Book 1: Foundation of Equestria

by Zodiac Script

Rating: mature
Tags: Dark, Death, Alternate Universe, Princess Luna, Original Character, Other, Adventure, Sex, Profanity, Discord, Gore, Violence, Princess Celestia, Slice of Life, My Little Pony: Friendship is Magic
Length: 66925

King Medianoche raises Luna and Celestia after their mother abandoned them, and thus, the tale begins. from the story of Sombra, Chrysalis and Grover to Discord. this tale tells the true history of Equestria that has been hidden for too long.

King Medianoche discovers that Faust has abandoned her daughters Celestia and Luna, so he takes it upon himself for him and his wife to care for them. but with the passing of her father Cosmo Skies, Celestia is reluctant to accept the King as her parental guardian. we meet Medianoche's student Starswirl, who manages to befriend the young filly, and she's taught how to be a princess. as the ponies need a pony to lead them.

This is the tale of how Equestria came to be what it is now, how Celestia became the lovable princess we all know. it tells the fall of Amore, the imprisonment of the Umbrum, fallout of brothers Tirek and Scorpan, and the story of Sombra De Obsidiana, Chrysalis and Grover. even the corruption of Luna and the truth behind the Draconequus Discord.

Published 2018-03-05 22:50:12 UTC
Last updated 2018-03-31 04:23:59 UTC

Divine Interlude 1: Before the Tale

"What is it you needed me for?" said an old raspy voice. He was a large white earth pony stallion that looked underweight, his ribs visible beneath his alabaster fur. His eyes were a dull lifeless blue, his eyes having a black outline and a very light shade of grey around his eyes like patches. The stallion’s ears were pointed at the tips, that flickered slightly. He had a wiry mane that looked as if it hadn’t seen a brush in eternity, though it was the same grey as the tired patches around his eyes, his tail being the same as his mane. his flank was as blank as snow, which was common for gods.

Before him was a mare. Her mare flowed beautifully, whenever she moved the image of her mane did as well, as if they were x-ray goggles for a wall with the universe behind it. Millions of stars, galaxies and universes could be seen in her mane and tail, the sight being breath taking. Her fur was white as well, but unlike him, she had large lustrous wings and long horn. The sclera of her eyes were red, her pupil/iris being a smouldering sun. On her flank was a very detailed image of a black hole that looked as if it was a screen videoing a black hole. it wasn't a cutie mark, but a small window to her domain. She wore no crown, but had shoes on her hooves with red rubies.

"I have looked into the future, my old friend." her name was Last Legacy, the Goddess of Time. She knew all that had been and what would be. Whenever she summoned a fellow god, it was something they had to do to ensure the most fruitful future. She gave the instructions, but there was always a chance they'd muck it up. The events that'd happen afterwards would always end up weighing on their souls "You have a very important role to play in nine thousand years... You, are to birth a god."

"I cannot create gods, nor can i destroy them," He sighed, sounding as if he'd never slept. In truth, he hadn't. Death never sleeps "I can merely transfer a soul to the afterlife, or make a deal with them to the mortal realm that makes them wish death." Last legacy nodded to him. Ah, so he was supposed to remove the soul of a god and give it to someone who dies. That wasn't a very good idea. He tried that once, nearly lost his own soul in the process.

"You will be met with a Draconequus, you are to give him the soul of Cosmo Skies, whom will be met with his end by the Mistress." Cadaver didn't come across them very often, but they always managed to amuse him, even the douche bag ones. They were more entertaining than ponies and dragons, they just soured his almost permanent frown. They seemed to freak out when they meet an earth pony with the symbol of death on his flanks. he wondered why? "My friend, you must tell this being something. 'he extends his lion paw and creates a god of white with a heart of black, then extends his griffin claw and creates a god of black with a heart of white'." that made little sense, but then again she rarely made sense "You must return my friend, for someone is waiting for you..."

she watched him leave and sighed. Cadaver was going to be met with another friend of theirs, his life ended by the Mistress. she saw so much pain, such pain and misery. Last Legacy had yet to see such pain in time since the first Divine War. she prayed that the souls woven into this tapestry of sadness can reach happiness. there were so many turns in this road that she was not sure what was more likely to be true.

"be strong my lost souls, keep hope true within your heart, for only with faith can you reach felicity..."

Saga 1, To be a Princess: Arrival

This storm was raging like hell itself had come to the mortal world. Thunder screeched across black clouds, lightning dancing from the cascade of rumbling grey. Rain fell from the darkened heavens, wetting the ground with ferocity. More spears of burning light broke from the crying canopy, the bellow following close behind it causing tremors in those who’re caught in such a storm.

In the middle of a forest was a cabin that held two little fillies that were cowering beneath their mommy and daddy’s bed. Because this storm had raged on for so long they didn’t know how long it’d been. They remembered hearing their mommy and daddy fighting, then daddy sent them under his bed and then they were a loud noise, and then quiet. Daddy said he’d come back for them, but he hadn’t. They hadn’t heard or seen him or mommy for a long time, they were gone and hadn’t come for them. Daddy normally read to them during storms, but he was gone. What they had instead was an ever-growing smell of rot that made the littler one feel ill.

The eldest was alabaster white with a mane of pale heliotrope. Her eyes were a pale, light greyish magenta that shimmered in the one candle she’d managed to light. Beside her was her little sister. She was dark blue with a mane of very light azure, her eyes a lustrous moderate cyan.

Young Celestia crawled out from the den they’d made, trotting to their kitchen to try and find something to eat. She and little Lulu were hungry, and mommy hadn’t made them food yet, so they had to get snacks. Normally it was naughty, but as nopony was here they needed to eat something. The filly frowned at the open cupboards, not sure what to do. There was some bread, but it was so mouldy it was green. Celestia hated mould, and Luna didn’t like to eat bread. She frowned and walked back to her little sister, seeing that Lulu had gone to sleep again.

The eldest of the two jumped up as lightning struck too close to the cabin for comfort. She shook her head, trying to comfort her unwell baby sister. Her ears dropped as she heard the door to their home open, the sounds of hooves against the wood scaring her. This wasn’t mommy or daddy, for they always, ALWAYS, announced that they were home. The Alicorn filly prepared to fight for her little sister; her wings up to try and make herself look bigger. Inside she was terrified, but she did what she could to be brave for Lulu.

“Cosmo?” Said a baritone voice. She heard him walk throughout the house, calling for her daddy’s name. from what she could hear there was only one, but whoever it was, was big “I got your message, what’s happened?” Luna woke up, her tired eyes looking up at her big sister with confusion and fear. The hoofsteps were too heavy to be their father. They heard a door open, the smell suddenly becoming so bad that Luna threw up on herself "Shit Cosmo!" an anguished cry of rage and pain causing cracks in the mahogany that covered the wood of their parents’ room. They then heard the large being walking towards their room, the girls shuffling further under the bed “Where are the girls? they better be alright, or I swear to the thirteen zodiac i will deliver that bitch to Cadaver myself!” his voice will filled with anger and sorrow, like when Celestia's pet hamster

The anger scared them. He walked into the bedroom they resided in, his presence scaring them. To protect her little sister Celestia jumped out from under the bed, her horn blaring gold wing sparks darting off from over load. From what she could see, he was alone.

His name was Medianoche Brilliante, the King of the Umbrum. He had a dark grey coat. He was muscular; the two very large wings on his back a testament to that fact. They looked like they were just on solid mass instead of limbs with feathers; the said feathers being so perfectly align with each other they looked like they were difficult to see. He had a long white tail that oddly didn’t flow ethereal like, like most Alicorn’s. But tips disappeared into mist, as was a common trait with Umbrum. His mane was white as well, though it was a bit dishevelled and in a plat tied at the end with a silver ribbon. He had two different colours for his eyes, the left as red while the other was blue, the red obscured by his mane. Coming from his forehead down to the end of his nose was a black stripe in a perfect triangular point that dipped a little towards his upper lip. He also had a long horn that was now encased in a warm silver aura.

“Get away from my sister, you big meanie! Where’s daddy and mommy?” She ordered, her wings stretching as far as they could. He opened one wing, the force knocking her to the ground causing the magic to sputter and die around her horn. She got back up, not willing to give up when Luna was scared and ill “go away!” He ordered again, the stallion only looking down at her with pity.

“Your mommy isn’t coming back… neither is your father.” Medianoche had to shed a tear as one of his closest friends had perished, he’d been dead for at least two weeks. For some reason the spell had reached him too late, likely thanks to his wife, who was the only one to be able to kill Cosmo with one hit. Only a god can kill another god after all. He would house a funeral for the stallion, one of the greatest he’d ever met. Why did all the good ones die? The fact nearly broke him, as it was clear that excuse of a mother abandoned her own fillies. Celestia Morningstar and Luna Nightshade “I vow to your father, the great Cosmo Skies, to care for your two daughters. To protect them, and to raise them as you would… I cannot say I won’t make mistakes, but I will do my very best for yours and their sake.” Both of his wings were wide open, and he cast a mighty spell over the two, locking them in a dreamless sleep for their own safety. This storm was not going to make it easy to get to Shadowlogia…

Celestia woke up within a room she didn’t recognise, in a bed that wasn’t hers and the smell of the place was wrong. Everything was just wrong! She looked around, seeing that the room was a little similar to her own, but it was definitely different. Across from her large bed was a large cot with Luna inside of it, still sleeping soundly. She hopped out, looking around. She jumped back as she saw two eyes open on the flooring. The sclera was greyish sap green with darker irises, the pupils being slit. She tried to access her magic, but something was stopping her.

“Sorry dear, just came to check on you.” The shadow then rose from the ground like smoke, and then took the form of a large mare. The mare had fur as black as sin, her wings a combination of a dragon, a bat and a pegasus. She wasn’t on the slim side but had powerful muscles that could probably bench press a dragon. She had a long flowing mane of green and navy blue that faded into mist at the tips. Her ears curved and pointed at the tips, her facial structure a bit similar most Alicorn mares, but she had her own flare. The white of her eyes were green, her irises a darker green and her pupils slit with black. She was a normal pegasus, an Umbrum Pegasus. Well, as normal as she could be being the Queen of Shadowlogia. Funny thing about her. Even though she was a Pegasus Umbrum, she was able to use a version of magic she called Dark Magic. One that her husband helped develop.

“Who are you, where’s daddy and mommy!” Celestia demanded, her ears dropping as she heard Luna shuffle in her sleep, moaning a little at the noise. The large mare smiled warmly, though her sharp teeth that belonged to a carnivore terrified her. Celestia wouldn’t bow down to this stranger, she was a princess, and would be seen as such “I’m your princess, you will listen to me!”

“And I’m a queen,” Armadura said back, outranking the young filly. For her age she was very vocal and knew what a princess was, along with what came with that title. Most likely the brainwashing of her mother who may as well be a living statue she was so lifeless “it’s ok Celestia, you and Luna are safe here. We’re friends of your daddy; sadly he became very ill and has passed away.” It was much better than saying their mom murdered their dad, and since she said daddy first, it was clear who the favourite was.

“No!” Daddy was fine; he wasn’t gone and was going to come back for her! Armadura walked to the window, seeing her husband before a grave where they’d buried the now deceased stallion. Oh Cosmo, why did she do it? Why did she take you from the ones who loved you? The mare would never understand. Celestia looked out the window too, seeing a large statue of her daddy and a black rose lain before it on recently turned earth. Fear filled her.

With her unstable magic, the filly teleported outside, fear coursing throughout her body like flames to gasoline. She ran as fast as her little hooves could carry her, skidding to a halt before the grave. Medianoche looked down at the filly, seeing tears rushing from her eyes like Neighagra falls. He watch her start hitting the ground, not sure how to try to comfort her. For her age, she was a very smart filly. Alicorn’s aged normal to ponies until they reached their full size, and then they’d just live for a million or so years. Celestia was about nine from what he could see, Luna being about three. He doubted Luna would remember her father, but Celestia would. She was digging at the ground, her heart breaking as somewhere in her mind she just knew her daddy was under there.

“Calm yourself Celestia, let your father sleep in peace.” He had a vow to keep, and this statue was so he’d always remember that. He let down a wing that graced the side of the filly, bringing her close to him and against his side. She was crying too hard to fight, even though she tried to. It broke his own heart to see her so distraught. A nine year old shouldn’t be going through this. He wished he could see her mother now and kill her the way she killed her husband. But far worse, and far slower. Extending the pain so she could get an inkling to how her daughters feel.

“This must be Celestia, I feel so terrible for her.” He turned his eyes to a unicorn pony he’d taken in a long time ago. Unicorns were very weak magic users, so much so that levitating minor things like brooms was exhausting. THIS one decided to try and improve his magic by sneaking into Skiadrum Castle, breaking into the archives and tried to improve his magic. The end result was now he couldn’t age anymore, and his magic was far more than he should be able to handle. Thus, Medianoche took him in as a student. A very, very stupid unicorn called Starswirl “is there any way for me to help?”

“No, my faithful student, give her time. We must give all the chance to grieve their losses.” Medianoche stood tall, the Unicorn craning his neck to look upwards “Perhaps you can befriend them; they will be more trusting of those whom are not ten times their size, and you have more experience with foals than I.” Starswirl nodded as he watched the stallion release the crying filly, his eyes shimmering themselves “I must speak with my father, can you watch her?” The unicorn was sure this little girl would be easier to deal with than his majesties morning moods. There was even an alert for the mornings to leave him alone, unless you wished to be turned into a pear. Why a pear? Nobody knew.

Celestia looked up at the unicorn, feeling slightly better than there wasn’t a giant looking down at her. This was just a pony, like the ones daddy looked after. He didn’t look scary like the big ones. Starswirl rose a brow to the little one, seeing how she’d relaxed now that his teacher had gone. She was kind of cute for an Alicorn, they were normally douche bags that did all they could to make pony lives a living hell. Or nothing at all.

“My name is Starswirl Moonrise, it’s a pleasure to meet you Celestia.” He was happy the filly wasn’t terrified of him “want to see a magic trick?” she didn’t give much reaction, so Starswirl decided to go along with it anyways. He used his magic, summoning a bouquet of roses for her. Celestia was surprised. Normally unicorn ponies couldn’t do stuff like that! she could see he wasn’t an Alicorn, he had no wings! “Impressive isn’t it? want to learn some of my tricks?” she nodded, wanting to do the same. When mommy came back she good give her some of those roses, but from herself! Starswirl smiled at her new enthusiasm, pleased he’d managed to distract her from her father’s passing. He dropped the flowers at the base of the statue, unaware his teacher was still watching them but from afar.

Author's Note

I hope you enjoy the story!

Saga 1, To be a Princess: Drapan and Eagleand come to Shadowlogia

Today was a bit more special than others. Today, the Deer of Eagleand were extending their hoof to begin an alliance and trade with Shadowlogia, something that had never been done before within the ever-extending history of the Umbrum. To say Medianoche was a bit excited was an understatement. Often races didn’t want to dare ally themselves with him because he was a carnivore, but that fear was justified, so he couldn’t blame them. in fact, he was a deal with the dragon kingdom to send their convicts here to feat upon. Oh, how he wondered what their leader was like! he’d heard that they had amazing beer down there.

A messenger galloped to his king, the stallion in armour made of obsidian and diamond, each branded with the insignia of the Umbrum. A sapphire eyed raven where the tips of the feathers faded to mist, much like Umbrum manes. The messenger was called Negro Sol, a stallion that had a very dark blue base coat with splotches of black, his eyes an emerald sheen. Medianoche stood tall, letting his wings unfurl, masking his anticipation to meet with a magnificent buck he’d heard much about.

“King Erin Thorn of Eagleand has arrived, but there’s a problem…” oh? Medianoche rose a brow, awaiting to hear what was troubling one of his best messengers “King Upheaval and Emperor Yang are on their way here, and from what we’ve deduced, they’ll arrive this evening.” They must be interested in making trades with Eagleand as well? This was certainly interesting, it was very rare for the Draconeqi to ever come this far away from their lands, let alone the Doragon no Uma as well. this really was going to be an exciting day! “The, um, Draconeqi sent a letter.” What did the letter say? Medianoche took the letter into his white magic, unfurling the scroll and read it silently. the messenger asked what it meant, seeing the emotions flicker through his king’s eyes “Sir, what does it say?”

“It says: Dear King of the Umbrum, we all feel deep sympathy for your loss. Cosmo Skies was a great stallion, the very one that helped bridge us and the Doragon No Uma to be such good friends. We will hold a festival celebrating his life and not his passing. Always remember than though he is not here physically, he is still there for you, inside your heart.” He was crying on the inside, happy that Cosmo was not going to be forgotten by the world. Hopefully it would be a global holiday to celebrate the life of that stallion.

Little did many know that Draconeqi actually came from another reality, a separate dimension that was impossible to navigate unless you were being guided by a Draconequus. How did they get to the world of equine? Well, one somehow opened a portal to Drapan, the home of the Doragon no Uma. Cosmo went to their land, and with his help, they decided to sort of become part of the same ‘country’, even with separate dimensions. He should go visit some time, and maybe take those two fillies with him?

“Well, this has certainly become interesting hasn’t it?” said Medianoche’s father. The messenger bowed and left, not willing to be in the same room as Noche De Neón and Medianoche Brilliante. Colourful was understating his father’s colourings, his very presence lit the room with many colours that he couldn’t name all at once. His base colour was the darkest grey Medianoche had ever seen. His mane was like the black of sin waving like the smog from a dragon’s snout with a single red streak within it. he thought of it like magma against the neck of a volcano. His ears were a bit larger than normal and his eye shape was thin like a dragon’s, his eye colour a bright purple with slit pupils. His wings were massive feathered giants rivalled only by his own. Noche’s horn was made of a continuous swirl of rainbow lights that lit the dark even when he did not use his magic, the feathers of his wings were the same along with his ever-flowing tail. Medianoche was abnormally large, yet he had to look up slightly to be eye to eye. Noche De Neón had earned his name “You now have two daughters. And here I thought you were infertile.”

“You know for a fact they aren’t mine… and it isn’t for a lack of trying,” he said, his face slightly red and Noche’s blunt comments. The stallion always found ways to embarrass his son. especially when it came to getting a grandkid. Honestly, it wasn’t that hard. He had four young after all. three sons and a daughter. all within the span of an Umbrum decade “where’s mother? The Doragon no Uma and Draconeqi lords are on their way, and she’s such a fan of Drapan.”

“I know, we conceived you there.” Medianoche’s blush was deeper. If his father had a cutie mark it’d be embarrassing others. Mainly him “No, someone has to watch over that herd of ponies Cosmo left when he got skewered by that bitch. Your mother decided to rule them until Celestia Morningstar and Luna Nightshade are capable of it themselves.” Noche unfurled a wing and rested it on his son’s back “Armadura is already treating them like her own, I witnessed her giving the smaller one a tongue bath earlier. You might as well adopt them.” he was going to stick around to meet up again with the two leaders of Drapan. He loved Draconeqi, they were so amusing, even the miserable God of Death liked them. the Doragon no Uma were very good at playing chess as well.

“I can take them in, of course I can, but they’ve just lost their mother and father. Luna is too young to understand, but Celestia is aware I’m not her daddy, and nothing can change that… my very presence scares her.” it was a sad thing, but he was managing it. his people were surprisingly supportive with having two snacks living with their king. Yes, they ate ponies, they were carnivores, sue them “Starswirl is trying to befriend her, but even he’s having problems. She’s been here a week, father. A week, and she has barely said anything…”

“It isn’t your fault son, none of this could’ve been predicted. I imagine even Last Legacy is surprised the bitch did this. I on the other hoof called it, so you owe me fifty bits.” Medianoche glared at the colourful giant, who didn’t show a sign of remorse. He was called heartless by pretty much everybody. Yes, he was stone cold, but Medianoche knew he had his soft moments. Though they were rarely seen by none family “I shall be there for the meeting. I never got to finish my chess game with the Doragon No Uma Emperor.”

Starswirl frowned at the little white filly who refused to talk to anyone. She barely ate anything, and she disappeared a lot, normally to end up at her father’s grave. He understood she was grieving, not that she really understood, but this wasn’t the way. So far Starswirl was the only one who could get close to her, but even that was pushing it. Armadura had gotten really attached to them, Luna especially, and Celestia hated it. her magic was pretty weak, but it was much stronger than a normal unicorn. Thankfully his was stronger than hers, and Armadura had invented her own magic so far only Umbrum could use. He’d have to test that theory later though.

It was very exciting to know the leader of Eagleand was coming, a deer called Erin Thorn, a wise old buck who’d learnt many things in his old age. Starswirl wanted to learn some deer magic, and maybe teach to Celestia. She might like having another herbivore around? but then there was the Doragon no Uma and Draconeqi, they might scare her, especially King Upheaval. Doragon No Uma the dragon were descendants of an old species of Lung Dragon that evolved to be more equine like, which was a very impressive process to see the fruits of. Draconeqi? Well, they were originally from a different dimension, so nobody really knew much about them other than Drapan.

Hm, he shall ask his teacher if he could take Celestia there someday, let her see the outside world. He was sure that her mother was rather manipulative. Starswirl had met her once, and was not a fan of her, nobody was, not even her ponies. Cosmo was beloved while she was not, which was a shame really, it was likely why she killed him. Oh, maybe he could tell her that they were friends of her daddy. That might help? So, his little plan was set. Tell her about her father and him being friends with Medianoche and the beings coming here! It would likely backfire on his face like everything did.

Erin Thorn of Eagleand finally arrived to the Castle of Shadowlogia, the home of the Umbrum. he had come alone. many insisted on coming with him, but Erin knew that he was untouchable here as long as he was reasonable. they were not monsters after all, and would not risk starting a war to eat an old deer like himself. Erin was very large for his kind, around the size of an adult Alicorn, it was rather common for leaders to be such a size. Here in Shadowlogia he felt like a normal being, as everyone here were the same size as he. Erik was a listless silvery grey, his eyes a pale blue and had a white beard that was properly combed and made him seem almost as wise as he really was. he had two large antlers that were almost golden, the two sides were even and had a very small covering of fuzz. He didn’t actually look all that royal, despite being the leader of a whole country. all Erin wore was a simple black cape that covered most of his body, as he was always anticipating rain. It was subconscious at this point after living in drizzly Bitannia for all his life. honestly, it almost rained 24/7.

Erin was surprised to find he was not the only one to come to Shadowlogia. no, the rulers of Drapan had come by it seemed. this was a very good opportunity for Erin. Drapan had very wonderful tea, and Eagleand loved tea to bits, thus trading would be very good for his country? perhaps the Drapanese rulers were here to trade with him too?

"Ah! You must be Erin. i am Upheaval, the Draconequus King. unfortunately, only i out of the two of us speaks Equine." Erin rose a brow at the strange creature, never actually having seen a Draconequus before. Upheaval inwardly laughed at the bucks reaction to his very even appearance. Upheaval was just a translation of his name, but it had a nice ring to it. a nicer ring than Gekidō when he spoke Equestrian. he was an Adult Draconequus and a Titan, meaning unlike most Draconeqi his body was even on both sides, and thanks to being a Titan most of his 'even' body parts were from the same animal. It only happened to a very few, but those few were gifted with unimaginable power. He was no different. Upheaval was mostly a light brown with a dark brown stripe down his back, mane around his shoulders and chest, the colour of his front claws and the colour of his lion back legs, as well as the feathers that then lead into his red dragon tail. A common thing with Titan Stage, though rarely they were other colours. The end of his tail was a tuft of blond, his mane was spiking backwards like fire with the same colour, though near his sort of jacket of fur had streaks of the same brown. His ears were large like that of a goat, his horns from a deer like Erin in that same dark brown, and had a small pink bow made by his wife next to one of his ears. Upheaval’s eyes had dark brown spots over them, four smaller ones underlining each. The white of his eyes were yellowy gold, but his iris colour was a pinkish magenta, very rare for his kind. the golden sclera was a sign of royal blood. Upheaval also wore glasses, mostly to because he liked them, but they were enchanted for him to read other languages.

Sakura no Taiyō preferred his native name instead of his translated one, Sakura sounded a lot nicer. His body was the size of an average Alicorn, with he noted was a common trait with leaders? He was mostly a sand yellow, it should be ugly to look at and yet it wasn’t. Sakura’s hooves were cloven in a silvery colour. much like a mountain goat’s thanks to Drapan being so mountainous. Above his hooves were wisps of fur that flowed backwards even when no wing brushed against them oddly? On his knees and on the front of his back thighs were shiny orange scales that melded well with his colouring. Sakura had to very large wings tucked up next to his body, mostly scaled but a third of them were feathers at the end in the same colour was his coat. Sakura also had those scales run down from under his chin all the way to the beginning of his tail. He also had a line of them going down the middle of his face to the end of his snout. Sakura’s tail was very long, like a Draconequus’ but had a long ling of beautiful white hair that bushed at the tip of the tail and trailed upwards along the tails spine, then along his back and melted in with his mane. Sakura had two antlers next to his ears, a curved horn protruding from his forehead. His eyes were an ocean blue, but that isn’t what got the attention of the Umbrum. Nope, it was two thing that came from both sides of his snout, kinda like the feelers on a catfish. Even his long beard that only went downwards didn’t attract as much attention.

"I see...?" Upheaval had a very thick accent, but at least someone could translate the other one if he spoke. Sakura rose a brow as he looked at the old deer, not seeing how he was a leader. he had impressive antlers, but not really much else. Eagleand really was different to Drapan "So, shall we?" Upheaval motioned Sakura that they were now walking to the meeting room, which the Doragon No Uman found very pleasing as he felt awkward around this old being that looked as if he'd just drop dead of old age soon.

"彼は古く見える。" Sakura watched Upheaval raise his own blond brow at him "彼が年を取るならば、彼はほこりになるだろう、" Sakura said, looking at Erin who had a sixth sense he was talking about his old age. when you got old, you knew these kind of things. while the Doragon No Uman and the Draconequus continued their talk in their native tongue, Erin decided to take in the palace walls. there were paintings of many things, swords, battles, past relatives and old friends that were likely dead. the newest one looked to be Cosmo, a god that had actually died. how? by his own spouse! honestly, relationships were evil at this point.

Finally, they saw Medianoche and Noche De Neón, the rulers of this land. Armadura wasn't there, so that was a shame. Erin wanted to meet the creator of Dark Magic, the dark part named after her black fur. he also wanted to see her dragonic like wings that also were said to look batty. he'd be the judge of that.

"I am so sorry Erin, i didn't expect the Lords of Drapan to come..." Medianoche apologised, looking at the two. both without guards? he knew that Upheaval was powerful, but none of these three came with guards? that made him look paranoid now when he always had a guard with him at all times... although not right now, by the wishes of his embarrassing father "So, shall we discuss the trades we want to do? or, anything else?"

"I personally want to finish that game of chess with you Sakura, and no cheating this time!" Noche smiled at the shimmer in Sakura's eyes "That's right, i know you cheated!"

"かかって来い!" one of these days, Medianoche was just going to die of embarrassment...

Author's Note

I was inspired to make the Doragon no Uma (roughly translates to dragon horse) by SaturnGrl, the creator of the Qilin.

To any japanese readers, i am sorry if i've butchered your language. i used Google translate, which i know is unreliable, so i apologise in advance.

*1 = He looks old
*2 - If he gets older he will become dust
*3 = Bring it on

Saga 1, To be a Princess: The other siblings

She was disgusted by these creatures. All ponies were pathetic, other than Starswirl, he was tolerable. Crepúsculo Radiante scowled as she watched the ponies cower away from her, despicable. Her husband, the Mountain King Noche De Neón told her about these miserable creatures. How you needed to be there, to do everything for them. You needed to get their food, you needed to do literally everything the spoiled beasts. It wasn't totally bad though, as Radiante was very pleased to know her beloved cubs were visiting, unfortunately one of them were in a meeting with three major leaders so it was just her other two. Flor De Arrullo and La Sombra Del Sol, her daughter and second eldest son. for whatever reason, Skiadrum, her eldest cub, didn't want to show his face to her. She had not spoken with Flor De Arrullo for a long time, hopefully something interesting had happened.

She couldn't stand these miserable ponies. They cowered at the mere sight of her, a sign of weakness. Not even those little fillies her youngest son Medianoche acquired were as cowardly as this! Radiante walked through the halls of this old place that should be condemned. Honestly, it was like a Draconequus had had a fight with a Minotaur in here! Disgusting. She heard the steps of a small mare, making her turn around and look down to see a very small mare. She was beige with a dark pink mane, her eyes a searing blue. She felt something dark about this weak creature, it was strange? The mare wasn't dark, but something inside her was...

"A-are you here to help us?" she croaked, apparently brave enough to speak to a queen such as herself. Radiante raised a brow at the mare, now very into the idea of helping this weakling "our queen abandoned us! We've been attacked by monsters left and right, we're too weak to fight back! Our pegasi can barely fly high enough to the top of a tree, us unicorns can barely use magic and our earth ponies are being picked off by the hundreds! We need help!" she begged, the Umbrum mare not interested in caring at all. This little pony didn't matter at all. Radiante was here as a favour, nothing else.

"We'll protect you," said a familiar voice. Flor De Arrullo and Crepúsculo Radiante must've looked like aliens to the ponies, as they were as sexist as anything Radiante has ever seen "We will shield you with our embracing shadows." Flor was a very special mare, despite being very short for her kind. Her fur was a deep sandstone blue that shined a little against the light. Her mane continuously flowed like a natural Alicorn’s did. Her mane and tail were mostly a deep navy blue with a shining pale green outlining it, much like the filly Luna. Flor was just a unicorn, compared to her Alicorn brothers. Her eyes were a wondrous blue that sparkled whenever she smiled. She smiled at her mother, a cold mare that hid her heart to everyone who wasn't family. She also despised ponies, mostly because of how weak they were.

Radiante was a very tall mare like all Umbrum in a greyish purple. Unlike most Umbrum her mane was still, much like her youngest son’s. Radiante was a unicorn, the only race of pony she barely tolerated. Her eyes were lilac purple. Her mane and tail were a metallic purple with a white streak going down both. Her horn was also rather long. she looked beautiful, even with her cold face.

"You are as soft as your brother," Crepúsculo Radiante spat as she watched the mare run away with a smile "They are weak, why bother with these creatures? all they do is fertilise our land with their leavings." Flor sighed with her smile not leaving her face "what is behind you my daughter?" she noticed a small figure hiding behind the mare, and was prepared to deal with any pony filth that dared touch her daughter.

"This is my own daughter, dear mother." Behind her mother was a little filly. Her mane was purple as was her tail, though only her tail flowed. Her eyes were the same colour was her mommy, almost twinkling. She looked to be two Umbrum years old, she had both a horn and little wings "Her name is Orgullo Oscuro," she said proudly, the elder mare sighing inwardly. she'd be thrilled, but this was a filly. only stallions could take the throne. why? because they were more likely to have the Diamante Sangre, the bloodline ability to produce dark crystals. it was why Medianoche was king and not his more capable brother. Sombra was far better than his younger brother, her first baby brother who was better at everything.

speak of the devil and he will come. Radiante let a small crack form in her mask as her favourite started walking up the halls to meet with them. La Sombra Del Sol was her absolute favourite. He was very dark grey, and extremely muscular. Sombra’s mane and tail was a mixture of her stillness and his father’s waviness. There were stripes of purple in there, the tips that faded to mist were that purple, the same colour as Flor’s offspring’s mane. On his back were to gorgeously large wings that matched his titan like form. He stood eye level with his father after all, and that was an amazing achievement. His feathers took a trait from his father was well, they slowly went from that dark grey to purple until the feather tips had that shade of purple again like her granddaughter’s mane. Sombra’s eye colour was a magnificent ruby red, almost glowing. She could see under his armour he still had those odd red stripes along his sides that went up his neck to the tips of his cheeks. Sombra’s horn was curved, going from dark grey to a dark purple. A birth defect within the Umbrum world that ended up becoming a weapon. He wore a mithril armour that covered different parts of his body. they covered his hooves and knees on all four legs, and they covered his upper abdomen, two holes carved out for his wings. it also had plates that protected his back from attacks. He didn’t need a helmet, nobody was foolish enough to attack him there.

"It is good to meet you again mother," La Sombra Del Sol smiled, bowing slightly to his proud mother. he did enjoy seeing her, she favoured him and he knew it. Sombra sighed, looking to his little sister and now niece. he knew about little Orgullo Oscuro before even Flor De Arrullo did. thats what you get for moving your tail for one of the guard. the little filly was going to be strong though "I am afraid i cannot stay for long, i wish to see the foals of Cosmo Skies, we were old chess buddies."

they had a rivalry as bad as father and Sakura no Taiyō's. Father disappeared to Drapan often to play that silly game, and he loved it. his mother wanted him to bet he perfect warrior, and he was, but Sombra wasn't exactly into that. Sombra had large hearts, and was going to look after these ponies for his mother, she didn't have the compassion for these feeble beings. they needed guidance, just as he did those millennia ago. Father didn't give up on him when he used to be just as weak, and now he was one of the greatest Umbrum warriors.

Medianoche and he were very close friends, brotherly rivals as well. from that rivalry, he learnt that Medianoche was more fit to rule than he was. they both had the Diamante Sangre, but he and father kept it from mother. Sombra was a warrior, the master of the Shadowed Army, he wasn't fit to be a king. but it didn't mean he wouldn't be there for his brother. Flor smiled at her elder sibling, able to see past the mask mother had put on him. La Sombra Del Sol nodded to her as he turned and begun walking away, his wings ruffling slightly.

Celestia glared at the stallion who'd brought her into a massive library. He was a pony, but he was still with the monster that took her and luna away from their home. What if mommy came back? She refused to believe daddy was really gone. He couldn't be! Starswirl was doing magic tricks for her, but that wasn't good enough. Armadura, the big scary mare was with her sister doing mommy knew what!

Starswirl sighed as he watched the filly thinking, almost reading her mind. he gave her a book, hoping it would take her mind off of everything. she slowly tapped it, then opened the covers, finding that it was filled with prank spells? she looked at him with confusion, and Starswirl wore a wicked grin. time to teach this filly to loosen up a little, otherwise she'll become a statue she's so mopey. time for him to bring some fun to this silly filly!

Author's Note

Yes, Sombra De Obsidiana was named after La Sombra Del Sol.

Name Translations:
Crepúsculo Radiante = Radiant Twilight
Noche De Neón = Neon Night
Medianoche Brillante = Bright Midnight
Armadura De Estrella = Star Armour
Flor De Arrullo = Lullaby Flower
La Sombra Del Sol = The shadow of the sun
Skiadrum = (Dragon from Fairy Tail Anime, i liked the name)
Orgullo Oscuro = Dark Pride

Saga 1, To be a Princess: i can't sing

Medianoche had a MASSIVE problem. It was the fillies life spans... Alicorn's were weird. They grow up year by pony year then when they reach fully height they just stop ageing for a bit until their duty is replaced by another. Umbrum were different. They aged a month every one thousand pony years, making it very hard to look after them when hours to you might actually be years to them. He and Armadura do all they can, but they are failing. She tries harder than him, she actually does what she can to be there, rarely letting Luna out of her sight yet she'd grown to the size of a five year old...

Starswirl was doing his very best, but wasn't getting very far with Celestia. She hated them, anything they did to try and help her failed. Nobody could get to her, not even Medianoche's niece. All seemed lost for the poor filly, even though he didn't want to accept that. She deserved more than this. Maybe he should give her to the ponies that La Sombra Del Sol had taken over. Sombra was doing his best to care for the lost ponies, raising and lowering their moon. Flor had decided to stay with him so he didn't overwork himself. Shaking his head, Medianoche walked down his halls, the guards standing straight and determined to protect their majesty.

It wasn't fair on her. Luna, she might be manageable but not Celestia. Starswirl gave her his prank spell book but it did little to help her thanks to the magic limit. Starswirl wanted to take her to Drapan, but Medianoche couldn't allow it. It was better for everyone that she stayed in one spot. Though, giving her to Drapan wasn't out of the question either?

"I want to be treated as i deserve!" he heard the familiar small voice shout. an unfortunate staff member was at the receiving end of Celestia's wrath, and it was not going well for either of them "I am a princess, you will treat me as such!" maybe that could help? have her be more princessy? Medianoche walked up, looking down at the young filly. she turned and glared at him with the fury of the sun. she wasn't over her father's death, it was likely taking a huge toll on her. and yet, here he was, being pathetically useless "What do YOU want!? to take something else from me?" her voice was cracking from her rage.

"I wanted to see if you were ok." Medianoche dismissed the maid and knelt to the ground, then he had to lay down to try and get eye level with her "I know i haven't been around much, but perhaps, you could watch me? do as i do, and you'll be a princess." no, it wasn't working. didn't ponies have that special magic that made things all clear up? maybe he could try that? it was very convenient and forceful, but it could help.

Me and your father were so close

We were like brothers you see

Drowning yourself within this anger

Is hurting both you and me

Celestia rose a brow at his attempt to sing, it wasn't exactly great, but from what daddy said, it was how ponies let out their emotions. it was hard for them to lie during this, unless they were singing about something evil, which actually involved the truth?

I want to try dear Celestia

But you must too

This is not a one way thing

For you I even sing!

For her he embarrasses himself.

