Reaper: Grand Charade

Chapters

New Arrivals
Lockdown
Deception
Betrayal
Darkness Within
Confrontation
Prisoners
Alone
Demons
Blurred Lines
Numbness
Breakout
Reaper
Assault
Darkness and Light

New Arrivals

Shimmer opened her locker, and collected her stuff for class. As she did, her eyes were drawn to her magic journal, and she froze. That book had allowed her to stay in touch with Twilight across dimensions...but something felt off about it now. Somehow, just by thinking about Equestria, she could tell something had gone down on the other side of the portal. Something big. She'd already written to Twilight asking about her situation, but she hadn't heard back from her...

"Heya, Shimmer!" Pinkie Pie blurted out behind Shimmer, making her jump and hit her head on the inside of the locker. "Why're you staring so hard at that book? Are you having a staring contest?"

"I'm just worried," Shimmer explained as she rubbed her head and picked up the journal. "Recently, I've had this feeling that there's something wrong with Equestria. I can't tell from here, but I can feel it."

"Yeah, I know the feeling," Pinkie replied, her hair slightly deflating. This caught Shimmer off guard. Knowing Pinkie, it made sense that she'd share her bad feeling...but whatever went down in Equestria was bad enough to actually faze her?

As Shimmer was lost in thought, she turned a corner and bumped into someone. She fell to the ground, and hastily picked up her things. As she did so, the stranger picked up her magic journal and handed it to her.

"I believe this belongs to you, miss?"

As Shimmer looked up to take the book, she took her first good look at the stranger she had bumped into. He was a boy with pale white skin like Rarity's. The hair covering his head was also a stunning white, but as it crawled down the back of his head toward his neck, its color changed to pitch black. All of his clothes were white with black liners around the edges, with the exception of the black shirt under his jacket. The only bit of color on him lay in his golden eyes.

"Sorry about running into you," he apologized to her. "Guess I should introduce myself. My name is Azrael. I just transferred into this school. And you are?"

"Shimmer. Sunset Shimmer." She was still a bit too shaken up from the encounter to say much else, though her mind latched onto the word "transfer."

"Well, in any case, we'd both better get to class," Azrael pointed out. "I'll see you later." With that, he walked off. Shimmer looked on as he left, a sense of uneasiness welling up within her.

"Think you like him?" Pinkie piped up, once again freaking Shimmer out.

"No! It's nothing like that!" Shimmer denied her, before looking back toward the hall where Azrael had disappeared. "It's nothing like that at all..."

"Okay, hold up," Rainbow Dash ordered, as Shimmer explained the newcomer to her and Rarity at the Cake's Bakery. "Don't you think you're being a little too suspicious?"

"Think about it, Rainbow," Shimmer explained. "Every time this school has had a transfer student in the past few years, they've been linked to a magical incident that we've had to clean up."

"And you think this guy's gonna be the same deal?"

"That would be quite a shame," Rarity mentioned. "He sounds simply divine." Shimmer and Rainbow groaned internally as she started fantasizing about herself and Azrael.

"Look, you've got a point," Rainbow began, "but he hasn't done anything yet. The Dazzlings at least gave you a reason to be suspicious, but this guy just helped you pick up your stuff. I think you're overreacting."

"Maybe," Shimmer conceded, "but we should still keep an eye on him."

"Speaking of keeping an eye on people," Rarity mentioned, pointing to a lonely corner of the bakery, "that boy's been eyeing you for some time now, Rainbow."

Rainbow turned to see her supposed stalker, a boy she had never met, or even seen before. "Who the hay is he?"

"Maybe you should go see what his deal is," Shimmer suggested.

Rainbow took her advice, and walked over to the boy. "Hey you! Why are you staring at me?"

"Eh, no real reason," he replied. "You just remind me of an acquaintance, that's all."

"A friend?"

"A friend of a friend," the boy answered. "That person was certainly a better friend than I was."

"What happened?" Rainbow asked, her anger replaced with curiosity.

"Fate decided there was a price to pay for being my friend," the boy explained. "So many have suffered because of me, even though I tried my best to lessen their pain. I can't face my friends now, even if they'd forgive me."

"Harsh," Rainbow replied. "Sorry things have been so hard for you...uh, what's your name?"

The boy's blood red eyes locked with hers. "My name is Daniel Hayes."

Lockdown

A black van came to an abrupt stop atop a hill overlooking Canterlot High. The driver got out to look over the school with cold blue eyes, curly strands of blond hair flapping in the wind as they held onto the bun atop her head. She looked down on the school, particularly on upon the statue at the entrance, with grim purpose, making final preparations for her mission.

"Geez, Lock, we gonna be here all day?" The woman's partner complained from the passenger seat, his arms brushing his crimson hair as he stretched. His eyes, reptilian and also crimson, were half open with apathy.

"You'd do well to take this mission seriously, Thatch," the woman reprimanded her partner.

"Yeah, sure, I'll do my job, just as soon as you let me."

"Just a while longer," the woman answered, before turning back to the school to see a car pull into its parking lot. "It seems the principal has arrived. We can explain the situation to her while our operatives get to work."

"Does that mean we can go now?"

"Yes. Are you happy now?"

"More than you know," Thatch replied, a dark gleam in his eyes and a sadistic smile crawling along his face.

The next day, Shimmer was lost in thought as she sat with her friends in the cafeteria. Maybe Rainbow's right, she thought. I mean, Azrael hasn't actually done anything suspicious. So he's a transfer student. So what? There can be normal transfer students, right? Here's hoping he's normal...

"Hello again." Shimmer nearly jumped out of her skin as Azrael greeted her. "Sorry, was I bothering you?" Shimmer quickly shook her head. Azrael sighed, and motioned to an empty seat next to her. "Mind if I sit here?" Again, Shimmer shook her head, and he sat down.

The seven students ate their lunch in silence. The whole time, Shimmer kept casting quick glances toward the new student, sizing him up to see if her suspicions had any merit. Rainbow and Rarity shot Shimmer a few glances of their own, signals telling her to stop treating their guest so poorly. Unfortunately, these messages came a bit too late, as Azrael quickly realized something was up.

"You've been looking at me quite a bit," he noted, before giving her a seductive look. "Do I pique your interest?"

"No, it's nothing like that," Shimmer denied him. ""It's just...transfer students don't exactly have the best reputation here."

"Oh really? How so?" he asked.

"Recently, all of our transfer students have been involved in major...incidents," Rarity answered.

"Ah can see why Shimmer'd be a bit wary," Applejack piped up.

"But he hasn't done anything yet," Rainbow argued.

"I see," Azrael replied. "So that's how it is. Guess that explains some of the weird looks I've gotten."

"Please don't be mad, Azrael," Fluttershy whispered from the back of the group. "It's not you. I'm sure you're a nice guy..."

"Eh, don't worry about it," Azrael comforted her. "Now that I know what's going on, it's fine. I'm sure people will come around."

"I sure hope so," Shimmer told him, letting go of a bit of her suspicion. "I know how you probably feel."

Just then, the cafeteria doors opened, and Twilight walked in to join her friends. "Hey, sorry I'm late," she apologized.

"A friend of yours?" Azrael asked.

"Yeah," Shimmer replied. "She was involved in one of those...incidents we mentioned. We helped her sort herself out."

"Really now," Azreal pondered, turning his attention to Twilight. "I'd like to know what happened."

All seven girls immediately stopped what they were doing. "Uh...you sure?" Fluttershy whispered.

"Of course," Azrael replied. "Come on, this school has clearly been through some crazy 'incidents.' Surely they've gotta make for cool stories."

The seven girls huddled together to debate while Azrael stared at them in confusion. Eventually, they sat upright, nodded to each other, and turned to Azrael. "Sure, we'll tell you," Twilight decided.

She told him the whole story about the incident at the Friendship Games. How she had found out about her friends' magic and developed a pendant to study it. How she had drained their magic by sheer accident, and unleashed it to become a demon. As she told her story, Azreal became more and more invested and curious.

"I'm guessing you got rid of the pendant after the whole fiasco was sorted out?" he asked her.

"No, it's too dangerous to just throw out," Twilight replied, shaking her head. "I've got it locked up tight."

"Ah, good point," Azrael noted. Just then, the bell rang. "Well, guess we better head back to class." As Shimmer got up to leave, Azrael grabbed her shoulder. "Hey, I noticed yesterday that we're in the same class next period. Might as well head there together, right?" Shimmer thought about it a bit before nodding, and the two headed off to class.

As the two walked through the hallways, Azrael's carefree nature was replaced by a serious visage as he put up his guard. Shimmer took note of this, and scanned the crowds to see what was wrong. Hidden amongst the crowds of students were men in black suits. Before Shimmer could ponder why they were there, she noticed that the crowd was starting to thin out. Before long, they were the only two souls in a barren, empty hall. Just as the whole situation was starting to creep Shimmer out, Azrael held up his arm to stop her. They'd come to a halt just outside Principal Celestia's office...and it sounded like she was talking to someone. Azrael got close to the door to eavesdrop, and Shimmer followed suit.

"...we'll be shutting this facility down, at least for the time being," Celestia's guest told her.

"I'm sorry, but I can't allow that," Celestia bluntly refused her. "Under what authority do you think you can just close this school down?"

"Under the government's authority," the stranger replied. From the sound she made, she must have pulled out a badge. "Special Agent Lockheart. My agents and I are here to clean up after the incidents that have taken place here."

"What are you saying?"

"Come on, don't play dumb with us," another stranger piped up, before pulling out his own badge. "Special Agent Thatch. See, this school's been ground zero for a number of magical disasters in recent months. You can't seriously think the rest of the world wouldn't notice, can you? Well, guess what? We noticed. So now we're here to put a cork in the whole thing."

"We'll be locking down the school to investigate the magical elements on campus," Lockheart declared. "And we'll also have to detain the students who've been at the center of these incidents."

"In fact," Thatch began, "I think one of them came to us..."

Azrael's pupils shrank as he realized what was happening. "Run!" he ordered Shimmer. Without waiting for her to register the command, he started running down the hall, and grabbed her wrist to drag her along.

Just then, Thatch left the Principal's office, and saw the two fleeing the scene. He dropped a dark hand to a walkie talkie on his belt, and picked it up. "We got a couple runners heading down the second floor hallway. All units, capture them alive."

The agents immediately mobilized and rushed toward the two students. Shimmer quickly got her bearings, and started running of her own free will. This freed up Azrael's hand to beat up the agents that rushed toward them. With each one that came toward them, he channeled his momentum into a powerful blow that sent them flying away. By the time they recovered, the two students had already put quite a bit of distance between them.

The two quickly approached the end of the hall, and a large window on the far wall. Azrael ran straight for the window. "ARE YOU CRAZY!?" Shimmer shouted, realizing his intent.

"Just trust me!" he pleaded to her, holding out a hand to her as they ran. After a second of debating the choice, she took the hand, and they jumped through the window. Azrael fell two stories and onto his feet, and swung Shimmer around to catch her without slamming her into the ground.

"Are you okay?" Shimmer asked. "Your legs should be broken..."

"I'm fine," Azrael reassured her, flashing her a smile. "Glad you chose to trust me."

"Nice display," Thatch called to them from the shadows, clapping. "You would've made a fine agent. Guess you'll just have to settle for a prison sentence." He came out of the shadows. "Sorry, but everything you just did was for nothing." He snapped his fingers, and six agents came out of the shadows...each one holding one of Shimmer's friends hostage. "See, we were ordered to bring you all in alive...but I think there's enough of you that we can afford breaking a few eggs. Now, give yourself up, or these men will make your friends suffer. I can just say they...resisted." As he said all this, a sadistic smile spread across his face...

The next thing he knew, however, he heard six simultaneous groans as his agents fell unconscious. Thatch turned to see his six fallen agents, the six magic girls who fell down with them...and Daniel Hayes, looking down on him in contempt.

"You really shouldn't meddle in this kinda stuff, kid," Thatch grumbled at him, pulling a gun on the boy. As soon as he did, though, Daniel rushed him at an inhuman speed, hit the gun out of his hand, grabbed his arm, and broke it. Thatch endured the pain as he stared in terror at this kid who'd just incapacitated him and six other agents.

"Good night," Daniel told him, before punching his lights out.

Daniel put down his guard, and helped the six girls up. Shimmer was still stunned at what this boy had been able to do. "What are you?" she asked.

"...not your concern," he dismissed her, as he helped the last of the girls up. "I'd be wary of the men in black if I were you. Stay away from the school, and spend as little time at home as you can. I'll bet they've already got agents stationed at each of your houses."

"I think there's room at my place for all of you to stay," Azrael pitched in. "But we'd better hurry there, before more of those agents show up." Everyone nodded. As they left, Shimmer took one last look at the school, and saw the agents cordoning off the statue holding the portal to Equestria. Tears came to her eyes, as the reality of the situation finally hit her.

Author's Note

Those of you who have read Tales of Harmonia should recognize Thatch and Lockheart.

Deception

"Well, here we are," Azreal welcomed his guests as he motioned them into his apartment.

The girls were amazed by what they saw. The floor was black marble, polished so that they could see their reflections. Purple floor lights lined the edges of the room, causing the speckled white marble walls to shimmer. The room was furnished with black leather sofas and a black marble table, with a large TV hung on the wall to the side. At the far end of the room, large window panes made up the entire back wall, giving the group a stunning view of the city below.

"Why, this is simply divine!" Rarity exclaimed. "Is this really your home, Azrael?"

"Yep," Azrael answered. "My old man set me up here when I transferred. There should be enough room for all of you. Make yourselves at home."

The girls quickly made themselves comfortable. Rainbow and Applejack pulled out the game system and got to work on Azrael's game library. Fluttershy fell asleep on a couch, while Rarity continued to admire the decor, and Pinkie began spreading party decorations all over the place. Meanwhile, Daniel sat across from Shimmer and Twilight, ready to fire off several questions.

"So, mind telling me what the deal was with those suits back there?" he began. "Why would those guys be interested in a bunch of high school girls?" The two girls decided to tell him everything that had happened in the past few months. Daniel absorbed all this information, and considered the implications. "Well, you girls managed to tick off the government. Impressive, but it does cause some problems. For starters..." He stood up, and looked toward the city. "...I'd better deal with these guys before they get their hands on your stuff. Who knows what they'll do with the journal or pendant." With that, he took his leave.

Azrael took his spot on the couch. "He seems cold, doesn't he?" he asked.

Shimmer just shrugged. "Anyway, thanks for letting us stay here," she told him.

"My pleasure," Azrael answered. "Look, I know how hard this must be for you all. Your lives have been turned upside down, and it's gonna be some time before things go back to normal. So until then..." He got up, and put a comforting hand on Shimmer's shoulder. "...I'm here for you. No matter what, I'll make sure you get through this." He took a few steps toward the door before turning back to his guests. "I've gotta go run a few errands, but I'll be back in a bit. Just sit tight until then." With that, he too left the apartment.

Shimmer smiled. "What's so funny?" Twilight asked her.

"It's just..." Shimmer began. "I was really suspicious of Azrael when I first met him, but he's doing so much for us now. I'm kinda just laughing at myself now. I was wrong to doubt him."

Well, the address books say this is Twilight's house, Daniel noted as he approached a building on the other side of town. Better grab that pendant now. He approached the house, but then immediately stopped. He almost hadn't noticed in the dark night, but the building was surrounded by black-suited agents. I was right; they did post guards at their homes. Guess I'd better crack a few skulls.

He started from the back, sneaking into the yard, while making just enough noise to attract some of the guards to his entry point. As they got close to the fence, he pushed them all through it, and knocked each one unconscious with a single blow each to the base of the neck. Once that opening was made, he sped around the house, homing in on each agent and incapacitating them instantly. Finally, he turned his attention to the house itself once all the agents had been taken out...

...all except one.

"You just had to screw with me again," Thatch called him out, pointing a gun at Daniel's back with his good arm. "You're coming with me...or you'll die right here."

Daniel just chuckled. "Really? That's all you got? Then do it."

"What'd you say!?" Thatch shouted, jostling his cast.

"You heard me," Daniel replied, casting him a sly glance. "If you think you can kill me, then pull the damn trigger."

BANG!

All the emotion drained from Thatch's face, save for pure horror, as Daniel simply laughed. The bullet had clearly put a hole in him, but he didn't react at all. He didn't even flinch. In fear rather than anger, Thatch shouted and unloaded the rest of his clip into Daniel's back. Still the boy brushed it off like a light breeze. Thatch trembled in fear, dropping his gun.

"What are you?"

"A nightmare," Daniel replied, before casually walking into the house. Thatch fell to his knees and screamed.

As Daniel entered the house, he quickly found that he wasn't alone. He startled a shadowy figure, causing it to flee out the back of thye house. Daniel examined the house, each room left in shambles by the intruder. Finally, he walked into Twilight's study, and noticed a heavily locked and reinforced desk drawer...with all the locks smashed. Realizing what this drawer was meant to hold, he pulled it open, and found it empty.

The pendant's gone!? Daniel thought, panicking. Oh sweet Luna no...

Shimmer couldn't sleep, even as the early morning hours rolled in. Every time she tried, the day's events rushed back through her mind, dragging her back to consciousness. What had happened was going to have serious consequences from here on out. If the government wanted to put a lid on all magical activity, there was no way she and her friends could ever return to their normal lives. Best case scenario, they'd be stuck in that apartment for years. Worst case scenario, they'd be on the run. There was no way Shimmer could sleep when she considered how all their lives had been so thoroughly shattered.

Just then, the door creaked open, waking the other six. "Azrael, is that you?" Shimmer asked.

"I'm afraid not." The mystery man turned on the lights, revealing himself to the girls. He wore a dark purple suit, covered by a large cape of the same color, specked with stars. An even darker purple top hat covered a head of short cut silver hair. A silver mask covered half of his face, while the other blue-skinned half remained bare. He looked down on the girls with one cold blue eye.

"Who are you?" Twilight asked, terrified.

"You may call me Charade," the man answered. "You all have something valuable to me, and I'm here to collect." He reached into the folds of his cape, and pulled out Twilight's pendant. Before the girls could react, he opened it, siphoning all of their magic.

"Wh...what...?" Shimmer asked, recovering from the drain. "Why would you...?"

