Stolen Soul on the Passage of Homeby MidnightChaosChaptersI - Chapter OneI - Chapter TwoI - Chapter ThreeI - Chapter FourI - Chapter FiveI - Chapter SixI - Chapter SevenI - Chapter EightI - Chapter NineI - Chapter TenI - Chapter ElevenI - Chapter OneI Chapter One Servant and Master, Reunited The oppressing prisons of Tartarus, prison of the damned, the defilers, and the darkest creations the country of Equestria had seen in the past millennia. From Tirek, a raging centaur from beyond the wreath civilization, to a lone bipedal creature who had lain a set of armor at the far end of the her cell. The clothes she did wear were in scraps, tears in some areas and holes in others. A pair of simple trousers, in far better condition than the shirt, covered her legs and she had propped herself up on a long spear. Silver-hair covered a face of elf-like complexion, lacking the flaws and faults of the normal human. She didn't move, aside from the slight rise and fall of her chest. The woman of the cell was in a deep sleep and it didn't seem as though she had moved in some time. A thick metal door separated the room from the cells outside of it. The prisoner inside this cell was a special case, having lived far longer than she ought to have down in this magical hell. Silence permeated the room, as it usually did, and the woman was undisturbed. After several more minutes, a leg twitched and she moved her head off the spear, a light red mark crossing her cheek from where she had lain. Blearily, she opened her eyes and peered out at the jagged rock walls of the room. Blinking rapidly, she yawned and began pushing herself off the ground. Shaking slightly as she stood, the woman made her way across the room, staring at the armor and then picking it up. "I still don't understand how this hasn't rusted," she muttered, setting it back down after inspecting it again. Lifting her spear, she stabbed the walls. A small scratch appeared and she lowered the weapon. Same old, same old, the woman muttered to herself. It’s boring, yes, but at least I don't have to deal with THAT issue any longer. The woman's mind drifted momentarily to the events which placed her both in this prison, and in this world itself. The first memory that crawled through her still somewhat tired mind was that of her departure. It had been a long night… "I suppose you're pleased?" a husky voice muttered, some footsteps echoing as the figure entered the living room. Dark black armor adorned the body of the owner of the voice and silver hair travelled down their head. A deep frown marred their pale face. "Quite, I did an excellent job," the other inhabitant of the room answered cheerfully. Unlike her taller companion, the second person had short brown hair. "Besides," the girl's face contorted with worry, "I know what it means to you, with, well..." The girl trailed off and the silver-haired companion nodded and sighed. "Yeah, but I would've preferred, well, going as the ideal me, not..." a gesture insinuated the meaning, the current appearance was a bit too much. "It's a costume party, Aranea," the girl answered, "besides, no one will recognize you!" "I suppose that is true..." the husky-voiced girl answered, "but, if any guys hit on me, I am going to use that spear and..." A look of disgust and anger contorted her face. An eyeroll was the response from the brown-haired girl. "Let's go," she said, and the brunette grinned, snagging a pair of keys from a nearby side-table. They both walked outside. A deep black car, a convertible it would seem, chirped as the brunette hit a button on her key chain. 'Aranea' walked around the car and slipped into the passenger seat. "I can't believe you actually dyed my hair for this, Iris," she said, buckling herself in. "While wigs may work," 'Iris' answered, slipped the key into the ignition and starting up the vehicle, "they can be inconvenient in the majority of situations." Aranea sighed aggravatedly, muttering about being found out when they all met up the next day, for work. The brunette girl smirked as the vehicle backed out of the drive and then sped off down the street. After a moderately embarrassing stop, for Aranea, they finally arrived at a large ornate house which had a variety of vehicles parked in its front and down the street. Iris pulled the vehicle off to the side of the road and removed the keys, letting Aranea exit before locking up the vehicle. The two girls made their way to the doors, meeting the guy next to the door. He gave a wide grin. "Hey! You brought a friend this time, sweet! How's her tolerance?" the guy gave Aranea a blazing grin and Iris smirked. "It’s Iris today, Jimmy," the brunette answered, "And, I don’t know, you'll have to check her." Aranea glared at her shorter friend before the guy practically dragged her out into the living room of the mansion. A crowd of people cheered as the guy pushed her up to the two guys currently keeping an idiotically grinning teen standing. Aranea was quickly ushered up to the keg and they tried to lift her up, but she protested. After a few more moments, Iris got aggravated enough to yell. "Just do it, you chicken." Aranea glared, which gave the two enough time to hoist her up and a third to bring the hose to her mouth. What is this, a frat party? she muttered internally before finally giving in. About an hour later Aranea, noticeably buzzed, was making out with, perhaps shocking to the other person in the room, her friend Iris. It was very much a touch-and-feel make-out session, and Aranea was starting to feel very heated in her costume. She felt Iris's hand drift towards her nethers and immediately froze, all signs of the alcohol vanishing. Iris frowned, and watched her friend run off drunkenly. Aranea went sprinting into a bedroom, thankfully empty, and sat hyperventilating next to the bed when the door she had slammed shut opened. When she looked up, trying to restrain the tears on her face, she spotted a girl with striped cat-ears and a top hat emblazoned with the numbers, '10/6', shimmering oddly as she approached. "I sense a very unhappy unbirthday, here," the girl said, staring at Aranea with wide green eyes. She seemed to be reading Aranea's soul , which caused Aranea to hide her face. "And a torn stack of Hearts, the Diamonds lying scattered across the table, the Spades covering the torn, and beaten by the Clubs." Aranea stopped shaking and looked up, "...What?” The sight of such absurdity caused a look of confusion to plaster itself on the silver-haired girl’s face. “The only way to fix this,” the girl pushed up her sleeves, “is through evaporation, and you’re quite lucky. I’m a pretty talented evaporationist...or was it condensationist?” Aranea opened her mouth only for the entire room go black. The silver-haired woman looked around the cell once more, her momentary reminiscence stopped in its tracks by a very load roar of rage. “Tirek,” she muttered with an eye roll, getting closer to the door to hopefully hear another one of the tantrums of the centaur. Putting her weight on the door, she pressed her ear on the cold metal, only for it to click and the door shifted slightly. Reaching down, she pushed on the door with a fair margin of her strength and it swung open. After a moment of surprise, the silver-haired woman grinned. The mirage of colors arced through the air and slammed down upon Nightmare Moon in a torrent. Hues clashed and merged before splitting off and doing the same with others. A taut feeling pressed through the air and the tension didn’t help the effect. As Pinkie Pie pulled out a butterknife, the torrent of color subsided. Pinkie’s face fell but perked up when the six mares in the room saw, once the mirage of colors was truly gone, a small, almost foal-sized, blue alicorn lying on the ground. Pinkie’s face almost exploded and the gears that remained working in her head, before spinning off into oblivion, were working overtime in preparation for party plans. However, before she could start spouting such ideas out, the group was interrupted by the arrival of an alabaster alicorn. Princess Celestia passed the group, most of whom bowed slightly, while Pinkie and Twilight perked up more, if that were possible for Pinkie (it probably is). Celestia was approaching her sister, when a spear slammed down in her path. Stunned, the solar diarch stumbled backwards away from the attack. A second later, silver-haired figure wrested the weapon from its pace in the floor and turned to the blue alicorn. She raised the spear to thrust and had the weapon yanked backwards, causing her to spin. “Are you bloody-well stupid?” the warrior demanded, yelling as she turned around. “She tried to get the night to last forever! Ifrit! The Scourge!” The warrior seemed rather furious. Celestia’s gaze turned cold, “You will not be harming my sister,” she stated. “Sister? Does that mean you… Wait, you’re the one that imprisoned me!” the warrior suddenly yelled, glaring. “So, you’re on their side then!” The warrior hoisted her spear and drove it into the ground, leaping forward to kick her feet into the horse’s muzzle. Momentarily blinded, Celestia was left open to the warrior’s attack, the next one letting the sharp point of the spear rest at the alicorn’s throat. A split second later a rainbow blur slammed the armor clad woman into the ground, causing her spear to fly out of her grip. After being knocked down, she reached towards the pony that had attacked her, ready to retaliate. “Cease,” was the white alicorn’s command, causing the rainbow pony to back off the woman. Immediately the warrior scrambled towards her spear, only for it, and her, to both be grabbed in magic. Attempting to fight the magic proved fruitless and she merely glared at the horse. “Imprison me all you like, you will not be succeeding!” the warrior spat. Another flash of light and she was gone from the sight of the ponies in the room. “Princess,” Twilight asked, “was that…?” “Yes, Twilight,” Celestia answered, “it was indeed. To think she would have survived all this time is suspicious, and most likely proves her to have been aiming for eternal night as well.” “Well, cryptic is awesome and all,” Rainbow Dash interrupted, looking rather miffed, “but I should ask, WHO was that?” “One of Nightmare Moon’s warriors,” Twilight finally answered a second later as Celestia teleported the spear away as well. “The Dragoon.” The moon remained in the sky, blocking half of the sun and dimming the world’s skies into a facsimile of twilight. While Nightmare Moon was leagues away, part of her army had started the advance on the booming city of Canterlot, at the seat of a mountain. The ponies of the city fought fiercely while the forces of the night advanced unimpeded. The general for this fight watched from the middle of the advancing forces, her own weapon at the ready in the event she were to be attacked. However, as the strength of the invading force was far superior to the defenders, there were no complications as they approached the city hall, a large mansion style building whose ornate features caused the general to scoff. It was a needless extravagance for a place of minor government, it was doubtful the lords and ladies of the area ever met here, and common ponies had no use for it. All it was good for was a chance for her to showcase her might and control over the town. Despite the bad taste being a conqueror left in her mouth, it was a necessary price to pay for the passage home. The force marched into the courtyard with no resistance and she barked out orders. “Gather the townsfolk in the courtyard, no matter their status!” she said, departing and allowing a minimal amount of the soldiers to follow her into the mansion. Bat-ponies of some sort, and a variety of other nocturnal and ‘dark’ creatures made up the army. She entered the office of the mansion and took a seat in the chair, thankfully designed to attribute a variety of body types. It was still small, but not so that she would fall out. Immediately, she began scouring the contents of the desk and found a single book in its lowermost left drawer. Starswirl’s Magical Theory and Principia. She raised an eyebrow and opened the book, scanning the contents before arriving on a most peculiar section. Magic permeates the entirety of our world, from the smallest grain of sand, to the largest mountain and the world. It is what allows unicorns to manipulate the magics of the sun and moon, forcing our world from what was once an eternal twilight. Despite the strength and raw powers of magic, magic cannot latch onto worlds, theorized, that do not have magic themselves in some amount. Worlds with magic are a simple matter, even if that magic is completely different from the laws of our own. Even the base rules of reality may be different, so long as magic remains. The question I’m found asking, however, is the idea of a resident of a world completely lacking in magic suddenly ending up here: what would the result be? The general froze and re-read those words again. Despite the insistence in her head, theorizing that a different, almost non-existent, magic could be in her world, something furiously denied such idiotic ideas. Thousands of years were proof that no such magic could exist- instances of “recorded sorcery” had no physical evidence. Magic in her world was nothing more than fairy tales and fiction. The warrior attempted to calm herself, but found her control lacking. A loud scream of anger, grief, and regret burst forth from the woman. The scream subsided, as did the grief, but when a soldier entered the room, her gaze turned dark as the window behind the desk exploded from a shockwave. The soldier scrambled away, and barely managed to squeak out that the ponies had arrived. A moment later, she walked out onto the balcony, conveniently placed above the courtyard. Glaring down at the ponies below, she was interrupted before even speaking, by a stallion in a tux of some sort. “Who are you to dare bring us here! A commoner cannot command me to do anything,” he shouted, huffing at the end of his small rant. She locked eyes with the stallion and he cowered. “I am the general of this army,” she waved her arm around at the forces herding the ponies, “and you will obey. Until Nightmare Moon arrives, when I will challenge her for her lies, you are under my control! Do I hear any arguments?” Murmured silence. She turned around and entered the study once more, still fuming. As it was, she was still quite angry when a white alabaster alicorn, Princess Celestia, arrived to the cheers of the townsfolk. As she walked out to the courtyard, the warrior raised her spear up, prepared for the oncoming battle. Author's Note Thanks to SnapDrakeGames for editing. So far, there isn't much FFXV lore involved yet, but please hold with me when it starts because I am relying on others to inform me. I - Chapter TwoI Chapter Two General of the Night Murmured silence. She turned around and entered the study once more, still fuming. As it was, she was still quite angry when a white alabaster alicorn, Princess Celestia, arrived to the cheers of the townsfolk. As she walked out to the courtyard, the warrior raised her spear up, prepared for the oncoming battle. Yet, despite Celestia’s arrival full ornate armor, the white alicorn did not attack immediately. She seemed to scan the area, looking for whomever it was that was leading the forces, despite the fact that Aranea stood almost directly in front of her. A few moments later, she looked at one of the thestrals, “Where is your leader?” “Ex-fucking-scuse me?” Aranea called out, shocked. She was only a few steps from the princess. Celestia turned to her, and eyed the dragoon with a critical look while Aranea looked scandalized, “Are... Are you serious? Please tell me you’re joking.” “No,” Celestia answered, looked confused, “I am not. What is the issue?” Aranea’s eye twitched violently, and she took a deep breath, trying to calm herself. Imma fuckin spell it out for you, was the internal monologue running through the woman’s mind as she glared at the alicorn, “I’m the leader, you pack mule.” “Pack mule?” Celestia gasped, shocked. “Culture joke,” Aranea answered, looking rather furious, “but, I still can’t believe you blatantly ignored me like that. Rude, and not very diplomatic.” The dragoon rolled her eyes at the large horse’s confusion. “Why are you here?” The alicorn stared at Aranea for a few seconds, looking around as if still not believing that she was the leader, “Aren’t you just a soldier?” the princess asked, that look of confusion still etched on her face, “I am fairly certain that you have to be just a soldier, no self-respecting general fights from the front of their forces.” Aranea rolled her eyes and stabbed her spear into the ground. “Maybe where you’re from,” she said, “but, unlike those idiots,” she waved a hand off towards the sky, “I prefer my soldiers remain loyal.” Celestia frowned. “Then why fight with them?” the alicorn asked, “Why not fight alone?” Aranea gave an aggravated sigh, “Because I realize that a war cannot be won alone.” Celestia frowned, “But, I won this one alone,” she answered. Aranea picked up her spear, “Perhaps you won the fight, but you have not won the war.” She pointed her weapon at the white alabaster princess, “If you have indeed defeated Nightmare Moon on your own, you have gained my respect and gratitude, however, as the general of this army, I will not allow you to take this town without a fight.” “Very well, but your soldiers will not fight with you,” Celestia said, causing Aranea to give her a skeptical look. “Asking for a handicap like that,” Aranea actually sounded shocked, “It’s a form of cowardice, but one I will grant you this time.” She waved the gathering army back with a shout. Celestia frowned, “How is that cowardice?” “You are forcing your foe to fight alone,” Aranea answered, “Yes, it may seem honorable, but, at the same time, it is akin to asking your foe to lay down their shield merely because it is a heater, and you use a wankel.” She remained in a fighting stance, giving Celestia a stare. Celestia’s confusion worsened and Aranea sighed. “Just, let’s get this over with,” she leapt back, away from the horse and onto the balcony of the mansion. After a few seconds of staring from Celestia, the white alicorn charged. Wings beating violently as she raced towards Aranea, the dragoon launched herself skyward. Celestia turned to fix her attack, only for the woman to slam the side of the spear into her back and render her flight momentarily useless. Seeing the chance for an attack, Aranea leapt off and launched further into the air, before plummeting downwards at the alicorn. The speeding tip of the spear drove itself home into Celestia’s neck, only for the attack to be worsened when the tip of the spear seemed to explode with a shockwave and speed the alicorn’s descent into the ground with a loud ‘Umpf!’. Celestia crashed into the ground with yelp, and Aranea landed several feet away, staring at the alicorn as she struggled to get back onto her hooves. “Still able to stand, good,” Aranea muttered, “All of my previous opponents weren’t after that attack.” Celestia glared at the dragoon and launched herself forward, only to have the woman sidestep and slam the spear into her back once more. The alicorn princess crashed into the ground and stood up, spitting up dirt when she stood. “...Have you ever bothered with a fight before, or do all ponies immediately revert back to magic?” Celestia’s glare returned with a vengeance and this time she launched herself skywards. Aranea watched as the alicorn raced at her from the air, her sword held before her. An unnecessarily distanced attack, easily avoided. Aranea sidestepped, only for a ball of fire to slam into the ground next to her. The barrage increased, leaving only the singular spot the alicorn was aiming at. Aranea dove into the flames and then jumped skywards towards the diving alicorn. Yet again, the alabaster princess launched volleys of flame at the dragoon. Slowing her skyward rise, the woman started falling backwards spinning her spear like a baton through the air as fast as she could. The flames slammed into the weapon, but were dissipated by the centrifugal force before they could do anything significant. A swing of her weapon, in between volleys, allowed Aranea to once again fly skyward and dodge to the side of the solar princess. A loud clang marked the connection of Celestia’s sword on her armor, but a mere scratch was the result. Aranea turned and slammed her spear into the princess’s side full-force, dropping her mid-air. Repeating her shockwave attack, the solar princess was slammed into the ground once more. “You,” the alicorn princess coughed, blood and dirt maring her once pristine white coat, “leave me no choice but to doom you to the same fate as my sister.” Aranea looked on quizzically as a small number of colored gemstones began floating around Celestia, who glared at Aranea with a passion. Raising her weapon, Aranea charged at the princess, only to be blinded by a brilliant light. She felt her spear crash into something and then she herself, after the spear was wrenched from her grip, crashed into a very solid wall. When her vision finally cleared, the dragoon sat in a large room with naught but a metal door and grey rock walls extending up forever, though the room remained somehow lit. The dungeons of the Canterlot palace were mostly grey with very little to see, as per typical of a dungeon anywhere. However, unlike most dungeons, these held no other residents aside from a new arrival who had appeared in a flash of light. She dropped from the air and stumbled back, catching herself a moment later. A few rather loud curses burst forth from the woman’s mouth as she scrambled, looking around at her surroundings. The door to the little room was in a mostly metal frame, with its top upper half in bars, allowing the prisoner to see out into the hall. The other cells of the dungeon were completely empty and the cobwebs in hers signified that, until she had arrived, hers had been as well for some time. No guards stood in the hall, and no sounds came from anywhere nearby. It seemed that due to the lack of use of the dungeons they were basically abandoned. Grabbing the door she pushed as hard as she could, and cursed when it didn’t move. “Damn it, those idiot horses,” she hit the door in frustration, “they have no idea the plots I could hear in that forsaken place. The whispers I heard.” She was still ranting internally when her spear fell from the air a moment later, clattering on the cold stone floor. She scrambled over and picked it up. Nothing seemed to be wrong with it, so she turned and lunged at the door with it. The door creaked and swung in as she pulled her spear back and put it back on her back. She marched out and made her way out of the dungeon into the massive halls of the castle. She began making her way through the halls and turned around the corner, nearly running into a group of guards. Both parties froze, and Aranea gulped. I need a distraction. Why am I thinking of Gangnam style? She pointed off past the guards, “Look, a distraction!” The guards turned and she sprinted around the corner. Nearly running into a group of nobles, she hid at the corner. When the guards followed her around the corner, they were greeted by the sight of the woman wearing a top hat and a monocle, while casually smoking a pipe. “Hm, yes, quite. Quite.” The group disappeared around the corner and a few moments later the screams of nobles echoed through the halls. Aranea ended up hiding and running for some time, before she entered a massive room and almost ran into Celestia herself. She lated right before crashing into the flank of the princess. Taking a deep breath as quietly as possible, she tried slipping back out the door before it slammed shut and failed. Celestia spun around and met Aranea’s eyes. “How did you get out?” “Broke the door.” “...I shouldn’t have given you your weapon.” “You think?” Aranea said, giving Celestia an incredulous look. The princess’s horn flashed and a sword appeared in her magic, swinging downwards at the dragoon. The spear was swung off Aranea’s back and she knocked the sword back before hitting Celestia and forcing her back. “You’ve gotten better,” Aranea said, glaring, “at least faster.” Celestia didn’t even speak when her horn flashed again, blinding Aranea. She covered her face, and once the light was gone… She was back in the dungeons. Her spear, however, was gone. An aggravated sigh escaped her mouth and she sat down on the slab of marble intended to be a bed. The cell door squealed slightly as it opened, likely due to disuse, and a blue alicorn entered the cell. She was moderately taller than she had been before, and seemed more collected. Aranea glared. “Hello, Dragoon,” the blue princess said, looking up into the soldier’s eyes. “Queen of the Night,” Aranea answered, her voice sounding strained. “Not anymore,” the alicorn answered, “Though we once called ourself that.” “Yeah, I know. I was there,” Aranea said, a frown finally crossing her face as her glare intensified. The blue alicorn wilted slightly. “Indeed,” she answered. “Why are you here?” “To apologize for our lies back then,” Luna said, wilting a bit under Aranea’s glare. “We had no right to promise you something we could not grant.” Aranea stared at her for a minute. Luna gulped but looked relieved when Aranea sighed and looked away. “I’ll forgive you, for now, on one condition,” the silver-haired woman said, “you help me and try and find a way home.” “Agreed,” Luna answered, “Now, We are afraid we cannot let you out.” “Not surprised, it’d be a foolish thing to do, politically, letting me out. I am, technically, an enemy of Equestria,” Aranea retorted, sitting back down on the marble bed. Luna stood there and she gave the princess a withering stare. Luna paled and turned back to the door, letting the guards open it. Stepping out, she called back, “I convinced my sister to give you a chance.” Aranea turned her way and stared at the exiting pony for a second. “Yeah yeah,” Aranea finally waved her off and lay down on the marble. She had already taken off her armor, which the guards had tried to confiscate. Suffice to say, the murderous glare that appeared on her face had motivated them to not bother even attempting. Author's Note Well, here's the second chapter. I - Chapter ThreeI Chapter Three General of the Night “Yeah yeah,” Aranea finally waved her off and lay down on the marble. She had already taken off her armor, which the guards had tried to confiscate. Suffice to say, the murderous glare that appeared on her face had motivated them to not bother even attempting. Aranea’s time in the cell lasted several more hours, during which the guards had changed once or twice. At the most recent change of guard, she had noted something very interesting. Unlike the first guard, the second guard’s illusion seemed to be faltering substantially at random. She watched as the chest plates shimmered. After about half an hour, the illusion was gone but the pony in question hadn’t noticed. Aranea stood up and walked over to the door, sticking her arm out and poking the now-fluffy thestral. “Oi. Your fluff is showing.” The thestral didn’t move so Aranea kept poking her in varying places until finally the thestral spun around. “Would you quit that!” the bat-pony screeched. “Well, yeah,” Aranea said, “but, boy, you guys are fluffier than I remember.” The thestral just stared at her for a minute before looking down at itself. A loud yelp came from her and she spun to the unicorn guard, rapidly muttering something and the illusion reappeared. Immediately, the thestral turned back to her spot. “What, not even a thank you?” Aranea asked, “Harsh.” A moment of silence before the thestral finally answered, “I would thank you, Dragoon, but seeing as you probably took it down yourself, I won’t.” The thestral went mute again. “...How in the seventh hell could I mess with Equestrian magic?” she answered, before frowning. An anger seemed to burn in her eyes, and in a sickeningly sweet voice, she spoke. “I’d like a book to read, one on history please.” The thestral remained silent while the other guard nodded and a flash of light came from his horn. Sitting in his magic was a thick book, the scrawls of Equestria script on the book speaking its title clearly to those with a sense of sight. A Moderately Descriptive and Perfectly Accurate History of Equestria. Aranea scoffed at the title. “Perfectly accurate my arse,” she said, accepting the book as it was passed through the bars. The woman sat back down on the marble bed and began reading. The past of our great land is full of strife, from both outsiders and domestic issues… She had finally finished the section on the ‘Selenity Wars’ which, in all actuality, was just an incredibly absurd name for the civil war from the past. Its depiction of Nightmare Moon was inaccurate, in that she was a massive beast made of the shadows of the night. In that she commanded the most evil and foul creatures, which included the thestrals. Celestia, however, was depicted as completely heroic. Disgusting as it was, it still was her means of learning how the last millennium had gone, and how ponies had advanced. However, she had passed a mere 100 years before quite literally throwing the book at the wall. Neither of the guards moved, and she shook the door. “Take me to Celestia, now,” the two guards remained silent. “Fine, then I’d like to make a request to visit the library.” Aranea hissed, noting the thestral seemed to flinch while the other guard remained perfectly still. “Your request is acknowledged,” the guard responded and then remained silent. “Her request is to be granted, though perhaps not in the way she wishes,” the solar diarch appeared. The loud clop of hooves on stone echoed through the hall as the alicorn approached the door of the cell. Celestia’s face showed one of… disgust? Contempt? Some negative emotion being directed at her. “I have decided that, due to your lack of many core features of a good pony and friendship, you will be taught by my student.” The guards paled, “Twilight is perfectly capable of stopping you from escaping, but you will be granted your weapon back.” Aranea glared, and then nodded. Celestia suddenly burst into a grin. “Excellent, you leave now.” “Pardon?” “My student and her new friends are awaiting you in Ponyville,” she said, before turning around. A soft glow came from her horn and the door swung open. Aranea passed through, grabbing the book and stashing it behind her, before Celestia’s magic wavered. The Stoss Spear came floating down the steps and was dropped into Aranea’s hands. The warrior gave Celestia a curious stare. “You will be escorted by Captain Shining Armor,” Celestia nodded and a guard made his way down the stairs. Blue hair and a white coat, he was very similar in appearance to the guards in general. However, on his flank was a shield. “Dragoon,” the pony said. “Aranea, actually,” the warrior retorted, rolling her eyes. “Doesn’t matter to me what your name is,” he replied coolly, “Currently you are an order, nothing more.” Aranea didn’t respond, instead choosing to stare into the eyes that stared back. She didn’t flinch, but the pony’s gaze shifted away from her own. “Captain Armor, I leave you be,” Celestia turned and walked back up the stairs. “If you’re going to escort me, do it,” Aranea said, waving towards the staircase out of the dungeons. Shining rolled his eye and started towards the stairs, nodding to the other two guards. They took off in the opposite direction, the disguised thestral giving Aranea an odd look as she followed the captain. The two made their way into the halls, guards saluting Shining Armor as they passed. On the other hand, Aranea received numerous glares and stares as she walked behind the soldier. It wasn’t long to the castle doors and they marched out, a resounding “Captain Armor,” answering their walk. The stares increased when they passed into the city, though the glares lessened considerably. Many of the ponies in town seemed to warily avoid both her and the captain, and they weren’t all that secretive about it. The walk to the train station remained that uneventful, even as they arrived. The two boarded the train and remained silent for the entire ride. It was, surprisingly, completely uneventful and the train pulled into the Ponyville station in silence. The two left the train, still in silence and were passing out of the train station when something caught Aranea’s eye. “...Is that a moogle?” the dragoon said, a bit shocked. She looked back at Shining, who was staring at her critically as she walked towards the moogle, its little red balloon thing bobbing. The moogle turned as she approached. “Hello, kupo!” “Er... Hello,” she said, “So, what are you doing here? I thought moogles were, you know…” “I’m a Token Seller, kupo!” the little floating creature answered, “A first time visitor, kupo?” “Well, yes, I suppose,” Aranea answered, somewhat confused. “What’s a Token Seller?” “I sell the knicknacks of Displaced like you, kupo!” the moogle cheerily answered, “A first time visitor needs to make a Token and say a phrase, then gets one free!” The moogle happily answered, holding out its hands. “You can make one using these, kupo!” Aranea started at the very tiny objects in its