When Technical Support is Too Helpful

"The only thing that would make traveling with two beautiful women better," Onyx commented, "Would be three beautiful women!"

"As if you could even handle one of us," Dash remarked with a wink.

"It is not too early in the journey to make a detour right here," he spoke charmingly, caressing the chromatic haired girl's blushing face.

"Aaand we are still walking!" Twilight pushed between them, making sure to remove her friend from the lusty dragon's grasp.

Onyx chuckled, "I just can't help myself. You two were irresistible as ponies but now!" He laughed, "Just trying to pass the time."

"I knew our lives would be in danger, but not our chastity," Twilight gibed.

"It would be my utmost honor to bring the two of you maidens into womanhood."

Twilight spun around and glared daggers at him, "Enough, Onyx."

"Yes'm!" When she turned around, Dash looked back him and he winked playfully at her.

"What about Chrysalis?" Twilight inquired.

The smile disappeared from his face and his face went dark, "We have to keep our focus on the task at hand, Twilight Sparkle." He brusquely walked ahead of them and within seconds was ten meters ahead of them.

After four days of traveling in silence and walking on eggshells around Onyx, Rainbow Dash finally spoke up, "So. . . with the Goddess of Nature out of the picture, there is no way for plants and stuff to grow back?"

"Of course not," Onyx answered, "The four of us drew lots to see which direction we would head and I drew North. North is where Mount Dios is. Inside Mount Dios is the Sanctuary of Flowers. Inside the sanctuary is the Natural Crystal. Whoever drew the North lot would activate the crystal and bring back flora and fauna."

"So...we are doing that first?" Twilight questioned.

"Yes."

"Who built the Sanctuary of Flowers?" Twilight took out a notepad.

"The Children, followers of the Goddess of Nature." They walked for a few minutes in silence. Onyx was deep in thought. "We might have to activate the Storm Crystal," he said, "to start the weather cycle again."

"And where is that crystal?"

"In the volcano in the motherland."

“‘The Motherland’?”

“Yes. My homeland—a little island across the sea. Getting there will be problematic, with the lack of any sea worthy vessel,” Onyx explained, “As my mother used to say, ‘keep your eyes on the prey, not the horizon’.”

“Right,” Twilight concurred, “nevertheless, it is still good to have a plan.”

“And a few dozen checklists,” the rainbow haired angel quipped.

Twilight cast her a crossed expression.

After two more days of traveling, the trio reached a deep, vast valley. A sickening black river divided the valley. Onyx let out an unamused grunt.

“What’s wrong? Did you know this place?” Rainbow Dash asked when she noticed the sour face Onyx had.

“Just missing the beauty of this land,” Onyx sighed. He stretched out his wings, “Let’s go. Remember: those bracelets will only let you fly for a short time. Once they stop glowing I’ll glide down with you two.”

“About time!” exclaimed Dash, unfolding her new wings joyfully.

“Right…” Twilight replied hesitantly.

Onyx stepped between the two women and pointed to an outcrop of rocks jutting up from the valley, “My quick guesstimations have us landing about there. Since there is no wind we don’t have to worry about downdrafts but we also don’t have the aid of updrafts. Everyone ready?”

“Yeah!” Dash ran and jumped off the cliff, pulling her goggles down over her eyes.

“No!” Twilight backed up into Onyx.

He smiled down at her, “Just relax. The first step is always the hardest. Sometimes,” his smile took a mischievous turn, “you just need a little push.’

Her eyes widened at his insinuations and her heart was in her throat when he threw her off the edge.

Onyx was laughing his head off flying beside her, “Flap your wings, not your arms!”

Twilight stopped flailing about and adjusted herself to mirror him. Then she unfurled her wings and took flight. When she opened her eyes and stopped screaming, she remembered the wonder of flying. Then her bracelet stopped glowing. Gravity gripped her and pulled her down to the ground. Before she could start screaming her head off again, Onyx grabbed her under her arms.

“I got you,” he reassured her. With his massive draconic wings, the extra weight of the fledgling archangel hardly fazed him.

Dash was grinning from ear to ear on the ground, “Quite the show up there,” she chuckled.

Onyx stifled his chuckle, “We still have two days’ time to reach the sanctuary. Come on.”

“Why can’t we set up camp here?” Twilight inquired.

Onyx scanned the cliffs, skies, and horizon, “This place is too open and exposed. Once we get to the other side we can set up camp.” He pointed to the east, “twenty miles that way, around the bend, there is a way to climb up. Since the bracelets take a day to recharge we will have to hoof it.”

“You can’t fly us up there?” Dash asked.

“No,” he answered sadly, “An old injury limits my flight capabilities substantially.”

“Well,” Dash laced her fingers behind her head, “we got time to hear the story.”

He turned to Twilight and saw her ready with her notepad and pencil. He sighed, “Why not?”

“This was eons ago; the Sixth Age of the Second Era,” he began.

Grey and Valkyrie had gotten married two hundred years before, in the Fifth Age, a grand spectacle. He went all out for her. She had changed drastically since becoming an angel—for the better. Everything was going perfectly: there was peace throughout the Ancient Tribes and between the Humans, prosperity, and bounty…until the second day of First Harvest. A day, I remember like it was yesterday.