"So sorry for this," Charade apologized, "but my own source of magic has run rather dry as of late. I need your magic to continue my work. Don't worry, I'll put this to good use."

With that, he simply walked out the door. Shimmer acted fast, rushing after him down through the building. She chased him down to the street, and rushed him for the pendant. However, as she approached him, he seemed to disappear, sending her careening into the sidewalk. Charade simply reappeared behind her.

"Are you surprised?" he inquired. "One of the results of my experiments with magic. A shame that my own powers are limited." At this point, the other six girls caught up. "If you girls are so intent on getting this trinket back, then perhaps I should introduce you to one of my greater successes..."

Charade snapped his fingers, and the far side of the street exploded in a massive fireball. When the flames died down, a demon boy with flaming claws emerged from the crater. Fluttershy cowered in fear as she locked eyes with the demon, and saw within him a desire to burn everything around him.

"Baphomet, could you please destroy these pests?" Charade asked, disappearing before he could get a response.

"Gladly," Baphomet replied with a smile, the flames around his claws glowing brighter. Shimmer squeezed her eyes shut and waited for the end...

"You'd really harm a helpless girl?" Surprised, Baphomet turned to see Daniel standing in the middle of the road.

"Stay out of this, worm," the demon growled at him.

"Here's an idea," Daniel rebutted. "How about you take me on before slaughtering a bunch of helpless teenagers?"

"If you want to die that badly, then fine!" Baphomet yelled. The flames around his right claw became white hot, and he chucked a fireball at Daniel. It hit, and the road around him burst into flame. All of the girls gasped in horror, and Baphomet laughed. The demon turned his attention back to the helpless kids...

"The people of this world don't learn, do they?"

Baphomet did a double take as Daniel sighed through the inferno. The next thing he knew, an astral spike shot forth from the blaze and caught him in the shoulder. Daniel rushed out of the flames, scythe in hand, and took a massive swing at the demon. Baphomet barely dodged the blade, and swung back with his claw, only for his blow to be blocked by a shield of astral mist.

"You girls get out of here!" Daniel called out. "I got this!" The girls nodded and ran.

"You're not getting away!" Baphomet yelled, rushing toward the girls. Before he could get far, Daniel caught him with his scythe blade, and slammed him into the ground. Enraged, Baphomet erupted into an inferno, but Daniel jumped away just in time, and retaliated by shooting out a few astral spikes. Baphomet dodged away and took to the skies, narrowly avoiding more astral spikes as Daniel kept on the offensive. He fired back a volley of fireballs, but Daniel simply dashed around them, using his astral mist as footholds to lift himself further into the air with each fireball he dodged. As the last fireball passed him, he leapt into the sky, bringing his scythe down on the demon. Baphomet caught the blade in one claw, and channeled his flames into the other.

"This is goodbye, worm!" Baphomet told him triumphantly.

"Yes it is...for you!" Daniel shot back.

A large astral spike tore through the air, ripping the arm holding Daniel's scythe clean of Baphomet's torso. As he screamed in agony, and Daniel began to fall, the grim reaper spun around and caught the demon square in the torso, sending him crashing to the ground. Before Baphomet could recover from the forceful impact with the asphalt below, Daniel followed him, plunging his blade straight into the fiery demon's chest. Baphomet's face contorted in agony, then fell still. As Daniel removed himself and his blade from the corpse, it burst into flame and smoldered away.

Shimmer came back around the street corner just in time to witness this spectacle. "What did you just do?"

Daniel turned to meet her. "He won't be bothering you ever again. I saw to that." He held out his scythe arm. The scythe was swalloed by astral mist, and disappeared. "Anyway, I'd better head after that Charade guy. He has no idea what he's in for."

"Wait!" Shimmer called. "Twilight needs to know about all this."

"I thought she already did..."

"No, I mean Princess Twilight, over in Equestria."

Daniel's eyes widened. "Uh, that might not be the best idea."

"And why not?"

"Wouldn't Charade just steal her magic, too?"

"She still deserves to know!"

"I'm telling you, this is a terrible idea!"

"Then tell me why it's so terrible!"

"Well...uh..." Daniel had an answer, but it wasn't one he was willing to give. He couldn't bring himself to tell her what had happened to Equestria, and how Twilight had been reduced to an animated corpse... In the end, he decided to just go along with her. "Fine. Where's that journal of yours?"

This time Shimmer's eyes widened. "Oh, whoops. I left it in my locker...back at the school."

Daniel sighed. "Well, we would've had to deal with this sooner or later. Come on, let's get going."

Betrayal

Gramarye Lulamoon was slightly startled by a knock at his study door. He put down the book he was reading, and closed a drawer he had left open, before addressing his visitor. "Come in." The door opened, and in walked his daughter, Trixie.

"There you are, Father!" Trixie exclaimed. "I've been trying to contact you all day!"

"Is there a problem?"

"Haven't you heard?" Trixie asked. "The government closed down Canterlot High because of all those magical incidents."

"Hmm. That is rather troubling," Gramarye noted, pondering something. "We can't have that, now can we?"

"Wait. Why is that so big a problem for you?" Trixie asked.

Gramarye got up from his seat. "Because, my daughter..." He walked over to Trixie and hugged her. "I just want what's best for you. We can't let a few government agents get in the way of your education, can we? Don't worry, Daddy's gonna take care of everything."

"Can you really do that?" Trixie asked.

"Sure, I'll find a way," Gramarye responded. Though Trixie couldn't see it, his expression changed. "I have to."

Daniel and Shimmer his behind a building across from Canterlot High. As Daniel peered around the corner, he saw exactly what he expected: the premises was still under heavy guard by federal agents. A little late for you to be up, wouldn't you say? he thought, before knocking the guards out with swift shots of astral mist. Off to bed with you. He motioned for Shimmer to follow him, and they made their way to the school.

"Not so fast!" Just as they approached the entrance, Lockheart came up behind them and pulled a gun on them. Daniel silently chastised himself for missing her. "Thatch told me about his little run-in with you. I can't let you go free."

"Then surely he told you that your little pea shooter's worthless against me, right?" Daniel chucked without even turning around. "So then...what was your plan?"

"True, guns don't seem to be very effective on you," Lockheart noted. "However..." She adjusted her aim slightly, and fired at Shimmer. As Shimmer turned around in surprise, a small cloud of astral mist formed in front of her, stopping the bullet. Lockheart was shocked.

"Yeah, no," Daniel told her. "You were seriously gonna hurt an innocent girl just for a chance to stop me? Go to hell."

"I don't understand," Lockheart wondered. "Why are you interfering with us?"

"Let's see, we've got a bunch of federal agents trying to kidnap a bunch of high school girls," Daniel noted. "I'm not the only one who raises an eyebrow at that, right? Oh, while I'm at it, you might as well pack up and go right now. Now that you've got my attention, there's no hope for you." Angered, Lockheart raised her gun...only to find an astral spike mere inches from her face. "If you pull that trigger, I will shove this spike through your skull. Are we clear?" Lockheart gave in, and lowered her gun, leaving Daniel and Shimmer to simply walk into the school.

"Would you really have killed her?" Shimmer asked, horrified.

"Only as a last resort," Daniel replied. "I mean, she's just doing her job. Gotta cut her some slack."

The two made their way through the empty halls of the school, until they arrived at Shimmer's locker. "Alright, just get that journal and we can get out of here," Daniel reminded Shimmer. She twisted the combination lock, opened her locker, and...

"It's gone!"

Surprised, Daniel rushed over to the locker. Sure enough, the locker was empty, and the magic journal wasn't in sight. Where did it go...?

"Looking for this?"

Daniel and Shimmer looked down the hall to see Azrael, holding out the magic journal.

"Azrael? Why are you here?" Shimmer asked.

"I had a feeling you'd be coming for this," Azrael explained. He tossed the magic journal into the air, then pulled out a black katana, slicing the book in two with a single strike. "Sorry about this, but my old man asked me to bring you in...and to kill your friend here."

"No... You're with Charade?" Shimmer realized.

Just then, Daniel got in front of her, and summoned his scythe. "You really think you can take me on? Then come at me!"

"You're a bit too cocky for your own good," Azrael noted. He closed his eyes, and he began to glow with a faint light. His ears disappeared, and were replaced by pony ears. A glorious set of white wings, the edges lined with black feathers, sprouted from his back.

"Impossible!" Shimmer explained, shocked to see someone outside her circle of friends who was capable of "ponying up."

Azrael held out his free hand, and quickly amassed a huge sphere of brilliant white energy in front of his palm. By the time Daniel realized what he was doing, it was too late. He shot forth a concussive magic blast, sending Daniel flying down the hall, straight through the wall, and into the side of the building across the street.

That power... Daniel ruminated as he picked himself up. This guy's an alicorn! But how is that possible?

Azrael pulled out a second katana, and rushed toward Daniel. The grim reaper pre-empted the assault, and shot forth numerous astral spikes to halt the alicorn's advance. Azreal slashed at each spike in turn, breaking the mist apart and stopping each blast in its tracks. That...shouldn't be possible! Daniel thought in horror as the white alicorn quickly got closer. He snapped himself out of his shock just in time, jumping high into the air and keeping himself there with astral mist, as Azrael finally reached the crater Daniel had made in the side of the building, and sliced straight through the solid stone like it was butter. Daniel took this opportunity to fire off another astral spike while Azrael's guard was down, but the alicorn was too fast, and simply broke it like the rest. He looked up at his target, and rushed into the air. Daniel blocked the incoming katana strikes with his scythe, which thankfully didn't get sliced to ribbons. Azreal kept trying to push his blades through, sending them both higher and higher into the air. As they approached the heights of the city, Daniel finally broke free of the blade clash and swiped at his assailant. Azreal swiftly dodged out of the way, and flew into the city, firing back at Daniel with his own blasts of pure white magic. Now it was Daniel's turn to give chase. He took one giant bound toward a nearby building, and began running along the wall toward his opponent. Azrael continued firing magic blasts at Daniel, decimating the buildings behind him. As he closed in, Daniel sent forth his own astral spikes. Azrael broke these spikes like the rest, but they were meant to be mere distractions, breaking up the magic barrage and giving Daniel the opening he needed. While the white alicorn was busy, Daniel leapt off the wall toward him, ready to plunge his scythe into his chest. However, Azrael simply blocked his assault with one katana, and slashed at him with the other one, sending him flying up to a nearby rooftop. He flew up to Daniel's level, and charged up another massive magic blast. This time, Daniel was prepared, and raised a powerful barrier of astral mist. The blast came, and Daniel's barrier struggled to hold it back. He barely had time to register how screwed he was before the attack finally broke through his shield and blasted him to the next rooftop. Azrael rushed over to where he was set to land, and prepared to cut him down. However, Daniel managed to pick himself up mid-flight, and responded to Azrael's attack with his own. The two blades clashed hard enough that sparks started flying all over the place. Azrael took this opportunity to slice at Daniel with his other katana, but the grim reaper saw this, and pulled out of the blade clash. The force of Azrael's push sent him flying into the air, leaving him hanging by a large cloud as he got his bearings.

All right, now where is he-

A single flash as Azreal passed him by, and it was over. Daniel floated there for a while, motionless...and then half of the nearby cloud slid off, as it was rent in two. A couple seconds later, a fountain of blood erupted from Daniel's body, causing a torrent of blood to paint the street below crimson. He then fell hundreds of stories into a pool of his own blood...on top of concrete.

Azrael landed nearby, just outside the pool of blood. "If it makes you feel any better," he told the writhing figure in the crimson liquid, "you were a worthy opponent. Farewell." Shimmer arrived to witness the horror just as Azrael flew away.

"Azrael... Why...?" Shimmer wondered in shock as she beheld the half-dead boy in a pool of his own blood, shock and terror on his face as he clung dearly to life.

The next day, Daniel woke up to the monotonous beeps of a cardiogram. As he regained consciousness, he realized he was all but tied to a hospital bed. As his vision fully cleared, he noticed Shimmer sitting in a corner of the room.

"Shimmer...? What happened?" he asked.

"After Azreal..." Shimmer paused, clearly uncomfortable with what she witnessed. "Anyway, I rushed you to a hospital as soon as I could." She looked away. Clearly, there was something else that was bothering her. "Daniel...the doctors said your injuries should have killed you almost instantly. I thought maybe this was some sort of miracle, but then I remembered what that agent said about guns not really working on you. Just...what are you?"

A long moment of silence passed before Daniel responded. "You're right to be suspicious. You see, I'm not completely human. My father...he could only be described as a demon. I have no love for the man, but it's thanks to his blood in my veins that I'm alive today." With that, he effortlessly broke free of the medical equipment keeping him bound to the bed, and got to his feet.

"Woah, are you sure that's a good idea?" Shimmer asked, worried.

"Half-demon, remember?" Daniel reminded. "Trust me, the wound's healed already. Now, I've got a winged @#$#@#$ to kill."

"No you don't," Shimmer denied him, grabbing his arm to stop him. "If you fight him again, you'll end up right back here. Or you could die."

"You got a better plan?" Daniel argued, pulling back his arm. "You saw what he's capable of. I'm the only one remotely in his league. If Charade sends them after anyone else, they're screwed. I need to take care of him personally." He finally took note of the hospital gown he'd been dressed in. "Where are my clothes?"

"About that," Shimmer replied, resigning herself to Daniel's choice. "Your old clothes got shredded...and soaked in blood...so I went out and got you new clothes. Wasn't sure what your tastes were, so I hope you like them."

She handed Daniel a bag of clothes, and he brought it into the bathroom to change. A few minutes later, he came out fully clothed. He now wore jet black pants and shoes, as well as a black jacket that accentuated the pale blue shirt underneath. He also wore gloves and a scarf of the same shade of blue. He looked over to Shimmer, and gave her a cocky smile.

"They're perfect." He headed for the door, then turned back to Shimmer. "I'm gonna make sure to come back from this alive. So don't worry, you'll see me again." With that, he left, giving the nurses heart attacks as they tried and failed to get their "critically injured" patient back to his bed.

After a brief moment of silence, Shimmer pulled out her phone and made a call. "Hey there, Rainbow. You girls got all your stuff together?" Rainbow groaned, but told her they were ready. "Good. I'll be right over." She hung up, and left to see to her friends.

Darkness Within

"Careful with that, dearie," Rarity ordered Applejack, who was stuck lugging her heavy dress-filled suitcase down the stairs to the ground floor. The other girls stood on the sidewalk with their luggage, waiting for this last trip down to finish so they could leave.

"Why are we leaving Azrael's place again?" Rainbow asked, skeptical. "That place was awesome!"

"It's not safe there anymore," Shimmer answered.

"And where IS it safe!?" Rainbow argued back. "Did you forget that we have nowhere else to go?"

"I didn't," Shimmer replied, "but if he comes back-"

"Well well well." Startled, the seven girls turned to see that Trixie had run into them. "Trixie heard you girls were on the run. Oh, how the mighty have fallen. And it seems even your new friends have abandoned you."

"That's not true," Shimmer asserted. "Daniel's out there trying to fix this mess."

"Oh really?" Trixie inquired, skeptical. "And what about the other new kid, Azrael?"

Shimmer looked away. "We...we can't trust him anymore."

"Um...sorry to bother you," Fluttershy quietly piped up, "but why not?"

"He... What he did... We just can't!" The other six girls quickly understood, as it was clear her outburst was based on some sort of trauma. If only they knew...

"Anyway, now that we 'can't trust Azrael,' we've got nowhere to stay until this blows over," Rainbow mentioned, still angry.

"Oh, is that so?" Trixie pondered, giving them a smug look. "Well, if you all get on your knees and beg, Trixie will see if you can stay at Trixie's place."

"Yes, please," Shimmer replied.

"Well, if that's how you're going to- What?" Trixie asked, slightly surprised that Shimmer wasn't even slightly annoyed by her taunting, or even that she'd taken the offer seriously.

"You heard me," Shimmer answered. "We desperately need a place to stay, and I doubt we can just go back home anytime soon. If you're offering, we'll gladly lay low at your place. Right?" She looked back to her friends, who all nodded, albiet with differing levels of reluctance.

It took a while for Trixie to regain her composure. "Well then, let Trixie show you the way."

"Woah! This is your house!?" Rainbow asked in surprise and disbelief.

Trixie had dragged the girls all the way to the edge of Canterlot. There, they bore witness to the giant mansion sitting alone in the outskirts, surrounded by a lush green lawn and several beautiful hedges. The tall windows and ornate decorations gave the whole manor a very regal feel.

"Are you impressed?" Trixie asked smugly. "My father used to be a world famous magician. This kind of grandeur is nothing to him." She brought them up to the front door, and welcomed them inside. "Come in, and gasp in awe of the magnificence of Lulamoon Manor!"

The girls entered into a massive foyer. A large golden chandelier hung over a great staircase covered in a regal gold-trimmed red carpet. The carpet branched off to either side once it left the floor, each branch passing by two pots of colorful roses on their way through grand wood archways. Through the right archway was a huge dining room with an ornate table in the center. To the left was a large living room, where a great flat screen TV hung above a fireplace, with a velvet sofa overlooking the two. Another set of stairs in the living room went up to a balcony, leading to a hall on the second floor.

Rainbow and Applejack immediately made a beeline for the game console, and made a start on Trixie's library. Trixie looked on with disgust. "Trixie should have figured. Now, if it would please the more civilized among you, the Great and Powerful Trixie will show you around the rest of the manor."

She brought the remaining five girls up to the second floor, and brought them down a long hall. As the tour went on, each of the girls broke off to spend their time in a particular room. Twilight lost herself in the manor's library; Fluttershy decided to care for the bunny Trixie and her father used for their magic shows; Rarity took a good look at Trixie's stage costume, and decided to design a new one for her; Pinkie ran off somewhere, probably to spread gaudy party decorations all over the place. Only Shimmer was left as Trixie approached a lonely room at the end of the hall.

"And this," Trixie began, opening the door, "is Father's study."

They entered into a mostly rectangular room. The left wall was lined with bookshelves, which receded back in the center to make the sole fault in the room's geometric shape. The right wall was one giant window, looking out on Trixie's stunning backyard. A lonely desk sat in the middle of the room, facing the window. On the far wall were a few promotional posters for Trixie's father's show, the Great Gramarye. Shimmer was immediately drawn to the posters.

