Kaiscillius decidedly hated his new language. It was inelegant, uncultured, and far too demeaning for one of his stature. He'd trawled through Flying's memories and been completely baffled that even Celestia used the term "I" instead of the royal "We", and he hated to have to lower himself to her level, but it was all in the process of going native.

He still lay in his star-dome cave, fully emerged from his pool and feeling better than ever, using the magical cocktail from his first conquest to sate his hunger and thirst. Flying Colors however, was looking very much worse for ware.

Her orange skin had dulled to a slightly brownish color, and it no longer held its sheen. Her eyes were hollow and unfocused, her cheeks gaunt, and her limbs callow. Her horn was grey and shedding layers like a snake skin. All in all she looked like a corpse, save for her ragged breathing and fluttering heartbeat. Kaiscillius could feel her thoughts calling to him, begging to feel magic in her body again, that she felt incomplete without its presence.

Kaiscillius hated the parasitic way in which he had been forced to use her, it was not fitting for one such as him to leave so valuable an asset in such a condition. At the height of his power, he would have had a harem of potent magic-users and would drain a little from each one, giving his diet variety and giving whomever had the honor of being his meal a pleasurable high while maintaining their sanity. But now he was forced to slake his thirst with a single middling unicorn mare, but he'd needed the magic to live, and to transform. So he'd left her slumped in the corner of the cave and assured her that she would feel right as rain when her magic naturally regenerated. She hadn't wanted to wait when she knew that her Lord could give her more magic when he chose, but he knew that if he gave her another infusion of dark magic while her body had none of its own it would kill her or worse, so she just had to wait.

With that taken care of, Kaiscillius had started thinking, he needed a plan. His main goal, obviously, was restoring "Nightmare Moon", as the ponies called his mother, to her rightful place, but to do that he had to overcome several obstacles. First of which were the ponies themselves, according to his new memories every pony was nearly completely devoted to Celestia, not a hint of dissent was present in any of Flying Colors's thoughts. Either from her or anypony else, as far as he could see. He found this extremely suspicious, of course he found everything suspicious since his mother's lesson on food. That didn't mean that there wasn't dissatisfaction with the government, it just meant that it was very tightly controlled. Secondly was the "Elements of Harmony" a sort of peacekeeping task force deployed by Celestia to keep ponies and other races in line. Of course on the surface it was far simpler and more innocent than that, but unlike these ponies, Kaiscillius had a reason to question Celestia's motives. As far as Kaiscillius could see, the Elements didn't have limited jurisdiction, they would just waltz right into other countries and tear down governments to keep the populace in check with Celestia's wishes. Not to mention that it was headed by Celestia's protege Princess Twilight Sparkle, whom she had groomed from birth. Also, within the last, oh, thousand years there had been two new installed rulers, and both of them were firmly in Celestia's side of the court and occured within a few years of each other? Yeah, if that was a coincidence, then he was a mastodon. Thirdly, and perhaps most dangerously, was his mother herself, now going by the name "Princess Luna". If anypony were going to recognize him or his abilities, it would be her. So as much as he wanted run straight to her and free her from her shackles, any plan he made would have to include avoiding her at all costs until it's last possible phases. Lastly, was Celestia. And all that she entailed. He would have to hide his true nature very well if he ever went near her, luckily he'd been trained for that very purpose. He could make anything sound convincing, had perfect mastery over every aspect of his expression and body language, and possessed a photographic memory so he would never forget a previous lie. He'd learned that the hard way.

The first thing Kaiscillius would need was a new name and a new body. It would cost him but Flying's magic had given him enough for a transformation spell, and he would have to be a pony or he would immediately need another meal after the transformation. At first all he could think of was how to work around the cons of being a thestral, Kaiscillius hated thestrals to begin with, until he realized that it just wasn't a possibility. They were too loyal to "Luna" to ever let him persuade them to overthrow her, not to mention it would put him in far too close proximity to her, which caused its own set of problems. And the fact that they were normally social outcasts wouldn't help much at all with breaking into society.