hand and reached out to touch them. Instantly, three items appeared in her hands. A Phoenix Down, a single piece of gil, and a moogle plushie. She picked up the moogle plushie, “...Even if I don’t pick this, can I keep it?” The moogle laughed, “Sure thing, kupo!” “Alright, then the Phoenix Down, since it’ll be useful at some point,” the moogle nodded and the gil disappeared. Holding the item up, the moogle looked at Aranea. “What’s your phrase, kupo?” Aranea frowned and then decided, “Aranea Highwind, the Dragoon, calls and hears you. Should you be of ready soul and mind, and of good spirit, you are welcomed.” The moogle spun and tossed the object into the air, which disappeared. “Token made, what Token will you pick, kupo?” The moogle held out its hands again, revealing a large spattering of glittering sparks. Once again, Aranea tapped the moogle’s hands and a group of items appeared in her hands. A pair of Genji gloves? She tapped it. “I am the warrior, the master of weapons, the seeker of battle and adventure. To those who would require my strength to defeat thine foes, to crush opposing forces, put on these Genji Gloves and call out my name with the intent to summon me. If ye be without true malice in thine hearts, know that the mighty Gilgamesh will come to thine aid!” “...I”m not sure if I should be surprised or appalled that I drew one from the same fandom,” the woman muttered, “But, I shall take these.” The moogle nodded and the rest of the items disappeared. “Good choice, kupo! Those are some of the rarest wares,” the moogle twirled and disappeared. “...Note to self, moogles exist here,” she muttered and turned around and walked towards Shining. A brushing against her legs brought her attention downwards and she found a cloth pouch on her waist. “Convenient,” she stashed the genji gloves away and met the guard captain. “We were going to see Celestia’s student, yes?” Arane asked. “I don’t feel comfortable leaving you here with her,” he muttered. “Why?” “She’s my sister,” he answered. The dragoon raised an eyebrow. “Worry not, captain, I shall not harm your sister,” Aranea said, unless I have to was left unspoken and Shining sighed before nodding. The pony plodded on towards a massive tree in the middle of the town. The moogle plush had somehow ended up on Aranea’s shoulder as they finally reached the door. The large oak tree, as Aranea had managed to identify it, was brightly lit from windows on it. Living in a tree? How many houses like this are there? Aranea scoffed, until she noted the sign. …It’s a library, she lives in a library. Golden Oaks Library was etched on a sigh in the yard, and the tree was growing very much in the middle of a square. “...Your sister lives in a tree library?” “Yes,” Shining answered, “she does now.” It sounded like the most casual thing one could say, coming from him. Nothing odd at all about living in a plant that was turned into a library. Neither was the fact it was a baby dragon that greeted them. A species that could set the entire building ablaze, no big deal. Aranea stared at him for a minute, “You’re not going to try and set me on fire are you?” “You’re not going to stab with that spear, are you?” the little dragon retorted. “Touche,” the warrior answered as the purple dragon finally let them in. “Twilight! Your brother and that person are here!” The dragon disappeared back into another room and a lavender unicorn came down the staircase, which had no rails mind you. “BBBFF!” She called out, racing down the stairs and hugging the stallion. “Hey Twily,” Shining grinned, hugging her back. “Sorry, but I have to get back, maybe next time we can hang out.” “Oh, yes! I can even introduce you to my friends!” the mare squealed. The two ponies gave their goodbyes and Shining Armor left out through the door, which shut rather loudly. It was an awkward silence when the baby dragon returned from the other room with a pile of cookies in one claw, and a bowl of gems in the other. Aranea watched him sit down and then looked at the lavender mare. “I’m Twilight Sparkle, and this is Spike,” she introduced herself and the baby dragon. “Right, copy that,” Aranea said, and then turned around and marched over to a bookshelf. She was browsing when Twilight, who had been scolding Spike, finally approached her. “What are you doing?” the lavender mare asked. “Trying to find a genuinely accurate book of your history,” Aranea removed the earlier book from her back, handing it to Twilight. “This travesty seems entirely too biased and is only accurate about the barest details of the ‘Selenity Wars’.” Twilight gripped the book in her magic, “A Moderately Descriptive and Perfectly Accurate History of Equestria? But this is one of the best historical references of our age.” “You want to explain to me how everyone, including myself, Nightmare Moon, Celestia, and the thestrals are depicted in such grotesquely warped images?” The dragoon asked, pointing at the picture of herself commanding a marauding army of ‘thestrals’. “I’m fairly certain you’ve seen thestrals before. Do they look like that? Do I look like that?” Author's Note Thanks to RuneScrypt for editing these past two chapters. I - Chapter FourI Chapter Four Remember “You want to explain to me how everyone, including myself, Nightmare Moon, Celestia, and the thestrals are depicted in such grotesquely warped images?” The dragoon asked, pointing at the picture of herself commanding a marauding army of ‘thestrals’. “I’m fairly certain you’ve seen thestrals before. Do they look like that? Do I look like that?” Twilight Sparkle had gone off the deep end. As soon as Aranea began detailing, as unbiasedly as possible, the ‘Selenity Wars’ the lavender mare had gone off and demanded she recount all information she had on history before that. The warrior had refused, especially when the topic broached anything before the coronation of the sisters. “It’s important knowledge!” the lavender mare argued, smacking a chalkboard with a long stick in her magic. “It could tell us what our past between Hearth’s Warming and the Coronation was!” “Twilight Sparkle, as much as I believe history to be important, I believe you should talk to Celestia or Luna,” Aranea answered, standing up. “So, unless you have anything else?” The lavender mare bit her lip and shook her head, “You stay here while I send the message.” The warrior rolled her eyes in aggravation, causing the little dragon to look up her when she groaned. “What?” he asked. “She’s the excessive nerd type, isn’t she?” The baby dragon looked away and another groan came from the warrior. She sat back down and stared out the window on the opposite wall. This one had a fairly decent view of Canterlot, which seemed closer than the train ride had indicated. She was still staring when Spike, having finished gems, spoke up. “What’s up?” he asked, slightly mumbled as it seemed he still had some gems in his mouth. “I remember Canterlot being on a large hill, not a mountain,” she answered, staring intently. She was still staring when Twilight returned, with a rather thick scroll in hand. “Spike, send this to Celestia,” the lavender unicorn said, passing the paper over with a hoof. A quick puff of green fire later and the scroll vanished into a wisp of flame which soared out an open window. It danced through the air and Aranea looked at them. “So what exactly was that?” “Magic,” was the response. “What kind of magic?” Aranea huffed, rolling her eyes at the answer. She’d heard it enough times to know that magic didn’t always refer to magic itself, but rather the unexplainable. Twilight frowned and bit her lip. She didn’t answer for a few moments. “Dragonfyre?” the unicorn offered. “...Excellent, professor. That was lecture worthy of the gods themselves,” the warrior droned. Twilight was aghast with shock, the sarcasm seemed to have driven the point home. The unicorn finally shook herself. “Excuse me?” “You seem to have forgotten that I don’t know Equestrian magic that well, and not everyone has been studying underneath the monarch, now diarch,” the woman said, “Magic is, and never will be, a suitable answer to a question.” The lavender unicorn nodded, “You do have a point, after all, not everyone understands Starswirl’s basic laws of magic.” She mused for a minute or two, “Which aren’t really basic, to be fair. I mean, even-” she was stopped by a scroll in the face, which was held by an indignant Spike. “You were starting off on a rant again, and Celestia’s answer is here,” the little purple dragon held the scroll up again and an aura of magic seized it. Lifting it up, a gleeful look appeared in Twilight’s eyes. “She said it’s okay!” The lavender unicorn looked giddy and got an eye roll from Aranea. “Alright, but most of this is going to be from my point of view, or by word of mouth,” she said, getting a nod from pony. “And might be a tad depressing when I’m done.” The air crackled, sparks of light whirling through the air like embers with minds of their own. Arcs of light sprayed across the field, the grass burning and parting in its wake. Finally, a tear ripped through the air, thunder exploding through the area as a woman fell through the tear and it sealed itself up in a zipper-like fashion. The smell of burnt grass wafted through the area, and finally, the woman stirred. Rising up, she looked disoriented for a moment, but finally she seemed balanced and looked around the area. Nothing but a field in the midst of mountains. The mountains leapt impossibly high into the sky, their peaks disappearing amongst the cloud. As she watched, the shrunk down rapidly, and the clouds grew closer. The field was plunged into fog, and, moments later, the fog blew away, revealing an entirely new world to the woman. She stared, gaping. A few seconds later, she managed to speak, “Where the fuck am I?” Her eyes widened and her hand went to her throat. “Like it?” a masculine voice asked from behind her. She turned around quickly and found herself facing, quite possibly, the strangest thing she had ever seen. A floating hashmash of creatures, which somehow worked, was grinning wildly at her. It floated towards her, moving like a chinese dragon. “I worked very hard, though you are most certainly new to this world.” “Wait, what.” The creature grinned, “I wonder what you could do if you lived as long as me?” The woman sneezed and the creature rolled up, literally. “Do enjoy it,” it said, before unravelling and disappearing. The creature finally vanished, leaving the woman standing there. The silence prevailed for a few minutes. “What the fuck was that.” “I came to find out that Discord made me immortal, since I had to fall off the cliff around the field,” Aranea said, shaking her head. “For fun, at that. I couldn’t kill myself, even if I wanted to.” “He messed with things to that extent?” the lavender unicorn gaped, “But why? And why did you want to kill yourself?” “Not everyone has an optimistic approach like ponies,” the warrior answered, "And believe me, this is a thousand times more confusing for me than you. I don't even know WHY I'm here." “Finally,” the woman muttered as she made her way into the town. The town itself looked relatively normal, overall. The buildings were smaller than she anticipated, but when she reached the town center, she was even more shocked. The town was filled with ponies, to the brim. Not even the strangest bit was the fact they came in every single color of the rainbow. Some had wings, some had horns, some had neither. It was incredibly strange. She approached and they all ran towards her, odd sounds coming from their mouths. The ponies were like a stampede and she struggled very painfully to remain standing. Once they realized she couldn’t understand them, which involved a lot of yelling, the herd backed off. Disheveled, she walked out of the town. “Note to self, do not talk to the LSD ponies.” “No offense.” She meandered out of town, still confused and looking back to the ponies. They were moving back into the houses, which was odd to watch them pull or turn door handles. The town was finally clear and group of dark pink storm clouds covered the town and it started to rain. A thunderclap, two literal hands made of lightning clapping, lit up the town. It clapped rapidly and the town disappeared, now floating upside down over the clouds. The clouds formed into a laughing head, with then licked itself and disappeared. “The fuck even is this shit.” The warrior shook her head and started walking faster. The trees finally began getting closer and she started following the edge of the treeline. It kept going as she walked, and didn’t end for the longest time until she walked, out of nowhere, onto a field of chessboards. The field rolled and the beast she had encountered greeted her. “Perhaps I underestimated you,” it said. Curling around her, it grinned. “So, what do you want?” “I want to go home,” she muttered, “And I want to know where I am, and who the fuck you are.” “I have no idea how to get you home,” the creature shook its head, “but I am Discord, Lord of Chaos, and welcome to Equestria!” It slithered off of her and giant party popper suddenly went off in her face. Wiping the pieces of confetti and glitter off her face, she glared at Discord. “Was that necessary?” she asked. “One hundred and ten percent,” he said, crossing his arms and nodding sagely. The woman rolled her eyes before pulling the spear off her back. Holding it up she glared at Discord, “It’s not usually like this, is it?” “It’s more fun this way,” he said. “Yeah, well, I don’t think those tiny horses like it, and they live here,” she said, getting a stare from Discord. “You asked them?” “No, I have no idea what they’re saying,” she answered. “Let me fix that,” he grabbed her ear, literally pulling it off, and blew a waft of air into it. A bunch of nuts, bolts, and a few other miscellaneous objects fell out of the ear before he put it back, getting a raised eyebrow in response. “You should be able to understand them now.” Then, Discord snapped his fingers and a torrent of chocolate milk drenched her. It kept flowing for some time, leaving her spluttering before it cleared several minutes later. Drenched, she stared at him. “What the fuck, man?” “Oh, forgot to do the last bit,” he absent mindedly snapped his fingers. The milk raced back up, blinding her, and finally when it cleared… He was gone. The entire bloody area was gone, and a black void greeted her. All that was visible was a single window that showed Discord floating around, doing completely ridiculous crap. “...WHAT THE HELLS.” “...He trapped you in a void?” The lavender unicorn asked. “Yeah, took until the princesses petrified him for me to be free,” Aranea said, looked rather annoyed. “Then, why did you claim to know the past?” Twilight frowned, “You didn’t see much.” “That’s how it had been during his rule, the whole time. Stuff did that all the time,” the warrior responded, waving a hand dismissively. “I was in that void for a week, sure, but I heard enough to know…” “Then why say it’s bad?” the pony asked, giving Aranea a critical look. “Ponies died because of it, I watched it happen several times while he was having fun,” Aranea said, “He thought it was amusing, but he didn’t realize what he did actually killed ponies.” “...Oh,” she said. “Anyways, off depressing topics… What is my first “friendship” lesson or whatever?” the warrior asked. The pony frowned. “Er.... Help ponies?” Twilight offered. “Sure,” Aranea shrugged, “Who first?” “Fluttershy?” Author's Note Sorry about this shorter chapter, with a ton of dialogue and slightly disjointed. Will be edited later, hopefully. I - Chapter FiveI Chapter Five Sugarcube Corner “Er.... Help ponies?” Twilight offered. “Sure,” Aranea shrugged, “Who first?” “Fluttershy?” Upon Aranea’s arrival at the small cottage in the woods, she immediately deadpanned, “Another tree house, I should have known.” She shifted her armor a bit, and headed up to the door. The grass crunched beneath her feet and she could hear bushes shake as she approached, even catching a glimpse of a tail as one of the bushes rustled. Nature-friendly was likely an understatement. “Hello?” she called out, rapping on the door with her knuckles, “Fluttershy? Twilight sent me.” The house remained relatively silent for a few minutes longer until the door finally creeped open, revealing the yellow pegasus mare from the day before. The warrior smiled at her as the she looked up. “Sorry about what happened when we first met,” the woman said, reaching up and scratching the back of her head. “May be a tad over-reactive.” The pegasus hid behind her mane, before finally muttering something Aranea couldn’t quite catch. Raising an eyebrow, she looked at the mare again. “It’s fine…” she muttered slightly louder before backing up and letting Aranea enter the cottage properly. The room was full of various kinds of furniture clearly made to suit the plethora of animals already in the house. In one room there was even a bear, though he seemed to be playing poker with a rabbit, not that Fluttershy had noticed. Aranea raised an eyebrow when a bowl of some kind of salad was slid to the rabbit, the bear clearly disappointed. She turned back to Fluttershy who was making her way towards a door. When she walked, much like the Red Sea, the animals parted so Aranea could follow Fluttershy. The mare led her outside, past a group of other animals as they moved towards the forest’s edge where a small fence surrounded a few bushes. The small pegasus lifted her wings and hopped over the small fence, and a few seconds after her hooves touched the ground she was ambushed by a group of baby animals. I’m going to get diabetes from this place, Aranea thought as the rather adorable scene unfolded before her. Fluttershy cooed and hugged each of the baby animals before reaching into the small sack on her shoulder and pulling out a container and a few bottles. She quickly passed them out with her hooves and the baby animals dug in. “So, you didn’t need my help, as I can see,” Aranea muttered. Fluttershy shook her head and hopped over the fence again, this time walking off towards a small shed. Once again, the building was intertwined with the plants. No longer surprised by this kind of structure, after all she had seen two others, Aranea followed her inside and saw what the small mare had led her to. A few large buckets and some bags of seed and other varied animal care and plant care materials were scattered across the decent sized shed. “I need some help getting some of this out so I can use it…” “Sure thing,” Aranea answered, hefting up a large bag of bird seed. “Where would you like it?” “Inside the house please,” the small mare muttered, eliciting a nod from the warrior in front of her. Aranea grabbed a second bag and moved inside, thankful that the items weren’t as large as what they would have been back home. Probably only three-fourths the size. It took a bit longer, simply due to the amount of materials. Once most of it was in, Fluttershy began storing birdseed and other foods in her cupboards and pantries, whilst directing Aranea to use the buckets of water, or milk in some cases, to fill some of the animal’s water dishes. Several hours later, simply due to the number of animals across the house and yards, they finally finished and Aranea got everything put back. “When do you do this next?” The mare shifted, looking uncomfortable, “It depends…” “Does anyone help you?” Aranea frowned. “Sometimes Big Mac does,” Fluttershy answered, still not looking the woman in the eyes. “Well, if he isn’t available next time, or any other, I’m open to helping, just let Twilight know and I’ll be here,” Aranea looked around the house. “I think we can finish quicker next time, maybe leave you some free-time.” The small mare nodded softly. “Pinkie said to bring you to Sugarcube Corner,” Fluttershy said, hiding her face, “So we should go there now.” Aranea nodded and put her spear, left at the front door, on her back again before opening the door and letting Fluttershy out first. The sun remained high in the sky until they got to town, when it suddenly dropped out of the sky and the moon rose to replace it. Aranea frowned before shaking her head, Bloody freaking magic, never makes any proper sense. The soft crunch of grass was the only thing accompanying their conversation of silence and was replaced by dirt and gravel once they were all the way in town. The houses remained brightly lit, despite the fact of it being night. Aranea frowned, thinking to herself. Why do I feel like I’m forgetting something important… She was distracted when loud noises began replacing the silence as they reached the confectionary storefront. Literal confectionery, as the entire store seemed to be a giant cupcake. Aranea winced at the taste of sugar in the air, almost like inhaling the stuff, though not quite as much in volume. She winced at the touch of the door handle, which felt like it too was covered in sugar. The instant she opened the door, a veritable explosion of streamers and confetti flew out the door and scattered in the winds of the night. Aranea spit a stray streamer out of her mouth and raised an eyebrow at the scene that had unfolded before her. Many ponies were eating cake or other various confectioneries. The room itself was heavily decorated with party supplies. After looking around the room she finally sighed and stepped inside. Various ponies laughed as a cupcake managed to get shoved straight into Pinkie Pie’s muzzle, leaving her to stare cross-eyed at the mess. With a very illogical swipe of her tongue, which encompassed half her face, she licked it off. “Yummy!” she called out, much to the amusement and laughter of the ponies in the room, and one odd resident off in the corner. He stood there, watching with a grin on his face. However, his posture slumped as if something were wrong, whether with his back or otherwise. No one had noticed, as he was aptly chatting with anypony who got close enough and bothered to talk to him. The current person was one Twilight Sparkle, who had brought up the topic of the energies she had garnered from her latest analysis of him. “I have no words for it,” she said, “It’s more powerful than anything we have and could run a town like Ponyville indefinitely.” She seemed rather giddy for a moment, but her face fell, “Yet, despite trying every method I could to harness it, it dissipated like it never existed!” The man twitched, pain clear in his face momentarily, before he smiled back. “Best to keep trying,” he said, “there’s likely a method you didn’t try for one reason or another.” The unicorn mare frowned momentarily before teleporting a quill and paper into the air in front of her and rapidly writing something with magic before teleporting it away. The man stared at her for a moment, before going silent with a look of deep contemplation on his face. After a few more seconds of silence, Twilight gave him a goodbye and walked off. “Magic…” the figure said wincing again and clutching his head, before it sated. M-a-g, those letters were important to him, but why? Was it someone with that name? Was it something beginning with those letters? He tried to catch the thoughts again, only to receive another splitting pain in his head, like a wedge was being driven between himself and his own memories. Clutching a nearby stool, he focused again trying to push the wedge out of the way so that he could grasp what those letters meant. Yet, the wedge remained firmly in place. Taking a deep breath and letting the pain fade away, his vision blurred and he sat down against the wall, clutching his pounding head as it echoed with whispers of pain and letters. “-nbow, it’s just a game!” a white unicorn mare was scolding a very infuriated looking pegasus with a cyan coat. Her mane was striped like a rainbow and she was flying the air, holding something in her hood that she looked ready to throw across the room in her anger. “Its making me angry, I hate losing!” the same mare yelled back, her hoof leaning back threateningly. A few small foals on the ground were watching the argument with both amused and eager faces. Once the argument these two were having was done, they could play Pin-The-Tail-On-The-Donkey! The small foals let out a cry as the hoof went back and a yay of relief as it lowered, only to let out a cry again as the hoof went back up. After just a few more moments of this, Rainbow Dash huffed heavily and tossed the tail to the floor, which the first foal scrambled to pick up as a mare approached him with the blindfold. “It’s a stupid game.” The white-coated mare, Rarity, rolled her eyes and have an aggravated sigh before letting the cyan pegasus be. A tantrum she could throw and be unladylike for all she cared. The simple matter was that Rainbow was being childish. At this point, most, if not everyone, in the room were ignoring the guest of honor, though not intentionally. The said man was gripping his head again, the event had struck a chord in his broken memories, causing something to split through his mind at lightning speed. Nearly biting through his own tongue as he grinded his teeth in an attempt to not cry out, the memory flashed through his mind and replaced all reality momentarily. ”What do you mean?” The mare said to him as he grabbed the tail so she couldn’t launch it across the room. Rarity, on the other hand, huffed and gave a hoity-toity smile of I-Told-You-So to the cyan pegasus. “It’s okay to be childish,” he said, though he felt his voice sounded oddly off and different. Almost as if he was speaking into a terribly old microphone that was hooked up to an even older computer. He gave Rarity a look, “But it’s almost important to be mature.” Rarity raised an eyebrow before shaking her head and nodding. “Maturity is very important in order to be a proper lady,” she nodded at the man with her head, “or gentleman.” “I don’t like being stuck up,” Rainbow said, “I’m too awesome for that.” The man groaned before handing the tail to a small child, “Rainbow, you’re already a bit stuck up with how much you call yourself awesome, but maturity is different. You can act like a kid, but you can’t react like someone who lacks that kind of life experience.” Rainbow Dash made and O face whilst Rarity looked rather miffed at his words, though she nodded begrudgingly, “Quite right, Magnus.” Magnus winced again, and then let out a chattering gasp, “My...name…” He whispered it to himself, feeling proud, happy, and oddly sad for having remembered this. Yet, his memories showed something similar to what he had witnessed earlier, though the end result was different without him. Something urged him to say the same things to both mares, but he stopped himself as he stood up and winced, the same white coated mare calling out to him from across the room. “Are you alright, dear?” she asked politely. “I’m-” Magnus fell to his knees as another fiery whip of pain cascaded through his mind, reigniting earlier pains and causing the young man to let out a voiceless cry of pain as his vision swam and he dropped to his knees. Darkness whirled through his vision and the room lurched and shifted, the ponies moving with it. When he finally recovered, the room looked oddly different with subtle changes mostly throughout, yet something major stood out primarily. It was a young woman, in dark colored armor and a weapon on her back, standing at a table nearby. Much like looking in a mirror, their faces mimicked the other’s shock. “Who the hell are you?” The woman gaped. Magnus winced in pain, though the tendrils of darkness in his vision had already started receding rapidly. Shakily getting to his feet Magnus let out a heavy breath, the headache receding from the forefront of his mind. He rubbed his forehead with his palm and finally looked at the woman, all bleariness having vanished from his mind. “I’m,” a cough and a small spike of pain, “Magnus, at your service.” “Aranea,” the woman answered, “How did you get here?” “I’m not sure,” Magnus answered, looking around the eerily similar room. Everything was so similar, but so slightly different it was disorienting to him. The man reached out for the chair that had been closest to him, so eerily similar, yet it was clearly made of a different wood. “What did it look like when I got here?” “To be fair, I was very shocked,” the woman shifted, biting her lip, “but it looked like a silhouette made of swirling darkness just kind of shifted into the room.” A pony nearby nodded and a few foals were hiding behind parents or, in one case, three of them were huddled underneath a table. Adorable as they were, Magnus was too distracted to notice the scene itself and directed his attention back at Aranea. “Swirling darkness?” Magnus asked, flinching as a whip of fiery pain struck his mind again, “I...I remember such a thing, the Ren’orsa-ca…” He whispered, memories of what he had once been, of consuming worlds just like this one in raging hunger. A small amount of bile rose to his mouth, leaving a horrid taste in his mouth as he shook it off. “I mean you all no harm,” he said, “I only wish to return...home?” Aranea’s face fell, and she gulped before giving a heavy sigh. “You and me both,” she said, her hand clenching in a fist. Turning around, she looked around the room rapidly, clearly searching for someone. “Is Twilight still here?” “No ma’am!” one of the small ponies called out, “She left awhile ago.” “Very well,” Aranea said, grabbing Magnus’s sleeve and pulling him towards the door. She pushed it open and left the ponies to party whilst pulling Magnus firmly out the door. It shut behind her and Magnus raised an eyebrow. “You do not need to drag me, I will follow,” he said, standing still as Aranea looked down at her own hand gripping his sleeve. She eyed him for a moment before releasing and pulling her spear forth from her back. She nodded to him and they began walking, with her slightly ahead. “Sorry about that, force of habit,” she said, not even looking back towards him as she spoke. “Quite alright,” he answered, going quiet himself. Unlike the ponies, this woman spawned no memories lingering in his mind and left him rather stable. It was pleasant, but still so very strange that a world like this could have changed so. Yet, evidence permeated the area. Some houses had different colors than he remembered seeing in his Ponyville, while others looked exactly the same. Incredibly disorienting. Aranea nodded and they slowed to a halt as the entered the square for City Hall. “Something doesn’t feel right,” Aranea muttered before she began quickly moving towards the building in question. The night remained quiet and, oddly enough, no sounds came from anywhere at all. Uncomfortable, unnatural silence. “I agree,” Magnus muttered, “It’s...off.” Aranea had already reached city hall and was poking around it, looking inside the windows. The building was completely dark and no signs of movements were evidenced in it, or in the square surrounding it. Yet, despite the lack of explanation, silence permeated the air and a tension, thick enough to slice apart with a butter knife it seemed, was nearly palpable as she looked around wildly, only to freeze. “Son of a-” a painfully loud and ripping explosion blew Magnus across the square, straight into the woman herself. Thankfully, he rolled right off of her as they fell and their ears buzzed from the deafening change in noise. Magnus winced and began trying to clear his ears with a finger while Aranea seemed quite perfectly fine as she rose to her feet, spear at the ready. Another explosion, though farther away than the first, went off at the other end of the square, from where they had come. A large metal creature, an axe wielded in hand, had arisen from literal nowhere. Silver and black adorned its armor and its face glowed with an eerie light as the two floating creatures around it bobbed lazily. Aranea cursed loudly, enough for Magnus to hear. “A demon,” she hissed and raised her spear up. “Can you fight?” She looked at Magnus quickly before directing her attention back to the metal beast before her, shifting and walking lazily, though it would soon notice them, however dark it was. Magnus opened his mouth and frowned, “I am not sure… I do not have any weapons on myself.” “Fuck,” the woman hissed before sitting down and reaching into a bag. Lifting up a bundle of bottles, though their contents varied in color and seemed to emanate an odd glow. She finally pulled out a couple of tufts of something. “If you see me getting too injured, start by using these,” she held up the jars, “and if you run out, start using the feathers.” Magnus nodded shakily and watched as the woman turned and leapt skyward before spiraling down, straight onto the metallic beast’s head. It shifted back and the two bobbing creatures glowed brightly, only for her to land on the ground and roll back. After a certain distance, they stopped and she rushed forward again, batting them back towards the beast, nearly causing it to trip over them. She began a dance of sorts, where the creatures would glow, and the demon would swing its axe, only for her to dodge back properly and the creatures to stop. Finally, after naught but a few more strikes, one of them exploded and the axe caught her by surprise, sending her skywards. He tossed up one of the darker vials and she glowed green briefly before shifting herself and driving her