The Haven Incident

“I would greatly appreciate an explanation regarding everything that’s happened today.” the great white Alicorn, who goes by the name of Celestia, walked down the halls of the castle shared with her sister (Luna had been incarcerated in the royal infirmary for the time being) with head held high and wings stretched straight up in her usual display of authority.

Beside her, keeping pace, was the friendly visitor from the tear back at what was quickly being called the Haven Disaster. His hands were both stuffed into the pockets of his jeans and he was much more interested in looking at everything around him with his one open eye.

“Hey, do you ponies have a dungeon here?” he asked with an eager smirk, turning to the Princess escorting him through the halls to the throne room for an official meeting.

“We do, yes.” Celestia nodded back once, a little put off at the ignorance this creature was showing, even if he had single-hoofedly saved her and her sister from certain death. Or worse.

“Cool, cool.” the creature mumbled back and returned to looking around at the large white walls, the ornate stone pillars between the massive panes of glass letting in the afternoon light.

“Left turn here, and we’ve arrived.” Celestia urged with an outstretched wing, leading the savior to stop before a pair of massive golden doors that she was all too familiar with. Both doors began to be pushed open with the magic of a pair of bedazzled Royal Guards decked out in heavily enchanted armour and weapons.

The room had been retrofitted for the sudden meeting that Celestia had called for, and already the room was filled with all manner of ponies. Most of them had positions in the Royal Court, whether it be the Guard, the Nobility, or even just from Accounting. All seats were full, save for two near to the head of the table with one being the throne at which Celestia would sit and a simple cushion on the floor for the princess’ entourage.

All ponies in the room stood at the approach of Celestia, standing dutifully and those programmed to do so saluted all with a sharp snap of their hooves or wings. Then, as the human entered, all eyes shifted in his direction and all manners of silent questions began getting thrown around.

Who is that? Why is he with the Princess? What is it? Is it dangerous? Did it have something to do with the massacre in Haven? All thoughts roamed around what this strange creature had been involved in, and what it would be further involved in.

“My little ponies, thank you for coming.” Celestia began, turning in place before her throne with a look of finality on her muzzle. This single face silenced all questions instantly when they all heard the sincerity in her voice. “Please be seated.” she requested, doing as requested herself and dropping her behind on the throne that even had a perfectly formed indentation of her backside.

Everyone gathered obeyed, though the human went so far as to plop himself down and lounge backwards on his arms, posting them behind his back while he stretched his legs out and got comfortable. Clearly, the Guard next to him was displeased with such a lack of manners and the Nobility had even more words to say, though they remained silent.

“May I be the first to say that you look simply radiant, your grace?” one unicorn, sitting across the table from the human, stood and turned to the princess, bowing deeply. “I dare say that-”

“Now is not the time for empty praises, Sun Stroke.” Celestia warned, shooting the stallion a deadly glare. “This is about what happened in Haven, regarding the slaughter that happened as well as what happened to the Element of Magic and my sister.” Well that certainly shut him up. “Today we are given the presence of a legend in the making,” Celestia continued, turning her glare into a stare at the human’s direction.

“Oh please, I’m no legend.” the human grinned and waved a hand passively, waving off the praise. “I was just doing my job.”

“Which is what, exactly?” Sun Stroke turned and even went so far as to glare threateningly at the creature.

“Hunt Angels and Demons.” the man grinned right back in the face of the unicorn, shooting his own death glare at the same time. The four words had a rippling effect over the other assembled, creating murmurs and further inquiries about what the creature was talking about.

“Oh please, I am completely confident that whatever it is you supposedly hunt, my Solar Guard is more than capable of handling without you.” Sun Stroke challenged, looking quite sure of himself. The man staring across the table merely smirked even as he evaluated the heavy plate armour the pony was wearing. As flashy as it may be, as enchanted as it may be, for whatever metal it could be made of, it looked like paper compared to the kinds of metals most demons and angels commonly used. “I’m sure that even Night Glade’s Lunar Guard would have no trouble-”

“The Core Weapons are destroyed.” Celestia’s voice had an immediate silencing effect over the entire room. Sun Stroke’s eyes, and presumably Night Glade’s who sat next to Sun Stroke, narrowed into pinpricks.

“That- that’s not possible.” Sun Stroke announced absolutely. “The Core Weapons were forged in the fires of the core of our very planet, enchanted with all the power of the sun and moon in three of the most powerful weapons Equestria has.”

“And the enemy I faced rendered them to black ash.” Celestia went on to explain, narrowing her gaze at the ponies sat at the table before them. “The same enemy who took my sister’s horn from her, the same enemy who would have slaughtered my sister and I if it wasn’t for the sudden appearance of that creature,” Celestia turned to stare directly at the man, pointing a golden shoed hoof at him specifically.

“B- but, then our magic-” Night Glade began to studder, her voice betraying the otherwise unidentifiable facade of her armour which cloaked her entire body, masking all features capable of identification.

“Completely useless. Twilight Sparkle’s most powerful shield spell, in combination with the combined might of the Elements of Harmony failed to protect her from a slash across the face. She’d be dead now if it wasn’t for-” Celestia was promptly cut off when the human rose from his seat.

“Hold on, someone’s still alive after being attacked by a demon?” he asked, his voice eerily calm and his words chosen specifically. “They’re confirmed still alive?”

“‘That is correct. My student, Twilight Sparkle, was attacked by a demon who grazed the side of her head with it’s claw and injured her greatly. She is still in the infirmary undergoing treatment.” Celestia began to look worried, a look that most of the room’s occupants hadn’t ever seen before. This worried them even more.

“You want her alive?” the man asked, already backing towards the doors even as his gaze remained on the princess. Celestia nodded and was about to say something more when the man continued. “You need to take me to her or she will die.”

“Is it that bad?” the princess bolted to her hooves and descended the dais in a light trot to catch up to the biped.

“Worse. If I don’t see her, there’s a very good chance she’ll either succumb to her injuries and will have her soul forever lost from this world, or she’ll be corrupted from the inside out and turned into a demon all of her own.” the man explained, twisting on his heels to walk faster now that the princess of the sun was alongside him once more.

“Please hold a moment, Princess! I cannot in good faith let you go unprotected with that… that thing!” Sun Stroke declared, now standing with the other ponies in the room who were already discussing the possibilities of loss of life if things escalated too quickly.

“Then come along!” The man shouted back as he took the corner into the hallway almost sideways. “Just stay out of my way when I’m working!”

