“Twilight!” “Twilight, Twilight, Twilight!” “Twilight Sparkle!” “Hey Egghead!” “Uhm, if you could let us know where you are, we’re really appreciate it.” The voices of five mares echoing down the halls roused a pair of bodies from sleep where they laid. Neither of them were all that fond of being awoken just yet, they both still needed a lot more sleep in order to recover from their various injuries.

The doors to the dark room were very nearly blown off their hinges as all five bodies piled into the room. An aura of blue briefly illuminated the white horn until the lights were flicked on and both patients hissed out in retaliation.

“Twilight!” All five voices yelled in hysterics, pulling open the first curtain nearest to them. Instead of a purple unicorn, they found a rather pissed off Nephalem glaring at them through tired eyes.

“Two curtains over.” Warden grumbled before shutting his eyes against the light so that he could try and get back to sleep. “Turn off the lights, we were sleeping.”

“Oh, of course. I am so sorry, sir.” The marshmallow pony bowed apologetically and with the glow of her horn, the lights in the entire room went off. Her horn continued to glow, just for the sake of glowing, and all five bodies backed out of the cordon to track down their friend. The blue pegasus lingered just long enough to thank the man for the news before backing out as well, pulling the curtain shut before taking off towards her friend.

“Twilight, I can’t believe you’re alright!” a voice with a southern drawl exclaimed once they’d found their friend. “How did you survive that thing?”

“Obviously it was by the power of the Princesses, there is no greater magic which could save her.” a much more prim and proper feminine voice remarked casually, passing off the question. “Twilight is her personal student, you know?”

“Princess Celestia, and Princess Luna, were both powerless to help me, actually.” Twilight replied, curling further into herself as she hugged her chest and did her best to sink deeper into her pillow and blanket. “They were both powerless against the demons, even.” she was quite forlorn with this news. The Princess, the Princesses, were both completely powerless against this new foe. Their magic was useless, the Elements were useless. Their hope for survival rested on the shoulders of one creature that possessed the hearts of three in his chest.

“What, Twilight, you’re not making sense. How could the Princesses, a pair of all-powerful alicorns fail to save you with their magic?” Rainbow Dash asked from the air at the foot of Twilight’s bed, hooves on her hips though she looked more confused than concerned.

Twilight simply glared at her friends from where she laid on her right side, concealing the patterns etched into her fur and skin with the medical bed beneath her.

“Hey, cheer up, miss frowny-pants! I know how to make you feel better! A Get-Well-Soon-Twilight-And-Please-Come-Home-Because-We-All-Miss-You party! There’ll be cake and balloons and streamers and punch, and icing and-” the pink muzzle was clamped shut by an orange hoof and a pair of eyes set into an equally orange face glared at Pinkie.

“Calm down, I think Twilight was going to say something.” Applejack requested before turning back to their friend. “Go ahead, Twi.”

Instead of speak, Twilight merely rolled over onto the left side, bearing the intricate patterns now on her body for everypony to see. Starting at the horn, as before, the spiral-floral patterns worked their way from around the magical instrument and down the entire right side of Twilight’s face, circling around her eye and down her muzzle then further on.

As though using her mane as the divider, the patterns continued down her neck and to her chest where the largest quantity of the pattern was located as it branched off down her forehoof. The rest of the pattern travelled down her side, eventually ending mid-barrel for the time being.

“Why, those are beautiful darling, where did they come from?” Rarity gasped at the designs. She pulled herself up close to her friend’s body to examine them. “What are they? Fur paint?”

“They’re scars, as far as I know.” Twilight mumbled back under her breath and shifted onto her back so that she could properly address her friends. Spike, the purple and green dragonling that she’d grown up with, crawled up onto her bed from Applejack’s back and cuddled in close to his best friend and sister.

“That’s not actually correct, but it is pretty close.” the male voice from two beds down announced. “They’re the physical manifestation of the Demonic and Celestial energies intertwined within your body. The design is just whatever your body wants to show.”

Rarity’s magic took hold of the curtains and pulled them back, then pulled the curtains separating the strange male creature from the females to reveal him resting under a blanket, unmoving.

“And just what do you know about this, huh?” Pinkie demanded, acting the bad-cop role complete with funny hat and baton. She was retrieved and pulled away by Rainbow Dash who dropped her pink bundle of chaos next to Twilight’s bed again.

“You’re very loud, you know that?” Warden commented and would have made a gesture or indication that he wanted to return to sleep, however his current state of immobility let the girls all assume he was still part of the conversation. “And holy crap you are so pink!” he added after actually looking at the pony playing interrogator.

