the Raziel she knew wasn't so good or had a good reason to kill those two beings... and that Raziel was living on the Everfree for some (very justified, now that she remembered his appearance and how Ponyville reacted to Zecora) reason; if this was the same Raziel then Applebloom was safe.

As Twilight communicated this to her friends, it was decided that the Mayor would be advised that "The Everfree Beast" was real and that all the residents of Ponyville would have to be extra secure whenever they had to pass close to the Everfree Forest, a letter would be sent to Princess Celestia and that Applebloom would be banned of going to the forest alone. All of that, just as a precaution as this mystery was getting bigger and bigger. Twilight was really hoping this would be solved soon and, if this was the Raziel she knew, that he didn't do anything that could worsen his potential relationship with Princess Celestia.

Canterlot Outskirts/Spectral Realm

Raziel was getting close to Canterlot. It took him a long time to make the whole trip but, thankfully, the time bending on the Spectral Realm would make it look like as if only a few seconds passed. After finding a small graveyard on the outskirts of the town that he could use to plane shift, and making sure that he didn't scare anybody for disturbing the dead, Raziel took a moment to see the city of Canterlot once again. It was passed midday but Raziel was sure that he wouldn't have the time needed to find the Elements before Celestia came back to her castle.

As I got closer to the city that welcomed me into this land, I decided to pause myself and take a look at what was before me. The City that housed the two princesses of the land were there, if I created any type of chaos or engaged the guards, I could create a tough situation that would deteriorate any potential relationship with the princesses. Stealth was my top priority if I wanted to find the Elements.

After activating the Dark Reaver and becoming undetectable to the equestrian eyes, Raziel started to move into the city by jumping the rooftops. He would make sure that not a single pony could touch him by accident. As Raziel was moving along, he managed to notice certain peculiarities of the city that he would make sure to note for his next visit. Things like being predominately unicorn or how the buildings reminded him of his old city back when he had a clan, small details that were either interesting or that he could exploit later.

This city... the fact that its main population are made up of unicorns could be a subtle way of telling who's the dominating species on this kingdom. Capable of using magic, market and gifted on science, I wonder how this kingdom's rule of order would be hadn't they be dominated by an equine that represents all three species together.

By jumping through the rooftops, Raziel managed to remember all the places of importance that he could use for later: A Library that, while it didn't helped him for the Elements, it could contain knowledge for magic spells, a Train Station that he could use to escape the city if he ever needed to escape without shifting, the castle (as majestic as ever) that Raziel was sure was going to be visited very soon, the School where he could find new sources of information and what was being recently researched, the market where he could eavesdrop to see what kind of goods this ponies valued, the parks and the likes to hear what was on the minds of the elites and, finally, a huge and isolated tower that didn't have any indication of housing anyone or being of importance for society and that it was separated from the whole city.

Raziel took notice of the tower, how huge it was, how defended it was, how little visits it got from the civilians. He had a hunch of what that tower contained but he must first had to find a away to get close to it.

This tower. It's not visited by civilians and it contains enough guards to make a delusion of any attempt of direct assault to enter it without alerting the princesses. No, the only way to enter into this tower would be through stealth but, to achieve that, I would have to inspect this tower for a long while and find the least defended spots for me to enter. I was sure that this tower contained the Elements, after all, what else could it contain with enough value that it needed as many guards as a castle? Now that my objective has been found, it was time to investigate the city a bit more to find out what kind of entities I was trying to save.

As Raziel was about to leave, he saw how the Tower's doors were opening up and revealing something new to his sight: A pink Alicorn coming out of there and escorted very closely by a guard with heavy armory, a white coat and dark blue mane, that had all the indications of being a general. The Soldiers saluted the two individuals as they left the tower grounds in Raziel's direction. This was more than enough reasons to Raziel to wait for them in the moment he saw them going on his direction and, while the roofs were a bit distanced away from the ground, thanks to his vampire hearing he was more than capable of hearing their conversation:

"-sure that this amount of guards are necessary General Shining Armor? I understand that this are the Elements of Harmony we're talking about, but there's no threat that could try to take them. In fact, we should only sound the alarm and either Princess Celestia, Princess Luna or me would be more than enough to face the intruder and that's not even counting the magical lock protecting them".

That voice was smooth, high toned, with a tint of royalty but filled with humility. It was quite clear that Equestria must be a very safe kingdom if she was capable of speaking this sort of things on the open. Her wings and horn made it quite clear that she was a royal, maybe a minor one if she wasn't as well known or famous as Celestia and Luna but with a lot of power to back her up. Raziel was making sure to remember her as the couple was passing by. Very soon, they would pass Raziel.

"I understand your concerns Princess Amo-" before the General could finish the sentence, the princess gave him a stern look that made him change his wording. - "I mean, Cadence, my apologies. It's just that we're working and I'm used to act like that as general of the Royal Guard. As I was saying, I understand your concerns Cadence but those are the orders made by your aunt Princess Celestia. She doesn't think that the magical lock is enough and I won't question her or her logic when it comes to the Elements, I think that any type of security is good and the more the better".

This voice was male, confident but careful, he walked with certainty and always aware of his environment and Raziel was sure that he would have a spell ready had they been attacked by surprise. The minimum standards that Raziel, or his brethren, would demand of a good general. Raziel was thankful that these two were talking about his main objective and now, with the reassurance of where the Elements were, all he needed was to find a way to enter and open the lock containing the Elements. For a moment, Raziel thought that the couple would give out more information but, right when they were below him, Princess Cadence stopped and started to move her horn on every side possible.

"Cadence" -. Said Shining Armor. - "What's going on? Have you detected something?"

The pink Princess silenced him and kept moving, each step done closer to Raziel.

"Yes General. I think somepony or, rather, something may be listening to us. Quickly! Activate your radar shield so we can find it!"

Raziel wasn't sure what those words meant exactly but he knew that running wouldn't be enough so, before the General or the Princess could detect him, he shifted planes and left Canterlot by jumping down the mountain. As Raziel fell down, he took notice of how those two could become a problem when he tried to enter into that Tower and attempt to purify the Elements of Harmony. His next visit would have to be prepared meticulously to make sure that nobody could interfere on his plan.

Canterlot Garden/Physical Realm

The Canterlot Gardens were a peaceful representation of Equestria's history, all of that represented through statues of ponies that were the living embodiment of the virtues that ponies should try to copy. Virtues like "Honor", "Courage" and many more were there, built in the shape of the pony that better showed said attributes. But there was one statue that was impossible to miss, not because of how beautiful or meaningful it was but, because of how much different it was from the other statues.

This statue, to begin with, wasn't a pony. This statue was a mash up of multiple species done together: a lion's paw on the right and an eagle claw on the left-upper side of his body while the lower side had a horse hoof on the right and a dragon's claw on the left side of its body, a long and skinny body that made it look like a serpent being. It had a goat's head with one horn belonging to an antelope and the other belonging to a deer and it had one long tooth coming out of its mouth. This Statue, a mishmash of animals that was petrified while singing a song, was labeled perfectly on the garden below the Castle in Canterlot, a label that was fitting to its nature and what it represented: Discord.

The Statue of Discord has been on Equestria for a long time, long before any other statue was ever made and its origins were lost to time by the Equestrians, all of them, except the princesses. The Princesses of Equestria would never forget the statue's origins and how hard it was to make and, thankfully, it would stay in there for a while longer. But today, something happened. Something that made the statue to do something that never attempted to do on its whole time in the gardens of Canterlot Castle, it decided to talk. It talked on a low tone, as if those listening didn't need ears to listen or were close enough to understand it and whoever it were directed those words, it listened very closely:

"I may not know who, or what, you are. But I do know when I'm getting a bad deal and that you're quite clearly in the wrong franchise, so I warn you right now: If I ever come out of this prison and figure out that you're still here, I'll make sure to get you out of this realm. I know what kind of being you are and I won't allow you to ruin in any potential way the fun I could have here. So leave and don't you ever come close to me again"

If there was someone, or something, listening, only the statue knew, for nothing on sight was in the gardens that could hear the statue speaking neither were aware that it could speak.

Everfree Forest

Applebloom had a hard day, after clearing the Apple farm the whole day due to the parasprites chaos, and now she didn't have enough time to find something to show tomorrow at school that she could show to her peers. So Applebloom decided to come into the Everfree Forest (very close to the exterior) and hoped to find Raziel so he could go to school, she was sure that they would all be amazed of her friend Raziel and how he was capable of scaring the creatures of the Everfree Forest. She wasn't sure of where to find him but she hoped to find him soon before the night came to Ponyville, or else she would have to go to school tomorrow with her empty hooves.

As she was calling out for Raziel's name, she felt a chill besides her that made her move back and prepare to run back home at full speed. She heard a weird and disgusting sound, as if a beast were eating its prey from the inside, that stopped very soon with a silence that was scaring Applebloom but, before she could do anything, a pair of dark blue eyes came out of the bushes. Once Applebloom realized that it was Raziel, she got very happy and called his name. As the pair of eyes turned to her and recognized her, all Applebloom could hear was a worried tone.

"Applebloom? What are you doing here? I told you already that it's dangerous in here."

Raziel said while closing his eyes in a menacing way. Applebloom understood what he was saying, but she felt that the shame of not bringing something to school was worse, so she proceeded on her request.

"I know that you said that, but I needed your help, you see, tomorrow I have to show to my friends something and I had all the day busy helping my family on the farm. So I was wondering if you could go to my school so I could show you to my schoolmates."

As Applebloom made her offer, a worrisome silence permeated the area until Raziel spoke back at Applebloom.

"Applebloom, I doubt that its a good idea to present me to your friends, especially when you don't even know my appearance. There's a reason why I live in the Everfree Forest."

Applebloom shrugged it off and complimented Raziel with the infamous frase: "Oh, come on! You probably look nice."

As she said this with an innocent smile, a very terrifying claw came out of the bushes and started to get closer to her. It was beyond anything Applebloom ever saw, it were three huge claws connected by a blue limp whose skin looked beyond normal. As Applebloom saw the claw retracting itself back to the bushes, she could feel her body trying to run but she didn't knew what was holding her back and, as her mind was slowly calming down, time passed as if it didn't exist. She wasn't sure how much time passed but, eventually, she finally heard Raziel's voice asking her if she still believed that he could be well received by her school.

It took a few seconds for Applebloom to understand what Raziel meant with that, she wasn't even sure if she could ever see him as a whole, if his claw looked like that, without having a panic attack. So, after getting another warning by Raziel, Applebloom said her goodbyes to Raziel and moved back to her house, in the middle of the night, and get reprimanded by her entire family for going to the Everfree Forest alone.

Author's Note

I hope this chapter makes it worth all the wait I gave you. My apologies for that.

Also, don't worry for the typos and grammar mistakes, I'll fix them once I read this again but I wouldn't mind if you point them at me while you're reading this.

EDIT June 9th of 2019: If you like this and you want to support me, you can do it through my Ko-Fi. Feel free to check it out.

Chapter 7: Building Friendship's Foundation

Canterlot Castle

Celestia was on her personal library, mistakenly thinking that her day was finally over and she could have a respite for tomorrow's new activities, but she was wrong. As she put her steaming cup of tea on the table and started to look at Cadence, she started to ponder on the new development Cadence brought into her resting haven and tried to analyze it the best way possible to be sure that it wasn't a misinterpretation from her part.

"Cadence" -, she said in a serious tone, - "I understand your worries regarding this entity you felt on your way to the Elements's vault but how do you know it wasn't a civilian or a pony for that matter?"

As Cadence looked back with an equally serious eyes, she responded in a low tone, as if she feared that someone, or something, may be watching.

"Aunt Celestia, when I felt this presence, it didn't feel normal. It felt foreign, as if it didn't belong to Equestria, its magic didn't felt vibrant, alive or harmonious like normal unicorns, it felt ancient, imposing and... not harmonious..."

This got Celestia's attention.

"Not harmonious? Do you mean, chaos or black magic?"

Cadence moved her head to the side to deny this.

"No, it didn't feel evil. That's why it was so strange, it didn't aligned with any type of magic ever researched in Equestria, I'm not even sure if I could call it magic, for all I know it could have been an energy signature. But it's so hard to call it energy because it behaved as magic, especially the way it left, it was just as strange" -. Celestia felt more and more interested to Cadence's information the more she explained. Perhaps it was her usual suspect? - "I remember when I felt its... magic... so far away (had it been from a normal unicorn, I would not have detected it) so I gave the order to the General Shining Armor to raise the barrier and, right before I could determine where exactly it was located, it disappeared-"

"Without a trace of any kind?"

Celestia's interruption alerted Cadence.

"Yeah, how do you know? Do you know what it is?"

Celestia's resigned face gave a big disappointment to Cadence.

"Sadly, no.... but I do know what creature caused it."

Now it was Cadence who felt intrigued.

"Creature? You mean, it's not a pony?"

Celestia's determined face only told her that she wasn't going to like the answer and she was right.

"No, it wasn't. It was a creature like I've never seen. It walked on two legs but it didn't have any resemblance to the minotaurs at all, it looked like if it was born from Tartarus itself and, when I was to getting close to it and figure out its intentions, it started to move its claws to its sides and disappeared without any trace. It wasn't teleportation and it didn't use magic that I'm aware off."

Cadence started to think about this information, if this creature came to Canterlot already, then she may be able to figure out its intentions but there was something that was irking Cadence's mind.

"Aunt Celestia... when did you encounter this creature?"

Celestia felt a strange sensation crossing through her spine, as if a taboo was broken and tried to think of a way to explain it to Cadence so she couldn't get the wrong idea.

"Auntie?" - Cadence started to fear the answer.

"It was on the day before the Summer Sun Celebration. It was looking at Ponyville before it disappeared." -. Cadence fell in shock, the pony she loved the most to foalsit was in Ponyville, but, before she could ask anything, Celestia continued. - "No, it didn't had anything to do with the return of Nightmare Moon. It was foretold a millennia ago and there was no way it could have released her, but I cannot asure you that it had either good or bad intentions."

Cadence felt a wave of relief surging through her body, Twilight was safe, but there was still something to ask about. -"What about... aunt... Luna... Does she know anything about it?"

"I'm not sure, Cadence, she did told me of an encounter with a creature that decided to face her when she was Nightmare Moon but, she claims that she murdered it and refuse to tell me more. She may open up a bit more, but it will take some time and, no, she didn't described me the creature so I cannot tell you if it was the same".

"But, you didn't detailed me how it looks."

Celestia looked at Cadence with a knowing look.

"I know, trust me, you don't want to know and I hope you never have to meet it but that's another matter, now we need to know what to do about the vault and the Elements. If it was here, then it's clear that it was searching for them."

Cadence gave the issue at hoof some thought, also hoping to never meet said creature, and decided to give the amatourish answer first.

"Well, we could reinforce the vault with more guards" -. Celestia's eyes told her all she needed to know. - "Well, we could harden the access to the Elements, perhaps a code or a magic barrier?"

Celestia gave this a thought. The more she thought about it, the more she refined the idea.

"Perhaps... more..."

"More?"

"Not just a code or a magic Barrier, we will make it hard to enter so, if it manages to infiltrate into the vault, the security manages to warn us, a code that will impide it from advancing through the vault and a magic barrier as a last resort to defend the Elements. That way, both Luna and myself will be there in time to stop whatever are its intentions with the Elements."

Cadence heard the proposal and she liked it at first, but she soon realized a detail in it.

"You and Luna? What about me? I want to be there."

"And you will" -. Reaffirmed a confident Celestia. - "You must be with the guards so, if anything happen to us, you manage to both fight and defend the guards from it."

Sadly, this didn't improve Cadence mood. - "But, auntie, if neither you nor Luna can stop it, then, how can I hope to stop it?"

Celestia then gave her a smug smile, one that Cadence wasn't expecting to see under the conditions the conversation was going.

"That's because I will teach you a special spell that a can only be used by ponies that has immense feelings for each other and I'm very sure that you already have a special somepony on your eyes, right?"

Cadence started to feel cornered, very embarrassed and started to turn red. - "Me, well, sure, maybe, I mean, I'm the princess of love and, I mean, maybe I do, how did you know? Because-"

"Cadence, when you have as much free time as I do, you get to notice the most minimal details just to get rid of your boredom, now come, I have a spell to teach you. If it works, you can defeat even armies with it."

Everfree Forest

It's been days since Raziel's last journey into the city of Canterlot and he has been planning a better way to infiltrate into, both, the city and the tower housing the Elements of Harmony. Sadly, that wasn't the only problem tormenting him in this realm. Raziel had other problems that were very important to him, the current one was about a certain creature that has been avoiding its demise by turning Raziel into stone. This was a problem for Raziel because of very simple reasons, the main one being how humiliating it was being petrified for the fifth time ever since his first encounter. Granted, there was a good thing that came from this process, Raziel discovered that he could still plane shift by leaving the statue at the cost of it being turned to dust.

This is what Raziel was doing right now, being turned into a statue once again by that chicken-headed lizard, he was aware that the amount of corpses he has amassed on the Everfree made it inconsequential the amount of times he could be turned into stone (for the time being) but that didn't mean that he would waste the only thing allowing him of shifting from the planes, after all, he lacked of any other mean to go back into the physical realm, a problem he hoped that it would change if he could finally befriend the equestrians. But how?

With each passing day, the Elder God's power grows. Soon, he will have enough strength to control Equestria. I've managed to become an acquaintance to the young Apple Bloom, but as much as her relation to the Element of Honesty could be of use, she's just a child. She cannot, should not, go into this dangerous forest. And if she tried to get me closer to the rest of Ponyville, she could easily be dismissed as naive due to her youth. That did not mean that I should dismiss Apple Bloom's close relationship with me, for friendship isn't something to dismiss based on who to befriend, but I admit that I need to befriend more than just her.

He started to live the statue as the Everfree Forest started to distort into the twisted entity that was in the spectral realm, by the time he finally left the statue, he looked back and saw how it was still allowing him to come back if he ever needed to return into the Physical Realm through that stoned body but, unless there was a way to recover from the petrifying process, he knew it was useless. Regardless, it was fascinating to watch your own body in the spectral realm before it disintegrated once you returned through a new one. After looking at himself for enough time, he dawned once again into his current condition with Ponyville.

Ignoring my current ban from Ponyville, I need to prove to the equestrians that I mean good will towards them but said thing its all but impossible if I'm not allowed to endeavor beyond this forest without being seen with fear. No, something must be done if I want to get closer to this realm without breaking the current ban imposed to me by the Element of Kindness, but what?

Raziel then started to remember the map of Equestria, he remembered every detail and how he compared it with the one located in the old castle and an idea sprang in his mind. An idea that may help him overall.

Perhaps... I should try to get a closer look at the other places surrounding Equestria for my presence isn't prohibited from those other places. Canterlot will be difficult but I need to go more usually to that city and I would really like to visit the city of Clouds, perhaps if I could get there I could find a vantage point to track the Elder God? And, more importantly, I was banned from getting closer to Ponyville but those living in Ponyville were not banned from getting closer to me.

As Raziel started to project his new approach to Equestria, he decided to first aim at Canterlot and the Elements, he was aware that the pink Alicorn detected him. It was obvious that his current condition was a causation of why she could detect him that easily and the consequences for it would be unimaginable for Raziel. He only hoped that there weren't more species capable of detecting him like that, or else, he may be bound to fight yet another hurdle for his integration into Equestria. But that was for another time, for now, Raziel had to plan his next incursion into Canterlot and he knew that the library in the old castle could provide him of something useful.

Ponyville

As Applebloom was leaving school with the new friends she made after Diamond Tiara's cutianera a few days ago, Sweetie Belle and Scootaloo, they were starting to discuss all the possible ideas they could have to obtain their own cutie marks.

"So" -. Started an excited Applebloom. - "What do you think we should try first? I mean, we could try to get cutie marks for cookie bakers, nurses, book managers..."

"Well" -. Continued a very thoughtful Sweetie Bell. - "All of this ideas sound nice overall, but I don't know if they're a good idea, I mean, I think we should start with something easy like-".

In that moment, Sweetie Bell was interrupted by Scootaloo.

"Easy? Come on, we must have cutie marks on something awesome like controlling beast or overcoming our fears" -. As she said this, Scootaloo started to look at the edge of Ponyville and developed a very rare idea. - "Maybe our cutie marks could be an explorer cutie mark."

This got the attention of both fillies, who asked in unison, - "explorer cutie marks?"

"Yeah, we could go to wild places and explore what's going on in there."

Sweetie Bell, starting to become the voice of reason, decided to add her own input on this.

"Wild places? Where we could get in danger? Like where?"

Scootaloo started to think as fast as she could. - "Places like... like..." - then, her mind gave her an idea that was already bad, but it would have been even worse had it been made under different conditions. An idea that she decided to give with a smug smile. - "Like the Everfree Forest".

The other two fillies weren't so thrilled about the already bad idea getting worse.

"The Everfree Forest?" - Asked a very doubtful Applebloom. - "Ah don't know, its very a dangerous place and Ah've gotten in a lot of trouble with mah' sister for getting in there alone."

Scootaloo, refusing this, decided to put some pressure on Applebloom.

"You've gotten there? That's awesome, that means that you must know that forest well enough, right?"

"Well, yeah, Ah do. Ah know it a bit and that's why Ahm' saying that's too dangerous. Ah' don't want to get in problems with Applejack again neither meet a timberwolf that could end me" -. And, before Scootaloo could say something about it, Sweetie Bell decided to support her apple friend. - "I agree with Applebloom, I don't want to get into troubles with my sister Rarity for entering into the Everfree Forest, besides, I don't want to meet the Everfree Beast."

As soon as Scootaloo heard that name, she decided to simply shrug it off, after all, if her idol Rainbow Dash entered into the forest without the fear of meeting that thing, whether it was real or not, then why should she?

"The Everfree Beast? Come on Sweetie Bell, don't tell me you believe in that hockey story made up a few weeks ago by Snips and Snails..

Applebloom was about to say that she also didn't believe in the Everfree Beast, but she then remembered Raziel and, while he never refused or acknowledged being that beast and he was too well mannered to be an actual beast, that claw she saw coming from him certainly wasn't natural. Perhaps she should ask him about it, but she had no idea of how to ask him without getting into the Everfree Forest, meanwhile, she would listen to her friends's conversation.

"First, Snips and Snails weren't the ones who made up that story, it was Trixie. Second, if you take notice, the monsters from the Everfree Forest have been fleeing it since a while ago. Third, if what Snips and Snails said was true, then somepony or something told them where to find the ursa minor and we all know that Trixie wasn't that one. If you factor all of that, it's obvious that a Beast must be there."

"Sweetie, look, if it talked to Snips and Snails, then it couldn't have been a beast because beasts don't talk. It probably was Zecora."

"If it was Zecora, then why she hadn't said anything about it? Besides, Snips and Snails already explained that it was a male voice, not female."

Scootaloo started to doubt herself, but she would never admit defeat, so she decided to make a final statement before Sweetie could shut her up.

"Snips and Snails aren't so trustworthy, besides there's nopony else living in the Everfree that can speak or that has enough power to defeat an ursa minor."

As Scootaloo was starting to look with a smug smile at a very annoyed Sweetie Bell and right before an equally stubborn Sweetie Bell could argue back, the one voice containing herself decided to speak up.

"Yes there is!"

Both fillies decided to look at her earth pony friend with a curious look as she had an embarrassed appearance. Sweetie Bell decided to ask first.

"Applebloom, what do you mean with 'there is'?"

Applebloom was feeling that she was about to go into the Everfree Forest very soon but she also didn't want to be rude to her new friends.

"Well... I know somepony who lives in the Everfree that's not Zecora."

"Somepony?" - Scootaloo was starting to feel excited, perhaps they could get a discovery cutie mark? - "Applebloom, do you know who defeated that ursa minor?"

Applebloom was starting to feel that her cutie mark was going to be an exposed one. - "Ah' don't know if he defeated the ursa minor, Ah' just know that he lives in the Everfree Forest and that he has strong enough magic to fight the timberwolves."

Sweetie Bell started to to get curious too.

"Applebloom, how did you met this pony? Because I've never heard of anypony living on the Everfree Forest that isn't Zecora"

Applebloom thought about it, Applejack never said that she couldn't talk about her little adventure into the Everfree when she went for Zecora or speak about Raziel. That was good enough for her.

"Well, when Ah' was searching for Zecora, Ah' was getting really scared of being found by a timberwolf and, right when Ah' thought that a monster was about to get me, Raziel appeared out of nowhere and took me to Zecora's."

As Sweetie Bell heard Applebloom and how this Raziel helped her moving through the dreading forest, she started to dream of him as a gorgeous knight ready to defend a damsel in distress from any danger. But, as Applebloom was finishing her tale, Sweetie Bell started to wonder how possible it was for a knight to be ugly. Scootaloo, meanwhile, now wanted to meet this... thing... and see if it was what Applebloom was talking about, it was obvious that Rainbow Dash could easily beat him in ten seconds flat, but he sounded kinda cool and she now wanted to see how likely it was for them to meet him.

"You sure you cannot take us there?" - Asked a still bold Scootaloo. - "Because I'm sure he's not as awesome as you make it sound like."

Applebloom started to defend her odd friend from this wrong statement.

"Of course he is, Raziel is very awesome and the only reason Ah' cannot take you there is because mah sister told me that Ah' cannot go there alone."

And those words were all what Sweetie Bell needed to hear.

"Your sister said that you couldn't go alone, but she said nothing of going with your friends."

With the loophole now clearing a way to go back into the forest. It was just a matter of finding an opening to go into the forest and, surprisingly for the crusaders, it came in the shape of Rarity asking them to go see Fluttershy and take her measurements. When asked about it, all that Rarity said was that it was for the Grand Galloping Gala and nothing else.

As the Cutie Mark Crusaders got closer to Fluttershy's home, they wondered how to go into the forest from Fluttershy's home, especially because the pegasus never went into the forest as far they were aware off and the idea of getting caught in the Everfree, whether it was for a pony or a monster, was something they preferred to avoid. The cutie markless trio thought and thought as they moved into the cottage that could house their best chance to take a short visit into the residence of Applebloom's mysterious friend, sadly, nothing came into their minds.

As they passed the town and saw how less and less buildings there were the more they got closer to Fluttershy's residence, they knew that they would have to wait for another day to get inside the Everfree and decided to knock Fluttershy's door. As they waited for Fluttershy to come, they looked around the cottage and noticed how the animals were looking at the Everfree Forest with extreme fear. Not a single one of them, not even the bear, showed a sign of rebellion or desire to move at all, they just stared into the Everfree Forest and waited to see what could come out of it. Freaked out by this, Sweetie Bell decided to knock the door and kept on waiting with her friends for the shy pegasus that was taking too long to come.

As they waited once again, Scootaloo decided to take a look at the Everfree Forest for a second time and an idea started to form in her head: what if Fluttershy went into the forest to search for an animal and she hasn't come back yet?

It made sense, actually, Fluttershy had to go for her animals, they were too afraid to move so she was alone, she found a dangerous creature and now needed help and they were going to be the ones doing that. As Scootaloo conveyed her idea to her friends, they, at first, decided to dismiss it since it was un reasonable that Fluttershy would venture into the Everfree Forest alone but, the more they waited for Fluttershy to open up, the more the idea drilled inside their head.

Eventually, the idea of Fluttershy being trapped in the Everfree Forest started to weight on them, afraid that she could be harmed by a timberwolf, a manticore or a chimera or that she got harmed by something dangerous on the Everfree echo system that would leave her unable to defend herself. So, in the end, they decided to enter into the Everfree Forest, without a grown up to protect them and no idea of where to go.

As they got inside the Evefree Forest, they searched for every spot they thought that Fluttershy could've been trapped. They sought first on places they already knew and close to places they could use as landmarks to go back home once they felt the search went for long enough but, the more inside the Everfree Forest they got into, the more lost they were getting. In a matter of time, the three fillies no longer recognized the place they were in and were now worried of being lost themselves.

Once they realized their new predicament, Applebloom started to worry about how harsh would Applejack's new punishment would be. Now, maybe she wouldn't be allowed to be with her new friends. Sweetie Bell was hoping that they could find the exit soon, after all, they were on a familiar place not too long ago, it was just a matter of retracing their steps. Scootaloo wasn't so worried, she thought that they could escape easily from any monster they found and there were no signs of a monster getting close to them so far.

As they went through the mysterious forest, the air started to get cold, the trees and branches became closer and started to block the sun even more, the lack of light started to create images on the trees that weren't there and the fillies started to hear sounds that weren't real. As they were becoming more and more paranoid, they started to retract more into their backs, not realizing that they would end up in contact with small branches that would be confused with a monster. As they made contact with the unreal fear, they all screamed as high as they could and run in the first direction they could go to and it was a divine luck that they didn't split up during that escapade.

As they finally decided to rest, they heard an actual sound, a mixture of a catlike purr with a sheep's calling. When they turned around to see the source of the sound, they found an actual chimera, their three heads looking at their new meal with hunger in their eyes. The crusaders were too tired to run, too tired to scream, too tired to feel a chill crossing their spine and now all they could do was cry and wait for the end of their lives.

As they started to feel the smell of the chimera's breath getting closer to them, a new sound came to the scene and the chimera's snake head turned around to see what could cause such a noise. Since all it could see were a bunch of bushes, the lion head decided to turn around as well to help in the search, the goat head decided to remain looking at the three meals still looking with fear at their, soon to be, murderer as the rest of the body moved to the source of the noise. The Snake head noticed a small, yellow, flash coming from the bush to the left of where the fillies were located and moved the body there. As the lion head started to smell around the bush to see what was in there, it detected a smell that it feared to ever detect in its life, a smell that only belonged to one creature and that it had a single meaning: death. The snake and sheep's head both detected the smell as well and quickly understood what was behind that bush and decided to flee but, before they could even move, a huge flash came from the bushes and blinded both the snake and lion head, making them unable to see their demise.

As the Chimera moved away from the Cutie Mark Crusaders, the adorable unicorn started to search for a way to escape but the sheep head was making sure that nothing could distract the body from letting them go, so all she could do was looking at the bush the chimera was looking at. As Sweetie Bell noticed the small yellow light coming from the bushes, she tried to tell both Applebloom and Scootaloo, who quickly turned around to satisfy their curiosity at what could be the other monster entering the scene. As they saw the blinding light forcing them to close their eyes, all they could hear was a faint wail that quickly moved around the place followed by a huge roar that started to quickly dwindle.

When the three fillies finally opened their eyes, all they could see was the chimera on the ground, not moving at all. They were, at first, too scared to move but, after waiting for a while, Applebloom decided to get closer to the chimera. As she moved closer to the beast that was about to eat her, she carefully moved closer while avoiding the heads and, when she got close enough, she started to slightly push the body with her hooves. After seeing that it wasn't moving, Applebloom decided to look at the heads and, to her surprise, she saw the sheep's eyes to be glassed out as if it saw death itself before dying. As Scootaloo and Sweetie Bell started to get closer to the chimera, to see if it was actually alive, they heard a voice coming from the bushes.

"Applebloom, when I told you that you shouldn't come back to this forest, I didn't mean that you should bring your friends over here."

The voice had different effects on the fillies. For Scootaloo, that voice sounded a little snub, as if Diamond Tiara grew up and became a stallion and became a lot more annoying. For Sweetie Bell, the voice sounded majestic, like a knight that came to face the monsters just so he could save the damsel in distress. For Applebloom, though, the voice sounded familiar and it filled her with hope that she may finally get out of the forest alive; as she looked around, she managed to see a pair of glowing, dark blue eyes looking in her direction and they couldn't have filled her with more joy.

"Raziel!"

She screamed as she ran to the bushes in the direction of her friend. When Sweetie Bell and Scootaloo heard the name, all they could do was getting confused.

"Raziel?"

Was that the thing Applebloom talked about? A pair of glowing eyes? It was kinda disappointing even if it managed to defeat a chimera so easily. But that didn't bother Applebloom, all she knew was that she and her friends were saved.

"Raziel, Ahm' so glad to see you here. Ah' thought Ah' was a gonner" -. She looked with shame at Raziel's eyes and felt sad for disappointing him. - "Ahm' sorry for not listening to you, but we had to search for Fluttershy."

This statement bothered Raziel for some reason unknown to the fillies.

"Flutteshy? She came here?" And with those questions, Applebloom, Sweetie Bell and Scootaloo realized that their journey was in vain and they risked their lives for nothing. Raziel, luckily, noticed the despair in their eyes and tried to cheer them up. - "So, who did you bring here, Applebloom? Are these your friends or just a fellow partner?"

Scootaloo didn't know what those words meant, but she sure didn't like them.

"Partner!? None of that. I, Applebloom and Sweetie Bell are the best friends there are and together we are..." - in that moment the three fillies joined together and shouted the name of their group and, thankfully, there were no more monsters in the area that could hear them.

"The Cutie Mark Crusaders!"

Thankfully, Raziel couldn't get stunned by sound and, if he was annoyed by the triple sound of death, he certainly didn't show it. Once they finished transforming themselves into a new target for predators. He decided to indulge a bit more into them.

"The Cutie Mark Crusaders? Are you going to hunt down for cutie marks?" - There were many ways that the phrase could be turned for the worse and, of all fillies, it was Scootaloo the one who did it. - "Yes, we're hunting them down so we can finally discover our purpose in life."

Thankfully, she didn't realize what she just said and nobody decided to explain her, but Sweetie Bell did wanted to explain a bit more to the pair of deathly eyes.

"Let me explain a bit better. What Scootaloo was trying to say, was that we're trying to search for our cutie marks by doing multiple things, like cooking, so we could figure out what will be the thing we're the best at."

The pair of eyes kept looking at them, it nerved Sweetie Bell that she couldn't see pupils or that they never stopped looking at their direction as if they were looking at their soul but its smooth voice always relaxed her, it was as if a charming prince was beneath a monster coat.

"So you believed that you would get a cutie mark by searching for Fluttershy in the Everfree Forest?" - This time, it was Applebloom the one who decided to respond.

"Yes, in a short version, we were searching for her but we got lost in here. Could you please escort us back to Ponyville?"

As they made their request, Scootaloo tried to get closer to the bushes just so she could get a better look at Raziel but, to her surprise, it was very hard to look inside a bush.

"Yes, I will, but under one condition" -. Both Sweetie Bell and Scootaloo were curious for this condition but Applebloom was getting an idea of what he was going to ask. - "To never come back this deep into the forest, especially if you're alone."

Since the idea made a lot of sense, the three fillies agreed, so Raziel started to escort them back to Ponyville the same way Raziel escorted Applebloom to Zecora's house a few weeks ago. As they moved through the forest, Sweetie Bell decided to ask Raziel for a few more details about his life on the Everfree.

"So, mister Raziel, what are you doing inside the Everfree Forest? Wouldn't you have a better time with the rest of the ponies?"

Even though it was hard for Sweetie Bell to know what Raziel was thinking, since she could barely see its eyes, the voice in Raziel's response helped her a lot to try and figure him out.

"My appearance, which Applebloom could attest, isn't one that could blend in with the rest of Ponyville. While I would like to live among civilization, I would rather avoid causing any kind of problem in there."

This caused Applebloom to enter in the discussion.

"But, come on, mah sister would enjoy your company, if you don't count how you look, after all, you seem pretty honest and she values that".

The pair of eyes stopped for a moment, looked at the fillies, and then continued the argument.

"Maybe your sister, Applebloom, could enjoy my company, but I doubt that her friends would have a nice time with me. I would rather not risk it yet."

This made the fillies very sad until Scootaloo made a deal with Raziel.

"Ok, so what about this, if we manage to convince Applebloom's and Sweetie Bell's sisters and their friends to accept you, would you come to Ponyville?"

The deal was, in the eyes of Raziel, naive and typical of a child but, he wasn't going to waste his opportunity, so he accepted. This made the Crusaders scream in happiness and the shout "Cutie Mark Crusaders, friendship creators, YAY!"

By the time the group made it back to Ponyville, the living tornado composed of three fillies was now a small breeze, but that didn't stop them from saying their goodbyes to Raziel and Scootaloo asking him how did he look which was answered with a quick disappearance.

"Give up Scootaloo" -. Said a wise Applebloom. - "You would rather not look at his full body, besides, if he doesn't want to show up, he won't."

As they were going back to Fluttershy's cottage and knocking at the door, they got to see a butter coated pegasus going back to her house. It didn't took to long before she noticed the Cutie Mark Crusaders and asked them what they were doing in there.

As it turned out, what happened was that Fluttershy went to another side of Ponyville to see both Applejack and Rainbow Dash competing against each other and they would soon fix their rivalry at the Falling of The Leaves. And, with Fluttershy's measures taken, with that, and a bet between Applebloom and Scootaloo regarding who would win the race, either if Applejack or Rainbow Dash, the Cutie Mark Crusaders ended their day, hoping to never again having to go back into the Everfree Forest and trying to see how they could meet Raziel with the rest of the rest of the girls.

Canterlot Castle

As Celestia finished the preparations, she checked once again if the new security system she installed in the vault was ready. She wanted to be sure that, no matter what, both her and her sister would be there to face the intruder. It took her a while to convince Luna to join her, but it was worth it, with Luna at her side, Princess Celestia was sure that she would catch that creature, she was sure it was It, and finally know what it was once it decided to enter into the vault containing the Elements of Harmony.

Author's Note

Get ready folks, the next chapter will be my first attempt at making actual Legacy of Kain puzzles, wish me luck.

Also, the next two chapters have been already planned out, just give me time because I'm trying to see if I go directly at them or write my other stories first.

EDIT June 11th of 2019: If you like this and you want to support me, you can do it through my Ko-Fi. Feel free to check it out.

Chapter 8: An Unmissed Nostalgia

Everfree Forest, Castle of the Alicorn Sisters

Darkness surrounded the Castle of the Alicorn Sisters, the night was still reigning in Equestria but that would soon change, in less than an hour, the princesses of Equestria would make their usual ritual to make the transition from night to day. While seeing the two princesses making the transition was a marvel to witness, it was no less wonderful to see the dawn itself. The dawn, for those who weren't familiar with the princesses, was a sort of dance between the two celestial bodies that would last just a couple of minutes, but it was so well staged and choreographed that it had to be applauded nonetheless. It required a certain level of finesse and skill to make your leave at the same time the other dancer was coming out to dance without taking out the importance of either dancer on the stage. For some, this dance was the beginning of their chores and, to enjoy it as best as they could, this individuals would wake up as early as they could to either enjoy it or to show their fidelity to the warming dancer by working before it came out, that way, the dancer would witness the dedication of those who wanted to show the best they had to this being whose beauty was too big to see.

As the dancing hour came closer and closer, the inhabitant residing the Everfree Forest was making the finishing touches to his most recent plan. A way to enter into the city, infiltrate into the tower and open the vault to gaze at the Elements of Harmony. There would be a time were he would've run from the dancing sun, but he stopped doing that in the moment the fiery being no longer was harming to him. He had no fear of the sun.

Raziel was prepared for this day, he knew that it would determine how hard he would have to try and befriend the ponies in Equestria and how much did they actually needed him to defeat the Elder God. He started to think in all the possible ways this could go wrong and what he would have to do in case he failed, he looked around once more in the library of the decaying castle that was now housing him and decided to think back what he was about to do.

As the shifting hour between light and darkness approaches, I gazed at the Castle in Canterlot, aware of who are there and what they could do to me if so they decide that I'm a danger to them. It doesn't escape me the irony that, for a being that benefits so much from the dark, I decided to go after my target in the day, when it's easier to find me.

The Moon starts to drop at a speed that Raziel still haven't gotten used to and, in the same pace, the Sun starts to rise on the exact opposite side of Equestria. The holes in the castle's roof allows the rays from the sun to enter into the ancient construction and start to warm the air, something that Raziel still feel on his body as the rays hits him as well.

The sun, once my mortal enemy during my life under Kain's command, now it was a part of the world's visage. Nothing to fear, for it couldn't end my life anymore. The same thing I could say about the princess that commanded it, it had more than enough power to defeat me in combat, years of combat experience and magic beyond my own comprehension but I didn't fear her for she couldn't end my life. In the end, what I feared wasn't the princess herself, but what she represented.

As Raziel leaves the Everfree, he sees how the plants and flowers start to feed from the light of life given by the celestial body and how those plants became into the food of the herbivores, who would then become the food of the carnivores and so on and so fort. They would all, eventually, come to Raziel.

Celestia was the icon of the Equestrian society. She was their life and the reflection of their society. Had Celestia been kept prisoner inside the sun by Nightmare Moon or Celestia's mentality be harmed or corrupted, it would've been a matter of time before Equestria itself collapsed through a proximity effect with their beloved princess. For that reason, I cannot kill Celestia, it would be the same mistake that Kain committed against King William the Just, for all it achieved was hatred towards the species that murdered their fair ruler.

As the sun positioned itself on the sky and the world started to run at its pace, Raziel decided to start moving towards its target. He knew that the morning would be crowded in the markets and, wherever one side of the town was active, the other side of the town would be calm. It would be a matter of avoiding contact with the equestrians and the alicorns and Raziel was well aware of the councils with Celestia, she would be busy all day receiving her citizens, which was just another area to avoid.

I needed to avoid having Celestia as an enemy, for that would mean losing my opportunity with the rest of Equestria. Once I managed to befriend the elements, they would give Celestia the proof of my goodwill and my quest against the Elder God would become much easier. Very ironic, then, that my plan could be something that, should it fail, would endanger my relationship with her by moving to her city without properly meeting. Regardless, what I were about to do would give me a more concise direction of how to approach the equestrians and the ponies residing in Ponyville.

As Raziel looked at Canterlot Castle, imposing itself on the kingdom by defying all logic, he decided to shift planes to ensure a faster travel towards the city, and while Raziel was starting to move to his target, he wondered, what has happened to Luna during all of this time?

Canterlot Castle

Princess Luna was a living transition, for she was facing multiple changes on her life at the same time even though she was used to them. She could still remember that era where she was a novice to the position of being a monarch, the hurdles it brought to fix the problems in Equestria, the stabilization of the kingdom, bringing peace and harmony to the other species, bringing the night and creating the most beautiful constellations she could come up in her head and having to protect the ponies from nightmares on their dreams. All of that was a great time for her and she would treasure it for she brought the transition form chaos to harmony in Equestria.

She then started to suffer another type of transition, an emotional one, as the equestrians stopped going to her courts, they stopped gazing at her work, they stopped thanking her for the protection brought to them on their dreams and gave Celestia all the credit for the pacification of Equestria while she got the blame for the disappearance of The Crystal Empire, even if she fought the most for its liberation. For Luna, she felt betrayed as this ponies would start to forget about her and go toward her bigger sister, who had all the attention and love but didn't care to share it with her. She wanted that love and, in the same fashion of the one who killed his brother for the attention of his superior, she wanted to get rid of her sister to gain what was being taken away from her. She stopped hearing the voice of conscience and moderation, warning her of how the elements were abandoning her should she continue on this path, and listened to the voice of greed and envy, telling her that it would all be worth it for the instant gratification of being recognized by her subjects. The emotional transition then reflected in her body and she became Nightmare Moon, the tyrant that would wrap Equestria in an eternal night if it weren't for Celestia and The Elements of Harmony banishing her to the moon.

Had this exile been designed to be eternal or temporary it is as unknown as whether or not Nightmare Moon was aware of the transition of time during her banishment or if she fought for liberation inside her prison. What we can all be sure is that, when she came back, she was as furious as she was a millennia ago and still wanted to wrap Equestria on an eternal night. She thought that this would mean the transition from day to night but her plans were thwarted, once again, by The Elements of Harmony and their new bearers.

This encounter was also important for Nightmare Moon because she met a very strange creature that, she was sure, didn't belong to Equestria. Its physical appearance was beyond any kind of nightmare her subjects ever dreamed, its garments weren't made by any civilization she ever met or knew about from the ancient times (being biped made it even more uncanny) and its magic wasn't of any form or substance commonly known in her world. For all Nightmare Moon could understand, this creature wasn't born in Equestria or any natural place in the world, perhaps, it was born in Tartarus and managed to escape from that place.

The encounter between Nightmare Moon and the creature was one of the most captivating things that the princess of the night would remember, for here it was, a creature that belonged to the uncanny valley but it talked in such a way that it felt as it were once of royalty. Its fiery personality and determination was something akin to her younger self but the machinations of its minds were beyond her, a great figure that would have been of great help for her had it not chosen to fight against the nightmare and help The Element Bearers to banish her to the moon.

As Nightmare Moon fought the creature known as Raziel, a new emotional transition happened inside of her. A transition from confidence to fear, fear when she saw that Raziel was managing to stop her in every move she did, fear of hoping that his threat of finishing her were just a way of speaking, fear of the elements actually working this time, fear of failing once again and return to her eternal prison, fear that would lead her to use Twilight Sparkle as a living bait to have an easy hit against Raziel and end his life. But finishing Raziel's life didn't stop her emotional transition, it became even stronger as she saw how The Elements of Harmony managed to be returned to what they used to be and were used against her once more but, to her relief, instead of being banished once again, she was released from the greed and envy just to be returned to Princess Luna.

Becoming Princess Luna once again, and being forgiven by her sister was one of the best things that the navy blue princess could ever ask for. She now had the chance to right her wrongs and live with the guilt of ending someone's life as the reminder of what could happen should she ever consider return to her wrongdoings ir, at least, that's what she thought so. She would never forget how her skin would freeze in the moment she saw Raziel's figure in the Everfree Forest's entrance, looking at her, before leaving and Luna would always hope that it was just a mere illusion caused by her guilt because she never saw it again, neither in Canterlot or in the Dreamscape for that matter.

From here on out, Luna would start a new transition in the history of Equestria. A reformative transition where she would start to fulfill her old tasks while learning of all the things that happened in her beloved land of Equestria. But, for all of her desires to leave her past behind, Luna could not forget about Raziel and how he almost defeated her with his all powerful blade. She would have nightmares that, could or could not be created by herself as a punishment for what he did as Nightmare Moon, would feature Raziel ending her life in the most painful way possible.

She would never allow that to stop her from trying to recover from her old life or from going back to her old position, but she would always have a hard time to get closer to her sister for fear of her resentment or for fear of being rejected by her for committing an atrocity that she would never let herself to forget. And for that, she would always be thankful to her sister for trying to get closer to her and for giving her this new chance of redemption by helping her stop this intruder from getting The Elements of Harmony. She wasn't sure when it would come, but she knew it would come and, once it did, she would face it and come out triumphant from the ordeal and Equestria would, once again, love her for it.

Canterlot City, Canterlot's Tower Borders

As Raziel went through the city of Canterlot, he took note of how much have the city increased its security. Now there were more guards patrolling the streets and skies in the ever moving city. It was obvious for Raziel that this was because of his previous adventure in the city and this also meant that, should he fail this time, there would be a much tougher security the next time he came. He had to make it worth it.

Thankfully, his determined route wasn't so affected as he feared. There were more guards in the populated areas and the places close to Celestia than the places with lower population, it was just a matter of keeping his invisibility on the streets until he could enter into the tower but there was something else worth noticing.

As I got closer to the Tower housing The Elements of Harmony, I couldn't stop myself from noticing how there were more guards in the most populated zones whereas the least populated places had a surprisingly fewer amount of guards. The most likely reason behind it would be that the guards were meant to protect the population from something, something that was already looking at them and it was sad that their princess thought that I would attack the population instead of venturing into their tower.

Raziel moved around the guards and made sure that no needless confrontation could take place on the city neither that he could be detected. As he moved around, he noticed that many of the guards were either pegasi or unicorns, a clear indication of what kind of fight he would have to face should he ever fight the Royal Guard. What made it more interesting, was that, the closer he got to the tower, the more unicorns Raziel would find patrolling the streets and the less pegasi on the skies.

This new development was a great help for Raziel, as it became easier for him to move around the rooftops instead of the streets to avoid the guards. It looked like the Royal Guard was expecting that, whatever could try to get into the vault containing their precious weapon, it was going to attempt to enter through land. A very dangerous mistake that Raziel would exploit to his best.

Once Raziel reached the tower, he only found unicorns guarding the tower, there were no more pegasi and that meant that Raziel could try to enter through the skies. The main challenge in here would be to reach the tower without being detected by the unicorns and, while the Dark Reaver could provide him of invisibility, Raziel was well aware that they could detect other beings through other means. Raziel needed to bypass them by doing vampire skills that he never thought ever needing on his unlife: stealth. Or, at least, as much stealth as a kid would need, with the amount of guards there were in there, he only needed to distract them in one place long enough to pass through them on the other side and he was sure what magic would be of use for him.

It was just a matter of starting a fire in one extreme of the tower, starting it with just a little light and let it grow until it were an actual fire. After creating multiple fire sources that would help each other out to become a raging fire, Raziel only had to move to the other side and wait for a few moments before the guards noticed the fire and all of them moved to put down the fire before it got worse.

In the moment that last guard moved to put down the fire, Raziel moved into the tower while remaining invisible and managed to get into the structure. As much as Raziel would love to enter through the front door, that would only alert the guards of a security breach, which meant that Raziel had to take the tall route as he started to climb the tower as fast as he could, which was a snail pace to avoid detection through sounds, and hope that he could find a way to enter through the roof.

As Raziel managed to get into the top of the tower, Raziel managed to find a window that wasn't completely closed that could help him to enter into the tower. Raziel wouldn't miss the chance given to him with the window and quickly entered into the building by gliding with his wings, slowly enough to notice that the tower's interior was designed in a way that he never expected to see. Once he landed, all that was left for him was to seal the door with his Fire Reaver by melting the doors into one. He knew that it wouldn't stop them forever, but it would give Raziel enough time to open the vault and leave, regardless of what happened with The Elements, and, with the door sealed, Raziel took a look at the tower's interior with more detail and analyzed his next step.

As he looked at the great room, he saw that it consisted in a single, circular room with small windows at the side, too small for a pony to pass, with too great windows in the middle of the tower. This two great windows were made in such a way that the light was aimed at two specific parts of the room, a couple of statues of Princess Celestia on the left of the room and Princess Luna on the right side of the room.

This two statues were made in a particular way, Celestia's statue was made of white marble, with the regalia being bathed in gold and small gems making the statue's mane look the same way the original Celestia's did. Meanwhile, Luna's statue was made of obsidian and had her regalia bathed in silver with dark gems making up her mane but there was something that this statues were lacking that picked Raziel's interest: They lacked their respective horns, should they have it, the light would be passing right through them and then hitting a couple of orbs, a white one and a black one respectively, that were in front of the mentioned statues.

Crossing the statues, and right in front of Raziel, was a great door that looked impassable, Raziel didn't want to know if his Fire Reaver would be able to melt it on the first place but, to his relief, it looked like the door needed a key. A key that Raziel was very sure he would have to search for in the tower. As he looked around the tower, he couldn't stop noticing the decorations, all the walls having images of Equestria from the era before Nightmare Moon, but some of them were looking wrong. This images looked cut down and stitched together with the wrong parts, creating a mess of an image.

As Raziel decided to get closer to the walls looking wrong, he saw that the image to the left contained a botched image of the sun along three elements above a white alicorn. As Raziel got closer to the images, he noticed that said images were plaques that could be removed fairly easy, so Raziel decided to move them around to make the image look the way it should.

Once the image was fixed, Raziel saw that a hidden door on the left of the great vault opened reviling a hidden path that went down under. As Raziel went through the new path given to him, he reached another circular room that had nine torches shut down and, above each torch, Raziel saw what he supposed were cutie marks. From left to right, there was a six pointed star, a lyre, three balloons, a sun, three diamonds, a rainbow colored lightning, an apple, a moon and a butterfly. It didn't took to long to Raziel understand what he had to do and lighted the torches that had the cutie marks belonging to the Elements of Harmony with his Fire Reaver.

When the torches went lit, the center of the room opened and raised a white crystal that looked like a horn. Raziel took his prize and went back to complete the other part of the puzzle, which he hoped to never see again as they remembered him of all the traps and attacks he had to suffer in his brother's lair. He sometimes wondered what brought Zephom to make such nightmarish place.

Once Raziel put the white horn on Celestia's statue, the light passed through the crystal and lighted the orb, making it shine with white light that embraced one part of the room and, as Raziel was starting to move in the direction to the other statue, he heard a faint noise, a noise that he'd never heard before but he knew that it couldn't be good for him. As he turned to the source that caused said noise, he saw a pink alicorn looking at him with shock in her eyes and was so static that many would have confused it with an actual statue. Before Raziel could do anything, the alicorn disappeared once again in a flash and then Raziel started to hear sounds in the outside. He was found.

Not losing time, and hoping nobody would try to enter into the vault, Raziel decided to quickly move into the next image on the right. The image this time, was the moon having another three elements with a blue alicorn below them. Raziel fixed the image again and, again, a hidden door opened on the right side of the vault's door.

As Raziel went down and found the same torches under the same cutie marks, he quickly lighted the torches with the elements's cutie marks and waited for the floor to open but it was for naught. As Raziel waited desperately before the guards could come up, he realized that this was Luna's room, the moon, darkness, and decided to put down the torches with his Water Reaver and then lighted the torches that didn't have the elements's cutie marks and, to his satisfaction, the floor opened this time, revealing a dark crystal horn that Raziel snatched right away and took it to Luna's statue.

As the two statues regained their horns and lighted their respective orbs, Raziel could hear the guards already trying to open the door, he had little time. The orbs then started to shoot a beam of light each to the keyhole unlocking the great vault and opening it, reviling yet another type of barrier, a magic one.

To Raziel's surprise, this magic barrier had all the looks of responding to a single entity and it didn't look like there was another puzzle to open it, it was locked. Raziel was about to quit on this but he then remembered how Nosgoth had some doors that were locked away and only the Soul Reaver could open it through vast amounts of magic. As Raziel started to weight if it could work, he then decided to test if the barrier was like a lock, if you melt it, it would open up. Once Raziel started to hear more voices outside the tower, he decided to make one last bet and gave his all.

Canterlot, Outside the Tower

Princess Celestia was getting close to the tower containing the Elements of Harmony, once she heard that an intruder was found, she decided to quickly send a messenger to his sister to meet up in front of the tower and face the intruder to save the elements. Celestia was sure of what it was and she was hoping that, with the help of her sister, it could be captured and questioned as she was getting sick of not knowing what was going on.

That's why she put a complicated lock system in the tower, no matter how skillful, smart or adept in magic one could be, it would be impossible to solve the puzzle required to open the first door before the guards could bust them out of the tower and, even if they could do it on time, she was sure that the magic barrier, that would only respond to her signature magic, was capable of stopping anything else that dared to get the elements.

As she teleport to the tower, she found 30 guards already watching the tower's entrance as a pair of unicorns were trying to open the door. On one side of the tower's entrance, Celestia found Cadence looking as if a storm passed through her with Shining Armor at her side ordering the guards the next steps to be taken if a confrontation with the intruder does happen. As Celestia got closer at the captain, she was immediately noticed by her subjects, except Cadance, who then bowed and waited for her orders.

"Captain! Report!"

Summoned Celestia with an authority that she haven't used in her life on a long time. Shining Armor quickly replie.

"Princess! 15 minutes ago, Princess Mi Amore Cadenza reported through my soldiers that a creature was inside the tower that contained The Elements of Harmony. As my soldiers tried to open the door, it was discovered that the door was sealed shut from the inside by melting the doors into one. Even through my unicorn soldiers would be able to enter, to avoid a confrontation with an unknown creature, I ordered that we would wait and watch the tower until both the door was unlocked and your presence was here. The door's unlocking has proceeded with a success of 70% so far and I have 10 earth ponies, 15 unicorn and 10 pegasi ready for combat. Now, I'll wait for future orders."

Celestia saw him undisturbed over the possibility of the elements being stolen which, considering how he responded to that immediate threat, showed a great amount of discipline that should get a reward once this is over with.

"Captain, I plan to deal with this creature with the presence of my sister once she reaches here" -. If Shining Armor had a problem with Luna, he didn't showed it on his face. - "Once the tower in opened, we'll enter into the tower and confront it. You'll prepare your troops to capture it only if its weakened enough to ensure success without suffering losses. We do not know what it's capable off, which is why both I and my sister will deal with it first. Is that clear!?"

Shining's response was filled with the respect and discipline that showed Celestia that this was the pony that would lead her guard very soon: "Yes! My Princess!"

"Great. Now, we have to wait for-"

As Celestia spoke, the light usual from a teleportation spell flashed a few meters away from her and it was followed by a voice that almost made all the ponies in place deaf.

"Thou Princess is here to confront our enemy! Show us the way!"

It was clear for Celestia that Luna was a little excited at the prospect of recovering her image so soon, something that the princess of the sun herself shared with her.

"Sister, it makes me glad to see you here. I was ordering our captain that we would soon confront the creature as soon as the door is opened".

Luna looked pleased at the beginning, but she soon started to frown at this and responded with the same energy as before.

"Sister, doth it sounds with wonders thou idea. We think that thee and us should infiltrate into the tower before the intruder achieves to reach The Elements!"

Celestia was glad that she found the sound suppression spell that allowed her to listen to her without losing her hearing capabilities.

"Sister, while your worries are understandable, you should not worry. I designed the vault to have a complex locking mechanism, even by now, he must be trying to finish the first part to unlock the door."

"It had the first horn!" - That was the answer that started to chill Princess Celestia as Cadence looked at her for the first time since she got there, still looking like a mess, and she only made her feel worse. - "I saw it with my eyes, that... thing... already had the first horn placed to unlock the door you placed there auntie Celestia. It was already starting to solve the second part of the unlocking mechanism" -. Her eyes seemed demented, as if she saw something that shouldn't exist. - "Auntie, do you know what thing is!? Is that what you feared could enter into the vault!? How do you know about it!?"

Celestia was surprised by this, she didn't expected for that thing to solve her puzzles so fast, but she was still confident and had to keep Cadence calm. - "Do not worry, even if it managed to open the door, I put a magic barrier between the elements and the outside. Only I can put down the barrier and there's nothing strong enough to put it down."

As she said this, a great pressure started to weight on all the ponies on the area. This wasn't a common type of pressure made by the air or anything normal, it was a magic pressure, one that was being felt by all the ponies in the area in the ways that each race was related to magic. The unicorns started to feel their horns being pushed down, the pegasi started to have their wings shaking around as they became impossible to control, the earth ponies started to have their hooves shaking and were incapable of standing up and the princesses, while managing to stay up, were having all the three of those issues affecting them at the same time.

This pressure was raising as time passed, becoming more and more unbearable and, even when it only passed a couple of seconds, it felt as minutes that were constraining their magic and it was all released in a blast that send them all, sans the princesses and pegasi, to the ground in a magic wave that went through the city and was felt by all the ponies in Canterlot.

A few seconds later, once both Princess Celestia and Princess Luna recovered from the magic pressure. They looked at each other out and knew that they had to enter into the vault right away, they couldn't wait until the door was busted open. They looked inside the tower, channeled their magic and teleport themselves inside the place before Shining Armor could ask them what were they thinking.

Once they entered into the tower, Celestia took her time to look in the place. All the puzzles were solved, the statues had their respective horns and the orbs were shining. As she looked deep into the vault, she saw The Elements of Harmony already exposed but they were all still there, undisturbed. Perhaps the intruder didn't got the time to touch them yet? As Celestia thought about the intruder, she started to use her magic to detect any type of magic signature inside the tower. She could feel one, very close to her and it wasn't Luna. It was it.