Taking that as permission, Sun Stroke and Night Glade both shot out of the door, a small squad of either Guard hot on their hooves after joining up from outside the room.

~~~

A quick sprint with Celestia narrowly leading, she was quite surprised that her company could keep up with her at a full gallop, and she soon slid to a stop at the doors to the medical wing. The man was able to stop much sooner, his shoes finding traction a whole lot easier than the ponies could and while the guards all pulled themselves from a pile at the end of the hall, Celestia and the human pushed into the wing where they could immediately hear the sound of Twilight screaming out in agony.

“Everyone out of this room, right now!” the man ordered while his right arm and eye exploded into hellfire and his left began to glow with the same white markings as when he first appeared. “All your lives are at risk just by standing near her!” he added as he pulled the curtains to Twilight’s bed wide.

“Do as he says, everypony out!” Celestia roared in behind the man, keeping her guards out of the room though she stood just at the threshold. Turning her words to the man specifically while everypony who could sprinted out of the room, “Can you help her?”

The man stood before Twilight, fighting to keep her flailing hooves down with one hand and turning her head every which way to see where the injury was. Rounding to the right side of the bed, the man pushed Twilight’s muzzle to the mattress and held her down; he was forced to quickly mount her over her barrel, using his legs to keep her pinned while his flaming hand held the unicorn’s head to the bed.

“I asked you, can you-” Celestia began to ask again, a little more forcefully as she’d figured to have been ignored.

“Shut up so I can work.” the man growled, getting his face up close to the side of the pony’s head to work.

“How dare you speak to Her Grace like that! I will have your head for such blasphemy against her!” Sun Stroke declared, daring to step into the room with a good portion of his supreme guard alongside him. “Take him away!”

“You touch me and this pony dies a slow and excruciating death.” the man growled back, turning a flaming eye back to the group as they began to enter. Apparently not put off by this threat, the group continued into the room with arms leveled until an Alicorn-Class shield came up between the group and their target.

“You will leave this room, Commander,” Celestia’s glare was powerful enough to shrivel scrotums and make the hardest of soldiers quiver as she rounded between the shield and her guards, horn glowing with the spell she’d cast. “And you will not return until I’ve given explicit permission to do so. Do I make myself clear?”

Sun Stroke, a mixture of desire to slay the one who’d spoken to his goddess so rudely, and his loyalty to said goddess, merely stared back between the target of his ire and the target of his adoration before silently turning from the room with a low bow.

“Of course, your Highness.” he muttered back and retreated, leaving the man to work.

Celestia, coming down from her authority high, turned back to the man with worry. “Is there anything I or my ponies can do to help?”

“No.” the man didn’t even drop stride as he checked the body of his patient under him for any further injuries. “I need the room to myself. Ignore everything you hear coming from this room.”

“Certainly. But, you can save her, right?” Celestia nodded and turned to leave, but paused to give her question.

The man merely dropped his head in reply, dropping all semblance of hope in the eldest’s heart. “I don’t know. All I can do now is try to either exorcise the demonic energy in her, end her life quickly, or turn her into one of my kind.” he explained, putting his whole weight down on the pony to hold her still and turning his head to look back at the princess. “I’ve truthfully never come across one so badly injured who survived something like this.”

“Do whatever you can, but prioritize saving her life. I beg of you.” Celestia’s voice began to crack a bit as she turned and left the room in silence, closing the doors with her magic behind her.

The room remained in otherwise silence, if one ignored the screaming from Twilight as the foreign energy in her burned her from the inside out. The room seemed to have been reserved for her use only, all other lights in the room off save for the ones above her and on the wall of her stall casting cool blue light upon the two figures.

“This is going to hurt infinitely more than what you’re experiencing now, I’m sorry.” the man whispered into the pony’s ear before sitting himself up a bit and opened his left eye a crack. Pure celestial energy poured from the eye, bathing the pony in blinding, heavenly light which only served to make her and the energy in her scream out in further agony.

With his hands on her forelegs to measure how the energy reacted, he quickly shut his eye again when he felt the energy begin to try and take it’s host down with it and returned the pony to only feeling like her very soul was on fire, rather than having every last molecule in her body ripped apart.

“Option A, no-go.” the man whispered and sighed. The next option was almost as bad as the third option. Conversion to his kind. “Okay, this isn’t going to be fun for you, Twilight Sparkle.” he murmured again before tucking her forelegs under his pelvis to free up his hands.

While Twilight continued to shriek, contort and writhe under his control, the man raised both hands into the air above her head and placed his demon hand over his celestial hand and began pouring power into both.

“Cum haec manus mundabo te. Cum haec manus adiuro te. Cum potestate mea peto tua vita, anima tua, tuum esse, et ligare eos ad mea. Tua daemon dimidium, silenced cum meus caelestis spiritus, et remedia flammis intra quod tuum corpus remaneat, unburdened per damnationem. Per nomen meum, William contracte Caster, ego liberum te.” As he spoke, his voice seemed to echo from all around him, filling in space in higher or lower octaves, as though an entire choir of just him was in the room.

At the same time, a thin red beam of light dropped from his demon hand and into his white hand where it mixed and intertwined with a white beam. This thread of energy began to snake down towards the unicorn under him and the energy within her began to recognize this new feeling. It tried to defend itself by thrashing around more and more wildly, making every attempt to free itself and remain uncleansed.

Soon the end of the thread touched the tip of the unicorn's horn and she suddenly stopped all movement, her eyes shooting open as pure light poured from both sockets, bathing the man above her in holy light. She screamed, he screamed, but neither of them let up in their attacks.

“Et oblinito daemonium interius!” the man shouted, and poured as much of his energy into the small body as he felt it could handle, gritting his teeth against the onslaught of pure heavenly power. The beam became wider, fatter, and began to form hellish red rings pulsing around the core of the light originating from his hands and rippling over the body beneath him like waves.

With a final push of force, the energy beam dropped from his hands and was soaked up into the horn of the creature between his legs as she let out the loudest, wildest scream. This wasn’t a scream of agony, however, it was a scream of utter bliss and pleasure as the energy within her finally let go and allowed itself to be sealed away somewhere in the body.

The unicorn- no, the Nephalem under the man grew still, breathing calmly for the first time in hours which meant that the man could crawl off the bed and let the pony turn onto her side to rest. The man was about to leave when he noticed another body having been in the room watching with wide, blue eyes.

“Why are you here?” the man inquired calmly, stuffing his hands into his pockets once his powers had been sealed away and his hands were no longer on fire or glowing.

“We are a patient in this hospice.” the female replied, her voice sounding shaky through the combination of both fear and the after effects of lengthy crying. “We lost our horn during the fight in which you apparently appeared.”

“Ahh, you must be Princess Luna, then?” the man took on a lighter air of friendliness than the face of uncaring he had before. He approached slowly, keeping his hands still in his pockets and stood before the end of the bed. In the lack of light, the man had to work a little harder at examining the larger pony but soon his gaze fell upon the nub of what used to be a magnificent horn.

“We are, indeed. Though I don’t know how much longer I may be a princess without my magic. I have been rendered incapable of performing my Royal duties, what use could I be to my country?” Luna sniffled and shuffled around on her belly, switching which hoof was over the other under her head. “Aside from becoming nothing more than a figurehead? The ponies already fear me as Nightmare Moon, now I’ve become the useless princess.” Luna went on, her lament starting up a whole other round of crying. The man merely stood in front of her in silence, simply looking her over as he tried to come up with some kind of idea to help.

Magic wasn’t uncommon on his world, there were certainly many impartial and noble creatures that inhabited his planet which commanded some kind of magical abilities, but his abilities were not among those.

“Can a horn not grow back?” the man raised an eyebrow as he gave his thought.

“It shall, indeed,” the princess mumbled back, sniffling a bit and taking a breath.

“Then what is there to-”

“But it shall take another millennia to do so! To be a useless princess for another thousand years, my ponies will surely forget about me again!” she went back to her wailings with this thought.

One thousand years huh? Just how old are these ponies? The man thought to himself in a mild stroke of incredulity. At the same time, someone from outside seemed to have figured that he was no longer working on Twilight and assumed it safe to enter. The door cracked open and a sliver of light from outside only helped to illuminate the room a small bit, though the shadow of a head breaking across the light suggested someone was looking on things.