I see a bright future for you little filly

A queen ruling her land with love and compassion

I refuse to believe it is silly

For I know that deep down you have his heart

Cosmo was deep down in their, coursing that fiery blood through her veins. she could be a good a ruler as him, if she let him teach her how.

Cosmo would want you to be happy my dear

He wouldn’t want you to shred a meaningless tear

I do love you dear little sun

Give us a chance and we’ll try to have fun

he put a hoof before her, smiling all the while he tried to make this sound like a song.

If you stick by me, then you’ll see

I’m not as bad as you’ve made me out to be

I just want you to be happy my dear

Is that so much to ask?

Why does trying to make you content be such a task?

Celestia looked at the hoof, reluctant to take it.

Come with me

And I’ll show you this world

Everything the light touches may be yours

Someday you could be something even greater than i

A whole new world

One that waits on your every word

She could envision it, a wonderful world where everyone lived in harmony. she was on a throne, ponies bowing and worshipping her. Celestia Morningstar the princess of, umm, wherever this was. Shadowlogia she thought? he smiled while she thought, and carried on singing, using his magic to make those images appear around them.

If you stay by me

Then I’ll help you see

Which path to take for your own monarchy!

To be a princess you must smile

To be a princess you must take that extra mile

To be a princess you must at least try

Please let me be your ally

Celestia glared, and put a hoof to his. he would teach her to be a princess, but she would not allow him to do anything other than that. the song was awful, but he tried. he was better than mommy, not even the gods would dare say otherwise.

Saga 1, To be a Princess: Baby steps

"A night owl i see?" Medianoche said, smiling at the filly who was reading some books in the library. She should be asleep, yet, she wasn't. Medianoche had used a spell that changed his species a little. Now, they were able to experience the twenty four hours these fillies did, but they still aged very slowly. At least this way he could care for the girls better. Do you know what it's like to take in a child, and then you blink and two years have passed? It was, abnormal and strange, alien even. At least they were making it up to them. Luna loved Armadura, but Celestia was still reluctant to pretty much everything "Come young one, you must sleep, it is not healthy."

"You said you're going to help me be a princess, but you haven't helped me at all!" she shouted, snorted at him in annoyance. This stallion was an insult to her. Her daddy... He, was missing like mommy was, and he was trying to replace them "Stop trying to get close to me, i'm only here because you kidnapped me!"

"I am sorry Celestia," Medianoche sighed, losing his smile "I wish that Cosmo never died, but, i cannot change the past. We can only live today and look towards a brighter future my dear... The past is history, tomorrow is a mystery, and today is a gift. It is why it is called the present." a smile came back to his muzzle as he spoke those words. It had been a very long time since he'd said those words. His grandfather said that to him when he was little, and Medianoche would never forget it.

"It's a lousy present. My mommy is missing, daddy is... He's, he's missing as well!" this denial was extremely powerful. At this rate he'd have to take her to Cadaver in order to prove that Cosmo Skies was dead. Best not. It might work for an Umbrum but this was a filly of the pony kind "I want to go home! I demand you return me home. You said you'd treat me as a princess, so you should do as such!" oh dear, what have you done to your daughter you despicable mare? A foal shouldn't be like this, they should frolic and be happy. He sat down, his horn glowing as he brought forth many books, flipping through them.

"If you want respect Celestia, you must earn it. I am sorry that your mother has left you, and i'm sorry that your father has passed away, but you must not hold onto this grief." he looked at her angry face, seeing the unforgiving rage. So much anger, it was unhealthy, and she deserved better than him. Medianoche wasn't good with foals like his big brother and little sister... At least he was better than the eldest of the four "Grief is like a river. It starts somewhere, and it runs its own path in its own time as no two rivers are exactly alike. You cannot force it to stop, nor can you force its pacing." the filly looked confused, but he was not done "You are struggling in this river, it is drowning you and pulling you to the bottom like a rock to gravity. You must let it take you down its path."

"You're saying that i'm in grief?" she spat while Medianoche didn't even flinch. He nodded to her, which made her upset. These heavy feelings deep inside of her was supposedly grief? She hated it! "What would you know about it anyways?" he sighed, looking her right in her eyes.

"I am grieving over the loss of Cosmo Skies. He meant a lot to me dear Celestia, it is a heavy burden in your chest. You sometimes wake up and expect him to just pop out somewhere, but he never does," he said sadly, a tear falling down a cheek "Drapan has made an entire holiday to commemorate his memory, along with Eagleand and many other lands. Your father was very much beloved, and we all feel his loss. I and you slightly more than others im afraid..." he let the waters flow, it was unwise for you to hold them back. He'd learnt that the hard way. He draped a wing over her, Celestia not wanting to allow him to, but he was affecting her. Mommy said she had daddy's heart, but when she said it she said it in a bad way.

Her heart was racing, and she could feel her cheeks start to become wet. Celestia did her power not to cry, but her body wasn't doing what she wanted it to do. She could feel her eyes blur with salty bitter water than kept splattering on the floor, a very small puddle beginning to form as her body was suddenly wracked with a hundred emotions she couldn't name. The wing around her kept her from shaking into the ground. It wasn't what would've happened, but she felt it might. She looked into Medianoche's eyes, seeing both the red and blue. They seemed kind, and they were blurred with water as well.

"It hurts..." her chest hurt the most, as if there was something stabbing her, like the time she got a splinter once. Medianoche pulled his wing in, having her against his side for warmth. It was late, and after this little emotional togetherness was over, she would likely be too tired to stay awake. He felt the same to be honest "Why does it hurt so much? When i broke my leg once it hurt, but not like this! I know it'd end soon if my leg was broken, but i don't know if this'll go away!"

"That is the curse of grief my dear. we never know when it'll be gone, it may never go completely, but you must not let it rule you. yes, it is a terrible thing to feel, but it is good that you feel it. it means you really loved that person, or pony," he sighed, his horn glowing white as he brought forth a book from one of the top shelves "I am sorry that Cosmo is gone, and that your mother has left you, but i want to try. not to replace them, but to raise you into the mare they both knew you to be. i can see it Celestia, that you will someday be one of the greatest queens in the History of Equus." Cosmo would be proud of his girls, that he knew for certain. their mother? he doubted she even made a face when they were born. despite that, it was best try and bond with the filly. Armadura was doing well with Luna after all "Before we go to bed, how about a story?" he would take baby steps to make her that queen he knew her to be. and Celestia was now a very little more willing to listen to the stallion. he wasn't her daddy, but he was going to make her that queen daddy wanted her to be, and that was good enough for now.

Author's Note

I've never written a character going through grief before, it's a little exciting to be trying out something new.

Saga 1, To be a Princess: The Eldest

Celestia trotted down the halls of the castle she'd been residing in. She didn't like it, but she needed to stay somewhere. Luna loved it, and she didn't like that either. Luna was spending too much time with the large mare that visited them daily, telling her things that contradicted everything mommy told them. But do you know what was even worse? She called the mare ma. MA! It was the greatest insult to their mommy there ever was! It was like when daddy and mommy were fighting, they argued but they were still heir parents.

She stopped as she bumped into the leg of someone. It was thick and long, so not the prankster Starswirl. It felt, different to what she'd walked into before. The rainbow stallion was meatier than this, but it did have the mares blackness. Celestia craned her neck up, looking at a very strange stallion she'd never seen before. He was, well, a stranger!

The stallion was large, like everyone around here. He was as black as the mare Celestia refused to refer to by name. He was much like the rainbow stallion, but he wasn’t rainbowy. The stallion had two massive wings much like the mare’s, though with a lot more feathers. He had a horn that curved upwards a tad, the tip sharp. His ears curved backwards, the points like the tips of spears. His mane flowed around him like a dark cloud awaiting the chance to strike someone with its lightning, the same being said for his tail. What struck her must were his eyes. They were thinner and squinted than anyone she’d ever seen before. The sclera was a pale yellow, while his irises were a smouldering amber that burned like the sun. His whole body was like it had been chiselled from black marble, everything almost perfect about him. And he scared her.

He looked down at the filly who'd walked into him, recognising her as the filly he'd heard his grandfather and sister-in-law talk about. This must be Celestia, the one the Goddess of Order abandoned. She had her coat, but nothing else. Skiadrum rose a brow as she suddenly looked ready for a fight. he could still see her fear, yet, she was trying to hide it behind determination. impressive. everybody feared him, so to see this small herbivore standing up to him caught his interest. ponies were mindless weak creatures, and yet his whole family excluding his mother loved these creatures.

"I am Princess Celestia! i demand you to state your name and reason for being here!" she was very prideful as well it seemed. Skiadrum watched her continue to glare as if she was his commander, which was slightly amusing. he showed no emotion to her, upsetting her further. she stopped her hoof, the stallion not even flinching a cell at her. she charged her horn with a bright gold, trying to use a big powerful spell like daddy could. the result was Skiadrum suddenly gaining a goatee stuck to his chin. the surprise made a few fur strands stand up, but nothing else. her magic was pathetic, but she was very proud she'd managed to do something. even if it makes him more intimidating.

"I am Prince Skiadrum." she jumped back, figuring out this was likely one of the four foals that belonged to the Mountain King. The prince looked down at the filly, reaching down and biting at the scruff of her neck, picking her off of the ground. She squirmed and yelled against the action, but he didn't let go. Skiadrum just walked outside of the castle and dropped her into the garden, watching her reactions to everything. From what he knew of ponies, their names had something to do with their destinies, the butt tattoos they called cutie marks. Hers was likely something to do with the sun. Celestia Morningstar, it was obvious. So obvious it hurt. She blinked, shaking as the large stallion was talking, he barely even blinked when talking to her, his face never changing emotion.

"I-I'm Celestia Morningstar!" he didn't react to her, and it irritated her to no ends. He was surprised how brave she was, but he could see past her mask. There was turmoil, a flurrious tempest raging within her small innocent heart. She was brave, afraid, angry and sad. Skiadrum struggled to feel emotions. When he was young, he used to bury all his feelings down when he was yelled at for being too emotional. Now it was instinctual to bury all down, so far that he rarely got a taste of what feeling he was supposed to feel. It used to be scary, but the emptiness had become disgustingly comforting. She was trying to bury it all. Even for an emotionless bastard as he, he wouldn't allow others to fall to a similar fate.

"You have great rage within you heart that you must let go, for it will eat you alive like Mammalzon Piranhas..." that was the most he'd said today. Strange. That was the best way to describe this. She took a step backwards, looking up into Skiadrum's dead yellow eyes. They were so empty and devoid of life it made her believe he was a zombie! "I am what you will become, if you refuse to face these feelings... You feel the burning fires of hatred and the storm of confusion." she didn't want to become him, she liked the feelings of happiness. daddy said her eyes glowed like the sun when she smiled. "You have many questions... Why is this happening? Where is mommy and daddy? Daddy isn't really dead is he? am i alone? why won't this pain go away?" he said with monotone.

Celestia couldn't hide anything from him, something in her burning soul was telling her it was no use. his dead gaze and state like face caused her fur to stand on end, her ears drooping and mane stopping to wave. it was, uncomfortable to bear witness to. she could become that if she held onto these feelings? but, she couldn't let them go, could she? his voice was, a little soothing despite being monotone. she looked back into his yellow depths, not able to find a sliver of life in them. it scared her, but she stood proud.

"You shouldn't tell me what to do!" his eye twitched, the movement frightening her as it seemed he didn't even blink. he did, the staring was just too intense for her to tell. her wings ruffled, biting her lip. he scared her and she didn't know how he could even do that by doing barely anything "sorry. how do you do it, huh? live with that blank expression on your face? i've seen leaves with more personality than you!"

"That fire is burning your soul from the inside out. is this what your father wanted?" she flinched again "No, he wouldn't want that. Cosmo is dead. no ifs or buts about it little filly. he's gone, never coming back. your mother is never coming back either. she left you in that house for two weeks during a storm with your dead father rotting in the bathroom with most of his chest torn open." she wanted to throw up as his monotone put images in her head. she shook her head, crying hard "He. is. gone. you must make do with what you have, or you will end up like me." he opened his wings, beating them against the ground "You will feel empty, dead even, and you would see a filly taking those feelings for granted thanks to her own stubbornness to accept the painful truth."

he took to the skies, leaving Celestia all alone. alone with her thoughts, and her pain. Skiadrum didn't go far. he landed atop a cloud and watched her, seeing her pacing and talking to herself. he had been harsh, but he didn't know how foals worked. he barely understood cubs his own species. she would have to learn that to be a leader, she had to stop acting like a big baby and get won with it. she was young yes but he'd been sent into a war at her age. Noche De Neón didn't exactly do very good with him, since at the time he left Crepúsculo Radiante to care for him... his father still regretted it to this day to let her raise him all on her own. thanks to her very strict style that had turned her into a puppet when she was a cub, he was like an empty vase everybody feared. all except this filly. she was stubborn as most ponies were, but he would be willing to give her that she wasn't one to give up. a trait he secretly admired since many were cowards these days. maybe. just maybe, this filly can make him tolerate others again?

Author's Note

Who i think they should be voiced by =

Skiadrum -Liam Neeson (His monotone voice can lul us all to sleep)

Noche De Neón - James Earl Jones (Dad Vadar)

Medianoche Brilliante - Peter Cullen (We need Optimus Brilliante!)

La Sombra Del Sol - Jeremy Iron (We got Mufasa, why not Scar too?)

Flor De Arrullo - Cherami Leigh (Lucy from Fairy Tail)

Armadura De Estrella - Cate Blanchett (Valka from How To Train Your Dragon 2)

Crepúsculo Radiante - Gina Torres (Arachnid from Transformers Prime)

Orgullo Oscuro - Kristen Schaal (Mabel Pines)

Saga 1, To be a Princess: A Mistake

Noche had a plan. It was insane, but it was a plane. Starswirl trotted behind the large stallion who was thinking about everything that was going to happen. In his rainbow aura glow was a parchment he was writing on, intending to send to Drapan. Those two fillies needed a break from all this. He needed a break, especially after that stunt Skiadrum pulled. His greatest mistake had just bitten him in the flank. Again. Noche was surprised he didn't have a scarred bite mark at this point. Starswirl followed, knowing better than to say much around The Mountain King. He had a temper on him, and he'd managed to control his three alicorn sons, so best to agree with his judgement.

"Starswirl," Noche De Neón started, looking down at the unicorn "Tell me about the fillies. I do my best to stay out of the way, but after Skiadrum's stunt i feel that i have to be involved." Starswirl sighed, recalling when they had found the filly in the garden alone. She was stressed, and was talking to herself, and had locked herself inside of her bedroom since. That was a week ago from what he could gather. La Sombra Del Sol wasn't good at the whole sun and moon thing but he at least tried.

"She's been stressed, but has been a lot less hostile. Luna's doing wonderfully though. Armadura and her have really bonded in the almost three years they've been here." The Mountain King took that in. It was a long time for ponies, so that was a problem. No wonder she hated them, they spent so little time with them. Noche passed the parchment to the student of his youngest son, the unicorn taking it in his own grip and reading "You want to take them to Drapan? Really?"

"Yes. Like a vacation in a way? Celestia hates us, we just need to prove there is little to be fearful of. She's pretty much twelve if my math is right, though with you ponies i can never tell." it was an insult to be totally honest, but a just one. Ponies were weak creatures, their bodies small and frail. Starswirl was just a stupid idiot who'd gone and cursed himself "Do let the city know another storm is on its way, since Cosmo's death the weather has been on the fritz lately..."

Celestia looked at her little sister, a frown on her face. Luna was getting to close to the mare Armadura. She didn't like it. The stallion named Skiadrum had put her mind in a whirl, she didn't know what to think. no, she did know what to do. she was gonna go home. he said she wasn't coming back, but mommy would be there waiting for them! with that idea in mind, the little filly put her sister on her back, and started to climb out of the window. it was very hard with a filly on her back, but she did it.

Celestia ran away from the large castle that looked to be made of marble and black diamond, along with an abundance of gold. she ran, and ran, and ran. she eventually ended up in the streets of Ouroboros, the city the castle resided in. there were so many creatures she couldn't even name a twelfth of what she saw. she continued running though, doing all she could to escape this hellish nightmare. it was terrifying to know any of these beings could eat her.

when she finally got out of the city, Luna was asking questions, asking why they had run away from home? Celestia demanded she not call it that, for the older sister wanted to take her to their real home. to the cabin daddy made before his passing. no, dammit no he wasn't dead, she couldn't let them lie to her like that! she refused to believe it!

"Sistew!" Luna cried out as they were running further and further from home. Celestia was running away from their home, but why? that was where mommy was! the new nice mommy. that daddy wasn't as good as their old one, but he tried to hang around. Celestia looked at her, tears in hew eyes, the younger sister frowned and started to cry as well "We go back! back!" she cried, wanting Celestia to stop "Back home!"

"That isn't home, it'll never be home Luna!" she shouted, scaring her younger sister. even when her legs hurt she kept on running. Luna didn't understand why this was happening. they were so nice, and mom was teaching her to read the books on her own! Luna was doing so well, why did sister refuse to accept any of their love? Luna shivered and jumped off of her sisters back, tumbling on the hard ground. she was already crying, and the pain she felt on her leg and side was nothing compared to the pain of her sister's rage.

(Celestia)

Luna why can’t you understand?

I’m trying to help us

Stop making such a fuss!

I’m trying to keep us from drifting apart like wind to sand

Celestia looked Luna dead in the eyes, her sadness and anger starting to leak from the seal she had created a while ago. she refused to let her baby sister be manipulated by the lies!

We are going to our true home

This place will never make us belong

They keep on lying to me, to us

Daddy is not gone!

Luna's ears dropped backwards as she saw shimmering rage start to make her big sister glow, scaring her. Celestia opened her wings, beating them and stamping the ground with every word she said. too emotional to care what her sister thought right now.

Mommy will be waiting for us Luna

She is worrying about us and wants us safe

This is not our home my Luna

They will not make us believed we are waif!

We are Princesses dear Luna

Our title they continue to chafe…

He promised that he'd make her a princess, but he hadn't done anything for her yet! he lied to her, they all lied to her! everything was a lie! she wanted to hit something, to throw something! the rage continuing to consume her very soul. all Luna could do was watch.

I don’t see how you do it

How you forget all they’ve done for us

They don’t care for us not one bit

They only see us as pets!

She spat on the ground as rain started to fall to the ground. it was slow, but very slowly building. Luna didn't feel the same as her sister. her horn glowed, the sclera of her eyes going green and purple mist leaving the corners of said eyes. Celestia was disgusted they had tainted her sister with their... their, uh, dark magic! yes, dark magic! Luna used it to make her words sound coherent as if she was an adult, as to let her point come across.. she wanted to be heard, and she would be.

(Luna)

No my sister you are wrong

They want to be our new family

Mommy and daddy are gone

We need to take what we can get

the fact was painful but true, something that Armadura did her best to explain. daddy was hurt really bad by mommy, so the God of Afterlife Cadaver sent him to a happy place where he can be happy. Luna was told that daddy wouldn't want to see her for a long time because he's excited to see her become a princess. the one he knew she could be. going there now might disappoint him and she didn't want that.

They give us food and water

They give us whatever we want!

Your heart does totter

But mine remains content

Celestia's heart was running rampant, and it was growing angrier and angrier every time Luna used words. use that vile magic! but Luna continued, knowing Celestia's unstable feelings that were festering inside of her.

Armadura is my mommy

Medianoche is my stepdaddy

Our real mommy was mean and cruel

She made our lives difficult like after a tsunami

the elder shook her head, refusing to believe Luna's words. what did she know? she was just a foal! she knew nothing! even so, the storm begun to grow and grow in power. they didn't leave the small spot they were in though, they stayed where they were. Celestia didn't know where Ouroboros was, and they were inside of a forest, so she instinctually didn't want to go anywhere. daddy told her if they got lost to stay in one place, and Luna was following that same rule, but because her new mommy told her.

Why don’t you see my sister?

That our mommy was not very nice

She still has you in her grasp

You are still in her vice…

Her sister was trapped under their mommy's spell, the very one Luna could now see through. her new mommy had helped her see through it, and was now in better hooves. Armadura De Estrella had love to spare, even when giving much of her attention to her. such a loving mare, so loving she taught Luna some of her magic, and Starswirl was teaching her prank magic. they were like a family to her, even the extremely quiet one she only spotted once, and who barely looked at her. all of them were a family. daddy was friends of them, so she could trust them.

(Celestia)

No, no, no, no I don’t believe you!

You were to young to remember them…

You are wrong my little sister

Your foolishness I do condemn

Celestia just refused to believe anything, she just couldn't. her mommy was perfect, she did those things because she loved her! she loved them both! Luna was just a foal, she didn't know anything! Luna shook her head, her mane going still from the weight of her feelings and the weight of the rain. it was getting worse, and she was starting to feel cold.

(Luna)

You are the one who is wrong

They love us and have done more than they should

They all changed their very body clocks to spend time with us

Something mommy never would…

Mommy wasn't very nice. Luna could remember it. she remembered the cold and unfeeling look mommy had, she never gave a smile, and she didn't even make their father happy. he did all the work while she did nothing but watch in the background.

Mom didn’t love us, she didn’t care at all

Mom never smiled, and she never ever laughed

Mom didn’t care when we got hurt, the injury big or small

Mom hated us, her eyes branding my very soul…

It was painful to remember, but important for her sister who obviously repressed everything, denying it. sister was very stubborn. painfully so. she was hurting herself, how couldn't she see that? she had lost weight from her stubbornness.

Daddy did love us, he did all he could

He did things that mommy never would

Daddy made us happy, he got us through the day

But she got tired of it at some point, so our daddy she did slay

Celestia shouted, her horn glowing sharply with magic as she demanded Luna to take it back. the rainbow alicorn's wife told her that it was the old mommy that killed their old daddy. it was a harsh truth, but Armadura had been there to help her while Celestia shut everyone out. it was hurting Luna as well as herself.

He’s gone my sister, our daddy has passed

I’m younger than you and even can see it

I loved him, but I must move on

You must let go of the delusions you have amassed…

in a fit of uncontrollable rage Celestia jumped onto her little sister, the two getting into a fight. they hit each other with their front hooves, kicking with their back and sort of jousting with their horns. Luna did her best to defend herself against her older sister, but Celestia was a lot better at magic than her, and it was out of control. it went on for none of them knew how long. it didn't stop, even when the storm was blurrier than the tears in their eyes.

lightning suddenly struck the ground, somehow starting a fire. Luna cried out in fear as the flames started to burn the forest, the violent winds and rain not desisting it. Celesta couldn't think straight, all she wanted to do was prove Luna wrong. she was wrong, they were all wrong! the thunder shattered the skies, not deterring her. Luna sobbed as the fires almost licked her, making her backtrack to her sister. which was worse, the flames of the fire or her sister? she didn't know.

The two were made to go at it, the white older Alicorn going mad with fury. they both stopped as a silvery white aura surrounded them. with a loud thud Medianoche landed on the ground, exhausted from his heavy searching for the two who seemed to be trying to kill each other. he covered them with his wings, tears also starting to form in his eyes at the sight of the two. the unexplainable pony song magic drifted inside of him, the stallion now starting to sing with sombre in his pained voice.

(Medianoche)

Please young ones do not fight

You should stick together like the family you are

You shouldn’t shout like this

this is simply not right

The two were dropped out of the spell, them hiding under his wings as the rains continued to race each other to the ground. the fires roared, and the stallion made a shield around them to stop the fire from touching them. the storm wasn't very safe to fly in after all, and he was too tired to teleport back after scouting almost his entire country for the two...

I am sorry my Tia, but your sister is right

Cosmo has passed to be with the stars in the night

Your mother did not have love in her heart

Her selfishness has driven you apart…

Celestia started to cry again. from her sister's pain that she inflicted, from the leftover anger and the fact that was being hammered into her. everyone had said it, everyone against her didn't do all that well when it came to a vote. did they really know better than she did?

She was not good to you Celestia

You have yet to accept that fact

We are doing the best we can for you

To retrieve the foalhood from you she did sack

Luna hugged the stallion's leg, Medianoche nuzzling her to try and calm her down. she had bruises all over, a few singed hairs from the fire and her sister's magic, and a few cuts that bled a little. this was his fault. it had to be. how could he have failed so badly that they almost killed one another? Cosmo would kill him for this, then bring him back to life and kill him again...

Please my sunrise let me teach you to see

Please do not cry

I do not want to see the tears on your face

I want to make you the princess I know you can be…

he nuzzled Celestia, whom was becoming free of the blindfold her mother put on her. she wanted to bite him, but couldn't thanks to the flurry of emotions deep within. he sighed, the song continuing, and he was secretly surprised how well he was doing compared to earlier. odd pony magic.

I want to make you how your father would

I am afraid that I can’t do all I should

For your health these actions are not good

Please come home to undo what has been misunderstood…

Celestia looked up as he spread out his wings, the stallion desiring to take them out as the fire was stating to heat the shield up like an oven. they would be cooked alive. his magically put Celestia and Luna on his back and in a flash, teleported into the sky. he beat his wings, flying towards home. he beat his wings fast and hard, his magic keeping the two warm and shielding them from the rain. the storm was getting worse and worse, and soon Medianoche had to fly by memory alone thanks to the rain.

then with a bright flash and a roar of thunder, the two suddenly found themselves on the ground. they didn't know how they got to the ground, but they were there. they seemed to have fallen a little, but how did they get on the ground? Celestia and Luna huddled together, looking around for the one whom saved them from the fire filled forest.

"Tia!" Celestia looked to where Luna was pointing, seeing a black shape suddenly crash to the ground like a comet, black smoke trailing behind it. fear filled her heart again, and the once white filly ran towards the being that landed on the ground. hard. she raced as fast as her little tired body could, thanks to everything earlier she was exhausted. Luna limped behind her, a front leg heavily bruised.

half in an overflowing river was the large grey form of the one that had taken them away from the cabin. Celestia bit his ear, trying to pull him out of the water, but wasn't strong enough. Luna tried as well, but the two of them were too weak to do much. he'd been hit by lightning, a rather strong bolt. they couldn't see the injury thanks to the rain, but they continued to try and keep him from going under. Celestia's eyes looked upwards for a moment, spotting a glow. it was a glowing rainbow? she let go and cried out as loudly as she could, hoping someone would come for them. the glowing spot stopped and now headed to them, the filly smiling as her body collapsed from the exhaustion.

"Son!" they heard. the deep tone belong to Noche De Neón. they were thankful it was him, and scared at the same time. the stallion raced over, pulling his youngest son out of the water "what have you two done!?" he spat, the two shrinking at his angry voice. the stallion looked at his son's injuries, praying the worst damage would just be a scar and constant twitches in his right wing. his ears flattened, holding onto his young boy's body. he was still alive thank the stars, but that was a miracle in itself. the storms were becoming out of control and needed to be solved, quickly. Cosmo's death has wrecked havoc on everything, so much so that his son's life was nearly ended... thanks to two, no, Luna loved it at the castle... ONE very stupid filly.

Author's Note

Trying to write songs are really hard, yikes.

Saga 1, To be a Princess: Least Favoured

"You stupid selfish inconsiderate stubborn foal of a nag!" Noche shouted, stamping his hoof so hard on the floor it splintered and cracked. His wings were spread wide, making him even more intimidating. The eldest of the two sisters shrunk down, forcing herself from crying "Thanks to your stupidity, my son nearly got killed! He'll be lucky to just have a few scars and a permanent twitch! I would eat you alive out of rage, but you'd leave a bitter taste in my mouth... Just as bitter as your heart." every word felt like a physical stab. But it was understandable. If this happened to Luna, she'd be just as angry. But she had nearly killed her sister... All she did was hurt others.

"Noche!" shouted the voice of a mare. Celestia looked up to see the mare that Luna called Ma, Armadura De Estrella. Her wings were spread wide, and was determined to protect this grief stricken filly who didn't know much better. Her whole life had just been burnt to cinders, it needed to be reborn like a phoenix, not destroyed even further "This is a filly, one that is barley old enough to understand what's going on. All her life she has been with that dead hearted mare, she doesn't know any better, she doesn't know we are better! THIS, is making us look as evil as she is making herself believe we are."

"Father..." La Sombra Del Sol said as he walked up next to his sister in law "This isn't the way. I'm scared for Medianoche, but taking your rage out on Celestia isn't the right thing to do. She's part of our family now, and so, we must deal with this like you would do your own." he didn't want to be here, but they were here as support for Medianoche. Starswirl left to care for the ponies while everyone came to care for and wait for his recovery. Lightning was powerful and dangerous, no mortal is purely immune to it. Even lightning spirits can be harmed by it.

Celestia looked up at the stallion. He was a little like Skiadrum, but sounded far kinder. He was still scary, no denying that, but he wasn't AS scary was the rainbow and emotionless stallion. La Sombra Del Sol sighed, looking down at the scared Celestia. His brother risked a lot for thus young one, so he would do the same. She had great potential, something deep inside her that was crawling out of a cage locked away. The potential to be a good leader, a good mare that her subjects would love. Armadura saw it as well, not that Noche cared right now. All he could see was a stupid filly that almost killed her own sister and nearly killed his son.

"Don't you try Sol, this bitch is as evil as her mother! The very one who murdered her own husband out of boredom, and thanks to that selfishness, our world is going to Tartarus! These storms are getting worse and worse, more frequent as well!" she flinched at the elders words, his voice like a storm that was threatening to throw her into oblivion "She has inherited her mothers evilness, just look at her baby sister!"

"I've seen it," Armadura sighed, her ears down, but she refused to not stop him from crushing her heart any further "If we keep this up we'll attract the Wendigo!" the fact was harsh but true. Wendigo were a sub-species of Umbrum, and thankfully were willing to leave the Umbrum alone, but Armadura was fearing the sake of the ponies. And the other living beings were short life spans. They were so young... She'd blinked and wanted the whole life time of a rabbit fly by once. It was hard, but thanks to her husband, they were starting to live like the ponies. Twenty four hours in a day, and they got to feel every day of the pony year. They still aged extremely slow, but they now had more time to do things as well as the short naps.

Luna frowned at the sleeping stallion, looking at all of him, the parts that weren't under the white sheets. It was the royal infirmary, a room that was white, clean and had the sense of healing about it. There was a nurse in here too, a mare Luna had yet to speak with. she was a very dark blue, her mane being a dark purple and her eyes were a bright yellow. she had a horn, slightly curved. it seemed to be a common birth defect in Umbrum.

she had a bed of her own, but preferred to be with the King. Medianoche nearly killed himself for them, flying in an insane out of control storm just to keep them from being cooked alive inside of his other way of protecting them, a shield. she was snuggled beneath his unbandaged wing, feeling the beat of his hearts against his chest. a fact she found oddly sootthing. Umbrum having two hearts. he had a strong body, powerful magic, and was extremely kind. he'd done a lot for them, changing the body clock of his whole species for them and was even becoming in tune with pony song magic for them. Celestia was just hurting, she'll calm down soon.

he was warm, and comfortable. so much so that she was starting to fall asleep by his side. Cosmo was gone, a very sad truth, but for now, Medianoche Brilliante will there for her. daddy was gone, but he was here to stay. his long life span meant he'd always be there for her, for them. he would help her sister, she just knew it. his heart was big enough to save a thousand souls, she just knew it. ma taught her a lot while her sister moped. Armadura was so much nicer than her old mommy, and while he would never be as good as daddy, he'll be good enough to fill that void.

Toque Dulce smiled as she watched the little filly go to sleep next to their mighty King. he had such a kind heart that he risked his life. all of Shadowlogia were praying he had a quick recovery, and while many are angry it was because of some silly filly, they were all not surprised he risked himself for another. Cosmo Skies was his best friend, and these were his friend's foals, it was unsurprising he wanted to care for them. Toque sighed, her horn glowing with black as she wrote his progress on a clipboard.

Toque Dulce peeked at Luna again, the smile on her face growing. the Queen had bonded very well to the filly, the fact being something to be proud of "i hope you treat him well, Princess Luna." she was young, she was silly, but Luna was a good Princess. her older sister was too deep in grief to understand they were trying to help her, and her snobbishness was making her the least favoured of the sisters. she hadn't earned the title yet, but if the king thought she could become a great ruler, who were they to say otherwise "Oh our mighty King, i hope you never change, even if it means you end up in the infirmary..."

Saga 1, To be a Princess: Upheaval Sends his Re-Guards

Noche sat in his son's throne. It was uncomfortable as it was not his to sit upon. Armadura sat beside him, tired from being at her husbands side for so long. The hall was large, and was as beautiful as it was in Noche's youth. Everything was perfect, but what wasn't was that his son was missing. There were numerous guards in the hall, but it wasn't good enough. He wanted to see his son sitting here, not him. La Sombra Del Sol refused the throne, he preferred to lead their military. Skiadrum, he was far too dead on the inside to rule. So dead he was amazed Cadaver hadn't come to collect him. He and his love really did fail their first son. So much so that Noche wished he could have Last Legacy reset the poor thing, so he could bring Skiadrum out of his abyss of simply existing...

He was brought from his thoughts when the doors opened, revealing two strange creatures. Both were from Abyssinia, the country lead by cat people. He found them amusing, but they weren't fans of ponies, so they kept their distance. They liked the Umbrum though, thanks to the cattiness.

The Ahuizotl had an elongated dog-like head, except for his eyes, which are positioned over his nose at the end of his snout. He walked on all fours, with dog-like hind limbs and ape-like forelimbs, and a long monkey-like tail with a hand on its end. The Ahuizotl has a tuxedo style coat, having dark blue fur over most of his body, while his stomach, jaws and hands are of a lighter blue. He wore golden coloured jewellery, such as a necklace, a single ear ring, and three bracelets, one for each foreleg, and one around his tail's wrist.

Then there was the Abyssitire. She had a very soft orange brown coat with sandy beige around her eyes. It was also on the front of her muzzle, stating from her nose to going down under her chin to down her neck and chest. The rest was hidden by a luscious burgundy robe. The robes were, as stated, burgundy, but had a paler redish pink fuzz. The robes didn’t have shoulder straps and just went around her shoulders, which was adorned with the fuzz. She had a golden belt around her wait that pointed downwards, and from beneath that, the pink fuzz slowly spilt a part revealing a dress like part beneath the large robe. The pink circled all around the back touching the other side. The sleeves clung tightly to her body, the ends ending in curved points against the pack of her paws. Her fingers adorned golden rings with sapphires on each, totalling in six rings. She wore a necklace in a similar style to her belt which had a lapis lazuli in the middle. On her curved ears were gold rings, one for each ear. Her eyes were light malachite green with darker green for her slit pupils and had dark pink eye shadow above them. She had long waving ginger hair with bangs that framed her wondrous face. And she had a gold band on the near end of her tail, which also had a dark brown tip. The same dark brown on each side of her muzzle that pointed like arrows, thought only stayed on the upper half of her mouth.

"Hello your majesties," said the feline who bowed while a smile "I am Catrina of Abyssinia, and this is my friend, who likes to be called Ahuizotl." that would be like Noche naming himself Umbrum. He waved a hoof, letting them proceed "We are travellers, here to see what Shadowlogia has to offer our dear kingdom. The Queen herself asked me to come." he rose a brow, not believing her. Then again, Shadowlogia's allies were dumb enough to come without guards, why not send two like these?

"I am Queen Armadura, and this is my father in law, Noche De Neón, King of the Mountain." Catrina rose her own brow, curious as to why she specified 'in law'? "My husband was harmed during the storm the other week... I am terribly sorry, but we cannot aid your country until he is well again. I have no power over the country yet, thus the need for the King's father." Ahuizotl just shrugged, looking right up at the colourful king. He was very shiny and rainbowy. He'd make a good toy.

"A shame really," Ahuizotl said, his handed tail curled and scratching his chin "Well, we came all this way... It's just our country is in a state of turmoil and needs help from the wealthy Shadowlogia." they needed allies, who better than the Umbrum? The ones that controlled everything and had the power over the sun, moon and connection with the gods themselves "We're dying. We've lost a third of our population already, that includes EVERYTHING, not just my kind or hers."

"We are indeed in trouble, we need as much help we we can get," Catrina smiled, her charms not working on the stern King of the Mountain. A shame he was so immune to her, normally males loved her. Umbrum were obviously different "What is the worst that could happen dear majesties?"

The King of the Draconeqi, Gekidō, scowled at the sky. Something was amiss, something was wrong. He'd been given the letter about Medianoche, and his best mages were doing all they could to try and control the unwielded chaos energy in the sky. He sighed, leaving his throne. It was a giant tree, the beast branch that curved to the middle being perfect for him to sleep and lay on. Them being tree preferring creatures and all. He let out a loud roar, calling for his guard captains to come. He was going to send his very best to Shadowlogia to try and help with things. It was the least he could do. Sakura might do the same, so that was something to bring up later.

He was met with six of his best. Guard Captain 混乱 Konran, 不和 Fuwa, 狡猾な Kōkatsuna, 違法 Ihō, ロキ Roki and 悲しみKanashimi. All of them were in the golden armour of the royal guard. It was designed to make them all look the same, but on the armour plates at the chests had their names written in Drapanese. Only someone who could read Drapanese would know the difference. It was for their protection. They could see each other as if they didn't wear the armour, but to others they looked like clones. King Gekidō was keeping an eye on Fuwa and Kōkatsuna, they both had red lung dragon tails, meaning that when they reached adulthood, they'd become fellow Titan Tails. Only Konran was an adult, the others not yet adults. They were barely teenagers by Draconequus standards, but they were still the best guards he had. In all his years, he had yet to meet more talented youths and these five cubs.