"We know you're here!" - Said Celestia with a voice that showed no fear. - "Show yourself before we show yourself out!"

Celestia looked at Luna and saw a face of determination, ready to face all the demons they fought together so many eons ago, and she was glad of having her there.

"Thou shall not escape from here! Thou hast trespassed a forbidden place and saith practice will not be allowed!"

Both princesses waited for the creature to respond, it were just a couple seconds, but they were among the most tense seconds Celestia felt in a lot of centuries, wondering if she was going to face the same monsters as she faced before with her sister. Discord, Tirek, Sombra, all of them were creatures that endangered the peace of the world and, if this creature was like them, then she would not hesitate to face it down just like she did with all the others. They both waited for a response and, when it felt that it wasn't coming, they heard a voice that neither princess expected at all but for different reasons. For Celestia, her surprise was for how knightly is sounded, as it came from a noble that earned its place through hard work; Luna, on the other side, was surprised for how familiar the voice sounded. A voice that sounded right in front of them even though there was nothing in there.

"My apologies for the intrusion, but I needed to see the elements for myself, after all, I never had the chance to see them in action."

As the voice faded, a very familiar creature appeared in front of Celestia, it was the same one she saw back in Canterlot the day Nightmare Moon came back. The creature appeared, like its appearance, in a very particular way. It appeared right in front of her, as if it were using an invisible spell but it didn't have anything in its body that looked like it could use magic and, since it was daylight and the creature was in front of her, Celestia could now take a better look at what may be the most horrible thing she'd ever seen. Its lack of organs or skin, its blue muscles, its claws and she was wondering if it had a jaw at all under that clothe. Whatever it may be, she was ready for it.

"In action? My apologies but, without its bearers, The Elements of Harmony cannot be used for, only those that embodies the virtues of the elements are capable of wielding and using them to their maximum potential."

Celestia looked at the creature with a smug face, hoping to get a reaction from it but it remained frozen in place, making it hard for Celestia to read it. She decided to press on.

"Unless you're a creature filled with Generosity, Kindness, Honesty, Laughter, Loyalty or understand the magic of friendship, my apologies but, you won't see them in action very soon."

Celestia and the creature stayed on a standoff, seeing who could react first. Celestia was already planning which spells to use against it so her sister could knock it out in place but, before she could see how her sister was fairing or if she was making her spells, the creature responded.

"I see, then, my fears are confirmed. Without the bearers, this elements are useless. Just a nice piece of jewelry to be worn by a noble. I suppose this means that you're guarding the wrong object, after all, the bearers are the ones that can wield its powers."

Celestia tried to analyze its answer while making up her response. It looked like it wanted something with the elements, maybe not the elements themselves but, perhaps, they power they wield? Why did he wanted their power? And, more importantly, does this means that he'll try to get closer to Twilight now? She had to know.

"Yes and no" -, Celestia called back. - "While it is true that the bearers are the ones capable of using their power, without the elements, the bearers cannot have access to them. Both the bearers and the elements must be together for its powers to be used at its full potential."

Celestia was aware of how much information she has given out, but, she needed to keep it distracted long enough for the guards to open the door and for Luna to prepare her spells to trap it. She needed to say something else.

"And, tell me, what is the reason why you want so desperately to wield the elements's powers? If you managed to open my vault, that means that you should have enough power to face anything you want."

Celestia thought that the creature was going to take its time but, this time, it answered almost right away.

"Indeed, I have plenty of power but there are things that not even I can defeat. Under such circumstances, I need to give my part to those who can fight those enemies that cannot be defeated through my own hands."

That was all Celestia needed to know.

"In that case, I think you'll have to come with us and answer our questions, right Luna?... Luna?"

As Celestia turned to her side and looked at her sister, she suddenly felt as if she was looking at a different pony at all. The once fearless sister that she met all those centuries ago, capable of fighting Discord over and over and capable of doing anything just to get what she wanted was, under Celestia's eyes, replaced by an alicorn that couldn't stop seeing with terror in her eyes to the creature in front of her. Her mouth was hanging open, her eyes were about to go in their own direction, even though her legs weren't moving, her muscles were trembling and her face was fixed on a state of shock that made her look like if she was going to run at any given moment.

"Luna, what's wrong?"

Celestia really wanted to see what happened to her sister but she also couldn't ignore her visitor. Thankfully, or sadly, the creature decided to respond.

"It looks like you need to solve your own family problems, princess, after all, if you cannot hold your own house, then you'll not be able to defend those close to you."

In that moment Celestia turned to the creature and saw, to her shocked, how it was moving its hands on the same gesture she saw back then when she first saw it and she knew what it meant. She quickly tried to place a location spell, anything, on it just as it was starting to fade away but, if any of her spells hit it, it looked like none of them landed on the creature.

As she went closer to the place where the creature was located, she tried to detect any signature spell and see if she could understand what kind of magic it used but, whatever it was, it wasn't there anymore. It felt as if its magic was something out of this world, she was trying to piece together what happened when the door busted out, her sister disappeared and the world started to move again from her little moment with that creature.

All in all, Celestia felt more confused than ever.

Canterlot City/Spectral Realm

As Raziel went through the desolated streets of Canterlot in the spectral real, except by the occasional soul, she tried to piece the information given by Celestia. As he looked at his Reaver Blade, he understood now how symbiotic the elements were to their users with the exception that Raziel was inextricable connected to his blade and he was unable to remove it from his body, no matter what. Regardless, he was now sure that he had to get closer to the ponies living in Ponyville since it was the only chance he could have to save Equestria from the false god feeding off from it.

And so, Raziel decided to return back to the Everfree Forest, mulling down the information and hoping that there was something he could do to improve his relationship with the ponies. Since, it truly was, his only chance.

Canterlot Castle, Celestia's Room/Physical Realm

Celestia was trying to get a grip of the situation she was in right now. Whatever kind of magic the creature used to open the barrier, it was strong enough to be felt in Canterlot, even if it lasted just a second, and the news were all over the place trying to figure out what happened. They knew that something big should have happened if the Royal Guard was mobilized, they knew that her sister was, somehow, related since half of Canterlot heard her voice speaking about an intruder and, both the media and the guards, were wondering what Luna did during all of this. For Celestia's chagrin, since the media was already speaking about it, she was sure that the nobles would soon figure out most of it and that was going to be a pain.

In the end, Celestia was wondering about that creature that intrude into her vault. Its voice didn't sound evil or ill wishing but it did sound as if it had an ulterior motive, as if it wanted the elements for a personal gain... but what?

As Celestia was wondering about it, she heard a voice, a mysterious voice. A voice that sounded as if it came from all the places at the same time, a voice that had authority and wisdom, a voice that, apparently, knew Celestia already.

Hello Celestia! I will aid you!

Author's Note

I feel so good right now having released this chapter so fast, I wonder where do you think I'm taking this story now. I won't spoil, but I would like to know nonetheless.

Also, if you find grammar blasphemies in the story, please do say and I will fix them.

I hope you enjoyed this, let's see how fast I can write the next one.

EDIT June 13th of 2019: If you like this and you want to support me, you can do it through my Ko-Fi. Feel free to check it out.

Chapter 9: A Meeting In The Dark

Canterlot Castle, Celestia's Room/Physical Realm

I've seen your pledge Celestia! I will aid you!

Princess Celestia was abashed as she heard the voice in her room. She tried to locate it with her magic but, as hard as she tried to find the voice's source, she couldn't find it. It was just like the other creature, whatever it was the source of their magic, it was completely foreign to her senses and that scared her. As she searched around, she tried to show her power in command against this invader intruding into her abodes.

"Who are you! Show yourself and state your businesses here!"

The voice remained with the same tone, impassive towards Celestia's ire and with an air that made her feel like if she was being seen as a foal compared to it.

Do not fear, Celestia. I've heard your plea and decided to aid you on your quest against Raziel

Celestia's mood calmed down a bit as she heard the name.

"Raziel?"

Yes. Raziel, the one both you and your sister encountered today. I know him and I've come to warn you about his presence in Equestria

Now Celestia was starting to get nervous, what was so important about this Raziel that this thing decided to talk to her? Before she could answer back, her doors were knocked and a soldier's voice was heard outside of it with a worried tone.

"Princess Celestia? We've heard you from the outside, is something wrong?"

Celestia was now trying to see how she could explain to her royal guard about how she was hearing a voice in her room without sounding like a mad mare when, the already mentioned voice, decided to intervene.

Do not worry, I can only be heard by those I allow to hear me, Celestia. They cannot hear me if I don't want them to and, unless you want so, we can keep our conversation a secret

Celestia weighted her options, which included the possibility of going insane. She really wanted to have more ponies helping her, but she wasn't sure who was this thing talking to her or what was she starting to get involved with, so she decided to deny the intrusion of her guards.

"Nothing!" - She said with a forced smile, even though they weren't there to see it. - "It was a... thing I was rehearsing... nothing to worry about. You can go to your post again."

Celestia waited a little while until she started to hear the hooves marching away, allowing her to breath out her relaxation. As she let her guards go, she hoped that the voice hadn't leave the place while she tried to keep other ponies out but, her fears were proven wrong when the voice came out once again from whatever location it was hiding.

I see that you've chosen to be the only pony who knows about myself. A wise decision, considering that you're getting into a dangerous territory

What the voice said reminded Celestia a few questions that she made a while ago.

"That reminds me, you haven't told me who are you and why you decided to aide me with this... Raziel" -. She, once again, tried to look composed and ready. - "It is a great misbehavior to not introduce yourself when meeting somepony else."

The voice hummed for a brief moment before it responded, this time with authority and power.

I am The Engine of Life, The Souls Purifier, The Eternal Wheel of Life that grabs the souls of those deceased and rejuvenates them into a new body. I come from the very same universe Raziel comes from to save you from the danger that he poses

That answer was something that would give Celestia some insomnia for a while but, she was sure that this voice was aiming at provide her help and a potentially good explanation regarding Raziel.

"Raziel a danger?" - Celestia mulled over this. - "Does that mean that he's evil? Then why I didn't feel bad intentions on him when I met him early today?"

That is because Raziel isn't evil on itself, he acts based on what he thinks is right and aims on helping others, which is why he's so dangerous

Celestia could only answer to this oxymoron with a simple message.

"Excuse me?"

The Engine of Life answered to her immediately, something that Celestia wondered if it was because the voice rehearsed this conversation or if it was because it had the answer right away.

Both Raziel and I come from a world where vice and sin are prosperous, where evil is as common as air and treason as usual as breathing. Raziel, on his quest from purifying the world of this dreaded and vile disease, ended up destroying our land by eliminating those he thought were the cause of the evil invading our world when, in actuality, where they were the ones helping it

Celestia, for a moment, fell in shock to the idea that a creature destroyed the world when it actually wanted to save it but there was something strange on this story.

"My apologies but, if you are so powerful as you make yourself sound, then why you didn't try to stop him from destroying the world?"

Silence was her answer. She wasn't sure if it was because it was thinking on an answer or if it was because her mind couldn't come up with one. Thankfully, before she could really think about the insane possibility, the voice answered back.

To answer that, I would first have to explain Raziel's history

Raziel once were a common human, a species known for being predictable and easy to control through their emotions and greed but, most of them, are still willing to do good for their world. In fact, Raziel belonged to the Sarafan Priest, an army known for being dedicated to scourge the world from its greatest plague: Vampires

Celestia couldn't stop from noticing how it said those words with vile and hatred. She would try to analyze it a bit more later, once she felt safe and in private again.

Vampires, are a parasite species known for having eternal life, being unable of having a descendant and from living at the cost of the vital force from other living beings, in this particular case, their blood. Raziel, being a Sarafan Priest, fought this monster and hunted them down until they were no longer. Raziel, along his brethren, was so successful that he managed to murder the most infamous and eldest Vampire of all, Janos Audron, who brought nightmares and terror to mankind for centuries without anyone being able to stop him until Raziel went to his lair and brought an end to him

But, alas, it was for naught, as Janos Audron's apprentice, a vampire under the name of Vorador, decided to blindly attack the Seraphan strongest bastion and kill six of the leaders from the Sarafan Order, bringing them to an end along the vampire purge

As much as Celestia didn't like the idea of interrupting, she really wanted the details regarding this era.

"But, what does the vampires have in relation to you and what happened to Raziel during all of this?"

The answer made Celestia feel terrible on her insides.

As I said, I am The Wheel of Life, the engine needed to make everything move on the world but my strength only comes as far as the livings decay so I can purify their souls. Vampires, being immortal beings, cannot go through the process of purification, making them a living sin that must be destroyed so I can purify their souls and bring them into a new body capable of become part of the cycle of life once again. That is why the defeat of The Sarafan Order was a tragedy. The very few vampires that were left alive, including Vorador himself, started to repopulate the world over the course of the centuries, weakening me over the course of time

Even though there was a new revival in humanity's desire for salvation, reducing the vampire population to a single individual, with not even Vorador surviving that purge, that one vampire that survived managed to murder the Circle of Nine that took care of the world for so long and decided to create his own empire of vampires. In just a millennia, my power was reduced to unfathomable levels, making it impossible for me to fix the world in any possible way

And Raziel had an even worse fate, the once faithful sarafan priest, the scourge and terror of vampires, was murdered the same day Vorador attacked the Circle of Nine by a monster that was close to Janos and wanted revenge on the one that took his life... only to be resurrected by the vampire emperor, a thousand years later, and turned him into a vampire, and made him his first lieutenant no less

The more Celestia heard of this story, the more sorry she felt for Raziel. She started to hope if there was some way to reform him but she then heard the rest of the story, and the rest of it left her mind in shock, unable to know what to do next.

Raziel lived loyal to his vampire emperor, reducing humanity's population to a pulp and using the rest of the humans as blood cattle ready to serve his brethren, all the while still thinking that he was doing good, until the day when his lord decided he was too dangerous to keep around

Celestia tried to think what he meant by that but she then remembered those wings, those limb wings that looked as if a piece of clothe was stitched on him. Had those wings been the reason why Raziel was found dangerous? Why?

Even though Raziel was the most loyal vampire to his emperor and never dared to betray him, all that loyalty was paid with treason as the vampire emperor would never allow anybody that have more power than him. So the emperor stripped Raziel from the cause of his sin and cast him into an abyss that would torture him for all eternity, sadly for him, I was living under that abyss

As Raziel's body was falling into the abyss, I decided to take pity on him and separated his soul from The Wheel of Life just so he could take his revenge on those who sent him into an eternal hell. Even though I separated him from purification for all eternity, he took his occurrence as an opportunity to have his revenge on his emperor and those he once called brothers, now thinking, once again, that Vampires were a curse that should be exterminated from the face of the earth

On his quest for revenge, Raziel saw how the vampire's corruption destroyed, not only, his home world, but also his clan. Not happy enough with destroying his most loyal lieutenant, the vampire emperor decided to destroy Raziel's clan, making him the last of his kind and leaving what once were green and fertile lands into wastelands hoping for a quick end in an apocalypse that would never come to fruition. Now determined even more to cleanse the vampire species from his beloved land, Raziel sought and killed the vampires that supported the emperor into his demise as a mean to enact his revenge and purify the land of the creatures that destroyed what he loved the most

The more Celestia heard about Raziel, the more she wanted to cry for the injustice he suffered. She wanted to talk to him, she wanted to make Equestria his new home so he could rest from his curse and she wanted to punish the vampire king that caused so much harm for pure selfishness.

As for the vampire king, Raziel chased him down to his personal refuge and killed him in a sword duel. Sadly, his land was too lost to be recovered, so Raziel decided to go to the past and caused a series to events that culminated on the complete destruction of life on the planet. As much as I tried to disuade him from his new decision, he was blind on rage and a desire for justice that made him unable to realize what he was about to do, I sent my messengers to stop him but he just saw them as evil beings trying to stop him from saving his land. And while I have incredible powers, by separating him from the Wheel of Like, Raziel became inmune to my influence and there was nothing I could personally do to stop him

Not too long after that, he decided to go to other worlds deciding that they should all be cleanse from evil at all cost and here's where we meet. I decided to use the last specks of power I had under my command to come here and warn you so you can stop Raziel before it's too late. I've come to you to provide all the information I have for you to stop him from destroying not only Equestria, but all life on the world

Celestia took the information with care, she understood what all of this meant and what she would have to do to stop this new threat. She was very sure that the elements were unable to stop him if he wasn't even connected to life but, before she could take any action, she decided to make sure how real was her information.

"How do I know that you're not a machination made by mind? How can I tell that you are an actual being with the power to help me on this new danger facing Equestria?"

As Celestia said this, an earthquake started to happen around her, she was startled, Canterlot wasn't known for having earthquakes and they weren't too usual in the kingdom but, before she could do or say anything about it, the earthquake stopped, leaving her perplexed and worried about her subjects.

She looked around her room and saw that her books and personal belongings were moved but none of them didn't fell, not too long after it, a maid came to her room, asking if something wrong happened in her room as the whole castle felt the earthquake and the royal guard was moving around the city to check on the citizens. Realizing that Ponyville could've felt the earthquake as well, she decided to send a letter to Twilight Sparkle as soon as she could. Once the maid was gone, the voice came back to Celestia.

Does that convince you, Celestia? My powers may be too small now, but I can still have some influence on this land. Sadly, it will be a while before I gain enough power to bring you a substantial aid against Raziel but, for now, you can have as much knowledge about Raziel as you want

Celestia gave this a thought. She was really worried about her subjects and about the harm Raziel could bring to her little ponies, but, hearing Raziel's backstory made Celestia feel conflicted on the idea of fighting someone who thought was doing the right thing. She didn't wanted to fight him but she also was aware that, if he wasn't stopped, he could bring death on all her world, not even Discord would try that.

"I thank you, powerful being, for warning me about this threat, but I need to know what do you mean by 'stopping' Raziel. As much as I would like to banish him, I would like to talk to him first and see if I can bring him back to those that seek justice."

Celestia waited for a while for the answer, she was aware that it could have left her alone for all she knew but it would be rude to do that and his speech was telling Celestia that this entity wasn't capable of such things. After waiting for a few seconds, the voice answered.

Ah, Celestia, your innocence only proves why this world must be saved from Raziel. I've already tried to speak to him, Celestia, and he decided to ignore me long ago. Many has tried to reason with him, but Raziel decided too long ago that his quest was the only right one and he's the type that hardly listen when it has decided its new path

"But, this isn't his world. This world is different, I'm sure that Raziel would listen if I, Luna, Twilight or her friends decided to show him how this place is filled with harmony."

Celestia was really trying to bring up a case to redeem Raziel, her sister was just redeemed not too long ago and she really wanted to believe that he wouldn't be an exception to the case.

I truly understand your plea but I doubt he will listen

You already saw Luna's reaction towards Raziel. She fears him and I doubt she could be of any help for your cause, it's more likely that she will hide from him instead of standing against him

And, regarding your apprentice, she would try to speak to him but, do you really think someone who barely understands the concepts of friendship and trust to be capable of changing a creature that has only felt betrayal for all of its life? No Celestia, she would either fail or join him once she falls for his fiery spirit of justice. Even under the case of her deciding to aid you with the usage of The Elements of Harmony, Raziel doesn't belong to this world and, thus, he wouldn't be affected by them. That's what he was researching just today when he decided to embark to your vault and experiment on the elements's powers

That is why I came to you, Celestia, you're the only one with experience enough to understand the threat coming to this land and what must be done to save this land. If Raziel isn't stopped, life will be plunged into chaos, anarchy will become the norm, it will be the end of life and civilization as you know and Equestria would be doomed to die on the same slow and painful death that my world went through not too long ago

Accept my help, Celestia, before its too late

Celestia was feeling more and more bounded towards this being, she wasn't sure that she should trust it, but it was right about everything. Luna didn't help her in the Tower, Twilight was new on friendship and it would be risky to endanger the other elements as well. No, Celestia had to do this on her own. So, sadly and with an abnegation worthy of a princess, she decided to respond to the being.

"Alright, I accept your word but, I ask you to give me a time to ponder on your words so I can prepare myself more appropriately for this new encounter that will change the balance of Equestria."

She hoped that this... god... would listen to her plea. She hoped that, at least, she would be able to think of a way to change all of this or to make sure that none of the ponies she loved could get trapped on this mess and for her to prepare herself for the fight of her life.

Sounds fair
I will wait for you

As Celestia breathed for the calm that was coming to her being, she remembered to ask about something that was just as important but that never came to the conversation.

"Wait, how can I call you? What is your name?"

And, before finally leaving (or that's what Celestia was thinking) the being responded to her in a tone that only meant power and authority.

I am known by many names, but you can call me The Elder God, for I am as old as time itself

And that was the last thing that Celestia heard about The Elder God, for now, and she was wondering how much deep in problems she was into now. She was starting to get anxious on the idea of failing to her apprentice and her ponies, she needed to know what to do regarding Raziel but, she couldn't take a wrong step, she had to asses the situation and see what she had at her disposal before asking him for advise.

That way, over the course of time, Celestia's paranoia would grow. This would go to the point that she would personally go to Ponyville to make sure that nothing wrong could happen there, letting her see The Running of The Leaves and even picking Twilight's Friendship Lesson directly from Spike (talking about how she started to believe more on Pinkie Pie and her Pinkie Sense even though there was no evidence for it) as time went on.

For many it would be a mystery why The Elder God went to Celestia and told her those things for a while, until Raziel became aware of it, and his answer would be one that would terrify those who heard it:

"He didn't need for Celestia to win against me. He only needed her to fight against me and fail on the attempt."

Author's Note

Sorry for bringing a short one, but this was what I had in mind when I thought about it. This moment is so important (at least to me) that it had to be its own chapter.

Now, I don't wonder that some of you will think about the outcome of this, I know that, what I wonder is if you know when will this happen.

And now, if you excuse me, I have other stories to update.

Have a nice day.

EDIT June 13th of 2019: If you like this and you want to support me, you can do it through my Ko-Fi. Feel free to check it out.

Chapter 10: Preparations for the Inevitabile

Ponyville, Carousel Boutique

Sweetie Belle was having a very boring day as of now, she wanted to help Rarity but it looked like her sister wasn't so keen on having her help on the sewing machine, or making food, or anything in general. Now, Sweetie Bell was trying to think on something to do on her own or with her friends, maybe cutie mark crusading? She wasn't sure, but she wanted to do something and stop being bored.

As she tried to think on the today and how to enjoy it, her mind started to think on the what haven't been tried yet and what of it didn't mean to enter into harm's way. In the end, while she couldn't come up with something new for her cutie mark, she resolved in going to see her friends, in the hopes of having a better day with them.

"Rarity, can I go playing with Applebloom and Scootaloo?"

For a moment, as the dress maker kept on making dresses, it looked like Rarity didn't pay any attention to her little sister but her answer disproved that theory, although she didn't stop looking at the dress she was making.

"You sure you're going to play and not crusading? I don't want you doing anything dangerous or getting anywhere near the Everfree."

As Sweetie Belle understood the why, she decided to simply accept her terms.

"Yes Rarity, neither I or my friends, will go anywhere near the Everfree Forest."

Having accepted her terms, Rarity decided to let her sister go to play with her friends, just in time as the Boutique's owner decided to pick her cat in trying out the dresses she was making. While the idea of helping Rarity with making dresses was out of the question, Sweetie Bell couldn't just ignore the idea of doing one herself, after all, it would be very nice if both she and her friends could have something to wear that showed they were the Cutie Mark Crusaders.

Then, a new idea came to her mind, one that could help her with the one Cutie Mark that they haven't tried yet even though they already said they were going to achieve it. The idea was simple, both she and her friends promised that they would help Raziel to befriend the ponies of Ponyville, that means that all they had to do was helping Raziel to be closer to them and, what better way to befriend the ponies, than having a nice clothing covering him? All she had to do was convincing her friends on the idea, not realizing that she was already breaking her promise to Rarity regarding crusading.

It was flawless.

As Sweetie Bell passed through the Library, on her road to Applebloom's house, she found Twilight and Applejack having a discussion. Normally, Sweetie Bell wouldn't be minding about this types of conversations, but she needed to know if she could play with Applebloom, so she decided to get closer to the pair, hearing part of their conversation as a result.

"Applejack, this isn't so simple! If we don't think this straight ahead, we may be causing problems."

Said a very stern librarian, at which the determined farmer responded.

"Look, Twilight, Ah' understand your concern, but m'ah family lives close to the Everfree and Ah' would like to sleep knowing that all we have to worry about are some Timberwolves and not a dangerous..."

As Applejack noticed Sweetie Bell, both mares realized how a filly, which reunited with a pair of fillies that liked a lot getting into trouble, was about to hear information that she shouldn't be hearing, which lead to a very abrupt change of topic.

"Hi Sweetie Bell!" - Saluted a very nervous Twilight. - "What brings you here? More books to get an idea about Cutie Marks? I hope so because I won't let you try again being a book organizer."

As Sweetie Bell almost fall for the trap of changing topics, she decided to go for her main objective first.

"What? No, I'm here to ask Applejack if I could play with Applebloom and Scootaloo, I promise that we'll behave."

After hearing Sweetie Bell's question, Applejack saw no problem with it and decided to accept it under one condition.

"Alright, you can play with her, but as long as you don't get close to the Everfree, it's been getting more dangerous lately and we don't want you going to harms way until we figure out what's going on in there."

"So that's what you've been talking about? Do you know what's going on in there?"

Sadly, for Sweetie, her question wasn't exactly what the two mares wanted to talk about and they also were awful at hiding their intentions.

"What? Oh, no, that was just another thing we were discussing about, we were actually talking about... eh..." - As Twilight tried to find a new topic, she found a dress that had a problem with one of its buttons and immediately knew how to end the conversation. - "This dress" -. Sweetie Bell looked at Twilight with high intrigue at this, forcing Twilight to continue on her comment. - "My dress has a problem and I was originally talking to Applejack to go see Rarity and ask her to fix my dress, right Applejack?"

As Applejack, albeit slowly, understood what she was talking about, she followed Twilight's logic and followed her towards Rarity's home to ask her for help on Twilight's dress. Sweetie Belle understood that they didn't want to talk about the Everfree for some reason but she also understood that it would be better if she let her sister and her friends take care of it. That way, all she had to do now was talking to both Scootaloo and Applebloom to make a new meeting at the Tree House.

It didn't take too long before the tree fillies finally met up together and started to discuss what they would do today, mainly, to continue on the one cutie mark they decided to so a while ago without actually knowing how to achieve it: Making Raziel befriend Ponyville.

"I say" -. Started the quick thinking pegasus. - "That we should begin with making Raziel saving Ponyville from a huge monster".

This idea, luckily, didn't sit well on the other crusaders, starting with Applebloom.

"But, how could Raziel save Ponyville from a monster when there hasn't been a monster in Ponyville? Besides, he already said that he wont to go to Ponyville" - With that first hole made, Sweetie Belle decided to add her own shots at the holes in that idea. - "Yeah, besides, even if Raziel managed to get into Ponyville without causing more havoc, Twilight and her friends would take care of the situation long before Raziel was actually needed."

And, with that, the first idea was sank. Then came Sweetie Belle's idea to redeem that knight in a horrible armor.

"I know, what if we make him a suit that covers him so he's more presentable to Ponyville?"

While the idea had as much heart as the previous one, this also had some holes in it, the first one spotting it being also Applebloom.

"But how would that make the ponies to like him more? Besides, who would make the clothes for him? For all Ah' know, neither of us can make a dress, Rarity doesn't even know him and we don't even have his measures to make the garments."

In that moment, both Sweetie Bell and Scootaloo decided to look at Applebloom as if they were demanding her to make an idea of her own.

"Sorry, Ah' don't have an idea either. It's not that Ah' don't want to help, but its just that he already helped me twice and saved our lives in that second time, if we're going to help him getting into Ponyville then we must find a way to do it on the right way, not by making some half made plan."

As hurtful as her words were, the fillies knew she was right, any idea they had to make Raziel closer to the ponies required to get into the Everfree in some way or make their sisters or their friends to engage Raziel and that idea was almost as hard to do as trying to find their cutie marks.

"I think I know what we could do" -. Replied a thoughtful Sweetie Bell. - "Since we're not allowed to get deep into the Everfree, we could try to find him around the Everfree and ask for his measures. Then we ask Rarity to make the clothe and say that it's either for a friend or to give her a challenge."

And, before Scootaloo could deliver her idea gain, Sweetie left in place that the monster idea would be after finding a way for the ponies to see him saving them. With that said, the three fillies decided to spend the rest of their day trying other types of Cutie Marks, mainly, search cutie marks and catching bugs cutie marks.

It was later, as the day was ending, that the Cutie Mark Crusaders decided to take a look into the Everfree Forest, so close to them, housing some of the most dangerous creatures they've ever known, with one of them being their friend. They wondered how they would manage to find Raziel when it was living inside the forest and they couldn't just enter without a reason, this caused a debate among the three fillies regarding how they should find him.

One of them was saying that they should enter into the forest, the other was saying that they should be shouting his name but the debate was quenched when the third one felt a chill, a familiar chill, crossing down her spine moving around them long enough for the three fillies to feel it.

As they were trying to figure out what the chill was, they felt a second chill, this one also having a creepy feeling, as if it wanted to do mean things, and the two chills started to move around the crusaders. They wondered what were those chills moving around them, Applebloom thought that it could be Raziel, Sweetie Bell thought that it must be something on the weather while Scootaloo theorized that they were ghost, theory that Sweetie Bell dismissed since "ghost aren't real" but, before they could have more time to analyze this moment, the second one disappeared just as quickly as it was felt while the first familiar one started to move into the Everfree Forest.

All of that was felt in a matter of seconds for the three fillies, letting them wonder what just happened and, before they could even start to wonder what'd happened, the answer came in the sound of a great force coming out of the ground. The three fillies wondered what could that be, with the word 'ghost' starting to become very annoying, and cuddled up together in fear, hearing how whatever came out of the ground started to make the scariest sounds they've ever heard in their lives.

Fear started to creep into them, paralyzing their legs and forbidding them from moving. As the sounds started to pause, the three fillies started to look into the Everfree Forest with a dreading sensation as the potential end of their lives was coming to them, in a very nice twist, what originally was complete fear was quickly replaced by happiness and safety as two dark blue eyes appeared in the forest, which made the three fillies scream with happiness the eyes owner's name.

"Raziel!"

The two pair of eyes quickly turned into their direction and opened wide once it found them, with that familiar and charming voice recognizing them.

"Applebloom? Scootaloo? Sweetie Bell? What are you doing here so close to the forest and why do you scream so loud my name? Don't you realize that you could attract an undesirable creature that way?"

The three fillies ignored his worries and decided to get as close to the Everfree as possible, all the while letting him know how happy they were for seeing him.

"Raziel" -. Started Applebloom. - "We were talking about you on our Club House" -, she said while aiming her hoof at the mentioned house, right beside them. - "And how to make the ponies of Ponyville to accept you".

The information shocked Raziel.

"You did?"

"Yes" -, continued Sweetie Bell. - "We were discussing a few ideas and we settled on making you look less dreadful by sewing some clothes."

Raziel's voice only left open his skepticism.

"Really?" - It was quite clear that he wasn't so open to the idea. - "And how do you plan on making my clothes to make me look less dreadful? You would need a full body garment to hide my tormenting figure."

Sweetie Bell decided to argue back before Scootaloo could even try to pitch her idea.

"Well, my sister Rarity is a dress maker and she knows quite a lot about sewing, all we need is your figures and ask her to make the dress, can we?"

In that moment the three fillies decided to drop their biggest weapon: The cute little fillies look, bombing Raziel with three pairs of puppy eyes. No pony on earth has managed to defeat that weapon and they were hoping that Raziel would be no exception, which was looking like for how long he was taking to make a proper answer.

This was a moment where the fillies thought that they were going to get a Cutie Mark for being rejected but, to their surprise and minutes of waiting, Raziel decided to give them an answer that seemed to satisfy them.

"I like your proposal but I don't want some huge clothes that won't be of any use to me" -. The three fillies were about to scream in frustration, but Raziel went ahead of them and gave them the second part of his answer. - "Instead, I would like for you to make me an insignia".

The three fillies went from anger to shock, after all, "just an insignia?" That wasn't something that any normal pony would ask for, although Applebloom and Sweetie Bell were already learning that this wasn't a pony to begin with.

"Yes, an insignia. It could be a very long piece of cloth that could have a symbol that's very important to me. Not too big, just enough for me to wear it and that allows me to show it wherever I go."

As he said this, he took out his claw from the shadows, scaring both Scootaloo and Sweetie Bell at its sight and leaving Applebloom slightly giggling at her friend's reaction while remembering her first experience with that claw; with said claw, Raziel started to carve on the ground the shape of his insignia. It was quite big, bigger than a filly when it came to length, but that wasn't what interested the fillies. What interested the fillies was the weird symbol he was drawing inside the picture. To them, it looked like a long snake with a draconian mouth waiting trying to eat something.

"I would like the symbol to be white with the rest of it being colored red" -. Said a very stoic Raziel, not even bothering with the three fillies looks at the drawing. - "Do you think your sister could sew something like that? I'll pay her whatever's needed to make it."

Sweetie Bell looked at Raziel and noticed how his eyes which, even though they had no pupils, looked as if they were hopeful to get this piece of cloth to be made. She took a better look at the symbol drawn on the floor and decided to think about its shape, perhaps it had some deep meaning to Raziel

"Is this something very important to you?" - She looked at the eyes hidden in the shadows and how they nodded. That was all she needed to know. - "Alright, I'll try to make Rarity do this and, in the case she says no, I'll do it myself" -. She took a little bit more time to look at it and asked him. - "And what does that symbol means to you?"

As she looked up, where Raziel was located, she saw how, even though the eyes were looking the same way into her direction, they gave a more cheerful expression, which was heard on Raziel's tone, peaceful, happy but, above all, grateful.

"That symbol means more to me than you could ever know or understand, thank you" -. And, right before he decided to leave, he left them with a way to find him. - "If you ever need to talk to me again, next time leave a message in the Club House with the hour and place of the meeting and I'll be waiting for you there. See you soon, dear ladies."

And just like that, he disappeared into the dark, leaving some shocked fillies wondering what have they just agreed to. Sweetie Bell looked at the insignia once again, copying it on her notebook with all the measurements that it should have and letting clear the colors for it, and decided to part from her friends, although not before Scootaloo reminded them to tell Raziel her idea next time they meet, much to the fillies chagrin.

Later that day, as Sweetie Bell was finally getting home, she decided to tell Rarity of her request but, to her wonder, she got there hearing the sewing machine sounding nonstop.

"Hi Rarity!" - She said, but she heard no response, just the sewing machines. - "Rarity?" - As Sweetie Bell was getting close to the sound, she found a working Rarity making six dresses at the same time. - "Rarity, what's this?" - It was in that moment that the sewing machines stopped moving and Rarity finally moved her body to see her little sister back.

"Oh! Sweetie Bell, how long have you been there? I was making this dresses for my friends so we can all go together to the Grand Galloping Gala, don't you think they'll look nice?"

Sweetie Bell looked at her sister's dresses on the draws, how each one of them looked like master pieces just waiting to be created and be showed into reality. She really wanted to show her sister how amazing she could be, to be at least a bit as great as her, and she was sure of how she could do it.

"They look great Rarity, I cannot wait until you make them and see how awesome they are. I would really like to be just like you."

The Seamstress looked at her faithful fan showing her love and admiration for her, giving her a little bit of motivation to continue.

"Well" -, responded the big sister, - "if you want to be just like me, then I recommend you to start with something small, perhaps a piece of clothe?"

Granted, while Rarity said that in a motivating way, she really didn't expected Sweetie Bell to have something to make so fast.

"Great idea Rarity! I was planning to ask you to make this for me but I think I'll try it myself."

As Sweetie Bell was taking out her drawing, Rarity quickly fetched it before her little sister could get more great ideas and took a look at it. Once Rarity saw the drawing, relief came to her by realizing that it wasn't anything big but kind of simple at the same time.

"Well, I do think that you could do this Sweetie Bell, but I'm not sure if you could make this without my help, I still remember what happened when you tried to get a seamstress cutie mark all by yourself."

Sweetie Bell's face started to deflate at this statement.

"What!? But you're already making those dresses, I told a friend that I would make him this and I don't want to disappoint him."

As Rarity heard that Sweetie promised this to a colt, ideas of her starting to date already started to brew on her mind even though she knew that it was impossible that this offer could be romantic in any way since she was aware of how little chances there were for her sister to indulge in a relationship, she was also aware of how weird it was for her to make a piece of clothe for another colt, specially with those huge measures. Rarity took a look at her sister and thought on how much her sister wanted to make something like this for a friend, she hoped it was just a friend, and, after thinking a bit, she decided that this was better than having her crusading or getting close to the Everfree.

"Well, I guess I could help you out a little bit with this once I have some free time, after all, what could this piece of cloth do to any of us?"

Sweetie Bell's happiness couldn't be better exemplified on her face, glad to have a good moment with her sister for a while as she was also fulfilling her promise to her terrifying friend.

Days Later

Time has passed and the work between the sisters proceeded, there were some pauses between Rarity redoing her work for her friends over and over again and now having to make an outstanding amount of dresses in a very short time but, thankfully, the cloth was being completed by this moment, giving Rarity some precious time to finish her new commission quickly.

As the piece of cloth was being completed, Sweetie Bell started to feel sad over the idea of no longer being able to enjoy this moment with Rarity, its not as if she didn't want to finish her piece for Raziel, but she had very little times like this with her big sister and she really wanted to have spend more time with her.

Rarity was also enjoying this moments, although she needed more free time to finish the encargo asked to her by Hoity Toity, there was nothing in the world more important to her than having this moments with Sweetie but, sadly, as much she wanted to keep this moment alive, she needed to work on those dresses.

That way, as the final touches were being done and the piece was finally being completed, the two sisters enjoyed the moment, not knowing when they would have a similar moment in their lives. That way, when the red cloth with a weird symbol inside was done, instead of jumping into the air, Sweetie simply hugged her sister with happiness and savored the moment when two sisters that normally didn't share many moments could enjoy of that beautiful moment where those born of the same mother could only experience.

After that hug was done, Sweetie looked at the dress and hoped that it was done the way it was supposed to.

"Thank you Rarity, when my friend asked me to make this cloth for him, I thought that it would be impossible to do."

Rarity looked at her sister, her excitement replaced with satisfaction at a job well done. She wondered, what kind of colt would ask Sweetie Bell to do something like this, as much as she loved this moment with her, Rarity knew that, without her, Sweetie would have destroyed the boutique. Did this friend ignored how dangerous was her little sister with tools of any kind?

"I do have to ask, Sweetie Bell, what is the name of your friend that asked you this without knowing how dangerous you are?"

Sweetie Bell looked at her sister with an annoyed look, ignored her giggles, and responded with the innocence common from those who ignore what the grown ups know.

" His name is Raziel and he's one of the most charming gentle... colt? I think, that I've ever met. You should meet him too."

And, just like that, Rarity felt like if a rainfall have just drowned her and destroyed any sense of security she had.

"Sweetie Bell" -. Asked Rarity with a contained voice that hid her fears and anger at how her little sister was so close to danger. - "From where did you met somepony with a name like that?"

Sweetie Bell looked at Rarity with a pained expression, typical of those little ones who have been caught disobeying their grown ups.

"Well, it was... on the Everfree..." -. In that moment, Sweetie Bell felt the forces of nature working against her as she said the words that would ensure her a punishment, although it weren't the ones she thought were going to cause her problems. - "Wait, don't misunderstand me, that was before you ban me from going there, I was going with Applebloom and Scootaloo to see if we could find..." - And it was here that Sweetie Bell understood why Rarity was now looking at her as if she has just committed a heinous crime.

"So" -. Said the big sister as her words started to erupt the preemptive sounds of a furious volcano. - "You went to the Everfree Forest, not to search for Fluttershy, but rather to search for a creature already confirmed to be the most dangerous thing that Ponyville could've ever met?" - The anger in Rarity's eyes only made Sweetie Bell scared at what was coming, understanding completely what was going to happen very soon and there was no defense she could make to stop it.

The Everfree Beast, well known by this point as something more than a myth, conceived as dangerous and powerful. Capable of defeating timberwolves, chimeras or even ursas, how could Sweetie Bell explain that the Everfree Beast was actually a dashing knight when she have just said that she sought the one thing everypony is afraid of in Ponyville? All Sweetie Bell could do now was shutting down and waiting for Rarity to give her her piece of mind for misbehaving so much.

In that moment the volcano erupted and spewed a rain of heated spears that went through Sweetie Bell and made her fear for her own being, never seeing Rarity so angry in her life. She wondered if it was deserved and, if so, why did it have to be so hurtful.

Rarity's words couldn't have been more piercing and truthful at the same time, common of those who are so angry at their beloved ones but that shouts it, not out of hatred, but out of love and fear at the idea of losing those figures they love so much. Better represented through Rarity's tears, her words only sought the desire to have Sweetie Bell safe, although it only made her feel as if she was the worst pony on the planet.

And, as common from any volcano, Rarity's anger calmed down and, aware of how much she needed to talk about this to someone else, she went outside to calm herself down, leaving her little sister drenched on despair common from those who have gone through a painful experience.

As Rarity went through the streets of Ponyville, she thought on how did it come to this, how and why did she just realized that her little sister was so close to a creature so dangerous. Her mind was going at high speeds, she wanted to know what she could do to fix this and, just as she was ranting on her mind, her hooves inadvertently took her to Twilight's library.

As she moved, Rarity's mind wanted to do many things, she wanted to strangle her sister for putting herself in such danger, she wanted to destroy the Everfree Beast for being the danger she loathed so much towards those she loved so much, she wanted to blame Applebloom for having mentioned the name on the first place, she wanted to blame Twilight for not doing anything against it on the first place, all of that and more, but Rarity knew best, a lady wasn't of such attitude and the best she could do was to ask Twilight for help.

She trotted through the streets of Ponyville, ignoring if it was whether the night or the day, she did not care. All Rarity cared was to find a solution to this predicament that had finally touched her family before it could harm it and that was what she asked Twilight, perhaps a reunion before asking Celestia for help?

Well, that was what she ended asking Twilight, her voice now calmed down. After all, a lady was supposed to talk with complete harmony and not letting anger to take her over as she explained Twilight how did the Everfree Beast have already talked to both her sister as well as Applebloom and her friend Scootaloo. Sadly, for Rarity, just asking Celestia for help wouldn't do.

In fact, asking Celestia for help would be hard, Twilight doesn't want to intrude in her life, either because of how busy her schedule has become after the earth shaking or because Twilight wanted to prove herself to her mentor. There was also the situation with this Everfree Beast, all the clues aimed at the creature she met during her encounter with Nightmare Moon and Twilight wanted to be sure of it, she would not drag her friends on this and she knew her spells in case she couldn't handle this beast, just in case it wasn't the creature she previously met in that castle, but her decision was made and it was said with a fiery determination that very few individuals are capable of replicating.

"Rarity, I'll go to the Everfree Forest and find this Everfree Beast. I'll see what it is and decide what to do with it once and for all."

Author's Note

EDIT June 13th of 2019: If you like this and you want to support me, you can do it through my Ko-Fi. Feel free to check it out.

Chapter 11: Fateful Encounter

"You sure that this is a good idea?"

That was the question Spike made to Twilight before she closed the Library's door and started to move into the Everfree Forest to find and see what was this Everfree Beast.

As she moved from her Library to the Everfree Forest, Twlight started to remember how she decided to go alone in there instead of asking her friends to go along with her. It all started with Applejack going to her library short days after the earthshaking took place.

"Twilight, are you sure that this is a good idea?" - Asked Applejack in a worried tone. - "Ah' know that Celestia ordered you to stay away from the Everfree Forest and that beast isn't something to joke about. But, ever since the Nightmare Moon incident, more and more creatures have been leaving that dreaded forest and crossing through ma'h family's farm. How do you know that staying away from the forest is a good idea?"

Twilight looked at her friend, her irritation quite visible, and tried to come up with something that could calm her.

"Applejack, I understand your concern, I can create a barrier surrounding your farm so the creatures from the Everfree doesn't try to-"

"No, Twilight, that's not enough" -. Interrupted an agitated Applejack. - "Just think about it, it's just a matter of time before the thing scaring the creatures decide to go out the Everfree and Ah' don't want to deal with something Ah' know nothing about."

Twilight was starting to get an idea of where this was going to.

"Applejack, this isn't so simple! If we don't think this straight ahead, we may be causing problems" -. Said a Twilight very worried at the idea of disobeying Princess Celestia and confronting a creature to strong for them to handle, at which the determined farmer responded.

Twilight wondered why she stopped talking, at which she turned around and saw a very curious Sweetie Belle listening to them. Having to cut the conversation here and there, Twilight managed to avoid again with Applejack, worrying to get into a fight with her for something she wasn't sure how to handle.

Twilight then crossed the streets and looked at the clouds, with Rainbow Dash having the most worrisome opinion of all.

"Don't worry Twilight" -, said a very overconfident Rainbow Dash as she was looking at a group of clouds to see if they could be used as a course of obstacles, - "if you're so scared, then I can go in there and beat whatever beast lurks into the Everfree, it will not even see me coming."

The more Twilight thought about Rainbow fighting a beast that defeated a dragon and an Ursa Minor, the more Twilight feared for her friend's life but she could barely come up with an idea that could make her stay away from it.

"I don't know Rainbow, I mean, we don't even know what it is and, considering that it defeated a dragon, I don't think we should be rushing into this."

There was also the possibility that this beast was actually Raziel, who Twilight really wanted to meet again, if only because she wanted to thank him for his help and to confirm Fluttershy's accusations, but Twilight feared that Rainbow would try to go even more against him if she knew that the Everfree Beast could be as powerful as an Alicorn. Her answer to Twilight's concern certainly supported her fears.

"That's dumb egghead, you know how awesome I am. I would have defeated that dragon with no problem had I got the chance and that thing will be seeing the ground before it even realizes who hit him."

Twilight was doubting even more if asking Rainbow for advice was a good idea, but she was a friend and friends should always be there for you, especially because Twilight wanted to avoid the same situation Applejack got herself in for not accepting help.

"I see" -. Said a very doubtful Twilight. - "Well, thank you for your support Rainbow Dash. I'll call for you when I need your help."

And, as she was leaving Rainbow Dash alone, and she was about to start practicing some acrobatics, she left her with an answer that really made Twilight unsure about whether or not Rainbow Dash would be helpful for her.

"Call me whenever you need my help egghead, that beast is no match against the most awesome pegasus in all of Equestria and I have all the speed to prove it."

And, as she was taking off the ground, Twilight started to consider if it was a bad idea for a reconnaissance mission into the Everfree.

Twilight started to get in the outer parts of Ponyville, passing by Pinkie's bakery and remembering her warnings regarding the Everfree Beast.

"What do you mean with another doozy?" - Asked a very nervous Twilight who had already passed the scare of her life after making a jump to save herself from a Hydra. - "Pinkie, I thought me believing you was the doozy."

Pinkie just couldn't stop moving around as she tried to explain herself, her words hard to understand with a lot of stuttering that Twilight had a hard time in understanding.

"I don't know Twilight, I also thought that too but this one feels like a bigger doozy, like if a super duper big moment will happen soon but I cannot tell what it is because the author doesn't allow me to see what it's about except that it's related to the Everfree Forest."

As Twilight tried to dissect Pinkie's babbling, she did understood, as far she was concerned, in one particular part.

"The Everfree Forest? But what could it be there?"

Once again, Twilight had to dissect Pinkie Pie's words.

"Sorry Twilight, but this doozy barely allows me to see what it's about, I try to understand but this things just are like it."

This just left Twilight more confused.

"But, Pinkie, I already got word from Celestia telling me to not go into the Everfree, how am I going to know what this could be if I cannot be in there?"

Before Twilight could keep on investigating, the doozy stopped, leaving Twilight, Pinkie and Fluttershy very confused.

"Maybe it's just a warning to not go in there?"

Whether it was Fluttershy's guess or Pinkie's doozy, Twilight only got more curious regarding the forest.

Twilight moved her hooves to the Forest, passing by Fluttershy's cottage and remembering their latest conversation the day Twilight came back with both her and Pinkie Pie from that Hydra chase sequence.

"I don't know Twilight, I really think that you shouldn't get close to the Everfree Forest."

Said a very scared pegasus with her shyest voice possible as she tried to stop her friend from getting close to the Everfree Forest, and deservedly so, Twilight was getting frustrated with all of this. Whether it was Applejack's desire to stop the animal migration from the Everfree, Rainbow Dash saying that there was nothing to fear, Pinkie's cryptic message or Fluttershy's warning, all it did was making her want to go into the forest and defy Celestia's warning. She really wanted to see what was happening in there, why the animals are migrating? What kind of beast can defeat an ursa? What did Trixie see? What did Applebloom find?

Twilight wasn't sure but she really wanted to do something about it so her friends had nothing to fear again, well, as much as the Everfree Forest could be regarding danger.

"I understand your concern Fluttershy and I won't get close to the Everfree Forest" -. This made the shy pegasus to give a relieved sigh. - "At least not until I have all the right equipment to investigate this creature" -. Just to get nervous right away.

"But, Twilight, what if the Everfree Beast decides to kill you?" - Fluttershy could never forget how coldly Raziel said that he didn't feel bad for killing the dragon, what if it decided that Twilight was a danger and killed her? She didn't want her friend in danger. - "I mean, in case you go, of course."

Twilight looked at her friend, smiled, and simply said.

"Don't worry Fluttershy, I doubt I'll go anytime soon. Especially not without my friends supporting me, in case you wanna go, of course."

That was too much for the poor Fluttershy as her mind, already stressed out with a Hydra chasing her, gave up and knocked her down.

"Fluttershy? Are you ok?"

Twilight spoke with Fluttershy one more time, asking her if it was ok to guard the Cutie Mark Crusaders on her own, and reminding her that she was going to ask Zecora for advice first before doing anything related to the Everfree Beast and moved on into the forest, although not before looking at Sweetie Bell and remembering the conversation that made her change her mind regarding the Everfree Beast.

Twilight moved from her night study into the Library's door, hearing somepony knocking it, and opened the door just to see a very... nervous...? A very nervous Rarity entering into the Library without asking for permission.

"Rarity" -. Said a very weird out Twilight. - "What are you doing here? It's very late and the Library is closed right now."

"My apologies darling, but this is a situation of top priority that must be addressed right away."

Twilight looked at Rarity's hair and noticed how her hair was starting to look like a mess.

"Rarity, you can find books related to your hair tomorrow and I'm sure you know more about hair spells than I'll ever need."

Before Twilight could say more, the troubled fashionista interrupted her and continued on her discomfort.

"As much as I would like it to be, this isn't about my hair, Twilight dear, but it's about a situation I've just discovered and I needed to tell you about, for I feel that you would find this information of the most disruptive kind."

She then turned away and started to talk, making it really hard for Twilight to look at her eyes.

"You see, while I was working on our beautiful and delightful dresses for the Grand Galloping Galla, I was also being a great big sister and decided to help in my, very small, spare time my dear Sweetie Bell for, you see, she decided to make a piece of cloth to a friend she recently met."

Rarity paused a bit to let Twilight digest the information.

"I know, I'm such a great sister, I was thinking on talking about Sweetie Bell after figuring out who was this colt but, alas, I wanted to have a sisterly moment with my dear Sweetie Bell, for I don't have the time to indulge myself in those kinds of experiences once more. Once that piece of cloth, made with most refined and exquisite silk I could find, was done, I managed to figure out who was this 'friend' that Sweetie Bell made."

Twilight couldn't avoid noticing how Rarity put so much toxicity on the word 'friend' as if she hated the sole idea of Sweetie Bell being a friend with this colt.

"Do you know what was his name, Twilight dear?"

As Rarity started to turn her head sideways, to let Twilight hear her better, the librarian couldn't stop shaking the feeling that she wouldn't like the direction this was taking.

"Raziel."

As the word started to resonate on Twilight's head, Rarity started to turn her face towards her, showing how her face was starting to tear at the same time her voice was breaking up.

"Not only I just found out that my little sister, my little sister!" - While Rarity raised her voice in that moment, she somehow managed to remain calm enough to avoid getting Spike awoke. - "Dear Twilight, she has been meeting a dangerous beast, already known for murdering the other creatures in the Everfree, but I also helped her to make some cloth to it."

Rarity couldn't keep the mask anymore and had to release her pain, as her heart broke to pieces for the idea that her sister was in such close encounter with a dangerous creature.

"Twilight, I understand that you don't want to enter into the Everfree but, please" -, she said in the most broken down tone Twilight had ever heard on her life. - "Please, do something about this. I don't think I'll be able to rest as long as I know that there's a dangerous creature out there capable of talking to little innocent fillies and doing Celestia knows what with them."

In that moment, Rarity got closer to Twilight and cried a little bit.

"Please, I beg you."

Twilight looked at Rarity's tears and understood how far has this gotten into, both Applejack and Fluttershy lived near the Everfree, Rainbow Dash would probably go into a death march should she see that beast and now even the fillies were in danger. There was no way that she was going to keep on seeing how her friends were getting on such situations while she was living safe in the middle of Ponyville, no. Whether it was with or without Celestia's permission, Twilight Sparkle was going to solve this, one way or another.

For her friends.

As Twilight moved closer to the Everfree Forest, she saw its entrance, how it opened up to its newest victim and how it welcomed her in. She breathed in, focused on going into Zecora's house to get as much information on the Beast and the Everfree itself so she could face that thing on the most efficient way. She looked at her checklist, noted how well she was advancing on completing it, and entered into the Everfree Forest, ready to solve this problem once and for all.

Canterlot Castle, Hearing Chamber/Physical Realm

This was being a boring day for Celestia, after all, it was just another day of her hearing her beloved little ponies's problems, in the hearing chamber, and then deciding how to solve them for the better of her subjects. Sadly, as much as she loved to be there for her ponies, Celestia couldn't deny how tiring and stressing it could be for her to listen to everypony's problems for a whole day and sometimes getting some backslash from them when the solution wasn't what they expected it to be.

Still, as troublesome as it could be, she still loved the ponies inhabiting her kingdom and she always enjoyed the idea of getting as close to them as possible, but that didn't change or made easier to hold the stress coming from this kind of situations. She was really expecting the days where she would share this with Luna very soon for she could, hopefully, have more time for herself.

And, it was on one of this dull days, as she was hearing a subject asking her about some permissions to get foreign food into the Grand Galloping Gala, that she heard a voice which she didn't miss neither hoped to listen back anytime soon.

"Celestia!"

The Princess of the Sun tried to not jump from the scare the ancient voice gave her, hoping that her subjects didn't noticed her very brief jump, and tried to keep her face straight as she was trying to find a way to interact with the Elder God without her ponies noticing it.

"Do not fret, Celestia, for you know they cannot hear me
and I wouldn't be talking to you here
if it were required for us to interact with one another"

Celestia kept on hearing, keeping a facade of normalcy, hoping that it would help her to keep paying attention to her subjects while hearing this foreboding entity.

"I've come here to inform you that your student
Twilight Sparkle
has decided to enter into the Everfree Forest
despite that you told her not to
in an attempt to discover what has been causing so much trouble in there"

Celestia's heart nearly skipped a bit, her smile and eyes nearly cracking when she heard how her beloved student disobeyed her and went to such a dangerous place. The Elder's God tone of voice, low and ominous, didn't help her to stay calm.

"You know what that means, right?
She has just entered into the land ruled by Raziel
and its just a matter of time before those two meet"

Celestia was trying with all of her strength to not crack down and go immediately to Ponyville to rescue her student, and scold her, but the voice continued.

"Do not worry
Celestia
For I've decided to help both you and your student
By making sure that Twilight Sparkle doesn't meet Raziel"

As nice as it could sound, Celestia still didn't trust this thing, capable of shaking the land, telling her that it was going to try stopping a potential encounter between Raziel and Twilight, what if it was a trap?

"I'll talk to you as soon as Twilight Sparkle is safe
Celestia"

And, just like that, the creature known as The Elder God left her presence, leaving her with a troubled heart and worrying to death about the idea of her beloved student being potentially at the hooves of two creatures she knew nothing about and could be very dangerous to both her and Equestria as a whole.

Everfree Forest/Physical Realm

Not much time has passed since Twilight Sparkle entered into the Evefree Forest, but it was still surprising how oppressive it felt at that moment. She could feel how the air was suffocating her as she tried to move into Zecora's house, never eliminating the feeling that something, or someone, could be looking at her in that moment and she wasn't sure if it was friend or foe.

To be honest, Twilight was always hopeful that this "Everfree Beast" was actually Raziel, all the evidence pointed at that. Twilight knew of no other creature with the kind of powers Raziel showed in that encounter with Nightmare Moon neither knew of any type of creature capable of facing an Alicorn without being a dragon or another alicorn, Twilight was fixated with a desire to know about Raziel, to know who he was, why did he come to Equestria and what was his story.

This, and many more questions, were the ones that made her hope that Raziel was still, alive even though she saw his body dissolving in thin air as Nightmare Moon laughed at his demise. She wanted to believe that Raziel was still alive and all she had to do was to find him on this Everfree Forest, she wanted to believe that she could find him here and prove Fluttershy that he wasn't the murderous beast she thought of him to be, she really wanted to believe that Raziel was still alive.

Sadly, the evidence was clear. Raziel died in front of her eyes, there was a creature on the Everfree Forest, capable of rational thought, that was probably using his name to disguise himself and blaming another one for its actions, and she was very aware of how vulnerable she was right now by going into the Everfree Forest alone, but she didn't want to risk her friends' lives, not without knowing what kind of creature this was, that was for sure.

As Twilight's hooves passed through the dark and shadowy Everfree Forest, she started to feel how the air went cold and what little sound she could hear in the forest went off, leaving her with the most deafening silence she'd ever heard.

Twilight's senses started to move up, trying to avoid getting trapped by any of the dangerous creatures inhabiting the Everfree Forest, and she focused her hearings and sight to identify anything that could be trying to sneak up on her from any side possible.

As her hearing increased, she started to notice how there was something looking at her from the shadows. Twilight looked around and could detect something looking at her, but it moved away before she could get a good look at it, which frustrated her to big degrees. Then, without a warning, she heard something right behind her, prompting Twilight to quickly turn and look into the eyes of the one creature Twilight Sparkle should never look into its eyes: A Cockatrice.

Before Twilight could even create a spell, scream or run, the petrifying eyes of the chicken with snake tail went through her soul and turned Twilight into a statue, stoned in an eternal fear, never capable of leaving her position and never capable of getting help of any kind, for there was nopony that was expecting her to come back soon.

Everfree Forest/Spirit Realm

This was another common day for Raziel, cleaning the Everfree Forest from anything dangerous that could harm the ponies while searching for the Elder God, well, as "day" could be applied in the Spirit Realm as possible, since time was nonexistent on this realm.

As Raziel passed through the twisted trees of the Everfree, he found an archon moving into a deeper side of the forest and ignoring him completely. The Soul Reaver found this behavior very strange, prompting him to follow the soul sucking beast but, before Raziel could even move, he heard a voice that he never expected to hear again or, at least, not on this moments.

"Raziel, it's a pleasure to find you here"

Raziel's senses got on edge, he knew that it wasn't common of it to contact him and there must have been a plan in action.