“Well duh, I am Pinkie Pie! I gotta be pink or I wouldn’t be Pinkie! Imagine if I was red, or.. Or white and yellow! That’d be a real surprise…” Pinkie giggled at the thought while her apparel had apparently disappeared completely and without notice.

“So, what are you talking about, Demonic and Celestial energies? What’s going to happen to Twilight now?” Rainbow Dash inquired, glancing between the two creatures on beds. The man gave a weak grunt of discomfort and somehow managed to wiggle his way into a slightly less uncomfortable position before giving a sigh.

“I would love to chat with you all about this, but I have no energy nor the drive to explain anything right now.” He announced and shut his eyes again. The curtains were pulled closed with the soft-spoken one wishing him a good sleep and was left mostly alone again. The ponies all gathered around Twilight again, with Rarity memorizing the details of her new markings for later use in a new design in mind.

Twilight simply laid on her side, curled up with her blankets once she’d pulled them up with her horn; though her horn no longer glowed with it’s usual bright purple and instead took on a more maroon colour with a couple streaks of white through and through.

“So, how do you feel?” Fluttershy asked calmly, worried for her friend’s health. “Can I get you anything, do you need another pillow, maybe a warmer blanket?”

“I feel tired. Sorry girls, but could you let me sleep for a while longer?” Twilight muttered glumly, tightening her hold on one of her pillows and seemed to sink deeper into her blankets. The girls all glanced to each other, sharing in a telepathic conversation before acknowledging the request and giving their well-wishes. “Thanks… I’ll talk to you all later, okay?”

“Sure, Twilight. You get better, okay?” Pinkie’s voice was soft and respectful for once, no longer as bouncy and as full of life as she usually was. She may be the liveliest pony in the country, but even she knew when to tone it down a bit. “We’ll have a great party ready for you when you get released. I promise.”

Twilight gave a half-hearted smirk, nothing more than a facial tick if anything, but Pinkie took it as a hint of a smile anyways and pulled the curtains shut behind her as she left.

~~~

One Week Later

~~~

“‘An so Big Mac had to replant the entire field, all on his own! Boy, was he mad!” Applejack exclaimed through wide grins as Twilight politely chuckled to herself while she laid on her back with covers just under her forehooves. “Gosh darn it, Twi, Ponyville’s just not been the same since you’ve been gone.” she sighed, coming down from her entertaining stories to return to the task at hoof. “We all miss you.”

“I know, but my doctor’s don’t know when i’ll be released. They’ve never seen anything like my condition and the only guy who can help me is paralysed for another day or two.” Twilight complained, turning to lay her head on her pillow and glare through the curtains separating her from her company. Even if he couldn’t see her, the Warden could still feel the glare but remained silent as he tried to sleep.

Failing that, he spoke up. “I’ve probably only got a couple days left to go before I’m good, I can already begin to feel my legs and arms again. When i’m able to, I’ll check you over and see how you’ve taken to the transition. After that, it’s straight to training.”

“Training, what fer?” Applejack joined in on the conversation all on her own, standing to pull the curtains aside with her teeth so that the Warden could properly look turn his head and eye the ponies over.

“Training to use her new Nephalem abilities. Not only will it give me the edge I’ll need to eventually hunt down all the rest of the demons hiding on this world, but it’ll also help keep Twilight alive.” Warden replied, his face mostly unmoving and no emotions on his features given that parts of him was still numb. This wasn’t exactly news to Twilight, as they had spent a couple hours each day when they were awake talking about what would happen soon enough, so she didn’t feel the need to ask about the bit about saving her life. Turns out there was quite the price to pay for becoming a Nephalem.

“So, what does that mean for ye comin’ back to Ponyville?” the farmer mare turned back to the unicorn looking worried. “Ya are comin’ back, right?”

“Probably not for a while…” Twilight admitted to her friend, sounding quite disappointed in all honesty. She was growing more and more excited to the prospect of returning home to her library and to Spike, however the news she’d gotten had unexpectedly put those plans on hold for the foreseeable future.

Applejack’s face grew dark with disappointment. “Ahh see. Well, if that’s how things must be…” she mumbled in defeat. She knew better than to question anything that involved somepony’s life, and if Twilight’s new teacher said that she’d have to stay to train and protect herself, then there was nothing she could do.

“By all means, at no point did I say that the training had to be here at the Castle,” Warden began, offering hope for both mares. “We can start your training in Ponyville and spend a couple days there. I do prefer to remain close to the castle, however, since the throne room has become a Celestial Beacon now and I need to be around to fight off angels as they appear.”