So it was a normal pony for him... or was it? From Flying's memories he'd learned of a new breed of pony that hadn't been around in his day, crystal ponies. He knew of them of course, one could hardly make a study of great historical generals without running into King Sombra and his people, but now they were alive and well living in that forsaken land in the north. Since he would be operating nowhere near there, it should be perfectly simple for him to make up whatever story he wanted and, as long as he didn't attract too much attention, never have to explain it. Still, it would be smartest if he didn't make up people that didn't exist, or that there would be record of ever having existed. He would come from a backwater town, and had been the only one to escape when Sombra steamrolled the place without a second thought. Bam, instant sympathy and good will, and no one could disprove or discredit his past without seeming heartless. He would obviously have to be a unicorn since he wanted to cast magic without arousing suspicion, and he was sure that Celestia kept an eye on all potential ascendants, so a new alicorn popping up out of nowhere would immediately engender distrust.

So, a crystal unicorn then. A good choice, he seemed to remember that their strange construction gave them resistance to both physical and magical damage, things he would no doubt need eventually. Now, coloration. What would he be? Probably the opposite of what his colors were now, less intimidating, more calming. A soft yellow coat then, easy on the eyes, with an orange mane.

His name? Pony names normally equated to their cutie mark, he had noticed, so this would factor into that decision also. He thought long and hard on this, staring into the dark depths of his pool, which his eyes pierced as easily as an arrow through paper. Finally he decided on Night Radiant. Of course he would spell it K-N-I-G-H-T but for him it would hold secret meaning, that his mother's eternal Night would be shine Radiant once more. His cutie mark? A black crusader's shield emblazoned with the crescent moon of his mother, hidden behind a silver broadsword in the foreground. Never seen, but ever present, his true intentions would be. It pleased the poet in him.

Kaiscillius fixed this image firmly in his head, repeating in his mind every last detail of his new body. He calculated once, twice, thrice the exact amount of magic he would need to complete his transformation, and he decide that it would be far too risky to attempt it now. Shrinking his massive body down to regular pony scale would be hard enough, matter condensation was infinitely tricky to perform, and nopony should ever attempt it when running low. But, he could not risk Flying's life by drinking from her again so soon. He would have to be patient and wait for her reserves to regenerate.

So Kaiscillius sighed and paced around his cavern, checking Flying's energy levels and fleshing out his story for Knight Radiant more with just enough detail to provide cohesive ideas, without falling into the liar's trap of being overly descriptive. Finally he settled down near the entrance of his cave, and kept a sharp ear out for strange noises. And slowly he drifted into sleep...

Kaiscillius's dreams were no longer blissful darkness. Now, he had nightmares. His first in centuries. He stood on a black plinth, all around him blood-red clouds roared and raged, a blizzard of biting cold. A pale full moon hung heavily in the sky, far too large for its normal position. He was a child, a hatchling again, and around him stood his brothers and sisters, all of them fully grown with their faces shadowed in the half-light of the moon. He could see their sneers though. Glaring down at his weak form with utter contempt.

"Defeat us now, wilt thou brother?" Hissed his sister Niathandra, "thou art so weak!"

But she was not perfect either, she was missing an arm. The arm he had torn off in their final battle.

His brother Kaldriandis stepped forward, his skulls split from their first encounter in the hatchery. He uttered a horrible gurgling screech that pierced Kaiscillius's ears, and made him clutch at his head in pain.

His other siblings, each with the horrible scars and wounds he had ended their lives with, circled around his child-like body and pinned him to the floor. Far above in the sky, a kindly old pony stood like a giant, and smiled soothingly as he poured acid onto Kaiscillius's scales, making him scream in horrible burning pain as his plates popped and sizzled. He felt that he was already a corpse, the others held him down as he watched his body be eaten away by maggots and scavengers, and though his eyes were eaten he could still see until his bones were picked clean, and he could feel the wind itself grate against his insides. The last thing he saw was his mother, majestic and terrible in her true self, as she sighed in disapproval, and her horn glowed as pain lanced through every atom of Kaiscillius's being.

Kaiscillius awoke, but did not open his eyes. His breathing did not rise or fall abnormally. He had forgotten the nightmares. Forgotten his constant companions. Forgotten how blissful it was in that endless, dreamless sleep. Forgotten his reason for not wanting to come back to the light.

Kaiscillius was drawn out of his melancholy as his ears pricked up and he heard a faint voice, one he reckoned to be about half a mile away.

"... just don't think it's a good idea for you to come out here and investigate it all by yourself!" The voice was young, a little nasal, but not childish exactly, it possessed age.

Another voice answered, "That's what I have you here for Spike, see? I'm not alone. And besides, it was probably nothing, especially not this close to Canterlot. I just wanted some alone time, and this gives me an excuse." This voice was kind, calm, and sweet in its address. It made Kaiscillius want to puke.