"I cannot say the same thing, for I find the most despicable feelings being harbored towards you."

"Ah! I see that you're still bent on defying the Wheel of Fate
Perhaps, you got too close to Kain's defiant ideas
Especially, if you think you can bring them here as well"

Raziel felt the rage growing inside of him, aware of how that parasite was still acting like something it wasn't.

"Do not toy with me, parasite. I know too well what do you mean when you talk about 'The Wheel of Fate' and how you're planning to bring here the same destruction you brought to Nosgoth, which is why I came here to vanquish you once and for all."

"Don't be foolish, Raziel
You know there's no running from fate
This ponies have been living unaware of
how dangerous their lives are.
I'm just providing them the order needed
so their lives will never go astray anymore"

"You call 'order' the disintegration of Free Will and you use innocent souls to satisfy your gluttonous desires. You harvested a war between two species because one of them refused to bend to your will and cast away the other one once you couldn't feed on them. You're the root of Nosgoth's evil and I won't let you solidify your self on this land."

The following words, didn't scared Raziel, but did told him a few things. It told him that this conversation was a trap in itself, it told him how the stakes were rising as time went on and it told him that the Elder God was very aware of him, and it was willing to do anything to stop him, which put Raziel on edge.

"We'll see"

In that moment, a scream pierced the realm of the spirits, coming from the same direction the archon took, reaching Raziel's ears and making him wonder what kind of game the Elder God was playing now. Raziel knew that very few creatures could inhabit the Spirit Realm, which only made him curious as to who that could be.

It didn't matter in the end though, Raziel understood the meaning of this. Whoever made those screams, it was someone the Elder God wanted to prevent Raziel from meeting and now all he had to do was reaching the scream before it were too late.

A few minutes earlier, Everfree Forest/Physical Realm

It was late in the night, the Everfree Forest was now the home of a new decorative figure, a lone statue of an unicorn that fell victim to a cockatrice. Unable to do anything regarding its current situation, the statue was standing in the middle of the Everfree Forest, waiting for something to happen.

Now, one of the biggest mysteries regarding being petrified by a cockatrice is that it's hard to tell whether or not the victims are aware of their current situation, there hasn't been a study that tells whether or not if those turned into a statue were conscious of their situation as a petrified being.

For Twilight, though, she would always remember how she suddenly started to feel a pull from her stoned body. She wasn't sure how to describe it, but it was like if her body was being ripped apart from itself, as some interior part of herself started to be pulled out from her own body without any explanation.

As Twilight was being pulled out from herself, she started to see how a beast started to appear in front of her eyes, its sight causing her to feel terror on levels only felt once in her life as this new creature was as horrifying as the one she saw in the Castle of two Sisters, even though this new one didn't look as sophisticated as the previous one.

Its crab-like claws, holding her tightly, were taking Twilight ever so slowly towards the creature's predatory mouth, already open and ready to eat her, making her shout the biggest scream of horror she has ever done in her life. As she realized how close death was to the magical unicorn, Twilight started to shake her forelegs and hit the beast with all her strength on its face. For some struck of dumb luck, Twilight's kicks were strong enough to make the thing release her and fall to the ground.

As Twilight quickly reincorporated herself to the ground, she looked up and saw how this living terror had no legs but it was still capable of moving through the air with a greater finesse than a pegasus, as it started to move towards Twilight with a speed that made her very nervous.

Twilight, in a spark of panic, decided to run while screaming for help with all the strength her lungs could provide. As she ran away from the creature, Twilight decided to look back and saw how its blue eyes were looking at her, not as prey but more like a target, something that had to be removed, which made her feel even more fear on her body.

As she ran, Twilight tried to use her magic to teleport somewhere safe but she soon realized that, for some reason, she couldn't use magic. There was something cutting Twilight's magic and that made her situation even more dire as she soon started to scream even louder for help.

Twilight ran with all her strength, pushing her body to the limits as she tried to quickly asses her situation.

"Alright, Twilight, think. You must think or else you'll be food for that thing" -. She passed through a few branches and jumped above a small stub. - "Now, I cannot use magic but I can still hit. I'll remember that if it manages to catch me again, now, where am I?"

Twilight tried to see a familiar path, but all the trees were too distorted and bluish to recognize a familiar path. She then tried to see at the sky and hope to find either the sun or the moon but what she saw made her stop death on her tracks as she found none. All she could see was a dark blue sky that had nothing indicating a celestial body that she could use to her advantage, it was as if the sky was cut down and, just like anything else, it looked as if Twilight was taken into a distorted version of all she ever knew, making her display all her storming emotions in one phrase:

"Where am I?"

It was then that Twilight felt the creature's claws catching her and it made her realize that she just wasted her time and was now going to be eaten by that thing. She saw its eyes and how hollow they were, no emotion, no rational thought, nothing that could feel Twilight that she could get herself out of this through talking. She tried to fight back, but the creature then increased its hold on her to make sure she couldn't run away again.

Twilight decided then to make one final call for help, even though she doubted that anypony would even find her, and closed her eyes for the inevitable.

It was in that moment that Twilight heard something on the distance, akin to a laser spell being shot, followed soon by the beast shaking itself as if it was being hit and forcing it to drop Twilight.

Twilight wondered what happened or, rather, who could have found her and saved her life, at which, she decided to open her eyes and saw the one creature she never expected to find again in her life, even less under such circumstances though that didn't make Twilight any less grateful.

As she saw that unique, bipedal creature with a blue flesh, damaged wings, claws in all of his extremities, a scarf covering his mouth with only a small amount of dark hair covering his head and the one thing she could remember best, an ethereal blade coming out of his right arm. This was the same creature that helped Twilight to face Nightmare Moon, this was the same creature that was willing to help others out of altruism, this was the same creature whose goodness gave Twilight hope before seeing her friends and solving the mystery behind the elements of Harmony and was right now repeating that by saving Twilight from her impending doom. This was Raziel, the Soul Reaver.

"Raziel!" - Shouted an excited Twilight, glad of seeing a friend once thought lost.

Raziel didn't turn back though, it kept its head looking at the creature while aiming his sword at it. The creature responded on an equal measure by staying far away from Raziel but never stopping from looking at him with a clear intent on its eyes that told how serious this fight was going to be.

The creature moved to the side, at which Raziel quickly responded by getting close to it on that same direction, before the creature could do anything, Raziel jumped high and started to hit the creature with a quick series of sword spins that made Twilight wonder how could Raziel come out of that and not feel any dizziness, the creature quickly moved back just to quickly move sideways and tried to bite Raziel, which was just responded by Raziel by just shooting at it followed by another series of quick sword spins.

The creature suddenly started to become transparent, something that looked very suspicious to Twilight, which made her think that it was a new tactic, but those suspicions became curiosity when the creature decided to run away, giving Twilight some great joy as the threat was now over.

Raziel, interestingly, didn't look like he was done, in fact, Raziel then decided to open his scarf, which made Twilight wonder what he was about to do with that, and that, in turn, made the creature starting to move in Raziel's direction. This made Twilight shiver at what she was seeing, for it didn't look like the creature was actually trying to get closer to Raziel, it looked like if the creature was trying to run away but a huge force was sucking it into Raziel's mouth at which Twilight started to get scared.

"Raziel, what are you doing?!"

Before Twilight could even think of doing something to stop Raziel, the creature was sucked into Raziel's mouth, although not before releasing a shriek that crossed through Twilight's spine and made her shiver, followed by what sounded like if something was fed. Once that spectacle was over, Raziel put back his scarf and finally decided to talk to Twilight.

"My apologies for showing you that part of me, it was never my intention to encounter you again under this circumstances" -. He then started to turn into Twilight's direction, his eyes looking directly into hers and showing the humbleness of his words. - "Sadly, as tragic as your current situation may be, I suppose this could be the right moment to introduce ourselves properly" -. He then hid his ethereal sword and extended his right claw towards her. - "My name is Raziel, the Soul Reaver".

Twilight looked at Raziel's eyes, filled with a compassion devoid in the other creature, and then at his right claw, which was wielding just a few minutes ago a blade capable of killing her, trying to see if there was some kind of catch. Thankfully, it was quite clear to Twilight that Raziel wasn't intending anything dangerous on her, which made her respond in an equal level of friendship as she shook his claw.

"Nice to meet you, I'm Twilight Sparkle, carrier of the Element of Magic and faithful student of Princess Celestia."

It was in this moment that reality started to set in into Twilight's world, making the dam brake and forcing her to start what was a very typical thing among Twilight's friends but not very common to the hermit reaver.

"Now, where am I? I remember that I was on the Everfree Forest not too long ago. Why my magic doesn't work? Why are you here? I thought you were dead, does that mean I'm dead?" - In that moment Twilight started to get caught on her own panic, which made her questions even more bent towards fear rather than rationality. - "If I'm dead, is this where we all go when we die? Was that thing some kind of death guardian? Why the sky look so dark? What did-"

Raziel's response was to simply take Twilight's shoulder, making her shiver at the feeling of getting those claws on her body and not her hooves, and respond her in a very calm manner.

"I suppose I could start with the easiest one so your mind can have a better understanding of your current situation" -. He then started to move his claws around the mysterious forest. - "This, is the Everfree Forest."

Twilight looked around and filled her mind with doubts.

"But, I've been in the Everfree Forest before and it has never looked like this."

Raziel's answer sent a pulse of ice on Twilight's body.

"That's because we're not on the Everfree Forest you know off. This is a version of it on a plane known as the Spectral Realm, where the souls and the immaterial resides."

Twilight's eyes shrunk into pinpricks and she almost fall into panic mode again.

"Souls? Then I'm actually dead?"

Raziel's quick response quell her nerves.

"Not necessarily, even though you may be on the Spectral Realm, you still can have access to the Physical Realm if you know the ways to leave, after all, this is a realm for the souls and the only thing stopping us from being on the physical realm is the lack of a vessel capable of holding them."

There was a way back to her normal life, that was the first thing Twilight needed to know, now she had to know what kind of methods there were for her to go back.

"Then, do you know of a way to go back?"

Raziel started to move back and forth, thinking on something. He then turned back at Twilight and responded.

"Before talking about our ways to return, I need to know, how did you get here?"

Twilight was baffled at his question but a quick analysis made her understand, knowing how Twilight came here would give Raziel an idea of what was the best way to bring her back, so she started to remember her last moments before seeing that hideous monster.

"I was entering into the Everfree Forest to ask Zecora about the Everfree Beast, I was going around, being very careful of what kind of creature could engage me when I suddenly met a cockatrice and turned me into stone."

Raziel's eyes then started open as what she said gave him the idea of what to do.

"In that case, you're body is still around and functional. All we need to do is find it and put you back into it."

The simplicity on Raziel's response was baffling to Twilight, to say the least, since she expected a more complicated spell or method but knowing that she could go back to her own body was something that filled her with happiness. Now it was just a matter of finding her body.

"Well, I don't remember where my body is, but I'm sure we'll be able to find it if we look carefully" -. Then Twilight remembered something that it was sacred for her, time. She wasn't sure how much time has passed since she was in this Spectral Realm. - "Oh, no! How much time has passed since I came here?"

"Time in the Spectral Realm flows differently than in the Physical Realm, a moment in the Spectral Realm can be a millennium in the Physical Realm and a millennium on the Spectral Realm can be a moment in the Spectral Realm, if we find your body, its very likely that no time at all must have passed by."

That was a piece of information that both calmed Twilight and made her very curious about this 'Spectral Realm', if she knew how to travel here, she would be able to read hundreds of books in less than a night. A dream come true.

"I remember seeing a statue not too long ago in that direction" -. Said Raziel as he aimed his claw into a certain direction. - "Let's move before we get attacked by any more dangerous creatures inhabiting this realm."

And, with that, the pair started to move into what would be Twilight's salvation. Granted, typical of an academic mind such as Twilight's, she wouldn't just content with knowing how to leave, she wanted to know more about everything, including her newest friend.

"So, you basically said that I wasn't dead yet but, what about you? Are you dead?" - Twilight's question didn't stopped Raziel from moving neither it looked as if it troubled him in some way.

"As far I'm aware, I died before taking this form but to answer your question would be depending on what terms of 'dead' you mean" -. Raziel's response caught Twilight's attention, what kind of story was behind Raziel's current situation? Granted, she preferred to listen to his response rather than thinking about pure speculations - "If we're going to talk about what you consider to be dead, then I am dead, since I have already experienced the loss of a body and the separation from it in multiple occasions. But if we're going into the idea of leaving the body to go into a superior realm, then no, I'm not dead and I cannot die."

"Cannot die!?" - Was Twilight's simple response. - "But I saw you losing your body against Nightmare Moon, you died."

"That's death if we go according to your own definition. What actually happened to me is that my vessel could no longer be sustained and I was forced back into the Spectral Realm. All I had to do was to search for a new body to inhabit, so I could return to the Physical Realm on a new vessel. For me to actually die, my soul would have to transcend into the next life and that will never happen to me, so I cannot die."

Twilight wanted to know more about this, why Raziel couldn't go beyond this? Was there any way to let him rest? But, before she could make this questions, she saw something in their proximity. It was a light coming out of the ground that moved on a spiral way as a smaller light pulsated from the ground.

Moved by curiosity, Twilight started to get closer to this pulse to see what it was about. As Twilight got close, she started to feel a pull getting her closer towards it and making Twilight get even more curious. She wanted to know what was this pull and why she felt so entranced to it but, before anything else could happen, she felt Raziel's claw stopping her from getting any closer.

"I do not recommend you to get any closer if you want to return to your body."

He said in a very cautious tone, at which Twilight asked.

"Why? What its this and why I feel a force pulling me in?"

Raziel's response was, just like him, very unsettling to the very innocent Twilight.

"When a body lose its soul, it starts to rot and deteriorate, creating a perfect vessel to shift from the Spectral Realm to the Physical Realm."

Twilight's mind started to race, she has not only figured out that corpses where a portal to travel back home, but also how close she was from possessing the body of a dead animal from the Everfree. As much as Twilight wanted to get back home, she didn't want to do it as a Chimera, especially because she didn't know what would be of her under such circumstances, so she started to move away from it but not before noticing how there was another corpse just a few meters away from this one.

"Wow, another one? What's been going on in the Everfree that has killed so many of... its... inhabitants..?"

Twilight looked back at Raziel, figuring out another puzzle in that moment. Raziel needed corpses to go back to the Physical Realm, the creatures living on the forest has been running away, there are multiple corpses on the Everfree.

"Raziel... was it really necessary to kill so many creatures on the Everfree? Isn't there another way to come back?"

Twilight also understood something else, if Raziel was capable of committing a massacre in a forest just to get a way to leave this place, which she didn't blame him for, then that meant that he was very likely to be the Everfree Beast Trixie talked about so much and that also meant that he killed the dragon... Twilight wanted to talk about it to him, but she also understood that this wasn't the best moment, especially if he was the only one capable of getting her back.

While Twilight was thinking about all of this, she ended up giving Raziel enough time to think of a proper answer.

"My current condition may put me into a state of immunity to death, but it doesn't mean that I have the ability shift at will between the planes. As much as I would like to, I require of a mean to get back and, unless you can create portals that allow me to shift without the necessity of using dead bodies, I fear this curse will continue to force me into this savage behavior."

"Wait, create portals? There is another way?"

"Indeed, there used to be portals located in specific areas that would allow me to shift from this realm to the other, but, much to my frustration, they're no longer avaiable to me."

Twilight gave this a thought and started to move once again to the corpse. She thought on the pulling sensation, how much she fell it taking her towards it, how she felt the need to move towards it, how much she wanted to leave. She then started to move away from the corpse, remembering that sensation with all of her strength, thinking on how she could use it on her behalf.

After that, they kept walking through the forest, this time dwelling on the trees and how twisted they looked. She wanted now to ask about it but then an object that looked very familiar to Twilight started to appear in the distance. The object looked like certain unicorn as it was being petrified by a cockatrice and it gave an aura similar to the ones held by the corpses. It was quite clear that her journey ended here and there, but that didn't stop Twilight from making one last small talk to Raziel.

"Well, this is it. Thank you so much for helping me, I'll talk to the girls so you can come to Ponyville and properly meet. There's much to talk about and I would like to hear more about you."

Raziel's response was warm, much to Twilight's happiness.

"You can have my gratitude as well, for you discovered my corrupted nature and did not run away. Just like you, I would like to know you more."

Twilight then started to move back to her body, excited and impatient to see the end of this but, suddenly, Raziel stopped her once more.

"Before you go, there's something I would like to share with you, if you trust me enough, that is."

Twilight then started to feel on edge, what could it be that he wanted to give her? For a brief moment, Twilight suspected that Raziel was planning something but she then remembered how he has helped her all the times they've met and decided to give him this chance, after all, he could've eaten her a while ago and haven't.

"Sure, what is it?"

Raziel then started to move his claw towards Twilight and put it on her head. In that moment, something white started to flow from Raziel to Twilight, making Twilight feel that same sensation she felt when she saw her friends going to help her against Nightmare Moon and when Raziel showed up to help her not too long ago. It felt warm and nice, but there wasn't much more Twilight could figure out to describe it and, just like that, the flow stopped, making Twilight wonder what was that about.

"Uhm, what was that?"

Raziel's response was just as cryptic as what he gave her.

"A gift, something I hope will aid you on your future quests."

Twilight thought about that, thanked Raziel, and went to her body, feeling that same pull from before and letting it take her.

From Raziel's perspective, he saw how the statue then started to disappear, showing how her body was being freed from the petrification imposed on her by a mischievous creature, making him feel very satisfied with himself.

"After weeks of hardship and patience, luck has finally graced me with her charms and gave me an opportunity to befriend the ponies. Not only have I managed to meet again Twilight Sparkle, but I've also managed to bless her with the powers of the Reaver, now I can be sure that I'm getting closer to my objective."

Raziel then started to move from where the statue used to be and sought for a new portal to shift back into the Physical Realm.

"I will not lose focus on what happened, the Elder God tried to distract me from rescuing Twilight Sparkle. He knows my intentions and he tried to sabotage them, I'm going forward with this plan but now I must remain as cautious as possible, if that squid was willing to go this far to stop me from befriending them, then who knows what else he can do."

As he got close to a corpse, Raziel's mind quickly started to think on how to approach the ponies. He was aware that going right now could be a bad idea, but he needed to know if Twilight was safe, after all, there was still that cursed creature petrifying anything it found. He knew what to target next.

Twilight was feeling very well with herself, she never expected to resolve the mystery of the Everfree so quickly, even more was the fact that she met Fluttershy helping her from the petrification done by the Cockatrice, releasing her from her prison, there wasn't enough ways for her to show her appreciation.

"Twilight, I thank you for your gratitude but, doesn't it worries you that the Everfree Beast may find us now?"

Twilight's newest discoveries made her just dismiss Fluttershy's worries.

"Do not worry about it Fluttershy, that beast its nothing to worry about."

This information made Applebloom wonder.

"Wait, how do you know we have nothing to worry about?"

"Because I discovered who this beast is and I can assure you all that he's a lot of things except for a beast."

The Cutie Mark Crusaders quickly understood who she meant and started to cheer at the encounter, although Fluttershy didn't took it so well.

"Wait, how do you know it's not a beast? What if its just a lie to trap us?"

"Don't worry Fluttershy, I'll explain it to you once we meet the girls as soon as possible."

Ironically, that meeting was going to be much sooner than expected for, once the two mares and three fillies left the the Everfree Forest, they were greeted by four worried mares and one panicking dragon that was fighting too much against sleep.

At this encounter, Twilight felt as if she had a lot to explain.

Author's Note

Here it is guys, the first set piece I planned for this story (Raziel entering into the Tower was just the appetizer) and you got no idea of how important this encounter will be in the future of this story.

I'm publishing this story now because its late and I want to sleep, tell me, please, what mistakes you find and I'll fix then in the morning. Thank you for your patience, I'll see you later.

EDIT June 13th of 2019: If you like this and you want to support me, you can do it through my Ko-Fi. Feel free to check it out.

Chapter 12: Fateful Meeting

Ponyville's Library

As Twilight Sparkle left the library to search for clues regarding the Everfree Beast, Spike couldn't stop feeling like if something bad was going to happen to Twilight, he only hoped to be wrong about it but, the more he thought about it, the more his mind created distorted images of Twilight being slain by the monster that resided inside the cursed forest.

Images of Twilight being frozen to death, images of Twilight being crushed or just being captured by It. The idea of having someone as close to him as Twilight getting into the Everfree Forest without any type of help was something that only she could think about, but Spike just couldn't come up with a better idea or, at least, not at the time. He wasn't strong, he couldn't make a plan to defend Twilight from a creature nopony knew about and, had he decided to go with Twilight, he would've just been a burden.

He wanted to make a letter to Celestia, but Twilight may get angry at him for she wanted to prove Celestia how capable she was to solve this kind of problems on her own so, despite knowing what was the best idea, Spike decided to accept and just wait for Twilight to come back with any information she could gather.

That way, as time went on, Spike became more and more anxious, for Twilight was taking more and more time to get back to the library. At the beginning he was thinking that Twilight just got sidetracked on some conversation but, when he saw the sun setting down and the moon rising from the ground, Spike was starting to wonder if Twilight found some kind of problem inside the Everfree Forest.

The idea, at the start, sounded ludicrous for Spike but, as time went on and the moon got higher and higher, the more fear and worry started to root deep within Spike's mind, Twilight was on her own, she didn't ask any of her friends for help and if she had any type of that she could solve on her own, she would've fixed it by now. And, that way, Spike accepted defeat towards his fears and left the Library in search for Twilight's friends for help, with each of them receiving the news in their own distinctive ways.

The stern Applejack, once she heard of Twilight going into the Everfree Forest, felt a mixture of guilt and anger towards the friend that decided to go into the timberwolf's mouth to help her friend but repeating the same mistake the apple farmer committed not too long ago during the Applebuck season and Applejack wasn't going to allow Twilight from receiving the same consequences, if not worse, that she got back then.

Rainbow Dash was the most concerned about Twilight, not that she would let anyone know about it, for she was sure that the unicorn was unable to fight whatever lived inside the forest. Rainbow would never forget the ursa and the dragon and how destroyed where their respective bodies when found and the last thing the brash pegasus wanted, was her friends suffering the same fate. No, she would go into the Everfree if necessary and rescue her friend from any danger that were living in it.

Pinkie Pie was worried as well for Twilight's safety, but her choice of words couldn't be more poorly. Talking about how many parties would Twilight miss have something bad happened to her and how important it was to find the "big meanie" living in the forest. It was quite clear she had the heart in the right place but it was unknown how aware she was regarding the immediate danger Twilight was right then.

Rarity was the one who felt the guiltiest regarding Twilight, having created a drama in front of her and prompting the loyal student to dive into the danger without help of any kind, she wanted to go and help her friend and hope that she wasn't responsible of any type of evil befalling poor Twilight and, should that be the case, she would show the monster what a lady was capable off.

Mysteriously, or rather a case of fear, was met when a tired Spike and the girls went to search for Fluttershy, the animal lover and found her cottage abandoned with five series of prints, one of a chicken, three fillies and one mare, going into the forest. When this happened, the mares found themselves worried that Fluttershy and the three fillies she was taking care off went into the Everfree and met the same fate that Twilight did.

As the four mares went into the Everfree's entrance and prepared themselves to get into the forest and save their friends, with two of them preparing a big scold towards the fillies that decided to enter yet again into the Everfree Forest, relief came into them in the form of the mentioned ponies, leaving the forest in good conditions and talking to each other. Such relief was met in Spike that he fell victim of tiredness and sleep, no longer having to worry about the potential danger coming to one of the figures he cared the most about.

When Twilight found her friends in front of the Everfree Forest, the first thing that came to her mind was wonder as to why they were there, making her ask what they were doing. Surprisingly, their answers weren't what she expected, although she should have expected them.

"Twilight, are you insane!?" - Asked a very concerned prismatic pegasus. - "Why did you come into the Everfree Forest if you knew how dangerous it was?"

This statement was quickly followed by Applejack.

"Yeah! Why didn't you ask fer help to any of us? We would have helped you with no question."

"Well" -. Interrupted a white unicorn. - "I need to finish a commission tonight so..." - Seeing how her friends were looking at her, Rarity decided to quickly fix the situation. - "But I would have totally helped you, had you ask for help first."

Twilight looked at her worried friends and realized how dumb she was for this idea but, considering the end results she had from this, it probably was very worth it. No matter how Twilight thought regarding her experience on the forest, she doubted that having her friends with her would have actually helped her to meet Raziel once again, speaking of which.

"You're right" -. Said a humble Twilight, recognizing her error. - "I should've asked you for help, but I announce you that I managed to get the information I was looking for and I will talk about it as soon as we manage to gather up in the Library."

As soon as those words were heard, Twilight's friends perked up and now wanted to hear whatever Twilight managed to find, even Rarity was considering on listening to this first and grounding Sweetie Bell later.

Once the girls were in the library and Spike was in the bed, with the three fillies in the library since no one was avaiable to care for them while this meeting was being held, the six mares decided to speak regarding what Twilight found on the Everfree Forest and said information freaked some more than others.

"Let's see if I understand this" -. Repeated a prismatic mare. - "You were turned to stone and your soul almost got eaten by a monster in an alternative version of Equestria, then you got saved a creature that, according to you, managed to fight Nightmare Moon herself, cannot die, can live between this two versions of Equestria and has been the same creature that defeated the Ursa Minor and the Dragon?"

Granted, Rainbow Dash was the most excited about this, the other girls were feeling a mixture of creepyness and worry regarding this creature but they were letting Twilight finish her report before making any comment.

"Yes, Rainbow Dash, that's what I said."

And, again, Rainbow Dash was the only one that wasn't feeling fear from all of this.

"That's so cool" -. A quick angry look from Fluttershy reminded the fastest pegasus alive the problem with that statement. - "I mean, yeah, it was that it killed those creatures, but its so awesome. I wish I could've gotten a chance to fight Nightmare Moon as well."

After hearing that, Twilight decided to get back to her report.

"Right. As I was saying, after meeting with Raziel, I've come to the conclusion that Raziel isn't a bad... pony?" - Twilight quickly debated herself whether or not she used the right term for Raziel, for he wasn't a pony but she wasn't sure of what exactly he were. She would ask him later. - "Anyways, Raziel is good and I think it would be good for us to let him enter into Ponyville so we can properly meet him."

"Ah', Twilight" -. Said a very young and tired voice. - "Are you sure that's a good idea? Ah've seen part of Raziel's body and the reactions he would get from the ponies would be much worse than what Zecora got."

Twilight gave it a thought and it was true, Raziel's appearance wasn't a very friendly one, in fact, she remember getting scared the first time they met as well due to his ghastly form, so she got a better idea.

"I know, why don't we go meet him in the forest and determine what to do?"

Twilight's friends looked at each other and gave her a very simple response.

"Can we do that another day, Twilight?" - Said a very tired pegasus. - "It's very late and none of us want to return to the forest. Maybe tomorrow night?"

This was supported by a farm mare.

"Yeah, Ah' have to ground Apple Bloom fer disobeying and right now Ah'm too tired to do so."

As the mares were starting to get a consensus, Scootaloo called them all towards the window.

"Girls, come here and look. It's the cockatrice running in Ponyville!"

Right as they heard this, the girls quickly went to the library's windows and saw, to their horror, the cockatrice running on the streets of the peaceful town of Ponyville on a frantic state. It went from side to side as if trying to evade something and it looked on every direction as if it were being chased by something.

All the mares and fillies inside the book fortress were wondering why was such a dangerous creature running through the streets of Ponyville, considering how deep into town it was and how rare it was for the everfree creatures to leave their home, this was an extremely rare occurrence. The other thing that they didn't expected was their answer, moving at an outstanding speed and quickly reaching the cockatrice.

The speed of said thing that hit the monster was so sudden that the mares couldn't get a proper glimpse at what it was and all they could see was a sudden flash hitting the stone turning monster that lasted less than a second and, when it dimmed out, all they could see was a burned crater in the place where once stood the creature that petrified Twilight Sparkle.

As five mares watched this and felt a mixture of fear, terror and amazement. They tried to wonder what they could do to protect themselves from it just as they heard little Apple Bloom screaming at the open window.

"Raziel, we're at the Library, come over here."

In that moment, the five scared mares picked the little filly, closed the window and started to look at Applejack's younger sister with anger.

"Young filly" -. Said a very angry Applejack determined to ground her little sister. - "Do ya' have any idea of what you're doing? Besides, didn't you said that it was a bad idea to bring him here."

"But, sis" -. Said a very concerned filly. - "He's already here and if we're going to discuss about meeting him, shouldn't we take advantage of him being in the town?"

Applejack was about to disagree but, in that moment, she heard a loud noise coming from the upper floor, which had Twilight's observatory, with its windows still open so the stars could be better watched with its chilling air passing through it reminding all the mares of how easy they made for that creature to enter. It sounded as if a large creature just landed in there but, when Rainbow went to check in the upper floor, she found nothing.

"What do you mean by nothing?" - Said a worried Applejack. - "We just heard something entering here and Ah' doubt that whatever entered here it's invisible."

"Actually" -. Interrupted the scholar unicorn. - "He actually can turn invisible" -. As she saw the scared faces of her friends, she tried to diffuse the situation. - "But, don't worry, if he wanted to take you down he would have done it by now."

Once they heard that, the five terrified mares grouped together in the center of the library, chilling out in terror for the idea of having that beast taking them down. Except for Rainbow who will ever swear that she was just making sure that no surprise attack could get her by staying on the same position as her friends, even though she was shaking just as hard as Rarity.

"Twilight, are you sure that we're fine? Because Ah' don't feel fine!"

"My coat has just been brushed, it would be a tragedy if something wrong happens to it!"

"We're going to be eaten and no more parties will be in Equestria!"

"Twilight" -. Said Fluttershy in a very quiet tone. - "Are you sure that he wouldn't attack us?"

"I'm not scared, if he tries to do something to us, I'll kick him out of here and show him how dangerous the fastest pegasus in Equestria can be."

"I doubt you could achieve that when you ignore your enemy's location."

That male voice freezed the mares in that spot, for it didn't belong to any of them and they knew it but Rainbow Dash, being the courageous mare that she was, decided to jump high up into the air, high enough to not be reachable to a normal pony, once again ignoring Twilight's warning regarding the fight against Nightmare Moon, and challenged her invisible enemy.

"Oh yeah! Then how do you expect to defeat me when you cannot even touch me!"

Once her challenge was done, a green aura surrounded her and moved her into Twilight's bed but, right before she could even touch the bed, she felt something holding her in the air. The mares watched in panic as her friend was being held by an invisible force, but the one who was scared the most was Rainbow Dash as she felt a claw holding her neck but it was impossible for her to know where was the one holding her.

Before Rainbow could calm and try to kick into the air, the force holding her threw her into the air once again, giving her little time to regain the air balance. Once she stabilized herself, the voice came back.

"To be honest, I wasn't intending entering in Ponyville but the petrifying monster was a problem that had to be eliminated and Apple Bloom's invitation was something I couldn't miss."

Rainbow Dash charged in the voice's direction, Twilight's bed, but this time she hit the bed, leaving her confused. While she was recovering from the crash, the voice continued.

"But, I will say, Apple Bloom, that you shouldn't be inviting anyone to a house that doesn't belong to you and especially without your elder's authorization."

"Oh, sorry Raziel."

Hearing Apple Bloom listening more to a stranger rather than her big sister made Applejack feel angry.

"Apple Bloom! Don't speak to strangers!" -. She then looked on the upper floor's direction and responded to the figure. - "And you stay away from mah' little sister, fer all Ah' know you might be a bad influence fer her!"

"But sis" -. Responded a sad Apple Bloom. - "Raziel was the one who escorted me to Zecora's and has helped me and mah's friends in more than one occasion, he even told me to not get into the Everfree by mah' self."

"Not only that" -. Interjected Twilight. - "But I can also verify by that voice that this is the same Raziel I met in the Castle of the Two Sisters and helped me against Nightmare Moon."

Hearing those arguments, Applejack decided to calm down for a bit but she wasn't the only one worried.

"But wait! What about the dragon and the Ursa Minor?" - Said a very upset Fluttershy. - "You killed those creatures for no reason and you entered here even though I told you to not come in."

The voice remained silent, giving enough time to Rainbow Dash to go back up and search for the voice once again, this time she heard the voice in the stairs.

"Regarding the dragon, I politely demanded him to leave the cave first and he responded by trying to incenerate me, its murder was just a matter of self defense" -. Once Rainbow heard the voice, she dove right into it but, once again, she was stopped by the green aura and she was thrown right in front of her friends. - "I recommend you to stop doing that, you'll only end up damaging your own body" -. In that moment, the mares heard the same heavy noise landing right in front of them while still being unable to see anything in their sight as whatever they were talking to gave the last part of his response. - "The Ursa Minor tried to attack me and, should I have run, the pony passing by in a caravan would've been capture in the attack radius, I had to do it."

Once Rainbow reincorporated, she went up once again and tried to show her bravery one more time.

"Oh yeah! Does that mean that you would destroy me or any of my friends if you found me too dangerous?"

After giving her challenge, silence greeted Rainbow Dash once more for a little amount of time, then the voice responded to her again with a very confident tone of voice.

"If it came to it, yes."

And in that moment a figure appeared out of nowhere right in front of Applejack, Rarity, Fluttershy, Pinkie Pie and Rainbow Dash and seeing its disfigured form, its destroyed wings, its lack of flesh, its glowing eyes, its half hidden face and its claws, it made them all scream of terror, although Rainbow Dash would swear that she never screamed that day.

Once they calmed down and saw that the figure hadn't moved from its position, they started to take a better look at it and noticed how relaxed it was, its arms weren't flexed and its eyes gave it the looks like it was peaceful instead of an evil monster wanting to harm them.

"Well" -. Rarity interjected first as she gave it a better look -. "I think you would need a huge makeover but, otherwise, I think you look just fine sir."

The response she got in exchange was something she quite liked.

"While I think that no makeover would suffice to make me look presentable for any of you, I appreciate your efforts on my person to make me more adjusted to your society. Sadly, I doubt the ponies are ready to meet something as ghastly as myself."

"Oh please, sir, don't say that. With those fine modals, I'm sure you would just fit into Canterlot's society, after all, you already have the charming personality."

"Much appreciated, but I doubt the equestrian high society would agree with your opinion, I speak as someone who once was the second in command of a whole empire."

Those words struck Rarity where she was the most interested.

"Really? Tell me more, please, what happened to you to fall from grace, dear gentle... stallion?"

But, before Raziel could respond, Rainbow Dash decided to stop the conversation before it became too girly for her taste, something Applejack appreciated a lot.

"Hold on! You just threw me in the air and at my friends and you expect me to sit quietly?" - To her surprise, Raziel's figure remained stoic. - "What can you really say about that in your defense?"

Raziel's response was as unexpected as hilarious for her friends.

"You lack the concentration to find your enemies even though they're holding you, your wings may allow you to fly but you lack the coordination to quickly react to an enemy attack and you're standing close enough to me to tear you apart" -. Rainbow was starting to get angry, but Raziel's final words let her cold. - "You seem to lack a lot of training necessary to defend either you or any of your friends and you ask for others to defend themselves? I recommend you train first before demanding anything from others."

As Rainbow Dash blushed and her friends laughed, Scootaloo went in front of Raziel and tried to defend her personal hero.

"Hey, you were invisible. Try to fight Rainbow Dash on equal grounds and see if you can actually beat her."

While Rainbow Dash was happy for someone to defend her, she wasn't sure if she was ready to fight a creature capable of using telekinesis although that didn't mean that she wasn't capable of defeating this Raziel, she just needed some time to prepare herself for a fight like that.

But, before the meeting could get out of control, Twilight decided to take the lead.

"Well, before any of you start beating each other out, girls, I would like to introduce you to Raziel, the friend who helped me against Nightmare Moon before you arrived. Raziel, I present you Applejack, Rarity, Fluttershy, Pinkie Pie and Rainbow Dash, my greatest friends for life, I wouldn't trust my life to more capable friends."

After thinking a bit what she just said, she tried to make sure Raziel didn't misinterpreted that information.

"Not that you haven't saved my life, I'm just trying to say-"

In that moment, Raziel interrupted Twilight with a calm voice.

"I understand, Twilight."

Hearing that calm voice, Twilight felt a bit shocked but she decided to get along with this and hope for her friends to act just as well. Thankfully, for Twilight, Applejack decided to be the first one stepping in and showing her right foreleg.

"Howdy Raziel sir, Ah'm Applejack" -. Raziel shook her hoof with his claw and felt Applejack's strength shaking him with force, an image very familiar to Twilight. - "Me and mah' family are the owners of the Apple orchards, the best apples you'll ever taste in your life so, if you ever need a good apple, you know who to ask."

Once the shake hand was done, Raziel looked at her and responded with respect.

"Greetings, Applejack. While I doubt I'll ever need an apple, for my body cannot consume them, but I appreciate the offer nonetheless. Now, please tell me, why the sudden change with my presentation?"

Applejack looked at Apple Bloom, then at Twilight and then at Raziel before responding.

"Ah' guess that, if mah' little sister and mah' best friend can give you the benefit of the doubt, then so can Ah' but Ah'll be watching you" -. She said as she gave him one big eye to emphasize her comment.

"Much appreciated" -. Responded the Soul Reaver.

Then came Rarity and, with the same finesse she talked to him minutes earlier, she greeted him.

"Greetings mister Raziel, my name is Rarity and I appreciate your concern for my little sister's well being and thank you so much for protecting her whenever she got into the forest, although I won't be asking you to do so for I wouldn't like her close to the Everfree Forest."

"Greetings lady Rarity, your concerns regarding your sister's well being are understandable in all sense and I'll also advise you that I've warned Sweetie Bell to not get into the Everfree itself which, sadly, I cannot guarantee she has followed through considering that she has entered into the forest trying to contact me."

In that moment, Rarity eyed her little sister, who was now trying to hide under a table, thinking once again what kind of punishment could suffice for her lack of a nice behavior and, while she was at it, the timid pegasus known as Fluttershy got close to him to greet him while always trying to avoid looking directly at his face.

"Hi, mister Raziel" -. She said in an audible and secure tone, to the surprise of many. - "Thank you for saving the Cutie Mark Crusaders and Twilight but don't think I won't forget what you said about the dragon."

In that moment, Fluttershy looked directly at Raziel with a concentration that the girls never saw before and wondered from where did she got that bravery a few minutes ago. To their surprise though, Raziel looked unfazed, as if he had seen more intimidating stares and responded with the same tone and neutrality as he did with both Applejack and Rarity.

"Hello Fluttershy, I find it much appreciated that, at least, you'll be open to my presence once more. While I cannot guarantee that our relationship will be a solid one, I will promise that I'll seek to have a better one compared to our last meeting."

All the ponies started to look at each other, wondering what were they talking about but, before any of that could be explained, Pinkie Pie got in front of Raziel and started to verbally assault him with a fast paced shooting of words.

"Hi mister Raziel! My name is Pinkie Pie! Its that how you actually look or its just a disguise? Why are your wings limb? Do you like chocolate and strawberry? Why do you look like a meany pants but act like a hero? Are you-"

"Pinkie!" - Interrupted a very tired Twilight. - "It's too late and most of us have other stuff to do tomorrow, please make this quick."

"Oh! Sure! Well, if I have to pick a question or line that could define how our relationship will be developing through the following days, I suppose it would have to be:"

In that moment, she breathed in and said in the most serious tone she could make while looking at Raziel with the fierceness of a Hydra and the toughness of a chimera which was followed with a stoned tone of voice that showed how serious she was at that moment.

"What is your favorite type of party?"

Once she made her question, a deafening silence was followed as all the ponies in the library awaited for Raziel's response, knowing full well that his answer could make or break his friendship with Pinkie Pie. After several seconds of total anguish, he responded in a solemn tone.

"Hello, Pinkie Pie, I used to enjoy parties that were only housing the individuals I held the closest to me, sadly, that was over a millennia ago and I've never been in a party ever since."

Shock and tragedy filled Pinkie Pie, who gasped at the torturous life her newest friend was suffering from and responded with the trust and sympathy of a long time companion.

"That's horrible, nopony deserves to live so much time without a party. Quick! I'll make you a 'Welcome to Ponyville and your first party in a lifetime' Party to help you out" -. She then looked at her friends, who were looking more and more tired as the night went on and concluded. - "In another day, to make it a surprise for you because surprise parties are the best."

And, before Raziel could say no or anything of the like, she quickly banished from his sight, just to appear right beside Twilight as if she never moved in all this time, much to the mare's confusion.

Once that was done, only one mare was left to talk to Raziel. Said mare then started to get closer to him through flying so she could be eye to eye with him and speak directly at his face with a determination close to Fluttershy's and trying to be just as intimidating.

"Well, if Twilight doesn't have a problem with you, then I'll give you a chance" -. She then offered him her right foreleg as she presented herself with a level of self confidence that only showed how easy she was to beat. - "I'm Rainbow Dash, the fastest and most awesome pegasus in all Equestria and I'm ready to prove you that, if you dare to do something bad to my friends, I'll kick you back to whatever realm you came from."

As Twilight and the other girls were about to facehoof, Raziel responded with a neutral tone but that, somehow, still managed to show a level of confidence towards Rainbow Dash.

"Hello Rainbow Dash, nice to meet a mare who's confidence reminds me of my brother Dumah, who would always brag about how strong his skin was, thick enough to make him invulnerable to any kind of physical attack."

Rainbow Dash felt some sort of subtle warning, so she tried to find out more as she responded with all the smugness she could have while putting as much confidence in her face as she could muster.

"Really? And what happened to him?"

In that moment, Raziel responded in a cold tone, telling Rainbow Dash all she needed to understand just how little threats meant to him, shattering her confidence while she tried to keep her smug face so nobody could see her understanding Raziel's subtle message.

"He was incinerated to death."

What Raziel wasn't aware off, was that, while the response was understood by Rainbow, it also brought a series of questions to both members of the Apple family and Twilight herself, wanting more than ever to understand the life of this enigmatic figure and his intriguing family.

With all the presentations done, Twilight decided to say her goodbyes to her friends, so they could rest (or finish their work in Rarity's case) and discuss a bit more tomorrow, with the Cutie Mark Crusaders willing to enjoy their stay in Fluttershy's home as her last time of freedom before the punishment would come to them. Once they were all gone, Twilight looked at Raziel once more and talked to him one last time.

"Well, that was quite a night. I didn't expect it to end this way but I wouldn't like it any other way, for I've found an old friend."

As she said this, Raziel looked at her and responded with a friendly tone.

"I suppose I must agree with your statement, for I doubt there could have been a better moment to build the relationship between ourselves, even if said moment came with your life being at risk."

Twilight scoffed that, assuring Raziel that it was nothing, and continued with her speech.

"Well, I admit it could have gone a little bit better, but now I can rest well knowing that you're alright. I just hope we can have a better moment to meet but, sadly, I doubt that you could to Ponyville in the morning, right?"

Raziel looked at her and then turned his face toward the streets of the desolated town, illuminated by Luna's moon, knowing full well that the ponies wouldn't accept him that easily.

"You're right" -. Responded the lost soul. - "I doubt that we can meet in the morning or at any moment of the day, but I doubt that could stop us from having more encounters."

Twilight wondered what he meant with that as he started to point out at her window.

"While there's no form for me to enter here through shifting planes, as long as you leave that, or any window in particular, open, I'll have a way to enter here in the night, ready to talk to you whenever you feel like it."

Twilight's eyes started to daydream around the idea of knowing such a foreign but, at the same time, delightful creature. She wondered what kind of powers he had and how did they worked, how was his homeland and why he was here in the first place. This dreams, typical of a young scholar that doesn't understand the burden of knowledge over the mortals, filled her with anticipation for the next night, hoping to meet him once again.

"Sure, I'll be waiting for you tomorrow night and maybe you can finally meet Spike" -. She said as she pointed at her draconian friend, peacefully resting on the basket. - "Is that alright to you?"

Twilight looked at Raziel, hoping for him to say yes, hopes that were achieved with his response.

"It's a meeting then, once time hits the eight hour, I'll come to your home. Is that acceptable to you?"

Twilight accepted and decided to open the door for him to leave, thinking that he would just become invisible once more but, to her surprise, he just shifted planes and disappeared from her sight. Once she saw that, she remembered her experience in the Spectral Realm and wondered if there was a way to help Raziel to shift back without the need of a corpse, she doubted to find anything regarding that realm on a book, but she was sure that she could still get something useful that she could use to understand better what she wanted to do now.

And that way, as Twilight started to get surrounded by books to get a light read on magic and the soul, the Soul Reaver finally met with the six figures he needed to befriend in order to save Equestria but understanding more than anyone how high were the stakes rising.

Canterlot Castle, Celestia's Room

Celestia couldn't sleep as anxiousness was filling her mind with nightmarish images of Twilight being attacked by a monster from the Everfree Forest, she wondered if she should go to Ponyville herself, considering that the one thing that told her that it would look out for her haven't responded, torturing her mind as it created images of that ghastly creature damaging Twilight with its monstrous claws.

In that moment, she heard the voice that soothed her with the same trickery that has trapped many other powerful figures across time and space.

Celestia!
Your apprentice has been saved from danger.
Sadly, I must announce you that something worse has happened.
Something, that will put the life of Equestria at risk.

Author's Note

And this its the final update for this story regarding this year, I have another story I would like to update and I would like to have some rest the rest of December and the first weeks of January.

I hope I did the interactions well and, if you think there was something that needed to improve, please advise so I can fix it later.

Personally, I don't think I did well with Pinkie Pie, I tend to avoid writing her because I just suck at comedy and I just cannot think of good ways to write her. Same thing with Zecora and her rhymes.

EDIT June 14th of 2019: If you like this and you want to support me, you can do it through my Ko-Fi. Feel free to check it out.

Chapter 13: Interview with a Soul Reaver

Ponyville's Library

As the night was coming close, Twilight started to prepare her notes, quills and feathers to write what, she was sure, was going to be one of the most important moments in Equestrian History. She was about to interview a never before seen creature and she was going to be sure that she would get as much information as possible, she could feel the anxiety going through her as she breathed with anticipation to the moment to come, nothing would ruin this.

"Hum, Twilight?"

Granted, Spike was an asset she couldn't control, but that doesn't mean that she wouldn't do her best to make sure nothing wrong would happen.

"Yes Spike?"

She looked at Spike as he was sitting on the most comfortable sofa avaiable for him, surely, this would help him to feel safe enough for the time Raziel would come to her house and he wouldn't scream as he was looking at her with a weird look.

"Twilight, are you sure that this 'precautions' are a good idea to begin with?"

Twilight looked at Spike's belt, holding him tight into the chair, just to make sure that he wouldn't try something funny once Raziel comes.

"What are you talking about? After seeing how my friends reacted to Raziel, I realized that it would be better for you to keep you with this belt to make sure you wouldn't try anything peculiar when he appears, after all, I don't want you trying to attack him or screaming once you see him."

Spike looked at his claws being restrained by the belts and remembered how Twilight decided to close the Library earlier today so the chances of Raziel stumbling upon somepony would lessen, understandable after hearing Rainbow's description of him.

"Alright, sounds fair. Would you let me go if I promise that I'll behave and I won't scream at him? I'll even help to give a better impression of you."

Twilight decided to give this a thought, thinking about how important were presentations and Spike would surely help on that regard when receiving Raziel. Yeah, he could be helpful if he were allowed to move freely, but, Twilight thought, an incentive would surely help on that.

"You got a very good point in there Spike, so I'll let you go and, if you help me well enough, I'll let you eat two gems of your own picking for tomorrow that aren't the usual amount of gems I tend to let you eat, does that sound good for you?"

Spike's tongue started to salivate at the idea of eating two more gems than usual and decided to agree on this, quickly starting to put back the books on their shelves and moving the furniture so both Twilight and Raziel could have a good moment together.

Twilight's decision to interview Raziel was considered weird by her friends, but she always justified it by establishing that it was the best way to know him better. Granted, her desires to know more about him and his mysterious origins were beyond obvious but nobody could provide a better idea of how to ask him about his life considering how hard it already was to talk to him.

At the same time, it wasn't as if Twilight's friends weren't curious about him either, Rarity was curious to know what kind of fashion existed on his place of origin, Applejack wanted to know more about how he met Applebloom and Rainbow Dash wanted to know how strong he was, if he could fly, how fast he was, how he defeated the dragon, etc. All Twilight could promise was that she would ask what she could and try to not make him feel cornered.

After a few hours of preparation, the Library had a very comfy chair for Twilight to seat while she was interviewing Raziel. Spike did his best to make the meeting good by providing treats, like cookies, so both her best friend and her guest could have a good night, although, when he asked about what Raziel would like to eat, all Twilight said only made him feel creeped out.

"Huh, Spike, I don't think you can serve anything that could sate Raziel's apetite and, even if you could, I really don't want you to. His hunger isn't one that can be satisfied through... normal means..."

He preferred to not ask again after hearing that.

And, as the night was taking over Ponyville and its citizens were leaving the streets, both the scholar and her loyal assistant were just waiting for the guest to appear, bringing an unavoidable feeling of dread, for the unknown it's always a creator of the intangible feeling of fear towards the worst possible escenarios.

Thankfully, the dragon decided to use the power of words to stop that unsatisfying feeling that loved to invade the mind of sapient beings.

"So" -. He started. - "What do you think you can get from this?"

The question created some uncertainty on the unicorn, which she tried to dispel.

"Well, I actually don't know" -. Before Spike could even ask what she meant with that, she went further on with her explanation. - "You see, there's nothing in Equestria that's remotely like him. His magic, his form, his way of treating others, his feeding practices" -. She took a moment to shudder at the memory of Raziel eating that thing in the Spectral Realm of the Everfree Forest before continuing. - "They're not normal for any pony standards and I'm sure that, if we don't try to meet him better, all we might get is another case like Zecora, where all Ponyville will be scared of him but on a grander scale and I will not let that happen."

Spike looked at her eyes, filled with that same determination she had when trying to find out more about Nightmare Moon, when she tried to take out the dragon, when she tried to figure out the problem in the Everfree regarding the 'Everfree Beast'. He was sure that she wouldn't rest until achieving this, but there was something else he needed to know.

"But why? Twilight, if at least half of the stuff I've heard about him is true, then why do you want to help him? He has done stuff multiple times worst than what we thought Zecora could do. Why do you want to help him so much?"

Twilight took a moment to look at the window, the moon already up and even less ponies going on around the streets, he would be coming very soon and she knew it.

"Because he saved me" -. It was this simple answer what caught Spike into Twilight's line of reasoning. - "When I faced Nightmare Moon, I thought that he was a monster just by his appearance but then I saw him trying to help me defeat her. Granted, now I know his tactic would have been a bit more... crude... but I know that he's not bad. I don't like to see him living that way, I don't like to see him living as a creature forced to feed in such a foul way when he clearly doesn't like it either. So I'll try to understand him, I want to know him and see if I can help him in some way."

In that moment she turned her eyes on Spike and gave her last retort, hoping for him to understand.

"I do not approve of his ways, but I cannot force him to change when it looks like he has no other choice. So I'll help him. I'll help him so he no longer needs to live in that way and for that, I have to know him more."

Spike gave this a thought, that did sound like Twilight after all, and decided to respond.

"Well, I cannot argue against that. Do you think he'll like me?"

Twilight simply smiled and nudged him on his neck.

"Sure, I see why he wouldn't like you. After all, you must be one of the bravest and kindest dragons I've ever known about."

And, with that, they waited a bit more on their frightful coming guest. As the hours passed and the clock finally hit the eighth hour, they saw how the streets in Ponyville were getting deserted, with only an ocasional pony passing through, and only the wind passing through the window was heard. As the wind entered the library, sending a chill into the pony and the young dragon, they heard a big stomp in the upper floor, signifying who had finally come to their presence.

While Twilight was both glad and relieved to see that Raziel decided to fulfill his part, Spike was only concerned because he heard a big sound but saw nothing.

"Uhm, Twilight? Can he turn invisible?"

His answer came in the form of another stomp landing in the middle of the library, just a few inches away from where Spike was, and a ghastly being appearing out of nowhere, looking as if he has always been there. This sudden apparition made Spike stutter back and quickly run behind Twilight, fear controlling his body at the creature whose appearance went beyond anything he was described about.

For all of this, Twilight simply smiled, already used to his figure, and tried to calm Spike.

"Spike, you have nothing to worry about, this is Raziel, who I talked you about" -. Spike decided to move his head out and give a better look at Raziel, fear and disgust going through his head and stomach for his awful form. - "Spike, I know he looks dreadful but, you can trust me, he can be very nice in the inside."

The corpse like figure got closer to Spike, knelt down, and showed his three digit claw at him before speaking.

"My apologies for the sudden appearance, young Spike, but had I been capable of improving my looks, I would have turned myself into what I used to look like before being transformed into this cursed being."

The elected words made by Raziel got both Spike and Twilight's attention and made the former to decide to take a risk and get closer to the dreadful creature in front of him. Taking a look at his claws, and noticing that he was actually looking directly at his bones, Spike decided to take the chance and gave Raziel his own claw to salute him.

"Hi Raziel sir, I'm Spike, Twilight's number 1 assistant and the only dragon in all of Ponyville. Glad to meet you sir."

Spike felt Raziel's scrutinizing gaze, even though he had no irises that could be seen on them, just those two deep blue glowing eyes. Still, he felt a shuddering warmth as he took his claws and shook them with his own, doing it softly and with care.

"Greetings young Spike, I'm glad to finally meet you in person" -. He then looked at Twilight and, after releasing Spike's claws, he extended his claws at her. - "And I'm glad to see you again, Twilight Sparkle."

Twilight extended her hoof and greeted him as well.

"I'm glad to see you again Raziel, I hope we can have a better opportunity to meet each other now".

Raziel nodded and agreed with her, they both then went into the chairs, seated in them, and started to talk with Spike writing all of it on a scroll.

"Alright" -. Started the insightful unicorn scholar who, with a very inviting smile, said to her number 1 assistant. - "Spike, start to get notes".

Interview between Twilight Sparkle and Raziel.

I, Twilight Sparkle, am going to interview my friend Raziel, as a mean to know him better and have an improved understanding of him. Before this interview, it should be noted that Raziel has already helped me before; first when he helped me in defeating Nightmare Moon and then by rescuing me from the evil spirits in the Everfree Forest, so this interview isn't only to know him better, is also to leave a record of Raziel's achievements and to show them as an evidence towards the ponies of what good has Raziel done for society.

Question 1: Raziel, I have already seen you in action and I've talked to you, but I still don't know you well enough, in example, you once said to me that you were forced to feed on... a very morbid diet to live, which implies that you don't like it, so I ask: Who are you? What can you tell us about your life and how it took you into what you are right now? Do you suffer from a curse that gives you those powers in exchange of having that form of life that you so much dread?

Raziel looked at the floor, thinking on what to say, he was wondering how much he should say, what kind of information he could deliver that wouldn't compromise his position with the ponies neither his objective. Should he tell her of his previous lives or just the parts that show his suffering? He looked at the fire and remembered his two encounters with Janos Audron, how he managed to tell him about his position as the Tenth Guardian and how he had to discover his dark secrets on his own. He knew Janos wasn't proud of those misdeeds but he still felt compeled to do them for the benefit of the greater, which caused a lot of harm but, in the end, they worked. He thought once more in the question and decided to answer.

Answer: My name is Raziel, today I may be known as the Soul Reaver but I used to be known by other names. When I was a human, I was known as the Sarafan Raziel, knight dedicated to fight the evil I once knew as the vampire race. After losing my life fighting them, I was then turned into a vampire and served under the vampire emperor Kain, under who I served for over a millennium. After serving Kain for so long, I was cast aside by both him and my brothers when I evolved beyond the emperor, with the punishment being sent into a living hell. After suffering there for an eternity, all that was left of me was this horrible figure you see right now.

As for my powers, those tend to change. As a former human, I held no powers, as it should since only wizards and those who held magic weapons can have any type of semblance of power; but once I was given the dark gift of vampirism, my body developed increased strength, higher hearing, superior sight, the ability to form personal powers over the course of time, my destroyed wings being a prime example of it, and all of that under the cost of being weak to sunlight, water was like acid to my skin and I developed a dark hunger for the vital force dwelling within those blessed to live under the sun.

After I was cast into into the worst punishment and my body was cursed into this, the only powers that remained within me were my superior strength, sight and hearing. Everything else was removed, including my hunger for blood which was replaced for a much darker hunger, while I used to eat the vital force of the living, now I require their prime life source, what makes them who they are, also known as their souls. With the benefits of being able to live between the planes of the living and the death and copying the abilities from those beings whose souls I devour but at the cost of never being able to go to the afterlife, I'll remain stuck in here until the end of times.

As Twilight heard those words, she already started to feel as if this was a bad idea. She knew that Raziel's story was something beyond what Equestria would consider normal, but he had a much darker backstory than Princess Luna. It didn't take too much thinking to realize that he must have killed under his two previous lives, especially as a vampire, but she now had to live with the idea that most, if not all, the power he showed while fighting against Nightmare Moon were from his previous victims.

Does that meant he would have absorbed Luna's powers had he gotten the chance to take her life? She shuddered at the idea of having an immortal being with the powers of an alicorn when said immortal already had enough power to fight one.

She wanted time to think, but she already started this and she wasn't going to back down from it.

Question 2: Now, thanks to your words, I can say, with a total guarantee, that you're not from Equestria, which begs the question, where are you from and why are you in Equestria? After all, I doubt that someone with a background like yours would be interested in a peaceful place like Equestria, which has no vampires and has never heard of something like a Sarafan.

Razeil gave this some thought, it look like as if it was simple to explain but he knew that this was the most dangerous to answer, he gave some contemplation to the answer and then continued.

Answer: I come from a land known as Nosgoth. A land that I sworn to protect as a human, I loved as a vampire and I would like to see once again on its old splendor in my current life. During my years in torture, the land of Nosgoth fell to the corruption and destruction brought by two figures; the first one being Kain, the vampire emperor, whose corruption brought decay to the land; the second figure was the one behind all of it, behind Kain's corruption, behind all the evil plunging Nosgoth through its history. A creature whose evil would make Kain look like a hero and actually convinced him to join forces with me to fight it and, while I'm not sure how effective was Kain in the fight, I was informed that said creature, close to be defeated by Kain, decided to run away into Equestria and send it into the same condition Nosgoth was in when I came out of my destructive cell. So, with that information, I decided to give it chase, find wherever its hiding in Equestria and vanquishing it from equestrian existence once and for all.

Twilight was slightly shivering at the idea of a far more dangerous than Nightmare Moon living in Equestria. She was sure that, no matter what could come out from this interview, she would have to inform Celestia about it, she had to know. But, first, she had to finish this interview.

Question 3: That was insightful, now, from all the powers you mentioned, the one that picked my interest the most, since I had a first pony experience with it, was your ability to shift between the mortal plain (known by you as the Physical Realm) and the spirit realm (known by you as the Spectral Realm) and I would like to know more about it. How does shifting works? Does the two realms interact between each other? If so, how?

For the first time Raziel felt a wave of comfort as she made a question he had no problem answering to and that he was sure she would love to know more about.