“Really? I can go back home?” Twilight sat up in bed, the blankets being thrown off her to sit over her rear legs and she stared at the human with wide eyes. He nodded as best he could, giving Twilight and Applejack reason to rejoice. “I can’t wait!”

“Remember, at most for only a couple days. It won’t be for long.” Warden lifted his hand with a finger thrust upwards to make his point. The hand quickly dropped back down as all strength left it once more and he sighed, turning back to stare up at the ceiling.

Before much else could be said, the doors to the infirmary were pushed open with a calm yellow aura and a pair of figures stepped into the room. Celestia stepped in on the right, the side that Twilight, Warden and Applejack were on, and at her left stood Luna with a small black cap on what was left of her horn.

The cap had been fixed to her horn, her horn threaded and the cap screwed into place so that as the horn gradually grew over a millennium, the cap would eventually form the new rounded tip of the spire. It wasn’t a pleasant experience for Luna and as such, her horn was still exceptionally sensitive to even the lightest touch.

While Celestia had her ever present aetherial mane and tail blowing in the unfelt breezes, Luna’s remained physical and her bangs fell over one eye while the rest was pulled back and done up with an elastic. Her tail had been wrapped a couple inches, strictly for the purposes of hygiene and constantly irritated the princess whenever she sat down.

“Princesses, I wasn’t aware you’d be coming to visit!” Twilight beamed at the appearance of the two, Applejack standing to bow and Twilight gave the best bow from her laying position as she could. While Celestia continued on to her student, Luna detoured and stepped up next to Warden, dropping her derriere in a cushion next to him and gave a soft hello while her sister and friends conversed. The Warden gave a warm smile and turned to face the blue pony and revived a topic that they’d been chatting about previously.

“I thought we’d surprise you, though it seems that my sister was more interested in visiting with her new friend.” Celestia replied, turning over her shoulder to look back at her sister as she spoke, noting how friendly and close the two had appeared to have gotten so quickly. She turned back to her student and extended a wing to hug Twilight before turning to Applejack. “And a pleasure to see you again as well, miss Applejack.”

“Aww shucks, Princess. It’s just Applejack, I’m not for any of that ‘miss’ business.” Applejack chuckled but tipped her hat at the princess in respect anyways. “Anyhow, how are you and your sister dealing with what happened at Haven?”

“It’s been a challenge.” Celestia’s facade dropped for a moment as a look of exhaustion dawned over her features. “The unprecedented loss of life has taken it’s toll on ponies all over Equestria and rumors have leaked that not all the demons were caught and defeated. Many are calling for retribution, for the use of the Elements to defeat those who survived and to turn the power of our magic back onto the world from which they came.” Celestia rubbed her forehead with her hoof, eyes pinched shut as she spoke.

“But our magic doesn’t do anything against the demons…” Twilight frowned, only adding to Celestia’s problem.

“Exactly. The power we have on our planet is insignificant compared to what Warden has described in our conversations.” Celestia nodded the point back to Twilight before continuing. “I can’t say that I’ll do anything, because I’ll be sending good ponies to their deaths, and I can’t say I can’t do anything, lest I cause a panic.” she sighed, taking the opportunity of being among close friends to drop her head to the bed in defeat. “For the firsttime in a very long time, I don’t know what to do anymore.”

No one said anything for a few minutes, even Warden and Luna’s conversation seemed to have taken a coffee break and the room was filled with silence.

“When Warden and I are done my training, then you can tell your subjects that you’ve formed a special team of powerful demon hunters who’re going to out and fix things.” Twilight decided right then and there, breaking the tension in the air brought on by Celestia’s moping. Celestia lifted her head and smiled at her student, appreciative of the suggestion. The appreciation was for the suggestion only, not for an offer since the oldest princess had been told about how long the training would take Twilight and by no means would it be a short tryst completed with note-taking and exams like she was used to.

“Thank you, Twilight. I shall be sure to make appropriate accommodations for when I get to announce you and Warden.” Celestia took a deep breath and exhaled slowly, her mind having taken a break for a while and allowed her to breath easy. She was so very fond of how Twilight always knew how best to calm her mentor and even just simple suggestions would often bring an air of freshness about her mind like nothing else could. “Now, I know you’ve been stuck in bed, but have you been keeping up with your studies?”