“May I enter now?” Celestia called in cautiously. The man stepped back from where he was with the Princess of the Night and nodded back before stepping forward.

“She’s asleep now, but assuming what I’ve done to her hasn’t killed her, she’ll be moderately fine.” the man called out and gave farewell to the dark body before him to reproach Twilight’s bed with Celestia.

“May I ask what you did to help her?” Celestia inquired as he stepped up next to her student. “She seems so peaceful now.”

“She may be peaceful now, but it’s up to her whether or not that remains to be the case. As for what I’ve done, I’ve been forced to turn her into one of my kind.” the man explained, crossing his arms over his chest while he stood across the bed from the day princess.

“Your kind? Is she to become a biped like you?” Celestia raised a curious eyebrow while within her mind, she fought with how this turn of events would fold into her plans later down the line.

“No no, she won’t become a human like me.” A raised hand dismissed the idea easily enough. “She’ll stay a pony, she’ll still have some access to her current magic, but whatever magical potential she had has been halved.”

“Then, what has she become, and does it have anything to do with this artwork on her fur?” Celestia asked as she caught noticed of a series of intricate, flower-like scrollwork etched into her body which coloured her fur a slightly darker purple much like a scar may have done. These patterns started at the base of Twilight’s horn, revolving around the protrusion for a short while before cascading down over the entire right half of the purple pony’s body, where it gradually stopped at the halfway mark of the girl’s barrel.

“Those are her seals. They contain the demonic energy within her and, with practice, will allow her to use that energy to fight celestial or demonic presences.” An arm was shown over the pony, with similar, digital circuitry-like lines cascading down the left arm while the right appeared to have more of an evil face imprinted into his skin. “She is, like I am, a Nephalem. The combination of Celestial and Demonic energy in a single body.”

“I’ve never heard of such a creature. You are both human and this...this Nephalem?” Princess Luna asked once she’d approached close enough to include herself in the conversation, eyes still watery. Only now could the Nephalem see the black bandage wrapped around what used to be the alicorn’s horn, containing the injury as well as preventing the magic from flowing out freely.

“I am, yes. My species is human, my kind is Nephalem.” the man nodded back and crossed his arms again. “And I deeply regret turning your student into one of mine.”

A look of shock and slight terror flashed momentarily across Celestia’s face. “Why do you regret this decision? Was there no other option?”

“There was no other option, aside from giving her a quick and painless death.” the man shook his head. “Though I might as well have signed her execution order myself…” This only served to deepen the worry in both princesses present. “You want answers, this isn’t the place for them. Not while she sleeps. As far as I’m concerned, this will be the last time she ever sleeps peacefully.”

“Then we shall return to the courtroom to continue our conversation.” Princess Celestia decided firmly, having reigned in her emotions once more. “Luna, shall you join us?”

“What bother is there? I don’t belong in the Royal Courtroom anymore, I’m no princess.” Luna grumbled and turned her head away with depression. Celestia’s horn lit up and turned the head of her sister back to face her once more.

“You may have lost your horn, but you are still every bit a princess, every bit my sister. Your ability to cast magic has nothing to do with your position.” Celestia announced, settling the heart of her sister all at once before arguments flared up again.

“But what about my duties as princess of the night? I can no longer access the Dreamscape, I can no longer interact with the moon, I can-”

The man spoke, cutting the dark Princess off, “Actually, Dreamwalking is a skill that we Nephalem have. It’s not a common skill, so not very many of my kind can actually do it, but it is possible. As for the whole interaction with the moon, that sounds like something you could just leave to Astrophysics.” The upright Nephalem reported, making Celestia raise an eyebrow at this new information. She’d never once thought about astrophysics or it’s involvement in the sun or moon, nor did she really want to. It was a bit of pride within her that she was able to move the sun across the sky every day, something that only she could do. But, considering what happened to Luna and how her sister was now incapable of moving the moon herself, Celestia wondered if this “astrophysics” thing could maybe help alleviate some of her concerns with the moon situation.

“So, then you could give me some of your power then? Let me return to some of my duties as Princess of the Night?” Luna stared up at the man hopefully, her eyes gleaming from either tears or hope.

Then it all came crashing down around her, “I can’t give you anything. If you want powers like mine and Twilight’s, then you have to face and suffer at the hands of either an angel or a demon.” the man explained sternly, turning his entire body to face the blue alicorn. “Even then, I don’t know anything about Dreamwalking, so you’d have to learn how to do that yourself, providing you even survive the ordeal with a demon or angel.”

“Is there nothing you can do then?” Luna’s heart dropped back down into depression where it felt at home. Even that small inkling of hope had made it feel somewhat uncomfortable and so here, in this darkness, it felt better. Or worse, depending on how you looked at it.

“There is nothing I can do, I’m sorry.” the man shook his head with a small sigh.

“I see…” Luna’s voice was small and unassuming. She turned away and aimed back for her bed. “Thank you anyways, Mister…”

“Warden. Just call me Warden.” Warden requested but gave a small bow of the head regardless as the Princess returned the nod before disappearing into the darkness of the room and hopped back up onto her hospital bed.

“May I ask you a question, Mr. Warden?” Princess Celestia requested calmly, turning the man back towards her.

“Just, Warden.” Warden retorted simply but gave a half nod to give the princess the go-ahead. “But what is your question?”

“Warden, why do you regret turning Twilight into a- what did you call them? Neph-something?” Celestia began warily.

“Nephalem.” Warden corrected. Celestia nodded before continuing.

“Why do you regret turning my student into a Nephalem like you?” the princess began her question anew and turned to leave the room as previously decided upon. The man followed after her, walking abreast the Princess with a rather grim look on her face.

The man walked in silence, intent on keeping the promise to only speak of what needed to be spoken of in the Courtroom.

The pair never got to the courtroom as they were cut off by a guard at full run, aimed straight for the princess and her company.

“Your highness!” The guard called from ahead, even if he already had everyone’s attention just by the sprint alone. “Your highness, I bring urgent news! Ponyville is under attack!”

“What?” Celestia was no longer the worried mother figure that she had been in the infirmary, rather she’d quite quickly slipped back into the mind of an all-powerful princess and the princess that everypony expected to see. “By who?”

“We don’t know, your highness,” the pony slid to a halt, his shoes providing next to no traction and so came sliding into the human who helped to stall the pony with his body. The human’s face next got friendly with the floor, bashing his nose against the stonework in the process.

The guard collected himself and helped the human up with his magic, a slight look of disgust on his face though that look went unseen by all.

Collecting himself, the guard continued, “The reports suggest that they’re more of those creatures that came from Haven!”

“And that’s where I come in, I guess.” Warden sighed as he dusted off his jeans. “Which way is this Pony-whatever?” he asked, stepping to a nearby balcony and pulling open the doors to step outside and get a view of the surrounding area.

His appearance on the balcony seemed to have automatically drawn the attentions of wandering groundskeepers and nobles alike below, many of them looking up at the sudden movement to see what was happening. Upon realising that nobody important to them had appeared, they went about their day like nothing had happened.

Celestia stepped out onto the balcony as well and pointed her hoof towards the direction of Ponyville.

“Go straight west, you should see Ponyville appear on the horizon. I can have a train ticket bought for you and a train reserved for your use.” Celestia pointed out, already in the process of ordering a ticket and train to be commissioned for the task.

“No need, I’ll just jump there.” Warden waved off the offer and set his sights in on where he thought he was going. Backing out off the balcony, then backing himself against the opposing wall, Warden shook his head, hands and hopped around on the spot a little, limbering up.

“You... plan to jump there?” Celestia remarked but vacated the balcony even if her gut instinct told her to continue with making plans for the train. “Would you not prefer the safety of the train?”

“Too slow for my tastes, but thanks anyways.” The Nephalem grinned and bent down in a sprinter's start while he began collecting his power into his legs for the initial jump. “I’ll be back when the demons are gone.”

“I wish you all the best.” Princess Celestia announced, head held high and wings stretched out as though she was welcoming a ranking official to her court.

“Thanks.” the Warden nodded back and took off at a run towards the open doors. He leapt once and placed a foot on the railing where white and red rings formed around his shin before driving down in a single pulse all at once. Suddenly, with an explosion of air, not only was the Warden gone, but so was what remained of the railing he’d used as a springboard.

Celestia and the accompanying guards’ mouths all dropped slack at the display of power, even after Celestia used her magic to repair the railing.