"You five must be wondering why i have called you here," Gekidō said, looking down at their reactions at the use of Equestrian. They had all been taught the language of that land, but unfortunately they weren't as good as he was. He stood before them, eyeing Fuwa and Kōkatsuna harshly "The Chaos energy in Shadowlogia is out of control, our mages can do little here, so i'm sending you six there. You can balance out the unstable magic, and protect Ouroboros. Their king was harmed by the volatile magic there. Kanashimi, you have a talent in healing magic, yes?" the Draconequus nodded "I want you to heal King Medianoche, he will get an infection from the chaos magic otherwise and we will NOT lose another great leader out of Shadowlogia... Not after the loss of Cosmo."

"Is this wise?" questioned Fuwa "I'm not arguing with you our king, but uhh, who'll be protecting you? Not that you can't protect yourself, it's just that we're supposed to stay here." he was to be totally honest, new to this. He'd been a guard for a while, but hadn't actually been with the King himself before? That was reserved for Konran, their guard captain.

"I understand your troubles Fuwa but it is fine. You are very good with cubs, aren't you?" he nodded "I want you to guard the princesses Luna and Celestia, perhaps the King's niece Orgullo Oscuro as well. I've seen you with a halberd and i've seen you during the Battle of Hadesu kawa." the youngest out of the ground looked embarrassed by it. Yeah, it was pretty brutal. A female had somehow taken the magic of a male and had gone insane because of it. She had started to suck the magic out of everything she came across, and then sold her soul to become a Lich "You and Ihō were the ones who killed the lich after all." not a lot of them knew that, Konran took the credit as Fuwa and Ihō weren't exactly ready for the cheers of the public. that and they only got lucky with her.

"We understand dear King. we will be there withing three days," Konran bowed, looking up at the king who nodded and hopped back onto his perch, watching the two. Konran didn't think it was good for Fuwa and Kōkatsuna to leave Drapan, in a few thousand years Fuwa was gonna hit the Draconequus version of magical puberty, and that was going to be absolutely nuts thanks to being a Titan Tail. he'd thankfully be more manageable as he was more of a prankster.

The five youngsters followed the Guard Captain as he lead them away from the throne room, sighing as he looked right at them. those five weren't ready for something like this. yeah they were gifted, but they could barely speak Equestrian properly. Ponish was a stupid name and Draconeqi refused for it to be called that. it was run by equines, so Equestrian was a far more fitting name for their language. oh well, Konran would work with what he could get.

Author's Note

Ahuizotl isn't just a throw away villain like in the canon show, in this tale, he actually does shit! unfortunately, his describe is too difficult for me to describe, so i had to nick it from the MLP Friend Ship is Magic WIKI. sorry.
And Catrina is also here! she's also going to play a big part. nearly all villains from Gen 1 are coming back from the dead! which ones? read on to find out!

Catrina will be voiced by Scarlett Johansson, and Ahuizotl will keep his original voice actor.

Guard Captain 混乱 Konran = (Disarray)
Guard 不和 Fuwa = (Discord) yes Discord is part of the story and he isn't the god we know. not YET. this is before he becomes the Spirit of Disharmony, where he's just a guard. it will be explained why nobody remembers him, so don't worry about that little bit.
Guard 狡猾な Kōkatsuna = (Crafty)
Guard 違法 Ihō = (Illegal)
Guardロキ Roki = (Loki)
Guard 悲しみ Kanashimi = (Sorrow)

ハデス川 Hadesu kawa (Hades River)

Saga 1, To be a Princess: Celestia's Personal... Petting Zoo?

Celestia paced in her room, the doors heavily locked. The rainbow one said she was to stay here while he dealt with some visitors from Abyssinia and Drapan. She didn't understand what was so important. She paced, and paced, and paced. Until she heard a knock at the door. The smell wasn't that of a pony, but she was just happy to have someone here. When she felt the door lose its magical barrier, she opened the door. Revealing something strange that walked in, looking just as nervous as she did.

The creature was purely white with the mane being a silly blue. The eyes were brown, and it looked a lot like a pony that had gone through a stretcher with armour. She didn't like it, she could tell it was illusion magic. Thanks to Starswirl's constant attempts at magic tricks to cheer her up. He frowned, deciding this wasn't a good idea. Well, he'll let her decide what is worse. His real form, or this fake on. Fuwa took off he helmet, and the illusion was dropped.

His head was horse-like, much different from other, pony head styles. He had a deer antler on the right, a blue goat horn on the left, one long fang sticking out from under his lip, different-sized pupils, a snake tongue, a goat beard, and white bushy eyebrows. He had the right arm of a lion, the left claw of an eagle, the right leg of a lizard, and the left leg of a goat. In addition, he had two very large wings, a bat's right wing, a Pegasus left wing. He also a horse's mane black mane, and dragon-like snake's tail with a white tail tuft. The shape of his body resembles that of a snake. Discord held a resemblance to a Drapanese dragon, or Lung Dragon, a creature often depicted with a serpentine body, facial hair, feline claws, and antlers.

But his armour changed as well. the helmet had a kind of spell on it, with it willingly taken off, the spell can be undone. Covering the back of his neck were golden plates that went along his back and stopped halfway up his red tail. The gold plates also went over the sides of his lion arm, his eagle arm and the front of the lizard leg and goat leg. He had darker gold shoulder pads that ended in points, which also went over the sides of his legs. His underbelly, Undertail, the rest of his arms and legs were covered in a jungle green like material. It looked soft but was actually from a special tee in the Draco Dimension that was stronger than mithril. Only for the very best guard.

Attached to his back was a golden halberd, a bow and oddly no pouch for arrows. Two parts of the halberd pole were made of gold, the middle made of obsidian. The actual blade was half of a circle that had the depiction of the sun on it and had a pointed spear head that was separate to the blade. Like an axe attacked to a spear. his bow was, strange. the string was made from pure light, and it looked like the bow itself could possibly break in half, the curved parts also looking rather sharp. almost like... the bow was made out of two blades?

"Uh... Hi? I'm, supposed to be watching you, apparently," said the talking petting zoo. Celestia just stared at the strange creature, never seeing something like him before. And he'd never seen an Alicorn before, so it was a first for them both "I'm Fuwa! Or, well, you could just call be Discord. It's my names translation," he shrugged. Alright he was good with cubs, but this was a completely different species! She was a herbivore at that! he snapped his fingers and some flowers appeared, which he gave to her. ponies liked flowers right?

"What in the hell are you?" she asked Fuwa. or Discord. whatever he was. she was most interested in his weapon attached to his back "And what is that?" she wanted one. she just had to have one. he pulled his weapon from his back and put it to the ground, saying it was a halberd "I want one!" a smile grew on her face, and the Draconequus didn't know what he should do now. from what he'd been told, she'd nearly gotten her sister killed because of her inability to control her emotions. and almost killed a King.

"I suppose i could show you how to use it, but i don't want to get in trouble either. first time out of the country, first time around none Drapanese ponies... first time around a demi god." Celestia was determined to learn it. she wanted to take her mind off of the events that had been going on lately, and she was afraid what they'd do to her if they decided they didn't need her. the rainbow one wanted to kill her after all. he hadn't said anything, but she'd seen the rage in his eyes. he wanted to kill her, and badly "Alright, i guess i could give you a few lessons?"

"Awesome!" the Draconequus shrugged, at least he'd started somewhere with her. no way in Tartarus was he letting a filly actually hold a halberd, he didn't even think ponies had the magic to do that. out of everything he expected her to like the bow, but it seems not "So, when can i learn how to swing that thing around?" she almost bounced at the prospect of learning something new. having something to take her mind off of everything was extremely needed, and the Draconequus would be happy to help her in her endeavour.

"Well, we're going to have to use sticks first, you could hurt yourself with this thing and i happen to like my head being on my shoulders." it wasn't an actual penalty, at least he assumed it wasn't, first time guarding a none Draconequus royal. well, by that he meant guarding something that isn't a Draconequus. this is going to be a long ass day.

"I see..." Noche said as he looked the Guard Captain up and down. this was an adult, definitely different from the bunch of cubs he'd brought in. those five were kids, it was annoying how young these were yet they were somehow the best. the one Celestia was with was apparently good with children, but he highly doubted that he'd get very far with her "Does the Great Sakura of Chess Cheating want to send some of his own guards as well?"

"Not that i'm aware of, King of the Mountain," Konran said, looking at the stallion who glared at the drake back. inwardly Konran smiled, knowing the Doragon No Uma Emperor liked to cheat at games. he was a masterful tactician, but when it came to playing just for fun, he always cheated. nice for the King to call him out on it "Do tell me of the Abyssitire and Ahuizotl you wanted Roki and Ihō to guard, i haven't heard anything from Abyssinia as of late... and for two Abyssinian's to travel all the way to Shadowlogia for help when Drapan is much closer, it is suspicious."

Konran was a wonderous sight to behold when it came to Draconeqi. His head was pony like, though with little fangs pointing from under his lip it was more of a white Umbrum head. He had two golden antlers that curved beautifully, and two smaller horns that pointed backwards. His mane was long, black like charcoal, and against the wind it seemed it was ethereal, much like an Alicorn’s. His eyes were a lustrous emerald sheen that stood out against his white coat. Around his neck was a golden band that had emerald spheres imbedded inside of it going in the patter of big, small, big and small all around it. The fur above the band and on his chest was much fluffier than the rest of his body and had signs of a mixture of feathers in there as well. He was a Titan Tail, much like his King, meaning he was wingless as they didn’t need wings, their levitation skills were only matched by other Titan Tail’s. Starting on the middle of his back were platinum scales with gold rims that went up his back, reaching his shoulders and covering his arms up until his elbows. His two front legs belonged to a lizard, the scales a wondrous grey that had a black stripe on the middle of the forearm and two on each hand that had four talons with a thumb. On the left arm were two golden bands that had emerald jewels embedded in them. At the end of his long body were two equine legs with golden flawless hooves at the bottom. On his thighs were three gold stripes, and on his hind legs above his hooves were two more stripes. His tail was long and was a silvery grey instead of the common ruby. It was dark against his back end, but slowly became lighter and lighter. He had black hair that started on the third of his tail that went down to the tip, flowing like his mane. he had another golden band with emeralds in it on the upper third after his tail hair started, making it look as if the black made way for the gold. Behind the band were two darker grey stripes and after it were four that got smaller the closer it got to the tail tip, like his arms. Finally, on the back of his tail where it sprouted from his pure white body, was a golden piece strapped on by leather, a place of gold with, you guessed it, emerald. He also had emerald embedded in his deer antlers now that Noche noticed.

Konran was Drapanese for Disarray, the complete opposite when you got to look at him. if he swung that way, Noche was sure he'd go for that. shame really.

"The Abyssitre is called Catrina, a very silver tongued feline. the Ahuizotl for whatever reason wants to be called Ahuizotl," Noche sighed, rolling his eyes at the stupidity "Yes, it would be as retarded as you being called Draconequus." it was funny, because Konran actually knew someone who had such unimaginative parents to name their cub Draconequus... it was ridiculous, yet hilarious "Something isn't right about them. the Ahuizotl is a fool, my guards even have fun playing with his naivety... but Catrina. i don't know, but suddenly my son has gotten a fever. it happened very suddenly, and just to happened to have happened when that witch came..." Konran nodded, understanding Noche De Neón's concerns. Abyssitire were natural concats, good liars and VERY good with potions. rivalled only by the Zebra of Zebrabwe... these days they were just normal citizens, but they did have the capability to do the things he'd just listed in his head.

"Alright, Kanashimi will be by his side at all times. he's gifted with healing magic, so whatever this fever is, it'll be held back by his abilities. your son may remain sick until we know what has caused this affliction, but he'll stay alive... it's best we don't reveal that we're onto them. just, act like a very worried father, like you already are." he nodded, Konran sighing at the stallions sad eyes. he really cared for his son, and now Konran thanked his King for sending them here. they needed help, especially thanks to the rogue chaos energy and this whole debacle...

Catrina eyed the very large Umbrum King in his bed from a mirror she had brought with her. she smiled, watching silently. it was a shame the Draconeqi sent such a skilled healer, but it mattered little, her work was done. they had no evidence to say anything was her doing, they could only assume because she was from Abyssinia. it was true they were in trouble, but Catrina had her own goal.

Ahuizotl was doing good work as well. he pretended to be a fool to get close with the guard around the area, and so far it was working. she knew a lot of the layout of the castle, and she knew much of their schedules. it was mostly coming to how the master predicted. but Catrina was going to play out a little longer than planned, for there was the potential to get a certain little filly on their side.

Author's Note

Yes, he is where Celestia learnt to use a Halberd. I wonder how painful it'd be to have all of your friends, to have all of your family completely forget you? for your memory to be erased from existence and become a god? your influence is still around, but nobody remembers you. wow. that's far more depressing than i intended it to be fuckin' hell!

And yes, i am a nut for description.

Saga 1, To be a Princess: O Novo, O Novo, wherefore art thou Novo?

Celestia wanted to go outside. She wanted to see others her age, she wanted to see ponies and not these meat eaters. Her new personal guard was, actually rather interesting to be around. He spent all of his time with her, both because it was his job and she didn't want to be left alone. And he was teaching her how to use a halberd which was awesome. The young filly jumped to her hooves, standing on top of her bed, taking the Draconequus' attention away from a book he was reading. She stated what she wanted, to go and see ponies. He raised a brow at her, which in her opinion looked like a hairy Caterpillar.

"I'm not sure i'm allowed to do that Tia." it was a little nickname he'd given her, one she hadn't corrected yet. Celestia wanted to go out into the world and meet more ponies, which he kinda got. She had been around these none ponies for a long time, so it might actually make everyone's job a little easier? "I guess we can go? I don't know where anywhere is though."

Celestia climbed onto his back, holding onto his sheathed Halberd as he stood on all fours. He rolled his eyes and walked out of the room, the many guards in armour slightly nodding at a fellow guard, though they scowled at the filly on his back. Since she'd come, everything had gone wrong. She knew they hated her, but she had her very own Draconequus, so there was nothing to be afraid of. Discord rolled his eyes again at her pride and inability to understand these guards might try to eat her. This made his job a little harder now. If he left her for a moment, she might get assassinated.

Crepúsculo Radiante scowled at the nurse who was quivering under her burning gaze. She then looked to her youngest son, her anger growing and growing. He looked sick, and it was making her want to skin something, alive, while bathed in salt. His fur had lost its lustrous grey, his wings were losing feathers, he had dark rings around his eyes along with heavy bags under them and looked exhausted. Someone did this to her baby. Whoever it was, would die.

Crepúsculo let the nurse do what she was supposed to do, even though she could do very little. The Draconequus that was guarding her baby boy was keeping the fever from getting out of control and at least let her son be able to rest, even if uncomfortably. She accepted he was doing better than any of their doctors could at the moment, so for now he was in her good books. Medianoche had been poisoned, she just knew it. Conveniently when that cat came here!

"Do not be brash." her eyes moved towards her greatest failure. Skiadrum. He was standing there in the doorway as emotionless as always. Noche De Neón didn't let her raise any cubs on her own after how he turned out, it was a constant eyesore whenever she saw him. She stamped the floor, silently demanding him to leave her sight. She didn't need a failure like that to constantly mock her with his very existence "He is my brother, i can see him if i wish."

"I don't want to see you, Skiadrum," she spat, turning to look right into his cold lifeless eyes. They would be beautiful if he wasn't so dead. He was a corpse that breathed. An insult to her life and what made her seem incompetent "Every time i see you, i'm reminded what a failure and waste of time you are! You waste the very air you breathe!" he was emotionless as ever, not even a reaction. She could vent on him, and he'd never do anything about it "You suck more love out of people than a starving changeling." Skiadrum didn't react, instead walking towards his little brother's side, frowning as always at his state. They would catch the one who did it, it was only a matter of time. It was likely the Abyssitire, but he wasn't going to point hooves yet.

"You are the embodiment of bitchness aren't you?" said the healing Draconequus, how was now on Crepúsculo's shit on list. Kanashimi was pure black, just black. His head was like a mutant wolf horse, his ears from a lion, one horn from an antelope and the other from a reindeer. His eyes were pure maroon, glowing and standing out against his black as sin colouring. Covering his neck were black feathers, and his mane was made of black flame. His long body was thicker than what was normal for Draconeqi, showing off he had strength. His left arm was from a bear and his right from a Roc with two extra talons that fit in between the two gaps in his hand. His left leg was from an iguana and the right leg from a reindeer. His tail was that from a snake that had dark black spines on top, some fur on the tip. One of his wings was from an owl and the other was from a dragon. Unlike the others he didn't actually have golden armour as it'd make him look stupid. It was a very dark grey so it didn't burn your eyes out your sockets when looking at him.

"What. Did. You. Say?"

"It's kinda obvious you're just pissed cuz you failed at being a mom. What's in front of you is your creation, it's not his fault you made him like that." Crepúsculo didn't have time for this. She left the room, for she had to skin a rug. Skiadrum just looked at the strange creature, not feeling any emotion, but he believes he was appreciating someone standing up for him. He'd buried his feelings for so long he didn't know what was what anymore, so he could only assume "don't worry pal, i'll stick up for you." Kanashimi was a bit of a douche and he was a good fighter, but deep down, he couldn't stand people be walked all over like he had when he was a cub. If it wasn't for this desire to help those who were walked all over, Fuwa and Ihō wouldn't have joined the guard.

Skiadrum didn't know how to deal with these actions coming from the Draconequus. Kanashimi put an arm over his neck, the physical contact was confusing. He watched as the Draconequus smiled, snowing his mouth filled with teeth and a curiously pink mouth. He assumed it'd be grey or black like the rest of him? Kanashimi looked at the Umbrum Prince in the eyes, seeing the heavy emptiness in them. Hm. Since he was here, he might as well give himself a challenge. Fuwa was trying to tame that white filly, so he'd try and bring this one out of his shell while caring for Medianoche. That was his new secret mission. To make Skiadrum smile.

Celestia smiled wildly at the small village they'd found. These were ponies, actual ponies! They were small like Starswirl, and they were plant eaters! It was everything she'd ever dreamed of, all of these unique beings of all colours with cutie marks! She looked at her blank flank, remembering that someday she'd gain her special talent. It was all so beautiful she wanted to cry. The ponies were very friendly, but were afraid of the guard with her. The ponies hadn't actually seen a Draconequus before, so to them he looked like a mutated chimera. which funnily enough was a distant relative of the Draconequus, even though they were originally from another dimension!

"Look Fuwa" she said loudly, pointing a hoof at some foals playing with a ball. she skipped over, excited to meet fellow ponies "Hello!" she said with excitement, happy to finally be free from the hateful eyes of Umbrum and in the embrace of her kind. her people "My name is Celestia Morningstar, and this is my guard Discord!" the foals looked up at the large creature, and then at Celestia, seeing she had a horn and wings. what was she? she looked like those large black creatures that came around, but she was small and smelt like a pony. the monster beside her felt how unsure they were, so he decided to break the silence by snapping his eagle talons. the ball they were playing with suddenly grew rabbit legs and ribbited like a frog, surprising them.

"It's a Bunball!" he said with a smile, the foals asking how he did what he had done to the ball "Oh, well, i'm a Draconequus. we have some reality warping magic, we can't do anything extremely major but we can manipulate things. like making a ball become part rabbit." the bunball started hopping around the foals, making them very interested. if they were friends with this pegacorn, then maybe they could get this Draconshuses to do cool things for them?

"Hey, Discord," said a colt. he was yellow with a pink mane and tail, and had moderate cyan eyes "My name is Lance Shy, could you make like, i don't know, pink clouds? i see clouds like that at sunset, but i wanna see one up close!" Discord hummed to himself, wondering if he should or not. it wouldn't hurt if he got to play with the foals would it? this was his job after all! he snapped his talon claws and a pink cloud appeared above them "awesome!"

Other than the earth pony colt Lance Shy, there were four other ponies there. a filly pegasus called Sky Eye who had bright blue eyes, a dark green coat and had a dark purple mane. the third of the group was another colt earth pony named Dark heart, his fur was white with a black pattern on his side that vaguely resembled a heart, he had pink eyes and had a pale blue mane 'n' tail. Rocking Arrow was the only unicorn, another colt as well, his fur a rusty brown and his mane 'n' tail a rusty red, his eye colour a beaming yellow. Velvet Chaser was a pegasus filly with a light purple coat, her mane a flurry of pink shades and her eyes were heterochromic, one eye being blue and the other being purple.

they got him to do all sorts of things. make the ground around them soapy so they could skate around, having fun with each other. he changed the bubbles to act like snow balls, so they had a bubble fight! he even joined in, his armour not hindering his movement at all. amazingly a couple adults decided to join in! Celestia was laughing, she was having fun. they had him make more pink clouds that looked like pink cotton, he then made them edible like candy, and that was then the foals gave it a name. Cotton Candy. it was rather fun to make edible clouds for the whole town to enjoy, it almost made him forget he was there to combat attacks. almost.

Armadura sighed, then sucked in a deep breath as a familiar smell hit her nose. the Ahuizotl. it seemed that he'd escaped his guard and was looking around the castle. why Noche hadn't just kicked them out yet she didn't know. Armadura's eyes now had purple mist trailing from the corners, her body seeming invisible to all but herself. the creature was smiling, which looked awkward thanks to his head shape.she could tell something was wrong, she could bloody smell it. she wanted to see her husband after seeing her mother in law in a strop. but something else seems to have turned up.

"You know, it's rude to hide like that," said the strange creature, looking behind him, showing Catrina. she was smiling, walking silently "So, did you get the witchweed?" she nodded, purring slightly as she showed a vial. Catrina knew Armadura was there, her scent was very hard to miss. Catrina looked over to Armadura and winked, Ahuizotl picking up what she meant immediately and had to act like a fool "So, this stuff can actually heal and stuff? cuz everyone thinks we poisoned their grand stallion!"

"I know my old friend, that's why we're going to eradicate the poison from his body with this. unfortunately i don't know the poison, and i don't know how Umbrum reacts to my witchweed potions, but it should do the trick. it can hardly get any worse after all." Armadura didn't believe her, but remained quiet "Do tell me, where is the Draconequus guarded the Princess? i haven't seen him all day, and the room is empty." this worried Armadura deeply, causing her to walk away quickly, bringing a smile to Catrina's muzzle. she waited until she was sure Armadura couldn't hear her, looking back to her friend "Oh darling, these silly shadow ponies really have no idea what's going to happen, do they?" she chuckled, twitching her wrist so the liquid in the potion swirled. Ahuizotl chuckled with her, his third hand high fiving her "Did you get those Timber Wolves i asked for?"

"Yep, straight out of Krussia! got a good deal on them too," he laughed to himself, knowing nobody was hearing them.

Celestia skated around, laughing at the funny feeling of bubbles against her fur. who knew having a personified petting zoo for a guard would be so much fun? even the adults enjoyed his madness! if it was up to her, they'd have this forever! she stopped though when she heard something? Celestia slowly walked towards a small sound she swore she could hear. her guard was busy with those foals, so it wouldn't be that bad if she went and met up to someone crying. he'd understand wouldn't he? She slowly got into an anyway, spotting a dirty figure hiding behind a trash can. from the pitch, she assumed it was a female.

"Hello?" Celestia said, seeing the mud covered form chirp in shock. the creature was backed into the corner of the alleyway from what Celestia could see, her coat was a light fuchsiaish grey, though it was an assumption under the mud. There were two large wings against her sides, which were feathered, a nice change to the bat like wings from the Umbrum. She had cute thing ears with fur that perked, making them look feathered. Celestia could see her front hooves, no, not hooves, but talons. Like from a predatory bird were a strange pearly pink, her back legs had hooves the same colour. Her eyes were a strong magenta, and her peacock like mane was a gradient of brilliant fuchsia to strong mulberry. And she had a beak. Was this some kind of creature like her guard? A Draconewhatever? "Are you ok?"

"Go away!" shouted the stranger, who sounded as young as Celestia was. she slowly walked over, the strange feathery pony creature watching her like a hawk. she chuckled inwardly at the little joke, since she looked like a bird and all "Who, are you...?" she asked, shaking from the cold and from her fears. the ponies didn't like her very much, and she'd seen some kind of monster arrive here earlier which caused her to flee into the alleyway. the filly before her was, different, somehow.

"I'm Celestia Morningstar!" Celestia said proudly, looking at the stranger "so, what're you? i haven't seen anything like you before?"

"I'm a Hippogriff, my name is Novo Shiningcoral..." Novo watched the strange filly walk over, looking at her feathers that were covered in mud "Did you see the monster? it was like, a chimera but in gold!"

"That's just Discord my Guard, he's playing with those foals over there. wanna join? don't you worry, if anyone goes at you. he'll protect us," she said confidently. a kind of confidence she couldn't have around the none ponies called Umbrum. they scared her in a strange way. thank the sun she had her very own guard now. Novo watched the winged unicorn for a few minutes, and then hesitantly agreed to come out. this 'Discord' would look after them "Awesome!"

Discord had never taken his eye off of the little filly, he wasn't an amateur, he knew young ones enjoyed wondering off. he was a little surprised to see a Hippogriff chick with her though. that filly was just a magnet for strange creatures, him included. he floated over, doing the friendly shtick and showing that he wasn't dangerous or scary. oh he could be, but as he always reminded himself, he was here to look after young ones. Celestia to be exact.

"So my dear, what would your name be?" he asked, keeping the childish like tone, to adults it was mocking but to young ones it was friendly. he assumed it was because parents talked to them like this, and they automatically wanted to trust until they were taught better. he was dead shocked though to hear the little one's name. Novo? wasn't that the Hippogriff princess? oh this was just gonna bite him in his red tail wasn't it "My, my, Fayard isn't going to be happy is he?" the little one squeaked, and he managed to figure out what had happened. she'd ran away. what is it with princess' and running away?

"Don't tell my daddy i'm here!" she said, surprised her knew about her dad just by looking at her. being a princess, she knew a royal guard when she saw one. now she was up close with 'Discord' it was obvious he was one thanks to the markings on the chest part. it looked, Drapanese, conveniently the one language she declared dull. if THIS was what spoke the language, it was far from dull, since he looked like some doll a filly pulled apart and fixed back together again "he wants me betrothed to some noble, so i ran away..." Discord sighed, wishing these kinds of things just stayed in the fairy tale books. he did not get paid enough for this kinda stuff. nobody was payed enough to deal with politics.

"Mount. Eris is very far away, and my job is to keep Celestia within Shadowlogia, so you'll have to stay with us until your father eventually comes for you." the foals she had met earlier came over, meeting and greeting young Novo. well, well, well, looks like he's doing this better than expected. a possible bunch of friends, and a fellow princess! he was very pleased with himself, and expected a raise for doing so well. he chuckled, making a cloud appear about the chick and had it rain on her, washing the mud off. Draconequus magic is best magic.

Eventually thanks to the rather kind foals, the two princess' started to fully come out of their shells and played. the adults didn't dare go against the Hippogriff chick after someone explained to them what a Draconequus was, and what his armour meant. it seemed not all of this land were fools, which was nice to know. he was going to lie, the females ponies here were a lot more attractive than female Draconeqi. the males and females only got together out of necessity and when the breeding season came. they hated each other SO much they had to have bodies filled with raging hormones to copulate. the pony females were actually tolerable, hell he was looking after a female!

A couple very brave adults came up to him, asking about the filly. he was honest. that was the daughter of their old king, Cosmo. they were suddenly very happy and most of the strange village lost the sticks that had been up their butts and sort of celebrated. it was, odd, to be fully honest. watching these adults start to have fun was actually, well, it kinda filled a hole he didn't know was there. he liked making people laugh. he shrugged, making more cotton candy clouds for the ponies to eat and get cavities for. and here he thought this job as gonna be hard, pfft, he'd seen potted plants harder to look after than this.

Author's Note

Take a wild guess who the descendant of Lance Shy is.

Saga 1, To be a Princess: Failed Firstborn

After the stunt that the Draconequus pulled with the filly, Noche was secretly starting to think she was cursed. Although if they hadn't ran off, they wouldn't have found Fayard's chick Novo. He'd be here in a week to collect his chick, and then there was the issue of getting the two Abyssinian's out of his castle! He had far better things to do than have to waste guards on them! He didn't trust them, and his wife wanted to eat the cat.

Speaking of his wife, Crepúsculo Radiante walked into the throne room. She had a very angered look on her face, The Mountain King rolling his eyes, wondering what she was going to yell about now. Ever since that filly came into their lives Crepúsculo had been going nuts. She always allowed her guard to be down around him, but even now, he could see some of her mask remained. Something had ticked her off, more than the fact their youngest son was laying in a bed, sick of something they didn't know. That and Draconeqi really annoyed her. The younger ones anyway.

"I want Skiadrum out of the castle and i want it done now!" she shouted to nobody in particular. Noche De Neón understood why she was so upset by him, to be honest Noche was as well. Skiadrum was, in may terms, a failure. In his eyes, that colt didn't do much other than suffer in silence. He normally just disappeared for thousands of pony years, and then randomly turn up out of the blue only to leave again. He rarely stayed very long, a pony week maybe? He'd spent a lot longer than normal here. It seemed something had caught his interest.

"Tell me what's going on my love," Noche De Neón sighed, watching her pace. She struggled accepting it was their fault that Skiadrum had become the way he was. Noche felt a lot of the blame should be on him for not intervening when her strict way of raising him was making him suffer.

She'd been raised the same way, but the added pressure of being the first born made it a lot worse. It only deteriorated after it became clear he couldn't perform the Diamante Sangre, a very important part of being an Umbrum King. The power to generate crystals without the use of magic... Their son was a breathing corpse, all because he failed at being a father. His wife was very difficult, the challenge had always been appealing, but she was also very insecure. She expects perfection, and is unable to take the blame when something goes wrong. He accepted the blame after La Sombra Del Sol was born... It got even worse after that, somehow. After their second son where he put his hoof down and spent much more time raising this son, she completely ignored Skiadrum's existence. Noche sometimes wondered why he even bothered coming round when his own mother detested him. Maybe he cared for his baby brother in that thick hide of his somewhere, so far down that he didn't know what it was?

"I was checking up on Medianoche, The Draconequus healing our son being there as well. I was thinking about skinning that Abyssitire and then HE just walked in saying i shouldn't be brash! I did what i normally do to that living statue, i wanted him to go away and leave my eye sight!" she spat. Skiadrum rarely ever showed a reaction when verbally or even physically attacked. He didn't know much different, so it seemed normal to him. Deep down under his own hide, Noche wanted his eldest to somehow find happiness, even if it was impossible at this stage "Then it started talking. That Draconequus started saying it was my fault, that it was me that made him like that! he called me the embodiment of bitchness!" not totally wrong there, even if a little arousing at times "It isn't my fault he's like that! i didn't fail!"

"We both did i'm afraid. myself for not seeing what was happening, and not thinking that you would pass on your strict up bringing... you didn't stop when he started to shut down, and you kept going even when you saw he was slowly dying on the inside. we both failed, it's something we have to live with." maybe there was hope after all. the Draconequus had stuck up for him, so it was possible that Skiadrum could learn to break free of the stone encasing his heart? still, he always had to consider it was too late. he couldn't get his hopes up, it wasn't a very smart thing to do.

"What, are you doing?"

"it's my healing magic!" Kanashimi grinned, his hands glowing pink of all colours "The poison is pretty strong whatever it is. i have an idea what could get rid of it, but i can't go for too long or your baby brother here could bite the dust." the stallion rose a brow at the expression, the first sign of life since he'd come back in here a few hours ago. he would make a really good statue just standing there like that. that kind of patience was pretty awesome when Kanashimi thought about it. hilarious that his name translated to sorrow, when he was rather optimistic. the only one who rivalled his optimism was Fuwa, and nobody was more cubish than him!

"I see. what is it you need, to be exact?" Kanashimi hummed, scratching his chin with a third arm that appeared out of nowhere. Skiadrum held no reaction. it was a Draconequus, they could do very impressive things after all. being surprised was like saying the sky was blue.

"Aacries," Kanashimi said "Well the nickname is Sacred Moon Lavender, they grow around the Hollow Shades which is a pretty long ways away from here," he sighed. then his ears perked as he heard the familiar sound of teleportation magic. Kanashimi turned around just in time to see the left over light of said spell "Well, that's interesting." he cared about his brother, so that meant he had a chance with getting him out of the shell his bitch of a mom forced him into. he was gonna get a raise if he pulled this off.

Saga 1, To be a Princess: Favourite Substitute

It was more of a suggestion than a possibility, but Noche had finally discovered a way to get rid of that pesky filly while they tried and deal with his sick son. Send her to a school. It was rare for females to go to school, but he wanted her out of the castle and away from him until he could calm down from all of this stress. It meant Discord had to come along as well, being her guard, which was awkward. The Draconequus opted to go with the village that she'd already made connections with and The Mountain King agreed to it. Or King of the Mountain, he wasn't willing to ask which was right.

The town/village/whatever were very happy to meet them again, the young ones asking immediately for Discord to do some fun things for them. He wanted to bring Novo back as well, but Konran was watching over her himself until Fayard got his feathers over here. The teachers at this little school called Riverbank School,which was how he learnt the village was called Riverbank, didn't know what to do with him. Thanks to all of the animals he was made up of he could be classified as a wild animal, a pet or some other thing. Even when they knew he was a royal guard. They were afraid of him, hiding it behind their expressions, but he was a lot older than them, thus knew how to spot amateurs like these. All of them except the foals were afraid of him, and even some of them were scared.

They eventually allowed him inside, since it was his job to be there. He had to sit outside the classroom though as Celestia's teacher was allergic to lions, one of the creatures he was made of. Convenient. Honestly, it kinda sucked. He was used to standing in one place for hours on end, but that was inside of the castle of Drapan, this place was a little hut inside of some old village. A large downgrade. At least he was still guarding royalty.

"Hello?" Discord looked up, seeing a teacher. She was a neon blue, her mane extremely bubbly and uncontrollable. Not even he could tame that, and he'd killed a lich. Well, him and Ihō "Sorry, i've never seen your kind up close before, i've only read about you in books. I'm Apple Pie, nice to meet you," she said, a ruler and an apple pie against her flank. She held a hoof out, and he shook it out of politeness. He'd shook hands with worse, like dignitaries. Ugh, they sucked worse than this shabby little place "So... Fuuwi is it?" she tried reading his name, impressive. Here he thought ponies couldn't read for crap. Her being female was new as well. He thought females didn't get an education? He inwardly shrugged, not paid enough to be too concerned.

"It's Fuwa, but you can call me Discord. Yes i am a Titan Tail, and yes i am a Royal Guard." he got those questions a lot. The mare almost squealed in delight, grabbing hold of nearly all his limbs and inspecting them. The parts that weren't covered in powerful armour that is. She also grabbed a hold of his sabre bow "Hey careful with that or you'll cut yourself!" she pulled it in two, the curved parts suddenly changing into curved blades and the string disappearing. It was a good design made by the back blacksmiths in all Drapan, nothing but the best for the Draconus Legion! She inspected it, somehow not poking her out with it. She finally put it back together, it again resembling a bow. He re-attached it to his back, eyeing her "Ask next time, alright? I'm not gonna be responsible for any missing limbs, alright?"

"Sorry," Apple Pie said nervously, looking at his eyes "hey, isn't it only royal blood that has gold in their sclera?" he wasn't embarrassed by it, since it was a fact. Go back a couple generations and a royal family douche stupidly slept with some female and he as basically the descendant of a bastard. They weren't that uncommon, it's just the golden eye thing was a trait he picked up, nothing special "Well, that's not very fun, but it's interesting at least." he shrugged "So, could you tell me about Drapan? They'll be busy for another few hours, so you'll need something to do." he sighed, shaking his head.

"Not allowed to leave Tia, so, i'm stuck here." he looked into a hole in the door, seeing that she wasn't even paying attention. This was going to be a very long day for all of them "I swear the teacher is being a bitch cuz i'm in armour." the teacher glanced at him, and fake sneezed. Ha! He knew she was being a faker! He snapped his eagle talons, and suddenly her mane was made out of gummy snakes that actually hissed. He started giggling as she started running around like mad, enjoying her misery. Apple Pie walked inside, deciding to play with the teacher as well to please the Draconequus.

"Hello Madam Abacus," Apple said with a smile, the teacher glaring at her with great malice. Discord continued to smile, winking at the foals who all had smiles on their faces. Oh he liked these little ponies, he liked them indeed "Is something the matter?" the teacher, Abacus Cinch (do i really need to describe the bitch?) scowled at the Draconequus who had a rather fake innocent expression on. She knew though. She knew he had been the one who caused this!

"That creature has turned my mane into... Whatever these are!" she shouted. He snapped his talons again, and the beauty spot on her face twitched, and out popped a little mole, its pink nose sniffing the air before going back in her face. She screamed, and Apple acted like nothing was happening. The kids were all giggling, trying to keep up the charade as well. This was getting funny. Celestia was grinning as well, knowing it was her guard doing the strange things "Did you see that?! He put a mole in my mole!"