“As best as I can, anyways. Spike and Rarity have been bringing me books every time they come around to visit, but with my magical power cut in half, I’ve been having issues with actually practicing even the most mediocre of spells. I have to rest for an hour after even levitating a single stack of books now! It’s so frustrating!” Twilight complained, indicating with an example as she magically fished out a bunch of books hiding under her bed and groaning with the effort as she did so.

Celestia watched her horn as the spell was cast, watching to make sure that Twilight was actually casting the spell as required but remained silently surprised when her horn was no longer lit up in it’s bright purple, but instead took on a more maroon colour with flecks of white mixed in every so often. Celestia’s eyes flicked over towards Warden who was still chatting and laughing it up with her sister. Turning back to Twilight, she applied a smile to her muzzle and placed a comforting hoof on the unicorn’s shoulder.

“I’m sure it will be fine. I remember you used to have similar issues when you were a young filly learning to first control that spell. I believe the issue was proper magic control and application of correct levels.” Celestia commented thoughtfully, maybe giving Twilight and idea with which to improve herself again.

“I know. I thought the same thing, but no matter how hard I try to concentrate, no matter how much magic I try to move through my horn, I always feel like something is blocking the flow. Like trying to fit a waterfall through a four inch pipe.” Twilight sighed and set the books down at the foot of her bed where Applejack could pull at once and read the spines.

“What in tarnation- Twilight, you say these are mediocre spells for you?” Applejack gawked at the unicorn, setting the book about advanced weight manipulation down next to the book about advanced alchemical reactions. Twilight turned to her friend and nodded.

“Used to be, yes.” She sighed and leaned back against the headboard of the bed and stared at the books, mentally cursing them for suddenly becoming so much more difficult. “I used to do morning magic stretches with weight training and then would calm my mind for sleep with mathematical equations. Thankfully my intelligence hasn’t taken a hit so I can still calculate the exact dimensions of the entire castle we’re in.” Twilight’s voice continued to support the thought that she was complaining, but soon she calmed herself with a breath and shut her eyes.

The breath was disturbed with a bit of giggling from Luna as Warden regaled her with some of his exploits back on his world.

“And have you been eating properly?” Celestia inquired, mostly for a lack of conversational options in her mind. She surely enjoyed her time spent with her favourite student, by no means will that ever change, but sometimes she’d want to visit and have nothing to actually talk about.

“Yes, I have. Medical staff have been seeing to that, I assure you.” Twilight groaned back, as though she was now talking to her mother instead of her Princess and teacher. And with that topic over, silence fell between teacher and student, though the conversation a couple beds over seemed interesting.

Through raised a raised voice of disappointment, “You’re leaving? But you’ve only been here for just over a week, and most of it you’ve been spending paralysed in bed!” Luna frowned, not looking forward to potentially losing a friend so soon.

“I’m only going to be gone for a couple days at most. I have to report in to the Nephalem High Counsel on my world regarding the events that have happened here; I also have to report that Twilight has become a Nephalem under my tutelage, though she won’t have to come with me and can take the time to go home and visit her friends, and give a quote for the work I’m going to have to do here to make sure your world is safe.” Warden replied, nudging a hand off his lap and let it fall so that it ended up somehow resting on Luna’s hoof; a gesture of goodwill only. Luna remained silent as she processed but eventually agreed and retracted her hoof from the bedside and set it down on the floor. The hoof only stayed there for a short time before it rose up out of sight and gently rubbed against her other foreleg.

“Very well. When do you leave?” Luna looked back up, speaking softly even though her mind demanded that she enforce her will and have the human stay to visit.

“Probably as soon as I am able to walk on my own two legs again. I’ll spend a couple days there, then I’ll come back” -Warden turned his head towards Celestia and Twilight- “and we’ll get started on your training in Ponyville where we’ll stay for a couple days, then back to the castle.”

Twilight and Celestia both nodded agreement and turned back to begin a new conversation of their own. Luna shifted her mouth around in silent contemplation, trying to draw up a schedule in her mind.

“So, a week then?” she decided, turning back to the vulnerable man. He laid in thought for a moment before giving the princess of the night an unagreeable half-nod.

“If all goes well, probably. Worst case, I may be delayed by a couple days…” Warden sighed, though in his mind he knew he could be held up for weeks if not months in the red tape. If it wasn’t for the fact that he relied on the work that the Order paid him, he’d have vacated Earth and gone to work in one of the many other realms connected to his so long ago. His voice seemed to betray his intentions of concealing the truth and the mares in the room picked up on this.

“Warden, please be honest with me. How long do you expect to be gone; worst case scenario?” Luna requested, sticking her neck over the bed to look the man directly in the eyes.