"Like Trixie said, Trixie's father was a great magician," Trixie explained. "His tricks were legendary. Teleportation, telekinesis, some pyromancy, that sort of thing. The thing is, no one ever figured out how his tricks worked, not even Trixie. They were so fantastic that he quickly earned the money to pay for all of this." She opened her arms to gesture to the entire manor.

Shimmer froze. She'd realized something was off with the posters, but she couldn't tell what...until Trixie mentioned his repertoire. The list of tricks reminded her of the night before, and then it hit her. The Gramarye Lulamoon in the posters was missing the half mask, but there was no mistake about it.

Trixie's father was Charade.

"Is something wrong?" Trixie asked, noticing how tense Shimmer was. "Are you stunned speechless by Trixie's father's greatness?"

Shimmer rushed to the desk, and began rummaging around it. Before Trixie could stop her or otherwise react, she found a button hidden underneath the desk. She pressed it, and one of the bookcases sank into the floor, revealing a dark staircase. Trixie was stunned.

"Didn't know this was here, did you?" Shimmer asked. "I doubt this is the only secret your dad's been hiding from you. If you want to know the truth about your father, I suggest you come with me." Trixie understood, and began to make her way down the stairs. Before Shimmer did the same, she noticed a fire axe hanging on the wall. She grabbed it, and followed Trixie into the abyss.

The stairwell went deep underneath the manor, getting darker and darker as it descended. Finally, they came to the bottom of the stairs, and entered a dark hallway. The floor, walls, ceiling, doors, everything was a black metal that seemed to drain all light from the room. The only color came from the silver metal running over each seam. Curious, Shimmer and Trixie opened the first door they came to, and came across some sort of medical lab. A seat connected to a large apparatus lay waiting for a patient in the center of the room, along with a number of restraints to keep the patient from escaping their fate. Shimmer walked over to a nearby counter, where she found a number of empty hypodermic needles. Looking around, she noticed a few more needles that had been utterly shattered. She wasn't sure what Charade was doing to people here, but clearly his patients reacted violently to his treatments. As she was looking over the counter, Trixie was drawn to another door in the room. She opened it, expecting to find a closet...

...and she screamed.

Startled, Shimmer rushed over to see what was wrong. What she found immediately made her hurl. The room beyond had no light of its own, but in the light from the lab, they could see a mountain of mangled corpses in different states of decay. Forcing herself to look at the pile, Shimmer noticed that a lot of the bodies had pony ears and wings jutting unnaturally off their bodies. These people were forced to pony up, and from the looks of it, their new growths were painful enough to kill them. So then, the needles...was Charade injecting magic into people? And if so, to what end?

Shimmer broke out of her thoughts long enough to notice a traumatized Trixie sobbing in the corner, and went over to comfort her. "Hey, I'm sorry," she apologized. "I had no idea we'd find this..." She trailed off. What they'd seen was far too horrible for words.

"Father...why?" Trixie asked through her tears. Shimmer got up to explore the facility some more. "I'm done," Trixie piped up. "I don't wanna be here anymore. You're on your own."

"I understand," Shimmer answered, closing her eyes. "There's still one thing I need you to do, though. Go back up to the mansion, and get my friends out of there. Pretty sure that place is more dangerous for us than Azrael's."

"And what are you gonna do?"

Shimmer turned to the door, allowing Trixie to see the axe she'd brought with her. "There are some questions I still need answered before I can leave." With that, she left Trixie alone in the room.

Author's Note

I mean no offense to gamers...especially considering I am one.

Confrontation

"Well, it appears my daughter has brought us some guests," Charade noted, viewing surveillance footage of his manor from the dark confines of his underground bunker. He hadn't planned on having these girls walk right into his hands, but now that they were here, he might as well take care of them. Then his eyes were drawn to the feed from his study, and he noticed that the entrance to his bunker was wide open. Suddenly panicked, he checked the underground cameras, and saw Shimmer and Trixie poking around his lab.

"That's gonna be a problem," Azrael noted behind him.

"Yes it is," Charade replied with the obvious, pointing to Shimmer on the screen. "Take care of it."

"Right," Azrael responded, a slight hint of melancholy in his voice. "What should I do about your daughter?"

Charade paused, his eyes closed. "Don't hurt her."

"Roger that." Azrael backed out of the room to follow the kill order.

My dear Trixie, Charade ruminated. I'm sorry you had to see all of this. I just hope you realize that everything I've done was for you.

A few moments later, a white flash shot across one of the monitors, and the whole camera system went dead. Startled by the whole display, Charade pulled out a radio to check in with his servant. "Azrael! What's going on out there!?" he demanded.

"Sorry, boss," Azrael apologized. "Thought I saw someone, and I got a bit carried away."

Just as Charade opened his mouth to chastise his servant, one of the monitors suddenly sparked back to life. Perhaps some of the fried wiring had fallen into place and reconnected. On the screen was an empty surveillance view of his front lawn. Empty, that is, save for one new visitor.

Charade smiled. It looks like things might get interesting.

Daniel burst through the manor doors, startling Rainbow and Applejack and causing both to immediately die in their game. He was just as surprised to see them as they were to see him. As they explained their circumstances to the grim reaper, his surprise turned to dread. "You girls need to get out of here now," he warned them.

"Are you kidding me!?" Rainbow argued. "We're doing this again? What, we can't trust Trixie, either?"

"Apparently not," Daniel answered. "From what I've heard, Azrael was last seen coming in here. Even if that's not the case, I couldn't keep that info away from the feds. Those government goons are gonna be here any minute. Now, where are the others?"

"Right here," a shaken Trixie answered from the balcony, the other four girls behind her. "He's right. You all need to leave now."

"Wait, where's Shimmer?" Daniel noticed.

Trixie looked away. "Shimmer and I...found something. My father has some sort of secret lab in the basement." She cringed. "Shimmer sent me back up to make sure you all left, but I'm pretty sure she's still down there."

"What the hay is she thinking!?" Rainbow blurted out, storming up the steps. "Whatever's down there, there's no way she's taking it on alone! Right? Who's with me?" The other girls, minus Trixie, all simply nodded and followed after her down the hall.

"You idiots!" Daniel shouted after them, making one giant leap from the ground floor to the balcony. "That's my job!" He ran after the girls, readying himself for whatever waited ahead.

Shimmer opened a door, and found herself in a very peculiar room. Various apparatus lined the walls on the half closer to her. Many of them held vials of a shimmering white liquid, a physical form of pure magic. The other half of the room was covered in crystal. The large crystal sheet spread over the machines in the room and consumed them, as if it was attacking them. In the center of the room, a crystal pillar connected the sheets on the floor and ceiling. While the crystal sheets shimmered, this pillar seemed to shine with its own brilliant light.

"Impressive, isn't it?" Shimmer jumped as Azrael entered the room.

"You... Stay back, you monster!" Shimmer warned him.

"Harsh," Azrael replied, looking away. He let silence fall upon the room, and then spoke again. "If that's truly what you think of me, then why are you here?" Shimmer cocked an eyebrow. "Last night, you bore witness to a monster that played a part in turning your world upside down. Now that monster stands before you. So what are you gonna do?"

Shimmer stared him down, channeled all her anger and fear toward the boy who betrayed her, and pulled out her fire axe. Even as she readied herself to fight, she trembled.

"Ah, I see," Azrael noted, closing his eyes. "That's what I thought."

With a scream, Shimmer rushed him, and drove the axe into his shoulder. He didn't flinch, or react in any way. With one look, she could see the pain in his eyes, yet he didn't move. For whatever reason, he had allowed this, as if he thought she needed this. She started to break down in tears.

"For what it's worth," Azrael began after a silent pause, "I'm sorry. I didn't want to hurt you or Daniel, but I had a job to do. When I saw you after the battle, though, how shaken up and scared you were at what I had done, and how much Daniel was struggling to cling to his life... I couldn't stand it. I...I couldn't bear to hurt you any more than I had. So don't worry; you're going to be fine." He reached out to comfort Shimmer...

...and she smacked his hand away. "Don't touch me, you...you creep!" She yelled in anger.

"...I understand." Azrael told her somberly, lowering his arm. "A simple apology won't earn your trust."

"It will certainly take more than that to win back mine." Azrael hadn't even had time to react to Charade's voice before the magician thrust a card through his back. He pushed his servant aside before using his magic to make the card explode, forcing Azrael to the ground.

"W...why...?"

"In case you forgot, I specifically told you to eliminate the intruder. Ah, but it seems you had no intention of doing that, now did you?" He stomped hard on Azrael's injured back. "You knew exactly what you were doing when you blew out the security grid. A shame that you didn't do a thorough job. You missed a camera that showed a new guest arriving, and I was on my way to greet him personally when I came across this."

As if on cue, the door behind Shimmer opened wide. Rainbow rushed through, followed by Daniel and the other girls. The grim reaper gave Charade a death stare when he noticed the magician's presence.

"'Speak of the devil, and he doth appear,'" Charade quoted in response. "Welcome to my home, reaper."

Daniel said nothing, but astral mist spread out from his hand as he summoned his scythe. "Oh, guess we're already going there, are we?" Charade responded. "Pity. I would have loved to have a good little chat with the boy who effortlessly killed Baphomet." As he said this, he walked over to the crystal pillar.

"What is all of this?" Twilight asked as she got a good look at the crystallized room.

Charade frowned. "This was once the source of my power. Years ago, I came across this place, a spot where magic from another world poured into this one. When I got close, I was given what power I have. I believe you all know what I did with that power. The magician business was good to me...but then I was gifted with a beautiful daughter. I didn't want to simply expose her to the magic like I was. No, I wanted to make sure I gave her as much power as possible. I had amassed more than enough money to build this great facility on top of the magic well, and once it was finished, I got to work."

"So, the bodies..." Shimmer realized, but trailed off.

"Yes, my experiments didn't exactly go well. The subjects I collected reacted violently to the magic I pumped into their systems. Most of them died within seconds of the procedure's beginning...most of them. Eventually, I managed to create two...half-successes."

"Whad'ya mean a 'half' success?" Applejack asked.

"Baphomet and Azrael were certainly powerful, but there were...side effects. Baphomet completely lost his sanity as a result of his transformation, and I'm afraid the procedure robbed this traitor of his memories prior to the experiment." As he said this, he threw another card at Azrael. It flew right by his face as he was getting up. "I couldn't subject my precious daughter to my procedure if the cost was still so great. Sadly, I was unable to continue my experiments. As I was finally making my breakthroughs, the magic well began to dry up. Just as I feared I would lose the most important component of my work, magic surged back through the well...only this time, it fought back. The magic crystallized the room, sealing the well off completely. I no longer had magic to use for my experiments..."

He reached into his pocket and pulled out Twilight's pendant. "That's when I found out I could take yours. I'll admit, it's not much compared to what I've taken from this well in the past, but it should let me work with another subject or two."

"You son of a-!" Daniel roared, finally speaking up as he pointed his scythe toward the magician. "Do other people's lives mean nothing to you!?"

"All that matters to me is my dear daughter," Charade admitted, tipping his hat with his free hand. "So long as I can give her the true power of magic, I'll gladly sacrifice as many people as I have to until I get this procedure right. At least, that was the plan...until you showed up, reaper. You showed up out of nowhere and decided to oppose me, and since I can't trust Azrael to take out a target anymore..." He positioned his thumb to flip the pendant open. "...I have no choice but to use the magic I worked so hard to collect to combat you."

"No you don't!" Before Charade could open the pendant, Daniel rushed forward, and plunged his scythe blade into the trinket. Everyone only had a second or two to be shocked before the cracks in the pendant started shooting out white energy.

"Well, now you've done it," Charade sighed.

With nowhere else to go, the magic inside the pendant burst out like shrapnel from a bomb. While the explosion didn't seem to harm the people there, it blew the crystal cap off the magic well, which in turn released all the magic that had been pent up within it. This larger magic explosion ripped the facility and the mansion above to shreds, and made the land around the site barren. Everyone who was there was blown into the sky and sent flying for miles. Daniel, in particular, tried in vain to hold on to anchored pieces of the wreck before the force catapulted him into the great blue sky.

Shortly after the explosion died down, a bunch of black government vans pulled up to the disaster site. Lockheart got out of the leading van, and approached the wreckage. Where the crystallized well had been, there was now a massive hole, within which lay the void between dimensions. The void let out a strange light, and as Lockheart approached it, the light enveloped her. She ponied up, and light emanated from her hand.

"Uh, Ma'am?" one of her agents asked, confused and disturbed by his bosses transformation.

"Set up a perimeter, and get a base set up here," she ordered, ignoring her officer's query. "This thing poses a bigger threat than the incidents we were sent here to stop. We need to put a lid on it now."

"...understood, Ma'am," the agent replied, heading off to relay the order.

Lockheart stared into the abyss. What happened here is proof enough of the dangers of magic, she thought. We can't let this force go uncontained. Not ever.

Author's Note

Sorry this chapter took so long. Between serious technical difficulties and trying to work out the dialogue (some parts still feel wooden), I haven't been able to work on this for a while. I'll try to get the next couple chapters out sooner.

By the way, if it wasn't obvious enough, the magic well was a direct link from the EQG world to the Tree of Harmony. In this universe, Charade's constant magic drains for his experiments weakened the tree enough for the Plundervines to take hold.

Prisoners

Shimmer opened her eyes to find herself in an unfamiliar bed. As her eyes focused, she realized she was in a wood cabin, a nearby window opening out into a dense forest. A small round carpet lay in the center of the floor, right by a plain wooden desk and an equally plain chair. A single light bulb hung dormant above the room, letting the sun's rays do the work of lighting the room. Before she could absorb her surroundings any further, an old lady entered the room, along with a cat that squeezed past her. Her green eyes lit up when she saw Shimmer, highlighted next to her tan-beige skin.

"Oh, you're finally awake!" the woman noted. "Thank heavens!"

"Where am I?" Shimmer asked. "Who are you? How did I get here?"

"You ask a lot of questions," the lady chuckled. "A kind stranger found you unconscious in the woods, and came to me looking for shelter. Of course, I couldn't just turn a blind eye to a poor girl in need. I've been caring for you for about a month now."

"A month!?" Shimmer repeated, jumping out of bed. Worrying thoughts raced rapidly through her mind: where were her friends? Were they okay? What happened to Charade? What the hell happened in the past month!?

Shimmer opened her mouth to ask these questions, but the woman pre-empted her, holding up a hand to stop her before she started. "Now now, I'm sure you have a lot of questions, but I'm afraid I'm just not the person to answer them," she admitted. "Perhaps your rescuer might be more help. He's been here the whole time, waiting for you to wake up. He's waiting out in the living room. Just come out and meet him when you're ready."

As the woman left the room, Shimmer ruminated on the seed of dread that sprouted in her stomach...the moment the lady had said the word "he." Her savior was male, and thus wasn't one of her friends. She forced herself to get up and move toward the door, trying to find the best case scenario. Maybe her savior was just a concerned stranger. Maybe he was Daniel, who might give her some answers. She walked through the door...and her worst fears were realized as she saw Azrael sitting in an armchair, drinking tea, surrounded by a half-dozen more cats.

"I'm glad to see you've recovered," he mentioned nonchalantly, as if he was simply a good friend of Shimmer's, and hadn't torn a guy open right in front of her.

His eyes radiated his sincere care, but Shimmer wasn't having any of it. Disgusted and slightly terrified, she inched her way toward the front door. "Stay away from me," she warned.

Azrael got up out of his chair, disturbing the two cats that had nestled themselves on his lap. "Look, I know how you feel, but trust me, you're safer here than you are out there right now."

That was the last straw. Before Azrael could explain what he meant, Shimmer bolted out the door and ran into the forest. Azrael silently cursed, then followed her out into the woods. Shimmer ran and ran, until the trees thinned out, opening into...a clifftop. She stopped short of the drop-off, and turned around to see Azrael emerge from the forest behind her. He kept his distance, knowing that she might back away off the cliff if he tried to close the gap.

"Please, just...stay away from me!" Shimmer screamed at him.

"Look, if you want me to leave, I'll leave," he accepted. "I was just waiting to make sure you were okay after that blast launched us out here. Still, you should stay here in the sticks with the old cat lady. I was serious when I said you're not safe out in the open."

"I'm less safe wherever you put me," Shimmer shot back. She was burned once, and she wasn't getting burned again.

"I'm not kidding," Azrael argued. "If you don't head back, it won't be long before things end badly for you. Come on, I'll take you back." He held out a hand to her...

"Not a freaking chance!" Suddenly she ponied up, and fire swirled around her hand. On rage-filled instinct, she threw the fireball at Azrael, who simply pulled out a sword to slice it out of existence before putting the blade back. The pony transformation faded away as the fireball had left Shimmer's fingers. Only after the act did she realize what she had just done.

"Wh-what...? How...?" Shimmer wondered, dumbfounded.

"I thought this might happen," Azrael mentioned. "We may be in the middle of nowhere, but I've still been able to keep tabs on what's been going on in the world. From the sound of it, setting off a bomb next to a leaking magic vein had some serious consequences. Go figure. Now that little trickle that had sealed itself off is a huge spring of magic, and all of that stuff pouring into this world has been giving people powers like yours. Gonna go through hell cleaning that mess up in the future."

Shimmer took all of this in, before focusing on one particular point. "Wait, you know what's been going on in the past month?" she realized. "Do you know where my friends are?"

Azrael looked away. "Yeah, that kinda brings me to the danger you're in. Those government goons have been going around rounding up your friends wherever they ended up. As for Daniel...well, I have no idea. He and Charade are the two guys I haven't been able to get a read on all month. I've been kinda busy taking care of you, but now that you're awake, I'm gonna go after them."

"No. No you're not," Shimmer dismissed him, summoning fire as a threat. "Last time I trusted you, you let my friend get drained of their magic, destroyed my magic journal, and nearly slashed a guy in two. What in Tartarus makes you think I'd trust you with my friends now!?"

"Well, who stand the better chance of actually saving them: the girl who only just got fire powers? Or the guy who's had much more powerful magic for longer? Besides, I think that card to the back was Charade giving me the pink slip."

Shimmer gave him a death stare, acknowledging his point without agreeing with him. "If you're gonna insist on this, then I'm gonna keep an eye on you. You're not gonna hurt my friends again."