"Miss Cinch i think you should sit down, ok? You're imagining things." Cinch growled as she stamped right up to the guard, glaring right into his gold and crimson eyes. He showed no fear, which was different to most beings she'd come across, but she wasn't going to take this lightly. No monster was going to mess with her class because he was bored!

"I don't care who or what you are, you will PAY for this!" she shouted, her pride being hurt by being mocked. One of the gummy snakes hissed, the tongue tickling her ear. He undid the spell, smiling as the mare looked seconds from cracking. He watched her sulk away, a rather large smile on his face.

"How about i take over the class for a few minutes until she's calmed down? I know a couple of 'interesting' things you know," Discord grinned, the foals cheering as something new and interesting came in. That mare was so grumpy and miserable, this guy was able to do loads of cool stuff! "Now, how about i tell you lot about the time a friend and i killed a lich?"

Celestia smiled as she watched her guard do his job. Be good with kids. That old mare had been droning on about stuff she didn't care about, instead talking with Lance Shy and Velvet Chaser, learning more about the ponies around her. She was supposed to rule them some day, so it was only right she get to know them. They were way cooler than the Umbrum, colourful as well! The foals started floating into the air, Apple Pie included, and they were teleported on top a cloud, the clouds manipulated to simulate desks with all their stuff on them. They were amazed they weren't falling off yet, and enjoyed listening to Discord's detail on a battle he was in.

Deep down, Celestia had this strange feeling that this was going to be important. She didn't know how, but she did. Celestia looked at the sun, watching it for a while. It was like, it was calling to her. Its warm glow caressing her white fur and keeping her mane afloat. she knew she was here to be away from Noche, but she had to admit, this was a little fun. she wasn't hated here after all. she was close to making friends, and that chick Novo was nice to talk to. it was almost normal. as normal as you could get with a Draconequus always hanging around. he was trying to teach her to use a stick instead of that weapon on his back, but she wasn't doing too well. she had a temper issue it seemed.

As she watched the sun, her ears perked as she begun hearing something. it was, strange, to say the least. it wasn't speech, but, magic? could she really hear magic? Celestia's eyes wondered to the sky, seeing storm clouds in the distance. Discord saw them as well, but was trying to distract the kids for now. he also noticed how Celestia was looking longingly at the sun. it gave him an idea, one he'd need to talk to the bearded one about later, but for now he was telling more stories about Drapan. and subliminally giving them math questions. just things like nine guards, times three, what do you get? one answered twenty eight which was pretty close. teaching kids math while telling them how you killed an Ursa Major by accident when you were blind drunk was a strange way to teach, but hey, he was strange wasn't he?

Author's Note

And thus, why Pinkie is Pinkie is explained. need i really say more? if some of you don't get it, then you'll see what i mean later.

Saga 1, To be a Princess: Mine

Skiadrum looked around the desolate waste lands, seeing no life. This must be what the inside of his heart looked like. The little amounts of plants that were here were dead, petrified even. There were statues. Lots, and lots, of statues. This land barely had any life, so he wasn't sure how he was supposed to find that flower herb. If he did this, perhaps there was the possibility that he may be welcome within his old home. Medianoche was his baby brother, so it was his job to look after him. La Sombra Del Sol would be happy, father would be happy... The being he called mother may tolerate his presence. Why did he even care at this point? He had a little sister, and a niece apparently, but he hadn't seen her for eight Umbrum years, so it mattered little when it came to her.

His ears perked as he heard something, it sounded like a snake moving. Fog started to grow, and the fog started to get thicker every second. The old stone was barely visible, even with his cat like eyes. He sniffed, smelling a reptile. It was snake based. For whatever reason that put Kanashimi in his mind. Odd, he'd spoken with the snake tailed creature a very few times and he's bothered to remember his name?

"Who dares come to my domain?" said a voice that had much emphasis on the S. Skiadrum assumed it was female, but then again, assumptions was what got him in his emotional prison thanks to his bitch of a mother. Wait. Did he just refer his mother as a bitch? That Draconequus was rubbing off on him "An Umbrum... I do not have one of you in my collection... Not a Prince anyways." the horns and wings were a dead give away, they were a symbol of royalty. Skiadrum stood tall, alert and waiting "Such a beautiful creature... You would make a beautiful statue..."

It was a gorgon. Of course, of course a gorgon. He looked around, spotting many cockatrice in the area. Funny word that. The plural and none plural was spelt the same. On its own it's called a cockat-reece, but when there's many it's called cockat-rice. but hey stayed away from the gorgon, a lot of them even running away back into the forest. How odd. Anyways, Skiadrum looked around, following the sound of slithering. This was going to hurt, a lot. Gorgons were very hard to kill, but they found it very easy to kill you. So this is what a rabbit feels like. He thinks?

"I desire Aacries, the Sacred Moon Lavender." he heard laughing, and didn't know if she was angry or upset "Does something amuse you?" he asked, the slithering now sounded louder. She was getting closer, the fog even thicker. He still felt nothing. He was supposed to feel fear, supposed to feel a tightness in his chest and feel his hearts beat against his rib-cage like it was trying to escape... But, it didn't. He felt nothing, and he thought that, that is why she was laughing. He was a living statue, it was his nickname at this point.

"I sense nothing from you, that's why... In all of my pets, i have never met one as empty as you... It must be terrifying, so much so, you feel nothing... You can't feel fear, if you're nothing but fear." that made little sense, but he had been hanging around a Draconequus, so this probably made a lot more sense to someone else's ears. Was this fear? This deep oblivion, the abyss that felt as if he was always falling. Always drowning in darkness with no light to balance it out "You've been broken too many times... The mere idea of emotions terrify you..." the spaces in her speech were getting annoying "I can't imagine it... Drowning in so much fear you no longer feel it."

Then he saw her. Yep, it was a her. She had the upper body of a human in pale green that seemed natural, her large eyes a beautiful emerald green. Her hair was made of snakes, live snakes that also had eyes of green, all hissing with minds of their own unless she commanded otherwise. She wore a breastplate made of bark with mystical runes carved into it that glowed lime green. She liked the colour green he assumed. From her hips all the way down for eight metres was pure anaconda, thicker than the bark of a tree and had enough muscle to crush a rock. The back of the snake body was swampy green, darker green stripes on the back, and there were lighter scales on her underbelly. Her humanoid hands were crossed, her face in a smile, showing off her thin poisonous fangs.

"I expected, more..." she wasn't attractive in any way. He barley found anyone attractive. She slithered closer and closer, her human hand gracing under his chin. He still had the goat beard the filly gave him, he'd grown to like it. She twirled her finger around it, still grinning. He didn't look right into her eyes, he was wise than that. She noticed he was avoiding her eyes, and was disappointed. He was a beauty, she wasn't going to deny that. Only the blind could believe other wise.

"My name is Aladjinn... the Gorgon of the Hollow Shades... Keeper of the Petrified Gardens and Watcher of the Sacred Moon Lavender..." she licked her lips, backing up, her snake babies hissing at the stranger. She wanted him, this Umbrum had obviously been yet to be graced with the touch of a female. That thought made her smile. A mixture of gorgon and Umbrum hatchlings huh? That'd be wonderful. Not for him, but for her, creating a new more powerful species "Why do you want my, ahem, 'flower'..." he didn't catch the innuendo, but was aware he shouldn't respond to that.

"I am taking the Sacred Moon Lavender, whether you like it or not." for his baby brother, he would do it. His wings were outstretched, making himself look larger than he really was. This was gonna hurt, but it would be nothing new.

Noche and looked around everywhere, and hadn't seen Skiadrum anywhere. Somehow that seemed out of character even though it totally was. He was very anxious about all his children right now who had many guards around each. He walked into the infirmary, frowning at the sight of his sick son, but Skiadrum spent a lot of time here, so the Draconequus might know. He was getting worried, and it was plaguing him. Anxiety gave him physical pains that lasted days, after all. He needed to see his eldest was ok, or this stress was going to eat him alive.

"Kanashimi," he started, glaring at the Draconequus who was still using his healing magic. Kanashimi looked up, seeing the King of the Mountain. Or Mountain King? Whatever "Have you seen Skiadrum lately?" he hid his concern, and unfortunately, he wasn't going to like the answer he would be given. See, the Hollow Shades was called that because it was cursed by a Gorgon. Magic there didn't work, it was a magical dead zone. A trap so that the Gorgons prey couldn't escape.

"He went to get a Sacred Moon Lavender for me to help Medianoche. I told him what i needed, where it was, and teleported some time ago?" Noche was glaring fire at the oblivious Draconequus. No way would Skiadrum be able to teleport right inside the ruins, he'd likely appeared outside the dead zone and gone in. Why? Why did he go!? "Sir? Is something the matter?"

"Yes!" he shouted, the ground beneath him cracking at the power of his voice. Cracks actually showed in the aura of Kanashimi's magic, something that shouldn't be possible, not even for a Draconequus that wasn't their king! His wings were outstretched, showing their prism of lively colours. Beautiful, if not for the rage of his face. He turned around, the door blasting off the hinges into a wall without him even having to look at it.

"Where're you going?" Kanashimi asked in both fear and surprise. Mountain King indeed, this guy was stupidly powerful! And he didn't even know why he was so angry! Imagine what'd happen if he deliberately angered Noche?

"To save my son!"

Catrina watched it all through her mirror, prepared for what was about to happen. With the Draconeqi around, it had thrown a wrench in their plans, but the master said he had a new idea which sounded even better. She couldn't help but smile at his intelligence, something she wanted herself. Ahuizotl looked at the mirror as well, opening his large mouth to yawn for a moment. It was falling into place, the new plan anyways.

She looked up at the castle they'd just escaped from, her muzzle growing a smile as a gardener grew a flower. The witchweed was doing what she needed it too, and if the living statue perished then it just made everything easier. If he survived, then it would sap away the father's attention, and everything would crumble in on itself. Celestia was crucial to that. Her foalishness would be their downfall. Ahuizotl whispered into her ear, the Abyssitire grinning as if she'd caught a parakeet. Today, there would be Umbrum blood to fertilise the dead Hollow Shades.

Aladjinn cackled as the Umbrum before her tried to use magic, and some how it was even funnier to see his stone face not change a cell at the fact! Skiadrum leapt at her, biting onto her arm and bringing the might of all his jaw muscles to take it with him if she got him off. She'd be armless, one less limb to worry about. The snakes on her hair hissed, one managing to get his ear. He let go, jumping back a couple of feet. A little bit of blood leaking from both his ear and a snake's twin fangs.

She looked at the harsh bite on her arm, knowing it'd scar. The Umbrum had some nasty teeth, but he was not the only one to have bitten her beautiful skin and wouldn't be the last. Aladjinn looked at his yellow eyes, wanting to get an emotion out of them. How? Through pain she imagined. Without his magic, this little pet wouldn't be that hard to defeat, which was a cute thought to have when you didn't know much about Umbrum.

Skiadrum ran at her with a burst of speed, his horn embedding itself in her side. Hissing, Aladjinn whacked his own side with her heavy tail, the force pushing him out of her. He skidded backwards, his wings protecting his sides from more hits. He looked around, taking in as much of the area he could as much of it was smothered in thick fog. He spotted a large looking rock that seemed as if a giant had picked it up and placed it there. He ran towards it, the gorgon following behind him with impressive speed. He ran up it, the moment his back hooves touched the top and propelled himself backwards, using his wings to guide himself. Skiadrum landed on the gorgons back, digging his hooves in her scaled flesh. Quickly he looked around, searching for the flower so he could grab it and go.

"You think i'm going to let you go that easy!" Aladjinn shouted, glee in her eyes. Her body started absorbing his life force, a wonderful and pleasurable little ability that gorgons had. The Umbrum forced himself off her back, his wings beating against the air as he stayed airborne. She'd done something. He could feel something coming from his hooves into her body, and now he felt abnormally tired "You touch me, i absorb some of your life energy... I haven't had this flavour before... such despair and longing..." she needed to get him to look into her eyes, that way she could have him as an ornament and could very slowly feed upon this addictive taste. It gave her shivers all over her scales "Hm...?" she was then suddenly greeted with Timber Wolves? They were bigger and whiter than normal, mist blowing out of their muzzles, signalling ice breath.

They weren't interested in her though, they had bigger birds to ice. The stallion landed on top of the large rock, counting at least nine of these creatures, ten if he included Aladjinn. well, this was annoying. his ear flicked, a faint sting irritating him. he watched the flick black a smidge of fog out of his eyes, and started flapping his wings to push the fog away. a small speck of white caught his eye, the thing he had dragged himself here for. Sacred Moon Lavender. Aladjinn saw he'd spotted her precious flower, and also noticed the Krussion Timber Wolves weren't going after her but were looking at her target. it seemed she had allies.

he prepared, and with a beat of his wings jumped into the air, going for the flower. not having magic really sucked at the moment, but he could manage. the moment he landed on the ground three Krussian Timber Wolves jumped onto him. he wrestled them, jumping onto his two front hooves and bucking two of them off of him and managing to kick one in the face, shattering its jaw into splinters. the one remaining on him opened its maw and bit down onto the join that connected Skiadrum's wing to his back.

Aladjinn felt like she was going to orgasm is happiness. yes, this is what she loved. to see those who hard hearts of stone be in pain. she could see it in his wondrously yellow eyes, watching them widen as the wolf's teeth sunk into his flesh, blood squelching outwards and staining the white wood a wonderful crimson. she watched the delicious substance start to paint the stone floor as the Umbrum started shaking his body about, trying to shake the large Krussian off of his body. when he did get it off of his body, his left wing was hanging limply, the bone broken and blood running down in long marathons. more wolves went for the kill, and he refused to stop fighting. against his wishes, Skiadrum had to run from he reason he was even there with the threat of these piles of lumber treading on it.

He was emotionally numb, but not physically. it hurt like hell. but it meant he was alive, so as long as it remained he had no reason to give up. the moment he felt nothing again even if his wing was missing, he would have to assume he was dead. nobody would miss him, so it wasn't a total loss. the one he'd de-jawed swiped, the claws bringing three fresh marks on his flank. immediately after the claws left his skin, he bucked the thing in the skull, stamping on it to ensure it was now in Cadaver's hooves. that left eight more to go.

His ear was starting to get on his nerves, and now he had the snake woman slithering up towards him, a disgusting look of lust on her face. the eight wolves circled him, icicles dripping from their mouths. Skiadrum watched each and every one, his ears perked and getting ready to fight. his wing was useless, so he'd need to find another way to deal with them. he licked his teeth beneath his lips, deciding to go old school and tear these things apart as his ancestors had in ancient history so old even the Elders barely remembered. a time only Last Legacy recalled.

three leapt onto him. the Umbrum stabbing on it the eye with his horn, using the broken bone in his wing to impale ones chest and bit onto the neck of the third, throwing his head down and in turn flipping the heavy animal onto its back where he rose up and stamped on its head, splinters stabbing into his hooves. two down, seven more to go. the one he'd impaled with his broken wing was limping, its leg useless, and blue liquid was dripping from one of their eyes along with down his horn. everything was painful, breathing was starting to ache, which was odd. he shouldn't be this tired, he'd lasted in fights a lot longer than this with far more powerful opponents. then with a literal slap to the face from a scaly tail, he was reminded the bitch absorbed life energy. she was draining him, and likely these wolves, while he fought them off.

"You're so addictive... my sweet shadow," said Aladjinn as she licked blood off of her tail tip. her scales turned upwards, now spikes. her tail was now a bladed whip mace, just perfect. Skiadrum ducked a second swipe from her tail, giving a wolf the chance to bite into his neck.

the second he felt it's cold breath, Skiadrum pulled away, unfortunately that was straight into another swipe of her tail, hitting just below his eye, actually sending him through the air, along with the Krussian. when he back slammed against another rock, the wolf was killed behind him, but it meant bits of white wood was now sticking from his back. he could still feel it, how she was absorbing his life force, along with the feeling of blood escaping many places of his body. his ear flicked madly, starting to itch insanely. it was getting bad. if he had his magic this would've been over in a minute at least, but it had dragged on for who knew how long thanks to this fog.

"Piss off already!" he was tired, he wanted to be home and he just wanted to sleep. the remaining six were crouched, aiming towards him "Shit..." the six that remained jumped on him, and he was forced to fight them off. claws, teeth and hooves collided with each other, blood and splinters decorating the ground. a flurry of limbs and bodies all slammed against each other, all being enjoyed by the wicked snake witch.

"I must say... it is a true shame to have to damage you... in such a way..." Aladjinn sighed, watching them fight like wild animals. Skiadrum, even when she had absorbed a lot of his life force, blocked his magic and poisoned him, he still fought on. he was incredible at hiding his pain, but she could still see it, and it was delicious. she wanted him to be hers, to be part of her collection that she could play with for eternity. the poison was taking a little longer than it should, but she didn't mind. all of her was poisonous, even her scales which she'd whacked him with and her very blood which he'd probably ingested.

He was winning. she watched his increasingly damaged body fight these beasts from Krussia that were twice as big as the Timber Wolves she normally saw. a beast indeed, it aroused her to no end. all of this for a little flower, how adorable. she slithered over, keeping her distance from the large wolves. the bucked, he bit, he jabbed and he body slammed. he stamped, he roared and took the hits like a boss. such determination. he was weak from so much blood loss and yet kept going, an utter power house of black shadowed might!

When the final Krussian Timber Wolf breathed its last breath, he felt as if he'd do the same. the fact he was still standing as impressive. he was filled with broken bones, his body with more red bleeding marks than stripes on the coat on a zebra. he felt light headed, the pain surging throughout his body was tear inducing. though it was not tears that left his eyes, but blood. he was leaking blood from his nostrils as well, even when his snout had been mostly untouched. his ear was now burning as if it was on fire, unbearable to withstand. even so, he still moved.

thanks to the running around and constantly being thrown by those beasts, he'd gotten to it. the Sacred Moon Lavender was in his mouth, and he was doing his best not to swallow it or show that he had it inside his maw. he needed to get out, which meant getting past the gorgon. he didn't even hear Aladjinn as she got up close to him, grabbing a hold of his chin and forcing his head up. he closed his eyes, well aware what she wanted. her other hand grabbed his throat, squeezing, constricting his airways. her snake body started to slither around his body with the intentions of squeezing his eyes open.

"SKIADRUM!" Aladjinn looked upwards at the noise only to see an explosion of colour in the sky. it was magnificently beautiful, but then a hoof was planted in her face, sending her hundreds of feet away. the force was so strong it dislocated her jaw. no, it was shattered! she looked up with tear filled eyes, only for them to be filled with colour. such colour that she'd never seen. The Mountain King. she tried to get up, but the shock waves from what just happened had temporarily paralysed her.

Noche looked over his sons injuries, which was grave. he was so caked in his own blood it had started to change his fur colour. the father knelt down, nudging against his sons muzzle, almost coming to tears himself when feeling a hot breeze come against his cheek. he was still alive thank the sun, moon and stars for that! from the nudging, Skiadrum's jaw opened, revealing the reason he was there. The Sacred Moon Lavender. he'd done it, he'd gotten the flower for his baby brother.

"No!" Aladjinn somehow managed to scream when she saw the flower. he'd gotten it. when, when in the hell did he get it!? Noche nudged it carefully out of his sons mouth, more concerned about his condition for now. being as careful as possible, Noche manoeuvred his son onto his back.

Noche's wings stretched upwards so that he could have his son secured, his head laying limply against his own chest. if he was conscious he'd hear his fathers rapidly beating hearts. he was terrified. he knew it'd be bad, but this? no, never did he think he'd come across this. he needed to get home and get home fast! he could feel the life in his son slowly fade. no, Cadaver would not have his son, any of them! with mystical speed, Noche De Neón suddenly disappeared into the sky, a rainbow streak left behind him.

Kanashimi was a little worried. they'd been gone a while. had something happened? he was extremely concerned. Kanashimi turned his gaze to little Luna who was in some kind of deep sleep. they hadn't told anybody about it out of fear of Celestia's reaction, but it was strange. the nurse was doing well at caring for her. he sighed, feeling a little tired at fighting this strange fever that was being a pure pain. why did everything have to be so difficult?

"How is he doing?" Kanashimi looked at a unicorn who looked exhausted. this must be that student of the stallion he was working on. Kanashimi told him what he told everybody, that Medianoche was stable for now. the pony used his magic and brought a chair over, sitting on it and watching his teacher "They act like gods, have the power of gods but in the end are just as mortal as we are..." Kanashimi agreed, noticing a teach in the stallions face. wow he really cared for this guy. well, this King was loved by many, you'd have to be a fool not to like him. the shared moment was cut short as they heard something coming, and fast "do you hear that?" suddenly Starswirl teleported the nurse and blue alicorn filly to his side, creating a barrier over all five.

the wall exploded, a large rainbow doused form crashing against the other wall, just barely not going through it. they were stunned by what they saw. the Nurse, Toque Dulce, screamed at the side. there in Noche's shaking forelegs and overworked wings was the prince Skiadrum, looking half dead and half something else. it wast he first time they'd seen an expression on his face, and it was of pain. Noche's face was filled with rage, confusion, relief and fear. great fear of losing one of his sons. he looked up to them, his eyes so wet they wouldn't be able to see a burning fire if it was on his own snout. Kanashimi saw the Sacred Moon Lavender in Noche's teeth, using his magic to teleport it to him. The Mountain King, shook violently as he could no longer hold back the waterfalls that threatened to wetten all it touched. with a croaked voice from the speed he'd flown and crushing force against his chest, along with the few times he managed to take breath, he uttered two words before he passed out for the over working of his body and the overload of stress...

"Help... him..."

Author's Note

Longest. Chapter. I've. Ever. Written.

Saga 1, To be a Princess: Take Your Mind Off It

Nobody was daring enough to wear a smile. Word got out fast about what had happened, mostly because of TWO explosions of rainbowy light in the sky and a rainbow streak suddenly coming across the city. La Sombra Del Sol told everyone what had happened, and it surprised everyone. Out of all the family members that risked their life for Medianoche, it had been Skiadrum. The Living Statue had gone and risked everything for his baby brothers health and safety. Celestia walked down the halls quietly, her guard doing the same. She wanted to see her sister, guilt pressing hard on her heart.

Because of her stupid selfish actions, the King, her sister and a Prince were in the infirmary, the third in critical condition. The Umbrum Guards didn't even bother glaring at her, for they were too busy praying for the safe recovery of both the royal children of The Mountain King. Who, everyone noticed, had disappeared. They weren't going to bug him though. He needed to be alone, the stress of everything was going to give him a heart attack.

"This is my fault," Celestia said, looking up to her personal guard "If not for me, none of this would have happened... Luna would be ok, Medianoche would be ok and Skiadrum wouldn't be on magical life support. I'm a terrible pony..." she didn't care what others said, it was how she felt. None of the royal family were willing to leave the castle yet, so the ponies had nobody to care for them. Discord had sent a letter to King Gekidō of the situation, and had yet to get a reply. The reply would likely be more guards from Drapan.

"You shouldn't blame yourself Tia, no-one could have known this would've happened." she was still frowning, her colour fading. It was a disease the Draconeqi called Discordant, hilariously something he'd been named after. It most affect ponies where they become opposites of their true selves. He sighed, picking up the filly by the scruff of her neck and walked down the halls with her not even complaining. She felt she'd done too much of that lately "Now, we're going to take your mind off this with some practice!" he teleported them into the courtyard, his wings outstretched as he put her on the ground.

"What?" she said, watching him as he mane to sticks of wood appear. Her telekinesis was weak, but she could still lift it off the ground. He held the other stick, waiting for her to try and tap him with it. They'd take it in turns. They'd start with her being on the offence while he be on the defence, then they'd swap roles, and swap again. Mostly practising the same techniques, but that was what practice was!

"Take all of your anger out on the stick, don't hold beck kiddo, alright?" he'd accidentally said beck instead of back, oh well, it wasn't as embarrassing as when he tried writing his name in Equestrian. Accidentally put a name in his name so it read DISQRD. And yeah, he was dumb enough to write it in capitals cuz he found the lower case being harder to write with. Celestia sucked in a deep breath, and started attacking with the stick, Discord easily diverting the force behind the stick against the wielder without using his magic. Better than when he was being trained. They used actual halberds back then!

(Contains sex scene)

Crepúsculo Radiante knew of this place, and knew of its purpose. It was a cave, a very nice one that if you went far in enough you were met with a large cavern that looked like someone had cut it out of a painting and brought it to life. This unusual place was a lush, warm, tropical oasis that had the purest water she'd seen in all her life. With the mini lake, there was an island in the middle that had a large cherry blossom tree growing in the middle, slightly curving to the left to give a very beautiful look. The numerous fireflies and glow worms lit the place up, making the top seem like the night and the reflections on the water giving it the sensation it was in space. On the island was soft grass, and a pond with four koi fish. Two silver and two golden, gifts from Drapan. Also on the island was her overly stressed husband. Hard to miss thanks to his rainbow horn, tail and feathers.

She had a plan to help deal with this stress of his. She'd never tell anyone of course, but Crepúsculo Radiante knew the exact buttons to press to sort out her husband. Noche had brought her here on their last date, the one before he proposed to her. They also consummated their marriage here. Nobody but them and the elders knew this place existed, not even their cubs. There was a special path way she walked across, an invisible bridge just beneath the waters surface making it seem like she was walking across the oasis.

He looked up at his wife, seeing the stress in her eyes as well. Neither of them had been doing fairly well after it was alerted to them that Medianoche was sick, but after the near death of Skiadrum, they weren't fairing much better. Crepúsculo knelt down and lay beside her husband, breathing in a deep breath as she watched his tired eyes. He hadn't been sleeping very well. The Ahuizotl and Abyssitire disappeared shortly before Skiadrum left, and since the Timber Wolf parts the nurse pulled out of their eldest was identified to be from Krussia, they were now wanted fugitives for attacking the crown. Though if not for Skiadrum's foolishness, they wouldn't have gotten the flower, and Medianoche wouldn't be recovering like he was.

"My dear, have you eaten anything lately?" she was very different when it was just the two of them. Sometimes treating them as if they were the only ones in the world. Noche sighed, his ears flat against his head. A semi-silent no. She rolled her eyes, going to the large lake and searching for a fish somewhere inside of the large lake. Her horn glowed as she pulled out a cat fish, playing it before her lover "You need to eat, you're going to help nobody like this." it had hit Crepúsculo hard when she saw Skiadrum's face.

After millennia of no expressions to one of pain, it made her stomach churn. So much so, she was starting to think it was her fault he was so lifeless. Everything was going wrong, everything changed when Cosmo was murdered. His excuse of a wife likely smiling as this all played out. She shook her head, forcing herself to forget everyone who wasn't her family for the moment. Her husband needed her, and he needed a way to relax. She knew just how to do so.

Once Noche finished eating the fish, he just lay against her, his head against the soft grass and watching the glow worms above. Just like the stars. Crepúsculo stroked Noche's ever flowing mane, a slight faint purr being heard only because of the echo of the cavern. He liked his mane stroked in private, it was just calming in a sense. She was going to go a step further though. She shuffled, him moving as well, slowly steering him against the tree. Knowing it was going to be difficult to let him accept this, since he was rather stubborn about this like this, she used her magic.

"Ah!" the stallion was very surprised as he was suddenly changed from lying against the tree, to literally being tied to it. Crepúsculo's horn was glowing, as were the vines she was commanding to wrap around his legs and pull, keeping him from moving much. More came over, wrapping around his chest and tree trunk, so there wasn't much movement. Oh he had the power to break them, if he hadn't spent an entire week not sleeping. Curse Medianoche and the changing of their body clocks! Crepúsculo placed a kiss just under his horn, slowly trailing downwards.

"You need to relax, but you aren't going to do that are you?" she smiled, licking the bridge of his snout. It was a gesture of trust in their species, something to be taken seriously. It released chemicals actually. If you tried breaking that trust, you'd get a bad taste on your tongue for centuries, but if you did break it, you'd have a foul taste that would never go away, even if you removed your whole lower jaw. that's how he knew she was being serious "So let me make you relax." she wanted to make him squirm, seeing the surprise on his face was slightly arousing "If you say anything... well, you don't wanna find out what i'll do."

This was certainly different. wasn't expecting this for some reason? Noche was not going down lightly though, as he pulled against the restraints that were kind of arousing for some reason. she kissed him deeply, her tongue in a battle against his for dominance. he fought her, determined to defy her at every turn. she enjoyed it as well, only pulling away for them to take in a deep breath, a small trail of saliva still connecting them. he hadn't been in this position before, it was strange and interesting to feel. he'd done this to his Crepúsculo, but the tables were indeed turned.

he felt her kiss his chest, and slowly go down. down and down she went along the middle of his large body until her eyes met his enticement. he glared down at her, a silent 'don't you dare'. it wasn't often she got the chance to do this to him, mostly because it had little power against her afterwards. Crepúsculo Radiante smiled evil, giving it a kiss, seeing a mixture of anger, excitement and lust in his wondrous eyes. she licked the flare, watching his body jolt at the sudden rush of warmth coming from his loins. she started to lick from his balls all the way back to the tip, continuing to do this for a little while. it wasn't enough to make his release his seed, but he'd still feel each little touch. she'd get him worked up, and then when it was all done, he might take a nap, or she'd massage his wings till he did.

she was evil. a very different kind of evil. he was biting his lip so hard it bled, the blood making it worse, harder to remain quiet. she started to rub her hooves against his back balls, making him want to buck his hips, but those blasted vines kept him in place. he was secretly enjoying it as well. this irritatingly long build up was making him want more of it, prolonging his needs and desires to go over that blasted edge. her horn lit up again, and he was met with slight fear. one of the issues with going for a unicorn was that they had spells they could use on your stallionhood. he saw what Medianoche preferred pegasi...

"Good boy," Crepúsculo said as she left his hard member, using her magic to telekinetically stroke him. she watched him buck and squirm, grunting as he struggled against the vines she strengthened with her magic. it was a beautiful sight, something on she would see. he glared at her, his pupils gone to thin slits of aroused anger and need. she watched his breath get heavier, his nostrils flare as he breathed out with the strength that turned her on, and his wings were curling. thanks to the sweat, his feathers glowed even more "You wanna cum don't you?"

he refused to answer. this was a surprise, very bold on her part, but he could control himself. despite the pleasure that was setting fire to his very blood that was coursing through his veins and both his hearts. she was aroused, he could smell it. she walked round and sat in front of him, leaning back and showing him her wet marehood. no. she wasn't going to do this. she couldn't be that evil!

she was. Crepúsculo Radiante reached down with a hoof and started to stroke herself, blushing slightly. it wasn't as good as her husbands touch, but this was making his cock throb, precum droplets starting to show. she licked her lips seductively, knowing it was arousing him even more. her horn flared a little brighter, the sensation of his tip being squeezed making his body jolt, even with the restrictions. not enough that it would hurt, but enough for it to be pleasurable. it was exciting her as well. her magic was keeping him from cumming, he just knew she was extending it.

Noche scowled, grunting a bit more now. he closed his eyes to try and think of something else but that made it stronger. all he could watch was her touching herself, and that was annoying. he watched Crepúsculo Radiante play with herself until she came, then having to watch her start to suckle on his flare like a cub did to its mothers teat. it was driving him nuts. she slowly started taking it all in her mouth, humming a little.

"nnngh, fuck!" she knew he wouldn't be able to hold on forever, and it was cute how his voice cracked. she didn't take his cock out of her magical aura, even when she started to suck him off in long strokes, the aura spreading to massage his balls as well. she purred, smiling as it drove him mad. she wasn't cruel, so decided to let him cum. it didn't take long for her to get him off. she pulled back until his flare remained in her mouth, and she got to see his face glow when he climaxed. she swallowed it of course, she wasn't going to waste his precious seed after all.

"There we go..." she smiled as she pulled away, the vines releasing her husband from their bind. he took in slow deep breaths of after glow. slowly she got him to lay on his stomach, and begun to massage his back "See, that wasn't so bad was it? i should do this with you more often."

"Don't you dare..."

"Well it sounds like it worked, you sound tired." he rolled his eyes, just letting her have this for now. he wasn't going to admit he was a bit more chilled after being dealt with like that, but he had a feeling she knew. she sighed, doing her work on his shoulders until she started to hear light snores "Under all of that power, you're a loving father. i, still have a bit to go..." she pushed her son to do what he'd done, it was her responsibility, and she had to take it. no matter how much she didn't want to. for Skiadrum and Medianoche, she'd try to be a little less hostile.

Author's Note

First sex scene ever. i probably suck at it, pun intended. and i just made it even worse :facehoof:

Saga 1, To be a Princess: Wisdom of the Cosmos

Celestia was laying in her bed, tired from going to that school again. Her teacher was extremely angry with her and her guards antics, but the other ponies liked them. What was wrong with a little fun? Sure a lot of it didn't make sense, but what fun is there in making sense. She dreamt of golden fields, lollipop flowers, those funny pink sugary clouds than rained warm milk, and hailed with warm cookies. She didn't like them hard and crunch, they tasted better when soft.

In her dreams, she was in a strange space with glittering stars all around. She was standing on a bunch that formed a pathway. So, she walked along it, curious was to where she was. It was so strange, familiar even? Why? She hadn't seen such strangeness before. She had a sweet little canter while walking the strange lands. she started to hear the sound of someone walking? so, she headed right for it, not aware she was being watched by someone.

Cosmo stood proud, watching his daughter. He looked like someone had taken a piece of the night sky and moulded it into a pony. his wings were always outstretched and the tips faded into a sort of starry smoke, along with his mane and long tail. He had been nicknamed Nebula Head or Galaxy Butt thanks to his mane and tail. His eyes were a beautiful purple, and in the eyes of many, his body was perfect. Like he was sculpted from starry marble.

"Hello Celestia," he said, his wing moving downwards and brushing his daughters chin. she teared up, the tears dropping onto his wing. she'd been through a lot lately, and he felt terrible for what happened. he knew his wife was having issues with connecting to their children, but he never thought she'd go this far. they had their arguments, but he didn't expect her to murder him the abandon their foals. it broke his heart, again, since she blew it up which lead to his death "My dear child, do not cry."

"you're... gone..."

"I've noticed," he attempted to joke, but it fell flat. she looked up, knowing the joke was extremely bad, so it was her dad. it was hurting her because she knew he was gone. how was he here? "I asked an old friend a favour, so i could speak to you... my dear Celestia..." he smiled, picking her up in his magic and kissing under her horn. his sweet baby was so heart broken, it was hurting him. this would be the only time they'd be able to touch like this outside of her dreams where he wasn't really there.

Oh, my dear little one

You’ve been through so much

But do not worry my dear

Soon it will all become clear

She looked up into his eyes, wanting to smile but couldn't. he smiled though, promising her safety and love. she wanted him to stay, even though her heart told her he wasn't going to.

I may be gone but you’re not alone

You’ve already made a friend

The more you make my dear

The faster your heartache will end

Friends? well, she had made a few bonds with those foals, they were friends right? what was so special about having friends other than the need to be social?

Luna loves you, even if she’s mad

The Umbrum do care for you, even when they don’t show it

Your guard is always by your side even if he’s an odd lad

And I will always be within your heart

He put a hoof to her chest, her heart beat calming down as he went one. around them rectangles appeared, showing the antics Celestia had gotten into. she saw the fun she had with those foals, messing around with that teacher. finding Novo, trying to learn to use a weapon with her silly guard, and bugging the only pony that hung around.

I see the fire in your soul my star

It burns with the strength of the mighty sun

Someday you will be one of these lands greatest leaders

Remember to always love and forgive and you will go far!

as his voice picked up, the stars shone brighter. she saw a larger version of herself, a mare that she wanted to be. tall, regal, and kind. she could be that mare, she could! and she would. she'd make her daddy proud. even when forgiving was super hard.

You want to be strong

You want to have power

You want to be loved

And you want to belong

He showed the images of the stallion and mare rulers of Shadowlogia lending out a hoof to her, which she didn't take. Cosmo knew she struggled, but was willing to help. he opened another image, showing him as a young colt with Medianoche, the two being close friends. she now felt guilty about getting him hurt...

Give them a chance my dear

My old friend is someone you can trust

Let them in and you they will cheer

They will give you the love you do lust

she swallowed hard, looking to her daddy for help while he sun the tune. she sighed as she was lowered onto the starry path, following as he begun to walk.

Friendship is Magic

It’s the source that makes us ever stronger

It strengthens you, even when your life is bleak and tragic

You just need to try for a little longer

Friendship is magic? what an odd thing to say. Celestia followed Cosmo has he continued, smiling all the way. she could do it, he knew she could.

I believe in you my dear daughter

I know you can reach the end

I believe this guilt inside you can slaughter

The beginning of your new life is just around the bend!

He stood, a large gate of light shining brightly. this was as much time as he could be given. it wasn't as long as he wanted, but, hopefully it was enough. she looked up at him, tears coming to her eyes again. he sighed, kissing her forehead again, draping a wing over her back.

"I will always be there, even if you can't see or hear me. take these words to heart my foal, for hopefully they can help guide you..." he watched as she slowly walked through, a tear leaving his eye "And make me proud, by being you." she nodded, and like that, disappeared. he was left in the strange space, all on his own. he turned around, seeing Cadaver waiting for him. he'd been quiet, letting the stallion have his moment. and Cosmo was thankful for that... it was time to fully pass on. he hoped Last Legacy still made good tea.