~~~

Hands clasped before him, his Celestial arm casting a narrow cone shield to help the Warden spearhead through the skies with his Demon arm fueling the shield to wrap around his entire body.

The human watched through bleary eyes as a small town quickly appeared in his vision and gave a small smirk as he wondered how he’d managed to jump so accurately without a specific destination. His smirk disappeared as he flipped himself head over heels and applied a small portion of his power into his legs in order to not only strengthen them for the landing, but to also cushion the blow to the landscape.

He came down hard, still creating a small crater about as deep as he was tall when he landed. The explosion hit everypony around the landing hard, and most of them stood stock still in fear before their instincts kicked in and everypony fled the scene; the reports of the Haven disaster still fresh in their minds.

Once the dust cleared and the rubble had settled, the man climbed out of his hole with a sigh, already feeling the hole in his wallet that would certainly grow wider as more landscaping fees would surely arise from the locals.

Putting that thought aside, he fired up his arms and eyes with power, preparing for a fight to the death as per usual. The quietly hiding town around him made the man narrow his open eye as he searched for the attacking demon or demons, or even for a tear where they could be trying to summon more of their kind through.

The town was completely quiet. Aside from the sight of the ponies all cautiously peering through their shutters and doors held ajar, there was nothing out of the ordinary save for the Nephalem.

This threw Warden for a loop as he allowed his guard to be lowered and the raging inferno of hellfire on his right calmed down to a casual campfire yet he kept the shield on his left ready for anything.

Surveying the scene, there was definitely a distinct lack of demonic presences, or even angelic presences for that matter. He couldn’t even feel any traces of energy, hellish or heavenly, having ever been around the area in the first place. This didn’t mean there wasn’t anything nefarious in the area as Class three Demons and Host were known to be capable of hiding their presences in among the populace fairly well; only difference is that they usually had been operating in the location long enough that they begin to leave traces of themselves detectable by hunters such as the Nephalem or other of their own kinds.

This one had to have only just arrived to have hidden itself so perfectly.

“Hey! What do you think you’re doing, leaving a crater like that in the middle of the road!” a girlish, yet still kind of masculine in undertone, voice demanded from behind Warden. There was no demon he’d ever encountered who had a voice like this, so Warden calmly turned to greet his guest and only raised an eyebrow at the heterochromatic head of hair over a bright blue body hovering in the air with a glare on her face. “You could’ve hurt somepony!”

“I was told there was a demon attacking the town. This is Ponyville, yes? I didn’t miss a turn somewhere?” Warden asked calmly, still surveying the area of anything to fight.

“Yeah, this is Ponyville, but there are no demons or anything here. Trust me, I’d know.” the head of colours replied, now placing her hooves on her body as though placing fists on hips to look quite displeased. “I was there, I was at Haven and I saw what those demons did to everypony. I saw how they killed…” her voice grew soft as fresh tears began to appear on her eyelids. “I saw how they killed my friend, Twilight.”

“Twilight?” the man’s eyebrow shot up at the name. “Purple fur, horn, demon claws raked across the right side of her face?” he asked, naming off a few details he could remember. The pony in the air sucked back a sniffle but nodded in return. “She’s alive, actually. Don’t know for how much longer, though.”

“Wait, she is?” The pony’s mouth dropped a moment though her eyes lit up like diamonds. “Twilight Sparkle’s alive?”

“Yes, but I’m not here about that. A guard told me that a demon was attacking this town. If there’s no demon attacking the town…” Warden’s eyes slowly grew in realisation. “Then it’s attacking the Castle!” he concluded and turned back towards the mountain he’d just shot off of. How did he not detect the Shifter when it touched him?

Because it touched him with local magic, not it’s own energy.

“Shit!” the Nephalem cursed to himself and prepared to take off at a run towards the castle. It’d take longer to get back, as he couldn’t jump back up the mountain given his lower starting point.

“Something’s attacking the Castle?” the blue pegasus behind him asked quickly, already sounding more calm, even a bit excited. “Then we have to save the Princesses!”

“If you were at Haven, then you know that your magic is useless against the Demons. You’ll just be in the way.” Warden remarked, taking off at a full-bore sprint though the mare kept pace on her wings. “I just don’t know if I’ll get back there in time to save anyone.”

“Can I help with that, then? I am Equestria’s fastest flier, you know.” the little ponygirl boasted with pride. “Here, hang on tight!” she announced before latching onto the man’s back, wrapping her legs around him to try and lift him off the ground. Instead, all she managed was a groan of protest from the man, a short hop with her wings and a heavy oomph from her mouth.