Answer: My ability to shift between planes is one I received for my current condition as a Soul Reaver, it allows me to change between dimensions, which grants me certain benefits, but this power holds rules that I must follow.

The first rule is that I can freely shift from the Physical Ream to the Spectral Realm without any problem whatsoever but I cannot shift freely from the Spectral Realm to the Physical Realm, I need something that could work as a conduit between those two planes. One way would be by using a special portal that I'm not aware of how to produce them and the other way is through the corpses of those who no longer lives. By possessing those bodies, I can force myself into this plane. While I'm aware of how crude it sounds like, I assure you that I would drop it as soon as I could if I ever find another method to shift.

Regarding the interactions, yes, there are some interaction between the planes, the first one being that the figures in the Physical Realm are shadows in the Spectral Realm, which means that you cannot interact with objects like books, rocks, houses, etc. Because they're just a reflection of where they are among the living. Granted, that means that you can leave a group of stairs in any position you want in the Physical Realm, shift, and use said stairs to climb the position they were located in. The same way, when shifting between planes, some things distort enough that allows to see the world in a... different perspective. But there are certain dangers to go into the Spectral Realm, in example, while time flows normally in the Physical Realm, in the Spectral Realm you can be between a second to more than a thousand years without even noticing it; at the same time, most, if not all, the powers you hold in the Physical Realm cannot work in the Spectral Realm, so I recommend to not toy around with it.

Twilight hoped Spike took good notes of it, she was definitely going to experiment more with this Spectral Realm if it meant that she could discover more about Equestria although she would make sure to do it under a safe environment. Now, with that covered, there were certain parts of his stay in Equestria that had to be understood.

Question: Well, that was certainly informative and I think that could be enough about your origins for now. Instead, let's ask about your coming to Equestria, I still remember when you came here and we met each other facing Nightmare Moon, a tale worth telling in another time, when I would like to know now is about what happened after that because, if I understand how your powers work, that means that you've probably been busy in Equestria between the incident with Nightmare Moon and our encounter in the Everfree Forest, so I'll ask: What happened after your encounter with Nightmare Moon? More specifically, what happened with your encounter with the Ursa Minor?, since it's the first documented moment you were started to be noticed in Equestria once again.

Raziel went into a deep thought, reflecting on that moment and wondering how far has it been since then. Who knows how things would've changed should he have tried to go back to Twilight but that was the past and this was the now, so he looked back at Twilight and answered.

Answer: The incident with the Ursa Minor isn't one I'm too comfortable with, after all, multiple lives were at risk there. The first life at risk was the magician's because she was very close to the fight, I won't dive too deep into how I ended up encountering the Ursa, all I'll say is that I was investigating something on a cave and I found it by accident. After some chase, I saw the mare in question passing through and I decided to fight the bear before she could get caught up between our fight. After that, I decided to leave the battle zone once it was safe for her to pass through.

What I didn't expect was that she would create a false narrative and claim that she survived an encounter against me. It's also because of her actions that more lives were put at risk, more specifically the two young colts that decided to enter into the forest. Once I found them, I figured out what she did and decided to give her the scare of her life, you probably saw her reaction to my presence. Anything between the Ursa encounter and Nightmare Moon can be simply be classified as filler for all I was doing was exploring the land for my search of that foul beast.

Twilight wasn't sure what to think of it. It wasn't exactly what she expected, nothing too dramatic neither boring either, although the idea that Raziel managed to bypass her and her friends so easily without any of them noticing it and making sure that only Trixie could see him sent shivers down her spine. He was much more crafty than she ever imagined him to be. That left another issue to discuss, one that Fluttershy was very fixated about and Raziel never answered when they made their first proper meeting on the Library.

Question: A very interesting tale, if you ask me, very useful should we want to scare the foals from entering into the Everfree. All that's left now is one more issue that I, and my friends, would really like to know more about. The dragon incident. My friend Fluttershy say that you were very unfair with the dragon and you never responded as to why did you felt justified to kill him. Don't misunderstand me, I'm aware that he must have been a problem for Ponyville should he have stayed any longer, but did it really have to end in such violent way?

Raziel's mind went back to the one issue that made his approach with the ponies so hard for him. He knew that the ponies would have tried, and probably succeed considering how they live, to get the dragon to move peacefully, but he would never back down from his approach. All he hoped is that the mare in front of him could, at least, understand his position.

Answer: The fight against the dragon was an unfortunate event that could have been handled on a different way, probably, but that it didn't go that way when I faced him. When I saw the smokes in the mountain, I knew what was going to happen, after all, I've seen firsthand how you can use smokestacks to block the sun. Granted, there are no dragons in Nosgoth, so finding one here was something I was not expecting at all. I will say that I first tried to peacefully talk to him, but the dragon not only refused to listen to me, but decided to attack me once he saw that threats weren't going to work as a mean to take me out of the mountain. So I fought back and decided to take him down, although not without giving him a last chance before the killing blow. I'm aware that my ways aren't what the ponies are used to, but I won't pretend to back down from this, I did what I thought was best after failing through what I considered to be your ways.

Twilight found interesting the lack of dragons on his homeland but she wasn't going to ignore what he did. Now, she wasn't sure what she could do about it, but she would try to think about it later that night. Now, she didn't have more questions for herself, but she did know her friends had some questions of their own, mainly Applejack.

Question: Well, you're right about my opinion of it. Now, with that, I have all I wanted to know about you but my friends had some questions of their own as well. Since you already answered Rainbow's and Fluttershy's, that only leaves Rarity, Applejack and Pinkie Pie. In the case of Applejack, she wanted to both know more about your encounter with Applebloom and your family, since you mentioned that you had brothers, do you think you could talk more about them?

Raziel felt an unpleasant wave passing through him as he remembered his brothers. He didn't want to talk about them much, but he would concede a bit to please the Apple family a bit.

Answer: My encounter with the young Applebloom was a tale as interesting as the encounter with the Ursa Minor.I was passing through the Forest when I saw the young filly covering herself, probably due to fear of being attacked by a wooden wolf, so I decided to talk to her and protect her in her way towards the striped pony. After that, I have encountered her in other occasions either to protect her or because she wanted to know more about me.

Regarding my brothers, I only have grim memories of them, with the worst of it being helping Kain to throw me into my ultimate torment.

Twilight understood that she wouldn't get much more than that, which saddened her in many more ways. She hoped she could know more in a later date. Now, her two last friends.

Question: Well, I hope we can get to know more about you later. That only leave my two last friends, Rarity knowing a bit more about your life when you were in the elite, things like the trends and how did the upper class went about while my friend Pinkie Pie would like to know how much do you want to be friends with us.

Raziel remained shocked. While he was expecting Rarity to make such question, he wasn't expecting the Element of Laughter to make the one question he himself was thinking the more about.

He raised from his seat and moved closer to the fire, looking how the flames moved from side to side, unable to remain stiff in one form. He wondered how real was his desire to befriend them, was it as pasional as the flame that would die once it had no more fuel or it would remain forever once his duty was done? He wasn't sure about it, but he knew that his duty would never be fulfilled as long as he didn't found the answer to that question.

He went back to his seat and, after regaining his focus, decided to answer.

Answer: My apologies for taking so long, I was not expecting a question like that. While I would rather speak about my previous life as a Vampire Liutenant with your friend on a more personal way, since I suppose only her would stand over a thousand years of upper class lifestyle talks, I will say that it was an interesting life.

Regarding your other friend's question, that's something I still need to know. My land wasn't known for being a harbor of friendship or trust, you couldn't expect the good out of anyone and the idea of opening yourself to others isn't something that the most brilliant figures would do, after all, those who did suffered consequences as bad as I did.

That doesn't mean I won't try though, I understand more than you think of how vacuous and useless my search would be without your help. That was one of the main reasons why I decided to get closer to you, but I cannot guarantee that friendship can be made if I don't have the right reasons and you don't know me well enough. I sincerely hope you had the questions you were searching for.

Twilight looked at Raziel for a while, thinking of what he just said, and tried to absorb his intentions. It was quite clear he needed her (which was a lot more progress than she ever developed when she first came to Ponyville) but he wasn't sure what kind of friendship would spawn from that.

"Yeah, I think this is the best we can make for now. Thank you for your time and I think it's too late to talk about me, but I hope we get another chance soon."

The two figures looked at each other, seeing the struggles they would have to face in the nearby future, they both shake their extremities, she opened the door and, while he was shifting once again, used her magic to detect the waves he was using for himself, after all, she was well aware of what she had to search for, and closed the door once she felt enough time passed for him to leave.

This time, there was no arrangement for a future interview. Twilight needed time to work on a new project of her own that she would make as she tried to think of how to approach him. It was quite clear he didn't reveal everything about his previous life but she wouldn't pressure on it, for it could distance them away.

It was quite funny though, here was Twilight trying to befriend a figure that was much more knowledgeable about friendship than her but that it was coming from a world much harsher than she could ever imagine. She wondered what kind of relationship they would develop, after all, it was quite clear he would keep her mind in the following months.

Meanwhile, the other entity that heard the interview, a young dragon, was having a different line of thinking. All he heard was the story of a warrior that fought the bad guys, became one and was now back to be the good guy, fighting evil as a cursed being. With powers that would only come out of one his comic books, he felt amazed at having a real life super hero helping Twilight Sparkle.

He was entranced at his new idol.

Author's Note

I know this may be a little bit of a filler chapter, but there were some things I needed to do before getting to the next great moment, and I have to do another two before we get there.

Now, I have to get to school for the following three months, so don't expect anything from me on that time. I may write something (no promises on publishing it though) in the meantime, but I will try to focus more on the university. Physics (electronic physics for that matter) can be really hard.

Anyway, what did you think of this? I do have to do another interview plus something else before the Grand Galloping Gala. So I would like to know if you approve of something similar for when Raziel decides to ask Twilight about her life.

Thank you for reading, have a nice time.

P.S: Please do tell me of any misspelling or grammar error you find, they're way easier to find when I know they exist.

EDIT June 14th of 2019: If you like this and you want to support me, you can do it through my Ko-Fi. Feel free to check it out.

EDIT: Ok, why is this one the most viewed chapter of the whole fic?

Chapter 14: Memories of a Decayed Lieutenant

Rocky Gulch, outside of Ponyville/Physical Realm

Time has passed since Raziel's encounter with Twilight on her library and he ended up telling her part of his story, Raziel wasn't sure how long would it be before she managed to understand what he said or when she would like to be close to him again but that didn't stop him from moving with more freedom outside of the Everfree Forest, after all, there were still very few ponies who were aware of him and he wasn't so sure that the rest of the town would be so open about him.

At the very least, it meant that he was now capable of moving through the place whenever Twilight's friends were close with freedom, which gave him more time to explore the land without fear of being found and it allowed him to get closer to the other mares without many problems. That is why he was now in such a desolated and dry place, with only rocks acting as viewpoints and holes filling the site while the town of Ponyville was miles away and you could see Canterlot Castle looking over it.

All he knew was that something wrong must have happened since he saw Spike running away from the place, while he was looking by the distance, and, he was sure, those holes looked less naturally made and more crafted. He wasn't sure what to find there but he knew that he wouldn't lose anything exploring the place so he used his Dark Reaver to make himself invisible and jumped in.

When Raziel found a chain of connected caves, he wasn't surprised. If something was capable of digging holes, then surely it would know about creating structures strong enough to hold themselves up but he was now facing a new problem, where to go?

There were too many tunnels going from one side to the other, to the point that it didn't matter what he was searching for, without a proper idea of direction, he could be expending years down there and he would find nothing. He needed a more practical solution, one that would help him to find something on the long run without losing his time and while he wasn't too fond of using the Spectral Realm as a mean of navigation, it would help him at the very least to search "quick enough" and to figure out in what direction to move.

Ponyville/Physical Realm

As days passed, Twilight was getting closer to her objective and, should it work, it would be the perfect idea to present Princess Celestia and Raziel without endangering the possibility of being seen by pony bystanders. Twilight wanted her friend to be more known, but she knew that many ponies would scream before talking to Raziel, that's why she was so sure that presenting him to Princess Celestia first was a good idea, she would be wise enough to listen to him and grant the help needed to find the villain Raziel was talking about.

Once Twilight were done with her pet project, all she would need was to befriend Raziel a bit more and then send a letter to Princess Celestia to see if they could fix a meeting during the Grand Galloping Gala. It would be the best moment to present each other out and maybe Raziel would be more open to talk about his past, it was quite clear he didn't say everything and that only made her wanting to know more about his home even though it wasn't as nice as Equestria.

That was why she was speaking to her friends, except for Rarity who went with Spike to the Rocky Gulch in search of gems necessary for her newest outfits, so they could talk about this situation first. She wanted to ensure that this encounter would work and they were the only ones who could give her the advice she needed, at the same time, their doubts were the only thing pointing her out the problems with her plans.

"I don't know Twilight" -. Said Rainbow Dash while putting a hoof over her head. - "I don't think it's a good idea to meet Princess Celestia with Raziel right now. Don't get me wrong, he's cool and all, especially after what you and Spike told me about his life but all he has done here is kill a dragon, an ursa minor and almost vanquish her sister. That's not a good track record if you ask me."

"Ah' agree with Rainbow Dash, Twilight" -. Continued Applejack. - "Ah' doubt that the Raziel fella has bad intentions but if we're going to introduce him to Princess Celestia, Ah' think that he need first something good backing him up so the Princess doesn't suspect of him."

"I know!" - Responded a very happy Pinkie Pie. - "Since he hasn't gotten his 'Welcome to Ponyville' party yet, why don't we make him a 'Raziel's a Good Guy' party so the ponies meet him and see how a good guy he is?"

The idea passed on the mares head for far more time than it deserved before the answer, coming from Fluttershy no less, was made.

"I don't know, how will a party make him look like a good guy?"

The answer was simple but confusing, as anything coming from Pinkie Pie.

"Because only a meanie pants wouldn't come to a party."

The response left the mares hanging in the air for a while, trying to think anything wrong with that line of thought but, before an answer could come out from their minds, a very troubled Spike speaking too fast and too panicky to make any sense but letting very clearly that something wrong happened with Rarity, making them put Raziel's problem aside and go to the Rocky Gulch and see what happened with Rarity.

Underground Labyrinth/Spectral Realm

As time went by, Raziel was feeling more and more frustrated, not only because he wasn't finding anything but also because it was quite clear that, whoever made this tunnels, made them deliberately so whoever came inside them would lose itself running through this maddening place.

He wondered just how long it would be before he finally found something worthwhile investigating but he was, at least, finding something on what to mingle his mind on and those were the bodies he found under the ground. There would be times where he would move from one cave to another and he would find more or less bodies ready for him to use as a mean to shift between realms, although he wouldn't do it until he was sure to find anything worth investigating on the Physical Realm.

Granted, using the bodies he found as a way to move himself through the tunnels, considering that he found a mine of bodies on a collapsed tunnel, he was sure that, the less bodies he would find on a tunnel, the more chances he would get to find a proper exit, so he started to move from tunnel to tunnel hoping to find something even though it meant that he would have a hard time finding a shifting portal for himself.

He wasn't sure how far did this go or where it would lead him, all he knew is that he would find something, after all, more and more torches were appearing on this direction and, after walking for a while, he found a large room that connected with other smaller rooms.

Raziel took notice of how there were no more corpses on this large room, implying how important it must be for this underground tunnel's builders, so all he could do for now was to see if he would find anything and then come back after shifting realms... at least that was what he was thinking on before finding, what appear to be, a small prison.

Raziel started to take a look at the cells, noticing how they held one or two corpses each, which it would give him a few ideas of what kind of individuals run this place but, in the moment, all he saw was a way out of this realm.

Diamond Dog Prison Cell/Physical Realm

Rarity was having a dreadful day, which was a shame considering how well it started. A famous figure in the world of fashion asking her for more of her newest designs and all she needed were more precious gems, she had the gems, she had the help from the lovely Spike, she was finding good amounts of gems, it all looked like it was going to be a fantastic day but she then had to be foalnapped by those filthy Diamond Dogs.

Now, she was underground being kept hostage by those dreadful figures for unknown reasons. She needed to find a way out but a lady wasn't prone to fight and who knew how long it would take her friends to find her. Not only that but those cells looked so aged and she was in such a dirty place, did these dogs know anything about higiene?

Those were the problems passing through her mind right then, cornered and trapped with no knowledge of how to escape or that was until she started to hear a sound, a sound that sent a chill down her spine as she tried to figure out what it was or where it came from. It, thankfully, wasn't on her prison cell but she wasn't aware of any other prisoner being held there either.

As she tried to listen better to the sound, it sounded as if something was coming out of the ground through sheer force of will, as if the ground itself was trying to keep it underground but the thing was just too strong for it. Rarity started to feel worried regarding what kind of creature was this, especially after hearing what it felt like as if it was convulsing and retorting over itself for a while.

A few minutes later, the sound died off, making Rarity wonder what was all that about. The answer then came in another new sound, a sound of old metal moaning as if it was being forced to move on a direction it wasn't supposed to move. The moaning sent fear unto Rarity, since she wasn't sure of what could be making those sounds, and that fear escalated into potential panic as she saw how the jail door besides her was thrown into the air due to the huge force put into it.

Rarity now wanted to escape more than ever as she wasn't sure she wanted to meet whatever managed to use magic so strong. She moved to the corner of her cell as she heard the creature moving outside the cell, heavy steps marking its movement in a slow pace. For a brief moment, Rarity wanted to close her eyes to avoid watching the nightmarish creature that was so powerful but that fear soon became hope as she started to see a familiar (although dreadful) figure.

He was a bipedal figure, with two broken wings hanging on his back, his flesh was gone, he had two claws on his high extremities, his only hair was on his head and all left of him was a huge scarf covering his mouth.

"Raziel?"

That was the only thing Rarity could ask as she saw that terrifying yet charming individual she met back at the library on that night Twilight was attacked by a cockatrice and she had to overwork herself up to finish that deadline while Sweetie and her friends were sleeping at Fluttershy's.

She wasn't sure how to react to him that night though, all she knew of him was based on Sweetie and Twilight's impressions of him and hearing he was a creature capable of murdering powerful entities, such as a dragon, weren't a good indicator of him being peaceful, although his mannerism, gentle speaking and thoughtful charms were certainly a good first impression for her.

Raziel quickly turned aside and saw her on the jail, a question quickly being answered by him.

"Rarity? Is that you? I suppose that explains why Spike was running off to Ponyville, he probably must have been in the search of his friends to rescue you soon."

Knowing that his Spikie-wikie was looking for help did brought some hopes for her, although she wasn't sure how long it would take them to reach her.

"Oh, that's lovely and I guess Spike found you first and asked you to come here first while he was moving to Ponyville?"

His answer wasn't expected though.

"No, it was by mere chance that I saw him running to Ponyville while I was exploring the gulch by my own so I decided to explore here first to see what I would find. Surprise wouldn't be enough to describe my feelings on seeing you being trapped here like a dog."

Rarity couldn't help but chuckle at the irony behind those words.

"Oh, well, sure mister Raziel. You see, what happened was that I was searching for gems to make a wonderful series of new dresses for one of the most important figures in the fashion world and, would you guess, this dreadful creatures called Diamond Dogs appeared out of nowhere and decided to foalnap me for all the gems I was finding. Now I'm trapped here on this dirty cell and I have no way of escaping."

As she saw Raziel, she noticed how his eyes were starting close, being those the only indication of what he was actually feeling, and she guessed that probably indignation was passing by him but Rarity wasn't sure of what he could possibly do.

"Well" -. She continued. - "I'm glad you found me so, do you think you could help me a little bit by releasing me from this prison?"

Raziel looked around the jail as if searching for something.

"I'm sure, mister Raziel, that there must be a key somewhere near here, do you think that-"

And just like that, she saw Raziel moving his hands towards her jail cell, making the door flash green energy, before it started to make the same moaning sound she heard not too long ago. The more she watched, the more surprised she got by seeing how his magic worked, and even felt, so differently from pony magic.

While pony magic came from the horns of a unicorn, the wings of a pegasi or the hooves of an earth pony and it felt as a natural thing, something that anypony was supposed to do. Raziel, on the other hoof, felt more as if his magic was a part of him but forced at the same time (kind of like if it wasn't an original part of him) and it was even weird seeing how he used his claws to project a telekinesis spell instead of his head.

Regardless, it didn't take long before the door gave in and was thrown away from her cell. As the jail door was flying away, all Rarity could do was see the ghastly creature of nice behavior looking at her as if he just moved a pebble blocking his way and simply saying:

"With that solved, I'm certain this is a good moment to begin our escapade from this place, isn't it Rarity?"

Rarity quickly took her time to understand what he was talking about and she decided to follow him, after all, why refuse help from someone who got to be on Twilight's good side?

"Yes, dear, I think this is a good moment to escape from here."

As the pony and the ghoul started to move, a new sound was coming, one that Rarity wasn't so eager to hear again. This sound was a voice of an aggravating tone, quite hard to explain but that could only belong to a ruffian who wasn't aware of how to properly treat a lady.

"The sound came from the prison cell, the pony must be trying to escape!"

Rarity was worried, although she wasn't sure for who. If either for the two of them for not having an easy way out or for her captors, who were about to face a beast capable of destroying dragons and surpass death itself if Twilight was to be believed on that remark.

They were soon surrounded by multiple diamond dogs wearing iron armor with three in particular, a small one, a middle one and a large one respectively, coming out from them, the middle one then decided to talk.

"What is puny pony doing outside her cell? Who are you and why did you help puny pony?"

Rarity remembered well that ghastly figure who put her on her current predicament, she wanted so hard to give him a piece of her mouth, but Raziel decided to do it for her.

"My name is Raziel and I came here to rescue this pony from your oppressive paws."

The diamong dog came closer to Raziel, a smug decorating his face, and challenged him on that.

"Oh yeah? Puny pony cannot fight and you're alone against our guards, you cannot win."

In that moment Raziel pulled out an ethereal blue sword from his right claw and aimed it at her captor. Interestingly, for Rarity, this sword did feel as a completely natural part of him, unlike his telekinesis spell, and it radiated a magic that made her feel as if an overwhelming power was trying to suppress everything on its vicinity and, by looking at the Diamond Dogs, they could feel the same overwhelming power as well while Raziel was answering at their challenge with an authoritative tone of voice.

"Would you like to try?"

Raziel's question was daring as well but it left a warning feeling that the dogs quickly understood what it meant. This creature was dangerous and it would fight them if necessary but, to Rarity's dismay, it looked like the dogs were willing to take the risk, so she decided to do what she knew best, being a proper lady and try to mediate the situation.

"Ah, excuse me gentle..." - She looked at both figures, knowing none of them were ponies and tried to search for another word. - "Fine figures. While I feel lots of indignation for my foalnap, I think there's no need for this to reach on violent levels. Don't you think we could make an agreement so we could depart peacefully?"

The two sides looked at each other for a while before the middle sized diamond dog decided to respond with a grin crossing his mouth.

"Sure, an agreement. We can make it, right boys?" - As the diamond dogs looked at each other, understanding that this wasn't a fight they should be taking, the pack of dogs quickly nodded. The large dog then decided to ask. - "What kind of deal could we make?"

The middle one quickly answered.

"Diamond Dogs want gems, puny pony can find gems. Find gems for diamond dogs and we'll let the two of you leave."

Before Raziel could quickly respond, Rarity picked up a stick on the ground and activated her gem searching spell.

"Why didn't you ask for it first, I would have gladly help you finding them." - She then found a batch of gems and mark the place with an 'X' as she started to separate from Raziel. - "There you go, have a nice day."

Once again the diamond dogs surrounded Rarity before she could even get close to Raziel and ordered her beyond what Rarity thought was agreed.

"Dig the gems pony."

Thankfully, it was Raziel this time was decided to respond to the dogs as he jumped back to Rarity, crossing the Diamond Dogs in the process and chided them as if they were a group of oppresors.

"Do you really think she has the physical strength to dig up the gems?" - He once again aimed his sword at them. - "I think you don't understand how a deal works. First, we settle the ground rules here: You need gems and she can find it, we determine how many of them will she find for you and you won't take everything from her, she'll keep a part of the gems she find and she won't be under any type of prison of cell. Once the quota of gems is found we'll depart and all will be forgiven" -. He then started to charge his sword, the magic quickly creating a pressure on the dogs and Rarity, and coldly asked. - "Understood?"

The diamond dogs looked at the blade ominously aiming at them and decided to agree. After a couple minutes of talks, it was decided a quota of gems to be filled for both the dogs and Rarity, once that quota was filled, they would let her go and, as Raziel would put it, it would be taken as a memory of how things would go again should the dogs ever need more gems from her.

That way, as Rarity quickly found more gems for the dogs to dig up, she started to take a closer look at Raziel and how well he managed the negotiation. She wondered from where he got those skills, perhaps years of experience? Well, the dogs would take a while to dig everything, so maybe it was now a good time to talk to the creature besides her.

"Ehm, Raziel, dear."

The creature, for a brief moment, stopped looking at the dogs and moved his eyes towards Rarity. She couldn't see many expressions on him due to only his eyes being at her sight, and said eyes didn't have pupils to distinguish many feelings, but his tone was enough to tell Rarity that he was still at edge on the caverns.

"Yes, Rarity?"

She tried to be as calm as possible, trying to not touch any nerve that could close him to her, but she was quite curious of the type of life a creature like him could have gotten, considering that he once belonged to the elite, and especially how he ended up like what she sees now.

"Well, I would first like to commend you for helping me in the negotiations, for I'm not so sure how that would have turned out should I've been alone with them."

She saw what she could of his face, hoping to find an expression that could help her figuring him out, but all she got was a plain face looking both at her and the Diamond Dogs at the same time while only saying:

"Thank you Rarity, I'm glad to know I was of help here."

Seeing how little she was getting of him, she tried to go for her other curiosity about him.

"You welcome darling, the other thing I would like to talk about is regarding the way you talked to them. I noticed that you made the point to negotiate quite fast, as if you already had experience of this happening. Tell me, how many times did you help in a negotiation in your previous life as a high class citizen back home?"

Raziel kept looking at Rarity for a while, as if he was thinking of an era he wasn't in touch in since far too long to tell. She wondered whether or not she touched a bad issue but, apparently, Raziel wasn't too privy to talk about it, although he managed to remain secretive about it as well.

"Making negotiations was something I used to do a lot. I always had to negotiate with my brothers when it came to territory and..." - He then looked at Rarity as if he wanted to avoid a touchy subject. - "cattle... and I did more negotiations than my memory can even dare to remember."

Rarity kept looking at Raziel and tried to decipher the riddle hidden between his words for, the more he explained, the more mysterious he was. There was always something strange on how he acted, well reserved but not afraid of violence, with a great way to express himself but capable of an adulterated rage common of beast, of peaceful nature but locked in a savage lifestyle. She could quite clearly understand why Twilight was so fixated on becoming his friend, perhaps there was something on his past that he was ashamed of? Only one way to figure it out.

"Well" -, continued the diplomatic unicorn, - "I understand if you're not willing to dive into such a boring time in your life although, that begs the question. Considering the way you always dodge it, was your previous life one you don't feel proud about?"

Raziel quickly turned his head towards Rarity and kept looking at her with a sight that it was quite hard to identify, too many emotions going on there and too little expressions to describe them. He then looked back at the Diamond Dogs and continued his response.

"It could be said that my life back home wasn't one I could feel any proud about. In more than one occasion I switched sides thinking that I was on the right one and more than once I've come to realize that I was a fool for thinking so."

He then looked back at Rarity and started to speak on a melancholic tone while feeling as if it wasn't directed towards her, but rather to himself.

"The more I let myself be dragged down by ideas and emotions the easier I was to be used by monsters that played themselves as heroes when they were actually monsters wearing a facade that had no qualm on using their pieces to their liking, dismissing any thought at how those individuals were affected due to their personal ambitions."

His body started to move towards his left and continued his speech, making Rarity feel as if she dived into a touchy subject but feeling no regret or shame in doing so for she now felt how she have just found a crucial piece to an intriguing puzzle.

"Perhaps I should have known better, after all, whenever you follow someone based on an ideology without questioning it, you may as well be just a pawn but I never did and all I can do is wonder why I never questioned them even though I could see around myself how much harm I was causing."

Rarity was entranced on his speech but, before she could figure out more about Raziel or listen to him a bit more, he stopped talking and ended the conversation as he was looking on a far away distance on the cave.

"It looks like our ordeal is done, perhaps we can finally leave this dreadful place."

She looked on the same direction as him and saw how the diamond dogs were coming out with around four mine carts being pulled by the dogs and all of them were overflowing with precious gems that were making Rarity dream of the multiple types of colorful vests, making this one of the best travels she has done in quite a while.

As the carts were coming in, the three Diamond Dogs leaders moved to the front, with the middle one looking at the two of them and claiming with an air of defeat.

"Here you go. This are all the gems that could be brought to you as part of the deal, now leave. We don't need you anymore."

Perhaps they kept more gems that Raziel or Rarity would ever know about but at least they were now free to go and those carts were looking good enough to leave by themselves, although they were only two individuals for four carts, they needed more help to carry all those carts.

That is why Twilight and her friends coming to Rarity's rescue was a very good thing for the two of them, friendship had always been a good thing when it comes to task of multiple workforce. At the same time, it was a good thing that Rarity's friends came to help, for they now had enough help to carry the gems while Raziel stayed behind, making sure that no trap came before them.

That way, as Raziel was keeping safe the back, Twilight and Rarity were exchanging words regarding their individual talks with Raziel. It was quite enlightening to Rarity that Raziel said that he would talk about it but still avoided the subject in the cave, perhaps it was because they were surrounded by Diamond Dogs? She wasn't sure but it became quite clear that she now was going to try to figure out about him a little more and, speaking of him, it was a good idea to begin by finishing something that was started days ago.

As for Twilight, she now had a better idea of what he endured and the regret he felt for his crimes, the idea of dedicating your life for a goal one saw as noble just to have it twisted and realize that you were on the wrong side must have been devastating. She hoped to never find herself on the same position with Princess Celestia.

That way, as they started to exit the tunnels, the six mares were now looking at the creature that just helped saving Rarity without having to fight and started to feel grateful for living in such a peaceful world as Equestria.

"I don't know you girls" -. Said as eager Rainbow Dash as she moved her hooves in a boxing style. - "But if one bad guy from his world is here to destroy anything I know and love, then I'm going help find it and kick its flanks."

"Ah' agree with Rainbow Dash" -. Continued Applejack with the same determination crossing her face. - "He not only saved Apple Bloom and her friends but is keeping all mah' friends safe. If he's here to save Equestria, then we should lend him a hoof in the process."

"Yeah!" - Continued the cheerful Pinkie Pie. - "And then we'll do a 'We Defeated The Maximum Meanie Pants' party! And. It. Will. Be. Awesome!"

"Well" -, finished a still conflicted Fluttershy. - "I still don't agree with his way of life, but I do think that he means no harm for us so, sure, let's help him."

With that, Twilight was now feeling confident that the Grand Galloping Galla was going to be the best thing ever. She then saw Spike and how he was seeing Raziel with a look of mixed envy and admiration, she was sure of why he was looking at him that way and she understood it perfectly.

"Don't worry Spike" -. Twilight thought. - "Some day you will have your chance to shine, I know it."

And with that, all the mares came out of the tunnel being shortly followed by the Soul Reaver himself but, before departing ways, both Twilight and Rarity decided to ask him for a small favor. The scholar would ask him to come by tomorrow night so they could have their other part of the conversation, although it weird out Raziel her request to come through the Spectral Realm first, while Rarity asked him to come that very night so she could deliver him her 'thank you' gift. She would leave it in the entrance to the Everfree and wait until Raziel could take it.

"This was supposed to be a gift from Sweetie Bell" -. She said with a small hint of regret on her tone. - "But I ended up forgetting giving it to you, so here you go. I know it isn't much for saving my life, but this is the best I could do for you."

And, as the fallen vampire was looking at the clan flag he once had, that night ended up with Rarity figuring out something she quite never expected from this old elite vampire.

"Now" -, she continued as Raziel was looking at the robe, - "while it quite certainly looks important, I feel quite ignorant about what it is supposed to be. A Type of flag, maybe?"

His answer was something along the lines of what she expected.

"Its a clan flag. This was the ancient flag used by my old vampire clan."

Rarity felt quite thrilled at the idea of this powerful entity feeling homesickness, but she needed to know more.

"Oh! So you were part of a clan? What kind of position you had in there?"

His answer just shocked Rarity.

"I was its leader."

And, with that, he disappeared with the flag into the everfree. Leaving a shocked Rarity that wasn't sure of how to react at the discovery that all this time she was speaking to literal royalty.

Meanwhile, in the Ponyville Library, a very tired unicorn was making the last adjustment to her last magical experiment. She got into the middle of the library and, with a lot of care after removing the carpet, she started to carve the spell in the library's floor.

It took her all of her concentration to achieve this but, after putting a lot of effort into it, she managed to carve her latest spell into her library. While she couldn't feel the results so far, she was quite sure that her future guest was going to be quite happy with what he was going to find after coming to her library tomorrow night.

Author's Note

This is it boys and girls. Four more chapters and we'll be done with the first part of this story (Season One) don't worry, I'll try to finish this up before the end of the year.

EDIT June 14th of 2019: If you like this and you want to support me, you can do it through my Ko-Fi. Feel free to check it out.

Chapter 15: Questioning an Unicorn

As night was getting close, Raziel decided that it was a good moment to move to Twilight's library and finish the conversation that was started a few days ago but, as he moved from the old and lonely castle ruins to the new and homely library, he couldn't feel wonder into why she asked him to go through the Spectral Realm specifically. Perhaps there was something she wanted to try before he got there or she found a way to enter into the Spectral Realm, now that she has already experimented it, he wasn't sure but, whatever reason it was, it probably was a very important one so he complied.

As Raziel moved through the Everfree Forest on the Spectral Realm, he decided to take his time to look at his surroundings and see how the world around him was always on a state of paralysis. There was no constellation to guide you through this vicious world, there was no sun or moon to bring light into the ecosystem, there was no life to inhabit the place, nothing on this realm could be considered natural or enjoyable, which was one of the reasons why Raziel always preferred to live on the Physical Realm, a place where he once came from and he would always cherish over this desolate realm that was now his new residence. No matter for how long he wanted to run away from it, Raziel would always remember that this was the new place he would inhabit once he was unable to inhabit the Physical Realm and there was nothing he could do to change it and, as he reflected on this, he started to get close to the library in Ponyville and he was about to see why Twilight wanted so much for him to go there in the Spectral Realm.

Raziel took a moment to see the tree had an open door where Twilight would normally place her telescope, an intended way for her to let Raziel know about her welcoming her newest guest, making Raziel's wonder increase at the mystery of what was she planning and the answer came to Raziel in the moment he saw the center of the library as he saw a vortex whose origins Raziel remembered from his first days as a Soul Reaver in Nosgoth but they became unavailable as the Elder God refused to let Raziel escape the Spectral Realm so easily.

As he got closer to what he desired to be a portal between the realms, Raziel could feel the vortex calling for him and demanding him to pass to the Physical Realm through it. With his energy renewed, Raziel decided to use the portal and go from the Spectral Realm to the Physical Realm.

As Raziel transitioned, he could see, without the need of a corpse, how the library started to shift once again from its twisted and bizarre state, with ladders curved in ways that made it impossible to use, into a form he was more familiar with from the last time he came to Ponyville.

With joy overcoming Raziel, he started to wonder if Twilight was behind this and, should she be, how feasible it was for her to make more. With this, he no longer needed a corpse to shift and it would make his job much easier. Such were the bliss that was crossing through Raziel's body, that he failed to notice the scared sound made by a dragon that was next to him. As he turned around, he noticed Spike on the ground and with one of his claws grabbing where his heart should be located, clearly indicating Raziel of his scared condition.

"Yes!" - Twilight's voice shouted as Raziel turned around to find her and see her face filled with joy at her newest development. - "I knew I could find a way to link both realms together, now with this, it'll be easier to travel back from the Spectral Realm to the Physical Realm without needing a corpse to do so."

Realization hit Raziel at that moment, now understanding her desire to come through the Spectral Realm and now feeling a great sense of joy at the hope of, very soon, not needing anymore to murder other beings just so he could go back and forth between the realms. His job had now become much easier and, for that, he was thankful but first, he had to say something else.

"My apologies Spike" -. Said Raziel with a neutral tone on his voice as he turned towards the young drake. - "I was not expecting to enter into the library this way" -. He then turned towards Twilight. - "And I'm thankful for your help on this matter, now I may be able to stop relying on corpses to move myself on Equestria. Now, all we need to do is to create a portal on every city across this kingdom minimum."

At those words, Twilight's ears started to go down while she gave a sheepish smile before answering.

"As much as I would like to help you with that" -. She started to say. - "Making this kind of portals require a lot of energy and I'm still recovering from making this one so I apologize for not being able of helping you on this as fast as you need it to."

Raziel thought of this for a brief moment and determined that, while a bit troublesome, this was a better alternative to have no portals at all. If he needed to wait, then so be it, he would wait but now he was aware that he had an ally capable of supplying him on something that he desperately needed, which was a mean to enter into other sites that lacked of bodies for him to use.

But, nonetheless, Raziel didn't let any of that make him forget the reason why he was on the library on the first place.

"I see, while troublesome, I do not mind for I have no desire of straining you through the burden of making something your body can barely manage. Do this when you can and at your pace" -. As he said this, he noticed how the unicorn was trying to interpret his wording, so he decided to change the subject to what he originally wanted to do before Twilight could diverge the topic as a whole. - "But, if I do remember correctly, I didn't come here to discuss about portals. I came here to talk to you and increase our knowledge of each other out."

At this, Twilight started to smile, now remembering her original objective and, as she moved the furniture to bring comfort to both her and Raziel, she seated and invited him to make his first question.

"Sure, start right now, what do you want to know about me?"

Raziel, still standing, took a while to think about it, wondering how much he could gather from this without causing any problem, before he decided to make a simple question.

"Please tell me a bit more about you, who are you and what are you doing right now?"

Twilight Sparkle was shaken a little bit at how sudden the question was, not expecting it to be so personal but she reasoned that she also made a similar question last time, so it was the nice thing to do answering back.

"Well, I am Twilight Sparkle, personal apprentice of Princess Celestia and I am here studying friendship under her orders."

Raziel's interest was peaked after hearing that.

"Under her orders? So, you weren't interested in that to begin with? What made you change of opinion?"

Twilight's features changed for a little moment before she brought back a happy expression on her face and answered.

"Well, yeah. I used to be a pony that wasn't interested in friendship, I thought of it as a pointless distraction that would only hinder my studies. But then I met my friends and they made me realize how important friendship was, how every obstacle can be defeated and how there's always hope to win against the bad guys."

Raziel then started to move around the house, looking at the stuff surrounding Twilight, noticing how she was having much more time spent with the ponies she met in Ponyville, which was a total change in the attitude she had back in Canterlot, when he first saw her. He then went back and seated as he asked Twilight another question:

"So, you seem to care deeply about your friends. How strong do you think your friendship is? Do you think it could stand the test of time and the machinations of enemies bent on destroying it?"

Twilight got struck by the question due to how sudden it was but, nonetheless, she decided to answer it with the best of her abilities.

"Our friendship is very strong" -. She said with complete confidence. - "We have faced moments where we fight but it has never been broken and, while I'm not sure who would like to see it broken, I'm certain that it would stand against any villain that tries to defeat it."

As she said that, she hoped to see signs of respect from Raziel but, to her surprise, all she saw on his face was disappointment. Wasn't that the answer he was searching for? What was so wrong with what she said? Twilight was going to ask, but Raziel made his next question before she could react.

"What do you think of Princess Celestia?"

This was another shock for Twilight, why he wanted to know about Celestia when he previously asked about her friendship? Regardless, she answered.

"Well, she's the ruler of Equestria, she commands the sun and she has proven in multiple occasions to be the wisest pony I've ever met. She has been my mentor since I was a filly and has always been capable of sending me on the right direction even when I doubted her. She taught me the great things about magic, she has always shown to have the ponies in Equestria in her best interest and her mercy cannot be matched, proven when she forgave her sister, Princess Luna, when she had all reasons not to. She may hide information from me from time to time but it has always been for the best and, whenever she needs help, she has always trusted me anything that's needed to be known."

She looked at Raziel, hoping that her answer was good enough for him but, to her surprise, his look remained stoic and unchanged. She was now wondering what was happening on his head, perhaps something about his past made him skeptic of her answers? She did remember that Raziel's past has made him doubt of what cause was right, perhaps he was seeing pieces of himself on her?

"I see" -. He finally answered. - "But does it worry you that she may be fooled by someone else or that she makes a wrong decision based on ill advisement?"

Noticing how he had genuine concern on his voice, Twilight quickly answered to try to mitigate his concerns.

"Well, it is worrying but Celestia isn't the type of pony that can be fooled so easily. You would have to be a very smart pony to achieve something like that" -. She then looked at Raziel with concern on her features. - "Why are you asking this? Are you afraid that somepony may try to damage us by fooling Celestia or breaking our friendship?"

Raziel started to move around the library once more, as if he were thinking on a way to explain himself and, after a couple moments of silence, he answered.

"Do you remember what I said last time we met? About me searching for a dangerous creature that plunged my homeland into despair and it was attempting to do the same in Equestria? Haven't you considered the possibility of it trying to deceit your princess to cause destruction in your kingdom?"

Twilight thought about it for a moment and answered.

"Well, it's a very real possibility and it worries me a lot the idea of it but I don't think Celestia would be so easy to fool. She's always open to other ideas and she would never fell for a lie unless she had no way to differentiate what is real from what is false."

Raziel then started to get close to her and asked with a worried tone.

"And if she does? What would you do?"

Twilight started to think about it, trying to picture such scenario and trying to formulate an actual plan in case it happened. What to do if the pony you trust the most is in the wrong path and you want to put her back on the right trail? She thought about it for a brief moment and, after some deep thought, she simply answered.

"Well, then I will do my best to bring her back to what is true by using all I've been taught and the magic of friendship will help to correct the wrongs in her."

Raziel just stared at her for a while, silence filling the room as the two figures looked at each other, creating a tension that would make many feeling rather wrong. Finally, the silence was broken when Raziel decided to give his response to Twilight.

"I'll trust your judgment then."

Those words made Twilight feel perplexed, she has never been told like that and she wasn't sure what kind of thoughts was having Raziel to come to that conclusion. Nonetheless, she was quite happy to know that and made the only response she could make.

"Um... thank you. What else would you like to know about me?"

Raziel simply waved his hands and concluded.

"There's no need for that, you have just told me all I need to know about yourself."

"Oh!" - Said a shocked Twilight, not sure how to feel about it, considering the amount of questions she made Raziel last time they met. - "Well, then, what else would you like to do? It's still quite early and I don't think you know much about Equestria or how do we work."

The Soul Reaver took a moment before finally sitting on the couch and accepting Twilight's offer, now with a more relaxed tone.

"Well, what can you tell me about Equestria, young scholar?"

As Twilight beamed with happiness, she quickly started to use all the books at her repertoire while asking Spike to bring even more, and she then started to tell Raziel all about Equestria's past, how the ponies came to Equestria, about Starswirl the Bearded, about how Princess Celestia and Luna ruled in Equestria and many other details that would be too much to cover here although there was another event happening on this reunion worth noticing.

"The Grand Galloping Galla?" - Asked a very bewildered ghost. - "Are you sure about inviting me? I do not have the means to enter legally and I don't have good memories whenever I entered uninvited to someone else's territories."

Twilight simply dismissed her hoof at Raziel before giving a nonchalant answer.

"Don't worry, if Princess Celestia was capable of giving me more invites for my friends, then she would gladly give me another one for you, I'll just tell her that I've met a new friend and I want to present it to her."

Raziel gave her an skeptical eye before she assured him.

"Don't worry, by the day we have to go to the Galla, you will have a new invite, trust me."

Raziel then decided to trust in Twilight and continued with their conversations about how magic worked and its relation with Cutie Marks.

As such, as the night grew to big and the life in Ponyville fell to the world of sleep, Raziel made his leave and allowed the purple unicorn and young drake to rest while he went to the deeps of The Everfree Forest to think on what he should be doing on the day of the Grand Galloping Galla.

As such, while Spike and Twilight were discussing about the possibilities of Celestia having more tickets for the Galla, the letter was drafted as such:

Dear Princess Celestia:

Today, I want to confess you something. I've made a new friend!

I know you may be wondering why I didn't told you about him before but, the truth is, that was because I wasn't sure about him until a few days ago. After talking with him, I managed to convince him to go into the Grand Galloping Galla and I would like to know if you have another invite for him. He's very different from your average pony but I assure you that his personality is one that you would like a lot. In fact, he would be very helpful regarding that ominous danger I warned you about not too long ago.

Sincerely, your faithful student: Twilight Sparkle.

And, much later, when the hours between the yesterday and the today were the most blurred, the letter reached the hooves of Princess Celestia, who was reading the letter with doubt in her mind. On one part, she trusted her faithful student with all her life but, for all she knew, Twilight may have been manipulated all along if this "friends" was who she thought it was. Perhaps she should give her the benefit of the doubt? After all, there was nothing she could do if things got sour.

You should be careful with your approach here

Said an all too familiar voice that has been haunting Celestia for the last couple weeks. A voice that's been managing to infiltrate its influence on her.

There's nothing wrong in putting your trust in your student
But do now that Raziel is just as capable of earning it and use it on his behalf
Perhaps a better approach would be to see if you're actually capable of helping her?
After all, if there's nothing you can do, then there's nothing she could object

Celestia thought about it for a brief moment and realized that this was an actually good idea. She would go and look to see if there were any tickets left, after all, if there were no more invites, then there was nothing she could do, right? Regardless, should Twilight's new friend decide to still come to her Galla, she would then see how trustworthy he actually was.

Author's Note

After months of school reading fanfics in my backlog and finally getting some free time. I managed to pull out this chapter. My apologies for the lateness and for making it so short but I needed to make the transition chapter for the last three chapters of this first part, which are going to get a lot more care than this last chapters have.

Trust me, when I said this first part will be done before the end of this year, I really meant it.

Thank you for reading and have a nice day.

EDIT June 14th of 2019: If you like this and you want to support me, you can do it through my Ko-Fi. Feel free to check it out.

Chapter 16: The Grandiose Gathering

As the days were passing by on the relatively calmed town of Ponyville, Twilight Sparkle started to feel more and more how her nervous system was pressuring her to find a solution to her predicament regarding Princess Celestia and the request made to her for an extra ticket for the Grand Galloping Galla. It has been quite a while since Twilight made her petition to the Princess but Celestia hadn't given her a response that could put her mind at ease, neither yes or no, only silence.

This was certainly worrying for the scholarly unicorn since one of the reasons she was deeply anticipating the event that was days away from starting was her inner desire to make her newest friend meet the pony that was like a second mother to her. She still remembered the weird looks given to her by her friends when she told them her idea of making those two encounter each other, and why not? The more she thought about it, the more similarities she saw between Raziel and Celestia that would make them quite good friends.

Both of them were believers and protectors of what is good, both were very knowledgeable in any subject they were given, they both were ancient and had their own share of secrets, why would those two not like each other?

Thus, she could barely maintain her control over her nerves, clearly indicated by her constant move through the library as she was waiting for Celestia's answer which made Spike try to make an explanation for her.

"Maybe she has been trying to search for one and the reason her response hasn't come yet is because she wants to get one before giving you her response?"

Twilight considered Spike's response quite thoroughly, it was a possible fact after all, considering that this was the Grand Galloping Galla and it was quite possible that there were no more invitations avaiable, but it didn't explain why Celestia hasn't responded her until this moment or why, whenever Twilight gave Celestia a friendship report or send a letter in general, she would answer about it but she would completely avoid talking about the Galla.

It was something worth asking about and Twilight would have asked Celestia about it, after a while of speculation, if it weren't because, in that moment, Spike belched a letter with the royal seal, hopefully meaning that Celestia has finally decided to respond her.

Twilight quickly opened the letter with the same rush one would see on a foal on a present fever on Hearths Warming Day and read its content before Spike could even react. After reading it, though, Twilight's face could only reflect a strange wave of confusion that forced Spike to grab the letter and see Celestia's response to Twilight.

My Faithful Student, Twilight Sparkle
I sadly found myself on a concerning situation
regarding your request of an extra ticket invitation for
the Grand Galloping Galla
When you wrote me that you made a new friend
my heart filled with pride for your accomplishment and
just for you,
I decided to search for another invitation but
to my dismay
I found myself unable to find a new invitation
I tried for days to find such invitation for your new friend but
as much as I tried
such endeavor was fruitless
Which is why I feel quite disheartened to tell you
that I cannot help you on this regard
Do not fret though for I'm sure that another chance
for me to meet your new friend may come sooner than you expect
Princess Celestia

"Well" -, said Spike as he analyzed the letter, - "this is a strange letter, that's for sure."

"You think that as well?" - Asked a perplexed Twilight Sparkle as she turned herself towards Spike, glad to know she wasn't alone on that feeling. - "I mean, she's the one hosting that Galla, and she's the princess, shouldn't she be able to make an extra invitation should she want it?"

"Not only that but also look at this" -. Complemented Spike as one of his claws pointed at an specific part of the letter. - "'My heart filled with pride for your accomplishment'? What does that even mean when you already have five friends and why she doesn't feel something like joy or happiness?"

"Do you think there's something wrong with her?"

Asked Twilight Sparkle as worry was going through her face although Spike decided to disuade her fears.

"No, most likely it probably is stress for having to host the Galla but it doesn't change the main problem, finding an invitation for Raziel."

The pony and the dragon thought about it for quite a while until Spike finally got an idea.

"I know, why don't you give Raziel my ticket?"

As Spike said this, Twilight could only see him with a hint of sadness on her face.

"Are you sure about this Spike? I mean, you won't be able to go with us to the Galla."

Spike simply shrugged it off and dissuaded her worries.

"Don't worry about it, I wasn't planning to go on the first place, now the ticket won't go to waste."

And with that said, Spike gave Twilight his ticket and asked her to give it to Raziel. After giving him a nice 'thank you', Twilight decided to go into the Everfree Forest to give Raziel the invitation for the Grand Galloping Galla.

As Twilight moved around Ponyville and into the forest, she could never ignore the differences of the kind of life she was having compared to Raziel. Where she lived on a peaceful town filled with warmth and kindness, surrounded by her friends and always feeling loved by even those who didn't know her, Raziel lived on a dangerous place filled with coldness and a desire to destroy him as he was living on his own.

That was something Twilight was hoping to change very soon after Raziel met Princess Celestia on the Galla.

She could grasp her dream, Raziel meeting the Princess, both deciding to join forces to save this world and, in the end, Raziel would be living in a place where he deserved to live in instead of that dreaded forest.

And thus, as Twilight reached the remnants of the Castle of the Two Sisters, she started to call for his friend in the hopes of telling him her plan. It took a few moments before a familiar chill went down her spine, followed soon by a call from one of the castle's door.

"Twilight?" - Said the voice that the scholar has already associated with righteousness and good will towards the weak one. - "May know why have you decided to put your life at risk by coming into this castle residing within a dangerous forest?"

Twilight just rolled her eyes as she gave him a simple answer as she rose the invitation ticket.

"Don't worry, I have prepared myself already in case something like the cockatrice happens again and all of that was worse going through just to give you this."

Raziel gave the ticket a good look before he asked what it was, something which Twilight was very eager to explain.

"This is an invitation for the Grand Galloping Galla, one of the most important celebrations in Equestria, where the most important ponies meet each other and I managed to get one for you."

As she said this, Raziel's eyes went wide much to Twilight's happiness.

"With this, you can go to the Grand Galloping Galla and meet Princess Celestia in person, isn't that great?"

Razel kept looking at Twilight's invitation without giving any kind of indication that he either accepted or rejected the idea but when he answered, Twilight felt startled by said response.

"Twilight, how far have you gone through with this plan?"

"Huh? What do you mean?"

Raziel gave Twilight a stern look as he decided to ask about a few important details about her plan as he moved his claw over his body.

"I would like to point out that my current appearance isn't one that would invite a friendly conversation right away. More likely would be that the royal guard would try to capture me and I doubt Princess Celestia would be eager to meet with a monster."

Twilight frowned before quickly making a happy face that reflected the positiveness surrounding her plan.

"Oh, don't say that. I'm going to be there early so I can tell Celestia about you. I assure you that, once she hears about you, she will gladly accept you and try to talk to you and, regarding the royal guard, I can talk to my brother so they don't give you any problem. Trust me, I've been thinking about this for a while."

"And what about my entrance? Even if I can pass the guards, I would not be able to pass through the citizens just like that. At best, I would have to go out of sight and there's no portal in the castle I can use to shift between realms."

"All covered" -. Responded a confident Twilight. - "As you said, you can pass invisible between the civilians while I will search for a place where you can realm shift without being seen. That way, no matter what happens, you can be in Canterlot Castle in any way possible."

Raziel kept on giving an skeptical look at Twilight's invitation as he wondered if it was a good idea to go there taking into consideration how his last meeting with Celestia went. He was aware of how important it was for him to actually meet Celestia but he also knew that there were details that still needed to refine before getting to know her, like not making the encounter in a place with so many civilians.

In the end though, Twilight's insistence showed him a part of reality that he needed to face.

"Come on! We don't know how many chances will come for us to present you to Celestia, let's take it and see what happens. I promise, if anything goes wrong, I'll take responsibility and try to fix it as soon as possible."

Raziel gave the invitation one last glance before putting it on a table and accepting Twilight's idea.

"You are right on that regard. It's unknown how many opportunities like this will come and it would be best to seize this one so we can have much better chances for our progress."

When Twilight heard that, she couldn't stop smiling as she jumped into the air (at the eyes of Raziel) like a child and shouted yes. Not too long after that, she hugged Raziel, much to his shock, and appreciated his decision.

"Thank you Raziel, I promise you that you won't regret this."

And, with those departing words as well as determining the day and hour at which Twilight and her friends will get to Canterlot followed soon by Raziel, who would enter on his own (with the invitation under his power) and would later meet Twilight and Celestia in a more private room.

And that way, when the day of the Grand Galloping Galla came, Twilight and her friends took their dresses and prepared to go to Canterlot to have the grand day they've been expecting for weeks. Twilight enchanted an apple to be their chariot, Rarity convinced two stallions to pull it for them and Spike, even though he wouldn't be in the galla itself, was the driver of said chariot and the girls discussed all the journey to Canterlot to live what they described as "the best night ever."

As they discussed, the taboo was mentioned.

"Well" -, mentioned Rainbow Dash, - "I personally find it awesome that we're all going to be there but it feels kinda lame that not everyone here will have fun in the galla."

This gained a few looks, mainly from a curious Flutteshy who wanted to know more.

"I mean" -, she continued, - "just look at Spike, he'll be alone in there with nopony to have fun."

"I see your point, darling" -, continued Rarity, - "I find it quite disheartening to see poor Spike all on his own. Considering that he has been so energetic about Raziel and how much he seems to admire him, I wonder why he couldn't come. Do you know why, Twilight?"

"Surprisingly, no" -. Responded Twilight, with her answer bringing a lot of concern to her friends. - "When I asked Celestia for an extra invitation, she said that they had ran out of them so I couldn't ask for an extra invitation to bring Raziel."

This rose all her friends's eyebrows as she continued.

"It was fixed, in the end, when Spike decided to give Raziel his invitation but I still don't understand why Celestia couldn't find another invitation but I plan to ask her about it later on the galla."

"Well, I commend Spike's righteous act" -. Praised the enchanted Rarity as she tried to talk into the subject. - "But I still find it suspicious that Princess Celestia denied you of another ticket considering she didn't want to divide us after what happened when she sent you those original tickets."

And so on, they discussed the rest of the journey about what could be Celestia's reason (with Pinkie having the most ludicrous idea of her being deceived to think Raziel was a meany pants, idea that all of her friends scoffed at) along how she would react to Raziel, with the most interesting scenarios being drawn by Rainbow Dash, who predicted Celestia fighting Raziel, and Rarity, who predicted her falling victim to a panic attack.

In the end, the girls along Spike got to Canterlot. The girls dropped from their chariot and started to move into the castle and, as they did, Twilight noticed something strange on the bridge.

The best she could describe it was as a tentacle and, by the looks of it, it was a huge one that was coming out of the water below the bridge. She could see how it came out of under the bridge and got to the land as if it were taking a bit of fresh air. Twilight wanted to get closer to see not only why it was there, but also why nopony seemed to mind it, it was as if nopony else but her could see it.

"Hey! Applejack" - Said Twilight as she turned to her friend to get her attention, once she got it, she then asked. - "What do you think of that?"

Applejack turned to the bridge and, after a few seconds of watching, gave a strange answer.

"Well, Ah' don't know what is fer interest, Twilight, but Ah' see no problem with a nicely done bridge."

"What!?" - Asked the flabbergasted Unicorn. - "Don't you see that there is a huge-" - She was going to point out the tentacle when, to her surprise, there was no tentacle in there anymore. Just a normal bridge with normal water under it. - "But..." - she stumbled. - "I swear I saw-"

She was then interrupted by Rainbow Dash.

"Twilight, stop nerding around and just enjoy, this is supposed to be our best. Night. Ever!"

And, with that, they started to move into the castle, hoping to celebrate the event they desired to have for all of their life. Rainbow Dash would try to impress the Wonderbolts, Applejack would try to sell money form her stand, Rarity would try to have a date with the handsome Prince Blueblood, Fluttershy would try to enjoy her time with the animals in Celestia's garden, Pinkie Pie would try to be the soul of the party and Twilight would try her best to past some time with her beloved teacher and tell her all she has discovered so far in friendship, although not before going to a private sector of the Canterlot Castle and use her spell to create a new shift portal, at the cost of draining all her magic reserves, so Raziel could have a mean to enter into Canterlot with no problem.

Meanwhile, not too far away from the mountain holding the city of Canterlot, Raziel was looking at the beautiful castle as the fireworks, the lighting, the Wonderbolts's pirouettes mixed with the beauty of the silvery moon in a black sky decorated with white drops that shone under the city of Canterlot, giving it a sight worth watching for, at the very least, a good moment.

And here I was, after going through some eventful moments on the outskirts of Ponyville that earned me the respect of some of its inhabitants, I've managed to find myself returning to Canterlot, not as an invader nor an intruder, but as a desired guest.

And, after enjoying the view for enough time, Raziel started his lonely trek towards Canterlot remembering all the moments he got to share with the elements of harmony and their relatives. He cherished the idea of him first befriending a group of foals rather than the ponies he was supposed to befriend but that was how things like friendship happened, naturally, and he wouldn't ask for it to be any different.

He got to the base of the mountain and admired once more the castle and how it was capable of keeping its beauty both on day and night, truly a sight to behold.

It truly is something worth thinking about how my adventure started here, on Canterlot, and now that I befriended the ponies I was supposed to meet, I found myself returning to meet the one pony I could have met on the first day I was here. All that could be hoped now is that we managed to unravel the knot formed from our last encounter, for it has never been in my wishes to face them under any circumstance.