spear straight into the other and causing an explosion that stumbled the metallic beast and left it open to rapid strikes from her. Leaping backwards as the axe swung towards her, she cursed again loudly before rolling underneath the next swing and striking straight for the demon’s knee joints. It switched tactics and swung straight down, though Aranea managed to use her spear and glance the blow off to the side. She crunched straight to the ground from the blow and Magnus immediately used another vial, this time of a brighter assortment and Aranea again glowed briefly. The demon made yet another swing and this time she used the weight of the blow to her advantage and struck wildly at it the instant the blow missed. Several jabs to the knee caused it to fall to the ground, unable to stand any longer. Its attacks, however, were not impaired as such and it swung with just as much vigor. Once again, she used it to her advantage. Letting the blow strike her spear, it flung her skywards and she disappeared into the darkness momentarily. Yet, mere seconds later, her spinning figure reappeared and slammed into the beast with a large amount of force. A blast emanated from the spear itself and drove the beast to the ground, letting her force her weapon through its helmet. Immediately, the being began to drip in darkness and fade out of sight. Huffing from the effort, she nodded at Magnus as he lifted another another vial she was briefly covered in green light a third time. “I knew I forgot something important,” Aranea said as she moved towards Magnus. She waved him towards her and opened her bag, letting his drop the items inside. She immediately began walking briskly, “And it’s even more imperative I talk to Twilight now.” Author's Note Sorry for the late update, but I had to mull over this story a bit and then decided to do this crossover between two of my fics. The crossover is with The Forgotten Void Dweller. I hope this doesn't harm your opinion of this story as I tried my best here. I - Chapter SixI Chapter Six Golden Oaks A blast emanated from the spear itself and drove the beast to the ground, letting her force her weapon through its helmet. Immediately, the being began to drip in darkness and fade out of sight. Huffing from the effort, she nodded at Magnus as he lifted another vial she was briefly covered in green light a third time. “I knew I forgot something important,” Aranea said as she moved towards Magnus. She waved him towards her and opened her bag, letting his drop the items inside. She immediately began walking briskly, “And it’s even more imperative I talk to Twilight now.” “Why?” Magnus asked as she began moving at a brisker pace, the silence still permeating the square. A soft crunch of the dirt and gravel underfoot was the answer as they got closer to the edge of the square. Aranea remained silent, though she seemed to be pondering something until she halted. “What do you know of video games?” Aranea asked, making eye contact with the swirling shadows of the man’s eyes. “I assume you at least know something, right?” A nod was the silent response as she turned away and bit her lip. She resumed walking and Magnus followed. “Back home, well my home, there was a game called Final Fantasy XV, and like it says, it’s the fifteenth of franchise, although there were other minor games. Anyways, in XV, there were a variety of creatures you had to fight, but there was a kind that only came out at night." "Like the entity you just defeated. Which was?" Magnus offered, attempting to follow her ramblings. She nodded, looking up towards the sky. For a moment or two, she did not speak and allowed the soft crunch of dirt to replace their conversation. "A demon," Aranea finally said, "they were a disease, both literally and figuratively, that struck the kingdom in the game. It turned man, into monster." Aranea uttered these words quietly. Magnus gazed at her for a moment, "And you believe it's here as well, that's why you want to speak with Twilight." Aranea nodded, and they finally reached the tree in question, though it was lit up much like the rest of town, there were no signs of movement indoors. "While I am not friends with her," Aranea said, rapping on the door with her hand, "I do know she is an avid scholar and the protégé of Celestia." "Indeed," Magnus muttered, “And thank you for the explanation on demons.” That much knowledge, on Twilight, he had learned from his own world, before coming here. Aranea knocked again and a small purple baby dragon, Spike, opened the door blearily. The dragon glared up at Aranea for a moment. “TWILIGHT! THAT DRAGOON IS HERE FOR YOU!” he turned around, blanket dragged behind him and a stuffed animal in his hands. The baby dragon began moving up the steps and the lavender unicorn, known as Twilight Sparkle, emerged from the kitchen doorway. “We’ve got a problem, purple.” The loud crunch and thud of an old door masked the footsteps for a moment, before the dull thump of heavy feet echoed in the room as wind whistled outside. Another thud came as the person tossed a heavy coat onto a chair, which it slid off. A scoff and the person walked straight into the kitchen, dusty with grime. “It’s now been two years, three months, one day, and fourteen hours since the events which lost-” A hiss of static interrupted the speaker and the smack of hand on the radio caused to shift back. “New York City, Toronto, San Francisco,” the speaker listed off several major cities, “are all still in ruins, due to lack of-” another hiss of static, though momentary. “Every day, the same shit,” a masculine voice hissed, shutting off the radio as it began to ramble on. “Those bastards still can’t tell me where my daughter is, or the bastard that moved in with her.” The door to the fridge opened, nearly flung as the man began downing a bottle of alcohol. “Fuckin’ bastards, acting like everything's okay when,” the man burped, “it's the fucking Apocalypse! The Rapture! Some other hocus pocus that makes half the fuckin world disappear in just a few days.” Another set of footsteps came from the entry, rapping hard on the door as they approached. “Come on out, old man! We know what you have in there!” A chuckle came from two different voices in the same area. With growling sigh, the man stood up, and approached the door. Grabbing the shotgun leaned against the wall, he opened the door slightly and glared at the men. “Just open the door, dude.” “Fine,” he lifted up the shotgun and stepped back. “Come on in.” The indignant unicorn stared at her for few moments, “You do realize what time of night it is, don’t you?” Strangely enough, at least to Magnus and Aranea, the unicorn was in fact wearing polka-dot pajamas. Even adding to the amusement and moderately adorable sight was the fact she was holding a stuffed animal. “Of course,” Aranea rolled her eyes before pushing her way inside. The lavender unicorn sighed and moved out the way as Magnus followed the armor-clad warrior into the library. Thankfully the door was just barely tall enough and he gazed around at the plethora of books, the shelves they rested on rose to the ceiling and left the library feeling positively drowned in possible knowledge. “This is quite the collection,” Magnus commented, “Quite a bit more in this library than I expected.” The lavender unicorn smiled in response. “Thank you! I brought many of these with me when I moved in. Who are you, by the way?” The lavender unicorn asked, continuing to smile at Magnus. He smiled back, “Magnus, at your service, Miss Sparkle.” Twilight nodded and raised out a hoof for him to shake as Aranea coughed to get her attention. Quickly shaking it, Magnus let Aranea speak and turned towards the walls of books. “I need the books you have on demons,” Aranea said, “and we also need to talk.” “Demons? You mean the Daemos, right?” the unicorn’s horn had started glowing and a group of books floated down from the shelves, stacking into a neat pile on the closest table. Twilight opened the top one in her magic, “We’ve certainly researched them a lot, and know how to keep them away. However, the first books only talk about bipedal ones, whereas in the past few decades we’ve started seeing them as quadrupeds too. And these ones act very different too...” “Shit,” Aranea cursed, “I knew it.” “Knew what?” the magical prodigy frowned and raised an eyebrow, staring at the woman she believed to quite possibly be crazy. “Daemos, or demons, were a disease in another world. Not mine, but one my world… invented, for lack of a better term. Ponies play games, right?” Aranea sat down and Magnus drifted to a shelf, picking out the titles. “Like Tag, or Hide-And-Seek?” Twilight asked. “More complex, but that is base concept. Think of a moving picture that you can control with a little device or magic,” Aranea said. “We had games like that back home, and the demons were from one such game.” “Why would an element from a fictional game world end up here? That’s just odd,” Twilight responded, waving a hoof. “It’s like saying Daring Do is a real person.” “Technically, I am an element from a game, albeit a different kind,” Twilight just looked confused at this statement and Aranea sighed. “My appearance and abilities were not mine when I was born, I got them when I came here. I believe the demons were sent or brought here by whomever sent me here, for some insane reason. Though, I have to say that what I know most likely only works as a base skeleton for whatever is happening.” “...You’re insane! The very idea of travelling between universes is impossible, even by magic!” Twilight blurted, loudly, “Sure, Starswirl hypothesized it, but it’s not possible for us!” “How do you think he got here?” Aranea pointed at Magnus, “Yes, it’s not possible for ponies, but I myself saw Discord toss things through portals to other worlds numerous times throughout the time he had me trapped!” “You think Discord did this?” Twilight asked, “That’s ridiculous.” “Yes, but that’s because Discord never plans anything this far! I can pretty much guarantee it wasn’t him,” Aranea said, “And I honestly have no idea who it was.” “You’re saying that someone as powerful as Discord, more powerful than the princesses, decided to add these monstrosities to our world? Thousands of ponies have died to these things and more die every day! Princess Celestia had to increase the guard around every city and enact a 24/7 lights on policy in every town across Equestria, because someone decided to do this on a whim?” “I honestly don’t know, whether it was a whim or not. What I do know, is that demons are a disease, and as far as I remember, a contagious one,” Aranea said, slumping back in the chair. “I don’t know who would have an immunity, and who wouldn’t.” “It’s a disease!?” Twilight yelled, “That explains so much, but why would ones that look like ponies start appearing now, and not earlier? That doesn’t make any sense!” Magnus spoke up from the book he had opened, “Maybe it evolved to start affecting ponies recently?” “...Sweet Celestia,” Twilight’s eyes widened to rival a pair of dinner plates as she realized the very implications of such a hypothesis. “I need to send a letter to Celestia now. We need to start working on a vaccine or a cure.” “The only cure I can remember from the game was the divine beings, or whatever they were exactly. People who could absorb the disease into their own bodies and cure those who had started becoming afflicted,” Aranea had her face in her hands as she spoke. “Then we find them and have them start absorbing the affliction!” Twilight said, stomping her hoof. “Whoever they are HAVE to care about Equestria.” “I think we already know who they are,” Aranea said, looking up at Twilight, “and one of them already felt the effects of absorbing the disease.” “The princesses?” Twilight gaped, “Wait… No! Why would they not control it!? It’s a danger to ponies!” “I think because Celestia saw what happened to Luna, when she became Nightmare Moon,” Aranea answered, standing up. She moved towards Magnus, “Come on, you and I are going to Canterlot. Twilight, when you send that message let the Princesses know I, and a guest, am on my way to see them.” The lavender unicorn shook her head, “You do that and I’ll start researching a possible cure.” The mare suddenly yelled out for Spike and the little dragon came walking down the stairs lazily. Twilight already had a bit of parchment in her magic and was writing out a letter as fast as she could. Aranea nodded and Magnus set the book down, joining her as she opened the door and went outside. “You think someone did this? Sent you here, or possibly me as well?” “It’d make sense,” Aranea answered as she pulled her spear out and passed Magnus the satchel on her waist, which she had quickly unfastened. “We’re walking there, since the train doesn’t run at night and Canterlot is visible in the distance, so it’s probably relatively close.” Magnus nodded and fastened it on her waist, “If I had a weapon, I would help.” “I think Elemancy might be your best bet,” she answered, stopping and pointing at the satchel. “Its best I explain it now and you have it at the ready, since we’ll probably get in a fight or two on the way there.” “Quite right,” he said and opened the satchel. “Fire, Blizzard, and Thunder are the basic elements for magic and the base spells. The more potent the spell value, which you’ll see on the magic flask, the stronger the spell. Adding another item can change its effect. I have them listed in a journal,” she nodded as he pulled the journal out. “Make the spells as we go. If need be, I can explain more but we need to move quickly, as the longer the demons are about and people are afflicted, the more danger they’re in.” I - Chapter SevenI Chapter Seven On the Way “Fire, Blizzard, and Thunder are the basic elements for magic and the base spells. The more potent the spell value, which you’ll see on the magic flask, the stronger the spell. Adding another item can change its effect. I have them listed in a journal,” she nodded as he pulled the journal out. “Make the spells as we go. If need be, I can explain more but we need to move quickly, as the longer the demons are about and people are afflicted, the more danger they’re in.” The sounds of night filled the air with a variety of soft noises, owls made their calls and the rustle of bushes signalled the movement of other creatures. The stars and moon offered little light to guide their path, and the two people were hardly out of town before they were pretty much blind and would have been lost were it not for the shadow of the castle. The mountain itself blocked out a portion of the sky, oddly black against the slight purple hue that the night sky seemed to have taken. The castle itself was not as dark as her perch, for she seemed to glow slightly. The travellers could only just make out the barest details of the ornate fortress, yet it still held and odd sense of awe behind it. Perhaps it came from where she rested, crying out from far above that which lay below. The two travellers looked back to what lie ahead and woman pointed at the satchel on the man’s waist, before speaking. “I believe there’s a lantern of some sort in there, Magnus.” The man nodded in response and reached into the satchel and it jostled a bit before he pulled kerosene lantern out of the bag, passing it to her and then removing a small box of matches. Aranea struck one against the side of the lantern and, while Magnus held it, lit it up and the clearing they were in, interrupted by a set of tracks, became dismally brightened. The light reached only so far, and left the travellers with but a few feet of vision. The night itself sunk heavy and low, despite the color of the sky. Each time the lantern flickered, the darkness crept forward like a thousand hungry tendrils. The two moved over to the tracks and began following them, slowly. The clank of their shoes on the metal and then the dull thud as they stepped on the wooden boards that crossed the tracks. As the made their way cautiously, Aranea caught sight of something in the distance. Like what they had seen earlier in the night, a demon had crawled its way out of the ground itself. Magnus reached towards the satchel, only for Aranea to grab his hand and shake her head. Gesturing quickly towards the other side of the track, she lead Magnus off to the side and they began moving around the beast at a wide berth. It’s armor, despite the lurking presence of shadows, was clear even from the distance they were moving. A deep chrome and shining black paint, embellished with silver, shuffled as its open helmet showed the shining eyes. The monsters accompanying it bobbed in the air, their glowing shades of orange and yellow giving light to the field. The axe wielding demon groaned and the heavy armor clanked and jostled as it swung the axe in it’s hands idly. By their luck, or the demon’s poor eyesight, they were lucky enough for it to miss them. It moved closer to the woods and Aranea and Magnus moved out of range quickly. The two kept an eye out for more demons, yet the monstrosities seemed to only appear in small numbers and in large distances from each other. The castle far above was slowly getting closer, yet it would still be a bit before they would arrive to the city itself. Aranea had taken to cleaning her spear with a cloth from the satchel, while Magnus was reading through her journal. “Would Stopcast be a good use of Elemancy?” Magnus finally spoke up, eyeing the magic flask. In his other hand, he had the journal held up and was cross-referencing it. “I should think it would give an extra few moments to attack.” “Based on the strength of who or what I’m fighting, that could vary,” Aranea had moved the cloth to the inner part of her spear as she spoke. It squeaked quietly here and there. “As long as I’m not caught in the radius, yeah.” “And potency should be high as well?” Magnus asked, checking the journal once more. “For repeated usage, yes.” The warrior had turned her attention back to her spear, though she was keeping her eyes wary. Their last demon encounter had been some distance back. Shifting, she moved closer to Magnus as a spray of light came from the tree line and a group of floating bombs appeared. The tree line exploded outwards as a large quadruped in metal armor ripped through it with a massive sword. The trees had parted like butter against a warm knife and now lay strewn across the tracks and ground. Despite the iron giant having stopped, a pile of branches and leaves was still flying through the other debris. One of the bombs drifted towards it, and a loud growl emanated from the pile as it stopped. “The hell is that?” Aranea said, looking at Magnus. When the man shrugged in response, she sighed and moved towards the demon. “Start casting,” she said as she stowed her cloth in her pocket and lifted her spear to confront the demon. As she approached, glowing green eyes locked with hers and she barely moved before quickly leaping up as the demon swung its sword. Magnus opened the magic flask and threw the resulting swirl of magic at the iron beast. It’s armor hazed over with blue before turning a frosty white with the ground. The glow of the eyes stilled and then it was engulfed in a blazing flame before a whirlwind of lightning zapped the demon all over. The ground was charred and white, but the demon remained glowing with a light blue as Aranea dashed forward and began beating it. The strikes made the armor crackle, and the beast suddenly roared. A swing of its massive sword nearly struck Aranea as she rolled away and back. One hit and she’d have been split in two, not her most favored magic trick. She used the demon’s overeager swings to her advantage, striking as soon as it’s sword hit the ground and dashing back once it was freed. The beast was nearly ready to go down when the clearing was lit by an explosion. Aranea flew back and crashed into the dirt. Spitting pieces of grass out and wiping the dirt from her face, the woman stood up again as Magnus lifted a hand and tossed another explosion towards the demon. Aranea smashed the bombs as quickly as she could, and then made for the demon as the ground was finished charring. Another ringing smash from her spear and the right foreleg of the demon cracked and shattered like glass. The beast roared in agony and swiped at her as it fell, only for her to slam it in the face. Another roar and a powerful, armored, foreleg swung her way. Despite blocking it, she was still driven backwards straight into a bomb. Once more, it exploded. However, Aranea used the force that propelled her forwards to drive her spear home on the demon’s helmet. The resulting crack caused it to roar in pain and Aranea pivoted over its head as Magnus freed a vial from the satchel and activated it, causing Aranea to glow green like she had before. Immediately, the warrior landed and faced back. Her face was no longer sweating from the effort and she looked to be in a better state. Diving below the next swing, she sprinted towards the bomb and smacked it as hard as she could with her spear. It let out a loud cry and she bashed it back towards the demon. As soon as it exploded and blinded the metallic creature, she leapt over it and drove the spear home for a final time. The demon melted into a pool of darkness and Aranea began checking the ground. The items she did find, she carried over to Magnus and dropped them in the satchel. A few coins and even a sword disappeared into the seemingly endless bag before Magnus closed it and they moved towards the glowing pile of sticks. The wood growled and tried to move, but the sticks that made up the creature’s leg was snapped and gone. After a few minutes of looking, they found a few proper length sticks and put them on the leg. Like a snake losing its skin, the creature lost the broken pieces of wood and absorbed the other pieces into its leg. The beast quickly stood up and yipped, a chain of metal dropping from its mouth. Aranea grabbed it and pulled, but the wolf-like beast’s mouth was refusing to let go. She pulled as hard as she could and felt some wood shift. A medallion like item sat at the end of the chain and the warrior stared at it for a moment. I swear I recognize this… she muttered, before standing and grasping it in hand. She stood and walked over to Magnus, who had already stood up and moved, but noted that the wolf thing seemed to follow her. “That was intense,” the man said, putting the flask back into the satchel, though he left the pocket open. Magnus looked at her before looking to the creature. “Are you keeping it?” She looked down at the wolf made of sticks and leaves, “I suppose, if it keeps following me.” Magnus merely responded with a nod as they began walking once more. The walk remained quieter than before, though the sky was as pressing as usual. The air held an odd sort of tension to it as Aranea looked at the item in her hands. Its familiarity told her it was important, though she wasn’t sure she had held it before. In all senses of the feeling, it was like an odd mix of deja vu and forgetfulness. Someone would have mentioned this person to her, despite the intimate connection she could feel she had through this necklace. The soft crunch of grass beneath their feet served as their only companion while the two people mused. The darkness was nothing more than another background for someone else, though it’s oppressing effect on people was the unbelievable part. The darkness of Equestria at night seemed to push people to do things, sometimes and usually it was something opposite to what a person would feel normally. The cost of darkness was not what was in it, but rather what it wanted. The chain dangled, quietly shifting in Aranea’s grip as she focused on her past. After ponies, people started appearing and she gazed out for the necklace she now had. Despite her grief, she finally found something familiar. Her name sung out deafeningly and mangled in her head, but Aranea recognized who and why. Clutching the token tighter, she turned around to find the wolf gone. It seemed that whatever it wanted, had been fulfilled. Aranea muttered quietly to herself and a tear, nearly dried, rolled down her face as she realized what she had found, and exactly what it likely meant. Her friend, who had been dressed as Iris, had this necklace because it was the final piece of the costume. The rest of it, she had said she wouldn't wear often but she admitted to having grown attached to the little necklace she had obtained from the convention weeks prior. If it was here, she was here, it had been stolen, or she had experienced something horrible and died. A few more tears escaped and Aranea wiped them away before nodding to Magnus once more, “Come on, let’s go,” she said. Author's Note Apologies for errors, if they appeared towards the end. I'll be back on later today to edit it and double check, but as it is I was really tired when I finished this chapter off. I - Chapter EightI Chapter Eight Canterlot Her friend, who had been dressed as Iris, had this necklace because it was the final piece of the costume. The rest of it, she had said she wouldn't wear often but she admitted to having grown attached to the little necklace she had obtained from the convention weeks prior. If it was here, she was here or it had been stolen, or she had experienced something horrible and died. A few more tears escaped and Aranea wiped them away before nodding to Magnus once more, “Come on, let’s go,” she said. The woman grasped the necklace in hand, tighter than perhaps necessary as she walked past her companion. Magnus stared after her, a look of contemplation briefly flickering across his face as he pondered the meaning of the jewelry, before following behind her quickly. The soft hoots of owls and other small rustlings of creatures replaced the sounds of combat. The night seemed to lighten at the defeat of the earlier monstrosity and the lantern the two travellers had with them appeared to touch further out in the darkness. Despite this, their travel remained at a similar pace as the approached the tunnel. Dark and unyielding, the inner parts of the long corridor that housed the tracks were shrouded. With a prayer on his lips, to any deities he could remember, Magnus followed Aranea into the tunnel. The crunch of dirt and gravel quickly replaced the forest, echoing quietly in the humid underpass. Magnus, in the dim yellow light, could see that Aranea’s hand still grasped tightly around the chain of the necklace she had found. For what reason she seemed to react so badly, he was not sure. The strain of her skin, whitening as it was, showed the force she was putting behind it. The small chain jewelry was important. Unlike the walk through the fields, and the hours it had taken, their journey through the tunnel took less time and Magnus could see the light of the city coming forth from the exit in just a short time. The present glow was the lampposts that marked the streets, giving a deeper yellow hue to everything as the crunch of gravel began to lose its volume. The hollow echo faded as they passed from underneath the tunnel roof. The soft churning winds of the night whirled around them, touching the flames of the lampposts and making them dance. The soft wisps of light bent and folded, causing the city to dance with light. The castle, though on the other side of the town, loomed far overheard. The town itself was eerily quiet, and no one could seen in the windows. The wind on curtains and litter was the only movement aside from their own. Despite it being the middle of the night, the silence was still eerie and gave the town a disturbing feeling. The walk to the castle was far better lit, and the two guards weren’t visible. “Do you find it odd that no one is out?” Magnus asked, a magic flask held in his hand. The soft glow of elemental magic gave an odd contrast to their appearance and Aranea looked at her companion. “Very odd, even with demons people should still be active,” Aranea said, “they don’t attack many populated areas as far as I can remember.” She walked up to the doors and rapped her knuckles against the thick wood. When that didn’t get a reply, she pushed on the doors and they swung open. Frowning, she walked into the castle and found it brightly lit. Guards stood at other doorways, and the two at the door itself just nodded as she passed. “They expected us, right?” Magnus asked, slowly lowering the hand that had lifted the magic flasks. The guards themselves, within hearing range nodded. Magnus frowned and Aranea just nodded to him. “Why aren’t you concerned?” “For simplicity, and because of the current events, I don’t need to worry about this,” she answered as their footsteps took them through the hallway. Arriving at the door to the throne room, she pushed it open and Magnus looked around. The room was massive, and adorned with columns on her walls. The windows were colored glass and each depicted a scene. One depicted the fall of chimera creature, with a reptilian leg, a bird’s claw, a lion’s paw, and a hoof. It seemed to stand on two legs, but the creature was being turned to stone by two larger horses, one white, one blue. A chessboard ordained the background scene with clouds of purple. Magnus clutched his head as another headache torn through his head, and Aranea looked at him in concern. At the other end of the room, the physical version of the white horse sat upon a throne. Unlike Aranea, her expression was that of confusion. Nodding quickly to Aranea, Magnus waved off her concern with a stray hand. “Princess Celestia,” the warrior said, staring straight into the mare’s eyes. The Princess’s eyes held both a warmth to them, as well as a stony challenge. Yellow-gold met magenta and suddenly the Princess sighed. “I know why you’re here,” Celestia said, stepping down from the throne. “It’s about my sister and I.” “More than that, it is about what comes at the cost your divinity,” Aranea answered, stepping forward. “You let your sister absorb daemonic powers, but at what cost? In the end, her actions cost more innocent lives than they saved.” The warrior had waved her hand, gesturing to the windows, “You depict even the scene in which you were forced to banish one you called family? Aranea’s finger pointed at the window situated awkwardly behind the throne. “Yes,” she answered softly, “I wished to replace it, but none of the glass makers were willing.” She looked behind herself, “I managed to get them to remove it, but despite my insistence they would not destroy or replace it. So there it remains, a physical reminder of what I did.” “Are you not a princess? Destroy it yourself,” Aranea said, before stopping. Celestia’s head had fallen forward and the Princess seemed to have grown sullen. “You can’t? Guilt?” “It reminds me of my own failures, as I said,” the alabaster alicorn responded, “if I do not remind myself, how can I avoid repeating them?” “By not doing what you did, letting it happen,” Aranea said, crossing her arms. “You know full well that absorbing it results in more evil, or you should now.” the warrior gestured forth at the image once more. Celestia remained silent for a bit. “The others have done it,” she said, “the other leaders have continued it. But, it would seem, they are more divine, as you call it, than we. The Dragon Lord himself no longer finds his lands plagued, but the dragons have become more aggressive.” “Dragons have always been aggressive,” Aranea interrupted, getting a nod from Magnus who had taken to looking at the windows. “It is part of their nature.” “I do not mean their usual, I mean they have become more feral, more as animals than what their elders were,” she said, looking at yet another window as Magnus gazed at it with her. “A few hunted ponies a few years back, but they were exiled or killed, I know not which.” Aranea went silent, “They are afflicted by the disease as well then.” Celestia sighed and gave a curt nod. Magnus, however, looked up. “Can I ask why you two are acting so friendly?” he asked, looking between them. “I find it odd, as you’ve only met once before, and quite badly it went as I understand.” “We both have the same intentions here,” Aranea responded, looking back at the white alicorn. “Twilight did not fail to mention that in her letter,” Celestia agreed, “And, for all it is worth, stories still remain about her actions against the Daemos and even here, despite my lack of response, it is clear she is more knowledgeable on these abominations than myself.” “More than most people here,” Aranea said, giving a nod, “but I did not finish the game, so I do not remember much beyond the explanations I got online.” Celestia blinked, “I got very little meaning behind that, especially on the topic of ‘the game’ and ‘online’, the first makes no sense in this context, and the later confuses me.” “Oh yeah…” Aranea muttered, “To cut it short, in my world, the demons were creatures or enemies you would fight against while playing a ‘video’ game, or something on a projector. As for online, think of it like worldwide book that constantly updates with information that people add, amongst other things.” “Curious,” Celestia said, touching her hoof to her chin as she looked away, “I can see how one would get pleasure from playing something like that, whereas the secondary object sounds very useful.” Celestia suddenly perked up, “Unlike the other bits,” she