Silently judging his chances to successfully mislead the Princess, Warden found his chances slim and gave a heavy sigh. “I may end up being gone for months before coming back.” Luna felt her heart sink a little, the thought of losing a friend so soon weighing on her shoulders. “If that is the case, I’ll at least try to send something or someone else in my stead to start teaching Twilight. I can’t leave your reality undefended against Demonic or Celestial entities after everything.”

“We would appreciate that. I’m already having troubles with our subjects over what to do or tell them concerning the Haven Incident. If you were to leave us completely undefended, I am loath to consider the repercussions.” Celestia announced, her eyes shifted to the side as she mentally watched ponies rioting in the streets, or worse, her country becoming a free-range hunting ground for Demon-kind.

Warden sat up in his bed with assistance from Luna and worked at throwing his legs over the edge of the mattress so that Luna could help him into a wheelchair sitting nearby. Wheeling over to Twilight’s bed, coming to a stop on her right and across from Celestia, Warden openly and silently stared at Twilight unmoving.

“What’re you looking at me like that for?” Twilight fidgeted in her own bed, unconsciously clutching at her blankets. She mentally checked herself over and aside from… those parts missing, she felt completely fine. If she put aside the feeling of having molten magma coursing through her veins, that is.

“Are you missing them yet?” Warden asked, causing Twilight’s eyes to go wide as her mind immediately went south. There’s no way he could know about that, could he? Was her ordeal with her missing parts a sacrifice of gaining Nephalem powers? “Your silence tells me you are. Show me.”

“Warden, I want you to be very specific about what you’re talking about. What is she missing and what do you want her to show you?” Celestia warned, narrowing her eyes at the man. “I will have you know that I do not let sexual abuse slip by so easily.”

“It isn’t seual abuse if she’s missing her reproductive organs. Nothing to abuse, right?” Warden explained and in doing so, stunned the mares in the room save for the reddening face of the youngest Nephalem in the room. “So,” he turned his attention back to Twilight. “Are they still there or are they gone?”

“They’re missing…” Twilight whispered only loud enough to be heard by those immediately gathered and hesitantly and shamefully pulled the blankets aside to reveal a completely normal looking crotch, save for the fact that where a vagina used to be, it was just smoothed over fur which lead towards her tail. “I didn’t want to say anything about it, in case it was just me.”

“It’s not. All Nephalem lose their genitalia early on.” Warden sat back and lightly shook his head. Luna couldn’t help but do her very best to look casual as she tried to sneak a peek down south on the male, just wondering if the same was said for him.

“So, then you don’t have any bits either?” Applejack openly asked, the only one brave enough to actually ask. Warden shook his head as an answer, raising the eyebrows of the mares in the room. “Why?”

“Whole thing about the Angel side, they’re all monogendered so that gets passed on down to us.” Warden replied with a casual shrug and got himself a little more comfortable in his seat. “Fun fact, when I was turned, I was a woman.”

That certainly shut everypony up and Luna even took a step backwards in shock and a little embarrassment.

“You… were a mare when you were turned into a Nephalem?” Celestia asked, though she already had her answer.

“I was, yes. But, I wasn’t exactly your normal woman for my era.” Warden smirked and worked at lifting his arm to place his numb hand against his growing facial hair. With looks from everyone, all looks of incredulity and surprise, edging him on, “I was a lesbian and acted more like the boys I grew up around more than as a girl. When I was turned and my organs disappeared, I gradually turned into a male simply because of my mindframe.”

“Am… Am I going to turn into… into a stallion?” Twilight squeaked in fear for her femininity. Warden shrugged, giving no real answer for Twilight’s mental fortitude.

“Are you a lesbian? Do you like mares over stallions?” he asked casually, earning a few strange looks before Twilight spoke up.

“We call those ‘Filly-foolers’ and no, I am not.” Twilight explained in supplement for an answer.

“Do you act like a boy over a girl? Do you like the more masculine activities?” Twilight shook her head to both inquiries. “Then you’ll be fine. As long as you behave and act like a female, you’ll stay with female features. Besides, it takes centuries to change so drastically as I did.”

“Hold on, how old are you? You look no younger than… I guess maybe twenty-seven?” Luna stepped forward again, forgetting about how close she’d gotten to getting involved with a filly-fooler, even if he was no longer technically oriented to be homosexual.

“Well, I was already a Nephalem when The War To End All Wars began, I was a young girl when the United States were still The British Colonies… So… over three hundred years old now, plus change…” Warden shrugged and shifted in his chair again, all while Celestia and Luna tipped their horns to the human.