"I'm no good in a fight Twilight, you know that, I just want you to be careful."

Twilight? There was no possible way it could be-

"Look Spike, you know who you're talking to right?"

"I know that you're an extremely talented alicorn, yada yada yada. But that doesn't mean that you can't be hurt, or trapped. Might I remind you of-"

"Spare me. We'll be fine Spike, trust me. Now, not another word, or you won't get desert today."

She was coming here. Twilight Sparkle, Celestia's protégé, head of the Elements of Harmony, Princess of Friendship, was coming here. Now.

Kaiscillius would have sworn vigorously if there had been time, but as it stood there was none. Quickly he called to him again the calculations of how much power it would take to complete his transformation, and began hacking off features with a mental meat cleaver. He could afford to be larger than the average unicorn, perhaps the coloration didn't matter as much as he thought...

No, no, no, still not enough! Kaiscillius thought anxiously. He had nowhere near enough power to defeat an alicorn in its prime, disguise was his only option unless some miracle let him reduce the power of both her and her companion drastically.

An idea came to him which made him pause mid pace. He grinned cruelly with all three of his mouths as his eyes sparkled with mirth. It was evil, it was diabolical, it could almost be called lemon-scented, and the Princess would never see it coming.

Princess Twilight Sparkle had had a pretty dull morning. She'd gone through her morning routine and been in court for three hours before she called a recess to go read something interesting so that her brain didn't melt with boredom. She loved the ponies of Ponyville, but sometimes she felt like they could definitely solve some of the problems that they brought to her by themselves. Somepony had come in today to tell her that their cat was stuck in a tree. And it was a unicorn!

But it was during the much needed recess, while totally not reading a book about the best places to vacation to, that she'd noticed that her table was glowing. It showed Fluttershy's cutie mark hovering over... Canterlot Mountain? But then Twilight had an idea. As far as she knew, Fluttershy was totally super busy today... definitely. Which meant that it was up to her to escap- er, investigate!

So she'd grabbed Spike and told her guards to say that court was closed for the day, and if anypony asked why, tell them that she was on extremely important friendship buisness.

With that settled, she'd considered taking the train ride to Canterlot, but she was still a little freaked out by how ponies treated her now that she was an alicorn, even if it had been a while since her ascension. So she decided to teleport as close as possible, and walk the rest of the way. She didn't know what sort of friendship challenge she would be facing, but since the table had called for Fluttershy, she assumed it was animal related. So she'd packed all manner of snacks, vegetables, chew toys, anything an animal could want. Since the disturbance was so close to Canterlot, she doubted it was more than a rabbit family stuck on a rock or something, but it gave her an excuse to stretch her legs and escape the horrible humdrum that she could already feel consuming her brain.

Twilight and Spike flashed into being half a mile from the source of Fluttershy's beacon, this was as close as anyone could teleport to Canterlot without hitting the anti-magic shell that surrounded it.

It was a beautiful day outside, of course it always was near Canterlot. Blue sky, birds chirping, small animals scuttling about. Twilight sighed as she felt herself relax for the first time all day. She and Spike shared some small talk, until they stumbled upon something that caught her eye. She noticed a section of the mountain that was blasted open. Excited, she teleported closer to examine it.

Not enough time, not enough time! Kaiscillius had already drained what little more he dared from Flying. And even still there was an unbelievably tight margin for error, but he was out of time. She was at the entrance to his cave right now, he could hear her poking around the outside of the tunnel. With a deep breath and a sigh, he began to cast the spell.

Energy swirled around Kaiscillius like different colored bolts of lightning, zipping around his body and cracking against his plates. It poured out of his mouths like waterfalls of light, binding him and squeezing him into a smaller and smaller size. His heads molded back into his body, his spine straightened into a more upright position, his front legs shrank and formed more complex joints, and his head became more pony-shaped. It was a battle of will now, he had to push the spell as hard as he could to avoid inefficiency, he couldn't afford any mistakes or breaks in his concentration or the results would be horrifying to say the least.