interrupted before Aranea could open her mouth, “I do get the idea of you being from another world.” Aranea blinked and Magnus looked at Celestia with a mildly impressed expression. Aranea looked at her companion, and then back to Celestia. “See, now I’m the confused one.” Celestia smiled, gesturing for them to follow as she moved towards the door. “I will admit, the idea of you coming from another world has occured to me before.” “From what?” Aranea asked. “Starswirl the Bearded,” Celestia pushed open the door to a study that was blanketed in dust, and with an old mirror on the other side of the room. Amongst the dust were various tomes and odd artifacts. Aranea looked around the room, noting that Magnus, who had passed her earlier, was already opening some of the dustier volumes. The air was thick with enough dust, it seemed like a fog had fallen. “Starswirl the what now?” she asked, waving the dust cloud from her face as the other’s followed suit, Celestia using her wings. Aranea grimaced and shook her head. Celestia stared at her for a moment and frowned. “An intelligent unicorn and a good friend of mine,” the alabaster alicorn answered, “He studied many things, among them being the existence of other worlds, universes as he eventually called them.” Celestia picked up a few books in her magic, the dust clouding that part of the room as she did so. “Huh, unexpected but I suppose it makes sense,” Aranea said, pointing to the mirror, “but, let me guess, this goes to another world?” She chuckled. “Yes,” Celestia answered, perfect monotone. “...As surprised as I feel I should be, I’m not,” Arane shook her head and Magnus looked at the mirror. Raising his hand, he brushed the dust off the mirror and it swirled, both the mirror and the dust. “Do you even clean?” “We’ve not disturbed anything since Starswirl left,” Celestia huffed, watching Magnus poke the mirror. Each time he did so, it danced with color. She approached and touched it herself, though the mirror remained unaffected. “Don’t mind me, then,” Aranea said, coughing. “I’ll just sit here and choke on the dust bunnies.” “Strange,” Celestia commented, “What about you, is different from I?” The mare stared at the man, them locking eyes momentarily. “I can’t tell,” Aranea monotoned, “Could be anything.” Celestia blinked and facehoofed, letting out a, very much not royal, groan as it fell down her face. A blush of red spread through her cheeks and she coughed, looking towards the mirror. A few moments of silence after the embarrassment faded, the princess tapped the mirror. “Is the mirror solid to you?”” Magnus touched it again, pushing his hand through. “It feels more like… jello? I believe that is the word I am needing.” He pulled it back and the arm remained as it was, untouched. “Curious,” the princess said, “though, I do remember Starswirl mentioning something like this in his older writings.” She grabbed a heavier book, surprisingly dust-free, with her magic. Heavier than it ought to have been, she made a quick effort of removing it and a yellow manila folder fell forth. “...Well, that’s curious,” Aranea said, leaning forward and picking it up in hand. The old paper of the folder nearly crumbled in her hands. Carefully, she opened it and looked at the front page. “Dimensionally Misplaced? Also known as… Displaced.” Author's Note Took me a bit longer than I wanted. I - Chapter NineI Chapter Nine Fading Shade “...Well, that’s curious,” Aranea said, leaning forward and picking it up in hand. The old paper of the folder nearly crumbled in her hands. Carefully, she opened it and looked at the front page. “Dimensionally Misplaced? Also known as… Displaced.” “Now that is odd,” Celestia muttered, walking over to stare at the folder, “I do not remember Starswirl mentioning this.” Celestia moved a hoof up to tilt the folder itself so it was visible to her eyes. To you who find this folder- If you are reading this, you are what I refer to as a Displaced. Some of us are being held here, in worlds not our own, by one known as The Merchant, a Void-Dweller of great power. If you can use these notes to find your way back to your relative home, I wish you the best of luck. Either because The Merchant is not to be trifled with, or because finding your relative Earth in all the Multiverse is like trying to find a grain of sand in a sandstorm. Personally, I do not desire to leave. True, abandoning my life on Earth seems cowardly. But the power I now wield confers a responsibility, one that I fulfill willingly. And life in Equestria is more likely to be peaceable than life on Earth. To those that want to return, I wish you the best of luck, and tell you that the best of results could be gathered by using something that you brought with you. To those that wish to remain, I tell you that these notes can easily be reversed and used to shield your home from intrusions. Most notably, Discord could find them useful. To those of you that wish to try to fight The Merchant, I tell you that he will likely not go down easy. Your best bet is to find the one known as Xante and team up with him. And to those of you that wish to drag us all back... Do not test me. -Auric Fulcrum, Master of Psynergy, Wielder of the Flames of Alchemy, Slayer of the Wise One, Knight of the Eclipse, Lord of Eureka, Blade of Understanding. “Do not test me?” Aranea muttered, “talk about showboating. He’s like Discord with an ego the size of a full grown elder dragon.” Celestia nodded and Magnus kept digging through the books remaining silent. “I do not believe anyone in this world uses quite that many titles,” Celestia muttered, “though the dragons and minotaurs come close.” She shook her head as Aranea sighed heavily. “The term Golden Bastard has come up in my head,” the woman said, setting the folder down. A slight cough disguising a chuckle came from Celestia as Magnus nodded. He, in his hands, had gathered several books, each just as dusty as the last. Aranea set the folder back down, before turning and picking up one of the tomes. “For as important as that sounded, it gave the baseline information. It’s almost like he’s gleefully pissing on people from the clouds.” Once again, a coughing chuckle came from Celestia and Aranea looked at the next book. “The Lore of the Multiverse?” Aranea paled as the tome started extending downwards, slamming into the floor with immense force. She immediately pushed it off to the side and shivered, “I have no idea what that was, but I feel like I would need several gallons of brain bleach for each chapter.” The book shrank back down and she left it on the floor, cautiously moving away. “Brain bleach?” Celestia asked. “I would need to wipe my mind of everything in that book if I read it,” she answered, wincing at a book titled Cosmology and a few others with varied titles. The only one that didn’t try expanding when she picked it up was one about renegades, to which she gave a sigh of relief as she set it off to the side. Magnus eyed a book in his hands closely, “I believe this explains how I can get home, or at least back to where I came from.” The book, less thickly covered in dust, was a deep blue with a single silvery star on the spine. The name Starswirl was stitched into the star and the title was on the front. A Study In Displaced shimmered on the cover, whilst a simple name hung underneath. “The Doctor?” Aranea muttered, frowning before shaking her head. “No clue who that is, but if the Princess’ teacher, protege, uncle or whatever he was had a book from them, then we might as well believe it can help.” Magnus nodded and opened it. A momentary silence was the response before Magnus flipped through a bunch of pages, “...Apparently I can get home using the mirror.” Aranea frowned whilst Celestia nodded. “It did react oddly to your presence,” the alabaster alicorn answered, pressing her hoof against the cool surface of glass. The mirror remained silent and still as Magnus read a few more pages. “What an oddly simple solution,” Magnus muttered, “Literally all I have to do is walk through it.” Aranea raised an eyebrow before being handed the book. The yellowed pages of the old tome spoke of a few other topics, but the message on how to return home was quite clear. As she watched, Magnus stuck his arm through before removing the satchel from his shoulder and setting it on the ground. “I suppose this is it,” Aranea said, shutting the book and walking over with her own hand outstretched. Grabbing Magnus’s, she shook it slowly. “Been a pleasure, Magnus, thanks for the help. Feel free to visit if you can.” “I feel quite the same,” Magnus bowed slightly, “Goodbye, warrior.” The dark haired man turned and walked through the shimmering glass, disappearing as if he had walked into a pool of silver. Reaching out, Aranea tapped it, but nothing happened. “Strange,” Celestia said, “I wonder why it reacted in such a way to him but not you.” “I’ve been here for awhile, Princess, it’s probably used to me by now,” Aranea muttered, looking back to the book in her hands. Starswirl the Bearded, the stallion who had created a portal between worlds before Equestria was properly founded once more. How strange, how odd. She slipped her satchel back over her shoulder and slipped the book inside. “Come on,” she said, moving towards the door, “we still need to discuss how to stop this disease.” Celestia gave a curt nodded and walked past her, and the guards ignored them as they passed. Having reached another large room, Aranea was greeted by a large wooden table. “Food?” Celestia asked, getting a head shake from the warrior. Celestia nodded before taking a seat herself, leaving Aranea to position herself on one of the odd chairs. Mildly uncomfortable, she finally grabbed one of the glasses of water from the table. The room remained quiet as Celestia munched on a sandwich of dandelions. Aranea finally cleared her throat and looked up towards Celestia, eyeing her critically. The alabaster alicorn sighed deeply and spoke up, “I assume you still want to discuss the Daemos?” Celestia continued eating as Aranea stared in silence at her. “Obviously,” Aranea answered, waving her hand dismissively, “but I am not quite sure where to start.” Celestia nodded solemnly. “Although, I do need to ask. How long had Luna been absorbing the disease before she…” Aranea waved her hand a bit and gave Celestia a look. “A few hundred years,” Celestia answered softly. Aranea frowned, looking down at the table before biting her lip. Both of them remained silent for a moment. “And yourself?” the warrior asked. “I stopped a few years before she returned, so well over a millennium,” Celestia answered, getting a deeper frown from Aranea. The warrior’s face scrunched and she began muttering quietly and looking at her fingers as she moved them. “Maybe it’s because she is directly connected to the night?” Aranea questioned, before sighing. “That’s the best reason I can come up with.” Celestia nodded as Aranea stood, “And, I’ve realized that you aren’t any more knowledgeable on the information as I, only more so on the events.” Another curt nod and Aranea stood up before started out of the room. “You are leaving?” Celestia asked, a dandelion leaf falling from her face to the the table below. Aranea waved her hand back, opening the door with the other. “Yeah, see you around I guess,” the door slammed shut and left the puzzled alicorn behind with her sandwich. A longer silence hit the room and Celestia frowned, looking at her sandwich and sliding it to the side before downing a glass of water. The alabaster alicorn stood up and moved towards the door as well. “I really should move the mirror.” Discord, lord of chaos, stood in his concrete prison huffing to himself. It had been ages since he had been able to visit Equestria itself, though other worlds still seemed to be fair game. Like that one world where he was human, a very boring change if he did admit. He was both their janitor, and their chemistry teacher? What horrifyingly clean idea, an absolute chemystery. He laughed again. Puns, how he loved puns. Those princesses didn’t seem to appreciate his puns, nor had most ponies. That human he had found might have loved them, but he doubted he’d be seeing her any time soon. Counting again, this time creating sheep and dropping them onto the clouds of various worlds where they would frolic amongst the water vapors as he did so, Discord was so distracted he did not notice the figure as it approached his prison. A loud thump permeated his prison, which Discord couldn’t figure out why he kept returning to. Looking around, he couldn’t see anything, though a voice finally came through. “Discord, locked up just like all those years ago. The garden is an upgrade,” the effeminate voice, though moderately husky, said. Discord frowned, that was odd, he thought he knew the voice but he couldn’t place it. “You need to tell me how many humans are in Equestria.” The draconequus frowned, “Not nearly enough,” he yelled. “How many exactly?” the voice, more demanding and slightly pissed, asked. “One,” he answered, hearing another loud thud. The draconequus huffed and returned to his counting. The voice grumbled loudly and faded out. If they weren’t going to be any fun, why should he care? Aranea, in the garden of the palace, was now cursing far louder as she neared the edge of the garden. It was good that Discord could talk, she had only barely guessed at that, but the fact her pendant was here, but she wasn’t? It was outright depressing and had Aranea moderately pissed off. “How the hell am I supposed to find her?” Author's Note Again, sorry this took so long. I - Chapter TenI Chapter Ten A Whispered Thought Aranea, in the garden of the palace, was now cursing far louder as she neared the edge of the garden. It was good that Discord could talk, she had only barely guessed at that, but the fact her pendant was here, but she wasn’t? It was outright depressing and had Aranea moderately pissed off. “How the hell am I supposed to find her?” As the warrior's frustration became evident, Discord snickered internally. He could find anyone anywhere, so long as there was something to point him there. Despite this, he let the warrior wallow in her emotional turmoil, an evil laugh touching the edge of his lips. Even as a stone statue, here in Equestria proper at least, he could easily visit his Abyss and languished in the chaos he felt forming around the sole human inhabitant of Equestria. help her As a lord of chaos, the only one in his Equestria, Discord was used to a variety of oddities. Such as, the existence of an alien who traveled around in a box, the moon having air and life sprinkling it's surface, or even the fact that an entire section of the world was inaccessible and inhabitable to most species on the planet. What he was not used to was anyone telepathically communicating with him. The words held a weight to them that made him fear for his life if he did not obey. He had heard of ponies hearing it. The Ghost of Vengeance, it was called, and despite the name it often directed others on paths least deadly to them. Many might consider him a god, but Discord knew he was not invulnerable. "I can help find her," he said, sounding more serious than he ever had in his life. "And why should I trust you?" she asked, her eyes darkening as she stared at the statue. Discord felt the anger and shivered. Humans, the most unpredictable race in the Multiverse and here he was ready to help one of them, what a rush. Mother, thank you for this. Discord immediately spoke again once having grasped a proper answer. "You shouldn't, but the princesses can't do what I can," Discord answered simply, "I can find someone with the smallest link." He also realized that he now knew who the Ghost of Vengeance was and felt a terrible chuckle deep in his throat. The warrior seemed deep in contemplation, sitting herself before his statue as his words rang through her head. "Very well," she said after a few moments. Discord beamed, "However, should you do anything to her aside from bring her to me alive, I will make sure that your other tooth finds itself a new home in your eye, or worse." Discord winced, he knew very well what she could do. "Agreed," Discord answered. The warrior was immediately on her feet and the weapon from her back was now in her hands. With a resounding crack, the weapon crashed into the stone and blew it off the trapped chaos lord. A loud laugh was the response as he felt the magic of the word respond to him and curl up around him like a nice breeze. Aranea watched until he had settled down, then thrust the pendant towards him. A subtle nod and the chaos lord disappeared with the pendant in hand. Aranea shook her head, questioning why she would even try trusting the very being who had basically tortured her. If it could be called torture, sitting in a black room with only a window viewing out. The woman shook her head and turned around, making her way out of the castle courtyard towards the crystalline caves below. Deep inside them, she took a seat and focused herself. Meditation, she had scoffed at it in her past life, but it helped immensely with her emotions and so she had taken it up. As she sat, the caves hummed with energy allowing her to fall in a deep state of relaxation. Twilight Sparkle stared out at the sky, her thoughts drifting around. The woman she had encountered was an odd one, but compared to her initial thoughts, she was far different. The events of the past, where the woman had allegedly killed hundreds for the sick pleasure, simply did not fit in with how she acted. She could have changed, but something told Twilight some aspect of the past had been exaggerated. Picking up the book she had originally learned about the Dragoon from, she found that despite what it said, a number of footnotes claimed each statement to be nothing but word of mouth. In the footnotes, at the last mention of the Dragoon in History, she found an odd statement. "The Truth can be learned through the Scrying Eye?" Twilight frowned, "What does that even...." she suddenly gasped and grabbed another history book from down the shelf. It was a heavily debated Tome, simply due to the fact that many of it's facts contained within were not supported by other history books. As she read, Twilight found what she was looking for. Inside the tome, the section on the Dragoon was longer than many others, far longer. It stated that the Dragoon had been seen a multitude of times throughout recorded history, and Twilight stared at the drawings and paintings that showed the woman in the background. Beneath each was a simple few word quote, stating what had happened. The shock on the lavender unicorn's face showed that something was wrong, either Celestia had been lied to or she had known. It was with extreme hesitation that Twilight wrote a letter to Celestia and explained what she had found. Dear Princess Celestia, After meeting the Dragoon, or Aranea as she prefers, I found myself wondering why this human (Another term I learned from her), or woman as I have learned she uses like the Minotaurs, would commit the acts of evil listed in most of the history books I have. One of the books mentioned a book by Scrying Eye and I found that most of the other books were conflicted against. In fact, the original book I read said most of the facts were by word of mouth, which doesn't make sense for a history book, while Scrying says that during her time, the book was written after Princess Luna's banishment if you didn't know which I think you do, she witnessed something completely different and even found evidence of Aranea being around at the time of Discord! She's as old as you two! I was wondering if you might know why she would have been known as committing these acts. Your Student Twilight Sparkle With a whisp of green flame, Spike sent the letter on. Twilight didn't know why she still felt nervous, after all, Celestia wouldn't have attacked her despite possibly knowing she wasn't evil, would she? "Changelings," an annoyed Aranea muttered as she left the caves. While she had been down below, she had found evidence, rather bodies, that some of the castle staff weren't who they claimed to be. The bodies weren't in a good enough state for her figure out who the damnable bugs were replacing up there. The only ones she could be certain weren't replaced were the Princesses themselves. Her mood soured, especially after she had managed to calm down, and Aranea moved through the castle and barged in on the meeting between Celestia and a rather skittish noble. The noble nervously stood and started to speak, "T-this is a p-private meeting between myself the Princess, y-you have no right to barge in on us like-" he was stopped as Aranea glared. "Beat it," she hissed. The noble, like an obedient dog, bolted out of the throne room and disappeared down the halls screaming, resulting in an eye roll by Aranea as she approached Celestia. "We have an issue," she said as a whisp of green flame dropped a rolled up piece of parchment in front of the princess. She picked it up in her magic and read it as Aranea stared. "Yes, we do," Celestia muttered. "Changelings, princess, the issue is changelings. They're in your staff here," Aranea said, getting a skeptical look from the princess, "I found bodies and slime in the caves." The princess's eyes darkened and she stared at Aranea, "Get the guards and have them lock down the castle, I'll have Shining Armor put up his shield." Whoever Shining Armor was, Aranea hoped that the shield of his could keep changelings in, because it was going to be a pain finding out who the bugs had replaced and how exactly they had got here and when. Celestia scribbled her response to Twilight and disappeared in a flash of light. Aranea walked out of the throne room with a yell, "LOCK DOWN THE CASTLE. INTRUDERS AND MURDERERS ARE AFTER THE PRINCESSES." While the main castle staff went into a panic, the guards saluted and made for each exit, informing the other guards along the way. Author's Note Sorry about the short chapter, but I haven't been able to do much lately. I just want to give you guys something to read, as well as establish the current way events will fall in the timeline. I - Chapter ElevenI Chapter Eleven The World Stops Watching Whoever Shining Armor was, Aranea hoped that the shield of his could keep changelings in, because it was going to be a pain finding out who the bugs had replaced and how exactly they had got here and when. Celestia scribbled her response to Twilight and disappeared in a flash of light. Aranea walked out of the throne room with a yell, "LOCK DOWN THE CASTLE. INTRUDERS AND MURDERERS ARE AFTER THE PRINCESSES." While the main castle staff went into a panic, the guards saluted and made for each exit, informing the other guards along the way. With a few steps past that she paused, "And why in hell are they listening to me?" A frown forced itself upon her face before she gave a deep sigh of annoyance. As a guard outfit, these ponies were doing a horrendous job. They should have demanded from from her, not gone off and done exactly what she said. Furthermore, the fact Celestia had given her her weapon back, despite prior events, was completely and utterly, for lack of a better term, idiotic. Who, in their right mind, gives a person who threatened the ruler of a country their weapon back, while they were in jail? With a shake of her head, Aranea moved towards the entry hall of the castle itself. Hefting the weapon on her back into her hands, she grabbed the nearest guard. "Bring everyone here," she said, "and get the rest of you lot on it too." The guard gulped and nodded, disappearing down the hall as Aranea leaned up against the wall. "DISCORD!" A loud popping noise, followed by a downfall of confetti, and the aforementioned draconequus made his appearance into the large room. "You called?" "Can you figure out when a changeling has disguised itself as a pony?" she asked, giving him a glare. The draconequus blinked, then had a quick moment of realization. A few bubbles floated out of the O shape he had made with his mouth, quickly turned into a grin. "Of course!" he grinned, Always the easy way out with this one. She raised an eyebrow, then sighed and nodded. "Of course," she said with annoyance, "then when the guards have rounded everyone up, I want you to expose any and all the changelings." She gave the draconequus yet another look. He tipped a top hat from his head, having made it appear seconds before hand. With a swift pop, he disappeared. "That aside, why are you helping the Princesses, you don't owe them anything," he asked, his voice sounding distant and echoed despite that he didn't need to sound that way. "You're right, I don't," she said, frowning, "but at the same time I'd prefer to avoid people dying like all those years ago." Discord hummed, "And what if the changelings are here just to get food?" "As long as they haven't killed anyone, and have no darker plans, I'm all for it," she answered, waving her hand dismissively. Discord gave an amused chuckle, before going silent as the first few ponies entered the hall. The silver haired woman watched as a mass of nervous mass of small horses entered the hall. The guards ushered them in quietly, soon after followed by a somewhat bulked up male horse, with a white coat and blue mane. As soon as Aranea saw the shield on his flank, she realized who it was. "Shining Armor, interesting to see you again, despite the circumstances," she called out. The colt turned and gave her a look before nodding. He walked up to stand by her side, giving her a glare. "As much as it leaves a bad taste in my mouth, you know the most about this so do what you will and I'll step in if I'm needed," Shining said, moving to stand slightly behind her. A brief nod and she faced the panicked servants, a few made a move to run but the other guards had blocked off the exits. After noting the behavior, likely due to Shining's presence, she was grateful for the professionalism. "Surely, you're all wondering why you've been gathered up here, in front of me and Shining Armor, instead of the Princesses," Shining gave a slight noise of discontent in response, "and the answer is simple. Some of you are not who you are pretending to be, nor even the same species." A number of voices started protesting, but she shouted over them, "DISCORD, IF YOU WOULD!" A second later, a decent number of the ponies shuddered and a wave of green light rolled off their bodies revealing an insect-like horse beneath the facade. "Guards!" Shining shouted, resulting in a number of guards forcing them out in front of the regular ponies. Each of the guards removed a gold ring from somewhere on their bodies and forced it onto the horn on each of the creature's heads. The changelings attempted to fight, but eventually all of them had a ring around their horn. Shining gave her a nod, and she stepped forward. "If you are here to live, then you have nothing to fear. If you threaten the lives of anyone, even the Princesses, you will be immediately incarcerated and further punishment will be decided by the laws of the land," she looked back towards Shining who gave a simple nod. "First, you," she pointed her weapon at the the nearest changeling. Unlike the rest of them, it was calmer but still noticeably nervous, "What are your motives, here in Equestria?" The changeling gulped, "I-I just wanted to live my life," it responded in a notably masculine voice. Aranea leaned down and gave it a look in the eyes. Immediately shrinking back, it closed it's eyes and turned away. A few seconds later, she gave a nod. "Alright, but since we cannot guarantee your innocence, I want you to point out to me which of your kin doesn't have those motives," the creature nodded rapidly. She nodded to the guard behind him and he was pulled to his hooves. She led him towards the other changelings, and waved her hand forward. "The ones you don't point out will be locked in a cell, just as you will be, until we can determine their innocence. The rest..." She left it unsaid and a number of changelings gulped audibly. She watched as he began pointing out specific changelings, each of whom was quickly pinned down by the guard and brought to the side of the room. Maybe I misjudged their professionalism... she thought as the final changeling was moved. Out of the seventeen changelings exposed, only four had not been pointed out, aside from the original. "Very well, guards, lead those few out of here and bring the rest to Shining and I." A quick nod and a few of the guards led the now noticeably calmer changelings out of the room, whereas the rest of the remaining changelings hissed violently as they were dragged forward. "And get the other ponies out of here," she said, looking towards the changelings. Shining gave her a dark look before nodding to the remaining guards who quickly escorted the servants out of the room. "Shining, what does the law do to criminals plotting murder or having already murdered?" "Lifetime in jail or exile," he answered. She frowned, then looked at the changelings, "Alright, so then it's a lifetime in-" one of the changelings interrupted her by lunging forward, having broken free of the guard holding it. With a quick swing of her spear, the changeling was literally crushed against the ground, green blood oozing from the crushed chitin of it's head. To their credit, the guards remained mostly silent as she lifted her weapon away from the body. A grimacing Shining Armor was turning green himself, "Get them out of here," she spat. "Did you have to kill it?" Shining said, the disgust clear in his voice. "I've killed for less, in the past, but this was in self defense," she said, looking down towards the body with a glare, "and to be perfectly honest, I didn't think it would kill him." Shining shook his head, attempting to clear his head of the image and the gory result of what had happened. Aranea pulled a cloth from inside her armor and began wiping the spear off. "Still..." Shining trailed off. Celestia returned to the throne room, in the same manner as she had left it, and was surprised to see Aranea sitting down in a chair with Shining near her. In front of the two was a stack of papers, along with a set of folders. Shining seemed ingrained in what he was reading, only to look up at her shortly after she had appeared. "Your majesty," he said giving a slight bow before returning to what he was reading. Aranea noticed shortly afterward and set the folder in her hand down, looking up towards the Princess. "I took care of it," she said. "Not like she would have," Shining offered without looking a up. The dragoon glared and turned back to her, "As annoying as it is, he's right about that. I didn't take care of it as cleanly as I could have, in fact, I had to kill one of them." Celestia winced, it had been centuries since the last time she, or any soldier of Equestria, had killed anyone. Sure, murders happened, but they were far from frequent. Moving towards the table they had set up, she noted the opened folder with the words Changeling-7 on the papers inside. When she looked towards Shining, his paperwork seemed to be diagrams of weapons and battle formations. "What happened?" "I made them reveal themselves, the how not being important, and one decided to try to assault me after I had determined who was supposedly innocent," she kept it to herself, but was quite relieved her suspicions had been correct in that department. If no one had been a changeling, or if they had all been innocent, it wouldn't have ended well. Celestia remained silent for a few moments before speaking, "...It can't be helped?" she said,a confused look gracing her face before she shook her head and put a hoof to her forehead, "I must apologize, it's been centuries since the last time anyone was killed in circumstances anything like this." Aranea blinked, "That's surprising." "I had to make an effort to prevent such scenarios," Celestia said, before putting her hoof back on the floor, "I suppose I should be proud it lasted this long." "I thought you would arrest me," Aranea answered, a note of disbelief in her voice. "Regarding what I have learned recently, I believe trusting you is anything but a mistake," the solar diarch said, her hoof waving dismissively, "I shall explain later, but first we must determine what happens to the guilty, and how to determine those you were told are innocent are truly so." Aranea sat back down, holding up the folder she had had in her hand when Celestia had returned shortly before, "Shining had some of the guards interview both groups." Celestia gripped the folder in her magic and brought before her eyes. "We'll need to verify all this at least once more," she said, looking at the folder. "Shining?" Aranea said, looking to the colt in question. A short nod and he set the papers down, moving towards the doors. "I'll interrogate them myself, your majesty," he gave a quick bow towards Celestia and opened the doors. After he had disappeared and the doors had closed, Aranea sat down and gave a deep sigh. Celestia blinked and looked at her before looking back to the folder in front of her. Aranea leaned back in the chair and looked at the princess, "It's been one hell of a day." Celestia blinked and thought back to the discussion she had with Twilight before returning, then she looked up at the ceiling. "Indeed it has..."