“How long do humans usually live?” Applejack inquired from the foot of Twilight’s bed.

“Depending on the era I was in, used to be only forty years or so, then as medical sciences advanced most humans now live to about ninety-five to one-hundred, give or take.” Caster announced, earning raised eyebrows from the immortals of the group, as well as Twilight. “We Nephalem live for as long as we can stay alive. The High Council consists of members who’re already reaching their early millennia.” this certainly got attention of those in the room.

“You mean, you’ll live as long as we have, if you survive?” Celestia gawked at Warden, then turned to Twilight mumbling to herself about advancing plans sooner than expected.

“Keywords here are ‘if we survive.’” Warden interjected, making sure that those gathered understood just how important those words actually were. “There is a reason why the Council is made up of the oldest Nephalem, they're the strongest, the wisest, the bravest. They've earned their positions on the council through merely surviving for so long.”

“Sounds kind of like the Zebric Cabal.” Luna whispered to her sister who nodded in reply. Warden groaned and wheeled himself backwards, away from the side of the bed and past Applejack while everyone stared at him.

“Where are you going?” Twilight asked, almost demanding the information. The Warden merely looked back over his shoulder while continuing to roll away.

“Going for a metaphorical walk, you wanna join me?” Warden replied, stopping only for as long as it took for Twilight to consider the offer then take it as permission to get up and out of bed for the first time in a week. Dropping down onto all four, Warden made a mental note on what to begin Twilight’s training with when her right forehoof hit the ground and caused a miniature explosion which only served to blacken the stone.

“Oh, geez, I’m sorry princess. I don’t know how to stop this…” Twilight looked up to her mentor as she was surrounded by her friends and mentor. Celestia merely shook the small display of power away.

“It’s alright. I’m sure it's just the infancy of your powers.” The elder princess continued on her calm stride, while the Warden in the chair seemed not to be going on an aimless “walk” as he’d suggested and instead looked to be aiming in the general direction of the throneroom.

“May I ask where we’re going?” Luna inquired, vocalizing the wonderings of the other ponies around her. Both Luna and her sister ignored the bows or salutes from castle staff and guards respectively, Celestia and Luna even going so far as to order their Solar and Lunar Guards to operate in silence and remain in the shadows as they passed by such a guard member.

“Throne room, if my memory is as good as I think it is.” Warden answered simply, turning a corner but apparently turned the wrong way as Luna hopped up to walk the man herself, pushing with her forehooves and walking herself on her rear legs. “Which, apparently it isn't.”

“What business could you have in the throne room in your current state? Isn’t it just going to drain you and lengthen the amount of time you're unable to move?” Celestia mused to herself, trying to imagine the possible reasons. Granted, as this was all new to her, she couldn’t come up with many reasons.

“Under normal circumstances, you’d be right.” Warden worked at looking back over his shoulder at the princess following close behind him and on his right. “But i’m aiming for a different version of the Celestial Beacon.”

“A… different version?” Applejack scratched under her hat and in doing so, had to stop the posse so that she could do so. Warden was spun around to address the group properly. “So, what? Can ya just convert the.. Whatever-yeh-call-it-stone to a stone that doesn’t drain ya?”

“Hallowed Stone, and no. I can’t. Not even the most powerful Nephalem can just convert Hallowed Ground into something that doesn’t slowly kill us.” Warden explained, clasping hands together in his lap while Twilight took the opportunity to adjust his blanket to a more perfect level of draping. Each edge was exactly four centimeters over his foot.

“Then, you wish to begin your duties as guardsman for the room, even in your state?” Luna inquires, hopping down to join her sister on Warden’s left, next to Twilight and Celestia.

“Nah, I rather like life. Thanks though.” Warden replied, giving his head a roll on his shoulders to try and loosen up the stiff muscle groups located there. “But, even if we can’t convert the room, it doesn’t mean we can’t cheat.”

“Ah’m not too sure ah like where this is goin’.” Applejack muttered but remained respectful anyways. “Cheat how?”

“Well, if I have enough power to do so, I’ll show you.” Warden replied annoyingly, then looked back to Luna. “To the throne room please.”

“Very well, if you know what you’re doing.” Luna sighed and shrugged all at once, but agreed and continued to push her new friend down the hallway.

A short ride and light banter between associates later, and Warden held a hand up a hallway away from the entrance to the cordoned off Throne Room, stopping the group.