Kaiscillius could feel the magic running out before the spell was done. He wouldn't be able to complete the entire thing, he had to focus on the most important parts. Internal organs? Check. Anatomically correct skeletal and cardio-vascular structure? Check. Weird jewel skin? Check. The spell was slowing down now, he didn't have enough power to finish entirely. The cutie mark! He quickly amended the oversight, and spent the last of his magic constructing the horn, and basic clothing, when he let the spell fizzle and die, he didn't want to go through overdraw right now. What did he look like? Was everything correct? Kaiscillius stretched and bent his new body every which way, and was very relieved to find that he hadn't missed anything important, like a lung or knee joint. He quickly ran to the pool to checked his reflection.

Knight Radiant was most definitely taller than a unicorn, in fact he would have been more comparable to Celestia's height. As Kaiscillius had focused on more the transformation aspect of the spell, the matter condensation side had suffered. He was broad-shouldered, and thick with corded muscles visible wherever there was skin. Or... not skin exactly but... whatever he was made of. He still wasn't entirely sure how crystal ponies worked, he needed to make a study of one sometime. His... skin was yellow-ish. It started off yellow, and then bled into a violet filled with white dots which became darker and darker. The yellow showed wherever the observer's eyes landed on Knight, with the violet to black spectrum appearing in the peripheral vision, this effect applied to everywhere but a few places. His horn, for instance, started with a yellow base and ended in a black starry tip. And his mane's curls started off a fiery orange, and ended the same as the horn. He suspected the optical illusion effect was left over from his natural gifts not being covered up by the failing spell. It was a bizarre but... unique appearance. That coupled with the fact that he looked like he'd been carved from marble, like a living statue, made it actually look pretty impressive. His orange eyes were soft with a mischievous glint, but an underlying sadness and wisdom. He had an infectious smile, with almost perfect teeth, and a... chiseled jaw. He almost snorted as he noted the pun. He couldn't help but check one of his most important assets while he was at it, and found that he had ignored the area entirely too much, focusing almost no matter condensation energy there at all. It was still massive, not as big as before but still unreasonably large, looking slightly less thick than an arm, with a pair of baseball sized testicles to go with it. He was running out of time, so he finished his inspection with this and rushed to Flying's side yelling, "Is somepony there? Please help, I have wounded in here!"

Twilight had been admiring the amazing crystal formations in this new tunnel when she heard a cry for help from further down.

"Quickly Spike, come on!" She called back to him as she dashed through the narrow crevice, reluctantly slowing more and more as it got harder and harder to see. If there weren't ponies depending on her quick reactions, she would have loved to stop and just take in the geological formations of this cave, it was truly worth studying. All of these thoughts ceased when she stumbled into the main chamber, and beheld the sight before her.

In front of the doorway kneeled a very large crystal pony, holding an orange unicorn in its arms. The unicorn's breath came in wheezing gasps, and she looked to be on the verge of death. Twilight quickly slid into position next to the crystal pony, who she now saw was also a unicorn.

"How can I help?" She asked frantically, giving the female unicorn a once-over. It didn't look good, her skin was graying and her horn was flaking off in places. Her breath came in gasps and her eyes were glassy and unfocused. Twilight placed a hand on the fallen mare's neck, which was icy cold to the touch, and found that we heartbeat was fluttery and irregular. She knew these symptoms, she just hoped it didn't come from where she thought it did.

"Princess?" The crystal unicorn next to her said in amazement, his orange eyes widening in surprise. Then his face took a more serious tone and he turned back to the mare in his arms.

"Her magic's gone. Stolen by some creature, I was walking by that opening outside when I heard her call for help. I got here before she died, but not before whatever it was had left her... like this." He said sorrowfully. Twilight could practically feel the regret and shame beneath his calculating demeanor.

Kaiscillius was very impressed with the new Princess. He already generally knew what she looked like, long purple hair with the two-tone pink stripe, lavender skin color, bookish. But memories did not serve the Princess of Friendship, her skin was flawlessly smooth, her face delicate and gorgeous to look at. She wore a brown sleeveless vest with a white long-sleeved undershirt that was tucked into khaki cargo shorts, and she had on brown hiking boots. If her outfit was meant to discourage her figure, it was letting it's side down. Her heavy breasts remained prominent, despite the shirt's best efforts, and the shorts didn't even attempt to hide the tantalizing view of her slender, smooth legs that lay underneath. Kaiscillius could feel himself growing hungrier just looking at her, and, if she was as powerful as Flying's memories sad she was, he had no doubt that she would be infinitely fun to break.

"Twilight (gasp) ya' can't (wheeze) teleport without me like that. My legs aren't- oh." A dragon hatchling burst into the room, out of breath, and pulled up short when he saw the situation.

