Dark Iron Kingdom

"My name is-" I started to say before getting interrupted.

"I know who ya are Prince Blood Moon," the spirit snorted out. Then when he saw me slightly shiver at being called by my title he merely chuckled and added, "So it's true. Ya really do hate those fancy titles. Heh I like ya already."

Now at first I admit I was taken back by his statements but in a strange sort of way it soon became, dare I say...comforting. He did not seem to care who I was and did not seem to wish to suck up to me if you will as many others had begun doing when I became a Prince. No, it was just as if we were two normal stallions conversing with each other. In turn I somewhat relaxed a bit due to this as I leaned against the wall near him.

"Well now that we do indeed know who I am, may I ask who are you?" I inquired.

He just closed his eyes for a second and shook his head before replying. "Hmm? What? Oh my name. Yeah. Sorry I was just starin' at all the fine dishware wonderin' how easy it would be for somepony to swipe 'em. Old habits die hard I guess. Anyway the name's 'Dusk skulker'," he said still somewhat gazing at the previously mentioned dining set on the table in the middle of the room.

I raised an inquisitive eyebrow at this before I leaned back further against the wall behind me. "Thief by trade I assume," I questioned.

"Burglar actually. Well Ex-burglar anyway. Before I bit it I was just a flower shop attendant," he replied.

My inquisitive eyebrow soon raised more from his comments and also when I noticed the fangs sticking out of his mouth as he talked. "An odd change of career given you are one of my kind," I said attempting to get more answers.

"What do ya mean one of your-oh oooh yeah naw I wasn't always a fanger like you," he said with a confused side glance before it dawned on him as he continued with a small grin, "Naw, this was just the result of a bad sex romp with my old marefriend Gloomy. That clumsy broad was layin' on me kissin' my neck all nice like before she tripped over some sheets changin' positions. I swear her teeth drove themselves all the way to the gums. Next thing I know I'm wakin' up covered in my own blood with these teeth stickin' out of my mouth while Gloomy was bawlin' her eyes out."

A small grin soon crawled up my face in reply upon thinking about a certain somepony else with a similar experience. A certain Rainbow Dash turned from old lieutenant Cloud Streak before they both became my duo captains of the guard. A tryst gone wrong if you will. But right before I began reminiscing further my ears quickly perked up when I remembered he said the name "Gloomy".

"Gloomy? Her full name would not happen to be 'Gloom Orchid' would it?" I said somewhat hopeful.

He side glanced me again confused for a second before his eyebrows went up. "Hmm yeah I think that's what her full name was. I just called her Gloomy though. Heh for one of the royals to know her she must have really gotten around after I died," he said back with an impressed look on his face.

I just pursed my lips in response before stating, "Well, in a manner speaking anyway. However may I ask how did you two meet?"

He just chuckled for a few moments in reply before saying, "Well it was a dark and spooooky night...heh naw it was dark and all but more like it was a damp and miserable night than spooky. Ya see I was bein' my usual drifter self given me bein' a burglar and all until I got pissed off from all the rain that was comin' down. So after a bit I found this little flower shop along the road and figured nopony would be there in a the dead of night so why not? Needless to say I picked the lock all quick like and slipped in to get myself out of the down pour that was startin' ta get worse. And that's when I found Gloomy all right," he then stopped for a few seconds only to recross his forelegs and shake his head before continuing, "She apparently got her klutzy self trapped under a bunch of flower racks that fell on her. Now given I found out she was a fanger afterwards it must have been pretty bad for her ta get trapped like that. Anyway against my better judgement I revealed myself and helped her get out. Because hey I may have been a burglar but I ain't heartless. She ended up bein' thankful and all and even let me stay the night without askin' too many questions how I got in there."

"That seems reasonable enough-" I began to state when I thought he finished before getting cut off again.

"Naw naw it gets better. You see she was lonely. Reeaallll lonely. And reeaalll crazy but that's a different story. Anyway so lonely she wanted me to share her bed for the night," he said as the grin on his face grew into a full blown toothy smile before continuing, "Now I wasn't crazy about sharin' a bed at first given the whole bitey bitey chomp chomp fanger thing, but on the other hoof it wasn't sleep she wanted. And hey I hadn't had any action in the better part of a year so I said why the tartarus not? Its not like mares throw themselves at professional burglars. Anyway there weren't a whole lotta a sleepin' goin' on that night if ya get my drift. I mean we did it everywhere...."

Needless to say I zoned out for a few seconds by this point as my face and body began to heat up. For the thoughts of Twilight's unusually high sex drive, probably due to being Life's advocate, began flooding my mind. As such I was greatly thankful I was still armored up because I kept uncomfortably crossing my hind legs back and forth in a futile attempt at calming a certain part of me. Eventually though I mastered myself enough to continue paying attention.

"So yeah, if those plants could talk I tell ya. And by Tartarus I ended up not wantin' ta leave. I even became her flower shop assistant as an excuse to take a break every now and again. Whatever though I prolly cooked your loins enough with my wild tales of steamy sex seein' that look on your face. I imagine what you really wanna know is how I ended up all dead, right?" he said with the same toothy smile as before.

"Yes...that would be...great," I croaked out in reply while I continued to squeeze my hind legs together in even more grand futility.