“I’m too heavy but if you do exactly what I tell you, I can use you as a glider.” the man replied, keeping his run going even after the sudden body on his back. The rainbow head appeared over his shoulder and nodded. “Keep your wings shut until we’re in the air, got it?”

“Got it!” the mare shouted back and snapped her wings shut to wait for further instruction.

The man began to apply his magic into his legs, fueling them up and creating the rings that had appeared before while his steps grew longer and longer. All of a sudden, he gave a short hop, landed with both feet and crouched as low as he could, then pushed off like a gunshot.

All five rings around each leg suddenly pulsed downwards into the ground, firing him off again and creating another, smaller crater where he’d left the ground. Rainbow Dash, her face feeling like it was about to be torn free, snapped her wings wide open and let the momentum carry her and her package higher than one Nephalem could accomplish on his own.

With Rainbow’s wings providing lift, both bodies screamed through the air like a bat out of hell and the pegasus screamed entertainment the entire way. The mountain was coming up fast and already, Warden knew that he was too low to just fly in.

“When I tell you, let me go!” Warden commanded, earning another nod from the pegasus on his back. “Thanks for the ride, miss…”

“Rainbow Dash. When you get the chance, tell Twilight her friends in Ponyville miss her!” Dash issued her name with the accompanying message and received an agreeing nod back from the man in her clutches.

“Will do!” Warden shouted back and prepared his legs for a quick landing. “On my mark, release!”

Three.

Two.

One.

“Release!” Warden shouted and suddenly felt the weight of the pony on his back disappear as Rainbow Dash pulled up hard and flipped back over towards Ponyville. Warden flipped head over heels as per his usual landing strategy and applied as much power into his legs as he could safely get away with as the mountain side rushed up to greet him with a vengeance.

Landing hard, the shockwaves of his power rippling outwards to disperse kinetic force, Warden found his feet only partially buried into the mountain; it was just enough that he could safely get a foothold but not so deep as to cause injury to his feet. Not stopping there, the Nephalem pushed off with his left foot and began the hulk-style of climbing, leaping up and punching or kicking hand and footholds into the mountain side.

Ascending faster than any hellspawn fresh from the spawning fields climbing their way to freedom, the man vaulted himself up past the walls to the castle itself and came to a rest overlooking not only the castle courtyard, but also most of the surrounding city.

The Courtyard, typically perfectly groomed and blossoming with lovely flora, was a disaster. Entire lengths of the lawn having been ripped up and left brown from dirt while flowerbeds found themselves uprooted and cast aside in what looked to be a heated battle for survival.

If the dead bodies of more than a handful of Royal Guards and groundskeepers were any indication, that battle for survival was surely a losing fight. What only served to irk the human even greater was how there was absolutely no blood to be found, even around the dead bodies who, upon closer inspection, looked to have been bled bone dry.

“Well, that’s just fucking great.” Warden whispered to himself. The signs were all there, the carnage mostly focussing around the gardens and plant life and the lack of body fluids in or around the bodies themselves.

Pushing off from the face of the mountain, the Nephalem landed with a heavy thud (not enough to create yet another crater, but certainly enough to cause trembling in the ground beneath him) and surveyed the area in greater detail.

Having not found much of anything he didn’t already know, the hunter took off at a light jog into the castle proper, intent on following the trail of dirt leading him towards his goal. The trail ended just as he found guards on the ground, alive and showing no signs of demonic injuries and fortunately alive.

“Hey, are you guys alright?” Warden demanded, stooping down to check on a nearby pegasus nursing a broken wing. Sure enough, no demonic claw marks to be found on his body.

“Y- yeah, aside from injuries that’ll probably put us out of commission for a good while, I think we’re fine.” the guard replied, a female by the sounds of it. “Something just tore through here like…”

“Like a bat out of hell?” the Nephalem smirked as the guard merely nodded with a wince and cradled her wing.

“It... I don’t know what it was. It had long, plantlike vines coming out of it’s body and… It had no face… Only a mouth with… with horrible teeth!” the guard shuddered in horrific recollection of what she’d seen. Sure enough, just as Warden had thought, it was very likely a Chloropod and judging by the looks of things, a fairly young one at that.

“Which way did it go? Did it have anything with it?” Warden asked, trying to be the voice of calm and reasoning even if he himself wasn’t looking forward to the coming skirmish with the plant demon.

“It… I think it went that way.” the guard pointed with a hoof, leading off further down the hall where the rest of the guard laid in pain. “And I think it had the Princess!”

The man gave a single word in response, a language unknown to any on this particular world and even mostly unknown to those of his species.

“If there’s any one who’s been injured by the demon, bring them to the infirmary where Princess Luna and Twilight Sparkle are. I’ll treat them there when I can.” the man ordered and stood before anypony could give him shit for ordering them around. He was the only one with experience fighting these things and even if they didn’t know for sure, they sure felt like he knew what he was doing.

“Best of luck, sir.” the guard nodded back before beginning the task of organizing those capable of moving in order to get the injured to the infirmary. Warden took off down the hallway, keeping eyes and ears out for hints towards the location of the Chloropod and the Princess.

Unsurprisingly, the trail lead the Nephalem towards the throne room with even more battered or dead guards along the way. Those who survived were urged to the infirmary and those who couldn’t survive the move… Well, they were given peace.

The human slid to a halt before the door, keeping on his feet and with his arms and eyes burning with power as his vision was cast over the scene before him. As suspected, an infantile Chloropod stood over the remains of Celestia’s throne with thick green vines wrapped securely around… well, something. Only a single, long white horn suggested the contents within and Warden wasn’t entirely sure if she was still alive. Another, smaller but similar bundle of vines floated on the opposite side from the horn, completely unidentifiable.

The main body of the Chloropod, a bulbous, leafy, green seed pod with over a dozen thorned vines protruding from the main body. A single, smaller bulb sat on a stalk acting as a head, with the typical gaping maw filled with razor teeth dripping with acidic fluids.

“Dave? Is that you?” Warden stood upright as he strolled into the room, looking to be ignoring the multitudes of dead bodies already acting as seed beds and many of them already with small plants growing from their desecrated corpses.

“Oh shit.” the Chloropod cursed to himself in a whisper, only now noticing the approach of the Nephalem. “Uhm, Warden… Its… It’s not what it looks like…”

“Are you sure? Because it looks like the beginnings of a demonic greenhouse in here.” Warden shrugged back, only now turning to give casual glances at the bodies strewn about the room, with the larger piles of planted bodies near to the windows for ample sunlight. “Dave, you know we talked about this when I killed your family.” the human warned, turning his glare towards the plant. “You know the terms of your survival.”

“Yeah… I know… Stay on Earth and I don’t get mowed.” Dave grumbled, already looking to be disappointed in himself even if the rest of his body didn’t show it. “Fine, I’ll just… go home.” Dave announced and turned towards the destroyed throne. He raised a clawed vine and swiped down hard, creating a tear between worlds and was about to pull himself through with his prize when the Nephalem appeared in the way.