Raziel then started to walk up the mountain, avoiding the guards and seeing how the city was covered in a silent aura as everybody was either sleeping or celebrating on the castle and, when Raziel reached the aforementioned castle, even though he had an invitation, he was sure that many of the citizens passing through the doors would fall into panic should they see him and it was for that reason he decided to enter incognito. Incapable to be seen by sight, thanks to his Dark Reaver, and his presence was confused by the chilling wind of the outside with only six exceptions that were already accustomed to his presence and the one cold that preceded him all the time.

Even still, it was impossible for Raziel to not stop for a brief moment to give a look at the party before him.

The celebration was as I just expected. A party full of nobles and elites who were there more to show off their social status and have some idle talk with others of their same kind as they sought for any political gain on the hierarchy. All of that in the hopes of getting close to their monarch and, that way, perhaps they could gain some benefits for their private life style. There truly are some things that never change, no matter on what world you live in.

He sought for his friends and saw, much to his displeasure, how Pinkie Pie was bored out from the elite's way of enjoying more harmonious music, Rarity was suffering the consequences of judging a book by its cover, Rainbow Dash was trying to gain the attention of her favorite group when she wasn't in a position capable of earning their attention to begin with and poor Twilight was trying to have a conversation with her mentor but she was too busy fulfilling her duty of greeting every new guest into her castle.

It was sad to see how they are now realizing that not every trinket that shines is gold, hopefully, this will be a lesson for them that will help them out in their future.

He couldn't see Applejack or Fluttershy, but he hoped they were having a better time.

Once he slipped by the guards, Raziel dropped his invisibility (not being able to keep it under such a prolonged time without straining his magical energies) and started to explore the castle for the first time since he got to Equestria, with a huge help for him being the fact that the Royal Guard was mostly concentrated on the party down below than on the upper part of the castle where he was located, and tried to search for the room Twilight told him where both him and Celestia would meet. It was debated the location of the room but both agreed that it would be for the best to meet in one of the private rooms in the castle. All Raziel had to do was to find one proper room, advice Twilight and he would be waiting for the both of them.

It was a long search but, after going through many rooms, Raziel managed to find a place where he could meet Celestia, a dinner room. It was ideal since those rooms were great for encounters between diplomats and neutral in many ways. So, with the room determined, Raziel went back to the party to tell Twilight where he was planning to go although, unbeknownst to him, a guard managed to see him going through the castle's corridors.

This guard, of female constitution, was a rookie that joined the guards not too long ago and, following that common mistake rookies tend to follow where they aren't aware enough of what to do with the situations they encounter themselves with, she decided to search for a higher officer to warn of this monster going through the Castle and of which she knew she wasn't capable of facing on her own.

As this soldier ran for her life, down below, two ponies were suffering together the consequences of being on the Grand Galloping Galla, this two being Twilight Sparkle and Princess Celestia, the both of them being victims of the stagnant predicament of greeting everypony entering the Galla and stopping them from enjoying each other's company. There was nothing they could do, since it was Celestia's duty to greet all the guest in the galla, which made Twilight the poor mare of honor willing to suffer Celestia's torture with her, not being able to find a moment to tell her about Raziel, but the stagnation was soon broken when a magnanimous voice erupted in the galla, a voice that scared Twilight tremendously since it didn't seem to come from a specific place.

Celestia!
He is here...

Twilight quickly looked around the galla and tried to figure out where did the voice came from as well as try to figure out why nopony else seemed to be scared of such voice breaking into the castle as if it were a superior being, which led her to talk to her mentor.

"Princess, did you hear that?"

Celestia, strangely enough, seemed as she also didn't notice the voice.

"Hum, hello! Welcome to the Galla! Sorry my faithful student but, hello! Welcome to the Galla! What do you mean by that?"

Saying that Twilight was confused was an understatement.

"Princess, didn't you heard that voice? It was apparently talking to you and said that 'he was here'. Do you have any idea of who it might be?"

But any chance for Celestia to answer Twilight was dashed when a Royal Guard broke down the place from the castle's upper levels and delivered a news that seemed to scare both Twilight and Celestia.

"Your Highness!" - Said the very scared mare, If her voice was any indication of that in a tone that would have been heard by the other guest if it were not for the loud music Pinkie started to play not too soon after she got there. - "I found a strange creature wandering through the castle's corridors, it's something of the likes I've never seen before and I came here to report it to you."

Both Twilight and Celestia gave the guard shocked faces. Twilight knew what that creature might have been and seeing how Celestia was reacting, she knew she needed to talk to her quickly but Celestia cut her off on that regard.

"Thank for your report private Lulamoon, this probably is the same creature that broke through the safe containing The Elements of Harmony so search for the Captain Shining Armor and tell him that I order him to put a barrier that covers the whole castle so it cannot escape, to secure all the entrances of the castle and then go to my sister's room and tell her all you've seen, what I have ordered you and that I request her help as well for I don't know what this creature is capable off."

Twilight was in shock, she never heard of any creature trying to enter into the vault containing the Elements, why her mentor didn't tell her about it, not only that, for the way Celestia was talking, it looked like she was going to confront Raziel and Twilight was well aware of how that could result in but, before she could even have a chance to tell Celestia, she once again cut her off, almost as if she knew what Twilight was about to say and she was stopping her from saying it.

"I'm sorry my faithful student, but duty calls. Please stay down here, where it's safe, as I deal with this threat."

She then turned towards the Castle's stairs and started to move quickly to the levels containing Raziel as the soldier moved to Shining's location to inform him.

And, thus, many ponies were left startled at what they saw. Not too long after that, Twilight heard Raziel's voice coming to her ear as it said - "I've found a place where both Celestia and I can properly meet. You can find me on the dining room on the third floor, try to calm the princess if you can, I doubt I'll be able to talk to her under the condition she was in when she passed through me" -. And, once again, before Twilight could have a chance to warn Raziel, the voice disappeared, leaving her worried and wondering what to do.

Meanwhile, with the message delivered, Raziel went once again to the castle's upper levels to wait for Twilight but, much to his chagrin, Celestia's movements made hard for him to go around the castle's corridors, forcing him to enter into a random room he found as he waited for Celestia to pass down from where he was and give him a clear path to the dining room. This gave Raziel time to see the room he was located in and he found himself quite interested on the place he picked to rest.

It was a small library that had a small fireplace that gave the room quite a homely ambiance. It was nothing like the other rooms Raziel have found so far for it gave an air that was unlike any other on the castle. He moved around a little and decided to get closer to a table and see the book located in there and, once he saw Celestia's cutie mark on the book, a sign to tell who did this book belonged to, Raziel immediately knew where he was and decided to leave but, sadly, the library's door opened up and a female voice greeted him with a warm tone that hid a distinct anger that Raziel wasn't too keen on enraging any more.

"Hello, while as much as I like to see you enjoy books, I would like to know why are you here, on my personal library, and why you came here uninvited."

Author's Note

And here it is, the first part of the "Season one finale" and, while it saddens me to have cut out some chapters I thought about (Owl's well that ends well and Party for two respectively) I didn't want to keep on prolonging this.

Don't get me wrong, the chapters weren't written but the events still happened, I will mention them on the following chapters (in fact, any chapter I decide to cut will be mentioned on the future) as a mean of acknowledgement to them.

And now, onward to the next chapter.

Please tell me on the comment section what do you think of it and what errors did you find in there that I could fix, would you kindly?

EDIT June 15th of 2019: If you like this and you want to support me, you can do it through my Ko-Fi. Feel free to check it out.

Chapter 17: The Galloping Encounter

Twilight's head was rushing at speeds that would be akin to lightning as she tried to find a solution to the problem she knew was about to go down. She could see it in her panicking head, Celestia was going to find Raziel, confuse him with a dangerous villain and fight him with, the worst part out of all of this being, the fact that Raziel was the one with higher chances of winning, even though he wasn't as strong as Princess Celestia, due to his immortality and Twilight's mind was trying really hard to not picture Raziel taking her mentor's soul.

She knew that something had to be done but she couldn't picture what. She had no magic and she wasn't sure if she would be able to find her brother and, even if she did, how was she going to convince him of going against Celestia's orders? Even more, should she get her friends? How would her friends change the situation? They had to go to the upper floors and that meant trying to make the soldiers move and she wasn't sure if her position would be enough to move them and, as evidence of her wasting her time, she saw how a huge magic barrier started to go around Canterlot Castle, letting very clear that there was no escape for Raziel now.

The worst part of all of this was that she was wasting her time thinking instead of acting but her mind wasn't allowing her to act until she had a formulated plan and the more she stood there, the more chances there were of Raziel and Celestia fighting. So Twilight's mind was in a state of shock between trying to make a plan and trying to move at the same time which resulted in her stuck in place without doing anything important but then Rainbow Dash happened to literally crash into her, giving Twilight the chance to speak.

"Rainbow, quick, I need your help!" - Pleaded the desperate scholar but her friend was too occupied with something else.

"Sorry, Twilight, it will have to wait" -. The prismatic pegasus said. - "I have to get the Wonderbolts's attention."

But, before Rainbow could lift up from the sky again, Twilight yanked her down as she picked Rainbow's tail with her mouth, forcing the pegasus to drop down once again.

"Twilight!" - Responded an angry Rainbow Dash. - "I have to get the Wonderbolts attention, any problem you have can wait or, better, why don't you talk it with Princess Celestia?"

"Because the problem is Princess Celestia."

Twilight's words freezed Rainbow on the act, forcing her to look at Twilight with a worried look.

"What do you mean?"

"Raziel got here but I never managed to tell Celestia about him, so when a guard came here and told her about Raziel, she went up to investigate."

Rainbow's coat started to get pale as she started to imagine the scenario of Princess Celestia fighting Raziel. It would be an awesome fight but it still was one she wasn't keen on seeing, which forced her to make the question.

"And, how bad do you think it could get?"

Twilight's words only cemented her fears.

"Rainbow, I saw Raziel fight Nightmare Moon. He was winning the fight, he was defeating an alicorn."

As the idea of Raziel, an entity Rainbow understood as capable of eating your soul, fighting and 'defeating' Princess Celestia was sinking into her mind, Rainbow had to ask.

"And, do you think Princess Celestia would engage Raziel in combat?"

Her answer was a huge explosion in the upper floors that rumbled the castle, shocked all its guest and broke the fragile peace in there as everypony was going between figuring out what was going on, what was that noise, not falling into chaos and find out where was Princess Celestia.

Suffice to say, Twilight and Rainbow looked at each other, nodded, knowing that it was time to act, and went to gather the rest of the girls.

Meanwhile, as Twilight was trying to figure out what to do, Princess Luna was receiving the news of her sister asking her help to face an intruder. As she was hearing the intruder's description, a chill ran down her spine as she was understanding who it was and she was having to face the dilemma of going with her sister or avoid certain death.

Once Private Lulamoon gave her the report, Luna stood there looking at her for a long time, making a very uncomfortable ambient for the soldier, as she tried to figure out what to do.

Luna was deeply afraid of Raziel, if it wasn't for the fact that he may hold a grudge against her then it was for the fact that it was very likely that facing him would mean certain death. On the other hoof, Luna didn't want to abandon her sister. She loved Celestia deeply and didn't want any kind of misfortune to befell upon her dear sister and, if Luna didn't go, it was very probable that Celestia would be facing Raziel on her own but Celestia wouldn't engage a mysterious creature on her own without first trying to talk, right?

In that moment, a huge explosion rocked the castle, creating a small earth shake as a result, telling both Luna and the soldier exactly what was going on down there and making the situation even more daring.

Luna's mind started to think as fast as she could, she knew how dangerous Raziel was and Celestia had no chances of beating him if she was willing to engage an unknown enemy as crafty as Raziel, so she decided to look at her soldier and make sure of how many things were at her disposal to what she was starting to plan.

"Are you sure that's the description of said creature?"

Private Lulamoon just nodded as she waited for a new order from Luna, who was still deciding what to do.

"And our sister saith that she would go to engage the creature on her own?"

Once again, the soldier nodded.

Luna knew what was going to happen to Celestia, she could feel it but even if she wanted to stop the fight from happening, could she convince her sister from not engaging him? Then an idea came to her.

"Are The Elements of Harmony in our sister's celebration?"

For the first time, the soldier made some vocal sound as she needed to talk in a while.

"Yes, your highness. The Gr- I saw Twilight Sparkle down there with Princess Celestia when I announced her the information so it's very likely that the other Elements are here as well."

Luna decided to take a look at the window and saw, to her displeasure, a pink barrier surrounding the castle, knowing very well that time was being of essence, and looked at the soldier to give her some new orders.

"In that case, if thou see the Elements, tell them to gather on the entrance and order Captain Armor that he must wait down there as We go there to rendezvous with him and the Elements."

Private Lulamoon saluted and moved to follow her orders.

And so, we finally get to see what was going on with Raziel as he was now facing a very angry Celestia who was hiding all of her anger behind a face of calm and love.

He wasn't sure how or what exactly was the source of all her anger, but he was sure that being in her personal library wasn't helping in calming her down.

"My apologies" -. He begun. - "for it wasn't within my intentions to offend your highness with my intrusion in your private chambers but I do have to correct you in one regard" -. Celestia rised an eyebrow as Raziel started to show a ticket. - "For I do have an invitation for the Galla, which entails that I do have the right to be here on the celebration."

Celestia gave him an inquisitorial look as she was measuring her words.

"Indeed you have an invitation, at which I would like to inquire from you, how did you achieve such feature when the invitations for the Galla are hard to get by and I am sure that I never invited you, Raziel, on a personal level?"

Raziel froze at that, he knew something was wrong on that phrase but he would have to go step by step.

"As to how I gained the invitation, all I'll say is that a friend of mine who did have one decided to give it to me as a sign of friendship in the hopes of both you and I to properly meet each other. Speaking off, as far I'm aware, I've never presented myself, have I? So, the same way you inquired on my achievement, I would like to know through which means did you get a hold of my name?, for I never gave it to you."

Celestia's eyes widen up for a brief moment before she went back to her calm demeanor and proceeded with her interrogation as she started to move side ways, trying to get a better look at Raziel as he, at the same time, moved sideways to make sure Celestia didn't have any type of tactical advantage should this go on a detrimental direction.

"Oh, my, it is true, isn't it?" - Asked Celestia in a tone that made her sound as if she made silly mistake but that didn't sound natural at all. - "My apologies for it wasn't in my intentions to be so rude, I suppose I could present myself first" -. She then stopped, bowed her head (but never leaving Raziel out of sight) the same way she would greet any foreign diplomat and presented herself. - "My name is Princess Celestia, Diarch of Equestria and Ruler of the Sun."

Raziel stopped as well, having the exit door just behind him, looked at the princess and decided to follow through as he bowed as well but never taking his eyes off from Celestia.

"My name is Raziel, the Soul Reaver. But you already knew that, didn't you? Which, once again, begs the question, where did you hear my name?"

Celestia looked at Raziel for a brief second before deciding to answer him properly.

"Your name, of such heavy significance, was revealed to me by someone who already knows you Raziel and told me enough about yourself to give me a proper idea of what kind of individual you are."

Raziel's mind started to move fast, Twilight told him that she would tell Celestia about him, had she done so, Celestia wouldn't be this tense with him and the other pony that knew his name and could tell her about him was Luna but she didn't know him well enough to give a proper assessment of what 'kind of individual' he was. That left only one creature that knew Raziel and whose Raziel was sure it was in Equestria and the idea of that creature being close to Celestia tensed him and made him nervous.

So he decided to keep the conversation but never dropping his guard.

"Is that so? And who is this creature that told you about me? For very few know me well enough and even less those who know me with sufficient information to give a negative opinion of myself."

The fact that Celestia started to change her body language to one of confrontation didn't bode well for Raziel.

"You are right, very few know you well enough to give a bad reputation about yourself, Raziel, which is very telling when my faithful apprentice isn't one of them" -. Raziel wondered what did she mean by this but Celestia's question chilled him on the act. - "Tell me, did you inform my apprentice of how you tried to brake through the vault containing the Elements of Harmony or did you intentionally hid that information to make a better reputation of yourself in front of her?"

Raziel's silence was all Celestia needed to know.

"I thought so" -, she said with a hint of sadness in her voice, - "I suppose I should't be feeling sad about your manipulations, what I actually feel is anger at how you've been manipulating my apprentice and her friends as well of how you tried to murder my sister."

Her pose changed to a regal one, common of those who were about to fight and decided to give an honorable salute before engaging the enemy.

"I may not know what were your intentions with the Elements of Harmony" -. She said as she charged up her horn. - "But know that I will not allow you to harm Equestria in any way possible."

Raziel quickly dashed out of the small library as Celestia kept on charging her horn and tried to think of what else could be said to avoid this confrontation.

"My apologies, your royal highness, but to think that I have ill intentions with your land based on one interaction and a potentially biased point of view isn't very wise of you, perhaps you should be asking for more testimonies?"

When Celestia came out of the Library, Raziel swore that her eyes were the same as the eyes common of an animal mother that was willing to face a beast aiming to harm her cubs which was enforced on the idea that her horn was still charging the attack.

"I have to say" -. Her tone of voice no longer hiding her anger at him. - "Your idea would be fine if it weren't for the fact that you have manipulated many here, whether through aid or fear so they cannot give any negative account about you. Do you think of yourself as the first one trying to manipulate me through those tactics?" - Her horn was now cracking energy with few pieces of magical energy going out due to the high amount of power concentrated in her horn. - "I've lived long enough to see all kind of beings, from ponies to griffons and even dragons, trying to fake their friendship with me in an attempt to harm those I love and you."

She then locked her eyes on Raziel.

"Will."

Raziel quickly sought for any way to avoid the attack.

"Not."

Celestia started to rise from the ground to have a better aim at Raziel.

"Get."

She raised her horn as the last ounces of energy concentrated in her horn.

"That."

Raziel quickly looked at her, now realizing that there was no other option for him but to fight.

"Chance!"

And she fired one of the most powerful spells at her disposal, rocking the castle at its core and causing a the earth to shake around it. By the time the dust settled down, Celestia started to look around, trying to see signs of Raziel surviving the attack, but, to her surprise, she couldn't see any signs of him. She was considering the possibility of him being evaporated by her attack but, before she could even react, she felt a wave of power from behind her as it quickly started to attack her and send her flying back the corridor from where she came.

When she decided to look back, she saw how Raziel dropped the invisibility and was now wearing on his right arm a huge, dark blue ethereal blade which concentrated so much mana that Celestia was now wondering why she never felt so much magic concentrated before. He had enough magic concentrated in that blade to compete with an alicorn, from where did he got that?

"Alright" -. Raziel said as he got closer to Celestia with a very concentrated anger on his eyes. - "If reason cannot get through your skull, then perhaps it first need getting beaten before being able to get words."

He then raised his blade and jumped at Celestia in a downward arc, forcing her to teleport into another room to make better preparations for her battle as Raziel started to look for her.

"I cannot believe he has such strong magic" -. She whispered as low as she could. - "No wonder Luna was so scared of him."

She then decided to peek at the hall to properly asses where Raziel was and plan the next strike but, to her surprise, shock and fear, Raziel was right in front of her, looking straight to her eyes with a fiery will on his eyes.

"I also have a good ear."

The next thing Celestia knew was that she felt a force getting a hold of her body, she was unable to move as she felt this force paralyzing her whole body, including her horn, which made her an easy target for Raziel's attacks, who held no qualm on his relentless attacks on her.

She could feel his blade piercing her body and, even though it wasn't a physical blade, Celestia could feel how it was making more than physical damage, it was also harming her magic on the inside and the worst of all was the last piercing attack, which held an extra punch that sent her flying back into the room.

That alone, would have knocked down a normal unicorn, but Celestia wasn't either normal or an unicorn. To her, this was just a small punch thrown at her, putting aside that she hadn't been on a fight on a long time and had her body out of shape.

She waited for Raziel to get closer before she threw a kinetic spell at him, which sent the ghostly being into the hall way once again and gave Celestia time to regain her footing and throw a stronger spell that, hopefully, would either knock him down or it would give her enough time to trap him.

She threw her laser spell but Raziel was too fast for it and dodged the attack before Celestia's attack could connect. She quickly followed Raziel but, as soon as she left the room, she was then greeted by a series of kinetic spells that paralyzed her long enough for Raziel to leave the corridor into another section of the Castle, much to Celestia's frustration.

Nonetheless, she gave him chase, although careful enough to not be greeted by another series of kinetic attacks. When she was about to get into a corridor that connected with other four, she decided to activate a tracking spell, in the hopes of finding him, and, to her pleasure, she detected him entering into the left hall and inside one of the bathrooms.

Once she was sure of having him locked, she quickly activated an ice spell and threw it at the bathroom in the hopes of freezing Raziel. When she entered, she found the room to be frozen with Raziel being right besides the door waiting for her, frozen and with his blade guarded, much to Celestia's pleasure. She then decided to prepare a spell to teleport him to prison but, before she could react, Raziel's blade appeared out of nowhere and turned red, heating up the bathroom, and then exploded, bringing a living hell to the place, melting the ice, evaporating the water, burning the rock and taking Celestia with her guard down once again.

When Celestia reincorporated herself, she saw how destroyed was the bathroom and, to her shock, the fire even went outside and burnt the carpet in the corridor (although the fire was put down mysteriously) which made her wonder in what conditions she was looking right now, for there was no way she could've survived that unscathed.

After leaving the corridor once again, she used her spell once again to search for Raziel, this time finding him on a door located much deeper on the corridor that was very close to the stairs. Once again, Celestia prepared to stun him this time with a paralysis spell but, before she could launch the spell, the door opened with a blinding light stunning Celestia and leaving her open to another series of attacks, this time feeling much stronger than before, that tired her down, giving Raziel time to run away into the stairs and going into the upper floor.

Once Celestia reincorporated herself, she quickly teleported on the upper floor's corridor and threw an explosive spell in the hopes of hitting Raziel with his guard down and, much to her surprise, she succeeded, knocking Raziel down and giving Celestia time to use a force spell on him to paralyze him.

With him under her control, Celestia started to prepare to send him to prison but Raziel's blade quickly turned blue and caused a huge explosion that also sent Celestia back, making her lose her focus on the force spell, liberating Raziel on the process and giving him another opening to attack Celestia if it weren't because the princess of the Sun created, almost by reaction, a shield spell that surrounded her completely, giving her time to reincorporate her body.

When she finally was able to stand up again, she managed to see Raziel trying to brake her barrier by force with his blade and, thankfully for her, Raziel was unable to crack it down. This made Celestia make a smug smile as she felt a sensation of accomplishment going through her but that smile quickly went down as Raziel stop hitting the barrier with his blade and took one step back.

"Do you give up now that you realize that you no longer can harm me?"

Said Celestia as she quickly tried to think of an opportunity to defeat Raziel.

Raziel's blade then changed to color green and started to charge up as Raziel started to move his body in such a way that the blade impact would be stronger when he made the swing and fear started to creep Celestia, for she could feel the power concentrating on the blade and that was power the likes she could only sense in creatures as ancient as her, if not more. She knew that said power was going to brake her barrier, it was strong enough to be felt by her horn, wings and hooves combined, making her realize this was the same power she felt back then in the vault minutes before she entered and found Raziel. If this was the power capable of opening the vault, then her barrier held no chance but then Celestia had an epiphany, a moment of sudden realization where she managed to see a chance to defeat Raziel and she knew this was her only chance.

So she closed her eyes and embraced the attack as it broke the barrier and sent her flying down to the hallway as pain unlike she has ever felt since she fought Nightmare Moon a thousand years ago went through her body, almost knocking her down hadn't been for the barrier that managed to reduce the attack's power, if only slightly.

Celestia could feel the pain going through her body, she could barely keep her consciousness but she knew this was what she had to do. She waited for Raziel to get closer to her and then she would attack.

"All of this waste of energy" -. Raziel said. - "We could have talked first but you had to be fooled by a giant squid" -. Celestia was now wondering what he was talking about. - "You were foolishly taken by a creature that used you as its puppet the same way it did with many, including myself, to be used for its bidding" -. Celestia was listening as she waited for him to get closer. - "How I wish you had seen what I did when I worked for him. All the atrocities it made just for the sake of food."

As Celestia hears this, she threw Raziel to a wall and locked his body so it couldn't move.

"Actually" -. Said Celestia. - "That's not a bad idea."

And, as she said this, she concentrated energy on her horn and touched Raziel's head as her mind spell let her enter into his mind. Once she entered into his mind, a flurry of images, sensations and sound went through her head.

"Cast him in."

A burning pain across her while body as her lungs were drowned in acidic water.

A disgusting monster made out of flesh that moved at a snail's pace with a stench impregnating her nostrils.

"You are the last... to die..."

A monster impossible to describe tied to a wall.

"The prodigal son has finally returned."

A siren-like monster looking at him with a predatorial vision.

Do not speak of the master with such blasphemy.

A bipedal creature looking at her with pride on its features.

"What I create, I can also destroy, child."

A chamber with unknown mechanism with the same bipedal creature.

"As a single one of us stand, we are legion."

A huge eye with a familiar voice looking straight at her soul.

"I know you Raziel... you are worthy"

Celestia couldn't hold the spell anymore, the memories being too overwhelming for her as her mind was trying to make sense of what she saw, creating a huge unbalance in her body that resulted in her stomach being too revolted to hold her dinner any longer. The next she knew was a huge wave of power coming from Raziel as a new wave of hits of never before felt power took her down to the ground.

With both her mind and her body unable to stay on the realm of consciousness, she fainted.

As Raziel decided to take a look at Princess Celestia, he started to think of what to do. No matter how much he tried to think about it, all he could see was that he had lost his chance to befriend the ponies.

Celestia was the ruler, nobody would even dare to go against her, after this fight, the most likely scenario would be that she would alienate Twilight and her friends against him, potentially, anyone who could try to get closer to him would be destroyed and, to make all worse, she was being used by that parasite and she believed everything it said to her. There was no turning back, there was only one option left for Raziel if he wanted to stop its influence.

He started to get closer to Celestia, Spiritual Reaver in hand, its white purifying powers reverberating across the whole place as Raziel got closer to finish Celestia before she could become a new King William turned The Nemesis. He could hear on his mind how all those he met until know would no longer want to know anything about him, like the human citadel, and he was aware that this was going to be the worst thing he would have ever done, but there was no other option he could see in his mind.

He raised the Reaver as he got closer to Celestia, he started to charge it and then dro-

"Stop!"

Raziel turned around the hallway as he saw a trembling princess Lune looking at him with a fiery determination in her eyes.

"Please. Don't kill my sister."

Raziel looked at her eyes, filled with the desire for mercy that was so unheard off in his world.

"If I don't, she will turn the whole world against me and I cannot reason with her."

"But I can" -. Pleaded Luna as tears started to get into her eyes. - "She is my sister, she has to listen to me, please, I don't want to be separated from her again. Just give me this one chance. Please, let me repay you for what I did as Nightmare Moon..."

Raziel looked between Princess Luna and Princess Celestia, wondering if this was a good idea, if he should try this one chance, not realizing in the process that Twilight and her friends were getting in the room and saw their princess battered on the floor.

Author's Note

Man, this was very close to how I originally pictured the fight but some details were changed as I wrote (when I write, this things flow on their own) but at least I hope to have written a decent battle.

With this, is 2/3 for the final chapter of this first arc.

On to Part 3, WHOO

P.S.: Please advice for any type of typo you find, thank you.

EDIT June 15th of 2019: If you like this and you want to support me, you can do it through my Ko-Fi. Feel free to check it out.

Chapter 18: The Gala of Friendship

Twilight and her friends were trying to convince the soldiers to let them pass into the upper floors with frustration going through their veins as they couldn't find a way to pass them and, that way, try to stop the fight between Princess Celestia and Raziel.

"Come on!" - Shouted Rainbow Dash. - "We are the Elements of Harmony, you know, the ones who defeated Nightmare Moon! We must go there to help Princess Celestia!"

The guard remained stoic.

"I have orders from the Captain of the Royal Guard to not let any civilian enter and that's final."

"If that's the case, will thee let them pass if thy princess orders thee?"

Everypony turned around and saw Princess Luna getting close to them with her royal regalia and with an authoritative aura that told everyone that she was intending to pass through. The guard remained stoic, hiding any kind of distrust or suspicion towards the princess that once was Nightmare Moon and escaped from the tower hiding the Elements of Harmony when Princess Celestia needed her help.

"I can let your majesty pass" -. He said with his stoic voice. - "But I cannot guarantee that the Elements will be safe if they pass."

"Then We will go first and, should We see that the area is safe, thee shall let them pass after Us."

The guard accepted the order and moved away as the princess of the night looked at the elements and explained their idea.

"As brave as thee can be, We cannot put thy life at risk. Especially if we cannot assure how big is the threat."

Rarity quickly interjected to defend their ghastly friend as he was burning the bathroom that Celestia freezed in the hopes of capturing him.

"If I may, Princess Luna, if Princess Celestia is fighting who I think she is fighting with, then I assure you that we are in no danger."

"Yeah" -, continued the energetic Rainbow Dash as she was restraining herself of dashing through, - "Raziel would never harm us, that would be not cool, and that is why we must go there and tell Princess Celestia that Raziel isn't a threat before she damages him."

For the first time since the Nightmare Moon incident, both princess and scholar looked at each other in the eye and made a silent agreement of their understanding of who was in real danger on this fight and Luna made that opinion being voiced.

"As certain as thee may be, Rainbow Dash, We cannot assure thee for safety as there can be recoil from the ongoing fight between our sister and the creature she is fighting against. So We shall go first to make sure that it's safe for thee. Agreed?"

The six mares looked at each other and silently nodded before Twilight made her response.

"Understood Princess Luna. We shall let you go first to ensure the safety of the place but I insist on hurry before something bad could happen."

Luna agreed and moved as fast as she could to the upper floors. Not a minute passed before her voice could be heard thanks to the Canterlot Voice telling them of how safe it was for them to pass. As they moved, the dark sound surrounding them was starting to become nauseating, making them want to create a conversation to lighten up the mood.

"Twilight" -, started the honest Apple, - "Ah am aware that you know Raziel better than any of us, so Ah would like to know, how bad do you think this could go?"

As they went up on the stairs, Twilight let her mind go back to that first day she met Raziel and how he was capable of keeping a conversation between himself and Nightmare Moon. The finesse of his words, the Nightmare's clever responses, how Raziel went from a peaceful creature to one ready to destroy Nightmare Moon and how close he was to achieve it. Twilight then remembered Celestia's mood when they were together at the Galla and how she looked like there was something bothering her and her strange behavior after that voice spoke and the rumble she felt not too long ago.

If Twilight was certain of something, Celestia was fighting Raziel and there was no way for her to win against him, not if she didn't know what he was capable off.

"Much worse than you may think Applejack, we need to stop the fight from happening."

"But, Twilight, dear, Celestia is a wise pony and Raziel is a very well mannered... thing... I'm sure that their fight musn't as bad as it sound."

In that moment they reached the hall where the battle started and, to their shock, they tried to comprehend what kind of spell was used on this place as the walls were crumbling down, the carpet was disintegrated around the blast area, the surrounding area was cracked and there were signs of burn marks on the walls on both sides.

"Whoa!" - Shouted the farmer in shock to the display of power that wrecked the hall. - "What in tarnation is princess Celestia thinking with using so much power?"

"Yeah! Not even my wildest parties cause so much destruction!"

As the mares tried to rationalize what they were looking at, Twilight analyzed the spells used on the battle which made her the shocking realization that this were spells to cause more than severe damage. Why would Princess Celestia use such a powerful spell?

As they were discussing, Twilight noticed how the trail of destruction went toward the stairs, prompting her and her friends to follow around in the hopes to stop the fight before it could get a winner.

"Hum, girls..." - Said the timid voice of Fluttershy. - "Do you think Raziel will be fine? Don't get me wrong, I know Princess Celestia will be fine but I'm not sure if this could get well for him."

"Raziel isn't the one I'm worried about."

Twilight's response shocked their friends as they were about to enter the stairwell.

"Excuse me!?" - Rainbow almost shouted as she flew above Twilight to confront her. - "Look, Twilight, I know what you said about Raziel and how he almost kick Nightmare Moon's flank but we're talking about Princess Celestia here, the most powerful pony on Equestria, and there's no way Raziel could beat her."

"I have to side with Rainbow on this argument" -. Continued Rarity as they stopped due to Rainbow confronting Twilight. - "Princess Celestia controls the sun itself and, in terms of raw power, she wins against Raziel and that's not even counting her deep knowledge of ancient spells. I doubt Raziel has any chance to stop her."

Twilight was about to respond about how Nightmare Moon also had more magic than Raziel as well as more knowledge on ancient spells than him and how that didn't stop Raziel from beating her but she was interrupted when the six of them started to feel a huge magic pressure going through them and coming from above them. Twilight and Rarity through their horns, Rainbow and Fluttershy through their wings and Applejack and Pinkie Pie through their hooves. As they felt the pressure going up, it was becoming harder and harder to the unicorns and earth ponies to stay up while Rainbow was forced to stay on the ground due to her inability to control her wings as they ruffled due to the magic passing through them. The powerful sensation was outstanding and, before they could start to feel tense for its pressure, it was all released on a single blow that imprinted in their memories as they never felt so much magic close to them.

Once the magic pressure was gone, they took their moments to regain their positions as they tried to understand what they've just felt for it was clear that this magic attack was much stronger than the previous one that shook the castle even though this one didn't move it.

"What was that?" - Asked the worried pink pony as they all tried to understand what just happened. - "It felt as if a huge amount of magic capable of shattering bodies was just used to destroy a shield spell."

For the first time in a long while, Twilight took Pinkie's words to the heart and decided to run as fast as she could toward Celestia and Raziel, worrying over who may be the winner. She passed through Rainbow who was still trying to understand what'd just happened, she climbed the stairs as fast as her weak body could let her, she opened the door of each floor she passed by in the hopes of finding a sign that the two combatants were there, she felt a little surge in magic and went to the floor that was the source of it, she passed through the door that Raziel went through not too long ago, she passed through the hall with the burned bathroom and her mind went into shock as she heard Luna's voice shouting the same thing she was thinking so far.

"Stop!"

Twilight realized that Luna found them first and went to the hall containing the three most powerful entities that Twilight has ever found in her life and, to her shock, she heard how Luna was pleading Raziel to not finish Celestia. As she got closer by, she felt her heart break as she found Raziel without a single noticeable scratch while her mentor, the pony she looked up to the most, the pony that gave her the confidence she needed to go around her school life, the pony that was capable of banish anyone to the sun and yet would have the mercy of a mother to their foal and the pony that was like a second mother to her was now lying on the ground, battered, burned, bruised, with her mane falling to the ground and unconscious.

Twilight tried her best to not lose her mind at what she was seeing and tried to listen at the conversation between Raziel and Luna in the hopes to find something that could put her mind at ease.

"Are you sure that she will listen to you?"

Luna's voice felt coarse as she tried to suppress her own emotions.

"Yes, she will. I won't let her do anything to you until I have no other way to defend you and I promise that I will make her enter into reason."

Twilight looked at Raziel's eyes and, to be a creature with no pupils, she could see suspicion and doubt on his eyes the like she has never seen on him before.

"And why would you defend me when I was the one who almost destroy your life? Why to defend me when you have more than enough reasons to distrust me? This isn't the first time I've been given offers like this and I know for a fact that I shouldn't be accepting them with such naivety."

Luna tried to vocalize an answer but none came from her mouth. She didn't know Raziel well enough and as much as his actions could be justified when facing Nightmare Moon, it wasn't enough to convince Celestia to stop her attacks on Raziel.

"In that case, I will defend you."

As the two powerful beings turned around and saw Twilight also making her position, the librarian pony and element of magic decided to take matters on her own to ensure that this horrible moment was put to an end.

"Princess Celestia knows me and she trust me, I know you well enough to make a case for your defense and I will not rest until I can convince her of your innocence."

For the first time so far Raziel showed signs of relenting on his decision as his eyes got softer and his blade no longer was white and Twilight decided to say one last thing that, hopefully, would make him stop.

"Raziel, please, you can trust me. Celestia is my mentor but you are my friend and I know for a fact that you two would get along quite well but to convince her to listen you need to listen first, please, show us that you aren't the monster that you look on the outside and listen."

Raziel looked at them for a good brief of seconds before his ethereal blade disappeared and his body language no longer felt threatening. Both Twilight and Luna felt relieved at this but it didn't stop him from talking.

"Fine, I will put my trust on you. But I do recommend you to put something on her so she doesn't attack immediately after she wakes up as well as we should put them out of their stupor."

As he said this, he pointed to five mares behind Twilight that were unable to move as only shock was controlling their bodies. Twilight got close to them and touched them with her hoof but none of them reacted (with Pinkie practically becoming a statue) for a good while.

As the hours passed, and with Luna's orders to not attack Raziel despite the guards's desires, the castle was put to work. Celestia was treated for her wounds as well as she was tied to a chair and her horn got a magic suppressor. The ponies went to the room Raziel mentioned, as well as Twilight went to look for Spike, where they could get their reunion going and the ponies would start to vocalize their opinions as they waited for Celestia to wake up.

"Girls, are you alright?" - Asked Twilight worried for their friends after seeing their princess being taken down by Raziel. - "I know that what you saw was shocking but you haven't said a word so far."

She looked at them for a while, trying to understand their position and hoping that this didn't harmed their relationship with Raziel.

"Well." - Started Spike. - "I never thought that Princess Celestia would engage Raziel, I thought she would be the most calmed pony among us and the one that would accept him the most. I cannot even understand why she would do this."

"Wait, she?" - Almost shouted Rainbow. - "What do you mean she? You have nothing to say against the one that... kicked her flank?"

"I mean, yeah, I didn't like it but, from what I get, it was Celestia who attacked first and Raziel was defending himself."

"Ah don't know Spike, it didn't look so much as self defense when she was on the ground and he was still aiming his sword at her."

"And let's not forget how he left her bruised... sorry I'm just pointing it out."

"Girls."

All the mares looked at Twilight and her calm demeanor as her tone of voice hid her worries and only gave the vibe of someone determined to get an answer.

"I know what we saw and it was bad but I- we need to know why it happened if we want to fix this and throwing accusations won't help."

She looked at them in the eyes and gave away her serious features to make a more sympathetic face.

"I also feel bad for Princess Celestia but I know Raziel enough to assure you that he would never go for her like that without a reason. Before we start judging we first need to listen both sides of the argument, ok?"

She then gave them a more scrutinizing look.

"And I'll remind you that is a bad thing to talk about others when they are in front of you."

The five mares looked at each other, they then looked at Princess Luna as well as Princess Celestia before giving another look at Raziel, who was standing between the windows, eyes closed, back to the wall as if he was waiting for something to happen.

"Oh!" - Claimed Applejack. - "Mighty pardon Raziel, I just got carried away."

As the rest of them were apologizing, Raziel just raised his claw and opened his eyes as he vocalized his mind.

"Worry not as my actions weren't completely well intentioned and I still could have controlled myself when fighting Celestia" -. He then turned his eyes towards the mares and asked. - "And how was your night? I heard you had plans for this particular celebration and I think we could have something else to talk about that isn't why your princess and I fought."

The six mares looked at each other with regret in their faces as they were wondering if they should be talking about their little journey.

"Well" -. Began the fashionista. - "I'll sadly admit that this wasn't the night I had envisioned. Blueblood wasn't the gentlestallion I was actually expecting him to be. He was more a brutish foal that I hope to never see again."

As she let those last words hanging in the air with as much anger as possible, Applejack decided to give her two bits on the subject.

"Tell me about it. That little colt threw my food to the ground and denigrated mah family's work just because it wasn't made by his fancy good fer nothing friends. It was already bad that I wasn't having sales but to get the Apple's name tarnished was just too much."

"Well, at least you got to put that stallion on his place and you made a sale" -. Continued Rainbow Dash. - "I wasn't even close to get the Wonderbolts attention and I don't even know what I was going to do if it weren't for that fight between Raziel and Princess Celestia."

"Oh, I know what you mean. I don't know what I was going to do just to get closer to those cute animals that weren't capable of understand that I wanted to be with them!"

Fluttershy took a moment to look at her shocked friends who never thought to look at her with so much anger in her voice before she went back to her introverted self.

"But don't mind me. It was just boring, and what about you Pinkie? Did you manage to have fun in the party?"

"No I couldn't all I got were a bunch of stuck up meanie pants that were too boring to play actually fun music and were instead listening to those boring sounds that I would never play in one of my parties."

It was quite interesting for Raziel and Twilight to note that the most interesting part of the evening was actually when they had to search for Raziel and Celestia.

"Then We supposed Our sister was correct about how mundane and stagnating this galla was."

All the individuals in the room turned around at Princess Luna was having a slight smile as she was looking at her sister.

"Our sister told us for days about how much she never liked the Grand Galloping Galla due to how much waste of her time it was for her to stay in day and she always hope for something interesting to happen."

The irony of the situation didn't escape anyone in the room as Spike made a final question.

"What about you Twilight? You were with Princess Celestia this whole night, did she look bored while you were in the entrance greeting everypony?"

"Well, yeah, we both were bored. It was so frustrating to cut any of our conversations just so she could greet any pony that went through those doors but then I heard-"

Twilight was interrupted by Celestia reincorporating herself around as she tried to remember what was the last thing she did and why she was feeling like being hit by a building. As she opened her eyes, she was greeted with the sight of her sister and her faithful apprentice looking at her with worried glances, making her wonder what was going on.

"Hello Princess" -. Said Twilight in a worried tone and forcing a smile. - "How are you feeling?"

Celestia tried to keep on remembering her last moments before losing consciousness but that didn't stop her from answering.

"I feel fine, a little in pain, but fine."

"What is the last thing you can remember?"

Celestia started to think back for a brief moment, her mind covered in a fog as if she got a huge beating on her head but she quickly snapped as she remembered the why she felt beaten down.

"Sister!" - Celestia hastily said. - "Quick! There's a dangerous creature in the castle, I need your help to capture and take it out of Canterlot!"

Both Luna and Twilight looked at each other with a lot of worry before looking back at Celestia.

"Uhm, yeah... about that princess..."

Celestia started to look behind her sister and Twilight and noticed the elements on the background looking at her with the same worry and, right between the left wings, she saw then Raziel back to the left wall as if he was waiting for something and her instincts quickly ran as she tried to move just to realize that she had her body completely tied and was unable to move at all. She tried to use her magic but she soon realized that a ring was also stopping her from making magic.

"What" -. It were the words of a princess that realized that she was being betrayed. - "Why are you doing this, he is a danger to Equestria."

"Sister, just listen to thyself!" - Claimed Luna as she tried very hard to not use the Canterlot voice on her. - "Thou have always been a model to remain calm on the storm and to never act rashly, but now here thou are trying to murder a creature that never had the intention to fight thou on the first place."

Celestia rose her eyes to her sister and looked how, for the first time in a long time, she no longer looked afraid, only showing indignation towards her which Celestia wasn't sure if it was better to see Twilight looking at her with pity and worry on her eyes.

"Princess Luna is right, I've never seen you like this and that worries me Princess. Why are you acting so out of yourself? You always taught me to never judge others and to always search for friends, what happened that made you act like this?"

Celestia looked on Twilight with worry for she wasn't sure if she had to know the truth about what she knew but then Twilight said the words that pinched her heart.

"Does that voice had something to do with it?"

"Voice?" - Applejack's voice resounded on the room as she started to get closer to Twilight and Luna. - "What voice are you talking about Twilight?"

Twilight looked at Applejack with worry on her face as she felt more and more worried about her state of mind.

"Didn't you hear it? It was on the Galla, it came out of nowhere, it was huge and loud and it told Celestia that 'he was here'" -. Twilight then looked at her mentor with worry. - "Princess, you must have listened to it, I was there and I know it was directed to you. Who did it mean with 'he'? Was it Raziel? Was it-"

"Wait, Twilight" -. Interrupted Rainbow Dash. - "I've been in that Galla the whole night and I never heard any voice, are you sure you aren't inventing it."

Twilight was going to defend herself but Rarity decided to join Rainbow Dash.

"I agree darling, I also was on that place the whole evening and my ears never heard such a voice."

"Yeah, Twilight, I was so borde that I'm sure a voice that came out of nowhere would have made the night more interesting."

Twilight was feeling cornered as her only explanation about it was her getting mad but then...

"She isn't inventing anything, if that description is true, then its completely normal for only her to have listened that voice."

Everypony turned towards Raziel as he got closer to a shaky Celestia trying to remove her ropes and chains and he explained with more detail what he meant with that.

"If what Twilight said is true, and I know it is, and based on what Celestia said to me prior to our confrontation" -. Luna then glanced to her sister as she reduced herself out of shame for her behavior. - "I can deduce that Celestia's motives behind the attack were based out of fake information provided by a creature beyond your imagination" -. He got closer to her as Luna put her wing as a barrier that told Raziel the limit for him to get closer to the white alicorn as he looked at her with scrutinizing eyes. - "Is that correct?"

"Wait a second" -. Interrupted the farm mare once again. - "What do you mean by that? It doesn't make sense."

"It does" -. He said as his eyes turned on the orange mare as she felt the determination behind that look. - "For it's a creature that it can only be comprehend by those who look at it and don't fall into dementia. A creature whose presence can devastate the whole land and enslave any creature for it has powers beyond what is pure."

He then looked at Twilight who was looking at him with a knowing look.

"It was the creature for which I came to destroy."

A chill ran down everypony's spine as they tried to understand the kind of enemy Raziel was describing and their minds were getting into a state of madness as they tried to understand how was Raziel aiming to destroy it.

"Wait a minute!" - Interrupted Rainbow Dash. - "None of that explains why only you, Twilight and Princess Celestia can hear it but not any of us."

Raziel looked at her with a face impossible to read, making the prismatic pegasus hope that she didn't pushed the wrong button. Whatever was Raziel thinking was kept to a mystery as he turned around and looked at Celestia.

"As for Celestia, it is because the creature allowed her to listen to it" -. He then turned to Twilight. - "As for Twilight, it is because I aide her to see beyond what is normal" -. While this made everypony's eyebrows to rise (including Twilight's) in wonder as to what he meant with it, he then turned and tried to look at as many ponies as he could. - "As for me, I've always been able to see it since I was cursed into this form."

"Hold on, you didn't look like this all the time?"

Twilight along the rest of her friends did a coordinated hoofface as Rainbow let clear how little attention she paid when Twilight explained that.

"Yes, Rainbow. I explained that before, weren't you paying attention?"

"Nah, you made it sound too boring."

As Twilight was trying to keep her patience, Celestia took the moment to put everybody back on what was important.

"I can't believe this, why are you listening to him? How do you know he isn't lying to you?"

"But, princess, Raziel has never given us reasons to distrust him. He has always helped us and been a good friend."

"Really, Twilight?" - She looked at Raziel with suspicion in her eyes. - "Did he told you about when he tried to get to the Elements of Harmony and broke the vault?"

For a brief second, Rainbow Dash was going to shout 'awesome' but understood quick enough that it wasn't the time for that. Meanwhile, Twilight looked back at Raziel, dejected for the accusation done to him.

"Is it true? Raziel, did you really broke into the vault?"

Raziel looked at her with a neutral face as she hoped that it was wrong somehow but Raziel confirmed her fears.

"Yes, I did."

Twilight took a step back as she tried to rationalize what she was hearing.

"But, why? What reason could you have to do something like that?"

She saw into Raziel's eyes and managed to see how they reflected back regret and sadness as Raziel's voice remained neutral.

"I had to know if the Elements could be purified on their own."

"On their own?"

"Yes, for I thought that, if they could be purified, then I wouldn't need to risk approaching to you. But I was wrong, the Elements of Harmony cannot be purified on their own. The only way to do so is by purifying their bearers."

Twilight tried to make sense of what he said but the more she tried to rationalize it, the more questions came to her mind.

"But, why didn't you want to be friends with us?"

Raziel turned his eyes to the window as he made his confession.

"I thought that none of you would try to get close to me due to my... condition... position that was further proven after seeing you react to the zebra."

Twilight's friends flinched at the memory as he continued.

"When I came here, I came with the objective to destroy the monster that ruined my world but I alone cannot do it. Only if I pass my powers to the Elements of Harmony it can be done but that is not possible unless I befriend you first."

He looked at Luna.

"I thought I would be more accepted if I vanquished you first but we both know the results of that attempt."

He then looked at Twilight's friends.

"I then thought that I would be accepted if I tried to bring peace to the area but all I got was getting banned from entering Ponyville."

In that moment Fluttershy shrunk as she started to feel embarrassed for her actions.

"For a while I thought that I would never meet you again until that night on the Everfree forest."

In that moment Twilight's ears lifted up and her features enlightened.

"Thanks to you I saw that hope wasn't lost but I still need to amend my actions with Celestia."

He then moved again toward her as he backed down his head.

"I apologize for causing you fear and for trying to take your life. I was falling to the depths of fear and I almost do something that we would regret forever."

Celestia looked at Raziel with doubt and suspicion in her eyes as she remembered all the things she was told about Raziel, she was aware that she had no reason to trust him but the voice wasn't in any better position.

"Twilight" -. Her voice resolute as she made her student to pay attention to her with expectation in her mind. - "Do you trust him?"

Twilight looked at him as she gave it a thought and wondered on her piece and how to voice it. Her answer was as sure as anytime she has been in times where no doubts are allowed. Something that would save both her and her friends in multiple occasions.

"Princess. Raziel is... something... that comes from a world where most of our values doesn't exist. That much is clear" -. Her voice grew heavier. - "However. To say that he hasn't proven himself trustworthy would be unfair and an outright lie" -. She looked at him as she remembered her encounters with him. - "He helped me to stop Nightmare Moon and he first tried through the use of words, something that never crossed my mind" -. She turned to her friends. - "He tried to befriend us through knowing us instead of forcing it and saved the life of our relatives in more than one occasion" -. She looked back at Raziel. - "It is true that some of his actions are questionable, but we cannot doubt that they were made with the best intentions in mind. But if there is one action that I feel you should be taking into account if you want to judge him, know this" -. She then got as close as possible to Celestia, close enough for her to notice Twilight's features to soften up and show her true emotions to the mentor that saw her growing and treated her as a daughter and said with one of the most sincere and loving voices she could muster. - "He saved my life."

Celestia gave Twilight's words a deep thought as she then decided to ask her friends's opinions.

"And you? Do you trust him?"

Each one of them looked at each other and gave their honest answers.

"Princess" -. Started Applejack with a serious but humble voice. - "As far Ah'm aware, he saved Applebloom's life on more than one occasion and we Apples don't forget that kind of things. As far Ah know, he is good for me."

"Sure, he may do some questionable things" -. Continued Rainbow Dash. - "But everything I know of him just speaks awesome and someone as awesome as him would never try to eat our souls."

"I concur Princess" -. The posh and regal unicorn said. - "He has shown more than once how open he is to solved a conflict through peaceful terms and is quite capable of having a proper discussion and act as a proper gentlestallion. If anything, he should be considered as a part of your court due to how well versed and how much experience he has shown to have."

"Well" -. Said Fluttershy as he tried to force her words out while hiding her face behind her mane. - "While I may not approve of his methods. I do think he means well. He could have just ignored me when I told him to stay away from Ponyville, but he respected me and didn't try to bully me or my friends."

"Yeah" -. Continued Pinkie Pie in a surprise calm tone. - "He may have managed to avoid my parties yet but I know he isn't a meanie pants and he even helped me when I felt alone by convincing me of giving my friends a second try and shouldn't I had listened to him I may have missed my own birthday party."

Celestia looked at them with pride as they showed what true friendship was about, but she wasn't done.

"And you, Spike, what do you think of him?"

Spike panicked a little bit as he realized for the first time someone was asking for his opinion and quickly tried to think of an answer.

"Well, when I thought I was being replaced by Owlowiscious. I ran away and... well... when I thought I was done for, he came to help me for enough time so Twilight could take me home" -. He then realized something which made him look at Raziel. - "By the way, what happened to that dragon? He isn't..."

All eyes turned to Raziel as he remained unfazed at the peer pressure before he simply responded.

"If you want to know, he isn't dead, but suffice to say, without adding any more details, that he won't be a menace to anyone for a long time."

As nobody wanted to know the details of Raziel dispatching his enemies, Twilight quickly looked at Princess Celestia and continued.

"As you can see, Princess Celestia, Raziel has proven himself to be the hero he deserves to be known for and I think we should accept his help to save Equestria from certain doom."

She then turned towards Raziel as she made herself very clear on her terms.

"And that also means that no more secrets. I want to know all your story so we can avoid any more troubles like this. Understood?"

Both Princess and Soul Reaver looked at each other before looking at Twilight before agreeing and presenting each other how they should.

"Greetings, my name is Princess Celestia, Princess of the Sun."

"Greetings, my name is Raziel, the Soul Reaver."

And, thus, Celestia was released, Raziel started to tell Twilight about the days before he was who he was, as he was very adamant on telling at least a few details about Kain, and the next day was done so all the elements along Princess Luna, Princess Celestia and a royal chronicler would be there to take note of a story they were very sure was worth remembering as Spike, begrudgingly, had to stay away as they all knew he could get traumatized from it.

"This is a very special gem that can manifest your memories if you focus well enough" -. Said Princess Celestia. - "All you have to do is to focus your magic into it and all you will have to do is to tell your memories."

Raziel saw the red gem on his hand and started to infuse it with his powers, quickly drowning the throne room in light as it was soon turned into a room quite remembered as the room where the leaders of the vampire clans would meet to talk.

Twilight and her friends became mystified by the room, how erabolate it was, how they were surrounded by creatures that told of how powerful they were, especially the one in the throne room, completely different both in appearance and in might from all the others.

It was then that Raziel's voice surrounded them and started to tell them a story that they never thought possible.

Kain was deified, the clans tell tales of him but few know the truth.

He was mortal once, as were we all.

However, his contempt for humanity drove him to create me and my brothers.

As he said this, all the mares heard a series of footsteps getting closer to the throne room and, to their surprise, they saw one of the most beautiful creatures they ever saw in their life. It's clothes showing his rank and power as well as letting clear of how high was his rank. His facial features talked about confidence but never drowned on pride as it got closer to the figure known as Kain.

It was here that Raziel, as he told the story of his life, felt that strange feeling that is very rarely felt, one created at the knowledge that he was being accepted for who he was and that, for the first time on his entire life, he knew for a fact that he was doing the right thing and not being manipulated by a superior creature for an ulterior motive. Giving him pride of finally saying his name without shame for his actions.

I am Raziel. First born as his liutenants...

Author's Note

Just remembered that Luna had a speech pattern of ancient english... now I have to go back and rewrite that. Ugh.

Anyways, with this, I have finally finished the first arc, this story is 1/4 complete... I have to watch other three seasons... and this arc took me two years to complete...

God give me strength.

I hope you have enjoyed this ride so far. I do plan to make some filler chapters (whenever IDK what to write) to show parts of Raziel's story being told and how the ponies react to it (I know you all love reading that stuff) as well as making one interlude chapter... later... I'll take a rest from this and write again later.

Meanwhile, you can read my other two stories which I will be updating from time to time as well as I'm planning to make two more prototype/oneshot/story to see what people think of them.

Have a nice day everyone.

EDIT June 16th of 2019: If you like this and you want to support me, you can do it through my Ko-Fi. Feel free to check it out.

Interlude: The Dark Allegiance

As the corridors in Canterlot's castle were being fixed due to its most recent event, rumors and gossips couldn't stop themselves from flying between the elite. Most of them were about what could have driven Celestia to use her magic in such a way that Canterlot's castle could shake as if it were the end of what was known to the common pony, but there was no official statement and, eventually, the rumors among both the elite and the common pony died out but this was not true for the staff working on the castle.

Many were aware that something happened on the Castle that night when Celestia decided to use her magic on the Grand Galloping Galla. It was strange actually, all the staff (including the guards) where aware that something happened that day, since they've noticed how Celestia's behavior has been changing on the past few days but not a single worker could agree on when did this started neither why it happened but, at least, they were glad that it was over.

One such case was the maid Aurora Blossom, who was among the ponies who had to clean the mess caused by Celestia during the Galla. She couldn't stop but wonder why did Celestia decided to use her magic like that but she was well aware that she would probably never know for sure. She had a green coat that combined with her sky blue eyes and pearly white mane with pinkish lines and a modest figure that, while it attracted some stares, it wasn't going to get her a stallion right away.

Nonetheless, she had a good job working with Celestia, work that, hopefully, would allow her to acquire some better assets for her residence. But this desire for things like better furniture wasn't born out of greed, like some might think at first glance, but instead was something coming from a mare that lived on the lowest parts of Canterlot, where the criminals and bumps were common and anypony with a slight level of decency would like to leave as soon as a chance could be shown to them.

She couldn't but feel relief every time she got to her humble house on lower Canterlot and was finally away from the filth, as horrid and despicable as that emotion could be like. She was today on her house, resting from another well made day while she was hoping for the day where she would finally leave the slums could finally come. She was close to get into her sofa and finally rest when it happened.

Greetings

It came from everywhere and anywhere at the same time. It sounded as old as time itself but with enough energy to remain young for eternity.

"Who are you and what do you want for me!?"

She tried to remain calm but she wasn't sure if that was even possible, thankfully, the voice responded with a kind tone of voice that made her feel safe and under protection.

Do not fret young one, for I've come here to grant you what you desire the most

Aurora Blossom's brows lifted up after hearing those words but she wasn't sure if she could trust... whatever this thing was.

"Sorry but, do you really think I'm going to fall for that? I'm not going to say yes to the first mysterious voice that offers me money, I wasn't born yesterday."

She was expecting a few types of answers, perhaps the voice would try to keep the narrative, perhaps it would leave but chuckles wasn't the answer she was expecting.

Indeed, you weren't brought to life so soon but you are also much older than you try to let be seen by other, is that correct?

Aurora Blossom blushed at this, if there was something she really wanted is that the ponies weren't aware of her actual age.

"Well, I suppose I'll have to find better make up but I still don't plan on selling my soul for money."

The chuckles continued.

When did I say that I was going to bring you riches? After all, that is not what your heart desires the most, isn't it?

Aurora Blossom's heart froze in place when she heard this, she wasn't sure of what this thing was talking about but she didn't want to know where it was going. Sadly for her, it did.

What you truly desire is to be able to sustain those close to you, those who you know you must protect but, even so, that isn't enough for you, isn't it? What you truly desire the most is what it cannot be given to you as long as Celestia and her sister rules: power

Aurora Blossom was now starting to feel afraid. She wasn't sure what this creature was but the way it spoke of her wasn't something that would be caught on by anyone who was simply looking at her. No, this was something else and it was scaring her.

Indeed, for I can see through you, young one
I am aware of what you desire, I am aware of what you ambition and I am aware of who you really are
So I recommend you to stop pretending this charade and show your true colors, Chrysalis

Aurora Blossom's face no longer looked worried when she heard this words, instead, she looked bothered at the accusation.

"I have to say..."

Her hooves started to be surrounded by green flames.

"I wasn't expecting you to be aware of this."

As the flames consumed her, what originally was a pony shaped figure started to grow into one as tall as Celestia and where fur and skin originally existed was now replaced with a a black carapace with hole where her hooves are located.

"But pray tell..."

As the flames dissipated, the pony's face was no more and now there was a face that had no sign of empathy and lusted for power.

"How do you plan to give me any of these, if you are willing to help? After all, you still haven't given me something that proves you worth trusting over."