He merely gave me a knowing wink before he said, "Well lets see...rocks...yeah rocks that's what it was. Some crazy broad was barkin' all sorts of orders at Gloomy for some special flowers or whatever. It had to be peeeeerfect for little miss wanna be princess's wedding. You know the type. Anyway the order for the flowers got to us late and we had to rush them to the wedding the night before," His face then shifted to a mild sorrowful expression before he continued, "Now being we didn't wanna fry in the sun we had to get the order there before dawn. And that's right when this here genius thought it would be a good idea to take a shortcut through this big ol' gorge. Anyway not sure what happened but somethin' musta been ticklin' Gloomy's nose because she ended up sneezing pretty hard while we were in the thick of it. She then stumbled around and crashed right into me before we both slammed into the gorge wall. Afterwards a whoooole lotta heavy rocks came tumblin' down on us and while I managed to push Gloomy outta the way I...well I'm dead ain't I? Crush, splatter ya get the point."

And in an instant my abundant arousal fizzled out upon hearing the end of his tale, but right as I was about to say something he chuckled out, "Now now don't go feelin' bad for me. I lead a pretty interestin' life before the whole rock crush thing. And by Tartarus I'm amazed I didn't end up in well Tartarus for all the shit I pulled down the years. Just sad I had to leave Gloomy all by her lonesome."

Silence then reigned between us for a few seconds before I pursed my lips. "Dusk Skulker, you truly believed you were going to end up in Tartarus correct?" I inquired.

He glanced at me again for a second in reply before stating, "Well yeah. I was a burglar most of my life. Not much in the way of good deeds there. I even joked with Gloomy that when I ended up in Tartarus I should try and take over the joint heh heh. She would always get so mad when I joked about myself dyin'. Probably didn't wanna be lonely again."

My inquisitive nature soon clicked more puzzle pieces together in response to his words. And in some strange sort of way I understood the motivation behind Gloom Orchid's actions. She ultimately wanted her lover back I believe and probably thought he was in Tartarus. Though to go to such ends to do so was nothing short of frightening as much as it was impressive. But regardless of such this explained the reason why Paradise collected Dusk Skulker from her realm. For he truly may be the key to putting an end to this disaster we found ourselves.

As such I cleared my throat and said, "Dusk Skulker I have great reason to suspect that your old marefriend Gloom Orchid is the cause of all of this. She has caused a great deal of damage in ways we may not even know yet for what I assume is an effort to locate you. In turn I request for your aid in resolving this matter."

In response Dusk Skulker straightened right up where he sat and looked at me with his mouth agape. "Y-you think my Gloomy did all this?" he said in shock before he added, "I'm...I'm not sure if I should be proud or downright scared. I didn't know I meant that much to her. I mean I knew she loved me, but damn. Yeah...yeah I'll help. She may be one big crazy broad but she's my crazy broad."

"Excellent. Now if you please excuse me I need to inform the others what I have learned," I replied as I got up and began walking towards the main discussion in the room.

However in no time at all I soon discovered this "discussion" I had mentioned had really gone downhill if you will. All of the Princesses, minus Twilight who was cowering in her chair, were going almost full bore shouting at each other. The addition of their generals and Shining Armor adding their input now and again only seemed to fan the already roaring flames. The only contrast to this was Rainbow Dash and Cloud Streak desperately trying to calm everypony down. And as for everpony else, spirit or otherwise, seemed to be huddling along the walls wisely staying well out of it.

In turn I shouted, "May I speak please?" but that quickly fell on deaf ears if you will. As such I attempted it again somewhat louder only to receive the same result. And it was at this point I just spoke in my mind, 'Death, would you care to do the honors please?'

A grin soon crawled up my face that was not my own before my body took in a deep breath and bellowed out, "SILENCE!"

Death's multi-tonal voice quickly echoed off the walls like a thunder crack and even somewhat shook the room. The result of such made everypony go dead quiet if you pardon the expression and look at me in a mixture confusion and bewilderment.

"Thank you," I said afterwards before clearing my throat and adding, "As I can see this conversation is going nowhere good perhaps I can interject with what I had discovered and ease some tensions".

Luna was the first to speak after she shook her head and rubbed her ears with her forehooves. "Was thy actions truly necessary Blood Moon? However what is of such import that was worth the risk of blowing our collective ear drums out?" she grumbled.

"First and foremost my apologies for the mild distress. However I may have the reason as to why we are in this mess to begin with," I said before I began to explain what I had learned from Dusk Skulker. Death even interjected with a few pieces of note of his own in terms of issues with the veil between worlds and what Paradise had told him. And while I thought our statements would spur more conversation it instead caused most of the listeners to remain silent.

"And that is what we know as of right now. Are there any questions?" I said in conclusion of my explanations and the room remained quiet until Celestia spoke a minute later.

"This...this is troubling news. However, what's more troubling is what me and my sister had been discussing," she said and looked back and forth at both me and Twilight before continuing, "As the stewards of the Sun and the Moon we're responsible for their proper movement and general guidance. As such we're required to be constantly aware of their current states and make any corrections if necessary. So I ask, with Life and Death currently bound to the material realm who's guiding the cycle of life and death?"

The quiet in the room soon reached new levels of silence after she spoke. It was if her words had chilled the very air itself. And I lament to admit I had never thought of such a glaring issue before Celestia had mentioned it. In turn I could feel Death's spirit shift inside of me as if he were uncomfortable. But after a few seconds he said, "Currently...no being is"

"WHAT?!" Twilight blurted out in response as she pulled herself up to her full height in her chair. However before she could state anything further Life had confirmed Death's statements.

"Death...is right everybeing. The cycle of life and death is currently drifting by itself without guidance. And sadly the longer both of us remain trapped here the worse things are going to get. Right now spirits cannot pass on to the afterlife and eventually new births will start to become more and more difficult until they cease," Life said in a horribly somber tone.

Silence then reigned again before the gears in my head began to spin once more. For everything seemed to be pointing to the location of all the issues. As such I just grinned and snarked out, "Well since we are already heading there figuratively, I say we go there literally. Let us go to Tartarus!"