"Woah there," Azrael disagreed. "Even with my help, you're not ready for this."

"They're my friends. I'm gonna save them," Shimmer argued, then headed off without letting Azrael respond. All he could do was run after her.

"Hey! Do you even know where you're going?"

Trixie had no idea where she was, where she was going, or even how many days had passed. Shortly after her home was destroyed, she woke up to find two men in suits chasing her. It didn't take long for them to catch her, and they threw her into a van like a stray dog on its way to the pound. Since then, she'd had no choice but to twiddle the thumbs on her shackled hands as her windowless prison kept moving along. Occasionally they'd stop, and she'd hear muffled screams outside, before the truck continued its endless journey. By this point, she'd lost count of how many stops they'd made, how many other prisoners the agents had taken. As the seemingly endless journey had dragged on and on, what will she had left slowly crumbled away. Finally, she broke down and started to sob...

In response to her own sorrow, she grew pony ears and a long ponytail in her hair. As this transformation occurred, cold radiated from her hands, superfreezing her shackles. Her surprise at the situation pulled that power out of her grasp, but the shackles were still utterly frozen. She was quick to see an opportunity, and smashed her shackles against the wall. As she thought, the cold had made the shackles so brittle that they shattered on impact, freeing her. Though she only felt her new power for a second, she reached out for it again, and found that she could summon the power of ice at will. With this, hope rushed into her as a sly smile spread across her face.

She poured her power into the iron doors sealing her off from her freedom, growing a large sheet of ice to pry them apart. While she gained her freedom, this stunt caught the attention of all the agents driving similar prison trucks around her, bringing the entire convoy to a stop. Of course, she welcomed this chance to try out her new powers. To her pleasant surprise, another prisoner took this chance to follow her example. One of the other trucks sparked with electricity, and then Rainbow Dash, her hands unfortunately still shackled, kicked her way out the back. A nearby agent, already on alert from Trixie's escape, immediately moved to take Rainbow down before she could react...so Trixie froze his legs to the ground. Surprised, Rainbow turned to her ally.

"Took you long enough," she teased, before freezing Rainbow's shackles to break her free. "Think you can take these guys on without the Great and Powerful Trixie saving you again?"

"Heh. Watch and learn!" Rainbow boasted. She shot bolts of lightning at two approaching agents, stunning them. Trixie proceeded to freeze other agents, until all the goons around them were incapacitated.

"You honestly thought you could stand against Trixie?" Trixie boasted.

"Haha! Owned!" Rainbow cheered, before turning to Trixie. "So, you gonna help break my friends out, or are you gonna sit here taunting these guys?"

"And where do you think you're going?"

As Rainbow and Trixie heard this voice, they felt a strange power surrounding them. Before they could locate the voice, dark shackles formed around their wrists and ankles, pinning them in place. As they struggled in vain against the shackles, Thatch walked over to them, pony ears sprouting off his head and dark power swirling around his hand.

"So sorry, girls," Thatch taunted them, "but you're not the only ones to get powers. Good job on your prison break, though. You wrecked two perfectly good trucks, and we won't be able to get them repaired anytime soon. As a reward, you've both graduated to my truck. I'm not gonna let these shackles off of you until we reach our destination. And trust me, you're not freezing these off."

Before the two girls could even try to resist, or even just surrender, Thatch dragged them along remotely through the shackles. In a few seconds, they had filled to the brim with hope, but in this instant, it all drained away.

Author's Note

I'm kinda feeling off bout the Azrael/Shimmer subplot. I feel like Azrael's coming off as a creeper when he's not supposed to, which is a bit of a problem, as that subplot's kind of important.

Alone

In the middle of nowhere, a small crack formed in the earth. It grew and grew, opening up into a fissure wide enough for three people to fit through, falling into the raging fires of hell that flared from within. A dark red claw grabbed on to the edge, hoisting Baphomet up from the abyss. His short time in the world beyond hadn't helped his sanity, and had in fact given him a new outlet for his madness. Within the fires of hell, he had seen another demon, one he knew on sight to be that red-haired girl he'd seen in the city. He recalled this image, and smiled darkly. He would destroy this world and build a new one upon its ruins, ruling over all...and she would be his queen.

Daniel's eyes slowly opened as he struggled his way back to consciousness. What he saw was...surprising, to say the least. He was lying on grass at the edge of a park, under the shade of an oak tree. All around the park, mile high buildings spread out for quite a distance in every direction. The park in front of him was filled with people, each taking in this small patch of nature. In front of him, a mother played with her child on a nearby bench, not even noticing the groggy stranger waking up behind them.

"They can't see us."

With a start, Daniel turned to see Charade standing in the shade of another nearby tree. "It's another little trick my magic gives me, one I've used to 'teleport' objects other than myself. While my spell lasts, we cannot be heard or seen, except by those also under its effects."

"What do you want?" Daniel asked, going on the defensive.

"I just wanted to fill you in on what's been happening in the last month," Charade replied. "It's the least I can do to thank you."

"Thank me? For wrecking your home and all of your work?"

"Oh, that is a shame, but it's brought about much more positive developments," Charade mentioned, before telling Daniel everything Azrael had told Shimmer. "In fact, I just received news implying my daughter one of those who have acquired powers due to your meddling. Sadly, those government fools have captured her, and appear capable of holding her...but that won't last long. Still, that's not the only good thing to come out of all this. Thanks to you, the cap has been blown off the magic well, and it's pouring out far more magic than it ever did when I was using it. My dear Trixie may have power now, but if I can simply get her to that well and soak her in its magic, she could rival the power of a god!"

"Yeah, because of course you can," Daniel replied flatly. "Is your daughter all you care about? Do you feel nothing for all those corpses I saw lying in a damn pile in your lab? Can't even imagine how your 'precious daughter' felt when she saw that mess."

"True, those deaths were a shame," Charade admitted, "but so long as I can give Trixie as much power as I can, nothing else matters."

"Really now," Daniel shot back. "One more question, then: do you truly believe your 'precious daughter' will want the power you're giving her after everything you've done to get it? Do you really think that she'd want anything covered in so much blood?"

"...she wasn't supposed to know," Charade grumbled. "I would never show my daughter such a gruesome scene. Even so, now that she knows, I'm sure that she'll understand that this has all been for her benefit."

"She won't understand crap!" Daniel roared, flaring with astral power. "How many times in a row do I have to tell you that until it makes its way into your thick skull!?"

"If that is how you believe this tale will end, then our conversation is at an end," Charade replied nonchalantly. "However, I know my daughter far better than you do. I know she'll see things my way in the end." He snapped his fingers, and the crowd finally noticed the two. Though they were surprised at first, they soon began cheering the blue magician. Charade pulled off his half mask, turned to the crowd, and raised his arm to the sky as he took in the praise. "Yes, thank you, thank you everyone. So sorry this is a one time thing."

Daniel's hand flared with astral energy, but Charade halted his assault with a subtle gesture. "Don't be so hasty, boy," Charade warned him. "You wouldn't attack me, the Great Gramarye, in front of all my adoring fans, would you? No, that wouldn't reflect well on you at all."

"Aw, that's cute," Daniel chuckled. "You actually think I give a crap." He raised his arm, and shot forth an astral spike. Charade disappeared before the attack could connect, leaving the crowd to flee in terror from the psycho and his killer magic blasts.

Charade reappeared nearby once the park had cleared out. "Well, I guess I did misjudge you," he noted. "Bravo. Simply bravo."

"Go to hell," Daniel simply replied, before Charade disappeared once more.

Daniel started to leave himself, but something stopped him, a voice echoing in his mind.

Do you really care so little for the people you wish to protect?

In the metaspace within Daniel's mind, the soul of Luna stood behind him, staring him down with a judging glare.

Daniel didn't even bother turning to her. Why should I? They've given me no reason to bother with them...

I was an outcast on my world from the moment I was born. Everyone despised my dark powers, and treated me like the monsters that roamed the wilds. They shunned me, abused me, and left me for dead at the mercy of those same monsters. Some cities even formed mobs to directly try to kill me. And, as I'd find later, this animosity wasn't restricted to the world of humans. Heaven, hell, the world of magic, no one wanted anything to do with me.

In light of all this, I was forced to fight back. I developed my dark powers, smote those monsters that tried to prey on me, and showed those who tried to attack me the true terror they were dealing with. And so I fought against every single living being in my world for every second of life I had...

...until Lucifer revealed himself, and tried to take me under his wing. Right away, I realized that even he was another enemy of mine, a petty fool who saw me only as a weapon. To be honest, he barely even tried to hide his intentions. I had no love for the people of my world, but I wouldn't let myself be used to destroy them, not when their crimes were only against me. And so I raised my scythe against him, my first battle that wasn't in self-defense.

Eventually, I found out that, by killing Lucifer, I too would die. Now, doing so simply sent us to Equestria and removed this restriction, but at the time, I still went along with it without a second thought. So what if I died saving the world from Lucifer? No one would miss me. Hell, they'd probably celebrate my death just as much as his. Good riddance...

As Daniel finished this flashback, he looked back at Luna, who was horrified by his story. Were the people of your world really so cruel?

More than you know, Daniel replied, fading out of his metaspace and back into the real world. I'll make sure the common people don't die, but after that, screw 'em. It's not like they've done anything for me...

Demons

Lockheart sat quietly in her office, looking through her files on each of the persons of interest in this strange and hectic case. Photos of Rainbow Dash, Sunset Shimmer, Rarity, and even Azrael flashed by her eyes as she flipped through the dossiers, as she had several times in the past month. However, she paused when she opened up Daniel's file, one of the emptiest files she had ever seen.

Sure, her agents had gotten plenty of intel on his rather terrifying powers, but the file just kind of stopped after that. Who even was Daniel Hayes? Who was this mysterious berserker who just showed up right when the government decided to make its move? Was he another one of Charade's experiments? No, all the intel they had collected on the mad scientist suggested the opposite. Was he from the alternate world that she had been sent to seal off? Seemed likely, but the previous incidents proved that whatever power those beings had here was situational at best, and nowhere near as strong as this monster. So then who or what was he?

...a total outsider?

Lockheart sighed, dropping the files onto her desk. She minimized what windows she had on her computer, save for one: a live feed of the hole in the dimensional boundary leaking magic into the world. As soon as the rift opened, she had her agents build up this base on top of it, trying to keep a lid on the immense power gushing through. It seemed to be working, but a ton of magic leaked into the outside world before they could finish it, giving immense power to dozens, if not hundreds, of people who couldn't take that responsibility. As if that weren't bad enough, the explosion that opened the hole scattered the people they were already chasing, and all the higher value targets had yet to come back on her radar. Shimmer, Azrael, Charade...and Daniel Hayes.

Suddenly, there was a knock on her door. Lockheart allowed her visitor in, and an agent walked inside. "Ma'am, about the missing fugitives..." he began. "They've resurfaced. All of them."

Lockheart barely kept her jaw from dropping. "Where?"

"Charade and Daniel Hayes made a rather public appearance in Manehattan, but disappeared soon after," the agent mentioned. "Sunset Shimmer and Azrael were seen heading toward Baltimare."

Baltimare, huh? Lockheart considered. Thatch was approaching that city as well, last time he checked in. Still, even with his new powers, Azrael was beyond his level. There was only one real answer to this situation. "I hope you boys don't mind holding down the fort. I'm off to handle this personally."

Daniel walked down a lonely road, surrounded by a seemingly endless see of grass. Occasionally a car would pass by him, and sometimes the passengers would give him weird looks, but those were the only real traces of civilization, and they were surprisingly few and far between. Not that Daniel cared.

Do you even know where you're going? Luna asked him within his mind.

Heading back to Canterlot, he answered. I need to close that dimensional rift before Charade can get anywhere near it. Not sure how I'm gonna do that, but I will.

I'm...a little surprised you care, Luna replied. Clearly, she was still upset and worried after the episode in Manehattan.

I get it, but you should have a little more faith in me, Daniel told her. Okay, yeah, I have several reasons to not give a crap about anyone, but I can't just sit back and let them get screwed over.

I see, Luna replied. I'm glad to see you still have-

Humanity, yes, Daniel finished for her, before pausing. What term do ponies even have for that, anyway?

Luna paused, thinking of some sort of response, before dodging the question entirely. As noble as your goal is, it makes me ask again: do you even know where you're going?

As she asked this, a structure finally emerged from the sea of empty plains. As Daniel approached it, it became clear that the object was a road sign, clearly telling him that Canterlot was quite a bit further down the road. Well, I do now.

With that remark, the sign was suddenly engulfed in a fiery explosion. Though he was pushed back a little, Daniel stood firm. Huge chunks of the massive sign flew toward the reaper, and he summoned his scythe from astral mist to slice through them. When the flames died down, the demonic Baphomet stood in the sign's place, staring Daniel down.

"Oh hey, you're still alive," Daniel greeted him flatly.

"Where is the girl?" Baphomet demanded.

"Gonna have to be more specific there, bud," Daniel replied. "Got about seven or eight girls you could be talking about."

"Don't you dare play dumb with me, boy!" Baphomet roared. "You know who I mean! The girl with hair of bright scarlet!"

"Oh, you mean Sunset Shimmer?" Daniel realized after thinking for a bit. "Yeah, sorry, haven't seen her."

"LIES!" Baphomet screamed, his whole body bursting into flame for that instant.

"Dude, things got hectic after you died. I only just found out where I am. What makes you think I'd know where ANY of those others are?"

"You will not keep my queen from me!" Baphomet dismissed him. "If you won't tell me where she is, I will beat her location out of you!"

"Really. Because that went so well for you last time," Daniel reminded him, then shrugged. "But, if that's what you want..."

Before Daniel could react, however, Baphomet rushed him down and grabbed him with a flaming claw. As he was pushed back down the road, he brought down an astral spike, but Baphomet expected this and dodged out of the way. In doing so, however, the demon was forced to loosen his grip. Daniel took adventage of this to break Baphomet's hold on him by causing an explosion of astral mist around himself. With Baphomet temporarily repelled, Daniel took a second to inspect his singed clothing.

"Dammit man, I just got this outfit!" With that, he rushed at the demon and brought down his scythe.

Baphomet simply grabbed the blade. Snickering, he pulled it from the reaper's grasp, and swung it at its owner. Daniel jumped back, and wrenched his scythe back with astral mist. Rather than grab his scythe back properly, he swung the scythe with the mist, using its existing momentum to strike a powerful blow back at Baphomet. This left Daniel open, however, and Baphomet took this chance to rush him down once more. Daniel formed a cloud of astral mist in front of himself and shot out a spike to impale his attacker, but the demon simply dodged out of the way. In doing so, he put himself back in the path of the flying scythe...which he just swatted out of the way. Freed from its astral tether, it flew through the air and plunged into the ground. Daniel raced toward his weapon, only for Baphomet to attack him once more. Daniel simply gave him a face full of astral mist as he made his way toward his scythe. The demon tried to weave his way through the twisting cloud of azure death, but a lucky spike finally caught him in the shoulder. He flinched...but otherwise he showed no signs of harm. Daniel finally pulled out his scythe, and turned around to slash at Baphomet as he approached. He sliced the demon's stomach...and the demon didn't seem to care.

As Daniel stood there bewildered, Baphomet laughed, then slammed the reaper to the ground and pinned him there. "You fool," he mocked Daniel. "I have gained power from the fires of Hell! I could incinerate you right here and now if I so chose!"

With that, Daniel's eyes turned green and reptilian. "How dare you..."

Suddenly, black and red energy burst forth from Daniel's body, blowing Baphomet clean off him. When the dust settled, Daniel was wearing the dark armor of the Nightmare, burning hate-filled eyes trained on Baphomet as astral mist swirled violently around him.

"You know nothing of the power you speak of!" Daniel chastised him angrily. "You think you can take me on with the 'power of Hell'? I am death itself! I was BORN into that power! You cannot destroy me with a flimsy power boost from a pale imitation of my domain!" The astral mist started swirling even more violently, surrounding the two. "And if you dare challenge me again, I'll slaughter you so painfully that you will never WANT to crawl back to the land of the living ever again!" With that, the swirling blue vortex closed around them, slicing Baphomet into microscopic pieces.

Once the demon was gone, Daniel's rage subsided, dispersing the astral mist and vanishing his Nightmare armor into fleeting wisps of black and red energy. Looking back, he saw that the road had been wrecked, riddled with holes and covered in broken asphalt and metal. Ah, screw it, I'll clean this up, Daniel decided. He cleared away the sign metal, and used the broken asphalt to fill in the holes as best as he could.

If I may ask, Luna began suddenly, if you don't care about others, why do you still protect their well-being?

Hmm, not sure I could tell you, Daniel replied. Guess you could call it my conscience. I could never bring myself to leave a major threat alone. Speaking of which... With that, Daniel continued his journey back to Canterlot, hoping to put a cork in Charade's schemes.

Author's Note

This chapter was LONG overdue. This story just got buried in other projects, and the longer I put it off, the more coming back to it felt like a chore. Even so, I still want to see this through.

Blurred Lines

Nothing had really changed for Trixie. Her convoy still went who knows where, with no windows to illuminate the darkness within the truck, or to give here even the smallest view of the world outside. Now, however, her chains were made of dark magic that couldn't be frozen and shattered. At least now she had Rainbow to keep her company...

Suddenly, the convoy came to a halt. The truck shook imperceptibly as the driver got out...and a few seconds later, the back doors opened. Trixie and Rainbow shielded their eyes from the blinding daylight outside. As their eyes adjusted, they saw Thatch standing over them, with a faint but twisted smile on his face.

"I have a proposition for you," he told them. "You see, there's a certain threat here in Baltimare who's been giving our agents trouble. Much like you two, we need to contain this threat as soon as possible. However..." He snapped his fingers, and the dark shackles around Trixie and Rainbow vanished. "If you help us catch this person, and a few more down the line, we'll go easy on you. We'll have to keep tabs on you, of course, but you'll get to have your lives. So what do you say? Ready for a little hunt?"

Trixie and Rainbow looked at each other for a second, before nodding simultaneously in response.

"Good," Thatch replied. "Just for the record, if you do try to attack or break free, this deal's off."