Author's Note

Cosmo Skies - Morgan Freeman (He's already god, why not voice one?)

Saga 1, To be a Princess: Awoken Midnight

Within the night, the Umbrum king stirred from his fevered slumber. He was tired, he felt hot and everything was just off. Not sure why, but it just felt like that. That something wasn't right. He looked to his wing, seeing it was bandaged, and then remembered why he'd been asleep. There was a large storm, the girls had gone missing and he'd gone to find them. He even partook in the strange magic that made him sing? There was a fire, he shielded them but it was too hot. He took to the skies, then there was a flash, and then he felt something cold.

Medianoche raised his head, looking around, the effort was more tiring than it should've been. He had a bad taste in his mouth, so there was that? He felt something shuffle against him barrel of a body. Looking down Medianoche saw young Luna sleeping up against him. His ears twitched as he heard her little breaths. Smiling, the king went down, licking behind her ears. They had the tongues of a cat, thus good for grooming. It could also be used similar to monkeys, grooming each other as a form of bonding. It was very old fashioned and from the older days before his father had been conceived, but it was still helpful and served the purpose.

He looked around the room, shocked and surprised to see his eldest brother also in the same room as him. It was the infirmary from what he could see, though it'd been so long since he was here that Medianoche wasn't sure. Why was Skiadrum here? Medianoche didn't understand, as something rather drastic had to have happened to cause a stallion like that to end up here.

"Yo," said a voice. Medianoche looked around, not able to see much other than two red glowing eyes. Kanashimi turned on the light, temporarily blinding the tired Umbrum. Good to see he was away "Name's Kanashimi. King Gekidō sent me and some other Draconeqi to help out with the storms, and to heal you!" oh, that was nice of him. What was up with this whole 'king' think? Gekidō was an emperor? Maybe he was called that by his Draconeqi, but emperor by everyone else? That just sounded ridiculous, but he shouldn't be surprised.

"How long have i been here?" Medianoche was still taking glances at his older brother Skiadrum. He rarely saw the stallion these days. He normally popped up then disappeared for long periods of time to Legacy knew where. Kanashimi also looked Skiadrum, seeing the younger brothers concern. Medianoche wasn't happy with the answer he was given, "three months!?" what kind of bull crap was that!? He tried to get up, but Kanashmi had put in wards that'd keep him bed ridden. Skiadrum had tried to get out of bed too many times to not make Kanashimi sure that the king would try as well. He tried getting out so many times he was in a Magically Induced Coma, or MIC as the Draconeqi called it. He gave up, sighing loduly at his sore body. Kanashimi saw the question in the king's unhidden eye, so he decided to fill him in.

"Two pricks from Abyssinia came and poisoned you, using the troubles in Abyssinia to have an excuse to be in the castle..." Medianoche knew that Abyssinia was in a lot of trouble, and was making plans to go there, but now it would seem foolish to go as there were people out for his head "I needed a flower to combat the fever called the Sacred Moon Lavender, which was in the Hollow Shades. Skiadrum went to get it for you, and as you can see, it didn't exactly go very well despite its success." he didn't how to feel. The supposed living statue had gone out of his way for him? "In the Hollow Shades, you can't use magic there, so he was forced to fight a big ass gorgon called Aladjinn... As well as fight off nine Krussian Timber Wolves..."

"You're kidding aren't you?" Kanashimi shook his head, pulling down the covers to show how thick his elder brothers bandages were "he's lucky to be in one piece." it as hard to try and comprehend what went on in that stallions head, and here he thought Skiadrum was really dead on the inside. But this was proof that he wasn't totally gone, that he had a minor chance of being normal "Alright, can you fill me in on what's happened lately?" Kanashimi told him about Fuwa, Celestia, Noche's break down, the panicking ponies, the other guards and princess Novo being here. Everything was just falling apart, all because Cosmo died.

Kanashimi left Medianoche to rest while he used his healing magic on the elder of the two. It was a little strange, seeing this beast of black so calm. Calm was an expression, no matter what others said. It was better than it being twisted in pain. Skiadrum captured Kanashimi's attention, everything about him was interesting and made him curious. How he could hide so much, how he took his mothers crap without a strand of fur shivering, his unique amber eyes that were so set in stone he could compare them to topaz and much more. You never knew were you stood with him thanks to his ability to never have an expression. Kanashimi inwardly giggled, trying to imagine what he'd look like if he smiled, but it kept looking so silly! Him sticking his tongue out, his eyes crossing. Wait. Oh he had to try and get him to do that! he grinned, a mission in mind. other than breaking the stone around his heart, making him cross his eyes!

Medianoche rolled his eyes at the strange look on the Draconequus' face, feeling sorry for whatever joke the creature wanted to play. it would be amusing though, to watch as he failed countless times to make Skiadrum smile. he hadn't smiled his whole life, many doubting he even had the facial muscles to do it. he felt a young Luna shiver beneath his unbandaged wing, which tightened around her. he sighed, looking at what he could definitely tell as a recently repaired wall. looked like a dragon went through it.

Fuwa and Konran were sending in regular reports, keeping Gekidō posted on everything going on. the incident with the prince Skiadrum had gained a lot of notice around Drapan, the Doragon No Uma now very concerned about the well being of the Royal Umbrum Family. Krussia hadn't responded to anyone as to how they let nine of their wood wolf abominations in Shadowlogia, or Equestria as Drapan called it. he sighed, watching as more and more letters started to pile on another branch of his throne tree. a lot of them were complaints from nobles, not his though, they were Sakura's. the sneaky bastard changed the messenger spell so all the letters that were meant for Sakura were given to Gekidō. he'd discuss the sneakiness later... his nose wrinkled as he caught a familiar smell.

"I'm starting to think you enjoy toying with my patience..." Gekidō said, taking his eyes from his papers and looking at an unfortunate familiar face. his 'wife'.

they were only together since it was paramount to have a couple, even Draconeqi were forced to serve to this law, one even the bitch goddess couldn't change. they only really met to endure the rut season or if something was going on with one of their three cubs. she wasn't welcome otherwise. she likely heard his best guards were gone, and was exploiting the opportunity to bug him. wife of Cosmo was the goddess bitch, and his own wife was the Antichrist.

Ōsawagi was a very attractive specimen, but all she had were her looks, other than that she was evil. She wasn’t a titan tail, as she had wings on her back. Her tail was a dark pink which could be mistaken for that of a titan tail, but it really wasn’t. her long body was slender and feminine, covered in brown feathers. Around her shoulders was a very thick band of feathers that looked like a mane from a lion. Her two front limbs were from a lioness, a very common thing with Draconeqi, her two hind limbs from a Saddle Arabian horse. The fur on her neck was a musky pale lavender. Behind her soft ears were two horns that pointed backwards that looked to be made of obsidian. Half of her mane drooped to one side and was attractively long, in the colours of sky white. The rest was short down the back of her neck in a blackish purple. The two wings on her back were from a dragon, a bit small but didn’t take away from her unfortunate beauty. Her irises were neon pink, her slit pupils a dark purple, the same dark purple that were patches around her eyes that made her white brows stand out.

"Can't a wife come and visit her dear husband?" she grinned, her 'husband' not smiling in the least "Oh smile already, i'm not that bad. i'm not even trying yet," she giggled, seeing his grump. Ōsawagi just loved this little boy of hers. he was all hers, and he couldn't do anything about it. the games she could play, oh it was wonderful. Ōsawagi sat on a higher branch, laying down with her head rested on her paws "how're my sons Gyakusetsu and Mirāju doing?"

despite what many believed, Gekidō loved all his children, even his daughter. ever since she hatched he could tell she was special, being entirely one colour was a sign of that. because Shinshitsu was female she had to be raised by her mother, he used to be able to see her every now and again, but Ōsawagi decided to play with their daughter. he was only allowed to see her if Ōsawagi got something from him... he wasn't going to make that mistake again. they used to have four cubs, what she did to the one she took still made him feel sick on the inside...

"Better that they never see their drunk of a mother. why are you here Ōsawagi? even if my guards are all the way in Shadowlogia, it doesn't me i can't order my other hundred guards to deal with you." the females were immune to Draconequus magic, but they were still stronger and faster than them. she was outmatched physically, but she was manipulative and knew how to scar you emotionally and mentally.

"Shinshitsu is acting odd." by what standard? "She isn't hunting, doesn't listen to me and does all she can to call me your pet name." only she'd think the word cunt was a pet name "I found a nest of eggs a male abandoned. i went and dealt with him, don't need those nasty genes around. she was supposed to eat the eggs, but she refused. i ate them, but i have a suspicion she's hiding one from me somewhere..." that was strange for a female. they naturally wanted to do things like that, it seemed Shinshitsu really was special? something Ōsawagi would try to crush.

"You're a cunt even for a female Draconequus, she's likely normal compared to you. i'll see if she really is different... if Shinshitsu is different, then she isn't safe around other females. you likely tried your best," he sighed, putting a claw to the bridge of his snout, wishing life could just be that tiny bit easier "I might send her to Sakura to watch over, he'll have a better idea than i about things like this. like the outbreak of Doragon No Umans suddenly growing wings or getting fire glands..." evolution was weird, especially to a race that hadn't evolved since, well, a very long time ago. long before they entered this realm anyways.

"I'm still going to be in charge of her, there's nothing you can do about that." if his daughter was the first pacifistic female Draconequus in history, he'd do all in his power to keep her from this parasite reject.

Author's Note

Gekidō - Patrick Stewart (Only so i can make a Q joke later)

大騒ぎ Ōsawagi = Mayhem
寝室 Shinshitsu = Bedlam
逆説 Gyakusetsu = Paradox
ミラージュ Mirāju = Mirage

Divine Interlude 2: Nightmares Birth

Mdala was the God of Nightmares. He wasn’t evil, nor was he very malicious. He left his sleepers hints in those nightmares, hints about their lives and what was troubling them. They couldn’t be told, as it was something they needed to learn for themselves. His nightmares could be very bad sometimes, but it wasn’t his job to control what the mortal saw, just what they needed to learn from it. It was important and imperative for their growth as a mortal. The young struggled the most, but they eventually got over them when older.

He was tall, black, and lean. Who needed physical strength when you had the power to infect the minds with the worst possible nightmare? He hadn’t needed to use such a power for eons, but it was why the other gods left him to do his job, which he did well. He didn’t enjoy it, but it was a necessary part of life. Mdala’s personal views of what he had to do didn’t matter. He had two demonic bat like wings tucked to his sides. He didn’t like the look of a unicorn horn, so he remained looking like a pegasus. His mane was a little dishevelled, but it looked deliberate. It swept upwards at the front with a few bangs over his eyes and curved around his ear and the tips lightly touching his chin and neck. His tail was long, but not enough to touch the ground. The colour was a mystic lavender with twinkling stars shining in them.

“Hm…” he hummed to himself, looking at a particularly sad mare. She was having a nightmare of a large number of wolves slowly tearing her apart. She regrew what she lost and had to deal with them tearing her apart again. Then the wolves became her children. She was poor, barely able to feed her very boisterous boys “She needs to relax, she fears that they’re going to take everything and come back for more.” It was interesting to get these nightmares where he let himself figure out the problem on his own. Then he'd see if she managed to figure out the problem. Sometimes they didn't, sometimes they did, it wasn't exactly bad if they failed to take the hints, but it was their loss.

His irises were a moderate cyan, his pupils slit like a cat and his sclera was a very pale misty blue. To a pony he’d be considered very handsome, but he wasn’t too concerned with looks. Opinions didn’t really affect him, he’d have to care about them first. Mdala governed the night, passing on nightmares and leaving those hints. In honesty Mdala loved lucid dreamers, they were fascinating and some even managed to find him in their nightmares and have a small conversation. Whether they remembered or not, it wasn't of his concern.

There was another side to this. The Goddess of Dreams. Gaajirus was very loving, giving many the dreams of what they wanted most. Sometimes they were lust filled and sexy, and others were about cute little bunnies. Gaajirus was short and slender, her fur a rocky grey. She had a two thestral wings and a pointy unicorn horn sticking from her head. Gaajirus’ ears had tufts of fur on the tips like a thestral, which she adored. Gaajirus’ irises were a honey orange and her pupils were normal, very different to Mdala. Her mane and tail started as a warm blue that gradient to a darker blue that also had starts twinkling within them. Unlike a lot of the other gods, she went out of her way to wear fancy clothing. She had a dusky purple tiara behind her horn.

She didn't see Mdala as the stallion he was. In her eyes, he was cruel, torturing her ponies with his horrid nightmares. He showed no care for them, sometimes finding entertainment in his cruelty. Oh Gaajirus new he was the God of Nightmares, but did he have to be so horrid about it? Couldn't he tone them down a little? It made her dreams harder to manufacture when they were trying to recover from his scarring.

"Mdala!" the stallion rolled his eyes as he heard Gaajirus. That mare really got on his nerves. Mdala was doing his job, and the other gods thought he was doing a great job. Tophet of the Underworld, Falrasil of Heaven, Raikoh of Earth, even Cadaver complimented his work, and that guy rarely complimented anyone! He and Gaajirus weren't very old compared to some of the other gods, but they weren't newbies either. He wasn't doing this out of the cruelness of his heart, far from it in fact.

For whatever reason Gaajirus just couldn't see that they were above the mortals, that they weren't supposed to have favourites or talk to them. Ever since the mistress killed Cosmo none of them dared to go to the mortal world. But, Gaajirus just trotted around making all this nice dreams. But that was another problem. Mdala didn't actually make them, he guided them. You can't create a new river but you can guide it, someone said to him a long time ago. They were from the mortals minds, what they feared and what they were afraid of. Gaajirus should be guiding the dreams to what the mortals wanted, but she made them all the same. A 'paradise'. The griffins found those more nightmarish than whatever he worked with.

"I do not have time to debate with you Gaajirus. Unlike you, i'm actually doing my job." she wanted them to be happy, he understood that, but it just wasn't how it should be done. She wasn't entirely in the wrong as he wasn't in the right. They weren't supposed to be after all. Mdala did sometimes go a little too far, he could admit that, and he learnt from his mistakes. He didn't want to cause others pain, but they brought it upon themselves, and Mdala gave them hints as to why they had these nightmares and what to do to stop them "Leave me," he demanded as he found a particularly bad one.

This one had been harmed by her father as a foal. It was uncommon, but he'd dealt with it enough times to know what to do. She'd yet to tell her mother about it, so he left hints that she should. Pictures of her mother hugging her, a couple faint memories of her mom promising her to always listen even if she never said that, just tiny things like that. The one doing this would be dealt with by Cadaver who'd send him to Tophet. They all worked together as a unit, each job connecting to another. It was getting hard with Cosmo's death, but they were managing. He didn't enjoy these, they made him feel a little unwell, but to have true good in the world you needed the bad.

Balance wasn't really a thing. There wasn't really a good and evil, just a moral grey. Different cultures saw different things as wrong after all. In reality, existence was like a spider web, carefully woven over time. You break a piece, and it'll be broken, but still together. But, if you keep breaking it, it would fall apart, collapsing in on itself. And yet, the web could be rebuilt, but would take longer than it would to repair a minor thing. A little complex, and the one who came up with the web idea was dead, so it mattered little. Cosmo had been the spider, being the god of creation. And they were the thread... Barely hanging together.

"I've had enough of this Mdala!" she was so childish it was insulting "I don't want to see anymore suffering, it's sickening!" someday Gaajirus would see it wasn't about her. Though the day that happened Cadaver wouldn't look like a malnourished corpse. These days Mdala believe he looked like that deliberately so nobody would bother him "And you enjoy it, you enjoy their pain, and you don't do a thing to stop their suffering! Some kill others and some kill themselves over your evil!"

"We gods are not evil, nor are we good. We're neutral entities that each have a domain they must govern to keep reality from crumbling in on it." balance was a better word, but it didn't fit "The only god close to evil is the mistress, and thats it. You must stop being such a child and take this job seriously. You're the one that is causing damage here Gaajirus!" he was annoyed now thanks to her always moaning at him "Dragons dream of war, they love battle and to skate on lava, not fluffy pink unicorns dancing on rainbows! Thats a nightmare for them!" Gaajirus glared, not willing to accept what he was saying. Mdala was the one in the wrong, he wasn't going to turn this on her!

"My point still stands, you're letting that little one endure the pain of that... THAT!" her bat wing pointed towards it, unable to watch the vileness. She shouldn't have to suffer, it's disgusting he'd allow this to go on. He could end nightmares, get rid of them so she could replace them with happiness "Why must they suffer!?"

"I do not create nightmares, that isn't something i've done for a long time. I do what i've stressed to the breaking point. I, Mdala of Nightmares, put in hints so they can learn the meaning behind their nightmares, and better themselves!" she wasn't having it. Mdala scowled at the childishness she was acting. Yes, it wasn't pleasant, but it was necessary "Without conflict they will not grow..." he sighed, watching the cogs in her mind stutter as she tried thinking of something to say "You need to take your job seriously. You see their desires, and make them happen in their dreams, not whatever crap you ram down their throats. Sometimes you let them run the dream that you guide, something you're supposed to do."

"But... But some dream about doing things like murder, they dream of rape, sometimes to offspring! How can i allow that!? It's wrong!" it was wrong, but again, not their domain. Cadaver was the judge, jury and executioner, and Tophet was the punisher. Mdala sometimes felt she was worser off than him, having to deal with dreams like that. But still, she was supposed to let it go on.

"It doesn't matter what you think Gaajirus, it matters what you do. I don't enjoy these nightmares, but, it's something i must do... Please leave, you're wasting my time." Gaajirus came up with many arguments in her head, but couldn't find the words. He thought she was going to take this lying down? No, hell no. Mdala could act all mighty, but he wasn't. He was her opposite, the nightmare to her dreams.

Perhaps she could change a little, but she couldn't ignore those dreams. Those vile fantasies that made her sick. The ones that made her cry and want to do Cadaver's job just to see their faces as she sent them to Tartarus! No, she'd take Tophet's job, and punish them herself! Magic built up in her body, divine energy wafting from her body that Mdala took immediate notice of. She wouldn't take this! She needed to find a way to stop them. Mdala could punish them, but he didn't, he barely paid them any mind. He didn't care about them, they meant nothing to him... She could change it. She could take over the nightmares, and then make everyone happy. She's gift the good with pleasant dreams, and curse the bad with nightmares. But one problem. Mdala was in her way.

"It isn't fair!" she screamed, tears coming from her eyes "I'm not going to let them enjoy the dreams of darkness! They shouldn't dream of killing, raping, exploiting, torturing... That evil, needs to be punished! You can punish them but you won't because it's not your job!" she yelled, magic bubbling around her horn. Caring for the dream realm was hard, you either absorbed it and made a shield from it, or it'd destroy you "If you won't do anything I WILL!" she fired a large amount of magic at the other god who leapt out of the way.

He knew she was angry, but not angry enough to attack him! She was nuts! Mdala opened his wings and took to the eternal skies of the dream realm, passing many dream and nightmare orbs along the way. Gaajirus followed, her heart dead set on taking his position to give justice! They were sick, they were evil, and couldn't be ignored! The stallion of the two continued to dodge very powerful magic blasts. They were inconsistent in strength, but she was a god, she had a large reservoir of power. And a large reservoir of emotions powering that magic to unstable heights.

Mdala flew backwards, holding his hooves close together. Green darkness started to swirl from around and concentrate within the small space, and released the ball of energy. It exploded into many black phantoms that resembled wendigo but were black and more menacing. The technique was capable of erasing a being's soul and their very existence, but he'd not used the spell in such a way, it was to stop her by sheer numbers alone. He flew further and further, his speed obviously better than hers. He never thought he'd be attacked by a fellow god, not even one as unstable as Gaajirus.

She didn't stay down as long as he'd hoped. This was her realm as well, she could control its power just as well as him, a lot better actually as she had a horn and he didn't. Mdala prepared another spell, he wasn't going to kill her but he might maim her. A little or a lot it didn't matter, as long as they both stayed alive. Mdala quickly gathered and released a large quantity of black air from his mouth in the form of a tornado-like blast. Similar to that of a dragon breathing fire.

Gaajirus was pushed back again with the force of a storm, in her mind trying her best to justify that she needed to do this. Her eyes were still watered, a voice in her mind telling her to stop, but she needed to. She couldn't justify those evil people! She could let them enjoy such disgusting fantasies and ignore them! How long before one of those sick beasts acted on a fantasy? How long! They needed to be scared so badly they went right to Tophet and begged to go to Tartarus! Mdala had that power, she needed it!

A lot of words were going through his mind. A lot of them NSFW, some mortals have never heard before. This was very new, and very scary, knowing he had a crazed goddess behind him aiming to end his life for doing his job. This is almost a literal feeling of a corrupt politician and its public. Out to end you for doing a good job they and to use it for their twisted purposes. Gaajirus charged an actual spell, and released it. Mdala prepared for an attack, crossing his hooves and wings to protect himself.

She'd expected him to do that, but she hadn't thought about how much power she put into the spell. It was loud, the explosion was blinding, and there was another sound she'd only recognised when peeking to what he was doing. But she hadn't heard it before, not when she was metres away... She watched her fellow divine equine crash right into the floor of the starry space they governed. It wasn't an actual floor, but it was the only solid space for when they got tired of flying... She landed on the 'ground' and looked at the damage she'd done.

Mdala had landed on his front, his normally straight face twisted in pain as blood left his back. The spell was designed to split apart before hitting the target and then attack from the behind. She could see how much damage she'd caused, she could see part of his spine! Gaajirus stepped back, shaking her head. She'd wanted this, she wanted it, but seeing what it took, she couldn't... But, could she? This way, she could control the nightmares and the dreams. Gaajirus slowly took steps forward, and put a hoof on his forehead.

"ENOUGH!" the mare was blasted backwards by a tremendous force far greater than anything Mdala gave her. She looked up, seeing Cadaver and Tophet. Tophet for some reason wanted to be a normal looking unicorn with a curved horn. His fur was a dead grey and looked very ominous in the dark. His mane was made of blue fire, the hottest there was in the mortal realm. Irises were blood red and his sclera were a mustard yellow and had dark patches under his eyes. He wore a black cape tied together by a dark silver skull, the ends of the cape twirled like an octopus made of black souls. For pretty much the smallest god, he was intimidating "I think it's good that we have a little chat, Gaajirus." Cadaver walked to Mdala, performing a strange healing magic she'd never seen.

Gaajirus' eyes were filled to the brink, and she broke down sobbing at what she'd done. She wanted to do justice, she wanted to do good! Cadaver was aware she was unstable and was struggling, but she never thought she'd go as far as to attempt to kill another. The death of Cosmo had affected them badly, but he doubted even Last Legacy could know this would happen. It was getting worse and worse with the divine world.

"I'll take him to Falrasil, he won't make it otherwise," Cadaver said, pulling the pega-god onto his back and watched the younger gods breathing. Tophet nodded, opening a portal for the god who walked through, blood staining his sickly coat. Gaajirus' cries were unintelligible, he couldn't understand them, and he was the god who tortured people as an occupation. He sighed, watching her. She tried to be the judge and executioner without thinking about what she was doing. Foolish foal.

"You're an idiot, you know that? You aren't the first to do this, and you unfortunately won't be the last... I get that you think its wrong, i get that you want justice, and i get that everything feels a lot. I used to be similar to you, you know." he looked up at her. Even when crying and in a mess he needed to look up. His height was deliberate. It was more intimidating when mortals were tortured by one their own size, for what reason he didn't know yet? "I didn't want to torture, i didn't want to bring pain. Falrasil kept saying i was doing my job, that it was my duty to do that crap... But then i learnt something. These were evil people, they were bad, they'd done nasty stuff and needed punishment! So, i took delight knowing i was doing justice. Their cries of pain soon became music, they faces of horror what put me to sleep when i took naps, and the insane mumblings became funny."

"It's wrong!" she cried "They want to dream such horrible things!" she said, Tophet raising a brow as if he was supposed to care "why do i have to suffer? Why is it so bad to make them dream of nice things!" he rolled his eyes, tired of Gaajirus' moans. They were sick yeah but they were fantasies, not real. If they became real, he'd deal with them. They had a system. Yes it was a bit hard with Cosmo gone, but they were doing their blood best.

"You listen to me and listen to me now," Tophet warned, his tone making her quiet down and look down. He scared her somehow, despite being a midget. His eyes peered deep into her soul, and literally "Mdala isn't the problem, you are. All you're meant to do it let them have 'nice' dreams, you don't have to sit and watch them like a theatre act. You don't need to do much at all really. There's no true wrong way to fantasise, it's only wrong if ACTED on!" he was scaring her more and more, the mare scooting backwards as he stamped towards her "You do NOT kill another god! Especially when he's doing a far better job than you are! It's Cadaver's job to pass judgement, NOT you! You dare try this again and you'll have to deal with ME!" his voice was distorted and demonic, his blue flames bursting like a volcano. he swallowed deeply, scowling with rage at Gaajirus "Cadaver is the only one keeping me from destroying you, but even he can only keep me back for so long..."

But they didn't know that Mdala's godly blood had seeped out into the mortal world. the drops of divine blood had fallen into a dream sphere, and from there, leaked into the world of mortals. the corrupted blood seeped from the sleeping form of a now deceased being, so decayed it was unrecognisable thanks to the blood sapping all its life away. The blood spread around, everything it touching slowly becoming decomposed.

A dragon walked into the cave, the stench choking her. where was her beloved hatchling? She looked around but couldn’t see him anywhere. The poor oblivious dragoness stepped into the godly goo, not knowing what evil she’d just unleashed onto the poor mortal realm. She cried and struggled as the slime started to run up her limbs. She fought, writhing against the ground as it continued to swarm her body.

“No! stop! Get off!!” she cried as she could feel it digging in past her scales into her body. it climbed up and up, getting to her neck, restricting her breathing “Help!” she cried again, fear and terror coursing through her body. had it taken her baby? Where was her hatchling? She cried even harder as it started to eat into her face, crawling into her mouth and going down her throat. she could feel the slime's hands, or whatever it used to move. she could feel herself slip away as it stabbed into her mind, trying to destroy her.

Her body became misty, her bright scales now dark grey. she was an in between, not truly physical and not truly a ghost. she looked to her new hands that swirled around, a grin growing unnaturally on the mutated body. her yellow eyes were now red from the explosion of blood vessels. she clenched and unclenched her fists, watching her new body. how had she come to be? how was she alive? how had she known she could take over this body?

"I... a body...?" she had a voice, something of her own. what would she do with this new power? what would she do with her new leash on life? "I, need a name. i need to be called something. what would me name be?" she looked through the memories of her host, finding a name she couldn't decipher. she'd call herself Bahamut. yes, that was her name. she would be called Bahamut. but, what was she? Bahamut was born from the blood of the nightmare god, so she'd be a nightmare.

Bahamut felt herself, accidentally pulling a piece off to her surprise. it warped, and became another little her? she was confused, but pleased. she could create more of her! she could make a whole race of her! Bahamut, the Nightmare Source! yes, that was what she was. her children would be the Nightmare Forces. Bahamut looked to the land outside of the cave, seeing a world that would be hers. the little force behind her turned its head as it felt existence, floating beside her.

"My... creator...?" said the small one, looking at its source who was smiling.

"We're going to take over this world, it'll be ours my little force... i will create more of us, we will have a land of nightmares. it'll be all ours, and then our god Mdala can come from the heavens to bring us home..." right? didn't he mean to create her? wasn't this supposed to be her purpose? to take over this world? she needed a purpose, something to do, she had to exist for a reason and this was it! Bahamut would rule the realm with her children of plenty! "Prepare the cave, this'll be my den where i shall birth more of us. the time of nightmares is upon us."

Author's Note

Origin of the Nightmare Forces. Obviously, inspired by the Medusa thing. for those who don't know, she was a gorgon and the gorgons head was cut off. when her blood hit the ground it created snakes! so, little mythology lesson for ya.

Saga 1, To be a Princess: Comfort Zone

Medianoche smiled at his wife, who was trying to crush him in an Ursa Major Bear Hug. She cried as hugged her husband, to feel him against her, to see his smile and his wonderful eyes. It was so much, she'd dreamed of... Well, bunnies for some reason, but she'd wanted to see Medianoche awake for a while. She'd been in the pony lands to guide them, but then she'd heard that he was awake, and rushed here as fast as possible. Armadura De Estrella even wrapped her wings around him, so filled with emotions she was laughing a little. He purred, pulling back and licking her snout, her doing the same.

Kanashimi smiled at the adorable sight. As did Toque Dulce while watching over Skiadrum. The king didn't really know what to say as his wife finally let go, seeing how the weeks had effected her. The Draconequus gave a little clap and whistle at the two, making them blush. Armadura had plans to deal with her husband, but right now, she wanted to see him well, and thank her unlikeliest of heroes. Nobody ever thought he'd go out of his way like that, or shatter The Mountain King Noche De Neón's deadpan...

"Can, you wake him? I want to thank him, and i want him to hear it." the Draconequus nodded, slowly undoing the sleep spell he'd done. The stallion reacted, his muscles shivering under his black coat and a few twitches in his face, but nothing more than that. Two yellow tired eyes opened, blinking slowly like a zombie "Skiadrum?" his ears flickered towards her, meaning he was listening "I want to thank you, for helping my husband, your baby brother."

"I'm a bit proud of you," Medianoche chuckled, enjoying the difference in his elder brother. A lot of new things were going on lately, all he was getting used to. A guard had just taken Luna to see his father about something, but it was likely for the best as Skiadrum would scare her "Since when did you have a, whatever that is. A goats beard?" that was another odd thing he'd noticed.

"Your white filly hit me with a spell. I liked the look." for some reason that was actually funny, he rivalled his father in the deadpan department. His younger brother was genuinely smiling, a strange sight. Kanashimi suddenly bopped his nose, the feeling and out of nowhereness making him look at the tip of his nose to see what just happened. Now his ears were filled with laughter. Not from nervousness, but from actual joy.

"I did it! I did it!" Kanashimi laughed, holding his sides. Even Medianoche and Armadura had to giggle at the alien look of the great Skiadrum being cross eyed. His fellow guards were calling him lackadaisical with his work, but this was way worth the crap! Fuwa would agree, even the King would find this amusing "Well done Skia-boy, you just made everyone laugh!" he didn't understand what was going on, they were laughing because of something like that? This family was strange, and that was coming from him.

The younger stallion got up against his wife's protest, taking steps to his much older brother. The Draconequus moved back a little, a grin still on his face. Medianoche needed to thank Gekidō in person for these jokers, they were rather funny. This one was anyways. He opened his uninjured wing, draping it over his brother who was looking up into him. There was an inkling of confusion in them, many questions he couldn't answer. He smiled, taking in a deep breath, and let it out as calmly as possible.

"When you can get your tail out of bed, i want to see you around more often, alright? Things with mother are a little rocky i know, but it'll be better. Everything's changing around here, maybe for better maybe for worse, but i want you to be by our side for it all." he leaned down and licked, the sign of trust being very new. Armadura basically dragged Medianoche back into his bed, the nurse scooting over and checking to ensure he didn't break anything. Skiadrum tried to process what was going on, not able to understand any of whats happening. This was all new, he had no idea how to react to it. Luckily, or unluckily, he had a Draconequus right beside him.

"Hear that buddy?" Kanashimi said with a smile "You get to stay here!" with his claw and paw he cupped the older stallions cheeks, surprising him further and confusing him even more. This being had obviously never head of a comfort zone. He squished, giggling as he started making faces "Aww, you're kinda cute when you have no idea what's going on!"

"Stop torturing him," Armadura sighed, opening a wing in Kanashimi's face, having him go a little backwards. She'd seen something in the Draconequus' eyes those. Something she was suspicious of. Kanashimi just shrugged, not seeing the trouble. he was a adorable, it should be a crime not to play with him! "Sorry, Draconeqi can't keep their hands to themselves." Skiadrum just stared at the ceiling, not a able to come up with a single reason as to why that just happened. she sighed, letting him try and decode the odd creature while she tried to keep her husband from being adorably stupid.

Saga 1, To be a Princess: Meeting

Discord sighed, not really in the mood for what he had to do right now. a meeting. Konran had disappeared off somewhere and was back, and he wanted to be posted on what’s going on. verbally. He sighed again, wanting to facepaw at the irritation coursing through his body. Tia and Novo were asleep, which was good, the two had tuckered themselves out with the halberd training. He’d probably get his tail handed to him for that… he was meant to watch them, not train them. the Draconequus hadn’t actually heard much of his comrades lately, he’d been so busy with the filly and chick he’d barely seen them other than Kanashimi. He walked into a room set up for them, seeing his captain sitting at a table. For some reason the others were late, which was odd, as he had the reputation for being late?

Konran was, unsure of himself. with the cock up of Ihō and Roki, he was getting an earful from The Mountain King. He sighed, reading a letter from the king. The ‘queen’ was causing trouble and he might have to escort her here for her own protection. This castle was a magnet for royals it seemed. Erin was planning on visiting as well, he wanted to talk to Medianoche about trading medical supplies, as it seemed Shadowlogia was slightly behind on that department. Magic could only do so much… Konran looked up, seeing the unsure guard. With his grey tail, he pointed for the Draconequus to sit, which he did. Kanashimi came in next, a strange grin on his face, but didn’t say anything.

Roki came in next, fumbling like a fool. He was very clumsy, but he rarely missed when it came to his archery skills. Roki had a bison leg on the left and a hyena leg on the right. His left arm was from a tom cat with a white paw while his right arm was from an iguana as was the rest of his body. well it resembled an iguana thanks to his long body. he had a lion tail, and four wings. on from a moth, a butterfly, a humming bird and a swallow. He couldn’t fly very well without his magic. Roki’s neck was a bit longer than normal, and his head resembled a giraffe but was pure white and not a messed up chess board. He had brown hair atop his head like a hu-man and golden spikes that went down his neck and back that stopped at his tail. His irises were sky blue while his sclera was a very dark blue.

Ihō shyly walked in and sat next to Discord, slightly more comfortable next to him. he wasn’t a full Draconequus, his grandfather slept with a changeling, which was why he was so changeling like. his tail was from a monkey with dark fur that acted as a fifth useful limb, Titan Tail’s had the same flexibility but that was the dragon blood. Ihō’s back legs were from a changeling, his long body the same colour as their thick hides and his head was very pony like while holding wolf like features as well. on his neck going down his chest and ending at his tail was a shade of lighter fur, inherited from his very wolf like father. Ihō also had the carapace of a changeling, the hard-metallic back and what seemed like a band wrapping around his stomach. On his shoulder blades were two changeling wings, but the left was a purple like colour. His front right limb was from a lion while the other looked exactly the same but green with consistent yellow rings. Probably from an extinct species of lion, which was rare. Ihō had rabbit ears and a rabbit nose, which twitched nervously. His sclera was a pale pink that verged on white, while his irises were snow white, making it hard for any old being to spot his irises. Another changeling trait, that and the horn on his forehead. He had a mane that was a dark cyan with black stripes and holes, again, a changeling thing.

Finally, was Kōkatsuna, a smug smile on his face was if he was the early one. Kōkatsuna had a falcon right arm and a painted dog left arm, his right leg from a zebra and his left from a large crocodilian. His body was a darker shade of brown to his fellow young titan, his tail even being a darker shade to Discord. One wing on his back was from a roc and the other from an albatross. His head was goat like, again similar to the other titan tail, but his fur was a lot darker than him. His mane was slicked back, black with red tips which was also at the end of his tail, on his chin and thin sideburns. His irises were blood red and he actually had pupils, one being a star shape and the other a triangle, the sclera being white. He had a single antelope horn, and a very long chameleon that stuck outwards to irritate everyone around him.

“Now that you’re all here, I’d like to discuss what’s going to be changing around here,” Konran stated, folding his arms and glaring at the guards. For some reason Fuwa wanted to be called his translated name and didn’t wear his helmet, Ihō and Roki let two threats to the royal family get away, Kanashimi was messing around with an injured prince and Kōkatsuna kept fucking off somewhere! “For starters, Fuwa, I’m having miss Luna also be in your care. There has been great progress with Celestia lately, even the hippogriff chick Novo. They aren’t easy, I get that. Luna and Celestia have barely seen each other since the incident, so we’ll be relying on you to get them back together. You’ve managed in the past; the only difference is that they’re ponies and female.” No pressure. The Draconequus sighed loudly, covering his face with his claw and paw “Keep up the training with her, it’s a healthy outlet for all of those feelings deep inside.”

“So Fuwy here made a few friends, how about we get to something that actually matters. While you lot’ve been chasing your tails, I’ve been trying to find what’s making the storms worse!” all of them had been trying, not just you Cockatsuna. Best nickname Roki had ever come up with to date “There needs to be a new God of Creation, and soon, this world is falling apart without them being there to keep the balance shmalance!” that was a point they already knew. they all knew the gods were struggling with this, it was just a fact they needed to get over. The gods would find a new vessel, sooner rather than later would be nice.