"Spike, stay here and help, I'm going to-"

"That won't work. Send your dragon for help, I can heal her but I need you here to do it." The crystal stallion said with a surprising steely command to his voice, his eyes fixed on Twilight's in a firm plea.

She didn't know why he needed her, but this mare looked like she didn't have much time, and if he promised that he could heal her then she had to give him a chance.

Spike glanced back and forth between Twilight and the stranger before she said, "Alright, if you're sure. Spike, go get help, signalling pegasi will probably be the safest bet. No, wait, this is restricted airspace, umm..." Twilight bit her lip indecisively as she weighed the options.

"Three hundred paces south of here is the road, head West and tell anyone you come across until you reach the city gates, then call for medics." The crystal unicorn tossed over his shoulder while laying his companion carefully on the ground. His voice brooked no argument, and it was clear he was focusing intently on how to save this mare, so Spike merely gave a sharp nod to Twilight and dashed out.

Twilight turned back as the stallion was shifting the mare to her side (why hadn't she thought of that?) and asked him, "Did you see the creature that did this? What's your name? What do you mean "heal her"?"

The crystal unicorn huffed and locked his penetrating gaze on her, replying, "Yes, Knight Radiant, and I don't have time to explain right now. Put your hands on my back."

She gave him a wired look and then complied with his request, placing one hand either side of his spine. He, in turn, stretched his hands out toward the prone unicorn and said, "Now I'm gonna need you to feed me magic while I do this, it's gonna take a lot out of me, and if I go into overdraw it won't be pretty."

Twilight looked at him like he was crazy. Feed him magic? Overdraw? Yet he said the terms with such confidence that it really felt like he knew what he was talking about.

"Uh, yeah... sure. How do I um... do that... exactly? Those things you said." She asked abashedly.

He turned his face to stare at her with utter disbelief before saying incredulously, "What do you mean 'how do I do that'? Aren't you an Alicorn? Just transfer power! This is no time for games!"

Twilight started to panic. Should she know how to do what he was talking about as an Alicorn? Was it a special skill? She was totally underprepared for this, Celestia hadn't ever mentioned anything about "transferring power". Twilight felt ashamed of not knowing an apparently basic piece of information at such a crucial moment.

Kaiscillius was very confused. This was not working out in any way like he had intended, how could she not about something as simple as a power transference? Wait a minute... they still... taught about power transferences didn't they? He did a split-second flip through of Flying Colors's school years and found nothing on the subject. He'd just assumed at first that she wasn't a very good student, and they hadn't taught her about it. But now he saw that, not only did they not teach it, she'd never even heard of the subject. It didn't exist. And if even one trained by Celestia herself didn't know about it... this could be both dangerous, and a great advantage.

"Why don't you just... take the energy you need? You can do that, right? I mean I'm willing to share..." Twilight said with a forced smile that failed to hide the confusion, shame, and desperation in her eyes. She was out of her depth, and so relied on the expert to take over the situation. If they managed to get out of this successfully, maybe he would even teach her!

Kaiscillius had not just heard that. He had not just been willingly invited to drain as much magic from an Alicorn as he wanted without negative repercussions.

By the Moon... I'm living in a world of idiots. Blind, naive idiots, he thought, dumbfounded for a second.

"Yes I can do that, it might take longer this way, and it'll feel a little weird, but her life will be saved." He said this to Twilight as if she were making a brave sacrifice, which only served to strengthen her resolve.

"Then do it. Take as much as you need, I'm ready and willing." She answered, voice full of heroic determination.

Hehe... hahahaha... haHAHAHAHAHA! HAHAHAHAHAHAHAHA-

The crystal unicorn returned an equally grave and admiring gesture, and the lightly touched her horn with a multicolored hand. Twilight was a little startled at the sensation at first, as it felt she was casting a spell without actually doing anything. A tingling sensation ran up and down her spine that didn't hurt at all, in fact it felt pretty nice. Knight was obviously not having the same experience that she was. His brow was scrunched in pain, and perspiration formed on his forehead. The finger on her horn was steady, but the arm it was attached to jumped and jerked like he had stuck his hand in a socket.