The leaves had just begun changing colors. It was a beautiful day. I was doing my usually business: womanizing. When the clear blue sky suddenly became dark and overcast, I felt a strong surge of power…and anger. It was my brother, Grey. I immediately went after him.

I found him in his home clutching Valkyrie to his chest. He was drenched in blood. When I asked what happened he only told me one name, “Lucilda”, she was the newest Goddess of Light and Gatekeeper of the Over Realms. His eyes were ablaze, brighter and hotter than any heated metal. He set Valkyrie down gently and walked over to his sword rack in the basement.

He brought out the Godsbane Blade, the only weapon in existence that could permanently extinguish the soul of any Divine and Devil. Grey, being the Gatekeeper of the Under Realms, had a key to open any and all gates which also created portals to those planes. He opened one portal to the Gates of Heaven with the intent to kill Lucilda. I tried to stop him.

I failed…obviously. He stabbed me with the blade twice, through both of my shoulder muscles, which never healed completely. Gliding is fine, flapping is a different story.

Anyways, he went to Heaven, butchered Lucilda in front of many Divines, and massacred those who got in the way of his revenge. The first time he massacred the Divines was because of an attempted assassination of Valkyrie while she was still a demon. That resulted in the death of all the First, except for Næschwäā, Wyohtā, and Āshū. Dèshū intervened and stopped him. At the order of the Divines, she tried to remove his power but ended up in successfully separating him from Kūàdoi. That is a story for next time.

So, Grey massacred, slaughtered, annihilated…just totally decimated the Divine population. Dèshū, once again, steps in and stops him. Before she could do anything, Mystin shows up and announces that he killed Valkyrie disguised as Lucilda for the sole purpose of using Grey to cripple the Divines. You know how monologue-y villains get. Well, Grey tried to kill Mystin but only succeeded in crippling him before he disappeared in Hell. Grey went marching down to Hell and cleaned house, basically. He never found Mystin but he killed every Demon and Devil down there.

He went to Heaven and accepted his punishment. This time, at the order from her older siblings, Dèshū tried to imprison Grey in a crystal but his soul became separated into seven and the six different “Grey’s” were scattered through Time and Space. Only two stayed here: the original Grey and Zen.

“So to sum up the story and bring all back to my inefficiency to fly: Grey stabbed me and is the reason for it,” Onyx concluded. “I do not have any hard feelings toward him. I understand why he did it. He’s apologized for it and we have both moved on.”

“Wait wait wait wait,” Dash spoke, “There are other Grey’s?”

“Yep,” Onyx confirmed, “I wouldn’t be surprised if there was at one time a pony Grey. I bet he was adorable!”

“Hmm,” Twilight thought, “perhaps I will go through the historical references and see if I can find Grey. With Dèshū showing him great favor, the probability is high that he did exist or still does exist back in our world.”

The trio continued their march through the valley. Darkness fell upon the land when they had reached to top of the canyon. They made camp, set up their tents, and quickly fell asleep.

Onyx woke up in the middle of the night after hours of tossing and turning in his sleeping bag. Thoughts and memories of Chrysalis plagued his mind and heart. Every time he closed his eyes, her dusky, sharp face and piercing serpentine dicolored eyes filled his sight. Her voice, her laughter, her gaze, every little detail about her made his heart ache as if being stabbed and the blade being twisted. She certainly had him enthralled.

“Darqlon,” he grimaced. He sighed. His mind and heart waged a war of confliction. He loved his chitinous Goddess, but he also loves his brother. He hated what he did, but he also could understand why he did it. He knew she would want him to avenge her, but knew that Darqlon’s death would not bring her back.

He clambered out of his tent. The complete darkness greeted him. He could not even see the other two tents ten feet away from him. The still coolness of the night calmed his weary soul and troubled mind. He could hear Dash snoring away loudly in her tent, the fabric and poles also vibrated.

“Can’t sleep either?” Twilight spoke up. Her voice came from the direction of her tent.

“No,” Onyx answered tiredly, “Too much on my mind.”

“I can’t sleep without reading three books, writing reports, creating checklists, and studying new spells,” she explained.

“I’m afraid my life is not as exciting or dramatic as Grey or Darqlon’s, if it was, I wouldn’t mind sharing stories.” He sensed her presence draw closer to him.

“What is the most exciting thing you have ever done then?”

“My first battle and visiting your world,” Onyx stated, “the two most exciting times in my life.”

“You have never been married nor have any children?”

Onyx sighed, “Never found a woman who could hold me down and fight off the competition.”

“Maybe you shouldn’t be sleeping around with other women in the first place.”

Onyx laughed, “I just have so much love to give!”

“How many woman have you been with?” Twilight inquired.

“Less than Grey, more than Darqlon. Oh!” a fact popped into his mind, “The Divines ruled to make Grey sterile. That is why most of the world is not descended from him. He pleaded to Dèshū, Darqlon, and Fate to allow him to have one child. That’s why I think, to this day, that Alexander was not his son.”

“Interesting,” he could hear her scribbling in her notebook, “And with you being with so many women—”

He cut her off, “I am not sterile. I just use Solaris' natural, God-given contraceptive." Twilight looked up at him expectantly. After a long moment of pause, thinking she would have caught on by now but failed, he filled in the blank for her, "Anal." He could feel the heat emitting from her and heard her walk off to enter her tent.