“Those ‘friends’ are the children of Cosmo dipshit,” Discord spat back “I have an idea how we can try and counter the rogue energy currently sending the world to crap.” They were all ears. They didn’t have a lot of ideas on how to deal with it, their chaos magic seemed to be strengthening the storms, one that was heading towards them as they spoke “It’s more a theory, but it might work… they’re the kids of Cosmo and the mistress right? They’re technically gods, the two might be able to harmoniously do a particular thing that could give a crutch to balance until the gods find a new vessel. It won’t be permanent, but it’ll buy time.”

“What would that be?” Kanashimi asked “No offence dude, but even if they are gods, how can those little fillies do anything other than scream or try to kill each other? The Umbrum have sent Celestia to some far away school cuz she’s so irritating… Luna’s not half bad though.”

“From what I’ve seen of ponies their names correspond to their ass tattoo, cutie mark, whatever. The special talent that tells them what to do… Luna and Celestia will probably get those since they were born in the mortal world…” it was a stretch but a possibility “I’m going to try and have Celestia raise the sun, and if that works with her but mark, then I’ll get Luna to do the moon. Working together, they’ll make night and day, and from that plants grow and circle of life yada yada. Like I said, a crutch, they aren’t really going to hold back those storms, just lessen their potency.”

Konran hummed as he thought it over. He ignored whatever the others said, staying in his own mind. For one of the youngest here, Fuwa wasn’t as naïve as the others. His martial art skills were close to record breaking, and he was getting better and better every century. He’d said it to death, but he was a titan tail, this was to be expected. Although with Kōkatsuna to compare him with, everything was a surprise. It could work, they wouldn’t lose anything from trying. The worst-case scenario he could think of is Celestia not raising the sun, not that he could figure out anything worse than that right now. they had to try it. if this actually worked, he was getting a raise.

“We’ll try it…” Konran sighed, shutting Kōkatsuna right up “We don’t have many options, that, and Princess Shinshitsu is possibly coming to Shadowlogia. Apparently, she’s more her father than her mother, thank chaos for that.” this was serious news. when the king sent them here it was the first time meeting him, let alone the queen or princess! “It’s possible she’s stolen an egg from one of the queen’s raids, so Roki, you’ll be watching over the egg. Unlike an Ahuizotl, it won’t distract you by playing cards.” The named Draconequus blushed, shrinking backwards a little “Ihō I need you to go to the Hollow Shades and see if that gorgon is still there, Noche wants her head for what happened to Skiadrum. Speaking of the prince, Kanashimi, care to elaborate what you did the other day?”

“He’s cute when confused!” the Draconequus chuckled “he went cross eyed and everything!” they all collectively rolled their eyes, Kanashimi not caring in the slightest “what? I’ve got my own mission hear, cracking the stone around that heart of his. I will get that statue to smile, I bet on it! Skiadrum will smile!”

“The day that happens is the day Fuwa becomes God of Chaos!” Kōkatsuna cackled, irritating the other Draconequus who was scowling “Don’t look at me like that kitten, just cuz some twit in your family got shagged by a royal and you’ve got those golden eyes doesn’t mean a damned thing!” he was bringing this jab up again. Konran scowled at the very cocky and very arrogant brat. As he was a titan tail he felt entitled to pretty much everything, he felt he was superior and the only reason he was here was because of his physical strength and the unusual gift with telekinesis. a lot of Draconeqi had it, but not as strong as his. Even Konran was advised to watch out for it. Ihō sat up to say something but Cockatsuna was on a rampage “Don’t you say a thing Ihiot, a half breed like yourself shouldn’t even be here! You’re weak, how you’ve survived this long isn’t a miracle but an insult to our race! You can barely use magic, don’t think you can say something with the big boys.” Discord hit the table hard, gaining Kōkatsuna’s attention again. the two glared, very deep threatening growls emanating from the two.

“Take it back, before I make you it your words.” Kōkatsuna rolled his eyes, being as prideful as a lion with his lioness harem. Konran intervened, he knew these two were seconds from being at each other’s throats. Fuwa had always been very protective, it was one of the many reasons he was looking after the filly, and thanks to Ihō’s shyness it was easy to instinctually feel he’s a youngling to protect. That and the two started together when in training “You take it back. Now.”

“Enough!” Konran snapped, his tail smacking hard on the ground “Kōkatsuna, you dare pull that shit on me again and I am going to drag you home by your tail scales!” he looked to a very angered Discord, sighing loudly “Fu-Discord, please escort Ihō to the Hollow Shades, alright?” Ihō could shape shift almost flawlessly thanks to his changeling blood, his best ability was stealth and disguises. But he had a feeling no matter what he did, those two were going to butt heads, and when they did, one might not come out of it in one piece “I’ll take Shinshitsu if she does come here. Roki will care for the potential egg. Discord will try and test out his theory along with Ihō and Kōkatsuna… I will talk to you after this. I don’t need to say what I want you to do Kanashimi, just try and learn not everyone wants their face cupped like a baby.”

With that, they were dismissed, all but for Kōkatsuna. Roki waved off his pals as he went to his guest room, Kanashimi flying off to the infirmary and with that, Ihō and Discord were left in the hallway. They hadn’t talked together for a while, but that wasn’t going to stop them being buds. Ihō gave a silent thank you to his comrade and friend, happy he had someone to speak up for him. Discord nodded, ruffling Ihō’s mane and tapping his bunny nose. They had work to do, but it was gonna be a lot easier together rather than alone. Ihō needed someone to help him with his confidence, and Discord wanted to give his pal that voice he didn’t have. As a good friend should.

Author's Note

Irony tastes delicious

Saga 1, To be a Princess: Unhealthy Coping

Skiadrum looked at himself in the mirror. For some reason, he felt very heavy in the chest, the cause was yet to be found. His stomach also didn’t feel well, as if something was inside, wriggling around. he couldn’t get that gorgon out of his thoughts, what she said ringing in his ears as if she was just behind him.

Drowning in so much fear you no longer feel it

You can't feel fear, if you're nothing but fear

You've been broken too many times

The mere idea of emotions terrifies you

why couldn’t he shut these words out? he’d been called worse, he’d been told worse, but still, they wouldn’t go away. His fur shivered from a cold that never left, a freeze that would turn a wendigo to ice. When you felt nothing, then you felt icy and cold. he hung around the dragon lands a lot, his secret cave was within an active volcano with lava not far away from him, but even then, he still felt that chill.

He sucked in a deep breath, watching his dead yellow eyes barely blink. It hadn’t bothered him before, but all of a sudden it was unsettling. If she had turned him to stone, would anybody see a difference other than a different colouration? Likely not. that hadn’t bothered him before either, but now it did. he hated it. odd, he could say he hated something, but even that was lost to him. An oblivion of nothingness, it was detestably comforting. The mere idea of emotions terrifies you. was that the cause for these strange aches? Was he afraid? How would he know if he had lived in fear his whole life? it was thoughts like these that made the days suddenly harder than normal.

he was content most of the time, having a near never ending patience and the ability to shut others out. times had changed. Now he felt restless, that patience was wavering to something unknown and that stupid Draconequus kept cracking his doors, near impossible to shut out. he could describe it very well, there weren’t any words for it. the weight within grew heavier, the more he remembered those words the heavier and heavier it got.

Drowning in so much fear you no longer feel it

Skiadrum put a hoof to his chest, feeling his hearts. One was beating a steady rhythm as if it was artificial, but the other, it was going so fast he could barely feel it. the more he looked on at the reflection, the worse it felt. Breathing was starting to become very slightly more difficult, the weight making his lungs and diaphragm work harder than normal. Then something strange happened. Water. he could see water coming from his eyes? Why? He’d never done this before? His fur was shivering even more, streaks of water darkening his already dark fur and dropping silently onto the floor.

His eyes were burning, his throat was constricted and felt like something was trying to come up, the cold suddenly feeling worse than ever. What was this? what was going on? shouldn’t he be afraid of all of these strange happenings? But then again, how could he fear, if he was already scared…

You can't feel fear, if you're nothing but fear

With his magic, he opened the cabinet beside the mirror, searching for something. anything that could take this away. He couldn’t take his eyes from the reflection that was starting to twist. He could feel it, but he could see himself changing. His eyes had narrowed to a scowl, his lips had peeled back, jaw shut as tight as possible, his back, and there was something in those yellow orbs. with a blink, it was gone. his body was shaking violently. His magic felt something metallic, and he pulled it towards his line of vision. A blade. Small, meant to do clean cuts and little more, something medics used at times if they had to get inside you to help you and fix a problem.

He’d done this before. Skiadrum lifted a hoof, his wrist facing him. A spell was removed, one that he’d managed to manipulate so it automatically activated, and it took his effort to undo it. when he’d look away from it, the spell would come back, and it’d be hidden. The blade slowly cut his skin beneath his fur, the metal leaving a red trail.

It stung, tingled, and it made the feelings on the inside lessen. Inner pain was something he could never adapt to, no matter how well he’d adapted to everything else. He used external pain to, in a sense, shut it up. It was temporary, but it felt better than this hot fire leaking from his eyes. He’d watch his cuts leak red, and not the clear water from his eyes. It felt better already. The red joined with the clear on the floor bellow him, the two swirling and merging with one another. Today it wasn’t enough. Sometimes it was harsher, so he needed more than a few red stripes.

The mere idea of emotions terrifies you

He looked to his bandaged body, the spell activating and hiding his new marks that still bled. The bandages were enchanted to numb his wounds, to keep them from hurting. His horn flashed, the enchantment weakened, and the very thing he had asked for was delivered. It burned, the kind that he wanted and not what was in his eyes. It made the weight inside lessen, his breathing not as restricted. It was almost addictive how much better he was feeling. That burn, that specific kind of burn outweighed the freeze that was drowning him.

He looked into the mirror again, the pain coursing through him bringing a warmth even a volcano couldn’t bring. The water was still going, but he looked normal. He knew what he did wasn’t normal, but it was for him, and it made life bearable. The mask was back on tight, and Skiadrum watched as the water started to stop flowing and eventually dry up. He released a breath he was unaware he’d been holding, calming himself down. He could still hear her words though. His lessening of the enchantments had done what it needed, but he felt that he would have to do more later if these words kept ringing in his ears.

You've been broken too many times

Saga 1, To be a Princess: Plan Changed

Noche De Neón, Medianoche Brilliante, Armadura De Estrella and Crepúsculo Radiante. These four owned the Umbrum. The two females didn’t have as much authority, but they were very intelligent. Konran didn’t fear them, but they made him unsure. The other night he was given some very disturbing information thanks to Discord and Ihō. They hadn’t been prepared for what happened, those two could’ve gotten themselves killed and he’d have to pay for that. the King would be very pissed, he was slightly fond of the two. that and they needed to test if that idea of his works.

The four were sitting at a table, waiting for Konran. He’d said it was very urgent to talk to them about the mission regarding the flower that saved Medianoche’s hide. They were concerned and were getting used to the fact that the princess of annoyingness had made a deal with a dragon they were now stuck with. it was becoming a zoo around here lately. Noche De Neón had decided to keep the squirt called Torch, finding use for the fire user, even though Crepúsculo didn’t like him. He was, in her words, a gecko. Whenever she said it, he showed his dragon pride, something Noche admired about dragons. They had great pride, a spark that fuelled them, the very spark that little sunny had that convinced his new ‘assistant’ to work for him.

The Draconequus came in, the object that had brought everything up a notch inside of a metal box. They watched him like hawks, Medianoche and Armadura the only ones that didn’t look like they wanted to eat him. Noche was understandable, he’d had a meltdown after both his sons nearly died, one of them reportedly having to be tied to the bed because he moved to much. He hadn’t seen it, but Kanashimi was very descriptive with what he saw. The reports of an explosion of colour was also a sign of how it affected him. Sonic Rainboom they were calling it. stupid name.

“You’re wondering why I’ve asked for you to be here,” Konran said, putting the metal box on the table “The gorgon has been slain by Discord, he has a lot of bruises, but he’ll be alright.” Noche was very, VERY pleased. He was just disappointed he couldn’t do it. the brat in gold that did it was now his second favourite Draconequus, his favourite being Gekidō. His dark smile was enough for Konran to know he was happy with the news “We also managed to collect two flowers, which took three hours to find. But, that isn’t why I’m here. I could’ve just sent a report, but this is important.” He opened the box, showing the amulet.

“what in Tartarus is that?” Crepúsculo spat, sensing great evil from it. it was hideous, and even her husband was a little unnerved by it “You went to get flowers, well done. you killed the bitch, double good. but how does this become involved?” they could have a mole, an option given to him by Roki. It was a fact he was very unnerved about. something was wrong, somehow the information was getting out. he had to order those cubs to keep the best playing cards to their chest encase they were being watched, meaning they needed to deliberately look like twats so they’d be underestimated. Unfortunately, this could also be part of some plan.

“When Ihō got to the area where the first flower was recovered, the gorgon was there, and she had a very deep hoof dent in her face.” Noche was smiling again with a dragon’s pride. Indeed, he was the Mountain King “But then Ahuizotl showed up.” They all glared, even the overly forgiving king “He gave this to her, literally stating that he had a master that made it. she was able to use magic in a magical dead zone, that’s how volatile this thing was. Ihō was moments from being found until Discord got her attention.”

“My contacts in Krussia said that an Ahuizotl had bought a pack of timber wolves, so we know he was the one who sent them on Skiadrum. I have to say though, what powers this?” Armadura asked, concern in her voice “That kind of power, it’s reserved for gods isn’t it? to use magic within dead zones?” she was unsure, and she wouldn’t like the answer. They shouldn’t be surprised those two were working for someone, but that someone was apparently very powerful.

“He said they slit the throat of an Alicorn and infused its soul into it. Discord didn’t really beat her as he outlasted her. it was corrupting her, and for some reason she turned her skin to stone as a sort of armour. Which proved to be her downfall. It took her over, and he managed to end her while she was mostly in control.” they were disgusted, and nervous “The magic it took to make this was extreme, rivalling Umbrum royalty. Ahuizotl knew the two would be there somehow, he even winked to Ihō. Their master has planned out everything, so we should be more on guard than normal.” They nodded, all silently agreeing that there was something bad going on.

They were right, for something indeed bad was happening. Well, happened. Catrina watched them talk through her mirror, chuckling to herself. That Draconequus needed to go, but the master wanted him around. so far, everything her predicted had come true. The old horn was rather intelligent and had spent many decades planning this. Ahuizotl was also very happy, proud of himself even. And here he thought he and Catrina wouldn’t get along. Proved what he knew!

She waved her paw, now looking at the one whom had slain Aladjinn. He was out of his armour for once, tending to the mass of bruises he’d gained from his scuffle. Novo was still there along with Celestia, and that chick was going to stay there until those storms let up. The death of Cosmo had been a blessing in disguise honestly. The master was very surprised when it happened, and he actually smiled. It was cruel, but he still smiled. Thanks to ‘the mistress’ everything was progressing at lightning speed.

“Catrina…” her ears perked then dropped as she heard the masters voice. He could talk to them no matter how far away they were, which enforced the idea to not betray him. Ahuizotl still looked around though like an idiot, but she could handle his stupidity for now “The plan has changed again.” oh god what did he want now? something like a dragon’s tooth?

“What’s the new plan big boss?” the voice of their master grumbled, which sounded like a growl. Even the master couldn’t stand Ahuizotl’s stupidity it seemed. So why was he around? she’d learn eventually, just not now.

“There has been a fight with the gods. The god of nightmare has spilt blood in our realm, birthing monsters called Nightmare Forces. They foolishly believe they are purposely created to make this world ready for their creator, who likely doesn’t know they exist.” this was interesting? Catrina’s ears shifted upwards a little, a smile on her face “I’ve manipulated them very easily and have enhanced them to possess others, they have pledged foolish alliegnce to me when i said i was their 'creators' minion, made for them to serve. as to how the plan as changed... In short, I’m going to start a war.”

Saga 1, To be a Princess: The Graceful Master (Point of View Chapter)

I’m the master, a monster, a lot of things. Why I chose the term ‘graceful’ I shall never know. It doesn’t matter. for a very long time I’ve been planning this, I’ve been collecting my pawns for this great game of life. I don’t like how fools compare the game of life as chess, when it’s anything but. in fact, it was more like cards. It was about strategy, luck, and a whole lot of cheating. It’s only wrong if you’re caught. In the game you have four aces, but i? I had collected seven. My plan wasn’t absolute, I left it loose enough to change when something unexpected happened. Like the Nightmare Forces. They were so easy to manipulate i might as well have been napping while I did it.

What I’ve thought up would play out over ten thousand years, building up my opponent’s deck before I start to tear them apart. My greatest weapons happened to be my opponents. They were all playing into my hooves. I might as well walk up to them, tell them what to do, and they’ll do it. there was always the chance i'd fail but thanks to Medianoche being so forgiving, he’d probably give a light sentence.

After watching the fight between the Umbrum and the gorgon Aladjinn, I became interested. My Nightmares can’t manipulate something like that, but I could. He couldn’t be possessed, but he could affect his family without knowing it. I do wonder what’d happen if he released all of that pent-up feelings from within? Something to test for later.

I opened a screen before me, watching a mare called Apple Pie. I needed her. she was obsessed with Draconeqi, and I needed those two to come together to create an important mare. An old friend gifted me with visions of the future. I could only do it once every three months, but immortality had that perk. I had seen a lot, and i had planned as carefully as possible. I could feel myself grinning. There was a lot to do, a lot to prepare for.

Roame wasn’t built in a day, but I did destroy it in one. that was what I was doing. Building up Roame only so I can tear it down. A lot would find this, strange or pointless. Ah, but nothing is truly pointless. To believe such is naïve, and it makes you foolish. Even just doing something, that has a point to it. action. Everything had a point, no matter how minor. My creation and destruction of these characters were going to be expertly crafted. I need them to be shaped and moulded to better suit me in the future. all of my servants will serve me well.

Cacodemon Coney The Patient Wrath, Romeo The Corrupting Melody, Catrina The Unheard Watcher, Tsekani The Fast Silence, Salvador The Sanguine Mamba, Gigasari The Elegant Assassin, Dust The Hollow Warden and the few that are yet to be born.

Cacodemon has been my right paw/hoof guy for around sixteen centuries now, not leaving my side during any of it. a ruthless little bastard, I liked him for it. I actually held some semblance of respect for Cacodemon, his black heart near as dark as mine, which was so dark it had yet to have a name. I’d enhanced his body with curses and hexes to the point he can’t die by normal means.

Romeo was an accidental find, but his skills were incomparable, he would be important very soon. He tried to corrupt me with his magic flute and ended up becoming one of my aces. He still tries sometimes the sneaky goblin, and I inwardly applauded the bravery it takes to dare think about, let alone do.

Catrina was my spy, she was also my poisoner, a very attractive and sadistic bitch, her lust for causing others pain was a little arousing if I must be honest. The Abyssitire was very good at what she did, enjoying every moment. She had poisoned the Forgiving Shadow Medianoche, and he would as his name entailed forgive her. forgiveness was a stupid concept. One I never really believed in.

Tsekani was silent and quick, he could find out nearly everything just by having one conversation with you, I being the only exception to this skill I required. That and he’s artificially created accidently, he felt nothing and didn’t care, a Mannulunculus that would duke it out with the Living Statue. Two beings who were dead on the inside, both made accidentally, only the one that was actually alive could bleed while Tsekani couldn’t. I checked.

Salvador… I, there isn’t enough time in the day. He’s supposed to act the somewhat trusting fool. On his own, he’s straight out of an action book series. With others? Just what I needed. He’s got trades going on in the underground, filled with dark people that too bent to my will easily. I could almost clap out how devilish he is when he has someone with him to reign back that childishness of his.

Gigasari was my creation. It doesn’t have a gender, nor does it have pronouns. It is technically alive, as I infused it with many souls, but only I knew it was. it was able to shapeshift into anything, like a changeling, but it could do so much more. Things that didn’t need to be known yet.

Dust. Oh the fool. Dust is an accident to the laws of nature itself. I was actually surprised by his existence when I found him, something I treasure. Surprises are short and scarce for me. he used to be a unicorn, but he was murdered, and refused to die. He somehow refused Cadaver, escaping into a half alive half dead state. I did my magic on his body, and now it’s solid, a puppet for his soul to manipulate.

Each of them had a part to play, I just needed to lay my cards right. i cackled as i watched over the birth of hundreds and hundreds of nightmare soldiers. the future was indeed going to be grim, and fortunately for me, it was going to be lost of fun. This was a game I would not lose, for victory was already in my grasp.

"Let the games commence."

Saga 1, To be a Princess: Drapanese Princess and Abyssinia in Distress

Ōsawagi hissed, her ears back when her daughter refused to listen to her. Shinshitsu never listened to her and was becoming harder and harder to handle. She was so desperate to fix what was wrong that she was willing for her to see Gekidō. She hated him, and he hated her, they normally only met during the breeding season but now she was forced to bring her cub to him. Shinshitsu wasn’t a titan tail like her or her father, she was just another female Draconequus, but with the blood of both Ōsawagi and Gekidō in her veins.

Shinshitsu was a prematurely adult Draconequus, becoming adult ten thousand years earlier than she should’ve, Ōsawagi long suspecting that being why her daughter has become so different. She had two griffin wings tucked in against her long yet muscular and lean body. She had two dark purple horns from the top of her head; next to them were curved cat ears that twitched to the sound of people. Shinshitsu’s eyes were violet with yellow sclera and had pale darkish spots around her eyes. Her tail was long and scaled with beautiful pale lavender with rounded spikes going along the spine and ending in long fur. The rest of her body was covered in fur, other than her scales and feathered wings, and her tuff of hair that nearly covered her left eye. And she had dark circular patches around her eyes.

Shinshitsu had always felt different, never a day in her life did she feel right. Ever since she hatched she had been seen as odd. She had heard from her mother that she was going to meet her father for the first time in a very long time, so long she only remembered his eyes and a pink bow, nothing else. She had been hiding her excitement when it came to meeting him. She and her mother avoided male Draconeqi because of their magic, even though they were immune to said magic. Males were better in every way, except one, and that was violence. A female was able to rip a throat out without much care, even didn’t mind eating her kind. But for some reason Shinshitsu didn’t want to do that.

She ruffled her wings as her mother was flying above her, preferring to be in the skies than walk on the ground. Shinshitsu preferred the ground, it was a lot more comfortable for her than being in the skies. And she had another reason. During a raid, she’d rescued an egg from her mother’s evil intentions, keeping it hidden from her within her fur. She wasn’t sure how, but she could hide things in her fur?

“Hurry up already!” Her mother spat, her cruelness to any other species wouldn’t have been tolerated, but she was the idol for her gender. Why? Why was she so different? Why was she unlike the rest of her kind? She was pure white, she had a dragon like tail while not a titan tail, her limbs all matched that of a stripeless tiger, her horns were unique to her. Nobody was like her, personality wise she was different too. She was passive, she didn’t like the idea of cannibalism, she was so… unfemale… “You’re taking too long, flap those wings already!” She didn’t want to, and wouldn’t. She didn’t appreciate being talked down to. Yes, she was premature, but Shinshitsu was still an adult, and should be treated as such!

La Sombra Del Sol landed in Abyssinia, his wings folding tight against his armour. Slowly he walked through the streets, looking on at the state of the land. Indeed, it was in turmoil. Those liars had lied about everything except the state their home was in. They needed help, and Medianoche wasn’t one to deny a cry like this. It was a bit annoying that his little brother was as kind as he was, but the other countries loved him for it. It was difficult. He’d heard many discuss how Sol, Media and Ski were related. Apparently, those were the public nicknames for them. Sol was the ‘perfect’ leader but didn’t want the throne, Media was overly forgiving and kind with the temper of a tempest and Skiadrum was just Skiadrum. Though lately it was nice to hear his older brother not be spoken like he was an object since the defeat of that gorgon.

Everywhere talked about the three sons of The Mountain King, a stallion that if you hadn’t heard of him then you would’ve been living under a rock. Everybody knew his name, Noche De Neón the Mountain King with his scythe Bergentrückung. Every nation gave one of their strongest materials to Germareny where it was forged, thus had a name in Germaren. He should visit there as well.

The Abyssitires in the streets looked up to the stallion, everycat noticing him immediately. It was extremely rare for outsiders to come to their land, and yet here was a royal from Shadowlogia. The Admiral of the Umbrum Military no less. Two guards landed behind him, both pegasi from what they could see, both in very thick armour that obscured their faces. The only way to tell them apart was that one had a white mane and the other had a feminine figure. It was as strange was seeing the Admiral of Insecdia coming to their poverty-stricken lands.

Sol continued walking, watching the kits who hid with their mothers and sires. He spread his wings out, the two guards behind him nodding as they did the same. He could smell something wrong, something the felines were nose blind to. He beat his large wings against the ground, dirt flying into the air. The few that stayed to watch then ran away while the Umbrum watched for what was causing the scent. They spotted it, Sol’s feminine guard walking up to his side. Scowling under her armour.

“Canlaelax,” Llueve El Sol identified, her wings slamming against the ground again in irritation “Any idea how a poison from Machu Alpacchu is here?” Llueve was a good soldier, one of his right hoofed lieutenants. He trusted his life with her, which was why she was beside him right now. Llueve also had Sol in her name like him, so that was a little funny. Canlaelax was also known as the Nether Frightgeist.Hair loss, weight loss, altered mental status, breathing difficulty, moving difficulty, vomiting and sometimes the victims act feral. It’d been planted here, but by who?

“I have two in mind.” Piedra Rodante sounded disgusted, as much as Llueve and Sol felt. He shook his head, his horn glowing as he prepared to quarantine the area. Wherever the poison plague was, the spell would form a barrier around it. Unfortunately, the entire country was now under a dome “Sure hope we aren’t going to get sick, I’ve got a pregnant wife at home. If I miss my cubs birth i’ll never hear the end of it.”

“My father has had enough scare with the harm of two sons, he needn’t fear the harm of another.” The three lifted themselves off of the ground and flew to the Palace of Columbus, the Abyssitire who claimed this country after their original had been destroyed by Ponypeii. These cats were extremely unlikely souls. Thin barriers appeared around the three, made to protect them from being poisoned as well “I want you two to be watchful, it is highly likely that we are not the only ones who are investigating Abyssinia.”

Gekidō took in a deep breath and let it out. He hadn’t seen his daughter in a very, very, very long time and was slightly on nerve. Sakura was on his way as well, so there was that. Apparently the Doragon No Uma had updated the armour they used, so that was nice to know. A green puff of smoke appeared before him, then a letter dropped at his bear like paws. He raised a brow, lifting it with his magic and unfurling it, giving it a good read.

Emperor Gekidō (I don’t care that you call yourself king)

I want to discuss some information with you about recent discoveries. Your Draconeqi have been affecting the rampaging chaos energy, but not enough to stop the storms. We need aid. One of your guards, Fuwa, has come up with a plan that I’ve been going over thanks to Konran that might just work. We’re running out of options, so we’ll take what we can get.

I’m pretty sure that you’re aware of that plan, but encase you don’t, i’ll just make a fool of myself because you probably do. He suggested since the fillies are the daughters of Cosmo, that they could work together to create balance or whatever people call it these days. As with ponies and their ass marks correlate with their names, he believes they have something to do with the sun and moon. They should at least make a supporting beam, if it works.

My cubs are going to be the death of me. Medianoche nearly died by flying in a chaotic lightning storm then nearly poisoned to death, my daughter apparently had complications in childbirth so that happened, Sol has gone to Abyssinia which is heavy with a killing plague and my eldest is well, himself. I have a granddaughter, but she can’t take the throne. Armadura says that they’re trying, but I’m getting irritated. Seeing my cubs tempt Cadaver so often I think I’m going to have to retake the throne before they’re either pissing off Tophet or pissing off Falrasil!

My youngest son has recovered, but he has developed a slight phobia of lightning after nearly dying to it. My only fear is that I can’t get a grandchild out of him now, that or Armadura isn’t fertile, either way I need a grandkid. It was hard enough for him as it was, don’t need his swimmers cooked do i? Embarrassing my son red out of the way, I need to talk to you about something that your very ‘energetic’ guard is concerned over. Something that’s worrying me.

Kanashimi has warned me about his severe emotional detachment and that there’s a high chance he may be harming himself. After what happened to your brother Sēramu, I’m really worried about him and I need your advice on how to handle the situation. I’m still searching for his hideout to find out what he does when he’s alone, I fear the worst. Crepúsculo is close to opening her eyes that she’s responsible for his predicament, just as I am. I need your help. It’s still a touchy subject, but after the situation with the gorgon, I have this gnawing feeling he’s going to end up killing himself. Either by accident, recklessness or by his own volition.

By Noche De Neón, the Mountain King.

P.S I sent this using a dragon that Celestia ‘acquired’. Instant messaging is best messaging.

Gekidō stopped for e few moments, a frown on his muzzle. He hadn’t thought about Sēramu for a long time, and it brought painful memories. He was similar to Skiadrum, but he didn’t last as long. When Gekidō was still considered a teen, his elder brother committed suicide. It was very heart-breaking, it literally broke his fathers heart which killed him. His mother wasn’t even involved with them, but he had small inklings of hope that she would’ve felt something for her son. He could see why the Umbrum would be very concerned.

The Draconequus levitated a quill over to him along with parchment. He begun writing, his chest a little restricted from old memories. He didn’t try to hold them back, he knew not to. It caused great consequences afterwards. He took some deep breaths, the few guards inside his throne room looking up at him with concern. He waved a tail, letting them know he was alright. Gekidō dipped the quill into the ink and begun writing, also waiting for Ōsawagi to arrive with Shinshitsu.

Dear mountain king

I can understand why you’re worried about your eldest, and i have to be blunt with you. From the very little i’ve seen on him reminds me a lot of Sēramu now that i think about it. He is very likely to be suicidal, i don’t think he’s even aware of it either. From the little my big brother was willing, and able, to tell me was that it was like a deep weight that was slowly crushing him. Not literally thank the gods. He felt an incredible cold as if a wendigo was sleeping beneath his feathers, the only thing that could compromise that cold was self-harm. If your son has self-harmed himself, then i advise he is not to be left alone at all, no matter the circumstance.

He likely feels that he doesn’t belong, so I suggest that you try and connect with him. Skiadrum won’t understand, he’ll be confused by a lot of things and will need a lot of explanations. Your support and ensuring him he’s wanted may keep him from ending himself. Just because you can’t feel anything does not mean you can’t care for others.

I’m very thankful you’re willing to discuss this subject with me. I’m afraid I’m not very knowledgeable on the subject, but I can at least try and help you both. I suggest you and your family come to Drapan for a few days, when your son is well enough of course. Sakura would love to see you again, you two and your chess games. Oh, I just remembered that Konran told me about something called a ‘unicharm’. I would like it if you could bring the object here. I can keep it hidden and safe, as well as try to find who created it. All crafters leave their signature, if not in writing then in design. I do hope you have a good day.

Emperor Gekidō

P.S I am aware I’m an Emperor, but the name King sounds much more approachable.

With a burst of green fire, it was sent away to Noche, and he could relax a little. He let his eyes wonder along his halls, tapestries of monsters and weapons lining the walls. He needed to replace them, update to modern times. It was hard keeping up. Gekidō was very proud of his Draconeqi, they had learnt to accommodate this dimension’s years very well. They actually didn’t age much. They went from egg, to fledgling, to cub, to teen and then to adult. After that they just stopped ageing, much like alicorns. Draconeqi could die of old age, but it wasn’t very common. Once every quintillion years or so. Yep, they were old. To be less confusing for the rest of the world they ‘age’ themselves the same way Doragon no Uma did. Every ten thousand years was four years to them, the Draconeqi just kind of adopted that until they reached their adulthood.

“My King!” He looked down to his guard whom had his helmet on. The helmet worked well, making the guard look like a horse with a long body, long tail, dull brown eyes, dull white fur, dull blue hair and had four horse legs. They all looked the same to everyone who weren’t wearing that armour “the ‘Queen’ and your daughter have arrived.” Perfect timing, highly unusual for the cuntess of his life.

“Oh, my dear husband, it’s so nice to see you!” Faked Ōsawagi, flying around the room with a sick grin on her face. Gekidō was not amused “Stop with the dull face, this ain’t the enterprise, lighten up already!”

“Quiet Ōsawagi, as insufferable as you are I’m pleased you’ve arrived. Where is my daughter?” She rolled her eyes, her tail pointing to the door. A young Draconequus walked in, already an adult for some reason? Likely Ōsawagi’s fault. She was beautiful, thankfully nothing like her mother. Very unique, he could tell already she was different. The guards did too, all of them on edge. He stood up from his branch like throne, showing his size to the two females. A threat to Ōsawagi and a little display to his daughter.

She hadn’t kept her expectations high, but he really was something grand. A true king. Or emperor. Whatever he called himself. King sounded more approachable. She was surprised when he jumped from his… branch? It was from a blossom tree, the branch curved around to the front and looked comfortable. He didn’t have wings though, so it meant he was very important and powerful. She waved, grinning nervously, the guards even more unsettled by how odd she was acting.

“Uh, hi! Shinshitsu here, but you already knew that I’m gonna shut up now…” she was unsure what she was supposed to say to him. Gekidō was deadly sure that she was special, and needed to be away from his crooked wife asap before this uniqueness to be squashed “So, your dad? Or do I call you king?” Gekidō jumped down from his throne, standing before her. She was half his size, which was a little scary. She’d only seen the males that her mom had been eating.

“You may call me what you like my dear. The reason you are here is because you’re special, I can tell just by looking at you my dear.” Ōsawagi scowled, not happy at what was going on. Her daughter wasn’t going to survive in the outdoors like the rest of her gender, she wouldn’t last a week alone. She’d tried leaving her a week and she’d been eaten! Eating that dragon was nice, but Shinshitsu wouldn’t shut up about it. She’d have to leave her cub with him. Well, she could always get another one… she was going to make sure their next egg would be female. Then she’d screw off and not come back until next season. Ōsawagi sighed inwardly, knowing her cub was better here. She flew off, leaving her daughter behind “Follow me my dear,” Gekidō said as he walked down a hallway, the younger Draconequus following as he’d asked “So, tell me of yourself my dear. You can trust me.”

“Alright?” He was odd. Though given the only other Draconequus she knew was her mother, everything was going to be odd too her “Well I’m wrong. I don’t like to do, and I don’t want to do everything my gender naturally does. I feel wrong all of the time, ever since I hatched. I don’t know what to do about it. Are you going to fix me?” He didn’t pause, but he thought. What was there to fix? What was wrong with her being so different? It was an interesting thing to think about.

“No, my dear, I do not believe you need fixing.” Shinshitsu looked around the halls, seeing it being made from a strange marble that smell sweet and sugary. It was a bit scary to get looks from guards that passed them, some glaring, some afraid and others she didn’t know. Her mom was gone, so that hurt “Shinshitsu, I’m going to be blunt with you. In every nation the public are paranoid, extremely so. You’re something we’ve yet to see, so you need to go somewhere safe until the public are used to the idea of a female being, well, not my wife.” She could sort of get that? Mom said the public are filled with sheeple. One gets an idea and the rest follow like sheep to a shepherd “I’m hoping for you to go to Equestria to the Umbrum, I have a small squad of Draconeqi there that could look after you. And your egg.” She paused for a few moments, concerned that she could lose it. It was hers, and she’d fight for it, even if she wasn’t going to do very well… Shinshitsu watched him turn around and was then afraid to defy him. Even with that pink bow.

The palace didn’t look like it was doing very well, the staff likely as sick as the people below it. Sol, Piedra and Llueve all didn’t know what to expect. It was wrong, everything was dying, sick and many other words for bad. Piedra went ahead of his leader, turning and bucking the throne room doors open. Wasn’t really necessary, but he had a gut feeling that something was wrong. Llueve did as well, but she didn’t go around kicking doors open. She did a slow clap with her wings, the male guard snorting at her sarcastic praising. Well done you just defeated a door.

“Can we please keep the palace in one piece?” Sol snapped, walking past Piedra and looked around the large room. Like the rest of the city it was in poor condition. Damn “King Carniva?” he called, getting no answer. This wasn’t good. what was it with kings getting poisoned these days? It was becoming irritatingly disturbing, since it was likely because of the same douche bags “Llueve, Piedra, pick a half of the palace and search it.” They nodded to each other, leaving the Admiral to himself. he walked to the throne, seeing it was in tatters and been scratched to hell.

His nostrils flared as an insect like scent struck him. A changeling had been here, very recently. What was a being from Insecdia doing here? His feathers ruffled, questions filling Sol’s mind. He begun to follow the scent, determined to find answers.

Saga 1, To be a Princess: Making Plans

Armadura stepped into the hallway, yawning. She was tired, mostly because everyone was preparing for the Draconequus Princess to come to Shadowlogia. The castle was becoming a hotel for royals it seemed. Honestly, everything was going crazy. It was too early for her little Luna to be awake, she needed a lot of sleep. After teaching her the speech spell she’d been using it a lot, and it was tiring her out. poor thing. The mare walked to a window, her eyes glowing as she started to raise the sun. the original sun goddess had perished, making it the job of others to raise and lower it. something in the gardens caught her attention though. A white filly, a hippogriff and a Draconequus. The Draconequus had been gaining their attention, the royal family having a gut feeling he was going to play a part in the puzzle of history, not that they knew whether he’d be a framing piece or a main one.