Twilight shuddered and goosebumps rose over her body as a warm feeling slowly descended from her horn. It permeated throughout her head and down her spine, filling her with a sense of warm lazy detachment. She liked it, her mind felt relaxed and clear, and she giggled at the funny face Knight was making. What was she doing? Something important. Didn't really seem to matter now, she just kinda wanted to sit here like this, it felt good. All warm and sleepy...

Kaiscillius was in heaven. He guzzled down as magic as he could while the dragon was gone, he reckoned he had maybe a quarter of an hour tops before it came back with help, and he had a willing, intoxicated mare trapped in his clutches for fifteen sweet minutes. It became harder and harder to keep up his "in a small amount of pain" face as he watched the great Twilight Sparkle lazily burble with her eyes becoming more and more unfocused. A beatific smile played across her lips and she giggled sleepily again, completely surrendered to him, whether she knew it or not. He should probably stop looking at her soon because he didn't want to have to explain a massive erection when she came back to her senses.

As soon as the first drop of magic had hit his system, the hunger that had been gnawing on his stomach faded, and the dryness in his throat had soothed. As more flowed in from his willing donor, he had been able to once again hear all of Flying's thoughts, which ranged from "Ow" to "Hungry", so a nice variety there. Kaiscillius started to probe Twilight's surface thoughts, not really expecting anything, and it nearly shattered his facade when he found that her mind was completely unguarded, no mental defences except a flank load of willpower, and he could finesse his way around that lump of pure brute strength.

What do they actually teach in school these days? he wondered in a happy daze, unbelieving of his luck, How to dress yourself? How to treat a boo boo? Cause it certainly isn't anything useful, like how to defend your mind from invasion.

Kaiscillius used a miniscule amount of magic to start up a little light show around his horn to keep Twilight in case she came back to her senses, and he quietly slipped into her mind.

Kaiscillius appeared in his pony form inside of a massive library. Rows and rows of books filled all the way to a filing shrouded in darkness hundreds of feet above, and ran in a straight, isle pattern that seemed very easy to navigate. The "floor" was made entirely of a rich brown wood. Floating magical light sources and marble benches alternated between the isles in a checkerboard pattern. Currently it seemed that h had ended up in the "P" section of Twilight's brain (the giant shelves were all labeled with gold plaques, he currently has one next to him that simply said "Ponies"), and he just stood there for a moment, listening. And then jumped for joy. No sudden footsteps of a mental guardian, or army. No blaring tripwire traps, or magical alarms hidden behind some clever defensive ward that he'd missed. This was the mind of one of the most influential ponies of the century, and he had unrestricted access for fifteen whole minutes!

Kaiscillius was at a loss for words. He had no idea what to do, where to look, what to dig up. Blackmail would be useful for later, but the real prize was everything he could learn about the personal schedule, habits, likes, and dislikes of every single one of his enemies. Celestia, Luna, the Elements, Princess Cadence, rulers of other countries, this mare had interacted with all of them, and as studious as Flying Colors had perceived her to be, Kaiscillius had no doubt that she memorized as much about all of them as possible.

[Oh thank you. Thank you my stupid, trusting, naive little pony. You've given me more of a headstart than I ever could have hoped for.

Making her fall in love with him would have been fun too, but he hadn't spent enough time with her to slowly tint her memories of him rosier. "Oh yes, from the time our eyes met over that dying body I knew it was love." That was really all he had to effect, so that idea was out the window.

He doubted he'd find a book labeled "Blackmail Material: Do Not Open" So he began searching for firsthand information on... well who was most prevalent? Celestia was his eventual goal, but if he had his way eventually he would have 24 hour access to this mare's head, so he could get to her then. He needed something in the short term to earn her trust, keep him by her side, so that meant the Elements of Harmony, as they were known to be close personal friends of hers. Kaiscillius did not understand this philosophy, why would you not only keep the most dangerous ponies to your authority unwatched and unguarded, but also actively seek their close partnership without suspicion? But whatever, ponies were dumb, just keep moving.

Here, Kaiscillius ran into a problem, where did he go? Did he go down the isle next to him named "Ponies", an incredibly vague topic at the best of times, or try to walk all the way down to the E's to try and find "Elements of Harmony"? Because "Ponies" would (or could) contain information on every pony Twilight Sparkle ever remembered, and it would take a looooooong time to look through all that reading material to find five names. More than... twelve minutes, crap he needed to move one way or another.

Kaiscillius decided on the E's plan, it seemed reasonable, and he knew exactly what to look for, rather than trawling through an, albeit informative, list of names.