I - Chapter OneI Chapter One Servant and Master, Reunited The oppressing prisons of Tartarus, prison of the damned, the defilers, and the darkest creations the country of Equestria had seen in the past millennia. From Tirek, a raging centaur from beyond the wreath civilization, to a lone bipedal creature who had lain a set of armor at the far end of the her cell. The clothes she did wear were in scraps, tears in some areas and holes in others. A pair of simple trousers, in far better condition than the shirt, covered her legs and she had propped herself up on a long spear. Silver-hair covered a face of elf-like complexion, lacking the flaws and faults of the normal human. She didn't move, aside from the slight rise and fall of her chest. The woman of the cell was in a deep sleep and it didn't seem as though she had moved in some time. A thick metal door separated the room from the cells outside of it. The prisoner inside this cell was a special case, having lived far longer than she ought to have down in this magical hell. Silence permeated the room, as it usually did, and the woman was undisturbed. After several more minutes, a leg twitched and she moved her head off the spear, a light red mark crossing her cheek from where she had lain. Blearily, she opened her eyes and peered out at the jagged rock walls of the room. Blinking rapidly, she yawned and began pushing herself off the ground. Shaking slightly as she stood, the woman made her way across the room, staring at the armor and then picking it up. "I still don't understand how this hasn't rusted," she muttered, setting it back down after inspecting it again. Lifting her spear, she stabbed the walls. A small scratch appeared and she lowered the weapon. Same old, same old, the woman muttered to herself. It’s boring, yes, but at least I don't have to deal with THAT issue any longer. The woman's mind drifted momentarily to the events which placed her both in this prison, and in this world itself. The first memory that crawled through her still somewhat tired mind was that of her departure. It had been a long night… "I suppose you're pleased?" a husky voice muttered, some footsteps echoing as the figure entered the living room. Dark black armor adorned the body of the owner of the voice and silver hair travelled down their head. A deep frown marred their pale face. "Quite, I did an excellent job," the other inhabitant of the room answered cheerfully. Unlike her taller companion, the second person had short brown hair. "Besides," the girl's face contorted with worry, "I know what it means to you, with, well..." The girl trailed off and the silver-haired companion nodded and sighed. "Yeah, but I would've preferred, well, going as the ideal me, not..." a gesture insinuated the meaning, the current appearance was a bit too much. "It's a costume party, Aranea," the girl answered, "besides, no one will recognize you!" "I suppose that is true..." the husky-voiced girl answered, "but, if any guys hit on me, I am going to use that spear and..." A look of disgust and anger contorted her face. An eyeroll was the response from the brown-haired girl. "Let's go," she said, and the brunette grinned, snagging a pair of keys from a nearby side-table. They both walked outside. A deep black car, a convertible it would seem, chirped as the brunette hit a button on her key chain. 'Aranea' walked around the car and slipped into the passenger seat. "I can't believe you actually dyed my hair for this, Iris," she said, buckling herself in. "While wigs may work," 'Iris' answered, slipped the key into the ignition and starting up the vehicle, "they can be inconvenient in the majority of situations." Aranea sighed aggravatedly, muttering about being found out when they all met up the next day, for work. The brunette girl smirked as the vehicle backed out of the drive and then sped off down the street. After a moderately embarrassing stop, for Aranea, they finally arrived at a large ornate house which had a variety of vehicles parked in its front and down the street. Iris pulled the vehicle off to the side of the road and removed the keys, letting Aranea exit before locking up the vehicle. The two girls made their way to the doors, meeting the guy next to the door. He gave a wide grin. "Hey! You brought a friend this time, sweet! How's her tolerance?" the guy gave Aranea a blazing grin and Iris smirked. "It’s Iris today, Jimmy," the brunette answered, "And, I don’t know, you'll have to check her." Aranea glared at her shorter friend before the guy practically dragged her out into the living room of the mansion. A crowd of people cheered as the guy pushed her up to the two guys currently keeping an idiotically grinning teen standing. Aranea was quickly ushered up to the keg and they tried to lift her up, but she protested. After a few more moments, Iris got aggravated enough to yell. "Just do it, you chicken." Aranea glared, which gave the two enough time to hoist her up and a third to bring the hose to her mouth. What is this, a frat party? she muttered internally before finally giving in. About an hour later Aranea, noticeably buzzed, was making out with, perhaps shocking to the other person in the room, her friend Iris. It was very much a touch-and-feel make-out session, and Aranea was starting to feel very heated in her costume. She felt Iris's hand drift towards her nethers and immediately froze, all signs of the alcohol vanishing. Iris frowned, and watched her friend run off drunkenly. Aranea went sprinting into a bedroom, thankfully empty, and sat hyperventilating next to the bed when the door she had slammed shut opened. When she looked up, trying to restrain the tears on her face, she spotted a girl with striped cat-ears and a top hat emblazoned with the numbers, '10/6', shimmering oddly as she approached. "I sense a very unhappy unbirthday, here," the girl said, staring at Aranea with wide green eyes. She seemed to be reading Aranea's soul , which caused Aranea to hide her face. "And a torn stack of Hearts, the Diamonds lying scattered across the table, the Spades covering the torn, and beaten by the Clubs." Aranea stopped shaking and looked up, "...What?” The sight of such absurdity caused a look of confusion to plaster itself on the silver-haired girl’s face. “The only way to fix this,” the girl pushed up her sleeves, “is through evaporation, and you’re quite lucky. I’m a pretty talented evaporationist...or was it condensationist?” Aranea opened her mouth only for the entire room go black. The silver-haired woman looked around the cell once more, her momentary reminiscence stopped in its tracks by a very load roar of rage. “Tirek,” she muttered with an eye roll, getting closer to the door to hopefully hear another one of the tantrums of the centaur. Putting her weight on the door, she pressed her ear on the cold metal, only for it to click and the door shifted slightly. Reaching down, she pushed on the door with a fair margin of her strength and it swung open. After a moment of surprise, the silver-haired woman grinned. The mirage of colors arced through the air and slammed down upon Nightmare Moon in a torrent. Hues clashed and merged before splitting off and doing the same with others. A taut feeling pressed through the air and the tension didn’t help the effect. As Pinkie Pie pulled out a butterknife, the torrent of color subsided. Pinkie’s face fell but perked up when the six mares in the room saw, once the mirage of colors was truly gone, a small, almost foal-sized, blue alicorn lying on the ground. Pinkie’s face almost exploded and the gears that remained working in her head, before spinning off into oblivion, were working overtime in preparation for party plans. However, before she could start spouting such ideas out, the group was interrupted by the arrival of an alabaster alicorn. Princess Celestia passed the group, most of whom bowed slightly, while Pinkie and Twilight perked up more, if that were possible for Pinkie (it probably is). Celestia was approaching her sister, when a spear slammed down in her path. Stunned, the solar diarch stumbled backwards away from the attack. A second later, silver-haired figure wrested the weapon from its pace in the floor and turned to the blue alicorn. She raised the spear to thrust and had the weapon yanked backwards, causing her to spin. “Are you bloody-well stupid?” the warrior demanded, yelling as she turned around. “She tried to get the night to last forever! Ifrit! The Scourge!” The warrior seemed rather furious. Celestia’s gaze turned cold, “You will not be harming my sister,” she stated. “Sister? Does that mean you… Wait, you’re the one that imprisoned me!” the warrior suddenly yelled, glaring. “So, you’re on their side then!” The warrior hoisted her spear and drove it into the ground, leaping forward to kick her feet into the horse’s muzzle. Momentarily blinded, Celestia was left open to the warrior’s attack, the next one letting the sharp point of the spear rest at the alicorn’s throat. A split second later a rainbow blur slammed the armor clad woman into the ground, causing her spear to fly out of her grip. After being knocked down, she reached towards the pony that had attacked her, ready to retaliate. “Cease,” was the white alicorn’s command, causing the rainbow pony to back off the woman. Immediately the warrior scrambled towards her spear, only for it, and her, to both be grabbed in magic. Attempting to fight the magic proved fruitless and she merely glared at the horse. “Imprison me all you like, you will not be succeeding!” the warrior spat. Another flash of light and she was gone from the sight of the ponies in the room. “Princess,” Twilight asked, “was that…?” “Yes, Twilight,” Celestia answered, “it was indeed. To think she would have survived all this time is suspicious, and most likely proves her to have been aiming for eternal night as well.” “Well, cryptic is awesome and all,” Rainbow Dash interrupted, looking rather miffed, “but I should ask, WHO was that?” “One of Nightmare Moon’s warriors,” Twilight finally answered a second later as Celestia teleported the spear away as well. “The Dragoon.” The moon remained in the sky, blocking half of the sun and dimming the world’s skies into a facsimile of twilight. While Nightmare Moon was leagues away, part of her army had started the advance on the booming city of Canterlot, at the seat of a mountain. The ponies of the city fought fiercely while the forces of the night advanced unimpeded. The general for this fight watched from the middle of the advancing forces, her own weapon at the ready in the event she were to be attacked. However, as the strength of the invading force was far superior to the defenders, there were no complications as they approached the city hall, a large mansion style building whose ornate features caused the general to scoff. It was a needless extravagance for a place of minor government, it was doubtful the lords and ladies of the area ever met here, and common ponies had no use for it. All it was good for was a chance for her to showcase her might and control over the town. Despite the bad taste being a conqueror left in her mouth, it was a necessary price to pay for the passage home. The force marched into the courtyard with no resistance and she barked out orders. “Gather the townsfolk in the courtyard, no matter their status!” she said, departing and allowing a minimal amount of the soldiers to follow her into the mansion. Bat-ponies of some sort, and a variety of other nocturnal and ‘dark’ creatures made up the army. She entered the office of the mansion and took a seat in the chair, thankfully designed to attribute a variety of body types. It was still small, but not so that she would fall out. Immediately, she began scouring the contents of the desk and found a single book in its lowermost left drawer. Starswirl’s Magical Theory and Principia. She raised an eyebrow and opened the book, scanning the contents before arriving on a most peculiar section. Magic permeates the entirety of our world, from the smallest grain of sand, to the largest mountain and the world. It is what allows unicorns to manipulate the magics of the sun and moon, forcing our world from what was once an eternal twilight. Despite the strength and raw powers of magic, magic cannot latch onto worlds, theorized, that do not have magic themselves in some amount. Worlds with magic are a simple matter, even if that magic is completely different from the laws of our own. Even the base rules of reality may be different, so long as magic remains. The question I’m found asking, however, is the idea of a resident of a world completely lacking in magic suddenly ending up here: what would the result be? The general froze and re-read those words again. Despite the insistence in her head, theorizing that a different, almost non-existent, magic could be in her world, something furiously denied such idiotic ideas. Thousands of years were proof that no such magic could exist- instances of “recorded sorcery” had no physical evidence. Magic in her world was nothing more than fairy tales and fiction. The warrior attempted to calm herself, but found her control lacking. A loud scream of anger, grief, and regret burst forth from the woman. The scream subsided, as did the grief, but when a soldier entered the room, her gaze turned dark as the window behind the desk exploded from a shockwave. The soldier scrambled away, and barely managed to squeak out that the ponies had arrived. A moment later, she walked out onto the balcony, conveniently placed above the courtyard. Glaring down at the ponies below, she was interrupted before even speaking, by a stallion in a tux of some sort. “Who are you to dare bring us here! A commoner cannot command me to do anything,” he shouted, huffing at the end of his small rant. She locked eyes with the stallion and he cowered. “I am the general of this army,” she waved her arm around at the forces herding the ponies, “and you will obey. Until Nightmare Moon arrives, when I will challenge her for her lies, you are under my control! Do I hear any arguments?” Murmured silence. She turned around and entered the study once more, still fuming. As it was, she was still quite angry when a white alabaster alicorn, Princess Celestia, arrived to the cheers of the townsfolk. As she walked out to the courtyard, the warrior raised her spear up, prepared for the oncoming battle. Author's Note Thanks to SnapDrakeGames for editing. So far, there isn't much FFXV lore involved yet, but please hold with me when it starts because I am relying on others to inform me.
I - Chapter TwoI Chapter Two General of the Night Murmured silence. She turned around and entered the study once more, still fuming. As it was, she was still quite angry when a white alabaster alicorn, Princess Celestia, arrived to the cheers of the townsfolk. As she walked out to the courtyard, the warrior raised her spear up, prepared for the oncoming battle. Yet, despite Celestia’s arrival full ornate armor, the white alicorn did not attack immediately. She seemed to scan the area, looking for whomever it was that was leading the forces, despite the fact that Aranea stood almost directly in front of her. A few moments later, she looked at one of the thestrals, “Where is your leader?” “Ex-fucking-scuse me?” Aranea called out, shocked. She was only a few steps from the princess. Celestia turned to her, and eyed the dragoon with a critical look while Aranea looked scandalized, “Are... Are you serious? Please tell me you’re joking.” “No,” Celestia answered, looked confused, “I am not. What is the issue?” Aranea’s eye twitched violently, and she took a deep breath, trying to calm herself. Imma fuckin spell it out for you, was the internal monologue running through the woman’s mind as she glared at the alicorn, “I’m the leader, you pack mule.” “Pack mule?” Celestia gasped, shocked. “Culture joke,” Aranea answered, looking rather furious, “but, I still can’t believe you blatantly ignored me like that. Rude, and not very diplomatic.” The dragoon rolled her eyes at the large horse’s confusion. “Why are you here?” The alicorn stared at Aranea for a few seconds, looking around as if still not believing that she was the leader, “Aren’t you just a soldier?” the princess asked, that look of confusion still etched on her face, “I am fairly certain that you have to be just a soldier, no self-respecting general fights from the front of their forces.” Aranea rolled her eyes and stabbed her spear into the ground. “Maybe where you’re from,” she said, “but, unlike those idiots,” she waved a hand off towards the sky, “I prefer my soldiers remain loyal.” Celestia frowned. “Then why fight with them?” the alicorn asked, “Why not fight alone?” Aranea gave an aggravated sigh, “Because I realize that a war cannot be won alone.” Celestia frowned, “But, I won this one alone,” she answered. Aranea picked up her spear, “Perhaps you won the fight, but you have not won the war.” She pointed her weapon at the white alabaster princess, “If you have indeed defeated Nightmare Moon on your own, you have gained my respect and gratitude, however, as the general of this army, I will not allow you to take this town without a fight.” “Very well, but your soldiers will not fight with you,” Celestia said, causing Aranea to give her a skeptical look. “Asking for a handicap like that,” Aranea actually sounded shocked, “It’s a form of cowardice, but one I will grant you this time.” She waved the gathering army back with a shout. Celestia frowned, “How is that cowardice?” “You are forcing your foe to fight alone,” Aranea answered, “Yes, it may seem honorable, but, at the same time, it is akin to asking your foe to lay down their shield merely because it is a heater, and you use a wankel.” She remained in a fighting stance, giving Celestia a stare. Celestia’s confusion worsened and Aranea sighed. “Just, let’s get this over with,” she leapt back, away from the horse and onto the balcony of the mansion. After a few seconds of staring from Celestia, the white alicorn charged. Wings beating violently as she raced towards Aranea, the dragoon launched herself skyward. Celestia turned to fix her attack, only for the woman to slam the side of the spear into her back and render her flight momentarily useless. Seeing the chance for an attack, Aranea leapt off and launched further into the air, before plummeting downwards at the alicorn. The speeding tip of the spear drove itself home into Celestia’s neck, only for the attack to be worsened when the tip of the spear seemed to explode with a shockwave and speed the alicorn’s descent into the ground with a loud ‘Umpf!’. Celestia crashed into the ground with yelp, and Aranea landed several feet away, staring at the alicorn as she struggled to get back onto her hooves. “Still able to stand, good,” Aranea muttered, “All of my previous opponents weren’t after that attack.” Celestia glared at the dragoon and launched herself forward, only to have the woman sidestep and slam the spear into her back once more. The alicorn princess crashed into the ground and stood up, spitting up dirt when she stood. “...Have you ever bothered with a fight before, or do all ponies immediately revert back to magic?” Celestia’s glare returned with a vengeance and this time she launched herself skywards. Aranea watched as the alicorn raced at her from the air, her sword held before her. An unnecessarily distanced attack, easily avoided. Aranea sidestepped, only for a ball of fire to slam into the ground next to her. The barrage increased, leaving only the singular spot the alicorn was aiming at. Aranea dove into the flames and then jumped skywards towards the diving alicorn. Yet again, the alabaster princess launched volleys of flame at the dragoon. Slowing her skyward rise, the woman started falling backwards spinning her spear like a baton through the air as fast as she could. The flames slammed into the weapon, but were dissipated by the centrifugal force before they could do anything significant. A swing of her weapon, in between volleys, allowed Aranea to once again fly skyward and dodge to the side of the solar princess. A loud clang marked the connection of Celestia’s sword on her armor, but a mere scratch was the result. Aranea turned and slammed her spear into the princess’s side full-force, dropping her mid-air. Repeating her shockwave attack, the solar princess was slammed into the ground once more. “You,” the alicorn princess coughed, blood and dirt maring her once pristine white coat, “leave me no choice but to doom you to the same fate as my sister.” Aranea looked on quizzically as a small number of colored gemstones began floating around Celestia, who glared at Aranea with a passion. Raising her weapon, Aranea charged at the princess, only to be blinded by a brilliant light. She felt her spear crash into something and then she herself, after the spear was wrenched from her grip, crashed into a very solid wall. When her vision finally cleared, the dragoon sat in a large room with naught but a metal door and grey rock walls extending up forever, though the room remained somehow lit. The dungeons of the Canterlot palace were mostly grey with very little to see, as per typical of a dungeon anywhere. However, unlike most dungeons, these held no other residents aside from a new arrival who had appeared in a flash of light. She dropped from the air and stumbled back, catching herself a moment later. A few rather loud curses burst forth from the woman’s mouth as she scrambled, looking around at her surroundings. The door to the little room was in a mostly metal frame, with its top upper half in bars, allowing the prisoner to see out into the hall. The other cells of the dungeon were completely empty and the cobwebs in hers signified that, until she had arrived, hers had been as well for some time. No guards stood in the hall, and no sounds came from anywhere nearby. It seemed that due to the lack of use of the dungeons they were basically abandoned. Grabbing the door she pushed as hard as she could, and cursed when it didn’t move. “Damn it, those idiot horses,” she hit the door in frustration, “they have no idea the plots I could hear in that forsaken place. The whispers I heard.” She was still ranting internally when her spear fell from the air a moment later, clattering on the cold stone floor. She scrambled over and picked it up. Nothing seemed to be wrong with it, so she turned and lunged at the door with it. The door creaked and swung in as she pulled her spear back and put it back on her back. She marched out and made her way out of the dungeon into the massive halls of the castle. She began making her way through the halls and turned around the corner, nearly running into a group of guards. Both parties froze, and Aranea gulped. I need a distraction. Why am I thinking of Gangnam style? She pointed off past the guards, “Look, a distraction!” The guards turned and she sprinted around the corner. Nearly running into a group of nobles, she hid at the corner. When the guards followed her around the corner, they were greeted by the sight of the woman wearing a top hat and a monocle, while casually smoking a pipe. “Hm, yes, quite. Quite.” The group disappeared around the corner and a few moments later the screams of nobles echoed through the halls. Aranea ended up hiding and running for some time, before she entered a massive room and almost ran into Celestia herself. She lated right before crashing into the flank of the princess. Taking a deep breath as quietly as possible, she tried slipping back out the door before it slammed shut and failed. Celestia spun around and met Aranea’s eyes. “How did you get out?” “Broke the door.” “...I shouldn’t have given you your weapon.” “You think?” Aranea said, giving Celestia an incredulous look. The princess’s horn flashed and a sword appeared in her magic, swinging downwards at the dragoon. The spear was swung off Aranea’s back and she knocked the sword back before hitting Celestia and forcing her back. “You’ve gotten better,” Aranea said, glaring, “at least faster.” Celestia didn’t even speak when her horn flashed again, blinding Aranea. She covered her face, and once the light was gone… She was back in the dungeons. Her spear, however, was gone. An aggravated sigh escaped her mouth and she sat down on the slab of marble intended to be a bed. The cell door squealed slightly as it opened, likely due to disuse, and a blue alicorn entered the cell. She was moderately taller than she had been before, and seemed more collected. Aranea glared. “Hello, Dragoon,” the blue princess said, looking up into the soldier’s eyes. “Queen of the Night,” Aranea answered, her voice sounding strained. “Not anymore,” the alicorn answered, “Though we once called ourself that.” “Yeah, I know. I was there,” Aranea said, a frown finally crossing her face as her glare intensified. The blue alicorn wilted slightly. “Indeed,” she answered. “Why are you here?” “To apologize for our lies back then,” Luna said, wilting a bit under Aranea’s glare. “We had no right to promise you something we could not grant.” Aranea stared at her for a minute. Luna gulped but looked relieved when Aranea sighed and looked away. “I’ll forgive you, for now, on one condition,” the silver-haired woman said, “you help me and try and find a way home.” “Agreed,” Luna answered, “Now, We are afraid we cannot let you out.” “Not surprised, it’d be a foolish thing to do, politically, letting me out. I am, technically, an enemy of Equestria,” Aranea retorted, sitting back down on the marble bed. Luna stood there and she gave the princess a withering stare. Luna paled and turned back to the door, letting the guards open it. Stepping out, she called back, “I convinced my sister to give you a chance.” Aranea turned her way and stared at the exiting pony for a second. “Yeah yeah,” Aranea finally waved her off and lay down on the marble. She had already taken off her armor, which the guards had tried to confiscate. Suffice to say, the murderous glare that appeared on her face had motivated them to not bother even attempting. Author's Note Well, here's the second chapter.
I - Chapter ThreeI Chapter Three General of the Night “Yeah yeah,” Aranea finally waved her off and lay down on the marble. She had already taken off her armor, which the guards had tried to confiscate. Suffice to say, the murderous glare that appeared on her face had motivated them to not bother even attempting. Aranea’s time in the cell lasted several more hours, during which the guards had changed once or twice. At the most recent change of guard, she had noted something very interesting. Unlike the first guard, the second guard’s illusion seemed to be faltering substantially at random. She watched as the chest plates shimmered. After about half an hour, the illusion was gone but the pony in question hadn’t noticed. Aranea stood up and walked over to the door, sticking her arm out and poking the now-fluffy thestral. “Oi. Your fluff is showing.” The thestral didn’t move so Aranea kept poking her in varying places until finally the thestral spun around. “Would you quit that!” the bat-pony screeched. “Well, yeah,” Aranea said, “but, boy, you guys are fluffier than I remember.” The thestral just stared at her for a minute before looking down at itself. A loud yelp came from her and she spun to the unicorn guard, rapidly muttering something and the illusion reappeared. Immediately, the thestral turned back to her spot. “What, not even a thank you?” Aranea asked, “Harsh.” A moment of silence before the thestral finally answered, “I would thank you, Dragoon, but seeing as you probably took it down yourself, I won’t.” The thestral went mute again. “...How in the seventh hell could I mess with Equestrian magic?” she answered, before frowning. An anger seemed to burn in her eyes, and in a sickeningly sweet voice, she spoke. “I’d like a book to read, one on history please.” The thestral remained silent while the other guard nodded and a flash of light came from his horn. Sitting in his magic was a thick book, the scrawls of Equestria script on the book speaking its title clearly to those with a sense of sight. A Moderately Descriptive and Perfectly Accurate History of Equestria. Aranea scoffed at the title. “Perfectly accurate my arse,” she said, accepting the book as it was passed through the bars. The woman sat back down on the marble bed and began reading. The past of our great land is full of strife, from both outsiders and domestic issues… She had finally finished the section on the ‘Selenity Wars’ which, in all actuality, was just an incredibly absurd name for the civil war from the past. Its depiction of Nightmare Moon was inaccurate, in that she was a massive beast made of the shadows of the night. In that she commanded the most evil and foul creatures, which included the thestrals. Celestia, however, was depicted as completely heroic. Disgusting as it was, it still was her means of learning how the last millennium had gone, and how ponies had advanced. However, she had passed a mere 100 years before quite literally throwing the book at the wall. Neither of the guards moved, and she shook the door. “Take me to Celestia, now,” the two guards remained silent. “Fine, then I’d like to make a request to visit the library.” Aranea hissed, noting the thestral seemed to flinch while the other guard remained perfectly still. “Your request is acknowledged,” the guard responded and then remained silent. “Her request is to be granted, though perhaps not in the way she wishes,” the solar diarch appeared. The loud clop of hooves on stone echoed through the hall as the alicorn approached the door of the cell. Celestia’s face showed one of… disgust? Contempt? Some negative emotion being directed at her. “I have decided that, due to your lack of many core features of a good pony and friendship, you will be taught by my student.” The guards paled, “Twilight is perfectly capable of stopping you from escaping, but you will be granted your weapon back.” Aranea glared, and then nodded. Celestia suddenly burst into a grin. “Excellent, you leave now.” “Pardon?” “My student and her new friends are awaiting you in Ponyville,” she said, before turning around. A soft glow came from her horn and the door swung open. Aranea passed through, grabbing the book and stashing it behind her, before Celestia’s magic wavered. The Stoss Spear came floating down the steps and was dropped into Aranea’s hands. The warrior gave Celestia a curious stare. “You will be escorted by Captain Shining Armor,” Celestia nodded and a guard made his way down the stairs. Blue hair and a white coat, he was very similar in appearance to the guards in general. However, on his flank was a shield. “Dragoon,” the pony said. “Aranea, actually,” the warrior retorted, rolling her eyes. “Doesn’t matter to me what your name is,” he replied coolly, “Currently you are an order, nothing more.” Aranea didn’t respond, instead choosing to stare into the eyes that stared back. She didn’t flinch, but the pony’s gaze shifted away from her own. “Captain Armor, I leave you be,” Celestia turned and walked back up the stairs. “If you’re going to escort me, do it,” Aranea said, waving towards the staircase out of the dungeons. Shining rolled his eye and started towards the stairs, nodding to the other two guards. They took off in the opposite direction, the disguised thestral giving Aranea an odd look as she followed the captain. The two made their way into the halls, guards saluting Shining Armor as they passed. On the other hand, Aranea received numerous glares and stares as she walked behind the soldier. It wasn’t long to the castle doors and they marched out, a resounding “Captain Armor,” answering their walk. The stares increased when they passed into the city, though the glares lessened considerably. Many of the ponies in town seemed to warily avoid both her and the captain, and they weren’t all that secretive about it. The walk to the train station remained that uneventful, even as they arrived. The two boarded the train and remained silent for the entire ride. It was, surprisingly, completely uneventful and the train pulled into the Ponyville station in silence. The two left the train, still in silence and were passing out of the train station when something caught Aranea’s eye. “...Is that a moogle?” the dragoon said, a bit shocked. She looked back at Shining, who was staring at her critically as she walked towards the moogle, its little red balloon thing bobbing. The moogle turned as she approached. “Hello, kupo!” “Er... Hello,” she said, “So, what are you doing here? I thought moogles were, you know…” “I’m a Token Seller, kupo!” the little floating creature answered, “A first time visitor, kupo?” “Well, yes, I suppose,” Aranea answered, somewhat confused. “What’s a Token Seller?” “I sell the knicknacks of Displaced like you, kupo!” the moogle cheerily answered, “A first time visitor needs to make a Token and say a phrase, then gets one free!” The moogle happily answered, holding out its hands. “You can make one using these, kupo!” Aranea started at the very tiny objects in its hand and reached out to touch them. Instantly, three items appeared in her hands. A Phoenix Down, a single piece of gil, and a moogle plushie. She picked up the moogle plushie, “...Even if I don’t pick this, can I keep it?” The moogle laughed, “Sure thing, kupo!” “Alright, then the Phoenix Down, since it’ll be useful at some point,” the moogle nodded and the gil disappeared. Holding the item up, the moogle looked at Aranea. “What’s your phrase, kupo?” Aranea frowned and then decided, “Aranea Highwind, the Dragoon, calls and hears you. Should you be of ready soul and mind, and of good spirit, you are welcomed.” The moogle spun and tossed the object into the air, which disappeared. “Token made, what Token will you pick, kupo?” The moogle held out its hands again, revealing a large spattering of glittering sparks. Once again, Aranea tapped the moogle’s hands and a group of items appeared in her hands. A pair of Genji gloves? She tapped it. “I am the warrior, the master of weapons, the seeker of battle and adventure. To those who would require my strength to defeat thine foes, to crush opposing forces, put on these Genji Gloves and call out my name with the intent to summon me. If ye be without true malice in thine hearts, know that the mighty Gilgamesh will come to thine aid!” “...I”m not sure if I should be surprised or appalled that I drew one from the same fandom,” the woman muttered, “But, I shall take these.” The moogle nodded and the rest of the items disappeared. “Good choice, kupo! Those are some of the rarest wares,” the moogle twirled and disappeared. “...Note to self, moogles exist here,” she muttered and turned around and walked towards Shining. A brushing against her legs brought her attention downwards and she found a cloth pouch on her waist. “Convenient,” she stashed the genji gloves away and met the guard captain. “We were going to see Celestia’s student, yes?” Arane asked. “I don’t feel comfortable leaving you here with her,” he muttered. “Why?” “She’s my sister,” he answered. The dragoon raised an eyebrow. “Worry not, captain, I shall not harm your sister,” Aranea said, unless I have to was left unspoken and Shining sighed before nodding. The pony plodded on towards a massive tree in the middle of the town. The moogle plush had somehow ended up on Aranea’s shoulder as they finally reached the door. The large oak tree, as Aranea had managed to identify it, was brightly lit from windows on it. Living in a tree? How many houses like this are there? Aranea scoffed, until she noted the sign. …It’s a library, she lives in a library. Golden Oaks Library was etched on a sigh in the yard, and the tree was growing very much in the middle of a square. “...Your sister lives in a tree library?” “Yes,” Shining answered, “she does now.” It sounded like the most casual thing one could say, coming from him. Nothing odd at all about living in a plant that was turned into a library. Neither was the fact it was a baby dragon that greeted them. A species that could set the entire building ablaze, no big deal. Aranea stared at him for a minute, “You’re not going to try and set me on fire are you?” “You’re not going to stab with that spear, are you?” the little dragon retorted. “Touche,” the warrior answered as the purple dragon finally let them in. “Twilight! Your brother and that person are here!” The dragon disappeared back into another room and a lavender unicorn came down the staircase, which had no rails mind you. “BBBFF!” She called out, racing down the stairs and hugging the stallion. “Hey Twily,” Shining grinned, hugging her back. “Sorry, but I have to get back, maybe next time we can hang out.” “Oh, yes! I can even introduce you to my friends!” the mare squealed. The two ponies gave their goodbyes and Shining Armor left out through the door, which shut rather loudly. It was an awkward silence when the baby dragon returned from the other room with a pile of cookies in one claw, and a bowl of gems in the other. Aranea watched him sit down and then looked at the lavender mare. “I’m Twilight Sparkle, and this is Spike,” she introduced herself and the baby dragon. “Right, copy that,” Aranea said, and then turned around and marched over to a bookshelf. She was browsing when Twilight, who had been scolding Spike, finally approached her. “What are you doing?” the lavender mare asked. “Trying to find a genuinely accurate book of your history,” Aranea removed the earlier book from her back, handing it to Twilight. “This travesty seems entirely too biased and is only accurate about the barest details of the ‘Selenity Wars’.” Twilight gripped the book in her magic, “A Moderately Descriptive and Perfectly Accurate History of Equestria? But this is one of the best historical references of our age.” “You want to explain to me how everyone, including myself, Nightmare Moon, Celestia, and the thestrals are depicted in such grotesquely warped images?” The dragoon asked, pointing at the picture of herself commanding a marauding army of ‘thestrals’. “I’m fairly certain you’ve seen thestrals before. Do they look like that? Do I look like that?” Author's Note Thanks to RuneScrypt for editing these past two chapters.