Author's Note

Well, I know it isn't a chapter proper (I'm still seeing how I make the next chapter) but I wanted to do this to give you an idea of what could be happening on this new part of the story. Trust me, the Canterlot Wedding will be a bit different from what the original show was depicting. Don't expect the same ending.

EDIT June 16th of 2019: If you like this and you want to support me, you can do it through my Ko-Fi. Feel free to check it out.

Memories I: Diving In

The idea of seeing Raziel's memories were something that many of the ponies where curious about and with the reasons being wildly different among them.

For Pinkie Pie, she was really curious about why Raziel was always so gloomy. She has never liked to see others with a frowny face, which is why she always tried to cheer them up and Raziel was no exception, especially after helping her on her birthday. Granted, it was hard to cheer him up because he lived in the Everfree and she didn't have enough time to go in there and cheer him up, but that didn't stop her from trying. With this, with Raziel finally telling her and her friends his past, she could probably figure out a better way to cheer him up.

For Rarity, it was a great opportunity to know more about this charming knight. She was always interested in knowing him better since he went to save her from the Diamond Dogs and she always found captivating how his past was so shrouded in mystery. Not even what Twilight informed her was enough, she wanted to know more, what did he went through to turn into the great and nice savior she got to know?

For Rainbow Dash, Raziel was among the most awesome things she has met in her life. He managed to fight against Nightmare Moon and Princess Celestia, he fought dragons, he defeated an Ursa Minor, he defeated death, he could do magic and he feared nothing. She would never tell anypony this but she would be actually jelous of him if it weren't for the fact that Raziel couldn't fly, which it was also one of the reasons why she was so eager to know more about his past life. Every time Raziel looked at Raziel's wings, she always wondered what happened to them to get that appearance, in fact, what happened to Raziel in general? She was already aware of his powers (which were creepy and awesome at the same time) and she was more than eager to know how he got them.

Fluttershy wasn't very fond of Raziel. She understood that he had to feed in some... orthodox ways... and she was aware that not all the animals, or ponies, were nice but she still couldn't fathom the simplicity on Raziel's judgement as well as how easy it was for him to kill others. Not only she wanted to know what happened to him to gain such personality but she wanted to see more of him, she wanted to properly know him and hearing him telling his life endeavors seemed like the best way to do so.

Applejack was, perhaps, the one pony that had the most trust on Raziel, after Twilight Sparkle of course. After all, he saved Applebloom Celestia knows how many times, he helped Twilight with the Nightmare Moon incident and saved Twilight's life, he saved Rarity's as well as Aplebloom's life and he listened when he was asked to have mercy on Celestia. She may not approve of his ways, but she had no doubt that Raziel was a well intended... thing... and she may be aware that Raziel's story wasn't going to be a nice one, but, dang it, she wanted to know what kind of threat Equestria was facing now.

Both princesses were more than eager to hear Raziel's tale, even if for different reasons. While one princess was intending to listen to know how trustworthy was the wraith, the other princess was more interested in the kind of dangers he faced. Where one princess was curious about his looks, the other was more curious about the properties of his magic, and so on and so forth but there was one thing where both princesses agreed though. If Raziel was telling the truth, that meant Equestria was in danger from an enemy never seen before and they both wanted to know the magnitude of said enemy.

Shining Armor and Princess Cadence weren't avaiable for this encounter but the princesses were going to make sure to include them in the next time Raziel decided to tell his personal life.

But, if there was one pony who was the most interested in hearing Raziel's life, that was Twilight Sparkle. After seeing him helping her with Nightmare Moon, saving her life in the Spirit Realm, helping her friends in more ways than she could think off and even opening himself to her, she was the most curious about his personal life, what was he so eager to hide that time when she interviewed him? What happened to him to get that appearance? What kind of monster was now putting Equestria in danger? Those and more, where the questions processing through her mind as she tried to remain quiet and waited for Raziel to begin narrating his story.

For Raziel, though, what he was going to do could be simply described as complete foolishness. Nobody in Nosgoth would ever put so much trust in even their closest friends, and yet, here he was, about to tell his personal adventures to a group of equines. It certainly was an unexpected twist on his life, one that he wasn't too angry about, for it also gave him a new chance to do things right.

Which is why Raziel was looking at the gem with wonder, trying to gain enough strength to show the secrets he has seen through his life. The feeling of dread and the desire to stop didn't last much, but he still took his time before using it, shining the room and allowing all the ponies to be amazed at what they saw.

They were now in a huge room which contained an architecture that was much different from Equestria's but, even so, they could feel the royal essence it had. As they stood in the center of it, they could see the columns and how they had flags on the top, they saw the entrance of light and how it illuminated the room while still avoiding the sunlight from entering.

As they looked around, they saw the room being surrounded by five figures around the room. They were all biped, pale and they all had flags of different colors with very specific symbols. Remembering what Raziel once told her, Rarity quickly deduced that this must have been clan leaders but, where was Raziel? Regardless, that question was swiftly drowned when they saw who and what was in the center of the room.

There were nine broken pillars, eight white and one (in the middle of the other eight) black and, in the black pillar's base, there was a throne and in said throne there was another biped sitting in there. This one had a long white hair but his body looked strong, the upper half of his body was uncovered but the lower half was covered with clothes, his eyes looked fierce, merciless and filled with power. His skin, though, was also worth noting. While the other bipeds in the room had a clear skin, this old one sitting on his throne looked like he had a thicker skin, as if his skin developed to be something different.

As the ponies were taking notes of what they were seeing, Twilight couldn't but notice how this old creature, this king, to have some type of weapon on his back. She deduced that it probably was a sword of some sort but she could only see the handle, which she found mysteriously familiar. She remembered quite well what Raziel told her when she asked him about his homeworld, Nosgoth, so it was easy to deduce that this king was probably the vampire emperor Kain.

It was then when Raziel started to narrate.

Kain is deified
The clans tell tales of him, few know the truth
He was mortal once, as were we all
However, his contempt for humanity drove him to create me and my brethren.

In that moment, a new biped entered into scene, it was like the others but his face wore a certain trust that the mares could recognize but, haircut aside, the one thing that let them clear (or, at least, to Rarity and Twilight) his identity was the flag he was using. It's pattern was certainly familiar with the cloth Raziel always used to hide his mouth.

I am Raziel
First born as lieutenant

Seeing Raziel getting close to Kain quickly gave the mares the vibe that they were in a hearing. At the same time, they decided to take advantage of this to gaze and remember how Raziel originally looked like. The only thing they could see that Raziel kept back from this original self were the leg armor, the bandages on his arms, the hair on his head as well as the flag.

I stood with Kain and my brethen since the dawn of the empire
I have served him a millennium

"Well" -. Twilight thought. - "That answers his potential age but why Kain looks so different?"

Over time we became less human and more...
Divine

"Oh."

Kain would enter in a state of change and emerge with a new gift

In that moment, Raziel's flashback got to the center of the room and sit, revealing his wings.

Some years AFTER the master, our evolution would follow
Until, I had the 'honor' of surpassing my lord

The ponies had different emotions and thoughts when they heard this, Twilight saw it as a good thing and something that she found fascinating, the idea of a species that evolved after it's leader and that some could evolve beyond was something she wanted to research. Rainbow Dash thought that it was awesome to see how wings were seen as something above the usual, and so on and so forth.

But it's Princess Celestia and Princess Luna the ones that noticed how Kain's eyes didn't look happy at Raziel's newest development, in fact, he looked worried more than anything.

This is why many of the mares started to wonder what would Kain do in the moment he raised from his seat and got close to Raziel. Nonetheless, just by remembering the limbs that were hanging in Raziel's back as well as the fact that his wings were boneless, all the mares quickly thought the same thing as Raziel continued to narrate and saw how Kain started to examine Raziel's wings.

"No..."

For my transgression, I earned a new kind of reward...

"No...!"

They saw how Kain started to put his hands on each of Raziel's wings, even though Raziel himself looked worried.

Agony.

"No!"

They then saw how Kain moved his hand with complete strenght and savagely removed Raziel's wing bones, causing him pain beyond what could ever be imagined, forcing Rainbow Dash, Fluttershy, Princess Celestia and Princess Luna to flinch as they moved their wings in a protective manner, as they could partially feel Raziel's pain. As the mares saw Raziel's body falling to the ground and the other lords looking worried, all they could feel right now was sadness and a feel of repulse at what they were seeing.

All the while Raziel's words were hanging in their minds as the scenery changed. They no longer were in a palace, they were now in front of a lake that behaved like a vortex, waiting to catch something and drown it.

There was only one possible outcome
My eternal damnation

As they saw Raziel being dragged by those who he used to call brothers while his lord was looking at the lake's bottom, they couldn't but stop to think how would they react if this were any of them. Would they kill their best friend if Princess Celestia ordered them to? Would they obey? Would they rebel? And what about their friend? How could they see them if they accepted to murder them?

This, and many more thoughts, made the mares to indistinctly get closer together while Princess Celestia decided to use her wing to hold Twilight tightly, worried of what kind of things were crossing her mind right now. All the while, Raziel's narration continued.

I, Raziel
Was to suffer the fate of traitors and weaklings
Burn forever in the bowls of the lake of the dead

As Kain started to move away from the lake, not seeing Raziel's execution, all the mares could feel for him was anger and repulsion for ordering something so horrible but the one that was looking at him the most was Princess Celestia. She saw on him the worst kind of ruler she could possibly imagine, to send his best and most loyal subject to die because of something that should have been celebrated instead of being the reason of execution, not even counting what other kind of atrocities he must have done. She would always wonder what was crossing Kain's mind as he looked at the void with doubt before making the order.

"Cast him in!"

Raziel tried to struggle, but he was too weak to do anything and couldn't stop his own brothers from sending him to die to the bottom of the lake.

Twilight and her friends will never forget Raziel's screams as he started to get closer and closer to the lake and they would never forget how Raziel was shouting and screaming as his body constrained in the vortex. All the mares felt pain and sadness in their heart with Fluttershy being unable to hold her tears.

Tumbling
Burning with white hot fire
I plunged into the depths of the abyss
An unspeakable pain
Relentless agony
Time ceased to exist
Only this torture
and the deepening hatred on the hypocrisy that damned me to this hell

In the end, all they could see now was the body of Raziel they knew today as his clan flag was now falling down to him, unable to speak or think of how this injustice was happening to him. All they could wonder was how did Raziel managed to remain so well behaved, kind and righteous after going through something like that?

It was then when they noticed Raziel's wings to no longer floating as well as his flag now dropping to the ground.

An eternity passed and my torment receded
Bringing me back from the precipice of madness

They could see how Raziel's body started to regain consciousness, his eyes started to shine the dark blue they know by now and they could finally see what happened to his jaw. Raziel looked at his left claw as he started to go back to his senses.

The descent has destroyed me
And yet...
I lived

Raziel stood up, gave a look to his flag and used it to cover his mouth. By this point, the mares thought that they have seen it everything but it was then when they heard it.

Raziel!

From the flashback of Raziel to the mares, they all turned around as they saw something that they couldn't comprehend. It was a maddening sight of a creature they could barely understand and they were now starting to wonder how did Raziel managed from remaining sane after such a view.

You are worthy...!

They then saw Raziel starting to move around trying to understand where he was, all the while to voice, a voice that was familiar to both Twilight and Celestia, continued to speak.

I know you Raziel.
You are worthy

And all the while, the ponies could only look at what was in front of them. Unable to comment or think, just to see and listen.

"What kind of madness is this?"

He looked at his body.

"What kind of pitiful form is this I've come to inhabit?"

He then let his arms fall in resignation.

"Death would be a release next to this travesty."

But Raziel's resignation didn't stop the voice from speaking.

You did not survived the abyss, Raziel
I've only spared you from total dissolution

"I would choose oblivion over this existence."

The choice, is not yours

Raziel, feeling no longer able to argue and only wanting his suffering to end, knelt to the ground and continued on his resignation.

"I am destroyed."

You are reborn
The birth of Kain's abominations traps the essence of life
It is that soul what 'animates' the corpse you 'live in'
And that, Raziel, is the demise of Nosgoth

Then the voice started to speed up its speech, implying his plead to Raziel.

There is no balance
The souls of the dead remain trapped in their bodies
I cannot spin them into the Wheel of Fate
They cannot complete their destinies

It then took a moment of silence to let Raziel assimilate what it was saying, how Kain was bringing destruction to Nosgoth, how it wasn't enough with only destroying him, even his beloved land was suffering from Kain's egotism. All Raziel could feel was anger and a simple desire.

Redeem yourself
Or, if you prefer
Avenge yourself

Raziel made his mind as he started to rise and move to the only exit avaiable, all the while Celestia and Luna were recognizing how Raziel was being manipulated by this... thing...

Settle your dispute with Kain
Destroy him and your brethren
Free their souls and let the Wheel of Fate churn again
Use your hatred to reave their souls
I can make it possible

As Raziel started to leave the cave, Twilight Sparkle would never forget how the Raziel leaving that cave looked so, angry, filled with hatred and with a desire that she could not understand, no matter how she looked around it and hoped to never fall into that ever in her life. All the while she was understanding what Raziel was meaning when he spoke about a creature far more dangerous than Nightmare Moon ever could be. Nightmare Moon was egocentric but this thing... this thing was manipulative to say the least. She was now curious with what kind of things it told to Princess Celestia to make her fight Raziel.

As for Princess Celestia, she recognized his way of speaking, his manipulations, how fool of her for falling into that. She decided that day to always be careful of who she listened, she would never fall into that trap ever again.

But its last words were the ones that catch the ponies interest.

Become my... Soul Reaver...
My angel... of death...

And with that, Raziel's story ended and they all returned to Equestria, away from all of that madness and cruelty.

It took them a while to assimilate what they saw but, once they came back to their senses when Raziel decided to talk once again.

"That will suffice, for now. I would prefer to give you a moment to think after what you saw."

The first one to react was Fluttershy, who quickly decided to hug him while still crying, much to Raziel's surprise.

"Oh, you poor thing. I feel so bad for you. I didn't know what happened to you, oh, no wonder you act like that, is there anything I can do to compensate for what I said to you?"

Raziel took a moment to think on what was being offered to him but he couldn't formulate any type of answer since the other ponies started to talk to him as well.

"I know" -. Responded Pinkie Pie. - "I could finally make you that party I promised to make you and we can make it a super party for all the stuff you've been through and you can then explain us who was that meanie pants who threw you into that abyss."

They all remembered then who was the one who sent Raziel to that madness. They had to ask.

"Yeah, that reminds me" -. Asked Rainbow Dash. - "Why did that 'Kain' or whoever is he called did that to you?"

Raziel started to look at the void, thinking, and answered them.

"Kain, the vampire king and emperor of Nosgoth. While I do plan to reveal why he did so, I will say for now that his motivations aren't as simple as one would think at first."

This made all of them curious.

"Suffice to say that Kain, originally, only wanted to rule Nosgoth but, as he realized what Nosgoth's future was doomed to become, he decided to change all of it and he started with me."

"So" -, asked Twilight, curious at what she was understanding, - "he decided to save his homeland by ending your life? That doesn't make sense."

"It's true" -. Responded Princess Celestia. - "But I'm sure he had more knowledge around what was going on than what you are letting us know, is that correct?"

Raziel gave Celestia a look and recognized in her that common wisdom common from those who have enough hindsight and foresight to make risky gambles even though they planned their moves for centuries.

"Indeed. Kain wanted to rule Nosgoth more than anything, but he had no desire to rule a doomed land so he decided to make plans to ensure that he would rule for a far longer time."

The ponies took a moment to think, Twilight was going to ask Raziel more about Kain at a later date but... she was sure she wasn't going to like it one bit.

"I suppose that gives some answers for the time being" -. Rarity said, with a certain tone of doubt in her voice. - "But that still leaves a question regarding your... savior..."

That question was followed by a deafening silence which nobody wanted to break. They saw it, they heard it, they understood it but they didn't want to acknowledge it. Raziel, though, decided to answer anyways.

"While I have doubts about how much influence that monster had on my revival, I'll never see it as my savior. I'm still cursed into this form, no matter what I do or what I've managed to gain, this is a life that I'll never see as a benefit and that monster will only be another enemy to destroy to me."

"Still" -, Twilight continued, - "that thing is... what you told me was invading Equestria, right?"

Raziel took a moment to answer.

"Yes, it is."

The ponies took a moment to think. Not even Celestia or Luna, in all of their life, ever saw something like that. The idea of a monster like that invading Equestria and trying to take it over was... terrifying... to say the least. Still, Twilight had to ask.

"Is it really... that dangerous...?"

Raziel's answer didn't give any relief.

"Beyond what any of you could believe. That is why I'm telling you this, so you can see and understand, first hand, what are we facing and why you must understand why one of my objectives is to search for it."

"I suppose that answers one question."

They all turned around and looked at Princess Luna, who was still looking quite collected after seeing all of that.

"Now we know why it was so centered into turning thee into our sister's enemy but, wasn't it worried about the fight's outcome?"

They all started to wonder around it but Raziel's answer was the best one that could have been made, one that made all the mares shiver for the implications of the kind of enemy they were now facing.

"He didn't need for Celestia to win against me. He only needed her to fight against me and fail on the attempt".

Author's Note

Well, it took me a while to write this but, hooray! I'm back to this story!

Don't worry, I plan to make the next chapter right away, I'm just worried for the next chapter's length. I'm on college right now so I'm not sure how long it will take me to write this.

Anyways, Happy New Year to all of you and we'll see each other next time. Please do tell your thoughts on this so I can improve on this retelling chapters, thank you.

EDIT June 16th of 2019: If you like this and you want to support me, you can do it through my Ko-Fi. Feel free to check it out.

Chapter 19: A Chaotic Encounter

Days has passed since Raziel told his story to the ponies. It sufficed to say, if it weren't because of the ponies already being aware of Razie’s life being harsher than they could imagine, The Elements of Harmony would be, by this point, seriously traumatized after seeing it with such detail.

Still, they managed to get through that and, after an intense debate on what was the most disturbing thing to see on his unlife (with a tie between Melchiah, Zephon and the Sarafan era), they agreed on helping him to find the Elder God and using the Elements of Harmony to defeat it.

Not only that but Princess Celestia and Princess Luna both decided to aid Raziel by giving him intelligence both on places he could search on as well as telling him on the best ways to go through Equestria undetected. Twilight also helped by providing her knowledge on how to create portals between the Spectral Realm and the Physical Realm, giving Raziel plenty of places to spawn without the need of rotting corpses.

And so, Raziel started to move around Equestria, searching for the Elder God, and leaving his friends to think about the problems they were about to face.

For Fluttershy, she was worried about everything, from her animals to her friends but she was also worried about Raziel. After seeing how his actions affected him and just how far he was willing to go just to save his own land, she started to wonder if he would do the same for her world and the idea of Raziel putting his own self in danger terrified her. Not because of how brave he was, but rather, because she didn't want him to suffer anymore. She didn't want to see him going so far to endanger his own life when she doubted even herself would do it. No, she would do her best to help him but always trying to ensure that none of the creatures she cared about would suffer or see themselves committing a sacrifice for "the cause".

Rainbow Dash, after seeing Raziel's adventures, started to have mixed emotions. On one hoof, she was amazed by how awesome Raziel was, from how he managed to fight everything he encountered to how he became the cool wraith he was now even if he didn't have his wings. She wanted to be like him, she wanted to go with him and fight monsters while defending her friends, she wanted to be remembered as the awesome pony she has always been. But, once more, after giving a thought to what Raziel went through and the hurdles he fought, she now more than ever wanted to just have a normal life with her friends and be away from those evil creatures but, yet again, there was one of them in Equestria and it was among the most dangerous. She was still thinking about it but there was one thing she didn't doubt: she would do whatever it takes to defend her friends and stop that thing from harming the place, and ponies, she loves so much.

Rarity didn't have any second thought about what to do. She was aware of what was in Equestria and what it meant for everything she cared about, and she was having none of it. Sure, she was aware that the danger coming may be beyond her capabilities, but she promised herself that she would do all she could to aid her friends and that included Raziel. Oh, Raziel, how much has he suffered. It was so clear that he was a knight after seeing how he fought all those monsters and, after all of that, he was still willing to sacrifice himself once more just to save some foreign entities he never heard about because it was the right thing. She had no doubts, she would make sure to make his stay in Equestria as suitable as possible.

Pinkie Pie was, unbeknownst to everyone, among those who worried the most about what was about to come. She could still remember how her pinkie sense was telling her of how there was something on the Everfree and, once she discovered that it was Raziel, she thought that it would be the end of it but, after seeing what was the big meanie Raziel was now chasing, she could do nothing more but to pout. It's not that she liked it that way, but she was certain that this meanie was going to do much, her pinkie sense was telling her. It wasn't noticeable at first, she originally thought that it was perhaps a muscular shake caused for having too much delicious and superb chocolate and cupcakes but, as the days passed, she could sense how that feeling was increasing on its intensity. It was strange, she was certain that it was a doozy but, unlike any doozy she has ever felt, this one was starting small, in the bottom of her left foreleg and it started so restrained and small that she really gave it no mind but, now that it was extending through her leg, she was starting to wonder what was going to happen. She only hoped that Raziel would be there to help them when the duper doozy finally came.

Applejack, like the other gals, was certain that fighting this monster was going to be dangerous but, after seeing with her own eyes what it was going to do, she was now certain that training would have to be part of her schedule. She had to get stronger, she needed to get stronger. Strong enough to defend both herself and her friends should anything try to hurt any of the ponies she loved, just the idea of Applebloom or anyone from her family living in a doomed Equestria scared her and she was willing to do anything she could to save it and the knowledge that her friends would be there to help on the fight was enough to ward off her worries.

For Twilight Sparkle though, it would hard to find a day where she wouldn't find herself passing the night studying and researching what she saw in Raziel's memories. Sure, it was disturbing but the idea of that thing taking over Equestria obliterated any lingering nightmare Raziel’s memories could have given her.

As of now, Twilight was trying to figure out why Raziel’s powers were so effective against the Elder God. For personal experience, it was clear that the Spiritual Reaver was capable of revealing it to her, so it was easy to understand that, should Raziel extend his powers to her friends, they should be able to see it as well but that didn’t explain Twilight how that would help them to obliterate that monstrosity.

“Maybe The Reaver’s magical properties would give some kind of help to The Elements of Harmony?”

She said as she studied her third book on magical theory and applications trying to theorize what would be the effects of having foreign magic being introduced on both her and her friends.

“Well, if it allowed you to see now the Elder God, then maybe it has granted you some new kind of powers on your magic?”

Twilight turned and saw Spike, who was grabbing Twilight’s books and shelving them on their proper place as the scholar unicorn no longer needed their information. After giving some thought to his words, the princess’s apprentice decided to formulate her theory based both on her experiences using magic related to what Raziel, usually, dealt with and on what Spike just told her.

“Well” -, she begun, - “one of the side effects of having the Spiritual Reaver’s powers being imbued on me was my ability to both hear and see the Elder God” -. She then started to write everything on her chalkboard. – “And, maybe, it also allowed me to create the portals needed to travel between the Spectral and Physical Realm so, maybe, I have been granted other abilities by the Reaver. Now, all I have to do is to test my magic to see what have changed and what hasn’t and see how true this theory is.”
“Alright, that sounds great” -, said Spike as his mind was being filled with doubt on how safe this test would be, - “and how do you plan to start this tests? Going to the Spectral Realm?”

For a brief moment, Twilight’s mind gave the idea some thought and wondered if there was some change on herself that allowed her to do magic on the Spectral Realm; but the idea was quickly buried as she remembered that, even if she could use her portals and travel to the Spectral Realm, she wasn’t sure if that was going to be only a one way travel and the only one capable of aiding her on coming back (or protect her) was traveling through Equestria as of now on his search for the Elder God.

“Let’s… better try something less hazardous like…” – as she was speaking, she noticed through the window how the clouds weren’t raining water, as they should, and how more and more stranger things were happening on her surroundings; and that gave her an idea, – “I know, why don’t we try to see if we can fix those clouds with…” – she then sought through her book for a spell capable of fixing whatever was happening in Ponyville, - “this!”

As both Twilight and Spike left the library, they noticed how everything in Ponyville was wrong and, as the animals’s legs grew larger and the houses started to float upward, everything was getting worse, forcing Twilight to quickly search for her friends and try her spell.

By the time Twilight found her friends, the bunnies were taller than a pony and eating the apples, the clouds were made of cotton candy and raining chocolate rain, the corn was popping and her friends were turned into a mess as they tried to make some sense of what they were seeing.

“Don’t worry! I’ll fix it with this spell!”

And, just like that, Twilight quickly released her spell, blinding everything on the vicinity, and, when everybody was finally capable of seeing what was in front of them, to the surprise of one, the clouds were no longer made of cotton candy or raining chocolate, the corn was on its usual state and the animals were on their normal height.

As she saw this, Twilight couldn’t stop herself from feeling prideful.

“Well, Spike, maybe the Reaver did improve my magic.”
“I don’t know Twilight, maybe it was just the spell? I think this wasn’t well made test.”
“Yeah, maybe you’re right.”

They were going to continue their discussion when, suddenly, Spike belched a letter from Princess Celestia, asking both her student and the other elements to go to Canterlot quickly, order they obeyed without a single doubt in their mind. They quickly left the fields surrounding Ponyville and, as soon as they left it alone, the lands surrounding Ponyville were quickly visited by a strange creature who was surprised to see the place looking peaceful.

“Now, what do we have here?”

He then created a loop and started to look around to see how normal everything looked.

“Well, this doesn’t make sense. My presence alone should be causing this place to go haywire.”

He then increased the loop’s size with his right paw while his left claw created some popcorn that he started to throw to the ground. As soon as the popcorn touched the ground, it quickly started to grow and transform in vines made of corn bathed with candy syrup, as they should.

“Alright, that worked how it should, so why are these so… normal?”

His yellow eye through the look started to grow until it went through said loop as the strange creature tried to make sense of the normalcy he was seeing.

“Aha!”

His eyes then started to throw fireworks in celebration as he finally noticed what was the cause of the place looking so boringly normal as his left eye quickly started to go technicolor and looked through the increased right eye and saw how the ‘normal’ corn was being surrounded by a white and foreign magic that was repelling his chaotic and native magic.

The left claw quickly snapped its finger and managed to remove the white magic protecting the crops, the clouds, the land and even the animals but not without spending a huge amount of magic, more than what he actually predicted to need to turn this place back into how it should look like.

“Alright then” -, the figure stated as he decided to use his ‘hands’ to adjust his horns in the search of the source of this foreign magic. To his non-surprise, it was on a train going to Canterlot. – “I suppose I’ll see soon what’s this magic trying to stop me from making this place actually fun, but first…”

He then materialized a document titled ‘script’ and started to read it.

“Now, this is strange, she shouldn’t have been able to stop my magic.”

He, then, de-materialized the script and created a zipper with which he started to tear the fabrics of reality, he then put his left claw and started to search for something. When he finally found what he was searching for, a security camera plugged to a tv, he closed the tear and started to look at the tv.

“Well, time to see what happened through my absence.”

He then started to watch the footage on a x16 speed to catch up and then looked at his watch.

“Alright, just in time to go to my scene as scripted. Hopefully, I’ll manage to keep things how it should and send them to the maze.”

He then disappeared, leaving behind the new jungle of corn vines bathed on candy syrup preparing themselves to be eaten by the bunnies.

Meanwhile, on a train going to Canterlot from the west, the carts containing foreign goods being imported from other nations were housing a spectral being that was planning to make a quick visit to the princesses and then go to Ponyville and see what were the ponies doing on his absence.

It was during these moments of respite where Raziel would find himself remembering the most of his actions and wonder where to go next.

He moved through all of Equestria, through both realms, and he could not find a single clue of where the Elder God was hiding. Sure, he was aware from the very beginning that finding its whereabouts was going to be an immense task but, considering how easy it was to find figments of its influence through Nosgoth, he considered that something would have been found by now.

Not even a glance of its figure on the Spectral Realm and not a single rumor on the Physical Realm. Perhaps a change of perspective was needed to improve on his search, after all, by the time Raziel was starting to travel through Nosgoth, The Elder God was already deep within Nosgoth’s life system in both realms; it didn’t have that much time here on Equestria so, certainly, it was going to try something else, but what?

It was that, among many more questions, what Raziel was going to inquire on the Princesses as well as The Element of Magic, hoping that they would provide him the proper lens to find his target.

It was then when the train started to forcefully stop its movement, making Raziel and much of the goods held within the cart to be pulled by the inertia into the wall.

It took Raziel a while to reincorporate himself from the mountain of luggage and crates burying him but, nonetheless, he managed to recover and leave his tomb. Once he managed to activate his Dark Reaver and turn invisible, he quickly went to the cart’s door and opened to be greeted with a strange vision of Canterlot in the distance as he took notice of the clouds being pink while raining a brownish liquid, all the while the houses were floating in the sky upside down and the sky was now multicolor.

Seeing how he was still far from Equestria, Raziel decided to turn into the Spectral Realm and get into Canterlot as fast as possible, hoping to find an answer to this as soon as possible and, surprisingly enough, he found that even the Spectral was being affected by whatever was going on with the rest of Equestria as it was proven by the fact that, on his road back to Canterlot, he could see a small cart wheel rolling past him, running from the city while shouting:

"The end of times is nigh! The end of times is nigh!"

Raziel will never know how he was able to see that and not lose his mind.

As he was getting close to Canterlot, still on the Spectral Realm, he could see how there was a small barricade of random objects trying to stop him from advancing. It could be seen that there was little thought put into the construction of the barricade as the chairs were on the upper side of the barricade while the lower part had empty boxes and fragile mirrors holding the base. Thankfully, it was fairly small and a simple jump allowed Raziel to get into the upper side of the barricade.

Here Raziel experimented another effect from whatever was now tormenting Equestrias when, as soon as he stepped on the upper side of the barricade, it quickly started to fall down the road while making harmonious sounds as if they were harps, pianos, lyres and the like. As he saw this, Raziel decided to take his moment to think about it.

"Whatever is afflicting this land, it has managed to even change the fundamental rules from the Spectral Realm. Normally, what can be seen as solid objects on the Physical Realm, when shifting to the Spectral Realm, become mere shadows that cannot be interacted with. If I managed to interact with a barricade, then whatever is afflicting this land is doing so on a fundamental basis" -. He then decided to look at Canterlot, wondering how was the city itself being affected. - "I briefly considered to put the blame into that squid but this was not his way of acting. The Elder God's common tactics always were resorting to manipulation and the long term planning; meanwhile, this was pure chaos, as if the culprit just wanted to bend the rules for the pure sake of doing it."
"You aren't far away from that."

Raziel quickly turned around, searching for the creature that spoke to him but he found nothing.

"My apologies for interrupting your inner monologues but I couldn't stop from noticing your presence getting closer to Canterlot from a realm the ponies can't access, so I decided to take a look on you."

Raziel quickly released his Reaver, flashing white at its maximum power, preparing for battle.

"Unless you are of those who prefer to coward behind words, I ask you to show yourself and present to me how any respectful creature should."

The voice quickly laughed as it responded in a mocking tone.

"Oh, don't give me those words. I've never been of those who likes to follow etiquette or rules of engagement, there's no fun in that."

There was a brief silence before the voice talked once more.

"Say, you have an interesting blade in there with you. I wonder if..."

Raziel wasn't sure what he heard next, while it sounded like a snap, he was sure that he also heard something else, as if one of Pinkie's balloons suddenly started to run out of air. Nonetheless, the creature quickly spoke once more.

"Well, you are the second thing I've found that has resistance to my magic."
"Second?"
"Yes, second."

There was another brief silence before the voice spoke once more, this time with a tone that was more often used by those who were planning something of mischievous nature.

"Say, why don't we play a little game?"

Raziel was already having a bad feeling from its words but the creature spoke before he could even have a chance to reply.

"Now, now, don't worry, this will be a simple game. Just come to the garden housing the statues here, on Canterlot Castle, and I'll personally present myself to you. Deal?"

Raziel took a moment to think of this, he was aware that he couldn't trust in this creature, whatever it was, but he also knew that there was no other option, after all, he couldn't simply go to the Physical Realm until he could find a portal. In the end, Raziel had no other choice but to accept.

"Alright creature, I accept your challenge."
"Creature? Is that what you call respect? Anyways, thank you for accepting" -. Raziel couldn't stop from noticing how delightful this creature sounded. - "I'll be waiting for you."

In that moment a bell ring sounded, as if notifying that the game has just begin and with that, Raziel went back to be on his own as he started to move deeper into Canterlot, hoping to find some kind of answer into what was going on right now.

It was as silent the walk as Raziel expected, with neither the Elder God or the new voice talking to him while he was moving upwards but everything started to change once he got into the city as the road started to disintegrate before his own eyes, leaving nothing more than emptiness where there once were gravel and rock from the mountain.

"We don't want this game to be so easy, right?"

Raziel wanted to answer with any kind of retort but his mind was overwhelmed with the creature's power. If it was capable of changing the terrain that easily, then what was stopping it from destroying everything he knew? Perhaps that is why it was trying to play with him, it needed something that could sate its boredom, bringing him back memories of those times he used to have clans skirmishes with his brothers for the sake of no longer be bored.

He quickly started to look around for a way to reach the castle and its gardens, resorting to move through the roofs, while wondering what kind of entity he was dealing with if it was capable of change the terrain on the Espectral Realm so easily.

"You know?" - The voice started to talk as Raziel started to navigate through the roofs which were still holding down to the ground. - "I find it fascinating that you are capable of existing in both planes of existence, usually, this place tend to be inhabited by those who no longer live."

Raziel patiently heard him talk as some of the houses started to change in some way that Raziel wasn't capable of comprehend.

"Tell me, how are you capable of living between the two planes...?" - There was a great silence before Raziel noticed how the houses started to float on their own and the distortions started to increase, making some of the houses to expand beyond what was considered 'normal' even to the Spectral Realm's standards. - "Uhm, maybe I did the wrong question. Let's try with this:

How can you be beyond the living and still be able to shift between the planes and leave the place you are supposed to inhabit?"

"A well made question" -, answered Raziel, - "with its implications being the answer to you. For me to be able to shift between the planes, I cannot be a simple creature like the ones that usually inhabit this place. For me to be able to shift, one would simply guess that my powers are beyond what one can simply understand as the norm."

Silence was all the creature gave to Raziel as he managed to reach the highest house in Canterlot and notice how the garden was not too long from where he was. Not far enough to get there through his wings but close enough to reach it if he was patient enough.

"If you aren't going to answer me" - The voice commented. - "Then I'll have to find other ways to have my fun with you."

In that moment the house where Raziel was in place started to spin around, throwing Raziel back down to the bottom of the houses but not before the houses rearranged themselves into an arena where inanimate objects, such as chairs and tables, started to attack Raziel but they quickly succumbed to his Reaver.

"So you can fight? Good, I suppose Sun Butt hasn't put her friendly manners into you. So let's see how well you can fight."

Another snap was quickly followed and Raziel quickly saw himself surrounded by Chimeras, Manticores and even ponies wearing armors, which was supposed to be impossible but this creature already left very clear that it wasn't subjected to the same rules as Raziel. The Soul Reaver, meanwhile, prepared himself for a hard fight but only to find, to his enemies's fear, that a simple slash from the Reaver vanquished each one of them, much to the creature's displeasure.

"That blade of yours is starting to annoy me."

Raziel was expecting to see more enemies but, without any kind of warning, the floor disappeared, making Raziel fall down below into the emptiness until he landed into the garden, much to Raziel's surprise.

"Alright, fiend, your game is done. Now show yourself."
"Ah, ah, ah..." - Responded the voice in an condescending tone. - "You still haven't found me, come on, I'm waiting for you."

Raziel decided to withdraw his Spiritual Blade as he started to look around the garden, noticing the statues around him and how each of them held a plaque below that stated what they represented such as friendship and victory but there was one in particular that stood to his attention. This one was a disjointed creature that looked like if someone decided to just force the pieces all together. It had the head of a pony with two different kinds of horns, a left claw, a right paw, the body of a dragon, the left wing of a bird, the right wing of a bat, a hoof where the left foot would be and a lizard's right foot while having a goat beard and only one long teeth.

Raziel tried to see the plaque but, he noticed, that it wasn't so easy to read as the others. He decided to get closer to read it and he could only read the plaque when he got so close that he could no longer see the statue without moving his head but the plaque made it very clear to Raziel the statue's identity.

DISCORD

"I have to say, it makes me glad to know that I was in the open to be seen by everypony."

Raziel quickly jumped back as he heard the voice so close to him, and with good reason as what used to be a statue was now alive and moving, looking at him with glint of displeasure and a desire to remove him from his sight.

"Now that I have presented myself, I would like to know who are you and why are you invading my playground."

Author's Note

Before anyone ask, remember, he saw a recording of over 1000 years of events but he hasn't seen all the details.

With that said, I'm glad of finally making this chapter, it has been kind of hard considering the lack of internet and my need to listen to Legacy of Kain music to write this. Now I have to make the second part. Oh boy.

If you find any problem with this chapter (both on a story perspective or a grammatical perspective) please do point it out so I can try to fix it. I am planning to reread the whole story once the second part is finished.

Also, in case you haven't read my personal blogs, I am in a need for money to keep my internet so, if you want, you can either commission me or help me to keep writing this story by donating to my Ko-Fi page

Thanks for reading, have a nice day.

Chapter 20: A Chaotic Deal

Raziel tried to move back as he was surprised by the now moving statue but he stumbled with a wooden chair that appeared out of nowhere, forcing him to sit back as chains appeared from within the chair and made sure he couldn't move.

"Now" -, the creature known as Discord said before he decided to sit on a spiked iron throne that squeaked when he sat on it, - "as I was saying before the previous chapter ended: who are you and why are you invading my playground?"

Raziel took a moment to think what he was hearing, trying to comprehend what was in front of him but his mind was unable to properly analyze what he was looking at. He understood what this creature was capable off but not who he was nor where did he come from, the idea of facing it wasn't one Raziel felt very keen to do so, he decided to bide his time so he could properly prepare.

"Raziel is my name, I am the Soul Reaver, capable of shifting between the Physical Realm and the Spectral Realm. Hopefully that will answer your first question but I apologize on not being able to answer the second question for I was not aware that Canterlot was your playground. Perhaps a bigger presentation of yourself would aid me to understand who are you to make such preposterous claim."

Discord gave Raziel a bored look as a little book appeared on his paw.

"I wasn't expecting you to talk in an even more boring way than Celestia herself and, apparently, I'll have to give you the ABC on who are you talking to" -. And, as he threw the book at Raziel, which made a little poof with shining dust as it exploded, he reappeared next to Raziel while wearing a tuxedo and giving him a little card and talking at a very fast pace. - "Hello there, I'm Discord, the Spirit of Chaos and Lord of Disharmony. I used to rule over Equestria before those two boring princesses appeared and decided to stop me and my fun. I love chocolate, breaking the rules of physics, having fun at the expense of others, experimenting with new toys, breaking the will of those who love harmony, long walks on the beach and whatever other thing fanfiction writers like to add into my personality whenever they try to impersonate me."

Everything around Raziel disappeared as Discord put himself back on where his statue's pedestal was located but there was now a giant throne while he was wearing a royal red coat with a golden crown on his head.

"And, as I am returning to my position as ruler of Equestria, I just cannot have either you or the other invader going around messing around with my fun so I would like to ask you to go back to wherever you came from or else I'll do it by other means at my disposal."

Raziel started to analyse his words carefully and see how strong where the chains holding him down before answering. This creature certainly wasn't the Elder God but it was very close to be as dangerous as it but, there was something on Discord's words that Raziel took notice off...

"Other invader? So you are aware of the squid invading Equestria?"

Discord's eyes bulged at this.

"Squid?" - He then started to take note of those words. - "That is an interesting choice of words you have there, so I'll take it you know each other?"
"That parasite almost destroys to my home world and I was sent here to put an end to its life before it starts to plunge Equestria into the same decay and corruption that my home Nosgoth was victim off."

Discord put his claw on his head as his mind thought of what he could do about with this piece of information and the answer literally came in the form of a light bulb on the top of his head.

"So, let's see if I get this straight" -, the draconequus said in a very diplomatic manner, - "you came here to seek for the squid and, once it's gone, then you'll leave?" - As Raziel nodded, the lord of chaos tried to suppress a maniac grin. - "Excellent, so why don't we do this, I help you out to find and remove that creature so, in exchange, you can leave this place as soon as you can? I'm certain that searching for it must be quite tedious for you."

Raziel was shocked at the speed Discord decided to help him, which meant there must have been something to look for.

"My apologies for my skepticism but, why would you decide to help me on this when you know so little about who we are or what do we plan to do? Is there something you are keeping from me that would put our conversation into jeopardy?"
"Has anyone told you that your way of speaking is boring and outdated?" - Raziel couldn't but notice how Discord had a few levels of annoyance on his voice but that was quickly replaced with his usually casual tone. - "Fine, this isn't the first time I've heard of it. It came to me a few months ago and asked me for help in exchange of releasing me but I told it to kick up a bucket and if what you told me of that thing is true, then it's on our best interest to get rid of it so let me help you to help me to help you: I can track it down, so you can take it back home and then I'll return you to your home world so you can finish it there.

Doesn't that sounds good enough for you? With that creature gone, you won't have to worry for either this world or your own from falling victim to that Mesonychoteuthis hamiltoni anymore. What could you lose from this?"

Raziel took a moment to think at the proposal and realize that, should he accept this deal, he didn't actually have something to lose but, his experience from Nosgoth told him, that this was just too good to be true. For a brief moment he wondered what could possible be there for him to lose but he quickly realized that, to know what kind of deal this was, he didn't have to ask what was in this for him to lose, but rather what was for Discord to win with this treaty.

"Your proposition seems to be well made, Discord, but before I could accept this, I would like to ask, what is here for you to gain?"

Discord's eyes starting to move from side to side as his mouth could only squeak a shocked 'excuse me?'

Raziel then went through the chains as if they weren't there and started to move besides Discord as if evaluating him.

"Do you really think I would believe your intentions are pure?" - Raziel then started to look at Discord with an analytical gaze. - "Why would you provide me an unilateral help?"

Discord tried to look around as if trying to search for an excuse but he relented.

"Fine" -. he then started to become transparent as he spoke, - "you saw through me" -. He then reappeared besides Raziel while holding a glass filled with a liquid that Raziel couldn't figure out what it was. - "I suppose I shouldn't be blue, after all, you aren't exactly as foolish as the ponies" -. He then moved the glass towards him but, after noticing that the liquid wasn't moving, he decided to throw the glass but it stopped moving as it broke into pieces in the middle of the air. - "Alright, I'll tell you my plans."

Discord then transported in front of Raziel while wearing a black robe and while having a blackboard behind him.

"I'll now give you a brief lesson of how my powers work so you'll, hopefully, understand why I am being so nice to you."

This black board then came to life and started to draw Discord with much detail while showing him as someone who was helping the world by throwing his magic across the world and making it work by itself.

"You see, my powers allow me to make some changes in the environment, such as allowing the weather to work by itself, the animals are capable of working by themselves and I was the one that was making everything funnier but" -, the black board then started to create some crude drawings of both Celestia and Luna challenging the very well made drawing of Discord. The drawings then started to fight with the ponies being the clear winners but Raziel couldn't stop from noticing how it was making it look like if the princesses were the bad ones, - "those two butt heads, with their speeches of harmony and other boring stuff, decided to seal me into stone and upset the natural balance."

Raziel took a moment to think about this before asking.

"And how do I enter into this picture?"

Discord simply pointed at the blackboard, who quickly made a regular figure of Raziel.

"Like that."

The blackboard then started to draw the Elder God's eye as Discord tried to throw his magic at them and showing that his magic has little to no effect on them but the Elder God was starting to change the world surrounding it to its liking as it started to suck the magic from everything surrounding it.

"As you can see, this thing (as well as you) are eating the magic on Equestria. Not only the inherent magic from them but all around you and this is a huge problem for all of us. Now, thankfully, I still have enough power to send you both back to where you came from but, if this thing grows more, it will start to devour everything and not even I will be able to stop it since my magic will be too weakened to affect it."

The board as well as Discord's robes disappeared as his paw was once again offered.

"So, deal?"

The more Raziel tried to find a problem with his reasoning, the less he could find to refuse to this time limited deal. It wasn't as if Raziel trusted Discord (after all, he was calling Celestia and Luna the villains of the story) and more of worry over allowing the Elder God to destroy everything if he didn't found it quick enough but he couldn't accept. He knew there was something wrong in Discord's words and only by talking would Raziel find the problem.

He then remembered his discussions with Twilight about how the Reaver's magic could affect Equestria and he had an epiphany.

"And why would I have to accept your deal when I already have a plan to stop that parasite?"

Discord's face briefly showed him annoyed but that quickly changed to his usual grinning face while his voice showed that he was getting exasperated with Raziel's denial to accept the deal.

"Oh, come on, what do you mean with a plan?"
"It's simple" -. Raziel continued. - "All I have to do is to give part of my magic to the Elements of Harmony and they would then erase that creature from existence. Why do I have to accept your offer of moving it back home when I already have a deal that will ensure its end?"

Discord then turned around and mumbled to himself: "For the first time in centuries I find someone who isn't a boring parrot about harmony and it's not making it happy."

He then turned around, now disguised as a salesman, and made one last attempt to make this peacefully.

"Look, as long as I am free, you don't have to worry on that thing out there trying to invade other worlds and I'm sure you can finish it back home since it still hasn't recovered from whatever you did there. Besides, why would you need those elements when their bearers aren't avaiable?"

Raziel looked at Discord with contempt on his eyes and asked with such a cold tone that it froze Discord on ice.

"What do you mean by that?"

By the time Discord thawed himself out, he realized that he made a wrong comment, so it was time to talk.

"Well, if you insist."

Discord then made a puppet show where he started to move around some ponies shaped with the form of Twilight and her friends.

"You see, Sunbutt over here called them to try to use those elements against me."

A puppet with the shape of Discord then appeared and started to touch each pony, removing them of their color.

"So I decided to make sure that they cannot even use their elements" -. The puppets then started to move towards Ponyville while fighting with each other. - "And while Nihilist Sprinkle here hasn't been affected by my magic as of yet, even if she solved my riddle and is able to find the Elements of Harmony, there's no way for her to use them which lead us back here."

Discord then literally dropped his nice face and started to look at Raziel with contempt and willing to fight.

"I've been playing the nice guy so far but, if you don't accept, then I'll force both you and that piece of sushi out of this realm even if that means using all my magic to do so."

Raziel looked at himself in the deep predicament that was facing him as of now. He was well aware that Discord had the advantage here but it would be unacceptable to leave his equestrian friends so he did what he knew was right. He looked at Discord directly into his eyes, with no fear to bear, and draw the Spiritual Reaver directly at him.

"If that is the case, then prepare yourself creature, for you are about to know why I am the Soul Reaver."

Discord's smile separated from his disappearing body as he answered.

"Alright then, you'll see why I am the Spirit of Chaos."

Pieces of Discord's body appeared (the paw in front of Raziel, the claw behind him, the lizard's leg on his left and the pony's leg to his right) and shot all at the same time a series of yellow blast that Raziel quickly avoided by jumping but Discord's arms quickly appeared and gave Raziel an elbow that threw him down to the ground as his tail whipped him to the nearest statue.

"Come on, you make it look like you aren't even trying."

Before Raziel could try to recover, Discord's body reassembled and started to throw a barrage of objects that Discord himself created. Chairs, tables, clocks, scrolls, statues, spears, etc. There was no limit of what Discord threw at Raziel and, knowing fully well that the fight would be boring if Raziel remained trapped under all of that, Discord quickly snapped his fingers and made all the objects surrounding Raziel to blow up.

As Discord saw the smoke rising up from the power coming from him, he started to smile with glee at the idea of actually being less restricted than usual. More often than not he couldn't use all of his powers since the other races wouldn't be able to resist so much chaos so he would have to use his magic to play mind games and see how his... playmates... reacted to whatever he did. The mind games were much more enjoyable, sure, but it was nice to find someone with whom he could play a bit rougher compared to the usual pony.

But Discord's fun started to melt as he noticed Raziel standing up very slowly, clearly weakened from all those attacks and, before Discord could have the time to say or do anything, he raised his arm and aimed at Discord. The draconequus was planning to ask what was all that about but the answer came to him in the form of a shock wave that stopped his body from moving.

Raziel then started to aim his Reaver at Discord, concentrating a great amount of power, much to Discord's concern and shot it in the form of a big white sphere of energy that caused Discord a huge amount of pain. Discord could feel through his whole body how the magic was trying to disintegrate him as considering him a vile entity that had to be vanquished and the only thing stopping this attack from destroying him was the fact that this was a simple energy blast and he had more than enough magic to recover from this attack but, still, it caused him great amounts of pain.

Raziel, meanwhile, thought for a brief moment, as he saw Discord's body going down to the ground and the creature started to pant as if he was tired, of how Discord was shown that he wasn't going to leave without a fight but the chaotic entity decided to show it's true strength as he snapped his fingers once again, making the land to reshape itself to constrict Raziel's body to make sure he couldn't escape this time with vines that held down his arms and the ground absorbing his legs.

As Raziel tried to release himself from Discord's new trap, the Spirit of Chaos decided to reincorporate himself back to the air as his hand started to concentrate more and more of his own magic while his eyes showed nothing but anger towards Raziel.

"If you wanted to play the Big Leagues from the very beginning, you should have said so" -. His two hands then started to concentrate into a giant sphere that became smaller as his hands started to put more and more pressure into it. Raziel could see how the magic was started to distort the area surrounding him and, as the magic ball became smaller and smaller, the affected area increased more and more. - "That way I would show you how to give a proper magic strike."

Discord then threw the magical blast towards Raziel and it didn't even got to touch him before all the area surrounding him started to fall apart and collapse in itself, destroying the separation between the two realms as Raziel could see what was happening through all of Equestria without even needing to shift from the Spectral Realm as it could be felt how everything was distorting and reshaping by itself. There was no way for him to tell what was happening to him before the blast could even touch him.

Pain though, it was all Raziel could feel as the energy attack hit him and tried to reshape him but Raziel could feel how his inner magic as well as his own being was resisting Discord's magic even though it was that resistance what caused Raziel so much pain.

By the time the pain ended and the magic surrounding Discord's attack was gone, Raziel managed to reincorporate himself only to see that he was no longer on the Castle's Gardens. He was now within the castle, still on the Spectral Realm, and it was also showing signs of being under Discord's influence as Raziel found himself to be on the roof while the ground was fragmented into various pieces that were floating around the place, making it look like Raziel would need to jump through the floating grounds to leave the chamber, if it weren't because the doors were blocked by granite and the windows were shut down. Raziel then looked at the center of the chamber he was now standing in, and noticed a portal to shift between realms.

Raziel was more than eager to use the portal but he then realized that he was too weakened to even try to use it and there were no souls nearby to fill him with energy. Then Discord came with a face showing no signs of stopping his rampage anytime soon.

"Now that I've found you, are you willing to go for a second round or are you going to accept my deal? I can repeat that attack as many times as I want so don't even think of facing me again."

Raziel's mind was trying to find a solution to his current conundrum. He had no intention to to accept that deal but Discord made it very clear that he was strong and smart enough to defeat him with little to no effort. There wasn't much Raziel could do but his mind quickly came up with an idea that was so desperate and so contrived that he really hoped it would work against the Spirit of Chaos.

"A deal through coercion isn't more than way for cowards and those who lack of enlightenment in their minds to talk."
"I don't know what that meant but I feel offended by that."
"What you are tying to do won't bring any benefits on the long term and it would be foolish to think otherwise."
"So you are still going to resist?" - Challenged Discord as his arms started to concentrate energy once again. - "Alright then, I'll make sure to make this trip as unenjoyable to you as possible."
"Alright then" -, Raziel responded with defiance on his voice, - "but before you make your first attempt, I would like to confirm something."

Discord looked at Raziel with an intriguing look as he asked what did he want to confirm.

"You said that one of your titles is the 'Spirit of Chaos', isn't it?"

Discord pull a list out of nowhere as he sought for his titles and confirmed it.

"Yes, 'Spirit of Chaos' is one of my titles, why?"

Raziel then started to move one of his claws towards his scarf while Discord suspected nothing of it.

"If that is the case, I would like to show you something."
"Wow! Stop there Edward Grey!" - Shouted Discord as he started to cover his eyes. - "This isn't that kind of show!"

Raziel ignored his words and opened his scarf, giving Raziel the much desired results that he was hoping for as Discord's body started to be pulled into Raziel's mouth.

The lord of chaos himself didn't notice it at first, he was distracted by Raziel unfolding his scarf, but he then started to feel his energy leaving his body without his permission, he then started to feel himself being pulled by a mysterious force and what was initially dread turned quickly into fear as he noticed how his body was being completely pulled into Raziel's mouth. That fear was then turned into terror as he saw what was beyond Raziel's mouth and he was forced to quickly escape from that place.

"My apologies but I don't like to be that close when we have only been on our first date."
"Are those the words of a beast that has realized that it cannot control everything with pure magical strength? Perhaps you should use this as a lesson of why cowardly tactics will never work for the likes of you."

Discord's response told Raziel what he needed to know: this battle was over for the time being.

"Don't get into your high horses Casper, I'll deal with you once I reshuffle my cards. For now, I'll let you enjoy your royal visit while I go to play with my other sources of fun in Ponyville."

Raziel's mind quickly flared into anger as all he could do was to shout at the air.

"Come back you malformed rat, running away once you realize your prey can fight back. May your cowardice be your ruin."

But there was no response to Raziel's insult. All that was left in that chamber was him and the portal to shift with the difference now that Raziel managed to recharge his energies from what he absorbed from Discord.

This time around, Raziel managed to get close enough to the portal and use it to go back to the Physical Realm and, to his surprise, he managed to see how the room started to reshape into how it was supposed to be like: The floor went back to the bottom, the windows closed and turned into their correct positions and the doors went back into a place where Raziel could cross them with no problem, allowing him to move through Canterlot Castle freely.

He wasn't sure of how long he went through the abandoned halls in the castle but Raziel was certain that there had to be someone in there which also begged the question of what happened to all the guards and servants? He should have stumbled upon someone by now and he didn't find a single soul in the castle.

In the end though, Raziel managed to find someone in the Castle as he got to Princess Celestia's chamber and found the Princess of the Sun sending letters through her magic. For how long she was doing it, it was hard to tell but the princess wasn't planning to stop anytime soon, not even if certain wraith decided to open a conversation with her.

"Greetings, Princess Celestia."

The princess barely gave Raziel a look before responding.

"Greetings, Raziel. I would like to properly salute you but, as you can see, I am quite busy at the moment."

Raziel decided to take a look at the medium sized stack of scrolls that Celestia was transporting with her magic at a decently paced speed.

"I can tell. And what are this scrolls?"
"This are Twilight's friendship reports."

Raziel raised his eyebrows as he heard this, remembering what Twilight once told him when he asked about her relationship with Celestia.

"And why are you sending them off?"
"I am sending them to Twilight."

Raziel tried to rationalize the idea as he saw how the stack of scrolls was now low in quantity, failing to understand, he decided to ask.

"And what do you expect Twilight to learn from this?"

Celestia briefly stopped as she gave Raziel a calm but serious look, as trying to put into words the description of her actions.

"Not as much learn, but rather to remember."

Raziel wondered what Celestia meant with that but, considering what those friendship reports were, it wasn't hard to figure out.

"You hope that she will remember what made her to befriend the other elements in the wake of Discord's mind games?"

Celestia stopped for a brief moment as her eyes widened in shock at Raziel's words. She gave him a brief look and noticed that he wasn't under Discord's influence, which brought some curiosity to her.

"Oh, so you already met him?"
"Yes, unfortunately I did. He tried to make a deal with me" -. He then noticed that the last scroll was sent, allowing Celestia to rest as she looked at Raziel with curiosity on her face as she waited for him to continue. - "He told me that he could send both me and the Elder God back to Nosgoth but I refused to abandon you all and, from what I can see, I did the right decision."

Celestia briefly wondered what he meant, asking Raziel to go on as she rest and hoped for Twilight to figure out a way to defeat Discord.

"More often than not, the kind of deals those the like of Discord tend to make usually are never meant to be on the behest of both sides of the deal. His intentions, as clever as his mind could be, would only bring him defeat from those he underestimated."
"I see" -, said Celestia with a smile as she wondered what was Discord planning to do with Raziel out of the picture. At least she would be able to do something else in case Twilight failed, - "and I supposed you managed to defeat him?"
"Sadly, I did not" -. Seeing Celestia's face filling with worry, Raziel quickly decided to quell her worries. - "Do not worry, I managed to scare him away once it was discovered that I could devour him as if he were a common soul on the Spectral Realm."

As much as Celestia felt more trust towards Raziel, the idea of eating Discord (or even destroying him) wasn't one she wasn't fond off. She still believed that friendship was the best way to solve a problem and that included Discord, all she actually needed was somepony willing to be patient and kind to him but that was an issue for a future date.

"Do not worry" -, said Raziel, - "I only did that to scare him away, my intentions were not to devour him but, should he try to fight me, I will not hesitate."

It still didn't make Celestia to feel better, but it was a step forward in her opinion and it brought her an interesting question.

"And, if it were under your terms, would you make a deal with Discord?"

Raziel took a moment to think about it. With that kind of power, Discord would certainly be a great ally but there was no way to ensure he would follow his word or that he was trustworthy. Perhaps if Raziel threaten him by using him as an edible but that wouldn't ensure Discord to stay loyal to them. Still, it was worthy to consider.

"Perhaps if he could be provided with something that he found more enjoyable than simply torturing his victims with his powers. I am certain that he would locate the Elder God with no problem and he would then help us to defeat it but I doubt I could provide him with something worth to just track him and behave."

Celestia took a moment to let his words sink and meditate on them.

"You put a lot of faith in your apprentice."

Raziel's words took Celestia out of her thinking and payed him back attention. He was looking through a window in the direction where Ponyville was located.

"Excuse me?"

Raziel kept on looking at Ponyville as he answered.

"You know Twilight so well and trust so much in her into stopping Discord that it's baffling to say the least. Very few were the times when I witnessed something like it."

Celestia took a time to ponder on what Raziel could imply and remembered his memories of what was expected from him. She briefly wondered what was the difference between her and those who manipulated Raziel but that thinking was interrupted as a rainbow wave went through Equestria (with Ponyville as the epicenter) and fixed everything back the way it was supposed to be.

"And your faith in her was properly corresponded."

Seeing Raziel looking at the window so lonely, Celestia decided to get close to him and put her hoof on his shoulder and responded with a kind voice.

"Not only faith, it was also hope, the same hope you have that we'll defeat the monsters trying to destroy all of this and, if we defeated Discord, then we'll defeat the biggest monster of all."

Raziel only gave Celestia a neutral look that was hard to figure out even to the Princess of the Sun but that didn't stop the two of them from going to Ponyville to celebrate Discord's defeat... well... Celestia celebrated. Raziel just stood within the library and other places where he could remain on looking at the party being celebrated while he could remain outside of it since those kind of celebrations weren't of his style.

Still, that didn't stop his friends from checking up on him from time to time.