The agent backed out of the truck, gesturing for the girls to follow suit. They found themselves just on the edge of Baltimare, the large city looming above them. With another simple gesture, Thatch ushered them into the city. As they walked through the streets, the entire crowd around them gave them weird looks. Clearly news had traveled far...and it cast them in a bad light. To these people-to the world, probably-these girls would always be outcasts. Rainbow realized this, and immediately regretted the deal she made. She and Trixie could live their lives... Yeah right. What lives? This incident had permanently erased any hope they had to live their lives normally; no matter what they did to change things, people would always fear them. She looked to Trixie. Her egotistical bravado was starting to show, but clearly she was breaking down inside...

Suddenly, a loud crash echoed through a nearby alley, and the whole crowd fled in panic. Startled, the girls looked toward the alley to find an agent pressed against a wall by a massive stalagmite, unharmed but trapped. Realizing they had found the threat, they rushed down the alleyway, squeezed past the stalagmite...

...and found a rather frightened Applejack.

Before Rainbow could even respond to her friend, Thatch followed them around the corner, that smile still stretched across his face. "Good job so far," he commended them, "but I didn't just need you to find her. Bring her in."

"Rainbow, don't do this..." Applejack pleaded, starting to feel betrayed.

"What, you think I would!?" Rainbow yelled, her anger exploding. She turned around to send who knows how many volts right into Thatch's chest...

A look of utter astonishment fell across her face as the dark chains formed around her once more. Yet her recapture was not what had shocked her so. No, as she turned to attack Thatch, she saw Trixie, just as much a nervous wreck as Applejack, complying with the agent. She held out her hand, and a wall of ice formed around Applejack's legs, trapping her in place.

"Sugarcube...why?" Applejack asked in horror.

Trixie simply collapsed in response. Why did she capture Applejack? She didn't really know. Ever since all this chaos started, her life had gone down the tubes. She had wanted adoration, but now the world saw her as nothing but a monster. She...she just wanted her life back...

"That's a good girl," Thatch congratulated her, before turning his gaze to Rainbow. "You, on the other hand, broke our deal. It appears we'll have to contain you...indefinitely."

"Yeah, no. Not happening."

Suddenly, Azrael dropped down from the sky, bringing down one of his blades on the dark chains ensnaring Rainbow. The moment the steel hit the shackles, they vanished. Meanwhile, Shimmer climbed her way down from the rooftops, and carefully melted Applejack out of the ice.

Azrael turned to Thatch. "You're really going to lock these poor people up, when they've done nothing wrong?" he asked. "Since when does that fly?" He rushed toward the agent, blade before him...

Suddenly, a barrier of light formed in front of him, blocking his path. It broke immediately upon contact with his sword, but that contact cost him his momentum.

"Getting a bit ahead of ourselves, aren't we?" Lockheart mocked as she appeared behind Thatch.

Thatch turned away and scoffed. "What, do I need a babysitter now?" he asked. "I think I can handle this just fine."

Lockheart didn't even acknowledge his comment. "Get that girl back to the convoy," she ordered, motioning to the broken Trixie. "I'll take care of this."

Thatch was quite visibly annoyed...but then his face broke into a sly grin. "You know what, sure. You wanna take this guy on, go right ahead. You're the boss, after all." He reached over and grabbed Trixie's wrist. In her shock, she jumped back in panic and fear, or as close as she could get to jumping while kneeling on the ground. "Sorry sweetie, but we gotta go now," Thatch told her as he ushered her out of the alley.

Azrael rushed after them, but Lockheart raised another barrier in his face. He got the message, and stared Lockheart down hard as he broke the barrier in a single sword swing. "Mind if I ask you a question?" he requested, only to be met with silence. He took this as a yes. "Why? Why are you people so hell bent on eliminating magic?"

"Tell me, have you seen what magic has done to this world?" she asked in reply. "I know for sure the girls with you have. Several times now, the magic that has leaked in from that other world has only brought chaos and destruction, small and short lived as it has been until now."

"That's completely unfair!" Shimmer argued. "Not all magic is like that. The magic of friendship we possess has done a lot of good, too!"

"Right, your power," Lockheart mentioned. "You say your magic is good, but we've only ever seen it take out those who have abused magic in the past. You know what that tells us? The only way to counter the other world's magic is with more magic. In that case, we can't afford to allow such power in this world at all, not unless we can control and regulate its use."

Azrael let out a short, sickening laugh. "Really now. I think it's a bit late for that, wouldn't you say? Magic has spread all over the world. It's not just an unwelcome force anymore; it is a part of this world. Are you still going to stand there and tell me you can contain all of it? And how low are you willing to stoop to try?" He raised a blade to her face. "How many people will you hurt for the sake of 'defense'?"

Lockheart immediately brandished her handgun right back. "I could ask you the same thing. You think people shouldn't get hurt for the sake of security, but if that's the case, what are your blades for? A pacifist defense only delays the inevitable. In order to truly keep people safe, you must attack the aggressor. If you're honestly naive enough to think otherwise, you have no business holding a weapon."

With that, Lockheart fired. Azrael, expecting this, strafed right just in time. The bullet whizzed right by his head, passed Shimmer, and hit the brick wall behind them. He took this opportunity to blast Lockheart with white magic, blowing her through the corner of the nearby building and back into the street. Miraculously, she got up nearly unscathed. By the time she did, however, Azrael and the three girls had followed her into the street.

Rainbow Dash came out first, and immediately shot off a bolt of lightning at the agent. It came too late, as Lockheart had collected herself enough to raise a barrier and block it. She then used her power to form a spear made of light, which she shot out at Rainbow at an insane speed. Though she might have been able to dodge the spear, it wasn't necessary; Applejack raised the earth in front of her, making a shield of her own. Before Lockheart could react, Azrael rushed in and once again broke her shield with one swing. He then jumped up into the air, allowing Shimmer to throw in a fireball while the shield was down. The blast singed her, and knocked her to the ground.

Azrael jumped back down, and stuck a sword in her face. "Let me ask one of my questions again," he requested. "After all that, after seeing how little you stack up to a combined force, do you still think you can capture every single magic user in our new world?"

"...if you're going to kill me, do it," Lockheart told him, ignoring his question.

Azrael withdrew his katana. "Why would I do that?" he asked. "What you're doing is wrong, but you don't deserve to die for doing what you thought was right. Just stop chasing people down, and we'll be fine."

"So you would show me mercy," she noted. Azrael simply nodded, a soft smile on his face. The girls followed suit, Applejack even tipping her hat.

"That was a mistake."

Suddenly, light spears appeared from nowhere and pierced the girls, Rainbow in her leg, and Shimmer in her stomach. Rainbow fell to the ground, swearing from the intense pain. Shimmer went silent from the shock, then collapsed. Lockheart picked herself up, clearly not as hurt as one would expect after taking a fireball to the chest.

"Searching for peace is admirable," Lockheart began, "but also naive and idealistic. Those who seek to do us harm won't simply shake hands and be our friends after a defeat. If you let your enemies go, they will stab you in the back. All I've done was demonstrate this."

"Bull@#$#!" Azrael yelled, slashing at her. Lockheart jumped back, and fired back a series of light spears. Azrael kept slashing, and the spears disappeared the second they touched his blades. However, while he was busy with those, Lockheart pulled out her handgun, and fired. She hit him square in the right side of the chest, knocking him back. Though the wound was clearly an issue, he responded to the pain with anger rather than shock. He dropped his right hand katana, held his arm out, and focused a powerful magic blast. Lockheart responded by raising a barrier, and it completely absorbed the attack. He had broken all her barriers before, but this one held.

"As I thought," Lockheart noted, a smug smile on her face. Suddenly, a painful shock spread through her body. While she had raised the barrier to deflect Azrael's direct assault, Rainbow, already low from an earlier attack, aimed a lightning bolt at her feet. The shock brought her to her knees once she was freed of its grasp. She started weighing her options. Despite her abilities, she had only taken out one of the four. Her barriers could protect her from most of the group's attacks, but if this kept up, they would get the better of her. There was only one option...

"I was hoping to deal with you here, especially Azrael," she started as she attempted to stand again, "but I'm afraid that won't be possible. I'll take my leave now, but I'll be seeing you all again." Azrael attempted to approach her, fighting the pain of his wound, but Lockheart teleported away.

With the threat gone, Azrael turned back to his hurt comrades. Seeing Shimmer still lying unconscious on the street, he rushed toward her, adrenaline negating the pain of his bullet wound. He knelt down by her side, and grabbed onto her hand, panic clear in his eyes.

"Ah'll go get Fluttershy!" Applejack mentioned. "She's nearby. She can help."

"Please," Rainbow replied, still ticked off about her leg.

Azrael shot her a look saying the same thing, and Applejack rushed off into the city. Azrael turned his attention back to Shimmer. "Come on, stay with me!"

Though the shock had incapacitated her, Shimmer was still aware of what was happening to an extent. She could here the Azrael fighting against Lockheart, and her eyelids visibly squeezed tighter when the gunshot rang out. However, once Azrael came to help her, her awareness faded away into blackness.

This worried her at first, making her think she was dying. However, she soon realized what was really going on. Her new pyrokinesis wasn't the only magic in her possession; she had acquired a telepathy touch during her stay at Camp Everfree, letting her see the memories of people she touched. And now she was seeing Azrael's memories.

At first, she saw the dark and sterile bunker she had come across before, now through Azrael's eyes. He was sitting at a table, just as metallic and black as the walls around him. Charade sat across from him, wearing his half mask and wizard's outfit. Was this how he always met with his creations? Had Azrael ever seen the entirety of his master's face?

For a long, unnerving time, the two just sat there, speechless. Charade had a cup of tea he took occasional sips from, but Azrael was almost completely motionless. Shimmer could feel a strong sense of unease from him, to the point that most people would pick up on it in a second. Yet, Charade didn't. He just sat there, drinking his tea, like the person sitting across from him was just as much at ease as he was. Eventually, Azrael turned his head to the right, presenting Shimmer with a wall of monitors, all linked to cameras overlooking the world above.

Only now did Charade take notice. "Now is not the time for you to see the surface," he told Azrael in a monotone voice. "However, that day will soon come. I suggest you prepare yourself while you can."

Shimmer felt a small sense of relief from Azrael, but she was still unnerved. There was something wrong with Charade's tone, something completely devoid of emotion. He spoke to Azrael like he were talking to a computer. To an object.

It was then that Charade's words popped into her mind: in exchange for his great power and alicorn status, Azrael had lost his memories. She got very curious: who was Azrael before Charade had experimented on him? What kind of life had he known? Who had once been important to him? She focused hard, and searched back through Azrael's mind, beyond the dreary memories of that dark, cold bunker...

She found nothing. The memories weren't just lost, they were completely gone. All she found was darkness.

Just as the emptiness started to take its toll on her, she opened her eyes. As she regained awareness of her surroundings, she noticed Fluttershy kneeling beside her, the shy girl's hands on her stomach. A soft, warm light emanated from her hands, and that light closed the gaping wound in Shimmer's abdomen. As she looked around, she saw that Rainbow and Azrael had already been fully healed.

She turned back to Fluttershy, who was starting to cry. "I...I'm just glad you're okay," she told her. With Shimmer's wound fully healed, Fluttershy collapsed onto her, embracing her in a hug of sorrowful joy. Slowly, Shimmer shared the gesture.

As the sun set over the horizon, Azrael sat alone on one of Baltimare's rooftops, looking out at the sinking fire in the sky. As he quietly sat there, Shimmer climbed up to the roof. Without a word, she sat down on the edge with him. They shared a quiet moment, staring out toward the horizon.

"Feeling better?" Azrael finally asked her. Shimmer nodded, but was otherwise quiet. Azrael gave her a worried look, and she looked away.

"These powers we've been given," she started, forming embers around her hand, "they weren't the first powers we've had." She proceeded to tell Azrael about the events at Camp Everfree, the powers she and each of her friends had gotten...and what she saw-or rather, didn't see-while she was unconscious. Azrael sat there silently, taking it all in. When she finished, he closed his eyes...and smiled.

"Azrael, I'm so sorry," Shimmer told him. "Charade stole your past from you..."

"So?"

Shimmer snapped toward him in surprise. He had opened his eyes, warming up his smile immensely. In his amber eyes, she saw not the emptiness of his missing memories, but a comforting and joyous light.

"Maybe I don't have a past anymore," Azrael began, "but I don't really need one. Whoever I was before, whoever I knew back then, that doesn't really matter anymore, does it?" He turned to face the sunset once more, now with his own face beaming back. "The 'me' you see here, he wasn't built from anything I'm missing. So I'm just gonna push forward without it. There's nothing the past can offer me...so I choose to look to the future instead."

"Really? And what kind of future do you see?" Shimmer asked.

Azrael stood up, looking back out toward the sunset as it approached total eclipse behind the horizon, painting the sky red. "The future I see is much like this sunset," he answered. "It's starting to get very dark and bleak, but there's still a light of hope that remains until the very end. And even if that light should fade, if the sun should set...eventually it will rise again."

He held out his hand to help Shimmer up. "We still have work to do," he told her. "Let's go be that light."

Author's Note

To those who read this story when I first started posting, I went back and edited the ax scene from Chapter 6. It's not necessary to reread it going forward, but...well, let's say you can't call bull@#$# on Azrael actually getting hurt by a gunshot.

Numbness

Lockheart rematerialized inside her office, still staggered by the damage she had taken. Even her powers couldn't stand against a coordinated assault. Maybe Azrael had a point... As soon as she had recovered a bit, she pulled out her cell phone, only to find that Rainbow's lightning had fried it. She threw it at the wall in anger, and ripped her desk phone from its receiver. She took no time at all entering the number she wanted.

"That you, boss?" Thatch answered on the other end. "Did you have fun?"

"This isn't a game," Lockheart snapped back sternly. "We harshly underestimated our enemies. Fall back. Just take the subjects to have and bring them here."

"Wait, what?" Thatch wondered. "We're done, just like that?"

"We can't deal with these people by ourselves," she replied. "We need to regroup, prepare...and come at them with a much better plan."

Even across the phone line, she could feel Thatch's sadistic smile. "I think I have a few ideas..."

Daniel walked down the highway, as he had for the past day or so. As he moved, the empty plains made way for a tall mountain pass, and finally a dense forest. Eventually, as the moon finished its ascent through the sky and started its journey back down, he finally decided to rest. He found a nice grove right by the highway, slumped down next to a great oak, and closed his eyes to sleep...

So far, and not a hint of civilization in site, Luna noted. Are you sure you know where you're going? What you're doing?

In his mindscape, Daniel gave her a smart smile. You're seriously worried about not seeing a town? Didn't the pony version of this place require trains to get ponies to the next town over? This seems about right for a nice stroll.

My, you seem to be enjoying this, she noticed, smiling back.

Though there was no point in the empty space of his own mind, Daniel looked up...and truly smiled for the first time in a long while. Guess the long walk is getting to me too, in a different way. No civilization, but also no enemies, no battles, no bloodshed. For once in my life, however briefly, I can experience peace. And you know what? It feels pretty good. He looked back to Luna. Kind of ironic, now that I think about it. I've been fighting to protect some semblance of peace, but all I've done is create chaos. Heh. Guess I'm not good at my job, am I?

Luna looked away, but then chuckled slightly. Is that how you truly feel? she asked. Maybe you haven't done the best job, but if you truly want to protect others, just keep trying. You can make yourself better?

Can I really? Daniel asked, turning somber again as he summoned some astral mist. The mist had no real purpose in his mindscape, but he created the image for effect. Look at me. I am the warrior, the destroyer, not a knight in shining armor. And even if I do succeed...I couldn't protect what mattered...

Luna was slightly taken aback. Did you really care for me that much? she asked.

Daniel paused for a while before answering. Even with what little time we had...yeah, he replied. I saw in you someone I could relate to, someone who could share my darkness. If I had only been stronger...

Luna placed a hoof on Daniel's mental form. There is no need to be so hard on yourself, she reassured him. You did all you could. And for what it's worth, I am still here for you. The two embraced. The gesture was fleeting within Daniel's mind, but the emotions behind it were strong regardless.

Think it's time to rest, Daniel mentioned. We've got a long day ahead of us. Heck knows this mess won't clean itself up.

All of a sudden, Daniel's eyes shot open. For whatever reason, his instincts told him he needed to be aware. He looked around the forest, searching for some sort of danger that might have woken him from his slumber.

It didn't take long for him to find it, as he noticed Charade heading down the road, going back the way Daniel had come. Only, Charade didn't seem to pay him any mind. Daniel's dark clothes may have helped him blend into the woods and the darkness, but not enough to be invisible, especially not with the moonlight shining off his blue scarf. So, Charade just didn't bother to acknowledge him? Why?

As the reason started to click in his head, Daniel confronted the wizard. "Where are you going at this hour?" he asked in a sarcastically nonchalant tone.

Only now did Charade turn to acknowledge his presence...only to turn right back around and keep moving away. Or at least he did, until Daniel called out:

"What am I to you?"

Charade stopped in his tracks, and turned fully toward the grim reaper. "...what?"

"What am I to you?" Daniel repeated. "Clearly you don't think I'm a threat. Pretty sure you'd care about running into your adversary. So what do you think I am?"

Charade was silent, but the uncovered half of his face said everything. He wasn't trying to hide anything; rather his eye showed a sea of confusion, like Daniel's query broke his understanding of what he thought was a simple concept. Like the poor sap who gets a whole bunch of conditional questions in response to what should have been a simple yes or no question.

Daniel continued. "And what were Azrael and Baphomet to you? What were all those people you killed in those experiments to you? What is your daughter to you?" Every question fueled a burning rage inside of Charade as he struggled to understand what Daniel was talking about.

"I think I finally understand now," Daniel began. "I understand why you still want to empower Trixie, even though she's horrified by your actions. I understand why you ever thought this was okay. You completely lack empathy; you have emotions, but you cannot perceive the emotions of others. Guess your mad scientist business is so much easier when you see others as soulless objects. Those poor people you killed? Disposable. Your successes? Mere tools. Me? Hmph, why should you care? Your daughter? Just an object you happen to care for, like a beloved stuffed animal."