“What’s wrong, we’re almost to your destination.” Luna asked, looking over the human’s shoulder at her friend for signs of distress. He merely groaned and worked at pulling himself up and off the chair, his entire body fighting the whole ordeal through to the end but he eventually got to his feet with help from those who weren’t royalty.

“Here is far enough for my needs.” Warden groaned heavily and sucked in a deep breath. “Just hope I have enough power to do this.”

“What’re you doing? Is it a Nephalem thing?” Twilight asked, rounding in front of the man looking eager to begin learning already.

“It is yes, and you’ll have to learn how to do it eventually, but not right now.” Warden Caster replied, having to manually set his legs at shoulder width apart with his hands before setting him in a mostly stable stance. Taking in a few deep breaths, clenching and unclenching his demon hand repeatedly, Warden seemed to stare off into space in silence and while the mares of the group simply remained calm, the guards smirked at the strange display of the weary traveller.

The silence seemed to have done something as Twilight began to feel a strange magnetic pull begin to draw her in towards the man, though she resisted it and remained rooted where she stood. The man reached down to his right hip with both hands and something began to take form there. Pulling sharply, a pair of single-handed scythes emerged from hellfire, linked together with a long and nasty-looking chain welded to both ends of the hilts.

Letting one of the weapon’s ends hang freely, Warden gave the second half a strong yank across his body, bringing the second end across his chest until the chain shortened and the scythe connected into one evil looking double-ended scythe.

The guards nearby didn’t even have time to react as the new blade was spun in place, creating a perfect circle of obsidian in the air and the space where the hilts spun, the air began to crackle and shoot sparks of black lightning all around the area, forming a defensive perimeter directly around those in the Warden’s group.

To the guards, that group just completely ceased to exist all at once. The wheelchair the only evidence that anyone had ever been there in the first place. To those in the party, their world had merely grown dark and dreary, a stark contrast to the bright colours of the castle in the daylight. Luna identified the realm almost immediately.

“‘How did you get us into my Shadow Reality? Only I and those I trust implicitly may enter this reality.” she asked, rounding in front of the Warden while she noted how the candles set onto the stands where plants usually existed burned forever, just as she’d enchanted them to do. Outside, the world was completely dark, no stars, no sun nor moon.

Fact of the matter was, the world didn’t actually exist outside of the confines of the castle since Luna didn’t have need for encompassing her Shadow Reality over the rest of Equestria. This realm allowed her to convene with her own Guards in secret, as well as allowed her to move around the castle completely undetected. Of course, without her horn, she’d never be able to get into this version of reality ever again, but if her new friend could easily access it, then maybe she could finally go and get those… ahem… personal items of hers.

“Shadow Reality?” Warden looked at the Princess of the Night in mild confusion. “Nephalem use this realm, the Infinity Realm, to hide and live in peace. This is the only reality that only we can get into whenever we want. It shields us, protects us, and, hopefully…” Warden explained and started off down the hall. Already, as he drew nearer to the Throne Room, the Nephalems of the group could already begin to feel a much more potent presence in the air. Those who weren’t, couldn’t feel a thing.

“Twilight, as though having magnets strapped to her chest, began to quicken her pace, completely oblivious to the callings of Applejack, Celestia or Luna. Warden merely watched as the pony started off at a light trot, then a canter, then a full out gallop as she tore down the hallway to the Throne Room.

“Where is she going? It’s like she’s possessed!” Applejack commented, taking off at a run as the rest of the group took off after the youngest Nephalem.

“She is.” Warden remarked calmly and slid to a halt next to Twilight who raved at the Throne Room doors, clawing at the slabs with her forehooves like a madpony trying to dig their way out of their cell from an asylum with all the ferocity that a little unicorn/Nephalem could muster. When Warden pulled her off the ground and stored her under his arm like a football, or a small dog, Twilight began firing off bolts of her strange new magic from her horn. Shooting bolts randomly, Warden simply licked both thumb and forefinger and clamped them down on the end of Twilight’s horn, much like he would on a candle. Her magic stopped and Twilight resisted, trying to shake the human off her horn but failing miserably.

“Is she going to be okay?” Celestia had to almost yell over Twilight’s screaming and incomprehensive yelling to be freed. Warden sat down with a bit of work and planted the pony firmly in his lap, using his legs to hold her down while one hand held her horn inactive, he held her head still as best as he could with his free hand and stared into Twilight’s eyes.