I - Chapter FourI Chapter Four Remember “You want to explain to me how everyone, including myself, Nightmare Moon, Celestia, and the thestrals are depicted in such grotesquely warped images?” The dragoon asked, pointing at the picture of herself commanding a marauding army of ‘thestrals’. “I’m fairly certain you’ve seen thestrals before. Do they look like that? Do I look like that?” Twilight Sparkle had gone off the deep end. As soon as Aranea began detailing, as unbiasedly as possible, the ‘Selenity Wars’ the lavender mare had gone off and demanded she recount all information she had on history before that. The warrior had refused, especially when the topic broached anything before the coronation of the sisters. “It’s important knowledge!” the lavender mare argued, smacking a chalkboard with a long stick in her magic. “It could tell us what our past between Hearth’s Warming and the Coronation was!” “Twilight Sparkle, as much as I believe history to be important, I believe you should talk to Celestia or Luna,” Aranea answered, standing up. “So, unless you have anything else?” The lavender mare bit her lip and shook her head, “You stay here while I send the message.” The warrior rolled her eyes in aggravation, causing the little dragon to look up her when she groaned. “What?” he asked. “She’s the excessive nerd type, isn’t she?” The baby dragon looked away and another groan came from the warrior. She sat back down and stared out the window on the opposite wall. This one had a fairly decent view of Canterlot, which seemed closer than the train ride had indicated. She was still staring when Spike, having finished gems, spoke up. “What’s up?” he asked, slightly mumbled as it seemed he still had some gems in his mouth. “I remember Canterlot being on a large hill, not a mountain,” she answered, staring intently. She was still staring when Twilight returned, with a rather thick scroll in hand. “Spike, send this to Celestia,” the lavender unicorn said, passing the paper over with a hoof. A quick puff of green fire later and the scroll vanished into a wisp of flame which soared out an open window. It danced through the air and Aranea looked at them. “So what exactly was that?” “Magic,” was the response. “What kind of magic?” Aranea huffed, rolling her eyes at the answer. She’d heard it enough times to know that magic didn’t always refer to magic itself, but rather the unexplainable. Twilight frowned and bit her lip. She didn’t answer for a few moments. “Dragonfyre?” the unicorn offered. “...Excellent, professor. That was lecture worthy of the gods themselves,” the warrior droned. Twilight was aghast with shock, the sarcasm seemed to have driven the point home. The unicorn finally shook herself. “Excuse me?” “You seem to have forgotten that I don’t know Equestrian magic that well, and not everyone has been studying underneath the monarch, now diarch,” the woman said, “Magic is, and never will be, a suitable answer to a question.” The lavender unicorn nodded, “You do have a point, after all, not everyone understands Starswirl’s basic laws of magic.” She mused for a minute or two, “Which aren’t really basic, to be fair. I mean, even-” she was stopped by a scroll in the face, which was held by an indignant Spike. “You were starting off on a rant again, and Celestia’s answer is here,” the little purple dragon held the scroll up again and an aura of magic seized it. Lifting it up, a gleeful look appeared in Twilight’s eyes. “She said it’s okay!” The lavender unicorn looked giddy and got an eye roll from Aranea. “Alright, but most of this is going to be from my point of view, or by word of mouth,” she said, getting a nod from pony. “And might be a tad depressing when I’m done.” The air crackled, sparks of light whirling through the air like embers with minds of their own. Arcs of light sprayed across the field, the grass burning and parting in its wake. Finally, a tear ripped through the air, thunder exploding through the area as a woman fell through the tear and it sealed itself up in a zipper-like fashion. The smell of burnt grass wafted through the area, and finally, the woman stirred. Rising up, she looked disoriented for a moment, but finally she seemed balanced and looked around the area. Nothing but a field in the midst of mountains. The mountains leapt impossibly high into the sky, their peaks disappearing amongst the cloud. As she watched, the shrunk down rapidly, and the clouds grew closer. The field was plunged into fog, and, moments later, the fog blew away, revealing an entirely new world to the woman. She stared, gaping. A few seconds later, she managed to speak, “Where the fuck am I?” Her eyes widened and her hand went to her throat. “Like it?” a masculine voice asked from behind her. She turned around quickly and found herself facing, quite possibly, the strangest thing she had ever seen. A floating hashmash of creatures, which somehow worked, was grinning wildly at her. It floated towards her, moving like a chinese dragon. “I worked very hard, though you are most certainly new to this world.” “Wait, what.” The creature grinned, “I wonder what you could do if you lived as long as me?” The woman sneezed and the creature rolled up, literally. “Do enjoy it,” it said, before unravelling and disappearing. The creature finally vanished, leaving the woman standing there. The silence prevailed for a few minutes. “What the fuck was that.” “I came to find out that Discord made me immortal, since I had to fall off the cliff around the field,” Aranea said, shaking her head. “For fun, at that. I couldn’t kill myself, even if I wanted to.” “He messed with things to that extent?” the lavender unicorn gaped, “But why? And why did you want to kill yourself?” “Not everyone has an optimistic approach like ponies,” the warrior answered, "And believe me, this is a thousand times more confusing for me than you. I don't even know WHY I'm here." “Finally,” the woman muttered as she made her way into the town. The town itself looked relatively normal, overall. The buildings were smaller than she anticipated, but when she reached the town center, she was even more shocked. The town was filled with ponies, to the brim. Not even the strangest bit was the fact they came in every single color of the rainbow. Some had wings, some had horns, some had neither. It was incredibly strange. She approached and they all ran towards her, odd sounds coming from their mouths. The ponies were like a stampede and she struggled very painfully to remain standing. Once they realized she couldn’t understand them, which involved a lot of yelling, the herd backed off. Disheveled, she walked out of the town. “Note to self, do not talk to the LSD ponies.” “No offense.” She meandered out of town, still confused and looking back to the ponies. They were moving back into the houses, which was odd to watch them pull or turn door handles. The town was finally clear and group of dark pink storm clouds covered the town and it started to rain. A thunderclap, two literal hands made of lightning clapping, lit up the town. It clapped rapidly and the town disappeared, now floating upside down over the clouds. The clouds formed into a laughing head, with then licked itself and disappeared. “The fuck even is this shit.” The warrior shook her head and started walking faster. The trees finally began getting closer and she started following the edge of the treeline. It kept going as she walked, and didn’t end for the longest time until she walked, out of nowhere, onto a field of chessboards. The field rolled and the beast she had encountered greeted her. “Perhaps I underestimated you,” it said. Curling around her, it grinned. “So, what do you want?” “I want to go home,” she muttered, “And I want to know where I am, and who the fuck you are.” “I have no idea how to get you home,” the creature shook its head, “but I am Discord, Lord of Chaos, and welcome to Equestria!” It slithered off of her and giant party popper suddenly went off in her face. Wiping the pieces of confetti and glitter off her face, she glared at Discord. “Was that necessary?” she asked. “One hundred and ten percent,” he said, crossing his arms and nodding sagely. The woman rolled her eyes before pulling the spear off her back. Holding it up she glared at Discord, “It’s not usually like this, is it?” “It’s more fun this way,” he said. “Yeah, well, I don’t think those tiny horses like it, and they live here,” she said, getting a stare from Discord. “You asked them?” “No, I have no idea what they’re saying,” she answered. “Let me fix that,” he grabbed her ear, literally pulling it off, and blew a waft of air into it. A bunch of nuts, bolts, and a few other miscellaneous objects fell out of the ear before he put it back, getting a raised eyebrow in response. “You should be able to understand them now.” Then, Discord snapped his fingers and a torrent of chocolate milk drenched her. It kept flowing for some time, leaving her spluttering before it cleared several minutes later. Drenched, she stared at him. “What the fuck, man?” “Oh, forgot to do the last bit,” he absent mindedly snapped his fingers. The milk raced back up, blinding her, and finally when it cleared… He was gone. The entire bloody area was gone, and a black void greeted her. All that was visible was a single window that showed Discord floating around, doing completely ridiculous crap. “...WHAT THE HELLS.” “...He trapped you in a void?” The lavender unicorn asked. “Yeah, took until the princesses petrified him for me to be free,” Aranea said, looked rather annoyed. “Then, why did you claim to know the past?” Twilight frowned, “You didn’t see much.” “That’s how it had been during his rule, the whole time. Stuff did that all the time,” the warrior responded, waving a hand dismissively. “I was in that void for a week, sure, but I heard enough to know…” “Then why say it’s bad?” the pony asked, giving Aranea a critical look. “Ponies died because of it, I watched it happen several times while he was having fun,” Aranea said, “He thought it was amusing, but he didn’t realize what he did actually killed ponies.” “...Oh,” she said. “Anyways, off depressing topics… What is my first “friendship” lesson or whatever?” the warrior asked. The pony frowned. “Er.... Help ponies?” Twilight offered. “Sure,” Aranea shrugged, “Who first?” “Fluttershy?” Author's Note Sorry about this shorter chapter, with a ton of dialogue and slightly disjointed. Will be edited later, hopefully.
I - Chapter FiveI Chapter Five Sugarcube Corner “Er.... Help ponies?” Twilight offered. “Sure,” Aranea shrugged, “Who first?” “Fluttershy?” Upon Aranea’s arrival at the small cottage in the woods, she immediately deadpanned, “Another tree house, I should have known.” She shifted her armor a bit, and headed up to the door. The grass crunched beneath her feet and she could hear bushes shake as she approached, even catching a glimpse of a tail as one of the bushes rustled. Nature-friendly was likely an understatement. “Hello?” she called out, rapping on the door with her knuckles, “Fluttershy? Twilight sent me.” The house remained relatively silent for a few minutes longer until the door finally creeped open, revealing the yellow pegasus mare from the day before. The warrior smiled at her as the she looked up. “Sorry about what happened when we first met,” the woman said, reaching up and scratching the back of her head. “May be a tad over-reactive.” The pegasus hid behind her mane, before finally muttering something Aranea couldn’t quite catch. Raising an eyebrow, she looked at the mare again. “It’s fine…” she muttered slightly louder before backing up and letting Aranea enter the cottage properly. The room was full of various kinds of furniture clearly made to suit the plethora of animals already in the house. In one room there was even a bear, though he seemed to be playing poker with a rabbit, not that Fluttershy had noticed. Aranea raised an eyebrow when a bowl of some kind of salad was slid to the rabbit, the bear clearly disappointed. She turned back to Fluttershy who was making her way towards a door. When she walked, much like the Red Sea, the animals parted so Aranea could follow Fluttershy. The mare led her outside, past a group of other animals as they moved towards the forest’s edge where a small fence surrounded a few bushes. The small pegasus lifted her wings and hopped over the small fence, and a few seconds after her hooves touched the ground she was ambushed by a group of baby animals. I’m going to get diabetes from this place, Aranea thought as the rather adorable scene unfolded before her. Fluttershy cooed and hugged each of the baby animals before reaching into the small sack on her shoulder and pulling out a container and a few bottles. She quickly passed them out with her hooves and the baby animals dug in. “So, you didn’t need my help, as I can see,” Aranea muttered. Fluttershy shook her head and hopped over the fence again, this time walking off towards a small shed. Once again, the building was intertwined with the plants. No longer surprised by this kind of structure, after all she had seen two others, Aranea followed her inside and saw what the small mare had led her to. A few large buckets and some bags of seed and other varied animal care and plant care materials were scattered across the decent sized shed. “I need some help getting some of this out so I can use it…” “Sure thing,” Aranea answered, hefting up a large bag of bird seed. “Where would you like it?” “Inside the house please,” the small mare muttered, eliciting a nod from the warrior in front of her. Aranea grabbed a second bag and moved inside, thankful that the items weren’t as large as what they would have been back home. Probably only three-fourths the size. It took a bit longer, simply due to the amount of materials. Once most of it was in, Fluttershy began storing birdseed and other foods in her cupboards and pantries, whilst directing Aranea to use the buckets of water, or milk in some cases, to fill some of the animal’s water dishes. Several hours later, simply due to the number of animals across the house and yards, they finally finished and Aranea got everything put back. “When do you do this next?” The mare shifted, looking uncomfortable, “It depends…” “Does anyone help you?” Aranea frowned. “Sometimes Big Mac does,” Fluttershy answered, still not looking the woman in the eyes. “Well, if he isn’t available next time, or any other, I’m open to helping, just let Twilight know and I’ll be here,” Aranea looked around the house. “I think we can finish quicker next time, maybe leave you some free-time.” The small mare nodded softly. “Pinkie said to bring you to Sugarcube Corner,” Fluttershy said, hiding her face, “So we should go there now.” Aranea nodded and put her spear, left at the front door, on her back again before opening the door and letting Fluttershy out first. The sun remained high in the sky until they got to town, when it suddenly dropped out of the sky and the moon rose to replace it. Aranea frowned before shaking her head, Bloody freaking magic, never makes any proper sense. The soft crunch of grass was the only thing accompanying their conversation of silence and was replaced by dirt and gravel once they were all the way in town. The houses remained brightly lit, despite the fact of it being night. Aranea frowned, thinking to herself. Why do I feel like I’m forgetting something important… She was distracted when loud noises began replacing the silence as they reached the confectionary storefront. Literal confectionery, as the entire store seemed to be a giant cupcake. Aranea winced at the taste of sugar in the air, almost like inhaling the stuff, though not quite as much in volume. She winced at the touch of the door handle, which felt like it too was covered in sugar. The instant she opened the door, a veritable explosion of streamers and confetti flew out the door and scattered in the winds of the night. Aranea spit a stray streamer out of her mouth and raised an eyebrow at the scene that had unfolded before her. Many ponies were eating cake or other various confectioneries. The room itself was heavily decorated with party supplies. After looking around the room she finally sighed and stepped inside. Various ponies laughed as a cupcake managed to get shoved straight into Pinkie Pie’s muzzle, leaving her to stare cross-eyed at the mess. With a very illogical swipe of her tongue, which encompassed half her face, she licked it off. “Yummy!” she called out, much to the amusement and laughter of the ponies in the room, and one odd resident off in the corner. He stood there, watching with a grin on his face. However, his posture slumped as if something were wrong, whether with his back or otherwise. No one had noticed, as he was aptly chatting with anypony who got close enough and bothered to talk to him. The current person was one Twilight Sparkle, who had brought up the topic of the energies she had garnered from her latest analysis of him. “I have no words for it,” she said, “It’s more powerful than anything we have and could run a town like Ponyville indefinitely.” She seemed rather giddy for a moment, but her face fell, “Yet, despite trying every method I could to harness it, it dissipated like it never existed!” The man twitched, pain clear in his face momentarily, before he smiled back. “Best to keep trying,” he said, “there’s likely a method you didn’t try for one reason or another.” The unicorn mare frowned momentarily before teleporting a quill and paper into the air in front of her and rapidly writing something with magic before teleporting it away. The man stared at her for a moment, before going silent with a look of deep contemplation on his face. After a few more seconds of silence, Twilight gave him a goodbye and walked off. “Magic…” the figure said wincing again and clutching his head, before it sated. M-a-g, those letters were important to him, but why? Was it someone with that name? Was it something beginning with those letters? He tried to catch the thoughts again, only to receive another splitting pain in his head, like a wedge was being driven between himself and his own memories. Clutching a nearby stool, he focused again trying to push the wedge out of the way so that he could grasp what those letters meant. Yet, the wedge remained firmly in place. Taking a deep breath and letting the pain fade away, his vision blurred and he sat down against the wall, clutching his pounding head as it echoed with whispers of pain and letters. “-nbow, it’s just a game!” a white unicorn mare was scolding a very infuriated looking pegasus with a cyan coat. Her mane was striped like a rainbow and she was flying the air, holding something in her hood that she looked ready to throw across the room in her anger. “Its making me angry, I hate losing!” the same mare yelled back, her hoof leaning back threateningly. A few small foals on the ground were watching the argument with both amused and eager faces. Once the argument these two were having was done, they could play Pin-The-Tail-On-The-Donkey! The small foals let out a cry as the hoof went back and a yay of relief as it lowered, only to let out a cry again as the hoof went back up. After just a few more moments of this, Rainbow Dash huffed heavily and tossed the tail to the floor, which the first foal scrambled to pick up as a mare approached him with the blindfold. “It’s a stupid game.” The white-coated mare, Rarity, rolled her eyes and have an aggravated sigh before letting the cyan pegasus be. A tantrum she could throw and be unladylike for all she cared. The simple matter was that Rainbow was being childish. At this point, most, if not everyone, in the room were ignoring the guest of honor, though not intentionally. The said man was gripping his head again, the event had struck a chord in his broken memories, causing something to split through his mind at lightning speed. Nearly biting through his own tongue as he grinded his teeth in an attempt to not cry out, the memory flashed through his mind and replaced all reality momentarily. ”What do you mean?” The mare said to him as he grabbed the tail so she couldn’t launch it across the room. Rarity, on the other hand, huffed and gave a hoity-toity smile of I-Told-You-So to the cyan pegasus. “It’s okay to be childish,” he said, though he felt his voice sounded oddly off and different. Almost as if he was speaking into a terribly old microphone that was hooked up to an even older computer. He gave Rarity a look, “But it’s almost important to be mature.” Rarity raised an eyebrow before shaking her head and nodding. “Maturity is very important in order to be a proper lady,” she nodded at the man with her head, “or gentleman.” “I don’t like being stuck up,” Rainbow said, “I’m too awesome for that.” The man groaned before handing the tail to a small child, “Rainbow, you’re already a bit stuck up with how much you call yourself awesome, but maturity is different. You can act like a kid, but you can’t react like someone who lacks that kind of life experience.” Rainbow Dash made and O face whilst Rarity looked rather miffed at his words, though she nodded begrudgingly, “Quite right, Magnus.” Magnus winced again, and then let out a chattering gasp, “My...name…” He whispered it to himself, feeling proud, happy, and oddly sad for having remembered this. Yet, his memories showed something similar to what he had witnessed earlier, though the end result was different without him. Something urged him to say the same things to both mares, but he stopped himself as he stood up and winced, the same white coated mare calling out to him from across the room. “Are you alright, dear?” she asked politely. “I’m-” Magnus fell to his knees as another fiery whip of pain cascaded through his mind, reigniting earlier pains and causing the young man to let out a voiceless cry of pain as his vision swam and he dropped to his knees. Darkness whirled through his vision and the room lurched and shifted, the ponies moving with it. When he finally recovered, the room looked oddly different with subtle changes mostly throughout, yet something major stood out primarily. It was a young woman, in dark colored armor and a weapon on her back, standing at a table nearby. Much like looking in a mirror, their faces mimicked the other’s shock. “Who the hell are you?” The woman gaped. Magnus winced in pain, though the tendrils of darkness in his vision had already started receding rapidly. Shakily getting to his feet Magnus let out a heavy breath, the headache receding from the forefront of his mind. He rubbed his forehead with his palm and finally looked at the woman, all bleariness having vanished from his mind. “I’m,” a cough and a small spike of pain, “Magnus, at your service.” “Aranea,” the woman answered, “How did you get here?” “I’m not sure,” Magnus answered, looking around the eerily similar room. Everything was so similar, but so slightly different it was disorienting to him. The man reached out for the chair that had been closest to him, so eerily similar, yet it was clearly made of a different wood. “What did it look like when I got here?” “To be fair, I was very shocked,” the woman shifted, biting her lip, “but it looked like a silhouette made of swirling darkness just kind of shifted into the room.” A pony nearby nodded and a few foals were hiding behind parents or, in one case, three of them were huddled underneath a table. Adorable as they were, Magnus was too distracted to notice the scene itself and directed his attention back at Aranea. “Swirling darkness?” Magnus asked, flinching as a whip of fiery pain struck his mind again, “I...I remember such a thing, the Ren’orsa-ca…” He whispered, memories of what he had once been, of consuming worlds just like this one in raging hunger. A small amount of bile rose to his mouth, leaving a horrid taste in his mouth as he shook it off. “I mean you all no harm,” he said, “I only wish to return...home?” Aranea’s face fell, and she gulped before giving a heavy sigh. “You and me both,” she said, her hand clenching in a fist. Turning around, she looked around the room rapidly, clearly searching for someone. “Is Twilight still here?” “No ma’am!” one of the small ponies called out, “She left awhile ago.” “Very well,” Aranea said, grabbing Magnus’s sleeve and pulling him towards the door. She pushed it open and left the ponies to party whilst pulling Magnus firmly out the door. It shut behind her and Magnus raised an eyebrow. “You do not need to drag me, I will follow,” he said, standing still as Aranea looked down at her own hand gripping his sleeve. She eyed him for a moment before releasing and pulling her spear forth from her back. She nodded to him and they began walking, with her slightly ahead. “Sorry about that, force of habit,” she said, not even looking back towards him as she spoke. “Quite alright,” he answered, going quiet himself. Unlike the ponies, this woman spawned no memories lingering in his mind and left him rather stable. It was pleasant, but still so very strange that a world like this could have changed so. Yet, evidence permeated the area. Some houses had different colors than he remembered seeing in his Ponyville, while others looked exactly the same. Incredibly disorienting. Aranea nodded and they slowed to a halt as the entered the square for City Hall. “Something doesn’t feel right,” Aranea muttered before she began quickly moving towards the building in question. The night remained quiet and, oddly enough, no sounds came from anywhere at all. Uncomfortable, unnatural silence. “I agree,” Magnus muttered, “It’s...off.” Aranea had already reached city hall and was poking around it, looking inside the windows. The building was completely dark and no signs of movements were evidenced in it, or in the square surrounding it. Yet, despite the lack of explanation, silence permeated the air and a tension, thick enough to slice apart with a butter knife it seemed, was nearly palpable as she looked around wildly, only to freeze. “Son of a-” a painfully loud and ripping explosion blew Magnus across the square, straight into the woman herself. Thankfully, he rolled right off of her as they fell and their ears buzzed from the deafening change in noise. Magnus winced and began trying to clear his ears with a finger while Aranea seemed quite perfectly fine as she rose to her feet, spear at the ready. Another explosion, though farther away than the first, went off at the other end of the square, from where they had come. A large metal creature, an axe wielded in hand, had arisen from literal nowhere. Silver and black adorned its armor and its face glowed with an eerie light as the two floating creatures around it bobbed lazily. Aranea cursed loudly, enough for Magnus to hear. “A demon,” she hissed and raised her spear up. “Can you fight?” She looked at Magnus quickly before directing her attention back to the metal beast before her, shifting and walking lazily, though it would soon notice them, however dark it was. Magnus opened his mouth and frowned, “I am not sure… I do not have any weapons on myself.” “Fuck,” the woman hissed before sitting down and reaching into a bag. Lifting up a bundle of bottles, though their contents varied in color and seemed to emanate an odd glow. She finally pulled out a couple of tufts of something. “If you see me getting too injured, start by using these,” she held up the jars, “and if you run out, start using the feathers.” Magnus nodded shakily and watched as the woman turned and leapt skyward before spiraling down, straight onto the metallic beast’s head. It shifted back and the two bobbing creatures glowed brightly, only for her to land on the ground and roll back. After a certain distance, they stopped and she rushed forward again, batting them back towards the beast, nearly causing it to trip over them. She began a dance of sorts, where the creatures would glow, and the demon would swing its axe, only for her to dodge back properly and the creatures to stop. Finally, after naught but a few more strikes, one of them exploded and the axe caught her by surprise, sending her skywards. He tossed up one of the darker vials and she glowed green briefly before shifting herself and driving her spear straight into the other and causing an explosion that stumbled the metallic beast and left it open to rapid strikes from her. Leaping backwards as the axe swung towards her, she cursed again loudly before rolling underneath the next swing and striking straight for the demon’s knee joints. It switched tactics and swung straight down, though Aranea managed to use her spear and glance the blow off to the side. She crunched straight to the ground from the blow and Magnus immediately used another vial, this time of a brighter assortment and Aranea again glowed briefly. The demon made yet another swing and this time she used the weight of the blow to her advantage and struck wildly at it the instant the blow missed. Several jabs to the knee caused it to fall to the ground, unable to stand any longer. Its attacks, however, were not impaired as such and it swung with just as much vigor. Once again, she used it to her advantage. Letting the blow strike her spear, it flung her skywards and she disappeared into the darkness momentarily. Yet, mere seconds later, her spinning figure reappeared and slammed into the beast with a large amount of force. A blast emanated from the spear itself and drove the beast to the ground, letting her force her weapon through its helmet. Immediately, the being began to drip in darkness and fade out of sight. Huffing from the effort, she nodded at Magnus as he lifted another another vial she was briefly covered in green light a third time. “I knew I forgot something important,” Aranea said as she moved towards Magnus. She waved him towards her and opened her bag, letting his drop the items inside. She immediately began walking briskly, “And it’s even more imperative I talk to Twilight now.” Author's Note Sorry for the late update, but I had to mull over this story a bit and then decided to do this crossover between two of my fics. The crossover is with The Forgotten Void Dweller. I hope this doesn't harm your opinion of this story as I tried my best here.