As he said all of this, astral mist swirled around him, and he slowly walked toward the magician. As he finished, he formed his scythe. "You've shown just how dangerous a person like you can be. Really, this world is better off without you." He lunged forward, ready to strike Charade down, but the magician simply teleported away. He reappeared behind the grim reaper, and threw a card at him. It cut into his back, and exploded.

"Dammit..." Daniel cursed while on the ground, making Charade smile slightly in arrogance. That smile quickly faded, however, as the grim reaper simply got up like he was unharmed. "I just got this jacket."

He shot off an astral blast while Charade was off guard, blowing him into a nearby tree. While he was shocked, he rushed the magician again. Unfortunately, Charade came to his senses early, and teleported away. He once again reappeared and threw an explosive card...only for Daniel to simply catch it.

"You have some cool tricks," Daniel retorted, "but they just don't compare to true power. Maybe you shouldn't have exiled your toys."

Daniel threw the card back, but Charade teleported out of the way. As the magician did this, however, Daniel shot off astral spikes in a random direction. Sure enough, Charade reappeared right in the spikes' path, getting himself pinned to a tree. Daniel released him, only to grab him from behind and hold his scythe blade to his neck.

"I should kill you right now," Daniel told him, clearly willing to go through with his declaration. Charade began to panic.

NO!

Suddenly, a bright light shone from Daniel's eyes, and when the light faded, they were green. Not the malicious green of his nightmare eyes, but the calm blue-green of the eyes Luna had in life. He released Charade from his hold. The magician held a hand to his throat as he gasped for breath.

"May I ask, what purpose do you have in this forest?" Though Daniel's body spoke, it was Luna's voice that escaped his lips.

"My daughter..." Charade began. "I caught word that those fools in the government had taken her. I must get her back, or all my work will be for nothing..."

"Then go. Go to your daughter." Charade looked back at the grim reaper one last time, then teleported away.

Daniel shut his eyes tight, and when they reopened, they were blood red once more. Why did you do that!?

What you were about to do crossed the line into cold blooded murder, Luna explained. I won't allow you to kill someone who cannot properly fight back.

I keep forgetting how naive you ponies are, Daniel shot back. You've seen what that man has done. He can't be allowed to do as he pleases. And his daughter would be much better off without him by this point. Really, after what he's done, he might as well BE dead to her. Trust me, Luna, you will regret stopping me today.

Are you threatening me!? Luna asked, aghast.

Of course not, Daniel replied, but now he's free to do something far worse. Perhaps my actions were wrong, but I could have solved a lot of our problems by killing him here.

That is not the way of a guardian, Luna scolded. I thought you said you wanted to fight so others could enjoy peace.

Daniel turned away from her. I also told you that I'm no knight in shining armor.

Author's Note

It's hard to tell if I'm writing Luna right, mainly because I'm dealing with alternate Reflections Luna, not the princess we know.

Breakout

"Hey Lock, you there?" Thatch called, slightly annoyed as he held the phone to his ear. With his other arm, he kept his truck squarely on the road. "You wanted me to report in, right? Almost there, about 70 miles. We'll be there soon." He smiled. "Make sure to set up something fun by the time I get there, okay?"

As the convoy sped along the open road, it was being watched by a few very familiar people, just behind a hill. Azrael turned to Applejack. "On my signal," he ordered. "Careful where you put 'em. We want them to stop, not crash."

Applejack nodded, and Azrael turned back toward the convoy. A few seconds later, he lifted his arm, and Applejack activated her powers. A few yards ahead of the trucks, the asphalt soared into the sky, barricading them off and forcing them to a halt. As they slowed down, Rainbow rushed the trucks with her super speed, the power she earned at Camp Everfree, and sent her lightning through each truck, just enough to incapacitate the agents inside without harming them or their cargo. With the whole convoy taken down, Azrael soared down to the trucks. He stopped behind one truck, pausing while Applejack and Shimmer came down as well, as their goal was within reach. He pulled out a blade, and sliced through the lock on the back door.

Big mistake.

As soon as he did this, the doors burst open, and tons of spectral shackles and chains tore out of the confines. Azrael took the whole blast, his body getting covered and confined in dark chains, and his blades getting blown a few feet away. As the three girls gasped in shock, they heard a sadistic laugh come from the lead truck. Thatch took this time to exit his vehicle and confront them.

"Come on, you really thought we wouldn't be ready for you after that last attack?" Thatch asked. "So sorry. 'Fraid all your friends are already back at the base. I'm just here to have my fun."

He walked over to Azrael, and stepped down on his chest. "What's this? I thought you had godlike power or some crap like that. Surely someone as strong as you can just break out of those bonds." Azrael struggled, but not much happened. "But you can't, can you? You were never taught how to use all that power, nor did you ever need it. All that stuff you've done, deflecting that Daniel kid's attack's and breaking Lock's shields, that was all your blades. Not sure what those things are made of, but they negate magic on contact." He leaned down to shove his face into Azrael's. "So I thought, 'just throw everything at him so he can't block it all'. And oh how well it worked."

Just then, Thatch was blown away by a massive lightning bolt from Rainbow. "That's for what you did to me!" she snapped.

Thatch just laughed as he slowly got up. He looked to his right, and noticed one of Azrael's katanas stuck in the dirt nearby. He pulled it out slowly, deliberately, and then took time to inspect it. "This is a cool sword, isn't it?" Thatch wondered, taunting Azrael. "Think I'll hold on to this. The perfect souvenir."

Rainbow fired another bolt, only for Thatch to hold the sword in its path. Sure enough, the bolt hit the metal and disappeared. Surprised and angry, Rainbow decided instead to rush the agent. As she approached, however, her body was frozen in place by those spectral chains. Once the shock from this wore off, she realized the blade was held to her arm, just light enough to touch without drawing blood.

"Not that smart, are you?" Thatch taunted. "You should be thankful. See this?" He moved the blade slightly. "If I had wanted to, I could have cut your arm off instead. But I didn't. I'm nice like that."

As Shimmer watched this in horror, she noticed Applejack preparing her powers...as did Thatch. "Applejack, no!" she warned, too late. Her power went off, throwing Thatch into the air, but that was not enough to incapacitate him. As soon as the stalagmite thrust up beneath him, Applejack too was trapped by the dark shackles. Shimmer backed up, only to trip backwards. As she looked to see what tripped her, she found Azrael's other blade...

"Just one left," Thatch noted as he landed safely on the ground. "Come on out, Ms. Shimmer..."

A fireball suddenly flew in from his left, and he struck it out of existence. However, as the flames disappeared, Shimmer rushed in with her own blade, striking Thatch's sword with enough force to generate sparks. He backed off and thrust forward, only for Shimmer to parry and slash back. Thatch barely leaned back enough to avoid the swing, the strafed right, using his momentum to strengthen his swing. Shimmer blocked this attack, but Thatch used this opportunity to try to shackle her. Realizing this, she touched the back of the blade to the shackles to free herself, instantly raising it again afterward to shield herself from his next attack. She responded with her own swing, and a thrust.

Thatch jumped back, and pulled out his handgun. "All right now, missy, why don't you calm down?"

"You're not gonna shoot me," Shimmer asserted, annoyed that he had cheated on top of her fear. "You're 'nice like that,' right?

"I'm not that nice," Thatch shot back, a smile on his face.

He fired...but his bullet didn't land. Shimmer's sword was positioned just right to deflect the bullet, and she wasted no time after this bit of luck. She jumped up, and sent a huge jet of fire down into the ground. Thatch held his blade horizontally with his gun on the metal, negating the fireball as he unloaded his whole clip into it. He was too late; once the fire vanished, Shimmer was nowhere to be seen. Where did she go...?

"You might wanna work on that."

Thatch turned around, and to his horror, Shimmer was leaning over Azrael, sword in hand. "You keep going around kidnapping and shooting people, and all that karma's gonna come back to haunt you." She tapped the blade to Azrael's chains, and they all disappeared in an instant. He got up, and accepted his sword from Shimmer when she offered it. "Whoops. Might be a bit late on that."

Azrael turned to Thatch, raised his blade, and gave him a cocky smile. "I think you have something that belongs to me," he taunted.

Thatch pointed his gun at the two and pulled the trigger, only to remember he had emptied the clip. Azrael took this opportunity to rush him, but Thatch countered with his own blade. As he did this, he reached down to a pouch on his belt, and fumbled it open with the lower fingers of his gun hand. Opening it, he flung a new pack of bullets into the air, ejected the empty clip, and swung his pistol with practiced precision, hitting the new clip in just the right way to load it.

As he did this, however, Azrael used his wings to circle around him at breakneck speed, giving him barely enough time to block the next swing after the reload. He pointed his pistol under the blade clash and fired, but Azrael jumped up and backward to avoid it. His feet collided with the stalagmite Applejack had raised, and he pushed off it to put some distance between him and Thatch. The agent fired at him, but to no avail. Only then did a cruel thought come to mind...

Azrael landed a short distance away from the battle, and turned back to rejoin it. When he did, however, he saw Shimmer in spectral chains, with Thatch pointing his gun right at her. "I think we're done here," he decided cockily. "Put that sword away, or I shoot." Azrael paused for a good long moment, conflict stirring in his eyes. He couldn't let Shimmer, or any of the girls, get hurt, but if they lost this fight, everything they'd done would have been for nothing...

His head fell, covering his eyes with his bangs, and he put his sword in its sheath.

"That's good, now come with me," Thatch ordered. However, once Azrael put the sword away, he didn't let go of the hilt. He just stood there, motionless...building a sense of unease and anxiety in his adversary. Finally, at his breaking point, Thatch decided to cut his losses and pull the trigger...

It was then that Azrael struck. He rocketed forward with his wings, and quickly pulled out his sword into a great vertical swing. It connected; his sword sliced through the handgun like butter. Angered, Thatch swung back with his blade, only for Azrael to counter and jump away. He landed next to Shimmer, and let her loose.

"Thought I'd return the favor," Azrael told her. "About time we called for backup, wouldn't you say?"

Thatch tried to rush them down, but Shimmer fired as much flame as she could manage at him. He held out his sword, but while it negated the heat, the flames kept coming, blinding him and pushing him back. Eventually, however, the fire died down. Thatch saw his opportunity, and raced forward once more...

...only to have hundreds of volts course through his body and send him crashing to the ground. While Shimmer had distracted him, Azrael had flown off to free the other girls. Now Rainbow was back in the game, and she still had a score to settle with the morally questionable agent. She fired off another bolt, but Thatch was ready, and he blocked it with his blade. As soon as he did, however, Applejack lifted a stone from the ground beneath him, hitting him right in the face. Azrael took this opportunity to swoop in, but Thatch recovered too quickly and deflected the blow. As he held the alicorn back, however, Shimmer shot fire at his back, now exposed with his sword entangled with Azrael's. His anger growing, Thatch simply endured the pain as he tried to fight Azrael off.

"Not that simple, is it?" Azrael mocked, shifting his sword slightly to reference the blade. "These things are good, but they can't make you invincible. Gotta know how to use 'em, where your attention's needed most. And that appears to be...everywhere right now? Think that's right."

Another bolt from Rainbow broke the clash, allowing Azrael to push him further into the flames. Enraged, Thatch called forth his power, trapping all of them except Azrael. Or rather, Azrael was able to free himself.

"Enough of this!" he snapped, his sadistic cockiness making way for frustration and rage. "I've had just about enough of you, of all of you!"

He lunged forward in one last desperate attempt, only for Azrael to parry the blow...except the blades slid along each other. Though the white alicorn had never intended it, Thatch felt the smooth black blade slide through his flesh. It missed his right lung by a mere inch, but it hit...something else. He couldn't tell what it was, had no idea what would even be in that area of his body, but without it, he felt his strength draining. Azrael pulled the blade out, cleanly, leaving Thatch on his knees. Despite the chest wound, he was still conscious, aware, and very enraged. He reached out to try one last time to ensnare Azrael...

Nothing. The power he had wielded since the blast, the spectral shackles that could contain anyone...was gone. As he tried again, his attention was drawn to the edges of the battlefield, where the three girls were getting to their feet after their chains had disappeared on their own. A cold realization fell upon him: the blade that could negate all magic had pierced him right where his body had stored its new power. It had negated his core magic power...permanently.

As the three girls drew close, Azrael leaned down and took his other blade from the now broken Thatch. "I'll be taking this back now. Thanks for the good time, though."

Only now, as things calmed down, did Fluttershy come down from their overlook hill. "I-is everyone alright?" she wondered, only to be horrified by the wound in Thatch's chest. "What did you do!?"

"Oh that? That just happened," Azrael answered as he put his swords away. "Mind patching him up?"

"What!?" Rainbow shouted. "After everything he's done!?"

Azrael looked down on Thatch. "Eh, I wouldn't hold a grudge," he replied. "He's not gonna do much to us anymore."

Fluttershy finished patching the wound. For how serious it looked, there wasn't much to heal. "So, uh, now what?" she asked quietly.

Azrael walked up to the driver seats of a truck, and pulled the key ring out of the driver's seat. He brought it to the back, and found the key that opened the cell in the back. "Take the other keys and throw them away," he ordered. "We're gonna keep him in here for a bit, see if he can direct us to our friends. Under no circumstances will any of you hurt him." He cast a warning glance at Rainbow, who sulked in response.

"Guess we have some things to talk about," he told Thatch as he picked him up and dragged him into the dark enclosure.

Azrael left the truck visibly disappointed as the moon began to rise on the horizon. He walked off toward the hill where their attack had started, and Shimmer followed him over. As he reached the hill, he sat down and took a deep breath, seemingly letting all the disappointment out with the exhale. Shimmer decided to sit down next to him, and watch the moon rise.

"I'm guessing it didn't go well?" she asked.

"He's too stubborn. Not gonna tell us anything," Azrael replied. "Saw that one coming, really. Still worth a shot, but we don't need him to talk. Really, why would he?"

"So, what are you gonna do with him?" Shimmer wondered.

"I'm letting him go at dawn," Azrael answered. "I think he's had enough. Any more punishment would just be cruel."

"A heart of gold," Shimmer noted. "Never would have expected that from you when we first met."

"Well you saw how my life was before," he told her, drawing his sword to the moon. "It's easy to train someone to use a sword, to destroy, when they have no idea what it means to take a life. It's a lot harder to pull them back once they finally feel that loss. I...I don't want to be a warrior, a destroyer. If I can help it, I would rather not use these blades to destroy." Shimmer smiled at this. In the short time that she had known him, he had become a knight, a paladin, who fought to protect others without ever intending his enemies any real harm. Though they went about things differently, he would faces the darkness of the world just as she and her group of friends would.

"I've been wondering," Shimmer began as she stared at the jet black blade, "where did you get those swords?"

"Honestly, don't know," he replied, lowering the sword to inspect it. "I've always just had these, ever since Charade made me who I am. He never said where they came from. Maybe Charade had them, maybe I was holding onto them when he took me. I doubt I'll ever know, and frankly, I don't need to. So long as they continue to serve me well, that's all I need from them."

"You...really don't care about your past?" Shimmer wondered again.

Azrael turned his gaze to the rising moon. "Maybe I would, if things were different," he told her. "If I had left that bunker to find nothing for me in the world above, perhaps I would have tried to pursue my past to fill the void. That's not how things turned out, thankfully. I found people I could connect with, people I could protect." He turned back to Shimmer. "I don't need a past...because the present is all I need." Shimmer realized what he meant, dropped her jaw in surprise...and then simply smiled back.

"Finally, I have found my queen!"

Suddenly, the ground beneath them erupted into flames. Azrael was blown clear of the burning ring, and when he looked back, there stood Baphomet, holding Shimmer close to him.

"I thought you died!" Azrael shouted, drawing his katanas.

"And die I did," he explained, "but the concept of death no longer applies to me. I shall remake this world in my image...with my beloved queen by my side." He brought his demonic hand to Shimmer's face to touch her lovingly, terrifying her so much more.

"I won't let you hurt her!" Azrael shot back, but he didn't have time to act. Another ring of fire shot up beneath him, too wide and constant for his swords to negate, and he lost consciousness as his body burned. As soon as the flames receded, he teleported away with his prize, leaving the other three girls dumbfounded as they only now arrived at the scene.

A few hours later, at midnight, their anxiety had reached its peak. "Please tell me he's okay," Rainbow inquired to Fluttershy, who was tending Azrael's wounds.

"He's stronger than most, but he's not invincible," Fluttershy reminded him. "Even with my help, it will take him a while to recover."

"Ah think we've waited long enough," Applejack interjected. "It's good ta help 'im, but Shimmer's still out there. 'Bout time we started lookin', with or without 'im."

"And where do you suppose we start looking?" Rainbow asked dryly.

"What makes you think he'll have any better idea where ta start?" Applejack retorted.

"Girls, if we could all calm down..." Fluttershy advised.

Just then, Azrael finally woke up. Surprisingly, he smiled, but this smile was different. It still conveyed a sense of cockiness and hope, but there was a small twinge of pain too. He got up off the ground, and started walking away.

"Hey! Aren't you gonna help us find Shimmer!?" Rainbow yelled at him.

"She'll be fine," he answered.

"Oh really?" Applejack shot back, offended. "And where do ya think you're goin'?"

"Back to where this whole mess started," he answered. "That's where I'll see her again."

As the girls tried to revive Azrael, Thatch sat silently in the pitch black confines of the truck cell. He closed his eyes, not like they were much use here, and chuckled painfully. So this is how those little magicians felt, he realized. I almost feel bad for them. Almost.

Out of nowhere, the cell doors flew open, blinding Thatch with the moonlight. The doors quickly closed again, but he knew someone else was in the truck with him. "I thought I told you to @#$# off," he snapped, thinking his visitor was Azrael.

"Sorry, I'm afraid this is actually the first time we've met," Charade replied, pulling out a card and making it glow. The faint purple-pink light made his face look ominous. "I came here looking for a little girl. Trixie Lulamoon. Yet I arrive to find your whole convoy empty. I highly doubt the fools outside would just let anyone they knew run off. So I have to ask..."

He thrust the card into Thatch's neck, and the glow turned a dangerous red-orange. "Where. Is. My. Daughter!?"

"You know what? You @#$# off too!" Thatch shot back.

The card did not explode. Instead, Charade summoned another card, and thrust it straight through Thatch's chest, embedding it in his lung. "I'm not going to ask you again: where are you keeping my daughter!?"