“She’s…” Warden mumbled, gauging the discolourations in the pony’s eyes. While the left eye was still purple and the size of a pin, the right was purple but heavily laced with red in her iris. Not fully consumed, but it wouldn't take long. “She’ll be fine. I just have to subdue her, or let her ride out her possession until she’s fully drained.” Warden remarked, once again placing Twilight under his arm and standing with help from AJ. “And because we’re right here, safest best would be to let her run through her possession.” he stepped up to the doors to the throne room, to which Celestia tried to open but found that when she tried to touch the doors, her magic rebounded sharply and struck her back.

Placing his hand on the left door slab, his hand automatically turned to it’s Demonic form and allowed the Nephalem into the room. The doors swung open and a deep red light began to fill the room from everywhere all at once.

“This room while in the normal reality, is a Celestial Beacon. This room, while in the Infinity Realm, is a sanctuary for Nephalem only.” Warden announced as he stepped in and took a deep breath of the power he’d been missing for the last week. Instantly, his body began to loosen up and rejuvenate while Twilight seemed to go completely still while captive. He set the pony down, only for the mare to suddenly disappear from where he’d put her down. Instead, she appeared deeper into the room, literally running circles in spot as though trying to create her own vortex all on her own.

“Yer sure she’s gon’ be okay?” Applejack wondered hesitantly, watching her friend suffer the worst mental breakdown she’d yet seen so far. The Warden merely shrugged and set himself down on the floor in the middle of the room, then splayed himself out as far as his limbs would stretch. Luna and Celestia, eyes both on Twilight as she took to trying to see how high she could jump, approached the man and laid down next to him on either side. Applejack merely sat at the human’s head, watching intently over Twilight.

“I was wondering why this version of the throne room doesn’t have the bodies or the destruction from your fight earlier this week.” Celestia wondered, breaking eyesight off her pupil to take in the pristine version of the room she’d spent so much time in. Save for the darker atmosphere, the candles, and the lack of all light coming in through the stained glass windows.

“This room was apparently built to replicate the pristine version of reality when Princess Luna built it. If I had built it myself, based on what the castle looked like right now, then you’d probably have all the debris on the ground and bodies piled up if they haven’t been cleared away yet.” the man explained as his leg crossed over one arched on and began to bob gently to an unheard beat. “I was completely expecting to have to build the Infinity Realm all on my own, which is why I’ve been saving up all my power for the last week. Now, I’m completely good to go.”

“You’re back at full power? How?” Celestia asked in interest. As she recalled, she was told he’d be down for the week, though it’d only been five days so far.

“I’d love to tell you, but we’ve done way too much talking already. I’m also expected back on my world, have a chat with my bosses and whatnot.” Warden groaned as he sat himself up, ending up posted on his elbows which rested behind him. “So, for as welcome as you all are here, I must ask that we all vacate the Infinity Realm so you don't get locked in for an unforeseen amount of time. Unless Princess Luna can still freely enter and exit on her own.” the man turned to address the darker mare while Twilight suddenly skidded to a halt from sprinting around the room, looking to have suddenly been frozen in time, then just tilted forwards on her forelegs (her back half remained rigid) and landed on her face, staying perfectly still in that exact position.

“Ah think she’s done, Warden, sir.” Applejack reported, pointing towards her friend. The man turned curiously towards Twilight and nodded.

“Yup, she’s done. Just put her back in bed for a night and she’ll be fine. She’ll probably have nightmares of hell, though…” he added the last part as a second thought, but gave a sigh of resignation and stood. Celestia stood and retrieved her student, draping her rigid body over her back and holding her in place with her wings, before leaving with the company and exiting the room. Once the doors slammed shut the reality seemed to shatter like glass, returning everyone back to the bright version of the Castle and startling the nearby guards all at once.

“Right, well you all get Twilight to bed, I’ve got a meeting to get to.” Warden announced, stuffing his hands in his pockets and turned to take a moment to glance at each pony near him before holding up a light fist to Luna who bumped her own hoof against it in return. “If I don’t see you, it’s been a gas.”

Before anypony could ask about the strange phrase, the pair of scythes reappeared in the elder Nephalem’s hands and he slashed himself back into the Infinity Realm so that he could make his trip back to his place.

“I’m sure he’ll be back, sister.” Celestia whispered to her sister as she turned to return to the infirmary. “Would you be a dear and have the injured guards brought to the infirmary, please? We’ll have to reopen that up now.”

“Yes sister.” Luna groaned but set to work anyways. Heck, she’d practically already forgotten about the man. Well, almost...

Author's Note

All the exposition! I'm sorry, I really am. Next chapter should hopefully be a bit better...