I - Chapter SixI Chapter Six Golden Oaks A blast emanated from the spear itself and drove the beast to the ground, letting her force her weapon through its helmet. Immediately, the being began to drip in darkness and fade out of sight. Huffing from the effort, she nodded at Magnus as he lifted another vial she was briefly covered in green light a third time. “I knew I forgot something important,” Aranea said as she moved towards Magnus. She waved him towards her and opened her bag, letting his drop the items inside. She immediately began walking briskly, “And it’s even more imperative I talk to Twilight now.” “Why?” Magnus asked as she began moving at a brisker pace, the silence still permeating the square. A soft crunch of the dirt and gravel underfoot was the answer as they got closer to the edge of the square. Aranea remained silent, though she seemed to be pondering something until she halted. “What do you know of video games?” Aranea asked, making eye contact with the swirling shadows of the man’s eyes. “I assume you at least know something, right?” A nod was the silent response as she turned away and bit her lip. She resumed walking and Magnus followed. “Back home, well my home, there was a game called Final Fantasy XV, and like it says, it’s the fifteenth of franchise, although there were other minor games. Anyways, in XV, there were a variety of creatures you had to fight, but there was a kind that only came out at night." "Like the entity you just defeated. Which was?" Magnus offered, attempting to follow her ramblings. She nodded, looking up towards the sky. For a moment or two, she did not speak and allowed the soft crunch of dirt to replace their conversation. "A demon," Aranea finally said, "they were a disease, both literally and figuratively, that struck the kingdom in the game. It turned man, into monster." Aranea uttered these words quietly. Magnus gazed at her for a moment, "And you believe it's here as well, that's why you want to speak with Twilight." Aranea nodded, and they finally reached the tree in question, though it was lit up much like the rest of town, there were no signs of movement indoors. "While I am not friends with her," Aranea said, rapping on the door with her hand, "I do know she is an avid scholar and the protégé of Celestia." "Indeed," Magnus muttered, “And thank you for the explanation on demons.” That much knowledge, on Twilight, he had learned from his own world, before coming here. Aranea knocked again and a small purple baby dragon, Spike, opened the door blearily. The dragon glared up at Aranea for a moment. “TWILIGHT! THAT DRAGOON IS HERE FOR YOU!” he turned around, blanket dragged behind him and a stuffed animal in his hands. The baby dragon began moving up the steps and the lavender unicorn, known as Twilight Sparkle, emerged from the kitchen doorway. “We’ve got a problem, purple.” The loud crunch and thud of an old door masked the footsteps for a moment, before the dull thump of heavy feet echoed in the room as wind whistled outside. Another thud came as the person tossed a heavy coat onto a chair, which it slid off. A scoff and the person walked straight into the kitchen, dusty with grime. “It’s now been two years, three months, one day, and fourteen hours since the events which lost-” A hiss of static interrupted the speaker and the smack of hand on the radio caused to shift back. “New York City, Toronto, San Francisco,” the speaker listed off several major cities, “are all still in ruins, due to lack of-” another hiss of static, though momentary. “Every day, the same shit,” a masculine voice hissed, shutting off the radio as it began to ramble on. “Those bastards still can’t tell me where my daughter is, or the bastard that moved in with her.” The door to the fridge opened, nearly flung as the man began downing a bottle of alcohol. “Fuckin’ bastards, acting like everything's okay when,” the man burped, “it's the fucking Apocalypse! The Rapture! Some other hocus pocus that makes half the fuckin world disappear in just a few days.” Another set of footsteps came from the entry, rapping hard on the door as they approached. “Come on out, old man! We know what you have in there!” A chuckle came from two different voices in the same area. With growling sigh, the man stood up, and approached the door. Grabbing the shotgun leaned against the wall, he opened the door slightly and glared at the men. “Just open the door, dude.” “Fine,” he lifted up the shotgun and stepped back. “Come on in.” The indignant unicorn stared at her for few moments, “You do realize what time of night it is, don’t you?” Strangely enough, at least to Magnus and Aranea, the unicorn was in fact wearing polka-dot pajamas. Even adding to the amusement and moderately adorable sight was the fact she was holding a stuffed animal. “Of course,” Aranea rolled her eyes before pushing her way inside. The lavender unicorn sighed and moved out the way as Magnus followed the armor-clad warrior into the library. Thankfully the door was just barely tall enough and he gazed around at the plethora of books, the shelves they rested on rose to the ceiling and left the library feeling positively drowned in possible knowledge. “This is quite the collection,” Magnus commented, “Quite a bit more in this library than I expected.” The lavender unicorn smiled in response. “Thank you! I brought many of these with me when I moved in. Who are you, by the way?” The lavender unicorn asked, continuing to smile at Magnus. He smiled back, “Magnus, at your service, Miss Sparkle.” Twilight nodded and raised out a hoof for him to shake as Aranea coughed to get her attention. Quickly shaking it, Magnus let Aranea speak and turned towards the walls of books. “I need the books you have on demons,” Aranea said, “and we also need to talk.” “Demons? You mean the Daemos, right?” the unicorn’s horn had started glowing and a group of books floated down from the shelves, stacking into a neat pile on the closest table. Twilight opened the top one in her magic, “We’ve certainly researched them a lot, and know how to keep them away. However, the first books only talk about bipedal ones, whereas in the past few decades we’ve started seeing them as quadrupeds too. And these ones act very different too...” “Shit,” Aranea cursed, “I knew it.” “Knew what?” the magical prodigy frowned and raised an eyebrow, staring at the woman she believed to quite possibly be crazy. “Daemos, or demons, were a disease in another world. Not mine, but one my world… invented, for lack of a better term. Ponies play games, right?” Aranea sat down and Magnus drifted to a shelf, picking out the titles. “Like Tag, or Hide-And-Seek?” Twilight asked. “More complex, but that is base concept. Think of a moving picture that you can control with a little device or magic,” Aranea said. “We had games like that back home, and the demons were from one such game.” “Why would an element from a fictional game world end up here? That’s just odd,” Twilight responded, waving a hoof. “It’s like saying Daring Do is a real person.” “Technically, I am an element from a game, albeit a different kind,” Twilight just looked confused at this statement and Aranea sighed. “My appearance and abilities were not mine when I was born, I got them when I came here. I believe the demons were sent or brought here by whomever sent me here, for some insane reason. Though, I have to say that what I know most likely only works as a base skeleton for whatever is happening.” “...You’re insane! The very idea of travelling between universes is impossible, even by magic!” Twilight blurted, loudly, “Sure, Starswirl hypothesized it, but it’s not possible for us!” “How do you think he got here?” Aranea pointed at Magnus, “Yes, it’s not possible for ponies, but I myself saw Discord toss things through portals to other worlds numerous times throughout the time he had me trapped!” “You think Discord did this?” Twilight asked, “That’s ridiculous.” “Yes, but that’s because Discord never plans anything this far! I can pretty much guarantee it wasn’t him,” Aranea said, “And I honestly have no idea who it was.” “You’re saying that someone as powerful as Discord, more powerful than the princesses, decided to add these monstrosities to our world? Thousands of ponies have died to these things and more die every day! Princess Celestia had to increase the guard around every city and enact a 24/7 lights on policy in every town across Equestria, because someone decided to do this on a whim?” “I honestly don’t know, whether it was a whim or not. What I do know, is that demons are a disease, and as far as I remember, a contagious one,” Aranea said, slumping back in the chair. “I don’t know who would have an immunity, and who wouldn’t.” “It’s a disease!?” Twilight yelled, “That explains so much, but why would ones that look like ponies start appearing now, and not earlier? That doesn’t make any sense!” Magnus spoke up from the book he had opened, “Maybe it evolved to start affecting ponies recently?” “...Sweet Celestia,” Twilight’s eyes widened to rival a pair of dinner plates as she realized the very implications of such a hypothesis. “I need to send a letter to Celestia now. We need to start working on a vaccine or a cure.” “The only cure I can remember from the game was the divine beings, or whatever they were exactly. People who could absorb the disease into their own bodies and cure those who had started becoming afflicted,” Aranea had her face in her hands as she spoke. “Then we find them and have them start absorbing the affliction!” Twilight said, stomping her hoof. “Whoever they are HAVE to care about Equestria.” “I think we already know who they are,” Aranea said, looking up at Twilight, “and one of them already felt the effects of absorbing the disease.” “The princesses?” Twilight gaped, “Wait… No! Why would they not control it!? It’s a danger to ponies!” “I think because Celestia saw what happened to Luna, when she became Nightmare Moon,” Aranea answered, standing up. She moved towards Magnus, “Come on, you and I are going to Canterlot. Twilight, when you send that message let the Princesses know I, and a guest, am on my way to see them.” The lavender unicorn shook her head, “You do that and I’ll start researching a possible cure.” The mare suddenly yelled out for Spike and the little dragon came walking down the stairs lazily. Twilight already had a bit of parchment in her magic and was writing out a letter as fast as she could. Aranea nodded and Magnus set the book down, joining her as she opened the door and went outside. “You think someone did this? Sent you here, or possibly me as well?” “It’d make sense,” Aranea answered as she pulled her spear out and passed Magnus the satchel on her waist, which she had quickly unfastened. “We’re walking there, since the train doesn’t run at night and Canterlot is visible in the distance, so it’s probably relatively close.” Magnus nodded and fastened it on her waist, “If I had a weapon, I would help.” “I think Elemancy might be your best bet,” she answered, stopping and pointing at the satchel. “Its best I explain it now and you have it at the ready, since we’ll probably get in a fight or two on the way there.” “Quite right,” he said and opened the satchel. “Fire, Blizzard, and Thunder are the basic elements for magic and the base spells. The more potent the spell value, which you’ll see on the magic flask, the stronger the spell. Adding another item can change its effect. I have them listed in a journal,” she nodded as he pulled the journal out. “Make the spells as we go. If need be, I can explain more but we need to move quickly, as the longer the demons are about and people are afflicted, the more danger they’re in.”
I - Chapter SevenI Chapter Seven On the Way “Fire, Blizzard, and Thunder are the basic elements for magic and the base spells. The more potent the spell value, which you’ll see on the magic flask, the stronger the spell. Adding another item can change its effect. I have them listed in a journal,” she nodded as he pulled the journal out. “Make the spells as we go. If need be, I can explain more but we need to move quickly, as the longer the demons are about and people are afflicted, the more danger they’re in.” The sounds of night filled the air with a variety of soft noises, owls made their calls and the rustle of bushes signalled the movement of other creatures. The stars and moon offered little light to guide their path, and the two people were hardly out of town before they were pretty much blind and would have been lost were it not for the shadow of the castle. The mountain itself blocked out a portion of the sky, oddly black against the slight purple hue that the night sky seemed to have taken. The castle itself was not as dark as her perch, for she seemed to glow slightly. The travellers could only just make out the barest details of the ornate fortress, yet it still held and odd sense of awe behind it. Perhaps it came from where she rested, crying out from far above that which lay below. The two travellers looked back to what lie ahead and woman pointed at the satchel on the man’s waist, before speaking. “I believe there’s a lantern of some sort in there, Magnus.” The man nodded in response and reached into the satchel and it jostled a bit before he pulled kerosene lantern out of the bag, passing it to her and then removing a small box of matches. Aranea struck one against the side of the lantern and, while Magnus held it, lit it up and the clearing they were in, interrupted by a set of tracks, became dismally brightened. The light reached only so far, and left the travellers with but a few feet of vision. The night itself sunk heavy and low, despite the color of the sky. Each time the lantern flickered, the darkness crept forward like a thousand hungry tendrils. The two moved over to the tracks and began following them, slowly. The clank of their shoes on the metal and then the dull thud as they stepped on the wooden boards that crossed the tracks. As the made their way cautiously, Aranea caught sight of something in the distance. Like what they had seen earlier in the night, a demon had crawled its way out of the ground itself. Magnus reached towards the satchel, only for Aranea to grab his hand and shake her head. Gesturing quickly towards the other side of the track, she lead Magnus off to the side and they began moving around the beast at a wide berth. It’s armor, despite the lurking presence of shadows, was clear even from the distance they were moving. A deep chrome and shining black paint, embellished with silver, shuffled as its open helmet showed the shining eyes. The monsters accompanying it bobbed in the air, their glowing shades of orange and yellow giving light to the field. The axe wielding demon groaned and the heavy armor clanked and jostled as it swung the axe in it’s hands idly. By their luck, or the demon’s poor eyesight, they were lucky enough for it to miss them. It moved closer to the woods and Aranea and Magnus moved out of range quickly. The two kept an eye out for more demons, yet the monstrosities seemed to only appear in small numbers and in large distances from each other. The castle far above was slowly getting closer, yet it would still be a bit before they would arrive to the city itself. Aranea had taken to cleaning her spear with a cloth from the satchel, while Magnus was reading through her journal. “Would Stopcast be a good use of Elemancy?” Magnus finally spoke up, eyeing the magic flask. In his other hand, he had the journal held up and was cross-referencing it. “I should think it would give an extra few moments to attack.” “Based on the strength of who or what I’m fighting, that could vary,” Aranea had moved the cloth to the inner part of her spear as she spoke. It squeaked quietly here and there. “As long as I’m not caught in the radius, yeah.” “And potency should be high as well?” Magnus asked, checking the journal once more. “For repeated usage, yes.” The warrior had turned her attention back to her spear, though she was keeping her eyes wary. Their last demon encounter had been some distance back. Shifting, she moved closer to Magnus as a spray of light came from the tree line and a group of floating bombs appeared. The tree line exploded outwards as a large quadruped in metal armor ripped through it with a massive sword. The trees had parted like butter against a warm knife and now lay strewn across the tracks and ground. Despite the iron giant having stopped, a pile of branches and leaves was still flying through the other debris. One of the bombs drifted towards it, and a loud growl emanated from the pile as it stopped. “The hell is that?” Aranea said, looking at Magnus. When the man shrugged in response, she sighed and moved towards the demon. “Start casting,” she said as she stowed her cloth in her pocket and lifted her spear to confront the demon. As she approached, glowing green eyes locked with hers and she barely moved before quickly leaping up as the demon swung its sword. Magnus opened the magic flask and threw the resulting swirl of magic at the iron beast. It’s armor hazed over with blue before turning a frosty white with the ground. The glow of the eyes stilled and then it was engulfed in a blazing flame before a whirlwind of lightning zapped the demon all over. The ground was charred and white, but the demon remained glowing with a light blue as Aranea dashed forward and began beating it. The strikes made the armor crackle, and the beast suddenly roared. A swing of its massive sword nearly struck Aranea as she rolled away and back. One hit and she’d have been split in two, not her most favored magic trick. She used the demon’s overeager swings to her advantage, striking as soon as it’s sword hit the ground and dashing back once it was freed. The beast was nearly ready to go down when the clearing was lit by an explosion. Aranea flew back and crashed into the dirt. Spitting pieces of grass out and wiping the dirt from her face, the woman stood up again as Magnus lifted a hand and tossed another explosion towards the demon. Aranea smashed the bombs as quickly as she could, and then made for the demon as the ground was finished charring. Another ringing smash from her spear and the right foreleg of the demon cracked and shattered like glass. The beast roared in agony and swiped at her as it fell, only for her to slam it in the face. Another roar and a powerful, armored, foreleg swung her way. Despite blocking it, she was still driven backwards straight into a bomb. Once more, it exploded. However, Aranea used the force that propelled her forwards to drive her spear home on the demon’s helmet. The resulting crack caused it to roar in pain and Aranea pivoted over its head as Magnus freed a vial from the satchel and activated it, causing Aranea to glow green like she had before. Immediately, the warrior landed and faced back. Her face was no longer sweating from the effort and she looked to be in a better state. Diving below the next swing, she sprinted towards the bomb and smacked it as hard as she could with her spear. It let out a loud cry and she bashed it back towards the demon. As soon as it exploded and blinded the metallic creature, she leapt over it and drove the spear home for a final time. The demon melted into a pool of darkness and Aranea began checking the ground. The items she did find, she carried over to Magnus and dropped them in the satchel. A few coins and even a sword disappeared into the seemingly endless bag before Magnus closed it and they moved towards the glowing pile of sticks. The wood growled and tried to move, but the sticks that made up the creature’s leg was snapped and gone. After a few minutes of looking, they found a few proper length sticks and put them on the leg. Like a snake losing its skin, the creature lost the broken pieces of wood and absorbed the other pieces into its leg. The beast quickly stood up and yipped, a chain of metal dropping from its mouth. Aranea grabbed it and pulled, but the wolf-like beast’s mouth was refusing to let go. She pulled as hard as she could and felt some wood shift. A medallion like item sat at the end of the chain and the warrior stared at it for a moment. I swear I recognize this… she muttered, before standing and grasping it in hand. She stood and walked over to Magnus, who had already stood up and moved, but noted that the wolf thing seemed to follow her. “That was intense,” the man said, putting the flask back into the satchel, though he left the pocket open. Magnus looked at her before looking to the creature. “Are you keeping it?” She looked down at the wolf made of sticks and leaves, “I suppose, if it keeps following me.” Magnus merely responded with a nod as they began walking once more. The walk remained quieter than before, though the sky was as pressing as usual. The air held an odd sort of tension to it as Aranea looked at the item in her hands. Its familiarity told her it was important, though she wasn’t sure she had held it before. In all senses of the feeling, it was like an odd mix of deja vu and forgetfulness. Someone would have mentioned this person to her, despite the intimate connection she could feel she had through this necklace. The soft crunch of grass beneath their feet served as their only companion while the two people mused. The darkness was nothing more than another background for someone else, though it’s oppressing effect on people was the unbelievable part. The darkness of Equestria at night seemed to push people to do things, sometimes and usually it was something opposite to what a person would feel normally. The cost of darkness was not what was in it, but rather what it wanted. The chain dangled, quietly shifting in Aranea’s grip as she focused on her past. After ponies, people started appearing and she gazed out for the necklace she now had. Despite her grief, she finally found something familiar. Her name sung out deafeningly and mangled in her head, but Aranea recognized who and why. Clutching the token tighter, she turned around to find the wolf gone. It seemed that whatever it wanted, had been fulfilled. Aranea muttered quietly to herself and a tear, nearly dried, rolled down her face as she realized what she had found, and exactly what it likely meant. Her friend, who had been dressed as Iris, had this necklace because it was the final piece of the costume. The rest of it, she had said she wouldn't wear often but she admitted to having grown attached to the little necklace she had obtained from the convention weeks prior. If it was here, she was here, it had been stolen, or she had experienced something horrible and died. A few more tears escaped and Aranea wiped them away before nodding to Magnus once more, “Come on, let’s go,” she said. Author's Note Apologies for errors, if they appeared towards the end. I'll be back on later today to edit it and double check, but as it is I was really tired when I finished this chapter off.
I - Chapter EightI Chapter Eight Canterlot Her friend, who had been dressed as Iris, had this necklace because it was the final piece of the costume. The rest of it, she had said she wouldn't wear often but she admitted to having grown attached to the little necklace she had obtained from the convention weeks prior. If it was here, she was here or it had been stolen, or she had experienced something horrible and died. A few more tears escaped and Aranea wiped them away before nodding to Magnus once more, “Come on, let’s go,” she said. The woman grasped the necklace in hand, tighter than perhaps necessary as she walked past her companion. Magnus stared after her, a look of contemplation briefly flickering across his face as he pondered the meaning of the jewelry, before following behind her quickly. The soft hoots of owls and other small rustlings of creatures replaced the sounds of combat. The night seemed to lighten at the defeat of the earlier monstrosity and the lantern the two travellers had with them appeared to touch further out in the darkness. Despite this, their travel remained at a similar pace as the approached the tunnel. Dark and unyielding, the inner parts of the long corridor that housed the tracks were shrouded. With a prayer on his lips, to any deities he could remember, Magnus followed Aranea into the tunnel. The crunch of dirt and gravel quickly replaced the forest, echoing quietly in the humid underpass. Magnus, in the dim yellow light, could see that Aranea’s hand still grasped tightly around the chain of the necklace she had found. For what reason she seemed to react so badly, he was not sure. The strain of her skin, whitening as it was, showed the force she was putting behind it. The small chain jewelry was important. Unlike the walk through the fields, and the hours it had taken, their journey through the tunnel took less time and Magnus could see the light of the city coming forth from the exit in just a short time. The present glow was the lampposts that marked the streets, giving a deeper yellow hue to everything as the crunch of gravel began to lose its volume. The hollow echo faded as they passed from underneath the tunnel roof. The soft churning winds of the night whirled around them, touching the flames of the lampposts and making them dance. The soft wisps of light bent and folded, causing the city to dance with light. The castle, though on the other side of the town, loomed far overheard. The town itself was eerily quiet, and no one could seen in the windows. The wind on curtains and litter was the only movement aside from their own. Despite it being the middle of the night, the silence was still eerie and gave the town a disturbing feeling. The walk to the castle was far better lit, and the two guards weren’t visible. “Do you find it odd that no one is out?” Magnus asked, a magic flask held in his hand. The soft glow of elemental magic gave an odd contrast to their appearance and Aranea looked at her companion. “Very odd, even with demons people should still be active,” Aranea said, “they don’t attack many populated areas as far as I can remember.” She walked up to the doors and rapped her knuckles against the thick wood. When that didn’t get a reply, she pushed on the doors and they swung open. Frowning, she walked into the castle and found it brightly lit. Guards stood at other doorways, and the two at the door itself just nodded as she passed. “They expected us, right?” Magnus asked, slowly lowering the hand that had lifted the magic flasks. The guards themselves, within hearing range nodded. Magnus frowned and Aranea just nodded to him. “Why aren’t you concerned?” “For simplicity, and because of the current events, I don’t need to worry about this,” she answered as their footsteps took them through the hallway. Arriving at the door to the throne room, she pushed it open and Magnus looked around. The room was massive, and adorned with columns on her walls. The windows were colored glass and each depicted a scene. One depicted the fall of chimera creature, with a reptilian leg, a bird’s claw, a lion’s paw, and a hoof. It seemed to stand on two legs, but the creature was being turned to stone by two larger horses, one white, one blue. A chessboard ordained the background scene with clouds of purple. Magnus clutched his head as another headache torn through his head, and Aranea looked at him in concern. At the other end of the room, the physical version of the white horse sat upon a throne. Unlike Aranea, her expression was that of confusion. Nodding quickly to Aranea, Magnus waved off her concern with a stray hand. “Princess Celestia,” the warrior said, staring straight into the mare’s eyes. The Princess’s eyes held both a warmth to them, as well as a stony challenge. Yellow-gold met magenta and suddenly the Princess sighed. “I know why you’re here,” Celestia said, stepping down from the throne. “It’s about my sister and I.” “More than that, it is about what comes at the cost your divinity,” Aranea answered, stepping forward. “You let your sister absorb daemonic powers, but at what cost? In the end, her actions cost more innocent lives than they saved.” The warrior had waved her hand, gesturing to the windows, “You depict even the scene in which you were forced to banish one you called family? Aranea’s finger pointed at the window situated awkwardly behind the throne. “Yes,” she answered softly, “I wished to replace it, but none of the glass makers were willing.” She looked behind herself, “I managed to get them to remove it, but despite my insistence they would not destroy or replace it. So there it remains, a physical reminder of what I did.” “Are you not a princess? Destroy it yourself,” Aranea said, before stopping. Celestia’s head had fallen forward and the Princess seemed to have grown sullen. “You can’t? Guilt?” “It reminds me of my own failures, as I said,” the alabaster alicorn responded, “if I do not remind myself, how can I avoid repeating them?” “By not doing what you did, letting it happen,” Aranea said, crossing her arms. “You know full well that absorbing it results in more evil, or you should now.” the warrior gestured forth at the image once more. Celestia remained silent for a bit. “The others have done it,” she said, “the other leaders have continued it. But, it would seem, they are more divine, as you call it, than we. The Dragon Lord himself no longer finds his lands plagued, but the dragons have become more aggressive.” “Dragons have always been aggressive,” Aranea interrupted, getting a nod from Magnus who had taken to looking at the windows. “It is part of their nature.” “I do not mean their usual, I mean they have become more feral, more as animals than what their elders were,” she said, looking at yet another window as Magnus gazed at it with her. “A few hunted ponies a few years back, but they were exiled or killed, I know not which.” Aranea went silent, “They are afflicted by the disease as well then.” Celestia sighed and gave a curt nod. Magnus, however, looked up. “Can I ask why you two are acting so friendly?” he asked, looking between them. “I find it odd, as you’ve only met once before, and quite badly it went as I understand.” “We both have the same intentions here,” Aranea responded, looking back at the white alicorn. “Twilight did not fail to mention that in her letter,” Celestia agreed, “And, for all it is worth, stories still remain about her actions against the Daemos and even here, despite my lack of response, it is clear she is more knowledgeable on these abominations than myself.” “More than most people here,” Aranea said, giving a nod, “but I did not finish the game, so I do not remember much beyond the explanations I got online.” Celestia blinked, “I got very little meaning behind that, especially on the topic of ‘the game’ and ‘online’, the first makes no sense in this context, and the later confuses me.” “Oh yeah…” Aranea muttered, “To cut it short, in my world, the demons were creatures or enemies you would fight against while playing a ‘video’ game, or something on a projector. As for online, think of it like worldwide book that constantly updates with information that people add, amongst other things.” “Curious,” Celestia said, touching her hoof to her chin as she looked away, “I can see how one would get pleasure from playing something like that, whereas the secondary object sounds very useful.” Celestia suddenly perked up, “Unlike the other bits,” she interrupted before Aranea could open her mouth, “I do get the idea of you being from another world.” Aranea blinked and Magnus looked at Celestia with a mildly impressed expression. Aranea looked at her companion, and then back to Celestia. “See, now I’m the confused one.” Celestia smiled, gesturing for them to follow as she moved towards the door. “I will admit, the idea of you coming from another world has occured to me before.” “From what?” Aranea asked. “Starswirl the Bearded,” Celestia pushed open the door to a study that was blanketed in dust, and with an old mirror on the other side of the room. Amongst the dust were various tomes and odd artifacts. Aranea looked around the room, noting that Magnus, who had passed her earlier, was already opening some of the dustier volumes. The air was thick with enough dust, it seemed like a fog had fallen. “Starswirl the what now?” she asked, waving the dust cloud from her face as the other’s followed suit, Celestia using her wings. Aranea grimaced and shook her head. Celestia stared at her for a moment and frowned. “An intelligent unicorn and a good friend of mine,” the alabaster alicorn answered, “He studied many things, among them being the existence of other worlds, universes as he eventually called them.” Celestia picked up a few books in her magic, the dust clouding that part of the room as she did so. “Huh, unexpected but I suppose it makes sense,” Aranea said, pointing to the mirror, “but, let me guess, this goes to another world?” She chuckled. “Yes,” Celestia answered, perfect monotone. “...As surprised as I feel I should be, I’m not,” Arane shook her head and Magnus looked at the mirror. Raising his hand, he brushed the dust off the mirror and it swirled, both the mirror and the dust. “Do you even clean?” “We’ve not disturbed anything since Starswirl left,” Celestia huffed, watching Magnus poke the mirror. Each time he did so, it danced with color. She approached and touched it herself, though the mirror remained unaffected. “Don’t mind me, then,” Aranea said, coughing. “I’ll just sit here and choke on the dust bunnies.” “Strange,” Celestia commented, “What about you, is different from I?” The mare stared at the man, them locking eyes momentarily. “I can’t tell,” Aranea monotoned, “Could be anything.” Celestia blinked and facehoofed, letting out a, very much not royal, groan as it fell down her face. A blush of red spread through her cheeks and she coughed, looking towards the mirror. A few moments of silence after the embarrassment faded, the princess tapped the mirror. “Is the mirror solid to you?”” Magnus touched it again, pushing his hand through. “It feels more like… jello? I believe that is the word I am needing.” He pulled it back and the arm remained as it was, untouched. “Curious,” the princess said, “though, I do remember Starswirl mentioning something like this in his older writings.” She grabbed a heavier book, surprisingly dust-free, with her magic. Heavier than it ought to have been, she made a quick effort of removing it and a yellow manila folder fell forth. “...Well, that’s curious,” Aranea said, leaning forward and picking it up in hand. The old paper of the folder nearly crumbled in her hands. Carefully, she opened it and looked at the front page. “Dimensionally Misplaced? Also known as… Displaced.” Author's Note Took me a bit longer than I wanted.