"S-she's...at the base...where you...used to live..." Thatch caved, his answer punctuated by his ruptured lung. "Please...don't..."

"That's all I needed," Charade told him flatly. He took the red card, and stuck it in his mouth, before teleporting away. Thatch had a short, anxious moment, before the card stared flashing, quickly getting faster and faster. Thatch had time for a last muffled scream, before the card silenced him...

Reaper

As the flames died down around Shimmer and her demonic captor, she found herself in the middle of a large plain. To her right, the familiar sight of Canterlot's towering buildings loomed in the distance. To the left, and behind, tall mountains hung over the horizon. All of these landmarks were miles away from where they stood. As good a place as any to bring her.

"Don't you worry, my queen," Baphomet told her in a sickening tone. "Soon you'll see things my way, and we can rule over this world together."

Shimmer managed to break free of his grasp, but she didn't run. In this vast expanse, the demon had every advantage over her, so running was clearly pointless? And what were her fire powers supposed to do to a fire demon? All she could really do was stall, and maybe figure out what was even happening.

"Why are you calling me 'queen'?" she asked first. "What do you even want with me?"

Baphomet smiled. "I have seen your past, my dear Sunset," he replied. "On my way out of the fires of Hell, I saw you within them, with my form, asserting your dominance over all around you. You...you were perfect. You ARE perfect. You are the only one worthy of sharing my glory when this pathetic world burns!"

Shimmer stepped back, horrified. "That...that's far behind me," she explained. "I am not that person anymore, and I'm never going to go back to that! Sorry to disappoint you, but I'm not who you think I am!"

"I had a feeling," Baphomet answered. He opened his claw, and ominous dark red energy emanated from it. The sight terrified Shimmer, disturbed some core part of her, causing her to step back further. "Still, you did follow that dark path once. And if you've been there once, I can take you back. So just sit back and relax. I'll bring that side back, and then we can burn this world...together."

He started approaching her, and she started backing away, faster and faster, until she finally turned and ran. Odds be damned, she needed to run, to get away. Of course, this didn't quite go well. Baphomet rushed forward, his wings carrying him much faster than Shimmer could possibly run. At the last second, however, Shimmer turned back to her assailant in fear, twisting her body just right in the process to narrowly avoid the dark claw. Baphomet sped past, his right side brushing against Shimmer's body, her hand...

The two stopped in place, and Shimmer's mind exploded as her telepathy touch activated. What she felt, what she saw, none of it was anywhere near as coherent as other memories she'd seen. She saw Charade standing over a human Baphomet, conducting his wicked experiments on the poor boy. Then, when the magic was injected, the whole vision fell apart. Her vision was filled with flame, and an intense, unbearable pain shot through her, a horrifying effect of the experiment. She could feel the agony break Baphomet's mind, and struggled to keep it from breaking hers. His thoughts, his feelings, both physical and emotional, degenerated into a garbled mess, shredding Shimmer's sanity as she tried to comprehend it all. All she could make out was a continuous feeling of torment, of despair...and then of anger and malice. Burn. The world needs to burn. That one thought echoed throughout Baphomet's mind, to the point where everything else, even the reasons behind his destructive impulse, was forgotten.

Finally, the touch set her free, and she collapsed on the ground. Baphomet was also freed from stasis, and he turned to his captive. She couldn't run anymore, couldn't even move. Her eyes flooded tears as she tried to rationalize everything she had just seen and felt. "I...I'm so sorry..." she mustered.

Baphomet recharged his claw, and approached her. "Don't cry," he "reassured" her. "Soon you will be able to ease my pain..." He held up his claw, ready to thrust it into her...

Both of them were shocked into silence, into a near catatonic state in Shimmer's case, when an azure bolt cut through the air between them. "I gotta stop running into you," Daniel taunted, having arrived on the scene while the two were incapacitated.

Baphomet turned to face him, knowing he would not get his desire while the reaper standing over him. "Why? Why won't you leave me alone!?"

"Call it fate, I guess," Daniel shrugged in reply. "Clearly we keep meeting because the world needs you dead."

Baphomet snapped, rushing forward and snatching Daniel in his claw. "How dare you!" he screamed. "Who do you think you are to decide who lives and who dies!? Why should I die after all that has been taken from me!?"

Daniel just gave him a flat look. "Dude, we've been through this." He generated astral mist around himself, breaking free of the demon's grasp. "I am Death. Of course I get to decide who lives and who dies. That's my #@$#ing job." He summoned his scythe, and prepared for battle.

Is that so? Luna wondered within his mind. Daniel shrugged the question off and rushed forward.

His swing was stopped as Baphomet grabbed the curved blade. He summoned forth hellfire from the ground to incinerate the reaper, but he blew forth astral mist from his feet, protecting him from the flames somewhat and using the updraft to propel him into the air. He landed a few feet away, and sent forth an astral tendril. It wrapped around his scythe, still held by the blade in Baphomet's claw, and pulled it back to him, slicing through the claw. Baphomet howled in pain, his whole body erupting in flame as the pain turned to anger. He rushed for the reaper, hoping to immolate him. Daniel waited for him to get close, then sent forth astral spikes to pierce his flesh, followed by a strong swing to finish him off when his body tumbled over. Except, while all these attacks landed, none of them staggered the demon, or even slowed him down. Daniel plunged his scythe right into Baphomet's shoulder, only to be run over by his flaming charge.

Irritated, Daniel let out another blast of astral mist to break free, only for Baphomet to blast him with fire as he leapt away. He fell to the ground, charred and beaten, but still very conscious. He turned back to his adversary. The demon was clearly wounded, the holes burning with white hot flame instead of leaking blood, but Baphomet seemed completely unfazed. He fired off more astral spikes, this time keeping them in place as they held the demon down.

It was at this point that Shimmer finally came to her senses. The demon that wished to destroy the world, who had tried to erase all the progress she had made...was about to be destroyed by someone who had no idea what he had been through, and no intention of saving the person he once was. He could have been saved by the power of friendship, but now the monster would die to one of his own.

Except that wasn't really happening. Even Shimmer noticed that Baphomet was taking far more damage than any normal person would be able to, and throwing just as much back at Daniel, with just as limited success. Could his demon form really make him that strong?

"Why won't you die?" Daniel asked, more irritated than anything.

"I thought I told you," Baphomet explained. "The depths of hell cannot hold me! The power I've been given has allowed me to live forever! I am a god, and I will shape this world in my own image!"

"Is that so?" Daniel replied. He hadn't seen the same vision as Shimmer, but he was starting to put the pieces together. As he did, Baphomet rushed him one last time, intending to finally slay this nuisance...

He stopped in place as his body went cold. He looked down, and saw Daniel's arm stuck in his chest, black and red energy emanating from the point of impact.

"For what it's worth, I'm sorry," Daniel told him. "I do feel bad for you. Charade stole not only your life, but your afterlife as well. Still, the fact remains that the monster he has turned you into cannot be allowed to exist, to wreak havoc on the world. I do wish I could save you..." He pulled his arm from Baphomet's chest. The black and red energy still poured out of the hole, and dark purple energy, more similar to the Tantabus than astral mist, formed in the air around his body. In Daniel's hand was a yellow glowing orb, the demon's soul. "...but all I can do is offer you oblivion."

He crushed the soul, and Baphomet's body disintegrated into that purple energy and disappeared.

Daniel disappeared his scythe, and walked over to Shimmer, still sitting on the ground. "Why...?" she asked. "Why did he NEED to die?"

Daniel looked down at her with a solemn face. "You wanted to use the 'power of friendship,' huh?" he noted. "I get what you mean, but you're just being naive. Don't get me wrong, trying to find a peaceful option is very noble of you and your friends. But you have to understand..."

...and I'm afraid this goes for you too... he mentioned to Luna.

"...this isn't a normal day for you. You're not fighting some cliche villain. You're in my world now, a world of violence and strife. You CAN'T take the peaceful option. That's the choice that kills people. You let the people I've faced live, even in any sort of prison, and they WILL cause more suffering. In my world, you fight to kill."

Shimmer went quiet at this, astonished. "What kind of world have you been living in to make you think that way?" she asked.

Daniel turned away, turning his eyes toward the city in the distance. "One as far removed from your peaceful little world as possible," he replied.

Shimmer paused for a long while, before finally getting up. "If that's really how you see things," she began, "then I need you to do me a favor: don't you dare hurt Azrael."

Daniel turned back quickly, surprised. "I'm sorry, did you just ask me to spare the guy who tricked your friends and cut me open?"

"He didn't know who he was at the time," Shimmer rebutted. "He's not the same person we met a month ago."

Daniel stared her down real hard, trying to figure out why she would have a complete 180 on her feelings toward the white alicorn. Then...he gave her a cocky smile, apparently finding what he was looking for. "Heh, alright," he agreed. "I'll let him live. He's looking for you, isn't he?" Shimmer nodded. "Alright then, gimme a sec."

Daniel closed his eyes, and a faint white light glowed around him. Shimmer wasn't quite sure what was happening, but it seemed that the grim reaper would not be able to respond to her in this state.

Azrael was floating in a vast empty abyss. Having been knocked unconscious, his dreamscape hadn't had time to form a tangible landscape for him to traverse. All he could do was float there, ruminate on his failure, until his mind brought some sort of structure to his dream, or he returned to the waking world.

"Geez, is that the best you can do? You really need to redecorate."

Azrael turned around in his empty space, to see Daniel standing there in the abyss. "H-how...?" Azrael wondered.

"Dreamwalking," Daniel explained. "A little trick I learned from...a friend of mine." As if on cue, Luna appeared at his side in the void, raising so many questions that Daniel wasn't going to answer. Instead, he started his message. "Thought I'd drop by and say your girlfriend's safe."

"She's not my-" Azrael stopped himself, let out a chuckle, and flashed the grim reaper an irritated smile. "You really are a grade A douchebag, aren't you?"

"Pretty much," Daniel agreed. "Not exactly done here. Apparently, Charade wants to get back to that magic pool to power up his dear daughter now that the cap's been lifted. Thing is, those agents built a base on top of it."

"That so?" Azrael noted. "Looks like we're headed there as well. Those feds took some people they really shouldn't have."

"How convenient," Daniel laughed. "Makes things so much easier for you. I'll be bringing Shimmer with me to the base. You want her back, just keep doing what you were doing."

Azrael flashed him another smile in agreement, but Daniel raised his hand, indicating there was still unfinished business. "Your girlfriend made me promise not to kill you, but we still have a score to settle. Gotta pay you back for that nasty gash you gave me back in Canterlot." Luna was apalled, but Azrael was curious. "When we meet tomorrow, why don't we see who's stronger?"

"Why?" Luna wondered. "Why do you need to fight an ally?"

"Eh, let him have this," Azrael told the blue horse, his cocky smile fixed on his face. "Even I can tell how this guy thinks. He needs this fight. Why not give it to him?" They walked forward and clasped hands, as the dreamscape faded away. Azrael awoke, and Daniel returned to his body.

"Come along, miss," he told Shimmer. "I'm taking you to your friends."

"Really?" she wondered. "Where are they?"

"The question is, where WILL they be?" he corrected. "The answer...the place where we can all finally bring this to an end."

Author's Note

The more I write this, the more I think I've just turned Shimmer into a plot device. Whoops.

Assault

Azrael came to in a cold, sterile cell. The room was totally gray, a chilly monotone cube with only a dim glass window for a hint of color. Next to that window was an imposing metal door, the handle absent on his side. A cold, dim blue light shone down on him, leaving him with a slight headache. Experimentally, he tried to call forth his magic, and couldn't. That light was blocking his power. Of course, his swords had been taken from him, and that window was likely made of bulletproof glass. He was well and truly trapped.

"So you're awake," Lockheart greeted him behind the glass. "I hope this satisfies your issues with my justice. I take good care of my inmates, even the murderers."

As Azrael turned to his captor, he noticed that his wounds had indeed been patched. Only then did he notice that Daniel lay unconscious next to him, his wounds also tended to. "Look, I didn't kill Thatch," he asserted.

"You were the one who left him in that van," Lockheart shot back. "Of course you killed him!"

"No, that was Charade!" Azrael argued. "He's coming here! You have to listen to me!"

"You're preaching to the choir, bud," Daniel suddenly butt in as he awoke. "She's too self-righteous to hear a word you're saying."

"What gives you any right to say that!?" Lockheart shot back.

Daniel just chuckled, not even dignifying his captor by getting up of the floor. "One sentence. I just had to hear one sentence from you to know you were full of it." Only now did he get off the floor. "You know what, let me guess. You're one of THOSE people, who's convinced themselves that you're always in the right. You think you're the hero here, that you're in the right, that any differing viewpoints are just wrong. You can do no wrong...except the world isn't that black and white. There is no right here. You're just blinding yourself to the truth."

Lockheart shot her captive a rage-filled death glare. "People like you are dangerous. You can't be allowed to run free, to do as you please with your powers. You, and everyone like you, must be quarantined for the sake of security. Magic should never have existed in this world, and it must be contained."

"If that's what you believe," Daniel replied in a sarcastic tone, giving her a shrug. "Just remember: if that's truly how you feel, than save a cell for yourself." Lockheart's face turned red in anger. "Oh, that wasn't the plan? Of course, because you can do no wrong. It's okay for you to have magic- No, it's okay for the damn government to have magic, but not anyone else. Speaking of which, how was that partner of hers?"

"Horrible," Azrael answered. "The guy'd hold you down and laugh in your face. He never should have had magic."

"Sounds about right," Daniel replied. "I mean, he seemed pathetic to me, but the power balance was flipped there. And what was our generous host doing instead of keeping that sadistic creep in check?"

"Chasing and assaulting high school students," Azrael answered, his glare turning steely as it turned to Lockheart.

"Exactly," Daniel confirmed. "Wasn't exactly there for that, but hey, that's what you were doing before the whole magic burst fiasco, why would anything change?"

"Alright, what's your damn point!?" Lockheart finally exploded.

Daniel walked up to the window, getting as much in Lockheart's face as he could. "I'm saying you're blind. You are not the hero you think you are. And frankly, your government sucks. A lot of crap's going to go down here before long, and we can help settle things. But if you're too thick headed to see how much damage your blind idealism has done..." He pounded his fist on the thick glass for emphasis. "...then @#$# off." Lockheart finally had enough, and stormed away.

"Dammit, we needed her to get us out of here!" Azrael snapped at his cellmate.

"I'm sorry, were you not a part of that conversation?" Daniel shot back, sitting in a corner and yawning. "There was no way in hell she was ever going to willingly let us out. Forget the wool over her eyes, she's in a wool cocoon. It'd take nothing short of a miracle, or an apocalypse, to break through her hypocrisy."

He slumped down further in the corner, and closed his eyes. "Hey," he started, "sorry about the whole fight thing." Azrael turned to the reaper, somewhat surprised. "I said I went overboard, but that Nightmare form was going too far. I just wanted to go all out, but I guess I don't have a lot of control in that armor. Kudos for holding out up there."

"You...didn't want to kill me?" Azrael wondered.

"I made Shimmer a promise, right?" Daniel replied. "Besides, you're the hero, right?"

"Wait, weren't you saying there's no right in this scenario?" Azrael questioned. "Besides, I always figured you'd see yourself as the hero. You act like it."

"Me? Nah," Daniel answered. "I mean, look at me. Dark powers of hell, blood on my hands, suffering all around... You really think I'm hero material? No, I'm the biggest monster out there. I'm only 'good' because I kill other monsters."

"Why?" Azrael wondered. "Why do you fight?"

"I dunno," Daniel answered. "I just...feel like it's right. Maybe not the fighting per se, but I see chaos like this, I see people like Charade, and I feel responsible for taking them down. How about you? Why do you fight?"

"I fight to protect my friends," Azrael responded. Daniel chuckled slightly at how cliche that answer was. "What? What else can I say?"

"Eh, not that it matters," Daniel noted. "All we can really do is wait for someone to rescue us."

"Who? Who do you think is coming?" Azrael wondered.

Daniel chuckled. "Think it's about time your friends return the favor."

"Alright, the coast is clear," Rainbow whispered, the quietest she had ever been.

Her friends quickly moved up to her as she peeked around the corner, monitoring the next hall down to make sure it stayed clear of sentries. She would've loved to run in and smash her way through the base, but with the security in here, that probably wasn't the best idea. Plus, Shimmer had explicitly told them to hurt as few people as possible. They weren't here for a fight, they were here for their friend...and Daniel too.

Suddenly, a faint hint of movement caught Rainbow's eye, and she motioned her friends to halt. Only now did she notice the security camera monitoring the hall. With some quick thinking, she channeled electricity through her hand, pressed it to the wall, and sent an electric charge into the camera to short it out. After all, the cameras were still fair game. She motioned to her friends that the coast was clear, for real this time, and they all made their way down the hall.

"So, uh, any a y'all got a clue where we're goin'?" Applejack asked suddenly.

Everyone's hearts sank, especially Shimmer's. They hadn't exactly thought that far yet. They COULDN'T have thought that far yet. Yet, just as they were about to lose hope, a door at the far end of the hall opened, giving the four just enough time to hide in the nearby door frames. Checking the hall, they saw Lockheart storming out of the far room, clearly enraged.

"Are you alright, ma'am?" a nearby guard asked her.

"You are going to stand here and make sure they rot, understand!?" she snapped back. She moved to storm down the next hall, only to immediately stop. She turned around, staring intensely down the hall where four fearful girls were hiding away. After a while, though, she decided there was nothing down that hall, and walked back down the way she was going.

Well, that made things easier. Rainbow once again channeled her lightning powers through the metal casing of the base, zapping the guards unconscious without causing them any other harm. The four friends took this opportunity to rush down the hall into that far room. Within, they found their friends, trapped in a heavy duty cell.

"What'd I tell you?" Daniel told Azrael cockily. "The cavalry's come to save the day."

Shimmer rushed to the window separating the girls from their friends. She hit the glass as hard as she could, but she only hurt her hand. She tried again, this time holding her fist to the glass as she channeled her fire powers to melt the glass. No effect. Picking up on what Shimmer was doing, Applejack used her earth powers to twist the metal floor into a spike and jam it through the glass. The point simply stopped at the pane and dulled as more metal caught up to it. Defeated, she returned the floor to its previous state.