Jumping back out of surprise, Dave instinctively protected himself with the two packages he was carrying before remembering that he had them and tried to hide them behind his back.

“You can go when you give up the hostages you’ve got.” Warden commanded, stepping down from the tear slowly, purposefully so as to further instill fear into the plant.

“But… But Warden… I.. I can’t go back empty handed, Vejix would uproot me!” Dave complained, now pulling his prizes out from behind himself and removed just enough vines to reveal a static Celestia frozen in fear, and one of the Solar Guards that had accompanied Sun Stroke at the table.

“Hate to break this to you, Dave, but if you leave with the Princess, I’ll uproot you.” Warden warned, clenching his fist blazing in hellfire while he subtly prepared a Heavenly shield in his left. “And you know that I can track you.”

“You… you’re bluffing! You always keep your word and if you hunt me down, you’ll break your promise!” Dave retorted with a tinge of fear in his voice. Warden only glared at the plant.

“Let. Them. Go.” Warden commanded as threateningly as he could. Dave looked around the room for options for a moment, weighing his options against current threats.

Then he did something that Warden certainly didn’t expect, he held both the Princess and the Guard up by the necks, their bodies otherwise hanging free and strangling them both. A pair of heavily spiked vines appeared and hovered poised to kill both hostages.

“I… I can’t go back…” Dave whimpered, watching for any subtle movement from Warden and stood ready to attack. “Not alone. I have to bring something back…”

“Then you’re not going back, Dave.” Warden sighed and loaded up an imp’s fireball in his demon hand.

“Yes.” Dave grew emboldened by this, having made his peace long ago. “I am. You come close, or you throw that fireball, and I kill both of them. Or, you let me go home.”

Warden stopped his slow approach and merely stared at the plant. His mind began rolling through the options available to him. He knew that he could protect himself and one other, but he wasn’t entirely sure which to save.

Save the Princess, save the world.

Save the Guard, gain favour with Sun Stroke while Luna takes Celestia’s place. Granted, this option would also leave the country with a depressed princess, and that depression would only get worse when she found out about her sister’s fate.

Having made up his mind quite easily, Warden reclaimed the power in his demon hand and instead loaded it into his legs for the sudden gunshot sprint. His shield sat ready to deploy on the very likely chance that Dave actually kept his word and struck out.

“Well? What’s it going to be, Warden Caster?” Dave demanded, holding his hostages still with the weapons poised to strike.

With a sudden explosion of noise and the floor cracking under where he’d just been, Warden fired from his spot like a bullet and activated his shield at the same time. Dave, taken by surprise, struck out at all three targets, Warden among them, with a short devilish cry.

As though time seemed to slow to everyone involved, Warden stretched out as far as his arms would go so that he would be assured that his shield would get between Dave and Princess Celestia. He knew that he wasn’t the type to keep entire kingdoms from falling, but that was on Earth. Eight whole Empires had fallen over the course of Warden’s young life and he hadn’t even so much as lifted a finger. This one, however, was pure. This empire, the Nephalem felt, wasn’t supposed to fall to demons or political corruption for another couple millennia. He couldn’t tell what inside him told him these things (*It was probably the guy writing out his story, telling his mind*) but whatever it was (*wink*) steeled his resolve to save the Princess of the Day.

Dave, his confidence shattered with the sudden movement from the Nephalem who had saved his life, watched as all the memories he had of growing up with Warden Caster and it brought a bit of sadness to his chest as he settled on the fact that he would be cut down by his own father. All those nights he’d shared with Warden, the keeper of Hell himself, the days when Dave’s demon heart would try to lash out only to be beaten into submission by the Warden up until he’d learned how to better control it himself. He was a demon, through and through, but he’d grown up under the care of a human and had retained many attributes of humanity; right up until that night.

He couldn’t do it. Dave couldn’t kill his father, or his hostages. It just wasn’t in him to go through with it, even if it meant that his Demon Lord would uproot him and throw his body into the fires that drive the Demon Army. The problem no longer laid in the fact that his father would try to kill him, but in the fact that his body was no longer under his command in this fraction of time. His deadly vines were already sprung, the kill imminent and there was nothing Dave could do but watch as one vine tore through the air at the neck of his care taker.

Time seemed to resume normal rate and the Chloropod put everything into his limbs to try and at least redirect the vines away from a fatal blow. His venom wouldn’t kill Warden, past experiences had made sure of that, but it would very likely kill the guard or the Princess in his grasp even if a single thorn nicked their skins. They didn’t have the resistances.

Warden’s outstretched shield made contact with the vine aiming for Celestia, the Celestial energy reacting favourably for Warden and solidifying under the touch of the vine at the moment that it did make contact. The shield edge acted like a razor blade and continued onwards, unhindered by the plant matter until it began to cut into many of the vines keeping Celestia held up by her throat.

His right hand made contact with those vines around the Princesses neck, taking firm hold of them so that his momentum would carry him past Celestia and thereby tear the vines away by force. His shield arm began to fold back to further protect himself and Celestia from the vines aiming for the Warden, however was too slow and soon the razor-like thorns tore deep into Warden’s back and left side.

Celestia dropped to the ground, no longer frozen and left gasping for air even as she landed with a heavy thud on her rump; her balance was nowhere to be found and she was sent sprawling with hooves flying around in the air as she fought to flip over onto her stomach. Her body failed her and she ended up in a rather… revealing position. Fortunately for her, the only male in the room who could ever get a chance to look at the Royal Lady Bits was still flying through the air with a very manly yell as he hit the ground and bounced as few times.

Coming to a halt on the ground in a pile, the man only stayed down for a couple seconds before getting to his feet with a groan and clutching at his side with his demonic hand. Celestia had also managed to recover and she spread her wings outwards to send herself sliding across the floor in any direction to get away from the thing that had captured her. A mighty flap of the wings sent her skidding away to safety, even as she ended up running into a small pile of seedbeds who used to be some of her less-popular nobility.

The guard left in Dave’s grasp was dropped, the moment that the stasis element left his body he gasped for air before deciding that the plant venom coursing through his neck was much more important and let out the absolutely most masculine screaming that could rival even a certain little white Crusader throwing a fit.

~~~

Sweetie Belle looked up from her drawing, a red crayon still held in her magic as a body wracking shiver went down her spine from her horn to her tail. Scootaloo, with blue crayon held in her mouth, looked up from her page and latest drawing of her hero towards her friend with curiosity.
“What’s up Sweetie? You getting cold?” she asked around the crayon.

“No, I dunno. I just feel like I’ve been used to describe a guard’s screaming voice…” Sweetie Belle replied in confusion. She looked around the small room of the Crusader clubhouse, past Applebloom who napped nearby and out a window that looked over Sweet Apple Acres. “Weird.”

“No kidding… I think you’ve been spending too much time with Pinkie Pie.” Scootaloo grinned and turned back to her page. Sweetie Belle joined her and unbeknownst to both fillies, a pair of bright blue eyes peered over them from under the couch Applebloom napped on.

“You can never have too much Pinkie Pie!” a faint whisper warned, unheard by anypony.”