I - Chapter NineI Chapter Nine Fading Shade “...Well, that’s curious,” Aranea said, leaning forward and picking it up in hand. The old paper of the folder nearly crumbled in her hands. Carefully, she opened it and looked at the front page. “Dimensionally Misplaced? Also known as… Displaced.” “Now that is odd,” Celestia muttered, walking over to stare at the folder, “I do not remember Starswirl mentioning this.” Celestia moved a hoof up to tilt the folder itself so it was visible to her eyes. To you who find this folder- If you are reading this, you are what I refer to as a Displaced. Some of us are being held here, in worlds not our own, by one known as The Merchant, a Void-Dweller of great power. If you can use these notes to find your way back to your relative home, I wish you the best of luck. Either because The Merchant is not to be trifled with, or because finding your relative Earth in all the Multiverse is like trying to find a grain of sand in a sandstorm. Personally, I do not desire to leave. True, abandoning my life on Earth seems cowardly. But the power I now wield confers a responsibility, one that I fulfill willingly. And life in Equestria is more likely to be peaceable than life on Earth. To those that want to return, I wish you the best of luck, and tell you that the best of results could be gathered by using something that you brought with you. To those that wish to remain, I tell you that these notes can easily be reversed and used to shield your home from intrusions. Most notably, Discord could find them useful. To those of you that wish to try to fight The Merchant, I tell you that he will likely not go down easy. Your best bet is to find the one known as Xante and team up with him. And to those of you that wish to drag us all back... Do not test me. -Auric Fulcrum, Master of Psynergy, Wielder of the Flames of Alchemy, Slayer of the Wise One, Knight of the Eclipse, Lord of Eureka, Blade of Understanding. “Do not test me?” Aranea muttered, “talk about showboating. He’s like Discord with an ego the size of a full grown elder dragon.” Celestia nodded and Magnus kept digging through the books remaining silent. “I do not believe anyone in this world uses quite that many titles,” Celestia muttered, “though the dragons and minotaurs come close.” She shook her head as Aranea sighed heavily. “The term Golden Bastard has come up in my head,” the woman said, setting the folder down. A slight cough disguising a chuckle came from Celestia as Magnus nodded. He, in his hands, had gathered several books, each just as dusty as the last. Aranea set the folder back down, before turning and picking up one of the tomes. “For as important as that sounded, it gave the baseline information. It’s almost like he’s gleefully pissing on people from the clouds.” Once again, a coughing chuckle came from Celestia and Aranea looked at the next book. “The Lore of the Multiverse?” Aranea paled as the tome started extending downwards, slamming into the floor with immense force. She immediately pushed it off to the side and shivered, “I have no idea what that was, but I feel like I would need several gallons of brain bleach for each chapter.” The book shrank back down and she left it on the floor, cautiously moving away. “Brain bleach?” Celestia asked. “I would need to wipe my mind of everything in that book if I read it,” she answered, wincing at a book titled Cosmology and a few others with varied titles. The only one that didn’t try expanding when she picked it up was one about renegades, to which she gave a sigh of relief as she set it off to the side. Magnus eyed a book in his hands closely, “I believe this explains how I can get home, or at least back to where I came from.” The book, less thickly covered in dust, was a deep blue with a single silvery star on the spine. The name Starswirl was stitched into the star and the title was on the front. A Study In Displaced shimmered on the cover, whilst a simple name hung underneath. “The Doctor?” Aranea muttered, frowning before shaking her head. “No clue who that is, but if the Princess’ teacher, protege, uncle or whatever he was had a book from them, then we might as well believe it can help.” Magnus nodded and opened it. A momentary silence was the response before Magnus flipped through a bunch of pages, “...Apparently I can get home using the mirror.” Aranea frowned whilst Celestia nodded. “It did react oddly to your presence,” the alabaster alicorn answered, pressing her hoof against the cool surface of glass. The mirror remained silent and still as Magnus read a few more pages. “What an oddly simple solution,” Magnus muttered, “Literally all I have to do is walk through it.” Aranea raised an eyebrow before being handed the book. The yellowed pages of the old tome spoke of a few other topics, but the message on how to return home was quite clear. As she watched, Magnus stuck his arm through before removing the satchel from his shoulder and setting it on the ground. “I suppose this is it,” Aranea said, shutting the book and walking over with her own hand outstretched. Grabbing Magnus’s, she shook it slowly. “Been a pleasure, Magnus, thanks for the help. Feel free to visit if you can.” “I feel quite the same,” Magnus bowed slightly, “Goodbye, warrior.” The dark haired man turned and walked through the shimmering glass, disappearing as if he had walked into a pool of silver. Reaching out, Aranea tapped it, but nothing happened. “Strange,” Celestia said, “I wonder why it reacted in such a way to him but not you.” “I’ve been here for awhile, Princess, it’s probably used to me by now,” Aranea muttered, looking back to the book in her hands. Starswirl the Bearded, the stallion who had created a portal between worlds before Equestria was properly founded once more. How strange, how odd. She slipped her satchel back over her shoulder and slipped the book inside. “Come on,” she said, moving towards the door, “we still need to discuss how to stop this disease.” Celestia gave a curt nodded and walked past her, and the guards ignored them as they passed. Having reached another large room, Aranea was greeted by a large wooden table. “Food?” Celestia asked, getting a head shake from the warrior. Celestia nodded before taking a seat herself, leaving Aranea to position herself on one of the odd chairs. Mildly uncomfortable, she finally grabbed one of the glasses of water from the table. The room remained quiet as Celestia munched on a sandwich of dandelions. Aranea finally cleared her throat and looked up towards Celestia, eyeing her critically. The alabaster alicorn sighed deeply and spoke up, “I assume you still want to discuss the Daemos?” Celestia continued eating as Aranea stared in silence at her. “Obviously,” Aranea answered, waving her hand dismissively, “but I am not quite sure where to start.” Celestia nodded solemnly. “Although, I do need to ask. How long had Luna been absorbing the disease before she…” Aranea waved her hand a bit and gave Celestia a look. “A few hundred years,” Celestia answered softly. Aranea frowned, looking down at the table before biting her lip. Both of them remained silent for a moment. “And yourself?” the warrior asked. “I stopped a few years before she returned, so well over a millennium,” Celestia answered, getting a deeper frown from Aranea. The warrior’s face scrunched and she began muttering quietly and looking at her fingers as she moved them. “Maybe it’s because she is directly connected to the night?” Aranea questioned, before sighing. “That’s the best reason I can come up with.” Celestia nodded as Aranea stood, “And, I’ve realized that you aren’t any more knowledgeable on the information as I, only more so on the events.” Another curt nod and Aranea stood up before started out of the room. “You are leaving?” Celestia asked, a dandelion leaf falling from her face to the the table below. Aranea waved her hand back, opening the door with the other. “Yeah, see you around I guess,” the door slammed shut and left the puzzled alicorn behind with her sandwich. A longer silence hit the room and Celestia frowned, looking at her sandwich and sliding it to the side before downing a glass of water. The alabaster alicorn stood up and moved towards the door as well. “I really should move the mirror.” Discord, lord of chaos, stood in his concrete prison huffing to himself. It had been ages since he had been able to visit Equestria itself, though other worlds still seemed to be fair game. Like that one world where he was human, a very boring change if he did admit. He was both their janitor, and their chemistry teacher? What horrifyingly clean idea, an absolute chemystery. He laughed again. Puns, how he loved puns. Those princesses didn’t seem to appreciate his puns, nor had most ponies. That human he had found might have loved them, but he doubted he’d be seeing her any time soon. Counting again, this time creating sheep and dropping them onto the clouds of various worlds where they would frolic amongst the water vapors as he did so, Discord was so distracted he did not notice the figure as it approached his prison. A loud thump permeated his prison, which Discord couldn’t figure out why he kept returning to. Looking around, he couldn’t see anything, though a voice finally came through. “Discord, locked up just like all those years ago. The garden is an upgrade,” the effeminate voice, though moderately husky, said. Discord frowned, that was odd, he thought he knew the voice but he couldn’t place it. “You need to tell me how many humans are in Equestria.” The draconequus frowned, “Not nearly enough,” he yelled. “How many exactly?” the voice, more demanding and slightly pissed, asked. “One,” he answered, hearing another loud thud. The draconequus huffed and returned to his counting. The voice grumbled loudly and faded out. If they weren’t going to be any fun, why should he care? Aranea, in the garden of the palace, was now cursing far louder as she neared the edge of the garden. It was good that Discord could talk, she had only barely guessed at that, but the fact her pendant was here, but she wasn’t? It was outright depressing and had Aranea moderately pissed off. “How the hell am I supposed to find her?” Author's Note Again, sorry this took so long.
I - Chapter TenI Chapter Ten A Whispered Thought Aranea, in the garden of the palace, was now cursing far louder as she neared the edge of the garden. It was good that Discord could talk, she had only barely guessed at that, but the fact her pendant was here, but she wasn’t? It was outright depressing and had Aranea moderately pissed off. “How the hell am I supposed to find her?” As the warrior's frustration became evident, Discord snickered internally. He could find anyone anywhere, so long as there was something to point him there. Despite this, he let the warrior wallow in her emotional turmoil, an evil laugh touching the edge of his lips. Even as a stone statue, here in Equestria proper at least, he could easily visit his Abyss and languished in the chaos he felt forming around the sole human inhabitant of Equestria. help her As a lord of chaos, the only one in his Equestria, Discord was used to a variety of oddities. Such as, the existence of an alien who traveled around in a box, the moon having air and life sprinkling it's surface, or even the fact that an entire section of the world was inaccessible and inhabitable to most species on the planet. What he was not used to was anyone telepathically communicating with him. The words held a weight to them that made him fear for his life if he did not obey. He had heard of ponies hearing it. The Ghost of Vengeance, it was called, and despite the name it often directed others on paths least deadly to them. Many might consider him a god, but Discord knew he was not invulnerable. "I can help find her," he said, sounding more serious than he ever had in his life. "And why should I trust you?" she asked, her eyes darkening as she stared at the statue. Discord felt the anger and shivered. Humans, the most unpredictable race in the Multiverse and here he was ready to help one of them, what a rush. Mother, thank you for this. Discord immediately spoke again once having grasped a proper answer. "You shouldn't, but the princesses can't do what I can," Discord answered simply, "I can find someone with the smallest link." He also realized that he now knew who the Ghost of Vengeance was and felt a terrible chuckle deep in his throat. The warrior seemed deep in contemplation, sitting herself before his statue as his words rang through her head. "Very well," she said after a few moments. Discord beamed, "However, should you do anything to her aside from bring her to me alive, I will make sure that your other tooth finds itself a new home in your eye, or worse." Discord winced, he knew very well what she could do. "Agreed," Discord answered. The warrior was immediately on her feet and the weapon from her back was now in her hands. With a resounding crack, the weapon crashed into the stone and blew it off the trapped chaos lord. A loud laugh was the response as he felt the magic of the word respond to him and curl up around him like a nice breeze. Aranea watched until he had settled down, then thrust the pendant towards him. A subtle nod and the chaos lord disappeared with the pendant in hand. Aranea shook her head, questioning why she would even try trusting the very being who had basically tortured her. If it could be called torture, sitting in a black room with only a window viewing out. The woman shook her head and turned around, making her way out of the castle courtyard towards the crystalline caves below. Deep inside them, she took a seat and focused herself. Meditation, she had scoffed at it in her past life, but it helped immensely with her emotions and so she had taken it up. As she sat, the caves hummed with energy allowing her to fall in a deep state of relaxation. Twilight Sparkle stared out at the sky, her thoughts drifting around. The woman she had encountered was an odd one, but compared to her initial thoughts, she was far different. The events of the past, where the woman had allegedly killed hundreds for the sick pleasure, simply did not fit in with how she acted. She could have changed, but something told Twilight some aspect of the past had been exaggerated. Picking up the book she had originally learned about the Dragoon from, she found that despite what it said, a number of footnotes claimed each statement to be nothing but word of mouth. In the footnotes, at the last mention of the Dragoon in History, she found an odd statement. "The Truth can be learned through the Scrying Eye?" Twilight frowned, "What does that even...." she suddenly gasped and grabbed another history book from down the shelf. It was a heavily debated Tome, simply due to the fact that many of it's facts contained within were not supported by other history books. As she read, Twilight found what she was looking for. Inside the tome, the section on the Dragoon was longer than many others, far longer. It stated that the Dragoon had been seen a multitude of times throughout recorded history, and Twilight stared at the drawings and paintings that showed the woman in the background. Beneath each was a simple few word quote, stating what had happened. The shock on the lavender unicorn's face showed that something was wrong, either Celestia had been lied to or she had known. It was with extreme hesitation that Twilight wrote a letter to Celestia and explained what she had found. Dear Princess Celestia, After meeting the Dragoon, or Aranea as she prefers, I found myself wondering why this human (Another term I learned from her), or woman as I have learned she uses like the Minotaurs, would commit the acts of evil listed in most of the history books I have. One of the books mentioned a book by Scrying Eye and I found that most of the other books were conflicted against. In fact, the original book I read said most of the facts were by word of mouth, which doesn't make sense for a history book, while Scrying says that during her time, the book was written after Princess Luna's banishment if you didn't know which I think you do, she witnessed something completely different and even found evidence of Aranea being around at the time of Discord! She's as old as you two! I was wondering if you might know why she would have been known as committing these acts. Your Student Twilight Sparkle With a whisp of green flame, Spike sent the letter on. Twilight didn't know why she still felt nervous, after all, Celestia wouldn't have attacked her despite possibly knowing she wasn't evil, would she? "Changelings," an annoyed Aranea muttered as she left the caves. While she had been down below, she had found evidence, rather bodies, that some of the castle staff weren't who they claimed to be. The bodies weren't in a good enough state for her figure out who the damnable bugs were replacing up there. The only ones she could be certain weren't replaced were the Princesses themselves. Her mood soured, especially after she had managed to calm down, and Aranea moved through the castle and barged in on the meeting between Celestia and a rather skittish noble. The noble nervously stood and started to speak, "T-this is a p-private meeting between myself the Princess, y-you have no right to barge in on us like-" he was stopped as Aranea glared. "Beat it," she hissed. The noble, like an obedient dog, bolted out of the throne room and disappeared down the halls screaming, resulting in an eye roll by Aranea as she approached Celestia. "We have an issue," she said as a whisp of green flame dropped a rolled up piece of parchment in front of the princess. She picked it up in her magic and read it as Aranea stared. "Yes, we do," Celestia muttered. "Changelings, princess, the issue is changelings. They're in your staff here," Aranea said, getting a skeptical look from the princess, "I found bodies and slime in the caves." The princess's eyes darkened and she stared at Aranea, "Get the guards and have them lock down the castle, I'll have Shining Armor put up his shield." Whoever Shining Armor was, Aranea hoped that the shield of his could keep changelings in, because it was going to be a pain finding out who the bugs had replaced and how exactly they had got here and when. Celestia scribbled her response to Twilight and disappeared in a flash of light. Aranea walked out of the throne room with a yell, "LOCK DOWN THE CASTLE. INTRUDERS AND MURDERERS ARE AFTER THE PRINCESSES." While the main castle staff went into a panic, the guards saluted and made for each exit, informing the other guards along the way. Author's Note Sorry about the short chapter, but I haven't been able to do much lately. I just want to give you guys something to read, as well as establish the current way events will fall in the timeline.
I - Chapter ElevenI Chapter Eleven The World Stops Watching Whoever Shining Armor was, Aranea hoped that the shield of his could keep changelings in, because it was going to be a pain finding out who the bugs had replaced and how exactly they had got here and when. Celestia scribbled her response to Twilight and disappeared in a flash of light. Aranea walked out of the throne room with a yell, "LOCK DOWN THE CASTLE. INTRUDERS AND MURDERERS ARE AFTER THE PRINCESSES." While the main castle staff went into a panic, the guards saluted and made for each exit, informing the other guards along the way. With a few steps past that she paused, "And why in hell are they listening to me?" A frown forced itself upon her face before she gave a deep sigh of annoyance. As a guard outfit, these ponies were doing a horrendous job. They should have demanded from from her, not gone off and done exactly what she said. Furthermore, the fact Celestia had given her her weapon back, despite prior events, was completely and utterly, for lack of a better term, idiotic. Who, in their right mind, gives a person who threatened the ruler of a country their weapon back, while they were in jail? With a shake of her head, Aranea moved towards the entry hall of the castle itself. Hefting the weapon on her back into her hands, she grabbed the nearest guard. "Bring everyone here," she said, "and get the rest of you lot on it too." The guard gulped and nodded, disappearing down the hall as Aranea leaned up against the wall. "DISCORD!" A loud popping noise, followed by a downfall of confetti, and the aforementioned draconequus made his appearance into the large room. "You called?" "Can you figure out when a changeling has disguised itself as a pony?" she asked, giving him a glare. The draconequus blinked, then had a quick moment of realization. A few bubbles floated out of the O shape he had made with his mouth, quickly turned into a grin. "Of course!" he grinned, Always the easy way out with this one. She raised an eyebrow, then sighed and nodded. "Of course," she said with annoyance, "then when the guards have rounded everyone up, I want you to expose any and all the changelings." She gave the draconequus yet another look. He tipped a top hat from his head, having made it appear seconds before hand. With a swift pop, he disappeared. "That aside, why are you helping the Princesses, you don't owe them anything," he asked, his voice sounding distant and echoed despite that he didn't need to sound that way. "You're right, I don't," she said, frowning, "but at the same time I'd prefer to avoid people dying like all those years ago." Discord hummed, "And what if the changelings are here just to get food?" "As long as they haven't killed anyone, and have no darker plans, I'm all for it," she answered, waving her hand dismissively. Discord gave an amused chuckle, before going silent as the first few ponies entered the hall. The silver haired woman watched as a mass of nervous mass of small horses entered the hall. The guards ushered them in quietly, soon after followed by a somewhat bulked up male horse, with a white coat and blue mane. As soon as Aranea saw the shield on his flank, she realized who it was. "Shining Armor, interesting to see you again, despite the circumstances," she called out. The colt turned and gave her a look before nodding. He walked up to stand by her side, giving her a glare. "As much as it leaves a bad taste in my mouth, you know the most about this so do what you will and I'll step in if I'm needed," Shining said, moving to stand slightly behind her. A brief nod and she faced the panicked servants, a few made a move to run but the other guards had blocked off the exits. After noting the behavior, likely due to Shining's presence, she was grateful for the professionalism. "Surely, you're all wondering why you've been gathered up here, in front of me and Shining Armor, instead of the Princesses," Shining gave a slight noise of discontent in response, "and the answer is simple. Some of you are not who you are pretending to be, nor even the same species." A number of voices started protesting, but she shouted over them, "DISCORD, IF YOU WOULD!" A second later, a decent number of the ponies shuddered and a wave of green light rolled off their bodies revealing an insect-like horse beneath the facade. "Guards!" Shining shouted, resulting in a number of guards forcing them out in front of the regular ponies. Each of the guards removed a gold ring from somewhere on their bodies and forced it onto the horn on each of the creature's heads. The changelings attempted to fight, but eventually all of them had a ring around their horn. Shining gave her a nod, and she stepped forward. "If you are here to live, then you have nothing to fear. If you threaten the lives of anyone, even the Princesses, you will be immediately incarcerated and further punishment will be decided by the laws of the land," she looked back towards Shining who gave a simple nod. "First, you," she pointed her weapon at the the nearest changeling. Unlike the rest of them, it was calmer but still noticeably nervous, "What are your motives, here in Equestria?" The changeling gulped, "I-I just wanted to live my life," it responded in a notably masculine voice. Aranea leaned down and gave it a look in the eyes. Immediately shrinking back, it closed it's eyes and turned away. A few seconds later, she gave a nod. "Alright, but since we cannot guarantee your innocence, I want you to point out to me which of your kin doesn't have those motives," the creature nodded rapidly. She nodded to the guard behind him and he was pulled to his hooves. She led him towards the other changelings, and waved her hand forward. "The ones you don't point out will be locked in a cell, just as you will be, until we can determine their innocence. The rest..." She left it unsaid and a number of changelings gulped audibly. She watched as he began pointing out specific changelings, each of whom was quickly pinned down by the guard and brought to the side of the room. Maybe I misjudged their professionalism... she thought as the final changeling was moved. Out of the seventeen changelings exposed, only four had not been pointed out, aside from the original. "Very well, guards, lead those few out of here and bring the rest to Shining and I." A quick nod and a few of the guards led the now noticeably calmer changelings out of the room, whereas the rest of the remaining changelings hissed violently as they were dragged forward. "And get the other ponies out of here," she said, looking towards the changelings. Shining gave her a dark look before nodding to the remaining guards who quickly escorted the servants out of the room. "Shining, what does the law do to criminals plotting murder or having already murdered?" "Lifetime in jail or exile," he answered. She frowned, then looked at the changelings, "Alright, so then it's a lifetime in-" one of the changelings interrupted her by lunging forward, having broken free of the guard holding it. With a quick swing of her spear, the changeling was literally crushed against the ground, green blood oozing from the crushed chitin of it's head. To their credit, the guards remained mostly silent as she lifted her weapon away from the body. A grimacing Shining Armor was turning green himself, "Get them out of here," she spat. "Did you have to kill it?" Shining said, the disgust clear in his voice. "I've killed for less, in the past, but this was in self defense," she said, looking down towards the body with a glare, "and to be perfectly honest, I didn't think it would kill him." Shining shook his head, attempting to clear his head of the image and the gory result of what had happened. Aranea pulled a cloth from inside her armor and began wiping the spear off. "Still..." Shining trailed off. Celestia returned to the throne room, in the same manner as she had left it, and was surprised to see Aranea sitting down in a chair with Shining near her. In front of the two was a stack of papers, along with a set of folders. Shining seemed ingrained in what he was reading, only to look up at her shortly after she had appeared. "Your majesty," he said giving a slight bow before returning to what he was reading. Aranea noticed shortly afterward and set the folder in her hand down, looking up towards the Princess. "I took care of it," she said. "Not like she would have," Shining offered without looking a up. The dragoon glared and turned back to her, "As annoying as it is, he's right about that. I didn't take care of it as cleanly as I could have, in fact, I had to kill one of them." Celestia winced, it had been centuries since the last time she, or any soldier of Equestria, had killed anyone. Sure, murders happened, but they were far from frequent. Moving towards the table they had set up, she noted the opened folder with the words Changeling-7 on the papers inside. When she looked towards Shining, his paperwork seemed to be diagrams of weapons and battle formations. "What happened?" "I made them reveal themselves, the how not being important, and one decided to try to assault me after I had determined who was supposedly innocent," she kept it to herself, but was quite relieved her suspicions had been correct in that department. If no one had been a changeling, or if they had all been innocent, it wouldn't have ended well. Celestia remained silent for a few moments before speaking, "...It can't be helped?" she said,a confused look gracing her face before she shook her head and put a hoof to her forehead, "I must apologize, it's been centuries since the last time anyone was killed in circumstances anything like this." Aranea blinked, "That's surprising." "I had to make an effort to prevent such scenarios," Celestia said, before putting her hoof back on the floor, "I suppose I should be proud it lasted this long." "I thought you would arrest me," Aranea answered, a note of disbelief in her voice. "Regarding what I have learned recently, I believe trusting you is anything but a mistake," the solar diarch said, her hoof waving dismissively, "I shall explain later, but first we must determine what happens to the guilty, and how to determine those you were told are innocent are truly so." Aranea sat back down, holding up the folder she had had in her hand when Celestia had returned shortly before, "Shining had some of the guards interview both groups." Celestia gripped the folder in her magic and brought before her eyes. "We'll need to verify all this at least once more," she said, looking at the folder. "Shining?" Aranea said, looking to the colt in question. A short nod and he set the papers down, moving towards the doors. "I'll interrogate them myself, your majesty," he gave a quick bow towards Celestia and opened the doors. After he had disappeared and the doors had closed, Aranea sat down and gave a deep sigh. Celestia blinked and looked at her before looking back to the folder in front of her. Aranea leaned back in the chair and looked at the princess, "It's been one hell of a day." Celestia blinked and thought back to the discussion she had with Twilight before returning, then she looked up at the ceiling. "Indeed it has..."