A normal pony would have said the jog that Kaiscillius took was disconcerting, what with the endless rows and rows that extended off into the horizon all looking exactly the same, the pattern of benches and lights never changing once as she traversed the endless corridor. He would have said that too, had he not already been familiar with the monotonous way that untrained minds presented themselves. Flying's had been much the same, though hers were filing cabinets rather than books. It had been much easier to sort through everything. Kaiscillius's own mind, being trained to defend itself, was a labyrinth of ever shifting subterranean and underwater paths. He could have set physical (well, as "physical" as one can be when dealing with what amounted to a consciousness amoeba that latches on to other ponies' brains) traps as well, lightning, poison, flash freezing, that sort of thing, but it had been more fun for him to remain entirely psychological in his defense. His mind was, in essence, a sensory deprivation tank for any who tried to enter. Pitch black, no sense of up, down, or touch, and with deliberately psychotic whispers following you all the way. Scratching, clicking, clattering, soft laughter, hushed talk, things designed to drive anypony mad. His poor instructor had, at least. Spent two days trying to find the exit from Kaiscillius's mind oubliette before losing his own marbles and screaming about how the ball bearings had come for him at last. Nasty business, educational though.

So yes, Twilight's monotony was not disturbing, or really anything but boring for Kaiscillius. Finally, he found what he was looking for. A bookshelf, just as large and wooden as any other, but with only five books, and the label "Elements of Harmony" carved into the gold plaque. Each book had a symbol on it, butterflies, an apple, those floaty things... balloons! That was it, and other things as well. He only had two minutes to spare when he found them, and he heaved a sigh of relief as he quickly tapped the spine of each book. It was always a disconcerting experience to have new memories, but Kaiscillius had stolen so many that it didn't give him more than a moment's discomfort as his mind was flooded with five new ponies, who seemed to Twilight to be the most important in all the world. The amount of raw emotion associated with these five mares was staggering, and Kaiscillius had to fight a bit to strip the pathos from each of the memories that now occupied his mind, he didn't need to get all mushy over his prey.

With only a minute left, Kaiscillius retracted his consciousness back to his body and was delighted at the enormous wellspring of power that now flowed through his veins. He jerked his hand away from Twilight's horn as if eager to not be attached anymore, and he then placed both hands on Flying's horn and gently flowed magic back into her. This was actually new to him. He'd never given back anything after taking it before.

Oh well, he thought, desperate times and all that.

Flying Colors's coat immediately began to brighten in color, and her horn stopped shedding, now merely looking flaky, and growing less so by the second. She started to say something, but Kaiscillius interrupted her by way of mental command.

Flying Colors, you have been extraordinarily helpful to me, and I will not forget your service, he bEgan solemnly, but now we must part ways. Tell no one anything of me, or my plans, and act as the old you would have from now on. However, if I ever kiss you, you are free to act as you should, understood?

A moments hesitation occured, and he was afraid that maybe she had not heard the message, before he saw a single tear work its way down her cheek, and he heard her reply.

Yes my Lord, I wish you did not have to go, but I will be faithful to you, and follow your wishes, she thought back weakly, sounding sad, if thought conversations could hold emotions.

Kaiscillius was about to be done when he decided that he had to be safe. His horn was already glowing white, and it glowed no more intensely when he cast a second spell that locked her memories of him away, and that completely destroyed the ones of his transformation, that way if Celestia or anyone else went poking around, all they would find were repressed memories of an incredibly distressing time for the mare. And with that, he let go of his Awakener, not without his own amount of regret.

Twilight Sparkle slowly blinked her way back into coherence, still kneeling in the position she had been in when Knight Radiant had touched her horn. She now saw him hunched over the body of the unicorn mare, his horn surrounded in a white glow. Twilight also realized that she felt great, she was warm and far more relaxed than after the most expensive spa treatment she had ever endured. She briefly wondered if Knight wanted a job as a masseuse, because she would hire him in an instant. She also felt kind of tired, and decided that she could really go for a nap right then... before clarity returned to her completely.

The unicorn mare! She thought panickedly before staggering over to where Knight Radiant kneeled.