~~~

Hitting the ground, the guard flailed about, trying to take off as much armour as he could so that he could try and address the wound on his neck and back with strips of cloth from the lining as he’d been taught. His body fought and fought, often locking up entirely to leave the poor guard simply screaming and spasming where he laid, breathing heavily.

Warden glared at Dave with a vengeance, wincing at the injury on his back and side as he took slow steps towards the plant he had so carefully raised and nurtured.

“I.. I didn’t kill them!” Dave begged, backing towards the tear between this world and the world that he and his father had come from. “Let me go and save them! There’s still time! I swear I didn’t want to do it!”

“But you still did, young man.” Warden growled back, keeping his left eye shut even if his experience wanted to open it and bath the Chloropod in holy light. “Go, before I change my mind. When I’m done here, you and I are going to have a very long talk.”

“Yes! I will!” Dave’s words nearly escaped his mouth before his mouth could form them and the plant scrambled back towards the rip in the fabric of reality. Without even looking back over his leafy shoulder, the demon pulled himself back through the hole and closed it behind him. Maybe he could find someplace to hide…

Warden watched the plant go, ensuring that the tear mended itself entirely and then waited a couple more painful minutes to ensure that Dave didn’t try to come back through. Breathing heavily with hand clutching at his side, Warden turned towards Celestia first to check on her.

“Are you okay, Princess?” Warden groaned out, limping his way to where Celestia laid and watched with wide eyes.

“Am I okay? What about you! You’re very clearly injured!” Celestia retorted frantically, rising to her hooves to approach the man and examine him. “Let me see the wound, I shall try to mend it.”

“Won’t work. It’s demonic energy, you’d just be sealing it into me,” Warden sucked in a heavy breath when he moved into a position that only irritated the injury further. “I’ll be fine, I just need to heal.”

“But I-” Celestia was about to protest when the guard nearby let out a howl of pain, his voice already beginning to show signs of possession as it was let out gravely and with a second, undertone of the demon faintly accompanying his scream. “Fine, but please help the guard!”

“I’ll do what I can.” Warden nodded back and turned to limp towards the stricken pony. Celestia, noticing how much pain Warden appeared to be in, stepped forward to his uninjured side and helped him along with a wing.

Once arrived, the man dropped unsteadily to his knees over the pony, using his body to hold the pony on his side so that he could examine the wound left by the thorns. How this guard wasn’t dead yet was beyond Warden, but that was something to ponder over once they were both healthy. Or at least no longer in pain.

“Please stand apart from me while I work. I don’t want to risk killing you in the process.” Warden requested, turning his head to glance back over his shoulder. Celestia gulped, but nodded and backed a ways away; a nod from Warden told her she was far enough, though now she was standing on the farthest end of the room from the Nephalem.

Turning to look back at the body under him, Warden Caster took in a deep breath for his benefit and winced at the sharp shooting pain in his side as his ribs expanded. Letting it go, the man opened his left eye and bathed the pony below in holy light.

The guard screamed, the energy within him screaming in unison but it seemed that everything was going fine: he could be exorcised with plenty a safety margin for error. Placing a hand against the pony’s neck, the Nephalem mentally watched the responses and continued to stare down at the wound, cleansing it and purifying the toxins coursing through his bloodstream.

The wound began to close up, the flesh seeming to stitch itself together and the fur patching itself back into form hough the blood remained. A simple shower would fix that.

Then everything went wrong. The changes began to revert and grow worse under the Light of God. The new fur fell off and the flesh seared itself open again, only to get worse and start showing signs of demonic transformation.

“Shit! Recoil!” Warden hissed to himself and shut his eye all while placing his demon’s hand over his celestial to begin the conversion to Nephalem. Celestia watched on with fear as the light shining over the body ceased and the man began the ritual which saved her student.

““Cum haec manus mundabo te. Cum haec manus adiuro te. Cum potestate mea peto tua vita, anima tua, tuum esse, et ligare eos ad mea. Tua daemon dimidium, silenced cum meus caelestis spiritus, et remedia flammis intra quod tuum corpus remaneat, unburdened per damnationem. Per nomen meum, William contracte Caster, ego liberum te.” As before, his voice was joined by a chorus of his own. The multiple voices of the Nephalem echoing around the room in a grandiose choir of sound and prayer for the life of the pony between his legs.

The same beam which converted Twilight Sparkle shot down from Warden’s hands and plunged deep into the wound of the guard and began it’s work. Heavenly light erupted from the stallion’s eyes, mouth, nostrils, and wound. That light flared out, striking at random parts of the room and Celestia had to work hard at avoiding the light while it dissolved the desecrated bodies or turned the stone of the floor, walls and ceiling to Hallowed Stone, tinging everything a slightly luminescent light blue colour. ]

“Et oblinito daemonium interius!” Caster shouted, pouring all his energy into the conversion at hand even though his injuries were burning as the light hit it. The body beneath him began to be consumed with the light, and it was only through Celestia ducking into the shadow cast by Warden’s body was she left alive through everything; her tail did get a little singed however, leaving the single purest white streak through the three primary colours in the process.

The body, now completely consumed with Holy Energy, began to break apart and dissolve into the atmosphere, dropping the Warden to the ground once the body had faded away.

Everything went silent and the light faded quickly, leaving the room either scorched or converted the Hallowed Ground and slightly glowing in hues of blue, green and yellow depending on the type of stone converted.

“Was…” Celestia whispered from behind the man, her attention divided between the room, her tail and the man who sat slumped over on the ground. “Was that supposed to…”

“No, he’s dead now.” Warden announced, his words bouncing off the ground to reflect back around the room. “And I’ve unwittingly set up the single largest Heavenly beacon that the Nephalem Order has ever seen.”

“Which means…” Celestia cautiously approached the man with a frown on her face, now more interested in how the floor pulsed with rippling light every time she set hoof down on the floor.

“Which means it’s only a matter of time until a Host of Angels gets wind of this world and starts trying to harvest everything here for their engines of war.” Warden explained, still slumped over with forehead touching the stone beneath him. “But,” the man awkwardly thrust a finger into the air pointedly. “That shouldn’t happen so long as we keep all tears between our worlds closed.”

“Are…” Celestia stood over the slumped over form of her savior, wondering what he was doing now. “Are you okay?”

“Yeah, my injury is gone now,” Celestia only now noticed how his back and side was now completely mended and the skin looking fresh with a single massive scar running where the injury had been. Peeking out from under his clothing looked to be any number of other scars, criss-crossing over the fresh one to look like some kind of strange pattern. “I’m just… unable to move now as my demon half has been nearly purified completely.”

“And that makes you unable to move?” Celestia ignored the worrying scars and sat down on the Nephalem’s left side. “And, what happened to the guard?”