Finally, Shimmer noticed the door nearby. She rushed over and tried to open the door, only to find that it was locked. Again, Applejack attempted to help by altering the door, but it didn't even budge in response to her power. She even tried to force it open, but the door resisted her force just as well as the glass. Shimmer slumped to the ground, utterly defeated.

"Looking for this?"

The girls turned to the exit, where Lockheart stood. In one hand, she held a keychain with a number of small cards, clearly the keys to the cells. In the other, she held a gun right at the girls.

"I can see none of you thought this through," she noted. "I'll be escorting you to your cells now."

"No, I'm done," Shimmer refused, getting up as she gave Lockheart a cold, steely glare. "What is your deal!?"

"You think you have any right to ask that after everything that's happened?" Lockheart argued, pointing her gun squarely at Shimmer. "Magic, and people who use magic, have done nothing but harm to our world. You people cannot be allowed to run free!"

"No, you have no right to talk!" Shimmer shouted back, a fiery aura surrounding her for a second. "We don't want to hurt anyone! We never have! We just want to live our lives, and use our powers to help people! So why can't you just leave us the hell alone!?"

"Why not!?" Lockheart shot back, her voice raising. "I'll tell you why I can't just 'leave you be'. Your own power trip, the Dazzling incident, the Friendship Games, the Everfree incident, and this bloody mess! Magic has done nothing but unleash hell upon our world, and I will stand for it no longer!"

"Magic was also...part of the solution..." Fluttershy pointed out timidly.

"Well good for you!" Lockheart shouted, turning her attention to the shy girl and pointing a light spear in her face. "You just cleaned up the mess. Your 'good' magic only helped to stop the evils that same magic had already caused. That's not a bright side to magic, that's just damage control. If anything, you prove why you all need to be locked away: I cannot allow magic to run amok if it can only be fought with magic!"

"Your point!?" Shimmer raged back, slamming her fist against the reinforced door behind her. "If you have to fight magic with magic, that's all the more reason to leave us be! We've handled everything that's been thrown at us! But no, you think the right move is to just lock up everyone with magic. As if that would actually work. All you're doing is ruining people's lives! You're locking people up for doing nothing!"

"Sh-shut up!!!" Lockheart shot back, her gun arm shaking as it pointed at Shimmer. In fact, her whole body was shaking, quivering with the rage and desperation of a person no longer able to defend her point. "I have a mission, and I will complete it!"

"Oh, well that's a shame," Daniel butt in. "All that emotion, all that hatred for magic, all just because the government told you to feel that? You're more pathetic than I thought."

"You morons weren't there for any of those 'incidents' you mentioned," Rainbow told Lockheart. "Did you ever once think that your bosses were just clueless? I mean, I get it: 'Oh, this magic creates evil demons. Shut it all down.' But frankly, that's unfair."

"Shut up, shut up, SHUT UP!!!" Lockheart finally lost it, suddenly snapping her aim to Rainbow and firing. At the same time, she pushed the light spear she had created forward to impale Fluttershy.

However, she was stunned as her bullet whizzed by her head. As soon as she had pulled the trigger, the girls jumped into action. Applejack called forth a wall of metal to block the light spear, and Rainbow zapped the bullet coming at her with electricity, altering the charge in the air around it to send it flying off course. From there, the bullet ricocheted around the room before finally flying by the one who fired it to begin with. Only now did the girls prime themselves for battle, Shimmer and Rainbow wreathing their hands in flame and sparks, Applejack preparing to use the very room as a weapon, Fluttershy standing by to heal her friends.

"Oh, so you're going to attack me now?" Lockheart asked. "After all that talk, you're just going to assault me? This only proves I'm right."

Rainbow shot her an angry glare, filled with disappointment, and held it before finally telling her, "You shot first, asshole."

"We never wanted to hurt anyone," Shimmer pitched in, "but YOU attacked US, tried to imprison us, tried to KILL us. And you still think you're just!? We do just want our lives back; you're the one forcing us to go through you!"

Shimmer raised her arm, and sent forth a wave of flame. Quick on her feet, Lockheart immediately raised a light shield to block the attack. As she did, however, the floor rose up to trap her, and Rainbow sent electricity through her new shackles, forcing her to drop her gun. She quickly came to her senses, however, and released a blast of light energy to break free of her shackles. She immediately fired off a barrage of light spears, hoping to impale all the girls by just nuking the entire room. However, Rainbow used her super speed, a power she earned at Camp Everfree, rushed right up to her opponent, and gave her a quick one-two punch. Lockheart doubled back, into Applejack and Fluttershy. Applejack prepared to throw in her own beating, but Lockheart quickly recovered and threw a few punches at the country girl. She took a good punch to the face before pushing a block forth from the wall and knocking Lockheart back to the center of the room. As Fluttershy tended to Applejack's wound, and Lockheart recovered, Shimmer reached out and grabbed Lockheart's shoulder from behind. While the agent was still stunned, Shimmer turned her around, and punched her square in the face. The agent went down, struggling to remain conscious, albiet barely harmed otherwise.

"Urgh... I guess...this is where it ends..." Lockheart struggled to say.

"What are you talking about?" Shimmer asked, kneeling down over her opponent.

"Aren't you going to kill me?" Lockheart asked. "You @#$#s said you had to go through me, didn't you?"

Shimmer nodded. "And we did." She reached down, and took the key ring from the agent's hand. "We won. That's all we needed to do. We have no reason to hurt you, much less kill you."

After checking the numbers on the cell and keys, Shimmer inserted the right card into the door, freeing Azrael and Daniel. Azrael made a beeline to his savior. "Good job there, girls," he told them, gently patting Shimmer's shoulder. "Thanks for the save."

Daniel, meanwhile, grabbed Lockheart and lifted her off the ground. "You've lost this battle, and rather shamefully at that," he told her. "Not only did you fail your mission, but you proved yourself to be more of a monster than the people you've captured. And you hid behind some flimsy notion of justice. I think it's time you served out your punishment."

"You're not going to kill her, are you!?" Fluttershy asked, shocked and terrified.

"Of course not," Daniel replied. "She may be twisted, but she's not evil, just misguided." With that, he threw Lockheart into the cell he had just left, and closed the door. "Much better. How does that containment field feel? This is exactly what you deserve."

"So, now what?" Rainbow wondered.

"Charade's coming back here to secure the magic leaking in," Azrael reported. "We still have work to do here."

The six started to leave, only for a soft whimper to catch their attention. "Fine, you win," Lockheart murmured.

The six turned around to see Lockheart sitting darkly in her new cell, her hair concealing her face. "That's all I'll concede to you, however," she continued. "You won the fight. You get to go on with your lives. But never for a moment think that your viewpoint is right or just. Magic should never have been a part of this world, but...you win. Magic gets to stay. The chaos gets to continue..."

It was only then that Fluttershy noticed that Lockheart's gun was no longer in the room. It had been forced out of her hand in the fight...but she retrieved it while she was down. As proof of this, Lockheart raised her arm with gun in hand...and pointed it to the one thing it the room it could affect, her own head.

"I still believe I was right..." she asserted, her hand shaking. "I was always...just..." With a final bang, she ended her own misery.

The six heroes were horrified, paralyzed as they stared at the red stain that now tarnished the blue glass. All of them, that is, except for Daniel, who just closed his eyes in disappointment. "Truly a shame..." he thought aloud.

This broke Shimmer out of her shock, and into rage. "What is wrong with you!?" she screamed. "A woman just blew her brains out, and that's just 'a shame' to you!?"

"It is, because she should never have died," Daniel explained. "Throughout all of this, she honestly thought everything she was doing was right, that she was some sort of white knight for this world. So when her stance was questioned, she simply blinded herself and committed more atrocities. And when her viewpoint was toppled...well, I don't need to explain. Truth is, she had more than enough chances to turn things around from here, maybe even turn her views to more positive outlets...but she instead chose to end it all, because she was too weak to accept she was wrong. So yes, her death is a shame, because she never should have died."

The rest of the group fell silent, ruminating on Daniel's words, and mourning a pointless death. As they did, Daniel decided to leave on his own. "Where are you going?" Azrael asked.

"Uh, Charade," Daniel mentioned. "You can stay here as long as you want. After...that, I understand. I'm going ahead to greet him."

Across the base, a dark hall was drenched in blood. Lying in the crimson puddle was body after body, lifeless agents with slashes across their throats, wrists, and hearts. Some of the bodies still had bloody cards wedged in the wounds they'd left.

At the edge of the carnage, Charade walked down the hall, almost oblivious to the carnage he had caused. No one was going to keep him from his goal, not when it was this close. He felt a strong power from a nearby door, and stepped through. Sure enough, this room acted as the cap on the magic seeping forth, now emanating from a tear in the dimensional fabric. He walked right up to the rift and peeked inside, closing his eyes. The magic springing forth from the well hit him hard, power coursing through his body.

He gave off a maniacal laugh, opening his eyes, the whites turned yellow, the pupils and irises turned into small red dots.

Darkness and Light

Feelings of determination echoed through Azrael's footsteps as he walked down the streets of Canterlot once more, though only he could feel that rhythm. Rainbow, Applejack, and Fluttershy followed behind him, still suspicious of his intentions and thoughts, but otherwise lost in this unfamiliar district of the city they called home. Not Azrael, however; though he had only been out on the surface of this city for a short while, he could feel the place he had once called home. And he knew exactly what waited for him there.

Yet his prize came to him early. As the group approached one final corner, a familiar face rounded it coming the other direction, a shaken girl with scarlet hair...

"Shimmer!" Rainbow called out as the group rushed forward to help their friend. She collapsed on the ground, and they all knelt down to support her.

"Glad to see yer okay," Applejack remarked, before turning to Azrael. "Say, how'd you know she'd be here?"

"A little birdie told me," he replied cryptically, standing and moving forward. Shimmer reached up and grabbed his arm, bringing him to a stop. They turned to look into each other's eyes, and in that moment Azrael knew everything she had been through...and understood her desperate, silent plea for him to stop here. To not fight the twisted monster just around the corner. To not become that dark beast.

He responded with a light smile, raising his arm slightly to clasp her hand in his. "Don't worry about me," he reassured her. "I'll be just fine. Just need to do something real quick." With his other hand, he pulled one of his swords an inch out of its sheath. "Funny. I was hoping to avoid hurting anyone else. Still, figures that violence would be the one thing he would understand. I doubt he knows anything else." He let go of Shimmer's hand and his sword, and walked forward to face destiny.

Around the corner, he saw the final resting place of his old home. The magic blast that had ripped the Lulamoon Mansion apart had turned the surrounding gardens to desert, a broken gate opening into barren and blasted ground. Where the actual mansion stood, a new building had been built, a segmented and simple black structure built by the government to suppress the magic still leaking through. The barren land between the gate and the building was scorched, the remains of a minefield that had been blasted apart.

Standing in the middle of this scorched battlefield was Daniel, waiting for his opponent.

"Were you waiting long?" Azrael asked, a smile on his face as he drew his blades.

"Not really," Daniel replied, calling forth his scythe and raising it toward Azrael. "I knew you'd come, after all."

They locked eyes, effectively shaking hands across the distance before their battle. A second later, they rushed across the wasted garden, their weapons held behind them, ready to swing. They finally met, their blades finally clashing and ringing forth an echo that rang for many blocks beyond the battlefield. From there, the battle raged. Azrael, with his other blade free, swung forth, but Daniel twisted his scythe arm, hooking Azrael's caught blade and twisting it out of the way. In this motion, he narrowly avoided Azrael's left stab, and forced his opponent to move. Azrael jumped back, and Daniel responded with a few tendrils of astral mist. Azrael effortlessly blocked these tendrils as he landed, splitting them apart as they touched the black metal of his blades, but Daniel took this moment to rush forward once more and strike. Azrael, seeing this, opened his wings and strafed around, swinging to strike Daniel from behind. Daniel responded by continuing the momentum of his scythe swing, catching the black blade at just the right time.

"You've gotten better," Azrael noted, shooting his opponent a cocky smirk.

"Not by that much," Daniel shot back. "You just caught me off guard."

The two jumped back from each other, only to rush back and strike at each other. The sounds of metal on metal rang forth and echoed out from the barren courtyard as their blades clashed repeatedly. Azrael slowly stepped back as the fight went on, getting overwhelmed as Daniel's attacks came forth in an unending storm of slashes. What stood before the white alicorn was a berserker, bearing down on him with the brunt of his power, what power he could use given the edge Azrael's swords gave him, in an attempt to simply crush the swordsman with brute force. Azrael could keep up, but with no signs of an opening, he couldn't do much else. He realized this battle would never end, unless he made his own opening. And there was only one way he could do that...

He unfurled his wings and took to the sky, where he called forth his power upon his grounded foe. Daniel disappeared in a flash of white as the ground below him was blasted apart. As the dust settled, however, an azure bubble remained. It quickly cleared, its purpose as a shield complete, and revealed that the reaper had donned his Nightmare armor. Azrael, seeing this form for the first time, first thought to make a wisecrack, but as soon as he opened his mouth, the dark knight jumped up at lightning speed to strike his flying foe. Startled, Azrael flew up higher, and threw down more white bolts. As one bolt approached the Nightmare knight, he simply struck it down with his scythe, the blade infused with astral energy. He didn't negate the magic, as Azrael's swords acted; no, his power cancelled it out.

It was then that the white alicorn got a look at Daniel's Nightmare eyes. What he saw reflected back...was hatred. This wasn't the fair fight Azrael had expected, not anymore at least. His opponent wanted to destroy him, and his only choice was to fight back.

Immediately after landing, Daniel jumped forth once more, surrounding the airspace around the battle with sinister tendrils of astral energy as he soared into the sky. Using the tendrils as stepping stones, he rose up to Azrael's level, and brought down his scythe in a single crushing blow. Azrael simply sidestepped the attack, beating his wings to avoid the curved metal. In his rage, Daniel immediately sent those dark tendrils at his foe. Azrael dove into a corkscrew and held out his blades as he spiraled, negating those tendrils he didn't dodge outright. One bolt of azure energy got through his defenses, barely clipping his wing as it shot past. He came out of his corkscrew, righted himself, and shot upward to strike the dark knight while he was exposed.

In response, Daniel simply swung around and blocked Azrael's swords. His blind rage appeared to speed up his reflexes, allowing him to spin around at lightning speeds. Realizing the futility of finding an opening, Azrael decided to fight fire with fire: total offense vs total offense. He pushed forward on the blade clash, catching Daniel off guard and gaining some ground. They soared through the sky, bounding all over with wings and dark tendrils, clashing blades as they bolted from place to place. The sounds of their battle now echoed forth across the city, and citizens miles away could now see their aerial battle.

Finally, after a long and drawn out clash, Azrael got the advantage. He landed a blow on Daniel, staggering the Nightmare knight. Seeing this golden opportunity, he unleashed as much magic as he could muster on his opponent, causing the sphere of astral tendrils around them to dissipate as the reaper fell to the ground below. Azrael paused to catch his breath, only for Daniel to shoot up a dark green laser, clipping his wings and sending him plummeting to the ground as well.

Daniel made impact and skidded across the ground as his momentum continued, chunks of his Nightmare armor flying off and disappearing on each impact with the barren earth. As he flew, he regained composure, his eyes returning to their blood red color. As his momentum started to fade, and the last of his armor was ripped off, he conjured an astral wall behind him, catching himself and letting him charge forth. Azrael landed much more gracefully on his feet, only to be immediately rushed by the charging reaper. The force of his charge sent Azrael flying into the wall of the base behind him, finally wearing him down.

Daniel approached to finish the fight, but Azrael wasn't done just yet. He rushed forth, surprising the reaper and slicing his ribs. The reaper jumped back, but took another slice to the back. They met once more in the center of the barren garden, blood now leaking from their injuries. Azrael took one more look into his opponent's eyes, and was surprised to see the emotions behind them had once again changed. The rage, the lust for destruction, was gone, but in their place was grim determination. The fight had gone on long enough, and the reaper was ready to finish it. In turn, Daniel saw this same determination in the white alicorn's eyes.

With one final, silent nod, the two rushed forth and swung.

A few seconds later, as they stood with their backs to each other, both combatants buckled back as blood rushed forth from their new wounds. Azrael fell to the ground, still conscious but seriously injured. Daniel, on the other hand, clutched his wounds in pain, vanishing his scythe to hold in his pain. With great effort, Azrael flipped upward to see his opponent still standing. The reaper turned to him, and though the alicorn was too weak to speak, his eyes conveyed the question hanging silently on his lips.

"I'm not completely human," Daniel answered without prompt. "I can and have survived worse. Gotta give it to you, though: if I was pure human, you would have killed me."

"You gonna...finish me off...?" Azrael choked out.

"Of course not," Daniel replied, kneeling down to his fallen opponent and holding out a hand. "Yeah, sorry about that. Think I went overboard there. That said, you held up pretty well against the worst I could do. C'mon, let's get you patched up."

Daniel grabbed Azrael's arm to help him up...and froze on the spot as a spear of light pierced his chest. The spear radiated light into his body, burning his insides. On top of the injuries he received during the duel, the reaper finally reached his breaking point, falling back as he lost consciousness.

"I never expected you two would destroy yourselves," Lockheart taunted, as she came on the scene with a handful of officers. She held up a hand to call the attention of her posse, then pointed it toward the broken warriors. "Take them in."

As the agents lifted the limp bodies, Azrael stared at his captor in contempt. "You still think imprisonment is the answer here?"

"You have no right to talk!" Lockheart snapped back. "Not with my partner lying dead in his own truck!"

Azrael fell silent. He knew he had left Thatch alive, and for him to be dead now... He was dragged away in silence as he pieced together the hell that was about to commence. As the agents brought the warriors in, Shimmer and her friends looked on in fear. Their best fighters had just been captured. The next move...was up to them.

Author's Note

This took way to long. Wanna know why? Because I felt like this was a HIMYM ending moment when I started writing this chapter. In other words, I had this fight planned since before I started writing, a climactic fight between Daniel and his new Rival, like the fight between Sonic and Shadow in SA2. However, as the story evolved and became Azrael's story, the fight seemed to make less and less sense.

At the very least, now that I have finished this chapter, there's only two or three more left.