"Wow, you actually decided to face Discord on your own once you realized what he was doing to us?" - Shouted Spike while the other mares were asking him to stay quiet, just in case any onlooker didn't accidentally saw Raziel. - "Sorry, is just that it's so cool to think that you managed to face Discord and scare him away."
"I'll suppose you missed the part of how he almost pulverized me."
"While we stopped him, we are so awesome."
"Rainbow, please, while I don't want to diminish the glamour of our victory, please remember how Discord managed to defeat us just by using simple mind tricks while Raziel actually fought him in brute combat. I doubt you could even scratch Discord if you tried."
"Hum, could you, please, not argue about it? Sorry, is just that I don't think we should be fighting over who did the most damage against Discord."
"Fluttershy is right, this is the time to celebrate our victory from that meany pants who wanted all to feel yucky and boring which is why we are all here to try to cheer Raziel from his usual gloomy self and while I cannot bake any type of sweet to make you feel better because you cannot eat sweets which is very sad because you cannot eat anything that isn't a soul I would like to ask you if there is anything I could do to cheer you up so-"
"Alright Pinkie, darling" -, said Rarity as she put her hoof on Pinkie's muzzle, - "I understand your main point and do concede on the second one" -. She then looked at Raziel expectantly and asked. - "Raziel, darling, even if you cannot eat anything, there must probably be anything we could do to make your stay better. Perhaps a few gifts we could provide you?"

In that moment, Pinkie's muzzle was opened and she finished what she was saying.

"-I could give you part of my soul so you could feed."

Everyone looked at her with shock but Pinkie didn't understood what she said.

"What? I mean, if Raziel could partially take some part of those human's energy, then maybe he could do the same with us?"

Raziel briefly wondered about the possibility of it but Twilight quickly dashed that idea.

"Pinkie, we don't even know about the consequences of allowing Raziel to put his magic into us, even less if he feeds on it. That is a bad idea."

Pinkie then started to look at Twilight with the face of a puppy, at which Twilight responded.

"Look, just let me see on a controlled environment what could happen and, if it's safe, then I'll allow you to feed him with your energy, alright?"

Pinkie started to smile again and simply said her usual 'oki doki loki'.

After seeing all of that, Raziel decided to simply calm them and answer to their words of cheering.

"I thank you all for your kind words. Your gratitude towards me and my actions, as little as they could be, brings joy to my soul. Now, while I enjoy your company, I do not want to stop you from enjoying this celebration so feel free to go back with your fellow ponies."
"Alright then, sugarcube, but just remember that if ya' need some company, you can talk to any of us."

The ponies then started to go back outside the library and into the celebration. One by one started to leave until it was only Twilight and Raziel the ones left, something that Raziel decided to ask about.

"Twilight, is there anything you would like to discuss with me?"

Twilight started to look at the outdoors as if what she was about to discuss was supposed to be a secret.

"Well, it's just that, after seeing you departing, I was trying to analyze how your magic could have affected me beyond just being able to see and hear the Elder God and I wanted to share with you some of my theories before leaving to the party."

Raziel, seeing no problem with this, decided to indulge her by listening to her ideas.

"You see, when Discord started to use his powers in Equestria, I managed to stop one of his magical manifestations but I was considering that a coincidence until I heard you stating that your attacks caused great amounts of pain. My main theory is that part of the Reaver's magic is now influencing mine but I cannot tell for sure how."

Raziel gave it a thought, knowing well that Twilight was going to ask him for help to experiment on his magic before making sure that it would be safe to put the Reaver's magic into Twilight's friends.

"Well, I hope you find the answer to this soon, I'm certain that you will."

Twilight beamed a smile at Raziel as she decided to take this moment to hug Raziel (much to his shock) and leave to enjoy the party but not before stating.

"Don't worry, I will find the answer to this and I will figure out if it's safe for Pinkie to feed you while still being alive. I promise you won't regret it."

And she left to the party, leaving Raziel alone as he saw the party moving, wondering how much time left he has before the monster decided to take over Equestria. That was what his mind was thinking about as he decided to shift between planes and move through Ponyville without being noticed.

As he passed through Discord's statue though, much to Raziel's surprise, it started to talk with no hints of anger or grudge towards Raziel.

"It's not too late, you know very well what that thing will do and your so called 'friends'" -, Raziel couldn't ignore the hint of mockery on Discord's voice as he said that word, - "are only wasting your time. If you ever need to do this quickly, I'm here to send both you and that squid back to where you came from."

Raziel took his words and answered with no problem.

"I would consider your words if it weren't because my time isn't wasted. My friends are doing what they deem best for all of us and I don't plan to betray them for a quick solution that won't defeat that monster."

The statue didn't move but its silence said more than enough for Raziel before Discord finally asked.

"Are they really that worth it? Why are you putting your trust and hopes in some feeble ponies that are so easy to manipulate and mislead?"

Raziel wanted to make a long speech about the importance of having someone to trust, of how the few figures that he could ever trust even back in Nosgoth (Janos, Vorador and, to some extent, Kain) and how having allies has always made even the harshest of journeys to be easier than being on your own but, knowing that he simply wouldn't understand, Raziel preferred to leave and simply respond:

"The day you meet someone willing to defend you and put up with your mischievous nature will be the day you understand how crucial having a friend actually is."

He then turned around and added before leaving.

"And hopefully, when you finally understand, we'll be able to make a proper deal."

Author's Note

As I was writing this, it came to me that there probably are fics about Discord being the actual good guy and Celestia/Luna being the bad ones/the ones who ruined everything by inervining with their ideas while Discord was only doing his job of making the world something similar to ours. Whether or not he derailed from his job varies.

I wonder if I can use this somehow...

Writing Discord and make 4th wall jokes, just like making any type of dialogue with Pinkie Pie and the sole idea of Zecora talking, has been one of the hardest things I have ever done in my life and I hope to never do that again so, next time I write Discord, don't expect me to make him as fun as I did here (and I doubt it was even funny) and, yes, Discord will come back and be a thing. I have some plans with him.

Once again, if you like what I write, please feel free to donate to my Ko-Fi, it really helps me to keep on writing this.

Memories II: Ozymandias

"He didn't need for Celestia to win against me. He only needed her to fight against me and fail on the attempt".

As all the ponies heard those words, the only thing they could feel was the coldness running through their limbs as they tried to comprehend all of the implications of it.

"He was planning for you to end my life."

Celestia said this with no shock or worry, the only thing she could feel right then was the realization of what play almost happened to her, and those surrounding her, and what part she played into it. Shame was what flew through her veins while anger boiled through Luna's.

"But, wait" -, interrupted Rainbow Dash, - "what could that... thing... win by making Raziel beating Celestia?"

Silence was her answer, both from those who couldn't understand the play being made by the monster and those who understood it and couldn't bear the idea of explaining its macabre nature. That is, until Luna decided to explain it with what little calm she could muster.

"That monster was planning for Raziel to end our sister's life and, in doing so, to make all of Equestria to despise him" -. She then looked at Raziel with contempt in her eyes as she proceeded with her explanation. - "It twisted her mind so thou could only foresee her demise as thou solution, despite being well aware of what consequences would come from it, is that correct?"

Raziel looked at Luna silently for a few seconds before nodding.

"Hadn't you intervened, your sister would have met her demise back then."

Twilight and the others were horrified at the way Raziel said this, why would he think this was the only option? They were about to demand a response from Raziel, but Celestia (of all ponies) called for tranquility.

"I suppose this has to do with the way your world works, is that correct?" - Seeing Raziel nod brought Celestia anguish, as she knew what kind of reasoning Raziel had to go through to even conceive the idea of destroying her. - "You already saw this scenario happening before, didn't you?"

Once again, Raziel nodded and Celestia only felt sadness at what she feared became true.

"Did you try to save someone and, instead, caused more havoc, is that correct?"

Surprisingly so, he responded negatively.

"It wasn't me who committed that mistake" -, as confusion was filling everypony, Raziel clarified with a shocking revelation, - "it was Kain who learnt this. He went back in time to stop a noble king from being corrupted, but all he did was ending his life when he was still a beloved monarch. In the end, all he did was creating a justification for the human race to hunt down and exterminate the vampires. Leading Kain to decide on whether to save Nosgoth, at the price of destroying the vampire race, or save himself and with the vampire race while dooming Nosgoth to an eternal decay."

As they all heard this, everypony's mind were stopped by the realization of what Kain did. In the search for doing good, he only caused more harm and, after choosing the salvation of his species, he now wants to rule over all.

"So..." - Reasoned Twilight, - "he was only trying to save his land since the beginning?"

Seeing Raziel denying this only made Twilight's ears go down of sadness.

"No, Twilight. Kain may do good from time to time, but, in the end, he only works for his own personal gain."

After hearing this, all the ponies decided to think and rest for some minutes before Raziel decided to continue his tale. Once they were ready, Raziel grabbed the jewel and restarted the illusion, embracing all the ponies into his memories and showing what he did after being told by the Elder God to go back to the surface and destroy Kain and Raziel's brethren.

To the surprise of all the ponies, the tale continued right where Raziel made his first break, showing how he started to move around the abyss with very weakened, as if he had very little energy to move around, but still determined steps. Just by looking at his eyes, Twilight could see that his desire for vengeance was the driving force directing his steps and that disturbed Twilight to her core.

And so, all the ponies saw how Raziel, step by step, slowly crawled upward from the cave he was under. It was interesting to note that the cave had a small road with a very soft steep that allowed Raziel to move forward, and it was even more surprising to see how the walls had some kind of structure, as if this once was a chamber of some kind, long ago abandoned. This idea was only reinforced by the next thing Twilight saw.

The next thing they saw was a chamber with a strange architecture. The walls were carved with figures as if it were a long forgotten deity and, in the center of the chamber, was a large arc that had a large crystal on the cornerstone whose symbol resembled the same as the one in the floor within the arc's radio.

Thankfully, the Elder God's voice clarified what they were all looking at, even if they shivered at the reminder that they were being watched by a creature that could be anywhere and at anytime.

This gates twist space
laying a path across great spans

As Raziel slowly reached the crystal on the floor, a light was illuminated both on the floor and at the cornerstone of the arc, making Twilight wonder how did it work in the first place.

After that, Raziel continued walking through his only path avaiable until he reached another chamber. This time, there was a pedestal with one hole at the center of the chamber; said hole was surrounded by a series of columns that gave the chamber a foreboding feeling. Especially considering that the hole in the center was expelling some kind of energy that was picking everypony's interest.

As Raziel entered the chamber, he had to rest on the right wall due to the fatigue he was feeling.

You are weak,
you must feed

Raziel looked up as he responded.

"The old hunger has left me. I have no desire for blood."

In that moment the ponies looked at the hole as they heard the conversation being exchanged.

You have changed,
your blood thirst is replaced by a deeper need

As it said those words, from the hole at the middle of the chamber, a green orb came out and started to float around. Many of them wondered what it was and what was that strange sound that was coming from it, but Twilight was already figuring out the answer to that and her coat started to bristle because of it.

You've become a devourer of souls
to sustain your strength,
you must hunt the lost spirits of the underworld
and consume the souls of your enemies

As it was heard, they all saw how Raziel started to open the scarf that hid his mouth, making the souls to be syphooned into his mouth. This was the first time for all of the ponies, except for Twilight, to see Raziel feeding on souls and while there were some variances (like Rainbow Dash being more curious while Applejack and Fluttershy felt more disgusted at what they saw) they all felt their stomachs churning at the vision of Raziel consuming a random soul, who knew who it was, just for the sake of feeding. If there was any doubt before, now it was clear to all of them that Raziel was an apex predator, one that was, thankfully, not wanting to feed on them.

After seeing Raziel feeding for quite a while, they finally stopped feeling disgusted as Raziel ended his feeding. Once he closed his mouth, he started to move faster through the path ahead of them. He was now so agile and precise with his movement, that he managed to jump across the many obstacles he found with complete ease. He even showed that his wings weren't completely useless, as he was capable of using them to glide across the air.

After that came the next chamber and it was filled with bipedal creatures, with pointed fangs, yellow eyes, completely naked and moved as if they were suffering an eternal hunger. The display only made the ponies feel disgust, with Twilight feeling concern around them (for she still remembered her encounter with the archon) while her friends felt fear at the unknown assailants; Celestia and Luna, meanwhile, only felt disgust at the creatures that didn't seem to be dangerous to them. Raziel, in the end, made the question they wanted to make.

"What scabrous creatures are this?"

As the creatures moved around, one of them picked up a soul and ate it.

Sluagh are the scavengers of the underworld,
their feral hunger claim countless souls,
spirits now shall never find their rest.

As everyone heard this, Raziel jumped towards the sluagh and fought them with his claws. The foul beast only saw him as another entity to feed on and jumped straight at the soul reaver, but Raziel proved to be faster than them and dodged their attacks with ease, using then their open flanks to attack them with his claws. In two quick strikes the monsters became transparent as they made a desperate scream, and then turned to run away from Raziel, but the soul reaver only had to open his scarf to suck all the sluagh and souls in the vicinity.

In the meantime, Twilight noticed once more how the chamber containing the sluagh had actual architecture, with well carved columns that only made it seem more as if all of them were on the leftover of a destroyed building.

After that, Raziel moved on and saw how the underworld tunnel he was in lead to an opening which, once he jumped over, lead to a place with no roof but where everything still looked bluish (as if they were still underwater) and decayed. It was desolated as there was only a group of destroyed, but very tall, pillars surrounding a blue circle on the middle of them. Anywhere else only had dusty rocks to be looked upon.

"Uh, girls" -, quickly added Rainbow Dash, - "not that I want to interrupt but, what happened to the sky?"

All the mares looked up and saw, to their horror, how there was no celestial bodies above them. No sun, no moon, not even stars and that sent shivers across all of them, except for one.

"There is nothing wrong with the sky."

All the mares turned to Twilight with shock in their faces as they tried to form a comprehensive response to her assessment.

"Hum, Twilight dear..."

"Not to be rude or mean but..."

"Didn't ya notice there's no sun or moon on the sky...?"

"How can you claim that there's nothing wrong with it?"

"Yeah that's like saying that you can have a birthday with no party!"

Twilight gave all of her friends, as well as the princesses, a serious look and answered.

"The reason why I say it is that we aren't in the Physical Realm, we are on the Spectral Realm and, last time I was there, there is no celestial bodies in said realm."

As the information started to dwell on all of her friends, they decided to look around once more to analyze what they were seeing, with all their looks focusing on the blue circle, wondering what was that about as Raziel started to get closer to it.

This portals are your conduit between the spectral and material realms,
with their aid, you may gather matter and will yourself to manifest on the physical world.
This is taxing however,
your strength must first be fully restored,
you require no conduit to return to this plain,
you may abandon your physical body at any time.

Raziel then moved toward the center of the circle and, as its light started to surround Raziel, the reaver of souls moved his claws around himself. This gesture made one of the biggest wonders that all the equestrians would remember through their entire lives, for they saw how the pillars started to dwarf and look more natural. They started to feel the cool breeze going through them, the rock started to look more lively (even if it went from bluish to brownish) and the blue circle dissipated from their sights. Only Celestia would notice how the path from which they came from was blocked by the moving rocks, never to be seen again.

The idea of seeing how the two realms connected and reshaped among one another was something to behold, it really made them feel how all they used to think about the world was shattered and put to the test. For Twilight, though, this was even more especial since, last time she was shifting between realms, she was too busy reentering her body to notice how the two realms were interconnected.

Sustain your strength to prolong your manifestation in the physical world,
if you fail to feed, or absorb too many wounds,
this fragile matter will dissolve.

As Raziel started to look around, he saw a large group of bars blocking his way to the east, forcing him to move to the west and into another hallway, directly to a small pound of water.

You are young yet, Raziel,
you still retain many of your vampiric weaknesses.
Immersion in water, while not fatal, will dissolve your physical body
forcing your return to the Spirit World.
Be aware that in the Spectral Realm
water has neither heft not lift,
it stands as thin as air

Raziel simply jumped over the water and continued until he found a door. Once he opened, yet again, another disgusting group of creatures met his eyes.

This were two bipedal creatures, they had a very dark skin and only three claws, like Raziel, which were surrounding a corpse on the ground. What made them different from the sluagh (and what made them even more disgusting to the ponies) how a small red trail went from the corpse into their mouths. It wasn't hard for the ponies to realize these were vampires, but not so much to Raziel.

"What are these creatures?"

Do you not recognize them?
They are the children of your brother, Dumah

Hearing this made all the ponies shiver as they tried to comprehend how something as horrendous as those vampires were related to the vampire that threw Raziel to the abyss.

"That's impossible - these foul, scuttling beast could not be kin of our high blood."

Do you suppose that time stood still for you, Raziel?
Much has changed since you passed from the world of men.

Hearing those words sent a chill down towards both Celestia's and Luna's spine. They easily understood the implications of what was said, especially Luna, who spent a thousand years imprisoned only to be received by a completely different world from what she once knew. Just how long has Raziel been down there?

The ponies meanwhile, despite being aware of being in an illusion, they still preferred to be above the ground as Raziel jumped toward the fledgling vampires, who quickly turned as they noticed his presence and prepared to fight. They were all wondering how was Raziel planning to destroy the two vampires but Raziel quickly laid down the how.

"I knew my opponents' weaknesses, having suffered them myself. Physical wounds are fleeting: a vampire's immortal flesh begins to close as soon as it is cleaved" -. He then turned around and saw a small pool behind him. Beyond him was a spot perfect to impale a vampire and the roof had a small hole that let the sunlight to enter. - "Vampires only fear those wounds that impale, or inflame. Water scorches like acid, and fledglings are devastated by sunlight's touch" -. Raziel then looked at the two vampires the same way a predator looks at its prey. - "I would have to modify my tactics to suit my foes."

And that way, the battle began with Raziel quickly moving towards the vampire to the right of his. Fluttershy quickly turned away from the battle, as just seeing the sluagh was too much for her, and she was quickly followed by Rarity, Applejack and Pinkie PIe respectively. Rainbow Dash, meanwhile, would look attentively how Raziel quickly started to claw the first vampire, while dodging the attacks from the second one, until his first victim was too tired (due to the wounds) to properly move.

It was here that Raziel took the vampire and threw him to the sunlight, the four ponies still watching the battle saw with complete wonder how the vampire started to burn, his cries of pain entering into all the ponies' skulls as it, eventually, stopped screaming and dropped to the ground, leaving the soul moving away from the body and staying in the air.

Unfettered from the flesh,
a creature's soul fades swiftly into the spectral realm.
Draw it in quickly, Raziel,
or you will be compelled to follow.

Raziel entered into the sunlight and quickly ate the soul as the fledgling tried to think of a strategy to win but, sadly for it, Raziel was too quick. Before anyone knew it, the vampire was stunned by claw and threw into the water, showing the mares how susceptible was a vampire to the purifying liquid.

Once he was done with them, and paying no mind to the human corpse besides him, Raziel moved close to a huge block that was on the room, quickly picking up his attention.

Your physical prowess surpasses what you in life.
Even massive obstacles can be moved effortlessly.

And, just like that, Raziel moved the block as if it were nothing, making Twilight, Applejack and Rainbow Dash wonder just how strong Raziel actually was. After seeing that display of strength, Raziel jumped over the obstacle and moved forward, finding, and opening, a door that lead him out to a horrible display.

There was nothing left of Nosgoth or the empire he once knew. All he could see was a grey wasteland that extended as far he could see; there was no life on the ground, no plants, no animals or even insects. The sky was covered by the great clouds coming from the furnace in the north, creating a fog that only made Raziel's vision to be worse, and he could see in the distance were more Dumahim that, while they looked already developed, still gave off a sense of hunger that proved how lacking was the blood as a source of food.

"My God..."

Raziel's words were the only thing that could emote the feeling invading him as he saw the embodiment of death on the land.

The ponies, meanwhile, were being invaded by depressive thoughts that only made them feel as if a vacuum was sucking out any type of enjoyment out of them.

Both Fluttershy and Pinkie Pie felt distraught at the idea of seeing a land with no life. Nothing to care, nothing to love, nothing to celebrate. On Pinkie's case, her sadness was even more apparent as her mane fell flat to the ground and color left her coat while Fluttershy, at the same time, couldn't stop from tearing up at the sight, hoping to never see her homeland in such state ever again.

Rainbow Dash and Applejack felt how their competitive energy left them. What usually pumped them up with vitality enough to compete with one another was now gone and all they wanted to do was to go back home and celebrate the life their own homeland had.

Rarity was unable to properly think a way to digest what she was looking at, while Celestia and Luna only felt dread at the vision of how their own kingdom could have collapsed, had they never tried to keep it in place and protected it from hatred through harmony. Here it was where the princesses and Twilight had the same sentiment, they knew that this was the end result for Equestria, if the Elder God manages to get away with his plans, and that only filled them with resolution to stop it even more.

Besides Raziel was a large structure that had a simple flag of, what looked liked to be, a grand letter 'V' drawn as if it were a giant bat while, on the lower sides of the wall, one could see the other flags belonging to the other clans; design that Rarity approved, and it still managed to give the large structure some sense of grandiose and majesty that only reflected how decayed it actually was, as the crows were on the roofs, singing, while the walls looked torn and licked by erosion and ash.

"The Sanctuary of the Clans, reduced to ruin... beyond these walls lay the Pillars of Nosgoth, the seat of Kain's empire. How humble it now appeared, collapsing into the dust of its former magnificence. And yet I had only just emerged... In the instant between my execution and resurrection, centuries had apparently passed..."

As he said this, the earth begins to violently shake, to the point that Raziel almost falls to the ground, before calming down again.

This world is wracked with cataclysms
the earth strains to shrug off the pestilence of Kain's parasitic empire.
The fate of this world was preordained in an instant, by a solitary man.
Unwilling to martyr himself to restore Nosgoth's balance,
Kain condemned the world to the decay you see.
In that moment, the unraveling began...
now it is nearly played out.
Nosgoth teeters on the brink of collapse
its fragile balance cannot hold.

Raziel then decided to get close to the barriers that blocked off the Sanctuary of the Clans, hoping that they would also be eroded, but luck wasn't on his side.

"The doors of the Sanctuary were immovable, either barred from the inside or rusted shut. I would need to find another means of entry."

As Raziel was moving away from the Sanctuary, he spotted a large staff, with an extremely pointed end, that he decided to pick up and move on. It was this time where the ponies would try to voice their opinions, but any attempt of it only ended with silence, as none of them had their thoughts completely made up.

Not even watching Raziel sneaking (and impaling) a vampire from his back managed to earn a shock or wonder on them, not even when Raziel managed to find a portal room, from which to move great distances, did they found something new to discuss. All they could do by this point was to watch and think until Raziel found the place where he was doomed so long ago.

"This, at least, had remained constant" -. He then looked at the waters flowing through the place as they all converged on the still deadly waters. - "The endlessly swirling vortex of the abyss. My tomb, and the womb of my rebirth" -. As the ponies looked around the place, they noticed in the distance a small crevice, with the bridge connecting it to land being destroyed, which had a door on its place. - "Though much of Nosgoth's landscape had changed, these cliffs gave me my bearings. My clan territory was to the west" -. As Raziel prepared to jump forward, all the ponies realized what they were about to see. - "I was anxious to see how my descendants had fared during the centuries of my absence."

And, as Raziel got closer to the door leading to his clan, all the ponies prepared themselves for the worse. After seeing the descendants of Dumah, they were all worried of the kind of monster Raziel's descendants would have become, with the exception of two ponies: Celestia and Luna.

The two monarchs knew, very well, what were the potential repercussions of something as controversial as murdering the leader of a whole clan. And, in doing so, they were well aware of what could have been the decision taken by a monster such as Kain.

The princesses' heart only got worse as they saw their prediction being right.

"Utter desolation" -. Raziel moved around the place, only to find solitude among the buildings now devoid of life. - "My once-proud kin, wiped from this world like excrement from a boot."

As the ponies looked around, all they could find were vampiric weapons firmly stabbed on the ground and Dumahim trying to ravage the area. The buildings, capable of competing with Canterlot, in terms of magnificence, even on this decayed state, were showing signs of erosion by nature, with some pieces of structure looking as if they were either attacked by an enemy or the passage of time itself.

"I knew the hand that wrought this deed..."

The ponies would look silently as Raziel would move through the forsaken citadel, unable to stop, unable to feel, unable to talk. All they could do was to see the remnants of what probably used to be a great city, now gone and devoid of any kind of life.

Author's Note

My complete thanks for the page Nosgothic Realm and it having the script of the full game. It really helps to find typos while searching for the content for this chapter.

The chapter's title was inspired on a poem which I considered to be fitting. For those interested, I will write it here:

I met a traveller from an antique land,

Who said—“Two vast and trunkless legs of stone

Stand in the desert. . . . Near them, on the sand,

Half sunk a shattered visage lies, whose frown,

And wrinkled lip, and sneer of cold command,

Tell that its sculptor well those passions read

Which yet survive, stamped on these lifeless things,

The hand that mocked them, and the heart that fed;

And on the pedestal, these words appear:

My name is Ozymandias, King of Kings;

Look on my Works, ye Mighty, and despair!

Nothing beside remains. Round the decay

Of that colossal Wreck, boundless and bare

The lone and level sands stretch far away.”

If you like this and you want to support me, you can do it through my Ko-Fi. Feel free to check it out.

Memories III: The Necropolis

Beyond the ruins of your former stronghold,
and above the gardens of the dead,
your brother Melchiah waits...

As Raziel moved through the remnants of the place that used to house his clan, the ponies took their moment to take a look at the place and try to see what they could get from the place. Chills filled their bodies as they saw intact constructions but no sign that they were ever inhabited, they tried to think of how they would feel if Ponyville, or any part of Equestria, were ever to befall of such fate.

It was frightening to say the least. The buildings themselves gave testimony of how there used to be a civilization, but there was no indication of any type of survivor inhabiting the place. All they could see were the sons of Dumah infesting the place and attacking Raziel whenever they found him, quickly transforming into his meal.

"Girls..." - Everypony turned to look at Pinkie Pie, who had her mane deflated although she still had some pink on her coat. - "I don't know you, but, just by looking at this, I feel really bad for Raziel."

The ponies took a moment to think on what Pinkie was saying as they reflected on what they were looking at. While Raziel was piercing a vampire to death, all the ponies could notice was the loneliness of Raziel having to endure the destruction of his whole clan, after being murdered by his own brothers and his murderous leader.

"I..." - Pinkie proceeded, - "I don't think just making a single party for him would make any of this go away. I'm not sure if making multiple parties for him would fix something as harmful as this, do you get what I mean?"

The ponies took a moment to think and understand what Pinkie was saying.

"I understand you perfectly, Pinkie dear" -, responded Rarity, - "After seeing all of this, I'm not even sure if there is any way for Raziel to recover from something so traumatic" -. She then started to mull over how she could even face something as horrible, as having those close to you eliminated from the face of the planet. - "All I know is that I don't want this to happen to Ponyville."

As Raziel started to climb a spiral, Fluttershy decided to interject.

"Well, it's not as in there's nothing we could do, both to make sure this never happens to Ponyville and to help Raziel."

All the mares looked at her with a certain level of thought and wonder, considering her words and taking them as factual.

"You are correct" -, confirmed Princess Celestia, - "although we cannot change what we are seeing, we can make sure that the destruction, shown in this world, never happens to us. The same way, we can help Raziel so his life on Equestria is as pleasant as possible."

"We agree, dearest sister" -, added Princess Luna, - "just the idea of Raziel coming from a world such as this, and still being able to raise up to come to a world, different from his, to save us from utmost destruction. He truly deserves to have a better... life... here among us."

All the ponies were starting to smile and formulate plans to help Raziel's stay in Ponyville, until the reaver's memories reminded them of what they were seeing.

"No! Please!"

The ponies saw Raziel getting close to a perch as they all looked a bipedal creature that didn't quite looked like Raziel, the devourer of souls would later explain them that this creature was a human, moving back from a bonfire with fear, as two frail and ghoulish looking creatures started to get close to him.

Seeing the monsters moving as if their bodies were constrained, they were lanky and thin with their skins looking artificial or as if it wasn't truly part of them. All the ponies could feel their bodies crawl for how unnatural this, already unnatural, creatures seemed and, they knew, the knowledge of what they were would only make them regret it, but, just for Raziel, they would endure this, to the point that they didn't looked away from the scene as the creatures decided to murder the human with their claws and drink his blood.

"I didn't recognize these flayed wracks of flesh" -. Said an unfazed Raziel. - "Their scent was vampiric, but they gnawed upon their victim's carcass like dogs."

Suffice to say, Raziel quickly jumped into the fray and sent the two vampires into the bonfire, quickly releasing their souls and turning into his next meal.

After that, Raziel kept on moving until he then found a graveyard, with yellow flags on the upper sides of the pillars and with more of this frail vampires eating the corpses of humans moving through the tombstones. It was impossible to ignore that many of this ghoul-looking vampires came from the earth and were capable of digging themselves down just to appear on another side of the graveyard, or any place with soil.

"This charnel house bore the unmistakable marks of Melchiah's clan. To what depths had out dynasty plummeted, if these ghouls were the descendants of my high-born brother? Were they so debased as to recruit fledglings from the dessicated corpses here interred?"

After devouring more of this melchahim, Raziel managed to get on the upper side of the graveyard, just to see a mural depicting his brother Melchiah as some kind of hero worth honoring despite the graveyard being filled with devolved vampires.

"My brother, Melchiah, was made last, and therefore received the poorest portion of Kain's gift. Although immortal, his soul could not sustain the flesh, which retained much of its previous human frailty. This weakness, it seemed, as passed on to his offspring. Their fragile skinds barely contained the underlying decay."

It was in this moment when all the ponies understood what they were witnessing and Rainbow Dash, probably, was the only one explaining it in the simplest of ways.

"So, this are vampire zombies...? So awesome..."

After this, the ponies followed Raziel through the remnants of Melchaiah's territory, always noticing how the mausoleums and crypts were now used as places of temporary, rather than permanent, rest for the vampires as they used the ground itself to transport through the land.

In comparison, any human Raziel found wasn't worth fighting.

In fact, what took the most interest from the ponies was a vampire whose corpse was no longer moving but its soul was nowhere to be seen. The same way, since the crypt didn't provide of any way to move further, Raziel decided to shift between planes and he then noticed a robed figure floating through the spectral realm as if it were swimming.

"Beware, Raziel.
These wraiths are vampire spirits, fettered too long in the spectral realm.
When their vampire natures adapt to this plane, they become eaters of souls.
Do not allow these spirits to re-inhabit their corpses..."

Raziel quickly prepared to fight as the wraith jumped straight at him and clawed him slightly, it was here that Raziel truly understood another problem from this vampiric wraiths, much to the ponies worries, as it started to siphon in Raziel's energy. For a brief moment it wasn't understood what to do but Raziel's agility managed to get a few hits on the creature, ending the soul leeching, and allowing Raziel some time to breath.

As Raziel fought the wraith, Twilight tried to analyze its movement and realize how much it reminded her of the monster that tried to eat her, back when she first entered the Spirit Realm and wondered if there was anything she could do to defend herself should she ever find herself coming back to that dangerous place.

So invested was Twilight on her thoughts that she missed Raziel devouring the wraith, allowing him to continue into his journey through the city of the nonliving, as the crypts were filled with more vampires raising from the ground and even vampires impaled with human weapons that were better left alone.

In the end, what worried the ponies the most was how these vampires never showed signs of rationale. No matter how many vampires Raziel ended, they would still try to eat him, as if they were feral animals rather than rational creatures from a long eroded empire.

Celestia and Lune were the ones thinking about this the most, as they tried to conceive how detrimental must have been the life for these vampires to act in such... underdeveloped form. In the end, all they could hypothesize was that these creatures must have been suffering from extreme hunger. Hunger of such levels that any type of thinking was demolished for the instinctual desire for feeding on that of which is hard to find: blood.

In the end, Raziel reached the lower ends of the city, as he found a lone chamber with a huge, roof-less, cage in the middle. Looking at the top of the cage, one could see a great contraption that made it seemed as if anything withing the cage could be compressed to a pulp. On the sides of the cage one could see two other entrances locked, with bars that any vampire with a high enough jump could get across, with a strange lever within the room. As Raziel stepped in, the chamber's entrance quickly closed behind him, much to his worries, and a worrisome growl was heard on the deepest side of the chamber.

All the ponies gathered behind the princesses in fear, despite knowing that the monster couldn't harm them, as Raziel moved forward and menacingly. He moved towards the creature, what little could be seen showed an gigantic beast sitting on a small crevice within the chamber, making it look like the monster was important and, just by looking at the silhouette, Celestia remembered what was about to be faced and she became glad that the smells weren't as strong as how she actually remembered it to be.

"Show yourself, creature."

As he said this, the monster started to move towards Raziel as its guttural voice made the ponies' skin crawl, and its heavy steps made the chamber quake.

"Do you not recognize me, brother? Am I so changed?"

As the monster stepped out, all of Twilight's friends (and the scholar herself) were in shock as they saw the most hideous, and disgusting, monster they ever saw in their life. It's flesh was made out of human corpses (whose faces could still be seen as if they were shouting in horror) with bony protuberances coming out of its shoulders, its hands were human bodies, with each limb being a finger; it had no legs and its face was impossible to be seen as human with all that flesh distorting whatever remnant of normality they could have. In the end, its deep red eyes showed that this creature wasn't divine by any means, it was a demonic monster that was, quite interestingly, dwelling on the lowest chamber among the dead.

"Melchiah?"

Just pronouncing its name was hard to digest, as the monster didn't resembled Raziel's little brother he knew so long ago.

"Yesss, brother" -. Its hissing made it even harder to be taking as a rational creature but, nonetheless, both Raziel and the ponies recognized that he looked sentient enough to talk with. - "You should have stayed where the master sent you, Raziel. You will find Nosgoth less pleasant than you remember."

"What has become of my clan?" - Raziel quickly asked. - "Answer me, little brother, or I will beat an answer from your horrid lips."

Melchiah's answer was just as quick and, horrifyingly, calm, considering what he said next.

"Everyone is afraid, sibling. You awake to a world of fear. These times of change are so... unsettling. Do you think I feel no revulsion for this form? Do you believe for a moment that our Lord would risk his empire upon an upstart inheritance?"

The implication was infuriating for both Raziel and the princesses, the only ones understanding where it was going.

"Enough riddles - what are you saying?!"

What Melchiah said next would chill the ponies with shock and fear, as it finally cemented on them what they saw on Raziel's former clan.

"You are the last... to die..."

Melchiah then moved towards Raziel, at a speed that was above from what a creature of its size, and weight, would be capable of achieving, while Raziel simply responded by trying to harm it with its claws, only to see how they were completely ineffective against his little brother, forcing Raziel to run away from him by jumping inside the cage in the middle of the chamber, hoping to have some time to think and prepare a plan against his putrid brother but it was for naught. Melchiah started to move into the cage and (to Raziel's and the ponies' shock) became transparent and phased through the bars as if they weren't there. Before Raziel could understand what the necrotic leader was doing, he became solid again and almost took a (literal) bite from Raziel.

This forced Raziel to quickly run into one of the jails, on one of the sides of the chamber, and ran to the jail's deepest corner. He ran so fast that he missed to see the lever and tripped it, it was here when Raziel noticed how the lever quickly rose the bars on the jail's entrance and it gave him an idea. He raised the bars and waited until Melchiah was coming by, he waited until his little brother was right below the bars and, then, Raziel dropped the bars into Melchiah's skin, piercing what was thought to be impregnable, and causing the beast to shout in pain.

For a brief moment, Raziel thought he was going to have an advantage against his brother but Melchiah quickly broke the bars holding him and continued his charge against Raziel. The Soul Reaver then ran into the other jail, in the hopes of weakening Melchiah but not before noticing a lever (or switch, as he started to guess) that gave him an idea, so he decided trick Melchiah into the other jail, just so he could pierce his skin once more and, while Melchiah was trying to break the bars, he prepared himself to trick Melchiah once more into the cage and, once the leader of the Melchahim clan got into the big juicer's center. Raziel quickly ran and activated the trap, sending Melchiah to his doom.

"Tell me, Melchiah" -, he said before murdering his own brother, - "where can I find Kain?"

"The master is beyond your reach, Raziel. He makes himself known when He sees fit - not when commanded."

It was here when Raziel decided to pull the switch that ended Melchiah's life, as the trap moved down and started to pressure the once 'divine' liutenant. His body tried to resist the pressure, but the machine was much more powerful than Melchiah, who quickly accepted his end with a simple sentence that made many ponies wonder what kind of individual was Melchiah, as well as how his mind was at that moment.

"I am released..."

His body then let go and was pulverized until there was nothing else but blood on the floor, much to the disgust of all the ponies, and wraith, on the room. The contraption then raised from the ground, blood spilling from it, and, to the surprise of the ponies, a pinkish light started to pulsate from it and it quickly went into Raziel, who had no other choice but to eat what once was Melchiah's soul. As the absorption was completed, Raziel fell to the ground, tired from the recent conflict and tried to comprehend what he just did with remorse on his words.

You have done well, Raziel

"Am I reduced to this? A ghoul? A fratricide?"

Elevated, Raziel, not reduced.
Consuming Melchiah's soul has endowed you with a new gift.
Insubstantial barriers such as these are no impediment to you in the spectral realm.
Will yourself to pass through, and you shall.

Seeing the bars not raising, now that the one in charge of doing so was no longer among the living, Raziel shifted through planes and went to them. He pressed himself with strength, as if he was trying to force his own will through the bars and, to his surprise, he quickly felt his body losing what little solidness he had and went through them.

As Raziel left the Necropolis, he still met melchahim trying to attack him but, to his sadly surprise, he noticed that they didn't seem to realize the lack of their leader. They were still the same hungry and ravenous beasts that had little to no rational thought of their own. So, once Raziel finally went through and left the City of the Death, he was given a new task by the Elder God.

With Melchiah's gift, your way is opened.
Return to the seat of Kain's ill-omened empire

This increased Raziel's interest, as he remembered the bars he couldn't cross long ago.

Its sterile silence has secrets yet to unveil.

And with that, the memories stopped moving, letting the ponies to digest what they saw once more and be back into the innocence of their land once more.

"I suppose that should be enough for today" -, Raziel said as he moved to see the ponies (except for the princesses) with their faces locked into a state of shock, and asked, - "does any of you have a question for me to answer?"

The ponies took a moment to think and react at all at what they saw, but, a few minutes later, they all started to react by throwing their reactions into the floor. It didn't surprise the princesses, and Soul Reaver, how the ponies were carpeting the floor with their old innocence, as it was hard to think of any creature that could see something as disgusting like that and feel nothing about it.

Minutes later, they all started to reincorporate themselves and tried to think of something worth asking. In the end, Rainbow Dash was the first to comment.

"That was awesome...! Disgusting, but awesome!"

The ponies were looking at her with weird looks but that didn't deter Dash from talking and praising Raziel.

"I mean, you were hunting vampire zombies and you then defeated its leader in such an awesome way. I mean.. yeah, he was your brother but, that was so awesome."

The ponies then looked at Raziel, with Applejack being the one asking more about it.

"Yeah, about that, do you feel... bad, for doing that?"

Raziel took a moment to think about it and responded with simplicity:

"I still consider myself a fratricide and I no longer am ruled by the emotion of vengeance, but I cannot deny that the injustice committed to me would've still plagued my heart until the day of his demise, at my hands, could be done."

The ponies weren't sure of what could be said about it, so they relented on the questioning but Fluttershy needed to know something else.

"Do you think he felt bad for what he did to you?"

Raziel took a moment to think before answering with an even tone that betrayed no emotion.

"His departing words may indicate that he felt absolute distaste for what his current life, but I'll never know if he ever regretted to stay silent to my murder or the destruction of my clan."

He then looked at the ponies, how battered and tired they looked like and asked them to rest before continuing with his tale, while Celestia would call for a maid (called Aurora Blossom) to clean the newest mess on the room, while the ponies talked about bringing Cadence for the next session of memories.

Author's Note

My apologies for taking so long, it was hard to focus on writing this chapter since I started to play Girls' Frontline (since it became avaiable in my country on July 23rd, I think, and got distracted by it.

If you like this and you want to support me, you can do it through my Ko-Fi and while you are free to check it out, I really need to stress out that I may need some help since things are quite dire for me as of now.

Prologue: A chance for Salvation

Imprisoned.

That was Raziel's fate inside the Soul Reaver, an ancient weapon of vampiric origins and designed to be used by the Scion of Balance so the restoration of Nosgoth could be possible. While Raziel at first didn't wanted to accept his fate inside the blade, in the end, he relented knowing full well that this was the only way Kain would have enough power to defeat The Elder God, a parasite that took control of The Wheel of Fate so it could feast on the souls of Nosgoth, return them to the world and feed on them over again; using wraiths, like Raziel, to harvest the souls and feed itself even more. Ever growing it's influence on the land, he started to control it's terrain to destroy the cities that knew him, making sure that they were forgotten and that way nobody would ever know about it, this is what happened to the Ancient Vampire citadels of Nosgoth, those wise vampires cursed where casted out by the Elder God and then sent to oblivion, and who knew what else has been destroyed by him in all the millennia of Nosgoth's history.

The more influence it got on the land of Nosgoth, the more the land of Nosgoth would die, Nosgoth's green landscapes were gone by the time Raziel woke up as a wraith and, in a few millennia, there would be nothing more than desolation and death with a few humans and mutated vampires living in there with the hopes of the land being restored to it's former beauty... or perhaps to die faster and stop living in such nightmare; having knowledge of what was going on in the past, present and future, it made sure that Free Will were nonexistent and, in the end, only Raziel was capable of Free Will because of the mysterious ways he came to be and, sadly, nobody knows how he came to be.

By this point, Raziel (being a Reaver of Souls) was finally absorbed into the Reaver Blade, allowing its wielder (Kain) to use both the Physical and Spiritual powers of the blade so he could once and for all defeat the Elder God, that parasitic squid that was destroying the land they both loved (albeit for different reasons), but after that, Raziel didn't know what would happen to him, he supposed that he would be trapped in the Blade until the end of the days and then he would probably know what would truly happens when you die.

"Raziel" - said an angelic voice, too different from anything he have heard before, not even Ariel sounded this... divine.

"Raziel" - by this point he could finally see it, somehow, the being managed to take a visual appearance, even when they were inside the Reaver Blade; it was humanlike, with angelic white wings, it's face looked peaceful and it could be told that it only wanted peace, but Raziel could feel the power it had even under this impossible conditions.

"Who are you?" - asked Raziel, curious of who and why this angel would be talking to him.

"I am a messenger from someone higher up, he has been watching you Raziel, and he is pleased with you, pleased with how you used your Free Will to save the land he created and thanks to you and Kain everything will be restored to way it used to be before that demon came".

Skepticism filled Raziel -, "demon? is that the name of the parasitic monster that played with this world like a puppet? A monster that used anything at its whim and once it wasn't useful any longer, It would dispose of its pawns like an old cloth? And what about this message?, after all the monstrosities I did as a human and a Vampire, not even counting my brethren and Kain himself, the monstrosities of humans like Moebius and the Circle of Nine, monstrosities that in the end were only to feed a creature that blasphemously claimed to be a God, after all that, you come here to tell me that your lord is pleased with me? that sounds very suspicious and my apologies for suspecting the idea that some mighty God was controlling all of this from the very beginning and allowed the monstrosities that were caused by him".

The angel, instead of angering or showing disdain, it started to show patience and with a smile on it's face and giving of a sense of understanding, proceeded: "Indeed, your claim is right, but fear not, ever since the creature decided to take over The Wheel of Fate that my Lord created, He started to plan all of this, including you, and including Kain. But I'm not here to only congratulate you on your recent endeavor for, you see... while the Old Demon may have been defeated here, instead of accepting his fate, he decided to escape to another realm, more innocent than Nosgoth ever was and to subjugate it to its will and restart everything it did here on Nosgoth. So, to avoid that, my Lord sent me here to ask you to travel into this realm, search for him and give him the final strike so he can be judged once and for all. Should you accept and succeed, you will gain a chance of going to my Lord's land when your time has expired".

At this, Raziel once again decided to show his skepticism, he was more willing to listen to the offer, but first, he would have to clear some things up.

"Expired? should I remember you that no matter how hard the enemy tries, I cannot die? Can your Lord change that? Or do you mean that I'll somehow die at the end of times?".

The angel remained unaffected by Raziel's concern and responded accordingly: "Both Raziel, my Lord gave you the chance to live, so you could bring hope to Nosgoth and what my Lord gives he can take away. But, in the end, all life comes to an end one way or another, including Nosgoth, including Kain, and including you. But fear not, should you decline my Lord's offer, you will not die, only remain trapped in this blade until the end of times and be accordingly judged when the time comes. Should you accept the offer, after the end of times, you will be given permission to enter in my Lord's domain, a place of rest and peace, a place where you won't ever feel hunger, tiredness or pain ever again".

The deal sounded very tempting, but Raziel wasn't that easy to fool: "What is the trap to this sound and perfect offer?"

The angel continued to sooth Raziel's doubts in its angelic voice -, "there is no trap Raziel, but I will warn you, while this new realm is more innocent than Nosgoth ever was, the inhabitants of this land are very fearful of strangers. You'll have to your advantage that they value loyalty and altruism among other virtues and, should you help them, they will eventually accept you into their land".

Raziel looked at the Holy being and, still skeptic, asked:

"And why should I search for their acceptance, if I may ask?"

The angel decided to give Raziel the information he would need for his new endeavor: "Since you will be sent to this land just a few hours before the Demon enters it, it will be too weak to even be found, you may try, but I warn you that the task will be impossible for a while and while your blade is only a wraith that cannot harm it, the inhabitants of this realm possess a weapon of immense power that can defeat creatures of the levels of Janos Audron and beyond, but without you and the purifying powers of your Reaver, they won't stand a chance against it and will be plunged into a nightmare never seen before. Only with your help, they'll be able to stop the Demon, since the purity of the Reaver is the only thing that can defeat it".

"And, just because it will be too weak, it doesn't mean that it won't do anything in the meantime, in the moment it enters into the realm, it will start to feed itself with the land's energy to grow in power, if you allow it to do so, it will become too powerful before the land's citizens decide to accept you and you would have failed, once you enter in this realm, there will be no time to waste".

"I gave a thought to this offer: on one hand, I could accept the offer and chase the monster that made my life hell, even more than Kain, and should I refuse all of this, that monster will go to another land and do the same things it did in Nosgoth, Should I refuse, I would not only make all of mine's and Kain's efforts to destroy it and restore Nosgoth in bane, but I would be condemning another land into the same nightmare I've lived, just looking into the Reaver Blade in my arm, I understood that as long as I had it with me, I would have the responsibility to fight for the just cause and never allow any type of injustice to ever happen anywhere if I have anything to say about it..."

Raziel looked at the angel, who was smiling as if knowing that he was going to accept from the very beginning.

"I accept".

The angel proceed and decided to give Raziel a last warning: "Good, remember, try to stop it from gaining power but also make sure to win the acceptance of the inhabitants of this land when the time is right and one last warning: the citizens of this realm, aren't humans or vampires and once you look at them, you might be surprised, but in the inside, they have souls and are capable of being rationals, just like you and me".

Raziel decided to take this information to the heart and not forget this, whatever species the inhabitants of this new land were, it would certainly be something he wouldn't be seeing coming.

"Thank you for your kind warning, fear not, that I will not judge them for their appearance neither lose my time in there".

"I could feel little by little, how I was being transported into this new land, and while I was entering into this realm I was curious about that land's citizens, what kind of creature could they be according with the information I was given?"

Meanwhile in another realm

A Purple unicorn with a purple mane, violet eyes and a six-pointed star in her flanks was galloping into what it looked like a big library, but it actually was her bedroom, she was very intrigued for what she had recently read.

"The Elements of Harmony, the only thing that allowed the banishment of NIghtmare Moon, I know I've seen those elements before, but where?".

Author's Note

So yeah, this is my second story, granted, I came up with this one first, but I want to give it as much care as possible, so I will be using all I learn with the other story to make this one better.

One thing that I regret, is that I can't write the dialogs so they could feel more like LoK.

Yes, this will start as a retelling of MLP, but the more the story progress, the more different it will become from the series (in fact, by the end, it will have very little in common with the series, and anyone who knows this series knows why.

Now, to write my 3rd story that is also different from the other 2 and I'm pretty sure, it has a very different setting from other MLP fictions, or at least, I hope so.

EDIT June 2nd of 2019: If you like this and you want to support me, you can do it through my Ko-Fi. Feel free to check it out.

Chapter 1: The Return of the Reaver

When Raziel finally appeared in the new realm, what surprised him at first was that he didn't appeared in the middle of a forest, or in some ancient tomb or even a throne, he appeared in a library. Raziel couldn't ignore how convenient it was for him as he appeared exactly in the right place to gather the information needed to adapt to this new realm, probably another help from his benefactor. As Raziel was going to open one of the books, he heard the door opening, he was lucky of not being right in front of the door for this gave him enough time to use the Reaver to become invisible.

To his surprise, what entered the room was a tiny walking lizard, perhaps this were the dominant species of this realm? Regardless, Raziel would have to wait until he could find an opening to escape or until the lizard would finally leave and, sadly, it looked like either choice would take a while to be made since the youngling decided to pick something and pack it in a box, a gift perhaps? This would certainly show that this creatures were either of good nature or very naive. It was hard to determine when the lizard looked so young, but appearances were deceiving and Raziel was no fool.

During this waiting, Raziel decided to take his time to see around the library. As he moved around and noticed the bed, Raziel could see that this place looked more like a room rather than a library. He also wanted to see the books but that would make the lizard to take notice of his presence and Raziel knew that this wasn't the best moment for introductions, so all Raziel could do at the time was to take a look at other places in the room and see how much he could take for himself before leaving to the outside world.

After a long time of waiting, it looked like the lizard had finally finished to boxing the gift and he was going to leave when, suddenly, the door opened and slammed itself into the lizard's face, sending him backwards and damaging the gift. It was at that moment that Raziel saw one of the most interesting things in his new adventure, for the creature that entered into the room wasn't another lizard, but a purple unicorn pony with a saddlebag that held a book, it had a mark on it's flank and any potential notion that it wasn't sentient was drowned in the moment she, because that voice was certainly feminine, spoke while looking for someone:

"Spike!, spike!"

She looked down and saw the lizard on the floor -, "there you are", - she proceeded into the room, ignoring the possibility that she may have hurt her acquaintance, and going into the books -. "Quick, find me an old copy of predictions and prophecies", - she said in a hurry, in that moment she looked at the damaged box in the lizard's tail and with a questioning look she asked - "what's that for?" - The lizard Spike simply took the gift out of his tail while responding: - "well, it was a gift for moondancer but..." - In that moment the contents of the box dropped, showing that the gift was now impossible to give under those conditions but the pony simply shrugged it off.

"Oh Spike, you know we don't have time for that sort of thing" - Said the pony in a very dismissing tone, at this, Spike responded with a worried and questioning look - "But what about the play?" - The pony simply ignored his worries and, to Raziel's surprise, started to glow her horn, creating a sphere of light that, once it exploded, started to telepathically move the books in the library. The pony would look at each one and simply responded with a no before looking into another one, by the time she started to get frustrated for not finding the book, Spike had already found it.

The unicorn, in her haste, quickly picked up the book with her powers, pulling Spike with it, and, once she saw it was the book she was looking for, she dropped all of the other books being levitated. She then went to the table and sought for whatever piece of information was located in the book that could be helpful to her while Spike, with a defeated face, would pick each of the books on the floor left by Twilight and begun to order them.

While all of this was happening, Raziel stood there, watching the creatures to determine how truthful was the information given to him: so far, Spike was the only one fitting the part of "innocent and naive", but the unicorn (on the other hand) reminded him of the Dumahim and how they practically used others until they weren't useful any longer but, to be fair, at least the unicorn didn't looked like it would kill Spike in the near future.

The other reason why Raziel decided to stay was because if they were going to search for prophecies, then he may find something that could be useful for him.

"Aha!" - Said the Unicorn once she found the legend that was so important to her at this moment -, "Elements of Harmony, see Mare in the Moon?" - That piece of information, besides of almost useless, left a confused face on her at which Spike quickly responded - "Mare in the Moon? but that's just an old pony's tale" - before going back to reshuffle the books but that didn't stopped the unicorn, who proceeded in her search "Mare in the Moon... AHA!" And in that moment Raziel decided to listen closely with his vampiric hearing to the legend that may be his next confrontation.

"The Mare in the moon, a myth from olden pony times, a powerful pony who wanted to rule Equestria, defeated by the Elements of Harmony and imprisoned in the moon, legend says that in the longest day of the 1000th year, the stars will aid in her escape and she will bring about nighttime eternal" - At that moment the unicorn, comprehensibly, got scared - "Spike, do you know what this means?" - Spike simply said no before falling of the stairs for the unbalance he was having on the stepladder but, before he could meet the floor, the purple pony stopped his fall, gave him a feather and a scrol, and told him to write to the princess:

"My dearest teacher, my continuous studies of pony magic has led me to discover that we are on the precipice of disaster -

Spike had a problem to write the word "precipice", for he didn't knew how to spell it, the unicorn told him different synonyms of the word but he couldn't write them, quite clearly he was too young for such an advanced language, and, in the end, they relented with -

-something really bad is about to happen, for you see, the mythical Mare in the Moon is in fact Nightmare Moon and she is about to return to Equestria, and bring up her eternal night, something must be done so this terrible prophecy does not come true, I await your quick response, your faithful student:

Twilight Sparkle

"Done!" - said Spike -, "great, now send it" - ordered a very energetic Twilight but, at this, Spike simply said unsure -, "now?" -, "of course" - said Twilight, but Spike wasn't very sure about this - "I don't know, Princess Celestia is a little busy getting ready for the Summer Sun celebration, and it's for the day after tomorrow" - in that moment Twilight got close to Spike's face, filled with determination, and told him - "that's it Spike, the day after tomorrow it's the 1000th year of the Summer Sun celebration, it's imperative that the princess is told right away" -, Spike looked at her wondering how to spell 'imperative' but Twilight quickly shouted "IMPORTANT!" so high that Spike got flung into the books. After that, he relented and decided to, for something reason, blow the scroll and, at this moment, Raziel got another surprise as from Spike's mouth came out emerald flames that burnt the scroll and the ashes started to travel across the windows. For all of this, and many other things that Raziel would see in his new journey, he would only think that's a nice trick.

"There, it's on its way, but I wouldn't hold your breath" - said Spike (which Raziel was now sure it was a Dragon), Twilight simply responded with an amount of confidence and smugness that reminded Raziel each time more of Dumah and his clan - "Oh don't worry Spike, the Princess trust me completely, in all the years she's been my mentor, she had never once doubted me" -, "scratch that" - thought Raziel, as she reminded him of himself, from before being betrayed by Kain, with all that trust to her mentor and confidence that neither she or her mentor could ever do no wrong.

Twilight hadn't even finished speaking when Spike belched and threw out of him a scroll, very probably containing the response from the princess. The smug unicorn simply responded - "see? I knew she wanted to take immediate action" -, when Spike reincorporated himself, he started to read the letter:

"My dearest most faithful student Twilight, you know that I value your diligence and that I trust you completely, but you must certainly stop reading those dusty old books.

My dear Twilight, there is more to a young pony than studies, so I'm sending you to supervise the preparations of the Summer Sun celebration in this distant location: Ponyville.

And I have a more important task for you to complete: make some friends.

Princess Celestia

Raziel did his best to not laugh at the face of Twilight when she heard the apparent dismissal of her beloved teacher, after that, it was a matter of wait until both creatures packed and leaved the room, giving Raziel time to gather some information of his own, starting with the book Twilight left:

"Now, finally able of moving freely around the place, I decided to search more about this Nightmare Moon in the books left here by the unicorn named Twilight Sparkle. From the looks of it, Nightmare Moon used to be the rightful ruler of this land along her sister, Princess Celestia, but greed took control of the Nightmare and then decided to take over the land, not realizing that she would destroy her beloved Equestria in the process. To stop Nightmare Moon, her sister had to use the Elements of Harmony to imprison her on the moon. If this "Elements of Harmony" were so powerful as this story described them to be, then it was clear what was the weapon capable of vanquishing the Elder God I was talked about. Now it was only a matter of finding them, but I would need more information around them to figure out their location. So, for now, I will go to the local library of this land or somewhere else that could ease my search for information and, maybe for the first time in my life, I will have to make sure that I don't get discovered. Should I be discovered now, it could become a problem in my attempts of getting the loyalty of the residents of this realm, a problem that could be quickly fix is this Nightmare Moon were to be defeated by me."

Always keeping the powers of the Dark Reaver activated, Raziel snick past the many ponies he found in his journey. He noticed that all the big ponies had a mark on their flanks, but they were always different in style or form, add that to how colorful this ponies were and it was quite clear that this ponies would never had an identity crisis. But Raziel would never let pass the eyes of the ponies for he could see the innocence in them. The inhabitants of this realm were good natured and it was quite clear that Twilight Sparkle was an exception to this or, at least, that she didn't had the same focus as the others inhabitants of this realm. This made Raziel be more certain that he had to save this realm from the parasite that was coming.

After a few hours of traveling, Raziel found a big Castle:

"In my journey through this city, I saw a big castle near the top of a mountain, but instead of being on top of it (as a way to tell its domination over the land), it stayed on the side almost hanging but still showing that it was strong enough to stay in place. The way it hangs from the mountain showed clearly that the ruler of this kingdom wasn't one searching for control or dominance of the land, it only wanted to let clear its power so nobody else could try to fight it or question it but that at the same time it wanted to be around or at least close to its citizens. The way a castle was constructed always told a lot about its ruler or the owner of the castle and if the one living in said castle was who I thought it was, then the information given to me about this land was looking each time more and more valid. This, in turn, asserted each time more my determination to save this land."

While Raziel was seeing the great castle in its glory, he noticed a carriage going out of the castle, with two pegasi wearing armors pulling it out. What Raziel found the most interesting of this carriage, since this verified his hypothesis, was that the one in the carriage was none other than Twilight Sparkle and her Dragon Spike. Raziel stood there, watching, in which direction they were going because, if he needed more information, he knew that Sparkle would be his best source of intelligence in case he found nothing in the library, once he found where it was.

After hours upon hours of searching, the Reaper of souls finally found the Library. It was located in the castle itself and, once again, after a few more hours of searching, he found nothing on the Elements. But the death vampire did found something interesting, apparently, Canterlot wasn't the original capital of Equestria. From what Raziel could gather, it was originally placed in a place called the Everfree Forest, and this forest was located right besides Ponyville. This discovery made Raziel take the decision to leave the Library and, after getting into a Spire, he decided to look at the Kingdom of Equestria from the mountain the city was located in. It was Nightfall but he could still see the location of Ponyville and, looking a little bit beyond, he saw the forest that possibly hold the next clue to the location of the Elements of Harmony. At this, Raziel thought:

"My search for the Elements of Harmony and where would be the location of Nightmare Moon's return was now pointing towards Ponyville and a forest that held an ancient ruler. Even though I am in a different realm, there are certain things that never change".

He looked up and saw the moon, its face had the silhouette of a mare and 4 stars were starting to get closer to it.