“The guard’s body wasn’t able to handle the conversion, so the energy I was trying to put into him made him explode.” the man was rolled over onto his back when Celestia nudged his side with her muzzle. The most he couple accomplish was to get his hands up onto his chest and folded over his stomach.

“As for why I can’t move, think of it as Magical Burn-out. Assuming that’s actually a thing for your type of magic. Your body retains so much latent magical energy that when it’s suddenly and almost completely drained, your body is unable to cope properly and so puts you into a waking coma until the magic replenishes.” the man explained, barely turning his head to look at Celestia square on.

“So, you’ll be back at full power soon?”

The man snickered to himself. “Yeah, I’ll be good soon. Give me a week and I’ll be right as rain.” this comment shot both of the Alicorn’s eyebrows skyward, nearly dislodging them so they could join this world’s Heavenly Host as the wings of some tiny little munchkin angel.

“A week, really?” the voice of the alicorn was higher as the owner was in disbelief. “Even I, if I ever burn out all my magic, would only be out of action for a couple days…”

“Well, that should go to show just how much power I regularly have at my command.” Warden sighed and closed his eyes, settling down for the week long nap right there on the floor, surrounded by debris and in the middle of the throne room. “That, or there’s that big a difference in how our respective powers work.”

“I see…” the alicorns laid herself down, placing her muzzle on her hooves yet remained watching the man as he rested. “Can I take you somewhere more comfortable?”

“Hmm?” the man hummed, turning his head though his eyes remained closed towards the voice of the Princess. “Oh, yes please. All this Hallowed Ground is preventing me from recovering anything.”

“Very well.” Celestia’s voice rose as she stood up and the man opened his eyes to watch how the princess would work. “I shall find a couple guards who’re still…” she stopped and sighed a moment, looking over the few bodies that still remained. “Still alive and well to help you.”

“That’d be great, thanks.” the man gave a small smile and shut his eyes again to get comfortable. “Here’s hoping no more demons come out to play…”

“Agreed, we’d be doomed if that ever happened.” Celestia nodded as she left the room to find someone who’d survived. There would be time for mourning, though it’d have to take place after the cleanup of the castle. There were still things to do and Celestia’s mind put the dead towards the end of the list, if for now anyways.

The room grew quiet once Celestia turned the corner into the hallway, beginning her search. Warden merely waited in silence, listening to the world around him and to the sound of his body working to itself.

Something somewhere in the room shifted, a piece of rubble falling to the ground with a heavy thud before crumbling to dust. A small squeak in response told Warden that he wasn’t alone in the room after all, and that the visitor was female.

“Come out from there, I know you’re here.” Warden calmly requested with the release of a breath. The form gave a short, barely audible whine in having been discovered, but the form soon appeared to the sound of hoofsteps on the stone floor. “Are you okay?”

After a minute in silence, contemplating whether she wanted to give up her identity, “Aside from prior injury, I am… well…”

“Princess Luna, what are you doing here?” Warden inquired, opening his eyes and turning his head to the right to look in the general direction of the pony princess.

“My intentions… may not have been all that… sane…” Luna admitted and rolled onto her back next to the prone man on the ground. A large ripple of light pulsed outwards from where her body hit the stone, dispersing over the area as it expanded outwards and faded away.

The man merely watched on in silence as Luna got comfortable on her back, her hooves hanging limply in the air. For the moment, she was looking upwards to the ceiling also silent.

“I… may have intended to have taken my sister’s place… To be captured and... Become injured…” Luna frowned and turned her gaze down her barrel towards the destroyed throne. “To end up converted to your kind so that I may once again… be a princess…”

The man’s mouth shifted around in thought as he turned to look back upwards to the ceiling as well, noticing how tiny ripples appeared wherever something landed on the roof outside.

“You could have died.” the man commented lightly, as though this was just another casual topic for him. “Four times you could have died, actually.”

“Pray, tell?” Luna requested, twitching a forehoof absently.

“Once if Dave caught you. Second time when he struck out at Celestia and I. Third time if I couldn’t reach you in time to save you. Fourth time if he injured you and your body rejected the conversion.” Warden explained softly, letting his mind wind down for the sleep he so badly needed. No body moved from where they laid, Warden merely resting while Luna thought over the words she’d been told and considered how close to death she actually had come. In a lapse of judgement, she hadn’t truly ever considered that her life was ever in any danger until now.

“I am sorry that I was so careless.” Luna announced in a low, somber voice. She turned onto her side and pulled her legs into her, resting her head on her legs next to the man, just placing him in the path of her gaze while she pondered. “I am not accustomed to feeling so… powerless…”

“I can understand. I once spent a week as a normal human. Had my powers temporarily stripped away from me and it took everything I had, as well as the help from a friend of mine back home, not to go insane.” Warden only slightly bobbed his head as he was only capable of doing that where he laid in fatigue. “I hope that when you get your magic back, you’ll learn to appreciate them more.”

“I will, I promise.” Luna sat up at the sound of somepony approaching and stood completely when Celestia reappeared with a couple of the medical staff, one pushing a large wheel chair. “Sister, I hope you are well after that debacle?”

“Aside from an unexplained white streak in my tail, I am fine.” Celestia remarked, bringing her flowing tail around to show her sister. “Assuming, of course, that the streak is benign in nature?” she turned the question to the human on the ground as the medical staff worked at physically picking him up and setting him into the chair.

“Should be fine. When I’m back at full strength I’ll see what I can do to fix it, if you wish.” Warden replied as he settled into his new mode of transportation. A nurse appeared behind him, up on her hind legs so that she could push the chair with her forehooves and started the walk out of the room. “Oh, don’t try to fix the room. There’s a good chance it’ll explode if you try to interact with it with your magic.” he warned, letting his head dropped backwards in an awkward method of looking over his shoulder.

“I shall remember that, then.” Celestia stood up straight as a Princess should, wings folded on her sides and ceasing the sunny yellow glow around her horn. A piece of rubble nearby fell back to where it laid, creating massive visual shockwaves in the stone where it landed. “Do get some sleep, please.”

“I plan on-” Warden’s voice cut off with that and his head dropped back as he pretended to fall asleep. Of course, that game only lasted for a minute or two before he did actually fall asleep.

“A strange fellow, is he not?” Luna noted to her sister once the human and accompanying staff were out of earshot. “Certainly one to keep an eye on. I doubt we’ve yet to encounter his fullest potential.”

“Indeed, sister.” Celestia shrugged her eyebrows a moment before giving her mane a toss. Turning in place, the princesses evaluated the state of the room and sighed in unison. “Looks like we’ll be making good use of your Night Court room…”

“Certainly seems like it.” Luna agreed and turned to make her way to the specified room. “Not like I’ll be needing it much now…”

“Oh cheer up, Lulu, we’ll get you fixed right up soon. I promise.” Celestia strolled alongside her younger, diverting her course a fraction to playfully bump against the dark princess. “Come now, we’ve got work to do.”