Celestia’s magic was getting slightly stronger, she was holding the stick a lot better now, keeping a magical grip around the handle that’d been scratched so she could remember where to keep it. she swung to the left, then to the right, repeating the action. Each practice she was getting faster and adding more force behind each strike, at this rate she was going to be able to hold something heavier. Novo was holding her stick in his claws, doing the same as Celestia. The two had yet to figure out he was looking for them to work together, but they’d get it eventually, they were smart girls after all.

“Alright, switch time.” time for them to be on the defence. He hadn’t used his actual halberd on them yet, but he had a feeling it’d be used in the future. for now, he used a wooden stick the same size as theirs, a mere meter. Celestia and Novo held their sticks tight, getting read for the onslaught that was about to take place. He gripped his own, holding back as much as possible as to not break something. made it a little difficult to ‘fight’ them when your species had the potential to crush diamond. He’d never tried it, but some shmuck did a few eons ago “You two ready?”

“We’ll always be ready!” Celestia said proudly, her confidence growing, thankfully not out of control this time. He really needed to nip her attitude in the bud before she became arrogant. As the saying goes. Arrogance killed the Amphithere. He knew a lot of those. His personal favourite was Revenge killed the Revenant, Curiosity killed the Cat and Deception killed the Dragon. He swung it downwards, the young filly pulling her stick above her to block it. good, normally he ended up getting her head. he then went for her left, Novo blocking the attack. She wasn’t as strong as Celestia thanks to not using magic, but she wasn’t too bad. At this rate he could try and get the filly to raise the sun. it was still a long shot, but they needed to try something. hell, if his plan worked he might get another raise!

Armadura wasn’t aware that the two were getting lessons, but she was pleased. Novo would be stuck here until Fayard could get past the storm, and Celestia desperately needed a friend with a life span rivalling hers. She liked the ponies, but they just didn’t live very long. she couldn’t form connections. She took in a deep breath, the morning always tasting sweeter than the minty night. She headed towards the dinning room, a smile on her muzzle. Those two girls weren’t half bad? perhaps one day they could be great warriors. Her husband wanted Celestia and Luna to grow up like princess’ which was sweet, but she honestly didn’t see why? The girls weren’t actual royalty, even though they were demi gods.

“Catrina!” the Abyssitire frowned as she heard that annoying dog face yell her name. she begrudgingly looked over to the Ahuizotl who wanted to be called Ahuizotl for some reason “Catrina, I’m bored. can we kill some people now? I mean, seriously, we’ve barely killed anyone!” the master hadn’t told them to kill anyone yet, so they wouldn’t. but Ahuizotl had a deep blood lust, he enjoyed watching people suffer, he got off on it apparently “Come on already! I want blood, I want gore, I want those red tags to mean something!”

“Enough,” Catrine hissed, her ears back “We have yet to be told what to do. When the master tells us to do something, we do something. if he doesn’t, we don’t.” Ahuizotl scowled at her, then he looked up at the sky, his eyes moving as if he was reading “what the hell are you doing now?”

“we’ve had one sex scene, might as well not have the tag there.”

she couldn’t fathom whatever he was saying. He was insane, but she didn’t think he was that insane! Then he wanted something called suicide/self-harm tag to be there in place of it, then rambled about it being too red. She shook her head, starting to grow a migraine by how insane he was “Shut up!” Catrina and Ahuizotl were moments from attacking each other. They worked together rather well when on missions, but when they had nothing to do, they couldn’t stand one another. They wanted to kill one another, and badly. The only thing holding them back was a song…

There stood Corrupting Melody, playing his demonic flute, piccolo, whatever. He was a hobgoblin. He looked like the aftermath of an orgy between an ape, demon, bat and diamond dog. He wasn’t very tall, just about the height of a pony. he was mostly covered in fur, but the parts that were barren of such was his face, stomach, palms, feet and his tail that had white spikes on the end. his fur was golden, it covered his legs, his torso, arms, neck and around his face, especially fluffy on his cheeks. His hair was platinum blond which was slicked backwards, and his long ears were the same colour, the right ear with a missing piece cut from it along with a golden ring under it. he had bandages wrapped around his shins and wrists, more of a fashion thing than any injury. Corrupting Melody wore ripped shorts in muddy brown with a dark brown belt around his waist that had golden studs and a golden buckle. Corrupting Melody also wore a hood that was made from a cloak, it wrapped around his neck and flowing behind him, a couple holes at the end, he also had holes in it for his ears. Corrupting Melody’s eye colour was a bright gold, the sclera a darker grey than his skin and had slit black pupils, and he had bushy blond eyebrows. Peeking from under his top lips with small black fangs that made him both cute and disturbing.

“Don’t fight my dear friends, it’s not worth it.” Corrupting Melody’s flute was dark black, made from demon bone with golden studs around the end of it. it looked very normal, only it could manipulate those who heard its evil. You could tell who was under its spell when your sclera because black with dark trails leaving the corners of your eyes. He could make you do anything, and what’s worse is that it worked on the dead. It worked on all except the master “The master has a little job for us, one you might not like, but one that is needed… we’re going to impregnate a mare.”

“Dibs!”

“Not you, you long headed fool,” Corrupting Melody rolled his eyes at the other males now growing grin. He needed to kill something, which he’d be happy to help “We need a Draconequus to do it. I’m fully aware that they lay eggs, but with Catrina’s potions, the mare’ll be able to do it. we need to create the bloodline that’ll create someone. I unfortunately do not know who it is, but the master says she is a large part of our plan.” He was disappointed he couldn’t fuck the pony, but it would be fun to get another to do it for him “They won’t remember it, so no questions will be asked. Just shove some stallion next to her and she’ll believe it’s him.”

“I see… we’re going to be making a new deck of cards to be used for the next round,” Catrina grinned, light glinting off her canines “Who am I to say otherwise?”

Noche was quiet, a little more than normal. He, his wife, his son and daughter in law were eating at the table, a juicy hydra being their breakfast. Sol was still in Abyssinia; his daughter had run off somewhere and his elder son was currently in their infirmary. It was stressful preparing for Shinshitsu, the Draconeqi here were pretty nervous about the idea, other than Fuwa, he’d given up being surprised at this point. It seemed out of all of them only he and Konran had actually met a female before, which would be funny to see. He wanted to see Kanashimi make a fool of himself around his princess. As he chewed the deceased animal, his ears pointed upwards as he caught part of a conversation he hadn’t been paying much attention too.

“-nd then told him that it wasn’t even green!” apparently it was the ending of a joke because Armadura was laughing, his wife not paying much attention and reading something. he chewed his hydra slow, enjoying the taste but finding a bitterness that he couldn’t ignore. The letter from Gekidō worried him. After the hell he’d been through the past five pony months, he couldn’t bear the thought of losing any of his cubs. It was painful just imagining what could happen to them, and Skia’s would be entirely their fault.

Noche got up and excused himself, leaving the three on their own. they weren’t surprised by this, and let him be on his own. the Mountain King walked towards his study, nodding to any guard he saw, including Roki funnily enough. He even looked out of the window, spotting the white filly that brought all of this upon them. her guard was teaching her to use a halberd, was he? well at least she was doing something other than whine. Noche De Neón finally arrived to his officer, spotting the dragon known as Torch just sending off a pile of letters that Noche had compiled for him to send away, and Starswirl was looking for some kind of book from his bookshelf.

“Hello?” the pony nearly jumped out of his skin, if the Mountain King was in better moods, he may have laughed at him. No, he was dead serious “Pony, remember that I wanted to leave to Drapan? Well, that’s back on. prepare scheduling, we leave by the month.” Starswirl nodded, not willing to upset the far older being “Good. and Torch, you’ve got more things to send off with what I’m planning.”

“Oh Goodie…”

Saga 1, To be a Princess: Draconequus Bed

Celestia wanted to go back. she wanted to be back with all of her pony friends, not on some ship on the waters. Because there were extra passengers, she had to share her cabin with others. Thankfully one of them was her guard and Novo the Hippogriff, but the other would be her little sister, a filly she hadn’t talked to since the storm that nearly killed the Umbrum King. The incident that made her hated enough they had to get a Draconequus to protect her. it was cold, it stank of salt, she always felt sick from the rocking motions and was tired. The beds were like shelves in her opinion, and she’d been given a lower bunk, forcing her to endure the stench of salt-soaked wood.

The Alicorn was sitting on her said bunk, her mattress not comfortable enough for her to sleep on, under her mommy’s bed was more comfy than this. another storm was outside, its roars scaring her. Celestia climbed under her covers as there was a loud bang from the darkened heavens, a feather or two leaving her wings from the quick movement. She didn’t like admitting she was afraid, but she was. after what happened during that last storm, she was afraid of the power of storms. Her ears dropped back further when the door to her cabin opened. Someone was here.

Not surprisingly, people didn’t like to talk to her. they still thought it was her fault that Medianoche had been struck by lightning and almost died, and they were right. She’d nearly killed a king. She really was her mother’s daughter… Celestia waited, listening for whoever came in. nobody wanted to be around her, other than Novo and her guard. Some of the shadow ponies talked to her, but they didn’t say much. She was the least favourite of her and her sister.

“You don’t need to hide you know.” Celestia poked her head from under the covers, seeing her guard, though he wasn’t in armour. She hadn’t seen him out of his armour before, so she could see him a lot better. He was slimmer than she expected, but it wasn’t all that bad “There you are. I brought you something,” he said, plopping a small plate next to her “Got a long journey until we’re in Drapan.” it’d take a whole two weeks by boat. They were going to use teleportation, but they couldn’t risk it thanks to the rogue energy flickering around.

“Can you tell me about it?” she asked, her ears twitching. Without his armour, he had a kinda cute face, like a little goat? “What’s Drapan like? what’re their trees like? what does their water taste like? do they have those pink clouds? What’s my name in Drapanishses?”

“It’s Drapanese, and your name would be セレスティア.” He loved telling the Equestrians about Drapan, they were such funny creatures “Our trees are large with leaves of pink, and every century there is a star alignment that makes them shimmer with the colours of a rainbow.” Discord made an illusion of one in his paw, the filly’s pupils widening at it’s beauty “I think the water tastes the same, but a bit fresher. No Drapan doesn’t have pink clouds, though it’d be a little funny if they did.”

“So, it’s just like Shadowlogia?”

“Oh heavens no. we have much more! We even have floating mountains.” The next image in his paw was what looked like an island that had been pulled from the earth, water flowing from one of the sides, covered in plant life and other things she didn’t understand “We have ponies there, but they’re a lot different to you. they have long tails with hair on the end, their horns are curved like Skiadrum’s, the pegasi have much larger wings and our earth ponies have the strength to push boulders. Pretty cool huh?” she nodded, her attention away from the storm outside “If I play my cards right I could have you meet the princes, so that’s fun.”

“You have princes? What’re they like?”

“They’re called Mirāju and Gyakusetsu, I’ve never met them before, I only recently met my own king! And I’m apparently going to meet my own princess as well, so, first for everything I suppose? A little adventure where neither of us knows what to expect! Like a live action anime adaptation!” wait, what the hell as that? he didn’t even know what anime was and he used it as an example? What was live action for that matter? the insane chaos energy must be affecting him. She was confused, but this was a Draconequus, they were a little mad.

A loud screech of thunder nearly made her wet herself, shivering from fright. Discord decided to push the odd thought out of his mind and more towards the scared filly. She wasn’t going to be able to sleep at this rate. He got an idea to help out, not that many would be willing. Discord leaned over, biting onto the scruff on her neck and picking her up.

“Hey!” Celestia said in surprise as she was lifted off of her mattress in the jaws of the Draconequus. He pulled her mattress onto the floor and hopped onto it, curling around until he looked like he made a circle out of himself. Discord dropped her into the middle, the filly surrounded by warm feathers. She looked at him curiously, and he just smiled back. he’d made a nest out of himself for her. it was, comforting, knowing that someone was there. She heard another crash of thunder, making her cower against his body.

“Night Tia.” He pulled the blanket over her, letting her wrap herself in it. for the final touch his bat wing stretched over, like the lid to a pan to insulate the heat and block out some noise. He’d done it to a couple other young creatures, they seemed to like it. he waited until he was positive she was asleep, and then went off to Gaajirus’ realm after her.

Divine Interlude 3: Hell on Earth

Snow Mane was afraid. He was a unicorn stallion, his fur a light grey and his mane was white as snow. He had bright purple eyes and a flute for a cutie mark. He had no idea where he was. It was a strange building. The floors were tiled with marble, they had fake animal fur of different colours in perfect squares and rectangles. The walls were painted different shades of whites, blues, greys and more. There were blinking spheres of glass on the top, a low hum coming from them. If you looked closely enough, you could see a low yellowish form of lightning, unlike the normal fire everypony had.

Snow remembered a fire, then a very thin looking white pony, and then he woke up here. There were monsters left and right. Some resembled ponies, others were so disfigured and monster like he had no idea what they were. The looked like they had been pulled apart and then sown back together. He was crying like a baby, mostly out of fear. He was hungry, cold, tired and scared. There was no way to escape.

Snow’s mane, tail and fur were dirty from the muck and blood covering everywhere. He couldn’t be here, he shouldn’t be here! Everything was wrong, it was all wrong! Slowly, Snow left his hiding spot, and sneaked out into those dank hallways. It looked like one of those medicine cabins from his town, filled with snake oils he thought were cow pat. He walked as silently as possible, his ears flattened against his head. He heard somepony coming and scampered to a hiding spot. There weren’t any doors that opened, his magic not working. He had to hide, he had to hide! Snow found a bed and ran under it, a mysterious substance caked under it that smelt rancid. No time to think about what it was, he just needed to hide.

His purple eyes followed as large and rotted hooves slowly limped along the hallway, a ragged breath furthering the stink. He covered his mouth with his hooves, shaking in terror was it passed, a heavy piece of metal dragging along the floor. When the heavy steps were finally gone, Snow slowly climbed out from under the bad, the mystery slop clinging to his once well-kept fur. He walked around, opening doors and jiggling those that were locked. Sometimes he found somepony in a chair with wheels on the sides, mumbling to themselves about things he didn’t understand. He breathed as calmly as possible, the fear never leaving his body.

Suddenly he was grabbed by somepony and pulled into a room that had previously been unlocked. He was slammed against a metal table, the force making him cough as jolts of pain throbbed in his back. He looked to see a pony. Its fur was beige, its single eye was teal and its teeth a crooked yellow. A soft pink mane sticking out in every direction possible, and the missing eye wasn’t covered, just a bloody hole that’d dried up. It had many scars all over its face and body, some areas discoloured like it’d sewn on more skin.

“The meat is mine.” The voice was gargled and crooked as well, as if it’d laughed so hard its throat was soar. He couldn’t tell if it was male or female thanks to how messed up it looked. It picked up something snow had never seen before, a circular blade that was jagged, all the points pointing back in a curved shape. It whirred to live, spinning so fast it was a blurring circle and screamed with a hunger to dismember. It was going to cut him, to slice and mow.

“no!” Snow cried as it held him down with a hoof while he struggled. The buzzing thing was brought closer and closer until it stopped. It seemed to be thinking about something, looking around like a paranoid rabbit. It was covered in so much blood that was likely not its own it made snow feel sick. It dropped the metal thing, both hooves pressed hard against snow’s shoulders. It pushed him upwards somewhere, the forcing causing the skin under his fur to bruise.

“You stay there,” it said, the grin growing wider than physically possible. Most likely thanks to the cheeks being cut… “and cook!” What!? It suddenly pushed him into some kind of stone casing with metal railings on the ‘floor’ and a small stone platform just behind him. It was barely big enough for him to fit in, and he kicked all the way to the end against a cold brick wall, his rump against that small stone platform.

It cackled as doors closed, and fire sprung to life from beneath as if dragons were under there. It was trying to cook him. Snow looked around frantically and felt a gap where his elbow fitted. He turned, and slapped his body against it, feeling the stone give a tiny bit. He did it again, and again, and again and again. So much so that fur was starting to come off his shoulder and it begun to bleed. Eventually it finally crumbled, and he escaped the fate of being cooked alive.

Snow panted heavily, vomit rising in his throat, but he swallowed it down. He didn’t know when he’d see something edible again. Snow shook his head, walking through the labyrinth of, well, he didn’t know. Snow Mane’s ears twitched as he heard something, it sounded like gasping. Let it die, whatever it was, let it die. It would kill him, he needed to live! He had to.

Snow saw glimpses of a fire, a roaring fire with the strength of a chimera. He shook his head, the fire going away. He walked further and further around, doing his best to hide from the monsters that used to be ponies. Eventually he walked through a door that lead outside. Hope filled his eyes as he felt fresh air, no matter how corrupted it was. Snow ran, but then found it was all inside of a fence made of metal. He wasn’t free yet. Dammit! Snow Mane’s ears perked, turning and found there were more mutated ponies. Some wearing shirts, some not.

“Skin er shirt er fuck off.” He nodded, running off after a mutant pony told him to. He ducked under the attempted punch of some featherless griffin with a broken break and missing wing, the other with no feathers. He stopped at a ladder meant for the bipedal but climbed up them anyway, much to his struggle.

Snow Mane panted, walking around until he found another door. He pushed it open and fell down some stairs. Snow shook, pain pulsating around his body like a second heartbeat. Snow didn’t want to move, he just wanted to lay there, but he couldn’t. He wanted to go home, to escape, to be in his wife’s hooves again. He shook his head. Forcing himself to stand on his aching hooves. Snow Mane looked to his front left leg, the bone flaring up whenever it touched he ground. It was breaking.

He limped, trying to find a way out of wherever he was. He couldn’t figure out what was happening, or why everyone was so… dead? Snow sniffled and collapsed. He was so tired, he just needed to find a way out. But what if there was no way out? What if he couldn’t get home to his wife? For all he knew, she was gone, another one of these monsters. Should he fight on if there’s nothing to fight for? Snow didn’t bother trying to stand, many thoughts going through his head.

“don’t give up, you’re ruining my fun.” Snow’s ears pointed upwards as he heard a voice. It wasn’t like the others, but it was still twisted “We haven’t even gotten to the best bit yet! Get up already.” Snow Mane couldn’t. He was just tired. He could see his wife’s face now, her smile drifting off… into a fire…? “Bah! Stupid equine.” Snow’s purple eyes widened as he was now looking at the blueish grey hooves of a pony that still had fur. He looked up, seeing a face that wasn’t stitched by a foal. Yellow and red eyes boring deep into his soul “What a shame, I really thought you could be entertaining for me.”

“Who… are… you…?” Snow Mane choked out, his ears dropping as he looked further into those merciless eyes. They were filled with such malice and evil, it was like the devil was before him. He had no idea how right he was. Tophet chuckled to himself as the stallions’ pupils shrank in terror, the very look that he enjoyed.

“My name is Tophet, I’m the God of Tartarus, and you’ve been a very bad boy…” Snow Mane’s breathing quickened, smoke starting to choke him. Not enough that he couldn’t breathe, but enough to the point where he was uncomfortable and coughing. The short unicorn circled the other unicorn, a smile still on his face “you don’t remember do you? It’s fine you can’t get it up. More common than you’d think, one if five I hear,” he chuckled at his rather suggestive joke “Do you remember a fire? Well, do you, snowy?”

“Y-yes…”

“Good!” Tophet chirped, now trotting around the collapsed unicorn with foalish glee “You’re doing well! Most ponies take a few decades to figure it out! Well done, here, have a star!” He voice suddenly deepened as Tophet stamped onto the ponies’ flank, searing pain causing him to cry out. When Tophet removed his hoof, a pentagram had been ingrained on his flank, the meat still sizzling and tears leaving Snow’s eyes. Tophet’s were filled with sick glee.

“Please stop it! I don’t know what I’ve done wrong!” He sobbed like a foal, the fear making them extra salty. This fact was known because Tophet licked them off his cheek, enjoying them “Please! Please!” He begged and begged, the sound was music to Tophet’s ears.

“Do you want me to tell you?” The stallion nodded, the way his eyes shook was of pure terror and pain, bringing more and more glee to the dark deity “Well, since you’ve been such a good boy…” his hoof traced the still burning mark that ruined the ponies’ cutie mark, the hind leg twitching furiously “Rather simple. You were jealous. A curse even we gods are not immune to. Your jealousy gave birth to paranoia, just as annoying and bloodsucking as an actual child.” He tone slowly and slowly lowered. From chirpy like a madman, to dark. He was very expressive as well, he had thousand more facial muscles than the average pony that was for sure. Then again, he was a god.

“what… did I do…?” He could remember a fire, a roaring fire straight from the hearth of a dragon. Tophet stopped circling, standing in front of the unicorn as he pulled himself into a sitting position. Snow Mane could see just how none-pony this being really was. Who else could have such eyes and a mane of pure blue flame? “Please, just tell me…”

“Fine mister ‘…’ i’ll tell you. You believed your wife unfaithful, didn’t you? She was rather gorgeous i’ll give you that, I don’t get why people believe jealousy to be such a bad thing. Envy is a part of us, but acting on it, now that’s the true sin.” Snow Mane watched as Tophet nudged a door open that hadn’t been there before. He looked towards it, images playing before him. He could see himself yelling at his wife, drunker than a stallion in Shireland “That envy got rather heavy didn’t it? The paranoia eating away at your sanity… you chased that mare away with your fusion of the two. She left you, all alone, doing who knew what?” Snow glared, not believing Tophet’s words “So you followed, and you set free the dragon that had been incubating inside.” He turned back to the pony, his yellow and red eyes now like fire places.

“No!” The cried as the doorway showed his wife graphically melt before him “I didn’t kill her, I DIDN’T! I wouldn’t do that!” Tophet wanted to cackle, but it’d take away from the moment. Snow collapsed again, sobbing furiously “I wouldn’t, I wouldn’t…” Tophet stood before him, the stallion looking pathetic. Honestly, he said he was God of Tartarus, what did this idiot think? He was in hell, he’d done something bad.

“You did, you killed her. In your stupor, you followed her all the way to her brother. And in that stupor, you believed they were together. So, you decided to kill them both…” his smile was a mixture of anger and pleasure, it twisted Snow’s very being “But that wasn’t enough. The fire you used to kill them also set fire to your village, pretty much all of them died. A couple of them came here, but none of them were as bad as you Snowy. After all, not everyone commits genocide.” And with that, Snow suddenly found himself standing before the building again. His injuries were all gone, all expect the star on his flank that wouldn’t stop sizzling. He’d have to go through it again, and again, and again. Tophet walked away, the smile still on his face. That pony was getting a magma enema the moment he got out, or he was going to be eating a live Parasprite. Either way, it would be fun to watch.

He didn’t come to the mortal world often. He only did it to let off some frustrations he held deep inside. Tophet had a certain issue. One that had taken eons for him to even recognise. He was alone. When you govern hell, you don’t get to talk to anyone all that much. You can try holding a conversation, but they wouldn’t understand. They were mortals, they didn’t understand what eternal life was like. They wished for it, they actually sought it out the foolish creatures. It’s a curse, a responsibility that everyone of them had to suffer through.

When he did come to the mortal land, it was to quench the thirst for social interaction, nothing more. The other gods just bothered each other, while he wondered the mortal land. He disguised himself of course, but not by too much. All he changed was his sclera from yellow to white and his blue fire mane into actual hair, though he kept the colours. Everything else was the same. They were too stupid to believe he was anything other than a short unicorn. Tophet sometimes killed ponies, just to see them actually die instead of playing with them and they just regenerated after an hour or so.

He liked the taverns though. A shame alcohol couldn’t affect him, not unless Vhihlewi brewed it. God of wine, what BS. The whores were fun though. As gods were susceptible to envy, they felt pleasure as well. They had desire, they had needs and wants. They were like ponies, only more powerful, with true purpose and immortal. Unless they were attacked by another god. And if they stopped doing what they were there for could make them fade from existence. Although that only really applied to gods who were MADE. He had always been a god, nobody was before him unlike some of the others. Cosmo was dead, so they needed to find him a replacement.

“Hey, check it out,” he heard someone say, a pony most likely. When he turned around, he indeed saw a stallion. Another unicorn. This own was a dark green with a dark purple mane and dark yellow eyes, his ass tattoo a book of some kind. Tophet didn’t actually care. The unicorn had a friend, make that two friends. The other was another unicorn, this one a mustard yellow with a green mane like seaweed and had blue eyes, his butt mark was a bit of corn. Finally, was a very buff earth pony who was as red as artery blood, his eye colour bright orange and his mane a shade of black. All of them were drunk “Got ourselves a midget!”

“There should be a ‘we’ in there.” The pony took that as an insult, how cute. He peered into the soul of the pony. Tophet could only see the sins of a pony when he did this trick, since he was supposed to punish the wicked. Cadaver could see both the good and evil, which made his decisions a lot easier. If Tophet could see the good in ponies, it might’ve made his job a little harder “Maybe you should go home and fuck that cousin of yours again, or maybe go and hit on your niece? She is rather, pretty, isn’t she?” The stallion roared, jumping at him, and Tophet simply stood out of the way. The ugly yellow one joined in “And the dog fucker is here too! It’s a party of regrets isn’t it!”

It’s a little funny to only die by the hooves of another god. It means your body can’t be destroyed in the mortal world. He didn’t even bother fighting back, it was just so funny for these stupid drunkards to try and do something about their rage. Tophet suddenly released a powerful surge of magic, throwing the two unicorns off of him. He rolled his eyes at their stupidity. He was immortal, especially since none of the other gods wanted his job.

“How did ya do that?” The earth pony demanded, holding a pitchfork. Tophet just grinned, showing his actual teeth. The earth pony panicked and charged at him, and Tophet did nothing. He waited, waiting for the two unicorns to see what he was about to do. When the stallion was half a metre away and had aimed his pitchfork, Tophet stepped to the side, and the stallion suddenly exploded, blood and guts everywhere. Tophet even got a splatter over his face, but not a cell budged, he didn’t even blink to the force of liquid splashing over him. A gift to Cadaver.

“Red!” Red? What a dull name. Tophet’s long and pointed tongue revealed itself, licking some of the blood off of his face “Demon! Demon!” The yellow stallion screamed, his horn flaring with weak magic.

“You aren’t entirely wrong there.”

The yellow stallion ran forwards, a small dagger in his magical grip. Where’d he get that? Questions for when he was in Tartarus. Tophet’s eye twitched, and half of the yellow pony disappeared, the lower half. It was being fed to Cerberus, a good dog. Nobody knew that they actually had three names. Cer, Ber and Us. Meh, nothing to be concerned with. The unicorn did manage to stab Tophet in the hoof, which was annoying. The pony died, leaving the green one, who pussed out and ran away. Oh well, Tophet would see him eventually. Cadaver didn’t take kindly to incest.

Tophet walked along the street, heading to a tavern called The Chubby Squirrel. It was slightly amusing how imaginative people could be when it came to making these tavern names. Chubby Squirrel. Tophet rubbed off the blood from his face, somehow forgetting he had a knife in his hoof, and walked inside. Tophet went right to the bar and sat on a stool, ordering any old thing to drink, paying with perception currency. It wasn’t real money. But it felt, smelt, tasted, looked and sounded real, so how could they know otherwise? It was good being a god. So, he just sat there, drinking and listening to the mortal’s dribble about their problems. Apparently, it was singing night because a mare got up on a stage, gaining everyone’s attention.

Figuring he’d might as well see what the commotion was about, Tophet turned and saw a mare that perplexed him. She was the whitest white he’d ever seen, abnormally so, as if the earths soil avoided her. Her eyes were a bright emerald, like the canopy of a jungle. Her mane was a soft blond, and sort of glowed as if the sun was behind it at all times. It was carefully platted, the same with her tail. He was most intrigued by the fact her flank was blank, like untouched snow. She was beautiful, he’d seen many mares that were beautiful. Some that were far more beautiful than her, but the reasons he met them were similar to why Snow Mane was in his little labyrinth he hoof-made. When you have all of eternity, you start doing things manually, so you have something to do. And then, she started to sing… The Willow Maid Song by Erutan

A young man walked through the forest

With his quiver and hunting bow

He heard a young girl singing

And followed the sound below

There he found the maiden

Who lives in the willow

He’d seen many ponies in his lifetime, many of the were evil, or at least the mortals’ concept of it. He could see it, the stains in the ponies’ souls. Oh, there was a griffin in here as well, neat. They’d all done bad things, all except for one, and it irked him. The mare that had the voice of an angel. He couldn’t see into her soul. Why. Why couldn’t he do it? He could do that to even his fellow gods! Why couldn’t he see into her soul? Where was her stain? The spot of black in the expanse of white?

He called to her as she listened

From a ring of toadstools red

"Come with me, my maiden

Come from thy willow bed"

She looked at him serenely

And only shook her head

He listened to her song while concentrated, growing more and more frustrated. Where was her darkness!? He had lived eons and had yet to find a pony without a stain. Where was her envy, her anger, her hatred? It was impossible not to feel any of those things! He grit his teeth, never having to actually TRY to find the sin in someone before.

“See me now

A ray of light in the moondance

See me now

I cannot leave this place

Hear me now

A strain of song in the forest

Don’t ask me

To follow where you lead”

The mare noticed him in the back, seeing his irritation, not that she knew why. She continued to sing, her voice carrying out throughout the hearts of the ponies, and griffin, around her. Her voice as said to be gifted from an angel, and she believed them, but then many questioned why it wasn’t her destiny to sing. To be honest, she didn’t know why she couldn’t get her cutie mark. It wasn’t a bother though, she could at least bring joy to the ponies around her.

A young man walked through the forest

With a flower and coat of green

His love had hair like fire

Her eyes an emerald sheen

She wrapped herself in beauty

So young and so serene

Tophet watched, and watched, and watched. He couldn’t find it. This hadn’t happened before. Even Cadaver had sinned, though that wasn’t an accomplishment as he admitted his faults. The mare… this, snowdrop, had no stain in her soul. But how? Surely there must be something, there must be some kind of reason as to why?

He stood there under the willow

And he gave her the yellow bloom

"Girl, my heart you've captured

Oh, I would be your groom"

She said she'd wed him never

Not near, nor far, nor soon

She took a step forward, the ponies before her grinning from admiration and lust, and others out of envy and disgust. She was used to it, and she didn’t mind. She was drawn to the one in the back though, the one who seemed confused by her.

A young man walked through the forest

With an axe sharp as a knife

"I'll take the green-eyed fairy

And she shall be my wife

With her I'll raise my children

With her I'll live my life"

He was imagining her words as pictures. A pony and a stallion, the stallion an earth pony and the other a fae. Not a breezie, he still regretted releasing them into the mortal world from Tartarus. She was in her tree, while the stallion tried to win over her love.

The maiden wept when she heard him

When he said he'd set her free

He took his axe and used it

To bring down her ancient tree

"Now your willow's fallen

Now you belong to me"

That guy sounded like an asshole. Give him a minute and Tophet would cut down his ‘tree’ if you got what he meant.

She followed him out the forest

And collapsed upon the earth

Her feet had walked but a distance

From the green land of her birth

The mare’s tone slightly got lower, her eyes holding a faint sorrow. As she sang, he could see she had many emotions. A tale sung to her by a loved one perhaps? Wherever they were, they certainly had a good taste in song and tale.

She faded into a flower

That would bloom for one bright eve

He could not take from the forest

What was never meant to leave

The maiden died? That was oddly morbid for such a sweet-sounding song. And he was the God of Tartarus! Morbid was his thing! The mare got a round of applause, and he watched her leave with a smile on her face. One of pride. Pride that she’d made someone smile. Nobody was that perfect. Nobody, and he was determined to get answers. Tophet stood up and followed her outside. There was a scream in the background, someone finding his handiwork, but he ignored them for they mattered little to him.

The mare wasn’t aware he was following, and he was getting more and more frustrated by the moment. Why? Why was she so clean? She couldn’t be a mortal. Maybe one of Falrasil’s angels sent to bug him? The bastard had done it before, to the point he could smell an angel a mile away. Literally. They reeked of glitter. He stopped as she did, the mare looking left to right, for whatever reason not behind her. Not much to be afraid of when the literal devil was behind you.

“Hey!” The mare looked over, as did Tophet, seeing a stallion coming over with a very angry face. This one had a dark soul, much darker than the mare “what did i tell you about leaving the house!?” He shouted. The stallion was of blood relation. He had her mane and eyes, but only in colour. His eyes didn’t have that shine to them, and his mane made a rock look as reflective as a mirror in comparison “you’re coming home and you’re doing it now!” He grabbed her, the mare squeaking in surprise. Ponies had little standards, since they had nobody to lead them yet. Tophet slowly followed in the shadows, intending to learn who this mare was. He followed all the way to some run-down cabin. She was in poverty, why no envy towards the rich? She didn’t make sense!

“i’m sorry daddy, i just wanted to make the ponies’ happy. They really liked my song.” She sounded proud, and she should. That was one of the nicest songs he’d heard in a long time, since many he’d heard were of screaming pleas for their agony to end “i sung about the maiden, like the one mother told us about, the fairies.”

“Stop babbling about fairies, stupid girl!” Another funny thing. Ponies were oddly naïve to the world around them. They barely knew about the Umbrum their rulers, let alone many creatures around them. The fairies were pretty cool. Tophet was actually pals with Titania and Oberon, they were pretty cool with having the devil be a friend. He was no ally, he didn’t like picking sides, but he was a friend “You should be working, nothing more and nothing less. Unless you get a mark on that worthless ass of yours nopony will want you!”

The older pony had clear mental disorders, a schizophrenic from what Tophet could see. He could tell, thanks to experience. Hell, he caused some of them. She was too nice, far too nice. She should be cold and cruel, hateful of the stallion, but she wasn’t. It was angering him even more. The father of the mystery mare walked towards a fireplace, rods of metal laying there. He must be some terrible blacksmith. He bit onto one and pulled out a rod with a scorching red rip. Very ominous. It didn’t take Tophet even a millisecond to understand what the father wanted to do. He’d done it not an hour ago for fuck sake. The mad pony stated nopony would want her because she was blank, he likely wanted to sell her off for money, so he thought branding a mark would make her sellable. Selling daughters for money was a very common business. He’d dealt with a lot of fathers who’d done the very deed.

The stallion pressed a heavy hoof against her body, the mare unwilling to fit back out of fear of harming him, which angered the god more. When the stallion brought down the brand, it never touched her fur. Her emerald eyes looked up, to see a stranger standing over her, the brand digging into his chest. He could feel pain, but he had high tolerance to it, and stood firm. The stallion stumbled backwards while the stranger stood strong, barely flinching.

“Who the fuck’er you!” Shouted the father, stamping on the ground, madness drowning his sombre eyes. Tophet was still short, he was around her height, perhaps a very tiny bit shorter, but he was not afraid. Tophet released his illusion, his mane back to their flames and his sclera back to their dark gold. The stallion couldn’t comprehend what stood over his daughter, but he subconsciously knew not to mess with it. Those eyes, god those eyes, they were burning him. Literally, he could feel his coat start to catch alight “Raaah!! Demon! Demon!” Tophet only stopped because he felt a tug on his cloak, unfortunately letting the mad stallion escape. Tophet would see him again, there was no escaping Tartarus.

“Thank you… my name is True Heart… I’m sorry for my father, but I’m thankful for your help.” She looked to his chest, seeing the mark “Oh your hurt!” True Heart suddenly pushed the deity into an old chair and scrambled upstairs, rummaging for something. Tophet rose a brow. He’d just been pushed into a chair, and he’d let her do it. Why? That word was becoming as old as he was. She’d apologised for that madman, it was getting annoying how pure she was.

True Heart came back down with a small bag and a pot of water. For whatever reason, a reason he’d yet to find, he allowed her to ‘attend’ to him. He watched as she wetted a cloth and padded it around his wound, not even bothered by it. Then watched her put a pad against it and wrap gauze around his neck and chest. Then she saw the knife in his hoof, which he’d forgotten about. She gasped and went to get more things to help. He just pulled it out, blood coming out. He couldn’t bleed out in the mortal world, not if a mortal harmed him anyways. The mare returned, then did something he had never expected… he was, being scolded? His mane was on fire, and she was scolding him about his hoof?

“It’s nothing to be concerned with silly mare, tis but a flesh wound.” She… bopped… his… nose… what the absolute fuck? He just let her do it, words failing him. Her soul was clear, but she just yelled at him? How does that work? He let her sow it closed and started to wash blood off her fur. Now was another question in his mind. Why was her getting blood on her fur angering him more “You enrage me, you know that? I’ve known you fifteen minutes, and you are the most infuriating thing i’ve ever met.”

“Why?” She asked worriedly as if she’d done something wrong. When that was the problem. She hadn’t! WHY!

“Because your soul is clean. I cannot find a fucking thing in you, nothing!” She wasn’t afraid of his outburst either. He’ll add that to the list that seemed endless “You live up to your name and I hate it, I absolutely hate it! You’re so pure it’s disgusting! I want to know why. It’s the only reason I even followed you when you left. I need answers and I need them now!” True Heart could see his confusion and his frustration. Her mother, Gold Heart, told her a many of things. This being, wasn’t a pony. She could tell. He had so many years behind his eyes, she couldn’t fathom “I can’t find any rage, not any anger or anything! Why!?”