"Looking at the moon I could see the shape of a mare, Nightmare Moon no doubt. The stars were getting each time closer and closer to align and release her from her prolonged prison. My time was running out but it was clear the direction to follow, I hadn't found the enemy yet but I knew who it was, I hadn't befriended the ponies so far, but a way was open to me. Even though I felt that I hadn't done any type of progress, I could only be glad that I was under much better conditions compared to my other journeys. Now I only had to worry to get in time to the forest, but if this realm was like mine, then that meant that I had a way to travel faster than any chariot or magic available in this realm".

At this moment, and to Raziel's disacknowledge, there was a regal, white pony traveling on the castle. The pony in question had both a horn and wings, weared a regalia that could only describe her as royalty and, should have Raziel noticed her, he would have deduced right away that this was the Princess Celestia that has been mentioned so much by Twilight Sparkle. He would have tried to talk to her, he would have befriend her and made his journey much easier overtime. But he didn't noticed her but, rather, she noticed him. She noticed his appearance, his limb wings, his almost dead shape and the feeling of death that surrounded him. She saw all of this and it only brought fear upon her, fear of the unknown, an unknown made out of questions like 'what was this creature?', 'what were its intentions?', 'why was it looking towards Ponyville?', 'is it a friend or foe?' This, and many more, were the questions surrounding Princess Celestia but, before she could get close to it and find an answer, the creature started to move its claws from one side to the other very slowly and, in the process, it started to disappear. Before Celestia could use a spell on it, it was already gone from Canterlot and no tracking spell used afterwards could find it. Celestia could only worry, 'was it a danger to her beloved student?', 'was it a creature of Chaos?', 'was it a new enemy?', but she had no time to think on this questions or to do anything, for in that moment the stars were starting to align.

"This may be my first time in the spectral Realm in this new land but, just by entering in here, I could feel the same things I've felt in Nosgoth's Spectral Realm: The same sensation of displacement, the feeling of time being meaningless, the feeling that everything I was looking at was just an illusion, or mere shadows of what the physical realm was in reality. This meant that I had enough time to reach the forest and, if I played this correctly, I would be able to maintain myself from going against the ponies to maintain my physical manifestation. But those thoughts were for the future, now I had a journey to make".

Hours later (?)
Ponyville, clearing into the Everfree Forest

"I found myself in the opening into the Everfree Forest, if the prophecy was right, by this time Nightmare Moon was close to be released and I had to find quickly the Castle of the Pony sisters, the original residence of Princess Celestia and her sister but, first, I have to return to the Physical Realm. Taking into consideration that there are no portals in here, I will have to find corpses in decomposition to go back to the physical realm and, if the myths of this forest are true, then I have found the perfect place to respawn anytime my physical body gets destroyed".

Once Inside the forest Raziel quickly found souls of creatures that has died in the forest, as that's the natural course of life and, to his happiness, Raziel didn't found any sluaghs, or archons or any creature that belonged to the Elder God. The souls on this realm were free, free to go to the next step of their lives, whatever happened after you died, but, for now, their utility was to feed him. This souls would give Raziel the energy he needed to go between the two realms, he opened his scarf, revealing a vortex that started to suck in all the souls that lingered in the vicinity. As the souls of the departed were crying in fear at being suctioned into a unknown vortex, Raziel recovered all the strength he lost during his exploration on the city of Canterlot and, to make everything better, he found a decaying body not too far away from the clearing he was into. It was a big animal, but the size didn't mattered to him, all he needed was a mean to go back to the physical realm, the rest was adjustable to his needs.

The ground of the Everfree Forest was being disturbed for the decaying body of a dead bear that was leaving the ground it once held. The body then started to shape more and more into an unknown bypedal creature that had 3 claws on each limb, it had wings but they were destroyed and falling like dead weight; the wings looked like if they had been once useful, but they were now damaged somehow and were useless in their current state. But none of this wasn't what scared the most the residents of the forest neither it's soul piercing eyes, what scared the creatures of the Everfree the most about this intruder was the aura that left on its wake. It was an aura of power, of dominance, an aura that told all of them how everything in the forest that was living in the forest was now it's prey and that he would hunt them when he needed to feed. As the creatures of the Everfree started to run from the new top predator entering the forest, not too far away from this macabre spectacle, a Zebra was looking at the demonic creature rising from the ground. She shook in terror at the sight of the death being disturbed to house a demon whose appearance was too evil for Tartarus itself and, after watching how it shaped into the unknown creature that was being revealed to her both on its physical appearance and its aura, she decided to leave as calmly as possible and to make sure that she would never cross it ever again in her life.

"The reserve of bodies guarded on this forest, makes this the perfect place to come back any time I want to travel back from the Spectral Realm, now it was only a matter of time to find the Castle, if the sight I had back in the city was correct. I knew where to go and all I had left to do was to prepare myself from the ever closing encounter with the nightmare".

After a few hours of exploring in the forest and walking in his new territory, Raziel felt a chill running down his spine. Raziel looked around the forest expecting to detect what made this new change, but there was no earthquake at the moment and nature looked unaffected, this chill didn't came from a natural origin, he then had a suspicion of what was happening and quickly looked at the sky, the moon specifically. What Raziel saw, or better said didn't see, to his horror was how the prophecy was already fulfilled, the Mare in the Moon was gone.

"My time was up, Nightmare Moon has been released, but something was telling me that the uneseanies I have just felt wasn't because of only that, perhaps the tremor I felt was also because something else has entered Equestria, something insidious, something dangerous, something I was very familiar with".

Not too long after that, Raziel saw a black mist going through the forest. It passed above him and, while Raziel did noticed an aura of sentience on the mist, the mist failed in noticing the devourer of Souls. Raziel did noticed the mist and while he didn't knew what it was exactly, Raziel was sure that it was no coincidence that the mist appeared right after the Mare on The Moon disappeared from her original residence on the sky. As Raziel examined the mist, it suddenly stopped moving and quickly went to a cliff located besides Raziel; making it crumble. Raziel didn't understood why it did what it did, he simply went further and proceeded his journey, not forgetting this experience and deciding to reflect on the mist later. In doing so, Raziel failed to notice the ponies that were about to fall from the cliff that the black mist recently made collapse.

In the middle of his journey through the forest, Raziel found his first obstacle. But this obstacle didn't come in the shape of a puzzle or a demon, but rather, in the form of wooden wolves. The wolves tried to intimidate him but Raziel only became unfazed and slightly humored at the weakness of his enemies. Understanding the obvious, Raziel just summoned his Fire Reaver and started to burn each wolf with quick slashes from the wraith blade. The wolves would try to leap at him, but Raziel would quickly side-step and thrust the Reaver into the attacking wolf, piercing their wooden coats with a fiery power desiring to feed on its new prey. From that point on the battle, it was just a matter of either burning the wolf to a crisp or feed its soul to the Wraith Blade, bind to Raziel's very being. After burning all the wolves and devouring their souls, Raziel decided to proceed, reflecting upon what he has just found:

"The enemies I've found so far in this woods weren't anything to worry about. Sadly, I was certain that in a matter of time this notion would end for its very usual to see my enemies grow in power over the course of time. For now though, I would focus on the mist I saw awhile ago as I wasn't certain of who or what was that mist, perhaps Nightmare Moon? Perhaps something else? I wasn't sure. I was only certain that if I was meeting opposition, then I was going in the right way".

After crossing a river with no problems whatsoever it didn't took Raziel too long before reaching the castle he was looking for:

"Finally! I've reached the Castle of the Pony Sisters. The place where Celestia and her sister ruled together before envy and greed corrupted the vision of the night princess and the sisters were split apart. I was certain for a moment that I was going to meet more resistance than I initially encountered. I was sure that my current lack of enemies was because either I was having luck, or I wasn't considered a danger yet. Either way, I was finally close to the Castle. I would soon find a clue for the location of the Elements of Harmony and finally meet the corrupted Mare".

Raziel crossed the bridge and entered the ruins of the castle, not noticing that the bridge was cut off by the black mist he saw earlier.

The doors opened, revealing a very ruined castle. Its one great pillars were now crumbling as time went by. The Roof was being taken apart as the eroding essence of abandonment was taking place. Unlike Raziel's old citadel, that even after 1000 years managed to stay together, it could be seen how time destroyed the once marvelous castle, now decrepit and waiting for the forest to finally bury it and finally claim what was belinged to it. As Raziel saw the deteriorated entrance, he saw in the middle of the meeting room, a very old sculpture holding five stones. As Raziel got close to them, he started to analyze them.

"Upon entering into the ruins of the castle I saw a series of objects, I was hoping that this were the Elements of Harmony, capable of vanquishing the Nightmare and, with my help, the key into the liberation of this realm from its new, parasitic resident."

Raziel got close and touched the stone rocks, he tried to use magic on them any of the spells he knew (including infusing them with the purifying essence of the Spiritual Reaver, but nothing happened.

"I was certain that his were the Elements of Harmony, but they were now just rocks. It was possible that the reason of their current state was because they've been inactive for too long but, thankfully, it would only be a matter of time before figuring out how to activate them. All I had to do, for now, was to find Nightmare Moon and bring an end to her. I would find a solution for the elements later."

Raziel gazed up ahead and saw a tower in the distance. Remembering that certain times on his adventure, he would find his enemies in a throne room or place high above, Raziel decided to investigate the location he just saw. A few short minutes after Raziel left the entrance room, the site was inhabited again by six mares: a Purple unicorn, a White unicorn, a Yellow pegasus, a Cyan pegasus, an Orange earth pony and a Pink earth pony. They all entered from the same door that Raziel crossed to enter into the Castle. Unbeknownst to them, they've been following the same direction that Raziel has been following but, unlike Raziel (who went to this castle for information formed out of a simple guess), this mares knew what they were searching for and where to find it. But, for now, their paths wouldn't cross except for one of them.

In Raziel's way to the tower, the stairs and entryway to the tower broke, but this didn't stop him. Raziel simply used his powers to create some temporary stairs through the powers of the Dark Reaver. Not too long after crossing the shadow bridge created by the Reaver, the magically created stairs disappeared, closing the entrance in the process. Raziel wasn't worried about this as he knew how to leave the place if he ever needed to leave.

After arriving, Raziel saw that the throne room was empty and this both saddened and frustrated Raziel. He was getting nowhere in his search of the corrupted princess or The Elements. Perhaps he was too soon? He may have to return later to this room. In the meantime he would go to the castle's library, there he may find not only a map that may give him an idea of where to start his search for the Elder God, but to also know of more potential enemies from Equestria's past that may come to this land. The Elder God never spared in puppets and Raziel would have to make sure that none of them were available for him to use.

Raziel was about to leave the room when, suddenly, in the middle of the room a black whirlwind started to form. Raziel was perplexed at what this could mean, perhaps the danger he was searching for was finally appearing? When the whirlwind finally started to subside, to Raziel's surprise, it threw out Twilight Sparkle, of all ponies, right in front of him while, on the other side of the room, a big black Mare with wings and a horn appeared right out of nowhere, she had blue cat-like eyes and was wearing a helmet with a light armor on her body, she was tall enough to be at the same height as Raziel and she expelled an aura of danger and mischief.

Raziel immediately recognized her as Nightmare Moon, for she fitted that description he saw on Twilight's book. This was starting to get Raziel euphoric, right in front of him was his target and there was a pony that would witness his intentions, everything was going out as he was planning. Now all he had to do was take one step at the time and be careful of his new enemy. As Raziel moved closer to his new target, he started notice that, at the hooves of Nightmare Moon, were the five stones he just saw a while ago in the entrance of the castle. That could only mean that those stones were definitely the Elements of Harmony, Raziel did found them and now he had to recover them from his enemy. Now, more certain than ever of what to do, Raziel started to move ahead and getting closer to Nightmare Moon, not noticing that Twilight was starting to wake up.

Twilight was feeling frustrated right now, not only she have seen the return of Nightmare Moon, as she rightfully predicted and warned to her tutor, but she has also met five colorful ponies that decided to help her even though she never asked for their companion, she would have to admit that their help was very useful and she wasn't sure if she would have managed to find the Elements of Harmony without them, Twilight would be very glad if she could live with them after this whole ordeal is over. But that was it, Twilight thought that everything was going to be fine once she saw the Elements, but then everything started to go sour once she noticed that the elements were, not only incomplete but also, in a dormant state. She thought that it couldn't get any worse after that mysterious tornado took her and the Elements somewhere else, but fate decided to play a bit more with Twilight as she looked in front of her and realized how wrong she was, it could get worse... far worse...

Now, Twilight was feeling terrified for, right in front of her, was the most horrible creature she'd ever saw in her life: it was big, almost as tall as Princess Celestia; it had wings, but they were falling down like if they were useless limbs, to the point that they looked more like rags instead of actual wings; instead of being a quadrupedal creature like most in Equestria, it was a biped creature and it had three claws on each limb; she couldn't see any flesh or organs on it, which meant that it was very probably some sort of undead creature. All of this meant one thing: it was a total nightmare fuel.

What was this creature? What was doing in here? Why it was getting closer to Nightmare Moon? Was it an ally? She never heard that Nightmare Moon had any friend or ally, she also never found any creature like this in all of the books she has read in her entire life, not even on references. What to do? What to do? She already had too much to worry about with Nightmare Moon trying to bring an eternal night to Equestria. Now Twilight had to worry about this new creature that could endanger Equestria in ways never seen before. But before panic could swallow Twilight, the creature stopped right at two hooves away of Nightmare Moon and spoke in one of the most elegant, refined, gentle and kind voice she'd ever heard, putting Princess Celestia aside of course.

"Greetings" -, he said in a very respectful but relaxed tone of voice. - "I assume you must be Nightmare Moon".

Nightmare Moon looked at the creature located right in front of her, she was baffled at this creature, it looked like the type of enemy she would have destroy in her old days with her dreaded sister, or even worse, but that voice sounded devoid of any danger nor filled with ill intention whatsoever, still... she would be careful with it, after all, one should never judge a book by its appearance.

"Greetings, my humble invader" -. She said in a very smug tone. - "I presume that you're not aware that you're invading the Castle that belongs to Nightmare Moon" -. Here she changed her tone of voice for one more friendly and curious. - "What brings you here to this place and why you doesn't show respect to the new ruler of this land?"

Raziel still remembered the times he lived under Kain's empire and how, during that time, he was the lord of a clan. Tact and diplomacy was something he learned to dominate for any time he had to deal with his brothers, this was just like those old times.

"My apologies your highness, I did not know that this castle still had an owner, considering its ruinous state, perhaps you should consider in finding a better location for yourself, otherwise you would be leaving a bad impression on any visitor you could have. After all, a house tells a lot of its residents and this crumbling and falling castle only fits to falling monarchs" -. Nightmare Moon tried to suppress her desire to blast this intruder, so she only pressed her hoof on the ground while waiting for it to end his speech. - "But I will announce that I came here for two reasons, the first one being the Elements of Harmony: I heard of their immense power and decided to see them for myself."

While this remark made Twilight Sparkle raise her curiosity at the terrifying creature, Nightmare Moon responded by raising her guard. This could be bad for Nightmare Moon, if this creature wanted the elements then it was to either vanquish her or use them for its own goals. But, unbeknownst to her, the creature was already planning to do both things. Regardless, Nightmare Moon decided to simply answer with all the decor and elegance she could gather, remembering of her old days in front of the annoying elites and their very well masked speeches to appeal to her.

"As you can see, the Elements are right here" -. She moved her hooves into the rocky orbs. - "What kind of interest do you have with them? Being the powerful relics as they are, forgive me for being worried of seeing a stranger like you, wanting to take such powerful artifacts".

Raziel continued, unfazed for the speech made by Nightmare Moon.

"The reason I'm in the search of the Elements of Harmony is because I've heard of their power and how they exiled you to your moon, I supposed that if they could be recovered then you could be imprisoned once more".

At this, both Nightmare Moon and Twilight Sparkle were surprised. How did this creature knew of what the Elements of Harmony were and what they could do? They were legends by this point in time, just like Nightmare Moon. For this creature to know of them, it could only mean that it must had a very ancient background, perhaps even more ancient than the lord of Chaos himself. This revelation was starting to get Nightmare Moon very nervous, but she would keep her straight face to not show any kind of weaknesses, although Raziel easily saw through her facade. It was very easy to notice the nerves starting to get into the Mare in the Moon.

"Interesting idea" -. Responded the falling princess, she then smiled and remarked. - "Sadly, as you can see, the Elements are dormant as of now. Even if you wanted to activate them, you would need to meet certain requirements before using them".

At hearing this piece of information, Twilight decided to quickly intervene. After all, if this creature was against Nightmare Moon then he may help her to, not only, retrieve the elements, but also to vanquish Nightmare Moon once again.

"It's true, they each one represent an element of harmony: Honesty, Loyalty, Laughter, Generosity, Kindness and when the five elements are together a spark (the sixth element) will activate them. But there are only five of them and I was going to try to create the spark when Nightmare Moon took me and the elements into this chamber" -. Then Twilight Sparkle begged for help to the creature that may be her biggest help on this adventure. - "Please help me, if I could have just enough time I may be able to reactivate them."

This made Nightmare Moon wanting to scowl at the foal who was trying to defeat her, but the creature in front of her was the priority now and it already showed to be very skillful in his speech (clearly it knew how to handle with nobles and the high class, who knew how dangerous it could be on combat). So she decided to fake confidence and started to smile, after all, she may start to get the advantage here with the Elements as they were.

"You see? The foal has spoken. The Elements of Harmony are incomplete as they are and, even if they were complete, I doubt you have all the requirements to use them.After all, you may be able to represent one or two elements, but 5? That's impossible and you know it".

Raziel was shocked at this revelation for the Mistress of the night was right. The only element Raziel could be able to represent could be honesty at best, but laughter? Kindness? Loyalty? Generosity? he hadn't felt any of that in a long time and he was sure that he wouldn't have the needed spark to activate them, that meant that he would have to resort to the plan B.

Raziel started to slowly, very slowly, walk towards Nightmare Moon which, in return, made her nervous, very nervous, nervous because it didn't looked like the creature was worried for not having the key to defeat her. It only looked like if the Elements were just one idea he had to deal with her, and it was worrying her what could possibly be his second plan.

"You are right, I don't have what it takes to use the elements, even if they were complete, but the Elements where just one way to achieve your defeat, I still have another one."

At this Nightmare Moon opened wide her eyes and saw what he was trying to mean. While it was worrying her that this demonic creature was meaning to fight her, she still needed to be sure.

"You said that you had two reasons to be here, the first one were to find the elements, what was the other reason?"

Raziel then moved his right claw in front of Nightmare Moon and, suddenly, an energy sword appeared: it was blue, the blade was curved and it's hilt was adorned with a skull, and both Nightmare Moon and Twilight Sparkle could feel the energy coming from this ethereal sword. It was big, big enough to be a danger to Nightmare Moon and, to cement her fears, the words the creature made in that very moment transformed the sword into the embodiment of something even worse than being imprisoned on the Moon once again.

"The second reason I came here was to find and defeat you Nightmare Moon, to stop you from destroying this land and save its citizens from your madness and any other kind of monster that could dare of endanger this lands".

He then looked at a very shocked Twilight and quickly told her.

"You said that you were trying to find a way to activate the elements, right?"

Twilight, being scared of the creature, quickly nodded. Raziel then turned towards Nightmare Moon and, once more, to the surprise of both mares, he moved his left claw towards her. Nightmare Moon was then surrounded by a green field that quickly slammed her into the other side of the room, then Raziel told Twilight:

"Go to the elements and activate them with the spark, I will hold her back until you manage to activate them".

Twilight decided to move forward to the elements and activate them, while trying to figure out how the creature was planning to defeat Nightmare Moon. The Princess of the Night tried to intercept her, but the creature stepped in between her and the unicorn that was trying to revive the Elements of Harmony, the creature then aimed his sword at her while shouting "STAND BACK DEMON!"

Nightmare Moon was shocked and enraged at this new stage of development. This creature have just used telekinesis without much effort, had a weapon that could give her many troubles and to make things worse, it decided to side with the unicorn so she could be once again exiled. Why was it so decided on defeating Nightmare Moon? Even more, how could he claim so easily that he would defeat her like if she were a simple foal while, hypocritically calling her a demon? This angered Nightmare Moon to levels that not even Celestia managed to do ever.

"How dare you to attack and threaten me, I am the Bringer of The Night, Guardian of The Dreams, Ruler of Equestria, I am Nightmare Moon!!!"

But what started to anger her was seeing that the creature, instead of getting nervous, was calmed in front of her. And this anger was quickly starting to transform into fear as the response he gave her while aiming his energy sword at her was something that not even her or Celestia ever heard on their lives:

"I am the Devourer of Souls, the Angel of Death, the Shifter between Planes, The Wielder of the Wraith Blade and Inquisitor of Life. I am Raziel, The Soul Reaver and I have come to vanquish the evil that plunges on this land and protect it from any danger that dares to threaten it, starting with you".

Nightmare Moon, for a moment, was afraid over the idea of someone who claimed to be death itself and that was threatening to end her, but she then decided to show that she wasn't a mare to fool around with and started to summon thunders on the roof to strike Raziel but he quickly dodged them and started to shoot projectiles from his Wraith Blade to Nightmare Moon. She quickly raised her shield and felt how the attacks weren't as strong as she feared, that was good, it meant that all she had to do was to stay away from him and wait for the right time to strike. Raziel shot her with many attacks from the Reaver, but after seeing how futile they were, he just stopped the attack and preferred to wait for an opening.

Nightmare Moon then decided to go on the offensive and created a big shadow to surround Raziel. Once her enemy was blinded by the dark area created by her powers, she then started to shoot lasers out her horn while circling the shadow dome. She shoot for a while into the center of the area in the hopes of it wearing down the demon, once she thought that enough magic blast were launched, she stopped the unrelenting barrage of magic. As she was starting to get confident, from the inside of the dome, a great force pushed Nightmare Moon to one of the walls and, even more shockingly, a great amount light exploded from inside the dome. This light momentarily blinded Nightmare Moon and Twilight (who was starting to get distracted on the fight), in that moment Nightmare Moon started to feel many strikes in her body, they were stronger than she expected them to be and caused her a lot of pain. This slashes felt like nothing she ever felt, it didn't felt like common magic, it felt as if it were piercing into her inside and it was trying to crush her very being. Once Nightmare Moon managed to gather enough concentration in the middle of the magical slashes, she managed to make a kinetic explosion to put Raziel away and, not too long after that, her sight started to come back.

When both ponies were finally able to watch again, they saw Raziel with his Wraith Blade now colored yellow turning into a black color. Raziel then started to spin the blade above him which, somehow, made him disappear. Before Nightmare Moon could create a tracking spell and locate Raziel, she felt another series of strikes and pain, a lot of that cursed pain that was destroying her on the insides. Nightmare Moon reacted quickly and raised a shield around herself to stop the unrelenting attacks, this move was then quickly followed by a telekinetic wave that pushed everything away from her, revealing Raziel who then reincorporated himself and changed his position to a defensive one. She had to give him credit, he was faster and stronger than he looked like and he certainly knew how to fight, but she had more power and experience than him (she was sure of it), she still had a chance at winning.

Nightmare Moon decided to change tactics by going into the air and throw a barrage of spells at Raziel in the hopes of forcing him to seek for shelter, but all he did was evade them through quick side-steps while getting closer to her at the same time, but this didn't faze Nightmare Moon yet, she decided to stay in the air, where he wouldn't get close to her, and continue her unrelenting barrage of magic spells. Raziel simply responded to this by turning his blade green, he then jumped at the same height Nightmare Moon was located and started to give her another series of blows, forcing her to fall down, Raziel then went away from the damaged princess to see what she would do next and, that way, give her the proper counter attack.

Nightmare Moon was starting to get very nervous. If this new enemy could reach the same heights as her just by jumping, then who knew what other tricks he was reserving to defeat her. At this rate he would defeat her on the long run because this nemesis would have a counter measure to whatever she used, Nightmare Moon simply couldn't come up with a direct solution. If she attacked directly, he would dodge and counter attack; if she waited, he would come directly at her; if she attacked from distance, he would find a way to get near her. She just couldn't find a way to defeat it, what kind of creature was this with such knowledge of combat and tactical maneuvers while having such arcane magic? She needed to distract him with something so she could deal a decisive blow, but how? What could she use to distract this dark avenger? And as Nightmare Moon was searching on the room in her escape form Raziel, she noticed certain purple unicorn cheering for Raziel. Nightmare Moon was certain that she would take care of her very soon but, for now, she would give the unicorn a better use.

Raziel was waiting for the next attack from Nightmare Moon, his strategy of battle has been very effective so far and, granted, while she has caused him a lot of damage, it was nothing he couldn't handle. Raziel's energies were still high and, at this rate, he would defeat her through his intelligence, as he has always done. The best thing that was coming from this was that he would become a hero after defeating Nightmare Moon, if the cheers from Twilight Sparkle were any indication. He was doing well, now he would only have to observe her enemy and bring her down once and for all, it was just a matter of time and good planning.

As Raziel was analyzing the body of his cuadrupedal enemy, he saw her eyes and noticed how, suddenly, Nightmare Moon started to watch Twilight Sparkle with a wicked smile. The idea Raziel was getting from that look was confirmed in the moment she started to concentrate magic on her horn. The amount of energy Nightmare Moon was charging was large, large enough to finish him or Twilight and he knew that the energy wasn't aimed at him. It was aimed at the innocent Twilight Sparkle, who didn't realized of the attack until it was too late. As the attack went flying through the chamber towards an afraid Twilight Sparkle, Raziel jumped right in the middle of the attack and intercepted it, screaming in pain, while Nightmare Moon started to laugh at her success.

During the whole encounter between the terrifying hero and the regal villain, Twilight Sparkle was, at first, focused on making the spark to reignite the Elements of Harmony and, for a moment, she managed to make the elements glow. But they died off almost immediately after that, crushing her hopes to defeat the eternal night. It was for a brief moment that Twilight thought all hope was lost, but she then saw how Raziel was beating Nightmare Moon in every instance, how he managed to counter any spell she threw at him. It was in the middle of this fight that Twilight started to become very curious of what kind of blade was the one Raziel was holding, since it looked like its main source of power, but she would ask about it to him later, now, she was getting hopeful because Nightmare Moon was being defeated. She started tp cheer for Raziel, for her hero, and as she invested more of herself on the fight, the more she didn't noticed how Nightmare Moon started to look at her and was concentrating her next attack on a cheap shot to defeat Raziel. Twilight realized too late of the trickery done by Nightmare Moon and it was here that Twilight saw how careless and guilty she was at that moment: here was one creature that decided to help them for no apparent reason and, not only, she didn't helped him at all, but she was the main reason of his failure. It was even more painful when she realized that she was the one who did the less in this whole journey:

It was Applejack's honesty what taught her to trust in others and survive in that fall, it was Fluttershy's kindness what helped them to pass a Manticore without a fight, it was Pinkie Pie's laughter what made the forest less scary and easy to cross, it was Rarity's generosity what made a river snake happy and allowed them to cross a turbulent river and it was Rainbow Dash's Loyalty what managed to get them all into the castle she was trying to get into the first place, without any of these ponies she wouldn't have gotten into the Castle that held the Elements of Harmony. And her? she couldn't do anything, she didn't do anything in this whole journey, she tried to stay away from the ponies that tried to give her their unconditional help and she even failed into helping the one creature with enough power to stop Nightmare Moon in all of Equestria.

Twilight Sparkle felt defeated right now, as she saw her new friend hurting on the floor, she decided to get closer to him and try to help him in some way. But she didn't knew what to do, the more time it passed, the more Raziel was getting more and more transparent, was he dying? That was what it looked like and Twilight wasn't sure if she could go through something like that right now. All she could say, while tearing up on her face, right now was:

"Sorry, I thought, please don't go. I need you, I thought that I could do all of this alone and, in the end, I realized that I couldn't do anything. Even worse, I was the reason for your defeat, Please don't go, I'm so sorry for this."

In the middle of Twilight's sadness, neither of them saw how Nightmare Moon shattered the elements while laughing maniacally at her victory against such a close moment to fall. Raziel didn't cared for that, death was meaningless to him, all he was trying to do right now was to focus just enough to give Twilight his last words before going back to the Spectral Realm, since he wasn't sure how long it would take him to come back to this place.

"No" -, he said, - "I apologize to you" -. Twilight stopped crying at this words and listened closely. - "Instead of searching for help right away I decided to take matters into my own hands. I did not realized that any type of friend or ally would have helped me to end this quicker, it was my fault that we ended up in this situation but, please, don't lose hope" -. Raziel gathered as much strength as he could hold up and tried to cheer Twilight Sparkle: - "You're only defeated when you accept defeat, there's still and always will be hope, you must"- and in that moment, Nightmare Moon decided to finish off Raziel, before he said anything else that could stop her, by shooting another magic spell at him. This time, Raziel did disappeared from the throne room, but his words stood in Twilight Sparkle and, once she saw the shadows of her friends along with their voices getting closer, she realized what was the Sixth Element of Harmony and that Raziel was right, there was still hope.

Raziel was now in the Spectral Realm and he felt disheartened for his defeat, he couldn't stop Nightmare Moon on time. What actually pained him the most was that he could have defeated her faster than what was expected, but he got overconfident. He decided to take his time instead of finishing her right away and now, for his mistakes, an innocent life was endangered. Perhaps if he could find a corpse close enough, he would be able to stop her before it was too late.

After leaving the throne room and finding a corpse in the entrance of the castle, he managed to go back into the Physical Realm but, to his surprise and not too long after that, he heard Nightmare Moon screaming in defeat, Raziel quickly looked up to the tower and saw how it was starting glow with Rainbow lights. A few seconds after that show of lights, the Sun came back, meaning the defeat of Nightmare Moon. In the end, the situation got handled by the ponies. Raziel refelcted on this and understood as well that this ponies didn't needed him to defeat the enemies created on this real, they needed his help to defeat the enemy that wasn't from this realm. Understanding this, Raziel decided to think back on how well he handled the situation: he got to meet one of the ponies and he would later try to meet her again to obtain her friendship, if she was still alive of course. He knew a bit more of this land and he would probably get very soon a new house, maybe the situation he was found in wasn't so bad as he originally thought.

At this realization, Raziel decided to leave the place for now and go back into the forest to explore his new home, the more he knew the forest the better it would be for him. After a few hours of exploring, he managed to find a way to Ponyville that he found very convenient to his necessities to travel back and forth in Equestria. As he went to the border of the city, he found the town having a party, perhaps because of the victory against Nightmare Moon. After seeing this happiness, this moments of cheers and celebrations (and certain purple unicorn and a little deep blue alicorn that Raziel was suspecting on who that could be), Raziel felt satisfied with all of this and went back to the Everfree Forest. He may have failed on this battle, but he wouldn't let it happen again.

While the blue specter was marching away into the Everfree Forest, he failed to notice the blue alicorn looking at his direction and how she saw the creature, she rightfully thought was death at her hooves, was leaving peacefully into the forest. The alicorn started to feel, in that moment, very, very scared but, at the same time, she felt fine because his presence meant that she didn't murdered anypony. She would later try to inform Twilight about this, but the celebration wouldn't let her do so and, in the end, she would leave with her sister while Twilight would believe, for a while, that Raziel was dead.

This was the beginning of this tale, and it was just going to become more hectic from here onwards.

Author's Note

If you want to see the story from different points of view you'll have to wait for the next chapter, I wanted to leave clear the setting before starting to jump from POV.

I'm going to give Raziel all the powers he has been getting through the series, from the glyphs of SR1 to the special Reavers of Defiance, and if I see a possibility, maybe JUST MAYBE I'll use constriction, if I find an use to it.

And before anyone ask, the reason why Twilight's friends took so long to get there was because of the blocked entrance, I had to delay them somehow.

Also, from the 3 stories I want to create, this is the one that is going to take the longest to make, because I want to be as careful with the story as possible, sorry.

EDIT June 2nd of 2019: If you like this and you want to support me, you can do it through my Ko-Fi. Feel free to check it out.

Memories IV: The Vampire King of a Corrupt and Falling Empire

Return to the Sanctuary of the Clans, Raziel.
Melchiah’s soul has endowed you with the means to gain entry.
Beware, however - this hollow derelict is abandoned, but not uninhabited...

As the ponies started to gather once again, a few days after the first session seeing Raziel's memories, the Soul Reaver, knowing Kain was coming next, was looking for a proper way to explain them who was the kind of vampire they were about to see. Meanwhile, the ponies were already discussing their thoughts after witnessing Raziel's journey through the Necropolis.

"That was awesome!" - Exclaimed Rainbow Dash after cleaning her mouth from the disgust made by her stomach. - "I never thought zombie vampires could be a thing, but they are and it was awesome to see Raziel beating them."

"Well, I have to disagree, Rainbow dear" -, responded a Rarity with her stomach still twisting, - "but I think I had enough of those dreadful creatures" -. She then turned to Raziel and almost pleaded. - "We won't see them again, correct?"

Raziel gave it a thought, and remembered encountering more Melchahim during his explorations of Nosgoth, but since he was going to focus mainly on his encounters with his brothers, and Kain, he found no need to tell those parts of his tale.

"I have encountered Melchiah's sons during my explorations of Nosgoth" -, as he saw Rarity gasping in abject terror, he quickly clarified, - "but I won't talk about it."

Rarity quickly relaxed as Rainbow Dash lost some of her excitement.

"So what's the next part of yer tale then?"

Raziel saw Applejack's face and how it looked like she wasn't with enough strenght to see something like Melchiah again.

"After obtaining Melchiah's power to move through barriers, I realized that there was a place I could move through that was impeding my progress before."

All the ponies tilted their heads, not understanding what he was trying to say.

"Back when I was at the entrance of the Sanctuary of the Clans, I was restricted from reaching beyond its entrance due to the bars locking me out, a limitation that was no longer now that I had Melchiah's ability to move through bars on the Spectral Realm."

As the ponies started to make a silent 'oh', Celestia decided to understand more of Raziel.

"And why did you choose to return to the place where your life's end begun? Was it for the advice, or something else?"

Raziel took a moment to think, trying to remember what was it that drove him back to the Sanctuary, back then he was fueled by hatred and desires of revenge, clouding his judgement and guiding his actions as the parasitic creature manipulated his decitions effortlessly.

"Perhaps..." - he concluded after reflecting back for a little bit, - "I wanted to see how had time eroded the one building that represented the empire's golden age."

Luna stared at Raziel for a brief moment before asking.

"Are you sure that was the reason why you returned there?"

Raziel stared back at Luna before responding.

"No, but it's the only explanation I can find to my own actions."

Twilight got closer to Raziel as she tried to know more about his land.

"But you would have returned there, regardless of who told you, right?"

"Certainly, the Sanctuary was the epicenter of Kain's empire and where we would all talk about how to rule. Even for curiosity, I had to see how it had decayed."

"And what did you find?"

Raziel looked at Twilight for a brief while and, when he was about to answer, the doors were knocked twice. All the ponies (and wraith) turned around, wondering who it might be when a familiar voice came in.

"He.. hello... is anyone in there...?"

Raziel turned to the ponies.

"I was not expecting new visitors."

Celestia smiled.

"Well, after some deliberation, Luna and I agreed that we needed more ponies involved, so we tried to talk with Captain Shining Armor and Princess Mi Amore Cadenza and see if they were willing to join us" -. Celestia then gave a saddened frown. - "Sadly, only Princess Mi Amore managed to have time to come here with us, I hope you don't mind."

The doors opened to reveal a pink alicorn with heart as a Cutie Mark and a few strands of wine-like colors on her mane, Raziel recognized her as the alicorn that spotted him twice on his travels through Canterlot and it seemed as the sentiment was mutual, since the alicorn stood in shock after seeing Raziel.

"Princess Cadenza" -, Said Celestia in a diplomatic tone of voice, - "this is the special guest I mentioned you recently."

The Pink Alicorn looked at Raziel for some time, tension building in the room, as Twilight started to squint her eyes at the newcomer, she seemed familiar to her. Raziel, meanwhile, tried to remain diplomatic as well.

"Greetings, young lady" -, Raziel said as he stretched out his claws, which were thoroughly examined by the still in shock pink alicorn, - "Considering the conditions under which we met last time, I hope we can turn that around and become better acquiantences."

The pink alicorn remained transfixed watching Raziel, nothing outside of shock, trying to deduce what to say when, out of nowhere, Twilight spoke.

"Cadence? Is that you?"

The pink alicorn looked at Twilight with a puzzled look, as if trying to identify her.

"It's me, Twilight"

The pink alicorn looked at Twilight with confusion, as if trying to recognize her.

"Twilight...?"

Twilight tried to suppress herself from flinching as Celestia intervened.

"Yes, it is Twilight, she has grown a lot since the last time you saw her, right?"

"Oh, yeah, she has..."

Twilight then got close to Cadance and started to sing something Raziel found too childish for his memory to retain. Cadence probably thought so as well, since she didn't recognize the moves Twilight was doing.

"What are you doing?"

Twilight flinched at that, a bit of sadness going through her heart.

"We used to sing this when we were younger, don't you remember?"

Cadence flinched as she heard this, a quick stammer coming to her.

"Oh, yes, sorry, it's just that I was a bit in shock with the guest auntie told me about, I wasn't expecting him to be so... so...."

"Oh, do not worry darling" -. Interrupted Rarity. - "We all get that impression from Raziel, you later learn of the chivalrous knight inside that ghastly form... no offenses dear Raziel."

"None taken" -. Responded the wraith. - "Compared to other ponies, she has been one of the most receptives."

Many mares blushed at that remark, remembering their first official encounter with Raziel, and decided to move on.

"Anyways" -, said Princess Luna, - "We believe that it's time to continue with our tale, Raziel, you said that you decided to move back towards the remains of the Sanctuary of the Clans, what did you find?"

Raziel looked back at the ponies and solemnly said

"I found the culprit of my demise."

All the mares got shocked by this, knowing who Raziel was talking about.

"Really?" - Asked Twilight Sparkle. - "You found King Kain?"

Raziel looked at Twilight pensively before answering.

"Emperor Kain would be more like it, he ruled over many clans and each clan was ruled like a kingdom, but he always preferred to be called King."

"And this Kain fella" -, asked Applejack, - "is the one that chose to condemn his own land jus' so he could rule it?"

Raziel nodded.

"And he was the one who ordered you into the abyss?"

Raziel nodded once more.

"And how was that encounter?"

Raziel remained silent for a while before, finally, he decided to respond.

"I better show you."

And the red gem started to engulf everyone in the same, familiar, light that brought them back to Raziel's memories. When the light ended blinding the ponies, they all were now with Raziel, passing the lake of the death and moving back to where the Sanctuary of the Clans was originally located.

As he got closer, Raziel faced the rusted shut gate he couldn't move last time he was here. Without even showing signs of thought, he quickly shifted the the spirit realm, an experience that left Cadence quite shocked.

"What is this!?" - She shouted. - "What is going on!?"

"Do not worry, Princess" -. Said Twilight in a calm tone of voice.- "This is what happens when the realms are shifted."

"The realms?" - Asked a curious Cadence. - "What does that mean?"

Raziel, started to see the distorted entrance, searching for a portal to shift, as Twilight started to explain Princess Cadence about the Spiritual Realm and her experience through it.

"So you can't do magic and time is practically none existent here?" - Asked Cadence with complete wonder. - "It sounds like a unique type of prison to me."

Twilight's ears folded, not paying attention to Raziel shifting the realms once more, just to be greeted by Dumahim, which were quickly dispached by Raziel, fight that didn't go unnoticed by Cadence.

"Yeah, it's a form of prison" -. Answered Twilight. - "Which is why I've been trying to search for a way to help him shift through the realms with more ease."

Cadence looked at Twilight with curiosity.

"Really? How?"

Before Twilight could explain, both mares were distracted by the sound of the Dumahim being destroyed by Raziel and having their souls eaten. As this happened, with Cadence showing signs of horror at the view of Raziel consuming that which gives one's magic. She looked around to see how could the Elements of Harmony (or the other princesses) watch this behavior unfolds and she noticed, to her shock, of how all but Fluttershy and Rarity were showing no horror or disgust for what Raziel was doing, and even then, Rarity only showed mild dislike while Fluttershy just looked to another side whenever Raziel opened his scarf.

Cadence would have commented or asked why they weren't terrified of what he just did, but the Soul Reaver decided to move first towards the next chamber, which were barred shut, forcing him once more to shift and cross the barriers through the Spirit Realm, distracting Cadence from what she wanted to ask as a conversation made between Twilight's friends caught her attention.

"Huh, girls..." - Everypony turned towards Rainbow Dash with curiosity when they saw Raziel shifting planes to enter the sanctuary. - "What do you think this Kain guy have turned into?"

"What do you mean?" - Asked Rarity.

"Well" -, commented Rainbow Dash, - "you remember how Melchiah turned into a bipedal vampire into that disgusting thing?"

All the mares, except Cadence, nodded while trying to not remember Melchiah's digusting appearence.

"Ok, so, if Melchiah was turned into that after so many years, what do you think Kain has turned into?"

Everypony blinked when they heard that, not actually giving it a thought until know.

"Well" -, commented Princess Luna, - "considering Nightmare Moon was a result of my own falling from grace, I wouldn't be surprised if Kain also fell into a similar fate."

Everypony's curiosity got increased as they heard this, now wanting to see if Kain actually transformed into something as Raziel shifted back into the physical realm, right in front of the door leading to the chamber where Kain resided before destroying Raziel's wings.

As Raziel entered, the ponies could see how the chamber remained relatively the same. The walls, looked clean, the carpet looked wore down but still very red, the floor showed it could still go for more years to come, it was amazing for all the ponies and Reaver that the sanctuary had managed to remain so well conserved, distracting them from the door behind Raziel closing suddenly, scaring everyone in the room. Raziel was going to inspect the door but then...

"Raziel."

Raziel, along the ponies, turned to see, to their surprise, a very familiar vampire that had managed to remain the same through the ages.

"Kain!"

Hearing Raziel's words brought some sort of unattended concern for Twilight, as much as she could feel disgust and despise towards Kain, just hearing the hatred on Raziel's words, for a brief moment, brought high concerns to her, as she was worried for Raziel's state of being at that moment. Yet again, Kain's words didn't help to disuade the situation towards the source of Raziel's anger.

"The abyss has been unkind."

Sitting on his Pillar of Balance throne, magnanimous, foreboding and menacing, the one who destroyed Raziel's life in the blink of an eye by sending him to one of the most torturous experiences Twilight and her friends have ever seen in their life, a figure whose sole view made both Princesses look in a comptemtous disdain.

Still, Raziel started to move closer towards the Vampire King, not afraid of him, an eager to enact his vengance on him.

"I am your creation Kain - now, as before. You criticize your own work."

As Raziel moved closer, Twilight and her friends couldn't feel anything different but contempt at the sight of someone so cruel, especially the princesses. For Celestia, to see a king like Kain, dooming his own land for the sake of power was something she found vile and repulsing, the opposite epitome of what she always tried to teach Twilight and all her little ponies when it came to live in harmony. Luna, meanwhile, saw Kain as the creator of what could have been had the nightmare managed to rule over Equestria for enough time, a destroyed land with its citizens fearing to live on the end of days while its monarch ruled sit on its throne, ignorant or indolent of the end of times.

Twilight, as she remembered how Raziel was now, started to wonder what happened for Raziel to no longer hate Kain in the present. She noticed how now Raziel speak about Kain neutrally but, here on his past, there was a distinct hatred of him, a complete desire to harm him, what happened to Raziel to change his demeanor? This is why she paid special attention to the interactions between Kain and Raziel.

"What have you done to my clan, degenerate? You have no right."

Kain's words sent a chill down the spine of Twilight and her friends.

"What I have made, I can also destroy child."

To hear him saying that without a hint of remorse or guilt was one of the scariest things Twilight and her friends ever heard in their life, with some of them, like Fluttershy and Pinkie Pie, being unable to comprehend what kind of thoughts were crossing his mind. Celestia and Luna, meanwhile, were feeling complete and utter disgust as they heard this words, unable to even consider how could a monarch erase a whole clan on a whim on the sole basis of being capable of doing so.

"Damn you, Kain!" - Shouted Raziel with complete anger. - "You are not God! This act of genocide is unconscionable!"

After hearing Raziel's words, Kain dropped his smile and scowled at Raziel, a look that scared Twilight and Rarity, terrified Fluttershy and brought fear to Rainbow Dash, Applejack and Pinkie Pie, for they could feel the same commanding power that they would usually feel from the benevolents Celestia and Luna, now turned into despondence and rage.

"Conscience...?" - He said with rage. - "You dare to speak to me of conscience? Only when you felt the full gravity of choice should you dare question my judgment!"

Those words, while had little meaning for those like Applejack and Rainbow Dash, brought some thought to those of more literate basis such as Twilight, Rarity and Fluttershy, for they understood what he meant, but only Celestia and Luna could fully comprehend what Kain was talking about as he moved closer to Raziel, demeaning him for his foolish response.

"Your lifespan is a flicker compared to mass of doubt and regret that I have borne since Mortanious first turned me from the light... To know that the fate of the world hangs on the advisedness of my every deed-- Can you even begin to conceive what action you would take, in my position?"

Both Celestia and Luna knew perfectly what Kain was talking about, as they have felt that that burden and, in more ways than one, been consumed by it. As clever as it may sound, Celestia and Luna could only see innocence in Raziel's response.

"I would choose integrity Kain."

Twilight and her friends would see that as a great comeback line, but the monarchs in the room perfectly knew that Raziel's response came from someone who has never felt such pressure under the weight of choice, neither felt the burning consequences of it. And Kain's laugh indicated he thought the same, as he moved his arms around the sanctuary and responded to Raziel as if his power has never been put into question at all.

"Look around you Raziel -- see what has become of our empire" -. As Kain said this, Twilight, Celestia and Luna couldn't stop themselves from noticing something on Kain's speech. - "Witness the end of an age. The clans scattered to the corners of Nosgoth..."

He was saying something that any normal being should feel sadness for, but Kain didn't sound sad or even dissapointed, he sounded as if he got tired of a broken toy and now wanted a new one.

"This place has outlasted its usefulness -- as have you."

He then looked at Raziel with the same look Nightmare Moon gave Twilight when she tried to challenge the Nightmare Princess, the look of a pitiful creature challenging a god, reflected even more as Kain started to wield the blade he held on his back, a blade Twilight found very familiar.

"The Soul Reaver, Kain's ancient blade - older than any of us and a thousand times more deadly."

Both Luna and Twilight remembered that name, it was how Raziel presented himself the first time they met, how could this blade have the same title as him?

"The legends claim that the blade was possessed and thrived by devouring the soul of its victims."

And then all the figures in the room saw something that they never expected to ever see, Raziel moving backwards, fear and concern clear on his eyes.

"For all our bravado, we all knew what it meant when Kain drew his Soul Reaver in anger - it meant you were dead."

And before the battle could even begin, Kain disappeared out of everyone's sight. Raziel tried to search for him but, by the time he finally managed to find Kain, he had already sent a magical attack, making Raziel to contort himself in pain before being plunged back into the Spiritual Realm in one swift move, scaring all the non-royals watching the fight unfold.

"He s-sent Raziel back to the spirit realm in one blow" -, said a shocked Rainbow Dash, - "how can you beat that?"

Applejack, along Rarity and Twilight, lost all confidence she had, no longer feeling even confident she could say anything to Kain without getting blasted.

"I-I've never seen that kind of destructive magic" -. Said Twilight, as she tried to remember any kind of combat spell she knew and see if there was any equastrian equivalent of that as Raziel managed to shift between the realms. - "I suppose it's a good thing Raziel cannot be completely destroyed by those kinds of attacks."

"Perhaps" -, Celestia added, - "but it's still concerning to know said power is controlled by a creature as evil as Kain."

All the ponies started to look at Kain, teleporting away from Raziel as he got hit, and how his eyes showed no mercy during the fight. Twilight felt fear as she tried to imagine the idea of ever confronting him, an emotion corresponded by Rainbow Dash.

"I'm surprised Raziel is brave enough to fight such a powerful monster, not as brave as me, but that makes him closer to me in coolness."

As Rainbow said that, Raziel managed to get another hit on Kain but, unlike the first time, it didn't seem as if Kain was harmed and more like he was annoyed, something that the royals noticed as the battle progressed.

"I do wonder" -, added Celestia, - "what are Kain's intentions right now...?"

This brought the interest of her fellow royals and the other ponies.

"If what we understand of him is correct, Kain is egocentric, who rules only for his own pleasure and entertainment but hearing him saying that his empire lost its usefulness, it means he must have something planned."

They payed attention to Kain's face, confident and composed, and how he didn't seem to be concerned with Raziel's attacks. No matter how close Raziel got to Kain, his attacks blasted Raziel back the Spirit Realm, no matter how fast Raziel was, Kain simply teleported away from him before renewing his attacks and no matter how furius were Raziel's resolve, Kain simply laughed at his attacks.

It was something hard to ignore by Celestia and it worried Twilight and her friends, especially as Raziel was attacking Kain once more as he was charging another attack. The ponies got worried for a brief moment but, surprisingly, Raziel managed to dodge the attack with jumping to the side right as Kain's attack was about to hit, much to Kain's surprise, and giving Raziel an opening big enough to hit Kain once more.

It looked like a victory for Raziel, but Kain moved his arm back, releasing a huge lightning bolt that paralized Raziel on the ground, much to the horror of Twilight. All the pnoies saw in horror as Kain then started to raise the Soul Reaver into the air and furiously attacked Raziel with it, just to see something completely unexpected.

The Soul Reaver shattered in pieces, releasing large amounts of energy that reverberated through the chamber. To Twilight's eyes, space itself looked like it was being distorted as pieces of the reaver were flying through the chamber while massive spikes of energy licked everything around them.

As Twilight and Celestia saw this, they watched the vampire king, wondering how would he react to see his blade destroyed and, to their shock, it didn't seem like Kain was bothered at all, in fact, he started to smile.

"The blade is vanquished. So it unfolds, we move one step closer to our destinies..."

As Raziel shifted from the Physical Realm to the Spectral Realm, all it could be heard was Kain's maniacal laughter, even even after completely shifting into the Spectral Realm, his voice could still be heard for a while. This brought a sense of sadness in the ponies as they realized how Raziel's efforts to defeat Kain weren't enough to defeat him, but then they all saw something unexpected, something none of them saw coming even though it made sense if you thought about it: the spectre of the Soul Reaver appeared in front of Raziel who, filled with a careful curiosity, started to move towards it.

"I swore I saw a glint of satisfaction on Kain's eyes as the Soul Reaver was destroyed, I did not understand the game he was playing,. But I knew the finishing move."

And before anyone could realize what was going on, Raziel touched the blade, immediately causing it to merge with Raziel in a seemingly painful way, as if the blade was fighting with Raziel for control over the wraith's arm. All the while the Elder God explained to Raziel what was happening to him, with no concern or worry on Raziel's wellbeing resounding in its voice.

From this moment, and ever afterward, you and this blade are inextricably bound
Soul Reaver and Reaver of Souls, your destinies are intertwined
By destroying the sword, you have liberated it from its corporeal prison and liberated its true form -
A wraith blade, it's energy unbound

As he said that, Raziel managed to raise his arm in victory, Reaver Blade manifesting on his right arm, just as Twilight, Luna, Celestia and Rarity saw the spectral blade they've seen Raziel wielding, for them to see how Raziel earn that weapon gave them a feeling of awe at the knowledge of the kind of powerful weapon he has been using this whole time, and how poweful he might actually be. At the same time, Applejack, Pinkie Pie, Fluttershy, Rainbow Dash and Cadence were all speechless as the blade seen in the memory, even if it was just a figment of the real blade, made their fur shake as they could feel the power that almost murder Princess Celestia.

It can only manifest itself in the material real when your strenght is fully restored
Once manifest, it will sustain you

Many thoughts would have cross the ponies' mind, after seeing how Raziel got his strongest power, butTwilight and her friends didn't have much time to assimilate what they just saw when they heard a ghostly, yet calm, feminine voice interrrupting their thoughts.

"What are you little soul? Another of Kain's creatures come to taunt this bound specter?"

They all turned and saw, to their shock, a floating ghost, it looked, at least physiologically speaking, like Raziel, but it lacked legs, its arms were extremely thin, it had a blonde, straight mane, a really long, black and fine piece of clothe covering it and, what left all the ponies speechless half of its face was just bones, while the other half of her face showed a seemingly beautiful female.

If it weren't because they were all already used to Raziel's ghastly sight, many of them wouild've screamed in fear towards this apparition, as of now, all they felt was just a mild shock, as for Raziel himself (the memory one at least) he seemed unfazed by her presence.

"I did not intend to disturb your rest."

The ghost's face didn't show an expression, but her tone of voice indicated all Raziel needed to know about how the ghost felt with that response.

"Rest...? A body is needed for sleep, flesh and bone are required to recline... No, child, all I may do is watch and remember, ceaslessly conscious, as this wretched world's history unfurls. Ghastly past, inssuferable future. Are they one and the same? Am I always here?"

Seeing this ghost made many ponies, including the princesses, wonder what kind of torture it would be to live so long in such place, but for Twilight, who already experience the unlife of the Spectral Realm, hearing her felt more of a warning for what could happen to her, should she try to experiment with traveling to the Spectral Realm with no backup plan.

"How have you come to haunt this pillars?" - Asked a curious Raziel.

"Kain refused the sacrifice" -, responded the ghost, the ponies remembering Raziel mentioned something about it, - "the pillar of Balance, corrupted to its core, stands as a monument to his blind ambition. Now this pillars serve only to bind me here -- my prison and eternal home, thanks to the avarice of your master Kain."

"That bastard can claim no allegiance with me."

"Then we share a common foe, return here when you have need, Raziel; Ariel remembers what others have forgotten."

As she said that, Ariel disappeared from Raziel's sight while some strange points with energy started to show up in the center of the room. A few seconds afterwards, the memory ended and everyone went back to the room.

At the beginning, everypony was trying to process what they just saw, with Rainbow making the first question:

"Ok, who was that ghost who showed up at the end?"

Raziel stood there for a brief moment before answering, almost cryptically.

"Ariel, previous Guardian of Balance before Kain, and now specter haunting the Pillars of Nosgoth until they were purified once again."

Rainbow Dash stood there motionless, her face indicating she clearly didn't understood what Raziel meant.

"The Pillars of Nosgoth, in order to keep the land pure, are embedded to someone from birth to be a guardian of said pillar. The nine pillars together, with their respective guardians, create what's needed to keep Nosgoth pure. Ariel was the guardian of the Pillar of Balance, the most important one of all, and her death caused the rest of the guardians to become corrupt, in turn, Nosgoth started to become a corrupt land" -. Raziel looked at the ponies to see if they were following him, some of them didn't seem like they were getting the whole picture, but enough of it, so he proceeded. - "When Kain became a vampire, he was given the task, by Ariel, to eliminate the other guardians, hoping that their death would purify the pillars once more, but to purify all the pillars it was needed for Kain to sacrifice himself, for he was the Guardian of Balance, but Kain refused it, comdemning Nosgoth to become the wretched land you have seen in my memories."

Once more, the ponies felt indignation an anger towards Kain, but Twilight was quick to remember something crucial about Kain.

"But you don't hate Kain, right?" - Added Twilight. - "You have mentioned that he may have his reasons."

Raziel looked at Twilight and nodded.

"Yes, reasons that beneffitted him but, in the end, it also beneffitted Nosgoth."

"How so?" - Asked Rarity. - "How can someone act for his own benefit and have said actions help others?"

Raziel looked at the bearer of the Element of Generosity and tried to give his best explanation possible.

"It has to do with Kain's overall goals. He has always wanted to rule Nosgoth for as long as he can, that is why he decided to reject the sacrifice."

"But that lead to his land being corrupted" -, interjected Fluttershy, - "couldn't he try to search for a way to rule his land without sacrificing it?"

"Yes, he could and, surprisingly, he did."

All the ponies got surprised at this, with Cadence asking for all of them.

"And what did he do to save his land?"

Raziel looked at all of them, knowing fully well how contrived and complex were Kain's ideas. The best way to explain it would be by going step by step, but he wasn't sure they would all get it. Still, it were those ideas and machinations what helped to stop the Elder God, even if by accident, and he would have to explain it all if he wanted to help them.

"I was thrown to the abyss."

The ponies didn't understand what he meant, and Raziel didn't seem too eager to give a simple explanation, but he did give something to explain.

"The Elder God harmed Nosgoth to such unthinkable levels, that it was by mere chance that Kain's plans were the exact measure to stop him and it all started with me being thrown to the abyss."

He knew it was more complicated than that, but it would be a start, so he decided to move-

"Wait a minute!"

They all looked at Pinkie Pie, her mane disheveled and her eyes moving at unnatural directions.

"But what was that weird thingy that came out of the blade when it exploded into tiny fragments? I've been trying to wrap my head around it, but my head isn't long and flexible enough for that."

It took a moment for Raziel to realize what she was talking about and he was even more surprised to realize that nopony else even gave it a thought.

"That was the sign of a paradox transpiring in front of you."

"A paradox?" - Asked Twilight. - "As in, a time paradox?" - Raziel simply nodded, making Twilight's head get even more confused. - "But how is that possible? Last time I did a time travel, it was a looped, with no way to change its course, no matter what."

Raziel gave it a thought, wondering if his enemy would try to change that soon enough.

"It's the same for Nosgoth. Time is fixed, with no way to change it, no matter what you try to do, unless you create an impossible situation that forces the flow of time fix itself in order to adapt."

Seeing that the other ponies couldn't understand what Raziel just said, Princess Luna decided to explain.

"In other words, to change the passage of time, you would have to do something that contradicts history, like how the wendigos can be defeated, or how I was corrupted to become Nightmare Moon, in order to make a change, is that correct?"

Raziel, despite not knowing what the wendigos are, nodded and, although it seemed that the ponies didn't understood it completely, they did seem to understand just enough.

"So" -, Pinkie tried to explain, - "the reason why the blade exploded was because it couldn't destroy you?" - Once more, Raziel only nodded. - "Why? It doesn't make any sense."

Raziel gave it a thought and, sure, it made no sense when it came to the small details, but it was what it was.

"Perhaps, but the reaver blade cannot destroy me. That is all you need to know for the time being."

Twilight gave it a thought and remembered something the Elder God said to Raziel.

"'You and this blade are inextricably bound', does it have something to do with that?"

Raziel nodded.

"Yes, and I will explain when the time comes."

Twilight nodded as she tried to theorize what Raziel meant with that, but a shiver quickly passed through her as she remembered something else the Elder God said.

'Soul Reaver and Reaver of Souls, your destinies are intertwined'

She really had a bad feeling about it as Raziel's memories started to play again, as she heard Ariel's voice giving Raziel advice of where to go next.

"Far in the eastern mountains, a stiffled giant stands in mute surrender - unwilling host to a parasitic swarn"

Author's Note

YES, finally, after over a year of hiatus, I finally managed to update this story! It was hard to find the time and energy to write this, but I feel good for doing it. When will the next update come? Not sure, life is starting to get me (studies, politics, the crisis, etc) but you can be sure that there are more chances of this site dying than me abandoning this story, no matter how long it'll take, I will finish this story.

If you like this and you want to support me, you can do it through my Ko-Fi. Feel free to check it out.