Twilight quickly wiped the drool off of her face as she plopped down next to over to him, berating herself harshly for forgetting one of her subjects like that, what kind of Princess was she? Knight's face was a frown of intense concentration, his dark, crystal eyes fixed firmly on the suffering pony. Twilight felt bad about it, but she couldn't help but stare a little at him. It didn't help that he was quite handsome, and currently engaged in a heroic act, but his skin had a shifting color illusion that looked dazzling on a crystal pony. His skin was a beautiful soft yellow that reminded her of Fluttershy, but in her peripheral vision it darkened to purple, then black, each with white specks like stars shining in the sky. It was a wonderful effect that distracted her to no end, until he turned around to say something.

"Princess I- waaagh!" His face animated with surprise as he found hers only a few inches away, and he quickly jerked his entire body backward a few paces.

"Sorry!" She shouted. "I was just, uh, seeing how it was going?" She finished lamely, her face's color darkening with a blush. Knight also blushed as he said, "Yes. Of course. I was just going to say that she's going to be okay if we can get her to a hospital. I've stabilised her now, thank you for your assistance."

"No problem!" She answered cheerfully, "It felt great! I would do it again anytime!" Then she remembered Knight's face during the procedure, in pain, like he was being electrocuted.

"But how did you do?" She asked, concerned, "it looked like that hurt pretty..." Twilight drifted off as she noticed that there were black burn marks on Knight's fingers that ran up his arm seeming to follow his veins. And they were still smoking.

"Oh my goodness, what happened?" She asked as he noticed her attention and hid his arm.

"It's nothing Princess. What matters is that a life was saved." He answered resolutely. But his fist clenched tight as his shirt brushed over the burns, in tandem with his jaw.

"I demand that you tell me how you were injured, and than tell me how to heal it, if I can." She said imperiously. She hoped the facade of command hid her nervousness for the poor pony. And her anxiety that she may not know how to help him again.

He sighed and answered, "You did not give me the energy to heal her, so I had to take it. Which hurts, badly. But don't worry about it, she was saved and my pain is temporary, I just hope that your dragon found someone."

As if on que, Spike stumbled into the room along with two earth ponies and a guard from Canterlot. They carefully, under the direction of Knight Radiant, carried the mare, who's name she learned was Flying Colors, out of the cave. He seemed to have a natural air of command and confidence, as well as an understanding of flattery that quickly calmed the panicking ponies and allowed them to work together as a team.

Twilight occasionally commented on the process, but mostly her attention was consumed by her guilt. Not only had her ignorance caused somepony else pain, but she had enjoyed the experience that had hurt another! It was unbelievable, and she decided that it could not be borne, she would make it up to Knight Radiant one way or another.

With that resolution she followed the rescue party out of the cave, with Knight Radiant covering their backs in case the magic draining monster struck from behind. She just wish she could have hurt that thing instead of a life saver like Knight.

Kaiscillius stood at the cave exit, the beautiful forested day in front of him. He stared at the sunlight as it trickled into his thousand year refuge, but he dared not touch it. A memory of the sun still haunted him. It assailed him every time he stepped into its cursed light. He was but a hatchling, a few days old, the first time the Sun's light ever touched him. It had looked so warm and inviting, everything practically glowed in its presence. He had bounded into the light, eager to join the grass and the trees, and it had burned him. He knew not for how long he had lain screaming under that white orb's glare, as his plates popped and smoked, his eyes blinded and throat retching in pain. He had been carried out of it by someone, he knew not who, and had ever since felt a shudder of fear at the Sun's touch.

And so now he stood transfixed at the edge of the light, knowing it could not hurt him in this form, and not daring to try and prove himself right. Soon the Princess and the others would wonder what was going on. He had to move. Kaiscillius slowly lifted a hand, and stuck a solitary finger into the halo of light. It was warm. It didn't hurt. Taking in a sharp breath and closing his eyes, Kaiscillius walked into the sunlight for the first time in a thousand years. He laughed in relief at his irrational fear, and followed the rescue party, with good cheer much renewed.

Author's Note

Over 16,000 words and we're still not out of this dag blasted cave. Not that that's a bad thing. I like the cave, it looks cool in my head. Again I compulsively apologize for spelling mistakes, auto-correct is buckets of fun! It even tried to correct auto-correct to "auto-rectangle", but I valiantly defend against just such technological ineptitude. I also apologize for any outfit I have described or will describe in the future. I don't understand fashion or how clothes fit together in any way.

So, Kaiscillius has a new identity, information on the Mane 6, and a debt owed to him by one of the Princesses themselves. I think we all know how he's gonna use it. Find out for sure, next time!