“Anger is just a letter away from danger. To hold onto your rage, to hold onto hatred does nothing but hurt you. You must forgive to free yourself… my daddy was sick, I knew he was. All I can do is be there for him. He’d one terrible things, the passing of my mother broke him.” It was sad to watch him deteriorate into what this stallion had seen, but she still loved him “I love him as my father, I always will. Everyone deserves to be happy.” She even used ‘one’ instead of everypony. It was more inclusive this way.

“Not everyone, little mare.” She was a pure being, like the moon among stars. Yes, the stars were beautiful, and all shone brightly, but none of them could outclass the moon “I have met many who deserve eternal punishment, who deserve torture and who deserve the pain they suffer! It is my purpose to punish the wicked, they all cry at my hooves for forgiveness, something they shall never be granted! I laugh to them as I crush them, make them implode over pavements and I drink their very tears.” His grin grew wider and wider, his tongue moving around in his mouth as he could still taste Snow’s tears.

“I see,” True Heart said, seeing his eyes. He was lonely. She could see it, even if he couldn’t. He said things that frightened her a little, but it was natural to feel fear. She wouldn’t run from him though “You’re a being of revenge?” He was more than that, she could feel it. He was special. His mane was on fire for sun’s sake. Curious, she put a hoof against it, feeling it. He watched her, her hoof unharmed by the flames. His flames hurt the impure, so it wouldn’t harm her. A bit of a first to be touched there though “Oh, I told my name, time for yours.”

“I am Tophet, God of Tartarus. I’m also called Satan, Demon, Menace, Devil and pineapple pizza. The latter will be relevant in a few thousand years.” She wasn’t running away. Why was this becoming very disturbing? Dammit, he used why again. That word was like the plague, or Zacherle, Goddess of Plagues. So, the same thing. Her hoof still stroked his fiery mane, no fear in her being. It was becoming almost scary at this point “You’re a freak of nature to not piss yourself in my presence. Di you not hear? I’m S.A.T.A.N!”

“No, you’re Tophet,” she giggled. He was at a loss of words for this strange creature “you have a very expressive face.” He got that a lot “Am I that strange to you?” She smiled. She felt honoured to be in the presence of a god. He’d stood up for her, the God of Tartarus thought she was special. He wasn’t anything that anybody imagined him to be. Not red or evil looking. He was actually something opposite to that “Why should I be afraid of you? You’re cute!”

Error, error, Tophet.exe not functioning. He allowed her to hug him, mostly because he was too shocked to say otherwise. Someone had called him cute. Cute. Nobody had ever called him cute before… what in the bloody hell was clinging onto him? No way this was a normal mortal, he refused to believe that. Maybe she was made by Cosmo? That made more sense than anything else going on right now.

“I hate you.”

Author's Note

Tophet and True Heart's tale is inspired by the story of Hades and Persephone, only with ponies and less disney. God of Hell and a pure simple earth pony, sounds cute don't it?

Saga 1, To Be a Princess: Father and Son

Author's Note

Wrote this in my phone, will be edited later. My fingers hurt so much.

Saga 1, To Be a Princess: Father and Son

Noche read and reread Gekidō's letter, worry in his stomach. Skiadrum was in danger of himself, a fact that he could already be harming himself was eating him up. He loved his sons and daughter, and grandchild. And his wife. He needed to stop this worrying, and talk to him. Skiadrum needed him.

Noche De Neón bit his lip and walked towards the room he and Kanashimi were in. Skiadrum was still very injured, he needed that medic to be there constantly. His feathers ruffled nervously as he heard talking.

"So me, Fuwa and Roki were sent to investigate a cave. Apparently some ponies were being eaten, so they called us. We went in, and immediately got lost! Roki accidentally lost it, so we just went on. And then, we were Snatch Eaten!" Noche paused, unable to understand what he meant by snatch eaten? Given Kanashimi is a Draconequus, he feared the answer...

"Snatch eaten...?" His son was just as perplexed it seemed. It sounded dirty, thus Noche was memorizing it in his 'Embarrass My Kids' file. He had jokes and comments he loved to torture Medianoche and Solve with.

"See in that cave there was this creature called a Sunatchikuchi, it literally translates to 'Snatch Mouth' it's a massive monster and where its vagina should be its mouth was! To eat it has to split its legs and squat!" They were literally eaten by a vagina. Noche would go in hunting of this Sunatchikuchi himself "It was a bit humorous, but then Fuwa said 'normally I'm doing the eating'!" The Mountain King couldn't help but snort. With that, he walked into the room, a smile on his muzzle "I told you its funny!"

"Your ass is jealous of the crap coming from your mouth." That was a thing Skiadrum said. This Draconequus was staying in Shadowlogia, he was too much fun. And he was infecting Skiadrum with humour!

"Indeed. Kanashimi, may I speak with my son? Alone?" The Draconequus trotted out the room, a grin on his face. Strange creatures "Humour aside, I need to be serious with you Skiadrum. Something that's been brought to my attention..."

Skiadrum didn't look well, it was a side effect of having you life energy drained. You had to rest to let it recuperate, and Skiadrum had the problem of not stay in his bed. It's from his side of the family. Skiadrum's fur was lighter in shade than normal, he looked very tired and his mane didn't flow as much as it should. He was thankful that the pure black Draconequus put an enchantment on his son's covers so he couldn't get out of the bed.

"What would the matter be?" is it crushing to know your own child is oblivious to how bad certain things are. The older Umbrum walked over, his eyes burning with determination. He'd get his answer by seeing it for himself "Father?"

Noche De Neón undid the enchantment and tore the covers pack, his wings flaring in dread that Gekidō's suspicions are true. Skiadrum never thought his father as intimidating until now. His father was angry about something he wasn't aware of. That was normal from his mother but not his father. Nobody would think that rainbow feathers or a rainbow aura around a rainbow horn would be intimidating, but Noche proved otherwise. Noche magically grabbed his sons right hoof and pulled, glaring.

"I think you know what I'm looking for," Noche said darkly, his voice growling a little, glaring his purple eyes into Skiadrum's yellow. The younger Umbrum knew what his father wanted, how he knew he'd never know. Reluctantly, he put a halt to the illusion, unwillingly allowing his father to see the stripes of scarred skin "For fuck sake Skiadrum!" Noche let go angrily, though the anger was more aimed at himself. The younger felt something strange, this new feeling, it was akin to the description of shame. Noche was feeling the same.

"Why are you so angry?"

"Why? Why!? I'll fucking tell you why!" Noche was on the bed, both his hooves against his sons shoulders, their noses near touching. Noche's rage was burning hotter than Tartarus, though most of it was towards himself, some was directed towards Skiadrum "You're my son that's why! I care about you, I love you, and it fucking hurts knowing I've caused this!" He pulled himself back, angrily stamping on the floor, causing it to crack. He was lucky the ship had spells to keep someone from putting a hole in the hull.

"What do you mean? I... I don't understand?"

Skiadrum didn't understand. He wasn't expecting any of this, and didn't know how to respond to it. He sat up, his ears yet to re-rise from their lowered position. He didn't know how to react to this, and didn't know why his father was acting like this. Noche said that he cared and that he loved him. But Skiadrum didn't understand love, he didn't know what it meant or what it felt like.

"And I'm it's my fault you can't! I watched it happen, I watched as Crepúsculo tore you apart and made you into this! I didn't do anything to stop it, all I did was watch as she killed you... It's worse that she still doesn't understand what she did. And that I could've stopped this." Noche stamped again, his anger burning inside like a volcano.

Some of Skiadrum's scars were still 'healing' meaning he'd opened them recently, at least a week after Noche saved him. He was still feeling the raw horror of holding his eldest bloody body. He could will see the blood. He was familiar with blood, but not from his own children... It turned his stomach just remembering it. All of those injuries, Skiadrum would be a walking scar. He might not even fly again. Those wooden wolves were savage, as was the gorgon Fuwa had slain. That Draconequus was in Noche's good graces for sticking a halberd in her head.

"Do not blame yourself father, it helps nobody. Mother does not care for me, I've accepted that. Neither does anybody else... I have royal blood. If not for the horn on my head or the wings on my back, I'd have been offed by her. She hates me, your people hate me. It's a fact I accepted long ago."

Noche sighed, glaring at the cracks under his hoof. His way of thinking was toxic. If nobody else cared for me, why should I? He thought everyone hated him, when in reality, the public feared him. Noche De Neón has heard whispers about his eldest, how they were afraid of the monster incubating inside of him. Noche was beginning to think that Skiadrum was a time bomb. It'd kill either himself or a lot of others.

"We don't hate you, even Crepúsculo doesn't hate you. She can't accept it, but she hates herself for what she's done... I'll admit, when I saw you, I saw nothing but regret... But after seeing what she did to you, what that bitch had done... It broke the barrier blurring my view." It was hard to admit, and was stressful. Crepúsculo dragged him from his sons side since he did nothing but stay by his side "I flew you home so fast I made a fucking rainbow in the sky? I held onto your body as I crashed into the infirmary. I pleaded for them to help you. Me, The Mountain King, pleaded! The barrier was broken, and you weren't my regret anymore but my son who himself was pleading for help, but didn't how to make his voice heard."

"I don't know what to say to this. I've always lived believing I was alone. I have been alone, and to be told otherwise? I have no words for it." It was hurting inside. His father was breaking down in front of him, and Skiadrum couldn't feel anything but pain. It was hurtful to know he wasn't reacting to it "it's hurting inside, I can't feel anything but pain! I... Want to feel what you do now but I can't. There's nothing inside. It's so cold, so empty," he said through grit teeth and heavy breathing. He looked at his father, then back to his hooves, the scars to be exact. He didn't feel alive. If he didn't feel alive, then what was he?

Skiadrum was finally being honest with his pain, and likely didn't know how brace he was for coming clean with his pain. Noche could only watch his son look to his own hooves as if asking then what he should do. He needed help, he was screaming for it, but only now was his voice heard. Noche walked over and pulled his son into a hug. He wasn't too good at it, as he didn't do it often, but the action counted. The younger Umbrum was breathing harder as he felt his father hug him, an action he seldom witnessed, let alone felt it. It was strange, yet warm. To be in someone's grasp is indescribable when all people normally did was avoid him. He wasn't strong enough to resist it, not that he really wanted to. In fact, his body refused to move when he wanted it to, it sunk deeper against his father as if it craved this contact. He had no clue why, but his body wanted this. He felt water leave his eyes again, and felt a strange feeling in his hearts.

"I'm going to help you. I don't know how, but I will. I've failed you for too long, and it's time I swallow my pride. You're my son, you'll always be my son, and I'm not going to let you lose yourself to this," he said with determination, and with guilt while he watched and felt Skiadrum's reaction to the sub-par hug. For fuck sake he was crying! "You've been broken so many times... But nothing is broken that can't be fixed." Skiadrum wasn't pleased to hear her words coming from his fathers mouth. It made her words even more true. He really was so afraid he couldn't feel it... "Can you forgive me for fucking up so badly? For causing this?" He felt like he'd ruined his sons life, and wanted to try his best to correct it. If he could that is. At least he was going to try though.

Kanashimi had no words. He hadn't gone far, he was in the other room actually. Fuwa was letting Armadura, Medianoche and Crepúsculo know about the white alicorns current condition when he walked in. They weren't happy about the interruption but they went quiet as they heard what went on in the next room.

Medianoche put a barrier around the room so nobody else but they overheard. Fuwa and Armadura called it eavesdropping, but they wanted to hear just as much as he, Crepúsculo and Medianoche. They said nothing during the conversation between the father and son. It was very emotional, and all silently agreed not to talk about it outside the room, all but Crepúsculo.

What do you say after that? Hearing your tough husband break down and her greatest mistake break as well? Did she hate him? She said she did, but did she really? It really hurt her to hear them and she wanted to talk to them about it. At least talk to her husband. They didn't talk about what made Noche snap like that, but Kanashimi did. He'd suspected it, but he never thought it was actually going on. They looked to the black Draconequus, who had a face of knowing, and Crepūsculo had the face of 'tell me now or I wear your skin'. He'd gotten the look before.

"I suspected he'd been self harming, and I appear to have been right. You're forever a bitch in my eyes." Kanashimi would never take that back "I think its agreed we should all try helping. I try making him laugh, even Fuwa would struggle making him laugh, and he's cracked a Sunatchikuchi into laughing!" You now know how they escaped.

"Piss off." Apparently Fuwa didn't like remembering he'd been eaten by a vagina once.

"My son has been harming himself?" The mother of four was unable to process what Kanashimi just said. Her oldest boy was hurting himself, because of her. It was her fault, denying it was what caused this. If Noche could accept this, she'd have to as well or look like an ass. In Kanashimi's eyes she was an ass, a horrible ass.

"Yeah he has, it's like that tale our fathers tell us in Drapan. The Ō no kyōdai, or King's Brother." He remembered his father telling it to him a long time ago "long story short, King Gekidō had an older brother called Sēramu. He's gone through what Skiadrum has, he couldn't feel anything, he was always cold and felt heavy. It got to the point Sēramu killed himself... The lesson is to never run from your emotions or you'll suffer. Sad, but a good lesson. Best you don't mention it around our king though, he's sensitive about it."

"Your species never cease to amaze me," Medianoche said, ruffling his wings "I don't want to see my brother die, we've already had a scare when he risked his life for me. Father hasn't gotten over it, clearly." It's crushing to know how his brother is suffering and how it's affected his father. Armadura had no words for what she heard, other than that she was proud of her father in law.

Kanashimi wanted Skiadrum to be happy, to bring him out of his shell. Who knew what was under there? Kanashimi wouldn't lie, Skiadrum was rather good looking. Unlike the others who were afraid of him, Kanashimi saw Skiadrum as a challenge. An attractive challenge. When the opposite gender were all evil bitches that wanted to eat you and your kids, you found males attractive. He did wonder what faces he could make Skiadrum do? What did his smile look like? His anger, his joy? Kanashimi would find out. He even had his scheming face.

"Oh dear..." Was all Discord could say to his coworker who was planning something. Something he feared... Kanashimi always got what he wanted, usually ending in his favour in the weirdest way. At least he'd be home when Kanashimi enacted his dark scheme.

Saga 1, To be a Princess: Barely Amusing

The school was as dull as always. She managed to learn some things, but it bored her. Her guard was banned from being inside of the building thanks to her snooty teacher, so everything was just dull. The only fun part were the ponies she talked to, and the Hippogriff Novo she brought with her. She too wasn't allowed inside, which really sucked. Celestia kept thinking to what her father said, she wanted to feel his touch, hear his voice, but all she had was the memory. He wanted her to be happy, going across space and time to do so.

Outside the building, Discord watched the chicks growing uneasiness. Due to the storms, Fayard was unable to come and collect his daughter. Despite what Discord's fellow guards were doing, the storms were getting worse and worse. It worried him really. Novo looked up at the being in armour, poking the metal. It seemed really tough, and it was really shiny. He was a funny fella, even if he scared her a little. She wondered if she could get a guard like him someday?

"Hey, thing!" shouted some stranger. Discord looked over, seeing a stallion unicorn. He was dark blue, had a light mane, and had blue eyes. Little too much blue there. He was wearing leather made of all kinds of animals, likely a monster hunter, somehow. This was the first, but not the last hunter he'd come across. Draconequus bones were pretty much gold, so they were valuable. Tell someone you've got a golden skeleton, and you'll know who they are. If they try to kill you, they're greedy. If not then they aren't as greedy.

"Kinda busy!" he answered, his red tail curling around the princess. Discord was able to handle himself, he wasn't as physically strong as the others, but he was pretty good at close combat. If he included his weapons, then the agility really was an unfair advantage. The unicorn was still there "Oh bloody hell... fine, i'll play this stupid game, only so that you go away, alright?" the unicorn nodded, for whatever reason confident he could do something "Since it would be unfair, i'm not gonna use magic against ya."

"I will defeat you!" the unicorn shouted, pulling a sword out of his sheath and running towards the barely amused Draconequus. he stepped out of the way, dodging the unicorns attacked. he dodged, and dodged, and dodged, making a fool of the unicorn "I an Hellsing and i will defeat you, monster!" he accidentally said an and not am, that was a little amusing. Discord got bored rather quickly, so he grabbed the stupid equine be the horn and picked him up, a very bored look on his face.

"Your job is hunting monsters, my job is protecting a princess. how about you bugger off, and we can both do our jobs without any trouble?" he dropped the unicorn on the ground, who didn't seem to know what to do. he tried hitting the Draconequus with the sword, but against his armour it barely did much but leave a mark he could easily wash off. the unicorn saw he was out leagued and ran off, leaving Discord and Novo to watch the dust kick off. the chick climbed out of the Draconequus' tail, standing up to him with a brow raised "What?"

"You din't really do that much against him, even when he attacked you?"

"Honey i've been in a lot of fights, i've dealt with dragons, lichs, necromancers and even a purple shoggoth. not to mention i had to get involved in a civil war once... that pony is nothing to me, the only amusing part was him accidentally saying an and not am." he needed a break for these ponies, they were beyond foolish.

Novo hummed to herself, curious. Celestia was learning how to use a halberd from him, why couldn't she? yeah, she could show to her father she didn't need to marry some noble, and that she could protect herself! the chick wasn't going to be some coward, no, she would be strong, like a warrior! the chick stood next to him, trying to imitate the way he sat, making him look like a realistic statue. he rolled his eyes, already sensing what she was going to ask later... might as well set up a small camp of these nutters.

Author's Note

I hope somebody notices a theme with the Draconeqi (Except for Kanashimi)

Ōsawagi - Whoopi Goldberg
Shinshitsu - Gates McFadden
Konran - Jonathan Frakes
Kōkatsuna - William Shatner (I know he voices another character in the show, that will also be explained)
Ihō - Wesley Crusher
Roki - Brent Spiner
Kanashimi - George Lopez

Saga 1, To be a Princess: Could've Gone Better

Ihō gulped, able to smell the blood of the Umbrum prince and the gorgon that apparently called herself Aladjinn. He was afraid. Ihō’s strength was stealth, he was very quiet, and his changeling blood gave him the ability to shapeshift. To change colour wasn’t magic based, but transformations were, so he could only blend into whatever he as around. it was difficult, and he was terrified when he got to hear the sound of slithering. He was so screwed. Where in the hell were those stupid flowers!? And where did Fuwa go?

“Dammit!” he heard the female shout, rubbing a deep hoof print scar on her cheek. Her jaw hadn’t healed right, and it looked extremely uncomfortable. So much so she hadn’t noticed him. He didn’t know if there was a god of luck, but if there was, thank you! “crap, crap, crap, crap!” she slithered in circles, pacing. The rage in her eyes was extreme, and he did his best to not look directly into them. he didn’t want to be stone. When a Draconequus died, they become stone, so this was playing with actual life and death her.

Ihō let his eyes wonder, trying to spot the flowers. Erin of Eagleand was willing to open trades, and apparently, he wanted some of those plants to replicate. A lot of lives can be saved through this, but him and his ally could get killed. Gorgons weren’t something you mess with. Konran was extremely reluctant, but the gorgon had smelt Umbrum, so they had to send a foreign species. if he did this then Kōkatsuna could shove it right under his stupid ass tail! That was a little mean, but still, this would prove that he could handle himself.

“Hello!” that voice… that was the Ahuizotl! What the hell was he doing here? “Yo, Aladjinn right? I’m Ahuizotl, and I’ve got somethin’ that’ll keep you from stoning me.” the gorgon hissed, glaring at the direction the strange creature came from. He was holding something in his tail hand? Ihō squinted his bug like eyes at the object, seeing it was an amulet?

There was a silver plate in the shape of an arrow and had the depiction of an Alicorn on it. two wings coming from the top that were red at the limbs and the feathers were black. The head was looking left, it had no mane, a sharp horn and red eyes. in the middle of the plate was a red diamond that glowed ominously. There was something seriously wrong with that thing, it was cursed and stomach churning, and he was just looking at the thing without being near it.

“What is that supposed to be, dog monkey?” Aladjinn growled, her eyes scowling deep into the red gem “Is this some kind of joke?” he was smiling like an innocent idiot, the same smile that made Ihō and Roki seem incompetent, along with a lot of Umbrum guards. The gorgon hissed, her snakes hissing along with her, all of them desiring to bite the alien beast where he stood.

“It’s something my master made. It has an inkling of his power. We call it the Unicharm… the name’s a work in progress.” He and that rat were definitely working for someone but who? Damn this was looking to be more trouble than he thought it’d be! Fuw-Discord was in a bit of a pickle here as well. They didn’t know what that thing did, so they were in more trouble than originally thought “Wear this, and you’ll be a forced to be reckoned with,” Ahuizotl chuckled, raising his brows up and down suggestively “Once you wear it, only you can take it off. It’s infused with the soul of an Alicorn we managed to slit the throat of… but be careful, it packs a wallop! Use it too much too fast, and your own soul will be lost to it,” he laughed as the gorgon took it, likely not listening to what he said. What the hell!? What, world, reality, bull crap is that? just out of the blue this moron gave this insane stoner an Alicorn necklace! Roki could come up with better names than these.

She smiled as she put it on, power visibly coursing through her veins. Ahuizotl trotted away like the ass he was, the gorgon now alone with the crazy power. Before he disappeared in the mist, he looked right into Ihō’s eyes and winked, then he was gone. he knew he was there. Somehow, they found out he’d be here… but, how? How did he know? He risked becoming stone for, just, he, raagh! He can’t think with how many questions where going on in his head! he was gonna die!

“With this power, I can get that little shadow. He was tasty, and I need to spite that rainbow one!” she growled, her voice changing as the amulet glowed violently. It was having extreme effects on her mentality and she’d just put the bloody thing on. Ihō didn’t need to look into her eyes, he was already petrified! She sniffed deeply, turning her head “Somebody’s here…” a deep aura surrounded her eyes and arms, the muscle beneath her skin trembling violently. She can’t handle that power, it was corrupting her very soul. That’s why he gave it to her. it was to corrupt her, to what purpose, Ihō didn’t want to know. Flowers. Just get the flowers and escape. But how? If he moved, she’d see him and kill him. He heard a very loud whistle, and the shine of armour. No, no, no you aren’t going to be doing this.

“Come at me fang face!” shouted the other Draconequus, her attention going towards him. She started moving unnaturally fast “Shit!” he ran with the gorgon following, leaving Ihō all alone. He slowly walked out from where he’d been hiding.

He breathed a breath of relief, though it was short lived. There would surely be a better plan than to paint a target on yourself. But then again, the gorgon had an amulet that was letting her use magic in a magicless zone, which narrows down all of your options for a fight. Find the flowers and get out quick. He searched, he searched, and he, guess what? he searched some more, and he couldn’t find any of the flowers! There were a lot of statues here, all of them used to be alive, and a couple potentially were. They were trapped, their life force slowly being eaten, what a way to go. he hoped Discord was an agile as when they were in training or he’d be another statue to the garden…

Many things went wrong today. She wanted to play with her the ponies she’d met, the young foals that hung around her for her and not because she had wings and a horn. They were like friends. She didn’t know, the only friend she really had out there was her guard and her sister, who refused to talk to her or even look at her. it was stressful to say the least. She sniffled, her ears against her multicoloured mane. It was just her and her ‘friends’, and then some bug pony came and captured them, putting them in metal cages. The one time she tries going out alone, and she gets captured like the princesses in story books! Only in this story the dragon creature would come to her rescue.

Lance Shy nuzzled her, trying to keep her spirits up. He was even more scared than she was, and wasn’t doing very job at hiding his fears, but he was trying. For them anyways. They didn’t know where they were going, from what he could tell they were on a wagon, since their cage was covered with something and everything was lightly shaking. At least they knew they were going somewhere and not to be monster meat.

Dark Heart kicked against the metal, fully aware he wouldn’t be able to escape, but he had to try. Lance Shy shook his head, a silent no. Dark Heart snorted and sat down, his back hooves aching from all the bucking he’d just done. he knew a farmer filly back home who could probably glare the thing open so that sucked. Rocking Arrow paced back and forth, trying to keep calm, even when he was clearly panicking. Unicorns didn’t have a lot of magic, but they were valuable. So were Velvet Chaser and Sky Eye. Pegasi were stolen to do races and things like that, earth ponies had barely anything. They’d likely just be sold for meat. Morbid but a fact.

Rocking Arrow scooted towards the cage door, trying to break the lock with his magic, again, but he failed. Celestia tried to help too, but she also failed. There wasn’t any harm in trying was there? The shaking suddenly stopped, the fabric covering them from letting them know where they were being removed. Before them was a young dragon.

He was plain. He had dark cyan scales, two warm ivory horns that curved like a ram, his wings had golden innards and his eye colour was of fire. She could see he was counting them, all six, and other little creatures like bunnies and whatever. She stood tall, walking to the bars of the cage beside Rocking Arrow. She needed to try and negotiate. She was a princess, wasn’t she? So far all she’d done was bitch and whine, not very princess like.

“Excuse me?” Celestia said, kind of getting the dragons attention “I’d like to negotiate with you.” he laughed at her, until he saw she was serious, and then he laughed even harder “If you release us, I’ll get…” she would make them swear to never say what she was about to say “My, dad, to keep your head on your shoulders. I am Celestia of Medianoche Brilliante, the Umbrum King!” she did her best to be as confident as possible, despite the fact she was shaking on the inside. This dragon could char her, and her only defence was an overly forgiving king she’d nearly killed.

“Really?” said the dragon, a scaled brow raised. It was rumoured that the king had taken in two stupid ponies, but he hadn’t believed it. until now “Well, I’d love to, but I have a job to do. I don’t like it, but it puts dinner on the table and a roof over my head. that and my boss will skin me if I don’t get your sorry tails to the rendezvous spot.” They would go for a high price, even the two earth ponies. They were colts, so they could be trained to pull things that mares wouldn’t be able to. Slaving wasn’t his favourite job, but nobody hired dragons these days, the few that were around anyways.

“Your reward for returning us will be protection from your boss then,” she said while swallowing her fears. She never thought she’d ever be in this situation, then again, the past near four years had been nuts. These few months more than anything. It mega sucked thanks to how Umbrum lived, a year to her was pretty much nothing to them, so time went by in a literal blink for them until Medianoche changed it. huh, he changed the body clock of his whole race just for her? the ONE time her Draconequus was needed to do a different job she gets nabbed by a slaving dragon! “Maybe I can try and get you some money from it too?”

“Rather brave for a filly ain’t ya?” she had a fire deep in her, which he mildly respected. Most of these equine just crapped themselves in fear, which was a pain to clean up. Dragons almost naturally respected that spark in other races, even if they’re as irritating as a pony. he did catch the scent of a creature he hadn’t smelt since working in Drapan. Well shit, if she knew one of those things along with the Umbrum then he’d be better off with her! might even be able to find better work than this pain in his scales “If my boss’ goons manage to break a scale on me, our deal is off, ight? Names Torch.”

“Ok, we have a deal.” She actually did it, she pulled it off. Knowing how forgiving Medianoche was, he’d likely give Torch a job. And she was brave, wasn’t she? Celestia, negotiator of dragons! She pushed her chest out with pride, her foal friends all hugging her with happiness “We’re goin’ home!” could’ve gone a lot worse, she hoped her luck wasn’t going to run out. Lance Shy waved a bit at the dragon, who was thinking whether or not he’d just screwed up or not. well, lets hope he doesn’t get eaten. Did Umbrum eat dragon? He didn’t want to find out.

If Ihō didn’t have any flowers he swore to, uh, well dead Cosmo he’d kill him! He had to jump up a tree again as the bitch managed to BREATHE POISON GAS! Because, you know, like you do! Could’ve thought this out a lot better for sure. Well he wasn’t known for very good plans. He had luck on his side though, since her brain was basically going to mush thanks to the mutated power surging through her body. this time physical strength wasn’t needed, it was about speed. His wings were too large to open while in the Hollow Shades’ forest, and he couldn’t shrink them thanks to the, you know, no magic. Couldn’t levitate either. It was situations like this that taught you how much you relied on magic.

“Stop running!” she screamed, a bulge growing on her back. Oh no. from her back, very bloody and nasty looking wings had sprouted. Like a disgusting tumour. He was going to run out of the dead zone, but that wasn’t an option. She was this power fuelled IN the zone, how strong would she be out of it? no, he needed a way to beat her. he was agile, but that could only do him so well and take him so far “Face me like whatever you are!”

“I’m a Draconequus!” he stopped jumping across the trees and climbed upwards into the foliage, doing his best to hide. Rather hard with his armour, but she wasn’t in the right mind state right now “You know that handy dog said that thing was going to take your soul, right?” negotiations, not his strong point “If you’re soulless, you can’t get your little shadow.” She was already heartless, losing her soul would barely do that much against her. he looked at her eyes, avoiding her pupils which were what turned you to stone. Not hard since they’d shrunk to pin pricks. Wow it was really messing her up. She looked around, searching for him.

“Where are you my mismatch?”

he’d been called worse. Discord grabbed his sabre bow, and hopefully he’d be able to damage the red stone. He held the bow with his lion paw and the light string with the eagle claw. The bow was carefully designed for multi-firing, from the string formed an arrow. He wasn’t a hundred percent sure how it was made, but he knew it had a lot to do with engineering and some none magic voodoo stuff from their dimension. He aimed for her freaky necklace, the very thing that he was concerned about.

He fired, then booked it, not hanging around long enough to see if it actually did anything or not. if it did, whoopie for him, if not, then he’d have a very angry gorgon. He heard loud wails of rage, which was likely because he’d hit her and not the stone. Well, it HIT, just not what he wanted to hit. You win some, you lose some, only in this case losing meant dying. Nope, he liked being alive. He stopped again, pulling the bow in half, it becoming two blades. Seriously, he really needed to talk to whoever made this because it was saving his tail a lot more often that it should.

He shouldn’t be running. He was afraid, no sane person wouldn’t be, but he still can’t just run. He’d leave Ihō all alone for the witch to go after, and he was trained for this stuff. Equestrian gorgons were a lot more potent than the Drapanese ones, here you even got cockatrice! He just had to avoid her attacks as best as possible and try to slice her up. She’d be absorbing his life energy, so better be as quick as possible. Go for arteries, her limbs, the hair snakes, anything that’ll weaken her. hell, even deliberately make her use up her magic to the point she’s just a mindless animal! Anything to win. Victory or Death the Doragon No Uma always said.

“There you are…” she smiled as she came into his view, a white arrow sticking out of her collarbone and a scratch on the metal plate. So, he did hit it, but it just ricocheted into her collarbone? Well it was better than nothing “You’re going to pay for attacking me!” tears rolled down her eyes as more of that toxic energy pulsed around her, the plant life around her suddenly wilting and dying “This power, it’s filling me to the brim, I want more of it!”

Power corrupted all, no matter the person. It was too tempting to not use it, and even abuse it. something everyone was susceptible to, even offspring. Her scales pointed upwards, the tips flashing with red venom. At least he had armour. He could try having her take it off herself? It won’t come off unless she’s dead. Would’ve followed Ahuizotl if she hadn’t noticed Ihō. Konran was going to have a field day with this.

“Take it off before you kill yourself stupid snake. You want that Umbrum don’t you? how can you do it while a mindless soulless beast?” she scowled. From what Kanashimi said, this ‘Aladjinn’ had been intelligent. Work with that and try to get it off, he’ll still fight her of course, but it’d make it a lot easier for him. His tail rose off of the ground, waving slightly, his wings folded tightly against his body “That’s what you want isn’t it? you trust a random Ahuizotl you come by, I assume? Here I thought you were intelligent.”

“I am!” she shouted, her irises flashing red from the amulets power “I will get that little shadow, he will be mine! Just like you…” welp, should’ve seen that coming “My garden will be magnificent with you there, and your little friend wherever he is…” her eyes widened as she figured out why he’d gotten her all the way out here. She was so stupid! This was a distraction, so someone could get her flowers! This power was so amazing and addictive, but the creature was correct, it was sapping her soul. She was becoming a mindless beast. She’d been so desperate that she’d just taken this cursed object from another creature when he literally said it’d suck her soul out…

maybe he could get out of this without killing her? there were always other options. Just because you don’t like it didn’t mean it wasn’t there. He’d fought a lich, a couple necromancers, caught would be assassinators, but he’d yet to deal with this. a creature so desperate that she just went stupid and accepted an evil object. She was a gorgon, they weren’t ‘evil’ per say. They fed on your life energy, it was like attacking a bear for eating fish. It isn’t good for you, but that’s how they ate. How they survived. The stone thing was defence and a way to capture prey.

“How about this… you take it off, toss it over here, and we’ll be gone. we’re going to duplicate the flower for healing anyways, so we won’t have to bother you again.” she gripped onto the amulet, the Unicharm the bastard called it. it had the soul of an Alicorn, a vast amount of power that wasn’t meant to be for simple beings “We’ll leave you alone, and who knows, Skiadrum might come for you and have a final fight. I wouldn’t be surprised.” He was slightly insane after all.

she was being given an option? Here was this stranger in battle armour, who’d struck her with an arrow and had two blades at the ready to fight her, his very stance was prepared for a fight. Yet, he was giving her a chance that none of them needed to fight. Aladjinn wasn’t used to magic, especially in the dead zone. It was going to destroy her… it suddenly glowed with the intensity of the sun, and it felt like it was well. there was a loud noise, though she didn’t know if it was hers. It was painful, yet addictive. Like that Umbrum’s life energy…

The long head had a back up it seemed. Her skin had gone from shades of green to shades of red, her pupils nearly gone from pure madness. Well, it nearly worked, score points for that. she slithered at him abnormally quick, him dodging out of the way. Her tail rose up and whipped at him violently, desiring to cut a limb off.

He crossed the blades, catching the end of her tail. The moment it wedged itself within the cross he pulled them back and up, slicing the end off. The blood sizzled on his armour, the mithril thankfully keep it from getting to his flesh. The power absorbed Aladjinn roared, her tail end regrowing, but it was wrong. It was made of pure magic and an ancient kind of stone not of this dimension or his. it looked like it belonged in hell. Her scales became the same stone, the stone also covering her upper half like a second skin, an exoskeleton of rock. She went at him again; the speed had been increased again. oh, so she was like a hydra? Only when you cut a piece of her off she got stronger.

Oh, come on! that wasn’t fair. That made his blades a little useless. Begrudgingly he returned them to their bow form and decided it was mammal to reptile… slash, mammal mutant. She went at him again, Discord bending backwards, the moment his hands touched the ground he kicked her chin. She shook it off very quickly, which wasn’t very helpful. Her large tail lashed at him again and again, him blocking and with his armour. There was a lot of force behind those hits, it was pretty irritating.

He wasn’t fighting back for a pretty good reason. he was letting her burn out. she wasn’t going to be able to handle this much magic in her body after ages being void of it. your skin growing stone, it wasn’t going to do much against him as it was against her. your skin was a specific organ that kept everything in, stone wasn’t supposed to do that. even golems weren’t made with flesh because they didn’t do very well to keep things like blood in. water was corrosive to stone, yes that only worked over time, but this was gorgon blood. That stuff was corrosive as fuck. He could see it, the stone looking weaker and weaker. He’d get a lot of bruises from this, but she was bleeding herself out. skin wasn’t as rough as stone, so it was rather irritating for her muscles and organs, likely causing tears when she moved.

A little sad really. It’d just taken over, and she’d become an animal that was killing herself. He also stopped fighting because every time he hit her skin, he could feel off afterwards. Her body was poisonous, he was likely poisoned, and she was able to absorb his life force by being near her which was also made worse if he touched her. It was rather tiring you know, to feel your very life energy leave your body slowly. It’s kinda like when you’re really warm you can feel heat come from your palms. Or was that just him?

“I better be getting that raise,” he spat to himself. the gorgon stopped when she, or the gem, had finally realised that stone skin was a stupid idea. it seemed that Aladjinn was still there somewhere, might as well kill her when she’s her. it was more merciful that way. She tugged on the amulet, it coming free, but the damage was done. she collapsed, the magic was keeping her alive and together, and without it she was dying faster. It was a little sad, for some reason. He remembered when he’d first had rabbit that he was hooked on it, getting a little desperate for it sometimes. Drapanese bunnies tasted amazing, he’d never had a better meat. That desperation nearly got him killed once. She was desperate for a prey that’d tasted like nothing she’d ever had before and was desperate for it again. so much so, she accepted a cursed object that likely deliberately killed her as a kind of revenge and she was going to die.

“why…” the stone was cracking, about to crumble. He pulled out his halberd, the suggestion was silent, but she understood what he was asking. Give her mercy. Everything was so cold and terrifying. How? How had everything happened like this? she just wanted that little shadow again, to taste that despair and sorrow “Please… it, hurts…”

“Alright,” he sighed, gripping the halberd hard. With a quick motion, the blade was embedded in her skull, ending it in an instant. It was more painless than how she would’ve died. Just, screw life. a middle finger to it. none of this needed to happen, none of it. that blasted Ahuizotl must’ve known this’d happen. He had to. Discord’s tail picked the vile Unicharm up and glared at it. it was evil, whoever made it was evil. If you tried to take it off, it’d protect itself by fully taking you over. The poor Alicorn inside fought back, though that was more an assumption than a fact, and he also assumed that the soul would try to kill the user of the amulet. Maybe some sort of twisted mercy? “I need a drink.” One that’d give him a hangover for the next decade.

he hoped Celestia had, had a better day than him right now.